Pull-Ups for a Purpose

Matt Mund, owner of Mission Fitness in Glastonbury, did 3,144 pull-ups in 12 hours on May 10th, raising money for Open Doors Outdoors and the local Marine Corps League.

“Inspirations always starts with the foundation from my father, who was a marine corps veteran and a veteran of Vietnam,” said Mund, who came up with the idea a few months ago, “Davey Edwards, who is a marine corps veteran and one of my best friends, started Open Doors Outdoors and we talked about getting funding for his non-profit and I’ve been involved with the Marine Corps League for two years. I’ve seen what they’ve done and how they help people out. As a business in town I think it’s important to get involved and give back. The people of Glastonbury have been able to give back to me by coming into the gym and getting memberships and supporting us, so I wanted to support the community. Plus, I have a degree in Social Work and Sociology, so it’s always been a passion of mine to be able to give back.”

In front of family, friends, and spectators at his gym located at 80 Commerce Street, Mund started doing pull-ups at 6 a.m. and reached his eye-popping grand total at 6 p.m.

“This is something that I wanted to do for a while, a 12-hour challenge to see how many I can do,” stated Mund, who set a lofty goal and exceeded it, “Secretly no matter what athlete do they always have a number in their head. I had 2500 in my head, but I didn’t tell anyone because you just don’t know. The most I had ever done in a day is 700 and you don’t know how your hands are going to hold up or if your muscles are going to spasm, so you don’t want to speak it out there because you’re not sure. In my mind I had 2500, so hitting 3144 is really cool.”

Mund did more pull-ups in 12 hours than most people will do in their lives. To put it into perspective, he completed 262 pulls-ups per hour and over four per minute.    

Thanks to Mund’s efforts and the generous donations from individuals and local businesses, the event raised over $10,000.00.

The money will be used to help veterans and their families cope with the hardships caused by PTSD, disabilities associated with combat, and those with family members currently deployed.

“It was an awesome day. I’m someone that always wants to see how far I can push myself, whether it’s running or push-ups or in this case pull-ups,” added Mund, “Anyone can push themselves, even if it’s a little bit. It doesn’t have to be extraordinary but do something that reaches outside your comfort zone. It helps you grow as an individual and it inspires people. I’m inspired everyday by people and I want to be able to give that back.”

Mund finds his inner-strength from a variety of sources, including the members of his gym, who have created a community through fitness and friendship. 

“To have accountability and have a support system is the most important thing. People know how to eat, and they know that they have to exercise but why do people quit so much? They don’t have a support system. They don’t have people that they can count on. People are going to fall, they’re going to fail, and when you’re down who is there to pick you up? We all need someone that can help us up or that we can lean on. It’s about growth every day,” said Mund, who will likely take on another charitable challenge in the future, “The people here are all so inspiring, it’s an amazing culture. When I was up there and hurting, I looked around and saw all these people and it helped me keep going. Culture is everything and here we’re able to lean on a great group of people.”

​For more information visit missionfitnessllc.com and to see how you can help visit opendoorsoutdoors.org or mcldet40.org