How long can you plank for?

Not Willy waving, as my times are by no way impressive.

Normally do a minute no probs, 90 secs has me struggling and on the rare occasion I’ve done 2 mins, I wanted to die.

I’ve been a plank all my life. So, 31 years.

I managed a whole minute at circuit class today 😀

I shocked myself…

so your body fat is 10% you’re over 6ft, 12 st and “lean with good muscle – quote from other thread” and you can plank for 90 seconds? That doesn’t add up man, AT ALL. lol I’ve seen chubby people at the gym who are 14st plank longer than that. I’m publicly calling BS on you.

My record is 5 and a half minute front, 2.5 side. Gym record is 7 minutes odd.

🙂

People can be strong in different ways. About 4 minutes last time I tried, don’t do that much though.

I came first, third and ninth in my last **** competition…………oh wait, you said planking 😳

so your body fat is 10% you’re over 6ft, 12 st and “lean with good muscle – quote from other thread” and you can plank for 90 seconds? That doesn’t add up man, AT ALL. lol I’ve seen chubby people at the gym who are 14st plank longer than that. I’m publicly calling BS on you.

And which bit is BS exactly?

My eldest (17) does a “circuit” of planking (elbows, side, reverse, side) and he’s doing 5mins of each pretty regularly now.

*so as his father I’m going to claim this is genetic and although I’ve not done it for many years I Know I could beat him easily. 😀

14st is chubby nowerdays?!

Be still, my beating heart.

Bregante – just watch that your boy isnt developing too good a core and lining himself up for a load of back problems in the future.

TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR’s description of his abilities doesnt surpise me. It would seem pretty normal for someone of that build.

As for fatties doing it for a lot longer – that depends entirely on the technique they are using. Different techniques use different muscles. For instance looking at your toes makes that plank a lot harder than looking at the wall in front of you.

Oh, and np – I’m not over 6′ and I’m 11.5st. Get it right if you’re gonna slag me off 😉

so your body fat is 10% you’re over 6ft, 12 st and “lean with good muscle – quote from other thread” and you can plank for 90 seconds? That doesn’t add up man, AT ALL. lol I’ve seen chubby people at the gym who are 14st plank longer than that. I’m publicly calling BS on you.

Perhaps, but I’d say that isn’t the norm (although theres no reason a fat man can’t have a stong core). But when I was hammering the gym a few years ago I got my Body Fat down to about 8%, was in pretty good shape, and could plank for about 2-2.5 min tops.

Incidently if a fat man can do it for 4 minutes, how long can you do it for?

2m 10s. world record is 1 hour 20 minutes and 5s

At my gym (Core Cambridge) we do three sets of 1m front then 30secs each side with a minute rest in between sets.

1h 20m 4s

Back when I used to circuit train I got the the point where the plank was a welcome respite from the other excercise…

The instructors noticed and made me ‘lizard’ plank, where you lift opposite arms and legs….

Now, probably about 2 minutes, at most..

Oh, and np – I’m not over 6′ and I’m 11.5st. Get it right if you’re gonna slag me off

Ok brah’.

And which bit is BS exactly?

You tell me, but i’ve known alot of people who actually have a similar build to what you describe, and for someone who works out, a 60 second plank is nothing.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t train your core all the time, but as focused as you may think your training is, most exercises rely on core strength to get any sort of decent technique so I just find it to be at odds which how you described yourself as being so ripped lol.

My max was about 3.5 to 4 minutes.

Wow, you hear something new everyday! I’m 56 & I haven’t a clue what your’e on about!
As you may be able to tell, I don’t go to the gym, but know loads who do & I’ve never heard the term ‘planking’

Wall plank is where it’s at. Get into plank position with your feet about knee height on a wall, alternate bringing each knee to you chest.

Well, it is what it is nukeproof – just for the record, I can’t stand bullshitters and on that note, I don’t do it myself – I see no purpose in it.

Maybe I’m not trying hard enough with the plank – will try harder. Don’t make me post a picture 😉

I’ve started doing one with the wall straps, so in a plank position, but with my feet at shoulder height – I then bring my knees forward – sometimes straight, sometimes pushing my knees out to the left, then the right. That hurts after a few.

