Snake Pit: New Year’s Day…

“Under a blood red sky
A crowd has gathered in black and white
Arms entwined, the chosen few
The newspapers says, says
Say it’s true, it’s true”
– New Year’s Day, U2

It was New Year’s Day and the #Faithful convened at the Snake Pit to work. Nothing fancy, the sugarplums had danced out of everyone’s heads and there was no telling aroma of vodka being sweat out to indicate that this was different than any other morning. I guess even an 0700 start wasn’t late enough to entice some folks to post. U-Haul had some sort of TimeLife “Best of the Late 70’s” playing on the roof rack, and it was loud enough to entice a Spitz sighting. Spitz can hardly resist when “Radar Love” starts strumming the rhythm strings deep in his soul. Play it long enough and he’ll eventually meander over to tell some stories of the glory days of Fort Mill. “This used to be entirely wild boar paths through here…” Anyhow, with a promise of no running, we got going.

HIIT Style workout was on the menu: 60 seconds on 20 seconds off.

Curls
Goblet Squats
Chest Presses
Triceps Extensions
Pass-through Lunges
Clean and Press
LBCs
and more…

Finished up with a round robin of Mary and such then 3D took us out.

Until next time… Helmet, out.

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Bear Crawls, Burpees, Battlestar Galactica

To get the blood flowing, began with what ended up being a soggy mosey around the practice field, there was a fair amount of mumblechatter as the mud sloshed around.

Warm up in cadence:

  • Wind mills
  • Cherry pickers
  • Imperial walkers
  • Peter Parker
  • Parker Peter
  • Low Country Crab
  • Honey mooners
  • Downward dog

Quick recovery and off to the track for the main event.

The Thang

Run 4 laps on the track with 2 sets of 20 reps of a particular exercise on the turn.

1st turn

  • 20 Merkins
  • 20 American Hammers

2nd turn

  • 20 Caroline dry docks
  • 20 Flutters

Rinse and repeat for 4 laps. Thanks Trucker for the vote in confidence around the creativity.

Lined up on goal line for field round.

Burpee Dans

Starting at goal line, lunge walk in 10 yard increments, followed by burpee increasing by 1 burpee to 50 yard line. Run backwards to goal line and plank when finished.

Welsh Dragons

Starting at goal line and remaining in plan position, bear crawl 10 yard increments.

  • 1 merkin
  • 1 plank jack
  • 1 set of should taps

Rinse and repeat to 50 yard line increasing rep count by 1 per 10 yards. Run backwards to goal line.

Originally planned above exercises through length of field, due to time constraints, cut down to 50.

With 10 minutes left, called additional adjustment.

  • Run to 50 yard line, 50 calf raises,
  • Run to end zone, 50 mountain climbers
  • Sprint back

Mosey back to COT with a few minutes to spare.

Wave of Merkins

  • PAX remaining in plank, start w/ 1 merkin around the circle, followed by 2, and so on until time ran out.

Announcements: Short talk on word of year.

Prayers/Praises: Health, travels.

Thanks to MacGuyver for the field access, Cyclops for the opportunity, and 3D for the shovel flag reminder.

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Final KB WO of the century

As we look towards 2020, it was appropriate to finish 2019 with a bang.

The Thang:

20 merkins w/bell (10 each arm) – 19 Skull Crushers

20 Squats – 19 KB swings

20 Big Boy Sit ups w/bell – 19 leg raises

20 curls (10 each arm) – 19 up right rows

20 LBCs w/bell – 19 american hammers

20 Side ab bends – 19 arm shoulder press (2 arms)

2 Burpees

Run to top of parking lot and back

Rinse and repeat as many rounds possible

Surprisingly not much mumble chatter, guess each PAX took the challenge to finish 2019 off with a bang. Not surprisingly, Band Camp was the leader with the FNG and Fish Sticks neck and neck.

Trucker

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What is your Mission?

Theme  – Do you accept your Mission?  17 HIM came to the Armory to accelerate!  After a short warm up and Mosey to the front of the church, we all took a moment to share our one word for 2019!  The question this morning ” What is your Mission?  Thank you to Bass-0-Matic for sharing  this Bible plan  – I am a Warrior – Part 1  –  A 3 day Plan by Dr. Kim Kimberling.  This was shared with all the Pax : Only a small portion of the “Devotional” but I think it resonated throughout the workout!

What is your mission? Where is God calling you to be a warrior? Are you ready for the battle?  Honestly, the missions are all around us. We live in a culture that fights against God and His purposes every day. Do you have children? Your mission is to instruct them, to lead them, and to protect them. As a husband, your mission is to fight for your marriage in a world that does not value marriage. Your mission as a Christian man is to stand firm for Jesus not wavering in the daily battle. Your mission is to be a man of integrity and honor that stands out from the crowd who is not afraid to stand out. In your workplace, your mission is to not cut corners or to cheat someone or to do whatever it takes to make a buck or two. Your mission is to show Jesus to a world that does not know Him very well, if at all.

