21 men chose the hard thing this morning. Here is their story, with some bonus commentary included at the end.
Warmarama
The usual suspects…carrot pullers, imperial storm trooper, toy soldier. I was still wiping the sleep out of my eyes at this point and even called some of the exercises by the wrong name (almost). My apologies!
The Thang
DBAP
D = Diamond Merkins 20X
B = Burpees 10X
A = Air Squats 20X
P = Pull ups 10X
Using the whole parking lot as a loop, one full loop is 100m sprint + D + 100m sprint + B + 100m sprint + A + 100m sprint + P.
1 DBAP = 4 loops
Next up was something that got thought up on the fly…Edwards Block Hands. The moment you put your hands on the block you can't set it down (20X burpee penalty if you do).
10X Shoulder Press IC
10X Curl IC
15X Shoulder Press IC
15X Curl IC
15X Shoulder Press IC
15X Curl IC
Back to home with some more merkins and burpees along the way. Go around the circle for Mary.
RECOVER RECOVER
Moleskin (warning: some soapbox action coming up)
I already gave some backstory at my 1 year anniversary here: https://f3lakenorman.com/backblast/1-full-year-of-life-changing-gratitude-and-burpees
Still, I can't put together the right words to express the magnitude of gratitude I have for the men of F3 over the past 2 years. If I started listing names, I'd surely leave some guys out cause there are just so many that have had a positive impact on my life. But I will call out Soprano specifically for bringing me out the first time after some initial resistance on my part. Thank you Soprano!
DBAP stands for Don't Be A Pussy. It is a joke. A relic from a false idea of manhood from the recent past. But let's say we want to redefine it. Here's what DBAP should actually mean, to me at least:
- Loving your wife and kids and being there for them. But the focus is on quality, not quantity. In the past, when I wasn't at work I was with the family and that's it…high quantity not always high quality. It turns out that investing in authentic friendships and going out to do hard things has dramatically improved family quality time (see below).
- Authentic friendships. Not friendships of convenience or (like too many of my past "friendships") just some guys to get black out drunk with and not even care or think about them until the next time you want to get black out drunk. I'm not villifying drinking with buddies, I'm just saying that from my experience when a vice was the sole point of connection the friendship lacked authenticity. Invest in authentic friendships by being there for your friends. You get 10 fold what you give.
- Choosing the hard thing. Pushing yourself for your mind's sake. That's right, your mind. Building mental strength and resiliance is not only something you do for yourself, it enables you to better support your wife, kids, and friends. And remember, the hard thing looks different for every man. It's you against you. So ask yourself constantly, could I go harder? And how can I encourage my brothers to go harder?
- No complaints, no whining. We all do it to some extent because today our lives are filled with so much comfort and convenience. I believe in this strongly, yet I still catch myself doing it a lot. They made your latte with whole milk instead of soy? DBAP. You missed your connection cause your flight was late? DBAP. Supply chain issues leaves you with only 8 types of potato chips to choose from instead of 15? DBAP. Amazon said same-day delivery but it didn't get there until next day? DBAP.
- Speak to someone. UFC fighter Paddy Pimblett recently said it better than I can. His friend killed himself the morning of the weigh-in, so in his interview following his victory he said this: “There’s a stigma in this world that men can’t talk. Listen, if you’re a man and you’ve got weight on your shoulders, and you think the only way you can solve it is by killing yourself, please speak to someone. Speak to anyone. People would rather — I know I would rather — my mate cry on my shoulder rather than go to his funeral next week. So please, let’s get rid of this stigma. And men, start talking.” Full clip here: https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1550950340689813509?s=20&t=FUa23e1ao0l8EMMvLCmhoQ. Whether the weight on your shoulders is big or small, speak to someone! And make yourself available to listen to someone who needs to speak!
- There's more, but I'll cut it off here.
So, thank you men of F3…..and DBAP.