What is a minute really?

What is a minute?  It’s not very long, and they go by SO fast!  Today we had 14 PAX and we learned how short/long a minute can be!

Started with a disclaimer, and then a mosey down to the parking area past the Empire Pizza strip.

Warmup:

  • 25 SSH’s in cadence
  • 10 Windmills in cadence
  • 25 Mor. Nite Club’s in cadence
  • 25 Overhead Hand Claps in cadence

And then we got right into it.  We were not going to do much running, in fact at this point we had done exactly half of the running we were going to take on this morning.  Instead I utilized a bit of technology (having some of the standard technological issues) to setup a solid 34 minute workout in minute increments.   We did two rounds, with a 2 minute break between rounds.  The list below are the exercises we did for a minute (30 second breaks in between).

Didn’t look like too much on paper, but we got our sweat on for sure, even without the running!

  • Side Straddle Hops
  • Merkins
  • LBC’s
  • Calf Raises
  • Squats
  • Dips
  • Plank
  • American Hammers
  • Wide Arm Merkins
  • Flutter Kicks (the final round of flutters was performed at COT).

It’s been a busy summer, but I enjoyed being able to take the opportunity to Q the workout today.

COT:  Prayers

  • Bob The Builder’s recovery
  • Popper’s recovery
  • Traveling mercies for those heading out of town over the upcoming holiday

Thanks for the opportunity…

Smithers…out

 

 

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Audible! Dora 1-1-1, Concentrica and Impact

5 gathered just as the lights came on at DBES for a KB workout to start the week off right.  After choosing our tunes (Southern Rock at the Q’s request), we were off.

Mosey around the parking lot (without Bells) and back for warm-up.

SSH x 10

Windmills x 10

Moroccan Night Clubs x 10

Imperial Walker x 10

Squat x 10

Peter Parker x 10

Parker Peter x 10

The Thang 

Time to grab your KB and get after it.   YHC had planned for us to partner up a complete a Dora 1-2-3. With just 5 PAX, I decided to audible and adjust the rep count.

Complete the exercise (or a portion of it) and mosey across the parking lot, down to second light and back. Less reps = more running, but we all appreciated a break and most ran at the halfway point of total reps. Rep s are TOTAL, not per arm.

Lawn Mowers x 100

Curls x 100

Tricep Extensions x 100

The “10 count” portion of this workout was talking about the Shield Lock and Concentrica, where your priorities should be versus where they are. If you haven’t listened to the Concentrica podcast (or even if you have), I recommend you give it a listen. I also recommend the Minivan Centurions post.

Squats x 10

Dips x 10

Step-Ups x 10

Shoulder Presses x 10

KB Swings x 10

Mosey to COT for Mary

Flutter x 10

Hello Dolly x 10

Rosalita x 10 LBC x 10

Naked-Man Moleskin 

We talked  about the monthly theme of Impact.  We all impact others, whether we do it intentionally or not.  Where are we having an impact?  Is it the type of impact we want to make ?  Is it negative (change/improve)? What are you allowing to impact you (positive/negative)?

Focusing on the ‘Concentrica’ that you have, think about where you spend your resources, time and energy. You will know where your priorities are if you think about which priority receives the bulk of those resources. If it’s where you want it to be, great!  Help someone else striaghten there’s out. If it’s not, get to work.

COT 

Continued prayers for Badger’s family, Bob the Builder, all PAX on the IR, PAX suffering from illness. Hold each other and yourself to a higher standard. To hold someone accountable, we must first be accountable. Iron isn’t sharpened on a soft stone.

Thanks to Polaroid for the opportunity. See you in the gloom!

 

Beacon

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Christmas In June – Footloose Breakdance Style

I saw my opportunity and took it. Beacon offered up the lead this week for Footloose and I had an evil plan in mind. It had been a while since I q’d a 12 Days of Christmas fun fest, probably since last Christmas if not beyond so I quickly found a list and checked it twice.

As with the equally evil song The Twelve Days of Christmas, you repeat each exercise just like you repeat each gift until you have covered all twelve. In this case no singing off key was required.

The Thang went something like this:

1-Run around the church building
2-Turkish getups
3-Jump squats
4-LBCs
5-Diamond Merkins
6-Imperial Walkers
7-Rosalitas
8-Slow flutters
9-Low slow squats
10-Lunges (ten each leg)
11-Merkins
12-Burpees

Sadly we ran out of time and we made our way back to COT and hit round eleven. I’m sure noone is sad we missed out on twelve burpees. Especially me.

It’s a simple you v you style workout, and I hope it made you get a little stronger and sweat a little more, I know I was sore today the more I sat at work today.

