Smokey and the Bandit

Smokey and the Bandit

While many of our regulars embarked on a mud cow pie soaked journey through the Netherlands of Gaston, SC, the rest of us assembled for a nice little Saturday AM smoker.  It was a perfect day for a workout – absolutely beautiful weather.

The Thang:

Warmup cheeseweaver through the buses, led by the 2.0s.

Warmup COP in the grass field behind the Middle School

  • SSH X 20 IC
  • 10 Burpees OYO
  • IW X 20 IC
  • Hillbilly Squat X 20 IC
  • LBC X 20 IC
  • Flutter X 20 IC
  • 10 Burpees OYO

Mosey to Elementary School Playground

3 Sets of the following, with a partner.  Some planking to regroup after the lap

  • 10 good pullups, with partner assist
  • 20 donkey swing kicks
  • 20 derkins on picnic table
  • Lap around track

1/2 mile run to HS Football Field – No Man Left Behind.  Regroup to pick up the six multiple times.  Climb the fence to get in #mudrun

Line up in End Zone, run field doing following exercises:

Some plank regrouping after the sprints back to keep us together

  • 10 Merkins at 25, 50, other 25, other goal (40 total), sprint 100 yds back
  • 10 LBCs at 25, 50, other 25, other goal (40 total), sprint 100 yds back
  • 10 V-UPs (Crunchy Frog) at 25, 50, other 25, other goal (40 total), sprint 100 yds back
  • 5 Burpees at 25, 50, other 25, other goal (20 total), sprint 100 yds (backwards in honor of GJ)

Climb the fence again #escape and long group run back to Disc Golf Field

6MOM – led by the PAX.  Asked PAX who have not led a workout before to take a shot at calling cadence.  Let the 2.0s take a shot at this too, which was pretty entertaining.

  • Dreamweaver – Flutters
  • Gameshow – LBCs
  • Boondock (2.0)- Dolly
  • Stax (2.0) – Protractor (not sure what to do with the 576deg call)
  • Shoeless Joe (2.0) – Freddie Mercury

Strong takeout by Smoky

Announcements:  bla bla bla

Moleskin:

With only a few pax in the parking lot at 6:56, I thought we may have a really small group today.  It was good to see the latecomers roll up with only a min to spare, especially with all of the 2.0s.  The Sun Valley campus is really a great spot for dads to bring their kids while we workout with all of the playgrounds and the obstacle course.

Strong performances by all – some guys really pushing through the runs.  The partner pullups were tough, but we need to start doing a lot more of these.  After doing these while Stone Cold assisted me picked me up like a small child at Joust yesterday, I realized that I am extremely weak in this area. The goal was to keep the reps fairly low but to keep cycling through exercises today over and over so we could keep good form.  Sometimes doing a bunch of sets of 10 or 20 gives a much better workout than trying to do 50 at a time, since most of us have to really cheat the form when you go to the high reps #headbobbers.

The V-Ups on the field were rough.  I barely finished these.  Looked like a dying possum towards the end, I suppose.

Performance of the day goes to Smokey, as he tried multiple times to race his 2.0.  Bunch of wheezing and gasping, and possibly some dry heaves going on.  Also, he lost.  Bad.  Nobody else wanted any of that action.

Good to see the Dream and Blue Screen clowncar drive up.  Those boys got after it all morning and never gave up.

Gameshow is becoming an Outland regular.  Good to have him stick around for Grindstone afterwards as well.

EE was leading the way on the field work, as usual.

Late Show is running a Spartan Race with his wife later today, but still posted for the full workout.  Strong?  or Crazy?

Shout out to the #Outland Mud Run Team of Drop Thrill, Shepherd, Glass Joe, and Turnpike.  We were thinking about you guys this AM.  Hope you didn’t eat too many cow patties.

 

– Horsehead

 

 

 

Ab bone connected to the Guts bone

4 men came together to work while others played. This is (mostly) what they did:

The Thang

Warm-up:  SSH, IW

Mosey to concession stand for ab smoker.  The pax did about 15 minutes of Mary, with LBCs, heels to heaven, rosalita, dying cockroach, low slow flutter, dollys, protractor, oblique crunches, JLo’s, peter parkers, long rock hoppers, elevated knee-ups — some of them multiple times.  The Q essentially called a new exercise when 2 of 4 pax failed.  Most could feel it by the time we stopped.

