Author Archive Ickey Shuffle

A Perfect Morning for the Perfect Pair

After spending the past few weeks concentrating on running (yet still plodding along like a three legged turtle crawling through peanut butter) it was nice to get back to kettlebell and gear workout.  As is the case every time YHC has the Q at Olympus, the morning was a grey, dreary, rainy mess.  Experience is a fine teacher however, so plans were created and preparations were made to maximize every square inch of the narrow canopy of shelter near the entrance to Elizabeth Lane Elementary.  Six of the southland’s stalwarts gathered with aims of increasing strength and stamina while hopefully not getting too soaked.

We began with the perfect pair which consists of kettlebell swings and merkins.  Starting with 20 of each exercise we did alternating sets of 19, 18, 17, 16….all the way down to 1.  It was long and tedious, but also brutally effective.  Following the perfect pair we did a few sprints with jog recoveries in order to keep in constant motion.  We then moved on to gear stations which consisted of two minutes of work at the following:

  • Steel Mace – Barbadian squats, spear thrusts, grave diggers
  • Sandbag clean & press
  • Jump Rope
  • Battle Rope waves
  • 70 lb Kettlebell deadlifts
  • Viking press (kettlebell clean into lunge into press)
  • Dumbbell Thrusters

After two rounds through the set of stations we did a 100 block which was 25 reps each of weighted crunches, goblet squats, hammer curls, and triceps extensions.  Finding we were a bit ahead of schedule we had time to throw in a 60 block which repeated the circuit dropping the reps to 15.

Outsourced Mary: Since YHC still isn’t 100% comfortable leading Mary in cadence a page was taken from corporate America, shifting the more of the burden from management onto the PAX.  Each PAX called a core exercise and led the count so we wound up with flutters with presses, LBCs, pullovers, Louganis, Freddie Mercury, and the one where you hold your legs straight out in front of you and pull them in and out.

Finding that we had three minutes to spare, we took advantage of the multitude of various weights of kettlebells present and performed swings until the clock struck 8, mixing in sets of heavy and light bells to keep things interesting.

Thank you to the regulars of Olympus, as well as welcome to site FNG Blazing Saddles for choosing to come put in some serious work on a morning where the fartsack could not have been more inviting.  Next Saturday Olympus will be traveling to The Vet in the Mint Hill region at the request of Chum who used to post regularly with us on Saturdays before taking on a leadership role in growing Mint Hill.  They could use some help in growing their numbers as well as working in more Qs so please consider making the trek next Saturday.

You Are Looking Live…

Each winter the glorious but all too brief period of time we know as football season concludes.  Some teams celebrate a championship, with months of hard work vindicated and a strategy of not playing a single decent opponent until the playoffs, ensuring a well rested squad, validated.  Other teams face the long, arduous offseason with bitterness and disappointment, dismayed over an offensive coordinator who inexplicably stops running the ball.  The winter, spring, and summer march on, but in the back of the mind there is always a yearning for the promise that a new season will bring.  The summer days drag by with a lethargy baked of heat and humidity, but finally, finally the temperatures dip slightly below inferno level and autumn appears on the horizon.  After eight long months, right at the moment we are about to hit the breaking point,  the most glorious morning of the sports year arrives, the opening Saturday of the college football season.  It is a day unlike any other, when everyone (save UNC, Michigan, and a few others) is undefeated and full of hope.  To celebrate this most blessed of days, fourteen gridiron warriors gathered to put foot to leather for the first annual Area 51 Kickoff Classic presented by Olympus.

To begin the festivities captains Gummy of Team Rock and Hairball of Day Zero completed a pregame run in a show of solidarity and sportsmanship.  The players gathered in the parking lot of Elizabeth Lane Elementary and ran as a unit to the field at Carmel Baptist where the Golden Kettlebell, perhaps the most prestigious trophy in all of sport was unveiled.  To determine who would have the first selection of players, a contest was held to see which team captain could perform ten burpees the fastest.  About halfway through, Gummy decided to let Hairball win and gamble that the first pick was a small price to pay for letting the opponent tire himself out on burpees.  Truly a savvy, veteran move that would make the legendary Clemson coach (hang on, have to do some quick Googling…) Danny Ford himself proud.  At the conclusion of the draft we had Team Rock: Gummy, Strawberry, Pele, Sony, Ickey Shuffle, Sparkplug, and Thin Crust, and Team Day Zero: Hairball, Chanel, Mighty Mite, Deep Dish, Chum, Southpaw, and Gullah.

