Colosseum- KISS (you know what it stands for)

Always one of my favorite AOS in the Fort. A great place that makes you want to work. I like to KISS (keep it simple st&#%d)
We had a little disclaimer and intro and were off.
couple laps around the parking lot and circle up for a quick warmup.
22 SSHs
10 windmills
22 Mtn Climbers
6 inches with slow 10 count x 2
head down road for dynamic stretching and let the games begin.
light poles
1. 5 burpees.
2. 5 burpees, 10 plank jacks.
3. 5 burpees, 10 plank jacks, 15 merkins
4. 5 burpees, 10 plank jacks, 15merkins, 20 squats
5. 5 burpees, 10 plank jacks, 15merkins, 20 squats, 25 LBCs
Mosey down road. Pick up piece of rip rap
10 chest presses, 10 curls, 10 shoulder presses x 3 sets
Hill repeats mosey to top 10 merkins, 15 squats mosey to bottom 5 burpees. flutter kicks until 6 finishes 3 sets.
Indian run back to light poles.
1. 5 burpees.
2. 5 burpees, 10 plank jacks.
3. 5 burpees, 10 plank jacks, 15 merkins
4. 5 burpees, 10 plank jacks, 15merkins, 20 squats
5. 5 burpees, 10 plank jacks, 15merkins, 20 squats, 25 LBCs
COT- like I said KISS.
announcements- thanksgiving convergence
Christmas Party sign up by Sat. Dec. 30th
Prayers and Praises

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Bite size tennis ball family

A nice and cool morning turned into something a bit warmer about 3 min in.  9 PAX took the DRP and after a quick, and non-energetic into as called out by Jekyll, YHC jumped out to a quick mosey.  Stopping in front of the elementary school entrance, we circled up for a warm-up.

SSH x25, windmills x10, low slow squats x10, imperial and hillbilly walkers x10, merkins x10, and finished off with some stretching: lunge stretches including runners stretch and hamstrings as well as some downward dogs and honeymooners.  Enough with the stretching and off to The Thang!

Ran over to the parking lot in the back where the basketball hoops are located and grabbed a tennis ball out of the box.  Everyone was instructed to put their family’s initials on a ball (M and 2.0s) as this was going to be carried around by them for the morning for an extra reminder of why they’re trying to get better.  Family is always going to be with us and to get that extra push or to be mindful of what’s important, the tennis ball fam was going to tag along for the ride!  3 stations with written exercises were located throughout the parking lot.  Instructions were to run to the sheet of paper and do the exercise at the top and the run back to the center where the music was located for 1 burpee.  Then back to the sheet for the next exercise, back to the center and so on.  Once all the exercises were done from the 1 sheet, the PAX were told to run back to the center and finish with 5 burpees.  Then onto the next sheet until all 3 sheets had been completed.

Sheet 1:

  • 10 hand release merkins
  • 20 knee tuck jumps
  • 25 CDD
  • 30 lunges (total)
  • 50 plank shoulder taps

Sheet 2

  • 40 ski jumps (double count)
  • 30 squats
  • 60 calve raises (out/reg/in – 20 each)
  • 20 diamonds
  • 50 SSH

Sheet 3

  • 25 merkins
  • 40 mountain climbers (wrote single count, we did double)
  • 30 american hammers (double count)
  • 30 plank jacks (double count)
  • 50 LBC

Some exercises were done in cadence at sheet 3 to keep the PAX together.  There were a couple instances when we returned closer to the music where Pusher gave us some karaoke solos from the early 90s rap and beastie boys jamming….it was delightful.  Since we had a few min left, it was a race to sheet 1 where first place picked one exercise to do (Jekyll for the hand release), 4th place to sheet 2 with the selection (L Train I think with the squats) and second to last to sheet 3 (Hardwood maybe for the mountain climbers).  (and this is why you don’t wait until the weekend to write a back blast b/c I can’t remember Tuesday!)

We scooped up the sheets and headed for COT for a blinding name-o-rama, announcements, and TAPs.  Tennis ball families were retained by the PAX for their own usages.  Appreciate the call over to the Colosseum as YHC has been overdue for a Q.

