Planking, how often, how long?
Discussion
Picked this up and can seem to do it fairly well.
Unsure how long I should be doing each 'set' for and how often to fight the beer belly.
2mins per go gets me hurting. If I stick to that, how often should I be doing it? Twice a day? 4 times?
Is doing it for a minute with leg lifts more effective?
Will be teaming it with sum interval training on an exercise bike when I find a cheap folding one.
Your input appreciated.
Unsure how long I should be doing each 'set' for and how often to fight the beer belly.
2mins per go gets me hurting. If I stick to that, how often should I be doing it? Twice a day? 4 times?
Is doing it for a minute with leg lifts more effective?
Will be teaming it with sum interval training on an exercise bike when I find a cheap folding one.
Your input appreciated.
1 minute twice a week using 20kg weights to do straight arm tricep kickbacks to make things more interesting for a month ever. Then tried to do leg raises and found that I could do fewer than I used to be able to. So I will never do planks again unless ordered to or at gun point. f
king waste of time.
Do knee raises then full leg raises then tucked front levers then front levers. I find it difficult to believe that the easier stuff is worthwhile doing unless you have never done any core exercises whatsoever and thus have a weak core. (In which case, plank away.)
I was doing this sort of thing today:
http://youtu.be/zZEb5QZ0FhI
http://youtu.be/XJOwWbymsl8
after bouldering overhangs with lots of leg raises for 2 hours.
I would advise doing this stuff if you want to build a good core and are a beginner: http://youtu.be/4QPLLRzsqBc
It's what I did to help with climbing initially. To hit the obliques, open the legs.
![](/inc/images/censored.gif)
Do knee raises then full leg raises then tucked front levers then front levers. I find it difficult to believe that the easier stuff is worthwhile doing unless you have never done any core exercises whatsoever and thus have a weak core. (In which case, plank away.)
I was doing this sort of thing today:
http://youtu.be/zZEb5QZ0FhI
http://youtu.be/XJOwWbymsl8
after bouldering overhangs with lots of leg raises for 2 hours.
I would advise doing this stuff if you want to build a good core and are a beginner: http://youtu.be/4QPLLRzsqBc
It's what I did to help with climbing initially. To hit the obliques, open the legs.
Edited by Hoofy on Saturday 5th January 00:14
Hoofy said:
1 minute twice a week using 20kg weights to do straight arm tricep kickbacks to make things more interesting for a month ever. Then tried to do leg raises and found that I could do fewer than I used to be able to. So I will never do planks again unless ordered to or at gun point. f
king waste of time.
Do knee raises then full leg raises then tucked front levers then front levers. I find it difficult to believe that the easier stuff is worthwhile doing unless you have never done any core exercises whatsoever and thus have a weak core. (In which case, plank away.)
Planks primarily work your Rec Ab and Trans Abs. Hip Flexors are the prime mover of Leg Raises so planking will barely touch them, which explains why you lost strength.![](/inc/images/censored.gif)
Do knee raises then full leg raises then tucked front levers then front levers. I find it difficult to believe that the easier stuff is worthwhile doing unless you have never done any core exercises whatsoever and thus have a weak core. (In which case, plank away.)
Planks are a great finisher to a routine and it's possible to get ripped and solid abs doing nothing but planks, especially if you add weight, use dynamic planks, increase the biomechanical lever, vary the angle of the anchor points, vary the length of the plank etc. Variation. Muscle confusion. etc.
Leg raises primarily work the Hip Flexors. Lower abs/any part of abs, are barely touched.
btw if anyone finds planks too easy, I can show you some stuff to try on a Swiss Ball or a loose Dumbbell and you WILL find it hard.
NB: but yes, losing a beer gut is about losing fat, if it is indeed fat (how much can you physically pinch?) and not a result of a poor Lordotic or Sway Back posture or stretched Linea Alba or connected fascias.
Edited by mattikake on Saturday 5th January 02:06
mattikake said:
Planks primarily work your Rec Ab and Trans Abs. Hip Flexors are the prime mover of Leg Raises so planking will barely touch them, which explains why you lost strength.
Planks are a great finisher to a routine and it's possible to get ripped and solid abs doing nothing but planks, especially if you add weight, use dynamic planks, increase the biomechanical lever, vary the angle of the anchor points, vary the length of the plank etc. Variation. Muscle confusion. etc.
Leg raises primarily work the Hip Flexors. Lower abs/any part of abs, are barely touched.
btw if anyone finds planks too easy, I can show you some stuff to try on a Swiss Ball or a loose Dumbbell and you WILL find it hard.
Full leg raises engage the entire length of the abdominal muscle. If you don't feel it hit the upper area, then you're not going the whole way. Planks are a great finisher to a routine and it's possible to get ripped and solid abs doing nothing but planks, especially if you add weight, use dynamic planks, increase the biomechanical lever, vary the angle of the anchor points, vary the length of the plank etc. Variation. Muscle confusion. etc.
Leg raises primarily work the Hip Flexors. Lower abs/any part of abs, are barely touched.
btw if anyone finds planks too easy, I can show you some stuff to try on a Swiss Ball or a loose Dumbbell and you WILL find it hard.
Everyone says planks can be made hard - just because something is hard, it doesn't mean it's useful.
What I would be interested in is how to add weight and dynamic planks. Please tell me more.
Edit: Like this? http://www.menshealth.com/powertraining/cms/publis...
Yes, I can see that could be useful.
Edit 2: I suppose the issue is how to know whether a core is strong or not. A ripped 6 pack is meaningless in the functional sense - I've been able to take full punches to the abdominal area no problems with a bodyfat% over 20. Of course, this is going off-topic as the OP wasn't asking about a strong core but how to get a six pack.
Edit 3: I can see this turning into another one man crusade here. I'm currently trying to convince the world that eating healthily won't necessarily lead to weight loss. Perhaps, I ought to stick with the army of those who are slowly educating everyone that "spot burning fat isn't possible" as that's a bigger army.
![silly](/inc/images/silly.gif)
Edited by Hoofy on Saturday 5th January 10:53
71 year old female plank record holder Betty Lou Sweeny, held for 37 minutes- http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/sty... - yup, core of STEEL. This could be YOU.
Just saying....
Just saying....
mattikake said:
Leg raises primarily work the Hip Flexors.
Quite true. However if you pre-exhaust them and/or concentrate on the correct technique lower abs are recruited more can be worked extremely thoroughly. Not techniques for beginners though.
mattikake said:
Lower abs/any part of abs, are barely touched.
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