Personal Responsibility

Personal Responsibility

A small but strong group of wily veterans gathered in the CDS high school middle school parking lot for their daily dose of fitness. Given the expert crew, and the fact that they all knew I’ve never been an expert in much, I gave what might generously be described as a woeful (at best) disclaimer and took off running. Risky move, I know, exposing myself and all the other F3 shareholders to so much potential liability. Oh wait, there are no shareholders?  Ok, all the board members and me? Or, all the members? Or…? Ok, so no good answer to that one. Good thing no one tripped, got lost or fell on an ant bed.

Thanks to Curd’s ribbing, I proceeded to remedy the deficiency when we circled up for actual exercise by giving a thoroughly sound and complete disclaimer, finishing with the legally precise catch-all clause: “Remember, if anything happens out here, it’s your own [darn] fault!”

For those who care, here’s what we did:

The THANG

COP: SSH, Merkins, Squats, 8-count body builders, LBCs, Mountain Climbers and maybe something else.

Using rocks we found in a ditch, we proceeded to the main parking lot for some running/lifting partner combos that went something like this:

• Run to end of median/curls
• Run around median/squats
• Run to end of 2 medians/press
• Run around 2 medians/lunge
• Run down entry lane, banging out 5 merkins at each break/squat-press (repeato)
• Run around church/curls, squats, lunges, press

Having returned the rocks, we proceeded to the high school middle school picnic tables for a little more partner work:

• People’s chair on wall/derkins and dips on tables
• flapjack and repeat x3

Circle up on the concrete slab for a quick session with Jack Webb.

COT (on the slab)

NMM

Cobains for no Imperial Walkers today. I personally hate it when the Q doesn’t include those. Feels like the workout is just a tad short-changed and I missed out on something. Not sure what benefit that exercise provides have, they look kinda stupid and most folks half-ass them while chatting with their buddies, but they’re still an F3 staple. But, I forgot them. Oh well. You’ll just have to bang ‘em out on your own if you missed them like I did.

“If anything happens out here, it’s your own [darn] fault.” I’ve been thinking about that statement a little more today, and I really think it rings true. For more than just any potential injury. You want to get faster? It’s on you. Stronger? You. Community? You. You have none of the above? Uh yeah, you. As we shared (ok, I pontificated a bit) in COT, F3 can be a very good thing, helping some of us get in a bit better shape, but more importantly providing a community of men actually getting to know and care about one another. Tough to find in this world. It should be easier to find elsewhere, but for so many it isn’t. Many if not most do find this community at F3 (when they show up semi-consistently, invest in others, etc. – again, it’s on you) and the remarkable thing is that when they find it at F3 they tend to take it with them back into their other work, family, churches and neighborhood.

Announcements

• #Haywoodstock and the 24HOB is tonight! Great event for a great cause. Check twitter/slack for details.
• Redrink the koolaid: Dredd/OBT and F3 were interviewed by Brett McKay and the story of F3 is now available for all to hear. It’s worth a listen whether you are brand new to F3 and never heard the story of why guys do pushups in a parking lot at 5:30 am, or whether you’re an OG who just needs a bit of encouragement. Available at www.artofmanliness.com (and links are floating around on twitter/slack). Don’t worry, Pop Tart, it’ll be available in audio cassette format soon.
• Bulldog and his M are opening a fitness studio in South Park. Sounds like it’ll be a top notch endeavor. Reach out to him for more info.