At the end of the program, these athletes demonstrated a 35.7% increase in eccentric hip adduction strength! The exercise is isometric and involves a squeezing movement to keep your legs together. After holding the tuck planche, you must be excited to move towards the advanced tuck. Heres an article on proper breathing: Proper way of breathing while doing Ab exercises. I dont need to say much else here because every bodybuilder in history has trained the inner thighs, so obviously theres something to it. Hary et al (2018). In order of easiest to hardest, the progression goes: While planks are often done for increasingly long periods of time, you dont have to take that approach to get the benefits out of the Copenhagen plank. This requires additional balance and stability to maintain the position. The Copenhagen Plank is very simple, all you need is a chair or bench. C. Then, lift left foot off the ground so it's hovering a few inches below right foot. It is also great for improving core strength and stability, especially in the obliques. If thats you, the first thing to ask is whether you were in a straight line (no hips sagging) with your abdominals engaged. In this article, we will discuss the progressions for mastering the bodyweight dip from complete beginners. In another study by Haroy and colleagues (2018), a group of male soccer players completed a 36-week long adductor strengthening program using the Copenhagen Adduction exercise. This will increase shoulder and core strength and improve coordination and balance. How to Perform and Progress the Copenhagen Plank The basic idea is to support your upper body on your forearm or hand, while your leg is supported on a bench or another object. This will create additional stability challenges, including challenging your shoulder stability like in a Turkish Get-Up. Then return to the starting position and repeat. The bottom leg hangs underneath the bench. How Long Do You Really Need to Hold a Plank? From here we are going to raise our hips up by contracting our adductors until are hips are in a straight line. 2017;45(13):3052-3059. And remember - having your hip in contact with the bench is important. There is one exercise that you can do with zero equipment at home to strengthen your adductors and help prevent injury. Activate your core muscles and raise your hips, so your torso is perpendicular to the floor. Just like the side plank, the Copenhagen plank involves lying on one side of your body with your bottom elbow bent, forearm resting flat on the floor, and legs fully extended. The exercise is isometric, which means you hold your body in one position while contracting your muscles. Whether youre an athlete, a fitness enthusiast, or simply looking to enhance your hand strength, these exercises will help you achieve your goals. Strong adductors means stronger abs and vice versa, and both help us shift out of the extended posture that most of us live in. Then, you'll hover the other foot a few inches below the bench and hold this position as steadily as possible. However, having very strong abductors, but weak adductors, wont create the overall stability around the hips that you need. Unlike most plank holds, which encourage 60 seconds or more of isometric agony, the Copenhagen plank is a brief affair. B. Place yourself in a perpendicular position to a bench, in a forearm side plank position, Place your upper leg on top of the bench and keep the bottom one off the floor, Place a mat under your arm to provide more comfort to your elbow, Keep the core engaged to maintain the correct posture, Use a lower bench to further decrease the intensity and support your back, Bend your upper leg on the bench and use that knee as support to reduce the intensity and add stability, Place yourself in a perpendicular position to a bench, in an extended side plank position, Bend the bottom leg on the floor and use the knee as support, Use a mat to put under your leg to provide extra comfort to your knee. Copenhagen Plank - Exercise demonstration video and information for Olympic weightlifting - The Copenhagen plank is a simple exercise for adductor strength and hip stability. Normally when we think side plank, we prioritize bracing our entire core. Start in a side-lying position with your elbow placed directly under your shoulder and the feet stacked one on top of the other or with the feet slightly wider apart. How are we going to fix it? The suspension trainer isnt stable like a bench, so it will wobble and move. As this move is already creating a ton of tension through your glutes and shoulder blades, keeping your free leg raised and in the proper 90 degree position is serious anti-rotation work for your core. Great view of my childhood trophies here. Haroy J et al. To master it, take note of the following techniques: Keeping the core and glute tight will help you maintain proper form throughout the duration of the exercise, as well as help to increase the intensity of the exercise. If done correctly and youre really focusing on what it's targeting [read: the