Fitness, Fellowship, Faith

Category: Backblast (Page 796 of 904)

Biscuit delivery

22 PAX showed up on a perfect morning for a beatdown at the Gashouse.  At 0700 sharp a disclaimer was given which basically said we had no insurance and were idiots or something like that.  We had a quick warm up which consisted of SSH, Merkins, LBC’s, CDD’s (Def Leppard push-ups), and squats.  The Painlab PAX peeled off with Rudolph as the rest of the boot campers went with YHC to the flag for the pledge of allegiance.

Today the Painlab offered some kettlebell work and two groups.  One for the recovering PAX and one for the regulars who are accustomed to Kettlebell workouts.  F3 is a cafeteria.  Serve yourself!

We moseyed to the front of Grier Jr. High for a speed bump merkinfest.  The PAX were instructed to do 21 merkins at one speed bump and then proceed back and forth for more merkins counting down from 21 to 1.  It was a lot of merkins and proved difficult but everyone pushed and got through it.  Short Sale mentioned he wished we did some Morrocan Nightclubs before the merkinfest so I had him lead us in a set afterwards.  By this time I told Monk he was “swole” and I don’t think he was familiar with it.  That is not a word they use in the religious studies department but after you do 210 merkins in 11 minutes there is no other word to describe it.

Then we headed to the steps at FPC for some DORA 1-2-3.  Partner 1 runs to the top of the steps and does 10 Sumo Squats (Gastone style) while Partner 2 stays at the bottom and completes an aggregate count of 100 CDD’s, 200 LBC’s, and 300 Flutter kicks.

We then moseyed to the track at Sherwood for more partner work.  P1 begins lunging the track counterclockwise while P2 runs clockwise until they meet and then switch.  After a lap was completed we moseyed to the playground for some burpeethon training.

Burpees at the top of the minute counting down from 12 to 8 for 50 burpees in 5 minutes.  We moseyed back to home taking the nature trail back to the Painlab convergence and closing Mary exercises of LBC’s, Homer/Marge, and then 5 more burpees as the bells tolled signaling the end of the workout.

COT:  Prayers for Ash Pond for healing and relief, prayers for Spidermonkey’s parents in Tampa, THANKS to the Gashouse PAX for their support of Speed for Need and the Burpeethon next weekend supporting the Special Olympics.  Sign up for these events and brings your families to both as they will be no doubt be memorable for sure.  The Mayor and his M are humbled by our support.  Great effort on their part to make it happen!

One benefit of the pending storm in Florida was that Yo Adrian was able to be home on a Saturday and post at the Gashouse and bring his truck and strong back to help with a quick service project to support Gaston Family Promise.  Speaking of promises, Whoopee posted at Folsom but showed to support the effort and brought biscuits because Whoopee is the MAN!.  Whoopee also reported that Folsom had 17 PAX today and lots of credit goes to #HIM Huckleberry for keeping that place going in lean times and it is good to see it thriving.  If you haven’t been they start at 0630 and it is a great AO and one of the strongest Coffeeteria’s on the tour.  Nothing like watching Gumby order a cheeseburger and fries at 0745.  Sparky also posted at Folsom and then brought his truck so we could get the work done that much faster.  Mastodon let me borrow his truck so we had three trucks.  Short Sale showed up and we were able to knock out the move in an hour and make an impact for families that are homeless and looking for a fresh start.  THANK YOU!

If anyone is interested in helping build a Habitat House next week I will post the address sometime this week.  We will be working the next two Saturdays.

Mark Lee of Third Day is performing and sharing his faith and stories from his new book “Hurt Road” at First Presbyterian Church tomorrow.  Davinci and Dr. Feelgood are leading the effort.  Tickets are free but you need to sign up through Eventbrite.  Try this link:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mark-lee-from-third-day-an-evening-of-songs-stories-testimony-tickets-35652022158

A co-worker of Tool time showed up as an FNG today and he said he wanted to join F3 if the rest of us were like Tool Time.  After some comments about his questionable judgement Whoopee asked him what movie he had seen recently and he replied “IT”.  Welcome Gacy to the PAX!  We look forward to seeing you in the Gloom!

