Read the full transcript of Preventive Medicine Physician Joe Risser’s talk titled “The Secrets and Science of Mental Toughness” at TEDxSanDiego, April 1, 2025.
Listen to the audio version here:
Introduction: The Power of the Plank
JOE RISSER MD, MPH: You’re about to hold a plank for just 60 seconds. You know it’s coming – that tension in your core, the burn in your arms, the mental countdown ticking away. You’re already thinking “I can’t do this. I’m going to collapse at 30 seconds.”
Now imagine you push through that feeling. You hold on, maybe your body starts shaking. Your mind is screaming for you to stop. You tell yourself “Just one more second” and you make it to 60. You’re feeling pretty proud of yourself.
But then you don’t stop at 60 seconds. You don’t stop at five minutes. You keep going for an hour, for two hours, and then ten hours. Yep, ten hours, ten minutes and ten seconds. That’s exactly what George Hood did when he set the world record for the longest plank in history, a feat that most people would not believe possible.
I met George eight years ago when he set the record at that time – five hours, and I’ll tell you this: He just looked like the definition of mental toughness. The focus in his eyes was razor-sharp, and he was drenched in sweat. He was hurting; you could see it in his face, feel it in his body. But he didn’t stop.
Later I asked him, “George. How do you do it?” His answer surprised me: “The plank is 90% mental.” George told me he kept his mind busy, distracting himself by focusing on the conversations in the room, drawing energy from the people around him.
The Science Behind Mental Toughness
But there was something deeper happening here.
We often think of grit as that mental toughness that helps people achieve extraordinary things, like ultra marathoners finishing races with broken bones.
But here’s the twist: Grit isn’t just about willpower – it’s rooted in biology. And the most powerful indicator to date is a protein that we’re just starting to understand called brain derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF.
Think of BDNF as fertilizer for your brain – a protein that helps neurons, the cells in your brain, grow, stay healthy, and communicate more effectively. This protein is crucial for things like memory and mental resilience. Many things increase BDNF, including sunshine, blueberries, and antidepressants.
Exercise increases BDNF the most, and the plank – yes, that simple yoga pose – just might be one of the best exercises for building mental toughness.
Practical Applications in Medicine
I’m a clinical professor and diplomat in the Department of Preventive Medicine at UCSD. I’ve been doing clinical research for over 40 years. In the clinic, many of the patients I care for are so-called “medically destitute.” Some had a heart attack or stroke in their 40s. Some experienced a horrific accident in their 20s, rendering them unemployable, stripping them of everything and leaving them with chronic pain or disability and a heavy dose of despair.
In no way am I suggesting something as basic as a plank can fix these conditions. But more research is warranted to learn the potential benefits.
What makes the concept of grit and BDNF so compelling to me are real-life examples of individuals enduring these devastating conditions. Researchers and clinicians still have a lot of questions about grit and the plank. No one has ever studied BDNF during a plank.
The Connection Between Mental Effort and BDNF
What we know is this: the most effective exercises for raising BDNF levels are those requiring mental effort. If you’ve ever done a plank, you know how quickly mental fortitude is required. That, along with what we’ve learned from George, leads us to believe the plank may be one of the most efficient and effective ways of increasing BDNF.
You see, grit is not just for planks and BDNF is not just a theory – it’s backed by science. A 2005 article in the aptly named journal “Hippocampus” described an animal study in which exhausting physical exercises like continuous swimming produce less BDNF than exercise that required mental focus, like navigating mazes.
In people, activities such as yoga of all things, that combined physical effort and concentration, have produced some of the highest levels of BDNF ever measured.
Real-World Impact: Daniel’s Story
Currently, I’m designing a study for people like Daniel to see if the plank relieves pain. Daniel suffers from a very rare condition known as complex regional pain syndrome or CRPS, which is infamous as one of the most painful diseases. There is no known cure. As one patient said, “The slight sensation of water dripping on my foot feels like hot lead.”
Despite living with this excruciating pain, Daniel managed to do a plank for over nine hours on his CRPS arm. Think about that for a minute. The most physically and mentally challenging exercises helped one of the most painful conditions.
Now we have evidence that an important part of the answer lies in BDNF. In August of 2024, an article appeared in experimental neurobiology titled “Modulation of BDNF by Physical Exercise.” They found exercise doubled the level of BDNF.
A Call to Action
I am here to raise awareness so that this relationship between exercise, BDNF, and improving the quality of life may be studied further. BDNF is hot in the research world. I’m about to make it hotter. George, Daniel, and my patients deserve as much.
Now I’m going to leave you with the challenge: the next time you feel you need more grit in your life, do a plank. If you can’t get on the floor, do it against the wall. It only takes a minute, but that minute can be transformative.
