I’m Back and Better Than Ever… Well, I’m Back at Least…

Following my 2 year hiatus I have returned and apparently been showing up enough to be voluntold that my fans have been waiting for my return to the Q… That or they had an opening and needed it filled, I chose to believe the former…

We started with a brief warm-up with some SSH, windmill, imperial walkers and hillbilly walkers and then began with the inflation impacted “Suns Out, Guns Out” buy in… 30 curls and 30 triceps extensions.  Following that  we turned on my little app with our very friendly coach and and began a little HIIT set to Foo Fighters in honor of their lost drummer.  Each exercise consisted of 4 sets of 30 seconds on and 10 second rest.  Every 3 exercises were separated by a more cardio based movement done in 2 sets of 50 seconds on and 10 seconds off

-Dead Lift

-Goblet Squat

-Row

-SSH (50 sec x 2)

-Pull Through

-Triceps

-Lunge

-Mountain Climbers (50 sec x 2)

-Curl

-Calf Raises

-Flutters

-Swings (50 sec x 2)

Following these sets we returned to COT to buy out at 30 reps of curls and triceps extensions.

We had the honor of welcoming a new PAX member this morning.  Welcome Beaker.  It was great to meet you and hope to see you in the gloom soon

The we formed into COT with announcements and prayer requests

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Sun’s Out Guns Out at The Armory

Kept the guns locked away in the armory all winter? Time to bust them out with some upper body work. We are skipping leg day today and getting all the gainz upstairs. Today’s workout kicks off a Spring of Sun’s out guns out, where we will encourage Qs to focus on the upper body and do a buy in/buy out of hammer curls and tricep extensions just to drive the point home.

The Thang:

2 minutes each exercise followed by 1 minute of each exercise in round 2.

 

Biceps:

21s

Hammer Curls

 

Triceps:

Tricep extensions

scull crushers

 

lats:

Lawnmower pulls

Pullovers

 

Delts:

Overhead presses

Bat wings (with the provided light dumbbells)

 

Traps:

Shruggs

High Pulls

 

Chest:

Chest press (with the optional 60lb monster KB)

Derkins

 

Everyone got stronger today. Band Camp got the most out of his lower jaw exercising. Can you really own anything? Yes: you can own your GAINZ

 

Thanks to Shatner for handing off the shovel flag

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Old Glory and Burpees

13 PAX gathered in the almost gloom
That 0600 start time does feel friendlier on my legs…just saying

NMM:
Honestly as a FM native, I love Baxter and all the folks that have migrated to Fort Mill. The diversity of backgrounds and influx of culture has made Fort Mill a better place on many levels. Traffic is rougher, but c’est la vie. Every time I drive through Baxter, I notice the inordinate amount of American flags hanging, and there was some recent controversy over someone flying a Trump flag as well (which, as someone who doesn’t live in the neighborhood, is quite funny). When I see the American Flag, I have a lot of different thoughts. I want my country’s to flag to be a symbol of hope that truly represents for liberty and justice FOR ALL. But in reality, I know that’s not what the flag represents to everyone.

Thinking specifically about the “Soiling of Old Glory” by Stanley Foreman
By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24874670.

Look at this photo (1976). It’s pretty clear the American flag might mean different things to you based on where you grew up, the color of your skin, the country of your birth (or your parents’ birth…), etc. Something we should all be mindful of when so many flags are flying on a quaint southern street.

To make the workout mindful of the flags, we did a burpee for every American flag we passed. (it was a good amount of burpees)

Warm-up:
SSH
IW
HW
Squat
Split Squat
Merkin (slow count)
Yoga
Peter Parker

Mosey through Baxter:
stopped along the way and called some exercises in cadence for the 6 to catch up
Hit the clubhouse/swimming pool lawn
Started Jack Webbs w/ merkins and overhead claps went to 9 and 36
– bear crawled the entire lawn
– finished the 10 merkins and 40 overhead claps on the other side of the lawn
Keep Moseying
Sprinted the Lower Assembly hill up to Sutton (monkey humpers for the 6 on Sutton)
Regrouped in the Urgent Care parking lot
Did some Mike Tysons –> lunge walk –> burpees across the parking lot
Mosey back towards COT
– did not stop for burpees at each flag, but YHC kept count. We had 12 burpees at COT counting the shovel flag. I chose a judicious path; it could have been MUCH worse.

