Longest abdominal plank

George Hood is single-handedly redefining age stereotypes with his most recent Guinness World Records accomplishment in Chicago, Illinois.

The former US Marine and DEA Supervisory Special Agent is no stranger to record-breaking, and has just set a remarkable fitness record for the longest time in the plank position (male) at an incredible time of 8 hours 15 minutes and 15 seconds.

Most people who are active in the fitness world have difficulty holding this abdominal pose for more than 5-10 minutes, but at the age of 62, George showed that it’s possible to push the boundaries at any age with perseverance and a strong mindset.

As one can imagine, it can be easy to want to give up after a few hours of this straining exercise, but he was determined to take back his title after Mao Weidong from China broke his initial record in 2016 at an event that George himself competed in.

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In order to properly train for this event, the athlete underwent several training camps and fitness regiments, including doing 674,000 sit ups, 270,000 push ups and a practice attempt in which he lasted 10 hours and 10 minutes in 2018.

In total, he did around 2,100 hours of planking in preparation for this recent attempt.

George’s new record-breaking time was inspired by Five15 Fitness, who co-sponsored the event - a gym that was established to address mental illness through exercise and support.

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Throughout the attempt George spoke to individuals and groups, and heard presentations from guests with autism and adult learning difficulties.

After Guinness World Records adjudicator, Philip Robertson, confirmed that he had indeed broken the record, George announced his retirement from plank record attempts.

However, he concluded the event by doing 75 push ups after his 8 hour plank session – indicating that while his record-breaking plank days might be over, his push up record attempts are definitely on the horizon.

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