Tag: Martha’s House (Page 6 of 21)

The Gastonia Region have F3 opportunities seven days of the week, so it’s not necessarily clear when the official week begins. Is it Sunday for the runners to travel four or five miles before Sunday worship services? According to Genesis, chapter two, the writer references God rested on the seventh day. I’m not leading into this backblast to initiate a theological debate; I’ll leave that to Monk or a gathering at The Crusade. But I raise the question of Monday morning as possibly the beginning of the week, when most of us return to our jobs (except for Hushpuppy who seems to be “working all the time.” (Hey Whoopee – that’s a quote from your favorite prog-rock band)). So into the wee hours of the beginning of the work week, 12 men stumbled out of their fart-sacks and made their way to Martha’s House to expend whatever energy had re-charged from Bulldog’s Folsom Farewell. It seemed the PAX bodies were more awake than their comprehension.

My plan required a bit of set-up so I sped by the Sno-cone shop and hustled to prepare the final leg of the beat-down; more on that later. I checked the time and had two minutes until the start time. I returned to my car and came in hot for my own Q, jumping directly into the center of the circle. Turtleman already stated he would take the Q if I was a no show, to avoid another impromptu beat-down from Gastone that I’m sure most of the PAX felt throughout the weekend. There were no FNG’s but it was nice to see Sake back with us. The others were regulars, including Stone Cold in his new weight vest. A quick disclaimer was shared “you shouldn’t have posted this morning, modify as needed.” Now to shake it up a bit, going with a different type of warm-up.

Warm-up:

• Set 1: PAX perform Side-Straddle-Hops and one by one, each man would drop to perform 5 merkins then re-join the PAX with SSH.
• Set 2: PAX perform Mountain Climbers and one by one, each man would perform 10 lbc’s, which I directed to perform 5 for each leg or 10 total. This proved difficult.
• Set 3: PAX perform Butt Kickers and one by one, each man would perform 10 flutter kicks. The direction was repeated: count 5 each leg or 10 total, once again, a challenge encountered.

I stated more than once, actually several times the count was 5 per leg or 10 total. The translation was lost as some PAX ignored instructions and performed 10 or even more for each leg.  The intent was to get our cardio going with constant movement, which was achieved in the 7 minutes of time, at the expense of more reps. We’re off to a great start. At least we recited the Pledge correctly before moseying to the park.

The Thang:

We arrived at the main picnic shelter near the turd shack. We needed the tables for the first part of the weinke which was the favorite Dora. We paired off from our even number of 12, where partner 1 would run a short distance to the light pole in the center of the parking lot. Partner 2 would perform the following exercises to contribute to the aggregate total:

• Dips – 100
• Incline merkins – 200 (Omaha to 150)
• Decline Peter Parkers – 300 (Omaha to 200)

Based on the challenge to complete the warm-up, I was a little worried directions could be followed. The PAX got after it with little banter. Monitoring the time and my own challenge, I waived the white flag to decrease the incline merkins and decline peter parkers. Upon conclusion T-Square and Easy Rider provided 10 counts to catch our breath.

As if our arms and shoulders needed more work, we slow meandered to the turd shack. My weinke was scripted Friday afternoon in attempt to distract me from working, or maybe that was my ADD kicking in (…squirrel!). I didn’t realize Bulldog would try to fulfill his yearly quota of Mike Tyson’s on Saturday so there they were, in black and white on my sweat-soaked script. I modified from 15 to 10. Actually I modified all exercises to 10 because my PAX were unlikely to grasp the concept of escalating reps. We leveraged the brick wall for the following OYO:

• Donkey Kicks x 10
• Mike Tysons x 10
• Hip Slappers x 10 (that is 5 each hip slap if you’re scoring at home)
• Run to the picnic shelter, perform Bulgarian Squats, 10 each leg
• Rinse/repeat after a few 10 counts

With about 15 minutes remaining, we slow meandered to the field/parking lot bordered by the big rocks. For this segment, I had posted stakes in the ground with instructions – surely the PAX were alert by this point and could follow the signs. We’ll soon see. The space was separated into thirds about 20 yards apart. The first section would be a walk, migrating to a jog, and finally to sprint the final third. Props to Defib for pushing the team in sprints. Upon arriving in the end-zone there were three exercises to be completed, all at 10 reps each (either single count or by counting the right side only, clear as mud, right?)

