Pull-ups have been considered the ultimate test of physical fitness and overall athletic ability, and one American just broke the world record by cranking out 4,321 of them within 24 hours. In November 2014, Mark Jordan from Corpus Kristi, Texas marked his name in the Guinness Book of World Records for pull-ups, but it wasn’t until Wednesday that the 54-year-old was officially awarded his world record certificate at the local CrossFit gym.

"This is about a message that it's important to be able to take care of your health, address your health in many ways, no matter what age you are," the new record-holder Jordan told local Texas news channel KRIS 6 TV. "The benefits are something that can not only help you, but allow you to be able to provide guidance and inspire others as well."

What does it take to pull off this incredible feat? Pull-ups are a matter of physics, according to Scientific American. Your arms and back need to exert a certain amount of work in order to get the chin over the bar. How much work depends not only on your own mass, which needs to fight against Earth's gravity, but also your arm length. For example, a person who’s 20 inches taller than another person of the same weight has to exert 490 more Joules of energy, which is the unit of work. The heavier a person is, the more Joules of energy that person will need to use to fight against gravity, not counting their own weight.

The exercise seems simple to execute, but the amount of work completely differs from person-to-person. Jordan’s goal went beyond tallying up a record-breaking number of pull-ups to include inspiring others to lead a healthier life, despite their age, body type, or current health. The record-breaking stunt also doubled as a fundraiser for the Hammons Education Leadership program, which intends to help students in Juvenile Juice Centers find jobs.

"It was a combination of things," Jordan said. "One, I was looking to pass the previous record that was set. And then upon passing that record, I had a little bit of energy left and so as we got closer to getting very tired, I saw 4-3-2-1 as something that was really easy to remember and something that I was shooting for."