Tag: Gekko

Dogs Pissing on Black Friday

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After a Q swap followed by a BEYOND takeover, YHC was due to actually Q at the Swamp in November. When the Black Friday slot came available, I jumped on the opportunity and started to put together some bad ideas. The problem was, each idea was only about a 5-10 minute circuit, not a full workout. I couldn’t seem to get a full workout put together.

So, I sent a message to ChaChing warning him up the forthcoming shi….er, Elvis Explosion, made a couple notes, and hoped for the best.

Friday morning rolled around, and more PAX showed up than Black Friday shoppers, which is unfortunate for the stores, since we only had 6 PAX, including 2 visitors from Bluffton (welcome Joker and Snowflake). It should also be noted that there is a Bluffton in SC, which came as news to YHC, who up to now was only familiar with the small Mennonite hamlet of the same name in western Ohio. Disclaimer disclaimed, and off we moseyed.

In order to change up from the norm, we ran past Chick-fil-A and out to 49 to head toward 160. We added in a stretch of high knees, butt kickers, turned the corner at 160 and did some toy soldiers, then the ever popular forward moving hillbilly squat walkers.

We rallied at the top of the hill by the bank for the first round: 11s. Squats at the top, burpees at the bottom, starting with 1 burpee at the bottom and 10 squats at the top. I wanted to end at the top of the hill, so we started by running down and doing the burpee, then went from there.

Once all PAX were done, we moseyed to the far entrance by Ulta, then cut in and headed straight for Kohl’s to honor the Site-Q’s request to stick it to the discount department store.

Next up, 3 rounds of:

30 second balls to the wall

20 tuck jumps (or jump tucks, since you jump before you tuck)

10 Mike Tysons (“sneaky hard,” according to a few PAX)

10 lateral squat leg raises, lovingly called “pissing dogs” by the heavy-laden backpackers gathering in a line waiting to go into Kohl’s

With that out of the way, short mosey to the red balls. Short and sweet: 5 donkey kicks at each ball with a bear crawl in between balls. Lots of modifying here, but good push by all.

Mosey up to Old Navy. Next up: burpee broad jumps down to the parking lot crossing between the shops. It was going to be the roundabout, but PAX agreed that those extra 15 feet were just too far.

Mosey the short way around the roundabout and back out to 49, down to McDonald’s, and back to COT for the last bit of fun. It had been a while, so we ended with the currently unnamed dips/crap cakes combo ala Jack Webb style (1 dip:4 crab cakes). This brought us to 0600 on the dot. It was noted that the heavy-laden backpackers gave up their spots in line at Kohl’s to end their wandering at 0558.

There were announcements and prayer requests, but I can’t remember them.

Thanks to ChaChing for the opportunity to lead and for putting up with my disorganized dumbness.

Jedi

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1

Cold Blooded at the Swamp

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So it was the coldest day of November (so far) but at least there was no rain.  A balmy 33 degrees to start the workout.  My goal was to keep the energy level high to keep the blood flowing!  Only 3 of the 15 men planned on rucking this morning, so I gave the disclaimer and the other 12 of us were off.

Mosey with a dynamic warmup to the Home Depot parking lot.

COP with IWs – Windmills – SSHs – MNCs – Mountain Climbers – CDDs – Plank Jacks – Merkins?

These days whatever keeps me moving is what I call.  I like to take Pushers guidance and change the count for each…which always gets the PAX talking! It’s almost impossible to get Jedi and Witch Hunt to stop chattering nowadays… which always adds a fun playful air to the warmup.

Enough of that stuff… moving on!  I like to find new routines in the Lexicon that we might not have done before.  I found these:

“The Dab”  (I was immediately asked why it’s called that…not idea just from the workout)

10 burpees in 1 minute

Run a quarter mile lap around the parking lot

Do this 4 times

It went pretty well…and it kept us warm unfortunately Half Shell “popped” his calf muscle… that’s not good for running! No man will be left behind so I tried to modify a little.  I’m sorry if it was not enough Half Shell…

Slow walk towards Target, but a bear crawl for good measure to keep everyone together for about 50 yards.

“Triple Check”

Teams of 3

1st PAX wall sit

2nd PAX Plank

3rd PAX run 50 yards and back.

