5 pax got their last 250 (plus an extra 50) swings in for 2020 at this week’s episode of Meathead. It was a late start and an early finish, but always over promise and under-deliver.
The Thang & the moleskine
YHC, in an epic fit of brilliance/boredom at 1618 on a Tuesday, was deciding where to post on Wednesday. With holiday hours in full swing for some AOs, YHC prodded Voodoo for an 0630 start. Give the pax an opportunity to sleep in or double-down with an 0530 Anvil or 0515 SACS post and then pack on some muscle at Meathead. The trade-off? YHC had to Q it. So, with that thought in mind and delivering an HC to a Meathead site Q / A51 nantan. Bad decisions were made, a weinke was drafted, the alarm clock was set, and the rest is memorialized below for your bathroom reading.
YHC posted at SACS at 0515. Hate to interrupt the Cheese Curd / Wild Turkey weekly lovefest but with Geraldo Q’ing at Anvil, it was YHC’s responsibility to make sure these two behaved themselves. You can read Wild Turkey’s backblast for those gory details. After SACS, YHC headed down 51 to Calvary passing two runners in the gloom, likely Voodoo and Flipper (speaking of a lovefest). YHC pulled into the Calvary parking lot with 10 minutes to go, played the parking lot version of musical chairs and didn’t get out of the car until 0630. YHC thinks we officially kicked off around 0632 where a weak disclaimer was delivered along with an explanation of the activities du-jour.
Warmup – simple stuff to limber up not trying to break a sweat here
15 rounds, 90 seconds each with a 5 second break between: 20 swings, 5 merkins, 5 squats, 5 OH presses, and 5 lawnmowers (per side). This was quickly amended to alternating rounds of merkins/squats and OH presses/lawnmowers. YHC had grand designs that just didn’t translate very well with timing.
60 seconds of carries with 15 seconds rest in between sets. (Farmers carries, rack carries, and waiter’s carries both sides for all three)
60 second plank/hollow body hold/glute bridge for the finisher
Finished at 0712, where YHC suggested the pax do burpees for 3 minutes. No one did a burpee so we put a bow on it and considered it a wrap.
The playlist today was a mix of 90’s and 2000’s grunge-ish rock. YHC was snooping for the greatest hits of 2020 but after a long battle with Amazon Music there was just nothing there worth really listening too. One notable exception is a new track from Bush. If you’re into that genre of music, Flowers on a Grave is a pretty decent track I pulled from 2020.
Much like the year 2020, couldn’t find too much that was really worth re-hashing.
On that note, we all have bitched about 2020 and the suck-fest it’s been. It’s easy to put on a brave face for a day or two, but as the days dragged to weeks, and weeks to months, and now looking down the barrel of a year of this “new normal” the cliched hashtag, #TheStruggleIsReal takes on a new meaning.
But looking back and taking stock YHC had the constant support of the pax across this region and other regions out there constantly pushing ourselves. Trying to find new ways to better ourselves in the gloom. YHC appreciates all the offline conversations, those few extra minutes in the parking lot after a workout where pax laugh off some of stress, the CSAUPs, and the encouragement through our community. There are others who have faced far worse than YHC this year and for some 2021 won’t get much better, so YHC’s complaints pale in comparison. At the end of the day, it’s mostly gratitude YHC feels because without F3 there’s no telling how much worse this year would have been for YHC.
Thank you, men, for all that you do and continue to do.
#SYITG
11 men braved some chillier temperatures and circled up in the Arbo parking lot for this week’s episode of Fast Twitch. YHC had two bad ideas pulling into the parking lot, mentioned this with a weak disclaimer and dropped the first bad idea on the pax. It went something like this.
Hoover: “I’ve got two bad ideas for you. The first is the Raintree 10K.”
All pax: … *sigh*
Hoover: “The other is to run the Coburn half-pipe, twice.”
Random pax: … *sigh* “Where is that?” “We have to run over past Strawberry Ln.” “I think I left the iron on.”
And like that, we were off. YHC, as per the usual, kicked on some tunes and the pax followed. Some days YHC feels like the pied-piper. Mosey through the mean backstreets of Raintree, rounding run, woodfox, strawberry ln, eventually hitting Rosecliff and getting to Coburn. The pax all pulled up at Coburn and instructions were relayed.
Random pax: “So just down to the stop sign and back 2 times?”
Hoover: “No. All the way to the end and back, twice.”
