Presidential Day Massacre at the Armory

The weather mostly held out with a few spitting showers but good  mumble chatter by the 11 pax on this cold and wet morning.  It was a morning filled with maybe a little too many facts our presidents but it was a good lesson that no man is perfect and all even through our flaws we can still achieve great success.  May we all be encourage to NOT be defined by our mistakes and to overcome them.

Warm Up:  In honor of our 45 presidents and 4 assassinated presidents (Four sitting Presidents have been assassinated while in office: Abraham Lincoln, James Abram Garfield (1881), William McKinley (1897-1901), and John F. Kennedy (1961-63)

  • 45 – SSH
    • 4 – Burpees
  • 45 – Mountain climbers
    • 4 – Burpees
  • 45 – Squats (single count)
    • 4 – Burpees
  • 45 – Merkins (single count)
    • 4 – Burpees

THE THANG…

Mosey to the Knee Wall

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were close friends and correspondents — but they also had a bit of a rivalry. Adams’ dying words were, “Thomas Jefferson survives,” unaware that he had died hours earlier. Both died on July 4, 1826.

4 rounds  –

  • 7 – Wall Jumps
  • 18- Skull Crushers
  • 26 – Dips with Bell

10 – Count:

  • Monrovia, the capital of the Liberia, is named after James Monroe. He supported the American Colonization Society in its work to create a home for freed slaves in Liberia.
  • During his presidency, John Quincy Adams enjoyed skinny-dipping in the Potomac River in the early mornings.
  • Zachary Taylor was a tough guy — a major general in the U.S. Army and hero of the Mexican-American War. But oddly enough, what brought him down in the end was a glass of milk and some cherries that he enjoyed on July 4, 1850. The cherries were likely contaminated with bacteria that caused his death by cholera five days later.

Mosey to Open Parking Lot – Partner Up:

Andrew Jackson was involved in as many as 100 duels, most of which were fought to defend the honor of his wife, Rachel. He was shot in the chest in a duel in 1806 and took a bullet in the arm in a bar fight with Missouri Sen. Thomas Hart Benton in 1813.

John Tyler had 15 children, more than any other president. Two of his grandsonsare still alive today. One of Tyler’s children, Lyon Gardiner Tyler, born in 1853, fathered Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr. in 1924 and Harrison Ruffin Tyler in 1928.

Combined

  • 100 – Pass Through Lunges/ Halos/ Curls
  • 15 – Bomb Jacks after each 100 (each person)

10 – Count:

  • Millard Fillmore lived the dream of many a teenage schoolboy. Fillmore’s first wife, Abigail Powers, was his teacher while he was a 19-year-old student at the New Hope Academy in New York.
  • Pierce had a tough time guiding the nation and perhaps an even tougher time guiding his horse. During his presidency, Pierce was arrested for running over a woman with his horse. Charges were later dropped due to a lack of evidence.
  • James Buchanan regularly bought slaves in Washington, D.C. and quietly freed them in Pennsylvania.

Mosey back to COT

Get ready to rumble: Abraham Lincoln could throw down in the wrestling ring. As a young man, he was only defeated once out of approximately300 matches. He made it to the Wrestling Hall of Fame with the honor of “Outstanding American.”

  • 300 Cumulative Reps (KB Swing, Plank Row or Shoulder Press

Ulysses S. Grant smoked a ton of cigars — at least 20 a day. After a great military victory at the Battle of Shiloh, citizens sent him more than 10,000 boxes of cigars as gratitude. He died of throat cancer in 1885.

  • End with continuous rotation of exercises of 20 count until we get to 10,000 total reps.

Other Facts:

  • William McKinley almost always wore a red carnation on his lapel as a good luck charm. While greeting a line of people in 1901, he gave the flower to a little girl. Seconds later, he was shot by an assassin, and died eight days later.
  • Teddy Roosevelt was shot in an assassination attempt while delivering a speech in Milwaukee. “I don’t know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot,” he told the stunned audience. “I give you my word, I do not care a rap about being shot; not a rap.” He completed the 90-minute speech with the bullet still lodged in his chest.
  • Herbert Hoover’s son had two pet alligators, which were occasionally permitted to run loose throughout the White House.
  • Eisenhower played a big role in popularizing golf. He installed a putting green at the White House and played more than 800 rounds while in office — exceeding the record of any other president. He holds a spot in the World Golf Hall of Fame in the Lifetime Achievement Category.
  • LBJ wasn’t scared to show off his, err, Johnson — he nicknamed his penis “Jumbo.” According to biographer Robert Dallek, Johnson met with a reporter who asked him multiple times why American troops were in Vietnam. In response, Johnson unzipped his pants, pulled out “Jumbo,” and yelled, “This is why!”
  • “Dubya” garnered the media attention with his frat boy past, but he also has a more wholesome side (aside from painting, that is). During his senior year of high school at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., Bush was captain of the cheerleading team.
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Accumulating Around Rite-Aid

