Preblast: The Brave – US Army Ranger Physical Fitness Test
Have big goals for 2015? Let me guess…. workout more, run faster, get stronger? Start your year off right with our first US Army Ranger Physical Fitness Test of 2015. We plan on running the test every 6 – 8 weeks so the PAX can measure their improvement throughout the year. The goal is to get a solid a base line tomorrow at The Brave and use the result as a measuring stick on your improvement as we head toward the Spring Mud Run and the BRR.
The Ranger PT test consists of the following:
– 2 minutes – max pushups
– 2 minutes – max situps with someone holding your ankles
– Max Pull-ups
– Timed 5 Mile Run.
We will launch at 0515 at the The Vine Restaurant in Ballantyne, come warmed up. We will mosey down to the workout trail for the push-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups, then start our run near the fitness trail. See the route map above, we will make two laps.
See you in the Gloom.
Madame Tussauds
Meat Grinders
7 pax for the weekly #0.0 beatdown known as Meathead. Without further ado, here’s what they ground out:
The Thang:
COP:
- SSH – 18 IC
- Prying Squats – 3 IC
- Halo – Left – 5
- Prying Squats – 3 IC
- Halo – Right – 5
Mosey to playground. 2-hand swings while waiting for the music to start. #noads
Simple & Sinister
- 100 1-hand swings – 10 swings every 30 seconds (resting if you finish early), switching hands after each 10 swings – modify with 2-hand swings as needed
- 10 Turkish Getups – 5 per side – modify as needed #crowdpleaser
- 2-hand swings until all pax are completed
Active Recovery
- 5 pullups
- 10 merkins
- 15 teabag (sumo) squats
- Rinse & repeat for 10 minutes
The Finisher
- 10 Snatches – 5 per side
- 10 Clean & Press – 5 per side
- 10 Staggered Goblet Squats – 5 per side
- Rinse & repeat for 8 minutes
Mary
- Teapots – 5 per side
- Flutter w/ Press – 20 IC
- Superman Merkins – 10 IC
- Reverse Superman (aka the Banana) – hold for time x 2
- Russian Twist, touching bell to ground each side – 10 IC
Done
COT
Announcements:
Begin forming your teams and signing up for BRR & Spring Mud Run
Moleskin-e:
T-claps to all for pushing through the many grinding exercises today, as YHC sought to mix things up a little from our usual ballistic dosages.
Welcome to site FNG’s Hoser and Strange Brew. Glad to have you guys out today and look forward to seeing you again.
Acknowledged – the Turkish getups suck and are a real #crowdpleaser. However, it’s been said, and therefore must be true, that they are great for building shoulder strength. Paired with swings, the two exercises will provide 80% of the benefit you’ll receive from KB training. So I’ve read…So we did them… The particular pairing today of the 100 1-hand swings + 10 TGU’s is known as the Simple & Sinister routine, and I’ll agree with that one. The Simple part is building up to using a 32kg for each (not there yet), while the Sinister is reaching the 48kg Beast for each (not going there). Anyway, that’s the method behind today’s madness.
The early move to the playground was to provide a more suitable TGU surface than the rough parking lot. While the mulch was softer, it was somewhat unstable at times. Next time, perhaps we’ll try the smooth track, unless the grass is dry.
Well done, Hoser and Tiger Rag, working through your injuries on the Turkish getups, modifying as needed, as well as the other exercises. For those reading this who weren’t there, Hoser posted wearing an ankle boot! Needless to say, YHC was not prepared with a suggested modification for that! TR continues to mend his calf, which I understand may be on a road near you very soon.
Speaking of TR, he was again swinging doubles today on the Finisher portion, apparently not getting enough Thurs, Mon, & Tues. Strong!
Since no one commented, let it be know that YHC was sporting the Meathead/Gear sleeveless shirt today…albeit underneath the fleece outerlayer. A little bit cooler today than first thought and nearly caused a cold wardrobe fail. Thankfully, the fleece salvaged me.
Bananas brings the heat next week.
Thanks for coming out each week and for the opportunity to lead.
Aye.
