Upper and lower lift plates (5, 6) are used in a mechanical cup pushrod (1) to set the valve clearance. Here, the lower lift plates (6) have a substantially greater clearance adjustment range HSW than the upper lift plates (5). It is thus possible to reduce the total mass of the cup pushrod (1) further, because, when the cup pushrod (1) is first fitted, the valve clearance is set via the relatively small lower lift plate (6), hence with relatively low mass fluctuations.