We said it before, we'll say it again: when it comes to push-ups, it's all about form.
But apparently our politicians didn't get the memo.
Last week, Sindh's sports minister Sardar Muhammad Bux Khan Mahar challenged Punjab's sports minister, Rana Mashood Ahmad Khan, to 50 push-ups and then went on to bust out 50 push-ups of his own.
Unfortunately, (we'll give him the benefit of the doubt) he was more focused on pumping in the number than getting his form right.
He was followed by PML-N leader Arbab Khizer Hayat, who decided to do 50 push-ups, lift 100kg and run 200 meters just to, you know, drive his point home.
While the two fight it out in the gym we took the liberty of taking a close look at their push-up execution.
He starts out ok, but then... no. Just no. Oh, it gets worse!
As far as fitness goals go, we're not sure if Mahar was aiming for a modified 'cobra' pose or some other yoga-inspired move. We do know that his strategic camera placement worked to to make sure his faults were mostly hidden, but unfortunately for him, we saw right through it.
When you do a push-up your body is supposed to rise and fall in unison, but the sport's minister's hips seem to be moving independently of his torso.
Also, (important!) a real push-up sees you getting your chest real close to the ground.
Totally not happening in this clip.
Sir, we would gladly correct your form, but we don't know where to start.
In your effort to do push-ups you've invented a new yoga pose, one we'd like to call 'The Swimming Cobra'.
See how Hayat lifts up his torso first, then lets his hips follow? This is wrong. It negates the entire philosophy of the push-up, which is to hoist the entire body aloft in one thrust.
We personally feel Hayat should just not do push-ups. After all, a PML-N leader doesn't need that stuff. Pftt, you've got more pressing matters to deal with.
If we weren't already clear enough, we've got our man Mr Pakistan showing you how a push-up is actually done.
See how his body moves up and down as one unit? And how his head and neck remains aligned with his back all the way through?
Mr Pakistan says: "You should keep your body straight, like a plank, and do not drop your head or raise your glutes. When your chest nearly touches the ground, exhale as you push up with your hands."
What's more, the stomach is pulled in and taut in a plank position. Arm distance is slightly wider than the shoulders but in-line. When lowering the upper body with the arms, everything comes down in a straight line. The elbows bend out to the side as you come down.
As you can see, it's much, much harder to do one push-up correctly, let alone 50. Watch and learn, ministers, watch and learn.
Now that they know how it's done, we challenge our ministers to do the said number of push-ups keeping their form in check!
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