4 HIM beat the fartsack on this beautiful brisk 30 degree morning to burn of some calories so they can prepare to partake in a big meal with family and friends later today.
Warm-up
15 SSH, 15 Seal Jack’s, 15 Cherry Pickers, 15 Windmills, 15 big arm circles forward, 15 Backwards
The Thang-
The Burpee mile- Mosey to HOB 15 Burpees, Mosey to the old Norma’s for 15 more Burpees, Mosey up to top of the Hill you got it 15 more Burpees, Mosey to Milton elementary for 15 more burpees where we to a very short break for a 3rd of to touch on the 1st Thanksgiving. Then had to workout the Abs a little before heading back to the AO.
30 flutter kicks IC
30 American Hammers
30 LBCs
Mosey back to the AO into a stiff headwind going back up Mulberry street. Upon arrival at the AO with 5 minutes left the number 48 did not sit well with me so we hit another 12 burpees for a total of 60 burpees and somewhere in the neighborhood of a 2 mile mosey plus abs
1st light pole 25 monkey jumpers, lt xan to 2nd pole for 20 squats toy soldier to 3rd pole for 15 Bobby Hurley’s, butt kickers to 4th pole for just 10 burpees
Mosey around parking lot and picked a nice spot for ascending curb crawls bear crawl to opposite curb 1 derkin, bear crawl back for 2 derkins rinse and repeat until 10 deakins, a short break for a little message on leadership from former navy seal commander Leif Babin followed by 25 flutter kicks IC and a super toy soldier set 40 LBC, 30 E2K, 20 big boys.
Mosey on back to the AO it pays to be up front the first 4 HIM stopped at back lot on mulberry and picked up Chappie s sandbags and returned to his shed with the other coupons finished up with Count-0-rama, Name-0-rama and COT
Rain or Shine, Hot or Cold. Old glory posted, how about you?
The rain or shine, hot or cold F3 principle was proved today by 4 HIM. Yep, only 4! What was it that kept PAX away? Was it the Fartsack? (No doubt, that cozy warm siren always beckons toward the craggy shoreline of more sleep. The undisciplined are her perpetual prey. Get out your Taylor Swift CD and Shake It Off!) Was it deer taunting hunters? (Uh, huh! Kill buck, wipe the blood stripes on your cheeks like the blood-thirsty warriors you are, and we’ll see you soon. And, oh yeah, don’t forget to bring some penance jerky.) Was it that age-old excuse, “I’m having a baby? (We’ve heard that one a lot around here lately! Seriously though, congrats to Vanilla and his M for bringing baby #2 into the world. Olive is a beauty!) Was it the forecast of rain? (Remember men, a principle proven is a principle [genuinely] held.) Or, was it the heads-up YHC gave the night before that his 3rd F would be a message about getting naked? (Ah, yes, that’s probably what panicked some PAX into the inky shadows of fartsackville.) Well, whatever it was–perhaps the perfect storm of all of the above–we still had 4 men post in the cool rain. This was by definition a small workout group of men, becoming more invigorated leaders. So, the mission was carried out and one of our F3 principles was solidified. Here’s how it all went down:
Warm-O-Rama:
Warm-Up VQ well-executed by Semi! No problem amigo with the IC either–your cadence fears were unfounded! Great job, looking forward to what you bring to your full VQ.
DISCLAIMER CLAIMED
SSH – 20 IC
Windmill – 20 IC
Cherry Pickers – 20 IC
The Thang:
Indian Run (long way around the block) while passing a cornhole bag to the PAX coming from the tail. PAX were to find increasingly creative ways to pass off the cornhole bag. If it was dropped, all the PAX hit the ground for 5 Burpees — WE DID ALOT OF BURPEES! (recollection says about 60+!)
Back at the AO…
F3 Cornhole: Not PAX against PAX, but all PAX against the boards and the elements of wind and rain. (Thankful we didn’t pair up, because pity the team who ended up with you know who…. You had to be there. :-0 )
1 PAX tossed the cornhole bag, while all other PAX did called-for exercise and we just kept rotating
Bag on board ends exercise
Next throwing PAX picks new exercise, executed until cornhole bag lands on board
Bag in the hole = 10 count
We did several rounds of this fun workout game which included at least these exercises: Merkins(2x), Squats(2x), Shoulder Taps, Freddie Mercury’s, Dollys, LBC’s, etc.
On a side note…CHAIRMAN, would you plea, he, he, he, hease hit the board!! Oops! Did I say that out loud?
