Crush The Social Distancing Boredom With PYA – Plank Your Age Challenge

Bored At Home While Social Distancing? Are you Self-Isolating?  Here’s a way you can stay motivated and active during these trying times:  Take the PYA – the Plank Your Age Challenge.  Just dedicate 1 minute of your day to STOP & DROP at 9am and 3pm and plank your age.  It doesn’t matter what you’re doing, where you’re at, or what you’re wearing – just STOP & DROP  INTO A PLANK POSITION and hold for a total of seconds for whatever age you are.  This exercise is great for beginners. requires no equipment, and no need to hire a trainer – in other words IT DOESN’T COST A THING EXCEPT 1 MINUTE OF YOUR TIME.

Make it fun – get your family members involved, kids too.  Set your clocks and dedicate just 1 minute of your day at 9am and 3pm.  And be inspirational to others by posting your plank on any of the social platforms – Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, etc.   BTW – seeing I just turned 60 (arghhh – I said it out loud), I will hold a plank for a full minute and will post on Instagram. 

So Why A PLANK CHALLENGE?  Planks are basically the only exercise that work your entire core all at once.  Hold a plank for any length of time and you’ll feel the muscles working in your arms, your shoulders, your gut, your butt, your thighs and your calves.

What Will Happen If You Do Planks Every Day?  Seeing this exercise stimulates the whole body, you will burn more calories than any other common exercise and will see results in a relatively short time.  Planking will:

1. strengthen your abs
2. lower your risk of getting injured
3. accelerate your metabolism
4. improve your body posture
5. improve stability
6. make you more flexible

Do Planks Burn Belly Fat?  Planking is one of the best calorie burning and beneficial exercises seeing it engages multiple muscles at once.  So yes, it will absolutely burn belly fat.

How Long Should You Hold A Plank?  Research shows that for most people, holding a plank for one minute (60 seconds) at a time creates a resilient torso.  Follow this practice and you will see the best results.  60 seconds may be quite the challenge if you are a beginner –  but trust me when I say this … sing a song, read out loud, or talk to someone for the 60 seconds and the time just will fly by.

Can You Get A Flat Stomach By Doing Planks?  YES YOU CAN.  Planking is one of the best exercises for achieving a flat, toned stomach because it works all the muscles in your rectus abdominus (those “six-pack muscles” you can see), transverse abdominus, internal and external obliques, and your hips and your back which are also part of your core.

Do you need help with doing a plank?  Here’s the proper way  (yes this is me).

Lay face down with legs extended and elbows bent directly under your shoulders. You can either make a fist with your hands and rest them on the ground or lay your hands flat on the ground. Feet should be hip width apart, and your elbows should be shoulder width apart. Contract your abdominal’s and tuck your toes to lift your body while keeping your firearms on the ground. You should be in a straight line from head to toe. Hold this position for whatever length of time your workout instructs.

So go for it – STOP AND DROP AT 9am and 3pm and just enjoy 🙂