A remarkable story has come out of the US this week resulting in a high school junior breaking three Guinness World Records for pull-ups within the space of in 18 hours.
Andrew Shapiro decided to get himself into peak physical condition after being inspired by his father's five-year battle with colon cancer, and as a big fan of the TV show 'American Ninja Warrior', he found himself a target to reach. However, as you have to be 21 to participate on the show, Shapiro wanted to find something more immediate to test himself, so he set his sights on a number of world records to tide him over.
During a 'Relay for Life' event in Fairfax County, Virginia, Shapiro decided to take on the challenge of breaking three records for pull-ups, and he absolutely smashed it, as reported by The Washington Post:
Beginning Saturday at 8 a.m., he started his pull-up marathon. Within six hours, the Langley High School junior completed 3,515 pull-ups — a new world record. By 12 hours, he had finished 5,742 pull-ups — another world record. Then he set his sights on a final record — the most pull-ups performed in 24 hours: 6,800 completed by Czech Republic athlete Jan Kares in 2015.
At the 15-hour mark, Shapiro matched Kares’ 24-hour record and kept going. After 18 hours of pull-ups, Shapiro stopped, having put his chin above the bar 7,306 times.
What a beast.
There was a Guinness World Records official on hand to verify the results, and thankfully there was also video footage of the pull-up marathon that you can see below.
Speaking after the event, Shapiro explained the main reason behind the challenge was too add a little something extra to his CV when he applies to be on 'American Ninja Warrior':
I’ve always liked challenging myself so I’ll add this to my resume as a person for American Ninja Warrior. I figure they won’t say no to someone who has the world record for pull-ups.
Now we can't wait to see him take on the course on TV, although we accept it will be in the year 2020 at the earliest.
