Its like that time you came back to your parents house during thanksgiving in college and went out to see all your buddies…
12 men assembled in the after glow of a prosecco-fueled night of dancing left by a gaggle of 40-something women at Tap and Vine from the night before.
529 – warning
530 – disclaimer
532 – The Mouth joins
533 – Kirby joins
Warmup
20 SSH in cadence (IC)
10 Windmill IC
10 Potato-Pickers IC
10 Mountain Climbers IC
Part A
use 5 lot lines for a ascending count from 1
– 1 burpees
– 1 squats
– 1 mountain climbers
lunge walk to next line
then, 2, 3, 4, 5
Part B
use 5 lot lines for a descending count from 5
– 5 burpees
– 5 squats
– 5 mountain climbers
lunge walk backwards to next line
then, 4, 3, 2, 1
Sprint to Island
Mosey to the end
Rocks – Grab a lifting rock
10 Curls
10 Press
10 Tricep Extensions
10 Bent-over Rows
Run to the end and back
Repeat 3 times.
20 LBC IC
Lap around church – Increasing Merkins at the speed bumps
1, 2, …, 10
“the real hillbillys” while we wait for the six to walk back.
Place rocks nicely back.
Mosey to back of Target
10 Carolina Dry Docks at each Speed Bumb
Return to Launch on Time.
ThineOnly
It was a great seeing a few familiar faces today. Someone said “all we need is chippy”
5 Respects
1 with 1yr of F3
11 with at least 5+ years
2-3 Kotters?
Thanks for the opportunity to lead. I wasn’t getting out of bed today if MT hadn’t ask me to lead today. Keep your eye out for tomorrow. #willhefartsack
Life is busy so having a spreadsheet serve as a guide for a given workout is pretty helpful. Even when that spreadsheet is color coded to resemble a bowl of Fruit Loops and calls for exercises I’ve either never heard of or likely can’t perform, it’s still nice to have some ideas to pull from. So, with the Weinke all but written for me, I should’ve had plenty of time for a fresh playlist, right? Or, should I rip that off, too?
Warmup
1-minute elbow plank (crowd pleaser)
Hip circles
Lateral lunge, both sides, deep stretch
SSH x15
Two-handed swing x 10
Prying squat with bell
Two-handed swing x 10
Thang
Unilateral heavy rack squats – 5 sets, 3-5 reps each side
Single Arm Park Snatch – 3 sets, 5 reps each side
Lawnmower row – 10 reps each side, 5 each side
High pull – 10 reps each side, 5 each side
Forward lunge – 4 reps each side, 5 each side
Single leg Romanian Deadlift – 8 each side
Somersault Squat – 2x 10
50-yard Waiter cary, Somersault Squat x 10, 50-yard waiter carry
Tricep skull crusher x 10
Hollow body hold x 1 min
Elbow plank x 1 min
Moleskine
In the end, much like the workout itself, I compromised on the playlist – not a fresh 45 minutes of tunes but not a replay from previous workouts, either. It’d be too risky to just put my phone on shuffle and let it roll. It’d be my luck we’d be serenaded by an uncomfortable medley of Bell Biv DeVoe, Garth and Alanis. Some things you just can’t come back from. So with the unwritten rules of Playlist Duty in mind, I put together a still-reasonably-random mix of tunes that accomplished the goal – providing a diversion for the pax. And when you open the workout with an Elbow Plank, you’d better have a diversion! Speaking of Elbow Planks – which is longer: a 60-second plank with no music or a 60-second plank accompanied by the crooning of Eddie Vedder? I’ll hang up and listen.
At least that’s what I tell myself. It’s actually Rousey’s brilliant marketing. Early on in his Site Q days, he created the strangest photoshop creations for promotion. Now he’s moved on to fabricated promotional statements. I’ll take the compliments!
Before taking off into the gloom, issue challenge for each pax to learn 1 interesting fact about another pax. Otherwise penalty burpees at COT. And we’re off.
Warmup in parking lot next to Sabor. Frehley’s comments about finding a wet spot.
Mosey across the street to parking deck. Run up a level and complete called exercise OYO: 25 merkins, 50 squats, 75 MC’s, 100 SSH’s
Mosey to fountain, partner up: 50 jump ups, 75 inclined merkins, 100 squats while partner 2 runs to end of sidewalk and back.
