Tag: Flux

A Few Words on Encouragement at The Deep

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8 PAX assembled in the gloom at The Deep to push themselves and each other in the theme of the month encouragement.

A brief disclaimer was given while Royale and The Lorax came in hot. The PAX took a quick mosey from the Middle School over to Elementary School and on the way stretched out with some Toy Soldiers and Knees to the chest.

Circle up in the parking lot of Elementary School for a brief CoP including: SSH, Imperial Walkers, Hillbilly Walkers, Morrocan Nightclubs, Windmills, and a little Broga to loosen us up.

The theme for the workout was set up to mirror the theme of the month, encouragement. YHC asked the PAX who knew the word of the month and who had read the accompanying 3rd F document. Few knew the word of the month and no one had read the 3rd F piece. If you haven’t read it at this point, STOP READING THIS and take a few moments to pull up your newsletter and read it.

The document was briefly summarized and the first evolution was laid out. The PAX were to move as a team and complete all the exercises before moving on, ENCOURAGING each other along the way. The evolution went like this:
2 laps around the school
25 Pull Ups
50 Dips
100 Squats (done together with each PAX taking a turn counting)
200 Flutter kicks (100 4 count in cadence)
1 Lap the school and back mosey to the back of the Middle School

The second evolution was a twist on an old favorite. Starting from the brick pillars on the practice field side of school each PAX would pick up Sandy (40lb sand bag) and run to the next brick pillars just past the first basketball goal (about 40ish yards). The remaining PAX would through the exercises below:
Kracken Burpees
Jump Squats
Merkins
LBC
Flutters
American Hammer
CDD
Bear Crawl/Crawl bear

Sufficiently smoked the PAX meandered back to COT. Thank you Shakespeare for the opportunity to lead this great group of men.

Moleskin:

This month’s 3rd F Theme really struck home with me. To think that a 35 year old wife, mother, and school teacher couldn’t find enough encouragement in her life that she thought nobody would miss her if she was gone seems almost impossible to imagine for most people. I unfortunately am not most people. As a teenager this was a recurring thought of mine as I would sit at home on Friday nights by myself wondering if any of my friends would call, or how I could invite myself to the party or hangout. I spent those nights wondering if I didn’t show up on Monday, or if I were gone would anyone miss me. Those thoughts can be irrational, but the feeling is real. Years later I found myself on the other end of a phone call informing me that one of my best friends had died of an overdose. He was in his early twenties and was the poster child for what someone would want in a US Marine. I would get two more similar phone calls from back home about other friends who didn’t think they would be missed when they were gone, so they took their own lives. Can this be prevented? Who knows. I know this though, a few words of encouragement can change someone’s life. Letting a person know that their presence in your life matters more than you can possibly know. Never assume. Encourage those in your life to live their lives to the fullest. Make sure that they know they would be missed if they weren’t around. Each of you reading this means something to me, even if we have never met. If you get to this point or have these thoughts I encourage you to reach out to me, or one of your brothers. I can tell you that you make an impact on someones life and would be missed if you were gone.

Wild Thing out!!

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Pre-Michael Showdown at the Abyss

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YHC didn’t look at the weather forecast last night so it was a bit of a surprise walking outside this morning to the pouring rain. No big deal but had to audible a couple of things on the weinke.

One thing I love about F3 is the dedication of the PAX to show up rain, shine, freezing rain, snow, single-digit temps, etc…to get to a workout. Today was no exception and 16 men (2 of whom were runners) showed up in the pouring rain to get better. One FNG was present so an F3 certified disclaimer was given and off we went.

Mosey to Bus Circle

Butt Kickers, High Knees, Side shuffle facing the school, Side shuffle away

Warm up (In Cadence)

15 – SSH
15 – IW
15 – WM
15 – Mountain Climbers
25 – Moroccan Night Clubs

Mosey to the covered sidewalk for some partner work. Some grunge music seemed apropos so it accompanied our work.

Brief Discussion on Encouragement – YHC asked the PAX to thing of someone in their life who has been a big encouragement as we completed the exercises.

Partner up – Size doesn’t matter

Partner 1 – Run the circle
Partner 2 – Work on the exercises
Flapjack

150 Carolina Dry Docks
250 Squats
350 LBC’s

Everyone completed one round and a few Pax made it through the CDD’s for the 2nd round.