Fortunately our PAX only had one right side and I think they used all fingers to count the 10 suggested reps. Turtleman, who is learning the art of mumble chatter quite well asked “how much longer?” Well as any good instructor would do in that situation, I took the hint the little completed to that point was not enough, so the routine was extended. My guess was we completed about six or seven rounds before it was time to collect the signs and jog home. Upon our return to the parking lot, my watch displayed 6:12 leaving a few minutes to keep Mary happy. I introduced a few ab burners to make the effort complete:

• Fifer Scissor Punch (flat on back, with right leg at 90 degrees, punch left fist toward foot, then repeat with opposite appendages) – in cadence for 10
• Leg Lift Clap (in sit-up position, raise right leg and clap underneath, then left leg to clap underneath) – in cadence for a 16 count, trying to exhaust the PAX – it worked for a few of them…
• Burps (aka in and outs) – in cadence for a 16 count….and TIME!

Moleskin:

Giving and following instructions is a challenge, whether it occurs at home, workplace, or parking lot at 0530. We worked through a bit of adversity but in the end our simple goals were met: gather as brothers and push ourselves mentally and physically, trying to get better. The mumble chatter was a little light, but nothing wrong with that. I take that as a positive sign where everyone has their heads down to get the job done. Announcements: Speed for Need/Christmastown 5k – sign up and let Tool Time know. We lifted prayers for Easy Rider’s brother, preparing for neck surgery and T-Square and family traveling along their journey of healing. YHC took us out in prayer. As always, an honor to be a part of the PAX and offer directional suggestions that may or may not be followed exactly as planned. Better than fartsacking, at least.

After the pledge, we warmed up with 25IC Side Straddle Hops and 10IC Merkins.  We then moseyed to the park.

With the temperatures forecasted to reach 100 degrees this week,  what better number to pick for some partner exercises.  While partner 1 performs as many merkins as possible, partner 2 was doing lunges.  As a team they must complete 100 then mosey around the baseball fields.  The other four exercises were LBC’s, Side Straddle Hops, Derkins and Burpees.  After each round a lap around the fields.

Then we made it out to the parking lot and used parking space lines for side shuffling merkins with a quick run around light poles.

At the conclusion, a Jail Break was encouraged and a strong performance from JJ, Bulldog, Freight, Sargento and Splinter was seen.

When I Q I always try to punish, I mean push everyone and was not disappointed this morning.  I was very proud of everyone for working hard and making themselves stronger.

Special thanks to T-Square for the thirst quenching Mountain Spring Water.

It was also a pleasure to meet Splinter from F3 Sommerville and FNG (Zigzag).

So this post is a little late…only about 24 hours which is technically early for me. With the new website, I needed some weaselshaker help to get in the system. Bandit saved the day so here it is.

I got a somewhat puzzled look by Brownstreak when Bandit did not show and he found out I was Q…not sure how to take it but it did not affect what we did. Bandit had a back issue from the weekend and I got to fill in-bonus for me. We had 7 ready for action so we started with a brief disclaimer then…

WU:  I think 10 IC of the following: SSH, Merkins, LBC, Merks, lap around Pelican’s with butt kickers and high knees then mosey

Thang: arrived at playground for description of overall plan-I saw Planet of the Apes over the weekend and thought I could put together something related….really didn’t work out but I tried. We went to playground for some Monkey Climber thing: 3 pax: 2 on either end of monkey bars doing jump squats, 3rd pax does monkey bars from 1 side to other then swaps out with other pax who monkey climbs to other side. We did this for short period of time-long enough to know it was really not that much fun, not really that hard, and not worth doing again in my opinion.

Mosey to parking lot for Burpee Plank Bridge across the parking lot-all pax in plank in line, pax at beginning of line jumps up and does burpee then hops/jumps over pax until gets to end and gets into plank position. This process continues until the bridge is built across the parking lot.

