Parking lots, Stairs, 4 Corners & a Couple of Thoughts

19 Showed up to take the DRP.  After a quick disclaimer and Q check for FNGs, we were off on a slow mosey.

Warm-Up 

Slow mosey to upper portion of back parking lot of FBFM.

Windmill x 10

Moroccan Night Clubs x 15

Low Slow Squat x 10

Imp Walker x 10

SSH x 15

Cherry Pickers x 10

Merkins x 10

The Thang

Mosey down to lower part of parking lot

Overhead Claps x 10

Lunge x 10

Moroccan Night Clubs x 15

Squat x 10

Flutters x 10

Moroccan Night Clubs x 10

Overhead Claps x 25

Wall Sit , Arms High, Several 10 counts

Mosey across street, down stairs to lower lot.

4 corners with a stair climb and descent after each round

Round 1 x 10

Round 2 x 15

Round 3 x 20

Merkin

Flutter

CDD

American Hammers

Mosey to COT for Mary

Mary was Dealer’s Choice (5 minutes)

Windshield Wipers

Weezy Jeffersons

Freddy Mercurys

Flutters

Hello Dollys

NMM 

YHC asked everyone to consider whether they have a relationship with their Lord and Savior….or just their Savior. A lot of us (YHC included!!) forget the Lord part of the relationship. For Him to truly be your Lord, you must surrender all to Him and be willing to have your life disrupted for His purpose. Easier said than done. Based on the response from the PAX, this is a topic that should be discussed often.   Also, touching on the monthly theme of Presence, are we really present with our M and 2.0s?   Are we just “there” or do they really feel our “presence”?

Honored and humbled, as always, to lead such a great group of leaders.

SYITG

Beacon

 

 

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BEYOND the JOY

I’m sitting down to write this BB and literally can’t do what I challenged the PAX with at this morning’s BEYOND workout. Eliminate the distractions. Oh, what’s this text say, how about this tweet mention (can’t miss that), work email really needs my immediate response, man those kids left their cereal bowls on the counter, what time are we leaving today, etc, etc, etc. At times it can be funny but others, it can be really frustrating. I allow myself to continuously chase progress and other tasks rather than finding joy in where I am. It then leads to what you’ll read about later…burnout.

So there you have it, this BEYOND post will be focused on a struggle many of us face and that is running from joy, not finding joy where we are or honestly, not being a joy to spend time with. That latter one has been my challenge over these last several years because of those first two.

On to it. Car after car after car rolled into the Hive parking lot and you know the feeling, the feeling of way more cars than you were expecting. It doesn’t happen often but when it does, it gives you that kick in the pants, that extra motivation, that reminder of why you put your feet on the floor in the 4 o’clock hour. That’s what I was blessed to experience this beautiful morning as 33 other men, men that have pushed me over the years, men I’ve looked up to over the years, men who are about to bust it right along side me as we embark on something that typically looks better on paper. But that’s the idea, to push ourselves BEYOND our sense of normalcy both physically and mentally.

Funhouse escorted a group of 5 PAX for his killer initiative of RYAOA (T-claps on keeping that going) and the rest of us, 29 to be exact, circled up. After a quick explanation of BEYOND for the rookies and the search for any FNG’s, we discussed the plan with the weight, either Kettle Bell or Ruck…your choice. What I just realized, and to which nobody held be accountable, was that I forgot the all-important disclaimer. Men, never do that again. DO NOT START A WORKOUT WITHOUT A DISCLAIMER. You don’t have to be an attorney but verbalize the basics.

Starting on the curb nearest the tennis courts, run to the other side of the parking lot at 50% then 25% back. 10 Squats, 5 Burpee Broad Jumps then run to the other side at 75% then 25% back. 15 Diamond Merkins, 5 Burpee Broad Jumps then 100% to the other side followed by 100% back.

