Fitness test. Checking your physical fitness by the plank

It’s hard to think of a more accessible and effective exercise than the plank. All you need to perform it is a flat surface, your own weight and endurance. If you perform it systematically, the result will not take long: the muscles of the back and upper shoulder girdle will get stronger, abs, hips and even buttocks will be strengthened.

At first glance, it may seem that the plank is a fairly simple component of a complex workout and it is easy to perform it correctly. But there are a number of common mistakes that can make your workout at least useless and at most injurious. Therefore, to achieve the greatest productivity and prevent complications, you must first understand how to do the static exercise competently.

The classic technique of execution

1. Position the shoulders over the elbows (plank on the forearms) or hands (on straight arms).
2. Make sure your whole body is straight: straighten your legs and keep your lower back. Avoid arching your lower back, dropping your shoulder blades, and lifting your pelvis upward.
3. Lower your gaze downward. Keep your head down so as not to overload the cervical spine.
4. Maintain a strong tension throughout your body. Squeeze your buttocks, tense your abdomen and tuck your pelvis forward.

How long do I need to hold it?

Plank for beginners

If you’ve just started training, the most optimal time in the plank is 30 seconds. But before going to the numbers, remember that the main thing is not the time, but the correctness of execution. Therefore, if you feel that already at the 20th second your body relaxes and there are gaps in technique, rest and prepare for the next approach.

The goal for beginner workouts is four approaches of 30 seconds each. Once you feel that you are performing such a task with ease, increase the time of each approach by a few seconds.

Plank for the advanced

There are studies from which it can be concluded that two minutes in the plank is considered a good and optimal result for training. This time shows that the bark muscles are in excellent shape.

For example, at Linfield College in Oregon, an experiment was conducted with the participation of 168 students, among whom there were both boys and girls. The study found that students held the bar for an average of 1 minute and 46 seconds, while female students held the bar for 1 minute and 30 seconds.

In addition, Dr. Stuart McGill, professor of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo in Canada, also states that for advanced training, two minutes in the bar per approach will be enough. According to the expert, if you can’t accomplish the task at hand, the reason is either poor technique or excess weight. Both verdicts only mean that you have something to pay close attention to and work on.

Record-breaking plank

When you achieve a 2-minute result, it is recommended to increase not the time but the complexity of the technique. For example, perform the plank on one arm or with a raised leg, add weights or dynamics. Increasing the time is advisable only if you aim to break your personal record.

By the way, the current world record among men belongs to an athlete from China Mao Weidong. In 2016, he was able to hold the bar for 8 hours and 1 minute in a confrontation with George Wood, who set a personal record of 7 hours and 4 minutes. And this year, a new women’s achievement was recorded – Canadian Dana Glowacka held the position for 4 hours and 20 minutes. She was able to surpass Maria Calimera’s record, which was the highest from 2015 to 2019, by 49 minutes.