Tag: Bolt

Staying Upside-Down at Pantheon

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I’m heading off-grid for two to six weeks, so when the call went out from Fish Sticks on Tuesday asking for a sub Q for Pantheon, I hesitated then accepted the challenge. Seven showed up and a disclaimer heavy on “modify as needed” (we’ll be upside-down a lot) was disclaimed.

Quick mosey around the parking lot, pulling in the usual high knees, butt kickers, and toy soldiers. Circle up for some good hip and shoulder prep:

  • Windmills
  • Hillbilly walkers
  • Pseudo-planche merkins
  • Side plank
  • Reverse plank
  • Inverted mountain climbers
  • Side plank on the other side
  • Normal merkins
  • Downward dog
  • Runners lunge
  • Low lunge

Mosey around the school to the basketball court for

The Thang

Pair up (or two twos and a three). One partner does wall walks (plank, walk up to BTW, and then back down to plank) at one end of the court while other partner does break dancer merkins (demo requested) at the other. Bear crawl to center court for partner pistol squats, then duck walk to other end of the court to do the exercise you hadn’t done yet. Bear crawl to center court to meet with partner for another round of partner pistols. That’s one round.

The plan: downward ladder from 10 to 1 rep of each

Audible called after the round of 9, so it turned into 10-9-6-4-2, totaling 31 wall walks, 62 break dancer merkins (31 per side), and 62-100ish pistol squats, depending on who was counting.

All PAX duck walked to the base line (we still had one of those left to keep it even), two quick ten counts were counted, then we moseyed back around to COT for a few minutes of Mary (and some shoulder relief via the shoulder lounge).

  • 8-count V-ups
  • Heels to heaven
  • Side crunches

Announcements:

  • Senator Tressel’s underwear drive
  • Invergence (Sep 29) and Convergence (Sep 30) celebrating 5 years of F3 in The Fort
  • Mini convergence Sep 7 to send off Colombia team
  • I think we mentioned some other stuff too

Praises and prayers

  • Nobody fell on their heads this morning, but Bolt slammed his knee into the wall, which reminded us to pray for all the injured PAX…and those dealing with life and family things
  • Prayers for those affected by Harvey and in the path of Irma (and those affected by flooding in Sierra Leone, Niger, India, Bangladesh…..)

Really proud of these guys for putting up with my twisted idea of “fun,” though I’ve never seen people leave an AO so quickly following COT.

I look forward to the next inverted exercise we can come up with and the brave men who get to try it. Thanks to Fish Sticks for the opportunity.

Jedi

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Prisoners over the Wall

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11 men arrived at the park, with 1 FNG in tow.  Change Order and Copperfield had an alternate plan to run the Tega Cay hills.

Fishsticks began the workout with a warm-up jog around the neighborhood.

Circled up for COP

Plank Stretches

SSH x 20

Imperial Walker x  20

Windmill x10

Hello Dolly x 10

Moroccan Night Club  x 20

Mosey to the field for some partner exercises at each corner of the field

  1.  Elevated push-ups x10 – feet on partner’s back
  2.  Single arm lifts x10  – Lift partner up from ground with one hand
  3. Dips x 10 – Partner 1 in plank position while partner 2 dips
  4. Merkin claps x 20

Rinse and repeat two more times OYO

Jekyll takes the Q-

Mosey around backside of Alcatraz with a head fake to “the hill”.  Stopped for some seal jacks and plank jacks before having Sparkplug lead the pax to the coupons.

Taking our brick we pick it up and put it down several times in the form of curls, squats, lunges, shoulder press, tricep extensions.  Bonsai looked like he was lifting cobble stone.  That dude big.

Split off to team 1 and 2.  Team 1 on wall for sits and team 2 race across field, scale the outfield fence, run up the mulch hill and do 5 bombjacks- race back to wall.  Flapjack.  2 more rounds throwing in BTTWs and Wall sits.  Sparkplug continues to be a no quit leader.  #inspiration.  Falcon Crest almost had nonscheduled reassignment surgery getting up and over the fence.

