Tag: Jekyll

Set those goals and discipline will take you there

Leave a comment

11 hearty Pax posted to Alcatraz looking for that perfect mixture of pain and fellowship. I was stoked to be able to lead alongside a well-known Master of the Beatdown, our own Jekyll. We agreed ahead of time that YHC would take the 1st half and this is how we started:

Full Disclaimer was given for our FNG (my wife’s cousin Joe) who I had been EH’ing for some time along with Old Bay and Destiny. Old Bay gets the assist as he agreed to drive Joe to Alcatraz. Luckily, my legal training has prepared me for denying and disclaiming all liability.

Mosey along Windward with some Butt Kickers, High Knees and karaoke mixed in.

COP, all IC: SSH * 20, Imperial Walkers * 15, Merkins * 10, Windmills * 15, Diamond Merkins * 10, Squats * 15, Plank Series, MNC*15, Wide Arm Merkins * 10

The Thang:

Grab cinder blocks from Jekyll’s car and mosey to the near baseball diamond. Partner up and prepare for a modified Dora-Milwaukee Baseball Trivia style. With the monthly theme of Discipline swirling in my head and heart all week, my thoughts turned to the sport of baseball as it requires so much mental and physical discipline to reach the highest level. So, our exercises would be informed by some trivia about my hometown of Milwaukee and its’ teams. To Wit:

  1. 1954-1st National League city to pass 2 million in attendance- not New York or Chicago, but Milwaukee-do 54 chest presses total
  2. 1979 1st time there were Co-Rookies of the Year in the AL- 79 block swings– The co-rookies were Alfredo Griffin, Toronto and John Castino, Minnesota. John happens to be my cousin and his discipline and determination at baseball made a large impression on me and grew my love of the game immeasurably.
  3. 1982- 1st and only World Series appearance for the Brewers- 82 overhead presses
  4. 2008- Brewers end 26-year playoff drought- 108 LBCs w/block

Closed out my portion with 20 leg throws/partner and 20 partner hand-clap Merkins.

Cue Jekyll:

With Short Sale testing the cerebral and the chesticles, I thought wise to focus on the ol back and stumps.  We moseyed the loop around the park stopping for a few upper, middle, lowers- ala: pearls on a string.

Keeping with the baseball theme- we ran bases as such:

  • Bear Crawl to 1st, do 5 Burpees, crab walk to 2nd, More Burpees, Bear Crawl to 3rd, You guessed it-5 Burpees and Crab walk home
  • Squat walk to 1st, tip toe lunge to 2nd, squat walk to 3rd, tip toe lunge to home
  • Partner carries swapping as needed for everyone to get 2 full laps
  • Wheel barrow with partner swapping at each base

We probably did some more but I (Jekyll) had sweat in my eyes the entire time.

Short Sale had great words of wisdom RE: theme of the month Discipline.  YHC offered his two cents:

  • Ephesians 6:4 Fathers do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord
  • Hebrews 12:11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

NMM (from Short Sale):

After COP, I mentioned our first thoughts on Discipline. I often blur the line between Discipline and punishment towards my kids. Discipline should be a way to moderate their behavior and show them the “guardrails” in life. YHC can be heavy handed at times and I need to be less of a taskmaster. Also, be more disciplined and do a better job of treating our 2.0s equally and not showing favoritism. Discipline is also the bridge that takes us from our current accomplishments towards the goals we have set for ourselves. Personally, the gap between my accomplishments and my goals can be very wide sometimes. Need to focus more on serving my M and less on selfish pursuits. Jekyll’s bible verses above were spot on. All the advice I need is right there in Scripture, just need to take the time and give my faith walk greater attention.

I was honored to lead with Jekyll and humbled at the opportunity. Thanks Senator Tressel for the nod. To me, Alcatraz is one of the finest AOs, and that is a testament to the Senator’s leadership.

Short Sale and Jekyll out.

TClap |
1

Pantheon Sweat fest

Leave a comment

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

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

Announcements- Invergence 9/29, read your newsletter

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

A great morning and always a joy to lead the Pax

 

 

TClap |
3

Eclipse at the Colosseum…Rock Hill Rip-off

Leave a comment

Leading up to this fine Tuesday at THE COLOSSEUM, there were a few challenges and statements made about who would be willing to come out. Of all the conversations, I’ll give credit to those who showed after being personally invited: Jekyll, Bonsai, Snap Hook, Shady, Sir Topham Hat. The others that didn’t show…well, you’re probably better off not trying to erase a few bad songs from your memory. But for those that did, you’re welcome and I’m sorry (actually, not really).

