5 PAX showed up for the BD to embrace the wet, cold, and sloppy conditions!

COP – IC

SSH, LSSQ, Mountain Climbers, Zombie Walkers, Imperial Walkers, The Flying Nun, Willie Mays De Hays,

The Thang:

Global Warming

Pax circle up with blocks. The timer has an exercise for 40 yards and back. Timer exercises included farmers carry with two blocks, rifle carry with one, and all you got to the arrows and back. Q calls out exercise for everyone else in a rotating fashion from lift to an Al Gore side Shuffle.  Al Gore side shuffle means instead of hugging a tree you are hugging your block side shuffling counterclockwise and clockwise while the timer is out.  Exercises in between shuffles included swings, overhead press, deadlift, squats, upright rows, single arm rows, big boys with blocks, WW3’s.

Completed 3 rounds.

Next Up: Quick 6 while rifle carrying block. Single file and Pax in the 6 goes to the front of the line with his block as quick as possible.  Everyone in line follows suit. Completed .68 of a mile.

Next: Global Warming R&R for another 3 rounds

Loaded blocks up at the back of church and mosey to the flag. Finished to the tune of Bring Sally Up Bring Sally Down for squats halfway through the song and Burpees to finish out!

Pledge

COT

An Honor to lead Gentleman!

Nutria decided to take his talent to Minnesota this week (umm) and asked YHC to Q the Ricky Bobby this morning. As an amateur Boot Camp leader,  I decided to go with what I know – my Bulldog workout yesterday – with more running and no coupons.  Also, had to mix up the playlist from Heavy Metal Christmas to Punk Christmas (along with a Hanukah tune by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes). Thankful for Tube and Time Frame coming out two days in a row for the same beatdown. Proud to lead Cheesesteak, Kool Aid, Tesla, and CPap as well.

Announcements: 2nd F Lunch, Beer Mile, Coconut Horse’s Airing of Grievances.

Prayers: Tesla’s family, marriages, Turtleman

I picked up the Q for 12/12 because this date has a certain significance for me. It was 30 years ago (12/12/93) that I left for bootcamp in sunny Naval Recruit Training Center in Orlando, Florida. I will admit that the Lord’s hand protected and guided me during my 4 year enlistment in the Navy. Looking back, I’m glad I enlisted and served in our nation’s military. I’m no longer the shy introvert that I used to be before the Navy. I also learned not to take our country and freedoms for granted. It’s a sobering sight to see another country’s flag flying instead of the stars and stripes. There were a lot of tough times but a lot of great times as well.

I attempted to keep the “30” number incorporated into the workout. I planned 30 different exercises, 30 reps a piece. I knew the guys would mutiny/ quit/ cry if I called 30 Burpees or 30 Mike Tysons, so I decided to break it up into smaller chunks. We would perform 6 exercises, 15 reps a piece, at 5 light poles. We would then rinse and repeat the whole circuit to get the 30 reps in for each exercise. Well, 15 isn’t divisible by 2, so the $h!t hit the fan and I lost control once we got to an exercise that requires and even number (lunges, for instance). Even Defib stood in utter confusion and disbelief as I attempted to explain my plan for the workout.  Here’s how it went:

Warmup

PLEDGE

Mosey to 1st light pole for: Merkins, Plank Jacks (IC), SSH (IC), LBC’s (IC), Lunges (where things went south) 8 right leg, 7 left leg, Imperial Walkers (IC)

Mosey to 2nd light pole for: Flying Squirrels, Dips, Mountain Climbers, Goofballs, Squats, Big Boys

Mosey to 3rd light pole for: Werkins, American Hammers (IC), Flutter Kicks (IC), Derkins, Jump Squats, Cork Screws

Mosey to 4th light pole for: CDD’s, WW2s, Mike Tysons, Dying Cockroaches, Diamond Merkins, Reverse Crunches

Mosey to 5th light pole for: Peter Parkers (IC), Pretzel Crunches, Shoulder Taps, Sumo Squats, Nolan Ryans (15 each arm), Burpees

The plan was to rinse and repeat that whole circuit to get 30 reps of 30 exercises, but we ran out of time. We completed the 4 of the 5 light poles worth of exercises on the way back.

