Fitness, Fellowship, Faith
For the PAX who are brave enough to post to tomorrow’s first beatdown at #TheStorm, they will be treated to a lengthy visit to Victory Hill. My best advice is to bring your gloves and dress warm as Google predicts we’ll be battling temperatures in the mid-twenties.
Admittedly, it was difficult to turn on my alarm last night for 4:30 after ceremoniously turning it off last Friday morning (my last day of work before Winter Break), but it turned out to be even harder to get out of bed the morning of Christmas Eve. The tone of the work out was set when I slipped and fell in the mud while setting up the Shovel Flag (on a side note, the flag also fell into the mud a couple of times, so it might be time to get another one). It was a special Christmas treat for the #GoatIsland regulars when our resident knuckle-head, Whoopee, pulled up and hoped out of his car – his first time working out at the Cramerton AO.
True to my nature, I didn’t plan anything for the workout, but I made the last-minute decision to rename some of our exercises to fit a more festive theme.
The Warm-Up began with 24 reps of each of the following: Side-Straddle Hop (aka Elf Jacks), Don Quixote (aka Stocking Stuffers), Imperial Walkers (aka Toy Soldiers), and Monkey Humpers (aka JoBu’s).
After a short mosey to the bottom of the hill, it was time to begin with a quick round of Dora 1-2-3. After the PAX paired up, they learned they would be doing 100 Merkins, 200 Squats, and 300 LBC’s on an aggregate count while one partner ran up to the top of the hill and back before switching off. The rain that began to fall about midway through the squat round was a welcome break from the unseasonably humid morning.
Because the people who work out at the Boot Camp aren’t as intense as F3 Nation, they didn’t have a workout at 5AM, so when the Boot Camp patrons began to arrive a little before 6AM, we moseyed past the Camp’s door to establish our dominance as the premier work out group of Cramerton, NC on our way to the alley between BB&T and the big brick building (I’m not sure what the building is).
In the alley, the PAX were informed they would be doing a round of Elevens. At one end of the alley, we did 10 reps of Merkins then moseyed to the other end of the alley and did 1 Squat. The exercise repeats with decreasing Merkins and increasing Squats until you finish with 1 Merkin and 10 Squats. T-Claps to Whoopee and some others who finished first and got in a little extra credit by running the stairs while the rest of the group finished.
With some time still left on the clock, the group took a seat on the F3-funded wall of BB&T for a Wall-Sit Relay. Two PAX would run up the stairs and around the brick building (from before) while the rest maintained a wall-sit until all members finished. With a little more still left in the tank, it was time to mosey back to the Parking Lot.
For the Cool Down, there was just enough time to complete a Ring of Fire (5 Merkins Each), 20 Gorilla Humpers, 20 Jump Squats, and 10 Burpees OYO. T-Claps to Whoopee are once again in order as he made sure to draw out his five Merkins to punish Godfather and the other PAX who were still in plank position. Minus 5 T-Claps for Whoopee, however, for kissing the ground during his Merkins and crawling behind Godfather on his last Merkin and looking at him through his legs.
The work out was finished with a Name-O-Rama, a round of a few announcements, and T-Square closing in prayer.
Closing Notes
There are a TON of opportunities for PAX to step-up and lead workouts in January. Contact site-Q’s if you’re interested in leading.
Merry Christmas, and enjoy the time with your family!
Godfather
7 PAX joined together in the cold for yet another of Godfather’s “winging it” workouts. I’m sure the PAX would agree that after Q’ing the same AO for the last three weeks, that Godfather should get his act together and actually start planning something, “But until then…”. With Dolph announcing it was 5:30 on the dot, it was time to begin this chilly Thursday morning beatdown…
Warm-Up
*The Monkey Humpers/JoBu’s were dedicated to JoBu, who will be competing in the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC this week. Make us proud, JoBu!
The Thang
After counting off to SEVEN, the PAX split up with three men going to one end of the parking lot and four going to the other. At one end, the group of three would be doing Merkins AMAP and at the other end, the other group was completing Prayer Squats AMAP. Just for fun, one person would do a Coupon Carry down to the other end of the lot and switch off with another man. The coupon, as the PAX would quickly learn, was a pole that had been knocked down by some overzealous park goer. When all the PAX had carried the coupon the length of the Parking Lot, the exercise was over.
