Monthly Archive March 2020

Welcome to the Show – Its all about dem Legs!

The Warm Up

DICCS given, a little chit chat. a little failed Q-Jacking (No names will be called out), Time…..Let’s Mosey.  We head around the parking lot to back of building.  We are come to a stop at Mt. Chiseled to show PAX where Mt Chiseled is located.  Well, they thought we were stopping there for me to show Mt Chiseled, and I did, but Deadwood was right…I was running a little low on gas, but that is what happens when you only post 1 or 2 times a month. (note to self, work out more so Deadwood don’t call you out).  Then proceeded for a short little mosey back to center stage where all the action will be taking place and the bills will start flying, where we performed the following warm up exercises.

-SSH

-Imperial Walkers

-Mericans

-LBC’s

-Calf Stretch Right (Aka..the Dana Stretch)

-Calf Stretch Left (Aka..the Dana Stretch)

Head over to Center stage to go over the morning performances

 

The Thang

Station 1 – Tire Flip

Station 2 – Bent over rows with cinder blocks

Station 3 – Shoulder press with cinder blocks

Station 4 – Slam ball

Station 5 – Goblet Squat

Station 6 – Gift Bag Squat – If you don’t know what this is, then maybe next time you will show up.

Station 7 – Hair Burners (everyone’s favorite)

Station 8 – Stairway to Heaven – This may or may not have involved the company ladder

Station 9 – Funky squats with a press

Station 10 – Curls

Station 11 – Manmakers

Station 12 – Triceps Extensions

Moleskine

Let me preface by saying, as this was my VQ, this BB may not be the best reading materiel for the Porcelain office chair, but hey, it was my VQ so back off, and know there will be more, just not in the month of March.

If I am truly honest, I was very nervous last night.  So bad, I did not go to sleep until 1am or so.  Then my youngest decided to wake up around 2am, and then again around 330am.  I went back to bed and my alarms went off at 415am &430am…Well, I woke up at 450am.  I run out of the house, and thinking I would be the only one onsite…Nope!  Several pax decided to do a prerun and beat me onsite. Good for you guys and WELL DONE SIRS, but Nails did mention to me “If I knew we were going to run this much, I wouldn’t have done a prerun”.  Sorry about that, my question to you is Will you return for another Showgirl Dance Off?

I have not made many workouts of the past year, but today made it incredible.  Thank you all for showing up and showing out.  The effort everyone put in was by far 120%.  It seemed like a good workout as I heard a lot of groaning, moaning, and hands on the knees.  I am truly honored to be a part of the organization and the Region

#F3Waxhaw4Life

Mic Drop – Showgirl Out!

 

Announcements

This was mentioned but I wanted to mention it as I am the Q and I have the right….so Mark This Moment – Father/Daughter dance Ballantyne Hotel – Friday, March 6 http://www.markthismoment.com/

Shop Dawg is starting up a new Q Source on Friday, May 1.  – See Shop Dawg

It’s Speed for Need season. -See Deadwood or Zinfandel

Prayers for Chicken Little, as he had someone close to him pass.

Circled up, and I took us out

 

 

Ringing in my 40th with a 1980s inspired beatdown

Woke up this morning and father time had just struck 40 on my clock. No better way to ring in a new decade than getting up @ 4:45am and getting some work in while the rest of the world sleeps. I have to start this week’s back blast thanking @Lorax and @Fallout for getting me out here 3 months ago. It only took them 6 years to convince me but they stuck with. Now three months in (having gained the ability to talk while working out) YHC is ready for his VQ.

Disclaimer provided. VQ Announced. Apologies provided. Informed the PAX that today is my 40th birthday and they’re all going to celebrate 1980 with me.

The Thang

Quick mosey over to the semi-circle astroturf area to get the blood flowing

Quick Fact: Lots of notable celebrities were born in 1980 (Macauley Culkin, Ryan Gosling, Jessica Simpson, Albert Pujols). But I love chicken and in 1980 we lost a true hero, the original Colonel Sanders. He had 11 spices in his secret recipe.

