Tag: 38 Special

12 days (actually 13) to celebrate a shovel flag handoff!

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Big shovel flag hand-off day so hype train was in full effect!  As PAX walked up to the gathering, Bear Grylls had 80s hairband music rocking why he was making preparations for post-workout coffeeteria.  YHC gave the disclaimer and jumped on a quick mosey given this chilly morning.  Mosey’d over to parking lot to the right of the school where we circled up for some warm up exercises and stretching.

Exercises included: SSH, Moroccan night clubs, low slow squats, hillbilly walkers, mountain climbers and then some leg, back and “6” stretches.

Mosey’d over to the playground in the back of the school for The Thang!  In true 12 days (actually 13) days of Christmas fashion, we had a weinke waiting for us and 12 days was explained by YHC.  For anyone reading and unclear on 12 days, start with 1, move on to 2 and back down to 1, go to 3 then 2 then 1, and so on.

As the list was next to the basketball court, since that’s where there was light on this chilly dark morning in the gloom, we started with suicides…

  1. Suicides – mid court, full court
  2. Burpees
  3. Calve raises – 3 out, 3 regular, 3 in
  4. Pull ups
  5. Hand release merkins
  6. Jump Knee tucks
  7. Flutters (double count)
  8. Bear crawl down & crawl bear back – full court
  9. Gorilla squats
  10. B 2 Wall – 10 sec count
  11. Lunge walk down & duck walk back – full court
  12. America Hammer (double) + LBC (double) + big boys
  13. Bomb Jacks (bonus)

The PAX made it to about day 10-11, with I believe Fish Sticks leading everyone possibly to day 12.  The killer in this had to be day 8 but YHC quickly reminded the PAX that Spiderman (yes, he got a shoutout) who had 12 days at #BlockParty the day before crushed the PAX with Bear crawl / crawl bear on day 2….so a quick fix for the mumble chatter.  Once time was called, mosey’d back for COT.

Announcements, prayers and praises (CSPAN style).  YHC shared that as we enter the Christmas season, after just leaving Thanksgiving, giving Thanks has been at the forefront of his mind.  Being grateful for what we have, i.e. families, health, each other, it’s easy to forget how some people are not in the same positions we are in.  As we enter the holiday season, and even after the holidays, keeping a watchful eye for how we can help others less fortunate than us, puts us in a unique position.  How you choose to act in those situations or if you have your eyes and heart open, is something to be mindful of.

Closed out with prayer and the celebration of the great work Fish Sticks brought to Pantheon and the beginning of the Bear Grylls legacy.  The beginning of this legacy kicked off with the Pantheon flag makeover – which was great to see!  I highly recommend checking it out and getting the full breakdown for each detail.  It was a pleasure Q’ing today and am happy to do it anytime!

Shady

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13 at Footloose

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Good group at Footloose this morning. Got some burpees in and a few good stretches. Ran over to Church of God and found the stairs where we spent a good amount of time looking them over and examining the exterior of their fellowship center a few times. Got a good mile or so in this morning, for a Moderate group.

Spoke for a minute about finding Joy in the Christmas season. I heard Gekko’s sermon and it hit me hard that if we don’t have Joy at Christmas, when we observe the birth of our Savior, then we need to “get right.” I am HAPPY to talk to anyone who is struggling with this. The vulnerablity of the PAX at COT and BOM is an important part of F3, and why we are here.

 

Assassin

 

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Footloose for a Post 1/2 Marathon “no-running” Bootcamp

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15 PAX made it out for a not so moderate beat-down after I had a brief taper week from the Kiawah 1/2 marathon.  Went through the disclaimer and the don’t sue me stuff an off we went for a very brief mosey that lasted all but 100 yards at most.

Warmup: consisted of windmills, Imperial Walkers, SSH, Cherry Pickers and yes some Broga.  The broga turned out to be quite comical as we all tried various balance poses.  Not good.

I had everyone line up for a very long Indian run down to the COG parking lot.  PAX stayed together pretty good no stragglers or rogue running going on.

