Tag: Funhouse

WHETSTONE…Relaunches at THE FORT

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Several weeks ago, it was announced that our region, THE FORT, would be closing all Saturday AO’s and holding a convergence at FMHS to get the PAX together as we thank Rebel for his leadership of Whetstone and relaunch it under Repeat and World Wide Leader (WWL). I was excited to hear we’d be getting many of the region together but I wasn’t expecting what came next. It was a text asking if I’d Q the workout.

Q, like part of it, half of it or …? The response was, THE WHOLE THING. I love to Q every chance I get but to do so on a day like this, well, I better make sure it includes a little something for everyone. Or, almost everyone.

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And this is where I let life get the better of me. I try to follow the 48hr rule on posting a BACKBLAST, especially when they’re significant but I let life and travel get in the way. It is now Saturday, one week later, and I’m just finishing this BB. Life can get challenging, it can get stressful, it can get you riding the highs or down in the lows. And this past week, our family has experienced some of each. Maybe this was the week where I really came to realize how valuable having a Whetstone partner can be. Someone that I can share the highs with and someone to help get me out of the lows; or to keep me honest when it’s my own doing that has me on the outside looking in on the joys of life.

That said, I’ll take you back to last Saturday, April 21 where we had a a few pre-ruckers and a total of 58 PAX converge to re-kick off this critical program.

We got ourselves into an odd-shaped kidney-like shape for the disclaimer, the announcement of why we were there this beautiful morning and to acknowledge our 2 FNG’s in the PAX. We counted off in 4’s then took off toward the big parking lot for a warm up jog in 4 lines. This jog included some karaoke’s and 4 lines doing an indian run which was way harder than it appeared on paper.

In these last 2 years, Whetstone has brought together some extremely HIM. One of those men has gone through a tough 18mos and he was gracious enough to share some of his story to include the impact Whetstone had on his life as we circled up to hear his words. I know he wouldn’t endorse this comment but anytime Mr. Clean wants to share experience or wisdom, the PAX listens. And listen we did.

After backing the group back out to a circle-like shape, I was giddy to honor Santini in the only way I knew how…with a deck of cards. However, on this day we utilized 1/2 the deck and considered it our warm up:

Hearts = Side Straddle Hops

Diamonds = Carolina Dry Docks

Spades = Squats

Clubs = Merkins

Then a little action from the Burp-Merk: Standing, we then dropped to a plank, did 5 merkins then jumped up. That equals 1 and we did 5 total.

This was when we got to listen to our very own Nantaan, Cake Boss, as he shared the impact Whetstone has had on him. Yet again, another powerful testimony.

Then off to do 4 corners in the lot with:

Corner 1 = Dancing Crabs x 15ea and Dips x 20

Corner 2 = Dying Cockroach x 15ea and Flutters x 20ea

Corner 3 = Burpees x 10 and Jump Squats x 10

Corner 4 = American Hammers x 25 and Freddie Mercury x 20ea

Mosey over to the wall for B2W while doing 5 “push ups” followed by 15 calf raises. We did this 3 times.

To close out our testimonies, my man Chicken Hawk laid it down for us. He shared the impact Whetstone has had on him, his marriage, his family…his life. Life isn’t meant to be traveled alone. Well said brother.

6ct Burpee which I needed a little help from the Helmet of Darkness to remind me the steps. Remember the line, “If you can’t Q it, don’t do it?” Yeah, me too but I obviously didn’t follow that too closely here.

This is where the cat-herding became evident. The PAX exhibited patience with me as we attempted a modified DORA series consisting of:

50 Flying Squirrels, 50 Diamond Merkins and 50+ Flutters

We then took off for the main entrance to the football stadium and lined up in 4 lines facing down the hill. Once everyone readjusted, it was 15 American Hammers, 15 Flutters and 15 Hello Dollies. This was done several more times.

Well, that put a bow on the workout portion of this convergence and after the COT, FNG naming of RBG and Whiskers, we then handed it off to World Wide Leader and Repeat to lead the Whetstone discussion.

Announcements: The relaunch of Whetstone. Thanks to Rebel for getting this off the ground 2 years ago and to Repeat / World Wide Leader for taking the reigns.

Prayer Requests: Badger. Camp Care 5K. Jennings Palmer’s transplant. Olive’s 8K in memory of Sweet Tooth. Elmer.

Honored and appreciative of your patience.

