Growing Up @ Varsity

A steady rain fell as 7 PAX exited their vehicles at about 0514 and a quick disclaimer as we moseyed to find cover near high school entrance.

 

Sasquatch led us through 15 minutes of contortion that can best be described as pain pretzels.  Sasquatch nailed the balance poses, the rest of us sure tried hard.
At 0530, the reigns were turned over and the premise for the bootcamp was shared with the PAX.  My 3rd (and final) 2.0 turned 5yo this past week, so this beatdown was brought to us by the number 5 and inspired by the progression of his life thus far.
– Newborn:  feeding then pat the back until you get a nice BURPee…
5 quick burpees to get the blood flowing
– 6 months:  things get real interesting once they start crawling…
5 bear crawl laps around awning pillars at school entrance (after 3/4 of first lap i realized 5 may have been a little aggressive but we made it through)
-9 months: they are gaining balance and they start sitting…
Wall sit w/ MNC x10 (IC)
Wall sit w/ alternating heal raise x10 (IC)
Mosey (out into the rain) to pullup bars
-12 months: they are gaining arm and leg strength.  They push/pull/struggle to stand up on own…
5 rounds
5 pullups, 10 merkins, 15 air squats, run down to stop sign and back
Mosey back to covered high school entrance
-2 to 3 years: terrible 2s lead to laying on ground, flailing, and lots of grunting….
5 minutes of Mary. 5ish exercises. LBCs, peter parkers, nap time (Fishsticks knew we needed a break), Leg Lifts, V ups
End at 0600.
CoT under awning.  video-less Name-o-Rama/Announcements/prayers/praises
NMM
Pretty sure i heard a couple “this sucks” and at least one “cant wait to see what is next now that my arms, shoulders and legs are toast” so I think that means it was a good workout?  Bear crawls and pullups are not exercises I excel at, but I chose to put them in today to challenge myself and get better and hopefully that was the same for the other PAX (Sasquatch may have broke a sweat?).
Each year my 2.0s get older, I stress about whether or not I am raising them right and question if I should be doing things differently or if I am being too hard on the older ones or too easy on the younger ones.  Who knows.  Raising kids is tough. So, let’s all take time to cherish the special moments as they come because time flies and they get old quick!
SYITG
-Badlands
PS- my geography teacher lied – I guess it does actually rain in the Badlands.
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3 Stations on Repeat

Ring of Fire welcomed 10 PAX with one having to modify due to injury.
It’s Groundhog Day for anyone attending to those matters so rather than just going through the motions, be focused and intentional with your actions, starting with today’s workout.

Head over to the band parking lot for a few warmup exercises.
Run to the 50, 2 burpees, run to the other end, 2 burpees
Nur to the 50, 2 burpees, nur back to the start, 2 burpees

Explanation of our 3 stations to be executed with a partner

Station 1 at the band lot
10 Jump Squats and 20 Calf Raises

Run to station 2 at the pull up bars
10 Pull Ups and 20 Diamond Merkins

Run to station 3 at the elementary school parking lot at the bottom of the hill
10 X’s & O’s and 20 American Hammers

When you finish with station 3, nur up the hill back to station 2, to complete station 2 then run back to station 1. Repeat until time expires.

Hey Kaiser, we missed you.
SYITG
Maximus

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Today’s Workout Brought to You by the #12 & Alan Magee

It was a chilly morning at Honey Badger, but 8 showed up to honor a WWII hero, Alan Magee

