Move Love Bombs, Less F-Bombs
This was Big League Chew’s prayer after leading the men in an epic, curb heavy workout today at Kevlar.
14 of South Charlotte’s finest, and some dudes who had not been to Kevlar in a while posted on a perfect 58 degree morning.
Some backblasts start like “it was a quiet crowd this morning, not much mumble chatter”….this backblast will not start out that way. With the typical jackasses in attendance paired with Big League Chew’s questionable start to the workout there was plenty of new material to uncover.
The Thang
BLC (Big League Chew) took us on a stroll down to the lower church parking lot.
Circle up
We did an assortment of toe touches, SSH, IWs, 5 burpees OYO, merkins, and a very strange 10 second countdown of plank, followed by a 30 second countdown of plank…this equaled 40 seconds for those fo you keeping time. Thanks to Witch Doctor for doing all of these countdowns with a serious face because the rest of the PAX would not have been able to.
BLC threw in a “okay, lets just do X” a few times which got me nervous thinking his plan was just coming together this morning. During the merkin cadence there was a long pause to start and Bulldog asked “did he just black out?”. It was perfectly appropriate because I think we all were thinking the same thing. Needless to say, I couldn’t finish my reps. Good rule of thumb, when you start getting heckled, start running….
Next…
We ran up a few notches on the parking lot and in honor of an Afghanistan veteran which I Googled but could not find the name – we did the following 6X.
24 Squats
24 Merkins
24 Full Sit Ups
24 Lunges
Run 1/4 mile
X6
Field work
Run over to the field where the sprinklers were going…but clearly due to Horsehead’s plea the church/school only runs them on one side of the field leaving plenty of space for us to run.
Suicides:
Run 25 yards, 2 burpees, back
Run 50 yards, 4 burpees, back
Run 75 yards, 6 burpees, back
Run 100 yards, 8 burpees, back
Burn out on merkins…20 was about right
Wrap up – Reverse run X 2 across field
Winding Down
Head back to main lot and stop at every curb on the way to do 10 merkins in cadence. This was a clear time kill as BLC realized he had about 10 minutes of things to do. Pop Tart kept locating the curbs, BLC kept obliging, and Bulldog, realizing that things were getting a little stale decided to do impressions of what sounded to be a British Big League Chew on steriods during the cadence count with the highlights being the numbers Se”B”en for 7 and catorce for 4. He credited his WV roots for being able to so masterfully mimic BLC’s accent.
Bulldog was especially proud of the “B” in se”b”en and rightfully so, it was a crowd pleaser. Pop Tart threw out some spanish word like “hola” just to get involved in the festivities.
Not sure BLC will ever get through another cadence count without this happening to him. His deep, powerful, Southern voice sounds like he used to be a radio disc jockey deep in the North Carolina woods back in 1965…..”And now, the song you’ve all been waiting for…….. Down in the River There was a Banjo Man by Merle Travis”. People would pay good money to have a voice like that.
Ye Moleyskinny…
High Tide was the only pre-runner…he did this after a very hard Meathead the day prior so his legs should be hurting by now. It was good to see him at Kevlar – he comes sometimes but he’s been very vocal in promoting the F3 winter gear sale, even commenting on BB that he didn’t attend…I’m fairly certain he’s getting a cut of the proceeds…can’t prove anything yet.
Bananas was claiming that he could barely walk after posting 3 times this week and added in the moans to make sure we believed him. Super convincing moans and face gestures. He definitely posted 3 times.
Two young bucks – Archie and Honnie (sp?) came out and are students at CDS. They typically post at Atlas up in Metro so hopefully we can keep them around on the South side. Some of you guys sound (and look) like you’re close to retirement and I’m a little concerned about Kevlar’s succession plan”. Could Archie and Honnie be the next Bulldog and Horsehead? Only if one of them takes complete responsibility for the AO and the other only shows up to heckle the Q.
Pop Tart clearly and articulately shouted “oh shit” when BLC announced 5 burpees OYO. Come on Pop – it’s 5 burpees and remember, less Oh Shit and more Love Shit…wait, that can’t be right.
Thanks to BLC for his leadership and take out.
