Five Million Push-Downs

Your push-ups ain't worth squat if you don't combine it with the push-down. Where push-ups strengthen your core and your upper body the push-down strengthens your heart, your overall cardiovascular system, and your lower body. The push-down in other words comes before the push-up, because if your upper body cannot be lifted by your legs you're in trouble. At any rate, the push-down is of course the pedalling. And so today, au velo, I wondered at how many push-downs I do on an average 'pastoral excursion', and at how many push-downs I may have done in my whole life. I figured five thousand push-downs wouldn't be amiss on an average outing, perhaps more. And then in my total cycling life I may have completed millions of push-downs. But the numbers don't really matter. What matters is the pedalling. And not so much the pushing down but the pushing of your self upwards towards paradise through engaging your own internal engines.