Out of Time
13 strong on hand for a running merkinfest neighborhood invasion, with a few minutes of Mary scattered along the way. Here’s how it went:
Run to the super high quality parking lot on opposite side of school
CoP
Disclaimer and Whisper Cadence Warning for Neighborhood Invasion
Merkins x 15
SSH x 25
IW x 25 (20, 25, not sure)
Merkin Death Spiral #crowdpleaser
-10 single count merkins, hold six inches for 10 seconds
-9 single count merkins, hold six inches for 9 seconds
-And so on down to 1
-10 single count merkins for good measure
Neighborhood Invasion
Fast mosey to Bellmore Hall
Run single file through the gate #gateswhatgates
Fire pit 10s: Dips and Derkins
Mosey down the hill to the to cul de sac
LBC x 25
Bicycle x 15
Up the hill to the gate, 5 jump squats at each street light (7 of them maybe?)
Plank, wait for the Six
Bear Crawl to corner
Lunge walk to next corner
Gather in yard of my buddy Scott W who refuses to come to F3 after 2 years of attempted EH #sadclown #refusenik
Flutter x 15
Mosey to Casa de Chico
Rosalita x 20
Mosey back down the hill
On your belly, AYG to the top of the hill
Exit Bellmore Hall
Neighborhood #2
Fast mosey into Chadwick
Up the hill to the cul de sac
5 Burpees at the top; 10 jump squats at the bottom
Back up the hill to the intersection; 5 Burpees
Running out of time, AYG out of Chadwick and back to OPE
Naked Moleskin:
YHC rolled in hot with 30 seconds to game time. We kept it moving pretty good and kept warm. The merkin death spiral is always a crowd pleaser, especially the extra 10 merkins to finish. It takes so much out of me that everything else becomes more difficult. Not much mumble chatter until the pax began to realize I had us far from home with time expiring. Sorry about the extra credit (especially to those who ran in, like F3 Prius member Cheese Curd). Larry Bird arrivals at the school at 6:18, the Six arrived by 6:20 or so. Almost all standing and gasping for CoT. I hope this means y’all were as smoked as I was.
Workout was frontloaded with merkins and backloaded with running, but we got plenty of each. I had us at 140 merkins, lots of 6 inch planks and just over 3 miles with some hills. Our Mary was sprinkled in throughout, especially since time was tight and my shoulders were gonna quit working. OP is such a great AO that we rarely leave campus, but I couldn’t resist charting some new territory. I wanted to invade my buddy Scott’s house, and my 7 year old son requested we buzz the tower at Casa de Chico.
Plenty of Larry Birds. Chelms was a front runner all day. Bug Eater must have had a bug in his drawers or something because he flew up the Bellmore Hall hill when we did the AYG. That might have smoked him though. Glad to see 3 members of the newly minted F3 Prius team for Palmetto 200. #needonemoreguy. Thanks to Silent Bob for venturing down from Metro, and good work by Olaf in only his second workout.
Bugeater, thanks for the opportunity to lead the pax and for the great takeout.
Smoked on the Peak
Ten fierce warriors fought back the gloom and made it to the top of Peak51. Here’s the thang:
Mosey around front of church to back and over to school bus lot.
COP:
- SSH-15
- IW-15
- Merkins-15
- LSS-15
Mosey to playground equipment and find a pullup or supine pullup bar
Up & hold 5 count then 5-count descent
10 recovery Merkins OYO
REPEATO minus 1 Merkin each round until 1 Merkin,
Mosey to parking lot, partner up (opposite speed)
Partner 1: SSH while P2 moves to opposite side doing following exercise: (mosey back then flapjack)
- lunge walk
- bear crawl
- frog jump
- “speed skate”
- sprint
Plank when done
Repeat: Switch out SSH with Peter Parkers
Mosey to the tundra and circle up for some Mary.
Pax #1 calls ab exercise and takes recovery mosey around ring. Remaining Pax perform called exercise OYO. Repeato until all Pax have gone. (YHC recalls: Flutter, Merkins, IW, Mountain Climber, Protractor, Freddy Mercury (variable speed), Sid-the-Kid, Russian Twist, Rosalita, LBC)
Mosey to benches by side of theater: 15 dips, 15 decline/incline Merkins, 15 step-ups OYO. Wall-sit when done
Mosey to cars. Time’s up.
