Dragon’s Den

This week is a special week as Thursday makes four years since I joined F3 up in Area 51 (south Charlotte) so I was happy to chip in and q again at Tomahawk which is at Doby’s Bridge Elementary, with a school mascot of a dragon.  Small world as my elementary school also had a dragon for a mascot.  Anyway, enough of this on to what we did.

After a pretty standard COP we got the bells a swinging.

25 swings
25 goblet squats
20 merkins
20 tricep extensions
25 LBC’s
30 curls
20 skull crushers
20 calf raises
20 American hammers

After every third exercise, run/walk a lap.  We got through two rounds and I added some core work in there as well just for fun.

I got at least one “I hate you!” from Polaroid or someone sounding like him so I feel like I did my job.

Welcome to Data Breach!  Looks like you guys are busy EHing your friends and neighbors.  Keep it up.  Great work out there DB!

Thanks for the HIMs you guys are and how you encourage me every day.

Peace out.  DT

TClap |
3

Risking it All and Going Beyond

Better conditions led to 14 PAX posting at Golden Corral for this week’s edition of BEYOND. Turnout was improved in part because Rad cancelled the ruck workout, encouraging the usual ruckers to join the fun, while he bailed and went yogging at Sea Legs instead.

After Copperfield gave the disclaimer, the 14 BEYONDers took off for a short mosey around the perimeter of the main parking lot, incorporating butt kickers, high knees, toy soldiers, toe walks, and heel walks. We then lined up at the shovel flags (we had three…I don’t know where the third came from…) and did 10 merkins at the island, jog to the next island, 10 more merkins, etc. for a total of 40 merkins. This was followed by a short mosey to the HT loading docks for some final warming up. (Note for GC Q’s – people drive like MANIACS behind HT, so keep the PAX out of the main roadway if possible.)

Brief COP included 10 windmills, 10 low slow squats on our toes (in relevé, if you will), then a couple yoga lunge stretches on each leg. Then partner up and jog around to the HT wall facing the six of O – O – O – O’Reilly for the Thang.

The workout sets were generally done in Stand By Your Man style, with one PAX performing the prescribed reps of some form of merkin while the other does some other exercise, then switch places until all merkin reps completed. Once done, run around oil change place and O’Reilly and back to the HT wall with your partner. Pretty simple…ish…

Let’s get going.

The original plan was to build this week’s message off of what was covered at BEYOND last week, but that had to be modified when we had only three last week and fourteen this week. So, we started with some quick catch-up. If you want a recap of last week, check out that backblast. Main point to remember for today: dig deep and determine your purpose, as this will give a filter through which to handle today’s questions.

Living with purpose inherently involves risk.

During this first set, discuss with your partner how you would define “risk.”

Set 1: Breakdancer merkins (20-16-12-8 reps each) while partner does Rockette Chair (People’s Chair with alternating leg kicks)

Plank it up for the six, then hold it while we chat (with rotation to side, reverse plank, and other side).

Risk can have a variety of definitions, but generally it is an action that exposes you or somebody else to the possibility of harm or loss. We all face risks every day, from driving to relationships. Some risks are bigger than others, but we live lives of risk. Taking risks is necessary for growth and gain, in work and in life. Without some level of risk, we won’t get better.

Risk and sacrifice are different, but related.

During this set, discuss with your partner how you would define “sacrifice.”

Set 2: Mike Tysons (15-15-15-15 reps each) while partner does BTTW (with shoulder taps for the brave).

People’s Chair for the six, then stay for the talk.

Sacrifice is the act of giving up something you want to keep in order to get or do something else (and potentially better). You could say that sacrifice is the realization of the potential loss involved in the risk. Sacrifice has an intentional, willful component to it – you choose to give something up, whether under compulsion or not. Today, most of us sacrificed more sleep to post (thanks for that!), and in doing so also took the risk of maybe getting a good workout, maybe making our day a bit rougher because our arms won’t work after, etc. Silly example for an obvious point.