Lightning Backblast

22 degrees didn’t scare off 6 pax from Golden Corral.  No FNGs, so the disclaimer was light and we quickly got to moseying around the parking lot.  Quick stop near the launch point for a warm-up:

  • 30 SSH
  • 10 Windmills
  • 20 Imperial Walkers
  • 20 Mountain Climbers
  • few others that have escaped YHC

Mosey to far corner of Rite-Aid

The Thang – 4-Corner Accumulator
At each corner of the Rite-Aid, we stopped to do the exercise for the round.  Run between each corner, and plank up for the six after each round.

Round 1- 1 burpee at each corner
Round 2 – 1 burpee, 2 Crab Jacks at each corner
Round 3 – 1 burpee, 2 Crab Jacks, 3 Run Stance Switch
Round 4 – 1 burpee, 2 Crab Jacks, 3 Run Stance Switch, 4 merkins
Round 5 – 1 burpee, 2 Crab Jacks, 3 Run Stance Switch, 4 merkins, 5 plank jacks
Round 6 – 1 Burpee, 2 Crab Jacks, 3 Run Stance Switch, 4 merkins, 5 plank jacks, 6 box cutters
Round 7 – 2 Crab Jacks, 3 Run Stance Switch, 4 merkins, 5 plank jacks, 6 box cutters
Round 8 – 3 Run Stance Switch, 4 merkins, 5 plank jacks, 6 box cutters
Round 9 – 4 merkins, 5 plank jacks, 6 box cutters
Round 10 – 5 plank jacks, 6 box cutters
Round 11 – 6 box cutters

Finished right on time. Headed back to COT.

Thanks Falcon Crest for the opportunity to lead!

Onward!
-old bay

 

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Leadership is a privilege

9 gathered at the Colosseum on a chilly and surprisingly damp morning to exercise our minds, bodies and be just a little better than the day before.  After the standard disclaimers were announced and all PAX were told to keep their questions to themselves and just do the work, we moseyed off for a tour of the grounds:

COP – Low Slow Squat X 20, Moroccan Night Clubs X 20, SSH X 30, Merkins X 15, Plank to sunrise salutations – left and right, hold regular plank down to 6 inches, repeat, down dog and recover, windmill X 20.  Now that the warm up was complete, we moseyed to the arrows.

The Thang – YHC promised that no man would be left behind and, true to form, PAX delivered.  Lunge walk 3 arrows followed by 3 burpees, Lunge walk to the 6th arrow, do 6 burpees, lung to the 9th arrow, do burpees, lunge walk to the 12th, do 12 burpess and finally lunge walk to the 15th arrow and do 15 burpees to complete the set.  After all were complete, JWOW gave us a ten count and we moseyed to the 4-corner station.

4 corners – 2 rounds – bear crawling or lunge walking (because we did not do enough of that earlier) to each station

Corner # 1 – 15 – hand release merkins – a crowd pleaser given the wet pavement

Corner #2 – 15 monkey humpers – PAX mistakenly thought they would dry out and stay vertical – foolish

Corner #3 – 15 Makhtar N’Dayies – just for Jekyll

Corner #4 – 15 Flutters double count

Mosey to the wall for the people’s chair where each PAX shared their word for 2019.  Each PAX bear crawled to the front of the line.  Upon completion, we moseyed to the benches

20 step ups IC

More moseying to the flag for the pledge of allegiance in gratitude for all who selflessly serve our country and local communities.

Mosey to COT for 4 minutes of mary (because 5 would have been excessive on wet pavement) – all exercises were double count and IC.

20 LBC’s, 20 American Hammers, 15 Box cutters and 1 body destroyer at 5:59:30.

COT –

Announcements – Joe Davis Run 3-9 – prices go up 2-1.  Register.  5k is a great opportunity to get 2.0’s and family involved.  YETI is 2-23 – back blast is up.

Prayers for Wilson County, NC trooper officer shot in duty; prayers for patience in our lives as we are called to be leaders on many fronts.

