Author: Montross (Page 12 of 20)

One of Sparky’s “go-to” workouts is the 20 to 1 with blocks. Pick 4 exercises, do 20 reps each, then 19, then 18….down to 1. Simple, yet effective, then we finish with some running or other exercise.

However, with this being a virtual Q, running doesn’t work as well so I modified to fill more time…7 exercises.

20 to 1:
Overhead Press
Curls
Goblet Squats
High Pull
Chest Press
Kettlebell Swing
Bent Over row

Time was running out so I called it after 12 rounds. 5 burpees for putting the blocks down! We finished with 100 LBCs and 10 WW1 situps.

Time!

Prayers to my aunt, Dry Rub’s M amd family, HIPAA, Huck, Huck’s friend. YHC took us out!

• Montross

23 F3 brothers from 10 – yes 10 – regions converged on a Zoom meeting this morning for a virtual workout. We had representatives from F3 The Fort, F3 Villanova, F3 Greensboro, F3 Kansas City, F3 Omaha, F3 Princeton, F3 Cape Fear, and F3 Shelby. Quite honestly, after the Tinker Toy (Rock Hill) Q yesterday, the pressure was on to deliver a quality Q!

YHC started with a disclaimer because YHC is most definitely not a professional and asked if there were any FNGs. No response so the workout began. (I have since learned there were 2 FNGs in Kansas City…wish I had known because I would have engaged them and ‘welcomed’ them, but it’s all good).

Warmup:

SSH – 20 IC
Toy Soldiers – 10 IC
Morrocan Night Clubs – 10 IC

Thang:

Today, we read from a book titled “Montross’s Nursery Rhymes for HIMs”. Each page of the book has a different nursery rhyme from back in the day, along with a beautiful illustration and not-so-beautiful exercise to go with each rhyme. This book has been used about 4 times now and some modifications were needed to make better fit the online format.

Jack be nimble, Jack be quick…. Elevens with Jump Squats and Mike Tyson Merkins. Run down your driveway and back between each exercise (SSH are acceptable for those indoors). Jump Squats went 10 to 1, MTMs went 1 to 10. Bat flippers can grab an extra set if needed.

Jack and Jill went up the hill, both with a buck…wait wrong rhyme….Triple Nickel – use your driveway again, 5 Burpees on one end, American Hammers in cadence (count to yourself, I suppose). Pizza Man suggests a coupon for your American Hammers.…you vs you playa. Someone asks when we are going to use the coupons….

Eeeny, meeny, miney moe….normally we’d have some partner wheel barrels at this point, but that is not acceptable today. We are practicing social distancing! So, grab your coupons for AMRAP work – 40 seconds on, 20 seconds rest – 4 sets of Goblet Squats, 4 sets of Block Lunges, and 3 sets of High Pulls. Tip

Mary had a little lamb….Mary was a cutie in case you didn’t know and we all know you do curls for the girls. Time to work those vanity muscle! AMRAP – 4 seconds on, 20 seconds rest – 4 sets of curls, 3 sets of overhead presses and 3 sets of your favorite Merkin variation. We have a few minutes left for the best part of the book….

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall….2 sets of AMRAP burpees – 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off.

Time!

YHC took us out with a prayer. Keep my aunt in your prayers as she undergoes chemo treatment and her daughter who is 8 months pregnant. We also prayed for all of you and your families as we work through all the changes and stresses around COVID-19.

Moleskin:

I have been down with the Virtual AO idea since day one. HIPAA and I started putting ideas together, he has led the charge and I’m helping support him. It continues to grow in amazing ways. From the first test run and lunch on Friday filled with connection issues and ‘learning’ to ironing out some kinks over the weekend and Tuesday, it felt like we had this figured out and we’d slowly start having more guys attend each week and we’d see where it goes.

That all changed when C-SPAN got involved and asked to join us. A date was set for 3/26, but then he also HCs for Rock Hill and Kansas City on 3/25. HIPAA was an HC, as few others (self-included) jumped in and we had guys join both those workouts. Now those guys are joining our workout. It’s been amazing to see the opportunity explode just when I thought we ‘had it figured out’. We are seeing other regions had the same idea and now regions are working together in ways at least my simple mind never imagined.

Our current plan is to host 2 or 3 workouts per week for now and join other regions on other days. HIPAA and I will keep working together to get a list of the workouts and figuring out how to continue to get the word out to our brothers here in F3 Gastonia.

See You In The Zoom!

