Backblasts

It was a beautiful morning at the AO. A little less humid than the rest of the week, but a great temperature to get a proper lather and beatdown. We were all wishing we had @Hotbox ice water bucket about halfway through.

WOR – Motivator x 7, Merkins x -10 in cadence, Big arm circles  in cadence forward and backward x 10.

Thang – Greta 1, 2, 3 plus 50. We preformed one of the QIC’s favorite routines but added 50 reps to each exercise to challenge every PAX. Exercise 1 – 150 Block Burpees

Exercise 2 – 250 Squat to press

Exercise 3 – 350 Coupon swings

Partner routine – while one partner preformed an exercise, partner 2 ran the Hill. Once a hill run was completed the switched. Rinse and repeat until al reps are met

NOR – @Archive@Captain Crunch (AJ)@Noodles@Jäzz Händz@TBTF@Katniss@Sparrow@Da Vinci@ShiplapCOT – incredibility thankful for the group of guys and the opportunity to workout. Praise that AJ stayed at camp and has agreed to push through. Prayers that @Archive M starts to feel better from the pregnancy, and praying for @Jäzz Händz as he battles through anxiety and continues getting the help he needs.

Moleskin – Incredible Job by each and every HIM. This workout reminded me of the saying from “300” “we will put their name to the test”. This workout was meant to push everyone of us to the next level and put our group to the test. I loved the positivity and the words of encouragement throughout the workout. The desire to carry each other is the true power of the group! Great job fellas

It was a brisk morning as your QIC showed up to the AO promptly at 5:00AM to prep for the 5:30 beatdown. I was able to find some dry side walk to write the beatdown on and scope out the AO to make sure we had ample amount of footing for today’s Thang. I felt extra motivated and wanted to make sure the PAX completed plenty of burpees to make sure we didn’t fall behind in the MABA challenge.

WOR: 10 Burpees, motivators x 7, 10 Burpees, picking daises, quad stretch, 10 burpees, arm circles, 10 more burpees – grab our coupons and head to the COOTIES.

The Thang: Start every round by a jog to the pool house parking lot and back – complete 10 burpees then progress through the 9 exercises completing 10 burpees at the burpee station after each exercise.

Exercises: 20 reps of each followed by 10 Burpees at the burpee station = 100 Burpees for 1 round
Pull Up
One arm Rows
High Pulls
Inverted Rows
BBSU
Merkins
Dips
Skull Crushers
American Hammers

NOR: Cookies, Banks, Crack, Jolly, Sparrow, DBC, Whittler, Da Vinci, Beaker, Tortuga, Panhandle, T-Bone, Hotbox, Bloomer, Noodles, Captain Crunch, BigMac

QIC: Shiplap

COT: Praise the Lord for mental toughness and the ability to get together. We prayed for Bloomer, his 2.0, and entire family as they go through a week of tests. We pray that the Lord gives them strength and leads them down the right path. we pray for the health of the PAX, their families and all of mankind.

Moleskin: Here is one undeniable truth that I know about each of us, we need authentic relationships with other men who are working to be strong fathers, husbands and leaders. Isolation will destroy a man! We have the opportunity to change our community and the trajectory of our families.  Getting in the best shape of your life is just a by product. The work out is the magnet, the relationships and community with other men will keep bringing you back. Lock shields with us and help us accomplish F3’s mission to invigorate male leadership in our community.

Leave no man behind, but leave no man where you find him.

Per the Pre-blast, a forecast promising snow did not disappoint! A Q promising 100 burpees came through with 115 instead! And all PAX were sufficiently beat down after an hour of snowy F3 Waterfall!

Eight brave PAX showed up at gloomy AO Tarpit before dawn as a fresh inch of snow continued to blanket our AO. In attendance: Shiplap, Banks, Beaker, Jolly, Gummi Bear, Tortuga (respect), Da Vinci and Katniss (Q).

YHC wanted to incorporate some new exercises into the WARM-O-RAMA so we did…

15 burpees OYO
Quad stretches
Blarts (Al gore and rock left, forward, right and back = 1 rep) x 12
Air Squared (Al gore and overhead clap) x 25
ABCs (while on your six, write the alphabet with your legs up at ~20 degrees)

Thang 1:
We did 50 burpees for time to get warm and tired. Then the real fun began.

