Four Corner Beatdown

Today at The Colosseum we had nine PAX for a four corner beatdown. We did my customary short mosey and warmed up with some Tappy Taps, Imperial Walkers, Windmills and Morrocan NC.

The Beatdown consisted of Three rounds of three exercises 25x , 20x, 15x at each designated corner with 5 burpees in the center on your return from a corner.

Corner 1: Merkins, Flutters, Squats

Corner 2:Wide Arm Merkins, LBC, Mountain Climbers

Corner 3: Diamond Merkins, BBS, Calf Raises

Corner 4: CDD, American Hammers, Box Cutters

Another quick mosey to COT and the beatdown was over

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Round 2 at Laces In

Lack of creativity? Potentially. Simple yet effective? Undoubtedly. That could be how I describe several stages of my life.

Yesterday at the JOC, we did round 1 of the Deck of Cards. Whenever you have a round 1, you have to have a round 2. Taking yesterday’s learnings on clock management, I modified the warm-up, flapped the gums a little less and up’d the tempo. That would ensure we get through the deck this time.

We had a total of 20 at Laces, with 2 of those being Road Runners. The other 17 joined me as we circled up.

River Rat got to hear this twice but I shared what Billy Bob said on the Roundtable podcast recently about modifications. You can always modify as needed BUT do not use that as an excuse to not push yourself. It’s appropriate in so many areas of life and it was appropriate for the PAX & I this morning.

So, we jogged over to the start line for our abbreviated warm up consisting of (2) 50yd runs at 50% pace and 75% pace. We followed that up with windmills in cadence and butt kickers in place, also in cadence. And that was it for our warm up.

For the 1st-timers, the deck goes like this, your rep count is the number on the card, 2-10 are obvious, Jacks=11, Queens=12, Kings=13, Aces=14. Suits represent the following exercises:

Hearts: 8ct Burpee (It’s a burpee with a plank jack & the push up)
Diamonds: 4ct Mountain Climbers
Clubs: Jump Squats
Spades: Diamond Merkins
Jokers: (25) 4ct Flutters

In total, we did:
(104) 8ct Burpees
(104) 4ct Mountain Climbers
(104) Jump Squats
(104) Diamond Merkins
We had 3 Jokers in the deck so that is (75) Flutters, of the 4ct variety

We finished the deck at 0551 so we had 9mins left on the clock which was filled with:
(30) Flutters
(12) Hand-Release Merkins
(15) American Hammers

4 more 50yd runs at 50%, 75%, 100%, 75%

Moseyed back to COT for:
Heels to Heavens
Freddy Mercury

COT today was pretty powerful for me. We had men that brought some real stuff today that they are walking through life with. As we say, you are not meant to carry this on your own; that would crumble any man. You have been called and designed to lead but the best leaders have a group they work with. In F3, we call that group a Shield Lock.
Remember, sometimes you need to modify the game plan. However, DO NOT use that modification as an excuse to not give it your all.

It’s been my honor.
Maximus

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Self Scouting and Kotter Fest @ THE Ballroom

17 (or 18) hearty Fort Pax unpartook of the fartsack to join their brothers at Ballroom. Amazed to see some Kotters (like Free Bird and Deep Dish) as I pulled in. Always exciting to see some of the boys come back to the Gloom just like it’s exciting when new faces show up. Bro hugs ensued.

At the appointed hour, Disclaimer was given and we were off to the other side of PKMS for:

Warm-O-Rama ; Seal Jacks, Merkins/Plank series/Imperial walker, Squats, LBCs. MNCs. Then a nice mosey to the football field for:

The Thang;

7 of diamonds – 7 Plank Jacks in each corner of the field, Bear Crawl to Goal Post then Lunge Walk. Run Length of field 2nd Lap- 7 Plank Jacks & 14 Squats- Got some of the newer Pax to call the cadence, getting ’em ready.

To the track – Partner up, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN -3 BURPEES/PARTNER. RUN BACKWARDS AROUND TRACK. Round 2-5 Bombjacks, but run forwards.

Some Words ON Self Scouting in the New Year- Take to time to look back at your year with an eye towards improving in some area in 2020. Learn form your past mistakes but don’t let them define your trajectory. Your History is not your Destiny.

Back to FIELD – Captain Thor Lite – 1 Weezy, 4 Am Hammers then Jack Webb (6 rounds). Mosey to COT. Announcements- One Word Convergence, Grapevine Takeover. Prayers for healing Pax, Lost loved ones, marriages.

Great group this morning, Honored to Serve these fine men.

Shortest Of All Sales.

