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  • Writer's pictureJen Curtis

Are Planks Safe During Pregnancy?

You've probably heard that they're "not safe".


You've probably ALSO heard that they are perfectly safe.


Welcome to the wonderful world of the internet, black-and-white guidelines, dichotomous thinking, total lack of nuance and contradicting opinions…


In this blog post, I'm going to ATTEMPT to discuss this topic as neutrally and objectively as I can, looking at it from a few different angles.





First of all, check out this video that I made on planks on Instagram:





You can also watch this YouTube video that illustrates the problem with planks and some alternatives




I want you to consider a few things:


1. WHAT ARE YOUR TUMMY MUSCLES DOING?


While you might be ABLE to do a plank, your tummy muscles might be bulging or sagging down - there's a lot of weight AND demand on them in a plank, and during pregnancy, they are already under significant strain already as they track their way over the belly.


This video shows you what bulging during pregnancy looks like:




And at the beginning of this video, you can see what the abdominal muscles might be doing in a plank