Day: September 24, 2021

Truth can be fictioner than strange….. or maybe it’s something close to that …. We’ll see….

here’s some fun Gastonia facts:

did you know there’s at least one ( I’m  told 2, but can’t confirm other ) ….. bunker house…. There’s also a house on Hoffman road that half of the first floor is underground ( mucho  power savings)…. Also there is a tree planted 50 years ago that the homeowner says is a Redwood ….. house very close to Publix!

Pledge

Just how BAD can it get?

The warm up:
Plank …shoulder taps….merkins, LBCF’s, Mahktar N’Diayes, Smurf Jacks , jump lunges, Kneetar N’Diayes ( from Lake Wylie folks) yes these REALLY suck …. Use Kees instead of arms, hand release merkins, burpees, man makers, and brought back Skywalkers… and added new exercise …. The Mandalorian ( thought this up last night …. Squat all the way to the ground and “waddle” distance called just as if you were the Foundling, Child or whatever you want to call IT) patent NOT pending!

lastly let’s add a hand release merkin and a jump into the Man Maker….. truly suck worthy!

mosey to old abandoned bank for hip slappers

lots of queries about whether or not I hated the knees ( I certainly hate mine for the meniscus tear a few years back!) my vertical went from an impressive 4 inches to now 2 1/2 centimeters!!

• over to Gastones hill where I inform  the masses of Gastones latest,, seems he tried to move a refrigerator by himself and dropped it on his foot breaking his big toe ( maybe it was really his tibia).

so to honor him we would hop on one leg at every mailbox up 10 times alternating feet at each box since I neglected to ask which toe.

the really bad thing is instead of calling on ANY pax he called his old friend Turtleman to help who very sagely gave HIM directions on where to go and how to get there!

since I believe that Gastone threw out his back as well we now performed 5 HRM at each box up ( Purple Haze was amazed at how many boxes there were …. I think he lost count about 12)

lastly we had to nur and do 10 flutters count only one side up to first road ( now on right)

return home and as it is suicide prevention/ awareness month perform 22 single count merkins for the vets.

now it needs a to be told that Watts Up ( after a very lengthy stay away) has returned to the Labyrinth only he had a very wet CVS receipt that he proceeded to beat me mercilessly  with for neglecting backblasts and told me to pass this message along to Hipaa and Sledge and all the others that he will not tolerate this disrespect any longer … violators will receive the same “message”

and Watts Up also deserves credit for rucking prior to this morns beatdown

earlier in the workout there was talk about Slick being a station manager of Catawba station ….. I’m curious how he wound up with such a vague colloquialism ( why not go with dude, bro, fella or hey, you!) Do we already have a Mr. Burns? Smithers? Meltdown? Fusion? Fission?  Homer ? Anything ? 
Tool Time once called for a name change ( Braveheart) ….. perhaps, again?

announcements: snowbirds, jj5k, convergence, others

also…. Won’t you help me locate our next site Q for Labyrinth? Perhaps it’s calling out to you!

prayers Hushpuppys M, Watts Ups boss’s sister-in-law recovery, Big Pappy family

Last week on Slack, Slick sent query out about the use of acronyms and what’s up with all the different names etc of F3. This got me to ponder just how to use this in an educational Weinke that would challenge my knowledge, that of all who post as well as help to bring junior members of our group up to speed. Unfortunately Slick did not post today but hopefully others benefited and perhaps if Slick is one of few brave souls would to read this …..
Begin by disclaimer spelling out who I am as Q and what that  entails …. Moving into part of the core principles which I would elaborate in further detail as the workout progressed. I begin our exercises with Morroccan Night Clubs and then Toy Soldiers afterwards in order to keep us moving whilst I talked hoping to not be struck down as I was once not too long ago while talking on …. Never mind, water under the bridge! 
I then introduce the Imperial walker explaining that exercises can have single count ( call on one side, count both sides as single ….but that these instructions must be made clear to pax ( explains who and what the pax are then giving an OYO count explaining this too. Somewhere in this mumble chatter begins and I elaborate on how we are not professionals ( indeed I also point out how we should and do represent our community in that we are a cross section of all regardless of age or background … and that we all are here to improve ourselves and add something to the community ). Mumble chatter can help relieve tension or seriousness and even be used to “rattle” the Q in a fun manner. Nothing we do should belittle others … that is not the goal. Now I move us on into the realm of the cadence count explaining key differences in exercises using one motion twice ( merkin) as opposed to the flutter of each leg counting once in count.  Also that raise voice to single end of exercise. We then perform a small number of merkins, wide merkins ( or werkins), plank jacks, mountain climbers, diamond merkins, Spider man ( of Peter Parker’s) . Along the way explain how we are to remain in plank ( as in board plank) until released to “ Recover!” I explain how we meet in the gloom before sunrise or just before sunset and that we concentrate on three Main areas of focus being the legs, upper body and the core and that there are multiple workouts to help you achieve any goals you may have either with rucking with a weighted vest, running exclusively, workouts with coupons ( that these are bricks or cinder blocks) and that there is also Pain lab ( forgot to mention  That is when we use “toys”). I also point out how F3 is exclusive to men only that we do not tend to bond as easily as women but that this is a great vehilcle to move each other into role models for our families or in the community.  Along the way I also point out how we have now covered two of the three Fs  … fitness and fellowship and that we end with a circle of trust coming together in Faith.