Random pax: “That’s not the half-pipe”
Hoover: … *calculating lame excuse as to why we’ll do this anyway*
Random pax: “So we’re not stopping at Bevington?”
Hoover: “Try for two times out and back, faster guys go for three.”
Somehow YHC convinced the pax to get moving.
Towards the end of the second round, YHC was coming in near the 6, Gerber decided to go for a third round, followed by Turkey Leg, Alf, and Airwolf. Somehow all three aborted or just pulled up for the 6 and we did some mary in the middle of the road waiting for Gerber to come back. When he didn’t show up quickly, we decided to leave him to his fate. No pax wants to be on the wild streets of Coburn for too long. Alone or in a group that’s a dangerous place to be. Alf volunteered to stay behind and wait for him. Brave, sir. Very brave.
This is a tough area for a solo pax, with random deer, and barking dogs. God help the man who runs into a “Karen” who can unleash the kraken just for startling them in the gloom. I’m sure NextDoor is full of these horror stories. And speaking of horror stories, there’s no easy place to stop for a code brown. Now that’s a NextDoor horror story that will keep YHC up at night.
Not to keep you in suspense, but yes, Gerber made it back to the pax and proceeded to outrun us all to the launch point.
Moleskine:
The whole route is not what one would call easy. Plenty of hills as Alf kept reminding YHC every time YHC was passed. There was a vague threat from YHC about tying a rope to the fast guys to pull YHC along. Vague but empty. YHC was all out of rope.
The backblast title comes from Rock Thrill. YHC was jamming out to Bobby Womack’s, “Across 110th St” when Rock Thrill recognized the song. We talked briefly about tunes and he mentioned the backblast should be a reference/homage to the title track of that movie, the same song played at the end of Jackie Brown.
Solid group of pax today. No surprise on who was out front Gerber, Mr. “I ran leg 33 of BRR backwards”, Turkey Leg, Alf, and Airwolf. Cheese Curd and Ductwork were running neck and neck for the morning, route be damned. PurpleHaze, Rock Thrill, Astro, and Retread held down the 6 and kept YHC honest with pacing.
A solid 10K or more if you opted for the extra distance, no PRs were shattered but Retread is now the Local Legend of Firefox. It’s on Strava so you know it’s true.
Back in the parking lot, there were no announcements but Gerber pulled this odd contraption from the back of his car, mounted a phone to it and told us to go stand in front of the ABC store. 10 seconds later, your Fast Twitch Christmas card is ready and being printed off at Walmart as you read this. Get Benny your address and tell him Uncle Hoover sent ya. Maybe yu’ll get one in the mail, maybe not.
BTW, Purple Haze could totally be a Mini-Hoover if he would let his beard grow out. YHC can see the grey in there fighting to get out.
7 men gathered in the InVue parking lot this AM to kick off their Monday to sling heavy iron and get in plenty of 0.0. Turkey week is upon us and some pax are looking to gather their credit now in advance of Thursday. With the playlist set, courtesy of a suggestion by Mighty Mite, pax put the work in. It was a meat and potatoes workout and as Midriff would later point out it was a metal on metal kind of day.
The Thang:
10 rounds with alternating exercises
25 swings
10 squats (goblet or sumo)
5 lawnmowers per side or 5 renegade rows per side
We moved on to cook drills across the parking lot, then grabbed an extra 50 swings to kill some time, 10 cleans per side, 5 OH presses per side, and then wrapped up with a minute each of our static hold trio.
Moles-kinny
YHC’s weinke was a simple but effective routine. TBH, YHC wasn’t feeling overly creative and with the last Q at Meathead still fresh in some pax’s minds it was best to go with the basics and not push the envelope. Monday is also a time to reflect on (trash-talk) the weekend’s televised sporting events. So K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid) IMHO.
Announcements:
YHC had the take-out.
Now here it is, your moment of zen …
Guns N Roses: Welcome to the Jungle
Airbourne: Back in the Game
Quiet Riot: Bang Your Head
Alice Cooper: Poison
Twisted Sister: I Wanna Rock
Warrant: Cherry Pie
Motley Crue: Kickstart my Heart
Anthrax: I’m the Man
Clutch: Ghoul Wrangler
Motorhead: Breaking the Law
Blood for Blood: Ace of Spades (Motorhead cover)
Ugly Kid Joe: Everything About You
… and Wednesday is almost here.
