Tag: Grassy Knoll

Honoring Schmalstieg at The Fire Ant

Leave a comment

Taking a page out of the Honey Badger book by using a page out of the Hero Workout book. This day at the Fire Ant, we’d honor Gunnery Sergeant Justin Schmalstieg (December 15, 2010).

First, disclaimer.
Second, minor warmup.
Third, drop to the plank and listen:

Justin grew up in the Stanton Heights neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and graduated high school in 2000. He spent a semester at Penn State before enlisting in the Marine Corps, where he initially trained as a bulk fuel specialist. After serving overseas in Kuwait, Justin was stationed in Okinawa, Japan and was accepted into the Explosive Ordnance Disposal program. He finished the demanding training required to become an EOD technician and completed two deployments in the Middle East.

In 2008, Justin received orders to Camp Pendleton in California to serve with the 1st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group. He deployed twice more, first to Iraq in February 2009 and then to the Helmand province of Afghanistan in September 2010. During a night mission, Justin’s unit was in danger of being ambushed – it was his job to clear the way back to base. Staff Sergeant Justin Schmalstieg, 28, gave his life on December 15 while working to render safe an improvised explosive device. He is survived by his widow, Ann Schneider; his parents, John and Deborah Gilkey; and his brother, John Gilkey Jr. For his service and sacrifice, Justin was posthumously decorated with the Purple Heart and promoted to the rank of Gunnery Sergeant.

The EOD WArrior Foundation is dedicated to supporting EOD service members and their families through a number of assistance programs. Please consider making a donation in Justin’s name at www.EODWarriorFoundation.org/Memorial/Warrior/Justin-E-Schmalstieg.

So, the WOD would be slightly modified for our Ruck AO to the following:

For Time:
Run 800M Slick (without Ruck)

2 rounds of the following:
50 Burpees (slick)
40 Pull-Ups would be substituted with 80 Upright Rows
30 One-Legged Pistol Squats
20 Ruck Swings
10 Hand Stand Push Ups would be substituted with 10 Carolina Dry Docks & 10 Merkins

Run another 800M Slick (without Ruck)

Once we completed this, we did a few core exercises.

Until next time, SYITG.
Maximus

TClap |
2

Start Fast, Grow Steady, Finish Strong

Leave a comment

17 HIM descended upon the Swamp for a strong finish to the month of July.  YHC got a call from Duck Dynasty this week asking to step up and take the Q.  Upon arrival, YHC was greeted by a few early arriving #HIM and the remainder wandered in between 0507 and 0515 – well all but Olaf who came in hot and eventually caught up to us quickly at COP.

Disclaimers were announced and it was confirmed that no FNG’s were present today.

The theme of the workout, fittingly, was 7’s, 31’s and focusing on how we are finishing.  YHC laid out the theme and off we moseyed to the Home Depot Parking Lot for COP and the warm up – all exercises in cadence:

15 D/C Imperial Walkers, 5 burpees OYO, 15 hillbilly walkers, 5 burpees OYO, 10 low slow squats, holding the people’s chair we did 10 D/C Moroccan night clubs in cadence, held the chair for a Duck Dynasty 10-count and finished in the chair with 10 D/C shoulder taps in cadence.  5 more burpees OYO and then moved to 10 D/C seal jacks in cadence followed by 5 burpees OYO before moseying off to Target for the main event.

Main event – 7-31 – Start fast, finish strong.

Fittingly, July 31 required 7’s and 31’s on this relatively breezy morning.  PAX lined up to complete kracken burpees on one end of the parking lot, run roughly 50 yards and did lunges at the rate of 6 kracken burpees & 1 lunge, 5 & 2, 4 & 3, 3 & 4, 2 & 5 and 1 & 6.  After the 6 was in a short plank was called, after which we moseyed to the fountains for 15 D/C dips in cadence and then took on the 31’s to finish July strong.