getting onto our butts or 6 I now explain what the six is and that it can also refer to those in the back of the pack who need some assistance as we should never leave anyone behind. From here we would perform flutters, Lbcs ( or little baby crunches) Freddy Mercury’s, also the Bug boy which also is known as the WW1 and that if you lift your knees you then are performing WW 2 s.   Next on agenda is the S S H ( side straddle hop) or jumping jack. I showed two versions , one using a standard count and another speeding up the count. I also tell all that sometimes we can perform HIIT ( high intensity interval training ) doing as many of an  exercise in a prescribed time.  We would complete this round with 2 burpees as some exercises don’t need another name as they suck no matter what!

now came the fun part as I would have Folgers to call an exercise as I remember he has only led once before … he would surprise me calling out First American hammers and then Hello Dollys, neither that I had used up to that point. I then had him to choose an exercise in cadence for which he chose SSH.  
next I called on Cougar who gave us merkins In cadence along with flutters I think. 
both men did well and as I explained this was a teaching moment as we should strive to grow our newer recruits into the leadership roles that they will assume later on. This whole workout was created primarily out of a need to help the newer recruits as we have not had very many new bodies , in fact we have many absent faces and even lower numbers. 
niw we run over to gym behind Harris Teeter where a young lady last week planted flags spelling out never forget 9/11 . We planked for approximately one minute of silent reflection and then completed 25 merkins.  Mosey to Robinson Elementary ( no more light on track …. Take note!!!!) go to covered awning to do 2 rounds of dips, derkins and step ups and return home! 
there were of course many other things I explained on F 3 but just hitting much of the highlights…. Realize that this only scratches the surface !!!

prayers for EZ Riders family

Cougars Grand mother

Forest view high school situation 

1. Arriving as lightning flares and flashes across the sky …. Perhaps a portent? Couple of ladies out early …. No EC runners/ Rucker’s or other anywhere in sight .. in fact the parking lot looks almost as gloomy as 2 weeks ago.

   Then a flurry of activity as Whoopee, Folgers, Slick and Captain Stubing arrive followed by someone else I’ve not met yet … Maybelline! Pledge and give 3/4 disclaimer …. More than I’ve done in a while.
   Today was really surprising ( isn’t it always) as the mumble chatter almost was non existent ….yes, Whoopee stayed with us the whole time! Perhaps he’s in no nonsense mode just like me…

we would reminisce of Toto , discuss where the name Folgers came from , splashing merlot, why Maybelline,  I would realize that Slick lives on my route, and that he very craftily won the piggyback at the pool award on Labor Day! Then Professor Captain Stubing regaled all with knowledge of the Joyce family feud from the 1800’s(Slicks other name as well as Stubing)  asking whether he was a “possum” or a “raccoon”. He was unaware of this information. And we must not forget Bone Frog which my boy and Time Frame and his boy will be doing this weekend. folks may or may not remember Padre from about 3 years ago, he also will be there along with 19 others ( some of which are OC veterans ) he was the one who started me with this passion.

prayers were for folks battling depression, Turtleman, Flintstone family and boy whom we refer to as our .5 as he is mostly with our family and at vacation most often ….. last week he lost his main caregiver …. His grandmother.

doubtful anyone cares what happened but we did multiple stuff adding in Skywalker routine I’ve used before and bear crawl at pool ramp/ stairs ( don’t think anyone’s ever used this …run side to side touch curb and escalator/ de escalator but with a serious twist reverse the numbers so that each exercise sucked ( four corners 25-50-75-100 ….. do exercises in reverse but do same numbers as above attached to different exercises!!)   Lastly I also had pax to try this ( not so easy, but you should try if you’ve read this far!)  when on your six having finished any routine…. Roll up onto feet and stand up …. Do NOT USE HANDS  to push up !! Good luck .
Timed perfectly