Tag: FreeBird

Choosing Not to Cheat – Ballroom Style

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Honestly, YHC was stoked to Q the Ballroom this week. First, I had not visited the new site since moving from PKES. Second, I had not seen a lot of the Pax at this site and third the weather was perfect with a mild 60 degrees at launch.

I have struggled with moderate workouts for many years because I don’t view these men as “moderate”. If you define men who get up around 4:45 to post in any weather conditions and workout for 45 minutes while sharing fellowship and faith throughout as moderate, then so be it.

I recently spent some time in fellowship with other Pax and was reminded of the book by Andy Stanley, Choosing to Cheat. The gist of the book is that we are all cheaters. We cheat on our work by spending time with our wife. We cheat on our wife by spending time with our kids and so on. This book hits home for me. While work/life balance is unattainable and a #Oprahbomb, I find that I get the validation that I so desire from work and gravitate to working harder for more validation. I asked the Pax who posted to choose not to cheat for the next 45 minutes on their workout and to hold each other accountable in doing so.

The Thang

Mosey to football field

COP

SSH x 30

Windmills x 15

IW x 15

CDD x 20

Plank Jacks x 20

Night Clubs x 25

Mosey to 50 yard line

Burpee Ladder Starfish

2 Burpees in middle

Sprint to corner

20 Mtn Climbers

4 Burpees in middle

Sprint to corner

10 merkins in cadence

6 Burpees in middle

Sprint to corner

20 Squats in cadence

8 Burpees

Sprint to corner

20 Bomb jacks

10 Burpees

Ladder back down

Partner up for Ab Ladder

5 Situps

Sprint

5 Situps plus 10 flutters

Sprint…you get the idea

Finished with 5 sit-ups, 10 flutters, 15 Freddy, 20 LBC, 25 American Hammer

Random ladder of burpees and abs to finish…lots of complaining here

 

Moleskin

  • Prayers for Badger and Bullwinkles Dad
  • Lots of upcoming events…read your newsletter
  • Praise for Barney Fife and Boogie Down

Thanks to Short Sale for the opportunity. Love what you have done at the Ballroom!

Pusher out!

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The Armory – Keeping warm while listening to Death Metal

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8 pax came to get stronger, better, faster and so they came to The Armory of course.
It was a chilly morning so we had to keep moving but I wanted to keep to kettle-bell tradition.
The Thang:
  • Mosey around church
  • Shuffles
  • karaoke
  • toy soldiers
  • SSHs

 

Go Grab bells and meet at the circle

Partner up and here we go…

  • Partner does exercise while other partner runs the circle around the lot or optional bear crawl up to church doors and back. It was a nice mix.
Flutter kick
Russian twist
V up
Hello dolly
Leg raises
Lunge
Squat
Right leg
Squat figure 8
Left leg
KB Swing
Shoulder press
Upright row
Bent row
Lat raises
R/L Curl
Concentration curl
Tri extention
Skull crushers
R/L Curl
Great time by all and we stayed warm.
The PAX for The Journey showed up at 6 so we knew it was time to go.
Thanks for Q Assassin!
Cake Boss
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Frozen: The Fort Version – Let It Go – 12/30/17

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12 men met on the frozen tundra that was Walter Elisha this morning to get better. Freebird led the first half of the workout and Ginsu closed it out. Motivational words were given re: purpose & intentionality heading in to the new year.

Warmup

Mosey to the field

  • 21 side straddle hops
  • 10 slow windmills
  • 21 side straddle hops
  • 11 monkey humpers
  • 21 side straddle hops
  • 10 merkins

The Thing

Mosey to the playground & partner up

  • Partner 1 – run a lap around the playground
  • Partner 2 – toe taps on the playground barrier
  • Flip flop
  • Rinse & repeat 3x

Mosey to the tree line

  • Lunge to the first tree
  • crab walk to second
  • lunge to 3rd
  • crab walk to 4th
  • lunge to 5th
  • crab walk to 6th
  • mosey back to start