Mosey to the paved hill at the exit of the school. No partners for this part.

Lt Dans to the first set of rocks, backwards lunge to the second set, sprint to the top, and slow mosey to the bottom
Rinse and Repeat (Mumble chatter)
5 burpees OYO
Bear crawl to the first set of rocks, backwards Lt. Dans to the second set, sprint to the top, 5 burpees OYO and slow mosey to the bottom

Mosey to the wall for wall sits

Round 1
Each PAX counted to 10 while holding the wall with one leg out
Shake it out, Rinse and Repeat (Mumble chatter)
Round 2
Hold the wall while each Pax ran to the sidewalk, 2 burpees and back to the wall
Shake it out, Rinse and Repeat (Mumble chatter)

Mosey back for COT

Announcements

Read your newsletter. Christmas Party, Bourbon Chase, etc…

Prayer Requests

Moab and his wife are foster parents and are receiving a newborn today. Prayers for them and for the mom.
Unspoken prayers that are heavy on our hearts
Having the strength to encourage others in our circles

Great job by the Pax and great job by the FNG Matt (F3 Aztec). He did a great job keeping us with us and did a lot better than I did on my first post. Keep up the good work!

Always an honor to lead. Thanks Bones for the opportunity.

Until next time…

Hauschka

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The Fort 6 year Anniversary – Making Getting Better a Priority!

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September 29, 2012 the landscape of Fort Mill changed dramatically. Some men from north of the border grabbed the attention of a few men south of the boarder and said we may have something for you. Double D, Santini, Senator Tressel, World Wide Leader, Red Banjo, Assassin, Peach and maybe others made the commitment to come to a “workout” on that Saturday morning. It was very skeptical, but I am sure each of them will say it changed their lives.

Here we are 6 years later, meeting in the same park with more than 200 regular participants (800+ over the years) at 37 workouts across The Fort/Lake Wylie area. Thank you to those that gave it away and thank you to those that said yes!! I think it is safe to say, IT’S MORE THAN A WORKOUT!!!

Today we recognize the 6 years with 6 Qs leading a beat down in 1st F style. On September 21st, Jekyll led us in our Invergence, which reminds us of the 3rdF and that there is something bigger than ourselves. Serving, Praying and Worshiping together happened then. On this day, we are getting better physically and having some fellowship with 70 of our PAX,

Format was a rapid fire approach where each Q has 10mins to lay it on the PAX. Old Bay would keep time and blow the air horn (maybe tweet the horn??), and then the next Q jumps in.

YHC asked for FNGS, (none) and explained the plan of attack, and then the Horn Sounded

The Thang:

  • Wegmans for COP
    • Mosey down path out to grass
    • Circle up and some traditional and not so traditional exercise moves.
    • We did notice another “Boot camp” group in the gloom. T-clapps to them, however also saw 2 holding clip boards…..not F3!!
    • Horm Blows
  • Funhouse on Q
    • Mosey to the hill for Jacobs ladder
      • Burpees
      • Squats
      • Some mary to fill time
      • Horn Blows
  • Jwow on Q
    • Mosey to top of hill for partner work
    • step ups/lunge walk up and down hill
    • squat jumps/lunge walk up and down hill
    • Plank hand slap with partner
    • Horn Blow
  • Twister on Q
    • Mosey to tree line
    • Army Crawl to tree /SSHs
    • Sprint to tree/Merkins
    • Army Crawl to Tree/SSHs
    • Sprint to tree/merkins
    • 2 rounds
    • Run Path until Horm
    • Horn Blows
  • FLUX on Q
    • Mosey back to hill
    • 6s – do following 6 times
      • bear crawl up hill
      • diamond merkins
      • bear crawl back down hill
      • Some filler in there of something aweful
      • Horn Blows
  • Assassin On Q
    • Mosey to play grownd
      • Dips
      • Derkins
      • Burpees
      • multiple rounds with running around the playground until…..
      • Horn Blows

The PAX was dripping wet from rolling in grass but also from the humid beat down that just occurred. Thanks to all the Qs for bringing it and having fun out there.

