BARRHEAD man William Cannon was certainly up against it as he took on his latest charity challenge.

The 51-year-old fitness enthusiast set out to break the Guinness World Record for the longest static wall sit, which involved sitting against a wall at a 90-degree angle for 12 hours.

Laundry worker William, who already holds more than 400 world records, took on the painful challenge at the Anytime Fitness gym, in Clarkston, to raise funds for a charity that is close to his heart.

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Having experienced the struggle of helping his father recover from a heart attack and a stroke, he decided to coin in cash for Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland (CHSS) by undertaking three extreme feats.

Having now claimed the static wall sit record, William 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.

He told the Barrhead News: “I was calm for the whole time I was doing the wall sit. I had never failed at any previous attempts and was very confident I could do this one.

“I actually could have gone longer but I was only allowed to do 12 hours for safety reasons.”

William said he entered an almost meditation-like state when taking on the challenge, during which he wasn’t allowed to eat or even pop to the toilet.

“I had to take my mind away from the pain and focus on something else,” he continued. “I starved myself for 24 hours before the event and tried not to drink too much water during it.”

Staff at the gym, in Busby Road, were happy to support the record-breaker, who has been given Guinness awards for more than 600 world records in the space of 35 years.

Gym manager Claire Murray monitored William throughout his gruelling challenge, keeping him in her sights for the entire 12 hours.

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She said: “I just spent the day keeping an eye on him and feeding him water. We shared his achievement on Facebook and he has received a lot of support.”

William hopes to carry out the other two challenges in the coming months but admits he will need a lot of time to train before he can go for glory once more.

“The challenges first need to be approved by Guinness and then it will take weeks of training before I can actually attempt them,” he said.

To donate to CHSS, visit www.chss.org.uk/supportus/donations/ and mention William Cannon in the ‘reason’ box