Golden Champion Health and Fitness Award

Sometimes life takes you in unexpected directions, and we never know from day to day what road we may end up on. When I went to get some blood work done one cool October morning, I never thought I would meet Clyde McKee. We were both trying to check in on the lab’s kiosk, and I made an effort to help Clyde and his wife navigate the check in process. Clyde noticed my NASA team championship powerlifting jacket and we started talking about fitness. He has been into fitness his whole life, and he was super excited to tell me about his plan to do 90 push-ups on his 90th birthday in early December. I was super excited to hear about such an amazing goal! He then proceeded to drop down right there in the lab a show me how good his push-up form was!

Little did Clyde know that people like him are the most inspirational to me! One of the things I dislike people saying the most is “I am too old for this”. I honestly believe you can do anything you put your mind to. We are told that as we age, our bodies just give out. No one tells us that if we treat our bodies right, feed it right, and put in the work, we can perform amazing feats at any age! I suffer from Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, a potentially crippling genetic condition. I had a time in my life where I had to chose to either let my condition dictate my life, or to let my life dictate my condition. I did not want my life to be defined by my condition, I wanted to show people that I could do amazing things regardless of my condition. It took hard work, and dedication, but I am now a top lifter in NASA (Natural Athlete Strength Association).

Meeting Clyde sparked my desire to support his goal and to somehow reward him for his dedication and achievement. We talked over email for a couple months as I checked on his progress and tried to encourage his goals. While having coffee one day, my partner and I came up with an idea to make a award plaque. Then we discussed how nice it would be if this award were a yearly thing given to someone with the same dedication to fitness as Clyde. This is how the Golden Champion Health and Fitness award was born. Note: There is a quarter attached because he had his wife put a quarter in a cup for every five push-ups to keep track.

We are still working out the details of how the award recipients will be chosen, but we do know that it will be given an individual over 60 years of age who, regardless of their age performs an amazing athletic feat or accomplishes a health and fitness goal. I want people to know that they don’t have to be defined by their age, and that they can achieve health and fitness goals regardless. Stay tuned for the 2023 recipient! If you know of someone who might be deserving of this award, please select “CONTACT ME” in the menu on my home page. In honor of Clyde, it will be given every year on his birthday, December 9th.

Below is a video showing Clyde’s last 10 push-ups. Now, doing 90 push-ups would be difficult for anyone, but Clyde broke it up into groups of 5 or 10 at a time with breaks in between for rest. He took a big goal and made it achievable. That is how you get things done! It took him about 15 minutes.

Thank you to The Montebello on Academy for allowing us to make this a wonderful event, and thank you to KOB4 for coming out and doing a story. We need more good news in the world today! And thank you most of all to Clyde for getting out there and showing the world what a 90 year old can do!