Maximus

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Moderately Crabby

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Thanks to Smithers for allowing me to lead this morning.  23 HIMs started with the disclaimer and then took a little twist on the mosey down the hill to the back side of Lowes for the warm-up and beat down. Two lines formed up at the shovel flag and proceeded to Blacksnake all the way to the warm-up.  It was noted that surprisingly no one was injured bobbing and weaving while running in a line.

The Warm-Up was short and sweet to get the muscles ready and not tired.

  • Brisk 25 SSH
  • 25 Moroccan Night Club
  • 20 Imperial Walkers

The familiar Burpees that are often limited or lost at Slow Burn were tweaked slightly to provide a little 4×4 action!

Immediately following the 4x4s, we jumped right into a round Batwings.  All to a 4-count cadence:

  • 20 Forward Arm Circles
  • 20 Reverse Arm Circles
  • 20 Seal Claps
  • 20 Overhead Claps

After the shoulders were smoked, we met up along the wall of Lowes facing the side parking lot.  Everyone partnered up for some 123’s with a rotating exercise for the traveling partner. The partners completed their 100 Merkins, 200 LBC’s and 300 Squats while crossing the parking lot performing either Bear Crawls, Crab Walks, Lunge Walks, or Toe-Walks.  The parking lot had 3 distinct rows of spaces along each PAX to determine the length of their crawls or walks.

Following the 123’s we circled up for a bit of core work; Abs and Back.  I thought it was important to incorporate the most often forgotten part of the core.  This is where the real “crabbing” started among the PAX.  All exercises done in cadence:

  • 20 Crab Cake
  • 20 Crunchy Frog
  • 20 Crab Humpers
  • 20 American Hammers
  • 20 Crab Jacks
  • 20 Big Boy Sit Ups
  • 20 Mountain Climbers
  • 15 Merkins done with several pauses at 6″

The PAX moseyed its way back up to the top at their own pace in preparation for COT

At COT, the origin stories for  a couple of PAX were shared so that we can all get to know one another a little better.

Great work from all the HIMs who pushed through some serious shoulder exercises and goofy crab work.

 

MOAB…out

 

 

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The Hive_Friday Leg Day for A$$kickin April

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A$$kickin April rolled into The Hive this Friday and it was a gorgeous day indeed.

Tesh was nowhere to be found and YHC got the call to the bullpen to Q, so I jumped at the opportunity.

  • Warm up
  • We did a bunch of Leg exercises with Kettle-bells and ended with 100 calf raises
  • Kettle-bell suicides between stations

During the workout it was like the two old Muppets in the balcony, listening to Spitz and Lugnut discuss the dark side of the moon. Not the Pink Floyd album but the actual moon and if its visible…..no idea where that was going or coming from.

  • Prayers for many dealing with health concerns
  • Prayers for kids going to prom this weekend
  • Prayers for Badger and all PAX going through tough times of life

Our worthiness is not what we should focus on when in need or struggling but rather the Love of God and his son. The fact that even in our mess, he gave it all for us….which proves we are WORTHY!

CB out!

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Diamond at the Deep

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I’m a little late posting this so I may be a little fuzzy on some of the descriptions, but here it goes…

We had 10 on a wet and somewhat rainy morning at The Deep.  It was good to see Cakeboss and Funhouse supporting Lake Wylie during their Ass Kickin’ April and we also had a couple of out-of-the-area guys Squirt and Ma Bell.  Ma Bell was 68 and was an inspiration to us all.

Speaking of inspiration, I took the family on vacation the week prior to this workout and needed a little last minute help to come up with some ideas.  Lucky for us all I stumbled across a Cha Ching backblast from the Abyss that looked pretty nasty so I’d like to give credit where it’s due.  I also don’t want to take full responsibility for all the suck we endured during this workout, there was a lot of it.

Warm-A-Rama

Even though its a PITA to load up a bunch of cinderblocks into your vehicle before the workout, it always makes it worth it when everyone sighs as soon as you open your trunk/tailgate.  So we all grabbed a cindy and carried it to our warm-up location.

No blocks required for the warm-up, but I went with random numbers of the below exercises (usually favoring more).  It keeps everyone guessing and is kinda like a guilty pleasure of mine because I usually do extra when people “think” I’m going to be done.

