Plank time
(Disclaimer: I realize that this is not perfect plank form. my shoulders are too arched. This is better than letting your spine sink down and get strained, but it also shows me that it’s good to have your partner take a photo of your planks every once in a while!)
Last year when I started physical therapy for my back pain I said that I liked yoga and tried to never do anything that hurt my back, like planks. My therapist said I SHOULD be doing planks though - just with more core/glute engagement to take the strain off my back. And maybe that was my problem- weak core leads to unsupported back muscles leads to back pain.
So we did some planks where I’d have my knees down and I practiced full planks but only for a few seconds.
I spent last year doing lots of exercises to build up strength. I learned what position I could hold on strained my back, and then planks in classes were not a challenge.
I’m in some fitness groups were people would mention holding a plank for a minute or two. seem like a cool idea, but I could barely hold a plank for 30 seconds. I tried to go as long as I could and made it 45. I’ve read about a five minute plank challenge! What? Impossible! But I got to thinking, what if I really tried to build up to something like that? So that begin my plank New Year’s resolution.
Five minutes is 300 seconds. There are 365 days in a year. So what if I just added a second on every single day in 2021? Even if I had to take a month to level off, I'd make it.
I used a habit tracker app on my phone to time myself and try to hold a plank for five minutes a day. Not five consecutive minutes, but throughout January I would hold a plank for about 30 seconds, several times a day, for a grand total of 3-5 minutes.
I figure if I add on a second every day, I’ll be at 300 by the end of the year maybe?
In February I started adding on the seconds and guess what? I can now hold a plank for longer than 45! 52, in fact! On February 1, I tried to hold my plank for 31 seconds. February 2, 32 seconds.
Without feeling bad, I am passed my 45 second record already :)
Not every plank I do is 50+ seconds - I still do a lot of 10-30 second ones throughout the day to just add minutes. But every day I am adding that second.
See you at a minute! If this goes well, every month of the year I'll be at month * 30 seconds... march = 90 seconds, april = 2 minutes. Is this going to give me all the strength I need? Make me magically fit? Even be good? Maybe not! But I know I'm below average now, so let's see what happens, worst case I'll at least get to normal!