By The Numbers

  • When:11/14/16
  • QIC: Argonaut
  • The PAX: Voodoo, Wild Turkey, Marlin (R), Mighty Mite, Frehley's Comet (R), Argonaut


By The Numbers

Conditions

  • The super-moon shining brightly
  • 40ish temps, no rain.
  • depressed numbers due to Big House opening day.

Pre-Thang

3 showed for this morning’s pre-party. Wild Turkey, Marlin, and YHC all loaded up a pack or vest with 15-25 lbs and started running. 2.4 miles then back to launch to allow for some post-run recovery and hydration. Quality conversation on the jog. We discussed how disappointing most of the astronomical phenomenon are given all the hype they enjoy.

  • Yesterday “Tomorrow is the SUPER moon, the closest the moon has EVER been to earth”
  • Today “Moon is maybe a little bigger; I was expecting an E.T on the bike background moon.”

Thang

The PAX were disclaimed and urged to give it their all, but to adjust and modify as needed. Warm-up included; Warm-up lap, 10 Slow Windmill; 10 Slow Merkin; 10 Slow Prying Squats.

Partner Work

Grab a partner, similar bell size. 3 rounds of each exercise below.

Resistance Bell Merkins
  • P1: Hands on Overturned Bells, 8 Merkins
  • P2: Apply pressure to upper back to ensure the 8 reps are hard and the 8th rep is near muscle failure.
  • Switch and Repeat for 3 rounds
  • 30 swings in between each couplet
Double Squats with Core
  • P1: Rack both bells, 12 Deep Squats
  • P2: LBCs until P1 is done.
  • Switch and Repeat for 3 rounds
  • 30 swings in between each couplet (no swings after the last one)

SSST

  • Get into a semi-circle for instructions and throw on some music.
  • Secret Service Snatch Test: 10 minutes of continuous kettle bell snatch. You may switch hands as often as you want; if you need a break, set the bell down but at least one hand must remain on the bell the whole time.

    Secret Service Snatch Test (SSST): is a test allegedly used as a weed out exercise for candidates of the Secret Service. There’s not a lot to confirm whether this is actually the case. I guess that stands to reason since secrets are kind of their thing over there. The SSST is a ten minute sprint for the heart, lungs, hamstrings, grip, and mind. Men’s weight~53lb, Lady’s weight~35lb


Partner Work

Grab a different partner, bell size does not matter this time. 3 rounds of each exercise below.

Upper Complex
  • P1: Laying Extended Tricep Extensions, 10 reps
  • P2: Pull-ups.
  • Switch and Repeat for 3 rounds
  • 15 knuckle merkins between each couplet

And finito. Count, Name.

Moleskin

Reflections

During the laborious pre-ruck, YHC’s hope for a smallish even number of PAX was proclaimed to Wild Turkey. Sometimes small numbers are better suited to particular wienke’s. Today was no exception. 6 was perfect. The first half of the workout was predominantly “big muscle” strength work (get dem gainz). The second portion of the show was the SSST; a challenging 10 minutes of willing yourself to the next rep, and ignoring the pain in your hamstrings and lower back. Pre-F3 YHC was into measuring things a lot when exercising (ahem… measuring efforts, stay with me). When you exercise alone, it’s always you vs you, so it helps to measure so you have something to compete again. One of the great things about F3 is the ability to compete against others in things that are not always easy to measure. (not everyone just runs). The SSST is a pretty easy one to measure in theory, but counting reps can be a challenge when you are pushing yourself, and you are up past a 100 (YHC struggles with big numbers apparently). So today, in a mostly failed effort to bring back some of YHC’s old measurement tricks, the ole dilapidated iPhone 5 was brought out of retirement to provide video evidence. Q-fail, the phone decided it had enough after about 6 minutes of recording… so all the numbers here are based on the first 5 minutes and 53 seconds:

Breakdown

  • Wild Turkey (WT) (40lb) Strong effort. Slower reps, with very little rest. 78 reps in the first 5:53
  • Voodoo (V) (53lb) So consistent. 20 rep opener in the first minute, then 10 reps per minute, on the minute after that. Very consistent. 70 reps in the first 5:53
  • Argonaut (A) (53lb) All over the place. Fast reps, but lots of recovery time. 98 reps in the first 5:53
  • Mighty Mite (MM) (45lb) Large chunks of fast reps, with plenty of recovery time. 83 reps in the first 5:53
  • Frehley’s Comet (FC) (35lb) Much respect. Added some diversity in his reps, some high-pull and cleans in the mix to break it up some. #modify. For purposes of SSST, snatches and cleans were counted, but not high pull. 71 reps in the first 5:53.
  • Marlin (M) (45lb) Another respect-able effort here. Inconsistent rep-scheme (much like YHC) but kept pushing. 74 reps in the first 5:53.

(Please comment below if numbers are off).