Imagine a world where concepts like logic and reason hold sway. Then remember that it’s 2020 and this week has a forecasted hurricane, ends with Halloween, a blue moon (not the beer), and a time change. And next week election day is on a Tuesday, and the results will be broadcast all over God’s green Earth on a, yep you guessed it … Wednesday.
Then imagine that no matter what happened on any given Monday or Wednesday you find your body driven by muscle memory alone, posting and repeating the same workout again, and again, and again. 250 swings minimum, over and over again. Surely, there must be moments of joy, you say. Of course. It’s not all bad.
Sometimes you get called Shirley.
Nobody likes Wednesday. Sure we all claim Monday is the worst, but really it’s Wednesday. The halfway point of the week. Day three of the hostage situation called “work”. In the folk rhyme Solomon Grundy, he got married on a “a grey and grisly Wednesday”. Take Wednesday Addams, bet you never saw her smile and why should she? “Wednesday’s child is full of woe”. Even Winnie the Pooh went so far as to characterize terrible weather as “Winds-Day”.
Again you say, “But Shirley, there must be moments of joy.” Of course, there is. It’s called Meathead, and if the Q is worth their weight in Jello chocolate pudding they bring a kick-ass playlist. And a good Q, takes requests or at least knows his audience.
YHC will have the keys for a Wacky Wednesday Meathead workout. Expect the unexpected, this thing will go off the rails, like Men’s Warehouse and their recent bankruptcy. I guarantee it.
Here’s a run-down of what’s in the plan:
5 cleans per side
Two-handed swing x 15, 2 handed OH Press x 5
Two-handed swing x 20, renegade row x 5 per side
Two-handed swing x 15, two-handed clean to squat x 5
5 snatches per side
Expect to run through this at least 5 times, maybe 6 if we have time (spoiler alert: we will).
Carries and core work to follow. Who knows how this will get done. But it will be a smoker, don’t expect much rest. We’ll wait for the 6 to finish, but like a GoRuck challenge it pays to be a winner.
Speaking of smoking, let’s talk playlists. Through the miracles of the interwebs YHC has accumulated a playlist of songs off of smoking debut albums. Including Boston, Van Halen, Pearl Jam, The Who, Ramones, Clash, Black Crowes, U2, The Doors and a few others. Come for the workout stay for the music. Pretty sure Ickey Shuffle would love the opener, “Ice Cream Man”.
YHC will plan for 13, always a lucky number. And on this week, in 2020, on a Wednesday, we need all the luck we can get. The alternative here is just to go run at 0530 with those “other guys”. and no one expects a Meathead to run. That would be like expecting YHC to write a Horsehead-level backblast or something. Can you imagine that?
Just to be safe, YHC will pre-tag all the pax that we can assume will show.
#SYITG
Wednesday, it’s a paradox where the Bermuda Triangle is real, not located in Bermuda, and not shaped like a triangle. Maybe shaped more like a dilapidated 1975 Chrysler New Yorker, but it tastes like a chicken strip. You know, the $8CAD type. Anyone who says they got lost in the Bermuda Triangle probably has a bridge in Brooklyn to sell. No one gets lost in the Bermuda Triangle, they know exactly where they are, they just don’t know how to get out. Not unlike this backblast, you know where you are, just not why you’re reading this now and how you unread any of it.
Back to hump day. It’s the middle of the week, and chances are the only humping any of you are seeing on a Wednesday is the word “hump” on the screen. Camels have humps, though. YHC saw that in a Geico commercial once. YHC also applied for a job at the camel’s office for the sole purpose of trying to outspit the camel. Didn’t make it past the first round of interviews though, YHC hit a tough spot in an interview with a Mustard Tiger who kept asking YHC, “What are you staring at my gut fer?” YHC wasn’t staring, that would be rude. YHC later offered said Mustard Tiger a cheeseburger from the famous Restaurant at the End of the Universe and in return received the secret to life, the universe and everything. Spoiler alert: it’s Col. Mustard in the penthouse with a copy of your grandaddy’s Sports Illustrated autographed by Ted Williams. that’s it, that’s the secret.