Personal examples of risk and sacrifice.

During this set, discuss a current or recent example of risk or sacrifice in your life.

Set 3: Pseudo Planche merkins (15-15-15 reps each) while partner does breakdancer. It’s like the breakdancer merkin, but without the merkin, a little more jumpy, and ideally a bit faster.

Return and breathe while waiting for the six, then for the talk.

An easy example of sacrifice in my life was giving up our life in Africa to return to the US. Again, for more on this, refer to last week’s backblast. But for the risk component, there were two risks that weighed heavily on our last year in Africa and played into our decision to return. The first was our son’s health. He was premature and had some health issues that went with it. He also began having seizures while we still lived overseas. As a father, was I willing to risk his health to continue living and working in Zambia? Then, we wanted more kids, but my wife is a high-risk pregnancy, and we lived in a place where premature babies die more than they survive, and maternal mortality is high as well. These risks paired with other circumstances played into our decision to return, giving up our identities, our home, our relationships, etc.

Much of the reason for me wanting to talk about all this today stems from a conversation with Cha Ching and Olaf from several months ago. They may not remember it, but it has stuck with me ever since. We were talking about the new security training I’m helping develop for our new workers, and there are three main questions that come out of this training. These questions are what I want to leave with everybody today (with one more set thrown in for good measure).

The first two questions to consider:

How much am I willing to risk in order to achieve my purpose? (This makes more sense if you spend the time determining your purpose.)

What, if anything, would be an unnecessary level of risk or a risk that would actually hinder accomplishment of your purpose?

No need to answer the questions this time, as they take time to really work through.

Set 4: Battering rams (drop to six inches, then, using your arms and not your feet, thrust your torso forward so your hands end up between ribs and hips; 20-20-20 reps each) while partner does Monkey Humpers. For some, this proved to be a somewhat inappropriate combination of moves. #badplanning #somethingsyoucantunhear

Pressed for time, we gathered following the run around the buildings for the final point. I actually left out two full sets, but I don’t think anybody’s arms are particularly missing them (see below for what we missed).

The final question to ponder: Do I believe strongly enough in my purpose that I’m willing to sacrifice everything for it?

Simply put, are you willing to die to achieve your purpose? Fourteen years ago, my answer would have been a lot different. But now, with a wife and children, I hesitate. If I know that they will be taken care of, then I’d probably be willing to die. But what if the tables were turned? Would I be so committed to my purpose, to my faith, that I’d be willing to sacrifice my family? I’ve never been in that situation, so I don’t know. But this is a reality faced by many in other parts of the world. For some, it’s a daily reality, being faced with the possibility of losing everything for what they believe.

What would you do? Do you have a commitment to something that is so strong that you’re willing to sacrifice everything for it, even your family?

Time never seems sufficient to cover the topic, but discussion doesn’t need to end when the workout does.

We ended there and ran back to COT to meet up with the bootcampers.

Announcements

  • Deacon reminded us of the opportunities in the Paradise community, with the reading program on Mondays and Wednesdays and G-Fit on Saturdays. Take a risk and make an impact in the community.

Prayers and Praises

  • Pray for those involved with the Palmetto 200 this weekend.
  • Keep praying for our wives and kids.
  • Pray for those with mental health issues and the practitioners who care for them. Specifically, pray for Copperfield’s M as she deals with some very difficult situations.
  • Bolt’s neighbor passed away last week. Pray for this man’s family and friends and others who are dealing with this loss.
  • Prayers for one of Decibel’s employee’s dad, who is in the hospital.
  • Bonsai and his wife are praying about a few things right now; prayers for wisdom and discernment as they consider some options.
  • Deacon has a friend with serious health concerns. Prayers for him as he seeks care at Mayo.
  • Praises for F3 and the impact it has had on our lives.

