Kettlebell · intermediate · waist
Kettlebell plank pose sliding around
Also called Plank walk around, Plank circles, Walking plank around a kettlebell, Circular plank walk.
You hold a high plank and walk your hands and feet in a circle around a kettlebell sitting on the floor. Your abs hold the line from shoulders to heels the whole time, your obliques stop your hips turning as you travel, and your shoulders carry your upper body through every step. Worth knowing before you start: the kettlebell is never picked up. It marks the center of the circle, so the weight of it makes no difference to how hard this is.
How to do it
- Step onePlace a kettlebell on the floor and start in a high plank position with the kettlebell to one side.
- Step twoMove your body in a circular pattern around the kettlebell by stepping your hands and feet alternately.
- Step threeComplete a full circle around the kettlebell while maintaining a plank.
- Step fourReverse direction and circle back to the starting position.
What usually goes wrong
Each starts with what you would notice.
Your hips swing round ahead of your shoulders and you finish the circle facing the wrong way.
WhyTraveling sideways means one hand and one foot lead every step, and the pelvis follows them unless you hold it. Left alone, your hips turn faster than the rest of you.
FixMove one limb at a time and keep your hipbones pointing at the floor throughout. Small steps around the circle, not big reaches. If you cannot keep the hips square, make the circle wider so each step is shorter.
Your backside drifts up and the whole thing feels manageable.
WhyRaising the hips takes the length out of the position, and a shortened plank asks very little of the front of your trunk.
FixSet the line from your ears to your heels before you take the first step, and check it once on your phone. Travel is only worth anything if the position survives it.
Your lower back is what you feel, not your midsection.
WhyThe hips have dropped toward the floor, so your back is holding an arch instead of your abs holding a line.
FixSqueeze your glutes, bring your hips up until the line returns, and stop the set when it will not return. Ending a set early is the correct move here rather than a failure.
You are moving fast and it feels more like scrambling than exercise.
WhyEvery step takes a hand or a foot off the floor, so speed means spending most of the exercise on three points of contact rather than four.
FixSlow down until each hand and foot is placed rather than thrown. The difficulty here is holding a shape while you move, and rushing removes the only part worth training.
What it is for
The plank pose sliding around the kettlebell is a dynamic core challenge that requires moving the entire body in a plank around a stationary kettlebell. It targets the abs and obliques while demanding significant shoulder stability and full-body coordination.
Questions people ask
- What muscles does this work?
- Your abs hold the line from shoulders to heels, your obliques stop your hips rotating as you travel around the circle, and your shoulders support your upper body while your hands take turns leaving the floor.
- Does the weight of the kettlebell matter?
- No, because you never lift it. It sits on the floor as the center of the circle you walk around. Any object the same size would do the same job, and a heavier bell will not make the exercise harder.
- How many times round should you go?
- As many as you can complete with your hips square and the line from your shoulders to your heels intact. That is a smaller number than most people expect and it is the honest measure, rather than a target we could make up.
- Is this harder than a normal plank?
- Different rather than harder. A regular plank asks you to hold a position; this asks you to keep the same position while your base of support keeps changing. Whether that is more difficult depends on the person, and being able to hold a still plank properly is the sensible thing to have first.
- Why do my shoulders tire before my abs?
- Because a high plank puts a real load through them and moving means each hand takes your weight alone for a moment. If the shoulders are the thing that stops you, shorter sets are the answer; there is nothing to fix in the position.