Mumblechatter was quite lively as the 1st place mumblechatter king posted after a long fight with plantar fasciitis and crappy work schedule.  Radar learned the benefit of being “upwind” of the Q when the Q has excessive amounts of gas. Chili, Haze, Defib were pushing hard the whole time. Leppard attempted to drag Montross into the valley, but T-Ron persevered and pushed through. Great work by the guys who supported the Weak Sauce Q tonight!

Announcements:

• 2nd F lunch on 12/20 at Hickory Tavern (South Gastonia)
• Beer Mile on 12/30 Sargento has the lead

Prayer Requests:

• Purple Haze’s M and his Mother
• Jackson Hall and Family
• Turtleman
• Bess Family
• Tesla (his sister passed)

YHC took us out in prayer.

NMM:

During the COT, I showed the guys some pictures we had taken on that fateful day 30 years ago. I often wonder where I would be if I would’ve made a career in the Navy. Maybe I’d be dead. Maybe I’d be divorced. One thing’s for sure – I wouldn’t have F3 and the brotherhood in my life. I thank God for every one of my F3 brothers. Every one of you guys have been an influence in my life. Thank you for putting up with a half-wit Navy veteran who tells way too many sea stories! I’m proud to be a part of the Gashouse brotherhood!

Fair Winds and Following Seas,

Slaw

Spiderman generously let YHC take over the Bulldog for one chilly morning, in anticipation for Qing tomorrow’s Ricky Bobby for the first time.  Let’s just say the workout below may be similar (with more running and less coupons).

Also, the most important mumble chatter was determining what’s too embarrassing to purchase in front of a live cashier (vs online or via scanner). Tampons. Condoms. Fancy Cheeses. Comment as you’d like.

WARM- UP 12 warm-up exercises with 12 reps each. All in cadence.
1 Side Straddle Hop
2 Gravel Pickers
3 Imperial Walkers
4 Moroccan Night Clubs
5 High Knees
6 Slow Squats
7 LBCs
8 Freddy Mercurys
9 Nolan Ryans Left
10 Nolan Ryans Right
11 Crunchy Frog
12 Mountain Climbers

THE THANG
On the first day of F3 the PAX gave to me, the below exercises:

Lower Body
1 Burpee and Mosey
2 sets of Lunges (1 set each leg) (plus above)
3 sets of Jumping Jacks
4 sets of Sumo Squats
5 sets of Calf Raises
6 sets of Side Lunges (3 sets each leg)
7 sets of High Knees
8 sets of Wall Sits
9 sets of Monkey Humpers
10 sets of Step-Ups (5 sets each leg)
11 sets of Squat Thrusters
12 sets of Burpees

Recover: Airing of grievances – Tube picked Murder Bunnies that they either don’t enjoy performing or feel is a harder exercise. 12 reps.

Core
1 set of Plank
2 sets of Freddy Mercuries
3 sets of American Hammers
4 sets of Crunchy Frog
5 sets of Mountain Climbers
6 sets of Flutter Kicks
7 sets of Side Planks (3 sets each side)
8 sets of LBCs
9 sets of Oblique Crunches
10 sets of Scissor Kicks
11 sets of Reverse LBCs
12 sets of Plank

Announcements, Prayers, See you tomorrow for missed Upper Body and running

Began at 5:30am with a quick prayer and then stretching @ Mt Holly Middle School

Mosey to downtown Mt Holly, 2 sets of 1 lap + 20 reps (10 parking stall crab walks + 10 parking stall bear crawls) &  then 23 more reps (dollys)

Across the street to Mt Holly United Methodist Church, 2 sets of 1 lap + 20 reps (wall step-ups) + 23 more reps (dips)

Mosey to behind Truist, 2 sets of 1 lap + 20 reps (heels to heaven) + 23 more reps (CDDs)

Mosey to SouthState, 2 sets of 1 lap + 20 reps (World War I sit-ups) + 23 more reps (hand release merkens), and then a 3rd set of 1 lap + 7 reps (2+0+2+3 WWI sit-ups) + 7 more reps (2+0+2+3 hand release merkens)

Mosey back to Mt Holly MS, with a sprint up Glendale Ave hill.

