Fact checkedExpert's opinion

Expert's opinion

The article is a subjective view on this topic written by writers specializing in medical writing.
It may reflect on a personal journey surrounding struggles with an illness or medical condition, involve product comparisons, diet considerations, or other health-related opinions.

Although the view is entirely that of the writer, it is based on academic experiences and scientific research they have conducted; it is fact-checked by a team of degreed medical experts, and validated by sources attached to the article.

The numbers in parenthesis (1,2,3) will take you to clickable links to related scientific papers.

30-Day Plank Challenge For Weight Loss 2024– Do Planks Help You Lose Weight?

Lakshmi Vemuri

Updated on - Written by
Medically reviewed by Kimberly Langdon, MD

30 day plank challenge weight loss
The 30-Day plank challenge not only reduces belly fat but also engages multiple muscles in your body. Photo: Shutterstock & Team Design

Belly fat is one of the major fitness concerns for many people all around the world. Increased consumption of processed foods, sugary, salty foods, and lack of physical activity are some of the main culprits here. Moreover, even pregnancy can wreak havoc on your goal to achieve a flat stomach. According to a review,[1], 91% of adults and 69% of children in the US are estimated to be overfat, and overweight mainly due to excess abdominal fat. Losing belly fat is a struggle and it needs your dedication and hard work. You have to fight tooth and nail to lose belly fat. While the most common traditional abdominal exercises are crunches, they may not be the most effective ones for strength training to build muscle and a strong core. One super effective isometric exercise is Planks. They not only help you lose your upper body but also work as an entire body workout. If you are interested in How many days plank reduces belly fat or wondering if should you try a 30-day plank challenge-weight loss to reduce belly fat, please do not ignore this information.

In this read, you will know all the things that I did during my plank challenge which helped in my weight loss journey. Lastly, If you are wondering how much weight can you lose doing the plank challenge? Then let me walk you through the information in detail.

30-Day Plank Challenge For Weight Loss

For the best possible results, try to start slow with basic planks and then gradually move on to advanced forms. Focus on keeping the posture right, as it is one of the most important factors that determine your success. Plan your challenge well and include different variations such as side planks, forearm planks, and a few others. Additionally, try to maintain a healthy diet without sugars and junk food.

Do Planks Help You Lose Weight?

How effective is the plank workout method? The answer to this question is how well you do the planks. If you are following all the fundamental instructions such as keeping your posture right, this is a very effective method to burn calories.

How much weight can you lose doing the plank challenge? Well, it depends on how well your posture is. Don’t lift your hips or let them dip. Lock your knees and keep your legs straight. Nevertheless, if you are a beginner and are struggling with traditional positions, it’s better to start with your knees as the base instead of your feet. After a few days of practice, you can move on to doing full planks. 

A plank workout,[2] engages multiple muscles in your body. It is not just any other traditional abdominal exercise. It takes a lot of resilience and balance. The longer you hold the position the more you lose fat. If you are wondering how many planks do you need to lose weight? Well, for plank exercise for belly fat, you need to do the plank workout 3 times a week, holding the plank position 60 times. Do not strain your muscles while doing so. Adequate rest can help your muscles grow faster as much as exercise does.

Plank Exercise And Variations That Helped Me Lose 5 Pounds 

I began my plank challenge with a simple exercise like sit-ups. Then I did basic planks for a few weeks and several variations followed in the coming weeks. Out of several variations, I picked a few and tried them. I began with an easier plank workout plan. My main focus was on getting the posture right rather than the count. I kept on upscaling them each week with several variations, repetitions, and plank hold timings. These helped me in building muscle, proper form, and improved posture which is key to any isometric exercise. This plan would be suitable for beginners. Here are the several plank variations that were part of my everyday plank challenge.

Standard Plank

To begin with the plank challenge, the standard plank was the first plank variation I tried and it was relatively easier to do. Start with a pushup position. Keep your hands straight and place your palms and toes on the ground. Maintain your body straight and your core tight from head to toe. As long as you maintain good form, it is one of the most beneficial exercises for overall body fat burn. 

Planking For Weight Loss With Alternate Knees And Elbows

Planking With Alternate Knees And Elbows
Planking pose with alternating knees and elbows. Photo: Shutterstock

Starting with a high plank, lift your left knee to the right shoulder with a strong core. Repeat with your right leg to balance out strength training. Try doing the same with alternate knees and shoulders and maintain a proper balance while doing so. This not only helps you relax your muscles and have less stress on your body, but it is also an effective way to burn calories seamlessly.

