Category: Beyond

Unrealistic Expectations at BEYOND

Leave a comment

We’ve all ages and abilities come to BEYOND since launching in January and while there have been some struggles along the way, I think the feeling is unanimous; we’re getting pushed physically and being challenged mentally, emotionally and spiritually. For those that are upcoming Q’s, the hardest part seems to be how to deliver a meaningful message and a good down inside of 45mins.

Well, it was now my time to pick the topic for the latest rendition. The launch was set for Varsity (NaFO) and the topic was one I’ve dealt with for years but didn’t know it was a problem until the last few weeks. You see, it wasn’t until some adversity and personal challenges that I realized my trends or perhaps more importantly, my tendencies. So what happens? I have these expectations of what I need to be and who I need to be which are of course, often times unrealistically high. When I fall short, which happens more often than not; I feel like I don’t measure up and reside on the line boarding failure. It’s a vicious cycle that leads to me being a less-than-desirable person to be around.

After the welcoming of a zealous FNG (Abscess) who was EH’d by Mr. FNG himself, Ginsu, I took a minute to walk through the disclaimer, what BEYOND is all about followed by the F3 CREDO: Leave no man behind and leave no man where we found him. This was done for me years ago and it is my promise to make every effort to pass it on. We then took off for a short mosey through the lot and circled up:

Plank Jacks x 10

Ski Abs x 10

Carolina Dry Docks x 10

Squat Calf Raises x 10

Forward Arm Circles x 10

Reverse Arm Circles x 10

Mak Tar Jahs x 10

This is where I let the PAX rest for a few minutes as I walked through my above challenges and what it turns into. It was also a good time to talk about how this life is not meant to be walked alone; queue the WHETSTONE relaunch coming up this Saturday 4/21. The feeling this leads to is what Scripture explains in Luke 22:31 where Jesus says, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat.” These last few years have been a test, almost a sifting process that I have now begun to realize.

What we also realized was the neatly placed cones 50 yards apart in the parking lot. With all 20 of us lined up on one side, we sprinted to the other end and back at the following levels of effort:

50%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 25%

Mosey to the pull-up bars where 1/2 the PAX did 20 pull-ups (1 for each man that posted) while the other 1/2 did ankle grabs with their legs straight up against the wall. Each man cycled through 2 sets of each exercise and we made our way out to the adjacent roadway for:

4×4’s: Drop to a plank, 4 merkins, 4 full mountain climbers, jump up = 1 set. We did 10 sets.

With PAX on opposite sides of the road, we dropped to a plank with our hands in the road and our feet on the curb. We plank-walked down the hill about 25 yards to the cone then bear crawled back to the start. We switched sides and did it again, this time about 20yds down and bear crawled up.

It was now time for the ATM’s:

(10) 4ct Alternating shoulder taps

(10) Tempo Merkins: 3ct down and 1ct up

(10) Fast Merkins

We did 3 sets of this.

We then moseyed back to the cones for another sprint series that looked like this:

100%, 100%, 50%, 100%, 25%.

COT for a reminder of Whetstone and our FNG naming.

Loved every minute of it and thanks for the platform to share a piece of my story. I hope you learned a little tidbit and that I fulfilled my promise to not leave you where we found you.

Until Next Time,

Maximus

TClap |
1

CSPAN in Relief at a Ruck Swamp

Leave a comment

So this is a really late backblast…we did some ruck stuff trying to focus on teamwork but it was an afterthought to this topic

The subject matter has sparked a bunch of side conversations, and hopefully, men realize we realize that we all have the same weaknesses and we will only get better when we can lock shields and truly walk with each other

My topic was lust…

Lust for money, power, a woman…or naked women…we could only have lust for women that day

The Bible is clear on how to handle lust…

Matthew 5:27-30 English Standard Version (ESV)

Lust

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

We discussed on how porn feeds our lust…and the statistics are frightening:

Stats on porn – and is this where all the lust comes from?

11 Porn Industry Stats That Really Need To Change:

  1. Porn sites receive more regular traffic than Netflix, Amazon, & Twitter combined each month. (HuffPost)
  2. 35% of all internet downloads are porn-related. (WebRoot)
  3. 34% of internet users have been exposed to unwanted porn via ads, pop-ups, etc. (WebRoot)
  4. Porn increased marital infidelity by 300%. (WebRoot)
  5. At least 30% of all data transferred across the internet is porn-related. (HuffPost)
  6. The most common female role in porn is women in their 20’s portraying teenagers. (Jon Millward.) (In 2013, Millward conducted the largest personal research study on the Porn Industry in the U.S. He interviewed 10,000 porn stars about various aspects of the business.)
  7. Recorded child sexual exploitation (known as “child porn”) is one of the fastest-growing online businesses. (IWF)
  8. 624,000+ child porn traders have been discovered online in the U.S. (Innocent Justice)
  9. Child porn is a $3 billion industry. (TopTenReviews)
  10. Porn is a global, estimated $97 billion industry, with about $12 billion of that coming from the U.S. (NBC News)  
  11. In 2016 alone, more than 4,599,000,000 hours of porn were watched on the world’s largest porn site. (PH Analytics)
  12. Eleven pornography sites are among the world’s top 300 most popular Internet sites. The most popular such site, at number 18, outranks the likes of eBay, MSN, and Netflix. (SimilarWeb)

