Some records are fun.
Some records are impressive.
And then there are records that hurt every single time you go anywhere near them.
This is one of those records.
I’m officially the Guinness World Records title holder for Longest Time Balancing a Ladder on the Chin, a title I’ve now held three different times across nearly a decade. It’s also the 10th Guinness World Record I ever broke, going all the way back to 2016. And even now, years later, it remains one of the most physically excruciating records I’ve ever trained for or attempted.
The First Time – 2016
Back in 2016, at Emmett Middle School, I attempted this record for the very first time. The challenge was simple in theory: balance a ladder on your chin for as long as possible.
In reality?
It meant five minutes and 31 seconds of constant micro-adjustments, pain, and bouncing the ladder repeatedly to keep it from tipping. That attempt earned me my first title in this category, and planted the seed for what would become a long-running battle with this record.
The Second Time – 2018 (Guinness Comes to Boise)
In 2018, Guinness World Records came to Boise, Idaho for a professional photo shoot for the 2020 Guinness World Records book. I took the opportunity to rebreak the record (that I think I had lost?)
That time, I pushed it to around 11 minutes, more than doubling my original performance. I thought that might be the end of the story.
It wasn’t.
Losing the Record… Then Taking It Back
Eventually, someone else took the record with a run of almost 18 minutes. That’s when I knew I had unfinished business.
So I trained. Carefully.
For this record, training is brutal, and dangerous if done wrong.
I use a barbell with weight plates on one end and a tennis ball on the other, which rests on my chin. It’s the safest way I’ve found to simulate the ladder while controlling the load. Even then:
The jaw gets sore the fastest, it has the least endurance
The neck hurts the most during training
The lower back is the most dangerous part, push too hard too fast, and you’re injured
If I increase the weight or duration too aggressively, I risk straining my lower back and being forced to take weeks or even months off. This record demands patience, progression, and respect.
The Comeback Attempt – 19 Minutes, 11 Seconds (…or 13)
When I finally went for the record again, it was every bit as painful as I remembered, and then some.
I balanced the ladder on my chin for 19 minutes and 11 seconds.
Ironically, the stopwatch used had a slight error, and the true time should have read 19 minutes and 13 seconds. Because of that, I technically lost two seconds on paper.
But even with that error, the time was enough.
I reclaimed the Guinness World Record title.
Why This Record Is Different
This isn’t a flashy, fun record.
It’s not about speed or adrenaline.
It’s about endurance, pain tolerance, and precision under fatigue.
Every second feels longer than the last. Your body is screaming, your neck is on fire, your back is begging you to stop—and the ladder doesn’t care. It just waits for the smallest mistake.
And that’s why this record sticks with me.
It’s one I’ve lost.
One I’ve taken back.
And one I’ve paid for every single time.