Tag: Offset

Can we just get along?

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Life is not always how we thought nor visioned it would be. There are a lot of personal experiences YHC could pull from, but as I reflect back to our COT, who would have thought that we would have another mass shooting at a concert – less than 2 weeks after Pittsburgh’s??

*jump ahead to COT* As we circled up and voiced our praises and prayers (which I will list at the end), I mentioned the need to continue to pray for Pittsburgh and the need for all people – no matter what color, race, or religion – to just get along when one of the PAX mentioned that there was another mass shooting the night before. My heart sank. How? Why?

It doesn’t make sense. As I sat in my  aunt & uncle’s house in Pittsburgh 2 Saturday’s ago watching the local coverage of the synagogue mass shooting, seeing my aunt’s face of shock, crying, confusion, I began to realize that we may never have it the way we vision. Forgive me for harping on this, but as some know, my extended family in Pittsburgh are Jewish. It was the most surreal experience knowing that my cousin and her husband live in Squirrel Hill, 3 blocks from the synagogue (luckily that was not their synagogue) and seeing the devastation. Unfortunately, for my cousin’s husband, unfortunate news arrived late Saturday night as 2 of the deceased were extended family members of his. Sunday, they televised a local memorial service where they had clergy from all religions speak. The message: we are all one community. This, this is the vision our GOD has for us all, not what we thought we needed, bought, nor material stuff we have, but to be true good stewards of our neighbors – Love one another. Forget color, race or religion, we are all one in this community and the vision for us all should be to make peace with everyone, live in a world without hate, terror, wrongful deaths….etc….

Now that I vented (my apologies), the morning started with a nice crisp cool morning. As PAX rolled in, all eyes turned to one of the last cars pulling in; a white Accord blasting hip-hop music, the driver head bobbing to the beat (thanks for the entertainment mixxmaster Flat Tire). This definitely got the PAX fired up. Plus 2 PAX were stupid or courageous (not sure which) to don rucks. After posting in Pittsburgh 2 weeks ago at the Point State Park AO, the Q that morning broke out a WO from one of our local AOs in Lake Norman – Sharknato. Ever since then, I thought, wow this would be a good one to lead next time I Q.

So after a mossy to the band field, we circled up and did COP. Yes YHC lead off with SSH’s, so I can now omit that from any future Qs. Each PAX would do 20 merkins & run a lap around the field, 20 squats & run the lap, 20 LBCs & run the lap, and 20 V ups & run the lap. Once that cycle was done, rinse and repeat until time for COT. Halfway through the AO, Pusher did a smart audible and relocated to the student parking lot since FMHS band members started to pull in to load up for their trip to Indy for the marching band nationals. We ended 5 mins early to do 5 minutes of mary.

COT prayers: Sir Topham Hat’s brother in-law who is a member of the Pittsburgh SWAT and was one of the first responder’s who had to witness the situation first hand, Frat Boy’s daughter in her upcoming cheer leading competition,  MOAB’s need for children’s clothing for their 2 foster kids, and all the rest that I seem to have forgotten – sorry.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead this awesome group of #HIM

Trucker

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1+1=Terrible Downpainment

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19 Pax descended on Block Party including 3 for Pathfinder for an old school beatdown by YHC and Mash. Little did YHC know when I suggested to Mash that he co-Q with me that it would be his 50th Birthday at Block Party #Respect.

Mash and I have been friends for many years and I already had tons of respect for him. He is a good Christian, Husband and Father coupled with being a military veteran. Our children are the same age so we have lots in common. More importantly, he has demonstrated being a true #HIM since joining the Fort several years ago.

The Thang

Full Disclaimer

Mash on Q – Mosey out

COP – lots of chatter here…I may have been contributing

SSH

Moroccan Night Clubs

Windmills

Merkins x 15 (YEAH!)

