7 PAX rolled in ready to get their sweat on this Gloom. A lot of chatter about two strong Qs back to back with Fireplex and Leatherman bringing the heat Tuesday and Wednesday. Pressure was on…
Warm-a-Rama
SSH- 15
Cherry pickers – 15
Moroccan Night Club- 15
Bolt 45s- IC
Standing to half way- 15 .
Half way to full squat- 15
Full squats -15
SSH- 15
Mosey to Ace parking lot.
Split into 2 groups.
1st group – 4x4s oyo
2nd group – Nur across lot. Lt Dan back.
Groups switch once all Pax return
Rinse and repeat for 2 rounds.
Mosey to Dr office lot.
Pair up
One partner stays and does exercise while other runs circle around dr office. Switch when partner gets around circle. Group Totals. PAX keep count.
Total of 150 dips on curb.
Once finished dips move on to total of 500 flutter kicks.
3rdF- I had a message typed out that was on my heart. About consistency in all areas of life and how true High Impact Men stay consistent to develop trust, always add value and lead from the front. But when I arrived to the AO this morning I opened up F3 nation and when I selected QSource a message popped up from nearly two ears ago written by ‘Dancing Idiot’ on ‘the Q’
Immediately when I read it I thought of our local leader , Chappie , who with out him I wouldn’t be here today at 5am preparing to start my day with other Men who likely have been influenced by him as well. We are grateful for you leading the way in your Chappie style. And excited to expand F3 throughout the state with your guidance. Maybe it was fitting he was on vacation today, but we all appreciate your vision and have grabbed ahold of it ourselves. Each of us are better because of it.
The Super 21 as it appears in the Exicon. 1 Merkin to 1 Big Boy Sit up. 2 Merkins to 2 Big Boy Sit-ups. 3 Merkins to 3 Big Boy Sit-ups, etc., etc., etc. But wait there is a twist….after each set completed of #1 though #5 complete 21 Imperial Walkers. After each set completed of #6 through #10 complete 21 Mountain Climbers. After each set completed of # 11 through #15 complete 21 Monkey Humpers. After each completed set of #16 through #20 complete 21 Prisoner Squats. After the final set of 21 Merkins & 21 Big Boys then finish strong with 21 Burpees.
Q received multiple reports of the loss of “Rump Skin” due to PAX choice of completing the set on the asphalt instead of the available wet grass that was just steps away. I think our FNG dodged the bullet on this one when he received his F3 name…:)…Welcome Ruxpin…..
F3 Message
Q spoke about several characteristics of leadership as gleaned from an article by Thomas A. Merrill as it appears on fireengineering.com. “Mr. Merill is a 35-year fire department veteran and a former chief of the Snyder Fire Department in Amherst, New York. He is a fire commissioner for the Snyder Fire District. He served 26 years as a department officer including 15 years in the chief officer ranks. Merrill recently completed five years as chief of department. He has conducted various fire service presentations throughout the Western New York area as well as at FDIC. He also is a fire dispatcher for the Amherst (NY) Fire Alarm Office.” Mr. Merrill stated that ” it is important for leaders to exercise good judgement and strive to lead their department in a positive manner; otherwise, so much of what I call wasted energy is invested in leadership quandaries that can truly bog down an organization and prevent good work from getting done. It can also cause good people to leave.” This observation can be applied to any business, group or organization. Mr. Merrill went on to identify 8 “must have” traits that all leaders should possess. The first is ownership and responsibility for any success or failure. The ability to admit mistakes, be accountable, and move forward. The second is consistency. “A good leader will do jobs for which he is responsible in a consistent and regular manner, all while maintaining a positive attitude. The third is being tired. “All leaders should expect to be tired. Simply, if you are doing your job as a leader, you will be tired.” You may need to put in the extra time and effort to accomplish tasks with excellence. The fourth is a positive example. “All great leaders have learned to lead by their own personal example. “Learn to lead by the power of your example, not by examples of your power.” The fifth trait is organization. “All leaders need to develop an organizational plan that works for them. Find a system that works for you and strive to be as organized as possible.” The sixth is Integrity. “People are watching you all the time; they pay attention to what you say and how you handle yourself. Once it’s lost you may never get it back. A leader without integrity is certainly not a professional in any organization.” The seventh identified trait of a great leader is honesty. “Coupled with integrity, honesty is equally as important. Don’t ever think your people won’t know if you lie to them. Similar to losing integrity, once you are branded a liar, it sticks to you forever and your people will lose all trust and confidence in you. It’s okay to not have an answer to a question. It’s okay to not know how to do something. It’s not okay to make up answers and pretend to be something you are not. Be upfront and honest with your membership at all times, and don’t ever lie to them.” The last trait identified by Mr. Merill is trust. “All good leaders are trustworthy. Your members must know that you have their backs at all times. They need to know that when you tell them you will do something or get an answer for them, you will follow through and do it. Learn to gain your members trust, and more importantly, work hard to maintain it.”
Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, possessed all of the traits identified by Mr. Merill and so many more. As a leader and teacher he was judged and scrutinized mercilessly. He humbly served and provided the ultimate sacrifice in laying down his life so that we might have the opportunity to choose everlasting life. Is he your President, Chief, Chairman, CEO…..??
James 3:1 New King James Version (NKJV) 1 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.
James 4:10 New King James Version (NKJV)10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Matthew 20:26 New King James Version (NKJV)26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Welcome to FNG (Ruxpin). Prayers the Savini Family, Betts Family, and Sanders. Please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers as we go about the business of being HIM.
What happens when you buy sidewalk chalk at Family Dollar (not a commercial) and pick up a prescription next door at Walgreen’s (not a commercial)? You discover a yet-to-be-minted F3 pain station. YHC couldn’t believe these two walls separated by about a 20′ alley-way had somehow been overlooked for the past 2+ years, even after working out in and around the parking lot so many times. How’d we miss this grand station of a beatdown location? Who knows! YHC noticed it a few weeks ago and could hardly wait to get his Q on and personally introduce it (like a new found friend) to the rest of the PAX from the Milton Mustard Seed CHOP AO – Semper anticus! Well, this little “canyon” or “valley” IS ON THE MAP NOW! YHC will tell you all about it. In meantime, what say ye, men? Shall we call it The Valley of the Shadow of Death (even though there really was no “walk” through it) or Death Valley(because it was so doggone hot and there was no air)? The place will live up to its name either way. Here’s what it looked like after the Gloom — YHC had to go back and get a shot for this post:
Well, call it what you will…here’s how it all went down:
Warm-O-Rama:
SSH – 18 IC
MNC – 15 IC
Shell Picker, Crab Flipper, Cherry Picker – 10 IC
Hillbillies – 18 IC
Flying Squirrel – 10 OYO
Calf Raise (toes in) – 20 OYO
Calf Raises (toes out) – 20 OYO
The Thang:
Mosey to the new station (The Valley of the Shadow of Death or Death Valley): Steady Mosey interchanged with a Picked-Up Mosey, switching between power poles/light poles all the way to Food Lion parking lot, ending in front of Walgreens:
Between the Walls (in the valley) – all OYO
5 Mike Tysons on one wall
10 Bombjacks in middle of alley
5 Mike Tysons on other wall
15 Burpees in middle, and so on…
5 Mike Tysons
20 MJB’s
5 Mike Tysons
10 Count/Breather (PAX had to get out of the valley because it contained no air!)
Back between the walls…
BTTW – 10 Count
People’s Chair – 10 Count
BTTW – 10 Count
PC, Leg Up (L) – 10 Count
PC, Leg Up (R) – 10 Count
YHC forgot all who counted, but some counts were brutally slow. But, hey, it was in the valley of the shadow…
3rd F Message – a Brief Shared By YHC:
One leadership principle I’ve been pondering lately is this: “OUR REFERENCE POINT IS CRITICAL.”
