Tag: Martha’s House (Page 14 of 21)

As usual the PAX met at Snowball’s parking lot. There were 10. As we gathered, bets were pondered on whether Spiderman would post, and if so, would anyone see him arrive. HOW DOES HE DO THAT?

Warm Up

• SSH IC X 10
• Mericans IC X 10
• Don Quixote IC X 10
• Imperial Walker IC X 10
• Mountain Climber IC X 10

The Thang(s)

Mosey to Martha Rivers parking lot for a round of Johnny Cash (mistakenly called Ring of Fire, but similar). Each man in circle (i.e. the Ring of Fire) does 1 Merican in sequence while rest of PAX planks. We did total of 10 rounds (for English majors that is 10 Mericans each).

Mosey through parking lot, and eventually picnic benches next to field 4 where we completed Shoulder Dips IC x 20. After a quick countdown, we continued with another set IC x 5. I think we might have thrown in a quick set of SSH IC x20.

Mosey to field 4 for some 4 Corners OYO with 10 Mericans, 20 CDDs, 30 Squats and 40 LBCs. PAX planks for the 6. Rinse and repeat once again.

Mosey across field 4 and then a few short hill climbs. Up the hill, into the woods a short ways, then back down the hill. Rinse and repeat. After that we did three sets of Dying Cockroaches IC x 20, x 10, x5 (last ones were done SLOW for extra crispy burn).

Mosey back to Martha Rivers parking lot, stopping outside the restrooms to use the wall for 3 sets of Donkey Kicks. IC x 10.

Mosey back towards Snowballs, stopping along the way for 20 reps of Little Baby Dips along the curb.

Last mosey gets us all the way back to Snowballs parking lot where we finished up.

About 7 MOM – People’s Choice…

• Mericans IC x 5 (Flintstone)
• Mericans IC x 10 (Hushpuppy – who cut in line)
• Scissor Kicks IC x 40 (Stroganoff – who graciously waited his turn, and un-graciously drove PAX to death by Scissor Kicks)
• Ski Abs IC x 20? (Short Sale)
• WWI Sit Ups IC x 20? (Monk)
• Mason Twists IC x 20 (T-Square)
• Freddy Mercury IC x 20 (JJ)
• LBC IC x 20 (EZ Rider)
• Homer/Marge (Courtesy of Squeeker – however many it was, it was too many)

Naked Man Moleskin

There was absolutely NO resting today. There was even some whisper’s about a mutiny – of course YHC did not care (or believe it). Tried to keep a quick pace between exercises to really get the cardio going. While there were rumors among the PAX of the driving force behind the accelerated pace, none were either confirmed or denied. If anyone want’s their money back… TOO BAD! Oh, in case you were wondering, Spiderman fart sacked, but no one lost any money.

We finished up with COT. Prayer request for Stroganoff’s family as his father-in-law (battling cancer) was readmitted to the hospital, also to Monk’s graduating college students (and many others) looking for jobs, T-Square’s family going through loss of loved ones, and a church member/friend of Hush Puppy’s who lost her husband.

I’m glad to be here! Always a pleasure to lead among this group of #HIM!

After a number of posts mingled among the PAX it was time to step into the center ring and head of the line. I read Freed to Lead, digested the back blasts, combed the F3 exercise list, and planned my strategy for a worthy beat down at Martha’s House. Prior to a brotherly EH from Whoopee and Roscoe, YHC’s fitness regiment began with Insanity and various other DVD’s. All provide a great workout but without any accountability other than one’s conscious. Enter F3 where inspiration comes in all shapes and sizes; where you don’t want to let you partner down plugging through a Dora 1-2-3 (shout out to JK2 and T-Square); where one idiot could lead a PAX full.

As with any new experience, my nerves were shaking but my PAX were supportive and ready for my version of Insanity to begin. We didn’t quite achieve 45 minutes of Mary, but it was a good half hour’s worth. YHC crafted a Weinke featuring standard exercises and a few new ones. It went like this:

Warm-up (in cadence – for the most part)

• Dollys x10
• Crab Cakes x15
• WW II Sit Ups x 15
• Hillbillies x15
• Imperial Walkers x15
• LBC’s x15
• Plank Taps x10 (in plank: Set 1: alternate extending left hand then right hand. Set 2: alternate extending left foot and right foot. Set 3: alternate extending right hand/left foot, left hand/right foot.)
• Floor Tuck Jumps x 15 (on 6, heels on ground, knees bent, lean back with hands in front of shoulders and lift your knees to your hands – as you would a standing tuck jump – contrary to Madoff’s backblast 5/13 – this is not ‘jazz hands’).
• Dying cockroach x15 (in gratitude for Bandit’s technical assistance)

Short mosey across the street to the bank for the pledge, a few announcements…

The Thang

The PAX went for a very short mosey, returning to the rear parking lot of the AO declaring that was enough running for the day – the subtle groans and chatter meant intended goal #1 was achieved.

