Fitness Expert Uses Pushups to Strengthen Himself, and Others

“For all of us who may lose another soldier, we can’t change the past, but we can change the negative energy to positive energy and use it for the future,” he said about the death of his son, who was killed in a drive-by shooting.

It's a sentiment Charles lives by.

Patch caught up with the fitness buff Saturday right before his , where those who dare can run or walk from the Hermosa Beach Pier to the Manhattan Beach Pier and back—a four-mile run in the sand.

Hermosa Beach Patch: What do you love about what you do?

Joe Charles: I love helping people change their lives. When I lost my son, it wasn’t about fitness anymore. I lost my son and had to go to work the next day. I couldn’t see his body. I had to face the reality of life. ... 

My son was kind of rebellious back then. However, his poetry showed me he was listening.  The poetry made me appreciate the message he left behind. It helped me to get my life together, to pass on the love, pass on his message.

Working out is great when you get the rush, but do you get the rush from everyday life, when you’re overcoming the things that happened to you?

Patch: Tell me about your "Pushup Challenge."

Charles: When I lost my son, . I would explain that 'I’m hurting right now, I need to drop and do a pushup.'

I want people to get a great workout, but I also want people to go to the next level in the challenges in their life. My son lives through me to spread the message and the love to others, to make a difference with an everyday workout. In the challenge on July 4, I'll give away $1,000 to everyone who can do my ‘one pushup.’

I'll first explain what my one pushup is: First, you drop halfway down in the pushup position. Hold it there.

Here’s where the love begins—count to 30, then shift and move your hands to the right side. Make a quarter turn—count to 30, then make a quarter turn to the left and count to 30. Then back to the middle and halfway down and count to 30.

I walk out with a mic in my hand and cash in my hand and wave it like I don’t care. What made me keep doing this is, I got people who are loving the message I am leaving with the pushup.

Sometimes there are as many as 70 to 100 people who try the push-up, and another 300 people trying to knock out other people to see who is doing the push-up. As of July 4, I will have given away $9,000 since it started nine years ago.

Patch: What were you looking forward to with the Pier-to-Pier Run/Walk?  

Charles: It was a graduation for all of my bootcamp students back in the day. If they would run Pier-to-Pier, then I would give them a small gift at the end. Now it’s open for the world to participate in.

I want to give thanks to Hermosa Beach for allowing it to be a community event. One thing that really impacts me is members of the Hermosa Beach City Council coming out and thanking me, and doing a pushup with me.

It was heartwarming.

Earlier: 

Here are the race results from Saturday's Pier-to-Pier Run/Walk in Hermosa Beach:

