Author: Rudy

  • At least the tree was happy – from Honeysuckle

    Today’s story begins before the beginning of the story. YHC robbed AB’s barn of coupons and deposited them near the scout hut prior to the beatdown. YHC took a roundabout way to get to the usual meeting place to make it appear that YHC was traveling directly from home and no prepping had occurred. Four PAX were waiting for YHC as well as the rain to arrive. Only one would make an appearance, unless crying is a type of rain.

    Warmarama

    Most notably, no SSH. Both fast and slow high knees were done, as well as fast and slow high knees. This was in addition to most of the regular exercises though some were forgotten. And counting appeared to be hard for the PAX today.

    Thang 1

    There is a 1/3 mile loop in the grass in Peltier Park, and the PAX did three of these to get started. Then the PAX did about another ¼ mile to get to the place where the coupons were, while discussing and admiring the row of trees. Pope was the first to spot the coupons placed near the base of the last tree.

    Finally remembering why no SSH’s occurred, YHC called an Equalizer starting with 10 count. Then, a pickup truck turned into the parking lot and for a moment we thought it was Valve appearing, right on cue. Upon closer inspection, it was not a Platinum, however. Perhaps white gold, or palladium, or sterling silver.

    Thang 2

    All we needed for a theme was a geometric shape and a bodily effect. Circle of death was already taken this week, so today would be line segments of high heart rate. Numbers weren’t our strong suit today, so the rules were simplified.

    Transport method was a running suicide format with the turnaround points at successive trees. And there are a lot of trees. To keep track of trees, Duke graciously moved a cone to whatever the current tree was. In true gosling form, he was spotted doing LBCs and other exercises while waiting for us to run out to the trees, and even had to remove his shirt at some point.

    The coupons stayed at tree 1. PAX did either 8 thrusters, 8 goblet squats, or 15 curls each time tree 1 was visited (i.e., thrusters to start, then run back and forth, do goblet squats, and so on). At the turnaround tree, 5 air squats were done before heading back every time.
    The first few trees were only a few feet from tree 1. But it didn’t take long until the distances became significant. Was running the break? Was the coupon exercise the break? Ultimately the answer was, where we’re going, we don’t need breaks.

    YHC believes that 18 rounds were done, so each coupon exercise was done for 6 sets, plus 90 air squats.

    The paths that each PAX took were clear from the dew in the grass, but AB’s discipline proved superior as his path was a very tight line.

    To add insult to injury, we all had to run from the remote part of the Peltch back to the flags. The distance covered exceeded 4 miles in total today; well done PAX! With two minutes to spare, Freddy Mercuries and Flutter Kicks were done to complete the hour.

    To come full line segment with our counting issues, Pope declared himself 17 for the day.
    Announcements: clearly the looming IPC, plus the Femmes Natales 1 mi / 5k on 9/14. An upcoming double valve is causing some angst.

    Prayers for babies, people with babies, people expecting babies. Pope, now 16 again, prayed us out.

    I heard it thru the honeysuckle vine: Yeah, maybe that was a bit too much running. Special thanks to Cone 2.0. And as YHC was driving over to load up the coupons, it became apparent that everyone was also going to that spot to help. This group never fails to impress.

    SYITG,
    Honeysuckle

  • Dirty Mac with Tropicana – from Reluctant Yankee

    Today YHC had a chance to meet and greet one of guys DR from F3 Knoxville. Love the F3 network and its fun to see how this group is connected across the Nation. When we really got moving with this thing 10 years ago next month – it was a perk I didn’t even consider.

    Gathering at the park entrance – early for me – I am usually catching up kind of late. Tropicana had the chance to meet a few PAX.
    Quick disclaimer and off we went.

    Ran to Wolfpack Mtn right away. At the base we did a warmup circle of pain.
    SSH, Imp Walker Squats, Mtn Climbers, and Dying Roach x 20

    Up the stairs to 7. Started our modified DIRTY MACDEUCE.
    Lunges, Plank Jacks, Shoulder Taps, and Backwards lunges x 20
    Down the BOB MARLEY staircase – WEED smell was DANK.
    Up the regular staircase.

