The plank pull through will work your hip flexors, obliques, lower back, and shoulders, and also challenge your abdominal muscles. It helps improve core strength and stability, which are essential for your running performance.
How to do a plank pull-through with proper form
You can do this exercise with a dumbbell or a kettlebell, with a weight that feels manageable but somewhat challenging.
Here's how to do a plank pull through correctly:
Set yourself up in a press up position (a.k.a. high plank position) with your feet slightly wider than usual and a weight just outside and behind you right wrist.
Keep your back flat and core engaged, and make sure your bottom is not sticking up.
From here, reach your left hand across under your body grabbing the weight, lifting and pulling it across placing it back down in the equivalent position on the other side of your body.
Continue to alternate sides for the desired number of reps.
Throughout this exercise you should try to minimize any rocking in your hips when you reach across or pull through. If you're finding that you're rocking a lot, you can try pulling the weight nearer, or use a lighter weight.
Why do plank pull throughs?
If you're bored with regular planks and need some variety (and a more difficult challenge!), the plank pull through is the perfect exercise. It engages and strengthens your core, shoulders, and hip flexors, and improves your proprioception, i.e. the awareness of where your body is in space.
If you haven't yet mastered the regular plank, high plank, and side bridge, you can start with those and move on to the plank pull through whenever you feel the need for another, more challenging exercise.
Get a tailored strength training program for runners
The plank pull through is one of the many exercises you'll find in our strength training program that's specifically designed for runners by our team of coaches.
Runna enables you to add a personalized strength program to your running plan and manage everything in a single app.
Our program adapts to your strength, schedule, and available equipment (even if you don't have any!), helping you level up your running game and reduce the risk of injury.
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