We searched for some of the most astonishing fitness achievements. Some amazing, some weird, and some just pretty silly. And you’ve probably never heard of any of them.
The following people are taking it to the extremes, please don't try these at home.
10. Terry Fox Ran Across Canada While Fighting Cancer (and Without a Leg).
In 1977, at the age of 19, he had his right leg amputated after a diagnosis of osteosarcoma.
Three years later, after being angered at how little money was dedicated to cancer research, he decided he wanted to Run across Canada in an effort to increase cancer awareness.
Dubbed the Marathon of Hope, Fox started in St. Johns, Newfoundland and planned out a route across the country that would take him to Victoria, British Columbia.
He began his journey with little fanfare, but by the time he reached Ontario he had become a national star, with over 1000 corporations pledging 2$ per mile.
He met then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau along his route, as well as the likes of Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Orr.
As Terry approached Thunder Bay, he suffered an intense bout of coughing and severe pains in his chest.
He was immediately taken to the nearest hospital where it was discovered that his cancer had returned and had spread to his lungs.
A tearful press conference brought his cross Canada journey to an end after 143 days and 5,373km. Fox hoped that he would one day get to finish what he started but sadly passed away on June 28, 1981.
Terry’s plight received support and prayers from Pope John Paul II and inspired Rod Stewart to write the song “Never Give Up on a Dream” in his honor.
Since his death, the Marathon of Hope has turned into a yearly event in over 60 countries and is now the largest one-day cancer fundraiser in the world.
To date, over $500,000,000 has been raised in Terry’s name.
9. Greatest Distance Traveled on a Treadmill.
Hopping on the dread-mill for even a few miles can feel, well, dreadful.
In 2008, Tony Mangan of Ireland took his few miles further with a 48-hour stint, clocking in just under 252 miles. That’s like an ultra, ultra marathon. As goes the story for many Guinness records, Mangan lost his initial record to Suresh Joachim, but he regained the title soon after.
8. Longest Time in an Abdominal Plank.
One of the most impressive mind and body feats on this list comes from George Hood, who held an abdominal plank for 1 hour, 20minutes, and 5 seconds, two days shy of his 54th birthday.
A year later, Hood decided it made perfect sense to kill his own record. At age 55 he did it for 3hours, 7minutes, and 15 seconds. That time stood until May 2014, when Mao Weidong bested him by more than an hour, holding the position for a whopping 4 hours and 26 minutes.
7. Most Push-Ups Using Back of Hands in One Hour.
Known for tons of records and endurance feats from 932 sit-ups with a 50-pound weight to most miles speed-marched carrying a 10-pound concrete block, pro athlete Paddy Doyle is no stranger to feats of stamina. In 2007, Doyle completed 1,940 push-ups in one hour using only the backs of his hands.
6. 73 Days Living Underwater.
The Jules Undersea Lodge, off the coast of Key Largo, Florida, was billed as the world’s only underwater hotel. We included it on a list of undersea facilities you could actually live in a couple years back.
In late 2014, biologists Bruce Cantrell and Jessica Fain completed a 10-week stay at the Lodge, barely besting a 22-year-old record set by NASA astronaut Richard Presley at the same facility, and he at least had the excuse of preparing for a long stay in space
5. 438 Days Living In Space.
When American astronaut Scott Kelly returned to Earth after 340 days aboard the International Space Station in early 2016, he set the US record for consecutive days in space.
No fewer than four Russian cosmonauts have spent over a year in space, beginning with a 1987 mission aboard the now-defunct Mir Space Station, which was decidedly smaller and less hospitable than the new International version. But the true Big Kahuna of space flight is Valeri Polyakov, who between 1994 and 1995 logged a whopping 438 consecutive days aboard Mir.
The picture is American Scott Kelly, spent 340 days in space.
4. 264 Hours With No Sleep.
Way back in 1965, a high school student named Randy Gardner, under the supervision of Stanford University researchers, set a record that has not been touched to this day for multiple reasons. He stayed awake, without the use of stimulants, for over 11 straight days.
By day 11, his condition was described like this: “Expressionless appearance, speech slurred and without intonation; had to be encouraged to talk to get him to respond at all.
3. Wim “Iceman” Hof.
He holds 20 Guinness World Records for withstanding extreme cold.