Viewing Stats That Are Hard To Believe (from NCOSE):

  1. 64% of young people, ages 13–24, actively seek out pornography weekly or more often. [1]
  2. Teenage girls and young women are significantly more likely to actively seek out porn than women 25 years old and above. [2]
  3. A study of 14- to 19-year-olds found that females who watched pornographic videos were at a significantly greater likelihood of being victims of sexual harassment or sexual assault. [3]
  4. A Swedish study of 18-year-old males found that frequent users of pornography were significantly more likely to have sold and bought sex than other boys of the same age. [4]
  5. A 2015 meta-analysis of 22 studies from seven countries found that internationally the consumption of pornography was significantly associated with increases in verbal and physical aggression, among males and females alike. [5]
  6. A recent UK survey found that 44% of males aged 11–16 who viewed pornography reported that online pornography gave them ideas about the type of sex they wanted to try. [6]

Amazing that @F3TheFort has this many men in our group and nobody struggles with porn? what is too much? once a year? once a month? once a week? once a day? once an hour?

If you are struggling find a man to hold you accountable…we owe it to each other and each other’s families

The conversation will continue…

TClap |
3

Risking it All and Going Beyond

Leave a comment

Better conditions led to 14 PAX posting at Golden Corral for this week’s edition of BEYOND. Turnout was improved in part because Rad cancelled the ruck workout, encouraging the usual ruckers to join the fun, while he bailed and went yogging at Sea Legs instead.

After Copperfield gave the disclaimer, the 14 BEYONDers took off for a short mosey around the perimeter of the main parking lot, incorporating butt kickers, high knees, toy soldiers, toe walks, and heel walks. We then lined up at the shovel flags (we had three…I don’t know where the third came from…) and did 10 merkins at the island, jog to the next island, 10 more merkins, etc. for a total of 40 merkins. This was followed by a short mosey to the HT loading docks for some final warming up. (Note for GC Q’s – people drive like MANIACS behind HT, so keep the PAX out of the main roadway if possible.)

Brief COP included 10 windmills, 10 low slow squats on our toes (in relevé, if you will), then a couple yoga lunge stretches on each leg. Then partner up and jog around to the HT wall facing the six of O – O – O – O’Reilly for the Thang.

The workout sets were generally done in Stand By Your Man style, with one PAX performing the prescribed reps of some form of merkin while the other does some other exercise, then switch places until all merkin reps completed. Once done, run around oil change place and O’Reilly and back to the HT wall with your partner. Pretty simple…ish…

Let’s get going.

The original plan was to build this week’s message off of what was covered at BEYOND last week, but that had to be modified when we had only three last week and fourteen this week. So, we started with some quick catch-up. If you want a recap of last week, check out that backblast. Main point to remember for today: dig deep and determine your purpose, as this will give a filter through which to handle today’s questions.

Living with purpose inherently involves risk.

During this first set, discuss with your partner how you would define “risk.”

Set 1: Breakdancer merkins (20-16-12-8 reps each) while partner does Rockette Chair (People’s Chair with alternating leg kicks)

Plank it up for the six, then hold it while we chat (with rotation to side, reverse plank, and other side).

Risk can have a variety of definitions, but generally it is an action that exposes you or somebody else to the possibility of harm or loss. We all face risks every day, from driving to relationships. Some risks are bigger than others, but we live lives of risk. Taking risks is necessary for growth and gain, in work and in life. Without some level of risk, we won’t get better.

Risk and sacrifice are different, but related.

During this set, discuss with your partner how you would define “sacrifice.”

Set 2: Mike Tysons (15-15-15-15 reps each) while partner does BTTW (with shoulder taps for the brave).

People’s Chair for the six, then stay for the talk.

Sacrifice is the act of giving up something you want to keep in order to get or do something else (and potentially better). You could say that sacrifice is the realization of the potential loss involved in the risk. Sacrifice has an intentional, willful component to it – you choose to give something up, whether under compulsion or not. Today, most of us sacrificed more sleep to post (thanks for that!), and in doing so also took the risk of maybe getting a good workout, maybe making our day a bit rougher because our arms won’t work after, etc. Silly example for an obvious point.

Personal examples of risk and sacrifice.

During this set, discuss a current or recent example of risk or sacrifice in your life.

Set 3: Pseudo Planche merkins (15-15-15 reps each) while partner does breakdancer. It’s like the breakdancer merkin, but without the merkin, a little more jumpy, and ideally a bit faster.

Return and breathe while waiting for the six, then for the talk.

