Launching the Snake Pit

YHC was honored to be asked by 3D to Q out East and, based on the calendar, an inaugural Q for the Fort’s newest kettle bell AO.  It required a separate trip to get familiar with the grounds, but a quick scan of the A/O left YHC with lots of options and, fortunately, a great group of HIMs gathered to launch the Snake Pit.  After disclaimers were put forth and JWOW came in hot, we moseyed off around the parking lot, without the bells.

COP – Corner #1 – low slow squats x15

Corner #2 – Side Straddle Hops x 20

Corner #3 – Imperial Walker x 15, People’s Chair hold with Moroccan night clubs x 15 and a                                     10-count hold

Stadium entrance – Merkins x 10, salutations right and left, 6-inch hold with a 10-count

PAX grabbed their bells and moseyed into the stadium, down to the field for a partner pyramid.

In any adversity or challenge we face in life, going through it with others helps ensure we come out stronger on the other side.  In the spirit of working through a challenge (and because partner work was notably present), we did, well, partner work.

While partner 1 began the exercises at the goal line, partner 2 ran to the 50 yard line and back and picked up the exercises where partner 1 left off.  Exercises built on one another a la pearls on a string, to the mid point anyway.

10 goblet squats

10 goblet squats, 20 hammer curls

10 goblet squats, 20 hammer curls, 30 tricep extensions

10 goblet squats, 20 hammer curls, 30 tricep extensions, 40 American hammers (w/bell)

10 goblet squats, 20 hammer curls, 30 tricep extensions, 40 American hammers (w/bell), 50 swings

50 swings, 40 American hammers (w/bell), 30 tricep extensions, 20 hammer curls, 10 goblet squats

40 American hammers (w/bell), 30 tricep extensions, 20 hammer curls, 10 goblet squats

30 tricep extensions, 20 hammer curls, 10 goblet squats

20 hammer curls, 10 goblet squats

10 goblet squats

Once all were finished (PAX planked or did LBC’s if they finished before the 6), we moseyed with bells to the flag for a pledge of allegiance and did 30 flutters with the KB press

Mosey out of the stadium back to the lot for the start of a partner DORA – 50 swings and 100 hammer curls.  Partner 1 started the exercises while partner 2 ran to specified landmarks and back, and vice versa.

With no time left to get to 150 and 200 on the DORA, we moseyed back to COT for:  20 flutters with the KB press and 15 LBC’s with the bell.  At that point, it was 0600 and work was complete.

Announcements were made, prayers and praises were offered and YHC led us out.

Special thoughts are with Alright Alright Alright as his ankle heals.

Thanks to 3D for the opportunity to lead the inaugural workout and launch of the Snake Pit and to have the privilege of getting better in the presence of many HIMs.

Honored,

Cyclops

 

 

 

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Can I borrow a KB?

YHC was pleased to be asked by J-Wow (there’s a guy who is accelerating) to come back to the Armory and Q. While not a true Redwood, I was there when the idea of a KB workout was launched at the Baxter pool with Package and Orange Crush (never posted). I immediately went out an purchased a 25lb’er via the internet (shipping costs!) and away we went.

Since that start, I have gravitated to running partly due to CSAUPs and given my bell to Anchorman. But there’s no question that YHC needed a beatdown after a long golf weekend. I started the Hype Train on Sunday with a request to borrow a bell and was met with some witty replies. The Fort represents!

Weather: Its F3 time! 63 with a light breeze

The Thang

Partner KB Workout

Round 1

Partner 1 – KB Swings x 12

Partner 2 – Rests until Partner 1 is finished

Partner 2 – 1 arm military press x 12

Partner 1 – rests until Partner 2 is finished – you get the idea

Partner 1 – Goblet Squats x 10

Partner 2 – Bob and Weave x 10

Partner 1 – Merkins x 12

Partner 2 – Bench Press x 12

Partner 1 – SSH x 20

Partner 2 – SSH x 20

Rinse and Repeat for 7 minutes

Take a lap around the parking lot

Round 2 – Flip the exercises for 7 minutes then take a lap

Round 3

Partner 1 – Curls x12

Partner 2 – Triceps x 12

Partner 1 – Bent Over Rows x 10

Partner 2 – CDD x 12

Partner 1 – Reverse Lunge w/ Hammer x 8

Partner 2 – Jump Squats x 10

Partner 1 – Bombjacks x 12

Partner 2 – Man Climbers x 16

Rinse and repeat for 7 minutes then a lap

Round 4 – Flip the exercises and head home

Mosey to COT

 

