F3 Gastonia

Fitness, Fellowship, Faith

Author: Short Sale (Page 16 of 20)

South Street Challenge

June 16, 2018 / / 1 Comment

I’ve had this beat down on the drafting table for a while, waiting for an opening on what has become a popular Q spot of late. The idea spawned from Tiger’s Q a while back at the Yank. An uphill run with pain stations at the bottom. It was a strong test, one that needed to be shared with others. So I noodled on the idea and had a general plan of what to do. But then something else shocked my brain Thursday night so I decided to pull a slick switch and have 10 minutes of Mary to kick off the festivities. It went like this:

Pledge, mild disclaimer: “get in plank” where we did each exercise for 25 seconds:

  • plank jacks
  • burps
  • jingle balls
  • mtn climbers
  • merkins
  • imperial walkers
  • high knees
  • touch left toe, raise right knee
  • touch right toe, raise left knee
  • lbcs
  • chop sticks
  • reverse crunch
  • fifer scissors with punch
  • plank rolls
  • am hammer
  • flutter kicks
  • leg raises
  • ww1
  • freddie mercury
  • ski abs

When the idea came to begin with Mary, I added a playlist with the theme of summer. Summer Nights by Van Halen was on their first album with Sammy Hagar in 1986, which we learened Island, Round-up, and obviously Madmen had not been born (#imold).  Song #2 was Summertime Girls by Y&T followed by Joe Satriani’s Summer Song. Whoopee – you missed another great set.

The PAX looked relieved that was over but the main event was waiting. I did a demo tour posting printed signs of each exercise that had a 10 count. We began the loop with 10 burpees and progressed down the three blocks to reach Second St doing merkins and monkey humpers before making the return to the top. The route was 0.48 miles round trip broken up at various intervals of:

  • burpees x 10
  • ssh x 10
  • dips x 10
  • box jumps x 10
  • merkins x 10
  • monkey humpers x 10
  • mike Tyson’s x 10
  • plank jacks x 10
  • squats x 10

The PAX pushed through with Round-up leading the charge followed closely by Dr.  Seuss.  Others that completed 4 full rounds were: Island, Turtleman, and Roscoe. Nice job men getting in over 2 miles. The rest of us were close to that mark but had to u-turn at Main St to get back on time. Which at that point I realized Spider-Man snuck out early for work. I guess fighting crime does pay.  Or maybe he went to Comic-con in Charlotte going on this weekend.

COT

We heard and lifted prayers for Lynn Ham, Breaker Breakers uncle and sister in law’s husband; Def Leppard’s son going to the hospital Monday and Timeframe asked for the Clark family that lost their little girl too soon. The announcements which are still current as of this B.B. are 3rd F event Friday 6/22 at 7 pm at First Presbyterian Pockets and YHC are sharing.

This was a good workout that if I had arrived early enough to post the signs, it could have moved much faster.  I’ll keep that in mind for the future.  Thanks for the chance to Q.

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Maybe Turtle Man will eventually write it…maybe not

May 20, 2018 / / 1 Comment

Way back, coming up on two weeks Turtle Man takes the Q at Snoballs. For as much mumble chatter as he provides, he doesn’t take the Q too often but I’m sure that will change soon. The circle began to form and Turtle Man stepped forward with a disclaimer and the pledge. We did a light warm-up of a few things that I can’t remember because, well, it’s been nearly two weeks and I can barely remember my own Q from a week ago. But as you maybe began to detect – if you don’t write a backblast for a workout which I attended, I want credit – especially during this 40 Days of Discipline. The Weasel Shaker can be a thankless job and the pay is awful, but there are certain privileges that will be invoked from time to time and this happens to be one of them. So after a brief warm-up, Turtle Man announces the sometimes disconcerting “follow me,” out of the parking lot and away we went traveling down Riverwood Parkway. We stopped after maybe two minutes of action and were commanded do to 25 merkins on our own. Turtle Man was announcing his presence with authority. He announced it a few more times so that by the time we reached Gastone’s Hill, we’d done 100 merkins. A nice shoulder burn was going and then the Thang was announced. NUR Gastone’s Hill all the way to the top; once at the top, perform 25 American Hammers (or maybe it was Flutter Kicks, or maybe he omaha’ed to Flutter Kicks, but we did 25 of an ab exercise at the top). Run forward all the way to the bottom and do I think 10 or maybe 20 squats (or some exercise like a squat intended to burn our quads). That was the loop: NUR up, ab exercise for 25 reps, Run down, 20 of a leg exercise = 0.4 of a mile each trip. Nice idea Turtle Man, which I later learned he borrowed from Stone Cold. The challenge was levied as to who could complete six rounds. To conserve time, Turtle Man omaha’ed the NUR after the third trip, opting for the standard forward mosey. At some point during the trips Stroganoff and Stone Cold had to leave a little early. We reached 06:10 and Turtle Man called for the jail-break. Sargento had been leading the charge the entire workout and following his Q, about-faced on the hill maybe 3/4 up and headed back. Gastone and maybe Whoopee decided they were going to complete the 6 laps, which they did and hustled behind us. We had a brief COT and Turtle Man took us out in a prayer.

So as you have read – a pretty good Q. That very morning after the workout I set up Turtle Man with access (again) to write his backblast. He even thanked me for doing it. But then the Sad Clown attacked him and he got lazy or lost his focus. So I’m picking up the Six in the narrative way. Here is looking forward to Turtle Man’s next Q and writing his first backblast. For all of you among the PAX, many have the ability to post a backblast. If your Q falls short – you step in and write one for him, we’re always here for each other.

Short Sale

Sunday Socks on a Monday Morning

May 16, 2018 / / 0 Comments

I’m sure most of us have always had a sock drawer and depending on the time period you were growing up you had tube socks with stripes that pulled all the way up to your knees before giving way to the mid-calves and then the low cuts.  In my drawer, there were always a few blue or black pair that were the “Sunday socks.” to be worn with clothes our moms bought and we wore to church or dress up occasions. Now as an adult and wearing my Sunday attire nearly 5 days a week for work, I seem to wear my Sunday socks on a daily basis. In the early morning hours of my darkened bedroom, I grabbed my dark work socks to wear to the workout. I didn’t notice until I was in the garage searching for my shoes but there was no time to correct the mistake. Now I don’t have a “sock game” like Island (check out his Batman socks) and I’m not a millennial that buys pants a size too tight and 2 inches short to show of brightly colored socks that cost as much as case of beer. But none of the PAX called me out on it so I survived. But you didn’t pull open this backblast to read about socks. You want to know about the workout.