Ended up at picnic tables so we did step ups X 1 min followed by Derkins for 1 min, rinse and repeat.

Mosey to grassy hill near baseball field and did version of 11’s. Partner up, run up hill and do 11’s with partner derkins then flapjack for other partner (total 22 trips up the hill as each pax does full set of 11’s). Lot of sweat during this part-thanks for the water at end T Square.

Time was not up yet so we then did a short mosey to the outfield of the baseball field with fresh trimmed grass….holy nuts that was some soft grass. We did a little Red Barchetta in honor of Stroganoff and Roscoe-both vacationing at the beach (different beaches with their respective families). We used the light posts as our running markers with 100 SSH, 75 mountain climbers, 50 LBCs, and 25 Merkins.  We moseyed back to Pelicans with enough time for the 10 burpees then Oompa Loompa took us out with some flutter kicks for Mary ( I think that is right???).

TSquare then pulled out a nice cold cooler full of water which was juuuuuuusssssstttttt right. Over the next day or so, I have been thinking about the struggles we all go thru-every one of us has a struggle every day-work, family, personal stuff,… whatever. Getting out here and knocking it out of the park before 0630 am with an F3 post is the best way for me to start getting my head straight each day. Kind of like making your bed every morning (thanks Roscoe for this quote from Jocko)-if you have a crappy day, at least when you get home, your bed is made and that’s 1 good accomplishment each day. My M is still in bed when I leave and she did not appreciate me making the bed while she was still in it…

Keep in mind, no matter how old you are and how tired you are, you have something to contribute to the other guys around you. Oompa Loompa, who is older than (I think) all of the regular pax that I see posting on a regular basis, busts his tail every month. He posts during the week in the mornings, in the afternoons at Midorimama, and on weekends…even showing up for EC. The man is a machine and needs a (gentle) pat on the back when you see him. Think about this next time you think about fartsacking. If nothing else, he made need you to come out here so he can have someone else to push the rock with.

Whoopee

Couple of FNGs showed up this morning. Awesome! It’s been a little while since I’ve seen 2 FNGs at one time.

Gastone gave me a heads up the night before, so I added a little extra mustard to the recipe. And with that my friends, we turned up the heat like this.

WARMUP:
20 IC Side Straddle Hops
10 IC Merkins
20 IC Flutterkicks
10 IC Squats

PLEDGE

Mosey on over to the parking lot of the future Gastonia Speed Cart Racing arena.

Pair up
One PAX hits 20 Flutters then 20 Merkins and repeats until partner returns.
Other PAX runs to the 1st light pole 1 burpie, runs to the 2nd light pole 2 burpies, runs to the 3rd light pole 4 burpies, runs to the start 4 burpies – TAG
3 Rounds of this

1 minute of Mountain Climbers
1 minute of Freddie Mercuries
1 minute of Squats

Head over to the starting line for Burpie Broad Jumps! 9 lines. Recover.

Bear Crawl back to starting line.
Backwards Bear Crawl to other end.
Burpie Broad Jumps back to the starting line.

Mosey to the Dollar Tree. There’s never one too far away.

1 minute Plank Jacks
1 minute Mountain Climbers

Mosey on down the street to the hill
10 IC Derkins
30 IC Flutterkicks

Mosey up the street
Partner Up, 10 IC Squats
10 IC Merkins

Mosey to Snow BAllS
10 IC Merkins
10 IC Monkey Humpers
10 IC Dips

Announcements: Rosco is being promoted on Friday at 10:00 am at the Training Academy.
COT: Easy Rider-Family, Bulldog-Interview today,

After the previous 3 posts, I was determined to simplify this. Short Sale, Squirt and Mayor had broken out with some very creative workout themes and messages at the last 3 workouts. I was just tired. No weinke, no plan….let’s just go.

Disclaimer

Pledge

Warm-Up In Cadence
SSH X 10
LBC’s X 10
Imperial Walkers X 10

The Thang

Mosey to the center of the baseball fields at Martha Rivers Park for a shortened Wolfpack Grinder.