Shady….AYE!

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Core and Upper body work at the Colosseum

Great morning at The Colosseum and probably my last Q of the year before we get into high gear for the Holiday Season, for most is too early to think about Christmas but for us is GO TIME!!

9 brave gladiators decided to accelerate their Tuesday morning so we started with a quick mosey around the drop off line with toy soldiers and high knees followed by the warm up by the basketball courts: windmills, Moroccan night clubs and low slow squats.

We split up into 3 groups for the 3 stations that had been set up, preferred transportation mode was bear crawls:

STATION 1

-> 20 overhead press

-> 20 biceps curls

-> 20 merkin

-> 30 triceps dips

-> 30 Carolina dry docks

STATION 2

-> 20 slam ball to ground

-> 30 Freddy Mercury

-> 30 Rosalitas

-> 30 Sledgehammer swings  (15 each side)

-> 40 Dying Roach SC

STATION 3

-> 5 burpees

-> 10 Tire flips

-> 20  Monkey Humpers

-> 20 lunges SC

-> 30 low squat (touch the ground with hand)

Everyone finished one full circuit and we met up in the middle for some web work, we had a brief talk about the theme going on at the weekly snippet on one of the Slack channels about sportsmanship and how sometimes we put too much pressure in our kids during sports.

Back to the beatdown, first up was the famous Captain Thor:

1 Big Boy Sit Up and 4 American Hammers, progressive to 10 BBSU and 40 AH, lots of chatting and the fear of getting tramp stamps but everyone did a great job here but the best was still to come.

Next up was a new combo creation, there’s no name for it in the Exicon so I’ll just name it the Illegal merkin (hence the definition of shoulder tap:  Shoulder tapping refers to the illegal process where a person who is not of age asks someone who is of age to buy them cigarettes or, more commonly, Alcohol.:

1 merkin and 4 shoulder taps, you guessed it, progressive to 10 merkins and 40 shoulder taps; that equals to 55 merkins and 220 shoulder taps, a real burner!! We had to take a few brakes on this one since I didn’t want anyone to face plant during one of my Q’s. More whining here but you don’t get up at 4:30 am to do the easy thing right?

We finished with just 2 minutes to spare and load the truck with the props then headed to COT in the parking lot.

Announcements: Ragnar race was brought up but I was the only one running this weekend so I invited all PAX to sign up for next year; I also mentioned the Lake Wylie official launch as the newest region with their CSAUP “The Nessie” on 10/26 and encouraged everyone to sign up for it, I know it will be NO-DERATE!!

Prayers and praises for all families and kids and to keep all competitors safe this weekend.

Thank you Hardwood for the invite!!

 

Tinsel Out…

 

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Playing Cards at The Colosseum

A return to the arena we call The Colosseum; a homecoming if you will. That’s all that was at stake. With the increased Tuesday attendance and the added AO here in September for the Iron PAX Challenge presenting another posting opportunity, 11 other men decided to join me and a deck of cards at the Colosseum this beautiful morning. Fresh off a Labor Day beach trip, I was happy to ensure Jekyll & Hardwood wouldn’t be disappointed. We had a few rookies for the deck of cards but I hope they’ll incorporate this into their Q’s at a future date. While the first 15-20 cards can be manageable, don’t let that fool you. Depending on your choice of exercises, this gem will bite you. And today, I think most of us felt the effects of that bite.

With a request to focus on our time over the next 45mins and a disclaimer, we were off to the basketball hoops. Our warm-up consisted of:

Squats, Moroccan Night Clubs, Wide-Arm Merkins, Flutters, Freddy Mercuries

Run to the 6th light post up the back road followed by:

5 Burpees, 15 Diamond Merkins, 25 LBC’s

Run back to the hoops for the deck of cards.

If you’re one of the 3 people reading this and you’re unfamiliar with how this works, each card value represents a rep count. 2-10 is that number of reps while Jack =11, Queen=12, King=13 and Ace=14.

