Sixty-two-year-old George Hood of Naperville, Illinois, has broken the Guinness World Record by holding a plank for 8 hours, 15 minutes and 15 seconds.
Hood held an abdominal plank position for over eight hours after training hard for 18 months for seven hours daily. He also did 1,500 sit-ups daily to achieve the feat. Reports also state that as soon as he completed the challenge, Hood celebrated by doing 75 pushups on the spot.
The Guinness World Record has certified it, making Hood the only (certified) man who can hold planks for over eight hours. Reports claim that during the challenge Hood burnt an estimated 4,252 calories.
Before the challenge, he had completed approximately 2,100 hours of plank time, 270,000 pushups and nearly 674,000 sit-ups.
Hood is a retired law enforcement officer. Currently, he works as a personal trainer. He tried the world record for the first time in 2011 by holding a plank for 1.20 hours, but he lost his title in 2016.
He dedicated his current win to his three sons, who inspired him to get the record back in his name.
This time he bested Mao Weidong's 2016 Guinness record to win the record in his name.
Hood also plans to raise awareness about mental health through this record. His aim is to spread awareness that the plank exercise can be used to treat patients having poor mental health.
He performed the challenge on February 15 at a gym in Illinois called 515 Fitness. Niki Perry, who founded the gym, played a vital role in training Hood, and was also by Hood's side when he performed the plank challenge.
He told the media that he along with his military and law enforcement comrades want to break the stigma around seeking help for mental health.
Hood completed the challenge while listening to rock music and is said to have imagined himself as a steady and solid tree.
He prepares himself mentally by thinking that he is a tree that has got roots that go deep. Once this thought is established he is ready to face any storm or bad weather without wavering.