Our region is thriving but there are other men in our area that are struggling.  We need to be on the hunt for sad clowns and always EH’ing.  We also had an FNG Friday now known as “Snowman” so Bandit has some company.  Snowman heard about F3 on the Art of Manliness podcast.  Keep spreading the word.  It was a pleasure to lead today and a great effort getting after it today.

Friends

17 PAX in total at Folsom this morning. 1 FNG 2.0 and 2 visitors from Rock Hill. An old friend ,Pac Man, came up for a visit and brought Van Damme with him. Pac Man and I had some interesting times together in our youth. I will leave it at that.

The Warmup:

Let’s do the pledge. Wait where’s the shovel flag? 10 Don Q’s ic while we wait for thee flag to be posted. Ok now the we can do the pledge.

Let’s mosey a lap around the newly refinished tennis courts.

Partner up and one partner gets a block. Take turns carrying it and let’s mosey.

The Thang:

We made our way down to the stage where Pac Man used to perform some with his band back in the day. P1 does 15 donkey kicks while P2 does goofballs. Switch and do 5 rounds. This was pretty funny to watch and reminded me of what those shows used to look like.

Mosey to the lower lot.

Dora

100-overhead press

200-weighted squats

300-sandy v’s while holding the block above the chest

That went too fast let’s do some more.

50-weighted lunges

100-in/out while holding the block above the chest

150-curls

Let’s mosey to the far side of the park. I realized we were running low on time so I gave Slaw to options. He picked Iron Hulk so we turned around and took the blocks to the truck and went to the tennis courts. Man! those blocks were starting to get heavy!

Iron Hulk with everyone helping on the count.

Well we have enough time after all so we did Route 66 Bobby Hurley’s on the court. Lot’s of mumble chatter from the non direction following crowd. I had to walk them through this with baby steps.

That’s time let’s fellowship mosey back. The Rock crowd would have nothing to do with this and pushed the mosey to a sprint.

COT:

Announcements- Burpeethon next Saturday at 9 at Rankin Lake to raise money for the Special Olympics. Be There! JJ5K 9/23. Still working on an opportunity to go help with hurricane relief.

Prayer Request-Lot of people dealing with sickness. Our own brothers may be fighting things in their lives. Reach out to guys you haven’t seen in a while!

Moleskin:

It was a beautiful morning out. We are truly blessed! It is great to spend a little time of the day surrounded by friends. Pac Man and Van Damme we will see you soon brothers! Frank Ooooooouuuuutttt!

A Pax of Muscle Ts

We had 3 brave warriors sporting the  Muscle T during this crispy 55 degree Friday morning.   I almost started of with a crop top, but cold feet and a bit of humility kept my in the good graces of Gastonia’s finest.

Let get to this already >

WARM UP:
20 IC – Side Staddle Hops,  10 IC – Merkins hold position, 10 IC – Planjacks, 10 IC – Squats,  20 IC – Dying Cockroaches,  30 IC – Flutterkicks

THANG:
Mosey to the trunk for the bricks.
Lawn Chair Warrior:  Wall Sits,  20 IC Shoulder Press (screaming at ref), 30 count Speed Bags forward, 30 count Speed Bags reverse

Mosey to the parking deck

Wild Party: Keg stand (Hip Slappers) & Six Pack ( 1 pull up, 5 merkins then 2 pull ups 4 merkins…..similar to 11’s)
Rinse and repeat add some Dips 15 IC at the end.

Bear crawl up the ramps, sprint the flats all the way to the top.

10 IC – Squats, 10 IC – Sleeping Hillbillies(each side), 10 IC – Low Slow Squats

The Incarceration: 20 IC – Box Cutters,  10 IC – Mike Tysons,  15 IC – SLOW Box Cutters, 10 IC – Mike Tysons,

5 burpies for the train

Mosey to the bottom level and grab the bricks.