Back to the matter at hand, some number of pax (still to be counted) will undoubtedly claim they posted at this week’s edition of Meathead. Slightly overcast, temps in the low 60’s, no rain until later. Perfect fall weather. That’s what the little screen told YHC at least, and it always tells YHC the truth that YHC wants to see. You see, YHC has a plan. It was hatched out of a Simpler Times Lager-induced fever dream, so you know the plan is as good as Trader Joes over-engineered in-store shopping experience post-Covid. I mean, does anyone actually follow the arrows on the ground? and how do you navigate the produce section? it’s not all one-way aisles laid out in a neat grid with 0.19 bananas (or 0.25 if it’s organic).
But you know what they say, when you live in the piedmont, expect to see some wolves.
You know the thing about wolves? They are a model of efficiency under pressure and no-nonsense performers who gets the job done with style. They drive really fast, use language your mother wouldn’t approve of, and are who you call when you have questionable evidence to dispose of. In short, 100% reliable. And only wolves are allowed to refer to Chuck Norris as “Chucky”. How does YHC know this? because it was all documented on a GoRuck Tough Facebook post on a Wednesday. If you can tell me where the Green Bastard hails from, I’ll send you the link so you can see it for yourself.
That about sums up your Q for Meathead this week. A model of efficiency from a no-nonsense performer who has been known to drive at high speeds and always gets the job done in style. Can’t say YHC has ever lived to call Chuck Norris “Chucky”, but a man can dream right?
Speaking of dreams, YHC once released a debut album with his high school garage band, Mildred’s Favorite Donkey. Our hit single was big in Norway and the rhythm track was the sole influence behind Vanilla Ice’s biggest hit ever, Ninja Rap from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles soundtrack. Mildred’s Favorite Donkey later went on to collaborate on an unreleased Wu-Tang album that Pharma Bro, Martin Shkreli, paid $1mm for. Mildred’s Favorite Donkey was left out of the album credits, but YHC’s cut was paid out in wooden subway tokens. Because classics never go out of style and tube televisions are making a big comeback. Don’t tell the SEC, but that’s an insider trading tip, right there.
If YHC has learned one thing from all of this it’s that you can’t change the backblast, and you can’t unread what you just read, but you can change your vote in a presidential election after it was cast. According to the sitting president, of course. And he’s like the internet, and the little screen that tells YHC everything. All you read and wear and see and hear on his twitter feed is always true … on a Wednesday.
#SYITG
7 men gathered in the gloom of the not-so-smooth InVue parking lot for this week’s edition of Swole. We had two runners show up, so YHC assumes they were lost or woke up on a Monday expecting it to be Tuesday (those swifty, fast-twitchers). With the playlist prepped, courtesy of Unplugged’s Sunday request, and a weak disclaimer, the timer was set and off we went … to a distance exactly 0.0 miles away.
The Thang, the moleskine, and some other stuff:
02:30 on and 00:30 off. Rinse and repeat until 250 swings, then do some static holds and planks. That was the plan, the execution not so smooth. these were the exercises. two sets.
| 25 swings |
| 5 Upright Rows |
| 5 lawnmowers (per side) |
| 5 goblet squats |
| Rest |
| 25 swings |
| 5 shoulder press (per side) |
| 5 merkins |
| 5 romanian deadlifts |
| Rest |
The exercises held up but YHC left too much time between sets and realized, after set 1, to change up the timing. No worries. Basically, I dropped the 30 second rest off some of the sets and incorporated static holds in some of the other rest periods, and then actually allowed a rest twice (you’re welcome). Thanks to YHC’s trusty accountant, Uncle Leo, we actually did 300 swings not 250.
So all pax in attendance get a 50 swing credit to use at any workout of their choice this week.
CREDIT SMALL PRINT: Some restrictions apply. All swings credited with bell weight of equal or lesser weight to the bell weight used on 10/05 at Swole. Credit is non-refundable, non-transferrable, has a cash value of 0.00, and is not legal in any of 48 contiguous states. Residents of Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Alaska, and Guam are not eligible for a credit. Not to be combined with credit offers from other AOs, other regions, or yo mama. Pax must present this backblast to the Q of their workout choice to redeem the 50 swing credit. The Q reserves all rights to acknowledge the credit or tell the pax to go pound sand. If pax feel this credit was issued in error, they must respond to this backblast in writing with a darn good reason. After which YHC will tell the pax to go pound sand.
The fun part about the workout was the playlist (isn’t it always). 70’s funk, thanks to a request by Unplugged. Admittedly, YHC was a little challenged to develop this playlist. Most of the music in YHCs catalog that could fit the 70s funk genre was not what one would classify as “good music to swing heavy iron to” but somehow it worked. Grasshopper was a fan and that gets a Chuck Norris sized thumbs up in YHC’s book.
