Author Archive Baracus

Changing of the Guard

Late October is starting to bring in the brisk temperatures… perfect for an early morning workout at Calvary Church.  This particular morning the curiousity was peaked by YHCs tweet the night before that there would be a special announcement…but that will have to wait until the end.  So we got to it and here is what we did…

Warm-up jog around the parking lot (high knees, butt-kickers, karaoke).

COP – Burpee Countdown

  • SSH x 15 IC
  • 10 burpees OYO
  • IW x 15 IC
  • 9 burpees OYO
  • Squats x 15 IC
  • 8 burpees OYO
  • Seal jacks x 15 IC
  • 7 burpees OYO
  • Merkins x 15 IC
  • 6 burpees OYO
  • LBC x 15 IC
  • 5 burpees OYO
  • Wide arm merkins x 15 IC
  • 4 burpees OYO
  • Flutter x 15 IC
  • 3 burpees OYO
  • Jump Squats x 15 OYO
  • 2 burpees OYO
  • Dolly x 15 IC
  • 1 PERFECT burpee OYO

Mosey to bottom of Entrance 4 for TRIPLE NICKEL

  • 5x Merkins at the bottom, run to the top
  • 5x Jump Squats at the top, run to the bottom
  • Repeat 5x

Mosey to the picnic shelter

  • Peoples chair for 1 min (air presses x 15 IC)
  • BTW
  • Peoples chair for 2 min (air presses x 30 IC)
  • BTW

On to the picnic tables at the shelter

  • Jump ups x 20, tricep dips x 20, derkins x 20
  • Jump ups x 15, tricep dips x 15, derkins x 15
  • Jump ups x 10, tricep dips x 10, derkins x 10

Mosey to soccer field for Jack Webb

  • 1 Merkin / 4 air press
  • 2 Merkin / 8 air press
  • 10 Merkin / 40 air press

Mosey to parking lot for Mary with various pax leading the exercises

  • LBC, Knee-ups, Rosalita, Russian Twist, Flutter

COT

Moleskin:

  • As the men arrived at Anvil, you could feel the buzz this morning.  The suspense was killing the pax to know what the big announcement was.  Well, not really…but I’m sure a few were curious.  They would find out later.
  • Quiet group during the COP…burpees tend to have that effect on the pax.
  • YHC finally has perfected execution of the Triple nickel – this has become a staple at Anvil.  Seems simple enough, but my simple mind had a hard time figuring out where the triple and the nickel were.  Sorry guys…a little slow on the uptake, it only took me three times to get it right.
  • Great job by all the pax out there today!  It is always an honor to lead this group of men.  What makes me even more proud is to hand off leadership to one of Anvil’s own emerging leaders in Mermaid.  I know this site is in good hands with him and Young Love, ensuring that it continues to fulfill the mission of F3 by serving the men of Anvil and continue to invigorate male community leadership!

Announcements:

  • F3 Area 51 Christmas Party – 12/6 at Sugar Creek Brewery (Thank you Prohibition for being our Q for the event!)
  • Aftermath – 3rd F workout immediatly following Anvil at the Piper Glen Starbucks (near Trader Joes)
  • HDHH – The Lodge 6pm
  • Nice start for Anvil on the shoe drive for Charlotte Rescue Mission! 8 pairs this morning – already 20% of our site goal! Drive ends 11/22, but don’t wait…bring your gently used athletic shoes next week!  Boutique is our Shoe King
  • Joe Davis 5k/10k on January 10th.  Mark your calendars!  You can sign up through the website https://joedavisrun.racesonline.com/ , also look for Paypal link on the website to make donations.

Changing of the CSAUP Event Guard

First of all, on behalf of the entire Area 51 pax, I would like to say THANK YOU to Honey Bee for all you have done as co-2nd F Q in charge of CSAUP Events for our region. Under your leadership we’ve had a series of great events under his reign including the BRR, Mud Runs, and of course the first annual Area 51 CSAUP Olympics!