Go on post a picture, I know you want to lol 😉 I reckon a lot of people quit before their body actually gives out which means they probably aren’t going as long as they could with some mental aggression haha. Maybe thats what it is.

Nae point in doing a plank with your feet up at shoulder height. That’s about as appropriate as doing a headstand.

Never timed myself, but I can go on for a fair few minutes. It’s just one of those things that suits a shortarse like me – whereas, I can do about 3 pull-ups before dying a little. 🙂

I think with the plank, it’s as much a test of mental strength as physical sometimes.

Not blowing any trumpets. I’m just good at it, but shit at other things.

Oh, pl…

Dunno. Minute and a half?

A trainer from running club suggested we try 2x 2min with a minute off, so we did. I’ve no idea what I could build up to. Up to a point it seems a lot about how pig-headed you are, how good you are at distracting yourself from the unpleasantness. I guess you could say the same for a lot of exercise.

That ‘Lizard’ thing is good.
You do 10 secs plank then 10 secs with right hand off the floor, 10 secs with left hand off the floor, 10 secs with right foot off the floor, 10 secs with left foot off the floor, then 10 secs with right hand, left leg off, 10 secs alternate arm and leg, then 10 secs normal plank to finish.

It hurts, but a real sense of satisfaction and more interesting to do iMO

Just tried this out of curiosity – not something I generally do and I feel my core isn’t all that strong but maybe it’s more that I lack flexibility and am also aware it could be stronger. Anyway, 4.5 minutes but it got quite uncomfortable holding it for that long…

Interestingly, my ‘static’ strength is rubbish! I can sit up and ‘curl’ all day long, but get me to hold a static pose and I fatigue and tremble like a jelly!!!!
I did research into fatiguability, so on a ‘muscle fibre’ level I know what’s going on- still can’t change that though!!

DrP

Interestingly, my ‘static’ strength is rubbish! I can sit up and ‘curl’ all day long, but get me to hold a static pose and I fatigue and tremble like a jelly!!!!

Situps, etc are completely pointless when it comes to core strength, if you consider what the core muscles actually need to do. In contrast planks are a great and “functional” exercise.

anyone who can plank for >4 or 5 mins should be taking it to the next level; gymnastics holds like planches or feats of strength like human flags!

Nae point in doing a plank with your feet up at shoulder height. That’s about as appropriate as doing a headstand.

I did mean horizontal shoulder height when in position, so whole body and legs horizontal I.e feet in straps about a foot off the ground

glupton1976 – Member

Bregante – just watch that your boy isnt developing too good a core and lining himself up for a load of back problems in the future.

That may explain why my back is shot 😕 . Started leg raises about a year or so ago to try to firm the abs a bit and I’ve really noticed a difference in core strength on the bike. A month or so ago I hurt my back lifting my bike over the railings at work so figured planking may help strengthen my back muscles. Worked up to a minute and was doing great until last week when my back went again wrestling the singlespeed uphill 🙁 – I’m now a blinkin’ wreck. Any recommendations for abs/lower back exercises which aren’t gong to leave my old bones vulnerable?

1 minute 20. 6’2″ and approx 11.5 stone, do no training whatsoever though.

planks are so 2009. Hanging leg raises are where its at. I can do half of one.

Coincidentally I do a little routine every night and decided to up my times (normally do 90 seconds of each) after reading this thread. My findings are that 2 minutes of –

Bridge – easy, could probably do 5 minutes
Plank – tough-ish, could do maybe another minute if push came to shove
Side-plank – Oh yes, i’m going to need to work on these to go beyond 2 minutes but could maybe achieve another 15 – 30 seconds…maybe

Just tried it.

Context: 2.5st overweight. Haven’t ridden a bike in anger for over 12 months. Haven’t done any other meaningful exercise for even longer. Don’t go to the gym.

Time: 60 seconds.

Feedback: am in pain.

Wow. I need to man up. 1min and I shake like the Kyoto earthquake

My max was about 3.5 to 4 minutes.

AWESOME

The end section of this is pretty hard once you’ve done the first bit, I’m using this routine among other yoga techniques to address my core and flexibility. It’s a nice vid to plank to 😉

I think my last timed front plank was about 1:30. OP are you talking elbows or top of press up?