Moleskin
- DT, Sensei and SlimFast arrived early to knock out a few miles before the main show. #Respect
- Missing brother found: Insomniac made an appearance after almost 2 months hibernation. With all the gloom this morning I’m pretty sure he didn’t see his shadow, so expect to see him posting at many future A51 workouts.
- Geraldo pulled the ruck out of his car before we got started. I didn’t see it come off until it was time for Mary. #Strong
- DT was a real beast: not only did the pre run, but also crushed the workout.
- The continuous activity back and forth across the parking lot winded me and I’m guessing a few others, yet a few Pax kept up a continuous mumblechatter. Geraldo and Simba maybe? YHC salutes your O2 resilience.
- The band had a little trouble with the key signature when it came to circle of Mary, with several Pax calling questionable ab exercises. IW, okay I get it. Merkins? Also, thought Sid-the-Kid was trademarked by Strange Brew. Not a crowd favorite.
- Nice take out from DT.
- Thank you for the honor of leading, gentlemen. And for graciously applying some form of modify to spare me penalty burpees at the end.
Announcements
Sign up for the spring Mud Run
Start assembling your team for the Fall Blue Ridge Relay
#F3Dromedary – Ski Patrol for the Stuff that never came
@0530, 5 PAX launched into the gloom this morning at Marvin Ridge High School. Freezing rain was forecasted, but all we saw were some tiny puddles.
The Thang:
- Opening COP in Cadence: Side Straddle Hop x 20, Imperial Walker x 20, Low Slow Squat x 20, Mountain Climbers x 20, Merkins x 10
- Mosey to the rock pile while avoiding ankle breakers and shoe washers. Grab a rock, skirt the side of the hill and head to the Middle School Awning. Rocks over head for part of the way.
- At the tables, 11s with Derkins and Jump-ups w/ 5 thrusters with rock in between each 11
- Bring your rock and head to the middle school activity track for some ski patrol prep with 10 exercises at the four corners. Carry rock unless otherwise told.
- Cross Country skiing (jumping lunges)
- Rock Hoppers (no rock)
- The perfect Wedge (side lunges 10x side)
- Tighten those ski boots (dead lifts)
- Plank for the six
- Repeato sans rock
- Repeato with rock
- Bunny slope tunnel of love – line up in normal plank facing same direction. First PAX bunny hops with rock to the last man and resumes plank, next man, …. , all the way to the next corner.
- Mosey with the rock and deposit in a different pile (we’ll get them next time).
- Mosey back to COT and do some Mary x 20: LBC, Dolly, Mason Twists, Rosalita, J-Lo until time expires
Ye olde Moleskin
- YHC was the first to arrive at the parking lot. Noting the mild conditions and that the BIG track was open, the weinke was almost thrown out. Bananas and Hot Pants arrived, so sanity returned. Next time the track / stadium is open, YHC will have a back pocket weinke prepared.
- The path to the rocks isn’t bad, but YHC understands the PAX were apprehensive without proper lighting. One little headlamp doesn’t cut it, but the rocks are really nice to have. YHC’s forearms are having some difficulty typing up this backblast from carrying that rock around this morning.
- There wasn’t much planking today to catch up the PAX. Everyone is improving and notably Hot Pants’ run in showing a big improvement. He’s ready for the track.
- Dasher blew away the 11s on the derkins/jump-ups/thrusters. He was in constant movement and barely broke a sweat. He probably planked for a few minutes waiting for the rest of us to catch up.
- Chanel and Bananas (in battle for the War Baby designation today) were recorded in the Skunkworks backblast, so they were probably not big fans of the rock work. However, YHC knew they were probably still not up for the BIG track today. Still, no one could get mixed up with the size of the rocks those two were throwing around. And they would just sling the rock up on their shoulder and run around with them like it was a towel.
- Great fun to be had at Dromeday! Come explore the campus with us. If you’re ready to step up and lead a week, contact Bananas or Bratwurst.
Announcements:
- Blue Ridge Relay Signups have started. Let Turkey Leg know if you’re interested.
- Spring Mud run is on April 11, 2015. Sign-ups will be in the next week. Build your 4 man team for one of the best F3 events of the year.
- F3 Fight Club starts this Saturday at 0800 at the Vine in Ballantyne. Show up if you want more info about Fight Club.
