If you’ve ever tried to hold an abdominal plank during a workout, you know how challenging it can be even for just a few seconds. For many people, doing a plank — which is when you support your body weight with just your arms and toes — for a minute or so is a legitimate fitness goal.
That would be child’s play for DonnaJean Wilde, the new world record holder for a female with the longest time holding an abdominal plank position. On March 21, Guinness World Records officially declared Wilde the new women’s planking champion with a time of 4 hours, 30 minutes and 11 seconds.
Guinness posted about the stunning achievement on X with a picture of Wilde smiling as she holds her core-shredding forearm plank pose.
This Canadian grandmother planked for over four and a half hours
— Guinness World Records (@GWR) March 27, 2024
The 58-year-old retired teacher and assistant principal from Alberta, Canada, is a grandmother who has proven to have the strength of people half her age. Her new record surpassed the previous one set in 2019 by fellow Canadian Dana Glowacka, who planked for 4 hours, 19 minutes and 55 seconds in 2019.
How did Wilde feel after her record-setting plank?
“My elbows hurt pretty bad,” she told Guinness representatives shortly afterward.
Her son, Ray Wilde, talked with Guinness about witnessing his mother’s athleticism when he was a child.
“Growing up, whenever we woke up, my mom had already ran 4 miles and that just progressed through the years,” he said in the Guinness World Records YouTube video below about his mom’s achievement.
Wilde’s love for planking began after she broke her arm and started doing holding the pose to help keep up her fitness while she recovered.
“I tried it with my cast and I could do it,” she told Guinness. “And, that was the one thing I could do for the next six or eight weeks with the cast on.”
When Wilde realized she could read or do other things while planking, that’s when her love for the pose truly began.
Wilde had lots of moral support during her world record attempt, including students from Magrath Elementary School where she worked before retiring.
“Some of our students were even able to plank with her!” the school wrote on Facebook. “It was such an amazing and inspiring thing for everyone to witness.”
At the end of her marathon planking session, Wilde still had a smile on her face and tears in her eyes.
“It feels like a dream. I feel that way right now,” she told Guinness. “Whatever it is you like … the more you practice, the better you get and the easier it becomes. And then. you can help others around you.”
Whether it’s the world record for the longest cat tail, the biggest collection of teddy bears or the loudest burp, it’s always mind-blowing to read about a new Guinness record being set. If you want to challenge Wilde, warm up those abs and queue up a good miniseries to binge on your phone while you hold the pose!
Grandma holds plank pose for 4 1/2 hours to set world record originally appeared on Simplemost.com