Warm-Up Exercises in Cadence:

  • SSH x 11
  • IW x 11
  • Merkins x 11
  • Imperial Walkers Mountain Climbers x 11 (YHC with his VQ Mistake #1)
  • Burpees x 11 (OYO)

Quick pace out to the Hot Box for some body work.

Quick Fact: In addition to going to school for acting (hence the nickname) I also played hockey. In 1980 USA beat Russia in the Winter Olympics @ Lake Placid: Score = 4-3 (also a variation of today’s date, if you’re European).

Sets of 43 for each called exercise OYO, followed by a run to the parking lot light, 5 burpees, and back. Repeat for each exercise.

  • Round #1: Dips
  • Round #2: Derkins or Incline Merkins (mix as needed)
  • Round #3: Step Ups (Total, not per leg, make it 44 if you feel uneven)
  • Round #4: LBCs

Fallout with the 10 count.

Hustle over to the rock pile for some lift/runs. Pick a repping rock.

Quick Fact: Another actor who had a big year in 1980 was Ronald Reagan. He was elected president in 1980 after a fairly respectable acting career. He was the 40th President.

Sets of 40 (20 per exercise per round) for each exercise OYO. Rocks on one end, run around the circle to the portico, exercise, run back. Repeat three times:

  • Round #1: Curls x 20 | Run | Squats x 20 | Run
  • Round #2: Presses x 20 | Run | Heels to Heaven x 20 | Run
  • Round #3: Triceps Extensions x 20 | Run | Jump Lunge x 20 | Run

Plank while we wait for the 6.

10 more burpees to round out a total of 40 before we leave. YHC with the 10 count.

Jog back out to the hotbox for some wall sits with air presses. 40 count.

At this point Spackler, eager to lead a portion of the workout (I did bump him to Q today) jumped in to give me a breather with a 20 count of hand release merkins.

Indian run the long way back to start.

Quick Fact: After my failed attempt at acting, I ended up with a degree in Computer Science. In 1980 a consortium of DEC, Intel, and Xerox introduced the DIX standard for Ethernet. It ran an astonishing 10Mbps. Also of note, it was not stolen from Al Gore.

Full 6MoM of 10 exercises until time is called. Each PAX contributed and called out an exercise.

  • YHC: Freddy Mercuries
  • Posse: Box Cutters
  • Lorax: Over Unders (Literally just one leg over the other, not a clever reference or title)
  • Fallout: Reversed Box Cutters
  • Spackler: 60 sec plank (In honor of ________ who just set the world record plank @ 8 hours 15 minutes)
  • Godsmack: Another 60 sec plank (only need 494 more minutes and we would have set the record)
  • Mermaid: Heels to Heaven
  • JetFuel: Cobains on forgetting what you called
  • Clover: Russian Twist (In 1980 this would have been the USSR Twist)

Called time and COT with the Meathead men.

Moleskin

Not a lot of mumblechatter this morning. Not sure if that was due to the PAX waiting to see if I was going to screw up, or if I was just too focused on not screwing up that I didn’t pay attention. Likely a healthy combination of the two.

Shout out to Posse who drove in from F3 Waxhaw for my VQ. I mentioned this to the group but will do so again, Posse and the F3 Waxhaw group are running several ‘Q Schools’ throughout the year. Huge help for new guys like me. If you know of any new guys who are hesitant to Q and need a good push, reach out and get them signed up.

Final thanks one more time to Lorax and Fallout. These guys never gave up on me even in the face of tremendous pushback (6+ years) and finally got me over the hurdle. Keep that in mind if you’re getting resistance from guys in your circle. Don’t give up and keep pushing. If they’re like me, they’ll realize pretty quickly how important it is to find something they can do to invest in themselves. For most men my age (40), life is pretty hectic and I found that I’ve spent a lot of the last 10 years doing things for others. Primarily the M, the 2.0s, and obviously work. It’s easy to lose yourself in that routine. Find something that allows you to invest in yourself and gives you the opportunity to build fellowship with other men.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead. Looking forward to more.

Announcements

  • PLEASE READ: Two of our brothers have recently been laid off. Please check out their LinkedIn profiles below and socialize them across your networks. One of the great things about this group is the opportunity to support each other in these times of need. If you know of an opportunity make sure to reach out to them.
  • Beer Mile (Unofficial): April 24th – Check the Slack Channel for more info

YHC with the closing prayer.

