Tag: Cyclops

3-1-22: 3 lessons, 3 stations

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YHC took a call up on the schedule to kick off March.  20 decided to converge east of the peach stand.  Three lessons were shared from Seneca and a few exercises were called.

COP – After the pledge, a mosey to Kimbrell’s for COP – squats, people’s chairs, windmills, seal jacks, and burpees sprinkled in got everyone warmed up and on to station #1.

Lesson 1 – “Train your body rigorously so it is not disobedient to your mind”

Station 1 – 10 burpees upon arrival.  7’s to follow – kraken burpees at the top of the circle with squats at the entrance of the circle.  PAX returned to the top of the circle to confirm the lesson was learned.  It was. From there, we moseyed to…….

Lesson 2 – “He who is everywhere is nowhere”

Station 2 – PAX paired up completing a 4 corner, 2 round circuit 5-10-15-20 – burpees, merkins, squats and seal jacks.  Upon completion, 5 more burpees to ensure the lesson was learned.  It was.

Lesson 3 – “Happy is he who makes others better”

Station 3 – flutters in cadence, LBC’s in cadence and a mosey back to COT.  Early arrivers did a few burpees to finish out and a few abs – geometry class brought us to 0600 and COT.

Announcements were shared, prayers were offered and praises were given.

NMM – 3 takeaways to expand on the lessons learned:

1 – Rigorous training enables us to be durable as leaders in our homes and communities.  We are better equipped to handle life’s challenges and keep a calm and clear mind when our bodies are strong.  Our mind and spirit require the same training.

2 – The person who feels busy may find themselves living the life of a hamster on a wheel – in a sense, being everywhere, but nowhere.  Are we setting routines that allow for avoiding that trap? Our world is great at distracting us.  We are equipped to mitigate that through our disciplines, our training and how we apply it daily.

3 – Helping others improve in their journey expecting nothing in return is the ultimate gift of impact.  As leaders, we are called to give away what we know in the pursuit of helping others seek advantage.  The feeling of knowing your effort inspired or encouraged someone to go further, work harder, apply themselves more, etc. brings about a joy knowing your work as a servant manifested itself positively in others.

My thanks to Kermit for the call out and the opportunity to lead a fantastic group of HIMs.  I am grateful to start the day (and in this case) month off on an advantageous foot.

Keep going!!!

Cyclops

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7

Coast to Coast Qs

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A mid-week substi-Q request left YHC a bit concerned on how to fill an hour of pain. Fortunately, the request was picked up by an old friend of The Fort that now resides on the other coast, 88.

88 and YHC met early to get a lay of the land. He volunteered to lead us off, but needed to know where a few things were. It was a dark and chilly morning, and the wind was cutting.

14 PAX gathered just before 0630hrs, and all got to meet the brother from the Gold Rush Territory. With one fresh face in the crowd, a strong disclaimer was given, along with the 5 core principles.

The Fort broke off from Milkshake for a little mosey to the back side of the Pike Engineering.

COP
10 Merkins IC
20 SSH IC
10 Squats IC

Then we moseyed to the entrance of Pike Engineering, and did a set of Minus 2 at the masonry knee walls. Starting with 20 incline merkins and rotating with dips, we did all the reps and eventually made it to 0. The high numbers and pain cause confusion for several PAX, but we won’t name names here, will we Italian Job?

88 led us on a mosey back to WEP, where cones were laid out in 4 corners.
• First lap included 10 merkins at each cone
• Second lap included 20 squats at each cone
• Third lap included 30 Mountain Climbers at each cone
• Fourth lap included all of the reps – 10 merkins, 20 squats and 30 mountain climbers at each cone

88 handed off to YHC and we started at the front of the amphitheater.

Typically, if I have prepared a message, it’s because I need to hear it. Several things have prevented me from posting consistently over the last month, and I can feel it when I do make it out. So, in a plank position, I went over Q3.10 Consistency – “The Consistent Leader is constant and regular in everything he does. His followers are drawn to him because his steadiness provides a safe harbor from the howling winds of Chaos and Flux that blow periodically through their own lives. He is their rock.”