Mosey to the Wells Fargo steps for, 15 IC – dips, 15 IC – monkey humpers and 5 Steps deep sea divers.

To the pavillion: Partner up.  Lunge to the end of the stage and back, other partner hits Mountain Climbers, switch.
rinse and repeat x 2

10 IC – LBC’s
10 IC – flutterkicks

PLEDGE

NAME-O-RAMA

COT

September 3rd F Preblast, Restoration and Forgiveness

This month’s theme is on Restoration and Forgiveness.  YHC was consumed in August with both work and vacation so I must make Cobains (all apologies) for not posting a preblast.  I appreciate those who stepped up and stood in the gap for me.  This month I have felt it is important to share on the Forgiveness and Restoration that our Lord has provided for us through his Son.  There has been much turmoil with Hurricanes, Fire raging throughout the country, political and social unrest; like everyone in our great country suddenly hates his neighbor. In all the focus on the spec in our neighbors eye we lose sight of one fact: We who judge the other are far from perfect ourselves.  Thank God that he has provided a way to reconcile us to Himself.

Week 1 I planned on sharing on Daniel 6: King Darius was a king who loved his servant Daniel but was bound by the law and forced to put Daniel in the lions den, but God had another plan.  In John 8: A woman was condemned to die by the law of Moses for adultery,  but Jesus had another plan.  How do these 2 people condemned for breaking the law find restoration and forgiveness?  Unfortunately I did not blast this out so only JJ arrived in time for the 3rd F gathering.  I will share on this in week 3

 

Week 2, Hushpuppy will be celebrating his 16th anniversary with his M and will not make Saturday 9/9.  This opportunity is open for anyone who would like to step up and share.

Week 3:Daniel 6 and John 8

Week 4: Luke 15:11-32 “While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion. His father ran to him, hugged him, and kissed him.21 Then his son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ” We all know the story of the prodigal son, but who restored who? The story of the loving father and his 2 sons will remind us of God’s love towards us and the end we may ask, “Which son am I?”

Week 5: Hosea Chapter 2: Sometimes God allows us to go through turmoil when we are stubborn, but his desire is always to restore them.

 

Beginning Tuesday 9/12 We will begin reading “The Case for Christ” by Lee Strobel at the Crusade.  Join us from 6am to 6:30 every Tuesday at the Starbucks in Harris Teeter at the corner of Robinwood and Kendrick.  Get your copy here:

https://www.amazon.com/Case-Christ-Journalists-Personal-Investigation/dp/0310339308

See you in the gloom!

Afternoon Delight

Pledge

 

Warm-up:

None

The Thang:

This one is real simple….

1 mile Mosey

100 Pull-Ups

200 Merkins

300 Squats

1mile Mosey

Great work by all PAX today this is a real mother of a beat down.

 

COT

Prayers:

Ash pond is fighting a bad illness , brothers that were unnamed but dealing with some real bad stuff, Men on the IR

1 Corinthians 16:13 (NLT)

13 Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous.[a] Be strong.

1 Corinthians 16:13 (HCSB)

13 Be alert, stand firm in the faith, act like a man, be strong.

Proverbs 27:

17Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another.

 

It was an honor to lead today men!

Tool Time

Yes, one more time

7 men showed to a simple Wednesday morning beat down at Martha’s.

The Thang:

10 3 count Merkins

20  3 count Squats

10 3 count right arm stagger

10 Wind Mill’s (Whoopee Wheelhouse)

10 3 count left arm stagger

20 3 count SSH

10 Carolina Dry Dock

Mosey, past the picnic area around the soccer field to the left. Once to the back of the field we did plank with alternating arm and then 1 minute elbow plank.

Lunge to scoreboard.

Bear Crawl to next point.

Elbow plank for 60 seconds

Mosey to bottom of hill behind second soccer field.

