Tag: Barry Manilow

Choosing Not to Cheat – Ballroom Style

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Honestly, YHC was stoked to Q the Ballroom this week. First, I had not visited the new site since moving from PKES. Second, I had not seen a lot of the Pax at this site and third the weather was perfect with a mild 60 degrees at launch.

I have struggled with moderate workouts for many years because I don’t view these men as “moderate”. If you define men who get up around 4:45 to post in any weather conditions and workout for 45 minutes while sharing fellowship and faith throughout as moderate, then so be it.

I recently spent some time in fellowship with other Pax and was reminded of the book by Andy Stanley, Choosing to Cheat. The gist of the book is that we are all cheaters. We cheat on our work by spending time with our wife. We cheat on our wife by spending time with our kids and so on. This book hits home for me. While work/life balance is unattainable and a #Oprahbomb, I find that I get the validation that I so desire from work and gravitate to working harder for more validation. I asked the Pax who posted to choose not to cheat for the next 45 minutes on their workout and to hold each other accountable in doing so.

The Thang

Mosey to football field

COP

SSH x 30

Windmills x 15

IW x 15

CDD x 20

Plank Jacks x 20

Night Clubs x 25

Mosey to 50 yard line

Burpee Ladder Starfish

2 Burpees in middle

Sprint to corner

20 Mtn Climbers

4 Burpees in middle

Sprint to corner

10 merkins in cadence

6 Burpees in middle

Sprint to corner

20 Squats in cadence

8 Burpees

Sprint to corner

20 Bomb jacks

10 Burpees

Ladder back down

Partner up for Ab Ladder

5 Situps

Sprint

5 Situps plus 10 flutters

Sprint…you get the idea

Finished with 5 sit-ups, 10 flutters, 15 Freddy, 20 LBC, 25 American Hammer

Random ladder of burpees and abs to finish…lots of complaining here

 

Moleskin

  • Prayers for Badger and Bullwinkles Dad
  • Lots of upcoming events…read your newsletter
  • Praise for Barney Fife and Boogie Down

Thanks to Short Sale for the opportunity. Love what you have done at the Ballroom!

Pusher out!

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Footloose – Accountability

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Accountability – Are you pushing yourself when no one is looking?  What do you plan to gain by getting up at 4:30AM?  Be true to yourself!

Disclaimer – Not a professional, modify but hold yourself accountable, no lawsuits.

Slow Mosey around 2 churches and Town Hall.

Warm Up:

20 SSHs, 10 Windmills, 20 MNCs, 10 Mountain Climbers, 5 Merkins

The Thang:

Slow Mosey to the 4 Station Square

4 Stations are marked by cones with written exercises on them.  Divide into 4 groups and mosey to assigned cone.  Cone #1 sets the pace with 20 Seal Jacks in Cadence.  During the cadence the other three groups are as follows;  2) Merkins / Plank, 3) Air Chair, 4) 6 Inches.  Once cadence is complete Broad Jump to next cone.  Continue until cycle is complete.

Round 2:  Same set up but cone number 1 will start with 20 Mountain Climbers in Cadence, when this is complete mosey backwards to the next cone.

10 count

Mosey back to FBC and line up on right side of parking lot.

Lunge Walk 20 yards  –  7 point Hip exercise (Right Hip)  –  7 point Hip exercise (Left Hip)  –  Lunge Walk 20 Yards  (I think the hip exercises started some interesting mumble chatter)

Bear Crawl 15 yards – Crab Walk 15 yards – mosey to end of lot (repeat going back)

Toy Soldiers 20 yards  –  Downward Dog 20 count  –  Dying Cockroaches x20  –  LBCs x20  –  Freddie Mercury’s x20  –  Big Boy Sit Ups x10 OYO  –  (During this series is when I discovered the mumble chatter had a lot to do with something about every star is Uranus and it’s very gassy)  Honeymooner 20 count  –  Toy Soldiers 20 yards

Slow Mosey around parking lot

COT

Strawberry Fest sign up, Cannoli run, prayers for folks in the hospital, employment and various stresses of life and how we handle them – Bassomatic led us out.