Let the Games begin :

Round 1 :    

  10 BigBoys  : 20 Step Ups (10 each leg)   : 30 squats  

Mosey to Next Station – CinderBlocks!

10 Block Swings : 20 Chest Presses : 10 Man Makers 

Round 2 : Mosey Back to Station 1

    10 Curls (each arm) : 20 Rows ( 10 each arm): 30 Dips w Kettlebell

Mosey back to Cinderblocks!

 10 Block Swings : 20 Chest Press : 10 Man Makers

Round 3 : Mosey Back to Station 1

10 Big Boys : 20 Step Ups ( 10 each leg)  : 30 Squats

Mosey back to Cinderblocks!

    10 Block Swings : 20 Chest Press:  10 Man Makers:

Round 4 Mosey Back to Station 1 

10 American Hammers :  20 Kettlebell Swings : 40 (Single Count)

Wrapped up with some Fun : Circled up for a modified Mary – where one Pax gave the group an exercise  – then grabbed 2 Cinderblocks for a quick 100 yd out and back (more like 50yds but 100 sounds better! )while the other Pax battled thru exercise until the Pax came back!  Rinse and repeat our way through the group  : Ran out of time about 1/4 thru this FUN – Headed Back fo COT:  Blessed and Humbled to lead this Morning – Fogerty!

Prayers & Praises were shared!  Each day is a mission and/or a blessing  – How are you going to accept your mission / modify your mission /  or share your mission?  SYITG!

 

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12 Days of Christmas

15 HIMs descended on Laces In/Out for a beat down today including (3) runners led by Rock Thrill and (12) for BC led by YHC.

YHC was honored to be invited by Cyclops to Q at this AO. There is so much to do that I decided to peruse the previous backblasts to see if I could borrow some ideas. Fortunately, I was directed to a backblast from 12/8/13 from Double D and Santini where the Fort was introduced to the 12 Days of Christmas. YHC was there and remember it fondly. It has become a staple of the Christmas season at the Fort. In honor of DD, I decided to borrow the pain and apply.

The Thang

Mosey toward front of FMHS

1st Stop – SSHs x 30 and 5 burpees

2nd Stop – Windmills x 10 and 4 burpees

3rd Stop – Mtn Climbers x 20 and 3 burpees

4th Stop – Merkins x 10 and 2 burpees

5th Stop – IWs x 15 and 1 burpee

 

12 Days of Christmas

The Pax completed each set of exercises consistent with the song and then took a lap around the parking lot. The exercises were done in order listed below:

1 Donkey Kick

2 WAM

3 Jumping Lunges

4 Merkins

5 Squats

6 Burpees

7 Bombjacks

8 Sumo Squats

9 CDD

10 Flutters IC

11 Monkey Humpers

12 Diamond Merkins

 

All total we completed 2.6 miles plus exercises above. No one remembered that it was cold outside! Slapshot led the way the entire time and thus carried us out with a prayer.

 

Moleskin

  • Christmas party tomorrow night
  • Dam to Dam relay for a cause
  • Bonsai looking for folks to help with shelving at Classroom Ready
  • Prayers for Cash, Cyclops Dad

 

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Preparation at the Armory

19 PAX at The Armory

Workout is pretty clear from the outline I think.

We ran a bit in between the reps for the Thang…..at an allegedly fast pace….pretty sure it was slow on the Fish Sticks scale. Also we did 60 SSH….a real crowd pleaser. Alternating between Mtn Climbers and a Yoga sequence over and over and over was also “well” received.

I did use my handy cheat codes on my forearms to keep myself on task. It’s cheaper than buying one of those quarterback play-caller wrist bands like OldBay has, but decidedly less cool. Forgot what DD (Downdog) stood….But on a Mosey Shady reminded me; at which point, I was glad for his assistance and that we’d already done that sequence in the warmup.

Mary to close out:
– Windshield Wipers
– Flutters
– restarted the Thang from 5 reps and built up (crowd pleaser) got to 10
– Pigeon Lunge

COT

NMM:
Advent is about Preparation. How are we preparing ourselves daily to handle our Jester(s) beyond just fitness?

Thanks to JWOWW for the invitation to Q. Great to have such a group of HIM present.

Band Camp Dismissed

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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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Overcome

7 boot campers and 3 runners posted at Laces In/Out this morning.  The cool temperature was perfect for a hideous beat down. We did hill repeats because today’s message was focused on overcoming inertia.