    Arrived at FLOOR 6 to avoid the puddles this time.
    Our man from KNOXVILLE stepped up for a COP
    We did BBQ Squats, TIE FIGHTER L/R arm cicles, SLOW 3-PT SQUATS with Toe Touch x 20, and one more that my brain can’t remember
    Tclaps to Tropicana for stepping up to teach us how they do it in Gnarly Knoxville

    Back down Bob Marley staircase and up the regular staircase.

    Arrived at FLOOR 6 again. Notice a cooler weather in the air.
    Backwards lunges, Monkey humpers, Hip Dips and Flutter kicks x 20
    another lap

    Back to FLOOR 6. Down the dank stairs up the regular stairs.
    We did 20 jump squats OYO, 20 hand release merks OYO, Nolan Ryans x 20, and Freddie Mercury x 20
    Down the regular stairs avoiding the Dank Stank stairwell.

    To the benches for Step UPs L/R, and Dips.
    Back to Flag.

    Cool crisp summer moring. Thanks for the opportunity to Q.
    You guys get me up in the AM and I appreciate you.
    Tclaps to Tropicana for joining us!

  • Blame it on the Rain – from Architect

    I arose this morning ready to deliver another beatdown. My previous Q left me feeling proud and accomplished, so I was ready to repeat. Apparently it had a different effect on the PAX which was evident in the lack of turnout in the Gloom.

    Warm-a-Rama to get the body moving.

    First Exercise: Deconstructed Clean and Press to focus on form during a complex movement.
    -Deadlifts
    -Rows
    -Cleans
    -OH Press
    -Squats
    -Clean and Press

    Main Set: One PAX performed farmers carry with water jugs (Thanks Mr. Rogers) while the others performed movement of their choice. PAX Rotated positions taking turn with farmers carry. Repeat with different movements

    Final Set: perform chest press to tune of “Bring Sally Up”

    Cheer gents, and thanks for the support and accountability!

  • Round Robin……Yum!!!!! – from Jose10k

    It was hot and humid again this morning. YHC got to the A1C early to put in some miles, and somehow got lost through downtown Covington. I ended up by Sonic on 21. Whoops, hauled butt back to the top of the parking garage to see reliable Moby talking to Rick, a neighborhood walker. We couldn’t convince him to stay. BBQ came in hot and we began. No one signed up, so we did everything round robin style
    Warm-up: SSH, hello jacks, hello jills, BBQ wings, grass grabbers, cherry pickers, torso twists.
    Moseyed to the front of the justice center for leg ups. 10 reps each leg, 2 rounds. BBQ focused on upper body with freak nasties and irkins, 2 rounds. Moby then hit core with intensified leg lifts.
    Moseyed to back of the courthouse for lieutenant dan’s followed up by 3 calf raises at each step. Mosey back to the top of the parking garage for some mountain climbers and reverse mountain climbers. Followed up by some Mary. Thanks for posting, thanks for putting up with the heat and humidity, and thanks for the read.
    The Wacker of Bushes has the Q tomorrow. So get ready for 30 minutes of pain, and 30 minutes of a needlessly convoluted breakdown of absurdly challenging and extreme exercises. SYITG

  • Neuron Expanding Recreational Fun – from Paradox

    YHC has always been fascinated by what the human body can do under extreme pressure. YHC recently listened to a podcast interview of Cole Hocker, and he described basically blacking out on the last leg of his crazy gold medal 1500m finish. WILD right? But it got me to thanking. What could our “slightly less than gold medal track athlete” pax perform when given the right pressure.

    Early this year, AB introduced a paradigm shifting beatdown based on the fact that everyone knows an unhealthy amount of information about at least 1 or 2 topics. Sometimes, ashamedly so. It hooked several pax into the Learned Llama multiverse you see today plus introduced a new wrinkle to an already strong group of exercise/trivia pioneers. YHC has been tinkering with alternate versions of it since and below is the result.

    So here’s how the game works.
    YHC names an exercise for each round then Pax will Hold Al Gore around an ominous coupon pile.

    YHC will then name a list of words one by one with a few seconds in between for thanking.

