We had a hearty crew Saturday morning. Lots of chatter in the Twittersvere for Tesh?Jekyll Q drawing Pax from across the river and inspiring Fishsticks to bring a #kotter and an #FNG. Well done!
HIIT:
Disclaimer then we took off for a lap ’round Runde stopping for a brief painstation to let Dolly Dogwalker go by. Must be crazy to have 14 men run up on you so we gave some space. Pouring into the field at the open gate we started with a circle of pain and the usual suspects of exercises in cadence. Feeling the need to keep up my portion of the HIIT on the line we went for sprint run and and nur (backward run). 70%, 80%, 90%,100%.
Moved to the next field and put partner 1 on the line and partner 2 on the wall.
P1: Bearcrawl to second base run to baseball fence, hop the fence then run up hill to finish with 5 bombjacks. Down the hill, hop the fence, AYG back to line.
P2: Round the world squat jumps.
Repeat 3 times with P2 doing Carolina Dry Docks then Wall sits.
Hand off to Tesh for Strength.
First exercise was to max out our push pull muscles.
Pulling is first. Circle up shoulder to shoulder. Every other man does an about face and puts his 6 on the ground so that his shoulders are between two PAXs feet. The standing PAX now reach down as if they are going to help a brother up, but instead, we are going to use this as a no-equipment upright row.
All PAX lift up on the Q’s command and let down on command. Q does this until he sees around half the PAX struggling to lift. Swap positions and repeat. (This may sound like a rest for the guys laying down being lifted, but you still have to keep most everything engaged so it’s not. It’s more of an isometric hold)
Pushing is next. You can’t do much better than the merkin. But i wanted low rep, higher volume. So to achieve this, the sprinkler head merkin puts more load on one arm. (It’s a typewriter merkin without swaping sides.) So one are goes out wide and stays straight wile the other does all the pushing (4 count to 3 both sides). Then regular merkins (4 count to 10).
Do this superset 3 times. (I modified the pushups for some other challenges, but you’ll have to ask someone that was there… blame Walker.)
Next were some grip strength, because I think almost every man lacks in this department (it’s hard to train and doesn’t give you anything sexy to show off). Mosey to the playground for deadhangs. Split into two groups, one does peoples chair / Al Gore while the other group deadhangs. Four rounds of 1 min.
Mosey to parking lot for Lt Dan. I always associate this exercise with Jekyll for some reason, and he didn’t do it so I felt obligated. And it’s a great exercise. Dry dock/merkin breaks after rounds 5, 7 and 9.
And finally American Hammers till time.
NMM-
Great to have Bon Jovi who is back after a couple of years and hinted at a name change. During the course of the workout his options became clear and ultimately stayed with Bon Jovi. smart move.
Welcome Paper Jam from Rochester New York home of Xerox. Today is but your first day!
Live Right is the second quadrant of the QSource. It is the HIM’s dedication to Purposefulness. Purpose is an Advantage sought.
SET 1:
Merkins , 10 IC
Derkins, 10 IC
Incline merkins, 10 IC
LAP
SET 2:
Wide grip merks, 10 IC
Diamond merks 10ic
Carolina Dry Docks 10ic
Lap
Live Right is focused on the HIM’s IMPACT on the lives of other people and how he helps them to Accelerate
Repeat set 1, 8 reps ic
Lap
Set 2×8
Lap
X6’s
Lap
X4’s
Lap
X2’s
The HIM is also a man who finds that in his effort to Live Right by carrying the Survivors and IMPACTing the Sad Clowns he gets an unexpected benefit—he himself is kept Right.
I haven’t been to Colosseum in a long time. I’ve been doing the ruck WOs on Tuesdays so it was good to shake up the routine. It was also great to see so many cars rolling in. I haven’t seen several guys in a while due to being under a ruck so it was great to be out in the gloom with them again.
Go time arrived and disclaimer was attempted. Mosey around loops in front of school with high knees, butt-kickers, karaokes both ways. Circle up for normal warm-ups: SSHs, windmills, Peter Parkers, Parker Peters, and some Hillbilly Walkers.
