Crossroads Discussion: Half In, Half Out

Good discussion this morning on being Half In, Half Out.  Working out with The Fort Nan’tan Monday allowed me an opportunity to benefit from words that while I was feeling them, was not articulating internally.  Plain speak- didn’t know how to put words to what I’ve been feeling lately until Cake Boss did it for me.  He spoke of victory but what resonated was being half in, half out.  Picture having one foot on the boat, one on the dock.

Continuing with that theme we dove into this at Crossroads this morning, a weekly coffee group where any topic that is on the Q’s mind can be batted around for fuller understanding.  If you haven’t been or are an infrequent attendee, consider making it more often.  Really good stuff happening here.

Half In/Half Out

  • What is it, to be all in?  What does it look like?
    • intentional
    • purpose
    • commitment
    • integrity

Focusing in here on the job, task, person here is vital.

  • What are some reasons for it/ why does it happen?
    • overwhelmed
    • Temporary weakness
    • paralyzed- so much to do, don’t know where to start so bail out on task or effort
    • lazy-

It could be men susceptible to this are hurting elsewhere and only committing “halfway” opens door to less accountability.  “If I fail or not as good, I only gave half effort anyway.”  Yet another way is “are these sad clown tendencies preventing me from fully engaging- enjoying life and all its ups and downs?”

  • Solutions
    • being self aware
    • acknowledge small victories and accomplishments
    • recommit- just do it
    • discuss- Spouse/partner, F3 men, Whetstone.
    • going through the process(Tesh)
    • Muscle Memory (Assassin, Twister)

Above are but a handful of opportunities that can lead to reengaging and dropping being half in/half out to be all in!

Couple of quick resources for thoughts associated

  • Lonely
    • Psalm 23
  • Weakness
    • Psalm 18:1-29
  • Direction
    • Psalm 73:21-26
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OG Launch at The Fort

13 pax posted at The Fort on a cool fall morning for the launch of Bonzai’s month of #OG Qs.  Decibel and YHC were honored to kick things off.  No FNGs on this morning, so with little delay we launched following a brief intro and Disclaimer.

The Thang (DD leading)

Warm up jog along the path, past the playground and to the grassy area along 160 by the WEP sign.

COP – IWs, SSH, Windmills, Merkins, Monkey humpers, Mtn climber, Peter Parkers, 10 burpees OYO

Line up even with the sign facing the street

Karaoke to first tree and back

Side shuffle to first tree and back

Run to far end of park near houses (4 trees away), accelerating pace at each tree.

Muster along the path facing with challenge to take the hill — bear crawl as far as possible toward hill on opposite end of field.  When gassed, rise and do 20 squats, then continue bear crawl, repeating as necessary until reaching bottom of hill.  Bear crawl to top of hill then do 10 burpees.  Run down hill and plank at the bottom.

Time for good old Jacobs Ladder — 7 burpees at top, 1 monkey humper at bottom.

Handoff to Decibel

Mosey to path at past statues at bottom of hill leading to soccer field…yes, more hills.

Run to top of hill, do 5 Three Merkin Burpees, run back to bottom, LBCs
(Repeat for total of 4 cycles changing ab moves at bottom each time and with last two series going all the way to gazebo)

Throw in some more abs and work at the bottom.

Mosey to playground for a partner series of runs around playground & exercises — Pull ups, dips, derkins, CDDs, LBCs (I think…YHC began to blackout at this point in the workout).

Circle up for some ab lab — some Boats & Canoes, Russian Hammers, & God knows what else (YHC gasping for air at this point).

Run home

COT

NMM

It was great to be among the pax for a 60-minute boot camp…what was probably my first since end of September.  And, yes,  I felt every bit of it during the workout, afterward and on Sunday and Monday.  I put the Twitter call out for #Sally on Fri night, but Decibel claimed that #Sally is not #OG vintage.  So instead he pummeled the pax with hills and Three Merkin Burpees.  Never thought I would say I missed #Sally.

Great effort by all the pax to endure a tough workout.   I am quite certain my oxygen deprived brain that morning and #Respect level memory missed some portion of Decibel’s Weinke from three weeks ago.  Trust me, I felt like it was Fall 2012 all over again given my recent absence due to personal and business travels.

