Find accountability in your life

YHC was called out of the bullpen to assist the originally scheduled Q – Crab Cakes since he was bi-coastal. Leading up to the morning WO, YHC struggled to figure out what to include in the weinke. The only thing that was a requirement was rugby sprints in honor of Crab Cakes. As I was pulling out the garage,  it dawned on me that each of the student parking rows at FMHS had numbers at the beginning identifying the row number. I couldn’t recall a WO utilizing those row numbers, so grabbed some chalk on the way out. However, as I was sitting in the car at the AO formulating the weinke, I found a deck of cards in the console and thought of Maximus’s infamous WOs. But I realized I should stick to the plan and be accountable for what I planned for. As we were all gathering around for the start, someone mentioned the pull up bars on site and Deacon said “there’s pulll up bars here?” Of course this peaked my interest (Shocker) and so I had to show the newbies the location. Even though the weinke was modified, accountability had a theme for today since it is the last day of the month and the monthly word (read end of backblast for more on this theme)

Mossy to the band field for some warm ups. Mossy towards location of pull ups, halfway there, stop for 20 squats. At pull ups, max out on pull ups, then do 25 LBCs; rinse and repeat 3xs.

Mossy back to band field for 4x4s. 1 burpee with 4 merkins. 10 OYO.

Line up at goal line, conduct 4 rounds of Rugby Sprints.

Mossy to parking lot:

Row 1: 1 Burpee – run to other end of parking lot and back to next odd number row

Row 3: 3 CCD – rinse repeat run through 13 rows

Row 5: 5 Squats

Row 7: 7 merkins

Row 9: SSH

Row 11: LBCs

Row 13: Flutters

Mossy to COT for 3 minutes of Abs: Big Boy Sit Ups, Big Boy Sit Ups with one leg extended out 6 inches from ground – switch legs, flutters, american hammers, dying cockroach.

COT: Today is the last day for May’s word of the month theme of accountability, with June’s word of the month being Impact. As Chickenhawk wrapped up discussing accountability with a Whetstone partner, I wanted to piggy back on that. Yesterday was a hard and sad day for my M. 1 year ago she lost her mom. As I come home from work she was sitting on the couch with teary eyes and a sad look. Before I could ask whats wrong she said “do you know what today is?” Of course I’m thinking “Crap, its not her birthday, its not our anniversary, what am I missing??” She then responds that her mom passed away 1 year ago that day. I of course being a selfish husband said “I’m sorry” and didnt even go over and give her a hug and kiss, nor comfort her. My response was “I need to get my 2.0 to baseball practice” When we got home, I failed again as we sat quietly on the couches watching meaningless TV. As we went to bed, all I did was give her a hug and said stay strong. As I write this, I sure look like a loser! So be accountable to your M each and every day. Show her love and be impactful to her. Support her without being asked to, love her, comfort her, don’t be ignorant and selfish, be accountable in her life by being her rock. We don’t have many days on this life, we need to make the best of every single day as a husband, father, leader…this has been a tough month, one that has shown the importance of being accountable to your family and friends, to be impactful to them as well. Let’s not forget this each and every day.

Trucker

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Honeybadger 2018.21

So the Honeybadger does not even have a Category from WordPress yet.  The Comz department gets a demerit…

So this week’s WOD was brought to you by Army Staff Sergeant Joshua Whitaker.

Joshie

Complete three rounds for time of:
40 pound Dumbbell snatch, 21 reps, right arm
21 L Pull-ups
40 pound Dumbbell snatch, 21 reps, left arm
21 L Pull-ups

This is a LOT of pulling.  These are both total body moves emphasizing the back and some shoulders…  I tried to break it up with some core/legs/pushes between rounds.  My instructions were to do this with a partner  and get assistance for pull-ups.

End with a quarter mile run then 6MOM.

I seem to get random questions every now and again about what I do or eat.  I look for the hardest thing I can do, and do that.  I don’t try to make it through it, while distracting myself from the discomfort.  I concentrate on it.  The human body is meant to be uncomfortable, because that is when growth happens.  Muscles tear and get bigger, your lungs burn and your cardio gets better, you hold your breath and your oxygen efficiencies increase, you stretch muscles and increase range of motion, you freeze yourself and your circulation increases, you get hungry and your HGH goes up (burning fat and protecting lean muscle)… and all of these produce adrenaline and endorphins, which helps you enjoy all aspects of life.  So don’t look for comfort.  Don’t covet comfort.  It is a thief, stealing life from you.  Get out and move.  Commit to each rep of each exercise.  Respect the next rep.
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
AKA, lip service gets you no where.  AKA, I can tell what kind of tree you are by the fruit you bear.  Do the hard stuff.

