The Maize Backblast: Be Strong and Do The Work

The Maize Backblast: Be Strong and Do The Work

May 25, 2023 | AO – The Maize | Copperfields | Feels like 70°

PAX [17]:  Bubbles, Stapler, DaKine, Crab Cakes, Cutting Edge, Chicken Hawk, Tardy, Obi-Wan, Smelly Cat, Steeple, Cadbury, Benchwarmer, Sergeant Pencil, Longneck, Devito, Blades of Glory, The Plague

QIC: The Plague

In preparing for this workout YHC has been reflecting on how we find purpose in our lives and where we find the strength to pursue that mission. Life on life’s terms or the flux (as F2L calls it) means that things are constantly in motion and out of our control. Our purpose or focus for each day changes based on the needs of those we love and too often based on the demands of our Mammon (aka work). So where do we go to find motivation or encouragement to keep pushing forward?

YHC loves listening to motivational speeches on YouTube to get a little pumped. Guys like Jocko, Goggins, Frisella, and Eric Thomas have some great sayings that can really get you going. But where do we find the truth in our lives about pursuing our purpose or mission? YHC turns to the Bible, and you may turn to other resources, but I wanted this beatdown and CoT to help guys see that the strength comes after the struggle. Strength is not a required condition you have to meet before doing the work required in our daily lives. Often times, you realize your true strength only after you’ve completed the very thing you were afraid of.

Side Note: Hard Hat was Q at Labyrinth and said he was going to try to disrupt our beatdown. I devised a plan to take our PAX to a location they couldn’t find us….read more to see if we succeeded 😉

PAX arrived for a pre-run and we focused our minds on the Q-Source Topic Q2.1 Impact. Think of an area where you are maintaining the status quo and want to have a bigger impact. Get input from the guy you’re running with or maybe someone you’re in close proximity with on how you can take that next step to have the impact you were designed to have.

The pre-run concluded and the clock hit 0530…LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

This is F3 – Fitness, Fellowship and Faith. F3 is an international network of free, peer-led workouts for men. Our mission is to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership.
Core principles:

1. Are free of charge
2. Are open to all men
3. Are held outdoors, rain or shine, heat or cold
4. Are led by men who participate in the workout in a rotating fashion, with no training or certification necessary
5. End with a Circle of Trust

Disclaimer: The Plague is not a professional – PAX need to modify as necessary.

I notified the PAX that Hard Hat might try to steal them from The Maize workout. I also told them if they left our beatdown to join the Labyrinth there would be a significant penalty of 100 Burpees.

To avoid the disruption of our brother Hard Hat and the fearless Labyrinth PAX, we moseyed up Atlas. We stopped at the top of the hill for WaR.

Warm-A-Rama

• SSH – 15 IC
• Sun gods – 20 IC (10 each direction)
• Big Ones – 10 count each side

Halfway through WaR we saw Hard Hat leading the Labyrinth PAX down the hill right towards us. They were pumping up the PAX with loud music and waving their arms as if they were flying…We held our ground and stayed in circle formation forcing them to run around us. None of The Maize PAX left our workout, however, YHC was unsuccessful in hiding from Hard Hat’s plan.

After WaR we moseyed to the parking lot for the thang

The Thang – Centennial

PAX lined up at one end of the parking lot and worked through these 10 exercises.

Directions – YHC will call the exercise and start time. PAX will work individually to complete 100 reps and the first guy to hit 100 calls out “One Hundred” and the rest of the PAX stop where they’re at. Mosey to other side of the parking lot and move to next exercise. Rinse and repeat until finished. Total should be 1,000 reps.

• 100 Merkins
• 100 Mountain Climbers
• 100 LBCs
• 100 Smurph Jacks
• 100 Jump Tucks (modify to Bobby Hurley’s or Squats as needed)
• 100 Alternating Shoulder Taps
• 100 Lunges or Bonnie Blair’s
• 100 Air Squats
• 100 Freddie Mercuries
• 100 Burpees (Cadbury got us to 50 and we called Omaha based on time 😊)

PAX moseyed to the shovel flag for Bruce Lee.

• Flutter Kicks – 20 IC
• Leg Raises – 15
• LBCs – 15 IC
• Heel Touches – 15 IC
• American Hammers – Rancid Style (17 IC)

Announcements/COT:

• Announcements:
  • 5/27 – 2.0 Workout at Oracle | 0700
  • 5/29 – Memorial Day – several sites doing Triple Murph, Coronado 0600 start time
  • 6/3 – Brickbuilder Event – get signed up!
  • 6/12 – Wolf Den Launch | ENHS | Site Qs – Greenhouse & T-Swift
• Prayers
  • Lots of prayers lifted up – super cool to hear guys sharing what’s on their hearts this morning
    • Room Service’s son Pete
    • Steeple’s M
    • Mr. Miyagi’s M
• CoT
  • YHC mentioned before the beatdown that I love listening to motivational speakers and getting hyped up. I particularly like Eric Thomas that says, “Everyone wants to be a beast until its time to do what beasts do”. Something about these catch phrases get me jazzed up and in the perfect mood for some burpees or whatever the day might bring. But these catch phrases fade and the grind of the flux can sometimes knock us down. I’ve also noticed that sometimes these phrases make us feel like there’s a condition of being hard, strong, confident, or fill in the blank that we have to meet before we can do the hard things or achieve our purpose.
  • If you believe in a higher power, Jesus, Buddha, or even subscribe to the F3 Q-Source topic of Impact, you know and understand that we’re all here for a reason. We each have specific things that we’re here to accomplish. Some of us it’s as simple as being a good husband, father and friend while others may have a bigger purpose like starting a scholarship foundation. Either way we all have a purpose to fulfill so how do we stay motivated to keep pursuing that purpose or just to get through our daily lives?
  • I had a funny thing happen the other day while I was at the lake with my family. My 7-year-old daughter had a paddle board that floated away. She started throwing a fit about how scared she was to go and get the thing and my response was to parent her as if I was Jocko or Willink. I told her “Good”, “Stay Hard” go get the paddle board. She then went deeper into a spiral of fear with tears and emotions. My lovely M came over, waved her magic motherly wand and convinced my daughter to swim out and get it. My daughter came back and was absolutely pumped. “Dad, I think I can do anything now!” she exclaimed. Wow…complete fail as a father there…somehow these motivational phrases weren’t good parenting techniques.
  • In the Bible there’s a story where King David receives plans to build a temple for God. David is about to die so he’s giving the plans to his son, Solomon, so he can build the temple. David says to Solomon, “Be careful now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do the work” (1 Chronicles 28:10).
  • So how do these dots all connect? Well what I think I’m learning is that we don’t have to be strong, hard, confident or anything else before we do the work. Doing the work is actually the vehicle that makes us stronger and more confident. We gain the experience, strength, and hope we need by proving to ourselves that we can do the work. As men that desire to have a positive impact on those we love and are in proximity with, we need to take action and do the work. We can’t wait until we’re good enough, strong enough, have enough faith, or have the perfect plan to take action away from the status quo and toward a place of advantage (advantage meaning a place better than where we are currently).
  • So men, I want to encourage you to identify one area you’ve been maintaining the status quo. Maybe it’s fear holding you back or you don’t feel “enough” to pursue it. Take action. Take on step toward advantage. The people you are in proximity with want you to lead and the growth you’ll find in taking action will result in the strength, confidence, etc. that you’ve been longing for.
• Coffeteria/2ndF at Starbucks

Aye!

The Plague