Blog

  • Elevation Training at The Stomp – from Rudy

    Chose a different route – head to Wisner Mountain (1 mile away) and then just back and forth and back and forth until it was time to head back home.

    Not too late to consider a WWR team!

  • Discount coupons – from Safety Valve

    Today there was no theme. Tough Tuesday was the theme. Thats it, so let’s get to work.

    Battan death march – 1 mile Indian run around Rich mans loop with last person dropping off and completing 5 burpees

    Stopped at the bumper to grab some coupons to complete a 7 of diamonds around the stage loop:
    First corner: 7 man makers
    Second corner: 7 man makers, 14 merkins with block
    Third corner: 7 man makers, 14 merkins with block, 21 curls
    Fourth corner: 7 man makers, 14 merkins, 21 curls, 28 goblet squats

    11s – jump squats and curls

    Finished with 2 minutes of Mary – LBCs and 6 inch hold. COT, intentions, and prayers sent out. Thank you for the opportunity to lead.

    Welcome back Goose! In your absence we have gotten soft. We thought we were doing so good until you show up after a month of being on IR and make everyone look bad. In all seriousness, you killed it today just like you always have. Happy to have Father Goose back!

  • Bonnie’s Bithday Bash – from Safety Valve

    Today we gathered to celebrate and commemorate the career of Bonnie Blair. Today is her birthday. On March 18, 1964 a legend was born. Speed skating was in her blood. Her Godmother was a Canadian speed skater and Blair herself started skating at the age of 2, becoming competitive by age 4. She was 19 when she debuted for the United States for the Olympics. During her speed skating career she amassed several World championships, and was the most decorated female speed skater of her time with 5 gold medals and a bronze medal during the Olympics. Today is for you Bonnie. Thank you for all the pain and gain that your namesake has created over the years.

    Warmaramma
    SSH
    Wind mills
    Willie Mayes Hayes
    Mountain climbers
    Arm circles forward
    Arm circles backward

    The Thangs
    Mosey to Rich mans loop. The loop became our ice rink/circuit with some imagination.

    Loop 1
    Speed skater training – Bonnie wasn’t born going as fast as she could. It took years of training to ultimately beat the World record and then beat her own world record several times. We focused on lower body strengthening to make us go fast.

    We ran the length of the loop stopping at every other light post, at which time an exercise was called out. The PAX were to complete 10 reps of that exercise and we moved on to the next light post. On the last two light poles, we pretended to speed skate (basically a run lunge kinda thing) and then sprint to the finish. PAX stayed together.

    10 squats
    10 squat jumps
    10 One legged squats right
    10 One legged squats left
    10 Apollo Oh nos

    Loop 2
    World skating competitions- this is where athletes compete yearly to improve themselves for the big stage (Olympics). Same as the last loop, we ran the length of the loop stopping every other light post to do the exercises below. We finished again with a pretend speed skater and a sprint to the finish. Pax stayed together.

    5 Bonnie Blair’s
    5 Goosies
    5 Gold Stars – Bonnie Blair then star jump
    5 Burpee Blairs – Bonnie Blair then Merkin
    5 Bonnie Blairs

    Loop 3
    The Olympics – we made it. No more Mr. Nice guy. This is the time to show what you have been training for. This one was on your own. Run the loop and complete the previous Bonnie exercises at each of the four corners of the loop. 15 reps instead of 5.

    15 Bonnie Blair’s
    15 Goosies
    15 Gold Stars – Bonnie Blair then star jump
    15 Burpee Blairs – Bonnie Blair then Merkin

    Gold medal – Pope
    Silver – Americas Best
    Bronze – Lil Cuz

    Completed our mile back to the flag and the finalist led us in a Mary. Pope calling for flying cockroaches, AB calling for “proper” leg raises where the feet never touched the ground, and Lil cuz finishing with penguins.

    COT, intentions and Cardinal prayed us out.

    Reflection on Bonnie’s success – Bonnie started skating at the age of 2. With constant instruction/coaching and with continued practice, it took her 22 years to earn her first Gold medal. Even with everything on her side going perfectly, it took 22 years for her to receive the ultimate “prize”. She truly was an amazing athlete to accomplish what she did, but Bonnie didn’t break a record every time she skated. Her best was a sub 39 second 500 meter sprint – she beat her own world record then. Her worst the next day was probably 45 seconds. She didn’t give up because one day was tough. She kept going to try and be the best version of herself possible. Things in this life may not work out when or how you want them to every time. Sticking to what you believe in and following your calling will bring you success. Maybe not in the way you think now, but in the way God wants it to happen later. Don’t ever give up on trying to be a better version of yourself. There is always potential to grow.

    Side note – Bonnie Blair supposedly is from a Scottish-Irish background. Thank you AB for the constant reminder of things that YHC does not know. The random bits of trivia you know never ceases to amaze. This is why YHC has not been invited on a trivia team trip yet. Waiting on that call though

  • The Fairy Ring – from Akbar

    14 strong today – with a little EH help from Shooter’s backblast – on this wet gloom for a pre Saint Paddy’s day celebration.

