Tag: Russo

  • How is it not summer yet? – from Russo

    How do I know it’s unofficially summer? Close to 80, crazy humid, not a breeze to be had at 5:15 AM. Oh, and Jose posted which means school is all but wrapped up.

    Pax of 4, with regulars Steve and Chewy rounding out our barbershop quartet. Yes, Chewy moved up to regular status this week in YHC’s opinion. Pax Miner is pleased.

    Warmup (all 10x)
    – seal jacks
    – Self love
    – Good mornings
    – Toe touches
    – grass grabbers
    – Torso twists

    Thang
    Mosey to the bridge, where at every block it was 20 plankjacks and 20 squats merkins.

    At the bridge: 7s (Peter Parker’s 2×1 and Donkey kicks)

    Between:
    – Mosey
    – Carioca
    – Back pedal
    – Lunge walk
    – Skip
    – Mosey again (I forgot we could sprint, high knee, or side shuffle, knowing a bear crawl was out of the question)

    Back at the pad, Mary included some 10x IC core (LMCs, flutters, B2K, Rosalitas, Wife Pleasers, American Hammers) and a column slalom.

    COT, NOR, Announcements, and Prayer closed us out. SYITG

  • Til the Medicine Takes – from Akbar

    Mid day text from Whacker alerted YHC that rain was in the forecast. Even when there is an 80% chance of rain, there is an 80% chance that it won’t rain. Last minute change to the Marsh was necessary. We finished the original workout in 30 minutes, which is the average time it takes a medicine to start working. Good thing YHC has done this before, we filled the time quite nicely – with only 1 moment of thought blockage.

    PAX : Baby Yoda, Duke of Hazard, Buttsplice, The Hammer, Jose10k, Russo, Trucoat, Brexit, Bushwhacker, Grundy, Zoolander, Steve, Akbar

    Warm Up:
    SSH, Grass Grabbers, Arm Circles, Self-love, IW, Hillbillies, Windmills

    Thang:
    Full body 4 ways: with runs and bear crawls in between. And some other stuff made up on the spot – Steve Style.

    Each set included 2 exercises, performed with 4 variations: Cobra style, regular, fast, and a 10 count hold in the middle of said exercise to finish. x10 IC each round

    Round 1: Merkins, Lunges, Bear Crawl to the White mailbox, run to the stop sign and back

    Round 2: Stone Mountain, Freak Nasty, Bear Crawl to the White mailbox, run to the stop sign and back

    Round 3: Pull Ups, Supermans, Bear Crawl on the court, run back.

    Intermission 1: Bear Crawl court again, sprint back.

    Intermission 2: Swerkins (Knee Tuck Merkin with feet on the swing) while partner holds Chill Cut – 3 sets

    Another set, 3 rounds of Freak Nasties and Bulgarian Split Squats x10 IC.

    Sprints on the the basketball court, high knees and run, then 11’s of Crunchy Frogs and Little Manny Crunches. There may have been other things as well.

    Mary – Flutter kicks IC for 1 minute

    Count, Name, and Zoolander prayed us out.

    Announcements
    Atlanta Beastrun in October – still taking sign ups.
    Brexit VQ / Birthday Q next Saturday
    Saturday Q sheet is full through June 22

    Thanks for the opportunity to lead –

    SYITG, Akbar

  • Birds were the word – from Russo

    Not cold this morning after last night’s storm. I was so busy figuring out if I was a better Bob Breck or Margaret Orr last night to set my alarm, so I rolled over onto my phone around 4:53 and hustled out of bed, arriving juuuuuusssst before Pelican and Bird made me an honorary member of the Aviation Krewe (code name: Dodo).