A spirited game ensued, and the quality of play was high enough that YHC believes that the sainted Coach Bryant would have approved.  Some highlights included:

  • Thin Crust’s performance as quarterback of Team Rock.  The kid throws frozen ropes and commands the offense at a breakneck pace so expect him to see him at Oregon in a few years.
  • Sony patrolling the defensive backfield, batting balls like King Kong swatting at airplanes.
  • Chanel’s cleats.  They were quite bright.
  • Pele’s emergence as a sure handed slot receiver who always made a catch to keep a drive alive.
  • Team Day Zero’s playcalling, which though didn’t yield many points, was entertaining and featured several razzle dazzle plays that would make Boise State envious.
  • Zero injuries.

At the end of the day Team Rock triumphed over Team Day Zero by a score of 49-14 and the new season began anew.  The Golden Kettlebell was presented to Coach Gummy, who swelled with pride as he passed it on to his quarterback, Thin Crust.  Since Deep Dish and son had to depart before the run back to Elizabeth Lane, Thin Crust was named at COT by Gullah in a moment of brilliance.  Thank you to all who joined us in joyous celebration of sport and camaraderie.

Pre-Blast: 9/5/15 The Area 51 Kickoff Classic

Take a knee and gather round.  Next Saturday, September 5th is not only Labor Day weekend, but it the opening weekend for the greatest sport known to man, collegiate tackle football.  To celebrate the end of the long, grueling offseason Gullah and YHC are happy to announce the first annual Area 51 Kickoff Classic presented by Olympus.  Instead of a traditional workout that morning we will instead play football.  Since we live in ACC country it will be of the two hand touch variety and feature way too many forward passes. The two teams for this epic clash will be captained by the good people of The Rock and Day Zero since their feud has escalated beyond backblasts and twitter, the only solution is to take it to the gridiron.  The Site Qs for The Rock and Day Zero will draft players from the talent pool of PAX who post that morning, and it’s not a stretch to say that the squads will be better than just about every team Ohio State will face this season.  We joke about how awful the big 10 is but you have to hand it to the Buckeyes, their strategy of not playing a tough game until they got to the playoff so they would be well rested certainly paid dividends last season.

Some sort of physical challenge will determine which team chooses first.  We will play until 8:00 am unless there is a tie.  Since we are not Notre Dame, ties are unacceptable and championships should be settled on the field (This is a reference to the 1966 season where Alabama was robbed of a third consecutive national championship and no, we never forget, even if we hadn’t been born yet).  Now lest ye believe this is simply a game, be assured that so much more than pride is on the line.  The Golden Kettlebell will be up for grabs.  Now that your interest is piqued, start hitting the sleds and practicing those wheel routes.  In 8 short days we put foot to leather to celebrate football, fellowship, and by extension America.  Now take your salt tablets and get a drink from the hose.  See you next Saturday.  Roll Tide.

FoxVegas

As another week began on the gritty, mean streets of Ballantyne, four gathered to move heavy iron in various manners.  After informing the PAX that we would be moving around and utilizing many parts of the AO, Frehley’s urgently locked his car and fretted about security in the sordid underbelly of suburban South Charlotte.  We didn’t choose the thug life. The thug life chose us. 

Warmup:

25 kettlebell swings

25 merkins with left hand on bell

25 kettlebell swings

25 merkins with right hand on bell

25 diamond merkins

25 kettlebell swings

Transport bells to the soccer field for the Slot Machine.

The Slot Machine:

Line up on one sideline.  Peform 7 kettlebell thrusters.  Using either a waiter’s carry or suitcase carry on the left side, carry bell to the other sideline and perform 7 kettlebell swings.  Carry bell back across the field on the right side using either watier’s carry or suitcase carry.  Repeat the process for a total of 7 rounds.  Depart the soccer field and drop the bells at the shovelflag, taking care to dodge the armada of incoming vehicles.  What could be the purpose of such a large number of vehicles coverging at such an early hour on the mean streets of Ballantyne?  Gang summit?  Arms deal?  Invasion of hostile forces from South Carolina?  It was just lacrosse practice.  Mosey to the benches.