Thang 2:
F3 Waterfall! A variation of the popular drinking game.

All PAX moseyed behind Q at his pace, wherever Q leads them
Whenever Q decides he stops the PAX and yells “CARD!”
One brave PAX steps forward and pulls a card from a standard deck of cards
Each card in the deck corresponds to an exercise
All the royals (J, Q, K, A) require coupons – which means you must fast mosey back to starting point (where coupons stayed) and perform those exercises
If any PAX pulls a Joker (of which there are 2) – it’s penalty of 25 blockbees

Card values were:
2 – BBCs (20)
3 – Merkins (20)
4 – Lunges (20) – each leg counts
5 – LBCs (20)
6 – “On your six (aka jollies)” (20 seconds)
7 – Squats (20)
8 – Bonnie Blairs (20)
9 – Nipple Scrapers (20)
10 – Peter Parker Merkins (20)
J – Overhead press (30) — requires sprinting back to start
Q – Coupon Squats (30) — requires sprinting back to start
K – Thrusters w/ coupon (20) — requires sprinting back to start
A – Waterfall (run back to start and perform 10 reps of ALL exercises in list)
Joker – Makes burpees at the end of the beatdown split 25 blockbees, 25 burpees

Together we got through around 20 cards, including only one rest (card #6) and at least one waterfall (an Ace). A good mixture that left out only a few of the exercises! No Jokers were pulled (thank the Lord).

Thang 3:
We did 50 more burpees. Safe to say no one beat their original time.

COT/Moleskin: YHC told a story about his M, overwhelmed with 4 kids and feeling like she wasn’t able to keep up / feeling like a bad Mom. A few days later our 2.0’s teacher wrote my M a quick email saying “Thank you for your son, he makes our classroom a brighter place. You must be such a wonderful mother.” — Takeaways: The Lord works in powerful, mysterious ways through each one of us to collectively keep us going. If you do your best, others, and the almighty, take notice. Your best is all he asks.

Prayers for bodies that work, motivation to keep going when times are tough, and the miracles the Lord works through each and every one of us on the daily.

16 PAX braved the ice this morning for a fun workout. Many of us took advantage of the burpee count in today’s beatdown to catch up or get ahead in our MABA challenge CSAUP.

Warm-O-Rama
Goofballs – IC 20
Don Quixotes – IC 20
Arm Circles – OYO
Michael Phelps – OYO
Burpees – OYO 10

Thang 1:
Elevens: Start at first lightpole – 10 merkins, 1 burpee; each lightpole decrease merkins and increase burpees. Total count: 55 merkins, 55 burpees

Mosey to Dan Taylor Alley

Thang 2:
Burpee Dans: 1 burpee, 4 lunges (each leg counts as 1 rep); 2 burpees, 8 lunges; repeat increasing reps (1 burpee, 4 lunges each time). Total count: 28 burpees, 112 lunges

Mosey to Hoffa, stopping part way for 10 more burpees

Thang 3:
Half-Heartbreak 1,2,3: PAX partnered up. One teammate sprinted up Hoffa while the other worked to complete the reps. When first teammate returned, second ran up Hoffa. Repeated until all reps were complete. Due to time, the reps were reduced to 50 merkins, 100 big boi situps, 150 squats.

Name-O-Rama: Beaker, Banks, T-Bone, Archive, Cookies, Hot Box, SAGA, Shiplap, Tortuga, Sparrow, DaVinci, Jolly, Bloomer, Katniss, Crack (Q)

CoT: Prayers for Crack’s brother-in-law, for Big Mac and family, for Banks’ work situation, and for strength and peace in this time.

11 Pax showed up despite a call for burpees and running – to the music that has flavored T-bone’s (nearly) 5 decades on earth.

