Slugfest

Slugfest

Today was my Ignition VQ! Was a good run with everyone that worked their butts off! And NO this is not the express, we went doing merkins/burpees/big boys!

Warmup:

Mosey from the main parking lot around the school to the high school large parking lot.

Stretch / warm up

The Thang:

3 rounds of up hill runs (to the traffic island)(approx. ¼ mile).  5 merkins at the island, run back down, 5 merkins at the start followed by planks while waiting on the six.

3 rounds of up hill runs up to the spirit rock (approx. ½ mile).  20 big boys at the rock, run back down, hold plank at the start (a lot of groaning went on during this time).

And then we were off to Champion Forest

Started at the street where it is approx a one mile loop, split into 2 groups where we would meet in the middle.

1 mile loop Indian run, after each group cycle, 10 merkins (alt from Diamond, wide, and regular)

Pax met in the middle for 10 burpees, 20 merkins, and 30 big boys.

Indian run continued until group met once again.

10 merkins, then run back to campus with planks and merkins along the way.

5+ miles were accomplished by the team today! Great job everyone !

You’re an evil man

Today’s Swole blackbast title was Voodoo’s response to hearing my plan on Sunday afternoon.

YHC rolled in at about 5:27 with 4 pax waiting in the parking lot.   I only needed one bell(28 kg) so I took it out of the car and was ready to go.  Hoover showed up during the warmup.

Warm Up 10 Windmills and 10 Arm Circles in each direction

The Main Event:

20 Swings:  1 Turkish Getup Left Hand

20 Swings: 1 Turkish Getup Right Hand

10 Swings: 5 snatches each hand

Repeato 5 rounds, with increasing snatches each round 6 each hand, 7 each hand, 8 each hand, 9 each hand.

1 min waiter carry left, 1 min rest 1 min waiter carry right

1 min Elbow Plank

1 Min Hollow body hold

1 Min Glute Bridge

End

COT

Voodoo takes the reigns at Meathead on Wednesday.

YHC needs help finding a venue for the upcoming SOB/A51 Blood Drive.  We need a large air conditioned room for 5-6 hours.  Think church fellowship halls, school cafeterias, gyms, etc.  This would ideally be in the early part of October but we are flexible at this point.

I thought BLC was on Q?

When YHC got the text from Geraldo on Friday afternoon for a Q on Saturday morning, I figured I’ve been riding free at Rock Zero long enough to say no.  Also, fartsacking just to skip out on a Q isn’t an excuse.  So, I promised nothing creative and plenty of “filler” for our hour together.  (However, this would provide a good excuse to stop working for the day and start putting something together.)

After a weak disclaimer to this veteran group, we were off.

Mosey around the parking lot towards the baseball field and circle up.

Warm-up

  • SSH x 20
  • Hill Billies x 15
  • Mountain Climbers x 15
  • Merkins x 10

The Thang

Head to the baseball field to celebrate America’s pastime being back (for now).  Starting at Home Plate, perform exercises along the outfield fence, returning to home plate after each for more exercises:

  • Left Field Foul Pole : 10 x Carolina Dry Docks
  • Center Field : 10 x Big Boy Situps
  • Left Field Foul Pole : 10 x Merkins
  • Home Plate : 10 x Squats

We did 3 Rounds in total, and YHC could already tell it would be a battle breathing in the humidity this morning, and not just for the asthmatic Q.  Let’s do some Mary to wait on the 6 and allow me to adjust to breathing through a straw.  (Strike 1 – At this point, a more seasoned and smarter Q would have adjusted the planned workout, but YHC pressed forward with somewhat of a plan in mind.)

Mosey over to the rock pile by 51, grab a lifting rock, and head to the parking lot next door for some rock/island work.  Line up abreast with the first island with your rock (where it stays) for a pyramid of sorts:

  • Island Exercise : Merkin
  • Rock Exercise : Thrusters on the way up, Lateral Burpees on the way down

(Run to first island, do 1 Merkin, run back to the rock and do 1 Thruster.  Run to the second island, do 2 Merkin, run back to the rock and do 2 Thrusters.  Keep going to the last island, then, return to the 7th island and start working your way back down changing the rock exercise to Lateral Burpees).

After making sure Alf had a murky idea of the goal, since he was going to be out front, we were off.  After about the 3rd island, YHC noticed the mumble chatter was minimal, at best, and most looked like they smoke a couple packs a day as they’re trying to breath.  Time to “read the room” and call an audible.  Plank up after the 7th island on the way up for some Mary (Boone crunch, Dolly, etc.).  Strike 2 was calling any type of burpee at this point.  We substituted for Curls and Tricep Presses on the way down.

