Tag: Bonsai

Laces In/Out 2018.11

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This is the 3rd of 3 Qs where I’m catching up on backblasts…  I’m pretty sure I owe someone a thousand burpees by now.  I apologize.

Mosey to band practice lot for some leg work.

I did an extended warmup that us much out of my typical, because I planned sprints, and everyone pulls something during sprints so lack of warmup was not going to be anyones excuse.
SSHs, Windmill, Jimmy Carters, Wide leg stretch left/right, squat stretch groin, downdogs and honeymooners… Next toy soldiers 30 yards, mosey 70.  Buttkickers 30 mosey 70, did this 3 times…

Now for sprints, split into two teams of 6.  Split into groups of 3, 40 yards apart.  Relay race, 1 man per team running at a time per team.  (This took until the 3rd round to get right…  I’m pretty sure some would be clinically prescribed Aderol if sent to take a standardized test.)  When the last man comes in I yell out a random exercise and then we do it all over again.  We did this 7 times.

Mosey back to the parking lot for 6MOM from the Fort’s own JWoww.

 

I don’t know what the runners did… ask them.

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2

Risking it All and Going Beyond

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Better conditions led to 14 PAX posting at Golden Corral for this week’s edition of BEYOND. Turnout was improved in part because Rad cancelled the ruck workout, encouraging the usual ruckers to join the fun, while he bailed and went yogging at Sea Legs instead.

After Copperfield gave the disclaimer, the 14 BEYONDers took off for a short mosey around the perimeter of the main parking lot, incorporating butt kickers, high knees, toy soldiers, toe walks, and heel walks. We then lined up at the shovel flags (we had three…I don’t know where the third came from…) and did 10 merkins at the island, jog to the next island, 10 more merkins, etc. for a total of 40 merkins. This was followed by a short mosey to the HT loading docks for some final warming up. (Note for GC Q’s – people drive like MANIACS behind HT, so keep the PAX out of the main roadway if possible.)

Brief COP included 10 windmills, 10 low slow squats on our toes (in relevé, if you will), then a couple yoga lunge stretches on each leg. Then partner up and jog around to the HT wall facing the six of O – O – O – O’Reilly for the Thang.

The workout sets were generally done in Stand By Your Man style, with one PAX performing the prescribed reps of some form of merkin while the other does some other exercise, then switch places until all merkin reps completed. Once done, run around oil change place and O’Reilly and back to the HT wall with your partner. Pretty simple…ish…

Let’s get going.

The original plan was to build this week’s message off of what was covered at BEYOND last week, but that had to be modified when we had only three last week and fourteen this week. So, we started with some quick catch-up. If you want a recap of last week, check out that backblast. Main point to remember for today: dig deep and determine your purpose, as this will give a filter through which to handle today’s questions.

Living with purpose inherently involves risk.

During this first set, discuss with your partner how you would define “risk.”

Set 1: Breakdancer merkins (20-16-12-8 reps each) while partner does Rockette Chair (People’s Chair with alternating leg kicks)

Plank it up for the six, then hold it while we chat (with rotation to side, reverse plank, and other side).

Risk can have a variety of definitions, but generally it is an action that exposes you or somebody else to the possibility of harm or loss. We all face risks every day, from driving to relationships. Some risks are bigger than others, but we live lives of risk. Taking risks is necessary for growth and gain, in work and in life. Without some level of risk, we won’t get better.

Risk and sacrifice are different, but related.

During this set, discuss with your partner how you would define “sacrifice.”

Set 2: Mike Tysons (15-15-15-15 reps each) while partner does BTTW (with shoulder taps for the brave).

People’s Chair for the six, then stay for the talk.

Sacrifice is the act of giving up something you want to keep in order to get or do something else (and potentially better). You could say that sacrifice is the realization of the potential loss involved in the risk. Sacrifice has an intentional, willful component to it – you choose to give something up, whether under compulsion or not. Today, most of us sacrificed more sleep to post (thanks for that!), and in doing so also took the risk of maybe getting a good workout, maybe making our day a bit rougher because our arms won’t work after, etc. Silly example for an obvious point.

