4 strong made it out for what seemed like the first day of winter in the area. Cold and damp with the wind blowing and the sky constantly changing. It reminds me of Chicago.
Disclaimer Given, Mission read.
Warmup: 20 Sun gods 20 Tea Pots 50 Moroccan Night Clubs 50 Seal Jacks 10…Jump Squat Holds (As a group, perform jump squats counting down from 10 to 1. Then hold an Al Gore counting down from 10 to 1. Repeat starting at 9 then 8, etc…) 50 LBCs Plank fest: Side plank for 30 Dying Cockroach (On back, legs, arms, neck up) for 30 Side plank other side for 30 Regular shoulder plank for 30 Army Pushups for 30 High plank then Pike up and reach for toes (alternate) for 30 Hip dips (elbow plank and drop hip to ground alternate side) for 30 Slow mountain climbers Fast mountain climbers
The Thang: Line up on 100 : X reps of the following exercises with 1 person run to the X yard line and back , others pax does the exercise:
50 Mike Tysons, run to 50 75 Groiners (hands off the ground), run tp 75 300 Gorilla Humpers, run to 100 300 Big Boy Sit-ups, run to 100 300 Toe Taps, run to 100
Turned out to be yet another Baker’s Dozen consisting of the 13 HIM who won THAT FIRST BATTLE and posted on the first truly cool gloom workout of Fall 2020. Bad weather cannot stop these men–No Excuse November has begun!
Here’s the skinny: YHC tried to bring some new exercises to the Gloom…
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH – 18 IC
Windmill – 18 IC
Imperial Walker – 18 IC
WTHEKS – 18 IC
(What The HEKS = High Elbow Knee Slide) [Bearcrawl position. Alternate raising high elbows up & over your back, twist & slide opposite knee under. Rinse & Repeat]
Cherry Pickers – 15 IC
Swartzjacks – 18 IC
THE THANG:
Legs
Broad Jump Squats – 10 rounds OYO
[BJ, squat, turn around in air, BJ back, squat, turn around, BJ, rinse and repeat]
Partner Pushes – 3 rounds across the lot & back, alternating who pushes
Lunge Thrusts – 3rounds per leg
[Lunge right leg, thrust high knee following lunge. 5 reps same leg. Swap. Rinse & Repeat]
Curbside Carolinas [Feet together, up on curb, butt in air, Carolina Drydock] – AMRAP OYO, resting means your finished. Ruxpin was last man standing
Shmerkin – 5 rounds OYO
(Shuffle Merkins) [Plank position, shuffle right 3 “steps”, 5 Merkin, shuffle left 3 “steps”, 5 Merkins Rinse & repeat]
Swerkins – 5 reps, boosted to 10 Reps at half, swap w/partner, while remaining PAX ☆RR Tracks across lot, mosey back, rinse & repeat til all PAX work through the RR Tracks
☆ Mosey 30, 20, 10 around the short block
3rdF Beak in Action | YHC shared the following:
Years ago Lt. Sakowski was the leader of our Field Artillery survey team when I served in PA’s 28th ID BTRY F 109th FA. After completing a successful mission during a field training exercise, Lt. Sakowski and our Platoon Sergeants decided to reward our team’s hard work with a bit of what I’ll call a “field picnic” — after several days of eating MRE’s for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we were ready for a change! They’d snuck back to the PX and picked up some rolls, cold-cuts, lettuce, tomato, pickles and some other snacks, etc.
Our Lt. had scouted out an “off the grid” spot and in the midst of making our way there with 3-4 vehicles right behind his, Lt. Sakowski’s driver hit the brakes, and our Lt. stood up to extend through the top of his uncovered/topless 1/4-ton Jeep and began shouting to turn around and high-tail it back to where we’d come from. Based on the nature of his commands, the tone of his voice, and the look on his face, nobody asked a question and we got out of there fast!
Once we finally made it to the location he’d originally picked, Lt. Sakowski owned up to what he had done — he discovered he was leading our small convoy directly through the middle of an Impact Area! For those unfamiliar with what that is, it’s an area where bombs are dropped and into which Artillery and other weapons are fired during live-fire training exercises. I.e. YOU DON’T WANT TO BE IN AN IMPACT AREA!!
