Author Archive Voodoo

The human burpee

9 pax posted this morning at Meathead on a pleasantly cool morning. YHC showed up at precisely 5:29.55 due to an alarm clock issue (I hit snooze). #cobains The struggle to get back into the swing post-BRR is real.

After throwing a few bells on the ground and shaming Uncle Leo into taking a 24, I gave a thorough disclaimer and explained the workout.

Warm-up:

  • SSH x 20 IC
  • 20 swings
  • Windmill x 10 IC

Main Event (2:30 per round):

  • 15 swings/15 goblet squats/1 merkin
  • 15 swings/14 goblet squats/2 merkins
  • 15 swings/13 goblet squats/3 merkins
  • …
  • 15 swings/3 goblet squats/13 merkins
  • 15 swings/2 goblet squats/14 merkins
  • 20 swings/1 goblet squat/15 merkins – (added 5 swings to get to 250 for the workout)

Time for a bit of Mary: 1:00 elbow plank, :30 recovery, 1:00 glute bridge

Fin

Thanks to Hoover for the takeout this morning.

Announcements:

  • Sign up for the blood drive or you answer to Mighty Mite. As he explained this morning, you’re going to give blood – one way or another.
  • Swole, Meathead, and Olympus are all looking for Qs. The rules are pretty simple for now – 250 swings on weekdays, 400 on weekends. Go with whatever rep count you want and mix in some accessory exercises. As Uncle Leo said this morning, the hardest part is coming up with music you won’t get made fun of for.
  • Keep an eye out for more information on the F3 Foundation. In an effort to make it more professional, they’re going to be hiring a director and are launching a $200,000 fundraising campaign in October. If you can contribute, please consider it.

Moleskine:

  • High Tide came up with the idea behind this workout a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been sitting on it until I had the opportunity to use it. Apparently, it’s based on a Dan John article and he calls it the human burpee. I haven’t read the article, so can’t tell you why. I can tell you that it’s the closest YHC is going to get to a burpee. If you have any complaints, please email him.
  • As always, thanks for posting at Meathead and for following my lead. We have a strong crew of regulars and are seeing some new faces as well. Now, we just need to kill that stupid sandbag workout that poached Wild Turkey. Friday really is a better day for it anyway…
  • The pax were having fun with the numbers this workout. We’re going to have to rename Uncle Leo Rainman or something.

 

 

Blew through my weinke

5 men met up at Olympus on a cool Saturday morning for some fellowship, ball-busting, and 400 swings. About halfway through, Frehley’s rolled in to catch the back half of the workout after posting at Stonehenge. He had sent a note to the Q, who promptly forgot until he saw his car rolling in.

Warm-up: SSH (20), IW (15), Mountain Climber (20) IC

The Thang:

  • 10 swings, 1 press per side
  • 15 swings, 2 presses per side
  • 25 swings, 3 presses per side
  • 50 swings, 4 presses per side

Repeato 3 times (4 total rounds) with goblet squats, rows, and lunges (400 total swings)

Waiter carries – 1:00 per side 4 times (twice per side)

Snatches – 5 per side for 10 rounds (100 snatches)

Mary: elbow plank and hollow body hold

COT with the RockZero pax

Announcements:

  • SOB/Area 51 blood drive will take place on 10/23 at the Brace (formerly Sisley) Y. Don’t do at between now and then or you will be ineligible
  • Wild Turkey on Q on Wednesday at Meathead. Come for the music, stay for the 250 swings. Unplugged will be Qing on Saturday at Olympus. Next week, Beetlejuice will (V)Q at Swole.

Moleskine:

  • #cobains for the delay in getting this posted. I find it hard to sit at my computer during the weekends after being on it all week.
  • Good to have a strong crowd out there this morning. Thanks to Frehley’s for double-posting to catch the second half of the workout.
  • It had been a while since we did the 50 swing set, so I decided to bring it back for this workout. It’s good to challenge the grip every once in a while.
  • I didn’t really have anything planned after the 400 swings since that usually takes us most of the hour. I guess the 50 swing sets reduced the amount of time, so we had a little less than half the workout to go. Tiger Rag suggested the snatches, so the pax can thank him for that. Madison didn’t take kindly to the 5 rounds turning into 10 and there was some modifying.

