I wrote a previous post on how many push ups the average Australian can do. I also included average numbers for pull ups, chin ups, and more impressive body weight exercises. If you have not already done so, please also have a read of that post (spoiler alert: the numbers are hideously low and you are likely doing more than that without training).
Since then I found a page from a fitness magazine that details the strength of the average North American male. I found this to be rather interesting for a number of reasons.
According to that fitness magazine (I forget exactly where this image came from), the average North American male considers themself to be physically fit and can do:
- one pull up
- 31 sit ups in one minute
- 21 push ups in one minute
- has 17.6% body fat
That is a pretty poor result for a nation that is so incredibly rich. With all that money, and all their education, why are they all so weak and unhealthy?
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| Average North American Male |
What makes these results even worse is that they are likely an over estimation! The above estimates are based off people with gym memberships.
While the above states that 69% of north americans consider themselves to be physically fit, the Mayo Clinic conclude that only about 2.7% of them really are fit.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0025619616000434
While you may disagree with the mayo definition of being physically fit, and you may not agree with drawing these results from a sample of only 4,745 people, you probably can't help but look around and see Average Joe in the street and notice that he is remarkably unhealthy.
The mayo clinic also estimated that the number of Americans who can even do one single push-up is likely only about 20 to 30 percent. This statistic was based on people aged 19 - 39. This means if you can do a single push up, you are above average.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/06/push-ups-body-weight-bmi/592834/
Given the amount of North Americans who are overweight or obese (35% are obese, in addition to 40% who are overweight), and the massive health burden that this places on their society, perhaps the old Soviet tradition of obligatory morning exercises (zaryadka, зарядка) was a good thing. Perhaps it was better than the indulgent and opulent attitude that prevails in current Western society?
With zaryadka, the average Soviet did strength training every day, no excuses, without having a few rest days here and there, without over eating one day and working out harder the next day, without rewarding themselves for being good by sticking to their training regime, without motivational quotes from celebrities, and without overpriced gym memberships. Back in those days you did the morning exercise routine, no lies, no excuses, end of story. It didn’t matter if the weather was cold, or hot, or rainy, or if you were tired, or if you weren’t in the mood. You just did your strength training, and you did it every day, so did everyone else, and everyone was better for it.
Individuals benefited from being stronger and less prone to illness, families benefited from being more productive, and society as a whole benefitted from not carrying the massive disease burden that stems from a disturbing lack of fitness in the general population that we currently see in the western countries.
I no longer do Western style training, I do prochnost' training. This is based upon old Soviet style training. I train every day, I have exercise minimums that I have to meet, and I meet them, no excuses. It costs nothing, and it works.
Even though I am scrawny, and I only have a few minutes to train each day, I can do far more pull ups, more sit ups, far more push ups, and have considerably less body fat, than the average North American. I can also do considerably more of these exercises than the average Australian.
If you are skinny fat like me, then stop working out like a Westerner. It won't work for your body type. Stop working out every few days in the name of fashion, stop trying to lose weight and/or gain muscle. Start training, and train every day. Start training to increase your strength. Forget the gym, train at home.
Two minutes of training every day will make a world of difference to your body. You will become vastly stronger, you will probably lose fat and put on muscle, and you will be far healthier.
Prochnost' training - be more!
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