Prayers:
Cooter’s mother-in-law
Remembrance of family members that have passed on

Thanks Sugar Daddy for the opportunity to lead!


Band Camp dismissed

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Make TIME : Colosseum

Nov 6th

14 HIM came to get better this warm, gloomy Tuesday morning, with T Claps to Sugar Daddy for bringing out FNG (Tin Cup).  YHC – Fogerty completed the Principles of F3 with the group, disclaimer completed, time to Mosey.

Warmup : Slow Mosey, Butt-Kickers, High Knees :
Circle Up:  IC : 20 SSH, 15 Imperial Walkers, 15 Mtn. Climbers, 15 Hillbilly Walkers, 15 Merkins, 20 Moroccan Nightclubs, 2 Burpees, 10 Windmills, Mosey across lot for 4 Corners.

Today’s workout  is all about Fellowship, Proper Form and Accountability (IC).  Goal is to complete all exercises in a group format: In Cadence : Pax take turns leading each group.

The Thang, Part 1 : Four Corners ( used the 4 Basketball courts to guide the Pax ) : Split into 2 Groups ( Complete Each Exercise as a Group:  In Cadence ): rotate until all Corners completed:

Corner 1: SSH x15, Plank Jack 15X, Bomb Jack 15X

Corner 2: LSS 15X, Sumo Squat 15X, Lunges 15X

Corner 3 : Flutter 15X, LBC 15X, Shoulder Taps 15X

Corner 4: Merkins 15X, Mtn Climbers 15X, Wide Arm Merkins 15X

Momentarily contemplated a Rinse and Repeat, but decided to head over for Part 2  in the gloom and discuss the Theme of the Month “Vulnerability” : God has a Plan for all of us, no matter the set backs you encounter (or blessings), share these times and life events with your Brothers and get better.  Be Vulnerable to be set free.  In our moments of Vulnerability, we share and create incredible moments. Today we were challenged to take TIME : Specifically, Make TIME, Take TIME for your Kids, the only thing our 2.0’s want is “your” TIME : ( Time to play, time to read, Just your TIME) : Time to Mosey for Part 2:

The Thang, Part 2 :  “Climb the Ladder”  ( 5  / 10  / 15 Reps ) :   Each rung on the ladder

5 reps first rung, mosey to 2nd rung,  5 reps, back to first rung : 10 reps first rung, 10 reps 2nd rung: back to first rung, 15 reps 1st rung, 15 reps 2nd rung :  Rinse and Repeat adding Rung(s).

1st Rung  : Squats ( bear crawl to 2nd Rung : Crab walk Back to 1st Rung)

2nd Rung :  Merkins ( Planned modify : Mosey between each Rung )

3rd Rung : Plank Jacks

4th Rung : LBCs

5th Rung : Burpees ( Last Rung – modified Rinse and Repeat to 5 /10 reps – watching clock)

Mosey Back for 5 mins of Mary :

COT : FNG ( Tin-Cup was anointed  – Welcome ) : Announcements, Prayers and Praises led us to a perfect closure for a Tuesday workout in the Gloom.

Very Blessed to be part of F3 and specifically THE FORT: Blessed to get better each day with all the Pax of The FORT:   Thank you to Jekyll for the opportunity to Q :

Fogerty

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Did someone say party @ Laces In…

Woke up this morning to a cool breeze which helped me forget the stiffness I felt from my first post the day before at Clydesdale’s.  13 PAX showed up for the party and ready to work.