Years ago I heard someone say that “if the whole world stinks, check your mustache.” The idea being that if there’s some old moldy cheese or other leftover food in your stache and that’s all that you’re able to smell, then from THAT reference point the whole world is going to stink. The metaphor is clear. It may not be the whole world at all; it might be your perspective, the reference point from which you “smell” [see] the world.
HOW WE SEE ANYTHING DEPENDS ON OUR REFERENCE POINT. I shared that thought in a recent sermon, but I think it’s just as applicable here, in F3. In fact, part of what we do here at O-GAWD-THIRTY (the Gloom) just about every day of the week, in some measure gives us a reference point for leadership. We get up very early; that’s the hard thing to do. We Q and prepare workouts and 3rd F messages hoping to inspire one another in spiritually, mentally, and physically in leadership; that’s the hard thing to do. We push ourselves and each other past self-imposed limits; that’s the hard thing to do! And we do all this and more, not just because of the fitness but because it does make us better leaders.
How does all this make us better leaders?
I believe one of the ways it makes us better leaders is that doing the hard stuff gives us a reference point. Let me explain, Mark Batterson mentions that psychologists refer to this as the contrast effect: If you lift a really heavy weight, then lift a lesser weight, it will seem lighter. We do this simply enough by doing really hard workouts. We do this with sandbags and cinderblocks. We do this with our rucks especially — we carry around 40lbs and then when we carry around 30lbs or less and everything else seems lighter. The reference point is the 40lbs or its the hard workout before anything else in the day comes along. Having that reference point is to help us to see things from a different perspective, one that is meant — in terms of leadership — to give us the reference point that just about everything else that follows throughout the day will not seem all that tough or difficult because we’ve already done something incredibly harder by comparison. This, again, is called the “contrast effect.”
The practice of Q’ing a workout also leads to the same outcome: We practice that leadership here regularly, and, in part, that practice carries over where it ought to most (it’s supposed to) — at home, in the workplace, and in the communities in which we serve.
In real life, it might bring about a different reference point after going through difficult circumstances. We are to see them differently after God carries us through them. (Point being that He is the One, then, who actually carried the weight…POINT BEING that Christ must be our reference point.) That’s why we cling to verses like Romans 8:28, “AND WE KNOW THAT GOD CAUSES ALL THINGS TO WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THOSE WHO LOVE GOD…”
Those words of Scripture and the experience or fulfillment of them train us and give us perspective — and how you see anything depends on your reference point. When we’ve been through something, tough circumstances, and we can see how God turned them around for our good, it gives us a new critical reference point. Doing the hard thing here, carrying the extra weight here (in the Gloom) trains our bodies and our minds with the reality of these truths.
Back to work:
YHC’s failed attempt at the Hands of Time (one of his favorites, but its been awhile and he forgot how to do it. Oh well, still got in some ab-burn)
Steady mosey return to the AO.
Meanwhile, back at the AO…
GFerkins (Good Form Merkins) – 10 OYO
Mary, all 9 PAX got in a round but YHC can’t recall all that was chosen
Time’s up, only thing we missed on YHC’s Weinke was a round of Partner Push; next time. It’s all good, the Valley of the Shadow of Death (a.k.a. Death Valley) took a good bit out of us.
Great push by all the PAX.
COT:
Announcements:
Everyone is welcome to join Grace Church’s Warriors for Him men’s ministry for a hot dog cookout at The Home of the Brave this evening at 6. Home of the Brave is a homeless shelter for our veteran’s. Join us for some dogs and a few rounds of cornhole as we serve those who’ve served us.
Thursday Gloom we’ll have a guest Q – Nunchuk will be here serving up the beatdown and getting his F3 Passport stamped; let’s make a good showing in support of our brother from York, SC!
Prayers: Prayed for the substance abuse blanket to be lifted from Sussex County; prayer for others…
BOM
Welcome back Ying Ying, we’ve missed you brother! Good to see you. It was a privilege to lead all the fine HIM who broke the hold of the Fartsack and posted! Humbled and honored to lead the way.
PAX rotated between 5 stations doing as many reps as possible for as many rounds as possible. Rotation happened when PAX running at station 5 completed their loop.