We took a breather in the middle for the following 3rd F Message: “You don’t need motivation, YOU NEED DISCIPLINE” is a phrase we’ve all seen memed in F3 circles recently. I’ve even sent it out and I think Vanilla has posted it on our F3FirstState Instagram. We tend to send out messages over GroupMe to MOTIVATE each other to post, but in reality it all comes down to DISCIPLINE. Because of that, over recent weeks you might have noticed I’ve laid off of the motivational messages to try to get men to post. I did that on purpose…until last night when I hit hard with a bunch of motivational stuff. The implication is in the following message on DISCIPLINE:
MIKE SINGLETARY – watching game films to prepare, would often watch a single play 50-60 times. He knew every tendency of opposing players. His legendary success was the result of his remarkable DISCIPLINED life.
EARNEST HEMINGWAY – was characterized by obsessive literary discipline, spending hours polishing single sentences, searching for right words. His discipline transformed the way Americans, and people throughout the English-speaking world, expressed themselves in literature.
LEONARDO DA VINCI – was so disciplined that on one occasion he drew a thousand hands.
WINSTON CHURCHILL – famous for being THE quintessential impromptu speech-giver, was more disciplined than most know. Churchill wrote out and practiced EVERY speech, choreographing even the pauses and fumblings for the right phrase. He practiced endlessly in front of mirrors. F.E. Smith said, “Churchill spent the best years of his life writing impromptu speeches.” He was a natural! …a natural at being a DISCIPLINED hard-working man!
And the list goes on!
“WE WILL NEVER GET ANYWHERE IN LIFE WITHOUT DISCIPLINE, BE IT IN THE ARTS, BUSINESS, ATHLETICS, ACADEMICS OR SPIRITUALLY.”
DISCIPLINE is exactly what Paul was talking about when he said to young Timothy “TRAIN YOURSELF TO BE GODLY.” (1 Tim. 4:7)
The word “train” is the Greek word “gumnos,” which means naked. From this we get our English word gymnasium. In traditional Greek athletic contests (from which the Olympics came), the participants competed without clothing.”
This was not some perverted practice; it was actually the outcome of DISCIPLINE. They competed naked, “so as not to be encumbered” by clothing. “Train” originally meant to “exercise/compete naked,” and Paul was calling for the same DISCIPLINE spiritually that one would exercise physically to compete at the highest possible level. He was calling for spiritual sweat; not legalism, but God-centered DISCIPLINE! “Just as athletes discarded everything and competed “gumnos” (free from everything that could possibly hinder them) we must DISCIPLINE ourselves to get rid of every encumbrance, every association, every habit, and every tendency which impedes godliness.” To excel “we must strip ourselves to a lean, spiritual nakedness.”
(Thoughts adapted from: Disciplines of a Godly Man, pp. 13-14)
HIM we “don’t need motivation, WE NEED DISCIPLINE.”
Ended with our finishing rounds of cornhole.
COT
Announcements:
Upcoming 2ndF – 2nd Annual F3 Christmas Gathering, hosted by Ruxpin and his M, Friday, Dec. 14th @ 6 pm. Watch GroupMe, word will be going out on other details.
Chickens for Haiti 5k/walk: Thanksgiving Day in Greenwood. See Waterfall for details (Waterfall, see YHC for 1 registrants cash — you gotta post if you’re gonna collect the dough bro.)
Prayers:
Praise for healthy delivery of Stretch & his M’s baby last Friday.
Prayers for Vanilla & M (Megan) as they’re anticipating their new arrival (she is here! Olive arrived prior to this writing).
Semi, continued search for a new job.
BOM
That’s it. Honored to Q it up again, even if it was only us 4 and no more. Shout out to Blacklung, a PAX in York, SC who posted about a cornhole workout, YHC merely borrowed and modified.
It was windy and wet but it was fun. A good beatdown too. Nugget, I took a page from your playbook, but you missed it all brother.
With that, get naked… i.e. STAY DISCIPLINED! YHC is not trying to motivate you or anything. Aye!
Indian run with last man doing scissor jump to bridge
Bear crawl bridge. Partner 1 bear crawls while partner 2 does 10 merkins, 10 squats, 10 lbcs then runs to other side of bridge before picking up and continuing to bear crawl where partner 2 was. Partner 2 runs to start and does exercises. Rinse and repeat until there and back.
Wosey to Second St. C2C (corner to corner). Short sprint from start of Second St to Shipcarpenter Square, stopping and planking in-between each roadway/intersection. The sugar rays hold a plank until 6 is in then sprint to next stop.
3rd F on “all it takes is all you got”
AYG (all you got). One pax gets in middle of circle and calls an exercise for all pax to do until he gives AHG (all he got). We did merkins, 6 inches, four count freddys and x’s and o’s.
Mosey to courts for COT and handing the shovel flag and site Q responsibilities to Leatherman!