Recover and run one lap around WEP, performing 5 burpees at each swing. Cyclops and Italian Job led the way, with Clickbait giving chase. “5 more” burpees were continued in front of the amphitheater while waiting for the 6, or Stang to return from the woods. Stang was incredibly uncomfortable in the open area of the park, constantly gazing towards the trees. I’m not sure if the sun rising early helped either.

“Strong Routines are the framework of Consistency.” We in F3 know what to do. Wake up and exercise, everyday, We shouldn’t have to think about it, just do it. Remove unnecessary decisions, and create routines.

Next up, Dan Taylors. All the way across the WEP field. A few PAX wanted to play on the playground, and I heard rumblings of other shenanigans, but feared turning around to see what they were doing. The field was longer than I thought, but we got 55 squats and 220 lunges in.

“The Virtuous Leader focuses on bandwidth not perfection.” Reminded the PAX that consistency will help minimize the flux in our life. This isn’t about perfection, but about limiting the lows in our life. The things that keep us away from a healthy lifestyle that enables us to lead.

We moseyed back to CoT, and with a minute to spare, got 5 Mike Tysons – Bear crawl and Crawl bear in to close it out.

We welcome FNG Spit Valve, had prayers and praises for those at D2D and to those in Ukraine and affected by the conflict in Ukraine. T-claps to Clickbait who is organizing some relief efforts to that part of the world.

Thanks again to 88 for answering the call to lead! We look forward to your return.

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2

Laces Smorgasbord

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Laces had 10 PAX with a
Smorgasbord on the menu

Warmup
Big 4 corners
SSH
Carioca
IW
Butt Kickers
HW
Shuffle
Mountain Climbers
High Knees
SSH
Toy Soldiers
IW

Moseying with some of the following at stops
BTTW
Aussie Mountain Climbers
Mike Tysons (quite a few of these)
Bear Crawls
Bulgarian Split Squats
Some yoga

When we made it to the pull-up bars, YHC had stashed some kettlebells and cinder blocks.

Split into groups for
10 manmakers
Or
10 burpee pull-ups
Switched out
5 manmakers
Or
5 burpee pull-ups
Switched to the last group with called up and down weighted squats or pull-ups

Moseyed back towards COT
Stopped along the way for:
Box jumps on the loading dock
SSH at the bottom of a hill
Bulgarian Split Squats
Mike Tysons at COT

NMM:
When you notice that something isn’t getting done (in this case it was me counting SSH in cadence at the bottom of that hill), it could be because it’s your job to do it. Go take care of business.

PAX at Laces today demonstrated they’re capable of some awesome work. It motivates me to post with guys accelerating like so many of y’all are in The Fort. I consistently look forward to seeing how our efforts in the gloom help spark impact outside of the gloom.

—
Band Camp dismissed

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1

Convergence: Love & a passing of the flag

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Station 1 (Santini): Traditional Pain Platoon

Just your basic beat the hell out of your legs exercises of lunges, squats, and burpees intermixed with meditation and box breathing exercises. Sprint to the top of the hill, recover, and do more exercises including Moroccan night clubs and Carolina dry docks.

NMM: Anxiety and gratitude are not able to occupy the same space.

Station 2 (Shady / Maximus)

Warmup (Shady) – 21 SSH, 5 burpees, 18 SSH, 5 burpees, 12 SSH, someone whined about burpees so we did 10 diamonds merkins…then did 5 burpees
Group 1
  • partnered up and Dora style started out with 100 pull-ups.  Partner 1 on the pull-up bar, partner 2 did a lap around the playgroud
  • Stayed on playground, stayed with partner, Partner 1 AMRAP merkins while partner 2 ran the length of the playground and back to AMRAP merkins
  • Stayed on the AMRAP theme with flutters, then back to merkins, then back to flutters…then (I think) time was called

Group 2

  • Partnered up and Dora style, but this time 50 pull-ups with the run around the playground (Q modification given time and we aren’t cyborgs)
  • AMRAPs were just 1 round of merkins and flutters (again, I think…may need a lifeline here from Max)
  • We made our way to the hill with the statue where Maximus laid down the NUR up the hill and at the top 10 bomb jacks and ran to the bottom where we did 20 American hammers..we did this twice
  • W/ time to spare we ran to the top for 10 diamond merkins and ran to the bottom for 10 V-ups
  • In buzzer beater fashion, we ran to the top again for 10 ranger merkins and ran to the bottom for a partner 1 lay on the ground and grab partner 2s ankles where partner 2 would throw partner 1s feet down 10 times as you straight leg lifted them to his face

