Category: Golden Corral

No SSH at GC

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Twelve at Golden Corral for a substi-Q on the hottest morning of the young spring!  74 degrees at post time but when Corn Hole ran in from his home dripping wet, all the sudden I felt a lot cooler.

This morning we focused on the theme of Accountability as it relates to our word of the year.  The question is do you have a word? How are you engaging with that word? How are you holding yourself accountable?  By this time of the year you should have your word engrained were you are thinking about it constantly and understanding how it intersects with your life.  You own it.  Tell someone what you want to change and ask them to ask you about it when they see you.

The Thang:

Start with a bit of stretching to loosen up a bit… it was no Broga but Senator appreciated it and I think others by the end of the post were hoping we would have spent more time there.

Mosey to the field at the church with some curb hops and such along the way.

Circle up with a COP (sort of) which included 20 Maq-tar-jai, 10 Knee-tar-jai and some 4 (1×4)Jack Webbs.

Mosey to parking lot for a partner exercise of 2 rounds each of merkins while the partner runs then squats while the partner runs.

Mosey to parking lot behind HT for some plate pushes with partner while pax goes through a series of exercises until we push through the full rotation.   Including dips, CCDs, lunges, and a bunch of other fun.

Another round of overhead plate carries with another series of exercises

Headed to the wall for some fun with passing the plates and pushing it back down to the other end. Then some wall stand walks and Australian wall walks… fun, fun and more fun!  Just ask Corn Hole

Headed back to COT with a bit of Mary before counting off!

It was an honor to lead the Pax through the morning and I’m better because of it.   Aye!

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Bucket-o-Pain – New and Improved With More Awfulness!!!

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9 bootcampers and 7 ruckers landed at Golden Corral for a buffet of painful options.  Drummond brought an FNG (later named “Manifold”) to partake in the meal.  Don’t know about any of the other bootcampers, but YHC was thankful not to be part of the rucking group when Rad rolled the giant tractor tire out of the back of his truck. No bueno.

5:15 arrived, and after a disclaimer was offered, the bootcampers took off for a mosey around Rite-Aid, down to the auto-repair place, and back to the front of Harris Teeter.  Stops were made along the way for various warm up exercises, including:

  • SSH
  • Imperial Walkers
  • Mountain Climbers
  • Sumo Squats
  • Peter Parkers
  • Dips
  • Windmills

38 Special came in hot, and caught up with us after our second stop on the warm-up run.

The Thang

At the stopping point in front of HT was the bucket of pain.  But this time the instructions were different than previous BoP appearances.  Here’s how it went:

  1. First exercise was drawn from the bucket.  Pax did 5 reps.
  2. Second exercise was drawn.  Pax did 10 reps of it, then repeated the 5 reps of the first exercise
  3. Third exercise was drawn.  Pax did 15 reps of it, then 10 of the second exercise, then 5 of the first.

Routine continued until 5 exercises were drawn (which had 25 reps).  Once completed, pax took a run around the entire front parking lot of the shopping center.  We had time to do this twice.  Here were the exercises.

  1. Round 1:
    1. 5 merkins
    2. 10 burpees
    3. 15 squat jacks
    4. 20 POGO (10 each leg)
    5. 25 plank punches
  2. Round 2:
    1. 5 jumping lunges
    2. 10 low, slow squats
    3. 15 moroccan night clubs
    4. 20 flying squirrels
    5. 25 Crab Cakes

After our second round (and run around the parking lot) we had time for a few minutes of Mary:

  • Flutters
  • LBCs
  • Chopsticks
  • Alphabet Soup
  • American Hammer

Time was up, and we headed back to COT.

Excellent work by all men.  T-Claps to Mainfold for his first post, and to 38 Special for his second post (in as many days). Thanks to Decibel for the privilege of Q’ing.

 

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Where is Spring??

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18 Men showed up on a very chilly April morning. The pre-ruck was very well attended, and the ruck portion was being Q’ed by Olaf and there seemed to be several implements of torcher that were assembled for the rucking PAX to carry around.  5:15 came and the disclaimer was given(in spirit if not actually) and the entire group was challenged to begin thinking of prayers that needed to be shared at COT. No prayers for your neighbors sick cat, what do YOU need your brothers to know and pray for in your life?  With that the Ruckers were dismissed and the rest of us circled up for some COP.  SSH, IW, Squats, on your side for some hip flexing and strengthening – Jane Fonda – Leg Circles forward and reverse, back kicks.  All on your side 5 count then flip sides. Strong loose hips are key to injury prevention.  Mosey to lay out the cones for a 5 corner workout tour around the Golden Corral. 1st cone at the bottom of the hill(10 Bomb Jacks) Cone #2 at the top of the hill(20 LBC) Cone 3 around Auto Parts and Oil change(10 CDD) 4th cone at COT(15 Squats) Cone 5 at Dominos(15 Merkins) You vs You workout, you choose how fast you want to push it, how hard you want to work.  The PAX did awesome, everyone finished at least 4 full laps and a few did 4 plus, Mileage count was over 3 miles, pretty strong for a 45 minute boot camp.  Final mosey to COT