Place Division Place Name Sex Age Time Pace Bib # 1 1 Miguel Colon M 40 25:36 8:14 886 2 1 Mike Slebodnih M 29 26:20 8:29 888 3 1 Mark Miller M 34 27:08 8:44 851 4 2 III William Groman M 27 29:12 9:24 830 5 3 Joshua Hwang M 25 30:52 9:56 900 6 2 Christopher Cope M 43 32:35 10:29 817 7 3 Mash Persons M 46 32:48 10:33 890 8 0 RUNNER BANDIT 0 33:22 10:44 9001 9 4 Jonathon Munsell M 27 33:32 10:48 873 10 1 Cecilia Enestrom F 24 33:34 10:48 824 11 4 Jochen Strack M 44 33:45 10:52 1010 12 2 David Ilgenfritz M 35 33:54 10:55 837 13 1 Jamie Caffrey F 35 34:18 11:02 814 14 5 Chan Sivalaman M 27 34:24 11:04 1012 15 3 Steve Gridley M 36 34:35 11:08 1016 16 5 Rob Devers M 40 34:39 11:09 820 17 2 Lindsey Paquette F 25 34:44 11:11 853 18 3 Jessie Steinberg F 25 35:43 11:30 1019 19 1 DANNY JENSEN M 54 35:53 11:33 841 20 4 Ashley Platz F 25 35:56 11:34 857 21 2 David McCollum M 55 36:26 11:44 847 22 6 Bill Slavoshi M 24 36:59 11:54 891 23 6 Henry Funes M 41 37:02 11:55 897 24 7 Scott Edwards M 44 38:00 12:14 1011 25 8 Shane Michael M 45 38:24 12:22 850 26 2 ADRIENNE ARELLANO F 32 39:33 12:44 803 27 3 Michelle Hogan F 36 39:49 12:49 835 28 4 Mary Schneider F 34 39:51 12:50 1015 29 1 Penny Friedrich F 59 40:03 12:53 827 30 9 Coy David Mc M 44 40:17 12:58 887 31 5 Rocio Anica F 25 40:28 13:01 1018 32 3 michael jarvis M 55 40:35 13:04 839 33 2 Nancy French F 51 41:02 13:12 1020 34 10 Ron Watanabe M 49 41:11 13:15 1013 35 4 Chris Guzman M 39 41:33 13:22 892 36 5 Francis Rosal M 32 41:51 13:28 858 37 5 CC Hlavac F 35 42:14 13:36 834 38 1 John Knox M 60 42:28 13:40 842 39 6 Ronald Scrofano M 31 42:56 13:49 862 40 6 Eileen McCain F 39 43:12 13:54 1017 41 6 Tiana Stopnik F 29 43:24 13:58 866 42 7 Jennifer Bittner F 38 43:46 14:05 810 43 7 Sam Wolsky F 28 44:02 14:10 880 44 8 Anna Arguijo F 33 44:16 14:15 1024 45 1 Samantha Brooke F 40 44:26 14:18 898 46 11 Adam Landais M 40 44:29 14:19 844 47 2 Maria Quesada F 49 45:04 14:30 896 48 8 Sarah Boardman F 28 45:07 14:31 811 49 7 Donald Mitchell Mc M 37 45:30 14:39 893 50 9 Rebecca Tompkins F 29 45:41 14:42 867 51 3 Debi Dossey F 52 45:49 14:45 821 52 1 hayden tavernetti M 9 46:08 14:51 883 53 1 Zahra Celis F 16 46:17 14:54 815 54 4 lAURA ATAMANIUK F 54 46:26 14:57 805 55 8 Gustavo Murillo M 31 46:37 15:00 894 56 7 David Anica M 20 46:48 15:04 802 57 10 Kara Stevenson F 27 47:10 15:11 865 58 11 Ashleigh Mumford F 28 47:19 15:14 852 59 9 Allan Guerrero M 34 47:21 15:14 832 60 12 Jennifer Arreola F 29 47:37 15:20 804 61 3 ToiYan Littlejohn F 43 47:57 15:26 846 62 4 Victoria Babilonia F 48 48:02 15:28 808 63 8 Dwayne Campbell M 26 48:17 15:32 870 64 5 Michelle Davis F 40 48:28 15:36 819 65 13 Mariena Quintanilla F 27 48:44 15:41 875 66 9 Alejandra Guzman F 35 48:53 15:44 889 67 6 Lorinda Hohenbrink F 45 48:56 15:45 836 68 7 Sadil Tcker F 42 49:07 15:49 1021 69 14 Cynthia Mirillo F 29 49:39 15:59 895 70 10 Melissa Widup F 34 49:45 16:01 868 71 9 Daniel Wolsky M 20 52:30 16:54 881 72 2 Sally We F 19 52:31 16:54 879 73 10 Nolan Avery M 38 53:39 17:16 807 74 15 Ashley Fitzpatrick F 29 53:46 17:18 825 75 11 Veronica Avery F 30 54:02 17:23 806 76 10 Steve Sobko M 28 54:03 17:24 863 77 12 Rianne Albert F 30 54:04 17:24 801 78 12 david patton M 44 54:12 17:27 854 79 5 greta jarvis F 50 54:53 17:40 838 80 3 annika jarvis F 13 54:54 17:40 840 81 8 Becky Herkea F 48 55:33 17:53 1022 82 6 Tami Scully F 51 55:34 17:53 1023 83 13 Jilma Ordonez F 37 56:32 18:12 874 84 1 jake tavernetti F 9 56:44 18:16 884 85 9 Tracy Hadley F 47 57:34 18:32 833 86 16 Anna Perlas F 24 58:56 18:58 855 87 17 Dana Salg F 24 58:57 18:58 860 88 18 Barbara Quintas F 28 1:00:37 19:31 1014 89 11 ADOLFO GARCIA M 31 1:00:41 19:32 828 90 1 Eriq Santiago M 16 1:00:43 19:33 861 91 12 Mark Guerrero M 31 1:00:44 19:33 831 92 14 KC Ellis F 37 1:03:27 20:25 822 93 7 Cheryl Talamantes F 51 1:03:34 20:28 877 94 4 Hailey Talamantes F 19 1:03:35 20:28 878 95 13 Larry Landless M 47 1:09:51 22:29 1025 96 19 Courtney McDaniel F 27 1:10:23 22:39 848 97 10 Kameron Smith F 42 1:10:39 22:44 899 98 15 sharon ellis F 33 1:13:20 23:36 823 99 20 Stephanie Chow F 22 1:14:09 23:52 816 100 21 Tamara Forman F 24 1:14:10 23:52 826 101 8 Vivianne Israel F 57 1:26:24 27:49 872 102 9 Catherine Kokkinos F 54 1:26:25 27:49 885