I’ll admit, I’ve fartsacked quite a bit lately. It’s seemed necessary after a string of sleepless nights, dirty diapers and 2 a.m. rocking chair sessions with the 2.1. So the pros and cons of procreation were definitely on my mind as I rolled into the Charlotte Catholic parking lot at 5:29 on the dot. A veritable mob of 30+ pax were awaiting me and watching my every move. No discreet way to slip on my elastic running belt I use to keep my key with me while we’re in the gloom.
“Is that your chastity belt?” Swiper asked me. I had no comeback. But Swiper would in the COT identify himself as 14 years old, and that seems accurate.
Duly chastened, we headed out into the gloom for what I’ll call the Quintuple Triple Nickel.
Tha thang
Mosey up Little to the shopping center. Quick COP:
SSH x 25
Merkins x 10
Mountain climbers x 25
Low slow squat x 20
Big numbers forced a slight change of plans, so we divided up into two groups and each tackled one staircase for the first Triple Nickel:
Run up staircase to middle of the shopping center
Hand release merkins x 5
Run back
Jump squat x 5
x5
Mosey across Carmel (#disclaimer) to the business park, avoiding sketchy looking cars. Spread out abreast for the second Triple Nickel:
Run across parking lot
Diamond merkins x 5
Run back
Jump lunges x 5
x5
Mosey over to Palantine Hill for Triple Nickel #3:
Up the hill
Wide arm merkins x 5
Down the hill
Squat x 5
x 5
Mosey over to the benches using the official crosswalk (#safetyfirst) for Triple Nickel #4:
Jump up x 5
Decline merkin x 5
x5
Mosey to the parking lot and up to level 2 for the fifth Triple Nickel:
Up the ramp
CDD x 5
Down the ramp
Freddy Mercury x 5
x5
Back to base
COT
Moleskine:
–I guarantee you if it was 25 degrees like it’s supposed to we wouldn’t have had quite the turnout. But hey, we’ll take what we can get. Awesome to see so many people putting in a #downpainment
–We covered somewhere around 3.2 miles toter.
–Savage Race is May 13. Preblast.
–Great reminder from Chelms that F3 is about invigorating male leadership in all its forms, not just fitness. Take a look at the Area 51 weekly email for info about service opportunities.
–Thanks for the take out, Marconi.
OK, it’s more of a merger of equals. But don’t let Radar hear me say that out loud.
Starting this Saturday, Day Zero and The Rock will converge for the foreseeable future, meeting at The Rock’s standard AO at 0700. Expect a rock-solid beatdown that’s acceptable to men of Day Zero’s “high intensity” pedigree.
Esteemed elder statesman Hops will lead the charge this Saturday and set the bar high. Be sure to stretch out.
Thanks Flipper and Gummy for having us.
Right before the launch, one of the pax noted that it felt a little cooler than it’s been the past few weeks. I think he jinxed it because the temp seemed to rise 10 degrees as we began to mosey. Fitting for our trip to Bermuda. Here’s what the 17 of us did.
The thang
Mosey across 51 to the Chuck E. Cheese lot for COP.
SSH x 25
IW x 10
Tuck jumps x 10
Merkins x 10
Mountain climbers x 20
Mosey to Palantine Hill for the Bermuda Triangle:
Ascend the western face
15 merkins at the top
Descend the southern face
Mosey through to the renovated corporate patio area
25 dips on the benches
Mosey back to the road for 15 jump squats
Back to the start
5 total laps
Quick mary while we waited for everyone to finish: Some rosalita, dolly, LBC, heels to heaven and Freddy Mercury
Mosey back to Amelie’s for a short plank-o-rama
Over to the parking deck for a short set:
Lap 1: Run up the ramps to the second level and down the stairs, with 5 merkins at the turn
Lap 2: Run the ramps to the third level and down the stars, with 5 merkins at each turn
Lap 3: Straight run up to the top, down the stairs
Mosey back to launch
COT
Moleskine
–Welcome (or is it welcome back?) to Drago. Dude had some killer speed on the parking deck work. Hope to see you back out more regularly.
–Teddy and Bout Time were way out in front today #LarryBird. I think there were more pax there but I had a hard time recognizing them by their rear ends. Sorry.
–We covered about an even 3 miles. That Bermuda Triangle (a Chelms favorite — missed you today, brother) is deceptively difficult.