    Legend has it that fairy rings were caused by fairies, elves, and Leprechauns dancing in a circle. If humans joined in the dance they would be punished and made to dance in the ring until they passed out from exhaustion – or DIED. In 1518, the French town of Strasbourg experienced it and other outbreaks across Europe happened in the 10th century.

    It is an unsolved public health mystery, and the most recent case showed up in Mandeville, La at the Lakefront beatdown. There were exercises, dancing, moaning, and groaning, and yes – Fairies.

    Pax : Baby Yoda, Waterpik, Pass Interference, Jose 10k, Duke of Hazzard, Wicket, Bushwhacker, The Hammer, Brexit, Bird, Steve, Russo, Shooter, Akbar

    Warm Up: x10 IC: SSH, Windmills, Arm Circles, Swimmers, Backstroke, Overhead Claps, Toe Touches, Grass Grabbers

    Mosey over towards Rips, circle up for instructions.

    The Thang

    6 exercises x 10 OYO – while listening to YHC’s high school playlist, with an Irish jig after each song. When the Irish jig came on we would mosey in a circle until finished, and pick back up where we left off. A non-stop 30 minute beatdown with no breaks.

    The idea was full body on the wall – (Jose10k noted this was mostly upper body). Then lower body on the Irish Jigs. YHC did not do the math, but the Irish Jigs were around 50 seconds, and the other songs were an average of 3.5 minutes.

    Exercises:

    Wide Tempo Merkin, Step Ups (2 is 1), Freak Nasty, Renegade Row, Reverse Grip Irkin, Stone Mountain

    Irish Jig: High knees, Hallelujah runs, lunge walks, runs, butt kicks

    Fairies are Real
    A quarter way through the playlist took on a mind of its own, skipping ahead, playing a song for 3 seconds, then all together stopping. Were the fairies messing with Q? We killed the tunes and pushed forward. With no music, it looked like the scene from Halloween when the prisoners escaped from the loony bin.

    Time called and we moseyed back to the Flag for some leg work.

    3 sets x10 IC of Sister Mary Catherines, Calf Raises, Copperhead Squats

    Mary x10 IC: Freddy Mercury, Hello Dolly, Rosalita, Flutter Kicks, Heels to Heaven, Hummingbirds (100 100’s), LBC’s

    Time called, reverse count, name-o-rama, YHC prayed us out, and we headed to Coffeeteria.

    Thanks for coming out and following the lead.
    SYITG – Akbar

  • Earlie in the Morning – from Heisenberg

    Warm up
    Grass Grabbers 10, Windmills 11, Imp Walkers 11, 5 burpees OYO, Deep Sea Diver (descending shoulder taps starting with 8 top step of Noma. 5 burpees OYO
    The Thing
    With the “Irish/Celtic/Sea Shanties” playlist from Amazon Music loaded we began 30 rounds of Tabata 40 seconds work 25 seconds rest. Stations 1. Step-ups 30lb ruck, 2. Dumbbell Curls using one foot on a stability pad, 3. 60lb Sandbag rows, 4Morrocan Night Clubs with 2.5 lb. egg weights,5. Heavy Jump rope, 27lb Kettle bell rows, Speed Rope, 20lb weighted Sit-ups.
    The Wrap up – 3 Sunday Mornings and 10 burpees OYO
    Welcome first timer Mr. Rogers
    COT

  • Spontaneous Q’ing – from Kenna Brah

    Arrived to find the PAX lacking a Q ( AKA Q’less), having missed my last TWO Q appointments, I decided to jump into the vacuum.

    Mosey to the Colonnade for warm-ups
    SSH
    IW
    LSQ
    REALLY SLOW VAGODAS/GRASS GABBERS
    Pivoted to some YOGA

    Without a prepared BD, I pulled out my trusty go to plan:
    10 things 10 times, for 10 rounds
    Each pax took a exercice
    Smooth – SSH
    Heisenberg – Burpees ( Big surprise)
    Vagabond – Air Squats
    Fracsac – LBC
    Catfish – 8 Ct Body Builders
    Cheesesteak – Lunges
    Maytag – Merkins
    Mr Rogers – Should Taps
    Christopher Robin – Alternate Leg Wife Pleasers
    YHC – BB Situps
    After 5 Rounds and a stunned look on the faces of the PAX we pivoted to each HIM chooses what to do next, then it all went crazy – Trust me. It was a more than adequate way to grow in leadership, creativity and all around fitness.

    COT

  • “Pain exists in the mind.” – from America’s Best

    What is the most resilient parasite? Bacteria? A virus? An ear (ehr)worm?
    No… a free men’s workout. Resilient… highly contagious. And once an idea for a beatdown has taken hold of the brain, it’s almost impossible to eradicate.
    Months ago, the idea for this beatdown was planted into YHC’s fragile eggshell mind by Paradox.
    Now, YHC had not seen Inception in years, so a refresher was necessary.
    (Since the movie is currently available only on Canadian Netflix, YHC may have had to commit some “light violation” of Netflix’s terms of service in order to view the movie.)

