Bodybuilder and powerlifter Gillian Ward was a finalist in the 2008 CrossFit Games, and is now a gym owner, personal trainer, model and writer in North Carolina. Recently though, she has added the title of World Record Holder to her list of achievements.
With a lifetime dedicated to fitness, 36-year-old Ward pushed her body to the extreme last month and tackled the world record for the amount of push-ups completed in one hour, and she succeeded.
The record was previously set at 1,020 push-ups in 60 minutes, but Ward completed a ludicrous 1,190 – that’s the equivalent of 19 push-ups every minute for an hour... Our arms are hurting just thinking about it.
She shared her success on her Instagram account, with the caption: 'Still can't believe it's real. Starting to feel recovered 9 days after the event. Will attempt the chin up record again at the end of this week. Thank you to all of those that supported me. I could not have done it alone. Can't wait to get back to making school visits, my absolute favorite part of the entire experience.'
Ward told the Carolina Coast Online, ‘I trained with the goal of 1,2000 in mind, even though the number to beat was 1,020. Surprised would not be the right word, because I felt extremely prepared both physically and mentally. The question was really whether or not my body would hold up to the plan’.
The dedicated and impressively strong athlete also took to Instagram to share some of her training sessions in the lead up to her record attempt.
Her sweet bulldog named Lucy is the real star of her Instagram though, but helps out with workouts when she can.
We're pretty sure we can't complete more than 15 push-ups without collapsing onto the floor and recoiling into a ball, but she certainly gets our applause.