100’s:

Three exercises, 100 reps each.  Dips, incline merkins, Bulgarian split squats (50 each leg).  There was sweat.  There was grunting.  There was flatulence.  Splendid.  Mosey back to bells.

Combination Lifts:

Sots Press, do what you can, aim for 5 reps per side.  This is a move where you rack the bell, squat, and then press the bell up as many times as you can whilst in the squat position.  It is the worst thing to come out of the Eastern Bloc since the Lada.  Reverse Lunge with Front Press: 5 reps per leg.  Floor Press into Crunch: 10 reps.  Just a few minutes left for Mary, which consisted of Flutter with Press, Dying Cockroach, and Russian Twist.  More flatulence.  That’s a wrap.

NMM: YHC attempted to squeeze 60 minutes worth of exercise into 45 minutes to really get the week going on the right foot.  Looking back, between the Split Squats, Sots Press, and Russian Twists, there was a heavy Soviet influence today and now for some reason YHC has the urge to stand in line for bread and put a dashcam in my car.  Weird.  A Rocky IV viewing is in order to cleanse the soul. #IMustBreakYou.  #GoForIt.  #HesChoppingTheRussianDown.  Annoucements: Southern Discomfort 8/1.  Founders’ Q at Stonehenge this Saturday at 6 am, or sleep in and come to Olympus.  Thank you to Chanel & Voodo for the invitation to FoxVegas.  Hopefully everyone feels like a winner.

Taming Cerberus and Christening Tartarus

The chatter begain on Wednesday via Twitter.  It continued on Thursday at Ghost Runner and afterwards at Vintner.  It seemed that everyone was excited about the new parking deck at the Centurion AO and wanted to know if we would be breaking it in this morning.  Some went as far as to show up early Friday morning to Neil Armstrong the thing (Chelms, Hops, Mermaid, Abacus, Cane, Margo, Checkpoint) #PlantTheFlag.  Parking decks are like Bob Dylan: immensely popular with the people but YHC will never understand the appeal.  After a few strategic head fakes and some internal deliberation, the deck was included in the weinke since if nothing else YHC is a #ManOfThePeople.  Today’s plan consisted of Cerberus, three segments named for the three headed hellhound which gaurds the entrance to the underworld in Roman mythology, and Tartaus, the aforementioned parking deck named for a portion of the underworld known as the region of torments.  Kip Winger’s favorite number began their weekend thusly:

Cerberus Head #1: Run to the Charlotte Acquatics parking lot and line up for the meat grinder.  20 merkins then run to the top of the hill.  19 jump knee tucks then run to the bottom of the hill.  18 merkins, run, 17 jump knee tucks, run, and so on and so forth all the way down to one.

Cerburus Head #2: Run to the rock pile for some glorious combination lift supersets.  Find that the rock pile is gone thanks to the new landscape layout.  Panic.  Think of something on the fly.  Deconstructed burpees it shall be, so 21 squats, 21 merkins, 21 things where you kick your feet in and out from the plank position.  Next set, 15 deconstucted burpees.  Next set, 9 deconstructed burpees.  Somewhere during this Mario appeared out of the darkness, like a ferryman on the river Styx. #ComeSailAway

Cerberus Head #3: Run to the front of the school for strength work on the picnic tables.  Three exercises, 100 reps each broken up however you see fit.  Split Squats, Dips, Incline Merkins.  Once finished gather on the sidewalk for a bit of Mary.  Thank you to Chelms for leading this piece.

Tartarus: Will he or won’t he?  We ran towards the mouth of the underworld but YHC deliberately stuck to the other side of the road as a bit of a rope a dope.  At the last minute we turned toward the gates and into the deck.  Run up each ramp, do 20 Dollies and 20 Flutter Kicks, continue the pattern on and on, up and down the deck until the Q calls time.  Time called at 6:13, run back to launch point for an on time arrival at 6:15 a.m.