 

 

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Styrofoam

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Back at The Yard and it was a glorious morning, and time to bring back my Styrofoam coolers with tickets of pain inside.

Plenty of moderate running space between coolers, as the PAX were divided into two groups and we ran past each other as we pulled tickets of misery out of three different coolers, spread out down the back driveway of the school. This was moderate, so I kept that in mind as I printed out the pain tickets late into the night before, and contemplated whether to print the ticket with 50 CDD’s, or leave it at 20. 

For those who haven’t seen my Piggly Wiggly coolers filled with tickets, stay tuned for an appearance near you.

Maybe we got in a little over a mile of running, but I forgot to ask Barry.

Great COT, and a good dose for Jiffy’s EH, Snowman (Jerry Reed from Smokey and the Bandit)

Thanks to Hasselhoff for the opportunity!

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WHETSTONE…Relaunches at THE FORT

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Several weeks ago, it was announced that our region, THE FORT, would be closing all Saturday AO’s and holding a convergence at FMHS to get the PAX together as we thank Rebel for his leadership of Whetstone and relaunch it under Repeat and World Wide Leader (WWL). I was excited to hear we’d be getting many of the region together but I wasn’t expecting what came next. It was a text asking if I’d Q the workout.

Q, like part of it, half of it or …? The response was, THE WHOLE THING. I love to Q every chance I get but to do so on a day like this, well, I better make sure it includes a little something for everyone. Or, almost everyone.

————————————————————————————————————–

And this is where I let life get the better of me. I try to follow the 48hr rule on posting a BACKBLAST, especially when they’re significant but I let life and travel get in the way. It is now Saturday, one week later, and I’m just finishing this BB. Life can get challenging, it can get stressful, it can get you riding the highs or down in the lows. And this past week, our family has experienced some of each. Maybe this was the week where I really came to realize how valuable having a Whetstone partner can be. Someone that I can share the highs with and someone to help get me out of the lows; or to keep me honest when it’s my own doing that has me on the outside looking in on the joys of life.

That said, I’ll take you back to last Saturday, April 21 where we had a a few pre-ruckers and a total of 58 PAX converge to re-kick off this critical program.

We got ourselves into an odd-shaped kidney-like shape for the disclaimer, the announcement of why we were there this beautiful morning and to acknowledge our 2 FNG’s in the PAX. We counted off in 4’s then took off toward the big parking lot for a warm up jog in 4 lines. This jog included some karaoke’s and 4 lines doing an indian run which was way harder than it appeared on paper.

In these last 2 years, Whetstone has brought together some extremely HIM. One of those men has gone through a tough 18mos and he was gracious enough to share some of his story to include the impact Whetstone had on his life as we circled up to hear his words. I know he wouldn’t endorse this comment but anytime Mr. Clean wants to share experience or wisdom, the PAX listens. And listen we did.

After backing the group back out to a circle-like shape, I was giddy to honor Santini in the only way I knew how…with a deck of cards. However, on this day we utilized 1/2 the deck and considered it our warm up:

Hearts = Side Straddle Hops

Diamonds = Carolina Dry Docks

Spades = Squats

Clubs = Merkins

Then a little action from the Burp-Merk: Standing, we then dropped to a plank, did 5 merkins then jumped up. That equals 1 and we did 5 total.

This was when we got to listen to our very own Nantaan, Cake Boss, as he shared the impact Whetstone has had on him. Yet again, another powerful testimony.

Then off to do 4 corners in the lot with:

Corner 1 = Dancing Crabs x 15ea and Dips x 20

Corner 2 = Dying Cockroach x 15ea and Flutters x 20ea

Corner 3 = Burpees x 10 and Jump Squats x 10

Corner 4 = American Hammers x 25 and Freddie Mercury x 20ea

Mosey over to the wall for B2W while doing 5 “push ups” followed by 15 calf raises. We did this 3 times.

To close out our testimonies, my man Chicken Hawk laid it down for us. He shared the impact Whetstone has had on him, his marriage, his family…his life. Life isn’t meant to be traveled alone. Well said brother.