Plank Side Walk 

Start with a high plank, activate the abs and glutes, and then start moving laterally by moving your right arm and right leg in one direction. Lift your left arm and left leg to meet in the center and return to the plank. I did 5 steps to the right and then to the left to finish one set. Beginners should perform 3 sets and work up to 5. Make sure to go slow and steady and concentrate on it to maximize weight loss.

Side Planks

Side Planks
Side Planks is a good alternative if you have difficulty with traditional positions. Photo: Shutterstock

If you are a beginner, lie on one side, keep your elbow underneath your shoulder, and your arms flat. Keep your knees on the ground, stack your legs and raise your hips. Place your hand on your hip, squeeze your glutes as you plank, and hold for 30 seconds to 1 minute. This posture is relatively easy but you can feel planking burn at oblique muscles. 

Once you are comfortable doing this side plank, try lifting from the feet instead of the knees. Later, you can make this more challenging by making variations like raising arms and lowering your hip or adding knee pull, holding an arm and leg up. This plank targets different muscle groups, make sure to do 10 reps on both sides with each movement. 

Forearm Plank

Place your forearms under your shoulder, extend your hands and lengthen the body. Engage muscle groups like abs, glutes, and triceps, and do not let your spine arch towards the ground. Tuck your tail bones and toes and lift your knees and keep them straight. In the forearm plank, we use our forearms to rest our weight. Forearm plank is one of the effective abs exercises to build rectus abdominis (the six-pack ab muscle) and oblique muscles.

Things To Remember To Maximize Weight Loss With Everyday Plank Challenge

  • Keep your abdominal muscles tense while doing plank exercises. It will help you engage deep abdominal muscles. Engaging your core muscles correctly can help you gain core strength and in losing weight. 
  • You need to hold your torso up so that it doesn’t touch the floor, but then do not lift your hips too high. It should be in a straight-line form. Your core muscles should be activated so that they hold your body weight, and your spine should be neutral. Your body should be in the form of a straight line, head to toe. 
  • Keep an eye on your progress and try to hold for a longer time. Start with a basic plank for 20-30 seconds for a week with as many repetitions as possible. When you feel that you are ready, try holding the basic plank for 40- 50 seconds.
  • Experts suggest holding plank exercises for 60 seconds for 3 repetitions to lose abdominal fat. 
  • Upscale your repetitions and the time you hold from there. There’s no specific time that you need to aim for. However, if you can hold the plank position for 2 minutes, it is a sign of building core strength.
  • Apart from abs, the plank challenge is a great way to tense your glutes. So squeeze your butt and engage as many muscles as possible while doing the plank exercise. A full plank is a great way to engage your posterior chain and build strength.

How Much Weight Can You Lose Doing The Plank For Weight Loss?

How much weight can you lose doing the plank challenge depends on how fast you get to improve posture while doing plank exercises and the amount of calorie burning. It also depends on body weight and excess fat, metabolic rate, and muscle-to-fat ratio. However, planking exercise can burn between two to five calories a minute. 

Here Is What I Did Along With The Everyday Plank Challenge For Weight Loss

So here’s what you need to do besides plank. 

Yes, you read it right. You can lose weight with the help of CBD. Glucomannan is a soluble fiber. It is a root extract of the elephant yam. It contributes to the feeling of fullness and restricts the number of calories you consume. This reduces calorie intake and helps in losing weight and it also improves gut-friendly bacteria and reduces cholesterol levels. Hence, it makes this one of the safest weight loss supplements. Furthermore, glucomannan will not have any effect unless taken before a meal. Recommended timing ranges from 15 minutes to an hour before having your meal. You can take from 2 to 4 grams a day,[3].

Conclusion 

Every day plank challenge is one of the most effective compared to other exercises. However, mastering planks can take some time. So, I Included specific exercises like sit-ups, mountain climbers, Russian twists, and boat pose to activate different multiple muscle groups. This helps shed more calories and burn fat. You are just a few planks away from achieving a tighter tummy or maybe even six-pack abs and healthy living. Make sure to give your muscles adequate rest. But continue doing other exercises on a day-to-day basis to burn more calories.