  • SSH
  • MNC
  • Windmill
  • Cotton/Cherry Picker
  • Low Slow Squat
  • Peter Parker
  • Parker Peter
  • Plank Jack

The Thang

We started with some Tabada’s.  Cha Ching recommended this great app called “Seconds” so I grabbed it and set it up the night prior.  I disappointingly couldn’t get the music to work, but I’ll fix that next time…

We had 1 minute to do the following x 5 sets with a small 12 second break between sets.  When all 5 sets were finished, there was a 20 second break and the next 5 sets started (12 seconds between sets)

1st Set

  • 50 Seal Jacks
  • 10 Merkins

2nd Set

  • 15 Merkins
  • 5 Burpees

I actually started thinking we would do 40 Seal Jacks and 10 Merkins, but the gang finished up with like 15 seconds to spare after the first set (and that was before the 12 second break between sets).  I couldn’t have that, so 50/10 for the next 4 sets…

So we ended up doing 240 Seal Jacks 25 Burpees, and 125 Merkins.  Ouch.

Now lets grabbed those blocks! We carried them a little further up the parking lot to the football field.  Sadly, the gate wasn’t opened.  I wasn’t about to have us all walk across the street to the other football field so I decided that we all needed to jump the fence.

1st exercise was “Bear and Block” which is exactly what it sounds like.  We all got in bear crawl position and kept the block between our feet.  We then pulled the block up to/past our head and bear crawled until the block was between our feet again.  Rinse and repeat until we covered the width of the football field.  I heard a lot of grumbles from the crowd so I was going to Omaha and have us throw the blocks back to the start point, but we were then worried about the damage to the field (rightfully so) so I Omaha’d the Omaha back to the original idea.  We were going to crawl back the way we came.  If there is a lesson learned here it’s that we shouldn’t complain.  I made everyone do 25 CDD’s when we got back to the start line.

2nd exercise, find a parter.  Partner A carries both cinderblocks the width (and back) of the football field while Partner B does squats, then vice-versa.

For the 3rd and what turned out to be final set of exercises, we played Catch Me If You Can with our partner.  We lined up so we were now traversing the length of the field instead of the width.

This is where my memory really starts to get fuzzy.  I started making this stuff up from here on out picking and doing whatever felt like it would be the worst at the time.  The numbers are lacking and I don’t remember all of the exercises, but hopefully I’ll pass enough along that you get the general idea.

I remember the 1st one.  Partner A did 20 LBC’s while Partner B NUR’d.  When Partner A finished he would chase down and tag his partner and then they would both do 50 more LBC’s together and then Broad Jump back to the finish line.  We then repeated this formula 5 more times (6 chase downs in all) mixing in ridiculous numbers of exercises and making our way back to the starting line in painful ways.

Here are the ways we made it back to the starting line:

  1. Wheelbarrow Walk
  2. Crawl Bear
  3. Crab Walk
  4. Lt. Dan
  5. Sprint
  6. Broad Jump

Some of the exercises that we did, either wile your Partner was NUR’ing or together included:

  • Squat Jumps
  • Lunges
  • Merkins
  • Diamond Merkins
  • CDD
  • American Hammers
  • Flutters
  • LBC’s
  • Burpees
  • Plank Jacks
  • and more…

Luckily time was running low and we couldn’t get to the next exercise.  Now we’ll never know how amazing Block Webbs would have felt after most of us could already not lift our arms past our shoulders.  We still had to get overcome the fence and make it back to CoT.  This time we decided to (poorly) build some steps with the cinderblocks to make it easier to get across.  It was pretty comical but we did it.

CoT

Consisted of the usually announcement, praises, and prayers.  I wish I could remember more, but as always, we continue to pray for others and put ourselves 3rd. F3 is an amazing thing, I am humbled to be a part of it and continue to pray that others will be led to it.

I apologize for less than stellar recollection of the workout and CoT.  I’ll do a better job of jotting it down somewhere post workout.  Some said it was the toughest workout they had in years, some couldn’t post on Monday because of how badly they still hurt, but there is no arguing we all got stronger and better on this day.