An easy example of sacrifice in my life was giving up our life in Africa to return to the US. Again, for more on this, refer to last week’s backblast. But for the risk component, there were two risks that weighed heavily on our last year in Africa and played into our decision to return. The first was our son’s health. He was premature and had some health issues that went with it. He also began having seizures while we still lived overseas. As a father, was I willing to risk his health to continue living and working in Zambia? Then, we wanted more kids, but my wife is a high-risk pregnancy, and we lived in a place where premature babies die more than they survive, and maternal mortality is high as well. These risks paired with other circumstances played into our decision to return, giving up our identities, our home, our relationships, etc.

Much of the reason for me wanting to talk about all this today stems from a conversation with Cha Ching and Olaf from several months ago. They may not remember it, but it has stuck with me ever since. We were talking about the new security training I’m helping develop for our new workers, and there are three main questions that come out of this training. These questions are what I want to leave with everybody today (with one more set thrown in for good measure).

The first two questions to consider:

How much am I willing to risk in order to achieve my purpose? (This makes more sense if you spend the time determining your purpose.)

What, if anything, would be an unnecessary level of risk or a risk that would actually hinder accomplishment of your purpose?

No need to answer the questions this time, as they take time to really work through.

Set 4: Battering rams (drop to six inches, then, using your arms and not your feet, thrust your torso forward so your hands end up between ribs and hips; 20-20-20 reps each) while partner does Monkey Humpers. For some, this proved to be a somewhat inappropriate combination of moves. #badplanning #somethingsyoucantunhear

Pressed for time, we gathered following the run around the buildings for the final point. I actually left out two full sets, but I don’t think anybody’s arms are particularly missing them (see below for what we missed).

The final question to ponder: Do I believe strongly enough in my purpose that I’m willing to sacrifice everything for it?

Simply put, are you willing to die to achieve your purpose? Fourteen years ago, my answer would have been a lot different. But now, with a wife and children, I hesitate. If I know that they will be taken care of, then I’d probably be willing to die. But what if the tables were turned? Would I be so committed to my purpose, to my faith, that I’d be willing to sacrifice my family? I’ve never been in that situation, so I don’t know. But this is a reality faced by many in other parts of the world. For some, it’s a daily reality, being faced with the possibility of losing everything for what they believe.

What would you do? Do you have a commitment to something that is so strong that you’re willing to sacrifice everything for it, even your family?

Time never seems sufficient to cover the topic, but discussion doesn’t need to end when the workout does.

We ended there and ran back to COT to meet up with the bootcampers.

Announcements

  • Deacon reminded us of the opportunities in the Paradise community, with the reading program on Mondays and Wednesdays and G-Fit on Saturdays. Take a risk and make an impact in the community.

Prayers and Praises

  • Pray for those involved with the Palmetto 200 this weekend.
  • Keep praying for our wives and kids.
  • Pray for those with mental health issues and the practitioners who care for them. Specifically, pray for Copperfield’s M as she deals with some very difficult situations.
  • Bolt’s neighbor passed away last week. Pray for this man’s family and friends and others who are dealing with this loss.
  • Prayers for one of Decibel’s employee’s dad, who is in the hospital.
  • Bonsai and his wife are praying about a few things right now; prayers for wisdom and discernment as they consider some options.
  • Deacon has a friend with serious health concerns. Prayers for him as he seeks care at Mayo.
  • Praises for F3 and the impact it has had on our lives.

It was an honor to get to lead this group, and I really appreciate Maximus pushing me to do two BEYOND Qs in a row. If you haven’t had opportunity to do this yet, talk to him. Whether or not the other PAX benefit from the message you bring, your life will be changed by working through the material in preparation to lead. Definitely worth it. And I’m happy to not do it again for a while.

-Jedi

Missed sets

For those wondering what we missed for lack of time, the remaining sets were:

Set 5: one-arm merkins (16-12-8 reps each) while partner does bomb jacks.

Set 6: Scorpion merkins (16-12-8 reps each) while partner does jump squats.

You’re welcome.

TClap |
7

Identity and Purpose: Digging Deeper and Going Beyond

Leave a comment

Though many said they would post, two brave Pax joined YHC for a cold, soggy morning launching Beyond from Flight Plan. Combined with the four runners for Flight Plan, we had seven in the Starbucks lot – the same number as at least three other AOs for the same morning, including TOMB (er, “The Only Monday Bootcamp,” aka Honey Badger), Quagmire (another Monday bootcamp) and the new and currently unnamed bootcamp in Lake Wylie.

After a quick comment about the disclaimer, an added disclaimer was given, noting that the conversation that was to come was my opinion, so take it as such. Everything that I was going to share comes from my processing of chats with various Pax over the past few months, and though it’s my reflections, I think they’re worth sharing. With that, we took off.

Mosey around some parking lots, add in knees to chest and toy soldiers, and come to a halt in front of the steps at TCBY. Quick comment on the first theme of the day: identity. Basically, as we are working out, think of how you would answer the question, “Who am I?”

