5 strong 💪made it out to Carmel High this morning. The beat down was a little more timid as we mostly stayed in place hopping over (and over and over) our imaginary curbs. It was great to see our friend Burgundy in town from Eugene!
Disclaimer Given
Warmup: 10 sun gods 10 windmills 10 hill billies 10 SSH 10 MTN Climbers
The Thang: Crawl Bear to 50 and back or modify with bear crawl, crab walk…
At goal line: 10 merkins, hop over goal line & back, 9 merkins… go to 1 (Once finished option to hold Plank, Al Gore, or ask the person next to you what number they are on and complete exercise with them) Repeat with 10 plank jacks 4 count… Repeat with 10 LBCs 4 count
Run lap around track
Again with with 5 burpees & hopping down to 1 Repeat with 5 bobby hurleys Repeat with Rowers
Run lap around track
Again with 10 American hammers & hop down to 1 Repeat with 10 squats
Timer went off. Pax asked “Are we done?” and YHC said yes… done with that but there’s time to for another Crawl Bear to the 50 and back. What fun!
1. a cooking appliance with a rotating spit for roasting and barbecuing meat.
2. F3 Definition of Rotisserie – You #$% is in for a Beatdown !!
PAX moseyed @.63 miles to the first pain station at MFD and completed 30 American Hammers in a four count cadence.
Moseyed from the FD @.49 miles to 514 Chestnut St. where we completed a toy soldier set of 100 LBC’s, 50 E2K’s each side and 25 Big Boys.
Moseyed .22 miles from 514 Chestnut to WBOC (OTS) where all PAX Bear Crawled for @8 parking spaces (@80 ft.) and completed ATM’s – 15 alternating shoulder taps (4 count), 10 tempo Merkins (4 count), and 10 fast merkins OYO. PAX Bear Crawled back (@80 ft.) and completed another evolution of said ATM’s.
Moseyed .21 miles from WBOC to 611 Federal Street where we completed a descending round of Super 21 without any recovery exercises between the rounds. 21 merkins, 21 LBC’s. 20 merkins, 20 LBC’s, etc. descending through the round of 15. Time was a factor and Q challenged each HIM to complete the descending rounds to 1 merkin, 1 LBC OYO at home.
Moseyed 1.16 miles from 611 Federal Street back to CHOP. Total – 2.71 miles overall mosey, not counting any mileage accrued for those that circled back to bring up our 6.
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Prayers were offered for multiple needs within the attending PAX, but please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.
Chappie hosted coffeteria for all HIM in the Church Fellowship Hall. Thanks to Quattro for donuts and extra coffee.
Maybe it was the dumb voices I did. But the kids used to love it when I read “Winnie the Pooh” to them. Tigger with his irrepressible “hoo-hoo!,” bouncing everywhere. And Eeyore with his head down and his ever-present gloom.
I’d rather be Tigger than Eeyore. Maybe without the bouncing. I want to be the one who leaves sunshine in the room, not storm clouds.
That’s not so easy. There’s plenty to make us Eeyores. Overheated schedules. Grumpy folks. Medical battles. Family tension. Too little sleep. Long delays. Aggravating pain. Aggravating people.
Then there’s the antidote. Thanksgiving. Well, actually, giving thanks. That may be the difference between being the joy-bringer or the joy-killer.
The “inventors” of our Thanksgiving exemplify that difference. According to H. U. Westermayer, “The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than those who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.”
There’s Thanksgiving the holiday. Then there’s thanks-living, the lifestyle. It’s the difference between the dirty window and the blessing glasses.
When I look out a dirty window, the whole world looks yucky. Even the really good stuff is dimmed by all the caked-on dirt that’s coloring my view.
If you’ve decided your role in life is “victim,” it will be hard to see much that’s positive through that window. Abused … neglected … abandoned … misunderstood … passed over … wounded – that’s real hurt.
But to let those who hurt you define you is a self-imposed sentence of despair. Denying the many good things because they don’t fit the victim narrative. Living as a prisoner of your past.
Unthankfulness, for whatever reason, breeds some ugly offspring. In Romans 1, God describes how humans end up doing unthinkably depraved things – and where that downward slide starts. “They wouldn’t worship Him as God or even give Him thanks … their minds became dark and confused” (Romans 1:21 NLT).
Unthankful heart -> dark mind. Bitterness … resentment … depression … anger … rebellion against God. They come from an ungrateful heart.
