Keep adding time to planks or something else?

i do a different ab exercise every workout, planks are in the rotation about once a month. What is it you wanna get out of ab exercises? that will determine what you should do, but generally a variety of ab workouts is always safe.

Have you ever tried planking with your feet or hands in the TRX. or even harder you can both your feet and hands in 2 trx's hanging body distance apart. The trx takes planking to a whole new level of torture.

middlehaitch wrote: »

Once one gets to the 2min mark on planks it is a good idea to start doing variations as a means of progression.

Here is a guide with numerous variations to try.
https://skinnymom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Final-Ultimate-Plank-Guide-2013.pdf

Cheers, h.

Thanks for posting this.

jenifer7teen wrote: »

I usually plank at the beginning of each workout. Should I just maintain this or will there be additional gains to adding more time?! Fyi I do many other "ab" exercises including mason twists w/weights, leg lifts, suitcase carries, pull ups etc

At the start of the workout, 30 seconds of planks should be enough to "warm up" your abs. Doing too much can fatigue your abs, which could negatively affect your form on your other exercises. Personally i skip ab warmups in favor of light warmup sets of the lifts i'm scheduled to do.

As an actual ab workout, planks and their variations are probably redundant and unnecessary, considering all the other ab exercises you do.

Bosu ball planks work those stabilizers more.

With regards to your query about why 2 minutes for a plank is good but 5 min is taking it too far.

Basically it is because you are not progressing in strength, your abs are no longer getting an added benefit.
(Unless you need abs for endurance)

Say you were doing dumbbell curls and you only had a 10 lbs weight, and when you started it was heavy.
So your first workout is 1set of 5 reps, next day you rest so your muscles can recover.
After 2-3 workouts your muscles have adapted to the weight and it is not as hard, you add another set 2x5.

This is hard and it takes you another few days before your muscles aren't challenged.

By the end of the month you are up to 3x5 and that now is getting easy so you up the reps gradually until you are at 3x12.

Now all that time you have been adding volume even though the weight has been the same, so improving strength.

However now at 3x12 you have maxed out that weight and,though you could carry on increasing sets or reps, all you would be doing is increasing endurance, not strength.

When doing your planks you are working on strengthening your abs through a bodyweight exercise, if you go over a certain time, in this instance the general consensus is 2 min, you have moved from strength to endurance. The straight plank is no longer strengthening your abs so instead of adding weight, like you would with a dumbbell you add complexity, hence variations.

Hope that helps.

Cheers, h.
eta: the difference with running is your goal is to build endurance, with bodyweight or weight training you are aiming for strengthening the muscle and/or hypertrophy.

middlehaitch wrote: »

jenifer7teen wrote: »

.....oh, a follow up question: IS there a benefit to gaining ab endurance (vs strengthl)? Like, would it make me a better cyclist?

By doing ever extending time with a straight elbow plank, I don't think so, as it is a static move.
Cycling will build any endurance the abs need for cycling, just like it does for legs. Building strong abs will help with developing endurance for cycling.
A variety of ab moves would be more beneficial than just doing one move.

Cheers, h.

Agreed that gaining strength will translate into endurance. You should be working your core in all planes. I am a huge fan of levers and all the progressions leading up to them. As well as L-sits, bridges, leg raises, ab wheels,