By Alesha Capone
Point Cook’s Kiko Dos Santos is on a mission to beat the world record for doing the most muscle-ups in a row.
Mr Dos Santos, a former fitness model who has competed in Australia, Italy, and Thailand, said he quit the sport when his best friend passed away in 2016.
He said that after experiencing mental issues which resulted in constantly feeling negative during the past few years, he re-discovered his love of fitness during the pandemic lockdown last year.
Mr Dos Santos said his wife purchased exercise equipment to help them “keep sane” and work out at home.
During the pandemic, Mr Dos Santos also took up his old hobby of calisthenics, using fitness stations located within Point Cook parks.
Mr Dos Santos said he did not think about beating the world record for muscle-ups – which are usually performed on a chin-up bar or gymnastics rings – until he realised he could easily complete around 20 in a row, which is only six below the world record.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the highest number of consecutive muscle-ups reached is 26, which was achieved by Maksim Trukhonovets in Belarus in 2018.
Mr Dos Santos said he believed he would need to undergo another seven to nine months of training before he could attempt to conquer this record, which he is planning to do while following guidelines set by the Guinness World Records organisation.
“The biggest challenge for me right now is to find the right balance between working hard yet avoid over-training as a lot of repetitions are involved in order to achieve this goal, I have to be strategic and acknowledge that resting will only benefit me,” Mr Dos Santos said.
“I have recently made a challenge via social media in order to keep myself motivated.
“I challenge anyone one-on-one in person, if they manage to beat me I will give them $250 in cash if they lose, and they give $50 towards a mental health organisation of their choice.”
Mr Dos Santos said quite a few people have expressed interest in challenging him, mostly people who are in the calisthenics scene and others who want to join in for a good cause.
See @KikoDosSantos on Instagram for more details.