Yes, you can choose to go through life looking out your dirty window, seeing all that’s wrong. Or, you can choose to put on your blessing glasses. That enables you to live – not in denial of the bad stuff – but celebrating the goodness of God all around you. If you have eyes to see it.
Henry Ward Beecher, said: “The unthankful heart … discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as a magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!”
And those blessings are always there. The ever-changing masterpieces of the Ultimate Artist all over the sky, the yard, the horizon. The smile of a friend, the laughter of a child, the roof over your head. The food in the fridge, the song of that bird, the car that runs, the job you have, the person who cares. We call them “God-sightings.”
Actually, thanks-living isn’t just an option for a follower of Jesus. It’s a command. “Always be joyful” – how am I going to do that, for heaven’s sake? “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16, 18).
When you look at life through blessing glasses, all kinds of good things blossom. Joy that’s from what’s happening in your spirit, not your situation. Peace that banishes anxiety. Faith that sees a God who’s bigger than whatever is bigger than you are.
Thanksgiving’s a great time to become intentional about collecting blessings, not burdens. Living “with gratitude in your hearts to God.” To “do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:16-17).
For me, that thanks begins, not at a turkey-filled table. But at an old rugged cross. Where I once again allow myself to be leveled by the love of my Jesus. Who took my hell. So I can spend forever in His heaven.
Thanksgiving – and thanks-living – begin with the love that will never let me go.
4 strong got in some cardio today as tomorrow is the Gobbler Challenge and anticipation is that it is going to be brutal. (Gobbler Challenge is Thursday, 7am, Carmel High, see you there?)
Warm up: 20 Moroccan Night Clubs 20 Imperial Walkers
The thang: Run to DLI. On the way we mixed in some mountain climbers (IC) and side straddle hops. On the way back we did some crawl bear and bear crawls down a steep hill. All in all we ran about 2.6 miles or so.
Did a warm up on the circle and headed to the soccer field at St. Michael. Teamed up to do 100 dry docks, 200 squats, and 300 LBCs. One PAX did the exercises while the other ran across the field and back. Then we went to the parking lot at Georgetown Presbyterian. PAX planked up and took turns running to the other side and doing 10 burpees.
The PAX special requested that I put my message up for you all.
Message Title: But I Found None!
Ezekial 22:29-31
“The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the immigrant without justice. And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath.”
The Context: This was a message of judgement from the Lord to the Jewish people in Jerusalem. Murder, extortion and incest had become a prevalent and accepted part of their culture. God would judge them for the prevailing evil in their society.
The Wall: The wall here is not referring to the physical wall around Jerusalem. The physical wall would protect them against foreign forces but not against God’s judgment. The wall that need repaired and defended in this verse is a spiritual and moral wall protecting their society and culture from the judgment of God. Without a man to fix and defend it, the Jewish people were defenseless against God’s wrath.
The Search: God was looking for a man, not a woman or child. This is because God needed a strong leader to repair the wall. In this case, He was looking for a man to stand up and say NO to the prevailing evil in the culture of Jerusalem. The Apostle Paul may have had Ezekiel 22 in mind when he wrote “Be watchful. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong.”
One Man: Notice that God did not need an army or a committee. He only needed a single man strong enough to stand up to the evil in the culture and spare the city from God’s wrath. The great and shocking tragedy is that God couldn’t find a single man strong enough to do that. EVEN WHEN YOU STAND ALONE, GOD CAN USE YOU! It only takes one man with the strength to say NO!!! to the popular evil in whatever culture he happens to find himself in. Will you be that man?
The Contrast: Notice the difference between how God through the prophet Ezekial describes a strong and courageous man compared to how our popular culture does. The popular singer Harry Styles recently posed in Vogue magazine wearing various feminine dresses. Newspaper headlines around the western world were quick to give their approval. Harry Styles was declared to be revolutionary and courageous. God sees a strong and courageous man as one willing to oppose the popular injustice in the culture, even when it means standing alone. Our newspapers see a strong and courageous man as one willing to wear a dress. We all live in a culture. All of our cultures have various evils of some kind that are popular and accepted. What kind of man will we choose to be?
YHC can’t stay the full 30 on Saturdays so YHC must figure out a way to pump a 60 min workout into 30 minutes and then wish the PAX farewell as they continue on with the pain. YHC thinks he pulled it off with in the “warm-up” with 100 reps of some of our common warm-up exercises.