    Warmup – 10x IC
    Seal jacks
    Toe touches
    Arm circles
    SSHs
    Self Love
    Torso twists
    Cherry pickers

    Thang
    Walls of Jericho at the Treen / Training / Trane Center (7 count of seven exercises 7 times around)

    – Crunchy frogs
    – Lunges
    – Star jumps
    – Merkins
    – Monkey humpers
    – Shoulder tap plank jacks
    – Jump squats

    Mary
    7 calf raises then up and down the pilot house (7 times)
    IC 7x LMCs
    IC 7x wife pleasers
    IC 7x Rosalitas
    IC 7x Hello Dollies
    IC 7x Right and Left Leg Bridges
    A slalom of the columns

    COT, Name-o-Rama, and prayer wrapped us up. Fun fact to go: David Treen was Louisiana’s Governor in God’s decade, the 80s, sandwiched between Edwin Edwards 2nd and 3rd terms. Edwards took those four years off to practice holding out his hand for kickbacks and signing casino licenses. At least I think that’s right. I learned it in 8th grade Louisiana History, shout out to Mr. Altobello, Raider pride!

    SYITG

  • Weekday Wild Q!! – from Shooter

    Picking up the Q at Granny’s proved to be Wild in many ways. First off was the continuation of conversations about Madonna from Saturdays beatdown… Which by the way aged YHC, but probably not to the point made about 130 years referencing things I won’t state here.. See Jose10k, we know how to keep it clean on the BB for Granny… Secondly it was Wild to get a Quarter pipe sighting on our journey through Mandeville along with a shoutout good morning to the PAX… I know the question you all are wondering, did he join the PAX? 😬
    Let’s just say we may not have another post from QP until he thinks of another AO to create and handoff to the PAX to run TBD.. 😂
    Third, there is something Wild and eerie about a cyclist cruising the trace in the dark morning hours blasting Beethoven, as he cruises around passing the PAX not once but twice..

    Enough chatter and here’s the details.. Warmup was variation of 10IC GM, Arm circle’s, Superman’s, Scorpion kicks, bridges, self love and Cherry pickers..

    Wackers dice came along for the Wildness on this Gloom and the Wild Q presented itself on multiple occasions. PAX moseyed around stopping at various points to roll the dice.. Jump squats won the day with multiple reps, as well as mixes of Merkins, Donkey kickoffs, some stretch’s, gas pumps, MCs, Peter Parker’s, calf raises, Rock balboa’s, bunny hops, SSHs and some others I probably missed… Returned to Granny’s with a min plank to close.. Announced the BEAST with the same somber responses of consideration with exception to Russo.. Wacker that’s your Q to launch the EH tentacles!!🦑

    Appreciate the post and safe travels to Chewy for his trip to Mexico..🇲🇽

    Until the next Gloom 👍🏼👊🏼✌🏼!!!

  • Nickel and Dimed to Death OR Steve Is a Mean Stupid Face – from Bushwacker

    First off, let’s just take a moment to recognize the Pax that got out there early for the pre-thang – I think there were 7-8 guys? And that’s not counting Jose and JV, who started even earlier to roll at their own pace. AND, an additional t-claps to Jose for not only EH’ing JV, but also for getting out to the Marsh extra early for a pre-pre-thang of 30 minutes of pull-ups.

    And I’d argue we were off to a good start even before that, when in the wee hours of the morning the temperature mercifully dipped down into the mid-60’s. That small fact made all the difference – were it not for those 8-10 degrees, JV (by his own admission) would’ve punched that guy on roller blades in the face. And hasn’t Christian Slater suffered enough these last few years?

    Usual warmorama (can you decode them all?): WM’s, IW’s, GG’s, HB’s, AC’s, SSH’s. And 20 Merkins OYO.

    Split Q today, with YHC (Steve right now), up first. I tried to find the most pricker-filled patch of grass to mosey to for our first set of:

    Nickel and Dimes I:
    5 burpees, 10 hand release merkins, then SSH until next minute – for a total of 5 minutes. (Shout out to Catfish who taught me that one way back when.)

    Many noticed PI’s entrance at this point, but few saw Zoolander’s sly exit.

    Next up: Partner Races (or foot races, if Turtle had been there):
    Line up at the start of Marigny for a sprint down the longest block known to man. Winner does 10 merkins, loser 10 burpees.

    Tank, who positioned himself as the final sprinter, noted that every guy looked good running that block. “If I was passing by and saw those guys, I’d say, ‘Wow, those guys are athletes.’” High praise from the leader of the gazelles.