 

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Twitter Burpee Challenge

There is something about twitter and Slack (your welcome Crab Cakes) where you get to poke the bear and start a rash of replies about which AO is better, which one will have more PAX post, and who’s WO will SUCK more. Your YHC tried to create an unofficial convergence by calling out multiple PAX, and then Punch List took it to another level and would do burpees if additional PAX would post….Stang where were you???? Your Vols are bowl eligible, you should be posting now that you can be seen without getting grief. Actually where were all those PAX who were called out??? Disappointing, we all wanted to see Punch List do 100 burpees 🙁

The 12 PAX who did post were not disappointed.

The Thang:

Warm up with toy soldiers along roadway for 2 light pole lengths (longer than I thought), return with knee ups and lunges.  Circle up for COP – some windmills (Dirty Harry loves these!), Imperial Walkers, Hillbilly Walkers, Slow Squats, and merkings. Mossy past the pull up bars….PAX were shocked we didn’t stop there….they just didn’t know what as in store for them…to the bottom of the hill for round 2 of COP. Moroccan nightclubs, overhead claps, and toe touches.

Mossy up the hill to the pull up bars. Time for the real thing. Dora 400! Partner up. As a duo, 60 pull-ups with a challenge that each PAX does 20 true pull-ups (not using the foot rests). 100 merkins, 150 squats, and 200 LBCs. I know, this does not total 400….The other partner runs to the bottom of the hill and back.

Each PAX was then required to do 10 true pull-ups and 10 toe touches, while resting wall sits. Once completed, 5 more pull-ups. Can’t get better without doing them and they are the best exercise out there!!

Mossy to crosswalk and sprint to next crosswalk. Finish with 3 minutes of Marry.

Appreciate the opportunity to lead and push PAX on pull-ups, thanks Punch List.

Read the newsletter!

Prayers for Cash and Karrie who are fighting cancer….you can do it!

Trucker out

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Site vs Site

Well the Site vs Site was CRAZY good thanks to some excellent leadership on both sides of the workout. 0500 launch, 6 Q’s (3 from fire ant, 3 from golden corral) took 10 minutes each. Lutefisk forgot how to flip a coin but managed to have it land in favor of fire ant going first.  The first fire ant Q was Router who took us through a ruck run/pain station. Next up was golden corral’s first Q Mile High who took us on a sprint-fest in the back of HT with some wall work on the legs. Fire ant Q #2 was Cha Ching who put us through some nasty ruck reps.  Golden corral put Bones in charge of some repeating leg work by the green olive – some funky squat jumps that didn’t feel good.  Spiderman finished the fire ant lineup with a terrible idea of bear crawl/crawl bear for what seemed like eternity while the partner did reps with the ruck.  Lutefisk finished it up with the final golden corral Q by starting, and staying, in the plank position for the duration of his 10 minutes.  Dark Helmet notable threw in the towel and to make himself feel better he poked the Q.  I will not forget.  Welcome FNG Thigh Master (not Jane Fonda) but he’s from New York so evidently it’s OK to drop F-bombs whenever and wherever.  All in all 30 PAX came out for a nasty beatdown that was surely a crowd pleaser.  It was an honor to be a part of it and special thank you to the Q’s for stepping up and all of you ruckers for bringing us some extra gear to use.

Final tally of the votes: Fire Ant 15, Golden Corral 11, Tie 3, Bonsai = disqualified for his answer

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12 Days of Christmas

Today at the Ranch I had the pleasure of leading nine men in a 12 days of Christmas Beatdown. I know its a week before Thanksgiving but like everyone else we will skip to Christmas.

We started with a warm up of Windmills, Tappy Taps, SSH and Moroccan NC and then we moseyed to the back playground for some real fun.

Our 12 Days of Christmas :

1 BURPEE

2 MERKINS

3 SQUATS

4 MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS

5 BIG BOY’S

6 FLUTTERS

7 DIAMOND MERKINS

8 LBC’S

9 BOX CUTTERS

10 CDD

11 AMERICAN HAMMERS

12 WIDE ARM MERKINS

OH!!  I forgot there was a lap around the loop after every day. There was some singing and some complaining as well.

We ended with some Mary and Two Ruckers joined us for  COT!!

Thanks Jiffy for letting me lead these fine men.

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8 Extra Pounds

Twelve of Fort Mill’s finest met at the Harris Teeter on a perfect late fall morning.  While two set off for a ruck workout, the other 10 joined YHC and here is what they did:

Take a big loop around the HT parking lot and meet up at the white VW near the back of the lot.  Everyone pick up two bricks and mosey to the Green Olive Grille for COP:

Circle up and drop your bricks for SSH x 25 and 10 windmills.  Pick up your bricks and everyone in cadence for:  merkin x 10, squat x 15, imperial walker x 20, jump squat x 10, LBC x 20, hello dolly x 20, American hammer x 20 , diamond merkin x 10, Morrocan nightclub x 20.