Mosey to cinderblocks for curls and overhead presses.  Then grab bricks for tricep and lateral shoulder raises.

Mosey with bricks to the big hill behind the baseball fields.  About 5 minutes of hill work, with ascending merkins (with bricks) at the top.

Mosey to tennis courts for leg work, with some brick bear crawls and lunges thrown in for the trip, dropping off bricks on the way.  Squats, one-legged squats, sumo jump squats, sideways squats, jumping lunges.

Broad jumps or lunges back to main sidewalk.  Mosey to front of the school, with some stops for squats and planking, and a partner carry at the end.

In the brick area in front of the school, alternating sets of dips and decline merkins to failure, followed by knee-ups.

COT. Take out by Intimidator.

Moleskin

  • What a great morning to be out exercising in the brilliant morning sun with three friends.  We are blessed, and need to treasure these moments that God gives us.
  • Some of the pax suspiciously started to mumble about whether the Q was making up the workout on the fly.  As Louis Armstrong said once, “if you gotta ask, you ain’t never gonna know.”
  • T-claps to the pax, all of whom have gotten noticeably better wind and become noticeably better runners. If you wondered why you felt good running early, and not so much later, it was because you were trying to run later without abs.  That was on purpose.  Ancient Q secret.
  • Kilowatt has shed some real weight in a short time.  Look out.  The guy will be on the cover of Mens Fitness in no time.  T-claps for the hard work.  Once he adds a third workout per week, the results will multiply even more.  Good example for the rest of us.
  • Stumphugger is infectious with his enthusiasm and energy — once he can get healed up, he will be all stump. During several times in the workout, however, he was the only one counting.  Not sure why.  Still wondering.
  • We were in Intimidator’s wheelhouse this morning. He mostly shrugged off the ab work, and showed perfect form.  It kinda made the rest of us mad.  And the cinderblocks, well, it appeared as effortless for him as if he was moving his wife’s couch pillows around.
  • Camacho, who was likely mud running this week, has the Q next week.  He has to walk about across the street to get here.  Looking forward to it.

OUT.

Taper? What Taper?

Eleven men including one FNG gathered on a beautiful Friday morning to kickoff the weekend right with a taper-free workout going into the Mud Run.

The Thang:

Mosey to upper lot for COP:

  • SSH x40
  • IW x25
  • Slow merkins x20
  • MCs x20
  • PP x20
  • Squat jumps x20

7s on the hill: burpees at top, squats at bottom

Pair up, mosey to back entrance, picking up rock along route

Catch-me If You Can with rock around outside perimeter to front entrance. Runner in front has possession of rock at all times.

Mary while waiting for all to arrive

  • Rosalita x25
  • Flutter x25
  • FM x25

Mosey back down to hill. 

In pairs again, rock/hill work:

  • Partner one runs to top of hill, 10 burpees
  • Partner two stays at bottom, chest presses with rock until partner one returns
  • When partner one returns, partner two goes up hill, 9 burpees while partner one does rock exercise
  • continue down to 1 burpee
  • Repeat with merkins at top and rock squats at bottom

Return rock, mosey back to launch point

COT

Moleskine:

  • Still decent attendence for the day prior to a mud run – despite the “taper” twitter last night
  • All you mud runners today – suprised you came out for the “taper free” workout but glad to have you;  you’ll be all the better for it tomorrow.
  • DK (lifo) – better late than never, glad you could join
  • Hacker – enjoyed partnering today; hopefully my “runner rock” wasn’t too light
  • Kazaam, nice job keeping up with all the running we had in store.  Hope the knee feels better.
  • Welcome Zombie! Glad to have you on-board.
  • Thanks for the great take-out Cottontail
  • Bulldog – thank you for the opportunity to lead today; always a pleasure to mix it up at Kevlar

Announcements:

  • Mud Run tomorrow: good luck to all!!!
  • Convergence Saturday at Old Providence Elementary for those not going to Mudrun

Mud Run Friendly?

