Tag: GasHouse (Page 40 of 53)

Approximately a dozen men posted early for the pre-workout Third F including Spud, a HIM on IR whose presence was appreciated.  After opening with a prayer and invitation for the opening of our hearts and minds we began the following lesson with interactive discussion.

After hearing repeated requests from the people of Israel, God agreed to give them a king. Through the prophet Samuel, God anointed Saul the first king of Israel. For a while things were good.  Saul was victorious in battle and followed God’s instructions, revealed through Samuel.  Unfortunately Saul began to only partially follow God’s commands and Saul and Samuel’s relationship became strained.  Saul continued to pull away from God until Samuel finally revealed to Saul that he had crossed the line. No longer would Saul be protected. Saul begged Samuel to forgive him and go home together, but Samuel was not moved.  Saul became furious at Samuel, even ripped the prophet’s robe during the exchange.  Upset and disappointed with Saul Samuel would soon anoint another king, David, the shephard boy son of Jesse.

On Thursday there were ominous clouds in the sky as YHC headed home.  As the first raindrops fell I saw a high school age young man walking down the sidewalk and felt the call to offer a ride or an umbrella at the least.  With a car to the right I hesitated to get over and the median prevented a U-turn after I passed.  Moments later the skies opened and a few drops turned into a downpour. Maybe I wouldn’t stop. By now my mind entertained a number of thoughts:  He is probably heading for the apartments close by.  He is already soaked so it really doesn’t matter.  He wouldn’t want a ride from a stranger.  I’m not sure if the umbrella is still in the car.  I didn’t turn around and instantly my mind had begun to process information and create a story to justify my decision.  And, now, I wonder.  What was that voice and what happened when I failed to listen.

Saul certainly had a conscience and felt guidance for ethical decision making, but even clearer was the prophet of God telling him in plain terms what to do.  What happened when Saul failed to follow orders? If we read on, he became angry at Samuel, paranoid, made up stories in his head, etc., etc.  He had to create a reality that justified the decision he had made. Saul perceived himself as even greater and everyone else as less.  Isn’t that what we do as human beings … justify those decisions we make by interpreting our circumstances to match the decision?  That “reality” may or may not be the truth.  Most often we magnify our own positives and everyone else’s negatives.

Following Saul, Samuel’s second anointed king, David, also dealt with sinful shortcomings. Committing adultery and murder, David hid in a web of lies to hide his selfish actions.  But once confronted by the prophet Nathan David’s response was different.  He didn’t build himself up or put everyone else down.  Showing true repentance, David ripped his robe, fasted, prayed, wept, and, then, accepted God’s punishment and tough justice.  David accepted responsibility for his actions, a part of true repentance.

When we hear the voice, the call, (or in my opinion, the Holy Spirit) free will gives us the opportunity to act or not act.  Either way, our perception from that moment will shift to justify our decision.  Taking action and responding to such a call leads to a clear, truthful reality. Ignore the call and the justification process will begin.

In the book, Leadership and Self-Deception by the Arbinger Institute, failing to “follow our gut” or answer the call puts us into “a box.”  Once in the box we have to support our decisions by deceiving ourselves through a body of made up evidence.  For example, if you have a child you can remember those nights when the baby was crying and you remained still, very still.  I think I even made sure to keep breathing slow and steady.  My M will think I am asleep. But that darn voice would suggest I get up and take care of the baby. LET THE GAMES BEGIN!  I would think, I worked really hard today and need sleep for tomorrow.  My wife can sleep all day.  I mean, I bust my tail and what is she doing all day? … just hanging out with a baby.  

The scary thing about being “in the box” is we begin to see others more like objects than fellow brothers and sisters / children of God with their own unique struggles and challenges.  The box is a house of lies where I become a better person than I am and everyone else is seen from a selfish perspective and less than they really are.

Stroganoff touched on this perspective at the Back Woods Brawl with his description of the “Sandy V.”  Roscoe refreshed us on that discussion.  Whoopee shared a missed opportunity to consider the perspective of his daughters, tired after the first week of school, as he worked a masterful guilt trip on them for a desired action.