Rotate through your team and complete this 3 times.

This took longer than expected so item #3 of the evolutions was left off and we moseyed back to COT.  With 2 minutes to spare more burpees were completed.

Namorama

Announcements & Prayers

An Honor to Lead,

Royale

 

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The Right Kind of Sacrifice

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14 men awoke to not so bright/wet conditions and converged in the gloom of the hallowed ground at The Swamp for a Beyond message from YHC.  Here’s what went down

Warmup:      20 SSH IC, 20 Imperial Walkers, 15 windmills (wonderfully executed), 10 Mtn Climbers.    Let’s mosey

The Thang:      Mosey to the alley behind Home Depot for a perfect location to perform the BLIMPS workout and grab some wall for 1-min wall-sits in between each as their active rest, allowing YHC to convey the message for today.  At each 1-min sit, YHC shared what has been on his heart about sacrifice.   This is defined as something that is a loss or something  you give up for the sake of a better cause.    Approximately 1-year ago, my wife and I were celebrating her completion of treatment for Breast Cancer.  Surgery, radiation, DNA testing, doctors, etc…pronounced her as Cancer Free and we returned to our routine.  Our faith had been a anchor throughout and continued to grow thru prayer and my F3 brothers and Journey group, yet I had one main question.  How did this trial change us and by us I mean, me and my role as a husband, father and leader of my home.  I realized how consumed I was with my martial arts training, races, Goruck events, etc..that I was actually not IN my home very much.  That which I thought was making me healthier, stronger and better for my family had me gone for large amounts of time from them.

Time for a sacrifice! I am going on year of stepping away from all those things that took me away from her and the kids to activities to do together and that were important to her!  She never once asked for this and struggled with me giving it up after so long but it’s been the best decision of my life.  God has changed my path for the better by sacrificing what I thought was important to what is truly important.

Sacrifice will lead you to make significant choices. But being a husband and father is a significant experience!

B  5 Burpees OYO, followed by 10 SSH IC
1-min wall sit
L 10 Lunges each leg OYO, followed by 10 SSH IC
1-min wall sit
I 15 Imperial Walkers IC, followed by 10 SSH IC
1-min wall sit
M 20 Merkins OYO, followed by 10 SSH IC
1-min wall sit
P 25 Plank Jacks, followed by 10 SSH IC
1-min wall sit
S 30 Squats, followed by 10 SSH IC

Mosey to the large parking lot for some 4-corners of Blimps!  Total of 6 laps around the parking lot stopping at each corner to perform the exercise.  First (1) lap: 5 burpees @ ea corner (2) lunges (3) 15 IW (4) 20 merkins (5) 25 plank jacks (6) 30 squats (stop at end of each full lap to wait on the 6 with planks; modified the M, P, & S

Return for COT and some last words:  Identify that thing in your life that you may be placing your identity in that may be causing you to miss the mark of your Concentrica Bullseye!

Good work, men.  It was an honor to lead you this morning.

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12

No Fear = No EnCOURAGEment

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22 boot campers (including 1 FNG) and 5 runners posted to THE Ballroom this week looking for some #Encouragement along the pothole-filled road of life.  YHC offered a full Disclaimer for the benefit of our FNG (T-claps to Barney Fife on the EH) tipped the cap to Sir Topham Hat, who passed the Q baton to YHC due to work travel.  The word of the month (Encouragement) served as the inspiration for today’s adventures in the gloom, so thanks also to Chicken Hawk for his continued wisdom with that program.

Encouragement:  root word = Courage

Courage (noun): strength in the face of fear

With this backdrop, the workout unfolded with the objective of getting pax in touch with their own sense of #Fear to illustrate the experience of #Courage and the need/ability/practice of exercising it and #Encouragement of their brothers.

The Thang

warm up run to the football field

COP — SSH, IWs, Hillbilly walkers, Bombjacks, merkins, burpees

Line up along sideline, 3/4 pace sprints — to near hash/back, then far hash/back, lastly far sideline/back

Circle up for the Main Event (Fear or Favorite)

Pax were asked to identify the exercise they most #Fear when they hear the Q say “The next exercise is ___________.”  They were also asked to imagine their #Favorite exercise they like to call when they are Q.  Then we launched into 30 mins of Pax-suggested/Q-chosen exercises.

