MEDIA RELEASE                                                                                                  

3 July 2020

 130,000 AUSSIES COMPLETE OVER 121 MILLION PUSH-UPS
IN SUPPORT OF MENTAL HEALTH

The Push-Up Challenge 2020 has seen 130,000 Australians complete 121 million push ups collectively in just three weeks, that’s five push ups for each Australian! The challenge which ended 31 May, raised over $5 million for headspace, the National Youth Mental Health Foundation, increasing physical fitness and awareness of mental health and putting  the spotlight on the number of suicides in Australia in the last year.

headspace Swan Hill extends a massive thank you to the local community for supporting our team in The Push-Up Challenge, which saw locals complete 3,046 push-ups across three weeks in May to get fit, increase awareness of the 3,046 individuals in Australia who died by suicide in 2018* and raise funds for headspace Swan Hill.

headspace Swan Hill’s Youth Worker Kat Hindle said they were thrilled with their local achievements as part of the challenge which include:

• $3,196 funds raised towards local initiatives to improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people
• 110 participants
• 20 local teams, and
• 78,912 push-ups completed

“We have really enjoyed participating in The Push-Up Challenge for a second year, and have been encouraged by the volume of locals participating both formally and informally in the challenge this year. Surprisingly, the more push-ups we completed the easier they got, with 78,912 push-ups being completed over the 21 days. The challenge provided our team with daily motivation to get active, boosted our energy, and helped us stay connected during restrictions. From everyone at headspace Swan Hill, we would like to say a massive thankyou to everyone who participated, or supported someone participating in the challenge,” said Ms Hindle.

Perth engineer Nick Hudson founded The Push-Up Challenge, a nationwide initiative which in just four years has grown from 4 mates to 130,000 people across Australia, pushing for better mental health. Participants came from across all of Australia, from all walks of life, ranging from school children to a 91-year-old great grandmother.

The event has sparked tens of thousands of conversations about mental health across Australia. Each day, participants pushed-up while learning about mental health, as the number of push-ups changed day to day to reflect a vital mental health statistic. For example, 120 push-ups because research has shown that 60-120 minutes of moderate exercise per week can improve symptoms of depression or help maintain a healthy headspace.

Originally slated to take place in June, the event was brought forward to May as a response to COVID-19.

“With Australians experiencing disruption to their everyday lives, maintaining positive mental and physical health is a bigger issue than ever before. As COVID-19 restrictions begin to ease across the country, The Push-Up Challenge has provided a strong online community, encouraging fitness and getting people talking about mental health, with thousands of people sharing their push-up journey across social media each day. ” said The Push-Up Challenge Founder Nick Hudson (see the @pushforbetter instagram page and facebook page).

“I am blown away by the number of participants who supported our event, the generosity of everyone who donated during this difficult time, and local communities who rallied behind their local headspace centres.”

More information about the challenge can be found at www.thepushupchallenge.com.au,.

END

You can listen to the headspace teams song request from Thursday 28 May here, or check out the Guardian Swan Hill's wrap up of the challenge below!