NMM: YHC was crestfallen to learn that the rock pile has gone to the great quarry in the sky,  #FarewellWheelhouse.  If you were wondering, the rock work was to be three sets of ten reps of Thrusters, Reverse Lunges, and Floor Presses into Crunches.  In mythology the Gods often would screw with mortals for their own amusement so we got a taste of that today and had to ad lib.  Cerberus was basically two German Shepherd heads and a Corgi head today.   Hopefully everyone enjoyed the deck work.  The prospect of spending every Friday for the forseeable future at the back of the pack chasing #YouPeople up and down that thing makes YHC feel like Morrissey on muscle relaxers.  Thank you to the 16 men who came out this morning, I hope you were rewarded and challenged.  Southern Discomfort 8/1/15.  Mud Run coming up in October, F3 block of start times has been secured but sign ups are not live yet so be on the lookout.  To make up for the missing rock work YHC expects to see all of you at Olympus Saturday morning.

The 90s Called…

Posted on behalf of Pop Tart:

 

We started off with a mosey around the parking lot.
COP:
20 SSH
20 IW
20 Merkins

Light version of suicides.
Run to first pole, and back for 20 two handed swings.
Run to second pole, and back for 20 curls.
Run to third pole and back for 20 presses.
Repeat with 30 reps each.
Then we circled up for a KB beatdown.

40 two handed swings
40 merkins
40 upright row and presses
40 squats
30 curls
30 wide arm merkins
30 triceps extensions
30 stepback lunge, with kick (15 each leg)
20 lawnmowers-each arm
20 diamond merkins
20 snatches
20 Carolina dry dock
10 Louganis with KB
10 Russian twists
10 Louganis with KB
10 Russian twists
20 pulls
20 push press ( 10 each arm)
COM
10 x crunches
10 x lbc
10 x toe tap crunches
10 x alternate toes
10 x side crunch right
10 x side crunch left
10 x right leg can opener
10 x left leg can opener

This was my first Gear Q and I didn’t want to disappoint so I brought some tunes. I purchased a sweet red cd player boom box to blast some Metallica while we got our KB work on. Not only did I use a piece of electronics from the 90s, I also used my blackberry as my timer. Baracus was kind enough to point out that my toys were from the 90s. He was right. Thanks to the PAX for posting, and Bulldog and Chipotle for some workout ideas from previous workouts.

The 500 Rep Warmup

There is simply no finer way to begin a Saturday than by swinging a heavy ball of iron in a multitude of ways.  Five men understand this and posted to Olympus to become bigger, stronger, faster, and dare I say thanks to YHC’s playlist, more cultured.  Instead of a traditional warmup we dove headfirst into the Ickey 500, which is 5 supersets consisting of 2 exercises, 50 reps each.

The 500 – 50 reps of each of the following:

  • Two Handed Kettlebell Swings
  • Sumo Squats
  • Merkins
  • Romanian Deadlifts – 25 per leg
  • Triceps Extension
  • Jump Knee Tucks (Basically a box jump sans box)
  • LBCs
  • Cleans – 25 per arm
  • Floor Press
  • Crunchy Frogs

Gear Stations:

7 stations set up throughout the playground, get after each one hard for 2 minutes then rotate.  Stations consisted of:

  • Medicine Ball Squat & Launch
  • TRX Pullups
  • Sandbag Clean & Press
  • Battle Rope
  • Jump Rope
  • Sledgehammer Tire Strikes
  • 70 lb Kettlebell Good Mornings

After everyone got 2 times through each station we moved on to the finisher which consisted of 100 kettlebell swings.

Moleskine: Please allow YHC to shamelessly plug for Olympus.  It’s a great workout and a nice change of pace from the bread & butter bootcamp style workouts.  We try to deliver a lot of different things centered around kettlebell work.  Kettlebells and gear work can help your running, weight loss, strength, and essentially whatever your particular fitness goals may be.  It would be great to start seeing some new faces.  Give it a try, you’ll be hooked.

Announcements:

Blue Hen could use some assistance moving next Friday/Saturday.  If you are able to spare some time either Friday evening after work or Saturday morning following workouts contact Turkey Leg (smastbrook@metlife.com) who has a schedule.

Piledriver in Mint Hill has been up and running a few weeks now but officially launches 6/13 with a multi-Q extravaganza.

F3 Dads 9:00 am at Beatty Park in Matthews each Saturday in June.  Or be like YHC and mistakenly think the start time is 9:30 and arrive in time for the last 10 minutes.

