Guinness says his push for a push-up record is impossible By Todd Welvaert, staff writer
Photo: Jenny Butler
Moline martial arts instructor John Morrow made his third public attempt at breaking the Guiness Book of World Records' record for push-ups in a minute Saturday afternoon. The unofficial count on his second try was 142, which if all push- ups count, would break the record of 138. At an age when many men would have trouble doing 100 push-ups in a day, he will drop and crank out more than enough to beat a world record in one minute. You won't find his name in the record books, but it's enough that he knows. Limitations are as real as you make them, Moline's John Morrow will tell you. Even when those limitations come from the judges at the Guinness World Book of Records. After three arguably successful attempts at breaking the world record for push-ups in one minute, after providing documented accounts of breaking the current record of 138, the Guinness folks have decided the record "reached a point where it is not breakable within (their) guidelines." "I've been working on this for about a year and a half, but you can't let things like this upset you," Mr. Morrow said. "It doesn't bother me that much ... my mother's upset." The judges turned down his first effort because the martial arts uniform he wore obscured his elbows, which the judges look at to determine the completion of a proper push-up. For his second attempt last fall, Mr. Morrow used sophisticated biomechanical analysis equipment to document his push-ups. Along with his videotape, he submitted visual three-dimensional motion data collected by the equipment from Palmer College of Chiropractic. Mr. Morrow had logged 141 push-ups in a minute, but the judges deducted four of them for "body movement." Someone else had just been documented at 138, so he barely missed having the record. Determined, the 53-year-old returned to working out and decided to make another attempt. This time he completed 142 push-ups in 60 seconds, a feat made even more impressive because it came on his 33rd day of fasting. For the last 30 years, the kung fu instructor has fasted every spring. "Just to be on the safe side, I did it twice, two minutes apart," Mr. Morrow said. "I felt really strong, really lean. I felt like I was in the best shape in my life." But it still wasn't enough for the Guinness folks. "They sent a letter which stated that the footage didn't show my entire body from the side on angle, so they couldn't verify my body position," he said. "It's pretty confusing. I don't think they saw a section of one of the tapes. So I called and asked them to please review the tapes again. They refused to review my attempt because they have made a determination that a new record is impossible. I was stunned." Not having the record doesn't bother him nearly as much as having to explain it to people in the community. "It's been pretty incredible. People would come up to me in the store and say 'Hey, how's the push-ups coming?'" Mr. Morrow said. "There's been a lot of interest, a lot of concern. I think it's not so much about doing push-ups as it is trying to attain something, especially at my age." Not having the record isn't going to bother him. Mr. Morrow's stayed true to his message, and gained a little something from the attempt "What I've gotten back from people is so much more important than what they could give me," he said. After all, limitations -- even those made by the good people at the Guinness World Book of Records -- are as real as you make them.