20 Monkey Humpers

Backwards up the hill then back down.

20 Sumo Squats

Backwards up the hill then back down.

20 Squats, 20 Monkey Humpers

Backwards up the hill and then back down.

20 Squats, 20 Sumo Squats

Up the hill backwards.

Mosey around the next soccer field towards the playground but first backwards up the last hill.

Mosey to the fence at back of baseball field. Tried a new exercise but the fence will not work. I will find a better spot.

5 Burpee’s

10 second rest

5 Burpee’s

Mosey around the fields to the Maintenance parking lot for 6 Minutes of Mary.

30, LBC’s, 3 counts of Flutters

20, LBC’s, 3 count of Flutters

10 LBC’s, 3 count of Flutters to 30 (Head fake on 10 Flutters, your welcome)

Mosey to middle of baseball fields to a bench.

20 3 Count Dips

10 Second Rest

15 3 Count Dips

10 Second Rest

10 3 Count Dips

Mosey to sidewalk on the way back to the first light pole.

20 Monkey Humpers

Mosey to next pole

20 Sumo Squats

Mosey to next pole

20 Squats

Mosey to start

20 3 Count Flutter

Done right on time.

The Moleskin:

Normally a bigger crowd but this was a strong group. Spec and Wet Nut showed up and conquered. I would like to propose a new name for Wet Nut since he does not like the name and it can be taken the wrong way. We can change his name to Shrek. Really I don’t know why but it is a good name and needs to be used. Let me know if you are apposed. If not it will be so.

Please consider we might have plenty of people to help in the next week if the path takes a crazy turn for Gastonia. Let’s check on each other if that happens and help our brothers out. Once we are are all set and safe lets show the community what we are made of. Hopefully this does not happen.

Prayer request for all Houston and the recovery and for the upcoming Irma.

Gastone Out

 

Memory

13 PAX posted Tuesday at Midoriyama. YHC has had a full plate lately and completely forgot he had the Q. Thankfully Tooltime called to tell me he was stuck in traffic and may not make it. He called like he was calling into work….hilarious! During our conversation he advised he was calling in due to me having the Q and the risk of ridicule for missing after his Q at Folsom on Saturday. He made it and I made it so all worked out well! The PAX were warned that if I don’t have anything planned and have to create it on the fly it will probably end badly.

Warmup:

Don Q x 20ic

SSH x 15ic

Don Q’s on the ground x 10ic

Let’s mosey

The Thang:

We moseyed to the field where we keep our blocks. Partner up and one partner gets a block. At this point I think everyone thought we were going to stay there and do something…. Nope! Let’s mosey. Switch the block with your partner when needed. We had an odd number so YHC didn’t have a partner to switch with so that sucked. I was thinking about hitting the trail for a long mosey but that was out. We went to the far side of the far soccer field for some Mary.

Round 1-1 partner runs across the field the other does the exercise. You know how it works.

100-Overhead presses

200-Weighted squats

300-Leg lifts while holding the block up in the air

Round 2-

50-Weighted lunges

100-Curls

150-In/Outs while holding the block over head

Mosey back. Thanks to Pizza Man and Canteen for partnering with me on the way back! Block was getting heavy!

COT:

Pledge

Announcements- Burpeethon-9/16 9:00am I hope to see everyone there. This is our opportunity to show our leadership in our community! SFN get signed up! I’m talking to you Sidecar! Signup and run at the JJ5K in Stanley. Only 15 people are registered and most of those are F3. Yet another opportunity to show our community leadership!

Prayer Request-Ash Pond battling sickness, Pockets

Moleskin:

Everyone pushed hard today. Great job! For those that haven’t Q’d a workout get on the schedule. After you do it a while it becomes second nature. You can just show up and make some pain happen. All in all we covered 2.6 miles and picked some stuff up and put it down.

Breakfast Pizza….

