This guy mastering a back-flip in six hours will inspire you to overcome your deepest fears

How long do you reckon it would take to master a back-flip, from scratch?

For YouTuber Justin Kroehler, that question turned into a six-hour challenge which saw him take on some 400 attempts.

The 22-year-old, who says he was always told he was too tall to do a back-flip, embarked on a quest to prove his naysayers wrong.

As he continued to launch himself backwards onto a mattress (fuelled by a little Dutch courage) his friends cheered him on from behind the camera.

Five hours and 13 minutes later, he landed on his feet in almost-perfect execution.

However, since his success, the co-creator of YouTube channel Bucket List Boys has not hit the flip again as the task took a toll on him, both mentally and physically.

“I can tell you that my confidence in myself being able to do it has gone down a bit because I haven’t tried it and it was so hard mentally to overcome. I think if I practice some more I’ll get it back but I’m actually scared to go try it again.”

However, Ohio-based Kroehler did learn a lesson in the art of determination and the value of good friends who double up as faithful cheerleaders.

He said: “Whatever mentality you have going into something will determine the outcome of it. When I woke up that morning I told myself I’m not stopping until I get it and there were so many times I wanted to quit but didn’t.

“I also learned how powerful positive reinforcement from others can be. My friends were there encouraging me almost the entire time and even though they saw how much pain I was in and how down I was getting mentally they were the ones pushing to keep going even when I wanted to stop.”