Mosey to the back of the main parking lot, put your bricks into a pile, and then mosey to the front of Harris Teeter (about 50 yds).   Form two groups of 5.   The first group runs to the pile, picks up a brick, and runs back to the start point.  The second group does the same.  Rinse and repeat and until all the bricks are moved.   Once all the bricks are moved, repeat with two bricks per person and move the bricks to the start point (full disclosure – this was not how this was supposed to go!)

Mosey back to Green Olive grille and circle up for Jack Webb  (1:4).   We got to 7 merkins and 28 overheads with bricks before YHC’s form started to fail.

ABLAB with bricks:

Flying flutter x 20, V-up x 10, Superman hold x 3, X’s and O’s x 10.  Close with the body destroyer.

COT

I’ve been away from this AO for a while and it was good to see many new faces this morning.  What perfect weather for a boot camp!  Dark Helmut and Olaf provided the usual chatter  – thank you, gentlemen.    It was a pleasure to lead the Pax today and I hope you enjoyed the workout.

Announcements, Prayers, Praises:

Read your newsletter:   Saturday convergence at The Fort, Thanksgiving convergence, Xmas party all coming up.

Prayers for:  Kenyan and his family, a family member with recurring cancer, Olaf on his Spartan race.

 

 

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A cool, Shady, 38 degree Special morning

11 PAX woke up on a cool Saturday morning in November of 2019. Little did any of them know that immediately after the disclaimer they would be headed for the much maligned Tega Cay Drive hill of pain.

The mosey immediately headed that way as YHC (38 Special) led the PAX down the hill. Everyone circled up for 25 SSH, 15 Low Slow Squats, and 15 mountain climbers.  Some good Saturday morning mumblechatter including some compliments about the length of certain PAX’s shorts and the decade in which they might have been procured.  That was plenty “warm up”.

The Thang: Part 1

PAX counted off by 2’s. 2’s were instructed to run the 150M hill backwards. Team 1 to lag behind so eyes were going forward and backward. YHC was pleased to hear Team 1 offer quality mumblechatter on the way up in the way of encouragement.

At the top of the hill, everyone ran back down and Team 1 took their turn to run backwards while Team 2 pulled mumblechatter duty.  Now that every quad was suitably inflamed it was time for phase two of part one.

Until YHC’s time was out, we would run 11’s.  Starting behind the western baseball diamond, double count stepups. Run the roughly 100m to to the benches just before the pullup bars and do burpees.  If, somehow, anyone were to finish, it would have added 2k to their bragging rights. Some got to 4 step ups left, others 6.

YHC used the last minute of his time to speak briefly about pushing oneself in order for the group. The above was selected not because I could kill it, but because I knew I could do it with commitment, and without killing myself, and sorta, maybe tried to encourage others to do the same.

The Thang: Part 2

Shady took over and wasted no time running the PAX over the baseball field and into the parking lot, stopping near the playground.  Everyone paired up for what Shady said would be your ‘basic’ Dora. There was a brief lament about the lack of bricks when one of the PAX brought to everyone’s attention that there were some large rocks at the bottom of the trail.

If YHC were a geologist, he’d have called these rocks “boulders” (any rock with a diameter of > 25.6cm)…

Run back up the trail and into the playground.  Round one of the Dora was
100 – Hand Release Merkins
200 – Shoulder (boulder) Press
300 – Flutter

YHC wants to point out that the first two parts of that set were brutal.

When the set was over, Shady spoke to the PAX about his word of the year and encouraged everyone to think about theirs again. Some of the PAX talked briefly about their words as well. After this 10 count was concluded it was time to move onto round two.
100 – Incline rows
200 – Boulder curls
300 – LBC

YHC would also like to point out that the incline rows, while being sufficiently difficult, made some of the PAX look utterly ridiculous, and as most of us know, PAX would allow any of their brothers to look that ridiculous without drawing a great deal of attention to the fact.  It’s just good manners.

Time ran out during the LBCs and there was one more run down into the woods to return their boulders to their homes.  Joined up at COT.

Announcements: Thanksgiving convergence on 11/28 @The Ranch, HTL convergence on 11/23 @WEP and the Christmas Party 12/6 ~Baxter area. Everyone who knows Kenyan is invited to join the celebration of Life for his departed wife that morning.

There were also some prayers and praises lifted up to Sky Q’s consideration.

The PAX dispersed…

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Footloose in Fort Mill

Five men met in downtown Ft. Mill for a boot camp workout on a brisk South Carolina morning.  Here is what they did:

Warm up with some walking stretches:  knee to chest, ankle to waist, lunge twists, toy soldiers, and arm circles.  Mosey along Monroe White Street to Tom Hall and head towards Maint Street.

