Author Archive Mic Check

Hill Burners

12 PAX showed up a little before 5:30am. 1 lone wolf/crab showed at 5am and swung a bell.

COP

  • 25 SSH
  • 25 MTN C
  • 25 PETER PARKERS
  • 25 HAND RELEASE MERKINS

– 10 BURPEES OYO

  • 25 PARKER PETERS
  • 25 CDD
  • 25 PLANK – TOUCH THE MIDDLE

-15 BURPEES OYO

MOSEY

Break into 4 groups of 4 pain stations

  1. Balls to the wall walk
  2. Lap around the lot
  3. Bear crawl
  4. Broad jump

Survive each station 3 times

Short mosey, break into 3 groups and line up behind 33lb weight plates for Hair/Hill Burners

  1. Man pushes weight to end of second parking lot line
  2. Sprints the lot then up the hill and back
  3. Remaining members hold plank alternating to elbows.

REPEATO

  1. Man does inch worm
  2. Remaining PAX do said Mary exercises

DONE

MOLESKINEE

This being my first Q at Rebel Yell I wanted to introduce the PAX to hairburners.  They work very well on The Maul’s frigid pavement.  I drove up with Loogie in tow and saw a single man swinging a KB under the bright Maul lights.  Apparently Crab Cake was the only one who decided to partake in the pre KB workout.

The warm up was a shoulder and core blaster.  The idea was to remain in plank as much as possible.  I heard many groans from the PAX as the exercises kept coming with the only break being Burpees.

During the pain stations Crab Cake asked who pissed me off, since it seemed this workout was especially brutal today.  No anger behind this plan, just a good morning to work hard.  I think at that point the KB work had taken its toll on Crabbers.  Strong showing by Spinner who was in my group and keeping up a strong pace.

Hairburners brought the expected moans and comments from the regular Maul PAX, with Loogie and Chipotle being the loudest of the bunch.  TR claimed his plate wasn’t as smooth as the others making it more difficult to push.  So he switched with my group for the inch worms.  I think he was right.  That thing felt like it had glue on the bottom of it.

Excellent work today by all the PAX.  We avoided major injury and ended up with just a hobbled Pebbles.  Remember to modify all exercises as needed.  Thanks as always for the privilege to lead a great group of mostly old men.

 

1 49er Faithful

Trash talking Mighty Mite suggested after Sunday’s Niner victory that I should make The Maul workout this week a Panther vs 49er theme.  I took the youngster’s  suggestion and 7 men got an earful of Niner history.

Warm up, mosey to Firebirds parking lot

  • SSH 25
  • IWS 25
  • MTN 30
  • Plank hold with some 6″ mixed in

Quick mosey to wall

  • Dips 30
  • hand release MERKINS 20

MM couldn’t control himself and started trash talking. Something about the hand release MERKINS looking like Kaepernick getting sacked.

  • Dips 30
  • hand release MERKINS X 0, or number of Panther Superbowl trophies
  • hand release MERKINS x5, or number of Niner Super Bowl trophies
  • hand release MERKINS x16, or the number of the greatest NFL QB, Joe Montana

mosey to ATM, don’t scare the gentleman withdrawing cash

4 CORNERS

  • high knees
  • shuffle
  • back pedal
  • shuffle
  • REPEATO 3X

 

  • burpee broad jump
  • plank walk
  • backwards bear crawl
  • plank walk
  • REPEATO

 

  • high knees
  • shuffle
  • back pedal
  • shuffle
  • REPEATO

Mosey to Hill

Hill Ladder with turkish get ups. 1(CAM) to 7(KAP).

Circle for Mary

  • Flutter 25
  • Dolly 25
  • Mason Twist 30
  • Side crunch 15 each side (Spackler had a fancy F3 name for it, but the cold has clouded my memory)
  • JLO 30 (Maul fan favorite)

Rinse off with Burpees 15, Crabtree’s number.