31’s were a combination of merkins and squats – merkins on one end of the parking lot, followed by a run to the opposite end – roughly 200 (ish) yards and squats.  The sequence went as follows:

27 merkins, 4 squats

23 merkins, 8 squats

19 merkins, 12 squats

15 merkins, 16 squats

11 merkins, 20 squats

7 merkins, 24 squats

3 merkins, 28 squats

As the six came in all PAX, fittingly, got on their respective 6’s for 31 D/C (of course) flutters in cadence. A recover on our feet and a mosey to COT was called where PAX had just enough time for a 60 second protractor at varying degrees and a 30 second body destroyer put us right on 0600 and COT.

Announcements:

Sweati on 8-15 – launching from Colosseum (0530 for ruckers, 0600 for runners): Questions?  Get w/Backdraft.

Operation Stuff the Bus is a week from tomorrow, 8-8, starting at 0800: Bonsai is your Q.  Sign ups for 2 hour time slots are available.

Read Your Newsletter.

Prayers & praises were offered up both out loud and in the silence of our hearts.

NMM – The purpose of today’s workout was missional and aptly was held at the end of a calendar month – to start fast and finish strong.  In fulfilling our personal missions, it is imperative to answer the question “Are we intentional about how we finish or do we go through the motions and check the box?”  What would our M’s, 2.0’s and inner concentrica say if they were asked these questions about us?  Do we take the necessary steps to be thorough?  Do we take the extra minute or two in a conversation with a loved one to let them know we are present and available and not let our minds wander to the next task that lies ahead?   If you could look back at July, how purposeful was your month?  How did you “finish”?

Between 0500 and 0515 (or earlier to get EC) every weekday morning, we as PAX have the benefit of starting a workout with intentionality and purpose – completing that mission by 0600.  Do we take the same level of intentionality to our relationships, our families, our work?  How intentional is our time allocated and used?  We all get the same amount every day.  It is in finishing strong with that time that we make impact for the better and leave no doubt to those around us.  Start fast, and with purpose.  Finish strong to maximize your reach and impact.

YHC is grateful to Duck Dynasty for the opportunity to Q and to the PAX for encouraging the acceleration brought about by F3.

Start fast, grow steady, finish strong!

With Gratitude,

Cyclops

TClap |
7

Quagmire Burpecides

Leave a comment

YHC was laying the trashtalk thick for your Monday beatdown. 11 HIM regretably showed up at Quagmire.  4 left to ruck #scared

We ran the dark trail for a good bit before we got lost, turned back and went to HD parking lot for the warmorama including windmills x 6, pickle pointers x 15, hillbilly walkers x 10, plank, 6″ hold, plank, chillcut hold. Ran to the Target balls for the thang: burpecides.

PAX lined up at the line, run to ball 1 = 1 burpee.  Run back.
Run to ball 1 = 1 burpee, run to ball 2 = 2 burpees. Run back.
Run to ball 1 = 1 burpee, run to ball 2 = 2 burpees, run to ball 3 = 3 burpees.  Run back.
Repeato to ball 9.  That’s 165 burpees and 2.5 miles today.  Cha Ching and Olaf did with a ruck… wow.

TClap |
3

Sidewalk Shuffle

Leave a comment

Five men showed up for the workout this morning at Quagmire.  After the disclaimer, we moseyed to the front of Kohl’s.

COP

SSHs x 20

Imperial Walkers x 15

Windmills x 15

Moroccan Night Clubs x 15

Next, the main event:

Run to the first crosswalk; perform 10 merkins, 10 LBCs, and 10 squats; and run back to the starting point.  Run to the next crosswalk and rinse and repeat.  On the way back to the starting point, repeat merkins, LBCs, and squats at each crosswalk

Total crosswalks = 28 x sets of 10 = 280 merkins, LBCs, and squats.

We had enough time to lumber back to COT.

 

Great job everyone!

TClap |
2

Rust removal via building pyramids

Leave a comment

22 HIM descended upon Golden Corral, 6 of whom opted for the Fire Ant.  Prior to arrival YHC wrote out the exercises with sidewalk chalk around the grounds and was quickly reminded how rough the parking lot surfaces were around the grounds.  While it made for a few challenges to write things out, all was sketched legibly enough for the attending PAX to enjoy.   The fun was about to begin.

