55,000 Pushups
Click HERE to join the 55kpushups team and donate to the American Cancer Society!
It’s time to give something back – to do something significant – to make a difference. In the year 2012, I am doing 55,000 pushups to raise money to fight cancer. Please support my effort. Make a donation right now to the American Cancer Society.
If you would rather make a donation by check, you can do so by mailing a check to this address:
It’s time to give something back – to do something significant – to make a difference. In the year 2012, I am doing 55,000 pushups to raise money to fight cancer. Please support my effort. Make a donation right now to the American Cancer Society.
If you would rather make a donation by check, you can do so by mailing a check to this address:
American Cancer Society, South Atlantic Division
Attn: Lyndsei Pilgrim, 4A-343
P.O. Box 56567
Atlanta, GA 30343
If you send a check, please mention my name, Bob Montgomery, and the 55kpushups project to ensure your donation amount is credited towards my goal of raising 1 million dollars for cancer research in 2012.
Attn: Lyndsei Pilgrim, 4A-343
P.O. Box 56567
Atlanta, GA 30343
If you send a check, please mention my name, Bob Montgomery, and the 55kpushups project to ensure your donation amount is credited towards my goal of raising 1 million dollars for cancer research in 2012.
What's This All About?
Anybody with functional arms can do a pushup. Depending on your level of fitness, it takes a bit of time and effort to work up to doing 50 pushups without resting. Once you can do that, it isn’t much of a stretch to do a set of 50, rest for a few minutes and then do another set of 30. Work a little harder and a little longer, adding core and leg exercises and boot camp type calisthenics, and you can work up to doing 200 pushups within 45 minutes or less, interspersed throughout an all around, full body workout. Repeat this process for 5 days in a row and you’ve done 1000 pushups. If you do 1000 pushups each week (200/day for 5 days) and take 2 days off each week and 2 weeks off during the year, you’ll do 50,000 pushups in a year.
Anybody with functional arms can do a pushup. Depending on your level of fitness, it takes a bit of time and effort to work up to doing 50 pushups without resting. Once you can do that, it isn’t much of a stretch to do a set of 50, rest for a few minutes and then do another set of 30. Work a little harder and a little longer, adding core and leg exercises and boot camp type calisthenics, and you can work up to doing 200 pushups within 45 minutes or less, interspersed throughout an all around, full body workout. Repeat this process for 5 days in a row and you’ve done 1000 pushups. If you do 1000 pushups each week (200/day for 5 days) and take 2 days off each week and 2 weeks off during the year, you’ll do 50,000 pushups in a year.
So, in July of 2011 I thought, why not do 50,000 pushups in 2012 and use it as a means of raising money for cancer research or some other worthwhile charity? Realizing that doing 1000 pushups in a week is one thing, but repeating this effort week after week, and month after month is something else, I started doing 1000 pushups each week in July. A couple of months later it occurred to me that 2012 is the year when I will turn 55, so why not add 50 Saturdays of 100 pushups to make it 55,000 pushups to celebrate instead? So in September I bumped it up to 1100 a week to make sure I can do this before I put it on the line in front of the whole world.
The Purpose Becomes Too Real
My pushup exercise plan was going along just fine when everything changed on September 30. My father-in-law, Gene Rundquist, was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. That was not part of the plan. He was given 9-12 months with chemotherapy. Gene died 2 months and 1 day later on December 1, 2011. He was a terrific man and a great friend.
I watched this man go from being a strong, independent, joyful character to an invalid in a matter of a few weeks. He refused to give up. I was honored to be in his presence as he fought for his life. Cancer doesn't care who you are, your background, your faith, whether you are rich or poor, sick or healthy. It just doesn't care. I hate cancer.
My father-in-law's death made it pretty easy to decide what charity to focus on and now I am more resolved than ever to complete this year long fund raising effort to raise money for cancer research. I'll do the pushups for a year and my sponsors pledge to donate money to the American Cancer Society (ACS) to fight cancer. Sounds like a good plan, right? Click to learn more about the American Cancer Society.
Some Background
The Purpose Becomes Too Real
My pushup exercise plan was going along just fine when everything changed on September 30. My father-in-law, Gene Rundquist, was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. That was not part of the plan. He was given 9-12 months with chemotherapy. Gene died 2 months and 1 day later on December 1, 2011. He was a terrific man and a great friend.
I watched this man go from being a strong, independent, joyful character to an invalid in a matter of a few weeks. He refused to give up. I was honored to be in his presence as he fought for his life. Cancer doesn't care who you are, your background, your faith, whether you are rich or poor, sick or healthy. It just doesn't care. I hate cancer.
My father-in-law's death made it pretty easy to decide what charity to focus on and now I am more resolved than ever to complete this year long fund raising effort to raise money for cancer research. I'll do the pushups for a year and my sponsors pledge to donate money to the American Cancer Society (ACS) to fight cancer. Sounds like a good plan, right? Click to learn more about the American Cancer Society.
Moving Forward
So, I've been doing 1100 pushups each week since September of 2011. I will average 1100 pushups every week of 2012 with the option of taking 2 weeks off if I want to, possibly with occasional days off interspersed throughout the year. I'm updating the My Pushup Log page daily to keep track of my progress and for the whole world to keep track as well.
OK, So How Do I Make a Donation?
There are five suggested sponsor levels: Friend, Sponsor, Benefactor, Champion and Angel, but you can donate any amount you would like.