He swam under the ice at the North Pole for a world record-breaking 80 meters in nothing more than a standard swimsuit.
He holds the record for the worlds longest ice bath, spending a whopping 1 hour and 13 minutes submerged in nothing but ice.
He’s completed a full marathon North of the Arctic circle, again, in nothing more than shorts.
He’s climbed both Mount Everest and Kilimanjaro in nothing more than a pair of shorts and sandals.
People have climbed Everest with the warmest clothing known to man and have still died of hypothermia. Scientists have been so startled by Wim’s abilities that they decided to turn him into a lab rat and find out what exactly allows him to do all these.
2. Dashrath Manjhi a.k.a. Mountain Man Carving a Road Through a Mountain.
Dashrath Manjhi, the Mountain Man, was not a bodybuilder or daredevil. He was a simple laborer in India. His wife died due to lack of medical treatment since the nearest doctor was 70 km away from his village because of a mountain. He did not want anyone else to suffer the same fate, so he carved a through cut that was 110 meters long, 7.6 meters deep in places and 9.1 meters wide to form a road through the mountain.
He worked every day and night for 22 years to do this and reduced the distance between the Atri and Wazirganj areas of the Gaya district from 75 km to 1 km. He was given national acclaim for his feat
1. Highest free-fall (24Miles).
On October 14, 2012, Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner accomplished what seemed impossible, skydiving from a balloon more than 24 miles (128,100 ft) above the Earth. Before jumping into space, Baumgartner humbly delivered a message through his radio saying, “sometimes you have to go up really high to understand how small you really are.” Falling at a max speed of 833mph for just under 10 minutes, Baumgartner became the first skydiver to break the sound barrier while also breaking the records for a highest manned balloon flight, highest parachute jump, and fastest free-fall velocity. While in free fall, Baumgartner almost lost control and went into a terrifying spin but was able to regain control through skills learned in preparation for the jump. About a mile from the ground, Felix opened his parachute and landed safely in New Mexico greeted by ecstatic friends and family. Baumgartner had his doubts before jumping from the balloon, saying “let me tell you when I was standing there on top of the world, you become so humble. You don’t think about breaking records anymore, you don’t think about gaining scientific data the only thing that you want is to come back alive.
10. Terry Fox Ran Across Canada While Fighting Cancer (and Without a Leg).
In 1977, at the age of 19, he had his right leg amputated after a diagnosis of osteosarcoma.
Three years later, after being angered at how little money was dedicated to cancer research, he decided he wanted to Run across Canada in an effort to increase cancer awareness.
Dubbed the Marathon of Hope, Fox started in St. Johns, Newfoundland and planned out a route across the country that would take him to Victoria, British Columbia.
He began his journey with little fanfare, but by the time he reached Ontario he had become a national star, with over 1000 corporations pledging 2$ per mile.
He met then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau along his route, as well as the likes of Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Orr.
As Terry approached Thunder Bay, he suffered an intense bout of coughing and severe pains in his chest.
He was immediately taken to the nearest hospital where it was discovered that his cancer had returned and had spread to his lungs.
A tearful press conference brought his cross Canada journey to an end after 143 days and 5,373km. Fox hoped that he would one day get to finish what he started but sadly passed away on June 28, 1981.
Terry’s plight received support and prayers from Pope John Paul II and inspired Rod Stewart to write the song “Never Give Up on a Dream” in his honor.
Since his death, the Marathon of Hope has turned into a yearly event in over 60 countries and is now the largest one-day cancer fundraiser in the world.
To date, over $500,000,000 has been raised in Terry’s name.
9. Greatest Distance Traveled on a Treadmill.
Hopping on the dread-mill for even a few miles can feel, well, dreadful.
In 2008, Tony Mangan of Ireland took his few miles further with a 48-hour stint, clocking in just under 252 miles. That’s like an ultra, ultra marathon. As goes the story for many Guinness records, Mangan lost his initial record to Suresh Joachim, but he regained the title soon after.
8. Longest Time in an Abdominal Plank.
One of the most impressive mind and body feats on this list comes from George Hood, who held an abdominal plank for 1 hour, 20minutes, and 5 seconds, two days shy of his 54th birthday.