Mosey to gravel lot and partner up

Dora 1,2,3

100 Merkins

200 Flutters

300 SSHs

Pusher on Q – Mosey to hill

Bear crawl up hill – #turrible

Dirty McDeuce powered by Halloween Candy

Side Note: Avg American eats 3.4 pounds of candy on Halloween; Candy has calories (duh!); 1 minute of Burpees equals approximately 10 calories;

All exercises IC x 12; Calories are based on “Fun Size” portions

Starburst (40 cals) – Squats

Skittles (63 cals) – LBCs

M&Ms (73 cals) – Wide Arm

Take a lap

Kit Kat (70 cals) – Jumping Lunge

Snickers (80 cals) – Flutters

Twix (80 cals) – Carolina Dry Docks

Take a lap

Reeses Cup (90 cals) – Bomb Jacks

Baby Ruth ( 85 cals) – Freddy Mercury

Butterfinger ( 85 cals) – Diamond Merkins

Take a lap

York Patty ( 50 cals) – Burpees

Crunch ( 60 cals) – Rosalita

Hershey ( 63 cals) – Burpees

Mosey Home

 

Moleskin:

  • Happy #Respect Birthday to Mash
  • Christmas Party on 12/1/18
  • Pre Christmas Drop In on 11/2/18 with Shady at Armor Artis
  • Be a HIM in your community…lots of examples were shared
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Block Party – Smoothing the Stones

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Today at the Block Party I was ready to have a namesake beatdown with Cinder Blocks and all the fun of them. So the wienke was made and the plan was to utilize the blocks at Honey Badger Central or Den or the Coop or whatever they are calling NAFO these days. At 0430 I left to go get the blocks and find there are no blocks to be found. It seems the FMSD has taken our blocks away……again!!

After quick conversation with the Darkest of Helmets I had to call….Omaha…..Omaha!!! Was not too bad to change some of the exercise moves and YHC was ready to roll.

15 PAX arrived and I was excited for the turnout at WEP. Its an original AO and one of our best and so love to see the PAX still coming. We had 13 bootcamp and 3 runners for Pathfinder and at 0515 away we all went.

Mosey up the Stairway to Heaven

  • Al Gore
  • Merkins (Stealth)

Mosey along path

  • Al Gore
  • Merkins (Stealth)
  • Low Slow Squat

Mosey along path

  • Al Gore
  • Merkins (Stealth)
  • Low Slow Squat
  • Windmills

Mosey along path

  • Al Gore
  • Merkins (Stealth)
  • Low Slow Squat
  • Imperial Walkers

The Main event

List of 10 exercises, 100 reps cumulative with Partner

Partner  1 runs around Playground, Partner 2 exercise move…..working the list

  • Squats
  • Merkins
  • Lunge (50 each leg)
  • Swing Crunches
  • Pullups
  • Step ups (100 each leg)
  • Dips
  • Toe Taps
  • Derkins
  • Leg Raises

Nice work by all the PAX. FNG, Liquidate, did great and fun was had by all!!

I talked to the men about David and Goliath and when David chose 5 smooth stones there was a reason. Smooth stones would fly straight and accurate versus those with edges and odd shape. The stones were smooth from being in the water and rubbing against each other over years and smoothing each other out. We as men need each other to help us shoot straight and face our Goliath. By surrounding ourselves with PAX that want to get better and live for something bigger than ourselves, we will all get smoothed out and be able to fly straight and stay on path. Get those trusted advisers in your life and GET BETTER!

Cake Boss

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Laces In / Out : Garbage IN Garbage OUT! and The Class of……

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13 men showed up at FMHS for some get better positive habits.

4 runners hit the track with Sir Double D doing some mile repeats…..ouch!!