On to the thang.  I broke out a winkie from a year ago that I never used for my 49th birthday.  You can guess where this is going.  We set up 4 corners with 3 exercises at each corner.  PAX stayed together for fellowship until the pain started.  First round was 49 merkins, 98 LBC’s and 147 squats. See the pattern there?  Not good.  Slow mosey to the next corner. 49 CDD’s, 98 calf raises and 147 flutters.  Mumble chatter started getting quiet.  Corner 3 49 SSH, 98 shoulder taps, 147 LBC’s. Last corner 49 Mtn. Climbers, 98 Rosalitas, and 147 Freddie Mercuries.  Not fun.  Started with an Indian Run back to COT, but ended up being a jail break due to cars.  With 10 minutes left we did a couple of rounds of 10 count exercise and running the stairs at FBC.  More pain not fun.  Finished up with COT.

Great time had by all!  Thanks for the opportunity Beacon!

 

Bass-o-Matic Out!

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The Hive 2018.47

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So, I’m a little late on this backblast…. I probably owe someone a lot of burpees.  Anyway, here is what went down.

Warmup, SSHs, Jimmy Carters, holding a low squat moving your 6 for some hip mobility.

The thang

5 burpees, 5 snatches each arm
Repeat for 3 rounds

Up to the bleachers.  The deadlifts were performed while on the lowest seat, and to go as low as possible, breaking the plane below the seat.
Deadlifts x10, Lawnmowers X10 ea, Tricep Xtends x10
Repeat for 3 rounds

Down to parking lot and partner up
One partner farmer carries bells 100yds while other does exercises till partner returns then flapjack
Shoulder taps, Flutters, Ripsticks (squat calfraises)
One partner overhead carries bells 40yds while other does exercises till partner returns then flapjack
Shoulder taps, Flutters, Ripsticks (squat calfraises)

Moleskin
It’s always fun to have someone from another region, so having Doozy join us was a joy to be had.  Congrats to Punch List for his new addition to the family.

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A Day to Remember…Showing our respect at the Hive

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December 7, 2018

 

41st President

2403 men lost

77 years ago

I had thought about what I wanted to accomplish here all week. Did I want to stay in the comfort zone? Just get through a workout on a cold morning.  I decided we needed to put in the work to honor the 2403 men, or boys, that were suddenly killed and show them the respect they deserved. Imagine yourself, lying in your bed (probably under 20) on a ship and it was suddenly bombed, and there was no way out. That is exactly how app. 1000 men died that day. I took the opportunity this week to refresh my memory on some of the facts I may have lost in last 20 or so years and look a little closer at the life of George HW Bush, our 41st President who ironically passed the same week of the Anniversary of the event that lead to his honorable service in War II.  With a lot on my mind, and the hopes of delivering the right message, now it was all up to the PAX to show up.

My goal was centered around the three numbers above- 41,2403, 77

10 PAX showed up on what turned out to be a crisp clear morning ready to work.

Disclaimer delivered- No FNG’s

Leave the KB

 

Warm-up

4 light posts were the center of this. At each light-post, we stopped for an exercise:

Post 1- SSH x 41

Mosey to next

Post 2- Moroccan NC x41

Mosey to next

Post 3- Imperials Walkers x41

Mosey to next

Post 4 (and starting spot)- Merkin x 41

10 Diamond

10 Military

10 regular

10 wide

1 Burpee

 

Recover and circle up

Low slow squat x10

Windmills x10-

Seal Jacks x10

Hillbilly walker x10

1 burpee

Total- 41

The Thang- 2403 reps was the goal as a group

Using the same light posts as the warm-up adding running in between. I liked the competitiveness for some . Nice effort men.

Round 1

First post- Tricep press x 30

Second- KB swing x30

Third – Goblet squat- x15

Fourth- two handed shoulder press x 30

Total Round 1= 1155

Round 2

First- two-hand curls x30

Second post- Snatch (15 each arm)

Third-post- KB Windmill- audible- Chest press- two hands- x50

Fourth post- lunges (15 each)

Total Round 2- 1,210 (snatch and lunges counting only as 15 each)

Total- 2,365

Round 3

First- single arm rows- x15 each arm

Second post- upright rows- x20

Third post- single arm chest- x20 each arm

 

Total round 3- 605

 

Total for post work- 2,970 reps together

 

Really nice work PAX- especially the guys lifting the heavy KB’s.

Skipped the Fourth and headed to the bleachers by the tennis courts. Each PAX grabbing a spot

Three rounds of step ups- starting with 15 each leg, then 10, then 5, followed by 10 seconds on the fence in a squat position holding the KB straight out.

