Burpees at Slow Burn

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It was a dark and cold Thursday night. I was about to retire to my study when Steve Jobs spoke to me. Well, one of his inventions did. It was Destiny reaching out. He was getting a Unicorn Tramp Stamp tattoo either removed or placed on his back early the next morning and wouldn’t be able to Q Slow Burn.  He needed a substi-Q. Would I be that guy? Could I be that guy? I impulsively said YES.  With time running short and my bedtime quickly approaching I set about writing a winkie. After several visits to the exicon, and some advice from Punch List (thanks, Buddy) things were set and I waited for 0515 to get here.

8 of us assembled in the Chick-fil-A parking lot, at 0515 the disclaimer was disclaimed and off we moseyed down the hill towards Persis. High Knees, Butt Kickers, L/R shuffle. Cirlcle up for a round of SSH, windmills, overhead claps, low slow squats and 5 burpees OYO.  Now that we were  warm, the fun began.

The Thang:

Pax wall sit while first guy in line does 3 burpees, continue until everyone has done burpees. Mosey to guard rail near Lowes, Jacobs Ladder of 10 dips, 1 burpee (mumble Chatter).

After we completed the ladder we took up a mosey to the parking lot left of Lowes.  (b)L.I.M.P.S we did plenty of burpees earlier. 10 Lunges 15 Imperial walkers(I.C.), 20 Merkins, 25 Plank Jacks (I.C.), 30 squats. Bolt 45’s followed, 15 squats 1/2 down, 15 squats 1/2 to bottom, 15 full squats. Partner up, 100 merkins, 100 LBC, 100 squats. Partner 1 does exercise while partner 2 moves from traffic island to traffic island. Pax cant walk or run.  Saw bear crawls, crab walks, lunges, broad jumps and sever other creative ways to travel the distance.

Short mosey behind Lowes for more group wall sits. First Pax runs to guard rail 15-20yrds does 6-10 Carolina dry docks then back to the wall for a sit until everyone had gone. Time flies when you are having fun. Mosey back to COT for a few minutes of Mary. Count-o-rama, Name-o-rama, prayers and praises, ball of man

Thank you for this opportunity to Lead

 

Dirty Harry out

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Keeping Warm at The Yard

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It was a rather cold morning as the PAX gathered. I was a little worried the cold temps would keep the numbers down but 8 other PAX (plus 2 shorties that might or might not had a choice) showed up ready to work. So after a short disclaimer we moseyed around back. Since it was cold I decided we do a little extended mosey with some stops for exercises. Unfortunately they were doing HVAC work on the school and we had to dodge several work trucks. So quick change of plans to get out of the traffic had us move to the back of the middle school.

Deconstructed burpee ladder: Jump squats, merkins, and thrusters between 2 light posts.

  • Start with 0, run to other post for 15 of each, then back to 1st post.
  • 5 each, run to other post for 10 of each, run back.
  • 10 each, run to other post for 5 each, run back.
  • 15 each, then sprint to other post and back.

Since we just practiced the pieces, 5 burpees OYO to make sure the PAX could put them together again.

Mosey around to the front of the middle school for pick a card. I had 2 cones with the same 10 cards at each cone but mixed up order. Pretty simple each card had an exercise for the team to do together and then another exercise for the team to do while next guy ran to get new card. PAX broke into 2 teams and it wasn’t meant to be a competition but you know how things go. Cards included various things like running laps, merkins, dips, flutters, etc but the point was to complete as a team. Both teams worked hard and basically finished at the same time.

Over to the school benches: 20 step-ups, 20 dips, 10 derkins then 10 box-jumps or step-ups, 15 dips, 10 derkins. Move down past the benches to the nice long wall. Get in people’s chair and first PAX bear-crawls to the end. Keep going until all PAX have bear-crawled. Next up is walking BTTW with PAX encouraging each other to make it as far as they could. Great encouragement and work by everyone! Finish off with a quick 10 count wall-tar-jai and times up. Back to COT.