It was an honor to get to lead this group, and I really appreciate Maximus pushing me to do two BEYOND Qs in a row. If you haven’t had opportunity to do this yet, talk to him. Whether or not the other PAX benefit from the message you bring, your life will be changed by working through the material in preparation to lead. Definitely worth it. And I’m happy to not do it again for a while.

-Jedi

Missed sets

For those wondering what we missed for lack of time, the remaining sets were:

Set 5: one-arm merkins (16-12-8 reps each) while partner does bomb jacks.

Set 6: Scorpion merkins (16-12-8 reps each) while partner does jump squats.

You’re welcome.

TClap |
7

Tires and props at the deep

Thankful for the opportunity to lead a one hour Q at the Deep, 16 PAX decided to get better in a perfect weather saturday morning. Some PAX pre run not knowing what was coming.

Quick disclaimer  and welcomed one FNG (Cosmo)

We started the warm up with a 2 minute run around the parking lot, circled up and started with the following in cadence:

20 Windmills

20 Low slow squats

20 Moroccan Night Clubs

10 diamond merkins

10 wide arm merkins

20 regular merkins (lots of mumble chatter here, not sure if PAX were complaining about the merkins)

THE THANG:

Quick explanation of the workout, we had 4 station/corner setup,  we split into groups 1 to 4 and one group went to each corner, a lap around the parking lot was the “resting” time between stations.

  • First  Corner: (sledgehammers and tire)

10 rosalitas

15 big boy sit ups

20 Sledgehammer swings (10 each side)

25 American hammer (one side count)

  • Second Corner: (dumbbells)

10 two arm triceps extension

15 two arm biceps curls

25 triceps dips

30 Carolina drydocks

  • Third Corner: (large tractor tire)

5  Tire flips

10  Deep squats

20 lunges (10 each side)

30 calf raises

  • Fourth Corner: (battle rope)

10 diamond merkins

15 wide arm merkins

20 regular merkins

30 battle rope wave

With about 32 minutes into the workout we moseyed to the hill behind the baseball field, we bare crawled to the top and crawl bear to the bottom with 5 burpees at the top, rinse and repeat 2 times, our FNG Cosmo was feeling the merlot coming out but luckily he recovered. We run one more time to the top of the hill and grabbed a curb for some triceps dips and a needed 10 count recovery time. We moseyed down the hill and a wall crossed our pat so we people chaired while each PAX did 5 monkey humpers starting from the ends working our way to the middle of the crowd, we did a quick recover followed by balls to the wall while each PAX did 3 burpees starting from each end towards the middle, not sure why Flux’s face was so red (he was in the middle of the pack)  with about 10 minutes left we moseyed back to COT and circled up for some ABS work, clockwise each PAX  chose their favorite exercise for 10 reps each,  great way to finish the workout.

We did a headcount and namearama, we welcomed FNG Cosmo and a 4 year F3 veteran Olaf who moved from Lake Norman to our area.

We prayed for our families, our kids, our jobs and were thankful for our F3 community and the support and strength that brings to our lives.

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4

ChaChing Impromptu Black Diamond in Lake Wylie

So I had been reading the “Living With a Seal” book about a wealthy business man ultra-athlete who hired a Seal he met at a 100 mile relay race (the business man was on a 4 guy relay team; the Seal was on a 1 man team lol) and was so amazed at his mental and physical toughness, he hired him to live w/ him and his family for 31 days.  Pretty easy fast read – super entertaining, w/ plenty of good training ideas, but even better, perspective.

I told the Pax this wouldn’t be easy – in fact it was going to suck.  There was a Beyond Black Diamond in Tega Cay the same day, so I figured we’d do a little Lake Wylie Black Diamond at Palisades.  I gave the Pax two quotes to get it started from Seal:  “To truly get better, you have to be willing to get uncomfortable.  You have to push your limits”.  Check.  “I don’t stop when I’m tired.  I stop when I’m done”.  I love that.  Let’s go.