Self-deception breeds fear, mistrust, and conflict.  The “bad guy” becomes super bad.  We become really deserving of whatever we choose to do.  In the box we deny our own moral compass the ability to do its job.  No longer can we trust ourselves to have good judgement until we recognize the situation and get back to reality.  Next week we will get clearer on the symptoms of being in the box, especially the impact made on our relationships.  I hope we can also begin to figure out how to get out of the box.  Saul and David have provided some clues.

Great interactive discussion men!

We started the morning with a great discussion with Dr. Feelgood about Samuel and Saul (Old Testament). Great insight from a HIM who has a talent for breaking things down to basics then building back up for daily applications for all of us. OUTSTANDING DISCUSSION.

When I volunteered to Q this weekend, it was originally going to be a BRR prep in disguise. Little did I know my RED F3 shirt would arrive and be a youth XL and then my plans changed. I posted that I would be willing to part with this shirt if anyone would offer any money (highest bidder). Roscoe quickly called me out and suggested that this shirt might be too big….because of my BRR prep…..and lack of F3 workouts lately. My immediate response was the Sammy Hagar song, “I Can’t Drive 55” since Roscoe is a policeman. I googled the song and watched the video for inspiration-Sammy driving the race car, yelling at the judge, the band fighting with the cops in court, and Sammy eventually ending up in jail. I was truly inspired….I jumped into my car and next thing I knew I was flying down Franklin Blvd typing my Weinke as I weaved in and out of traffic with my windows down and the music blaring…..thankfully Roscoe does not work in GasHouse so I eventually made it home without a confrontation with the popo.

Here is what we did:

I knew the pax would be expecting a quick WU and I did not want to let them down, however I needed to make sure to emphasize the upper body so there was a quick disclaimer followed by a quick youth XL RED shirt reveal with some cat calls and whistles.

WU: 10 IC of SSH, Merkins, LBC, Merkins, Squats, Merkins, Flutter Kicks, Merkins. Somewhere in there Roscoe took over for a celebrity WU with PRESS PRESS FLING X 10 IC-yes, this IS an exercise and it is done by SEALs as part of their workouts. #unicornsighting

Next we moseyed to the flag for a STANDING pledge.

We moseyed up the hill to Grier Middle School parking lot with a nice wall and curb so we partnered up and P1 did hip slappers X 20 while P2 did Rocky Balboas AMRAP then flapjack and repeat at 10 reps of hip slappers. This was originally going to be wall sits but Rocky 3 was on last night and I had to find somewhere to put them in.

After short recovery we moseyed up the street to Parkwood Baptist Church dodging traffic for some leg work. We lunged across the parking lot and after 5 lunges for each leg we did 5 merkins. On the way back we lunged X 10 for each leg then did 5 merkins.

I didn’t want to leave my home church out so next we moseyed over to First Presbyterian Church to the stairs and did a 3 way partner split. P1 ran up the stairs, did 5 merkins, then ran back down. While P1 did that, P2 held P3’s legs up while P3 did hip slappers AMRAP. This was an attempt to build the Wall of Thermopylae and served as a definite crowd pleaser. We rotated through each spot for 3 cycles (I think).

We moseyed again towards the soccer field that has a baseball field on it (thanks JK2) for some Century Club-10 volunteers stepped up (thanks Messy-12 years old!!!) and took turns leading an exercise of choice X 10 reps (as fast as possible). Messy started us with SSH X 10, then Dolph called out 10 Burpees. I think I passed out after the last burpee and woke with Bandit leading dying cockroaches and DaVinci with Warrior Lunges that were as much more fun to watch than to do (nice work Feelgood). This was followed by a karaoke run around the parking lot (seemed like a long run for me) then headed over to the soccer field (I know, JK2, it has a baseball field on it) for some more partner work. This was called Merkinburpsquat (think Monkeypuppybaby). P1 ran across the soccer field while P2 did AMRAP of exercises which included Merkin, burp, squat. I think we did 1 cycle of this (my brain was pretty much gone at this point).

