Dubai woman breaks record for longest static wall sit

A Dubai based woman Dareen Barbar breaks the record for the longest Samson’s chair/static wall sit (female) – LA1.

Samson’s chair, also known as a static wall sit, is known for being a challenging, thigh-burning exercise.

Dareen Barbar (Lebanon) succeeded to stay in the position for a record-breaking 2 minutes 8.24 seconds.

Dareen has an above-knee left leg amputation (LA1), and her record was attempted in conjunction with the launch of the Guinness World Records Impairment Records Initiative, which includes group categories for those with physical, intellectual and visual impairments.

“I lost my leg at the age of 15 to bone cancer. I had another accident in 2013 [I] broke my left hip where my amputation is and had to have two screws in the hip,” Dareen explained.

However, Dareen’s accident led her to discover her passion for sports and fitness after she started going to the gym to aid her recovery.

“I started going to the gym after my broken hip accident in 2013. It [her passion] grew each day with discovering my abilities and how far I can go in exercising and overcoming challenges.”

Dareen was inspired by Terry Fox, a Canadian athlete and cancer research activist who also had one amputated leg.

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“His story inspired me to start a public profile on all social media networks and share my life and fitness journey with people to raise awareness towards inclusivity of the disabled in all aspects of life especially sports. And how people who have disabilities can be productive and successful regardless of obstacles.”

The date of Dareen’s static wall sit attempt, the 4th of June, was particularly significant to her.

Dareen, who is married with two children, plans to continue encouraging people to go beyond their limits and work hard to achieve personal and physical goals.

“Achieving something is always rewarding. Go for it, plan, train and aim.”