Rockin

Rockin

12 Strong for a rock intensive workout at Dromedary.

Warmup Lap
SSH x 20 IC
Merkins x 20 IC
Bows x 10 count
6 ” x 10 count

Jog to the rock pile and pick out a lifter

Back to the station to set the rocks down then take a lap (1/2 of big lot)

5 sets of:
10 Upright Rows w/ rock
20 Merkins
30 Thrusters w/ rock

Lap

5 Sets of
20 Curls w/ rock
20 Lunges w/ rock (10 each leg)
20 Overhead tricep extensions w/ rock

Take the rocks back to their home

Lap

Circle Up
50 Merkins OYO

Moleskine: Great group pushing it hard out there today. Not a typical boot camp but should have been a full body workout. Mumblechatter was minimal outside of Bratwurst and I lobbing softballs at each other between sets. Great to keep seeing new faces at Dromedary. Please go on signup genius and sign up to lead a workout, you guys are all ready and the best part of this is getting new workouts from different Q’s. Thanks for allowing me to lead today.

The Maul

No drama today – just a solid workout at the Maul. Some notable absentees but we won’t call you out – you know who you are (Loogie, Mic Check, Haggis, Tussauds, Bean, Outback, and others…).

Warmup: all 20 reps: SSH, Squats, MC, Merkins, LBC.  Mosey to grass hill at right of movie theatre for 5 hill runs. Mosey to top of Murderhorn.

Workout: Ran down Murderhorn and stopped at each lamppost, the stop sign, the rock pile, then up to the recreation parking area. At each stop, 10 Merkins (60 total).  Mary x 20 of each: Flutter, Dolly, Heels to Heaven, Mason Twist, Freddy Mercury.

Broke into 2 groups for stattions 1) benches under the gazebo, 2) Swing set / monkey bars.  Station 1: reps of 10 x 20 x 30 of Derkins, Dips, Step-ups. Station 2) reps of 10 x 20 x 30 of Pull ups, Merkins, Squats.  Repeat stations again with reps of 3×10 at each station. Groups converged in the middle for planks and 6 inches merkin holds.

Mosey to rock pile. With heavy rock,  2 x 15 Squat-curl-overhead press as single movement.  2 c 10 Diamond Merkins on the rock.  Mosey to stop sign at bottom of Murderhorn. Starting at bottom and running to the top with stops along the way, burpees 5x4x3x2x1.

Mosey back to movie theatre wall for People’s Chair for 6 minutes with an Indian Run – group stays in People’s Chair while last person runs to the top of staircase. Rotate til all run the stairs.

Finished in parking lot with bear crawls for 5 parking spaces with Merkins at each space – 2x4x6x8x10.

 

Sir Mix A Lot

The Death Valley faithful rolled in just in time, except for Joker who was his customary 1 min late but he made up for it with an extra run, more on that later.  The weather was a balmy 3C, which is probably in the 30’s on the hard to understand F scale.  And so the pax got at it courtesy of Geraldo’s watch since YHC couldn’t seem to get it all right this morning and actually bring his own.

What the pax did was something like this:

Run around in circles in the parking lot to warm up (and wait for Joker to join)

Quick COT

SSH x 30

IW x 15 (these are less fun when Gummy is not present)

LSS x 10

Quick disclaimer

Partner up

Partner 1 runs to the end of Strawberry Lane and back, yes it’s a mile, no it’s not 1.4 miles, yes I’ve clocked it before (many times)

Partner 2 runs through the set up circuit, spending 1 min each at stations set up:

Jump rope

Resistance band (because jump rope #2 broke early on)

Battle Rope

Sand bag Squats

Weight plate squats (this should help proper form)

Kettlebell swings

Kettlebell rows

Kettlebell Push Press

Kettlebell pax choice

Medicine Ball partner toss

Two full rounds were completed except for Joker who ran an extra mile to make up for the fact that he is too fast (nice work and thanks for running the last part with YHC)

Circle up for some Mary

Flutter x 30

Sid-The-Kid x 12 each way oyo

Dolly x 15

Russian Twist x 10

Heels to Heaven x 10 oyo

The Shore shoulders (insert comments below about the white shorts, you had to be there)

