Australian man sets world mark, holds abdominal plank for 9.5 hours

You’ve heard of walking the plank. A 28-year-old Australian man held the plank for more than nine hours, setting a world record.

>> Read more trending news

Daniel Scali stretched out on an abdominal plank for 9 hours, 30 minutes, 1 second last month, CNN reported. The world record for a male, set on Aug. 6 in Adelaide, Australia, was verified by Guinness World Records.

Scali’s effort broke the previous mark by more than an hour. The old record was 8 hours, 15 minutes, 15 seconds, set by former U.S. Marine George Hood, 62, in February 2020, Guinness said. Hood was also a retired Drug Enforcement Administration supervisory special agent, according to CNN.

Scali’s record-smashing effort was even more remarkable because he suffers from complex regional pain syndrome, or CRPS, which causes constant pain in his left arm. Scali has been dealing with the pain since he was 12 when he fell off a trampoline and broke his arm, CNN reported.

“If you had decided to tell me five years ago that I would have ... gone for a record of attempting to go for a plank, there’s no way I would have believed it,” Scali told CNN.

Scali said because of his condition he missed out on playing contact sports, like boxing, with his brother.

”It’s only now recently that I’ve sort of grown up a little bit where I’ve been able to accept it, and say, ‘Well, this is what I’ve got. Now do something with it,” Scali told CBC Radio.

This was Scali’s second attempt to break the record. He was disqualified after his first try, during which he held a plank for 9 hours, 9 minutes, according to Guinness. Officials took issue with the position of his hips, he said.

During his record attempt, Scali wore a compression band on his left arm, which he wears daily, in an attempt to alleviate the worst of the pain. “It’s like underwear,” he told CNN.

“Obviously putting constant pressure on my elbow and forearm, up to my shoulder, did give me quite a bit of grief at the start,” Scali told Guinness.

Scali said he was not allowed to look at the time while he was attempting to break the record.

“I’d only really ask my coach ... to see how far are we in,” Scali told CBC Radio. “But I clearly, vividly remember at the four-hour mark thinking, ‘OK, you’re not halfway there yet. Keep through, stick to what you know and stay strong.’”

Scali began working with the plank for the first time less than a year ago.

“My first plank was in November 2020 and that was for two minutes,” Scali told CNN. “And the two minutes felt like an absolute lifetime.”

Scali said he was determined to break the record.

“I wanted to show people that no matter what pain you deal with, no matter what issues you have, if you want to do it and you believe you can do it, then go for it,” Scali told CNN.

On Air97.1 The River - Classic Hits Logo

mobile apps

Everything you love about 971theriver.com and more! Tap on any of the buttons below to download our app.

amazon alexa

Enable our Skill today to listen live at home on your Alexa Devices!