15 Squats In Cadence
Run full circle around one of the ‘Pie’ pieces and back.
25 Merkins OYO
15 squats
Run full circle around one of the ‘Pie’ pieces and back.
30 Mountain Climbers OYO

Time for some partner work – Dora 1-2-3
Partner 1 does exercise; partner two runs to end of walkway between fields and back; cumulative reps
100 Merkins
150 LBC’s
200 squats

Mosey to covered picnic shed for more simple in-cadence work:

Dips X 15
Flutter Kicks X 20
Step ups X 20
Dips X 15
Flutter Kicks X 20
Step ups X 20
Dips X 20
Flutter Kicks X 30
Step ups X 25

Meander briefly (Still plenty of time left)

Merkins in place until failure. (I will refrain from admitting how few it took me to get to failure)

Zombie walk across parking lot followed by 40 LBC’s OYO
Lunch back across parking lot followed by 40 Freddy Mercury’s OYO

Finally time to mosey back to Pelican’s.

Time Up.

Very few announcements. Short prayer list. Name-o-rama. It was muggy.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead.

Until the next one. Aye!

Stroganoff

Been a while since I posted at Martha’s, so first of all, thanks to Gastone for the encouragement to Q. As I thought about a theme for the weinke, I was still thinking about the NBA draft last week. I’d heard the Hornets had drafted Monk and traded for Bacon. My excitement dwindled when I found out that neither one was our F3 brother of the same name. I also thought about a tweet from Freight that night questioning whether I had started to accept my F3 name. I had to look back and see where my namesake was drafted. He was drafted 11. And there was my theme.

Warm-Up
SSH x 11
LBCs x 11
Imperial Walkers x 11

The Pledge

Mosey to Gastone’s Hill for the first round of Eleven’s.

Sumo Squats at the bottom of the hill. Lunge walk up the hill a little ways. CCD’s at the top. Run back down the hill. Between the mumble chatter and the lunges, I lost count of what round I was on. Given that and the fact there were several more rounds of Eleven’s, YHC called that round of Eleven’s early.

Mosey to the Dollar General parking lot for round two of Eleven’s.

American Hammers on one side. Bear crawl to the other side. Plank Jacks on the other side. Run/Jog/Walk back. The pax made it all the way through round two.

Mosey to the old Harris Teeter/Lowe’s parking lot for round three of Eleven’s.

Hip Slappers against the wall. Flutter Kicks on the other side (1-2-3-ONE, 1-2-3-TWO, etc. was the count on the Flutters). The pax also made it all the way through round three.

Wall Sits with Shoulder Presses x 11

Mosey the long way through the parking lot and stopped at the wall in front of the bank.

Dips x 22

Mosey back home. We had time left so one round of Mary. Stone Cold – LBC x 20

Announcements
New site coming to post backblasts. Continue to use current site for now.

Prayer Requests
Gastone – Mother-in-law
Easy Rider – Unspoken
Outhouse – Brother-in-law
Special prayers for T-Square – If you’re readying this, we love you brother. We are all praying for you, your M, and your family.

Prayer

It was great to be back out at Martha’s this morning. Thanks to everyone for the push and the encouragement. Until next time…

The forecast was rain, so I was prepared with a weinke with some cover. I also put out a late tweet that I would do 3 burpees for each pax who posted, but increase this to 5 per pax if it was raining. I even taunted JK2 with a 10 burpee bonus if he showed. Rain seems to induce fartsacking around my house so I was trying to avoid this for others but think the message went out too late. Only 4 other pax, and no JK2…..We did have a visitor from Greensboro-good to meet Amphibious-would have been a good one for Stroganoff to meet-he is a fellow WolfPacker. (Is that a word?). Hope Strog’s back gets better soon.

Here is what I remember:

Quick disclaimer.

WU: SSH x 10, LBC X 10 (get right onto the wet pavement and embrace the puddles), Burp and Merk (total 10 burpees starting with 1 Merkin and increasing the number of Merkins on each burpee by 1 until you get to 10), Sumo Squats x 10.