Return your rocks and find a spot for some Plank-O-Rams (check the box for my promised “filler”).  Slow mosey back to launch for some crab walk, lunge walks, and 10 hand release merkins until time.

In all, just over 3 miles on a muggy morning to start our weekends.

Moleskinny

  • Cheese Curd started off the morning with some trash talk to the guys at Olympus about who would have more people show up and invited them to join the Boot Camp.  (They may have made the right call to stay in the parking lot.)  Also, called YHC out for ending at 7:59.  I think his watch is still on vacation, it was 8.
  • Boererwors told me he was “phoning it in” due to some lumberjacking he did the previous day before he knew I was Q’ing.  Exactly what I wanted to hear…..
  • Hoover blamed his cat and dog for missing his pre-run.  I wish I wasn’t focused on figuring out the workout at that point because I have some follow-up questions….
  • Geraldo asked me multiple occasions if the exercises we did were part of my promised “filler”.  Surprise!  All of it was.
  • Levi and OT put in some strong workouts without much mumble chatter….or I was just in my own head trying to figure out what we were going to do next.
  • Floor Slapper looked disappointed when he pulled in and we hadn’t launched yet.
  • Alf had the quote of the day saying “running in this humidity makes the pace feel at least 2 minutes faster than it is”.  If that’s how Alf felt, I was at least at 5 minutes.  Also, Alf ignored my audible and still did the burpees in the parking lot.  McGee called it correctly last week “Alf is hard”.

 

 

 

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).

Dirty Dozen at Meathead

Another big day for gear at Meathead on Wednesday with a strong 12 posting. It seems like the weekday gear workouts are really taking off. After a weak disclaimer (be glad I said it at all since I usually forget!), we got started with a similarly weak warm up of SSHs and IWs. Then it was time for the main event, which was focused on 250 swings.

  • 15 swings, 5 cleans per side, 5 lawnmowers per side
  • 35 swings, 10 goblet squats

Repeato for 5 rounds. On the 3rd round, we did 50 swings straight, then the cleans, lawnmowers, and goblet squats to mix it up. 250 swings, 50 cleans, 50 presses, and 50 goblet squats.

Next was :30 of suitcase carries per side, four times through. We wrapped up with some elbow plank until time ran out.

5 pax (YHC, Hoover, High Tide, War Eagle, and Taco Stand) struggled through a 3 mile 2nd F post-run.

Announcements:

  • All of the gear workouts are open to volunteer Qs. We’ll provide the outline of a weinke, you provide the tunes and leadership. Please reach out Mighty Mite or YHC if you’re interested. If no one raises their hand, we’ll just tell you you’re Qing.
  • We’re always looking for new program ideas, so if you’ve got anything you’d like to try, please reach out.
  • Meathead will be going back to 0530 workouts in the near future to accommodate those pax who need to get kids to school. We’ll make an announcement when the time comes, update the schedule, and put something on Slack.

Moleskine:

  • It’s been great having strong numbers at Swole and now Meathead. The more, the merrier. Thanks for coming out and thanks for allowing me to lead.
  • If you’re at all curious about KB work, this is a good time to come out as we’re focused primarily on the core KB exercise, the swing. There’s a little variety with the accessory exercises, but we’re keeping it pretty simple.
  • T-claps to Mighty Mite and High Tide, who are both swinging 32s out there. I guess I need to step up my game…
  • Please sound off in the comments below if you have any thoughts/comments/feedback, etc.

 

 

If You Can’t Do It…

…don’t Q it. AYE. YHC should have taken that advice into account when we set off into the soupy Gloom this morning.

The Thang

Mosey up to the top of the entrance to the school for a warmarama interspersed with ascending Burpees up to 5

Head down Deal Road to Wedgewood and then follow Wedgewood to the bottom of the big hill
McGee Smokemeter = 2/10

Run back up the hill (approx 0.15 miles), do 6 Burpees
Run down the hill, do 6 Tarantulas (leaping lunges + jump squat = 1)
Repeat ascending until 10 Burpees / 10 Tarantulas
Return for the 6
McGee Smokemeter = 7/10

Continue down Wedgewood to the end (approx 0.4 miles)
6 minutes of McGee Mary (no touching the ground with your feet)
McGee Smokemeter = 4/10

Run back to the previous hill circuit (0.4 miles) and pause for 6
McGee Smokemeter = 8/10

Run up the hill and do 11 Burpees
McGee Smokemeter = 10/10

Run back up the rest of the hill to Deal Road
McGee Smokemeter = 11/10

Run down Deal Road
McGee Smokemeter = 12/10

Stop at the entrance of the school to do some Mary so McGee doesn’t die
But hey, why not? Let’s do 12 Burpees
McGee Smokemeter = 13/10

Run back down to the parking lot for the final 3 minutes
McGee Smokemeter = 150/10

It was at this point that Posse wondered whether or not he’d have to step in for a fatigue-induced Q-jack but, fortunately, I managed to stay upright while we did some squats and Baryshnikovs and more squats and maybe something else, I don’t know. All I wanted was for my watch to say 7:30 and it finally, mercifully did.

