Any-Q less than the best is a felony.
Love it or modify it
You better gain way
You better hit bull’s eye
The results don’t play
If there was a site
Yo, I’ll Q it
Check out the Thang while the Pax revolve it
Episode 3 of F3 Waxhaw’s monthly rotating site Gladiator kicked off today. The weather looked dicey earlier in the week but a quick call to Brad Panovich ensured 60 degrees and no rain – you’re welcome.
15 men decided to post today. Some to try and push their limits, some to complete an octuple (or some boondoggled name), some to try something different. Either way, everyone showed up to work.
DiCCS were given (Disclaimer, Cell phone, CPR, Safety)
Mosey out of the parking lot past the death chain up the bus road to the side of the high school.
Warm-up:
The Thang:
Mosey back down to the corner of the high school lot where 17 cinderblocks were waiting (good thing we had extra)
Short mosey to the small lot behind the high school where 8 kettlebells and 6 weighted plates (4-45lb and 2-35lb) were waiting
At this point it’s 7:29am so quick mosey back to the start.
Done!
MOLESKIN:
As I was loading 17 cinderblocks from Chiseled in my car last night my 2.0 Speed Bump asks if I really needed all the blocks because every time I fill my car up with blocks we never come close to needing all of them. I then had to explain it’s better to over prepare then to be unprepared. Good thing because 15 Pax showed up and after Deadwood couldn’t keep his s*#! together and busted one up we only had one extra.
The hairburner kettlebell exercise got me! It was my first time trying that and it was a little bit of a mess at first but I have reworked it for another time so it will run smoother. Either way it’s still a great workout to push a 45lb plate 30 yards uphill and then sprint another 30 yards uphill. My legs feel dead and next time will be even better!
I thought I heard some grumblings about form during various cinderblock exercises but not sure.
I feel like I haven’t really seen Wolverine at too many workouts over the past month and then he comes out the past week and just starts smoking people. Were you in Mexico completing a round of HGH or something? If so, share the weath.
The thought was adding a cinderblock overhead press with a jump over a cinderblock would slow Goodfella down, that’s a fat NOPE.
Note to fellow Pax before any Q. If Damascus posts please include a calf stretch but make sure to let him know beforehand. If it’s not called after the first warm up exercise he will completely lose his mind.
3.85 miles were logged today which is my lowest mileage hour workout I’ve ever led. Every workout I’ve led always seems to average at least 1 mile per 15 minutes. Hopefully that meant we were doing more heavy lifting, heavy squatting, and heavy pushing.
Regarding the backblast title, I heard that song on XM the other day and that line stuck in my head and I agree. It is a “felony” (or at least a d$#m shame) to give anything less than your best at what we do (faith, family, work) and in this context at any workout. I personally don’t wake up at 4:30am most mornings to give 50%. That would be a waste of my time that God is giving me on this Earth, a waste of the sleep I’m sacrificing, and a waste of my time in general. The same things goes for Qing. We live in an area with great involvement and great Q’s from dozens of Pax. I think the Waxhaw standard is the well-planned Q who puts it all out there and that line reminded me of that. It also reminds me of the dozens of Pax who continually show up and push themselves and others. Let’s keep deciding to push through those physical and mental barriers in 2020 as we continually work on becoming better versions of ourselves. It’s a never-ending process.
Hopefully today was a good push and something a little different for everyone. Stay tuned for next month’s edition about a week out.
Thank you for the opportunity to lead today.
YHC was feeling a little nostalgic on Wednesday evening when YHC was thinking about my Saturday morning plans. Outland has been a major part of my Saturdays since Hairband head-locked me about five years ago. Numbers have been poor over the last couple of years with people moving in and out, surprise stork visits, Saturday car shows, etc. Therefore, a motion had been made to shut Outland down – at least for a season. So, in-between sobs YHC typed, “If Smokey were to Q Outland this Saturday, who would be there?” YHC had no idea the response that little statement would yield as YHC wrote my Wienke…..
YHC showed up to make a few plants for some secret exercises and with fifteen minutes to go until launch there were already 15 guys. 27 total stumbled into the circle with joyful rumblings of how people come out of the woodwork for funerals. The mumble chatter began before the workout…
The Thang
A weak and tearful disclaimer was given and we went to run a couple of Hairband miles. Upon return:
20 x SSH
20 x IW
20 x Windmills
20 x Good morning Nashvilles
Which led to what YHC likes to call the road to Damascus (because Damascus taught it to me)…
12 x Burpees
Crawl 1 parking space
11 x Burpees
Crawl 1 parking space
10 x Burpees
Crawl 1 parking space….
