Burpee Bizarre

We had 11 men show up on Wednesday at Pantheon.  After the disclaimer, we ran around the parking lot to get the blood flowing.  Next, we circled up for some warm-up exercises (SSH, Imperial Walkers, Windmills, Plank Stretches).

We began the difficult part of the workout.  For the next 10 minutes, we would do 10 burpees each minute with a five second rest in between each set.  After completion, we ran around the big loop to the front of the school.  We did a series of exercises in cadence (Squats, LBCs, Lunges, Flutters) running between the cross walks after each one.

Next, we returned to the top of the parking lot and repeated the 10 minute burpee exercise.  It was difficult, but most completed the burpees, a total of 200.

Great job by everyone.  Today we showed how much we can do when you are surrounded by others who want to improve themselves.

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Answering the Call

It started off with the shovel flag blowing in the wind and a warmup with imperial walkers, hill billy walkers, Moroccan night clubs, Cherry pickers, and a mosey around the big loop.

The workout:

Upper Body 4 Corners

4 corners:
1st – 10 merkins

2nd – 10 diamond merkins

3rd – 10 wide grip merkins

4th – 10 merkins

4 laps (parking lot loop)

Before each lap:

5 burpees

10 tricep dips

10 CDDs

10 shoulder taps

25 LBCs

25 Superman’s

Leg Day Pyramid:

5 Jump Squats

10 lunges

15 squats

20 sumo squats

25 calf raises

30 SSHs

Run to light pole

Ended with COT.

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Month of the M

YHC was fortunate to be called out of the bullpen by Bobber.  Prior to the workout, YHC was asked to offer a few thoughts on marriage during the beatdown.  Being a novice at that topic (but constantly trying to improve through learning and practice), it seemed appropriate to consult the Q source.

Last evening, fittingly, the M and 2.0’s came with me on a tour of downtown Fort Mill where YHC furiously scribbled out 5 stations worth of exercises designed to align with each of the 5 points of M preparedness as cited in the Q source.  YHC’s M fittingly remarked that I was getting a workout before the workout.  She was right.

Upon arrival this morning, YHC pulled in the lot at 5:08 to be greeted by numerous PAX – some of whom (Stang, cough, cough, Stang), arrived sans gloves.  All were quickly reminded to get them if they did not have them already.   After a few PAX scurried in at 5:14,. all were disclaimed and we moseyed off to Kimbrell’s after the 5 core principles of F3 workouts were voiced.

The COP – because Slapshot was present (and because YHC felt like it), 5 burpees were done in between each of the following exercises done in cadence:

Windmills – 10 D/C, Imperial Walkers – 10 D/C, Low Slow Squats – 15 then holding people’s chair while doing 10 D/C  Moroccan night clubs I/C and 10 D/C air presses I/C.  Then we moseyed off to M preparedness station #1 – Maintenance = deceleration

Station 1 – Unity Presbyterian – because status quo enables no movement, we decelerate, therefore PAX were asked to do 7’s in a jacob’s ladder format – kracken burpees at the top and squats at the bottom of the driveway.  Planking was done until the 6 arrived back at the top of the hill.  The lesson was reinforced and on we moved to station 2.

Station 2 – Fort Mill 1st Baptist Church – Culture is a Jester.  When it comes to our relationship with the M, culture denatures and softens marital relationships (we meet each other halfway, etc.).  PAX did the following circuit – an exercise for each of the light poles with some free exfoliation for those who went gloveless as there may or may not have been some bear crawling between stations.  40 squats, 30 SSH’s, 20 wide arm merkins, 10 hand release merkins, 20 regular markins, 30 SSH’s and 40 squats before returning to the parking lot entrance to re-emphasize culture’s hindrance of acceleration and moving on to station 3 – the crowd pleaser.

Station 3 – Fort Mill Church of God – There is NO 50 yard line.  The relationships with our M require more than 50% effort.  It requires our best to be aligned because we know if we aren’t aligned at home in our most important earthly relationship, it becomes next to impossible to have alignment in the other relationships within our concentrica.   Since we must operate in the red zone, PAX were instructed to bear crawl more (maybe much more) than 50 yards downhill to the red zone where 5 burpees awaited   Then PAX returned to the start via crawl bear (crowd pleaser) uphill.  The return was somewhat slower than the start…….somewhat.

