Having performed the extraordinary feat of 1,000 press-ups every day in January, pig industry veteran Richard Longthorp has set out his next January press-ups challenge, and this time, he wants you to join in!
His January Pressups4Parkinsons challenge is aiming to, collectively achieve one million press-ups during the month, once again, to raise awareness and funds for sufferers of Parkinson’s Disease, and, in particular, for boxing clubs that support them.
“Parkinson’s is a degenerative condition of the brain. It is progressive – it gets worse over time. There is no cure. But… boxing seems to have the amazing ability to help manage the disease and hopefully even delay or slow down the dreaded progression,” Richard, a former chair of NPA, said.
“Last January, at the wrong side of 70, I set myself the, some would say crazy, challenge of doing 1000 pressups a day for the whole of January. This was to raise funds for Parkinson’s Boxing and to raise awareness of the benefits that boxing can bring to People with Parkinson’s (PwP).”
He managed to raise £22,000 and certainly increased awareness towards Parkinson’s UK and helping England Boxing develop a coaching course for those coaching People with Parkinson’s, with the delivery of nine courses to over 150 coaches. The funds also helped to run weekly Parkinson’s Boxing sessions at St Paul’s Boxing Academy and Goole Amateur Boxing Club.
“But there remains still plenty to be done. We now have an opportunity to build on what we have already achieved not only for Parkinson’s but other conditions also – and to spread the challenge wider,” he said.
The next challenge
“So, what I have planned is a target of A MILLION pressups  in January, undertaken by a wide group of people with the 1 million being the total for all participants. Each participant will set their own target number of pressups per day – achievable but challenging,” the Yorkshire pig farmer added.
“It is NOT a competition – the only person you will be competing against will be yourself! Options (eg wall pressups) will be available for those who may struggle with conventional pressups.
“Anybody can take part – all you need is to be able to do pressups and the determination, will power and resilience to keep it going for 31 days. For my part, I will aim to knock out a similar number as last time. The pressups can be done anywhere and any time of day.”
Once the month is up there will be one final ‘last round’ for those with some pressups still left in the tank – a 24 hour ‘Press-up Marathon’. People can come and go as they please over the 24 hours and do as many or as few pressups as they want, Richard added.
“Some may want to join me in seeing just how many pressups we can bang out in 24 hours. Could 5,000 be possible? Could 10? Seems a nice round number!”
“The main aim is to get as many people participating as possible. I would rather 500 take part doing 60 pressups a day and raising say £30 each than a handful doing loads. This challenge will not only raise awareness but hopefully, in the words of England Boxing, also engage the community in a meaningful and inspiring way.”
More information
- There are more details on the Pressups4Parkinsons challenge HERE
- You can find regular updates on Facebook:Â
- You can register to take part HERE