Woman, 61, breaks own world record for planking 5 hours straight, started planking daily 15 years ago

61-year-old DonnaJean Wilde broke the world record on Oct. 6 after planking for five hours straight.

Wilde had broken her own record of four hours, 30 minutes and 11 seconds, which she achieved in 2024.

Multitask while planking

Wilde is a retired high school vice-principal, a mother of four, and a grandmother of 12.

She started planking daily after suffering a wrist injury 15 years ago.

A fitness enthusiast, she discovered she could plank with her cast on. After she removed her cast, planking became a habit and she fell in love with it.

Wilde multitasks while planking for hours every day.

"Just read, do texts, whatever, do schoolwork. I did a master's degree while I was planking. Wrote a book," Wilde told the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC).

She has since found a community in fitness, with over 12,000 athletes aged 50 and above cheering her on at this year's record-breaking attempt.

In a 2024 interview with CBS News, Wilde was reported to suffer from chronic pain and numbness due to transverse myelitis, an inflammation of both sides of a section of the spinal cord.

However, the condition did not deter her from maintaining her rigorous fitness routine.