Author Archive Wedding Singer

It sucked just as bad the second time around

About a month ago site Q extraordinaire, Fuse Box, reached out asking if I wanted a second stab at Chiseled. Heck yeah I did! Only 5 pax showed my first time around, YHC included, so I was pumped to try to bring a good workout to a larger crew. I added the date to my calendar and went on my merry way. Fast forward to this Tuesday morning at Watchtower when I luckily overheard a conversation regarding who is Qing where this week…”Wedding Singer is on Q at Chiseled”…oh sh!t I almost dropped the ball there big time! Luckily, I had a Chiseled workout planned that very few PAX got the experience, so I made some slight modification based on the last go around and we ready for redemption.

Pulling in at 5:15 and I see a few people pre-running. We’re already off to a good start. Swing by to grab the gear and admire the new bin out there. This one seems a bit more sturdy…I dig it. More PAX start rolling in as I get the pain stations set-up and I’m feeling good. This group will do just fine.

DiCCs given at 5:28..paced anxiously for another 90 seconds…LETS MOSEY!

WARM UP:

Mosey around mount chiseled and back to the gear bin to crab some bricks…back to start. Circle up.

With bricks in hand:

  • SSH x 20 21
  • Merkins x 20
  • Low Slow Squats x 15
  • Reverse Fly x 20
  • Shoulder Press x 20

The THANG:

Quick mosey around the lot with our bricks and over to the side of the admin house. Its time for some station work. We broke in to groups of 2 or 3 as I explained (poorly) what we were all in store for.

5 minutes at each station w/ 30 seconds to recover between each station….and go!

  • Station 1: Partner 1 flips the big tire while #2 runs to the end of the lot and back. Flapjack until time is up
  • Station 2: Partner 1 grabs a cinder block and does squat thrusts while #2 runs. Flapjack until time is up
  • Station 3: Partner 1 on the big rope while #2 runs. Flapjack until time is up
  • Station 4: Each Partner grabs a smash ball. Together do 25 bicep curls and 25 tricep extension every minute for the 5 minutes
  • Station 5: Down to the pit of misery. Together do 25 dips and 10 jump-ups every minute for the 5 minutes
  • Station 6: Together do 10 burpees every minute for the 5 minutes

After the station work we had about 20 seconds to kill, so everyone got down into a plank and waited for the final buzzer to sound.

Moleskin:

I think this workout was even harder the second time around, but it seemed well received by all 13 PAX in attendance. The 5 minutes of burpees was a crowd “favorite”, for sure. As I looked around the group this morning, I was really impressed to see everyone pushing themselves and fighting through my bad ideas. This morning had a way of not seeming too terrible at the beginning, but it just kept building and you could tell everyone was feeling it.

This morning also saw the return of Wrong Turn, after being MIA for some time. It was awesome to see you back out…keep it up man!

Announcements:

  • Prayer request for Foundation’s Mom, who is having neck surgery this morning.

The.Burpee.Train

I had a goal…cover 3.5 miles while doing 35 reps of a bunch of different exercises and seeing the sights of DT Waxhaw. Seemed like a good way to start my birthday and honor the fact that I’m not of legal age to run for President. But then…that damn train. Getting Q-jacked by Deadwood, now that expected from time to time, but a freaking train? Come on! And not just any train, apparently this train was going for consecutive longest and slowest records. brutal to say the least. We made the most of it and got in between 25.-3 miles in with a decent beating mixed in there. Here’s how it went down:

Warm-up:

  • Mosey (the long way) to Dreamchaser’s
  • IC SSH x 35
  • The.Burpee.Train (10 minutes of Burpees as a slow a$$ train rolls by)
  • I think we’re warm now….

The THANG:

  • 1/3 mile jog up Providence to shake off those burpees
  • Back down Providence to Dreamchasers doing 7 jump squats at each intersection (total 35..surprise)
  • Mosey to the top of Kim Jong Hill / Keith Jong Hill…which is it?
  • At the top – Mike Tyson x5 – Mosey to bottom – Tyson x5 – Sprint to the top. Repeat 3x
  • Mosey to the circle at the top of the Kid’s Park
  • Circle up for some 7&7’s
    • Bear crawl IC x7
    • Dry Docks IC x7
    • Repeat x5
  • Mosey around to the lot in front of the cupcake queen (yes that’s the only business in that plaza I can remember)
  • Ab circuit
    • Leg Lifts – 35 sec
    • LBC 35 sec
    • Plank 35 sec
    • recover 35 sec
    • repeat x 2
  • Mosey to start – plank for time

Moleskin:

That burpee train sucked. It may have been the longest 10 minutes of my life, and I don’t think I was alone in that. The rest of the workout was filled with under the breath comments about how gassed people were after it, or that things wouldn’t have been so hard if it weren’t for that train. If you haven’t experienced it for your self, consider yourself lucky…but also you haven’t really lived!