Mosey to the Fourth post-

Partner up- size of the person didn’t matter, but the weight may have (Tesh)

Partner One- carrying both KB’s runs to the First original light post and back (app. 100 yds) . Switch with partner two until the exercises below are completed.

Partner Two- the number to reach of each set was 77. Significance being this was the 77th Anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Set One- LBC’s

Set two- American Hammers

Set Three- Flutters

Looked at my watch and it was 6:00 on the nose.

 

Everyone pushed it, and everyone got better. I appreciate all the PAX listening to me and working hard. My challenge to you is to take a look at the significance of the numbers used today and the individuals or events involved. And then imagine if you were called to this War, would you step up like George HW did and sacrifice? If you didn’t catch it this week, he lived a life that most of us can only aspire to, but will never attain. Live your best life and surround yourself with those that make it possible.

COT  

 Announcements

Xmas eve Convergence

G- Fit

Praises

Our Health

Prayers

Family, Patience during this Holiday season, for those in need.

And not to be overlooked, Band Camp’s special surgery a week from Monday. Sit on the bag of pees and don’t move for atleast 48hrs.

Thanks to Band Camp for the opportunity to lead and thanks again PAX for your effort.

 

Frat Boy

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LBC’s Galore at The Armory

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One could assume that, being a Site Q, I would know the importance of posting a Backblast in a timely manner.  I have failed yet again.  9 days later…

8 guys met at Forest Hill Church to start the party at The Armory.  One day prior, I posted to Twitter that I would donate 2 boxes of Character Band-Aids to Cornerstone’s initiative for each pax that hangs out with me during my Q.  I have now included those 16  boxes in my total donation. The Fort is full of HIM, we have surpassed our 1000 box goal and will most likely hit 2000 boxes before Christmas!  Keep ’em coming!

Another initiative happening this month is NASA’s “November of 2000 LBC’s”.  I made sure these HIM were on track to hit that number.

The Warmup:
A slow mosey around the parking lot with Buttkickers and High Knees.

The Thang:
I set out two 35lb bells that pax would Farmer Carry across the parking lot and back and act as the groups timer. We had time to 16 rounds of kettlebell exercises. In between each round we would all complete 20 LBC’s together. 16×20=320 LBC’s! That wasn’t enough, I added 40 more at the end to get 360 LBC’s.
The kettlebell exercises were:
Curls
Swings
Side Swings
Rows
Lawnmowers
American Hammers
Plank Rows
Plank Crosses
Goblet Squats
Polaroid Crunches (maybe there is a real name for these somewhere?)
Skull Crushers
Lunges
Overhead Extensions
Figure 8’s
Halos
Around the Worlds

I asked Airborne to close us out with his Hip routine, he obliged.

NMM:
F3 will have numerous initiatives throughout the year.  We have some true High Impact Men in the group that lead the way supporting charities and organizations near and dear to their hearts.  Cornerstone and his Character Band-Aid donations to support Children’s Hospital; NASA’s supporting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society; DD supported Let Me Run…It’s important that we, all of F3, support our Brothers to help make an impact in our community. I am honored to be a part of this group of men. Thank you for having me.

JWOW, thank you for the opportunity to Q.

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14 posted at The Armory today to honor the service of Assassin who turned the Site Q over to JWOW.   Best of luck to JWOW for the upcoming year although I am sure he won’t need any luck as long as the Brotherhood supports him, I will, how about you?

I am not the glowing writer that othe PAX are so best that I just get to the Thang.

We started with a very, very slow mosey past the tents to the far parking lot and circled up for a warmup.

Moroccan night clubs x20

Baby arm circles x 15

big arm circles x 12

LSS x 10

windmill with KB x10 each leg

We then partnered up because the gloom is always better with a friend. The PAX then head off to a parking spot where the find 8 spots with 3 exercises chalked out the object do the first exercise and the move to the next spot until all 24 exercises are completed. The exercises:

Front raise x 10 each arm
Side raise x 10 each arm
Merkin to row x 10 each arm
American hammer x 20
Sit-ups x 20
LBCs x 20
Skull crushers x 20
Triceps extensions x 10 each arm
Halos x 20
KB swing x 20
1 arm KB swing x 10 each arm
Snatch x 10 each arm
Goblet squat x 20
Calf raises 10 each in/out/regular
Lunge x 10 each leg
Turkish getup x 20
Chest loader swing x 20
Clean and press x 20
Shoulder press x 10 each arm
Upright rows x 20
Chest press x 10 each arm
Curls x 10 each arm
Lawn mowers x 10 each arm
Squat to press x 20

Always amazes at how some PAX can blow through these 24 exercises and start a 4th round kudos to them. I am not there yet…

After completing the rounds moseyed back to COT for flag ceremony, praises and prayers.