Start with my current favorite “warmup,” the dip/crab cakes/Jack Webb combo. One dip to four crab cakes, increasing to 10:40. Fun times. Good morning shoulders.

We followed that with L-sit progressions while sharing the first part of the “message.” L-sit progressions:

  • Hands on step, heels on ground, keep six off the step but under shoulders
  • One leg up
  • Other leg up
  • Both legs up (true L sit). It should be noted that YHC has oddly long monkey arms while Wild Thing has surprisingly short arms. Cha Ching’s arms are normal length (but of monster strength).

There are a lot of ways to answer the question, “Who am I?” For me, the usual answer includes my hospital name, Luke. With F3, there’s my F3 moniker, Jedi (makes sense now that my hospital name is out there…we’re an original bunch). Beyond names, there are other ways to answer the question. I’m a husband, a son, a father, a brother. I’m a Christian. I’m a gymnast, and a champion gymnast at that, a diver, a cheerleader (that’s probably a more embarrassing reality). But I’ve also been branded weird, loser, and jerk, among others.

Mosey around some buildings and back around to the front of the white building that looks like it belongs in Savannah or New Orleans or somewhere that isn’t Fort Mill.

Beginning in the western corner (it feels like the southern corner, but it’s not), we will do 25 reps of the assigned exercise, move to the middle of the building, 5 burpees, move to the northern corner, 25 more reps of the exercise, then run upstairs and repeat the process going back, making 100 reps and 10 burpees per round.

Round 1: 25 monkey humpers and sneaky gorillas

Plank it up (with side planks and reverse plank for good measure) for more talk time.

I knew from the time I was 15 that I was going to be a missionary in Africa. I don’t really have a good explanation of how I knew, but I had no doubt that this was my call. And it became a driving focus in my life. Every decision I made was with this in mind. My college degree, followed by my master’s degree; my choice of church; my relationships – all guided by this commitment to missions. Everywhere I went, this became the primary way I introduced myself. In many ways, this became my identity.

Round 2: Carolina dry docks and bear crawls

Return for some table top yoga work – including wonky airplane – and more talk time.

Reality hit for me in 2014. We had been in Zambia for four years as missionaries. From an outsider’s perspective, things were going well. Our ministry was growing, we had great relationships with our Zambian neighbors. But I grew increasingly depressed, so much so that I went on medication to help manage. The meds helped a bit, but one day it was so bad I couldn’t get out of bed. I had lost all resolve to do, well, anything. After several hard conversations and a great deal of prayer, we made the decision to leave Zambia and return to the US, and it was the hardest decision I have ever made.

Now, it would be easy to look at it and think that we failed. The thing is, I never felt like a failure. Actually, it felt much worse than that. Leaving Zambia, to me, felt like I was losing my identity – losing myself. It was terrifying. What I knew to be true of me, how I had grown to define myself, was gone. The only way for me to answer the question, “Who am I?” at that point was, “I don’t know anymore.”

Round 3: squats and crab walks

Return for calf raises (so…many…calf raises) on the curb and still more talk time.

It took this time of feeling completely lost to realize and better understand something I had heard and “known” for years. My identity is not defined by what others say about me or what I do. A lot of us are pretty quick to agree there. But we live in a time where the concept of “self-identifying” is held as absolute truth, and for me, this would be a terrifying truth. I am the king of negative self-talk, and if I am responsible for defining my own identity, it would be a very, very dark place.

As someone who has placed his trust in Christ, my identity is bound to his identity. I am who God says that I am: loved, redeemed, adopted son of the Creator. It isn’t about who others say I am. It’s not about my relationships with other people, even my wife, my kids, my parents. It’s not about my job or my calling. These are all part of my story, but they do not define me. I keep thinking of Job who, in just the first chapter of the book of the same name, loses his livestock, his servants, and his children – all things we could use to define who we are. Yet after all that, he says

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21)

If we define our identities by anything other than what God declares, we are tying ourselves to something that could ultimately be taken away. Who are we when we lose whatever it was we used to define ourselves?

So, how do you identify yourself? Who are you, deep down, under everything else?

Round 4: side straddle hops and jog (we were running short on time)

Return to stand around while I talked some more.

Now that my identity is not bound to what I do, to my relationships, to what I or others think, I can start to answer the question of purpose. This seems to come up in conversation a lot, though not necessarily in these words. We talk about being good husbands, fathers, co-workers. But, what is our purpose in this? Is it to just be good husbands, fathers, co-workers? Is it to honor those around us? What happens when we don’t do these things well?

Something I’m still working on, is seeing my purpose as bringing glory to God. I can do this by being a good husband, father, co-worker, friend, brother, son, etc. Having God’s glory as my purpose has drastically affected how I interact with the people around me, making me more mindful of every relationship. And I readily admit that I don’t do a good job all the time. I probably do a pretty bad job quite often. I’m a work in progress, but with a realization that my identity is secure and a purpose to bring God glory, I have confidence that, even on my bad days, it’s not the end.