5 men posted for a Pizza Man breakfast delivery.  Thanks to me having the day off, I reached out to Huckleberry to see if I could Q.  It went like this…we ran and did some exercises, we ran and did some more exercises, ran some more and did more exercises.  We did this for 45 minutes!!  If you would like more info please SHOW TO KNOW!!!

Announcements– Burpeethon(9/16/17), Help moving Huckleberry(9/16/17), JJ5k(9/23/17), Sparky organizing a mission trip to help Harvey victims(Dates to come)

Thanks again to Huckleberry for giving me the opportunity to lead this manly group of men known as Folsom!!  Way to push men!!

Until next time Pizza Man is OOOUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTTT!!!!

Back to Work

Not sure about you but I rank Labor Day as my #3 holiday behind Christmas and Thanksgiving. Things seem to end and begin with this annual threshold. The end of summer, the last chance for a mini-vacation or extended weekend to the beach, when you can still get in the water. Summer pool clubs have their final cookouts before shutting down. But there are bright beginnings with 2.0’s beginning school – why they always begin a week or so before having a Monday off, remains a mystery. And then there is the start of football season: high school, college, and pro. I enjoyed a beautiful day on Saturday with good friends and great tailgate only dampened by my Wolfpack’s inability to make key plays against the Gamechickens. But that’s nothing new. Being a State fan requires perseverance which I’m told builds character. Must be why Wolfpack fans age in dog years. But enough of that mumble chatter. The other great thing about this time of year is the subtle change in weather. After a summer full of humidity where beads of sweat form at the fabled call of “Side Straddle Hops,” we gathered this morning at a cool 63 degrees. A brief survey of the 8 men standing around me at The Storm this morning indicated only Tesla actually “worked” this weekend (and that was by his choice). All others were able to enjoy a Monday free of their professional obligations which meant today it was “Back to Work,” so that was my theme. 0530 hit and I shared a brief disclaimer to modify as needed based on the suggested exercises. We recited the Pledge and got to it. A train seems to roll through Cramerton on Tuesday and Thursday mornings so I decided to get ahead of it:

Warm-Up

  • 5 Burpees OYO
  • 4×4 – IC x 5
  • Get in Plank and remain:
  • Plank Jacks – IC x 10
  • CDD’s – IC x 10
  • Peter Parker – IC x 10
  • In/Outs – IC x 10
    Recover – shoulders were burning
  • Seal Jacks – IC x 10
  • Mosey to the lower parking lot behind the football stadium

 Thang

I employed Hand-Slap Merkins when I was Q at GasHouse last weekend and it was a crowd pleaser. I wanted the Storm boys to feel the love so we partnered and began with those. With 9, Mayor was the odd man out but he kept pace just fine. Instructions were to perform 10 Hand Slap Merkins with your partner, run about 25 yards to the opposite curb, and perform individual squats x 10. The PAX were eager and plowed through the workout faster than anticipated. I was worried my Weinke may lack the length to fulfill the task – wouldn’t be the first time. That is where the ability to improvise comes in – but that is a 2nd F discussion, maybe after several rounds of shots. Time to mosey, the long way around the front of the school’s roundabout and then to the side entrance. Time for a little bit of Tabata which is a great segment because it is timed rather than counted. Everyone stays together but free to explore their own limits. The challenge was to maintain the pace of the exercise for 45 seconds with a 15 second rest between.

1)      Hip slappers

2)      Lt. Dans

3)      Flutter Kicks

4)      Donkey Kicks

The Storm typically features a reasonable amount of mumble chatter but today was about like a church service. A lot of measured focus among the PAX to push through both sets. Amid the heavy breaths when the final bell chimed to conclude this segment, YHC asked if anyone wanted to share anything fun they did over the holiday weekend. Tesla shot his limit of doves by 8:30 am Saturday and Dr. Seuss hiked Chimney Rock. With no other stories, time to mosey, taking another scenic route to the picnic tables outside the tennis courts. Find you partner for Dora:

  • 100 – Derkins
  • 200 – Dips
  • 300 – Step Ups

P1 performs the exercise, P2 runs about 25 yards and returns to switch, sharing the load to reach the aggregate. The first two exercises added more to the shoulder work and the steps ups focused on the cardio and abs in addition to the legs. Much to my surprise, we hit the 45 minute time limit with this one. Once again, Mary was left waiting in the parking lot, next time sweetheart.