The boot campers ventured off with YHC around the A/O grounds.  Cabana Boy and Slow Jams were also present but YHC could not find them in the tags.  Cobains.   YHC was coming off a week of vacation and looked forward to getting back out with the PAX.  It was time to roll

Here’s what we did.

Mosey to Grace Presby parking lot for the warm up (just before the signs went up for voters).

Imperial and Hillbilly Walkers x 10 (D/C and I/C – Olaf  decided to make the exercise literal

5 burpees after each

Low slow squat x 10 holding into people’s chair after the 10th rep to do the following (all D/C and in cadence)  Morroccan night clubs x10, air press x 10 and shoulder tap x 10

Recover to standing position for 5 more burpees before 15 SSH D/C I/C and off to the Harris Teeter wall for:

Wall Sits while each PAX did 3 burpees.  Cha Ching had the best burpee form.  YHC did not.

Mosey to the back lot, into the fresh country air with accompanying humidity and the main event: Partner Pyramid Work – DORA style.

PAX paired off – 16 made for 8 teams of 2.  While Partner 1 started the pyramid, partner 2 ran to the opposite end of the lot, through the clean smelling aforementioned air, did an assigned exercise for each trip and returned to switch off, picking up exercises where the partner left off on the pyramid.

Run #1 & 5 – 10 burpees

Run #2 & 6 – 10 squats

Run #3 & 7 – 10 diamond merkins

Run #4 & 8 – 10 wide arm merkins

The pyramid was 10 lines total – 5 lines down and 5 lines back up

10 burpees

10 burpees and 20 squats

10 burpees, 20 squats and 30 merkins

10 burpees, 20 squats, 30 merkins and 40 flutters

10 burpees, 20 squats, 30 merkins, 40 flutters & 50 jump squats

50 jump squats, 40 flutters, 30 merkins, 20 squats & 10 burpees

40 flutters, 30 merkins, 20 squats & 10 burpees

30 merkins, 20 squats & 10 burpees

20 squats & 10 burpees

10 burpees

Work was done around a little mumble chatter (but just a little), PAX got better and finished just in time to mosey briskly to COT for a 1-minute geometry class.  A protractor ab exercise was completed for 60 seconds at varying degrees.  For some reason, 0 degrees was the preferred choice but we never quite got there.  At 0600, we called time and circled up for name o rama, announcements, prayers and praises

Announcements:

Convergence at WEP on 7-11

Classroom ready notebook fundraiser is in full swing and runs through the end of June.    Questions – reach out to Bonsai.

Praises were offered up and prayers were offered up for those battling addictions and for families as well.

NMM – In a time of crisis, all of us benefit from routines, disciplines and accountability – staying true to the values and standards that make us the leaders we are called to be – at home with our families, at our places of work and in our community.  In any crisis, a person can only rise to the level of their training.  As we work our way through this pandemic it is YHC’s hope for all PAX that they look around and know that no matter what they are going through, we all can use the unforeseen events of the past months as opportunity to enhance our resolve, encourage one another and to help one another accelerate in our development of all dimensions – physical, mental, professional, spiritual, the list goes on.

My thanks to Lutefisk for the call out and opportunity to Q.  It was good to get out in the gloom and accelerate with a great group of #HIM.  I’m thankful for all of you.

Honored,

Cyclops

TClap |
0

Webbs on Webbs on Webbs

Leave a comment

It felt so good to see my brothers on the west side. It has literally been too long. YHC was all smiles as the cars rolled up this morning.

Lately YHC has been reading a book titled The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, so I wanted to incorporate a little bit of that book into this workout. Would definitely recommend the book for a perspective shift on our pace of life. One way that I’ve seen a slower and more methodical application in work outs is the Jack Webb. So YHC had some fun creating terrible combinations of workouts based on experience and what other HIM have inflicted upon yours truly.

0500 hit and the disclaimer was disclaimed. The Ruckers went one way, and the boot campers went another.

