Never been a huge fan of planks as part of my exercise regimen. Granted, I appreciate the beauty of nicely sculpted arms, but other than vanity, never enjoyed the pain of that gain.
Planks sneak their way into many of my virtual yoga-based classes because they come in so many varieties: high planks, forearm planks, side planks (both forearm and straight arm), bear planks, torpedo planks, plank jacks…I’m sure there are many others percolating in the mind of creative sadistic exercise/yoga instructors.
So, on the way to my car to run errands after work, I tripped and fell. First time in a long time I’ve fallen completely to the ground. Normally a stumble here or there, but a full fall has usually left me in a world of pain and months, sometimes years of recovery.
Not this time! This time, I fell into a high plank position. Not the sexy high plank position, but the OMG that “middle-aged woman just tripped and is going to break her hip” fall into the high plank position. Except, nothing hurt. Once I stopped falling, I held the position as I did a quick mental scan. I hadn’t banged my knee, hit my head, fallen onto one of my arms nor knocked out a tooth. I’d landed into an unattractive yet effective plank.
My scraped palms and wrists were the only evidence of the fall. Even the next day, when I thought my shoulders would be in pain due to the trauma of catching that fall. Nothing!
Planks have now been elevated to a survival skill. For once, I’m going to participate in “Planks-giving” come this November. My yoga studio sponsors the challenge. I believe they start off with a 20-second plank during the first couple of days, adding a few seconds periodically as the month advances until one reaches the 5-minute mark by Thanksgiving.
I shared the challenge with one of my sisters, who told me about her chiropractor’s daughter: she regularly holds a forearm plank for over an hour. Of course my initial thought was “Why?” Then again, kudos to her. Most 10-year olds are being as productive or are consuming TV or some other form of media mindlessly.
For now, I’ve stopped cussing in my head when I do planks and look forward to the challenge.