“The kids are off school, you are off work, and you’re STILL getting up at 5am?”
Sixteen of South Charlotte’s finest converged on the DMZ playground for a little frosty fun. The thang….
SSHx25
To Carmel Middle by way of Imperial Walkers, Lunges, and a short sprint
Dipsx25 on the benches (station #1)
Sprint to corner of parking lot for some Mary (station #2)
Sprint to side of school for some decline mountain climbers (x20), squats (x20) and people’s chair (station #3)
Split into 4 groups and do several rotations of the three pain stations; three groups are always exercising and one group always moving between stations
Mosey to center of field
Merkinsx20
Sprint half track; out halfway line to track, sprint round to half way line on other side; as soon as first guy gets to half way all pax converge back to center of field from wherever they are on the track
Merkinsx20
Repeat sprint…each pax tries to get further round track than previous time before first guy is home
Back into 4 groups: Station #1 Half way line – merkins / Station #2 25yd line – squats / Station #3 goal line – burpees. Rotate – station 1 to station 2, bear crawl; station 2 – station 3, crab walk; station 3 to station 1, sprint.
Mosey back to parking lot with 5 burpees at stop sign and each speed bump
Moleskin: Thanks to those of the 16 pax who did not have to go to work today but still ignored the very logical question (paraphrased from Love Boat’s M) in the header. Was trying to keep things moving this morning. Pax seemed a bit confused to be doing SSHs in the parking lot…needed their usual mosey to get going. Finally had the chance to actually walk while doing Imperial Walkers (always wanted to do that, but it’s still a lame exercise).
Great to have several DMZ FNGs…come back soon.
Thanks for the chance to lead. FF
The Weinke Made Me Do It
11 PAX gathered to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. with a Matrix style beat down courtesy of YHC.
The Thang:
Mosey around the lot to shake off the cold weather and the weekend.
COP
SSH x 30
IW x 25
Squats x 25
Merkins x 25, hold for
Mountain Climbers x 25, hold for
Plank Jacks x 25
Indian Run up to street and around to playground
Pain stations:
10 pull ups, 20 squats, 30 derkins and plank-o-rama
10 pull ups, 20 squats, 30 inclined merkins and plank-o-rama
10 pull ups, 20 squats, 30 dips and plank-o-rama
Mosey to stumps:
Reverse lunge into single leg step up on the stump. 10 each leg, then run 100 yards.
Repeat with 20 each leg, then 30 each leg.
Mosey to wall:
2 rounds of peoples chair with some merkins and squats in the middle.
Mary – 30 x Flutter & 30 x Dolly
Moleskine:
A quiet group out there today. Either they were feeling the dread of going back to work on a Monday or the fact that they came to work out at 0530 on their day off. After the first set of 10 reverse lunge to step ups, there was calls hinting at an audible and mutiny before the set of 30 came. YHC couldn’t help it at that point – I’m just a slave to the Weinke. Once it was called there was no turning back. This was not an exercise you could sprint through, just slow, plodding, and painful. Good work by the PAX for finishing it out.
Thanks to Salt Lick for the send off.
Looking forward to those who join the Alf Triple Play this week. YHC on tomorrow at Skunkworks and with Abacus on Saturday at Area 51.
-Alf
Preblast: SPEARHEAD takes another trip to Grandma’s house!
SPHEARHEAD is calling all Rucktards who signed up for the Challenge in March. Tuesday (1/21) 5:15am we take a trip to Grandma’s house bearing gifts and playing games. It is time for you to join Grandma’s dysfunctional family as she will get you ready for what the Cadre will be serving up in March. You don’t want to get caught off guard. Grandma loves her chilrens! Come feel her motherly embrace. Winners get to lite her cigar and get her a beer from the fridge. You know you want to you know you need to!
Friday at 5:30 it’s power stations and forest patrol.
You Need Fellowship
The shovel flag was planted and 16 men, including 1 FNG, launched into the chilly gloom for YHC’s one-year F3 anniversary Q. There were no plans for a pre-workout speech so we just got right to it.