Putting coupons back at home base we moseyed to the field for Jack Webbs and Lt. Dan’s.  Crowd favorite here- especially the LT. Dans.

Great effort by all.  Triple Hate- FNG Baywatch was a welcome surprise.  Nice job Router.  If you are still wondering- Shady has firm backside that provided a great bench for YHC.

 

Excellent work men!

 

Announcements:

F3 Chicago – Launching soon

The Fort Invergence – Sept 29

Paradise workout – Friday night at 7:00pm

Prayers:

Shaddy’s M interview

Change Order’s M turns 40

Jekyll’s 2.0 away on camping trip

 

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Getting G-Fit in Paradise

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What a fun evening in Paradise!  If you have not gotten the opportunity to come see what G-Fit on Friday night is like, I highly recommend it.  Our brothers Deacon and Bolt and others have taken ownership of this AO and really are making it into something special.  This was my first time back to Steele Street Park since our Easter Egg Hunt outreach and it is a great little park.  Full court basketball, a field for football, a pavilion, swing set, spray park?  Awesome.  And like it says in the bible, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  We need more Q’s to step up and lead.  DO IT!  You will be blessed and encouraged, I guarantee it.  Here’s what we did on my VQ:

YHC gathered his 2.0, Captain Snooze, and his FNG friend from the neighboorhood and we arrived a the park around 18:40.  Kids and teens were on the court shouting around so we joined them.  I quizzed the crowd about F3 and who had attended a workout.  About half had.  We quickly head locked the other half and it was announced we’d start at the top of the hour.  As 19:00 approached, more and more of The Fort PAX started showing up.  It was great seeing so many familiar faces!  Longer shout-out to you all below but back to the blast.  We circled up at half court for disclaimer and a few words about what to expect for the next 45 minutes and we were off.

THE THANG

Mosey around the park, past the pavilion, around the bathrooms, loop around the spray park then high knees and butt kickers as we head to the parking lot.  Once on the lot, karaoke right for half, then left until the end.  Up the grass hill to the field area for COP

Reps were kept to around 10 for the following exercises, all in cadence:

SSH, Imperial Walkers, Windmills, Squats, Merkins, LBC, Flutters

Water break while we talked about the word of the month, discipline.  What is discipline?  We discussed that discipline is doing what is necessary even when it’s not what you want to do.  We need discipline in our lives to reach our athletic goals.  Kevin Durant did not develop his jump shot by shear luck or talent.  It has taken years of hard work and discipline to get his game to where it’s at.  We need discipline in our lives to reach our academic goals.  Good grades and success don’t just happen, they take discipline.  AYE!

The group was then split between younger kids and teens / adult and each group headed to a basketball hoop.  We lined up from tallest to shortest on the free throw line for a game of knock-out.  Classic game that is always fun.  Bolt quickly emerged as the man to beat but nobody actually could!  Fortunately he sat out after one victory and let some others win.  I think a total of 3 games were played.  Maybe 4?  Anyway, we grabbed a quick sip of water and then headed to the field for some flag football.

Deacon picked 2 younger lads as team captains and all the younger PAX were picked for teams.  Deacon and YHC served as coach / referee while the adult PAX resumed their battle on the basketball court.  The football game was a blast to watch and it was great to see the younger PAX work together as teams.  A bunch of touchdown were scored and a bunch of smiling faces greeted us as we call time and headed for COT.

At COT we named to 4 FNG’s and it was sweet to see how pumped the kids were at their names.  I think we did pretty good with 88 (Cowboys fan), Clutch (the star of the football and basketball games), Man of Steel (Steelers fan who was wearing a team jersey), and Philmont (Boy Scout working towards Eagle).

Announcement was made about a special Labor Day workout on 9/1.  Did somebody say PIZZA?  Expect record breaking numbers for that one.  No prayer requests but YHC took us our with a prayer asking God for help in developing margin and discipline in our lives.