Switzer up for the first part of the discussion. I read the following definition: “Feeling of great pleasure & happiness.” After a few likely words were tossed out when I asked what word that defines, we got to the word of the day, JOY. I’m sure guys were wondering why in the world we’re talking about joy at an F3 workout, what kind of soft, starbucky-hands nonsense is this? That exact reason is the reason we’re discussing this word. It’s a word and feeling we don’t allow ourselves to enjoy often enough. There are people I enjoy being around and things I like doing but do I truly find joy in those situations? Said differently, do I enjoy being around those people or being in those moments and perhaps more importantly, do people find joy in being around me? Over these last few years, I’ve been operating like a hard-ass, focusing on task completion and moving from one thing to another. I can tell you, I’ve not been a joy to be around. While I was in it, I didn’t even realize it. How did I get here? Really, how do I get out of it?

That said, we split up into 4 groups, 1 for each corner of the large parking lot. In each corner, we did 10 Man Makers with your weight of choice. What varies is your mode of transportation between the corners.

  1. Lunge walks with the weight overhead.
  2. Bear crawl and transport the weight by any means necessary.
  3. Reverse lunge walks with weight overhead or held out front. (This was definitely better on paper as many of us had to modify to a bear hugging of the weight.)
  4. 4 Kettle Bell swings or Ruck swings followed by 4 walking steps.

After 3 of these 4, time got away from me and I had to audible and bring the group back to the center of the lot. As mentioned before, us task-completers run from one half-baked focus to another and we rob ourselves of contentment and joy in the moment. After weeks, months or years of doing this, we inevitably get burned out. Very rarely does something positive come after this stage. However, here in the gloom of our Hive AO here, burn out means something different. I was hoping to have 15mins left at this point but as it was, we had 6 and only got part of the way (you see, I tried to fill the schedule with too much and didn’t complete what I intended). See the irony?

  1. 21 Curls in cadence (3ct down, 1 up)
  2. 21 Flutter Presses in cadence
  3. 21 LBC in cadence
  4. 15 Overhead presses in cadence (b/c I didn’t have what it took to get to 21)

Closeout: We have a hard time refocusing once something bad happens or if it’s not bad, just something that temporarily knocks us off our trajectory. Oddly enough, our kids do a better job of getting back on track than we do. If something negative happens to you during the course of the day, how quickly are you able to course-correct? Are you able to move on from a less-than-positive comment made about you and not let it affect the rest of your day? Watch your kids and take note. Watch them get in a disagreement with a sibling, maybe pout, then start playing or hanging out with them 1-2hrs later. Could you imagine what it’d be like if we dusted ourselves off and went back at it? There’s joy in overcoming.

Listening to a podcast yesterday where Rob O’Neill was being interviewed, he briefly touched on this by saying something that hit me like a 50lb Kettle Bell across the bridge of the nose. A little background, Mr. O’Neill is the Operator on Seal Team 6 who fired the shot that killed the most wanted terrorist of all time, OBL. I’ve been fascinated by our military and specifically, SF, for years and imagine how quickly they need to pivot on a decision and adjust to chart a new course. His comment was this when discussing attitudes, “Are you having a bad day or did you have a bad moment that you’re milking into a bad day.” Don’t shake that off, marinate on that for a while and it might just change how you respond in that next bad moment.

Tesh, I appreciate your willingness to let me run BEYOND at the Hive.

Men of F3, I’m humbled by your company this morning and every morning you allow me to state my hospital name, age and F3 name.

No man left behind but leave no man where you found him.

Maximus

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The Encore at Slowburn

What is the Al Girdle reference? Maybe I heard it wrong, my hearing is a bit sketch (metal shows). I googled the heck out of it, and crickets … someone help a brother out next time I see you.

Lets get to it, 2 days, 2 what I hoped were moderish/noterate work outs, but it’s possible that my 100% is 50% from Gilmore-esque PAX. Either way, it was keep’em moving and mix up the exercises, I guess I’ll just keep doing it until there are no invites.

