Why You Should Plank Before the Rosary

" When it is all over you will not regret having suffered; rather you will regret having suffered so little, and suffered that little so badly. " - St. Sebastian Valfre

A practice I started a couple months ago was planking (when possible!) before saying the rosary. It has changed my perspective and appreciation of that holy prayer dramatically. I will outline the main points about why you should incorporate this practice into your prayer life, and the amazing effects you will see that spring from it.

I will preface this with the fact that this is not for everyone! If you are able and willing to try this, great, if not, that is okay. Everyone has their crosses and this is but another way to carry it.

Why the Plank?

The plank, or planking, is an exercise that involves your core muscles, improving your strength, balance and endurance. The exercise is so-named because, when done properly, you straighten your entire body and maintain it rigidly, just like a plank of wood.

Planking is very isometric, meaning a type of strength training in which the joint angle and muscle length do not change during contraction, basically you're not moving. This is a critical aspect of why the plank is appropriate - it emphasizes the importance of mentally willing yourself through the pain. your will plays the bigger part in maintaining the exercise than your muscles. On the practical side, planking requires no external equipment (besides maybe a towel or mat for your forearms if one desires) and can be done anywhere.

Unite Your Suffering With Christ

The nature of a plank, as stated above, lends itself towards testing your mental resolve. What better example of testing one's resolve than Christ's Passion? He is almighty God. At any moment He could've stopped His suffering and rebuked his tormentors, but He didn't. He freely gave His life willingly for us. That fact never ceases to amaze - Jesus had to consciously choose to die! Unlike us, who more often than not fear the event of death and have no control over when it comes. That being said, the plank is a fitting imitation of Christ. You have to willingly enter into it. It's not like "Oh! I find myself in the plank position, better start to unite my suffering.". You can give this gift of willed suffering to Christ, and He greatly appreciates this gift. This is also a solid motivation when you feel like you are nearing the end of your limits - remind yourself that Christ suffered infinitely more than you do right now, and you can go for ten more seconds to please Him even more.

I also want to recommend a few qualities to better assist uniting your suffering with Christ. First, I understand that before the rosary, the environment might not be conducive to plank - public area, clothing, location. that is why the best way to go about this is to set aside time for the rosary right before bed or other free time alone. That way you can accomplish this plank in the privacy of your room. This shifts the experience of the plank to the persistence through pain more than the surroundings. This may not sound pleasant, but imagine what Purgatory is like. You have no physical body to experience the traditional senses i.e. sight, sound, touch, smell, taste, yet experience a great suffering. Try to modify your environment to simulate this experience - turn off the lights, limit the background noise, close your eyes, contact the floor with only your forearms and feet. I will make one exception to this, and that is music. God knows how long I can last without music, and having a specific song (my go-to songs are this and this) helps set a time to last until. Try to work up to a 7-minute plank!

Associate the Rosary With Peace and Relief

Remember Pavlov's dog experiment? Pavlov showed the existence of the unconditioned response by presenting a dog with a bowl of food and then measuring its salivary secretions. However, when Pavlov discovered that any object or event which the dogs learned to associate with food (such as the lab assistant) would trigger the same response, he realized that he had made an important scientific discovery.

The Same can be said with planking before the rosary. The moments of pain provided by planking are gone and all that is left is the relief and joy of making it through the exercise. This is when to start the rosary. So not only are you happy emotionally because the pain has ended, but chemically you are "happy" because the pain has ceased and relief sets in. You can associate these responses to the rosary if you steadfastly keep this habit of planking before the rosary, meaning that even when you start saying a rosary without having previously planked, those responses will manifest because of the conditioned response you created. This science, when properly ordered, can be applied to strengthen your prayer life for the glory of God. God gave us these responses for a reason - use them for good!

A Greater Appreciation for the Rosary

This brings us full circle back to uniting our suffering with Christ. Because the past 7 minutes of your life were spent suffering on the floor, each mystery of the rosary is appreciated more deeply. You realize the insane amount of suffering The Holy Family endured for the sake of mankind's salvation. It reminds me of the events in the SEAL training program, BUD/S, that are titled with the word "appreciation". No one likes these events. For example, the one-mile wet suit appreciation swim means that you swim without the luxury of a wet suit. Quickly, these SEAL candidates learn the importance of a wet suit - they foster a greater appreciation towards it.

Apply this to planking. This suffering is what it's like without God's grace. the great humility of realizing how short you can hold that position fosters a greater dependency on God. We are nothing without God, and planking helps us see that.

conclusion

So the next time you decide to say a rosary, give the plank a shot and challenge yourself to go as long as you can. Then when it is time to meditate on the mysteries, a closer relationship will blossom. You will appreciate the immense mercy of God showcased throughout the rosary. May God bless you.