Oh my gosh…SOOOOO wrong! Ugh! I am a 44 year old woman who considers herself to be in decent shape. I run regularly (and even WON my age group in a recent 5K!) and I’m not overweight. Though I feel pretty good about my cardio fitness due to the running, I’ve always felt like I should be doing more in the way of strength training. Problem is…I hate strength training. Seriously…HATE it. So, rather than trying to become a gym rat like my husband and sons; I decided to come up with my own little strength training routine that I could do at night before taking my bath. I decided to start out with something easy like a minute long plank followed by a three minute wall sit and then ten push ups. Sounds simple enough doesn’t it? Well guess what…it’s NOT easy!
My one minute plank was the worst. I thought that planking would be a good way to strengthen my core but instead, it caused a lot of pain in my lower back. As it turns out, I was doing my plank incorrectly and was therefore doing more harm than good to my body. I didn’t want to give up though because I knew that planking was better for my abs than doing crunches and that a good plank would help to tone and tighten my tush while also strengthening my upper arms (no bat wings for me!!) So, I talked to a friend of mine who is a personal trainer and got the skinny on how to plank properly so as to gain the most benefit while reducing the pain and risk of injury. Little did I know that the secret to the perfect plank lies not so much in the amount of time spent holding the plank, but in the form of the plank.
Though I started out with the intentions of only holding my plank for a minute, I quickly learned that a minute (sixty measly seconds) was actually too long for me. I would make it about half way through my minute and then I would either start to let my lower back sag or I would lift my pelvis…both in an attempt to fight the fatigue that was setting in. So, the first step that I had to take towards improving my plank was reducing my time to 30 seconds. I have to confess that this was a little humbling for me because I felt like a wimp for not being to hold my plank correctly for one lousy minute…but whatever.
My next step was to make sure that my form was correct…every. single. time. This is definitely easier said than done, but SO important.
To do a basic plank you first want to get into to push-up position but with your forearms on the ground instead of your hands. Your elbows should line up directly underneath your shoulders. Make sure that you keep a neutral neck and spine with no sagging or raising of the pelvis (both are natural tendencies once fatigue sets in). Create a strong straight line from head to toe and tighten your abdominals and glutes. Look down at the ground at a spot right in front of your hands (this will help you maintain a neutral neck position.) Hold this position, but once your form begins to suffer it is time to stop. There is no benefit (and as I discovered, can be possible harm) in doing an incorrect plank.
Rather than trying to hold the plank for too long and doing it incorrectly, my trainer suggested a routine of holding the plank for ten seconds, resting for ten seconds and repeating this five times. As you do this routine, your core will begin to strengthen and you’ll be able to hold the plank for longer intervals or will be able to move on to more advanced versions of the plank (many of which can be found online.) The great thing about planking however is that even if you never progress on to other planking variations; this basic plank will be sufficient for the development of solid core stability.
My next challenge was the wall sit. This one was easier for me than the plank and yet I still couldn’t believe how hard it was to hold my sit for a full three minutes. I mentioned this to my trainer and she laughed and told me that the 
wall sit (also known as the Roman Chair) is actually used as a disciplinary action in the military due to it’s level of difficulty; therefore, I shouldn’t feel too bad for finding it to be a challenge. That made me feel a little better. Still, I knew that the wall sit was great for strengthening the quad muscles so I wanted to keep it as a part of my routine.
To correctly do a wall sit, you basically want to form two 90 degree angles with your body. One at the hips and one with your knees. Find a wall and lean against it with your feet shoulder width apart and approximately 2 ft. from the wall. Ease your body down the wall until your knees are bent at a 90 degree angle (don’t go beyond 90 degrees otherwise you risk injuring your knees). Hold this position for the allotted amount of time.
By the time I finished with my plank and my wall sit, I was SHOT so I decided that I would do my push-ups at another time. Now I do my push-ups in the morning and my plank/sit routine in the evening. This routine might not seem like much but in the short time that I’ve been doing it, I have noticed an improvement in my core strength as well as in my leg strength. I feel like this has been a good addition to the cardio that I get through my running and I love that it doesn’t take a lot of time.
If you’re looking for a simple set of exercises to add to your fitness routine, you might want to consider adding these elements for some good strength conditioning. They’ll leave you feeling fit and FabYOUlous!
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