Master's Student Kwame Sarfo Has a Prowess for Pushups

Behind his back, on two fingertips or with arms and legs extended. These are just some of the “tricks” employed by Kwame Sarfo while doing what for many can be a daunting, challenging and often punishing activity: the pushup.

Sarfo, a business analyst for the Healthcare Delivery Systems Lab at NJIT’s New Jersey Innovation Institute, as well as a master’s student in innovation and entrepreneurship at Martin Tuchman School of Management, has elevated the art of the pushup to such a degree that he’s known as the “pushup guy.” The Old Bridge, N.J., native gained the moniker after appearing on “The Ellen Show” in 2018 to demonstrate his expertise. His unique skill also secured him a spot on “The Titan Games,” a rigorous physical and mental endurance competition created by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson that aired on NBC this past January.

With plans to complete his advanced degree in 2021 and then launch a packaged-food business (his parents, from Ghana, own a West African grocery store), Sarfo continues to sharpen his entrepreneurial acumen. It’s all part of a life strategy that’s as strong as that plank position he’s honed over the years.

Here, Sarfo talks TV gigs, health and fitness, and tips for the perfect pushup.

On Appearing on “The Ellen Show”

Sarfo produced a video of himself doing “trick” pushups and asked rapper and social media star FatboySSE to post the video on his Instagram page. He agreed to do so and “within a week on his page we got a million views. And then it started getting reposted all over social media,” recalled Sarfo.

One year later, a casting staffer for “Ellen” who had seen the video reached out to invite Sarfo to perform on the show, in a segment featuring the hidden talents of audience members. “At first I thought it was a joke,” he said. “I was nervous all the way [out there] until they called my name.”

Host Ellen DeGeneres was duly amazed, and Sarfo went on to book himself on another talk show, “Pickler and Ben,” shortly thereafter.

On Competing on “The Titan Games”

To become a contestant, Sarfo passed an initial video screening and was then flown out to California to participate in an NFL-like combine that tested his endurance and strength. For two days, he engaged in a variety of physical feats, including dashes, vertical jumps and more. It was essentially an audition and he got the “part,” along with 63 other athletes (31 men and 32 women) from around the world.

“That was just a surreal moment,” said Sarfo about receiving the call in early August informing him he’d been selected. “I don’t know if I screamed, but I know I did jump [for joy]!”

The activity he competed in was called the “Cyclone,” which required him to wield a 60-pound suspended wrecking ball to knock down five two-story pillars. Although he didn’t win, he has no regrets.

“It wasn’t my best moment, but I definitely put in the right effort. … Looking back at it, it’s not really [about] strength, it’s more technique,” he remarked. “I would never trade it. Win or lose, that was one of the best experiences.”

On Always Making Time for Health and Fitness

Sarfo has always been fitness- and athletically minded. He grew up playing just about every sport and was a member of his high school’s varsity basketball team. Nowadays he works out 12 or so hours each week, typically fitting in two sessions of weightlifting and calisthenics daily — one at 4:30 a.m. and the second in the evening.

“If I don’t do it, I in a sense feel off,” he said. “Your own health, your own wellness, that’s something you can control. What you eat, how long you work out, what you do, that’s really up to you.”

On Achieving the Perfect Pushup

It was some seven years ago, in a small playground next to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, that Sarfo initially became intrigued with mastering the pushup. He remembers seeing a group of older men doing pushups on their wrists and forearms, and then a youth doing them on his fingertips. When he tried to emulate what he’d witnessed, he at first fell short.

But he remained undeterred, practicing nearly every day for about eight months to eventually become skilled at two-finger pushups and a variety of pushup variations. His record for wrist pushups is 37 in under one minute.

Sarfo offers these tips for proper form:

- “For good position, you want to have your body perpendicular to the floor, not slouched or too high or too low.”

- “When you push down, get your nose and chest as close to the floor as possible.”

- “For ‘trick’ pushups, push back as fast as you can. Focus on explosiveness.”

June is Men’s Health Month, observed nationwide to raise awareness of “preventable health problems and encourage early detection and treatment of disease among men and boys.” Among the many benefits of regular exercise, including pushups, are increased energy, better sleep, enhanced mood and improved health and wellness.