Dr. Oz and Mark Wahlberg went head to head in a push-up challenge

And to think it all started over breakfast. For the past month or so, Dr. Mehmet Oz and Mark Wahlberg have been going at each other on social media over the most important meal of the day, and things finally came to a head with their highly-anticipated push-up challenge. Because how else do two dudes settle a breakfast beef than with a good old-fashioned fitness face-off?For those who missed the original trash talk, Wahlberg took aim at Dr. Oz for speaking in favour of intermittent fasting, aka a way to reduce calories by only eating during a short window each day. Wahlberg, who wakes up ridiculously early at 2:30 a.m. and has seven meals throughout the day, is against intermittent fasting and the keto diet, and he called the TV doc out for his recent proclamations that both are beneficial.“Listen, we got beef now. You don’t want this smoke, trust me,” Wahlberg shot back in a video. “If you wanna challenge me, I’ll come hung over, eat a big steak, and you can do your little 20 pushups with one leg, your assisted pullup, I’m telling you, you’ll need a defibrillator when I’m done with you, all right, I'm the real thing, this is 30 years of training. I can't even take my vitamins and digest them without any food. You got to eat that food. Food is your friend.”

 

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Grab your defibrillator, @markwahlberg. Tag, you’re it.

A post shared by Dr. Oz (@dr_oz) on Jan 16, 2020 at 10:00am PST

Never one to shy away from controversy—or publicity—Oz shot back with an Instagram video of himself doing one-legged pushups on an empty stomach (who knew the 59-year-old cardiologist was still so spry?). When Wahlberg saw the post he responded with a shirtless video and a challenge. “Come see me,” he said.

 

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@dr_oz see you soon!

A post shared by Mark Wahlberg (@markwahlberg) on Jan 17, 2020 at 9:26am PST

In the weeks that followed Dr. Oz told various outlets that the only way he and Wahlberg could settle their beef was in the gym, and so that’s exactly what they did. Wahlberg dined on an enormous breakfast of green juices, vegan pancakes, a burrito, and a few other goodies, and shared his meal with his followers before hitting his gym, F45, where he was scheduled to meet Oz.“All right, today’s the day I’m going work out with that little square, Dr. Oz, talking about the ketone diet and intermittent fasting three years after it got uncool… Check out my breakfast,” he said. “After I eat all this… I’m going to F45 and I’m going to squish that dude like a little grape.”

 

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@dr_oz I hope you’re ready. Eat up buddy, it’ll do you well.

A post shared by Mark Wahlberg (@markwahlberg) on Feb 27, 2020 at 11:20am PST

To say Oz was squashed like a grape would be inaccurate. Surprisingly the doctor held his own against Wahlberg, who is 11 years younger. The pair decided on a race to 59 pushups (for Oz’s age), and although Wahlberg did win in the end, he only beat Oz by a couple of seconds. But because this thing was clearly good-natured all along, they continued the smack talk until the very end. “We just gotta get a weed whacker, [those abs] are under there,” Wahlberg joked about Dr. Oz’s body hair.

 

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Chewbacca reporting in after the workout. No defibrillator needed for @markwahlberg! #TeamNoBreakfast . Tune in to the show Wed 3/4 to watch our workout!

A post shared by Dr. Oz (@dr_oz) on Feb 27, 2020 at 2:34pm PST

According to Dr. Oz, Wahlberg was at least impressed by his stamina and agreed to keep an open mind on the fasting front. “I can’t feel my body — but all worth it to bring @markwahlberg over to #TeamNoBreakfast (even if just for a day),” Oz posted on Instagram.Check out the push-up challenge in its entirety when it hits The Dr. Oz Show (weekdays, 4 p.m. ET, CTV) on Wednesday, March 4.