Moseyed over to side lot. Today’s theme was simple, 4 exercises done 4 times. First off was Bear Crawl from top of parking line to curb, 4 Merkins, Crawl Bear back to top of parking line, 4 Donkey Kicks. Repeat 4 times.
Mosey over to lot behind school. 5-Worst Merkins (Wide, Normal, Diamond), 10-Big Boy Situps, 15-Plank Jacks, 20-Shoulder Taps then run to other side of lot. Repeat 4 times.
Mosey to loop in front of school. Starting at center of loop: 10-Burpees, 10-Mtn Climbers (4 ct), 10-Lunges (each leg), 10-Smurf Jacks, then run around loop to center spot of on other side. Repeat 4 times. Lots of good mumble-chatter during this segment, except for Tesh who almost lapped everyone.
Slow mosey over to front of middle school for some Wall Webbs. Start in People’s Chair, walk out on hands into Merkin, walk back up on hands into chair for overhead claps. Normal ratio of 1:4. I cut it short at 6:24 so we had time for some mary (and my legs were starting to burn). Back at cars to finish up with 10 tiny circles clockwise, 10 counter-clockwise, then 20 flutters. Time’s up. Hopefully the PAX got their money’s worth today.
Continued prayers for Stang’s family as they mourn the passing of his grandfather as well as all of the kids that Cornerstone is involved with in their treatment group.
17 #HIMs decided to follow the tweet of Band Camp (or decided on their own) and came out on a reasonably pleasant morning to lift and put down objects of varying weight numerous times. YHC was honored to get the call (it’s always a privilege to lead – more on that later) and learned the night before that the deck of cards had not made its way to the Hive in some months. Seemed as reasonable a time as any to bring them back. So I did. After the disclaimers were given and the traditional check for FNG’s came up empty this time around, we were off.
We moseyed with bells to another area of the parking lot (minimal running today – it is a kettle bell workout) and circled up for COP, which consisted of the following (yes – there were no side straddle hops, believe it or not):
Moroccan Night Clubs X 20 I/C – holding arms out after completion
Little arm circles X 10 forward and backward keeping them held out in between and after
Overhead claps X 10 – after completion, arms at ease which were now warmed up for what was to follow
Imperial walkers X 15 IC
Low Slow squats X 20 (another precursor for future exercise)
Mosey with bells to the East side of the lot for the main event: Out comes the deck
YHC was pleased by the mumble chatter and simultaneous effort and the PAX delivered so well, we made it through 1 deck and 1/2 way through a second time. Upon completion of the first deck (which happened faster than anticipated due to efficient PAX), YHC was asked if a sermon was to be given. When silence ensued in response, YHC smiled and promptly requested the PAX to sprint to the West end of the lot as fast as possible then mosey back – all obliged. Following a few 10 counts and one round of 10 burpees (just because), T-Square had to choose between one of two piles of cards as YHC had split the deck of cards in 1/2. He chose the pile that ended up having a disproportionate amount of face cards – much to the pleasure of the PAX. Mumble chatter increased as consecutive suits were drawn on multiple occasions citing a few accusations of a rigged deck and flush draws (fake news). Nonetheless, all got better.
With 5 minutes to go, we moseyed to COT with bells in hand for…….a little ab work – but just a little:
All exercises were with bells and double-count: flutters with the press IC x 20, LBC’s IC x 10, Hello Dollys IC x 10 and Rosalitas IC x 10. This took us to 5:59:30. A body destroyer was called, then a 10-count delivered from Trucker and lo and behold, 6:00 was upon us and the time came for COT and BOM.
Announcements – Convergence on May 24 at Harris Teeter Baxter – all 4 workout options available – KB, Ruck, Run, Boot Camp with 3rd F at Eternal Shack (behind Zaxby’s) following.
May 21 – one year anniversary W/O to honor Badger and his legacy at Golden Corral. Wear red to honor. Decibel on Q and Badger’s oldest 2.0 will be in attendance.
Read your newsletter.
