one hour plank

Screw Winter

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My last three vacations were born out of Tate desire to chase waves.  Not that I’m complaining one bit, his love of surfing has taken us to gorgeous beaches around the world (including living in Peru for a year!).  The latest was Puerto Rico, which he’d had his eyes on for years.  Tate, two friends, and I spent a glorious week escaping from winter.

Puerto Rico is totally unique.  Technically it’s The United States but it has the unique distinction of also being part of Latin America.  It feels more similar to Central and South America than the “mainland” U.S except you don’t need a passport to travel there and everyone we encountered was bilingual.  In fact, I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to use my (pretty pathetic) Spanish at all.

The island is pretty small, roughly 100 miles by 35 miles, and an awesome mix of forest and beach. It is very accessible from the East coast, our tickets were $300 from Richmond, Virginia and it only took 5.5 hours airport to airport.

We rented a condo on the beach not far from the town of Isabela and spent our days surfing, running, snorkeling, lounging, and exploring the area.

It’s back to the grind now but the awesome memories will last, unlike my tan. 🙂

Plank time!  Check out Monday’s post to catch up on my February plank challenge (ONE HOUR OF PLANKING!) and check out the Gracefulfitness Facebook page to see how today’s workout breaks down and for video of today’s plank of the day.

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?!