CSPAN Send off Convergence

141 Men came to show the Respectable**CSPAN** some Respect!!

He leaves The Fort and heads north or as Dredd refers to Yankee land. Not gone forever but just up the road 600 miles to start a new chapter in life and in F3 as he will launch F3Philly.

I am not the most eloquent with my back-blasts and I am usually to the point with posting the workout, add some words and being done, however since I can’t get Italian Job to write this up and Double D challenged the PAX to think of one word to represent CSAPN, I think that is the best way to document this convergence.

Thank you CSPAN for being all of these things and more to you r brothers in the PAX. As posted on Twitter and many of these were repeated multiple times:

brother
camaraderie
commitment
confidence
connected
consistent
courageous
dedicated
empathetic
example
genuine
handsome
HIM
honorable
humble
humility
impact
influence
influencer
insightful
inspiration
integrity
investor
legend
magnanimous
model
respect
selfless
servant
shepherd
solid
squaredaway
steadfast
steady
wise

The Workout looked like this:

WWL at the Q:

  • Mosey around the lot
  • Line up; karaoke, side shuffle, high knees, butt kickers, toy solders, lungewalk, power skips
  • COP
    • SSH, squat, merkin, moroccan night club, 10 Flying squirrels
Double D at the Q:
  • Run to practice field
  • Plank sequence
  • Split into 2 groups on each sideline
  • Sprint to center and back to sideline
  • Monkey humpers x25
  • Rinse + repeat with Merkins x 25
  • CDDs x25
  • Burpees x25
Longshanks at the Q:
  • Burpees
  • Lunges
  • Inch worm Merkins
  • Maktar Ndiayes
  • Plank Jacks
  • Squats.

Dredd at the Q:

  • Prayer for CSPAN
  • Merkin/Ab Lab series
  • Truth Nuggets and Leadership development with Major Payne, Wegmans, & Drop Thrill
  • Mosey to hill behind Bob Jones Stadium
  • Prayer for CSPAN heading to F3Philly…..”CSPAN Coming”
  • More Merkin/Ab lab series

COT:

141 Count, Name O’rama, 2 FNGs (Bikini & Manzel), Skinny Jeans pray out over CSPAN and his IMPACT on men and for Sky Q’s kingdom.

TClap |
104

BEYOND – Discussion on Perseverance

Cobains for the late BB, but wanted to make sure that YHC got it out in the ether. First off, thanks to Maximus for the Q. When asked to Q Beyond, it does bring with it a deep message or at least reflection for the Q, and hopefully, YHC did Beyond a service by bringing an impactful message to the PAX. 14 of us descended upon Block Party in near perfect conditions for a message on Perseverance. We started as usual gathered around the entrance to WEP and had plenty of 2nd F prior to the WO.

Read the definition of Persistence and asked the PAX to think of a situation in their life where they had to persevere.

noun
1. steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.
2. Theology. continuance in a state of grace to the end, leading to eternal salvation.

With that, we were off with a mosey to left along the path until we came upon the hill towards the back of WEP. We circled up for a nice warm up. Warm up consisted of some usual merkins, planks, peter parkers, mountain climbers, parker peters, CDDs, squats, and windmills…probably not in that order.

Next up, with the hill looking unused and lonely, we had to make sure she felt appreciated. So the PAX lined up and we did elevens of Burpees and Squats with a run up the hill in between. That was a little longer than projected on the wienke, so modifed the next set to sevens of Merkins and Bombjacks with a bearcrawl up and a backward bearcrawl on the way down.

James 1:12
12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

Mosied to the playground. Partnered up.

Partner 1 did pull ups / Partner 2 ran the loop and flapjacked. We did this with chin ups next, then toes to bar, then knees to elbow.

Perspective – Think about whether we are standing still or in motion. We are moving at about 1000 MPH compared to the earth center, or 67kMPH from the sun’s perspective. We are not standing still, even if we feel like we are. We are heading in a direction even if we feel like we are standing still, that may face obstacles, but with perseverance and our brotherhood within F3, we can and will overcome the challenges that we each face.

Still partnered up, 20 partner Merkins.

20 Seal Sit Ups

5 Junk yard dogs.

Mosey back to COT.

Proverbs 3:5-6   

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 

6in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

COT.

 

Prayers for family, CSPANs new adventure, prayers for courage.

