How long can you hold a plank?

[KILL KILL]

2 or 3 mins, but I hate doing them.

Are they really THAT beneficial?

They're pretty awesome but there is a point of diminishing returns. 2 or 3 minutes should be sufficient for most athletic goals.

 

[corpse]

planks are boring. heavy one arm dumbbell stuff or sledge hammer work are much more beneficial than lying on your elbows. if you do your fair amount of pushups, you will have enough static ab stuff anyway.

 

[Ayin]

2 or 3 mins, but I hate doing them.

Are they really THAT beneficial?

Just a personal anecdote, but I found that keeping my midsection tight for a continuous period really helped me with my general readiness to absorb body punches. However, that could easily have just been my training in general and I am attributing to much of that specific effect to planks when it was a combination or even something else entirely.

 

[Lord Commander Palis]

easy big dog. I'm a big fan of your tales.

lold

 

[Siamang]

If planks have become trivial you should move on to harder moves like L-sits and hollow body holds. You could also simply start doing them with your arms stretched out in front of you instead of propping yourself up on your forearms:

 

[RafailNadull]

Yeah, the angle/the distance between toes and where you touch the ground matters a lot. When I'm doing planks, I find that just small adjustments can make them a lot easier or tougher, so the time you can hold really doesn't say much.

 

[ngarauru]

all

 

[Steveston]

1-2 minutes I'm not very good at them I should practice more.

 

[bcordova]

Right around 2 mins.

 

[Tomas90]

around 1 or 2 minutes only

 

[Badger67]

Don't feel the desire to, or believe I'd benefit from, holding one more than a minute. I'd do something more challenging instead of just adding time.

This. Wish my prof understood this, when high caliber athletes who train people (and work under her) tell her otherwise.

 

[Corin7hian]

weighted planks + Weighted ab wheel = success

If you can hold a plank for 30 seconds with 200lbs+ of added weight, your abs are bullet proof

 

[streetscience]

planks are something i do a lot, the longest one i timed was 3 minutes...i was shaking after that

you shouldn't put too much importance on one exercise tho

 

[Samuel Reynoso]

my teammate at UCSB did an hour. my best ever was around 15 minutes (died of boredom)

http://www.independent.com/news/2011/sep/21/olympic-hero-plank-athon/

viva la fiesta