Who checks the weather?

YHC rolled in to find 3 pax ready to roll at Olympus this past Saturday. Beetlejuice was ready to check his loaner bell out of the library and Frehley’s had his towel at the ready. Tiger Rag had already gotten a pre-run done and was doing some hideous battle rope/hairburner/kettlebell drag combo. Madison rolled in, there was a brief disclaimer, then we got down to it.

Warm up: SSH, arm circles

The Thang:

  • 20 swings
  • 8 rows per side
  • 20 swings
  • 10 deadlifts
  • 10 swings
  • 5 presses per side

Repeato 8 times for 400 total swings, 128 rows, 80 deadlifts, and 80 presses.

Mary: 1:00 each of elbow plank, hollow body hold, and glute bridge.

Announcements:

  • Freed to Bleed: SOB/Area 51 Blood Drive at Brace YMCA on October 23. Please join if you can and don’t give blood between now and then! Mighty Mite is coordinating and will come out with more details as we get closer.
  • The Iron Pax Challenge is in full swing, with week 1 starting 8/31. Opportunities to complete it on Tuesday at South Charlotte Middle School with Hoover, Wednesday at WAMRAP with Alf, and Saturday at Matthews Sportsplex at 0730 with Orange Whip.
  • Q spots open for Swole, Meathead, and Olympus. The weinke is pretty straightforward these days with 250 swings at 45 minute workouts and 400 swings at 60 minute workouts.
  • The swing program is scheduled to keep running for a few more weeks, then we will transition into a new program. Before we start the next program, we will offer a kettlebell workshop to allow pax to learn more about the movements, ask questions, etc. This is still in the planning phases, so keep an eye on Slack for more details in late September.
  • Labor Day convergence at SCMS with Base Camp – Mighty Mite will be offering a KB option.

Moleskine:

  • Thanks for posting and working hard. It was nice to break the 4 pax cap we’ve had for a few weeks at Olympus and get to 5!
  • #cobains for not checking the weather and telling everyone to meet at the Hot Box. Instead, we completed 1 round, then had to relocate as rain started. We still had plenty of time to complete the rounds, so no harm done.
  • Good to have Tiger Rag back out at a kettlebell workout. The new pax might know him as a runner, but he was one of the original meatheads.

Me and the Respects

4 pax pulled up at Calvary for another round of Olympus. Everyone (except Cottonmouth) knew what was in store: 400 swings.

Warm up:

  • SSH x 20 IC
  • IW x 10 IC

The Thang:

  • 20 swings, 8 rows per side
  • 20 swings, 8 reverse lunges per side
  • 10 swings, 15 chest presses per side

Repeato for 8 rounds – 400 swings, 128 rows, 128 lunges, 120 chest presses. The swing count was mixed up a bit with some rounds of 15/15/20, one round of 50 straight, etc.

Finish up with some elbow plank with our final minute, then hustle over to the RZ pax for COT.

Announcements:

  • SOB/Area 51 blood drive is coming in early October. Since you need to wait 8 weeks between donations, please don’t give if you might be able to make this blood drive. T-claps to Mighty Mite for his leadership on this front. #FreedToBleed
  • Swole and Meathead are going back to 0530 starting on 8/17 to accommodate school schedules for those pax who are fortunate enough to be getting their kids out of the house!

Moleskine:

  • It was great to have Cottonmouth join us today. He had threatened to come to some ‘bell workouts soon and finally made it happen. He also regaled us with stories about work travel, book smart salespeople, etc.
  • Frehley’s Comet is trying to heal up a knee injury and is crushing the kettlebell workouts lately. He’ll be taking the lead at Meathead tomorrow to give the pax a little taste of some old school strength training knowledge.
  • Beeltejuice has also been a regular and is doing well at the bells while mixing in some boot camps. He’s still in the market for a bell (buy or borrow), so reach out if you’ve got any laying around gathering dust.
  • Thanks to the pax for joining me this morning. These workouts are grueling and sneaky hard.

