10JAN26

​Q: Amos
Attendees: 30 
Coupons: Yes
Routine: Paired exercises
Did warm up dynamic stretching in a circle, in cadence. 
Lined up guys facing the entrance. Paired everyone up (I asked them to hold up the hand of the person they were paired with to make this go faster). 
One person runs to the gate and back while the other does the exercise, then switch spots and do it again. Every exercise used a coupon. 
Exercises: 
1. Overhead presses 
2. Curls
3. Goblet squats
4. Bench Dips (hand on coupon behind back)
5. Coupon Swings
6. WWIII Situps (Overhead press while on back, sit up, do a second overhead press)
7. Bent over rows (left)
8. Bent over rows (right)
9. Coupon lunges 
10. Squat thrusters (Like overhead press but from the squatting position) 
11. Bus drivers (Curl, then rotate coupon 90 degrees to the left, then 180 degrees to the right) 
12. SYADS (Squats, but with coupon long side on ground, butt has to touch the coupon) 
Did core exercises after in a circle, in cadence (10 each)
Crunches, side plank left, side plank right (30 sec each), sit ups, shoulder tap planks (plank position, tap left shoulder with right hand, right shoulder with left hand), swimmers (like a jumping jack but on your belly), scissor kicks. 
Closed with static stretches. 
Devo:  The importance of mutual aid 
Asked men how being paired up in the workout provides motivation. 
Answers:
It gives a sense of immediate purpose (you don't want your partner doing too many exercises)
It gives you the pleasure of providing relief or being relieved / you give each other breaks
The two encourage each other
Asked the men what the first thing in the Bible was that God said was NOT good.  
"It is not good for man to be alone." 
Mentioned man's need for a helpmeet
Then segued into other pairs mentioned in the Bible, asking the guys if they could think of other examples: Moses and Aaron, Joshua and Caleb, David and Jonathan, Elijah and Elisha. 
Asked how the disciples that Christ sent out were arranged (in pairs). 
Mentioned the missionary journeys of Peter and John, Paul and Silas, John-Mark and Barnabas. 
Finally, talked about the two witnesses (possibly Moses and Elijah) mentioned in Revelation, tying off a theme that tracks from beginning to end. 
Then read from Ecclesiastes 4:
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up... Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
I described "another" as the adversary or the flesh and talked about the importance of mutual accountability in overcoming them, encouraging them to find someone who they have mutual accountability with.  
Closed with: "God rarely has us work for him alone." 
(Funny coda: I did the dishes with another guy after breakfast, and he said, "That went fast - two really do have good labor.") 
Notes: Participation was spotty. About a third below stayed but didn't really do anything but watch, while another third really pushed themselves. Joel and Matthew both expressed interest in coming to the weekly F3 workouts. Had good convos with Derrik and Justin. Justin and Matthew both plan to stay in Albany after graduation.