Pull Ups
Swerkins w/ Tuck (Complete a merkin with feet in swing then pull feet in for a tuck – BRUTAL!)
Box Jump to Incline Merkin
Forearm Plank
Run loop around gazebo
3rd F Message: Extreme Ownership
“On any team, in any organization, all responsibility for success and failure rests with the leader. The leader must own everything in his or her world. There is no one else to blame. The leader must acknowledge mistakes and admit failures, take ownership of them and develop a plan to win. The best leaders don’t just take responsibility for their job, they take Extreme Ownership of everything that impacts their mission.” – Jocko & Leif, Extreme Ownership
“As individuals, we often attribute the success of others to luck or circumstances and make excuses for our own failures and the failures of our team…Total responsibility for failure is a difficult thing to accept, and taking ownership when things go wrong requires extraordinary humility and courage. But doing just that is an absolute necessity to learning, growing as a leader, and improving a teams performance.” -Jocko & Leif, Extreme Ownership
“You can’t make people listen to you. You can’t make them execute. That might be a temporary solution to a simple task. But to implement real change, to drive people to accomplish something truly complex or difficult or dangerous you can’t make people do those things. You have to lead them.” -Jocko & Leif, Extreme Ownership
Thoughts from QIC: Extreme Ownership is a man in the mirror mentality. In every and all situation, regardless of “fault,” the only thing we as leaders can control is our attitude and actions. Taking extreme ownership sets an example that will trickle down into your team, family, subordinates, etc. As a byproduct those that look to you for leadership will start to apply extreme ownership to their own selves. If you want to see change in those around you, as a leader, they need to see change in you. This means 100% extreme ownership in all situations.
Patriot Run back to AO
Site Q Handoff from Chappie to Chattahoochee (See Video Attached)
Bolt 45’s (4 Count) – 15 squats to halfway down. 15 squats halfway to full down. 15 full squats.
Windmills – 15 IC
The Thang
Mosey 0.5 mile to “Oh Hill No” to complete the Thang. Complete 10 Burpees, 10 Squats, 10 Merkins & 10 Big Boys. Nur up the hill and run down and complete 9 Burpees, 9 Squats, 9 Merkins, & 9 Big Boys. All completed OYO. Rinse and repeat in descending order until reaching 5 of each exercise. Extra credit and a shout out to Leatherman who did not hear the descending order part of the exercise and he completed 10 of each during each cycle of the exercises. The F3 message (see below) was an opportunity to catch a breather, and because of time we did not complete the exercises descending all the way to 1 of each. However, Chairman decided to “poke the bear”. We added one full exercise evolution that was comprised of a crawl bear up the hill and bear crawl down, where we completed the next cycle of Burpees, Squats, Merkins & Big Boys before moseying 0.5 mile back to the AO.
F3 Message
Q spoke about Caleb and how he had spent 45 years in the wilderness in his obedience to God when others that were filled with disbelief created that exile. He persevered when it would have been easier to fold. Once all the disbelievers had passed away, and the promised land was realized, he went on at 85 years old to defeat the Anakites to take the hill country that he had been promised. Caleb did not give up much like Jim Kelly, Hall of Fame QB of the Buffalo Bill who received the ESPY Jimmy V award for perseverance on 07/18/18. His life is a testimony to perseverance as he led his team four times to the Super Bowl and was defeated each time. He has two lovely daughters but had a son that was born with Krabbe’s disease which is a deadly nervous system disorder. His son passed at the age of 8. Mr. Kelly has battled cancer himself having been diagnosed in 2013 with oral cavity cancer that had been in remission. Recent reports are that the cancer has returned. I am sure that he will face that diagnosis as he has faced all other adversity; while all the time praising God and living for Him as is evident from the quotes below.
“We are shocked, heartbroken, sad, angry, confused, and just darn tired,” Jill Kelly said in her post. “Yet, despite how we feel, we KNOW that God is a promise maker and keeper.”
Kelly, who remained a towering force in Buffalo and in the N.F.L. despite all of his Super Bowl appearances ending in losses, said he was relying on what he called the “four Fs”: faith, family, friends and fans.
