Tag: Martha’s House (Page 13 of 21)

I told the PAX that I had not attended a workout in several days, was FULL o’ piss & vinegar, and hoped they were too. Mixed response. Attitudes improved gradually over the next 45 minutes, despite running and burpees, which I had promised NOT to include. Some apparently had believed this. :-O

Disclaimer. Pledge. Word o’ the week.

Warmup: SSH, Moroccans, Imperial Walkers, Hillbillies, Newton’s Cradle, Mtn Climbers, Rocky Balboa, Monkey Humpers, Dying Cockroach

Thang:

Mosey to P Lot, where we did that thing where we line up along a parking space and trace the parking lot lines. Think Konga Line only dumber! Forgot what it’s called. It’s in my last backblast.

Burpees! 5X.

Mike Tysons! 5X, a new exercise for this PAX. Look it up.

11’s with Mike Tysons & LBCs, bringing GROANS OF GRATITUDE from the PAX.

Mosey to picnic table for Dips

Indian Run. After this run, I was ready for BOMBS but shocked! shocked! to discover that it was already 6:05am! So we settled for Blueberry Bojangles Biscuit (for Whoopie), 3 laps.

Mosey back at Snoballs, arriving at 6:15.

Announcements: Hushpuppy has 3rdF Q this week. 06:30 Saturday.

A pleasure to lead such a fine group! Monk

Nearly all Americans at one time or another have gathered around a picnic table for a celebration of some sort. Maybe a birthday party or a outdoor barbeque. Usually joyous occasions. However for the 12 men completing this morning’s beat down, the next time someone announces ‘meet at the picnic tables…’ there could be a slight bit of trepidation.

As the circle formed I noticed a new face and introduced myself to meet Bubba Shiles. A bit unusual I thought that an F3 man is combining their workout name and their last name but I let it go and moved around to greet some of the others. Overhearing another introduction I realized there was an FNG in our midst. “How did you hear about coming out?” I asked to which Bubba replied, “Vinnie Cherry.” I surveyed the group at 5:28 am and Sargento was not present, but wait – I saw headlights of a Honda Accord coming in hot. The excuse? An act of nature and we’ll leave it at that. Time to go, slowly speaking through the disclaimer to make sure all heard today’s workout is “you versus you.”

Warm-Up

• Don Quixote IC x 10
• Mountain Climbers IC x 10
• Seal Jacks IC x 10
• Side to Side Lunge IC x 10

Pledge

Time to mosey…headed toward Martha Rivers the long way along Neal Hawkins Road. As we near the turn I hear a crash: “Man down! Man down!” I turn to find Squeeker the victim of a sinister ledge on the sidewalk. He rises, dusts himself off and declares himself ready to go. We continue, though I turned earlier than planned, taking a longer route to the first stop. I heard a little chatter about the Q not having a clue where I was going. YHC knew where he was going, just wasn’t sure how to get there (there is probably a country song about that I’m sure).

The Thang

Arriving at the picnic tables behind the playground near to Field 4. The beat down is announced. Using the tables for each exercise, the timer is set for 30 seconds of each exercise with a 10 second rest between. A total of 3 circuits:

1) Step-up Right Leg; 2) Step-up Left Leg; 3) Derkins (w/ feet on bench); 4) Peter/Parker/Peter (hands on bench)

A scenic mosey to picnic area #2 near the bathrooms. YHC offered one tip swiped from professionals – “when you lunge, don’t let your knee get ahead of your toe.” As I went to start the timer I realized my sweat soaked glove couldn’t unlock my phone. Removing the glove, I quickly realized my sweat soaked finger couldn’t do much better. Bandit offered to help but I was a little skeptical for Bandit to handle my weinke – especially after he flashed a wonke last Friday morning at the Downtown workout. Allow me to pull your mind from the gutter and quickly move ahead. On my own, I finally was able to dry my finger for a swipe of my phone (I’m sure the iPhone 12.0 will solve the sweaty finger problem in the near future). Again, Set #2 was 3 circuits of 30 second exercise and 10 second rest:

1) Lunge w/ right leg on bench; 2) Dips; 3) Lunge w/ left leg on bench; 4) Incline Merkins

Running short on time, better hustle to the final destination: picnic shelter near the volleyball court. I anticipated this and designed the final set to be mostly ab flavored exercises. We did 2 circuits of 30 second exercise and 10 second rest:

1) Rainbow Abs (seated windshield wipers – keep legs together and lift as high as you can left/right); 2) Bench Burps; 3) Flutter Kicks; 4) Decline Peter Parkers (this is a good one for upper abs).

