A former marine has reclaimed his own Guinness World Record the longest time spent holding a plank.
The 62-year-old man, from Illinois, held the title in 2011 but lost it in 2016. His three sons inspired him to try for the record again – and he was successful.
George Hood managed to hold a plank for an incredible eight hours, 15 minutes and 15 seconds.
To prepare for the epic challenge, George had to do some serious training.
He trained for seven hours every day for the last 18 months. He estimates he did 674,000 sit-ups, 270,000 push-ups and one practice plank that lasted 10 hours and 10 minutes.
In total, he did around 2,100 hours of planking in preparation. His core must be unreal.
George first set the record for planking in 2011, when he held a plank for one hour and 20 seconds – just one-eighth as long as his latest record.
Mao Weidong, a police officer from China, broke George’s record in 2016 by holding a plank for eight hours, one minute, and one second.
How to plank
To do a plank you have to start on the floor, in a prone position – making sure your back is straight and your spine is neutral.
You want your elbows on the floor, directly underneath your shoulders, and prop up the bottom half of your body on your toes.
If you look at your body from the side it should resemble a straight plank – no dipping of the spine or lifting of the bum.
You should be a straight line from the ankles to knees, knees to hips, hips to shoulders and through the neck.
How long should you hold a plank?
Don’t worry if you can’t hold a plank for eight hours. George is an anomaly.
Start off trying to hold the plank for 30 seconds.
When that becomes easy, aim for one minute.
See if you can push to two minutes after a few weeks of practice.
Twelve hours before starting his epic plank, George ate spinach, salmon and potatoes – a healthy combo of protein and carbs.
Four hours before the event, he had a cup of coffee, a hardboiled egg, one hot cup of porridge and two large glasses of electrolytes – for that extra dose of energy.
But he says his planking days are behind him, and if someone breaks his record he won’t be attempting to get it back.
His next goal is to break the record for most push-ups completed in one hour, which currently sits at 2,806. So, watch this space.
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