Very recently HB took on expanded responsibilities at work and saw the need to relinquish his functional Q responsibilities to another willing pax. That willing pax is none other than YHC, and I am excited to be Area 51’s next CSAUP Event Q. This means I will be working for and with all of you to drive participation in future CSAUP events, namely those mentioned above. Who knows what new opportunities may present themselves to us.

The purpose of this communication is two-fold: first to communicate that I’m your incoming CSAUP Q (done), and second to ask for your engagement. One man cannot do this role alone. As we have done historically, we need YOU to step up and assume a leadership role in driving these events. Each event needs a leader to communicate and coordinate our participation. Will you be the guy to step up and lead the pax for the Joe Davis 5K/10K, the spring USMC Mud Run, the 2nd Annual CSAUP Olympics, and the 2015 Blue Ridge Relay? Don’t worry, you won’t be doing this alone. Other guys have done this and have experience to share, and there are many guys out there who are willing to jump in and help.

Please reach out to me if you are interested in leading one of these events. The most pressing needs are:

  1. Joe Davis 5K/10k (you’ll likely be partnering with guys from The Fort as they are already working closely with Rock Thrill)
  2. Spring USMC Mud Run (registration starts Nov.1).

You can reach me at andersbt@icloud.com or send me a direct message on Twitter.

I’m looking forward to working for you in my new role!

Baracus

Merkin Ladder

Jog around the parking lots mix in a little backwards run and circle up

25x – SSH

10x Burpees

25x – IW

10x Burpees

25x – Squat

10x – Burpees

25x – MTN Climber

10x – Burpees

25x – Parker Peter

10x – burpees

 

Jog to parking lot by 51

Merkin ladder

Rung 1 –

  •  1 merkin, 1 wide-arm merkin, 1 diamond merkin, 1 hand-release merkin & 1 dive bomber
  •  Run 40 yrds to the 3rd light pole and do 30 LBCs
  • Run 40yrds back to start

Rung 2–

  • 2 merkin, 2 wide-arm merkin, 2 diamond merkin, 2 hand-release merkin & 2 dive bomber
  •  Run 40 yrds to the 3rd light pole and do 30 LBCs
  • Run 40yrds back to start

Repeat up to Rung 10….Each Rung add 1 merkin to the sequence.

 

As each PAX finished the ladder, join the QIC in 10 burpees every minute until entire PAX completes the ladder.  Burpees ranged from 0-60.

The Newbie

The VSF was planted on a beautiful Saturday morning at Olde Providence Elementary School.  It was YHC’s first time at Ascent, first Q at one of our moderate workouts, and only the second post at this AO.  No problem…we got this.  So this is what we did….

Mosey over to practice field (or practice field marked off with cones)

Starting at end line

  • High knees across end zone
  • Karoake (facing field) to 50 yd line
  • Karoake (back to field) to end zone
  • Backwards run across end zone
  • Karoake (facing field) to 50 yd line
  • Karoake (back to field) to end zone
  • Butt-kickers across end zone
  • Jog to center of end zone
  • Sprint to mid-field for COP

COP (can’t remember if I have the counts right)

  • SSH x 20 IC
  • IW x 20 IC
  • Merkins x10 IC
  • Squats x 20 IC
  • LBC x 20 IC
  • Mtn Climbers x20 IC

Partner Starfish –

Partner up…both starting in the center of the football field. Partners perform a total of 30 merkins (roughly 15 each), run to opposite corners of the football field to perform given exercise (i.e. corners 1 & 3), return to center of field to perform a total of 30 merkins again, then move to next opposite corners (i.e. corners 2 & 4). Continue this until each partner has completed each of the 4 stations. Plank until all are finished.

