A new personal plank holding record!
What the hell does that mean?
Well, I am SO high right now (and my shoulders are shaking and my core is pumped!). In a natural way of course. Why is that? Well, read on if you’re still interested (and if you’re not, just read the headline).
So on this very busy day for all of us, I wanted to fit in one final workout before the close of 2008, which in retrospect, proved to be a landmark year in personal fitness for me. Rewind: Besides maintaining a (give or take) 3 workout a week schedule for the entire year, I underwent the infamous Master Cleanse for 3 days (before my body said STOP due to too much weight loss in such a short time…damn). Sure, that might not look like a long time, but that’s 3 days longer than anyone I’ve talked to has ever considered doing it for (so yeah, I’m little crazy…for fitness!). Then, just last week on my new Power Gym apparatus (which I got for Christmas), I accomplished something I’ve been trying to reach for a couple of years now. And that was to perform a complete set of not 10, not 11, but 12 (TWELVE) lateral pull-ups (not chin-ups which are actually easier) in a row without stopping or letting go of the apparatus (reps 8 to 12 are HELL). Some peeps can’t do three, so that was the sh!t, no doubt. Until tonight…
In my ever going quest to push my slow twitch endurance muscle fibers to the limit, I’ve previously documented on this site how I’ve held the core, chest and shoulder intensive plank position for 2 minutes and 34 seconds, then besting it with a 3 minutes and 1 second time (then failing numerous times to reach the 3 minute mark again). Well, on the very eve of 2009, I achieved a personal best plank holding time/duration of 4 minutes and 14 seconds! No resting, no breaks, no 1 minute reps multiplied by 4. Just one hardcore rep for the entire duration (which pushes your body WAY more than breaking it up into repetitions would do). Hell, the screensaver on my VAIO even came on just as I was ready to collapse.
Music was my corner man once again, in particular back to back songs by The Streets from the Everything Is Borrowed LP: more specifically the entire Never Give In track (fitting as I didn’t, no matter how much it hurt), combined with close to the first minute of The Sherry End (as I truly held things in position until my sherry end). Just goes to show what you can push your body to do if you’re determined (i.e. competitively stubborn in my case) and have the right vibe pushing you along (very important mentally). And don’t forget to concentrate on your breathing (or you DIE…just kidding, but you won’t make it to 2 minutes). Hopefully this inspires you readers out there to pursue your own fitness goals, no matter how small they are. Because, like a wise man once said: “ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!” (c) KG
*sipping on last protein shake of ‘08*
Final post of the year coming up sometime before midnight…
