Press one and it is loaded
- Tabata Timer8 × 0:20 / 0:10Seven to eight sets of twenty seconds with ten of rest between them, handed over whole by the 1996 paper.Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
- HIIT Timer8 × 0:40 / 0:20Forty hard and twenty easy, eight times over: a gym circuit format for near-maximal work, with time to reach the next station.
- EMOM Timer10 × 1:00A cue once a minute and no scheduled recovery, so you earn your rest by finishing the repetitions early.CrossFit
- Rest Timer1 × 2:00Two minutes of rest, started as you rack the bar: the top of the ACSM range for muscle growth and the NSCA floor for big lifts.American College of Sports Medicine · National Strength and Conditioning Association
- Plank Timer3 × 0:30 / 0:30LoadedThree holds of thirty seconds with thirty between them, the front plank in the USA Gymnastics exercise progression sheet.USA Gymnastics
- CrossFit Timer1 × 20:00One twenty minute clock with no rounds and no rest inside it, the length the published benchmark Cindy is scored over.CrossFit
- Stretching Timer10 × 0:30 / 0:10Thirty second holds taken twice a muscle group, which is the sixty seconds the ACSM position stand asks for.American College of Sports Medicine
How long 471 students held a plank, and where you sit
In a 2014 study, 471 college students held a forearm plank until they had to stop or lost the position. Men lasted 124 seconds on average and women 83, with a wide spread either way. Athletes averaged 123 seconds and non-athletes 83. Students who were active more than three times a week held longer, and the effect grew past five times a week.
Journal of Human KineticsStrand et al., 2014, J Hum Kinet 40:93 to 102, PMID 25031677
The paper also ranks the times. Half the men held for 110 seconds or more, and one in ten passed 201. For women the middle was 72 seconds, and one in ten passed 142. The authors say these norms fit college students and need more testing before they are applied to other groups.
Journal of Human KineticsStrand et al., 2014, J Hum Kinet 40:93 to 102, PMID 25031677
The three holds of 30 seconds this timer opens on come from a USA Gymnastics sheet written for young gymnasts training at home. Thirty seconds is the top of its basic level, which makes it a fair start for an adult too.
The protocol
3 holds of up to 30 seconds, with at least 30 seconds of rest between them.
Elbows under your shoulders, weight on your forearms and the balls of your feet, and one straight line from shoulders to ankles.
The hold is over when your back sags or your hips rise out of line, whatever the clock says. Rest, then go again.
Harder versions on the same sheet: lift one leg at a time, then turn onto one forearm with your free shoulder pointing at the ceiling.
This timer rings a bell as each hold starts and ends, warns ten seconds before each hold ends, has a fullscreen key, and keeps the screen awake where the browser allows; it is free and needs no account. Keep this tab in front, because a browser may pause the sound of a tab you cannot see.
Sessions to try
These are our suggestions. Where one follows a published source, that source is cited under it.
- Beginner
3 holds of 20 seconds with 40 seconds of rest. Add 5 seconds to each hold every week until you reach 30.
- Basic
The timer as it opens: 3 holds of 30 seconds, 30 seconds of rest.
- Leg lifts
3 holds of 30 seconds, lifting one foot a few centimetres and switching every few seconds. Keep your hips level.
- Test day
One hold until your form goes, on a fresh day. In Edit intervals set Rounds to 1 and Work to 5:00, and stop when your hips drop.
Warm up with a few minutes of easy cardio first.
Common mistakes
Letting the hips sag. Once your lower back dips, the hold has ended.
Hips up high. It feels easier because it is. Bring them back into line with your shoulders and ankles.
Holding your breath. Breathe slowly the whole way through; if you cannot, shorten the hold.
Adding minutes before difficulty. Once 30 seconds is easy, try the leg-lift version before you try 60.
Questions
How long should I hold a plank?
There is no single target. In the 2014 study the middle time was 110 seconds for men and 72 for women. For training, 3 holds of 30 seconds with good form is a simple start.
Journal of Human KineticsStrand et al., 2014, J Hum Kinet 40:93 to 102, PMID 25031677USA GymnasticsExercise Progression Series: Front Plank
Is a 1 minute plank good?
Against the 2014 college norms, 60 seconds falls in the bottom tenth for men, whose 10th percentile is 62 seconds. For women it sits between the 30th and 40th percentile, which are 58 and 63 seconds.
Journal of Human KineticsStrand et al., 2014, J Hum Kinet 40:93 to 102, PMID 25031677
Six palettes, and a phase keeps its meaning in all of them
The same four grounds, drawn six ways. Each is solved so that get ready, work, rest and done stay apart, and so the clock stays readable from across a gym. Pick one and the whole page turns with it; this browser remembers the choice.
The app
The same clock, in your pocket
Bursta is being finished for phones. Android comes first and iPhone after it. It is the timer you have above, built as an app: the same reading of the wall clock every frame, so a locked screen, a phone call or a backgrounded app does not make it drift.
It keeps sounding with the screen off
The bell lands with the phone locked in your bag and your music still playing. A page in a tab cannot do that.
Your own workouts, and a record of them
A builder, a library you name and reorder, a history that fills itself in, and a calendar with repeats and reminders.
Made to be read while you are breathing hard
Six palettes, five text sizes, and the phase in the colour of the whole screen. English and Ukrainian.
Soon on Google PlaySoon on the App Store
