Everyone's Favorite Core Exercise - The Plank

Everyone's Favorite Core Exercise - The Plank

And Why Personal Trainers Love Having Their Clients Plank


One of our SOS Fitness Clients performing a plank at our home gym


If you've ever worked out with a personal trainer, then you probably dread hearing that it's time to plank! This exercise looks so simple, yet its incredibly taxing on your body and your muscles. Why do personal trainers love this exercise? Why do clients dread it? 


Although it's up for debate, this exercise is credited to have first been performed for the core by Dr. Stuart McGill. He claims that the average person should only hold the plank for 10 seconds at a time. This is the best way, McGill says, to activate the transverse abdominis muscle, which is crucial in supporting your spine. At SOS Fitness, we always like to tell our clients to "pull your belly button in towards your spine" while exercising as another way to ensure that the transverse abdominis muscle is activated. 


People are so obsessed with planking that you may recall when it became a popular trend in 2011-2012. During this time, people were literally planking on anything they could, and posting photos of it with hopes of going viral. Planking on camels, planking in a busy intersection, planking in the washing machine or toilet, while going up the escalators, on top of other people among other places all became acceptable behavior. Children, adults and senior citizens were all participating in the craziest plank photo op idea. Out of this, The Plank Challenge was born.... The plank challenge is a 30-day program to strengthen the core and build up endurance. Each day of the challenge, you'll gradually increase the amount of time that you hold a plank. By day 12 of the program, the goal is to be able to hold a plank for 2 minutes.

Sullivan On Site Fitness Top 5 Benefits of Planking: 

  1. It is a safe way to work on the core, even for most people who experience back pain. The reason it is safe is because you are not going back-and-forth with bending the spine, instead opting to hold it in a steady position. 
  2. Planking improves your overall posture - something most Americans desperately need help with. 
  3. Planking also improves your balance, believe it or not! By contracting all of your core stabilizer muscles, you are strengthening the muscles needed for balance. 
  4. It works so much more than just the core muscles. Planks also work your shoulder stabilizers, hip stabilizers to name a few.
  5. Planks also work to help with your mental toughness and focus. With the average human attention span currently at 8.25 seconds, it's easy to give up on a plank simply because you're getting bored - this gives your mind a challenging goal to focus on. 

Who Holds The World Record for the Longest Plank? 

A 62-years-young former US Marine has broken the world planking record with a time of eight hours, 15 minutes and 15 seconds. George Hood set the record for The Longest Male Abdominal Plank, according to Guinness World Records. Watch it here: 



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