Summer Q School – Shooting Stars and Counting to 3

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Senator Tressel and YHC headed up the final installation of the summer Q school.  8 PAX joined in for some instruction, antidotes, and how to count to 3.  Brief introduction in lot, totally forgot to make the disclaimer, and we were off.  YHC at the helm.

The Thang

1/2 lap around WEP and circle up for the COP

Each exercise had some instruction of counts, cadence, form, etc.  It was awesome, I guess you had to be there.

SSH X 25 (Hey I saw a shooting star!)

Imperial Walkers X 25

Merkins X 10

Windmill X 15

Mountain Climbers X 25

Disclaimer X 1

Mak Tar Jai X 15

Burpees X10 OYO

Hand Over to Senator who then took us to the hill.

Jacob’s Ladder to 7 with Burpees at top. Senator explained more about what the main workout is about and how to prepare, audible, and listen for mumble chatter.  Kielbasa helped out with the suggestion to do burpees for this ladder.  No one was pleased, except for Seantor.

After ladder we moseyed over to the playground for some pull ups and ab lab.  Senator made it a point to tell the Q School that we do not do enough pull ups/chin ups and that he ALWAYS adds these in at an AO with bars.  I think Senator’s agenda was accepted under duress and the PAX pushed through with 2 sets of 10 pull ups/chin ups and then slow count LBC’s followed by a slower count of Freddy Mercury.

Final thoughts from Seantor about safety, serving the PAX when Q and how he doesn’t ever need a Wienke (memorizes before he gets there) but FunHouse always does (can’t even remember his kids’ names). And do the damn BackBlast!

COT – Always end with Circle of Trust – Prayers for kids to college, parents transitioning to new home and Seantor’s brother in law. 5 years of The Fort in September!

It was an honor to work with Senator to get the new Q’s on track to lead the PAX.  I am looking forward to see what this group of men will bring to the Gloom.  Double D is the man to hit up if you haven’t Q’d and want to get on the list for Block Party!

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Let’s do it…

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10 PAX started out on a cooler, but humidity brewing, morning.  Shady took us on a nice mosey over to the playground area with some buttkickers, shuffles, high knees, karaoke and then some circle up time for warm up.

Warm up included:

SSH – 25 double count

Windmill (slow) – 10

Cherry pickers – 10

Moroccan night club – 30

Mountain climber – 20

Merkins – 10 double count

Honey mooner and downward dog stretches

Peter Parker – 15

Short Mosey to the playground where there was a nice piece of paper waiting for us.

Co-Q Dora (or Crazy Dora 1-2-3???):

Partnered up, size didn’t matter, and partner 1 did the exercise below while partner 2 ran around the playground area to pickup where partner 1 left off until the number was met.  Then moved on to the next exercise.

50 chin-ups

50 straight leg lifts

100 dips

100 knee to chest jumps (these were lots of fun)

150 derkins

150 lunges (both legs = 1)…this was modified to 100 and each leg counts

Stopped with 4 min left to do a couple 10 counts, and a short message on accountability.  Then turned it over to Cooter.

Cooter took us over to the “step” are of FM where we found a nice wall to do some wall sits.

Sit or go do some flying squirrels or all of the above:

Everyone sits on the wall, then starting down the line PAX 1 runs to other end of parking lot for 3 flying squirrels, runs back to spot in line and next PAX takes off….all the way through the line.

After this we took off towards the steps by the FM mill stone!

Why use your legs to climb steps when you have perfectly good arms:

Partner up and wheelbarrow up the 2 different sets of steps.  Run around and down the hill where you’ll switch.  Rinse and repeat 2x.

Took off to another short mosey up the monster hill (jailbreak mind you), then a brief cooldown through the parking lot.  Couple 10 counts, then over to the balls to the wall area.

Balls to the wall and then some:

Balls to the wall PLUS some mountain climbers for the dreaded Australian.  Followed by some 10 count wall sits, only to rinse and repeat.

Took off for some Mary prior to COT.  Mary consisted of a “choose your own adventure” of ab workouts.

Welcomed Nutmeg to the PAX party (friends with Hottie Tottie).  Had a great time as usual and co-Q’ing definitely takes a beating when you have Q strength!  Need to keep that in mind next time for sure!

