Ten Secrets to Success

Five men showed up this morning at Gold Hill Middle School.  It was wet and rainy, but it did not stop these men from giving their best efforts. Disclaimer complete, we moseyed to the back of the school for warm-ups (SSHs, Imperial Walkers, Windmills, Plank Stretches).

Next, we ran to the front of the school.  I always enjoy reading and hearing about success stories.  The struggles, hardships, and the eventual victories.  Since I am old as dirt, I can tell you there is no secret sauce but I came across this list of traits published by Investor’s Business Daily after studying leaders and successful people.  These  traits, when combined “can turn dreams into reality.” 

Back to the workout. . Each trait was read then we completed 90 seconds of the exercises listed below.  We ran a lap around the carpool circle and repeated process until all ten traits were covered.

  1.  HOW YOU THINK IS EVERYTHING: Always be positive. Think success, not failure. Beware of a negative environment.  (Merkins)
  2. DECIDE UPON YOUR TRUE DREAMS AND GOALS: Write down your specific goals and develop a plan to reach them. (Squats)
  3.  TAKE ACTION: Goals are nothing without action. Don’t be afraid to get started. Just do it. (Freddy Mercuries)
  4.  NEVER STOP LEARNING: Go back to school or read books. Get training and acquire skills. (Flutters)
  5. BE PERSISTENT AND WORK HARD: Success is a marathon, not a sprint. Never give up. (Carolina Dry Docks)
  6.  LEARN TO ANALYZE DETAILS: Get all the facts, all the input. Learn from your mistakes. (Plank Jacks)
  7. FOCUS YOUR TIME AND MONEY: Don’t let other people or things distract you. (Lunges)
  8. DON’T BE AFRAID TO INNOVATE; BE DIFFERENT: Following the herd is a sure way to mediocrity. (Shoulder Taps)
  9. DEAL AND COMMUNICATE WITH PEOPLE EFFECTIVELY: No person is an island. Learn to understand and motivate others. (Calf Raises)
  10. BE HONEST AND DEPENDABLE; TAKE RESPONSIBILITY: Otherwise, Nos. 1-9 won’t matter. (Burpees)

We finished up with a short jog to COT.

Great job everyone!  

Final note..I know from experience that you tend to fall on your face several times before you see a victory.  It doesn’t get easier as you get older, but you continue to get up, dusts yourself off, and keep moving forward.

 

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Stealing from Metro

11 PAX on a crisp November morning

YHC got some influence one from one of the few backblasts written at F3-Metro’s Combine (Kettlebell and Sprinting) AO.

Warm-up
Run a big lap with unnecessary looping
Plank
– shoulder tap
– yoga
– mountain climber
– yoga
– peter parker
– yoga
– parker peter
Imperial Walker
Hillbilly Walker

Move with bells to parking lot
Line up from one island facing another

Ladder:

  • 5 manmakers
    -bear crawl to the next island and back
    KB Swings for the six
  • 5 manmakers
    5 goblet squats in cadence
    -bear crawl to the next island and back
    KB Swings for the six
  • 5 manmakers
    5 goblet squats in cadence
    10 upright rows in cadence
    -crawl bear to the next island and back
    KB Swings for the six
  • 5 manmakers
    5 goblet squats in cadence
    10 upright rows in cadence
    10 overhead presses in cadence

Move with bells to the farthest parking lot
Line up between one set of lights facing the other
We did an exercise with the bells and then sprinted to the other set of lights. At the other end, we did a descending count of merkins and sprinted back to our bells. So:

10 Merkins/Sprint/10 Alternating Lunges in cadence/Sprint back
9 Merkins / 5R & 5L Single Legged Dead-lifts
8 Merkins / 10 Sumo Squats
7 Merkins / 5 Manmakers, then 5 more
6 Merkins / 5R & 5L Snatches
5 Merkins / 5R & 5L Single arm overhead press
4 Merkins / 5 Lawnmower pulls each side, then 5 more, then 5 more
3 Merkins / 5 Goblet Squats in cadence
2 Merkins / 10 Swings
1 Merkin / 10 Overhead Presses

Move with bell back to COT

Flutters with press
Seated Yoga until 0600

Prayers:
Fathers that have passed recently
Those battling illness (COVID, Cancer)

NMM:
I sat on this backblast a bit and have lost my steam on a message. I remember an idea of checking in with your word of the year and how much of a struggle this year has been.

