Aussie dad sets world record with over 3,200 push-ups in an hour
An accountant in Australia has shown that a dad does not have to come with the requisite “dad bod”, as he broke the world record for the most number of push-ups in an hour.
Mr Lucas Helmke – a barrel-chested 33-year-old from Brisbane – did 3,206 push-ups in an hour to break the previous record of 3,182, set by another Australian, Mr Daniel Scali, in April 2022.
He racked up about 53 push-ups a minute, or close to one a second, and did it 60 times consecutively. By comparison, men his age will have to turn in 56 reps for a minute to get the maximum 25 points for this particular station in the Individual Physical Proficiency Test for Singapore’s NSmen.
Mr Helmke said he did it for his one-year-old son. He said he wanted to “provide inspiration” and show the boy “nothing is impossible”.
He powered through the push-ups at the Iron Underground gym in Brisbane in November.
Each push-up had to be flawless to meet the standards required for an official world record.
Mr Helmke was required to keep his body straight on his way up, without bending his knees and waist, while reaching at least a 90-degree angle at the elbow when he lowered himself.
He was docked 34 push-ups due to improper form.
Posting his Guinness World Records certificate on his Facebook in March, he wrote: “This one finally came through.”
Mr Helmke said it took him two to three years to build up the physical strength to pull off the extraordinary feat.
He said he broke the push-ups down into 30-second sets, aiming for at least 26 reps in each one. He chalked up an average of 26.7 every 30 seconds.
It is not clear how long his record will stand. Local media in Florida reported that American Rob Stirling, 60, managed 3,264 push-ups late in March – but that claim had yet to be recognised by Guinness.
Mr Helmke said he already has his sights on other records.
“This will be the first record I wish to set of a number of other push-up records,” he said. “Then onto other physical records.”
The record for the most push-ups in one hour has been broken many times over the past decade.
Before Mr Helmke and Mr Scali, the record was held by Mr Jarrad Young, also an Australian, who broke it three times with his last one in 2021 at 3,054 push-ups.
Before him, in 2017, the record belonged to Mr Carlton Williams, a Briton, who did 2,682 push-ups in an hour.
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