Hanging tough throughout were three inspirational pax — Little John (War Daddy at 68 yo), Zildjian, a relatively recent arrival who I met for the first time and Mile High, a long timer who I saw back in the gloom for first time after some time out on IR for a while.  Well done, brothers!

Shout out to Senator Tressell whose status on IR kept him from leading at The Fort this month.  He and his #OG leadership were sincerely missed.

Thanks Decibel for a great co-Q and for his continued energetic leadership among the pax some 5 years into this adventure.

Finally, thanks to Bonzai for the invite and for his leadership of The Fort AO.  You are keeping it strong, as it should always be!

 

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BackBlast from The Hive Jam Session – 11-17-17

10 men joined YHC for a BYOB Jam Session to celebrate the end of a long week at The Hive.

Mosey around the parking lot to get everyone warmed up on this brisk AM.

Warmup:

  • 30 Side straddles
  • 5 burpees
  • 30 squats
  • 10 4 count windmills

VQ Squeaky gets voluntold to lead a couple warmup exercises.

  • 10 4 count merkins
  • 10 4 count mountain climbers
  • 5 burpees OYO

Grab your bell and head to The Thang…

The Thang:

YHC brought some classic rock to fire us up and smooth country to slow us down while did some interval Tabata training with a special focus on legs…and beating the tar out of the PAX.

30 seconds AMRAP, 10 seconds rest (several rounds, give or take in this order):

  • Goblet squats
  • Left leg lunge
  • Right leg lunge
  • Burpees
  • Jump squats
  • Bombjacks
  • LBCs
  • Burpees
  • Side lunge left leg
  • Side lunge right leg
  • Protractor
  • Flutter

We went round and round for a while, enjoyed Pandora’s best and the company of the sweaty PAX around us.

COT

Announcements

  • Christmas Party
  • Thanksgiving Convergence
  • Turkey Drop tomorrow!

Prayers & Praises

  • plenty of praises from all PAX
  • special prayers for young friend of Socrates with cancer & family member of Whitewater involved in car accident

Last word – focus less on the stress caused by being busy and more on the opportunity that God has given you that is making you busy.

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Bags for Beds

The PAX of F3 the Fort are being called on to support a local effort to help the less fortunate. This particular campaign, however, requires no (real) time to contribute to and will cost you NOTHING. But the impact you will make is a powerful one.

The “Falcons Give Back” club at Nation Ford High School is collecting lots of supplies to help various organizations in need throughout the year. Right now, they are in desperate need of plastic grocery bags. These bags are “hand woven” together to create matting that is used for bedding by the homeless. That’s right. Bedding for the homeless. This is a simple act that can give less fortunate community members a little more comfort.

The Deal :   We will be collecting clean plastic bags (no spilled milk or hamburger juice, please) at each workout, beginning on Monday 11/13 and concluding at the Thanksgiving convergence. Site Q’s (or a designated PAX member) will collect at each workout. I will coordinate pick-up. We don’t need a few guys bringing a ton of bags.  We need a ton of guys bringing whatever they have. Clean out from under your kitchen sink! Aye!

11/13-11/23

Be “That Guy”!!

Beacon

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The Hive 2017.45

So I wasn’t the real Q of this one but I’ll write it up.   Truthfully, I’ve been slacking on my worshipplanning.com duties.  So we improvised with a few different PAX providing thoughful inspiration for activities to perform.

Warmup was me
SSH x25, Toy soldiers x10, Merkins x10, Mountain climbers x10, Peter Parkers x10, Merkins x5

Geronimo
Turkish Getups x5 each side
(There was something else, but all I remember is feeling glad nobody was watching.  I probably should practice this movement…)

Airborne
Wall sits with toes up 30ish seconds, squats x10 repeat 3x
(I think he did something else, but i have a vivid memory of my quads a burning and everything else seems like a blur.)

Assassin
Curls, Clean-Press, Russian twist repeat x3
Halo’s, around the world, Stephen curry, KB Swings x3

8 Minutes left so Airborne did the glutus medius exercise… that’s always humbling.
2 minutes left, so we did Flutters until time ran out.

