Stroll Around Town

The weather was warm in the metropolis of Fort Mill this morning.  Five men showed up for the workout.  Disclaimer complete, we headed out of the parking lot to the Town Hall for warm-ups:

SSH, Imperial Walkers, Moroccan Night Clubs, Windmills, Plank Stretches.

Next, we headed to the center of town.  We stopped for 1 minute of good form merkins and toe taps on the curb.  We continued our tour to the bottom of the street.  In cadence squats to catch our breath before climbing the stairs to Millstone Park.  In the parking lot, we completed 1 minute of good form Carolina Dry Docks along with some abs exercises.

We headed back up the hill to Withers Street where the Minnow Pond pax were running around town.  We stopped at a set of stairs and did a series of leg exercises while one pax ran up and down the stairs.

Exercises:  Squats, Calf Raises, Lunges, and Jump Squats

We returned to our launch site and finished with lap around the parking lot. We completed 1.5 miles and lots of exercises.

Great job by all.

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My Navy Story

A gang of four converged at Pleasant Knoll middle for the third installment of Veteran’s month at the Ballroom.   Here is what they did:

The Thang:

YHC greeted the group and thanked them for coming out this morning.  After a quick disclaimer, we made a formation of 4 and moseyed to the parking on the side of the school.

In formation:

SSH x 20, windmill x15, IW x 15,  merkin x 10, Morrocan nightclub x 15, squat x 20, mountain climber x 15/hold/6″/regular/6″/regular/right arm, right leg high/left arm, left leg high/walk up to CDD x 15/regular/recover.  (all done while holding plank)

Form 2 pairs and do 50 yd sprints:  2 at 50%, 2 at 75%, 2 at 100%

Go back to formation for pushorama

10 regular merkins, rest 10s, 10 diamond merkins, rest 10s, 10 wide arm merkins, rest 10 sec, 10 CCD.  Rinse and repeat for total of 3 sets.

In formation, bearcrawl20 yds, sideways crawl 10 yds, backwards bearcrawl 20 yds, sideways crawl 10 yds

Form a single file and do an Indian run around the parking lot twice.   Mosey out of the lot and along the front driveway to a spot under one of the lights for some mini-Mary:

Big boy situps x 15, Freddie Mercury x 15, American hammer x 15

COT

NMM:

When Triple Lindy asked me to represent the Navy during Veteran’s month, I told him there surely there was a better person out there to represent the Navy than me.  Honestly,  I never really considered self a true Navy veteran because  I served just about 18 months and was in school the whole time.   I never felt worthy being grouped together with others who have actually served their country, particularly those who served in a time of war.   As it turned out, though, I was the only guy he knew who was in the Navy, so I told him I would gladly do it.

As we worked through the exercises this morning, I paused several times to tell them about my experiences when I joined the Navy in college,  and my16 weeks at Officer Candidate School.  One of the things I remembered vividly was was when I was saying goodbye to my family and getting ready to drive to Newport, RI from Ohio.  My dad, who was not an emotional man, gave me a big hug and just broke down sobbing.  I think it was a mixture of pride and maybe fear for what I was about to do.  I lived at home while attending school and this was my first time away from home.

Upon arriving at OCS, after a friendly check-in by an admin officer, I was met by a senior student and told to ‘face the bulkhead.’  For the next week,  the ‘Indocs’ (junior students), were put through a series of mind games, semi-verbal abuse, physical challenges, horrible personal hygiene (1 minute to shower and shave),  all coupled with total exhaustion from the lack of sleep.  For a few folks, Indoc week was too much and they dropped out (one guy had to be put in the brigg for insubordination).  For the rest of us, we were relieved to be finished, but we still had 15 weeks to go.

I told the group that the recruiters did not prepare me (or many others, I suspect) for OCS (a little heads up about Indoc week would have been helpful).    I did very little to prepare and arrived there not in the best physical shape.  I couldn’t pass the standard required for push-ups and sit-ups so had to attend extra PE sessions at an ungodly hour of the morning (about same time that I have gotten up for F3 the past 9 years -haha).   Time was the enemy and it seemed that every waking hour was filled with either school, studying for tests, having a watch, or getting ready for inspections.   I was not used to that and struggled sometimes to get everything done.   Time management is still not one of my strong suits.   I can’t say I enjoyed OCS, but I came away from it a better man and with a long-lasting friend.  JP Tennant was the first guy I met during Indoc week and we still keep in touch.

After graduating from OCS, I went to the Nuclear Power School in Orlando, FL where my Naval career would end, unfortunately.    It was a really tough school academically and I struggled from the start before eventually flunking out.  I had to option to stay in the Navy in another capacity,  or go to inactive reserves which is what I opted to do.  As a 22-year-old kid, it felt like the right decision, but I shared with the group that it’s one decision that I regret.

I had not thought about OCS in a long, long time and as I prepared for this Q, it was petty cool to go back and think about that time 34 years ago (man, I’m getting old).  It was also fun to share my story with Triple Lindy, Assasin, and Bitcoin.  Thanks for listening, guys and I hope you got your money’s worth this morning.