I wanted to do something a little different from my usual, like pullups at the playground or the deck of cards. So, in search of something creative, I didn’t have to go far. So much can be found if we travel across the river; whether virtually or physically. In this case, Italian Job gave me beat down rights with a slight modification to his Eclipse-Day post and I brought it to the Colosseum.

Once I get to the parking lot, I am immediately met by two better-than-punctual FNG’s that Nomad EH’d. Welcome Rebar and Ham. And oh by the way, we quickly realized these are two of the most fit FNG’s to post at 0515. Side note on Ham, it’s comical when an FNG receives a call sign to which he is clueless on its reference. That’s why we all help to contribute to Wikipedia.

So after a disclaimer that turned into mumbling, we were off to the back parking lot where we circled up for a warm up of:

SSH x 20

Butt Kickers x 35

Merkins x 10

American Hammers x 25

Merkins x 10

Freddy Mercury’s x 20

Merkins x 10

LBC’s x 25

Calf Raises x 50 OYO

This is where the plagiarism came in. We used the same 5 songs Italian Job used which for those who didn’t read that yesterday, went a little something like this:

Song 1: Ain’t No Sunshine: Hold squat position then do a tuck jump when you hear, “Ain’t No Sunshine.”

Then line up on the line and sprint to the light pole and back and get in the circle.

Song 2: Blinded By The Light (Remix): Moroccan Night Clubs then 3 Overhead Claps when you hear, “Blinded By The Light” This got really annoying.

Then line up on the line and sprint to the light pole and back and get in the circle.

Song 3: Black Hole Sun: Hold in the UP dip position then do 1 dip when you hear, “Black Hole Sun”. This got really, really difficult.

Then line up on the line and sprint to the light pole and back and get in the circle.

Song 4: Ring Of Fire: On your back, hold your feet at 6″ and do a Big Boy Situp when you hear, “Ring of Fire.”

Then line up on the line and sprint to the light pole and back and get in the circle.

Song 5: Total Eclipse  Of The Heart: Plank during the song and do 1 Burpee when you hear, “Turn Around” and 1 Merkin when you hear, “Total Eclipse Of the Heart.” This song is way too long.

Then line up on the line and sprint to the light pole and back and get in the circle.

We then ended with 25 American Hammers and 25 Flutter Kicks.

Great job today by everyone putting up with my nonsense.

As You Were.

Max

TClap |
7

Little bit of Shoulders at Colosseum

Leave a comment

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

The Thang:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lots of announcements so read your newsletters.

Get after it today!

STH

TClap |
3

Crawling at the Colosseum

Leave a comment

9 PAX arrived in some slightly cooler weather than the past few weeks and thankfully the rain held off for us and a good time was had by all,

The disclaimer was disclaimed and we began with a mosey around the car rider loop with some high knees, butt kickers and toy soldiers and then circled up to complete the warm up in cadence: 25SSH, 25 Moroccan Night Clubs, 10 Peter Parker, 10 Parker Peter, 10 Windmill, 10 Mountain Climbers.  We then mosey over to the front of the school for the fun to begin

 

The Thang:

Bear Crawl Ladders

-Starting on the curb across from the school we were to bear crawl across the road and do 10 Monkey Humpers once arriving at the other side, then we were to reverse bear crawl (backwards) back to the curb and do 1 Derkin. Then bear crawl back and do 9 Monkey Humpers with 2 Derkins etc.

-Once this was completed we mosey around to the back of the school until I could see the back dividing wall and realized it was too short so we took a tour of some construction equipment and returned to the front of the school

-3 sets of 10 count waterfall peoples chair followed by feet against the wall in plank-45 degree-90 degree each for a 10 count (30 seconds total)

-We then mosey to the front of the school near the flag poles and took turns running the car pool loop while the rest of the PAX performed an exercise: Nolan Ryans, Al Gores, Dips, Flutters, Toe Tap on Curb, Calf Raises, Dry Docks, Low Slow Squat, Merkins

-Mosey back to COT for some Mary (LBC, Hello Dolly, Rosalita) then circle up for announcements and prayer

 

Good time and I appreciate the opportunity to lead.

 

TClap |
0

Well Rounded

Leave a comment

11 Men, one of them a 2.0, descended on Pantheon with a Boot Camp gleam in their bleary eyes. YHC wanted to take them out of their comfort zone.