Also, we welcomed our first FIA today. Welcome Mac Attack! We hope this helps grow F3 and FIA in the area so that we can all get better!
Disclaimer Given
The “warm-up” 100 Moroccan Night Clubs 100 Imperial Walkers 100 Seal / Overhead claps 50 Copper head squats 50 LBC (4 count) 50 Fairy jacks Welsh Dragons, starting at 5 reps (Merkins, Plank Jacks, and Shoulder Taps) and counting down
The thang Run to 50 15 Burpees OYO Run to Other Endzone 15 Burpees OYO Run to 50 15 Burpees OYO
Repeat above with 10 Absolutions.
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, COT (I think, I was not there)
6 strong, including one FNG (welcome Spike!), made it out to the gloom this morning by Del Monte Beach. Little did they know when they woke up that they would start to wish people no longer responded to “Good Morning!”
Warmup: 55 Moroccan Night Clubs 50 Seal/Overhead clap combos 20 windmills broken up by the first “Morning!” reply from a jogger… Sharkbait gave YHC the idea of having the pax do 5 burpees everytime a person walking/jogging by replied to YHC’s “Good Morning!” greeting…. 10 Hillbillies
The Thang: Mosey… about 5 people replied over the mosey to “Morning!” greetings so we did about 25 burpees along the mosey. At plaza we did 50 SSHs in cadence. Crawl bear to the other end of the plaza. 50 more SSHs in cadence. Modified mountain climbers in cadence. Mosey again… and you guessed it. Lots more “Morning!” burpees. 20 dips along the wall, mosey some more and more “Morning!” burpees. We ended at the start and did some more SSHs, burpees, and plank to close it out.
8 strong at Carmel High today. Welcome FNG Happy Gates.
YHC has been telling everyone he knows about F3 and with so many soft commits it was nice to see one come out today. I have a feeling he will be a regular having said he heard about the group on the Art of Manliness podcast a while back and was interested in joining up a while ago.
Disclaimer Given
Buy me a boat warm up 10 neck rolls / reverse 20x Seal Claps Shoulder rolls Windmills Calf raises Jump rope
Lovin Hunting Fishing – SSH and burpee with 3 pushups every time Luke Bryan says Lovin Hunting Fishing
Run to other endzone.
Live like you were dying tim mcgraw
Something to be proud of On all 4s. Reach arm up 10 each side Shoulder blades together Then left arm / right leg – out to the side and down 4 count On belly – left head and arms
Live like you were dying: LBCs and every time it says “Live like you were dying” do a bobby hurley (5 in a row at the end)
Team up 50 / 50. Crawl bear 50 and back. If one team member has to put knee or elbow down (IE not on all 4s) then entire team does 5 burpees – even on the turn around.
Stay in team: Everyone does Big boy situps – at top do a thrust up at bottom do a thruster (alabama prom date) while one person from team runs to 30 and back. 4 rounds.
Stay in team: Absolution (Up plank, low plank, Groiner,, Chilly Jack (plank jack on elbows), back to high plank) one person runs to 30 and back 2 rounds
Cirlce up again
IC – Q calling it – 10 Merkins ./ 10 air presses… to 2… but then at end do 10
Not-So Lazy Boys – We only did a few… was not working for the Q
Run football field a few times, Plank until end of time.
4 strong made it out for what seemed like the first day of winter in the area. Cold and damp with the wind blowing and the sky constantly changing. It reminds me of Chicago.
Disclaimer Given, Mission read.
Warmup: 20 Sun gods 20 Tea Pots 50 Moroccan Night Clubs 50 Seal Jacks 10…Jump Squat Holds (As a group, perform jump squats counting down from 10 to 1. Then hold an Al Gore counting down from 10 to 1. Repeat starting at 9 then 8, etc…) 50 LBCs Plank fest: Side plank for 30 Dying Cockroach (On back, legs, arms, neck up) for 30 Side plank other side for 30 Regular shoulder plank for 30 Army Pushups for 30 High plank then Pike up and reach for toes (alternate) for 30 Hip dips (elbow plank and drop hip to ground alternate side) for 30 Slow mountain climbers Fast mountain climbers
The Thang: Line up on 100 : X reps of the following exercises with 1 person run to the X yard line and back , others pax does the exercise:
50 Mike Tysons, run to 50 75 Groiners (hands off the ground), run tp 75 300 Gorilla Humpers, run to 100 300 Big Boy Sit-ups, run to 100 300 Toe Taps, run to 100
