Multi-Moe 2025

[Grant Lamontagne]

This month is not about competition, it's about doing what is best for all of us. 

I appreciate any participation, at any level. 

I get emails from the Movember Foundation telling me about all the things they are doing, and I hope they are doing all of those things.  I am sure this money is going to help people, which is what it is all about.

But the reason I do it is because when faced with many men's health issues, one feels very helpless, and doing this makes me feel just a little less helpless.  Maybe I am delusional, maybe the pittance I manage to raise is too insignificant to actually make a difference, but I feel better for having tried and that makes a difference to me.

And maybe that's pathetic, maybe that makes me less of a manly man, but I'm good with that too, as long as it makes people aware of these issues.

Def

[BPRoberts]

Still counts! 

So far, the push ups have been easier than squeezing in the time for the walk. I suspect that'll reverse in about a week and a half.

[AzteCypher]

Absolutely counts.

Got my 6 in today.  I'm in worse shape than I thought but this is a good motivator for me. 

[RobertMcc]

Nice Jack Black beard Grant. Man we are getting OLD.

But go get them Grant. Definitely makes my life better. Kidney Cancer at 38, MH issues for 3 decades. I'm glad they are finally realizing that you don't need to be quiet and breaking the stigma, that you are not weak for getting help.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Thanks man.  As always, I appreciate your support in these things!

 

Def

[BPRoberts]

Kind of settled into the following routine for my pushups/walking:

1. Stretch/warmup: Probably about 5 minutes working from top to bottom.

2. Pushups: I decided to add trying to do 1 crunch and squat for each day awlso. Not quite a 100% full body routine, but decent.

3. "Walk" on my wife's elliptical: As often as I can, I try to do walks outside throughout my day, but sometimes I'm busy or only get half the distance or whatever.

4. Cooldown: There's a "dynamic stretch" routine on my wife's Fitness Boxing game on the switch that I like. Lots of big arm circles, lunges, that kind of thing. Only a couple minutes, but gets me nice and loose after everything else.

Whole thing probably takes 20 minutes or so. Not going to get me in Olympic shape, but it's fun and feels doable even on a busy day. If I have time, I try to do extra walking or one of the aerobic routines on the game. Not really doing much strength training besides the push ups and stuff, since that's going to get hard enough by the end of the month and I don't want to wear myself out.

[Farmer X]

I just got my nine push-ups for today. And I anticipate that I'll be doing quite a lot of walking on Tuesday...

[Grant Lamontagne]

I just post d this on FB and LinkedIn.  I figure it's a good idea to share here too:

Time for Reflection and Action

​As is my tradition, my Movember campaign took a well-deserved rest leading up to and on Remembrance Day. That time is sacred, and all attention must be placed on honouring our Veterans and their service.

​Now, as we move through the rest of November, I'm focusing on my Movember campaign. While it doesn't exclusively cover Veterans, the connection is strong: Movember is about tackling men's health issues, particularly Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, which are critically important topics for Veterans and all men in our community.

​If you are looking for a way to give back this month, please consider supporting my efforts. Even a small donation can make a massive difference in funding research and support services.

​You can donate here: https://movember.com/m/884328?mc=78

​Let's keep the conversation going and look out for one another.

​#Movember2025 #MentalHealth #MensHealth #VeteranSupport #Remembrance #CommunityCare

Def

[Farmer X]

If nothing else, this thread serves as a reminder get my push-ups in...and that I need to stop putting off calling the VA and making a trip down there.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Absolutely agree.

With both of those.   

Def

[Farmer X]

Oddly enough, the planned trip to the VA is so they can draw blood to check my PSA. That'll be done next week if everything falls into place just right.

[AzteCypher]

I haven't kept up with posting but I've kept up with my push-ups.  But now I have a knot in my right arm that prevents me from going as low as I normally do. 

[Farmer X]

Hope that knot goes away in short order. I just got my 14 in.

[AzteCypher]

The knot is doing better.  Wife bought this gun massager thing that has lots of settings.  She used that thing on my knot on a mid setting and dug in.  It smurfing hurt.  But, it does feel a bit better.  No pain no gain I guess.

I'm able to go a bit lower on my pushups now which helped with cranking out 15 today.   

[Grant Lamontagne]

Great job!

I appreciate all you guys backing me up on this!

Def

[Farmer X]

I missed my 15 push-ups yesterday (I was rather drowsy). So I figured I'd make them up with today's 16 in one go, and get an extra in for my target of 32. Mission accomplished! Turns out that "grasshopper" push-ups (with the upper arms against the sides) aren't U.S. Navy regulation. But I don't really give a rip of smurf. I did my 32, dammit! Now the goal is to get up to 69 conventional push-ups in two minutes.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Well, between vacations and memorials and the podcast launch and work issues and a midnight trip to the emergency vet with my little dog (he's okay now!) plus all of the other crap that's going on in the world at large, I have really, REALLY dropped the ball on fundraising this year.

