The way I look at it which is kinda overly simple is you are creating a ripple in the medium you are pushing or pulling and that ripple is moving at the speed of sound for whatever the medium is made of.

Big enough objects over large enough space/time act much like liquids do, both with movement acting like a fast moving ripple and the natural slow movement/flow( takes thousands to many millions of years slow) on its own driven by its own gravity I believe like the Earth's deep layers.