“They think they’re going to hold that for the rest of the time, but we plan on smacking that out of the water.” One of Bob O’Brien’s world records — the 10-man, 4-hour pushup relay — was broken in 2012. He and a team of nine other men are eager to not just reclaim it, but shatter the current threshold with an attempt today.
O’Brien, a retired teacher and coach, began attempting to set world records around 2006 and still holds a handful, including completing 412 burpee pullups in an hour.
One of his prized feats was the team pushup relay. The achievement was first recorded in 2012 when a 10-man group completed about 14,000 in 4 hours. O’Brien quickly formed his own group and pushed that benchmark to 17,000.
Then a military group from Great Britain set a new record of 19,130 in 2020.
O’Brien said he got another group together and they beat that new mark, but a camera malfunction kept them from being able to officially claim the record.
Now, he’s back at it, with the attempt scheduled from 1-5 p.m. today at Iron Jungle. Joining O’Brien are Collin Carrico, Mazden Ng, Dale Stevens, Blake Roberts, Steven Stevenson, Zach Kirkman, Kaw Wah, Zachary Clark, and Reece Carroll, with Anthony Tate as an alternate.
“The guys have just been really working hard,” he said. “We’ve been just getting together every Sunday, making sure we do a group workout together, making sure we get our timing together, making sure we’re all on the same page.”
O’Brien said he thinks they can easily get to 20,000 pushups but they are hoping to reach 22,000. He said they’ve got a solid strategy to maintain efficiency and give each person plenty of rest. Guidelines allow only one person to do pushups at a time.
“I’ve got it set up like a relay. We’re gonna try to average 21 pushups every 15 seconds,” he said. “For example, I’ll do 21 then come up and say go. The next person goes and then comes up. Nine people will go before it gets back to me, and then we go again.”
The attempt isn’t really designed for the public to attend, and even if it was, O’Brien acknowledged “it’s so boring to watch, it’s like watching paint drive.”
“The reason I’m not bored in those 4 hours is because I’m making sure cameras are running and making sure everyone’s on the same page,” he said. “I’m making sure my people are alright — ‘how you feeling, if you’re struggling for 21 give me 18 for the next three rounds and I will make up your three on my end.’”
Once the pushup relay is behind him, O’Brien will turn focus to a pair of neutral grip pullup records later this year. One is the hour-long record, and the other is for the most in 1 minute.
The current 1-minute record is 43. O’Brien said he’s able to do 48-49 in training currently.
“But when I do it, I want to make sure I push that world record like to 50 or beyond,” he said. “Because as soon as I break it, it’s going to be posted on Guinness World Records and people are going to try to stab at it. I want them to see 50 and think ‘I don’t want nothing to do with that.’”
O’Brien said he’s always had a drive to never be like anyone else.
“People say everybody puts their pants on one leg at a time,” he said. “I automatically sit down and put my two legs in. I want to be different. I don’t want the fame or anything from it, I just want to be able to do things no one else has ever done.”
He added, “There are 8 billion people on the planet. I want to do something on the planet no one else has ever done. And even when I’m gone, I still want something here that no one else has ever done. That’s the idea I have. It’s a little weird, but it’s just me.”
