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Inchworm to Low to High Plank

This chain adds a forearm-to-hands transition at the end of every inchworm walkout: fold, walk out, drop to a low plank, press back up to a high plank, walk home. It suits intermediates who want shoulder and triceps work stitched into their moving core drill. Coached by Maddy (NASM-CPT) — these are the exact form cues he gives on every client's first week.

Muscles worked

Abs · rectus abdominis Deep core · transverse abdominis Obliques Lower back · erector spinae Front shoulders · anterior deltoid

Sets & reps by goal

GoalSets × RepsRest
Strength4 × 3–5 full sequences2 min
Muscle3–4 × 6–10 sequences60–90 s
Endurance3 × 10–14 sequences45–60 s

Rep ranges per Helms 2014 · Schoenfeld 2016.

Level — Intermediate

Intermediate — the up-down transition is where form breaks first when fatigued.

Proper form — 5 cues

  1. Walk out to a high plank first — shoulders over wrists, glutes tight — before any transition begins.
  2. Lower to the forearms one arm at a time: right forearm down, left down, keeping hips level.
  3. Press back up hand-by-hand, placing each palm where the elbow just was.
  4. Alternate which arm leads the drop on every rep so one shoulder does not do all the pressing.
  5. Only after the high plank is re-established do the hands start walking back to the feet.

Breathing: Exhale on each press from forearms to palms; keep the walkout breathing unhurried.

The 3 mistakes Maddy corrects most

Hips swinging during the up-down. The rotation robs the trunk work and shifts strain into one shoulder at a time. Fix: Widen the feet slightly and brace harder; the belt buckle should point at the floor throughout.
Elbow landing ahead of the shoulder line. A long forearm position overloads the shoulder and makes the press-up awkward. Fix: Set each forearm down so the elbow sits directly under the shoulder.
Rushing the walkout to get to the plank part. Short, quick hand-steps skip the anti-extension work that makes the inchworm valuable. Fix: Count four deliberate hand-steps out and four back on every rep.

Common questions

What does the low-to-high transition add over a plain inchworm?

A pressing element. Each up-down is close to half a push-up per arm, so the shoulders and triceps accumulate real work while the trunk keeps its anti-rotation job. Over a set of eight sequences, that is sixteen single-arm presses the plain inchworm never gives you.

My wrists hurt during the transitions — what should I change?

Place the whole palm down and stack shoulders over wrists rather than letting the hands land ahead of you, and spread the fingers to widen the base. If discomfort persists, reduce the sequences per set or spend more of the rep on the forearms, where the wrists are unloaded.

Can beginners attempt this version?

Better to build up to it. Learn the plain inchworm and the plank up-down separately first — the modified knees-down version of this chain exists precisely as the bridge. When you can do eight clean plank up-downs without hip sway, combining the two movements becomes reasonable.

Related exercises

Easier: Inchworm to Low to High Plank (Modified)

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