Did 179 press-ups in just 180 seconds: Davor has no hand and half a forearm, yet he broke the Guinness record twice!
Although he was born without a hand and half of his left forearm, Davor Ćajić (26) from Ljig became a double Guinness record holder.This young man is proof that a physical disability is not an obstacle to great dreams, and his story shows that limits are not where we ourselves set them, but in the willpower we carry.
He grew up in the countryside and, with the support of his family and without the slightest doubt in his own abilities, in 2022 became a Guinness record holder in two categories – 54 press-ups on one arm and one leg, and later 179 press-ups in just 180 seconds.
That he had no hand and part of his forearm was not known until his mother gave birth. His parents struggled, but they never forbade him anything; every day he received tasks to help around the household.
“I could do everything, it was clear that I was capable. I was a lively child, I climbed trees, I could always do everything. Where no one else could climb, I could. I never saw myself as missing an arm, it was always fine with me, as if it was meant to be that way. I was never depressed because of it, not for a second did I complain, nor did it cause me a problem,” Davor begins his story for Kurir.
Football and the gym
He says that the attitude of his parents also helped him a lot, and, as he explained, he never experienced discrimination.
“I played football, I was good at it, but I didn’t find myself in it. With football I also started doing press-ups in the eighth grade of primary school, everyone asked me: ‘How can you do it?’, but it wasn’t a problem for me. I trained football until the age of 22 and that was my first love. I wanted to go to the gym, but my parents didn’t agree with that, they were afraid: ‘How will you with one arm, you’ll damage your spine’, which in fact turned out to be good for me. They don’t say for nothing – everything happens for a reason,” says Davor with a laugh.
For press-ups he used a 16.5 cm-long piece of wood as a base so as not to be unbalanced.
“I met a friend who was breaking the Guinness record in France, and she told me she had seen some videos and that I could also prepare for a Guinness record. I thought: ‘No way I could do that…’ Still, I was persistent, I trained every day, I prepared for a year and that was the hardest part of my life. It was a hard preparation, I helped my family, studied at the same time and exercised. I also had many injuries. I got tennis and golfer’s elbow, and the record was approaching,” recalls Davor, and continues:
“I kept training, and if a training session didn’t go well, I would start it again from the beginning. That anger pushed me forward to do what I couldn’t. The hardest thing I did was 54 press-ups on one arm and one leg in one minute.”
Harsh preparations for Guinness
In Montenegro he broke his first record at the age of 22 and entered the famous Guinness Book of Records. The judges were from Germany and were fair. At that time he also saw a banner for another category.
“That’s when I did 179 press-ups in 180 seconds on one arm and became a double Guinness record holder. The preparations were harsh, I trained from six in the morning until seven in the evening, ran 16 km, and interrupted the run three times when I did 50 press-ups. After that, at home I did press-ups and normal training,” he says.
He finished web design and works in digital marketing; in addition he is also a fitness trainer. He only went to the gym after he achieved his first record, and by then his parents no longer objected.
“People were amazed at how I trained. I did press-ups with a girl on my back, then with a 100-kilo weight, I bench press with one arm, deadlift, all the exercises… In the gym I do even 1,000 press-ups without letting go. At first I wanted to learn as much as possible. I noticed that every now and then someone would lose five kilos and present themselves as a fitness trainer, but I wanted to make it the best it could be. Only once I was 100 per cent sure did I start doing it professionally,” says Davor.
He gives support to many
‘You should never doubt yourself’
Davor also receives many messages from people who are missing a limb, and, as he says, the support he provides means a lot to them.
“They ask me how to train, how to fix imbalance, and we often also have psychological conversations, it means a lot to them. When I go to a competition, I always pray to God. However prepared I was, when I came out at one competition and onto the mat, I felt huge pressure, the kind I had never felt before. As I touched the floor, I said to myself: ‘Forgive me God for ever doubting,’ and I started doing press-ups like I had never done before. You should never doubt yourself,” he says.
He broke another record that was not entered into the Guinness Book: he astonishingly did 2,300 press-ups in one hour and 45 minutes without letting go. He is preparing for a third Guinness record, but did not want to reveal in which category. He did not want to compete against people with disabilities, but against healthy athletes. Alongside all this he also trained wrestling, Greco-Roman style.
“I was always combative, but the biggest problem is that nobody wants to try anything, instead they say: ‘I can’t do that’, so they already know they can’t without even trying. Everything that happens is meant to happen, we shouldn’t ask ‘Why is it like that?’, we will go through hard times which will be lessons, just as I showed that everything is possible when a person wants something enough. It’s up to us to make an effort and with God’s help everything will be possible,” concludes Davor.