We are one Brotherhood

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15 came out on this mild morning, not knowing what they would be doing.  The point is, they got out of bed and came anyway.  There were no FNG’s (although there was a Kotter – Dog Pound, welcome back!) so I gave the abbreviated disclaimer and off we went.

Mosey down to the lot in front of Empire Pizza and circled up for the following warmup:

  • SSH’s
  • Cherry Pickers
  • Imperial Walkers
  • Moroccan Night Clubs
  • and Windmills

We moseyed a short distance to the lot in front of the Indian restaurant for the Thang…and what do you know, there was a white board with a bunch of things written on it.

I had called out on Twitter that this would be a moderate workout, and to some it was, yet to others it required a little more effort.  Either way, we were here, and this is what we were doing!

First thing we partnered up.  Each partner was to do the full amount of the exercises, but they were to hold each other accountable and drive to the end together.  If your group finished, you went to another group that was still going and joined in wherever they are.  Then when that group finished you joined up with another…and so on until we all finished together!  Here were the exercises done:

  • 50 Bombjacks (Single Count)
  • 50 Carolina Dry Docks (in cadence)
  • 50 LBC’s (in cadence)
  • 50 Monkey Humpers (in cadence)
  • 50 Squats (in cadence)
  • 50 Merkins (in cadence)
  • 50 Calf Raises (in cadence)
  • 50 SSH’s (in cadence)
  • 50 Reverse Crunches (in cadence)

So, as we wrapped up, everyone had completed a minimum of 850 reps of these various exercises, and those that finished earlier than others kept adding to those totals.

We finished up with a bit of Broga, and a slow mosey back up to COT where we shared a couple stories on what IMPACT we saw this past week.

Was this moderate?  You tell me.  Was it hard, absolutely (evident by all the complaining).  The point is that if we were doing this on our own, we most likely would have quit or cut corners at some point throughout the workout.  But we weren’t alone, we had our partner holding us accountable.  Take that same concept and apply it to Whetstone.  That is EXACTLY what we are doing when we commit to having a Whetstone partner (in my case, Destiny).  We hold each other accountable for day in and day out mundane tasks…we encourage each other when things go sideways…but…we do all this TOGETHER!

If you do not currently have a Whetstone partner, I seriously urge you to pray about it, and consider joining up for the program!

At a minimum, check in with a Brother throughout the week to see how they are doing, and be willing to be transparent and honest if someone reaches out to you!  Remember, WE are not worthy to judge others…but WE are called to lift each other up!

Smithers….Out

 

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Golden Corral Shovel Flag Hand Off

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We had 20 Combined for the Boot Camp  and Ruckers.

Boot Camp Work Out:

Mosey behind shopping center and circle up:

15 Imperial Walkers, 15 Mountain Climbers, 15 Wind Mills, 15 Peter Parkers, 15 Parker Peters, 10 Merkins and 15 CDD

Mosey to hill:

On Guard Rail do 14s: 13 Derkins and 1 Dip; 12 Derkins and 2 Dips…………..to 1 Derkin and 13 Dips

Mosey to Hill:  Backwards halfway  up hill then run forward- 20 Sumo Squats down the hill then alternating lunges until the 6 is in and then 10 in cadence as a gaggle.  Rinse and repeat x2.

Mosey to roundabout and lunge walk to entrance of the shopping center.

Mosey to parking lot: Backward run to first island then turn and forward run at end of parking lot do 25 CDD then run back….incline merkins until 6 is in then 10 as a gaggle in cadence.

Mosey to COT

It has been an honor to serve as the site Q.  Over the last couple of years I have seen a lot of faces come through and all are better for it.  I am excited to have my good friend Falcon Crest take over and you will see me there on a regular basis.

Remember that the next step is to get involved in volunteering in our area.  Children’s attention home and paradise both need volunteers.  Make the next step in leadership and you will not regret it.  Falcon Crest is a man doing that not just within F3 but also at CAH.  Thank you buddy!

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Bing- GQ in The Fort – Alcatraz AO

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Reposting with Link to Bing’s BB from F3 Suncoast.