Moleskin:

  • 10/19 – Opportunity to serve at Childrens Attention Home – See Culture Club
  • October – opportunity to impact Young Lives – See newsletter
  • Prayers for marriages and kids

Pusher out!

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Never Forget

9/11 Tribute WOD – Focus on the Passenger

Imagine you’ve woken up on a seemingly normal day, getting ready for a work trip, and then heading to the airport. The traffic isn’t as heavy as you would think, in fact you think maybe today will be a good day based on that. You arrive at the airport, get your ticket, and go to the security line. Security wasn’t so bad, it only took 5 minutes. This could be a pretty nice business trip. You arrive at your gate and then the plane starts to board. You board, sit down in your seat and pull out a book you’ve just started and are excited to read it on this forced 5 hour break. The plane takes off and everything seems fine.

Then it isn’t.

A group of men some how gain control of the plane and it changes course. The next thing you know, you have no clue where you’re heading and there is an air of fear growing in the cabin. You look out of your window and you see a city that you should be very far from at that point in the flight and wonder what comes next.

That’s it. That’s how 246 passengers/crew on four planes lost their lives on 9/11/01. They weren’t warned, told, or able to make the last decisions about their lives. Some weren’t able to tell their loved ones that they loved them for the last time. Life ended for them on that fateful day.

Today we honored them.

Mosey around the entire church and then circled up for a warm up stretch.

COP

30 SSH

10 Tappy Taps

30 Moroccan Night Clubs

10 Little Baby Arm Circles – both directions

Al Gores w/4 count pulse

High Plank, Side Plank, Side Plank

Yoga Flow and Stretch

Mosey to the concrete bench area.

Four Flights – 246 Victims in the air.

Flight 11
87 Total
76 Passengers
11 Crew

Flight 77
59 Total
53 Passengers
6 Crew

Flight 93
40 Total
33 Passengers
7 Crew

Flight 175
60 Total
51 Passengers
9 Crew

Weinke

Flight 11 – North Tower
76 – Step Ups (Count Each Leg)
11 – Turkish Get Ups (11 Each Arm)
Run Lap

Flight 175 – South Tower
51 – KB Swings
9 – Curls (9 each arm)
Run Lap

Flight 77 – Pentagon
53 – Straight Leg Deadlifts (1 Leg at a time)
6 – Clean & Press (6 each arm)
Run Lap

Flight 93 – Field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania
33 – Goblet Squats
7 – Halo’s (7 each way)
Run Lap

Mary – Total Per Flight
87 – LBC’s (2 Count)
60 – Pickle Pointers @ Bench Area (KB on Hips)
59 – Flutters w/Press (2 Count)
40 – American Hammers w/KB (count each side)

We ran short and had three minutes to spare. We took time to pass the Dutchie left and right one revolution.

JWOWW made a great point while we were running our fourth lap – you don’t come to realize how many people actually lost their lives until you start counting them out one by one, rep by rep, and the pain grows with each rep. Just remember this when you’re thinking about giving up when honoring those who lost their lives.

We had 12 PAX, each of which struggled through this unique weinke.

We headed back to COT and I gave one last word with regard to those who lost their lives:

NMM

In total, 2,996 people lost their lives on that fateful day of 9/11/2001. At this time 18 years ago, none of them knew their time would come to leave this earth. They had plans, families, loved ones, futures, goals, dreams. Don’t take what you have for granted. Live the life you have with those you’re surrounded in the best way possible. Give all of yourself to God and let Him use you. Don’t hold back. You never know when something might happen and put an end to all of it.

Prayers/Praises

Flat Tire’s son is going to take his on the road drivers test – prayer and praise!

