12 men gave it their all this morning. YHC couldn’t think of a single original exercise, so we just dipped in the bag for some old favorites. Here’s how it ended up:
Run around the lot then circle up for a brief warmup. No side straddle hops here – we value our calves this close to BRR.
Run to another lot for the merkin challenge: 10 merkins, 5 seconds plank, 9 merkins, 5 seconds plank… etc….etc…. down to one.
Mosey off to another lot for the merkin bear crawl ladder, originally the brainchild of one Mighty Mite, copied remorselessly by yhc. Bear crawl two parking spaces, 2 merkins. Bear crawl 2 more space, then 4 merkins… etc…etc up to 20 merkins. Since none of us could do 20 merkins at the end of all this, we opted to do 4 sets of 5 instead of cheating.
Mosey to Firebirds area: grab some wall. 15 slow dips, 12 slow durkins. Run around lot, then repeat. Around this point it started to hurt quite a lot.
Mosey to another parking lot (this is The Maul) and circle up for merkin mary madness. 20 mary, 2 merkins, 20 mary, 4 merkins …etc…etc up to 10 merkins then back down to two. Highlights were the double sets of heels to heavens and russian twist (or tweest, as some would say).
Mosey to last parking lot for some 6-count burpees, followed by sprints up the lot. We ran out of time and had to cut this short after only 3 sets – finish with a sprint back to COT.
Moleskin:
It was a smaller group than usual today at The Maul. We think that some of our regulars may have attended a Bean-fest at Dromedary this morning. Nice to see the SOBs spreading their wings.
Strong effort from all this morning. Chippy was enjoying the merkins very much, and was seen to be laughing on many occasions.
Most everyone completed the full routine of mary – merkins which was a tough one today.
Wingman and Mighty Mite almost gave out on the slow durkins, but held it together for victory somehow.
Announcements:
There is a convergence on labor day I believe at 6:30am at base camp…? Please check the weekly email for more details.
Thanks for the chance to lead this morning. It was a pleasure.
6 men threw a lot of punches on Monday morning.
YHC had been out sick all last week and so was itching for an F3 session. As a result, Fight Club had a bit more bootcamp than usual this week.
We started with a quick 10, 20, 30 routine: 10 pull-ups, 20 merkins, 30 sit-ups, then a run around the parking lot. Repeato 3 times.
Head to Loch Ness: gloves and pads on: one round punching, one round holding, one lap around the lake. This was repeated many times with high intensity until approximately 6:05.
Line up on grassy area: 10 merkins, 20 toe tapper crunches, sprint to other end. Repeato in reverse. Then 10 heels to heavens, 10 burpees, sprint to other end. More sit-ups, then plankorama, then 15 merkins, then sprint to other end.
Done.
– Solid showing this morning from the Fight Club faithful. Come and try this workout. It is not what you think, but it sure does hurt.
– In his first ever time doing a boxing workout with younger brother Doubtfire, Haggis was dismayed to find that not only is Doubtfire younger, taller, and faster; he can also punch harder too. That sucks.
– Thank you all. It is always a pleasure to lead and work out with this group. Thanks especially Chipotle for making Fight Club a success.
It was a great day to be at our favorite AO. We set off with a determined and upbeat attitude, ready for whatever The Brave could throw at us. Unfortunately Madame T ruined the good feeling almost immediately with some thoughtless comment comparing Nessie to a giant catfish.
With the tone set, yhc spent the next hour exacting revenge on all the pax.
Warm up: A few Imperial Walkers, then a quick set of high knees and butt kicks was all we needed. No SSH today.
Bear Crawl Merkin Ladder: Inspired by the big man himself (Mighty Mite), this is a parking lot bear crawl where you stop for merkins every two lines along the parking lot. We got to 10, then decided it was too easy and did it again.
Mosey to bottom of long slow hill to begin a distant cousin of 12 days of Christmas: 12 merkins then run to top of hill and back down. 12 heels to heavens + 12 merkins then run up hill and back down. 12 russian twist + 12 heels to heavens + 12 merkins then run up hill and back down. 12 6-count burpees + 12 russian twist + 12 heels to heavens + 12 merkins then run up hill and back down. 12 toe-tapper crunches + 12 6-count burpees + 12 russian twist + 12 heels to heavens + 12 merkins then run up hill and back down. 12 slow bicycles + 12 toe-tapper crunches + 12 6-count burpees + 12 russian twist + 12 heels to heavens + 12 merkins then run up hill and back down.