Outside of the fact that if you’re in there you’re a target), the moral of the story is that everyone one of us in our artillery survey team, not to mention everyone in my entire unit, would’ve followed Lt. Sakowski anywhere, especially into battle! He was a rare leader! He was a proven leader! He was a humble leader. He was a great leader who was highly respected by all. His leadership was defined by consistently leading well on all occasions, not by that single incident of taking us into an extremely dangerous area. Even in that moment he took full responsibility of what could’ve been a catastrophic mistake.
Let’s go ahead and call it “NO EXCUSE NOVEMBER,” not just in terms of posting or not posting, but in all we do. We’d all do well to stop making excuses and blaming others for failures. We’d do well to own up to OUR mistakes (and sins) so that we’re able to learn from them and grow into better leaders as a result…better leaders in our homes, in our workplaces, and in the communities in which we serve. We’d do well to take ownership and responsibility and lead even where someone else has come up short.
One biblical example of this that I’m thinking of is Peter… He exhorted the elders as a “fellow elder in 1 Peter 5:1 to, “Shepherd the flock of God among you…” Where did those words come from? See John 21 where, at a post-resurrection breakfast along the beach, Jesus pulled Peter aside and asked him 3 times, “Peter, do you love Me?” Each time Peter responded with, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you” and each time Jesus responded with, “then shepherd my sheep.” Remember Peter was the one who openly denied Christ. He was a failed leader, a broken leader. In all practicality, we assume Peter’s repentance, his ownership of sin and failure. He was humbled and broken; but lesson learned he was restored and then Jesus recommissioned him with the words…follow me!
Abs
Here’s what YHC had planned next:
Big Boy Heal Touches
[Lying flat, arms extend on ground behind head. 1 knee upward toward chest, torso up extending both arms to touch both sides of same heal, back down, raise to opposite heal, back down. Rinse & repeat]
Crazy Dolly
[On six, hands in ground near hips, torso in recliner position. Feet at 6″, spread out like Dolly, bring feet together, then knees to chest, back out, spread feet like Dolly, feet back together, knees to chest. Rinse & repeat]
Boardwalk Big Boys
[Partner hold feet, six on edge of Boardwalk Bench, lay back 1/2 – 3/4, back up. Consistent motion. 5 reps, swap with partner, rinse & repeat]
Boardwalk Liars
[Partner holds feet, lie on stomach with upper torso extended over edge, hands behind head, lower down then back up. 5 reps, swap with partner. AMRAP while other PAX☆RR Tracks across lot, mosey back]
EXTRAS:
Rosie – AC/DC version, 05:36 mins. of Rosalita! (Extra credit if done at home)
Dragon Tires
RR Tracks across the field
Wall Work
We ran out of time, so Here’s what we actually did:
Mary – 3 rounds: 4-Count Freddies (Quattro); American Hammers (Woodstock); Flutter Kicks (Leatherman)
COT/BOM:
Announcements: Another fundraiser 5k coming up, Quattro to push out the details to PAX on Groupme; Woodstock likely to miss 11/5 VQ due to travels and looking to swap Q’s with another PAX. BIG NEWS: Today was last day single “reeespect” for Streudel, tomorrow the beast turns 60 and gains double-reeespect in the COT! Remember, it’s No Excuse November” so lets be HIM, eliminate the excuses we’re prone to make, and, who knows, perhaps we’ll develop some new habits that’ll carry us beyond November.
PRAYERS: It’s Election Day… nuf said; Chattahoochee’s 2.0, Taylor, recovering from tonsillectomy; Woodstock safe travels to pick up a plane; etc.
So close to have merlot spilled today with the somersaults. YHC was closest as a lot of the PAX wisely chose to modify the exercise.