Personal examples of risk and sacrifice.

During this set, discuss a current or recent example of risk or sacrifice in your life.

Set 3: Pseudo Planche merkins (15-15-15 reps each) while partner does breakdancer. It’s like the breakdancer merkin, but without the merkin, a little more jumpy, and ideally a bit faster.

Return and breathe while waiting for the six, then for the talk.

An easy example of sacrifice in my life was giving up our life in Africa to return to the US. Again, for more on this, refer to last week’s backblast. But for the risk component, there were two risks that weighed heavily on our last year in Africa and played into our decision to return. The first was our son’s health. He was premature and had some health issues that went with it. He also began having seizures while we still lived overseas. As a father, was I willing to risk his health to continue living and working in Zambia? Then, we wanted more kids, but my wife is a high-risk pregnancy, and we lived in a place where premature babies die more than they survive, and maternal mortality is high as well. These risks paired with other circumstances played into our decision to return, giving up our identities, our home, our relationships, etc.

Much of the reason for me wanting to talk about all this today stems from a conversation with Cha Ching and Olaf from several months ago. They may not remember it, but it has stuck with me ever since. We were talking about the new security training I’m helping develop for our new workers, and there are three main questions that come out of this training. These questions are what I want to leave with everybody today (with one more set thrown in for good measure).

The first two questions to consider:

How much am I willing to risk in order to achieve my purpose? (This makes more sense if you spend the time determining your purpose.)

What, if anything, would be an unnecessary level of risk or a risk that would actually hinder accomplishment of your purpose?

No need to answer the questions this time, as they take time to really work through.

Set 4: Battering rams (drop to six inches, then, using your arms and not your feet, thrust your torso forward so your hands end up between ribs and hips; 20-20-20 reps each) while partner does Monkey Humpers. For some, this proved to be a somewhat inappropriate combination of moves. #badplanning #somethingsyoucantunhear

Pressed for time, we gathered following the run around the buildings for the final point. I actually left out two full sets, but I don’t think anybody’s arms are particularly missing them (see below for what we missed).

The final question to ponder: Do I believe strongly enough in my purpose that I’m willing to sacrifice everything for it?

Simply put, are you willing to die to achieve your purpose? Fourteen years ago, my answer would have been a lot different. But now, with a wife and children, I hesitate. If I know that they will be taken care of, then I’d probably be willing to die. But what if the tables were turned? Would I be so committed to my purpose, to my faith, that I’d be willing to sacrifice my family? I’ve never been in that situation, so I don’t know. But this is a reality faced by many in other parts of the world. For some, it’s a daily reality, being faced with the possibility of losing everything for what they believe.

What would you do? Do you have a commitment to something that is so strong that you’re willing to sacrifice everything for it, even your family?

Time never seems sufficient to cover the topic, but discussion doesn’t need to end when the workout does.

We ended there and ran back to COT to meet up with the bootcampers.

Announcements

  • Deacon reminded us of the opportunities in the Paradise community, with the reading program on Mondays and Wednesdays and G-Fit on Saturdays. Take a risk and make an impact in the community.

Prayers and Praises

  • Pray for those involved with the Palmetto 200 this weekend.
  • Keep praying for our wives and kids.
  • Pray for those with mental health issues and the practitioners who care for them. Specifically, pray for Copperfield’s M as she deals with some very difficult situations.
  • Bolt’s neighbor passed away last week. Pray for this man’s family and friends and others who are dealing with this loss.
  • Prayers for one of Decibel’s employee’s dad, who is in the hospital.
  • Bonsai and his wife are praying about a few things right now; prayers for wisdom and discernment as they consider some options.
  • Deacon has a friend with serious health concerns. Prayers for him as he seeks care at Mayo.
  • Praises for F3 and the impact it has had on our lives.

It was an honor to get to lead this group, and I really appreciate Maximus pushing me to do two BEYOND Qs in a row. If you haven’t had opportunity to do this yet, talk to him. Whether or not the other PAX benefit from the message you bring, your life will be changed by working through the material in preparation to lead. Definitely worth it. And I’m happy to not do it again for a while.