Bing- GQ in The Fort – Alcatraz AO

The PAX

Weather – upper 60s- with a chill in the air for this Floridian!

As the pax began to roll into the AO, including a number of them who chose to take a pre-run, YHC was giddy with excitement.  It felt like good old times with so many familiar faces!

As the clock struck 6:30, the disclaimer was shared along with the 5 core principles  and off we went for a mozi around the park.  Mozi included butt kickers, high knees, Carioca x2 and a quick pace to finish the run.  Without hesitation, it was time to hit the dewy fresh cut grass for COP.

COP was delivered in a speed round, where the Q calls out an exercise and is immediately followed by the first Pax member calling out SSH x10 IC.  The COP went as follows:

  • Merkins x10IC
  • SSH x10IC
  • Windmills x10IC
  • SSH x10IC
  • Imperial Walkers x10IC
  • SSH x10IC
  • Mountain Climbers x10IC
  • SSH x10IC
  • Peter Parkers x10IC
  • SSH x10IC

It was time to get to business.  The intent of the beatdown was to share some of the Pax favorites from my new  region, F3 Suncoast. First up was, FUN WITH ANIMALS.  Cones were set up roughly 15 feet from the starting point and the pax had to do the following mode of transportation x2:

  • Bear Crawl
  • Duck Walk
  • Crab Walk
  • Crawl Bear
  • Frog Hop
  • It was obvious that the pax was having such a great time, we rinsed and repeated, with only 1 time each the second round.

After we had enough fun with animals, a quick mozi was done and the pax ended up at the bottom of the hill on Tara Tea Drive for a round of Jacobs Ladder.  Run up to the top of the hill for 1 Burpee, run back down and immediately return to the top for 2 burpess.  Rinse and repeat until you have done 7 burpees.  Plank at the top until the entire pax is complete.  This was no easy feat for this Floridian flatlander, but clearly was a crowd favorite.

After the six was in, it was time for some Mike Tysons along the curb.  Due to the size of the Pax, half of the group ran laps until the first group was done doing Mike Tysons x10.  We did two rounds and it was back to the fields of Alcatraz for the grande finale…and grand it was.

Ripken Suicides

As done at any Ripken Q at F3 Suncoast, it was time for Ripken Suicides (or as Longshanks called them initially – Cupcakes because Suicides isn’t sensitive enough).  The pax had 1 minute to complete a full round of suicides, with the next round starting after the first minute.  The faster you get done, the most rest.  This is done for 10 rounds, as long as you are able to get the suicides done in 60 seconds.  There wasn’t a lot of love shown for Ripken after this finale!  Thanks Ripken!!

With 3 minutes remaining, it was time for a quick round of mary including LBCs, Protractor and one other.

Round of Mary

 

The MoleSkin:

YHC encouraged the pax to not hestitate to disrupt their status quo.  To make sure they are not remaining in their comfort zone.  Roughly 2 years ago today, the Kelly family entirely disrupted their status quo, having no idea why the chose to leave such a great community, pax and soccer family to head to a place where we knew NO ONE.  Not long after arriving in Florida, the status quo was disrupted AGAIN with YHC taking an entirely new job and quitting the one he moved to Florida for initially.  This opportunity has been a true blessing as YHC no longer travels for work and is home with the family and available to apply more time to launching a new region for F3.  The Pax of F3 The Fort and surrounding areas have been instrumental in disrupting the lives of over 225 men in the Sarasota area, as it was because of them YHC had the confidence to move and then start a new region.  I am honored and humbled to be a part of F3 The Fort and to give away all that I have gained to my new region in F3 Suncoast.

Prayers/Praises:

  • For Cable Guy and his family
  • James, friend of YHC battling cancer for the 3rd time at 9 years old
  • Many other prayer requests spoken

Announcements:

  • Coffeeteria at Panera Bread – Thanks for hanging out, I had a great time
  • CAH – Join us
  • Welcome to Skyline – You did a great job in a not so friendly FNG beatdown!
  • Wow, I am really bad at all of the announcements as I am not with this pax daily!

