9 SOBs met in the chilly gloom this morning for their weekly installment of KB-induced pain at Foxhole. The pain started early with Frehley’s showing up in COP modeling the latest in lumberjack workout gear. It consisted of an oversized, insulated flannel shirt and loose tights (oxymoron?) with shorts somewhere in between. After some good-natured heckling, Frehley’s dropped the flannel. Thankfully, he didn’t drop the tights.
We had an FNG and a few friendly, relatively new guys, so a disclaimer was delivered.
Leave the bells in the lot and run down the side street between the school and the trailers. At the playground, start side shuffling left. Switch to side shuffle right when we get to the end of the playground. At the back corner, switch to backward run. Where the sidewalk ends, switch back to forward run and head back to COP for warm up.
Warm-up:
Leave the bells again and all you got back down the road between the school and the trailers, around the back and up the side to the picnic tables. 50 dips OYO on the picnic benches. Run back the same way to the bells.
Main Thang:
Lock out the bells overhead and carry them to the back of the school building on the picnic table side. Partner up (size and speed don’t matter). P1 will run across the four basketball courts to the farthest white line, then come back. P2 will perform the called exercise. Flapjack until the cumulative total is reached.
Some LBCs were performed between sets to allow teams to finish up.
Out of time, hustle back for COT.
Thanks, Wild Turikey, for the take out.
Moleskine:
YHC was DR this weekend and wasn’t feeling particularly creative at 10pm on Sunday night, so I resorted to my usual tricks of “recycling” another workout that I thought looked good. This one was from Fletch last week at Skunkworks. I made some very slight modifications (no one likes walking lunges anyway), but kept the good stuff (100 snatches – yes, please).
Coco (our FNG) and the other newer guys (C3PO and Vice) weren’t intimidated by all the reps and worked hard throughout the whole workout. Mighty Mite did his best Larry Bird impression, beasting through the 50 dips, then saying “that’s stupid” when YHC told him we had to go back around the school building the long way. #symmetry Wild Turkey and YHC made the wise choice of partnering with Chanel, who flew through the exercises – less for us. Loogie cursed my name during the sprints, but what doesn’t kill him makes him stronger.
Thanks to Chanel for keeping an eye on the newer guys out there. He hung back and instructed, allowing YHC to keep the workout moving.
Announcements:
Two kettlebells, that is. YHC has missed a lot of Meathead workouts lately (travel, fartsacking, early school drop offs, etc.), so felt the need for some doubles. Apologies to the PAX that had to suffer through it.
DISCLAIMER GIVEN (YHC usually forgets, so I wanted to point this out for legal purposes)
WARM UP:
THANG:
Partner up by KB size, common interests, similar hygienic standards, etc. Each partnership must complete the called number of reps of each exercise. Partner 1 works while Partner 2 dreads his turn. Flapjack until complete.
COT – thanks to Smokey for the take out.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
MOLESKINE:
As is YHC’s custom, this workout is a complete rip-off of a previous workout I “enjoyed.” TR led it several months ago and it seemed about time to bring it back. I was also traveling last week and busy this week, so plagiarism seemed better than the other options (i.e., pretending I wasn’t the Q, fartsacking, etc.). I don’t think there was too much overlap in the PAX list, so hopefully no one minded. When TR led, we did another 50 snatches and 20 swings, but we ran out of time this morning. I don’t think anyone minded.
Strong work by all partnerships today.
Thanks to our humble (and well-slept) site Qs, Brown and High Tide, for giving YHC the opportunity to lead the PAX this morning. It’s always an honor to work out with the solid crew at Meathead. I hope to see some of you join us down at Foxhole on Mondays. I know Turkey Leg needs another day of weights since he’s Fast Twitching on Tuesdays. Full disclosure: you will probably do some running at Foxhole.
11 PAX (including 1 FNG) posted at the Charge this morning for YHC’s return to PDS after a long hiatus. More on that later.
As is my custom, YHC pulled into the parking lot at PDS hot at about 5:27 to find a smattering of PAX standing around. Another few showed up and at 5:30, and a brief disclaimer was delivered to a mostly veteran crew.
Head to the carpool oval (at least I assume it’s for carpool) for a quick COT:
Mosey to the near end zone of the football field and partner up. Size, speed, IQ, none of that matters.