 

MOLESKINE

Frehleys rolled up at the last second, I asked him if he needed to warm up a bit, he said he was good to go.  A lot of the usual SOBs were in attendance. Spackler, Rebel Yell Q, made just his 2nd Maul appearance.  He was doing his homework trying to get used to his new Thursday workout surroundings.

At the start of the workout there was a lot of chatter about fingertips being frozen.  I think the burpee broad jump fixed the issue.  Market Timer summed it up best calling the circuit, very unsavory.

Strong showing by the PAX this morning.  Its always an honor to lead you guys.   MM on Q next week.  He’ll certainly be in a salty mood after Sunday’s defeat.

Announcements:

Friday is The Lone Survivor movie night.  I read the book and can’t wait to see the movie.   I highly recommend it.  See you there.  Bring some extra cash to pitch in for the Joe Davis Run coffeeteria that some of the Pax provided.

Reminder: Rebel Yell is now at Stonecrest Thursdays.  Same spot as The Maul.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Burpee

20 gentlemen gathered at The Maul on a misty, almost muggy December morning.

Met beside the movie theatre and jogged to center parking lot at Stonecrest – circled up for war ups.

Warm ups:

  • Side straddle hop x 25
  • Slow Squat x 20
  • Hitler Walks x 20
  • Merkins x 15 (30 total)
  • Mountain Climbers x 15

Remained in circle and counted off in two groups of 1&2’s. 1’s ran to fountain wall about 200 yards for 3 exercises all with 15 reps: jump ups, dips, sitting knee ups (abs); the 2,s remained in circle and performed 3 exercises: merkins x 30, LBC’s x 50, lunges x 20 (10 each leg). 1′ s returned to circle and the 2’s ran to knee wall as the groups traded exercises:

Repeated the above for Round 2:

Knee Wall (15 reps): incline merkins x 15, dips x 15, 1-legged squats x 10 ea leg, sitting knee ups x 15.

Circle: merkins x 30, jump ups x 25 (both knees touch hands extended at waist level), dolly x 25 in cadence.

After completing around 2, all gathered in the circle in parking lot for a variety of merkins:

5 merkin exercises @ 10 reps each: wide, regular, narrow, diamonds, Carolina dry docks

All jogged to rear of the mall and performed various exercises between each of the speed bumps extending the length of the building (about 300 yards):Bear crawls, backward run, karaoke, sprints.

Circled up at end of building for Mary with a Merkin Ladder (reps of 2,4,6,8,10,8,6,4,2 between each set of abs all in cadence of 15 to 20: LBCs, dolly, flutter, heels to heaven with dolly, protractor, side knee ups on left and right, bicycle, mason twists

Indian run back to start in 2 lines with a sprint at finish of about 100 yards.

Finished with 1 burpee because we hadn’t done any!!!

 

Moleskin:

Large winter gathering at The Maul on Wednesday. Apparently the cold weather does keep a few away, but with the spring like temps, all Pax felt safe to crawl out of the sack and put in some work.

Frehley’s is known for his love of merkins and today he delivered his usual chest beating.

I couldn’t help but notice the 20 somethings that seem to be taking over in South Charlotte. These spring chickens were flying around The Maul today seemingly unfazed by any workout thrown their way. (Indian Hill, Crabgrass, Grass Stain, Mighty Mite) It’s good to see and it pushes us old folks to work harder.

It should also be noted that Frehley’s has taken months of grief for his lack of interest in posting backblasts on the site or even knowing how to. He does now have a site log in, but isn’t quite ready to actually post with it yet. Baby steps.

Has anyone seen Chipotle? Perhaps a rename to Fartsack?

Thanksgiving Eve Burn

On Thanksgiving we will consume 4500 calories.  This morning, 11 men beat themselves up in preparation for the feast.  The rain held off, but The Maul pavement was still soaked.

