Spring Workout Series: Prone Plank Pull

With Spring in the air and the weather getting warmer, it’s time to get ready for outdoor activities – specifically the swimsuit season. When you hear the phase toning the muscles, what we’re really talking about is strengthening a muscle and reducing the subcutaneous “soft fat” covering it. Less subcutaneous fat (under the skin surface), the more the muscle looks “toned or firm.”

Your caloric intake and distribution of macronutrients – protein, fat, carbohydrates – addresses not only lean muscle preservation or increase, but also loss of fat under the skin, around and within muscle tissue.

In this series, we’ll focus on strengthening specific muscle groups, which can accentuate a lean physique – with appropriate dietary modifications.

Prone Plank Pull

Using a light rubber exercise band or tube, attach it 6-12 inches off the ground to a fixed object. Set up in a prone plank position with arms bent to a 90-degree point, hands pointing forward, with legs opened to a wider spread. The cord should be straight (no slack in cord). With one arm acting as a stabilizer, pull in and out with the other working arm. Try 10. Repeat with the other arm. Breath normally.