At 62, one looks to slow down. A person is officially a senior citizen at 60 and it is the time to retire, kick back and relax. But there are exceptions to every rule. One such example is George Hood.
Who is this man? Well, he is a 62-year-old from Naperville, Illinois, USA. What has he done? This individual has set a new world record for the longest plank. For the uninitiated, a plank position is when you are balancing yourself with your elbows in front and your toes in the back. Your abdomen cannot touch the floor and it builds strength in that area.?
8 hours, 15 minutes and 15 seconds! Yes, that is how long George spent in that position and set an official Guinness World Record. He overshot the previous best by 14 minutes.?
Of course it did not come without hard work. George trained by doing 1500 sit-ups everyday for the past several months. He trained 7 hours daily and that is what got him into shape.?
In fact, George has held this record before too. He set it for an hour and 20 minutes in 2011, and lost the title in 2016. Now, having been inspired by his kids, he went for the record again, and came up trumps once more.?
"I'm the father of three sons and part of me did this for them," he said was quoted as saying in an ABC report.?
"I’ve seen enough folks in the military and my law enforcement comrades who haven’t fared so well. We want to break that stigma of seeking help," he went on to say.
"I often envision myself as a tree when I’m on that platform because all the energy I exude from that platform comes from earth. Like a tree I have roots and those roots go deep and when they do I’m ready to weather any storm that comes across my platform. I’m ready to stay in my pose without wavering."
George is a retired law enforcement officer and now works as a personal trainer. He took up the cause for mental health and set this record to improve awareness. Guess what he did after setting the record? He celebrated by doing 75 push-ups!
Age is just a number for this man and he has proved it once again.? ??