Announcements – Strawberry Fields, Guidance & CAH, Bonsai has Beyond next Tuesday at GC

Prayers & Praises – Continued prayers for Badger – Prayers for patience and wisdom with young kids(especially boys), Prayers for healing for the young kids in our community growing up in dysfunctional or non-existent homes, prayers for patience and energy to continue dealing with the racial injustices that many of us don’t want to admit exist.  I appreciated the hearts of the men who shared this morning, and challenge the PAX to press into being vulnerable with our real struggles and needs so that we can properly car for each other.

 

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Too much work at Golden Corral

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Here’s what the bootcampers did after the ruckers took off with Wild Thing.

Dynamic Warmup around parking lot

Then COP

20 SSHs – 20 MNCs – 10 Slow Cotton Pickers –

10 WA Merkins – 20 Moun Climbers – Yoga – 15 Plank Jacks

 Partner Up

 Dora 1-2-3

100 Burpees

200 Sumo Squats

300 SSHs

While other partner ran around the parking lot triangle

 To Fort Mill BBQ Lot

11s with Bear crawls

11 WA Merkins

1 Bomb jack

Run backwards to start

I had 2 other evolutions on the Weinke, but I miscalculated on how much 11s would suck with the distance and number of bear crawls.  Most of the PAX got to 11, but it hurt!

During our 10 counts I shared some quotes and insight that I’ve been gathering from my most recent reading, Jordan Peterson’s “12 Rules for Life.”  The rule I reviewed was Rule #8 : Tell the Truth – or at least Don’t Lie!

Attached are the quotes:

Tell the Truth or at least Don’t Lie

An honor to lead…

-Royale

 

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Ruck W/O: Playing with Large Sacks at Golden Corral

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After focusing on running and boot camps for so long for the P200, my ruck was getting dusty. I knew I had a ruck Q coming up. When Rad reached out to me to see if I still wanted it, I was not sure. We have some heavy duty seasoned ruckers in The Fort and I did not want to Q below their level. Plus, I wanted to keep the weinke simple enough for those who put alot into their running training for the sake of the ruck. Hopefully I found a middle ground.

8 Ruckers were ready. The boot campers tore off with Sir Topham Hat at the Q….wasn’t going to be any easier for them. We rucked up a little heavy with 4 qty 60lb sandbags, one per every 2 PAX. Rucked over to the Grace Presbyterian church parking lot for a quick COP:

Rucks off, 20 ea, in cadence
* SSH
* WM
* IW
* MNC
* PJ

Then we started

The “play area” was between two parking lot lights, approx 25-30 yards or so apart. Starting at one end we would each complete a series of ruck exercises, then with a partner take turns getting a 60lb sandbag from the start to the other end of the area. Once we get to the other end, complete the series of ruck exercises again. Then partner work again getting the sandbags back to the start. Out and back with the sandbags is one round. We did 3 rounds. No stopping, just keep getting after it until time is up.

Ruck Exercises, 10 ea:
* Squat
* Curl
* Swing
* Upright row
* OH Press

Sandbag Rounds:
1. Forward/upward press toss
2. Reverse scoop overhead toss / deadlift overhead toss: back is facing direction of bag travel. Bend down, grab sandbag, swing/deadlift up and toss overhead.
3. Sideways toss or shovel toss – right to left at first, then left to right on the return trip

Gleek joined us halfway through round 2. He wanted to try rucking, so Rad let him use his ruck while he went off with the bootcampers who were exercising in the same lot. Great job Gleek! Welcome to rucking!

The PAX did GREAT! ALOT of mumblechatter…..epic stuff with this ruck group! What is said during the ruck WO stays with the ruck WO. Made the workout fly by. Great stuff. We almost went for a for a fourth round, but opted to do 20ea of the ruck exercises then rucked back to the COT.

COT: In short, read your newsletter. Get out there, get involved. Alot of prayers said, and I am sure there were many more not said.

Pray for Zoe Deen, her family, and the driver of the car that hit her right around the time of COT.

