Fitness, Fellowship, Faith
Everyone showed and just as planned we all scattered like a covey of quail after a shotgun blast. Off we went in all directions doing our own things. Running Walking,Rucking,Whatever. We finished with a word form my devotional.
1Thess. 5:15
See that no one repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one and other and to everyone.
Thanks Men Good Day
Prayers
Convergence
CSAUP
ETC…
Good day men. Welcome to another addition of Pain and Gains here in the Big D. Pretty much the normal crowd here at Old School so no disclaimer no warnings and no worries maybe.
Quick warmup nothing special and we’re off. We mosey through town stopping at random locations warming up a little more as we go. We head down past Ingles and across the street and the groaning from Mayor begins. He reminded me that last time we were here we went over a minute or so on time. We’re now here in the Valley of the Beast up hill whichever way you look. As we come to a stop I offer the PAX a choice of whatever plyometric movement they wanted at the bottom of the hill and Freight quickly called Seal Jacks. So we’re doing 5 reps of 4 count Seal Jacks here. I then let them choose whatever compound movement they’d like at the top of the hill. Broke quickly chose his patented Perfect Form Hand Release Merkins so we’ll be doing 5 of these at the top of the hill. Kudos to Leppard those were the best Merkins (not CDDs or Leppard Merkins) I’ve ever saw out of him. As we finished this brutal triple nickel we mosey round the corner to head back out of the valley and back towards Ingles we hit an uphill Route 66 at each manhole cover we did Bonnie Blairs. After finishing up moseyed back to the park for a really nasty little Sand Bag Circuit. All of mine are filled with p gravel hence the title. We did Overhead Presses, Merkins, Squats, and Curls all with 55lb. sandbags AMRAP while 1 PAX pulled, dragged, or carried a 90lb. sandbag for 20 meters and back. We did this for three rounds. I left a 55lb. sandbag for those whom didn’t want or think they could handle the big’un. FYI everyone chose the big’un even Seuss. Now that damn bag weighs more than him and he snatched it all around that soccer field what a hammer way to go man. We had just enough time to carry the bags back to the truck and head over for the pledge and COT.
Great Job Men.
Thanks for the Hard Work and Push.
Convergence
CSAUP
Prayers
So I took this Q with 1 day to prep and just after finishing up week 0 of the IPC. That being said work still needs to be done. I took this as an opportunity to concentrate on recovery work that focused on stretching and slow focused reps instead of heart and lung busting cardio.
No FNGs, no disclaimer needed ya’ll know the deal.
Turn to Ol’ Glory say the pledge.
Start the warm up. We did a little cardio a lot of stretching here. Next we head over to the steps at the Pavilion for a couple of sets of single leg stretches and calf raises. Next we moseyed over to McQuitters wall for some slow controlled one leg at a time step-ups. Right leg first 20 reps then you know we gotta give that left leg some love too. We did two rounds each leg with seal jacks between each set just to keep the heart rate up a touch. Next we headed down the hill and around the block stopping at each corner for some slow single count Imperial Walker Squats and some stretches and static holds. We made our way around the block and over to the dreaded parking deck where stacked Hand Release Merkins (5 reps to start adding 5 at each level),walking lunges up each ramp all the way to the top. As for the trip back down we stopped on each floor Big Boys (start with 20 reps and dropped 5 at each level. We moseyed back to the flag for one last circuit of Dips and Tiger Squats. 20 dips and 10 Tiger Squats for 3 rounds drop 5 Dips off each round.
COT
We’re Done ,
Prayers: Easy Riders Family, Huckleberry, My Family, Turtleman, and all the unspoken
Announcements: CSAUP 9/10, Skate w/Mayor9/17, JJ5K 9/24, Co-Convergence w/Lake Wylie 10/8
We all got in some good werk out here this morning men and I know it was a little different than our normal routine but contrary to popular you don’t always need to go 150% HAM at every work out to get in some work. While a good barn burner is nice I think we also need to focus on form range of motion and recovery every now and again as well. Thanks for the hard work men.
We’ll it was just me and the Bed Pan this am at the Down Low. No disclaimer my standard warm-up and a slow mosey to basketball court.
Hit up some Dirty 4 corners on the basketball courts.
