A former Manitoba woman now holds the world record for a gruelling phyisical exercise known as abdominal planking.

Eva Bulzomi, who grew up in Morden, Man. and now lives in Boise, Idaho, set the Guinness World Record with a time of 40 minutes and one second.

The old record of 33:40 was set by Paul Drinan of Australia on May 11, 2011.

Eva Bulzomi, known as plankgirl on Twitter, said her fascination started after her husband brought home a Men's Fitness magazine with an article on planking. (Twitter)

Bulzomi's mark almost doubles the last official record for a female.

The exercise requires the person to hold themselves a push-up position with the body's weight borne only on the forearms, elbows, and toes.

"It was the hardest, most painful, thing I have ever done," Bulzomi stated on her website.

She said the fascination started after her husband brought home a Men's Fitness magazine that had an article about planking.

"If I recall correctly, the article said if you could do it over three minutes you were as strong as Popeye. To my surprise, I was as strong as Popeye," she said.

"The obssession was born."

In an interview with CBC News, she said "the first few minutes are really rough and my body does shake and tremble, but once you can just calm down, get your breathing right, you get into this relaxation mode and that's awesome."

Bulzomi said her next challenge will be doing it with 40 pounds on her back. She can already do that for seven minutes.