–Don’t forget about the Area 51 pool party.
–Centurion is still looking for Qs. Talk to Margo.
–Strong talk-out from Hops
3 men ventured out into the soup that was this Saturday morning. We spent 45 minutes working our legs into Jello before we decided to cram a bunch of merkins in all at once.
Tha thang
Warm-up lap around the track
COP:
Imperial Walkers x 10
Cotton pickers x 10
Squat x 10
Lunge x 10
Mosey over to the front of the school, partner up (which was difficult with only three people):
Partner 1 runs a lap around the track.
Partner 2 completes the following:
10 single-leg squats left leg
10 single-leg squats right leg
10 jump ups
10 step ups
Rinse and repeat
Mosey over to the hill on Carswell for a Triple Nickel ™
10 tuck jumps at the bottom
Lunge walk up the hill
10 squat jumps at the top
Mosey back to the school, hold people’s chair while we take a short water break (it was hot, y’all).
One lap around the track, stopping at each corner for 20 merkins.
Find some shade for Mary:
15 x dolly
15 x rosalita
15 x heels to heaven
15 x freddy mercury
Run out time with a three man grinder, with squats on one end and hand-release merkins on the other
COT
Moleskine
It was a small crowd, so lots of 2nd F was had. Everyone pushed hard through the heat. There was absolutely no air flow whatsoever. Props to Alf for pushing it on the laps around the track. Fault Line was a beast as well.
9 men gathered slogged through the humidity to prove their physical prowess. Here’s what we did.
The thang
Mosey one lap around the track to warm up
Meet at the basketball court for COP
SSH x 20
Merkins x 15
Squats (Q calls down and up) x 10
Mosey over to the hill at Carswell and Bevington for a triple nickel
Jump squats at the bottom
Hand-release merkins at the top
Mosey back to base, gathering at the brick wall
Get in people’s chair, and slide in squat position to the end of the wall
The long set:
1 x squat
1 x merkin
1 x lunge each leg
1 x burpee
After completing, do 2 of each exercise, then 3. And so on and so forth. Most people got to 11 or 12.
2 min water break — this is high intensity, so hydration is key
Mosey down the the basketball court for some drills.
Right-handed layup x 3
Left-handed layup x 3
Foul line extended jump shot x 1
If you miss, 5 x merkins
Get your rebound, pass to the next man, run to the opposite baseline and get back in line
Now that everyone’s properly warmed up, hit the foul line.
Everybody shoots a foul shot.
If made, group does 5 x merkins
If missed, group does a traditional basketball court suicide sprint
We did 7 suicides.
COT
Naked Moleskine
–The group really missed Spackler today but luckily several members of the pax were able to do dead-on impressions. Numerous refusenik fake-outs and references to previous night’s debauchery. I felt right at home.
–Judging by the hoops talent on display here, the Day Zero fellas would clean up in an Area 51 basketball tournament. Some real Larry Birds here. Red Rocks has some serious ups.
–Great work by the pax pushing through the squat/merkin/lunge/burpee set. People started complaining after literally 2 minutes, but we got through about 15 mins total. I personally witnessed everyone giving it all they got #ISI
–We got in somewhere around 3 miles total.
Thanks as always for the opportunity to lead.
It was my first time back leading in a good while, and I wanted to make sure to come up with something that hurt. Despite a small snafu tweeting out a warning, the weinke came together pretty nicely. 12 men toter came out for the high-intensity Saturday workout on 51.
The thang
Quick lap around the parking lot to keep people on their toes
Circle up on the basketball court for COP
SSH x 20
Squat holds x 10 #crowdpleaser
Mountain climbers x 25
Mosey over to the track for a set of 7s.
6 merkins on one side of the track. 1 jump squat on the other side of the track. Etc. for a total of 6 laps.
Quick bit of mary on the b-ball court.
Merkin holds x 10
Grab a sandbag or kettlebell out of my trunk and bring it over to the Touchstone entrance.
3 laps of partner catch-me-if-you-can around the block formed by Bevington, Baybrook and the Touchstone shopping center.
In between: Curb dips x 25; CDD holds x 10
Bear crawl up the Touchstone entrance hill, backwards bear crawl back down
Lunge walk up the hill
Return to the AO for one last thing: Waterfall leg holds.