Welcome Schwinn!  Please come back to another workout.

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My Varsity VQ

I’m afraid of Varsity…not gonna sugar coat it.  Hardcore Boot Camps scare me, especially AO’s that have pull-up bars on site.  I stay as far away from them as possible.  So, to get me to one of these crazy AO’s, you’ll have to ask me to Q.  I tried my best to make this not moderate.  I probably only hurt myself though.

We started by running around the NAFO parking lot.  25 SSH here, 25 SSH there, 25 more here and then 25 more there.  SSH are my favorite warmup exercise because…science says it’s the best. Our last stop in the lot was for a few Merkins.

Next we moseyed towards Sugar Creek Elementary.  I head faked a pitstop at the pull-up bars but kept going.  At the bottom of the hill I decided it would be good to run back up the hill and then back down.  I hate running.

Next obstacle was the Basketball Court.  We ran Suicides, Bear Crawled, Crab Walked, and Lunged. This is why I #Slowburn on Fridays.

I had my speaker box setup in the bus loop to entertain us while we worked it.  We split into 2 teams.  1 team worked out while the other team ran a lap.  Exercises included: Balls to the Wall, Merkins, LBC’s, Big Boy Situps, Planks of sorts, Makhtar N’Diayes…I tried to get a good mix in.

When I decided I couldn’t take anymore running, I put Chumbawamba’s Tubthumping on the speaker and we did 28 burpees in 3m32s. I hear they’ve done more burpees in less time at Varsity.  Beasts!

It was time for COT.  I tried to walk a bit but Ginsu said he felt like running so we ran back.  A couple Ruckers met us there and we closed it out with a Big Ball of Man.  Happy Birthday to Dark Helmet! Thank you Kielbasa for the opportunity.  I’ll trade you Q’s again in a couple months!

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Slow and Intensional Dirty McDeuce

8 fine pax arrived at Pantheon ready for a beating.  As tempting at it was to pull out the bucket-o-pain for the second day in a row, YHC decided to reach way back in weinke history for a workout that was a favorite (perhaps?).  At any rate, near perfect workout weather, with the exception of it being just humid enough for there to be dew on the field.  No matter, plenty of options otherwise.

No new guys, but new faces to YHC (first time meeting BMT and Mousetrap – AYE!).  All were disclaimered and we set out for a mosey around the side of the school.

Warm up

  • SSH x40
  • Imperial Squat Walkers x20
  • Windmills x10
  • Peter Parkers x20
  • Flip over for dips x20
  • Mountain Climbers x20
  • Toy soldiers across parking lot
  • Lunges back
  • Shuffle left/right
  • Karaoke left/right

Run back to front of school

The Thang

We talked briefly (and throughout the workout) about the importance of being “attentional”; taking time to throughout the day to create some “white space”.  That’s where it’s often easiest to hear God’s voice.  To help appreciate how to slow down, the main exercises of this workout was a Slow Dirty McDeuce: 12 exercises, 12 slow reps each, taking a lap after every 3 exercises.

Round 1:

  • Wide-arm Merkins (3 count down, 1 count up)
  • Squats (3 count- down, 1 count up)
  • LBCs (3 count-up, 1 count down)

run lap
Round 2:

  • Dry Docks (3 count down, 1 count up)
  • Flutter Kicks (slow 4 count)
  • Calf Raises (3 count down, 1 count up)

run lap
Round 3:

  • Dips (3 count down, 1 count up)
  • Step Lunges – 12 each leg (3 count down, 1 count up)
  • Weezy Jeffersons  (3 count up, 1 count down)

run lap
Round 4 – this was done in Jack Webb style of 1 merkin, then 4 slow moroccan night clubs, then 4 squats then  2 merkins (then 8 and 8), etc.  We did this through 4 rounds

run lap and a half, and land back at COT.  I was sad we didn’t have time for the slow ladder in the field (everything in cadence, including slow bombjacks and 6-count burpees – next time!).