core and thighs], the Copenhagen plank is really hard to hold for even 10 good seconds, says Analisse Ros, C.S.C.S., a certified personal trainer and strength and conditioning specialist in Connecticut. Return the hips to the floor under control. But its an under-appreciated exercise, and deserves a spotlight of its own. Orthop J Sports Med. Vegetarian Diet To Build Muscle: Basics & 15 Foods to Eat Every Day, Intermittent Fasting 20/4: What You Should Know Before Starting, Put yourself in a side plank position perpendicular to a bench, With your bottom arm fully extended, place the top leg on the bench, using the internal part of your foot to support the hold. Thanks for reading. The proper form for Copenhagen plank involves squeezing your legs together, keeping your core engaged and stable, breathing normally throughout the exercise, and keeping your shoulders in line with your chest. But ALSO think about driving or pushing the knee of the top leg INTO the bench or table. These modifications will add extra difficulty to the Copenhagen Plank and challenge your core and stabilizer muscles. As such, a better name might be the adductor plank, or adductor side plank, but the Copenhagen name has stuck. Or, try driving your bottom knee up so it's in line with your hips, keeping it bent at a 90-degree angle, suggests Ros. Once you can hold a given position for about 30 seconds, you can increase the difficulty by moving the point of contact on your leg further down, which lengthens the lever and increases the demands on the adductors. Doing the copenhagen plank for 1 min, I really feel it in my inner thigh. The Copenhagen plank lift is a dynamic variation of the Copenhagen plank for adductor strength and hip stability. our rundown of the best bodyweight exercises that actually build strength, made male soccer players adductors stronger, Dipping the hips toward the ground and back up, repeatedly (This can be done in either position. If youve worked up to 4 breaths fo 10 seconds each side and youre not feeling challenged, you can add some weight. For non-athletes, the exercise can simply help to create better hip stability, which is associated with reduced risk of back, hip and knee injuries as well as better posture. Including the Copenhagen Adduction exercise in the FIFA 11+ provides missing eccentric hip adduction strength effect in male soccer players: a randomized controlled trial. Always pick a difficulty level that you can maintain perfect form throughout. In the meantime, you can strengthen your adductors with other isometric exercises. Our inner thigh muscles, called the hip adductors, are responsible for pulling our legs in toward each other. The Copenhagen plank is a very technical, yet very effective, exercise. This variation is similar to the regular plank but requires more coordination as you alternate tapping each hand forward into a pushup position. The Copenhagen Plank, or the Copenhagen Side Plank, is a side plank variation that, in addition to training the abdominals, targets the adductor (groin) muscles. The individual then raises his or her body and the bottom leg up, until the feet touch and the body is in a straight line. Prone Cobra Push Up How to, Benefits and Muscles Worked, Featured image and video demonstration credit AchieveFitnessBoston. These muscles consist of the gluteus medius and adductors.These muscles are often weak in people, which can lead to knee valgus (knock knees) and other issues. No need to be a hero and set the bench in contact with the thigh. Haroy J, et al. So building up the strength of those stabilizer muscles [in your legs and core] is important., Ready to give the exercise a shot? Copenhagen planks are mainly aimed at improving strength in your hip and groin muscles, known as adductors; however, they also work the core and more specifically, the obliques. David is a writer and strength coach and co-owner of Roman Fitness Systems. The Copenhagen plank or Copenhagen adduction exercise is a side plank variation that targets the muscles of the inner thigh and groin, the adductors. Strengthening the obliques helps to better stabilize the torso and spine, helping to promote better posture, as well as rotational strength. You can further challenge your shoulder stability and cores anti-rotation capacity by holding a kettlebell with your free hand (with the bottom of the bell pointed toward the ceiling), extending your arm straight up, and holding it there. For athletes, this is a huge competitive advantage and means better kicking power. When that gets easy, try a harder variation. Clam shells, for example, along with lots of glute exercises, will help strengthen these outer hip muscles which is undoubtedly important. Focus on contracting your core and hold for 30 seconds or longer. Adductors bring your legs in toward your midline; the two letter Ds in the middle may help you remember that they bring the legs together.). Position your elbow directly under your shoulder as if you were doing a side plank. If so, there is good news stretches can help improve your toe