20-18s Word of the Year at The Tomahawk

Backblast is late, but the words needed to be shared. The PAX brought forth their words for 2018 throughout the workout and shared why they picked it, and we are all there for encouragement. Continue to ask your brothers what their word is and how they are progressing. Lend an ear, hand, and offer encouragement as we will all have set backs.

We did a mosey around the school for a warmup with a COP halfway through. Once back to the parking lot we got to work with 20 reps on the right side pillars focusing on upper body and 18 on the left pillars focusing on the lower. We started on the outside and worked our way towards the center. At the center few we closed out with abs.

Thanks for the opportunity to Q Polaroid.

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Beyond #2…Honoring our officers

Round 2 at Beyond, this time at The Coop. The original plan was to talk about “Fear” but 36hrs ago, 4 of our local law enforcement officers in York County were involved in an incident that has our community praying for their healing and their families. I found it only appropriate to bring our attention as a PAX, for a mere 45mins, to these men and what they’re fighting for at this moment. We should also be praying for the rest of the law enforcement community as well as our first responders, nurses and doctors who are doing everything they can for them and our community. I am given the opportunity to roll my eyes at a radar trap because of what community servants like these 4 men do on a daily basis and the families that send them out the door every single day. That said, I’ll try to cease my misguided eye-rolling.

This is not the place to put the officers names but we all know who they are. I read the names of the men this morning and asked everyone to keep one of those names in their mind as they’re going through our workout this morning. I will however, include their years of service to York County in their current capacity: 34yrs, 13yrs, 12yrs, 3 yrs. So there you have our topic for round 2 of Beyond; 4 officers with a combined 62yrs of service SO FAR in their current roles.

Warm up jog leading us around the lot and over to the intersection with the ROTC building.

When you see 31, know that it was in cadence for a total of 62

SSH x 31 in cadence

Carolina Dry Docks x 31

Squats x 62

Merkins x 20 which was followed by a 4-tier sprint then followed by the remaining 11 Merkins

Make our way to the pull-up bars for some partner work:

Partner 1: 62 Pull-Ups (use assistance as needed)   Partner 2: Elbow Plank

Partner 1: V-ups (toe-touches) x 31    Partner 2: Mak Tar Jah’s x 31

Bear crawl 62 paces and grab some curb for 62 calf raises

62 Jump Squats and 31 Jumping Lunges (crowd pleaser)

Bear crawl 62 paces

American Hammers x 31

Dying Cockroach x 31 (might’ve included a breather in there)

The pull-ups were definitely the highlight but it was awesome to see guys of all conditions pushing through those, not matter if they had a busted paw or not (Bolt). It is extremely humbling and honoring to have another 8 guys join me as we push ourselves and work out some of these new-AO wrinkles. Please, above all, pray for those 4 men and thank our servants when you see them.

If you’re still reading, thank you. You’ll now learn that Cha Ching will be bringing his A-game to his Beyond Q next Thursday, 1/25 at the Poopdeck in Lake Wyle. If his Q today was any indication, bring your big-boy pants.

As you were.

Maximus

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Beyond #1…What’s at your CORE?

Beyond can be defined as “Outside the understanding, limits, or reach of.” That is what this thing is all about; recognizing that a push beyond, in all many aspects of life, can be a really good thing. If you’re a killer runner, come do a Merkin and a Pull Up with us. If you’re strength nut, come do a few sprints and bear crawls with us. The reasoning for this is well documented now, dating back a few months to when Jekyll let me share about this at a Colosseum Q I had.

And yes, I am 8 days late in getting this BB written which is rather ironic. I will work to get these posted both by the Q’s and YHC in a more timely manner.

We started last Tuesday with the 1st round of Beyond and the theme was CORE. Besides the obvious, physical reference to the word, Core can be defined as, “A central and often foundational part usually distinct from the enveloping part by a difference in nature.” In other words, when the world strips away your exterior, what are you left with to truly guide you. To take this a step further, I let the PAX know that Beyond will challenge them to push past the limits they’ve previously established for themselves. This is aided by listening to a Podcast, “Team Never Quit” in which you listen to stories of people who’ve endured unbelievable challenges and have pushed through to find the redemptive outcome on the other side. It seems impossible when you’re in the thick of “it”, whatever “it” might be in your life, but God has a plan. Bad and difficult things happen, yes, but we try to find a glimmer of hope and positivity on the other side.

