Author name: Chappie

Merlot? Hill No!

, , , , , , , , / Leave a Comment / CHOP, Milton, DE / By

DATE: 3/14/19

QIC: Chappie

We’ve a pain location nicknamed “O Hill No!” due to the nature of the beatdowns which have occurred there, and, it’s a hill. Don’t tell Vanilla but the first use of that hill was prior to his being jumped-in to this gang we call F3. The workout involved some cindy coupons that Santa had left at the bottom of the hill because he found no Christmas Tree nearby — he had to leave the blocks somewhere! Still, Vanilla gets some credit because the first beatdown he Q’d there left the PAX saying, “O Hill No!” and so the hill was dubbed. However, right next to that location is a portion of Behringer Ave. which for obvious reasons was dubbed Merlot Hill (as was the FNG so named that day in March 2017). He promptly got married and moved up to O-H-I-Ohh…the extent to which some will go so they’ll NEVER have to post again! Lol, just kidding, YHC has kept in touch with Merlot and HE still talks about that humbling day. Anyway, you had to be there. Yet, from time-to-time YHC tries to recreate the aforementioned (language borrowed from Wildwing) experience. Here’s a little of what that looks like:

WARM-O-RAMA:

  • SSH – 20 IC
  • Imperial Squat Walkers – 10 IC
  • Cherry Pickers, Crab flippers, Hairy Chiggers – 18 IC
  • “Swartz Jacks” – 18 IC (Combo of Seal Jacks + 4-count SSH’s YHC’s beloved gym teacher taught in elementary school)
  • Suzanne Somers – 30 out, 30 in OYO
  • Drydocks – 40 OYO (butt up, Chairman!)
  • Low Slow Squats – 10 IC

THE THANG:

Indian Run mosey to the bottom of the hill at the intersection of Behringer Ave. & Chandler St., nice easy pace then picked up last 1/4 mile.

Round trip 2x = 1 mile

11’s (Merkin Merlot March Madness) from the pole at the bottom to the pole at the top of the incline. 1 Merkin at the bottom, 10 at the top. 2 Merkins at the bottom, 9 at the top. Rinse & repeat until reaching 10 at the bottom, 1 at the top.

PAX moved from bottom to top/top to bottom with a variety of mix/match transitions: Mosey’s, Lt. Dan’s, Nur, Accelerating Man, etc.

3rd F Breather:

Indian Run mosey return to AO, picked up the pace crossing over Union St., into the Willow St. entrance to the CHOP AO.

Still 7 minutes on the clock? What the what?? Time to intro some new ones borrowed from “Band of Brothers” [extras] :

Atomic Sit-ups: PAX in sit-up position, side-by-side, right arm over top & left arm under. PAX do sit-ups in-sync — Up then 3rd of way down, back up. 10 Reps.

Caterpillar Merkins: PAX all in 1 line, feet on shoulders of man behind you (Chairman, pleeeeease plank…get your butt out of my face!). In sync, IC. Surge “Up!”, “Down.” 10 Reps.

Great push by all 9 PAX who won THAT FIRST BATTLE and posted. Hey, Bo Derek, where were you? Broke out the shorts with a nice taste of Spring. Let’s go warm weather! Great time to EH and rescue the Sad Clowns. Record breaking PAX numbers are near future. So, post and post regularly.

By the way…was there Merlot today? O Hill no!

COP/BOM:

  • ANNOUNCEMENTS: “Shamruck” this Sunday (St. Patty’s Day). Georgetown Circle @3:17 p.m. Bring the whole family, wagons, strollers, etc. Easy ruck. Fun time. Great 2ndF between all our families.
  • PRAYERS: Chairman’s parents: Brenda/Denny, healing; Doubtfire’s daughter, Leah; Waterfall’s sis-in-lo, Leah

That’s about it. Appreciate the opportunity to Q it up!

Chappie, out!

John Q’sack

, , , , , , , , , / Leave a Comment / CHOP, Milton, DE / By

Ten HIM won that first battle this morning to post in the Gloom, only to wait for the 11th man—our missing Q. Semi? Semi, hello? You there? Guess not. And after all that sandbag chatter? Well, hang tough brother. Sometimes things happen that side-track us, keep us up all night, or whatever. We had your back and Bo Derek (10 of us) went right to work and put together what turned out to be a seriously great baton-pass beatdown. Keep the Weinke you had prepared, sounds like you had a good one planned! (BTW…we bust your chops because we love ya bro!)

YHC is not going to even going to come close to remembering all the pieces of the puzzle, but here’s most of the skinny:

Warm-O-Rama:

PAX circled up and took turns bringing some heat to get us limbered up and going. No, Chairman, you DID NOT forget your Q (though we should’ve just run with that and had some fun at your expense). Let’s see, we did… SSH, Windmill, Cherry Picker, Merkins, and Moroccan Night Clubs—all IC (log in and enter missed warm-up exercises here: _______________________)

The Thang:

PAX went to the wall and suffered some beatdown there at the hands of Waterfall, Leatherman, Chattahoochee, & who else?

  • 1/4 – People’s Chair/MJB’s – Waterfall
  • 4×4 – 4 Merkins, 4 Mt. Climbers, 1 Burpee (10 rounds) – Leatherman
  • Capt. Thor 1/4 ratio of Big Boys/AH’s up to 40 – Chattahoochee
  • Who/What else? Insert here: _________________________________

Vanilla took it from there and mosey’d us short way around the block with a complement of Lt. Dan to first power pole and Bearcrawl from second power pole to Union St. Fireplex threw in the beloved Dragoncrawl to Chiropractor’s Sign then a semi-inverted Toy Soldier set on Chappie’s front lawn before bringing us back around. (YHC will have to invest in some no trespassing signs!) No recollection of what we did from there to the Grace Church sign? But from there Wildwing put a good pace on the mosey to continue around the block to the corners of Tobin & Mulberry Streets where PAX circled up again.