Short mosey to COP location at an unhurried pace.

COP
Burpee SSH Webb
1:5, 2:10, 3:15, 4:20, 5:0
Short Yoga Flow

Mosey to new spot at an unhurried pace

Bear Jack Webbs
1:2 ratio
Bear Crawl 1 Spot, 2 Bomb Jacks
Bear Crawl 2 Spots, 4 Bomb Jacks
To 10:20

Mosey to new spot at an unhurried pace

OG Jack Webbs
Merkins:OH Claps 1:4 – 10:40

Mosey to shovel flag at an unhurried pace

Ass Webbs
Squats:Al Gore Pulses 1:4 – 10:40

Ab Ripper X
25 of Each
In & Outs
Bicycles (Forward)
Bicycles (Backward)
Crunchy Frog
Fifer Scissors
Heels to the Heavens
10 x 4-Count American Hammers

YHC was happy to lead. The men brought it this morning.

COT

Announcements
Conversation at the Kingsley Amphitheater at 0700 tomorrow on racial injustice.
Olaf on Q at The Fort tomorrow
Royale on Q at Camp Thunderbird tomorrow
July 11 Convergence – JOC (May change to WEP)
Hog and Coyote Next Weekend
Bear/Dory – Beary 6K Thursday July 9 at 1900 – contact Cake Boss for more details

Prayers/Praises
Pray for Cash and his battle. Reach out to Cake Boss, Chicken Hawk, or Spud to know more specifics.
Prayers for Olaf’s mother and step father – struggling through separation due to addiction.
Prayers for YHC and M/2.3 – recently had a tongue tie cut and still working through latch

Via COT a conversation came up about the impact of pornography on each of us as men – and the detriment that it can bring to our lives. Check out The Freedom Fight if you’re having any sort of temptation or addiction to porn.

Link here.

YHC just started the 30 day challenge and would be happy to be your accountability partner. Reach out to me on Slack.

Punch List out.

TClap |
2

In memory of 24 / 8

Leave a comment

After hearing the news yesterday of the passing via helicopter crash of one of the GOAT’s Kobe Bryant, YHC felt the need to honor him AND the lives of the other 8 individuals with a beatdown full of 8 and 24, his jersey #s.

Standard disclaimer preceded by the following message: Friends, let us not become fearful when confronted with life’s impending expiration. Rather, let us live with a fullness and an intentionality that recognizes the value of each breath given.

Mosey for warm-o-rama:
– At each crosswalk, burpee jump shot (just a regular burpee, but instead of both hands up on the jump, it’s one hand up to drain the 3).  Accumulator burpees at each crosswalk (we did 5 crosswalks to total 21) then circle up for the last 3 = 24 burpee jump shots.
– 24 SSH in cadence
– 12 imperial walkers + 12 hillbilly walkers, in cadence = 24
– 24 single count merkins
– 24 toe touches on the curb

Mosey to distant parking lot and partner up with someone similar in speed. Not your partner, your opponent.  2 cones are 24 parking paces apart.  Partners will start at opposite ends and complete 8’s (similar to 11’s, but #Kobe).  One end is squats, the other end is merkins.  After you complete the first exercise, bear crawl to the other end. Complete that exercise then mosey back. Repeat until you flapjack and complete the 8’s.  That’s right, that’s 7x bear crawl 24 parking spaces.  Doesn’t seem like much?  #try it.  To encourage PAX, YHC reminded them that I’d rather be doing this than losing family members.  Our pain is nothing compared to their pain.

Mosey back to Best Buy wall for 24 seconds BTTW, 24 dips (ouch), and 8 jump shot burpees.  Repeato.  YHC then reminds PAX of a famous quote: we’re not guaranteed tomorrow.  While true, we’re also not guaranteed the rest of today.  So what are we going to do about that?  Hop into plank to go around the circle and mention something they’re grateful for and/or something they’re going to do different TODAY to make an impact.  Unfortunately, 38 felt the need to grace us with his inner smells.  Fairly certain he ate something that was not real food the night before… I digress.