Partner 1 runs to the Horse Head at the top of the stairs, Partner 2 performs called exercise. Flapjack until called # of reps/rounds is achieved.
Mosey up to the bleachers for some bleacher work:
Mosey back to the start for some Mary and other stuff:
Circle up for Name-o-rama. We had to wait a few minutes while our FNG finished spilling merlot, which almost led to an unfortunate nickname. Thankfully, he pulled himself together and explained that he is a patent attorney at Alston & Bird who went to undergrad at Georgia Tech and law school at Georgia. No matter who wins the annual in-state football game, he’s happy. #HouseDivided He mentioned he worked on sonar technologies (#random) and was named Ping. In hindsight, YHC probably should have taken it one step farther and named him Crazy Ivan or something, but I wasn’t capable of making the leap in the gloom.
Thanks to Tesla for the take out in COT.
Moleskine:
YHC started in F3 about 2 years ago and the Charge used to be one of my regular stops. I was posting pretty regularly with a buddy (Shockoe Bottom) that lived in Foxcroft, so it was more or less in the middle. SB has since had to drop from boot camps due to injury, so I’ve enjoyed slightly more sleep by posting along the Route 51 corridor. It was nice to get back to PDS to see some old and new faces.
This workout was inspired by (blatantly stolen from) one of those early workouts. The Q was Tiger Rag, who YHC met for the first time that morning. YHC partnered with SB and we struggled to keep up with the rest of the PAX. It was a tough workout, but I remember enjoying the partner aspect of it. So, I brought it back and the PAX dominated it. I’ll have to increase the counts next time.
The bleacher set I stole from a workout around the same time where the Hoff was Q. I didn’t post at that one, but stumbled across it when preparing my weinke. By the time that was over, the legs felt like lead.
I hope everyone enjoyed the workout and got their money’s worth. If not, please reach out to the site Qs for a refund.
Thanks to Baracus and Double Ds for inviting YHC to Q. The Charge is a great AO with a great group of regulars and site Qs. I highly recommend everyone adding it to their rotation.
Announcements:
None mentioned. Please check Twitter and the weekly A51 email for updates.
4 meatheads met at Elon Park Elementary this morning for a little working over by YHC. It was a veteran crew, so everyone knew the disclaimer.
Warm-up:
20x 2H swings
10x Good Mornings
10x Halos – 5 in each direction
3x prying goblet squats – ass to the grass deep.
Carry the bells down to the soccer field for Turkish Snatches.
Turkish Snatches
1 Turkish Getup + 5 snatches at the top, before returning to the ground
Flapjack on other side
Recovery run to the far soccer goal and back
Rinse & repeat 5x total
Carry bells back to the starting parking lot
Clean and Press Ladders
The ladder went like this:
1 C&P (R), 1 C&P (L), 1 diamond merkin on your bell
2 C&P (R), 2 C&P (L), 2 diamond merkins on your bell
3 C&P (R), 3 C&P (L), 3 diamond merkins on your bell
4 C&P (R), 4 C&P (L), 4 diamond merkins on your bell
5 C&P (R), 5 C&P (L), 5 diamond merkins on your bell
and 5 goblet squats
Repeat 2 more times.
Run around the entire parking lot
Circle up for Mary:
COT. Thanks, Loogie for the take-out.
Moleskine:
YHC stitched together pieces of previous workouts. The Turkish Snatches were introduced by High Tide a few weeks ago and were tough again today. Two great KB movements combined into one exercise. YHC overslept and missed Champagne’s Q a while back where the clean and press ladder was introduced. They went through it 5 times, but 3 was sufficient to smoke the Q (and hopefully the PAX) this morning.
Strong work by a small crew of Foxhole regulars out there. Loogie enjoyed the clean and press ladders so much he thought the run around the parking lot was a good call. Soft Pretzel was flying through the Turkish snatches and the C&P ladder and then came up with the KB plank drag during Mary. #thanksfornothing Frehley’s did extra squats instead of the TGUs to protect his back. I’m not sure which exercise is worse.
Thanks to the PAX for coming out on a damp day and crushing a grueling workout. It was a pleasure to lead.
Announcements:
19 pencil-necked geeks posted to Meathead this morning and left as swollen Adonises. Just ask their Ms.