Hand off to Ginsu

  • 10 burpees OYO
  • 10 Merkins OYO

Mosey to the playground and get back to parters

  • Partner 1 – take a lap around the playground
  • Partner 2 – pullups AMRAP
  • Flip flop
  • Partner 1 – take a lap
  • Partner 2 – dips AMRAP
  • Flip flop
  • Partner 1 – take a lap
  • Partner 2 diamond merkins AMRAP
  • flip flop
  • Partner 1 – take a lap around the playground
  • Partner 2 – pullups AMRAP
  • Flip flop
  • Partner 1 – take a lap
  • Partner 2 – dips AMRAP
  • Flip flop
  • Partner 1 – take a lap
  • Partner 2 diamond merkins AMRAP
  • flip flop

Mosey to the big hill for modified Jacob’s ladder

  • Run to top of hill, do 1 Merkin
  • Run to bottom, only 1 burpee
  • Run to top, 2 Merkins
  • Run to bottom, only 1 burpee
  • Continue until 10 merkins at top, 1 burpee at bottom

Mosey to the wall at Springs

  • Muscle ups – in cadence – 10x
  • Rinse & repeat x3
  • Captain Thors to 5×20
  • Boats & Canoes

Mosey to COT

Announcements

  • Joe Davis Run – last day to sign up
  • Convergence on the 12th
  • GoRuck Lite

Prayers & Praises

  • Prayers for Mr. Clean & Family
  • Praises for Freebird’s new job
  • Prayers for Gobbler’s sister
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Pantheon Sweat fest

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Always a pleasure to be invited to Q at Pantheon, especially since it’s basically in my backyard.  The Pax gathered and it was great to see some guys I haven’t seen in a while, and always great to have Jekyll show up because I know that there will be great mumble chatter.  No FNGs the disclaimer was given and we were off for a little warm up lap and then circled up for COP.

The Thang – SSH, Imperial Walkers, Abe Vagoda, Mountain Climbers, Plankorama, Moroccan Night Club, Freddie.  Mosey to the front of school where cones were neatly set up along the walk. Very simple, do the exercise on the cone and then a lap around the parking lot, come back do the exercise again and add the next one in line, and on and on until all 8 cones are done alternating large and small laps. Start with 10 Merkins, 15 Squats, 10 Hello Dolly, 10 CDD, 20 LBC, 10 Burpees, 10 Monkey Humpers.  I called at 6:00, everyone did awesome and a few even finished them all! Head to COT

Announcements- Invergence 9/29, read your newsletter

Prayers – Bob the Builders M going in for test, Sputnik job interview. A quick discussion on the Discipline of the Lord and how we are not supposed to hate it, we are called to rejoice in our suffering because our suffering leads to perseverance, which leads to character which leads to Hope, and Hope will never let us down.

A great morning and always a joy to lead the Pax

 

 

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Little bit of Shoulders at Colosseum

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It was a dark and stormy night, but that didn’t deter 14 pax from giving the face palm to the #fartsack.  No FNGs were presesnt and a less than flawless disclaimer delivered.

The Thang:

Mosey to lot past the dumsters for COP – SSHx25, IWx15, Low Slow Squatsx15, Merkins x 10, Windmillsx10,

Divide pax into two circles:  First round – Wave Merkins 1-5 count.  Second round – Wave Squats (Crowd Pleaser) 10-8 count.

Mosey to playground and remember your group from the circles.  3 sets of 10 pullups, 3sets of 20 swing crunches.  Flap jacking between the two

Quick mosey to Brick Wall – 3 sets of 10 muscle ups, with Morrochain Night Clubsx15 in between.

Mosey to front of middle school –  10 Burpees, 10 Step Ups (each leg), 10 CDDs – run a lap of the dropoff loop.  Repeat the 3 exercises but drop a rep each round.  Several speed demons made it to 7 reps (4 rounds).  Most made it to 8 reps (3 rounds)

3MOM – LBCs, 6″, Slow Freddie Mercuries, ‘Merican Hammers

NMM: After an eventful night where thunderstorms tripped my smoke alarms, woke up my 2.1 a couple of times, and a canine with GI issues, I was worried I would sleep through my alarm.  Most pax can relate to nights like this but knowing I was the Q and had other pax needing a lift, I was ready to roll at 4:45.  I love the accountability of this group.  Everyone pushed themselves this morning.  Great work Men!