Close with pledge, announcements, prayer requests and prayer.

Disclaimer:
Pledge:
Warm Up:
SSH – 20 IC
Squats-10 IC
Merkins-10 IC

Mosey to Martha’s, I’ve got a bad idea I want to try.

Shoulder Burn:  Partner up;  Partner 1 does CDD’s and Partner 2 runs a distance and back.  Rinse and repeat, aggregate total of 250.
Rinse and repeat with 200 Moroccan Night Clubs and 250 Overhead Claps.

Triple Nickel:
Squats and Jump squats crossing parking lot, all reps 5 times.

Picnic Shed:
Lindsey’s – 30 dips and 10 derkins/merkins (as I modified, mainly I didn’t have much room between the tables).  Run a short distance.  20 and 20, run.

Out to parking lot.  1/2 of the 8 of us (or 5 as Maybelline prefers) holds an Al Gore while the other 1/2 (or 3 of us as Maybelline prefers) runs a distance.  Rinse and repeat with plank.

Back to picnic venue for final round of Lindsey’s with 10 dips and 30 merkins.  Run.

Then back to parking lot for final rounds with crab and 6″ holds.

20 LBC’s IC.

Back to Pelicans, time for 20 squats IC.

Time

Announcements:
JJ with Q at Labyrinth Wednesday, working on themed Q, show.
Beer Mile soon
2nd F Lunch at Hickory Tavern next Wednesday

Prayers:
Family
Simpson family
Nashville and areas hit by recent tornado.

Honored, Linus

Mindset:

spirit, souls and emotions- change starts from the inside out. change your mind it would change everything else

At least 6 F3 Gastonia PAX didn’t fartsack this morning, but I guess there were plenty that did.  Hate to see it.  In spite of a recent procedure on his 3rd knee, the Site Q still was able get up prior to 5 this morning and check in to make sure YHC was good to go.  Now that’s dedication.  But this isn’t what you or any of us came for.  You want to know what you missed.  So here’s what I remember…

The Thang:

• 15 x SSH (IC)
• 15 x Toy Soldiers (IC)
• 15 x Goofballs (IC)
• 15 x Imperial Walkers (IC)
• Tesla Stretches
• 10 x Mike Tysons (IC)

And we mosey around a couple buildings and come right back to the pavilion.  Up the steps (6 of them to be exact) and on our sixes for some core work:

• 10 x Double Crunches (IC)
• 10 x American Hamers (IC)
• 10 x Crab Marches (IC)

Plank at the top of the steps.  The goal from here is to do 5 Merkins at each step going down, til we get to the bottom, then do 10 Mike Tysons there, then plank for the Six.

“So kind of like reverse Deep Sea Divers?”

Excuse me, what’s that?

“You plank at the bottom, and climb with your feet.”

Interesting

So we did the reverse Deep Sea Divers, the 10 Mike Tysons, then some more core work

• 15 x Double Crunches (IC)
• 15 x American Hammers (IC)
• 15 x Crab Marches (IC)

These Deep Sea Divers sound like fun, let’s do those.  Then 10 more Mike Tysons at the top.  So 5 Merkins at the bottom.  Climb one step with your feet.  5 more Merkins.  All the way to the top, then climb to the top with your hands for 10 more Mike Tysons.  My Soccer Arms were gassed.  Called another round of core just to get a breather before running again.

• 10 x Double Crunches (IC)
• 10 x American Hammers (IC)
• 10 x Crab Marches (IC)

Then we were off to the big wall at FUMC, stopping at least 3 times along the way for:

• 5 x Skater Hops (OYO – Each Leg)

YHC called Skater Hops with the intent that the PAX get a good full squat and jump out of it.  Still had dudes lookin like they were dancing. You v You I guess.

At the wall, we did “2 Minutes of Uncle”, where we partnered up and PAX switched back and forth between 2 exercises at their leisure for 2 minutes.  Hold on as long as you can, then call “Uncle” when you can’t take any more.  First up:

• Wall Sits & Australian Mountain Climbers

Always a fan favorite

Next up:

• Crab Hold & Toe Touches

At this point, something that had died inside of YHC was expelled and the odor so bad that even Volt said something.  I never said why you’d say “Uncle”.