3 minutes left for a little Mary:

  • American Hammers
  • Skydiver
  • Pull the cord, then do moroccan night clubs, while on our bellies (stole that from CSPAN about 3 years ago).

Great job done by all!  Thanks FishSticks for the opportunity to lead!

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Cindy Throws a Block Party

Block Party lost out in attendance to a “more difficult”  Colosseum.  Next time we’ll use two blocks per man.

Here then is what transpired after a brief warm up:

The PAX gathered up their date for the morning, aka Cindy

Circuit of WEP on the mile marks with

  1. 20 Curls and 20 Hello Dolly
  2. 20 Rows and 20 Flutters + Bonus 5 Burpees
  3. 20 OH Presses and 20 Rosalita
  4. 20 Tris and 20 Leg Lifts
  5. 20 Swings and 20 Hello Dolly
  6. 20 Curls and 20 Flutters

(all ground moves had optional OH press)

Mosey to  hill with Cindy and move to first light pole and 10 merkins and back with 20 LBCs.  Repeat for next two poles and back for 20 LBCs etc. until time was called.

Moleskin – YHC commented on Honor (from Jekyl) and interwove the law as Christ described it:  Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.  (TT – 2018)

YHC will note that Maximus may have a kindred spirit in Husky and Husky needs to visit Beyond and the Badger

 

 

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Hive: Ears to hear

Tesh asked YHC to Q after a last-minute cancellation by one with well-quaffed hair. Eager to Q a Kettlebell workout for the first time, I gladly accepted.

Disclaimer directly into the warmup

SSH x13
Moroccan Nightclubs x13
Toy Soldier x13
Moroccan Nightclubs x13
Windmill x13

Mosey around the parking lot

Thang:

13 Kettlebell Swings each time alternating with Merkins
Merkins in decreasing reps 13, 12, 11…3, 2, 13
Finish with a bonus of 13 Kettlebell Swings

Mosey around the parking lot

Decreasing Reps of 17, 13, 11 each of:
KB Squats
KB Side Lunges
KB Reverse Lunges

Round of stretching to balance the leg/hip work with pigeon lunge into swan pose – below is a stock pic to prove to Flash that YHC didn’t just make it up.IMG_8030

Back for some Mary (all with the kettlebell):
Flutters x13
American Hammers x13
LBC x13
American Hammers x11

COT

NMM:

Discussed how in my work as a music professor I strive to give students the ears to hear (Matthew 13:16), and how that is my prayer for myself in all aspects of life. The ears to hear those who need help, ears to hear my M, ears to hear my kids when they need me, ears to hear the Lord when God calls, etc.

Below is a quick shot of the wenkie. Due to the quick turn around I formulated this one while in rehearsal of the Britten War Requiem (I was tacet on the 5th movement.) Also this reminds me that I need to order more Revolution from Pet Meds . . .

Thanks to Tesh for asking. Although some PAX were lamenting that I didn’t go with my original plan of counting down the Kettlebell Swings instead we kept them at 13 each. It was Friday the 13th after all . . . . and that got me thinking about prime numbers.

Welcome FNG: Mouse Trap

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Worthy Crew @ Block Party

18 PAX showed up strong on a beautiful spring morning. After the disclaimer, we shuffled out for a brief mosey replete with a Longshanks-style warmup: Butt kickers to Carioca around the Springs corporate center parking lot.

COP in front of the Springs corporate center (more on location later)

SSH x30
Imperial Walkers x10
Hillbilly Walkers x10
Windmill x10

Plank up ATM Variation:

Shoulder Taps x15
Tempo Merkins x10
Single-count Merkins x10

Head over to 8ft(ish) wall for some Muscle Ups x10 (oyo)

Plank up ATM Variation:

Shoulder Taps x15
Hand release Merkins x5

Mosey to UC Synergetic upper parking lot

Brief Thang:

Line Drill w/ Partner (Dora-sides): After both partners complete the line drill running, switch to bear crawl until exercises are completed. Partners strive for 20 Burpees, 100 LBCs, 200 Squats collectively. Mercifully, few had to bear crawl more than two line segments.

