Sarah Blackman, an 82-year-old grandmother from Massachusetts, just broke a world record—and inspired the world while doing it.
After losing her husband, Arthur, two years ago, Sarah faced a quiet home and an aching heart. But rather than retreat into grief, she made a powerful decision: to get stronger, not just in body, but in spirit. “I’d been taking care of him for a long while,” she said. “I decided it was time to do something for myself.”
That “something” turned into daily training with a personal coach named Vince, the encouragement of her grandchildren, and a growing determination to push her limits. Her youngest grandchild, just three years old, wanted her to be able to sit on the floor and play, so Sarah got to work.
This week, all that effort paid off. Sarah held a plank for 5 minutes and 20 seconds, shattering the previous world record by over two minutes. At 82 years and 229 days old, she became the oldest person ever to hold a plank that long. She did it while listening to “Endless Love”—a tribute, perhaps, to the love that started this journey.
“Every day I’d try to go a few seconds longer,” she said. “I just kept telling myself, ‘you can do this.’”
Now a Guinness World Record holder, Sarah says the biggest win isn’t the title—it’s the confidence. “It was something I didn’t expect,” she said, “but now I believe I’m stronger than I thought.”
Sarah Blackman reminds us all: it’s never too late to begin again, never too late to grow stronger, and never too late to believe in what’s possible.
Here’s to Sarah—the world’s strongest grandma, inside and out. Does anyone feel like planking??
