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  • 50 Reasons to Come Out and Play

    As the clock turned 6:30, the pacs who dared to walk outside during the corona virus hysteria, could not help but notice the coupons that were awaiting them for the beat down. But before we get to that, let’s warm up……

    Forward arm circles – 10 IC, Reverse arm circles -10 IC, Overhead Claps – 10 IC, Cherry Pickers – 10 IC, Air presses – 10IC

    At this point there were murmurs among-st the group in regards to my choice of warm up exercises given the coupons that were awaiting them, but those murmurs fell on def ears of the Q.

    Side Straddle Hops – 10 IC, High Knees – 10 IC, Butt Kicks – 10 IC, Imperial Walkers – 10 IC, 10 Merkins – OYO, 10 Plank Jacks – OYO, 10 Groiners – OYO, 10 Eight Count Body Builders – IC

    For those pacs that did not attend this beat down, but are wondering what the coupons could have been. Well read no further, 50 lb Bags of Sand. Each pac gets a partner. Each team of two is responsible for getting their 50 lb bag of sand to the shaft. Pac 1 to carries bag one block, while other pac ran ahead and planked until partner got there. Rinse and repeat until you arrive at shaft. Every one planks until 6 gets there, which in this case, and most cases, was yours truly.

    Keeping with the theme of 50 for 50 lb bags of sand, I kept the reps at 50 for the next group of exercises.

    Keeping your same partner, Pac 1 will run from shaft to designated oak tree and back while other pac performs burpees with bag of sand. Bag gets lifted to shoulders after merkin and groiner of burpee is performed, and bag is than pressed above head at end of burpee. Each team performs 50 in total.

    With same partner, Pac 1 will carry bag of sand overhead with arms extended to same oak tree and back while partner performs crunchy frogs. Rinse and repeat until 50 crunchy frogs are completed between both partners.

    At this point, I could see that the 50 lbs were literally weighing down the group. I decided to quote the great 6 time Olympia Winner, Dorian Yates in an attempt to rally the troops. “Muscle growth is an adaptation to stress.” Not sure if that helped, but I am just a Dorian Yates fan.

    Pac 1 bear crawls to oak tree and runs back to shaft. Before taking off on bear crawl, Pac 1 places the bag of sand on their partners back, so that they can perform merkins. Rinse and repeat until 50 merkins are completed between both partners.

    Time for some Mary…..At this point, many were thinking, yes, some Mary. We get a break from the bag of sand, not so much…..

    Stay with same partner. Partner one performs LMCs – 20 IC while holding bag of sand above their head. Partner two holds plank at elbows until LMCs are completed. . Partners trade off and perform same exercises

    Exercise #2 for Mary was a modification of dead cock roaches. While performing dead cock roaches, the bag of sand is held above head, 20 IC. Partner without bag performs flutter kicks, 20 IC. Partners trade off and perform same exercises. I knew I struck gold with the modified dead cock roached when I heard Grundy say, “These are tough.”

    With only ten minutes to go, I wanted to get a competition in before the beat down was over. Pacs broke into two teams. Object of competition was to see who could stack the bags of sand the fastest without the bags falling over. If your tower of sand fell over, you automatically lost. Only rules were that only one pac could move bag(s) of sand at a time, and the next pac could not touch or move a bag(s) of sand until the previous pac returned. Team 1 got smoked. They finished in 2 minutes and 9 seconds. Team 2, with a FRESH Capt Sparkles, finished in 59 seconds. Zoolander did his best by knocking over their tower of sand before Capt placed the last bag on top. Good effort Zoolander, but we got beat.

    At this point in the beat down, those 50 lb bags of sand had changed to anywhere from 0 to 45 lbs. Thank Goodness. In a collective effort, all packs were able to get remaining bags back to flag by swapping off between each other. Team Work makes the Dream Work. Kudos to Baby Yoda for powering his weigh through this work out. At 68 lbs, he was carrying, pulling, pushing and bag of sand that was nearly 75% of his body weight. The force is strong in that one Bush Wacker.

    The Manny Prayed us out!!!!!

  • Just the Bell, Just to See How it Feels…

    Fresh off of a month of running for Run Ranger Run (congrats to everyone that crushed it), QIC decided to slow things down a bit, and focus strictly on kettlebell exercises. We circled up right next to the river for the following warm up all in cadence:

    SSHx20, Arm Circles F/Bx10, Imperial Walkersx20, Grass Grabbersx10, Abe Vagoda’sx20, Halosx10 each way. 