At Tobin & Mulberry we had a short 3rd Word from Doubtfire, sharing how God has been meeting him in some life circumstances through Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God.” (NASB) “Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at Me, your High God.” (The Message). Supremely great counsel from the Word of God! “Sit down and shut up.” (The Doubtfire Paraphrase Version)

Wildwing added to the discussion by asking PAX to name what it is they do as soon as they get out of bed in the morning. Responses were—as any could imagine in a circle of men—interesting! But our brother brought us back around to the advice shared by Admiral William McRaven: “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. If you make you bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day.” Check out the full video here:

https://youtu.be/U6OoCaGsz94

Fireplex, again, jumped into action to get us swigging from his legendary bottle of Bolt 45 before we realized we were down to 5 mike mikes. Get back Jack! Mosey return to the AO, traffic stops and all.

COT/BOM:

  • Announcements: Last day for FebNG (Thanks for the reminder, fellas!); 12th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade & 5k – Milton on 3/1
  • Prayers: Chairman’s 2.0

YHC is sure to have missed someone or something (he can’t even remember what he added to the beatdown), but it was an awesome exhibition of Sua sponte leadership at work in the absence of today’s Q (Cf. Lexicon). Every PAX took ownership of the situation and it turned out to be a pretty doggone good burner!

What’s missing? Look closely, you might come up with a Semi-good idea? Ha, ha!
Q’sacking iss vaddy, vaddy bahd!

Privileged to write it up.

Chappie, out!

Cover Q

, , , , , / Leave a Comment / Lewes, Primis / By

QIC: Chappie

Date: 2/27/19

YHC had the honor of taking a cover Q since Leatherman’s work schedule was taking him upstate and preventing him from bringing the beatdown. He put it out there early…apologies from all the PAX for taking so long to respond. But, you know we got you covered. Summit had to be elbowed out of the way to get in the front of the line (thanks Summit!), but YHC was honored to step in and cover for Leatherman! YHC had been planning some ideas for the Primis AO for awhile, which prompted the step up. The hospital parking garage was centered in his sights for a serious ab beatdown (its been a long time since we had one), but a modified Weinke was in order to allow Ruxpin (on IR) to participate. The plan: lay off the heels (so, no mosey) and limit the foot action (abs are par for the course, then).

Warm-O-Rama:

  • SSH – 20 IC
  • Calf Raises – 30 in, 30 out OYO
  • Cherry Picker (bc cherries fall on the ground) – 20 IC
  • Merkin – 18 IC
  • LBC’s – 50 IC (lot’s of ’em)
  • Imperial Walkers – 18 IC
  • Mosey park path toward public restrooms, up the steps and back around to AO tennis courts.

The Thang:

1 round of “Ferkins” (so named by Chairman) – instead of ring of fire, exercise was executed on a fire line — lined up, feet on top of tennis net, 10 reps each PAX.

Routine: YHC lifted the Ab Deck from home, and it all went down like this:

  • Draw a card (each card marked with specific Ab exercises), do the ab exercise. Several of the ab sets (lower numbered cards) were followed by “20 seconds of insanity” – extending the time, doing LBC’s as fast and as furious as possible for 20 secs.
  • Transition around the tennis courts between each deal – Karaoke, Nur, Fiddler Crab (halfway), Dragon Crawl (halfway). Never made it to the Paver Squats, Lindsey Vonn’s, and Apollo Ono’s.
  • RUCK Modifier designed for Ruxpin (instead of transitioning around the tennis courts): Overhead Hold/OH Press/1-arm Squats/Crab Plank/Ruck Swing/Alternating Ruck Merkin). Look what you missed Ruxpin!!

Took the 3rd F Breather here:

We talk about leadership, especially in men’s circles and in circles where we speak of “iron sharpening iron” (Prov. 27:17), we often borrow ideas, thoughts, & principles that express values which are prevalent in the military, where leadership is developed around potentially life/death situations.

After having served nearly 12 yrs in the ARNG I’ve seen some of the best leaders–men I’d follow anywhere. But I’ve also seen some of the absolute worst (those familiar with Band of Brothers, think of LT Sobel). Personally, I’ve been both—a good leader and a failed leader. I can say that even those failed experiences sharpened my ability to lead. It’s crucial that we continually learn from those experiences, from those who failed to lead well, and most importantly from those who did lead us well. We should not only borrow from their examples and teaching, but strive to live out the good examples.

Some of greatest military leaders come from the special operations realm. They have the most grueling assessments, evaluations, and training just to be picked to join their ranks. Then the real training begins. There’s alot of leadership training, and it’s the mental toughness that seems to count the most. When my nephew was going through Ranger School I told him a few times to “never give up what he wanted most (becoming a Ranger) for what he wanted in the moment (rest, relief, relaxation, food, etc.). We ALL do that too easily, too often! In fact, it’s the easy road!