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Take Your Kid to The Yard Day

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A moderately cooler morning greeted the PAX as we circled up and exchanged pleasantries.  YHC has gotten the word out that he’d be bringing his 13 y/o 2.0 to the workout and encouraged others to do the same.  It was great to see 4 other young bucks in the circle as well.  Atticus, Chicken Hawk, and Old Bay each had their 2.0 + a visiting cousin (FNG Mogul).  That was all well and great until Vernon arrived and announced “what is this, take your kid to work day”?  No offense was taken but that lit a fire in YHC and it was decided that this would not be a F3 Dads workout.  It might not even be moderate.  Let’s see…

THE THANG

Mosey to COP at back of school.  Old faithful warm-ups in cadence consisting of SSH, Imperial Walkers, Windmills, Merkins, Mountain Climbers, MNC, Plank Jacks, with a plank series thrown in here and there.

Mosey to the basketball goals for 4 Corners of deconstructed burpees.  1st corner – 20 squats.  2nd corner – 20 merkins, 3rd corner – 20 bombjacks, 4th corner 10 burpees.  A simple rinse and repeat was planned but we ended up doing this 3X (crowd pleaser!) due to some Santini chirping.  Good times!

Next we gathered at the brick wall for 3 series of peoples chair and squat jumps.

A few 10 counts were called then we lined up by the curb facing the courts.  Bear crawls to the first light post and back.  Repeat with lunge walks and toy soldiers.

Mosey to the back of the school with the circular drive for what turned out to be Dora 1,2,2.  Partner up and 1 runs while the other starts aggregate exercise:  100 big boy sit ups / LBC, 200 SSH, 200 squats.

6 minutes of Mary led by the PAX.  Completed were various amounts of LBC, Hello Dolly, Rosalita, Flutters, Box Cutters,  etc.

Moleskin

YHC’s oldest 2.0, Captain Snooze, has been attending Saturday workouts this summer.  He’s getting stronger and F3 is helping him develop confidence and an understanding of true brotherhood.  What a blessing!  No better way to raise a HIM than to surround him with just that.  I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the PAX encouraging, joking with, and getting to know my son.  I’m looking at you Pusher, Santini, Old Bay, Chicken Hawk, Cake Boss, Bubba Gump and others.  Snooze wasn’t ready to lead the warm-up this week but his time is coming!

Announcements / Prayers

Read the newsletter.  AO’s changing, new 3rd F group starting, 3rd F Convergence, it’s all in there.

Prayers were lifted for sick family members, upcoming Colombia Mission Trip, and for strong marriages and families.  The summer has flown by and school is nearly here.  Make the most of your time, you don’t get it back.

AYE!

Flat Tire

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Fate Dealt our Pain at Armory

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Warmup:  Jog with kettlebell to circle of power, then 3 exercises in cadence:  low slow squat jumps, morrocan nightclubs, low slow wide grip merkins.

The Thang:   Partner up.  Deck of cards present. Partners drew 2 cards with an exercise on each.  We multiplied the numbers on each card together and did reps for those two exercises.  Aces multiplied the reps by 2.  If a joker was drawn, partners had to do 100 burpees total.  TWISTER drew the Joker!!!

Breaks – 1st:   wall sits with kettelbell pass through legs while a person! did bear crawls to the end. 2nd:  Indian run with kettlebell in right hand, then another lap in left hand.  3rd:  catch me if you can with partners with LBC’s as the exchange exercise.

Announcements  – 8/4 convergence.  Bear Grylls seeking BRR team.

Prayers:  Bullwinkle family illness, Assassin travel, Murphy/Sheaffer sympathy, Patrick Caldwell Chemotherapy.  Good start to August.

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#Varsity

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8 PAX show up to put in work this morning. The overcast morning kept it fairly dark the entire workout.

Disclaimer was Disclaimed.

The Thang:

We took advantage of the circle we were already in and started the warm-up.