The Thang,

Mosey to the far side of Lowes, circle up, OH Claps x 15, LBCs x 15, Windmill x 10, 2 burpees OYO, Mor NC x 15, Shoulder Tap x 15, Weed Puller x 10, 2 burpees OYO, Dying Cockroach x 15, LSS x 15, Travolta x 10, 2 burpees OYO

Mosey to the other side of Lowes, circle up, CDD x 15, Richard Simmons x 10, Arm high 1/2 situps x 10, 2 burpees OYO, Scorpion DD x 12, Imperial Walker x 12, Flutter x 10, 2 burpees OYO, Mahktar N’Diayes x 10, Hillbilly Walker x 10, Heels to Heaven x 10, 2 burpees OYO

Mosey to the lot in front of Empire Pizza, 4 stop suicides, 10 reps at each stop
Scorpion DD
Scorpion DD, LBCs
Scorpion DD, LBCs, Donkey Kicks
Scorpion DD, LBCs, Donkey Kicks, Bombjacks

Line up and move from one end of the lot to the other side: Karaoke L, Karaoke R, High Knees, Butt Kickers, Moset, 50% run, 75% run, 100% run

Another round of suicides, 4 stops, 10 reps at each stop
CDD
CDD, BB Situps
CDD, BB Situps, Mahktar N’Diayes
CDD, BB Situps, Mahktar N’Diayes, Burpees

Circle up: Dog Petter x 10, Jump Squats x 10, Freddie Mercury x 10, OH Claps x 21, 3 burpees OYO, Rosalita x 10, 3 burpees OYO, Monkey Humpers x 10, Hand Release Merkins x 10 OYO, Flap Jacks x 10, Back to COT.

Looks like we made it,

Barry Manilow

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Not a lot of Running, He Says…

YHC started off a muggy morning disclaimer proclaiming that we would not be doing a lot of distance-running, which was interpreted by the PAX as we would not be doing a lot of distance, running or for some of those more hopeful, that we would not be running at all. False, although strength was the focus some running (1.7miles) was built in.

Warm-Up

  • Quick mosey around the lot
  • Circle up w/ Bells for:
    • 10 Swings
    • 20sec Around the World, reverse direction for 20sec
    • 20sec Figure  8’s, 20sec reverse direction

The KB Thang

  • KB Strength Movement/Suicide Combo – PAX would perform reps of called KB movement followed by a suicide in the parking lot. After each round of KB/Suicides, PAX advance forward 1 parking lot line, decreasing the distance of suicides. Called KB movements in order to the best of my memory:
    1. KB Swings x20
    2. Goblet Squats x10
    3. American (Overhead) Swings x10
    4. Shoulder Press (Right) x10
    5. Shoulder Press (Left) x10
    6. Bent-over Rows x20 (10x each side)
    7. Clean and Press x10 (5x each side)
  • Tabata Round
    • 20sec on, 10 sec off for 8 sets, alternating KB Swings and Bombjacks
  • Gauntlet
    • Perform all  exercises and reps from the KB Strength Movement/Suicide Combo  in succession. No suicide in between, but rather the 6inch Plank
  • The Closer
    • 10 KB Swings, 10 Burpees
    • 8 KB Swings, 8 Burpees
    • 6, 4, 2,

SWOLEskin

Nice work by a steeerong  and sweaty group this  beautiful muggy morning. Thanks to Polaroid for providing the tunes for this morning’s shred session, your speaker game is on point.  A lot of guys pushing hard this morning, from Skate or Die showing the speed on the suicides to Pinup finishing his final burpee set during COT. Way to get up and make your morning count.

Annoucements

  • Bolt takes the Tomahawk reigns next week
  • Check out Skate or Die on Twitter for an opportunity to win either a Ford Mustang or Jeep. Fundraiser by the Nation Ford HS Baseball team working to leave a legacy with new facilities for future classes.
  • Reach out to Assassin in regards to mowing the Life Center (if I’m wrong correct me in the comments section)  Weekly sign-up. Polaroid working to knock it out this week

Over & Out

-General

 

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CSPAN Send off Convergence

141 Men came to show the Respectable**CSPAN** some Respect!!

He leaves The Fort and heads north or as Dredd refers to Yankee land. Not gone forever but just up the road 600 miles to start a new chapter in life and in F3 as he will launch F3Philly.