Announcements:
A51 Winter Gear Info: https://f3.mudgear.com/collections/nc-clt-south-area51/products/f3-area-51-winter-pre-order?variant=970165533
TOMORROW – 5k at Christ Covenant: https://f3southcharlotte.com/2017/10/11/pre-blast-for-let-them-soar-5k-speedforneed-event/
We’ll be making a Q list for the winter months and inserting names in their – if I don’t have your info e-mail me if you want to be added to the list. Also, if you don’t want to Q let me know that too. juliusmilani@gmail.com
“Just wait…McGee will show”
Those were the words that Fault Line said as 5:29 rolled around. He continued to vouch for him and said that McGee’s a veteran and he’s known for not communicating but showing up in the last minute, he’ll be here…….5:30…he didn’t.
I did mention it to him last week during some exercise at the Matrix and he confirmed. It’s always a touchy subject, do you remind the person supposed to Q two or three times, or do you just trust they will show? Opinions? You know you remind that guy and he’s like “Yes, a-hole, I told you I would be there!”. Okay a-hole was for emphasis, but that’s what it feels like.
Anyway, looking at the veteran group of guys, I knew we didn’t need a plan. No matter how good the substi-Q would be I would still get ridiculed throughout.
What happened…
Ran to the neighborhood across 51 and warmed up. Alf, worrying about his smack talk quota for the day went to his classic, “your low slow squat isn’t very low or slow”.
7s with Jump Squats at the bottom and Merkins at the top – after we’re done we were at 1.2 miles
Run over and grab a lifting rock and go to the gazebo.
Partner up
Cumulative exercises- Partner 1 Runs, Partner 2 Exercises
Exercise 1 – 300 chest presses with rock
Exercise 2 – 100 step ups with rock over head
Circle up with rocks –
In cadence:
- Curls, rotate and grab a different rock
2. Squats, rotate
3.Tricep extension, rotate
4. Iso squat, press rock forward, rotate
5. Shoulder press – return rocks
Run down to parking lot…find a parking line and plank.
5 merkins, plank walk right, 5 plank jacks, plank walk left, 4 merkins, etc. down to 1
Run over to half wall..
Partner one does derkins, donkey kicks, situps. Partner 2 runs the stairs
We did this twice…
Run to back road…
Run back to main lot doing increasing burpees at each street light,
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 = 28 total to wrap it up.
Finished right at 6:15
Moleskine – PAX Breakdown
Fletch was dealing with a bad back but still can turn on the burners, especially up hills. I could tell his squat form wasn’t what it usually is- impeccable.
Alf was the fastest guy today. He paid me to say that.
Turkey Leg was the second fastest guy. Alf also paid me to say that.
Fault Line always drops hints that he hates burpees so I waited till the very end to do them. He still goes 100% on everything he does.
Madison is consistent strong at all of it. I know if I’ve got him on Q I don’t need to remind him. You need guys like this in your life.
First time meeting No Regerts and he did awesome. Hope he becomes a Kevlar mainstay.
Tackling Dummy is twice as strong as all of us so there aren’t really any “lifting rocks” in the pile for him.
Big League Chew is just a badass country boy with the golden voice – he’s got your Q next week.
Announcements:
A51 F3 Christmas Party – Dec 8th, Friday night – after 7:30 – Seaboard in Downtown Matthews
Nov 4th – Tackling Dummy has the details, I forgot the name of the race. It benefits Special Needs Adults and it’s 5k which starts at Christ Covenant.
“Blue 42…SET…Burpee!”
I assumed on a day when it was a pure downpour at 5am that no one would be there for my Q. I prepared to run alone or just go back home, but the guys from the Matrix ain’t no pansies and 10 dudes pulled up in the gloom to get a pavement loaded workout. Sorry, but I’m not the guy who takes you to the mud puddles on a rainy day to prove a point.
Noticing the high chance of rain I decided to try out a few new things I’d thought of over the past year because I assumed the chance of getting ridiculed would be low. Fortunately guys like OT and Turkey Leg were in attendance and didn’t let me off that easily.
Disclaimer and we were off…
Run around school and meet back at the front parking lot for a warmup of SSH, LSS, Head Slap Merkins.
Experiment #1:
Plyometric Work
In my early 20s I used to be a “jump trainer” (yes that’s a thing) for several basketball and volleyball teams. I haven’t done one for F3 but wanted to try a small sample today.
- Each guy lines up on parking lot line:
“Cross country skier”(small jumps back and forth over the line) forward – 10 merkins at the end
Reverse “cross country skier” and do 9 merkins…forward 8 merkins, backward 7, down to 1.