    Back at the pricker-filled, ant-infested (sorry Bird) patch of grass for:

    Nickel and Dimes: First Blood Part 2
    10 Sister Mary’s (2:1), 5 squats, plank until next minute. 5 minutes.

    And another partner race down Marigny, with winner taking 10 merkins, loser 10 burpees.

    There were plans for Nickel and Dimes III: Nickel and Dimed With A Vengeance, but thankfully Bushwacker had arrived and it was time to cede leadership duties. Even I was hating myself by this point. (Though I’ll point out, quite a few guys still had plenty fuel left in the tank for Wacker – including Russo, who was somehow able to calculate the age of Madonna’s hoo-ha in between Side Straddle Hops [approx. 130 yrs old, if I heard correctly].)

    So without further ado, time to turn the pages of this backblast over to the man himself, the Wacker of Bushes (and here you thought he was the long-winded one!).

    Geez! Chatty Cathy, huh, guys?

    Anyhoo, YHC got a taste of this race business (10 Burpees courtesy of Mr “I’m not really trying hard” Tank), and no thank you sir! Instead, a healthy order of circuit training was on the menu.

    All OYO, plank for the 6:

    50 100s, 40 SSH (single count), 30 Freddy Mercury’s (2is1), 20 Jump Squats, and 10 Burpees. 1 lap around Noah’s Ark and plank for the six. I reckon we made it through 5 or six rounds, with the final lap continuing to the flag.

    COT

    Count, Name, Steve prayed us out. Guys, I don’t know why you put up with Steve and his shenanigans, but I know he appreciates the allowance of said pied piper status. On a much more humble note, I appreciate this brotherhood and the ability to contribute in any small way to its lively and fulfilling existence.

  • Nickel and Dimed to Death OR Steve Is a Mean Stupid Face – from Bushwacker

    First off, let’s just take a moment to recognize the Pax that got out there early for the pre-thang – I think there were 7-8 guys? And that’s not counting Jose and JV, who started even earlier to roll at their own pace. AND, an additional t-claps to Jose for not only EH’ing JV, but also for getting out to the Marsh extra early for a pre-pre-thang of 30 minutes of pull-ups.

    And I’d argue we were off to a good start even before that, when in the wee hours of the morning the temperature mercifully dipped down into the mid-60’s. That small fact made all the difference – were it not for those 8-10 degrees, JV (by his own admission) would’ve punched that guy on roller blades in the face. And hasn’t Christian Slater suffered enough these last few years?

    Usual warmorama (can you decode them all?): WM’s, IW’s, GG’s, HB’s, AC’s, SSH’s. And 20 Merkins OYO.

    Split Q today, with YHC (Steve right now), up first. I tried to find the most pricker-filled patch of grass to mosey to for our first set of:

    Nickel and Dimes I:
    5 burpees, 10 hand release merkins, then SSH until next minute – for a total of 5 minutes. (Shout out to Catfish who taught me that one way back when.)

    Many noticed PI’s entrance at this point, but few saw Zoolander’s sly exit.

    Next up: Partner Races (or foot races, if Turtle had been there):
    Line up at the start of Marigny for a sprint down the longest block known to man. Winner does 10 merkins, loser 10 burpees.

    Tank, who positioned himself as the final sprinter, noted that every guy looked good running that block. “If I was passing by and saw those guys, I’d say, ‘Wow, those guys are athletes.’” High praise from the leader of the gazelles.

    Back at the pricker-filled, ant-infested (sorry Bird) patch of grass for:

    Nickel and Dimes: First Blood Part 2
    10 Sister Mary’s (2:1), 5 squats, plank until next minute. 5 minutes.

    And another partner race down Marigny, with winner taking 10 merkins, loser 10 burpees.

    There were plans for Nickel and Dimes III: Nickel and Dimed With A Vengeance, but thankfully Bushwacker had arrived and it was time to cede leadership duties. Even I was hating myself by this point. (Though I’ll point out, quite a few guys still had plenty fuel left in the tank for Wacker – including Russo, who was somehow able to calculate the age of Madonna’s hoo-ha in between Side Straddle Hops [approx. 130 yrs old, if I heard correctly].)

