In search of perfect planks

Senior Sarah Naji had seen her friends posting pictures online of themselves lying flat, face down, on the strangest places. When she learned this phenomenon was called planking, she decided to give it a try.

Naji said the planking fad caught on this summer and requires people to lie flat with their body face down, remaining as still as a board and keeping their arms close to their body. Naji said one of the reasons she thinks planking gained popularity is because almost anyone can do it anywhere, at any time and the challenge becomes being creative. Junior Brendan O'Brien said this originality makes planking a form of artistic expression.

O'Brien started planking with a group of friends, including Naji, through a photo contest among Alpha Phi Omega members.   

Being imaginative and finding places that seem impossible to plank on is the most fun and challenging part of planking, O'Brien said. He said he has planked on track hurdles, the fountain on The Mall, the stone tiers by Magruder Hall and the wooden plank suspended between two trees near the ROTC training grounds on campus. This is the most dangerous potentially, and the most fun, place he said he has planked.

 "I was at just the right height so I could jump up and swing myself around so I was planking on it," he said. "So that was fun and scary at the same time."

O'Brien said the oddest place he has planked is the Truman State University sign on the corner of Normal and Franklin streets.

"When we were on the Truman sign, we got quite a few weird looks, especially from cars passing by," O'Brien said. "I've seen people climb on there and around that for pictures, but I've never seen anybody else plank on it."

He said he tries to out-do himself with each plank, and do something bigger, better or more impressive than before. He said challenging himself to be creative makes his planking artwork.

"Planking can definitely be artistic because it kind of shows a sort of an unusual way of looking at things," he said. "It lets you use your creativity and making the most of your free time."

O'Brien said taking pictures makes planking more fun because it allows him to share his creativity with others. He said he has noticed his friends have planking pictures on Facebook and viewing their photos started his interest in the activity.

Sophomore Thomas Fitzler said he has planked on objects that were perfectly flat, like a track hurdle and others, like a concrete sphere, that were more challenging. He said finding your center of gravity while planking on oddly shaped objects can be difficult, but in the end, the photos are impressive. Fitzler said he utilizes different camera angles to make even simple planks look more impressive.

"When I am taking pictures of my friends planking, I'd take different angles of the same plank and certain angles made it look a lot cooler and kind of like art," Fitzler said.