The Thang
Run from the parking lot around the McAlpine track and settle in on the far side of the proving grounds for COP:
- SSHs – 25 IC
- Push-o-rama Superset – 5 Diamond Merkins, 5 Narrow Merkins, 5 Regular Merkins, 5 Wide-Arm Merkins, 5 CDDs (All IC)
- IWs – 25 IC
- Reverse Push-o-rama Superset – 5 CDDs, 5 Wide-Arm Merkins, 5 Regular Merkins, 5 Narrow Merkins, 5 Diamond Merkins (All IC)
- Slow Squat – 25 IC
- Push-o-rama Superset
- LBCs – 25 IC
- Reverse Push-o-rama Superset (all form out the window…just get through it)
Run out the back gate over to the Yellow Rose parking lot:
- Bear crawl across the parking lot
- Lunge walk back
- Go for a run around the block
- Bear crawl across the parking lot
- Lunge walk back
Run back to the school and grab some wall:
- People’s chair – regular, right leg up, left leg up, tip-toes, regular
- Mission Impossible Peter Parkers – 10 IC
- People’s chair – regular, right leg up, left leg up, tip-toes, regular
- Mountain Climbers on the Wall – 15 IC
Run down the field and line up on the line. Perform called exercise, sprint 100 yds, perform called exercise, sprint back. Called exercises:
- 10 CDDs
- 20 Knee Tucks
- 30 Merkins
- 40 Squats
- 50 Flutter Kicks (25 IC)
10 minutes left. Circle up.
- 10×10 – 10 burpees a minute for 10 minutes
Done. COT.
Moleskin
Lots of mumblechatter in the beginning, especially from my co-site Q Radar…complaining about how stationary YHC had the group at the start on this cold morning. YHC thinks he heard Stagecoach ask if this was a virgin Q. When you have friends like this…
Seriously though, a good group of guys out this morning, including a F3 FNG (Mad Hatter), two site FNGs (thank Hannibal and Intel for coming over to support YHC) and YHC’s 2.0, Johnny Mac. Always a pleasure to lead and work out alongside the men of #F3DayZero. Everyone worked hard, especially at the end during the 10×10, when rest time and O2 were at scarce.
YHC had no plans for a post-workout speech either but as the PAX converged for the BOM, Radar asked YHC if he had anything to say on his 1 year anniversary about how much F3 meant to him. So YHC proceeded to say a few words about how the men and brotherhood had been a solid rock during the last year, the most difficult year of YHC’s life personally. When Bird Hole from Metro talked to me about F3, he didn’t say a word about the fitness really…he just kept saying “You need fellowship.” In other words, you are not alone. He was right.
Announcements
Contact Baracus and sign up for the BRR. You won’t regret it. The best #CSAUP there is.
All Monday workouts are regular schedule. Pick one and go.
Cold with a 100% chance of phosphocreatine depletion
Four hearty souls and YHC shook off the warmth and comfort of the fartsack and said yes to pain, as pain brings growth.
The THANG:
Mosey to lower parking lot
SSH x 21
IW x 21
MTN Climbers x 21
Pendulum Plank x 21
Wind Mills x 21
Arm/shoulder rotations x 21 (ea direction)
Low slow Squats x 21
Good Mornings x 21
Squat Jacks x 21
Stagger Merkins x 30; 15 ea arm
Two handed swings x 21
Partner up, like size KB
P1 Merkins x 9/ P2 Farmer Carry With Bells; CMIYC – flapjack until reaching neighborhood hill
24’s on the HILL
Burpees at the top of the hill x 3. Carry KB to bottom of the hill.
