OBT Visits The Fishing Hole
Below is the official BB from OBT. A few observations on my first post in a while. Chelms never showed, Freehley’s & Fireman Ed love to gossip! Chopper just gets it done along with young & old Cooter! Commish taught me the meaning of Pop Warner Football, ok. Kirby has a dry sense of humor, and Snowflake is very quite! Jello likes Freehley’s innapropriate jokes, Cadillac was all alone this morning as CHELMS never showed. Tagalong was keeping his beady eye on me as his M is my new PT Therapist and I’m not allowed to run for 3 weeks. He’s also very neevous about the upcoming Crane Relay. Shameless plug go visit (CharlotteOneonOne Therapy). Thank you OBT for making the drive down South.
The Thang:
Epic Workout, Not Epic Backblast
Pretty sure YHC should be doing work or studying for the PMP, but enough of that. Meathead needs a backblast and YHC has fallen out of practice. If you read the pre-blast, then you know this will not be witty or epic but the workout was (epic).
9 men met at Elizabeth Lane Elementary for their downpainment in the weekly workout that is Meathead. As per the usual, we circled up, music was queued, disclaimer, shovel flag, and we were off.
The Things:
Warm-up:
SSH x 20, Two-handed swing x 20
IW x 20, Two-handed swing x 20
Plank up – mt climbers x 20, hold plank for 20 seconds, Two-handed swing x 20
Circuit 1: all 4 exercises represent one set, and reps are descending per set. As reps go low, weight goes high
Goblet Squat, Merkin, Sumo Deadlift, Two-handed Swing
x 20, x 15, x 10, x 5
Circuit 2: (single sided)
Clean and press from ground, Reverse lunge, Lawnmower (reverse grip), one armed swing
x 10 each side, x 7 each side, x 5 each side, x 3 each side
waiter/rack/suitcase carry across the parking lot. Start with right arm, come back with left.
Circuit 3:
Curls, Upright row, Overhead Extension, double OH press (thanks Mighty Mite)
X 20, x 15, x 10, x 5
Circuit 4:
one arm swings, Snatch, OH presses, diamonds merkins
x 10 each side, x 7 each side, x 5 each side, x 3 each side (or X 20, x 15, x 10, x 5)
The ‘warmed up by the end of the first set’ Moleskin:
Workouts always look easier on paper. This is no exception. The idea was not to focus on one area in a circuit and slowly add in extra weight. The killer here is the number of reps. We got 100 2 handed swings in today, 50 standard and 35 diamond merkins (circuit 4 got cut short due to time constraints), 100 single side OH presses and 50 two-handed OH presses, 50 squats, 50 sumo dead lifts, etc. I struggled at the end of the last sets of OH presses with a 53lb bell, so I know I was smoked.
Pax were in good spirits, mumble-chatter was light-hearted even if the music wasn’t. YHC did get some comments about his song selections from “that sounds like a teenager, whose voice just dropped, yelling at his parents because he can’t go to the party” to “i’m feeling angry now”. Overall, great effort out there. Thanks Voodoo and High Tide for the opportunity to lead and for High Tide with the takeout.
Announcements:
Crane Relay – Tomorrow
Vagabond – November 10th, Hickory Tavern, 13 miles, 6 AOs, t-shirts are available. Check the pre-blast.
Christmas Party – Dec 1st, 6:00 PM, Seaboard in Matthews, food by Brown Bag
Santa Ruck (2.0 friendly) – Dec 1st, not at 6:00 PM
Metro has a turkey drive going. They want any donations this year to be turkeys delivered by pax to the families that they are donating too. See Deer Tick in Metro for more details.
SOB is hosting a Turkey Bowl on Thanksgiving day. Trash talk is aimed at Area 51, for a highly contested win in a previous year. Smething about hurt feelings (i.e. SOB wasn’t invited back, boo hoo). So Area 51, as per an SOB guy, “if you want to come to the varsity game, come out to that one.” All this from a SOB pax who is boycotting SOB so he can come to Area 51 to trash them ahead of the Turkey Bowl. Riiiiiiiight …hopefully SOB won’t shut it down like they did Foxhole. Too soon?
Winter gear orders are coming. Help High Tide keep his role as gear Q and order something.
Joe Davis Run is in March. Get the lowest price by registering on or before October 31st.