Ran behind the school in the middle of the outdoor track and started the warm-up:

  1.  Quickest ever – windmill, moroccan night club, squats and mountain climbers.  That’s it.

Next up – Tabata w/ music (if you want an awesome tabata app that you can add your own music to and adjust times, etc – get “Seconds”).  Great playlist was in store for the following:

  1.  Every Minute,  we had to do 40 side straddle hops + 10 merkins.  5 minutes.  I was surprised – we finished each of the 40 and 10 with about 10 seconds to spare each minute.  10 seconds of break, and then do it again.  Fun stuff.  (total 200 side straddle hops, 50 merkins in 5 min)
  2. Nickels & Dimes – ran to the playground and did something similar – each minute do 5 pull-ups and 15 merkins for 5 minutes.  (total 25 pull-ups, 75 merkins in 5 min)

Next up was some awful partner work.  Size mattered.  We started on one side of the back parking lot.  Partner 1 would chase Partner 2, but here’s the wrinkle – Partner 2 gets a 20 yard head start and has to back pedal.  Partner 1 was to sprint and catch him.  When he catches him, they do an exercise together, then have to get back to the starting line by way of whatever I say.  So it matters how fast you catch your partner as it’ll make the trip back to the starting line shorter if you fly (or longer if you take your time).  Here it is, in order:

  1.  Partner 1 catches Partner 2 then…30 merkins.  Then…broad jump back to the starting line.  Yikes
  2. Partner 2 catches Partner 1 then…20 big boy sit-ups.  Then…bear crawl back to the starting line.
  3. Partner 1 catches Partner 2 then…20 jump knee tucks.  Then…crawl bear back to the starting line.
  4. Partner 2 catches Partner 1 then…50 seal jacks.  Then…partner carry back to the starting line.
  5. Partner 1 catches Partner 2 then…25 diamond merkins.  Then…other partner carries back to the starting line.
  6. Partner 2 catches Partner 1 then…10 burpees.  Then…just run back to the start.  There’s your break.

Don’t underestimate the suckiness of that many sprints, both forward and back pedals.  I was smoked.

Next up, track time – the way it works, you sprint the straight aways, you jog the curved ends of the tracks.  Starting on the side we were closer to, we sprinted the length, jogged the curve, sprinted the length then exercise of my choice when you hit the second curve.

  1.  50 crab cakes
  2. Jog curve, sprint, jog curve, sprint, 50 squats
  3. Jog curve, sprint, jog curve, sprint, 25 Robin Venturas (each side) (side plank w/ upper arm punching under your body, as if you were Nolan Ryan and had Ventura in a head lock)
  4. Job curve, sprint, jog curve, sprint, 50 speed skaters.

Ran back fast to COT just in time to close it out.  Almost had one splash of merlot, but he saved it.  Everyone crushed it that day – it was a bear but they all finished and fought through each step of the way.  Love how everyone handled the pain – I reminded them all whatever we have going on, someone else has more pain.  You have to learn to fight.

Closed out in prayer and went about our hump day.  Thanks to Bones for the chance to lead.

Cha Ching

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1

Headlamps needed out of darkness comes light

 

Pulled up was amazed how many cars where already there and the pax kept rolling in. I guess my advertising worked. We had 2 kotters It was great to see MR. T and Baywatch back out

The Thing

I said the Disclaimer and we Mosey to warm
Followed by high knees to regular then to butt kickers, then regular. Last but not least toy soldiers then regular we  then circle up

Windmill 10 IC
Imperial walker 15 IC
Cherry picker 10 IC

Run the paved path at the bottom of the hill. We have never ventured into the woods in the 2 years we have been here, so what better time than now to explore this great path with a good sized hill would make a great work out for SeaLegs hmmmmmmm in the near future.

Circle up talk about how life is too short to not venture out and explore. Take control of your life be happy. YHC realized there is not enough room to do global warming as planed so I Omaha to the hill.