Never Ending Hill Runs
13 brothers met at The Maul for some hump day hard work. Here’s what we did:
The Thang:
COP:
SSH X 20
Burpees X 5 OYO
IW X 20
Burpees X 5 OYO
Merkins X 15
Burpees X 5 OYO
Mountain Climbers X 15
Burpees X 5 OYO
Squats X 15
Burpees X 5 OYO
Line up at the bottom of the hill
Run up and down the hill wait at the bottom for the six X 10
Lap around the parking lot
Merkins X 15 IC
Run up and down the hill wait at the bottom for the six X 5
Merkins X 15 IC
Back towards the hill – Bear crawls across the parking lot and crabwalk back
Back towards the hill – Backwards Run up and down the hill wait at the bottom for the six X 5
LBCs X 20, Dollies X 20, Flutter X 10
Run up and down the hill wait at the bottom for the six X 10
6MOM – Heels to Heaven, LBCs, Merkins, J-Los, Mason Twist,
COT
Moleskin:
Mic Check was scheduled to Q today, but a late night text saying he had an early morning conflict allowed me the privilege of leading the guys in The Gloom this morning. With such short notice, I thought back to one of the top 5 hardest workouts I’ve done with F3 in my year long career. One 10 degree Friday morning at Centurion last winter, Purple Haze lined us up at the bottom of Palatine Hill and said “We are going to run up and down this hill until I’m sick of it”. It was intense, no breaks, just up and down that hill for 45 minutes straight. It was awful. So awful, that I thought I’d borrow that workout this morning. I didn’t use his format exactly, but 30 trips up and down a grassy hill (including 5 backwards runs) at The Maul is quite an accomplishment. I threw a few burpees, merkins and bear crawls at the guys just so their upper bodies could stay warm.
As always, it was an honor leading the PAX in the Gloom.
Announcements:
-BRR Signups have started. The SOBs would like to start a Ballantyne team. We need 9-12 Ballantyne guys to make a team. Let Madame Tussauds know if you’re interested.
-Spring Mud run is on April 11, 2015. Sign-ups will be in the next week. Build your 4 man team for one of the best F3 events of the year.
-YHC is on Q at Stonehenge at 0600 this Saturday for my 1 year F3 anniversary
-US Army Ranger test will be held at The Brave at 0515 this Friday.
– F3 Fight Club starts this Saturday at 0800 at the Vine in Ballantyne. Show up if you want more info about Fight Club
Death Valley and the Witch’s… er, um…
16 PAX disregarded the threat of catastrophic ice, wind, snow and polar cap shifts to endure a Slim Fast-delivered dose of pain. Of course, it is easy for YHC to say that since I had 2-3 layers on, but I am a self-proclaimed cold weather wuss, so no news there!
Anyway, with a heart-felt disclaimer, off we went…
The Thang:
Couple of laps around the parking lot for warm-up with butt-kickers and high knees. Circle up for COP:
SSH x 20
Mountain Climbers x 20
Imperial Walkers x 20
Squats x 20
Peter Parker x 20
Rock Hoppers x 20
Quick plank stuff…
Next is simple pyramid, ladder, or Witch’s ____ since it was as cold as one… !!!
This is how it looked:
<set> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Burpees 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 = 45
Merkins 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 = 70
CDD’s 15 15 15 15 15 = 75
Jump Squats 20 20 20 = 60
Nippler Merkins 30 = 30
So the sets are vertical (down). We started at the Snack Shack for Set 1, then to track for sets 2-3, then to baseball field for set 4, back to track for sets 5-6, back to baseball field for 7, back to track for 8, then finish at snack shack for set 9. 2.25 miles total.
Grab some wall… 3 sets of people’s chair with arm presses x50.
Back to parking lot for Mary…
Dolly x 20
Flutter x 20
Protractor as administered by Geraldo
LBC x 25
Done…
Moleskin:
Always an honor to lead and/or workout with this group of men. Of course, the most cold weather averse guy gets to Q on one of the more extreme FORECASTED mornings, but which never materialized. I wasn’t sure which surface was going to be viable… grass, asphalt, both, NEITHER! The main thing was to keep us moving, so hopefully that was accomplished, and hopefully everyone was breathing as hard as I was!
