Just when I thought holding plank position for 3 minutes was impressive...in walks 62-year old George Hood and crushes the Guinness World Record by staying in the position for 8 hours, 15 minutes and 15 seconds (p.s. the female record of 4 hours, 19 minutes and 55 seconds is currently held by Dana Glowacka of Canada). It's not the first time for the former Marine and retired Drug Enforcement Administration supervisory special agent. Hood broke the record in 2011 when he held it for 1 hour and 20 minutes, but lost to Mao Weidong from China, who held it for 8 hours, 1 minute and 1 second in 2016.
To reclaim his title, the Naperville, Illinois resident said he trained every day for an average of 7 hours for the 18 months leading up to the official test. His daily routine consisted of 4-5 hours in the plank pose, 700 pushups, 2,000 situps in sets of 100, 500 leg squats, and 300 arm curls.
Hood says the thought of his three sons and some good old rock music from artists like Van Halen kept him going throughout the more than 8 hours in plank position, but the reason behind taking on the challenge in the first place was to raise awareness for mental health. He completed the challenge at 515 Fitness, a gym that helps address mental illness through exercise and professional help.
The former Marine says this will likely be his last time breaking the world record for planking. His next goal: set the Guinness World Record for most pushups in one hour, which currently stands at 2,806.
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