I had a few treats in store beginning with the musical soundtrack primarily of 80’s rock, metal, or cheesy sound tracks to inspire the PAX through the beat down. Wanting to share the origin of my fitness journey, the format followed Insanity circuits with 4 exercises at 30 seconds each with a 30 second rest between sets, or so it was intended.

Circuit 1

• Squat Jack with a twist (Ozzy – Crazy Train)
• Diamond Merkins (Iron Maiden – The Trooper)
• Bobby Hurleys (Hoosiers soundtrack)
• Peter Parkers (Spiderman theme – tv version)
• Rinse, repeat 2x

Water break (In order to limit the Q’s name in vain later today, refreshments were provided). It was eerily quiet among the PAX at this point, intended goal #2 achieved; we pushed ahead.

Circuit 2

• Ski Abs [in plank, keep knees together and pull to right elbow, back to plank, pull knees to left elbow] (Metallica – For Whom the Bell Tolls)
• Side elbow plank with tap overs [top foot taps forward/back – switch sides mid-way] (Motley – Dr. Feelgood)
• Alternating leg raises with punch (ACDC – For Those About to Rock)
• Oblique Merkins [hands at 12 and 3, merkin right; switch hands to 12 and 9, merkin left] (Dokken – Mr. Scary)
• Repeat 1x (we lost Stroganoff and Easy Rider who had a work meeting at 7 am – how convenient)

Circuit 3

• Freddie Mercury (The Spirit of the Radio)
• Plank walk 2x then Merkin 4x (YYZ)
• Squat then lunge – alternate (One Little Victory)
• Captain Thor (Far Cry)
• Omaha Sets 2 & 3 – it looked good on paper, forgot to include extended recovery time between…note to self

Circuit 4

• Mountain Climbers (The Who – Baba O’Riley)
• Jack Feet with L/R upper cuts [needed punching exercise to go with music] (Rocky Theme Song – Gonna Fly)
• Merkins (another Rocky – Going the Distance aka the song during the final round)
• Baby Makers [New! Elbow plank; thrust (checked thesaurus.com – yes, thrust is the only way to describe this type of forward movement) pelvic area forward as if to simulate a particular act of nature] (background music: Pornosonic – Laying Pipe featuring Ron Jeremy – available for download on iTunes). Insanity Cardio Abs officially called this exercise Pulse Tucks – they provide a good burn to your abs however most of PAX fizzled out after 10 seconds – wondering if a blue pill might keep the energy going – next time.
• Omaha Sets 2 & 3

COT

Reminder to send names to Bandit for Belmont – June 11^th is the first event. If you want to do the Blue Ridge Relay – contact Whoopee – meeting at Brixx Monday night. We lifted prayers up for T-Square and his son and uncle for strength and healing.

Thanks to my fellow PAX for the opportunity to lead today’s session. Like any cross-fit or insanity type of workout the goal is muscle confusion. No better to achieve that than to have YHC as a VQ, but hopefully future sessions will be improved upon and much less insane.

In trying to come up with a good workout for my VQ, I took a look back at my first post at Martha’s House.  Turns out it was very similar to the plan I had in mind, but I had to put a little Tar Heel twist into it.

Warm Up (To be honest, I was so nervous I don’t remember the counts.  It was somewhere between 10 and 20.)

• SSH
• Merkins
• LBC
• Imperial Walkers

Mosey to the next door for the Pledge.

The Thang

Mosey to the old Harris Teeter parking lot.

Told the pax we were going to run a little Four Corners offense.  Dean would run this to slow the game down, but we were going to use it to get things going and speed it up.

Get a fast-break partner… 1 pax runs while the other completes the exercises.  Switch after a lap; cumulative counts.  (During my first post, Spiderman had us run with bricks.  However, bricks aren’t good in basketball terminology, so we left those out.)

• 100 Lunges
• 125 Russian Twists/American Hammers
• 150 LBCs

Halftime

For the halftime entertainment, we kept the 4-corners theme and entered the boxing ring.

Floyd Mayweathers x 10  (From plank position, punch forward, plank, back/side punch, plank; repeat with other arm)

With halftime over, we got back to the second half.  Same 4-corners offense with fast-break partner, one runs, one exercises, cumulative counts.