-Jedi

Missed sets

For those wondering what we missed for lack of time, the remaining sets were:

Set 5: one-arm merkins (16-12-8 reps each) while partner does bomb jacks.

Set 6: Scorpion merkins (16-12-8 reps each) while partner does jump squats.

You’re welcome.

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7

Just a perfect Old School Saturday @F3TheFort

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6 for the preruck

2 for the prerun

conditions perfect overcast and 46 degrees

disclaimer

Longshanks on warm-up and he ran us to Double D Hill and we started working hard, more running around WEP with timely stops for a variety of PT, mosey to Springs Building for a peoples chair sequence followed by a mosey to Little Ceaser Park

Handoff to CSPAN

partner up with a man you don’t know

station workouts:

  1. 10 Burpees
  2. 45 Mountain Climbers
  3. 40 Squats
  4. 30 Tri-cep dips
  5. 55 LBC
  6. 20 Peter Parker and 20 Parker Peters
  7. 30 Flutters and 30 Hello Dolly
  8. 20 KB Curls and Hairburners
  9. Bear & Crab
  10. 25 Seal Jacks and 25 SSH
  11. 25 Imperial Walkers and 25 Hillbilly Walkers
  12. Tug-a-war and 10 Burpees

Finished up with a tug-a-war tournament

Mosey to COT

Prayer or Praise / BOM

Excellent Coffeerteria at Peach Stand

AYE!

CSPAN

 

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1

3/1/18 – #Beyond – Defeating Goliath

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If I’m honest, even though I’ve Q’d 100 times over the last 3 years, I was a bit intimidated this morning. Maximus has done a great job setting a high bar of expectations for #Beyond, regarding the Winkie expected from both a physical and mental standpoint. I spent more time prepping for this Q over the last few days than I have collectively for the last 5. Not sure how it turned out, but I enjoyed the opportunity.

On this morning, we are going to take on the subject of the Goliaths in our lives. Goliaths, for today, at least, are the problems or vices that are difficult, persistent, seemingly insurmountable, and constantly taunt us. These problems can be any number of things, from alcohol to drugs, vanity to materialism.

Today, however, we are going to focus on one that is common amongst most men. A vice that we do not like to talk about because it makes us uncomfortable in groups. A problem that is becoming increasingly pervasive amongst adults, but especially amongst our youth. Today, we are going to discuss PORNOGRAPHY. **shudder**

We’ll do that while getting a decent workout in as well.

Mosey around the parking lot and then to the football field.

WARMUP

  • 20 side straddle hops
  • 10 double count windmills
  • 20 double count mountain climbers

Let’s get to THE THANG

  • Mosey to the endzone and plank it up

Introduce the topic, share some statistics about this Goliath that are staggering:

  • porn is a $97 Billion industry
  • 35% of all downloads are porn related
  • 25% of all internet searches are porn related

Break plank, back to the workout

  • Sprint to the 50 yard line, bear crawl the remaining 50
  • Plank it up & share more stats

More on this Goliath:

  • 40M regularly visit sites
  • 70% of men (18-34) visit monthly
  • 4.6M hours of porn watched on 1 site in 2016
  • porn usage increases marital infidelity by 300%

Back to the workout

  • Sprint to the 50 yard line, bear crawl the remaining 50
  • Plank it up & share more stats

More on this Goliath…its getting worse:

  • 64% of young (13-24) watch weekly
  • 67% of young believe it is acceptable

Back to the workout

  • Sprint 100 yards to other goal line
  • Plank it up & share more stats
  • Captain Thors to 8×32

More on this Goliath…this time amongst Christians:

  • 37% of Christian pastors say it is a current struggle
  • 47% of Christian families say it is a problem in their home
  • Most popular day for porn is Sunday, the Sabbath

Back to the workout

  • Sprint 100 yards to the other goal line
  • Indian Gator Walk – 100 yards (line up Indian Run style, but Gator Walk instead…this sucked)
  • Plank it up to continue discussions

Back to Goliath…it’s serious issue to our Creator and should be to us as well

Matthew 5:28 – but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Back to the workout