I am not the most eloquent with my back-blasts and I am usually to the point with posting the workout, add some words and being done, however since I can’t get Italian Job to write this up and Double D challenged the PAX to think of one word to represent CSAPN, I think that is the best way to document this convergence.

Thank you CSPAN for being all of these things and more to you r brothers in the PAX. As posted on Twitter and many of these were repeated multiple times:

brother
camaraderie
commitment
confidence
connected
consistent
courageous
dedicated
empathetic
example
genuine
handsome
HIM
honorable
humble
humility
impact
influence
influencer
insightful
inspiration
integrity
investor
legend
magnanimous
model
respect
selfless
servant
shepherd
solid
squaredaway
steadfast
steady
wise

The Workout looked like this:

WWL at the Q:

  • Mosey around the lot
  • Line up; karaoke, side shuffle, high knees, butt kickers, toy solders, lungewalk, power skips
  • COP
    • SSH, squat, merkin, moroccan night club, 10 Flying squirrels
Double D at the Q:
  • Run to practice field
  • Plank sequence
  • Split into 2 groups on each sideline
  • Sprint to center and back to sideline
  • Monkey humpers x25
  • Rinse + repeat with Merkins x 25
  • CDDs x25
  • Burpees x25
Longshanks at the Q:
  • Burpees
  • Lunges
  • Inch worm Merkins
  • Maktar Ndiayes
  • Plank Jacks
  • Squats.

Dredd at the Q:

  • Prayer for CSPAN
  • Merkin/Ab Lab series
  • Truth Nuggets and Leadership development with Major Payne, Wegmans, & Drop Thrill
  • Mosey to hill behind Bob Jones Stadium
  • Prayer for CSPAN heading to F3Philly…..”CSPAN Coming”
  • More Merkin/Ab lab series

COT:

141 Count, Name O’rama, 2 FNGs (Bikini & Manzel), Skinny Jeans pray out over CSPAN and his IMPACT on men and for Sky Q’s kingdom.

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A Moderate Ballroom Dance

Honored to Q The Ballroom, thanks to Short Sale and 13 PAX

5:15 and one coming in hot, wait or go? and we’re off

Mosey to the lot on the other side of the school, circle up
10 x Hillbilly Walker, 10 x Windmill, 20 x MN Club, 15 x LBC, 10 x Imperial Walker, 10 x Weed Puller, 20 x OH Claps, 10 x Dying Cockroach

Mosey around to the back of the school near the bridge, circle up
10 x Stationary Toy Soldiers, 10 x Richard Simmons, 10 x L S Squat, 10 x Hello Dolly, 10 x Travolta, 10 x Scorpion DD

Mosey across the bridge and around the outside of the football field to the cinder block lot
Back and forth across the lot
Karaoke L, Karaoke R, High Knees, Power Skip, Butt Kickers, 1/2 Squat Walker:1/2 Jog it out, 1/2 Bear Crawl:1/2 jog it out, 50%, 75%, 100%

To the edge of the lot for suicides
20 x OH Claps
20 x OH Claps, 10 x Donkey Kicks
20 x OH Claps, 10 x Donkey Kicks, 10 x Squat Jumps
20 x OH Claps, 10 x Donkey Kicks, 10 x Squat Jumps, 10 x HR Merkins

Walking 10 count to the other side of the lot for a different perspective
20 x MN Club
20 x MN Club, 10 Plank Jacks
20 x MN Club, 10 Plank Jacks, 10 x Monkey Humpers
20 x MN Club, 10 Plank Jacks, 10 x Monkey Humpers, 10 x Makhtar N’ Diayes

One more time ish
20 x Arm Circles
20 x Arm Circles, 5 x  Flying Squirrels
20 x Arm Circles, 5 x Flying Squirrels, 10 ea Stationary Lunge

Mosey back the long way, around the outside of the field, across the bridge, back near COT for some Mary, 10 x LBCs, 10 x Freddie Mercury, !0 x Travolta

Looks like we made it,

Barry Manilow

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Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Burpees

A sticky, pre-July 4th convergence group showed at THE Ballroom. The Pax answered the Siren Song published on the Twitter machine put out by YHC. Pleasantries exchanged, disclaimer was disclaimed. Let get to it.