In theory, with the Mud Run coming up, I had meant for this week to be a little lighter for me. After two separate runs, FastTwitch, Death Valley and all day Carowinds on Thursday, it’s only appropriate that I was also Q for Overdrive this week. So, I figured I better make this one Mud Run friendly and that’s where the debate began. Let’s go…

The Thang:
Two Hair Band miles around the parking lot

COP
SSH x 20 (some chatter noticing that my voice is going away after all day at Carowinds yesterday which actually helped prevent any Mike Tyson-esque squeaking from me this week)
IW x 20
3 Count Merkins (a merkin but stay down for a cadenced 3 count then push back up) x 10

Let’s mosey around the building.

Rail Holds (30 second hold on the rails then move one arm length up the rail and hold again)
People’s Chair on the Wall with Air Presses x 30
BTW with cadenced Mountain Climbers x 10 (at this point, one of the PAX grumbled that this wasn’t a good start for a supposed mud run friendly Q)
People’s Chair w/ Air Presses x 30
Rail Slides Down the Rails
People’s Chair w/ Air Presses x 30
Rail Slides Up the Rails
People’s Chair for Recovery

Mosey to the Bus Parking Lot

Cheese Run (sprint in between each bus and run around the front/back) up the hill for all 20-25 buses

Plank to gather then Arm/Leg lifts on both sides with a 10 countdown for each arm/leg combo

Mosey to the bottom of the hill beside the parking lot

11s starting with 10 burpees at top of hill/1 squat at bottom…..1 burpee at the top of the hill/10 squats at the bottom (more debate on the mud run friendliness of this with a ‘Let’s see how you feel about these tomorrow’ thrown in for good measure).

Running out of time so a 11 Countdown starting with 11 3-count LBCs (hold each crunch for a 3 count) at the top of the hill….all the way down to 1 3-count LBC. Oh yeah, backwards run each time up the hill because I believe in the healing effects of backwards running (I am not a professional though).

1MOM:
6 inch leg holds with difference variations of one leg go out and hold, etc. And then I realized we went over so this was extra credit work.

COT:
Thanks to The Late Show for praying us out and reminding us what we need to be about as men.

Moleskine:

Strong work by all.

Welcome Big Trade to Overdrive for the first time after being a FNG at Outland last week. Strong work this morning. Prayers for your M running her half-marathon tomorrow.

Great job to The Late Show and I tried to make some of those 3-count exercises for you to ensure no one (well, mostly me) is cheating at form. Prayers to you and your M in the Spartan tomorrow.

Great job by Hair Band to push through the side stitch you’ve been dealing with. Overcoming pain is good training for the RL&B, right?

Thank you for the push this morning and for keeping the debate on the mud run friendliness of this to a cheerful O2 deprived mockery of me. I did laugh and agree that it seemed more friendly in my mind than it really was.

Rock Appreciation Day at Centurion

Friday morning was warm and pleasant and would have been perfect for a run.  So naturally thirteen PAX gathered at Centruion to do anything but run, out of respect for those participating in the Leatherneck tomorrow of course.  A cynic might suggest that the real reason was that YHC’s first non-Olympus Q was poorly planned for the day before the mud run, and that when it comes to running YHC is slower than molasses rolling uphill in January.  #ACleverRuse.  We welcomed an FNG visiting us from Houston, TX #HookEm, the group was disclaimed and we sauntered approximately 50 yards for COP.

COP:

  • SSH – 25 IC
  • Copperhead Squat – 20 IC
  • IW – 15 IC
  • Merkin – 10 IC
  • 8 Count Bodybuilder – 5 IC
  • #TheresAPattern  #Math

Short jaunt to the rock pile for supersets:

  • Select a rock that builds character and muscle
  • Bicep curls  + triceps extenion – 21 reps each movement, 15 reps each movement, 9 reps each movement
  • Shoulder press + squat – 21 reps each movement, 15 reps each movement, 9 reps each movement
  • Floor chest press + weighted crunch – 21 reps each movement, 15 reps each movement, 9 reps each movement

Mutant Triple Nickel (Cobains to Mermaid for the radical distortion of your signature move)

  • 5 Rock Thrusters
  • Overhead rock carry #EngageTheCore
  • 5 Good Mornings
  • Overhead carry back
  • Repeat 5X

