Strength discipline · Bodyweight
Plank
Plank is a strength discipline in BYOH, trained with bodyweight and building core and stamina. Its ladder runs from 10 sec at Level 1 to 7+ min at Level 9, and Level 10 is the world record.
The ten levels
BYOH measures a discipline in ten cleared levels. Level 9 is a genuine feat; Level 10 is the standing world record, which is there to be looked at rather than reached.
Plank starts at Level 1 with 10 sec. Level 5 asks for 100 sec, and Level 9 - the last level a person can train towards - 7+ min. The largest single jump is from Level 8 to Level 9, 5 min to 7+ min.
| Level | Target |
|---|---|
| 1 | 10 sec |
| 2 | 25 sec |
| 3 | 45 sec |
| 4 | 70 sec |
| 5 | 100 sec |
| 6 | 150 sec |
| 7 | 220 sec |
| 8 | 5 min |
| 9 | 7+ min |
| 10 · Legend | 9 hr 38 min 47 sec Women’s record: 4 hr 30 min 11 sec |
The record past Level 9
Longest abdominal plank — 9 hr 38 min 47 sec, Josef Šálek (20 May 2023). Women’s record: 4 hr 30 min 11 sec, DonnaJean Wilde (21 Mar 2024).
Bring provisions. Possibly a bard. Source.
How it is done
- Get into a prone position on the floor, supporting your weight on your toes and your forearms. Your arms are bent and directly below the shoulder.
- Keep your body straight at all times, and hold this position as long as possible. To increase difficulty, an arm or leg can be raised.
Movement guidance and imagery from the public-domain Free Exercise DB. BYOH adds the level thresholds.
How the attempt is judged
A level only means something if two heroes clearing it have done the same thing. These are the rules BYOH counts an attempt by — they are the rules of a game, not coaching.
- What counts as one
- One continuous hold, timed from the moment the position is set.
- The set
- A single hold. There is no pause: the clock and the attempt end together.
- What you need
- Elbows under the shoulders, forearms down, body in one line from heel to head.
- What ends it
- Hips dropping or lifting out of line, or a knee touching the floor, ends the hold.
What it builds
Plank feeds Core and Stamina in a hero’s record, working abdominals.
- Anterior bracing
- Whole-body work capacity
Plank is one of 32 strength disciplines. It shares its bodyweight requirement with 13 other strength disciplines. Core is also built by side plank, farmer carry, hanging leg raise and 3 more, and a broad attribute needs several of them rather than one taken far.
Quests that ask for it
- First StepsPath · Level 1
- Hold the LineDiscipline · Level 1
- UnmovedDiscipline · Level 4
- The SteadfastDiscipline · Level 7
- Citadel WithinDiscipline · Level 9
Put it on a record
BYOH turns these levels into a hero: what you clear becomes attributes, quests and a character that grows with your training. It is free, and in open alpha.
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