Pledge

Thang: Mosey across the street to bank for Three Way Partner Work: rotate A to B to C then repeat X 5 total times (1 time for each exercise in C below)

A: Run lap around bank

B: Plank until runner returns

C: Exercise AMRAP until runner returns: SSH, High Knees, Jane Fonda L, Jane Fonda R (lay on side and lateral straight leg raise-prob not real exercise but needed something to work legs), Squats

Fast Mosey to Grocery Store under cover (called it cave on my weinke), bears live in caves so we did some bear-ish kind of things…

2 groups:

Group A: BTTW-this hurt a bit

Group B: did exercise: bear crawl across cave then lunge back, bear crawl half way across cave then mosey back, ? lunge across cave and back, lunge across cave. Think was 4 sets but the low oxygen content in cave made my brain foggy. Luckily we got out of the cave before any dain bramage.

Hindu Squat Count Down (Thanks Freight for this in your recent backblast) with some short mosey:

Squats X 20, 15, 10, 5. Between sets we ran across parking lot and back.

Mosey back towards Pelicans with short rounds X 2 of Arm Squats on the way.

Arrive in parking lot with time to spare: Jack Webb. Turtleman was heard to say something like: What  is the purpose of air presses? He figured it out somewhere around 7 or 8.

Mary X 1 round each pax: LBC, Crunchy Frog, and other stuff I can’t recall except the 5 count flutter kicks from Gastone-suggestion from Q was no more than 20 reps…always someone who bucks the system. Glad I never do that.

COT: Good stuff today. I am not a big fan of posting in the rain, but really not a big deal since we are usually sweaty anyway and the rain actually feels pretty good, especially during the warmer months. I guess that is why I jumped at the open Q last night, otherwise I would likely have fartsacked. Hey Zeus is moving this weekend for anyone able to help. See Twitter post from Hushpuppy.

Was good to meet Amphibious this am. Always good to meet Pax from other areas and get a different perspective. We had some interesting discussion during the COT. Consistently posting at 0530 is a really good incentive to avoid those old demons. Also, being involved in your brothers’ lives and holding them accountable with honest feedback when you suspect they are veering off the path. Got an email from Stroganoff this am from The Eagles Perch that seemed very timely: Even from the lowest point in the dark valley, there’s a path leading to the sunlit mountain peak. No matter where you are or what has happened, your next step can be a positive one. Keep an eye on your brothers-we need each other.

One final note-there was a pax (Cheech) who was hit by a car while running this am in Lexington, SC and was critically injured despite wearing a headlamp, reflective gear, and blinkers. Keep him in your prayers and be mindful of general safety issues when you post. Make sure someone has a phone (Q’s responsibility). Tomorrow, in his honor, all pax are encouraged to go sleeveless. Remember him in COT.

later-Whoopee

It’s been a while since I’ve posted at Martha’s House on a Monday. I’m excluding The Murph since that was a holiday. My M typically attends her boot camp classes on Monday’s and Wednesday’s leaving me to fill the gaps on my own or at other AO’s. As the Region’s Weasel Shaker, I’ve been monitoring the good things going on each week. When Gastone offered the spot to Q, the temptation was too hard to resist. I humbly asked my M for permission for the early morning am spot on our shared calendar and she gratuitously stepped aside. Maybe something to do with Father’s Day, or quite possibly the speech Whoopee gave at the belated After Christmas (but still before the next Christmas) Party. Whatever it was, I was free and clear.

As I went to work on my Weinke, I knew I needed to bring a steady diet of challenge that would make our Site Q proud and willing to extend another invitation to Q, hopefully not five months between (that was on me). This famous hill I’ve read so much about was incorporated along with another promise to Whoopee to carve at least one song from my playlist of 80’s hair trash/metal for a little George Strait. I had a few other ideas brewing that I needed an ideal PAX divisible by 3. As fate would have it, 9 men stumbled into the gloom. No FNG’s though I was happy to see Dr. Feelgood off IR and in the circle. With that, the disclaimer was “modify as needed, don’t get hurt.” The warm-up didn’t waste any time to get the heart rate up; 50’s seconds to complete the following:

• 5 Burpees
• 10 High Knees (5 each leg)
• 10 Butt Kickers
• 10 Mountain Climbers
• 10 SSH
• Repeat 4 more times for total of 5