TClap |
3

Jack of all Kinds and The ShovelFlag Switch

Leave a comment

21 Pax showed up for the Slug-fest that was a Cha-Ching and YHC’s Co-Q.  All Pax arrived on time for the special 0500 kick off. I was taking the #ShovelFlag at the end of the Beatdown so we wanted to do something brutally special to mark the occasion.

Quick disclaimer and we where off and rolling. Cha-Ching had the 1st 30 minutes and didnt’t disappoint.

Mosey to the end of the BEst Buy /Pet Smart Parking lot.  30 SSH- Mosey on to the other side of Home Depot 15 bomb jacks, run back to spot by Petsmart 20 smurfjacks, run back to HD 30 seal jacks, run back to PS, 30 plank Jacks.

Mosey over to the wide parking lot in front of PS.  Break up into two groups for a new take on Bone the Fish.

Bear crawl up two parking spaces then side crawl down the line then up two more, rinse and repeat. Total parking lot length was about 15 spaces.  At the end do 30 squat jumps. Bear Crawl down and back again , do 20 donkey kicks. Then we bear crawled up two spaces and side shuffeled the width of the whole parking lot. Continue this down the length and did 10 burpees to complete the movement.

Mosey over to the fountain 3 types of burpees before time expired on the first 30 minutes.

5x Kracken Burpees, 5x knee slap burpees and 5x 1 leg burpees.

At this Point I took the Reins:

The Shovel Flag Switch

Split PAx into teams of 3.

MAX REPS TO FAILURE

P1s = Body weight in the lower level of stair alley

P2s= Run between groups: up/down the stairs

P3s= Cinder blocks

Basic rules: P1 Starts on the bottom level of the outdoor patio across from Just Fresh doing Max Rep Body weight exercises.  P3 moves to the dead end side of the parking load and does max reps of cinder block exercises. P2 starts with P3 and runs roughly 100 yrds up and down the stairs to P1. Upon arrival they switch. P2 does body weight and P1 runs up and down the stairs to P3 and they Switch as per the above.  Rinse and repeat through the various exercise combos.

Exercises:

Round 1- P1- MTN Climbers P3- Block Squats

Round 2-  P1- LBCs P3- Block Swings

Round 3- P1- Squats  P3- Block Curls

Round 4- P1- Bomb Jacks- P3- OH Presses

Round 5-P1- The Claw( Thnaks PotHole)   : P3- Block Hammers

Round 6 P1- Merkins  P3- Squat Thrusts

Round 7 P1-Peter Parkers P3- Alt Hand Block Merks

Round 8 P1- BBS  P3- Man Makers

We Made it Through 6 rounds finishing on Squat Thrusters and Merkins.

With 4-5 minutes left we picked up the cindys, beatdown boards and laundry pile( it was decidedly warmer than some of us expected)  shuffled back for COT.

I accepted the Shovel Flag and look forward to growing the reputation of the #Swamp as a smoker AO in The FORT.  Appreciate Cha-Ching thinking of me to take over for him. It’s an honor!

Duck Out!

 

 

 

 

TClap |
1

8 Cinderblocks of Christmas

Leave a comment

Always glad to take on a Q at the Abyss! Great AO.  6 Beasts + YHC came out for the Iron Pax inspired “8 Blocks of Christmas” Having Q’d 3 beat downs recently with no Cindys I felt it was time to call that number. Thank Goodness Copyright keeps an emergency Cindy in the van at all times. Otherwise someone would have been carrying a 25lb weight or a 45lb paver.

0515- All veteran Pax so quick disclaimer and a short mosey around the front parking lot.. Circle up for COP

Windmills x 10 Imperial Walkers x 20, Hillbilly Walkers x 20, MNCs x 15, Front and back Arm Circles x 15 each.

End COP with 21s- 21 SSH IC only counting the first 5 out loud, with all Pax stopping at 21 together. Burpee penalty if we get it wrong.  IT was real early cause there was still some audible counting after 5.  Needless to say we missed on the 1st go round. 3 Burpee penalty. Got it right on the 2nd round. Mosey to the truck and everyone grab a Cindy.