5 Burpees oyo

That pretty much wraps it up, YHC had advertised a merkin less workout, Header was disappointed and is kind of an extra credit guy anyway so he was spotted doing a few sets in between, nice work.  It seemed like there was some loosely organized confusion on the stations, bad Q on YHC part, will put up numbers next time to be more clear, always a trade off between too much explanation and just getting at it.  Otherwise YHC spotted many strong efforts, especially on the run part, many pax coming back sweating pretty hard from the mile, of note CMD was pretty quick, great work for RESPECT.  A few pax found running buddies and mixed in a little 2nd F, that is a good modification for sure, YHC would have liked to have done that but was breathing too hard.  Really enjoyed the Q today, thanks for the opportunity, appreciate the flexibility of the pax to modify as needed on the stations to make sure  you were pushing yourself, that is how this works after all.

Announcements:

AYN Toy Drive, bring those toys out this week and next and hand it to one of the toy Q’s, link below:

http://f3nation.com/2015/12/02/alexander-youth-network-toy-drive/

A51 Christmas party: http://f3nation.com/2015/11/11/4th-annual-area-51-christmas-party/

Joe Davis Run sign up, all the pax did 2 miles at least, another mile and you’ve got a 5k covered #noexcuse

https://joedavisrun.racesonline.com/

 

Last, as always, and last shall be first is the great takeout and reminder by Header of the upcoming season to be contemplating God coming to live with us and what that means.

VQ @ Bagpipe

19 joined me for my VQ at Bagpipe this morning. I hope I represented the F3 brotherhood well.

The Thang:

COP:

Mosey from the Vine to first medical building lot across the street. Dispense disclosure and…

  • SSH X 25
  • IW X 15
  • MC X 20

Workout:

  • Mosey to top of parking lot and line up wide for suicides. Suicides to 4 points with 10 Merkins at every return.
  • Mosey across street down to next medical building. Line up wide at top of parking lot for a Blimp. A Blimp is what happens when a VQ consults the F3 exercise handbook for something new. No one recognized it after describing it but it was effective.  5 Burpees, 10 lunge walks (each leg), 15 Imperial Walkers, 20 Merkins, 25 Plank Jacks and 30 Squats. Plank up when done.
  • Mosey to bottom of lot and exit right. Continue to fountain and grab some wall for the following: 20 Derkins, 20 Jump Ups, 25 Dips, 10 one-legged Squats (each leg).
  • Mosey out the back and down to the pond for some partner work. Partner 1 runs a lap around pond and partner 2 executes exercise. Teams completed 150 Merkins, 150 LBC’s and 150 Squats.
  • Mosey from pond area over to Bull Park. 15 Hand Slap Merkins, grab some bench for 15 right leg up Dips, 15 left leg up Dips. Lunge walk to sidewalk.
  • Mosey back to parking lot near the Vine and circle up for some Mary; 25 Flutters, flip and 5 right leg up Merkins, 5 left leg up Merkins, 20 Heels To Heaven.

Done.

You’d think after posting at Bagpipe, The Brave and Stonehenge for several months that I’d have a clue about street and building names but not even close. It all looks the same in the dark when you are sucking wind and just trying to get to the end. You get the idea though. I apologize if I missed anyone in the Pax. Still working out the kinks on capturing the names and announcements and it was a challenge with 35 guys as we combined with Brat’s Swift squad this morning. Continuous improvement right? Thanks to JRR Tolkien for taking us out in prayer this morning.

Scaling the Matrix

14 men scaled THE WALL on Monday…

The Thang:

Warm-up run around the school and the fields.  Circle up in back lot for COP:

  • 5 burpees OYO
  • SSH x20
  • 4 burpees OYO
  • MC x20
  • 3 burpees OYO
  • Merkins x15
  • 2 burpees OYO
  • Slow squats x15
  • 1 burpee

Mosey up to playground, partner up.

  • Partner 1 climb the wall, run to first island on back lot, 10 merkins, return, climbing wall again on way back.  Upon return, flapjack with Partner 2
  • Partner 2: Runs out to cones and back, then does set of exercises
    • Round 1: 5x pullups, 20x derkins, 20x dips
    • Round 2: 5x pullups, 20x incline merkins, 20x jump squats
    • Round 3: burpees until your partner returns

Mosey around school to wall.

