Author Archive Voodoo

T’was the day before Thanksgiving

8 pax met up at Meathead on the day before Thanksgiving at the leisurely time of 0600. #holidayhours The plan for the day was to take turns leading portions of the workout while we got our 250 swings in. 5 rounds of 20 swings, 1 exercise, 20 swings, 1 exercise, 10 swings, 1 exercise.

Warm-up: 15 SSHs, 10 windmills

Main Thang (here’s what I remember of the other exercises):

Voodoo: 10 goblet squats, 5 clean + press per side, 15 merkins

Unplugged: RDLs, lunges,

Mighty Mite: 1 TGU on the left, 1 TGU on the right, 5 snatches per side

Frehley’s Comet: 10 merkins on your bell (5 per side), 10 squat/curl/press

Soul Glo: high pulls

That covered our swings for the day. Uncle Leo led us through a couple of rounds of racked carries, then Das Boot (site FNG!) called overhead carries and LBCs with the bell, and Sweetwater (site FNG!) called farmer carries. We wrapped up with 1:00 each of elbow planks, hollow body holds, and glute bridges.

Thanks to Frehley’s Comet for taking us out.

Announcements:

  • Turkey Jam Convergence tomorrow at 6:30 at Rea Farms. Paper Jam on Q.
  • Convergence at Centurion on Saturday at 7:00 at Amelie’s across from Charlotte Catholic
  • Please check Slack for workout closures and rescheduling during the holidays
  • Per the Governor’s recent Executive Order, please make sure you’re maintaining social distancing or wearing masks where that’s not possible. The sooner the current increase in COVID cases subsides, the sooner we can get back to normal behavior.
  • Please keep Bout Time and his family in your prayers as his son, Jennings, battles AML for a second time.

Moleskine:

  • Thanks to the pax for coming out and helping lead today’s workout. The Q by committee was Frehley’s Comet’s idea and was a good way of giving everyone a chance to handle a portion of the workout.
  • Das Boot and Sweetwater came to punch their passports as part of the Passport Challenge and got thrown right into the fire by being asked to lead a portion of the workout. They were unfazed and stepped right up to lead.
  • The music tonight was Spotify’s Rock Classics playlist. Soul Glo thought it was a little more mellow than my usual tunes. Sometimes you have to mix it up.
  • I hope all of the pax have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Please sound off in the comments with any additional mumblechatter.

Feel the burn

10 pax posted at Calvary at 0530 this morning for another edition of Meathead. Everyone knew that the main course would be 250 swings, but the real question was what other exercises would we struggle through?

Appetizer:

  • SSH x 20 IC
  • Windmills/Sharon Towers x 10 IC
  • Forward arm circles (small to big) x 5 IC
  • Backward arm circles (small to big) x 5 IC

Main Course:

  • 20 2-handed swings
  • 8 lawnmower rows per side
  • Rest for the balance of 2:00
  • 20 2-handed swings
  • 8 goblet squats
  • Rest for the balance of 2:00
  • 10 2-handed swings
  • 15 merkins
  • 5 cleans per side
  • Rest for the balance of 2:30

Repeato for 5 total rounds. That’s 250 swings, 80 rows (40 per side), 40 goblets, 75 merkins, and 80 cleans (40 per side).

Dessert:

  • Waiter carries (:30 out, :30 rest, :30 back, :30 rest)
  • Racked carries (:30 out, :30 rest, :30 back, :30 rest)
  • 1:00 of hard-style elbow plank, :30 rest
  • 1:00 of hollow body hold, :30 rest
  • 1:00 of glute bridge, done.

Announcements:

  • The blood drive is upon us. This Friday at the Brace (formerly Siskey) Family YMCA. There are still 5 slots available, so get signed up and donate blood for a good cause. Contact Mighty Mite for more details.
  • Some pax are gathering at Char Bar 7 at the intersection of Weddington and McKee roads on 10/23 if you’d like to join. Reach out to Hoover to HC.
  • Please consider donating to the Give 2 Give campaign. The Area 51 link is here and the SOB link is here. The first $500 of donations to the Area 51 site will be matched.