I did not talk much during my Q. That is happening more and more. Less talking, more working. I briefly spoke while we were in listening position (rucks overhead) about how we all have some aspect in our lives that we need to get better. That we are out here trying to get better, to help others get better. We should be trying to get better in some way every day. I know I have alot of room for improvement in alot of ways. Today was one step towards that.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead.
-NASA

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Risking it All and Going Beyond

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Better conditions led to 14 PAX posting at Golden Corral for this week’s edition of BEYOND. Turnout was improved in part because Rad cancelled the ruck workout, encouraging the usual ruckers to join the fun, while he bailed and went yogging at Sea Legs instead.

After Copperfield gave the disclaimer, the 14 BEYONDers took off for a short mosey around the perimeter of the main parking lot, incorporating butt kickers, high knees, toy soldiers, toe walks, and heel walks. We then lined up at the shovel flags (we had three…I don’t know where the third came from…) and did 10 merkins at the island, jog to the next island, 10 more merkins, etc. for a total of 40 merkins. This was followed by a short mosey to the HT loading docks for some final warming up. (Note for GC Q’s – people drive like MANIACS behind HT, so keep the PAX out of the main roadway if possible.)

Brief COP included 10 windmills, 10 low slow squats on our toes (in relevé, if you will), then a couple yoga lunge stretches on each leg. Then partner up and jog around to the HT wall facing the six of O – O – O – O’Reilly for the Thang.

The workout sets were generally done in Stand By Your Man style, with one PAX performing the prescribed reps of some form of merkin while the other does some other exercise, then switch places until all merkin reps completed. Once done, run around oil change place and O’Reilly and back to the HT wall with your partner. Pretty simple…ish…

Let’s get going.

The original plan was to build this week’s message off of what was covered at BEYOND last week, but that had to be modified when we had only three last week and fourteen this week. So, we started with some quick catch-up. If you want a recap of last week, check out that backblast. Main point to remember for today: dig deep and determine your purpose, as this will give a filter through which to handle today’s questions.

Living with purpose inherently involves risk.

During this first set, discuss with your partner how you would define “risk.”

Set 1: Breakdancer merkins (20-16-12-8 reps each) while partner does Rockette Chair (People’s Chair with alternating leg kicks)

Plank it up for the six, then hold it while we chat (with rotation to side, reverse plank, and other side).

Risk can have a variety of definitions, but generally it is an action that exposes you or somebody else to the possibility of harm or loss. We all face risks every day, from driving to relationships. Some risks are bigger than others, but we live lives of risk. Taking risks is necessary for growth and gain, in work and in life. Without some level of risk, we won’t get better.

Risk and sacrifice are different, but related.

During this set, discuss with your partner how you would define “sacrifice.”

Set 2: Mike Tysons (15-15-15-15 reps each) while partner does BTTW (with shoulder taps for the brave).

People’s Chair for the six, then stay for the talk.

Sacrifice is the act of giving up something you want to keep in order to get or do something else (and potentially better). You could say that sacrifice is the realization of the potential loss involved in the risk. Sacrifice has an intentional, willful component to it – you choose to give something up, whether under compulsion or not. Today, most of us sacrificed more sleep to post (thanks for that!), and in doing so also took the risk of maybe getting a good workout, maybe making our day a bit rougher because our arms won’t work after, etc. Silly example for an obvious point.

Personal examples of risk and sacrifice.

During this set, discuss a current or recent example of risk or sacrifice in your life.

Set 3: Pseudo Planche merkins (15-15-15 reps each) while partner does breakdancer. It’s like the breakdancer merkin, but without the merkin, a little more jumpy, and ideally a bit faster.

Return and breathe while waiting for the six, then for the talk.

An easy example of sacrifice in my life was giving up our life in Africa to return to the US. Again, for more on this, refer to last week’s backblast. But for the risk component, there were two risks that weighed heavily on our last year in Africa and played into our decision to return. The first was our son’s health. He was premature and had some health issues that went with it. He also began having seizures while we still lived overseas. As a father, was I willing to risk his health to continue living and working in Zambia? Then, we wanted more kids, but my wife is a high-risk pregnancy, and we lived in a place where premature babies die more than they survive, and maternal mortality is high as well. These risks paired with other circumstances played into our decision to return, giving up our identities, our home, our relationships, etc.

Much of the reason for me wanting to talk about all this today stems from a conversation with Cha Ching and Olaf from several months ago. They may not remember it, but it has stuck with me ever since. We were talking about the new security training I’m helping develop for our new workers, and there are three main questions that come out of this training. These questions are what I want to leave with everybody today (with one more set thrown in for good measure).

The first two questions to consider:

How much am I willing to risk in order to achieve my purpose? (This makes more sense if you spend the time determining your purpose.)

