The scheduled Q had to live Third and take a 2.0 off to college, so the Q was up for grabs Friday evening. Rudy and YHC put it to the pax for a vote – me with the possibility of a burpee warm-up or Rudy and a likely Broadway themed workout. Pending some controversy regarding unregistered voters, my burpee filled workout eeked out a one vote victory as the poll closed.
The Disclaimer and Mission
Since Q-school I’ve made a conscious effort to give more attention to the disclaimer. Quick Draw noticed. I also tagged a little information on about our mission – to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for the invigoration of male community leadership. The idea being that as we grow in physical and mental strength, and as we become more disciplined men we will naturally start to look outward for ways to strengthen our community. To serve others you have to be humble, and there’s no better exercise to humble yourself than the burpee.
The Thang
Warm up – I am Third
- 20 burpees OYO
- Chop Wood IC x 20; Imperial Walkers IC x 20; J-Lo’s IC x 20
- Burpees EMOM (12, 12, 12, 12, 10, 10)
- Arm Circles OYO
- 12 Burpees OYO
100 bupees in the first 15 minutes. Well done men. During the EMOM rest we discussed the Gayle Sayers Autobiography “I Am Third,” meaning to put God first, family and community second, and yourself third. We discussed Mark 8:34 where Jesus told the disciples that anyone that wants to follow Him must take up their cross and deny themselves. During the arm circles we reflected on last week’s Morning Calling where we discussed how Solomon. He sought purpose by fulfilling his own desires and came to the conclusion that life is meaningless, much in the same way that little baby arm circles are basically meaningless (don’t you think, Yankee?)
We broke for water and moseyed to the Big Lake, pairing up with a similarly sized man along the way.
Stand By Your Brother – Accountability
We need other men in our lives to stand by us and hold us accountable, to make sure that we are prioritizing the things that bring purpose and meaning to life and not falling into the easy trap of serving ourselves. To illustrate this our exercise involved one man doing 10 merkins while his partner stood by him and did 10 squats. We flapjacked after each set of 10 until we reached a total of 100 merkins and 100 squats.
Carry Your Brother – Service
Sometimes we are called to carry those around us, no matter how heavy the burden. After a brief demonstration using Cowbell, we fireman carried (or carried on our back) our partner to the Foundry, flapjacking along the way
Pull ups – Iron Sharpens Iron
We needed to get some pull-ups in for this month’s ISI Challenge. Pax 1 does 5 pull-ups while Pax 2 planks. Continue flapjacking until time is called.
Circle of Air Chairs – Helping Others Do What’s Hard
Everyone gets in an air chair – good form with thighs parallel to the ground. 10 second count starts when the Q is satisfied that everyone is low enough. The Pax were instructed to look around and call out anyone that was not in the correct position. After a couple of call outs and a reset after 2, the pax looked good and the 10 count was won.
In Mark 8:34 Jesus calls Peter Satan because Peter told Jesus that he must not got to Jerusalem to die. Peter said what he did because he loved Jesus. He didn’t want to see Jesus go through the crucifixion. But Jesus knew the will of God and Peter was standing in the way of God’s will. Be careful not to try and protect those you love from doing the will of God when it is hard.
Tabata – Digging Deep
After Moseying back to the Great Lawn we circled up for Tabata (8 cycles of 20 seconds max effort followed by 10 seconds of rest). We used Wide Merkins, Monkey Humpers, World War II Sit-ups, and Burpees.
Tabata is a great exercise, but you are only going to see great gains from it if you go all out during the 20 seconds of exercise. Going all out for 20 seconds is hard. You have to dig deep. I believe that we find purpose and meaning when we look outside of ourselves and live to serve others. However, denying yourself and living humbly is hard. You have to dig deep
Mary and Legs – What to do When You Have 4 Minutes Left
Mary: LBT IC x 30, Dying Cockroach IC x 31
3-6-3 Squats: Super Slow full four count for the first 3 and hold it on the last one, then normal cadence for the next 6 and finish with 3 super slow and a hold.
Naked Man Moleskin
We are in preliminary discussions with Son of a Saint about how we might partner with them. We are going to start with a few F3 lead workouts in the next couple of months and see where it goes. My idea is that we would use the workouts to teach leadership skills, much the way the GoRucks do. Today was my attempt at a practice run. I welcome your feedback.