Mosey home…circled for announcements: Derecho needs volunteer Q’s – see Defib; Brownstreak invited all to the Goat on 7/28 for his Christmas in July beat down; Bandit is taking up money for various causes – bring some cash and he’ll take care of it. Prayer requests: T-Square, Godfather, and Stroganoff for their loved ones; Safe travels for FUMC youth on mission trip to Boston, Brownstreak’s son heading to Romania, and FNG Bacon’s son sailing with the boy scouts in Florida Keys. By this point Squeeker’s knee was gushing, a nice battle wound that hopefully will heal quickly – way to push through it. FNG time: we welcomed Bubba Shiles to the fold. A home grown boy from Bessemer City, completing service with the Marines (Respect) and in the construction/remodeling business has a wife and two kids. He is a fit 51 year old (more Respect) that cycles, runs and trains will forever be known among F3 as Bacon.

Moleskin:

There was not a lot of mumble chatter among the PAX. At the first picnic table station I offered the challenge for each circuit to be “you versus you” and could be covered in one of two ways. Either max out and set the bar high the first round, pushing to reach it on the next two. Or raise the bar after each circuit trying to set a max you didn’t think possible. You never know until you try. The hardest part is showing up. I was proud to be with 11 other men that dug deep to enjoy the picnic. Aye!

10 Strong men converged on Martha’s House for a fair helping of Stroganoff’s Simplicity workout. Some of the creativity at recent workouts was not lost on the Q…..he was just not up to the ‘creativity’ task. The disclaimer consisted of “you shouldn’t be doing this” and “if you’re looking for the creativity of Short Sale and Feelgood, you came to the wrong workout.”

The Pledge

The Warm-Up: 10 IC Side-Straddle Hops

That was it

The Thang

We began with a mosey to the center of the spoke at the Baseball Fields at Martha Rivers Park for some basic exercise sets all In-Cadence:

Merkins X 15
LBC’s X 25
Squats X 15? (Not sure about this count as the Q’s personal space was invaded…..glad to see you back Whoopee)

Merkins X 15
LBC’s X 25
Squats X 15 (Personal space issues were adverted as the Q moved down to the far end of the PAX)

After a brief rest we took the long route mosey over to the lower end of the parking lot near the playground.

With a slight modification to 11’s, YHC decided to bring out some 22’s. Same as 11’s in concept but the total reps add up to 22 and we count up and down by 2’s. The two exercises were Merkins and LBC’s and went something like this:

Run across parking lot + 20 Merkins + run back across parking lot + 2 LBC’s (One complete)
Run across parking lot + 18 Merkins + run back across parking lot + 4 LBC’s (Two complete)
This continued until the last set of 2 Merkins + 20 LBC’s. The Q wasn’t sure about this one and it bordered on violating the rule of ‘If you can’t do it, don’t Q it’, but the PAX completed the task at hand.

This was followed by another short mosey around the path back to the picnic shelter for some more simplicity work (didn’t say easy…..I said simple). Grabbed some bench for the following in-cadence work:

Dips X 20
Flutter Kicks X 20 (I know, I never do these when leading)
Step Ups X 20
Quick Count off
Dips X 18
Flutter Kicks X 20
Step Ups X 20
Quick Count off
Dips X 15 (I think this was the correct number but was distracted by my Mother and her Sisters walking by the picnic area combined with Whoopee’s incessant compliments…I think)
Flutter Kicks X 25
Step Ups X 20

Mosey back toward Pelican’s but wait, there was time for a quick stop for a round of 15 IC Derkins on the curb while avoiding incoming traffic.

Mosey back to Pelican’s. Finish off with a quick round of Dying Cockroaches (Thanks Bandit). This took us to 6:15 am.

Several announcements that I cannot remember. Prayer requests. Name-o-rama. Final kneeling for the prayer to finish the work and take us out for the day.

Great work men. Thanks for understanding I needed the simplicity today. I have enough complications. You guys help me stay grounded and focused. As always, an honor to lead.

Until the next one.

Aye!

As the PAX gathered this morning there was some mumble chatter overheard regarding light attendance, possibly due to vacations. Or perhaps this week, Tuesday just felt more like Monday as many PAX were still counting sheep in their sheets. Was this going to carry over all week? Some usual participants were conspicuously missing. While the faithful finished up their minimal stretching activity, YHC called one-minute to go. Short disclaimer, skip warmup, off we go…

So we run to traffic light at Union Road and back to Old Glory at Sterling Bank for the Pledge of Allegiance. On the way we pick up 3 lost sheep. After the Pledge we continue our mosey to the Martha River’s parking lot. Under the lights and heavy humidity we work out 3 rounds of Mericans x10 IC, Toy Soliders x10 IC, Low Slow Squats x10 IC, and 8-Count Body Builders x10 IN CADENCE (t-claps on the counting Dr. Feelgood)! Sargento…. your welcome for the Mericans. Anytime baby!