Slow Windmill – 10

Low Slow Squat – 10

Mosey around the parking lot: Karaoke L/R –> Mosey –> Knees to Chest, Ankles to Hip –> Mosey –> Walking Lunges, Toy Soldiers –> Mosey

Circle Up

Hill Billy Walkers – 10

SSH – 25 double count

Merkins – 12 double count

Peter Parkers – 10 double count

Parker Peters – 10 double count

Honeymooner, Downward Dog, Honeymooner

Moroccan Night Club – 15 double count

Mosey to the pull-up bars and partner up:

Partner#1: 8 pull ups / Partner#2: 8 squats; 3 sets

Partner#1: 5 toes to bar / Partner#2: 5 jump squats; 3 sets

Partner#1: 5 Chin-ups / Partner#2: 5 jump squats; 3 sets

Mosey to the Wall:

People’s Chair; PAX#1 sprint to cone (approx. 30 yards out), complete 3 burpees, sprint back to wall, rotating until all PAX finish.

BTTW; 20 push-ups when finished

Mosey to Band Field:

Line up on Goal Line and follow the PAX in front of you in a single file line.

Every time we got to a side line the PAX: Low side shuffled on the side-lines for 10 yards

After 10 yards on the sideline, we ran the width of the field. Runs (distance: the width of the field) included: Karaoke Left, Karaoke, Right, Run Backwards, Run Forwards, Side Shuffle Left, Side Shuffle Right.

Line up on the 50 yard line:

Every 10 yards: 10 Bomb Jacks

25 Merkins (single count)

10 Burpees

25 Merkins

10 Squats

2 x 50 yard sprints

Body Destroyers (Crowd Pleaser!)

 

Mosey back to COT.

Name-O-Rama

Announcements

Prayers/Praises

NMM:

Kielbasa – There were at least 10 name changes throughout this workout for Kielbasa (mostly from Sauerkraut and Birdcage). Even though he was working through some injuries, he put in great effort.

Socrates – Today was Socrates first day back since my VQ. He put in great effort and got stronger and better. Great to see you in The Gloom again, Brother!

Wegmans– Wait for it…wait for it…There is a Then/Now situation happening with Wegmans.  It is great to see him working towards his fitness goals.

Geronimo – This man is a beast. His planking while waiting for the six turned into plank jacks (and then it turned into plank jacks for the other PAX!). Thanks Geronimo for keeping me company at the front as we moseyed from location to location within the AO.

PITTS – Can we get this HIM a VQ?! He’s more than ready (ask anyone who posted at The Coop this past Wednesday, when he lead an off the cuff warm-up like a seasoned pro). A regular at The Coop and Varsity…we’re lucky to have this HIM.

Sauerkraut – After the disclaimer, Sauerkraut request we do Body Destroyers, immediately. It wasn’t until the end of the workout (since I didn’t know, or want to know what a Body Destroyer was) that YHC finally took him up on his offer. Crowd pleaser, for sure (be sure to ask him for the details)! Awesome mumble chatter from this HIM.

Birdcage – It’s be great having Birdcage posting back at Varsity regularly. The mumble chatter is always good without this HIM.

 

It was an honor to Q for these PAX. Thank you, Kielbasa for the opportunity.

 

-Crawdaddy

#CoopStrong

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Good times at Golden Corral

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The men were gathered, and two of my buddies crossed the Lake to come join me in Tega Cay for the great local of Golden Corral, Kenyan and Whopper.  My boy Whopper got to have his 1st post back in Charlotte since his last 6 months were spent in Texas for work.  Quick and easy disclaimer,  the group split for the standard 5 ruckers and 7 bootcampers. And we took off.

Mosey behind Harris Teeter for our warmup.  We did

20 SSHs – 2 burpees – 20 MNCs – 2 burpees – 20 IWs – 2 burpees – 10 Merkins – 2 burpees – 10 Peter Parkers – 2 burpees – 10 Parker Peters – 2 final burpess

Mosey to the side of that new tire store…I forget the name to the right of the HT.

Lazy Dora

Partner Up

Combined 100 merkins : Partner 1 = 10 merkins while 2nd partner planks. Then switch until 100

Combined 200 LBCs: 1st = 20 LBCS while other holds 6 inches. Switch until 200

Combined 300 Squats: 1st = 25 Squats while other partner holds low squat.  This one hurts by 300..

I asked Whopper to share a little about his experience without F3 for the last six months and he was kind enough to share about what it’s like to have been a man of F3 and then not have those guys to hold you accountable.