Lots of announcements so read your newsletters.

Get after it today!

STH

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8/11/17 Swamp Style

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Conditions were sweaty and humid…it felt like August in South Carolina

Gekko was the running and nobody ran with #HIM

Cornhole had 10 for his Ruck Q

I had 11 for the bootcamp

13 stayed for Romans 4 that Gekko Q’d

All had fun, you should have been there…

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Fate Dealt our Pain at Armory

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Warmup:  Jog with kettlebell to circle of power, then 3 exercises in cadence:  low slow squat jumps, morrocan nightclubs, low slow wide grip merkins.

The Thang:   Partner up.  Deck of cards present. Partners drew 2 cards with an exercise on each.  We multiplied the numbers on each card together and did reps for those two exercises.  Aces multiplied the reps by 2.  If a joker was drawn, partners had to do 100 burpees total.  TWISTER drew the Joker!!!

Breaks – 1st:   wall sits with kettelbell pass through legs while a person! did bear crawls to the end. 2nd:  Indian run with kettlebell in right hand, then another lap in left hand.  3rd:  catch me if you can with partners with LBC’s as the exchange exercise.

Announcements  – 8/4 convergence.  Bear Grylls seeking BRR team.

Prayers:  Bullwinkle family illness, Assassin travel, Murphy/Sheaffer sympathy, Patrick Caldwell Chemotherapy.  Good start to August.

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Ruck WO: Freedom of Choice….but not of Consequence

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Cobra Kai asked me to lead a ruck workout a while back. HC!! First time Q-ing a ruck workout……I was nervous. No better way to learn than to get thrown in the deep end. So here goes….

6 of us for the Ruck good livin this AM. Good, needed an even number.

Rucks on, very brief mosey to the parking lot in front of Marshall’s

COP. Rucks off, 15-20 ea:
* SSH
* WM
* IW
* MNC
* PJ

“Intermission” WO:
10 ea w ruck:
* Curls
* Upright Rows
* Swings
* Overhead Press

Then I wanted to try something different. Instead of transitioning w rucks on as usual. Partner up, 5 merkin catch-me-if-you-can to the stairs/patio next to Just Fresh. We each did about 20 merkins or so along the way.

> Intermission WO

Then it was time for some stair work at the patio of the vacant restaurant next to Just Fresh (that place must be cursed – great locale, cannot keep a tenant there).

Partner up. P1 > farmer carry both rucks up, across, down stairs. P2 > Exercise AMRAP. Each group did 2 rounds before moving to next exercise. Exercises were:
* LBC
* Merkins
* Flutter
* CDDs

Break between merkins and flutters to talk a little (see moleskin). The Boot campers moseyed on up and wanted to use the stairs, but we had squatters rights. Sorry. We left a nice sweat trail for them to find their way around. 🙂

After CDDs done, ruck overhead carry mosey to the corner walls behind Home Depot. >

> Intermission WO

Now time for some wall squatting.

Rucks on laps, shoulder to shoulder. Person on end passed their ruck down the line to the left, and bear crawled down the line to catch up with it, then the next person did the same until complete. >> 2 rounds. Wow. Quads hurt. My bird legs were feelin it! Rinse and repeat except to the right (need to stay balanced). >> 2 more rounds. By then we were ALL feeling the burn. Note to others: Bear’s ruck feels at least twice as heavy as the others. Quite impressive, but not fun for us.

Finally a normal ruck on mosey to the area in front of Zoes Kitchen >> Intermission WO.

Evidently my watch is running slow……boot campers were at the COT waiting on us. Double timed it back to COT.