We had two site FNGs and an F3 FNGs, so everybody got a buddy (TR and TL, Brown and High Life and Witch Doctor and Retread). Thanks for helping out. After a quick disclaimer (more or less), here’s what we did:
The Thang:
General warm-up:
100 swing KB warm-up:
The Ladder/Pyramid:
2 of each exercise per side, then 4, 6, 8 and back down 6, 4, 2. The exercises were:
When finished, repeat KB warm-up. Most PAX got through this again or got close. YHC made it through the first 50 swings and 6 presses per side before the forearms gave out.
Mary:
Done.
Thanks to recent birthday boy Busch for the take-out.
Moleskine:
A great turnout for Meathead this morning. Some new faces and plenty of experienced bros. Except High Tide, who I think is in San Francisco for work.
Welcome to Turkey Leg and Retread. Retread is a recent F3 FNG that apparently likes lifting heavy stuff as well as running around at Jevlar. Turkey Leg is known to many as a runner, but he did a great job this morning at his first KB workout.
FNG High Life (Tim M.) was EH’d by Bananas. His nickname was creatively derived from his last name, which is not disclosed for privacy reasons but you can probably deduce from his nickname.
Thanks to the more experienced guys for showing the new guys the ropes. FNG High Life was crushing it with coaching from Brown. Turkey Leg was getting some sage advice from Tiger Rag, although I tuned it out once I heard something about thumbs and butts. And Witch Doctor stepped in to give Retread some assistance. Plenty of experience to go around, so don’t be afraid to post.
As usual, Bulldog and Fletch flew through all exercises and TR refusenicked as he saw fit. However, he redeemed himself by completing some of the ladder with doubles (along with Brown and Bananas and maybe Busch). Strong work.
Speaking of ladders, the Q got some flack for calling the main set a ladder instead of a pyramid. Last YHC checked, ladders work both ways and you rarely climb one without coming back down, so we’re going with ladder.
Thanks to Brown and High Tide for the opportunity to Q this morning. As always, it was an honor to lead a great group this morning. From what I could hear on my side of the circle, there was plenty of mumblechatter from a veteran crew. Hopefully everyone got their money’s worth and can no longer feel their forearms.
Announcements:
Despite Tiger Rag’s shameless attempt to steal PAX with his #F3Skunkworks pre-tweet yesterday (it’s true – check the Twitter timeline), 12 men posted this morning for something new at SOFAWIB. It was either an attendance record or close to it. #BRRisobviouslyover
The Q showed up at about 5:25 to see a very crowded parking lot by SOFAWIB standards. I guess the secret’s out. At about 5:28, YHC started to get nervous. Where were Kirk and Sundancer? Still no sign at 5:30, so we got moving.
The Thang:
Shockingly, it was very similar to the pre-blast:
Warm-up mile to Harris Teeter and back.
PAX partner up based on 1) KB size and 2) speed.
Catch me if you can (CMIYC) to the buddy bench with kettlebells and 5 burpees.
Partner 1 performs AMRAP of a KB exercise while Partner 2 circles the fence around the nearest baseball field. Flapjack upon P2’s return.
CMIYC back to the start at 6:02 since we didn’t have time for both partners to complete another round. Also, the Q was smoked.
Run the HT mile again. One Eye and the other speed demons led some Mary until the six came in. YHC was present for some Rosalita and Protractor.
Done.
Thanks to Simba for the take-out in COT. And a belated congratulations on his successful adoption of his children, which became official last week.
NMM:
YHC named this workout the Intimidator because it reminded me of NASCAR with all of the left turns around the baseball diamond. Plus, it sounds cool and I don’t think it’s taken.
