Can you do 11 push-ups? Should you?

Should every woman be able to do 11 push-ups? According to orthopedic surgeon and health influencer Vonda Wright, they should — and, no, modified “girl push-ups” don’t count. Last month, Wright appeared on The Mel Robbins Podcast, the popular self-help show that tends to generate this sort of arbitrary health advice, to share her recommended fitness regimen for aging women. She stressed the importance of heavy lifting, stating that every woman should be able to complete 11 pushups. “On the knees okay?” Robbins asked. “No,” Wright quickly replied. The sound bite took off on TikTok, with many women posting themselves successfully doing the exercise, while others, like Robbins, shared their failed attempts. In the clip, Wright assures listeners that it’s something they can work themselves up to. Still, depending on your weight, age, and other physical factors, doing 11 push-ups can either be gradually achievable, extremely difficult, or just impossible. The specificity of the challenge also raises questions: Why 11 push-ups? Why is it specifically important for women? And, more importantly, what is with all the one-size-fits-all health advice littering social media? For much of the last decade, wellness was feminized — still fraught, but synonymous with self-care and relaxation. What we’re seeing now is a markedly bro-y approach to health for both men and women, where performance is paramount and universal fitness goals and strict routines designed by the most popular wellness experts thrive. These days, it can seem like maintaining one’s health is more about checking off boxes than attending to individual needs. The “bro-ification” of fitness This focus on increasing our bodies’ performance is the bedrock of the “wellness bro” or “bro science” industry. These new-ish terms represent the dubious, male-dominated sphere of health and wellness that includes self-designed experts, doctors, and “biohackers,” all claiming to have the secrets to longevity and human optimization. The most notable example is Stanford University professor and neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, who hosts the hugely popular podcast Huberman Lab. His conversations with other health experts on how humans can improve their bodies and brains have propelled him to A-list status in this realm. Similarly, Joe Rogan frequently promotes questionable health experts, debunkable research, and “manly” diets on his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience. These figures have become associated with the “manosphere,” a sprawling collection of influencers and podcasters promoting ideas of traditional masculinity that can vary from regressive to blatantly misogynistic. However, “wellness bros” like Huberman still operate in mainstream culture — his podcast regularly tops the Apple Podcasts’ health and fitness chart — and have gained a wider audience beyond young men. [Media: https://www.tiktok.com/@annie.nano/video/7152982359044836650?q=huberman%20morning%20routine&t=1745435920069] On TikTok, for instance, many of Huberman’s health tips and routines have bled into the women’s side of wellness. His viral morning routine of waking up between 5 and 6 am and getting immediate sunlight exposure has been attempted by many female influencers and non-influencers alike, as have his sleep hacks. Even outside of Huberman, women’s wellness looks a lot more bro-y these days. Andy Frisella’s viral 75 Hard challenge, based on his 2020 eponymous book, was adopted and modified by women on TikTok as “75 Hotter” last year. The TikTok trend of sleeping with mouth tape, which many women have included in their nightly beauty routines to prevent snoring and have better quality sleep, was first popularized by wellness bros. Christy Harrison, a registered dietitian and author of The Wellness Trap: Break Free From Diet Culture, Disinformation, and Dubious Diagnoses, and Find Your True Well-Being, says these wellness-bro fads are specifically designed to get visibility on social media. [Media: https://www.tiktok.com/@laurynbosstick/video/7463675209120320798?q=mouth%20tape&t=1745876173141] “Social media algorithms tend to prioritize declarative, black-and-white, and often sensational content,” she says, “which is the kind of energy you see a lot of in bro-y fitness spaces.” Even when this guidance comes from women, it seems to fit the same dudely mold. Harrison says that many women influencers have adopted this tone of instruction because “that’s what does well online.” For instance, Robbins, whose podcast is somewhat of a women’s alternative to Huberman Lab, is constantly promoting doctors and experts with supposedly life-changing routines and crucial health tips that everyone should be following. The appeal and impossibility of online health advice Wright tells Vox that her 11 push-ups directive comes from the 12th edition of American College of Sports Medicine Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription (ACSM); she seems to be referring to a table in the book that categorizes the fitness of women ages 40–49 who can do 11 to 14 push-ups as “good.” Using this narrow bit of data as the basis for universal advice is something experts push back on. “Exercise dose and fitness outcomes are not the same thing,” says Evan Matthews, associate professor at Montclair State University’s Department of Kinesiology. “What is important is that everyone engages in regular exercise, and increases the dose of exercise until they reach their own capacity, reach their goals, and/or they surpass the minimum weekly recommended dose set by the ACSM.” Still, it’s easy to see why, on their face, fitness tests like this are appealing. For one thing, if you’re not sure how to jump-start your health, it’s nice being told exactly what to do and feeling accomplished when you follow these orders. “Those simple numbers play into this desire to know that we’ve done things correctly, that we can check the box and feel good about ourselves,” Harrison says. “Of course, the flip side of that is that we feel bad and believe we’ve fallen short if we don’t meet them.” Turning rules into sustainable habits is often harder than it seems watching popular influencers discuss their routines, not to mention deeply dependent on so many physical and lifestyle factors. Harrison says this extremely online outlook on fitness ignores the reality that exercise “is a very individual thing” based on a person’s relationship to their body and with physical activity. She also connects this approach to the dangerous cultural notion that we can ward off disease or cure our bodies solely through our own actions. This idea of “taking your health into your own hands” is the core of the most popular wellness bro brands. Julie Duffy Dillon, a registered dietitian and author of the book, Find You Food Voice: Defy Diet Culture, Declare Body Liberation, and Reclaim Your Peace, says these self-focused routines also inadvertently underscore different expectations and responsibilities for men and women. So much of this strict guidance requires an inordinate amount of time to devote to one’s self, a luxury many women don’t get to enjoy. A 2023 Pew Research Center study found that married women, even when they’re the breadwinners in their households, spend more hours caregiving and doing housework than their husbands. Meanwhile, their husbands spend more hours doing leisurely activities. “Everyone can’t just wake up at 5 am and do all these things before they start their day,” she says. “Men in relationships with women who are taking care of things probably can.” Dillon says this advice also contributes to a more body-negative world. The more normalized these demands become, the more we marginalize people who can’t follow them. “They just keep adding more variables,” Dillion says. “There’s being skinny, and now you have to be cut; you have to be able to lift a certain amount of weight. The list is just growing and growing. And that ultimately means that there are less people who belong.”

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Can you do 11 push-ups? Should you?