Here’s four of the most important and valuable lessons one operator shared from his training and experiences in special ops that I think all leaders should adopt/develop:

1) ADAPTABILITY: Readiness for change. That’s why we’re “disrupters” as F3 HIM. We’ve declared in varied ways that we’ll not settle for the status quo. We’re following the lead of others who’ve brought about change, we’re following after an amazing servant-leader Savior who disrupted the religious status quo and brought about change in our understanding of how to have a relationship with Sky-Q (Soul Q, I say). And we’re each striving to be leaders who do the same. In order to do that, we must first train ourselves to be adaptable. Status quo kills! Jesus spoke of this when He said you can’t put new wine into old wineskins (Mt. 9:14-17)

2) EMOTIONAL STABILITY: This involves being able to make good decisions under pressure. Proverbs is chocked full of wisdom to help us develop the capacity to stay objective and deliver the same level of performance regardless of what we’re feeling. Important to us? Yes! But crucial to gaining, earning, keeping, and honoring the respect of those we lead! Proverbs 16:32 says, “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.”

3) PERSPECTIVE: Leaders have to be able to carry on when the world seems to have turned against them. We have to keep our troubles in PROPER perspective so that we do not lose sight of what needs to be accomplished. In a world full of lone rangers, keep in mind that “in an abundance of counselors there is victory” (Prov. 11:14b). And “Without consultation, plans are frustrated” (Prov. 15:22). We’ve got to train our perspective, and often other eyes/wisdom/counsel is crucial to helping us see properly.

4) TENACITY: This goes well with the acronym we’ve heard a lot lately – DFQ! What defines tenacity is never giving up! ILLUST.: In the 1912 Olympics, Jim Thorpe, an American Indian from OK represented the U.S. in track & field. On the morning of his competitions, his shoes were stolen. Jim ended up finding two shoes in the garbage. Those are the shoes he wore — one was too big, so he had to wear an extra pair of socks (different shoes and different socks!). Wearing those shoes Jim won 2 Gold Medals that day. A perfect reminder of tenacity and that you don’t have to resign to the excuses that have held you back.

So, these are 4 valuable tools every leader should develop consistently they lend to being HIM:

  • ADAPTABILITY.
  • EMOTIONAL STABILITY.
  • PERSPECTIVE.
  • TENACITY.

Let’s be the HIM we’re called to and develop these valuable & powerful tools in our own lives.

YHC hade more for the workout but how in the world did it get to be 05:59? While YHC’s Weinke was blowing away and being promptly rescued by Wildwing, the 18 Burpees Joker card was pulled from the deck for a finale: 18 Burpees OYO. Time ran out so we circled up.

COT & BOM:

  • Announcements: It’s still FebNG, bring your FNG’s. Burpees are due next Tuesday 3/5. Don’t Fartsack because you’ll still owe them anyway!
  • Prayers: Denny & Branda Hughes (Chairman’s parents); Bob Cate member of Chappie’s church at Beebe); Leo (Chattahoochee’s brother)

As always, honored to lead. Appreciate the 6 PAX who overcame the Fartsack and won that first battle to post at “O-Gawd-Thirty” in the Gloom. Its a tough battle for many, but no one’s ever regretted posting. Aye?

Chappie, out!

3 Years. 3 Stops. 500 Reps.

, , , , , , / Leave a Comment / Aegis, Georgetown / By

QIC: Chappie

Date: 2/16/19

When YHC chimed in to volunteer to Q on this date, he had a couple things in mind. 1) That it would be near his 3-year manniversary, and 2) It would also be near the Daytona 500. With that he had to adjust after realizing it was a Saturday workout, not a Thursday as he initially thought. (The plan was to use the traffic circle at H.O.B. in Milton as a mock track for our own sort of “Daytona 500.”)

Enough said, the PAX met in Georgetown at the Aegis AO for a Saturday workout celebrating YHC’s 3-Year Manniversary. Thanks to all the HIM who posted and a special welcome to FNG Mrs. Doubtfire. Great to have a new brother among us! And, yes, we’ll drop the “Mrs.” Reeeelaaax! In honor of FebNG and assuming the credit for bringing the FNG, Vanilla executed 2 Burpees as we circled up.

Here’s how the rest of 3 years, 3 stops. And 500 reps went down:

Warm-O-Rama:

  • SSH – 18 IC
  • Imperial Walker – 10 IC
  • Smurf Jack – 15 IC (No, YHC cannot start Smurf Jacks in the Seal Jack position.)
  • Calf Raises – 30 (TI), 30 (TO) OYO (plantar fasciitis prevention?)
  • Cherry Picker, Crab Flipper, Hairy Chigger – 15 IC
  • PC Merkins – 10 OYO

The Thang:

PAX were gathered at the edge of the traffic circle. Each man ran a timed lap of the circle for “Pole Position.” Tclaps to Vanilla for winning the pole at 29 secs. The Pole Winner would be the first to run steps at our 3 COP’s (Circle Of Pain) along the workout route. Plus, each man was supposed recall his own pole time at the end of the workout and execute the corresponding number of Burpees. YHC conveniently forgot about that by end of workout. There’s always tomorrow.

———————————————————————————————————————

Mosey to 1st Stop — Steps on backside of County Bank

Pole Sitter (Vanilla) commences to run up steps & back down while other PAX did Seal Jacks, switch out with next PAX. Rinse & repeat until an accumulated 500 Seal Jacks are completed. Oh, come on! It was only approximately 72 Reps/PAX

YHC shared 1st portion of 3rdF Message:

3rd MANNIVERSARY: Three years ago this weekend I went to my first F3 workout after my buddy Wade (Nunchuk) put the EH on me to check it out. I want to share a few things I’ve gained from F3–things that kept me coming back: FITNESS – This is the “why” for any man who comes to an F3 workout. This one speaks for itself, but here’s where I came from: Spent just short of 12 years in the ARNG, and always stayed in great shape. I had that carrot (APFT) to motivate me. But I got out in April 2001. That’s 15 years with only a few short bursts of exercise BUT NO FITNESS. F2L (Freed to Lead) notes the difference: F3 “…is about fitness, not exercise…we’re far more focused on staying in shape. Getting in shape is a sprint fueled by the enthusiasm of a change for the better, but staying in shape is a marathon sustained by discipline and near-maximum effort virtually every day of a man’s life” (36). “Train yourself…”

———————————————————————————————————————

Mosey to 2nd Stop — Steps on front of ARNG Armory

*Pit Stop: Dragon Crawl, NAPA parking lot

2 PAX at a time, Vanilla & Nugget got us started running up, then back down the steps to switch out with PAX doing Merkins. Rinse & repeat until an accumulate 500 Merkins is completed.