I grabbed the Q from Gastone as I had a few new things to try, at least they were new to me and something not performed at the Dark Snoball or the Black Snow or whatever our old Martha’s House playground is now called. The circle formed and Roadie was the lone representative from Folsom on this occasion. My man is making the rounds and putting in a lot of work which the results are noticeable. Don’t be surprised if he is standing beside you one morning. 0530 hit and we had an FNG among us. Jeff Martin was EH’ed by Defib. A former soccer player at Belmont Abbey (he’s younger than you Boudin) and police officer in Belmont. I knew what was planned and briefly considered a revision. I decided I would add a bit to the disclaimer instead – “you verses you, stop if you get dizzy, it’s okay to merlot, blah, blah, blah.” It was a good thing we had an experienced and trained medical professional among us – no, not the guy that won most beautiful cardiologist in Gastonia – he didn’t show – probably “heart-sacking with his M. No the Doc that posted is the one that can knock out nearly 100 push-ups in a minute; the one that craps his pants on mile 20 because he’s ahead of a PR at Big Sur; yeah – that one. We said the pledge and then I decided an extended warm-up was needed. It went like this:

  • 5 Burpees OYO
  • SSH – IC x 10
  • Squats – IC x 10
  • Imperial Walker – IC x 10

Mosey to the old Harris Teeter. I got to spend some time Saturday with Slaw during the workout at Folsom. A month or so ago he hit those boys with an insane routine of his favorite exercise – yes you guessed it – the burpee. He had an hour to expend and I was limited in our 45 minutes. I decided to modify a bit. So once arriving in the parking lot I shared with the PAX the four corners that would be employed: approximately 30 yards apart, nearly a square shape. At corner #1, we’d begin with 16 burpees. Run to corner #2, decrease by one to 15; Corner #3 – 14 burpees and then Corner #4 – 13 burpees. We made it two rounds before I called Omaha. Partly because the PAX had these dumbfounded looks on their face and Roadie asked to be placed on the prayer list. Plus I had other stuff to do. I thought maybe we’d come back to it if we had time. This was a tough one for sure and designed to keep the mumble chatter at a minimum which it certainly did. The problem was JK2, Whoopee, or Turtleman didn’t post. So it was eerily quite, almost too quiet except for the idiot in his car yelling “run harder!” I never said our hometown was full of the world’s brightest bulbs. The pre-tweet promised 100 burpees and we eclipsed that mark so one mission was accomplished.

Phase II of the workout was a new routine with partners. Partner 1 would get in plank and perform shoulder taps at corners 1 and 3. Partner 2 would face the opposite direction in a plank and perform 10 side hops over his partner’s extended legs. If you can’t visualize it, hopefully you’ll post the next time I Q and you can perform it yourself. At corners 2 and 4 the partners flipped positions with Partner 1 doing side to side hops and Partner 2 shoulder tapping. We went 3 rounds. The partner doing the shoulder taps did AMRAP while the one side hopping 10 times was the count.

To the long wall for something I read about in Spiderman’s backblast: the dirty hook-up. We did 10 of those in cadence against the wall, then turned around for 10 Donkey kicks in cadence before finishing with 10 hip slappers.

We formed a circle for the next routine. Stroganoff likes to name his routines so I came up with Diamonds are Forever. I don’t know about you but diamond merkins can suck, actually they suck a lot. But you gotta do some things you don’t like to get better. So we began with 10 diamond merkins. Not so bad, now for the hard part. Low diamond holds. Put your hands in position and lower down where your forearms are about an inch off the ground and your bicep almost folds on top of your forearm – hold that position for 25 seconds. All was quiet until about 10 seconds in and the moaning began and lasted until time was called. Nice work by the PAX. A brief rest before the last segment: diamond pulses. Same principal applies – lower down and then pulse your arms up and down to increase the burn for another 25 seconds.

We had a little bit of time so let’s get some Mary in while were here.

  • Flutter kicks IC x 20
  • Leg lifts SC x 20
  • American Hammer IC x 20
  • X Crunch SC x 20

We headed back to the AO for the standard close. Prayers were lifted for Roadie’s niece worried about end of grade tests and his brother whom he is trying to EH off the sad clown couch. Announcements: Folsom this Saturday is having a 2.0 friendly workout, something they plan to do monthly over the summer. HIPPA will take the Pain Lab on the road to be there as well. Start time will be 0700 instead of their normal time – make a note if you plan to attend.  Look for the newsletter with information about 2nd F coming up next week at the White Water Center’s River Jam. In June Freight will host a 3rd F event on a Friday evening – date to be confirmed.

Moleskin: For his first day out, Jeff Martin pushed himself pretty good. With his soccer and police background we named him “Shooter.” This was a hard workout for all fitness levels. Burpees are a full body exercise that exert about every muscle. But to think we did over 100 – that was strong work that elevated our heart rates and started the calorie burn. I’ll bring that one back out and hopefully we can get through the four rounds. The guys all worked hard and we all got better. Thanks to Gastone and Squirt for grabbling the six. I enjoyed the opportunity to lead the workout. Until the next one.

Folsom Road Show

April 25, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Now I know how Whoopee feels when he Q’s. I woke up at 3:30 this morning in a panic that I had overslept. This was a hangover from Monday when I hit the “off” instead of “snooze” and came in hot to Rudolph’s beatdown. Excitement sped through my mind which became occupied with my opening monologue, the “suggestions”, the count and order – all the fun stuff that comes with the Q. The Weinke was pretty well set but you never know how things will go once the red light comes on and the cameras are rolling. 0500 hits and I suit up arriving early for me (thought I’m not usually on “Sparky time”), passing Stroganoff on an EC run. I was happy to see our contingent from NOGA in the SnoBalls lot, mingling with a regular Wednesday crowd that began to expand. Was there a convergence that I missed? No, this is Folsom, our brothers only 15 minutes north of us deciding to get some extra work between their Tuesday and Thursday standard AO. No FNG’s though Diva popped in for his first boot camp after torching the Coconut Horse on Sunday. So the brief disclaimer was shared: “follow my suggestions, modify as needed, you verses you, etc.” As I’ve heard the Folsom boys say 0530, “time to clock-in” we did that quickly.