I brought up to the PAX “WHY”? Why F3 versus the many other options we have even outside of fitness and self help books. Why do we get up early and why do we do CSAUPS and why do we attend 3rdF and give away our time at various community organizations???

Pockets, Spud and Assassin all shared their Why. Thank you! I’m sure there were many more that would undoubtedly impactful.

I mentioned my why was straightforward for me. I want to continue to challenge myself physically, surround myself with like minded guys heading in the same direction and reach more guys for Sky Q and HIS purpose. I feel F3 has positively impacted my life in all 3 Fs and why would I not give it away??

See you in the GLOOM!

Cake Boss

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Abyss got tired once again

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We started our workout with a quick disclaimer and moseyed to the basketball goals area behind the school, all the props had been distributed into 4 stations.

Circled up for the warm up:

Windmill

Moroccan night clubs

Low Slow Squats

Hillbilly walk

Hillbilly squat (combination of hillbilly walk and squat, we had a few issues coordinating the count with the actual movements of the body but by the sixth rep most PAX got the idea)

Mountain Climbers

Low Slow Merkin

Arm circles

After the warm up we split in 4 groups and each group went to a different station:

Station 1:

-> 15 big boy sit ups

-> 20 Rosalitas

-> 30 Sledgehammer                                                                                                                                                                               swings (15 each side)

-> 40 Heel Touches SC

-> 40 Dying Roach SC

Station 2:

-> 8  Tire flips

-> 20  Monkey Humpers

-> 20 lunges SC

-> 30 low squat (touch the ground with hand)

-> 50 calf raises

Station 3:

-> 15 biceps curls

-> 20 curb dip

-> 25 dumbbell swing

-> 30 SSH IC

-> 40 Carolina drydocks

Station 4:

-> 10 diamond merkins

-> 15 wide arm merkins

-> 20 regular merkins

-> 30 battle rope wave SC

-> 40 Shoulder taps

After each group finished a full circuit of 4 stations we went to the grass area to do a full Captain Thor routine (1 big boy sit up and 4 american hammers, 2 BBSU and 8 AH, 3 BBSU and 12 AH and so on all the way up to 10 BBSU and 40 AH) lots of mumble chatter before, during and after this routine, some requested yoga mats, but we only had the grassy area, everyone pushed their body to the extreme to complete this routine.

On the way back to COT with 8 minutes to spare we found the hill and went for a run downhill, run up to the middle of the hill and perform 3 reps on each position of the around the clock merkin routine, back to the top, rinse and repeat.

Once done with the hill, we moved against the school wall for mike tyson merkins, Wall Makhtar N’Diayes and balls to the wall, more mumble chatting happened here as every PAX counts to 5 at a different speed and everyone had to hold the BTTW position untill all PAX had done their 5 count from left t op right.

Moseyed back to COT, planked for 1 minute, right arm high, left arm high, right leg high, left leg high some chatter included; we figured that our favorite Star Wars character was cranky since he had missed his daily m&m’s dose.

We finished up with prayers, praises and announcements.

Thank you Bones for the opportunity to lead.

Tinsel out…

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Not much of a game, but a whole lot of suicides

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So for some quick backstory, YHC had the Q at the Deep on 9/29, but was asked by our Nantan to be on of the Q’s at the convergence at WEP.  I was planning on doing a football themed workout there, but since I was losing that Q, I thought I would try to move it to the Swamp.  That being said, nothing about what this workout evolved into resembled anything like what I was originally thinking, but as always, it was great to lead these awesome PAX.

There were 16 at The Swamp on a morning that was back to being hot and muggy.  I gave a short disclaimer and we started promptly at 515, the PAX were really chatty this morning, which stopped almost immediately after I got started because there wasn’t much time to breathe after that, let alone talk.

We took a short mosey around the parking lot and did some toy soldiers and shuffle steps on our way to the parking lot by the fountain where we circled up for a quick warm up.

  • 10 Windmills IC
  • 15 Moroccan Nightclubs IC
  • 10 Low Slow Squats
  • 10 Merkins IC

I only had 1 “thing” planned this morning, we would have 2 teams and do the same thing over and over again mixing in different exercises.  I had 5 cones on each side of the lot/fountain spaced 10 yards apart.  We would start at the back island and essentially do suicides while stopping at each cone and doing an exercise of my choice.   The first whole team to cross the finish line at the other end of the lot by the far island got a point for some friendly competition.