Long mosey around the outside of the shops, past the library and roundabout to rejoin Flight Plan at COT.

Along the way, we processed some more, especially the concept of purpose. If our purpose is to glorify God, it can actually take our relationships even deeper. Take our wives, for example. If being a good husband is our purpose, that’s okay, but how much better will we treat her if our purpose is to glorify God through that relationship? Same with our kids, our friends, even strangers. Really, it changes everything.

COT

Announcements:

  • Opportunity to triple down on your running (P200 prep, anyone) with Clydesdales and Run ‘n’ Run (formerly Run ‘n’ Gun, but there seems to be a lot of running lately) on Wednesday and Tempo or Laces Out on Thursday.
  • Some other stuff that was probably important.
  • Happy Hour on Tuesday, March 13.

Praises and Prayers

  • Backdraft’s son is super smart and got an award for being in the top 1% academically of all young football players (there’s some program he mentioned, but YHC played soccer)
  • Some other stuff. I’m usually better at remembering these things.

I know this was a super long backblast, but that seems to be the rule with these Beyond backblasts. T-claps to those who read through it. It was an honor to get to lead and share, even if it was a bit intimidating. Thanks to Maximus for the opportunity and the push, and big thanks to Cha Ching and Wild Thing for posting.

For those who missed (you know who you are), you can make it up next time. Different AO. Different day. Different workout. Different message. Same Jedi on Q.

Until then…

Jedi out.

TClap |
30

3/1/18 – #Beyond – Defeating Goliath

Leave a comment

If I’m honest, even though I’ve Q’d 100 times over the last 3 years, I was a bit intimidated this morning. Maximus has done a great job setting a high bar of expectations for #Beyond, regarding the Winkie expected from both a physical and mental standpoint. I spent more time prepping for this Q over the last few days than I have collectively for the last 5. Not sure how it turned out, but I enjoyed the opportunity.

On this morning, we are going to take on the subject of the Goliaths in our lives. Goliaths, for today, at least, are the problems or vices that are difficult, persistent, seemingly insurmountable, and constantly taunt us. These problems can be any number of things, from alcohol to drugs, vanity to materialism.

Today, however, we are going to focus on one that is common amongst most men. A vice that we do not like to talk about because it makes us uncomfortable in groups. A problem that is becoming increasingly pervasive amongst adults, but especially amongst our youth. Today, we are going to discuss PORNOGRAPHY. **shudder**

We’ll do that while getting a decent workout in as well.

Mosey around the parking lot and then to the football field.

WARMUP

  • 20 side straddle hops
  • 10 double count windmills
  • 20 double count mountain climbers

Let’s get to THE THANG

  • Mosey to the endzone and plank it up

Introduce the topic, share some statistics about this Goliath that are staggering:

  • porn is a $97 Billion industry
  • 35% of all downloads are porn related
  • 25% of all internet searches are porn related

Break plank, back to the workout

  • Sprint to the 50 yard line, bear crawl the remaining 50
  • Plank it up & share more stats

More on this Goliath:

  • 40M regularly visit sites
  • 70% of men (18-34) visit monthly
  • 4.6M hours of porn watched on 1 site in 2016
  • porn usage increases marital infidelity by 300%

Back to the workout

  • Sprint to the 50 yard line, bear crawl the remaining 50
  • Plank it up & share more stats

More on this Goliath…its getting worse:

  • 64% of young (13-24) watch weekly
  • 67% of young believe it is acceptable

Back to the workout

  • Sprint 100 yards to other goal line
  • Plank it up & share more stats
  • Captain Thors to 8×32

More on this Goliath…this time amongst Christians:

  • 37% of Christian pastors say it is a current struggle
  • 47% of Christian families say it is a problem in their home
  • Most popular day for porn is Sunday, the Sabbath

Back to the workout

  • Sprint 100 yards to the other goal line
  • Indian Gator Walk – 100 yards (line up Indian Run style, but Gator Walk instead…this sucked)
  • Plank it up to continue discussions

Back to Goliath…it’s serious issue to our Creator and should be to us as well

Matthew 5:28 – but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Back to the workout

  • Indian Gator Walk – 100 yards
  • Plank it up to continue discussions

Mosey to the pull up bars…have something special planned

  • 10 toes to bar/pull up combos (1 TTB, 1 PU, repeats 10 times)
  • On the wall

Back to Goliath…good news is he is already defeated

1 Corinthians 15:57 – For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Back to the beat down

  • 10 toes to bar/pull up combos (1 TTB, 1 PU, repeats 10 times)
  • On the wall

Back to Goliath…though he’s defeated, he’s still a threat

From Goliath Must Fall (Giglio): Jesus has already overcome the enemy. However, as we read in 1 Peter 5:8, the devil still “prowls around . . . looking for someone to devour.” In many ways, he is like a snake with its head cut off. When you kill a snake, you have to be sure to bury its head, because even after death the serpent holds a lethal dose of venom in its fangs. If you step on a dead snake’s head, you can still get poisoned. In the same way, even though Jesus broke the power of Satan at the cross, he can still inject his deadly poison into our lives. He is dead but still deadly.