AMRAP
1-20 Big Boys
2-20 Merkins
3-20 Squats
4-20 Flutters
3-Flying Squirrels every time we crossed center court
Mosey back to the flag
Pledge
Prayers
Announcements
We’re Out
Well its another beautiful Saturday morning down on the D-BLOK I’m fresh off a bad week of Call Out with little sleep and several missed work outs. But now it’s all over and I’m ready to get back at it. Now I’m pulling in to Old School early AS USUAL. I’m jamming to some old school TOOL as I put out Ol’ Glory and I hear Broke telling Purple Haze he must be getting pumped up for his Q this morning. I said nope Tiger has it this week he said he thought he read that I had it so I check Slack and Team-Up. Well Damn I’ve got me on one list and Tiger on another. You see never transferred my Slack list over to my Team-Up calendar. Site Q Fail # 1 of the day not to worry though I got this. Everybody is either pulling in or finishing up some EC and we’re ready to go. No FNGs no disclaimer just get at it.
Warm up was nothing special it is a normal go to for me these days.
Mosey out of the park stopping at intersections putting in a little work along the way. Starting to hear some of that good ol’ SA mumblechatter there ain’t nothing quite like it boys I’ll tell ya, As we enter the rear parking area at Carr School Leppard and Hacksaw start reminiscing about when they went to school here. You know the old back in my day we had to walk to and from school up hill both ways and there was no blacktop here it was all broom straw and gravel. Then you get the old we went to the movies for a nickel and got a popcorn and a pop and came home with 2 cents crap. As fate would have it one of these old curmudgeons even managed to steal the old Munkey Bars from this place at least that’s the way I heard it anyways. Well if you have ever been back here with me you know what’s coming. Pull-Ups everyone hates them myself included cause they’re hard and they suck. Now suck it up dry your tears grab a partner and get to work. One man works the other runs the perimeter School Buss parking lot.
Well good news Men the hard part is over or is it. Let’s get in a little Route 66 while we’ve got some smooth pavement we’ll do one of SA’s favorites Bear Crawl Mike Tysons 1-11 bear crawl to each parking lot line. That was so much fun let’s run back down Route 66 this time in reverse 11-1 Jump Lunges at each parking lot line. There were several buss stop / playground bullying incidents that occurred while back here. I guess I have no choice but notify the Principal as SA should at very least loose his outside and playtime for his verbal assaults and outbursts.
Mosey around to the front entrance of school for a round of partner work 10-1 squats and mountain climbers at each side of the parking lot. We’re running short on time so we mosey back towards the flag finishing our 10-1 reps at intersections along the way back. Wouldn’t you know it at every freaking intersection Def asks what are we doing here. I’m not joking here we jogged and every 100ft. or so we stopped and did squats and mountain climbers and every time he asked what are we doing here. Just a little food for thought here guys. I think we all need all go in and get this guy some Prevagen. We can crush it up with his Geritol and slip it in his slightly warmed Ensure then wrap him up in his Snuggie lay him on the ol’ recliner he’d never know it. Anyways it’s just a thought.
We’re now headed back into the parking lot and we finish with one last push of the rock.
Not too bad for on the fly quick fix hope you all felt the same.
Time
Pledge it Out
COT
Prayers
Announcements
Last But Not Least Q Fail # 2 I left my Shovel Flag behind and Gumby retrieved it for me thank you sir for that.
A few weeks ago Whoopee posted about doing a Site Q swap with someone in the Dallas area. It seemed he was wanting to Grab himself a glimpse of God’s country and I jumped on board quickly as I’ve been looking to visit another AO myself. Thanks Whoopee for this opportunity.
As I arrive I quickly see a lot of eager faces. No FNGs so we get at it. This W/O is going to be somewhere around 1500 reps total. Quickly we hit up The Pledge and the warmup went as follows.
We say good buy to Pain Lab guys as they head to do their thang and we go to do ours.
Let’s Mosey we stop at the Nature Trail Entrance for some Munkey Humpers until a vehicle passed. We got @20 IC. We mosey on stopping at the Business Park. Now the work begins.
125 Total Reps on Top and Bottom of Hill. Merkins/LBCs on bottom Squats/Mountain Climbers count right leg on top. Rounds went like this.
Well that killed about all of us except Dfib that dude lapped us he is a beast. One of us left some reps out there on the deck due to complete shoulder failure. As this was unacceptable to me and the whole group I hope we all headed back to the bottom we recovered quickly and then picked up the last few Merkins that were needed to complete the 1000 reps for this portion of the WOD.
Heading back to the flag we stop once again at the entrance to the nature trail this time for some Hillbillies 20 IC. Let’s mosey on down the nature trail back to the flag and catch up with the Pain Lab crew for a Finisher Round with Partners and Sand Bags. One man works one rests.