Next we continue our cardio beat down with a run to pavilion for 3 rounds of Dips x10 IC and Step Ups x20 IC.

Before we could fully catch a breath, we make way to the lower fields for Four Corners (NOPE!). Just some Side-Plank Leg-Lifts (left leg x4 IC, right leg x4 IC) and Dying Cockroaches (x 10 IC). Then tracing our path backwards, we rendezvous back in the parking lot.

The next exercise was the Merican Suicide Ladder… 3 2 rounds of five 35-yard sprints with 6 Merican’s at the far end. For the second round we climbed down the ladder to 5 Merican’s at far end.

As YHC was keeping track of time, we started our last run back towards Snoballs. Oh, nice to see you Mrs. Bumgarner (or as Stroganoff yelled as we passed the future FIAs of Gastonia… “Hello Tracy!”). Half way back we pause for 3 rounds of Dericans x10, x10, x7 IC. Finally we complete our mosey back to Snoballs for a 4 minute round of People’s Choice Mary.

Total distance today… 1.6 miles. Total resting time – pretty much none. Great work by all!

Prayer Requests: Please keep T-Square in prayers as he and his family start down a difficult path after the loss of his step-daughter one week ago. Also, keep Stroganoff and his family (especially his M, Janet) in your prayers as his father-in-law recently started home hospice care.

I am grateful for all F3 has given me. Let us all remember the Quote of the Week: “Be fervent in spirit… Rejoicing in hope… Given to hospitality.” Romans 12:11-13

12 PAX showed up in the gloom for the workout at #MarthasHouse.  I am sure most of the PAX thought BA would bring the cinder blocks along, but he did not.  This time around BA planned to not use any coupons and stay in the Pelicans parking lot.

WU: (In Cadence)

• SSH x 20
• CDD x 10
• Monkey Humpers aka JoBu’s x 10
• LBC x 20
• Merkins x 10

-Pledge Of Allegiance-

THE THANG:

Partner up- 1 partner runs an 1 partner does the exercise…switching every lap and counting in aggregate. 

• 150 CDD/Run Around Pelican Counter Clockwise
• 150 Squats/Run Around Pelicans Clockwise
• 150 Merkins/Run Around Pelicans Counter Clockwise
• 150 Lunges (each leg)/Run Around Pelicans Clockwise
• 150 Monkey Humpers aka JoBus/Run Around Pelicans Counter Clockwise
• 150 Derkins/Run Around Pelicans Clockwise
• 150 Little Baby Dips/Run Around Pelicans Counter Clockwise

We did a couple sets of LBCs, Neckies, Monkey Humpers (JoBus), Squats, Don Quixotes, Moroccan Night Clubs, Homer and Marge, and Homers Alone throughout the workout.

COT:

Nameorama

Announcements: Folsom T-shirt orders close July 2nd

Prayers: Godfather and TSquare and their families

As Always It Was A Pleasure To Lead

-BA

Delinquent post apologies from YHC.  Ran over the dog and such … many excuses … now hard to remember what we did, but Q can make stuff up with the best.

Warm – up: SSH, etc. 8-Count body-builders I assume, cuz I usually like to.

Pledge

Thang – Mosey to park stopping at boulder run with a burpee at each boulder.  Mosey to grassy area beside playground.  Someone happened to leave a heavy bag in the parking lot so we played plank ring around the rosey running around with the heavy bag.  Entered the playground and partnered up.  Half the pax had feet in the swings for knees to chest while partner did squats.  1 minute time AMAP.  Switch.  Next did “Flying squats / Supermans” with swings holding chest / belly.  Partner did curtsy lunges.  Switch.  Set of Jack Webbs to 10 followed by more squats.  Mosey back towards Pelicans picking up the heavy bag and working together to get it home.  Knee highs, butt-kickers, arm Chinooks, etc. along the route.  Stopped for additional sets of core exercises.

Moleskin – Nice core-focused work men!   Great to see some Saturday “regulars” posting during the week.  Regular posting = acceleration.

Started out with the disclaimer and an additional one that this workout would be repetitive and if you don’t like it the Y is down the street. With no one leaving we got started with the warm up.

Warm Up

Flutter Kick x 30 IC

SSH x20 IC

All warmed up it was time for a mosey. We took off in the humidity down Union to the State Employees Credit Union. Upon arrival of the 6 we started the thing. There are 7 ATM Machines with in 1/2 mile of Martha’s House.  Today at each ATM we made a CASH withdrawal.

Each time we reached a machine the following exercise were preformed.

5 Burpees OYO

C  Crunch x 20

A Arm Taps X 20

Squat X 20

H Hip Slappers X 20  a couple times we dropped to 10 on the Hip Slappers due to insufficient funds in the Q’s account. We also threw in some Donkey Kicks (Brownstreak calls them Honkey Kicks)

We made it through 5 machines before we ran out of time. We did the Pledge  threw in an extra set of Hip Slappers and finished up with some Flutter Kicks IC just as we ran out of time.