Since Lazy Dora skips all the running round two would include plenty.  We started with People’s Chair while the other partner runs around the building.  Keep the runs going when we switch partners and these exercises.

People’s Chair – BTTW – Wall Plank 90 degree hold – People’s Chair – BTTW

Final round, mosey to the front of the Harris Teeter. Lt Dan’s to the 3rd light.  Then bear crawl to the F3 flag.  The final 3 minutes were Ab Lab.

Announcements – read the newsletter!

Prayers shared and raised in the BOM.

An honor to lead!

Royale

 

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The Hive: Different Kind of Buzz

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Nacho Libre and I were thinking we were a duo but right at 0514 Asphalt and Tesh came in hot ready to go.

No FNGs and no rookies so away we went. Advertising days in advance did not draw the crowd but I’m good with that as it allows us to have better fellowship while a strong beat down.

mosey to COP and rapid fire excercises

  • SSHs
  • Imperial walkers
  • Sumo Squats
  • merkins
  • hillybilly walkers
  • traditional squats
  • Carolina dry docks

mosey to bells

 

Each exercise for 1 min

  1. L/R curls
  2. KB swing
  3. lunge passthru
  4. fkutters
  5. run lap

 

  1. concentration curls
  2. shoulder press
  3. goblet squat
  4. american hammers
  5. run lap

 

  1. tri-extentions
  2. upright rows
  3. right leg squat
  4. v-ups
  5. run lap

 

  1. skull crushers
  2. bent rows
  3. left leg squat
  4. hello dolly
  5. run lap

 

  1. figure eights
  2. time up

thanks Tesh for the Q

great pax and AO at The Hive!!

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Ruck WO: Freedom of Choice….but not of Consequence

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Cobra Kai asked me to lead a ruck workout a while back. HC!! First time Q-ing a ruck workout……I was nervous. No better way to learn than to get thrown in the deep end. So here goes….

6 of us for the Ruck good livin this AM. Good, needed an even number.

Rucks on, very brief mosey to the parking lot in front of Marshall’s

COP. Rucks off, 15-20 ea:
* SSH
* WM
* IW
* MNC
* PJ

“Intermission” WO:
10 ea w ruck:
* Curls
* Upright Rows
* Swings
* Overhead Press

Then I wanted to try something different. Instead of transitioning w rucks on as usual. Partner up, 5 merkin catch-me-if-you-can to the stairs/patio next to Just Fresh. We each did about 20 merkins or so along the way.

> Intermission WO

Then it was time for some stair work at the patio of the vacant restaurant next to Just Fresh (that place must be cursed – great locale, cannot keep a tenant there).

Partner up. P1 > farmer carry both rucks up, across, down stairs. P2 > Exercise AMRAP. Each group did 2 rounds before moving to next exercise. Exercises were:
* LBC
* Merkins
* Flutter
* CDDs

Break between merkins and flutters to talk a little (see moleskin). The Boot campers moseyed on up and wanted to use the stairs, but we had squatters rights. Sorry. We left a nice sweat trail for them to find their way around. 🙂

After CDDs done, ruck overhead carry mosey to the corner walls behind Home Depot. >

> Intermission WO

Now time for some wall squatting.

Rucks on laps, shoulder to shoulder. Person on end passed their ruck down the line to the left, and bear crawled down the line to catch up with it, then the next person did the same until complete. >> 2 rounds. Wow. Quads hurt. My bird legs were feelin it! Rinse and repeat except to the right (need to stay balanced). >> 2 more rounds. By then we were ALL feeling the burn. Note to others: Bear’s ruck feels at least twice as heavy as the others. Quite impressive, but not fun for us.

Finally a normal ruck on mosey to the area in front of Zoes Kitchen >> Intermission WO.

Evidently my watch is running slow……boot campers were at the COT waiting on us. Double timed it back to COT.

GREAT job by all!! The ruck WOs I’ve been to are intense and challenging. I did not know if I could maintain those high standards on my ruck VQ. I hope I did. I thank those who have taught me along the way.

> See DaVinci’s BB for Announcements, Prayers, Praises.

