Behold, RFK Doing Push-Ups and Bench Presses in Denims

In in the present day’s episode of “Odd Issues on the Web,” we’ve got a couple of selection movies of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of John F. Kennedy, understanding in denims. The politician plans to face off with Joe Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination subsequent 12 months, and his newest, uh, marketing campaign supplies embrace footage of him doing a bench press and push-ups shirtless with denims and a belt.

The bench-press video was first shared on Twitter on June 24 by health coach Ryan Calderwho stepped in to identify Kennedy for his final set of bench presses at what seems to be the outside weight room at Venice Seaside’s Gold’s Health club, often known as the “mecca of bodybuilding.”

The following day, RFK Jr. tweeted a push-up video from the identical exercise, writing: “Getting in form for my debates with President Biden!” (For the report, there are none at the moment scheduled.) He adopted it with a sequence of replies establishing well being and wellness as a part of his political platform, saying: “As President, I’ll restore America as the worldwide instance of well being & well-being. Not by way of capsules or syringes, however by way of character and self-discipline. And I’ll proceed to stroll the stroll and lead by instance.” He famous that “People gained a median of 29 kilos in the course of the Covid lockdowns” (not trueBTW) and promised to “assist flip this round by encouraging our residents to train, eat nicely, and fortify their immune programs by eradicating dangerous chemical compounds from our meals.”

And earlier than anybody may troll his rep rely, Kennedy additionally added: “p.s. And sure, I can do greater than 10 pushups. That was my final set.”

As a coach, I could not assist however discover that Kennedy may gain advantage from a little bit extra extension in these push-ups for them to be thought of full (i.e., he did not straighten his arms sufficient), however I am going to let it slide contemplating his kind in any other case is fairly strong, particularly as a part of a full-on chest workout. Though I take private offense to his outfit — denims by no means have a spot within the gymnasium, not to mention with a belt — I respect the truth that he is nonetheless getting after it within the weight room at 69 years outdated. Calder additionally added in another tweet that Kennedy benched a couple of reps of 230 kilos (twice what’s proven within the video), which by all means is a formidable feat at any age.

General, the response from the web has been fairly supportive — of his health journey, at the very least. Issues get extra contested on the subject of each his politics (together with his stance on vaccines) and his outfit.

This can be the primary time a possible presidential candidate has campaigned on understanding, and whereas a noble trigger, we’re hoping it would not catch on; in any case, the very last thing we’d like is a partisan lens utilized to health. (There are sufficient issues conserving folks out of the load room as it’s.)

“Begin doing all of your morning calisthenics all people,” Kennedy additionally tweeted within the thread, which we cosign — simply please do not do it in denims.