Diamonds = Burpees

Hearts = Jumping Lunges

Clubs = Merkins

Spades = Dips

I added 3 Jokers for good measure which meant each was worth 15 American Hammers

In total, we completed:

104 Burpees

104 Jumping Lunges

104 Merkins

104 Dips

45 American Hammers

We followed it up with some flutters in varying speed.

And that was it. See, not too bad.

Be present and I look forward to the next time.

Maximus

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Burning Down The Colosseum

Gladly accepted the Q request from Jekyll a month ago for an AO i had never posted to.  He told me the Qs really bring the pain. Visited the week prior to get the lay of the land and he was not joking. With that I couldn’t slack off. 26 PAX 3 FNG got after it in the Gloom this morning. Really dig these MONSTER number  Workouts.

Here’s how it went down.

Mosey up to second Left turn to Parking spaces.

Bone the Fish.

3 Shuffle Right 3 Shuffle Left 3 Karaoke 1-1-1–Really crazy to do this with these numbers.

Warmup

SSHx15 MNCx15  Hillbilly Walkers x 15

Imperial Walkersx15 Dips x 15

The Thang

9 exercise stations 20 reps per. Except #1. Thanks Pothole! Mode of travel listed at each station for return to middle. All returns to middle do 5 burpees- Mosey to next station

Station 1- Abs 30 American Hammers Ct 1 side- Sprint to light pole/cone 5 Low Slow Sprint to next station

Station 2- Legs 20 Block Squats – Bear Crawl to Center

Station 3- Arms 20 Wide Arm Merkins– Bear Crawl to Center

Station 4- Abs 20 10 Peter Parkers/ 10 Parker Peters- Bear Crawl to Center

Station 5-Combo Al Gore w/bricks  10 Lateral Raise 10 Lateral Row = 20 reps Sprint to cone – 5 merkins Sprint to next station

Station 6- Arms 20 GTOs Ground to Overhead- Crawl Bear to center—–Really how does a Pax break a cinderblock in half????

Station 7-Abs 20 War Hammers combo WWII sit-up 1x American hammer- Crawl Bear to Center

Station 8- Legs 20 Monkey Humpers  Wheel Barrow to center and switch after burpees to station 9

Station 9- Pass the Ruck- Stand Back to back and pass back and forth in circular motion 20x  Mosey to center.

Rinse and Repeat

All PAX completed roughly 1.5 rounds. From the mumble chatter throughout the #Beatdown it appeared to be successful.

Return to COT to name the FNGs and hand off the Shovel flag.

Thanks Again for the Opportunity to lead.

Good Luck Hardwood and Great work Jekyll. Will see me more regularly at the Colosseum.

Duck Out!

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Grace

We had 15 Pax post at the Colosseum today for an intense workout. Italian Job crossed the river from Rock Hill to bless us with his presence. We had FNG L-Train post in full presentation of the Windy City. Two Pax did a pre-ruck and chose hard work over sleep. T-Claps to all for pushing themselves beyond their limits.

The Thang

Mosey to the back parking lot

COP: SSH (10x), IW (10x), HBW (20x), Sumo Squats (15x), Merkins (20x), MCs (15x), WMs (15x), LBCs (20x)

Mosey to the basketball courts and partner up.

Dora (100 Merkins, 200 LBCs, 300 Squats).

Mosey to the front of the school. 

Partner Wheel Barrels to each side of the parking lot (2x), Partner Big Boy Sit Ups (15x for 2 rounds), Partner Ski Jumps (15x), Partners Push Ups (15x for 2 rounds), Partner Leg Lifts (15x for 2 rounds)     

Mosey to the bus loop for catch me if you can for 2 laps and 2 burpees at each exchange.

Mosey to the next parking lot.

Moleskin:

We discussed God’s grace today. Each #HIM had a meaningful definition for grace. Long Shanks mentioned that grace is when we receive “God’s blessings, at Jesus’ expense.” 

Shame is the opposite of His grace. Forgive yourself for your mistakes and flaws. Don’t strive for perfection. Instead, commit to making a perfect effort. That’s all anyone can ask of you.

Forgive others. Giving grace to others gives ensure your freedom. Freedom comes from not holding on to grudges. Live free.