In all seriousness though, it was really amazing to get to lead this workout this morning. When Shake first invited my out last August I never knew what this group would mean to me. Thanks to everyone that came out this morning and pushed through all of my terrible ideas. It was an awesome way to start the day.

Announcements:

  • Easy Button on Q tomorrow for Impromptu

Just Wear The Dang Vest!

14 men came out to share in some misery as YHC made his second Q appearance at Watchtower. It was raining lighting as the PAX arrived and I quickly informed them that I planned to make no efforts to keep people dry. I made good on that promise as it start pouring about 25 minutes into the workout….but I don’t want to get ahead of myself so let’s take it from the top.

Warm up:

  • Mosey around PetSmart to Target Parking Lot / bear crawl the island section – Circle Up
  • SSH x25
  • Jimmy Doogain(??) / Walk out to a plank
  • Mountain Climbers x15
  • Merkins x15
  • Hold plank
  • Plank jacks x 10

The Thang: 

  • Reverse Deconstructed Burpee Ladder
    • Deconstructed Burpee = Squat, In & Out, Merkin, In & Out, Squat JumpReverse deconstructed burpee ladder w/ parking lot length run between reps 
    • Start at 10 reps of each and work down to 1 with a run between each
  • Mosey around PetSmart to Village Tavern / bear crawl the island section
  • Partner-up
    • Partner 1 runs the short lap around Village Tavern
    • Partner 2 exercise
    • Partner complete:
      • 100 Step-ups
      • 200 Squats
      • 300 Dips
  • Break into two lines for indian runs – circle around the lots and back to COT when we ran out of time.

Moleskin:

I learned a few things this morning…

  1. Gerber gives 0 craps about safety if it means he has to wear a 1oz vest (Maybe that’s how he keeps his pace so quick)
  2. Adding any exercise to the opening mosey is sure to get groans
  3. Damascus does NOT like it when you spring bonus running on him the end of a workout
  4. Pax get very concerned about time when you say “One more lap”

But seriously, it was a great effort by everyone out there. I was pretty impressed when the Gazelles voluntarily added a burpee to their indian run.

Announcements:

  • Speed for Need 5k on March 24th. Rubbermaid is Q’ing the race and will communicate out discount code to anyone interested in pushing once he has it.
  • MarkThisMoment.com Father/Daughter Dance on March 1.
  • Doughboy on Q tomorrow @ Chiseled / Dana @ Dromedary

Where My Pax At? – v. Chiseled

5 man braved the coldfought through the rain … enjoyed a mild 52 degree morning out at chiseled. Hence the title….Where My Pax At?? (I know the answer, Dromedary getting their WAMRAP on. As for the 5 of us…we were in for some good old fashioned station work.

WARM UP:

Mosey over to the brick pile, grab a pair of bricks, 1 lap around mount chiseled and back to start. Circle up.

With bricks in hand:

  • SSH x 20
  • Merkins x 15
  • Low Slow Squats x 15
  • Reverse Fly x 20
  • Shoulder Press x 20

The THANG:

After a quick mosey around the median, it was time for some station work. Since there was only 5 of us, we broke into two groups (of 2 and 3).

5 minutes at each station w/ 30 seconds to recover between each station….and go!

  • Station 1: Partner 1 flips the big tire while #2 runs to the end of the lot and back. Flapjack until time is up
  • Station 2: Partner 1 grabs a cinder block and does bicep curl + squat thrust while #2 runs. Flapjack until time is up
  • Station 3: Partner 1 on the big rope while #2 runs. Flapjack until time is up
  • Station 4: Each Partner grabs a smash ball. Together do 25 bicep curls and 25 tricep extension every minute for the 5 minutes
  • Station 5: Down to the pit of misery. Together do 25 dips and 10 jump-ups every minute for the 5 minutes
  • Station 6: Together do 10 master splinters every minute for the 5 minutes

After the station work we still had a minute to kill, so a final mosey to the end of the lot and back brought us to time.