  • Wall squats, 60 arm presses
  • Lunge walk out to curb, return
  • 20 derkins
  • Wall squats, 60 arm presses

Mosey to track for The Runaround®

Partner 1: run around track
Partner 2: suicide

Round 1:  single lap for partner 1, straight suicide for partner 2, flapjack
Round 2:  two laps for partner 1, merkins 5,10,15 for partner 2, flapjack
Round 3:  two laps for partner 1, LBCs 5,10,15 for partner 2, flapjack

Mosey to front lot.  AYG back to start.

COT

Moleskine:

  • Beautful crisp fall morning… perfect for a climb… though the wall may have been a little more interesting with some rain and mud.
  • Enjoyed making full use of the equipment at the Matrix this week.  I think this may be the only AO in A51 with a climbing wall… are there others?  Anyway, good mudrun/spartan training for all you beasts out there.
  • Everyone seemed to keep up on the various rounds through the wall and the Runaround… but clearly smokey smoked us all (even Lobster Roll) on the return – nice job!
  • Above average mileage for the Matrix, clocking in at 3+ miles today.
  • Thanks Alf and Uncle Leo for the opportunity to lead The Matrix.  Always a pleasure.

The Foxhole Menu

8 queued up for the weekly buffett known as Foxhole and found nothing but meat & taters on the menu – and lots of ’em!

The Thang:

COP:

  • Alternating 1-handed swings – 10 IC (switching hands on the pax count)
  • Halos – 5 OYO each direction
  • Prying Squats – 3, with variations

Mosey to field

The Meat:

  • Turkish Carry, Right side – begin with Turkish Getup, hold bell in top position & waiter carry ~ 30 yards, then return to the ground via the 2nd 1/2 of TGU, of course (don’t just drop it!)
  • Turkish Carry, Left side – see above
    • Rinse & Repeato 3 more times (totalling 8 TGU’s & 8 waiter carries- 4 per side of each)
  • 100 1-handed swings – 10 swings at the top (R) and bottom (L) of each minute

Mosey to the playground

The Taters:

  • Pullups – 5
  • Clean & Press – 5 per side
  • Teabag Squats – 15
    • Rinse & repeato until time called

Mosey to parking lot

Assorted Veggies:

  • Russian Twist – 10 IC
  • Flutter Press – 10 IC
  • Louganis – 7 OYO
  • Pullovers – 7 OYO
  • Deck Squats w/ KB – 5 OYO
  • Alternating 1-hand swings – 30 seconds

Done

Announcements:

COT

Naked Moleskine:

For some, the Turkish Getup was a new favorite (“I think I hate you already” was declared), while for others it is an old favorite (ok, there aren’t many of us).  Regardless of which camp you fall into, like meat, taters, & veggies, it’s good for you, so we had a heaping helping.  And, to break up the monotony, we mixed waiter carries right into the middle.

Pulling into the parking lot, YHC spied the field we ended up using, audibling out of the long suitcase carry that was planned going to the crumb-rubber soccer field.  The short carry robbed us of the planned grip test; however, we made up for it with extra time on the playground.  You’re welcome.

100 1-handed swings in 5 minutes surprised some of the pax.  It begins so easy.  If it wasn’t hard by the end, you may be ready to move up in KB size…

We don’t get enough pullups in our workouts, as evidenced by YHC’s declining ability to do them, so they’re worked in amost every time possible.  Again, you’re welcome.

Thanks to Mall Cop, in absentia, for introducing YHC to Deck Squats.  Not really sure what all they work, but they’re a fun novelty, at least.

Big thanks to Voodoo & Peebles for helping out with form and pointers for the pax.  It really makes all of us better when veteran pax notice and help other pax seeking to learn a new or perfect a familar exercise.  T-claps!

Thanks for the Foxhole hospitality and the invitation to lead.  It’s always an honor.

Aye.

Mountain Goat Pain – So Painful It Delayed This Writeup

Major Cobains on the delayed write up.

