Continuing with our fitness challenges we’re going to work our entire body by doing 30 days of planks!

Tomorrow we’ll start with a 20 second plank and by the beginning of March we’ll be planking for five minutes. FIVE MINUTES!!!

We CAN do this!

Planks are great for your core but they are also great for your glutes and hamstrings and they help with flexibility, balance and posture too.

If you’re not sure how to do a proper plank I’ve prepared this handy dandy image for you.

Just like last month’s 30 Day Squat Challenge I’ve taken the liberty of creating a printable calendar so you can keep track of all your hard work. Each day you’ll see how long (in seconds) you need to plank for and I will also be posting the day’s workout on the Mommyland Facebook page each day at 6AM eastern.

All you need to do is click on the calendar above and print the PDF.

If you’re an iPhone user you may have noticed that there are no seconds on the timer. I’ve found a good timer app that works in hours, minutes and seconds. Timer+ will give you a good countdown for your planks.

Last month I told you you could break your squats up throughout the day, this month I want you to do your planks in their entirety each day, don’t break them up into smaller bits and pieces.

I know it sounds daunting once you get past to two minute mark but you can do it! We’re going to gradually work up to our final goal of five minutes so we’ll be getting a little stronger everyday.

Good luck and keep in touch to let me know how you’re doing.

My core has always been my weak spot. Certain yoga poses are downright impossible because of my lack of core strength.

I’m trying to do something about that though.

At the beginning of January I decided to give the 30 Day Plank Challenge a try to see if it helps to strengthen my weak core. It starts with a quick 20 second plank, which had me shaking the first day. Now I am more than halfway through the challenge and I’m up to two and a half minutes with a five minute plank being the end game.

Right now it’s hard to believe I’ll ever make it to a five minute plank but a few weeks ago it was hard to believe I’d ever make it to two minutes.

I am starting to feel stronger with each increase in time. I’ve also gotten much more tuned into my body and I can tell when something is off in my form and make the corrections I need. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that if your back hurts you’re doing it wrong.

When I’m doing other things two minutes fly by but when I’m down there in a plank the seconds go painfully slow. I’m at the point now where I have to keep the timer out of sight to make it through, watching those seconds tick by seems that make the fatigue come a lot faster.

What I haven’t figured out is what’s next? I’d like to continue to add on to my time and hopefully continue to strengthen my weakest part. Is there a program for that or am I going to be on my own come February?

What is your weak spot?

Have you ever tried one of these thirty day challenges? How did it work out for you?