Plank shoulder taps: A hidden powerhouse exercise

From doing the plank to doing shoulder taps

If you are a plank aficionado like me, chances are that you will also fall in love with shoulder taps.

This is because, in order to do shoulder taps, you will first have to go into the plank pose.

And remember, you should rest on your palms instead of your elbows.

Trying to keep your body in a straight line, just like when doing the plank, is important, because, in this way, you will prevent, for example, your back from hunching, and getting injured in the long run.

Instead of using both of your hands to rest your body upon, as you would do in the plank, you alternately use each palm to support your body, touching the ground with one palm and lifting the other palm to touch the shoulder, and so on, to the point of failure, that is until you have reached your limit, and you can do no more repetitions.

Plank Pose at Live the Riverfront Moonlight Yoga 2016 was originally posted on Flickr by A Healthier Michigan and is reused here under the terms and conditions of the Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) Creative Commons license

In this way, each arm, forearm, wrist, and palm holds double the weight and makes double the effort, compared to what would happen during the ordinary plank pose.

Are shoulder taps an effective form of exercise?

You bet it is!

Shoulder taps are a typical exercise that is more effective than most people tend to believe.

Although other forms of exercise, such as using weights, are believed to be the most effective ones in helping people build muscle, for example, shoulder taps, which is a bodyweight exercise, has it own, unique benefits.

In many ways, this exercise mimics the movement of different animals that are well-known for their extraordinary strength.