ASHLAND — By the time the clock strikes midnight Tuesday evening, more than 70 Ashland area men will have completed 3,000 or more pushups during the past month as part of a challenge started by the local branch of F3 (Fitness, Fellowship and Faith).
At precisely 5:45 a.m. Monday, more than a dozen of the men from F3 met below the bleachers of the Ashland Community Stadium for their final group workout of the year — and their last chance to count pushups with their peers.
The wind advisory threatening gusts of up to 50 miles per hour that would soon after bring down a power line on nearby Claremont Avenue didn’t seem to phase them. Neither did the brief power outage in a nearby building. The lights flickered off and back on again, but the men continued their workout as if they didn’t notice.
A couple of them wear headlamps to brighten the the space, which is otherwise unlit in the early hours that they meet. The light makes circular reflections on the pavement that grow and shrink as they lift themselves up and down during the pushups and occasionally blinds one of the fellow men as they do lunges or jumping jacks, but without them, it’s impossible to see more than a foot or so in distance.
They meet every Monday, Thursday and Saturday morning, always outside despite the weather — rain, shine, sleet or hail. It’s requirement of the F3 group.
“It’s the camaraderie that keeps me going, keeps me coming out on days like this when it’s windy and rainy,” said Matt Timmons, a pastor at Hopewell Church.
The group calls him Angus, as in the guitarist from AC/DC.
In fact, all the men have nicknames. One is called “Hollywood,” and his 22-year-old son who more recently joined is called “Bollywood.” There’s also an AU psychology professor called “Freud.” Others include “Roid,” “Jar Jar,” “Hobart,” “Rook” and “PlayDoh.”
Angus is on pace to far exceed his initial goal of 3,000, or just under 100 pushups per day during December. Now, he hopes to complete 25,000 by midnight Tuesday.
“Freud, who originally pitched the idea of a push up challenge, stayed up until midnight December 1 and did 150. He sent out a message to the group to rally the guys and get everyone fired up,” Angus said. “I had originally planned to do 200 a day. So when I posted mine early that morning on December 1, it looked like a ‘one up’ response to Freud.
“He in turn did more, and it escalated from there. That first day Freud ended up with 425. I topped him with 600.”
Freud, or Mitch Metzger, came up with the idea as a remedy to the pounds that people stereotypically put on during the holiday season.
“They eat more, and they might not work out as much as they normally do. Our (Ashland Univerisity’s) recreation center shuts down for a couple weeks, so I thought why not do something like this to keep us all more active,” the psychology professor said.
When the goal was set at 3,000 per person, he remembers that it seemed like “some impossible number to reach,” but as the month comes to a close, he believes nearly everyone will reach their goals. This includes about 20 men who are in F3, and the at least 50 more from the community who are also partaking in the pushup challenge.
Freud is on pace to complete 15,000 pushups by the new year.
“We’re not super human. We get aches and pains. January 1 will be a holiday for us,” he said.
One of the newest to the group, James Mathatas would have struggled to do many consecutive pushups at the start of 2019, but since joining F3 in May, he’s been able to build up his strength enough to reach his 3,000 pushup goal alongside his friends.
Further, the workouts help him to lift his 7-year-old son, who is in a wheelchair.
“He’s going through casting on both legs to correct clubbed feet, and if I wasn’t doing this I don’t think I could carry him as much as I need to as a parent,” said Mattatas, who the group calls Roid.
The faith and fellowship components of the group matter to him, too. When his wife and son are away in Philadelphia for the boy’s care, Roid has the members of F3 to lean on.
“I was invited several times before I showed up, but since I showed up, it’s been a huge part of my life to have this group of guys and to know that there’s guys out there praying for me and my family,” he said.
As of Monday afternoon, the group total pushup count stood at 290,000. The members of F3’s total was at 163,000.
“But it is more than pushups and getting ‘first place.’ It’s the fun of the camaraderie that makes it such a great experience,” Angus (Timmons) said. “It’s a blast coaxing one another. The group is what it is because we can joking around and yet really encourage each other to excel.
That being said, we’d love to welcome any other men who would like to join us. It doesn’t matter one’s skill level. Our exercises can be modified to suit a beginner or an overachiever. It’s free too, which adds just all that much more to the blessing of it.”
The group meets at the Ashland Community Stadium every Monday at 5:45, Thursday at 6 and Saturday at 7. Workouts are each 45 minutes apiece.
