The FastDay Forum

I need to start doing side planks, too. I'm going to watch some youtube videos for tips on form.

I'm still doing the regular kind every other day at least, but my times are slipping. I'm paying very close attention to form, though, so I'm not too worried about it. I always managed 2 minutes...

I found this link when reading that article about the benefits of skipping brekkie: https://www.yahoo.com/health/the-planks ... 09139.html

I've stopped doing planks for awhile because I was worried they might be contributing to my back problem.

[janeg]

Saw that too@MaryAnn. Jaw dropped!
I"m struggling to exercise but managed 20 push ups this morning- took no time so no excuse really. Might try some of those things although they do look rather difficult.

To the chagrin of some I thought I'd drag this thread out of its 8 month sleep.

http://30dayfitnesschallenges.com/30-da ... challenge/

I've been occasionally (OK, very occasionally) doing up to a two minute plank. Not often enough to make it easy but during these attempts I did finally realize that there's a way to take most of the mental stress out of the effort needed to complete the day's goal.

The problem with planks is that it's much too easy to focus only on that ticking clock, watching those seconds add up so s-l-o-w-l-y as you near the end - finally reaching the day's target. The mind stresses - panics is more accurate - over the time remaining, making completion harder than it should be.

What worked for me is to distract my thinking by making my mind work on another task. Since you're going to be doing it anyway, it's easiest to concentrate on your breathing. While in the plank, close your eyes. Breathe in normally. Hold your breath for a two count. One thousand one. One thousand two. Breathe out. That's a one cycle. Concentrate on remembering where you're at in the cycle count. Do five to ten of these breath-holding cycles before you again open your eyes to check the clock. If there's time remaining, close your eyes and do another 5 count.

See? Not so hard after all...

BTW, you can blame wildmissus for this thread's reawakening! You don't know her? She's that cute girl demonstrating a plank in the above link.

[wildmissus]

@ADFnFuel, I wish .

I've not given up with the plank, I'm doing long arm planks at the moment but I don't have the staying power and agree with the panic when the clock gets close to your time. I'll try the breathing/counting thing.

[carieoates]

Unfortunately I read an article which showed that too much planking has been proven to do damage to some. Namely disturbed neck muscles and ribs. Can't remember where it was but it definatley wasn't a slate all exercise or red top newspaper.
But as with all Heath warnings its is only to be applied to some people so of course carry on if all is ok.

Unfortunately I read an article which showed that too much planking has been proven to do damage to some. Namely disturbed neck muscles and ribs. Can't remember where it was but it definitely wasn't a slate all exercise or red top newspaper.
But as with all Heath warnings its is only to be applied to some people so of course carry on if all is ok.

Ahh, but going to extremes with planks isn't the point.

Since starting 5:2, I discovered that planks are extremely useful in two different ways. We'll ignore the first one for now.

The second, and more important 5:2 related point here is as a belief-inducing mechanism where you demonstrate to your brain that a bit of added effort - those last few seconds in a plank, or say, extending the run portion a bit longer before a walk break - won't cause any harm. How? Each time you push the envelope a little bit beyond your current expectations, your brain recognizes that it accomplished something that seemed risky and guess what? You survived it. So it moves its limits a bit farther out for next time. Little nudges like these accumulate.

Your brain always endeavors to keep you safe, unless of course some saber-tooth tiger on his feast day actually does jump out from the bushes (or your kitchen) looking for his next pudgy, slow-person snack. At that point you'll suddenly have access to energies far greater than you thought possible. So where did that energy come from? Weren't you dead-tired and ready to drop just a moment ago? Your body has capabilities that your brain holds in reserve.

Don't we always feel seriously out of breath nearing the end of the run portion of a run/walk sequence? Want to prove to yourself beyond a shadow of a doubt that you had breathing reserve that you weren't using? The next time you're out of breath and feel as though you might faint, I want you stop and check your heart rate. That's right. Put a finger on a wrist or along the side of your throat and count heart beats for 10 seconds. Now multiply by 6. Sorry, but the result you obtained, while interesting, is unimportant here - another subterfuge. What did you do while you were counting? You held your breath so that you could actually feel your pulse in order to count it! How did you do that when mere moments ago you weren't completely sure you'd even get another breath?