Swings, swings, and more swings

9 pax showed up at Calvary at 0600 for another episode of everyone’s favorite Wednesday (gear) workout. Wild Turkey showed up early for jump rope and Unplugged did the same for some yoga to stretch out the back.

The warm up consisted of the usual: 20 SSH and 15 IW.

The main event went like this:

  • 20 swings, 8 lawnmower rows per side
  • 20 swings, 8 goblet squats (we did 5 for the first round, but decided that wasn’t enough)
  • 10 swings, 15 merkins, 5 presses or push presses per side

Repeato for 5 rounds – on round 4, we did all 50 swings, then the rows, squats, merkins, and presses to keep it interesting.

2 x waiter carries (out with your weak side for :30, back with your strong side for :30) with 1:00 rest in between.

Mary: 1:00 each of (i) elbow plank, (ii) hollow body hold, and (iii) glute bridge. :30-1:00 of rest in between exercises.

Time!

Thanks to WT for the takeout.

Announcements:

  • Mighty Mite is organizing an SOB/A51 blood drive for late September/early October and is looking for a large indoor space somewhere in the middle of the 2 regions (think Calvary or Stonecrest, not Matthews). Beetlejuice is chasing down the YMCAs and has reached out to Calvary, but if you have any ideas/connections, please connect with Mighty.
  • Next week is our last week starting at 0600 as we move back to 0530 to accommodate pax with kids going back to school and teachers/administrators that need to be at school themselves.
  • Next week we will be parking one lot over (farther from Anvil) to accommodate the teachers arriving around 0630 and to avoid the goose bathroom where we worked out today. #yum
  • Please keep High Tide and his family in your prayers as he lost his uncle over the weekend.

Mumblechatter:

  • Thanks to the pax for following my lead this morning. I tried to keep it pretty meat and potatoes and did have to audible a bit to make sure we weren’t resting too much.
  • Great numbers again this week. If you’re interested in trying out kettlebells, please join us. Although we’re not sharing bells during the workout, there are usually a few loaners around.

 

Back to reality

The first day of August saw 4 pax posting at Olympus for some swings and fellowship. It was hot and the bugs were out, but it didn’t stop the gainz.

Warm-up:

  • SSH x 20 IC
  • Windmills x 10 IC

Main event:

  • 15 swings, 5 double bent-over rows, 5 double push presses
  • 35 swings, 15 explosive or banded merkins

We followed that swing rep scheme for about 4 rounds, then mixed it up with a 20/30 set, then a 15/15/20 set. We did some Mary (elbow planks, hollow body holds, and glute bridges) after the 6th round. We had a little time left so we did a super-set of 50 swings followed by the rows, presses, and merkins. With 1-2 minutes left we did one more set of 50 swings to complete 400 for the workout.

Announcements:

  • After 2 years at the helm of Area 51, Alf is stepping down as Nantan and I’ll be taking over. The rest of the board will also be moving out of their roles, so please reach out if you have an interest in getting involved in leading the region. As most pax know, F3 is a starfish organization, so it’s not centrally-controlled. The leadership team is there to provide a vision for the region and guidance for the pax. We’re looking for Qs of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Fs as well as other individuals interested/willing to serve on the board to provide ideas. F3 is all about developing leaders, so raise your hand if you’re looking for something to do or have ideas for the region. Thank you to Alf and the board (Turkey Leg, Pop Tart, Madison, and Snowflake) for their leadership.
  • Our region to the south (Sons of Ballantyne or SOB) also recently transitioned from Bucky’s leadership to War Eagle’s. I look forward to working with War Eagle and his board to share ideas and partner on initiatives.

