Tag: Splinter

Foosball @ Varsity – It’s more than a workout

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YHC was informed this was a HIIT AO, did some Googling night before, and drafted up a weinke that I believe would meet the requirement. Hard to avoid a football field or pull up bars, so decided to say yes to both.

Quick disclaimer and we’re off to the track.

Warmup
  • Run 200 meters & stop – following in so so cadence form:
    • Monkey Humpers – a Hardwood favorite BTW
    • Imperial Walkers –
    • Hill Billy Walkers
    • Cherry Pickers
    • Peter Parkers
    • Parker Peters – Shady was kind enough to call out I did Peter Parkers twice
    • Downward dog
    • Honey Mooner
    • Band Camp Stretches

Mosey 200 meters to end zone

The Thang(s)

Intent was to have sprints of varied distances followed by exercises as a “rest” period, followed by more sprints.

Quarter Pounder

Sprint to marker, do exercise, sprint back to end zone, then sprint to next marker. Increments of 25.

  • Sprint to 25 – 25 Vups & sprint back rinse and repeat…
  • 50 – Monkey Humpers
  • 75 – Mountain Climbers
  • 100 – Calf Raises

Red Barchetta

Very similar yet you start by sprinting 100 yards, conduct exercise, sprint back to end zone and plank for 6. Rinse and repeat down in 25s. Intent was to keep the group together.

  • 100 – SSHs
  • 75 – Should Taps
  • 50 – LBCs
  • 25 – Merkins
  • Bonus – sprint 10 yards, 10 burpees and sprint back

DMC

  • Duck walk to 10 yard line, 10 merkins, crawl bear back.
  • Duck walk to 20 yard line, 20 merkins, crawl bear back.
  • Duck walk to 30 yard line, 30 merkins, crawl bear back.

Human Hurdling

Read this in exicon and had to try. Break up into 2 teams, a race of sorts.

Starting in plank, 1 man sprints to 10 yard line and plank. Man #2 sprints to 20 yard line, hurdles man at 10 yard line and planks. Man #3 sprints to 30 yard line hurdling man #1 and man #2 along the way and planks. Rinse and repeat to the end zone followed by another rinse and repeat back to end zone.

About 15 minutes left and it was time for pull ups. Had a hill sprints w/ pullups at top and exercise on bottom for 5 rounds but decided to prioritize the burpee pull ups due to time constraints.

Burpee Pullups

Consulted w/ Johnny Utah night before and thought, this would be marvelous. After attempting to articulate and failing, turned it over to Johnny U to articulate much clearer.

  • 1 burpee followed by 1 pull-up or chin up
  • 1 burpee followed by 2 pull-ups or chin ups
  • Rinse and repeat staying w/ 1 burpee to 6 pull-ups or chin ups

Then reverse

  • 1 pullup/chin up 6 burpees
  • 1 pullup/chin up 5 burpees
  • etc…

4 minutes left, headed to COT for some Mary.

Announcements

Most announcements at a COT ever!

  • Rooster
  • Grow Ruck
  • Bacon Run
  • Waxhaw Trail run
  • Metro CSAUP

And probably others

Prayers for guidance on life decisions and selflessness, mental health, and enduring a season of lots of change.

NMM

It’s admittedly been a really tough week for my family and I, after some very long weeks, the last thing I want to do is draft up a weinke and Q the next morning. That’s me being honest.

Normally, I’m excited and enjoy creatively bringing the pain , but there’s not much gas in the tank, and my mind is elsewhere.

But you have an obligation and owe it to the PAX who decide to do the harder thing; there are expectations to be met.

As I rolled into the parking lot and saw the cars, my worries sort of vanished and the excitement crept in. For 45 minutes, we’re going to work hard, bust balls, and set aside our worries or share them knowing you have a brother there to support. We’ll all get better together and you’re not alone.

I took a look around at the very respectable HIM that posted this morning and was grateful because, whether or not they know it, they’ve taught me something and they push me to be better.

Embracing the suck in the gloom builds the character and durability to endure the challenges we face daily. It’s more than a workout.

 

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15

Movement

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14 Men, 45 Minutes, Goals Met.

The Thang:

COP Warmup:

  • SSH
  • IW
  • MNC

Mosey to Parking Round-a-bout, bear crawl the circle

Pearls on a String – 3 sets of each group after some distance.