Mosey to PNC parking lot for Bear 1-2-3 with partner: Partner 1 bear crawls to ATM and crawl bears back. Partner 2 chips away at 100 merkins, 150 squats and 150 LBC’s. Bear crawls was quite the crowd pleaser
Mosey back to launch, stopping for burpees at each stop sign to stick together. Back at COT for interesting facts – and no penalty burpees!
Did you know?
Grateful to have the opportunity to lead a fine group of men. Thank you for closing us in prayer Macarena and sending off Abba in true ball of man Bagpipe style!
Early last week Voodoo texted me asking if I “wanted” to Q Meathead, which in tone was quite similar to how my wife phrases things like “Do you want to help me fold the laundry?” or “Do you want to take the garbage out?”. I typically respond with “Do I want to, no. Will I, absolutely” which is almost always met with a look that could melt steel. All I’m saying is be precise in your language.
So I found myself gearing up to Q Meathead last Wednesday, but a multitude of life responsibilities kept me up too late Tuesday night so I barely had time to come up with a workout and get to bed at a somewhat reasonable hour, meaning that the playlist would have to be sacrificed. The spreadsheet called for Turkish Get-Ups and 20-30 minutes of cardio. Cardio. At Meathead. Not on my watch.
For a fleeting moment it looked as if I would be the only one who showed for the workout, and since I don’t have the intestinal fortitude of Champagne (remember him?) I was about to go home and sleep on the couch, when Voodoo, Worm, and Frehley’s pulled in. Best laid plans and whatnot…
Instead of get-ups and cardio we paired swings and merkins and for the “cardio” we integrated a ton of heavy carries in between sets. Then it was squats and sumo high pulls I think, but it’s been a week and I don’t really remember. Anyway, that’s not the part anybody cares about. Since I was derelict in my playlist duties the other gentlemen asked what they could play on my behalf, and I responded that Buckcherry would be lovely. Some context…recently I attended a joint bachelor/bachelorette party in Las Vegas where thanks to flight cancellations and delays coupled with my juvenile genetic wiring I slept about 10 total hours from Thursday night until I walked in the door to my house Monday morning at 8 am. Saturday night we found ourselves at a hidden speakeasy in the Cosmopolitan hotel that featured a band that played mainly 90s alternative covers, and one of the songs they played was by the aforementioned Buckcherry, which made me irrationally happy.
Frehley’s just so happened to have a Buckcherry playlist already made because apparently angels walk among us. He apologized that “Crazy Bitch” might appear twice on the list, which is an odd thing to apologize for because it should appear a minimum of three times on any playlist. This led to a discussion of what songs would be good to perform to if you hypothetically were reincarnated as a female exotic dancer, or shoe model as we called them on the mean streets of Southwestern Ohio. I immediately stated that Buckcherry would be featured prominently in my set, and the ensuing discussion was both enlightening and thought provoking. The selections were limited to rock music of course, as nature intended, and because hip hop is absolute dreck and its rise to the dominant form of popular music is in direct correlation with the decline of American society. The group settled on the following selections:
Well, I don’t really know how to put a cap on a kettlebell workout combined with a discussion on what songs middle aged men would perform to if they somehow found themselves young female shoe models. This is probably why I’m not asked to lead things very often.
Beautiful morning today, so was happy to wake up and lead the group this day. Feel like I am at Marvin Middle and HS more times a day than I care to be.. Luckily I didn not bring my Whistle. did stroll up a bit late while the crew pre-stretching. time was short, luckily it was a veteran crew, so quick Diccs then mosey.
Warmup:
took the long route through the lot, circled up
Thang:
take a long way around front of HS to soccer/field hockey track. Partner up, grab a lifting rock per group. exercise/Laps. At the half lap, 5 merkins.
While havign a rep count is good, I feel it often times put a silence on some decent 2nd F, so it was nice to hear some chatter during the workout. Put rocks back and head to the MS cafeteria for a quick two rounds Step ups/Dips/Derkins.
roll out round the back of school to the Team Time Lot and to the wall. Cycle through: Jabs, Tysons, presses, Tysons then LBC. Run back around the front of the middle school. Side shuffle both sides to each speed bump. 10 more merkins. Karaoke both direction to the world circle and 10 more merkins.
head back on the side of the HS and do 5 merkins per light ending with LBC’s for the 6. few minutes left, so back wards run in front of the HS, then take the long way to COT finishing with a Merkin circle.
Moleskin:
Apologies to the fellow PAX, my back was feeling a little better so I was aching to get at it. We missed the rock work at bushwood, so that NEEDED to be incorporated. I will be paying for it later. great way to start the day though. Thanks for coming out guys. Time flew, I was ready to go for a while longer..