    Began as usual, with Warmarama, but YHC wanted to set up the disorientation and confusion early. Only 3 SSH were done; Enron looked up from setting his Whoop, and it was over.

    The first thang:
    The entire PAX enters together into the first dream layer:
    Dream on (Aerosmith)- Hold Al Gore during music, SSH during lyrics. Burpee on “sing,” merkin on “dream”, then change to hold plank and and merkins all subsequent “sing”s and “dream”s.

    Second Thang: for the next dream layer, it’s necessary to break into smaller groups.
    So we divided into partners and performed a Musical Dora – one partner does curls during song 1, and thrusters during 2nd song. Other partner is running a lap, and doing 5 derkins on the hill.

    Deepest dream layer: Limbo, on your own.
    In the world of Inception, Limbo is an “expanse of infinite raw subconscious,” described as “unconstructed dream space.”
    And so it came to be that we would suffer the deconstructed burpees of Yankee Jeaux’s dreams (Jurpees) in unconstructed dream space. AMRAP. On your own.
    For your listening pleasure: Sweet Dreams (are made of these) and Good Old Fashioned Nightmare.
    Not sure if the entire PAX experienced the extreme time dilation YHC did here, but these two songs seemed to last about 4 hours.

    “Non, je ne regrette rien” was the song used in Inception to alert the dreamers to wake into the higher dream state.
    So when it played, we ran a lap around the civic center to “kick” back out of limbo and up into the second dream.

    Second Thang again:Repeated Musical Dora, this time with sit ups on the (up) hill.
    May I submit that this exercise henceforth be known as “the drug mule”? Because when I was done I had so much grass in my crack I felt like I was crossing the border with Cheech and Chong.

    “Non, je ne regrette rien” played again, so again we ran a lap around CC (before song ends!) and reunited entire PAX to finish up in the original dream.

    And the last thang:
    “Wake Me Up” : flutter kicks until chorus. Big boy sit ups during chorus, Big Boy Sit Up Ups (stand ups)on “Wake Me”; Freddy Mercury during breakdown

    “Non, je ne regrette rien” was supposed to play one final time. Maybe we were supposed to run one more lap?
    Either way, not sure if we got to that final bit… but I hope this blast has summed up the rigorous confusion of the beatdown.

    COT. Goose prayed us out.

    Thanks for showing up for the mayhem. Always an honor to lead you maniacs.

    AB Sees…
    A parallel between Han Solo and Yankee Jeaux:

    How was I confident that we could make the lap around the Civic Center before that French song ended? First, a story:
    Han Solo claimed that his Millennium Falcon “made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs.” Critics and nerds love to point out that this makes no sense, because a parsec is a unit of distance, not time.

    A few weeks ago, YHC was planning this beatdown and so asked YJ “how long does it take to run a lap around the Civic Center?” His answer: 0.3 miles.

    So how was I confident we would make it in time?
    Not at all. But Goose was back! And showing up only minutes after me, informed me “I’m going to run a few laps to warm up.”
    Giving me the perfect opportunity to time him… as long as we can all run like Goose, we should be fine. How confident was I that we could all run like Goose?
    Not at all. But sometimes you have to take a leap of faith. Or otherwise, “become an old man, filled with regret, waiting to die alone.”

  • The Ides of March – from BBQ

    KISS-warmup- lots of stretches, including a BBQ new one, a reverse Al Gore Thorogoods.
    The Thang: 11’s (Burpees and copperhead squats, lunge walk 5 parking stripes, then reverse lunge walk 5 parking stripes, run the rest of the parking garage.) Then Star Jump every 5th parking stripe on the way back.
    Wife pleasers at the end.
    COT- Akbar has a St. Patrick themed beatdown tomorrow. Come on out and support him.
    SYITG

  • City hall scramble – from Waterpik

    4 posted for the weekly scramble at mandeville city hall. Akbar was the only rucker. He is planning an Irish themed beatdown for the lakefront Saturday morning.
    It would be nice to have a good showing, as numbers have been meager lately.

  • – from Bolt

    The Chaos Monkey posted in another channel that he’d be at a retreat which meant no Q and YHC could take the ultimate anti-fartsack medicine—The Q…so he did.

    Warmorama with a special song for Frac and the usual: Peter Parker, Parker Peter, LSS, SSH, FAC, RAC, OH/Seal claps, IW, finish with Morning Calls. Make our way to the gym switching MOT at light poles (mosey, KnOT, high knees, open/close gate, lunge) along with three burpees at each bench.

    The Thang: 5 pax, 5 exercises for 1min. each (counting reps) with 10 sec to switch stations x 2 rounds with round 2 designed to exceed round 1rep count by 3 reps. All pax except YHC bested themselves on at least one station except YHC—blame it on the time change. Horses to stables, COT.