Thank you for this great opportunity and I look forward to seeing everyone on Monday at Honey Badger.

Aye – Bing

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Not So Ultimate Frisbee

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On a comfortable morning at the Crow’s Nest, 4 brave Pax joined YHC for what I planned on being a fun but grueling workout.  Lately, the Q’s have been incorporating sports in the workout’s and being that in the book “Freed To Lead” it suggests that you borrow ideas and try to make them your own, I would follow this time tested formula.

I started the workout with a quick 5 Donkey Kick’s to get the Pax’s attention and then we mosey’ed on over to the COP area that is in one of the many parking lot’s in the Crow’s Nest.

I had ascending Donkey Kick’s to accompany the 10 warm up exercises starting with 1 Donkey Kick to 10 Donkey Kick’s after the final exercise.

10xSSH

10xSunGods-fwd and reverse

10xWindmill

10xCherryPickers

10xImperial Walkers

10xLSS

10xPlankJacks

10xHook/Hook, Uppercut

10xMountain Climbers

Plank Hold-10 second each Pax around the circle

The Thang

We then mosey’ed on over to the main event.  Unfortunately, since we only had 5 Pax on hand, my plan on playing a match of F3 Ultimate Frisbee landed with a dud so I had to Omaha.  I started us out just tossing the disc around while I tried to figure out what I was going to do and then when I saw one of the Pax drop the frisbee I figured there should be a punishment for dropping said frisbee.  We then just kept tossing around the disc and every time a Pax member dropped it(or there was a mis-throw) we had to do an exercise.

1st Drop-10 Burpees

2nd Drop-15 ‘Mericans

3rd Drop-20 Single Leg Squats (10 each leg)

4th Drop-25 LBC’s 

5th Drop-30 Plank Jack’s

6th Drop-35 Single Leg Flutter Kicks

7th Drop-40  Thrusters

8th Drop-45 Bomb Jacks

Final Drop-50 Curb Dips

With 15 minutes on the clock we mosey’ed on over to the pull up station and did Jack Webb’s with an ascending pull-up/squat combo.  Nemo was not pleased, and at the end we were all doing cheat pull ups.  We then mosey’ed on back to COT where we has 3 minutes of Mary(or Ab Lab as some call it).

Peg called out 12 Big Boy Sit Ups OYO

Nemo had us do 10xBox Cutters

Respectable Olaf has us do 20xFreddy Mercury’s

Wolverine had us Do 10xAmerican Hammer

I ended the workout with a Honeymooner/Down Dog combo

Observation/Prayers/Praises

Prayed for injured Pax members and discussed Bolt’s idea for a Sunday morning trail running AO at 7 Oaks.  Till next time…

 

 

 

 

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Moseying through life searching for your Rock

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Eighteen men posted on a beautiful morning to make each other stronger in body and spirit.  I won’t try to capture all of the words of wisdom shared but get out there and post to engage…

The Message…  The bottom line of the messages given intermittently throughout the pain was around impact and finding your God given purpose and engaging in the Journey that will take you from where you are today to where God wants to to be, having an impact in the areas of the world he has called you.  Don’t just mosey through life smelling the flowers and then moving on to the next thing.

The Thang…

Mosey to the corporate parking lot where Shinguard started the morning with COP.

  • SSH x20
  • Squats x20
  • LBC x20
  • High Low Flutter x20
  • Worlds Worst Merkin x10 (Wide arm, Regular, diamond = 1 rep)  that was terrible

Mosey to the wall for some muscle up and donkey action.  2 sets (10 x 10 then 5 x 20)

Mosey to the top of the Hill for some hill repeats. x2  Run down hill and run backwards back up with 10 burps at the top.

Mosey to the grass hill with a forward bear crawl down the hill to the sidewalk

Mosey to the lower wall for some wall sits and baby dips while in sitting position

Mosey to the courtyard for wall jumps, derkins, irking, and dips with a few rounds.

Santina took over and rotated through a series of SSH, Carolina Dry Docks, Lunges, Moroccan Night Clubs, Seal Jacks and a repeated, slow, methodical rip your muscles out shoulder type of experience.