To keep everyone together we set it up so that everyone turned around on the hill at the same time, whenever the first runner reached the top and yelled out. That way we could complete the routine with no breaks.
Run 1/2 mile to bottom of Dunreggan Brae at mud run pace. Begin Dunreggan sequence: 5 burpees then run up hill for 30 seconds and back down. 6 burpees then repeat run, 7 burpees, repeat, etc all the way to 10. The objective here was to run slightly further each time in the same time period. Start out slow, and gradually push harder each time. Combined with an increasing burpee count, this sucked.
After a few more merkins, head back to the Vine.
Moleskin
This workout was about keeping everyone together in a way that allowed all of us to go at our own pace and maximize work rate throughout. It was a pleasure to lead – got a lot of help from all pax with different exercises – thank you.
There were a lot of strong performances out there today. Frehleys Comet pushed for first place on the hill a couple of times, as did Madame T and fire Hazard. Gekko crushed the second hill – definitely took the record there.
We ran, ran, and ran some more.
The Thang:
Run to the bull ring for a dynamic warm up. Honey Bee demonstrated excellent form on the skipping. He must have been practicing.
By the end of the warm-up, we found ourselves at the bottom of the hill sometimes known as Dunreggan Brae.
Then it began: 2 minutes hard run, 1 minute rest. 1 minute hard run, 30 second rest. 30 second hard run, 30 second rest. We continued this for what seemed like a long time. Managed to stay true to the break periods – no mercy was shown. Also made sure that every run period included as much of the Brae as possible.
Ye Olde Moleskin:
Strong performances from all. The breaks were short and it took a lot to power through them.
Honey Bee led the pax pretty consistently, except when Mr. Bean, and occasionally Abacus were nipping on his heels.
We missed Bratwurst’s scientific approach and his hi-tech watch.
Thanks for letting me lead. Bring it again next week!
Yep – you can quote me on that. 19 big hairy brutes showed what kind of men they are for a progression interval and merkin party.
We ran around a lot to start with and did some really sloppy merkins to show what poor form is. Then we started doing merkins properly.
We ran to the Bull Ring and ran 1 minute out, 1 minute back, 1 min out, 1 min back, 1 min out, 1 min back. Everyone at their own pace and the idea was to increase your distance each time. It was a great way to keep everyone together, but I think that no-one, including yhc, was able to increase their distance. In other words, we all started out too fast.
To settle down, we settled down for 50 perfect-form merkins. They were not easy. In fact yhc developed a brief, flashing migraine as a result, which I think I hid from the pax well. To get rid of the intense pain (broken blood vessel, stroke?) we took a break for some Mary. Mary always does the trick, so we were then able to mosey off to the bottom of the hill.
At the bottom of the hill we started things off with 5 x “6-count” burpees. Then we ran for 30 seconds up the hill, then returned to the bottom for 6 x “6-count” burpees. We repeated this fun little ladder all the way up to 10 burpees, the idea being to increase your run distance each time. Mr. Bean, Big Tuna, Dolphin, and Wingman all finished this portion of the workout extremely strong.
After this we wandered off to a patch of grass and did another ladder, this time the old favorite: Merkin Mary Madness. This continued until we sadly had to head home. After a quick stop on the way for a few more merkins, we finished up with an all-you-got sprint to the parking lot. At this point Mr Bean was so excited to finish up and get to his bagel at Einsteins that he jumped through a hedge on the way back.
Yhc’s sole objective for the workout was to punish Mic Check after the hideous beating he laid down on us last week. MC is always saying that he hates running, so I tried to include a liberal sprinkling of running in the hopes of wearing him down. It didn’t really work. The fact is, MC Scrapper can hang with the best of us on running, merkins, burpees, or whatever you care to throw at him. And then still talk smack at the end of it.
It was great leading the group. I for one was totally exhausted at the end.
Great to have Sanction out for his second workout.
Also great to overhear Mighty Mite mentioning that the workout wore him out. Anytime you wear down the big man it’s gotta be a good workout.
Dolphin has the Q next week. He has been getting progressively more excited over the last few weeks and at this point can hardly contain himself. Rumor has it that some kind of “back waxing” (???) will be included in the beatdown. Don’t wanna miss that.
Thanks y’all. See you at Fight Club Monday morning.
15 big hairy men did some competitive analysis.
