Tag: Kielbasa

Footloose: Band Camp Edition

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Leading moderate workouts create a lot of planning challenges for me. I try to be mindful of the PAX present and push without overdoing. After all, guys are posting to a “moderate” AO. When the Q-drenaline starts flowing it’s harder to hold back the speed/intensity. This issue is something I try to be mindful of every Q. DT felt we ran too much and Slash felt the yoga wasn’t moderate, but nevertheless: we persisted.

Among the activities today:
– bear crawling with called steps
– lunge walking with called steps
– snaking through the stairs at the Church of God
– knees over toes squats on the stairs
– 7s at the Baptist church steps with bomb jacks and burpees
– deconstructed burpee motivators (thanks Airwolf for the idea here….this will return)
– run around downtown with stops of (15 merkins, 15 squats, 15 flutters)
– lifting up the spent grain tubs at Amor
– a little yoga at almost every stop along the way

NMM

One thing I think about every time I Q or post at a moderate AO is: what am I moderating? If I’m moderating the intensity of a workout, am I moderating my alcohol intake? What about my eating habits? How about my media consumption? What about my word choices?

Thanks Small World for the opportunity to lead:

—
Band Camp dismissed

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Nas on a Nasty morning at Varsity?

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11 met on this misty/chilly morning at The Varsity. Band Camp led off with disclaimer that covered both he and I (fortunately). Then 3 PAX went on their own for a long run. The rest of us followed Band Camp the get started.

From Band Camp:
This morning I kept the yoga simple under the awning as rain was approaching:
We built up in segments to flow through Surya Namaskar A. Then had time for one sequence of Surya Namaskar B.
YHC passed the reins over to Kermit at exactly 0530. Always an honor to lead any workout, but leading Broga is an enjoyble chance to maintain focus through some excellent mumblechatter and groaning from the PAX.

From Kermit:
I thought we should wrap up the work week with some fun. And with the dry conditions and good lighting under the awning, I gave my “message” to the PAX: “Everything will eventually come to an end, So try to savor the moment, cuz time flies don’t it. The beauty of life, you gotta make it last for the better, cuz nothing lasts forever.” – Nas

Let’s get to work.

We left the dry comfort of the awning and moseyed through the rain to the stop sign at the bottom of the hill.

The Thang
ELEVENS – burpees at bottom of the hill and pull ups at the top of the hill.
We may have referenced the lyric “savor the moment” a couple of times.
Band Camp and Poppins led the way, and finished with a few minutes left in the gloom. A DORA of merkins, squats and more hill running was waiting for them.

Back to CoT, and joined back up with the runners.

NMM, Announcements, Prayers & Praises.

Thanks to Bodywash for the opportunity to lead.

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7

Rain and Malachi

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The heavens burst forth this morning.

5 PAX gathered in truly gloom 41 degree weather. At about 0520, the rain really poured for about 10 minutes and then let off to only a solid shower.

YHC modified my plan with the rain. I really just tried to warm us up (literally and figuratively) under some cover. Then we braved out into the rain. We stopped occasionally for exercises. I was flying a bit of the cuff among the exercises I called in cadence in various locations:

  • SSH
  • Merkins
  • Bulgarian Split Squats
  • Mountain Climbers
  • Imperial Walkers and Hillbilly Walkers
  • Squats
  • Inverted Merkins (from BTTW position)
  • Derkins
  • More Derkins in a different spot
  • More Bulgarian Split Squats
  • Pull-ups – called up and down
  • Toes to bar – called up and down
  • Burpee Pull-ups (8 count)
    • that was “fun”
  • Pistol Squat with a poll for support
    • we only did 3 each leg, relax
  • A few wall sits in different places
  • Tibialis Raises (thanks River Rat)
    • these don’t look hard, but DANG

OYO we did deconstructed burpees towards the end. I think we hit about 15-20 before 0600

Kaiser asks for the Q to bring a scripture. Since I’ve been working on a Bible-In-One-Year plan, I recently read the beginning of Malachi. Chapter 2, Verse 3 really hit me. “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.”

How do we setup our children for failure with God?
How were we set up by our forefathers for failure?

How is the $!.^ from our celebrations rubbed back into our faces? Or are the very things we try to offer up to God as a showcase of our faithfulness sent back to us as markers of our inadequacies?

I was also really glad for the rain this morning. To think that even though we may have dung smeared on our face, God send a rain like we had this morning to wash it away. We just have to be brave enough to go outside and tolerate it.

An honor to lead. And an honor to have 4 other PAX there in the inclement gloom to share the morning with. I know for a FACT, I would not have done very much without the other men around me this morning. Instead my heart rate monitor said we torched about 700 calories.