  • Corner 1 – 10 burpees
  • Corner 2 – 20 squats
  • Corner 3 – 20 lunges
  • Corner 4 – 20 CDDs

Mosey to picnic tables…on second thought lets mosey to bleachers…no the other bleachers

  • Step-ups x10 IC
  • Dips x10 IC
  • Derkins x 10 IC
  • Repeato x3

Mosey back to practice field for…

  • Tunnel of Love (at least 2 yds apart when planking)
  • Don’t start until man before you is finished and yells go.
  • When all have completed…roll over
  • All do flutter kicks while each pax jumps over the others.
  • Don’t start until man before you is finished and yells go.
  • Repeato until we’ve crossed the field and back

Mosey to the playground for AMRAP pull-ups, then back to the practice field for Mary

COP – Mary

  • Partners for Prairie Fire Mary (each partner does 15, 5 in each direction)
  • Flutter x 15
  • 1 legged dolly x 15 (left)
  • 1 legged dolly x 15 (right)
  • CCV x10
  • Superman

Mosey to the school

  • Peoples chair (right leg up, left leg up, air presses x 15 IC)
  • BTW
  • Repeato x2

COT

Moleskin:

I’ll let the other 5 pax that posted judge for themselves, but I think we all got a pretty descent workout this morning.  Lots of leg work, lots of merkins, and of course we got some pull-ups in too. Strange Brew clued me into the fact that AMRAP pull-ups are a tradition at Ascent.  Who am I to upset the tradition…so we did it!

I had my cones set up on the practice field before we started, and as we jogged onto the field Dickies (I think) was very quick to point out the star formation.   Yep…that’s exactly what we are going to do.  So I gave some murky directions and the pax mostly got the idea of what we were to do.  I did get a reminder somewhere in the midst of our starfish that this is supposed to be a moderate workout.  A few too many merkins?

As we were jogging to the picnic tables/bleachers, we noticed the remote control airplane flying around the field in the back.  Someone suggested we try to catch it….hmm…good luck with that.  So we got to the picnic tables and I began to give instructions on doing step-ups…someone recommended that the bleachers would be more stable, so we moved to the bleachers.  We did our leg lifts and some tricep dips, then to the derkins.  Uh-oh…not enough room for Geraldo…let’s try the other set of bleachers.  OK…that’s better.  Well at least the changes allowed us to get a few extra breathers.  There’s your moderate workout guys!

It was good to see a few pax out there that I don’t see often…Dickies, Lumberg, and of course a couple others that I have seen more of recently…Geraldo, Mouth.  All of you did great out there this morning, including Phelps (Mouth’s 2.0).  It was an honor to lead.

Announcements:

  • BRR – runners and drivers needed.  Contact Baracus – andersbt@icloud.com
  • Mudrun signups are still open.
  • Labor day convergence at DMZ (Carmel Rd. Park).  Foxhole still open for business.

A Two Mile Tour

I was a bit thrown off as I pulled into the Calvary Parking lot on this relatively cool August morning. I approached our normal gathering area seeing what appeared to be many vehicles parked in the darkness.  “OK…looks like a good turnout this morning,” I thought.  As I got closer and my eyes adjusted to the darkness in the parking lot, I noticed that these vehicles were dump trucks, backhoes, chip spreaders, and steam-rollers.  The entire parking lot had been paved, and cones blocked entry from the driveway that circled the lot.  “Hmmm…this is a problem.  Where is everyone?”  I continued to follow the driveway along and to my relief I spotted many cars and a few kettle bells swinging at the end of the parking lot.  “I found my pax!”  It was a nice turnout today, and now we have a nice smooth surface for all future COPs.  No more CCVs on broken glass!

Anyways, once we all found our way to our new, albeit temporary gathering spot, we got after it (after a short disclaimer of course).  Here’s what we did….

Short warm-up jog around the parking lot only to end up right back where we started for COP.