Pray for marriages – and don’t take for granted the fact that you have an amazing M.

Pray for Winnie – my 2.3 – who is the last of our family to catch our little illness going around.

Praise for our newest Region, Lake Wylie! And for our new leadership in The Fort.

Announcements 

Christmas party coming up! Get your sweaters!

Punch List out.

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Power 10 Catch Me If You Can

20 HIM Caught each other in a Power 10 Catch Me If You Can workout with partners

Power 10 – 10 reps of exercise, 9 reps, 8 reps…1 rep

Partner 1 starts with 10 reps of exercise while Partner 2 nurs or runs slow. Partner 1 sprints to catch up, then Partner 2 does 10 reps while P1 continues on.  P2 catches P1 and P1 starts 9 reps, keep going thru 1 rep.  Then start next exercise.

PAX modified some by adding bear crawls or lunges instead of the NUR or slow run.  Some did 10 of each exercise before moving on the 9.  All finished roughly the same time just in time for COT.

DarkHelmet called it “Spicy”

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Q on Cue

A strong group of 17 PAX appeared in the midst of a cool late-august gloom.

– Mosey to Springs parking lot
– Carioca one direction
– Carioca the other
– Mosey to the lot blocked off by the chain
Warm Up:
– SSH (until I heard grumbling)
– Windmill (slowly, until I felt better about life)
– Cherry Picker (stopped corrected some form)
– Cherry Picker with better form
– Merkin x12 (cause you were expecting 10)
– Shoulder Taps
– Mountain Climbers
– Downdog –> Honeymooner, repeat
– added a little runners lunge with some twisting (because yoga)
– sprinkled in a burpee

Thang:
– Mosey to Pike Electric front lot
– two burpees
– Circled up – Howling Monkeys
– Dirty Hookups on the wall
– Howling Monkeys
– Dirty Hookups
– Threw in 10 burpees because no PAX could quickly identify where in the bible the store of David and Goliath is located (1st Samuel)
– Threw in 20 bomb jacks for a “That’s what she said” about David being small……..not that kind of group.
– Mosey to MillStone
– Wall sit for the 6
– Mosey to Millstone playground
– Happy Jacks x4
– Divided up in to 4 groups at each little hill:
– Start at the top of the hill
– Standing forward bend (aka: touch your toes)
– Inch-worm down into merkin position
– 10 Derkins
– Inch-wormed back
– Bear Crawl to the next hill
– (total of just 40 derkins)
– COP on the little neglected concrete slab there
– Tammy Wynettes for a while (most groups hit 3 reps)
– Mosey back to COT with some stops to let everyone catch up
– Wallsit at Millstone
– Sprint up Massey Hill
– BTTW at Springs Corporate

NMM:

David and Goliath is a story about faith, but may also be a story about a smaller more agile advisory taking on a big, lumbering giant. This begins to sound like a “lizard” vs a “bullfrog” from the Q-source. Just like David, we sometimes need the faith to trust a lizard or believe that as a lizard we can succeed.

Announcements:
– 9/6 Invergence
– 9/7 Convergence

A privileged to lead.

-Band Camp Dismissed

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The Armory Anniversary

10 PAX showed up for my one year anniversary of F3.  I appreciate all of the PAX who have pushed me and motivated me over the past year!

We started out with some routine exercises:

  • SSH
  • LS Squats
  • Windmill
  • Cherry Picker
  • MNC
  • Arm Circles
  • Peter Parker
  • Parker Peter
  • Down Dog
  • Honey Mooner

After the warm up we got into the first routine:

6 exercises, 10 reps, times 10 sets – Pretty sure this was 100 each

  • Kettle Bell Swings
  • Goblet Squats
  • Curls
  • Bear Crawl 10 yards
  • 10 Merkins
  • Crawl Bear back 10 yards

I realized we forgot to mosey so we did a quick lap when all PAX were finished

Second routine:

4 exercises, 8 reps, times 8 sets

  • Clean and press
  • Tricep Extension
  • Squat and Press
  • American Hammers
  • Run a figure 8 around two light poles

We and about two minutes left over for some Flutters and Protractors.

Pretty much some standard announcements.