Mosey

  • Merkins – 10
  • Monkey Humpers – 15
  • Dying Cockroach – 20

Mosey

  • MC – 10
  • Squats – 15
  • Flutter – 20

Mosey

  • CDD – 10
  • HB Squats – 15 (Crowd Pleaser)
  • Box Cutter – 20

Mosey to Pull-Up Bars,  Partner up

Partner 1 – 2 Pull-up Burpees
Partner 2 – Run the hill
Repeat 5 times

NMM:

Ring Of Fire Site Q request a verse that speaks to the Q.  Today mine was Ephesians 4:14-16, specifically focusing on how we are all fitted together for building up the body.  Seek to “know your role” and contribute where Sky Q has you.  You’ll make a bigger impact if you are working for his glory and not your own.

Finished with COT, Praise-o-rama.

Read your newsletter.

Honor to Serve.

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Hangin with Stang: Expectations

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So, to set the Expectations upfront, this won’t be as good as my last post 😉

Stang asked for someone to Q Hangin w/ Stang who had not yet done it.  So, seeing as I’ve never even been, I volunteered.  I don’t know if that’s a function of how much I miss you guys and want to get back out there or how much of a glutton for punishment I am to throw myself into the center of something I’ve never been a part of.  Those in attendance can decide which it was.

Fittingly, expectations were the topic that came to mind when Stang confirmed my appointment.  I’ve had a lot of those to work through recently.  I feel like expectations can be a blessing and a curse.  We have to first understand what we’re asking of others and what others are asking of us.  But more importantly, how was it communicated?  Was it fair?  Could it even be met?

I think expectations break into 3 real parts:

Expectations we have for ourselves.

Expectations we have thrust upon us.

Expectations we have of others.

Each one of these can have a dramatic effect on our relationships.  What happens to that relationship when expectations are not met?  This is true of the expectations we have of ourselves and how it affects our attitude.  How does the view of an employee or a direct report change when they don’t meet expectations?  What are you willing to do to make amends if you don’t meet someone’s expectations?

Many of us are driven men.  You’d have to be to get up before 5 am to do the things we do.  But how do we let our expectations affect those around us, especially our M’s and 2.0’s?

We had some great conversations about family, our own, and work expectations.  It’s so good to know that we are not alone.  We all have a story that we can learn from.  Make sure to share that story so others can benefit and learn.

I hope I met the PAX expectations today.  It was so good to be back out.  I miss the group so much not being able to come out and participate.  I look forward to getting back out in the gloom soon, even just to walk and say hi.

— Splinter

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Things Happen When They Are Supposed To Happen

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Today was my last Q before I donate a kidney to a friend on Monday (1/25).  The workout was designed to highlight some of the lessons I’ve learned throughout this process and I hope to impart on the 10 PAX that showed up because they could.

I started my journey to kidney donation back on September 5th when a friend of mine posted to FB “I’m dying. Some of you already know this. Both of my kidneys have failed due to my lifelong struggle with diabetes. There is no hope for them to ever resume function. I’m on dialysis now as of March. I’m normally a private person when it comes to my health, but things have changed in my life.  I’m in pain every day and have had numerous hospitalizations in the past few months.”

Read that and tell me you don’t want to find a way to help.  Now, let’s be honest, I had NEVER in my life considered donating a kidney until I knew someone who was in need.  That night, I registered with Duke University to see if I could be a match.

Now, nothing happens fast.  Nothing happens on the time table you have in your mind.  We have to trust in God and lets his process and plan play out.  It was several weeks before I heard back from Duke to talk about the process to see if it’ll work.  There are numerous blood tests, scans, evals.  Let’s just say, it’s not easy.  And in hindsight, it shouldn’t be easy.  This is not something to take lightly, but it could be easier.

So, how does all of this fold into the workout? We started with the mosey and warm-up and then I told everyone to run a lap around the parking lot and to remember the order that they finished in.  Of course, Slapshot was the fastest.  Trucker was the 6 today.

Now, the reason we did that was so that the person who was the 6 now became the leader/pacesetter for the rest of the workout.  There are 25 parking spaces per row in the lot.  We started with 1 burpee per spot AND THE CATCH is that you cannot pass the person in front of you.  Then run a lap where you cannot pass the person in front of you.  Next, 2 squats in that same can’t pass the person in front of you method.  Then 3 merkins, 4 knee taps, and finally 5 plank shoulder taps.

So what’s the lesson in doing it this way? For those of us to might lead the pack most of the time, we had to wait.  We had to be patient.  We couldn’t go as fast as we wanted to.

What was your plan for this morning? Did you get the workout you expected? Did you make the most of the time you spent with your brothers?  Were you encouraging?  Are you helping those in front of you?  Are you prepared both mentally and physically for when things don’t go as planned?