Semi-Gloss, Header, Busch, Stagecoach, Hairball and YHC joined in for some pre-KB fellowship.
No new faces, but man, all of you guys are getting strong! Everyone stayed together pretty closely today, and no one was struggling with the exercises and repetitions, even with the running built-in as recovery. The Witch will be disappointed!
Sussudio took us out.
Announcements:
1. Continue to watch website for 3rd F/Community opportunities. There are a lot of neat ones out there, and they are all very worthwhile.
2. Strange Brew mentioned Fight Club… I thought the number one rule is to never talk about Fight Club… but…. starts Saturday night. Contact SB for more info.
Preblast: We head to the hills and new levels of fitness
New Years is behind us and PR’s are now securely documented for the Joe Davis run. It is now time to take our fitness to new levels and a tempo run through hills is a great way to do it. We are headed to our now standard Piper Glen route for this week’s Devil’s Turn.
We will launch from the 4 Mile Creek Greenway parking area http://goo.gl/maps/Whecl at the corner of Rea & Bevington on Thursday morning at 0515. There are 4, 6, and 7+ mile options available. See below for the options:
1) Standard Blue Pill (4 miles) – Run 0.75 mile apartment loop, out to Piper Glen, run the Old Course loop and back to lot (perhaps with a little makeup distance down Bevington Place). All this done at a comfortable pace.
2) Aggressive Blue Pill (4 miles) – Do all the above, but instead of a consistent pace, run 1.5 mile at “easy” pace, 1.5 miles at “marathon” pace, and 1 mile at “easy” pace.
3) Red Pill (6+ miles) – Run 1 mile at “easy” pace building to 2 mile at “marathon” pace, 1 mile at “threshold” pace, 1 mile at “marathon” pace, then cool down with 1 to 2 miles at “easy” pace.
Find your applicable paces at the following link: http://runsmartproject.com/calculator
The Piper Glen Hill Routes (both 4 and 6 mile) can be found in the original post here: http://f3nation.com/2014/06/18/devils-turn-preblast-time-to-hit-the-hills/
A quote is included below from www.halhigdon.com on the idea of tempo runs.
A Tempo Run of 30 to 40 minutes would begin with 10-15 minutes easy running, building to to peak pace for 10-20 minutes near the middle, then 5-10 minutes easy toward the end. The pace buildup should be gradual, not sudden, with peak speed coming about two-thirds into the workout. (You don’t need to maintain peak speed for more than a few minutes toward the middle of the workout.)
Frisbees and Animal Field Work
13 thoroughly wrapped up pax jumped out of their chariots to some tunes blasting out of Rev Flo-Rida’s trunk, to get the icy (where was it) beatdown.
The Thang
Once around the track- forward, Karaoke, backward, Karaoke, forward
SSH x 20
IW x 20
Merkin x 10
Slow Squat x 20
Wide Arm Merkin x 10
Monkey Humper x 15
Mosey to Goal Line- Burpee Suicides
To the Opposite 20yd line, 10 Burpees, sprint back
To the Opposite 30 yd line, 10 Burpees, sprint back
To the Opposite 40 yd line, 10 Burpees, sprint back
To the 50 yd line, 10 Burpess, sprint back
Frisbee Hairburner Relay race: (2 Teams)
Burn the Frisbees 25 yards and back while your team does LBCs, Flutters, Dolly
Burn the Frisbees 15 yards and back while your team continues with LBCs, Flutters, Dolly
Animal Field Work:
Bear Crawl – 50 yds
Turtle Crawl- 50 yds
(Audible)
Scorpian Crawl- 25 yds, sprint back
Crab Walk- 25 yds, sprint back
Duck Walk- 25 yds, sprint back
Ring of Fire- (cirle up)
Each Pax calls an exercise while that person does Animal crawl around the circle (YHC can’t remember all that was called)
Gasers- 100s x 5
COT
Ye Ole Naked Moleskine:
– Love the Rev. Flo-Rida’s encouragement and comments…Yes, the Abs stuff will make you look better naked. OH, and thanks for the musical entertainment during the Ring of Fire.