2. Guys line up and do broad jump with 2 second pause – lunge walk backwards (x2)
3. Lineup on stomach, run 10 yards then do 5, 1 legged skips on left leg only
Lineup on stomach, run 10 yards then do 5, 1 legged skips on right leg only
Track work – Partner up
Partner 1 runs, partner 2 squat jumps – flap jack
Partner 1 runs, partner 2 sister mary catherine’s – flap jack
Partner 1 runs, partner 2 jump front to back over line – flap jack
Wall Work
Wall Sit Marches – in cadence to 20
10 thigh slappers (my personal favorite, personally and professionally)
10 derkins on the curb in cadence
Bear Crawl to Curb
2X
Experiment #2
4 Team Station Work
Station 1: Chest (merkins, dry docks, shoulder taps)
Station 2: Abs (flutter, situps, 6″)
Station 3: Legs (squat jacks, sister mary catherines, burpees)
Station 4: Lap team (timer)
Split up into 4 teams, team 4 runs around the entire group and when they get back to their station all of the groups rotate. You do 1 workout at each station and you would get to each station 3 times. This worked okay but was a little easier than I thought it would be.
Experiment #3
Football Indian Run
I’ve wanted to try this for a while and learned that this may not be a good idea, especially in the dark while it’s raining.
Rules:
- Line up for an Indian Run with the guy in the back with the football
- Guy in the back throws the ball to the guy in the front
- If he drops it, everyone does 5 burpees
- If he catches it he hands it off all the way to the back of the group
- The guy in the back runs to the front.
Yea, we did a lot of burpees…
Unfortunately not everyone had a chance to try it as we ran out of time. Ocho Cinco really wanted to channel his inner Ocho Cinco but didn’t get a chance.
Moleskine:
The only two guys who caught the ball were OT and Rachel if you’re looking to put together a flag football team. To be fair, there was a lot working against us on this one, near complete darkness, wet football, street lights, both players running in the same direction and all white people.
Smokey and Ocho Cinco were flying on the track.
On the 4 station workout, whichever team Madison was on had the fastest pace around the lot…didn’t see the other 2 guys but it was a group of 3.
Not much long distance running at all on this one so Rachel and Turkey Leg didn’t break a sweat. The entire PAX stayed together the entire time, which in my opinion, is always a bonus.
I ate it hard on a layout for the football on the concrete and came away with some nice road rash- OT asked at what age do you stop laying out for the football. To save F3 guys from doing burpees, and especially NOT to see OT do burpees, never.
I had to stop Squid from at least 3 exercises because his form is so impeccably thorough.
Regardless, I had a lot of fun and was really grateful that 10 guys posted in the rain.
OUT
Empty Threats
My 6 year old’s teacher asked the class: “Why is it important to learn to read?”
My son responded: “So when it’s time to go to jail you can read the letter they send you that tells you to go to jail”.
It made me realize that maybe I make too many empty threats since my kids expect that one day they will go to jail. I threatened a heavy lifting day and based on my shoulder soreness already I hope this threat was warranted.
Disclaimer then let everyone know that I’m injured (both legs) and we would not do much running – we didn’t
The Thang:
Ran to Gazebo – (found out the light switch is now locked up! Dangit – Horsehead – what is going on with management? Did the new pastor do this?!?)
This was our warmup – no circle time
Round 1
Partner 1 – 20 derkins
Partner 2 – SSH until derkins are done
Do this 3x
Round 2
Partner 1 – 20 Dips (timer)
Partner 2- Full Sit ups (flap jack)
Do this 3x
Round 3
Partner 1 – 10 Step Ups (timer)
Partner 2- Burpees(flap jack)
Dothis 3x
RUN TO FISHTANK (Circle wall area)
- Wall sit marches – in cadence to 20
- 10 donkey kicks – keep feet up on wall – 10 derkins (burned bad)
- Wall sit marches + shoulder presses in cadence
- 10 donkey kicks – keep feet up on wall – 10 derkins
- Wall sit marches in cadence
- Plank wall taps (just making stuff up at this point)
RUN TO”BRO GYM” AREA – 10 STATIONS SET UP WITH EXERCISES
30 second sets with 10 second transition time – iPad timer + classic rock
One station per PAX then rotate clockwise:
- Tricep press (with 25 lb plate)
- Curl (45 lb bar)
- Shoulder raises (with shotput balls)
- Full sit ups
- Shoulder Presses (40lb Kettlebell)
- Squat Raises
- Slam Ball
- Overhead squats (with 45 lb plate)
- Kettlebell Swings (45lb)
- Burpees
We made it around 3 times so we all got a good burn.
