Planks A Lot! The Value of Planks Beyond Just Core Work and How to Win Your Own, Personal Planksgiving

In the spirit of both Thanksgiving and Planksgiving, our club has an annual challenge every November involving planks. We challenge our members to come up with the most creative plank possible and to post it on social media and we also have just a good, old-fashioned plank-off at the end of the month to see who can hold the longest plank possible. We've had people hold planks in excess of 20 minutes, 30 minutes and even 40 minutes. The world record currently is about 9 hours and 30 minutes.

How could anyone hold a plank that long? Physically, there is no good reason anyone should do it for 30 minutes, let alone 9 hours, but when it comes to any kind of endurance challenge, it has very little to do with the physical and almost entirely mental. Your mind just overriding the body and not letting you quit. That kind of disciplined training can not only help you with your boxing, but with life in general. It builds mental toughness, self-confidence, the ability to be resilient when dealing with adversity and manage emotions at all times. Obviously, there is a fine line between pushing yourself beyond your limits and causing physical harm, but that is a nice thing about holding a plank. There aren't really ways to hurt yourself doing it. Sure, your shoulders may burn and your abs will too during a long plank, but as soon as you stop, that all should go away after a minute or two.

So, should you shoot for holding a 40-minute plank then? Not at first, that is for sure. And maybe not ever, but you know what you can try? Hold a plank for one minute. Then a minute and a half. Then two minutes. Then you can keep going. You may not beat the all-time longest plank record but you can and should strive to beat your own, personal record. 

Another nice thing about planks is that you can do them just about anywhere, any time. You can watch TV while doing a plank. I did a little challenge a couple years ago where I watched an entire football game and planked for every commercial break. Most of the regular breaks are two minutes to two-and-a-half minutes so I ended up getting about 47 minutes of total plank time. Again, you may not be able to hold a plank for that long but you gotta start somewhere! And if you hang on as long as you can each time, I can guarantee you will get progressively better. 

The key is distracting the mind. If you just think about the fact that you are holding a plank, you will get tired and restless much quicker. You can concentrate on whatever you are watching if you go the TV route, listen to music or a podcast, maybe think about something entirely different, or even tap into the Buddhist concept of Mushin or "no mind,” clearing your brain of all conscious thought. I have never been able to achieve the latter state since I quit drinking, but maybe you will have better luck. Whatever you do, the key is always the mind.