“With all of you by my side we will fight and win this battle together,” he said. “Staying ‘Kelly Tough’ and trusting God will carry us through this difficult time.”
“O Hill NO” doesn’t seem so steep and exercises don’t seem so taxing when you are inspired by these stories of facing such huge adversity.
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Prayers for traveling mercies for Chappie, peace for an upcoming event for Leatherman, heat related health concerns for brother Firemen responding to recent alarms. Please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.
Shuttle Run format with exercises on each end. 30 exercises for 30 reps with Prison Break in between from end to end of CHOP parking lot.
Merkin
Squat
LBC
Derkin
FWD Lunge (Alt. Legs)
Flutter Kick IC
Incline Merkin
Reverse Lunge
Scissor Kick IC
Diamond Merkin
Mexican Jumping Beans
Box Cutters IC
Ranger Merkin
Calf Raises
Leg Lifts
Wide Arm Merkin
Iron Mikes (Lunge Jumps)
High Plank – 30 Count
Shoulder Taps
Apolo Ohno’s
American Hammers IC
Overhead Claps
Burpees
Box Cutters IC
FWD Arm Circles IC
Broad Jump to Back Peddle
Forearm Plank – 30 Count
Reverse Arm Circles IC
Wall Sit – 30 Count
Big Boys
3rd F Message: The Joy is in the Journey
“Success is a journey, not a destination”
I’ve heard many times that if you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans. As I reflect on the last decade of my life, it looked nothing like I would have scripted. It had deep dark valleys and some wonderful mountaintop experiences, both of which I would not have expected. I had big goals set for things I wanted to achieve by 30 and quite frankly the bulk of them never came to fruition. But I’m confident in this, that He who began a good work in me, will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).
“For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.” -Jeremiah 29:11
As leaders and High Impact Men, it is our responsibility to cast vision, set goals, and know our direction. However, as leaders, we also need to be emotionally stable enough to embrace and enjoy the journey, even when it takes us down a different path than planned. Leaders love the journey, leaders love the process. Leaders stay diligent even when things shift, because ultimately they know that God will work all things out for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28). Embrace the Journey, Find Joy in the Journey, and keep traveling toward your destination, even when a decade is nothing like you expected.
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest, IF we do not give up.” -Galatians 6:9
THE Thang- curtesy of Chappie’s chalk art -Slightly modified.
Each PAX pick a station
Stations-
Box Jumps
Slosh Pipe
Rapid Merkins–
Rapid LBC’s
Hair Burners – actually does smell like hair burning ….
Squat Press Lunge w/cindy
Upright Rows w/40lb. ruck
Burpees
Tire Flip
Dragon Crawl
Burpjacks – burpee with a bomb jack
Plank
Work Each station for 60 seconds , Q calls next and move to next station for 60 sec.
12 stations. After 4 stations all Pax go for Mosey around block. Return for 4 stations, mosey , last 4 then Mosey.
There may have been a few 10 counts in there somewhere.
QuickBreak for 3rd F message
Each PAX then chose a ‘favorite’ station and we finished with 30 seconds at each of those stations.
Plus some LBCs for the fun of it …..
Chappie was concerned about a ‘slow burn’ from Tuesday…….I tried to clear any concern.
3rd F (pulled from F3nation.com )
Disturbance To The Status-quo
Leaders influence movement to advantage
A leader is a person who can influence people to do things that they would not have done otherwise. Put another way, but for the influence of the leader, the things done by his followers would not happen. The leader is the agent, the impetus and the proximate cause of his followers’ movement toward the doing of those specific things that he identifies as advantageous. Without him, they would remain static and focused on maintaining the status quo. In the heart of man inertia will reign—absent a disruption.
The connection between movement and leadership is critical because it presupposes a need for movement, a recognition by the leader himself that the status quo is something less advantageous than some other place, a location the leader visualizes and then articulates to his followers. Only then can the leader begin to persuade them to follow him to the new place. He must describe it to them first because people will only overcome their inertia and follow someone if they believe that he knows where he is going. They won’t leave the known for the unknown, no matter how charismatic the leader is.