Disclaimer given
Warmup: 15 little baby arm circles 15 reverse baby arm circles 15 forward arm circles 15 reverse forward arm circles 15 over head arm circles 15 reverse overhead arm circles 15 tea pot right 15 tea pot left 15 Imperial Walkers 15 hill billies
The Thang: Partner up… first team to number calls it for everyone
50 Candlestick burpees… (push up / candlestick alternate) while partner double leg hops to 10 and back 100 Merkins & Bear crawl to 10 and back 200 American Hammers & run BACKWARDS to 10 and back 300 Squats & somersault to 10 and back 400 plank jacks & lunges to 10 and back 500 LBCs & Crawl Bear to 10 and back We started on this last one but time ran out: 600 ssh & run to 10 and back
Count-o-rama, name-o-rama
COT: This text copied from another AOs backblast: “….Life is extremely tough for just about everyone right now — let’s all make a concerted effort to re-connect with those who we have not heard from in a while. Even a text message can make a huge difference these days!…” Funny as the topic of plagiarism came up in coffee afterwards.
20 SSH IC 20 cherry pickers IC 20 windmills IC 20 crab flippers IC 20 UP straddle hop (10 each leg) IC
THE THANG
After warm o rama pax lined up across from CHOP in “The Field” to perform the Spartan Routine. PAX line up and sprint 100 yrds, do selected exercises at the finish and walk back to the start all together. Q starts each sprint race with a verbal call. Exercises are as follows: 30 LBC 30 squats 30 merkins 30 double tap lbc (15 each side) 30 lunges (15 each side) 30 wide arm merkins 30 big boys 30 compassion squats 30 hand release merkins 30 American hammers 30 split jacks
15 burpees
15 Hand release burpees
3RD F MESSAGE: Today we wake up to a world in chaos and darkness, hurting and despair. Its easy to go along with the flow and get dragged down into the pit of misery and anger. But in a world full of darkness, we are called to be the light. One match lights an entire room and consumes the darkness. Just like the lantern in the darkness we should also run desperately to our Light, our Beacon, our Hope, our Redeemer, our Salvation Jesus while the world so aimlessly runs farther and farther away. We are High Impact Men. We are called to a different standard. We lead, we are leaders. If we can’t be the light the world will continue to see darkness. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. Genesis 1:3-4 NKJV Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them. John 12:35-36 NKJV “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16 NKJV “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” John 3:18-21 NKJV
The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.” Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”
We need to listen to wise counsel. Look for other HIM to pull up into leadership roles. We as men want to do everything on our own. We can’t. We need to ask for help or delegate so we can prosper.
Mosey to armory
10 ranger merkins, mosey up steps and back
10 diamond merkins, mosey up steps and back
20 wide arm merkins, mosey up steps and back
20 merkins, mosey up steps and back
Mosey back to AO
20 gas pumpers
20 split squats, per leg
20 derkins
Mosey around circle
Toy soldier set
50 lbc
30 e2k
20 big boys
20 squats
20 erkins
Side shuffle around circle switching halfway
10 burpees
Round of Mary; American hammers, flutter kicks, 4 count Freddie, mountain climbers, scissor kicks
Number Rama
Name Rama
COT
9 HIM showed today: Semi, Quarto, Swabby, Waler, Chappie, Toy Soldier, Cowbell, Doubtfire, Fireplex
Six HIM got better today by winning THAT FIRST BATTLE and leaving the fartsack behind, demonstrating their grit at the Grit Mill for a Dicey Chappie Burpee beatdown. It went a lil’ something like this…
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH – 18 IC
Prison Merkins – 10 IC
Swartz Jacks – 18 IC
Shoulder Tap Merkins – 10 OYO
Seal Jacks – 18 IC
Carolina Drydocks (AMRAP, to last man ‘standing’) *Ruxpin outlasted all, won the last man standing award: Kudos for the push!
Mosey to lot behind Calvary United Methodist.
THE THANG: (Partner up: 6 PAX, 3 Teams)
Routine: Roll THE BIG DICE (3) down parking lot, Bearcrawl/Crawlbear (at the whims of the Q) to the dice, do # of Burpees rolled. Roll again (Next team). Rinse and repeat to opposite end of lot. Covering the distance, each team got 2 rolls.