Renagade rows w/ KB at the bottom of the hill x 21. Leave KB, run back to top
Burpees x 6
Renagade rows x 18
Burpees x 9
Renagade rows x 15
Burpees x 12
Renagade rows x 12
Burpees x 15
Renagade rows x 9
Burpees x 18
Renagade rows x 6
Burpees x 21
Renagade rows x 3. Return w/ KB
P1 Merkins x 9/ P2 Farmer Carry With Bells; CMIYC – flapjack until reaching school parking lot
Partner back up for 66’s and sprint work. Partner 1 performs specified exercise while partner 2 sprints out and back (40 meters). Flapjack until team completes a total of 66 reps:
Triceps extension w/ KB
RDL
Two-handed swings
Goblet squats
Figure 8 with curls at top
Times up. Pencils down.
COT
Moleskin:
With frosty flesh and strong spirits the PAX embarked on a metabolism revving, energy draining set of exercises. YHC sought to bring an aspect of the 3rd F to this morning’s 1st F: three parts make the ONE.
We began with an invigorating COP to raise our core temperature. After a few layers were shed and left behind we set out for the neighborhood hill. 24’s on the hill sounded great as YHC concocted this morning’s bout. However, YHC was on the verge of projectile vomiting after completing 2/3 of the task. With the phase “Don’t Q what you can’t do!” ringing in my head there was no choice but to complete the task with all the strength and honor exhibited by the PAX. While on our famer-carry CMIYC back to the school a local resident muttered: “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen!” He knew CSAUP when he saw it. With little time and many plays remaining on the Weinke it was time to get back to work. With minimal mumble-chatter the PAX embraced the partner work and completed each task with all due haste.
It was an honor to lead the PAX this AM on my maiden Q. Thank you for enduring my over-reliance upon my Weinke.
-There has never yet been a [person] in our history who led a life of ease whose name is worth remembering. Theodore Roosevelt
[posted by Bugeater on behalf of Lab Rat – Congratulations Lab Rat on leading the F3 pax today!]
6 Minutes of Mosey
7 pax moseyed around facilities of Olde Providence in search of fitness. Here is what they found:
The Thang:
Mosey to the field for
COP:
- 5 Burpees OYO
- 20 SSH
- 5 Body Builders (8 ct)
- 20 IW
- 5 Burpees OYO
- Walking Lunges across the field
- Toy Soldiers across the field
- Duck Walk 2/3 across the field
- Frog Jumps 2/3 across the field
Now, sufficiently warm, mosey across the field and through the Woods, not to Gramma’s house but to
the Hill on Foxcroft
- Partner up for 7’s: Jump Squats at the top, Merkins at the bottom (beginning with 6 Jump Squats and counting down and 1 Merkin and counting up)
- Partner 1 moseys up the hill and back, completing the exercises, while
- Partner 2 completes call Mary exercise until Partner 1 completes the Hill work
- Flapjack
- Called Mary exercises were: LBC, LBC, Flutter, Dolly, Freddie Mercury, LBC
Mosey back through the woods and across the fields to the
Playground
- 5 Pullups
- 10 Merkins
- 15 Jump Squats (modified to Squats after 2-3 rounds)
- 20 Situps (modified to LBC and then Mason Twist after 2 rounds)
- Rinse and repeat for 13 minutes, precisely
Mosey back to the field for
Pax Choice
- Jack Webb to 5 – High Tide
- Mtn Climber – Blitzen
- Flutter – Pele
- Butterfly Situps (#crowdpleaser) – Stump Hugger
- Burpees – Weeblo
- 10 count – Moon River
- SSH – Linux
- People’s Chair – High Tide
Done
COT
Moleskin:
It is well known that YHC hates running, and I’ve been pretty successful at avoiding it for the past few months. That said, its value is recognized, so I decided to work some into today’s workout. But, true to my Tweeted word, there was no running, only a lot of moseying.
The pax were treated to a few new “dynamic warmup” exercises today – walking lunges and Toy Soldier. It’s amazing what you can find on the internet. Just thank Low Tide for being my guinea pig earlier this week and culling out some of the less masculine options.
The duck walks and frog jumps are so much harder than they look. Add in all the jump squats we did today and we may be in for some sore quads about this time tomorrow.
The Hill work was good. First time for Ascent. Blitzen and Weeblo were noted for killin’ it. Nice work by the entire pax. That hill isn’t too imposing; however, it’s more of a long, slow climb that sneaks up on you.
