Level up your core workouts with this dance-inspired plank challenge from a Les Mills group fitness presenter
Learning this choreographed routine will boost your brain health as much as your core strength, says Bronté Terrell
Planks are an effective way to strengthen your core, recruiting all the muscles around your stomach and lower back to stabilize and protect your pelvis and spine.
But, truth be told, they’re not much fun.
Enter, stage left, this dance-inspired 360˚ plank challenge from Les Mills group fitness presenter Bronté Terrell, certain to shake up any tired abs routine.
Terrell recently shared the short routine on her Instagram, and I couldn’t help but ask how it might be modified so anyone could give it a try—even someone as uncoordinated as me.
“That was a pretty tough plank challenge,” she admits.
“Flipping over from front to back is especially tricky. Figuring out which arm goes where.”
But, she adds, learning to perfect the choreographed routine is worth persevering with.
“We spend a lot of time wanting to keep our bodies strong and healthy, and fit and young, but doing anything that challenges those neural pathways in the brain is also so, so important for our brain health, especially as we navigate through life and get older,” says Terrell.
Watch Bronté Terrell’s dance-inspired plank challenge
Timed to music, Terrell’s plank challenge starts in a high plank. She lifts one leg, brings her knee to her elbow, then pivots to a high side plank with knee tucked.
Next she extends her arm overhead and points her toes, returns to the knee-tucked high plank, then flips 180˚ into a reverse plank with that knee still tucked, before kicking her leg into the air, a la Flashdance.
It’s fairly exhausting just typing that out, let alone attempting it.
“[When you flip round] you’re squeezing your glutes to lift your hips up high. It’s almost like a reverse plank challenge. I really felt that the next day after doing that,” she says.
“A really great way to adapt it would be to drop down to your knees, break it up into sections and really slow down the full routine,” she says.
Here’s how Terrell suggests breaking it down.
How to adapt this plank challenge for relative beginners
If you can perform a plank on your toes, start by performing each of the five moves below for five to 10 seconds. Rest 60 seconds then repeat the routine on the other side.
Once you can comfortably hold each one for 10 seconds, look to perform them back to back, again building up from five seconds per move to 10.
When you can perform all five moves for 10 seconds each, back-to-back, you should be ready to attempt the full routine.
Bonus points for filming it and tagging @wearefitandwell in your post. Good luck.
If you can’t hold a plank on your toes, start on your knees.
“Even if you start with a 10-second hold, come up onto your toes for one second, then drop back to your knees, eventually, one second becomes two seconds, and before you know it you’ve built that strength,” says Terrell.
Below are the single moves you need to master.
1. Straight arm plank
Time: 5-10sec
- Position your hands under your shoulders, feet together and engage your core.
- Keep your body aligned from shoulders to ankles, breathing normally.
2. Knee to elbow
Time: 5-10sec
- Next, without letting your hips sag, bring your left knee out to your side to touch your elbow on the same side, and hold.
3. Rotate to side plank
Time: 5-10sec
- From here, pivot to the outside of your right foot as you turn your body to the side.
- Your weight should be supported by one foot and one hand. The raised arm can be extended over the head or bent at the elbow with the hand near your ear.
- You have the option of keeping your knee tucked, leg extended or bringing your feet together into a high side plank. The easier version would be feet together.
4. Rotate to reverse plank
Time: 5-10sec
- When ready, bring your feet together into a high side plank and pivot to your heels while bringing your other hand to the floor to support your weight.
- Your chest should now face up, with your weight supported on your hands and heels.
- Keep your glutes engaged and hips high.
5. Lift one leg to single-leg reverse plank
Time: 5-10sec
- Lastly, lift your left leg off the floor, bending your knee 90˚.
- Hold this final pose without letting your hips drop.
Bronté Terrell is a certified personal trainer and group fitness presenter with global fitness brand Les Mills. A former actress, first appearing in British television series Hollyoaks in 2021, she has since been featured in new Les Mills documentary RISE, which follows eight elite trainers, selected from over 100,000, as they compete for a coveted place on the brand’s global filming team. Terrell is also an advocate for people living with ADHD and dyslexia. In her words: “If I can’t exercise, crazy things happen”.