Prayers for Routers M who is having surgery this week.  Prayers for Cyclops Dad who is having some back pain.  Prayers for parents and children as we wind down summer vacation.

Thank you to JWOW for inviting me to lead, timing was good for the missing the DH beat down at the Honey Badger!

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The Hive: Move to Gain

We had real men of genius show up at The Hive today. It was cooler temps and we took advantage of them. 12 of us decided to pick things up and put them down and get better this Friday morn.

FNG brought in by 3D kept up nicely and we had Lone-star, guest of U Haul’s from TX visiting The Hive. Very much appreciated!

The Thang:

Disclaimer and Welcome

Mosey to light poles for dynamic warm up

  1. SSHs
  2. Carolina Dry Docks
  3. Imperial Walkers
  4. Squats
  5. Moracan Night Clubs
  6. Butt Kickers
  7. High Knees
  8. Shuffle L/R

Grab our bells and mosey to far side of lot

3 Rows of exercises

1st Round = 15 Reps, 2nd = 10 reps 3rd round 5 reps for each row of movements

  • Kettle-bell swing
  • Single & 10 double
  • Two arm bent row
  • Figure eight
  • Goblet squats
  • Upright row
  • Dips

 

  • Lunge press
  • Sumo upright row
  • Curls L/R
  • American Hammer
  • Bench press L/R
  • Plank Rows L/R
  • Tri Extension

 

  • Flutters
  • Hello dolly’s
  • Freddy’s
  • Deadlift
  • Sidestep upright row
  • Kettlebell Merkins

Wrapped up with a thought about we have to move in order to gain. We need to get up and post if we want to get fit. We have to go to work and get a pay check…….the same is true for our relationships. We have to engage in order to grow and get closer to another……M’s 2.0s and Sky Q. Take the steps necessary to gain more in those relationships and don’t wait to the lows of life and the valleys to tell them you love them.

Thanks for the Q Band Camp……always honored to lead!

Cake Boss

 

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Red Bird flies in from Morocco

15 PAX gathered for a VQ from Red Bird…it was also his second post (he was an FNG a year ago and lives/works/serves in Morocco). Red Bird took the warmup; YHC handled the thang.

Being Red Bird’s first Q and only his second post, the PAX did significantly more reps of some exercises than typical….Imperial Walkers past 25 get a little more taxing than expected.

Warm Up – Red Bird

SSH x 26
IW x 28
HW x 24
Al Gore + Moroccan Night Club x29
Windmill x 23 (yes…you read that right..these will get to ya)
Downdog –> Updog
Merkins x 10
Al Gore + Moroccan Night Club x27

Mosey slowly around parking lot – burpee at each light pole

The Thang – Band Camp

Circle up
PAX is shooting for 225 PAX through the course of the workout. The American-style school where Red Bird works has 225 students.

25 KB Swings
10 Single-arm squat % press, right
25 KB Swings
*At this point, Tesh corrected my form on the swings–my back was curving too much. Always grateful for correction offered up, whether it’s the form on an exercise or my behavior. We need to get our egos out of the way when correction takes place. Personally, YHC would much rather be corrected in front of 14 PAX than hurt my back and be on IR for 14 weeks.
10 Single-arm squat % press, left
25 KB Swings
10 Single-arm squat % press, right
25 KB Swings
10 Single-arm squat % press, left

5 Burpees
5 Manmakers
4 Burpees
4 Manmakers
Total of 9 each. Only .09% of the population in Morocco is Christian.

Mosey over to concrete pad outside of the gym area.

Downdog –> right leg high, bend knee/open hip
Repeat on left side

Wall Sit
3 Burpees down the line from each side
BTTW
10 Merkins (upside down against the wall)

25 KB Swings
10 Thrusters
25 KB Swings
10 Thrusters
25 KB Swings
10 Thrusters
25 KB Swings
Seated Forward Bend
25 KB Swings

There was some debate over the math, but YHC is pretty sure we got to 225…..possibly a little more….

