A 59-year-old grandmother has broken a pushup world record, just eight months after she broke the world record for longest plank time by a woman as recognized by the Guinness World Records.
DonnaJean Wilde, who lives in Alberta, Canada, earned her second world record by successfully doing 1,575 pushups in 60 minutes. Wilde, a grandmother of 12, achieved her feat on Sept. 28, but Guinness World Records officially recognized the record last week.
Wilde's first world record was an abdominal plank held for 4 hours, 30 minutes and 11 seconds, an accomplishment she told Guinness World Records she achieved in part by doing 500 pushups a day.
"I had to fight back the happy tears and emotions and keep going," Wilde told Guinness World Records of her 60 minutes of pushups. "I still felt quite strong and I was aiming for a high number of pushups to complete in the next 17 minutes."
Eleven of Wilde's 12 grandchildren were on hand to witness their grandmother break the world record again and helped by counting down her sets and shouting encouragements along the way.
The push for a new record didn't come without its challenges, though. Wilde needed to do the pushups with a 90-degree elbow flex at the bottom of each pushup and also needed to fully extend her arm coming up. During the hour, Wilde's shoulder even dislocated but popped back in.
Wilde said she encourages others to keep their fitness up, even in their later years.
"I believe that if we stay active and have health and wellness goals, we can age gracefully and powerfully," Wilde said afterward.