Prayers – for teachers, for families, for our 2.0’s finishing school, for Mom’s – especially this weekend and for those working through strained maternal relationships, especially on this weekend. Be a light to someone when you’re called – you never know what someone is gong through – No OYO.
NMM – YHC had stated in the past that serving in any position of leadership is a privilege. No matter the opportunity, when called to lead a group of #HIMs, it should be taken as the blessing and opportunity it is meant to be. And one of the greatest gifts we can pass on to one another through leading is the gift of sharpening, strengthening and honing ourselves – physically, mentally and spiritually. To Band Camp, my sincere thanks for the opportunity to get out in front of such a strong group of #HIM’s this morning. Every man gathered today made YHC better and, for that, I extend my thanks and gratitude.
We played a little bit of “It pays to be a winner” this AM at Laces In in honor of GoRuck Team Selection which starts today.
If you aren’t familiar, this is a common phrase spoken in Selection, and it’s a great tool they use to get into guys heads to make guys feel pressure and push themselves.
Here’s what it looked like… The Thang:
We moseyed to the back parking lot behind the baseball field (the Band Practice Lot) for a little warm up. Some Mountain Climbers, Windmills, SSH… the usual fare.
Then we moseyed to the front of the school for some CDDs, lunges, and flutters. Spiderman made a comment at one point about losing guys because of the pace. I thought about that… With a crowd as large as we had this am, I wanted to get a sense of where their heads were. Who’s pushing, who’s trailing, who’s struggling…? Am I struggling? Am I trailing? Can anyone even really know these things…?
Anyhow, then we moseyed back the lot from whence we had just come, where we began every Pax’s favorite game show: “It Pays to Be a Winner” (at this point, the Pax didn’t know we were playing). We lined up at one end of the lot and got underway.
Round 1: Bear Crawl to the other end. Alchemy won this round. Because he’s 17. And quite fit. Since he won, he got to choose the method by which we traveled back to the other end. He chose Bear Crawl. He was disqualified from choosing anymore. Because he’s 17. And quite fit.
Round 2. Bear Crawl to the other end. Alchemy won again. Shock. So his prize was that he got to pick who chose the next method. He chose Moab. I don’t remember what he chose, but it was no fun.
We continued to play a few more rounds with Pax choosing sprints, Bernie Sanders (Nur, Backwards Run, whatever you want to call it), Power Skips, and finally Broad Jumps. J-WOW won that round and so he got to set the pace back to the bottom of the hill by the stadium (the driveway in). We made a stop at one point to let everyone catch up and did an exercise there… No recollection what it was… anyway, we finished our mosey to the bottom of the hill and partnered up. SIZE ALWAYS MATTERS. #TWSS
Bonsai won the sprint to the bottom of the hill, despite my best efforts to cheat, and so he picked the partner method of travel to the top of the hill. He chose wheelbarrow. Because he hates happiness. Funhouse and Jekyll tried to cheat to get ahead and despite my best efforts to pull them back and make it “fair” (which meant making them go back to the start so I could cheat instead), they still won. So we moseyed back to the bottom of the hill and since they were the winners, they chose the method of travel to the top of the hill. They chose Partner Carries. Because they hate Bonsai.
The winners this time were the come from behind, dark horse team of Zima and Dirty Harry. Turns out Harry runs faster under weight. Which confirms our suspicion that he’s not actually from this planet. One more trip up running backwards and that was pretty much it for us…
We had a 8 Pax post at the Colosseum today for a high impact workout. There were 3 respectables among us (Rebel, Bassomatic and Asphalt). They posted strong, ran hard and made us hustle to keep up with them. Straight Up met us after his pre-run and he was ready to bring it. Shout out to Fogerty for blessing me with this opportunity Q.
Partner Wheel Barrels to each side of the parking lot (2x), Partner Big Boy Sit Ups (15x for 2 rounds), Partner Ski Jumps (15x), Partners Push Ups (15x for 2 rounds), Partner Leg Lifts (15x for 2 rounds)
Mosey to the bus loop for catch me if you can for 2 laps and 2 burpees at each exchange.
Mosey to the next parking lot.
