PAX: Goose, Pope, Smooth Operator, Paradox, Popeye, Safety Valve, America’s Best, Tidy Whitey, Uncle Kracker,
AO: The Stage
By: Goose
YHC had every intention of honoring the hype by including some stretching at some point in this morning’s beatdown, but time gets away from you when you’ve got a good theme. Today is YHC’s 18th wedding anniversary, and what better way to honor such a blessed union than to share with the PAX via music and sweaty choreography the beautiful love story of a Goose and his lovely bride.
It all started with a warmup of the usuals including some Laffy night clubs (full 20-count cuz of IPC damage). YHC then shared that he met his M at a bar where she fell head over heels for his dancing to the classic “Baddest of them All” by Froggy Fresh. (See here for reference if you want a life-changing cultural experience: https://youtu.be/XArx0ASwyDc?si=KCP2Vw-vh0_RwTlm). After this, it was a done deal.
YHC played this, and PAX did Imperial Walkers for the duration and Hillbilly Squats for the refrain. (The line “2012 to infinity” may have potentially revealed a plot hole, but thankfully math is not a strength amongst this PAX.)
Song number two was “our song” during our time dating given our share fear of the dark. YHC may have had a hard time not laughing through the introduction of this one, which may have thrown some doubt on the story, but whatev. It’s a great song, and it needs to be experienced: https://youtu.be/GGRkmV6v8wA?si=UQCvNxu4tWHOxkqt
Plank for the duration, merkins on “dark”.
Song three was the song we chose for our first dance, for obvious reasons–“Probably” by Sound Check (starts at 9:20 of this compilation: https://youtu.be/ZC0BExn09Zc?si=zX5SUPvRe2we69lO).
6-inch hold for the duration, leg raises on “Probably”.
Then, we moved into some partner work that would give YHC an excuse to reflect on some lessons learned over the past 18 years of marriage.
First, shortly after getting married, YHC realized that though men and women are supposed to be compatible, there are many deep differences that make compatibility feel impossible. And, after some research, it was made clear that our differences are deep and many, but if both husband and wife are selfless and steer clear of any self-preservation, compatibility is real and beautiful. This, of course, is where the challenge of marriage and the need for grace become apparent. Thankfully, the journey is long, and progress is extremely rewarding.
The first exercise would reflect one of the differences between men and women that can lead to beautiful compatibility and/or frustration depending on the maturity of the relationship: men are, by nature, more goal-oriented and focused on the big picture, where we’re headed, and what steps are necessary now for getting us the results we’re hoping for. Women, on the other hand, tend to be more naturally focused on the here and now, stability, closeness, warmth, belonging, home, etc.
So, while one partner stayed put and did SSH, the other bear crawled to the middle of the field before stopping to do SSH while the other partner bear crawled to catch up. Partners took turns in this fashion to the sidewalk and back.
This went relatively smoothly until the bear crawls were replaced with crabl walks for round 2. The short-armed and short-legged “spouses” had a little harder time with the journey and felt “drug along”, needing lots of bathroom breaks and questioning if all this is really necessary or whether we should stop for directions. Smooth somehow made his butt-scoot-swim-move through the grass look graceful, while Tidy enjoyed some beneficial grounding via his unshod hobbit feet.
Thang 3 would be a practice in recognizing how one spouse’s slacking, even if covered well or rationalized, will always lead to the other having to bear more weight, whether it be in chores, child-raising, the good of the relationship, or just awareness of what’s important.
While one man skipped a lap, the others did one of the following exercises AMRAP until he returned:
-curls
-OHP
-block calf-raises
-one-arm rows (switch every 10)
-skull crushers
-Rocky Balboas on the block
-goblet squats
This gave the PAX plenty of time to reflect on and share their experiences of how slacking or perceived slacking has played out at home. (“How was YOUR day?”, “What do you even do all day in that office?”, “Oh, you’re tired?”, etc.)
For the last minute, YHC led the PAX in a hamstring stretch and a diatribe about the need to stretch after beatdowns while Tidy Whitey was quietly working hard to keep his whiteys tidy.
COT with exciting announcements about the upcoming BK 500 on October 4 and the need to team up and start fund-raising, and AB prayed us out.
SYITG,
Goose