What, if anything, would be an unnecessary level of risk or a risk that would actually hinder accomplishment of your purpose?

No need to answer the questions this time, as they take time to really work through.

Set 4: Battering rams (drop to six inches, then, using your arms and not your feet, thrust your torso forward so your hands end up between ribs and hips; 20-20-20 reps each) while partner does Monkey Humpers. For some, this proved to be a somewhat inappropriate combination of moves. #badplanning #somethingsyoucantunhear

Pressed for time, we gathered following the run around the buildings for the final point. I actually left out two full sets, but I don’t think anybody’s arms are particularly missing them (see below for what we missed).

The final question to ponder: Do I believe strongly enough in my purpose that I’m willing to sacrifice everything for it?

Simply put, are you willing to die to achieve your purpose? Fourteen years ago, my answer would have been a lot different. But now, with a wife and children, I hesitate. If I know that they will be taken care of, then I’d probably be willing to die. But what if the tables were turned? Would I be so committed to my purpose, to my faith, that I’d be willing to sacrifice my family? I’ve never been in that situation, so I don’t know. But this is a reality faced by many in other parts of the world. For some, it’s a daily reality, being faced with the possibility of losing everything for what they believe.

What would you do? Do you have a commitment to something that is so strong that you’re willing to sacrifice everything for it, even your family?

Time never seems sufficient to cover the topic, but discussion doesn’t need to end when the workout does.

We ended there and ran back to COT to meet up with the bootcampers.

Announcements

  • Deacon reminded us of the opportunities in the Paradise community, with the reading program on Mondays and Wednesdays and G-Fit on Saturdays. Take a risk and make an impact in the community.

Prayers and Praises

  • Pray for those involved with the Palmetto 200 this weekend.
  • Keep praying for our wives and kids.
  • Pray for those with mental health issues and the practitioners who care for them. Specifically, pray for Copperfield’s M as she deals with some very difficult situations.
  • Bolt’s neighbor passed away last week. Pray for this man’s family and friends and others who are dealing with this loss.
  • Prayers for one of Decibel’s employee’s dad, who is in the hospital.
  • Bonsai and his wife are praying about a few things right now; prayers for wisdom and discernment as they consider some options.
  • Deacon has a friend with serious health concerns. Prayers for him as he seeks care at Mayo.
  • Praises for F3 and the impact it has had on our lives.

It was an honor to get to lead this group, and I really appreciate Maximus pushing me to do two BEYOND Qs in a row. If you haven’t had opportunity to do this yet, talk to him. Whether or not the other PAX benefit from the message you bring, your life will be changed by working through the material in preparation to lead. Definitely worth it. And I’m happy to not do it again for a while.

-Jedi

Missed sets

For those wondering what we missed for lack of time, the remaining sets were:

Set 5: one-arm merkins (16-12-8 reps each) while partner does bomb jacks.

Set 6: Scorpion merkins (16-12-8 reps each) while partner does jump squats.

You’re welcome.

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Gettin’ SWOLE! – Too many Ruck Merkins to Count

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Was reminded the day before of my Golden Corral ruck Q, so did the only thing I could think of – tabata.  Sort of.

Deacon, Mainframe, Rad and I rucked over behind the Teeter and did the world’s fastest warm-up that consisted of some windmills, moraccans, imperial walkers and curls.  Threw the rucks back on and hit the first tabata:

  1.  For 5 minutes, each minute do 30 side straddle hops and 10 merkins (w/ the ruck on) (150 ruck side straddle hops, 50 merkins).  Thankful for the Rocky theme music and Dropkick Murphy’s to get us through it!
  2. For 5 minutes, each minute do 15 squats and 10 merkins (w/ ruck) (75 ruck squats and 50 merkins)

Next up – Partner pushes down the HT parking lot w/ exercises.  Partner 1 pushes partner 2 (both have rucks on) about 50 yards, then drops and does 35 flutters and 20 ruck merkins.  Partner 2 pushes partner 1 back to the starting line and does the same thing together.  Do that two more times.  (140 flutters, 80 ruck merkins).

Last, but not least, 3 sand bags were waiting.  4 stations – 1) no sand bag, just ruck, 2) 40 lb sandbag and ruck, 3) 60 lb sandbag and ruck, 4) 90 lb sandbag and ruck

  1.  each of the 4 pax gets one station and we do 10 squats per station in order moving to the next after each w/ no break.
  2. do it again, this time w/ chest press.  Press each of the sand bags (or your ruck if you’re at that station) x10, 4 stations in a row, no break.

