Side Plank Gaze
Quick Intro
Side Plank Gaze takes the side plank, a core hold in which you balance on one forearm and the side of one foot with the body in a straight line from head to heels. You set up in side planks facing each other, close enough to see each other clearly, and hold eye contact for the whole hold. Then you lower together, change sides and go again. The hold is the work and the gaze is what you share while you do it.
The position, the hip stack and ways to build the hold are covered at Side Plank.
What You’ll Need
A mat each, or one wide mat, laid parallel with a little space between the two lines of your bodies, enough room so that your hips and top arms do not touch.
How to Do It Together
- Mirror the setup. Lie on your sides facing each other with your heads level, one of you resting on the right forearm and the other on the left, so that your chests point toward one another.
- Stack up. Place the elbow directly under the shoulder, stack the feet and bring the top hand to your hip.
- Lift together. On a shared count, raise the hips until the body forms a straight line from head to heels.
- Find the eyes. Turn your face toward your partner and keep your eyes on theirs for the whole hold.
- Hold. Stay up for twenty to thirty seconds, breathing steadily.
- Lower together. Come down at the same moment.
- Swap places. To change sides, trade mats with your partner and repeat so that you are facing each other again.
Keep breathing throughout and avoid holding the breath.
Why the Gaze Slips and How to Keep It
Side planks have a built-in habit. The moment the hips lift and the supporting shoulder starts to work, the head sags and the eyes drift to the floor. That is true when you hold one alone, and it is the main thing this exercise asks you to change. The aim is to keep the head in line with the spine and the face turned toward your partner for the entire hold. If you notice your eyes dropping, bring them back without commenting.
The mirrored setup is what makes the gaze easy to hold. If you both lay down with your heads at the same end and your chests toward each other, one of you is on the right forearm and the other is on the left. Then the faces are level and the line of sight runs straight across. The version where both partners lean on the same forearm leaves one of you facing the other’s back. Mirroring also means that when you change sides, you trade places and not just arms, so you still face each other.
The stack matters as much as the gaze. Keep the supporting shoulder directly over the elbow and push the forearm into the floor so the shoulder does not collapse toward the ear. Stack the hips and avoid sagging toward the floor or piking up. These are the things you can check on each other with a glance, since a sagging hip is visible in the same look you are already using to hold eye contact. If the supporting shoulder feels strained and not just tired, come down.
The gaze does not need to be fierce. Soft eyes and a relaxed face work better than a stare, and it is fine to blink and smile. If it feels too much, you can soften the look by letting your eyes rest on your partner’s face generally and not on their eyes alone. The point is attention shared during effort, and there is no right way to look. The hold can feel shorter with company than it does alone, and in the final few seconds, when the arms are shaking, the eye contact can help steady things.
If you like faces close in a different hold, Forearm Plank Gaze does the same with a front plank, and Face-to-Face Wall Sit asks the legs to hold while you look. Side Plank Hold & Mountain Climber Work sets a side plank against a cardio move so each of you has a different job.
Eye contact held through a hard core hold is the sort of shared effort described in Working Out Together, along with ways to look away without it meaning anything.
If You’re at Different Fitness Levels
A knee-supported side plank with a shorter hold of ten to fifteen seconds suits a couple newer to the position, and the eye contact stays the same. If one of you is stronger, the stronger partner can hold the full position while the other uses the knee-supported version, and you keep looking at each other for as long as the weaker partner can hold. Your eyes will be at slightly different heights, which is fine. Come down when the first of you needs to.
Safety and Consent
Stack the hips and keep the supporting shoulder up and out of the floor, not collapsed into it. Stop if the supporting shoulder feels strained and not just fatigued, and do not lift higher than you can hold comfortably.
Agree beforehand that either of you can look away whenever you like.
Every connection moment in these exercises is something either partner can skip or scale back at any point, including this one, no explanation needed. Hold the side plank beside your partner while looking at the floor, and the plank is the same.
FAQ
Why mirror the setup? It puts your faces level and pointing at each other, so the gaze is easy.
How do we change sides? Trade mats with your partner and repeat, so you still face each other.
How long should the hold be? Twenty to thirty seconds a side is typical.
What if my eyes keep dropping? Bring them back gently. It happens to everyone, and the hold is just as useful either way.
What if one of us is stronger? The stronger partner holds the full plank while the other uses the knee-supported version.
Can I do side planks on my own? Yes. Side Plank covers the solo hold.
Built on Side Plank. Forearm Plank Gaze holds a gaze in a front plank, and Face-to-Face Wall Sit does the same with a wall sit.