MABA: When this really starts to blow, remember your why
Pro tip from Australians doing MABA: Fall down seven times. Get up eight.
Sign up and/or log your burpees here. Fall down. Get back up. Together.
F3 workout power rankings:
1. Lots of burpees in the snow. On Saturday, we did 200-plus before taking the photo above.
2. In the snow.
3. Lots of burpees.
It’s not about the burpees
I’m exhausted. I won’t bore you with nobody-cares flux details, but it’s been a shitty week—or the modern American version of shitty, at least—car problems, the ever presence of sickness and near sickness, the stress of no longer being able to discern the difference between the two, etc.
On top of that, my wrist, hip and shoulders hurt enough after 3,289 burpees in 19 days that I’ve dialed way back on my daily count as I try to stay on the right side of the line between sore and injured. I’m going to miss my “reach” goal by a lot and my moderate goal by a good bit, too.
The point is not the burpees. The point is the relationships you build and strengthen with the people you do them with. MABA is a physical challenge AND a relational challenge. Having said that, I’m still pissed I’m going to fall short.
I know that action has to precede motivation but that doesn’t mean I always apply that truth. I don’t want to quit, but I’m not jumping out of bed every morning all fired up for burpees either.
This week, I interviewed Jairek Robbins, the son of famed speaker Tony Robbins. Jairek is a renowned speaker, author and coach in his own right. We talked about everything from skydiving to the rise and fall of nations to the time he nearly died of malaria to, yes, MABA.
We also talked about the modern tendency to over-focus on the minor things of life (which I had obviously been doing.) I described to him our quest to do 3,100 burpees in a month. I said we were just beyond the halfway point, and we were feeling broken down, and we were questioning why we signed up for this in the first place. I asked him to motivate us.
I phrased it like I wanted him to encourage all y’all. The truth is I needed encouragement. Here’s what he said:
“The key is: find something more than themselves to do it for.
“When I ran my first marathon, I did it through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. A little kid showed up—he was bald, and he stood on the side of the practice track we were running on. And every person who ran by, he held up a little button that said thank you for helping me stay alive.
“All those who were running were like my legs are tired, my hips hurt, my knees are sore, my ankle’s bugging me. And then you get handed a pin from a 10-year-old kid who’s standing there with their shaved head saying, thank you for running for me and thank you for helping me have the funds to stay alive.
“And all of us were like, OK, 12 more laps it is! Let’s keep going. I’ve got two legs, they can work. Let’s keep moving.
“My dad taught me when I was a kid, we will do more for others than we ever will for ourselves. Who am I doing this for? What am I doing this for? And how do we link it up so that it actually benefits others? I mean, it’s nice to say, Oh, if I’m healthier than ever, I’m a better community member. But if I run 12 more laps, that kid raises enough money to have his next treatment so he doesn’t have to go without it.”
For me, take out the boy and substitute the men of F3 St. Charles. Fighting loneliness with and among them is my why.
What’s yours?
MTLDUBA—Make The Land Down Under Burpee Again
There’s a group in Australia similar to F3 called SOLiD. A couple of the members are doing MABA. I interviewed one of them—Lain Vincent (nickname: Major Payne)—via email.
What is SOLiD?
SOLiD Men is a group that meets regularly to work on our physical, spiritual and emotional wellness. It is solid because together we are stronger and harder to break. There is a small ‘i,’ as it is not about I, but about our God, who is always welcomed.
How did MABA make it to Australia? How’s it going? How many are doing it?
One of our members, Chilli, got word of it and passed it on for any if us to do.
I am behind in my burpees as I lacked motivation at the start, but I am catching up. I tested positive for covid a third of the way in, but I am thankful to God I only got very mild symptoms.
In regards to members doing MABA, it’s just myself and another guy (he is 63 and has the name LMS, which means Last Man Standing).
Our friends in the UK renamed MABA because they aren’t in America and because of the political implications of MABA. What are you guys calling it?
We changed the first A From America to Australia to make it more relevant.
Every Australian I’ve ever met has lived their life wide open. Granted, it’s a small sample size, and almost all of them had moved to America, which suggests a courageous lifestyle by definition. Anyway: My impression of Australians is that they seize the day a hell of a lot more than Americans do. What are your thoughts on that?
I can say I have a passion to THRIVE in life and want others to as well. I do know, we often have our down times and our pressures that we need to work through, but we like to be at our best. In SOLiD Men we have a Mantra called ‘78.’ It relates to a Japanese proverb about falling 7 times and rising 8. A similar concept is in the book of Proverbs 24:16.
MABA ball: The greatest game ever invented
It was invented by Tinkle, who also created the most elaborate Weinke ever. We played it in the snow in the aforementioned workout with 200-plus burpees. It’s easily in my top 5 F3 workouts, along with the times we played burpee sled tag in the snow and did shovelevens (combining shoveling a basketball court covered in four inches of snow with elevens. Pro tip: Don't do that.)
The do burpees in weird places deadline is today
Do burpees in weird places, send me proof, and if it’s deemed the weirdest by our esteemed panel of judges, I’ll buy you a MABA shirt. Roof-pees are solid. So are plane-pees. We also have double-respect ice-skating burpees, PAX doing burpees at work and a tattoo parlor and another who convinced strangers to do them in multiple places now. I have a bunch of videos of kids doing burpees and even one dog doing them.
Deadline for submission is midnight tonight. I have two burpee scenarios I’d like to see: From the altar/front of the church during a service, and in a hospital/doctor’s office while wearing gowns as a patient when you’re there to have work done.
If you’re nervous about keeping pace with 100 burpees per day, toggle down.
You’re not going to do a month of burpees and NOT buy a t-shirt, are you? Order your shirt here.
AV of F3 UK has tied his burpees to a charity that uses horses to help people who need healing. AV’s son is a client there. To donate, click here.
Mark your calendars: Join us for the MABA finale
At 5:30 a.m. Central time on Monday, January 31, F3 St. Charles will host the MABA finale. It will be broadcast live. See future newsletters for details.