Warm-Up

  • Moroccan Night Clubs IC x 11 (meant to stop at 10 but you got an extra rep)
  • Seal Jacks IC x 5

Let’s Mosey to Martha Rivers Park, Field #1

Thang:

As advertised, the upper body challenge would begin, albeit on a soggy field. At least it beats working out in a rain storm. We’re tough and handled it with a few complaints (=Sandy V’s). The set below could be completed in any order the PAX wished using the hill between the field and paved track for the Joe Hendrix.

  • Pull-ups x 3
  • Burpees x 10
  • Imperial Walker Squats x 20 (count both legs)
  • Merkins w/ alternate toe tap x 10 (count both legs)
  • Joe Hendrix up the hill

We went three rounds total. The unexpected large group challenged the space and with only one pull-up bar we had to adjust but the PAX managed through it. This took a little longer to complete so already my Weinke was under modification. A quick count off was all the rest the QIC offered then the PAX had a choice: Option A or Option B. The echo of mumble chatter said “C” – that wasn’t on the list so you then get both – we’ll squeeze them in. Mosey through the gloom and into Riverwood then making a left on Riverwood Parkway to the office building.

The Triple Nickel is a Brownstreak special (feel better soon brother). We used the small hill of the parking lot to perform 5 monkey humpers at the bottom NUR (that’s R-U-N spelled backwards if you’re a Chapel Hill fan) up the hill and in honor of our sage veteran we did 5 Def Leppard Merkins (CDD’s). Run down the hill, navigating the busy traffic to complete 5 rounds (2 different exercises with 5 reps each x 5 rounds = triple nickel. I didn’t name it, I just run the exercise). Another quick count off became confusing because Stroganoff had to leave early for a work meeting. We escaped over the rear wall to the back of the old Harris Teeter, circle to the parking lot.

Option B or Option W were offered to the PAX, only a few raised their hands for B (which would have been Burpee-cides using the parking lot lines – I’ll save that one).  So we go with Option W which was some wall work with other fun stuff to burn the shoulders.

  • Hip Slappers x 10 (total)
  • Bear crawl to the median
  • Merkins x 10
  • Run to the end of the parking lot
  • Flutter Kicks x 20 (count one leg)
  • Rinse & repeat, rinse & repeat

Most of the guys finished their third circuit and began chatting – what is this a FIA workout? You can compare weight loss tips after you clock out; we’ve got 5 minutes left – “get on your 6” we’re gonna give Mary some love:

  • Flutter Kicks IC x 20
  • Freddie Mercury IC x 20
  • American Hammer IC x 20

Time to mosey home, arriving at 0615 – Done!

COT: No real announcements other than the Folsom guys recruiting for their Saturday AO selling us on Def Leppard as the Q and the Country Kitchen’s breakfast (0630 at Biggerstaff Park – meet in lot by the tennis courts, contrary to rumor, cars are welcome). Prayers were lifted for Allen Tate’s mother-in-law, a friend of Medicine Woman, Def Leppard’s son and his upcoming travels and finally for each other.

Moleskin: You ever get those little pimple/ingrown hairs? Of course you have, you’re a man. Pesky little things that you suck it up and try to pop but sometime they don’t pop. Or worse, you scrape them off and they leave a mark and sore spot. I opened the session this morning to share with the PAX about a work task my boss had asked me to do that I had been dragging my feet to do, coming up with any excuse to push it aside; kind of like avoiding busting the little pimple, avoiding some pain. He’s a good boss that I uses some tough love to express is message occasionally; this was one of those times. I shared some of the struggles for the “ask” and he saw it was a tangled mess. So we devised a new plan of attack. The story was a bit faster in person than for you to read, but hopefully you get the point. It lead to this scripture: Colossians 1:11: “being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience.” The size of the task can be overwhelming until it is broken into parts. If we lead off our Q’s with the open kimono for the total of every rep, it can be a daunting task. But we break it up into circuits and smaller reps it is a bit easier. It works in life, not just a workout. But like life, we need each other for encouragement. The Sky Q helped with the Colossians verse.

This was a great morning for many reasons. Always fun to Q but better yet when you get the surprise of an AO converging. The power of F3 bringing guys together from different parts of our home county – there is strength in numbers and mumble chatter, which was constant. Clear instructions were provided, some listened, some modified, all got better. Sparky claimed to have been running for the 25 minutes or while he searched for us. Someone needs to buy that boy an alarm clock and set it 5 minutes ahead. Nice work by the PAX today – too many to call out. Thanks to Gastone for setting a great tone for this AO and all that get to experience it, whether leading or following.

The gauntlet has been laid, you better make your way to Folsom, otherwise they will come to you.

Until the next one, thanks for the opportunity to lead.

Short Sale

Next time we’ll sandbag more…

March 10, 2018 / / 0 Comments

I’ve had the pleasure to attend a few Pain Labs in recent months and rest assured they are not a day off for anything except running. Rudolph has a good thing going Saturday mornings at the GasHouse. If you’re curious to find out more, the Pain Lab will be on the road at the Folsom Convergence 3/24, consider checking it out. I’ve been on the temporary IR this week, unable to sit long periods of time and Epsom salt baths are the most comforting part of my day. Hopefully that gives you enough information that I need to say no more except that being unable to workout for a week was driving me crazy. The Pain Lab was the perfect pool to dip my toe. So after we circled with Wojo and the boys for a brief warm-up, said the pledge, we split off to the amphitheater where the coupons lie in wait. We had 7 willing men ready to try my version of the Pain Lab. Clavin coming off IR and Moses brought his son Jake Dobbins a recent ECU graduate. Welcome to the fold Sparrow as we would later anoint him among our PAX. HIPPA came in hot off a 3+ mile ruck and kept the weight vest on – “STI – RONG” as accolades go. Another brief disclaimer to modify any of the “suggestions” written on the placards and do so at your own devise.  A similar version of this workout was conducted at The Goat last week and some modifications were necessary. But first, let’s get our blood flowing with a light start:

Warm-Up #2

  • SSH IC x 10
  • Scissor Runs IC x 10
  • Mummy Kicks IC x 10
  • Toy Soldiers IC x 10
  • Imperial Walkers IC x 10
  • Cotton Pickers IC x 10
  • Side to Side Lunge IC x 10

Since this is the PL and my muscles had not been worked in a number of day, let’s add some stretching:

  • Squat with elbow to knee press
  • R/L Shoulder Press to knee
  • Plank – move to R lunge; R arm high, L arm high, hamstring stretch
  • Plank – move to L lunge; L arm high, R arm high, hamstring stretch
  • Downward Dog, high plank, Cobra, Child’s pose

Thang:

We had three groups of two and the Q as a single to cover 4 stations where the last station served as the “timer” performing 10 burpees in Round 1.