Friend - Any amount under $1.00/thousand pushups in increments of 10 cents. This will allow school kids to participate (under the direction and support of their parents, of course!)
Over the course of the year, $.10 turns into $5.50.
$.20 turns into $11.00.
$.30 turns into $16.50.
$.40 turns into $22.00.
$.50 turns into $27.50.
$.60 turns into $33.00.
$.70 turns into $38.50.
$.80 turns into $44.00.
$.90 turns into $49.50.
A Sponsor pledges $1/thousand pushups for a total of $55.00 for the year.
A Benefactor pledges 1 cent/pushup for a total of $550.00 for the year.
A Champion pledges 10 cents/pushup for a total of $5,500.00 for the year.
An Angel pledges $1/pushup for a total of $55,000.00 for the year.
Please click HERE to make a donation to the American Cancer Society. There are two buttons on that page. By clicking JOIN OUR TEAM you can donate a minimum of $25 or any amount above that as you become a member of Team 55kpushups and have your own page on the ACS site. Then you can send people to your page, and keep track of your own fund raising efforts! I would welcome you as a team member and challenge you to personally raise at least $1,000 over the course of the year.
If you would prefer not to join Team 55kpushups, but would rather simply make a one-time donation, click HERE and then click DONATE instead. Then you can make an immediate donation of a minimum of $25 or any amount above that. Feel free to donate at a sponsor level as described above, or whatever amount you would like. All donations are greatly appreciated and will go entirely to the American Cancer Society to fund their efforts to fight cancer.
Come back to this blog page often to see the lists of pledges grow. Also, please feel free to add to the In Memory and We are Survivors! pages, the names of your own loved ones who became cancer victims, and those who are cancer survivors.
Let's Grow This Thing
I am contacting exercise and fitness magazines, health clubs and other health industry companies to spread the word and seek additional sponsorship. I'm also contacting all kinds of businesses, churches, schools - essentially any kind of organization - to gain sponsorship. If you are reading this, please feel free to share this blog and recommend my effort to your friends and associates. Also, feel free to leave comments on the Sponsors and Friends Comments page. I appreciate your input!
Friend - Any amount under $1.00/thousand pushups in increments of 10 cents. This will allow school kids to participate (under the direction and support of their parents, of course!)
Over the course of the year, $.10 turns into $5.50.
$.20 turns into $11.00.
$.30 turns into $16.50.
$.40 turns into $22.00.
$.50 turns into $27.50.
$.60 turns into $33.00.
$.70 turns into $38.50.
$.80 turns into $44.00.
$.90 turns into $49.50.
A Sponsor pledges $1/thousand pushups for a total of $55.00 for the year.
A Benefactor pledges 1 cent/pushup for a total of $550.00 for the year.
A Champion pledges 10 cents/pushup for a total of $5,500.00 for the year.
An Angel pledges $1/pushup for a total of $55,000.00 for the year.
Please click HERE to make a donation to the American Cancer Society. There are two buttons on that page. By clicking JOIN OUR TEAM you can donate a minimum of $25 or any amount above that as you become a member of Team 55kpushups and have your own page on the ACS site. Then you can send people to your page, and keep track of your own fund raising efforts! I would welcome you as a team member and challenge you to personally raise at least $1,000 over the course of the year.
If you would prefer not to join Team 55kpushups, but would rather simply make a one-time donation, click HERE and then click DONATE instead. Then you can make an immediate donation of a minimum of $25 or any amount above that. Feel free to donate at a sponsor level as described above, or whatever amount you would like. All donations are greatly appreciated and will go entirely to the American Cancer Society to fund their efforts to fight cancer.
Come back to this blog page often to see the lists of pledges grow. Also, please feel free to add to the In Memory and We are Survivors! pages, the names of your own loved ones who became cancer victims, and those who are cancer survivors.
Let's Grow This Thing
I am contacting exercise and fitness magazines, health clubs and other health industry companies to spread the word and seek additional sponsorship. I'm also contacting all kinds of businesses, churches, schools - essentially any kind of organization - to gain sponsorship. If you are reading this, please feel free to share this blog and recommend my effort to your friends and associates. Also, feel free to leave comments on the Sponsors and Friends Comments page. I appreciate your input!
I would also welcome anyone to join me in this exercise/fund raising quest. You can join me in doing pushups or come up with your own goal - walking, running, biking, swimming, squats - whatever. If you start your own fund raising effort, I would love to hear about it and share in your successes!
I’m excited about this. Now is the time to get in shape, America. At the same time, we can raise a lot of money to support a great cause. It’s time to give something back – to do something significant – to make a difference.
Some Background
When I was in high school, there was another guy on the swim team who did 200 - 300 pushups every day as part of his training. I thought that was pretty impressive and when I was in college I started doing 50 pushups every night before going to bed. At one point I got to where I could do 130 pushups without getting up, but I would need to rest with arms extended (in a plank) after about 70. Then I would do sets of 10 followed by a plank, and then sets of 5 alternating with planks and finally, I would squeeze out the last 5 or so, arms trembling, entire body shaking, resting for a couple of breaths with arms outstretched after each one. What fun! Alas, time went by and I gradually stopped doing my pushups.
Over the years, I’ve had periods of good exercise and not so good exercise. Right now, I’m happy to say that I’m in a period of good exercise again. This is the place to be. It just feels good!
Click HERE to join the 55kpushups team and donate to the American Cancer Society!
Click HERE to join the 55kpushups team and donate to the American Cancer Society!