Ready Mix, Cotton Tail, Lex Luthor and Swiss Miss led us in some Mary to finish off the abs.
MOLESKINE
Everyone was dilligent and focused this morning. We all debated pulling a last minute BRR team and meeting you guys halfway through the course and pretend like we were there the whole time. Lex Luthor said we should just drive and taunt everyone – there was some mention of “bare asses against glass” drivebys. Again, all empty threats.
No real speed leaders or anyone pushing harder than anyone else. Everyone went hard the whole way through. Mad had some excellent KB Swing form, going for single-hand swings with a 45lb bell, Big League Chew (R) was killing the burpees on the last round, Tackling Dummy busted the Slam Ball open – he was angry, Squid had the most perfect form on all exercises, I would expect nothing less out of this guy.
Said a prayer for the BRR guys – praying you guys glorify HIM this weekend and everyone stay safe.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
BRR Training for 2018 starts tomorrow
Swiss Miss: GO to Gumby on Wednesdays at Matthews United Methodist (Scout building next to the church – right at the end of Fullwood) – Yoga/Strength/Stretch training – I’ve never been but I will soon
Pepsi Vs Coke
Like many F3 AOs, in Charlotte there are several workouts that are just around the corner from one another that from time to time see people jump ship and go to the other side. Joust and Kevlar have a good history of that with pretty strong respect coming from both sides. Bulldog once likened it to Pepsi Vs. Coke. These are two of the best AOs around and it’s a hard decision to make sometimes so when Yeti asks me to Q I always look forward to the Charlotte Christian luxuries, a perfect field, great hill, playgrounds, track, etc. But on my drive back through Kevlar on the way home I felt like I was cheating on someone a little bit. I guess if I have Pepsi once a year it’s not gonna hurt anyone (that’s right, Kevlar is Coke biaches).
9 men rolled into the parking lot on a very thick morning.
First things first….
Ran to field and circle warmup of SSH, Squats, 10 burpees on your own
Over at the wall…
Wall sit marches – sit on the wall and march your feet in cadence (continued warmup)
4 rounds of this (on the wall)…
10 thigh slappers, 10 derkins, 10 donkey kicks, bear crawl across track – Run 400m
15 thigh slappers, 15 derkins, 15 donkey kicks – bear crawl across track- Run 400m
20 thigh slappers, 20 derkins, 20 donkey kicks – bear crawl across track – Run 400m
Wall sit marches – Run 300m to the bottom of the hill
All together now…(at the hill)
20 merkins – run hill – 5 donkey kicks at the top on the fence
20 Carolina dry docks – run hill – 5 donkey kicks at the top on the fence
20 wide grip merkins – run hill – 5 donkey kicks at the top on the fence
20 sit ups – run hill – 5 donkey kicks at the top on the fence
20 merkins – run hill – 5 donkey kicks at the top on the fence
Head to the field..
Bear crawl to 10, lunge walk to 20, bear crawl to 30, lunge walk to 40, bear crawl to 50
Partner up (at field)
Partners start at the 50 – run to opposite end zones and do 5 burpees, run back to 50
In the middle we did 3 rounds – 15 hand slap sit ups (round 1), 15 hand slap merkins (round 2), 15 hand slap planks (round 3)
All together: Lunge walk to 40, bear crawl to 30, lunch walk to 20, bear to 10, lunge to end zone
Bear crawl suicide…
Bear crawl to 5, do 5 merkins, bear crawl back to endzone
Bear crawl to 10, do 5 merkins, bear crawl back to endzone
Bear crawl to 15, do 5 merkins, bear crawl back to endzone
Straight suicides…
Run to 20 & back, 40 & back, 60 & back, 80 & back endzone & back
Circle up
Circle up/downs on the field for about 10 total
Ab work
Ran back to the lot and ended with full sit ups, dolly & flutters
DONE
Moleskine
We affectionally call this workout the soccer workout and most of these guys can run so I tried to mix in a bunch of strength as well to balance everyone out. Dolly has gotten a lot faster since the last time I worked out with him. This was mostly a race between him and Rhapsody the whole time. Some of us (including Header) had a pre-run yesterday before a killer Meathead and that was my excuse for not being able to keep up with them.
I thought we may lose some guys on the hill run but everyone hung in there. I love working out with Smokey because he’s competitive as anyone you’ll meet and he never gives up. He was absoutely killing the hill work and no matter how many rounds he was always a step ahead of me.