  • Circuit 1
    • R Lunge/Squat/L Lunge
    • Merkin Alt Toe Tap
    • Flutter Kick
  • Circuit 2
    • Squat / Imperial Walker
    • 10 / 2 Merkins
    • American Hammer
  • Circuit 3
    • Calf Raises
    • Plank Jack Merkins
    • Peter Parker

There was not a lot of mumble chatter, just grunts and subtle complaints but I had the 80’s Hair/Metal cranked up so maybe that drowned that nonsense (BTW – Judas Priest has a new album (do they still call them albums even though music is now downloaded?) and it pops like their good stuff from back in the day). I had on the Weinke to do another set but approaching the halfway point I wanted to speed it up – this time the timer was 3 burpees.

The next round would bring in the coupons to push the muscles more. The timer was 60 seconds for each round.

  • PVC Station
    1. V-Ups
    2. Rifle Squats
    3. Straight Arm Jacks
  • Half Block Station
    1. Lunge Press
    2. WWI – Pass the Block to your partner (try this one next time)
    3. French Curls
  • Full Block Station
    1. Curls
    2. Bench Press
    3. Kettle Bell Swings
  • Wall
    1. Dips
    2. Derkins
    3. Plank Brick Lift

I had much more on my Weinke but little time. The sandbags were next but then Tool Time and Tyson flew in signaling the boot camp was back, so I improvised a little…everyone circle up. With 6 sandbags (~25 to 30 lbs) spread out, the odd men would give the bag high, then squat to receive their next bag low. The even numbers would get the sand bag low, raise up and hand off high. Clear as mud, right? Lets give this a try and it sort of worked, picking up the pace before we reversed positions to work the opposite muscles. Probably more work on that one to get organized. With 5 minutes left, let’s tackle Mary as fast as we can.

  • Flutter Kicks IC x 10
  • Chopsticks IC x 10
  • Leg lifts x 10
  • Lazy Freddie Mercury (hand to knee instead of elbows) IC x 20 (Thanks Rudolph for the count)
  • American Hammer IC x 20
  • High Plank – Jingle Balls IC x 10
  • In/Outs – IC x 10
  • TIME!

COT – lot of prayers needed for our PAX and their family members and friends battling illness and in need of healing: Wojo, T-Square, others. Announcements: April 7th CSAUP 50 mile relay – see Tyson for more details, sign up via website. Community Foundation Speed 4 Need on display: register under Gastonia F3 and make our presence felt. Hunchback is the announcer for the event.

Moleskin – In a small block of space, without running one step calories can be burned and muscles can be stressed. The music is loud and the PAX are pushed as much as they desire to be, maybe a little more. You can’t help but find that extra effort with Rudolph’s verbal nudges like he expressed today to our FNG Sparrow. TopHat and Moses were a formidable duo clipping off their burpee count as were Clavin and Hippa. Query your mind to think where else could you barely know someone, if at all and now you’re working along side, pushing each other with positive encouragement? Fist bumping upon completion. There are a lot of problems that could be solved in the world with this type of brotherhood. We’re lucky to have this opportunity.

As with any new workout, the timing is the biggest challenge. But I made notes and will be ready for a Pain Lab in the near future, ready to employ my new sandbags. Until the next one, thanks for the opportunity to lead.

BTW – a black Under Armour hoodie jacket was left in the parking lot. Text me if it is yours (7045162193) and I’ll return it to you.

Carousel of Pain

March 1, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Another Q this week and still more rain to contend with. But that is okay, Goat Island has a covered gazebo and provides a good space for a cozy workout. Honestly the rain was light and we could have probably performed close to a normal workout but staying in one place allows the group to remain together the entire workout – no picking up the six. Add in the timed elements the mumble chatter can really get going and at certain times, it did.

I pre-tweeted the workout and only got two HC’s from HIPPA and Boudin, both of whom enjoyed (???) a similar Weinke at the Dark Knight at the beginning of the week (props to both those guys for posting the two days between too). So I budgeted my coupons for 8-10 and as luck would have it, got 8 – the perfect number for the planned routine. Here is what we did.

Through the misting rain, we make a slow mosey to the gazeebo.

Warm-Up, get in high plank:

  • Peter Parker IC x 10
  • Burps IC x 10
  • Merkins IC x 10
  • Mtn Climbers IC x 10
  • Low Merkin Hold ~30 seconds
  • SSH IC x 10

Thang:

Three signs were taped at the top of the gazebo with three circuits to be completed focused on lower body, upper body, and core.

Circuit 1:

  • Right Lunge / Squat / Left Lunge
  • Merkin with alternating toe taps
  • Flutter Kicks

Circuit 2:

  • 90 degree Sumo Squats
  • 10/2 Merkins
  • American Hammer

Circuit 3:

  • Scissor Squats
  • Plank Jack Merkin
  • Peter Parker

I could have set a timer but that would be easy, we’ll let the PAX work for it. The 4th team would perform 10 burpees to serve as the timer. Once they complete, everyone moves to the next round. This was a crowd pleaser with a lot of shared appreciation. Dolph and Mayor were partners which typically required repeating instructions as the first attempt typically interrupted their side-bar. When the first round was over, the PAX were hunched to their knees catching their breath. A 10-count was called. I then asked for guidance if we should complete another round or move to something else on the Weinke. Apparently ABBA didn’t hear the option and whole-heartedly accepted the proxy of the PAX and voted for round 2. Mayor was not pleased but to make amends, I Omaha’ed the burpees to 5. Mayor said it was the best thing he’d ever heard a Q say. I doubt it but I’ll take any compliment Mayor offers. So…onto Round 2 where we went a slightly faster pace. The next circuit would take us to the end. We split into 4 stations with coupons.