Warm up: it was short

  • 25 IWS
  • 25 Lunges

COP

  • 25 Merkin Jacks
  • 20 Jump Tucks
  • 20 Merkin Shuffle
  • 30 Slow Squats
  • Hold the squat, grabbing the back of your ankles :45
  • 25 MTN Climbers
  • 20 Jump Lunges
  • 40 High Knees
  • 25 Burpees

Mosey

Circle Up: Repeat all above exercises, add 10 Burpees

Mosey

Circle Up:  Repeat exercises, add 5 Burpees

Mosey

Mary

  • 25 Flutter
  • 25 Dolly
  • 25 Rosalitas
  • 15 Side Crunch, each side
  • 30 LBCs

COT

Moleskin

The weather has been the story the last few days in the gloom.  I think the rain over night kept some of the regulars away.  They unfortunately missed a good beat down in rain free weather.   The idea today was to get a full body burn with the holiday feast looming tomorrow.

YHC was having a hard time leading the workout today.  YHC called for a number of 10 counts and it still wasn’t enough time to get my wind back.  It was strong work by the Pax today.  Everyone seemed to be pushing themselves through the repeated exercises.

A big welcome to 2 Maul FNGs, Purple Haze and Koelsch.  Haze commented on the Maul’s hard surface during Side Crunches, mentioning he was used to doing those on grass.  The Maul is unforgiving like that, it’s our concrete jungle.

Happy Thanksgiving to all the PAX of F3.  I am sincerely thankful to be a part of an incredible group of men.  God Bless you and your families.

Don’t Call it a Comeback

The Maul was extra biright this morning due to portable flood lights that were brought in for some work.  13 men squinted their eyes and went about their business with Strawberry on the Q.

Posted on his behalf:

Mosey to lot in front of HT.

  • SSH x 30
  •  Imperial Walkers x 30
  • Slow Squats – 20

-Mosey to fountain. Spread out around the fountain.

  •  25 merkins then a lap around Qdoba building
  • 25 wide decline merkins with feet on the fountain then another lap
  • 25 diamond incline merkins with hands on the fountain then another lap.
  • Plank until everyone is done.
  • (Repeato) but with a twist:
  • 30 wide merkins then a lap
  • 30 regular incline merkins with hands on the fountain then one more lap.
  • 30 diamond decline merkins with feet on the fountain then another lap.
  •  Plank until everyone is done.

– Pax separate into two lines for an Indian Run to the first speed bump behind Target.

  • From 1st speed bump to next = Lunge walk then 30 flutter kicks
  • Bear Crawl to next speed bump then 30 Rosalita
  • Jog backwards to the next speed bump and 30 LBC’s.
  • Crab walk to next speed hump 30 Heels to Heaven.
  • Side twist to the last speed hump and 30 Dolly.
  • Flapjack side twist to the stop sign.
  • Bicycle until everyone is caught up.

–  Mosey to back of Theatre – wall walk last part of the wall to the far corner.

  • People’s chair. Raise arms overhead. Arms straight out. Raise left leg. Raise right. Etc.

– Mosey to grass at back of parking lot for Jack Webbs – 4,8,12,16,20,16,12,8,4

– Turn over to Mic Check for last 5 minutes of fun torture = Mary

Moleskin:

It’s great to be back. After a hiatus that lasted way too long; it’s nice to be back among fellow PAX for an early morning beat down. When I lasted posted to the Maul it was definitely not this cold out. I’ll have to reassess my cold weather workout gear’s effectiveness. I order to keep all of us warm; I decided what better way than a little running, merkins, and John Webb (Jack’s older brother). All of our tricep’s will thank us later for the 265 total merkins completed. I had audibled out of the crab walk on the 3rd speed hump due to my short term memory loss of the distance between each hump. Unfortunately Mighty Mite is a warrior and audibled back to crab walks on the next speed hump interval (you can thank him on his next Q). Jack’s older brother John Webb finished all of us off before Mic Check’s last minute pain. Many thanks for allowing me to lead the fine men that came today. F3 is truly special and it’s an honor to be a part.

-Strawberry

21 Degrees

Posted on behalf of Chipotle:

Waking up on an earlier and freezing November morning to snow on the windshield, 12 men decided not to fart sack.