By the time we were halfway through our playground rotation, I think we all realized we had done enough jump squats and Mary for the day. We did audible the jump squats down to regular squats and started mixing up the Mary work.
Pax Choice was fun and another first for Ascent. For our debut, we were introduced to the Butterfly Situp. We agreed it was awkward, and it prompted one pax to begin working on his “back blast”. And, in a first, we had a 10-count called as an exercise — way to moderate!
Lots of fun today, guys. Thanks for allowing me to Q; it’s always an honor.
The Change-Up at The Rock
10 PAX worked out for a full 60 minutes using most of the terrain offered up at The Rock. A quick shuffling of Q at the beginning (see moleskin) and the workout went something like this.
Bugeater (YHC) on Q:
1 Lap (400 m)
COP: 20 SSH, 20 IW, 30 MC, 20 Mason Twists, Partner Prairie Fire Mary (10L, 10C, 10R), Plank, 11 Slerkins (slow merkins and I will not mention YHC’s fail on rep number 11)
Indian Run (600 m) to our favorite hill known as North Face
5 Burpees at North Face Up, 10 Rock Hoppers at North face Down x 3
Cross over to fields on Rea side of Church for 50-yard There and Backs:
Round 1 There – Heels To Heaven, Back – V sits
Round 2 There – Mason Twist, Back – Dollys
Round 3 There – Flutters, Back – Heels To Heaven
Merkins x 50
Plank until PAX gathered and ready
Round 4 There – Bear Crawl/Crab Walk flapjack as needed, Back – Bear Crawl/Crab Walk flapjack as needed
Indian Run (600 m) back to starting COP location for hand off to Tadpole.
Tadpole on Q:
Mosey to soccer fields and Partner Up:
Partner Drag 40 yards – flap jack
Partner Wheelbarrow 40 yards – flap jack
Partner A Burpees and Partner B 50 yard sprint to Fence – 3 rounds
Partner A 6 inch Mission Impossible and Partner B 25 yard lunge walk
Mosey to tables for wall chair, military air press x 20
Step Ups x 20, Dips x 20, Derkins x 10 – 3 rounds
Mosey to volleyball courts for:
Bear Crawl There, run back
Bear Crawl there, Dragon Crawl back
Mosey to Circle Back up for Count off and Name-o-rama
Ball of Man send off by Tadpole
Moleskin:
An interesting start to the day was an SOS tweet sent out by The Rock workout co-founder and steady as she goes Mallcop at 0640, originally scheduled to first half Q followed by waiting in the wings Tadpole. YHC saw the tweet in route and made the decision to help a brother out and pulled into Calvary to step in for a sickly Mall Cop. Yes, the decision was made to forego the opportunity to see what Purple Haze was going to dish out at his one-year F3 anniversary Day Zero workout. From the sound of it, I heard Haze laid out a painful dishing out of gloomy pain. So YHC immediate plan was to pull from my Hydra playbook from Q’ing on Thursday and Blades of Glory informed he said he was prepared for some of what YHC might bring.
The initial cold was harsh but five minutes into the workout many pax with the right layers were warm. The gloveless Tadpole was handed extra gloves sacrificed by Bulldog to help a pax brother out. Great move there! Not having coordinated the workout the terrain used by YHC and Tadpole was completely opposite sides of campus, so it could not have worked out better. We went on a regular tour today and many pax almost jumped on the 1 of 4 warm buses headed to a 3-day ski trip.
Some mumble chatter was heard. The North face was a treat that garnered comments, as usual. Wolfman was rather comical with his comments through out and indicated his spearhead and ruck focus has left him sucking wind on the sprints and running drills. Still a strong showing brother and way to power through! Blades of Glory is like a dang machine out there as well as Bulldog as usual as those two led much of the drills. Beast! Harley and Iron Horse were their steady strong as usual and all 10 fellas brought their A game and busted it all the way through – 60 minutes strong.