6ct Burpee which I needed a little help from the Helmet of Darkness to remind me the steps. Remember the line, “If you can’t Q it, don’t do it?” Yeah, me too but I obviously didn’t follow that too closely here.

This is where the cat-herding became evident. The PAX exhibited patience with me as we attempted a modified DORA series consisting of:

50 Flying Squirrels, 50 Diamond Merkins and 50+ Flutters

We then took off for the main entrance to the football stadium and lined up in 4 lines facing down the hill. Once everyone readjusted, it was 15 American Hammers, 15 Flutters and 15 Hello Dollies. This was done several more times.

Well, that put a bow on the workout portion of this convergence and after the COT, FNG naming of RBG and Whiskers, we then handed it off to World Wide Leader and Repeat to lead the Whetstone discussion.

Announcements: The relaunch of Whetstone. Thanks to Rebel for getting this off the ground 2 years ago and to Repeat / World Wide Leader for taking the reigns.

Prayer Requests: Badger. Camp Care 5K. Jennings Palmer’s transplant. Olive’s 8K in memory of Sweet Tooth. Elmer.

Honored and appreciative of your patience.

Maximus

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Moderately Crabby

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Thanks to Smithers for allowing me to lead this morning.  23 HIMs started with the disclaimer and then took a little twist on the mosey down the hill to the back side of Lowes for the warm-up and beat down. Two lines formed up at the shovel flag and proceeded to Blacksnake all the way to the warm-up.  It was noted that surprisingly no one was injured bobbing and weaving while running in a line.

The Warm-Up was short and sweet to get the muscles ready and not tired.

  • Brisk 25 SSH
  • 25 Moroccan Night Club
  • 20 Imperial Walkers

The familiar Burpees that are often limited or lost at Slow Burn were tweaked slightly to provide a little 4×4 action!

Immediately following the 4x4s, we jumped right into a round Batwings.  All to a 4-count cadence:

  • 20 Forward Arm Circles
  • 20 Reverse Arm Circles
  • 20 Seal Claps
  • 20 Overhead Claps

After the shoulders were smoked, we met up along the wall of Lowes facing the side parking lot.  Everyone partnered up for some 123’s with a rotating exercise for the traveling partner. The partners completed their 100 Merkins, 200 LBC’s and 300 Squats while crossing the parking lot performing either Bear Crawls, Crab Walks, Lunge Walks, or Toe-Walks.  The parking lot had 3 distinct rows of spaces along each PAX to determine the length of their crawls or walks.

Following the 123’s we circled up for a bit of core work; Abs and Back.  I thought it was important to incorporate the most often forgotten part of the core.  This is where the real “crabbing” started among the PAX.  All exercises done in cadence:

  • 20 Crab Cake
  • 20 Crunchy Frog
  • 20 Crab Humpers
  • 20 American Hammers
  • 20 Crab Jacks
  • 20 Big Boy Sit Ups
  • 20 Mountain Climbers
  • 15 Merkins done with several pauses at 6″

The PAX moseyed its way back up to the top at their own pace in preparation for COT

At COT, the origin stories for  a couple of PAX were shared so that we can all get to know one another a little better.

Great work from all the HIMs who pushed through some serious shoulder exercises and goofy crab work.

 

MOAB…out

 

 

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Footloose- The Fort

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Disclaimer

Mosey to other Church parking lot. Dynamic Warm-up- high knees, butt kickers, knee to chest, ankle pull to chest.

Circle up- SSH, windmills, hill Billy walkers, Mtn. Climbers, Peter Parkers

1st set Mosey to top of hill 10 plank jacks mosey down hold plank for the 6

abs- in cadence LBCs, Hello Dolly’s, American Hammers

2nd set up hill 10 SSHs down hold 6

Upper body- in cadence Merkins, Moroccan nightclubs, Jack webs 1-10 4-40,

3rd set up hill 10 squat jumps

Lower body in cadence- Squats, 3 different position calf raises, pistol squats.

4th set up hill 10 more SShs.

To newly paved parking lot- Partner up.

while partner 1 does exercise partner 2 runs to end of lot and back.