Circle up in the Kimbrell’s parking lot.  All in cadence:

SSH x 20,  windmill x 10, merkin x 7, squat x 20, mountain climber x 15/hold plank/right and left arm and leg high/hold/6″/regular/6″/regular 5 merkins, LBC x 15, IW x 15, Morrocan night club x 25 while walking along Main St.

Mosey on Main Street, take a left onto Confederate,  and assume people’s chair along the building across from the Improper Pig (take in the smell of smoked meat…)

Hold People’s chair with overhead arm claps.  Recover and then BTTW and hold until all pax did a 10 count.  Repeat this two more times.

Mosey to the side walk along Millstone Park, find a partner.

R1:  Partner 1 runs up the hill and does 10 merkins, while partner 2 does SSH’s

R2:  Partner 1 runs up the hill and does 10 bombjacks while partner 2 does squats

R3:  Partner 1 runs up the hill and does 10 burpees while partner 2 does calf raises.

R4:  Everyone together, bear crawl up the hill and do 10 merkins in cadence.

R5:  Repeat R4

Mosey to the Ft. Mill Police parking lot for ABLAB:

Freddie Merc x 15, flutter x 15, American hammer x 15, Superman x 3.

End with the body destroyer

COT

Naked Man Moleskin

It was pretty cold this morning.  When I arrived at the church, there were a handful of cars in the lot and no one was outside.   I started stretching outside and thought the guys would come out and join me, but no takers.  No one left their car until about 5:14 and I actually had to coax Uhaul out of his car so we could start the workout.

Once we got moving,  though, everyone warmed up pretty well.  We moved through town and took advantage of the buildings, lots, and green spaces available in the area.  This was my first Q at Footloose and it was fun to explore this great AO.   Welcome back, Kotter:  I had not seen Lil’E in a long time and it turns out he’s been on an extended fartsack leave.  Good to have you back, brother and let’s keep it going.  It was a pleasure to lead the group today.  T-claps to Boss Hogg who went for a solo walk this morning, but re-joined us at precisely 6:00 on the dot.   That’s impressive timing my friend.  Anchorman and Barry Manilow finished their run and met us for COT.

Announcements, prayers, and praises:

Read  your newsletter.

Prayers for Kenyan and his family.

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Disco inferno with DJ Twister

Twister was up to getting the group awake this am with some 70s TV trivia which is good for the respect crowd but very challenging for those of us born in the late 70s…and even an 80s in there.  Since YHC controlled the weinke but not the jams, all was good.  Disclaimer was given as the sweet melodies of 80s rock played in the background, and a brisk mosey ensued to the track.

Warmup of SSH, windmills, imperial and hillbilly walkers, merkins, low slow squats for counts ranging from 10-25 got the blood flowing.

Boss Hogg took off for loops on the track given the nursing on the shoulder while the rest of us counted off in 2 splitting into groups.  Here’s the game: name the 70s TV show tune played by DJ Twister and avoid the 5 burpee penalty.  While you’re thinking of the song, do the name of the exercise called off by Shady below with a minimum and maximum number associated (this was adjusted very quickly b/c some people watched a lot of TV growing up!)

  • 10 hand release merkins
  • 20 squats (10 min)
  • 25 CDD (10 min)
  • 30 lunges (10 min)
  • 50 plank shoulder taps (20 min)
  • 40 ski jumps (20 min)
  • 60 calve raises (30 min) – out/reg/in
  • 20 diamonds (10 min)
  • 50 SSH (25 min)
  • 25 merkins (10 min)
  • 40 mountain climbers (20 min)
  • 30 American hammers (20 min)
  • 30 plank jacks (15 min)
  • 50 LBC (25 min)

We rinse and repeated through most of the list but the minimums were removed a second time through.  With about 15 min left, we ran around the track stopping at each 100 yard corner where we did some core (for the most part).  1st corner was 50 LBC, 2nd corner was 20 big boy (and some monkey humpers for our our track walkers passing by), 3rd corner was 30 American hammers, and 4th and final was 30 flutters.

With about 5-10 min remaining, we took our last bit of time to the football field.  Lining up on the goal line, we ran back and forth from the goal line to the 10 yard, back to goal then to 20…all the way to 40 yard line.  At each 10-40 yard line, we did 1 burpee for 10 yard up to 4 burpee at 40 (so a total of 10 burpees + the running for those of you who struggle with quick math!).  Once back on the line, there was time for a 10 count along with a message about being intentional.  Be intentional with the exercise, be intentional with your kids at home and at their activities, be intentional with your wife – pay attention to them!

Once everyone caught their breath, we rinse and repeated the lines and burpees – crowd favorite!  Once said and done, we did a mosey back to COT for closing ceremonies.  All in all, great morning and great push from the PAX.  Enjoyed it as usual and thanks to Manziel for the opportunity!!

Shady

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