NMM:

Theme of this dwindling month is Freedom. Something that is the very fabric of this nation. It also affects the paths of our lives. Sky Q has a plan for all of us. Sometimes he puts forth challenges to see if we can maintain our path. Our personal moral values, along with our Faith in Him, are our compass. It is our decisions that prints our evolving map.

I told the PAX a story about something that very recently happened to a friend of mine who now lives in Pittsburgh. In summary : my friend was involved in a road rage incident with an off-duty cop that had a bad attitude who had no issues with using his badge to his personal advantage (the cop’s badge and gun were the accessories he made sure my friend clearly saw). The cop was clearly the main aggressor who escalated it to near headline news violence. Nothing happened to my friend (thank God). Even though the cop pushed it, my friend did not back down but did not further escalate. The cop knew he was wrong, and there were witnesses in the cars all around realizing something is amiss.  The cop fled before anyone could follow or get a plate number.

It could have VERY easily ended differently, and I’d be up in PA for a funeral now. But what set that chain of event in motion? There was an initial disagreement between the two. My friend decided to further antagonize…..even though he knew the person behind him was getting more and more angry. He could have let it go, and most likely things would not have escalated. Yes, the cop was clearly the aggressor, but what was the first push? What set that chain of event along its irreversible path?

I myself had a scary road rage incident happen to me once. In my truck rolling down the road here in the Charlotte area, all is good. Someone behind me was not happy with my speed, tailgating me, honking his horn, waiving his hands as I see in my mirror. I pull over to the next lane. No big deal. He zips by, gives me a nasty look, the one finger salute, curses at me, then zips on. I got pissed. I sped up, got along side, and returned the gestures. He looks st me and pulls a gun up clearly visible at me. I nailed the brakes and he went on. I pulled over angry and shaken, but not at the other driver. At myself.
Why?

My two boys were in the back seat. My heart sank.

I could have let it go. I did not. I pushed it. Yes, the arsehole pushed too, and escalated it. But….

I can control myself. I could have let it go and diffused the situation early. I chose not to.
I cannot control others. I chose to ASSUME nothing bad could happen, that the other person I cannot control would react in a relatively civil manner. They did not.

We cannot totally control or influence how others may affect the path we are on, the actions that they take. But we can control what we do that could put forth a chain of events that we do not want. Freedom of choice is a very powerful thing, and one that cannot be taken lightly. We have freedom of choice, but we do not always have freedom of consequence.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead. God bless.
– NASA

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DaVinci Cones Redux

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Full disclosure: 6 of the Pax listed above were ruckers and their workout was led by NASA.

Today was the first time I’ve Q’d in a long time. I was a bit nervous, but have worked out all over this AO and sort of know the lay of the land. My Q Lane is more of the Set-It-And-Forget-It variety, and today was no different. With no further ado, here is:

The Thang

Long Mosey to parking lot in front of Old Navy. Circle up for some COP:

SSH, windmills —SLOW (you’re welcome, CSPAN), low slow squats, merkins, downward dog stretches, honeymooner, mountain climbers, peter parkers, freddys, LBCs

Mosey to the Valvoline for some hill work. Sevens or Jacob’s Ladder: merkins at bottom, bombjacks at the top

Mosey to the raised patio the the old Riverbleu only to find the ruckers using the spot, so it was off to Plan B. I had cones set up on the drive, one on either side of the fountain. Each cone listed 5 exercises and the required reps. Do the exercise, run a half lap to the next cone, do the exercise. And so forth until everyone had finished the circuit. Exercise were as follows:

Cone One:

  1. Slow Squats (20)
  2. Curb Dips (20)
  3. Mtn. Climbers (20 d.c.)
  4. Curb Derkins (20)
  5. CDD’s (20)

Cone Two:

  1. Imperial Wlkrs (20 d.c.)
  2. Jump Lunges (10/leg)
  3. Freddy Mercurys (20 d.c.)
  4. Flying Squirrels (10)
  5. Peter Parkers (10 d.c.)

Then we made our way to the Rivebleu raised patio for the following:

Divide up into groups of 3. First man runs the stairs, does 5 burpees, runs down the back stairs and back to the group while 2nd and 3rd man do squats. Then repeat with 2nd and 3rd man.