Until next time…

Flux

 

 

 

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No Saggy Middles @ The Ranch

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PAX: Wegmans, Cable Guy, Senator Tressel, Decibel, Jiffy, Geronimo, Funhouse, Cake Boss

16 PAX showed up to The Ranch on a relatively chilly morning. 7 joined Dark Helmet for a BEYOND workout… the remaining fools joined me (Sasquatch) for a lesson on core… and it was hard. -Hardcore- It is in my nature to look around and see how people move, and oftentimes, it’s sloppy- too many SAGGY MIDDLES or rears to the sky. Focus was to perform several of the exercises we do day-to-day at bootcamps (i.e. peter parker, plank jacks, etc *see below) and to do them with GOOD FORM. Maintain a flat lower back that is aligned with your upper spine and buttocks. Think about pulling your navel up in towards your spine. Any plank-type exercises (including Merkins) should be performed with your hands aligned directly below your shoulders for optimal stability… any other position will compromise the shoulder joints and take away from CORE strengthening. No SAGGY MIDDLES!

The Thang

Front Plank during long disclaimer

Dynamic Warm-up on the Field
Knees to chest / High knees
Heel to butt / Butt kickers
side shuffle / side shuffle other way
Inch worm / bear crawl

Mosey to Playground Parking Lot

Circle-up
Imperial Squats
Static Lunge with Moroccan Night Club
upward dog/downward dog
Mountain climbers
Peter Parker
Parker Peter
Elbow Plank Jacks

Mosey to Playground and Partner-up
Sit-ups holding feet x20 and switch
Toes to bar x10 (Partner 1) and supermans x10 (Partner 2) then switch
REPEAT x3

Mosey to front of school
Bench Jumps x10 (Partner 1) and Curb Burpees x5 (Partner 2) switch
Wheelbarrow ~30 yards and then switch
REPEAT x3

Mosey to COT and MARY

Announcement/Prayers
Honey Badger officially opens Monday at 5AM NAFO.
RPG on Fridays at 5AM Food Lion Parking Lot for some Broga and Run is a thing.
Prayers for family and friends suffering with cancer.
Attend CAH workouts, especially since new kids are showing up.
Still need volunteers for Strawberry festival booth.
Witbeck Golf Classic begins tomorrow but you have until April 22nd to sign up to join the league and play round 1. Message Wegmans on the Twitter machine for more information.

Thank you, Jiffy, for the opportunity to Q at the Ranch. Thank you, Dark Helmet, for not stealing my thunder and having everyone go BEYOND. Good lesson from him. Check out his Backblast when you get a chance.

–

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4

Man in the Arena

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Perfect gloom conditions.  15 studs out for a beatdown.  Opened with Teddy Roosevelt’s Man in the Arena.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Warm up:

  • warm up 70%  sprints between each exercise
    • SSH, Squat, SSH, Merkin

The Thang:

  • 4 corners- run in between- (abt 30 yards) Rinse/Repeat x 5
    • 3 burpee
    • 4 bombjacks
    • 5 merkin
    • 6 squat
  • Ark Loader Series- 30 yards, Rinse/Repeat x 3
    • Bear Crawl down, 10 merkins
    • Lunge walk back, 10 squat
    • crab walk down, 10 LBC
    • Backward Bear Crawl back, 10 CDD
  • 6 minutes of Mary
    • flutter
    • rosalita
    • protractor
  • Sprint Series
    • 2 x 70%
    • 1 X 85%
    • 5  X 100%

COT

Naked Man Moleskin

Jedi and Straight Up were out front today, all morning.  No surpise here.  Lots of great mumblechatter as the men answered the call for a beatdown and were all in.

 

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Pantheon Tribute to Mr. Clean and His Bride

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Warmup:  Indian Run with High Knees, Lunges, Karaoke, Side Shuffle

The Thang:

Split Soccer Field – one side = plyometric exercises and other side weight exercises for 9 reps each side to celebrate 2018:

Station 1:  Side Straddle hops to summersault to Station 2:  Pullups on Fence,

Station 3:  Bombjacks to Lunge to Station 4:  30lb kettlebell swing,

Station 5:  Burpees to Crabwalk to Station 6:  50lb Ruck Press,

Station 7:  High Knees to Bear Crawl to Station 8:  20 lb Sandbag American Hammer,

Station 9:  Squat Jumps to 1/2 Suicide to Station 10:  40lb Sandbag Slam,

Station 11:  Goofballs to Bear Crawl to Station 12:  20lb Ruck Upright Rows,

Station 13:  Roll Merkin to Gorilla Walkers to Station 14:  10lb KettleBell Mace

Men rotated to parking lot run when done to circle of power for superman pumps to merkins in Jack Webb Fashion.

Rinse and repeat.