TClap |
1

Lovely Trees and Grass

7 Pax weren’t scared off by Jekyll’s twitter warnings that there would be lots of pain and grass (and most assuredly not the dry kind).  Weather was low 70’s and humid. Speculation swirled that the low attendance was due to F3Dads camp and the “Run Your A– Off August” contingent that had likely posted to TheYard.  But what we lacked in quantity, we more than made up for in quality of Pax.
YHC had the first half, so I issued the disclaimer and then asked everyone close their eyes for a brief period of time.  Upon opening, pax were remind that the word of the month is “presence”, and to think about where their mind was during the 30 seconds of eyes being closed.  Did their mind stay present, in the here-and-now?  Or where they thinking about the past, or the future, or just some other place or problem?
We moseyed to one of the Spring parking lots for some warmup:
  • SSH x25
  • Mountain Climbers x15
  • Dips x10
  • Peter Parkers x10
Mosey to row of trees across 160 (beside old 21).  Pax found a small stack of cones at the “first” tree, and we stopped there for a few moments.  YHC discussed more on “presence”.  The exercises with the trees went as follows.  By the way, YHC stole this idea from CSPAN who did this about 3 years ago at this same location (and a different topic).
  • Top cone pick from stack.
  • Pax held Al Gore while YHC read a question regarding “presence” (from the word of the month document).
  • Exercise read from the cone and pax performed one rep of the exercise at the first tree
  • Pax ran to 2nd tree and did 2 reps, then 3rd tree (3 reps), 4th tree (4 reps), and so on.
  • At 12th tree, after 12 reps done, pax planked until 6 arrived.
  • Together we ran back to the first tree.
We repeated thru 4 exercises before we ran out of time.  Here where the exercise and question pairs.
  1. Flying Squirrels – What memories do you have of your parents and your time with them? Were they fully present? How did their presence or lack thereof make you feel?
  2. Squats – Do you have any memories of a special person in your life that was fully present? How did that person make you feel?
  3. Crab Jacks – What distracts you most from being present?
  4. Run Stance Switch – How have you learned to be more present in your relationships? What have you learned about being present with God?
Quick follow up thoughts about “presence”, then hand off to Jekyll.
Mosey back to WEP, to the bottom of the hill famous for ladders, so that we could do….(drumroll please) some ladders.  But first, we did a review of the 5 core principles.  Just for fun, Jekyll had us do 5 burpees after the first principle recited, then 4 after the 2nd, 3, after the 3rd, then 2, then 1, and then back to 5 burpees.
The ladder work then began:
  1. Ladder 1: Squats and Donkey Kicks (to/from 11) with normal run up and down hill
  2. Ladder 2: LBCs and Merkins (to/from 7) with uphill run being backwards
  3. Ladder 3: pax choice:  American Hammers (thanks Mary Lou) and Bomb Jacks (thanks BandCamp) (to/from 7) with uphill climb being bear crawls
And just when we thought we were all completely smoked, Jekyll wrapped it up with 3 rounds of Makhtar N’Diayes (10x, 10x, 15x), with plank series in between each set.
Naked Man Moleskin
Very strong showing by all pax today. As I mentioned at the workout and on Twitter following, Jekyll did not let up as we neared the end of the workout.  Rather, with 5 minutes left, he gathered us to encourage a strong finish.  It certainly was not what any of us wanted to hear, but it’s what we needed to hear, and we are all better for it.
Long Shanks earned extra credit by running in and running out to the workout.  The workout mileage itself was north of 2.5 miles according to Strava.  T-claps also goes to Youts for digging deep to finish strong.
TClap |
7

Walk Like an Egyptian

5 PAX joined YHC in the early morning for a bag of mixed eggs. Unsure of how the Q had prepared for, we got right to it at 0515.

The Warm-up: all IC

  • SSH
  • Al Gore Nightclub- Hold Air Squat like normal Al Gore, but do Moroccan Night Clubs during
  • Fly Sun Gods- forward bend at waist, one leg straight back, doing arm circles
  • Chinook – Overhead arm cirlces
  • Peter Parkers

I wanted to get the PAX to the loop in front of the Middle School but didn’t want to just plain mosey there. If anyone knows me, I like to torture the PAX with lunges. The last time at The Ranch, we did 300 yards of lunges. Now I’m not sure how far the distance was to get there but I heard about “Walk Like an Egyptian” It’s an Indian Run style way to get there but instead of running, you hold a lunge on the right leg while the last PAX jailbreaks to the front. Once he gets to the front, switch and hold a left lunge until the last PAX jail breaks to the front. According to my rudimentary post-it note method of measuring the distance off the computer screen, it was around 1400 feet, or just over one-quarter of a mile.

