Day 17 and we continue on with the theme of building slow strength and tension to define our core muscles.

Today it’s Robots (normal speed, thankfully!) and the super slow Hip Touches.

Our friend Enka is helping with this round too, and despite all the huffing and puffing and a bit of swearing she’s happy to be featured in the day 19 too (day 18 is cardio and I’d like to find some London tractor tyres for strong woman style tyre flipping!)

The good thing here is that we’ve only 6 rounds, the not-so-good thing is we’ve plenty of time on those hip touches to a) actually touch that hip to the ground, b) check that we’ve a quality plank between the touches.

For “Robot” planks – hands are under your shoulders (not in front of you). Tighten up, squeeze legs, and lower yourself onto your forearms, then bring yourself back up. Lowering yourself and getting back up is when it is ESPECIALLY important to keep your body engaged, otherwise the hips sag, lower back arches and the whole form falls apart.

To help keep myself together I hold fists, I find this option most engaging, you choose what works for you – palms flat on the ground, balancing on the sides of your hands, etc .

If need drop into 3/4 position, but still ensure your form remains the same and your whole body is tight.

Hip touches – get into front elbow plank. Keep your body tight, counting to 3 bring one hip to the floor WITHOUT LOSING YOUR FORM, then counting to 3 return to your plank. Then repeat on the other side. And continue. Control the movement throughout. Don’t just flop about, keep checking you are engaged when your hip is touching the ground and when you are in the front elbow plank. Fight for your positions and posture.