The SOBs have been noticing some puzzling form at the non-Ballantyne AOs. Being a compassionate bunch, we feel sorry for those other AO pax, and thought we’d spend the workout trying to get inside their heads and see what makes them tick.
The Thang:
Mosey to parking lot for warm up: 10 SSH, 10 Imperial Walker, 10 Mountain Climber
Mosey to next parking lot for the Premature Excitement merkin. This usually occurs early in a workout, when the Q is desperate to get going, having been thinking about this since the night before. In his excitement, he pumps out the merkins way to fast. The pax can’t keep up, and the result is a lousy experience all around.
Mosey to next parking lot for the Saggy Butt merkin. This is for those who can’t keep their back straight. It seems easier but ends up hurting where it shouldn’t and not hurting where it should.
Mosey to next parking lot for the Shallow Character merkin. Also known as the head bob, the metro merkin, and too many others to mention. Not strong enough to deal with the perceived shame of not being able to keep up, (he doesn’t realize that everyone else is cheating too), Joe 6-pax thinks that simply bobbing his head up and down will get the job done. Not so.
Mosey to next parking lot for the Sneaky Cheat merkin. This one looks the part as it involves going all the way to the ground, but sneaky Joe 6-pax decides he can take the blue pill by not going all the way up. Say it ain’t so, Joe! What do you do that for?
Mosey to the next parking lot for the Stick Your Neck Out merkin. This ruse involves craning your neck forward and down so it looks like you are getting full extension, but of course you actually are not. YHC has been known to indulge in this bad boy from time to time. Takes some focus to avoid.
Mosey to the next parking lot for the Double Cross merkin. Crossing your legs or putting one leg on top of the other may feel as if it is taking the strain away, but all it does is throw you off balance.
Mosey to the next parking lot to put it all together for…… the Go Ruck merkin. Including elements of all of the above, this is the most pointless exercise you will ever do. It’s par for the course (at least it was for YHC) about five minutes after the Go Ruck welcome party starts. You’d be better off tying a bag of bricks around your leg and trying to go for a swim.
After going through all this, the wholesome SOBs felt pretty dirty, and decided that we should now do some real merkins to cleanse all this junk out of our system. Frehleys had been wondering what the whistle was for. From now on, if any of the preceding junk was witnessed, the whistle would sound for 5 burpees.
The tour continued with burpees, dips, pull ups, etc, but that is too much to write about for now. We finished up with a modified mini-murph where the numbers were limited to 5 pull-ups, 10 merkins, plus a run around the lake. This was repeated as many times as possible. Whistle rules applied.
Moleskin:
Thanks for the good humor.
It turned out to be a solid workout, and hopefully gave us all a reminder of why we are out here. Iron sharpens iron. Funnily enough, poop doesn’t sharpen poop.
To be fair to the Rucktards out there, Swiss Mist was wearing a ruck, and he did some seriously impressive merkins throughout. Perhaps it’s just YHC who can’t do merkins with bricks on his back.
Always a joy to lead a great group of men.
7 men showed their mettle in a celebration of sheer power.
The Thang:
Load up the kit and head to Loch Ness.
Basics review with shadow boxing: stance, footwork, head movement, jab (1), cross (2), hook (3), uppercut (4)
1lap of the loch with hands raised in fighting stance.
Partner up with pads and gloves. 4 rounds of jabs and crosses. Odd man out is on the medicine ball.
1 lap of the loch with hands raised in fighting stance.
Partner up. 4 rounds of jabs, crosses. Focus on footwork.
1 lap of the loch with hands raise in fighting stance.
Partner up. 4 rounds of partner calling out punches, “1, 1-1, 1-2, 1-2-3, 1-1… etc” Focus on footwork and keep moving while punching.
1 lap of the loch with hand raised while throwing punches on the way round.
Finish with 10 true merkins.
Moleskin
Fight Club format is to use a ring timer for 2:30 rounds with 30 second recovery periods. During the last 30 seconds of each round, you give it all you’ve got. It’s a brutal combo with no time to catch a breath since the recovery period is used to change over.
Great to see Honey Bee at FC for the first time. He seemed to enjoy it and was swinging like a brawler on the pads. But, he hasn’t been in with Chippy yet. Come back for more brother.
Regulars Fire Hazard, Wild Turkey, Kerbie and Twister were all pushing it hard, with compubox numbers showing high numbers of power punches sprinkled with accurate potshots.
Chipotle only throws power punches. Do not get on his bad side.