Pledge

Mosey to Gastone’s hill a little more than a half mile. Partner into three-somes for a mé·nage à trois of pain. Partner 1 remains at the bottom of the hill to perform flutter kicks; Partner 2 travels to the to top of the hill to perform merkins; Partner 3 sprints up the hill. After each run, the partners exchange positions (and if you want your dirty mind to drift into that realm of perverseness, well, that’s on you). As I was describing…everyone goes AMRAP on the exercises with each PAX completing three laps. The only mumble chatter was Whoopee belaying Geddy Lee’s high pitched falsetto in ‘Anthem.’  Sorry, only one George Strait song on my phone. There was heavy breathing as we gathered for a recovery at the bottom of the hill and I didn’t have any words of wisdom to share to bide the time. So we took inventory around the circle of each man’s highlight from Father’s Day. For 8 of us, it was a lunch or dinner with our family. Gastone watched Tombstone with his M and 2.0; he was declared the winner.  Time to move.

Up Riverwood Parkway toward Union and hanging a left into the Dollar General parking lot for a light version of Insanity. Three exercises to be completed over 30 seconds with a half minute breather in between.

Set 1

• Lt. Dans
• Step-out Merkin (begin in high plank; right arm/leg move out for Werkin; return to plank, then move left arm/leg out for another Werkin; return to plank)
• American Hammer
• Repeat

Set 2

• Lunge jump – 15 seconds right/15 seconds left
• Cross-fit Merkins
• Crunchy Frogs
• Omaha’ed second round

Mosey to the old Harris Teeter for some wall work. The timer was out for another few sets; as many reps as possible in 30 seconds with a 30 second rest between.

Set 1

• Mike Tysons
• Wall taps
• Wall sit
• Turtle crunch (feet on the wall, crunch forward to touch wall, this is a burner)
• Repeat

Set 2

• Donkey kicks
• Plank taps
• Wall sit – marching
• Hip slappers
• Repeat

Mosey back to the Snow-ball parking lot with 6 minutes left. One final push to maintain the heart-rate. I had a few sets of 11’s remaining on the Weinke. With all the merkins completed thus far, I omaha’ed the merkin/dip set to SSH/Mtn. Climbers (10 SSH, 1 Mtn Climber, then 9 SSH, 2 Mtn Climbers, and so on). Three minutes left, time for Mary. Began with a new one that I don’t have a name for it other than to call it what we did: Knee claps. On your six, right leg extended, lift your left knee and clap underneath, then lower left, raise right and clap under the right knee. We went 40 reps. Need to stretch the abs and called out Michael Phelps, always a crowd pleaser. The in-cadence count went to 10. In the final minute I called for Freddie Mercury which I promptly began doing American Hammers – Q Fail! Defib quickly pointed out the positive sign for a Q to perform the wrong exercise called due to delirium. I’ll go with that but always room for improvement as a QIC. TIME!

COT

This workout was designed to be intense, to push the heart rate without much rest. The PAX were up to the challenge pushing along and staying together on the runs. The 30 second sets allowed for the “you vs. you” part to be earned. Judging by the sweat and little mumble chatter, that was accomplished as well. I know Dr. Feelgood has been working to get back into the gloom, so it was great to have him among the PAX. There were no announcements, a prayer request from Easy Rider for his brother James that may need neck surgery. Dr. Feelgood’s parents and his health were offered as well. It was great to be back at Martha’s. Hopefully the next post will be sooner rather than later.

For those scoring at home the playlist went as follows: Amarillo By Morning (G. Strait), Awake (Godsmack), Sweet Home Alabama (LS), Wild Side (Motley), Anthem (Rush), Hot For Teacher (VH), Running On Empty (Jackson Browne), Land of Confusion (Genesis), If You Want Blood (ACDC), Feel Invincible (Skillet). Until the next time, thanks for allowing me to lead.

Short Sale

7.25 men showed up for a Gastone performance of leg day.

The Thang:

SSH

10 Merkins

Seal Jacks

10 Wide Arm Merkins

Wind Mill (For Whoopee)

10 Carolina Dry Dock

Can’t Remember

10 Diamond Merkins

Follow me to the small hill next to baseball field.