YHC shared the 2nd portion of his 3rdF Message:

FELLOWSHIP – This is “why” any man keeps coming back. At the first (and every subsequent) workout all the other men kept encouraging me; they kept encouraging one another! In a matter of terms, each was saying, “Brother, you’re the reason why we’re here” (F2L 20). Afterward we all went to coffeeteria, and I knew I’d found something I’d been longing for–the camaraderie experienced that day. I’d found a group of men serious about locking shields and serious about going steel-on-steel like Prov. 27:17: “Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Through F3 I’ve gained deep friends in SC, here, and deep bonds in a lot of other places. The common problem that F3 solves (and why men keep coming back) is that men “forgot how to make friends.” “We could make friends when we were boys. We watch our sons do it now. Somehow, by the time we’re adults, we lose our grasp on that elemental skill” (F2L 50). To be honest, it’s an even greater challenge for me as a pastor, so I found F3 to be the perfect solution for curing the embarrassing problem of loneliness. Again, this is the common problem among men–not just among pastors. It’s also the reason we need to PROTECT and PROMOTE the 2ndF more. “Because the fellowship acts as the glue for F3, protecting and promoting the 2ndF is critical. Erode the fellowship and the PAX will come unstuck from the workout” (F2L 25). In another portion of F2L you read this: “Life..is all a mountainside that you either climb up or slide down, a little bit every day…F3 may be a better way for you to keep climbing. The plateau thing? That’s a myth” (F2L 38). Personally, F3 has helped me to keep climbing!

———————————————————————————————————————

Mosey to 3rd Stop – Steps on Side of County Admin Building:

*Pit Stop: Lt. Dan from power pole to power pole

Pole Sitter commenced to Bear Crawling up, then Crawl Bear down the steps, then switching with next PAX. Rinse & Repeat until an accumulated 500 Squats are completed.

YHC shared the 3rd portion of his 3rdF Message:

FAITH – Some of you may think the 3rdF (the way we do it) is BECAUSE I’m a pastor. But I want to tell you the ratio is significantly offset between the number of PAX who are pastors and those who are not. Many of the AO’s out there operate just like ours. The faith YHC personally expresses is NOT part of my life because I’m a pastor. I’m a Christian man first (God just happened to call me as a pastor) and my contribution to the 3rdF’s we have, gives me (each of us) an opportunity to share where true and lasting strength and leadership comes from. As far as the overall mission of F3, “To plant, grow, and serve small workout groups of men for the invigoration of male community leadership,” I keep coming back because I’m NOT a born leader. Leadership is a skill developed by learning and exercising leadership. I’ve continue to gain so much from others’ (yours) thoughts, insights, AND exercise of leadership. F3 has sharpened and invigorated me personally as a leader. And I hope to be able to say I’ve offered you the same in return, so that we’re all better leaders in our homes, workplaces, and communities in which we serve. For 3 years now different aspects of the Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith have taught me that “despite our easy lives, we need something hard to do, something to reach for” and so this incubator of leadership has trained me and been a catalyst for pushing through hard stuff in life. But where it counts most, I’ve learned to be a better husband and father. THAT’S WHY I KEEP COMING BACK!

———————————————————————————————————————

Mosey return to AO at the traffic circle

2 Minute Abs to wrap up the workout – 20 secs each non-stop (AMRAP) :

  • Knee to Elbow Crunches
  • Flutter Kicks
  • Scissor Kicks
  • Dying Cock Roaches
  • Gas Pumpers
  • American Hammers

That’s the deal. 3 years. 3 stops. and 500 reps (in honor of Sunday’s Daytona). Honored to Q and glad to be able to keep at it after jumping in as an FNG 3 years ago. Here’s to another 3, at least! Appreciate all the PAX posting and making the workout worthwhile. Appreciate all you guys.

Number-Rama – 7 PAX including FNG, Doubtfire

Name-O-Rama

COT/BOM

  • Announcements: Crayons & FNG’s, bring ’em. Crayons accepted until Friday 2/22 when we’ll ruck them to Milton PD to contributed to Faryn Adams’ collection to give to child patients at AI and other local hospitals. Remember, crayons are worth 1 Burpee/box and FNG’s are worth 2. Time is ticking, let’s get those crayon’s
  • Prayers: Chairman’s mom, Brenda; other requests concerning some HIM in PAX’s lives who are facing health battles

Chappie, out!

Aye!

And Now, the News…

, , , , , , , , , , , / Leave a Comment / CHOP, Milton, DE / By

QIC: Chappie

Date: 1/18/19

Okay, so you watched the Name-O-Rama video, and if you weren’t there (one of those “you had to be there” moments) you’re probably asking, “Friendly New Whaaat??” Btw, we should’ve taken that elusive selfie.