Breakdown:

  • Run 10 yards, do exercise, run back to finish
  • Run 20 yards, do exercise, run back to finish
  • Run 30 yards, do exercise, run back to finish
  • Run 40 yards, do exercise, run back to finish
  • Run 50 yards, do exercise, and then go the final ~60 yards or so via a movement of my choice.
  • Mosey back to start and repeat with different exercises

Exercises:

1st set

  • 10 Burpees
  • 20 Merkins
  • 30 Squats
  • 40 LBC’s
  • 50 Alternating Shoulder Taps
  • Sprint to finish

2nd set

  • 10 Burpees
  • 20 Werkins
  • 30 lunges
  • 40 flutters
  • 50 SSH’s
  • Bearcrawl to finish

3rd set

  • 10 Burpees
  • 20 Diamond Merkins
  • 30 Monkey Humpers
  • 40 Rosalitas
  • 50 Overhead Claps
  • Lunge Walk to finish

4th set

  • 10 Burpees
  • 20 CDD’s
  • 30 Reverse Lunges
  • 40 Dying Cockroach
  • 50 Plank Jacks
  • Crab walk to finish

5th set

  • 10 Burpees
  • 20 Ranger Merkins
  • 30 Lateral Jumps
  • 40 Hello Dolly
  • 50 Seal Jacks
  • NUR to finish

6th set

  • 10 Burpees
  • 20 Crucible Merkins
  • 30 Calf Raises
  • 40 Box Cutters
  • 50 High Knees
  • Shuffle/split the distance to the finish

We finished up with 2 minutes to spare, 1st team consisted of YHC, Bones, Cha-Ching, and Mainframe and we won with 4 points.  The 2nd team consisted of Gears, Regal, Tinsel, and Moab and they won 2 of the sets.  Winning team had a choice of 10 more Burpees for everyone or 20 for the losing team, we chose 10 more Burpees for everyone.

Mosey back to CoT right on time.

  • Invergence tonight!
  • Convergence 9/29 at WEP
  • Prayers for Moab and his big interview
  • Prayers for Cancer
  • Prayers for our troops that fight and the struggles they have with PTSD when they are back home.
  • Prayers for victims and families who are dealing with Hurricane Flo

Thanks for the Q Cha-Ching!

Until next time,

-Flux-

 

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Octagon of Pain, same low price, but now with more jumping!

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Great morning and a great crowd of 16 PAX at the Poopdeck.  I mean it was still hot and humid as hell, but that’s par for this summer.

After a quick disclaimer we took off around the lot for a mosey that included some shuffle steps, NUR, and Toy Soldiers before circling up near where the cat lady roams for some Warm-A-Rama.

  • Windmills x10 IC
  • Planks (2x 10 counts)
  • Merkins x 10 IC
  • Morroccan Nightclubs x 10 IC
  • Low, Slow Squat x 10 IC
  • Hold squat (2x 10 counts)

Short Mosey to the upper lot (deck?) at the Poopdeck, I’ve been Q-loaded the last couple of weeks and the previous 2 Q’s were brutal on the arms and shoulders so I decided to mix it up a bit this morning by giving the upper body a complete break at the expense of all leg plyo workout.  I wasn’t sure how it was going to go over, but everyone seemed pretty beaten by the end.  In any case, here is the breakdown of how it works:

  • 8 Cones setup in an Octagon in the parking lot (fairly large in diameter though I didn’t count the paces) with a 9th cone in the middle of the Octagon.
  • Each cone had a (jumping) exercise on it
  • Pair up (only for the push, none of this required a partner)
  • Pick a cone, do the exercise on the cone, and then Broad Jump to the center cone and do 8 Burpees, then Broad Jump back to one of the 7 remaining cones and continue through until all 8 are completed and a trip back to the center cone after each cone for 8 more Burpees.
  • The exercises were:
    • 100 SSH
    • 100 Jump Rope
    • 50 Jump Squats
    • 50 Jump Lunges (25 each leg)
    • 50 Lateral Jumps (25 each leg)
    • 50 Knee Tuck Jump-ups
    • 50 Squat Jacks
    • 25 Bomb Jacks
      • ~64 Burpees
      • lot of broad jumping!