Plank jacks (Fogerty), Gravedigger (Culture Club), Partner Carry (Bass-o-Matic), V-up Roll-up (Polaroid), Sprints (FNG!), Moroccan Night Clubs (Assassin), Jack Webb (Magnum), Squats (Strawberry), Burpees (Pinup), Merkin (Rebel), Knee Tar N’Dyae (Rebel), Tunnel of Love (Twister)

Mosey home

Final ab work — American Hammer, Flutter

COT

Moleskin

T-claps to the pax for the enthusiastic participation, mumblechatter and #Encouragement throughout.  Apologies to those pax whose exercise I missed and those who I mismatched in the list above.  I know we started with Fogerty catching much flak for a stuttering proclamation of “Plank Jacks” to get us rolling.  Bass-o-matic challenged himself and all the pax in the early going with the Partner Carry call-out.  Yes, YHC quickly claimed FNG/Half Dome as partner (purely for teamwork purposes, I can assure you…it had nothing to do with his svelte frame).  Pinup threw down the gauntlet, claiming Burpees as both his Fear and his Favorite (1500 in September seems to prove the point — well done!).  Strawberry (on only his 2nd post!) showed he knows the proper rhythm of a workout by calling for Squats immediately after Jack Webb (get this man into Q school ASAP!).  And Twister had his mic drop moment with Tunnel of Love to cap it all off.  Fun times throughout!

Welcome to FNG/Half Dome, who posted at the behest of Barney Fife (kudos to both)!

Finally, just a recap on the theme to reinforce the message.  YHC, in my prideful youth and throughout a very long stretch of adulthood, deluded myself that I was purely self-motivated, and no outside influence, inspiration or good words could make a difference to my spirit or performance.  While my M openly claimed her need for affirmation and #Encouragement, I laughed those things off, as though those who needed them were weak, meek and timid.  I also claimed to have few worries or fears throughout these periods.  A-ha!!!   There it is — the smoking gun.  Since #Courage can only exist in the midst of #Fear, I must’ve needed nor displayed any #Courage throughout these years.   And in the absence of feeling #Fear and gathering up #Courage, I had no recognition of the need or value of #Encouragement.  And, so it follows sadly, that in the absence of my personal experience of these, I fumbled and floundered in expressing #Encouragement to those around me who longed for it.  This shortcoming became a significant blind spot and weakness in leading others, including my family.  Yes, sad.  Yes, true.

While I still have plenty of room for growth in the area of #Encouragement of others, my ship turned around when I became more sensitized to my own fears, and I felt the power of #Encouragement from others, and I demonstrated the #Courage that was somewhat dormant inside me.  So, the lesson here — soften your heart, look yourself in the mirror, get in touch with your #Fear.  From that point, you may find immense personal growth opportunity and the ability to better relate and #Impact those around you through #Encouragement.

Thank you to Short Sale for the Q opportunity and to all the pax for making the experience real!

 

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Running away from hills towards hills

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Thursday morning we ran. It’s been awhile since I’ve been to Tempo so I asked Gekko what’s been going on recently so I could do something a little different. This is what we did.

  • We ran away from the hills of Tega Cay Only to find more hills (Hubert Graham and Dave Gibson)
  • Exit Trailhead towards 160
  • Right at Hubert Graham
  • Go straight at the round about into Walmart Parking Lot
  • Run around the back of Walmart
  • Cross Dam Road and Run the back entrance to Gold Hill Middle School
  • Run out the front up Dave Gibson Hill 🙂
  • Left at 160
  • Left at Stonecrest Blvd
  • Right at Hubert Graham (another hill)
  • Left Gold Hill
  • Return to Trailhead Park

Total Miles: 4.7

Several Prayers for healing, comfort, families and marriages. Always an honor to lead. Thanks Gekko.

Zima Out

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Chalk up the Pain

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29 Men descended on the Colosseum for a downpainment delivered via sidewalk chalk and a discussion on You vs. You.