Upon completion – movement to Academy street left YHC to cover the last two points – because one of  the PAX incorrectly answered that the M is our best friend (spoiler alert – point 4 – the M is NOT our best friend), YHC had to graciously call out the gaffe and assign 5 burpees for the miss.  We then proceeded to articulate the 5th and final point – Joy trumps happiness and then moseyed back Academy Street – safely crossed the railroad tracks and sauntered into COT – roughly 2 1/4 miles later.

Announcements were made, prayers were offered for Stang’s mother in law, Pusher’s Mom/Esso’s MIL, and fittingly for marriages. Stang graciously took us out in prayer.

NMM – to look around the group this morning, YHC could not help but be filled with a feeling of gratitude.  Mumble chatter, fellowship, hard work doing things together we would very likely not to do on our own and the feeling that YHC has so many other brothers beside him to do life.  It eases the feeling of burden we often face.  YHC has said before that Q-ing is an honor.  And when Bobber made the call asking YHC to stamp the passport and trek east of the Peach Stand, there was only one answer.  I am better prepared to face each day because of those who choose the hard thing and encourage YHC to the same.  For that, my thanks and gratitude go out to each of you.

Meantime, study and practice the 5 points reviewed.  Alignment at home means greater alignment and impact downstream – the call being asked of each of us.   Until next time, thank you, gentlemen.

Cyclops

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Just keep movin and quit with the bad eating habits already…

Little did I know that when Drop Thrill asked me to Q at the Ballroom I’d be coming off of one of the more stressful weeks I’ve had in a while.

We drove down to Orlando (the middle of the scrotum of America…) about 10 days ago so the M could be with her dad through his hospital stay. This put me in charge of the 2.0’s. One of whom is doing virtual school, the other, who is 4, just needs someone to interact with. With the M gone most of the day, the all to familiar but also unfamiliar surroundings, and crappy bed, my energy sapped by the end of the day to the point where I couldn’t get out of bed early enough for even a light jog.

We returned on Saturday (after driving through some heavy storms and slowdowns) and it took a couple days to recover from the experience.

I was feeling absolutely dead this morning, but I got up and got my ass to the ballroom.

The gloom

Drop Thrill and a few other PAX were already waiting when I arrived with a couple other PAX on the winding road behind me.

YHC looked around and saw familiar faces (some of which I hadn’t met, but I knew them from name-o-rama’s posted to slack). I had to very loudly issue the disclaimer as the mumblechatter was quite strong with some of the PAX, *cough* Destiny *AHEM*.

The warmup

A quick mosey around the N side of the parking lot and up to the crosswalk in front of the school.

15x SSH
10x Low Slow Squat
Some deep leg stretches for 10 counts
10x Tappy taps
10x Imperial walker
10x Hillbilly walker

the thang

Two sets of 11’s starting with the 3 benches and running about halfway down the parking lot road (55m or so).

First set:
Dips x10 and BBSU

Second set:
Step ups x10 each leg and Squats

When the second set was complete everyone gathered at the crosswalk. We had about 10 minutes remaining. PAX would run a lap around the parking lot (not in the parking lot). At some point they would need to do one pushup per lightpost they passed, whether all at once or stopping at each was up to them. Most PAX chose to save them for the end.

With 6 minutes remaining we lined up in south side of the parking lot for the Doji. Start by standing straight up. Using your L hand reach behind the R shoulder and ‘scoop’ with your fingertips, as you come around the front of your body, step into a deep forward stance with your R knee at 90º, and your L leg straight out, both feet parallel and about 45º off the direction of travel. Shift your stance to L forward stance while scooping behind you with your R hand, when you come back around, step forward staying very low, into L forward stance and push ahead with your L hand open, fingertips just at the shoulder level. Scoop behind w/L going into R forward, then step forward with R and push with R.

PAX then made their way back to CoT but there was still a minute left so everyone got into the Al Gore position while YHC expounded upon how my father in law was a pretty active guy, but eating kielbasa for breakfast every day can still clog your arteries.

cot

A lot of announcements this morning.

For one, check out the “Rumor Mill” section of the newsletter. If you see something in there that piques your interest, reach out to the leadership and ask if you can get involved. There’s probably something you can do!

There’s a blood drive every 8 weeks (next one on 5/6) for… eternity.

Sign up for the FM Care Center!

And more!

Lots of prayers about jobs and health (physical and mental) this morning.

nmm

After last week I’ve naturally been reflecting on the Queen quite a bit lately. I didn’t say much about this during this morning’s Q, but everyone’s body is a bit different. Some people can eat Hostess snack cakes and never gain a pound, and other people can eat nothing and still look like YHC (I’m not in the latter group, trust me, I eat things).

