A year ago, I did a 10-minute plank. Ten minutes planking on my forearms, meeting a goal I did not even know I would have. Today I want to share the reflection I wrote after I finished that plank.
Oct 2021 - 10 Minute Plank
We have been working on this goal for the past 22 weeks. This week I planked for 10 minutes with an incredible group of people. We started meeting twice daily on zoom to plank, beginning at 30 seconds and adding 5 seconds daily. We got to 5 min in August and then did daily core workouts and planked on Saturdays, adding 30 seconds every Saturday until we got to 10 minutes.
Never in my life had I thought I’d be joining a group to plank “just because,” but what I gained in the past 5 months I wouldn’t change. I have achieved discipline and determination and built not only one habit but several habits I have been stacking together.
I was scared to join at first, but once I did, it was the only zoom meeting I looked forward to every day. I joined the first day, VERY scared, thinking everyone was going to be a pro-planker and Jeremy (the host) asked me what my goal was. What number scared me? I said, “hmm, I’m not sure” (I just wasn’t sure if I could meet whatever number I was going to say). Then I said 3 minutes, and he said, “does 3 scare you,” and I said, “not really.” He then said: “does 5 scare you?” I could feel the hesitancy in my chest and said yes- but really doubting and thinking, “OH, it scares me, and I don’t think I’ll get there.”
Anyway, I just said ok, we'll take it one day at a time and see where I get, never thinking that I would get to the goal or make it past 3 minutes. I just joined every morning, taking it one day at a time.
In August, we reached 5 minutes, and we said we’d keep planking once a week to set personal record goals and attempt to get to 10 min. Again, I said, “ok, 7 min scares me enough, so I am going to try to make that”. Then as weeks went by, I noticed I could push myself those 30 extra seconds, and that’s how on October 16, I got to 10 minutes.
We read while planking some of my now favourite books ("Don't Sweat the Small Stuff"); we played games and laughed and sweated as the minutes went by. But seeing others plank simultaneously and knowing they were also pushing through was what kept me on my forearms.
In the beginning, Jeremy read to keep us entertained while we planked; that way, time seemed to go by faster. Then he asked if anyone wanted to read. Again, I was scared to try it because reading while planking seemed very hard, but something in me said: whatever, just try. I did it, and afterwards, being the reader was one of my favourite things. I liked it so much that now when I do a plank, I read.
It was amazing how my day revolved around the zoom plank. It was what would get me up in the morning, even on a Sunday morning. I had built the habit, so I planked wherever I was. I planked in Winnipeg, Florida and Colombia. I planked at the Chicago airport, in a parking lot and even at Macy’s (in a mall in Miami). We also stacked the habit of breathing at the end of the planks, so I started practicing breathing too.
Planking and the fantastic group of people I did this with (all strangers at first, then people I saw more than my family, haha) became my happy place. I couldn’t be more grateful for having a group of people that only motivated me to push my limits physically and mentally and become a better version of myself.
With this, I say that it’s possible to push yourself. You never know how much you can push yourself until you try it. Planking was the only time of the day that I would push myself beyond what I thought was achievable.
And here are 10 things I learned for every minute of planking:
- When you make something your priority, you do it without caring what others think about it. This is what made me plank anywhere and leave everything aside at 7:30am and 5:30pm.
- Face your fears! You never know what’s on the other side of fear (5 minutes seemed impossible, and I made it to 10)
- You can push yourself (mentally and physically) a lot more than you think.
- You are capable of things that you have never thought about before
- When you believe in yourself, and others believe in you, you can do anything.
- Don’t let the goal scare you by how big it seems. Take it one day at a time (only go up by 5 seconds each day)
- Don’t think that what you’re doing today doesn’t impact the bigger goal. Believe it, it ADDS UP!!
- Strangers can become your biggest motivators and accountability, partners.
- Discipline is your #1 best friend
- Have someone that holds you accountable. If it weren't for a group of people doing this with me, I would’ve never done it.
Thanks to The Habit Society for putting this together and to Jeremy for leading it and motivating me to push myself one step further every day! Here’s a video of a 10-minute plank in 1 min 🙂
And today, think of something that scares you, big or small and GO FOR IT!
PS: Do yourself a favour and get the book “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” by Richard Carlson, a book with a 100-short chapter that will change you!
Amazing, once again!