Side Plank

NOTES:  Place your upper hand on hip (for stability).  Note the slight turn of the head to the left (in the picture).  This is a natural move to take some pressure of the neck muscles.  The Start position is where your back and legs are all in a nice straight line.  Then you will push up from your hips – try not to use your arm to assist you – it is there only for support and as an anchor to create the sloping angle from your knees to your neck.  Don’t engage your legs – just let them be pulled up by your hips. Keep everything still apart from the area you are working on (this is the case for most exercises).

The upwards movement is quite small (between 5 and 25cm, depending on your physique).  In the picture, the top position of the exercise is shown.  The bottom of the move is where your spine is straight again and in line with your legs as at the start,  Don’t let yourself sink below this position – the spinal bend should only be on the top side.  

This is the basic (and easiest) version of the Side Plank.  To make it harder (and hence get better results), you can hold a small dumbbell in your upper hand, tucked firmly into your side just above the hip bone.  There are harder versions of this exercise which involve raising your upper arm to a vertical position (can also be done with a dumbbell), and various ways to incorporate other exercises, such as the Side Scissors – These would be fairly advanced moves, and I recommend that for now you stick with the basic exercise and learn ALL exercises in the Mojoh Method so you have mastered the form and got stronger.  At that point you can step it all up and learn many more advanced moves to complement and enhance the ones you already know.  

Having said that, the exercises and techniques defined by The Mojoh Method are more than enough for most people to workout with regularly, and consequently achieve incredible improvements to their lives and wellbeing.  

Side planks help stabilize the spine and improve spine and oblique strength.  It’s a good idea to perform them alongside the standard Pilates Plank exercise as both exercises complement and balance each other perfectly.  Having said that, The Mojoh Method places them in 2 separate Pilates Groups (Pilates1 and Pilates2).  This is because the Mojoh Method is in its basic form a comprehensive whole body workout, and all the groupings and ordering of exercises and sessions have been carefully thought about and practiced.  But if your goal is to double up on Pilates and do half as much of the other groups, then it would make sense for you to switch things around a little to suit.