Back to the beat down

  • 20 heels to heaven, cadence
  • 10 chin ups, OYO
  • 20 LBCs, cadence
  • 10 chin ups, OYO

Back to Goliath…every man deals with this temptation, but God gives us the strength we need…if we ask

1 Corinthians 10:13 – No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

Back to the beat down

  • 5 pull ups
  • 10 toes to bar

Mosey towards COT

  • 20 boats & canoes

COT

My goal for this workout was to make everyone physically and mentally uncomfortable. This topic is very uncomfortable to many, but needs to be dealt with head on as it is an issue that is becoming more and more pervasive in our culture. Our young people are growing up in a world where pornography is more acceptable than ever and more immersive than ever. If we expect it to get better, we have to openly discuss and encourage the resistance to this temptation and teach our 2.0s how to resist it as well.

Thank you for the opportunity to lead, Maximus. Until next time…

– Ginsu

TClap |
21

Exten(d)uating Circumstances at Beyond Pantheon

1 Comment

The Beyond workouts initiated by Maximus at the start of this year are meant to test the PAX physically with black diamond-esque workouts, along with “extending” the Q in personal ways that may not occur at a standard workout. I jumped at this opportunity when presented and I recommend it to others to consider doing the same.

My Beyond topic was not going to be easy for me, and not known by many PAX. But I truly felt the need to use Beyond as a step moving forward and I have faith in support of the PAX. While my backblast is a little delayed, it is not for lack of thinking about how I was to write it up. I had already done a lot of thinking about it for weeks leading up to my Q.

The workout side of my Beyond was going to be tough and I’m sure the PAX who planned on posting knew a little extra running was coming.

As PAX were arriving, I advised to get their stretching in as we would be jumping right into the workout. A couple PAX arrived expecting Pantheon but were nudged into Beyond for a total of 12. Disclaimer given especially to modify as needed…but to try and push yourself.

I planned to speak in 3 parts during the workout about my spirituality, starting with my background (past), followed by my current status (present) and finishing with how I hoped to move forward (future)…hopefully with direct PAX help.

Before beginning the workout, I asked the PAX to keep an open mind and not to take anything personally. I needed them to bear with me as I knew only one way to speak on this topic and that was to be straightforward about my life experiences and observations. But as I get older, I see my mortality (and possible salvation) at hand.

I first told of my past as it pertained to religion. I was not raised in a religious family. I went to church a couple times, sometimes with my grandparents. Of course I was around Christianity my whole life, but I had no formal education. I told the PAX what I learned of religion as a child amounted to what I saw on tv…the Jim Bakers, the Benny Hinns, etc.  And what I was remember was a lot of asking for money and reading stories like those of older people giving away their life savings to guys like them. In college, I had some discussions with two brothers of the previous partying-type who had recently found God. So, my background is more logical and scientific without faith, or a faith ‘base’.

(I am sure this backblast may miss some things I talked about at Beyond, but possibly add a few things, too)

We moseyed around the school parking lot loop to the start of the straightaway for some “Burpee Miles”.  Our burpee miles were shortened for the .3 mile loop and consisted of 15 burpees, immediate sprint the straightaway cone to cone about :30,  jog around the loop back to the first cone. Rinse and repeat for 3 laps.

We went back for the 6 and crossed to the field for a break while I covered my “present” (or near present) within the last couple years.  A few years back, I used to have lunch meetings with a friend to discuss his Christianity and my spirituality. He always referred to me as a seeker. Some of the best discussions we had was coming at it from the point of view of Jesus as a man on earth. He loved everyone no matter the skin color or religious belief. He treated everyone equally. He had empathy for all men. He believed in good behavior by men.  I have taken this to heart and apply it to experiences in life, social issues, political issues, etc. Very simply…what would Jesus do? What would Jesus say?  Are people around me acting in a manner that Jesus would support?

I told the PAX that in quiet moments, I talk to God almost every day…even if I don’t have him defined by a book or even if I don’t know if I believe!  I ask questions, I ask for forgiveness for myself and I apologize for a lot of bad behavior that I see in the real world. I thank F3 because I know that without the opportunities that F3 has afforded me in this area,  especially seeing the positive things that faith offers, I would be nowhere near the seeking point I am now. While the F1 and F2 are of course important, its the 3rd F that is most consequential for all of us.

