Bohemian Rhapsody

Bohemian Rhapsody

This summer, I saw the movie “Bohemian Rhapsody” was coming in November. I knew immediately I was going to make a workout of it. Saw others across the Nation do similar tributes. They may have a great playlist, but they don’t have what I have – too much time to think about theme & choreography. Debate is still out whether it’s a curse or blessing.

Pre-Warm Up

Flash Gordon Theme (2:58)
Why no one else has thought about playing this as the Intro to a Flash workout, I’ll never know.
#ProTip – for those music-infused workouts, playing an intro song prior to the start ensures your Bluetooth connection is solid. Can also use it to set the tone for the workout.
Last line of the song is especially apropos: “Flash! Flash, I love you! But we only have 14 hours 45 minutes to save the Earth!”

Warm Up

Don’t Stop Me Now (3:29)
Mosey to just past the yellow poles and plank it up. To preserve Big10’s #ShortestMosey, we plank about 10 feet beyond his spot.
Disclaimer given that bordered on chastisement for poor decision making ability, when better AO’s (for today) exist just beyond these limits of space & time.
Various sprinter stretches as I explain we are going to race to the 3rd light pole. Stay in the same order you arrive and plank up shoulder to shoulder. That third light is a bit of a blinker, so I even left a giant cone in the middle of the sidewalk with a light on top of it. Reminded me of the Luxor.
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner belonged to Mr. Bawk Ba Gawk; (full 11 minute clip = http://www.adultswim.com/videos/the-brak-show/bawk-ba-gawk/) dude continues to get faster! Chicken Little goes to the back of the line to find his best friend/partner. #2 goes to next to last in line, & so on. There must have been a good deal of sandbagging, because I won with One Star.
Partner 1 grabs a rock while Partner 2 does SSH until everyone gets in.
Set the rock down on the sidewalk, and mosey to the side of the school. Balls to the Wall until everyone gets in.

The Thang

We Will Rock You (2:01)
3 count wall claps on the chorus; v1 = donkey kicks; v2 = Bobby Hurleys; v3 = Mike Tysons; v4 (guitar solo) = donkey kicks
Short song, but packed a quick cardio wallop here.
As I was explaining what to do prior to the song, One Star says, “If this is Bohemian Rhapsody, so help me…” Quick to pick up the theme, but not everyone’s favorites made it on to the playlist.

Hammer to Fall (3:40)
Starting from the cafeteria, make the loop to Transporter’s Office, back up the sidewalk to where our rocks/cone/Luxor light are waiting. At each light, 10 American Hammers. Some Pax struggle to get 2=1, while Zinfandel sees lights that aren’t on the route. No worries, Zin; beats the alternative.

Don’t Try Suicide (3:52)
Reunited with rocks & partners, P1 lunge walks back to yellow poles with rock overhead; P2 runs to poles and back to P1 and flapjack.
If you finish before others, do a back to back rock pass.
During one of the rounds, Zin shouts to his best friend Lt. Rubbermaid, “Let’s hurry up & get this done so we can get to the back to back thingy!” I *THINK* he was trying to be sarcastic, but his tone was too gleeful to tell.

You’re My Best Friend (3:52) & Somebody to Love (4:56)
In the parking lot, P1 runs clockwise with the rock overhead. P2 runs counterclockwise. When they meet, 10 Big Boy Situps, passing the rock back & forth with legs interlocked. Flapjack. It is #ManTouchMonday, Pax, right?
While I am Switzerland on the topic of #MTM, I do notice several Pax doth protest too much for these types of exercises. I am a stick poker, FWIW. Especially since the Pax couldn’t outright choose their best friend, I hope this provided new opportunities to explore their relationships.

Dragon Attack (4:25)
Line up at the far end of the parking lot. P1 does Imperial Triceps Walkers with the rock while P2 Bear Crawls beside him. Go the length of the parking lot, swapping at least once, up to as many times as needed. Must stay together.
As I was demonstrating the ITW, I couldn’t help feeling a bit like Freddie himself, strutting on stage at Wembly. You should try it, in private, while playing your favorite Queen song.
In an unlikely pairing, I see Doughboy & Longhorn making quick work of this. But WAAAYY out in front is Foundation / Old MacDonald. Foundation seemed to have a new found fondness for the bear; I don’t think he allowed the Respectable Farmer a turn on the asphalt. I am a bit of a matchmaker; can I introduce you to Doughboy?
Being my partner is painful enough, but to do it while I Q is the worst. One Star takes the rock first, but my hands are full with speaker & phone. I can’t bear crawl, so I just do a really hunched over walk to look like I’m doing it. I offer to swap about halfway through. He takes my stuff & runs it to the end of the parking lot where we are headed anyway. Then comes back for his real bear crawls. Don’t know why I didn’t think of that. I’m not the sharpest spoon in the knife drawer.

