The BackBlast:

YHC has been lugging around several hundred pounds of heavy stuff in my mobile gym, and today seemed like a good day to justify the unnecessarily poor gas mileage I’ve been getting for months and put them to use.  Out came the 45-lb. plates, the blocks, the jump rope, and the cones, plus the usual restrictor plate (vest) and our recently reclaimed PCH shovel flag.

Conditions: 40 and clear, perfect for a sweatfest.

Warmup:

• 25 x Side Straddle Hops
• 15 x Weed Pickers
• 20 x Little Baby Arm Circles fwd/bkwd
• 20 x Bulgarian Split Squats (foot on block)
• 25 x Mountain Climbers

The Thang:

I’m calling this circuit-style segment Circuitus Maximus Swollus.  With 4 pax, I modified the 5 potential stations to 4, and we completed 4 rounds of:

1. Farmer Carry – two 45# plates out and back, ~150 yards
2. Rocky Balboas on CMU (was supposed to be jump rope, but Waterboy broke the jump rope on the second revolution with his sheer awesomeness)
3. Manmakers with CMU
4. Flutter kicks with CMU bench press

Every time the farmer carrying pax returns, rotate stations.  10 count after two circuits, but otherwise no breaks.  Maximus Suckus is probably a more appropriate name.

After a false Hattie sighting, we moseyed to the soccer field for:

Bearmuda Triangle:

Bear crawl between cones, starting with 12 Merkins and descending to 1.  Rotate between Werkins, reg’lar, and Diamond at the three corners.  Short, sweet and painful.

Cindies on a String:

For our last 7 minutes, we moseyed in a loop with our blocks.

• Rifle carry blocks to the senior center portico
• 5 Kraken Burpees (3 HRMS: 1 jump)
• Block curls while slowseying to the stop sign
• 5 Kraken Burpees
• Shoulder carry back to the flag

COT:

YHC was saddened and troubled to read about the new report that came out a few weeks ago about Ravi Zacharias, a well-known and respected Christian apologist and teacher who died last year.  The report details an investigation commissioned by the board of Mr. Zacharias ministry into sexual predation and illicit relationships he managed to keep hidden from nearly everyone until after his death.

There are a lot of potential takeaways from this and other all-too-common situations of moral failure by Christian leaders, but what strikes me is:

1. The need for vulnerability and having men in our lives who truly know our hearts and will challenge us, not just a veneer of accountability.  Mr. Zacharias supposedly had accountability, but because he didn’t want to be truly accountable to anyone, he found ways around the safeguards.
2. Patterns of sin and self-destructive behaviors thrive in shame and darkness.  The more we practice putting our struggles, whether they are with lust and porn, pride, selfishness, you name it, the more we break the power of guilt and shame to keep us trapped in those patterns.  As the saying goes, sunlight is the best antiseptic.

Ravi Zacharias should be a cautionary example for all men trying to live a life of integrity, but especially those who aspire to or are in positions of leadership.  Let’s practice vulnerability and create a space where each man can struggle openly and freely without fear of judgment.