… all the way down to 1 Burpee. 78 Burps in total.
Always a crowd favorite. Always shuts up the mumble chatter. Even Glass Joe. YHC must say, YHC likes that – a lot!
A brother does have to throw a dog a bone… we moseyed to the wall were Glass Joe was able to lead his famous ear flappers. To my amazement, GJ turned it into a three-count exercise where he actually displayed good extended form. Who knew?
Next, mosey to the busses for one quick Mary exercise. YHC has only heard the lore of this exercise, but after hearing about it from Shepherd for all of these years YHC called the Cosmic Mind Blower. Basically, you just lay there for 10 seconds. It was a PAX favorite.
The PAX weaved some cheese with some Mary at the end and off we headed to the Elementary School. And what did we find there? A fully loaded board.
One could not imagine the glee from the PAX. Even though the board had 12 exercises, for time sake we only did five. It went like this:
10 Merkins
1 lap
10 Merkins
10 Heels to Heaven
1 lap
10 Merkins
10 Heals to Heaven
10 Lunges (5 each leg)
1 lap
10 Merkins
10 Heals to Heaven
10 Lunges (5 each leg)
10 LBCs
1 lap
10 Merkins
10 Heals to Heaven
10 Lunges (5 each leg)
10 LBC’s
10 Carolina Dry Docks (aka, Glass Joe push ups)
1 lap
10 Merkins
10 Heals to Heaven
10 Lunges (5 each leg)
10 LBC’s
10 Carolina Dry Docks (aka, Glass Joe push ups)
From the Elementary School parking lot we headed over to the new football field and found a hole in the fence and lined up abreast on the goal line. YHC was recreating a HorseHead activity from old. There was a football planted there. Basically, someone volunteered to punt. We sprinted to where the ball stopped, completed 10 merkins and sprinted back to the goal line. Repeato 3x. Harambe has a leg like a mule. Who knew?
The long trek back to launch took us to the picnic tables where Roxanne played. Every time we heard her beloved name we did a burpee. 34 in total. The PAX love music so much that we rolled straight into finding some rail and Sally came across the speaker. No explanation needed.
That’s a wrap.
Moleskin
Love this AO. Love these guys. YHC will miss it. HairBand gave an appropriate eulogy with hints of a resurrection in the spring. I like resurrection – a lot!
PS. Welcome FNGs Beatle Juice and Baby Yoda!
Several pax pulled in at the bell. A few gave YHC a hard time about a “rusty” disclaimer. Fair enough. 1st Q in 3 months. Glad to be standing in the middle ready to lead these fine men. Off we went.
Mosey through campus, North on 51 to WF parking lot. Circle up.
COP
IW x 15 IC
MC x 15 IC
Merkin x 10 IC
Low Slow Squat x 10 IC
Peter Parker x 10 IC
5 Burpees OYO
Mosey South on 51 and back through campus to the parking deck, AKA, Tartarus. Gather at the entrance on Level 1. Al Gore while waiting and instructions given.
Ramp Set
Run up a level via short ramps. 10 Heels to Heaven/15 Merkin/10 Jump Squats. 1st 3 add 5 Heels to Heaven (Restrictor Plate). Continue to top. 3 exercise stops. Mary at top to regroup: 25 Flutter IC.
Descend Stairwell 1 to ground. Plank-o-rama.
Stair Set
AYG up Stairwell 1 to Level 4. 5 Burpees/20 LBC. Run over to Stairwell 2 and descend to ground level. 5 Burpees/20 LBC. Repeat Stair Set x 2. Increase Burpees by 5 each rep. 60 Burpees total.
Plank-o-rama
Complete one more rep of Ramp Set from above. People’s Chair for a minute or so. Mosey to Stairwell 2 and descend to ground level. Continue mosey to launch lot.
Merkin Mary
High Flutter x 20 IC. Hold 6 inches. Right Leg High. 10 Count. Swap for left with 10 count. Hold legs at Dolly. 10 count. Merkin x 10 IC.
COT
Moleskine
The website was down this morning. Wingman, wizard of all tech, fixed it, of course. Thanks WM, appreciate you.
YHC posted one time in December. My family had a lot going on with my father-in-law’s passing. Felt great to be back out with my F3 brothers at Centurion. 1st Q in 3 months. Had a few on the books, but was sick 3 separate times this fall and had a family scheduling problem with a swim meet. Not the best 4th quarter. Getting back out in the gloom has been great this week.
