Best Planks You Aren’t Doing! Ultimate Sandbag Exercises

Jessica Bento, Physical Therapist (Creator DVRT Pelvic Control)

Planks are the go to for just about anyone in fitness nowadays. That’s pretty impressive since probably only a decade ago crunches and sit-ups reigned supreme. However, if you have been following our DVRT Ultimate Sandbag exercises for any time you know we love the plank, but stopping there is NOTHING like we do!

If you wonder why planks are so important it is because they teach our core to be stable while our extremities move. The reason that so many people end up hurting their backs is not because what they do just standing in one place, but how they are so unstable in their trunk when they do something as simple as picking up a pencil they hurt themselves.

Of course it wasn’t the weight of the pencil that causes people to hurt their backs, but rather not knowing how to keep a strong core WHILE people are moving and lifting. That is why planks are a useful tool but we don’t stop there!

In fact, we emphasize lateral strength even MORE than the front plank people know all so well! Yes, that infamous side plank is really the key to unlocking real life core stability and low back resiliency.

I know you are thinking one of two things. You might THINK you have side planks, but the reality is whenever I work with our DVRT Ultimate Sandbag exercises that focus on lateral stability I am always shocked how weak people still are in this plane of motion. That is because they do subtle things to screw up their side plank.

Some great tips on getting the Side Plank RIGHT from our DVRT Restoration Program

Why is the idea of lateral strength so important? After all who has ever come up to you asking you if today was “lateral strength day” in the gym?! A HUGE reason we prioritize this unusual form of strength training in our DVRT Ultimate Sandbag exercises is because of its impact upon allowing you to demonstrate your strength in real life and many low back issues come from lack of stability in this pattern.

It is THIS connection of the muscles in the body that helps us walk, run, and jump with such seamless motion that we take it largely for granted. After all, I am guessing you never went to the gym to train how your Quadratus Lumborum and Glute Medius worked together right? At the same time, you KNOW when these muscles aren’t working right because they play a big part in stabilizing the pelvis, SI joint, and spine.

So, you might be doing your side planks, but you maybe never thought of them in this way. However, our goal with all our DVRT Ultimate Sandbag exercises is to build movement from the ground (very stable) to real world type motions.

That is why I have fallen in love with this new type of DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training exercises that do so much while still being very easy to teach to people. Yes, it is our Half Kneeling/Half Arc Press with our Core Strap. Admittedly we probably need a way cooler name for these DVRT Ultimate Sandbag exercises, but they help also explain what we are doing.

One of the big reasons I have fallen in love with this series is because Side Planks can pose some challenges to people. Bad shoulders, not being strong enough, and other issues often keep people from feeling they can do Side Planks well. DVRT Ultimate Sandbag exercises like this are SO much more friendly to many of the issues people have, but does NOT compromise on the results we get from it. Try it and see how we can build that lateral strength and start to build to some amazing drills like strength coach, Joel Guntermann, shows in building lateral strength can be dynamic, challenging, fun, and WORK!

Don’t miss picking up Jessica’s NEW DVRT Pelvic Control program for 25% off with coupon “strong” and get TWO awesome DVRT programs at the same time for FREE HERE