GREAT job by all!! The ruck WOs I’ve been to are intense and challenging. I did not know if I could maintain those high standards on my ruck VQ. I hope I did. I thank those who have taught me along the way.

> See DaVinci’s BB for Announcements, Prayers, Praises.

NMM:

Theme of this dwindling month is Freedom. Something that is the very fabric of this nation. It also affects the paths of our lives. Sky Q has a plan for all of us. Sometimes he puts forth challenges to see if we can maintain our path. Our personal moral values, along with our Faith in Him, are our compass. It is our decisions that prints our evolving map.

I told the PAX a story about something that very recently happened to a friend of mine who now lives in Pittsburgh. In summary : my friend was involved in a road rage incident with an off-duty cop that had a bad attitude who had no issues with using his badge to his personal advantage (the cop’s badge and gun were the accessories he made sure my friend clearly saw). The cop was clearly the main aggressor who escalated it to near headline news violence. Nothing happened to my friend (thank God). Even though the cop pushed it, my friend did not back down but did not further escalate. The cop knew he was wrong, and there were witnesses in the cars all around realizing something is amiss.  The cop fled before anyone could follow or get a plate number.

It could have VERY easily ended differently, and I’d be up in PA for a funeral now. But what set that chain of event in motion? There was an initial disagreement between the two. My friend decided to further antagonize…..even though he knew the person behind him was getting more and more angry. He could have let it go, and most likely things would not have escalated. Yes, the cop was clearly the aggressor, but what was the first push? What set that chain of event along its irreversible path?

I myself had a scary road rage incident happen to me once. In my truck rolling down the road here in the Charlotte area, all is good. Someone behind me was not happy with my speed, tailgating me, honking his horn, waiving his hands as I see in my mirror. I pull over to the next lane. No big deal. He zips by, gives me a nasty look, the one finger salute, curses at me, then zips on. I got pissed. I sped up, got along side, and returned the gestures. He looks st me and pulls a gun up clearly visible at me. I nailed the brakes and he went on. I pulled over angry and shaken, but not at the other driver. At myself.
Why?

My two boys were in the back seat. My heart sank.

I could have let it go. I did not. I pushed it. Yes, the arsehole pushed too, and escalated it. But….

I can control myself. I could have let it go and diffused the situation early. I chose not to.
I cannot control others. I chose to ASSUME nothing bad could happen, that the other person I cannot control would react in a relatively civil manner. They did not.

We cannot totally control or influence how others may affect the path we are on, the actions that they take. But we can control what we do that could put forth a chain of events that we do not want. Freedom of choice is a very powerful thing, and one that cannot be taken lightly. We have freedom of choice, but we do not always have freedom of consequence.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead. God bless.
– NASA

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DaVinci Cones Redux

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Full disclosure: 6 of the Pax listed above were ruckers and their workout was led by NASA.

Today was the first time I’ve Q’d in a long time. I was a bit nervous, but have worked out all over this AO and sort of know the lay of the land. My Q Lane is more of the Set-It-And-Forget-It variety, and today was no different. With no further ado, here is:

The Thang

Long Mosey to parking lot in front of Old Navy. Circle up for some COP:

SSH, windmills —SLOW (you’re welcome, CSPAN), low slow squats, merkins, downward dog stretches, honeymooner, mountain climbers, peter parkers, freddys, LBCs

Mosey to the Valvoline for some hill work. Sevens or Jacob’s Ladder: merkins at bottom, bombjacks at the top

Mosey to the raised patio the the old Riverbleu only to find the ruckers using the spot, so it was off to Plan B. I had cones set up on the drive, one on either side of the fountain. Each cone listed 5 exercises and the required reps. Do the exercise, run a half lap to the next cone, do the exercise. And so forth until everyone had finished the circuit. Exercise were as follows:

Cone One:

  1. Slow Squats (20)
  2. Curb Dips (20)
  3. Mtn. Climbers (20 d.c.)
  4. Curb Derkins (20)
  5. CDD’s (20)

Cone Two:

  1. Imperial Wlkrs (20 d.c.)
  2. Jump Lunges (10/leg)
  3. Freddy Mercurys (20 d.c.)
  4. Flying Squirrels (10)
  5. Peter Parkers (10 d.c.)