Moleskine:

  • It’s been good to have Frehley’s joining us at the gear workouts while he takes a hiatus from running. He made the worthy suggestion of the different swing sets, but also the terrible suggestion of the 50 swing sets. Thanks for your input.
  • Beetlejuice seems to be enjoying the gear work and has been posting regularly the last few weeks. He’s in the market for some bells if you’ve got any collecting dust at home. You can find him on Slack.
  • High Tide was not intimidated by the higher rep counts and swung the 32 the entire time. Very strong work.
  • Thanks for coming out and following my lead. Again, if anyone has ideas for the next round of the KB workouts, please reach out. We’re pretty open-minded as long as there’s some method to the madness. We’re also open to guest Qs that want to provide the tunes and run the prescribed workout (with their own accessory exercises).

Dirty Dozen at Meathead

Another big day for gear at Meathead on Wednesday with a strong 12 posting. It seems like the weekday gear workouts are really taking off. After a weak disclaimer (be glad I said it at all since I usually forget!), we got started with a similarly weak warm up of SSHs and IWs. Then it was time for the main event, which was focused on 250 swings.

  • 15 swings, 5 cleans per side, 5 lawnmowers per side
  • 35 swings, 10 goblet squats

Repeato for 5 rounds. On the 3rd round, we did 50 swings straight, then the cleans, lawnmowers, and goblet squats to mix it up. 250 swings, 50 cleans, 50 presses, and 50 goblet squats.

Next was :30 of suitcase carries per side, four times through. We wrapped up with some elbow plank until time ran out.

5 pax (YHC, Hoover, High Tide, War Eagle, and Taco Stand) struggled through a 3 mile 2nd F post-run.

Announcements:

  • All of the gear workouts are open to volunteer Qs. We’ll provide the outline of a weinke, you provide the tunes and leadership. Please reach out Mighty Mite or YHC if you’re interested. If no one raises their hand, we’ll just tell you you’re Qing.
  • We’re always looking for new program ideas, so if you’ve got anything you’d like to try, please reach out.
  • Meathead will be going back to 0530 workouts in the near future to accommodate those pax who need to get kids to school. We’ll make an announcement when the time comes, update the schedule, and put something on Slack.

Moleskine:

  • It’s been great having strong numbers at Swole and now Meathead. The more, the merrier. Thanks for coming out and thanks for allowing me to lead.
  • If you’re at all curious about KB work, this is a good time to come out as we’re focused primarily on the core KB exercise, the swing. There’s a little variety with the accessory exercises, but we’re keeping it pretty simple.
  • T-claps to Mighty Mite and High Tide, who are both swinging 32s out there. I guess I need to step up my game…
  • Please sound off in the comments below if you have any thoughts/comments/feedback, etc.

 

 

Record numbers at SWOLE

12 pax posted on a sticky July morning for swings and other assorted goodies. After an admittedly weak disclaimer (hey, at least I remembered one!), we launched into the Warm Up:

  • SSH x 20 IC
  • Windmills x 10 IC

On to the Main Event:

  • 15 swings followed by 5 presses on your non-dominant side (alternating to dominant next round) and 5 goblet squats. Recover until the 2:30 mark
  • 35 swings followed by 15 explosive merkins. Recover until the 4:30 mark

We did 4 sets and on the 5th set, we combined the swings into 1 set of 50 swings, followed by 5 presses per side, 5 squats, and 15 merkins. #crowdpleaser

We then did 1:00 overhead carries (switching to suitcase when you wear out) with 1:00 recovery, twice with each arm. Elbow plank for a little over a minute to finish it off.

Announcements:

  • The Impact Local 5k/10k raised $4,500 on 7/17, which will be distributed to 5 different charities. Keep an eye out for a backblast and thanks to all that contributed. Kirby and Strawberry did a great job of organizing it and getting the word out.

Naked Man Moleskine:

  • Great turnout for a Monday morning with 1 FNG (Tri Delt, née Mike J.). He was a fraternity brother of Madison’s, hence the sorority nickname that Frehley’s came up with. We also had a kotters with The Worm joining us. Another recent gear junkie, Beetlejuice made his 2nd or 3rd gear post after getting EHed to bells at the RockZero COT a couple of Saturdays ago. The rest were regulars that were getting after it as per usual. Wild Turkey got there early to jump rope and Unplugged did his “old man yoga.”
  • This program looks easy on paper, but really builds up over 5 rounds. If you’re finding it’s not challenging in the last couple of rounds, reach out to one of the regulars about borrowing a larger bell.
  • If you’ve got feedback on the program or would like to Q (the weinke is pretty straightforward), please reach out to Mighty Mite or YHC.
  • Thanks for posting and allowing me to Q. The pleasure was all mine.