-Montross aka Tronmoss aka Tee-Ron aka Tee

I pulled into the Schiele Museum parking lot just in time to see the end of the combined Painlab/Gashouse warmup! The morning wasn’t starting off the way I like it between spending some time pondering life on the throne and running a few minutes late! However, I was now at F3 with a truck full of cinder blocks so things were looking up. Well, so I thought!

Warmup: Not sure, I missed it. It was quick though…maybe 2 minutes tops? insert joke here

Thang:

We’ll start out by leaving the blocks in the truck and doing Route 66 Mike Tysons, lunge walking in between and doing Mike Tyson push-ups at every other line. Feel the burn in those quads! This is always a mumble chatter stopper and one of my ‘go-to’ exercises!

Next, Route 66 Squats, bear crawling between exercises and doing squats at every other line. It’s interesting when you do these exercises in a curved parking lot. The lines don’t exactly “line up” so we had to talk about. Some may have accused others of cheating but we all get along. Personally, I think it was the UNC fans who were cheating. It’s what they do!

Everyone on your six for some abs. After all the bear crawling and MTs, I figured it’s a good time to give the body a quick break
– LBCs 15 IC
– Rosalitas 15 IC
– Flutter Kicks 15 IC
– Big Boys – 10 OYO
– American Hammers 15 IC

Everyone grabs a block for curls – Carry your block and do 10 curls at every other line. Most hit 11 lines, some did 12.

Rinse and repeat with ‘Cinder Block Swings”, much like Kettlebell Swings – walk between every other line and do 10 swings. Rinse and repeat. We just went across the parking lot for around 6 or 7 lines.

Rinse and repeat, but this time with did 10 Squat Thrusters with the blocks at every other line. We also went across the parking lot once for about 6 or 7 lines.

We give the arms a quick break with some more ab work.
– LBCs 15 IC
– Rosalitas 15 IC
– Flutter Kicks 15 IC
– Big Boys – 15 OYO (by request from Rudolph, who was scorned afterward)
– American Hammers 15 IC

At this point, I had a round of Mary exercises with the blocks in mind, but I had blown through my weinke a bit faster than I had planned. On top of that, I haven’t done block work in a while and I was feeling pretty smoked on the block swings. Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, I believe it was Tube who mentioned how awful Yoga was in a recent workout. So, I asked him to take the lead and let’s do some Yoga. Rudolph stepped in and led us through about 5-10 minutes of Yoga poses. Frankly, I love doing Yoga, I’m just not comfortable enough with it to call it. IF you can’t tell it, this part is the reason I titled this backblast “Get By With a Little Help From My Friends”.

So we moved back to the blocks for some Mary. I was originally going to go through 20 to 1 but as we talked, I shifted directions a bit. I let every guy call his own exercises. We started with 20, then went to 15, then as the Go Ruck Training Team came through, I let them also jump in on calling exercises. We worked until the bells rang. Tricep extensions, upright rows, chest presses, and “pull overs”…I think that was the name…you lay on your back with the block over your head and pull it over your head to your chest, and we slid the block from the plank position. Crunch Frogs, Dying Cock Roaches also made an appearance. I know I missed an exercise in this list, but the guys were just taking turns coming up with the hardest stuff they had. It was great.

…and the bell tolls, it’s 8:00. We nameorama with the bootcampers and we’re out!

I was getting pretty smoked after the Squat Thrusters but the Yoga made a great opportunity to stretch out and catch my breath while continuing to work. I appreciate the warm welcome to Painlab once again and look forward to coming back out soon enough.

As many of you have heard, F3 Gastonia will our 5-year anniversary with a convergence on Saturday, March 21, 2020 from 7:00 am – 9:30 am at Martha Rivers Park. In a new twist, the event will start with a ruck workout followed by a boot camp workout. A light breakfast and 3rd F event will follow. We will have multiple Qs for each workout, similar to previous convergences. The F3 Nation “Troubadours” have been notified and we will have several guests attending from other regions.

For the ruck portion: If you don’t have a ruck bag or plate, talk to some of the guys at Diablo Sammich (Whoopee, HIPAA, Watts Up, etc.) or guys from Folsom like Roadie, Sparky, Huck, or Montross and we’ll help you out. Some men have expensive Go-Ruck bags and special plates, but any old backpack (preferably with a chest clip) filled with any kind of weights will work in a pinch. Typically 25-35 lbs per pack is standard, but ‘you vs. you’.

For the boot camp portion: Expect minimal running and maximum beat-down. If you aren’t a runner, don’t let boot camp scare you away. Expect a focus on bodyweight exercises and less emphasis on running. The goal is for EVERYONE to participate in both workouts!