Because it induces movement, leadership causes Disruption
It wrenches people away from the place at which they were determined to remain. It causes them to question the foundation for their belief that their status quo was desirable and that stasis was in their best interest. It attacks the palpable (but false) sense of security that inertia provides. Like the agitator in a washing machine, leadership dislodges things long embedded in people’s emotional fabric, things that are impure and do not belong there but to which they had become accustomed—like a ketchup stain on their favorite shirt.
Being both Disruptive and agitating, leadership will naturally make people uncomfortable, at least until they begin to see for themselves that they are being led to a place of advantage.
If a man calls himself a leader but does not cause Disruption by initiating movement, then he is not practicing leadership. He might be doing something else, like managing or engaging in politics, but he is not leading. He is a leader in name only until people begin to follow him to an advantageous place that he has visualized and articulated to them. A leader influences movement to advantage.
A great leader’s legacy is built on love
The degree to which a leader is able to influence movement is dependent upon his level of skill. People will follow a leader when he is in the room. People will continue to follow a good leader when he has left the room. But only a great leader is able to influence movement to advantage even after he has died. That is a legacy leader, and he is a rare breed whose legacy is built upon love.
All great leaders aspire to leave a legacy. Leadership is a difficult skill to master, requiring desire, commitment and love. Having paid for that skill with blood, sweat and tears, great leaders have the natural inclination to pass on what they have learned and to be remembered for it. This yearning is what creates their legacy. It comes from the leader’s love for his followers and his sincere desire to see them obtain advantage.
A great leader accelerates throughout his life. He views leadership as a craft that must be honed through continual study and application. In the way that a lawyer or doctor practices his profession from the standpoint of service to his client or patient, the great leader’s focus is always upon his followers rather than himself. It is their best interests, not his, that motivates his actions. It is their advantage, not his, to which he initiates movement. This is only possible if, first and foremost, he loves them more than he loves himself.
The great leader knows that If his love is not great, than neither will be his leadership.
This Backblast has less to do with the workout itself than it does its title–YHC will get to the explanation of what that means, but in the meantime here’s the breakdown for the sake of recall and as a catalyst of remedy for those who lost THAT FIRST BATTLE to the Fartsack.
With a good number of Q’s in the rotation there is a longer break in action than what most QIC’s prefer, so YHC was actually disappointed in what turned out to be more of a slow burn than a memorable beatdown. I.e. it seemed like a wasted opportunity to leave one’s mark on the other PAX’s minds and bodies. Gotta hate it when that happens! Okay, here’s how it went down:
Warm-O-Rama:
SSH – 20 IC
Moroccan Night Clubs – 18 IC
Italian Night Clubs – 18 IC
Shell Picker, Shell Flipper, Cherry Pickers…WTB??? This somehow turned out to be some crazy, off-cadence, retarded form of the Windmill. Holy smokes, did YHC get inside of his own head for a brief moment! Thankful the PAX were gracious enough to give a good laugh from this total screwup, what else could they do? YHC has no idea What The Bombjackshe was doing!
Okay…
Cherry Pickers – 10 IC
Windmill – 18 IC
Imperial Walker – 18 IC
The Thang:
Living next door to the AO has its privileges — YHC was able to work his way around the parking lot the night before and go to work with some sidewalk chalk (to write different exercises on the asphalt). 13 different stations. 1 PAX ran from AO to Willow Street and back while PAX did exercise at given stations. Switch on the return and continue rotation til all 13 were visited by all PAX. Here’s what was written:
Run to Willow and back – Good hustle by all PAX!