  • Indian Gator Walk – 100 yards
  • Plank it up to continue discussions

Mosey to the pull up bars…have something special planned

  • 10 toes to bar/pull up combos (1 TTB, 1 PU, repeats 10 times)
  • On the wall

Back to Goliath…good news is he is already defeated

1 Corinthians 15:57 – For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Back to the beat down

  • 10 toes to bar/pull up combos (1 TTB, 1 PU, repeats 10 times)
  • On the wall

Back to Goliath…though he’s defeated, he’s still a threat

From Goliath Must Fall (Giglio): Jesus has already overcome the enemy. However, as we read in 1 Peter 5:8, the devil still “prowls around . . . looking for someone to devour.” In many ways, he is like a snake with its head cut off. When you kill a snake, you have to be sure to bury its head, because even after death the serpent holds a lethal dose of venom in its fangs. If you step on a dead snake’s head, you can still get poisoned. In the same way, even though Jesus broke the power of Satan at the cross, he can still inject his deadly poison into our lives. He is dead but still deadly.

Back to the beat down

  • 20 heels to heaven, cadence
  • 10 chin ups, OYO
  • 20 LBCs, cadence
  • 10 chin ups, OYO

Back to Goliath…every man deals with this temptation, but God gives us the strength we need…if we ask

1 Corinthians 10:13 – No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

Back to the beat down

  • 5 pull ups
  • 10 toes to bar

Mosey towards COT

  • 20 boats & canoes

COT

My goal for this workout was to make everyone physically and mentally uncomfortable. This topic is very uncomfortable to many, but needs to be dealt with head on as it is an issue that is becoming more and more pervasive in our culture. Our young people are growing up in a world where pornography is more acceptable than ever and more immersive than ever. If we expect it to get better, we have to openly discuss and encourage the resistance to this temptation and teach our 2.0s how to resist it as well.

Thank you for the opportunity to lead, Maximus. Until next time…

– Ginsu

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21

Read directions and go…

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Short mosey over to band practice parking lot with some high knees, butt kickers, and high skipping.  Next we circled up for the following warm-up:

  • SSH, Imperial walkers, cherry picker, mountain climbers, Moroccan night club, hillbilly walker
  • Stretching – downward dog, honeymooner, sitting down with knee up pressing elbow on knee to stretch your back, and last we laid on our backs and pulled knees to chest

Then on to the fun.  Staying on the practice field parking lot, we had 2 sets of activities spaced out 40 yards.  One station had cinder blocks for us to play with.  We split into 2 groups where the goal was to perform the first exercise on the list (some OYO and some in cadence) then run the 40 yards to the other set of activities starting at the top of the list, performing that exercise, then back to station 1, etc.

Station 1 – w/ blocks

5 Block shoulder press (x2)

10 Lunges (10 each leg) with block

20 Curls

30 Dips on block

40 American hammer with block (single count)

50 LBC

60 Ski jumps

60 Calf raises

50 Plank jacks

40 Squats with block

30 Bench press

20 Row with block

10 Merkins using block alternating arm (10 / arm)

5 Plank alternating shoulder taps (5 each)

 

Station 2 – no blocks

5 Burpee

10 Diamond merkins

20 Knee to chest jumps

30 Mountain climbers

40 Monkey humpers

50 Seal jacks

60 SSH

60 Moroccan night club

50 Shoulder presses

40 Crab cakes

30 Flutters

20 Flying squirrel

10 Durkin (get partner to put feet on back)

5 Dive bombers

 

Wrapped up and mosey’d back to COT and met up with #lacesout group.  We all had the pleasure of having FNG – Gilligan join us from Florida.  Thanks Pusher for dragging him out!  Had a great time and glad we made it through all exercises with no PAX left behind!

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2

The BeachBall

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Neighbors and police were alerted of a suspicious shadow dropping off cones and a dangerous-looking gray mass onto dark, empty parking lot and then driving off to meet with CEO-looking PAX at Walter Elysha. YHC started giving the disclaimer but Site-Q Bonsai felt insecure about Latino accent and wrong use of words so he took over and messed it all up.  FNG was very confused and the rest, embarrased.

