Pilates

One Hour Plank

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I am going to plank for an hour this month.

Sounds ambitious, eh?

It is.  But not really.

Here’s how it’s going to breakdown; 5 minutes three times a week for four weeks. Voila! An hour of planking.

Still sounds a little ambitious to me but I’ve made it attainable by breaking up the five minutes into accessible-t0-me 30-90 second increments.

Plank challenges are far from a new idea, I’m well aware I’m really just jumping on the bandwagon and adding my own twist.  There’s a reason for this though, planks are one of the all-time best full body exercises possible.  They work your entire body, are low impact, easily modified or made more difficult, and require no equipment (not even shoes, or clothes for that matter!).

Form is paramount in performing a plank.

How to perform a plank

  1. My plank mantra is to “lift everything but the butt!”  Do not let any part of your body sink towards the floor or give in to gravity.  Lift your chest, lift your abs (and then lift them more!), lift your thighs, and lift your knees. 
  2. Have big hands. Spread your fingers wide and distribute the weight through every part of your hand, not just your fingers or the base of your wrists.
  3. Stack your hands under your shoulders.  A common mistake is to have your hands to far forward, putting unnecessary stress on your shoulders and making it harder to maintain proper form. You want your arms to create a vertical line from your hands to your shoulders, no diagonals.

So, wanna plank with me?  I’ll be posting my plank sequence of the day on my Facebook page every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this month.  Each workout will be broken down into 30-90 second increments and will feature a different signature plank variation.

Even if you aren’t able to perform the entire five minutes I encourage you to give it a try anyway (you could start by cutting my suggested times in half for instance).  Modifications and adjustments more than welcome, this is a super inclusive plank plan rather than exclusive and I am all about working at a challenging level for you.

Day 1 One Hour Plank Challenge

60 seconds hold high plank

rest

30 seconds alternating side tap in high plank (step one foot then the other wide then back to hip distance; out, out, in, in) Here’s a video of it posted on the Gracefulfitness Facebook page!

rest

60 seconds hold low plank

rest

30 seconds alternating side tap in low plank

rest

30 second hold high plank

30 second alternating side tap in high plank

rest

30 second hold low plank

30 second alternating side tap in low plank

Rest long enough between each set to come back strong and with good form, maybe even break the workout into two sessions (like morning and night)

Form reminders-for the signature plank go slow and controlled and aim for little or no twisting, lifting, or wiggling through the hips and spine.

Modification ideas-break each minute up into 2 sets of 30 seconds, gently rest your knees on the floor for the held planks (keeping your abs engaged), cut each round in half and perform 2.5 minutes of plank instead of 5.

I’ll be posting my plank workouts, including videos of the plank of the day, on the Gracefulfitness Facebook page if you want to plank along with me.

What’s your favorite plank variation?!

 

 

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Check-in

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Two weeks ago I set out on a “Birthday Challenge” and it’s time to check-in with how it’s been going.

To recap, my challenge is this,

April 1-may 12 I will

Run 64 miles
Practice yoga 16 times
Do 16 Pilates workouts 
Meditate 32 minutes a week (this is going to be the hardest to achieve but I need it)

Funny thing about the meditation part.  I wrote 32 minutes a week in the post but somehow got stuck on the idea of 32 minutes TOTAL over the entire 6 weeks.  Subconscious resistance to meditating? No way. 😉

I have been meditating-and loving it-just not quite 32 minutes a week.  My body and mind have started to crave the quiet time and although it’s a huge challenge to be still, physically and mentally, I’m excited by the prospect it holds.  At first I caught myself labeling my mediation time as either ‘successful’ or not and quickly realized how unnecessary and unhelpful that is.  Yes, sometimes I find it almost impossible not to day-dream or make a grocery list as I sit but still, I sit and do the work and will count that as sucess.   Both weeks I ended up sitting for 13 minutes total per week.

I’ve been sore!  I’m finding it a little hard to recognize and respect where my body is at right now.  I’m not that out of shape and it’s coming back quickly but I am still finding it challenging to remind myself that it’s fine if I want to walk after only running a mile or that it’s cool if all the other runners pass me on the trail.  The goal is to push myself within my current limits, not to be the fastest or the most hardcore athlete out there.

Over the last two weeks I’ve run 15.5 miles, practiced yoga 4 times, and done 4 Pilates workouts, as well as taught lots of classes, walked dozens of miles, and ridden my bike a time or two.  I am feeling stronger, calmer, more flexible, and a little leaner than I was on April 1st so I would say I’m right on track!  I will bump up the intensity of my workouts a little as the weeks progress and my body adapts to the challenges I give it.

Do you get motivated to move in the Spring?  Do you notice that your workouts change depending on the season?  Spring and Fall are definitely my favorite running seasons, both because of the weather and because the scenery is beautiful and changing rapidly.