The plank rainbow crunch with weight is our last plank exercise using weights in this series. It combines a low plank version of the rainbow with a crunch. The exercise demands a lot of effort from your core muscles!
HOW TO…
- Position yourself into a Side Plank position. Hold the dumbbell in the hand that you would normally position on your side.
- Instead of looking up, face forward.
- Bring the upper arm all the way down over your head, curving it down.
- Slowly move your arm from the curved, top position to a position next to your head. Bend the arm at the elbow during the movement and rotate your upper body until your shoulders are horizontal. Keep your hips elevated.
- You are now doing a crunch, facing down instead of sideway.
- Hold for a seconds, and then move back by rotating your upper body sideways again. Extend your arm in the movement and bring it back to the rainbow start position.
- Repeat on the other side.
Progression: Like with the regular rainbow plank, you can raise your upper leg when doing the crunch to increase the difficulty and exerted effort. You can also increase the dumbbell weight to make the exercise more difficult.
Variation: Too hard? Keep your feet next to each other on the floor instead of stacked. This gives you more balance when rotating. Even easier, lower the bottom knee when you rotate, so it supports you from the ground up.
Goal: Do a Plank Rainbow Crunch with Weight on each side at least 10 times without resting.