The plank

When I was a kid 'the plank' was the name of an 'hilarious' British comedy starring Eric Sykes and various actors from Dad's army. I guess it was a classic because it was on all the time.

Now days the plank is something completely different. Named the king of all ab exercises the plank involves holding yourself prone on your forearms and toes (or knees if you really have to).  The ability to hold yourself in plank position for 3 minutes straight is sign of a rock solid core. The plank works a range of upper, lower and abdominal muscles, including shoulders, abdominals, flutes and even the neck.

Plank looks simple, but it's not, it's tough physically and mentally. A minute sitting on the sofa watching TV seems to last, well, a minute. A minute held in plank feels more like an hour.

The plank can be made easier by dropping to your knees, or harder by raising one leg, flipping onto your side (on arm and one leg) or adding additional instability (try it with your feet in a TRX).

The best way to improve your plank time is to hold the plank as long as you can, take a rest of half that duration, then repeat twice more. As soon as you can do three one minute plank  with 30 second rest between, start decreasing the rest.

In no time you'll be planking like the best of them. And, who knows, if your plank time ever gets up to 45 minutes, you can do it while watching The Plank