The Thang:

COP: SSH (30x), IW (20x), WM (15x), Sumo Squats (15x), MC (20x), and LBCs (15x)

Mosey to the hill near the stadium to add inertia and do the following exercises. 

  1. 100 Yard Dash
  2. Jumping Squats (2x) 
  3. Big Boy Sit Ups (3x)
  4. Pepper Grinders (4x)
  5. Burpees (5x)
  6. LBCs (6x)
  7. Sumo Squats (7x) 
  8. Heels to Heaven (8x)
  9. Dips (9x)
  10. Calf Raises (10x)
  11. Merkins (11x)
  12. Penguins (12x)

Moleskin:

Why do we sometimes struggle to answer God’s calling and purpose for our lives?  Does our own inertia stop us from making a breakthrough?

The bible shows us that Paul initially hesitated when he was called to God’s mission field.  In the Acts of the Apostles 22, Jesus needed to encourage Paul to overcome his inertia. He kept telling Paul “Go,” “Get up,” “What are you waiting for?”

Paul eventually pushed through his inertia and fulfilled his mission.  Paul’s story is a great illustration of how it’s sometimes tough to start your mission but you must finish strong.  

Peace,

Deacon

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Halloween Kettlebells at the Hive

So admittedly this just a tad late but I’m thankful I have both written and video evidence to reference for my first Kettlebell Q at the Hive.

As I recall It was a relatively cool and damp morning for the day after Halloween but 9 sturdy and resilient PAX plus  one FNG braved their (candy) hangovers to partake in an iron pax inspired beat down courtesy of YHC.

A “professional” disclaimer was provided and we took a quick mosey around the parking lot.  Once we completed a lap we circled up and began a quick warm up.

IW x 20
HW x 20
MC x 15
MNCx 20

After the warmup we grabbed our bells and moseyed over to a portion of the parking lot where I had chalked out the next 30 minutes of pain.

The Thang

The bulk of the workout was divided into 3 sets where the Pax would have 10 minutes to get through each set as many times as possible. Each of these sets were inspired by weeks 2-4 of the Ironpax challenge.

Set 1

10 Merkins (5 each side w/bell)
15 Thrusters
20 Curls (10 each side)
25 Goblet Squats
Once through those exercises you would then complete 1 lap around the parking lot.

After 10 minutes were up we moved right into the next stage of pain.

Set 2

10 Lawnmowers (5 each side)
15 Burpee Jumps (Burpee then jump over the bell and do another burpee)
20 Tricep Extensions
25 Chest Presses
30 Flutters with Bell raised
Followed by another Lap

10 more minutes flew by and we didn’t waste anytime moving onto Set 3

Set 3

This set was pick your poison. Meaning that you needed to do the number of reps cumulatively but you got to pick the method of your pain.

50 Merkins OR Squats
Followed by carrying your bell to a predetermined distance and back.
50 Thrusts OR Lunges
Followed by the same bell carrying lap
75 Curls/Extensions/Flutters
Followed by the same bell carrying lap

After the third set was complete we did a 10 count and then finished with thrusts, squats, and….. I think burpees because we had 30 seconds left.

Back at COT we had the privilege of naming a new FNG who happened to be from Chicago. I suggested Windy City but after that was dubbed as “too nice” we settled on Wrigley (he’s a White Sox Fan)

All told it was a great way to work off the 100 Twix I had the night before. Great work by all who showed. Also, big thanks to Bandcamp for the opportunity!!

 

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McDonald’s for Breakfast

Warm-O-Rama:
-20 Peter Parker Peters
-10 Low Slow Toe Squats (don’t fall over Trucker)
-20 Flutter Kicks With Arm Flutters
-20 Hello Dolly With Flutter Kicks
-15 Calf Raises While Holding Al Gore
Mosey to wall for:
-20 People’s Chair With Arm Flutters
-10 Alternating Shoulder Taps While Holding BTTW

The Thang:

4 corners with station in the middle.
In the middle we all did 5 body bag builders for stations 1-4 each time while burpee broad jumping to the station and back, then 15 flutter kick & arm stations 5-8 and did duck walk from the middle to the station and back.
Station: exercise (all in cadence and together as a group)
1: Air chair and overhead claps x 15
2: Low slow jump squats x 15
3: Superman position + Moroccan NC’s x 15
4: CDD + donkey kick x 15
5: Derkin + shoulder tap x 15
6: Dying cockroach + flutter kick x 15
7: Aussie snow angels x 15
8: American hammer + lbc x 15

Trucker for a 10 count and mosey to open parking lot. Pick a partner and stand 8 parking spaces apart. Meet partner in the middle and knock out 10 clap merkins. Method of transport for round 1 is bear crawl to partner, crawl bear back. Round 2 crab walk forward, 10 clap merkins, crab walk backward.  Repeato.  Cot.

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