Plank Test of Core Strength  

On Good Morning America this morning they had Dr. Oz and a colleague talking about exercise to improve beauty and to lessen stress. They said one key thing is to have good core body strength and had a test for how good ones core strength is. A diagram is shown in the attached photo. In effect it is to take a push-up position on toes and elbows(forearms) and see how long you can hold it. 15 seconds is a weak core, 15-45 secs shows need for improvement and greater than 45 secs as they put it they want to see your abs. Well I'm not too sure about this test. Either I have great core strength or the test is not that good. I am 63, a little overweight and to say I have been grossly neglectfull of my exercising and working out for the last two years would be an enormous understatement. Yet, I had absolutely no touble in going over 45 secs and only quit at 48 secs because I had other things I had to attend to and they hadn't given any criteria beyond that. I feel certain that 90 or 120 secs or more would have been easily in my capability.