My 30 day plank challenge with printable
I’ve been on this fitness journey for a long time. What they say is true, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. This is a life long journey. I’m aiming for sustainable and life-long, not a quick fix or fat tea. Two months ago, I did a 30 day challenge. At the end of it, I wanted to do another and came up with a 30 day plank challenge. Naturally, I searched to see if there was one out there that I liked and I couldn’t find one, so I made my own. And now I’m sharing my 30 day plank challenge with you.
Backing it up.
I posted this almost two months ago on Instagram about my previous 30 day challenge.
30 days ago, I started a challenge. Today I finished!
Mr. Serious had started doing 100 pushups a day. He kept asking me to feel his muscles. 30 days ago, I flexed mine and said “do mine feel like I’ve been doing 100 pushups a day”. He said “have you been doing 100 pushups a day?” I had not, by the way. His love language is words of affirmation, by the way, but maybe he knows I like a good challenge.
So I took it one step further and did a 6000+ challenge. 100 goblet squats, 100 crunches (that’s the plus and added bonus) and 100 pushups for 30 days.
So now, I can ask him to feel my muscles and respond that “yes, I have been doing 100 pushups a day!”
30 days ago, I was confident I would finish. The last 5, I was so ready to throw in the towel, but I pushed through even when I didn’t want to.
Even on a day that I didn’t get home until 11pm.
Some days I did weights with the goblet squats, some days none. Some days the pushups were on an incline, sometimes they were on my knees. The point is, I got it done and I’m glad I finished!
And I know I’m much stronger than I was when I started!
I’ll take tomorrow off and probably look for a new 30 day challenge. Any suggestions?
The plank challenge
I’m not sure why I decided on a plank challenge. There were so many other options (which I’m exploring for my next 30 day challenge), but ultimately decided to do a plank. Let me tell you this, I’m fairly certain a plank done properly will work way more muscles then you ever imagined possible. After most of our planks I was covered in sweat and my heart was beating rapidly.
What I found when searching for plank challenges was that some of them were a little too easy for me (starting with 5 seconds and ending the 30 days at a minute…which there is nothing wrong with, I personally knew I could go longer). Others started at like 5 seconds and went rapidly to 5 minutes. I knew that 5 minutes was too much. That’s longer than most songs!
So I took pen to paper and decided on starting at 60 seconds (1 minute) and ending at 180 seconds (3 minutes). I quickly realized it was really hard to divide up the 30 days into increments that would be easy to time, but I found something that worked and also gave a little time in the middle to get used to the longer planks.
Mr. Serious also joined in the 30 day plank challenge. We did continue with our 100 pushups and 100 crunches (with variations) throughout the 30 days, too.
I’m not going to lie. These aren’t easy planks. They didn’t get easier as time progressed. But, I feel like my core, back, shoulders, butt and legs got stronger. When you really flex and engage your muscles during a plank, they really work!
This was the last second of our 3 minute plank! We decided, yes we are slightly crazy for doing this. But we are also stronger for it, too.
What do you say? You ready for a 30 day plank challenge? You can do this! And if the times seem daunting, cut them in half! Start with 30 seconds and work your way up to 90 seconds. Cut them into quarters and start at 15 seconds and go to 45 seconds. You are the boss of you! But consider taking some time and seeing if you are up for the challenge! I know you can do it.
Grab the printable version here and cross off the days as you complete them!
You in? Let me know if you do it and/or tag me in your stories!
Love these tips!
Tabitha
What’s y’alls next challenge? I may join in. Also, good idea with the plank challenge.
Okay, so it’s not a perfect and pretty one on a chart this time. But, my goal is 6000 steps and some yoga every day. Could be 5-10 minutes via youtube or peloton app, but just something. And then the steps are however I get them.
Mr. Serious is continuing with 100 pushups a day and two sets of chin ups to fatigue.
I’m going to give this a go. Anything right now during covid to help the body.
Come back and tell us how it goes!