COT

Announcements for Burpee-thon 9/16, 9 am, at Rankin Lake – register; JJ5k is 9/23; Advisory Board Meeting will be Sunday 9/17 at 7:00 pm likely at Growlers at Loray Mill. Top Hat reported his daughter and friends are recovering from their car accident and will be okay – we lifted prayers for them as well as others that are searching.

Moleskin

Each segment had an upper body focus to burn the shoulders. I finally got my portable speaker synched with my phone’s playlist which was hand-selected to satisfy our Site Q’s taste which the Mayor texted was “Rock.” Well, there is a bit of age difference between yours truly and our leader and Rock can mean different things to different genera’s. When pressed, Mayor’s version and mine ironically are similar and resided in my playlist. The set began with GnR’s Nightrain (Radar attended the NC show I learned during hand-slap merkins), For Whom the Bell Tolls, Crazy Train, with a few others. Maybe the music kept the chatter down but I’d think the PAX were focused and ready to get back to work. Hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did. Until the next time. (BTW – the train never came so we’re all +5 for the next one).

Labor Day, Let’s Get To Work!

As I arrived at Martha’s House in the gloom I was excited to see 5 HIMS joining me for my first Q.  The air was cool and crisp and it seemed unusually quiet as there was little to no movement in the community due to being Labor Day.  After a few “hellos” and “good mornings”, it was time to get to work.  Let’s do it!

 

Warm up:

20 SSH (IC)

1 Burpee

25 Goofballs (IC)

2 Burpees

20 Seal Jax (IC)

3 Burpees

 

Mosey to the lower shelter of the park

 

The Thang:

 

Pair up into partners.

100 Merkins

200 LBC’s

300 Appalachian Americans

P1 runs the parameter of the lower portion of parking lot while P2 works on the above set list and switch until all exercises were completed.

At this point we had a good sweat and some elevated heart rates and breathing, but the PAX was relentless and looked eager for more.  I was happy to oblige.

It was a short mosey to Gastone’s hill #1 below the shelter where we started our second adventure, the 11’s as Whoopie called it, or the onedy one’s as announced by Turtleman.  At any rate, it was as follows:

10 Sumo Squats at the bottom of GH and run to top for 1 arm dip….run back down for 9 Sumo Squats and back up for 2 arm dips, you get the picture.  It was invigorating and the PAX was awesomely supportive and encouraging (the support and encouragement is truly what keeps me coming back, for real).  Thanks guys.

On our way back to snowballs, we karaoke’d left side for one section of the parking lot, the right side for the second portion, and lunge walked for the third section.

Mosey back to Snowballs for some ab work.  These guys are animals I tell ya!

When back at Snowballs, as best as I can remember, went something like this.

25 LBC’s (IC)

20 Flutter Kicks (IC with varying speeds)

15 WWI’s (IC)

Partner up for leg raises.  P1 stands over P2 and as P1 raises his legs, P2 pushes them back down.  We did as many as possible in the allotted amount of time.

Whoopie led some Mountain Climbers with varying speeds.

20 Seal Jax

25 SSH’s

 

Moleskin:

It was a true honor and privilege to be out there with such an amazing group of Gentlemen.  F3 and every member of the PAX that I have met have been supportive, encouraging, and inspirational.  Thank you to T-Square and Gastone for EHing me, and all the PAX for the unrelenting encouragement.  It was truly an honor to lead such a group of Men.  Hope to do it again sometime.

 

Thanks and until next time,

 

Time Frame

 

 

 

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