I had to keep it kind of brief in the COT b/c several of us needed to leave to support our 2.0s at the Let Me Run 5K. It’s always encouraging to see so many fellow PAX out there running or just cheering on their 2.0s.

At the end no one was cold, even had some PAX taking some layers off. Thanks to Hasselhoff for the opportunity!

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Smackdown at the Crows Nest “Clover Middle School Wrestling Style”

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I had originally had a Weinke prepared for the workout but changed it up after spending some time at my son’s (F3 – Hound) Middle School Wrestling practices.  Today’s temps were in the 40’s so the brave ones wore shorts (Me and Homebrew).  7 showed up total, no FNG’s.  After a short F3 disclaimer we headed around back to the rear parking area to begin the Smackdown.

Warmup included some Moroccan Night Clubs, SSH’s, Cotton Pickers and some Peter Parkers with some plank stretching.

Smackdown Part 1:  Started with the punishment dealt to the wrestlers if they loos a match by points which gives the other team 3 team points.

 

So we did this 3 times

15 SSH’s

15 Para Troopers (Hands on head and basically Lunge Hops)

15 Mt. Climbers (counting right leg each time)

(we will revisit this later for more punishment)

 

Smackdown Part 2:  Up hill cones (4 cones)

Cone 1 was 1 Burpee, 2 SSH’s and 3 Merkins

Cone 2 was uphill a little ways and Pax had to run to it and do 2 Burpees, 4 SSH’s and 6 Merkins

Cone 3 was further uphill and Pax had to run to it and do 3 Burpees, 6 SSH’s and 9 Merkins

Cone 4 was the last cone at the top of the hill and the Pax had to run to it and do 4 Burpees, 8 SSH’s and 12 Merkins.  threw in a couple 10 counts.

 

We then talked briefly about being Thankfull (since we are close to Thanksgiving) and the Pax had a theme of Family with one Glorifying Jesus (Royale).

 

It was time to revisit Part 1:  When a wrestler looses by Pin they have to add 15 Burpees.  So we did…….

15 SSH’s

15 Para Troopers (Hnads on head and basically Lunge Hops)

15 Mt. Climbers (counting right leg each time)

15 Burpees

And then this is when the whining began………

 

We then took a trip and found some wall so the Pax could catch their a breathe.  We had a seat in the People Chair and did some runs outs with Monkey Humpers (Homebrew did a really good 1 handed Hump show) followed by some Derkins and Merkins.

 

We took a brief moment to talk some Tuesday morning Kettlebell chatter.  One name was already thrown out there from Homebrew “Canon Ball”.  Some liked and some said we can do better……..

 

Last part of the Smackdown and here is where the real whining began.  Basically we did some Duck Duck Goose Nascar Style and added some Burpees.  Pretty basic, not sure why the whining took place lol.  This may become a Two Ferns Staple.

 

We headed back top the COT where Wolverine clarified his correct age.

Announcements……Thanks Giving Convergence, Multiple Christmas Parties.

Praises and Prayers…..Olaf (Respectable) praising his son and daughter for showing great love and kindness to spend time with their ailing grandma.  Princess Penny and her health and FAMILY during the Holiday Season.

 

I closed with a prayer and as usual my voice cracks because I feel that a higher power really grabs me and humbles me when I pray.

 

Thanks Flux for the Q and the others for the SUPPORT.

 

 

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Rainy Day at the Ranch

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100% chance of rain and one of the first days of this winter with temps under 40 degrees.  The weinke was designed to accommodate 12-14 PAX, but YHC was expecting 4 tops.  Cars filed in and we had 7 hardened men ready to start their day off right despite less than favorable conditions.

Standing in the rain, we went over the disclaimer and took off running toward the covered drop off circle.