Warm-up

Mosey on running track swinging some Buttkickers (Site-Q alerted YHC that A**kickers is a curse word), high-knees and uphill Karaoke.

Once in COP: SSH – Windmills – MNC – Squats – Doggie paddles – plank and 6-inch keeping mississippi count.

The Thang

PAX were asked to perform Bearpees along ten trees.

-Nine???  Someone complained.  -How do you expect us to bearpee eight trees? There’s no way I’m gonna bearcrawl seven trees.

But in the end pax overcame and did all six trees as originally requested.

Mosey to parking lot next to lady who doesn’t like PAX screaming.  Backwards uphill climb.  At this point attempting to do the pain stations seemed pointless since most PAX were out of breath, so YHC simply introduced the BeachBall (see pic), which PAX bounced around like infants.  LBCs ensued while rotating BeachBall and then the ArmWrestlingRollingCarousel (patent pending) was introduced:  PAX lay flat on their bellies facing each other in two rows, and arm wrestle in manly tension while one reads theme verse (Isaiah 41:10). Then one row rolls over and faces next contendor while new PAX reads verse.  Rinse & repeat until all have read verse (arm switch when first row is done rolling).  Of course, Long Shanks arm-wrestled two at a time in an audacious display of arrogance.

Co-Q Cornhole took over at this point with what was left of PAX, but mercilessly had all bearcrawl downhill on reenactment of Civil War battle but with pinecones.  People’s Chair for all while two PAX graciously jumpjacked  with the sunrise behind, silhoueting the too much barBQ from the night before.  Deconstructed Burpees took everyone by surprise and there was a lotta groaning and destructive chatter.

Derkins, step-ups and dips brought joy back to brave PAX.

Then alternating pull-ups, step-ups and laps around kiddie park.

ABS

Ab-lap where Atticus over-underperformed, making Pusher blush, but he claimed him as Q-school disciple all the same.

FNG was interviewed an named Oz, but YHC missed out on all the cultural references.

PAX were encouraged to not be anxious and prayers were lifted up.

2nd F at Peach Stand in support of community business.  A joyful moment.

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1

Winter Olympic games

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Mosey over behind the school to the hill with the light poles. Worked our way up the hill stopping at each light pole doing a different exercise at each.

 

SSH

Hill Billy Walker

Carolina Dry Docks

Low Slow Squats

LBCs

 

Move back down to the bottom of the hill for arm circles (forward/backward)

 

The Thang:

When I accepted the opportunity to Q I decided I would try to do something that would incorporate the upcoming winter olympics.  I also want to try and use some coupons (cinder blocks and 2 logs) that I had acquired over the past year.  With that I came up with the following “events”

 

1. Speed Skating – Apolo Ohnos

2. Cross Country Skiing – Carry logs down to cones (switch with partner) and back

3. Moguls – jump over cinder block and back

4. Bobsled – with resistance bands partner 1 would do high knees while partner 2 provides resistance
  – round 2 broad jump

5. Ski Jumping – 180 and 360 jumps

6. Biathlon –

7. Nordic Combined – Big Boy sit-up with partner passing cinder block

8. Curling – With cinder block – chest press and overhead press (rotate once team on the log gets to the cones)

 

 

All teams would continue with their exercise until team on event 2 completes their event (down and back)

After looking back on the Q I would have slightly changed the directions for the pax and everyone would perform the same exercise while one team took turns on the log carry working their way down the list.  I have found as I continue to gain more experience q’ing a workout I find myself trying different things.  Some of those things I feel go really well and others I use as a lesson learned.  I take this as a lesson learned to ensure I provide more directions to the pax for better organization.  As in life if you are comfortable with the status quo are you truly making yourself better?  Don’t be afraid to fail and if you do fail and you are able to learn from it is it really a failure?

 

 

 

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3

I hate you, I love you, I hate that I love you

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Weather – 35 degrees and not sunny with a slight wind coming in from the northeast.