Once there, we partnered up, and the PAX were told to hold their partners accountable for the reps they were performing. All PAX completed 25 reps of the exercise while their partner completed the same number of reps and they ran a lap around the bus loop. The exercises were, and in no particular order, are as follows:

  • Dips
  • Squats
  • Calf Raises
  • CDD
  • Flutters

There may have been others but you get the general consensus of it.  We did a couple of other exercises together over there before heading back to COT for some Mary and one final egg up my sleeve, if you will.

MARY- the last exercise I wanted to treat the PAX to is called Hands of Time. I saw the men of F3 Chicago doing something that looked fun on a news cast and was fortunate enough to find out what is was by reading through the website.

Hands of Time- PAX lay on their 6 in a circle with heads towards the center. Legs are raised at 90 degrees and 1 PAX jumps up, and throws the feet down of all the PAX in a circle. The PAX have to prevent their legs from touching the ground and hold their legs just off the ground until all the PAX have their legs thrown down. We repeated this until everyone had the opportunity to run around the circle, throwing down the legs.

Jiff also taught us a different exercise, the Elbow Plank Knee Taps. That one is pretty self explanatory.

Thank you to Jiffy for the opportunity to lead the PAX.

Wegmans-

TClap |
2

Opening Presence at the Coop

It was a special morning the Coop this morning because the rain moved out and left a nice humid sometimes breezy morning in the gloom.  15 men joined us this morning and Shinguard started out with the mosey, warm up and Jacobs Ladder

The Message:

Moving from Impact to Presence really isn’t that different because the two ideas are only a couple degrees of separation from one another. This morning we talked about being present with God, with yourself and with your family.  Understanding that we can only experience God in the present, we have to be aware of where our mind is and be present with ourselves and finally be present with our families and understand their needs and serve them where they are not where we want them to be.

The THANG!

Shinguard moseyed us out of the disclaimer toward the band parking lot with some butt kickers, high knees and karaoke along the way.

Circle up in the parking lot for some COP with the following:

  • SSH x 30, Merkins x20, Squats x20, Moroccan Night Clubs x30, Peter Parkers x10, Parker Peters x 12

Mosey to the lower parking lot for Jacobs Ladder between the two light posts.

  • 7 Burpees at the bottom and 1 squat at the top (working down to one and up to 7 with each lap)

Then Chicken Hawk took the reins and took us back to the band parking lot for some sprints.

  • 10, 20, 30 yard suicides
  • 30, 20, 10 yard suicides
  • 100 yard 50%; 100 yard 100%
  • Bear Crawl 5 – 1 CCD, 5 more 2CCD, etc up to 50 yards and 10 CCD

Mosey to Bermuda Triangle in front of the school

  • Round 1: 20 Merkin, 20 Squat, 20 LBC with Bear Crawls in between
  • Round 2: 20 Wide Arm Merkins, 20 Jump Squats, 20 High Low Flutter
  • Round 3: 20 diamond merkins, 20 Jumping Lunges, 20 Ski Jumps

Short Mosey to the wall

  • Wall Sit while 2×2 plate push down parking lot and back
  • Balls to the wall
  • Finish with Ab Lab.

It was a special morning and I can’t express enough gratitude with being able to post with by 2.0 and lead side by side with him.  Thank you of the Pax that are accepting and encouraging to Shinguard.  This summer is having an impact in my and his life.  Aye!

CH

TClap |
5

The Time is Now

5 pax posted to Block Party to put a final stamp on July 2018 with a dose of swampy pain.  Thanks to Site Q, Shady, YHC had the distinct pleasure of helping them meet their goals.

The Thang

Mosey up Stairway to Heaven and turn toward the soccer field.

SURPRISE!  For those pax not in the know, be aware that Fort Mill Parks & Rec has turned the soccer field above WEP into the perfect site for a future CSAUP Cage Match with the installation of a stout, black 10-foot chain link fence with locked gates.  This will take Jiu Jitsu to a whole new level!

OMAHA! OMAHA!