• 100 Merkins
• 150 Squats
• 200 Flutter Kicks

To be fair to the other shade of blue, we looked for an exercise to suit them.  They are used to slapping the floor which is too easy for an F3 workout so we did some hip slappers.

• Hip Slappers x 10

We went into overtime with some Elevens – Merkins/run/Squats.  Shot clock ran out so we only made it to 4 or 5.

Mosey back to Pelican’s for announcements, prayer requests, and closing prayer.

Thanks to the guys for being part of my VQ.  Looking forward to the next one.

JJ

F3 Gastonia tweeted the prior evening that Stroganoff had the Q, but was quickly and harshly reprimanded by Mr. Wolkfpack Grinder himself. Turns out YHC had the Q for the imperial beatdown on this 4th day of May (national Star Wars day or something). 10 PAX made the effort today and chose to take the DRP and were ready to go – except for Hush Puppy who was coming in hot and had to make up SSH to get caught up.

Here is what was done… disclaimer first, then the pledge.

Warm Up

• Side Straddle Hop x20 IC
• Mountain Climbers x20 IC
• Moroccan Night Clubs x40 IC
• Peter Parkers x20 IC
• Toy Soldiers x20 IC

The Thangamajigger
Mosey to Martha Rivers, but instead of the normal left turn at the entrance, we unexpectedly continued to the service entrance near the baseball fields. Just the first of several deceptions. We continued Linus-clockwise around the baseball fields. YHC was looking for a good place for a COP so we stopped on the backside (there was a bit more light) and waited for one straggler. Turns out this was not a straggler, it was some future-FNG running on his own. How would you like to be running in park with no light and have 10 guys stop on the trail waiting for you to pass through? Dude just trucked right through – NoFear! We all got a good laugh and continued to find a suitable place for the COP. Ultimately we mosey to the pavillion inside the baseball fields.

The next exercise is… the LBC x30 IC.

Then we hit the pavement again. This time we head out the north spoke regular-clockwise for 1/4 lap around the baseball fields and back to the pavillion.

The next excercise is… Peter Parker x20 IC. YHC has a breaktrough discovery. Peter Parker’s are just Mountain Climbers at half-tempo. Just to check, we do MC x10 IC. Yep… kinda similar like.

You got it… Mosey. This time we head south (Linus-clockwise) for 1/2 lap around the fields and back to pavillion.

The next excercise is… Plankorama

Then mosey east and go clockwise for 3/4 lap and back to pavillion.

The next excercise is… Russian Twist x20 IC.

Next we mosey east for 1 lap around the fields and back to pavillion.

The next excercise is… Dying Cockroach x20 IC.

Times almost up so we head back towards Pelicans. But we have two stops along the way… first, we hit the curp for 3 sets of Baby Dips (20 reps, 15 reps, 10 reps), mosey a bit more and knock out 10 Mericans IC before we get back to parking lot.

Total milage = 2.5 miles.

Finished with COT, Namorama and BOM.

9 PAX including 2 FNG’s showed up in the gloom at Martha’s House for an unknown beatdown. For the second Q in a row, I showed up with no weinke and only a few thoughts in my head as to the direction we were heading.

Having an FNG on site, we went through the disclaimer before starting with the Pledge.

Time for the In-Cadence warm up:

SSH X 13
Imperial Walkers X 13
LBC’s X 13 (?)

This was going to be the last warm up exercise but another vehicle pulled in and Sargento took off to meet the vehicle, I wrongly assumed it was Sargento’s wife bringing him his bag lunch or allowance but no, it was his brother-in-law, another FNG. Awesome…….be on time.

Last warm up exercise: Merkins X 10

I assumed at this point that Sargento passed along the disclaimer to his FNG but not sure.

The Thang

We then moseyed to the Park to the far side of Field #1 (I did do a quick disclaimer for the late FNG) for some Four Corner MFr’s. M = Merkins; F = Flutter Kicks; R = Run.

The PAX dropped and did 20 merkins OYO/single count at first corner;
Run to second corner for 40 single count flutter kicks;
Run to third corner for 20 merkins;
Run to fourth corner for 40 flutter kicks;
Run back to corner one, plank and wait on all the PAX.

Rinse/Repeat

Mosey to the opposite end of the field for the next work.

Second main exercise was the Panda 1-2-3 (Just like Dora 1-2-3 but included some bear crawls)

Partner up for some cumulative reps of the following:

100 Merkins
200 Flutter Kicks
300 Prayer Squats

Partner 1 does the exercise while partner 2 runs to the hill between Field #1 and the walking track and bear crawls up the right lane (path that has been cut in on the hill) and then bear crawls backwards down the left side path. Runs back to exercise station and switches with his partner.