I hope what I shared about money will make you think as well. We have so much and are so blessed in many ways. What are you doing to make a difference and impact your world?

Thanks for the opportunity to lead.

DT out.

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The Tomahawk: 25th Monday in 2018

8 PAX seeking to a better version of themselves posted in the steamy gloom this morning.

WarmUp:

Started out with a mosey around the parking lot.

COP:

  • SSH x30
  • Merkin x10
  • Mountain Climber x10
  • Honeymooner à Downdog à Honeymooner
  • Imperial Walker x10
  • Hillbilly Walker x10

Mosey back to the grab our bells.

The Thang: COP with kettlebells

  • Kettlebell Swings x10
  • Merkins x10 (single count) (80 total)
  • Kettlebell Swings x10
  • Big Boy Situps x10
  • Set the weight down and rotate to the right
  • Rinse and repeated until we were back at our own gear (8 times)

Mosey to the parking lot curb and setup with the 4 rows of spaces in front of us.

  • Lunge-walk with pass through to the other side
  • Stop at each set of parking spaces for 10 merkins (40)
  • Leave bells & run the length of the lot and back to the bell
  • Lunge-walk with pass through back to where we started
  • Stop at each set of parking spaces for 10 squats

Back to COT for some Mary. SkateorDie mentioned that we were at 120 merkins….so:

  • Merkins x10 in cadence (20 total)
  • Hand-release merkins x10 to reach 150 total merkins for the day. 170 if you count the warmup in-cadence merkins.
  • Flutter w/ press x10
  • American Hammers x10
  • Finished with a leg stretch sequence:
    • Seated Forward Bend, Pigeon Lunge, Butterfly

NMM:

I usually do a kettlebell workout on Fridays at the Hive. About ¾ of the way through the workout when most of us had sweated more than seemed humanly possible for 5:45am, Polaroid quipped, “They trained you well at the Hive.” I love this thought of being in training.

2 Corinthians 5:4-6 (taken a bit out of context, don’t tell my Christian studies professor friends)

“These tents [bodies] we now live in are like a heavy burden, and we groan…As long as we are in these bodies, we are away from the Lord.”

We are put here for a purpose, and being in these bodies is part of that purpose. It is good and right that we should push ourselves physically and train to be better. Everything is connected. If we can be better physically, we can be better emotionally, mentally, and spiritually as well. As PAX, we must focus on our growth as a whole person. Training for this life starts in the gloom.

My first time out at The Tomahawk. Great AO! Props to Polaroid for asking me to Q and motivating me to get out of my comfort zone of AOs.

Prayers:

A PAX dealing with some medical issues both with family members and himself. Prayers for healing and strength on this HIM and his family.

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Footloose with Cake in the Cockpit

20 PAX including YHC hit the dance floor at Footloose. The idea is to workout so as Q I tried to be sure we got a good one in that the PAX could feel but also modify as needed

Flying is the safest form of travel and it may have to do with pilots that are accountable for the many lives on board their planes and so they take it  serious. The do pre flight safety-checks before every flight and if they skip it or get lazy, it could be the difference between arriving or crashing.

So man marriages in rough places and they don’t get there overnight….it takes time and it can be a long flight. I challenged the PAX on their “safety-checks and if they are performing them. 1 mile run with 6 Pain Stations in play with each representing a safety-checks, Away we went!

We did a mini dynamic warm up on our way to first pain station. Here is the wienke. Below is the moleskin.

NMS:

If we perform safety-checks with our M we will have better odds of landing the plane safely and at your scheduled destination.

  • Family – not logistics but emotional well being, likes, dislikes and direction of family members
  • Finances – top reason for divorce and can be solved with communcation and plan
  • Friends – Take interest in each others friends as its part of who they are
  • Fun – Be intentional with fun adventures like when you were “courting” each other…..lol
  • Fears – These guide decisions and if we don’t discuss them with M, we are makeing bad choices
  • Feelings – If you or the M is not feeling happy or feeling discontent, this does not just go away….need to discuss it and resolve it

Discuss these topics and do it often and your marriage will be safe!!

Thanks for Q Beacon

Peace!

