MABA: On burpees, daily discipline and striving to get better

In this newsletter: A confession about discipline struggles, an exhortation to finish strong, and—finally!—a link to buy patches.

Make America Burpee Again (MABA) is a nationwide CSAUP in which each of us is doing 3,100 burpees in 31 days. Fall down. Get back up. Together.

Log your burpees here.

How can I do 100 burpees for 28 days in a row (and counting) and also lack discipline at work?

Rain pelted the roof of my car. It was 5:55 a.m. on Monday, and my F3 beatdown was set to start in five minutes under a park pavilion .35 miles away. I didn’t want to get soaked before the sun came up, so I waited with the hope that the rain would let up.

It didn’t. If anything, it rained harder. I climbed out and ran to the pavilion. Did I mention the temperature hovered in the mid 30s? Icy drops stung my face. My sneakers splashed through frigid puddles. When I arrived at the pavilion, rain thumped the metal roof, pre-dawn white noise possible only in a suburban park.

The 12 of us at the workout, ranging in age from 7 to 49, did 150 of burpees apiece, all before 6:15 a.m.

It was not my idea of an ideal morning. But I was learning, or trying to at least, daily discipline, one burpee at a time.

On any given day, I am too often distracted, chasing after this or that, falling into Internet rabbit holes. I’m like a little kid, traipsing along a trail through the woods, headed toward a destination in no particular hurry, humming to myself, not paying attention to anything, and I veer off the path and chase every woodland creature who breaks a twig. It’s hard to be productive when I’m—look, a squirrel!

I haven’t missed a day of MABA but I’ll be damned if I don’t diddle-piss at least some time away every day. Why can I get stick to burpees but not my to-do list? It’s because I’m not accountable to do so. I work alone. I have no fear of embarrassment and no positive reinforcement for being disciplined.

There’s no public scoresheet like there is in MABA. I sure as heck am not going to propose such a challenge, invite all those men, encourage them, and then skip burpees for any reason other than I’m injured or sick. But at work, nobody knows my struggles and failures. All I have to keep me on track is my own willingness/ability to be consistent, and it is too often lacking. The freedom of working for yourself is only great if you manage it well. Too often, I don’t.

I’m asking my F3 brothers for help. I’ve known for a long time the importance of having accountability partners. A handful of times I’ve started such relationships but I never followed through. Until MABA, I doubted it would be worth it. Now I know it will be. I’ve invited a couple PAX to be for me in my daily discipline what MABA has been for my burpees. I’ll do the same for them. Will it work? Only if we make a habit of it.

Send me your why, or what you’re getting out of this, to mcrossman98@gmail.com.

Preblast: 2 p.m. Central time, January 31:
A MABA convergence, live from STL

There will be burpees. Lots and lots of burpees. So many burpees. All of them broadcast live on our Facebook page. You’ll get to put faces to all our names. You’ll also get to meet Beans, as he’ll co-Q and encourage you to join us for GrowRuck. Bring a coupon because SlowPitch is psycho and wants to do Lion King burpees.

How to look good doing a burpee

MABA t-shirts are available. Order here.  They’re beautiful—easily the greatest design commemorating an attempt to do 3,100 burpees in 31 days I’ve ever seen. Many thanks to Short Circuit for the design.

Patch nerds of MABA nation, rejoice!

The patches are available here. It appears from this link that you have to buy them in groups of five. So get with your friends and buy them together. Iron it onto your jean jacket, you big dork. #teamidontunderstandwhyyoulovepatches

A non-MABA note: Come GrowRuck with us!

You should come to St. Louis and GrowRuck with us. July 16-18, sign up details coming soon. Come get your ass handed to you alongside MABA leaders CFIT, Red Turtle, SlowPitch, DD, Jalopy and Brick. I’ll be there with bells on. But hopefully not a blindfold.

Finish strong

When I do long bike rides or long hikes, I have a mantra: One more mile. No matter how tired I am, or how far I’ve gone, I convince myself I’ve got one mile left in me. And now, as the end of MABA approaches, I say to you: Three more days. You can do three more days. Every burpee is one more toward your goal and one less you have to do on Sunday. Fall down. Get back up. Together.

Your totals are here. Through Thursday night, 325 men had submitted 789,158 burpees. Eighty four men have hit the goal of 3,100 burpees already. Another 80 or so appear likely to make it. From the outset, MABA’s goal was to hit 1 million burpees. Absent a large group of men withholding their totals and suddenly delivering them, we’re not going to make it. (Related: If you haven’t been submitting your totals, please do so.) But MABA is not ultimately about numbers. It’s about community. It’s about resilience. Fall down. Get back up. Together.