Plank your way to health during the holiday with ‘Planksgiving’

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Since fitness can easily take a back seat during the cooler months, Club Pilates at 86th Street and Keystone Avenue celebrates “Planksgiving” to keep people motivated to stay active. 

As we enjoy festivities involving food and alcohol this holiday season, some people are dropping their fitness habits and routines until the new year. At the same time, it’s not uncommon for people to restart their fitness journey after the holidays.

It’s possible to maintain a steady routine.

Instead of hitting full stop on all things fitness, News 8 spoke with Pilates instructors Rosie Lyons and Julie Thorpe about Thanksgiving-themed planks to try with your family.

Club Pilates Thanksgiving plank list:

• “Turkey Leg Plank” (Plank leg-lifts) – Find a traditional plank position on your forearms, and lift up one leg at a time until your glutes and core feel challenged. Even out the work on both sides.
• “Plymouth Rock-Hard Abs” (Rocking plank) – While in a forearm plank, rock forward two inches onto your toes so your forehead comes past your fists.
• “Squash Your Obliques” (Side plank hip raise) – From a side plank position on one elbow, lift your hips up and down a few inches, squeezing your oblique muscles.
• “The Cranberry Crusher” (Side plank overhead crunch) – From a side plank position on one elbow, bring together your top elbow and top knee with an oblique crunch and then extend.
• “The Cornucopia Plank” (Reverse plank) – Your front side faces the ceiling for this plank variation, firing up more of your back muscles.
• “The Potato Masher” (Plank hip dips) – From a forearm plank, drop your hips from side to side, creating a rainbow-shaped path with your pelvis.
• “The Apple Picker” (Side plank thread-through) – From a side plank position on one elbow, rotate your top shoulder toward the floor and thread your top arm under you.
• Walk the Plank” (Hands-to-elbows plank) – Walk up to your hands from a forearm plank position and back down.
• “Pumpkin Pull-Through” (Plank Pull-Through) – From a plank position, pull a pumpkin across the floor from one side of your body to the other