5 times backwards up the hill

5 times lunges up the hill

Then to the parking lot and find a line.

Standing beside the line we jumped back and forth over the line. 1 Minute

Rocky on the curb next. 1 minute

Back to the line. Facing the line with both feet jump over and back. 1 minute

Rinse and repeat starting with 5 times backwards up the hill. (This is the point that I heard mumble chatter behind me suggesting a towel with soap for a beating.)

After we finished that we headed into the back of the baseball field.

50 yards of Bunny Hop Burpee’s. This was a crowd favorite and not to be confused with Broad Jump Burpee.

Then we moseyed to the bleachers, all the way to the top.

10 Calf Raises feet together

10 Calf Raises feet apart

Rinse and repeat.

Mosey back to the start and while waiting on the 6 we did Sumo Squats until they all arrived. It was at this point that Oompa Joined us for Announcements.

The Moleskin:

Overall a good way to start Monday morning. We all might not be able to walk the rest of the day but we will survive. Still trying to capture more FNG’s to join us in the gloom. Talk it up post more information on the group when you can. Do what it takes to grow our group, you can’t beat the price.

Thanks for letting me Q such a great group of men. It is always an honor.

Gastone Out!

Today…..we exercised like old ladies. It was an impromptu Q, one that I had to pry from Gastone’s hands while he grudgingly smiled and said I could have it. Another Q was on the schedule but alas, he was not present. Probably called to work for something important and so it was all mine and I was excited. Yesterday I met a lady in her 60’s who is still exercising and told me about some of her routine workouts. Believe it or not, it often involves burpees when she works out at 9 Rounds. I was inspired and last night prepared a weinke just in case it was needed with the intention of using for EC this weekend. As luck would have it, I was given the opportunity sooner than expected and to the Pax’ dismay, we got it on like old ladies this morning. I explained the general plan-no warmup, 2 minutes of an exercise then 1 min of partner derkins then repeat until all pax called an exercise. Fortunately, we had 10 this am allowing us to exceed the old ladies’ routine. The minute of derkins would be split between the partners with 30 seconds for each partner. The 2 minutes of exercise would be done all together but not IC. Basically AMRAP during the 2 minutes-the exercises were initially suggested by me with each pax given an exercise as a suggestion but they were free to choose another if they desired. I will claim this was my disclaimer, although it was not formally stated. Read the fine print on your contract-it is at the bottom. Assigning the exercises to individual Pax allowed me to focus my attention on the timer which is pretty complicated for me. I had to alternate between 1 minute and 2 minute timers every time. It also assured everyone paid attention to what was going on, except the Q-I mixed up the order just a little bit but not sure anyone really cared.

Here is what I can remember (in no particular order):

2 min exercises: SSH, Squats, LBC, Flutter kicks, 2 laps around Pelicans, Sumo Squats, Flying Squirrels, Imperial Walkers, Michael Phelps, and Rocky Balboa. All pax got to choose an exercise.

Partner Derkins between each of those exercises for 1 minute for total of 10 sets. Plank for partner A while partner B does Derkins. After 30 seconds, swap.

The 2 minutes of exercise allowed for some interesting conversations. We discussed the physical appearance of the female who inspired this workout. One pax in particular was interested a little more than expected….All I’m gonna say is don’t leave Gastone alone with your nana, especially if your nana likes ice cream. He sent me some Glamor Shot videos from last summer with his nana and I attached them to this morning’s pre-backblast. You should probably not even think about looking at it.

We had some good humor as well-Squirt, too bad the Papa John and Smalls were not here. Maybe you will bring them next time…..Naaaaaaahhhhhhhhh. (If you were there, you got that one.)

There were a few other things that happened but I am trying to forget. Thanks for posting this am guys. It never gets old.

Finished with Pledge, namorama, announcements and prayers.

Try to make it to 3rd F this weekend for the convergence at Downtown. Not to put any pressure on him, but suspect Roscoe will be very impactful. If you are so inclined, also show up for EC at 6am. You may or may not see something that resembles this……