We ran into Jock Strap and Dolly at Brakeman’s afterwards and Jock Strap literally gave me a look of digust saying that he almost threw up on the way home “we did so many exercises upside down man!”. I guess he’s right, all the wall work was upside down and it was very “bear crawl heavy”. The way he said it was hilarious.
All the other guys pushed super hard this morning and it was a fast group in general. Thanks to Yeti for the invite – it’s always a pleasure leading this PAX. We’re gonna have you Q at Kevlar soon enough…
Out
Tour de Matthews
Our AO is as solid as they come – good lighting, some hills, track (sort of), stairs, large field, really really ridiculously good looking site Qs, etc. but for a while I’ve wanted to take the PAX through DTM (Downtown Matthews) since it’s not even .5 miles away and it’s got a great feel to it and lots to do.
We started off with a strong pace but one that I knew the PAX could handle. Cotton Tail immediately yelled “pretty fast pace” in effort to send me a hint to slow down, Harley (I think) yelled “Where are we going?”.
What had happened was…
We immediately ran across John St. and took the back route to downtown Matthews, past Renfrow farms and into the motorcycle shop parking lot for a warmup.
SSH, Mountain Climbers, Carolina Dry Docks, Merkins
At the long one-way parking lot behind Seaboard
8 total lamposts – increasing burpees at each one – 36 total
Three rounds of the following – 20 derkins, 20 dips, 20 Sister Mary Catherines and run a lap up the new stairs (that lead to Seaboard) and back around to Trade St.
Run down to the library across the street and partner up
Cumulative reps of the following with a partner:
1oo merkins
100 squat jumps
200 LBCs
Partner 1 runs lap around the circle in front of the library and flap jacks
We rounded up the PAX to head back as it was already 6:02 and we were exactly 1 mile away from the school
In Downtown Matthews
At 8 lamposts we did 8’s
1 plank jack, 7 merkins, 2 plank jacks, 6 merkins, etc.
At this point it was 6:08 and we headed back to the school on the back road.
We made it back by 6:13 and did an AYG sprint to the lot, which took us less than 1 minute and ended up finishing a minute early. I was considering a burpee burnout but I could tell we were done.
Moleskine
Swiss Miss, being a true servant leader, brought up the back of the PAX as we were going across some busy roads and went pretty far offsite – thank you.
Gypsy came back after posting like 4 times since he joined F3 last Friday. He said he just gave up smoking after 30+ years and he’s killing it now – congrats bro. Bring your friends.
I did a little pre Q-run last night at like 10:30-11ish pm and saw Drive By at Seaboard taking in a very dark stout brew. He said he was out for this morning because it was late and he was feeling good with a beer (or two) in his belly. I pushed him (and another guy there) to post and he showed up. He knew we were making the trek to downtown and still made it. He’s basically out until next summer since he’s a teacher and has to make it to school early – see you then brother.
Everyone pushed hard today, it was a little longer of a run than usual but we stayed within 50 yards of each other the whole morning. Except at the end when Rhapsody put it into 5th gear on the AYG run – such a douche move.
We got a good tour of Matthews today – there’s a lot to do but there was a bit more traffic than anticipated. Nice work by all!
Announcements
Nov 4th Matthews – 5k race benefiting TEF Charlotte – The Exceptional Foundation – non-profit program for Adults with special needs
http://letthemsoar5k.racesonline.com/
Contact Tackling Dummy for more info
BOGO Pavers
Last night was my 12 year anniversary so after a bottle of champagne and a pre-workout (TMI?) I was a little tired this morning, but I’d been begging Pop Tart to Q so I had to bring it. I’ve never posted and smelled like champagne before and thankfully no one noticed.
19 men, including 1 FNG, assembled in the gloom and got to carry my old patio pavers around for 45 minutes and here’s what happened….
Warmup – lap around school and back to parking lot
SSH, LSS, Head Slap Merkins
Run to truck and grab two pavers – most men, except for maybe Ted Cruz, can easily hold one per hand.