Announcements:
Asylum less than Lanfill and I did the Spartan race yesterday… a bit more stiffness and sort spots than the usual Monday morning at Asylum. OH YEAH! (Missed you Loafer).
5-minute stretchRun to rock pilePartner upCurl, press, militaryRun to (halfway hickory tavern) and backRun to pet smartStarfish5 pullups on cart rack in center20 big boys20 Carolina dry docks20 speed skaters (2 is 1)20 jump squatsNeighborhood / T runsGate and down / run up backwards5 Merkins at bottomUp other hill / run backwards5 Merkins at bottomCOT for 30 -second Have A Nice Day to wrap up
Stonehenge has a special place in my heart because it’s the best AO! Where else can you get a 2.5 mile backwards prerun followed by a brutal beat down for an hour? No where!
I has given the honor of substi Q’ing for Fire Hazard. This was perfect because I owed Lex a Q. But today? After a prerun? With no planning? You want me to do what?
Pax roll in to the AO. I try to dish off half the Q to Abba. No go. Fine… Quick disclaimer and we mosey to the tall parking deck. What’s that smell. Kinda smells delicious, but it’s probably just the dumpster. Head to the basement for a quick warmup, but Abba runs past the circle seeing is the big hill is still there.
Warmup: bunch of lettuce exercises, including the nipler. Kept it short for Tag.
Thang 1: The hill. Yes, it was still there and bad as ever. Triple nickel: 5 sister Mary Catherines, run up hill, 5 burpees. Roll down, repeat 5 times.
Thang 2: next to parking deck stairwell, 3 man team. Partner 1 stays at the bottom amd does exercises. P2 is at top of 8th floor doing exercises. P3 runs up and relieves P2. Repeat over and over and over.
Thang 3: at the top of deck watching the beautiful sun rise. Called exercise and then a mode of transportation. Ex. American hammer and then crab walk. Market timer is no longer the king crab and Lex doesn’t know how to crab walk.
Thang 4: Sun Flour parking lot. Oh, we did Spidermans on the way there. Anyways, triple nickel. 5 jump squats, climb wall, run across lot, 5 derkins on curb. Think there was a dead body in the dumpster because there were hundreds of vultures. Seriously.
Circle up for Mary called by Pax. Close and picture time at the ATM.
Moleskin: Always Family first. Then friends. Work last. I’m very thankful for this group of men to be there when I need them. Lean on your brothers for help and be willing to help when you have the opportunity to do so.
Check out Q Source for some great topics and F3 Podcast.
YHC spent March rolling through Flipper’s annual March Madness challenge and when the final week rolled around, the task was 300 merkins, 50 pull-ups, 50 starfish crunches and 5 minutes of plank each day. The goal was to work a good chunk of that into the Weinke in order to avoid a second workout later to complete it. (At this point, it is requisite to mention that the author of said Challenge had long since bailed on it this season, dropping before Kentucky even knew what a St. Peter’s Peacock was.)
WARM-UP
Mosey to the Synchrony parking lot for…
THE THANG
Mosey back to near COT for 3x wall jumps across from COT, run to Sabor for 5 merkins
MOLESKINE
As noted, it was a selfish Q designed to hit a good chunk of the challenge. Unfortunately, as often happens when focused of self, stupidity happens. YHC miscounted the crunches and only hit 40 instead of 50. We did, however, get half of the merkins and plenty of added pain thanks to the Bonnie Blairs.
Solid mumblechatter as YHC had to explain what a starfish crunch looked like and how raccoons walk in a straight line. There was also good discussion as to what to call the long lines in the parking lot. YHC called them vertical and was soon corrected and informed that none of the lines were vertically leaving the parking lot and pointing skyward. Perpendicular was the desired word, but someone suggested longitudinal and that won the day. Good use of a 5 syllable word, guys!
It was YHC’s VQ at Bagpipe after all these years and it is a strong air with plenty of options and a great crew of PAX, to boot.
Apparently I am known for covering a lot of miles during my Q’ing… I wonder what the Swarm guys would think about that from two weeks ago! Haha! Well: let’s change that perception! At least that was my goal which I openly told Premature. Although the MRH campus is absolutely amazing and you can cover quite some ground, I decided to stay on the parking lot(s) today. Thankfully they are quite big as well, so we could get a few “yards of running” in as well. Just because we are not Prickle and Goo! 😉
Warmup
After giving the usual DiCCS, mosey a big “S” on the parking lot to arrive a the North East lot . Circle up and: 15x SSH, 15x Moroccan Nightclubs, 15x Imperial Walker,15x Potato Picker, 16x Mountain Climbers, calf stretch, runners stretch, downward dog, upward dog,… Done!