YE OLDE MOLESKINE

  1. Strong work by all involved. Gerber led the pax on all fronts. Double E strapped on his #smokeboots during the return to the campos. Recalculating inspired all of us with his ‘Merica headband. Posse maintained a positive attitude throughout and even decided to run through a 10 count that I called for my own sake, which I will probably never forgive him for doing.
  2. Apparently the Pax of Homecoming had not yet explored the environs of Wedgewood. Apparently they are planning to forget they ever did and also ensure that the guy who led them there doesn’t get a chance for a repeat.
  3. Not a lot of mumblechatter this morning because of the way the workout ran, so not much to report there. The only comment of report was Posse informing us that he could summon an Uber in 10 minutes to take us home before we returned on foot. I wish I’d taken him up on it.

Thanks to Posse for inviting me to Q. Not sure it was a great idea on his part but we all survived – mostly.

#horseneck OUT

 

10 Pax clipped coupons at Commitment today, volunteering for a mixed body beat down

 

Warm-up

Carry coupons to warmup at the circle.
Random warmups (merkins, mountain climbers, imperial walkers, etc.) interlaced with SSH’s for 7 mins, called with some stretches (Moroccan nightclubs, Dugan’s, calves).

 

The Thang

Once limber, run to the school entrance with your coupons, stopping every tree to do either 5x squat with coupon, 5x LBC with coupon, it 5x palm away curls.
Partners do 400x arms to heaven with coupon (chest press, then big boy and shoulder press), with one partner doing a short run.  Audible to 15 mins (average reps were 150 or so).
Circle the school, stop at every bench for 5 low slow squats.  End back at the top by our coupons.
Grab two baby rocks each (have to be able to palm them).  200’s together (standard curl, palm away curl, front raise, fly, shoulder press, overhead tri, row, bent over tri, punches

The Moleskin

I want to thank J-Woww for entering the backblast for me today, he is the greatest (OK, sorry, had to add that part 🙂 )

Announcements

Welcome FNJ Brick – Jason Harper

7 for 7

Another “Balmy” morning in the Gloom today. I love Carolina weather in July…  Hot and sticky in the mornings and then just plain hot all throughout the day, followed by hot and sticky again in the evening. No use in complaining because it beats the heck out of being cold.

6 men joined me today at Cerberus for a “GEM hunt” in the COVID-Adjacent parking lot of Waltonwood Providence Retirement community.

Warmorama:

Mosey around back side of Waverly and circle up behind Menchie’s for 25 X SSH IC. Continue Mosey and find our way to Ardrey Kell Rd East and circle up at the island for 25 X IW, 15 X Merkin IC, 15 X Peter Parkers, Downward Dog, Calf Stretch L/R, Runner’s Stretch L/R, Upward Dog, Jimmy Doogans C/L/R & back to C. Mosey down to Waltonwood for…

Thang:

7 of Diamonds (or 4 of diamonds but we’ll get to that later…)

7 burpees at each corner of the loop (loop was ~0.3 mi) for 28 total (MARY for the SIX after each loop)

14 BBSU’s for the next loop for 56 total

21 Merkin on 3rd loop for 84 total

28 Monkey Humpers 4th (and final) loop for 112 total

9 minutes to go and ~0.8 mi back to COT so we started the long mosey back at this point and stopped along the way for a short MARY with LBC’s IC

AYG back to COT from Ardrey Kell East to Southgrove St.  (nod to the ladies in front of CYCLEBAR as we pass by…) and back to COT.

Have a nice day for 30 seconds and DONE!

Not much to say about today other than it was great to meet a few of the PAX from Area51 along with seeing a couple of familiar faces (Swimmers & Posse). These men really worked hard and I couldn’t keep up with Alf or McGee. Spare Parts holding his own and The Commish (R) and Posse out there getting after it. I felt like I was racing with Swimmers the whole time but he was probably just letting me stay with him to build my confidence. (What a nice dude!)