Rock Appreciation Day at Centurion

Friday morning was warm and pleasant and would have been perfect for a run.  So naturally thirteen PAX gathered at Centruion to do anything but run, out of respect for those participating in the Leatherneck tomorrow of course.  A cynic might suggest that the real reason was that YHC’s first non-Olympus Q was poorly planned for the day before the mud run, and that when it comes to running YHC is slower than molasses rolling uphill in January.  #ACleverRuse.  We welcomed an FNG visiting us from Houston, TX #HookEm, the group was disclaimed and we sauntered approximately 50 yards for COP.

COP:

  • SSH – 25 IC
  • Copperhead Squat – 20 IC
  • IW – 15 IC
  • Merkin – 10 IC
  • 8 Count Bodybuilder – 5 IC
  • #TheresAPattern  #Math

Short jaunt to the rock pile for supersets:

  • Select a rock that builds character and muscle
  • Bicep curls  + triceps extenion – 21 reps each movement, 15 reps each movement, 9 reps each movement
  • Shoulder press + squat – 21 reps each movement, 15 reps each movement, 9 reps each movement
  • Floor chest press + weighted crunch – 21 reps each movement, 15 reps each movement, 9 reps each movement

Mutant Triple Nickel (Cobains to Mermaid for the radical distortion of your signature move)

  • 5 Rock Thrusters
  • Overhead rock carry #EngageTheCore
  • 5 Good Mornings
  • Overhead carry back
  • Repeat 5X

Put down the rocks #Sad and jog to the benches at the front of the school for giant sets

  • Split squat left leg, split squat right leg, incline merkins, dips, decline merkins – giant sets of 25 reps, 15 reps, 5 reps back to back to back to back to back
  • YHC originally planned for 5 rounds of giant sets but time was of the essence and I missed my rock #FriendsForever

Shuffle back to the rocks for Jack Webb’s distant cousin Rocky Webb

  • Diamond merkin on the rock followed by 4 rock presses – rounds of 1,2,3,4 and 5 merkins with 4,8,12,16, and 20 rock presses
  • Return the rocks to the pile #BorderlineMelancholy

Mosey to the apartment complex at Wash & Little

  • 5 burpees, 10 flutter kicks, 15 mountain climbers, 20 LBCs, lap around the parking lot
  • Two rounds of that nonsense

Run back to the launch lot and hold an elbow plank for the last minute of the workout.

Moleskin:

YHC was extremely nervous to Q a bootcamp workout and couldn’t sleep last night, hence the rambling and blatant #HastagAbuse.  We had a solid age span of 30+ years amonst the PAX with representation from the Baby Boomers #GetOffMyLawn, Generation X #HeyRememberMusicVideos?, and Millenials #StudentLoans.  We had the opportunity to welcome an FNG from Houston, TX who attended UT and works for Toys R Us.  As an aside, did you know that former Longhorns coach Mack Brown recruited Heisman trophy winning quarterbacks Robert Griffin III and Johnny Manziel to play safety at Texas?  #HenceTheTermFormer.  Thanks for the opportunity to lead this morning, hopefully the PAX didn’t mind the lack of running too much.  After all, a marathoner has never carried a supermodel out of a burning building. #Probably. 

Announcements:

  • Congratulations to Maverick on his appointment to the United States Navel Academy #boats.  The visible pride with which his father announced that was pretty cool to see.
  • Good luck to all mud run participants tomorrow
  • This Sunday from 12-7 at OMB there is a fundraiser for a 7 year old boy who ives in Cameron Wood near several us.  He has a rare and aggressive brain cancer and is currently undergoing chemo and radiation.  OMB is donating 20% of sales to his recovery and treatment and the event is very family friendly.  Games, bounce houses, raffle, etc.  Please try and come out if you can, even just buying a beer or a pretzel will help.

 

Portion Sizes Not FDA Approved

Four men gathered on a rainy Saturday morning to gorge themselves on a heaping helping of supersets at the kettlebell buffet.  The small number of the Faithful proved to be an asset since we could complete the bulk of the workout, including some gear stations, under the narrow canopy and manage to stay somewhat dry.  Pop Tart and Squid were as giddy as kids on Christmas morning since the good people of Amazon and the United States Postal Service finally saw fit to deliver their new kettlebells.  By the way, Pop Tart informed YHC that he found bells on Amazon for less than a dollar a pound plus free shipping, if any PAX are looking to add to their collection or take the plunge with a first kettlebell purchase.  We lined up and jumped into supersets consisting of four exercises stacked on top of each other with no rest in between.