Station 1 – PVC pipe (sand filled)

  • Round 1 – V-Ups with PVC
  • Round 2 – Rifle Squats
  • Round 3 – Straight Arm Jacks

Station 2 – 1/2 Block

  • Round 1 – Alt Lunge w/ Press
  • Round 2 – LBC w/ block
  • Round 3 – French curl

Station 3 – Elastic bands

  • Round 1 – Lat Pull Downs
  • Round 2 – Hi/Lo Chop
  • Round 3 – Rows

Station 4 – Full block

  • Round 1 – Curls
  • Round 2 – Bench
  • Round 3 – Kettle Bell Swing

Rounds were performed in sequential order, moving through each station before the next round would begin. The PAX put in solid work through these rounds. During the Round 2 Chops, Mayor snapped the elastic band. Only brute strength could sever the rubber in the middle. Dolph patched together and we kept going. I was just glad Mayor didn’t pull the metal structure on top of us. The other noteworthy item came from Tesla. He commented at 57 years old, his entire body is stiff, all except for the one part he’d like to be stiff. Aye!

COT:

Dolph’s father-in-law ‘s is struggling with his health. A co-worker of HIPPA had a cardiac event that is causing concern. ABBA asked for prayers for all of us. Boudin reiterated a pre-blast he posted for the GoRuck event to be held in August or October. Boudin has accepted a lead to organize our region so reach out to him for details. If you are interested about rucking – post at 0600 Sunday at the Coconut Horse and hike the 5 miles with the guys.

Moleskin:

This one had a mix of cardio and strength training but a whole lot of chatter. This one is a keeper for a future rainy day workout for sure. Note that HIPPA and Mayor donned the weighted vest increasing the push for some if not all the work. We didn’t get wet except for our own sweat. It was a good break from the normal bootcamps. Hopefully warmer and dryer weather will be here soon to free any constraints and bring the guys out. Q fail in that I forgot the Pledge. Until the next one…thanks for the chance to lead.

Moving to Plan C

February 26, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Sunday afternoon was slow moving to provide plenty of devotion for planning my Q at the Black Knight, so much that I actually packed my car with coupons and tweeted a pre-blast advertising the pain that was planned. I should have checked the weather report. My sweet M informs me during dinner “you know it’s supposed to rain tomorrow?” The look on my face confirmed my failure to plan. It was followed by another thoughtful statement – “you guys are idiots.” That we all know! A new strategy was designed. Hope the PAX will like Plan C.

0510 Monday morning I peer out the window to confirm the ground is wet. Gastone had already called in sick (get well soon brother) giving the feeling the boss would be away. Three of our Ruckers vehicles were in the lot, so I knew I’d have an audience. Slowly others rolled in and 0530 hit for go time.

The warm-up, if you want to call it that was more about waiting for Whoopee, Boudin, and Roscoe to shed their rucks and join the circle. “Forward arm-circles were called to allow the brief disclaimer to be stated. “It’s wet, watch your step, and don’t die…Backward arm-circles.”

Official Warm-Up:

SSH IC x 5

Pledge

Mosey – Whoopee was gleefully excited time was not wasted.

Thang

We quickly arrived across the street and the running portion of the workout was over. Under the covered drive-through of Park Sterling, our 11 men filled the four lanes for Pure Cardio. Unlike past workouts in Tabata format (30 seconds on/10 seconds off) the challenge would be amplified, and I’m not talking about the excellent playlist either. Each circuit was three exercises to be performed for 30 seconds with three rounds in succession. For you Chapel Hill grads, that is a total of 4:30. A 30 second rest was generously granted by YHC but mostly to demonstrate the next circuit of exercises. You’re welcome to try this at home:

1)      SSH, Plank Jacks w/ Shoulder Taps, LBC’s

2)      10/2 Twist Jumps (pretend you’re on a clock face: left foot at 10, right foot at 12: jump turn so left lands on 12 and right on 2), 10/2 Merkins (same as above but in plank/merkin form), American Hammer

3)      4×4 (Mtn Climbers & Merkins; jump up & repeat), Seal Jacks (for JJ, no green card needed), Right Lunge, Squat, Left Lunge (perform lunge facing right, hop into a squat, hop 90 degrees to face & lunge left – this is a nice burn)

4)      Mike Tysons, 4 Plank Jacks then 4 Star Jumps, Flutter Kicks

5)      High Knees, CDD’s, Fifer Scissors with opposite hand punch (R hand to L leg – keep your legs as straight as possible to get the most out of it)

6)      Merkin with Jingle Balls (push-up, right hand touches left toe, push-up, left hand touches right toe – lots of grunts on this one), Squat Pulse (kind of like Monkey Humpers but sans the ankle grab), Ski Abs (the PAX certainly noticed the Ski Abs circled back to the Merkin – the shoulders were burning after this set).

We finished with about 9 minutes left; we recycled only going one time through each set. We then went into Mary for the final time:

·        Flutter Kicks, Chopsticks, Leg Lifts, LBC’s, Freddie Mercury

COT:

There were no prayer requests from our PAX’s immediate family/friends but Roscoe shared that prominent Charlotte business man, Johnny Harris lost his 43 year old daughter unexpectedly. The associate that shared that news lost his father on the same day. YHC noted the recent passing of Reverend Billy Graham. Only the Sky Q knows our time on this earth to make an impact. We need to make the most of our time but know that for those that have passed, they are comforted in God’s arms.

Moleskin:

I assure you the workout that was planned – it was going to be brutal and you will get to experience soon, I promise. Sometimes life throws you something and you have to adjust to those circumstances. We’re talking about leading a workout but you get the idea, it happens on a daily basis. Hopefully Plan C (C=cardio) wasn’t too bad. Keeping everyone in a tight circle with music in the background and a rolling clock – you’d think might promote some mumble chatter but it today for some reason was light. Maybe the PAX were concentrating on these new odd-ball exercises. Which are mostly stolen from my Insanity DVDs. But the order, well I read an opinion the most effective cardio was going from standing to plank, or seated. Why do we moan when burpees are called? Repeated up and down movement with jumps and upper body stress kind of suck. So most of the order was done to create the up/down as well as work multiple muscle groups at one time or build on something else. It’s not rocket science but there is a purpose. It was nice to see Roscoe posting at the DK (I know his M is sick – get well Mrs. Roscoe). I was not expecting Turtleman to post with his Uber driver ill – props to you. Whoopee is back at it upon overcoming a cold, getting an EC ruck with Boudin and Roscoe. Solid work from Squirt, JJ, Spiderman, Time Frame, and Stroganoff. HIPPA sported his weight vest. Hopefully everyone enjoyed the fun. Until the next one.