 

This workout was simple yet hurtful

Warm up mile, dynamic stretching then

400M at estimated 5k pace

100M recovery at whatever pace is needed

Repeato until time is called

Cool down half mile then up to COT

Announcements:

AYN Toy Drive, bring a toy and workout Q’s will get it where it needs to go

Sign up for the Joe Davis Run, awesome chance to run hard, fellow ship well and support our brother Rock Thrill

Perfection

12 men posted this am for the #perfectworkout.  11 followed my Q, with the other following his GPS through the dark alleys of western Union county until he found us during the final throes.

THANG:

Jog to the end of the archipelago

Warmup COP, all IC

  • SSH
  • Squats
  • Windmills
  • Peter Parker

Jog back to the start, giving instructions while running backwards in front of the group (risky)

The perfect workout:

7 islands spread over 225 yards – perform 7 reps of the first exercise at each island, then run back to start point and switch to the next exercise.  Repeat until all 7 exercises completed, with a little plank regrouping in the middle.

  • rockhoppers
  • squats (not little baby squats)
  • merkins
  • jump knee tucks
  • sister Mary Catherine
  • LBCs
  • Burpees (start at 1, then increase rep with each station)

Move to the large hill at the end of the AO

Stairway to 7:

1 merkin bottom of hill, 1 squat at top.  Increase reps by 1 until you get to 7 merkins at bottom and 7 squats at top.

Run back to parking lot for Mary (all in cadence)

  • LBCs
  • Dollys

End

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

  • Toy Drive – Countertop on Q     link
  • Happy collecting business wear and suits    link
  • JD Race coming up in Fort Mill     link
  • Glass Joe’s foot hurts

 

SKIN:

Workout concept started with analyzing the site over Google Earth.  I saw  6 islands, spread over 225 yards down the side of the AO and thought of doing an extended “beast”.  Then it came to me, why do something of the devil when we can do something of the Lord?   A 2nd look revealed that the middle island was split into two, giving us 7 stations instead of 6.  Let’s go with this theme instead.  7 is, after all, a symbol of perfection in the Bible.  Felt more like 7 bowls of wrath though . . .

Speaking of perfection, what is not perfect is Glass Joe’s foot.  I learned about this via a text last night, where he described his foot ailment to me in great detail.  Had this not been enough, I opened my truck door at 5:20 this AM to join in on a follow-up 10 min discussion of his foot, complete with details of shoes, inserts, specific pain trigger points, and how he planned to post at workouts all week in order to completely disregard any medical advice that he  paid for last week.  Foot discussions were maintained throughout the workout and after COT, keeping with the theme.  In summary, Glass Joe’s foot hurts.  Just kidding buddy . . . hope your plan of back to back Qs works out.  #doubtful

Good to have the Chilean Vet Doc McStuffins and 2nd time poster Fire Cat join in on the workout.  Couldn’t keep up with the Doc during the main event – he led the field the whole way.  I think he is secretly a Patagonian Toothfish.  Fire Cat hung in there until we headed to the hill, then went mysteriously missing for a bit.  Good call by Happy to send a scout back to check up on the brother.  Turns out he was fine, but had left a lung  back at the first island and was searching for it.

Not sure what Kiefer plugged into his GPS, but he rolled up at around 6:10 claiming bad coordinates.    We counted him anyway.  Better luck next time.

This is a great AO with lots of opportunities, many still unexplored.  Numbers are strong too.  Let’s keep the momentum going through the winter men.

Need a UnionCo tag for the backblasts.  Somebody get somebody on this.

 

Yours Truly,

Horsehead

 

 

 

Sign up at skunk to get a free elephant

Bulldog was the first man out in the parking lot this morning.  He was ready to shakedown every man as he came to the circle to follow his daughter’s elephant charity on instagram.  The consensus seemed to be that everyone below the age of 30, and Freedom, had instagram.  Sign up now, follow elephants4elephants and help Bulldog’s daughter save some elephants (and I think he said rhinoceros too.)

By the time that all settled in 16 men, including 3 Respects, made it to the parking lot.  Circle up and do 2-handed swings OYO while we wait for Freedom and Fletch to stroll in 1 minute late.  While swinging the KB, find a partner with similar sized bell.

Catch me if you can down to the cones in front of the church.  P1 does 10 Merkins while P2 Farmer Carries both bells.