COP

  • Merkins x15
  • LBC x15
  • Mtn Climber x 15

 

Mosey to bottom of Entrance 4

Triple Nickel

  • 5 burpees at the bottom, run to top of Entrance 4
  • 5 squats at the top, run to bottom
  • Repeat 3x, ending in plank after last round of squats at top of hill
  • Plank until all finish

Mosey to the playground

  • 10 pull-ups
  • 10 burpees
  • Plank until all finish

Mosey to the picnic shelter

  • 20 jump-ups
  • 15 dips (cadence count)
  • 15 derkins (cadence count)

Mosey to baseball field

  • Bear crawl from 3rd to Home base
  • Lunge walk from Home to 1st base
  • Jog around to 3rd base and repeat
  • Plank at 2nd base until all finish

Mosey to Hill

Triple nickel (again)

  • 5 burpees at the bottom, run to top
  • 5 squats at the top, run to bottom
  • Repeat 3x, ending in plank after last round of squats at top of hill

Mosey to courtyard

  • Peoples chair w/ air presses x 15 (cadence count)
  • Plank walk on wall up to highest point
  • Peoples chair w/ air presses x 15 (cadence count)
  • Plank walk on wall up to highest point
  • Peoples chair w/ air presses x 15 (cadence count)

Mosey to large field in front of church, line up and sprint across field to driveway at top of North Face, plank until all arrive

Mosey around to bottom of North Face, plank until all arrive

  • 20 merkins
  • Sprint to the top
  • 20 squats, plank until all finish
  • Repeat x3

Once all finished, we jogged back toward the cars and sprinted the last 200 yds.

Moleskin:

What an awesome morning for a workout!!  We got a nice break from the heat and humidity, and we continue to be blessed to be able to use the great venue at Calvary Church.  Today, we got to see and experience all of it!  YHC is not the most creative guy in the world, and I had to improvise this morning because I didn’t have time to plan out something special…so I figured I’d pull all the regular tricks out of the bag and take the pax on a tour to see all the great things this venue has to offer.  I think it was while we were at the baseball field when Haggis commented that we must be doing every exercise known within F3.  Not all of them, but we certainly did many of them.

It was great to see many of the regulars this morning, but also a few faces we don’t typically see at Anvil – Haggis, Margo, Furley, and Whiplash.  Thanks Whiplash for EH’ing FNG Jeff D, who from here forward shall be known as Brutus.  Jeff is a Michigan fan, so he is now appropriately named for the Ohio State mascot.  Brutus’ wife, who is a Ohio State fan will be very happy with the name choice.  Nice one Hops!

T-claps to our KB’ers this morning.  I didn’t take notice of all that were participating, but I think it was Abacus, Mermaid, and Cane.  Not sure if Swanson did his regular pre-run, but if I missed you, sound off in the comments and take credit!  Also

Thanks to Hops for the strong closing prayer! Many prayer requests among the pax, including Turkey Leg, whose mother passed away this morning.

Always a pleasure leading you guys.  It was fun this morning.

Announcements:

  • Tutoring Matthews Elementary starts in mid-September
  • BRR – looking for alternate runners and drivers. Reach out to Baracus
  • 3rd F Aftermath – Piper Glen Starbucks immediately after Anvil

Rehab’s First Time

17 men, including a couple of friendly new guys, arrived at Anvil on a relatively cool Wednesday morning to support one of their brothers, Rehab, in his virgo Q appearance. They all received a very brief disclaimer from Baracus and headed out into the gloom for a different brand of rehabilitation.

The Thang
Start with a little mosey around the parking lot. Mix in some karaoke and backwards running, then circle up on the far end of the parking lot near Hwy 51.

COP
• Side straddle hop x 30
• Imperial walker x 30
• Merkin x 20
• Burpees x 20

Jog around the front of the church to back parking lot near North Face.

Form 2 lines
• Lunge-walk to light post (about 30 yds)
• Burpees x 20
• Bear crawl back
• Repeat two more times, replacing Burpees with Merkins and Wide-arm Merkins

Run to picnic shelter near soccer fields and form 3 groups to rotate through circuits, performing each exercise for 1 min.
• People’s chair
• Dips
• Decline Merkins
Repeato until everyone has done all exercises twice.