Round 3 was the worst.  2 minutes of just a straight wall sit.  Partners alternate Air Presses.  Coming off the wall, it was hard to even walk, but on we went to South St., stopping along the way for another 3 rounds of:

• 5 x Skater Hops (OYO – Each Leg)

Then another round of core with:

• 20 x Double Crunches (IC)
• 20 x American Hammers (IC)
• 20 x Crab Marches (IC)

Before ending the day with burpee suicides.  With time running short, we just did the burpees at the light poles and not back at home base.

• Run to a pole
• 5 x Burpees (OYO)
• Run back
• Run to the next pole
• 5 x Burpees (OYO)
• Run back

Repeato til time was called on the workout.

Great push by the guys today.  Especially Timeframe, who posted Thursday morning, Thursday night, then Friday morning.  Killin it in December is tough, though technically there’s never a bad time to push the rock.

Thanks, SA for the opportunity to get out and for the wake up call.  Get that knee right and get some rest while you can, because you know nobody will give you a break once you’re healthy.

Yabba Dabba Doo

You’ve heard of the BRR now we haves the BBR.  BOS’ Beer Ruck!

Twelve HIM including an FNG laughed at the weather forecast and joined YHC for a rucking good time.  This ruck was the final ruck of our 2023 Ruck Trifecta.  In case you have been missing in action this fall… #1 was the Crowders Mountain Ruck, #2 was the Half Marathon Ruck and of course the #3 was BOS’ Beer Ruck.   Two HIM accepted the challenge and completed all three of the “Trifecta” rucks.  Great work Anchorman, and Eh Y’all!

With an FNG in the ranks as we assembled YHC went through a quick disclaimer, counted off, and we were on our way to our first stop.  Mainstreet ruck through Christmas town towards Cramerton for a stop at Confluence, home to our Goat AO.   As thirteen men breached the doorway at Confluence we could see the terror in the beer tender’s eyes.  Of course, YHC mentioned there were 46 of us coming as we walked in the door.  Just kidding…  Beer started flowing and the Poker Ruck began.  Simple rules.  Buy a poker hand for $5.  Draw cards at each stop.  Best and worst hands win.  Our thirty minute stop was up time for the next leg, Cramerton to Belmont.  We crossed to the bridge to Goat Island and into the neighborhood behind and made our way to Stewart Cramer HS; home of our Storm AO.  We continued to the baseball diamonds around the outfield fence and onto the trails through Rocky Branch Park.  Even with the drippy weather we had lots of conversation and plenty of mumble chatter going on.  Our FNG even jumped right in.  Half way through the trail he announced he needed two beers at the next stop.  Through the trail and a couple of Belmont blocks and we made it to our second stop at Primal Brewery.  More hydration and a few snacks were consumed.  We had Water, Gatorade and maybe a beer, or two.   The guys were getting hungry but we couldn’t wait for the kitchen to feed us.  We pulled our poker cards, finished our drinks and grabbed our rucks to begin the final leg.  With popcorn in hand Balljoint was ready to roll.  Our FNG however, keeping true to his word popped out of the brewery with a fresh beer. He saw we were ready to move so without delay he poured his beer down his throat in one gulp.  Watchout Beer-Milers!  More on that later but you can imagine the names that are brewing for him now,  Belmont back to McAdenville.   We made our way back across Belmont, snaked our way through neighborhoods, and played a bit of Frogger making our way across Wilkinson Blvd.  Some PAX play in traffic safer than others.  The final push down McAdenville Road and we were back to our vehicles and the River Room to pull our final card, name our FNG and grab a group picture.  Conversation escalated towards the end of the ruck on what to name our FNG.  With some background and more conversation many of the suggestions were just to kind.   After watching that beer disappear “Deep Throat” evolved from conversations and was thrown out to the delight of the PAX…except the FNG.  Perfect!   We finished up Poker.  The best poker hand went to Tardi Gras with two Aces. He took home or left at the River Room $50 .  The worst hand went to Balljoint with a whole lot of nothing.  Still worth $10.

All in we had a good day with a great group of HIM.  Thanks for joining the fun!  If you didn’t join us, you should have. Not to worry though, we will do it again!

Til Next Time!

BOS