It took Jonathan Bales 11 hours and 5 minutes, but he successfully completed 2,400 pushups, live on Twitch and Twitter on Thursday, as part of a 12-hour bet with @draftcheat on Twitter.
"This was a pretty good line," Bales said afterward. "I probably could've done a hundred or two hundred more."
Bales added that he had "a lot more" than the $2,000 bet with @draftcheat on Over 2,400, saying, "We'll be giving some of the money to COVID-19 relief."
Bales, a FantasyLabs co-founder and true physical specimen, inspired the DFS and betting community to put seven-figures in action down on his pushup exploits, and he did not disappoint those who bet Over 2,400.
The challenge required Bales to do 3.33 pushups per minute for 12 hours, and prior to the event starting at 11 a.m. ET on Thursday, Bales wouldn't reveal his strategy publicly. But once the stream got underway, he started with sets of six pushups each, which continued for hours. He then rotated sets of six with sets of five, eventually tapering off to sets of four for the duration.
"I was going to do higher reps, but everyone [I talked to] suggested not to do that," Bales said. "After the long break [five hours in], I could've finished faster but I thought I might get injured. I was feeling like I was going to tear my bicep."
On his plan, Bales said he never wanted to have "more than six reps at a time and never have more than 45 seconds of rest in between reps. I planned to finish in 9 hours, with some wiggle room in case I couldn't keep up the pace, which is obviously what happened."
It was a 11-plus-hour tour de force — a picturesque mental strategy combined with unimaginable physical strength. Congrats, Bales. And congrats Over bettors.