13/14 PAX (not sure the total number but 21 was the total between Laces In and Laces out) showed YHC some love by posting on this beautiful Thursday morning. No joke I thought most would post the Celebrity Q CSPAN on the Track considering it is P200 training season. Though he PAX showed some love, YHC didn’t show it back. Here’s how the beatdown went:

The Thang

Mosey around the parking lot with some Butt Kicks, High Knees, Karoake and Toy Soldiers. Circle up for COP

SSH x 25
IW x 15
Windmills x 10
Mountain Climbers x 15
Peter Parkers x 10
Parker Peters x 10
Low Slow Squats x 15

Mosey over to the hill.
1 partner runs to the first speed bump while partner exercises. Plank after each round of exercise.
100 Hip Thrusters (plenty of jokes about thrusting and humping)
100 Merkins (jokes stopped after they realize whats happening)
100 Squat Jumps
At this point the PAX realize its a deconstructed burpee.
100 Burpees (aka 100 I Hate You’s)

Mosey over to the Large Gym Parking lot where cones were setup
Exercises done Cupcake style (formerly known as a suicide)
40 SSH, run to first cone, 20 Carolina Dry docks, run back to start, 40 SSH, run to 2nd cone 25 LBC’s, Run Back to start 40 SSH, run to third cone 25 Squats, run to start 40 SSH, run to last cone 5 Burpees, run back to the start.
Mosey 3/4 a big lap until over at the 5 Burpee cone.
Rinse and repeat but the start line is at the Burpees.
5 Burpees, run, 25 squats, run, 5 burpees, run, 25 LBC’s, run, 5 burpees, run, 20 CDD, run, 5 burpees, run, 40 SSH. Finish at SSH. Mosey back for 2 minutes of Mary – LBC’s and Flutter Kicks

COT and BOM with Laces Out

Announcements – Yeti 2-24, Reading with kids on Mon/Wed (contact Deacon/Copay), Saturday coffeteria at Peach Stand following workouts, read your newsletter.

Prayers – Corruptions Mom having Surgery today, FMHS teacher that had open heart surgery this week, marriages, families, kids, our community

Moleskin
1. Thanks Lil E for the opportunity to lead this morning.
2. Great Push this morning by All PAX. Moderate amount of complaining. I can handle that. And yes, I have love/hate relationship with burpees.
3. 1 month into 2018 and how are we all with our 1 word. As some of you may know my word is Patience. It has already taken on many forms throughout the first month. The biggest takeaway thus far is to remember to take a deep breath every now and then and just let it all go out instead of keeping everything inside.
4. Just Breathe

Shanks out

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8

Taking it easy at the Golden Corral

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After two Qs last week, YHC’s creativity was all but spent. Nevertheless, when Old Bay asked if I could fill in for Boeheim, I agreed to help. I still have that Twister spinner I made for a previous Q, so I already had something “prepared” in case I didn’t have time to come up with something new.

Not being satisfied with repeating something, I decided to at least update the board a bit (and tried cutting off a finger in the process, so ignore the blood stain if you see it). This will come in handy later, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

14 cold-ish PAX (well, 13, as Cake Boss came rolling in late) posted to Golden Corral before dividing up – six to ruck with Mainframe, Old Bay to run by himself, and seven for the bootcamp. Disclaimer was given (probably my best yet), and off we went. The first couple minutes of the mosey around to the back parking lot were spent explaining what we were not doing: no somersaults, no inverted burpees, no flips, etc. Apparently people get concerned when they find out it’s a Jedi Q. Incorporating knees to chest, butt kickers, and karaoke, we wove around until we found a good spot in the corner of the back parking lot to warm up a bit.

COP/Warm-up

My warmups are getting a bit repetitive, but it seems I feel the need to stretch the hamstrings and open the hips with:

10 windmills IC

10 low slow squats IC

10 hillbilly walkers IC

10 merkins IC

Downward dog with cross body ankle grabs (probably the weirdest move of the day)

Not feeling quite warm enough, we moved over to the curb for some dips and crab cakes, Jack Webb style: one dip and four crab cakes (single count, with hands on curb), all the way up to ten and forty. Our shoulders got nice and toasty, though there were many modifications including a fully-seated version of the crab cake, but since Cake Boss has 60 pound weights at the end of both legs, grace was extended.