NMM:

Band Camp:
Great to share the gloom with Red Bird, a HIM living out his faith. His life demonstrates so much of Q-Source quadrant 2 in tact: Impact, Influence, Missionality, Targeting…“If you want to learn how to run faster, just find a faster man. And chase him until you catch him.” If you want to learn how to accelerate your 3rd F, just find a man moving through his faith ahead of you. And chase him until you catch him.

Sidenote:
As you read Red Bird’s words remember, Red Bird has only posted twice. However, he has clearly dug into the F3 lexicon and ethos. Great to see the support that F3 can provide even removed from the proximity of other HIM. I also read this in light of how I saw him respond to his call. Leaving a comfortable job in a place he knew with his family (including his two small girls) to head to a much less welcoming environment…T-Claps to him on continuing to do what he and his M knew they should do.

Red Bird:
It’s difficult to do what you know you should do. Getting up at 4:45am to post, being patient with your wife even if she’s not patient with you, putting in the extra unpaid that is sometimes required at work to do your best. That’s why we revere the HIM – he does what is necessary to do what is good for Group Advantage. Especially in the USA, where it’s in our national collective DNA to honor the disruptors that came before us to create this great nation.

In Eastern cultures, though, the disruptor is not revered. He is a problem. He is going against what centuries of lived experience have proven to be ideal. For a man to disrupt the Status Quo, he could lose everything – the support of his family, the respect of his wife and kids, his job, everything. For a man in an Eastern culture to break out of Disadvantage, he must be 100% certain that the Advantage is worth it, because there is no going back. Most likely, will be alone in his pursuits.

Remember that the Group Advantage is worth the Course of Action. Be 100% certain. Be thankful for the support in F3N, and pray that your brothers will not leave you alone in your pursuits.


Band Camp dismissed

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Kettle Bell VQ for this Guy

8 Pax started the week off right with the DRP and came to an unknown KettleBell VQ from YHC. Rule 1: Running at a Minimum.  Ok, but leg day will not be skipped!

The Thang – 4 exercises, 45 seconds Go, 15 seconds stop, repeat 3 times. We have 3 sets…

Set 1 – Left arm bent over rows, left arm overhead press, right arm bent over rows, right arm overhead press

Set 2 – Squat, Squat with a curl at bottom and press at top, Tricep Press, Merkin with row (alternate arms on row)

Set 3 – KB swing, Squat with an upright row, Mountain Climber, Skull Crusher

That’s all.  Finished right at 0600.  COT

FH out

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The Hive Freshly Paved

I showed up for my VQ KB workout at The Hive to find a freshly paved parking lot.  Apparently Bandcamp has a lot of pull!  It’s nice going home without road rash and stones in the front seat.

The workout consisted of the following warm ups exercises.

  • SSH
  • Windmills
  • Cherry Pickers
  • Moroccan Night Clubs
  • Little and big arm circles
  • Imperial walkers
  • Peter parkers
  • Parker peters

A slow mosey with butt kickers and high knees.

Exercise Round 1

Phase 1 consisted of 6 exercises.  Each exercise was was done in in 20 counts.  Once completed we repeated with the count being 15, then 10 then 5.  The exercises were:

  • Two handed squat and overhead press
  • Plank rows
  • Curl
  • Merkins
  • Two handed swing
  • Tricep press

Exercise Round 2

We ran to the bottom of the hill near the stadium.  At the bottom we did:

  • 10 Single arm clean and press (10 each arm)
  • 10 Overhead lunges (10 each leg)
  • 20 Goblet squats
  • 20 One handed swings (10 each arm)

Once we were done with this we ran about half way up the hill, did 10 Burpees and 10 BB Sit-ups, run down the hill; rinse and repeat X3.  After the first set an audible was called to go to 15 each and then 10 each on the next two sets.  (Time was running out and we wanted to get them all accomplished).  We ended up getting through the second set when it was time to return for COT.

COT

  • Bandcamp has a friend coming in next week, his second F3 workout, and will be leading the warm up.  Please come to The Hive next week to support these guys.
  • UHAUL has his VQ, I believe Wednesday.
  • Prayers for safe travels this week.

I appreciate the opportunity to lead, it was a lot of fun and a  great group!

Thank you Bandcamp!

 

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