COT
Moleskine
Judging by the amount of mumblechatter, some of the pax thought the 2+ mile track laps were too easy, so we brought out the 40-pound kettlebell as a weight on the catch me if you cans. Two people teamed up to run with it, so there was a good bit of hand overlap. That’s some serious 2nd F. To add on to it, we switched partners up for each lap so we all got to know each other real well.
I think everybody was a Larry Bird today. Nice work out there. We covered somewhere between 4.5 and 5 miles.
Thanks for the opportunity.
9 men braved the cold and rode into the rising sun at #F3DayZero. Here’s what we did.
The thang
Warm up lap around the track
Circle up on the basketball court for a quick COP:
SSH x 25
Merkins x 15
Mountain climber x 20
Low, slow squat x 15
Mosey over the parking lot to retrieve two sandbags. Divide into two teams. Each team is responsible for chaperoning its bag over the ensuing route.
Run out to 51 and over to Calvary. Head in the first entrance to attempt a fly-by but no one is home. Pause in a parking lot for 2 minutes of mary (Dolly and Heels to heaven). Continue the mosey right on Rea, right on Bevington and right on Carswell back to the AO. This is the 3 mile loop.
People’s chair to regroup. Air presses x 25
Mosey to the playground and complete three sets of the following:
Pullups x 10
Derkins x 20
Dips x 30
Divide into groups of three and head back to Carswell and the Touchstone entrance loop. Three-man grinders with jump squats at the bottom and CDDs at the top
Head to the Tuesday Morning (RIP) parking lot for a suicide lap. Then do the zoo.
Bear crawl down and jog back
Crab walk down and jog back
Duck walk down and jog back
Mosey through the back gate to the basketball court for the remaining 4 minutes. Each pax gets to call an exercise of their choice. We did a little mary, a little merkins, an elbow plank challenge and finished with the J.Lo.
COT
Moleskine
Thanks to the pax for putting up with my on-the-fly decisions. Thanks as always to Radar for the running commentary that keeps the Q on his toes. Love the intensity brought by The Mouth on the elbow challenge. Prohibition is looking fabulous with his beard and his conditioning is through the roof.
Until next time…
Twas a sleepless night for our mighty Q before this workout, but there was no sign of rust as he put 21 pax through their paces at the best-looking workout that meets Tuesdays at the Vine.
Tha thang (posted on behalf of Bucky):
Warmup:
-SSHop, Mtn Clm, Merkin, Squat, Imp Wkr
-Running approx. 40 yrds-ButtKick, CrossOvers, Bound, Carioca (2), Slide (2), Backward, Sprint (2)
@Wall, partners
(x3) partner #1-20 dips, #2 CarolDryDock (flapjack)
(x3) #1-20 wall jump, #2 FredMercury (flapjack)
@Hill (newly named Hamburger Hill)
(x3) run to top, 5 burpees, back down, 10 merkins
Plank/wait
Warm down:
Rosalita 15, American Hammer 15, LBC 15, Squat Jump 10.
Moleskine (back to Dear Abby for this one):
Great maiden voyage by Bucky. Thanks for taking leadership #nomoochers If you’ve been posting to Bagpipe for more than a couple months and haven’t Q’d a workout, let me know and we’ll get you on the schedule. We have openings as soon as next week!
The warm-up exercises were big crowd-pleasers. Not a muscle was pulled nor a ligament torn at the workout this morn.
20 jump ups is a lot harder the second time through. Lots of lactic acid build-up on the third set.
I second Bucky’s motion to name the hill on Community House. Do we have a name yet? By the way, I thought Swift got its name because it was a running workout. We saw a lot of shirtless standing around while we knocked out our burpees.
Announcements: the SOB’s BRR team is in search of a van driver. We won’t even make you pay.
A wise man, I believe it was Mike Tyson, once said that everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face. That’s how I usually feel when I’m leading a workout. And it was true again today, when 7 men chose to start their Saturday with a beatdown that took full advantage of the beautiful AO that The Rock provides. At least a few of them instantly regretted their decision but came to embrace it. Here’s why:
The thang
Short mosey to one of the parking lots for a disclaimer slightly more effusive than usual, for we had in our midst an FNG.
COP:
SSH x 20
IW x 10
Windmill x 5
Mountain climber x 20
Head over to the North Face as the #mumblechatter increases. Don’t do it! they cried. We did it anyway.