Circle up by gazebo for warm-up

COP — IWs x10, Hillbilly walker x10, Mtn climber x10, Merkin x10, Parker Peter x10, Windmill x10, Seal jacks x10

Mosey to the drill bit at the top of the hill near Red Dragon

Run to bottom of hill + 10 Burpees OYO + run back to top of hill
(repeat for 5 cycles)

Plank sequence

Mosey on path away from home to next drill bit

COP — SSH x10, Bombjacks x10, Plank jacks x10

Mosey to playground

Pull ups x10 + LBCs x20

Pull ups x10 + Freddy Mercurys x20

Pull ups x10 + Flutters x20

Mosey to next drillbit

COP — Mahktar N’Dyae x10, Shoulder taps x10, John Travolta x10

Mosey to next drill bit

COP — Jumping lunges x10, Sumo squat x100

Mosey to next drill bit

Sprint to playground & back to path + run to light poll at top of hill (headed toward soccer field) & back to path
(AMRAP until finish)

Mosey home

COT

Naked man moleskin

Thanks to the pax for a zealous effort on a very muggy morning!  Chicken Hawk put a real exclamation point on the morning with his choice of bear crawls up the long hill in the last segment — STRONG, brother! Even inspired Kielbasa and Band Camp to join in for that extra agony.

Thanks to Jekyll for his Board of Pain inspiration.  Mumble chatter among the pax started pre-launch, touching on BOP, so I couldn’t resist but throw a large batch of burpees and hill running into the mix in the early going.  Needless to say, that got the hearts beating and the brows dripping.

The theme for the workout was TIME.  It’s a four-letter word with so many meanings and uses I can’t even keep track.  Time is the most valuable non-renewable resource.  It moves fast and slow.  It can be short or long.  The briefest moment can have an eternal impact.  The smallest instant repeated over and over can make a very large impact.  How is time playing it’s role in your life?  Where do you need to speed up?  Where do you need to slow down?  “Slow” has been a recurring theme for me for many weeks…I need to slow down waaayyyy more often than I need to speed up…how about you?  Regardless of all the thoughts, concerns, worries, regrets, plans we have around time, the only time that truly matters is NOW.  Think about Time.  And make Now matter.

Thanks to Shady for the invite.  Always a treat to lead, especially at Ground Zero aka WEP!

TClap |
3

Board of Pain Week 4

12 came out for the final week of the Board of Pain.  T-claps to Jekyl for bringing this back!  It is a great test to see where you at and everyone pushed incredibly hard today.  It was good to have Aquaman back in the fold and no surprise that he and Topham were out in front today with River Rat just slightly behind.  Looking forward to it again next summer.

The Thang:
Finish each exercise before moving on to the next. After each exercise is complete run out to first light pole and back.

  • Burpees – 100
  • Calf Raises – 150 (50 regular, 50 toes pointed in, 50 toes pointed out)
  • Ski Abs – 100
  • Merkins – 100 – Soprano (60)
  • Deep Squats – 100
  • LBCs – 200 – Norm (90)
  • Carolina Dry Docks – 100 – Barry Manilow (C)
  • Russian Twists – 100 – Manifold (30), Band Camp (77), Anchorman (53), Lil E (12), Trucker (???), Taz (C)
  • Mac Tar Jai– 100
  • Jump Squats – 100 – Sir Topham Hat (C), Aquaman (C), River Rat (1)
  • Mountain Climbers – 100
  • Shoulder Raises – 200
  • Mary Catherines – 100
  • Hello Dolly – 200
  • Wide Arm Merkins – 100
  • Squat Jacks – 100
  • Nippler– 100
  • Burpees – 100
TClap |
0

Block Party Starfish

3 PAX posted in the pre-indepence day gloom. 5:15 came and no assigned Q emerged, so we banded (no pun intended) together for a rotational beat down. YHC (Band Camp) took the initial helm.

Mosey to Playground area for a Warmup

SSH 20
Imperial Walker 15
Hillbilly Walker 10
Plank
Shoulder Taps 10
Honeymooner
Down Dog
Plank
Merkin 10
Pullups 10

Mosey to Synergetic visitor lot

Training Wheels on Q

Wall sit

Twelvsies
1-Big boy sit-up
Jump the wall run to to top of the hill
11-jump squats
Repeat until
11-BBS
1-Jump Squat

Mosey to Synergetic circle
20 dips

Hustle on Q

Circuit

10 reps of:
Step ups
LBCs
Box Jumps
V Sit up
Merkin
LBCs
Derkin
V Sit up

5 reps of:
Step ups
LBCs
Box Jumps
V Sit up
Merkin
LBCs
Derkin
V Sit up

Mosey to Springs corporate center

BandCamp back on Q – muscles ups on the Springs wall x5

Brief cadence count demo

Hustle (who has not yet had his VQ) lead IW and Squat

Mosey COT

Mary rotation:

Box Cutter
Freddie Mercury
Alternating elbow to knee sit-ups

NMM:

The starfish organizational structure was on display this morning with the absence of an assigned Q. Everyone still got a sufficiently smoked and Hustle got some reps leading that might not have happened otherwise. T-Claps all around.