LRC Weigh In Day

3 Pax for LRC to run the standard loop. Pace continues to pick up and lots of encouragement on the course today.

smithers and YHC put in weights on official scale post workout and sit atop leaderboard for weight loss competition. All comes down to Floater and see if anyone can jump to top of leaderboard.

I’m on a Hot Streak

You may not have heard, but I’ve officially posted for 2 consecutive days and without quitting the Playhouse. How long can I keep this blistering pace of commitment? Will I make it all the way to Commitment this Saturday and complete the Octuple? Sounds impossible, but the support encouragement motivation other PAX might help me get there.

15 joined me in a copycat version of Foundation’s Q couple weeks back. I had so much fun on that day that I wanted to imitate as much of it as possible.

DiCCS given prematurely with a full minute to spare.

Let’s mosey a fast lap and back to the Flag to circle up.

WARM UP

SSH’s until I shut up – I finally stopped when the crying complaining instructions we finally given. I love to hear my own voice, very inspirational.

Lesson learned on not getting everyone stretched out the way they like. Everyone needs a good stretch every so often.

THE THANG

Mosey to the front of the school.

  • Split up into two teams to run a sprint relay.
  • Each relay team has a baton to stop people from cheating encourage teamwork with a prop.
  • While sprinters are running their leg, the rest with repeat while waiting their turn.
    • 5 Merkins
    • 10 Squats
    • 20 flutters
  • I’m pretty sure that the loaded Chastain’s Team won 2 of the 3 of those races. Maybe all 3.

 

Circle up for some low slow squats until there is only one man left. This was an epic fail. Usually you can see who is out. We stopped at 50 and they were terrible.

 

  • Let’s run another race. Maybe the other team is tired. NOPE. Another loss.

 

Mosey over to another race track we had set up. Same teams as before, but this time we would run a lap.

 

  • While sprinters are running their leg, the rest with repeat while waiting their turn.
    • 5 Merkins
    • 5 BBSU
    • 10 Speed Skaters
    • 20 LBC’s
  • The loaded team continued their dominance these rounds too.

 

Everyone on your 6 to do as many BBSU’s as you can. I think the group stopped before I shat myself around 56 reps.

 

We still have time, let’s have each person do two laps. Yep, you guessed it. Another Loss.

 

Mosey to the front of the school to get the cones and get back to COT.

 

Moleskin

I’ve been giving consistent effort the past few months, little to none. I can give you a bunch of true and irrelevant reasons why, but who really cares? Not me. Let’s jump back in and get stupid with a bunch of clown’s great guys. Everyone did a great job of mumbling today. There are plenty of times where Gerber can run you 6+ miles, but it is nice to be in proximity to each other and hear all the nonsense. I laughed more today than I have at a site in quite some time. I can lift on my own, I can even run on my own, but being surrounded by this much stupidity is impossible to replicate. Thanks to everyone for making today such a good time.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • Pray for Dear Diary during this difficult time

F#$@ Twitch

I know we don’t normally do Fast Twitch backblasts, but the feedback on Slack #run has been so favorable that I wanted to spread the joy:
“We hate your face” – RS, Private School Runners Weekly
“That was awful” – P, baldisbeautiful.com
“That workout sucked” – A, Short Arm Gazette

It’s amazing how bad it can get without leaving campus. Run from the cars up the driveway to the top of the hill on the North? side of campus. 5 burpees. Back down the driveway, bang a right and head onto the track (I imagine that I’m an Olympic marathoner when I break through onto the track). At the far end of the track, 5 burpees. Continue around the track and out the gate on the other side, across the bridge and up to the pavilion. 5 burpees. Back down that driveway, hang a right at the stop sign and up the hill to the new tennis courts (the old ones were lame). 5 burpees. Then go all the way back down and up the driveway to the first hill. The loop is about 1.5 miles. Oof. We all did 4 laps. Purell almost got 5. Alf and Christmas got into their 5th laps.