Disclaimer and off we went

Warm-ups

Mosey to large parking where we lined up at the closest curb. Facing the field, we started with Side-shuffles. Proceeded down to the light post and returned facing the opposite way. Then it was time for some carioca down, toy soldiers back, followed by some knee to chest walks.

Mosey to center of parking lot and circle up:

Windmill x15

Low-slow squat- x15

Shoulder claps- x30

Moroccan night club- x40

Happy Jacks (Bonsai’s favorite FYI)- 5 rounds – 5 SSH/2 squat jumps for each

Mountain Climbers- x15

Honeymooner into Downward Dog- repeat x1

Mosey to the parking lot towards the back near the football practice fields for some Light post work. Not exactly 4 -corners so I had to audible.

The Thang:

Partner-up- size did not matter. Each of the 4 light posts had 3 rounds of exercises on it. Between each exercise, PAX were to either sprint or bear crawl to the next light post, depending on distance. The 2 LP with the further distance carried a sprint, and the smaller ones the bear crawl. 2nd round of short distances carried a walk lunge, with the third alternating between bear crawls and walking lunges respectively.

Light Post 1

Merkins- x20

Burpees- x10

Wide-arm Merkins- x15

Light Post 2

Jump squats x10

Low slow x10

Calf raises x40

Light Post 3

Mountain Climbers x15

Plank Jacks x20

Ski Jumps x15

Light Post 4

LBC x30

Reverse Crunches x20

American Hammers x25 (cadence)

Once completed, PAX met in the middle for a short talk on “Presence.” I find this word to be one of the most relevant in our time as parents. Take the time each day, even if it is just 5 min. to talk to your M’s and your 2.0’s.  Recommended “Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters” again to the PAX as a great book for insight into your daughter’s development (Thanks again Pusher for the first Rec). PAX broke the circle and mosey to the next stop, small parking lot in the back.

Next up- a round of 7’s

PAX lined up on one of the lot and started with 1 dip. Bear crawl to the other side and complete 6 CDD. Run backwards to the starting spot and complete 2 dips. Continue this pattern until the PAX reach 6 dips and 1 CDD.

Unfortunately, I had to skip the pull-up work due to time. Next up was a mosey over to the wall at the school. Wall sits for a 10 second count for each of the 13 PAX. Recover for a ten count and then up for a little Ballz to the Walls. 20 count, recover for 10, and then up again. Recover.

Mosey back towards COT, stopping in the connection sidewalk between the two parking lots. Quick circle up for some SSH x 40. Mosey back towards COT to the curb where it all started at the far end of the lot. Line up and turn around facing the school. With 3 minutes to go, what better way to complete a strong finish then a round of suicides. Everyone pushed hard to the end. Mosey back to COT.

Quick round of Hello Dolly.

Announcements- read your newsletter

Prayers:

Teachers

M’s

Patience

Strength for our 2.0’s

 

Thanks Olaf for taking us out and Lil E for the opportunity!

 

Thanks PAX for the support and showing up for the party.

 

Frat Boy

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BB for Colosseum 8-21 – New Twist on a Classic WOD

18 men joined YHC for a total of 19 for a late summer beatdown.

Mosey to back parking lot.

Warmup

  • 51 side straddle hops
  • 15 double count windmills
  • 20 double count mountain climbers
  • 20 double count

The Thang – LIGHTPOSTS!

  • Partner up & stay together
  • 10 lightposts, following workout at each, then hussle back to start
    • Round 1
      • 5 burpees
      • 5 hand release merkins
      • 5 jump squats
      • 5 big boy situps
    • Round 2
      • 5 burpees
      • 5 hand release diamond merkins
      • 5 jump squats
      • 5 big boy situps
  • plank and wait for six
  • 10 double count mac tar jais
  • reverse direction – 10 double count mac tar jais

Mosey back to COT

Announcements

  • #218in18
  • Invergence – Sept 21
  • Q School in Sept

Prayers

  • back to school
  • various med issues

– Ginsu

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Burping Arrows at Colosseum

What do you do when you spend all of your mental energy preparing for a Q involving a hard workout and a solid message, you do that workout, and then get asked to Q the next day?