My word was Input. And I’ve been letting the world decide what my mental input is more often than deciding myself. There’s still days in the year left to get better…so let’s go work on it.


Band Camp dismissed

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ISI DORA at The Armory

It has been 1 year and 5 days since YHC last Q’ed at The Armory. Quite a few fond memories of the AO… including almost splashing merlot under the leadership of Assassin. Always a privilege to be asked to lead such a fine establishment. The cars just kept rolling in this morning… and luck would have it that an even number of PAX showed up. A few newer faces appeared and YHC was happy to be introduced. 

0515

Disclaimer

Proverbs 27:17 –

Mosey to Concrete Benches w/bells.

COP in Cadence

10 x Diamond Merkins on Bells

10 x KB Swings

5 x Burpees

10 x OH Press

20 x SSH

Overhead Hold KB while YHC explains weinke. 

ISI DORA

Tell PAX to partner up with someone of equal “shape” or “fitness.” PAX 1 does exercise, PAX 2 moseys out and back to a determined point. Both PAX keep number of reps secret from one another. Once the specific movement is completed, disclose number of reps. PAX with lower number of reps does a penalty exercise to make up the difference. Other partner planks in the meantime. The goal of this is to push your partner to do more reps than you. To run faster than you. To push them to push you. To sharpen each other. 

Round 1 – Lower

Movement/Penalty

Goblet Squat/Bomb Jacks

KB Swings/Bomb Jacks

Alternating Lunges/Bomb Jacks

Step Ups w/Bell/Bomb Jacks

Round 2 – Upper

Straightaway Sprints Three Islands Out + Back

Movement/Penalty

Strict OH Press/Halos

ALPOs/Halos

Curls/Halos

Skull Crushers/Halos

Round 3 – Full Body/Hybrid Movements

Movement/Penalty

Turkish Get UPS/Man makers

Burpee Snatch/Man makers

1 Arm Clean and Press/Man makers

Z Press/Man makers (American Hammer body position with OH Press)

 

Five minutes left – head back to COT to knock out some Mary.

American Hammers w/KB x 20

Flutters w/press x 20

Hello Dolly w/extended hold x 20

KB 3 Count Sit Ups x 5 (as Dirty Harry put it – it’s like the Big Boy Sit up and the American Hammer got together and had a baby). 

0600

Announcements

The Fort has a birthday coming up! Look out for info on Slack.

Alcatraz will have the most mumble chatter ever as Stang and Trucker co-Q this Saturday.

Prayers/Praises

Truckers 2.0 – injured and cannot play football at the moment – pray for his spirits to remain high as he navigates a tough situation. 

Pray for our children – especially those who are most impressionable right now by every message being thrown at them. Nature Boy said it well that he’s at a point in his life where he and his peers are most susceptible to influence from outside sources. 

Prayers for we as fathers to lead our children on the right path while they navigate their daily challenges. Prayers that we can push them on toward Christ. 

Today was fun. It involved much sharpening and the group in attendance was quite encouraging. Props to Band Camp for keeping up with Tesh, to Dirty Harry for not splashing merlot, and to Singlet & Nature Boy for literally sprinting every time I saw them running. Oh to be young…

Thanks UHAUL for the privilege to lead.

Punch List out. 

