Some time ago I realized that I had five unused credits on Audible! I had totally forgotten that I had a monthly subscription to Audible, and each month I paid a fee for new credit. Shocked and furious, I rushed to use all my credits.
This led me to buy David Goggins’ audiobook Can’t Hurt Me. I had no idea what to expect from the book.
But, after reading just the first chapters, I was utterly amazed. Goggins is a retired Navy SEAL slash ultradistance runner slash the toughest motherf**ker who has ever lived.
One of his latest achievements was setting the world record for most pullups in 24 hours. He did a whopping 4,030 repetitions in 17 hours. After listening to the audiobook, I was itching to do something similar. So I asked a few friends of mine whether they’d like to try and do 1,000 pullups in 1 day. Their response was positive.
Timeline
9:43 AM
I arrive at the scene (late, as always): an outdoor gym with pullup bars and some basic outdoor gym equipment. My two friends are waiting for me.
It’s May Day (a big party day for students in Finland), so my friend has brought a bottle of champagne with him. He plans to start drinking after 500 pullups.
This challenge is off to a flying start.
10:03 AM — 0 pullups
The first set of pullups.
Our strategy is simple: 2 pullups every minute on the minute. If we keep up that pace, we should be done in about 8 hours.
I’m keeping track of my pullups with a tap counter app: every time I do a pullup, I tap the screen.
10:52 AM — 100 pullups
The first hundred pullups are easy, and my pullup form is strict.
In between sets we’re chatting, laughing, listening to music, juggling balls and solving the Rubik’s Cube (yes, I brought juggling balls and a cube with me).
11:35 AM — 200 pullups
200 pullups done and still no problem whatsoever. I notice a small tear in the palm of my hand.
12:15 PM — 250 pullups
I’m getting really hungry at this point.
Luckily, I’ve brought bucketloads of food with me. Rice cakes, kidney beans, pasta, homemade sports drinks, peanut butter..
I feel no shame stuffing all of this in my mouth while doing my 254th pullup.
1:04 PM — 365 pullups
My friends keep saying that “this is way too easy and boring”! But for me, the pullups are definitely getting a lot harder. And the tear in my palm has started getting worse. I can see some blood already.
1:32 PM- 420 pullups
My form is not that good anymore. I’ve decided to start alternating between pull-ups and chinups, so that I use different muscle groups and can recover better after each set.
1:54 PM — 500 pullups
My hand is covered in blood. The tear doesn’t really hurt that much, but I need to start using gloves so that the blood doesn’t get the pullup bar all messy.
We decide to take an hour-long lunch break. I eat some pasta and drink some coffee.
3:51 PM — 510 pullups
The break certainly didn’t make the pullups any easier. Our hands are burning after the break and our lats and forearms feel stiff as hell.
We still have almost half of the pullups left, and our pace seems to be getting slower and slower. Or maybe it’s our perception of time that’s getting twisted.
4:23 PM — 590 pullups
Our muscles warm up quite fast and the pullups become “easier” again. Or at least my friends are saying the pullups are easy.
However, I’m in agony. I’m not even sure I can do a pullup anymore, so I’m just doing chinups for now.
I have pain in my right shoulder — the bad kind of pain that alarms you about an approaching injury. Some joints in my elbows are aching like hell and my forearms feel like they could burst any second. My right index finger feels like it’s being torn off every time I do a chinup. And the tear in my hand hasn’t stopped bleeding.
4:45 PM — 610 pullups
One of my friends decides to quit. Not because he couldn’t continue (he actually did one set of 9 pullups at this point!), but because he had emptied his champagne bottle and he had a party to attend.
“That’s what we Finnish students do: we get drunk”, he explains while waving us his goodbyes.
Only two of us remain.
6:03 PM — 750 pullups
I can finally say that even my friend is showing signs of fatigue. We’re dead tired and we just can’t keep up with the pace of 2 pullups every minute. So, we decide to extend the rest period to two minutes (or more if needed).
7:05 PM — 800 pullups
It’s getting late and cold as hell.
My friend decides to throw in the towel too. He has massive pain in his right elbow, and he “won’t risk it for a YouTube video”. I’d say that’s understandable.
7:15 PM — 810 pullups
This was supposed to be an easy challenge that we could handle in just 8 hours.
But here I am 9 hours later, alone at the outdoor gym, shivering with cold, 190 pullups to go. Every pullup sends vicious pain waves across my upper body and requires enormous amounts of willpower to complete. Every muscle seems to have shut down, it’s hard to even move my hands, let alone do a pullup.
I can’t continue this way. At least I need to fight the cold, get my heart rate up, and get my blood flowing again.
My new strategy: running during the rest periods.
I put on my headphones, start running and try to get in “the zone”. And it works.
7:55 PM — 860 pullups
200m run, 2 pullups, 200m run, 2 pullups.. over and over and over again.
9:30 PM — 900 pullups
It feels like a miracle that I have made it this far.
I think running made all the difference. Running has become the main activity, and pullups are just like a small accessory exercise in between my 200m runs. Running numbs the pain in my upper body and I fall into a trance. Or perhaps flow?
10:30 PM — 960 pullups
I’m getting so hyped about the looming 1,000 pullup milestone that I actually increase the number of pullups to 3–4 for each set.
I feel like an animal. I’m yelling and roaring every time I do a pullup. It makes it a tad easier. With the music blazing in my ears, I can’t even hear myself.
Innocent passersby might have been a bit worried, though.
11:17 PM — 999 pullups
I take a good long break before my last pullup. I wanna enjoy the moment. I set up my light and my camera, and prepare for my final pullup.
I grab the pullup bar and pull myself up, staying above the bar for an extended period.
I lower myself back down and just let it all out. I can’t remember what I screamed after that, but I screamed my lungs out for sure It felt awesome.
Aftermath
As I woke up the next morning, my upper body was as stiff as a board. I couldn’t even straighten my arms, they were locked in a 20-degree angle. Not surprisingly, my lats and back were on fire. Even my chest and biceps were in a world of pain.
But oh my, I loved it. I love the feeling when my body is aching the next morning and it’s hard to get out of bed. It’s a sign that I’ve actually done some proper work, it gives me a feeling of accomplishment. Of course, this is not the case if I’m actually injured; I’m talking about the good kind of pain. Also, I do not often strive for this sort of physical exhaustion, as that would most probably just lead to overtraining and injuries; but sometimes, it’s awesome to take your body to its absolute limit and feel it in your body the next day.
There’s something about these ridiculously tough workouts. After about 600 pullups it wasn’t really about whether I was physically able to continue, it was more about whether I could muster my mind to do it. Most of all, this challenge was an exercise for toughening my mind.
“If you’re willing to suffer, and I mean suffer, your brain and body once connected together, can do anything.” — David Goggins
The question looming in my head is this: how far can you actually push your mind and body?
According to David Goggins, there is no limit. After this challenge, I kinda feel the same way.