9 others followed YHC off campus to the local Catholic Church for some ladder climbing

The Thang:

Mosey out of FMHS lot up hill to St Phillip Neri lot and COP

  • Plank
  • SSH
  • Merkins
  • Moroccan Night Clubs
  • Sumo Squats
  • Peter Parker
  • Parker Peter
  • Toy Soldiers
  • Shuffle left
  • Shuffle right
  • Mosey to back of church building
  • Dips
  • Calf Raises

9 Stations building on each

1 – 5 burpees, run
2 – 5 burpees, 10 ‘merkins, bearcrawl
3 – 5 burpees, 10 ‘merkins, 15 LBCs, run
4 – 5 burpees, 10 ‘merkins, 15 LBCs, , 20 dry docks, bearcrawl
5 – 5 burpees, 10 ‘merkins, 15 LBCs, , 20 dry docks, 25 squats, run
6 – 5 burpees, 10 ‘merkins, 15 LBCs, , 20 dry docks, 25 squats, 1 minute plank, bearcrawl
7 – 5 burpees, 10 ‘merkins, 15 LBCs, , 20 dry docks, 25 squats, 1 minute plank, 30 American Hammers, run
8 – 5 burpees, 10 ‘merkins, 15 LBCs, , 20 dry docks, 25 squats, 1 minute plank, 30 American Hammers, 35 shoulder presses in peoples chair, run
9 – 5 burpees, 10 ‘merkins, 15 LBCs, , 20 dry docks, 25 squats, 1 minute plank, 30 American Hammers, 35 shoulder presses in peoples chair, 40 side straddle hops, run to COT

 

COT:

Circle up with runners and hit up the announcements

  • 10/27 – Fastest 5k & F3 Soccer
  • 12/1 – Fort Christmas Party

Prayers for Jwow travel and Double D nephew/family.

Spoke about all the hours in the day and if we are filling our heads with trash, trash will come out. It is in the form of negative outlook, pessimism, depression. Instead fill yourself with encouraging positive productive things and don’t feed off of the culture…..it only lies to us which leads to disappointment. Connect with Sky Q often and find out his plan for you and how to navigate this crazy life!!

Thanks Lil E for the Q!! Humbled and Honored!

Cake Boss out

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Block Party Beast Beatdown

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YHC was excited to get the reminder of my pending Q at Block Party. You see, it’s been a bit since I’ve Q’d and I haven’t been as committed to my First F as I should. Would I be dying trying to call cadence? What exercises should we do? Would anybody even show up? After a restless night of sleep, I got up, picked up my boy Atticus, and cruised to the spot where it all started in The Fort…WEP! One of my questions was answered right away as cars started rolling in the parking lot. And they kept coming. Seeing all the PAX (18 in total!) definitely humbled me and got my Qdrenaline flowing. After a quick disclaimer, we took off.

THE THANG

Mosey to the first mile marker with some high knees and butt kickers thrown in. Plank series at the marker, flip to crab for some dips (crab dip?), and back for more planks. Merkins and then back to moseying.

We stopped at each marker and did more stuff including but not limited to squats, LBC’s, wide arm merkins, mountain climbers, Peter Parkers, etc.

After completing the circle, we headed over to the brick wall at the UC Synergetic visitor parking lot on 160. Everybody grabbed a seat on the wall and watched while the guy on the end burpee broad jumped his way to the other end of the group and took a seat. Everybody got a turn and great fun was had critiquing form and jumping ability.
Next up was a bear crawl race up the big grassy hill to the main parking lot. While catching our breath, YHC talked about the word of the month, Encouragement. I shared that Barnabus was one of my favorite men of the Bible. Acts 4:36 tells us his name means “son of encouragement”. That’s exactly what he was during his missionary journeys with Paul. I want to be an encourager and our kids certainly need that from us. Some of the best words you can say to your kids: You got what it takes! I believe in you! The challenge to encourage someone that day was issued.
Next up was the meat of the workout, THE BEAST.
The Beast = 6 stations, 6 exercises at each station, 6 rounds. After each round, plank up and wait for the 6.
1st round – jumping lunges
2 – Freddy Mercury
3 – Low Country Crabs
4 – American Hammers
5 – Flutter Kicks? I can’t really remember?
6 – Burpees (crowd pleaser)
A quick look at the watch indicated 3 minutes till 6 so jailbreak to COT