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We jumped the fence, but could not escape the Ring of Fire

Thirteen men were present for the workout at Alcatraz.  Four pax arrived early for a 3-mile run with pull-ups (mini bootcamp).  Geronimo came early to set up his half hour of pain.  It looked like we were in for a difficult hour.  After a quick disclaimer, YHC began with the standard warm-up exercises:

SSH x 20

Imperial Walker x 15

Windmill x 10

Plank stretch

Next, we ran across the baseball field near the pitcher’s warm-up cage to the top of the hill.  Once up the hill, we did 5 burpees…Trucker complained so we did 5 more.

Next, we ran back to the baseball field next to the restrooms.  We partnered up for a series of exercises.  Partner 1 performed an exercise on the field while Partner 2 ran across the field, jumped the fence, ran up the hill, and performed an exercise.  Flip flop once complete.

Exercises:

Round 1 – Merkins (1) , 5 bomb jacks (2)

Round 2 – LBCs (1), 10 bomb jacks (2)

Round 3 – Balls to the wall (1), Run to fence and back (2)

Round 4: Burpees (1);  5 bomb jacks (2)

Next, we jogged to the bottom of Hill. We ran up backwards to the street sign and forwards to the top.  Back down to the bottom and repeat.  Once we were at the top, we ran back out the parking lot for Geronimo’s Q.

We started at the field where there were three medicine ball.  We split into three groups behind each ball.  The first person threw the ball and did an exercise, the next person did the same. Essentially, an interval run with a heavy object.  We did three rounds of this exercise, switching the balls between the teams.  At the end of each round, the winning team got to decide the penalty exercise for the other two teams.

Next, we moseyed to the basketball court where there was a circle of cones laid out.  Each cone had an exercise written on it.  Complete the exercise, bear crawl to the middle, five burpees, and bear crawl backwards to the next cone.

Great work by everyone today!

 

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It’s a keeper!!

We did some warmup, SSH, Windmills, Cherry Pickers, Arm Circles, Imperial Walkers, Hillbilly Walkers, Hip Openers

Main Event

5 Rounds. Each Round has it’s mode of transportation.  There are 5 exercises that were repeated each round. Do the 1st exercise, then do the transportation, do 2nd exercise, etc.  When done with all 5 exercises.  Repeat with the 2nd transportation.  Added some * options to modify harder if needed.

Transportation

Sprint – 2 aisles

Side shuffle – 2 aisles  *add bell

Lunges – 1 aisle *pass thru with bell

Bear Crawls – 1 aisle *Crawl Bear back

NUR – 2 aisles

Exercises

Curls – 10 ea arm or 20 both

Squats – 10  *20

Overhead Press – 10 ea arm

Tricep Ext – 10  *20

Swings – 10  *20

We almost got thru it all

Airborne told me IT IS A KEEPER!!

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Mash-up

JWOWW (Ruck) and YHC (Boot Camp) had the Qs at Golden Corral on Tuesday.  After the disclaimer, the groups departed from the circle for their respective workouts.

I thought I would try something a little different by combining two exercises together, call it a Mash-up. Like peanut butter and jelly, or like a song with two great singers (No Garth Brooks please!).

The details..one minute of exercises 1, exercise 2, and the Mash-up exercise.  Fifteen second rest recovery between exercises.

Exercise 1                     Exercise 2                      Mash-Up

Round 1                       Merkin                         Peter Parker                    Spiderman Merkin

Round 2                       Squat                           Step-up                           Jump Squat

Round 3                        LBC                              Mountain Climber      Freddie Mercury

Round 4                       Moroccan NC           Flutter                              Moroccan Flutter

Round 5                        Caroline DD             Parker Peter                   Dry Peter

Round 6                        Plank                          SSH                                    Plank Jack

Round 7                        Lunge                         Overhead Clap             Lunge Clap

Round 8                        Shoulder Tap          Ski Ab                               Ski Tap Ab

Round 9                         Imperial Walker     Calf Raise                       Imperial Calf Walker

Round 10                     Burpee                        Broad Jump                 Burpee Broad Jump

 

Once complete, we had about a minute to roll back to COT.

