A plankathon this weekend at Stride Fitness aims to promote health and raise funds for Fairview HealthLine HomeCare in International Falls.
The first-annul plankathon event begins Friday and ends Sunday at Stride Fitness. The plankathon involves teams of six people who will compete to hold the longest plank. Planking is an increasingly-popular strength and muscle endurance exercise, like a “semi push-up,” explained Stride Fitness owner Jim Woods. To plank, a person rests on their forearms and toes or balls of their feet, and tries to hold the position as long as possible.
Individual planking times will be recorded toward a team score. The event has no set time; people interested in participating can drop in individually or as a team to plank at any time Saturday and Sunday, Woods said. The event is open to the public; participants need not be members at the gym.
The team with the longest combined plank time wins the competition.
“It’s core conditioning for your abs (abdominal muscles) and helps to strengthen back muscles and stomach muscles,” Woods said. “It’s probably better than doing sit-ups or crunches for those muscles.”
Free-will donations or the option to sponsor a planker is part of an effort to raise funds through the event for Fairview HealthLine HomeCare, affiliated with North Star Hospice in International Falls. The funds will specifically support the respite care program, in which volunteers visit family homes to support the relative or care giver of a person who is ill.
“We’re trying to make people aware of the respite family care provided in our community,” Woods said. “It’s one of those things almost everyone knows a family who has used it for help, but we often overlook it. It’s something most people don’t usually talk about.”
Stride Fitness personal trainer Nicole Skallman came up with the idea of the plankathon. She had already been planning for a planking competition, and found out that HealthLine needed to raise funds. Skallman decided to combine the plankathon into a fund raiser for the program.
“I’ve had first-hand experience of a care giver coming into my home to care for my mom (Rosmairi Strand) as she passed away from cancer,” Skallman said. “In that stage, you feel kind of helpless, and you don’t know where to turn. They come in and are very supportive, welcoming and kind, and you don’t have to worry as much, and you know that it’s okay.”
Skallman planned the fundraiser with the plankathon after learning that respite care work is volunteer-based, and there’s no funding for the service, she said.
“I wanted to do the plankathon anyway, but now we have a cause,” Skallman said. “And planking is something everyone can do. It’s something fun and different from other fundraising events.”
To sign up or for more information, call 285-2901 or email stridefitnesshealth@gmail.com.