11s on the North Face. Jump squats at the bottom; hand release merkins at the top. Run the loop around and continue.
Quick plankorama to gather the pax. End Act 1
Intermission: Mosey to the cars with a set of lunge walks and reverse lunge walks for the heck of it. Quick run by the cars to get a gulp of water and to retrieve sandbags from my car.
Act 2
Partner up, with speed mattering some. With seven people, this made the math a little tricky for a man who felt like he’d been punched in the head by the North Face.
Partner group 1 took the sandbag and ran to entrance four and back, swapping the bag as necessary
Partner group 2 took another sandbag and ran to entrance one and back, swapping as necessary
The remaining three pax grabbed a rock and completed rounds of 10 x curls, 10 x OHP, 10 x tricep extensions. Three or four rounds.
Swap until everybody had the chance to complete all the stations.
End Act 2
Act 3
Circle up for Mary
LBC x 20
Dolly x 20
Heels to heaven x 20
Freddy Mercury x 20
Plank in place while each person takes a turn running around the circle and back to his spot
Repeat with elbow plank
Repeat with regular plank, while the running man leaps/hops/skips over everybody’s feet.
AYG sprint across the parking lot
AYG left spring back
End Act 3
COT
Moleskine
–Thanks very much to Gummy and Hopper for giving me the opportunity to lead this morning, even if somehow YHC didn’t get the memo until yesterday. I probably just didn’t write it down. #whoops #Qfail
–T-claps to Hopper for logging in 4 miles of pre-run today.
–Mighty Might killed it on the AYG springs at the end, even if he was trying to diminish expectations the whole time.
–Welcome to FNG Skoal. Thanks for bringing him out, Yankee. Hope to see you back, brother. Somebody pointed out the irony in a man named Yankee bringing out a dude in a Braves hat. I like it.
–Prohibition gave me some serious side-eye at Coffeteria for defecting to The Rock this week instead of Day Zero. Sorry, dude. I’m trying to be a peacemaker. But remind me, which workout had more people today?
–During the week, I’m happy with just a 45 minute pain fest. On the weekends, I always hope for just a little bit of fun thrown in. Not sure if today qualified. I find the North Face fun (at least the first two or three times up), and I was hoping the sandbag runs would introduce enough 2nd F to lift the pax’s spirits. #embracethesuck
–We logged 3+ miles according to the Garmins/FitBits/etc
Thanks again. Enjoy your weekend.
When I grow up, I want to be just like Radar. So I took a page from his book and spent last night covered in sand and duct tape to bring some fun bags to Centurion this morning. It went … OK.
The thang
Circle up for COP:
SSH x 20
Merkins x 15
IW x 5
Count off to create four teams. We ended up with two teams of 3 and two teams of 4. Each team grabs a bag: Red, White, Blue and Silver.
Mosey up to the shopping center for the first circuit:
Partner 1 takes the loop up the stairs, around and down.
Other partners complete the called exercise: hand-release merkins, jump squats, LBCs, Carolina Dry Docs
Rotate until everybody has done a loop. Sorry, 3-man teams, somebody is going to have to go twice.
Mosey back down to launch pad. Everyone not carrying a bag grabs a rock. Head over to the speed bump by the stop sign for circuit No. 2.
Partner 1 runs with the sandbag up the hill to the road and back down.
Partner 2 curls with the rock.
Partner 3 presses with the rock.
Partner 4 extends triceps with the rock.
Rotate through until everyone has done each station.
Repeato.
Break for some Mary:
Dolly x 20
Heels to Heaven x 20
Freddy Mercury x 20
Rosalita x 20
Protractor for a bit
Back to the sandbag hill runs, shorter distance. 3 times through
Return the rocks. One more quick circuit:
Partner 1 lunge walks up the ramp in the front of the school and moseys back down
Partner 2 completes jump ups/step ups
Partner 3 completes dips
Partner 4 completes derkins
Repeato until time is called
Head back for
COT
……
Moleskine
Great work by all the pax. Hope you enjoyed the sandbags. Sorry for the shoddy craftsmanship on one of the bags, Team Silver. You guys got a little sandy. I’ve got some repair work to do.
Snowflake, Checkpoint, Scabby and Runstopper set a blazing pace, as usual #IronSharpensIron
Don’t forget Southern Discomfort Aug. 1.
Thanks for the take-out Escargot.