Early voting got started with Britney, Bublé, Cannon, and YHC, stepping off at 0620 to take a full tour of El Camino Real (~3 miles) with a handful of pain stations along the way.

At one point, we pulled over on to the shoulder, so that YHC could first review the format a Q must follow in leading the Pax in exercises, and then each of BBC tried their hand at it.

We returned just in time to distribute out some swag, courtesy of The Bishop and YHC, so we could fly our colors all over Memorial Park and thereby advertise F3’s presence. With the Pax in swag, it reinforces the idea that we are one party, one force, not just a rag tag group of individuals. It also raises our profile among the sea of athletes circumnavigating the park, which should result, in time, to our being able to EH curiosity-seekers and convert them into members of the Pax.

Speaking of the Pax, we are now at the point where most of the Pax at The Hogg are “voting age”, meaning that they’ve been posting long enough that it’s time for them to step up for their Virgin Qs (VQ). Why do they need to do that? Because, just as our grand representative republic’s health depends on the active participation of an informed citizenry in electing our officials and keeping them accountable through regularly scheduled elections, so too does F3’s health rely upon the active participation of the Pax, most directly in the form of rotating Qs.

Rotating the Q from among the Pax accomplishes several goals. First, it keeps things fresh. The same one or two Qs aren’t always out in front doing the same exercises all of the time. In rotating the Qs, each Pax plays off their strengths, and since Pax have different strengths, it means that the workouts are always changing. One day, it may be heavy on cardio; another, it might be legs; and another it could be core or upper body.

Second, it keeps things interesting. Think of Costco. What’s one of the reasons people enjoy going to Costco? Part of the answer is that when you go to Costco, you’re really not certain what’s going to be offered as the latest deal in the aisles. There’s a bit of suspense in it all. Similarly, with rotating the Q, there’s some suspense there, too. As you pull up into the parking lot in The Gloom, you really have no idea what to expect from the next 45-60 minutes, except that it’s going to be tough and a lot of fun.

Third, it leverages off the competitive nature of men. Just as during the workouts, when you’re ready to give up in the middle of an exercise, you keep going, because the guy next to you is still going. When it’s your time to Q, there’s just no way you want the rep of having the easy or predictable workout. Working to avoid this, the Pax get very creative about their Qs, resulting in some surprising ways to deliver a #beatdown, which again keeps the workouts fresh and interesting.

Fourth, the stated mission of F3 is: To plant, grow, and serve, small workout groups for the invigoration of male community leadership. YHC has underlined only part of that mission statement to add emphasis, because it is the part that really matters. That is the mission. The first half of the sentence is the Means, whereas the back half of the sentence is the Ends. For men to lead in their communities, they must first feel comfortable and confident in leading others. F3 has been developed as a peer-led workout group to help get them to that point. One of the steps along the way to that is for them to get used to standing before their peers and leading them through a workout. While leading a morning workout may seem to have little in common with leading within a community, once you’ve stepped forward to Q a few times, you’ll see there’s a direct thread from one to the other.

So, back to the task at hand. After having dispensed the swag and running through the Disclaimer, YHC led the Pax on a brief mosey, which first headed towards the GoT, but took a turn towards the River Kwai, where YHC led the Pax in a serpentine run the legth of the River, veering towards the end, back to the SF.

At the SF, YHC initiated a series of exercises to warm up, pulling randomly from the ranks of the Pax to ask them to lead the group through the exercises. Included were SSH, Merkins, Winddmills, and a few others.

Pairing the Pax up, YHC had everyone mosey back over to El Camino Real (ECR) to begin working on a modified Super 21. To be honest, YHC had intended to run though a full Super 21, but time wasn’t on our side, so in the end, we settled to halt the count at 18, and with 18 being the voting age, that was how we arrived at the name Ballot Box Beat Down.

Back to The Thang. For the 1-5 count, the pairs performed Hand Slap Partner Merkins and Big Boy High Five Partner Sit Ups. Having completed 1-5, the Pax moseyed a short distance down ECR, to perform 6-10. Having noticed that the Pax were sufficiently smoked from 1-10, YHC elected to modify 11-16, opting for Hand Slap Partner Makhtar N’Diayes and 66 Squats (note, 66 doesn’t refer to the count, but rather to the fact that the Pax had their 6’s to each other…backside to backside).

After completing 11-16. the Pax moseyed to the Side Yard, where they were to perform two partner-oriented exercises. The first focused on the core, and involved one man holding a leg lift, while the other circled his feet from the 12 o’clock position all the way around the clock and back (each full rep back and forth was one). After completing the requisite number of reps, the pair flapjacked roles. The second exercise was an Under-Over. As Pax 1 held plank, Pax 2 would scurry under them, then come out and jump over Pax 1’s back, repeating the exercise the full count.

With the countdown clock ticking until the polls closed, the Pax lined up at the edge of the Front Yard for an all-out Jailbreak back to the SF for COT.

In the COT, Cruiser asked for TAP for his uncle, who is battling cancer, and Drill Bit asked for TAP regarding the upcoming election. So, we asked HIM to heal Cruiser’s uncle, and to fill all with wisdom in their minds, love in their hearts, and patience and perseverance, whatever the outcome of the election on Tuesday may be.

Count-O-Rama

• 20 men with 3 FNGs – a new record for Saturday turnout (ex-Big Bang Launch). #letskeepgrowingit Aye!!

Name-O-Rama

• 3 FNGs: Keystone (Lowell LaMora), Playbill (Craig Been), Ink (Zayne Riggins). Thanks for coming out – we look forward to seeing you back out there!
• Proud Papas: Spewer (Keystone), Old E (Playbill) and JR Ewing (Ink). Great work brothers!!!

NakedManMoleskin

• Tclaps to Bublé, Birtney, and Cannon for stepping off for some Extra Credit at 0620. Bublé and Britney both had other commitments to make, so rather than fartsack and bag the BC entirely, they opted to take a spin around the park with two of their other Brothers of The Gloom. #noexcusesever
• Extra shout out to Cannon, who not only ran the loop early, but stayed through the full BC as well, marking his first ‘official’ Double Down at The Hogg. Strong Brother!
• Tclaps to all the Proud Papas, but extra special mention for Old E, who EH’d his brother, and even more so for Spewer, who managed to EH his father! YHC has seen lots of Pax EH their 2.0’s, but seeing it work the other direction…that’s a first! Excellent work!
• Speaking of Spewer, if there were Pax that didn’t know how or why he got his name, he was once again kind enough to offer a Demonstration…or several. This keeps up and the Pax may have to rename him Old Faithful! 
• It was towards the end of the Ballot Box Beat Down, when YHC looked up just in time to catch Inferno fall right over, like someone had tied his shoelaces together. In the midst of performing the Under/Over, he just went down. Springing up, he glanced around to see if anyone had noticed. Hard not to notice arms and legs flailing like that Brother! BTW, these guys might be able to help: https://www.fredastaire.com/

Lexiconology

• CORE PRINCIPLES: F3’s only rules, that every Workout must be:1. Free of charge
  2. Open to all men
  3. Held outdoors, rain or shine, heat or cold
  4. 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

Thanks to all the Pax for allowing YHC to Q. It’s an incredible honor for certain.

SYITG!

Duggar