Eye Contact

13 Pain Labbers got in some Yoga, a couple circles, some partner work, a Gumby ripoff, Tom Petty, Bob Seger, the Stones, and some uncomfortably long stares between PAX.  Here’s what I remember:

We gathered all our many bells, blocks, and Thor hammers to the landscaped wall right in front of the handicapped parking, because that was the ideal setting for today because the Q said so.  Stroganoff warmed us up… kind of.  A little more stretching would be nice:

• 10 x Don Quixotes (IC)
• 10 x Gravel Pickers (IC)
• Tesla Stretches
• Sitting Figure 4 Back Stretches

First Circle was:

Ring of Merkins

• All PAX hold plank (form police was on it) and one at a time do
  • 1 Merkin, then
  • 2 Merkins, then
  • 3 Merkins

Easy enough.  Heihei and Mayor got into this staring contest during their Merkins.  It’s like the rest of us weren’t even there.  Grab the bells next, for some slow cadence counts of:

• 10 x Flutter Kicks (IC)
• 10 x Chest Press / Pullovers (IC)
• 10 x Dying Cockroaches (IC)

Good form and slow core work is where it’s at.

Next we did like a Dora-Lite, where 1 partner runs and the other stays and does exercises, then flapjack, then repeato and flapjack again, getting 2 full rounds of each exercise before moving to the next one.  Exercises were:

• Dips
• Step Ups
• Squeezes (Standing Chest Press)
• Double Crunches
• 1-armed Bent Over Rows

The running was modest, but not nothing.  And the guys put in the work.  The PainLab crowd knows how to modify, but it’s modify as necessary, and the guys stepped up to the plate.  The next round of running had a little more teeth, but before that, another round of:

• 10 x Flutter Kicks (IC)
• 10 x Chest Press / Pullovers (IC)
• 10 x Dying Cockroaches (IC)

Quick Moleskin:  There’s a number of good Qs in our region who can put together a grinder of a workout that tests your endurance while hammering the same thing over and over again.  Everyone has their favorites, and the longer I do this thing, the more I like those workouts that begin with me thinking “You’ve got to be kidding me”, but as the thing grinds on, I realize that I’ve got it and I’ll finish it and be smoked and smiling at the end.  Anyways, if the Qs you were thinking about didn’t include Gumby, then you need to catch a Gumby Q on the rare occasion that it can be caught.  When trying to put together the steak to today’s PainLab Beatdown entree, I kept coming back to this workout from Gumby, that took about the whole time, but was awful and awesome all at the same time.  There were 3 things I wanted to do, and keep it simple, and I wanted to run, so here’s what I came up with.  Gumby’s was better:

5 Rounds

• 25/20/15/10/5 Reps
  • Curls
  • Swings
  • Merkins
• 1/2/3/4/5 Laps
  • Run – Around both sculptures
  • Walk – To handicapped spaces & back

Push the weight.  YHC brought the 53 pound kettlebell, and at least 3 PAX got in some work with it.  The run wasn’t long, but it added up.  1.8 miles in a PainLab workout on the day is quite a bit.

As the leaders wrapped up, they joined Top Hat for:

• American Hammers
• Mike Tysons
• LBCs

We took the coupons back to our vehicles, and went back to the flag for one more circle

Ring of Boxcutters:

• All PAX hold 6 inches and one at a time do:
  • 1 Boxcutter
  • 2 Boxcutters

And that was all YHC could do holding the 6 inches.  But the bootcampers showed up, and we couldn’t just StarGaze, so we finished up with

• 5 x Burpees (OYO)

And that was time.

Moleskin:

I bought a bunch of kettlebells from Carolina Fitness Equipment right when we opened up the Bunker and I got tired of swinging a ruck plate.  Woody (Remember him?  Heard there’s been a couple sightings in the Gloom lately) and Rudolph both told me that a 35 pound kettlebell was what I needed, and that I might think it’s too much, but to trust them.  They were right, but I bought ’em all.  Step ups in sizes from 18 to 54 pounds, just because I didn’t know, and someone told me that F3 was free, and I figured I could justify spending the money.  Anyways, the 54 pound kettlebell just sat in my building for 2 years before I took it to a workout once and Nutria saw it and wanted to take it home.  Fast forward, I got it back, and since I’ve been pushing a little more weight lately, have been bringing it around, and wouldn’t you know I can throw it.  It’s not any easier than it used to be, but time happens and the sweat and work we put in pay off in what we can do now that we couldn’t.  Don’t forget that, and don’t get comfortable.  Let’s keep pushing, because what’s impossible now will be possible later.

Thankful for another opportunity to lead.

Yabba Dabba Doo