  1. LBCs
  2. Flutter kicks
  3. roselletta
  4. hold feet up six inches

Mosey back to COT

Prayers and praises- Beacon health issues, Badger and family, Job situations, unspoken.

Announcements- Strawberry festival, cannoli run, Operation sweet tooth run, Convergence for Whetstone on Saturday.

Thanks for allowing me to Q. Always great to get to Q someplace I haven’t before

Backdraft out

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Today + You = History

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10 Pax posted to #THEBallroom for another chapter in Redwood Originals month.  This was YHC’s first Q (or even post) to the not-so-new site now at Pleasant Knoll Middle School.  Prior experience the past 18 months as Site Q at #BlockParty prevented earlier posting.  Great AO# — @Ginsu should give this one consideration for future Convergences.

Site Q request was for me to cover a bit of “history” of The Fort as part of the workout and message.  It’s a story that truly reflects God blessing men who step into the unknown with faith, which is what every FNG does the first time he posts.  The history of The Fort is really the history of every member of the pax, from 2012 all the way to April 2018 and beyond.

The Thang

Mosey around to back of school

COP — usual IC warm up routine, particularly important on a 30 degree morning in mid-April!

Mosey across bridge to breezeway leading to athletic fields

It’s not too impressive in a BB to talk about the fact we did “a whole lot of sitting around” but that’s what transpired.  Of course it was in the People’s Chair while each pax recounted the story of his initial post, which AO, who EHd him, who Qd, etc.  Each rendition was interspersed with some form of merkins, CDDs, balls-to-the-wall, monkey humpers, squats, bombjacks and/or burpees.  We covered stories of 9 pax and then moseyed to the football field.

Circle up for some Mary — a rundown of the familiar but effective Hello Dollies, Freddie Mercurys, Flutters, Superman and Penguin (including reference to Burgess Meredith for the #Respectables among the pax)

Line up for suicides across the football field

Plank sequence

Pause to recount YHC’s EH story and honor OBT for that gift.

Another suicide sequence

Another plank sequence, topped off (for Longshanks) with Mahktar N’Dyae

Run home

COT

Thanks to Short Sale for the invitation to Q at The Ballroom.  It was a great morning with a lively and dedicated collection of the pax.  Truly an honor to lead on this day.

Short Sale posted to S2S last week when I had the privilege of leading the discussion that day, and he heard me talk about the launch of The Fort as being one of many instances where God showed up in amazing ways during a period of life transition to bless those who move forward in faith.   Too often I try to seize CONTROL when facing transition periods either out of PRIDE or in response to ANXIETY.  Reflecting in prep for S2S on my experience amid life’s transition points proved to me that God has repeatedly come through every time (!) in ways I could never have imagined and on a scale I would never have asked for.  And yet, I tremble each time I see a transition on the horizon.  Oh ye of little faith!

Upon reflection, the story about the launch of The Fort is a powerful one for me and the pax who experienced those lean early days, but for the rest among us, it is just names, places and dates.  Kind of like my history classes back in high school.  I had a hard time connecting to them because they were foreign to my experience…I had no immediate way to connect so history classes became all about pure memorization for me.

But, in the recounting of the history of The Fort at The Ballroom, we heard it from the mouths of those who lived it.  We heard about pax who’ve moved onto other pastures (Howitzer, Bing, Red Eye) who had EHd one of those present, leaving behind a legacy of their contribution to The Fort’s history.  We heard about workouts where present-day pax swore to God they’d never return if he let them survive that first day (Anchorman).  We heard about pax who did not return for YEARS, waiting until scores of pounds were shed and cigarettes were sworn off (Culture Club), only to be remembered upon later return by CSPAN who disallowed a name change.  We heard about AOs that don’t even exist anymore (the sandbag workout — can’t recall the name).  This was history that each man connected to, because it was HIS STORY.

And that is true for each day.  God willing, we are given a new day each morning to make a choice, to lay another piece of our history in place.  A piece of The Fort’s history.  A piece of the history of God’s people.  No, I don’t feel worthy to receive this daily gift.  But God sees that I am worthy of it.  And he sees you’re worthy of it, too.  So, go ahead, take the DRP and go make some history.