Yep, there was a young lady who joined us in the Gloom this morning! She and cameraman, Beau, were kind enough to show up from WBOC to do a story about @F3firststate. Beau had to stay behind camera but before we knew it Sydney was right there, courageously jumping into action to workout with the PAX. She brought our number to the “Dirty Dozen” so, yes, we named our Friendly New Gal later in the COT. Welcome Scoop! No worries Nation, she was here to do a story, our story. We did mention FiA and if she’s ever able to get something started in Salisbury, MD she’ll have quite the story to tell about how she’s already been named. Come to think of it, that’d be a great location for F3 as well. Did someone say Mustard Seed? Yeah! Anyway, no matter what the camera shows, here’s how it all went down:

Warm-O-Rama:

  • SSH – 18 IC
  • Crab Flipper (a.k.a. Cherry Picker) – 10 IC
  • Windmill – 15 IC (courtesy Vanilla)
  • Seal Jack – 18 IC
  • Shoulder Tap – 10 IC (courtesy Ruxpin)
  • Smurf Jack – 15? IC (courtesy Summit)
  • Shoulder-Tap Merkins – 10 IC (But they didn’t count! YHC, seriously fouled that up. Anything to make the PAX laugh.)

Did YHC get all that with accuracy? Hope so.

The Thang:

  • Paver Pass – PAX each grabbed 1’x1′ paver from the stack, and restacked them on the baseline. PAX passed pavers down the line, doing American Hammers, while 1 PAX Mosey’d around the 4 cones and back. Routine was gladly Omaha’d about half-way thru from AH’s to Squats. At one point, PAX read various quotes written on each paver while working through this routine.

Quotes: Act Like Men. You’re Never Out of the Fight. Push Yourself Further & Farther. DFQ (Don’t Freakin’ Quit). You Don’t Need Motivation, You Need Discipline. Find An Excuse to Win. No Guts, No Story. Do the Hard Thing. Engage in Consistent Action. Leadership is An Action. Success is Not Final, Failure is Not Fatal. Eager to Learn, Eager to Lead.

  • Paver Drive: (Partner up!) 1 PAX “drives” the Paver (holding paver out front, driving left/right), while other PAX mosey’d around the 4 cones. Four rotations. From Cone 3 to 4 each PAX did one of the following on return to switch with partner: Dragon Crawl. Bear Crawl. Fiddler Crab. Crawlbear.

3rdF Message. PAX circled up at the half-way mark. Here’s what was shared:
YHC’s humble addition to what follows from Q Source: I believe LEADERSHIP was one if the things the Apostle Paul was referring to in 1 Cor. 16:13 when he commanded them, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, ACT LIKE MEN, be strong.” All of those are in a tense (present imperative) that tells us Paul was not addressing momentary attitudes but continuing state.

Of the things that were absent (Wakefulness  Stability, Manliness, and Strength) and therefore addressed, acting like men has come under serious fire this past week by Gillette. Yet, here, God says it in His Word: “Act like men!” Again, I believe he was talking about leadership. He gave this command literally to counter the immaturity apparent among the Corinthian men. It was the culture that was part catalyst to make them that way. There was an absence of manliness, maturity, and responsibility… hence, LEADERSHIP, and so Paul commanded the men to “ACT LIKE MEN.” Be the man. Be mature and responsible. Be the leaders that GOD has called you to be!

———————————- FROM Q SOURCE… “Leadership is a skill that a person must learn and master during their lifetime rather than an attribute of their character with which they are born. As a skill, it is like learning to play the piano. If it were an attribute, it would be like having blue eyes or a square jaw. Because it is a skill, a person must commit to learning to lead in the same way that they would learn to play the piano. The degree to which they will ultimately master it will depend both upon their natural ability and their willingness to practice. Because we are all born with some leadership ability, even a man with very little natural skill can still be an effective leader if he is willing to practice hard. But a man who will not practice at all will never master the skill even if he is born with the heart of a lion. The decision to become an effective leader is volitional. No one else can make it for you.” To continue reading see the Q Source at F3Nation.com

Back to partner pavers…

  • Paver OH Press Squat: 1 PAX does POHPS while partner mosey’s to Cone 3 for Burpees before completing loop and switching with partner. Burpees at cone 3 per round: 4, 3, 2, 1.
  • Paver Sunday Drive: PAX 1 Sunday “drives” paver Easy Like Sunday Morning (shout out to the Commodores) around all four cones before switching out. Partner holds Plank while other is driving. 1 round per PAX.

5 Minutes of Mary:

  • Flutter Kicks – 20 IC (courtesy Chattahoochee, of course)
  • Big Boys – 15 OYO (courtesy Summit)
  • E2K’s – 20 per OYO (courtesy Chairman)
  • LBG..uh, C’s. LBC’s – 20 OYO (courtesy Wildwing)

Great push by all the PAX today, including FNGal, Scoop! You’re one tough cookie! Maybe Beau was hiding behind the camera? Just kidding, Beau, just kidding…we wouldn’t want you to “accidently” lose your footage from this morning. Seriously, a huge and humble thank you to both of you for posting, putting together a story on F3firststate, and helping us put F3 on the Delmarva map. Your willingness to take on this project at O-Gawd-thirty is awesome! It’s amazing for each of us to watch our own fitness and leadership transition, and just as amazing to see that transformation taking place in the men who join us. “Iron sharpens iron.”

Number-Rama

Name-O-Rama and naming of FNG

COT:

  • Announcements: Nugget on Q in the Gloom at the Aegis.
  • Prayers: Ruxpin’s M, Shawna had appendix removed late last night. Chairman’s Mom, Brenda (ankle infection), and Dad, Denny as he faces medical testing
  • Tclaps to Semi for being a good partner to our FNGal!

And Now, the News: Sydney (F3 Scoop) and Beau stuck around to give an interview. YHC can only hope he said something half decent. Shout out again to Chattahoochee & Fireplex for making this happen. Not our normal schedule, so thanks to all the PAX who allowed me to lead them by posting on a Friday!