The PAX then moseyed around the Parking Lot before taking a detour through grass to stop at the picnic tables. The next exercises was 10 Step-Ups, 10 Dips, and 10 Bunny Hops onto the bench of the picnic tables. Admittedly, it was a little too slick so I might have only done 6 Bunny Hops – but I have to live with that. The next round at the picnic tables was 10 Incline Merkins and 10 Decline Merkins.
After drying off their hands/gloves, the PAX moseyed to one end of the parking lot. T-Claps to BA for posting the picture of James Brown and Michael Jackson and inspiring this next exercise. Rather than simply Zombie Walking from one end of the Parking Lot to another, the PAX hit a normal Zombie Walk half-way and then switched to a Moon Walk Zombie Walk (Zombie Walk backwards) for the second half.
Once we all regained our composure – those MWZW’s will do damage to your knees – the PAX were then introduced to Burpicides – the horrible lovechild of Burpees and Suicides. To get to the other end of the Parking Lot, the PAX had to make four stops and four burpees**. Between the first and second rounds, there were a couple of count-offs to let everyone catch their breath.
**Shout out to Dolph for completing some extra credit on the play – He did a Burpee at every stop, not just at the turning points.
Feeding into Godfather’s nostalgia, the PAX moseyed up the hill but detoured off the sidewalk to the bottom of the hill for few rounds of Hill Beatdowns. Round 1 of the HB was to Bear Crawl up the hill and mosey down twice. Round 2 of HB was to Bunny Hop up the hill and mosey down. Round 3 of the BH was to Crab Walk up the hill (thanks Top Hat) but several of the PAX succumbed to gravity and had to finish the hill by walking (actually just one, it was me).
Back on the side walk, it was time for a little crowd-funded Mary. Each of the PAX led one ab exercise.
Since we were at the entrance to bridge anyway, Top Hat suggests were do Imperial Walkers across the bridge, but we audibles to only do those half way and finish with Hillbillies. Another brave soul suggested a Bear Crawl on the way back, but again we audibled to do 5 Burpees OYO and finish the bridge with Backwards Skip.
With three minutes left on the clock, there was just enough time to mosey back to the Parking Lot and do a Ring of Fire with 5-4-3-2-1 Merkins. At the COT, several PAX stepped up to Q for the following week. T-Claps to Top Hat and Anthrax for taking #TheStorm and #GoatIsland respectively next week.
Moleskin
Eleven men gathered together in the parking lot of Goat Island for a made-up-on-the-fly workout from the Godfather. As the clock struck 5:30, the PAX realized there was no flag to be found but staying true to tradition, we hit the POA for a mental flag. After shaking off the awkwardness of eleven men saying the pledge to an invisible flag, it was time to start the beatdown:
Warm-Up
Mosey to the end of the Parking Lot (PL)
Dora 1-2-3
Ring of Fire
Five Minutes of Mary
Closing Festivities
Circle up, Name-o-Rama, BOM
Statistics
16 PAX gathered under cooler temperatures at #TheStorm as Godfather broke his time-honored tradition of designing his patented “no running” work outs. At the COT, it was reported that the group ran a total of 1.5 miles – a small feat no doubt, but a lot more running than the group’s done under Godfather’s leadership in the past. When the clock struck 5:30, it was time to begin with a Warm-Up:
The Warm-Up consisted of four exercises – Side Straddle Hop, Don Quixote’s, Merkins, and Imperial Walkers – to a count of 10 in cadence. Before continuing on, the PAX were also treated to 50 Little Baby Crunches on their own count and 50 Prayer Squats on a single count.
Next was a short mosey to the football field for the #PledgeofAllegiance before starting The Thang.
Round 1 consisted on a group of exercises deemed Run-Offs and started with the PAX gathering at the goal line. In Run-Offs, the group completes an exercise to the 25 yard line, then sprints to 50 yard line, and finishes by moseying to the other goal line. The first exercise was High Knees, followed by Backwards Run, Shuffle (x2), and finished with a Bear Crawl.
Round 2 began after the PAX counted off – 16 both times! – and moseyed to the stadium. The group was divided into two smaller groups and after the first group took off to Run the Stairs, the second group waited and completed Wall Sits with different variations. As members of the first group returned to the wall, they switched so the wall-sitters became the runners. Each PAX completed two rounds of sitting and two rounds of running.
Round 3 started with the PAX returning to the goal line to complete Suicides (sorry for the lack of PC). To complete the Suicides, the group had to run to the 20 and back, the 40 and back, the opposing 40 and back, the opposing 20 and back, and stopped when they got to the other goal line.
