Towards the end of July I commenced la planche and struggled to do even a minute. It seems that the technique I used in the first days was closer to the correct method than the method I had been adopting during the past two weeks.

I have been watching some videos on You Tube to check whether I had been planking correctly and, evidently, I had not been doing so.

 

My errors were:

  Focussing in time, not strained effort in a short time (up to a minute); I had been going up to three or four minutes.

  Using the lower back instead of corps, shoulder and abs

  Using the balls of the feet instead of the heels

  Short breaths and holding my breath

  Aligning the back so it doesn't arch

These were some of the ten, or seven (depending on which videos one sees) common errors that people make.

It is hard on the elbows using the correct technique so I will still need to adjust the balance so as to work the abs and corps, not the lower back.

I use planking as a finisher to main exercises.

It seems, then, that having the shakes in the areas one is supposed to be exercising, rather than making it easier, is the correct technique. 

I'll see later.