WOR (Rhinestone Cowboy – Glen Campbell – 1975)

Goofballs

Tappy taps

OYO hamstring stretch

Seal Claps (visualization of how fast we can lose our integrity)

10 burpees

The Thang: (about 40 minutes)

Run 1: (Freebird – Lynyrd Skynard – 1973)

Burpees: partners in sync (I Was Made for Loving You – KISS – 1979)

Run 2: (Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen – 1979)

Burpees: partners alternating Leonidas burpees (9 to 5 – Dolly Parton – 1980)

Run 3: (God Gave Rock and Roll to You – Petra – 1977)

Burpees: partners alternating (I’m Still Standing – Elton John – 1983)

Run 4: (Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen – 1975)

Burpees: OYO regular (Carry on Wayward Son – Kansas – 1976)

Run 5: (Something About You – Level 42 – 1985)

Burpees: 11 to finish – celebrating the 11 days before T-bones 50th (We are the Champions – Queen – 1977)

NOR: Whittler, Banks, Shiplap, Gummi Bear, DaVinci, Tortuga, Big Mac, TBTF, Noodles, Katniss and T-bone (Q)

COT: Phil 4:8 – Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

– Talk of integrity – how it takes a long time to build it and a moment to lose it – I want to encourage all HIM’s to be accountable to someone on a deep level – to avoid getting to a place where that “moment” is possible.

– Prayers for Banks workplace after a big RIF this week and for the families of those now looking for work, Crack’s Bro-in-law – for protection, safety and bringing someone alongside him in a time of distress, Bloomer’s son and his upcoming procedure, Our nation for healing and civility – especially amongst believers so we may be a light to those around us.

It was a nice crisp morning for Bloomer’s VQ. 18 PAX should up for the beatdown. Coupons were required.

The workout today was called “I need you,” because it is important for men to admit that we need other men in our lives. Not just to move heavy pianos or refrigerators, but we need to be accountable to other men and allow them to know what is going on internally. Ecc 4:9-12 says,

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity is the man who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.

Warm-O-Rama:

• 30x Arm Circles
• 20x Side Straddle Hops
• 15x Merkins
• 20 Air Squats

Thang 1: 4 Min Partner Challenge

One person would do continuous burpees while their partner would do continuous air squats. If a person needed a break or was slowing down they would say, “I need help.” At that point they would switch exercises and continue until one of them said, “I need help.”

Thang 2: Be the Blade – As Iron sharpens Iron, so one man sharpens another.

Partners spread out around the circle parking lot with their coupons. One partner would run 1 lap around the parking lot circle while their partner would be completing the required exercise until their running partner return. Then they would switch places and complete the other half of the round. Once both partners completed the run and the required movement they would move to the next movement and work through the list accordingly. Partners were encouraged to verbalize the phrase, “I need you or I need help” when they transitioned.

1. Coupon merkins
2. Lunges with a coupon
3. Coupon swings
4. Big boy sit ups
5. Shoulder press
6. Curls
7. Set ups
8. Thrusters
9. Side straddle hop
10. Tricep extensions
11. Murder bunnies

Thang 3: 3 Minutes of Mary

One person would do flutter kicks while their partner would do American hammers. If a person needed a break or was slowing down they would say, “I need help.” At that point they would switch exercises and continue until one of them said, “I need help.” The three minutes were brutal and switching easily went from 40-50 seconds a piece to 15-20 seconds or less by the end of the time.

COR/NOR/COT:

We prayed for the return to school for kids and employees. The protection of our marriages for those who are married. Banks had a tough day ahead and a friend of a friend’s brother passed away.

MOLESKIN:

Men, I don’t know where you are in your life or what is going on, but it is vitally important to have a friend who you can be honest with. Being gut level honest with one other person about what is going on (good and bad) protects your life. We protect your body by working out, but are we protecting our marriages, our hearts, our minds, how we parent, and our daily decisions with the same veracity.

Don’t be the man who battles life alone or walks through the dark night of the soul alone. Let a trusted friend into year heart and mind. Let your friend be a Blade to encourage and spur you on. You will save yourself a lot of hurt and pain and poor choices if you let someone know what is going on. It may be humbling or even humiliating at times, but it is totally work it. Your Blade can help protect you and keep you on the right path.

I encourage you to do the most MANLY thing you can do by sharing your weaknesses and short comings with a trust brother.