Announcements
We had a lot. Christmas Party, upcoming workout, CAH volunteer opportunities, etc. As they say, read your newsletter
Prayers and praises were shared and Chicken Hawk closed up out.
Thanks Shady for giving me the opportunity to Q! I needed the kick in the pants to get back out there and I loved every minute of it.
AYE!
Flat Tire

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Hurricane Michael

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I heard the rain from Hurricane Michael pounding my windows right before the alarm clock went off. If it weren’t for Lil E and the Pax, I would have fartsacked. The Pax in attendance were actually looking forward to the storm. We stood against the rain and got stronger.

The Thang:

COP: SSH (30x), IW (20x), WM (15x), Sumo Squats (15x), MC (20x).

Mosey to the hill near the stadium to add inertia and do the following exercises.

  1. 100 Yard Dash
  2. Jumping Squats (2x)
  3. Big Boy Sit Ups (3x)
  4. Pepper Grinders (4x)
  5. Burpees (5x)
  6. LBCs (6x)
  7. Sumo Squats (7x)
  8. Heels to Heaven (8x)
  9. Dips (9x)
  10. Calf raises (10x)
  11. Merkins (11x)
  12. Penguins (12x)

COP: V-ups (15x), Scorpions (15x), Windshield Wipers (7x), Peter Parkers (15x)

Moleskin:

We live in a hero-centered society. More attention and accolades are focused on the player verse the team, the “I” and “me” instead of we. At times, people who show humility are perceived as weak.

So why should we remain humble?

The answer is because God can do more with a humble heart.

A man who lacks humility tends to be arrogant with a heart that’s hard as rock. How can God plant seeds on their hard soil?

A man with with a humble heart tend to grateful for with an open mind and heart. God can plant many seeds that bear fruit with their soft soil.

James 4:10 ~ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

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Run, run, run. Do some things. And then run some more. Grass is wet.

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The Thang:

 

Mosey up Munn Street to the other side of the school.

A few warm up exercises in the parking lot.

Partner up for accountability and run the LARGE half circle stopping three times to do 10 burpees, 20 merkins, 40 lbcs at each stop.

The complaining..errr…mumblechatter started.

Nice soft grass was found on the lacrosse field along with 2 tires.  Two groups lined up.  One line ran carrying the smaller tire while the other line rolled the tractor tire the length of the field.  The remaining Pax did a series of exercises until their turn.

Complaining.

A nice lil mosey o a wall for some sits and BTTW.

Another run and then 150 calf raises (50 regular/50 toes in/50 toes out)

Lots of complaining.

Ran back to COT for a quick round of Mary.

The End.

My message was short but hopefully is remembered when life happens – there is opportunity in change.  Look for the good side and embrace what that can mean for you.

As always an honor to lead the men of The Fort, esp on the day we honored Dark Visor who passed away yesterday in Alpharetta at a workout.

Until next time….

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Is Your Lamp Consistently Lit?

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It was an honor to be asked by Maximus to Q a Beyond Workout and after many days of juggling other commitments on the calendar, we ended up at Laces In. Thank you Lil’ E for allowing us to move in on your territory on this date. This Q was not that difficult to build as I have had plenty of time to work on it. Also, this BackBlast is a little different with the NMM at the beginning. The rest is below.

I had previously asked the PAX to warmup before the start time. However, just in case there were some who showed up cold, we did a quick warmup with 5 Burpees & 20 SSH’s in Cadence.

Let’s Go Beyond!

NMM

I Cor. 15:58 ‘Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.’

