How is it that we don't have a thread on planking here? Well, we do now. Plank away.

A fitness instructor from Aurora has set 2 world records for planking


George Hood in the plank position at the Indian Boundary YMCA in Downers Grove. He set two world records during event at the facility on June 28, 2018. (George Hood)
Jessie Spangler
The Beacon-News

When Aurora native and fitness instructor George Hood got off his platform after breaking two world records for planking Thursday, he was actually relieved to feel pain from head to toe.

Pain meant “everything was firing correctly,” Hood said.

Hood, 60, who currently lives in Naperville, logged in 18 hours, 10 minutes and 10 seconds of total plank time over a 24-hour period, creating a new world record category, and broke the world record for longest plank at 10 hours, 10 minutes and 10 seconds at the Indian Boundary YMCA in Downers Grove.

The ordeal was not just a physical struggle, but a mental one as well. Hood said he started hallucinating during the night, when sleep deprivation started to kick in.

“I was so tired. But my training on the spin bike, even though I went for days on end, my experience with sleep deprivation really facilitated my ability to go through the night and do repeated sets of the plank,” Hood said.

Hood also holds the world record for longest riding time on a stationary bicycle, set at more than 111 hours.

“I was drained physically, and I was extremely hungry,” Hood said about how he felt after the planking ordeal. “My stomach had shrunk. So when we went to have a post-event breakfast to refuel — I never leave half my breakfast on the plate, and ... I did. I just couldn’t eat it all.”

The feat was done to raise money for the Indian Boundary YMCA and YMCA Urban Warriors, a program that pairs up veterans with at-risk youth in Chicago. So far, according to Hood, they’ve raised a couple thousand dollars, but they don’t have exact numbers yet. Hood is still accepting donations to his cause at app.mobilecause.com/form/hgmoEg.

“I just need to inspire one,” Hood said. “One person, one reader, one club member. If I just inspire one to change their life without putting a hand on them, I’ve accomplished my goal.”

jspangler@chicagotribune.com

@jessiespangler3
Major props to George Hood for achieving this at 60.