We finish things off with a full round of Mary,
Time
2.5 miles and @1500 hard earned reps you guys killed it out there today.
COT, Prayers, Announcements
I feel this Site Q Swap idea was a great success and would love to do this again sometime. If you are a Saturday Site Q and would like to do a Site Q Swap sometime give me a shout we’ll make it happen. Thanks Guys for the hard work and the max effort out there today.
Well it was another hot humid July morning here in Dallas NC. As I make my long and tedious 3 min. trek to Clonninger Park (AKA: Old School) I’m still contemplating the severity of the WOD we’re bout to do. As I pull into the parking lot I see a few regulars and a couple not so regulars glad to have you guys.
No FNGs covered the F3 core principles quick warmup and we’re off moseying towards the Ol Courthouse Square.
The Thang.
4 Corners round the square.
Round 1 – 5 Burpees each corner.
Round 2 – 10 Big Boys each corner.
Round 3 – 15 Lunges each corner.
Round 4 – 20 HR Merkins each corner.
Round 5 – 25 Squats each corner.
Round 6 – 30 LBCs each corner.
Round 7 – repeat all previous work at each corner.
While finishing up last reps at last corner I noticed that we were ahead of schedule that’s great.
Mosey back to the flag for a Team Block AMRAP finisher circuit. One man pumping out reps with the blocks the other block carries 20 meters and back.
Round 1 OHP.
Round 2 Squats.
Round 3 Curls.
Round 4 Incline Merkins.
And Time.
This BB is a few weeks late so I’ll forgo the formalities and just say we circled up spoke our minds and finished up in a COT with Prayers, Announcements, and The Pledged.
Great workout men now let’s do what we do best on Saturday. Eat!
Before we left while closing up my truck and changing my nasty shirt I see a pale faced PAX exiting a Big Green Plastic Sauna AKA Port-A-Jon. I notice he has cleansed himself with a few nice Purges before eating. I don’t recommend this guys but as I’ve seen in a few photos and videos over past few week this appears to be apart of his normal Saturday routine. Maybelline I guess consistency is the key buddy keep up the hard work.
With that the it’s final bell. Schools Out.
Some rucked. Some walked. Some ran. We all grew and got better.
Had a great word from the Prodigal Father Devotional that some of us are following this week. It’s a great read jump on your Bible App. and check it out.
Lots of prayers spoken and unspoken.
Thanks for the hard work this morning men.
It’s a nice warm spring morning and as I pull up (super early and very punctual as usual)to the best Saturday AO in the land what do I see but 5 eager PAX staring back at me.
As it would turn out the 2day notice CSAUP didn’t cause me to go at it alone this morning. I already knew a few would show as Freight had informed me the day before his intentions of showing. Also I saw the one and only Mayor has been talking a dump truck load of cold cash crap to Stogie on GroupMe about coming out to Old School for some form policing and exercising tutorials. Also noticed a couple other familiar faces upon arrival one being good ol’ Def Leppard. I think I witnessed him using the old Snuggie as heat compression treatment on his many broken down appendages. I’ll tell you men it’s hell when the mind is willing but the body is hurting and sometimes not willing. Good job Gumby and Leppard for showing up and not making excuses like a lot of others would have.
Well it looks to be that time let’s get at it. No FNG’s Quick Disclaimer and we’re warming up. Mayor kicks off the mumblechatter by dumping on my pull-up form from a workout earlier in the week at the inaugural Down Low AO. Now I didn’t go all Tarzan like Westside did but I can hold my own. Challenge accepted and warmup over.
Let’s mosey down to the ball fields behind Carr School. Once there we hit up some dips on staircase and took a lap around the 2 lower fields. There’s some discussion about names of the fields and the future location of an Olympic Sized Pool in this area who knew Little D would ever need an Olympic Pool. All I know is Old School can have a pool party while the boys at Folsom are hanging out at the splash pad. That means lots of new work out options coming to this side of the county men don’t let me down.
We’re here! The Jungle Gym! The place where in the past the young adolescent elementary school boy would make his first real friendships. Maybe for first time he shows off for or tries to steal a kiss from that pretty girl in class. Whatever the case may be a lot of first time alpha male activities go down at this epic spot on the school yard. Here’s how ours went down.
