William is the fittest Brit
Meet Britain’s fittest man – a gym fanatic who holds over 600 world records for strength and endurance.
William Cannon, 51, has broken 605 world records according to RecordSetter – an organisation that monitors sporting achievements.
The fitness fanatic has spent the last 20 years of his life setting the impressive records which include a three-hour half marathon with a 22kg rucksack.
In 2011, William proved his strength by completing five reps of 226kg on a rowing machine setting a new world record.
And recently he took on his latest challenge – a to break the world record for the longest static wall sit, which stood at 11 hours 51 minutes and 14 seconds.
The laundry worker claims to have broken it – as he painfully sat against a wall at a 90-degree angle for a staggering 12 hours.
William, from Barrhead, has been setting the impressive records for more than 20 years.
And he says he has done it all for a charity close to his heart – Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland (CHSS).
The charity helped him when he experienced the struggle of helping his father recover from a heart attack and a stroke.
William said: “I’m aiming for 1,000 records before I reach the age of 65. I’ve dedicated my full life to charity.
“I like doing the endurance activities. I do believe that I hold the most amount of records in Scotland.
“In the UK it is a strong possibility too but in terms of the whole world, I’m not too sure.
“I do a lot of yoga which helps. I realised that I had a high pain tolerance, so doing yoga improves that even more as it’s all in the mind.
“For most challenges you’ve got to starve yourself so you don’t go to the toilet a lot. That’s what I would do the day before.
“Then on the day of the challenge, I just have bread and water. Also, my main drive comes from knowing that I was doing this for a good cause.
“I’ve been doing this for more than 20 years but the reason I’ve stuck with RecordSetter is that they take 48 hours to verify my records.
“Otherwise if I went with Guinness, it would take them longer to verify them.”
For his wall sit challenge, he wasn’t allowed to eat or use the loo for 12 hours.
He has achieved Guinness awards for more than 600 world records in the space of 35 years.
He is also planning to carry out an 11-hour plank, which involves lying motionless on a flat surface, and a 14-day cycle, in which he will try to continuously pedal on a static bike for two weeks straight.
William says he hopes to have all of his achievements approved by The Guinness Book of World Records.
William explained: “For the long static wall sit, I’ll be sending video evidence to Guinness. Also some of the other things they require such as a left side view of me doing it and some reports from witnesses.”
A spokeswoman from Guinness World Records says the longest static wall sit is 11 hours 51 minutes and 14 seconds.
This was achieved by Dr Thienna Ho at the World Team USA Gymnasium in San Francisco, California, in December 2008.
She said: “The record is currently held by Thienna Ho, however, it is likely that the Guinness World Records team is still waiting to receive or review evidence for William’s attempt. The Guinness World Records team will look forward to reviewing William’s evidence in the near future.”
To donate to CHSS, visit www.chss.org. uk/ supportus/ donations/ and mention William Cannon in the ‘reason’ box.