Five minutes often goes by in a blur, but occasionally, those 300 seconds can feel like some of the longest moments of your life.
Tucsonan Joy Phoenix had that happen earlier this week as she persevered mentally and physically to achieve a goal she’s been working on all year: completing a five-minute plank before her 78th birthday on Oct. 12.
As a crowd of several gathered around Phoenix at Gym 244 near Broadway and Tucson Boulevard on Oct. 9, she placed AirPods in her ears, took off her rings and beaded friendship bracelets adorned with the acronym for “live your best life” and set up a bright blue kitchen timer above her exercise mat.
Before fully getting into a planking position, she briefly chats with Leslie Daggy, Gym 244’s manager and her daughter, who proposed the five-minute planking challenge at the beginning of the year.
Gym members at Gym 244 in Tucson gather around 77-year-old Joy Phoenix as she completes her five-minute plank attempt Wednesday afternoon.
“I thought this is a great challenge, because really, anybody can do it. All you need to do is show up every day,” Phoenix said.
Joy Phoenix chats with her daughter Leslie Daggy at Gym 244 before attempting the five-minute plank Wednesday in Tucson.
After Phoenix gets into her planking position, the gym suddenly quiets to not break her focus. The only audible sound in the background is rap music that plays during the gym’s typical late afternoon sessions.
About a minute and a half into the plank, gym members cheer Phoenix on with encouraging chants of “Hell yeah, Joy!” and “Let’s go, Joy” as they count down the time for her.
Throughout the plank, Phoenix will occasionally look up to regain her focus or to take a peek at her phone that’s playing a video of Daggy doing box jumps and burpees.
“That’s a lot harder than this,” she said later.
As the minutes and seconds count down on the timer, Phoenix never falters. She remains nearly statuesque throughout the whole process.
And then what felt like a few short moments for the spectators, Phoenix completed the plank. She finished with a time of 5:05.
“It's a wonderful thing to have a challenge and achieving it, you feel empowered,” Phoenix said. “And I think I can maybe set an example for people who think ‘I can't do it.’ Yes, you can do it. You can be close to 80 and you can do it.”
Joy Phoenix, left, poses with her daughter Leslie Daggy, right, the gym manager at Gym 244 in Tucson.
After the plank, Phoenix was congratulated by gym members and received a hug from her daughter. The gym celebrated with some Sanpellegrino Italian Sparkling drinks.
For Daggy, it’s not surprising that her mom completed such a feat at her age.
“I remember as a kid, her going to the gym all the time and her always prioritizing fitness,” she said. “And so for me, I always had that role model. So, as I grew older, it just felt like a natural transition to make sure you go to the gym and make sure that you get your heart moving every day and exercise your body. It never felt like a task or an obligation, it felt like something I love, because my mom really demonstrated that.”
Phoenix, who is a retired teacher, began getting into fitness in her 30s and has maintained a fairly active lifestyle since then, she says.
She’s attended Gym 244 five days a week for over five years and Daggy says she’s never heard her mother complain once about it.
“I think that she could just be an example in the community of what it looks like to age,” she said. “We see a lot of elderly individuals who are getting through society and they're struggling, they're losing their freedoms, they're limited in their range of motion, they need assistance for everything. And I think it's really inspirational to see how well she carries herself and to let people know that you can age that way. If you treat your body well and if you keep motion and physical exercise as part of your life and a priority in your day-to-day, you can have a really beautiful life from 50 to 100. Your life can still be really beautiful.”
Joy Phoenix preps for her five-minute plank at Gym 244 on Oct. 9, 2024.
In preparation for the five-minute plank, Phoenix started with one-minute planks and added seconds every day, eventually working up to the five minutes that she achieved on Oct. 9.
Once she reached the five-minute mark, Phoenix only had one thing on her mind:
“I’m ready for my next challenge,” she said.
