Mum breaks Guinness World Record for longest plank

Yoga instructor Dana Glowacka smashed the world record by almost an hour. Photo / Instagram.

A Canadian mum has cemented her place in the Guinness World Records by holding an abdominal plank for the most astonishing amount of time.

While most of us celebrate holding our bodies in a plank position at the gym for a couple of minutes, yoga instructor Dana Glowacka casually held hers for four hours and 20 minutes.

So impressive was her feat, she smashed the previous female record holder - Maria Kalimera, who held the title for her time of 3hr 31 minutes in 2015 - by almost an hour.

Dana Glowacka has reportedly broken the world record for longest plank held by a woman. Photo / Instagram.

But she didn't get there overnight - Glowacka's training schedule took years of practice that began with a comment from her son a year after Kalimera won her place in the record books.

After contacting George Hood, the 2014 male holder of the longest plank, she began training.

Under Hood's instruction, Glowacka endured "long training sets each day, with a vision to be the best I can and make my son proud".

Dana trained in several types of yoga to prepare. Photo / Instagram.

According to Glowacka, her first attempt at a plank recorded a mere four minutes, but Hood inspired her to keep going.

"Once I did, he helped me accomplish 2 hours and 25 minutes in one set," she said.

Her gruelling training schedule led her to take out second place in the International World Cup Plank Challenge in May 2016.

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My body experience at the ending line of 4 hours, 20 minutes a New World Record for a “Longest Female Abdominal Plank” #worldrecord #worldrecordevent #naperville #hotelarista #worldrecordplank #plank #strongbodystrongermind #strongcorestrongbody #getastrongcore #unbreakable #focus #mindest #tobe #todo #tosee #bodymindconnection #believeinyourself #trainyourmindandbody #plankgirl #doyoga #ashtangayogalove #loveyoga #yogamontreal #poweryogacanada #canadayoga #yogaquebec #yoga #makesmefeelalive

A post shared by Dana Glowacka (@dbg_plankdoyoga) on May 20, 2019 at 9:32pm PDT

This only spurred her on to go for the Guinness World Record, especially as her son told her: "Mum, you can do this!"

On May 21st, Glowacka travelled from her home in Montreal, Canada, to the International Plank Marathon in Naperville in Illinois.

Surrounded by friends and family, Glowacka held her plank position on a stage for hours and hours, as supporters yelled words of encouragement to her.

Glowacka said she was grateful her "family and friends and so many supporters, near and far, helped me to hold strong till the finish line".

She also thanked her brother who flew across to the US as a surprise "to support me and push the button of starting and ending line".

Before her successful attempt, her last post on her website revealed Glowacka's personal best plank time was 4hr and 1min - meaning she beat her personal best by 19 minutes.

While the Guinness World Records website is yet to officially acknowledge Glowacka's victory, she's thrilled with her new time.

She called her dream to beat the world record "crazy, crazy, crazy but possible!"

"Just do it, do it right, train for it, and believe in yourself … for a stronger, healthier and happier life," she said in one of her posts before the big day.

The record for the longest plank of all time belongs to a man named Mao Weidong who achieved a staggering 8hr and 1min plank in 2016.