A healthy adult in their 20s can typically hold a plank for about 1.5 to 2 minutes, while someone in their 60s or older might manage 20 to 30 seconds with good form. Those numbers drop steadily with each decade, and the decline picks up speed after 50. But your personal target depends on more than just age: sex, activity level, and training history all play a role.
Average Plank Times by Age and Sex
The following benchmarks represent “good” averages for healthy individuals maintaining proper form throughout the hold. If you’re new to planking or returning after a long break, expect to fall below these numbers at first.
- Under 20: 1 to 2 minutes for both women and men
- 20 to 29: 1 minute 30 seconds for women, 1 minute 45 seconds for men
- 30 to 39: 1 minute 15 seconds for women, 1 minute 45 seconds for men
- 40 to 49: 50 to 60 seconds for women, 1 minute to 1 minute 15 seconds for men
- 50 to 59: 40 to 45 seconds for women, 1 minute for men
- 60 and older: 20 to 30 seconds for both women and men
These are population averages, not ceilings. People who train consistently often exceed them by a wide margin. A study of college-age athletes (18 to 25) found that the middle-of-the-pack hold time was about 1 minute 35 seconds for women and 1 minute 50 seconds for men. The top 25% of women in that group held for over 2 minutes, and the top 25% of men surpassed 2 minutes 15 seconds.
Why Plank Times Drop With Age
Your body hits peak muscle mass and strength somewhere between ages 20 and 30. After that, you gradually lose both. The decline is modest at first, but after 50 it accelerates to roughly 12% to 15% per decade. This process, called sarcopenia, involves the progressive loss of muscle fibers, particularly the fatigue-resistant fibers your core relies on during a sustained hold.
The muscles that matter most for planking, the deep stabilizers along your spine and the deep abdominal layer that wraps around your torso like a belt, are directly affected. As these muscles weaken, they work closer to their maximum capacity during everyday tasks, which means they fatigue faster when you ask them to hold a static position. Physical inactivity speeds this process up considerably. Someone who stays active through their 50s and 60s will generally outperform the age-group averages, while a sedentary person in their 30s might underperform theirs.
Why Men and Women Differ
Men tend to hold planks slightly longer than women across most age groups, with the gap widest in the 40 to 59 range. This tracks with differences in upper-body and trunk muscle mass. In the college athlete study, the average gap between sexes was only about 12 seconds, suggesting that when training levels are similar, the difference narrows. By age 60 and beyond, the gap essentially disappears, with both sexes averaging 20 to 30 seconds.
Two Minutes Is the Practical Ceiling
If you can hold a plank for two minutes with good form, you’ve essentially maxed out the functional benefit. As Harvard Health Publishing has noted, two minutes is often considered the upper limit of usefulness, with little additional payoff beyond that point. Chasing longer holds tends to mean your form breaks down, shifting stress away from your core and onto your lower back and shoulders.
This is good news for most people. It means the goal isn’t to grind toward five-minute planks. Instead, once you can comfortably hold for 60 to 120 seconds, you’re better off progressing to harder variations (single-arm, single-leg, or side planks) rather than simply adding time.
Why Plank Endurance Matters
The plank isn’t just a fitness test party trick. It activates your core muscles while placing relatively low compressive force on the spine, roughly 1,400 to 1,600 newtons. That’s significantly less than exercises like back extensions or sit-ups, which load the lumbar vertebrae much more heavily. This makes the plank one of the safest ways to build the stiffness your spine needs to bear loads without buckling.
Research on isometric core training (which is what a plank is) shows that it increases passive torso stiffness more effectively than dynamic exercises like crunches. That stiffness translates directly to spinal stability, the kind of core support that protects your lower back when you bend to pick up a child, carry groceries, or twist to grab something from the back seat.
How to Build Up Safely
If you’re starting well below the benchmarks for your age, working up gradually is more effective than forcing longer holds with poor form. A plank only counts if your body stays in a straight line from head to heels, with no sagging hips or piked-up backside. The moment your form breaks, the set is over.
For beginners or older adults who find a floor plank too demanding, a wall plank is a solid starting point. Stand facing a wall, place your forearms flat against it, and walk your feet back until your body forms an angled line. This reduces the load on your core while still training the same stabilizing muscles. If your wrists bother you, use your forearms instead of your hands. You can increase difficulty over time by stepping your feet farther from the wall, adding small arm movements, or placing a stability ball against the wall and controlling its movement in different directions.
From a wall plank, the natural progression is a knee plank on the floor (knees down instead of toes), then a full forearm plank. Most people can add 5 to 10 seconds per week with consistent practice, which means even starting at 15 seconds, you could reach a minute within two to three months.
A Military Benchmark for Context
The U.S. Marine Corps uses a single plank scoring table that applies to all Marines regardless of age or sex. A perfect score of 100 requires holding for 3 minutes 45 seconds, while the minimum passing time of 1 minute 10 seconds earns a score of 40. Hitting 2 minutes lands you at 59 points. These numbers are meant for active-duty service members, so they sit well above general population averages, but they offer useful context for where your hold falls on a broader scale. If you can hold a plank for 2 minutes, you’d score respectably on a test designed for Marines.