Enough rambling…I need to figure out a better way to capture the names for Beyond but for now, we’ll have to rely on my fuzzy memory. I know we had 15  which I think included the following, Bob the Builder, Geronimo, Band Camp, Straight Up, Fire Marshall Bill, Frat Boy, Longshanks, Jedi, Cha Ching, Ginsu, Trucker, Lutefisk, Bonsai, MacGuyver, YHC. My sincere apologies if I got a few of these wrong.

Once we separated from the Block Party PAX, we jogged through the park and made our way to the playground, which still sounds strange every time I write that. We did a few warm up exercises like SSH, Arm Circles, Sumo Squats and more SSH which was then followed by a little stretching and lot more of my talking (rambling). What I was trying to get to was that you can’t quit and if you need a little motivation to keep from quitting, look to the man to your left and right and realize they won’t let you quit and you don’t want to let them down. If it were just you out there, we’d quit a lot sooner. Remember, YOU’RE NEVER ALONE OUT THERE…SO DON’T QUIT.

100 American Hammers (we all thought about quitting on that one unless you’re Jedi/Geronimo

25 LBC

100 Flutters

30 Peter Parkers

50 Mountain Climbers

Partner 1: 50 Carolina Dry Docks   Partner 2: Pull Ups until your partner is done and flapjack

Partner 1: 15 Burpees   Partner 2: Pull Ups until your partner is done

Mosey to the Big Hill where found some cones forming a 15yd x 20yd rectangle on the hill.

Backward run up the hill, 5 Burpees at the top then run down. Repeat this 5 times.

Next we bear-crawled around the rectangle for 3mins which was awesome…

Mosey to the wall at the Springs building

Nothing fancy, just a mere 3mins of muscle ups…yup, it was turrible.

We talked about not quitting and trying to answer the question of whether or not you can change what is at your CORE. What is left when the world takes what you see, away? So that was it. I learned a lot in these 45mins and I hope we continue to see a good contingent of guys willing to push themselves.

As you were…

Maximus

 

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#218in18 Kick-off Convergence BackBlast

76 PAX (including 4 FNGs) met in the gloom at Harris Teeter this morning to kick the year off the right way.

Group 1 – Jedi

Start with 60 seconds of plank tutorial, then a fairly lame attempt to explain the exercise “routine” for the upper body station. The routine, to be done in increasing AMRAP style:
· Incline Merkins
· Low Country Crab Boil (One leg, one hand dips)
· 90° Turn clockwise
· Staggered/Uneven Break Dancer Merkins (Left hand on curb)
· Staggered/Uneven Carolina Dry Docks (Left hand on curb)
· 90° Turn clockwise
· Pseudo Planche Merkins
· Donkey Kicks
· 90° Turn clockwise
· Staggered/Uneven Break Dancer Merkins (Right hand on curb)
· Staggered/Uneven Carolina Dry Docks (Right hand on curb)
· 90° Turn to starting position

Start with 10 reps for each exercise, then add 2 reps each round after that (10, 12, 14, 16, …). Only the elite few made it past the round of 12.

Group 2 – Peabody

An absolute honor to lead a convergence and had so much fun working with all the guys. Here’s the fun of the cardio Q.

SPRINT Relays!!!  

3 team

60 Yard sprint

Team members are doing Seal Jacks, side straddle hops, or flutters while teammate runs.

Winning team selects penalty exercise for 2 losing teams. (Unknown is losing team has to do the penalty exercise too but only half the reps).

Rinse and repeat the sprint relay races once teams are mixed up.

Mary to follow:

  • 50 LBCs
  • 25 Flutters
  • 10 Freddie Mercury’s

Lists of fun to hear the encouragement of other Pax and see the competition bring out the most in guys.  Saw lots of guys really push hard to win for their team.

Group 3 – Jekyll

Motley Crue and 80’s hairband soundtrack

  • COP: SSH, IW, Squat
  • 5 Burpee OYO, 4 OYO, 3 OYO
  • Lt Dan: squat and jumping , 1:4 ration
    • 1 squat: 4 jumping lunge, 2 squat: 8 Jumping lunge…10 squat: 40 jumping lunge
  • 5 burpee OYO
  • Calf Raises 25 each: Straight, Toes Out, Toes In
  • Donkey Kicks

COT

Welcome FNGs Iron City, Humps, Hillary, and Juliet

Prayers by CakeBoss for leadership.