Back to circle for extended warmup
Butterflies, merkins with paver lift
Run to track and partner up – use 4 bricks instead of 2 for all exercises
P1 – lap around track
P2 – shoulder press and flap jack
P1 – lap around track
P2 – curls and flap jack
P1 – lap around track
P2 – chest presses and flap jack
Line up on track and do a 70% speed lap
Head over to the wall (no bricks)
Round 1
- 5 merkins with feet on wall, bear crawl to curb
- 5 decline merkins, bear crawl to painted line
- 5 merkins on line, bear crawl across parking lot to next curb
- 5 incline merkins on the curb
Round 2
- Start with hands on the wall – 10 merkins alternating hand onto the wall and down
- Reverse bear crawl to curb – 10 incline merkins
- Reverse lung walk to curb
Line up on track and do a 80% speed lap then grap your pavers and head back to the wall
More wall work…
Wall sits with shoulder presses (35 in cadence)
Now things are getting weird…
Line up across from your partner and press bricks together, extend your arms and do 10 squats
Somehow this actually worked and it was hard….saving it for next time.
Run to back of school and grab a stump
- 10 step ups each leg with bricks
- 10 merkins on tire
- 20 donkey kicks on school
2x
Run to playground and leave bricks on the side
Round 1
P1 – runs to school
P2 – does pullups – 50 total
At the flapjack both partners have to do 5 burpees
Round 2
P1 – runs to school
P2 – jump squats – 50 total
At the flapjack both partners do 3 burpees
Round 3
P1 – runs to school
P2- merkins – 60 total
At the flapjack both partners do 1 burpee
Parking Lot
Find a line on the parking lot and plank
5 merkins on your line, plank walk sidways to your right, 5 plank jacks, plank walk back to your left
4 merkins on you rline, plan walk sideways to your right, 5 plank jacks, plank walk….
We did this until we did one of each – lots of burn
Burn out
Lineup on far end of lot – suicides
Line up on far end of lot – AYG to the end – return pavers and we’re done…
Moleskine
The group started chipper with lots of attention going to McGee’s bright yellow F3 shirt and Pop Tart’s bed head (see below). I noticed right away that McGee had that blue tint that most people get when they are low on oxygen and realized that his yellow shirt was at critical neck tightness levels. He assured us that it was just his traps and bi’s pulling at other ends of the shirt and that his neck was perfectly fine. The yellow shirt was created back in the day for Q’s to wear at the workout so you could find them in the gloom….allegedly. I prefer to wear all black because it’s hard to see and it looks good on me.
Laronda, Squid, Square Root and McGee all took well to the sprints and track work. Laronda has been around for only 3 weeks and seems to be a seasoned F3er already. At that speed, if he’s not careful, someone is going to invite him to do the BRR…don’t. Square Root is on his yearly hiatus from swimming but his leg strength continues to impress. Thank goodness for kick boards.
Bang Bang is in his second week of F3 and is shedding the weight already. He’s slated to join the USMC in October and has been taking free advice from several dudes. If he fills out and adds some strength he will kill all of us.
Colby (our FNG today) was a hard name but I’m ending up with Cubed Root which is kind of a mouthful (Square Root brought him). Name credit goes to McGee. I think a name change may happen soon because we didn’t really dig too deep. He pushed hard today and did well for a first timer.
When did OT go over 50? I must have missed it. If I had known I would have thrown a karaoke during warmups – have you ever seen this guy shuffle his feet? It’s like Dancing with the Stars on crack. He also stayed behind to make sure my truck started – what a guy.
This is what Pop Tart looked like this morning btw…
Announcements
Bring beans to your workouts this week to donate – canned goods to be exact. Retread was the only guy to bring anything today.
Watch the Cavs beat the Warriors tonight which will eventually be the greatest comeback in NBA history after being down 3-0.
Uncle Sam is calling…
I knew after Friday morning I would be completely out-of-pocket for a few days so this BB is up a few days late, but my concious wouldn’t let me just skip one.
My 19 year old neighbor Sam asked me to recommend him for the Marine Corps on Thursday so I said sure thing – you just have to come to F3 on Friday. Well he came as an FNG and now he’s hooked – he also went to Marine bootcamp on Saturday morning and said F3 was a lot harder.
Bang Bang is his name and it has 3 references – the last one I realized on the drive home and was stoked!
- He works at Bonefish Grill (Bang Bang Shrimp)
- He’s joining the Marine Corps
- His last name is Maxwell as in the Beatle’s song Maxwell’s Silver Hammer – “Bang Bang Maxwell’s Silver hammer came down upon his head…..”