Moleskine:

  • After taking a tour of AOs the past 2 weeks, it’s good to get back out to Meathead. My hands were a little tender in a few spots after Monday’s Swole, so clearly I needed to get back to swinging some iron.
  • This was a pretty meat and potatoes workout this morning. The goblets were challenging and it was tough to get the heart rate back under control before the last round of swings.
  • T-claps to Turkey Leg for pre-running the workout. Please advertise in the future and maybe I’ll join you.
  • Please sound off with any other comments, observations, etc.

 

A plethora of bells

4 pax (as expected) gathered at Calvary this morning for a bell extravaganza in refreshingly cool temps. After weeks of swings, YHC thought it might be fun to bring out some bigger bells for the pax to try. High Tide confirmed he would be in attendance via text the night before and offered to bring some of his big bells as well. He also brought some much-needed sanity to the number of reps we’d be performing.

Warm up:

  • SSH x 10 IC
  • Windmills x 10 IC
  • 20 swings OYO

The Thang:

  • 10 swings with the 48kg/108# bell
  • 10 swings with the 44kg/97# bell
  • 15 swings with the 40kg/88# bell
  • 15 swings with the 36kg/79# bell
  • 25 swings with the 32kg/70.5# bell
  • 25 swings with the 28kg/62# bell
  • 50 swings with the 24kg/53# bell
  • 50 swings with the 20kg/45# bell

Repeato for 400 total swings.

We finished a little early, so Alf and Madison performed various exercises while High Tide and YHC decided to start again from the top and get through the 2 sets of 25 for an even 500 swings.

COT with RockZero. Thanks to Sprockets for the takeout.

Moleskine:

  • Thanks to the pax for coming out and trying something new. With all the swings we’ve been doing, YHC thought it would be fun to have a less-structured day with some bigger bells. It helps the pax understand what they’re capable of and makes your “heavy bell” feel much lighter.
  • Alf made the mistake of showing up at Olympus on the wrong day, but he gamely played along. He got a few swings in on the big boys and crushed the rest of the bells.
  • Madison took his turn on all of the bells and was looking strong out there this morning. Hopefully he’ll be able to keep up with his pace group tomorrow on their 35-mile ride.
  • High Tide loves big bells and he cannot lie. He skipped the 20 OYO swings so he could have the first shot at the 48 and he set the pace on the rest of the swings.

Announcements:

  • Sign up to donate blood on 10/23 at the Brace (formerly Siskey) YMCA. Search for Mighty Mite on Slack to find the preblast.
  • October is Give2Give month for the F3 Foundation. If you’re able, please try to make a donation to support the professionalization of the foundation. More details here.

Fantastic Four

4 pax circled up at Calvary under a steel gray sky. The cool weather was welcome after the heat of the last few months. After a quick disclaimer, we did a little loosening up:

  • SSH x 20 IC
  • Windmill/Sharon Towers x 10

On to the Main Event:

  • 15 swings (25 for round 2)
  • 10 goblet squats
  • 35 swings (25 for round 2)
  • 15 flutter press
  • 15 swings (25 for round 2)
  • 5 presses per side
  • 35 swings (25 for round 2)
  • 10 Louganis
  • 25 swings
  • 5 lawnmowers per side
  • 25 swings
  • 15/20 LBCs with the bell on your chest
  • 25 swings
  • 15 merkins
  • 25 swings
  • 15 dolly press

Repeato for 400 swings, 20 goblet squats, 30 flutter press, 20 presses, 20 Louganis, 20 lawnmowers, 35 LBCs, 30 merkins, 30 dolly presses.

Waiter carry :30 x 4 (2 per side)

Farmer carry (2 bells) :30 x 2

Mary:

  • 1:00 elbow plank
  • 1:00 hollow body hold
  • 1:00 glute bridge

COT with the RockZero pax. Thanks to Flipper for the take out.

Announcements:

  1. Blood drive – October 23rd – get signed up!
  2. Makeshift Marathon – see the #fallmarathon channel on Slack

Naked Moleskine:

  1. Thanks to the pax for coming out. The weather ended up being perfect, but it was questionable with all the clouds.
  2. Based on my calculations, we’re at approximately 10,000 swings now for the swing program. We’ll be switching it up soon, so come on out if you’re interested.
  3. YHC outsourced the weinke to High Tide yesterday and I think it worked out nicely. If anyone has any complaints, take it up with our resident KB mad scientist.
  4. Ickey Shuffle did a good job of identifying some of the deep tracks on the playlist this morning. He was also fired up for some SEC football this afternoon. He was not impressed with the heavyweight UVA/Duke game. Go Wahoos!
  5. High Tide is rounding back into kettlebell form after a mysterious illness had him on the bench for a few weeks. He was looking strong today. He also provided some musical suggestions for our next workout. #badcompany
  6. Beetlejuice was back at it again this morning. He’s become a fixture of the kettlebell workouts. Hopefully he can get more bells soon so he has some options for different exercises. #24kg4life

The human burpee

9 pax posted this morning at Meathead on a pleasantly cool morning. YHC showed up at precisely 5:29.55 due to an alarm clock issue (I hit snooze). #cobains The struggle to get back into the swing post-BRR is real.