Dungaree out

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2°C and nobody noticed

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8 HIMs reported to the Armory this morning in what YHC is calling the best morning in SC he’s experienced to date. Everyone had sleeves with a couple polar bears showing some leg.

We started with the warmup.  Very literally…

Low slow squat x15
Morraccan night club x15
Annie (plank arm rotations) x10 each arm x2
Merkins x10

Then everyone paired up and took turns with the following exercise sets. The first two sets were executed with one partner doing the counted exercise while the other did the non-tallied until the partner was done, then switch.  We made it through two and 3/4 rounds.  Between each set there were two “keep warm” exercises.  And at the end the two rounds, some Shoalin mental positions were administrated.  It sounds complex…

The standard rounds are below. Anything done with one hand counted once for every left and right together.  The non-counter was encouraged to encourage the counter.  This may not have been verbal.

  1. Wood choppers x10
    KB swings
  2. Curls x10
    Squats
  3. Shoulder press x10
    Snatch x10
  4. Tricep Extensions x15
    Upright rows x15

To “keep warm” we did the following between each set

  1. Round one:
    Goofballs x10
    Morraccan night clubs x10
  2. Round two
    Flutter x10
    LBC x10
  3. Only done between set 1&2 of the 3rd round so we could hit the 3rd set.
    Cherry Pickers
    Windmill

Shaolin secrets revealed…

  1. Forward stance x30 seconds on each leg bent 90°
    1. Bent leg arm – elbow high, fingertips at the temple, palm facing out with the thumb down
    2. Straight leg arm – Parallel with straight leg, fingertips pointed to the sky
    3. Looking over the shoulder of the straight leg at the fingertips
  2. Tea stance
    1. Standing straight up, step one leg in front of the other an sink down
    2. The front leg holds 80-90% of the weight
    3. Rear knee is by the front foot, trying to keep it 1″ from the ground
    4. Arms are out with hands in tiger claw
    5. Bounce x25 while clenching hands together

With a couple minutes left it was time for some stretching.

  1. Cherry pickers x10
  2. Windmills x10
  3. With legs as far apart as possible, do some “circular” pushups on fingertips.  Rocking back on the legs (this forces the hips to open up) on the way down, and over the fingertips on the way back up.  x10
  4. Right and left forward split (or as low as one can go) and hold.

We closed with COT.  Announcements were announced and prayers were offered.  8 HIMs became a bit better.

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Double Booked? Nope, Double Beatdown.

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Through no fault of anyone that I’m aware, the original Q for the Hive was double booked. Since I know that guy, the PAX probably got off easy with me filling in. Or maybe not.

Disclaimer was disclaimed (didn’t notice that Punch List had brought an FNG, so I guess my extra extended disclaimers are good for something. Also gave the disclaimer that since this is a gear workout, there would not be much running.

Warm-up
SSH
Merkins
Burpees
Some other things that have slipped my mind…

The Thang
Slow mosey to the bleachers by the tennis courts with KBs in hand. Everything today was in groups of 3 exercises repeated 3 times normally increasing each round separated by 10 KB swings and 10 Prone presses

10 KB swings, 10 Prone presses
Single-Leg DL each side 8-12-16
Curls each side 6-8-10 IC
Back extensions (heels on the bleachers, justifier to the sky) 8-12-16 IC
10 KB swings, 10 Prone presses
Tri-extensions 8-10-9-ish IC
Plank row each side 8-12-16
Squats 8-12-16
10 KB swings, 10 Prone presses
Derkins x 10 IC
American Hammers x 10 IC
Derkins x 10 IC
Flutter Press x 20 IC
10 KB swings, 10 Prone presses

Extra slow mosey 70 feet back.

COT

NMM
I may have gotten some of the listed exercises or a few of the counts wrong when I was writing this down finally, but it’s basically all correct. I’m pretty sure if you were to go through this routine, it would be a pretty good beat down even if I missed a few things.