Once at the church, P1 runs lap around medians.  P2 Farmer Carries both bells up the emergency stairs and back down.  Flapjack and repeat for 3 rounds each.  Flutter Presses in cadence while we wait for all to complete.

Head to the hills for sets of 11’s

Round 1:  Standing push press at bottom, merkins at the top.  Plank when done

Round 2:  Goblet squat at bottom, squat jumps at the top.   Plank when done

Round 3:  Thrusters at the bottom, burpees at the top.

Fast mosey back to cars.  2-handed swings while you wait on the six.

Time.

Moleskine:

Really strong work by everyone today.  With various bell sizes, and the ability to choose how much hill you wanted to take on, all the PAX got as much as they wanted out of the workout.  The last set of 11’s with thrusters and burpees should have pushed the heart rate right to the top.  3 Respects powered through this one, Freedom, Destiny, and Hacker.  All strong work.  Hacker was a little lost on the first run, post farmer’s carry as he just sort of ran across the parking lot instead of around.  Bulldog and Fletch took the big bell’s and the big hill side of the hill, solid effort and they looked gassed at the end.

Thanks to Harley and Fletch for the invitation to Q Skunk.  Always a great crowd.  Thanks to Bulldog for the send-off this morning.

 

-Alf

Announcements:

Alexander Youth Network Toy Drive – See details on website.  Joker is overall lead and many sites have Toy Collection Q’s.  Your site Q’s can help as well.  Let’s show these kids how a strong group of community leaders cares about them and their future.

Area 51 Christmas Party on Saturday.  Bring canned food for Calvary Church food pantry.

 

 

The 3rd F is for “Frank and Beans”

7 studly dudes and Kirk (see below) met up at Old Providence Elementary School for this week’s installment of SOFAWIB. It was a brisk morning, but nothing this group of regulars couldn’t handle.

The Thang was pretty much exactly what YHC described in the pre-blast here.

All groups got through at least 3.3 laps and the leaders (Swiper and Kirk) completed 4.3 for a total of:

  • 40-50 v-ups
  • 40-50 dumbocrats
  • 40-50 jump squats
  • 15-20 burpee pullups
  • 60-80 WWII situps
  • 60-80 derkins
  • 60-80 bench squats
  • 60-80 dips
  • 3.3+ miles of running

Thanks to Kirk for taking us out in COT and reminding us of the things we may be taking for granted.

Moleskine:

YHC had to rename this workout between the pre-blast and this morning after Kirk showed up wearing tights with no shorts. #nuffsaid #jigglyballs We kid because we love you, Kirk. Really.

Here are my thoughts on this morning’s activities:

  • Just when you think it couldn’t get any darker on that stretch of Rea Road between the hedges and HT, a car comes over the hill and blinds you to the point where you careen into a tree. Good times.
  • A lot of random people out there this morning. On the way back from the first trip to HT and back, a pair of tomatoes peeled off of Rea and turned into Chadwyck. Where did they come from? Did Swiper’s emissions scare them off? On the closing mile, there was another pair of tomatoes running upstream and at one point during the workout, a dude (I think it was a dude) and his golden retriever came running out from behind the school. Where did he come from?
  • Kirk and Swiper are fast. I’m not sure they’re doing all of the exercises, but they are flying so who am I to judge?
  • A lot of sneaky fast PAX out there this morning as well, with Talk Box, Iron Mike, Bellaire and Krypto all flying. The only two slow dudes are apparently YHC and Sundancer. At least I’m in good company.
  • If you haven’t tried SOFAWIB, you should definitely check it out. You don’t need to be fast, you just need to be willing to grind it out and push yourself. It will make you faster and stronger. Plus, the 2nd F is always entertaining and distracts you from the pain.
  • Sound off in the comments below if you have anything to add. I know you will…

Announcements:

  • Sign up for Church on the Street. Area 51 has committed to supplying 5 PAX on the first Sunday of each month and it’s a great experience. Very well organized and no previous experience necessary. Sign up info is here.
  • Area 51 Christmas party is this Saturday. Sign-ups are closed, but info can be found here. Don’t forget to bring your donation for the Cavalry Food Pantry.
  • Alexander Youth Network Toy Drive. See info here.
  • Joe Davis Memorial Resolution Run – January 9th. See info here.