– Ginsu

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Good In-vest-ment of time at the Coop

13 PAX with 2-3 pre-runners, 1 Ruck from Dark Helmet, and 1 bright green vest from YHC joined in this suddenly balmy 45F temps, after deep freeze past several days. Several PAX mentioned YHC’s vest (runner jokes), and was removed quickly for being too warm
Mosey in a big Loop around parking lot
COP in big parking lot
  • SSH
  • Windmill
  • Moroccan Night Club
  • 4-count Merkins
  • Mountain Climbers
  • Squats
  • Peter Parker
  • Parker Peter
  • 10 Count Honeymooner
Mosey to Concrete football field
Partner up
B.O.M.B (no S – that comes later)
Partner 1 – Exercise
Partner 2 – Run to 50 and Back
  • 50- Burpees
  • 100- Overhead Claps
  • 150- Merkins
  • 200- Big Boy Sit-ups
PAX griped and also encouraged each other through this. We made it through and got better
Mosey to Wall for the “S” (Wall “S”its)
  • PAX Wall-sit while 1 PAX down line in Wave:
    • Burpree
    • 2 Merkins
  • 30 Dips on Curb OYO
  • 30 Calf raises on Curb OYO
Mosey in a big Loop around parking lot
Mary
  • American Hammers
  • Flutter Kicks
  • Freddie Mercury
  • Dark Helmet’s Body Destroyer (aka just laid there for 10-count)
  • Protractor
  • LBCs
Birdcage needed .09miles on his Garmin, so we Mosey another lap back to COT
COT
  • Nomad – be thankful. We’re always thankful at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Lets be thankful for 2017, but also be thankful for 2018, and expectant for what is to come.
  • Praise / Prayer – Dark Helmet’s sister has come out, so hopeful for progress
  • Prayer – Squeaky’s daughter has mono and has to be home for 1month

Great AO, Great Pax. Great in-vest-ment of YNC’s time!

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The Hive 2018.01

Happy New Year!

It was sub-teens this morning and by the forcast, not supposed to get above freezing today.  Even though this weather is slightly ridiculous, 5 men still posted to the Hive to find something hard to do, and get it out of the way early.

Warmup
SSH x30, Burpee x10 OYO
Mosey to the band practice lot for some yard markers.
Tricep Extension x20, Burpee x10

The Thang
AMRAP for points: front raises = 1 point, 40 yd dash and back = 6 points
I was around 56 points on this one…  Apparently, no one else could add at this point, so I win by default?  I think Geronimo was in the 60s which means he needed to bring out his 50lb KB.  AMIRIGHT?!
Flutter x20, FredMerc x20, Burpee x10
AMRAP for points: bent rows = 1 point, 40 yd dash and back = 6 points
I was at 70 points on the nose on this one, and I was last.  Peabody, Airborne, and Geronimo had me beat.  Sugarbug refuses to count over 32 apparently.
Flutter x20, FredMerc x20, Burpee x10
Split into two groups 40 yards apart: Fireman Carries with 2x 40lb KBs relay style till each man has three 40 yd carries
Squat Hold x12, 40 yard dash
Steven Curry with holds for 20 yards, 80 yard dash to the endzone.

Mosey back to COT.
THE HIVE IS AT HARRIS TEETER CONVERGENCE ON 160 AND SUTTON/PLEASANT NEXT WEEK (12/12).  Joe Davis is tomorrow so WEP is closed.  Read your newsletter for announcements.

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New Year’s at #SwampMire

First off, I’ll let you in on a little secret that you may already know:
If I’m promoting something on Twitter (especially my Q), you should only believe about 60% of the content of the tweet. Problem is, you just don’t know which 60%, so my hope is you’ll show up to find out… That said, the Sodium Borohydride (NaBH4) tweet was ridiculous. If you didn’t see it, trust me, you didn’t miss anything much. In that same tweet, though, I mistakenly referred to Quagmire as The Swamp. Both workouts launch from the same parking lot, so I’d love to blame it on that, but it was IN THE TWEET I REPLIED TO. Meh…Details…