Our field work consisted of a continuous cycle through of exercises individually while each PAX put on a 40# ruck sack and carried a 30# sand bag overhead while crossing the soccer field and back. The exercises were, 25 each:

  • bombjacks
  • clap merkins
  • jump lunges left and right
  • plank jacks
  • squat jumps
  • reverse merkins
  • squat calf raises (a Tesh special)
  • plank shoulder taps

Much to the PAX dismay, we had time for 2 more burpee laps but with the burpees reduced to 10.

In COT, I addressed my “future” and how I move forward from here. I asked the PAX present, as I am asking any PAX reading this now, to reach out to me to discuss their faith….as of this writing a couple already have.  I need to reach out to Whetstone and continue pursuing in various ways. I will add here that while reading verses is ok, relating your personal belief system to me and how it applies in the real world is what I feel I need to hear. Tell me how you came to believe and about the positive ways your faith affects your life.  I see a lot of negativity in the real world, and our past history, and these things weigh on me heavily.  But be warned, if you take on this challenge that I present, there will be hard hitting questions and topics that I am not addressing here.

But I will continue seeking and ask for your help in the journey.

Bolt

Forgive me as there was more at COT but I waited too long for this backblast.

 

 

 

 

TClap |
19

Beyond 2018.07

1 Comment

This morning was a good day for some positive influence.  There were two options this morning, but everyone decided to try something a little harder and go Beyond.

Mosey to the basketball parking lot for some warmup.
SSHx50, Hillbilly walkers x20, Typewriter merkins x10 (I wasn’t the only one!)

Mosey to the paved path behind the half wall.  I went over the word of the month, anxiety.  I used to have extremely high anxiety with a life of distraction.  I would become anxious about anything and everything, so to get by, I had to constantly keep my mind off of things.  One day, I decided to put all my focus on my anxiety.  Everything I feared, I would think about constantly until I was tired of thinking about it.  I would fight the beast until somebody won.  The main one was, does God exist?  You have to figure this out for yourself.  The answer is going to be yes or no, but what that answer means is going to be different for everyone.  So figure it out, come to a conclusion, and make it your assumption from that point going forward.  When you doubt again, remember the time you came to the conclusion (even if you don’t know why) and move on.

Balls2wall shoulder taps x10, Muscle ups x10 w/ a 20 sec 6inches hold within the set. (3 rounds)

Mosey to rock pit paste the gate of the school.  I ask if anyone had seen “Fight Club”.  I love this movie because it shows the most basic problems of Sad Clown Syndrome, even though it pursues completely destructive pathways to fix the problem.  One scene Tyler asks “How much can you know about yourself if you’ve never been in a fight?”  I love this self-analysis of learning oneself, but I don’t care about fighting.  Instead, I asked myself “How much can you know about yourself if you’ve never been hungry?” I explain to the PAX that for the past week (Sat-Fri) I did a strict water fast for a week.  I had always wanted to know what it was like physically, emotionally, and spiritually, but had always been afraid because of anxiety of losing weight (irrational fear of being the guy that’s too skinny).  There are about a dozen reasons why I did it, but one was to face a fear.

Find a pet rock for…
Clockwork deadlifts:
I call out a time, you lunge in that direction, set the rock down, reset, lunge out, pick rock up, repeat

Clockwork deadlift
Al Gore calf raises x20 (w/ pet rock)
Clockwork deadlift
Jump squat (w/ pet rock)
Clockwork deadlift
Russian twist (w/ pet rock)
Clockwork deadlift
Al Gore calf raises x20 (w/ pet rock)
Jump squat (w/ pet rock)

This exercise to help you remember how to lift a load in awkard positions so hopefully you don’t teak your back one day picking up a grocery back off the floor behind you.

Mosey back for 6MOM
Freddy Merc x50
Flutter (good form, hollow body) x20
Dying cockroach x50

And that’s the game…  Loved leading this morning.  Go Beyond!!!

TClap |
8

Extra Heavy BEYOND – It’s more than a Workout

2 Comments

For those of you that know me and my workouts, there typically isn’t a whole lot of “messages” as I try to make it all about business.  However, this time around, I focused on delivering a message that meant a ton to me and my journey, but also hopefully sparking something in the hearts of the pax.  Let’s get w/ it:

Quick mosey over to the lit side of a building w/ plenty of heavy objects for the Pax to worry about while we did our warm-up.  It was short and sweet:

Wide Grip Merkins x10 (in cadence), followed by Diamond Merkins x10 (in cadence) followed by Merkins x10 (in cadence) – nothing like 60 push-ups to get us started.  From there it was all about sitting on our six and stretching so I could focus on the first part of the message.

I asked the Pax who had figured out their marriage and felt they are their spouses were 100% aligned – crickets.  Next question – Who has ever confused “being a provider” with being a good husband?  A few hands went up.  Well I can surely attest to that, and I’m a changed man because of it.  Without going into too many details, I let my priorities get so out of order that I lost my connection w/ my wife.  And it took an act of courage on her part and some serious gut checks to remind me of what matters.  In order, work took the most from me, got home, spent what little time I had w/ my kids (which was basically putting them down to bed), F3 probably got the next sliver (my mornings) and my wife got what was left.  That equated to nothing really, maybe some shallow conversations, tiredness from me, tiredness from her.  This went on for far too long until a late night conversation already past my bedtime lasted 3 hours.  It hit me like a ton of bricks  – our connection was nonexistent and it was time to get it back.