And now, your mornings playlist
Filter – Hey Man, Nice Shot
Helmet – Milquetoast
Snapcase – 20th Nervous Breakdown
Madball – For my Enemies
Deftones – Headup
The Hope Conspiracy – Youth and It’s Burden
Paint it Black – The Beekeeper
Sick of it All – Disco Sucks, F*** Everything
System of a Down – Sugar
Faith No More & Boo Ya Tribe – Another Body Murdered
Rage Against the Machine – Sleep Now in the Fire
Social Distortion – Don’t Drag Me Down
Red City Radio – 50th and Western
S.M.A.C.K. Down & the Cube of Pain
I planned this Q today to challenge myself, and the Pax, to get out of our comfort zones and put in some work at 530am. As they say, the real growth happens in life when we break out of our comfort zones. Workouts should be no different. If we’re going to wake up early, we might as well push it hard. I also got a late night text from Ice9 asking where we meet for The Floater. Since he’s lived in Waxhaw for 13 years, I tried to give him the simplest directions to where the Water Tower and Church are located. Let’s just say, I should not have assumed!!!
14 of us took our warm-up lap from the Water Tower/Church location around the block to get started. Warm-up exercises consisted of:
- SSH x 25
- IW x 25
- Mtn Climbers x 25
- Low Slow Squat x 25
- Cherry Picker x 10
- Upward Dog Stretch
- Downward Dog Stretch (face it…we all need more flexibility!)
The THANG…a S.M.A.C.K. down was about to happen:
Mosey to the famous Waxhaw Footbridge. Partner Up with someone of equal speed.
P1 runs over the Bridge, down Main St, and back to the Tree. At the tree and benches P2 does:
- S – Step ups
- M – Merkins
- A – Atomic Merkins (a Merkin + a Plank Jack. Learned this from Smokey at Asylum on Monday…another reason to try new AO’s and Q’s, fellas!)
- C – Carolina Dry Docks
- K – Knee ups (seated leg extensions)
Each man completes (2) rounds of each Letter before moving onto the next. Somehow, Ice9 and I got off count and either did less Step-ups than required or more Merkins…either way, YHC heard about it from Deflated! Thanks, brother. Guilty as charged!
Great work by the Pax getting up and over that bridge so many times. Those steps are steep and thankfully they were dry today. YHC heard some complaining about Merkins followed by Atomic Merkins then Dry Docks. That’s how we know it’s a good workout. Realizing we had some Pax just starting the “K”, it was strongly suggested YHC shut it down and gather up the Pax. Request honored. Now, grab a wall at the Veterans Memorial for:
- Donkey Kicks x 20 OYO
- Mike Tysons x 20 OYO
- Donkey Kicks x 10 OYO
- Mike Tysons x 10 OYO
Shoulders were now smoked. Mosey back to the start for the “Cube of Pain”. My sons found this Bootcamp exercise Cube at the new Five Below on 521/Lancaster Hwy. They thought it could be useful at F3, and for them at home. I used it at Dromedary recently, so I couldn’t deprive the Floater Pax of this great tool. Each man rolls the cube and whatever exercise and # comes up, we do it. Pretty Simple. To the best of my knowledge we did:
- (30) Mtn Climbers
- (15) x Jump Squats
- (20) Dips
- 1-minute Wall Sit (mixed in some 1-legged sits as well)
- (20) Burpees
- (15) Jump Lunges
- (30) Russian Twists (or American Hammers)
- (30) Plank Jacks (supposed to be Mtn Climbers, again…mixed it up. Incorporated 6″ PJ’s)
Finish!
Moleskin:
As mentioned, I wanted to push everyone beyond the limit of what we would do ourselves. Today was shoulder and chest day, and I think everyone tore down to build back up. Approaching my 2-Year F3 Anniversary on 10/31/18, I have made it my mission to take my Q’s to another level, to select Q’s at Dromedary on Wednesday’s that will bring some pain to the Pax, and visit other AO’s to learn and grow. That’s what F3 is all about, in my opinion. We can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results. Let’s keep pushing each other, fellas! I’m proud of what I see from so many of you and the increased speed and strength you’ve developed. Until next time…
Announcements:
Great Wolf Lodge F3 Event on 11/9. Workout on 11/10 at Great Wolf.