    Your goal is to name the common factor of the list as fast as possible.
    You will get one shot per pax , if you are incorrect you will start SSH (later ti be converted to burps) until the round is over.
    If correct then we will stop on that round and do the corresponding reps (after 1 -10 reps , 2-20 etc)

    Example

    Brown (10) ….Black(20) …paddington (30) Polar (40) … Grizzly (50) … all bears and you have an increasing chance at getting the correct association but as options increase so do the reps.

    Duke!
    Glove up, summers over and we got some iron to sharpen!

    Standard warmup with that big Pax energy when several cars roll up at once that makes YHC all warm and fuzzy inside.

    We started where the Bible begins and most friendships end…with the members of Genesis.

    1.) Tony Banks
    2.) Mike Rutherford
    3.) Phil Collins
    4.) Peter Gabriel

    Early guesses at drummers but we went 30 Reps and there were grumbles that sounded an a lot like Sussidio.

    National Parks (Star Jumps)
    1. Teddy Roosevelt
    2. Glacier
    3. Arches
    4. Grand Canyon
    5. Yosemite

    AB flashing his generational trivia talent and we took 20 reps.

    Army Bases w “Fort” at the beginning (HR Merkins)

    1.) Campbell
    2.) Carson
    3.) Detrick
    4.) Bragg
    5.) Hood

    Had this loaded for Pop and he didn’t dissapoint with the early answer for 20 reps.

    Speed Skaters (Bonnie Blair’s )
    1.) johan olav Koss
    2.) Eric Heiden
    3.) JR Celski
    4.) Apollo Ohno
    5.) Bonnie Blair

    This one went deep for 40

    Pokémon (Coupon Curls )

    1.) Spearow
    2.) Pidgey
    3.) Weedle
    4.) Charizard
    5.) Pikachu

    Lil Cuz with the performance of the day. He blamed his 2.0 toy pile but we all know he’s got dat Arcanine in him.

    Satellites (Goblet Squats )
    1.) Terra
    2.) Aqua
    3.) LandSat8
    4.) Explorer 1
    5.) Sputnik

    40 Reps
    Not a peep from our resident beekeeper.
    The man just likes others to improve I guess.

    GI Joe (Ranger Merkins)
    1.) Roadblock
    2.) Shipwreck
    3.) Zartan
    4.) Duke
    5.) Snake Eyes

    30 reps
    Knowing is half the battle.
    Ranger Merkins are the rest.

    Members of *NSYNC (Apollo Ohnos)
    1.) Chris
    2.) Joey
    3.) JC
    4.) Lance
    5.) Justin

    TANA!!!!
    From the rafters the Peoples Rep saved the pax from atleast 20 extra Ohnos until we got to JT.

    Vice Presidents (box jumps)
    1.) James S Sherman
    2.) Levi P Morton
    3.) elbridge Gerry
    4.) John C Calhoun
    5.) dick Cheney

    40 box jumps were contended by pope who reported a whispered correct answer so we split the difference and did 25. Complex numbers are my thing.

    Triple Crown Winners (Carolina Dry Dox)

    1.) Omaha
    2.) Gallant Fox
    3.) Seattle Slew
    4.) American Pharoah
    5.) Secretariat

    30 Reps as Maneater started to heat up.

    CMM (Thrusters)
    1.) Birdman
    2.) Turk
    3.) BG
    4.) Manny Fresh
    5.) Lil Wayne

    Maneater again
    He’s On Fire!

    Heisman trophy winners ( Merkins )
    1.) Jay Berwanger
    2.) Billy Sims
    3.) Steve Spurrier
    4.) Desmond Howard
    5.) Tim Tebow

    A few chuckles at Wanger but then HS got down to business and ID’d spurrier as a champion.
    30 reps.

    Bankrupt Companies
    (Decline Merkins)

    1.) pacific gas and electric company
    2.) Washington mutual
    3.) Silicon Valley Bank
    4.) Lehman brothers
    5.) Enron

    30 reps as mutiple pax supplied this one.

    DDay Beaches – WW3 sit-ups

    1.) Sword
    2.) Gold
    3.) Juno
    4.) Utah
    5.) Omaha

    Pope/Pop are a force of military history to be reckoned with.