The Thang
Structured Running workout for first half:
6 Min Warm Up around the “track” with various warm up routines

  • Karaoke (both sides)
  • Butt Kickers
  • High Knees
  • Side Shuffle

5 Min build at ~ 9 min pace to prep for the main event
4x Repeats:

  • 1 minute slow run/walk
  • 30 seconds AYG

5 Min cooldown at ~ 9 min pace

After the run, which completed with a mosey to the back side of the AO, we hit COP for some dynamic stretching to loosen the muscles from the run:

  • Windmills
  • Potato Pickers
  • Mountain Climbers
  • Honeymooner/Downward Dog Combo

Line up on the sideline of the basketball court

  • Burpee Broad Jump Across the Court and Crabwalk Back
  • Inchworm across the Court and Bear Crawl Back

Mosey to swings, split into 2 groups for 3 rounds of:

  • 20 Swing Crunches
  • 10 Pull Ups

Mosey around AO, including some toy soldiers to 6MOM with:

  • Flutter
  • Freddy Mercuries
  • American Hammer

Close out with BOM

NMM
As I thought about the Weinke last night, I decided that I wanted to expose the PAX to some structured run workout training, as most likely haven’t done much of that. There is a funny story that Dredd will tell about an opportunity he had to train with the French Foreign Legion while he was in Special Forces. Basically he was extremely strong and, he assumed, fit when he went over. The French told him he’d never survive their training because he was too big. They commenced to show him that constant movement will show you real fitness, not just how much you can pick up. He barely made it through and many of his team didn’t actually make it through this training, despite being “big and strong”. This, among other things, created perspective for a well rounded fitness routine, e.g. the prototypical “Pearls on a String” workout you will hear about.

I’ve been running a ton lately and have really seen improvement since I’ve started to introduce this into my routine. Many PAX will sign up for an event and log a bunch of miles (unless you are Cornhole) in prep for a race, but it is just repeating the mileage. I believe that to get better, you need to have a well rounded routine, not just repeating the same old workout over an over. That’s the motivation behind today’s workout. In all things, getting out of your comfort zone is a way to grow… to get better.

Honor to Serve.

TClap |
4

The Colosseum 2017.31

Leave a comment

This was an impromptu Q that I had forgotten I committed to while Seacrest was in charge, but I love to Q, so being reminded the night before made me a little happy (in my pants).  When training I like to focus on “tactical” strength or “functional” strength.  This means that you may be able to use the strength and endurance you cultivate during one of my workouts.  Today I covered picking up a lifeless body.

Mosey to basketball lot for warmup (simply for space reasons):  SSH, hillbilly walkers, windmills

Mosey to the bottom of the entrance hill and partner up for the main event:
10x Superman Squats (aka, squat picking up your partner from sitting to standing)
20x Jump squats
30ish Lunge walk holds then sprint to top of hill
Rinse and Repeat

Mosey to wall by the flag for 4 minutes of holds
6 in & B2W (you and partner alternate when one fails)

Mosey to half wall around back for quick dora, 100 Merkins, 200 LBCs, 300 squats
Start at edge of lot then run to wall do one muscle up and run back.

Last,  4 minutes of hold
Protractor 10deg & Support position on wall (alternate on failure)

And that’s all she wrote.  This was  a lot of fun.  Prayers and announcements.  Prayers for the guys at VC Summer that were told to go home (which suddenly got a lot more personal).  Prayers for the #Give2Give campaign and the hope that we may reach more guys and improve the quality of life for the Sadclowns that know no better.

TClap |
2

You Can Blame Dark Helmet

Leave a comment

The past few weeks have been anything but typical for me. Laid off from my job and then I planned to do a road trip which turned into the road trip from hell in many ways. But God was and is faithful and I made it back home safely and was able to get some drugs in that helped start the recovery process. That being said, I wasn’t sure about my q coming up for the first time at The Fort. But I had just qed at Laces In with the same illness, but didn’t know it. So I figured let’s go for it. About five minutes into COP I thought I might have made a serious mistake, but thanks to the many mercies of God I made it through.

COP was a bit of a blur but it included your typical:
SSH
Imperial Walkers
Hillbilly Walkers
Merkins
Windmills (slowly)
Moroccan Nightclub

After COP we made our way up the parking lot Springs Industries to find a nice flat spot where we could hang out for a while.

The next thing that followed was my theft of Union County (NC)’s Mindcrime’s invention. At center do five burpees, run, to one end and do ten merkins, come back to center, five burpees, run to the other end and do ten LBCs. Repeato until you’ve done ten rounds of ten merkins and ten LBCs. This quickly started to suck in the soup that is South Carolina in August. There was much hatechatter against the q, which makes me very happy and I know you’re working.

After much hate mumblechatter we stopped for a breather to talk about discipline and got a good word about how that ties into being a disciple both of our Lord and of life and making a difference in our own lives so we can make a difference in our families and our world. Aye!

Next up Cindy showed her ugly face and we made our way to the wall where much standing around was seen and some work was put in. Cindy went like this: ten merkins, ten dips and ten squats (or at least I think it was squats. Haven’t gotten my nap in yet). Go until q calls time!