Then we made our way to the Rivebleu raised patio for the following:

Divide up into groups of 3. First man runs the stairs, does 5 burpees, runs down the back stairs and back to the group while 2nd and 3rd man do squats. Then repeat with 2nd and 3rd man.

By this point, it was time to mosey back to COT for a couple minutes of ab lab. Freddys, Crunchy Frogs (demo and cadence from WitchHunt), LBCs.

Announcements:

Children’s Attention Home: Q or post to support these great kids who are victims of circumstance and are in need of positive male role models.

Delta signups have begun! Reach out to Wild Thing if you’re interested in joining a LKW team.

Prayers for pregnant Ms, for family struggling with addiction and recovery.

Moleskin

At COT,  I shared that today, 7/28/17 would have been my late father’s 75th birthday. In 2001, he died  of a massive heart attack at the age of 59. My father was a good man. A loving man and unfailing provider for our family. But he had personal struggles. He was an alcoholic. A workaholic. Never exercised. Attended church sporadically, especially during my years at home.

My dad didn’t have what I would consider close friends or a strong social network. He had a family, a career, a mortgage, two kids who stayed out of trouble. But he always struck me as lonely. Isolated. I daresay alcohol use was his way of self medicating: his way of trying to fill a hole and mask his feelings of isolation.

I am grateful to write here that I am not an alcoholic, although there was a time in my late 20s that I was definitely auditioning for the part. No one will ever accuse me of being a workaholic (though I do work hard). Though I may not eat the healthiest diet, I do post at workout consistently between 4 and 6 days a week.

But, perhaps most importantly to me, I have gained a strong network of men who support and encourage each other to become better.

My life is on a completely different trajectory.

I am not alone. I am not isolated. I am a grateful part of this community, and I thank each of you for being a part of my life.

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Theatre of Pain with Motley Crue

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Met him in Vegas in 2008.

THEATRE OF PAIN WITH MOTLEY CRUE 

Warmup – jog around soccer field alternating high knees, butt kickers, side shuffle to l/r then gorrilla walks to left then right.  Circled up for chicken wing side straddle hops and seal cross straddle hops in cadence.

The Thang – 4 songs with a tour of 6 stations on  soccer field in between each song.

Song 1 – Dr. Feelgood – 4 mins of body quats during music/lyrics to squat jumps during chorus.  Knee tuck slaps during guitar solo.

Round 1 – in corners and middle of soccer field, 10 reps each at 6 stations for plank jacks, wide grip merkins, squat jumps, ab box cutters, L/R reverse lunges, and ab superman pumps.  Bear Crawl and Lunges alternating to each station.  Mosey to parking lot for song.

Song 2 – Wild Side – 4 mins of side straddle hops during music/lyrics to bombjacks during chorus and slow burpees during guitar solo.

Round 2 –  in corners and middle of soccer field, 10 reps each at 6 stations for plank thrusts, diamond merkins, double squat jump, ab flutters, plyo lunges, superman jacks.  Bear crawl and lunges alternating to each station.  Mosey to parking lot for song.

Song 3 – Girls, Girls, Girls – in tribute to all M’s.  American hammer during music/lyrics to hello Dolly’s ( Free Bird was thinking about my wife during this ) during chorus, to windshield washers during guitar solo.

Round 3 – in corners and middle of soccer field, 10 reps each of 123 plank hops and regular hold merkins.  Mosey to parking lot for song.

Song 4 – Home Sweet  Home – the closer, plank to sphynx pose during music/lyrics to honeymooners during chorus and downward dog during guitar solo.  Springled in a few childs pose and arm huggers at end.

Announcements – 8/4 convergence.

Prayers for all parents/children travelling during this time, freedom from daily restraints/expectations, freedom from addition for my brother Michael,  peace for the souls of my friends Ken, John and Micheal in their passing.

 

 

 

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