Here are your attendees:
Purell – I’m happy to report that he did not lap me. Although he said he was hurting from a good weekend out in Phoenix or something.
Horsehead – Texted me at 5:05: “you better be at Fast Twitch”. He looked really angry all morning, then said afterwards, “I’ll see you next year.”
Alf – He almost caught Purell.
Retread – He also seemed angry this morning, although he told me “good job” once when I passed him and he was the first to give me “Kudos” on Strava, so maybe we’re ok.
Fault Line – He’s a grinder. He said something funny at the tennis court stop towards the end, but I was so done that I can’t remember what it was now.
Christmas – Alf made a dad joke about Christmas during the first lap that Christmas was nice about. Christmas was the most encouraging to me as he passed me every time.
Gypsy – We went back and forth all morning. He flew by me on the track on the second lap then fell apart on the third lap, only to rally on the last lap and pass me on the way to the finish. Solid work.
Runstopper – I think he almost joined the Hawks Nest guys when we by them, but he girded his loins (which is easier in tights) and stayed after it for the full 60 minutes.
Utah – Remember when he and Mermaid used to ride together to every workout. Did they breakup?

It was fun getting heckled by the Hawks Nest crew a few times. There was not a lot of exercising going on in the hotbox when I saw them there. Lots of chatter. Except Sprockets. Teacher’s pet. I could tell that Ductwork (Q at Hawks Nest) wished he was with us.

3rd F Team – Meeting Minutes

5 men (we missed you Dancing Bear) gathered at Dreamchasers to discuss next steps for how F3 Waxhaw lives out our 3rd F (Faith).  Here are a few of the highlights and things in the works:

Service projects (Site Qs Deadwood and Carb Load):

  • Downtown cleanup in March
    • Key contact left
    • Still opportunity for pull-up bars
  • Western Union
    • DW in contact with Principal
  • Weddington/WCWAA
    • Dana investigating potential tie-in to baseball league for Special Needs
  • Five Stones
    • Getting close to building a walking/running trail
    • Bottlecap getting more details on how to help

Ray of Hope (Site Qs Bottlecap and Dancing Bear):

  • Meals for upcoming breaks
    • Spring Break
    • Summer
  • Drives (food, toothpaste, etc)
  • Events

Christ’s Closet (Site Qs Dana and Shop Dawg):

  • 2nd and 4th Thursdays folding
    • Need a name
    • Can we get on the calendar?
  • Giveaways
    • Thursday April 2nd – Pageland Elementary
      • Volunteers needed (take day off)
    • Ideas needed for more dates
  • New shed
    • Building is paid for
      • Lighting is needed
    • Concrete down
    • Waiting for contractor due to rain
    • 30’ x 50’
      • 20 racks need to be built
      • Need materials
    • Ideas:
      • Corporate sponsor
      • Individuals buy a rack
    • Shop Dawg working on design
      • $ per rack
      • Material list

Fixing It For Christ

  • June 17-20
    • A HUGE community-wide initiative helping to fix 20+ homes in our area
  • Jingles involved with initial meetings (Waxhaw United Methodist is leading church)
    • Need a PAX to be Co-Q
  • Jingles to give us a recap/next steps

Communication

  • Calendar
    • COTS:  1st week of each QTR
    • Service Project (Waxhaw)
  • GroupMe (“2 PAX and a truck” channel being added)
    • Geared towards service opportunities (ie Elderly lady needs furniture moved this weekend)
    • Last minute/Flexible

Qsource (Site Q Shop Dawg)

  • Friday morning option
    • Starting May 1st
    • 6:30-7:00am
    • McDonalds on Cuthbertson
  • COT announcements:  Education about the content/Purpose

Core Principles of F3:

  • Need to repeat at COT
  • More intentional about talking about Leadership
  • Influence through Marketing

THERE ARE A LOT OF OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE IN OUR COMMUNITIES.  WE HAVE A CHANCE TO INFLUENCE WHAT F3 WAXHAW IS KNOWN FOR . . . BOTH NOW AND IN THE FUTURE.  DID ANYTHING ABOVE STRIKE A NERVE WITH YOU?  WE URGE YOU TO REACH OUT AND SEE HOW YOU CAN HELP.  WE ARE ALL DOING THIS ON OUR FREE TIME TO MAKE OTHERS’ LIVES BETTER.  WILL YOU JOIN US?

