Pull-ups are one of the toughest workouts around, requiring upper-body strength to manage more than a handful. It's impressive then the man with the world record for the most pull-ups in 24 hours managed to perform more than 10,000 of them in a day.
But it's not been a smooth journey. Two years ago, Truett Hanes, from Utah, set the world record by completing 8,100 pull-ups in less than 24 hours - beating the previous record by 92. Guinness World Records reported the achievement "validated years of physical and mental work that left Truett in the best shape of his life."
But less than one day later Australian police officer Gary Lloyd beat the record by 500, taking the crown. Truett said: “I overcame a lot of doubt, pain and exhaustion just to have the record for a single day."
And although he was understandably proud of his accomplishment, he also described the event as an “emotional rollercoaster." It was a situation that would inspire Truett to go to unprecedented lengths to retake his title.
“This experience would fester inside my brain for the next nine months until I decided to train for the record again," he said. "But this time… not just merely surpass the record, but crush it to ensure that my efforts wouldn’t be rendered meaningless.”
Truett believed he could retake the record - but was under no illusions about the quality of his competition, so he wanted to make a statement. And the challenge got even steeper when Gary's record was broken in September last year by Youtuber Doug 'Censor' Martin, with 9,250 completions.
But Truett smashed the record - and did so in style, completing an astonishing 10,001. “What I learned about myself is I won’t give up," he said.
"I wasn’t blessed with unique ability or super strength and things have never really come easily to me, but I have been gifted the ability to not give up on my goals. Even if it takes years, I’ll see it through until it’s completed. The job isn’t finished when you’re tired, it’s finished when you’re done.”
When he first set the record in October 2023, he did roughly 70,000 reps in a six month span to prepare for the attempt. This time around, he did 120,000 reps in six months. “You don’t rise to the occasion, but you fall to the level of your preparation,” said Truett.