There are enemies around all of the time and as men we are challenged to defeat those enemies one by one. Often overlooked is the enemy of one’s true self. This may be the most challenging enemy in our effort to become a better man.

In fighting with our enemies, we often look at overcoming the battles and winning the war. For example, to overcome alcohol addiction there is a 12 step process. This works because no one can overcome the war of addiction in one step. It takes winning individual battles…or steps.

To become a better man as we are called to do in Ephesians 5, it is much the same strategy. Get a little better as part of a journey to ultimately be the man that you want to be. It doesn’t happen overnight. There is no cold turkey quitting that offers long term benefit. It is baby steps, one at a time, with an understanding that the enemy is always out there. These enemies are called pride, selfishness and greed to name a few.

The Thang

Mosey to parking lot (Lots of mumble chatter here…love it!)

Stop along the way for 5 Burpees…quieted some of the chatter

COP

30 SSHs

5 Burpees

15 IWs

4 Burpees

10 Merkins

3 Burpees

10 Windmills

2 Burpees

15 Squats

1 Burpee

Mosey to back parking lot

9 Stations  each with a different exercise and sidewalk chalk

Do each exercise for 1 minute. Write down the number of times you completed

Station 1 – Burpees

Station 2 – Flutter kicks

Station 3 – Wide Arm Merkins

Station 4 – Bombjacks

Station 5 – American Hammers

Station 6 – Jumping Lunge

Station 7 – Donkey Kicks

Station 8 – Elbow Plank

Station 9 – Carolina Dry Docks

Rinse and repeat station asking that you do 1 additional rep per station

Mosey home

 

Moleskin

  • Convergence on July 4th at Pantheon
  • Upcoming Sweati on 7/14
  • CnW discussing your One Word on 6/29
  • Tclaps to Ginsu for living the mission of #218 with another FNG – Love Boat
  • Prayers for Bob the Builder, Father in Law, Deacon’s M

It was a pleasure to lead the Pax and all 3 Fs were accomplished with a visit to Crossroads led by Bonsai after. Thanks to Jekyll for the opportunity!

Pusher out!

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Less Planning = More Pain

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Somehow, it slipped YHC’s radar that today’s Golden Corral Q fell on him. Nevertheless, when this truth was brought to light 8 hours before launch, frantic efforts were made to plan SOMETHING. Six PAX joined YHC to learn what happens when little time is spent planning a beatdown. Here’s what we did…

Mosey 1½ times around the parking lot, including side shuffles, knees-to-chests, and toy soldiers before circling up in front of O’Reilly Auto Parts next to the bank. Following a quick warmup of the standards (SSH, windmill, low slow squats, and merkins), we moseyed around to the newly paved hill into the newly built apartment complex behind the Teeter.

The Thang

Beginning at the bottom of the hill, PAX will complete a certain number of burpees, run to the top of the hill, perform exercise on sheet taped to cone, run down the hill, more burpees, back up, etc. The breakdown of exercises:

  • 10 burpees at the bottom, 100 LBCs at the top
  • 9 burpees at the bottom, 90 squats at the top
  • 8 burpees at the bottom, 80 merkins at the top (crowd pleaser, this one)
  • 7 burpees at the bottom, 70 Freddie Mercuries at the top (double count)
  • 6 burpees at the bottom, 60 monkey humpers at the top
  • 5 burpees at the bottom, 50 pseudo planche merkins at the top
  • 4 burpees at the bottom, 40 dying cockroaches at the top (double count)
  • 3 burpees at the bottom, 30 hillbilly squat walkers at the top (single count)
  • 2 burpees at the bottom, 20 breakdancer merkins at the top (single count)
  • 1 burpee at the bottom, 10 v-sits at the top

38 Special didn’t get the memo on the descending number of burpees and proceeded to do 10 burpees each round until probably round 4 or 5. There’s always one who doesn’t get it, but good for him for doing the harder thing.

All PAX picked up the six and finished with a mosey to COT, arriving at exactly 0600. For being poorly planned, this turned into a perfectly timed workout.

