By Lee Ying Shan and Joseph Campbell
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Burpees are the gym exercise everyone loves to hate: You start in a standing position. Bend down, and with hands on the ground, hop your legs back into a push-up. Reverse and stand back up.
Now repeat 951 times. That is how many burpees a Brazilian man living in Singapore completed in an hour, setting a new Guinness World Record in a fundraising effort for his niece who was born last year with severe heart disease.
Last month’s record-setting endeavour by Cassiano Rodrigues Laureano, who turned 35 on the day of the attempt, was verified by Guinness Record adjudicators on Monday.
“I’m tired”, said Laureano after completing the record at the city’s Tricolor Fight Team gym, where he teaches. “It didn’t go as smoothly as I thought it would go.”
“But I’m very, very happy with the accomplishment.”
Born in Sao Gabriel municipality in southern Brazil, Laureano, who is also a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, said he was driven by a promise made to his niece, Rebeca.
“I don’t know when I’ll get to see them,” said Laureano, of his family he hasn’t met since moving to Singapore in May 2019. “So it’s the only thing that I can do to help … using my athleticism.”
Laureano had originally aimed for 1,000 burpees, but fell short of his target due to a leg injury sustained two days before the attempt. He had trained for around nine months before setting the record.
The previous world record was held by Nick Anapolsky, who performed 879 chest-to-ground burpees in an hour earlier this year.
With his feat, Laureano hopes to set an example for everyone blessed to be born with whole hearts. He also said he wants to inspire people to lead healthier lifestyles and muster the discipline needed to achieve their goals, especially amid the pandemic.
“It’s one of the toughest single exercises that you can perform. It would not be fun if it was not the hardest one,” said Laureano. “I could choose jumping jacks but it’s so easy … It has to be something that challenges yourself to become something better.”
(Reporting by Lee Ying Shan and Joseph Campbell; Editing by Karishma Singh and Raissa Kasolowsky)