Victories Don’t Come too Often – Time to Celebrate

January 29, 2018 / / 0 Comments

My M changed her workout schedule (again) so last week I had the privilege to make an appearance both Monday and Wednesday at the Martha’s AO’s currently named the Dark Knight and Snoballs. After Stone Cold and Gastone took it to the PAX I asked Gastone for the keys to the car (upon making sure my M’s schedule did not suddenly change – it didn’t – lucky for 17 men). I got some advice after church from Whoopee yesterday – “make it a hard one – we might have a special guest.” So I went to work on my Weinke; inspired by Whoopee’s challenge and my Wolfpack’s performance Saturday afternoon in Chapel Hill.

Monday morning at 0530 presents the great opportunity to get your week off to a solid start. Post and get the hardest part of your day checked off, at least that was the idea. We were unable to top last week’s 20 but 18 men gathered into the circle of the damp parking lot left behind by the day’s previous rain that moved on only hours earlier (and don’t think I wasn’t checking weather.com before and after taking the Q…). All familiar faces including Tool Time – our Nantan seems to be checking up on me. Should I be nervous? I am making a killing at this Weasel Shaker job. Time to get started.

The circle is really more of a horseshoe due to the large puddle in the parking lot. Whoopee gleefully stomps into it and splashes to his internal enjoyment. I think his M must push him out the door each morning to burn off this energy. Here we go:

Warm-up:

  • High knees IC x 10
  • Butt kickers IC x 10
  • Toy Soldiers IC x 10
  • Imperial Walker IC x 10
  • Squat Merkins SC x 10
  • Side Straddle Squats SC x 10

We said the pledge and then Whoopee asked for the floor then shared a few thoughts about supporting each other. The special guest we hoped to see did not post but that isn’t unusual. When guys are going through tough times we can get mired in our own muck. We can’t always get ourselves unstuck and need a hand. It has been said many times before and proven to be true, the guys standing among your circle didn’t come to work out alone. You might be the guy that makes the difference. Lets mosey to the old Harris Teeter parking lot.

Thang:

The pre-tweet advertised this was going to be an upper body beatdown. In order to do that, I better have a challenge at the top of the menu. Line up against the blank wall.

  • Hip slappers x 10
  • Bear crawl about 20 yards to the first median
  • Baby dips x 10 using the median
  • Run to the end of the parking lot (~50 yards)
  • Merkins x 10
  • Return; rinse, repeat; rinse, repeat

A quick count off and it was back to work using the wall again:

  • Mike Tyson’s x 10
  • Plank Wall taps x 10
  • Donkey kicks x 10
  • Run to the end of the parking lot (~70 yards)
  • Return; rinse, repeat; rinse, repeat

For a mini rest, I had the PAX go into groups of two on a not so fast mosey to the end of the parking lot, allowing the others a breather. It was going too slow for my liking; so I started sending them off at a faster pace.

We moved into the parking lot section. All PAX were asked to find a space of their own. I had not done this one in quite a while, so I resurrected “Walk the Plank.” In honor of Allerik Freeman’s 7-7 effort from the three point arc, leading the Wolfpack’s scoring in their 95-91 victory over the arch rival Tarheels the PAX began with 7 merkins then plank walked right to perform 1 Bobby Hurley (no State player has an exercise named after them – yet). Drop down, plank walk left and do 6 merkins. The routine continued until completing 1 merkin and 7 Bobby Hurleys, always plank walking between the yellow lines.

Saturday, while sitting in the Dean Smith Center you can help but absorb the history. My old friends know but I’ll make a confession that I grew up a Tarheel. My father graduated from Chapel Hill and as a youngster I attended games and had a plenty of baby blue attire. But UNC didn’t have an architecture program, so I set my goal to attend school in Raleigh and I converted to a Wolfpack fan (BTW – I ended up with a business degree). Let me tell you the grass is not always greener, at least in terms of pulling for your team. Since converting to the Pack, I have learned a great lesson in patience in perseverance. The Sky Q may in fact be a Tarheel or at least not much of a Pack fan. The Heel’s have won 4 National Championships while the Wolfpack have made a few Sweet 16’s. It’s been a tough road. So while I celebrate my school’s victory over my former childhood love, the next set was a mini-Four Corners made famous by Coach Smith.

Each pax got a double parking spot to perform the First Half:

  • 16 Sumo Squats
  • 20 Merkins
  • 20 Burps
  • 29 Mountain Climbers
  • Rinse/Repeat

Second Half:

  • 4 Burpees
  • 19 Peter Parkers
  • 15 Diamond Merkins (don’t know about you but these punished my arms)
  • 30 Plank Jacks
  • Rinse/Repeat

I normally stick with even number of reps, groups of five or ten. Why such an odd count you wondered? Well there is some meaning. I announced the reps and exercises several times to ensure the PAX heard the proper instructions. The first half reps were derived from NC State’s leading scorers (Omer Yurtseven: 16, Torn Dorn: 20, Markell Johnson: 20, and Allerick Freeman: 29). The second half set was based on each team’s three point shooting. UNC went 4-19 and State went 15-30.

We had about 8 minutes remaining. Rather than go back to the AO and have Whoopee play in the puddles, I moved the PAX to the dry pavement under the covered porch fronting the dry cleaners and sandwich shop – you’re welcome.

Mary was:

  • Flutter kick IC x 20
  • Leg lifts IC x 15
  • American Hammer IC x 15
  • Dying Cockroach IC x 15

At this point I wanted to make sure my boss was happy – so for people’s choice Tool Time selected V up Roll ups for about 15 and then Squirt called out LBC’s for about 15 reps. Then it was time to mosey back.