 

For YHC, you put little effort into preparing a message, think back to what others have done at that AO, and do something hateful.

 

Jekyll reached out late in the day Monday, asking me to take the Q at Colosseum on Tuesday morning, and it’s really hard to say “no” when the request is made. Announcement was made on the Twitter machine, which usually results in poor turnout, so I was quite surprised to see 17 PAX show up to join me in my admittedly bad idea workout. 0515 rolled around, disclaimer was made, and off we went on a comfortable mosey around one of the drop off circles, complete with side shuffles, knees-to-chest, toy soldiers, and other light stretching. We wrapped around to the small parking lot at the entrance for some additional warm-ups.

 

20 SSH in cadence

20 Moroccan night clubs in cadence

10 Hillbilly imperial hillbilly walkers in cadence (yep, you read that right, and it’s just like it sounds)

10 Windmills in cadence

10 Merkins in cadence

 

Tiny mosey to the start of the looooooong entry road with all the arrows for…

 

The Thang

 

Ginsu did an awful workout over the winter involving the arrows on the road, so today’s workout was modeled after that bad idea. But I couldn’t remember what we did that time, so we did burpees.

 

Round 1:

15 burpee buy in, then jog to the first arrow, one burpee, jog to the next arrow, one burpee, etc., all the way down to the stop sign past the Gold Hill Middle School sign (17 arrows in total). 

Jog back to starting point and wait for the 6. 

 

Truth be told, we only did all 17 arrows this time so I could gauge how long the road was and how long future rounds would take. Based on that information, we shortened it to the first 10 arrows for the remainder of the workout.

 

Round 2:

15 breakdancer burpee buy in, then bear crawl to an arrow, 10 LBCs, bear crawl, 10 LBCs, etc. Jog back.

 

Round 3:

15 Walmart burpee buy in, sneaky gorilla to arrow, 10 merkins, sneaky gorilla, 10 merkins, etc.

Jog back.

 

Round 4:

10 Jackass burpee buy in, crab walk to arrow, 10 squats, crab walk, 10 squats, etc.

Jog back to COT, because we ran out of time.

 

Rounds planned but not completed:

15 Bodybuilder burpee buy in, broad jump to arrow, 10 V sits, broad jump, V sit, etc.

20 One-leg burpee (10 per leg) buy in, monkey crawl left to arrow, 10 diamond merkins, monkey crawl left, 10 diamond merkins, etc.

10 One-arm burpee (5 per arm, aka, Apollo Creed) buy in, monkey crawl right to arrow, 10 jumping lunges (single count), monkey crawl, 10 jumping lunges, etc.

 

There were very few announcements. Read your newsletter.

 

Very few prayer requests. Some PAX admitted just needing oxygen.

 

This was my first Q at Colosseum. Jekyll said to make it hard. I tried. We only ended up doing 72 burpees in all, so it wasn’t that bad. I’ll branch out and assume I won’t be asked back, and if I am, it will be a poor turnout.

 

As always, I appreciate the opportunity to lead. Thank you, Jekyll, for the push.

 

Jedi

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Crazy 8s – It can be that bad, right?

31 Pax descended upon Slow Burn for an epic adventure. A #noderate workout plus high humidity had been promised and both were granted on this day.

Personally, YHC loves what the Pax have done in creating moderate workouts across the Fort. As a result of their efforts, we have welcomed many great men who have contributed across all 3 Fs within our region. The success stories are limitless and we are proud of their efforts.

YHC felt a significant responsibility as Q of Slow Burn to lead a workout that would not be defined as moderate but would allow for modification and picking up the 6.  These are the consistent themes from the Q101 document that CSPAN put together some 5+ years ago. Several #truths weigh heavily within this document which are simplicity and scalability. Simplicity as Q is defined as keeping it familiar, less complex and don’t be shy about stealing from others (Jekyll in this case) or backblasts. Scalability as Q is defined as – a scalable workout is one that is tough for the strongest of Pax, while at the same time not over-smoking the back of the pack. All workouts are no drop; without exception. Under no circumstance should we ever leave a Pax alone.

