Blog · October 24, 2026

How Many Pull-Ups Famous People Can Do in One Set

This ranking collects one-set pull-up records for 105 famous people and shows the top 30 marks, running from 20 reps up to 68 reps. Mixed martial artists, wrestlers, boxers, hockey players, rugby union flankers, actors, and public figures all appear on the board.

Every mark carries an effort label that shows what kind of set was recorded. Entries labeled as a max or personal record report a stated best. Entries labeled reps to failure report sets that ran until the person stopped, and some of those counts are lower bounds. Working sets carry no max claim, and entries with unknown effort do not say whether the set was a max. Those marks come from workouts, interviews, or demonstrations without a failure test. Official test and competition entries are measured results recorded during team fitness testing or organized athletic events.

Fighters at the top of the list

Combat sports athletes hold the top 4 spots in the table and fill out a large share of the top 30. Rank 1 belongs to KSW featherweight and former FEN and Babilon MMA champion Daniel Rutkowski with a personal record of 68 reps. That number came out sideways during an interview: asked a question about push-ups, Rutkowski answered with his 68-rep pull-up-bar record and gave no push-up count. His grip, form, and any pauses during the set were unstated.

Two of the top four entries paired high rep counts with listed bodyweights. At rank 2, American professional wrestler, former mixed martial artist, and WWE and TNA world champion Bobby Lashley completed 50 reps, reported in a 2010 profile that listed his bodyweight at 260 lb when he was a pro wrestler and Strikeforce MMA fighter. Lashley’s 50-rep count comes from routine training and is labeled a working set, so the source makes no max claim.

At rank 4, UFC heavyweight title challenger and former Fight Nights Global heavyweight champion Sergei Pavlovich reported a personal record of 45 reps after his win over Derrick Lewis. Pavlovich stated that 45 reps was his maximum and that he weighed 120 kg for that set, with added load unstated.

Measured reps in team tests

Across the table, many interview and training numbers leave grip width, strictness, range of motion, and added load unstated. Measured results from official tests sit in a tighter band between 29 and 31 reps.

In Boston Bruins preseason fitness testing, NHL defenseman, Bruins captain, and 2011 Stanley Cup winner Zdeno Chara completed 31 reps in an official test. Chara tied with teammate Kevan Miller at training camp, and his 31 reps match the highest official test mark in the top 30.

At rank 26, American professional wrestler Ivy Nile did 20 reps in a set to the limit in a 2025 Celtic Warrior Workouts episode, after a round of “death by pull-ups” with Sheamus.

Film prep, spaceflight return, and an airport pull-up bar

Outside of combat camps and team testing, notable sets come from movie preparation, post-mission recovery, and public demonstrations. At rank 13, actor Matt Damon logged working sets of 30 reps while training with Jason Walsh to prepare for Jason Bourne. Walsh reported completed sets in the thirty-some range, making 30 reps the floor of the reported count. As a working set, that 30-rep count carries no max claim.

Another pattern appears near the bottom of the table, where 8 entries tie at 20 reps across ranks 22 through 29. At rank 28, US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. completed a working set of 20 reps at age 71 during an airport pull-up demonstration at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. That airport demonstration set is recorded as a working set, and no max is stated.

One spot behind him at rank 29, retired NASA astronaut and International Space Station commander Terry Virts also recorded 20 reps. Virts completed his 20 pull-ups during his first week back on Earth after his Expedition 43 return on June 11, 2015. His mark carries an unknown effort label, so the data does not say whether it was a max.

See where your own pull-up count lands on the board and compare your personal records with all 105 athletes, actors, and public figures at famousprs.com.

Each person appears once, with the same best record as their page: for a lift, the highest estimated one-rep max; otherwise the most reps or the fastest time. "Working set" and "Effort unknown" marks are training numbers, so the person's true best may be higher. How the data is collected.