Stones got to sit this one out, cause he helped me last week.  Good work by all!  Next time I’ll schedule an official Q.

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4 Corners at the Ballroom

We had 22 PAX at the Ballroom for some 4 corners work.  We took a short mosey with some toy soldiers and high knees thrown in there and headed toward the back parking.  Before starting out we had a brief intro on the theme of the month Victory. YHC challenged the PAX to think of where you are seeking victory.  The place where we most need victory is in our relationship with Christ.  With that seed planted we started our COP with COP consisted of SSH, windmills, Moroccan knight clubs, Merkins and a few Yoga exercises.

Now on to the meat and potatoes.  Did I say we were doing 4 corners? Yeah, I thought so.  In each corner there was a list of 4 exercises.  Make a lap for each # return to the middle for 5 burpees or bomb-jacks.  The 4 rounds were as follows:

15 Reps. for each exercise:

  1. LBC’s, Flutters, Hello Dolly’s, and American Hammers
  2. Calf Raises, lunges, Sumo Squats, and regular Squats
  3. Peter Parkers, Mtn. Climbers, SSH, Parker Peters
  4. Shoulder Taps, John Travolta’s, CDD’s, and Merkins

Back to the center for some encouragement on victory.

20 Reps for each exercise:

  1. LBC’s, Flutters, Hello Dolly’s, and American Hammers
  2. Peter Parkers, Mtn. Climbers, SSH, Parker Peters

Mossy back to COT.  We ended up doing 10 additional for a “That’s what she said comment” although no one owned up to it.  The ballroom moderate ended up being not so moderate. Didn’t hear any complaints.  Thanks for the opportunity!

Bass-o-Matic

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10 at Varsity for some kettle bell fun and 2 sprints.

Disclosure, No FNGs

 

Warmup:

SSH, Merkins, Low Slow Squat, and Hillbilly Walker

 

Partners

-1 runs a lap

-1 lifts a kettlebell

-Overhead Press -right arm

-Lawn Mower – right arm

-Overhead Press – left arm

-Lawn Mower – left arm

-Curls – right arm

-Tri Extension

-Curls – left arm

-Tri Extension

-Snatch -right arm

-Dead Lift

-Snatch – left arm

-Dead Lift

 

Everyone on line.  Lunges with kettle bell pass thru until thighs quiver.  Then drop the kettlebell and sprint to the end of the parking lot.  X 2

Slow Mosey to the Wall.  10 count for each PAX,  wall sits with the bell.  Who had to be the one who says “arms straight out”.

Balls to the Wall, 5 count for each PAX.

Slow Mosey to COT for Mary.

-American Hammer, V Ups with the Bell. LBCs with the bell, Hello Dolly with the bell

 

Discussion of Victory.  Pursuit of Excellence.

Prayers for our country based on all the recent tragedies, including the latest in Texas.

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Block Party at Block Party

The last day of October, Halloween and the last day of the month of  respectables at Block Party saw the delivery of blocks.  Concrete blocks.  30 lb blocks.

The Thang

A brief warm up:  Lunge Stretch, 25 SSH & Imperial Walkers

The crew then picked up their coupons as well as their complaints and proceeded around the the park stopping at each drill bit for:

  1. 20 curls and 20 LBCs
  2. 20 Prone Presses and 20 LBCs
  3. 20 Upright Rows and 20 LBCs
  4. 20 Squats and 20 LBCs
  5. 20 Lawnmower pulls each arm and 20 LBCs
  6. 20 Overhead Presses and 20 LBCs

Since this was clearly not enough fun, the crew moved to the hill next to COT.   With coupon half way up the hill for 20 curls and all the way up for 20 prone presses. Rinse and repeat about 3 times.

This is the moleskin, and it is important.  God is clearly in control.  At the same time we MUST do our part.  We cannot sit idly by, pray and hope for the best.  We must recognize God’s speaking and His words to us – and then we must act in accordance with His will.

I was honored to lead at this AO.  Thank you to all the PAX who were there.

 

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