Sledge Hammer Row
Box Jumps
Slosh Pipe
Rapido Merkins (18) – swap – Rapido LBC’s (36) rinse & repeat. Rapido = as fast as you can
Hair Burners (compliments to Flutie Flakes, I think)
Squat Press Lunge w/cindy
Upright Rows w/40lb. ruck
Burpees
Tire Flip
Dragon Crawl
Burpjacks (exactly what it sounds like)
Plank
Somewhere in the middle YHC had the privilege to share the following 3rd F message:
Last Wednesday for an off-the-cuff 3rdf, I’d mentioned a “secret to success” borrowed from Jack Hayford that Mark Batterson mentioned in his book “If.” The secret? “Make decisions against yourself.”
We’re already onto something here in the Gloom, because, fact is, if you’re here it’s because you already made a decision against yourself. You can see how this applies to leadership.
As a secret to success it is exactly what the Bible teaches in Romans 8:4, where it says, “walk not according to the flesh…” If you know someone who has 6-pack abs, they made a decision against themselves to go to the gym when, as Mark Batterson writes, “the rest of us went back for seconds.” (57)
Not only does this apply to workouts, but many other areas of life:
• My nephew, Aaron, who once again is in Ranger School has repeatedly made decisions against himself toward accomplishing his goal of becoming one of the army’s elite combat leaders. He’s in swamp phase once again. Go Aaron!
• Earning any type of degree, whether it be a BS, BA, MA, or a PhD brings with it memories of going to the library instead turning on the TV. Those who earned degrees or other credentials made decisions against themselves. The piece of paper on their wall is a key that opens doors.
• Successful (and I should say fruitful because Paul does add, “walk not after the flesh, but according to the spirit”) athletes, musicians, professionals, ministry leaders, etc. are successful and fruitful in large part because they made decisions against themselves–both when it came to right/wrong issues, and often times when it came to personal convictions.
This is key because some decisions we have to make against ourselves are not right and wrong, or black and white. Paul also wrote in 1 Cor. 10:23, “everything is permissible—but not everything is beneficial.” We need to understand, then, that often times “if we really want god’s best, we won’t just say no to what’s wrong. we’ll also say no to what’s second best.” (Batterson 58)
We have to prepare for times when we must recognize that we cannot settle for what we want in the moment in exchange for what we want most! The kind of success and fruitfulness this refers to is that which involves sacrifice beyond what most of us are willing to make.
F3 workouts provide a superb laboratory in which to train ourselves and each other for this kind of leadership:
Setting your alarm very early and posting in the Gloom (at O-Gawd-Thirty) for a workout which will push you past your limits…if that’s not making a decision against yourself, then what is?
Some are used to hitting that snooze button on the alarm, both literally & metaphorically speaking! When you’re not willing to make decisions against yourself, you’re kind of hitting the snooze button on success and fruitfulness in your spiritual life (temptation & sin), your family life, your work life, and in many other areas…you’re delaying doing the right thing—the hard thing—9 minutes at a time!
So, what do him do? As a general rule and practice, they are High Impact Men because they make decisions against themselves!
Well, that was the workout. A slow-burn, as mentioned, but a burn nonetheless.
Now allow YHC to explain the title of this Backblast; it’s more important than the workout itself. So…Keep Calm and Read on: Much Bigger Than We Are
If you follow what’s going on, either on F3Nation.com or F3MustardSeeds.com then you have at least some sense that F3 is Much Bigger Than We Are. We’re a Mustard Seed–pioneers!–and so we tend to think small, within the limits of our own line of sight. But we are Much Bigger Than We Are.
F3 is blowing up across the nation; we’re privileged to be a part of this explosion of men being rescued from Sadclown Syndrome and to rescue others from the same condition through Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith. Still, we tend not to see very far down the road from our own AO’s.
Each Tuesday Mustard Seed Nantaans from across the nation participate in a half-hour long conference call from 07:30 – 08:00. The call is about leadership and its where we encourage, challenge, build-up, and basically sharpen one another “as iron sharpens iron” (Prov. 27:17)
Yesterday’s call was different. It reminded me that while the fitness that brings men out, its the fellowship (the glue) that brings them back. We’ve been impacted by this incredible force in our lives, making us better leaders. But here’s how yesterday’s call was different:
Our call Q, Fountainhead (Columbia, SC), essentially began the call by telling us how hard a weekend it was for many of their PAX because F3 Gump had lost his 19-yr-old son this past Friday night in drowning accident. He talked about the camaraderie (2ndF) of other PAX that jumped into action to come along side Gump and his M. He’d also mentioned that Gump was a pastor there in Columbia.