That’s it.

~Chappie, out!

Happy? Burpday

, , , , , , , / Leave a Comment / CHOP, Milton, DE / By

Date: 12/18/18

QIC: Chappie

Eight PAX broke the Fartsack chains and set off to the CHOP AO to start the workout week on a HIM note. Shout out to our peeps with the sleeps…you’re keeping us below the double-digits. Let’s get back to the discipline of posting regularly–we’re counting on you! (As PAX were getting ready for the workout by stretching and chatting, mention was made concerning the great quality of the 2nd F Christmas Party on Friday night. Someone mentioned that “we should do more of this!” YHC couldn’t agree more. Let’s make that happen.)

YHC had all kinds of plans for a board-game style of workout, but time and tyranny (the tyranny of the urgent) tied him up multiple times on Workout Eve. (“Board Game” is gonna have to wait for a later date.) No complaints on the tie ups, just some crises to help people through, added to a prior scheduled meeting. With that, YHC went in another direction with what turned out to be a Weinke-less workout. To the best of YHC’s recollection here’s how the whole thing went down:

WARM-O-RAMA:

  • SSH – 18 IC
  • Plank – 10 Count
  • Seal Jacks – 18 IC
  • Low Plank – 10 Count
  • IW – 18 IC

Mosey long(er) way to HOB via Union & Clifton Streets. Upon arrival at H.O. Brittingham Elementary, YHC shared the following the 3rd F Message:

The 3rd Word:  
Gather ten pennies sometime, shake them up in your hand, and pour them out in front of you. See if all ten come up “heads”. It’s not likely, so you’ll have to try again…and again…and…How many tries would you guess it would take to see ten Lincoln heads in front of you? I’m sharing this with you because I want to point out the validity of the Bible. Fulfilled prophecy verifies the fact that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Looking at prophecies which preceded Jesus by hundreds of years and seeing how He fulfilled them in every detail reveals the authenticity of His claims. It’s Christmas, so that’s what I want to focus on this morning:

PROPHECY: Micah 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem, though you are small among the clans if Judah, out of you will come one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times.”  (That was written in 700 BC)

FULFILLMENT:  Its fulfillment was recorded in Matthew 2:1 “Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea.”

PROPHECY: Isaiah 7:14 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”  (That too was written in 700 BC)

FULFILLMENT: and it was fulfilled by Jesus, as recorded Matthew 1:18  “His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.”

There’s a much longer list than that which dates many more prophecies to 500, 900, and 1000 years BC! I shared only those two because I want you to think about them this Christmas. But here’s my point, John 3:13 says, “And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, even the Son of man.”

Still wondering about those pennies and how many times you’d have to toss them to get all heads? On average, a person will have to pour out those coins more than a thousand times before he can expect to produce all “heads” even once! (That’s 1000 to 1!)

Think of ten pennies as ten prophecies concerning the promised Christ. Would you consider it coincidence…or convincing proof…if any one individual fulfilled all ten? How about if there were 20? Or what about 50?Here’s the amazing news: During His earthly life, Jesus Christ fulfilled more than 300 specific OT prophecies concerning Messiah! John’s gospel begins by telling us this: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…and the Word put on flesh and dwelt among us….” That’s the most concise summary of how God became a man to save us. It’s called the incarnation; it’s what we celebrate at Christmas! It was news first shared by an angel to some shepherds (i.e. regular guys) on a hillside outside Bethlehem. They rejoiced in the good news, went and proved its validity, and then went about sharing the good news of a great joy that a Savior was born for you! And HIM are regular guys who take this truth, prove it for themselves, and then pass it on to their families…and friends (because it’s news that changes them forever!). Or, you could say (because it’s more catchy) that HIM are wise men who still seek Him!

(Penny Illustration adapted from Christian Businessman’s Publication Finding the Way p. 8, 10)

The Thang:

PAX paired up on the sidewalk along the HOB entrance retention pond where YHC introduced Burpback Mountain: 

  • Partner 1 did Burpees while partner 2 mosey’d to the bottom, then Nur’d back to the top of the hill on the side of the retention pond, then switched. Partners did the rinse and repeat until 100 Burpees were completed.

YHC was tempted to go to the “Wall alley” on the back side of the school, but time prohibited an extended leg beatdown there. Next time.

Mosey return to the AO.

  • Bearcrawl/Merkin Ring of Fire – PAX circled up, took turns Bearcrawling around the outside of the circle until each had a turn; PAX in the circle did Plank, Merkins, HR Merkins, etc. 
  • 5 Minutes of Mary

COT

  • Announcements: Christmas Services at Crossroads Community Church(see Fireplex). Christmas Services at Grace Church (CHOP AO, see Chappie). Bring Diapers, baby wipes, baby vitamins for the homeless mother & child mentioned by Waterfall. NOTE: It’s the most wonderful time of the year to EH those Sadclowns. Hit ’em up and get ’em out while their making resolutions. Let’s pursue our F3 mission to plant, grow, and serve…
  • Prayers: Friend of Chairman’s who was revived after being found OD’d in a ditch last Friday. Homeless mother and child, etc.

BOM

Truly appreciate this group of men! As always, YHC was honored to be able to Q it up and lead the PAX for the first workout of the week. Awesome to be able to tap into a relatively untapped area that’s part of this AO — the new HOB. It was indeed a Burpday! BUT was it really happy? That’s the question!

~Chappie, out!