Moleskin:

Lots of grunts and groans heard from the group today, so I’ll take that as a success. Everyone seemed to really be pushing hard. I appreciate Damascus using his last couple reps of tire flips to keep moving the tire closer to it’s home. For anyone keeping track – Shake and Bake did show up for his pre-run, but I don’t think anyone had the courage to join him (YHC included).

Announcements:

  • Banjo on Q tomorrow at floater – that already happened….womp
  • There’s a Father-Daughter dance coming up in early March and a handful of PAX are attending (Banjo had more detail the I forgot to record)

Once again, things that could’ve been brought to my attention YESTERDAY!

VQ – where big ideas become lessons learned very, very quickly.

20 PAX fought the cold to come out to my highly anticipate VQ. I’d been prepping for weeks….months even(no..not really months).  This work out had to be EPIC(Spoiler Alert: It wouldn’t be).  4-corners?  Nah, too basic….a little triple nickel? Played out….burpee suicides??? Ok, let’s reel it back just a bit.

But finally the prep work was done, the wienki  (spellcheck???) was ready to go and all that was left was to see how this all played out.

Warm-up

  • Started things off with a short mosey around the back of PetSmart, circled up in the back of the Target parking lot. Disclaimer given – gotta keep moving.
  • In cadence:
    • SSH x25
    • Imperial Walkers x20
    • Low Slow Squats x20
    • Merkins x20

The Thang

  • Quick mosey over to the traffic circle for the first of my “great ideas”.
  • 10 trees on either side of the street –  bear crawl, stopping at each tree. At trees we alternated between merkins x10 and dry docks x10 (I modified this down to 5 quickly)
    • Quick side note, about 2 trees in, the cold was no longer a factor.  Success!
  •  Mosey to the back of the Target lot
  • All pax lined up side by side – jail break to the end of the lot in back staying in the order of you finished
  • Al gore while YHC did a quick count off of the Pax to break into 4 teams
  • My next “great idea” – Team relay
    • Each team member took a turn completing hand-slap merkins x20 and a jail break to the end of the lot and back
    • Rest of your team was in plank doing mountain climbers waiting for their turn to run (saw lots of mod/standing around during this, so may need to rethink if this is going to be a 2nd appearance)
    • Winner team chose the punishment for the last team to finish (Burpees)
    • Losers did burpees while the rest of the pax took a “victory” lap around the lot
  • 10 count for a time check and then we were moving again – Mosey over to the Hickory Tavern
  • Partnered up for some more sweat
    • P1: short lap around Hickory Tavern
    • P2: exercises
    • As a team complete:
      • Heels to Heaven x100
      • Step-ups x150
      • shoulder dips x200
  • Still had a minute on the clock, so we took a wide lap through the PetSmart lot back to CoT
  • 6:15 – Let’s call it!

Moleskin

What an awesome experience leading this group. The sense of accomplishment set in right away as I started hearing the complaining during those bear crawls. Really appreciate all the support from everyone that came out this morning.

The pax continue to impress, with everyone seeming to get faster each time we’re out there. Ruby (Rocket Ismail) really turned on those afterburners for the sprints. It might be time for the pax formerly known as Dana to turn in his Clydesdale card for good. Dancing Bear was back in action after and as spry as ever.  Krusty is still trying to hold onto that self proclaimed name change…stay krusty my friend.

A solid showing from the MillBridge contingent (the real #1 ‘hood) – Jingles, Goodfella, Legalized – Great seeing you all out crushing it this morning!

Announcements

  • Dancing Bear is collecting winter gear (socks, hats, scarves) in addition to toiletries to those in need
  • SOB Christmas Party is this Friday (11/30) – Includes food from Hickory Tavern, domestic beer and wine.  If you want to get fancy with your drinks, you gotta bring your own
  • EFFFie’s are on 12/7 at 8pm at the BriarCrest Clubhouse.  BYOB – and yes, this is a real event.
  • Jingle Jangle Beer exchange on Saturday 12/15 on Zinfandel’s driveway – Bring a 6 pack to share.