How Many Push-ups

HOW MANY PUSH-UPS can you do in a minute? Jump down and time yourself for 60 seconds. But before you do, here are the rules. For a push-up to count, your body has to stay totally straight throughout the entire exercise. You must lower yourself toward the ground until your elbows achieve at least a 90-degree angle. Finally, you need to push yourself up until your arms are straight. All right. Go! Write down how many you pounded out:________

Now how many push-ups do you think you could do in an hour? a day? a year?

Great Britain’s Paddy Doyle has set more than 120 national, European, and world records. In 1993, he did 1,750 push-ups in an hour, which was a world record at the time. But one of his most amazing feats is completing 1,500,230 documented push-ups in a year—and he wasn’t even in gym class! From October 21, 1988, to October 21, 1989, he averaged more than 4,000 a day. In May of that same year, he also set a 24-hour push-up world record with 37,350. Do your arms ache just thinking about that?

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POINT Paddy Doyle lives for physical fitness. He constantly trains, eats healthy foods, and keeps his body in top shape. By doing thousands of push-ups a day, he set a gigantic world record and earned a spot in Guinness World Records. He built a rock-hard body with consistent hard work.

While many of us will never have Paddy Doyle’s physique or determination, we can learn to treat our body with respect. The Bible says our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Because God’s Spirit lives in Christians, we need to honor our body. That definitely means staying away from drugs, alcohol, and premarital sex. But it also means we should try to exercise and eat right to stay healthy.

GOAL! Write down some things you can do to stay in shape.