He may be nearing 80, but Maynard Williams (New Zealand, b. 23 November 1946) could rival the fitness of many men half his age.
He’s just become the oldest person to perform an abdominal plank (male) at age 78 years 135 days.
And despite the record only requiring him to hold the position for three minutes, he kept it going for over 30!
Maynard’s loved ones teasingly branded him “insane” for taking on the challenge, but he says he’s incredibly proud to hold the title.
As a long distance runner, he’s no stranger to taking on a big physical challenge, but planking is something that’s relatively new to him.
He took part in a competition at his local gym a year ago, and since then has adopted it into his fitness regime to help reduce injuries and to fight muscle loss associated with aging.
Maynard told us: “Being a distance runner, I’m used to pushing myself hard both mentally and physically.
“Doing so helps to build mental toughness and we learn about our true capabilities, and those capabilities are far greater than what most of us believe.”
He added: “Having said that, pushing yourself hard is not easy, but I think it becomes easier with practice and we become much less fearful of doing so.
“Besides, it produces a great feeling of satisfaction and fulfilment afterwards, especially when you’re undergoing a race or a record attempt like this.”
Maynard says he becomes very focussed and goal-driven when taking on a challenge like this.
“My wife tells me that I become obsessed,” he laughed.
But he says his background in science means he adopts a “planned, systematic, disciplined approach to training”.
As well as eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of sleep, he analyzes data from his smart watch to ensure he doesn’t over-train.
Maynard gets a hug from his son
His training for his record plank was varied: circuit training, upper and lower resistance training, cardio and even weighted planks.
Maynard also set up mirrors and filmed his practice planks so he could examine his form and make any necessary adjustments.
Looking back on the ups and downs, he said: “One of the challenges I faced was my body shaking during the longer planks, but this became less of an issue as training progressed.
“On the positive side, I found that playing music through my hearing aids helped distract me from the pain and discomfort of planking, and it also helped pass the time.
“In the few days before the attempt I experienced the usual self-doubt that I get before running events.
“However, on the actual day I was relaxed and confident that things would go well, and they did.
“The words of encouragement, cheers and clapping from my small group, especially over the last few minutes, definitely helped, and I was thrilled to maintain the plank for just over half an hour.”
It was after that planking contest at his gym that Maynard began to wonder how long other people his age could plank for and what the record was.
He watched videos on YouTube and came to our website, where he found the female record was, at the time, held by 80-year-old Annie Judis, who held her plank for around four minutes.
There was no holder for the male record, and so his training began.
Maynard is proud not just to have the record, but also that he managed to hold his plank for just under 31 minutes.
The female record is now held by Sarah Blackman (USA), who was 82 years 229 days when she held her plank.