Stone Cold Crazy (2:21)
Facing your best friend, side shuffle with the rock down the sidewalk. At each light, do 11 squats, handing the rock back and forth at the synchronized low point of each squat. Be sure to flapjack positions to give both IT bands a boost. Put your rock back when finished.
Still trying to get these stupid rocks back to their home. How can I make this more socially awkward? #NailedIt
A couple thought that the Luxor light was a #DeadwoodTribute, with his headlamp becoming Fuse’s Towelly equivalent companion of late.

Tie Your Mother Down (3:45)
Run back to sidewalk where we did the wall work. Xerox exclaims breathlessly that NOW we’re getting to the good stuff of Queen. Really? I love the song, too, but now wonder what kind of things he does on those MFP’s. #MakingCopies

Seven Seas of Rhye (2:47)
There’s a non-symmetrical midpoint of this sidewalk that has a short piece to the building. Huge crowd, so use the partner concept to split them evenly. The faster partner goes to the longest length of sidewalk; slower partner gets shorter side. Doing 7’s. Here at the midpoint, Scorpion Dry Docks. Run backwards to the ends of the sidewalk and do Bomb Jacks.
Pax seemed to struggle only doing a 1 legged exercise at each round. Thanks to Popeye for clarifying – left leg in one round, right leg in the next round.
Have to cut this short to make sure we get back in time for the finale.

Headlong (4:33)
Back at the magical Luxor light. Best friends run together back to the parking lot. At each light, do a bropee. Bropee = face each other to do a burpee, on the jump at the end, do a jumping high five with your BF.
Saw this progression in most every pair: 1st light = awkward; 2nd light = starting to get it; 3rd light = buddy cop movie

As Pax start circling up in the parking lot, a little confusion. Some believe we’re done. Some believe we need to knock out a quick Mary before we’re done. Old MacDonald is the first to offer Freddie Mercuries while we wait for the 6. “I wouldn’t do that, if I were you.” Can’t get more foreshadowy than that.

Bicycle Race (3:01)
On your six, with feet at 45º, arms out at 45º also. When “Bicycle” or “Bike” is said, do a Freddy Mercury (2=1).  Return to this banana pose while waiting. Neither feet nor arms will touch the ground during the song.
Why do 6 minutes of Mary, when you can just get on your bike & ride?!? At the midpoint, during the bike bells, I offered up Flutters to pass the time. Several took me up on it. #PassingGear Noticed others drop out of the race entirely. #FatBottomGirls
And we finish right on the minute, as Ignition runs in, as #ChampionsOfTheWorld.
Judging by the immediate comparisons to Rockwell’s Thunderstruck, this seems to have been a crowd pleaser.

Moleskin

Foundation #QWhispered me for this Flash gig with only 3 days notice. That’s easily 94 days shorter than my customary Q notification. And I don’t know how I feel about being #QWhispered to when I invented the concept. I even said no as soon as he asked. But I can’t outrun the guy. And he’s running next to me until I say yes. Short of a Big10 rollout, I’m stuck. Fine. Let’s bring out Uncle Posse’s Good Time Razz-a-ma-tazz Sweating to the Oldies Whirligig, and see what flies.

I’m not going to thank him for letting me Q, as I think we can all agree that was a poor choice from the beginning. We all just made the best of it. I forgive you. Let’s not let this happen again.

Announcements

• Prayers for Hollywood’s family on the unexpected loss of his Mother-in-Law.
• Prayers for Radar as doctors try to answer why leg pain & swelling are occurring.

No workouts in the WUC for Thanksgiving, so head to one of these 3 places instead of fartsacking:

1. 0600 Fort Mill Convergence
   Springfield Elementary School – 1691 Springfield Pkwy, Fort Mill, SC 29715
2. 0630 Turkey Jam – 4 miles of fun/stupidity (likely most athletic & smallest turnout of the choices)
   Stonecrest Theaters (Rebel Yell AO) – 7832 Rea Rd, Charlotte, NC 28277
3. 0700 Metro Convergence
   A.G. Middle School – 1800 Runnymede Ln, Charlotte, NC 28211

Perfect time to meet up with other brothers in other regions. Strongly suggest clown car to these sites to enhance the 2nd F.

Another convergence happens this Saturday, 11/24. Commitment shuts down to converge with Outland (1409 Wesley Chapel Rd, Indian Trail, NC 28079). Start time = 0700. Even though there will only be 3 EUC’s present on Saturday, those who show are good guys. Still a great location with acres of fun.

Fuse is upset that Hooch & I are not gratuitous self-promoters for recently being on a Round Table podcast about job networking & recruiting. If you don’t regularly listen, the Round Table podcasts (typically) come out on Fridays. They cover one F3 related topic each time – wide variations. Then, on Mondays, in the same spot, there is a 43 Feet podcast. This is Dark Helmet & Dredd talking about leadership principles and culture components of F3 (which, in a leaderless group of leaders, has some fascinating underlying premises). If you use an Apple device, search for F3 Nation in the podcasts thingy. If you tend to enjoy using more brain cells with your Droid, then download the free Soundcloud app & search for F3 Nation. It will look VERY similar to this: https://soundcloud.com/f3nation