 

 

Swingers

After 16(!) weeks of the modified Quick and the Dead program, it’s time to change things up at the Area 51 kettlebell triumvirate of Swole, Meathead, and Olympus.

For our next program, we’re going to modify Dan John’s 10,000 swing workout (link). While doing 10,000 swings in a month is a worthy goal, (i) we don’t have time to do 500 swings in a 45 minute workout, (ii) we don’t have 4-5 KB workouts a week (yet), and (iii) doing 500 swings in a workout is something you don’t want to do multiple times a week without working your way up to it. As a result, we’re going to modify the program to 250-300 swings per workout, 3 times per week. Swings will be done in sets of 15 and 35 at first. As we get used to the volume, we may mix in some 10-15-25-50 rep sets.

While the main course at the workout will be the swing (the cornerstone kettlebell exercise), there will be other exercises worked in between sets. This “accessory exercise” will be selected by the Q and could be the same for the whole workout or could change for each set to give the pax some variety. We’ll finish with Mary and mix in TGUs on Saturdays at Olympus.

This new program will start tomorrow at Swole, with Mighty Mite leading the charge. Swole meets in the inVue parking lot off Carswell Lane at 0600. We hope to see you in the gloom.

The Prodigal Q

After 2.5 weeks away, it was good to get back out there with the pax to swing some bells at Meathead. I got there a little early to do some jump rope warm up with Rocky Balboa, I mean Wild Turkey. Unplugged was also out there doing some yoga to warm up the spine. We ended up being joined by a large number of pax, including site FNGs Kelly and Sweeney Todd. We also had a couple of otters in Smokey and Victoria.

Warm up:

  • SSH x 15 IC
  • IW x 15 IC
  • Windmills x 10 IC

Main Thang:

  • 2 sets of 10 swings
  • 2 sets of 10 merkins

Repeato x 5. After each round of swings, perform a kettlebell complex (swing, high pull, snatch, clean, squat, press) with your non-dominant arm. After each round of merkins, perform the same complex with your dominant arm.

Overhead carries – 1:00 out with the non-dominant arm, 1:00 rest, 1:00 back with the dominant arm, 1:00 rest. Repeato.

Mary: 1:00 each of elbow plank, hollow body holds, and glute bridges

COT: Take a knee and thanks to Wild Turkey for the take out.

Announcements:

  • Kirby and Strawberry Are organizing a 5k/10k around the Bull Ring on July 18th. The entry fee is $33.33 and almost every penny will go to local charities. Entry fees/donations can be sent to the SOB paypal account. Keep an eye out for a pre-blast.
  • Tomorrow (Saturday) is doubles day at Olympus tomorrow. 0700 at Calvary. Cleans, presses, squats, renegade rows, and farmer carries.
  • Bucky is leading his “so long for now” Q at Da Vinci tomorrow (Saturday). 0630 in Blakeney. Chicken- and coffeeteria will be held after, so bring a chair.

Moleskine:

  • It was great to have such strong numbers out there this morning. Kelly is getting back into F3 and High Tide took him under his wing during the workout. Sweeney Todd, Victoria, and Smokey coordinated their attendance, helping to bolster our numbers.
  • For those of you that are new to this workout program, the goal is to focus on high quality movements since the reps are low and there’s plenty of rest. If you have a heavy bell, you can do 2-handed swings. If you have a lighter bell or the 2-handed swings aren’t challenging enough, you can switch to 1-handed swings. Be sure to focus on form and really squeezing in what is effectively a standing plank at the top of the swing.
  • As we’ve been on this program for a bit, we’re working on the next round of Swole-Meathead-Olympus program. Keep an eye out for a pre-blast in the coming weeks.
  • Thanks to the pax for posting and for following my lead. I hope to see more of you out there in the coming weeks. Stay safe and healthy!

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