Prayers:  For Mr. Cleans Family and his Bride Cindy for strenght and wisdom as they celebrate her life.  For Lutefisks mother to be cured of cancer.

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Fartlek – Training to train

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6 PAX started Thursday with the 5am start to Laces Out.  Warnings were given via Twitter that running in circles was in order.  The Fartlek was researched and memorized. Here we go:

Warm up with 2 laps and some dynamic stuff (SSH, WindMills, etc)

1 minute @ 5k pace, 1 minute Recovery

2 minutes @ 10k pace, 2 minutes Recovery

3 minutes @ 1/2 marathon pace, 3 minutes Recovery

2 minutes @ 10k pace, 2 minutes Recovery

1 minute @ 5k pace, 1 minute Recovery

2 minutes @ 10k pace, 2 minutes Recovery

3 minutes @ 1/2 marathon pace, 3 minutes Recovery

2 minutes @ 10k pace, 2 minutes Recovery

1 minute @ 5k pace, 1 minute Recovery

Cool Down on field and stretches

COT with Laces In

Some of us got almost 4 miles, the over achievers close to 5.  This workout was to put your body through different stresses and different recoveries.  Just like life.  We go through different lengths of struggles and sometimes we have to recover quickly before the next one pops up.  We had to help each other to continue pushing through each leg, same goes for real life with F3.  To have such a great group of guys that have my 6, I am a blessed man.

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If in Tega Cay you utilize hills and RUN

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YHC took the message from Maxims at Tuesday’s Beyond WO to heart. We all find reasons to not push through difficult times; if thats a workout, raising kids, marriage, we tend to find a reason to give up or divert what really needs to be done. Your mind will convince you to stop or divert, but your body can go beyond what you think you can’t do. This resonated with me as I feel that I have been finding excuses for not being a better man, father and husband. What better way to start changing my mentality by locking shields with my F3 brothers and as the TV show Survivor states “expect the unexpected”. This starts with something that YHC needs to do more of to get better – RUNNING (and yes no Pull-ups today – shocker)

The Thang:

Nice mossy warm up run around the entire TCES

COP at front doors for 15 Windmills, squats, Moroccan nightclubs, IW, LBCs, merkins.

Line up at crosswalk for suicides:

Round 1: to first drop off sign then to second drop off sign (didn’t realize how long a run that was) then 5 merkins at end

Round 2: to end of sidewalk, to first drop off sign, to fire hydrant, then 10 merkins

Round 3 rinse and repeat round 2 but run backwards out and then forward back in, then 10 merkins

Round 4: rinse and repeat round 2 but run backwards both directions, then 10 merkins

Round 5: rinse and repeat round 1

Mossy to intersection near baseball field and circle up for:

Flutters, Bridge (raising each leg for 5 seconds each), LBCs

Mossy to intersection of Tega Cay Drive and Hubert Graham Way

Run to bottom of hill (about 0.25 miles down) and do 10 squats, run back up to intersection and 5 merkins – Rinse and Repeat for 3 times

Mossy back to school intersection at baseball field and circle up for another round of bridges and hammy stretches

Suicides for 2 rounds to fire hydrant and first drop off sign

3 minutes of Mary called out by each PAX

COT

Now, can we all fight through difficulties and go Beyond what we think we can’t do? I sure hope that I can embrace Maximus words everyday and push beyond my boundaries in all aspects of life. Funny, as I write this backblast I recall something I said when I co-hosted the the Fort invergence this past fall I challenged each PAX to do something new and different….here it is and what a great challenge! Go Beyond my mental abilities.

Prayers to our good pal Mr. Clean as he and his family go through the loss of a loved one and allow them to see love, faith, and the LORD. Prayers to YHC friend Sherry who is in ICU recovering from intestinal surgery. Always a honor to Q, thanks Fishsticks!

Trucker

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BB – Tempo – 12/28

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See BB for runs do exist.

7 showed for a fun filled morning of running.

Originally had two routes planned a 7min group and an over 8 minute group.  As the cold hit us I think we all agreed lets just do the over 8 group.

So we knocked out 5 on a hilly cold windjammer, but hey as Nasa says, the view of the lake at the end was all worth it.

Came back and circled up and talked about all the great things coming, aka read your newsletter.

Prayers:

Traveling Families

Mr. Clean

Injured PAX

 

As always great time and thanks for the chance to lead!

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