I know that I wanted the donation to happen sooner.  It was going to be more convenient for me to do this in December from a work and family perspective.  But God has a plan.  God wants this to happen when he wants it to happen.  Trust in his plan.  Even if his plan is for this to not be successful for Petra (my recipient) then I have to trust that God is using me and this time to try to educate and inspire others.

We’ll be carrying on the good fight as we start a charity/non-profit to help generate awareness, community and to raise funds for kidney research.  The Odd Kidneys Group will be a way for us to foster education and share the inspirational stories that are out there that go untold.  You’d be surprised by the number of HIM’s in the area that are going through this journey or are considering it since I’ve been talking about it at COT’s.

Today is a day for us to take stock of the fortunes that God has bestowed upon us and look for his guidance to share it with others.  I’m thankful that I was EH’d by @Polaroid 18 months ago and that I’m in the best shape of my adult life so that I can give the most precious gift anyone can to another person– more time.  Thank you to all of you for your support, encouraging words, and prayers over the last 5 months.  We are a group like no other and I am beyond grateful for each of you who do the hard things and understand that we GET TO DO THIS.  Keep posting PAX!

Splinter!

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Detective Mike Doty WOD

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Today we Honored Det.Mike Doty with a WOD designed by Spiderman. We had 6 Pax at the NaFo stadium ready for a beatdown.

We started with a warmup of SSH, windmills and Hillbilly walkers.

The Doty WOD

The beginning his birth 2/2/1980

2 Overhead Squats / 2Ruck thrusters/ 19 Merkins 80 single count flutters.

His years of service 12 and 37 years of life:

12 Man Makers Run 100 yards

37 Ruck Swings Run 100 yards

12 SQUATS Run 100 yards

37 Bent Over Rows Run 100 yards

12 Merkins Run 100 yards

37 Ruck Curls Run 100 yards

RINSE AND REPEAT

Then we came to End of Watch 1/17/2018

1 Bear crawl 100 yards

17 Merkins

20 Overhead Presses and 18 Squats.

We finished with his shield 809

80 Flutters with Ruck overhead and 9 LBC’S with Ruck overhead.

We had time so the 6 PAX did 2 laps around the football track.

We ended with CoT….it was an Honor for this PAX to lead these men this morning

 

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Lucky Jokers, My Calves Hurt

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8 HIMs reported to Varsity this morning, undeterred by the threat of cold weather and rain. We met at 0515 at the front entry awning of Nation Ford High School and promptly shared the requisite disclaimer, followed by a warmup.

We did some SSHs and then a bunch of planks, honey-mooners, downward dogs, and shoulder taps, and then I explained the game.

I decided to revise my deck of pain workout from The Armory to be used at Varsity, and I thought it worked out great.

We each took turns picking cards from the deck to determine what exercise and number of reps we would do…

Number of reps was determined by the face value of the card drawn, 2-13.

Spades = Jump Squats

Diamonds = Bench Dips

Clubs = Peter Parkers

Hearts = Derkins

Aces = 10 Burpees

Jokers = 100 SSH

We made it through the whole deck with about 7 minutes to spare, so you guessed it… Mary.

Each of us got a turn to pick an ab exercise, and we finished right at 0600 in time for COT.

Count-o-rama, Name-o-rama, and ended with prayers and praises.

Kelbasa shared a story with the group about a therapy patient he met who was a Green Beret in Korea and Vietnam who had a good attitude and kept moving even through a Covid diagnosis.

Prayers for those affected by Corona, and other needs. Many of us are battling mental and emotional demons, every day. Some are open about it, some have a harder time sharing our struggles. Never forget that sometimes we are the light or the rock for others around us, even if we don’t realize it. Post for eachother!

Thanks Splinter for the opportunity to lead this morning, I wouldn’t rather have shared this cold and gloomy morning with anyone else!

 

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Upside Down

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SkyQ was stirring the Site Q’s spirit 30 days ago, suggesting he needed to loop YHC in for a New Year’s Eve Q at The Ranch.  Little did he know 12/31 happens to be my birthday, so there was no way I could pass up the invite. 12 pax posted in the damp (but not rainy) Gloom to make it official.

