Saturday morning. It’s hot and humid. The air is thick. But that doesn’t deter 12 Pax from taking their Daily Red Pill (DRP). No, it’s summertime in Houston after all, so those conditions are a given, and as men of F3 we don’t let the conditions determine whether we post or not. No, we’re committed to posting whether it’s “Rain or Shine. Heat or Cold.” We do that, because we’re out there to get better. We’re out there to make our minds, bodies, and spirits stronger, so that we can become HIMs, and that’s not a sometimes thing. Life is not a sometimes thing. If we only waited for the “right” conditions, our bodies would soften, our minds would dull, and our spirits fade, in short, we would revert to being SadClowns, all while we’re waiting for that fleeting state of “right” to arrive. Instead, we embrace the suck. We are intentional. We acknowledge that more often than not, life is tough and the conditions less than perfect. We’re determined to persevere, and fortunately, we don’t have to go it alone, because we have our fellow Brothers of The Gloom right there along side us. Iron sharpening Iron. So, we ignore the sirens call to stay in the Fartsack, and we push ourselves, and that’s just what 12 Pax did yesterday morning.

Warm Up

Every Pax member knows that Jacking Off is a great way to get the blood pumping and start the day off right. Of course, YHC is talking about Jumping Jacks. What were you thinking of? For the warm up, we certainly did Jack Off: SSH x 25 IC, Seal Jacks x 25 IC, Forward/Back Jack x 25 IC, Side-to-side Jack x 25IC, Safety Dance x 25 IC, Plank Jacks x 25 IC. That’s 300 jumping jacks for you number crunchers at home. YHC did throw in 10 IC each of Abe Vegoda and Grass Grabbers in the middle, as  a break of sort. Along the way, apparently, it wasn’t just muscles that warmed up, but the mumblechatter, too. After YHC had demonstrated what El Blanco later termed the Safety Dance (more info on that, than you ever cared for: http://bit.ly/2tusjsY ) , Fireball asked if YHC was trying for the “gayest” SSH ever. Apparently more secure in my own manhood than Fireball in his, YHC pressed on.

Warmed up, the Pax moseyed all of 20 feet, paired up, and made the first use of the jungle gym set at the Toyota Center that YHC is aware of. The paired Pax did first, 5-4-3-2-1 pull ups, and then 10-8-6-4-2 Knee Ups, then moseyed out and across S Rice. Turning down the side street, as the Pax past Hill Street Blues, YHC couldn’t help but notice the short set of steps and long ramp that go up into the station. Knowing how much of a #crowdpleaser Reverse Bear Crawls usually are, especially when performed up stairs or a hill, YHC had to stop and break more new ground at The Yard. The Pax were split into three groups of four and performed RBCs up the steps, in succession. When the Pax reached the top of the steps, they then ran down the ramp, back to the starting point. We Rinsed and Repeated that 3x. There were a lot of Midwife Noises made, but overall, the Pax got after it with very little modifications.

Then it was off to Tanglewood, where the Pax Rode the Rail, followed by 20 OYO Donkey Kicks (the real ones). This was followed by an exercise, the name of which YHC just cant’ recall. Partner 1 is on his 6, placing his hands around the ankles of Partner 2. Partner 1 raises his feet to 90, then Partner 2 pushes them down towards the ground, first to the left, then middle, then right, and middle again (that’s one rep), all while Partner 1 tries to keep his feet from hitting the ground. Perfectly suited for a hot, humid day, the Pax member on his 6 is almost guaranteed to get a healthy sprinkling of sweat pouring down from Partner 2 standing above. Inhaler pulled the short straw and was partnered with YHC. He’s probably still drying off. That was followed by LBCs (22 IC).

Side note. 22 LBCs is an unusual count, but there’s a reason for it. Along the way, YHC called on the Pax for 10 Counts several times. As we all know, the concept of a 10 Count is straightforward, but in practice, it’s anything but. Some Pax race through the Count, while others really like to take their time. YHC had the idea that to help manage this, the Q would begin counting up, simultaneous to the Pax member counting down. The Q would then pick a multiplier to be applied for the next exercise and apply it to the Q’s Count, determined by the speed with which the Pax member performs the 10 Count. The slower the Pax counts, the more the reps; the quicker he counts, the fewer the reps. A little carrot and stick, so to speak. So, in this instance, YHC applied 2x multiplier to 11, the number of seconds YHC counted off, while the Pax member counted down, and applied that to LBCs. Now, back to the regular broadcast…

From there, the Pax moved over to the Green Room, where we did a round of Peoples’ Chair (1 min), Balls to the Wall (BTTW) (1 min – 30 secs reg, then 10 shoulder taps R/L), and then Peoples’ Chair (30 secs-1 min?) again. Next, it was back to Tanglewood for another round of Riding the Rail, Donkey Kicks (20 OYO), and LBCs (22 IC).

The Pax moseyed back to the Toyota Center for some Low Flutters (50 IC) and Oblique Crunches (alt name?) 10 IC – R/L to finish out. It must’ve been an okay WO, as several of the Pax were still flat on the ground, as YHC returned from the Battle Wagon, phone in hand. Push ourselves, we certainly did.

In CoT, the Pax were reminded about the upcoming League City Launch (Aug. 5), as well as the Austin Launch (Oct. 28) and Capital Ruck Tour, also in Austin (Oct. 28). No specific TAPs were mentioned, so YHC closed us out by acknowledging that we all face challenges, and that more often than not, while we think they’re unique, ever member of the Pax faces them, too.

As always, it was a real honor to Q. Thank you for that.

QIC: Duggar

Pax: Bling, Jordans, Brass Monkey, Kickstand, Scalpel, El Blanco, The Wreck, Fireball, Weazer, Rose Bowl, Inhaler