Posted on 12/20/2015 8:37:59 AM PST by UMCRevMom@aol.com
Guy Valentino, a 37-year-old CrossFit trainer and Marine Corps veteran, completed 5,862 pullups in 24 hours, setting a new world record on November 11.
How the hell did he do it?
Valentino followed a two-pronged approach that consisted of a physical plan and a mental plan:
1. He did 5 reps every minute. This pace kept his heart rate down so he could conserve his energy for the long haul.
Related: How to Become a Pullup Powerhouse
2. He pretended he was on a mission in Iraq. Every 1,000 pullups got him to a “checkpoint,†where he was able to resupply fellow Marines with ammo and food.
If Valentino didn’t make it, the Marines would die.
That’s an unconventional strategy to say the least. But then again, with an exhausting, near-impossible feat like this one, there isn’t a “one-size-fits-all†technique.
It’s whatever helps you find the physical strength and the mental strength to finish the next rep—even when your hands bruise, your vision blurs, or your rib pops out of its socket, as Valentino’s did three times.
For Valentino, his motivation came from the Marines—and not just the imaginary ones at his checkpoints, but also the real ones suffering at home.
That’s because he used to be one of them.
A decade ago, Valentino had just returned home from his tour in Iraq, and sunk into a depression.
“Here I was, a war fighter who had been in charge of 42 men, and I come back and I’m not in charge of anybody,†he says.
He suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after his battalion had lost 16 men to improvised explosive devices. He stopped taking care of himself.
One day in 2006, the Marine who had always been fit—he typically had single-digit body fat —put on dress pants and realized that he had love handles.
“I was like, ‘Hell, no,’†Valentino remembers. “‘I am not going to be weak anymore.’â€
So he started working out again. The fat slowly fell away and muscle started to replace it.
[Related: Get Back in Shape—the 21-Day Fitness Program That Completely Transforms Your Body!]
He started to change inside, too. “I noticed that as I got stronger, that depression started to dissipate and my confidence started to return.â€
His training improved his life so much that he turned it into a full-time job. He became a trainer, and recently opened his own CrossFit box in Dallas called CrossFit Apocalypse.
Now, he wants to help other vets find peace, too.
“I want to get veterans to wake up from PTSD, depression, addiction, and suicidal thoughts,†he says. “I want them to get back to the foundation of what makes military men and women strong, which is physical fitness.â€
[Related: 4 Exercises Navy Seals Do Every Day]
That’s why he partnered with Spike TV’s Veterans Operation Wellness initiative to film his world record attempt. He wants to spread the word about challenges veterans face when coming home.
Valentino knew he would break the record if he stuck to his physical and mental plan. So he surrounded himself with reminders of his mission.
As he did pullup after pullup, his Marine Corps flag lie nearby. It helped him keep the slogan “the few, the proud, the Marines†playing over and over again in his head.
He also brought a map of Iraq, and plotted out his checkpoint route. “It was a reminder to me that no matter what I was facing, I would finish it out,†he says.
But perhaps most powerful for Valentino was the presence of Army veteran Brendan Ferreira, an ambassador for the Yellow Ribbon Fund’s Taking Up Fitness campaign, which helps vets get back in shape.
Ferreira, an amputee, did pullups while he was there in support—with his one arm.
“Just seeing him do pullups was a reminder that I got nothing to complain about,†Valentino says. “I have two damn working arms.â€
And that’s what helped push him through his toughest moments. When every pain receptor in his body was telling him to stop, Valentino kept going.
It’s impossible to quit when your mission is so much bigger than you, he says.
Wow.
God bless America,God bless our soldiers,and God,thank you for free will. Free will is the purist report card of the employ of God’s love.
He has lots of upper back strength, helpful if not necessary in doing pull-ups.
Something wrong with my monitor, it got blurry all of a sudden.
5 reps per minute?
Does that really count as a single session of pull-ups.
By the way, I do 16.
It was never for a single session. But for a total amount in 24hrs.
16 every minute for 24 hours, that's what you do?
Pull ups sucked.
I could squat a lot of weight. But pull ups? My best day was 15.
In boot camp, ya had to do 3 chinups as part of a physical test. 3.
We had a fat boy and a couple skinny fellas that couldn’t do one when they started boot.. The big fellar lost lost 100 pounds in 80 days or so and still couldn’t do 3.
This dude is whack! Wow.
LOL, for 24 hours straight?
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