COT

A few announcements were shared. Bandit is leading a fly fishing lure tying/casting session a First Methodist Church on Tuesday evenings and welcome to members and non-members alike. Bandit tweeted the information or contact him. Sargento shared he has a 2nd F bowling event planned in February with M’s and 2.0’s welcome. More information to come. Roscoe has planned a F3 Dad’s event at Chutes (Camp Crowder’s Ridge) on 2/18. Check the pre-blast. I took us out in prayer lifting up prayers for our brother Brownstreak.

Moleskin

Shout out today to Boudin. If you haven’t noticed, he has been posting a lot – should win the Iron Skillet award. But for his posts, at least the ones I’ve been, he is pushing the rock and then some. Each workout is a “you verses you” but his “you” is pretty strong. Nice job Boudin.

Since Roy Williams returned to Chapel Hill as Head Coach of the Tarheels the four, yes four Wolfpack coaches he has faced have won a collective four games out of the 28 times they have competed. Last year’s 107-56 victory in Chapel Hill most likely had some part of Mark Gottfried being fired (there are a bunch of other reasons, but we’ll save it for the message boards). For a brief moment State fans have the rare opportunity to enjoy a win. It was a classic lesson to overcome the odds. Not many outside the coach, players and the diehards gave the Pack much of a chance but that is why the game is played. Kind of like posting – if you don’t show up, how are you going to get better? How are you going to connect to that guy that you didn’t know a year ago. It takes some measure of belief and commitment to the goal. Thanks for the opportunity to lead; Go Pack!

Bash the Q

January 11, 2018 / / 0 Comments

My first Q of 2018 thankfully was not last week in the frigid cold, what is hopefully the low-point of our temperatures for this year. I can’t imagine what it’s like to live in the north where it is really cold and the snow thaws in early Spring. So after the New Year’s Day post, I fartsacked the first week. What is actually worse, at least in my opinion, is being up at 5 am in plenty of time to dress and make it on time is getting up at 5 am is to check my phone’s weather app to see if the gloom had breached my internal (and by internal, I mean my nut-sack) threshold of 30 degrees (note the average low for this time of year is 29). So with single to teen digits, I postponed F3 exercise but this day was coming and wouldn’t you know the initial forecast was a 90% chance of rain for Thursday. However I was fortunate some high pressure system pushed warmer air to our part of the country. Kind of bad for a Southerner when you walk outside at 40 degrees and think how warm it feels. No wonder Tool Time showed up this morning in a t-shirt and shorts. I kept a mindful eye of the weather forecast all this week, like a bride with a planned outdoor wedding. The chance of rain declined to about 50%. After doing my daughter’s grammar homework (that’s another story) last night, I wrote a Weinke designed to be completed under the cover of a picnic pavilion or gazebo and really hopeful the PAX took my twitter post to heart and do what I did last week by sleeping in. 0500 I awoke, dressed, and instantly realized upon exiting my house the ground was wet but no precipitation was falling, at least for the moment. I only used my wipers to clear the remnants of drizzle from my windshield and contemplated a change of plan.

 Goat Island’s parking lot was surprisingly full, not only of the About Face Bootcamp women and men (but mostly women), but plenty of PAX as well. Dolph claimed I promised a trip to Floyd and Blackies coffee shop. That’s out with this group. It was a balmy 45 degrees, warm enough for Tesla to thankfully convert away from his tights and back to shorts. Our new Nantan was gyrating trying to keep warm in his limited garb and the mumble chatter was alive, so much that I completely missed the FNG present in the circle. The disclaimer was polite, something like “you verses you, do what you can, enjoy what you can do…” I think I said something like that. My train of thought went into defensive mode and the only way to shut the PAX up was to call an exercise.

 Warm-Up

  • Cotton Pickers IC x 10 (Somehow the PAX read my mind that I would stop at 10 though I failed to elevate my final count. Does this mean I’m getting predictable? For the sake of Brownstreak, and myself, I stated “All warm-up exercises end at 10…”)
  • Toy Soldiers IC x 10
  • Seal Jacks IC x 10
  • Imperial Walkers IC x 10
  • 5 Burpees OYO

Thang

“Let’s mosey,” I called and began to physically move amid the cat calls from the PAX. For future reference, Floyd and Blackies apparently does not open until 0600. So we jogged up the hill to arrive at First Baptist Church’s empty parking lot. I attempted a quick count off which proved to be a challenge. Midoriyama may have some company among AO’s math skills. After a few attempts, we arrived at a final number of 11. Like a substitute in from of a remedial math class, I began catching more heat while I fumbled to organize my speaker and Weinke.  I finally announced the “Accumulator” was our first challenge. It was my challenge as well, deciphering my timing app to build the progressive sets of 30 seconds for each exercise with a 30 second break between rounds.

  1. SSH
  2. SSH, Squats
  3. SSH, Squats, Shoulder Taps
  4. SSH, Squats, Shoulder Taps, High Knees
  5. SSH, Squats, Shoulder Taps, High Knees, Merkins

Mayor was impressed with my one to no armed SSH’s employed before my speaker finally picked up the signal and led off with Jackson Brown’s “Running on Empty.” The first few rounds were fairly easy but by the 5th round, three minutes of cardio provided the impact. On the return mosey, the mumble chatter cranked up once again. I decided to go impromptu “Triple Nickel” using the hill adjacent to the parking lot (this is for you Brownstreak). 5 monkey humpers at the bottom, 5 burpees at the top for 5 rounds. This was a gasser but the guys pushed through. Should be noted the work of Dr. Seuss that was in the lead pack of Dolph and Boudin demonstrating age is only a number. Awesome work. For the final segment, a fellowship mosey was to the gazebo was called. Only a few actually listened to that (big surprise) and followed. I had a three individual sets of five exercises to do in a Tabata of 30 seconds on, 10 seconds off format with a 45 second break.

Round 1

  • LBC’s, diamond merkins, squat pulse, butt kickers, Rocky Balboas
  • Sidebar: Mayor once again achieved comedic gold suggesting that Dolph’s squat pulses, which were going at a really fast pace, would get him to ‘finish early’ generating a few laughs then hitting the zinger that his M pays for the 60 second love package and always gets her money refunded. You had to be there for this to make sense but as a reminder for the 11 that were – another bright moment in the gloom.