I did make a vague attempt to tie the chemistry to the “One Word” convergence coming up on the 12th. NaBH4 is used as a reducing agent for aldehydes and ketones, and one of the words I’m trying on right now for 2018 is “Reduce” or “Simplify”… I know… a long stretch and an obscure reference… you’ll live.
I was a Chemistry minor in Undergraduate… Despite Crash’s Dad failing me in Chem 102 my Sophomore year. But, that’s a long story, best shared on the road in a white van whilst running a 200 mile relay or something… What were we talking about…? Oh yeah… the workout…

We’ve all heard of Dora 1-2-3… No good to start a New Year, so, I modified it to a Dora “Oh-Why-Me?” Here’s how it went:

Warm up:
Mosey to larger traffic circle
Windmills x 10
IW x 10
Mosey to next traffic circle:
Weed Pullers x 10
Moroccan Nightclubs x 10
MC x 15
Mosey to front of Books-A-Million:
Parker Peters x 10
SSH x 15

Then on to the “Dora, oh why me?” – A Pyramid of hate

You and your partner:
Partner 1 runs (roughly 75 yards down, then back)
Partner 2 does the exercises:
100 Burpees
200 Jump Squats
300 Merkins
400 Flutters
300 CDD
200 Squats
100 Makthar N’Diayes
Mosey back to the flag for some Mary
COT
——————
NMM:
We didn’t make it all the way through the exercises. It was cold… Also, that was a lot of freaking exercises. QBert and Geronimo were the Kings of the day and they managed to get through most (actually, I think all?) of the squats. The rest of us petered out in Carolina Dry Dock Land… which is a lovely place… I think Jedi has a Summer home there…

Helmet, Out.

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Frozen: The Fort Version – Let It Go – 12/30/17

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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The Hive 2017.49

So… my personal computer fried a month or so ago, and I haven’t wanted to type all this on a phone keyboard.  So, I now have a real keyboard again, hence the backblast.  So below what went down.

3x3x3 – 3 sets of 3 rounds of 3 exercises… my favorite. aka a “one-niner”… cause it’s nine exercises total.

After the token SSH warmup…

Al Gore, Hillbilly walker, jump squat.
Russian Twist, Freddy Mercs, 6 in hold into a flutter.
Shatch, clean/squat/press, tricep ext.

Al gore, Al gore calf raises, 1L deadlift. till time (2 rounds)

And that’s the game.  I also rambled about my near death experience that got me out here.

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The Q, a Weinke, and an Audible

Dang, it was cold.  The PAX assembled, 2 were off running and the rest began the mosey.  We mosey’d to the access road to Springfield Middle School and completed some warm-ups consisting dynamic stretching, karaoke, accelerating sprints, COP.  We then assembled at the bottom of the drop off for an ab lab.  The plan was for 30 reps LBCs then run the loop, 25 reps each LBCs & American Hammers then run the loop (opted for flagpole as the loop was bigger than remembered – audible 1), 20 reps each LBCs, AH, Flutter Kicks then run the loop (opted this time for the tree line at the top of the adjacent grass hill).  As the ab exercises were all 4 count, we did enough.  There’s still enough time before beach season, but time was flying on this morning’s Q.  Audible 2 – found a wall for wall sits, balls to the wall, and sprints back to the top of the hill.  Off-weinke, the rest of the morning was impromptQ.  Mosey’d to the back of the school and split into two groups of 4 PAX.  Group 1 did partner wheel barrels up and down a flight of stairs, while group 2 did step ups and box jumps.  Mosey’d to back parking lot and completed burpee suicide.  A little stretching to regain composure and then mosey’d to a bus loop behind the elementary school for Dora 1-2-3 with 50 Merkins, 100 Carolina Dry Docks, and 150 Front/Back Alternating Lunges.  As time was dwindling, the decision was made (Audible 3) to abort Dora and begin the mosey back, culminating in dips and a jail break run back to COT to meet the runners.

Count-o-Rama, Name-o-Rama, Name the FNG (Glowstick), announcements, prayers/praises.  Pray for safe travels and patience with the kids still at home from school for the holiday break.

Moleskin: Today was a great workout.  Sometimes life (or a workout) doesn’t go as expected.  Being too rigid and inflexible may cause you to miss out on something great (albeit, unexpected).

Thanks for the opportunity to lead!

 

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