Run to fields for some MOM
• 20 x LBCs
• 20 x Flutter
• 20 x Dolly

Mosey back to cars and 20 burpees OYO to finish things off.
COT and Baracus closed us out.

Moleskin
It was another unseasonably cool morning for August…perfect weather in which to get your day started at Anvil. We had a nice turnout for Rehab’s virgin Q, only four months after his first F3 post at Anvil on March 26th.
All seemed pretty normal as we followed Rehab around the parking lot until we circled up and began the COP. Like many before him, Rehab fell victim to the cadence count. It seems easy when your just the guy in the circle counting every fourth count, but when you’re leading things are different. Let’s just say we could have used a metronome, a bullhorn, and a quick lesson in counting to 4. I’m not sure how many of each exercise we did, but oh well, we certainly got warmed up…especially after Rehab threw 20 burpees at us out of frustration. In all seriousness, it was a little shaky at first, but Rehab pulled it all together by the time we circled up for Mary at the end of the workout.
Overall it was another strong Anvil workout…plenty of burpees and challenging exercises to get the heart rate up. We saw a lot of the campus and got a full body workout at the same time. Nice first Q Rehab! Looking forward to your next Q in the future.

Welcome to our two FNGs, Icky Shuffle (Kevin M) who was EH’d by Boutique, and Foreman (Rob H).  Foreman is Baracus’ brother-in-law from Wilmington, NC.  Hoping to get him to join the F3 expansion at the beach sometime soon.  Great job guys!  Hope to see you both back out in the gloom soon!

Announcements:
• Drivers needed for BRR – contact Baracus if interested

Anvil Workout in a Box

YHC served up some nice cool weather this morning.  It would be welcome given what was ahead of us.   We started with a quick disclaimer, skipped the COP and got right to business.

Groups of 3 men – each man starts at a different station.

Station 1 – Picnic Shelter

  • 20 jump-ups
  • 20 derkins
  • 20 dips
  • Run to station 2

Station 2 – Playground

  • 20 donkey kicks on swings
  • 10 pull-ups
  • 20 LBCs
  • Repeat until partner from Station 1 arrives, then run to station 3

Station 3 – Entrance 4 (at bottom of hill)

  • 10 burpees
  • Run to top of hill
  • 20 squats
  • Run to bottom of hill
  • Repeat until partner from Station 2 arrives, then run to station 1

This cycle continued until 6:15, then return to shovel flag for COT.

Moleskin:

No secret where this workout idea came from.  My goal was a workout that kept the pax in motion the entire time, and Metro’s WIB workout definitely does this…so I stole shamelessly.  Great work by all the pax this morning, and T-claps to the guys who showed up early for extra credit (Champagne, Abacus, Mermaid, and Young Love for KB.  Swanson for a pre-run)

Announcements:

  • Go Ruck in Columbia – Nov. 21
  • Mudrun sign-ups still open
  • BRR T-shirts deadline – 8/2, Look for MallCop email about Area 51 Shirts
  • F3 Dads Saturday at Colonel Beatty 9am
  • F3 Dads Camp – signup deadline is Friday…nearing capacity

Pre-blast: Anvil’s Workout In a Box

We’ll begin at our normal start time…5:30am.  A quick disclaimer, skip the COP and right on to business.

Groups of 3 men – each man starts at a different station.

Station 1 – Picnic Shelter

  • 20 jump-ups
  • 20 derkins
  • 20 dips
  • Run to station 2

Station 2 – Playground

  • 20 donkey kicks on swings
  • 10 pull-ups
  • 20 LBCs
  • Repeat until partner from Station 1 arrives, then run to station 3

Station 3 – Entrance 4 (at bottom of hill)

  • 10 burpees
  • Run to top of hill
  • 20 squats
  • Run to bottom of hill
  • Repeat until partner from Station 2 arrives, then run to station 1

 

This cycle continues until 6:15, then return to shovel flag for COT.