The Thang

Warm up yog around parking lot

Extended COP — familiar set of exercises interspersed after every two with increasing rounds of Burpees, starting with 2 and increasing by 2 each round up to 12

Mosey to the picnic tables and partner up

Partner 1 = 12 Derkins + Partner 2 = Balls to the Wall  / Flapjack (3 rounds)
Partner 1 = 12 Bombjacks + Partner 2 = People’s Chair / Flapjack (3 rounds)
Partner 1 = Donkey kicks + Partner 2 = Plank / Flapjack (3 rounds)

Mosey to soccer field and muster up

The next series will involve moving down and back across the soccer field…BUT…in recognition that 2020 was a year when “holding ground” qualifies as success, the objective is to make the trek with backwards or sideways moves (ie, Carioca, NUR, Crawl bear, Backward or sideways lunge,  side shuffle).  The only acceptable method forward is Bear Crawl)

We proceeded to move back and forth across the field and each down/back was marked with a set of Burpees declining by 2 with each series (10-8-6-4-2).  Final traverse for all pax was a Bear crawl

Circle up for Mary

Series of core exercises, capped off with Superman rendition of Happy Birthday song courtesy of JWOW and Backdraft.

Mosey home

COT

Thank you to Ruby Slippers for the opportunity to tie off 2020 —  it was truly an honor to be in The Gloom IN PERSON with the pax to finish the strangest year any of us have experienced.

It was an upside down year given that no one could have foreseen a pandemic coming.  Or a stock market rally in the aftermath.  Or legalization of pot in some states along with criminalization of holiday family gatherings.

This upside down and backwards orientation aligns perfectly with the Gospel and sets the stage for a new approach to 2021.  I’ll pick my One Word for 2021 (Now) and review 2020 and make plans for 2021…all the things that I would typically DO in prior years.  But 2020 has taught me that NONE of these matter unless they’re connected to the will of my Creator.  Rather than focus my energies on what I’m doing, I first need to create space for what He’s doing…and then fit my part in as accompaniment ( I think that might be a musical term, Band Camp?).

Thanks to the pax who posted to help me celebrate the completion of my 54th year on the Big Ball.  And thank you to all pax of The Fort for carrying me and each other through an upside down year.

Cheers!

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Bulgarian 7-10 Split

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11 PAX gathered in the crisp gloom.

Disclaimer was given.

Hard charge out of the gate.
With the ageless Straight-Up and Harry Carey moving quickly behind YHC, we hit the first mile at 6:56/min pace.

As the PAX regrouped into a circle at the Teacher Parking lot area of the elementary school, Poppins rolled his ankle. Splinter ran back to get his truck and transported Poppins to his vehicle. Unfortunately, he was done for the day.

Warm-Up:
Yoga
Merkins
Shoulder Tap
SSH
Burpees 10 in cadence
IW
HW
Yoga

Thang:
Mosey toward the “black-top” area between the schools and find a bench

Bulgarian Split Squats
-10 each leg
-10 more each leg
-10 more each leg (this was a crowd favorite)
Step Ups
-10 each leg
-10 more each leg
Bulgarian Split Squats
-10 in cadence each leg (this confirmed their crowd favorite status)
-10 more in cadence each leg
Box Jumps – 10

Moved to the track-ish area
Lined up on the front line
Bear Crawl across the track
Crawl Bear back
15 burpees in cadence
Lunge Walk to the other side
Burpee-Broad Jump back
Some Yoga

11s w/
1 Merkins – 10 Shoulder Taps
got to 5 merkins and 6 shoulder taps

Moved back to benches
more Bulgarian Split Squats
– 10 in cadence each leg
– 10 more in cadence each leg
– (crowd favorite status confirmed)

Mosey to COT
Finished the 11s
Freddie Mercuries
Some Yoga to close us out

Prayers for:
– Poppins’s ankle
– blessing of science and medicine
– strength for those facing COVID
– the Spirit to remind us this isn’t our permanent home

NMM:

Make someone, just one person, feel special today

Thanks Long Duck for the opportunity to lead.
—
Band Camp Dismissed

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First Post of 2021

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What better way to start the new year than with your brothers in the rainy gloom? Well, 4 at Varsity did just that.

Today was really special for several reasons.

It’s F3’s 10 Year Anniversary.  I wonder if DREDD and the other Redwoods had any idea what this would turn into?  In Honor of that, we did the same workout they did on 1/1/2011.

First we started with a little mosey where we talked about who was up the latest and Harry Caray’s smart plan to go to bed, take a nap and then wake back up for the ball drop with his M and 2.0’s.  I’ll have to remember that for next year 😉

Since it’s 2021, our warm-up consisted of 21 reps of SSH, Marocain Night Clubs, Imperial Walkers, and 7 windmills (because we do them really slowly and I couldn’t cadence count 21 windmills).

Then it was a lap around the track and into the Thang.

Run a lap.

10 merkins, diamonds, and wide-arm merkins.  Run a lap.

