Two hundred push ups a day is no small effort but, for one of the team in Industrial and Specialist Services division, the chance to raise funds for a worthy cause and reclaim her fitness is all the motivation she needs.
The Push-Up Challenge is designed to put a spotlight on mental health issues that affect Australians every day with participants sponsored to complete 3,144 push-ups in just 23 days (1-23 June).
Janita Butler recently started her fitness journey and decided to set herself a challenge.
“I’ve joined for two big reasons, my mental health journey and my fitness journey.”
“There’s three of us in the team, and we’re all committed to the cause.”
Janita works as an onsite manager for one of PeopleIN's international labour hire agencies.
“There’s many people here doing the challenge, so it’s a conversation starter with others to check up on how they’re doing, and what their challenges are, and I find others checking in on you.”
According to Nick Hudson, the founder of the Push-Up Challenge, that’s exactly what the challenge is designed to do – bring people together in a motivational and healthy way.
So far Janita says her biggest challenge has been finding the time to squeeze in up to 200 push-ups a day.
“I have a four-year-old daughter, so I find myself squeezing in some push-ups at her bath time or dinner time. We were even doing them together over the weekend.”
The app tracks your push-ups throughout the day and alerts you if you haven’t completed your daily task.
“There’s been nights where I’ve been in bed and received the alert, so I jump out of bed to do 50 more push-ups.”
At the two-week mark, Janita has completed close to 1,700 push ups, around halfway to her goal.
“The part I’m looking forward to the most is how my body will change and how much money we raise for mental health”.
“So far it’s been intense, but I’m determined to finish it.”
And Janita’s not stopping there. Once this challenge is over, she’s ready to take on a marathon and True Grit, a military-styled obstacle course.
While the Push Up Challenge is designed to get Australians talking about mental health, it can also raise funds for charities like Lifeline, Movember and the Push for Better Foundation.
If you would like to sponsor Janita and her team, you can to donate here.