CRUNCH-N-PLANK!

You are all most certainly welcome for the planks :bigsmile: You'll be loving me for them by the end of this month you see the difference in your core.

Denise - If you're feeling a plugged up feeling in your ears when doing planks you're not breathing or your holding your breath for an extended period. Remember to breathe!!! It's very important when doing any exercise, but especially planks. Whenever I do them the first 15 seconds my breathing is steady, but by the last 15 I have to exhale at least once per second. It doesn't have to be the same pace of breathing throughout the entire duration, but you do need to exhale purposefully (think of the quick exhaling they tell women to do in labor). I hope this helps. Let us know if this isn't the issue or if it continues.

Confession: I, too, have been a bit of a slacker. Only completed 250 crunches and 6 minutes of plank so far (adding 80 crunches and 3 more minutes tonight).
I do have my entire schedule with a little wiggle room scheduled in so if anyone is interested in seeing what's on my docket, send me a message with your email and I'll get that to you. Very excited to ramp up on this challenge! By the end of this week I'll have 630 crunches and 19.5 minutes of plank under my belt.

I'm so glad to hear everyone's doing so well! Everyone, keep in mind the breathing technique I mentioned above (with crunches, exhale every time you crunch up towards your knees). Keep up the awesome work! I promise I'll be checking in here more often.

XOXO

Yesterday I did 127 crunches: 40 one-leg crunches (extend one leg out, the closer it is to the ground the more intense. The Indianapolis Colts do these kind of crunches), 40 alternating slow/fast exhaling with each crunch, and 47 on the stability ball (used this as a time filler while my friend and I switched on and off doing shoulder presses on the Bosu ball. The person doing shoulder presses did 12 reps, the person doing crunches just did as many as possible until the other one was done, 3 sets each).

I also did 3 more minutes of plank (2 sets of 45/30/15 second intervals). Was pretty proud of myself when my much fitter workout friend couldn't do the second set of planks with me (we did crunches in between so it wasn't one right after the other). She was very encouraging while she timed me though.

Tonight is bootcamp and I've already texted my trainer to make sure we all get in one circuit of 60/45/30 second planks. Really not looking forward to that set. A little nervous I won't be able to hold the entire 60 seconds and then the 45 right after. :noway: I'll let you guys know tomorrow how I do.

How is everyone else doing on this challenge? Haven't heard from some of you in a while! Let me know how it's going!!!

I want to join the challenge, do you think it is too late for me?

I did it! Like I said I was going to do, I went home and did my workout routine and did my crunch-n-plank challenge yesterday! Last night was the first night I actually did it, and it was easier to do than I thought it would be. Since it was my first day I didn't want to push myself too hard, especially because I did a rough workout before I did my challenge. I got my timer out, pushed play as I got into plank and didn't let myself look at the clock until I couldn't hold it or felt I needed to come off it. Was able to do almost 90 seconds and then thought I better take it easy so I can get more done and not wear myself out on the first one.
This morning I woke up and did Turbo Fire and afterwards did 2 more min of plank. I think it'll be easier to try and mix it up and do some in the morning and some at night.
When I did my Extreme Abs workout, I counted how many crunches you do, and I couldn't believe how many Chalene really has you do. Of course I didn't count them all, as there are some things that I'm still trying to do correctly before I try and count it as a crunch.

Crunches: 130/2000
Plank: 7/90 min

Not bad for a first day, of course I do need to step it up a notch if I want to reach my goal by the end of the month. Maybe tonight I'll add extra incentive and do either crunches or plank between each thing I have on my schedule, like working out, cooking, cleaning, getting everything ready for tomorrow, etc. I'll let you know how it goes.

didn't plank last night ... but will tonight. Mainly because I didn't have a reliable stop watch with me and honestly was too lazy to walk to my car to get my phone while I was on a roll in the gym. I am only counting straight crunches for the 2k but I did bicycles and other ab stuff last night.

I will work in planks between exercises tonight ...

Did both planks and crunches today (see signature for progress )

I did the 1 minute planks. Going to try for 1 minute 15 seconds tomorrow!

Did 125 crunches and 2 min planks tonight. Also tried a new class at the Y called Total Body toning for an hour which was a good change of pace (strength training at a good pace), but I'm going to be feeling it tomorrow!

Hey everyone!!! So glad to hear you're all still trucking forward and pushing your limits! That's what this is about. Pushing yourself a little further, proving to yourself you can accomplish more each day.

Yesterday was my boot camp day so I didn't do any crunches, but it's okay, I still have well over 2000 scheduled for this month so I'm gonna blast that out of the water. I completed 3.75 minutes of planks yesterday. One round of 45/30/15 seconds and one round of 60/45/30 seconds. We did the long set at boot camp so my trainer/friend, Abby, corrected some of my posture while doing it and now I can REALLY feel the burn!!! Gotta love it!!!

So tips for planks I picked up yesterday from Abby, 1) Make sure your shoulders are directly above your hands/elbows (depending on if you rest on your hands or forearms). You may have a tendency to push back on your feet instead and that defeats a lot of the ab work, 2) If you have to change your posture in the middle of a circuit (one stretch of 45 or 60 seconds, not all 3 rounds), by either dropping to your knees or moving from forearms to hands, or vice versa; start in the "easier" position and work your way up. Remember, if you can't feel your abs constricting, you are doing it wrong!

Stay plugged in. Get a little done everyday. THIS IS DOABLE! THIS GOAL IS ATTAINABLE!

Ok I changed things up this afternoon and added some polanks to my workout. I don't know if I will make it to 90 min but I am going to push myself!

Crunches
405/2000 = 20% done

Planks
8min 15sec/90min = 8% done

I had a really really bad week up until today. Today I did most of my catch up work. I did 250 crunches and 13 minutes of plank. Still not quite caught up, including tomorrow's stuff I still owe 170 crunches and 7 minutes of plank. But I feel proud of my self for getting almost caught up. Once I beast out tomorrow I will be completely caught up and very happy indeed. Now I just need to not fall behind the rest of the month because today was BRUTAL! Great job everyone! Keep up the good work!

530/2000 crunches
22/90 minutes of plank