How to do the Side Plank Reach
Step by step
- Lie on your side and prop up on one forearm with elbow under your shoulder.
- Stack your feet and lift your hips so your body forms a straight line.
- Reach your top arm up toward the ceiling to start.
- Thread that arm under your torso, then reach it back up, keeping your hips high.
- Finish your reps, lower under control, then repeat on the other side.
The thing people get wrong
Do not let your hips sag toward the floor as you reach - keep them lifted so your obliques, not your shoulder, hold the position.
Coaching cue
Thread the arm as far under your body as it will go before reaching it back up.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: Do it from your knees, or hold a plain side plank instead.
- Harder: Pause with the top arm reaching straight up on every rep.
Muscles worked
- Primary: Core
- Secondary: Side delts
What to do instead
Same job, different movement — useful if you don't have the equipment or it doesn't feel right today.
Daily Coach builds this into a real weekly plan. It picks the exercises for your equipment and experience, swaps around injuries you tell it about, and tracks what you actually lifted.