Cake Boss

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Footloose – Accountability

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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Lucky 13 at Footloose For a Re-do of My 1st F3 Workout

I’ve  been buggin’ Beacon to let me Q Footloose again, just because it’s always a lot of fun.  He finally caved and let me do it.  My original gameplan included 100 SSH and a jog around the big block to warm us up and a bear crawl up that massive hill but I didn’t want to make any enemies so made it a little closer to the expected moderate workout.  Not totally moderate though.  My new gameplan became a redo of my first ever F3 workout.  It happened at Slowburn on June 16th.  Dark Helmet made me want to vomit.  I’m sure a few of us have felt that way during or after his workouts.  It went a little something like this:

Warmup:

  • Windmills x 10
  • Imperial Walkers x 10
  • Merkins x 10
  • Weed Puller x 10
  • Squats x 15
  • SSH x 15

The Thang: Stolen right from DH’s backblast

“Start with 5 of an exercise at one end, run to other and do 10 of that exercise;
Run back do 15, then run and do 20, back and 25, one more time down do 30 of that exercise, run back to start. We’ll do this as many rounds as we can, as time permits. Yes. It’s as confusing and stupid as it sounds.

Here are the exercises:
Round 1: Merkins
Round 2: LBCs
Round 3: Squats”

On Day 1, I was the 6.  The pax waited for me to finish and join them before they started the next set.  I was convinced everybody was a beast, how the heck were they still jogging to the next spot?! On Day 245 (yes, I counted), I felt like the beast!  We finished all 315 reps in a little over 15 minutes so we had some extra time. I circled us up for:

Moroccan Night Clubs x 25
Overhead Claps x25
Seal Jacks x25
Dying Cockroach x15

We celebrated Smither’s 41st Valentine Bday by doing an exercise of his choice:
Flutters x41

I think we did a couple more x15 sets, but I can’t remember them.  I couldn’t believe we still had 10 minutes left in our workout… I set us off towards our starting point for a round of AbLab in reps of 10.  We made it through a few guys and then I called it.

Announcements:
The Yeti – Don’t second guess yourself, dude, you can do it.  Even if you just want to do the last leg back to the BBQ joint, you should do it.
S2S – Get your butts to an S2S AO, you won’t be disappointed.

Prayers and Praises:
Prayers for Zima’s family
Prayer for Anchorman’s extended family
As I looked around the group, I could feel the call for the Unspoken requests – I hope we are all lifting the group on a daily basis.  We are a brotherhood and have each others back.  Thank you Anchorman for praying us out.

Thank you Beacon, for caving and letting me Q again. 🙂

NMM:
Worrying sucks.  When we worry, we are tearing ourselves apart.  It’s human nature to worry though, so how do we overcome it?  We need to find peace.  The Prince of Peace.
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Much Love,
Polaroid

 

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21’s , 25’s, Shuffles and Word of the Year

Thankful for the men that posted this morning, particularly those that faced challenges or just didn’t feel up to it as they went to bed last night. I wasn’t sure how many would show, with temps dropping into the 30’s after a somewhat “warm” week.  T-Claps to Spitz, who put in a couple of miles with a pre-run prior to #Footloose.

The Thang

With disclosures shared, we moseyed to the side (basketball) lot for warm-up, although some claim it was coldest spot at the AO due to wind.

SSH x 15

Imperial Walker x 15

Low Slow Squat x 15

Arm Circles Sequence (Tiny Circles Forward x 10 , Tiny Circles Backward x 10, Big Circles Forward x 10)

Monkey Humpers x 10

Plank Sequence

21’s – This  is a GREAT exercise. It gets everyone on the same page, focused on what we are doing and what we came out to do. Straight from http://f3nation.com/exercises/  : In unison PAX does 2-count side straddle hop and counts reps 1-5 out load. Reps 6-21 are all mental and everyone must stop together at 21. If anyone stops early or goes over Q has PAX perform penalty workout of Q’s choice.    

Since we are overachievers, we did these as 4-count.  First try, resulted in “penalty” of 5 Burpees OYO. The second set resulted in a flawless finish by the PAX, aided by Spitz’s “STOP” at the end of 21 reps.

Mosey to small lot, beside football field, to see if we could find a spot with a little more wind.

A moderate version of 35’s, 25’s was the same concept but with fewer reps. Complete the exercise at each corner with 25 reps, next round is 20, and so on, until final set is 5 reps.

Carolina Dry Dock

Lunge

LBC

Mountain Climber

This took a while longer than I expected and I was going to audible the last set (of 5), but the PAX was having none of it! I appreciate everyone wanting to complete the rotation and see the set through to the end.

Mosey to benches. Wall sit to wait on the six.
Six in and we hit the parking/lane dividers.

Run up 2 cones, shuffle, up 2 cones , shuffle to the end.

Turn around and side shuffle through each cone. (leg burner)

COT

Moleskin

Lots of good mumblechatter this morning, but we were able to stay focused on why we climbed out of bed and came to a workout in 30-something degree weather….to get better. Hopefully, Spitz finds a nice place to take the M to celebrate 22 years. Congrats!