Kotters to Uncle Phil, a neighbor of YHC. Good to see him back out. Bout Time ran in and back. #stud. Good to meet Graffiti and Danica. Well done today, men. Hope to see you again soon. Point Break hit up the Mud Gear store for a neon reflective F3 shirt. He’s all in. Hops was complaining about the ascending Burpees to no one’s suprise. YHC’s internal voice was also complaining after the call was made. Margo brought the Shovel Flag. Snuka did a 10-count correctly, and smoked the workout. Brilleaux hit the workout in his working man way. Lorax was out front mostly with several on his heels. As always, good work Pro. Clover was not wearing any Notre Dame regalia, perhaps the first time at an F3 post?
This week, getting back into it, has hurt. To be expected and embraced. Very thankful to be back out with you men. Definitely missed it. Was recording Name-o-Rama and got to myself. Got my hospital name correct, F3 name correct, but was off on my age by two years. I am 43, rather than the 41 I belted out. That’s what happens when you smoke yourself and are “rusty.”
Take some time in the new year to reach out to a man, or men, who have fallen out of F3. Invite them back out. Offer to pick them up. If they don’t want to post, invite them for a coffee, lunch, or a beer. Connect.
T-claps to Lorax for a successful post-Christmas Marathon Key fishing trip and, more importantly, for the meaningful takeout prayer.
No announcements today. Have a great weekend, men.
When I was a kid I used to go to school at 5 in the morning through 5 feet of snow and walked 5 miles uphill….BOTH WAYS. Well, now the pax of F3Waxhax has a story to tell their grandkids when….
WARM UP:
Mosey around the school (I was told 4 mile min and more intense) so the mosey started at a about a 830 Pace. Circle up 15 MC’s, couple of runners stretches, some merkins and some IW. Mosey to the intersection. Pause, some merkins, mosey into CF 10 air squats at each light till the stop sign, END Warm up.
THE THANG:
Decent hill on backside of CF (I’m naming Bratwurst Hill) 11’s Burpees at the top Merkin Shedders at the Bottoms, Guessing its just over 1/8 mile end to end. Finish that and head back home, a brief stop at a couple of lights for merkins and on the final stretch partner up for some Derkins 5 rotate partner every other light (to be fair I didn’t explain it all that well). Mosey home, couple jailbreaks to finish just on time!
MOLESKIN:
Gents this workout was inspired by Brat, didn’t know he would be there today so it was ironic. Hills will make you faster and stronger, an extra dynamic that brings additional endurance to the table. When I started Brat made a group of us do something similar and it was brutal. I remember how bad it sucked so as I continue to see the Waxhaw pax improve physically this was a solid challenge for us all. Furthermore, you can bust your kids or your grandkids chops someday and say… I used to get up a 4:45 in the morning and run up hills both ways and do burpees till I almost puked so quite whining😊. Maybe, just maybe, if we keep this up and follow the leads of our Respects and instead of saying used to we get to say… This morning, I got up a 4:45….
Some stand out notes: Cobbler has a no-quit attitude, I love it! Zin was busting my chops, “I could have found a treadmill”. Wolverine is an animal. Period. Hootch is much, much faster than he used to be. Bottlecap thinks its summer. I think I still live in Wisconsin. Had a great time, great crowd and saw a lot of heart, honored to lead this morning and glad to see such a solid pax that has improved themselves and continue looking to improve themselves! That is what male leadership is about!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Christ’s Closet folding tomorrow morning 8 is at UMC almost corner of Cuthbertson and Newtown ( you will see a bunch of f3 stickers)
In the spirit of keeping track of group workouts (in this case unofficial), I’ve put together a little app that pulls all the backblast data and let’s you see what you’ve done. It’s pulling all the F3 South Charlotte BB’s so if you attended you’re in the app. Feel free to check it out at http://www.f3waxhaw.life
Oh and since I’m writing this backblast we’re also exploring the idea of making the LRC (picture pursuit but in Lawson) a thing. This past Wednesday Smithers, Foundation, and I ran it. We’ll probably do it again next week and maybe at some point it will be official.
Sitting around the house one night, a horrible thought occurred to me – how horrible would it be to do a workout almost solely in the plank position. Not having the capacity to simply discard such an evil thought, I made the mistake of reaching out to Chastain, letting him know I had a horrible idea for a 0.0 workout. Obviously lacking common sense as well, he immediately added me to today’s Q rotation at Diesel and today’s beatdown was born. In order to make this truly disgusting, I asked my 15 year old daughter to build a playlist to coincide with this terrible idea. She did not disappoint; creating a Spotify playlist consisting of amazing artists such as One Direction, Harry Styles, Melanie Martinez, and Billie Eilish. Pain for both the body and soul….
