Benefits of Planks for Runners?

Coach wrote:

Look up Stuart Mcgill on the role of the core. "The core is all about creating proximal stiffness to enhance distal mobility." Yes it could help you run better, however core work doesn't need to take more than a few minutes each day.

Any activity done in the name of strengthening on a daily basis is not being done intensely enough to stimulate meaningful benefit. It's pathetic that coaches in this sport dont even have basic knowledge.

Ever see a cheetah in motion? Everything has to move. No stiffness anywhere. How does a Cheetah achieve that? It runs.

It doesn't straddle a stream and hold it for two minutes etc.

Isometrics have no place in running.

?????

You could rotate antirotational exercises, antiextension, anti sidefkexion and anti flexion exercises on different days. Just as you can run each day you can do forms of core work each day. Read Mcgill or other experts.

I sit at a desk for 8 hours a day so planks are beneficial for me just in preventing problems with posture later in life. Beneficial for my discs

Coach wrote:

?????

You could rotate antirotational exercises,.

If they are anti-rotational and working how do you still rotate?

Farah and Coburn are your 2 examples because they do the most core. Coincidentally one has 4 Olympic gold medals and the other an American record. Shocker.

Core (which you obviously didn't specialize in) can and when properly implemented will build fast twitch muscles. Bounding, lunges, squat jumps and one-legged squats, all part of my core routine, help build fast twitch muscles and explosiveness in your legs (and thats straight out of Lydiards training, a man who coached the best 800-milers in the world, its used very commonly still today in most programs). Started doing them my sophomore year of high school as a miler, brought my 400 from a 60 to a 56 in a couple months of conditioning. And you say you stopped doing core to do more running? Core has nothing to do with how much mileage you do. I can do core when I'm doing 50 mpw or 100 mpw, it makes no difference. Core isn't supposed to replace running, it helps you run more without getting injured and improves running economy.

You can guarantee your core is stronger than any elite distance runner? Wow, that's funny because I can "guarantee" that its not as you've just spent this whole time arguing about the uselessness of core and have mocked elite distance runners for using it in their training, now you say you do even more than them? How does that work?

At no point did I claim to have all the answers, but one thing I do know is that anyone who dismisses core as a waste of time obviously doesn't understand the clear benefits of it.

Just don´t overdo it and use side planks and back planks as well. When doing front planks remember to use your shoulder plates too. You can tighten up the hip flexors and mess your shoulders/rotator cuffs if overdoing planks, especially with bad form. Watch your form when standing, is your shoulders in neutral position (not "ahead"), and your thumbs directing forward or close to it. If these aren´t right, and it´s not because of an anterior pelvic tilt, you could benefit from doing "serratus anterior" exercises to stabilize scapular area, stretching the pecs and biceps, maybe should consider doing less planks. The rotator cuffs could be the weakest link for a runner who suddenly starts to do a lot of planks. So, doing exercises for rotator cuffs as well would be good. You don´t HAVE TO do the planks or all of the boring stuff I mentioned. You CAN do it and get benefits, but don´t expect miracles. If you lift, do lunge walks, lunges, pistol squats, other one leg exercises, sprint drills, (hill) sprints etc. those will also develop your core and form efficiently, while doing more running spesific movements. For a runner it´s important to do exercises with a good range of motion, to break the tightness of the ankles, hips and shoulder area while strengthening the body. I agree with Kudzurunner that it´s increasingly important to do general body strengthening exercises as you get older to remain healthy. Planks are one possible exercise, but don´t create/aggravate muscular imbalances. I speak from experience. There´s so many different muscles in a human body, and all should be and stay in balance. For an example, if you always run counterclockwise on the track or on the same side of the road, you will slowly create muscular imbalances.

This is absolute sense. When I was in my early twenties and running mainly 800s (and a couple of 1500s) I did about 80 mpw max (prior to a half) and sit-ups, back work, weights etc but never ran as well as I should (planking wasn't a big thing). In past the year I have been doing about 30-40 minutes of core work daily with planking & balance exercises being a large part. Man, I never thought I could get so slim. For older runners I reckon a good planking routine etc is worth 5-10 miles per week. Foam rollers are also key.