Mosey to the hill clock work merkins. YHC did short demo:
5 Merkins in 12 o’clock, 5 – in 3 o’clock 5 – in 6 o’clock 5 – in 9 o’clock and 5 – in 12 o’clock one more time. Run to the top of the hill for some –

– Global warming (10 merkins, 10 CCD, 10 burpees)

Mosey to the gaurd rail where I pulled out my board of  pain from behind the guard rail

Partner up

Partner 1 performs exercise till partner returns
Partner 2 runs around long median to the side walk and back.

Monkey humpers
Moroccan night clubs
Plank w/shoulder taps
Irkins
Dips
Donkey kicks
Plank jacks
Squats on your toes
Nur up the hill
American hammers
Burpees
Seal jacks

Some made it to donkey kicks a few made it to plank jacks. I felt we ran enough for the work out so we Lt Dan up hill toward COT .10 of a mile then we NUR the rest of the way COT ot .10 of a mile. I am a big fan of NURING but learned that Cha Ching can run backwards really fast.

COT
Talked more about life being to short live it to the fullest tomorrow is never promised. The reason behind this was bout 2 1/2 years ago Emma my daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. We have now come to a end with her treatment and she has surgery tomorrow to remove her port out of her chest. With that being said we found out last friday that my stepmother has stage IV lung cancer. So never take a day for granted.

Announcements:

Ruck brew, Hog & Coyote coming soon, P200
A group that has supported my family the last 2 years Hometown Heros has a Union county sheriff’s deputy running 40 miles to raise money for the kids battling cancer and other diseases this Saturday trying get some pax to join me with 5k 10k 15 mile 10 mile ect options to support him and his cause.

Prayers and praises:

Prayers for Luka, Vuvuzella son. Emma for finishing treatment up and for having port removed. For my stepmother journey with cancer. Praise for our 2 kotters that came back out.

Great work by the pax they did an awesome job and really pushed them selves. TCLAPS MEN.

https://youtu.be/ZhOkLxtOWYY

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4

Beasts from the Abyss

Following a pre-run boot involving some Dora 1-2-3 and a preview of the day’s workout, YHC and QBert moseyed to the main parking lot to greet the rest of the PAX and get ready for the 0515 start. Truth be told, the preview with QBert revealed that the workout planned would be a killer, so I was already making modifications in my mind, but still wanted to give the PAX a good push. After all, why wake up and post at dark-thirty if not to push yourself, build up your brothers, and get better?

Disclaimer given while most PAX chatted, then off we went, starting with an easy mosey around the parking lot, out the entry, in the exit, and around to the track. High knees, butt kickers, toy soldiers, tip-toe walks, and heel walks were enjoyed at various times before circling up in the track area.

Warm-a-rama

Quick run-through of the usuals:

  • 10 Hillbilly walkers, IC
  • 10 Imperial walkers, IC
  • 10 Windmills, IC
  • 20 Moroccan night clubs, IC
  • 10 Merkins, IC

We added in some downward dog (with cross-body ankle grab action), honeymooner, and extra wrist stretches because, well, the Thang was about to happen…

The Thang

Starting at one end of the track, perform assigned movement (crawl, walk, hop, etc.) to first basketball hoop, complete assigned exercise, move (crawl, walk, hop, etc.) to next hoop, exercises, etc., all the way to fourth basketball hoop. Upon completion of exercise, do a suicide cupcake, turning at each hoop, then run all the way back to the start and plank for the six. Rinse and repeat with new movement and new exercise.

Movement/exercise pairs:

  • Bear crawl between hoops, with 20 CDD at each hoop
  • Crab walk between hoops, with 20 crab cakes at each hoop

Quick Omaha here, cutting distance in half for remainder of the workout.

