How many planks do most of you do?

T

toastythemosty

Cathlete
I know Cathe has several different kinds of plank work in Chest/Back heavy series workout and there is plank work in Core Max 1, but overall when working abs, wouldn't it be best to do at least 3-5? What do you all do? I am thinking of doing more plank work because I think I get better results, but I don't want to overtrain either. Opinions?

Charlotte~~
 
It depends on the workout. Some have fewer planks, but held longer, or with tougher variations (side planks with side lifts or with top foot held up, prone planks with one foot held off the floor or with one leg moving).

I think doing LONGER planks would be better than doing MORE planks, because training for endurance would help train those transverse muscles to better hold in the lower belly area.

I don't know if one CAN overtrain on plank work. They seem like moves that are somewhat "self limiting." By that, I mean that you will lose form if you try to do "too many."
 
Do you have Ab Hits? Because there are a lot of sections on it that are planks from various workouts. You could just string them all together.:)
 
Kathryn,

Your idea sounds like a good one. I guess I could try to go 1 minute longer on planks and keep building from there.

Shelley,

I don't have Ab Hits, but I basically have alot of Cathe workouts so almost the same thing just to do several ab ones from the various workouts. I also hope Cathe comes out with some new ab videos in the future too.

Charlotte~~
 
Charlotte - the nice thing about Ab Hits is that you can just pick out the planks. You don't have to skip through or wait for her to finish other work to get to them. You could have a plank-athon!:)
 
Shelley,

Alright! I remember when first starting planks and I had to focus, focus and focus, but now it is getting easier so why not a thon? :D

Charlotte~~
 
I take an ab class at my gym and Wednesday are PLANK days. (I'm not too fond of Wednesdays, even though I know they help!). She'll have us start with a plank for 60 seconds to 90 seconds, then roll over and do crunches or other ab work. Then it's back to the plank. We get in a good 5 or 6 planks. And I can really feel and see the results from this! Maybe if you just take a 15 minutes ab work out and add planks to some of the sections, that would work the same way.
 
Well, I have a lot of trouble (medical) with my lower abs so I don't do a lot of planks, yet. I only do 3 for about 30 seconds, then my back starts to hurt. So, in my nonmedical, nonab expert opinion, I would say to try and do less for longer for the endurance. Melissa
 
Charlotte, instead of doing only what Cathe offers, you could try doing some ab work on your own. Like, I do core training once a week at home with one DVD or another, and once a week I do a weighted ab workout at the gym. All by myself. ;-) It's really worked out well b/c I had a really hard time weaning myself off the Schwarzenegger school of weightlifting (well, I actually didn't but I did want the benefits of pilates & yoga too) & getting into all this core training. So this way I get the best of both worlds.

Maybe you could just take an off day & really focus on some weighted ab exercises like your basic crunch, & on another day do Cathe's routines.
 
Or do planks during commercials.
Some channels have SOO many commercials nowdays, you'd be sure to get a killer core workout during an hour show (about 15 minutes of planks, in 4-5 minute segments, in some cases!)
 
Another good way to intensify is to start out on your lower arms then after a while (60 sec?) climb up to straight arms, after some time again climb back down to lower arms, etc. You can also add leg lifts to it. Mari
PS: Like Laura, I'm a big fan of pilates too. It works your whole abdominal/core area just so wonderfully!
 
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