A year later, Hood decided it made perfect sense to kill his own record. At age 55 he did it for 3hours, 7minutes, and 15 seconds. That time stood until May 2014, when Mao Weidong bested him by more than an hour, holding the position for a whopping 4 hours and 26 minutes.
7. Most Push-Ups Using Back of Hands in One Hour.
Known for tons of records and endurance feats from 932 sit-ups with a 50-pound weight to most miles speed-marched carrying a 10-pound concrete block, pro athlete Paddy Doyle is no stranger to feats of stamina. In 2007, Doyle completed 1,940 push-ups in one hour using only the backs of his hands.
6. 73 Days Living Underwater.
The Jules Undersea Lodge, off the coast of Key Largo, Florida, was billed as the world’s only underwater hotel. We included it on a list of undersea facilities you could actually live in a couple years back.
In late 2014, biologists Bruce Cantrell and Jessica Fain completed a 10-week stay at the Lodge, barely besting a 22-year-old record set by NASA astronaut Richard Presley at the same facility, and he at least had the excuse of preparing for a long stay in space
5. 438 Days Living In Space.
When American astronaut Scott Kelly returned to Earth after 340 days aboard the International Space Station in early 2016, he set the US record for consecutive days in space.
No fewer than four Russian cosmonauts have spent over a year in space, beginning with a 1987 mission aboard the now-defunct Mir Space Station, which was decidedly smaller and less hospitable than the new International version. But the true Big Kahuna of space flight is Valeri Polyakov, who between 1994 and 1995 logged a whopping 438 consecutive days aboard Mir.
The picture is American Scott Kelly, spent 340 days in space.
4. 264 Hours With No Sleep.
Way back in 1965, a high school student named Randy Gardner, under the supervision of Stanford University researchers, set a record that has not been touched to this day for multiple reasons. He stayed awake, without the use of stimulants, for over 11 straight days.
By day 11, his condition was described like this: “Expressionless appearance, speech slurred and without intonation; had to be encouraged to talk to get him to respond at all.
3. Wim “Iceman” Hof.
He holds 20 Guinness World Records for withstanding extreme cold.
He swam under the ice at the North Pole for a world record-breaking 80 meters in nothing more than a standard swimsuit.
He holds the record for the worlds longest ice bath, spending a whopping 1 hour and 13 minutes submerged in nothing but ice.
He’s completed a full marathon North of the Arctic circle, again, in nothing more than shorts.
He’s climbed both Mount Everest and Kilimanjaro in nothing more than a pair of shorts and sandals.
People have climbed Everest with the warmest clothing known to man and have still died of hypothermia. Scientists have been so startled by Wim’s abilities that they decided to turn him into a lab rat and find out what exactly allows him to do all these.
2. Dashrath Manjhi a.k.a. Mountain Man Carving a Road Through a Mountain.
Dashrath Manjhi, the Mountain Man, was not a bodybuilder or daredevil. He was a simple laborer in India. His wife died due to lack of medical treatment since the nearest doctor was 70 km away from his village because of a mountain. He did not want anyone else to suffer the same fate, so he carved a through cut that was 110 meters long, 7.6 meters deep in places and 9.1 meters wide to form a road through the mountain.
He worked every day and night for 22 years to do this and reduced the distance between the Atri and Wazirganj areas of the Gaya district from 75 km to 1 km. He was given national acclaim for his feat
1. Highest free-fall (24Miles).
On October 14, 2012, Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner accomplished what seemed impossible, skydiving from a balloon more than 24 miles (128,100 ft) above the Earth. Before jumping into space, Baumgartner humbly delivered a message through his radio saying, “sometimes you have to go up really high to understand how small you really are.” Falling at a max speed of 833mph for just under 10 minutes, Baumgartner became the first skydiver to break the sound barrier while also breaking the records for a highest manned balloon flight, highest parachute jump, and fastest free-fall velocity. While in free fall, Baumgartner almost lost control and went into a terrifying spin but was able to regain control through skills learned in preparation for the jump. About a mile from the ground, Felix opened his parachute and landed safely in New Mexico greeted by ecstatic friends and family. Baumgartner had his doubts before jumping from the balloon, saying “let me tell you when I was standing there on top of the world, you become so humble. You don’t think about breaking records anymore, you don’t think about gaining scientific data the only thing that you want is to come back alive.
Trending