Warm-up:

  • Windmill X10
  • Merkins X20
  • SSH X30
  • Wide Arm Mountain Climbers X20
  • Power Planks X20

The Thang:

Partner up and work through the six stations with 4 minutes per station.

It was wet and cold, but the work was done.  Great work by the PAX that braved the cold November rain.

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Tomahawk – Metal that Beavis and Butthead would be proud of!!

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We had 6 PAC and YHC at Tomahawk for a gloomy morning but we did not let it dampen our mood. We cranked the Viking Metal (look it up, it exists) and kicked the day off right!

Slow mosey around parking lot

  • Shuffles
  • High Knees
  • Butt Kickers
  • Lunge Walks
  • Side Lunges
  • Mosey some more
  • Imperial Wakers
  • Hill Billy Walkers
  • Mosey
  • Bear Crawl
  • Squats
  • Bear Crawl
  • Moroccan Night Club
  • Bear Crawl
  • Squats

Grab Bells as get in Car Pool Line by school

  • Do exercise and then run 40yard, backward run back

R/L Curl
Concentration curl
Tri extention
Skull crushers
R/L Curl

  • Do exercise and then bear crawl 20 yards

KB Swing
Shoulder press
Upright row
Bent row
Lat raises

  • Do exercise and then run to wall and do 15 dips, run back

Lunge
Squat
Right leg
Squat figure 8
Left leg

  • Do exercise and then 5 pull ups on pillars

Flutter kick
Russian twist
V up
Hello dolly

The music was jamming and the men were working hard. Lots of encouragement and fellowship as well. Spoke about vulnerability and how it makes it grow and get stronger like building muscle. Men like to be private and just fix things, but sometimes that little bit of vulnerability and humility can be the answer to some trials and storms in our lives. Open up to your Shield-lock or Whetstone and grow from it!

Prayers for Punch-list awaiting new baby and Polaroid’s wife on career moves and Pinup on career decisions.

Humble and Honored men and KEEP ROCKIN!!

Cake Boss!!

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Always a burpee mile at Pantheon

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Not too much creativity was brought to Pantheon on this comfortable, non-raining day. Arrived and set out 4 marker softballs around the larger running loop. YHC started with a message about serving and talked about the Thanksgiving drive in the Paradise neighborhood.

No FNGs, gave disclaimer. Started with a jog around the loop to note location of softballs for future use. Butt kickers, side shuffles, and a run backward high knees with no injuries reported. Followed with a circle of a few warmup exercises which included the always popular scissor one-leg flutters.

Workout consisted of running the large loop, stopping at 4 softballs along the way to do burpees. First loop 5 at each softball, then 4 and we eventually finished the 3rd lap. PAX took turns leading during the laps at the pace they desired. After each lap, we performed a series of exercises focusing on arms or legs. Exercises included, but may not be limited to:

Legs: squats, sumo squats, mountain climbers, people’s chair ( a few times with PAX counting down) , ski jump squats (very difficult to count as Q).

Arms: Balls to the wall 3x?, merkins, 6″ merkins, etc.

Calves: Rocky Balboa toe taps, calf raises, squat jumps focusing on getting off toes.

Finished with 3+ minutes of Mary feet never touching ground.

Gave more info about the food drive for our Thanksgiving efforts in Paradise. Thank you to Pantheon PAX for their pledges and donations which have already started come in just a few hours later!

Sign up for Christmas party.  Cornerstone is accepting character bandaids for the children’s hospital until somewhere around Dec. 20.  Come out to G-fit, our weekly workout in Paradise on Saturdays at 3:00 pm at Steele Street Park with the kids. Volunteer at the Reading Center on Mondays and Wednesdays at 4:00 pm at the Bethlehem Baptist Church, 601 Joe Louis St.

Prayers for Triple Lindy’s son. Prayers for our kids in school and sports. Support each other outside of our workouts. Triple Lindy is seeking employment if any PAX can help. While overlooked in COT, prayers to Lutefisk and family in their time of loss of his mother.

