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I scoffed at the plank as something crossfitters do, but then read Dan John's Easy Strength and one of the first things he does with his athletes before starting any weight training is checking to see if they can hold a plank for 60 seconds. I actually tried to do one and i couldn't last 10 seconds. It might be cos im fatigued from yesterdays marathon session but dunno, maybe I have a weak c0re? On one hand that sucks to find out i'm so weak somewhere, and on other hand it's grea because I like finding out about a weakness  I can now address.

Just had an idea to try them with a belt on, see if that helps. Because i was failing from my hamstrings not so much my abs now that i think about it

Speaking of abs - I have observed that my abs no longer feel sore after doing a lot of chinups or leg raises. Whenever I did over 20 reps on these, i would always make my abs sore the next day - this doesn't happen anymore. The only other thing ive changed in training is doing front squats a lot. Is it possible my abs have gotten stronger FROM front squats? That might explain it perhaps.

I tried doing overhead squats today and was surprised to find I could kinda do them. I can go pretty deep too! So seems my flexibility and mobility has improved this last few months. Man i've come a long way from the inflexible, broken guy who first came here!

Now that my ankle is better, I can start using the ab wheel too.

I'm kicking myself for not getting a DEXA when I started my cut at around 86kg. If I had known i might only be 15% bf  at 80kg and not 10%, i would have done RFL to get down to 80kg quicker instead of spending months losing those 5kg. But I don't regret anything - i wouldn't have made all the training improvements i've made if I was doing RFL.

Anyway now that I know i'm still quite overweight, im gonna make the most of it. Everything I do using my bodyweight has a strength training effect. So running, jumping, pushups, chinups, ab roll outs, planks etc all make me stronger and better, so im gonna be doing them as part of my normal training. Hell even jogging will grow my calves while burning bodyfat so im gonna do that too.

Training
850m, 10mins,  treadmill fasted (AM)
850m, 10mins treadmill (PM)
1.5km walk and shooting hoops  

How is not being able to hold a 10s plank even possible? Never met anybody that can't do it.

Are you calling me fat? I challenge you to a plank off.

Ok i reviewed my time and it was 17s -slightly more than 10 but not significantly. This was a wobbly, struggling effort. It wasn't an effortless this-is-a-waste-of-my-time-i-could-do-this-all-day type of thing. I don't think I had good form either. Is it easy for the rest of you guys to do > 1 minute?

A lot depends on the plank type.

This plank should be easy:




The plank that kellyb does at the end of this video is near impossible:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOvkwrzJTNA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOvkwrzJTNA</a>



Kellyb has some interesting things to say about abs in this article:

http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/noglutes.html

Core Stability

You'll also want to test your basic core stability.

TEST #1

PERFORM A PLANK: Get into a pushup position, then rest your forearms on the floor. Your body should form a straight line from your head to your feet (don't let your hips sag). Hold the position as long as you can. You pass if you can hold it for two minutes or longer.



You fail if you collapse before the two-minute mark, or if your hips dip at any point within that time frame.

TEST #2

PERFORM A SIDE PLANK: Turn onto your side and, keeping your body in a straight line (just as in the plank described above), rest your weight on your forearm. Hold the position as long as you can, then repeat on the other side.



You pass if you can hold the position for 90 seconds or longer.

You fail if you collapse before the time is up, or if your hips dip at any point within that time frame.

Fortunately, if you fail at either of those tests you can remedy the problem with the same exercises you used in the tests.

For the next 3-4 weeks, perform both tests 3 times per week, doing 2-3 sets of 30-second holds for each, and working up from there.

Yeah you definitely are some strong cored bastard!

Yeah it depends. You could also do a russian plank... both Bret Contreras and Pavel demonstrated that one.

Quote from: Raptor on August 28, 2012, 12:43:22 pm

Yeah it depends. You could also do a russian plank... both Bret Contreras and Pavel demonstrated that one.

Uh yea I don't have a kettle bell bro.

Quote from: Mutumbo000 on August 28, 2012, 11:16:06 am

I tried it and got over 2 minutes easy.

Ok thanks, if you've never done one before and managed 2 mins easy, then i've got some work to do. Will work up to 2 minutes over the next few wks.

I've done planks before but I havn't done them for a while. At rugby training in pre-season we'll always be doing stuff like planks and having competitions on who can hold them the longest and shit like that.

Quote from: entropy on August 28, 2012, 10:09:40 am

Ok i reviewed my time and it was 17s -slightly more than 10 but not significantly. This was a wobbly, struggling effort. It wasn't an effortless this-is-a-waste-of-my-time-i-could-do-this-all-day type of thing. I don't think I had good form either. Is it easy for the rest of you guys to do > 1 minute?

Yeah, you need to work on your core strength. I think this is something that can be progressed easily, though.

Myself, I honestly get bored just doing minute after minute of planks so I weight mine, lol. I go for around 20+ seconds that way.

Haha, mine are weighted too brah. I'm on that GOMAD, all natural loading   This is actually awesome news for me cos i wanna improve my weaknesses so I can squat better.

Many thanks all.