Leadership is truly a privilege whether we seek it out and step up or others see the potential in us and ask us to step forward.  May we use leadership for its intended purpose – to influence movement to advantage and help others to the same.  Thank you, Jekyll, for the opportunity to lead and get better with a  great group of HIM’s

Cyclops

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Slowly we Burn

11 plus 2 runners at Slowburn. A bit light eh? Too cold? or you just too fit already? Whatever, you only get me every so often …. if you weren’t there, you missed it.

Welcome, Intro, Disclaimer, Mosey

Warm up; 15x OH Clap, 14x Windmill, 13x LBCs IC, 12x Morrocan NC, 12x LSS, 11x Hello Dolly, 10x CDD, 10x Imperial Walker, 10x Freddie M, 10x Scorpion DD (this is the first time AM tried to Q jack), 10x Hillbilly Walker, 10x Dying Cockroach

Mosey, 4 corners; 20x Mt Climber, 2 burpees in the middle, 20x LBCs IC, 2 burpees, 10x Squat Jumps, 2 burpees, 15x Flutter IC, 2 burpees (this is the second place AM tried to Q jack)

Mosey to the back of Lowes 10x3x Calf Raise, 10x Dips, 10x incline merkins

Mosey around Lowes and back out the other side for the Greatest Hits
10x Mahktar N’Diayes
1-4,2-8,3-12 Matt Foley
10x Travolta
5x Richard Simmons (on request from Wide Right)
10x Monkey Humper
10x Shoulder Taps
49x OH Claps IC

Mosey, 4 corners; 10x HR Merkins, 2 burpees, 10x BB situps, 2 burpees, 10x bombjacks, 2 burpees, 10x2x Scorpion DD

Circle up, cool off; 15x Morrocan NC, 15x LBCs, 10x OH Claps, 10x Freddie, 10x Air Press, 10x Rosalita, 10x LSS, and finally 10x SSH

Than you Hootie for the opportunity to lead

Looks like we made it,

Barry Manilow

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5 at the Hive

Five at the hive for a rainy day with just enough space to stay dry.  It was a great morning of fellowship exploring our words from last year and looking ahead to next year.  Thank you for the opportunity to lead!
Warm up: (High Intensity) – High Pace Mosey between exercises
– SSH 101
– Seal Jacks 50
– Cherry Pickers 30
– Imperial Walkers 20
– Merkins 10
Interval AMRAP: (Partner Up) 1-min per station (6 stations) switch partners after each round
  – curls
  – squats
  – triceps extensions
  – pass through lunges
  – Clean & snatch
  – calf raises
15 Min AMRAP – Pick your poison – count total reps
  – KB Swing
  – Shoulder Press
  – plank row
  – vertical chest press
Ended with some Mary!
Great morning!
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The Colosseum

Disclaimer.
Mosey to get heart pumping, circle up for warm ups 10 of each of the following SSH, Imperial Walkers, Hillbilly walkers, Mtn. Climbers, Cherry pickers.
Mosey to side of school bear crawl halfway down breezeway get to benches 10 dips in cadence, 10 box jumps, 10 derkins
rinse and repeat x 2.
Mosey to basketball court four corners 10 merkins lunge walk to next corner 10 squats get all four corners.
Mosey to wall. Peoples chair while we work through the pax with each person bear crawling to the end. flip flop for balls to wall.
Mosey to light poles. split into 2 groups. group 1 run to light pole and back while group two does burpees. rotate through the following exercises. burpees, flutter kicks, bomb jacks, lbc’s, ssh’s.
Mosey back to COT do 16 American hammers.
Announcements read your newsletter.
Prayers and praises

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Laces In – Going Out

A bit of cool rain couldn’t keep the 8 LacesIn pax in the fartsack this morning.  Thankfully, it was 52 degrees and not 32 degrees.  Fearing the bubble over Fort Mill wouldn’t hold up, YHC planned a workout under coverage, off campus of FMHS (someone needs to talk to Flash about getting more coverings built onto the school).  Once the disclaimer was issued, we jetted up the hill and across Munn Road to St. Philip Neri.  Vacant, well lit, and relatively dry.

Warm up under the drop-off awning:

  • SSH x25
  • Windmills x10
  • Mountain Climbers x20
  • Imperial Walkers x20
  • Low Slow Squats x10

Mosey around what would be the “loop” for the Thang.

The Thang
Webb-o-Rama is always a crowd pleaser.  Fortunately, none of the pax attended (or remembered) the last installment of Webb-o-Rama (The Abyss a few weeks ago, for the record).

[stand by while I look up that back-blast for copy/paste]

4 “stations” along a loop that was mostly covered there at the church.   The exercises at each station were to be done in a Jack Webb style, (1:4 ratio).