Having lived in Columbia for nearly 3 years, I asked what Gump’s hospital name was. Since I’m also in ministry I figured I might at least know the pastor’s name.
I was utterly floored and speechless when Fountainhead told me Gump’s name was Scott Fleischer! Frankly, it was a punch in the gut. It still hurts; that’s why I’m writing because it helps to grieve rightly.
Here’s the thing. I didn’t know Scott from my time living in Columbia. I knew Scott and his M, Victoria and their 2.0’s Jack, Isabella, and Sam from my years pastoring in York, SC. Scott and I connected in York through ministry and immediately hit it off. Our families spent time together celebrating birthdays, eating dinners together, swimming, etc. Our kids (3 a piece) are practically the same ages. We got to know each other well before ministry took he and his family to Columbia. When I heard that Jack died on Friday my heart sank for Scott and his family. I’m so deeply grieved because Jack and my oldest 2.0, Zeke, were good buddies. “Running through the woods and playing laser tag” were my son’s fondest memories when I informed him yesterday of Jack’s death.
When Scott moved his family from York to Columbia, SC there was no F3, so I didn’t even know Scott was involved with F3. We’d lost contact with each other over the years. So you can imagine my shock just hearing his name when I’d inquired. Following the conference call I called Scott immediately. The phone rang only 1 time when he picked up and simply said, “Hi Todd!”
It was great to talk with Scott (F3 Gump). It was painful to find out how Jack died. Scott and I simply picked up where we’d left off, but this time we reconnected in a rather providential way (Godincidence) because of F3! I’m so glad I didn’t find this out later. This time we reconnected because we serve a God and Father “who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves have been comforted by God.”
Indeed we’re Much Bigger Than We Are. I’ve never lost a son, but I have suffered great loss in other ways and I have been comforted by God and by brothers in Christ at times when it was desperately needed. Scott and I grieved together as we spoke on the phone. I grieve for Scott and his family. We all grieve with the family over this heartbreaking loss. But, you see, as believers we “do not grieve as those who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). There’s so much more to this than meets the eye but we really are amazingly Much Bigger Than We Are. I know Scott personally, he’s truly a brother and has been since long before F3. But he’s also your brother. That’s F3, so please keep the Fleischer family in your prayers.
Well guys, if you’ve made it this far thanks for reading. I appreciate your patience.
5 Cones set up spaced out 2 parking spaces wide for Suicide Burpees .
Partner 1 starts the suicides drill while Partner 2 started the Merkins ( 200) to completion switching back and forward with Partner 1. Immediately switch to (200 )LBCs until completion Switching with Partner . Finished with (200) Prison Squats until Completion in same fashion.
Cone 1 – 1 Burpee
Cone 2 – 2 Burpee
Cone 3 – 3 Burpee
Cone 4 -4 Burpee
Cone 5- 5 Burpee
200 Merkins
200 LBCs
200 Prison Squats
Break for 3rd F
I spoke about how the sport of Wrestling taught me how to handle certain situations in my life. whether I win or lose taking those experiences and learning from them. I read 3 Quotes from a Legend in the sport and another Man who is becoming a legend in his own right. I explained what they meant to me and how I thought described us as HIM.
Pain is nothing compared to what it feels like to quit. Give everything you got today for tomorrow may never come. -Dan Gable
The easiest thing to do in the world is pull the covers up over your head and go back to sleep. -Dan Gable
To get better you have to step out of your comfort zone. You cant do the same things you’ve always done and improve. – Jordan Burroughs
Thang 2-
Rapid Fire Coupon Set.
20 Curls IC
20 Tricep Extensions IC
20 Overhead Press IC
20 Bent Over Rows IC
20 Dips
15 1 leg dip Switched legs 15 more.
Finished with some MARY each HIM called out a Exercise until time was up.