Announcements:

  • PAINtheon Games, 13.June.2018, 0500
  • Hog and Coyote V, 16.June.2018, 0500 ruck, 0600 everybody else
  • Sweati, sometime in July, details generally lacking

Prayers and praises:

  • CAH – pray for the kids, the workers, the volunteers, and praises for the opportunities we’ve had to pour into them
  • Drummond and his family are handing two foster children over to their forever family this weekend. Prayers for the transition – the good parts, and the hard parts.
  • Per Drop Thrill, Donut Hole is being deployed again, so prayers for him and his family in the weeks/months ahead. (I never thought I’d type a sentence starting with “Per Drop Thrill, Donut Hole…”)
  • Prayers for all the PAX who are injured and for those looking for jobs (or otherwise “funemployed,” as Homebrew called it).

An honor to lead, even if unexpectedly.

Jedi

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4

BEYOND at Sea Legs with Royale

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I was honored that Maximus would reach out to me to Q the roaming BEYOND workout.  On a Tuesday choices were Golden Corral or Sea Legs for me, and with my new change in work schedule I needed the closest option, so our traditional running AO transformed into an ultra tough bootcamp for the day.  When I arrived the site Q Hauschka was there and let me know everyone was going to be doing the bootcamp…no runners today!

I’ve Q’d plenty, but this one left me with a pretty sleepless night.  Was my message going to be good enough?  I can make the workout as hard as I want?  I’ve been to several of the BEYOND workouts and the PAX before me have really done it justice.  Those men shared real stories and showed their vulnerability to others.  I needed to live up to that standard.  After the disclaimer I asked this question.

“What is the ONE thing you could alter in your life today that would make it better?”

The Thang

Started with a quick warmup lap around the parking lot with a short COP

-25 SSHs -15 Squats – 10 Merkins – 15 Mountain Climbers – 10 Diamond Merkins

Partner Up

1st partner was going to run over to the jungle gym for 10 pull-ups

2nd partner stays back and does jump lunges until you flip flop with partner 1

Get to 100 pulls ups each. (10 rotations)  This was a real crowd pleaser after the Memorial Day Murph yesterday…

We finished and from plank, I shared my “One Thing” – and that was my love of alcohol. It’s in my genes to want it…my father and most of his genealogy have been alcoholics, and I watched it destroy his productive life for decades.  It has a pull on me that I do not feel normal people get.  I have to make a conscious effort to maintain control when I drink or bad things happen.  It’s pervasive in my life – social events, my wife and I enjoy together, work events, Saturday nights when I don’t have to post Sunday – and I like all of those things!

We talked about the Jester, my favorite Q source read.  We talked about who he is, what he tries to do, and how he pulls you away from the proper path in your life.  I hope more will read of him here.  https://f3nation.com/2018/02/11/jester-q1-4/

Next phase mosey to the hill

7s on the hill

I learned a new exercise at the Memorial Day convergence in SouthPark from our Area 51 brothers.  The “True American” – 6 count exercise which is a hand release push up followed by a plank jack.

6 Trues Americans at top of hill

Run down

1 burpee – you know the rest!

As I crawled up the hill for the last round I was gassed.  I had one phase to go.

Wall sits

The PAX on the ends will bear crawl out to the road – complete 5 merkins – bear crawl back.  Continue down the middle until all PAX have bear crawled.

Mosey back to COT for 3 minutes of Mary

-Freddies – Flutters – LBCs

Closed my discussion with Hope: I know where I would be today, 3 more years down that path to failure…if it wasn’t for F3, my brothers in arms, and my PAX relationships that help me, guide me, point me on the right path in accountability and by who these men are.  I look up to all of you and have learned something from EACH of you! Continue to be my role models for success!

An honor to Lead…

-Royale

 

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47

Round and Round at Beyond

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Sweatbox of a Monday. I was honored to be given the opportunity to Q a BEYOND workout.  BEYOND, the brainchild of Maximus acting on the very definition of reverse flow incubator.  See a problem/opportunity- create the solution.  Maximus so a need to push the men of The Fort not just physically but mentally as well.  Typically a bit of a deeper dive into what’s going on in a man’s life.

Theme of Concentrica was revealed to me through #collisionlearning only about a week prior.  I chose TCES as its a fountain of unlimited and varied painstations.  8 men answered the bell and after a disclaimer we went.