February 16, 2020 will mark one year from when Brad Sherrill (Red Rocks – Area 51) suffered a massive stroke, changing his life and others around him forever. While his recovery has not been easy, both Brad and his amazing wife, Ali have fought hard and never let off the gas in making progression.
Whether you are close with Brad, met him once or simply heard of Brad from someone you know, then you likely know Brad always sees the positive in everything. Ever since I’ve known Brad, no matter how sour of a lemon is thrown at him, personal or work related, he always turns lemons into lemonade…and I’ve never seen him lose his cool. Given the severity of his stroke, his medical professionals are still amazed with how far he has come. If you know Brad, give him a challenge, he’ll beat it. And if it was something Brad knew others would benefit from, he’d invite you to join him.
So why not continue with the glass half full mindset in 2020! Join Brad, Ali, myself and others for the “30 for 30 with Brad” Challenge starting Jan 17. There are only (2) requirements…
1) Make time to do at least 30 minutes of physical activity for 30 days straight. It can be any form of exercise you choose…walking, running, swimming, tennis, yoga, pilates, body weight exercises, stretching, boot camp, weight lifting, barre, sculpt, aerobics, skiing/snowboarding, shadow boxing, bike riding/spin class, jump & jacks, etc…mix it up…again, whatever you choose that gets you moving! If needed, you can even break up the 30 minutes into chunks (15 mins here, 15 mins there), just knock out at least 30 minutes per day.
2) Track your activity. There are far too many platforms and devices out there that can track one’s activity so to keep this simple, we’ve created a Google Docs spreadsheet you can access via the URL below.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1G2ZBRENrxiDE1RWd4z57rV6K8411_DoehAi7ISTFbXQ/edit?usp=sharing
Once you’ve accessed the spreadsheet…
o Apple Devices: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/google-sheets/id842849113
o Android Devices: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.docs.editors.sheets&hl=en_US
Brad will be tracking his therapy, walking and riding his new 3-wheel bike! So guess what that means?!?! Brad will get to see each of you who have joined this challenge and holistic progression for all who participate.
Brad, Ali and I will convene for coffee on Sunday morning, February 16 at the Piper Glen Station Starbucks to celebrate what he’s overcome as well as the results of the challenge. You are welcome to join us and weather permitting, we may even get a walk/ride in on the greenway across the street. Don’t forget to celebrate your own personal accomplishment with this challenge too!
Cheers,
Adam Bickford (Billie Jean)
Jon Williams (Brushback)
#30for30withBrad
The power of the fartsack was strong on this chilly morning, but 8 PAX showed up in the gloom at the Arsenal anyway. Being the Q, I was one of them.
Ideally I would have had time to visit the AO and find some new and interesting features to add to the weinke. Not having kids who go to school there, it was difficult to find time to snoop around the high school or middle school. I may have received unwanted attention while testing load bearing structures and challenging obstacles anyway.
Interested in keeping it interesting, we moseyed out of the parking lot to unfamiliar territory at the front of the middle school. A nice space which offered some soft grass for a little stretch and warm up.
I told the PAX we’ll begin with stretching because I’m old. That was a lie. The truth is, it just feels good. I hear guys in their 30’s complain they’re getting old. And while being a teenager may be a distant memory, we spend hours each day repeating the same limited physical patterns, for years. You are not feeling old, you are just feeling stiff and losing mobility.
I know this because I made the same mistake when I was younger. Now that I take mobility seriously, I don’t feel old at all. Seriously. Well, maybe my knees a little, but I never stretch them, which really just proves my point (I think).
Full range of motion and flexibility is a wonderful thing, though yes, it is awkward and painful to get there. I’m a mobility evangelist and will continue to advocate the practice, and mandate it while I’m Q-ing. Two-cents deposited. Rant-done.
Mobility “Cal Poly Hip Flow” Highlights :
Well warmed up – some standards :
Mosey to the middle school parking lot:
Mosey to the Field – Grab a Partner
Mosey to the Playground – Grab a Partner
Mosey back for MoM
Saturday Convergence at Stonehenge – Da Vinci cancelled (however, considering the smack talk between these AOs on Slack, I feel like I’m being punked)
Thanks for overlooking my ineptitude in calling the cadence, and the mysterious issue with my timer (working fine now), we made it through & I hope the PAX enjoyed a beatdown giving you a warm blanket of soreness the rest of your day. Special thanks to Brexit for introducing me to the Arsenal (you had me at tires!), and Happy Meal for giving me the opportunity for an earlier than planned Q (oh and those tasty Crab Cakes).