Plank Up-Down
abs
What moves the load, and what it costs
3.5MET
Abs is the prime mover, with the obliques, triceps, front deltoid assisting. Adds movement and an anti-rotation demand. Widen the feet if the hips swing; the aim is a still torso, not a fast tempo.
Cue: Move from forearms to hands and back one arm at a time, keeping the hips as still as possible.
SOURCE·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·FILED UNDER CALISTHENICS, LIGHT·REVIEWED JUL 2026
SHARED AXIS · SEVEN VALUES FROM ONE TABLE · HIGHLIGHTED ROW IS THIS MOVEMENT
The compendium files plank up-down under a category, not a lift. Read the ladder as position, not precision: this is heavier work than sitting quietly by a factor of 3.5, and middling for conditioning work.
Turning that MET value into a real energy cost
- Map the movement to a published category. The compendium measures categories of conditioning work, never individual lifts, so plank up-down is filed under Calisthenics, light or moderate effort, general (e.g. back exercises).
- Take the category's MET value — 3.5. One MET is the cost of sitting quietly, so this is 3.5 times resting metabolism.
- Multiply by 3.5 to get millilitres of oxygen per kilogram per minute, the unit the MET is actually defined in.
- Multiply by your bodyweight in kilograms and divide by 200. The result is kilocalories per minute of work.
- Count working minutes only. Under load, not under the roof — a set of eight is about 25 seconds of the hour you were there.
kcal/min = MET × 3.5 × body mass (kg) ÷ 200 Plank Up-Down: 3.5 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200 = 4.29 kcal/min
SOURCE·ACSM metabolic equation + 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·REFERENCE BODY MASS 70 KG·REVIEWED JUL 2026
What is actually doing the work
| Muscle | Role | What it does here |
|---|---|---|
| AbsRectus abdominis | Prime mover | Bends the trunk forward and, more usefully, resists it being extended backwards. Both a crunch and a plank load it — differently. |
| ObliquesExternal and internal obliques | Synergist / stabiliser | Rotate and side-bend the trunk, and resist rotation. The internal oblique on one side works with the external oblique on the other. |
| TricepsTriceps brachii | Synergist / stabiliser | Straightens the elbow. The long head also crosses the shoulder, so it is stretched and loaded hardest with the arm overhead. |
| Front deltoidAnterior deltoid | Synergist / stabiliser | Raises the arm to the front (shoulder flexion) and assists horizontal adduction. Prime mover in overhead pressing, heavy synergist in every bench press. |
The prime mover produces the movement against the resistance; synergists assist and stabilisers hold a joint still without moving it. An exercise trains the whole muscle it loads — there is no way to work only part of a muscle, and no exercise removes fat from the area around it.
Set up, then earn the rep
Bodyweight. Every rep should look like the first one. The moment it stops looking like the first one, the set is finished.
PATTERN · BRACE
- Set the elbows under the shoulders (or the hands, for a straight-arm version) and the feet at hip width.
- Push the floor away so the upper back is slightly rounded rather than sagging between the shoulder blades.
- Move from forearms to hands and back one arm at a time, keeping the hips as still as possible.
- Tuck the pelvis under, squeeze the glutes and pull the ribs down — the lower back should feel flat, not arched.
- Hold, breathing normally, with the neck in line with the spine.
- End the set when the position changes, not when a target time is reached.
Where this one breaks down
Not theory. These are the faults you correct on a gym floor, and the correction that actually works.
Hips sagging.
A sagging plank loads the lower back and trains nothing. Squeeze the glutes and drop to the knees if that is what it takes.
Backside in the air.
Piking makes the hold easy and pointless. Straight line from ear to ankle.
Chasing five-minute holds.
Past about a minute you are training patience, not the trunk. Add load, lengthen the lever or make it single-limb instead.
Regress it, or progress it
Prescription: load, reps, rest
Read off the goal, then hold the technique constant as the load climbs. Derived from the movement's mechanics, not invented for this page: a compound lift loads several joints, so it tolerates heavy loads and needs long rests.
| Goal | Sets | Reps | Rest | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 3–5 | 3–6 | 3–5 min | Heavy loads need long rests. Cutting rest to two minutes turns a strength set into a conditioning set. |
| Muscle size | 3–4 | 6–12 | 90–180 sec | Take most sets to within one to three reps of failure. Total weekly hard sets per muscle matters more than the exact rep number. |
| Endurance / fat loss | 2–4 | 12–20 | 45–75 sec | Lighter loads and shorter rests. Fat loss is decided by the diet; this preserves muscle while it happens. |
| First month | 2–3 | 8–10 | 2 min | Well short of failure, same weight every set, until the movement looks the same on the last rep as the first. |
Time under load, in kilocalories
Read these as minutes of work, not minutes in the building. A set of eight takes about twenty-five seconds; the rest of the hour is rest, chalk and queueing.
Mapped category: Calisthenics, light or moderate effort, general (e.g. back exercises) — 3.5 MET. That is the published category this movement is filed under, not a measurement of this specific lift.
Worked at 3.5 MET × 3.5 × 70 kg ÷ 200 = 4.29 kcal per working minute for a 70 kg adult. Scale it by your own bodyweight; the equation is linear. The full activity dataset lives at BurnLab.
SOURCE·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·CATEGORY VALUE, NOT A PER-EXERCISE MEASUREMENT·REVIEWED JUL 2026
If the rack is taken
Substitutes train the same prime mover through the same pattern with different kit. Computed from the muscle and pattern data on this card, not hand-picked to fill a grid.
This one needs no equipment at all, which is why it belongs in every travel and home programme. Every no-equipment movement is listed together.
Where it sits in a week
One movement is not a programme. The twelve templates put these in order, including 6 that need no gym at all.
The questions that come up on the floor
What muscles does the plank up-down work?
Plank Up-Down is a compound movement in which the abs is the prime mover, assisted by the obliques, triceps, front deltoid. Bends the trunk forward and, more usefully, resists it being extended backwards. Both a crunch and a plank load it — differently.
Is the plank up-down good for beginners?
Yes. It rates 2 out of 5 for technical difficulty on this site — learnable in a session or two; low injury cost if it goes wrong. Start with the lightest sensible load and two or three sets of 8–10.
What can I do instead of the plank up-down at home?
Nothing is needed — the plank up-down already requires no equipment at all, which is why it belongs in any home programme.
How many sets and reps of the plank up-down should I do?
For muscle size, 3–4 sets of 6–12 with 90–180 sec rest. For strength, 3–5 sets of 3–6 with 3–5 min rest. In your first month, 2–3 sets of 8–10, stopping well short of failure. Total weekly hard sets per muscle group matters more than the exact rep number in any of these ranges.
Does the plank up-down burn fat from the abs?
No. No exercise removes fat from the area it trains — spot reduction has been tested repeatedly and does not happen. Training the abs builds the muscle underneath; where body fat is lost from is decided by an overall calorie deficit and by your genetics, not by which exercise you chose.
Muscle roles follow standard kinesiology references and are described by joint action rather than by gym convention — see how this site is built. Energy figures are derived from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Every reference is named and dated on the sources page. General information only — not medical or coaching advice. Load, form and progression should be adjusted to your own experience and any injury history. When in doubt, get coached in person.
SOURCE·Published exercise references·MUSCLE ROLES ASSIGNED BY JOINT ACTION·REVIEWED JUL 2026
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