T-claps to Caddy Shack and Magnum for posting after what sounded like really tough, tiring weeks. T-claps to Skate or Die for encouraging and bringing out BridgeGate. And to BridgeGate for posting again. It doesn’t get easier, you get better.

Several PAX shared their “one word” for 2018 and I hope you all have yours. Kindness, we each have an opportunity to display this, but  subconsciously choose another route, such as  apathy. We should challenge ourselves to display kindness at every appropriate opportunity. Sustain, this is the time of year where everyone decides to make big, sweeping changes. The challenge lies in our ability to sustain those changes. Sticking with small, DAILY, changes is how you get there. Rome wasn’t built in a day. It didn’t crumble in a day either. Just win each day and you’ll get to your goal. Action, stop getting ready to get ready. Step toward whatever it is that you want to do and take action. Goals without action are just dreams.

#LeanIn.  One thing for sure is that we will all face challenges. At work, at home, physical, mental, spiritual, financial, the list goes on and on. Be the man that leans into the challenge. Face it and take it on the same as you do a workout. Don’t shy away from it.

Prayers for all those that expressed them in COT and for those that were unspoken.

As always, I appreciate the opportunity to Q. I am humbled and strengthened by the support of the PAX. For Iron to Sharpen Iron, it must be strong.

See you in the Gloom.

Beacon

 

 

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Footloose – Balmy weather

What a difference a week makes.  Who would have thought we would be out in tee-shirts and shorts after a week of the teen temperatures.  Fortunately the rain finished up a few hours before we kicked things off at 5:15.  17 PAX were ready for a saucy challenge.  We started out with a mosey around the FBC parking lot Indian run style.  Towards the end it became quite comical with more mumble chatter going on than running.  So Ihad to circle up quickly to get back control.  We did a few rounds of SSH, Moroccan night clubs, merkins and imperial walkers.  Then off for another mosey down to the Church of God parking lots.  We circled up again for a few additional paleo exercises while the six rolled in.

The Thang:

We started out with 4 corners, but made it crisscross style to keep the cardio going.  Do 1 exercise and go to then run to the next corner.  Once you finished the round plank it up in the center for a dealers choice exercise.  Then on to the next round.

Round 1 (15 reps) : Flutters, Calf Raises, Peter Parker, Shoulder Taps

Round 2(15 reps) :: LBC’s, Lunges, S.S.H, CDD’s

Round 3(15 reps) : Hello Dolly’s, Squats, Mtn. Climbers, Merkins

Rinse & repeat increasing the reps to 20.  That was a big hit with the PAX.

Round 1 (20 reps) : Flutters, Calf Raises, Peter Parker, Shoulder Taps

Round 2(20 reps) :: LBC’s, Lunges, S.S.H, CDD’s

Round 3(20 reps) : Hello Dolly’s, Squats, Mtn. Climbers, Merkins

Jailbreak back to COT for some mary to wrap things up.

Appreciate the opportunity to lead such a fine group of men!

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Frosty Footloose

11 PAX gathered in about 18 frosty degrees at Footloose.  The most important thing is that they showed up!!!  That is the first step – show up!  Great job.

The work:

A brief disclaimer followed by Windmills and SSHs with a mosey to a church parking lot.  YHC has no idea which church it was as there are about three or four within rock throwing distance.

The main work was centered on a triangle – enough of the four corners – we went with the triangle symbolized by the triangle of pain, the Illuminati or the Taco Bell Stacker.

Three stations, with three rounds at each station with legs, abs and upper body.  After each rotation the PAX ran up and down the church stairs.  On round followed by a brief moleskin and then rinse and repeat.

With time still permitting and the temp only dropping the PAX serpentined the stairs followed by 50 calf raises.  With still more glorious time remaining,  we Indian ran to downtown FM and back to our COT.

We prayed for Squeaky’s daughter as well as Reece and Maggie – Mr. Clean’s 2.0s.

 

The moleskin:

When I was in college one of my room mates uncles was a priest.  Often, on Sunday, he would call and if we answered (no cell phones in 1981) he would ask whoever answered if we had been to Mass.  When I said no, he asked why.  Why?  Because, I said, I got nothing out of it.

Well, he said, it isn’t about you.  It is about you supporting the others are that are there.  By your mere presence you may mean something to someone.  And . . . maybe, you will benefit.

It is the same with posting in  the gloom – we are there to support each other.  To lend encouragement, a hand when someone is down, to offer advice (its free so its worth what you paid) and to just be there.

 

That’s all – Twister out.

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