We were cutting close on time so we moseyed back to the flag for……ring/ring on my phone. Who could that be???? It was my mother (AKA Nana). Roscoe suggested I answer so I did and the pax were kind enough to wish Nana a good morning. I quickly explained I was busy and would call her back. In honor of my mom, we saluted her with 67 Merkins (she is 66 years old now, but will be 67 some day hopefully). As we started this, I heard someone say “Are we really doing this???” I am sure that will make Nana proud when I tell her later. My response was “Be glad it was not my grandmother…” We did a short wall sit waiting on the bells of freedom then jail-breaked to the start-thanks for the push Squirt and Dolph-not as fast as I used to be so all I saw was your backs. I guess I could have run faster if my shirt was not so tight-made it hard to breathe. That is my story anyway.

We finished with the namorama and announcements/prayer requests. BRR coming this week (thankfully) and some health issues in various pax families. Proud to see so many faces out there today-it’s been too long for me and loved getting back out there. Saturday mornings are a great time for me.

Days like today really motivate me starting with the 3rd F discussion and ending with a smelly shirt that I gave to a 12 year old kid who worked his butt off today and led some men through exercises like a champ-Madoff, give Messy an attaboy from me. We all know it takes some guts to get out there and exercise, let alone lead with a bunch of people you really don’t know.

Guys-thanks for making this F3 thing great. It takes all of us in one way or another.

Whoopee

Over a year and a half into my F3 journey and ole DaVinci finally stepped up to his V-Q.  Thank the Sky-Q for Bandit on the Co-Q as I am usually winded at about the 2 minute mark.

Warmup — Bandit started us with some old favorites.  SSH IC x 20, Moroccan Night Club IC x 30 (maybe 50?), lots of others quick and hard.  Plenty of mumblechatter especially from FNG (Gilligan) who was flabbergasted by our Exicon. Counterama = 11 then we moseyed to the flag for pledge.  Wallsit, donkey kicks, hip slappers. Mosey to top of the hill and Bandit handed over the Q to me.  A brief interlude of Monkey Humpers ICx10 to entertain Garrison Blvd, then mosey down to the Grier MS track.

The Thang — SIX STRING SCREAMER;  Being a guitarist and knowing that is part of why I got my F3 name (creativity = multi-instrumentalist = renaissance man = DaVinci) I split up the track using the six strings of a guitar (actually duct tape lines) and handed out slips to each pax with an exercise.  Each exercise is either partner or group to emphasize teamwork, like in a rock band, an organization like F3 or many other aspects of life. After choosing partners, pax run AYG to next “string” and winner calls his exercise.  Can’t remember exact order, but the band rocked it out with:  Modern-Day-Warrior Lunges (lunges performed with arms out parallel to ground and alternate legs on each lunge so that your arms swing about as if slashing your enemies with swords), 100 combined w/ partner; Tunnel Of Love ; Partner Derkins 20 combined; Railroad Tracks; LBC 100 combined; Alabama Ass-Kickers, 40 combined; Squerkins, 10 each position; DuckWalk as a group to next string; American Hammer, 100 combined; Hello Dolly, 50 combined; Princess Tea Party, consisting of 10 (or so) Partner Merkins and 30 second Partner Wallsit (back to back).  At some point, Whoopie nearly gave us an Irish Goodbye, but did acknowledge he had to bolt.  After everyone had called their exercise, YHC gave a little pep talk about how I’m always the 6, but I’m never the last man in as there’s always 2-3 bros who circle back and encourage me. No man left behind. Iron sharpens iron. I am third.  Find the last, lost and least and get out of your comfort zone to be sure they are taken care of.  The greatest love you can show is sacrifice.  With that we moseyed back up the hill, pausing for Crab Humpers IC x 10, again to entertain the drivers on Garrison. We had about 6 minutes left so Bandit took over again for some Mary….

6MOM —  Posting this too long afterwards so can’t recall all, but included some burpees, Dying Cockroaches and some form of Merkins.

