Two years ago, Truett Hanes (USA) wrapped his hands around the bar in his gym, and hoisted himself up and down repeatedly until he completed an exhausting and rewarding 8,100 pull ups in 24 hours. He had claimed the record title for most pull ups in 24 hours by a margin of 92 – validating years of physical and mental work that left Truett in the best shape of his life.
And then, less than one day after claiming his title, across the world in Australia the police officer Gary Lloyd broke Truett’s record by a margin of 500 pull ups, officially taking his crown.
“I overcame a lot of doubt, pain and exhaustion just to have the record for a single day,” said Truett. Although he was proud of his accomplishment, he also described the event as an “emotional rollercoaster” – but one that would ultimately inspire him to go to unprecedented lengths to retake his title.
“This experience would fester inside my brain for the next nine months until I decided to train for the record again, but this time… not just merely surpass the record, but crush it to ensure that my efforts wouldn’t be rendered meaningless.”
And crush it he did – after months of rigorous work on his form, diet, and mentality, Truett surpassed his previous record by 1,901, and retook his record for most pull ups in 24 hours by completing an astounding 10,001.
“What I learned about myself is: I won’t give up. I wasn’t blessed with unique ability or super strength and things have never really come easily to me, but I have been gifted the ability to not give up on my goals,” he said. “Even if it takes years, I’ll see it through until it’s completed.
“The job isn’t finished when you’re tired, it’s finished when you’re done.”
Truett knew he had to step up his preparations immensely if he wanted to smash the previous record title, which had already been broken even after Gary – most recently in September 2024 by Youtuber Doug 'Censor' Martin with 9,250.
To set a wide margin between himself and others, Truett needed to get at least 10,000. Inspired by David Goggins – motivational speaker and ex-US Navy SEAL who used to hold the pull ups record title with 4,030 in 24 hours – he knew he wanted to become a “champion through training.”
“There would be weeks where I would do 2,000 pull ups every day of the week (14,000 total),” he said. “I was obsessed with the task of getting the most in a day and not only to get the record, but become the first person to break the five-digit mark while doing so… 10,000 reps in 24 hours or bust.”
When he first set the record in October 2023, he did roughly 70,000 reps in a six month span to prepare for the attempt. This time around, he did 120,000 reps in six months.
“You don’t rise to the occasion, but you fall to the level of your preparation,” said Truett.
He also credited a lot of his success to the immense support from his wife Alicia, who inspired him to continue his training. He said he would spend hours in the garage doing pull ups when she would come in and check on him, bringing him healthy snacks and acting as a nutritionist, supporter, and loving wife all at once.
“She chose to be there throughout it all: every step and every rep. As a husband, that’s the greatest gift you can receive,” he said. “She believed in me. Sharing the accomplishment with her was the best feeling in the world. I couldn’t have done it without her and I wish it said her name on the certificate as well because that’s how important she was to my success.”
So with his body and his mind prepared to take on the attempt, on 1 February, Truett approached the bar with chalked up hands and started his pull ups. Surrounded by supporters, the clock began at 11 a.m. It stopped at 9:16 a.m. the next morning, when Truett pulled his shaking body up one last time for his 10,001st rep.
“The only reason I was able to get to this point and be in this kind of shape was my willingness to become better every day,” he said on social media after he succeeded.
And yes, it hurt – Truett’s hands and arms were shaking and red after, and it took days of recovery for the calluses on his palms to heal. But as he said: “The pain of regret far outweighs the pain of my hands.”
Truett was also generous to share his accomplishment with a good cause – through crowdfunding and engagement on social media, he raised $35,000 (£27,000) for the Miracle Foundation, a non-profit helping vulnerable and orphaned children worldwide.
“We as adults can pull ourselves out of bad situations and we do all the time, but kids need help – and that’s where the Miracle Foundation comes in,” said Truett. “Through the generous donations, more than 80 children were directly benefited as a result... 80 kids now know that the world hasn’t given up on them, and hopefully they now know how loved and important they are to not only their families, but to all of us across the world.”
This cause was particularly important for Truett and his family, as his wife’s mother was adopted.
“I know how important it is to give children a loving home where they can feel safe and thrive as she did,” he said. “The pull-up record is great, but nothing compares to helping others.”
Truett wants other people to take away this lesson from his inspiring attempt, and encourages people to think of him when trying to beat their own fitness goals – no matter how small.
“Consistently showing up every day and giving your best effort will never be something you regret,” he said. “Don’t give up. That’s the biggest lesson you can take away from me. It may take months, years or even decades to get to where you want, but as long as you don’t give up… you’ll get there.
“I don’t know what’s in store for you, but I know the world needs you and quitting never helped anyone.”
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