+ 3 sources

Health Canal avoids using tertiary references. We have strict sourcing guidelines and rely on peer-reviewed studies, academic researches from medical associations and institutions. To ensure the accuracy of articles in Health Canal, you can read more about the editorial process here

  1. Maffetone, P.B. and Laursen, P.B. (2017). The Prevalence of Overfat Adults and Children in the US. Frontiers in Public Health, [online] 5. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5671970/#:~:text=Overfat%20can%20occur%20in%20normal,are%20estimated%20to%20be%20overfat.
  2. ‌Boyer, C., Tremblay, M., Saunders, T., McFarlane, A., Borghese, M., Lloyd, M. and Longmuir, P. (2013). Feasibility, Validity, and Reliability of the Plank Isometric Hold as a Field-Based Assessment of Torso Muscular Endurance for Children 8–12 Years of Age. Pediatric Exercise Science, [online] 25(3), pp.407–422. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23877226/
  3. Keithley J;Swanson B (2015). Glucomannan and obesity: a critical review. Alternative therapies in health and medicine, [online] 11(6). Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16320857/.
Lakshmi Vemuri

Medically reviewed by:

Kimberly Langdon

Lakshmi Vemuri holds a bachelor’s degree in Dentistry. She is also a published author of several Food and Wellness books. Lakshmi has a profound interest in alternative medicines, various forms of physical exercise, mental health, diets, and new inventions in medical sciences. Besides being a dentist, Lakshmi is passionate about gardening and is an environmental enthusiast

Medically reviewed by:

Kimberly Langdon

Journal of Physical Education and Sport

Trusted Source

Go to source

SciELO - Scientific Electronic Library Online

Trusted Source

Go to source

African Journals Online

Non-profit Platform for African Journals

Trusted Source
Go to source

Journal of The American Board of Family Medicine

American Board of Family Medicine

Trusted Source
Go to source

Informit

RMIT University Library

Trusted Source
Go to source

European Food Safety Authority

Science, Safe food, Sustainability

Trusted Source
Go to source

OrthoInfo

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons

Trusted Source
Go to source

American Academy of Family Physicians

Strengthen family physicians and the communities they care for

Trusted Source
Go to source

Agricultural Research Service

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Trusted Source
Go to source

The American Journal of Medicine

Official Journal of The Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine

Trusted Source
Go to source

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Database From National Institute Of Health