Moleskin:
We are so blessed by God’s grace that sometimes we take it for granted. He sends angels before us to protect us on a daily. For example, do we stop and thank Him for daily traveling grace and a safe commute to and from our workplace? We should.
Shame is the opposite of His grace. Forgive yourself for your mistakes and flaws. Don’t strive for perfection. Instead, commit to making a perfect effort. That’s all anyone can ask of you.
Forgive others. Giving grace to others ensure your freedom. Freedom comes from not holding on to grudges. Be free.
It was an honor to travel across the River on this cool Spring gloom with Italian Job and Canseco to join up with 9 of our Fort and Rock Region brothers on the day before Easter. Thank you Bonsai and the rest of our brothers for the opportunity to lead this morning.
As Italian Job, Canseco and YHC discussed this workout the previous week, we decided that it would definitely be split into three equal time periods with each of us focusing on different body groups. Italian Job began with the F3 Disclaimer and welcome to all:
WARMUP
There was no Warm-Up
THETHANG
Italian Job moved right into working the upper body. This is what was done:
10 Burpees (OYO); 5 Plank Destroyers (Plank, Makhtar D’Diaye, Merkin, Alternating Shoulder Tap, Plank Jack); 20 MNCs (IC); 10 Merkins (IC); 20 Little Baby Arm Circles (IC); 10 Wide Arm Merkins (IC); 20 Overhead Claps (IC); 60 Seconds Arm Circles in Plank; Mosey to Springs or Playground; 20 Irkins; 20 Dips; 20 Derkins; Mosey; 10 Wide-Diamond-Wide (OYO); Mosey; Merkin Ring of Fire (10 rounds).
After he finished, the Q Stick was handed off to YHC for the lower body portion performing each of the following exercises for 50-seconds and resting for 10:
Squat + Calf Raises; Squat Jacks; Mosey; Alternating Hamstring Reaches; Broad Jump w/Back Pedal; Mosey; Left Lateral Lung; Right Lateral Lung; Squat Tap-Outs; Mosey; Left Leg Lunge; Right Leg Lunge; Mosey; Step Ups; Squat & Squat Jumps.
Then YHC passed off the lead to Canseco for some Core & Cardio and an awesome work below in the NMM. This is what he led us in:
YHC planned to use the steep portion of the running path for sets of core exercises with a jailbreak between. We did 2 to 3 exercises for each set and started at the bottom of the hill.
We did the following with a jailbreak between sets.
All In Cadence:
30 Imperial Walkers; 50 Flutters; Jailbreak
20 Mtn Climbers; 20 Freddy Mercurys; Jailbreak
20 American Hammers; 30 Pretzel Crunches (15 each Side); 10 Makhtar N’Diayes; Jailbreak back to top
20 LBC’s ; 10 Delayed LBC’s; Plank w/6 Inches and Up x2
Mosey to COT where IJ led us in another 10-Burpees for fun
Great work was put in by all PaX in attendance. Thank you again for allowing us to lead.
NMM
Canseco shared his heart this morning. Below is what he discussed:
The sun came through the clouds and shined directly on us during Reborn’s leg workout. We were at the top of the Walter Elisha Park looking out and for a few moments everyone was quiet. I had something to share with the PAX and in that moment this capped it off.
I have been reading through the gospels the last couple weeks and wanted to share something that has been stirring in me. So, as we know its Saturday before Easter and Jesus has been crucified and placed in a tomb. On this day thousands of years ago there were all kinds of emotions for those who were near to Jesus.
Those near to him who followed and loved him were doubtful, confused, and didn’t know what would happen next. The Pharisees and scribes still saw Jesus as a threat to their own Kingdom and world and placed guards at the tomb. I find this interesting as he is dead yet they didn’t believe?
I shared Matthew chapter 21 with the PAX when Jesus curses the fig tree that didn’t have any fruit. Jesus disciples said how can it wither instantly? Jesus answered, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, Be taken up and thrown into the sea, it will happen.” 22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” Jesus was preparing them to believe and have faith during the darkest and most doubtful times to come.
We know what happened next. We have record and an account of the resurrection. But we still have to figure out what we are going to do with Jesus?