Round 4 saw the PAX gathering together for three rounds of The Ring of Fire. The first round included 5 Merkins, the second a Bear Crawl around the inside of the circle, and the third a round of 10 LBC’s as the remaining PAX completed Homer to Marge.
Round 5 was met with the usual groans when Godfather informed the group they would be hitting a Zombie Walk up the ramp. The work out was modified to allow PAX to walk the corners. When the 6 arrived at the top of the ramp, the group completed several some Mary to fill time. With a few precious seconds left on the clock, the PAX sprinted to the end of the side walk and completed 5 Burpees before returning to the start for COT, announcements, and BOM.
Godfather began the workout with a round of six exercises. First, as always, was Side Straddle Hop to 15. Next was the Imperial Walker to 15, followed by 50 single-count Prayer Squats. After shaking out the soreness, the PAX took to the ground for 15 Merkins, 10 Peter Parkers, and 10 Parker Peters.
Next, it was BA’s turn to bring the pain and after he dropped the tail gate of his WT (there’s still some debate whether it means Work Truck or White Trash) Sierra, and the PAX knew they were in store for another Cinder-Block Beat Down.
With a partner, the PAX carried their cinder block across the first bridge and to the landing of the second bridge. When the six arrived, BA outlined the main course of today’s CBBD: As one partner runs across the main #GoatIsland Bridge and completes 5 Merkins, the other partner would stay at the landing and do a Clean and Press with the Cinder Blocks to 250 reps. Counting on aggregate, each partner should have completed nearly 125 reps. After the first exchange, many PAX (Godfather mostly) wondered if BA would bless the group with an audible to less exercises. The complaints, however, fell on deaf ears as the PAX completed the exercises all the way to 250 reps.
With time left on the clock, the Godfather introduced the group to a modified Dora 1-2-3. At the picnic tables, the PAX were to complete 150 Step-Ups, 100 Dips, and 50 Derkins using aggregate counting as their partner ran across the park and touched the fence for the dog park.
With precious little time to spare after the modified Dora 1-2-3, the PAX gathered the Cinder Blocks and moseyed back to the Parking Lot, exchanged the blocks between each other as needed.
The final exercise of the morning was, of course, Sally, which was played from BA’s phone. Fortunately for everyone in attendance, only half of Sally was actually completed as time ran out.
Nine PAX gathered this morning in the #gloom for another running-free workout from Godfather. After a few jokes about #45minutesofmary and a short debate on whether or not to just skip the workout and get coffee, the consensus was that we should get started with the beat-down…
The Warm-Up was a round of six exercises in-cadence to 15 reps. Exercises included Side Straddle Hop, Imperial Walkers, Hillbillies, Merkins, Little Baby Crunches, and ended with Don Quixotes. After a short mosey to the end of the parking lot, it was time for…
The Thang
Part 1 included four trips across the parking lot. For each trip, the PAX completed an exercise to the midpoint and mosey’d to the end, planking until the six arrived. The first trip down started with Bear Crawls to the midpoint, second came the infamous Zombie Walk (which revealed one Brown Streak’s only weaknesses: his short legs), third came High Knees, and Part 1 concluded with Backwards Skip. Admittedly, I wrote down that we would do ten burpees OYO after the second and fourth trip, but I completely “forgot” to do that.
After a quick count off (#tclaps for getting it right both times) and a short mosey to first bridge, where the Godfather revealed the PAX would not TAKE THE BRIDGE as they were accustomed to, but would rather do an Inch Worm across. For those of you out of the know, and inch worm is like a Bear Crawl, except you keep your hands stationary until your feet meet them, then you extend hands out as far as they go and repeat. #Omaha was called about half way across the bridge, and a mosey took the PAX to the other bridge.
For this TAKE THE BRIDGE, the PAX were introduced to a new exercise called Batman & Robin. To complete a successful B&R, you must partner up and get back to back. After locking arms, both partners squat and begin to walk. One will be facing forward and the other will be walking backwards. Half way across the bridge, partners switch. Notes from B&R: height matters!
At the end of the bridge, it was time for another round of Dora 1-2-3 with 100 Merkins, 200 Squats, and 300 LBC’s. With the same partners as before, one person would exercise while the other ran across the bridge and tagged a bench before returning. With the use of aggregate counting, the PAX finished with about 10 minutes left to spare.
Before heading back for the COT, there were a few more tricks up Godfather’s sleeve. When the PAX arrived to first plank of the bridge, they were instructed to Duck Walk across. Moans and groans ensued, but with time still left on the clock, there was a quick detour to the park benches for 10 Step-Ups, 10 Dips, and 10 Derkins before moseying to the bridge.