So, to make my now much delayed point: just like another dusty thread - couch-to-5K, planks are a simple teaching mechanism that prove you can tap reserves that you currently can't imagine.

So that's why I suggested that we resurrect the plank thread. That's why I suggest the mental misdirection trick when doing planks. And that's why I further suggest adding 5 more seconds to your current plank time target (or say, 60 seconds more during a run) at the very end when you're ready to drop. Yes it can be momentarily miserable, but you'll reveal something amazing about your own preconceived limits when you do it.

So. Back to fasting. You're starving and can't wait one more minute to eat that sugary mid-morning snack on your fast day? Sure you can - try 60 seconds. Now add 5 more seconds like you did in the plank earlier today. Did you survive? I dare you to go for 5 more minutes.

Pssst! Hey. Don't you have something much more important to do this morning than stopwatch your grouchy stomach? Go do that and leave the munchies alone.

[wildmissus]

@carieoates, that is interesting, I suppose many exercises are the same - you must get your positioning correct otherwise you could no yourself a mischief. I can understand damaging the neck as the vertebrae must be in alignment and it would be so easy to drop your head when it starts getting difficult but I'm not so sure how we could damage our ribs. Thankfully I have been doing pilates for 4 or 5 years so I am able to focus on the quality of my position. On that note do you know how to do a squat correctly? Does your bum stick out when you go down or do you tuck you tail bone under, are you knees over your feet or should the be at right angles?

@ADFnFuel, I hadn't likened doing the plank with 5:2ing before, that is really useful. I have fine tuned my plank position and when the burn starts it is my core that hurts not my back or shoulders or legs so adding that extra 5 seconds on will certainly help my core and my mental attitude and every time I want to eat on a fast day I can visualise myself doing the plank and all the good I will be doing to my belly by just waiting a bit longer!

[carieoates]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/artic ... asses.html

Whoops sorry it was the daily fail. Still a very interesting article though.

Hello people,
This was actually the thread that got me started on the Plank challenge. I have been doing it very occasionally ever since and can do 2 minutes!!! The occasional reason is that I go to the gym with my neighbour lady, and it is hard for us to fit our schedules together. I had some stomach exercises (curl ups) that always gave me a sore neck. I replaced them with the plank exercise, and my neck is fine. If my neighbour and I have a longer break, I start down lower again, hence I am at the 2 minutes line now.
I also totally agree with the distraction-principle. I always try and engage my friend in conversation when doing the plank, and that makes the seconds go by so much easier.

[wildmissus]

@Margotsylvia, respect 2 mins is a long time.

@carieoates, thanks for the link. Very early on in the article I noticed that she commented that your back begins to ache and sag and gravity takes over - I immediately thought she's not doing it right as she hasn't engaged her core muscles. She also admits to have been treated for acute shoulder pain and a back injury from lifting too many weights in the gym.

For me a challenge is good as you can get stuck in a rut doing the same thing all the time but it is not a race. I still think that if done properly (making sure your spin is in alignment and every part of your body is 'long', you're breathing properly, etc.) and you are not doing it with an injured or previously injured body then is should be safe. I always know when I am doing an exercise properly because I can't do if for very long. The plank is good for me because I have had 2 c-sections and don't have much connection in my lower abdominal muscles but I can feel them in a plank.

I'm going to keep doing the plank with care every couple of days but I can only hold it for about 20 seconds.

Never did any planking, got curious after reading this topic and tried one today. 2 minutes was not really a problem (perhaps because there is not much weight 'pulling down my body'?). Will try some more the next days and see if there is any change.
Happy planking

I stopped planking after I had that problem with sciatica. I'm not sure what caused it, but sometimes I would feel a twinge in my back when I did the plank, so it seemed best to stop. Anyway… I've not had a problem for awhile, so I just tried one: 1 minute was all I could do! The upside is that my physical therapist suggested multiple shorter planks rather than trying to hold it for a crazy long time. I guess you're more likely to keep good form that way.