Superset 1: 20 two handed swings, 20 goblet squats, 20 clean & press (10 each side), 20 renegade rows (10 each side).  After the first time all the way through, repeat the superset cutting the reps in half.

Superset 2: 20 two handed swings, 20 good mornings, 20 sumo high pulls, 20 Romanian deadlifts (10 each side).  After the first time all the way through, repeat the superset cutting the reps in half.

Superset 3: 20 two handed swings, 20 floor press (10 each side), 20 weighted crunches/sit-ups, 20 flutter kicks with bell press.  After the first time all the way through, repeat the superset cutting the reps in half.

After such a a display of superset gluttony we had to keep moving so as not to let the food coma set in so we transitioned to gear stations.  Each man bellied up to a station and would go hard for 2-3 minutes before rotating.  Stations included jump rope, sandbag clean & press, medicine ball sideways throws, sit ups and wall ball shots, dumbbell thrusters (squat into a shoulder press), battle rope, farmers walk with kettlebells, double kettlebell swings.

The finisher: 100 kettlebell swings with one free grounding of the bell per man.  Additional groundings could be purchased by running to the end of the parking lot, performing 10 merkins, and running back.

The finisher redux: We had approximately two minutes left before 8:00 am when we all wrapped up our 100 swings so each man chose a core exercise.  Fletch picked Dolly with kettlebell press, Pop Tart had us do some one legged bicycle with oblique crunch thing, Squid picked the Russian twist with kettlebell which was simply brutal, and YHC wrapped things up with a 20 count elbow plank.

Moleskine: Thank you to the three men who ignored the rain and joined me at Olympus.  Pop Tart and Squid have dived headfirst into the realm of kettlebells which makes YHC very happy.  Fletch is simply good at everything.  If we could harness the energy created from his jump rope turns the oil, solar, and wind energy companies would be out of business.  It sounds like the Day Zero crew tackled some sandbag work which is music to YHC’s ears.  The Rock boys will get the full Olympus experience later this spring as well.  Kettlebell and gear workouts are spreading far and wide to society’s benefit.  Lifting heavy things up and putting them down again is good for the mind, body, and soul.  That’s just science.

A Shameless Plug

Recently YHC was given the opportunity to come on board as a site Q for Olympus “The Best Hour in F3”.  I want to take the opportunity to extend an invitation to any and all PAX to come experience our unique brand of kettlebell swinging, truck pulling, weight lifting, tire flipping, sledge hammering craziness.  If you’ve been wanting to check out a gear/kettlebell workout but don’t own a bell, just let Gullah or YHC know and we’ll bring our extras.  A word of warning though, kettlebells are addictive and once you get your first one you will believe that you need several more in varying sizes.  Allow me to lay out just a few of the multitude of reasons why Olympus “The Best Hour in F3” is something you need in your life:

  • Gear/kettlebell workouts are a great supplement to and change of pace from your weekly boot camp work.  Gotta keep the body guessing.
  • Lifting heavy objects and putting them back down numerous times is not only good for the body, but good for the soul.  That’s just science.
  • On a clear day you can see The Hoff lift a sedan.
  • On different occasions we have hit things with sledgehammers, pulled pickup trucks, carried punching bags, and lugged around cement blocks with chains.  Yes, it’s as awesome as it sounds.
  • If you aren’t careful we will bring our traveling circus to you, as we will be doing with The Rock in May.

Anvil set me up with the jab, Centurion stunned me with the hook, but it was Olympus “The Best Hour in F3” that knocked me out when YHC started coming out to this thing of ours last summer.  Yes, YHC is watching boxing while writing this so sorry for the bad puns.  Actually, not sorry…puns are great.  So is boxing.  So is Olympus “The Best Hour in F3”.  See you soon.  Oh, and we have put together a Q schedule spreadsheet so please feel free and encouraged to sign up to lead our merry band some Saturday.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-g2ciILC_Kh0koq57kZsxs68bx4jkXT6HOGD9Vpnxv4/edit?usp=sharing