Is Jesus threatening your Kingdom, life, and world. Are you keeping him at distance and putting HIM away somewhere so as to hide?
Or, are you believing on His life, death, and resurrection as sufficient for your sins and eternity with HIM. You can’t hide from the light!!!
My prayer for the PAX was that just as the sun rose before our eyes this morning that the Son of Man would rise in each of our hearts this day, tomorrow, and forever.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
April 3rd F Theme-Be Still.
Summer Lawn Service at the Care Center-Sign up now.
Manion WOD-April 27-See Cobra Kai.
Date Night-April 27-Contact Wegmans.
PRAYERS/PRAISES
Prayers and praises were mentioned and Italian Job
10 at the hive for a Go Ruck inspired Kettle Bell workout
Warm-up began with:
Short mosey
SSH
Moroccan Nightclubs
Hillbilly Walkers
Imperial Walkers
Windmills.
We then moved to the side of the parking lot to complete the body of the workout
10 sets of:
Suitcase carry of bell to far end of parking lot and back AFAP (switch hands at far end) *Tesh estimated this to be 80 yards each way.. Far more than the 50 that I had intended…
Once back 10 Goblet Squats and 10 Swings then repeat
Final 5 sets had 10 Lunges, 10 Plank Pass Through, and 10 Overhead Press added to reps due to mumble about how easy the back-blast would be to write
Finished at exactly 6:00… Just like I had planned…
4 warriors met in the gloom at the Pantheon. No FNGs present, so the disclaimer was short and we started with some stretching.
Warmup
2 sets Single leg stretch – one foot planted with knee bent and six near the earth, the other straight out to the side with toes up for a mental count of 30, hold and keep the six down when transferring to the opposite foot
Side split for mental count of 30
10x split fingertip pushups – Fingertips on the ground, sway back as you sink, sway forward to put weight on the fingers as you push up
Mosey to the back parking lot
20x SSH
10x “Werewolf” merkins
The Thang
Mosey to the swings for some fun.
Here we did an exercise using the swings with feet on the swings and palms on the ground in plank position. (The surface of the playground is this rubbery stuff, so it makes what we were going to do easier on the wrists.) Then a run across the playground (the short way) to the sidewalk by the fence for another exercise. Always running between each.
SET 1
10x Mantis strike pushups – Do half a merkin and explode up with enough force to get some air. Flip those hands over and land on the back of the wrist with the hand folded in (fingertips up for the mantis strike were demonstrated, but definitely not required). Alternate every pushup.
10x squats
SET 2
10x knees to chest – Pull the knees into the chest while on the swing, it feels easy the first few times
10x Pretzel crunch (each leg)
SET 3
10x mantis strike pushup
30 second hold – No name for this one. Left elbow and knee on the ground. Right palm on the ground. Right leg straight and as high as it can go with toes pulled in towards the knee. Keep it high for the entire time. Both sides
SET 4
10x knees to chest
10x squats – Asked for an audible from Slapshot and got squats
The next thang
Mosey to the amphitheater
Here the plan was to follow the sidewalk. PAX ran up the left side and down to the end of the sidewalk and performed a number of reps before running back to the main path, up a branch and down again. There are four ends, so each time there are four exercises.
SET 1
5x Squats, 5x single leg touch the ground (think single leg deadlift, but straight leg down and up), 5x burpees, Bear crawl the length of the last path and back
SET 2
After a 10 count… YHC still needed some air and spoke a bit about how he spent a lot of time ‘being still’ when trying to understand things he can change and should, can change and shouldn’t, and can’t change at all.
Then… Rinse and repeat from SET 1
SET 3
YHC needed some more air, so we assumed “bow and arrow” stance. Right knee bent (90 degrees), left leg straight. Right hand at right temple, palm out, left arm extended over left leg in a fist with thumb down. 30 seconds and shift to bending the left.