Mosey to other side of the school for :

COP:

  • Seal Jacks * 25
  • HILLBILLY WALKER * 15
  • Merkins * 10
  • Squats * 15
  • Wide Arm Merkins * 10
  • Windmills * 15
  • SSH * 20
  • Mountain Climbers*15
  • MOROCCAN NIGHTCLUBS * 20

3 BURPEES OYO

MOSEY to HILL on side of school; Jacobs’ Ladder 10s- 1st set-LBCs at bottom, SSHs at top. No  2nd Set was added as the Q had forgotten how large this hill can be.

THOUGHTS ON LIBERTY- Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.– John Kennedy

CONSIDER THE MANY FREEDOMS THAT WE TAKE FOR GRANTED, LIKE TRAVELLING THE COUNTRY FREELY. PRAY FOR THOSE IN THE WORLD WHO ARE BEING IMPRISONED FOR SEEKING THE SAME FREEDOMS

MOSEY TO the back wall of the School  FOR TABATA- 1 MINUTE AMRAP EACH EXERCISE, 30 SEC REST. , SQUATS, MERKINS, LBCs, CALF RAISES, FLYING SQUIRRELS, MNCs, Freddie, CRAB CAKES, MONKEY HUMPERS, SSH. The Crab Cakes were the real crowd pleaser.

Mosey to COT: Announcements, Prayers for everyone’s safety on the 4th, Bullwinkle and family, Kids staying safe in summertime. 

Need to get on more Q schedules as it’s always an honor to serve the Fort Pax.

Let’s get out there and make an Impact.

Short Sale Signing Off.  

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A Strong House is Built with HEAVY METAL

7 Gathered for Giant Sets in a body builder type workout focused on each muscle group followed by a circle of power with two burnout exercises as PAX alternated.  Rep counts to the right on the grid.

Warmup:  Side Straddle hops, low slow burpess, front straddle seal hops, wide, normal, diamond merkins.

Shoulders Bi’s Legs
5 Front Raise 1KneeCurl Front Lunge
10 Press Reg Curl Sissy Squat
15 Upright Row 1Hammer Squat
5 Front Raise 1KneeCurl Back Lunge
Circle of Power Bus Driver Lucky7Curl Calf Raise
Dynamic10 Bear Crawl Gorilla WalkL Sprint
Chest Core Back Tri
5 Side Fly Am Hammer Pullover Kickback L/R
10 1-2-3 Dolly Lawnmower Overhead Press
15 Press Crunch Plank Row Skullcrusher
5 Side Fly Am Hammer Pullover Kickback L/R
Circle of Power 1/2Merk Hold Boat Back Merk Dips
Dynamic10 Superman Pump Goofballs Gorilla WalkR Crab Walk

Announcements:  Sweti, New Tomakawk, Bermuda Triagle,

Prayers:  Gratitude for a great new day and the pax that attended, healing for the sick, wisdom to start the week.

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Core Work at The Coop

There was a 2 year celebration going on at one of the AO’s so when a bus pulled up next to our COP, I jokingly told the guys we’d be bussing over to that AO to workout with them.  We really had no clue why there was a District 4 bus there, though.