After throwing a few bells on the ground and shaming Uncle Leo into taking a 24, I gave a thorough disclaimer and explained the workout.

Warm-up:

  • SSH x 20 IC
  • 20 swings
  • Windmill x 10 IC

Main Event (2:30 per round):

  • 15 swings/15 goblet squats/1 merkin
  • 15 swings/14 goblet squats/2 merkins
  • 15 swings/13 goblet squats/3 merkins
  • …
  • 15 swings/3 goblet squats/13 merkins
  • 15 swings/2 goblet squats/14 merkins
  • 20 swings/1 goblet squat/15 merkins – (added 5 swings to get to 250 for the workout)

Time for a bit of Mary: 1:00 elbow plank, :30 recovery, 1:00 glute bridge

Fin

Thanks to Hoover for the takeout this morning.

Announcements:

  • Sign up for the blood drive or you answer to Mighty Mite. As he explained this morning, you’re going to give blood – one way or another.
  • Swole, Meathead, and Olympus are all looking for Qs. The rules are pretty simple for now – 250 swings on weekdays, 400 on weekends. Go with whatever rep count you want and mix in some accessory exercises. As Uncle Leo said this morning, the hardest part is coming up with music you won’t get made fun of for.
  • Keep an eye out for more information on the F3 Foundation. In an effort to make it more professional, they’re going to be hiring a director and are launching a $200,000 fundraising campaign in October. If you can contribute, please consider it.

Moleskine:

  • High Tide came up with the idea behind this workout a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been sitting on it until I had the opportunity to use it. Apparently, it’s based on a Dan John article and he calls it the human burpee. I haven’t read the article, so can’t tell you why. I can tell you that it’s the closest YHC is going to get to a burpee. If you have any complaints, please email him.
  • As always, thanks for posting at Meathead and for following my lead. We have a strong crew of regulars and are seeing some new faces as well. Now, we just need to kill that stupid sandbag workout that poached Wild Turkey. Friday really is a better day for it anyway…
  • The pax were having fun with the numbers this workout. We’re going to have to rename Uncle Leo Rainman or something.

 

 

Blew through my weinke

5 men met up at Olympus on a cool Saturday morning for some fellowship, ball-busting, and 400 swings. About halfway through, Frehley’s rolled in to catch the back half of the workout after posting at Stonehenge. He had sent a note to the Q, who promptly forgot until he saw his car rolling in.

Warm-up: SSH (20), IW (15), Mountain Climber (20) IC

The Thang:

  • 10 swings, 1 press per side
  • 15 swings, 2 presses per side
  • 25 swings, 3 presses per side
  • 50 swings, 4 presses per side

Repeato 3 times (4 total rounds) with goblet squats, rows, and lunges (400 total swings)

Waiter carries – 1:00 per side 4 times (twice per side)

Snatches – 5 per side for 10 rounds (100 snatches)

Mary: elbow plank and hollow body hold

COT with the RockZero pax

Announcements:

  • SOB/Area 51 blood drive will take place on 10/23 at the Brace (formerly Sisley) Y. Don’t do at between now and then or you will be ineligible
  • Wild Turkey on Q on Wednesday at Meathead. Come for the music, stay for the 250 swings. Unplugged will be Qing on Saturday at Olympus. Next week, Beetlejuice will (V)Q at Swole.

Moleskine:

  • #cobains for the delay in getting this posted. I find it hard to sit at my computer during the weekends after being on it all week.
  • Good to have a strong crowd out there this morning. Thanks to Frehley’s for double-posting to catch the second half of the workout.
  • It had been a while since we did the 50 swing set, so I decided to bring it back for this workout. It’s good to challenge the grip every once in a while.
  • I didn’t really have anything planned after the 400 swings since that usually takes us most of the hour. I guess the 50 swing sets reduced the amount of time, so we had a little less than half the workout to go. Tiger Rag suggested the snatches, so the pax can thank him for that. Madison didn’t take kindly to the 5 rounds turning into 10 and there was some modifying.