Lobsta Rollin’

No need for the disclaimer with this old school crew so on to it.

The so called warm-up

Run to the track and jog 1 lap with a set of butt kickers and high knees along the way

Head to the goal line..

  • 20x Squats
  • Karaoke left to the 50 yard line jog out remaining 50 yards
  • 10 burpees
  • Jog back to the start
  • 30x IW
  • Karaoke right to the 50 yard line jog out remaining 50 yards
  • 10 burpees
  • Jog back to the start
  • 15x Merkins (slow cadence )
  • 100% run to opposite goal line
  • 10 burpees
  • Jog back to the start
  • 25x LBC
  • Backward run to opposite goal line
  • 10 burpees

Head to the bleachers for some circuit work

3 rounds of

  • 30 dips
  • 20 decline merkins
  • Run up  bleachers to playground
  • 10 pull-ups

Plank work then 1 lap around the track,  and head to Grand Mother Mountain

3 rounds of

  • Run up Grand Mother Mountain to the “Blue Door”
  • 2mins of peoples chair (mixed in 20x airpresses)
  • Run Down Grand Mother Mountain
  • Ab work
  •     Round 1 – Scissor Kicks – PAX had lots of trouble with my cadence on this one…not really sure what number we got to
  •     Round 2 – Mason Twist – 25x
  •     Round 3 – Hip raise – not sure the real name….10x each side

Moleskin:

Always a good time leading a great group of guys.  All worked very hard.  I have come to learn if the PAX remains quite throughout the workout the QIC must be doing a good job (or that is what I tell myself)  Hope you all enjoyed the pain!!  Until next time…

Announcements:

F3 Dads Saturday – Joker has the Q

Lots of Crunches, Bears, and Chairs

14 pax ventured out on a sticky July morning to sharpen themselves and each other at The midweek venue, Anvil.

Disclaimer

The Thang:

COP

  • SSH x 25
  • IW x 25
  • Mtn Climbers x 25
  • CDD x 25

Mosey to front parking lot by hwy 51.  Take a lap around lot to survey the situation.

End zone to end zone stackers (width of lot)

  • 10 merkins
  • 20 dips on curb
  • Backwards run to other end of lot
  • 30 squats
  • 40 LBC’s
  • Karaoke back (alternate each time)
  • Repeato x 6 to even out the karaokes.

Mosey to baseball field

Bear crawl ring of fire around bases.

Guy in front gets up and runs around bases to end of line and resumes bear crawl position. Go through whole group – Ouch! #Crowd pleaser

People’s chair at pavilion:

  • Left foot up
  • Right foot up
  • Toes
  • Overhead press – 20 in cadence

Mosey back to parking lot

6 MOM:

  • Toe taps (15 each foot in cadence)
  • Dolly – 15 in cadence
  • Flutter kicks – 15 in cadence

Mosey around lot to shovel flag, 10 burpees on your own

COT

 Moleskin:

  •  YHC reminded the pax that he is no professional during the disclaimer it showed during COP…sorry for the missed calls – several PAX were on point and quick to assist.
  •  The end zone stackers definitely set the O2 deprivation in motion. Mermaid & Cain were out in front – nice work brothers!
  • The Ring of fire/Bear crawl run went quicker than YHC anticipated – extra time always means more time for fun…enter the peoples chair. Sorry Champagne!
  •  The mumble chatter resumed during 6 MOM when YHC called out the toe taps. Threats to rename YHC twinkle toes were soon hushed. They may look silly but they work!
  •  As always it was a pleasure to lead a great group of men. Everyone pushed it today!
  •  Extra credit pre run – Baracus & Swanson. Kettle bells – Champagne, Abacus, Hair Ball (sound off as I know I’ve missed some)

 Announcements:

  • F3 Dads resumes this Saturday, 9am at Beatty Park – all 2.0’s are welcome.
  • BRR fast approaching – order t shirts
  • Mudrun sign ups – Gummy