Put down the rocks #Sad and jog to the benches at the front of the school for giant sets

  • Split squat left leg, split squat right leg, incline merkins, dips, decline merkins – giant sets of 25 reps, 15 reps, 5 reps back to back to back to back to back
  • YHC originally planned for 5 rounds of giant sets but time was of the essence and I missed my rock #FriendsForever

Shuffle back to the rocks for Jack Webb’s distant cousin Rocky Webb

  • Diamond merkin on the rock followed by 4 rock presses – rounds of 1,2,3,4 and 5 merkins with 4,8,12,16, and 20 rock presses
  • Return the rocks to the pile #BorderlineMelancholy

Mosey to the apartment complex at Wash & Little

  • 5 burpees, 10 flutter kicks, 15 mountain climbers, 20 LBCs, lap around the parking lot
  • Two rounds of that nonsense

Run back to the launch lot and hold an elbow plank for the last minute of the workout.

Moleskin:

YHC was extremely nervous to Q a bootcamp workout and couldn’t sleep last night, hence the rambling and blatant #HastagAbuse.  We had a solid age span of 30+ years amonst the PAX with representation from the Baby Boomers #GetOffMyLawn, Generation X #HeyRememberMusicVideos?, and Millenials #StudentLoans.  We had the opportunity to welcome an FNG from Houston, TX who attended UT and works for Toys R Us.  As an aside, did you know that former Longhorns coach Mack Brown recruited Heisman trophy winning quarterbacks Robert Griffin III and Johnny Manziel to play safety at Texas?  #HenceTheTermFormer.  Thanks for the opportunity to lead this morning, hopefully the PAX didn’t mind the lack of running too much.  After all, a marathoner has never carried a supermodel out of a burning building. #Probably. 

Announcements:

  • Congratulations to Maverick on his appointment to the United States Navel Academy #boats.  The visible pride with which his father announced that was pretty cool to see.
  • Good luck to all mud run participants tomorrow
  • This Sunday from 12-7 at OMB there is a fundraiser for a 7 year old boy who ives in Cameron Wood near several us.  He has a rare and aggressive brain cancer and is currently undergoing chemo and radiation.  OMB is donating 20% of sales to his recovery and treatment and the event is very family friendly.  Games, bounce houses, raffle, etc.  Please try and come out if you can, even just buying a beer or a pretzel will help.

 

Welcome Back, Humidity

Posted on behalf of Sensei

14 PAX made it out to Peak 51 to burn off some spring break laziness. Not sure who invited the humidity to join us, but since we are all tough guys I did not hear one word about said humidity.

The Thang:

Mosey tot the parking lot and circle up for COP.

  • SSH x20
  • 5 Burpees OYO
  • IW x20
  • 4 Burpees OYO
  • Merkins x 10
  • 3 Burpees OYO
  • Low Slow Squat x 20
  • 2 Burpees OYO
  • MC x 10
  • 1 Burpee OYO

What? Extra credit COP? Sure! To spice it up we reversed the order.

  • MC x 10
  • 2 Burpees OYO
  • Low Slow Squat x 20
  • 3 Burpees OYO
  • Merkins x 10
  • 4 Burpees OYO
  • IW x 20
  • 5 Burpees OYO
  • SSH x 20

Mosey to the rock formation by the fountain, with a drive by of the other rocks at the AO along the way. Thanks Freedom for bringing your head lamp so the Q could see where he was running.

Find a friendly rock and do some circuit work. Geraldo very subtly pointed out that since this is basically the Q’s backyard, he needed to do a better job of his lawn maintenance. I’ll work on that for next time.

Round 1

  • 10 Merkins
  • 15 Dips
  • 20 Step ups

Round 2

  • 10 Incline Merkins
  • 15 Dips
  • 20 Step Ups

Round 3

  • 10 Decline Merkins
  • 15 Dips
  • 20 Step Ups

Round 4

  • 10 Diamond Merkins
  • 15 Dips
  • 20 Step Ups

Mosey to the playground on the track for some Mini Murph

  • 5 Pull ups
  • 10 Merkins
  • 10 Squats (Yes, I said 10 and not 15)
  • Take a lap around the track once done
  • Repeato…
  • Repeato…

Mosey back to the parking lot for COT.