I have been nursing a hamstring the last couple weeks and decided to forego alot of running in this workout. So instead of running we did an OH Cinderblock Carry(OHCC) from front parking lot to rear track area. Mumble chatter started quickly on how long a walk that was.

The Thang -8 Blocks of Christmas                                                                                                                                 8 total exercises, 4 per side  with the mode of transport being the OHCC of ~80- 85 meters.               Exercises

  1. 50 x OH Presses  OHCC to other side 1a. 50 x Curls for the Girls OHCC back to other side ( you should get the picture)
  2.  50 x Block Squats OHCC —>2a. 50 x Block Big Boy Sit ups- No it was holding the block not setting it our your feet.
  3.  50 x Ground to OH –> 3a. 50 x Squat Thrusts
  4.  50 x  Block Swings —> 4a. 50 X Switch Arm Block Merkins- 1 hand on the the block 1 a hand on the ground and do a merkin- Switch and repeat. Thanks for that great Idea Survey Says.

We completed then Whole Thang and OHCC back to COT.

All in all the Pax did in the ballpark of 1100 meters of OHCCs and 400 cinder block reps across 8 exercises this morning. Key takeaways- Cinderblocks get really cold when sitting the the back of the truck all night. Get thicker gloves.  The feeling comes back in your fingers around GTOs and Squat Thrusts. Copyright can always be counted on to have at least 1 “emergency” Cinderblock in the van at all times.

Prayers for CAH and Decibel’s mentoree.  Pax/ family of Pax dealing with Cancer/ family loss, marriages.

PreHype for Jan 3rd Shovel Flag hand off at he Swamp.  Beatdown will be kicking off at 0500. Co-Q event with a fast and burpeeish 30 mins and a hard and heavy 30 mins. Spread the word. Plan accordingly.

Thanks Copyright for the Opportunity to Lead these #HIMs this morning.

Duck Out.

 

TClap |
0

Rust Removal

Leave a comment

8 HIM decided to shake off some Thanksgiving Holiday Rust at Quagmire.  After observing a missing flag due to a notably absent site Q (cough cough, Mile High, cough cough), disclaimers were given, 5 core principles of the workout were spoken by the PAX in proper order.  Off we moseyed.  Here’s what happened:

COP – 1)  SSH x 20, 5 burpees  2) Imperial Walkers x 15, 5 burpees  3) low slow squat x 15, 5 burpees, 4) merkins x 10, 5 burpees  5) hillbilly walkers x 15, 5 burpees

Moseyed to Target for Partner DORA – 1,2,3,4.  Having 8 led to even numbers and pairing off evenly.

100 – Jumping lunges (crowd favorite)

200 – Squats

300 – LBC’s

400 – Clave Raises

A 10 count was given, 5 more burpees were done (just because) and off we moseyed to the fountain for some 30 on 30 on 30

At the fountain – 30 dips, 30 derkins, 30 step ups.  Time to mosey to the Marshalls lot

Partners were found again for a quick DORA 1 – 100 merkins while partners ran 40(ish) yard sprints – 20 down and 20 back.   5 burpees were done (to be consistent) and we moved on.

Mosey again to COT for a few minutes of Mary:  American Hammers x 21, Box Cutters x 20 and some protractor work to keep people sharp on their geometry.  COT brought things to a close.

Announcements – Read your newsletter, XMas Party this Friday at Baxter Mushroom Pool Clubhouse, Convergence and Clave Boos 5K/10K on Christmas Eve at Colosseum.

Prayers and Praises were offered.

YHC is admittedly not a regular at Quagmire.  Monday was a great experience and my thanks goes out to Mile High (despite his absence) for the opportunity to Q and to get better around some very high impact men.  It was a honor to post this morning and start December off right.  The message to us all was to remember why we are here – for others first, ourselves last.   For it is true that when we are right, we can be right for others to make the impact we are called to bring as leaders.

Honored,

Cyclops

 

TClap |
3