January 3rd is the anniversary of one of the most amazing tales of survival from WWII. It was #OTD in 1943 that the B-17F Flying Fortress, “snap! crackle! pop!”, of the 360th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group, was lost on a daylight raid over Saint-Nazaire, France. Aboard was ball turret gunner Alan Magee.
Despite 28 shrapnel wounds, Magee had left his ball turret when it was damaged by German flak. He discovered his parachute had been shredded by the same flak and was useless. Just then, another flak hit then blew off a section of the right wing, causing the aircraft to enter an unrecoverable spin. Magee blacked out from lack of oxygen because of the high altitude and was thrown clear of the aircraft. He fell over four miles without a chute before crashing through the glass roof of the St. Nazaire railroad station. Rescuers found him on the floor of the station severely injured but alive.
Magee was taken as a prisoner of war and given medical treatment by the Germans. He recovered and was liberated in May 1945. He received the Air Medal and the Purple Heart. He passed away in 2003 at the age of 84.
We warmed up with 12 reps of SSH, Mountain Climbers, Merkins, and Windmills.
The Thang:
Buy in 17 burpees
Run 1200m
43 Merkins
43 LBC’s
43 Plank Jacks
Run 800m
21 Merkins
21 LBC’s
21 Plank Jacks
Run 400
11 Merkins
11 LBC’s
11 Plank Jacks
Buy out 17 burpees
After everyone completed the WOD, we moved on to the bars and blocks
12 pull-ups
Wall sit for 45 seconds
6 pull-up
Wall sits for 24 seconds
3 pull-ups
Wall sits for  12 seconds
We picked up the blocks.
12 reps of OHP, curls, squats, big boys, and chest press
Overhead carry the block down the hill to the stop sign.
6 reps of the aforementioned set
Overhead carry the block back up the hill.
Set of 3 reps
Finished with some Mary.
The number 12 had special meaning today as tomorrow (1/25) marks 1 year since I donated my kidney.  It’s been quite the year and I’m thrilled to report that Petra, my recipient, it doing great!  I learned about Alan Magee from Facebook and I also learned of Petra’s need from FB.  Yes, there are a lot of terrible things on social media, but there are some pretty awesome things out there too.  As @DarkHelment mentioned, it’s all about how you use it.
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VarsityDay – Bodywash and Sasquatch edition

Six pax showed up on a chilly Friday morning for some broga and a little beatdown.  After giving the disclaimer we moseyed over near the school entrance where there was some better lighting.
Sasqatch led a quick 5-minute warm up with some broga.

The group then moseyed over to the band lot for burpee suicides.  We only did one suicide at the start/end vs. ascending with each additional distance.

When complete, we moved over to the adjacent lot and paired up for a DORA with:
100 merkins
200 squats
300 LBCs

From here we went back to the school entrance and finished off with another 10 minutes of Broga.

Lastly we headed back to COT.

It was great to to see some PAX I hadn’t had the chance to meet before!

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Multitasking is not a thing……

As we all know we live in an overstimulated world…We are constantly bombarded with demands, tasks, responsibilities, fake news :), and distractions. There is more information and access available at our fingertips than ever before yet we are more drained and burned out as a society. We struggle to live in the present moment and to stay focused on things that matter. We get sucked into playing whack a mole on a daily basis. Work, chores, errands, kids, wife, family, etc. etc. Our phones beep and buzz about every 30 seconds and the email inbox is constantly filling up.  There is no more margin…

We discussed at COT how multitasking is somewhat glorified in our culture today.  I heard someone speak the other day about a term called “monotasking” and it captured my attention.  Actually learning to focus on doing one thing at a time.  Why the hell is that so hard?  What would actually happen if we were to focus on one task at a time, one conversation at a time, one project at a time.  Like actually eating your lunch at work without reading email or working, actually paying attention to the person speaking on your zoom call, shutting down your inbox and silencing your phone to work on a project.  I think that is where we can learn to actually find life in the present.  Reading the Gospels this is exactly what Jesus did.  He was never in a hurry, took time for prayer when the world was screaming for his attention (including his posse), was extremely present in the moment, and focused on doing one thing at a time.  Food for thought.   

Oh yeah…we did a workout.  Here it is.

Warm up – Side straddle hops, quad stretches, imperial walkers, overhead claps

The Thang – 

Suicides on the football field 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and then run 100 yards.  Nurr back to goal line.

Ring of Fire (or Rectangle of Fire). Start center field with 5 burpees.  Run diagonal to each 20 yard line and do 20 reps of an exercise.  Run back to center and do 5 burpees at each transition.  Exercises include Merkins, Bobby Hurleys, V ups, CDDs.  Round 2 included wide arm merkins, squats, flutters, and overhead claps.

We then went back to the goal line and repeated suicides.

There was time remaining so we ran to the pull up bars for some fun.  20 dips, 20 curls with cindy, 5 pull ups, some wall sits, 25 dips, 25 curls with cindy, wall sits, finish with 5 more pull ups

Closed at COT

Prayers for Aquaman and his family, Prayers for Sawdust and his support of his fellow soldiers, Prayers for my wife Elizabeth’s Deviated Septum surgery and recovery.

