9-year-old Tri-Cities boy breaks world record after 6 months of training

A 9-year-old boy pushed himself to the limit this summer to officially break the world’s longest planking record for kids ages 7 to 9.

Jack Sims of Kennewick held the plank position on his elbows and toes for 61 minutes and 5 seconds on June 16. The previous record was 50 minutes and 5 seconds.

His goal started in P.E. class, where he was challenged in a planking contest and won after holding the position for 6 minutes.

“That gave me an idea to start doing planking, and then I slowly got up to one hour,” said Jack, who attends private school at Coram Deo Academy.

He trained for six months, making huge leaps in time every couple days. Jack said he would go from 11 minutes one day to 25 minutes just days later. His parents were proud of his competitive and dedicated spirit.

Marc Sims said his son’s been competitive since birth, and this was another outlet for Jack to channel that.

“The first time he said he wanted to break the record, I told him, ‘Well, you have to beat me first,’” he said, “I lasted two minutes, and he very easily beat me.”

Sims described his son as tenacious, saying he never had to coach or encourage him. He would put in the work all on his own, planking periodically throughout the week.

Jack is the oldest of three boys. His younger siblings cheered him on through most of the hourlong challenge on the day of his record.

“They eventually got bored,” he said.

He used music to help keep himself from getting bored with a playlist his mom helped curate called ‘Jack’s planking pump-up jams’.

He had a Powerade nearby to keep him refreshed but refrained from any snacks. He said he tried to watch a show once, but he noticed his form started to fall when he did, so he kept to his playlist.

Jack recorded himself planking and set it in to Kid’s Worlds Records to verify his winning achievement.

His record will be published in the Kid’s World Record Book 2027, and he will receive a medal and certificate from Kid’s World Records to celebrate his accomplishment.

Other children’s records featured on the website include the highest Lego tower, longest chalk hop scotch and the most pizza flips in 60 seconds.

Jack turns 10 in December, which will mark the start of his next goal of breaking the planking record for kids ages 10 to 12. The record is currently 76 minutes and 8 seconds.

Jack’s competitive nature carries into other activities in his life, like soccer and basketball. His friends helped challenge him throughout his training, one of them reaching 30 minutes.

“When he did that, I made that a goal to try to beat 30 minutes,” he said.

Jack doubled this goal, and doesn’t plan on stopping there.

“Seeing your kid pursue something without you having to really guide them into it is very satisfying,” his dad said. “We feel very, very proud of him.”