 

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Q-School at The Hive

13 in the gloom for a KB edition of Q school. We split the Q four ways with all #TheHive Site-Qs.

Uhaul
there was dynamic stretching… And there was a playlist

Longshanks
***(cickets)***

Tesh
Core: Instruction on how to perform a more effective Peter Parker that stretches your hips and taxes your core.

Your core muscles are exercised to a greater extent when combined in a muscle chain with whole body movements or statics. Asymmetric lifts require you to maintain a solid core in order to maintain control through the movement. PSA, don’t do targeted ab exercises then full body movements. If your abs are tired, your body will recruit other muscles to compensate, and injuries are much more likely to happen.

Next is Jack Webbs but with 1 Snatch x 2 Overhead Squats (per arm) up to 5.

Break after sets 2 and 4:
1st break: Plank exercises, southern gentlemen (single arm merkin if you got it), northern aggressor (single arm merkin). Typewriter merkins.
2nd break: Hammer toe – In plank with feet shoulder width apart, draw a box with your right foot, tapping each corner (up, out, down, back) 4count x10 each leg

Last is the single leg deadlift. Remember, left leg is more balanced to hold the weight in your left hand.

Include some balance exercises in a workout to improve the performance of your central nervous system. It will also help you recruit more muscle cells when you want to go heavy…

Band Camp
Advisory about Kettlebell workouts.
Guys choose to show up to a KB AO for lots of reasons. Be mindful of these reasons when planning a workout. Often PAX wanting less mileage (injury, heavy running that week, etc.) will choose a KB AO. If you integrate running, choose a lap or area that is easy to modify. If you do a lap, it’s simple enough for PAX modify by cutting the lap short or altering the route.

We did a lap around the parking lot stopping in on the 3rd turn.

Suggestion about planning a message into the way you structure the workout. Being ready for the unexpected, like thinking there will be a continued plank exercise but the Q says follow me and gets up running backward the loop you started.

Some talk of counting in cadence and the procedure

  • Next exercise is:
  • Exercise positions–>MOVE
  • In cadence
  • EXERCISE
  • 1, 2, 3, __

Scalp has never Qed (the man is super-fit…Site Qs get this guy on the schedule!). He came in and called some merkins.

Some manmakers to finish out

Discussion of Qing with an FNG present and how the naming works. Sometimes naming is a huge part of what helps a guy come back or prevents him from ever posting again. It isn’t often about the name itself, but the process. Be willing to lean on the guy who EHed a FNG before COT about name ideas.

Post-workout:

Slapshot got his Laces In shovel flag back in a burpee race with Tesh, himself, and YHC.
Tesh uses a modified wide-leg burpee which may cause the Louisville PAX some grief, but he is undeniable in speed and determination. Shady-level “fun” was had!

Thanks to Esso for stringing this Q-school together.

-Band Camp dismissed

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Kenyan’s request

7 PAX at the JOC. Having not Qed at this AO nor much experience with the PAX that posted here, YHC had a few different ideas to push the PAX present without leaving anyone behind. Thanks to JWOWW for crossing the bridge with me. Here’s what we did:

Short Mosey to the soccer field parking lot

Warm Up
Windmill
1 burpee
SSH
2 burpees
Some Yoga
3 burpees
Mountain Climber
4 burpees
Moroccan Night Club
5 burpees

Mosey towards the BMX track

PAX hold plank while each individual takes a turn running up the stairs and back down

Mosey towards the RV parking lot at the far edge there are 8 lights
Lunge walk to the end adding 1 merkin at each light (36 total merkins)
Bear crawl back adding 1 CDD at each light (36 total CDD)
Did some arm circles to loosen back up
(side note: this would be Shady-level “fun” one row in….where there are significantly more lights)