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The Bradley and Hey Buddy WODs

First Honey Badger of the year – and so far the hardest.

Bradley

On January 3, 2010, while on a dismounted area reconnaissance patrol in the vicinity of Badvan village, his 13-man platoon-sized element was attacked by indirect mortar fire and an improvised explosive device. The initial attack threw an Airman and a Soldier into an adjacent creek, critically wounding the Airman and mortally wounding the Soldier. A second Soldier was mortally wounded and thrown 200 meters across the village by the blast. Airman Smith, without regard to his own safety, immediately rushed from his covered position, and into the waist-high water of the creek to save his fellow Airman and recover the killed Soldier. After moving the victims of the improvised explosive device attack to the Casualty Collection Point, Airman Smith volunteered to retrieve the soldier thrown across the village. Determined to never leave a comrade behind, Airman Smith proceeded at extreme risk, and without regard to his personal safety, along the eastern edge of the village to the Soldier’s remains. Airman Smith retrieved the fallen Soldier and began maneuvering back through the village toward the extraction site. Airman Smith waded back through the waist-high creek and proceeded toward the Casualty Collection Point. Upon arrival, a second Improvised Explosive Device detonated, killing Airman Smith and the platoon medic instantly.

10 Rounds For TIme

100 meter Sprint

10 Pull-Ups

100 meter Sprint

10 Burpees

30 seconds Rest

 

We finished the Bradley with twenty or so much minutes to spare, so we jumped into the second planned hero WOD on the agenda.

Hey Buddy WOD

This hero workout is dedicated to Patrolman Christopher Mark Goodell of Waldwick, NJ, who died on July 17, 2014, due to a collision between a truck and his stationary unmarked police car. Chris’ badge number was 38, hence the 38 total repetitions per round (10/10/10/8). The 5 rounds represent the 5 years he served as an officer. Chris specifically liked running and bodyweight movements. “Hey Buddy” was Chris’ signature greeting.

250M Run (Buy-In)

5 Rounds: 

10x Lunges

10x Air Squats 

10x Sit Ups

8x Burpees

250M Run (Buy-Out)

 

’Twas an honor to lead this morning. Bonus was seeing Tube Sock after a few years.

Punch List out.

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B.L.O.C.K P.A.R.T.Y

7 men shunned the fartsack and tackled Block Party this glorious December morning. Disclaimer was disclaimed, a brief warmup was performed (SSHs, Low Slow Squats, and Imperial Walkers) then we were off. Here’s what we did:

  • Bat Wings – 20 forward arm circles, 20 backwards arm circles, 20 seal claps, 20 overhead claps – all in cadence)
  • LBCs – 20 (IC)
  • Outlaws – 15 (IC) left, 15 (IC) right
  • Carolina Dry Docks – 20 (IC)
  • Kraken Burpees – 20
  • Plank Destroyer – Begin in Plank position, perform a Makhtar N’Diaye ending back in Plank position, perform a Merkin, perform alternating Shoulder Taps, perform a Plank Jack. Back to your feet. 11 rounds
  • American Hammers – 15 (IC)
  • Rosalitas – 20 (IC)
  • Tempo Merkins – 10 (IC)
  • Y-rises – 20 (IC)

We ran from the park to Fort Mill Animal Hospital, to Fort Mill Town Hall, to First Baptist, to Fort Mill PD and repeated the loop twice  we added the Clebourne loop and one last trip up and down Main to finish with 2.36 miles.

NMM

Thanks for the opportunity to Q, Kermit. It is always an honor to lead the #HIM of the region and meet a couple new guys. Welcome back, Sawdust and pleasure to have our Charleston brother, Big Diff in the house. Great push this morning Badlands and Seamstress.
I teased this workout with low mileage and new exercises. I’m now feeling all the chest and shoulder work.
As we approach the new year, what are you planning to work on? Weight loss? A new job? What is the one thing you have put off year after year? What have you shelved because of fear of the unknown, lack of money, or perceived lack of experience? Why not try it in 2022? Worst case scenario- you learn something. Stop asking what if it doesn’t work out and start asking what if it did. You don’t want to look back on it and say I wish I would have. Don’t live with regret. Try and see.