YHC made the grievous error of using the medicine ball for long periods on the concrete pathway, and now has a sore posterior.
Come out and try Fight Club. It doesn’t always get worse.
25 men did merkins and stuff.
The thang:
Mosey to parking lot for warm up: 15 side straddle hops, 20 imperial walker, 20 merkins
Mosey to first wall: 20 durkins, 20 dips
Mosey to second wall: 20 durkins, 12 dips
Mosey to parking lot by bull ring: Merkin Mary ladder – 20 flutter, 10 merkins, 19 dolly, 9 merkins, 18 rosalitas, 8 merkins, 17 heels to heavens, 7 merkins, 16 mason twist, 6 merkins, 15 little baby crunch, 5 merkins. Plankerama, then 10 merkins.
Mosey to picnic tables: 20 dips, 20 merkins, 8 dips.
Mosey to grass area by loch ness: 20 x 6count merkins led by Haggis, Mermaid, POP, and Puppy Love
Line up at lake for a 1 mile race: 3.3 laps as fast as you can, then plankerama.
Mosey back to bank lot and plank up. Partner 1 do as many merkins as possible while partner two runs around the bank. Switch and repeat.
Mosey back to COT.
Moleskin:
Seems like we did a lot today. Strong performances from all.
Amazing how much the mile run times have improved. Huge improvements all the way around.
Strong bunch of SOBs.
27 men slowed things down at The Maul.
The Thang:
Mosey to parking lot for warm up. 10 burpees, 10 side straddle hops, 10 imperial walkers. Merkin chain as follows: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. Hold plank in between.
Mosey to other end of parking lot.
10 x 6count burpees in cadence. Sprint to other end of lot. Repeat. Repeat again. Various plankoramas in between.
Mosey to another parking lot (this is the Maul). Get ready for Mary-Merkin-Madness. All done in cadence, all done slowly.
20 flutter. 10 merkins. 19 dolly. 9 merkins. 18 Rosalita. 8 merkins. 17 heels to heavens. 7 merkins. 16 mason twist. 6 merkins. 15 little baby crunch. 5 merkins. Plankorama to finish up.
Mosey around lot for a recovery lap then head to Firebirds to find some wall.
12 durkins. 12 dips. Run around the lot.
10 durkins. 10 dips. Run around the lot.
8 durkins v slow. 8 dips v slow. Run around the lot. Plankerama.
Mosey back to start. Line up for merkin – sprints.
5 merkins – spring to end of lot. Repeat for a total of 4 sets.
Halt. Recover.
Ye Olde Moleskin
Focus for today was to slow things down, focus on form, and get a solid upper body burn. If you want to hit legs – come to Devils Turn tomorrow!
As we started the 4th set of 10 burpees the pax seemed to realize what kind of morning it was going to be, and there were a lot of not too positive faces looking around. YHC wavered for a moment, then decided to ignore them.
Hops, Strawberry, and Frazier were destroying all the sprints. A strong morning for everyone. Some modifications occurred, but everyone hung in there and finished each set.
The last set of durkins going at a snails pace was a killer!
Thanks for the opportunity to lead. Very much enjoyed it.
Announcements: look for a 3rd F gathering at Einsteins on Tuesdays (after Bagpipe/Swift) starting at the end of April.
5 men faced down their fears and had a good workout, and a good laugh too.
The Thang:
After waiting for a good while for Mic Check to master his hand wraps (never happened) we began a rotation through boxing stations led by Chippy. We hit the punch bag some, hit the mitts some, and did a lot of shadow boxing. It was challenging to put any power into the bag since it was solid ice below it. The shadow boxing involved a lot of trash talk from Mic Check Mayweather.
Chippy was raring to hit someone and after about thirty minutes he sent us over to the hallowed patch of dirt and leaves known as “the ring”. After strict instructions to keep our punches to 25% or less the action commenced as follows:
Dead Lift vs Mic Check, Chippy vs Loogie, Haggis vs Deadlift, Mic Check vs Loogie, Chippy vs Haggis.
The power quotient steadily increased (this often happens in sparring) and I think we finished up around 50 – 60%. I think we all caught a few solid hits, and we all laughed our a$&@/s off at the showboating performed by a certain Mic Check. Problem is, the bugger is so quick he can get away with it.
Anyone who hasn’t tried Fight Club yet, you are missing a great workout and a good time. Sparring is optional – come on out and give it a try!