Plank

About 4 months ago I was talking with Sifu Regier about my back pain and on different ways to get it better. We were talking about planks and Sifu Regier asked me "why won't you challenge yourself publicly to do planks?"  

That evening I posted I'm going to take on the plank challenge. 1,000 minutes of plank till the end of 2016. 

This challenge proved to be challenging on 3 fronts: first was the physical challenge. It is one thing to do one minute plank. It is a different thing to do one after you have done 9 already. Muscles hurt and shoulders are feeling it. This challenge got easier as my muscles got used to doing 5-15 planks a day. 

The second challenge was to fit it in my already busy schedule. This had some effect on other aspects of my training but without knowing about the "miracle morning" (wait for future blog on that), I was waking up earlier in order to be able to fit the planks into my schedule. 

The third challenge goes hand in hand with the second one. This one was the hardest and stayed challenging all the way to the end. Apparently one minute plank takes one minute... finding so many minutes to do planks was a big challenge. And I was not able to do other stuff while doing planks. I tried reading, watching my iPod. Nothing. This challenge had it benefits as I started focusing on my breathing, my thoughts. I used the time to plan my day. 

Now to the benefits. First of all my back is feeling better. Not perfect but I know for sure my core muscles are stronger. I also used the rest time between the planks to do other back exercises and hip mobility work. There is much improvement with my back but this is just the starting point of my journey to rehabilitate my back. 

The second was the effect of this challenge on others. I don't think many joined me on this challenge but I do know it had a big impact on at least one person. I want to thank everyone who joined the challenge even if it was just for a few, but I do want to acknowledge Sifu Lindstrom and Mr. Beeler for posting their numbers and keeping me going. 

So now the new year is here. Planks will continue to be part of my routine but I will be looking for new challenges and adventures with the IHC team. Happy New Year everyone.