Moseyed back to COT for a couple of ab exercises then done.

It was an honor and privilege to Q and to Q with Santini.

CH

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Party on the Block

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Ain’t no party like a Block Party and I didn’t want to disappoint. Shady has lined up some strong Q’s here and the last thing I was going to do was break the positive cycle. On a Tuesday in The Fort you have a wide variety of options. I appreciate the 12 other men that rolled in for a slight variation of the norm.

After spending a few hours in the car recently, I’ve done my F3 duty of getting caught up on the 43′ Podcast by Dredd & Dark Helmet. Sure, it’s a Podcast on “leadership” but let’s be honest, I tune in to listen to the gut punches and banter as much as I do for the leadership discussion. Several learnings were incorporated into this workout which you’ll read shortly. Some may be obvious to you but they weren’t something I gave much thought to previously.

In addition to the 10 Ft Mill locals, we had Drone from F3 metro and he brought an FNG, welcome Radio Flyer!!

Disclaimer: A little more lengthy than normal. And…we’re off

Run around the left side of WEP back down 160 to the parking lot with the chain attempting to obstruct our entrance. Knowledge nugget from 43’…the joys and effectiveness of the 8ct Burpee. Another knowledge nugget was that we too often get caught in the trap of assuming things will be the same this time because it’s the way we’ve always done it. Like Side Straddle Hops to start a warm up or doing exercises in counts of 10. Both of those…out the window.

All of the following in cadence:

20 x 8ct Burpees

18 x Calf Raises

16 x Diamond Merkins

14 x Mountain Climbers

12 x Dying Cockroaches

10 x Grave Diggers (10 each side)

8 x 8ct Burpees

6 x Diamond Merkins

4 x Mountain Climbers

2 x Dying Cockroaches

Mosey to the playground & partner up:

Partner 1: 15 Pull-Ups

Partner 2: Hold the squat while doing overhead claps until your partner is done w/ the pull ups

Flapjack

Partner 1: 15 Pull-Ups

Partner 2: Wide-Arm Merkins until…

Flapjack

Partner 1: 15 Pull-Ups

Partner 2: 180deg Jump Twists until…

Flapjack

Partner 1: 15 Pull-Ups

Partner 2: Monkey Humpers until…

Flapjack

Mosey to the white tenth-of-a-mile post by the parking lot:

Sprint to the next post then do 5 Jumping Lunges. Sprint to the next post and do the same thing. We did this 2 more times for 4 total posts which included some nice up/down hill sprinting.

Closed it out with 10 more 8ct Burpees and some Chopsticks & American Hammers.

 

Shady, thanks for the nod to Q.

Until next time…

Maximus

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Beyond with Tinsel’s Utensils at the Ranch

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Today I had the opportunity to lead a Beyond Workout, I’ve been to many of them and decided to share some of my personal stories. I was welcomed by all the PAX that decided to get better and a new name for my toys/props, Tinsel’s Utensils, great name Mainframe!!

We started the warm up with a short run around the parking lot with high knees and butt kickers and then circled up for a few warm up exercises:  Windmills, Moroccan night clubs, low slow squats followed by story sharing while on different variations of planks (regular, elbows, right/left leg up while on elbows, right/left arm up while on regular, back to regular), downward dog-honeymooner; with 9 minutes into the WO we split in 4 groups and each group went to a different station.

Station 1:

-> 10 diamond merkins

-> 15 wide arm merkins

-> 20 regular merkins

-> 30 battle rope wave SC

-> 40 plank jacks

-> 50 Shoulder taps

Station 2:

-> 15 boat and canoe

-> 20 Rosalitas

-> 30 Sledgehammer swings (15 each side)

-> 40 Heel Touches SC

-> 40 Dying Roach

Station 3:

-> 15 overhead press

-> 15 biceps curls

-> 25 dumbbell swing

-> 30 SSH

-> 50 Carolina drydocks

Station 4:

-> 10  Tire flips

-> 20  Monkey Humpers

-> 30 reverse lunges

-> 30 squat pops

-> 50 calf raises

After each group completed a station we met at the center for a brake and to continue my story sharing, on first brake we had a visit from Captain Thor (1 big boy sit up and 4 american hammers, 2 BBSU and 8 AH, 3 BBSU and 12 AH and so on) the plan calls for 10 BBSU and 40 AH but it’s looks easier on paper so we stopped at 8 BBSU and 32 AH. Back to the next station.

