The pandemic has made me less active. Being home most of the time for the past few years, I couldn’t burn off everything I ate and the results were obvious.
My stomach became softer and rounder and my waist and hips gained about an inch. I was no longer able to fit into several pants that I wore with ease. Weight-wise, I wasn’t too bad. I only gained 10 pounds at most, although at the time of writing I had already lost half of it. Yet the belly fat remained despite the weight loss. I also couldn’t do forward turns as well with this obstruction. It also didn’t help because as I aged my metabolic rate probably decreased, causing me to burn food more slowly than before.
A few days ago, I decided to get back on the board. I used to do this during my vinyasa yoga years, but stopped when I got into yin yoga. The plank helps burn belly fat but does not require high-impact or high-intensity routines. It engages and strengthens several core muscles, helps increase metabolic rate and improves posture.
The correct way to hold a plank
As a senior, I need to be more careful about the type of exercises I should do. The plank works for me because I just need to stay still on my yoga mat.
My current daily routine involves doing 1 minute planks, done in 3 sets or reps. Between each series, I do a child’s pose to rest and recharge my batteries. Yesterday I unlocked an achievement by doing a plank for 2 minutes straight without much effort. But it was just a try. I plan to stick to 1 minute planks for a while and work on increasing the reps instead.
Belly fat is one of the most stubborn and difficult areas to burn compared to other parts of the body. The plank alone won’t burn it all off, so I may need to combine it with other intense exercises. It’s a good start though.
Here’s a video I found on how to floor properly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQu26ABuVS0
I’ve only been planking daily for about a week, so it will take me months to see any progress. Let’s see how things go in a few months.