Shake it off, then mosey around to the front of Harris Teeter for the remainder of our fun.

The Thang

As mentioned, the Twister spinner made a reappearance for today. Basically, spin the spinner, do the exercise as prescribed, then run across the parking lot to the stop sign and back. Rinse and repeat. The exercises:

Two Arms

Donkey Kick (x20)

Merkins (x20)

Burpees (x10)

Dips (x20)

One Arm

Donkey Kick (x20)

Merkins (x20)

Burpees (x10)

Dips (x20)

Two Legs

Donkey Kick (x20)

Burpees (x10)

Squat Jumps (x20)

Bear Crawl

One Leg

Donkey Kick (x20)

Burpees (x10)

Squat Jumps (x20)

Bear crawl

The first spin resulted in one-arm merkins, which was a real crowd pleaser following the Jack Webb dip/crab cake combo. That, and they’re one-arm merkins. Other exercises completed include burpees (normal, one arm, and one leg), donkey kicks (normal and one leg), dips (normal and one arm), bear crawl (just normal), squat jumps (normal), and merkins (normal). I can’t remember the order, but it was pretty balanced, and there was a lot of running involved, ending with a quick run to COT to meet the ruckers and runner.

Announcements

  • Read your newsletter
  • Yeti is coming up. Sign up and do it.
  • February second Tuesday lunch will be at Pasquel’s (with either a hard or soft q sound, depending on who you ask) rather than Fort Mill BBQ.
  • Maybe some others, but Decibel was in a hurry.

Praises and Prayers

  • ChaChing’s grandpa passed away over the weekend, so prayers for the family and ChaChing and his wife as they travel north today.
  • Cake Boss’s thirty-something plumber Jason had a stroke (and answered the phone in the hospital)
  • Decibel’s son’s classmate Violet has meningitis
  • Prayers for the community in light of recent events

As always, it was an honor to lead these men, and you can ask any of the bootcamp guys – it wasn’t bad. You need not be afraid of a Jedi Q. We don’t always do weird inverted stuff. Sometimes I need an easy day.

-Jedi

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4

Extra Heavy BEYOND – It’s more than a Workout

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For those of you that know me and my workouts, there typically isn’t a whole lot of “messages” as I try to make it all about business.  However, this time around, I focused on delivering a message that meant a ton to me and my journey, but also hopefully sparking something in the hearts of the pax.  Let’s get w/ it:

Quick mosey over to the lit side of a building w/ plenty of heavy objects for the Pax to worry about while we did our warm-up.  It was short and sweet:

Wide Grip Merkins x10 (in cadence), followed by Diamond Merkins x10 (in cadence) followed by Merkins x10 (in cadence) – nothing like 60 push-ups to get us started.  From there it was all about sitting on our six and stretching so I could focus on the first part of the message.

I asked the Pax who had figured out their marriage and felt they are their spouses were 100% aligned – crickets.  Next question – Who has ever confused “being a provider” with being a good husband?  A few hands went up.  Well I can surely attest to that, and I’m a changed man because of it.  Without going into too many details, I let my priorities get so out of order that I lost my connection w/ my wife.  And it took an act of courage on her part and some serious gut checks to remind me of what matters.  In order, work took the most from me, got home, spent what little time I had w/ my kids (which was basically putting them down to bed), F3 probably got the next sliver (my mornings) and my wife got what was left.  That equated to nothing really, maybe some shallow conversations, tiredness from me, tiredness from her.  This went on for far too long until a late night conversation already past my bedtime lasted 3 hours.  It hit me like a ton of bricks  – our connection was nonexistent and it was time to get it back.

Next up – Heavy a$$ tabata stations.  6 stations, each had two different exercises, 2 pax per station.  40 seconds on, 20 seconds rest.