COT — announcements: BRR coming up, remember our bros participating; need Q for third F next 3 weeks.  Prayer requests: friend of Stroganoff’s, Bill, who had a tragic death in the fam; friend of DaVinci’s, Shawn, also had a tragic death in the fam;  TSquare and his fam

BOM — DaVinci led the prayer

Coffeeteria — Stronganoff, Bandit, Yo Adrian and DaVinci

Just a few quick comments on my V-Q.  I was afraid I had designed too much and the pax would say “we’re not gonna take it” and I thought personally I would feel shot through the heart, but once we got started we all felt like we were runnin with the devil on our tails and I could sense the general feeling was “I want action”.  Round and round the track, these guys weren’t F-F-F-Foolin, although in that second turn, the overgrown bushes were nearly a welcome to the jungle and we had to jump out of the way. Once the final countdown was over, my water bottle made me open up and say …ahhh and we all agreed it was nothin but a good time!

Peace! — DaVinci

6:35 Ralph Lauren texted YHC to confirm some guests had arrived at #powderhorn

6:35:30  YHC got out of bed and was en route

As I arrived to see the shovel flags flying and a good swarm of black shirts, greetings were being exchanged with the PAX from Ballantyne and Gastonia..  There was some extra excitement in the air as the SOB’s had driven close to an hour to realize they were one man short of being able to return with the ghost flag.  Great showing from both groups today and the Ballantyne guys had a much better attitude about not grabbing the flag than I would have had.   Great group of leaders obviously from both Gastonia and Ballantyne.  We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, we need to do more joint efforts with the Gashouse boys.

1 minute warning

Disclaimer stated.

0700 sharp and one of the largest group of men YHC has had the opportunity to Q got after it.  Thankful for the opportunity and the support.   Here’s my best attempt at recalling the wienkeless workout.  We’re blessed to have a nice AO at CCC and I was proud to show it off.  So we saw most of it.  Didn’t make it to the ballfield and blocks.

WARMUP:

• SSH 25 IC
• Imperial Walker 25 IC
• Merkins 15 IC
• Mtn. Climbers 25 IC
• Perfect Squats 25 IC
• Mosey towards LeGrand
  • High Knees
  • Butt Kickers
  • Regular

MAIN THANG:

• Merkins 10 single count OYO going up the stairs
• 2 lines starting at the building.  Arm length apart. Every one planks.  Last PAX bunny hops over the rest and falls in line to plank, one after the other until the line has advanced to the other end of the walkway
• Mosey around the back of the building.  Pick up a rock, not too big.
• Mosey over to  Picnic alley
• Partner up, size doesn’t matter
• One partner wall sits holding the rock, other partner does box jumps on the wall – team reps total 100
• Hail Mary – team reps total 100
• Plank for the 6
• Mosey to the Brick fence at the HVAC
• Feet and hands in the holes, pullups 20 OYO
• Repeato
• Mosey to Carnegie Hall
• Circuit work
  • 5 burpees at the top
  • down the stairs
  • 10 Derkins at the bottom
  • up the stairs
  • round and round til you cant.  I think I made about 6 laps.  Outback made at least one more than that!  Great work!
• Circle up on the stage for Mary led by the Revolution PAX – I can’t remember the rep counts of any of these except for Ralph Lauren’s 51 flutter kicks.  he proved his point.
  • American Hammers
  • Kickout with a crunch
  • LBC’s
  • Flutter kicks
  • Leg over knee crunches, each side
  • Back Scratchers
  • Homer to Marge
  • Hello Dolly
  • Freddie Mercuries with Impact or resistance or something Devito derived.  Slap your knees with your palms…
  • Hot Potatoe
• Remember we still have the rocks.  You should have been holding them the whole time.  Mosey back to the pile to return them
• Mosey back to the parking lot
• Circle up – Morrocan Night Clubs – 50 ? IC
• Cotton Pickers 20 IC
• MONKEY HUMPERS 25 IC

Name O Rama

COT

GHOST FLAG PRESENTATION TO GASHOUSE

I’ve been to a number of AO’s now.  Gotten to know some great guys.  Hardly ever see EVERYONE work as hard as this group did.  Sure some were faster than others, but no one slacked off.  Great effort, good mumblechatter, and as Cheddar said, the #F3spirit was alive and well.

