I’m wondering how everyone is doing out there. Experiences certainly vary, but we have all lived with the pandemic for going on three years. And Covid still has a grip on the way we are living going forward. Asking friends “Have you done a Rapid Test?” has unfortunately become as common as “Can you hear me now?”
With a general “acceptance” in our population of the persistence of Covid, I am hearing in some of the people I talk with a real shift in their priorities. Adjustments to the new normal have pretty much forced us to reconsider how to live our lives with purpose.
More and more in conversations with friends as well as clients, exercise and fitness in general surface as goals they wish to rekindle. Works for me! I don’t have any hard and fast answers, but I do have suggestions. Which is okay, because at this stage of the pandemic most folks just want to be heard about these goals. Think about this: do you have just three or four minutes, every day, to devote to your physical self? Would that be enough time to make a difference in your strength and sense of control?
Yes, Yes, and Yes!
And my magic bullet suggestion, you ask?
The Plank, The Plank, The Plank!
No matter how old you are or your current level of fitness, there is a variation on this highly effective exercise for everyone. And for you already fit athletes: timing your planks can be can be informative and motivating.
Denise’s
2 Cents:
We all have unique bodies and ways of attending to them. For starters, just holding up your own body weight is a major big deal whether you’re 12 years old or 85. But there are credible standards or criteria for determining if you’re losing ground, maintaining, or gaining when it comes to your mobility, strength, and endurance. Here is one major one:
Are you able—and how easily—to get up and down off the floor? Must you use your arms and your lower body to do this? These questions are good starting points to consider before embarking on a mission to make time daily for planks. Think about how you perform these moves. Are they more difficult than they used to be? Can’t get down on the floor? Try doing the plank on a bench or against a wall. It’s all about strengthening the Core, folks!
So the fun part of the plank is that you can compete against yourself. Predictably, after a week or so, you’ll see changes in your ability to hold a plank. Start with 30 seconds on your stopwatch. I bet, if you’re consistent, you’ll be able to triple that time (maybe 90 seconds?!) in six months. Your life could change, more than you can now imagine, from such a simple discipline.