Who checks the weather?

YHC rolled in to find 3 pax ready to roll at Olympus this past Saturday. Beetlejuice was ready to check his loaner bell out of the library and Frehley’s had his towel at the ready. Tiger Rag had already gotten a pre-run done and was doing some hideous battle rope/hairburner/kettlebell drag combo. Madison rolled in, there was a brief disclaimer, then we got down to it.

Warm up: SSH, arm circles

The Thang:

  • 20 swings
  • 8 rows per side
  • 20 swings
  • 10 deadlifts
  • 10 swings
  • 5 presses per side

Repeato 8 times for 400 total swings, 128 rows, 80 deadlifts, and 80 presses.

Mary: 1:00 each of elbow plank, hollow body hold, and glute bridge.

Announcements:

  • Freed to Bleed: SOB/Area 51 Blood Drive at Brace YMCA on October 23. Please join if you can and don’t give blood between now and then! Mighty Mite is coordinating and will come out with more details as we get closer.
  • The Iron Pax Challenge is in full swing, with week 1 starting 8/31. Opportunities to complete it on Tuesday at South Charlotte Middle School with Hoover, Wednesday at WAMRAP with Alf, and Saturday at Matthews Sportsplex at 0730 with Orange Whip.
  • Q spots open for Swole, Meathead, and Olympus. The weinke is pretty straightforward these days with 250 swings at 45 minute workouts and 400 swings at 60 minute workouts.
  • The swing program is scheduled to keep running for a few more weeks, then we will transition into a new program. Before we start the next program, we will offer a kettlebell workshop to allow pax to learn more about the movements, ask questions, etc. This is still in the planning phases, so keep an eye on Slack for more details in late September.
  • Labor Day convergence at SCMS with Base Camp – Mighty Mite will be offering a KB option.

Moleskine:

  • Thanks for posting and working hard. It was nice to break the 4 pax cap we’ve had for a few weeks at Olympus and get to 5!
  • #cobains for not checking the weather and telling everyone to meet at the Hot Box. Instead, we completed 1 round, then had to relocate as rain started. We still had plenty of time to complete the rounds, so no harm done.
  • Good to have Tiger Rag back out at a kettlebell workout. The new pax might know him as a runner, but he was one of the original meatheads.

Me and the Respects

4 pax pulled up at Calvary for another round of Olympus. Everyone (except Cottonmouth) knew what was in store: 400 swings.

Warm up:

  • SSH x 20 IC
  • IW x 10 IC

The Thang:

  • 20 swings, 8 rows per side
  • 20 swings, 8 reverse lunges per side
  • 10 swings, 15 chest presses per side

Repeato for 8 rounds – 400 swings, 128 rows, 128 lunges, 120 chest presses. The swing count was mixed up a bit with some rounds of 15/15/20, one round of 50 straight, etc.

Finish up with some elbow plank with our final minute, then hustle over to the RZ pax for COT.

Announcements:

  • SOB/Area 51 blood drive is coming in early October. Since you need to wait 8 weeks between donations, please don’t give if you might be able to make this blood drive. T-claps to Mighty Mite for his leadership on this front. #FreedToBleed
  • Swole and Meathead are going back to 0530 starting on 8/17 to accommodate school schedules for those pax who are fortunate enough to be getting their kids out of the house!

Moleskine:

  • It was great to have Cottonmouth join us today. He had threatened to come to some ‘bell workouts soon and finally made it happen. He also regaled us with stories about work travel, book smart salespeople, etc.
  • Frehley’s Comet is trying to heal up a knee injury and is crushing the kettlebell workouts lately. He’ll be taking the lead at Meathead tomorrow to give the pax a little taste of some old school strength training knowledge.
  • Beeltejuice has also been a regular and is doing well at the bells while mixing in some boot camps. He’s still in the market for a bell (buy or borrow), so reach out if you’ve got any laying around gathering dust.
  • Thanks to the pax for joining me this morning. These workouts are grueling and sneaky hard.

