FIFTEENTH DAY OF PLANKING! Wahoo! Getting better? Added time? Where you at?
Here is where we talked about the month of planking every day: A Few Seconds CAN Make A Difference
Archive for the ‘Exercise and Working Out’ Category
Plankety, Plank, Plank
Posted by terrepruitt on March 15, 2013
Posted in Planking | Tagged: A Few Seconds CAN Make A Difference, month of planking, planking | 3 Comments »
You Planker, You
Posted by terrepruitt on March 14, 2013
Hey, it is Thursday, March 14, 2013! It is our fourteenth day of planking! So glad you are still here doing our plank challenge.
I’m going to get my plank in before I teach Nia tonight!
Tell me how it is going for you?
Posted in Planking | Tagged: Nia, Nia at night, plank challenge, planking | 3 Comments »
Day Thirteen Of Plank A Day For A Month Challenge
Posted by terrepruitt on March 13, 2013
So here it is Wednesday. For many it is the middle of the work week. It is not quite the middle of our month of planking a day. Keep up the good work. You can do it!
Have you added more time? Adding time does not have to be in any specific increments. It could be even just a second more.
Posted in Planking | Tagged: day thriteen, month of planking a day, Plank A Day For A Month Challenge | 3 Comments »
Review The Plank Form
Posted by terrepruitt on March 12, 2013
Let’s do a little form check on our planks. We are doing our month of daily planks (and beyond?) on our elbows/forearms. Let’s review how we are doing them.
–Rest on elbows and forearms
–Upper arm bones come straight down, so elbows should be directly under the shoulders
–Elbows are shoulder width apart, elbows are directly under the shoulders
–Shoulder blades are pulled down (putting them in your back pockets)
–Face is facing down, eyes looking at the earth (assisting with proper head alignment)
–Head is in line with shoulders, hips, knees, and feet
–The entire spine is straight
–Hips are not bowing up or sagging down (part of the “alignment” is that they are doing neither)
–Muscles are squeezing and active; abdominals, glutes, qudriceps
–Rest on the toes, heels off the ground
–Feet are in open stance, which is hip JOINT width apart*
*As with many exercises there are variations and modifications, but for this plank challenge we are keeping our feet in open stance. (For an “open stance” reminder, click here) With the feet in open stance it encourages the hips to stay in alignment. Also in open stance your bones are in alignment with your joints.
Try doing the plank with your feet apart (like in “A” stance) and you might notice how much “easier” it is for the hips to start to sag down.
If you are still learning and really want to focus on form, doing the plank on your knees is always another option. If you are doing the plank on your knees the stance is the same. The knees are straight out from your hip joints just as if you were standing in open stance. Your feet are also in “open stance”.
Be very conscious of your arm bones. You want to make certain they are perpendicular to the floor. Don’t allow your toes to push you forward. Check to see that your shoulders are directly over your elbows. An idea that might help with this is to press back with your heels. Your heels are in the air but imagine the bottoms of your heels are reaching out to press against something. This also helps with activating your thigh muscles, while on your toes. If you are doing the modified plank on your knees you can still press with your heels you just would not be using your thigh muscles to help.
As with all exercise remember to breathe. How you breathe is up to you, if panting helps you, then pant, if slow inhales and fast exhales help you, then do that. Breathe however it is best for you, but don’t hold your breath. Your muscles need oxygen so give it to them.
Remember to keep your form every time and through out the duration of your plank. If your form starts to “suffer” then stop. No use doing a minute of “planking” if your bum is high in the air or your hips are on the ground. Let’s make sure we are doing quality over quantity. So every time you plank, review your form!
Do you have any questions? Is this clear for you?
Posted in Exercise and Working Out, Planking | Tagged: A Stance, abdominal muscles, glutes, hip joints, month of planks, open stance, plank, plank challenge, plank modifications, plank variations, planking, Quadriceps, thigh muscles | Leave a Comment »
Day Twelve Of Plank A Day For A Month Challenge
Posted by terrepruitt on March 12, 2013
So how are you doing? I just mean in general? This is the week where we might actually feel like we lost an hour of time. I actually think I feel it the second week after . . . . but I have a different schedule than many. The time might have changed, but keep up your planking!