Warm up:

25x SSH
25 x Imperial Walkers

Mosey in front of firebirds and partner up

Partner 1 (Merkins) while Partner 2 runs about 75 yrds to do 50 squats, switch and perform until combine 200 merkins between partners
Partner 1 (Dips) while partner 2 runs about 75 yards to do 50 LBC, switch and perform until combined 200 dips between partners

Mosey to fountains

Partner 1 (decline merkins) while Partner 2 does 50 bicycles, switch and perform until combine 100 decline between partners
**Started out with 200 combined until audible was called to 100 after hearing grumbling in PAX**

Partner 1 (dips) while Partner 2 does lap around buildings, switch and perform until combine 200 dips between partners

Mosey to side of Regal Cinema for some electric chair 2 x 45 seconds

Short Mosey to do some Mary

10 x J Lo’s (special request from Mic Check)
25 x LBC’s
25 x bicycles
10 merkins

Moleskin:

Today was the coldest day in the history of The Maul.  All the PAX were bundled up and ready for what Chipotle had in store.  He proceeded to give us a triceps and chest explosion.  Lots of dips and merkins to keep the blood flowing.

You had to be careful in the mosey to avoid the various icy spots on The Maul cement.   During the workout the sprinklers were going and soaked a number of our cars.  Loogie’s car was covered in a sheet of ice by the time we were done.

For Hops eyes only: Mighty Mite was rocking a classic kids NC State beanie complete with tassles hanging down that looked like pig tails.

 

 

Murderhorn

Frack was the scheduled Q, but he hurt his ankle during the Tough Mudder this past weekend.  Mighty Mite stepped in, and led a field trip from The Maul to Murderhorn (apparently a Simpsons reference).  13 pax followed in the dark to the neighborhood across the street from the Maul and learned all about it.

It started like any other morning.

Warm up

  • SSH 25
  • IW 25
  • Slow Squats 20
  • Merkins 20
  • MTN Climbers 25

Mosey to the hill

  • Sprint up and down
  • Broad Jump up – MM with bad acting, “Hey this hill isn’t hard enough let’s try a different one”.

Pax followed to Murder-Horn Hill.  (Long steep hill in Thornhill neighborhood)

  • Run up MHH and back down – 5 Burpees at the top – LBCs at the bottom
  • REPEAT  changing exercises each time
  • TOP OF MHH = CDD 25 – Wide Arm Merkin 20 – Diamond Merkins 15
  • BOTTOM  = Flutter – Dolly – Rosalita

One more run up – Heels to Heaven while you wait, then mosey back to The Maul.

Finished off with more hill work

  • Reverse bear crawl down
  • Sprint up – reverse lunge walk down
  • Sprint up 20 merkins – Sprint down 10 burpees

MM usually brings a beatdown when he Qs but I think today he took it to another level, at least with all the running.  I saw a lot of guys pushing themselves with the hill work.  Comet mouthed off and got us the extra 25 merkins towards the end.

Posted by Mic Check on behalf of hard working Mighty Mite.

 

Who Ordered The Krispy Kremes?

15 faithful rose from their “deads” to shop for downPAINment at the Maul.

Mighty Mite arrived clean shaven and perplexed asking who stole his facial hair when Hops shamelessly admitted to this thievery wearing his pre Halloween bearded mask.

The Thang:

  • COP- SSHx25
  • Merkins x20
  • Mountain Climbers X15
  • IW x20 to warm up

Mosey to the fountain to partner up for a hearty breakfast of Burpee sandwiches:

  • First Partner: 5 burpees, 20 dips, 5 burpees plank when done
  • Partner 2: jog around one building increasing speed each turn, flapjack
  •  Round 2: 5 burpees, 20 derkins, 5 burpees while partner runs around 2 buildings, flapjack
  • On your back for 6 inches until everyone is done, threw in a little protractor just because
  •  Round 3: 5 burpees, 20 dry docks, 5 burpees, partner runs, flapjack, plank until all done
  •  Finish with 10 diamond pushups and 10 jump ups

Mosey to the speed bumps behind Target:

  •  Bearcrawl to first speed bump for one leg squats x10, bearcrawl to second speed bump for opposite leg squats x10, bearcrawl to third speedbump for 10 slow deep squats plank
  •  Turn around and come back with lunges in between speed bumps and single leg plyo squats (squat then jump and land softly), and squat jumps X10 to finish.