Moleskin

As this was my VQ, I really appreciated seeing some familiar faces.  Thanks to Barry Manilow, Bolt, Deacon, Polaroid, Fish Sticks, and Wapner for posting.  Most brought a 2.0 with them and that is a great part of this AO.  Sharing the vision of F3 and the mission of this particular workout with your kid and having them join you is truly a blessing.  I have to say my heart was warmed when I saw a young kid from the neighborhood jump on my 2.0’s back.  Everybody got along great together, supported each other, and had a blast on a beautiful Friday night.  The sunset was unreal BTW.  Deacon said it’s like that after every workout.  Thanks to you, Deacon, for the opportunity to Q.  After all the unrest and hate on display in our country, it was a breath of fresh air to laugh and play and pray with men and young men of different nationalities.  It’s really not that hard when you just love one another.  Everybody loves love.

Flat Tire

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Pigskin in Paradise

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I had the privilege to spend Friday evening with 22 other men and young men of the Paradise community. Conditions were, well, August in South Carolina – upper 90s with humidity. Here’s what we did…

The Thang

  • Mosey to the splash park
  • Circle up fo 10 SSH in cadence
  • 10 Merkins in cadence
  • 10 LBcs in cadence
  • Grab some wall for 10 Dips in cadence
  • 20 Calf Raises OYO
  • Mosey to the court for 10 Air Chair Claps in cadence
  • Full Court Suicides
  • Water and Powerade break
  • FOOTBALL TIME

NMM

The excitement Friday night was palpable. Bounty Hunter and I arrived 15 minutes early to set up the field. This prompted Scooter and Prescott to come running. When we started throwing the ball around the field, the park filled up fast. By the time 7:00 rolled around, there were kids EVERYWHERE. Thank you Deacon and Bolt for inviting me to lead. Thank you Fish Sticks, Barry Manilow, and Bounty Hunter for helping control the chaos. Final Score: 50 something to 40 something. For those who haven’t attended G-Fit, get out there and see what you’re missing.

I talked to the young men about community and brotherhood. We all need our friends and families when times get tough. Your brothers, regardless of skin color, religion or any other label that divides us, need you and you need them. There is nothing impossible when you are surrounded by people who will encourage and lift you up. What makes G-Fit special is it’s symbiotic relationship. We need each other. Those young men remind us to have fun. We can show them what love and brotherhood look like. Now, more than ever, we need to show love. God created us in His image and we are called to love our neighbor as ourselves. Where better to live that principle than Friday nights in Paradise?

With a heart filled,

Italian Job

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No Barriers

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What a beautiful day in Paradise, literally. The new workout start time of 7 PM was perfect for watching the sunset from the top of the hill at Steele Street Park. 12 Pax posted strong in which 8 were from the community. We had 3 FNGs.

The Thang:

SSH (30x), IW (20x), WM (15x), Sumo Squats (15x), MC (20x), Merkins (15x), LBCs (15x)

Mosey around the court

Drills: 7 layups with the right hand, 7 layups with the left hand.

Played knockout 2x

Played 5 on 5 up to a total score of 10. Each bucket counted as 1. Bolt and Jiffy were on the same team and played like Jordan and Pippen.

Moleskin:

We moved the G-Fit workouts in Paradise from Saturday mornings to Fridays at 7 PM. The shift in workout times is intended to engage more people from the community. An evening workout removes the common excuse of “I couldn’t wake up on time.” Moving the workouts to Fridays appears to be a good change so far.

Bolt has been making a huge impact in the community. One of the younger Pax from the community called him “Dad.” If I have to state the obvious, here it is: the younger Pax and Bolt look nothing alike but they are both in God’s family. They have built a strong, genuine relationship that wins over any social or man-made barriers. #AwesomeSauce

We need to continue to step out the bubble, out of our comfort zones to step into each other’s life to make a real impact. It’s a double blessing when that someone else doesn’t look like you or share your social status.

Peace,

Deacon

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11

Find Joy in the Pain

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So YHC had spent the previous Saturday experiencing Base Camp in Asheville as a Nomad and wanted to bring some lessons, and some pain, back to the PAX of Lake Wylie. The original plan was changed as YHC learned just before launch of the passing of Flux’s grandmother at the age of 102.