Also wanted to share that on the pull-up bars my phone randomly began playing Juliet’s Death from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. It’s a trombone choir arrangement. Here it is for your listening pleasure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkDK2L9mpBY Listen especially to the chord circa 30 seconds in and then the resolution around 57 seconds in. Try hanging from a pull-up bar at that moment and contemplating Malachi…..maybe it wasn’t random that my phone started playing that.

—

Band Camp dismissed

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Changing of the Guard

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28 PAX joined in the gloom for a brisk morning at Block Party. Though the temps were in the high-40s, the wind cut and made it feel much colder. Most were ready to get started and warmed up.

Bobber led off with the disclaimer, then we moseyed to the bank parking lot and circled up for 25 SSH IC. Moseyed to the Hobo’s parking lot for:
15 IW IC
10 Windmills IC
10 Cherry Pickers IC
10 Merkins IC
10 LSS IC
Held low squat for 10 MNC IC

Bobber, fighting back tears, then let go of his beloved BlockParty and passed the shovel flag to YHC. It was quiet as a mouse, absolutely no chatter was mumbled. So we did 5 burpees OYO to get back into it. 

The Thang
I explained to the PAX that I started F3 on a Monday at STL, where Pusher (in attendance) led a great workout, and I was encouraged enough to return the next day. The next day happened to be BlockParty, with CakeBoss on Q. It was a brutal morning, full of pain, so I thought we would do it again. 

3 lanes of bear crawls
5 burpees to exit the low side of the parking lot onto Main Street
Run up Main Street, back to the parking lot entrance on Clebourne Street.
5 burpees to enter the parking lot.
Plank for the 6.
This circuit continued, but the lanes changed to:
3 lanes Burpee Broad Jumps (a whole lot of mumblechatter and requests for a suggestion box)
3 lanes Duck Walk
3 lanes Toy Soldiers

Jogged back to Cot for 3 minutes of Mary.

Name-O-Rama, Announcements, Prayers & Praises. 

Thanks to Bobber for his leadership while Site Q, and providing the opportunity for YHC to continue the tradition at BlockParty. 

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5

21-Gun Salute for The Veterans

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Great morning!! A little chill and NO rain!!
No FNGs. A solid group of 5 Caballeros!! Disclaimer was disclaimed.  Off we went.

Rain around the parking lot for warmup. Approx 500m. Circled up for warmups. 15-25 each of the following:
* SSH
* Windmill
* MNCs
* Produce/cherry/weed/strawberry pickers
* IWs

Then started the main event. A 21-gun salute:
* Run a loop (approx 500m) – the dang track out back was locked so we improvised, then when back at the start do….
* 21 Merkins
* 21 Hillbilly Squats – go down to a LSS, then on the way up transition to a hillybilly walker.
* 21 LBCs
* 21 MCs (2 ct)
* 21 American hammers (2 ct)
* Rinse and repeat

There were a few injured PAX present so most walked the lap, myself and Kielbasa ran it all and got in at least 5 rounds. The others got in 3 rounds plus extra exercises. Wonderful mumblechatter with this group! It’s been a while since I’ve seen my homie Kielbasa so it was great catching up and hearing about how his life has been.

Back to the COT.

Announcements: A LOT of opportunities to get involved. Read the newsletter and be intentional!

Prayers for health and healing for many; for Drop’s friend Kevin who is a veteran dealing with demons and struggles; for Keilbasa’s wife (praise) for all her work and help while they move into the next chapter of his business life; for all our veterans; for JD’s 2.0’s dealing with teen angst; for NASA’s wife and her health.

Special thanks to our veterans for everything. It takes a special person to sign on the dotted line and commit to the military life, not knowing what you are going to get, where you are going to go, what are you going to do, and whether or not you are going to come out of it alive – all to help liberate the oppressed, provide for those who cannot provide for themselves, defeat evil and tyranny, and help foster freedom in its many forms. They are doing these things all while not really knowing who they are doing it for, other than it is someone in need. It is the ultimate action or display of putting others ahead of yourself, living 3rd, and not expecting anything in return. Many cannot do this to the magnitude done by military members, as well as first responders. I have a 13 year old son who, if he has his way, will become a USMC soldier one day (it’s about 5-9 years away, pending if he goes to college). As a father this makes me as scared as it makes me proud, but when someone is so strongly driven by those deep beliefs, you are doing the world a disfavor by being selfish and trying to hold them back. When you see that in people, it is God in them shining through. God bless them all.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead. God bless.
– NASA

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3

Sexy Derkins

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Six pax for a birthday workout.  This was workout #2 of my Trifecta Q’s.
Warm Up
Mosey run (Toy soldiers, high knees)
SSH (IC 10x)
Windmill (IC 10x)
Imperial Walker (IC 10x)
Low Slow Squats (IC10x)
Mountain Climbers (IC 12X)
Plank stretches, up dog, down dog
Headed towards the benches area under the awning in front of the school.

