# "When Chuck Norris does a pushup, he isn’t lifting himself up, he’s pushing the Earth down" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 11, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-chuck-norris-does-a-pushup-he-isn-t-lifting-himself-up-he-s-pushing-the-earth-down/714737 "2015-03-11T01:36:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-chuck-norris-does-a-pushup-he-isn-t-lifting-himself-up-he-s-pushing-the-earth-down/714737/21 "2015-03-11T21:51:04Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > So are these Chuck Norris jokes a rip off of The Most Interesting Man in The World? Or is it the other way around? The Most Interesting Man in The World ad campaign started many years after the Chuck Norris jokes. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-chuck-norris-does-a-pushup-he-isn-t-lifting-himself-up-he-s-pushing-the-earth-down/714737/22 "2015-03-12T00:00:02Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > So are these Chuck Norris jokes a rip off of The Most Interesting Man in The World? Or is it the other way around? They are believed to have derived from the[SNL Bill Brasky](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Brasky)sketches. Some of these derived from even earlier Superman jokes and the same general style of exaggeration that had been applied to particular characters in the past. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-chuck-norris-does-a-pushup-he-isn-t-lifting-himself-up-he-s-pushing-the-earth-down/714737/23 "2015-03-12T00:26:36Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > [5’10"](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001569/bio) is “quite short”? He’s only 5-10 in heels. ---
**Author:** ![Lee\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/aeb1de/32.png) [@Lee\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lee_Q)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-chuck-norris-does-a-pushup-he-isn-t-lifting-himself-up-he-s-pushing-the-earth-down/714737/24 "2015-03-12T00:30:21Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > It’s actually worse than that: Chuck Norris has counted to infinity. Twice. Hey, if we’re talking “worse”: Chuck Norris [endorses Mike Huckabee](http://www.westernjournalism.com/chuck-norris-picks-early-favorite-among-likely-presidential-candidates/#WXdIqc1XbruHorcG.97)as a presidential candidate. Talk about turning the earth on its axis…! ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-chuck-norris-does-a-pushup-he-isn-t-lifting-himself-up-he-s-pushing-the-earth-down/714737/25 "2015-03-13T13:08:03Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > They are believed to have derived from the[SNL Bill Brasky](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Brasky)sketches. Some of these derived from even earlier Superman jokes and the same general style of exaggeration that had been applied to particular characters in the past. And this is reminiscent of an earlier set of sketches about Mike Ditka and “Da Bears!” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-chuck-norris-does-a-pushup-he-isn-t-lifting-himself-up-he-s-pushing-the-earth-down/714737/26 "2015-03-13T14:26:53Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > So are these Chuck Norris jokes a rip off of The Most Interesting Man in The World? Or is it the other way around? Chuck Norris asks HIM to kick ass. He’s the most… ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-chuck-norris-does-a-pushup-he-isn-t-lifting-himself-up-he-s-pushing-the-earth-down/714737/27 "2015-03-17T09:30:43Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-chuck-norris-does-a-pushup-he-isn-t-lifting-himself-up-he-s-pushing-the-earth-down/714737/28 "2015-03-17T11:00:32Z")
I met him outside the Hollywood Wax museum based on an employees hint. This was late 80’s, his “Delta Force” exhibit was just opening. He was a very gracious guy. If I had to guess his height I would say 5’9". Since I met him though, no person has been able to reach his standard, and as such I have not been able to meet anyone since the late 80’s. Why do I even have a Linked-in profile? Fuck. Now I can’t meet my future wife. I’d better ask his permission to kill myself. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-chuck-norris-does-a-pushup-he-isn-t-lifting-himself-up-he-s-pushing-the-earth-down/714737/29 "2015-03-17T11:12:39Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > Yes, you’re all very clever. > > When you have a system of an Earth-Human, and the human does a pushup, he (or she, as the case may be) has to exert some amount of force to accelerate themselves away from the Earth. By Newton’s Third Law of Motion (Every action has an equal and opposite reaction), the same amount of force is applied to the earth. However, by Newton’s Second Law of Motion (Force equals mass times acceleration), you can see that the acceleration required to make Mr. Norris and his 100 kilograms of mass start moving is going to have an extremely small effect on the Early and its 6x10^24 kilograms. > > So yes, when Chuck Norris does a push up, he’s pushing the Earth away. The Earth is also being pushed away when you do a push up. It’s just moving away by something on the order of 10^-22 meters. Which is much less than the width of an atom, if I remember my “size of an election cloud” lecture from high school physics. I thought about that serious answer, but actually since the earth is not perfectly rigid, or even entirely solid, there are lots of way to dissipate or redirect the force of a human pushing down. I don’t think the earth gets any acceleration, just part of it gets slightly deformed (which actually sounds more cool). ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-chuck-norris-does-a-pushup-he-isn-t-lifting-himself-up-he-s-pushing-the-earth-down/714737/30 "2015-03-17T11:55:22Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > Are you a time traveler from 2005? In fact, I asked [precisely this question](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=447238) in 2007. Some fun answers there. Bonus points for those who answered in both threads without realizing it! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-chuck-norris-does-a-pushup-he-isn-t-lifting-himself-up-he-s-pushing-the-earth-down/714737/31 "2015-03-17T14:14:48Z")
The center of mass of the Earth would surely receive the appropriate acceleration. This shift in the center of mass would probably, as you say, be mostly due to relatively local deformation. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-chuck-norris-does-a-pushup-he-isn-t-lifting-himself-up-he-s-pushing-the-earth-down/714737/32 "2015-03-17T16:43:10Z")
People wear superhero pajamas. Superheros wear Chuck Norris pajamas. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-chuck-norris-does-a-pushup-he-isn-t-lifting-himself-up-he-s-pushing-the-earth-down/714737.md?page=1)