The Thang

With the small group assembled and a quick disclaimer given we moseyed of towards the football field at Oak Ridge Elementary. PAX circled up and first exercise is…102 Burpees. This was met with some disbelief and a some unhappy comments. Original plan was 100, but 102 was the number to honor Flux’s grandmother. YHC must admit that I had the same response when I showed up to Base Camp and missed the disclaimer and launch.

As we pushed through the evolution YHC discussed a podcast the was on my mind from earlier in the week. It featured Joost Jansen, former Navy Seal and now military consultant in Hollywood. To sum up the message of his podcast, he talked about finding the joy in the pain that you are feeling. Without having been through anything remotely similar I tried to convey that message to the PAX. What is the reason you are here? Why did you show up today? What goal are you trying to accomplish? Find that reason, find that joy and you can accomplish anything.

With maximum effort the PAX completed their assigned Burpees and a few others pitched in to help and add motivation. With the Burpees complete and the PAX sufficiently warmed up, we moseyed over to the playground area for our second evolution.

The next evolution consisted of a circuit of 3 exercises and a lap around the grassy perimeter of the playground. Completion would be 7 rounds. The circuit is below.

5 x Pullups
10 x Lunges (double count)
15 x Squats

With the little time we had left YHC wanted to introduce an exercise that was learned at Base Camp, the Donkey Farmer. This little number is a partner exercise that starts in a standard wheelbarrow position. 1 rep consists of the PAX in plank position completing a Peter Parker followed by the standing partner completing a squat. PAX took turns completing 5 reps each before moseying back to COT.

Great push today by all the PAX. This was one tough hour.

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Is there any doubt?

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20 Pax posted ’round the Shovel Flag to SlowBurn on a pleasant morning with a spectacular full moon.  Yes, Twister was howling.  The rest of the Pax were ruminating over whether YHC would actually deliver a Moderate workout.  The Disclaimer was offered, including an invitation to modify (upward is fine, too, though no Burpee Challenge pax in the crowd on this particular morning, so no real demand to go that direction).  And then we were off…

The Thang

Mosey to Empire Pizza parking lot

COP — SSHs, Mtn climbers, IWs, Sumo squats, Parker Peters, Moroccan Nightclubs

Mosey to side of former Baxter Playhouse site

People’s Chair for 3 ten-counts
10 Merkins OYO
(Rinse & repeat for 3 cycles total)

AYG sprint to Lowes storage box

Line up at shopping cart return

Crab walk to contractor entrance and bear crawl back

Karaoke to contractor entrance and back

Side shuffle to contractor entrance and back

Circle up for some Mary (request for all pax who have not Q’d to ID themselves and lead an exercise) — Flutter kick, Hello dolly, Box cutters, Freddie Mercury, Rosalita

AYG sprint to Garden Center entrance

COP — Jumping lunge, Peter Parkers, CDDs, Donkey kicks, Wide arm merkins

AYG sprint to contractor entrance

COP — Diamond merkins, Donkey kicks, SSHs

AYG sprint to Storage box

Mosey to Baxter Playhouse entrance

Slow mosey home

COT

Naked man moleskin

The theme for the month of June is #Faith, as in “Oh, yee pax of little faith!”  Yes, there were lots of doubts at the start regarding the intensity of the Weinke.  I have to defer to Site Q, Barry Manilow, for his report.  Low number of reps and many ten counts.  Plus, breaks for some commentary from YHC on Faith and Doubt.  You decide.  The pax were pushed and they pushed themselves — well done, men!

Speaking of Faith, the pax offered contributions throughout on the theme.  Change Order offered how having faith in himself wasn’t quite working out.  When we came to the Trump/Pence office, YHC spoke of likely doubts and probed about Faith.  Vernon responded — God’s in charge he said.  Finally, Twister offered a strong testimony of faith and doubt regarding his brothers in the GRC.  His doubts were met by the faith of his brothers, and he made it to the finish.

Along the way, we identified some new sprinters among the pax, including Destiny, Deep Dish and Change Order.  Strong push, boys!

We also uncovered the identities of several future Qs for Barry Manilow — Optimist, MASH, Vernon, Couples & McGillis.

Thanks to Barry Manilow for the invite.  It is always an honor to lead honorable men.

 

 

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