The Thang
5 Rounds
5-Pull-ups
10-Hand-Release Merkins
15-Squats
Mayor is pushing Stogie pretty hard today but not in his typical, cynical, Mayoral manor. Nope this was a caring & supportive Mayor. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be happy or concerned for the both of them at this point. Either way I’m impressed keep up the good work Stogie and Mayor.
Now we’re good and tired our shoulders, backs, arms, and legs are screaming at us for some relief but the heck with that we’re only getting started. We mosey up to Old Schools Route 66. We’re running this one backwards from 10-1 with mountain climbers at each pole. Head back to the parking lot for you guessed it COT. Not just yet we’ve got plenty of time left for a little WOD I’ve been wanting to do for some time now and as fate would have it I got fresh shipment of 50lb. sandbags and a load of blocks in the back of the truck. Pick your poison block or bag this one’s going to hurt either way.
THE PUNISHER
10 Rounds with Coupon of your Choice
10-Squats
10-Bent-over Rows
10-Merkins
5-Burpees
25 Meter Carry
0800 and Time
Man this WOD was a Btch and that Btch can take a hit. I hit this thang with all I could and in the end it hit me back twice as hard. Hats off to Freight for being the Bat Flipping Hammer he is as he finished solidly in front of all us. Some of us had to modify due to injuries or prevention there of. Eventually I hit failure on the last few rounds of this one and couldn’t get all my reps completed in a quality fashion. I’d rather modify the workout or even drop reps off the workout than sacrifice the quality of my reps in the workout. In the end The Punisher won this round. I do however think that even with the physical failures I encountered it’s work like this that will make us all much stronger and better so was it really truly a failure.
Pledge
COT
Prayers:
Freight’s Dad and Family Gumby’s Family, Wichita’s M and Family, My Daughter and Family, Turtleman, injured PAX, and All CSAUP participants today
Thanks men for the push today. Great job to all.
It’s Thursday and I got the Q at Folsom this morning and I’m jumping speed bumps and sliding in hot as usual. My alarm is sounding about the time I’m halfway down road to the lower parking lot. I look up from my cloud of dust to see these men already hitting up a warmup. I jumped out and ran in to hear some trash talk about we start at 0530. I say it’s still 0530 Mayor says something about his GPS powered sun dial as we finish up the warmup.
I tell PAX to grab a block from the back of my truck and we’re going to partner up and line up at the shovel flag near the top of the parking lot to run some DORAcides. I run back to the truck myself to grab some cones to mark my stopping points for the sprints and burpees all the time still getting crap about how we start the workout at 0530 and how setup should have been performed before hand. So I give them the rundown and tell ‘em let’s get to work.
Doracides
1 man works
1 man runs suicides and burpees at the 3 cones
Now that all worked up warmed up and the mumblechatter has slowed down a bit let’s build a strong foundation with these blocks just like a home builder would.
10 Incline Merkins on the block Rifle Cary to first cone. Rinse and repeat for a total of 5 rounds.
Grab your partner once again for some AMRAP sets and sprints.
1 man works
1 man runs
2 working sets and 2 running sets each round
Round 1
Wide arm Negative Merkins on the blocks. Place each hand on a separate block perform merkins chest dropping below the hands and in between the blocks. This causes lots of stress and stretching on the ol’ chest and triceps. It sucks.
Round 2
Block Squats on 2 blocks this way you cant cheat the rep. stack your block on your partners. (the short sides of course) This will make you squat down into a perfect parallel squat
Round 3
Big Boys plain and simple Big Boys no block assistance needed for these
Time for some more carries this time we start with 5 Blockies and 10 Block High Pulls then Rifle Cary to each cone Rinse Repeat for a total of 5 rounds back to the Shovel Flag.
Finisher Just for Grins and Giggles I have Sarlacc call out a round of his infamous Cherry Pickers. As soon as he finished I called 10 Block swings. This was repeated for 2 more rounds.
TIME.
Pledge, Prayers, Announcements
We ended with a circle of trust on our 6 on the blocks I pulled a word from my leadership devotional.
John 13:14 ESV If I then, your LORD and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. As MEN WE are all called to LEAD! Not just leaders though we must be servant leaders we humble ourselves and show our loved ones, guys at work, friends at church etc… that we are willing to practice what we preach. This is one of the foundations of a true leader.
We used Blocks, our The Body, and The Word to build our foundation today. If there is a way to build and forge a strong and lasting foundation I don’t know it.
If I said these men were pushing the rock (block) this morning it would be a complete total understatement. Ya’ll picked up my slack this morning and I’m truly thankful.
© 2025 F3 Gastonia
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