– Ausman brothers in the house- quiet, stealth and strong performance
– Tesla (Respect) always encourages YHC and thanks for the strong TakeOut
– Frisbees hairburners seem to be a crowd pleaser if dirty looks=crowd pleaser? Thanks TR for the discs, they are nice and shined up for you.
– Scorpian crawl proved to be a real kick in the teeth, maybe because it was after Bear and Turtle, shoulder burn
-In the end, all did a great job out there this am, giving it your best. #ISI Thanks for letting me lead The Charge….love how that sounds!
Annoucements:
Spring Mudrun coming up very soon
Starting thinking about BRR, Sept. 11-12
Need more Cowbell (Kettlebell)? then check out CORE Meltdown, Thurs at Beverly Woods
Lucky Seven
Shovel flag planted firmly by Cane. 7 strong men determined that the weather forecast would not keep them from getting better at Anvil. Weather was a non-factor. No disclaimer needed for this veteran crew. Off we went into the gloom.
Thang
Mosey from launch lot between CDC and sanctuary around the front of the sanctuary to the field by entrance 3 off Rae Rd.
COP
SSH x 10 IC
IW x 10 IC
Mountain Climber x 10 IC
Alternating Shoulder Taps x 15 IC
Merkin x 15 IC
Short mosey down to the base of North Face
Jacob’s Ladder
7 trips up North Face with increasing number of Double Merkin Burpees at the top. Started with 1 and increased by 1 each trip up to 7. Plank at top to wait for six.
Mosey to parking lot between Main Galleria Entrance and launch lot.
Mary
Exercises to 10 IC: Flutter/Dolly/Heels to Heaven/LBC/Rosalita/Hold
Protractor with three 10 counts at 6 inches/45/6 inches
Merkin x 20 IC
Mosey to base of hill at soccer fields.
Triple Nickel
Run to top of hill. 5 Crucible Merkin. Run to bottom. 5 Squats. 5 reps
When finished with Triple Nickel take one full lap around CHAMP fields perimeter to the pavilion and complete Bench Set: 15 step-up/15 dip/15 derkin. Take immediate seat in People’s Chair upon completion. 10 count from each PAX when all assumed position.
Mosey to rock pile and grab an exercise rock.
Rapid Fire Rock Set
Exercises to 15 in civilian cadence count: Curl/Tri Extension/Press/Overhead hold with two 10 counts. 2 repetitions. Drop rock. Merkin x 15 IC.
Mosey to far side of launch lot. Line up.
Short Rest Sprints
AYG across parking lot x 8
Wheel of Merkin after sprint #4. At curb, 15 incline merkin. Rotate 90. 15 offset right merkin. Rotate 90. 15 derkin. Rotate 90. 15 offset left merkin. Offset with one hand on curb.
Complete last 4 sprints to end at shovel flag for BOM.
Moleskin
Weather forecast was wrong. Perfect conditions for the work we do at Anvil. Small, but powerful crew took to getting through YHC’s weinke. Jacob’s Ladder at North Face got the heart rate up. Boutique and Margo pushing hard and leading the way on this set. Strong work by all to stay close together and push each other. Lots of sharpening today at Anvil. Triple Nickel/Lap/Bench Set/People’s Chair was a good combo. PAX continued to push each other through this set. Rapid Rock Sets seem to find a way into most of YHC’s workouts. Overhead holds with double 10 counts were felt by all and reminded YHC of a scene in Unbroken. Sprints to end the workout done in attempt to empty some gas tanks. Would have needed another 45 minutes with this group. Very strong work by all today. Thank you for pushing YHC and one another men. Thank you to Young Love for a very meaningful takeout prayer. Truly a pleasure and privilege to lead a fine group of men through this workout.
Announcements
Blue Ridge Relay. If you are interested see the pre-blast email sent out by Turkey Leg and express your interest to him directly. It is a great opportunity for 1st F and 2nd F.
Hoskins Park Ministry volunteer opportunity 01/24/2015. Iron Horse looking for 20-30 HC’s to help scrape paint off a house being rehabilitated to house 5 homeless men in Charlotte. 9:30 to 3:00. Get in touch with IH if you can help.
Team Chepul Hill. 03/21/2015 10K/5K/1 mile fun run to raise money for brain cancer research. See preblast, weekly email, and tweets from Chelms aka Tater Tot for more information.