Thank you to Olaf for taking us out.

YHC had a good talk after with Fishsticks and Triple Lindy (first time meeting).

Here is the link to support our Thanksgiving efforts in Paradise. We must move quickly, within the next couple days.  https://f3thefort.com/2018/11/13/support-thanksgiving-food-efforts-in-paradise/

Aye Bolt.

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Support Thanksgiving Food Efforts in Paradise

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***** Update Thursday 9:00 pm *****
Great thanks to the PAX who have donated, and in just one day 1/2, we reached our goal!  Please, no more donations, but, if you were considering, let Bolt know in case we want to add additional families to receive food.
If you would like to volunteer to help deliver (no 2.0’s on delivery, please) to the families, please let Bolt know ASAP. Delivery is being planned for Saturday from 1-3:00 pm (before the G-Fit workout). If needed we will deliver later Saturday, or on Sunday.
For this saturday….1-3:00 pm – food delivery…followed by G-Fit with the kids at 3:00 pm  please join us and bring the 2.0’s to g-fit!!!!

I will be purchasing food tomorrow.  Today, I was able to get 10 large baskets with Thanksgiving themed ‘liners’ (for a nicer food presentation) at a near-donation price from the Humane Society thrift shop. They have supported us previously, and offered to continue to give us sports balls which we use and distribute to the kids in Paradise. We will also be getting a supply of corn, beans and yams which we will not have to purchase. This means we will be able to give the families a larger gift certificate to the grocery store to purchase any additional food items that may want outside of our basic food items (ie. dessert, etc).

Thank you! bolt *****

 

Thanksgiving is nearly upon us,  and Bolt and Deacon are seeking PAX support (quickly) in a small effort to provide full Thanksgiving meals to families in Paradise.

F3 has had a presence in Paradise for over a year and half now. In past years we have had a community turkey drive. We are changing it up this year to provide (at least) 10 full meals to specific high priority families in need. We are working with Kim at SON Ministries to identify these families. But we must move quickly in our efforts with a target delivery of this weekend 11/17-11/18 and an absolute deadline of Tuesday 11/20.

<See also below schedule of events in Paradise over the Thanksgiving holiday>

Each meal will consist of a turkey and all side dishes (list below) needed for a full meal. THANK YOU TO FIGARO (Montrio Belton) who will purchase all of our needed turkeys! This means we just need the side dish item package.

*** As of 11/14 8:15 am, WE ONLY NEED 5 MORE FULL SIDE ORDERS! Full orders are about $30 unless you want to add few items, ie. dessert) ***

HOW TO SUPPORT

  • Purchase the side items on your own. IF YOU PLAN ON PURCHASING THE FOOD ON YOUR OWN, PLEASE LET BOLT KNOW IMMEDIATELY FOR TRACKING PURPOSES!
  • Partner up with another PAX to purchase the items.
  • Donate any money amount to Bolt via Paypal. Send to: thenewpauko@hotmail.com
  • Pledge: If you want to commit but can’t do PayPal, just let Bolt know ASAP and he will cover your pledge until he sees you next.
  • From there, meet up or schedule pickup with Bolt or deliver to 3728 Leela Palace Way in Waterstone near Tega Cay.
  • Assist in delivery to families in Paradise.

Paradise Schedule of Thanksgiving events

  • Sunday, November 18. Volunteer at “Harvest of Thanks and Poor Man’s Meal”, a community meal held at Jerusalem Baptist Church in the Life Center. It would be great to have F3 support at this community event. More details to come via Twitter.
  • Weekend 11/17-11/18 through Tue 11/20. Help to deliver our holiday meals.
  • Saturday, 3:00 pm,  11/24. Post at G-Fit with a holiday pizza/food party following.

Thank you to everyone for your support on this endeavor and to all PAX that have joined us in Paradise!

Aye! Bolt …….. Always open for suggestions!!!