Group 3

  • Dora style 50 pull-ups with the run around the playground
  • We made our way to the hill with the statue where Maximus laid down the NUR up the hill and at the top 10 bomb jacks and ran to the bottom where we did 20 american hammers..we did this twice
  • Running low on time ran to the top for 10 diamond merkins and ran to the bottom for the ankle grabbing / feet throwing core exercise 10 times
NMM: After each of the groups had done their pull-ups, Maximus and Shady shared their thoughts and experiences on LOVE.
  • Shady – areas of focus were loving your brother and being your brothers keeper.  Sending a text or reaching out to someone to just say “hey, thinking of you” could change their day.  Realizing that the ones you love are watching you, emulating you, picking up on good and bad habits.  Realizing we don’t know it all, especially to the ones we love, is a sign of humility and a factor of growth and development.  For those of us with children, we have never been parents before so we honestly have no idea what we’re doing.  Love starts with servant leadership and personally for YHC, this usually progresses when the mouth is shut and ears are open.
  • Maximus – For my discussion on love, it begins with being intentional as love is a decision. We must make the decision to be intentional with our actions. Whether it be in our faith, marriage, parenting of our kids, with friends and yes, even with work relationships, we must be intentional. Think about how easy it is to get distracted, whether at dinner with your wife or even on a Zoom call for work. We often allow our minds to wander or even start doing something else while the other person is talking, looking for our engagement. Stop. Be the person who is present in the moment. Put the shoe on the other foot. Love that person as your relationship to them allows.

Station 3 (Pusher & Cakeboss): Love Edition

COP
  • SSHs
  • Windmills
  • Squats
  • Mtn Climbers
  • Merkins
  • IWs
Cake Boss spells love “B-U-R-P-E-E”
The Thang
  • Jacobs Ladder with Derkins and Monkey Humpers
  • Plank/Dip sequence
  • Bear crawl to top with burpees
NMM:
  • Cord of 3 strands cannot be broken. Having God in your marriage is the 3rd string. Adding communication to the marriage strengthens it. – CB
  • Gifts vs Gaps. Focus on the gifts that your wife or significant other bring vs what she is missing. Seeing her this way builds love. – Pusher
  • Much love was on display with all of the mumblechatter and fellowship. The relationships formed through F3 has increased our love internally and is reflected outward to our Ms, 2.0s, PAX and community… #morethanaworkout

Shovel Flag hand off for two leadership positions in the Fort:

Shady handed off the Nantan role to Double D
Esso handed off the Weasel Shaker role to YHC

Awesome work by the PAX today. Hard to put into words how much improved my disposition on life is since moving back to Fort Mill because of F3. Grateful for an opportunity to serve the PAX of The Fort.

NMM: Double D was the site-Q at Block Party when I started posting. If it wasn’t for his steady presence with a commitment to the integrating 2nd F and 3rd F elements into each workout, I doubt I’d have kept posting. Double D is a genuine human, I’m a better dude for knowing him, and I’m excited for his leadership.

—
Band Camp dismissed

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8

Celebrities, Cinder Blocks, Disney…a perfect morning at BAOPS

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The threat of snow did not intimidate as a total of 14 PAX converged on the Rock, er BAOPS, er Alcatraz. In addition to the Nation representation, we were graced with the dulcet(er) tones of Funny Bonz, er…Hello Kitty. Man, if only we had CSPAN, Repeato, Tommy Boy and Bones in attendance, we would’ve had all the Podcasting staff present. Next time.
Right from the jump, the chatter was strong, exactly how it should be. We had snow jokes, road jokes, hugs, rookie jokes, Q-Source jokes, age jokes and a whole bunch of things not made for print. A morning that will live in infamy, or, maybe not.

With the first half of this morning’s installment brought to you by Maximus (3rd person), I (1st person) did give the disclaimer. You could imagine how that went. Something to note, I did advise the PAX who got there early, they should stretch and warm up as necessary ‘cuz ain’t no side straddle hops, imperial walkers or windmills were to be had.