Tres Amigos Reforzar

, , / Leave a Comment / Aegis, Georgetown / By

Date: 12/1/18

QIC: Chappie

Three PAX (Tres amigos) posted on a fairly mild morning to bring in the 1st of December by “Stepping up” (reforzar). You’ve heard the phrase, please pardon my French, well this is YHC’s shot at Spanish, which he doesn’t know, but if you do and his is wrong, just go with it. The type of workout was more of a slow-burn but it’s theme was stepping up: Stepping up in the workout and stepping up our 2nd F game a bit. Allow me to esplain…

THE WARM-O-RAMA:

  • SSH – 10 IC
  • Imperial Walker – 15 IC
  • Cherry Picker – 18 IC
  • Flying Squirrel – 10 OYO
  • Peter Parker – 10 IC

Mosey around the County Admin Building to the STEPS on S Bedford St. side

THE THANG:

Each PAX:

  • 10 Calf Raises – 1 PAX does calf raises, runs up/down steps, switches with next PAX
  • Mike Tysons – Other PAX did Mike Tysons while calf raises and step runs were complete – AMRAP 
  • Rinse & repeat 3 rounds (Tres amigos)

Mosey to STEPS in front of National Guard Armory

All PAX:

  • Jump steps to top, run down – 50 American Hammers (single count)
  • Jump steps to top (wide legged, thanks Summit), run down – 50 E2K (each leg)
  • Crawl Bear steps to top, run down – 50 Gas Pumpers
  • Jump steps to top in reverse, run down – 50 American Hammers (double count)
  • Jump steps to top, run down – 50 E2K’s
  • Jump steps to top, run down – 50 Gas Pumpers
  • Crawl Bear to top, run down

Mosey down Front St. to W. Laurel to the STEPS on the backside of County Bank. (Steps. Anybody seeing a theme? …reforzar.)

Each PAX:

  • 1 PAX run up/then down steps, then switch with next PAX
  • Squats – AMRAP
  • Merkins – AMRAP
  • Rinse and repeat 3 rounds

At this point, we took a breather for the 3rd F:

Tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent , so I figured I’d share a message about Christmas for our 3rdF. (Advent = Coming. Christmas season celebrates the anticipated birth of Christ and it anticipates Christ’s 2nd coming). One of the most well-known Bible verses in connection to Christmas is found in Luke 2:14, which says, “GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST, AND ON EARTH PEACE AMONG MEN WITH WHOM HE IS PLEASED.” 

I didn’t become a believer until I was 21. Growing up my only church experiences were on Christmas Eve. I still remember the ambiance and PEACE of those services, the smell of hot-cross buns baking, and the PEACE of my family going to church together–there was peace, everyone got along. Christmas is about peace!

In Basic Training we were sent home for what is known in the Army as Christmas Exodus. While it felt “wrong” to go home for a break half way through Basic Training, it was a time of PEACE…peace was the sense. Even our 1st SGT and Senior Drill Sergeant came in peace, as they were assigned to take several of us to the airport. Guys who were normally yelling and barking orders at us, were actually friendly while taking us to the airport. It confused us a bit. But, then again, Christmas is about PEACE.

At Christmas men/women tend to act differently towards one-another…we tend to act in PEACE. Romans 12:18 says, “If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” That verse tells us that PEACE is not just for Christmas time. In fact, Christmas is about the “child born to us,” who, according to Isaiah 9:6-7, was to be called the “Prince of Peace.” That means PEACE is a practice which is derived from God Himself through faith in Christ. What’s interesting is that Christ Himself later said, “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Mt. 10:34). So how do we reconcile that with Luke 2:14: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” First, we cannot rely on things which bring both false and temporary peace (that’s NOT the peace Christ is author of). He came to give us peace with God, with heaven, and in our very souls and consciences; peace with the Holy One whom we Wholly offended by our unholiness! So, secondly, God’s peace (true peace) is LIMITED to those who are recipients of His grace–those who receive him by faith in Jesus Christ. As the saying goes: “No God, no peace. Know God, know peace.” Christmas is the celebration of the very birth of peace and the source of peace WITH GOD. And if any HIM is going to be a man of peace himself (not JUST at Christmas), it must start by him first being a follower of peace personified. That should give us something to think about as we go through this Advent/Christmas season. Christmas is about peace.

YHC had announced along the way at each STEPS pain station that there was a plan in mind. Here’s where the plan was announced: We need to step up our 2nd F game a little. YHC challenged the PAX to make it back to the AO in 3 minutes, and if we did we were cutting the workout at 45 mins. in order to partake of some 2nd F.

We made it back with a minute to spare…looks like we’re going to get some coffee!

COP:

Number-Rama/Name-O-Rama/Announcements/Prayer

BOM

Ending 15 minutes early was the plan all along. PAX are generally so busy Saturday mornings after workouts that too often the 2ndF Coffeeteria is neglected. YHC figured out a way to subvert that tendency: Cut the workout at 45 mins and go from there. YHC declared he was buying coffee and breakfast for the Tres amigos, so off we went.

Mosey to Georgetown Family Restaurant.

Coffeeteria

P.S. – Keep an eye on the check. YHC was going to pay, but Fireplex stole it and wouldn’t give it back! Come to think of it, keep an eye on your Weinke when he’s around! Seriously, thanks to Fireplex for covering breakfast. And thanks to both Fireplex & Summit for good conversation over breakfast (i.e. the rest of y’all missed out–the Fartsack will do that to ya!). Good fellowship guys!

Honored to lead!

Chappie, out!

Wet. Naked. Cornhole. It’s Not What You Think

, , , / Leave a Comment / CHOP, Milton, DE / By

Date: 11/13/18

QIC:  Chappie

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!

