A flat stomach in three minutes a day

I still remember Daphne Deckers gently showing everyone her incredibly tight six-pack and sharing her two tips. One was the EDH diet, which means eat half, and the second was to do three minutes of abdominal exercises twice a day. No obstacle should hold you back from this. Well, I have a tip too: planking.

I still remember doing a plank challenge with Renate Gerschtanowitz. during a trip to Capri. I believe we both managed to hold it for three minutes untrained. By sheer willpower, I would say. I was shaking on my mat, so from that moment on I decided: I’m going to plank. Where I used to die after thirty seconds, I now actually enjoy ‘the plank’. During a class (remember what we used to do in the BC era: all working up a sweat in a gym together?) the minute of planking almost turned into a minute of resting.

Now I start my day with three minutes of plank. I check my messages in between and scroll through Insta, and it’s not really my hobby, but you do get an immediate sense of accomplishment. To get you on Team Plank as well, I will list the benefits.

1. You can do it anywhere
In your room, on the beach, in a little park. Just lie on your stomach and then, hop, onto your forearms and toes and off you go.

2. It’s good for your whole body
For your abs, but also for your butt, and what about your forearms?

3. You can always do it in between
Is your loved one pouring you a glass? Then just go into the plank position for a bit. Check that off your list.

4. You won’t sweat too much
You can’t say that about twenty burpees.

Here are some plank variations:

1. Regular plank
On forearms and balls of your feet.

2. Spiderman plank
Same position but then you pull your knee to your upper arm. You can also do this with a high plank, which brings me to the next point.

3. High plank
Where you used to lean on your elbows, now you lean on your hands.

4. Alternate high and low
And do that for a minute.

5. Side plank
It really helps if you push your hips up and stretch your arm towards the sky.

6. Reverse plank
OLie on your back, place your arms as far back as possible (but under your shoulders) and then push your hips up. Yay.

Well, you can definitely work with this for a while, I think. Good luck.