Huck has reserved a shelter for us as well for breakfast and 3rd F. With the picnic table setups, there will be a lot of seating but throwing an extra lawn-chair in your car that morning may be a good idea ‘just in case’.

More details to come, but mark your calendars and spread the word!

Updated with maps:

Option 1 – Ruck Route

Option 2: 5 mile running route

Two years fly by! Hard to believe it has been 2 years since my first post. It’s definitely one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I’ve improved in all 3F’s in the past 24 months and, as a result, I truly believe my life has improved! There is a huge value by being part of F3 so I’m always looking for ways to invite friends to join us and encouraging Kotters to get back at it.
Ratchet, who has been MIA for the better part of the past 6 months, is trying to get back into the routine and had the Q. He reached out to me last week asking if I’d pick up the Q for him. I’m always willing to Q and I told him absolutely, with one condition…he had to post. It was great to see him at Folsom this morning and living up to his end of the deal! Welcome back Kotter!
Warmup: SSH, Mountain Man Sheeterz, and Don Qs.

The Thang: We mosey to the flag, Bedpan leads some core work while I pickup the 6. Pledge and short mosey to the large parking lot at the park entrance.
Today, we’ll did the Zachary Tellier WOD in honor of a US soldier who died from gunshot wounds serving our country and fighting the Taliban. With the tensions in Iran right now and troops being deployed, it seemed a bit fitting to honor a soldier!
10 Burpees, run a lap around the parking lot.
10 Burpees, 25 Merkins, run a lap around the parking
10 Burpees, 25 Merkins, 50 Lunges, run a lap around the parking lot
10 Burpees, 25 Merkins, 50 Lunges, 100 LBCs, run a lap around the parking lot.
10 Burpees, 25 Merkins, 50 Lunges, 100 LBCs, 150 Squats, run a lap around the parking lot.
We mosey back to the parking lot. I had something else in mind but time was running short so I called an audible.
Superman-Ironmans – 10 IC
Flutter Kicks – 15 IC – I have recently found that flutter kicks are both more difficult and put less pressure on my lower back if I put my hands behind my head and put my upper body in a crunch. I realized this a few weeks ago doing little baby flutter kicks (the Freight special!). Several tried it and agreed. As with all of us, I’m not a professional! That being said, give it a try and see if it helps you.
Repeat both exercise. Time!

COT: Two 5k’s coming up – Jan 25th is a fund raiser for Lincolnton Middle School. Sign up! See Sparky for more details. Meet at Ingles Monday morning to run at 5:30 – be in Ingles by 6:00am for a little bible verse discussion and other 3rd F thangs! We’re just trying it out to see if there’s interest and see if we can make it a regular thing. Sparky and Wichita are leading the charge but I think this will catch on quickly! Be part of it! Prayer requests: Medicine Woman, Gumby surgery, our troops and the Iran tensions. I’m sorry if I’m forgetting any others, I should have made a note!

Moleskin: I could rattle on and on about all the great memories I have made in F3 and how great I believe F3 is. I’ll just keep it short and simple though and say Thanks! Thanks first to Sparky for inviting me and thanks to everyone I’ve met along the way that make F3 a great thing to be part of!

-Montross

There seems to be an on-going rivalry between the fleet-footed men of The Pub and the ground-pounders of FIAblow…I mean Diablo Sammich. General taunting from Whoopee and his gang of hoodlum elves seems to be a weekly thing! However, I was pleased to see the open invitation to join the ‘sumbritches’ from FIAblow…I mean Diablo….for breakfast at Waffle House.

The men from FIAblow…oops, darn it….Diablo pulled the velcro tight on their bright white New Balance orthopedics and mall-walked to Waffle House. 5 of the 7 HIMs from the Pub ran mostly uphill in freezing temps at a brisk pace to meet up with those ‘sumbritches’ for some fellowship, food, and drink.

It should be noted that head elf Whoopee’s jukebox selectiins started off as, shall we say, questionable. Fortunately, he listened to Boudin (the smart one from FIAblow…oops, gosh, I mean Diablo) and quit playing songs off his daughter’s Ipod.

I am still curious why they made the runners sit in the corner booth, segregated from the mutha ruckers. I suppose all of our manliness and handsome good looks were just too intimidating. We’ll try not to be so awesome next time Whoopee. Thanks for the invite though!

Announcements: convergence 12/28, rsvp for the Christmas party

-Montross