South of the Border!

South of the Border!

A couple of weeks ago, Cobbler put out a plea on Slack looking for Q’s for The Arsenal in Indian Land, SC.  YHC attended a Rockwell Q there a few months back, and this AO is awesome. Three schools all in one location, plenty of area to roam, and only 10 minutes or so from Millbridge (which now hosts 2…yes, 2 workouts a week with Pursuit and Commitment!).

This would be a great opportunity for someone from the newly-formed Waxhaw Region to step up…so that’s what happened.  Q accepted! Time to spread the word, prepare the Weinke, Cross the Border and try to crush our F3 Brothers to the South!

The THANG:

10 of us showed up today to a low-60+ degree temperature, including 3 of us from Waxhaw (YHC, Rockwell, and YHC’s son, Hawkeye).  With a good feel for the AO after visiting Google Earth and a visit yesterday, the Weinke was strong, so the music needed to be as well…80’s Rock!  Let’s get rolling…

Short Warmup around the front lot of the Elementary School…Circle up for:

• SSH x 20
• IW x 20
• Plank Jacks x 15
• Peter Parker x 10
• A little stretching to include Upward/Downward Dog, Calf Stretch

Need to point out and recognize that one of the strong and loyal SOB/Arsenal Pax, One Niner, showed up today even though he is on the IR with a foot injury.  He came with his Cruiser Bike + Headlight so he could get some cardio in while we all ran around, but would jump off the bike and do the exercises with us when it was time. Incredible commitment and creativity, brother!  It was awesome to see and I will be sharing this with the WaxPax so we can incorporate into our M*A*S*H Unit.

Grab a wall out front for a new & improved exercise called the “Merkin-Donkey-Derkin”.  Pretty self-explanatory but we need to come up with an actual name for it (like “Awful” or something like that).  YHC introduced the “Donkey-Derkin” at The Floater recently, and it wasn’t received well, which tells you it was hard! Here is how the new & improved version goes:

• Get in Plank Position
• Do a Merkin, followed by a Donkey Kick/Balls 2 The Wall, Do a Derkin, Reset to Plank
• Repeat this awful exercise (10) times on my count
• Done!

From the sounds YHC heard, this was something “special” that needs to be stolen by others and used again soon. 

Long mosey to the front of the Middle School Circle (via Bus Route). Quick directions to Partner Up for some Core Work:

• P1 (150) Flutters (every 2 is 1) / P2 run around the island
• P1 (150) LBC (Civilian Count) / P2 run around the island
• P1 (150) Freddy Mercury’s (every 2 is 1) / P2 run around the island

Mosey to the High School Parking lot, but on the way take a pit stop for some Incline Merkin Ladders on the curb.  Start at 1, work our way up to 10.  Brutal! Done!

Mosey over to the High School Student Parking Lot for “4 Corners/Starfish”.  Here is how it went:

• 5 x Big Boy Burpees in Middle after returning from each corner.

Note: Big Boy Burpees = 1 Merkin during the 1st Burpee, 2 Merkins during the 2nd Burpee, 3 Merkins during the 3^rd Burpee, 4 Merkins during the 4^th  Burpee, 5 Merkins during the 5^th Burpee. Repeat 4 times! Smoked!

• 20 x Squats
• 20 x Bomb Jacks
• 20 x Mary Catherines 
• 20 x Jump Squats

Only 7 minutes remaining…time to skip the planned trip to the Football Stadium Stands where we would have done some more work!  Mosey back to the Elementary School via the Bus Route, stop at the wall when YHC realized some Pax were worn out.  (50) Air Presses.  Done!

Mosey back to ES for the “Cube of Pain”…a silly rubber ball/hexagon/octagon/many-a-gon with various exercises written on it. I think we did:

• 15 x Jump Squats
• 20 x Merkins
• 15 Jump Tucks
• Something else I can’t remember. 
• DONE!

Moleskin:

It is always great to get out of our comfort zones, try something/someplace new, workout with Pax you don’t normally work out with, push each other, and walk away with satisfaction knowing you prepared a solid workout that challenged your brothers (and your son!). It was an absolute privilege to cross the Border to lead today a great group of guys in Indian Land, SC.  Thank you to Cobbler for throwing the opportunity out there, and thank you to the men who posted and supported my Q.  Especially Rockwell, who HC’d this week and showed up (unlike others who HC’d and didn’t…you know who you are!).

Welcome to our FNG, “Janitor”, who has 4 kids and does much of the dirty work at home. We also couldn’t agree on a name that matched his background, so Janitor it is!  I look forward to leading at The Arsenal again in the future, fellas. We just need to find/plant some lifting rocks/cinder blocks around that campus somewhere!

Announcements:

• Isabella Santos Race with Speed For Need on 9/28
• Waxhaw Region Launch/Convergence on Labor Day. Cuthbertson High School in Waxhaw.  All 3 F’s happening. 7am – 8am Workout. 8am – 9am Coffeeteria + Christ’s Closet donations. 
• One Niner took us out in Prayer!