We’ve all seen the stories of people who live into their 100’s. Some of them say drink a gallon of water every day. Others say have a bump or two of whiskey every day.

Really all we can do is be vigilant. As Destiny pointed out in CoT today, get your damned checkups. Go do the blood work. If the doctor tells you to lay off the bacon, lay off the bacon (you can still BE it, metaphorically). I think everyone’s body tends to handle the available food sources pretty well (God made us incredibly resilient creatures, “anti-fragile”), but even so, the wrong kind of stress for long enough is going to wear down the system and it’s going to break.

There’s going to be a higher vegetation to anything else ratio on a daily basis for everyone. I’ve said this in my household many a time before!  However, buy in from the M was difficult to achieve.  After a 4x bypass in the family history, the M is on board.

It’s always a pleasure to Q. Thanks, Drop Thrill, for inviting me back out.

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As always, I’m delighted to be the substi-Q for pretty much any AO, and when Pothole reached out, and I needed the extra kick in the pants to post on a Friday (it’s been getting difficult to drag my arse outta the FS), it made perfect sense.

I’m surprised to see that I’m the last BB writer for the Swamp was YHC when I picked up a Q last minute in early March… And before that… October.  And because there were so few people back in March, I decided to reuse the workout depending on which PAX were in attendance.

The gloom

I arrived a few minutes early and Grassy Knoll had already planted the Abyss flag in the grass-covered bedrock median (very knoll, like, upon reflection).

It quickly became apparent that no other PAX had the guts to show up (mostly due to spring break, I’m sure it had nothing to do with the little bit of rain and lightning that passed through before 0430), and Grassy and I chatted about some stuff. He mentioned that he was doing a Mud Run tomorrow, so I knew ruining his arms would be a disservice.

warmup

Moseys ARE warmups. We headed SE past that fast food place and that rave boxing place turning towards Target in front of Old Navy.

the thang

First, burpeecides. Run to each red ball and back, one burpee for each ball, all the way up to 9 burpees.  After it was over, YHC realized that maybe some stretching in the warmup might have been nice and we took 20s to stretch the calves.

Then mosey NW, turning NE through the road that goes by the smelly soap building, and stop at the SE side of the fountain, where the stairs are ( YHC has updated his compass points since the last Q).

11’s here.
1 BBSU, around the NE round-a-bout and 10 derkins on the benches. Around the SW roundabout and back for 2 BBSU.

We completed 7 rounds

cot

Some chat about how things are going in each other’s homes. Prayers of thanks and for Grassy’s coworker, Jason.

nmm

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Low attendance doesn’t mean low intensity.

I know GK can outrun me most days, but when there’s two PAX it’s a lot more fun to stay together.  There was some great mumblechatter, but when compared to my performance on basically the same circuit last time I was out here (and we You v You on the 11’s), YHC ran an extra .23 miles, and burned an extra 60 calories (estimated).  All while keeping up a conversation.

Always a pleasure to lead a Q.

 

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Circuits in the dark

YHC picked up this Q during spring break. I’m told it’s spring break… but with the kids home 24/7, it just doesn’t SEEM like spring break. Normally we’d do something with this time but this year we decided to save the vacation days for some other activities.

The gloom

YHC rolled up to the HT parking lot (which has yet to change the timer on the lot lights, so it’s still quite dark) to what looked like an empty lot. Lights on in one car.  Turned out to be Coumo. Looks like it’s a 2 PAX Q.

Warmup

Mosey to the SE corner of HT. Warmup over

the thang

The entire time was dedicated to the circuit, which is just under half a mile per lap. I remember doing something like this with Jekyll on Q ages ago but didn’t want to doomscroll all the way through the BBs.

Start at the SE corner of HT.
20x LBC
Karaoke half way down the wall, flapjack for the rest.
Run to the backside of the tire place
10x step ups each leg
Run around to the front of the parts shop for
20x flutter (double count)
Then out of the parking lot, around the corner and down the hill for
6 burpees
Back up the hill to the SE corner of HT

We completed 5 circuits, and with 5 minutes left nixed the exercises for a final lap of just running.

cot

Some prayers for Coumo’s coworker and for my M who is thinking about making a career move.

nmm

When I got out of my car I exclaimed to no one in general “I guess I’m wildly unpopular!”.  But, really, small attendance Q’s are generally very good ones. 2-3 PAX can really egg each other on and can lay a good foundation for relationships.

