Tiers of Pain

YHC Disclaimers:

1. The following may not be suitable for all viewing audiences.
2. This Backblast s being posted on behalf of Stroker by Friar
3. Stroker wrote this backblast in a timely manner and YHC has been slacking to get it posted. So my apologies to Cousin Eddie & Crop for having to wait so long in suspense.

The Den moved locations from the hallowed grounds of Lenoir Community Church to the new location of Hibriten High School. Since there are three tiers of parking area at the school, I decided to use all three tiers to bring the pain to the PAX.

Warm-up:

• 15 Side-straddle hops in cadence
• 15 Windmills in cadence
• 10 arm circles in cadence
• While staying in position, reverse arm circles in cadence
• 15 gorilla humpers in cadence
• 10 Cobra Merkins (a.k.a. copperhead merkins) in cadence

We moseyed up to a walkway beside the school. From there it was:

• 15 Muhammad Alis in cadence
• 15 Joe Fraziers in cadence
• 15 Bus drivers in cadence
• Stayed in position for that entire set. Recovered for a moment, then rinse and repeat.

TIER ONE
We moseyed to the top parking lot. At that station, we worked a modified Jacob’s Ladder. At the top level, we started with 1 burpee. Then we ran down the steps to the second level and did a combo exercise with bricks (one in each hand) that goes as follows:
Curls, squats, while staying in a squat position, we then did a shoulder press, tricep extension, back up to the top, then down to the chest, extend arms outward to the side, lower arms down to the side, then stand back up from the squat.
We started with ten of those. Then we ran back up to do 2 burpees and then back down for 9 combos and so on and so forth. The QIC decided to stop that exercise mid rep however due to soreness in his shoulder from a burpee challenge injury. We ended up at the mid point.

TIER TWO
At the second tier, we partnered up for some pain work on the masonry blocks. One partner stayed at the starting station while the other took his block to a station about 15 yards away. Both partners then started the exercise at station one. One partner then began a cumulative total of 300 goblet squats while the other partner ran to station two and did one of six exercises listed below. The partner then ran back and switched. The second station workout consisted of:

• 30 bench press,
• 30 bent-over rows
• 30 overhead press
• 30 shrugs
• 30 curls for the girls
• 30 skullcrushers
  Each partner had to completed all 6 exercises as station two. If the partner on the squat completed the cumulative total, it was plank until the total exercise was complete.
  After that, we moseyed around a side parking lot and circled back down to the third tier.

TIER THREE
At tier three, we began an exercise I have dubbed “The Fuzzy Speedo”. This exercise is a modified suicide ladder in which each time a PAX reaches a higher numbered line, they have to work their way back down the numbers before getting back to zero. Example: Start at 0. Go to 1, then back to 0. Then go to 2. From 2, go to 1, back to 2, then back to 0. Next line is 3. Go to three, then to 2, back to 3, then to 1, back to 3, then return to 0. There are six lines: 0-5. Line 0 is the starting point. The exercise began with 30 LBCs. Then the suicide ladder began, Every time a PAX reached line 0, they had to complete another set of 30 LBCs, with the exception of the final run. Once the PAX got the point where they went fro line 5 to line 0, they got to celebrate this achievement with 5 burpees. It was plank until every man finished the exercise.
Seeing that the PAX were doing so well and had gotten finished a little earlier than expected, QIC took them back up to tier two for some more block work to build that upper body strength. At this time, we completed:

• 15 bench press in cadence
• 15 bent-over rows in cadence
• 15 overhead press in cadence
• 15 curls for the girls in cadence.

Then we finished the workout with some homage to Mary. We started the final ab routine with:

• 10 Dollys in cadence
• 10 Weezy Jeffersons in cadence
• 15 Dying Cockroaches in cadence
  Then the three tiers of pain was completed.

COT
The Word of the day scripture was from John 16:33. As a child at the small church I grew up in, there was a little old lady, very Godly woman, that gave to me a small book of scriptures for me to learn. My mom read them to me every night and I memorized them. Some 30+ years later, I still remember some of those verses. This one in particular, it says: “In this world, ye shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
In that one statement, Jesus shows us 3 distinct points: two overt points and one hidden point. The first point: In this world, ye shall have tribulation. Jesus doesn’t say “Follow me and you will live comfortably and have great riches.” No, Jesus promises to His followers in this verse that they will experience trouble. Where it’s smaller trials like completing this workout, or bigger trials like financial or marital problems, Jesus tells us we will face times of trouble.
But he makes a great point to follow that up: Jesus has overcome the world. There is nothing that the world can muster that Jesus has not overcome. And that the great part of that statement. He doesn’t say “I WILL overcome” or “I am overcoming”. No, Jesus says “I HAVE overcome!” The work is finished. There is nothing left or nothing new for Jesus to overcome. He has already conquered it.
The final point is the hidden point. Jesus tells us that HE has overcome the world, but he does not say that WE have overcome the world. Jesus doesn’t say “I have overcome the world… and you can too” or “Be of good cheer, you can overcome the world.” The hidden point in that statement is that we absolutely CANNOT overcome what the world throws at us. We ourselves cannot defeat this. Only Jesus has. It’s not on us to figure out the solution. As men, particularly in America, this is tough. It’s our nature to want to figure out the solution and try to fix it. It takes humility, submission, and a great deal of faith to defer our nature and let Christ take over. But that’s what Jesus tells us to do between the lines of this verse. So when we face those times of tribulation, we have to suppress our manly nature to try and figure it out and fall on our knees and pray out to God, “Father, I am facing tribulation. But I will keep my head up and stay in good cheer. For I know that You HAVE overcome this and I place my faith and trust in YOU!”

Stroker

YHC Notes: Great workout this morning by Stroker. You would have never guessed it was his VQ! Very proud of him, and hated him most of the workout! Also, good to have Trojan back with us and our FNG from Thursday, Gore! These Lenoir men keep getting stronger each week! Especially those of us who attended The Light the Way 5k the night before! Impressive!