1a:  Coupon – 40 lb metal chain, Exercise – Jump Squats (wrap that chain around your shoulders / neck)
1b:  Coupon – 2 25 lb bags of metal pellets, Exercise – Curls

2a:  Coupon:  80 lb tree (I’m not kidding), Exercise – Man Makers (good luck)
2b:  Coupon:  30 lb tree or 40 lb stump, Exercise – Lunge Jumps (could swap any coupons for either exercise)

3a:  Coupon:  Cinderblock, Exercise – wood choppers
3b:  Coupon:  Cinderblock, Exercise – v sits (press cindy then touch toes pointed high w/ cindy)

4a:  Coupon:  50 lb bags of limestone, Exercise – shoulder press
4b:  Coupon:  50 lb bags of limestone, Exercise – flutters w/ push press

5a:  Coupon:  none, Exercise – vert wall w/ chalk (vertical jumps on brick wall – use chalk for first jump, mark your high mark and then spend the rest of the time trying to touch that line)
5b:  Coupon:  none, Exercise – bear crawl the perimeter

6a:  Balls to the Wall hold 40 seconds
6b:  Single Leg Wall Sit (20 sec each leg)

Mini break w/ continuation of the message – well the night of the “revelation” from my wife or what I call my re-awakening, I had a flashback so randomly of something CSPAN once said at a workout 2 years before.  It wasn’t random, because it was so fitting, but I honestly hadn’t thought about it in a long time.  It was the bullseye theory of prioritization that I clearly lost containment on.  My bud Witchhunt also helped me a few months back w/ some podcasts to listen to around time management.  Both pointed to the same tactical response – God gets your first.  That’s it.  So my wife and I got tactical – we committed to God and to each other to spend the first 45 minutes of every day together, reading God’s word.  Since that night, we have read together almost every morning (and the couple that we missed we text each other when we can catch up w/ reading and explain what we got out of it) independently the same reading plan, journal independently, but then share what God spoke to each of us.  When you share what spoke to you, you really hear what is going on with each other.  You hear each other’s real time emotions, real worries, real anxieties, what’s ahead, what’s behind us.  I can honestly say I feel closer and more aware of my wife’s true feelings that I ever did in the 13 years we’ve been dating / married.

RINSE AND REPEAT TABATA ABOVE.  NASTY.

We didn’t have a ton of time, so I ran the pax over to a wide open parking lot that had already been set up w/ cones.  An old fashioned football drill I remember doing from double session conditioning.  SNAKES.

One after the other –
Sprint 40 yards, side shuffle right 40 yards, back pedal your butt off 40 yards, side shuffle left 40 yards, sprint 40 yards, side shuffle left 40 yards, back pedal 40 yards, side shuffle right to starting point 40 yards.

I finished my message w/ something that was another a-ha moment w/ my wife about 6 months ago – a small group we did on a series called “Love & Respect”.  In a nut shell it taught us how God wired men and women differently.  Women need love; men need respect.  Not respect in a sexist, egotistical way, but our emotions are clearly influenced by when respect is given or clearly not.  Application – it’s all about how we talk to each other.  Always ask yourself if you’re the husband – did what I say come out in a loving way?  If not, you may want to apologize in advance and say exactly that (ie. I’m sorry honey – I clearly didn’t say that in the most loving way.  That’s not what I meant…).   Most times it’s not what we said, it’s how we said it.  Intent was harmless, the delivery was just not loving.  Same goes for the wife – instead of doing what most men do when they get angry and walk away, we should say, “I feel like what you said was not very respectful”.  More times than not, your wife will realize that was the case and apologize before anything gets out of hand.  Avoid the vicious cycles – husband gets mad, they walk away / internalize everything, they get distant, distance to the wife is clearly unloving, she gets more mad, results in her snapping at you and being disrespectful.  Repeat, repeat, repeat.  Avoid this and be loving men.  That’s all she wants.

RINSE AND REPEAT the SNAKES – only this time, double the distance for each direction.  Fun.

Made it back to COT 2 minutes late but the pax were cool w/ it.  Announcements, prayers for all the senseless violence the last couple days (peach stand, York county officers, kentucky school victims) and for vision / direction on those ideas / things that enter your life and you clearly know you need to do something w/ it.  Huge thanks to Maximus for asking me to lead this workout so early in it’s existence.  I really appreciate it man and I hope my experience can help some guys out there repriortiize and grow closer to their wives.

ChaChing

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