TClap |
1

3rd

6 Pax had an amazing time of fellowship this morning at The Block Party. Having a smaller group allowed each man to freely share what was on their minds. Today is Juneteenth and I am rejoicing! T-Claps to Band Camp for being knowledgeable and happy about Juneteenth. #TrueHIM

The thang:

Mosey to the Founders Bank parking lot on 160

COP: SSH (30x), IW (20x), WM (15x), Sumo Squats (15x), MC (20x), MCs (15x), LBCs (15x)

Mosey to the parking lot on top of the hill

Pain Stations:

Circle up, count by 4, each group goes to a corner

Pyramid Drill: At each station/corner, do Flying Squirrels, Donkey Kicks and George & Weezy’s in increments of 5 until we hit 15 repetitions then countdown to 5 as a group. Jog to each station.

Mosey to the curved parking lot along 160

Partner up. Partner Big Boy Sit Ups (15x for 2 rounds), Partner Ski Jumps (15x), Partner Leg Lifts (15x for 2 rounds), Partner Squats (15x for 2 rounds), Pepper Grinders (15x), Scorpions(15x)

Mosey to COT

Moleskin:

Today, we discussed our theme of impact. In order to have significant impact on others you must put others first. Put God first, others second and yourself third.

We say “I am third” and even wear that saying on our clothing. How often do we really put ourselves third? How often do we really help others without a selfish agenda?

There are daily opportunities to be third, like opening the door for someone. Be there when someone is struggling. Serve the poor instead of retreating to your privilege. Listen, actually listen, to someone else’s opposing perspective instead of impatiently looking for opportunities to prove they’re wrong and you’re right.

Peace,

Deacon

TClap |
9

Climb the Ladder

It was a glorious Friday in the gloom at FMHS parking lot.

Warm Up

Mtn Climbers IC X 25
Through the tunnel IC X 15
Down dog, Honeymooner
Imperial Walker IC X 15
KB Windmills
Get ups x 5 each side

The Thang

OYO
10 KB swings
1 KB Squat
1 Merkin
Repeat, adding 1 squat and 1 merkin each round but always 10 KB swings
5 rounds (50 swings, 15 squats, 15 merkins)

Flutter KB press, IC until the six is in.

Line up along the parking slot lines
KB pass through lunges to the next line of parking slots
10 curls each arm
Repeat for the rest of the parking lot (5 or 6 lines, not sure)

Switzer for pep talk on my KB journey in F3 and why I bring a 50 lb KB to workouts.

Retrieve more KBs from the darkness.

Starting with the 50 (max) arrange everyone’s KB in order until 15 (min). Min and max were both mine.

Pax lined up and starting with 15 lb performed 5 bent rows on each side.
13 KB in 5 lb increments from 15 to 50 (Tesh brought the 45, YES!).
As Pax completed the rows, return to the 15 lb to perform 10 goblet squats.
More math> 130 reps >Approximately 4120 lbs rowed by each.

As it often does, time interrupted before everyone could complete the full squat series.

NMM

The instructions on the KB ladder were to perform the exercise and move to the next weight until you encountered a weight sufficient to tap out. At that point, pull off to the side and work abs. After all of the pax were through the row series, there were exactly 0 pax that had tapped out. That’s right, guys that brought out the trusty 20 lb KB were lifting the 50. For all the reps! It wasn’t easy, I know, it’s not easy for me to lift the 50. I didn’t start with 50 almost 4 years ago. I started with a 20 and thought that would be the last KB I ever bought. I said the same thing each time I moved up in weight. Now here we are. I don’t think anyone is looking to get HUGE! out here, I’m not. When my neighbor needs a hand with the sleeper sofa going into the basement, I’ll be ready. When a widow from church needs some brush cleared, I’ll be ready. When a brother needs a shoulder, I’ll be ready. That’s what I push myself for.

I’m in training for life.

Thanks for the Pax that showed up today and put up with my shenanigans. Thanks Tesh for the opportunity to lead.

Geronimo!

 

 

TClap |
11