Fore!

It was soggy but there was no rain delay this morning for the first ever Bushwood AMHAP (as many holes as possible).   11 men decided “tee it up” to see just how many holes they could finish in roughly 35 minutes on a rather balmy early March morning.  We teamed up in groups of two, DiCCS  given not given (Disclaimer, Cell phone, CPR, Safety)… doh!

Mosey through the first nine holes while stopping to complete the following warm up exercises at hole 3.

  • Moroccan Nightclubs x 18 IC
  • Low Slow Squats x 9 IC
  • Imperial Walkers x 18 IC
  • Mountain Climbers x 9 IC

Since it was wet, the course was laid out as follows (do the exercises below per hole and then run to next hole, run the opposite way when you make the turn at the 1st/18th and 9th/10th holes)…

  • Hole 1 – Merkins x 18
  • Hole 2 – Plank Jacks x 9
  • Hole 3 – Bobby Hurleys x 18
  • Hole 4 – Rock Pile Curls x 27
  • Hole 5 – Speed Skaters x 9  (2 = 1)
  • Hole 6 – Dry Docks x 9
  • Hole 7 – Shoulder Taps x 18 (2 = 1)
  • Hole 8 – Wall Air Presses x 27
  • Hole 9 – Mike Tysons x 9
  • Hole 10 – Merkins x 18
  • Hole 11 – Wall Air Jabs x 27 (2 = 1)
  • Hole 12 – Plank Jacks  x 9
  • Hole 13 – Bobby Hurleys x 18
  • Hole 14 – Rock Pile Triceps x 27
  • Hole 15 – Shoulder Taps x 18 (2 = 1)
  • Hole 16 – Speed Skaters x 9 (2 = 1)
  • Hole 17 – Dry Docks x 9
  • Hole 18 – Mike Tysons x 9

I “cradle to graved” it.  Done!

MOLESKIN:

The rain held off this morning and it was actually a perfect temperature for “golf.”  Everyone pushed hard and managed to finish at least 36 holes.  The One Star/Bottlecap team led the charge and finished 39  holes (they actually could have done more)… well done guys!  Thanks to everyone who showed up this morning and thanks for allowing me to lead.  For those of you who haven’t posted at Bushwood it’s always an open invite.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

  • Birthday Burpees for Fiji who’s 45 today… Happy Birthday!
  • Q-Source is re-starting from the beginning May 1 6:30 – 7AM at McDonalds in Waxhaw.
  • Bottlecap announced a new “Service” channel that’s coming to GroupMe.
  • High Hat VQ at Bushwood on Tuesday, March 31st… way to step up!!
  • Carb Load called out the lack of One Star’s Bushwood “sleeveless” dress code… shame!

Invention Required

Every time I queue a workout, I try to come up with something new or different as part of the workout. the PAX has so many great ideas and life brings you so much inspiration to be creative in your plan.  Today, the introduction of the Tyson Fury Mile based on the fact that a heavy set boxer put on weight intentionally to handle the punches of Wilder who was taller, skinnier and punched harder than Mike Tyson.

The Thang

  • Jog to the front of the school
    • SSD X 25
    • Mountain Climbers X 25
    • Imperial Squakers X 15
    • Merkins X 25
  • Mosey to the path near the parking lot of the middle school for the Tyson Fury Mile
    • Start with 10 Mike Tysons
    • Run to the path to the back of the middle school for 50 squatting jabs
    • Run to the end of the path for 10 more Mike Tysons
    • Repeat 4 times
    • Pick up the Six
  • Mosey to the Back of the Middle School
    • 25 Donkey Kicks in the cove on the way
    • 20 X Derkins, Dips, and Step Ups
    • Run to the covered walkway and bear crawl
    • Run back to the back side of the school
    • Repeat 3 times
  • Run to the high school Stairs
    • 10 calf raises on each stair
    • Run to the start
    • Do burpees till the 6 is done
  • Run back to COT

COT

Thanks to the PAX for the opportunity to lead the group and be a light to the world.  Great workout and I look forward to seeing everyone in the gloom as we wind down the diet competition.