**It was on the way back when the morning krispy crème delivery truck drove through that Q almost called an audible to flip the truck over and spend the rest of the workout eating said donuts, alas we decided to press on and finish strong***

Mosey to wall for people’s chair with 40 shoulder presses.

Repeat but this time 6 inches deeper on the people’s chair (ouch)

Hand off to Mic Check for a little Mary

  • Mason twist
  • Flutter
  • Dolly
  • Some JLo to finish out this workout, and the PAX all finished strong.

COT

T-Claps for Philmont who turned FOOORTY FIIIIVE! on Sunday, happy belated.

Always an honor to lead at the Maul

Fish Taco

Man Maker

11 men got a chance to throw around some weight at The Maul.

  • 41 SSH
  • 20 exploding merkins
  • 20 jump squats – In squat position, grab the back of your ankles for :30
  • REPEATO

MOSEY

4 stations, 1 minute at each with a 20 second rest in between.

  • Station # 1: Plank and touch the baseball that sits on the ground under your chest with the right hand, then the left, right left, right left.
  • Station # 2: Wall sit while holding a dumbbell out in front and rotate it back and forth like a steering wheel.
  • Station # 3: Donkey kicks on the wall
  • Station # 4: Side abs
  • REPEATO

4 more stations, 1 minute at each with a 20 second rest in between.

  • Station # 1: Wall sit with arm presses
  • Station # 2: Man Makers
  • Station # 3: Same plank touch with the baseball
  • Station # 4: JLos
  • REAPEATO

MOSEY

  • All plank in a line, roll the medicine ball to the next guy and sprint to the hill and back.  When the guy next to you returns, you sprint.
  • Partner up.  Partner #1 sprints up the hill.  Partner # 2 mason twists.
  • REPEATO

MOLESKIN

It was a nice weighted workout today.  It’s good seeing the brothers Grass Stain and Crab Grass showing up on a regular basis.  Both seem to be pushing each other during the workout.  Pinkman made his return to the Maul as well.  Keep coming out my friend.

The Return of the Burn

Tiger Rag introduced hairburners to The Maul some time back.  It still stands as the most difficult workout I have been a part of since being in F3.

I purchased my own weight plates months ago, consulted with TR on some of the details, and then waited to spring my trap.  Today was that day.  22 unsuspecting souls smelled the stench of hairburners on vast concrete of The Maul.

THE THANG

Warm up with 2 laps around the front lot of the Theatre.  High knees mixed in.

  • 25 SSH
  • 25 IW
  • 15 Slow Squats

Mosey to the back of my vehicle, open the hatch to reveal weight plates.

Groans, mumbles, shock, disgust

Split into 2 groups

GROUP 1

  • Hairburners X3
  • While waiting for your turn : Flutter – Dolly – Squats

GROUP 2

  • Up the hill: 7 Burpees
  • Down the hill
  • Up the hill : 6 Burpees
  • Continue to 0
  • Add in Plank-o-Rama

FLAPJACK

GROUP 1 and 2 more Hairburners

While you wait for your turn:

  • Run up the hill and back down, LBCs.
  • Run up the hill and back down, CDD.
  • Run up the hill and back down, Merkins.
  • Lunge walk up the hill and run back down, Mason twists.

MOLESKIN

Oh the joy of Hairburners.

I have been sitting on this exercise for a while now and was waiting for just the right time to expose the Pax to it.  It had a great response when I first showed the plates and explained what we were doing.  We did our best with the few plates I had, but next time expect more.

I’m always proud to lead a great group of guys.   Soft Pretzel is on the Q next week.