In the age of trains and cars, but before automatic crossing gates, the incidence of trains and cars intersecting at the railroad crossing often delivered disastrous results. Drivers of cars never seemed to see the train coming. The continued disruption with trains and cars brought forth the creation of the crossing guard position. The crossing guard was in a shack by the railroad crossing 24/7, with the train schedule, a lantern and the task of being on the road, at the crossing, waving a lantern to warn cars that a train was coming through.
One dark and stormy night, even with a crossing guard on duty, another tragic crash occurred. A lawsuit was filed by the aggrieved party (car). Who was at fault in this tragedy? Was it the car? Train? Crossing guard?
As the lawsuit proceeded in court, the judge begins his line of questioning to the crossing guard, “Were you there that night?”
Under oath the crossing guard replies, “Yes.”
Continuing with his line of questioning, the judge continues, “Did you have your train schedule?”
To which the crossing guard replies, “Yes.”
“Were you standing in the road at the appropriate time waving your lantern?” asks the judge.
“Yes,” replies the crossing guard.
The judge rules and finds in favor of the railroad, no damages and they were not liable for the tragedy. Upon leaving the courtroom, a spectator hears the crossing guard say, “Whew, sure am glad they didn’t ask whether the lamp was lit.” Moral to the story, don’t forget to ask if the lamp was lit. The judge asked the crossing guard all kinds of questions, but he did not ask the obvious, “Was the lamp lit?”
As we go through life, we are given many opportunities to ‘wave our lanterns’. Opportunities at home, at church, at work, in the community, etc. As a Christian, I can carry my Bible, act morally, share with my F3 brothers, those at work and in my home. I can attend church and participate in all sorts of ministries through the it and outside of it. However, if I do all of these things without my lamp being consistently lit, I do them in vain.
 
The verse from I Corinthians says we should always abound in the work of the Lord. It does not say, when you are at work, abound; or when you are at a workout, abound; at church, abound. It says ALWAYS.
This is something I think about regularly. It is easy for me to be joyful with my F3 brothers, those at my church, and even those at work. It is also easy to discuss salvation and what it means to me.
However, I am not as consistent when it comes to my own home. We get on a good roll, but it always seems that busyness and life takes over, and the first thing that is affected is my joyfulness at home and good discussions on our faith. So, as I start each day, I ask God to grant me a day where I can be a light for him no matter where I am at or who I face, especially at home. I have to request this because I know I need his help.
Are you waving a lantern that is not lit today? Is your lamp lit in most places, but not in some? Where do you need to ask for help from God and your F3 brothers to help you keep your lamp lit consistently?
Always abound in the work of the Lord, and your work will not be in vain. Make sure you are not just waving your lantern. Make sure your lamp is consistently lit.

WARMUP

See above.

THE THANG

After the warmup YHC requested that the PAX perform 5 burpees. From that point to the end of the WO we performed 5 burpees at the beginning of each round of exercises and at the end, with the exception of a few.

We quickly moseyed over the the large parking lot where I requested that the PAX circle up and perform the following in cadence: Merkins, CDD’s, Alternating Lunges, and V-Ups.
We took another quick mosey another parking lot where we performed Wide Arm Merkins, Pike Presses, Low Slow Squats, and American Hammers.
We took another quick mosey another parking lot where we performed Diamond Merkins, Dips, Low Slow Jump Squats, and LBC’s.
We took another quick mosey another to the front of the stadium we performed Hand Release Merkins, CDD’s, Alternating Jump Lunges, & Big Boy SitUps.
Then we took a mosey over to the Stadium and a small wall where we performed: Irkins, Dips, Step-Ups, & Derkins.
Then we took a mosey back to the COT for some blast off merkins, squats, and big boy sit-ups while I discussed the NMM.

The burpees were the constant in everything and if I forgot them, the PAX reminded me we didn’t perform them. As we went through the workout and I had some time, which was limited, I spoke about the NMM while doing planks or Al Gore’s. The completion came at the end.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Read Your Newsletter.

Hurricane Florence Relief Efforts-Watch Twitter.

Sept. 29-6-Yr. Birthday Convergence at The Fort-0600.

Oct. 13-Poverty Simulation-0900-1200/First Baptist Church Fort Mill.

