A new world record for the longest plank held by a woman has been set, but it was broken by a Canadian grandmother.
Guinness World Records announced late last month that Donnajean Wilde, a 58-year-old Canadian mother of five and grandmother of 12, broke the women's world record for the longest time in an abdominal plank position for 4 hours and 30 minutes. It was announced that. This was 11 seconds, or 10 minutes longer, than the previous record set in 2019. She spent the entire period touching her forearms and toes to the ground, keeping her body lifted and straight.
Wilde, who is now retired, completed the event at the high school where she previously served as vice principal. She told Guinness that her first two hours were relatively quick, but there was a bit of a struggle at the end.
“My elbow hurt a lot,” Wilde said. “I was really worried about my form being bad, and I think that's what caused my quadriceps injury. I think it was just because I was really nervous.”
The last hour was “the hardest,” she said, but she was able to endure the last 30 minutes by “breathing and trying to stay calm and not shake.” Her main motivation was her dozen or so grandchildren, all of whom attended this record-breaking event.
but break the world record It's not easy. Wilde spent up to three hours a day planking, in between watching movies and studying for her master's degree. To prepare for her challenge, she did that three-hour workout twice a day.
“I fell in love with planking because I realized that when I was doing it, I could read a book or do something,” she said.
Wilde has been doing planks for more than 10 years, ever since she broke her wrist 12 years ago and was unable to run or lift weights while in a cast.
and she did it all chronic pain In her hands and arms. She has transverse myelitis. This is a disease in which parts of the spinal cord become inflamed on both sides, causing pain in the areas that the spinal cord relies on to hold the plates together. However, her husband Randy told Guinness that she believes the pain she experiences on a regular basis ended up being more helpful than harmful in terms of breaking world records.
“The chronic pain and numbness that she deals with every day has allowed her to plank through the pain,” he said. “…I think the model for someone who has set a world record is officially awesome, but she was officially awesome all her life.”
After spending many hours training and finally breaking the record, Wilde said all she was left with was feeling “overwhelmed.”
“I actually still can't believe it,” she said. “It's like a dream.”
Lee Cohen
