TORONTO -- Depending on who you ask, burpees are either “magical” or “idiotic.”

But they are pretty much universally considered a grueling strength and cardio exercise beyond just a few reps. It involves a simple transition from a standing to plank position and back again. The thought of doing burpees for 12 hours straight would be unfathomable and masochistic to most.

That’s not stopping Montreal model and ergonomics professional Samuel Finn from attempting to do just that on Friday when he’ll try to complete 5,300 chest-to-ground burpees in half a day. If he succeeds, he’ll nab the Guinness World Record for most burpees in 12 hours.

Last month, he completed 2,179 burpees in five hours, his “last big challenge” after about six months of training for the big day.

“At the beginning of the 4th hour, my abs started to cramp and spasm,” he wrote on Instagram. “It was incredibly painful. I’d lay on the floor in pain as it felt like my abs were trying to come out of my body. Then, I’d jump right back into burpees as soon as I felt my abs releasing.”

The grueling attempt is being done in memory of his brother Cedric, who was diagnosed in 2017 with a rare and aggressive soft tissue sarcoma. He died nine months later at the age of 27. Finn started a hashtag and website for the attempt dubbed “Burpees4Ced” and says he’s raised some $38,000 for cancer research.

“Ced went through a lot of pain while he was fighting cancer and even though he was suffering so much he was always extremely positive,” Finn told CTV News Montreal this week. “He was always thinking about other people even though it was himself that was suffering.”

The current record Finn will attempt to crush Friday is 5,010 burpees in 12 hours, which a Michigan man completed in October. It won’t be easy. Jean-Francois Gaudreau, the owner of Centre XPN gym where Finn will make his record attempt, has faith but was blunt about what it takes to accomplish Finn’s goal.

“You need to be crazy to do burpees for 12 hours,” said Gaudreau. “It’s super intense because it’s the same movement… It’s super long. Very tough on the joints.”

But the intensity of the endeavor is exactly why Finn chose it.

“I wanted to pick something that would be really suffering for me to show that we can do much more than we think even though we are going through hard times,” he said.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were big things." - Robert Brault. I posted this picture at the very end of Ced's fight against cancer. It took us 45 minutes to walk about 400 meters because Ced was having difficulties walking by then. Yet he kept putting one foot in front of the other, slowly making progress. And he kept telling me: "We have to enjoy life bro. We have to enjoy life."⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Enjoy the little things in life, because they truly are big things. #burpees4ced. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ One week before my Guinness World Record attempt for the most chest-to-ground burpees in 12 hours. You're my inspiration bro @ced.finner

A post shared by Samuel Finn (@sam_finn_) on

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Dans 5 jours cet humain extraordinaire @sam_finn_ tentera... battera le #guinnessworldrecord du plus de #burpees en 12 heures ! Pour une cause qui nous tiens à cœur #burpees4ced qui se tiendra au @centrexpn !⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ La planification des entraînements, de l’alimentation et de toute la logistique n’a pas été de tout repos, mais il est prêt ! Très fier de faire partie de ton équipe ! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ @berley_kim_ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #fitness #training #workout #trainingpartner #lifestyle #healthy #gym #gethealthy #centrexpn #nutrition #food #healthy #mealprep #lifestyle #healthylifestyle #

A post shared by Jf Gaudreau (@jfgaudreau) on

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I did 2,179 burpees in 5 hours yesterday. It was my last big challenge before attempting the Guinness World record on Nov 29th, and I failed to reach my target. It sucks because I have this failure hanging over me as I enter the final preparations for the record attempt. On the other hand, had I not failed, I wouldn’t have learned very crucial lessons: 1. Wear long socks. I don’t pay too much attention to the technical stuff such as gear, so I put on the first pair of socks I found in my drawer. These socks didn’t cover my heels. My shoes ate away at my heels for 5 hours… for 2,179 burpees! 2. Start slower. My hypothesis was that once I reach hour 6 of the 12-hour record, the fatigue would hit me hard and I’d have to slow my pace down. I had planned on starting at a pace of 470 to 510 burpees per hour for the first 4 hours. Because the pace was so fast to start, I wasn’t able to eat, and I got fatigued quickly. During the first 4 hours, my mind was completely ignoring the physical pain and I was moving fast. After 3 hours, I thought nothing could stop me. I was on pace to do over 5,800 burpees and I didn’t plan on slowing down (at least for the 5 hours of yesterday’s workout). To give you an idea my target is 5,000 burpees and the current Guinness record is 4,689. 3. Then, at the beginning of the 4th hour, my abs started to cramp and spasm. It was incredibly painful. I’d lay on the floor in pain as it felt like my abs were trying to come out of my body. Then, I’d jump right back into burpees as soon as I felt my abs releasing. I’d do sets of 5, 10, or even 15 when I got lucky… and then my abs would start spasming again. I kept pushing… Then my psoas started to cramp. Lesson: 12 hours is a lot of time, don’t push through cramps and spasms. Instead, we plan on taking 10-minute breaks to breath and recover. We hope this will prevent me from reaching a point of no return! Overall, it was a great day, it’s hard to swallow the fact that I didn’t reach my target, but it will be the failure that sets us up for success on Nov 29th. HUGE thanks to my team @jfgaudreau @berley_kim_ @alexdore24 And a HUGE thanks to all of you, you inspire me ❤️ #burpees4ced

A post shared by Samuel Finn (@sam_finn_) on

With a report from CTV News Montreal's Emily Campbell.