So, we made our way to the top of the park to the pull up bars. Every member of the PAX had to complete 10 pull ups and while you weren’t pulling yourself up, you were completing your best rendition of the American Hammer. Go until completion.
Next, run to the bottom of “the hill”; don’t worry, I scouted for slick roads ahead of time.
At the bottom of the hill, 10 Burpees and 10 Carolina Dry Docks
Run up for 5 more pull ups
Run back to the bottom for 10 Burpees and 20 Merkins.
NUR back to the top for flutter kicks until the 6 rolled in.

To the parking lot and grab a cindy out of my truck bed (or a KB)
10 Overhead Press
20 Staggered Merkins (10ea side)
30 Curls
40sec count while holding legs out at 6″ and cindy overhead

40 Overhead Press
30 Merkins (15ea side)
20 Curls
10sec count as done above

50 Bent over rows
10 Thrusters

My job is done…time for Italian Job

Short mosey to the field for:
11’s from foul pole to foul pole with the exercises consisting of
Mickey Mouse Merkins (Walt Disney World Merkins) at one end and squats at the other.
No doubt at this point, the PAX had a severely confused puppy dog look on their face because IJ was all like, “Ya know, Disney…WDW, Wide-Arm, Diamond, Wide Arm.”
And all of us were like, “Oh yeah…of course”…eye roll.
This my friends, is a sure-fire way to make a statement. It became very clear that unless your name is Italian Job, Senator Tressel, Trucker, Olaf and perhaps Mainframe, your form was garbage come about Disney Merkin #6.

Carry on

Now, run around the entire field then 25 Calf Raises.
Next up, run another lap then 25 Freddy Mercury’s.
Finally, another lap.

NMM (In the words of Italian Job):
“Always a pleasure to share the gloom with you men. A question for you, What’s holding you back? Is it time, energy, money, expertise – all of these? Excuses only sound good to the person making them. Whatever you desire is on the other side of effort. If it was easy, everyone would do it. If you want it, go get it. Dominate the day!”

And like that, we’re out. Until next time…
Italian Job & Maximus

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6

Fort Mill Tour – No Charge

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We had 20 men show up this morning at Block Party.  Alot more than I anticipated, but it’s good to have a big crowd.  After a quick disclaimer, we did the typical warm-up exercises (SSHs, Imperial Walkers, Windmills).

I explained to the Pax, we would be on the move this morning, touring Fort Mill.  Our first stop was the Hardee’s parking lot.  Once everyone arrived, we did the following exercises:

20 Squats

15 Merkins

10 LBCs

5 Burpees

Next stop was Unity Church on Tom Hall, instead of taking the shortest route, we ran down Spring Street to Leroy and met at the front of the church.  The same exercises were done by the Pax.  We continue our tour around town to the Church of God parking lot on Academy Street.   Once exercises were complete, we moved to the next stop, the parking lot across from the gas station on Spratt Street.

Our fifth stop was the Fort Mill Church of Nazarene on Harris Street.  We took the longer route up hilly Massey Street to Harris Street.  Again, another round of exercises.  Our last stop was Walter Elisha Park.

We then made our way back to COT for one last round of exercises. Total distance was a little over 3 miles. The continued theme from Monday’s Q, “No Shortcuts”.  We took the longer route to each location.  The routes were hilly and more difficult, but we are better than when we started this morning.  Keep getting after it.

Great job everyone!

 

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4

Bear Crawls, Core & more

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Nothing fancy…

Disclaimer then 2 more roll in

Big warm up run around the school including a jaunt out onto the sidewalk on 49 and back to the bus drop lane.

Warm Up stuff included Wind Mills, Mountain Climbers, Moroccan Night Clubs and Arm Circles

50 Flutters I/C = 100 Flutters
50 LBCs I/C = 100 LBCs

Bear Crawl the bus lot with Mountain Climbers & Peter Parkers at the end
Crawl Bear back to the start

NUR up the back hill to Langston then run down. Repeat

Grab a partner for a partner MURPH
One partner runs while the other partner works to complete:
100 Pull-Ups
200 Merkins
300 Squats (we called an audible here due to time and completed the final 25 squats together)

COT

Thanks for the hospitality Grassy Knoll
Maximus

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4

Changing of the Guard

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28 PAX joined in the gloom for a brisk morning at Block Party. Though the temps were in the high-40s, the wind cut and made it feel much colder. Most were ready to get started and warmed up.

