The plank...

Discussion in 'Health and Fitness' started by bodyshot, Aug 12, 2013.

  1. Hive

    Hive Valued Member

    At home I struggle with 1 minute 30 seconds. At class I've got the instructor going off in my ear so somehow I manage 2 minutes.
     
  2. m1k3jobs

    m1k3jobs Dudeist Priest

    Doesn't bo mean staff?
     
  3. Princess Haru

    Princess Haru Valued Member

    ^ well I suppose in bujinkan you have bo, jo and hanbo and they're all staffs or sticks or something :)

    ...and just out of curiosity I tried some planks earlier 3 x 90 seconds. it was more challenge than I thought, think I could do longer but would prefer someone else to keep the time and give encouragement on targets
     
    Last edited: Aug 14, 2013
  4. LemonSloth

    LemonSloth Laugh and grow fat!

    Essentially. It's in Ero's sig - I would ask what it's about but I fear the awesomeness of his insanity would be too much for my mortal brain to handle.

    Had a go at the plank again last night (though admittedly after 1/2 hour of bag work and 1 1/2 hours of kihon waza - fundamental techniques) and managed to go 90 seconds quite well. Felt like I could have gone for longer, but since my goal was to see if I could make it to 90 seconds after the many months it's been since it was part of my standard warm-up, I am quite happy with this.

    Now to set myself the goal of multiple reps of 90 seconds :)
     
  5. Mangosteen

    Mangosteen Hold strong not

    weighted planks and side planks
     
  6. LemonSloth

    LemonSloth Laugh and grow fat!

    Side planks screw my bad ankle up pretty bad still - but what's weighted planks?
     
  7. Mangosteen

    Mangosteen Hold strong not

    Put a plate or weight on your lower back.
    You could also elevate your legs
     
  8. pseudo

    pseudo Padawan

    Seriously, no one has posted this yet. Ha! Sorry I cant help my self.
    [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRHnTFesv7c&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRHnTFesv7c&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/ame]

    Planking is great. Did a lot of it when I did boxing
     
  9. pascalywood

    pascalywood Valued Member

    I used to have terrible back pain a few years ago, I thought the problem came from my feet but it turned out that my right leg is longer than my left one, which caused the pain. I now have a slight scoliosis that might have been caused by my longer leg.

    My point is, there might be more than meets the eye.
     
  10. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    I wrote a whole big post about progressing to side planks if they're bothering your back (it is a spine stabilizing core exercise) but then I noticed you said 'ankle.' :p

    Is it pressure at the point that's bothering you? I'm assuming its that since you don't really use the blade of your foot as an anchoring point as much as you're resting on your angle. Try putting a folded towel down to soften that point of contact maybe?

    And my sig is a repetitive dialogue of Bo Staff because I read a few pompous posts of "Bo MEANS Staff" all within a day in various threads so I thought I would make a mini trolling sig to exploit people's peeve about the issue. I used to call it a Bo Staff when I was doing Isshinryu but I acknowledge it is redundant to say Bo Staff. If my sig gets on at least one person's nerves though it's a success :D

    Boxing is a sport, not a martial art.
     
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2013
  11. Bobby Gee

    Bobby Gee Valued Member

    The Hardcore Plank

    • Pull abdominals in towards you, and pull your glutes in downward. TIGHT.
    • Contract abdominals and glutes as hard as possible.
    • Keep your feet close together and do not clasp your hands together.
    • Keep quads tight and force your hips forward and knees straight.
    • Contract your legs inward, like a adductor machine.
    • Take your elbows out above you a little further than usual, increasing difficulty.
    • Contract and pull elbows inwards together, but keep them stationary.

    I've never tried this, just some thing I found in my notes. I usually just stick to the standard plank, v-ups and ab wheel roll outs. Apart from dead lifts and squats.
     
  12. Bobby Gee

    Bobby Gee Valued Member

    Sit ups hurt my back.
     
  13. Wildlings

    Wildlings Baguette Jouster

    There are thousands of core exercises that are more effective than situps :hat: I can do dozens and dozens of situps/crunches before starting to feel discomfort - I used to do crunches in sets of 100 :bang:- but only 20-30 reps of other exercises.

    Back to plank, has anyone tried it using the tabata protocol? It starts easy, but it ends brutal :eek:
     
  14. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    How the hell do you do an isometric exercise in tabata form?
     
  15. Bobby Gee

    Bobby Gee Valued Member

    Is tabata like interval training? I've done 1km run followed by 1 min plank x3 also 400m etc. I really hate it. In a good way but it's really horrid
     
  16. Wildlings

    Wildlings Baguette Jouster

    boredom brings to this and more :D
    Ero, it's the usual 20" plank, 10'' rest :p
    But try it with max contractions, you'll see :evil:
     
  17. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    20 inch planks with 10 inches of rest :confused:



    :)D:p)

    That doesn't seem to be the best use of what tabata is meant for. That sounds like it'll be hard for about a week until you're conditioned to do it.
     
  18. Bobby Gee

    Bobby Gee Valued Member

    Ok so what is tabata?
     
  19. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    Google Fu sir!

    It's 8 rounds of high intensity exercise meant to rocket your heart rate into the "red zone" (180 bpm). Each round consists of 20 seconds of maximum intensity (preferably a full body movement like burpees) followed by 10 seconds of rest. It is great for increasing anaerobic and aerobic endurance and is an optimal method of dropping body fat. You can use the method for other exercises like pushups or in this case, planks, but you won't be getting the optimal benefits.
     
  20. Wildlings

    Wildlings Baguette Jouster

    Inches... :D bloody hell :D
    Agreed that there are better uses for tabata, but I've been doing this for a while actually, it's because I get to tense the muscles waaay harder than regular plank.
    A matter of tastes :hat:
     

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