SALEM – Chris Cox has done it again.
The Salem man set his third Guinness World Record – this time for the heaviest single repetition Turkish get-up.
He completed the complicated manoeuvre on Jan. 9, lifting 76.56kg (168 lbs. 8 oz.) in a single repetition and received confirmation from Guinness World Records on April 22 that he had not only set the record, he established the category.
“This one was a little different (from the other records),” he said in a phone interview shortly after receiving notification.
“There wasn’t already a record so there was nothing to break. But they (Guinness World Records) set a minimum and I beat that, by a lot.”
The Turkish get-up involves a particular series of motions but essentially the athlete starts on their back, raises a kettle bell over their head, and moves to standing position with the weight still raised over their head.
Cox set a Guinness World Record on May 16, 2021, when he completed 202 Turkish get-ups in one hour using a 24.1kg kettlebell. He lifted a cumulative 4,868.2kg (10,710 lbs.) and set the record for the heaviest weight lifted by Turkish get-up in one hour.
Then, on Nov. 20, he set a second record, lifting the most weight by Atlas stone in one hour. He lifted a 69.2kg (152.78 lbs.) Atlas stone 252 times in an hour for a cumulative weight of 17,463kg or 38,500 lbs.
An Atlas stone is a round cement stone that is used for Strongman events. Athletes must lift the stone from the ground to a platform four feet high, let go of it, then return it to the ground.
And that’s not all. Cox’s wife Belinda also set a Guinness World Record. On March 14, 2021, she completing 775 chest-to-floor burpees in one hour – the most in an hour by any woman in the world at that date.
Even with his second world record under his belt, Cox said it took some training to build up the strength for his final feat.
“I was always decently good at lifting weights, but it took a couple of months to build up to this,” he said. “I had done 150 pounds before but that wasn’t going to break the record.”
In an interview with the Advertiser last summer, Belinda said she found setting her goal and then following the path she set to get there, was not just about physical prowess. For her it was a mental exercise as well that helped her during those early, stressful, uncertain and fearful months of the pandemic.
She wrote a phrase on the wall of their home gym – “Change your thoughts; change your world” – that motivates her, and Cox said he finds it inspiring as well.
“When you keep your thoughts positive, the sky’s the limit,” he said.
Cox said he’s done with attempting world records for now. Three sets of laurels are enough, although he’ll continue to set small goals for himself during his regular workouts.
And the records he currently holds may be short-lived anyway, he acknowledged.
Just as he saw the record and attempted to beat it, someone else will come along and try to top his achievement.
And that’s okay too, he said.
“Setting a record doesn’t change anything, really. There’s no money that comes with it. And I know someone will come along and break my record. There could be someone working on that right now,” he said.
“I just hope that what I did will motivate others to set and achieve their goals, whatever they are, because that’s the important part.
“That’s the part that feels good.”
