Most people use ladders to reach high shelves or change a lightbulb. David Rush takes one to his local squash court and balances it on his chin for prolonged periods of time. He recently did it for 19 minutes and 11 seconds—a new Guinness World Record. To put that into perspective, that’s roughly the time it would take most people to walk a mile. That’s longer than it would take to do a pork chop in the air fryer. You could watch an entire episode of The Big Bang Theory and Rush would still be there with a ladder on his chin, his lower back screaming. I know what I’d rather watch.
Rush is an MIT grad with a degree in electrical engineering who works full-time as a tech product manager in Boise, Idaho. He holds 198 active Guinness World Records and spends his evenings training with a barbell-and-tennis-ball contraption in his living room. The jaw, he’ll tell you, is the strongest muscle in the body pound for pound. If you train it, your chin can hold pretty much anything. Ladder? Yes. Lawnmower? Obviously. A running lawnmower? You’ve got to have someone else ready to unplug the power cord if things go sideways, but yes.
When we spoke, Rush was in an Uber on the way to the airport, heading to Romania for a stint on a Bucharest cooking show to discuss his latest achievement. He spots a coyote out the window. He’s probably considering balancing it on his chin.
VICE: How did you get into record breaking?
David Rush: As a kid, I was fascinated with the [Guinness World Records] book, but you read about those people and think they’ve got some quality you don’t have. I’m a juggler—started when I was eight, started the juggling club at MIT. When I got invited to do a talk about going to MIT, I created this analogy about juggling and it went over so well. But I was like, how do I make this message more impactful? For two years, I trained to run the fastest half-mile while juggling. Ran about 2,000 miles. In the end, I hurt my knee and couldn’t run for a year and a half. Did I give up or pivot? I pivoted. Switched to blindfolded juggling. In October 2015, I put a blindfold on, juggled for six minutes and 34 seconds, and broke my first record.
And now you’ve got over 350 records?
I’ve broken 350 total. A lot of them are really challenging: the longest duration juggling, the most kiwis sliced with a samurai sword in a minute. The most juggling tricks in a minute. The world’s fastest juggling…
Is the ladder balancing one particularly special to you?
It was one of the first ten records I ever broke. There’s a minimum weight and height requirement for the ladder. The first time I balanced it for about five and a half minutes. When Guinness World Records came to Boise in 2019, they did a photo shoot with me. It’s in the book. It’s a cool one.
I guess I learned how to balance things in college—it goes along with juggling. I started balancing things on my chin. I started with a feather, and then graduated to a broom. Ladders are good because they create a very visually stunning set piece. For practice, I have a barbell in my living room. On one end there’s the weights and on the other end there’s a tennis ball—the tennis ball goes on my chin. The jaw is the strongest muscle in the body pound to pound, but it doesn’t have any endurance. The risk of injury is mostly to the lower back. I have to take weeks—sometimes months—off trying for that record to build up the strength. It’s taken over several years to figure out the right practice regimen.
How did you decide on the ladder?
In terms of professional entertainers, ladders are one of the most common props used. Most locations have a ladder on hand. You can almost always borrow a ladder. You don’t wanna travel with a six or eight foot ladder in your suitcase. It’s just not feasible.
Walk me through the training regime when you’re a week out from a record attempt?
Oh, you’re gonna have to start way more than a week out. We’re talking a couple of months out. I’ll put that barbell on my chin with twenty pounds. A few days later, I’ll put on twenty-five pounds. After a couple of weeks of that, I’ll try a long run—thirty pounds for three minutes, then let myself heal up. On the day of the attempt, I’ll do a warmup run or two. I’ll get the blood flowing in my body. What’s hard is fighting through the pain and dizziness. Things get compressed and the circulation gets cut off and you want to quit. You’re like, I’ve only gone five minutes—how can I possibly go another fourteen more?
Are you hurt in the process?
When I take the ladder off my chin, I can’t bend my neck forwards for a good thirty seconds. I’m locked in place.
“You don’t wanna travel with a six or eight foot ladder in your suitcase. It’s just not feasible”
There must be a degree of mental preparation too?
You gotta be ready for the pain. If you’re not ready to experience pain, it’s not gonna happen.
You talk a lot about growth mindset and grit. How does that apply to balancing a ladder on your chin?
The growth mindset is believing I can get better at anything. Grit is not giving up. When I’m practicing, balancing a weight on my chin for a minute and a half knowing I need to go nineteen minutes, it’s super painful. Why would I go through this? Because I’ve set this as my goal. I’m going to do it.
Do you reach a stage of euphoria?
Not exactly. But I’ve got my catchphrase: “come on.” When I break a record, my “come on” is louder.
Is there something philosophical about mastering a skill that others might deem useless?
What’s catching a pigskin oblong ball? That’s a useless skill, but hundreds of millions of people watch it. Putting a ball through a hoop? Useless. Guinness World Records? Useless. They’re all useless skills.
“I’ve got my catchphrase: ‘come on.’ When I break a record, my ‘come on’ is louder”
What record are you working on breaking now?
Most consecutive stairs climbed while juggling.
Are there other ladder-related records you’re eyeing?
You could do the furthest distance traveled on foot while balancing a ladder on your chin. I hold the record for longest time balancing a lawnmower on my chin, and the furthest distance walked with one.
A lawnmower?
I hold the non-powered one. But there’s also a record for balancing a running lawnmower on your chin. I hold all four of those records.
Is that not really dangerous? That sounds like Final Destination.
There’s definitely an element of risk, but if you’re smart you can mitigate it. The handle’s on your chin, so if it slips, the top hits you—not the spinning blades. It has to be electric because you can’t turn gas lawnmowers upside down. Someone holds the cord ready to unplug at any moment, because I have to override the safety mechanism since I’m not holding it with my hands.
Is there anything your wife would say no to?
Things where the mortality rate is upward of 10 percent.
Has anyone kind of ever questioned why you do this?
All the time.
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The post We Asked This Guy Who Recreationally Balances Ladders On His Chin ‘Why?’ appeared first on VICE.