Bobber led off with the disclaimer, then we moseyed to the bank parking lot and circled up for 25 SSH IC. Moseyed to the Hobo’s parking lot for:
15 IW IC
10 Windmills IC
10 Cherry Pickers IC
10 Merkins IC
10 LSS IC
Held low squat for 10 MNC IC

Bobber, fighting back tears, then let go of his beloved BlockParty and passed the shovel flag to YHC. It was quiet as a mouse, absolutely no chatter was mumbled. So we did 5 burpees OYO to get back into it. 

The Thang
I explained to the PAX that I started F3 on a Monday at STL, where Pusher (in attendance) led a great workout, and I was encouraged enough to return the next day. The next day happened to be BlockParty, with CakeBoss on Q. It was a brutal morning, full of pain, so I thought we would do it again. 

3 lanes of bear crawls
5 burpees to exit the low side of the parking lot onto Main Street
Run up Main Street, back to the parking lot entrance on Clebourne Street.
5 burpees to enter the parking lot.
Plank for the 6.
This circuit continued, but the lanes changed to:
3 lanes Burpee Broad Jumps (a whole lot of mumblechatter and requests for a suggestion box)
3 lanes Duck Walk
3 lanes Toy Soldiers

Jogged back to Cot for 3 minutes of Mary.

Name-O-Rama, Announcements, Prayers & Praises. 

Thanks to Bobber for his leadership while Site Q, and providing the opportunity for YHC to continue the tradition at BlockParty. 

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5

Run, exercise, rinse, repeat

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Simple but effective is the kick I’m on right now. I’m notorious for overcomplicating things so I want to avoid that in the gloom. Fortunately, 13 men joined me at Sweep The Leg and we were going to keep it simple with a count of 10 for each of 4 exercises, with an estimated .5mi run between each set.

I stared with the disclaimer and began to give the overview of exercise and the course but I was losing attention spans.
Our exercises were:
10 Grave Diggers on the right side
10 Wide-Arm Merkins
10 Grave Diggers on the left side
10 Dips

Here’s the course:
Around the back of Earth Fare then L/T down the side access road and L/T onto Dave Gibson to Patricia Ln.
Do the exercises

Run to GHMS, around the drop-off lane and to the front door
Do the exercises

Run out and back up to Ben Casey Drive
Do the exercises

Run across 160 and onto Emory and wrap around to the intersection with Brayden Pkwy
Do the exercises

Take a L/T onto Brayden then L/T onto Afton and take that all the way back to the left bend in the road
Do the exercises

Continue running on Afton around the loop then R/T and run out to Galbreath.
Do the exercises

Run back to COT
Do the exercises

Add on as necessary.

A learning for next time would be to ensure all crossing of 160 is done at the stop light. No need to add risk in the gloom. It was my pleasure.

SYITG
Maximus

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1

Prayers Against Our Ego

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Mosey behind school > Warm Up

Line Up on BBall Court baseline > Suicide sprints and plank/mountain climbers, 25 in cadence; total of 3 sets

God, make me strong to overcome the desire to be wise and to be thought of as wise by others that are as ignorant as myself. I turn from my wisdom as well as from my folly and follow You, the wisdom of God and the power of God.

Mosey to Parking Lot in front of school > Burpees up downs (football practice style…chop them feet, drop when I say to), plank jacks & seal jacks; 20 in cadence; total of 3 sets

Divine Father, I pray that You protect me from the subtle traps of the ego,
Guard me against temptations of self importance,
Cultivate humility within me,
Give me the strength to battle my ego,
Bless me with the ability to love,
Give me the courage to live in constant surrender to your will
Love me, guard me, guide me and protect me always.

Mosey to BBall Court behind school > Bomb jacks x 20, and Merkins, Diamonds & Wides 5 to 10 in cadence; total of 3 sets

LUKE 18 – The Pharisee and the Tax Collector 9 [Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but l beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, [the tax collector] went down to his house justified, rather than the [Pharisee]. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

5. Mary

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