-Italian Job

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Wegmans and Repeat at the Coop

Since this was Repeat’s 2nd VQ, YHC led the warmup. Nothing fancy. Nothing special.

Partnered up near JROTC building. P1 runs to the top of the loop, 25 Merkins whiles P2 is doing LBCs. Switch once P1 returns. Next is 25 bomb jacks and flutters. Last is 25 monkey humpers and Rosalitas. Hand off to Repeat.

Repeat ran us up near the band field. There is a covered walkway with lights. At the first light we did 5 Merkins and 5 LBCs. At the next light we added 5 to each exercise so 10 and so on and so forth. Repeat estimates we did roughly 280 reps of each exercise.
Thanks for the opportunity to lead Punchlist.

Wegmans

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Donkeys, Monkeys and Scorpions

15 fit dudes and on the other end of the spectrum … YHC on Q

This will hurt me more than it hurts you …

Mosey and circle up
Imperial Walker x 15 IC
LBC x 15 IC
Side SH x 15 IC
Shoulder Taps x 15 IC
HB Walker x 15 IC
Dying Cockroach x 15 IC
Overhead Claps x 30 or so IC
Travolta x 15 IC
Low SS x 15
Freddie x 15 IC
Windmill x 10 IC
HR Merkins x 10

Mosey to the grass
Makhtar N Diayes x 10 IC
Kneetar N Diayes x 10 IC

Mosey back to the big lot for suicides
Donkey K x 10
Donkey K x 10, Monkey H x 10
Donkey K x 10, Monkey H x 10, Scorpion DD x 10
then
Hand Touch Squats x 10
Hand Touch Squats x 10, HR Merkins x 10
Hand Touch Squats x 10, HR Merkins x 10, OH Claps x 10 IC

Line up on the end of the lot, exercise across the lot, stationary exercise, across and back
Squat Walkers, Carolina DD x 10 IC
Windmill Walkers, OH Claps x 20 or so IC
Karaoke L, Scorpion DD x 10 IC
Karaoke R, Morrocan NC x 15 or so IC
Toy Soldier, Shoulder Tap x 10 IC
Soccer Knees Out, OH Claps x 20 IC
Power Skip, Travolta x 10 IC
Bear Crawl, Morroccan NC x 15 or so IC

This again … suicides
Donkey K x 10
Donkey K x 10, Monkey H x 10
Donkey K x 10, Monkey H x 10, 10 x Scorpion DD

Calf Raises, 15 forward, 15 toes in, 15 toes out

To the grass for Jack Webb to 7 x 28

Back to COT

Looks like we made it,

Barry Manilow

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Like a Tapas Restaurant ?

Long Shanks and Spud did not even break a sweat, and I was spent.

Appearances by Jonah Hill and Matt Foley … and so it goes …

Mosey to Empire Pizza parking lot
Dynamic warm-up back and forth across the lot …
butt kickers, high knees, squat walkers, toy soldier, karaoke R, karaoke L, windmill walkers, knees to chest, soccer knees out, soccer knees in, bear crawl, power skip, 50%, 75%, 100%, Jonah Hill (3 broad jumps then 3 merkins x 7 times)

Circle Up
overhead claps x 25, LBCs x 15 LS squat x 15, travolta x 10, Mor NC x 25, dying cockroach x 15, stationary lunge x 15 each, shoulder tap x 10, overhead claps x 25, freddie x 15, monkey humpers x 15, mahktar n’diayes x 10, Mor NC x 25, HR merkins x 10, imp walker x 15, donkey kick x 10, over head claps x 25, heels to heaven x 10, hillbilly walker x 15, carolina DD x 10, Matt Foley (animated squats/dying cockroach, 1/4, 2/8, 3/12, 4/16, 5/20)

Modified Suicides
round 1: bear crawl to first stop, 5 burpees, bear crawl, 5 burpees, 10 merkins, bear crawl, 5 burpees, 10 merkins, 15 donkey kicks
round 2: 5 bombjacks, 5 bombjacks, 10 double shoulder taps, 5 bombjacks, 10 double shoulder taps, 15 jum squats

Circle Up
richard simmons x 15, LBC x 15, weed pullers x 15, SSH x 10

Thanks for the opportunity to lead Hootie!

Looks like we made it,
Barry Manilow

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