Shield fell so far behind that we went back to pick up him.  He said he had to stop and tie his shoe to which we all said was a “likely excuse”.

10 knee up dollys (think bring your knees to your chest, back out, apart and back together is 1),  Freddie Mercury’s and LBC’s.  Run a lap.

10 Side Straddle Hops, squat thrusters, and mountain climbers. Run a lap.

Since it rained most of the night and was drizzling most of the morning up to this point, we decided that instead of running up and down the bleachers that were slick to do Jacob’s Ladder, we ran over to the hill by the pull-up bars.   We got an extra burpee in b/c YHC forgot that you have to run to the top first before doing the burpee.  The extra burpee was my NY gift to the group.

Since that only took about 25 minutes, I had to fill some time, but since we were at the pull-up bars, I figured why not.

21 pull-ups followed by 21 squats x2 rounds.

Then it was time to play with Cindy. 10 counts of bent-over rows (each arm), overhead press, goblet squats, curls, and KB swings. 2 rounds.

We finished COT with a discussion of our One Word from last year and this year.

On a personal note, these HIM’s are my SheildLock and were my quarantine workout partners.  I would be in a very different place (and not for the better) if it had not been for these men who I have learned so much from.  I hope I have impacted their lives as much as they have mine.  Here’s to 2021!

Cheers!

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Badger Sled Pull

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Five men posted at Honey Badger for a beatdown and honor a fallen soldier.

Disclaimer given
Mosey run (approx. ½ mile)
Warmup
SSH (12x I/C)
Windmills (10x I/C)
Imperial Walkers (10x I/C)
Moroccan N/C (10x I/C)
Low Slow Squats (10x I/C)
Arm Circles (10x I/C)
Peter Parkers (10x I/C)
Plank Stretches (downward dogs/honeymooners)

Thang #1: Bar hang
4 minute bar hang (cumulative); alternate = low plank
When a pax drops:
Run to bottom of hill and run back
Do 10 burpees
Get back on the bar, resume the hang
When finished: flutters for the six
Mosey run to school entrance

Thang #2: Bench work
20 incline merkins
20 Dips
20 step ups, 10 ea leg
20 decline merkins
20 butt touch squats
20 calf raises
Mosey run back to the ROTC building. Read story of fallen soldier CPO Kevin Houston (copied below).

Thang #3: Stations with coupons/cinder blocks
Station 1: sled pull: four cinder blocks in the sled (4x35lbs=140lbs), pax pulls sled to stop sign and back (approx. 100’ out and back, 200’ total). Sled pull is the timer, other pax are stationed at the below and then rotate.
Station 2: curls
Station 3: KB swings
Station 4: goblet squats
Station 5: flutters w/ block overhead
Rinse and repeat, each pax got to pull the sled twice.

Run to COT area; do some Mary: Slow freddies, American hammers

Fini, COT

Takeaways: The dead hang challenge was different. Important to have a visible timer so pax can keep track of time. Can flex up, for example: increase hang time to six minutes or increase run distance.

sled

Home-made sled for cinder blocks

Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer Kevin A. Houston
Kevin Houston was born on September 20, 1975 in West Hyannis Port, Massachusetts and graduated from Barnstable High School in 1994.
He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on January 18, 1995. He went on to basic training at NTC Great Lakes, Illinois, in April 1995. He attended Aviation Electrician’s Mate training at NAS Lemoore, California, from May to June 1995. He finished his SEAL training in 1999 in California and returned to the east coast and settled in Chesapeake, Virginia.
On August 6, 2011 Chief Petty Officer Kevin A. Houston was killed in action on his fourth tour of Afghanistan, when rebels shot down a Chinook transport helicopter (Extortion 17) carrying 30 American troops, including members of Navy SEAL Team Six during Operation Enduring Freedom. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Houston’s mother, Jan Brown, told the Cape Cod Times of Hyannis that her son was born to be a SEAL.
Houston leaves behind a wife and three children.
There is a memorial for Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer Kevin A. Houston at the Hyannis Village Green in Mass.
His decorations include two Bronze Stars with ‘V’ devices for valor; Purple Heart; Joint Service Commendation Medal with ‘V’ device for valor; two Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medals; Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal; Combat Action Ribbon; Presidential Unit Citation; Battle ‘E’ Ribbon; Navy ‘E’ Ribbon; three Good Conduct Medals; National Defense Service Medal; two Afghanistan Campaign Medals; Iraq Campaign Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal; Sea Service Deployment Ribbon; Rifle Marksmanship Medal and Pistol Marksmanship Medal.

 

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