Push-ups in Sports Illustrated

[kelbiz]

LaLanne's Record Beaten!
The 10/13/2008 Issue of Sports Illustrated - Faces in the Crowd - reports that Jack Lalanne’s Guinness World Record for 1000 push-ups has been beaten by Ryan Bonfiglio of Princeton, New Jersey. (Go Jersey!)
30 year old Ryan hit 1000 in 20 minutes and 50 seconds, beating a mark that stood since the mighty Jack did it in 1956. It states that Ryan performed the push-ups in sets of 25.
Ryan also set a record for pull-ups in 1 hour - 507 - back in 2004.
What’s amazing is that it took 52 years for LaLanne’s record to be broken!
Thank you goes to Sports Illustrated for mentioning the milestone.

JK

[John Peterson]

Hey Kelbiz,

I'm very curious, was the man that accomplished this feat shown in any photos? I wonder how complete his reps were. I remember seeing a clip on television years and years ago that showed Jack performing his feat and although Mr. La Lanne had no slack in his Push-Up posture they were very short (very partial range).


---John Peterson

[kelbiz]

John;

The only photo was a face shot, hence the name of the column Faces in the Crowd. There was no mention of how he did the push-ups other than sets of 25 were performed.
The piece also brought out that he had beem a college wrestler.
It would have been great to have it filmed, but I guess it was good enough for Guinness World Records.

Jack

[Atlas_Soldier]

I wonder if we can track him down and invite him to share his experience here on the forum. Facebook? I will look for him. -Josh

[longcharles]

I do a lot of pushups so I would be interested to hear how he trained.

[kelbiz]

longcharles;

OK, let's do the math. Sports Illustrated says he did 1,000 push-ups in 20 minutes 50 seconds. That's is 1,250 seconds total workout time.
Sets of 25 push-up were done, which make s for 40 sets. If he was cranking them out at 25 seconds per set, 40 sets = 1,000 seconds. That leaves 250 seconds / 39 sets = 6.4 seconds rest in between sets.
Some guys (and gals) may do them faster since he was most likely not stressing the 'negative' or downward motion. That may have given him a little more resttime in between sets.
So, if he did sets in 20 seconds, that's 800 seconds with 450 seconds / 39 rest sessions at 11.5 seconds each. No matter how you look at it, a herculean accomplishment to say the least.

At that level of athletic achievement, you probably need a plan like that. The Nike 'Just Do It' probably won't get you there without a pre-set plan of attack.

Jack

[longcharles]

At that level of athletic achievement, you probably need a plan like that. The Nike 'Just Do It' probably won't get you there without a pre-set plan of attack.

Jack

No doubt. I'm sure it wasn't haphazard. It's definitely something he had to work at and plan for. A feat like that is not something you just do. Thanks.

[isorez]

Over 50 years for it to be broken! Great statement. Cudos for him doing it, but, whether they were strict form or not...still and awesome accomplishment...and partials at that rate are very effective becasue you are constantly stopping your body's momentum and I'd think that this is also a huge strength builder. I must've missed the article and will have to find the issue at home tonight.
Thanks for bringing it up.

[kelbiz]

I checked him out on YouTube also. Pretty awesome. It would have been cool if he tore his shirt off and threw it into the crowd after he finished. Or maybe that's just what I would have done.:sinister:

Jack