Fitness Is Mind Over Matter: Why You Shouldn't Hate the Plank (and How to Plank Right) by Dawn Taylor

Inevitably in my fitness classes and when I work with clients one on one, they all groan when I say, "Planks are next!" I say with my personal trainer humor, "I didn't say you had to walk the plank." And because it's usually at the end of a workout, a throaty sound that resembles laughter is what I get. 

I actually find the plank relaxing, in a tortuous sort of way. The second I am in the proper plank position, I close my eyes and my mind takes over. "Mind over matter," I say into my mic. 

In fitness, it truly is the mind that will get you to those places you think are too hard. It is the mind that gets you through the last mile in a long run. It is the mind that pushes you through that difficult last rep in a set. It is the mind that will get you through that last few seconds of a plank. 

Here's how to do the perfect plank:

• Step 1: Position your elbows directly beneath your shoulders. 

• Step 2: Make and maintain a straight body line from head to heels.

• Step 3: Squeeze your butt and the fronts of your thighs.

• Step 4: Brace your abs like you're going to take a punch.

• Do for 30 seconds, then 45, then 60.
  
  

It's time for planks!

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