This went on for several minutes when YHC realized once again that a Omaha was in order. We modified to 200 single count flutter kicks and 200 squats.

After this was complete, we had a short recovery speech where we talked about the daily workout is a battle against yourself to get better and not against the PAX. The PAX is here for support and encouragement.

We then moseyed to the covered picnic shelter for some additional in-cadence work:

Dips X 15
Dips X 15
Squats X 15
Dips X 15
Squats X 15

Next was the mosey back to Pelicans for one last set of in-cadence flutter kicks X 30.

Great work men.

Announcements: Burpee-thon is coming up. F3 Dads event is this Saturday, 2:30 pm at the Schiele.

Prayer Requests: Sargento and 5th graders at New Hope for safe travels to the OBX

T-claps to Sargento for getting two FNG’s out today: Soprano (Mark Bridges) & Pacifier (Eli Kiem)

As always, it was an honor to lead the group this morning. I continue to look forward to each workout and pushing myself to get better. Thanks for leading me in that direction.

Until the next one. Aye!!

Thanks, guys, for indulging my new exercises. (OK … well not that you had much of a choice.)

We recited the pledge and recalled the word of the week: “And why are you anxious …? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.” Mt 6:28

We began with most of the usuals SSH, merks, LBC, squats, CDD, flutters, and imperial walkers. Mosey to the Park parking lot.

I announced that I’d done some browsing on the F3 site for exercises that I’d never done before. This brought no enthusiasm whatsoever. In fact, the word heard in the mumble chatter was “awful.” We performed a few rounds of “Abyss Merkins,” typically done on benches. With no benches, the PAX formed two lines, shoulder width apart, facing in. One line held planks while the other laid hands on their shoulders and performed 10 merkins in cadence. Sprint to the other side of the parking lot. The two lines switched roles. Sprint back. Repeato! Repeato!

Next came “Parking Lot Tracers.” The idea is to begin by running in place, then move along the parking space lines. The PAX lined up along a parking space, then moved through a dozen or so parking spaces. Think Conga Line, only dumber.

During Parking Lot Tracers, someone noticed a female in an SUV gazing into her iPhone. Someone else suggested donkey kicks on the side of her SUV to get her attention. Someone else–for no reason whatsoever–said “burpees.” This gave me an idea for a new exercise, “The Burpin’ Donkey.” We moseyed behind the restroom building to try some burpees with a donkey kick in the middle. Groaning. More donkey kicks.

Mosey to lot. Bojangles Biscuits, then 5 min o’ Mary.

Mosey to field. Burp-Back Mountain to 60 burpees.

Mosey to Snoballs. Dying Cockroachs so Bandit could feel whole again. End.

Announcements: JKII has organized a 2.0 event for a week from Saturday (Same day as mud run.) Advisory discussed Belmont expansion. Check the backblast for details.

Prayer requests: Family members experiencing illness.

Cheers! Monk

I was working on my Weinke last night (hold the jokes) and could not come up with much until I was inspired by the preblast posted by El Padrino (I think) showing me (or some likeness of me…) dancing wildly. I started scrolling thru the F3 exercises and came upon…..Travoltas!!! Here enters inspiration, even if only for the warmup. It gave me the spark I needed to get the workout together leading to a good night’s sleep. When I got up early this am, my wife looked over at me, mentioned the sudden drop in temperature, and matter of factly said, “You’re an idiot.” In my mind I responded, “Tell me something I don’t already know, woman” and smiled in the dark to my witty humor and got dressed quickly before the fartsack monster wrestled me back into bed.

Round 2 of inspiration begins….Shortly after this, I was sitting in my nice warm car gloom-dreaming all alone in the parking lot about my fartsack thinking certainly I was not the only idiot in Gaston county when all of a sudden, 7 cars came rolling in just before start time. Too late to turn back now….

Here is what I remember…

Disclaimer (see above compliments of Mhoopee)

Pledge

WU: 10 IC of each: SSH, Freddy Mercury, Squats, Burps, LBCs, Mtn Climbers, Moroccan Night Club con La Cucaracha (MNC with up on toes IC) X 25, TRAVOLTAS, then I needed some help from Spiderman reading my weinke to see 10 Burpees OYO (thanks for the eyes Spidey)

Mosey to the run-down grocery store parking lot at first speed bump and do a round of 4 corners of She Hate Me (10 lunges each leg, 10 burps, 10 Merkins) then mosey to the corner for plank until 6 arrives. Repeat at all 4 corners of parking lot with extra helping of She Hate me half-way across the back side remembering to plank at each corner until 6 arrived and I finished my planktastic meditation.