Thang 1: HIIT Routine (the 1990’s playlist begins here)
Set A: Do the below 32 seconds on, 10 sec standing rest in between
Merkins
monkey humpers
Squats
Dips
Bobby Hurley’s

Set B: Do the below 40 seconds on, 20 sec rest in between (rest is a Low Plank)
Mountain Climbers
LBC
CDD
Amer Hammers
plank jacks

Set C: Do the below 45 seconds on, 15 sec standing rest in between
burpees
Imp Walkers
Squat Jumps
step ups
SSH
In between sets we did some bear crawls. Rinse/Repeat sets as time permitted.

Thang 2: Sexy Derkin challenge: Done to the song “I’m too Sexy”. Pax do a derkin at each “sexy”. Total of 22 derkins in 2 minutes 50 seconds.
Run to shovel flag. Some light Mary (LBC, Hello Dolly)

Fini, COT

NMM: Awesome way to start the day, my 47th birthday. Truly an honor to spend it with these pax.
Blessed with a bright shooting star before the workout began (thanks sky Q).
Lots of chatter…I think collectively we named every rock band from the 1990’s.
Treats were handed post workout: Stracciatella mini cupcakes (thanks to my M).
Playlist:

Title artist Year released length
beautiful people maryln manson 1996 3:43
everlong foo fighters 1997 4:11
I am one smashing pumpkins 1991 4:06
song 2 blur 1997 2:01
been caught stealing janes addiction 1990 3:35
flag pole sitta harvey danger 1997 3:37
more human than human white zombie 1995 4:28
seether veruca salt 1994 3:17
suicide blonde inxs 1990 3:52
Vow garbage 1995 4:30
Derkin Challenge Song:
I’m too sexy Right Said Fred 1992 2:50
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3

F3 Dads #2 @ The Fort

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I must admit, major fail on the part of the Q. I missed getting the FNGs names on video so I missed tagging them here. My apologies.

With Watch This & 5th Set by my side (missing Cheetah), we welcomed the 54 PAX to F3 Dads and provided the disclaimer. We even had some Kotter PAX (Dads) and a whole bunch of 2.0 FNGs. The total was 57 for today!

We then took off down the hill and circled up for the brief warm up:
SSH & Low Slow Squats

Then, line the kids up on one side of our square and the dads on the other side for the classic, Sharks (dads) & Minnows (kids).
After a few rounds, we flipped it around so the roles were reversed and the kids seem to really enjoy this one.

Next, line up in a long line for a family cone drill. As a family,
Run to the first cone. 1 Merkin & 1 Jump Squat per family member in attendance.
Run to the second cone. 2 Merkins & 2 Jump Squats per family member in attendance.
Run to the third cone. 3 Merkins & 3 Jump Squats per family member in attendance.
Run to the fourth cone. 4 Merkins & 4 Jump Squats per family member in attendance.
NUR back to the start.

Move over to our (2) 4-cone squares for a friendly kids vs dads relay competition.
Due to the number of kids, the dads would have to complete the following twice while the kids only once:
Cone 1 to Cone 2: Crabwalk
Cone 2 to Cone 3: Lunge Walk
Cone 3 to Cone 4: Bear Crawl
Cone 4 back to Cone 1: NUR

Shocking, the kids won so the dads got to do 5 Burpees per kid they had in attendance while the kids laughed at us.

Lastly, go run as fast as you can to the top of the hill for COT.

And then…POPSICLES!!!!

Great job leading this Band Camp.

Watch This, 5th Set, Maximus appreciate the opportunity to Q today.