Time for brake number 2 and more story sharing, we did one of my favorite exercises the famous Worst Merkin ever, start with wide arm, down to regular and finish with a diamond merkin, that counts as one, we did 10 total. Back to the next station.

Brake number 3 came up and more of the story of my life was shared and since we were running out of time we went back to finish our 4th station.

I guess I didn’t take all the talking that I was going to do into consideration and we stopped at about 49 minutes, circled back into COT for a final chatter about my personal story.

We finished up with prayers, praises and announcements.

Thank you Straight up for lifting us up for the final prayer.

I think the best part of the WO was at the end when some of the PAX decided to skip the fist bump and switched it for a hug!!

Big props to Maximus for this great idea to go Beyond!

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Still in Abyssness

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I seem to keep having my last Q in the Carolinas at least once a week now. Gonna need to stop calling it that until I got a final date for when I leave. Bones gave me the Q for abyss at sea legs, came up with something on the spot that went more or less like this today-

Mosey to basketball court, COP

Mosey to the back road. At top of back road, tried having us do rugby sprints, learned its kinda hard to do it coming downhill, didn’t realize the angle was as steep as it was when trying to stop suddenly for six inches. Did this all the back to basketball courts

WIth a partner, each man does 30 pullups  altogether, switching off to run to give breaks between sets. I love my pullups, and 30 is ambitious I think for most people.

After this went on to main event. Tried explaining the whole routine before starting, but learned it was alot easier to just go round by round and have the PAX follow along till the habit picked up.

ISLAND HOPPING

4 islands nearest us in parking lot, do a set of an exercise and run to next. then,Far away islands, run to each and do 15 LBCs.  last island near middle by COT, 10 burpees before moving on to next round. rounds were as follows:

1.10 merkins

2.20 squats

3.20 monkey humpers

after going through one cycle of this, PAX had it down pat. 10 minutes, left, started over with intention that everyone do as much as they could before time. Pax in lead got to monkey humpers again before COT called.  As usual, Jedi was beast mode and in the lead and never looks like he’s dying haha.

Had lunch with Qbert today who was present, I asked him what the general impression was of ” a whopper Q”, if it had any general characteristics . He answered that it was that nobody ever knew what it was going to be or what to expect. Really, Really glad to hear that because honestly, my biggest thing that I want to avoid at all costs, is to be too predictable or cliche when I lead the beatdown. So its good to know.

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Burping Arrows at Colosseum

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What do you do when you spend all of your mental energy preparing for a Q involving a hard workout and a solid message, you do that workout, and then get asked to Q the next day?

 

For YHC, you put little effort into preparing a message, think back to what others have done at that AO, and do something hateful.

 

Jekyll reached out late in the day Monday, asking me to take the Q at Colosseum on Tuesday morning, and it’s really hard to say “no” when the request is made. Announcement was made on the Twitter machine, which usually results in poor turnout, so I was quite surprised to see 17 PAX show up to join me in my admittedly bad idea workout. 0515 rolled around, disclaimer was made, and off we went on a comfortable mosey around one of the drop off circles, complete with side shuffles, knees-to-chest, toy soldiers, and other light stretching. We wrapped around to the small parking lot at the entrance for some additional warm-ups.

 

20 SSH in cadence

20 Moroccan night clubs in cadence

10 Hillbilly imperial hillbilly walkers in cadence (yep, you read that right, and it’s just like it sounds)

10 Windmills in cadence

10 Merkins in cadence

 

Tiny mosey to the start of the looooooong entry road with all the arrows for…

 

The Thang

 

Ginsu did an awful workout over the winter involving the arrows on the road, so today’s workout was modeled after that bad idea. But I couldn’t remember what we did that time, so we did burpees.