Hip Slappers X 10 IC (I love these)

Mosey around the lot facing north the whole time with Karaoke to the left and right, mosey frontward and backwards on the long sides (always facing north). I read thru the rulebook and this is acceptable since Roscoe and Anthrax were both absent.

Hip Slappers X 20 IC (did I mention I love these?)

Another round of mosey around the lot facing north with Karaoke/front and back running

Hip Slappers X 10 IC (BTW, I think I like these)

Another round of She Hate Me X 4 corners (I fought the urge to Omaha multiple times in case anyone was wondering).

Mosey back to home with 3 sets of dips X 15 IC each in front of bank.

2 laps around Pelicans/Bruster’s just to mess with everyone who thought we were going to finish on arrival to starting line.

Few minutes of Mary with 5 burpees OYO for fun.

Namorama, Announcements, COT then run to the cars. Excellent work by all pax today. Good to see the BRR challenge studs out there today (JK2 and Sargento). Great to see Short Sale out here again among the faithful Pax. Not a whole lot of mumblechatter today which I think is mostly my fault for not preparing a topic to talk about-won’t happen again. I’ll be prepared next time so bring your notebooks and be ready to be edumucated.

thanks for the opportunity to be out here with everyone-Whoopee

10 PAX warmed up with SSH, Merkins, Moroccans, Toy Soldiers, LBC, then mosey to Martha’s for CDD.

The Thang
Before the beatdown some of the PAX did not hesitate to voice their distaste for running, but I was feeling charitable, so the only serious running we did was an Indian run around the baseball fields to the soccer field.

Then wheelbarrows halfway across the soccer field, then lunge-walk the rest of the field.

The fields were wet with dew, and I was still feeling charitable, so we mosied to the parking lot for four corners of abs: weezy Jeffersons, LBC, flutter kicks, and something else–it was horrible–I’ve blocked it out.

Mosey back to field for four corners: morracans, merkins, werkins, & diamond merkins.

Then to the picnic pavilion for step ups and squats.

Time’s up!

Mosey back to Snoballs for COT.

– Monk

The similarities between Marthas Blast(Co-Q’d by E4 and Spiderman) and the 80’s tag team sensation Rock -n- Roll Express is striking. Those who are familiar with both will agree. E4/Robert Gibson and Spiderman/Ricky Morton combined their exceptional ringsmanship to effectively lay the smack down on the 9 heels who braved the challenge.

Right away E4 let it be known, running was not an option. Bear crawls and burpees in tandem heated up the action with an intensity so strong, Bandit may have unexpected visitors on his doorstep.(had to be there)

After the first bell and sensing a shift of momentum, Spiderman began throwing foreign objects into the ring. Bricks everywhere! Luckily no fans were injured, just rotator cuffs.

5 more minutes of pre-planned maneuvers and taunting ensued. Suddenly out of the abyss of sweat and grunt, RnRE landed their patented finishing move, the wall sit shoulder press brick extension. The final bell sounded.

Rumors of high fives spread.

Warmup
20 Side Straddle Hops
10 Merkins
10 LBCs

The Thang
Mosey To the Marthas

Pair up
1 Pax hits LBCs for the duration
2nd Pax Bearcrawl to the light, hit 10 Burpees
SWITCH

1 Pax hits Flutterkicks for the duration
2nd Pax Bearcrawl to the light, hit 10 Burpees
SWITCH

1 Pax hits Freddie Mercurys for the duration
2nd Pax Bearcrawl to the light, hit 10 Burpees
SWITCH

1 Pax hits WW1 sit ups for the duration
2nd Pax Bearcrawl to the light, hit 10 Burpees
Recover

To the Snow Balls, pop the trunk, grab the bricks < That’s right baby!

20 brick curls
20 Morrocan Night Clubs w/ brick
20 Morrocan Night Clubs w/out brick
10 Merkins
20 Bent rows w/ brick
20 brick curls
20 Morrocan Night Clubs w/ brick
20 Morrocan Night Clubs w/out brick

Pair Up
1 Pax runs around snow balls – brick included
partner does squats w/ shoulder press – brick included
SWITCH
200 aggregate

20 brick curls
20 Morrocan Night Clubs w/ brick
10 Merkins
20 Bent rows w/ brick
10 Peter Parker

20 Wall Sits shoulder press w/ brick
20 Wall Sits shoulder externsions w/ brick

Recover

It’s an important week in the 3rd F of F3.  I can’t say it better than it has already been written, though I am constantly humbled in knowing that my/our endless calamities have been forgiven, all out of love.