


The goal is 60 seconds with all three points in contact with the rod. If you lose contact with any one of these areas, stop counting time. The rod should touch three points at all times: head, mid-back, and gluteals. Get into the plank position and have someone set a broomstick, mop handle or dowel rod on your back. Most planks are done in a less than effective fashion, so here’s a way to check the quality of your plank. The Broomstick Plank will force you to maintain proper spinal alignment during the entire exercise rather than only its first few seconds. This week’s exercise is a great way to verify your reference points during a plank exercise.

You can park outside of them, but if you do that often enough, sooner or later you’ll get a door ding. There is some wiggle room when it comes to reference points, so I like to think of them as parking-lot lines.
#Broomstick exercises full#
If full elbow extension is not achieved, the exercise will lack the intensity needed to really challenge the triceps.Īgain, take these reference points as guidelines rather than absolute, non-negotiable terms. This can easily be viewed in a mirror from a side angle during the extension phase of the exercise. A triceps rope extension, for example, should be performed by pressing both elbows into a fully extended position. Joint extension can also be used as a reference point. This helps you maintain balance and prevents tendon strain. In other words, you want to be sure that your front foot is far enough forward to allow your knee to bend as it should. For example, a forward lunge should be performed so that the front knee does not pass over the front toe during the low point of the motion. Going a little beyond 90 degrees isn’t going to cause an apocalypse, but it’s important to understand where the proper form should begin and end.įoot position is another key reference point that’s used very often in lower-body exercises. These reference points should be loosely adhered to and used as a guide rather than in absolute terms.
