In a show of strength and fitness, Ross lifted more than 100,000 kilograms in under one hour in a fundraiser for cancer having been touched by it throughout his life.

“I did it for my mum, my sister and for my family for cancer,” Ross said.

“I have also had a few friends die from brain cancer as well, so I tried my heart out and set a goal for myself and I did it. I’m sore, but I did it.”

The challenge for Ross was 1000 repetitions of his body weight in under an hour – he completed 1001 in 55 minutes.

“I pumped out 106,275 kilograms in 55 minutes and did 1001 rep; I did the extra one for a joke at the end,” he said.

“The ones that I was stronger in I doubled up on the reps. Towards the end I had double the weight on the leg press so every time I pumped out one rep it was 150 kilograms, not 75.

The ultra-fit 56-year-old did nearly 400 reps of 150 kilograms.

“It was too easy to do 75 kilograms and would have looked like I was cheating and would have been unsportsmanlike,” he said.

“I did eight (different) exercises which was one round; I did seven rounds. Most people wouldn’t get through two rounds; it was agony.”

Ross had to overcome lightheadedness throughout the challenge which he described as like being punched in the head by Mike Tyson.

“You don’t know what you’re doing you’re that dizzy,” he said.

“Most people train their body weight for 10 reps and then rest for five minutes and then do 10 reps and five or six sets and that’s it.

“I did hundreds of sets; it’s madness I have achieved something pretty good.

“It’s like someone is sucking out five litres of blood from your body you’re that tired.”

It was Ross’s fourth world record attempt which is listed in his personal CV alongside being Australia’s fittest man four times.

But which one did he believe was the best?

“This one because it’s probably one of the last I’ll do in my life,” he said.

“It’s the one that no one would ever attempt so it’s a massive achievement doing 106,275 kilograms in 55 minutes.

“It is pretty freakish.”

The former South Sydney and Eastern Suburbs rugby league player had to overcome a painful hurdle to successfully complete the challenge.

It meant he had to rely on his fitness rather than overall strength.

“I hurt myself four months ago pretty bad so it’s been hard to train as hard as I normally would the last few months,” he said.

“Every time I deadlift or squat good I can’t walk for three days so it was going to be a pretty big effort if I had nothing wrong with me.”

To donate to the Gary Ross Cancer Council fundraiser, click here.

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