 

 

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Old School Beat Down at The Fort

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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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Another day in Paradise

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It was Another Beautiful Day in Paradise. Mid-afternoon, 80 degrees. Perfect.

I was the first PAX to arrive at the AO. I scouted the area (My VQ for G-FIT) and start walking back to what I believe is the gathering spot. In the distance, I see two young PAX.

Young PAX (as he approaches me):  Is there a workout today?

YHC: Yes.

Young PAX: F3 (he yells)!

YHC: For sure! (I felt more than welcome to be among these young PAX).

Disclaimer, disclaimed.

The Thang:

COP –

+Lap around the basket ball court

+10 SSH

+10 high knees

+3 set of 10 Merkins

+10 big boy sit-ups

+10 Marocoon night clubs

+10 baby arm circles

+10 over head claps

+5 burpees

+10 mountain climbers

+20 merkins

+lap around the basketball court

I took the first couple of exercises and then invited (rotating clockwise) the young PAX to join me in the middle of the circle and call the next exercise. It was neat to see how eager they were to join YHC in the middle and lead the PAX. The COP lasted 30 minutes. We got some drinks and a snack, played some frisbee, basketball, and soccer. Again, it was a Beautiful Day in Paradise – perfect for a Saturday afternoon.

NMM:

I once mentored a pre-teen through the non-profit: Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Through this program, I learned how important it is for youth to have positive role models in their lives (especially young mem, as there is seemingly a shortage of positive male role models). And I’ve seen how being there for a youth can make a huge difference in their lives.

It didn’t take much to big a “Big”. YHC was simply someone that showed an interest in my “Little”. It was being someone the Little could look up to and envision themselves someday being. The most difficult part of being a Big (in YHC’s opinion) was making the time. Having said this, every minute I spent with my Little, I truly enjoyed. Without a question, Ruben (my Little), added so much to my life. It was an unexpected pleasure. I felt the same way about being among the PAX at G-FIT.

The best part of today was the COT. When I asked for prayers/praises, two of the young PAX raised their hands to pray. You could tell they love Jesus. It was a beautiful sight.

Thank you Decon for getting me on the Q list. Can’t wait for the next one! And thank you F3 PAX, you are all true HIMS!

Aye.

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4 Corners . . . with some “Elders”

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I will keep this backblast shorter, but I will say it was a lot of fun today at the Pantheon! Thanks to Fishsticks for letting me Q.

Some Pre-work:

1 group of runners headed out to who knows where at 4:45.

Fishsticks and I did some extra ab work that I call high octane abs. It hurt.

Disclosure given. Lots and lots and lots of chatter. Completely dark. Did I mention there was lots of chatter?

Short mosey to the lighted area for a different dynamic stretching workout after some high knees and butt kickers.

Some confused minds about what we were doing since very few had done this style of warm-up before (~8 exercises). Eventually I shifted to some traditional SSHs and the crowd went wild. It was like the PAXs’ bodies woke up.

At this point I inconveniently forgot a few demos of a few of the exercises to come for the main event.

The Thang:

We broke up into 4 teams of 5 and went to each respective corner on the soccer field. Fortunately, it was not very muddy.

I’d tell you the 20 different (and difficult) exercises that we did, but  . . . that means I’d have to type them out right now and I feel lazy after a long day of work. So if you are reading this, feel free to retweet it and comment what your favorite one was even if you don’t know the name of it. We did do Tunnel of Love and People’s Carry between cones.

I had a second round prepared, but, oh well, . . . time slipped away from us. Beware of next time. Round 2 was scheduled to be harder.

COT: Main Announcements: Convergence coming up; Praises: Lutefish’s daughter rocked it; Prayer: let’s continue to pray for children going through difficult times and Badger and his family.

Thanks to everyone, including the “Elders” for their hard work today!

Lastly, I think I missed one of you on the list. So sorry. My memory can only remember 19 out of 20 without a recording. Feel free to identify yourself.

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