point. Far and away the most common complaint of this exercise is knee discomfort on the front leg. This ability to strengthen the adductors helps to ensure your lateral movements arent solely reliant on your abductors. Gently tap your butt to a chair and stand back up. You wouldn't feel side plank in your chest. However, instead of your feet on the ground, place the top foot onto a chair, bench or another stable surface, while holding the bottom leg off the ground. Essentially, athletes who participate in sports with kicking or running are at a higher risk of groin pain, usually in the form of muscle strains or sports hernias. More broadly, you may think of the adductors as crucial stabilizer and core muscles. In team practices, a partner can stand up and hold your leg while youre doing the exercise. Once the static version becomes to hard, we can simply introduce some movement and perform the copenhagen plank for reps instead of time. Simply put, no other exercises have been shown to be as beneficial for targeting the groin region as the Copenhagen adduction exercises. You should always seek medical advice from a health/fitness professional before starting any new fitness program. You set up a Copenhagen plank like a side plank, except you place your top foot on a bench while hovering your bottom foot in the air. An interesting study that Physio-Network highlights in this article showed that groin injuries increased by 17 times when adductor strength was less than 80% of abductor strength. If youre still not comfortable with that, you may need to do side planks (from the knees is fine) to build up your core strength, and look elsewhere for adductor exercises. You can do Copenhagen Plank up to three times a week, making sure to give your body enough time to recover between sets. This will allow you to scale your planks difficulty level. Extend out the bottom leg while keeping it off the floor. Focus on controlling your movements through the transition from one position to another, all while maintaining perfect form. Generally, upper-body strengthening and muscle-building resistance exercises can be categorized into two: pushing and pulling exercises. The human body doesnt cope with imbalances very well in fact, imbalances are a recipe for disaster when it comes to injuries. [1], [2]. The Copenhagen Hold, as shown below, is a unique plank variation that specifically targets the musculature of the inner groin. The Copenhagen plank works your arms, shoulders, core, and adductors. Groin injuries are particularly common in sports that involve kicking, running or even jumping and weakness in adduction strength has recently been highlighted as a root cause in new research. Its such a good exercise and I know I have to do it, but sometimes I'm like, I just wanna do a side plank because I know how hard it is.. Ishoi et al in 2016 had 24 male soccer players perform the Copenhagen adduction exercise two times a week, while progressively increasing the number of sets and repetitions over the course of 8 weeks (starting with 2 sets of 6 each and ending with 3 sets of 15 each). This can be achieved by positioning yourself further away from the bench, or closer if you want to decrease the intensity. This banded adductor exercise is a good place to start, and you can also do single-leg movements like step-ups to work the adductors alongside other leg muscles. In a side plank position, place the top leg on a bench with the bottom leg under the bench. For more information, please see our How to Perform and Progress the Copenhagen Plank The basic idea is to support your upper body on your forearm or hand, while your leg is supported on a bench or another object. The Copenhagen plank also works on core stabilization. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Improve your grip strength with these effective exercises that will give you a vice-like grip, allowing you to lift heavier weights and reduce the risk of injury during everyday tasks. Benefits of the Copenhagen Plank. Training them effectively, like training all other muscles, will improve their form as well as their function. There are many studies out there demonstrating the link between weak groin muscles and the prevalence of groin injuries in athletes. A great alternative is the Copenhagen plank: a version you can do at home, does not require a partner, and has multiple levels of progressions for various skill levels. Remember the Copenhagen keys: maintain stability and squeeze your glutes and shoulder blades while fighting off rotation in both directions. Try a 10-second hold, repeated three times with rest in between as needed. How to do a Copenhagen plank 1. Alternatives to Copenhagen Plank are an excellent way to challenge your core and increase stability. While holding the plank position, the stabilizer muscles in your core will need to work extra hard to keep your body which is being supported only by the foot resting on the bench in place. We will start with the easiest progression and work our way up to more advanced variations. Theyre one of the major muscle groups that help us move side to side. Copenhagen Side Plank w/ Leg Lift There's really nothing fancy here. However, there are many ways the exercise difficulty level can be scaled up or down depending on your abilities. This will challenge the stabilizer muscles in the core and strengthen your shoulder muscles, making it an excellent alternative for Copenhagen Plank. AJSM. However, there are many more for every skill level and available equipment. Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Dietitian/Nutritionist in NYC, Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist, WELLTECH APPS LIMITED, Karaiskaki 13, 3032, Limassol, Cyprus, How to Do the Copenhagen Plank: Technique and Popular Progressions, Copenhagen side plank: technique, tips, and progressions, 10 Core Yoga Poses for Abs, Hip, and Lower Back Strength (With Sequence), Rear Delt Fly: Technique, Muscles Worked & Variations to Try. Want to master even more moves? These muscles are responsible for moving your legs to the center of your body. Due to the close proximity of the origin of the adductors and the insertion of the abdominal muscles, this further supports the use of Copenhagen plank variations in rehab or injury risk reduction programs for the groin. Place your top leg onto a bench or raised surface. Copenhagen planks can fit into a program where any abdominal or core exercise can go. Not enough exercises really focus on developing groin strength. Thats why she usually starts her clients off with their top knee bent at a 90-degree angle and their knee and calf fully resting on the bench (aka a short lever), she says. Compared to a side plank where I definitely do after about a minute of holding. To attack the obliques and get some added value by tapping into the adductors and abductors, a smart modality to implement would be the Copenhagen plank. We last saw Copenhagen planks in our rundown of the best bodyweight exercises that actually build strength. Aside from the main variation, there are several options to progress and regress the Copenhagen plank. Lifting your hips off the ground until your back is straight, you simply hold this side plank position for the duration specified. Once appropriately warmed up, follow the steps outlined below to execute a Copenhagen plank hold correctly. This is called active rest.. Check out .css-16acfp5{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.125rem;text-decoration-color:#d2232e;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:inherit;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-16acfp5:hover{color:#000;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;background-color:yellow;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}our entire Form Check series. This is a super challenging move, but thats the idea.. Ultimately, the scientific research around Copenhagen planks is very positive and suggests athletes can improve performance and avoid injuries by including the exercise into their fitness routines. You'll need a bench or a stable object to perform the Copenhagen plank. Furthermore, it was also shown to elicit the highest activation of the external oblique and rectus abdominis. The Copenhagen plank is a practical adaptation of the Copenhagen adduction exercise, which involves a training partner holding the top leg (as opposed to resting it on a bench). Important consideration: Some groin problems may have a secondary related abdominal issue. Your adductors and abductors and both your inner and outer thighs are going to wind the firing in this move as well.. It is an intense exercise that requires a lot of balance and strength to execute correctly. One of the primary benefits of the Copenhagen plank: It strengthens your hip abductors and adductors, muscles that are responsible for moving your leg away from or toward, respectively, the midline of your body, says Ros. In addition to strengthening the adductors, the Copenhagen plank also contains the elements of a normal side plank, meaning it has a side effect of strengthening a variety of core muscles, including your obliques. Holding your breath can cause you to become dizzy and affect your form, so make sure to keep breathing steadily while doing the Copenhagen Plank. The Copenhagen plank, also known as the Copenhagen adductor plank due to its target muscles, or the Copenhagen plank hold, is a more challenging side plank variation. 2. ). What muscles does the Copenhagen Plank work? We may earn a commission through links on our site. But instead of stacking or staggering your feet on the floor, youll prop one foot on top of a bench (or couch, chair, or another stable surface that's about 18 inches tall). As Ive learned from the postural restoration institute, a lot of the movements in our body couple together. Its mainly used to strengthen the groin and hip muscles. As your adductors get stronger, slowly move more of your calf off the bench until just your foot is resting on it (the classic Copenhagen plank), she suggests.

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