From Australia’s best restaurants to top sporting events and even the aisle of a plane, Adam Strauch wasted no opportunity to tackle the goal of completing 3,139 push ups for this year’s Push-Up Challenge.

The Perth-based businessman and director of New Homes WA originally set a fundraising goal of $2000 but kept increasing the target as donations poured in from supportive family, friends and business contacts.

He’s been crowned the top individual fundraiser for this year’s Push-Up Challenge, with an incredible $15,000 raised for Lifeline WA.

While it was his first time taking part in the annual event, he quickly got on board with the challenge, which is designed to test participants’ fitness while shining a light on the importance of positive mental health.

“I was pretty blessed with how everyone got behind me,” Adam said. “I’m blown away by the generosity of my friends and business partners.

“This challenge was a massive opportunity to promote mental health. The fundraising was a bonus, but for me it was more about encouraging people to talk about mental health and reach out if they’re in crisis.

“What really got me involved, was losing a good friend’s family member to suicide last year. That really affected me.

“My first interaction with suicide was when I was 16 – my mate’s younger brother passed away. He was only 14.

“To see that tragedy at such a young age, and then over the years, it has happened to friends and associates – that was a real tipping point for me.

“I’ve had so many people reach out as a result of this challenge. It’s pretty confronting to see how many people are struggling.”  

More than 150,000 people across the country took part in the 2022 challenge, with the number of push-ups chosen to represent those lost to suicide in Australia in 2020.

For Adam, the fun part of the challenge was working out where he was going to do the next set of push-ups. 

Some of the donations happened on the spur of the moment when he was challenged by friends. 

“I did push-ups in an exclusive restaurant in Melbourne, when everyone thought I wouldn’t do it,” Adam recalled.

“I was in Flower Drum when one of my mates dared me, and said he would donate $1000 if I did the push-ups there.

“I did it at Peaches grocery store, and they donated $500. And then I was on the plane and did the push-ups in the aisle when we landed. Nothing was off limits.”  

One night after a 2022 State of Origin rugby match Adam raised $3000 in a single night after he completed 50 push-ups in a row at a pub in Burswood.

More than 135 individuals and business associates have supported Adam with donations coming from as far afield as Barcelona, Singapore, London and interstate as well as across Perth.

Some of Adam’s top supporters included Peaches Fresh Market in South Fremantle, BPC Plumbing, Pipe Excellence, New Homes WA, Ozwide Building Supplies and Trevor’s Carpets.

It may have been his first year of undertaking the challenge, but Adam already has his sights set on next year.

“I’m already thinking and challenging my brain to see what kind of fun I could come up with next year,” he said.

“I’ll definitely try and be the top fundraiser again.”