On the 8th Day of Fitness My Trainer Gave to Me....

Well...just as I promised, here are two more options for your plank-just in case the basic plank isn't challenging enough :) Also, a plank can also be done on your elbows-this is great if you have hand or wrist issues (see there really ARE no good excuses!) Sometimes this plank, also called a "hover", feels a lot harder than the straight arm plank. Why you do an experiment try them both for about 30 seconds each, and see what you think. Now do it again....and again....and....

Oh, and while you are whining you might want to ponder on George Hood from Aurora. A couple weeks ago the 54-year-old earned the Guiness World Record for “longest time in an abdominal plank position,” clocking in at 1 hour, 20 minutes and 5.01 seconds. Here's the full article in the Beacon News:

http://beaconnews.suntimes.com/lifestyles/9266334-423/george-hood-breaks-guinness-record-for-plank.html

Now on to today's Christmas Gift:
Plank Twists
A bit more advanced than the basic version.
Start in plank position. (I will skip the instructions for the basic plank because you can get those from yesterday's blog.) Staying in this position, exhale and bring your right knee in towards your left armpit. Return to the starting position, then repeat, bringing the left knee toward the right armpit. Keep your hips down as much as you can. Plank twists work not only the rectus abdominis but also the internal obliques-don't ya just love those big words?! Just trying to impress-haha!

Because I am so generous, I am going to give you an even tougher option: (thank me later!)

Extended Plank
(This is a pretty advanced position but since you will doing planks all the time now, you will quickly build up to this, right? Right!)
Start in a basic plank position, but instead of placing your hands under your shoulders, bring your hands together and place them on the floor in front of you (about 3 inches in front of your head). This variation places much a greater emphasis and concentration on the core because you can't use your arms as pillars to support your body weight. "Safety Sue" says don't do this if you have any kind of shoulder issues! And of course, if anything hurts for real-don't do it :/

So practice your planks every day until Christmas and you will have a (ok, possibly painful) reminder of how hard you've worked-when you breathe, laugh, or sit up straight! and you won't be tempted to over indulge!

Check back tomorrow for the "7th Day of Christmas" gift from you trainer. I promise it won't be planks!!