COP

More a of dymanic warmup with #Usualsuspects at either end of a short 70% run distance.  Although squatjacks and Imperial Squat Walkers created a voluminous amount of mumblechatter.  #crowdpleaser

Mosey to back parking lot.  Discussed Concentrica which is the conception of relationships, how they tie together and ordering them from most important relationship in the center moving outward to the “relatively” less important.  In order you have:

  • Center: M
  • 2nd ring: 2.0s
  • 3rd ring: Shield lock/brothers/horizontal friendships
  • 4th ring: Whetstone- mentor, mentee
  • 5th ring: Mammon (Work)

The THANG: Do exercise run a lap.  Simple enough

  • 5 Merkins/lap
  • 10: Squat/Lap
  • 15 Bombjacks/Lap
  • 20 Burpees/Lap
  • 25 LBC/Lap

We started with 5 laps and 5 merkins at each lap but I called audible.  STH and Gekko kept me honest up front, Double D, Rad, & Mr. Clean kept us moving and Pick 6/CB kept us motivated driving forward and never quitting

Naked Man Moleskin

Men- the concentrica model has been an incredible tool and roadmap for me.  I shared however that as someone who possesses an abundance of self awareness, I often know WHAT to do.  My problem is DOING it.  I’ll be successful in keeping the rings in good priority for a while, then slowly over time, I will revert back to an innately selfish being.  Before long, I have put work in the center, and yes even altruistic endeavors like F3 and Scouts in the center moving my M further out.  When conversations shorten, or happen less frequently, you risk the headspace of the most important relationship telling you they “don’t feel loved”, “don’t feel heard”, “don’t feel like a priority”.  This is the is RED ZONE men that you must pull the nose up immediately.  None of your relationships can truly flourish with out having the M in the Center. (Sky Q is inherent).  Remember that if we are pouring in to the M, have our alignment correct, she is much more likely to give you grace and latitude during your “peak work” times than when every work time is “peak”.

Go BEYOND and be the man at home that you are at the workouts and in the community.

Aye!

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14

Bucket-o-Pain – New and Improved With More Awfulness!!!

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9 bootcampers and 7 ruckers landed at Golden Corral for a buffet of painful options.  Drummond brought an FNG (later named “Manifold”) to partake in the meal.  Don’t know about any of the other bootcampers, but YHC was thankful not to be part of the rucking group when Rad rolled the giant tractor tire out of the back of his truck. No bueno.

5:15 arrived, and after a disclaimer was offered, the bootcampers took off for a mosey around Rite-Aid, down to the auto-repair place, and back to the front of Harris Teeter.  Stops were made along the way for various warm up exercises, including:

  • SSH
  • Imperial Walkers
  • Mountain Climbers
  • Sumo Squats
  • Peter Parkers
  • Dips
  • Windmills

38 Special came in hot, and caught up with us after our second stop on the warm-up run.

The Thang

At the stopping point in front of HT was the bucket of pain.  But this time the instructions were different than previous BoP appearances.  Here’s how it went:

  1. First exercise was drawn from the bucket.  Pax did 5 reps.
  2. Second exercise was drawn.  Pax did 10 reps of it, then repeated the 5 reps of the first exercise
  3. Third exercise was drawn.  Pax did 15 reps of it, then 10 of the second exercise, then 5 of the first.

Routine continued until 5 exercises were drawn (which had 25 reps).  Once completed, pax took a run around the entire front parking lot of the shopping center.  We had time to do this twice.  Here were the exercises.

  1. Round 1:
    1. 5 merkins
    2. 10 burpees
    3. 15 squat jacks
    4. 20 POGO (10 each leg)
    5. 25 plank punches
  2. Round 2:
    1. 5 jumping lunges
    2. 10 low, slow squats
    3. 15 moroccan night clubs
    4. 20 flying squirrels
    5. 25 Crab Cakes

After our second round (and run around the parking lot) we had time for a few minutes of Mary:

  • Flutters
  • LBCs
  • Chopsticks
  • Alphabet Soup
  • American Hammer

Time was up, and we headed back to COT.

Excellent work by all men.  T-Claps to Mainfold for his first post, and to 38 Special for his second post (in as many days). Thanks to Decibel for the privilege of Q’ing.

 

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