Damascus doing Vagabond on 11/10 as well.
“Clyent Dinner” workout tonight. 630pm at Food Lion shopping center.
New Men’s Bible Study at Five Stones Church (not an F3 study). Wednesday mornings. 615am after Chiseled.
YHC took us out in prayer. Lord, continue to bless the pax, provide a hedge of protection around us all, our families, our schools, our community, our workplaces and our country.
If the Schmedium fits
Is there anything more exciting than a VQ?
As the clock ticks closer to 0530 all PAX wonder — can he count cadence? Will he run out of exercises? Will this be the first in an illustrious list of worksout led or will they “strike out” (if you know you know).
For Schmedium at DV on Wednesday the answers are as follows:
- sorta
- no
- probably
- definitely not
The thing:
Little warm w/some suspect cadence… all the usual suspects – Merkins, IW, SSH, LSSquat
mosey to the track – break into 2 groups for some indian runs
400 meters – Merkins
400 meters (increasing speed) – squats
400 meters (increasing speed) – lbc’s
400 meters (increasing speed)
Mosey back up to the bathroom …
- Peoples chair
2 groups:
1 with a lifting rock doing curls… 1 runs 400 meters does 20 step ups, 20 merkins, 20 dips 400 back
repeat x4
Finish.
Author’s notes:
From my vantage point I would give the workout a 7 on intensity, 8 on creativity, 9 on community, and 10 on efficiency.
Spackler, Stone Cold, Busch, and Header all in attendance meant we were only a Semi-gloss away from a royal flush — you really can’t beat that group.
The Eagles were in full force again – 8 strong. Carmel Corn posted well -no one is quite sure of his age but he runs with the young guns… Snookie was chipper as ever and Sparty balanced him well with a healthy degree of “I hate this” emanating from his person at all times.
Only 3 weeks left to see the Eags before they inevitably fly South for Winter. Don’t miss your chance!
DW
Bucket Brigade
17 PAX had no idea what they were getting into at Chiseled this morning. I always find it fun to think of new ways to stretch ourselves as a PAX. With Zinfandel holding the record of least used gear in a gear workout, I thought I would go the other direction with the introduction of 40lb buckets full of concrete. According to Deadwood, the back of my truck was dragging from all the extra weight that was about to be hauled around Five Stones Church for the shear enjoyment of a great workout.
Let’s MOSEY:
Take a lap to the front Entrance of the Church and all the way back to the start to ensure we were nice and warm on a cold morning
- Side Straddle Hop X 20
- Potato Pickers X 10
- Calf Stretch for a 10 count on each leg
- Merkins X20
- Mountain Climbers X 20
The Thang-
- Mosey to the buckets and pair up
- Bucket Run – Partner Run the Length of the parking lot while handing off the bucket at each line in the parking lot
- Plank at the end of the parking lot waiting for the six
- Repeat Trip Back to the Beginning transitioning buckets every other line
- Plank while waiting for the six
- Bucket Squats
- One partner squats while holding the bucket while the other partner runs half the parking lot X 3
- One partner Bucket Curl to Press while the other Runs half the parking lot X 2
- One Partner Deadlift the bucket while the other runs half the parking lot X3
- One Partner reverse lunge to bucket lift while the other runs half the parking lot X2
- One Partner does elevated hand merkins on the bucket while the other runs half the parking lot X2
- Finish with Bucket Curl Burnout while your partner does LBC’s.
COT
At the end of the workout, the buckets became Phuckets with 2.5 miles of running and plenty of muscle work with 40 lbs of concrete. There was substantial whining about the required lifting and the finger pain from those who usually lift a wine glass. Fortunately, I have stored the buckets at the Chiseled site for anyone who wishes to add the weight to future workouts.
Announcements
- We didn’t win the MegaMillions so we all had to report to work
- I am sure there is a 5k going on in the near future. Get with Posse if you want to run.
- Five Stones if hosting a Men’s Bible Study every Wednesday at 6:15 in the morning
- Welcome Big Baller (Nate Mills) to the group
- New Workout Thursday Evening at Food Lion Parking Lot at 6:30
- Thursday Q for Thanksgiving at 6:30 now in downtown Waxhaw
Not an epic pre-blast …
This hasn’t happened in a while. A pre-blast by YHC and a pre-blast for Meathead.