When Kirk asked YHC to bring a kettlebell workout to SOFAWIB, I was flattered. With all the speed demons out there, I didn’t think they would be interested in swinging the heavy metal. I guess I was right as Kirk and Sundancer both chose the fartsack over posting this morning. There was much discussion over the reason for not posting after both retweeted and favorited the pre-blast. Here were the top 10 reasons YHC came up with during those long, dark runs to HT and back:
10. They dropped a kettlebell on their foot one time and swore to never lift one again. #neveragain
9. They stayed up too late at their pre-SOFAWIB sleepover braiding each other’s hair. Wait, Sundancer doesn’t have hair… #pillowfight
8. If they posted, the attendance record might be too far out of reach for them to ever exceed it. #bestSOFAWIBQever
7. They knew Swiper wasn’t going to show, so they weren’t losing ground. #noswiping
6. They were afraid Bushwood would show them up by swinging a bigger kettlebell. #mansizebell
5. They were afraid Champagne would Q jack and call 30 minutes of Turkish get-ups. #TGUsrule
4. Maybe they got there early and made fun of Iron Mike’s long sleeves again, so he locked them in the trunk of the police car. No, that can’t be it because Iron Mike wasn’t there either. Neither was his driver, Talkbox. #masterblaster
3. They were attending the Hilliard Studio Method class taught by Brushback’s M this morning. There’s better scenery and Brushback swears it’s a great workout. #notsurewhyheknowsthat
2. Alien abduction. #tractorbeam
And the #1 reason: they are repaying YHC for fartsacking at their own workouts over the past few months. That must be it. #payback
Alright, joke time is over. Thanks to Kirk and Sundancer for the invitation to Q and thanks to the PAX for trying something new. And thanks to the meatheads (Chanel, Ickey Shuffle and Champagne (sort of)) that put up with a surprising amount of running (3.6 miles) to support a bro Q at SOFAWIB. It was good to see some new faces at SOFAWIB, the best workout in F3… on Tuesday… on Rea Road. I hope to see you in the gloom soon.
Announcements:
Kirk and Sundancer have made the questionable decision to ask YHC to Q SOFAWIB tomorrow. It will be a little different from what we usually do, but should give everyone an introduction to the joys of kettlebells. And we will still run. It should go something like this:
Warm-up mile to Harris Teeter and back.
PAX partner up based on 1) KB size and 2) speed.
Catch me if you can (CMIYC) to the buddy bench with kettlebells and 5 burpees.
Partner 1 performs AMRAP of a KB exercise while Partner 2 circles the fence around the nearest baseball field. Exercises may or may not include swings, squats, high pulls, lunges, snatches, cleans and presses.
Do more partner stuff depending on time, then CMIYC back to the start at 6:04 (extra 2 minutes to allow for CMIYC).
Run the HT mile again. Done.
I will bring a few kettlebells of varying sizes, but could use extras if anyone has them. If you have more than one kettlebell, please bring it, even if you think it’s too big/small. Someone else may be able to use it.
See you in the gloom.
Tomorrow, YHC is planning on administering the KB Pentathlon introduced by TIger Rag on March 9th and repeated by Brown at Meathead on March 12th:
Score = (#Reps) x (Adjusted KB Size) where Adj. KB Size = Wt of Bell (in kg) / 8.
EX: 100 swings with a 24 kg bell = (100 reps) x (24 kg / 8) = 300 pts.
Spreadsheet is HERE if you want it. We’ll need every minute to finish on time so come early to warm up as needed.
YHC has been looking forward to doing the KB pentathlon since missing it in March due to work travel. Unfortunately, my cold has turned into a fever and my M is starting to use hurtful words to describe my mental faculties if I post tomorrow morning. If anyone can step up and administer the KB pentathlon in my absence, I’d appreciate it. Otherwise, I will show up and clipboard the workout. #Cobains for the short notice, but I was hoping things would get better instead of worse.
Thanks,
Voodoo
10 strapping young(ish) men met at Elizabeth Lane Elementary on Saturday to challenge themselves and get stronger.
Warm up:
Bring KBs to main lot.
The Thang:
The Challenge:
1) 50 Clean and Press (switch sides as needed)
5 burpees (10 if you’re Bulldog)
Run a lap
2) 50 goblet squats
10 merkins
Run a lap
3) 100 2-handed wings
15 Carolina Dry Docks
Run a lap
4) 50 snatches (switch sides as needed)
5 burpees (10 if you’re Bulldog)
Run a lap
5) 50 Russian twists (each side = 1)
10 merkins
Run a lap
6) 50 high pulls (switch sides as needed)
15 Carolina Dry Docks
Run a lap
7) 50 2-handed OH press
5 burpees (10 if you’re Bulldog)
Run a lap
Mosey to parking lot for X Marks the spot:
7-8 sidewalk chalk Xs were around the edge of the lot, ~20 feet apart. Carry bells overhead, alternating from left side to right side between each X.