 

  • Final Weigh-In is Thursday March 5th
  • Need Q’s for the month of March

 

Like Riding a Bicycle

It had to happen some time, so why not at Base Camp.  After months of being on IR and a slow return to action, my first post-surgery Q occurred this morning at South Charlotte Middle School.  The same school that hosts another workout that where I got my virgin Q many years ago…seems fitting.  Fingers crossed that all my insides would stay, well… inside.  Good news…all that mesh held with no spontaneous protrusions to speak of.

Started off with some of the usual in COP…. SSH, IW, LSS, STs and some MCs.  Then we headed down Woodfox for Rounding Run in Raintree, stopping at the intersections to do some merkins (regular, wide, diamond).  Partnered up and each went the opposite way around the RR circle, meeting on the other side for some partner derkins, then back on the other side for some handslap merkins and plankorama.  One time around RR was enough, so we headed off to Rising Meadow…. dodging many cars along the way.  Heavy traffic this morning… must have been trying to get to Bojangles Coliseum for some early tailgating before the Trump rally.

At Rising Meadow we did some hill repeats, with some shoulder taps and leg lifts.  A little more plankorama and we headed back to SCMS – stopping at the intersections for a few jump squats.  We arrived back at SCMS with enough time to play with the rocks – two times through with some curls, presses, and tricep extensions).  A few CCVs to round out the core work and we were done.

Really enjoyed leading the way and spending time with this fine group of men.  Thanks for the opportunity Thunder.  Adobe closed out COT with a solid prayer to start the day.

We are doing March Madness anyway… right?!?!

3rd F:
Thank you Madison for taking us out

2nd F:
March Madness is moving forward:  Contact YHC or see Slack for more details on how to get involved
Numbers are down across many of the AOs.  Try to reach out to pax you have not seen in a while and get them back out in the Gloom.

NMS (Naked Mole Skin)
Word went out late yesterday for a Q at the Matrix today..  Fresh off a Q in Charlottesville over the weekend and knowing I was going to put in some work today, I figured why not.. Someone has to .. Its how F3 works.

YHC figured we needed to knock out the items in the March Madness CSAUP anyway, so we could quickly get those knocked out and  toss in a few extra items to round out a 45 min of F3 fun.

Swamped at work today so no time for picking at the pax.  Just going to cover the basics of the 1st F.

WARM UP:  BLIMPS

B​​urpees:  5 OYO
L​​unges:  10 each leg OYO
I​​mperial Walkers: 15
M​​erkins: 20 Civilian Count
P​​lank Jacks: 25 OYO
S​​quats:  30 OYO

 

Mosey to Track: and do one round of Indian Runs to get the cardio going.

Lightning Q:  1 Pax calls out an exercise then runs a lap around the track as the other pax do called exercise.  Two rounds so everyone has an opportunity to get a few good sprints in.

  • LBCs, Merkins, Shoulder TAPs plank, Flutters, Rosalittas, Jump squats, Carolina Dry-docks, etc

 

Time to mosey:  We got work to do.

Back to the AO start location for a round of 4 corners or “X” or starfish missing a leg..  Whatever you want to call it, I call it Awful

Awful “X” 4 corner thing:

Center is 10 Merkins.

4 Corners are: 10 Big Boy situps, 10 squats, 10 pull ups, 10 Heels to heaven.

After each corner, you run back to center for 10 Merkins then go to the next corner until you have completed them all.

  Rinse and repeat for round 2

 

Time to mosey to the rock pile

Little game of gypsy rock:  all called exercises to 30 count and pass your rock right

  • Overhead press
  • Curls
  • Tricep extension
  • Chest Press
  • Good mornings

Put the rocks down and run back to launch location to perform 10 knees ups on the monkey bars and return to your rock for all called exercises to 30 count and pass your rock left

  • Overhead press
  • Curls
  • Tricep extension
  • Chest Press
  • Good mornings

Mosey back to AO

5 mins of Mary

  • American Hammer IC (to 40)
  • Flutters IC to 30
  • Rosalita’s IC to 30
  • LBCs until 6:15

v/r

Gypsy