Did a full lap (running of course) around the Harris Teeter complex w/ rucks on.  The pax did great.  Think we can all say we got our chest work in for the week.  I haven’t been that sore in some time.  Final count – 180 ruck merkins, 150 ruck side straddle hops, 140 flutters, 115 weighted squats, 40 weighted presses.  Gettin’ SWOLE!

Until next time –

Cha Ching

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GC Bootcamp

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4 Pax came out for BC and 4 for Rucking.
Mossied round HT after disclaimer.
COP
SSH
Moroccan Night Clubs
Squats
Windmills
Mountain Climbers
Merkins

11s with dips and derkins

The Thang
Stations:
Seal Jacks x 15
Plank Jacks x 15
Squats x 25
Burpees x 10
OHP x 15 w/CB
One Armed Rows x 15
Imperial walkers x 15
Mountain Climbers x 15
Merkins x 20
Freddie Mercuries x 15
Big boy situps x 10
Pax went clockwise around stations with a lap around the parking lot between each station with some good conversation in between.
COT
Announcements /prayers
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GC BC

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Another beautiful, slightly cool morning as the PAX assembled at the buffet. 5:15 hit and we broke up into bootcampers and ruckers. Disclaimer was given and off we moseyed to behind Teeter. Circle up for normal warmups: SSH (20), HW (20), Low slow squats (15), Windmill (10), Peter Parker (10), Parker Peter (10), MNC (20).

Mosey over to water fountain behind apartments. Spread out around it and then bear crawl around entire fountain circle. Take a couple of steps over to bottom of hill. Time for deconstructed burpee ladder: squat thrusters (I’m sure they have some F3 name I’m missing), jump squats, & merkins. Do same number of these at bottom of hill, run to top of hill, do remainder of ladder, then run back to bottom and plank for the 6 before next round.

  • R1 -> Bottom = 20/20/20, Top = 0/0/0
  • R2 -> Bottom = 15/15/15, Top = 5/5/5
  • R3 -> Bottom = 10/10/10, Top = 10/10/10
  • R4 -> Bottom = 5/5/5, Top = 15/15/15
  • R5 -> Bottom = 0/0/0, Top = 20/20/20

Mosey back to small traffic circle in front of apartments. Circle up, all PAX doing lunges. One by one each PAX did 4 burpees. After we made it around the circle, 20 CDDs & 20 Flutters.

Mosey to side lot and break into 2 lines for sprints. Line 1 sprint to end of building, line 2 take off once line 1 gets 3/4 down. 4 sets of sprints. Time for some ab work. 10 small circles clockwise, 10 small circles counter-clockwise, 10 box-cutters. 4 more sets of sprints and some more abs: 10 toe-touch LBCs, 10 hello-dollies, & 10 rosalitas.  Times almost up, one final sprint, all you got back to COT.

Great work by all the PAX today. It’s always encouraging to see some new faces, several old faces, and some guys coming back from IR. Always an honor lead this group! Thanks Decibel for the opportunity.

-Mainframe

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Prepared for Rucking?

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It was an honor to lead 6 High Impact Males this morning in the Ruck WO at Golden Corral. This is always a difficult Q for me because I never want to underestimate the abilities of the men I am leading.

WARMUP

We began the morning by circling up for a short COP to warm ourselves up and performed the following: Imperial Walkers, Low Slow Squats, Peter Parker Peters, & Merkins. We than Rucked 2×2 over to the Rite Aid where YHC had set up our workout.

THE THANG

The first time I ever attended a Ruck WO Zima was on Q and this is what he did. A Ruck Pyramid doing the following: 25 Burpees; 50 Merkins; 75 Ruck Swings; 100 OH Flutters; 75 Ruck Curls; 50 CDDs; & 25 Burpees. I know this sounds crazy, and trust me it was. Between each set of exercises the PAX were to run around the Rite Aid back to where we began. We then Rucked 2×2 back to the COT where I shared what is below.

NMM

Are you prepared for each day as you approach it?

I asked the PAX if they were spiritually prepared to face their maker. We better ourselves everyday physically but are we doing the same spiritually. Does what we do at F3 in the morning compare to the rest of our lives?

If we aren’t prepared, how do we lead our communities? How do we lead our M’s, our 2.0’s, our F3 brothers, our coworkers? We cannot lead unless we are prepared. We cannot lead unless we are being led. Are you being led by this world or your maker.

You have a choice to make. What will you do today to be prepared?

Luke 12:40 ‘You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Sign up for Yeti-2/24/2018.

Read your Newsletter.

PRAYERS/PRAISES

Multiple prayers for sick family members.

Prayers for PAX who are suffering.

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