Rotate through exercises at each X: 10 swings, 10 merkins, 10 flutter kicks with KB press.
Stop at the school and overhead carry bells back to start.
Cool down:
Head back to cars for swings until time is up/until this song is over/until the Q calls time.
NMM:
I really “like” this workout, which Young Love first exposed me to at Skunkworks last May (I think). I’ve brought it out at Meathead (violating the 0.0 rule – my bad), but it’s tough to finish all of the exercises in 45 minutes. Olympus seemed like the perfect workout for it. A lot of KB work with some body weight and running mixed in.
Just about all of the Pax Larry Birded the Q throughout most of the workout, but the prime offender (as expected) was Bulldog. As a result, he was saddled with 2x the burpees, but even that didn’t stop him from lapping YHC more than once. I’ll just blame it on the cold or whatever I’m fighting…
Welcome to FNG Destiny (Mike K.), the IT director at Calvary Church and prostate cancer fighter. Mike was diagnosed around Thanksgiving, so keep him in your prayers.
T-claps to Witch Doctor, a recent FNG who posted at his sixth workout this week. Strong work.
Announcements:
1) Mud run sign ups are open. Please see the official pre-blast and start getting your team together. The race is 10/24 and is supposed to be a great time (this will be YHC’s first time, so I am basing this on what others have said).
2) Come on out to Foxhole tomorrow for the KB pentathlon. Pre-blast is coming tonight.
Please chime in with any additional announcements I forgot in my O2 deprivation.
9 men showed up at Elizabeth Lane Elementary this morning to get some work done before the sun came up.
Disclaimer: None because YHC forgot there were no new pax.
The Thang:
Mosey with bells down to the track for COP:
25x SSH IC
15x Good Mornings OYO
15x IW IC (I had planned to do more, but my IW muscles were sore from the 51 IC Van Pelt called at Anvil the day before)
5 halos each direction OYO
20x Mountain Climbers IC
5 figure 8s each direction OYO
15x merkins IC (because it’s not an F3 workout without a few merkins)
Iron Mile™:
Luggage carry R down the straightaway
Corner 1: 10 cleans per side
Waiter carry L around the (weird) bend
Corner 2: 10 1H swings per side
Luggage carry L down the straightaway
Corner 3: 10 high pulls per side
Waiter carry R around the bend
Corner 4: 10 snatches per side
Repeato x 2 (on third time through, skip the bends and go luggage carry/racked bell along the straightaways only)
Mosey back to the parking lot:
10 goblet squats
10 1H OH presses per side
10 lawn mower rows per side
Repeato
Mary:
10x Russian twist IC
Brushback called: flutter with press for 15x(?) IC
Fletch called: knees to chest (weightless) 15x(?) IC
TR called: Louganis 10x(?) IC
COT: Thank you for the strong takeout, Les Mis.
Moleskine:
Work has been busy for YHC, so I was looking forward to getting out to Meathead and taking out some of my aggression on the bell. YHC had planned to do 4 laps around the track, but due to time constraints and my failing grip, we abandoned the mile after three circuits. Losing my grip on my kettlebell during the last round of snatches was a first for me. #lookoutforflyingkettlebells
Ickey Shuffle reminded YHC of the prolonged agony joy of loaded carries during his Q at Foxhole on Monday, so YHC tore up his weinke and decided to try something a little different today. I hope everyone got their money’s worth. If not, see our absentee site Qs, Brown and High Tide
YHC made the strategic miscalculation of offering his 20kg bell to Les Mis before the workout and keeping the 24kg bell for myself. After Les Mis crushed the first lap, we switched. It didn’t make much difference as Les Mis still basically ran through carries and crushed the single arm work, but YHC was glad he had an excuse to downsize.
TR refusenicked a few exercises, mostly in the warm up, but as usual crushed the kettlebell work and helped us all improve our form, especially on the rows at the end. #thanksfornothing
Announcements:
Southern Discomfort – 8/1 with three different distance/pain station options. Please register via Sign Up Genius so the Qs can get a head count for hydration.
Mud Run – 10/24. Sign ups will open soon. Start pulling teams together. Mermaid is the Area 51 Q and will help you put a team together if you need a hand.
Sound off below if I missed anything else. It’s definitely possible based on the amount of heavy breathing on my recording.