If you were hoping for dry, witty humor or some level of epic writing, then find something written by Ickey Shuffle or Horsehead. YHC is simply here to let you know that tomorrow will be tough. You will have trouble screwing in light bulbs after this workout, your legs may fail you when you try to get up from your desk later in the day, and your ears will never forgive the onslaught of aggressive sounds of the 1990’s – 2000’s.
Playlist will include: filter, helmet, sick of it all, clutch, deftones, madball, rage against the machine, paint it black, red city radio, social distortion, system of a down, the hope conspiracy, snapcase. it won’t be a white zombie workout, as disappointing as that sounds.
Bring light bells and heavy bells, expect high reps and low reps. And grab a protein shake, you’ll need it after we’re done.
SYITG
REMITTEKRAM
Lots of partners stuff, lots of backward running and a standout performance by Market Timer. It’s The Maul! Here’s the run-down:
From the Cineplex we trekked east to the glow of Wells Fargo ATM.
Standard COP
Side-staddle hops x 20
Imperial Walkers x 15
(at this point Cheddar joins the group.)
Mountain Climbers x 20
Peter Parkers x 10
Parker Peters x 10
The Thing
We descended Piper Station Dr. past Chik-Fil-A and across Rea Rd to the Uwharrie (baby) Deck.
P1 Burpees
P2 Run out of the deck, around the corner, up the step and meet your partner
Repeat for a combined 100 burpees
During a medley of dynamic running – shuffles, high knees, butt-kickers and BACKWARDS – Market Timer turned on the hyperdrive. He should only run backwards.
We took the unnamed alley a bit too far and ended up in the Residence Inn. Not wanting to just turn around, we did 10 regular, 10 wide and 10 crucible ‘mericans. We backtracked a bit to the office building next door for more partner work.
P1 & 2 run down parallel parking lanes and return for
30 partner sit-ups
20 partner slap ‘mericans
10 partner slap burpees
We began our return via backward running Piper Station Dr. Market Timer moving like he’s on skates!!
Back to the ATM for Tammy Wynette (Stand by Your Man)
P1 10 ‘mericans
P2 10 squats
repeat until you compete 100 ‘mericans and 100 squats (not 50!!!)
Some bear crawls and 50 calf raises capped the workout.
Moleskine
As noted Market Timer was in the spotlight most of the morning.
Happy Meal and Mic Check always churning toward the front of the pack.
Thank you to Squid for carrying me on the early burpees.
Heartbreaker is still not 100%, but he was out there putting in the work. Glad you’re back!!
As a father, kudos to Cheddar for making it out of the house, albeit late.
Toolbag and Big League Chew were non-stop hustle!
Announcements:
Stonehenge converges with DaVinci this Sat.
CSUP Vagabond is 11/10
Winging it on Day 3
Anvil today was my third Q in 3 days and I had to try to motivate myself – leaders can’t quit on their men. However, I usually only have a rough plan when I start and today was no exception. 11 men gathered on time and were properly disclaimed before following the Alpha Stallion – wait Alpha Stallion leads from behind – before following YHC down the lane by the church.
The Thang:
Mosey over to middle parking lot for some warm up:
- IW x10
- Mtn Climbers X15
- Windmills X10
- Cotton pickers X10 (Purple Haze request – didn’t want to make him grumpy early so I complied)
- Peter Pakers X10
- Merkins X10
Partner up and mosey over to rock pile to grab 1 lifting rock per team. Partner 1 runs down to end of lot and back while partner 2 does called exercise:
Round 1 – Backward run down and sprint back while partner does curls – flap jack
Round 2 – Karoke down and sprint back while partner does overhead push presses – flap jack
Round 3 – Bear crawl to first light (about 25 yards) and then sprint down to end and back while partner does squats – flap jck
Mosey to parking lot down near fields for some shoulder/core work. Partner 1 does called shoulder work while partner 2 holds the rock while doing called Mary
Round 1 – Flutters and merkins
Round 2 – Dolly and CDD
Round 3 – American hammer and Diamonds
Mosey over to picnic area for dips X20, incline merkins X10 and dips X20. Mosey to other side of building for people chair with rock while partner does balls to the wall. Flap jack twice
Mosey back to rock pile to drop off rocks and then circle up for more Mary. Rosalita, High flutter, dolly, flutter, and side crunches
Back to parking lot closet to 51 for a modified beast. Three rounds with six stops at each island in the middle for 6 of called exercise.