CAH and G-Fit Workouts this weekend.

PRAYERS/PRAISES

Injured PAX.

Our Families.

 

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What was that?

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What a beautiful, yet dark morning at Block Party (WEP). Great spirits this morning from the “Oceans 7” crew. Subtheme: “Do your best and forget the rest.”

Everyone did a truly great job for a workout that kept one on his toes. It started right at 5:15am with a disclosure while moving. Then working directly into your standard Straight Up “Ya never know what u are gonna get but it will always be a full body” warm-up for 10 minutes. Crowd favorites were Ab Vigoda and the Rolling Crucifix.

The Thang:

We practically sprinted over to the visitor parking lot in front of the business building a few blocks away and proceeded with plenty of Bear Crawls, Muscle ups (lots), Backwards Bear Crawls, Low Frog Hops, Alternating Side Shuffles, Sprints, Burpees, Merkins, and X-Jumps just to name a few. 5 second count between 2-3 back-to-back exercises. Lots of heavy breathing. Crowd favorite for this part was “The Absolute Worst Ever Berkin” (wide merkin, standard merkin, diamond merkin, Burpee up, Burpee down, diamond merkin, standard merkin, wide merkin – all jumping “push-ups”) – and that was the first rep . . . we won’t tell you how many we did . . . I can tell you it was not 1.

We moseyed over to the WEP playground where we proceeded to do some lunge walks. Then we entered into something that I did not see a lot of smiles about:

“P is for Pink Mini-Workout” (Yes, I brought out the white board but only had a PINK marker borrowed from my wife). Subcaption: “What R U Thinkin’?” setting this workout up inside of a workout?

  • Walk on 5 “Balance Beams” without falling over
  • 10 Derkins
  • 15 Full hands in-the-air Burpees (these were Band Camp’s favorite; they had his name written all over it)
  • 20 Full extension Chin-ups
  • 25 Deep Dips
  • 30 Seconds Balls to the Wall (or playround equipment)

We then proceeded to run toward COT but we were not done. A little surprise, or maybe yet another surprise, for the group this morning: up the hill Indian Bear Crawls while rotating thrusting and then throwing a 72 lb sandbag. We moved/threw the sandbag up the hill as a group and then down the hill. Plank position held while the bear crawler and the sandbag thrower did there thang. A “yukky” exercise.

We ended with 90 seconds of kick-through burpees in cadence minus the last 20 seconds where we pushed it OYO.

I can’t believe we got all that done in 35 minutes after a 10 minute warm-up.

Thanks again, Shady, for the opportunity!

COT: General Announcements, Praises, Prayers, Gave thanks to God who gives us so many things

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Laces In – 9.20.18

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14 strong at LacesIn on a great morning.  All tolerated a few of YHC’s favorite exercises.

Warm up

Short mosey and circle up for the usual suspects.

  • SSH
  • Windmill
  • Imperial Walkers
  • Merkins
  • Squats
  • Peter Parker
  • Parker Peter

The Thang

Mosey over the band lot and line up on the goal line for the following

  • Lunge walk 50 yards. Stop every ten yards for 10 squats.
  • Bear Crawl remaining 50 yards and 10 CDDs every ten yards.
  • Crabwalk back 50 yards with 10 LBCs every ten yards.
  • Burpee broad jump remaining 50 yards.
  • Theee rounds of suicides to the 10, 20, and 30

 

Mosey to base of hill at the entrance to parking lot from Munn Road and do the following:

  • 10 singe count Merkins, 10 sumo squats IC, 20 Freddy mercury IC. Run to third light pole and back.
  • 10 single count diamond Merkins, 10 monkey humpers IC, 20 Flutters IC. Run to top of hill and jog back down
  • 10 single count wide Merkins, 10 bombjacks, 10 hello dollies IC. Run to top of hill and jog back down.

Mosey back to start for a few minutes of Mary

COT

Announcements

Prayers/Praises

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