By the Numbers

The test is a hard one. Based on the rep attrition trends in the first five minutes and 52 seconds, everyone would be between ~110 and ~160 reps. According to some random, non-authoritative website: * 150 gets a good sweat rolling, and a score of 200 is where we start feeling some real pain. 250 repetitions places you in the bleeding-from-the-eyeballs elite class. 275 is the record and is held by a recluse in Montana that is rarely seen.*
200 is 20 reps a minute. A quality rep for a KB snatch takes at least 2 full seconds to complete. So… to get to 20 reps a minute, one would need to go 10 reps each arm, no rest at speedy reps. Then 20 seconds of recovery. Or slow the reps down and do one rep every 3 seconds. That takes you to 200. Yikes. The SSST will roll around to the Foxhole again in 2-3 months, so practice up, and YHC will ensure the video coverage doesn’t F up again.

Final Thoughts

While this BB focused mainly on the SSST, YHC is getting a visit from Uncle DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) due to all of weinke this morning. Back, Shoulders, Neck, Arms, Chest… etc. Build those broken fibers back stronger. Honor to lead you guys, #tclaps on the strong effort.

Argo Out.

About the author

Argonaut author

Subscribe
Notify of
13 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
MAD
MAD
8 years ago

Sounds like STRONG work men! I’ve tried the SSST a few times on my own, but would love to see it at Meathead some day. Or maybe I’ll finally make the drive down to Foxhole. Based on the stats of the PAX, I have some work to do if I want to go that heavy with those reps. Good work. Sorry I missed it. Aye!

Argonaut
Argonaut
Reply to  MAD
8 years ago

MAD, put me on the calendar at MeatHead, and I’ll bring it out. SSST or not, do make the drive to Foxhole at some point. You won’t be disappointed.

WildTurkey
8 years ago

Outstanding BB, better production value than most professional conferences I’ve attended. I like the idea of SSST being a regular challenge. (Not too regular, my upper back is destroyed today.) Thank you Argonuat for the great Q.

Argonaut
Argonaut
Reply to  WildTurkey
8 years ago

Thanks WT. Will bring the test back early next year. Until then, let’s train up.

Voodoo
8 years ago

Great Q and BB, Argonaut. Not a surprise on either front. That was a great workout, but next time I’d suggest a brief warm up, the SSST, then laying on the ground panting for the remaining 30 minutes. Very strong work by all the pax. Not surprising that I was bringing up the rear before the camera died on us. #slowandsteady Argonaut with almost 50% more swings than me at that point means I have a lot of work to do…

My favorite #TWSS quote of the morning from Argonaut: “more and deeper.” For a little context, this was his response when I asked how the pressure was on the partner impeded elevated merkins or whatever you call that torture.

Argonaut
Argonaut
Reply to  Voodoo
8 years ago

I agree on the timing, it should definitely be near the beginning of the weinke, certainly not after 150+ swings. We’ll do it again early in 2017. Pretty sure you had more reps than I in the last 4 minutes.

Ya…I did say that. (shakes head). Those would be “Partner Resisted Abyss Merkins”

JRR Tolkien
JRR Tolkien
8 years ago

Argo this is awesome! … I would love for you to use your exceptional data gathering skills to assess heart rate metrics for my records as well.

Argonaut
Argonaut
Reply to  JRR Tolkien
8 years ago

You give me the data JRRT, I’ll go all data scientist on it. Strava’s API for activities is decent (https://strava.github.io/api/v3/activities/), though I’m not sure it will accommodate your elevated HR levels. #bigdata, #reallybigdata

Tiger-Rag
8 years ago

We did this at Skunk a few years ago before and, per Voodoo’s comment, we put it up front (http://f3nation.com/2013/10/22/dead-fish-handshake/). No graphs, though.

Sort of related, the KB Pentathlon is even worse than SSST: http://f3nation.com/2015/03/09/kb-pentathlon-2/. (As far as I know Chanel still stands atop the mountain at 1971 pts.)

Both an SSST and Pentathlon Leader Board would definitely be worth putting out there, like Strava segments for Meatheads.

Argonaut
Argonaut
Reply to  Tiger-Rag
8 years ago

Thanks TR.

For a while there, I thought the SSST made its F3 debut at foxhole in the Spring (my VQ). I appreciate you pointing out the history there, that must have been before Google was indexing F3 posts (j/k obviously they index all the things). The pentathalon sounds marvelously bad. Adding it to THE list. I’ll DM you about leader board ideas. I’ve had some thoughts about how to do it. You more a Twitter or a Slack guy ?

Voodoo
Reply to  Argonaut
8 years ago

TR is definitely a Twitter guy. @TigerRagF3

High Tide
8 years ago

Nice work, Argo.

Yeah, the SSST is no joke. I remember it from TR’s introduction at Skunkworks. I’ve toyed with bringing it out again but haven’t yet. As TR mentioned, the KB Pentathlon is also brutal.

We’d love to have you out to Meathead anytime, whether you bring SSST or not (as long as it’s #0.0). I’ve updated the signup link for 2017 dates http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c094ca4a828a7fa7-meathead
Also, I’ve got a 12/8 Q slot, if you’re interested in it. Just let me know.

Either way, hope to see you at Meathead soon. Aye.

Argonaut
Argonaut
Reply to  High Tide
8 years ago

Thanks High Tide, I should probably post out there first 😉

Thursday’s are a scheduling challenge for me. I’ll get out there soon and post or Q when I can work a Thursday in.

13
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x