Here’s what we did –
Several warmup laps around middle school median and run to circle in the middle of campus for warmups (SSH, LSS, Merkins)
Wall work
20 donkey kicks – run up stairs and back
20 decline merkins with legs on the wall – run up stairs and back
20 Thigh slappers – run up stairs and back
Wall sits with air presses while we wait on the PAX
Round 2
20 squat jumps – run up stairs and back
10 wall merkins (hands on wall down to ground and do merkin) – run up stairs and back
20 of something else – run up stairs and back
Wall sits with air presses while we wait on PAX
Run to hill
1 squat jump at top, 2 sister mary catherines at the bottom, 3 squat jumps at top, 4 sister….etc. until we got to 10
Run to rocks and partner up – go to gazebo
Cumulative reps – partner 1 runs, partner 2 exercises and flap jack
Round 1 – 300 curls
Round 2 – 150 shoulder presses
Round 3 – 60 step ups
Round 4 – 100 chest presses
Run back to main field
Ring around the burpee – get in a circle and take turns sprinting around the PAX and as you pass each person they have to do a burpee
Up-downs in a circle
Ab work until the end
Moleskine
Small small group today…10 guys…are me and Fault Line doing something wrong? According to Alf he would prefer Bull Dog to be his personal trainer so maybe those two were doing a private training session somewhere.
The group we had worked really hard. Cotton Tail went Navy on us and started yelling out military lingo to Bang Bang to try to get him used to the abuse.
Rhapsody on Q this Friday…
Announcements
F3 Dads every Saturday in June at Francis Beatty – 9 am at the softball fields
Convergence with Joust on 6/23
Bodies in motion…
After only posting once in about two weeks I realized how fast your body goes back to lethargy. In about two weeks you can go from feeling at the top of your game to zero because you didn’t feel like posting one morning or because you had other things going on. It can be frustrating because you really do have to push every day or at least be very consistent to keep your body going.
The same goes for our relationship with Christ. I’ll have a good few days reading my bible and praying each morning and I think “I’ve got this now”, then I just chill for a few days because I’m feeling good. A few days pass by and things start breaking down. I am not loving others, I’m selfish, irritated and trying to do everything on my own. Then I’ll be broken by a recurring sin or failure, and the cycle continues.
We think we deserve to have a privileged life and relax and enjoy everything – but we have to work for it, physically and spiritually. Of course we were not made for this world but while we’re here we have to push, we have to stay motivated and we have to put Christ first each day. F3 helps me to think that way and for that I’m very grateful.
They say bodies in motion stay in motion – our hearts need to stay in motion each day and be disciplined in our relationship with Christ. We can’t take a break – and that’s a good thing.
In other news – we also worked out this morning –
What had happened…
Quick warmup run and circle up
- SSH, LSS, Head Slap Merkins
Run over to Woodfox Ln
Run down the street doing increasing burpees at each lamp post to the stop sign at the end of Woodfox, plank and run back doing the same thing. There were 5 total lamp posts so we hit them up both ways.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (55 burpees)
From the top of the road…
Run down to Fairway Downs – 20 sit ups
Run down to Rosemead – 20 Sister Mary Catherines
Partner up
Catch me if you can with your partner with 1 burpee, flapjack (probably 5 more burpees, (60 total)
Wall of school building
20 donkey kicks – 10 derkins on curb
20 alternating foot kicks on wall – 10 derkins on curb
20 thigh slappers (10 each) – 10 derkins on curb
Parking lot
Partner work
Line up across from your partner on the provided lines (about 15 feet away)
Round 1
Bear crawl to the middle – 2 hand slap merkins – bear crawl back – 10 full
Bear crawl to the middle – 4 hand slap merkins – bear crawl back – 10 full situps
Bear crawl to the middle – 6 hand slap merkins – bear crawl back – 10 full situps
Bear crawl to the middle – 8 hand slap merkins – bear crawl back – 10 full situps
Bear crawl to the middle – 10 hand slap merkins – bear crawl back – 10 full situps
Round 2
Same thing as above but we did 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 squat jumps with your partner and 10 plank jacks in between
Run down to baseball field
3 burpees at home plate
20 merkins in right field
3 burpees at home plate
20 squat jumps in center
3 burpees at home plate
20 merkins in left
(9 more burpees – 69 total)
To the hill
10 merkins, reverse hill run, 10 more at the top (something like that)
10 Carolina Dry Docks – bear crawl – 10 more at the top
Burpees – 1 at the bottom of the hill, 2 at the top, 3 at the bottom, 4 at the top, 5 at the bottom (15 burpees – 84 total)
Parking lot
Partner suicides
- Partner 1 planks, Partner 2 runs to 1st basketball goal, flap jack
- This continues until both partners have run to all 5
Circle up
Freddy Mercury’s, Sit Ups, Jack Knife, Head Slap merkins, then 10 burpees on your own (94 total)
Moleskine
I learned recently that if you keep the warmup short and sweet that the entire workout feels about 20 minutes longer. So I did that…
It seemed like the PAX had the most fun trying to coordinate the partner jump squats facing each other. There was talk of chest bumps, booty bumps but only Bulldog and Puddin Pop attempted an in-air high five. I peeked down and they didn’t look too bad. In fact i think they were in the lead for most of this part of the workout so they may have figured something out.