Playlist:
Curtis Mayfield: Pusherman
Average White Band: Pick Up the Pieces
Spinners: Rubberband Man
Ohio Players: Love Rollercoaster
Charles Wright: Soul Train
James Brown: The Payback
Curtis Mayfield: Superfly
Edwin Starr: War
Isaac Hayes: Theme from “Shaft”
Stevie Wonder: Higher Ground
Kool and the Gang: Hollywood Swinging
Announcements:
There’s a whole bunch of stuff going on in SOB-land this month. There’s a Q-school/bloodrive/convergence/happy hour lasting the entire month of October. In YHC’s opinion that sounds like a blast and you should all sign-up (YHC did). As per the usual, Mighty Mite has all the details but you should check out Slack for more updates.
YHC had the take-out.
Pax: Homer, Hoover (Q), Smokey (or is it Smoky)
3 men showed up for Monday’s edition of the Matrix. YHC has volunteered to Q for Christmas, something about a long run keeping him from his assigned duties. HR files and performance reviews now updated, the pax could proceed.
YHC pulled in around 0525 to get the lay of the land. It was a new AO to YHC (a VQ at the Matrix) and there was no one in the main parking lot. Eventually, YHC meandered over to the side parking lot and discovered 2 pax waiting in warm cozy vehicles. After convincing Smokey and Homer that YHC wasn’t a sasquatch or a something from a nightmare that stalks elementary school parking lots in the gloom, a weak disclaimer was delivered to these grizzled veterans and we were off.
The Thang:
Mosey across the parking lot towards the field. Simple warmup of Imperial Walkers, Low Slow Squats, and merkins. Once we were sufficiently warmed up, we hit the track. With a small group we all stuck together, no need to let the rabbits get out front of the clydedale.
Exercises:
On the track, 4 corners:
Mosey over to the main parking lot for some suicides with 5 jump squats at each tree/light pole
Mosey to the playground for Jack Webb with pull-ups and monkey humpers. Go to 5 and 20 then stop.
People’s Chair with 33 (IC) overhead arm raises, rest then back for another set of 33 arm raises in people’s chair.
Mosey back to the playground to finish our Jack Webb, this time from 5 down to 1
Hit the picnic tables for dips, step-ups, and incline merkins with some laps around the parking lot in between
Head back to the cars for some mary and end at 6:15
Moleskinny:
Announcements:
Blood drive on October 23rd, see Slack for details and sign-up. Or Mighty Mite will continue to spam all of the Slack channels. Seriously, it’s for a good cause and I hear there will be free beer in the parking lot after. Just like college!!
Ironpax Challenge is in it’s last week. Send it out with a bang! or just complain about the smoker of a workout. Either way, just get out there and represent Area 51.
6 men gathered in the 0515 gloom of an empty parking lot at SCMS. No RFYL, no school kids, just those that meet in the gloom to get better. YHC arrived with two minutes to spare, grabbed the ruck, noted the grizzled veterans in attendance, delivered a short but effective disclaimer, and lead the men into the full moon gloom … to the SCMS track.
This is YHC’s 4th Q (if you count Q’ing IPC) in two weeks. The judges are still reviewing the tapes, but this might be a PR. Also the 4th backblast (#MBGA). Not a PR but YHC is running out of content. Here’s what went down.
Tha Thang:
Ruck down to the track.
Warmup:
Ruck 400 m (fast)
Rucks off
Imperial Walkers
Low Slow Squats
Sharon Towers
Arm Circles (small and big, forward and reverse)
Round 1:
Ruck Swings 50
Lunges (1=1) 40
Mt Climbers (2=1) 30
OH Press 20
Merkins 10
OH Press 20
Mt Climbers (2=1) 30
Lunges (1=1) 40
Ruck Swings 50
Ruck 400 m (fast)
Ruck 100 m (fast) Ruck waiter’s carry (right side)
Ruck 100 m (fast) Ruck waiter’s carry (left side)
Round 2:
Flutter (Ruck OH) 25 (IC)
Leg Raises (Ruck OH) 25
American Hammer 25 (2=1)
Ruck OH Hold 60(ish) seconds
Ruck 400 m (fast)
Ruck 100 m (fast) Ruck waiter’s carry (right side)
Ruck 100 m (fast) Ruck waiter’s carry (left side)
Round 3:
Ruck Off
Plank and pull ruck through 10 L2R and 10 R2L
Ruck Up-Right Row 25
Ruck from the ground clean 25
Ruck Bicep Curls 25
Ruck OH Tricep Extensions 25
Ruck 400 m (fast)
Ruck 100 m (fast) Ruck waiter’s carry (right side)
Ruck 100 m (fast) Ruck waiter’s carry (left side)
Round 4:
Ruck Swings 25
Lunges (1=1) 20
Mt Climbers (2=1) 15
OH Press 10
Merkins 5
Ruck 400 m (fast)
Head back to the car.