Peace,

Deacon

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Do a few things, but do them well.

Jekyll asked me to Q at Colosseum like a month and a half ago. I had reservations, as the Colosseum is outside my radius of comfort for a weekday post and it’s not like the Q can leave early. Throwing caution to the wind I said sure, I’ll just make it an extra short shower before work…

Let’s roll!

Warm-ups
-Quick mosey to the first light- SSH
-Quick mosey to the next wide spot for slow count merkins and Imperial walkers.
-Quick mosey to the parking lot for some more COP.
Count off by 3 and line up behind one of 3 KB, 30# 40# and 50#
-All pax take turns for 20 KB swings, while the Q leads everyone else in squats, merkins and calf raises.
Main Course
4 cones that delineate 4 lines in the parking lot. Everyone lines up at one end line.
Lunge walk to the next line, bear crawl to the next line, then run the the end line.
25 merkins, then lunge walk walk, bear crawl, and run back to the original line.
Plank for the six.
Exercise- IC
This will be the pattern for the next 30 minutes or so.
Exercise 1: Flutter kicks 25 x
Exercise 2: Squats 25 x
Exercise 3: WW1 Sit-ups 15 x
Exercise 4: 6 in LBC’s 15 x then Monkey Humpers 20 x

Cool-out  with a pyramid of Suicide sprints.

COT

Hopefully that wasn’t too hard or too easy for most of the PAX. I had planned on about 6 PAX posting, what with Tater at Ballroom, Mile High at Golden Corral and Shanks at Block Party there were so many other options that it seemed inconceivable that more than 10 people would post to Colosseum. When I looked around and there were 22 other guys looking for a good push this AM, I really had a hard time believing it. Not saying everyone came just ’cause it was me, but I really did appreciate that everyone came to hang out with me in the Gloom. As always, it was my pleasure leading the PAX, pushing everyone a little bit, practicing my cadence, and maybe practicing my DI voice a little bit too.
Your Welcome!

Geronimo!

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Mountain trip to Dupont State Forest on August 3rd with Trail Running, Rucking and Biking options – there will be a 2nd F afterwords

3rd F

Alright we are 2 years ago we did a mountain trip to Roan Mtn. it was one of the best trips I have made with my fellow F3 brothers. After 10-16 miles we went to Daniel Boone Inn to refuel.

With this in mind I wanted to continue to do this hopefully every year. So on August 3rd we are going to do another mountain trip. This time it will be Trail Running, Biking and Rucking options.

Our destination will be DuPont State Forest. We will leave from the Newport Walmart at 6 am it is a 2 1/2 hr trip. we will either go to the Hooker Falls Access or the Lake Imaging Access. For runners we will try and get 12-18 miles in for Mountain bikers Vuvuzela has about 20-30 mile rout lined up.

 

2nd F

Afterwords will will go to Daddy D’s and refuel.

 

Make sure you bring water and something for energy do not come unprepared you will regret it. I did exactly that last time. This will be an unforgettable trip that we will try and do every year. we need to clown car to get there since there are no rental vans available.

Reach out to me if you have any questions.  I have attached links below.

Dupont State Forest Trail Map-1

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g49206-d2069003-Reviews-Daddy_D_s_Suber_Soulfood-Hendersonville_North_Carolina.html

www.Dupontforest.com

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Sweatfest at The Colosseum

Humidity was think this morning – but that didn’t stop three strong men from joining me in a sweaty beat-down at The Colosseum.

Here is what we did:

COP

Windmills X10

Downward Dog/Honeymooner 10 second count X2

L:BC X30

Superman 10 second count X2

SSH X20

The Thang

We found a 100 yard stretch of grass and proceeded to repeat the following circuit. In between each 100 yards we ran the large lap around the parking lot of approximately 1/4 mile

Burpee Broad Jump 100 yards

Lunge Walk 100 yards

Bear Crawl 100 Yards

We completed more than two circuits.

COT

Announcements – Sweati CSAUP this Saturday. Read your newsletter

Prayers – travel and injured PAX

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