0515 hit and we jumped into The Warmup:
25 SSH IC
Mosey to another area of the lot
25 SSH IC
Mosey to another area of the lot
25 SSH IC
Mosey back to where we started
10 Weed Pullers
10 Tempo Squats
10 Tempo Merkins
Mosey down the hill towards SCES and back up the hill to the Pullup Bars

Partner Up

Partner 1 planks while Partner 2 Dead Hangs for 1 minute.
Swap positions and repeat.
Partner 1 does Wheezy Jeffersons while Partner 2 does Hanging Leg Raises for 1 minute.
Swap positions and repeat.

Mosey down to Sugar Creek’s Basketball Court
Bear Crawl to other side of court, plank for the 6
Reverse Bear Crawl to other side of court, plank for the 6

Impact Talk – Sugar Creek Elementary is where I feel I make the most impact. I’m on the PTO and serve at the school enough that a lot of parents think I actually work there.  Connecting with the kids, giving fist bumps, making them feel like they are where they belong.  The smiles, bumps, and hugs I get in return make me know I’m making an impact at the school.

Mosey to Bus Loop Overhang for a few rounds of core work:
1. 25 Dying Cockroaches
Run a lap
2. 30 Rosalita’s
Run a lap
3. 35 Flutters
Run a lap
4. 25 Makhtar N’Diayes
Walk a Victory lap and we got to hear CSPAN’s story on Impact.  It was great!

We had 5 minutes left before needing to head back to COT so I broke out my go-to 5 minute beatdown: Chumbawumba’s Tubthumping
Burpee on “I get knocked down but I get up again”
Moroccan Nightclub’s when the chick sings
SSH when the dude sings/talks
It’s fun.

A slower mosey back up to COT to close us out.  The bus driver was still there waiting on students.  He arrived right before we started at 0515 and was patiently waiting to begin his job. Wowzers.  He wouldn’t join us.

Prayers for Pinup, Foley, BTB, and all those Pax hurting and tired.

Thank you, Wegmans.  I love any opportunity I get to Q.

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Audible! Dora 1-1-1, Concentrica and Impact

5 gathered just as the lights came on at DBES for a KB workout to start the week off right.  After choosing our tunes (Southern Rock at the Q’s request), we were off.

Mosey around the parking lot (without Bells) and back for warm-up.

SSH x 10

Windmills x 10

Moroccan Night Clubs x 10

Imperial Walker x 10

Squat x 10

Peter Parker x 10

Parker Peter x 10

The Thang 

Time to grab your KB and get after it.   YHC had planned for us to partner up a complete a Dora 1-2-3. With just 5 PAX, I decided to audible and adjust the rep count.

Complete the exercise (or a portion of it) and mosey across the parking lot, down to second light and back. Less reps = more running, but we all appreciated a break and most ran at the halfway point of total reps. Rep s are TOTAL, not per arm.

Lawn Mowers x 100

Curls x 100

Tricep Extensions x 100

The “10 count” portion of this workout was talking about the Shield Lock and Concentrica, where your priorities should be versus where they are. If you haven’t listened to the Concentrica podcast (or even if you have), I recommend you give it a listen. I also recommend the Minivan Centurions post.

Squats x 10

Dips x 10

Step-Ups x 10

Shoulder Presses x 10

KB Swings x 10

Mosey to COT for Mary

Flutter x 10

Hello Dolly x 10

Rosalita x 10 LBC x 10

Naked-Man Moleskin 

We talked  about the monthly theme of Impact.  We all impact others, whether we do it intentionally or not.  Where are we having an impact?  Is it the type of impact we want to make ?  Is it negative (change/improve)? What are you allowing to impact you (positive/negative)?

Focusing on the ‘Concentrica’ that you have, think about where you spend your resources, time and energy. You will know where your priorities are if you think about which priority receives the bulk of those resources. If it’s where you want it to be, great!  Help someone else striaghten there’s out. If it’s not, get to work.

COT 

Continued prayers for Badger’s family, Bob the Builder, all PAX on the IR, PAX suffering from illness. Hold each other and yourself to a higher standard. To hold someone accountable, we must first be accountable. Iron isn’t sharpened on a soft stone.

Thanks to Polaroid for the opportunity. See you in the gloom!

 

Beacon

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