Canadian grandmother of 12 DonnaJean Wilde holds plank for 5 hours after 1,575 push-ups in an hour: How she did it. Watch viral video

DonnaJean Wilde, a grandmother of 12, just broke her own Guinness World Record for a woman holding a plank move for the longest time period. Wilde made her potential record-breaking attempt at the Huntsman World Senior Games in Utah this week and completed a plank hold for five hours. On March 21, 2024, DonnaJean Wilde completed her plank for 4 hours, 30 minutes and 11 seconds, according to Guinness World Records.

With the record-breaking plank, Americans and Canadians are wondering that how did DonnaJean Wilde manage to hold a plank for five hours and what preparations she made for it. The 61-year-old, who lives in Alberta, Canada, told ABC News that her training to prepare for her record attempt included having her 3-year-old granddaughter, Rose, lie on her back while she planked.

ALSO READ: Georgia power outage

How did Wilde make it happen?

According to CBC News, DonnaJean Wilde stated that she started planking about 15 years ago when she broke her arm and was looking for a way to stay fit. "I love to work out. I love fitness, and I discovered I could plank with a cast on," she said. "And when the cast came off, it became a habit that I actually embraced and fell in love with."

Watch the video here

When she first started, she says she could hold a plank for about a minute or minute and a half, but she kept practicing. With her family's encouragement, she kept going and minutes became hours. By 2024, she broke the Guinness World Record.

ALSO READ: Harvard medical experts say taking care of three daily habits can prevent 80% of heart attacks, strokes

She set another world record that same year by completing 1,575 push-ups in an hour, earning the title for the most push-ups in one hour (female). Wilde told Guinness World Records that she developed a love for push-ups while doing 500 a day as part of her training for planking.

Today, she spends at least a few hours planking every day, but says the routine doesn't get in the way of her other responsibilities. Instead, she uses the time to multitask.

“I just read, do texts, whatever, do schoolwork. I did a master's degree while I was planking. Wrote a book,” she said.

DonnaJean considered giving up

Wilde said she wasn't certain she would be able to accomplish her five-hour feat and even considered giving up during the attempt. "I told [my husband] Randy, 'I'm done. I'm going down.' And they [the audience] all chanted me to the end. They got me through the last 10 minutes," Wilde said.

What was really impressive for Wilde was that she didn't rest for long after her latest plank feat. The morning after her record attempt, she ran in a 3,000-meter race. As for her next record attempt, Wilde said she hopes to do at least 1,600 pushups in an hour and break her second record title.

"I always wondered if I could have gone to five [hours]," Wilde told ABC News' Danny New of her motivation to break her own plank hold record. "Some of them would come right down to me: 'Go, DonnaJean, go! You're doing great!'" Wilde said of the judges.

What is a plank?

An abdominal plank is an isometric core exercise where you hold your body straight like a plank of wood. Most adults can hold a plank for 20 to 60 seconds, according to Health magazine.

Guinness World Records notes that to successfully achieve the record, the challenger's forearms and toes must touch the ground at all times. "The remainder of the body must be lifted off the ground and be kept straight throughout."

The grandmother is a retired teacher from Welling, Alta. And on Tuesday, in front of a cheering crowd and several judges, she held an abdominal plank for five straight hours, shattering her previous 2024 world record of four hours, 30 minutes and 11 seconds.

After completing the challenge, she said, "I just love it, adding that she was "feeling good" and waiting for Guinness to make the record official. "It just becomes easier to do the more repeated times you do it," Wilde said.