44 pull-ups in 1 minute: Singaporean breaks Guinness World Record

44 pull-ups in 1 minute: Singaporean breaks Guinness World Record
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SINGAPORE - While most teenage boys were dribbling on the football pitch, Mr Yeo Kim Yeong was obsessed with pull-ups at the age of 15.

His obsession has paid off - he broke the world record for the most number of pull-ups done in one minute.

He managed 44 pull-ups, two more than the previous record of 42 set by American David Bourdon, reported the Guinness World Records on its website.

When contacted, Mr Yeo, 25, told The Straits Times that he was both satisfied and relieved with his accomplishment.

"It's something I've been training for," said the National University of Singapore undergraduate.

In an interview published on the Guinness World Records website, he said he set his mind on setting a world record because "I have always believed that nothing is impossible, and that one's dreams are achievable".

To prepare for the feat, he has been training four times a week - each session lasting between one and three hours - under professional guidance for over a year.

He also practised self-meditation in the evenings where he envisioned himself achieving the record while reviewing the techniques of pull-ups repeatedly in his head.

But he has been training on his own for years. He said: "It is an activity that I have always enjoyed, and thus something I practise every time I visit the gym."

The practice came in handy when he was serving national service.

"All males have to serve army and it was useful from a fitness perspective," he said, adding that it was also useful in helping him pass one of the more difficult stations in the national physical fitness test that he had to go through during his school days.

Fresh from setting a world record, he is already eyeing more challenges.

Said Mr Yeo, who is 1.6m tall and weighs 54kg: "Possibly involving anything to do with pull-ups and bodyweight. I am a small guy, so it is more advantageous to me to focus on anything to do with body weight."

He said setting a world record means a lot to him.

"That you can achieve your dreams when you put your mind to it. That nothing is impossible. That the struggle, the sacrifice, and the failures were not only worth it, but necessary."

kchitra@sph.com.sg


This article was first published on June 23, 2015.
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