5 Minute Plank

I was issued a challenge via an on-line fitness newsletter I receive. It was to do an exercise of my choice for 30 days straight. The reason for doing this was to develop a positive habit. The writer of the newsletter explained that it takes about a month of diligent effort to develop a habit. Since then I have heard it is about 20 days to form a habit.

I am at day 16 as of right now and the progress I have seen is remarkable. I have at my best done 100 sit-ups. I started off doing less than 50. I naturally have increased the amount of time that I can do planks. If you don't know what a plank is it is another core strengthening exercise where you keep your abdomen suspended off the ground. You do this in a horizontal position similar to a push-up but wrest on your elbows and forearms. Now I have gotten off the subject.

The point of this article is to never give up. I stated that intended to reach a goal of doing a 5 minute plank several months ago to a friend of mine. I had just done my first 3 minute plank and thought I could do more. I worked at it for a while but got discouraged after a couple of times in which I failed to do even 3 minutes again. I gave up. Since doing this challenge my core strength has increased and I actually did a 4 minute and 35 second plank. My confidence in my ability to reach 5 minutes is renewed. I did not get to my goal how I intended to and there were times in which I didn't think I could. I have learned a valuable lesson from this experience.