---

Day 2...

Probably because my muscles have been challenged earlier I felt much harder to drag out my body from the bed to resume the challenge today. haha...

So I was thinking, I might as well do a "simpler" version of planking which could lessen the shoulder tension - the High (Standard) Plank

High Planks are usually the standard ones, but if you do not do it properly, it will feel more like a Yoga pose than an actual planking; and to make your body align with your head at approximately 15 deg angle and stay there for 1 minute without moving, that can be quite challenging.

I tried to look for a standard planking muscle impact diagram, but was not successful, so I will share my experience how my body felt when I hold that position.

---

When you make sure your head is align with your back, you can actually feel your entire back shoulder blade muscles tension during your held position. Approximately L4 onward, if you have been sitting in a wrong position (cross your legs and sit) or long hours sitting, you will feel that the muscles around L4 will feel a pinch of pain and strain.

After that comes your lower arms and your ankle and calves. Because you are holding upwards on a higher position, more muscles required to hold the center core higher above ground and if your core muscles are weak, you will feel your arms, back shoulder blades, and even ankle will feel the extra weight . Your shoulders will be the first to shake and you would break sweat even if you didn't do a cardio warm-up.

---

Source - The Nest.com

Please remember to do a relaxed back stretch for your lower back after planking, and it does help as I have done this many times every time I do core muscle exercises.

Source - physio-treatment.weebly.com

Of course, if you realised that during your planking you feel your shoulder is really put up for the challenge and you feel the strain, do not hesitate to do shoulder stretches to avoid injuries.

So here you go, my day 2 planking challenge. I may not have the time to record for tomorrow as I have to head over to the Food Bank at @gtpjfoodbank for some heavy lifting (food packing - #teammalaysia central members please feel free to join me if you want to do some work out) so I might actually skip planking all together and just let my body rest for the weekend. haha.

Even though there's a "no pain, no gain" motto, you got to learn to understand your body age and work along with a gradual push.

---

So, @chloephuan93 has shown her horror reaction, and I am still trying to encourage her. Maybe @zord189 , @joannewong and @aaronleang can jio her later for FBG planking session.

As for @viverridae's comment in the discord, all I could say is when you do start your planking, concentrate on your breathing, keep a standard breathing pace and count from there. Before you know it, 1 minute has passed.

So now I just got to know that I can keep inviting so I will invite @awesomianist, @kristiankho and maybe young @kadishakho and @vaelriey to join in the fun too!

And @kaerpedim, I can't find your most recent planking post. Which one is it? So I can go support it later.

Until then

Keep Calm and Keep Plaking

Ps: I am wondering do everyone who did planking does the same position everyday, or sometimes they challenge themselves on a different position, or is it more of an advance version? 😅

@davidke20, @minloulou 你们已经到达advance level planking 了吗？😅

---

▶️ DTube
▶️ IPFS