Pausing at the bridge, it was decided the PAX would TAKE THE BRIDGE by Bounding, rather than moseying. Back in the lot, Godfather passed Q responsibilities to LC who lead the men in Squat Jacks, which is just like Side Straddle Hop but from a squat position.
COT featured the Name-o-Rama, a few announcements and prayer requests, and Top Hat taking the group out in prayer.
19 PAX joined together in the GLOOM to complete another one of Godfather’s running-free workouts. With two #shovelflags firmly planted in the ground, the morning started with a…
Warm-Up (IC)
The Thang
The workout began with the PAX circling up in front of the monstrosity that blocked the near end zone (some would call it a soccer goal) and doing a round of BLIMPS. To finish a round of BLIMPS, you must do 5 Burpees, 10 Lunges (on each leg), 15 Imperial Walkers, 20 Merkins, 25 Plank Jacks, and 30 Squats. Side Note – The first letter of each exercise spells out BLIMPS.
After moseying (NOT RUNNING) to the opposite end zone and moving the other monstrosity away from the goal line, the PAX partnered up and completed Dora 1-2-3 using an aggregate counting system. One partner would complete exercises while the other ran to the 50 yard line and back, then swapped. Round 1 was 100 Merkins, Round 2 was 200 LBC’s, and Round 3 was 300 Squats.
After a quick time check, the PAX circled up for an abbreviated round of Super 21. A normal round of Super 21 includes 1 Merkin/ 1 LBC, 2 Merkins/ 2 LBC’s, 3 Merkins/ 3 LBC’s all the way up to 21 Merkins/ 21 LBC’s (a total of 231 Merkins/ 231 LBC’s) without stopping, but with the clock expiring, #Omaha was called and we only exercised to 10 Merkins/ 10 LBC’s. Several of the PAX expressed their disbelief that doing the full Super 21 was even possible.
Next was a quick mosey (AGAIN… NO RUNNING) to the ramp for another round of Godfather’s infamous Modified Zombie Walk. For those of you who’ve not had the pleasure of experiencing this beast, it’s a right leg lunge, a left leg lunge, and a squat for an extended distance. It’s fair to say that with the incline of the ramp’s four lengths, we covered between 60 and 70 yards for today’s MZW.
With six or nine minutes remaining according to some people’s watches, there was a short mosey to back to the parking lot for some MARY on the curbside. Anarchy broke out as the counting system crumbled mid exercise when one PAX who will remain unnamed *cough* BA *cough* started shouting out 69 and other silly numbers mid count. The exercises were Freddie Mercury, Scissor Kicks, and Flutter Kicks.
#TheStorm ended with a quick Name-o-Rama, a round of announcements, a challenge from JoBu, Bandit, and Godfather for the PAX to complete a #fivepack this week, and a prayer with Anthrax.
Extra Credit
It was a sad day in #GasHouse history as Bandit’s legendary streak of consecutive workouts came to an end as he’s on vacation with the family. Rather than mourning over Bandit’s absence, the 10 PAX who came out into the Wednesday morning GLOOM were treated to a round of BLIMPS and a game of #F3kickball. Without any more delay, here’s a breakdown of the morning’s activities:
Warm-Up
The Thang
BLIMPS
The PAX then mosey’d from the Brewster’s Parking Lot to Godfather’s makeshift kickball field (complete with borrowed traffic cones for bases and an official World Kickball Association bright red kickball) for a breakdown of the rules of #F3kickball:
The winner of #F3kickball is rewarded with a mosey back to the COT, while the loser would have to complete the infamous Modified Zombie Walk (MZW). Unfortunately, after three innings, #F3kickball turned into #socialistkickball as the game ended in a tie. With everyone winning and losing, the PAX mosey’d a third of the way back, the did the MZW for a third, and mosey’d the remaining third until they got back to the parking lot.
With time still left on the clock, the PAX completed a Ring of Fire and we invented a new style of counting while doing Freddie Mercury’s (1, 12, 123, 1234, 12345, …all the way to the last man counting to the total number of PAX – in our case, 10).
With no FNG’s, the workout was closed with a quick COT, BOM, and because I forgot, the Pledge of Allegiance.
PS – For those of you concerned, I did return the traffic cones!
Alright gentleman, prepare yourselves:
Kickball + Fitness = #MarthasHouse on 7/22
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