'King of burpees' army major breaks records with exercise invented to test soldiers

Major Tommy Vu is the king of burpees!

The 37-year-old from Salem, Oregon, USA, has broken a string of world records with his favourite exercise.

Burpees were invented as a way to test the fitness levels of young military recruits, and Tommy’s record breaking is a homage to that.

Tommy, a major in the Oregon Army National Guard, set off on his world record journey in March 2023, and he hasn’t stopped since.

First up, he performed the most chest to ground burpees in one hour (male) with a total of 1,002. After losing the title, he took it back in October 2024 with 1,027.

Tommy, who in his civilian role is a sports medicine orthopaedic physician assistant, even showcased his passion for burpees on TV.

It was on the set of Good Morning America in December 2023 that he claimed his second record - the most burpee pull ups in one minute (male) with a total of 26.

That same month, Tommy did the most burpee pull ups in one hour – 611.

He’d taken on this particular challenge to bring awareness to Veterans and Team RWB, an organization that helps to enrich the Veterans’ community.

As part of his efforts, he donated $1 to Team RWB for every burpee pull up he did.

The attempt was also special because Tommy did it in celebration of his son Liam’s birthday.

He said he wanted to break the record to remind his sons that “nothing is impossible when they set their hearts ablaze”.

In January 2024, Tommy claimed the record for fastest time to complete 25 burpees (male) in just 33.34 seconds.

This attempt also aimed to inspire.

“I broke that in front of my unit to help inspire them to maintain their New Year’s Resolutions,” he said.

Moving temporarily away from burpees, Tommy claimed the title for most chest to ground push ups in one hour (male) with a total of 1,494, in April 2024.

And back to burpees for his most recent record attempt, he performed the most chest to ground push up burpees in one hour (male) – 1,068.

Tommy dedicated that record to his good friend, Ilsa, who was battling brain cancer.

Despite describing a lot of his record-breaking escapades as “very painful”, Tommy isn’t done just yet.

He said: “In future, I plan on seeing a lot more burpee styles and different burpee world records.

“I think I’ll break a few myself, and you guys can go out there for yourselves and take my world records.”