Moleskine:
Yeah, Hoover smelled like an onion by the second round. It’s the shirt, not the layers, or my nightly regiment of raw onions. These sport-tek, moisture wicking shirts have a limit of 20 gallons of sweat before they go. #sorry #notsorry
The first half of the title comes from round 2 or 3 of the workout. Putting a ruck on and off was part of the fun and YHC had to call it out for the pax to keep them on their toes (just like a GoRuck cadre). At one point, someone got frustrated (likely because they anticipated a rucks on/off) to which YHC replied, “Hoover didn’t say ‘Hoover says'”. Lame, but YHC was hired for the Adonis-like physique, not the sense of humor.
Great to see a wide range of ages and pax today even with just 6 of us. Not sure what pax were carrying in terms of weight but the work was getting done. Lex Luthor and YHC were talking on the last 400 and he complimented the WOD, to which YHC admitted that there were multiple rounds of each round planed but time, as always, runs out quickly. In hindsight, we wouldn’t have made it through three rounds of round 2.
Proehl was, as usual, out front. Except for the first lap, YHC was able to keep up with him and made sure everyone knew it. And of course no one cared. YHC did get a chance to catch up with the only social-media-less under-21 year old pax and YHC wishes him the best of luck for the fall semester at UNC Charlotte. Remote learning is hard enough on young kids. YHC can’t imagine trying to do it at a college level, while not having the opportunity to meet all the ladies on campus. #glorydays
If you’ve ever been at a workout with Snowflake you know he’s a silent beast. #RespectStrength No slouching today and YHC is sure the Anvil pax missed him but YHC was happy to see this HIM join us. Now to get him to run in and out of SCMS weekly would be a true feat.
Lex Luthor brought a ruck in a bag this week. That was odd. YHC thinks he was preparing for an audible and we’d switch to sandbags. Our kryptonite wielding evil genius was smart enough to call a move to the grass for the planks with ruck pulls. Otherwise, we would all have been sending our rucks back to SCARS for repairs from dragging them on the track.
Tiger Rag was the surprise guest this AM. Even more surprising was TR wearing a sweatshirt during the workout. He did confess to an injury that he was hoping doesn’t keep him sidelined for too long. Let’s all hope that a change in the running routine is just what the doctor ordered. Heal up, brother. Just because Horse Head christened you McRib, doesn’t mean we want you to disappear after a limited time. That one is reserved for Shamrock Shake and anything pumpkin spice flavored.
T-Claps to Cheese Curd for reviving Tweet and Meat. It’s hard to compete with the Mon / Wed / Sat gear options, but there is a difference between kettlebells and sandbags. Both will get you stronger, but it’s a different kind of workout. Fair warning: he will relentlessly promote it. As he should. And if corners you, he’ll ask you to Q a week. Free tip of the day: take him up on the offer.
Thanks to Lex Luthor for the takeout.
Announcements:
4 men showed up (in person) to SCMS at 0530 for our first (official) week of the Ironpax Challenge. Some pax joined via Zoom as well (thanks Wild Turkey).
This is the first official week of the Ironpax Challenge, last week was a warm-up. This week the scores, or times, REALLY count. Here’s how it went down.
Pax: Geraldo, Cheese Curd, Wild Turkey (plus some zoomers)
Tha Thang:
Set your timer for one minute and repeat. At the top of each minute do 3 burpees. If that isn’t motivation to finish fast, you must love burpees. After your three burpees begin the exercises. At each minute, stop what your doing, do your 3 burpees, then pick back up with wherever you left off. It’s harder than it sounds, especially in the gloom, when you’re trying to track more than 100 reps. Here’s the exercise breakdown, completed in the order below:
50 double hand release merkins
100 leg raises
150 jungle boy squats
200 big boi situps
250 forward lunges (1 = 1)
Humid Moleskinny:
The phone said it was 74, the car said it was 77, it felt like YHC was breathing split pea soup while nursing a bad case of emphysema. So yeah, it was humid. It had also rained the day before and the pax all agreed that a patch of grass was needed. So we were going to get wet and as OBT once said, “you only get wet once” #TWSS or #TWOBTS. At one point the air was visible under the lights in the parking lot.