    We stayed in our circle and performed the following exercises all in a slow cadence:

    Single Arm x15 both sides, Single Arm Triceps x15 both arms, Double arm curlx20, Double arm Tricepx20

    After a short suitcase carry to the shelter the following was completed for the lower body portion of the workout, all exercises in cadence:

    KB swingsx20, Goblet Squatsx20, Bulgarin Split leg squatsx20 each side

    The PAX then suitcase carried to the soccer field for the following shoulder and core exercises all in cadence:

    Overhead Press x20 each arm, Rowsx20 each side, Romainian dead lift (this was interesting)x10 each side, Big Boy Sit Ups x 20, Thrustersx15 each side, Russian Twistx15 each side.

    We circled up for count off, nameorama, and prayer, then adjourned to PJs for coffee.

  • The Time Trial That Never Was

    Waterpik was waiting in his wagon-dragger; YHC was parking askew; Akbar was approaching with a headlight out that he kept remembering to forget to change; Cowbell was nearing, earnestly on time; Burgundy was sneaking up irregularly – regularly late….and Shooter was sleeping through his alarm.

    WARMORAMA

    x10-15 IC: High Knees, Windmills, Torso Twists, Scorpion Kicks, Fire Hydrants

    THANG

    With the regular route on tap this gloom (plus Cowbell’s marathon-training scheduled lagniappe), the crew of rambling scramblers took off at an unintentional and surprising slightly sub-8:00 pace. A mile in, Cowbell took off for the first of his 6 1-minute sprints, YHC found his pace quickening a tic, and the rest of the PAX settled into a 3 man pack going 8:15-8:35 discussing the mouth-gaping happenings in the world of sports and the world at large resulting from the Covid-19 calamity.

    MARY

    As Cowbell ran back and forth past the flag like a lab rat trpped in a straight tunnel, the PAX first took turns doing 10 pull ups while the rest alternated between Freak Nasties and Merkins. After 2 rounds, we switched to Hanging Knee Ups while doing Freddy Mercuries and Flutter Kicks

    COT

    Count, Name, Waterpik Prayed us out into a fist-bumpin’ day in our fistbumpin’ world.

    REMINDER: the 1st F3 Northshore Lunch will be tomorrow, Friday 3/13/20, at Whole Foods at noon.

  • Off on the wrong foot

    Over a month ago I opted to sign some of the usual suspects on the Q sheet for The Chamber of Horrors and The Foundry, mostly consisting of members of the highly exclusive Lakeview Clown Car. I tried to be a good citizen and alert Holygrove Tuesday evening on Mumblechatter that he had the Q for The Foundry, in case he didn’t check the spreadsheet. In the event that he wasn’t able to/didn’t make it I would come up with a beatdown and fill in since I was the one who signed him up in the first place. However late last night Dirty Dell informed me that he was actually the Q, as I had inadvertently looked at the wrong week. Dell wasn’t able to make today despite his best intentions of having a 311-inspired beatdown. So I agreed to fill in as Q.

    All this was a precursor to the odd scene that took place outside my house at 5:15. Screw Top is the usual chauffeur for me and Shuffles for the north-side crew of the LVCC. No sign of either of them. At 5:17 I sent a text asking what was up. 5:19 I opted to just get in my car and go because I didn’t want to be late. I was glad to be joined by 9 men (Shuffles drove himself as well) at the virtual flag for what was sure to be a little bit of a different beatdown.

    Warm up:

    Mosey over to the track. Along the way to the back side of the track I called out carioca to the right, carioca to the left, butt kicks, and high knees. Circle up.

    • SSH x 20 IC
    • Windmills x 10 IC
    • Arm circle x 10 fwd/rev IC each
    • Track grabbers x 15 IC
    • Self love x 15 IC

    At this point Sheetrock who had also overslept decided to join us. Instructions were given to mosey to the pavilion by the festival grounds, sweep the 6 if needed once we get to the Children’s Museum. It was not needed as the PAX stayed tightly bunched.

    Tha Thang:

    1) Splint into 2 groups for some walk through exercises:

    • Lunge walk with a twist there and back
    • Toe Walk there
    • Heel walk back
    • Lateral monster walks there and back

    2) Crazy Indian – All 11 PAX got into balls to the wall position. First man ran around the outer edge of the pavilion until he reached the first available post and resumed balls to the wall. All remaining PAX hold balls to the wall position. Proceed like an Indian Run and once runner reached his post the next guy took off. Everyone took 1 lap around the pavilion. Much harder than I anticipated.

    3) Modified ring of fire – Everyone circle up and maintain a side plank position. One PAX performs 5 side leg raises and proceed until each member has done 5 reps and the circle was completed. 20 sec rest. Rinse and repeat to opposite side.

    4) People’s Chair and more – I feel like we hadn’t done this in a while so we did 5 versions of the People’s Chair for 30 sec each.

    • Feet flat (standard position)
    • Shift weight to ball of foot
    • Shift weight to heel
    • L Single leg
    • R Single leg

    5) Chicken Peckers – I found this on the exicon and the name alone made me want to try it. Basically it’s shoulder taps in a balls to the wall position. 15 reps IC.