The PAX were reminded that we talk alot about accountability to each other and helping each other out.  We are not to forget that even when surrounded by HIM it’s not impossible to slack off or fall back or stray from the right path.  For example the goal of the pullups on the wall is to be able to do more unassisted pullups on the bar.  This is only effective if a man strains his upper body and only assists with legs with absolutely necessary. However to the bystander, it can’t really be determined if the man doing the pullups is using his legs for assistance a little or a lot.  Likewise even when we talk the talk and even put time in with the men whom we call ourselves accountable to, it is often too easy to fake it, to not do our best, or to give in to that treacherous temptation and no one may know the difference.  No one but you, and the Sky Q.  So don’t forget our strongest accountability partner is through an intimate relationship with God.  Whatever it takes to keep that relationship strong, whatever it takes, will be worth it.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Coffeeteria afterwards at Lily Bean.

Thanks to Ralph Lauren for the cold gatorade’s, hit the spot.

BOLO for Gastonia CSAUP in the works at Crowders

BRR coming up

Spartan and various upcoming OCR’s

Prayer Request’s

Leaders, country, family of child killed in Bessemer City.  Sorry if I forgot any others.

As I type this back-blast, men’s Olympic rowing is on the TV in the background.  The commentators describe the race and comment on the difficulty of the third 500.  As Freed To Lead communicates so well, a mans life in the 3rd 500 can also be as challenging.  That point in life where a lot of energy has been spent to get there, and so much more energy must be spent to complete the race with strength and dignity.  As ages go, YHC is probably still in his second 500, but I will hit my third 500 with force; I will hit it with the other high impact brothers of F3.  Monk shared during the 3rd F this morning on a man’s compartmentalization and sad clown syndrome, as described in Freed to Lead.  He then showed examples of the disciples being challenged by Jesus to take up their cross, and even the “Divine smack down” Peter received as he questioned the Savior, but later made an impact in his life.  We can all learn from the disciples who entered their third 500 with force and changed the course of history.

The disclaimer: I suggest you get back in the car and go home. I am hushpuppy, I am a soft and squishy side dish but I will hurt your insides

The warm up: Short mosey to the library parking lot, Plank-O-Rama.  Left arm up, then left leg, alternate, then regular.  Hold the plank, plank Jacks, Shoulder taps, Peter Parkers, Merkins, Parker Peters, all X 15 IC. Then re position for planking caterpillars down the hill in the parking lot, then for fun, did it back up the hill!  Mosey to flat area in the parking lot for SSH X 15 IC, imperial walkers X 15 IC.  On the 6 for LBC’s, Flutter kicks X 15 IC.

Tha Thang: 1 mile Mosey to Lineberger Park.  3 Pearls of plank and some flutters on the way to let the breath and the 6 catch up; Then circle up at the flag pole once we arrived at the park.  Looking on at the Stars and Stripes, and the POW/MIA flag, we remembered the High Impact Men who gave their lives.  The pledge was made and then on to dips on the park benches, X 15 IC.  Then, it was off to the playground!  Partner up, 1 partner did ab crunches with feet on the swings and planking, pulling knees to chest, while partner 2 did pull ups from a piece of playground equipment.  3 rounds of that, and it was time for an uphill Mosey.  Up the steep hill, across the parking lot and to the concrete steps beside the basketball goal.  Incline pushups IC X 15, then Donkey kicks IC X 15 (thanks for the cadence call Bandit, YHC was a bit winded).  Then Hip slappers IC x 15.  At about the 4th slapper, I began to taste my morning snack in the back of my throat and Yo Adrian took over the cadence call.  YHC tends to do that when is 6 is above his head.  After a slow count off, it was mosey up the hill to the Spray Ground.  Bear crawls on your own through the spraying playground!  Some modified to keep their fancy shoes dry, but most had a good cool-down.  Mosey back to the lower part of the park to find picnic tables for step ups.  Due to the concern of the strength of the picnic tables, and the unusually low ceiling to the shelter, an Omaha was called and squats were done X 15 IC instead.  Now began the mile long mosey back to the Schiele, with pearls at each of the same stop.  Stroganoff reminded YHC of the tradition of sidewalk monkey humpers showing the passerby’s our best side, so it was 15 monkey humpers IC! At the bottom of the hill a hard left was turned into the nature trail and it was Lunge walk until the Q was no longer tired, then up the hill and back to the parking lot for ring of fire.  14 men held the down as the circle came round, then hold the up while it goes around, all until the Q was no longer tired. Then on the 6 for 25 flutter kicks by Stroganoff. With time for 1 more exercise, YHC attempted to communicate some side ab exercise that Dr Feelgood likes to do but I seemed to confuse people so I just started exercising and let everyone catch up.  10X on one side, shaking my hips sideways up and down, then flipped over for 10X on the other side.  Just as #10 was called, the church bells sound and the beat down was complete!

