A Million Push-Ups, Zero Excuses: Meet the 74-Year-Old CrossFitter Refusing to Let Parkinson’s Win
Like most working dads in their 40s, Bruce Snethen focused on his career and his children. He sat at a desk all day and paid little attention to his own health.
- “I weighed 206 pounds at one point, and I’m only 5-foot-6, so that’s way too heavy for a guy my height,” he said.
Fast forward to today: Snethen, now 74 years old, weighs 160 pounds and, during his last body composition test, had only 10% body fat.
- Furthermore, he can deadlift 400 pounds and squat 310, and is stronger in his 70s than he ever thought possible.
He has CrossFit to thank for this.
Snethen’s Story
In 2018, a recently retired Snethen was out riding his bike when he passed the CrossFit gym he had seen for years.
He had never been particularly interested in checking it out before, but that day it occurred to him that he should be doing more than just riding a bike for his health and fitness.
- So he pulled over and walked through Priority CrossFit’s doors in Altoona, IA.
Fitness gains came fast and furious for Snethen – whose deadlift and squat were both less than 200 pounds when he first started at the age of 68 – and his progress hasn’t slowed down.
Another detail that makes his gains so impressive over the last seven years is that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a progressive movement disorder of the nervous system, one year into his CrossFit journey in 2019.
Snethen is on medication for the disease today, but his only symptoms are some tremors, and they’re “quite manageable,” he said. He credits CrossFit for at least part of this.
- “I have had sleep issues for years, but CrossFit promotes good sleep for me, and when I sleep well, I notice the tremors are a lot better,” he said. “And somehow the movements we do in CrossFit help with the tremors, too.”
The icing on the cake is how CrossFit has helped his mental health.
- “I had been on anti-depressants for a while, and I’m getting off them now, and I’m going to give CrossFit some kudos for that, too, because it definitely helps my mental state,” he said.
One Big Thing
When Snethen turned 70, he decided to take on a decade-long challenge: complete 1,000,000 push-ups before he turns 80.
- To save you from having to use a calculator, that equals about 274 push-ups a day for 10 years.
Four years in, he’s right on target.
- “I’m at approximately 427,000 push-ups. I’m a little ahead of schedule,” he said.
Some days he doesn’t do any push-ups, and other days he does as many as 1,000, generally sprinkling them into his day whenever he gets a free moment.
- “I like doing 34 at a time. I’ll do 34 and go drink a coffee, and then another 34 and then read a bit, and then another 34 and then I’ll take a walk,” he said.
About why he decided to attempt such a feat, he said: “I knew it would be very challenging and would require a lifetime commitment to fitness,” he said.
Snethen’s Message
To those who think they’re too old to start CrossFit at 50, 60, or even 70, Snethen is adamant: “You’re not.”
- “Anyone can do it. Everything in CrossFit is scalable,” he said.
He added: “I look better, I feel better, I am better. And you will be, too.”