Thanks for the push Cuomo.

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Mental Mettle

A gear workout can also contain items like a speaker and a mobile device!

Warmup:

  • 10 slow burpees, 10 squats, 10 merkins.

The Thang ( lawn chair and sunglasses required )

  • Mosey to the Turner Field soccer field
  • 15 minute basic meditation via Headspace,
  • Quick 1/4 lap around Turner Field parking lot,
  • 15 minute reducing stress meditation.

Praises:

  • The extra time spent with family during the pandemic,

Prayers:

  • All Journey groups for guidance and wisdom as they complete their final stage of the program.
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Pantheon 3/31/21

It was a beautiful morning with temps in the low 60’s and a light breeze.  Was ready to get in a great workout and was greeted by 38 Special and Flounder.  Thought it might be a light crowd with two Q v Q’s planned.  Was excited to lead these PAX though.

Started with the disclaimer and got to it!

Warmup with: 15 SSH, 10 arm circles, a few downward and upward dog positions to get stretched out, then finished out with a mosey around the field (via the driveway around the field).

Main Event: Planned an 2 minute AMRAP with 4 exercises.  Merkins, Squats, Dips and LBCs.  Started with 2 min. of merkins, had chalk to write down our numbers, moseyed about 50 yards, did 25 SSH, then back to do 2 min of squats, 50 yards, 25 SSH then went back to merkins and told the PAX to try to beat their previous number.  Continued on with Squats and then with a set of dips and LBCs and repeated trying to beat our numbers.

With the last few minutes, I was hoping to get in a set of 11’s.  YHC introduced a new exercise – a burpee with a donkey kick…called it the ass-kicking burpee (AKB).  Started with one AKB, did 10 flutters, 2 AKBs/9 flutters, then 3 AKBs to finish as we ran out of time and were all pretty gassed.

COT where praised were shared and closed out with a prayer.

 

Appreciated the opportunity to lead @38Special and looking forward to sharing some more AKBs at more AOs soon.

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No Shortcuts

Five men showed up for the workout this morning.  We promptly left at 05:15 headed to Gamestop for further instructions.

Once arrived, I had a quick message.  No shortcuts.  It comes from one of my favorite movies,  “Wall Street.”  The young broker (Charlie Sheen) is getting lectured by an older broker.  He says “Remember there are no shortcuts, son. Quick buck artists come and go with every bull market, but the steady players make it through the bear market.” One can apply this lesson to all aspects of life (Relationships, health, work, etc).  Today, we were focused on tackling Hubert Graham way.

Outbound to Gold Hill Road – Stop at every light pole, alternate with merkins and squats, 10 of each. (Total 80 merkins, 70 squats)

Inbound from Gold Hill Road – Stop at every light pole, 10 merkins and squats (Total 70 merkins, 70 squats)

Bonus miles:  Run around Tega Cay Elementary School.

We all met back at Gamestop for a short mosey back to COT.

Total miles by runners ranged from 4.5 to 3.5.

Great job by everyone this morning.

 

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Swimming Laps on a Frigid Morning

17 posted to STL on a crisp morning, perhaps one of the last ones of winter 2020-21 with temps in the 20s.  70+ in the days ahead — sunshine and pollen, Spring is here.

The Thang

Pretty simple weinke this morning

Quick mosey to Baxter and the Mushroom Pool parking lot

From the parking lot run out Richard’s crossing back across Front St, past the homes of Sugar Daddy, Tesh and other pax around the loop and back to the MP parking lot

OYO exercises at the parking lot:
10 Burpees
20 Parker Peters
30 Squats

Rinse and repeat

Return run home

COT

Moleskin

Great to see the pax out pushing hard on a cold morning.  The pace was brisk too, so the bodies warmed up quickly.  Those who made 5 laps ended up with 3.9 miles and those with 4 laps finished with 3.4 miles.  A few OCD pax had to get that 4 mile click so they added a loop in the parking lot on return.  Great effort by all!

It was great to meet Juan Valdez for the first time — keep posting, amigo!

My word for 2021 is NOW.  It’s surfaced a lot in the first two months — a constant reminder to live in the real world with the people immediately around me in the place that I’m in at that moment.  Get out of my head and be aware of what’s happening NOW and how I’m called to live NOW.  Hopefully the challenge for each pax to live my word for this day bore fruit.

A big thank you to Vuvu for the Site Q exemption from the Top 3 rule at STL.  Always an honor to lead the pax.

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