Announcements: Billy Madison offering to host a small F3 group Fantasy Football league.  Contact him if you are interested; Hushpuppy is moving Saturday, several offered to help.  Much Appreciated.

COT: Prayers for Davinci and family traveling home from a mission trip, Bacon’s father and acquaintance of Monk and an acquaintance of Hushpuppy battling cancer, Our country and leaders.

It was an honor to lead 14 #HIM’s this morning.  A year ago I would have never imagined I would be doing this, and I am better for it.

Warmup: SSH, Imperial Walker, Appalachian Americans, Moroccans, LBC, Chinooks, CDD, Jobus, Don Quixotes,

Mosey to flagpole for pledge

Mosey to Olympic Stadium

We divided into 5 groups of 3 for our first race: 3 Amigos across the length of the football field. Gold medal = 2 burpees, silver = 3, etc.

Main event: Gashouse Pentathlon! We divided into two teams. Team 1 performed 10X Merkins, LBCs, Jump Lunges, and Burpees, repeato, while Team 2 did a half mile indian run. Switch. Switch, Finish, so each team ran 1 mile and did as many sets as possible. Teams shared gold medal.

JK2 talked about accountability using the symbolism of the interlocking Olympic rings and the Roman interlocking shield (Freed to Lead)

Then we had a tug o war and moseyed back to the lot. A round of toy soldiers and dying cockroaches took us out.

Announcements: Advisory tomorrow. Prayer requests. COT

Great workout guys!

One full time PAX, one named 2.0, and one 2.0 to be named in the future decided to plant the flag at an undisclosed, unofficial and unsanctioned AO at an unknown vacation rental house carport somewhere near the coast of South Carolina.  Even though the M gave a solid “maybe” when asked if she wanted to POST, she opted for a nap instead, making the workout an F3 workout instead of a traditional Jane Fonda workout like Short Sale used to do in his carport with leggings.  Vacations should include naps.  YHC should try that sometime.

With a screwed up calf muscle (a la Tool Time from earlier this year) the only exercises were one’s that didn’t offend the calf.  Fortunately rented bikes mean lots (and I mean lots) of miles out and about dragging an additional 50 plus pounds of future named 2.0 and bike attached behind me so that takes the place of running for cardio.

Warm Up:  SSH, Merkins, Low Slow Squats, and Imperial Walkers

The Thang:

We did a ladder of 10, 20, 30….70, 60, 50….20, 10, 20, 30…..70 of CDD’s, Merkins, LBC’s, Squats, Seal Jacks, Flutter Kicks, and something else I can’t remember.  At first it was just Happy Feet and me with the future to be named 2.0 FNG sitting in a chair watching cartoons until he saw the Seal Jacks and joined in for about 20 IC if you could call it that. He also hit his six for LBC’s.  Gotta love sharing F3 with family.

It was 93 degrees and humid.  It reminded me of Midoriyama without the direct sunlight and whining.

We closed out without name-o-rama and went straight to the cool down of throwing football for an additional half hour.  Missing middle school football conditioning practice means getting in some work on your own.

Thankful for the leadership and fellowship that is F3 and the flexibility to name and claim an F3 workout whenever and wherever you are.  You can modify as needed.

As I told CSPAN last Saturday, F3 brings me joy.  F3 with my boys brings me more joy. Give it away.

F3 Counts!