If anything made me proud it was that Floor Slapper was on time and didn’t leave early. He is getting better.
Chin Music and Header did a pre-run and came back motivated and talking about a “cross carrying” idea next Easter with some heavy duty crosses. Sounds like a good idea, we have some time to plan for that. Both of these two were also by far the fastest at the end of the workout on the suicides..
Busch led the PAX through most of the workout and came in strong on the hills. He was also very interested by my suggestion for the first F3 calendar shoot. I can see him as 2018 Mr. February. Thanks for taking us out in prayer.
It was a priviledge to lead this group, as always.
-Out
Thunder Struck
Familiar faces start to roll out of their cars and form into a tightly knit circle in the parking lot, obvious jokes ensue, a few yawns and some nervous laughter discussing the outlook of the weather heading straight for us.
I think about 15 guys were there when we started…the Kevlar elite! Think – beaches of Normandy men! The usual tough guys!
Then people started talking about possibly getting “wet” and “what if we die?” The chances of us dying in a lightning storm are like 1 in 20,000,000 – or what my wife likes to call her “jackpot” – hence my recently upgraded life insurance policy. She was willing to take the chance of me posting this morning.
I tried to distract the PAX telling them using the ol’ “well the thunder is a few seconds behind the lightning so it’s at least X miles away” – you know, that bullcrap that you’ve always said but probably isn’t true.
I gave a disclaimer on the weather just in case anyone thought that I had anything to do with it starting to rain. The epic lightning was my main concern, and allegedly the only reason F3 is ever cancelled – someone mentioned.
What had happened…
We took off fast – some would call it a “shotgun start” because 8 seconds in to the workout – CRACK!!! – the lightning hit somewhere on Monroe Rd. and took down a tree (true story). It lit up the entire sky – think 4th of July Sandlot scene. This was at least a mile away and we knew we could make a dead sprint for the tennis shelter without getting hit. We turned around only to see at least 10 guys heading back to their cars. The men who set their alarms in the 4’s, drink their coffee black and bite down on sticks instead of getting anesthesia.
Bookie got caught in the middle and had a very important choice to make. Take the blue or the red pill. He chose correctly. Picasso and Squid didn’t think twice and I’m still trying to figure out if Fault Line is human or not because there have been a series of workouts where he really seems like he’s completely prepared to die. He Q’d one a few weeks ago where he took us right to a field filled with water to run sprints…he was genuinely annoyed at the whining from the other guys. This may be the guy that you grab when you go to war. Squid has never shown resistance to pain or risk of death and Picasso and Bookie impressed me to no end.
The workout…
Well – we went to the tennis pavilion (crap, I just realized I left all my cones all over the parking lot that I previously planned to use this morning).
Since we all 5 know what we did I’m keeping this brief – we used the benches and tables in the tennis pavilion.
- Warmup – squats, burpees, merkins, IWs, stretching
- 5 stations where we rotated – step ups, derkins, dips, side-step ups, jump ups
- Lots of plyo work, fast twitch style from my days as being a jump trainer (true story)
The last 15 minutes we left it up to a committee and had everyone co-Q. One guy called out a workout and the others had to follow. I think the best one was Picasso’s bear crawl circle where he called out 5 merkins in between. Really good stuff.
At 6:14 we made a dash back to the parking lot…I said a quick prayer thanking the Lord for delivering us from the storm and we all left.
Discomfort is good and it stretches and grows you and the 5 men who pushed through today understand this even more. To the men who left, we get it, you have a wife and kids to take care of, we really don’t blame you…buuut we can’t give you credit for posting.
Small note – I invited a FNG today and he freaking came and tried to find us! He was late but he tried to post in the storm.
Thanks to the 5 guys for co-Q’ing this workout and for pushing through. T’was a good morning.
Out