Planking, how often, how long?

[OlberJ]

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.

[Ordinary_Chap]

Planking won't fight the beer belly.

You need to lose fat to fight the beer belly, all this will do is improve core strength, not cause fat loss.

Lee

[TheHighlander]

At boxing every night we do variations of the plank....1 leg up, arm ect ect

Do it in 1min sets. It's killer but good for core building.

We usually do about 5 sets.

[OlberJ]

5 sets of a minute sounds good.

How many times a week? 4/5 again?

[didelydoo]

I'm not a plank fan.....pretty sure there's a record of holding one for 45min or similar held by a lady pensioner....

[Hoofy]

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. fking 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.

Edited by Hoofy on Saturday 5th January 00:14

[Tiggsy]

OlberJ said:

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.
.

You're fat. Planking will have zero affect. You can do it, walk it or eat it.....plank has sod all to do with your fat gut!

[smiffy180]

Tiggsy said:

You're fat.

So is your mother!

[Mobsta]

Ordinary_Chap said:

Planking won't fight the beer belly.

You need to lose fat to fight the beer belly, all this will do is improve core strength, not cause fat loss.

Lee

This. Without lopping a belly clean off, a six pack will go unnoticed.

[mattikake]

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. fking 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.

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

[OlberJ]

Ha, I'm not fat by any means but there's no tone to my middle. Getting out running again would do it but it's horrid lots of the time outside.

Exercise bike will help get the fat down around the middle am sure but need to build some muscle to go with it.

[Hoofy]

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.

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.

Edited by Hoofy on Saturday 5th January 10:53

[didelydoo]

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....

[Hoofy]

I thought some old guy cracked 45 minutes last year?

[didelydoo]

Hoofy said:

I thought some old guy cracked 45 minutes last year?

Was the old guy a female? (holding the female record?)

[Hoofy]

didelydoo said:

Was the old guy a female? (holding the female record?)

One day, I'll learn to read. Innit.

[Regiment]

I do 3 sets to failure after a superset of press ups and weighted sit-ups.

Hate planks, can currently do 105 seconds total across the 3 sets which seems awful compared to everyone here lol.

[goldblum]

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.

Hmm..

[Hoofy]

I'm only going by what I and others who train similarly experience (whether doing lying leg raises or hanging leg raises). None of us go around holding our hip flexors looking like hairdressers. All of us do hold our guts and swear a lot.

[ApexJimi]

Doing planks will make you good at... doing planks

Buy a couple of kettlebells, and start doing circuits (see the wiki at the top of this forum)

Combine that with focusing on your diet and you'll make more progress than spending your time doing planks.