Great work by all and the PAX did a good job in the humidity.  I think we have a number of these days a head of us.

Prayer Request

Monk- Sister-in-law

Sargento- Co-Worker Wife

Da Vinci- Mother on recent Cancer Diagnosis

Always a pleasure

Outhouse

Nice and cool outside this am-nearly perfect weather.

About 9 pax showed up then during the WU, a couple more showed for nice round 11 to get a beatdown at Martha’s.

WU-Mosey around Pelican’s with buttkickers, high knees, side shuffle, and karaoke then 10 IC SSH, 11 IC Merkins, 12 IC LBCs plus some slow holding at various points to make counting really awkward. some squats and Moroccan Night Clubs con Cucaracha (toe raises on 1 and 3 count-GasHouse original-won’t find this anywhere else-we have it copyrighted) then 10 burpees OYO. Started to Mosey to the parking lot when someone (? Stroganoff) reminded me of the Pledge so we did the Pledge then on to the parking lot for the Thang…but first, in honor of BA and El Padrino making a return, we got a coupon out of my car. I could feel the anxiety building up as the back door opened and I pulled out…..ping pong balls. Everyone got only 1-did not want too many sore muscles and we moseyed to the defunct grocery store parking lot.

The Thang:

Pax line up, throw the ping pong ball as far as you can, lunge to pick it up then sprint to other side of parking lot. Repeat from other end back. Think we did this twice (total of 4 throws) then did 2 more throws with hopping on one leg to the ball then sprint to other side.

Next we partnered up and did some piggy back 4 corners-partner carry the long way/mosey the short ends, plank, then on the corners did ? number of Mountain Climbers, CDD, Jack Webb (think 1 pax knew who Jack Webb was, 1 was knew the pain was coming), then (thanks Short Sale for the idea) 2 rounds of hip slappers to close out the 4 corners.

Next we did some more partner work: P1 ran about 50 yards and back while P2 did the exercise-4 rounds of Fondas (lay on side and raise leg up like Jane Fonda used to do-Easy Rider gets bonus points for wearing leg warmers-very nice brother, hope your little sister does not mind you borrowing from her), Merkins, and Flutter Kicks.

Think we moseyed back to start with a burst of dips, squats, dips, and Monkey Humpers (Where are you Jobu????) to salute the traffic then Bandit took us home with a few Dying Cockroaches.

Great work this morning guys. Seemed like everyone was really pushing it this morning despite the (not so) heavy coupons. Appreciate the motivation.

Whoopee

10 pax including YHC posted Wednesday morning at Martha’s house for a nice humid beatdown

Usual disclaimer – I’m and idiot (no surprise) … followed by second disclaimer – YHC –  admitted that the planned workout did not look good – even on paper – nevertheless 10 strong PAX wanted to get their money’s worth so off we went.

Warmup:

SSHx20, Imperial Walkers x 20 , Moroccan Night Club x20, Flutter kicks x 20, LBC x 20 and Mountain climbers x 20

Pledge

The Thang:

Indian run carrying a 10 lb exercise ball front runner hands/tosses ball to pax behind him when the ball gets to the last runner he sprints to front and repeat. Caveat –  If the ball hits the ground then everyone stops and does five burps… I’ve never seen such care for my ball which never hit the ground.

After arriving at the concession stand, pax lined up and did Russian twists – with a twist… the 10 lb ball was passed from one pax to another and back in the line.  This was was performed while listening to Sam Cooke sing “Twisting the night away”  There was some mumble about choosing a shorter song but YHC couldn’t quite make that out so we listened to entire song.

Next we partnered up and ran each of the 4 arms around the concession stand one partner did bear crawl alternating with lunge walks around the stand while the other ran the arm and completed an exercise at the end of the arm – exercises included LBCx5, Flutter kicks x10, Mountain climbers x5 and WWI setups x 5.

With little rest and some mumble we moseyed to parking lot to do suicides but instead of touching a line every few yards and turning around we did 2 then 4 then 6 then 8 burpees at each turnaround point.

Afterwards (running low on time ) YHC needed to Omaha (not Oklahoma since bandit was not there) Mosey back to Pelicans for some french fries and dying cockroaches.

When all was said and done the pax performed above and beyond expectations and made this look easier than what was on paper!

Announcements:

Looking for a few good men to step up and lead a third F on Saturday mornings – contact Monk

Advisory board meets Sunday at Tequilas to drink beer and eat Mexican food then come up with a good idea for a local CSAUP – all are welcome

Prayers:

Sargento’s friend needing third surgery and loved ones looking for work

As always I was humbled to lead these #HIM this morning !