The Thang
Mosey back to COT and circle around to the North-Western lot. Indulging in the good old Star Fish with 3x Burpees in the middle, 20x Freddy Mercury (2-1), 20x Side SSH, 10x Heals to Heaven, 10x Mike Tyson at the corners. Repeato! Some American Hammers as a Merry until everyone finished the second round.
Mosey around the North-Eastern lot, coming back to the middle and do “7’s” at the South-Western lot. Start with 1x V-up at the top then do 6x Big Boys at the bottom. Everybody was pushing good and we finished all together at the bottom.
Mosey through COT, around the South-Easter lot to the middle lane and arriving at the curbs of the North-Easter lot. Run to the first Parking lot line, do 2x Merkins, come back to the curb, do 5x jump squats, run to the next parking lot line and do 4x Merkins. And so on up to the other curb with 8x Merkins. Repeato the same, but change the exercises to 4x (6-8-10) 6″ Plank Jacks and 4x Sister Mary Catherine’s (2-1).
Indian Run around the North-West lot down to the center of all 4 lots. Plan was to have 1 line only, but I guess a few were injured and decided to start their own line… In the directions to COT: run 2 trees forward, do 5x Merkins, run backwards 1 tree back, do 5 big Boys,… until time is up. Back to COT (this time for real!).
Moleskin
I think this was a more traditional Bootcamp workout where everybody can stay together and there is not too much running involved. Nevertheless, we still got almost 3 miles in! On a parking lot!
All in all a pretty un-eventful workout – but hey, we had great weather!
Announcements
Shop Dawg led us out – thank you!
YHC was the first to arrive at the AO known as The Lycan this morning, followed by Posse, Dunkin, Chainsaw, and Ghosted at 05:30:21 – LIFO. Dunkin planted the shovel flag – bless you brother!
No disclaimer given to this crew…not necessary…and they were fully aware this was YHC’s first post at The Lycan…what could go wrong? Did a quick drive to the bus lot at the back of the school before parking…that was the sum total of recon conducted.
We launched at 05:30:47, having waited for Ghosted and thought there was another pax in his car; but turns out that was a Waxhaw Elementary employee deftly navigating the small print of the “No Smoking” on campus….while school is in session/students are present.
On our first run around the back towards the bus lot, there were apparently a couple other employees exercising the right to darken their lungs before first bell. Also may have been an illicit exchange of some kind going on back there…but this report was unconfirmed at the time this backblast went to print.
So a little Thang to go in this Moleskinnage: We did some 7’s on the hill with burpees & hand-release merkins. The AO was pretty well-lit (it’s no SCLTMS – darkest AO in all of South Charlotte). Posse suggested headlamp, which I grabbed but never turned on and ultimately put on top of my truck during a run-by. We never left campus….it’s a bootcamp workout.
Anyhoo, Posse also corrected and educated YHC on the difference between 7’s and Jacob’s Ladder. During some People’s Chair, he screamed: “Check the Exicon you jack wagon!”
Gave Ghosted some grief for his NY Jets lid, but did add that the Jets are much preferred to the Giants. Posse was surprised Ghosted didn’t retaliate with a colorful New York retort or two.
Was going to call some jump ups on the benches in front of the school, but that would have meant an immediate F3Waxhaw service project opportunity this weekend. Add that to the list, men. Seriously. I’ll join you.
Speaking of PSA’s: Blood Drive this Saturday at Weddington UMC – 11am to 3:30pm. Sign up (don’t have link?) because it’s the right thing to do. Scratch that…it’s the loving thing to do. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” – Jesus of Nazareth
We did some other stuff including some inclines, derkins and dips on a the ‘little baby wall’.
The last 4-5 minutes of the downpainment got a touch dangerous with all the smoking educators rolling in. Breathe deeply, men! Love the faint, distant smell of a pipe or cigar….cigarettes not so much. Nothing like plankorama and 6 MoM with a Marlboro Red burning the nostrils.
One last thing, T-claps to Posse for following YHC about 12 miles north after the downpainment as my truck was laboring greatly. No Man Left Behind….my Silverado might not be so fortunate.
Good being with you, men. Thanks to Dunkin for the Q-tap.
Go EH some guy. He needs it, and so do you.