Mosey back towards the BMX track and found some wall

Peoples Chair while PAX went down the line with 5 burpees each
– Kenyan said “finally some leg work”
Balls to the wall
– 5 merkins in cadence
– 5 shoulder taps in cadence

To honor Kenyan’s request for leg work we moseyed to the parking lot entrance and did a set of 11s
1 lunge (each leg) at the bottom
run to the top
10 jump squats
continued until
10 lunges at the bottom
1 jump squat at the top

Got to COT with a min remaining. Because F3 is a group of leaders not a group with a leader, YHC nominated Cliffhanger to call an exercise. He called big boy situps till 0600

An honor to lead.

-Band Camp dismissed

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Simple inconveniences

18 PAX gathered in for The Bubble amidst humid conditions outside a mushroom pool.

Warm-up:
SSH x51
1 Burpee
Windmill x10
2 Burpees
Merkin x10
3 Burpees
Lap
Karaoke
Some yoga
4 Burpees

The Thang:
Run 1 mile to Alison Park
Al Gore to Monkey Humpers facing Sutton Rd multiple times to keep together-ish

6 Exercises for 12-reps (all in cadence):
Merkin
Low Slow Squat
Alternating Lunge
Mountain Climber
Peter Parker
Burpee

Rinse and repeat total of 144 (a gross) of reps

Run 1 mile back.
Stopping for some monkey humpers along the way to keep the group together-ish.

NMM:

There’s a lot of turmoil going on in the world. Americans (in general) have largely been spared inconveniences since WWII (maybe gas shortages in the 1970s?). In many cities, we’re being asked or required to wear masks to quell the rampant spread of COVID-19. For almost all of us, this is an inconvenience. But luckily it is only an inconvenience.

Today’s workout was certainly not convenient, with the exception of the location for some PAX. We recognize how simple workouts in the humidity makes us better. YHC is officially exhorting us to be leaders and do the inconvenient things like wearing a mask for our community’s health.

Side note:

As an FM local, I remember when Baxter was a cow pasture. Traffic is worse in town, but so much about Fort Mill is better because of the folks who moved here. I appreciate what y’all bring to our town. It is great to post with PAX from all over who are working to make themselves and our shared community better. T-Claps to y’all.

What I learned:

At The Bubble, 10 PAX doubled down posting twice today. YHC tried to keep the warm-up close for those PAX arriving late. My advice to future Qs is: DO NOT plank up in the parking lot until 6:20 or so. Unless you want to raise your heart rate from fear rather than mountain climbers as a vehicle whips into the parking lot you’re lying down in…. My mistake. Won’t happen again.

COT

Prayers:
Bonsai
Cash


Band Camp dismissed

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3

Fish Sticks’ Kryptonite

The last Laces In at it’s quarantined location of Empire Pizza met in the muggy gloom.

WarmUp
– SSH
– MC
– Moroccan Night Club
– Some Yoga
– Shoulder Taps
– Merkins

Moseyed towards Persis parking lot:
11s with burpees & jump squats
mode of transportation: bear crawl

Mosey behind the Empire Pizza strip mall. YHC set up some cones prior to the workout

Red Barchetta
100 Yard Dash–>100 SSHs, run back to start point to plank/wait for six;
75 yard dash–>75 mountain climbers, run back to start point to plank/wait for six;
50 yard dash–>50 LBCs, run back to start point to plank/wait for six;
25 yard dash–>25 Merkins, run back to start point to plank/wait for six;
10 yard dash–>10 burpees, run back to start point and plank/wait for six.

Mosey back to COT:

Imperial Squat Walker – Cruel cousin of the Imperial Walker. This 4-count exercise starts with hands clasp on head. Count 1 = a squat. Count 2 = stand up and bring one knee up to the opposite elbow. Count 3 = a squat. Count 4 = stand up, other knee to other elbow

The Imperial Squat Walker is a crowd pleaser to close out a workout….#not

COT
-Band Camp dismissed

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