Everyone made it through at least once, which was the goal. In typical Jedi fashion he made it through a couple extra.  With about 10-15 minutes left we lined up for some Indian running around the parking lot.  Lead PAX drops and does 4 Burpees and rejoins at the back of the line.  We cycled through each of the 16 PAX twice before heading back to CoT and about 2 minutes of Mary to end the workout.

  • 6th annual Invergance at Rush Pavilion 9/21 @ 5:30
  • Prayers for all the teachers and kids in school
  • Prayers for injured PAX

Thanks Peg for the opportunity to Q!

Until next time,

-Flux-

 

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2

6 pack at Sea Legs

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I don’t usually document the runs, but I figured it could still be helpful for those Q’ing a workout at Sea Legs that may be unfamiliar with the lay of the land.  Every backblast counts.

Nothing special this morning, there were 6 of us on a, what’s now typical, muggy morning.  We met at the parking lot at the Palisades Elementary and went up the back road/hill by the basketball hoops and down Langston road where we hit Grand Palisades pkwy and took that all the way down to the roundabout and back.  About 4.5 miles of safe running off the main roads.  This is a good route that fits nicely within the time slot and has a deceiving amount of hills.

We finished up a few minutes early and circled up for CoT

  • 6th annual Invergance
  • Prayers for travel and the PAX attending the GRT
  • Prayers for Routers Grandmother-in-law who is having surgery

Thanks for the Q Hauschka!

-Flux

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Oktoberfest

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Oktoberfest is actually a bit of a misnomer – the majority of the festival falls in September each year and it only ends in October. Like most things in life, practice makes perfect. So this Labor Day, 3 men took the opportunity to practice their Oktoberfest skills in hopes of becoming superior beerthletes by the end of the month.

PAX each grabbed two gallon jugs of water out of the truck and we moseyed to the back of the school. A gallon of water weighs 8.34 lbs and is approx. 3.785 liters. If you are anticipating 1 liter steins of beer, a gallon of water is great for training.

Warm-O-Rama

SSH, low slow squats, MNC, static shoulder stretches, crab cakes

Hold My Beer

A classic component of Oktoberfest is an event where a line of men each hold a full stein of beer in front of themselves, one handed, at arm’s length, for as long as they can. It is a test of stamina where the last man to lower his stein wins, thereby gaining the love of all the fräuleins and typically some additional free beer.  The advantage is definitely to those who train. So we did.

PAX jogged with their gallons to the top of the Green Monster, the large grass hill at Crows Nest. For 60 seconds, we held out a gallon of water in our right hands in the “toast” position. Classic example of easy to write, hard to do. Then we ran down the hill and did 10 manmakers. Return to the top (carrying the water the whole time) and changed to 60 seconds of the left arm in the outstretched toast position. Run to the bottom, then 9 manmakers. Rinse repeat until you get down to 0, switching arms each time.

It got real tough 6 or 7 rounds in when the shoulders were fatigued. There was some great mumble chatter while we were holding the toast position. Just three men toasting the stars with jugs of water on top of a hill at 5:30 in the morning. By the time we completed the routine there were only 10 mins left in the workout, so we had to skip Beermaid Relays (reserved for a future Q) and headed back to the front of the school. We jogged with the gallons, doing shoulder presses as we traversed.

Beiermeister Webbs

PAX traded their gallons of water for a second set of coupons – these were only 12 oz each. We popped the tops on said coupons and headed to the grass. This was a standard Jack Webb but with an Oktoberfest wrinkle – after each set of merkins take swig out of the coupon before proceeding to the overhead claps. Coupon must be fully empty by the end of the 10th round – and all of them were. There was a lot of burping, stomach churning, and chatter, but no merlot (lager?) was splashed. A fun variation on a classic. Great for weekend AOs and public holidays. As Flux noted, it was after 5:00 so completely acceptable.

Triangle up for COT.

Danka Herr Flux for the opportunity to lead.

Prost!

Homebrew

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6

Nickels at the Quagmire

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We had 14 Pax show up in the gloom this morning including 1 FNG “Supafly” and the “Return of the Jedi” (I couldn’t help myself) from his foot injury.