 

Round 1:

15 burpee buy in, then jog to the first arrow, one burpee, jog to the next arrow, one burpee, etc., all the way down to the stop sign past the Gold Hill Middle School sign (17 arrows in total). 

Jog back to starting point and wait for the 6. 

 

Truth be told, we only did all 17 arrows this time so I could gauge how long the road was and how long future rounds would take. Based on that information, we shortened it to the first 10 arrows for the remainder of the workout.

 

Round 2:

15 breakdancer burpee buy in, then bear crawl to an arrow, 10 LBCs, bear crawl, 10 LBCs, etc. Jog back.

 

Round 3:

15 Walmart burpee buy in, sneaky gorilla to arrow, 10 merkins, sneaky gorilla, 10 merkins, etc.

Jog back.

 

Round 4:

10 Jackass burpee buy in, crab walk to arrow, 10 squats, crab walk, 10 squats, etc.

Jog back to COT, because we ran out of time.

 

Rounds planned but not completed:

15 Bodybuilder burpee buy in, broad jump to arrow, 10 V sits, broad jump, V sit, etc.

20 One-leg burpee (10 per leg) buy in, monkey crawl left to arrow, 10 diamond merkins, monkey crawl left, 10 diamond merkins, etc.

10 One-arm burpee (5 per arm, aka, Apollo Creed) buy in, monkey crawl right to arrow, 10 jumping lunges (single count), monkey crawl, 10 jumping lunges, etc.

 

There were very few announcements. Read your newsletter.

 

Very few prayer requests. Some PAX admitted just needing oxygen.

 

This was my first Q at Colosseum. Jekyll said to make it hard. I tried. We only ended up doing 72 burpees in all, so it wasn’t that bad. I’ll branch out and assume I won’t be asked back, and if I am, it will be a poor turnout.

 

As always, I appreciate the opportunity to lead. Thank you, Jekyll, for the push.

 

Jedi

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Core Impact

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It was a really nice morning at The Ballroom!  The weather was perfect, the PAX were feisty, and the workout was tough (at least I think so).

We started out with a quick disclaimer (no FNG’s) and then we moseyed around the front of the school to the parking lot on the other side.

Warmup consisted of the following, all in cadence:

  • Side Straddle Hop – 25
  • Low Slow Squats – 10
  • Windmill – 10
  • Moroccan Nightclubs – 25
  • Cherry Pickers – 10

The Thang…I started out explaining that most everything will be in cadence, and to encourage participation by the PAX I asked that we take turns counting off cadence.  Let the core workout begin:

  • LBC’s in cadence – 15
  • Flutter Kicks in cadence – 25 (that is a LOT)
  • Hello Dolly in cadence – 15
  • LBC’s in cadence – 15
  • Flutter Kicks in cadence – 15
  • Hello Dolly in cadence – 15

A quick talk about IMPACT was had.  We can make positive, or negative impacts daily.  How will we choose to use the opportunities for impact?

Mosey around to the back of the school

Got some insight into CSPAN, how he got his name and what F3 has meant to him!

  • Hello Dolly in cadence – 15
  • Freddy Mercury in cadence – 25
  • Big Boy Sit-Ups, single count – 10
  • American Hammer in cadence – 15

Break for People’s Chair for a 10 count from each of the 18 PAX in attendance

  • Merkins in cadence – 10
  • Diamond Merkins in cadence – 10
  • Hello Dolly in cadence – 15
  • Freddy Mercury in cadence – 25
  • Big Boy Sit-Ups, single count – 10
  • American Hammer in cadence – 15

Mosey back towards COT

  • LBC’s in cadence – 15
  • Flutter Kicks in cadence – 20
  • Hello Dolly in cadence – 15
  • Freddy Mercury in cadence – 25
  • Big Boy Sit-Ups, single count – 10
  • American Hammer in cadence – 15

We then spent a few minutes doing some much needed (and appreciated, especially by our very own respectable CSPAN) Broga

And closed out with announcements, prayer requests, and encouraging the PAX to attend the 3rd F at Crossroads after!

As usual, it was an honor to lead.  Thanks Short Sale for the opportunity!

Smithers – Out

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