Swings, swings, and more swings

9 pax showed up at Calvary at 0600 for another episode of everyone’s favorite Wednesday (gear) workout. Wild Turkey showed up early for jump rope and Unplugged did the same for some yoga to stretch out the back.

The warm up consisted of the usual: 20 SSH and 15 IW.

The main event went like this:

  • 20 swings, 8 lawnmower rows per side
  • 20 swings, 8 goblet squats (we did 5 for the first round, but decided that wasn’t enough)
  • 10 swings, 15 merkins, 5 presses or push presses per side

Repeato for 5 rounds – on round 4, we did all 50 swings, then the rows, squats, merkins, and presses to keep it interesting.

2 x waiter carries (out with your weak side for :30, back with your strong side for :30) with 1:00 rest in between.

Mary: 1:00 each of (i) elbow plank, (ii) hollow body hold, and (iii) glute bridge. :30-1:00 of rest in between exercises.

Time!

Thanks to WT for the takeout.

Announcements:

  • Mighty Mite is organizing an SOB/A51 blood drive for late September/early October and is looking for a large indoor space somewhere in the middle of the 2 regions (think Calvary or Stonecrest, not Matthews). Beetlejuice is chasing down the YMCAs and has reached out to Calvary, but if you have any ideas/connections, please connect with Mighty.
  • Next week is our last week starting at 0600 as we move back to 0530 to accommodate pax with kids going back to school and teachers/administrators that need to be at school themselves.
  • Next week we will be parking one lot over (farther from Anvil) to accommodate the teachers arriving around 0630 and to avoid the goose bathroom where we worked out today. #yum
  • Please keep High Tide and his family in your prayers as he lost his uncle over the weekend.

Mumblechatter:

  • Thanks to the pax for following my lead this morning. I tried to keep it pretty meat and potatoes and did have to audible a bit to make sure we weren’t resting too much.
  • Great numbers again this week. If you’re interested in trying out kettlebells, please join us. Although we’re not sharing bells during the workout, there are usually a few loaners around.

 

Back to reality

The first day of August saw 4 pax posting at Olympus for some swings and fellowship. It was hot and the bugs were out, but it didn’t stop the gainz.

Warm-up:

  • SSH x 20 IC
  • Windmills x 10 IC

Main event:

  • 15 swings, 5 double bent-over rows, 5 double push presses
  • 35 swings, 15 explosive or banded merkins

We followed that swing rep scheme for about 4 rounds, then mixed it up with a 20/30 set, then a 15/15/20 set. We did some Mary (elbow planks, hollow body holds, and glute bridges) after the 6th round. We had a little time left so we did a super-set of 50 swings followed by the rows, presses, and merkins. With 1-2 minutes left we did one more set of 50 swings to complete 400 for the workout.

Announcements:

  • After 2 years at the helm of Area 51, Alf is stepping down as Nantan and I’ll be taking over. The rest of the board will also be moving out of their roles, so please reach out if you have an interest in getting involved in leading the region. As most pax know, F3 is a starfish organization, so it’s not centrally-controlled. The leadership team is there to provide a vision for the region and guidance for the pax. We’re looking for Qs of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Fs as well as other individuals interested/willing to serve on the board to provide ideas. F3 is all about developing leaders, so raise your hand if you’re looking for something to do or have ideas for the region. Thank you to Alf and the board (Turkey Leg, Pop Tart, Madison, and Snowflake) for their leadership.
  • Our region to the south (Sons of Ballantyne or SOB) also recently transitioned from Bucky’s leadership to War Eagle’s. I look forward to working with War Eagle and his board to share ideas and partner on initiatives.

Moleskine:

  • It’s been good to have Frehley’s joining us at the gear workouts while he takes a hiatus from running. He made the worthy suggestion of the different swing sets, but also the terrible suggestion of the 50 swing sets. Thanks for your input.
  • Beetlejuice seems to be enjoying the gear work and has been posting regularly the last few weeks. He’s in the market for some bells if you’ve got any collecting dust at home. You can find him on Slack.
  • High Tide was not intimidated by the higher rep counts and swung the 32 the entire time. Very strong work.
  • Thanks for coming out and following my lead. Again, if anyone has ideas for the next round of the KB workouts, please reach out. We’re pretty open-minded as long as there’s some method to the madness. We’re also open to guest Qs that want to provide the tunes and run the prescribed workout (with their own accessory exercises).

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