~Chappie, out!

Good Grief

, , , , , , , , , , / Leave a Comment / Milton, DE / By

Date: 10/23/18

QIC: Chappie

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, Ruxpin has 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:

  1. Wide-Arm – 5 OYO
  2. Diamond – 10 OYO
  3. Regular – 15 OYO
  4. 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:

  1. X & O’s – 20 OYO
  2. E2K’s – 20 each leg OYO
  3. Dying Cockroaches – 60 OYO
  4. 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:

  1. Smurf Jacks – 18 IC
  2. Calf Raises – 30, toes in w/ Sandbag; 30 toes out w/o Sandbag OYO
  3. Coupon Squats – 15 w/ Sandbag; 15 w/o Sandbag OYO
  4. 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:

  1. Burpees – 10 OYO
  2. Plank Jacks – 10 OYO
  3. Flying Squirrel – 10 OYO
  4. 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:

  1. Number-Rama: 11 PAX
  2. 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!

Chappie, out!

Aye!

0.0 Mike Mikes

, , , , , , , , , , , / Leave a Comment / Milton, DE / By

Date: 9/25/18

QIC: Chappie

Once again a “dirty dozen” HIM posted in the Gloom, even with the threat of rain. That shouldn’t be surprising. After all we post rain or shine, hot or cold. That’s a great lesson for life in and of itself–i.e. circumstances and conditions should not be given a whole lot of power over us.

The Backblast title says “0.0”—this was as a result of a request by one of the PAX who injured an ankle and needed a low-run to no-run workout. Well, there you have it. But it was a workout nonetheless! Here’s how it went down:

Warm-O-Rama:

  • SSH – 18 IC
  • Parker Peter – 10 IC
  • Crazy SH (CSH) – 18 IC (Thanks Mr. Swartz, YHC’s elementary school gym teacher. He always taught is SSH’s this way! Addition to the Exicon? Who knows.)
  • Plank Jacks – 18 IC
  • Calf Raises – 30 OYO (toes in)
  • Calf Raises – 30 OYO (toes out)

The Thang:

PAX paired up after counting off by 2’s as instructed by YHC for some unknown reason. Duh, huh, huh! Anyway, after a brief intro to the workout stations around the AO parking lot, PAX commenced to the no “mike, mikes” (slang for miles) beatdown.

Here’s the list of stations:

  • *Timer: Box Jump Squat – 10, Curb Steps – 10, Flying Squirrel – 10, Side-to-Side Line Touch – 10 (*This station was used in lieu of a timer, upon completion, PAX rotated to next station–approximately 2 mins. per round)
  • Ruck – OH Presses/Ruck – Curls, AMRAP
  • Ruck – OH extended while woseying around lot
  • Bearcrawl/Crawlbear – Around parking space, AMRAP
  • Log Press/Log Upright Row – AMRAP
  • Sandbag Sit-ups – AMRAP
  • Parking Line Burpees – AMRAP
  • Single Leg Hip Thrusters – AMRAP (on park bench…this was punishing)
  • Paver Drive – AMRAP (Also punishing, they burn! PAX held pavers straight out and turned left/right, like driving, for the duration of the round. YHC hopes the messages motivated some push.) Here’s an image of the infamous pavers…

3rd F Message shared a couple of rounds in:

As much as those in the military experience that in training and in battle conditions, and as much as athletes experience it while training and more so in competition, and as much as we experience here in the Gloom, those thoughts are made real as we experience them day-in and day-out—they’re lived out by us all.

In fact, I would even add that it is those real-life experiences of suffering and hardship that are really training us to be faithful.

Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:3-9,
“Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained.”

I love that, Paul, here in Scripture, speaks in terms that we can understand. Here’s the takeaways on this one. Paul was talking about Kingdom values vs. World’s values. He said,

▪Suffering/hardship is normative, not just in training, but in everyday life (in ministry!). Can you imagine that? Well, it’s the rule rather than the exception!
▪ We endure it, however, because we understand there’s a greater purpose behind ALL suffering. So wherever it’s taken you, focus on the bigger purpose, the eternal—do your job in order to please the ONE who is carrying you through it.
▪It’s meant to sharpen and purify you. To strengthen you. It’s meant, in the context of this passage, to make you a greater witness to Jesus Christ. “No guts, no story!” Right?
▪After all, if you won’t quit and walk away when things get tough, others are gonna want exactly what you have. Add to that, no cheating! No short-cuts!
▪Pain IS only temporary—that’s a reality taught us EVERY TIME we show up in the gloom and workout. Here it’s only 45 mike, mikes. In life it may be a day, a week, a year, etc. Enduring it builds muscle, but in greater ways than just physically. It builds muscle emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and in return WE BECOME BETTER LEADERS AT HOME, AT CHURCH, IN THE WORKPLACE, AND IN THE COMMUNITIES IN WHICH WE SERVE.

That’s why we use slogans like:
▪DFQ – “Don’t Freakin’ Quit!”
▪”Embrace the suck” (Embrace it because it is normative! Paul: “Suffer hardship with me”)
▪”Find an Excuse to Win!”
▪And, yes, “No guts, no story.”

That’s about it. The pain actually was temporary—it only lasted 45 mins! Well, actually, post-workout chatter implies that it’s lasting throughout the day. Yep! YHC will take that as a compliment! It was great to see everyone pushing hard today, even as we partnered up it was still a “you against you” kind of day.

COT/BOM:

~Announcements: Get your flyers for the Grace Church Father/Son Campout ~Prayers: Lifted up Chris and Lifted up Bethany, along with other young people trying to figure out life.

Chappie, out!


Scroll to Top