Round 1 – Squats
Round 2 – Lunges
Round 3- Burpees (always finish the beast with burpees even if modified)
Mosey back to launch point for two quick sprints down the lot to kill the remaining minute
Naked MS
Glad to have this stretch of 3 consecutive Q’s is over. It wasn’t as bad as I thought even with Fast Twitch in the middle. We kept the mileage down and that kept Purple Haze happy since he ran about 7 miles with me yesterday (well not with me as I only got in 6). First time working out with Clover, Muwana, and Cocoa. Snooka continues to amaze the pax with his speed for old man as he refuses to tell us what PED’s he uses for his fountain of youth. Caddilac is now posting regularly and good to hear plus he gets bragging rights for at least a day over Dr Belding who fart sacked. Appreciate the invite from Lorax to Q even though I didn’t plan on 3 in a row when I originally accepted.
Apologies for the one PAX I forgot. I spent so much time remembering the names of the new guys that I forgot one of the regulars (I think he is a regular but not sure since I FORGOT). (EDIT – Utah was there. He beat me in a 10K few years ago and I still have not forgiven him. HIPPA made me add his name)
Announcements – Get out in the community and lock shields with other F3 men to make an impact. We need more leaders now than ever and there are all kinds of needs.
As always, humbled and honored to lead such a great group (and Haze).
PreBlast: VAGABOND 2018 CSAUP Info and Shirt Order
What?
VAGABOND merges F3 Area 51’s “Southern Discomfort” and F3 Sons of Ballantyne’s “Balrog” into one epic #CSAUP (completely stupid and utterly pointless) event. PAX from all over South Charlotte and surrounding areas will run a ~13 mile loop course through the Area 51 and SOB F3 regions, stopping for six 15-minute pain stations along the way. Those looking for a modified version can start at one of the AO’s along the way (more info below). For those nursing injuries, cyclists are welcome.
When?
Saturday, November 10th. Launches @ 0630 sharp, ends by 1100.
Where?
Start/end is at Hickory Tavern on Providence Rd. in Charlotte (11504 Providence Rd.) across the street from the Waverly shopping center.
Why?
It’s free, all your friends are doing it and we have badass shirts. Plus, free beer and apps. Need I say more?
After Party / Donation:
Join us for food and drinks at Hickory Tavern immediately following the event @ 1100. 1 beer and apps provided at no cost, courtesy of Kid Rock! We only ask that you please make a donation ($5 suggested minimum) to Veteran’s Bridge Home, a non-profit that helps Charlotte-area Veterans successfully transition home after military service by identifying their education, employment and healthcare needs and connecting them to available community, state and federal resources. Link: http://veteransbridgehome.org/ (just click “Donate” in the upper right-hand corner)
What to bring:
- Shovel flags (we’ll be carrying them for the duration to show support for Veteran’s Day and F3)!
- Fuel (GU, chews, etc.) *this is important*
- Hydration will be provided at each pain station, but feel free to bring your own
- Gloves
- Blinkies, reflective vest, etc.
- Change of clothes for after party
Course
Here is the list of AO’s we’ll be stopping at for pain stations, and an estimated range of when we’ll be arriving at each one:
- Waverly: 0630
- Charlotte Latin: 0700 – 0720
- South Charlotte Middle School: 0735 – 0805
- Calvary Church: 0805 – 0845
- Stonecrest: 0845 – 0925
- Blakeney: 0920 – 1000
Shirt Pre-Order
Turkey Leg’s M designed us some killer shirts. See the design below. The prices are very reasonable: only $10 for tee, $15 for long sleeve, $12 for sleeveless. The shirts are performance fabric / moisture-wicking and athletic cut. These are shirts you’ll wear proudly to any F3 workout. Several colors are available. Place your order by midnight on Monday, November 4th to get your shirt the morning of the event. We will also place an order after the event if there is enough interest. Send funds via PayPal to joesavarese@yahoo.com
Shirt – Front Design
Shirt – Back Design
PreBlast Trailer