Announcements:  read the newsletter

Prayers and Praises:   Triple Lindy’s wife (wrist injury), ST’s friend Joe with Cancer, Cornerstone with a kidney stone.

 

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Why run at Clydesdale’s?

No no no.  It was a Y run loop at Clydesdale’s.  Run to the YMCA take the trail, turn left at road, turn right at the fountain and up the hill to Sutton and run down the hill.  Right at QT and back to Starbucks.  Rinse and repeat until you are tired.  We had 12 in total with a sighting of Dungaree doing 13mi. for a training run.  Why I ask?

COT and outta there.

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What State Is This Tomahawk?

A few weeks back, I agreed to Q at the old Tomahawk and somehow I agreed to Q at Mint Hill on the same day, but as I never got confirmation from my brothers in Mint Hill, Tomahawk won the day.

I’ve learned to keep things simple but simple doesn’t mean the workout will be easy.  We took a stab at the old ladder methodology with kettlebells and it went something like this:

COP – Typical warmup thang.

The ladder goes like this:

20 – Swings
20 – Goblet Squats
20 – Merkins
20 – Tricep Extensions
20 – LBC’s
20 – Curls
20 – Skull Crushers
20 – Calf Raises
20 – American Hammer
* Run a lap after each round.

Once round one is complete, step up to 25 reps and then 30 with each repeat.

Mutiny was in the Pax eyes, so we didn’t get to try out round four and after a bit of broga and stretching we called it a day.

Thanks for the opportunity 3D and Polaroid to lead.

Great job 3D stepping up to be sight Q at Tomahawk.

Make today a great day and make the world a better place because you’re in it.

DT out.

 

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Mile High at The Fort

First off- Cobains to Bonsai for this trady BB.  The beatdown was on point.

A hearty crew began strolling in around 6:20 with headlamps both running and car with much excitement and anticipation.  Plenty of jokes going around as I brought my 2.0 that now towers over me by about 5 inches.  Par for the course.  Dont know if this was Milehigh’s first Q at the Fort but he easily stepped up to the plate.  There were a handful of pre rucks and pre runs from PAX accelerating their #King.  Fishsticks ran all the way from Tom Brady’s back yard which was about 7 miles.

Milehigh took the reigns first and led the PAX on a mosey run around the park and then off campus for a circle of pain with standard issue but equally difficult warm ups.  DORA was the name of his game and MH extended to 4 rounds of 100 merkins, 200 Carolina Dry Docks, 300 Squats, 400 LBC aggregate between your partner.  P1 runs up the grassy cliff, bangs out 5 more merkins and tries not to be a rolling wheel of cheese on the way down.  Festifun (from Rock Hill) came in guns blazing and was big on the #pickupthesix encouragement that #teamHYDE had fallen to #DFL.

Handoff to YHC and with no words really planned have been struck and moved by the acceleration of Mile High in fitness, fellowship and his faith.  7 months in and he’s running the yeti, leading workouts, understanding accountability and seeing the virtues of shield lock.  AYE!

AYG up the hill for a partner series of wheelbarrow, carries then toe lunges and burpee broadjumps #crowdpleaser.

Finished out with 2 teams of tunnel of love and finally seal team situps.  Indian run back to home.

  • Geronimo is F3.  King is locked in, always welcoming and a magnet for anybody
  • No one knows exactly why DOAH wore his reflector vest during the workout.  but he stayed safe, so goal attained.
  • Kernel(14 yo 2.0) took it on the chin well and kept up with his old man despite YHC being able to fit in his pocket
  • Lutifisk is looking lean and mean- aye brother keep up the King/Queen
  • When did we start naming ppl after the bad roads in Fort Mill- Pothole and Asphalt?
  • Tesh kept his shirt on but he was conflicted
  • Finally- those who played in the grass the second half, truly get the original Fort. Skin fungi be damned.

AYE!

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The Thing.

YHC’s first ever KB Q!!

A brief warmup: 25 SSH, 20 Squats, A run, stretching and 10 Turkish Get Ups – mostly because YHC likes saying this

Extended Dora:

  • 100 snatches
  • 100 curls
  • 100 KB Swings
  • 300 Goblet Squats

Wrap Up – 20 flutters follwed by :05 of Jim Eubanks hip flexor work!

Moleskin:  are we really encouraging those that are different from us?  Or we only offering enouragement to those like ourselves?

 

It was an honor and privilege to lead!!!

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A not So slow Burn

There was perfect weather for 29 PAX that came out for YHC third Q. I wasn’t feeling extremely confident because my first two attempts at Qing were less than stellar and this was a large turnout. After spending some quality time earlier this week coming up with what I thought would be a not-so-moderate workout I took a deep breath, said a little prayer and got busy.

The Thang

We started promptly at 5:15 with a welcome to my first FNG, the disclaimer and then we moseyed down the hill to the parking lot across from Lowe’s for some stretching.

