Doing pull ups is hard, but doing them while also climbing by pushing the bar up as you go is even harder.

However that didn’t stop 26-year-old Fang Bin who has set a new record for the Fastest explosive pull up ascent (7m) on Tianjin TV's show, Across Age Challenge.

Aiming to beat the previous record of 19.5 seconds set two years previously by Italian, Tazio Gavioli, on the set of CCTV - Guinness World Records Special in Beijing, China, Fang managed to complete the physically demanding challenge in just 16.55 seconds.

Explosive pull-ups require a lot of upper body strength.

The participant holds onto a bar above them with their arms straight before pulling themselves up to a position where their chin is level with the bar (similar to a traditional pull up) but with enough force and momentum to push the bar further up and maintain an upwards trajectory.

With the bar resting on a series of pegs in a temporary tower, no other part of Fang's body was allowed to make contact with it - everything had to be done by pushing the bar up as he completed each pull up.

Beijing Jiaotong University physics professor, Dr Chen Zheng, explained the motion and the amount of energy required.

"I did a special calculation that the average power he needs is almost 200 watts. I rode a bike with the legs and the power output up to 150 watts."

Tazio Gavioli does still hold a similar record, Fastest explosive pull up ascent (4m), with a time of 8.23 seconds as well as other strength records including Most consecutive pinky pull ups (23), Longest duration in the dead hang position (13 min 52 sec) and One arm inclined ladder climb - most consecutive rungs (39).