How David Goggins Broke the World Pull-up Record

And what it can teach us about failure

Photo by Wayne Peterson on Flickr

What isn’t David Goggins known for when it comes to athletic or physical feats?

If you don’t know Goggins from being the only member of the U.S. Armed Forces to complete training as a Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller, maybe it’s for completing over 60 marathons and ultramarathons. Maybe it’s for authoring Can’t Hurt Me, a New York Times Bestseller that documents all of these incredible accomplishments and more.

One of those stories was on Goggins’ attempt to break the Guinness World Record for pull-ups in 2013, which was 4,020 in 24 hours at the time. The chapter was titled, “The Empowerment of Failure.”

What Terry Crews Taught Me About Failure

Lights, camera, action!

The story begins on September 27, 2013 and takes place at the studio of The Today Show. In the prior six months, Goggins had done 40,000 pull-ups in training.

Training could not prepare him for the other elements of the challenge, however.