An Australian man broke the world record for planking last month, holding the position for nine and half hours.
Dan Scali, 28, set the record back on August 6. It took several weeks for it to be approved by Guinness World Records.
Scali, who suffers from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), began planking in November 2020. He lasted two minutes, and then shortly after, realized he could hold the pose for 15 minutes. In January, he started training for seven hours a day, with the goal of breaking the record in mind. The previous record was eight hours and 15 minutes.
After just four months of training, Scali was able to equal the planking record. In June, he broke the record by planking for nine hours and nine minutes but was disqualified.
So how did he hold on for so long? At the beginning of the challenge, he meditated. He wasn’t allowed to watch anything for the first two hours, but he watched TV dramas after that.
“During the attempt, I was not allowed to watch anything for the first two hours,” Scali said. “This was so I could get myself in a mental state of preparation, where I would be able to take myself to a space that my mind coach and myself created.”
Seven hours in, Scali said his body started to turn on him. He ended up vomiting four times from the stress. Despite the challenges, Scali was able to hang in there for a total of nine hours, 30 minutes, and one second to break the record.