Station 1: Burpees and Side Straddle Hops, then Bear Crawl to station 2

Station 2: Big Boy Sit-ups and American Hammers, then wheelbarrow to station 3 (flapjack half way)

Station 3: Bombjacks and Run-Stance Switches, then lunge walk to station 4

Station 4: Traditional Jack Webb (merkins and overhead claps), then run around track back to station 1

We did a total of 2 loops of the circuit before we ran out of time.

Round 1: 1-5 (made it all the way through round 1 before Pusher started complaining – gotta be some kind of record).
Round 2: 6-8

Moseyed back to COT where we met up with the Laces Out pax (5).

Strong work by all men!  Hopefully all got a little better for it.

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Smashing Taboo on this Election Tuesday

Today 11 men  joined together in the unseasonably warm but wet aftermath of a heavy rain that preceded us.  Plenty of puddles to step in but lots of good fellowship to counteract the wet.  My apologies to Long Shanks for getting his shoes wet by moseying through the fields

Message:  The challenge during partner activities was to engage in the taboo… to engage in dialogue around politics and religion.  The great deceiver has created societal roles that it is taboo to talk about politics or religion because he knows when we talk about difference, when we talk about our own pain and suffering that what we usually find is commonality, hope and support that he doesn’t want you to find.  This month take a leap of faith and make yourself vulnerable by speaking about something on your heart that you wouldn’t normally speak about. Find healing, support and hope in the men around you.

The THANG:

Started with some stretching… because we are old (except Falcon Crest but he played along)

Moseyed past the smelly trash can to the back parking lot for some Rugby sprints that included SSH, CCDs, Merkins, Sumo Squats, Hill Billy Walkers and maybe a couple others.

Mosey to the side HT wall for some wall sits and bear crawls from one end to the other (that is one long wall……….)

Mosey to Grace parking lot for the Starfish which included 8 pain stations within 1 Min. on and 15 seconds of transition which we did two rounds of that included 50#, 30#, 25# weights and a 10# ball.

This morning was a good work out but great fellowship among the pax.  It was a lot of fun connecting but also sweating!  Special call out to my partner, Old Bay,  for the good conversation on politics and religion.  I’m better because of the conversation.  Aye!

 

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Laces In – 9.20.18

14 strong at LacesIn on a great morning.  All tolerated a few of YHC’s favorite exercises.

Warm up

Short mosey and circle up for the usual suspects.

  • SSH
  • Windmill
  • Imperial Walkers
  • Merkins
  • Squats
  • Peter Parker
  • Parker Peter

The Thang

Mosey over the band lot and line up on the goal line for the following

  • Lunge walk 50 yards. Stop every ten yards for 10 squats.
  • Bear Crawl remaining 50 yards and 10 CDDs every ten yards.
  • Crabwalk back 50 yards with 10 LBCs every ten yards.
  • Burpee broad jump remaining 50 yards.
  • Theee rounds of suicides to the 10, 20, and 30

 

Mosey to base of hill at the entrance to parking lot from Munn Road and do the following:

  • 10 singe count Merkins, 10 sumo squats IC, 20 Freddy mercury IC. Run to third light pole and back.
  • 10 single count diamond Merkins, 10 monkey humpers IC, 20 Flutters IC. Run to top of hill and jog back down
  • 10 single count wide Merkins, 10 bombjacks, 10 hello dollies IC. Run to top of hill and jog back down.

Mosey back to start for a few minutes of Mary

COT

Announcements

Prayers/Praises

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Tomahawkin’ at The Hive

I do this thing called The Tomahawk Test every 8 weeks at #TheTomahawk site.  It’s all about making sure we are getting better/getting stronger.  I encourage the pax to workout the same way they did the previous session…if you curled on your knee last time, curl on your knee this time.  Seeing our reps increase is a good thing.  Seeing them decrease is a weird thing that hopefully becomes a motivator to push harder.  I brought it to #TheHive because we have different “regulars”.  I believe only 1 person at this workout had done the #TomahawkTest before (DESTINY).  Check out the image for how our workout went down.  I have all the hard copies and will be sharing them with the pax individually, as well as keeping a digital copy for reference.  Blasted 90’s Alternative while we tossed the iron around.

Just so we could get our burpees, I blasted Chumbawumba’s Tubthumping.  28 burpees (27 if you don’t follow my lead and do 1 as the song ends).  We moseyed back to COT and did 6 more burpees so we all got our 33 in for the day. #1000burpees

Shout out to Tesh for the Q opportunity.  I love it and consider it an honor.  Prayers for our brothers on IR.

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