Next up – Heavy a$$ tabata stations.  6 stations, each had two different exercises, 2 pax per station.  40 seconds on, 20 seconds rest.

1a:  Coupon – 40 lb metal chain, Exercise – Jump Squats (wrap that chain around your shoulders / neck)
1b:  Coupon – 2 25 lb bags of metal pellets, Exercise – Curls

2a:  Coupon:  80 lb tree (I’m not kidding), Exercise – Man Makers (good luck)
2b:  Coupon:  30 lb tree or 40 lb stump, Exercise – Lunge Jumps (could swap any coupons for either exercise)

3a:  Coupon:  Cinderblock, Exercise – wood choppers
3b:  Coupon:  Cinderblock, Exercise – v sits (press cindy then touch toes pointed high w/ cindy)

4a:  Coupon:  50 lb bags of limestone, Exercise – shoulder press
4b:  Coupon:  50 lb bags of limestone, Exercise – flutters w/ push press

5a:  Coupon:  none, Exercise – vert wall w/ chalk (vertical jumps on brick wall – use chalk for first jump, mark your high mark and then spend the rest of the time trying to touch that line)
5b:  Coupon:  none, Exercise – bear crawl the perimeter

6a:  Balls to the Wall hold 40 seconds
6b:  Single Leg Wall Sit (20 sec each leg)

Mini break w/ continuation of the message – well the night of the “revelation” from my wife or what I call my re-awakening, I had a flashback so randomly of something CSPAN once said at a workout 2 years before.  It wasn’t random, because it was so fitting, but I honestly hadn’t thought about it in a long time.  It was the bullseye theory of prioritization that I clearly lost containment on.  My bud Witchhunt also helped me a few months back w/ some podcasts to listen to around time management.  Both pointed to the same tactical response – God gets your first.  That’s it.  So my wife and I got tactical – we committed to God and to each other to spend the first 45 minutes of every day together, reading God’s word.  Since that night, we have read together almost every morning (and the couple that we missed we text each other when we can catch up w/ reading and explain what we got out of it) independently the same reading plan, journal independently, but then share what God spoke to each of us.  When you share what spoke to you, you really hear what is going on with each other.  You hear each other’s real time emotions, real worries, real anxieties, what’s ahead, what’s behind us.  I can honestly say I feel closer and more aware of my wife’s true feelings that I ever did in the 13 years we’ve been dating / married.

RINSE AND REPEAT TABATA ABOVE.  NASTY.

We didn’t have a ton of time, so I ran the pax over to a wide open parking lot that had already been set up w/ cones.  An old fashioned football drill I remember doing from double session conditioning.  SNAKES.

One after the other –
Sprint 40 yards, side shuffle right 40 yards, back pedal your butt off 40 yards, side shuffle left 40 yards, sprint 40 yards, side shuffle left 40 yards, back pedal 40 yards, side shuffle right to starting point 40 yards.

I finished my message w/ something that was another a-ha moment w/ my wife about 6 months ago – a small group we did on a series called “Love & Respect”.  In a nut shell it taught us how God wired men and women differently.  Women need love; men need respect.  Not respect in a sexist, egotistical way, but our emotions are clearly influenced by when respect is given or clearly not.  Application – it’s all about how we talk to each other.  Always ask yourself if you’re the husband – did what I say come out in a loving way?  If not, you may want to apologize in advance and say exactly that (ie. I’m sorry honey – I clearly didn’t say that in the most loving way.  That’s not what I meant…).   Most times it’s not what we said, it’s how we said it.  Intent was harmless, the delivery was just not loving.  Same goes for the wife – instead of doing what most men do when they get angry and walk away, we should say, “I feel like what you said was not very respectful”.  More times than not, your wife will realize that was the case and apologize before anything gets out of hand.  Avoid the vicious cycles – husband gets mad, they walk away / internalize everything, they get distant, distance to the wife is clearly unloving, she gets more mad, results in her snapping at you and being disrespectful.  Repeat, repeat, repeat.  Avoid this and be loving men.  That’s all she wants.

RINSE AND REPEAT the SNAKES – only this time, double the distance for each direction.  Fun.

Made it back to COT 2 minutes late but the pax were cool w/ it.  Announcements, prayers for all the senseless violence the last couple days (peach stand, York county officers, kentucky school victims) and for vision / direction on those ideas / things that enter your life and you clearly know you need to do something w/ it.  Huge thanks to Maximus for asking me to lead this workout so early in it’s existence.  I really appreciate it man and I hope my experience can help some guys out there repriortiize and grow closer to their wives.

ChaChing

TClap |
50