CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Drenched in sweat and struggling for each breathe, Marine Corps veteran, TShane Johnson, unofficially broke the Guinness World Record for the most push-ups in one hour Saturday.

The event was live-streamed, and over the coming weeks, officials at Guinness World Records will review the material to officially approve the new record. 

Johnson said training for this was no easy feat. He met with his trainer, Jamie McGrath, several hours a day.

“When I started here four, five months ago, I would throw up every day,” Johnson said.

The pain he endured is not just from the workout. He battled back from a horrific motorcycle wreck 20 years ago. It stopped his heart three times and left him with multiple permanent conditions, including reduced lung capacity and numbness. 

“I just turned 41 this year,” Johnson said. “I have severe nerve damage in my arm, many of the nerves are shot. So for a normal person this is difficult, but for a person with a broken collarbone and is in pain all the time, it is very difficult.”

Johnson says he didn’t want his injuries to hold him back and in the end they were his inspiration. He also founded Hike Across America. In 2018, he hiked from Orlando, Florida to Los Angeles, California with a 30-pound backpack. He did it to raise money for homeless veterans.

As a former Marine, Johnson wanted to do a similar fundraiser for his push-up record attempt. On Saturday, he raised $15,000 for the Purple Heart Honor Mission, a nonprofit that pays tribute to Purple Heart recipients and educates all Americans about combat-wounded veterans.

“That ultimate sacrifice is way more than me doing some push-ups,” Johnson said. “People pay attention to that, but ultimately what we are trying to do is make the younger generation not forget that there are those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.