Grandmother of 12 breaks Guinness World Record for longest plank held at over 4.5 hours: ‘Like a dream’

1, 2, 3… go! 

A grandmother just broke the Guinness World Record for the longest time in an abdominal plank position for a female. 

DonnaJean Wilde is a 58-year-old mom of 5 and grandmother of 12 from Alberta, Canada, who can now add a world record to her resume. 

The Canadian held the plank for just over 4 hours and 30 minutes, according to Guinness World Records, at the high school where she was once the vice principal prior to retiring. 

To obtain the world record, Wilde had to keep her forearms and toes on the ground throughout while keeping the remainder of her body straight and lifted off the ground. 

Wilde told Guinness World Records that she typically planks for up to three hours every day — but that she actually upped her regimen ahead of the record-breaking day to six hours, split into two three-hour blocks. 

The fitness guru started planking 12 years ago when she broke her wrist and was unable to run or lift weights while wearing the cast, she said — noting in a press release that she turned to planking as an alternative.

“I realized that I could read and do things when I was planking and fell in love with it,” she said. 

The grandmother said she would even study while in a plank during preparation for her master’s degree, per Guinness World Records. 

As for how she survived the four-and-a-half-hour plank hold, Wilde said her elbows were in rough shape, and she was concerned about losing her form. 

“I was so worried about losing my form and I think that’s why my quads hurt, because I was just really tense,” she added.

“It feels like a dream.”

Wilde noted that the first two hours went by fairly quickly, but the second half was much more challenging. 

“The last hour was the most challenging, just to stay focused and keep my form,” she said in a press release. 

Wilde’s husband, Randy Wilde, shared that his wife of 40 years also suffers from chronic pain in her hands and arms — but that didn’t stop her from taking home the prize. 

“That chronic pain and numbness that she deals with every day her helped her to be able to plank through the pain,” he said to Guinness World Records. 

“She has an ability that is unique in the world,” he added. 

Wilde’s son, Ray Wilde, is a teacher at the school where the record attempt took place and told Guinness World Records that his mom has always been athletic. 

“Growing up, when we woke up, my mom had already run four miles and that has just progressed through the years, and she’s always been very active and fit,” he said. 

Ray Wilde and other teachers periodically brought their students to see DonnaJean Wilde attempt the world record during the school day last month.

The plank holder added that she tried to breathe and stay calm during the last 30 minutes, which allowed her to beat the previous record of 4 hours and 19 minutes achieved in 2019. 

“I actually still can’t believe it,” Wilde expressed. “It feels like a dream.”

The current men’s plank world record is just over 9 hours and 38 minutes and was achieved in 2023 by a man from the Czech Republic.