Announcements:

Second Blood Drive going is in planning stages. Looking at Octoberish timeframe…

A lot of choices in Waxhaw for a workout on Saturday. McGee is on Q at Homecoming, Shop Dog at Blackhawk

YHC took us out #ctg

Meat and Taters at Hydra

21 PAX ignored the #Fartsack and made there way to the premier Area 51 Thursday and chattiest boot camp and here’s what went down.

COP

We moseyed over to the bus lot for COP.

  • SSH x 20
  • Imperial Walkers x 20
  • Merkins x 10
  • Squats x 20

Half-Pipe

We headed off campus, making a left on Rea, then a left on Windyrush, then a right on Foxworth past Bedfordshire pausing at the bottom of the halfpipe. Partner up, Partner 1 runs to one side of the half-pipe and Partner 2 to the other side. Each partner performs 10 squats at the top of  their respective hill, then meet again in the middle for 10 merkins each. Repeato for 3 rounds total.

Rock work

With the half-pipe done and the pax pleased, we headed over to the church for some rock work, but stopping at each light post on the right for 5 squats. We completed 3 rounds of curls, presses, and tricep extensions, running to the goodwill bin and back in between each set. 

Bench Circuits

We moseyed back to campus, stopping at the benches, find a new partner, Partner 1 performs called exercise while Partner 2 runs to the basketball and back. 

  • Dips
  • Incline Merkins
  • Step ups

Mary

  • Flutter kicks x 20
  • Rosalita x 20
  • Dollies  x 20
  • Heels to Heaven x 20
  • Merkins x 10 OYO

Moleskinny:

  • Great effort by the PAX in these conditions, August is almost here and it sure feels like it. I’m already looking forward to fall.
  • After Cheese Curds Hawks Nest Q I was through with burpees, and made good on my promise of zero burpees with this Q. You’re welcome.
  • Cheese Curd was a no show have a HC at Hawks Nest. 
  • Bounce asked if we were going to get some running in, about 2.7 miles for the workout.
  • I was supposed to Q last week but had to switch out due to beach plans. Thanks to Pudding Pop for picking it up for me.
  • Sprockets crew that runs in seems to grow every week, its like he’s the pied piper or something. TCLAPS for the pre-run. Although Foghorn was absent, where’s he been? 
  • Proehl is not only young, but damn fast. I was paired with him on the half-pipe and not once did we meet in the middle. He kept getting closer each round and I thought for sure he was going to lap me if we did a fourth round.
  • When YHC called the half pipe and indicated we were to run to the light post and not the top of the hill Spackler uttered “What is this a moderate workout?”
  • Spackler has some new fitness tracker to keep track of his Tito’s recovery sleep.
  • The #Trifusenik was in full attendance and didn’t disappoint, Semi Gloss mailed it in during Mary.
  • Marge keeps us well informed on the latest from the COVID perspective.
  • Clover has new and vastly more green wheels, he’s reducing his carbon footprint daily.
  • With all that’s going on these days, it is great to get out and post, for 45 minutes each morning things seem normal. 
  • Thanks to Semi Gloss for the take out, thoughtful words about both sides coming together to get through these unusual times.
  • Thanks to Sprockets and Gummy for the opportunity to lead and please sound off with any mumblechatter. 

Announcements

  • Christmas Party? Golf?

Hot Humid Indian Land

3 PAX gathered for the Thursday Indian Land tradition known as The Arsenal. Here’s what we did.

Warmup

Jog around the right side of ILES back to the bus lot for COP. Lots of stretching, the PAX talk a lot about how we don’t stretch enough and we got a good 5 minutes in, YHC was tight from Carb Load’s beatdown at Dromedary yesterday, being the QIC has its benefits.

Thang

Mosey towards the Middle School stopping at each light pole for 1 burpee, last minute audible to go to the front of the middle school. Time for modified blimps, with a lap around the car line loop between each exercise.

B – 5 Bombjacks

L – 10 walking lunges

I – 15 imperial walkers

M – 20 merkins

P – 25 Potato pickers

S – 30 squats

Gather up and mosey back towards ILES, with everyone taking a round of mary on the way. Using the same light poles as before 1 bombjack at each pole until you make it to the playground for 20 supine pullups and a lap. Head back around to the front of ILES and done.

Moleskin

Small crowd with summer vacations and such, but we covered almost 2.5 miles and got a good mix of exercises in. The stretching at the beginning was a nice change of pace and necessary.

Atlas with the double prerun before we got going and Happy Meal put in his usual strong work. Not my best between the humidity and soreness, but the show must go on.

As usual great AO and we hit some rare ground with the front of the middle school. If you haven’t been in a while check it out, reach out to Happy Meal or Brexit and take a Q.