Tadpole showed off some great leadership leading the second half and at 17 is proving to be quite the F3 force. Great work Tadpole who expressed interest in Navy Seals. F3 is a great resume and network builder Tadpole. Good work buddy and leverage to the max.
Announcements:
GORUCK MARCH 2014: Reach out to Bulldog for anyone interested in upcoming Goruck in March. Goruck is an event every pax member should do at least once. Its the way to earn your man card. Read past backblast for Goruck events.
BLUE RIDGE RELAY SEPT 2014: Reach out to Baracus for anyone interested in Blue Ridge Relays in September. Many months to prepare. If you can handle a 10k you can handle this. This event is some great 2nd F and a blast as the jokes and stories are flying and being made as you go. Read past backblast for Sept 2013 BRR.
SAMMY 2nd BIRTHDAY: Spandex son Sammy turns two today. He was a miracle baby so dad was announcing to pax showing off his father pride and sharing this great news. Tremendous stuff and this is what F3 is about. Guys you can confide in, share the good and bad with.
Burpees are part of 6MOM
23 men ignored the temptation of the fartsack and got to experience a new flavor of pain.
The Thang
Bob Vila Q:
Mosey to the parking lot by the lake for a COP warmup
SSH X 30
Good mornings X 20
IW X 20
Arm Circles X 10
Reverse Arm Circles X 10
Mountain Climbers X 20
Merkins X 10
Diamonds X 10
Mosey to Loch Ballantyne
Lunge walk for about 30 yards, continue to mosey
Bear crawl 50 yards, continue the mosey to the far wall.
Split into 3 groups: Group 1 Peoples Chair, Group 2 AMRAP Wall Dips, Group 3 Lap around the lake. Flapjack until each group has completed all three exercises.
Same 3 groups: Group 1 Balls to the Wall, Group 2 Incline merkins, Group 3 Decline merkins. Flapjack until each group has completed all three exercises.
Switch over the Q to Mighty Mite
Mosey to the parking lot behind Pull up Forest.
Line up across the parking lot.
Lunge walk ladder with squats at every other parking space. Finishing with 9 squats.
Burpee suicides. Increasing burpees at each parking space. Finishing with 9 burpees.
Bear crawl merkin ladder with increasing increments of 2 merkins at each parking space. Finishing with 18 merkins at the last line.
Mosey back to the grassy area next to the lake for 6MOM in a Mary Go Round fashion.
Camacho: Rosalita + 10 Merkins
Frehley’s Comet: Dolly’s to Heaven + 10 MerkinsG
Puppy Luv: Bicycle + 10 merkins
Grass Stain: Dolly + 10 Burpees
Indian Run back to the Launch Point
10 burpees
COT
Moleskin:
Thanks to Bob Vila for bringing a sample of F3 Raleigh pain. Come back and post with us again the next time you’re in town.
During the 6MOM, Camacho decided to pepper in an additional 10 merkins after his exercise. This was not a popular decision with many of the pax, namely Hops, who had already gotten their fill of merkins during the ladder and didn’t enjoy doing “non-traditional ab exercises” during Mary time. The pax that followed him followed suit and gave a side of merkins with their Mary.
Frehley’s didn’t think that the pax were moving fast enough during the indian run, so we did 10 burpees to burn off any extra energy.
Announcements:
All Monday workouts are being held at their usual times and locations. For those pax who won’t be working, there will be coffeeterias to follow.
Haggis tried to recruit more pax for his ultra run in March. The Charlotte pax didn’t seem to be biting but he might have lassoed Bob Vila to join him.
Sign up for the BRR. Teams are forming now. Email Baracus.
Grandma and a Starfish
8 men arrived at Charlotte Christian School this morning, some later than others, for a little variety in their workout.