    Mosey back to the virtual flag. Count off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, sweaty ball of man. Look forward to the next time and sorry for all the confusion on who was actually going to Q.

  • SYITSG = See You In The Serious Gloom

    17 PAX made it out in the foggy gloom this morning. We ran through a Q I’d planned pre-daylight savings, when one could actually see more than 5′ ahead of him. Here’s how it went down:

    We moseyed from the flag to the parking lot in front of the entrance to the fly. From there:

    Warm Up

    -20 x Peter Parker

    -20 x Parker Peter

    -20 x SSH

    -20 x Mountain Climber

    We then moseyed up to the shelter-ish thing at the roughly midway point of the Fly. There, we partnered up and Dora’d, with one partner running a rough loop around the grass island in which the shelter sits and the other completing as many of the following exercises as they could:

    -J-Lo

    -Wife Pleaser

    -Plank Jacks

    From there, we moseyed all the way back to the avenue of the oaks, where we did a ring of fire with low, slow Peter Parkers. We were out of time at that point, so ended things with a count-off and name-o-rama.

    Prayers were given with an eye toward the growing number of those directly impacted by Covid-19, with deaths in the US now topping 300 and known infections over 1,000.

  • Leg Day

    Still smarting from the Downpainment put forth on the Lakefront by Akbar on Saturday, YHC was looking for a reprieve from upper extremity soreness to start the week.

    So, with that in mind, LEGS were the order of the day.

    Mosey to Lakefront stopping at each intersection for: Jump squats, Mountain Climbers, Peter Parkers, Flutter Kicks and SMKs.

    Mosey to Marigny for some speed work. Split the PAX into 2 groups. Object is to go around Noah’s Ark as fast as you can. Rinse and repeat and hold plank while your partner Circled Noah’s Ark. After 2 rounds, YHC, fully exhausted, called off the 3rd set and Hit the Seawall for: Bulgarian Split Squats.

    With time running out, it was time to Mosey back to the Marsh making just in time before the Bell sounded

    COT and thanks to Goose for praying us out.

    SYITG

  • So this is 40… when do I get my old man strength?

    14 PAX posted for the Chamber on Monday, March 9 for a mostly perfect morning, little cool, little humid, mostly great anyway. YHC was born 40 years ago on Sunday, March 8, but was otherwise engaged on that day with a 10-year-old girls soccer tournament, so the celebration was moved to Monday.

    The plan was simple: cram in a decent workout and leave enough time for a quick ultimate frisbee match at the end. But Kuch, it’s dark, did you forget about daylight savings time? How are we going to see a damn frisbee? This is going to be the worst game ever. Why do you have such terrible ideas?

    Well, dear reader, never fear. I planned ahead:

    But first, the workout:

    Quick lap around the parking lot right into

    • SSHx20
    • Hill Billies x20
    • Windmillsx10
    • Mountain climbersx10
    • Something else x something

    Next, a quick tribute to 40. 40 burpees, 10 per minute, OYO. So you can take 6 seconds per burpee and do 40 slowly, or you can do 10 quickly and use the remaining 30 or so seconds to rest. Your call.

    Next, we hit the tires for a preview of the Ultimate Frisbee match. We separated into 2 groups of 7, each person gets 3 flips in, and sprints to the second tree and back while the next person is flipping and so on. Team Small Tire claimed more flips; Team Manly Tire claimed more, uh, manliness. After a few rounds of each, quick Indian run to the parking lot and back.

    And finally, it was time for the Ultimate Frisbee Showdown. I’d like to say Team Manly Tire dominated, but due to about 30 dropped frisbees on the goal line, the game ended in a 3-3 draw. Some on team Small Tire suggested the referee (YHC, also a member of Team Manly Tire) might have been biased and ruled Saban out of bounds when he really scored a TD, but unfortunately for Team Small Tire, those complaints were summarily overruled. A last second score sealed the tie.

    COT, Name-o-rama, and prayers of thanks for good health and for comfort and grace for those of us waging our own private battles. I know I’m healthier at 40 than I was at 30, and I know that’s because of F3, so as always, I’m truly thankful for all of you who push me to be better. – Kuch

  • 610 Stomp for Kuch 40th & Hokie’s 2 year anniversary

    The Thang ~ Part 1

    Run for 6 minutes ~ Stop for 10 pushups… Run 2nd 6 minutes ~ Stop for 10 pushups~~~ Turn around and repeat on way back to practice track ~~ 40 pushups for Kuch’s 40th birthday but he was in the office working early for a big deposition so he didn’t even know.