“There’s a tenacity to persistence that’s easy to overlook. Day after day it just doesn’t let go regardless of obstacles. Dad (Truitt Cathy) was joyfully persistent; with his principles and his focus on excellence. The persistent leader is quietly tenacious and delightfully determined.” -Dan Cathy (CEO Chick-fil-A)
In my own life, I feel that I’ve always been persistent. However, to be joyfully persistent is a whole different story. I’ve spent most of my ambitious life “pissed-off persistent” if anything. I recently heard an Entrepreneur talk about the moment when he realized that he was committed to finishing what he started. He explained that if he was committed to finishing, than he might as well quit being angry through the process and choose to be joyful. Being “quietly tenacious and delightfully determined” takes an internal decision to choose “Joy” even in obstacles. So, with that, lets be joyfully persistent, quietly tenacious, and delightfully determined to finish this and every beatdown! Aye!
Nugget on Q Warm up20 SSH 15 windmills 15 cherry pickers 15 mountain climbers. Mosey to Milton park for the Milton Murph. We completed 3 out of the target 4 rounds, so we finished with 75 pull-ups/dips if needed to modify, 150 push ups, 225 squats and 1.75 miles!
3rd F was about how what we can accomplish together. Example was 2 horses could individually pull 8,000 lbs. But 2 together pulled 24,000 lbs. Lock arms with the men who are fighting the same fight and are in your corner and you’ll be amazed at what you’ll accomplish.
Mosey down to the Canal Public Parking we did 25 Merkins
Mosey a few stopped and did 25 Derkins
Mosey a few stopped and did 25 Erkins
Mosey did Wide Merkins
Mosey over to a Picnic Table near the Docks 25 dips some where in between these and the LBCs we had 3rd F message read below.
From there we mosey 25 LBCs
Mosey for some wall sits
Mosey to the water and did Some Carolina Dry Docks or as we called them the (Lewes Dry Docks ) stayed there for leg raises and E2Ks 25.
Finished with mosey back to the A/O .
We had COT and Name-O-Rama, welcomed FNG Wildwing
3rd F:
“ITS ALL IN YOUR MIND “
Whatever you hold in your mind will tend to occur in your life. If you continue to believe as you have always believed , you will continue to act as you have always acted. If you continue to act as you have always acted , you will continue to get what you have always gotten. If you want different results in your life or your work, all you have to do is change your mind.
-Anonymous.
So get rid of your old neg thoughts challenge yourself everyday. Do something you would have not done the yesterday. Keep showing up in the Gloom and striving to be better hen you were the day before.
This Backblast is so titled because as YHC was preparing his Weinke, he discovered it had been nearly a month since he Q’d a workout. Whaaat! GRIEF? Yeah, maybe a little grief because Q’ing is awesome fun and we all look forward to bringing the heat. There’s nothing like bringing a well-appreciated (chatter-filled/good grief) beatdown, and so when you don’t get to pull out the Weinke for a while…well, you COULD get a case of butt hurt (grief). GOOD? You betcha! The reason YHC hasn’t Q’d for nearly a month is because we’ve got a good flow of Q’s in the pipeline and the Q Schedule is packed. That is awesome, good grief! Fact is, Ruxpinhas already gotten in his warmup VQ and tomorrow (Sat. 10/27) at the Aegis (potentially in a Nor’easter) he’ll be getting in a full VQ, thereby putting him in rotation on the Q list. Calling all PAX – if you can make it in the Gloom, POST!
In the meantime, here’s YHC’s catchup from Tuesday’s workout: YHC went back to what has become a bit of a standard of measure for workouts at CHOP: The 4×4 – we keep going back to this one because it does show a measure of advancement. PAX can look back and [hopefully] say, “This time it wasn’t as bad as last time!” You against you! It doesn’t get easier, you get stronger. This workout is made up of 4 COP’s on 4 corners around the block. Here’s an image of the block…
Warm-O-Rama:
Disclaimer claimed
SSH – 18 IC
Windmill (Windsock if you’re watching Chairman!) – 10 IC
Low/Slow Squat – 18 IC
Cherry Picker/Crab Flipper – 18 IC
Shoulder Tap – 10 OYO
4×4 Introduced – Mosey to corner #1
The Thang:
Merkins Corner — Tobin & Union Streets:
Wide-Arm – 5 OYO
Diamond – 10 OYO
Regular – 15 OYO
Erkins (chest to curb) – 20 OYO
*All Merkins done continuously
Transition to next corner: Lt. Dans to light post (approx. 40 yds.), mosey to next corner.