Warm-up
Jog to upper parking lot
- SSH x25
Jog to back of school (above stadium)
- IW x25
Run the bleachers
Run around the track to bottom of G-ma Mtn
Grandma (sevens)
Squats at the bottom
Pull-ups at playground up top
Starfish
Round 1
Homebase – 5 merkins then run to station, plank until all finish
- Station 1 body builder merkins x10
- Station 2 man-maker x10 (each side)
- Station 3 pike walk merkins x10
- Station 4 burpees x10
- Station 5 tricep dips x40
Round 2
Homebase – 5 squats then run to station
- Station 1 hindu squats x20
- Station 2 alternating lunges x20 (total)
- Station 3 heels to heaven x20
- Station 4 flutter x20 (cadence count)
- Station 5 jump ups / step ups x20
Tunnel of Love
Start on home field side of field / end on visitor side of field
Naked Moleskin:
Another nice, cool morning for a workout today. If you’ve been doing F3 through a summer, I think you’d agree that temperatures in the 20s/30s is much preferred from the 90s. YHC received a few comments about being “bundled up” this morning, but that’s the benefit of the cold weather…dress warm because you can always shed the layers later.
We got started right on time this morning and made our way to the upper parking lot for some COP, then a couple of our Joust faithful arrived late (don’t worry Night Court & Spandex, I won’t give up names). We swung back by the lower lot to pick them up and headed for the back of the school.
We paid Grandma an early visit in this workout. I figured it might be better to tackle the mountain before the energy gets sapped. Guess what though….it still sucked. It was during this part of the workout that YHC realized I lost my Weinke. That’s W-E-I-N-K-E, not W-I-N-K-Y, although it was pretty cold out.
With a lost Weinke, the Starfish would have been completely made up. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I found it and the pax enjoyed some variety of merkins, burpees, and dips. The pike walk merkins seemed to be a crowd pleaser.
We finished off with a nice long tunnel of love across the football field. What a great way to end a workout! A little appreciation for what our ruckers out there had to endure for much longer.
Great work by all today. It was a pleasure to lead!
Annoucements:
Lab Rat’s virgin Q at Olympus tomorrow
Blue Ridge Relay – Contact Baracus if you’re interested
The No-Mascot Special
A RARE day Brothers. A rare day that #YHC pushes the #EmotionalMiniVan south of Fairview into the @Area51. Not because I don’t love it there, but because I get lost easily. #JustAdmitting.
THE FAITHFUL had some good, crispy icy gloom to gather in this AM, and gather we did, to do the #Thang:
1. #Warmarama (always, a must)
2. RuckRun in stages to #DMZ. Along the way we did some #CTC with #Randorama and sets of 10 #BOYO. We did #WhisperCount through the Alleyway of Peeps.
3. Once at the #DMZ we did a 2 X Merkin/#BOYO sandwich.
4. Moved into the park and did 5 X RangerRun/#BOYO series.
5. Practiced a little column/rank formation.
6. #RangerHump (5 mph) back to the start.
7. #SixMinutesOfMary.
#NakedManMoleskin:
1. For those who are not #RuckTards, #YHC recommends a @Spearhead post once per month . . . it clears the passages Brothers. Just so.
2. #Kotters to @Culkin who stretched his #FMLA to the legal limit. At least @BTB is acknowledging him again. Said how that went. Sad Brothers.
3. @Angler, who #VictorCharles referred to (out of respect Brothers) as “Le Fusil” gave the #PAX some #HipPocketTraining on compass-free navigation. One man (might have been a UNC-grad, might not have been) looked up the Big Dipper and asked, “you mean the stars in the same place every night?” #TClaps to Le Fusil for driving on. Aye.
4. @MallCop (a/k/a @KevinJamesMiniMe) made his #FNG post. #TClaps Brother.
5. There was some (ahem) pointed grumbling about the ease with which #YHC was throwing his GRC1 around, the point of which seemed to be that it was a bit on the light side. All #YHC can say to that is keep a #FullHeart and don’t hate brute strength.
6. And finally (#YesYes), don’t forget the difference between a Mascot and a Man. Men have #Impact and Mascots get their furry anthropomorphic heads rubbed for good luck. Let’s live as Men and die with our Brothers, with a #FullHeart Brothers. With a #FullHeart.
Aye!