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4

Made the cut at Varsity

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It was a good morning for a pyramid scheme at Varsity

Disclaimer was done
Warm up jog down around the loop at the elementary school and back to the pull-up bar area.
Warm up exercises: Wind Mills, Moroccan Night Clubs, Turkish Get Ups

Grab a pull-up bar station for the following:
10 Merkins, 5 Pull-Ups
20 Merkins, 10 Pull-Ups
30 Merkins, 15 Pull-Ups
30 Merkins, 15 Pull-Ups
20 Merkins, 10 Pull-Ups
10 Merkins, 5 Pull-Ups

Run 1/4mi on the track then pyramid #2:
10 American Hammers I/C
5 V-Ups
20 American Hammers I/C
10 V-Ups
20 American Hammers I/C
10 V-Ups
10 American Hammers I/C
5 V-Ups

Run 1/4mi on the track then report to the goal line
Bear crawl to the 50, run to the opposite goal line then back to the 50
Crawl bear to the end zone then run to the other end zone

Run 1/4mi on the track then back to the goal line
Sprint to the 25 then back to the goal line for 10 Jump Squats
Sprint to the 50 then back to the goal line for 10 Jump Squats
Sprint to the 75 then back to the goal line for 10 Jump Squats
Sprint to the opposite goal line then back to the goal line for 10 Jump Squats

Some additional ab work prior to COT.

Maximus

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4

Block Party 4.6.2021

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Catch up BB 4/5

Warm up

Arm/Leg ballistic stretching

SSH/Burpee Pyramid

 

Topic: Accelerating Fitness

Why are we here?

Why do we “take it easy” when it comes to fitness some times? We have the opportunity to be in the gloom. That’s right – an opportunity to be here. We aren’t forced here. It isn’t something that a judge or authority figures ordered us to do. We choose to do this. We get to do this. 

So why, then, is the temptation to “mail it in” so great, even when we go through the trouble to wake up at zero dark thirty? In the famous words of Youts: “We don’t wake up early to half-ass it.”

Mosey down Confederate Street to Withers, turn right to 4 way stop signs

ISI DORA

Partner up and challenge each other. DORA style but keep your reps secret from each other. After both PAX do a round of the movement, reveal the number of reps completed. Loser does the difference in a harder exercise while the winner gets a less difficult movement.

Legs – Run up Withers to Meachem & Back

Loser – Bomb Jacks

Winner – Squats

Bonnie Blairs

Monkey Humpers

Apollo Ono’s

 

Abs – Run down Academy to Forrest & Back

Loser – In & Outs

Winner – LBCs

Big Boys

American Hammers

Flutters

 

Arms – Nur up Withers to Confederate; run back

Loser – Diamonds

Winner – Wide Arms

Merkins

CDD’s

Dips

 

Putting somebody into your corner. 

The use of a brother (or several brothers) to motivate and push you. We are only as strong as we tell ourselves we are. And… spoiler… when we’re in the the thick of it – we’ll try to convince our own bodies to quit. Why?

Maximus quote: “I would have never completed, much less attempted, the GORUCK HTL without these men by my side. They knew the headspace I was in. Physically, I knew I could do it, but mentally, that is where I lacked confidence. These men saw to it that I wouldn’t train alone and each of them had their own motivation.”

There’s power in surrounding yourselves with like minded individuals. 

Mosey back toward Veteran’s Park for COT.

 

Punch List out.

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HIIT Jams

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Seven pax came out to the Varisty sing-along workout.  Weather was rainy at 41°.

Disclaimer given, noted that singing along was mandatory.

Warm Up
Mosey ‘laps’
SSH (IC 10x)
Windmill (IC 10x)
Imperial Walker (IC 10x)
Low Slow Squats (IC10x)

Thang 1: HIIT Routine
The tunes start at this point. Playlist below.
Set A: Do the below 32 seconds on, 10 sec standing rest in between
>Merkins
>Cherry Pickers
>Squats
>Dips
>Bobby hurleys
Set B: Do the below 40 seconds on, 20 sec rest in between (rest is a Low Plank)
>Mountain Climbers
>LBC
>Derkins
>Amer Hammers
>plank jacks
Set C: Do the below 45 seconds on, 15 sec standing rest in between
>Burpees
>Imperial Walkers
>Squat Jumps
>step ups
>SSH
Rinse/Repeat sets

Thang 2: Big Balls Routine
Played AC/DC’s Big Balls; do a monkey humper at each “Balls”.

Fini, COT

NMM: Pax stayed dry beneath the awing at the school entrance. Lots of quality mumblechatter revolving to favorite albums, favorite bands, best concerts the pax have attended.
Playlist:
Rock and Roll All Nite, KISS
Werewolves of London, Warren Zevon
Surrender, Cheap Trick
Bang the Drum All Day, Todd Rundgren
We Will Rock You, Queen
That 70’s Show Theme, Cheap Trick
Down Under, Men at Work
Lump, The Presidents of the United States
Born in the USA, Bruce Springsteen
Cum on feel the noise, Quiet Riot
I fought the Law, the Clash
Ob La Di, Ob La Da, the Beatles
Big Balls AC/DC

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