But enough about the humid weather. This was a legit challenge to get through. The burpees were tough but the pax all agreed that 200 big boi situps were likely the worst. The trick for YHC was set a goal for each minute to complete a certain number of reps of said exercise (for example, 25 leg raises per minute with three burpees). That would make completing this manageable instead of one long slog. It also helped YHC to keep count between the burpees.
The RFYL crew was back out in force today. Hi-viz tanktops and all. YHC had developed a loud AC/DC only playlist for the workout and there were some (envious? nervous? curious?) glances our way between Wild Turkey chanting “Oi” to the opening of TNT or our regular chorus of “BURPEES!” at every minute. Rumor has it C-Span was on the Zoom, but I’ll let Wild Turkey sound off with the online pax.
Cheese Curd decided he wanted more after completing this week’s challenge, and ran a quick lap on the track.
Geraldo and Wild Turkey chose wisely, and accepted that this was a smoke session. No need to go running.
YHC’s time – 41:15 (that’s 123 burpees) and the last one in the gate.
Sound off in the comments below with anything YHC missed.
Thank you Wild Turkey for the take-out
Announcements:
Blood drive in SOB land 10/23 – Details on slack
Levi has the Q at Rock Zero on Saturday
YHC has the Q at Tweet and Meat on Wednesday
13 men circled up in the parking lot of Calvary at 0530 for this week’s edition of Meathead. By YHC’s count there were three workouts gong this AM. Meathead, Anvil, and whatever the geese were doing. All three were gathered at 0530, and appropriately distanced so as not to spread the ‘rona. Two workouts gave whatever passed for a disclaimer, and one group went running off into the abyss of a dark parking lot.
The Meatheads, of course, didn’t move. We had iron to swing.
Pretty sure the geese didn’t move either, those lazy bums.
Pax (because WordPress is broken): Taco Stand, Wild Turkey, Mighty Mite, Soul-Glo, War Eagle, Beetlejuice, Frehley’s Comet, Focker, Unplugged, Madison, Uncle Leo, Voodoo
Tha Thang:
Warmup of Imperial Walkers, Mt Climbers, small arm circles, Sharon Towers/Toe touches. Onto the main event.
Set 1: 25 swings, 5 Up-right rows (not high pulls), 5 Rows (per side), 5 hammer curls
1 minute rest
Set 2: 25 swings, 5 shoulder press (per side), 5 merkins, 5 tricep extensions
1 minute rest
Do the main event (both sets) 5 times with 2:30 per set to get your 250 swings in.
1 minute waiters carry, 1 minute rest, 1 minute waiters carry other side, run the clock out with a plank
Moleskine:
YHC knew from the Ironpax Challenge workout yesterday that he was going to be sore for today. But that’s no excuse to fail on delivering a solid beatdown, especially after being EH’d (*cough, cough* voluntold) by the Nantaan to Q. And Meathead is tied for second in my list of favorite workouts with Swole (shameless plug for Monday’s right there). So yeah, YHC had to bring whatever A game could be mustered.
The workout was designed to incorporate a strategy I focus on with resistance training. Push/pull or agonist/antagonist. It’s a program Arnold (kind of) self-developed and obviously has potential for results. See the link below for good reading and more information.
https://www.t-nation.com/workouts/arnolds-agonist-antagonist-training
The second focus of the workout was to keep the reps low. Most (if not all) of the pax are swinging at least 45 pounds. Trying to cram in 10 or 20 reps per exercise would have been too much in too little time and all would have been burned out by the end. Unplugged and YHC were discussing this after the workout, with heavier weights the rep count felt right.
Overall, solid effort out there this AM. Most pax were finishing up each set before the clock ran out, but no one complained about the extra rest. The geese must realize this is our territory, since the asphalt was actually was just black and not s****y black.
A few comments on the pax today:
With pax staying distant and not moving, it is hard to hear the mumble-chatter. Sound off in the comments below with anything YHC missed.
Announcements:
Thanks to Unplugged for the take-out.