We are two thirds of the way through the month and Team Multi-Moe (of which I am the only member  ) has managed to raise only a third of the goal.

That might seem like a bit of a failure, but it's not- the goal is an arbitrary number that I pulled out of my ass.  No, not literally  but close enough.

We hit $1700 last year and I thought that adding to that would push us a little harder this year and I'd be fulfilled.

But it's not about the goal, it's about raising money and awareness for serious issues.

Like most men, I'm not good at asking for help.  But I'm doing it now, and it's not about me, it's for all of us, and I'm doing it because it needs to be done, just like we need to talk about prostate cancer, testicular cancer and even more about depression and suicide.

All of these are treatable, but because we don't talk about them, we lose good men every day to them.

And that's what I care about- not losing good men with a lot to live for and a lot left to give this world. 

Not some arbitrary number I came up with, because that doesn't matter.

So have the conversations, and tell everyone around you (not just the men) that they matter and you want them to be around as long as possible. 

And if it isn't too much trouble, toss $5, barely the cost of a cup of coffee towards some research that will help out.

https://ca.movember.com/donate/details?memberId=884328#amount

Def

[BPRoberts]

The Marine Corps recruiters were at school today. I managed one pull up. We looked up the entry standards and I was pretty sure I could make it to 34 push ups in 2 minutes, which was the minimum. I took a breather around 28, which might not actually have helped, but I made it with 45 seconds to spare.

My arms are twitchy now.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yeah I will bet they are!

It's nice to know that if all else fails, you meet the minimum requirements to join the Marines!   

Def

[Farmer X]

I was pretty sure I could make it to 34 push ups in 2 minutes, which was the minimum.

32 is the minimum for a Marine of your age, eh? 32 is considered "good low" for a Sailor of my age. I've gotten to that point, and I'm gonna keep at it. By the time I get to "outstanding high," I might be 50, which would drop the standard by a few.

[AzteCypher]

And here I am struggling at 20 push-ups.   

What's the "barely scraping by" for a guy in his 50's.  Asking for a friend.   

[BPRoberts]

From what I looked at, the Marines didn't have age grades, at least for the initial (pre-boot camp) physical.

[RobertMcc]

From what I looked at, the Marines didn't have age grades, at least for the initial (pre-boot camp) physical.

The CF ( Canadian Forces ) is a joke. This is from 2010.. The standard got worse.

Male 34 and under. Pushups are 19, for 35 and older 14.

Situps are 19 and 17.

Women are normally half what males are.

Likely being out since 2013. I could do the minimum.



Then got grip test and a shuttle run.

[Farmer X]

What's the "barely scraping by" for a guy in his 50's.  Asking for a friend.

23 to stay off mandatory remedial PT.

[AzteCypher]

Ok, I have to admit that I had to take a small pause after 21 before I cranked out 24 today.   

I need to make sure I keep this as a daily habit.  I'm trying to add planks as well.  Something's wrong with me.... 

[Farmer X]

I won't begrudge you a little pause. We can't crank out push-ups like we did 25 years ago.

On the subject of forearm planks, it surprised me to see that the Navy has replaced sit-ups with forearm planks. I have no explanation for why that change was made.

[Grant Lamontagne]

It's official- Team Multi-Moe is done for another year, and we have not reached out goal of $2500.  In fact, we just barely passed the halfway mark and closed out at $1280.

And I am freaking stoked at that.

Some of you may be wondering why I am happy that we didn't hit the goal, and honestly, I'd have been happier if we did.  But it's just an arbitrary number that doesn't matter.  What does matter is that we have managed to pull together $1280 to help support the issues facing our fellow men.  And very likely at some point ourselves.

That's 1,280 reasons to celebrate!

And yes, it's almost $500 less than we raised last year, but I am sure we can all agree (without getting into the nitty gritty) that things this year are very different from last year for a lot of people- charities everywhere are feeling the strain as a lot of people just don't have the extra funds right now to be generous.  And, with Christmas coming up, even more people are really feeling the strain.

So I am thrilled at how well we have all come together and supported each other and raised what we did.  For thos who helped, whether your support was moral, financial or both, I appreciate it.

Thank you all for making it another successful Multi-Moe year!

Def

[Farmer X]

I guess it could be said that I gave a little moral support. Hell, I managed 35 push-ups on the final day. Thanks for all you did for this cause!

[Grant Lamontagne]

And thanks for your effort!

I'm sure all those push ups helped you feel a little better? 

Def

[Farmer X]

Some. It's nice to know that, almost 20 years after leaving the Navy, my performance standard has improved!