Trusted Source
Go to source

Lippincott Journals

Subsidiaries of Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

Trusted Source
Go to source

National Institute on Aging

Database From National Institute Of Health

Trusted Source
Go to source

Translational Research

The Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine

Trusted Source
Go to source

Cell

An All-science Publisher

Trusted Source
Go to source

Journal of Translational Medicine

BioMed Central

Part of Springer Nature
Go to source

Federal Trade Commission

Protecting America's Consumers

Trusted Source
Go to source

National Human Genome Research Institute

Database From National Institute Of Health

Trusted Source
Go to source

Food Production, Processing and Nutrition

BioMed Central

Part of Springer Nature
Go to source

BMC Gastroenterology

BioMed Central

Part of Springer Nature
Go to source

ACS Publications

A Division of The American Chemical Society

Trusted Source
Go to source

Annual Reviews

Independent, Non-profit Academic Publishing Company

Trusted Source
Go to source

PubChem

National Center for Biotechnology Information

National Library of Medicine
Go to source

PLOS Journals

Nonprofit Publisher of Open-access Journals

Trusted Source
Go to source

Thieme E-books & E-Journals

Peer-reviewed & Open Access Journal

Trusted Source
Go to source

European Journal of Agriculture and Food Sciences

Peer-reviewed International Journal Publishes

Trusted Source
Go to source

Royal Society of Chemistry Publishing Home

Chemical Science Journals, Books and Database

Trusted Source
Go to source

Frontiers

Publisher of Peer-reviewed Articles in Open Acess Journals

Trusted Source
Go to source

De Gruyter

German Scholarly Publishing House

Trusted Source
Go to source

Hindawi

Open Access Research Journals & Papers

Trusted Source
Go to source

Oilseeds and Fats, Crops and Lipids

EDP Sciences

Trusted Source
Go to source

Cambridge Core

Cambridge University Press

Trusted Source
Go to source

FoodData Central

U.S. Department Of Agriculture

Trusted Source
Go to source

Journal of the American Heart Association

Peer-reviewed Open Access Scientific Journal

Trusted Source
Go to source

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health

Database From National Institute Of Health

U.S Department of Health and Human Services
Go to source

The Americans with Disabilities Act

U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division

Trusted Source
Go to source

Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

Organization of Food and Nutrition Professionals

tr
Go to source

Sage Journals

Database From Sage Publications

Trusted Source
Go to source

National Institute of Drug Abuse

Database From National Institute Of Health

U.S Department of Health and Human Services
Go to source

The ClinMed International Library

A Repository and an Open Access Publisher for Medical Research

Trusted Source
Go to source

The Royal Society Publishing

United Kingdom's National Academy of Sciences

Trusted Source
Go to source

APA PsycNet

Database From American Psychological Association

Trusted Source
Go to source

The Pharma Innovation Journal

Peer-reviewed And Refereed Journal

Trusted Source
Go to source

Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research and Development

Peer-reviewed Bimonthly Journal

Trusted Source
Go to source

British Pharmacological Society

Journals - Wiley Online Library

Trusted Source
Go to source

American Psychological Association

Scientific and Professional Organization of Psychologists

Trusted Source
Go to source

AAP Publications

Database From American Academy of Pediatrics

Trusted Source
Go to source

Karger Publishers

Academic Publisher of Scientific and Medical Journals and Books

Trusted Source
Go to source

Cambridge University Press & Assessment

Database From Cambridge University

Trusted Source
Go to source

National Institute of Mental Health

Database From National Institute Of Health

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Go to source

MDPI

Publisher of Open Access Journals

Trusted Source
Go to source

Bulletin of the National Research Centre

Part of Springer Nature

Trusted Source
Go to source

The New England Journal of Medicine

Massachusetts Medical Society

Trusted Source
Go to source

Economic Research Service

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Trusted Source
Go to source

MedlinePlus

Database From National Library of Medicine

U.S Department of Health and Human Services
Go to source

National Institute of Health

An agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Trusted Source
Go to source

Trusted Source

Database From National Institute Of Health

U.S Department of Health and Human Services
Go to source

The BMJ

Weekly Peer-reviewed Medical Trade Journal

The British Medical Association
Go to source

The British Psychological Society

The British Psychological Society is a charity registered in England

Database From Wiley Online Library
Go to source

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Database From National Institute Of Health

U.S Department of Health and Human Services
Go to source

PubMed

Database From National Institute Of Health

U.S National Library of Medicine
Go to source

DailyMed

Database From National Institute Of Health

U.S National Library of Medicine
Go to source

Google Scholar

Go to source

Science.gov: USA.gov for Science

Government Science Portal

Go to source

ResearchGate

Social Network Service For Scientists

Find and share research
Go to source

American Heart Association

To be a rentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives

Go to source

BioMed Central

Research in progress

Go to source

JAMA Network

Home of JAMA and the Specialty Journals of the American Medical Association

Go to source

Springer Link

Database From Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Springer - International Publisher Science, Technology, Medicine
Go to source

ODS

Database from Office of Dietary Supplements

National Institutes of Health
Go to source

Federal Trade Commission

Bureaus of Consumer Protection, Competition and Economics
Go to source

Trusted Source

Database From U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

Governmental Authority
Go to source

Oxford Academic Journals

Oxford University Press

Trusted Source
Go to source

Taylor & Francis Online

Peer-reviewed Journals

Academic Publishing Division of Informa PLC
Go to source

WHO

Database from World Health Organization

Go to source

Journal of Neurology

Peer-reviewed Medical Journal

American Academy of Neurology Journal
Go to source

ScienceDirect

Bibliographic Database of Scientific and Medical Publications

Dutch publisher Elsevier
Go to source

Wiley Online Library

American Multinational Publishing Company

Trusted Source
Go to source

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

U.S. National Public Health Agency

U.S Department of Health and Human Services
Go to source

Trusted Source

Database from U.S. National Library of Medicine

U.S. Federal Government
Go to source

U.S. Food & Drug Administration

Federal Agency

U.S Department of Health and Human Services
Go to source

PubMed Central

Database From National Institute Of Health

U.S National Library of Medicine
Go to source
Feedback

Help us rate this article

Thank you for your feedback

Keep in touch to see our improvement