By this point, it was time to mosey back to COT for a couple minutes of ab lab. Freddys, Crunchy Frogs (demo and cadence from WitchHunt), LBCs.

Announcements:

Children’s Attention Home: Q or post to support these great kids who are victims of circumstance and are in need of positive male role models.

Delta signups have begun! Reach out to Wild Thing if you’re interested in joining a LKW team.

Prayers for pregnant Ms, for family struggling with addiction and recovery.

Moleskin

At COT,  I shared that today, 7/28/17 would have been my late father’s 75th birthday. In 2001, he died  of a massive heart attack at the age of 59. My father was a good man. A loving man and unfailing provider for our family. But he had personal struggles. He was an alcoholic. A workaholic. Never exercised. Attended church sporadically, especially during my years at home.

My dad didn’t have what I would consider close friends or a strong social network. He had a family, a career, a mortgage, two kids who stayed out of trouble. But he always struck me as lonely. Isolated. I daresay alcohol use was his way of self medicating: his way of trying to fill a hole and mask his feelings of isolation.

I am grateful to write here that I am not an alcoholic, although there was a time in my late 20s that I was definitely auditioning for the part. No one will ever accuse me of being a workaholic (though I do work hard). Though I may not eat the healthiest diet, I do post at workout consistently between 4 and 6 days a week.

But, perhaps most importantly to me, I have gained a strong network of men who support and encourage each other to become better.

My life is on a completely different trajectory.

I am not alone. I am not isolated. I am a grateful part of this community, and I thank each of you for being a part of my life.

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Tour of the Front 9 @ Tempo

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I let Gekko’s DM on twitter sit there all day. A call out to Tega Cay Pax that he needed a sub Q at Tempo for an injured Senator Tressel. Messages came in that several Pax were down range. You see, I had a scheduled fartsack for Thursday morning.  So I let it sit there. Silent. Crickets.

I’m not sure if it was the weight of the silence, or the guilt I would feel the next morning (something I call fartsacker’s guilt), or the fact that I just listened to Dredd and OBT talk about what a High Impact Men was on the Art of Manliness Podcast (Check it out HERE), but I started to put together a route that would be challenging.  Fishsticks chimed in and said he would put something together and I jumped in and said it’s already done.  Transition to Thursday morning.

THANG

0515 came and I outlined that we would run up Tega Cay Drive and then enter Tega Cay Golf Course at Number 9 Tee Box and then run the front 9 (Carolina Pines). We proceeded to hole #1 and ran the entire way through to #8 green and got back on the trail that led us back to COT.  Doesn’t sound exciting but there are so many quick elevation changes that your heart rate gets up quick and doesn’t come down until you’re back at Trailhead Park. It was a great morning and I am thankful for the guys who came out. As I mentioned to Falcon’s Crest, I wouldn’t be out here doing this without you guys.

MOLESKIN

As I mentioned above, before F3 there would have been no chance of me getting up and going for a run like that. I’m still a work in progress (I mean who schedules a fartsack?) but I’m trying to get better. The guys to my left and right are trying to get better and they encourage me. As I held back a little for some of the PAX (truth is I was having a hard time keeping up with Spud), they said they were fine and to go on ahead. I let them know that it ain’t about the workout for me anymore, so we’re cool. It was a great morning and I had the privilege in COT to hear praise after praise. Glad I showed up. Here are my notes:

  • Good work Decibel. You’re sick and you’re still coming out! Get well soon brother.
  • Falcon Crest, you just keep coming out. Keep it up and sorry/notsorry about the route. You’ll keep getting better
  • Spud is not human. I repeat! Not human! 🙂
  • Great to see you in the gloom Repeat!
  • Always a good time and chat with Fish Sticks
  • The Front 9 is hilly but I still think the Back 9 is worse (save for another Q)
  • Repeat mentioned that this route should be an official BRR training route. I think it is now.

Announcements (Check the newsletter as we went straight into praise reports)

Praise & Prayers

  • Repeat praise with the new baby
  • Decibel praise for his little girl’s light, energy and humor
  • Zima praise for family weekend in the mountains
  • Spud praise for a reprieve from work pressures

Always an Honor to Q, even if I avoid it at times.

Zima

 

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