  • Sneaky gorilla between hoops, with 50 LBCs at each hoop
  • Anteater crawl between hoops, with 25 merkins at each hoop
  • Monkey crawl between hoops, changing direction at each hoop, with 25 monkey humpers at each hoop (monkey crawls probably need a better name, since they’re more of a scoot than a crawl)
  • Fiddler crab between hoops, changing direction at each hoop, with 20 Freddie Mercurys (double count) at each hoop

With only four minutes left, the choice was given among the remaining three sets:

  • Frog hops between hoops, with 25 calf raises at each hoop
  • Inch worm between hoops, with 5 burpees at each hoop (this was the PAX’s choice, though a few modified to frog hops)
  • Chameleon between hoops, with 25 squats at each hoop

Everybody got through it, and we had just enough time to mosey back to COT without going over on time (somehow).

Announcements

  • Children’s Attention Home this Saturday. Be there if you can, it’s a great opportunity!
  • Brew Ruck coming up on Easter weekend. It’s fun. Be there if your M will let you.
  • Lake Wylie PAX doing some site recon at Crowder’s Creek Elementary on Monday, March 5, with Flux on Q. They’re hoping to open up a new AO on that side of the lake to give more opportunities for the outlying PAX and neighboring sad clowns.
  • Site Q transitions this week, with Poopdeck on Thursday and the Deep on Saturday both getting handed off.

Praises and Prayers

  • Cornerstone’s 2.0 had her last round of chemo and will be getting her port out on March 8 (I believe).
  • Cornerstone got a new job!
  • Prayers for the younger generation, and for wisdom and opportunities for us to stand up and make an impact.

As always, it is an honor to lead a great group of men. I appreciate the work everybody put in to this workout, trying new and admittedly awkward movements, and encouraging each other along. Thanks to Bones for this opportunity, and apologies to his patients who will likely suffer from his inability to use his arms today. You’re welcome.

-Jedi

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5

We got our 28+ at The Colosseum

We had a total of 28 guys in The Fort region post yesterday (Monday, Feb 26) amidst the rain so I threw out the challenge of getting 28 men out to the Colosseum this AM. With some help from Jeckyll, Pusher, Ginsu, Cha Ching and a few others, we got that done. The PAX made it even better when that was just the boot camp number as we totaled 31 with our 3 runners included.

I can not even begin to tell you how humbled I was to see headlight after headlight roll in and to have 27 other guys run around this AO at 0515 with me. As Assassin mentioned in COT, we do in fact know how special it is to be blessed with the opportunity to be out with the PAX on just another Tuesday morning. To see some faces out there that I haven’t seen in quite a while was great. With the chatter that ensued, I knew I had better bring it.

So after our disclaimer and the departure of the Pathfinder runners, us boot campers jogged to end of the back parking lot. We counted off to our number of 27  at the time and dropped down for a 2min plank followed by a 2min reverse plank. Well 90 seconds into that latter plank, we had a masked ninja run up to join us for our lucky number 28. That ninja also goes by the name STRAIGHT UP  and man, it was good to have him join us.

1/2 of 28 equals 14 Burpees so that is what we did followed by 28reps of the following:

Dying Cockroach, Boats & Canoes, Jumping Lunges, Jump Squats, X&O’s, American Hammers, Monkey Humpers and Squat Calf-Raises

We partnered up for:

Partner 1: Run to the 1st speed bump and back
Partner 2: Diamond Merkins then flap jack

Partner 1. Run to the 3rd speed bump and back

Partner 2: Merkins then flap jack

Partner 1: Run to the gate that was no longer in existence

Partner 2: Carolina Dry Docks or some ab work then flap jack

Bring it back to the GHMS side of the bus parking lot and circle up for some coupon work.

Begin with the 30lb Ruck and 35lb Kettle Bell on opposite sides of the circle. When the coupon came to you, 10 bicep curls of your choosing while the rest of the PAX cycled through Freddy Mercury, Rosalitas and Flutter Kicks.

COT

Announcements: Read that Sunday email containing your F3 Newsletter. New AO launching from Regent Park. Includes (br)yoga, run and coffeeteria  (contact Cake Boss or Sasquatch) every Friday. Don’t forget about the drive for 218 FNG’s. Reading center opportunity (service).