So here’s my thoughts lately about doing gear workouts. If it’s a gear workout, I’m pretty much going to stick with that and not too much running around. I’m pretty simple like that. Find a thing that works and stick with it. My basic KB workouts will be variants of what we did in this one. I figured out this little routine and it works for me. It seems to be a pretty good workout for everyone else too, usually.

F3 is like that for me. When I found out what this thing was all about and started posting, it was something that really just worked for me. I’m not trying to make it into something complicated, I’m just looking for that physical and mental push before the sun even comes up. Every day that I’m out there in the gloom with a bunch of like minded guys focused on accomplishing a single thing at a time, I get energized. If I’m the guy leading, good, but if not, that’s good too.

I see that carried out into our community, getting a bunch of like minded guys focused on accomplishing a single thing at a time. Sometimes that’s reading to kids after school. Sometimes it’s handing out turkeys. Sometimes it’s just running all day and night with a bunch of smelly guys. Sometimes it’s surrounding someone who is suffering physically or emotionally. For me that all starts in the gloom, many days of the week, surrounded by my Brothers…

Geronimo!

 

 

 

 

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Nihil Gastrocnemius

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TL:DR version

Have to stay off my left calf. I may miss some things or get the order wrong, since I had to modify my plan heavily.  We destroyed some quadriceps…

We took a stroll to the empty side of the AO parking lot and circled up for some

  1. Low Slow Squats
  2. overhead claps
  3. merkins
  4. “under the fence” merkins x 7 (can’t find in the exercises, but I know it’s common, accidentally fired my left calf and almost ate pavement, I had to stop and had everyone get up)
    1. Start in down dog
    2. bend arms like a Carolina dry dock
    3. keep them bent and push up into Honeymooner
    4. Reverse to down dog
  5. Stretching from sumo position, drop the six and extend each leg with the toe up

Next we partnered up for some modified Dora.  Each mover would go one way and start the stationary exercise when they got to the end, while the partner did the moving exercise.  The length was from one center line to another (about 19.5m)

  1. Toy soldiers – Squats x100
  2. Leg Sweeps – LBC x200
    1. Recommended modification for the sweeps was to squat with the six just above ground, extend the left leg and shift with the six almost dragging, bring the feet together, turn 180, extend the right, and continue)
    2. Deacon has SOLID sweeps
  3. A bit of talking about encouragement, and how we as men, (especially YHC) can easily tear down someone without thinking about it
  4. Open Tee Stance  walk – high knees across the body x300
    1. Open Tee Stance – walking with toes at 45’s away from center, the back knee is just above the pavement, and the front foot lands directly in front, come up and step in front of the back knee.  This kills the quads
    2. High knees across the body not  unlike the imperial walker, but higher and combat oriented
  5. 10 count to breath
  6. 10 burpees
  7. 10 count again
  8. Squat walking, with ducking and double punch – flutter
    1. At this point we changed it up to just two lengths, no counting, just flutter

Circle up and get some more leg stretching like in the warmup.  But that was just the interlude.  Some more circle exercises were on their way

  1. Forward split circular fingertip pushups
    1. Legs out with toes up, on your fingertips, sway back going down, and forward over the hands going up
  2. Horse Stance (Al gore, if you want) and 100 2-count punches
  3. Horse Stance and 25 2-count upper cuts
  4. 15 Imperial Walkers
  5. 15 Hillbilly Walkers

Finished with some forearm stretching and back to COT where we did Name O Rama (and my phone decided not to continue recording after 2seconds), and welcomed FNG “Shazam” to F3!! Announcements and prayer and break for the day.

Background on the modification

I’ve got a massive backlog of exercises that don’t involve running, carrying people, and the normal, exhausting, certain-death at other AOs.  Most of these revolve around my shaolin background, and I had built a fun tour of the DT Fort Mill around them…  But fate or my body had other plans…

Early AM yesterday YHC was leaving my son’s school conferences and hopped off the curb onto my left foot and the same muscle pull I experienced at the Hive two weeks ago reared its ugly head. I once again got the chance to hobble around town like someone had given my calf the Tonya Harding treatment.  I thought my number was  up.  I sent messages looking for a backup Q and began praying that when I woke up in the morning I’d be healed.

That didn’t happen.  But the spasm or whatever it is calmed down enough that at 0400 this morning I could put weight on the left without too much pain.  So I geared up and drove down to Footloose in the delightful weather we’re having, and selected exercises that didn’t require anyone to fire their calves.

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