  • Dolly x 15 (Meant to do 20 but thought we were running low on time)
  • Rosalita x 20
  • Flutter x 20
  • Protractor  w/input from the PAX

Moleskin:

It was an honor to lead such a strong group of guys. Thanks for the opportunity and for the support. Next month is my one year anniversary with F3, and I continue to meet some fantastic people and leaders. Thanks to Girls on Film and Gator Bait for coming out, and hope to see you back out again soon. Way to take us out Simba.

Announcements:

  1. Mud Run this weekend
  2. Red, White, and Blue Ruck coming up…talk to Dora if interested.

What is spring break?

14 PAX fought through pollen allergies and skipped spring break to see YHC wheeze through a VQ.

The Thang

Mosey around parking lot in front of Regal.

COP:
SSH x 25
IW x 20
Slow Squat x 20
Mountain Climber x 25
Burp & Merk: Ladder to 10

Magic Number Sequence: A series of laps around the Regal Parking lot. 1 per lap with reps performed at three different places. The magic number of reps is set individually for each PAX prior to the lap… by timing how many reps each person could do in 15 seconds. End result is each lap involves 4 sets of a single exercise at a rep count that should challenge each person.

Heels to Heaven: MN x 4 sets
Carolina Dry Docs: MN x 4 sets
Jump Lunges: MN x 4 sets
LBC: MN x 4 sets
Crab Dips: MN x 4 sets

Mosey to top of Murderhorn.

Murderhorn Race:
Race to the bottom of Murderhorn and back. When first/fastest person reaches the bottom, everyone yells ‘turn’ and heads back up, no matter how far they are down the hill. Goal is to not get passed on the way back up.

Slow recover mosey back to parking lot.

Hill & Jump Sequence:
Partner up. Partner 1 climbs the hill, does 5 burpees at the top, returns. Partner 2 does jump rope (2 legs). Continue until team reaches 200 total jump ropes.

2nd Set. Partner 1 climbs hill, does 5 merkins, returns. Partner 2 does 25 jump ropes (left leg). Repeat with right leg.

Mary:
Flutter x 25 to end.

Moleskin:

Hard work by everyone. Particularly on the MN Sequence, where guys were flying around the parking lot. Crabcake claimed that “Crab Dips” were a tribute to him.

A few complaints from Big Tuna and Strawberry that a VQ should not be allowed to go to the Murderhorn, but grace was given and an excellent effort by everyone. It ended up being fun to all end about the same time… equally gassed. My apologies I can’t remember who got to the bottom first (Peaches? Beaker? Briscuit?)… cause… um… I was far enough back I couldn’t see it.

Jumping rope is a little harder when it’s cheap nylon rope from Amazon, but everyone pushed through.

Hope everyone enjoyed slight variations on the normal routine. Greatly appreciate the support and encouragement for my first time and the chance to lead and take-out a great group of men.

Announcements: Registration available for the F3 Golf Classic. Also pray for the guys doing the mud run this weekend.

Track Free for All

Seven men left the parking lot headed to the track for a “light” workout.  Due to a few PAX headed to the Mud Run this weekend, we set out for a track workout OYO,  Everyone seemed relaxed as we began the trek to the track.  Although the first mile was a bit faster than a fellowship pace, Honey Bee, although supposedly tapering for the mud run, stepped it up on the second mile as he surged past the PAX and set his own pace.  New site FNG, Double E decided he wasn’t having that and stayed hot on Honey Bee’s trail.  Nice work Double E!

Once at the track, several PAX chose to do a mini boot camp workout while others proceeded to push themselves and their pace around the track.

The PAX all found there way back to the parking lot with no errant wrong turns and no lost PAX, so YHC considers this a win.

Announcements:

Welcome to Site FNG Double E – Good to have you out and we hope you can join us again in the future.

Good Luck to all mud run team members this weekend.

Check out the new third F at Ballantyne after Bagpipe on Wednesdays.

Check out the F3 Golf Tournament.

So you’re not doing the mud run on Saturday. Now what?