Abs Corner – Mulberry & Tobin Streets:
X & O’s – 20 OYO
E2K’s – 20 each leg OYO
Dying Cockroaches – 60 OYO
4-Count Freddies – 35 IC
Transition to next corner: Bearcrawl to 1st Pole, Dragoncrawl to 2nd Pole
10 Count. Wosey to hidden pile of sandbags – a special stash for Leatherman! Partner up and share coupon for rest of 4×4 workout. Mosey to next corner…
Legs Corner – Willow & Mulberry Streets:
Smurf Jacks – 18 IC
Calf Raises – 30, toes in w/ Sandbag; 30 toes out w/o Sandbag OYO
Coupon Squats – 15 w/ Sandbag; 15 w/o Sandbag OYO
MJB’s – 30 OYO
3rd F Message:
Recently YHC was sharing with someone about doing some of the longer distance rucks (not to mention the usual 5k Rucks on Fridays) and the times we start, and their response was, “WHY?”
YHC has gotten the same response to EH’ing during my few years of doing F3 workouts, and you have too, when you tell someone the time we meet. It’s all good, their interest is peaked, they express interest, and may even say, “It sounds like just what I need.” Then the inevitable happens: You tell them the time and often even their countenance changes, right before they ask the same question: “WHY?”
There are practical reasons for why. The most obvious being the fact that we all have busy lives with family, church, work, school, hobbies, etc. The time we meet, 05:15 (a.k.a. O-Gawd-Thirty), is about the only time any of us have available to break free to get in what we enjoy here: some Fitness, Fellowship, & Faith. That’s probably THE practical reason.
One of the other reasons we meet at this time is simply because it is tough. It is hard to get up and out of the fartsack. That’s the reason WHY we do this thing…WE’RE NOT LOOKING FOR COMFORT!! Actually, we might be, but as I mentioned a while back, we make decisions against ourselves. Playing the part of King David in A Tale of Three Kings, Gene Edwards says nearly the same thing: “I judge my heart first and rule against its interests.” That’s because we’ve set our minds to do the hard thing, to “embrace the suck,” and it IS in fact the hard thing that most others simply will not do.
The whole concept translates easily to other areas of leadership in our lives, whether at home, the workplace, or where we’re serving in our communities. That’s why Paul compared self-discipline in ministry to the self-discipline an athlete must have to compete well and to win. In 1 Cor. 9:27 he said, “but I buffet (discipline) my body and make it my slave…” Also, what we do is comparable to the narrow gate Christ spoke of in Matt. 7:13, “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it.” Of course, He was talking about entering real life, eternal life. But it also applies in the sense that we’ve essentially decided against taking the broad or easy way.
YHC’ll wrap with a quote he recently wrote down because it aligns with all we do in F3: “If you want to build mental toughness you have to inconvenience yourself. …the early morning workouts; if you hate early morning, …the late night workouts; …the snowy, the cold (F3 principle: rain of shine, hot or cold)…the worst conditions you can get, put yourself in them, and make it really inconvenient. And then you start to get a genuine expectation of winning/overcoming in relation to the price you had to pay.” ~Chael Sonnen
(Btw, this is ALL long term stuff!) Think about one final thought when you face that daily battle, that first battle…and think about it every time you EH yet one more guy: “Do not regret the fight, pity those that never knew the privilege of it.” (The warrior Oath)
Aye?
Back to work. Transition to final corner: Mosey 50%, 75%, 100%
Full Body Corner – Union & Willow Streets:
Burpees – 10 OYO
Plank Jacks – 10 OYO
Flying Squirrel – 10 OYO
Mule Kicks – 10 OYO
*This last corner of the 4×4 always brings YHC near Splash mode
4×4 Complete, mosey back to the AO
COT:
Number-Rama: 11 PAX
Name-O-Rama
BOM: Announcements/Prayers
There you have it! Good chatter throughout and at the end. YHC will take that as a compliment. Thanks to Site Q, Chattahoochee for putting YHC on the Q Schedule! Yet, its never a problem to pass it on to the new guys to make sure they get regular experience. YHC loves that we keep building a strong list of Q’s — that’s leadership. Leaders leading leaders. Yet, YHC is always happy and humbled to Q an awesome group of HIM. Thanks for posting men!
The cold hit us hard for a chilly game of Captain Thor poker. We warmed up with a mosey around the block, some cherry pickers, and windmills.
Next was The Thang. Here are the rules. We divided into 4 teams. Each team started with 3 cards. The goal is to get the best poker hand. There were 2 decks of cards to draw from. We did a modified Captain Thor while working our hands in between. We started with 15 big boys and ran to the center of the parking lot. In order to draw a card, you have to roll the ball of suck (a dice with a bunch of exercises on it). After doing the exercise you rolled, you can draw a card for your hand. Next you run to the other end of the parking lot for 60 American hammers single count. You run back and forth doing the captain Thor descending while rolling the ball of suck and working our hands. Vanilla and summit won the game and the losers had to do 20 jump lunges. The fastest team got down to 4 big boys and 16 American hammers.
The F3 message was about parenting. Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