COP:

Broga (toe touches, elbow lifts, leg stretches)

Hillbilly walkers x 25

Cherry pickers x 15

Windmills x 15

Moroccan night clubs x 25

Side straddle hops x 25

Burpees x 5

After the warmup was done we moseyed to the parking lot behind Lowe’s where the real fun began. We partnered up and started with a round of Dora 1-2-3s.

Parking lot runs and….

100 Merkins

200 LBCs

300 Overhead claps

We threw in an extra parking lot run for good luck and knocked out another 5 burpees before moseying to the parking lot in front of Empire Pizza.

COP:

Imperial walkers x 20

Low slow squats x 25

Hello dollies x 25

Burpees x 5

Moseyed back for CoT and had a little time to fit in 25 American hammers, 20 monkey humpers and more broga before calling it quits.

CoT:

Count-o-rama

Name-o-rama

FNG – My coworker and good friend, Gary Del Toro, was welcomed and almost immediately dubbed “Strawberry” because of the Mets t-shirt he was wearing. Later in the morning at work he said he really enjoyed meeting everyone and definitely planned on coming back.

Announcements

Praises and Prayer Requests

It was a great group of HIMs that definitely made me stronger mentally and physically, I hope I returned the favor. Thanks Smithers for the chance to lead!!

Barney Fife

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Carport Broga at Footloose

We had 16 pax brave the weather which ended up not being an issue.  After a brief intro and disclaimer we took a short mosey to the first carport at church #1.  Broga was the warmup for our first stop.  The pax was introduced to cat call and pigeon stretches.  Another mosey on to the second carport behind FBC.  We continued broga with some more leg stretches and arm stretches.  Mulble chatter was becoming an issue so I threw in set of burpees.  It got quiet quick.  Mosey to our next stop at the upper parking lot of  COG.  A couple of more warmup sets with merkins and peter parkers.  Finished up the broga with some upward dogs and walked the dog.  More burpees then our final mosey to the meat and potatoes.

Before diving in pax got a short switzer on #getinthegame.  Referred back to the invergence and the service opportunities with CAH, paradise GFit and reading opportunities.  Find out your spiritual gifts and put them into action.

On to the main event.  A couple of rounds of 1/2 parking lot of toy soldiers, knee grabs and lunges then run the other have of lot and back.  I asked pin up if he cracked a sweat yet.  He said no.  Wrong answer.  Ran the whole lot that time up and back.  Not much chatter after that.

We did a pax choice DORA. 100 Merkins, 200 Moroccan night clubs, 300 LBC’s and 400 squats.  The Pax partnered up and alternated run across parking lot while partner worked on exercise.  By the time we got to the squats we had to call an Omaha.  Ended up doing 200 squats and 200 monkey humpers.  More burpees in there somewhere.

Mosey back to COT for a little mary and wrapped up the burpees. Ended up with 33 in total.

Thanks Beacon for the opportunity.  Always a good group at Footloose!

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8 men joined YHC for a muggy kettlebell event.

Warm-up

All exercises here were in cadence.

  • 25 -SSH
  • 10 Burpees in honor a latecomer
  • 15 – Imp walker
  • 15 – Hillbilly walker
  • 10 – Merkin
  • 20 – Arm circles
  • 20 – MNC
  • Mosey halfway around the lot

The Thang

Partner Dora

  • Round 1
    • 100 curls (switch arms halfway) / partner carry Bell for run for first round
    • 150 upright rows
    • 200 Calf raises
  • Round 2
    • 50 Big boy sit ups / partner NUR+jog
    • 100 American hammer / partner shuffles
    • 150 Goblet Squat / partner sprint+jog
  • Mosey back to the COT
  • Pass the Dutchy(Bell pass), several rounds
  • Finished with 10-20 burpees as time allowed.

Great push men. YHC was definitely winded. Glad to have the honor to suggest a few workouts for you fine gentlemen. I look forward to next time.

Peabody reminded us to reach out to encourage those who are injured or can’t/haven’t posted. Think of that PAX in your life who needs a call or a nudge of support.

River Rat out…

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High Rep Blast

I was honored to lead these 12 Pax for a high rep kettle bell blast.

Warm Up:

We started off with a slow mosey to include High Knees, Butt Kickers, Side Shuffle, and Karoke.  From there we circled up and continued the warm up with Morrocan Night Clubs, Cherry Pickers, Small Arm Circles, Big Arm Circles, and Mountian Climbers.

Main Thing:

150 squats w upright row

200 Right Arm Shoulder Press

200 Left Arm Shoulder Press

100 Right Leg Dead Lift

100 Left Leg Dead Lift

100 Right Arm Chest Press

100 Left Arm Chest Press

100 Flutters

Annoucenments – Read your newsletter

Prayers and Praises – Prayers for those going thry mental and emotionla distress, seek help.   Continued prayers for our school leaders, kids, bus drivers, etc.   Praise for Uncle Cracker inviting Cakeboss to church many years ago.

 

 

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