Remember team totals. Highest total wins, and winning team dictates what losing teams must do (Ab work)
Team 2 dictated the losers had to do 73 LBC’s, of course, all PAX joined the fun.
YHC shared the following 3rdF here:
“Out of every hundred men, ten shouldn’t even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the ONE, the ONE is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.” ~ Heraclitus
Are you one of “the real fighters”? Are you “the ONE” who is the warrior? To some degree this is why we train ourselves under the burdens we do…to prepare ourselves to be THE ONE who “will bring the others back.” You see here what Heraclitus said was that THE ONE was not only about the fight, he was about the others.
“‘I believed therefore, I spoke,’ we also believe, Therefore, also we speak.” 2 Corinthians 4:13
Jeff Schreve shared: “The life of the Apostle Paul is a story of grace, glory, and suffering. God worked miracles in and through Paul as He used him to speak the truth in love and lead multitudes to faith in Christ. As Paul presented the truth of man’s utter sinfulness and the Savior’s sacrifice and victory over sin, death, hell, and the grave, many people had their feathers ruffled. In fact, both Jews and Gentiles often reacted to the gospel message with violence. Paul was beaten, whipped, and imprisoned numerous times for preaching the truth and obeying the Lord. His unwavering commitment to Christ and His Word resulted in his beheading under the persecution of Emperor Nero.
Could Paul have avoided all the suffering? Yes! He could have easily quit preaching the unadulterated truth. He could have dialed down his message to tickle the ears and fit in with the sinful culture. He could have bowed to the demands of Rome and played ball with the corrupt Jewish religious leaders. He could have turned his back on his Lord and his calling and saved himself a ton of grief and pain. He could have wilted under the pressure, but he did not! He truly believed that Jesus died and rose again, therefore he spoke the truth without stutter, stammer, apology, or equivocation. He was faithful to Jesus Christ all the way to the finish line, regardless of the circumstances and the backlash.” The Apostle Paul was THE ONE who was a warrior for Christ.
I believe we are living in the last of the last days. The signs of Christ’s return are all around us. One of the telltale signs is the hatred we’ll receive for standing up for the Lord and His Word, especially without compromise or apology. America used to value Christianity and uphold the authority of the Word of God—but those days are gone. Today, faithful followers who hold to the clear teachings of Scripture are vilified, mocked, scorned, marginalized, and attacked. Can physical violence be far behind? I think not.
What’s the answer? Should we water down the message to make it more palatable to a sin-sick world? Never! If we really believe, we will speak up and speak out, just as 2 Cor. 4:13 states. And if we grow silent in the face of persecution, moral decay, and social lunacy, did we really ever believe at all?”
So, this is about being THE ONE, or at the very least being a real fighter…for the sake of others. Don’t merely be a target. Fighting “to bring the others back” [to Christ], HIM train themselves physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally and morally to be real fighters, even if it means standing alone for the sake of their family, their church, and the communities in which they serve.
————————————
PAX mosey’d back to the beginning point at other end of parking lot, did about 4 mins of Plank Pulls with the sandbag mini’s (PAX planked side-by-side and pulled sandbags bag and forth between them).
Return mosey to AO, alternating with sandbags overhead between PAX.
COT/BOM:
Announcements: Headless Horseman RuckWOD, Roving RuckF3st Friday, Oct. 30 at CHOP in Milton. Sign up to earn the patch at rucksonparade.com DONUT RUCK, (Family Ruck) Saturday morning Oct. 31 following the workout in Georgetown. Plan is to meet at Del Tech and Ruck around campus to Dunkin…because America runs on Dunkin! Patches will be earned by all! Great opportunity for some family 2ndF among the PAX
Prayers: Prayers for Allen Chorman (Woodstock’s dad, recovering from open heart surgery); for Dietrich (Waterfall’s 2.0, starting school today); for Carol (Chappie’s M, having elbow surgery tomorrow morning); for Eugene (a personal struggle over last few days); for Peddles and all the BMX competing this weekend in Milford.
Another workout, another Q. Privileged and honored to lead. Shout out to all who posted!