Called out to each PAX for new exercises and got:
Tesh -> 10x 4-count Russian Twists
Slapshot -> 10x Merkins
JWOWW -> 10x donkey kicks
YHC -> 10x Monkey squats
When set 3 was completed there was six minutes left. Time for one more mental position. Again, no name that I recall, but…
Stand on the right leg, slightly bent. Left knee high with toe pointed down. Back slightly arched, looking over the right shoulder and behind, right arm extended with palm up, left hand palm up by the right armpit. Hold for 30 seconds (there was a lot of hopping on YHC’s part) and then switch to the other side.
A quick Mosey to COT and enough time for 10 4-count flutters and 20 4-count Russian twists.
COT
At the request of the PAX, YHC expounded a bit on ‘being still’ when dealing with situations where one can, can and shouldn’t, and cannot at all take actions.
YHC practiced with things like job interviews and personal relationships praying and setting defined action dates. Often starring at the phone, desperately desiring to make an ill-advised phone call… the wait until the date and time was crucial. It was never about lengthening the wait to condition the mind, so much as making wise decisions about not stirring a pot that doesn’t need stirring.
Announcements were announced. Lots of stuff happening. Stuff your faces with a cannoli and mow lawns with Assassin!
Prayers and praises were offered and the PAX went home with a little more peaceful warrior in their blood.
Pulling into the HIVE early to set-up shop YHC was surprised to see 2 cars already there! Rebel was enjoying a few ‘Be Still’ minutes and Geronimo was getting after it in the parking lot with what appeared to be his Ruck. The rainy weather was holding off & it was a perfect 65 degrees-A great morning to be in the Gloom!
The cars kept rolling & rolling in….17 PAX in total
5:15am- No FNG’s so hit the disclaimer and off we went
COP: Mosey to band parking lot and return back. Exercises in cadence-
SealJacks x 20
IW x 15
HW x 15
Windmill x 10
Cherry Picker x 10
Plank, Honey Mooner-Downward Dog, Plank
Merkins
Mountain Climbers x 15
The Thang:
Today’s workout was built around the History of the Hive. All repetition #s, exercises & stories shared were specific to this AO.
4 stations here we go:
Station 1- History Lesson- What is the most famous saying @ The Hive? “5 @ The Hive”. The PAX passed the test with flying colors. In honor of “5 @ The Hive” we hit a 5 cone drill Jacobs ladder style:
Cone 1) Inch Worm Merkins & Goblet Squats
Cone 2) Triceps Ext & Reverse Lunges
Cone 3) Bicep curl w/ Shoulder press & Burpees
Cone 4) BackRows & Swings
Cone 5) Upright Rows & Fwd Lunges
Kudos to the PAX as they just got after this station. Little time for mumble chatter with the exception of those as they finished Cone 3 with Burpees.
Station 2- History Lesson- How many years has the Hive been an AO? How many site Q’s have there been & who are they? The PAX again pulled together and we went with 3 years (almost 4 years) and 3 sites Q’s- Longshanks, Tesh & BandCamp!
In honor of this we went 3 rounds of the Site Q’s assigned exercises:
Longshanks-Thrusters, Tesh-The Standing Tesh or Bi/Tri, Bandcamp-Swings
Station 3- History Lesson- Geronimo’s Gauntlet (This needs to be in The Exicon)
We did our best rendition of the 2018 Hive version of Geronimo’s Gauntlet. A Pax favorite it was started by no other than Geronimo himself and it goes something like this- *Line up all the Kettlebells lightest to heaviest. One by one, Pax go down the line and perform bent over rows at each KBell. (3 rows each side for time today). The waiting Pax can plank up, Al Gore, etc… With 17 KBells lined up our lats got some serious work. The heavy 40-50lb KBells at the end of the line gave us all an example of how JWOWW, Geronimo & Tesh get after it. Strong work Men!
Station 4- 5:58am and we escaped the planned AMRAP station due to time. Better to be over prepared than not enough. YHC took a moment to read from the theme of the month and take just a moment to “Be Still”.
COT- Announcements from Newsletter, upcoming events
Prayers/Praises: Rebels 28th Wedding Anniversary. Prayers for all families traveling for the upcoming Spring Break week.
It was an honor to be with the Pax this morning- Thanks BandCamp for the opportunity!