Remember to check your form!
How are you feeling about your planking challenge?
Posted in Planking | Tagged: plank a day challenge, plank challenge, plank form, time change | 3 Comments »
Plank ‘O Day
Posted by terrepruitt on March 11, 2013
Plank day number eleven. So here we are on our eleventh day of planking. Might be a difficult day to do anything because of that oh-so-precious hour we lost on Sunday. So sad. Not only do we lose an hour, but I believe our body just gets messed up having to adjust to everything being an hour off. I know it messes with my cat’s schedule.
Animals don’t look at clocks they have a rhythm and when we are forced to change the time it messes up their rhythm. Well, hopefully you can keep your plank going . . . . . .
How are you doing? Have you added more time?
Posted in Planking | Tagged: day eleven of planking, plank a day, plank challenge, time change | 3 Comments »
Ninth Day Of Our Month Of Planking
Posted by terrepruitt on March 9, 2013
Saturday and our ninth day of planking. The nice thing about this challenge is even if it is your “rest” day in your workout schedule you can still get in some planking time!
I have another idea on how to time yourself. Once you feel you have good form, your body is aligned properly, you can use a stopwatch type of timer. I have one on my iPhone. I would imagine other phones have something like it. I know there are a lot of apps for timers. Get into your plank position and then press start on the timer. Check your form, get comfortable, settle in and then look at your timer. I bet by the time you look at the stopwatch you will have already done the time you think you can do. Then if you want you can hold it for a few seconds more.
This is a way for you to find out how long you really can do it. Then you can add accordingly.
Also remember there might be days where the duration is less than normal. It is ok to have a day that is a bit off. Just get back to it the next day!
Whatever way you choose to time yourself is great. This is just another way to do it!
How is your planking going?
Posted in Planking | Tagged: app timers, iphone, month of planking, plank, planking, planking challenge, planking time, stopwatch, workout, workout schedule | 5 Comments »
Plank It, Plank It Good! (Day Eight)
Posted by terrepruitt on March 8, 2013
So, even though we eventually want to add time to the duration of our plank, we also want to make certain that our plank is “good”. So before you add on some time, make certain that you are in proper form. As I mentioned before, a mirror would be helpful. If you don’t have a mirror maybe you have a camera with a timer and you can set it up to take a picture of you while you are planking so you can see the position of your body. Or if you have an iPad you can set it up so the camera is on you while you are looking at the display. Or if you have someone that can take a picture for you, do that. I would strongly recommend YOU looking at you as opposed to you asking someone, “Hey, how do I look?” or “Am I in alignment?” When you ask someone they might not really know what you mean by “straight” or “in alignment” so they might say yes and you aren’t. Or, they might say no but you really believe you are so you don’t really think they know what they are talking about. Or a hundred other possibilities.
I am not sure if I’ve shared this before, but once I was working with a trainer and she told me to bring my foot straight back. And I did. I did the exercise again and she told me to try to bring my foot straight back next time. So I did the exercise again, and she said, bring your foot straight back. Every time I brought my foot back I THOUGHT I was going straight back. Finally I just asked her to move my foot to where “straight back” actually was. I stopped and sensed the difference and said, “Oh.” I was really off. But I didn’t realize it. I thought I was going straight back. So you might think you are in alignment so it really helps to be able to SEE for YOURSELF. That way you can also figure out how much of an adjustment you need. Maybe your hips are sagging so you need to move them up. Maybe your hips are too high. Whatever it is YOU can see with your own eyes and then use your body sense to adjust!
So . . . are you? Are you planking it? Are you planking it good?
Posted in Planking | Tagged: body in alignment, duration of the plank, plank, plank challenge, plank exercise, trainger | 3 Comments »
Seventh Day Of Our Month Of Planking
Posted by terrepruitt on March 7, 2013
Here we are day seven of our month of planking. Are you finding that your muscle endurance is greater now? Depending on how you are doing it, you might have two more days until you add time. I will be adding 10 seconds on Sunday. During the week I added five, so Sunday I am going to add 10.
I am also going to get my mirror out before I add time on to check myself.
How about you?
Posted in Planking | Tagged: month of planking, muscle endurance, plank, planking | 3 Comments »
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