    Van Gohg paintings (Thrusters)
    1.) The potato eaters
    2.) almond blossoms
    3.) cafe terrace at night
    4.) self portrait w bandaged ear
    5.) starry night

    40 Reps to finish us out but these larks were saved by the bell.

    COT and Prayer intentions
    HS prayed us out

    Amazing seeing the collective pax mind under pressure. The hidden talents of this group never cease to amaze YHC.

    Thanks for the privilege to lead.

    -A Dox of Chocolates

    Imagine you are one of 86 billion brain cells. All with important tasks for sending and receiving messages at 100 meters/second. The capability to solve complex formulas, write ballads , or serve your fellow man awaits at a moments notice. Butttt instead you only get one assignment. Just once in 40 years you will be asked to associate the memory of two random NSYNC band members and It will save many men from coupon thruster destruction.

    “Bye, bye, bye” you whisper when the job is complete, then you return to brain cell retirement singing Kokomo at random intervals.

    No Neuron left behind.
    But leave no Neuron where you found him.

    SYITG
    Dox

  • Well that was close!!! – from Shooter

    2 Ruckers and 4 runners took the red pill 💊 and got some work in on this Gloom.. YHC met Hammer for some pre Spartan. As always it did not disappoint. I just wish the pull-ups would get easier at some point but they have not to this point so just get em done..

    Ruckers 20 out and back and Runners down the sidewalk to Monroe and through Golden shores foregoing back to Monroe and down Messina.. Close call with 2 converging cars at the turn on Monroe but thankfully no issues.

    We returned on time and wrapped up with Hammer praying us out.

    Until the next Gloom 👍🏼👊🏼✌🏼!!!

  • Bringing Force to the Balance – from America’s Best

    YHC almost fell into the shower the other day. The strength and balance to not fall on my face was attributed to F3, and so YHC decided to focus on balance for this beatdown.

    Warmarama preceded by a half-fast disclaimer for the FNG.
    SSH, Windmills, Imperial Walkers, arm circles, mountain climbers, cherry pickers, self love, not in this order.

    Thang Number One: Modified Dora

    150 coupon curls while partner bear-crawls out and moseys back. Each time a partner begins the curls, however, he must first do 4 standing on the left leg, then 4 on the right leg.

    150 Prime-Time Merkins, as the partner murder-bunnies out and rifle carries back. All of the merkins should have been alternating feet, but some of the PAX proved themselves Not-Ready-for-Prime-Time Players and only did the first 8 as such.

    250 Air Squats, again with the first 8 on one leg only. Partner takes a lap.

    As punishment for merkin malfeasance, the PAX took a quick mosey/nur before:

    Thang Number Two: Balancing Bedlam–>Joe Cocker–>Wreck it Ralph

    PAX circles two bricks. One man balances one foot on a brick in the center, leaning over to pick up a second brick, then puts it back. During this, the remaining PAX in the circle are holding Mission Impossible. Every time the man on the brick touches the ground, all do a Ranger Merkin.
    (Change the middle man each time, alternating in Al Gore with Bobby Hurleys, and standard plank with standard merkins. Repeato.)

    During each round, about one minute of a song plays, and once that minute is up, the PAX guess the year it was released. The difference between their guess and the actual year is the number of Burpees we all get to do. [EDIT: In an effort to further game-ify (confuse), YHC decided that we would also subtract the number of times the man in the middle picked up the brick, then use the absolute value of that for our number of Burpees. This led to absolutely no strategic changes, as everyone still tried to pick up the brick as many times as possible. These guys are competitive!]
    A second trivia element was also woven in, as all the songs had a common theme. Guess that theme, and we would cut the number of Burpees in half (wrong answers would double them). Maneater provided the correct answer (bands have color in the name) around round 4, but since it was AFTER we had done the burpees for that round, YHC ignored it until the next round.
    Takeaways: As expected, Honeysuckle’s internal gyroscope was activated and he demonstrated the greatest balance. Enron kept his balance surprisingly well, and provided an uncanny Joe Cocker impression when he did fall. The PAX in general did very well on guessing year, but it didn’t matter, because math.
    YHC was undisputedly the worst at balancing, going full Mario and breaking the brick, signifying the end of the beatdown.

