The Spiderman Plank is an intermediate-level abdominal exercise named after the superhero Whether the move supports Peter Parker's rock-hard abs remains to be seen, but it is a great way to work the entire torso, including the external and internal obliques, the rectus abdominis (the top layer of abdominal muscles, often called the "six pack"), and the transverse abdominis (the deepest muscle in the torso)

It is also a compound exercise because it targets the triceps, shoulders, and glutes as you crunch your knees into your elbows, like Spiderman crawling up a building

But what would happen if you added the Spiderman Plank to your workout routine 50 times a day? To find out, I unrolled my exercise mat and tried the move Just in case you're wondering, what works for me may not work for you or your body If you are new to exercising or returning to exercising after an injury, I would recommend checking your form with a personal trainer before increasing your reps

Be ready to embrace your inner Spiderman Here is a variation of this plank:

The key to this exercise is to move slowly and with control The slower you move, the stronger your core will be

Click here to learn more Click here to read my training diary for the past week:

As with most challenges like this one, I didn't know what to expect on the first day I often opt for traditional planks as my abdominal training finisher, so Spiderman planks were not a staple of my abdominal training

By 30 reps, I was questioning my decision to do 50 reps each side With my knees crunched up against my elbows, this discipline really worked my abdominal obliques As usual, I filmed myself doing the reps and sent the footage to my personal trainer friend She reminded me to keep working my core throughout so that my hips would not bow out

On days two and three, I continued to complete reps while being mindful of moving slowly As a runner, I often found myself struggling with stiff hip flexors, but I found that this plank variation really forced me to work my stiff hips while cracking my legs at the elbows

I much preferred doing the high plank variation of this movement because it gave me more room to crunch my knees and work my arms a bit at the same time Nevertheless, if you suffer from wrist pain, dropping down to the elbows will relieve that burden

By day four, my core was definitely starting to feel the effects of the Spiderman-like plank I realized that I was making the mistake of holding my breath during the movement, which often happens when you focus on training your core I focused on my breathing as in Pilates and exhaled as I did the exercise, exhaling as I crunched my knees toward my elbows

On day 5, I decided to mix things up and do planks at the elbows to give my wrists a rest However, my core was still working super hard as I was crunching back and forth

As with all plank variations, avoid sticking your butt in the air during this exercise

On day 6, I added spider man pushups to work the upper body more In this variation, bend your elbows and lower your torso to the floor while crunching from your knees to your elbows Once the legs are extended back to the starting position, push up to a high plank

This was really tight and I kept going for about 30 reps before taking a breather

Finally, the end was in sight On the last day, I stopped doing Spiderman pushups and went back to regular Spiderman planks; what did 350 repetitions teach me about this abdominal exercise? It's a great anti-rotation ab exercise to add to your routine as it works the oblique abdominal muscles The trunk has to work harder to prevent the torso from twisting as the legs crunch, thus improving counter-rotational strength and protecting the spine from injury

Of course, after a week of planks, I did not notice any visible changes Visible abs are the result of low body fat percentage, not the result of endless hours of core exercises If visible abs is your goal, let me explain how body fat percentage is calculated and why it matters

As a reminder, you should not train your core every day Your body needs time to rest and recover in order to grow muscles In any case, this workout was challenging for me Maybe next time I'll do the Spiderman crawl