No Block Party is truly complete if the police don’t make an appearance. One of Fort Mill’s finest made a round through our parking lot. It appears, in YHC’s zeal to move from Springs Global to UC Synergetic, a stealth mosey of 18 PAX ignited a fire in the hounds of the mill hills. Despite our best efforts a local resident was not pleased with their dogs barking and asked for an officer to investigate. Once we’d been deemed nonthreatening, we completed the modified Dora/Line Drill.

To honor the dogs:

Plank up
Honeymooner to Down Dog
Hold Down Dog
Raise right leg high – bend the knee (open the hip)
Swing right leg forward between hands (knee to nose) into one-legged plank
Tap right knee to right elbow x5
Tap right knee to left elbow x5
Return to Down Dog
Repeat with Left Leg

Mosey down Massey hill to lower UC parking lot

Wall sit (till PAX began grumbling)
Monkey Humpers x20
10-count
Monkey Humpers x20
10-count
Derkins w/ feet on wall x10
Monkey Humpers x20
Derkins w/ feet on wall x10
Rest facing wall – 10-count
Calf raises facing the wall x20

Jump the wall and mosey up the hill

Word of the month is “Worthy.” This word has been on my mind for quite some time. Matthew 22 and Luke 14 give a parable about a great banquet or wedding feast where the invited guest (those “worthy”) don’t show up or actively refuse to attend. As a Christian, Jesus’s death has made my unworthiness worthy. But do I respond when he calls? How can I live in a way that is worthy of the blessings I’ve received and the gifts God has bestowed upon me?

Mosey back to COT (not past the dogs)

Mary: Flutters x20, Seating forward bends (right leg, left leg, both)

One last thought on worthiness. In Jedi’s BackBlast from his Beyond Q (https://f3thefort.com/2018/03/12/identity-and-purpose-digging-deeper-and-going-beyond/), he mentions the idea of our motivation. Is my motivation for being worthy for my own benefit/vanity, or is it to glorify God. It may be that my current struggle with the concept stems from a selfish or myopic motivation. Can I be more worthy of God in order to glorify God rather than myself? This is my goal.

As an aside (if anyone has made it this far in the BackBlast reading), the actual act of writing his BackBlasts served to solidify the message I tried to deliver during our workout. I’ve been working out at F3 AOs for 6 months now, and I’m beginning to see what Old Bay, who EHed me to my first workout, mention about how much more than a workout F3 is.

Grateful for the opportunity to lead and appreciate of all the PAX that showed up to work and grow this morning!

 

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Old School Beat Down at The Fort

23 Pax joined YHC and Old Bay for Day 12 of 12 for Ass Kick’n April.  Lazy site Q saw The Fort on the calendar and volun-told YHC to Q.  Agreed and Old Bay made a plan to bring back the pain old school style.

The Thang:

Run around WEP, circle up for COP:

SSH X 50, Imperial Walker X 20, Hillbilly Walker X 20, Windmill X 10, Squat X 20, Plan Jacks X 20, Sumo Squat X 20, Merkins X 10, Lunges X 20, Mak tar Jai X 20

Mosey to the hill for a Jacob’s Ladder:  1-7 – Burpees up top, Squats at bottom

Quick Ab Lab with slow and fast Freddy Mercury X 20

Hand over to Old Bay

Run to parking lot and get a Coupon made of wood or a fire hose!

Drill bits with a deconstructed burpee – 10 Bomb Jacks, 10 Thrust Outs, 10 Merkins

Rinse and repeat for 6 drill bits – with the damn coupons

Head up the back hill to upper soccer fields – with the damn coupons

Wind sprints with partner – add an exercise to each sprint and with the damn coupon – 4 cones with a myriad of painful stuff to do with the damn coupon

Back to COT

Great to be back for a Saturday workout at WEP! What a spectacular place to have here in Fort Mill.

Funhouse

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Laces: Super 21 on Maundy Thursday

Laces In:

Slight Mosey to student parking lot

Warm Up – COP
SSH x20
Imperial Walker x10
Hillbilly Walker x10
Windmill x10
Cherry Picker x10

Mosey to Band Practice lot

Super 21s (variation) – Inspired by JWOWW’s VQ at the Hive which used a deck of cards and got me thinking about 21. Then I found Super 21s listed in the F3 Exercises………I wondered why I hadn’t done these before in a workout. Turns out doing Super 21s makes it difficult to raise your arms later…..like days later.