Round 2

  • Mountain climbers, Peter Parkers, pike ups, Freddie Mercury, WWI

Round 3

  • CDD, Lt. Dans, baby dips, jack merkins, ski burps

 A check of the watch indicated 0613 leaving two minutes for Mary – time for the expedited edition, calling in a quick cadence or single count:

  • Flutter Kicks IC x 10
  • Leg Lifts SC x 10
  • Am Hammer SC x 10
  • LBC’s SC x 10
  • Scissors SC x 10
  • Box Cutter SC x 10

 COT: Prayers for T-Square’s neighbor that lost so much in a fire to their home. T-Square has posted daily each week (way to push) to collect donations. See the newsletter for needed items. Cash and gift cards are welcomed as well. Prayers for those getting into the flow of the new year. We have the Rooster upcoming where our region has three teams registered. The FNG was Danny Hovis, EH’ed by Dolph at the gym the night before. A young fellow that is a local product of our area works for Buchanan Concrete is now known as “Slump.” The Mayor can explain what it actually means but rest assured it has to do with concrete. Welcome to the PAX!

Moleskin: We were fortunate the window of non-rain covered our workout period – thanks to the Sky Q! I imagine even if it didn’t the same group would have posted indicating what I missed last week dealing with my Sandy V. Of the 10 men that posted, I knew two of them outside of F3. Crazy to think how excited one can be to show up in the gloomy mist to exercise outside in early January. More importantly was to enjoy the amount of abuse heaped upon the Q which is really a faint disguise of affection. It sure beats the few occasions when I exercised on my own. One day we may actually follow through the threat to skip the workout to enjoy a 2nd/3rd F at the coffee shop but not today. Today it was a good ole fashion Q bashing and I was happy to suffer through it. Thanks for the opportunity to lead.

 

Q Fail – Blame it on the meds

December 16, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Trouble started brew’in last week when my 2.0 brought a cold into our home. I managed to keep my distance but Wednesday, I could feel my immune system giving in. About like the final five burpees of a Slaughter Starter when body attempts to overtake the mind. My buddy Slaw was eager to use his blocks so I accepted his offer of coupons but maybe regretfully his suggestion to Q in my place. Nah, I’ll get some rest and be good for the wake-up call, I thought. Wednesday afternoon I sound the pre-blast alarm that I had the Q at “The Storm.” Brownstreak quickly caught the mistake and it would not be my last. I take shots of Nyquil like it was my 21st birthday and head to bed, only I barely sleep, tossing and turning, my body intermittently going from hot to cold. I awake ahead of my 0500 alarm and there is no backing out now.

The crowd begins to gather at 0525, welcoming ABBA back from the IR surrounded by what has become a steady cast of characters on Tuesday and Thursdays in the cold gloom of Cramerton. 0530 hits and I offer the disclaimer of being a real idiot for standing in 35 degree weather when I really should be in the sick sack. Maybe I can sweat out the germs. Here we go:

Warm-Up

  • Take a lap around downtown Cramerton to get the blood flowing. About mid-run Dolph sends his train through. It just so happened that upon the return to the parking lot the first official exercise was:
  • 5 Burpees OYO (Slaw confirmed the written word on my Weinke)

with Brownstreak in the circle, I went full disclosure that each exercise would be 10 reps which I quickly forgot as I continued with Mountain Climbers when the PAX had stopped. What a dummy I am…next up:

  • Hillbillies or as T-Square prefers “Appalachian Americans” Only thing is the Q performed Imperial Walkers instead – another Q-Fail
  • Squat Merkins IC x 10
  • Mtn Climbers IC x 10
  • SSH IC x 10
  • 5 Burpees OYO

Mosey the long way around to the upper parking lot near the bridge for The Thang:

I was the QIC at GasHouse on Saturday and introduced the bear-crawl/merkin performed to the famous Beatles song “Let it Be.” I did pose the question asking if any of the PAX were Beatles fans to which Tesla and Dr. Seuss raised their hands. The song began and 41 merkins amid four minutes of bear crawls now has The Goat hating the Beatles as well. Onto the next bit of fun which had us mosey back to the parking lot to visit Slaw’s truck and each grab a block and a partner – time for some Dora.

P1 runs to the bottom of the hill and returns to relieve P2 performing the following exercises using the cement block in aggregate:

  • 100 Kettle Bell Swings
  • 200 Bench Press
  • 300 Curls

Evidently it had been quite some time that Sargento had lifted anything heavier than 12 ounces as he initiated the chatter quickly complaining about everything from lifting blocks to the music selection (he later clarified he respects Rush but they are not his favorite – wonder if Whoopee’s been influencing him?). We had a bit of time remaining and needed to continue working our arms and shoulders. Keeping our partners with P2 performed:

  • 5 Blockees and rested until P1 completed a trip down the hill and back to flap jack. This routine continued for the following exercises:
  • 5 Block Webbs
  • 10 Curls

With about 8 minutes left, we returned the blocks and circled for Mary:

  • 10 reps each of:
  • Mtn Climbers
  • Peter Parker
  • Jingle Bells
  • Merkin
  • Flutter
  • Box Cutter
  • Leg Lifts
  • American Hammer
  • Alternating Leg Lift Claps
  • Crunchy Frogs

COT

Announcements for the Joe Davis Run and the Advisory Meeting Sunday, 12/17 at downtown Tequilas (whatever the new name is). We lifted prayers for a friend of Slaw’s M fighting cancer as well as those that have lost loved ones this year where their place around the Christmas Tree must reside in their hearts. The good news is the eternal hope that comes from the fulfilled promise the Christ Child was born. Knowing that He would eventually die for our sins provides some level of solace that our prayers can be answered.

Moleskin

I’ve yet to perform the perfect Q where everything goes as intended. It didn’t help that I was hopped up on cold medicine either. A few days removed from the actual event, I’m feeling the effects of the workout and the virus Q-ing a beatdown on my immune system but I’ll recover in due time. I was fortunate to partner with Dr. Seuss for Dora and he is sneaky strong busting out AMRAPs in his time with the blocks. Same can be said for the others that pushed through. Thanks to Slaw for bringing his coupons to the workout. I tried to oblige to fulfill his music requests but failed to add the TSO choice – another Q-fail – they seemed to have come in bunches this morning but I was fortunate to be among brothers sweating in the gloom and I missed that the past two mornings in the ‘sick-sack.’ Until the next time.

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