Prayers/Praises: Flat Tire’s new promotion, Straight Up’s wife is feeling better and S.U. is back with us. Cornerstone’s daughter Emma had her last chemo pill last night and will be ringing the bell soon. Ginsu’s daughter took her first steps yesterday. Jeckyll’s son is now a Boy Scout and Jeckyll has now handed over the leadership. Prayers for Mr. Clean and his desire to be out in the gloom. Prayers for Squeaky for what he is facing right now. Praises for reconnecting with my daughter.

Thank you again for coming out in the gloom.

Maximus

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7

Deck of Death and the Deconstructed Burpee at the Deep

It was early, it was cold.  I had told the guys throughout the week to bring their kids and we could enjoy an easier workout.  But even I bailed with my two boys when I heard it was going to be 20 degrees.  Seems like that’s pushing the child abuse line… Luckily  the other 8 guys that showed up felt the same and decided the kids needed to stay at home.  Good for the children, bad for the PAX…now we got to do the harder things I had planned!

We had an FNG show up a little early and asked if this was F3?  I said yes, and asked him if he had gloves? He seemed confused and then asked, “is this outside?”  I knew he was going to have some fun today…lucky for him the PAX that EH’d him told him about the gloves.  By the end, Chris, an art teacher at a local school, was christened with “Picasso”.

I gave the long disclaimer, and we were off.

Dynamic warmup lap around the parking lot with:

High Knees – Butt Kickers – Toy Soldiers – Karaoke – Knee to Chest – Ankle pull

We circled up on the soccer field for COP:

SSHs – Imperial Walkers – Windmills – Squats with Calf Raises – CDDs – Plank Jacks – Merkins – Peter Parkers

No one really likes when I keep them in plank for 4 exercises…kinda my thang!

Now that we were warmed up, we moseyed over to the GA-GA ball pit.   Each of the 8 men find a post, and jump over the wall 30 times. If they didn’t want to do that…burpees were the alternative. No one took the alternative.

We headed over to our favorite hill for an evolution I stole from Bing down in Lakewood Ranch  who had posted it the day before on his BB.  Seemed like a tough thing to do so I added it to the Weinke.

Partner Up for the “Deconstructed Burpee”

Partner 1 run down and up the hill while partner 2 does the exercise.  Add reps together to these numbers:

100 Hip Thrusters

100 Merkins

100 Jump Squats

Several 10 counts after this one. Picasso didn’t seem to like the deconstructed burpee.  Later Bing told me he got this from our boy Longshanks…no wonder it sucked!

Mosey on to the next evolution behind the school.

5 cones were set up along the back street

Bear crawl to cone then 10 merkins

Lunge walk to next cone then 10 squats

keep repeating until the end 5 cones – about 200 yards.

I shared some thoughts around temptation, personal struggles and accountability. These men of F3 help make me a better man!

Next we stayed by the benches for:

20 Dips

20 Durkins

20 Step-Ups (each leg)

Mosey around to the front of the school

Last evolution today was the Deck of DEATH for 15 minutes.

Hearts = Jump Lunges

Spades = Merkins

Diamonds = Bombjacks

Clubs = Carolina Dry Docks

Aces high were 14 reps

We seemed to pull 13 clubs out of 15 tries… this always gets fun and rowdy by the end.  I pulled two of the Aces myself!

Mosey back to the cars for the normal COT items and naming of our FNG to Picasso.

prayers for Tater’s grandbaby still in NICU but doing OK. Qbert’s wife starting her new job soon, Shakespear’s friends’s parents heath, safe travels for all traveling.

Always and honor to lead,

Royale

 

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3

Spiderman Crawls and tires

Thankful for the opportunity to lead my second Q, 11 PAX joined for a great beat down.

Quick disclaimer  and discussed about the word of the month victory and the power we have to overcome a struggle.

