whoa! i needed to lose 8 lbs in just under 2 weeks. i don't think that's gonna happen. just start again....i don't know. are you doing other abs exercises?

impress! let's see how i breath when i get there. :p:

OK I have decided the plank challenge is hard because it's boring and takes so much effort to remember, find time, find space..... and then is all over. The preparation is just too much faff! That's my excuse of the day. And I'm not lazy -I went to a 30 minutes Abs class and swam a half mile including my ?4th fastest timed 400y ....but I forgot the plank.

Day 22, 3:00

Wow, three minutes sounds absurdly long. Did you start using a book on the floor in front of you, like you planned? Do you feel like it's more abdominal muscles, or leg muscles, that are getting stronger?

It's all in the abdomen. And I do it in the morning listening to radio news. I really focus on the news stories.

It sucks.

But I feel a sense of accomplishment because I really was a weakling when I started.

Wow! I'm shaking at one minute 30 seconds. You're right about concentrating hard on something else. Personally I listen to music.

3.5 minutes.

I keep expecting to not be able to move up to the next level, because the previous one was so hard, but so far it's working.

The last minute is excruciating though. Feeling it in my whole body now.

I got yesterday off, and today is day 27.

I planked for 4 minutes this morning. The first 2 minutes were easy. The third minute was a challenge. And that fourth minute was ridiculous. My form suffered immensely as I got closer to the end. I kept sticking my butt in the air, sagging here and there, trembling, etc. Not pretty. But I did it.

I've got three days left of this challenge. I don't see how I can add another minute in three days. But I'll keep trying.

My abs are noticeably firmer.

Yay! Needless to say, I fell off the bandwagon. Maybe I should just go for the floor next time I try ;)

Wow! Way to go, Glatt! :thumb2:

That's really impressive. Glatt is the planking master!

Plankmaster Glatt and the Cellar Wannabes

I did 45s today so restarting at day 7 which will take me to Chistmas

Gotta do 2min today after a couple screwups.

Day 28. 4 minutes.

I focused on form more this time, and went to 4:10, just to see if I could. I think I can probably do 4:30 tomorrow, but 5:00 the next day seems impossible right now.

Alright, the peer pressure has gotten to me. I did 30 seconds tonight, before I went back and checked the chart and saw I was actually supposed to start with 20. We'll see if I can remember tomorrow...

eeek! after one rest day, i forgot to do my plank. Gonna do it now before heading to bed.

Note here so I won't forget where I am: Day 20 - 2.5 minutes

I attempted 4:30 this morning, but only got 3:30. I was tired and had no energy.

I'll give it a shot this evening before dinner.

One way or another, tomorrow is my last day of the challenge. I'll probably wind up continuing to do 3:00 or so a day after this. Don't want to slide backward. Or maybe I'll mix it up and try holding a pushup pose to work my pecs too.

I skimmed and mis-read "holding a push-up pose at work".

On top of my desk!

Tried again. 2:30.

I think I've mentally checked out of this challenge.

Tomorrow I shoot for 5:00. Wish me luck.

Good luck, Glatt! Maybe your muscles need to recuperate to strengthen. You could roll back a few days to work up to 5 minutes. :)

This morning I've only managed to plank for 1.5 minutes rather than 2.5 mins. It could be that I just did the ab workout that stressed out my arms and shoulders (plank style exercises). I'll try again tonight. If I still can't make it, I'll roll back to day 14 to build up my strength again.

My plank challenge is OVER!

I didn't reach 5 minutes today. I just haven't been motivated the last two days. I got 3:30. I could have gone longer, but just gave up because I didn't see the point. I knew I couldn't reach 5:00 without a herculean effort.

Still, I'm happy with how I did during the challenge. My longest was 4:10. And starting tomorrow, I'm going to plank every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 6am when my wife gets up to go for a morning jog with the neighbor. I'm going to start by doing some push ups and then rest on my elbows in a plank that I'll hold for 2:00. That's the plan anyway. I may modify it if it feels too easy. I suck at pushups, so I'll try working my way up to doing a bunch.

I've gotten too weak over the years. I don't care about body building and looks, but I want to have some strength. Especially core strength.

I went ahead and bumped up to 45 seconds last night, because I didn't want to arbitrarily stick to the schedule when I knew I could do more. 45 was surprisingly harder than 30, although maybe that's only because I was still subtly recovering from the first night. I have to say, though, I greatly prefer the planking position to sit ups, which have always hurt my back and neck. (Probably because I'm doing them with poor form, but regardless, I like "holding" exercises better than "doing" exercises.)

My kids saw me and wanted to try it--they did two rounds, Minifobette for 15 seconds each time, and Minifob for 20. I was pretty impressed.

Glatt, new user title: What A Plank

I don't plank any more, but I've been doing crunches until I can't do any more (40-50), push ups (about 20), squats (about 15), and I've been doing really slow curls (15 or 20) of 15lbs.

I'm not trying to hit any particular number, just doing some basic strength exercises in a few minute's worth of time.

Then I stretch, which feels wonderful.

During my lunch break at work, I'm walking a brisk walk through residential neighborhoods near my building. Anywhere from 2.5 miles to 4 miles. Depending on how much time I have. The cold weather is great because I don't break a sweat. Not sure what I'll do come summer.

That's my routine these days.

Bravo!