YHC decided to take the route of building the confidence and competence of the Grit Mill PAX today with a Q’ing For Dummies style of workout. It was not quite a Q School but PAX simply kept moving and did some work by the numbers. Great morning for it as we added FNG Mr. Eugene H. Krabs to the crew to make it a Wednesday 6 PAX…we’ll call him Eugene for short. Here’s how it went down today:
Disclaimer given.
Announcement – We’re going to move around a bit today, workout, and practice a bit by the numbers (in cadence!).
Warm-O-Rama:
SSH – 18 IC
Squat – Woodstock
Moroccan Nightclub – 50 IC
Windmill – 18 IC
Cherry Pickers – 20 IC
The Thang:
(Mosey to parking lot at old bank)
BANK (Legs)
Al Gore (hold for 3 count, up for rep) – 18 IC
Split Jacks – 18 IC
Tempo Squats – Woodstock – 18 IC
Mountain Climbers – Waterfall – 20 IC
Sumo Squats – Ruxpin – 18 IC
(Mosey out rear to NW 2nd St. Left to parking lot behind Berry Short Funeral – ended up across the street at Christ Episcopal Church…watch our for that car!…and that car!)
BERRY SHORT (Abs)
4-Count Freddies – 25 IC
Gas Pumpers – Woodstock – 15 IC
Hello Dolly – Gump – 18 IC
Flutter Kicks – 20 IC
3rdF Breather Taken here:
I picked up a thread on IG awhile back that applies to why we do the [hard] things we do. It was an exchange between two brothers who were talking about the limits of your body.
“Do you remember the marathon talk?” One of them asked. “I was complaining about doing a marathon on three weeks notice and you gave me the ‘what’s stopping you’ speech.” I asked him to elaborate, so he gave me a rough summary:
KW (brother): Whine, whine marathon wine.
CW (me): What’s the problem?
KW: It’s going to suck. I probably won’t even finish.
CW: Why? Are you going to quit?
KW: Well no. But I didn’t train for this.
CW: So you think you will reach a point at which you cannot physically take one more step?
KW: Well probably not. But I’ll be so slow!
CW: True. But that has nothing to do with whether or not you will finish. You make that decision yourself. And you’ll make it before the race starts. Kyle’s team started and finished 26.2 miles together in the Men’s Military — Heavy division of the race, which means they did the course in full uniform with boots and rucks weighing at least 30lbs each.
Kyle could barely walk for two days afterward, but as he put it, “that’s beside the point.”
It’s incredibly difficult to metabolically break the body of a healthy person. Yes, you can Kipping Pull-up your way to a torn shoulder, but if you’re moving in a way that doesn’t endanger you mechanically, your body can keep going through almost anything. The difficult part of learning this is when you realize that it’s your mind that doesn’t want to come along for the ride.
When you stop short (whether its a marathon, a 5k, a ruck, a marriage, or whatever manifestation of challenge life throws at you) it’s not that your body *can’t* keep going. It’s that on some level you’re making a decision not to.
Throughout life you will hear quitters come up with all kinds of excuses, as if everyone else isn’t going through the same kinds of excuses.
HIGH IMPACT MEN are not men of excuses, but of perseverance, endurance, and problem solving…overcoming any obstacles and adapting to any inconveniences.
SOME VERSES:
Galatians 6:9 ESV And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
Romans 5:3-5 ESV More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Hebrews 10:36 ESV For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
(Mosey down N. Church, Left onto Front St. to parking lot at Social services — because of time PAX had to head for AO)
SOCIAL SERVICES (PAX choice, must be IC)
Clock ran out…never stopped here
(Mosey return to AO with several Prison Breaks along the way)
Number-Rama
Name-O-Rama
COT:
Naming of FNG: Again, welcome to Eugene! (Thin Spongebob SquarePants and Meding Seafood
Announcements: Donut Ruck info TBA in near future. Woo! Hoo!
Prayers: Woodstock’s dad, Allen Chorman, and family; YHC’s nephew, Aaron deployed; for social media “warriors” and our nation as we head toward elections, etc.
