Did you know planking competitions are a thing? Neither did we. But apparently Beijing hosted the 2016 Plank World Cup over the weekend. Yes, the Plank World Cup is actually a thing! Wait, it gets better. Beijing’s own Mao Weidong, a super-buff police officer, beat the world record with his mind-boggling time of eight hours, one minute and one second.
For those who don’t know, planking (also called the lying down game) is a slightly strange trend that took the world by storm years ago. People usually choose bizarre locations and take photos of themselves laying down like a plank in hopes of garnering a bit of internet fame. But apparently some plankers are actually hardcore athletes. Who knew?
You have to admit. Weidong’s performance is pretty impressive. Can you imagine holding yourself in the plank position for an entire work day? Neither can we. Weidong’s time is literally eight hours and one minute longer than we would last. No joke.
During the competition, which was held at the Shangri-la Hotel on Saturday, Weidong went up against the world’s best planking athletes and broke the previous world record set by American George Hood.
Hood lays claim to the current Guinness World Record of five hours, 15 minutes and 15 seconds, which he set last year. Hood even one-upped himself at this year’s competition with a time of seven hours, four minutes and five seconds. But he just didn’t have the staying power of Weidong.
Weidong not only set a new world record, but he celebrated his victory with a round of push-ups afterwards. Show off…
That makes some of us here in the office who can barely do a push-up feel a little bad about ourselves. We should probably hit the gym after work today…but we’ll probably just go grab a beer instead.
[Image via Xinhua/Li Wen]
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