Jekyll was threatening a coup so I wrapped up the sweat fest and we went into some stretching, weird yoga moves and other things to distract you from the fact that I just made you burn off a lot of calories.

Welcome Iron Man to F3 Nation! Thank you sir for your service to our country and for checking out F3 one day while at the park. Great first post!

Be sure to read the newsletter and keep up with all that’s going on at The Fort.

Thank you Bonsai for the chance to lead and I hope I gave you your money’s worth. As in time is money and I hope it was well worth your time.

DT out.

TClap |
2

BackBlast 7-25-17: That One Big Thing @ #Colosseum

Leave a comment

Humidity was at an all time high in the swamp they call the Colosseum on Tuesday morning. 22 men showed up ready for some action and they got what they came for.

Mosey to the parking lot.

WARMUP:

  • 30 Side Straddle Hops
  • 12 Windmills
  • 10 4-count Merkins
  • 10 4-count Mountain Climbers
  • 10 4-count Peter Parkers
  • 20 Moroccan Night Clubs

Mosey to the first light post (you know what’s coming next).

The Thang (Light Post Workout – $1 to Jekyll):

  • 10 LBCs/post
  • Mosey back to start
  • Plank for the six
  • 5 Burpees/post
  • 6 Inches for six at top
  • 20 LBCs in cadence
  • Mosey back to the bottom
  • Plank for the six
  • 10 Diamond Merkins/post
  • 6 Inches for the six
  • 20 4-count Flutter

Mosey back to COT

  • Captain Thors to 5×20

Announcements

  • New Thursday 3rd F led by ChickenHawk
  • Last QSchool next Tuesday the 1st led by Funhouse & Senator Tressel

Prayer Requests

  • Lutefisk’s Mom
  • Cornerstone’s Daughter
  • Ginsu’s Adoption

Maximus took us out in prayer.

Moleskin

For years, adoption has been something that I’ve thought of doing, but it seemed too big. I have a heart (as most people do) for the less fortunate, especially children, but didn’t think that we could handle bringing home another child to live with us. It was my one big thing that I new I was being called to do, but I couldn’t do it. It was too hard, too much, made me too uncomfortable. Fortunately for me, my M has a bigger heart and far more faith than I do and over a series of months, convinced me that this is what God was leading us to do and that we should trust the He would give us everything we need along the way. Also, fortunately for us, we had others around us (e.g. Maximus & his M) who been through it before and provided all the support and advice we could ever need.

That was my one, big thing. The thing that I knew that God was telling me to do, but I didn’t have the faith or courage to pursue it…until now. I’m still scared of what is around that corner, but I know that God will be with us every step of the way.

What is your one, big thing? That thing that has been tugging at your heart for weeks, months, years, or even decades? For us it was adoption, but for you it may be bigger, require more sacrifice, more faith, and more courage.

I encourage you to pray about it. Trust that God will take you through whatever He is calling you to do. Do that one big thing, whatever it is.

Ginsu

TClap |
4

Two years and counting

1 Comment

Two years ago, Jekyll invited me to WEP for my first workout.  I thought I was in pretty good shape, but little did I know what was in store for me.   I remember halfway through the workout thinking, this was a bad idea and would anyone notice if I lost my breakfast.  Luckily, I kept my stomach in check, but spent the afternoon on the couch recovering.  Since this first day, F3 has greatly impacted my life both  physically and mentally.

Quagmire  workout – 7/17

After the disclaimer, we moseyed to the front of Best Buy for some dynamic stretches:

Butt Kickers

Knees to Chest

Lunges

Soccer stretches

Next, we took a short jog to COP for warm-ups:

SSH, Space Invaders, Imperial Walker, Mountain Climbers, Plank with 6″ hold

Next, we partnered up for a game of catch me if you can.  Partner 1 ran around the parking lot while partner 2 jogged around the same  route.  Once Partner 1 caught up with Partner 2, they each did 5 burpees.  Rinse and repeat.

Once complete, we moseyed to the front of Marshalls for wall sits and calf raises.

We finished up the final 15 minutes with some cadence strength training.

First round:  Bearcrawl/Merkin  10/5

Second round:  Lunge/Squat  10/5

Third round:  Backward Bearcrawl/Carolina Dry Docks 10/5

Forth round:  Crabwalk/LBC: 10/10

Jailbreak to COT

Announcements:

Children’s Attention Home – Friday 7pm

F3 Dads – 10am at WEP

Read Newsletter

 

Prayers/ Praises:

Tater – Healing (eye)

Jekyll – Quality time with his 2.0s

Royale – Daughter’s B-day

Witch Hunt – Son starts baseball camp

 

 

 

 

 

TClap |
8