I gave a nice disclaimer for our FNG and we took a long mosey around the parking lot while mixing in, shuffle steps, NUR, toy soldiers, butt-kickers, and high-knees, before settling in around the back parking lot behind the fountain that had the stairway access.

Warm-a-Rama

Keeping with the shoulder-burn theme, we circled up for the following:

  • Windmills x 10 IC
  • Plank (2-10 counts)
  • Elbow Plank (2-10 counts)
  • Merkins x 10 IC
  • SSH x 25 IC
  • Plank (10-count)
  • Peter Parker x 10 IC
  • Parker Peters x 10 IC
  • 6″ Plank Hold (2-10 counts)

We recovered and I began explaining the 1st of 3 routines we made it to today, I had at least 1 more nasty one planned, but the last one was so brutal I think the PAX were glad we didn’t get to it.  In any case, I kept it nice and easy to remember, everything was in sets of 5, hence the “Nickels”.

1st routine:

From the center island in the parking lot we performed 5 x True Americans (Hand-release Merkin w/Plank Jack), Bear Crawled up to and then up the steps and across the landing, Crawl Bear down the steps, and Bear Crawled back to the center lot where we did Hydraulic Squats (Squat, right kneed down, left knee down, right knee back to squat, left knee back to squat, rise and repeat x 5).  Then repeated the whole routine x 5.

2nd routine:

Thinking the shoulders needed some rest we did some sprints.  Starting at the back parking island, we sprinted to the top parking lot island (maybe 40 yards), did 5 Burpees, then sprinted back to the start and did 5 Absolution.  This was then repeated 5 more times.  I had some shipping pads laid out for the PAX to keep the elbows safe.

3rd routine:

I wasn’t sure if I was going to do this one going in, but we had an even PAX count so we did it and I think everyone hated it equally so I’m glad we did it.  Anyway, Partner up, and in wheelbarrow position with 2nd PAX holding legs of 1st PAX, 1st PAX performs 5 Donkey Farmers (think Peter Parker with your partner holding your legs).  We then wheelbarrow-walked up to and up the flight of stairs and did 5 Derkins at the top landing.  Recovered and moseyed back to start and switched partners.  Time cut this one a bit short, but I think everyone got in at least 3 sets of this one.  Amazing push by all the PAX, this one was hard.

We made it back to CoT with about a minute left so I asked Jedi to call out an Ab exercise, which was a one-legged V-Up. I think we did 10 of these IC which took us right up to 6:00AM.

Announcements, Praises, Prayers

  • Read your newsletter!
  • 6th annual invergence at Rush Pavilion on 9/21 @ 5:30
  • Prayers for new jobs, and injured PAX, and Charlotte schools back at it today

Until next time (Thursday at the Poopdeck),

-Flux

 

 

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Kettlebell Tabata + Weighted Indian Runs = Whole Lotta Pain

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Started off the morning by unloading some Kettlebells and Dumbbells of various weight onto the ground behind my trunk.  Weights ranged from 10-20 lbs.  Also, a 50 pound sandbag was dropped beside the weights… and, of course, a speaker to blare some heart-pumping music in the Gloom (c’mon peope, bring your music too!… *unless it’s Nickelback/Creed*).

Started off with a Mosey.

Circled up for Warm-O-Rama… 20 SSH, 10 Windmills, 10 Imp. Walker, 10 Hillbilly Walker… We’re warm.

The Thang:

Tabata time!  Everyone grabs 1 weight of their choosing and we complete 8 sets of one exercise.  AMRAP in 20 seconds, followed by 10 seconds of rest, again, X 8.  After completing the 8 sets, drop your weight, we pick up the 50lb sandbag, and indian run a distance away and back to our workout area.

Exercises completed were as followed:  Jack Press, Goblet Squat, One Arm Curl, Woodchop (reach up to side, bend turn to other side, lifting/lowering weight), and American Hammers.

End with COT, Name-O-Rama, and Announcements/Prayers.  Prayers for students/teachers on the first day of school and beyond.

Thanks Flux for the opportunity to lead!

 

*Side Note*- It’s Wednesday and my body still aches from this workout.  I must have done something right!

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