Food side list –  (You can shop anywhere and you can alter this list as you see fit. Pics below are from Harris Teeter. This link may take you to the shopping cart: https://shop.harristeeter.com/store/C39878905#/cart)

Required:  8-10 lbs potatoes, stuffing @ 12 oz, green beans @ 30 oz, corn @ 30 oz, collard greens @ 30 oz, cranberry sauce @ 14 oz, gravy @ 18 oz, mac and cheese @ 3 boxes 20 oz.  This list includes mostly canned foods because delivery will be days before Thanksgiving.

Possible additional:  celery, onions, carrots, sweet potatoes, rolls/biscuits, DESSERT.

( I don’t think these screenshots have turned out too well. Will try to improve.)

 

 

 

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Pantheon 2018.45

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I’ve been doing breathing exercises for awhile now, but I didn’t consider it an activity worthy to include at an F3 workout.  Then Santini did it, so now I had to do it better.

Warmup, nothing new here, go read a dozen other backblasts

The Thang

So the point of this is to max out your heart rate and then try to control it as best as possible.  So step number one… max out heart rate.
40m sprint then 5 burpees, 40m sprint back, 5 burpees, repeato.
Continue till I call time, which ends up being around the 5-10 minute mark.  I think I got 4 to 5 back and forths in…  I just called time when I maxed my heart rate.  I know I’m at it, cause I could lose control of my bowels at any moment.  There are two kinds of people in the world, those that Merlot and those that crap in the woods.

On to step number two.  Take 5-10 deep breaths (as deep as you can, pushing your abdomen out in every direction you can to put as much air in your lungs).  Exhale and then hold your breath for as long as you can.  When you can’t hold it any longer, take a deep breath in.  Hold it for 15 seconds.

In this interval you should try to oversaturate your blood with oxygen in order to be able to hold your breath with no air in your lungs as long as possible.  This triggers your parasympathetic nervous system, floods your body with CO2 (which will later help oxygen absorption), and slow down your hear rate.

Repeat the max heart rate, repeat breath exercise.

Change heart rate exercise to 40m bear crawls and 5 bomb jacks, repeat breathing.

Wrap up with core and back/shoulders.

Moleskin

Jekyll asked me if I’d ever used this for stress.  I have.  I have also used it for insomnia.  Recently, I used it to get rid of a headache.  Somehow it reduces inflimation as well, because when I do it in the morning, if I’m having sinus pressure, it goes away.  I used to pop Ibuprofen like tic-tacs, but now I haven’t used it in years, and breathing is a player in that equation.  Exercising is great, but it’s only step one in the effort to make yourself a less fragile human.

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Just for Kicks – Foot Loos

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About 18 men awoke to a nice dark morning before the roosters crowed. It was for more than just for kicks, it was because they are courageous to take on the challenge that was before them.  Here’s what went down

Warmup:      Moroccan Night Club, Wind Mills, some funky Imperial Walkers, Low slow squat.    Let’s mosey

What’s Up: A Dora Set – 100 Merkins, 100 Squats, 100 Flutters, 100 CDD, and helped finish off the teams that needed some bold encouragement. Small Mosey around the parking lot to hear words of encouragement from Joshua 1:9. Wall Sits, with individual counts down the line, and yes, we did wall sits again. Don’t be alarmed because two times a charm.  Time to Mosey again.  Left and then Right curb merkins followed by a friendly squat walk up the steps.

Wrap Up: More merkins, Mtn Climbers, Parker Peter, Peter Parker, Moraccan night club.

Fun was had by all and we even had some runners join in at the end. GREAT way to start a morning.

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BEYOND Badger – Passivity

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Maximus offered me the opportunity to lead a BEYOND workout, and it only felt right to do it at The Badger… He told me to pick the topic and I got to work. I wanted to take it a step further since it was a BEYOND Badger… so instead of one long grueling workout, I chose a few. Makes sense, right?