We started the warm up with a 2 minute run around the parking lot, circled up and started with the following in cadence:

15 Windmills

15 Low slow Merkins

20 Moroccan Night Clubs

Then we moseyed to station #1 of our  4 station/corner setup. Quick explanation of the workout followed by demonstration of the spiderman crawl,  we split into groups 1 to 4 and one group went to each corner:

  • First  Corner:

15 big boy sit ups

20 Sledgehammer swings

30 American hammer

  • Second Corner:

5 tire flips

10 deep squats

20 lunges

30 dips on tire or curb

  • Third Corner:

15 two arm triceps extension

20 two arm biceps curl

30 Carolina drydocks

  • Fourth Corner:

5 tire flips

10 diamond merkins

15 regular merkins

30 shoulder taps

After completing each  station we moved to the next one as follows: from station 1 we run to station 2; from 2 to 3 we spiderman crawled; from 3 to 4 we run and from 4 to 1 we spiderman crawled. Each station was planned to be done around the 2 minute mark plus 30 seconds to run/crawl from station to station so a full circuit took around 10 minutes. We completed 3 full circuits.

With about 38 minutes into the workout we moseyed to the hill but some PAX suggested we use the wall instead, so we people chaired for about 30 seconds, did a quick recover and then 30 second of  balls to the wall, with so much excitement coming from all the PAX about BTTW we rinsed and repeated for another 30 seconds and a new name for the exercise was brought out: brains to the floor… we moseyed back to COT and circled up for a head count and namearama.

Announcements:

Christmas Party

CAH dinner in december

Fast 5 Race

Joe Davis Memorial Run

Prayers and Requests:

Family, kids, health, happiness, our jobs and the opportunity to celebrate victory over our daily struggles.

 

 

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The real gloom at WEP

What a great Saturday morning. I got out to the AO a little early cause I hadn’t been out to WEP in a very long time. The air was thick with fog, it was dark, it was downright scary  – the perfect type type of gloom that we love to work with.

Men  start showing up about eight minutes before launch, by the time we were ready to go we had a total of 19 PAX ready to get after it . Nomad  brought 3 FNG’s from his youth group and they were excited to figure out what was in store for them this morning.  I bet they felt differently after words.

Maximus were starting us off today so he gave the long disclaimer for new friends and off we went .

It was a nice quick jog and then circle up to do several exercises that I can’t recall individually – but Maximus pushed us to get nice and warmed up.

the Thang

Partner up

partner 1 pull ups AMRAP while partner 2 runs around the playground  perimeter.

Repeat three times

After that we will circle up in the playground dirt and did several of the exercises which included toe touches, LBCs, flutter kicks and chopsticks. Maybe an elbow plank in there as well.

Maximus then turned it over to Royale

Mosey into the grass circled up and picked new partners

Lazy Dora

No running, consists  of the following exercises that are rotated between the two partners until you get to the combined number .

100 merkins

10 each while other partner planks

200 Squats

25 each while other partner holds low squat

300  American hammers single count

30 each  while partner holds 6 inches

This evolution was terrible so I gave the guys a break after it was done and read from Discipline Equals Freedom, a section called “application of discipline ”  from Jocko Willink’s most recent book. I shared his video about the book above.  It’s one of my favorite short motivational videos on YouTube!

The next evolution involved a nice little hill for 11’s

Run up the top the hill- do 10 bomb jacks – run back down – one plank jack until you reverse the cycle down to one Bomb Jack and 10 plank jacks.

Next we moseyed halfway around the park on the running track until we came close to the front road and entrance to the park.

We formed two lines and partnered up with the person right across from you in line- sat down and did two minutes each of big boy sit ups many as you can.

finally spent the last two minutes doing as many as you can burpees – real crowd pleaser

COT with FNG naming, Gomer, Ghost Rider and Chop Block.

Announcements prayers and praises

It was an honor to lead,

Royale & Maximus

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