    The Thang ~ Part 2

    Run hard 100m, Jog 300 meters… stop and do 10 push ups ~ Run 200, jog 200, 10 more push ups… run 300, jog 100, 10 more push ups… run 400 and do 10 more push ups…. ~~ that’s 40 pushups for Kuch’s 40th birthday but he was in the office working early for a big deposition so he didn’t even know.

    For the overachievers ~ There was a part 3

    Run 800, 10 push ups… run 1200, 10 pushups, run 1600, 10 push ups, run 200 with 10 more pushups

  • “Q” Quarantined

    Having returned on Saturday to an email stating you will not be able to return to work for 14 days.. YHC jumped on the Q sheet as to get back in the routine of things.. Having hit the gym only twice while on vacation, this morning would prove to be a tough one..

    warmup

    IC 15 Toe Touches, Torso twists, Windmills.

    IC 20 Mummy kicks, Butt kicks, SSH.

    thang

    Consisted of Walls of Jericho with incorporated B.(Groiner)L.I.M.P.S… 7 rounds with 7 reps for each exercise with a lap around the trailhead for completion.. R/R 7X. Upon completion had 2 mins remaining to finish with Little Manny crunches (sure to see more on Saturday) and Cowbells go to of Crunchy Frog IC 15..

    👏🏻 To Zoolander for praying us out..

    Till the next Gloom 👍🏻👊🏻✌🏻

  • Episode 3: It’s a (MERKIN) Trap

    Date: 3/7/2020

    QIC: Akbar

    PAX: Backdraft, Barely Legal, Bart, Bean, Moby Dick, Grover, Hammer, Hogcycle, Jose 10K, Rev Sox, Russo, Steve, Tanked Up, The Manny, Waterpick, Zoolander

    After Admiral Akbar masterminded the rebel attack on the second Death Star, he shows up light-years later to join General Leia’s fight against the tyranny of the First Order. During an epic battle with Kylo Ren at the helm, a huge explosion hits the bridge, and the most esteemed military commander of his generation was gone. Or was he?

    Secret Intel from the Mon Calamari is leaked, and Akbar actually escaped with Leia using THE FORCE. Akbar travels to the Milky Way Galaxy and the land of milk and honey – returning to the Northshore Mothership – leading the rebels against Darth Fartsack and the Sad Clown Empire.

    He could not do it alone. Key Resistance fighters were AWOL this gloom – such as Baby Yoda, Shooter, Maverick, Goose, Chewy, Bushwhacker and Captain Sparkles. Luckily, @hawgcycle and @revsox joined the Rebels from a not so distant galaxy across the lake.       

    Gloom Factor:  slightly chilly, but sunny.  Yellow Stardust (pollen) in the air made YHC take the pink pill (Benadryl) in addition to the red pill this morning

    Warmorama:  not so much

    Thang: The MERKINFEST begins

    Start at the flag.  Mosey to Harbor Field with stops at Noah’s Ark, Lamarque Wall, and Splash Pad

    4 sets of 2 exercises, a mixture of 12/8/5 double count reps or 24 16 8 single count OYO

    Total count 50 reps per exercise unless otherwise noted

    SSH | Merkins IC

    Lunge Walk | Diamond Merkins OYO

    Wall Jumps | Derkins OYO

    Slow Squat | Stone Mountain Merkins IC

    Spaceball @ Harbor Field

    YHC had a feeling something was missing from this beatdown, and added Pull Ups to the delight of the bicep driven Zoolander. We needed bigger guns to continue the fight.

    5 Stations, 16 reps each. Run to next base after exercise completion until finished

    1st base                 Superman Merkins

    2nd base                Big Boy Sit-ups

    3rd base                 Wide Merkins

    Home                    Burpees

    Outfield                  Pull ups (AKA Zoolander’s)

    Mosey back to the flag with stops at the Wall and Rips

    Freak Nasties | Irkin IC

    50 LBC | 50 Calf Raises OYO

    Imperial Walkers | Merkins IC

    Mary

    Hello Dolly x 15

    20 Merkins OYO

    Lay flat on your back and stare at the sky for a minute

    At this point, YHC was at the end of the pain train, breathless from counting, and decided to give the other Rebels a chance to lead to close us out.

    2nd Mary

    X 20 each

    Hammer                Crunchy Frogs

    Bean                      Flutter Kicks

    Grover                   LBC’s

    Steve                     Leg Raises

    Tanked Up            Frankenstein/Mummy kicks – can’t really explain – more like an 80’s dance than an exercise – but requires extreme coordination which only Tank seemed to have. Sure to be exciting to onlookers.

    Count | Name-o-Rama

    COT – Prayers of thanks and safety, asking for opportunities to influence others for good this week.

    Tally ended up at 860 reps per man, including @ 400 Merkins each – well done gentlemen.

    Thanks for the opportunity to lead, and be a part of this group.

    ANNOUNCEMENTS

    Whole Food Friday lunches start next week – more info to come on GroupMe