Knee plank
The forearm plank with the knees down: a shorter lever for building the hold.
Trunk control family
Knee plank
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Source-researched guide. Clinical review is pending.
How to move
- Place your forearms on the floor with the elbows under the shoulders and the knees on a soft surface behind you.
- Lift the hips until the body makes one line from shoulders to knees, without the waist sagging or the hips piking.
- Breathe evenly while you hold, then lower and rest before your form fades.
Form cues
- Keep the neck in line with the trunk.
- Pad the knees if the floor is hard.
Practice and cautions
No universal dose is assigned. Choose a manageable amount for your current capacity, leave room for controlled repetitions, and allow recovery. A clinician’s individual plan takes priority.
In the first weeks after giving birth, the NHS advises avoiding sit-ups and planks to start with; build up from gentler tummy exercises. Keep breathing rather than straining if you have high blood pressure. With heart disease, keep breathing and ask your cardiac team before long holds; with heart failure, avoid planks. This is movement education, not an assessment or treatment prescription. Stop for sharp or increasing pain, dizziness, numbness or tingling; seek individual guidance for symptoms, injury or restrictions.
Sources and review status
Sources support the educational description; they do not establish that this exercise is suitable for you.
- Oliva-Lozano & Muyor 2020 · Core muscle activity during physical fitness exercises (systematic review) ↗
- NASM · Plank ↗
No variation is labeled clinically validated.
What it works
Muscles
Main: Abs. Also: Shoulders, Glutes.
Anatomy: Rectus abdominis, Obliques, Transversus abdominis.
Equipment
None: body weight and floor space.
Level
Beginner. See the easier and harder options above.
Workouts that use it
- Beginner bodyweight workout · 20 min
- Beginner core workout · 15 min
- Bone-strengthening workout · 40 min
- Anterior pelvic tilt routine: hips and core · 20 min
- Hypermobility exercises: a strength and control routine · 25 min
- Plank challenge workout · 12 min
- Core exercises with a stoma: levels 3 and 4 · 25 min
- Pilates for hypermobility: a supported 20-minute class · 20 min
Show all 15 workoutsShow fewer workouts
- Yoga for shoulder pain: a 20-minute sequence that builds up weight on the arms · 20 min
- Core session A: dead bugs, curls and front planks · 12 min
- Yoga for wrists: a 20-minute class that warms, strengthens and slowly loads the wrists · 20 min
- Yoga for hypermobility: a 25-minute stability-first class · 25 min
- Core strength workout: one move for each job your trunk does · 25 min
- Pilates after tummy surgery: a 25-minute return class in three stages, with a stop point after each · 25 min
- Remission-day Pilates for Crohn's and colitis: a 25-minute class for core levels 2 and 3, standing strength for bones and muscles, and a flare-day stop point · 25 min
Pain guides that use it
Part of a staged plan, with when to get help first.
- After a shoulder dislocation, and shoulders that slip: rehab exercises and the real risk of it happening again
- Neck pain when doing sit-ups: pulling on your head, the neck muscles, technique and swaps
- Lower back pain when doing planks: the sag, the hip flexors, holding too long and what helps
- Lower back pain when doing sit-ups: the arch, the hip flexors, the tailbone, crunches and what helps
- Neck pain when doing push-ups: head position, the shoulder blades, planks and nerve signs
- Shoulder pain when doing planks: the front and top of the shoulder, the shoulder blade, side planks
- Lower back pain when doing burpees: the plank, the landing, tiredness and the swaps that help
- Hip pain when doing mountain climbers: the hip flexors, a pinch at the front, pace and the plank
Show all 13 pain guidesShow fewer pain guides
- Back pain when doing push-ups: the lower back sagging, between the shoulder blades, and swaps
- Lower back pain when doing ab wheel rollouts: the sag, how far to roll, the hip flexors and swaps
- Shoulder pain after yoga: chaturanga, downward dog, binds and arm balances, and what to change
- Shoulder pain after Pilates: planks, push-ups and reformer arm work, and what to change
- Shoulder pain from rugby: tackles, dislocations, the AC joint, the rotator cuff, stingers and help
Guides that use it
- Pilates for your core guide
- Pilates for hypermobility guide
- Pilates for kids guide
- Pilates for anterior pelvic tilt guide
- Pilates for shoulder pain guide
- Pilates with wrist pain guide
- Pilates for the rotator cuff guide
- Pilates for POTS guide
Show all 52 guidesShow fewer guides
- Pilates with a hernia guide
- Pilates after gallbladder removal guide
- Pilates after a hysterectomy guide
- Pilates after a concussion guide
- Pilates for Crohn's disease and colitis guide
- Yoga for shoulder pain guide
- Yoga for core strength guide
- Yoga for wrists guide
- Yoga for hypermobility guide
- Yoga for arms guide
- Yoga for the rotator cuff guide
- Yoga for shoulder impingement guide
- Yoga for trigger finger guide
- Yoga for lymphoedema guide
- Yoga for anterior pelvic tilt guide
- Yoga after a hysterectomy guide
- Yoga after gallbladder removal guide
- Yoga for your shoulders guide
- Hypermobility guide
- Exercise for osteoporosis and osteopenia
- Exercise for high blood pressure
- Exercise for hypermobility
- Diastasis recti exercises
- Exercise for PoTS
- Exercise with Crohn's and colitis (IBD)
- Exercise with a stoma
- Exercise after gallbladder removal
- Exercise after appendix removal (appendectomy)
- Kyphosis guide
- Anterior pelvic tilt guide
- Posterior pelvic tilt guide
- Rib flare guide
- Lordosis guide
- Plank times guide
- 7-minute workout guide
- Wall sit guide
- Mountain climbers guide
- How to get abs guide
- Dead bugs guide
- Plank guide
- Inchworms guide
- Renegade rows guide
- Core strength guide
- Plank test guide
Similar moves
3D demoKnee side plankBeginner · No equipment
3D demoStraight-arm plank (high plank)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoHanging knee raiseIntermediate · Pull-up bar
3D demoSide plankIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoCaptain's chair knee raiseIntermediate · Other / check instructions
3D demoForearm plank pike (butt-ups)Intermediate · No equipmentBrowse more
Questions people ask
What muscles does the Knee plank work?
Mainly the abs, with help from the shoulders and glutes.
What equipment do I need for the Knee plank?
No equipment: your body weight and a little floor space.
Is the Knee plank good for beginners?
It is graded beginner, so it suits most people starting out. When it feels easy, try the Forearm plank.
What is an easier alternative to the Knee plank?
Try the Side-lying tummy draw-in. It is the suggested step down from this move.
How do I make the Knee plank harder?
Progress to the Forearm plank or the Leg pull-in. Follow that guide’s technique and any stated timing.