My topic was Passive Leadership. Something I struggle with constantly. No matter how “great” I feel I am doing as a leader, I tend to slow down and mentally rest. I let my life lead itself and when I’m not behind the steering wheel, the wheels fall off.

Apathy/Indifference – feeling indifferent or lacking emotion
Passivity – accepting what happens without active response or resistance

Poor leadership has many faces… but passivity in my opinion is a main root of the issue.

COP (All Workouts Derived from the Exicon!)
11 of each for (Observed) Veteran’s Day
SSH
Sun Gods (Arm Circles)
Moroccan Night Clubs
Windmill
Hairy Rockettes (Reverse Windmill, Toes reach up to hands)
Tappy Taps
Carolina Dry Docks
Merkins
Peter Parkers
Calf Raises
Low Slow Squat

Al Gore’s in a circle while I talked.

Ephesians 5:25 – Husbands love your wives as Christ loves the church.

I made a vow at the time I proposed to my wife that I wouldn’t be the typical American male who is distant from his family and doesn’t love or support them if their needs aren’t being met. I was on fire at that point in my life, leading and loving like God designed me to do. I felt unstoppable at accomplishing a love that no man had ever felt. Then I started to get in the way…

The great part about the Honey Badger is we get to honor men who didn’t lead passively.

We finished the warm up and moseyed over to the badger den’s infamous pull up bars.

Ryan – Firefighter Hero WOD
5 Rds
7 Muscle UPS or Pull UPS/DIPS
21 Burpees

LBC’s while we waited for the group to finish. Gotta keep adding to the November count!

Drop down to Al Gore to keep the conversation going.

Somewhere along the way… I lost sight of my vow and decided that I wanted to pursue my own fulfillment over my wife’s. It ended up as you’d imagine. We fell away from each other while trying to conceive. I couldn’t think about her pain during the two years we tried, all I could think about was myself and how ready or not ready I was. We reached a point of pursuing fertility treatment – and by we I mean she decided and I didn’t really give any input. We were at the decision point to take hormone shots. Without consulting her or even thinking of her feelings, I backed out and decided for us to let it happen naturally. Needless to say I broke a lot of trust and I reaped the fruit of passive leadership. It was a hard fought battle to regain the trust I broke, but we made it back. All because I led apathetically.

Can you imagine how giving our all, all the time could have an impact? Would you rather be consistently good or inconsistently great?

Mosey to the track to take part in hero workout number two.

Griff 
2 Rds
800 m run forward
400 m run backward

Pick up the six and run with him to the end. The guys planked while we did so.

We ran short so couldn’t do our third hero WOD, but I’m pretty sure everybody was okay with that. We moseyed back to COT for my message to come to a close.

Drop into Al Gore once more to finish the conversation.

I took the difficult time and raw relationship to heart, and was really helped by God and a few good men at my Church in MD. We conceived our daughter and that really helped bring us out of the pit. I vowed not to let our family growth become a wedge and would do my best to lead my wife through whatever comes next. That doesn’t mean I’ve been without issue. Things are constantly changing, and I have to remain in the lead for my wife and children’s sake. If I fail, their chances of failing increase exponentially. I need to keep my head up and lead in a way that will bear the right fruit for all.

Ephesians 5:33a – However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself

A few thoughts…
My life and how fast things change… my daughter will be four in five days. How did that happen? How did I blink and she get this old? Where did I fail? Where did I succeed? How does apathy/passivity cause you to miss things?

A lot of the things that take my focus away have nothing to do with my family. Work, friends, social media, keeping up with sports, golf, hobbies, drinking beer, music, news and politics. Some things take my family time away that are very productive. Church, volunteering at church, F3, working out. Some may have a positive impact on my family life but most of the time take away from my time with my family.

What’s more important?

End with LBCs x 16 IC until the clock struck 6:00.

19 PAX showed up. Welcome FNG BACONATOR!

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