City Lights:

By the end of this column, you’ll know how many push-ups I can do in a minute and a half. There, if that isn’t a catchy lede, I don’t know what is.

The other week, I got an e-mail from Chana Warnock, a Huntington Beach resident helping to publicize an upcoming benefit for American veterans. The Training Spot at 440 Main St. will hold its first Pushups for Charity event April 10, inviting contestants to solicit pledges and compete to do the most push-ups in 90 seconds.

All funds raised will go to the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit that supports disabled U.S. troops back from overseas. The charity, founded in 2002, provides everything from job training to family counseling to backpacks full of clothing and toiletries for hospitalized veterans.

One hundred health clubs and fitness studios nationwide plan to hold Pushups for Charity events in March and April. The organizers are asking all contestants to request pledges of between 50 cents and $1 for every push-up completed during the contest. Their goal is to raise nearly $500,000 — although, of course, that number depends on how physically fit the contenders are.

So, out of respect for our returning veterans, I signed up for Pushups for Charity this week. And hopefully, come April 10, I’ll have more stamina than I did Monday.

That afternoon, I stopped by the Training Spot to interview Warnock and gym owner Paul Fetters, whose father, brothers and nephews have all served in combat. Plans for the contest were still sketchy, but Fetters and Warnock anticipated giving away prizes for the most sponsors, most money raised and most push-ups per gender and age group.

I consider myself a fit man, but everyone has their lot in life, and mine is to be skinny. I’ve pumped weights, devoured protein and done everything else imaginable to look like Vladimir Guerrero, and none of it has done a lick of good.

Upon hearing about Pushups for Charity, I was intrigued to know how many repetitions I could pack into 90 seconds. So once my interview was done, I changed into workout clothes, hit the mat and asked Fetters and Warnock to count.

As it turned out, I did stunningly well — for the first half-minute or so. As I rapidly completed 20, 30, 40, 50 push-ups, Warnock excitedly told me I was going faster than one per second. Then reality set in. My lungs gave out, my taut arms turned into quivering masses of Jell-O, and I strained my way to 65 before collapsing face-down on the mat.

Still, the timekeepers told me they were impressed, maybe because they really meant it, or maybe just because I looked like I was about to cry.

But, as they say in low-budget thrillers, this ain’t over. A month from now, I’ll be on that mat outside the Training Spot, aiming to reach 66 push-ups or more.

City Editor MICHAEL MILLER can be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at [email protected] .