I have never done a pushup.

Tommy Morgan Jr.
Aug 28, 2017 · 3 min read

Not a single one.

Seemingly every training montage in a movie or TV show has the main character doing pushups at some point. Arms pump the body up and down on the floor as the character grits their teeth. Sweat pours as they stare determinedly ahead into a mirror or at the shins of a trainer or loudmouth drill instructor. Maybe a sweet 80s riff plays as they start throwing out variations like one-handed pushups. Fitness commercials are similarly loaded with happy, already fit people doing pushups like they’re the easiest thing in the world.

Even spindly nerds with no upper body strength, often at the behest of said drill instructor, a coach, or other disappointed father figure often rip off one or two before collapsing into the sweaty little nerd heap there for our laughter before they get strong and cool later in the show.

I’m not strong. I’m certainly not cool.

And I’ve never done a pushup.

I’ve always been, to put it mildly, a big guy. I know this because any number of people trying to get my attention lead with “hey big guy.” I then completely ignore them (seriously don’t ever do that to a big person, it’s obnoxious), but that’s beside the point. I’m 6' 5", and until recently weighed up to 475lbs.

A month ago I started working out and eating healthy and so far I’ve lost 31lbs to bring me down to 444lbs. I’m still 6' 5" but apparently standing straighter too, so bonus I guess.

Goals are supposed to be specific and measurable.

My overarching goal certainly is. My goal is to weigh 250lbs. Maybe less once I get there, but losing 225lbs, roughly an entire light heavyweight professional wrestler, seems like a good starting point.

(I have to lose an entire Finn Balor. Hopefully I get to keep his abs. Photo by Miguel Discart)

Losing weight, even as much as 225lbs, is a good specific and measurable goal. I have a specific amount of weight I want to lose, and I can measure progress by just stepping on the scale (at the same time of day I always do for consistency’s sake).

Goals also have to be achievable.

And that’s where I run into problems. 225lbs lost is definitely doable. I’ve seen workout product testimonials about people losing 300 pounds or more! But it’s a slog sometimes.

Losing that much weight requires a complete lifestyle change. A change for the better, but still a complete change from everything I’ve done before. I watch what I eat, I workout at least three times a week, and I try very hard not to mindlessly snack or drink tons of soda.

But all of that shows little results from week to week when a goal is so big. I’ve been steadily losing weight since day one. Cutting the amount of calories I consume in a day by over half in my case (from like 4000+to around 2000, maybe don’t cut from 2000 to 1000 becasuse that would be awful and bad and hurt you) and adding exercise is bound to show results, and I celebrate every pound I lose. When the goal is to lose 225lbs, a few pounds a week is great but it’s just drops in a bucket.

That makes it easy to feel dejected. When the big result is so far away, the little results feel even smaller. I know a lot of people use smaller pound benchmarks (lose 10lbs, lose 20lbs, etc.) but with 225lb to go I wanted something different, something that would motivate me more than slowly falling numbers on a scale. I want to do something I’ve never done before.

One pushup. One single pushup.

In high school gym class I always tried, but that Presidential Fitness award was never in my reach. I couldn’t do pullups, stretch far enough, run a mile fast enough (or “run" a mile, as I did). Nor could I do a pushup. Knee pushups, sure, not no full ones. So that is my goal.

Drop and give me one.

Soon I’ll be able to give one back.

)
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