I've been impressed by my older daughter's physical prowess since she was a baby. She taught herself to stand at six months, to walk at seven and a half months, and to climb a few weeks after that. (She didn't learn to climb down until much later, which, as you can imagine, led to some odd moments, like the time we were visiting relatives and realized she'd climbed up the brick wall alongside their fireplace and was stuck on their mantle, with no idea how to get back to the floor.) At five she taught herself to ride a bike without training wheels. Without coaxing, she's shown me she can do push-ups and chin-ups.

Her soccer team started their indoor season last weekend, playing two games a night. At one point, late in their second game, I turned around and saw the teams who'd be playing in the next game doing warm-up drills, including push-ups. Almost all the 9- and 10-year-old girls could do them, and their form was surprisingly good.

So I was both surprised and not surprised when I saw this article about push-ups in yesterday's New York Times:

I couldn't find that specific study, so I don't know what the researchers considered a "passing" grade. I did find some norms for adults, which show that an average guy in his 20s will be able to do 24 to 29 push-ups, while an average woman that age can do 16 to 21.

The Times article, however, suggests much tougher standards:

Just out of curiosity, I got down on the floor this morning and did 30. I could've gotten a couple more, but I could tell my shoulders weren't in the mood to have their limits tested. I guess that's not bad for a 51-year-old, but it's not great.

Meanwhile, if you have a few minutes, check out the video embedded in the Times story. The women shown in that health club don't appear to be able to do a single repetition with decent form, even on their knees. If 9- and 10-year-old girls can knock out sets of push-ups with good form as part of a warm-up for a soccer game, why can't seemingly fit adult women in a commercial gym do any at all?

And if the typical woman in the typical American health club is really that weak, all I can say is that I've got the perfect book for them.

Wednesday blog meat

• If my posting is unusually erratic over the next couple of weeks, blame it on photo shoots for upcoming books this week and next. (I do like to cut costs, but not nearly as much as Nate claims. And, for the record, it's a Camry, not a Corolla.)
• I think I've figured out why there's so much controversy over whether anti-depressants actually work better than placebos. Maybe it's because we're all on mood-stabilizing drugs, whether we know it or not. Wouldn't that help explain why studies are showing that prescription anti-depressants, which are really just topping off the drugs we get from the water supply, might not be as effective as we thought? (Hat tip: Rannoch Donald.)
• Finally, some good news for those of us who spent time in college: Not only do we get to bore the shit out of our children and grandchildren with heroic tales of sitting in the stands while our football or basketball teams won something or other, we get to live longer than people with no post-high school education -- an average of seven years, according to a new study. Dead men tell no tales, but living college grads get to talk an extra 84 months. (Finding someone to listen, however, is a separate issue.)