In keeping with these two principles, YHC was to Q a workout that was both simplistic and scalable while ensuring that the Larry Birds got all they could handle.

The Thang

Mosey around Empire Pizza building (the smell was horrible) and back to Empire lot

FYI CSPAN attempted to scare a cat during this sequence…not a good idea!

COP

Windmills

Merkins

SSH

Squats

Mtn Climbers

Mosey to Lowes parking lot – Q dropped the Weinke but Rebel had my back. Thanks!

Crazy 8s – Eight exercises done during each circuit

Burpees

Derkins

Dips

Squat Jacks

Bombjacks

CDD

Lunges

Plank Jacks

Circuit was done with 1 rep (This can’t be that bad, right?!? for each exercise followed by a mosey in a figure 8 pattern around Lowes and Empire lots

Add one rep to each circuit during each of the 8 stops

Mosey back to Lowes for Mary

LBCs

Big Boys

Gravedigger L and R

Hello Dolly

Superman x 3 (Cant ever remember all of the Sale brothers nicknames!)

Mosey Home

Moleskin

After the 6th round of the circuit, YHC noticed that the Pax were beginning to tire. In an effort to leverage #pride, each man was asked to grab a partner for the exercises to ensure completion. You never want to let a partner down!

Prayers to BTB, praise to Frat Boy, prayers to Maximus on his vacation travels

Sweatie is 7/14 at 6 AM at Footloose – Does anyone really know the details? Thats a true CSAUP!

Thanks to Smithers for his leadership of Slow Burn

Pusher wuz here 7/8/18

 

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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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Chalk up the Pain

29 Men descended on the Colosseum for a downpainment delivered via sidewalk chalk and a discussion on You vs. You.

There are enemies around all of the time and as men we are challenged to defeat those enemies one by one. Often overlooked is the enemy of one’s true self. This may be the most challenging enemy in our effort to become a better man.

In fighting with our enemies, we often look at overcoming the battles and winning the war. For example, to overcome alcohol addiction there is a 12 step process. This works because no one can overcome the war of addiction in one step. It takes winning individual battles…or steps.

To become a better man as we are called to do in Ephesians 5, it is much the same strategy. Get a little better as part of a journey to ultimately be the man that you want to be. It doesn’t happen overnight. There is no cold turkey quitting that offers long term benefit. It is baby steps, one at a time, with an understanding that the enemy is always out there. These enemies are called pride, selfishness and greed to name a few.

The Thang

Mosey to parking lot (Lots of mumble chatter here…love it!)

Stop along the way for 5 Burpees…quieted some of the chatter

COP

30 SSHs

5 Burpees

15 IWs

4 Burpees

10 Merkins

3 Burpees

10 Windmills

2 Burpees

15 Squats

1 Burpee

Mosey to back parking lot

9 Stations  each with a different exercise and sidewalk chalk

Do each exercise for 1 minute. Write down the number of times you completed

Station 1 – Burpees

Station 2 – Flutter kicks

Station 3 – Wide Arm Merkins

Station 4 – Bombjacks

Station 5 – American Hammers

Station 6 – Jumping Lunge

Station 7 – Donkey Kicks

Station 8 – Elbow Plank

Station 9 – Carolina Dry Docks

Rinse and repeat station asking that you do 1 additional rep per station

Mosey home

 

Moleskin

  • Convergence on July 4th at Pantheon
  • Upcoming Sweati on 7/14
  • CnW discussing your One Word on 6/29
  • Tclaps to Ginsu for living the mission of #218 with another FNG – Love Boat
  • Prayers for Bob the Builder, Father in Law, Deacon’s M

It was a pleasure to lead the Pax and all 3 Fs were accomplished with a visit to Crossroads led by Bonsai after. Thanks to Jekyll for the opportunity!

Pusher out!

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