1 merkin to 1 low slow squat
repeat to 10 reps of each
Flutters x21
11-13 reps of merkin/LSS
Hello Dollys x21
14-15 reps of merkin/LSS
Freddie Mercuries x21
16-17 reps of merkin/LSS
Lap around the Painted Lot
18-19 reps of merkin/LSS
Box Cutters x21
20-21 reps of merkin/LSS
Rosalitas x21
(Total of 231 merkins and squats)

Slight mosey to side of Ceramics Studio

Found some curb – stretch calves
Calf raises x21
Wall Sits (slight discussion of the brass technique of multiple tonguing: generated a good deal of mumble chatter)

PAX mentioned (sarcastically?) that if we just did 19 more merkins, we would reach 250. With the challenge laid down, PAX completed 19 merkins and 19 low slow squats. (Total of 250 merkins and squats: except for Trucker who complete 280 and added that to the Name-o-rama so YHC wouldn’t forget.)

Plank up – Because Abiding (see note below) requires flexibility:
Honeymooner to Down dog variations
Stretch out the legs
Leg raises in down dog
One leg plank
Knee taps to elbow x5
Knee taps to opposite elbow x5
Repeat with opposite leg
Pigeon Lunges
Butterfly stretches
Seated forward bends (i.e., touch your toes sitting down)

Mosey back to COT
American Hammers x21

The word for the month is abide. Abiding in God is active alignment of our will to the Lord’s. This is opposed to “the dude” passively abiding in the Big Lebowski. I gave a brief message about how we can abide in what is happening around us or we can strive to abide in God. The word is not a passive acceptance our circumstances, at least not in a scriptural sense.

We also discussed, while sitting against a wall, how I approach my (music) studio teaching at Winthrop. There’s practice dedicated to maintenance/growth at technical elements and the physical skills required to play the instrument (this is how triple tonguing came up), and then there’s practice learning assigned repertoire. Practicing only repertoire means the physical skills needed for new piece/work must be learned from scratch…..every time. Having a set routine for maintenance and growth means the fundamentals on the instrument are already in place, i.e., you’re in shape. At this point, learning repertoire is simply a matter of applying skills you already possess.

My short (5 months) time with F3 reminds me of this model. A routine to develop ourselves (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually) so that when we encounter challenges (repertoire) it is only a matter of applying skills we either already posses or are honing. One of the hardest parts of each workout for YHC is leaving the comfort of the bed for the gloom. Yet we are all on this planet (its own form of gloom) called to seek God’s purpose for us and abide in that. I’m grateful to have shared this morning with PAX doing just that . . . . even if that means YHC can barley raise his arms to type a backblast.

Not sure what happened at Laces Out. . . . I’m assuming they ran and can currently lift their arms.

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No 4Play at Block Party

7 at Block Party on a beautiful 50+ degree morning, fortunately the rain came through before the work out so although the pavement was wet we stayed dry because Chickens don’t like laying on the wet pavements and neither do Chicken Hawks.  Welcome back to Training Wheels after several months off after a mountain bike accident and welcome back to Fire Marshall Bill after a minor surgery that included frozen peas in the post op recovery.

This morning we talked about abiding specifically as we apply it to our trails and failures.  How much do we look to and rely on God to show up during these times?  how much do we recognize God in our trials and what he is doing in and through us.

The Thang!

No 4play today.  COP was not… straight into the post.

Mosey to the high wall for 10 muscle ups, plank, 5 hand stands the hang on the wall for as long as possible or unit Q says mosey

Power Skip to the end of the parking lot to the next set of walls in the courtyard.  15 box jumps, 10 box jumps, 25 dips, 5 derkins, 5 box jumps.

Mosey to the next wall in the parking lot for wall sits then indian style bear crawl to the end of the line, wall sit, etc as everyone bear crawls until we get to the end of the wall, finish with some Australian mountain climbers

Mosey to the flag pole for the pledge of the allegiance at the memorials

slide over to the parking lot and do timed (i.e. not in cadence) … Squats, lunges, jump squats

Mosey to the stairs

  • Bear Crawl up and back down and merkins at the top and bottom
  • Crab walk up and back down and SSH at the top and bottom

Mosey to the hill run backwards up and 5 burps at the top 2x

Mosey to parking lot and do two sets of suicides

Mosey to covering for 3 min. of Mary

Run to COT

It was an honor to lead

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