A grandma inspired to get fit by the loss of her beloved husband has made history as the oldest person to perform an abdominal plank.
Sarah Blackman (b. 3 June 1942, USA) was an incredible 82 years and 229 days old when she held the plank position for more than five minutes.
She only had to do three to claim the title.
“My grandson also tries to do planks, fortunately I can still beat him,” she teased.
Sarah, who lives in Massachusetts, is almost two full years older than the previous record holder Annie Judis was when she performed her record plank.
Explaining how her twilight fitness journey began, she said: “It started about two years ago. My husband, Arthur Wade Blackman Jr., died and I’d been taking care of him for a long while, and I decided it was time to do something for myself.
“I thought it’s one of the best things to do, get back into shape. So I looked for a personal trainer. Vince came and we started out doing basic exercises.
“Vince introduced me to the plank and he’d do it at the same time as me and when it got to that I could do it for four minutes, he decided either there was something wrong with him or maybe I was better than he thought I was.”
Sarah, who has three kids and three grandkids, worked on her planking almost every day and continued to push her limits.
She said that when she’d make it to four minutes, she’d tell herself she could go for just 30 more seconds, and keep telling herself that until she’d given all she could.
Sharing one of the secrets to her success, she confessed: “I listen to “Endless Love” by Lionel Richie and one of the reasons that I do, besides that I like it, is that it runs for almost 4 minutes and 40 seconds.”
It was also her grandkids who encouraged her fitness journey.
She said: “The youngest is three, which encouraged me to seek out a trainer a few years ago to become more flexible to be able to sit comfortably on the floor and play as I had with the others.”
Sarah, who worked as a paediatric cardiology technician and preschool director before giving up her career to be a foster parent, says she’d encourage everyone to exercise as they get older, saying the trick is to get into a routine and stick to it.
On breaking the record, she added: “I’m impressed with myself. It was something that I didn’t expect, but I do have, I think, more confidence in myself because I’ve done this.”
Be honest, can you plank for as long as Sarah can?
The oldest person to perform an abdominal plank (male) is 78 years 135 days, and was achieved by Maynard Williams (New Zealand, b. 23 November 1946) in Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, on 6 April 2025.