    COT
    In spite of avoiding eye contact with Goose, Wet Tap earned the Blue Tube.
    FNG became ShamWow.
    Safety Valve Prayed us out.

    SYITG,

    AB

  • 3 & 17 years – from Charmin

    For such a momentous anniversary, it wasn’t brought up at all during the beatdown.

    That being said, the ruckers did discuss the state of our state and what we are able to do within our spheres of influence.

    Who knows what the runners did; we found them laying (they claim to be stretching) on the ground 45 minutes after we left them.

  • Life to the MAX – from Paradox

    Facts only:

    It would be super duper to have an FNG visit from Poland.

    And if that FNG posted every day on his vacation, pretty Rad as well.

    Could we name him after a nerd scientist with big BIG ideas .
    For certain.

    But What if I told you (switch to Morpheus voice )
    What If I told you, that an FNG from Poland closely connected to one of our own posted all week long through ridiculous IPC preps with a huge smile on his face ?

    And I hope now that you are nice and lathered up and your Garmin is recording …because what if one of those same days was actually a feast day for one of the greatest Polish Saints in history ?!

    These were the facts in Aug 15 2024 and 10 pax were present at the Den to share the labor.

    Grab that red pill and come on in!

    Duke! Get the Coups
    It’s IPC prepppp

    FACTS:
    St Max Kolbe was a Catholic polish priest who lived from 1894 to 1941.
    Known as the Saint of Aushwitz
    He died on August 14 1941 volunteering to exchange his life for another prisoner.

    Those are the facts for this beatdown men.
    I’ll spare the usual dox fluff (just this once) and encourage you to dig more on this Saints incredible life of sacrifice.

    Each round :
    Reps : 10, 9, 8 …etc to 1
    MOT in between varies

    We kept it simple
    Each round for a rule of life for St Kolbe.

    1. Devotion to our lady at an early age

    Purity – no cheat merkins
    MOT bearcrawl

    2.) Take care of your body in order for our body’s to better be able to glorify and serve God and others.

    **As a Friar- he founded one of the largest Franciscan orders of his age
    Devoted to exercise he was diligent about starting the day with mutiple rounds of jumping jacks. Seems like a man who loved SSHs and being in time. YHC wishes he had more neighbors like this …

    SSH and Karaoke

    3.) Worked hard to spread the gospel by all means necessary
    Radio, magazine , theater etc

    Coupon Squats and coupon Lunges

    All of a sudden you could hear every cricket at the Den

    4.) We need strong men trained in the faith.
    Militia Immaculate
    Rifle Carry and Overhead Press

    5.) We have a mission to Carry Faith Abroad-
    Setup community in Nagasaki
    Burpees and Broad Jumps

    6.) Growth toward Ultimate Sacrifice

    53 merkins for 53 years that Franciszek Gawoniczek lived after St Kolbe gave up his life for him.

    COT and tremendous gratitude to Copernicus for showing up all week. Thank you for sharing your story and the suffering with us. We hope you made it through customs with all that F3 swag.

    St Kolbe , pray for us !

    SYITG
    Dox

  • Cat6: Okwata – from Squints

    Today marks the 19th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, possibly one of the most challenging times in our lives. Yet, this morning, the levee system is now strong enough to withstand a Pax 7 Okwata workout.

    Warmups at the Lake:

    SSH x 20
    Abe Vigoda’s x 10
    Forward Arm Circles x 10
    Moroccan Night Clubs x 10
    Seal Claps x 10
    Reverse Arm Circles x 10
    Peter Parkers x 10
    Gas Pumpers x 10
    Calf Raises x a bunch
    Route 66: Dips

    Mosey to the pumping station wall.

    11’s ÷ 3 = Bumpies, Bear Crawl Down The Levee, Donkey Kicks

    Mosey to the Mardi Gras Fountain.

    Space Invaders with Coupon (8-Count):

    American Hammers
    Squats
    Burpees
    WW3 Situps
    Lunges
    Mosey back to the flag.

    COT:

    Counterama
    Namearama
    Intentions
    Prayer