A ‘planking’ pensioner astounded the nation when he took part in a national TV fitness challenge only to beat off competition from people less than half his age.
Colin Appleton, from Broxton, who is 79 years young, took part in ITV Good Morning Britain’s ‘Plank-off Challenge’, which involves holding a press-up position on your forearms and elbows for as long as possible.
The show’s presenters and guests have all been trying their hand to see how long they can keep it up.
But Colin, described by host Piers Morgan as ‘Britain’s greatest planker’, beat them all be maintaining the planking position for a staggering 25 minutes in a live broadcast from Old Hall Country Club & Spa at Huntington.
Nicknamed ‘ the iceman’ because he doesn’t even break out in a sweat, Colin and his trainer James McCorkindale, who also remained in position for 25 minutes, will attempt a full half an hour for charity later this year.
Colin, who has been attending Old Hall for 20 years, said: “ It’s been great fun along the way and the support at the club and from everyone else on the morning was amazing. However, I must say a big thank you to my trainer James.
“We’ve worked together for over 10 years and he is a massive inspiration. His training is awesome and the craic that we have together is such good fun. Couple this with the ambience at Old Hall and it’s a winning formula.”
Club manager David Bloomberg, who was already beaming with pride after Old Hall won Best Health Club in the UK 2015, said: “Its long-time members like Colin who are an inspiration to everyone here and help keep us on track.
“Our loyal and regular members have benefited from the great facilities and caring, interested staff. We have here are another part of the reason why we won National Health Club of the Year. We are happy to have been able to support Colin and James to enter The Plank and really delighted to see how well he did.”
Celebrities to have taken part in the Plank-off include Good Morning Britain’s Ben Shephard, Richard Arnold, Kate Garraway, Laura Tobin, Dr Hilary Jones, Sean Fletcher and Martin Lewis. Coronation Street’s Kym Marsh took on anchorman Piers Morgan and doubled his time of two minutes.
Piers said Colin had taken on the challenge to become ‘the ultimate planker’, adding: “A title I’ve held for years!” But commenting afterwards on Colin’s success, he said: “I’’m in awe. Brilliant. I think that’s an amazing achievement. What a guy!”
Co-presenter Susanna Reid said: “Absolutely unbelievable.”