For one reason or another you decided not to do the mud run. How come? You didn’t find a team in time? You’re just not really into obstacle races? You had one too many Bud Light limes last night, overslept and missed the bus to Columbia? Your wife just had a baby? You don’t want to get your new shoes dirty? You’re on the mend from a “procedure”? Your kid has a football game at 10 and you won’t make it back in time?

Well partner, you’re in luck – there’s a Saturday workout designed just for you. Ascent, Day Zero, Olympus, and The Rock are converging on the Ascent AO (Olde Providence Elementary) at 0700.

FAQs:

Q: “Geez, I don’t know, I was kinda looking forward to sleeping in.”
A: Don’t be a Sally. Come post.

Q: “Bro, convergences sound a little soft. I’m really only into checking out my biceps and swinging heavy balls of metal.”
A: KB work will be heavy in the rotation. Come get your swings on.

Q: “Metal balls? That sounds a bit intimidating. Moderate workouts are more my thing.”
A: This workout will cater to all – moderate up to the most extreme. Come post.

Q: “Will this workout be hard enough? I usually post at Day Zero.”
A: See above.

Q: “OK, yeah, I get it. But what if I typically just show up to workouts, refusenik half the exercises and talk trash the entire time?”
A: Radar, you’ll fit in just fine. Come on out.

Q: “The BRR is coming up. I figured I’d take the day off and do a sad clown run.”
A: There will be running. Don’t be a Sally. Come post.

Q: “But I usually only post at [fill in the blank].”
A: There will be a great mix of pax and Q’s from varying workouts. It will be awesome.

Q: “Get a room.”
A: Touche.
Swiss Miss, Gullah, and YHC have a wicked weinke planned. Bring your A-game and any kettlebells you have to the Ascent AO on Saturday at 0700. Don’t have a KB? Don’t worry, we’ll have plenty to go around. See you Saturday.

Alabama Slammer

With a Weinke conceived and refined in Alabama, 13 pax accepted the challenge as true Giryas.

COP:

  • SSH – 20 IC
  • Prying Squat – 3
  • Merkins – 15 IC
  • Low Slow Squats – 10 IC
  • IW – 10 IC

Grab a working sized bell, plus one smaller, and mosey to the playground.

Simple & Sinister

  • 100 1-hand Swings
  • 10 Turkish Getups

Ladder Up to 5 (L & R)

  • High Pull
  • Clean & Press (clean each time)
  • Racked Squat

Multiples of 7:

  • 7 Pullups
  • 14 Presses (2-hand)
  • 21 Teabag Squats (deadlifts)
  • Complete circuit 3 times

Mary:

  • Louganis – 10 OYO
  • Russian Twist – 20 IC (2-count cadence)
  • Flutter Press – 20 IC (2-count cadence)
  • (forgot the planned Pullovers…should have consulted the Weinke…)

Mosey back to parking lot

  • 50 Snatches or Swings (or any mixture thereof)

Time

COT

Announcements:

  1. F3 Golf – sign up by 4/16.
  2. F3 Golf – Meathead is sponsoring the long drive hole – Brown and High Tide are soliciting donations.
  3. Foxhole – under new management and featuring an all-star cast of Q’s over the next few months.  Busch is on Q this week.
  4. Diamonhead – YHC is on Q this week.

Naked Moleskine:

Great group of meatheads out there today, including site FNG Byron & Squid (1st or 2nd time out?).  Gummy and Stump Hugger were out, continuing to recover from all that running nonsense – good to see you.  And many familiar iron wielders.  Stay Puft was our War Daddy (War Chicken?  Rallying cry for that other Alabama school that shall go unnamed in this respectable backblast)(still, respect based on age and the run in), while Sanka took War Baby honors.

There was some mumblechatter and funny looks when YHC called for a mosey with your bells (regular + one smaller), but all was ok once the playground was reached.  The call for 100 1-hand swings had a few questioning their choice of bells, which led to the explanation of the 2nd bell (don’t smoke yourself this early in the workout).

Only a few grumbles were heard in reply to the call for Turkish getups, so the substitutionary 100 burpees went unused.  Well done by all.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead.  Contact YHC to get on the Q rotation, if you’re not already on it.

Thanks, Byron, for taking us out and reminding us of all we have and who we are and the responsibilities & opportunities we have.

Aye!