    So without further ado, time to turn the pages of this backblast over to the man himself, the Wacker of Bushes (and here you thought he was the long-winded one!).

    Geez! Chatty Cathy, huh, guys?

    Anyhoo, YHC got a taste of this race business (10 Burpees courtesy of Mr “I’m not really trying hard” Tank), and no thank you sir! Instead, a healthy order of circuit training was on the menu.

    All OYO, plank for the 6:

    50 100s, 40 SSH (single count), 30 Freddy Mercury’s (2is1), 20 Jump Squats, and 10 Burpees. 1 lap around Noah’s Ark and plank for the six. I reckon we made it through 5 or six rounds, with the final lap continuing to the flag.

    COT

    Count, Name, Steve prayed us out. Guys, I don’t know why you put up with Steve and his shenanigans, but I know he appreciates the allowance of said pied piper status. On a much more humble note, I appreciate this brotherhood and the ability to contribute in any small way to its lively and fulfilling existence.

  • Birfday Cake – from Russo

    73 degrees, San Diego, no wind to speak so a very humid morning. Conversation this morning centered around soft hands, melting servers, pregnant coworkers, and single vs. double ports.

    Warmup (10x, all IC)

    -Toe touches
    -Self love
    -Arm circles
    -Grass grabbers
    -Air presses
    -Imperial walkers

    Thang: somewhat inspired by our conversation on how many different exercises we do, YHC took the opportunity for a reminder of just that with a cakewalk around the Pad. It wasn’t my birthday, but it was for Fred Astaire, Bono, and John Wilkes Booth, so we moseyed around singing Elevation (in the rain) while we plotted to do horrible things to our least favorite Lincoln (YHC’s was Riley, head coach of LSU’s next football opponent.)

    The cakewalk order:

    45 Seal jacks
    44 High knees (2 is 1)
    43 SSHs
    42 Plank Jacks
    41 goof balls
    40 squats to a
    39 Hello Dollies
    38 Calf raises
    37 Apollo ohnos
    36 Freak Nastys
    35 step ups
    34 flutter kicks
    33 butt kicks IC
    32 Peter Parker’s
    31 imperial walkers
    30 Shoulder taps
    29 American hammers
    28 Monkey Humpers
    27 Merkins
    26 Smurf jacks
    25 wife pleasers
    24 Rosalitas
    23 crab jacks (crab position – think reverse plank jacks)
    22 groiners
    21 Bear crawls (counting your right hand as a rep)
    20 murder bunnies
    19 Wide merkins
    18 slow squats
    17 crab cakes
    16 circle ups
    15 Urkins
    14 Durkins
    13 Sister Mary Catherine’s
    12 LMCs IC
    11 diamond merkins
    10 star jumps
    9 donkey kicks
    8 arm circles (should have been 8 count body builders but we were running short on time)
    7 merkins (the first repeat, will need to change that up for the real one)
    6 Box cutters IC
    5 Carolina dry docks
    4 Wife pleasers (the second repeat)
    3 jump squats
    2 burpees
    1 minute plank

    COT, name-o-rama, announcements, and prayer closed us out. Steve and Bushwacker have Q tomorrow, there’s a Beast to be unleashed on October 19th, and life is good.

    SYITG

  • Brevity is…. Wit – The Simpsons – from Steve

    If yesterday’s rambling, stream-of-conscious BB was in the vein of Donald Miller, today we’re shooting for Raymond Carver (or Chewy):

    It was dark and humid and there were merkins.*

    Tunnel, backpedal, more merkins.

    Selling books, AI refrigerators, termite swarms, the lost AO of Abita Springs.

    And. More. Merkins.

    Jane Fondas back at the flag, Russo closed us out.

    *Carver’s famous editor would’ve scratched out every line but the first one. I just can’t bring myself to be such a purist.

  • These Hands, They Look Like Good, Strong Hands (or: Are You Happy To See Me, Or Is That a Buck Moth In Your Pants?) – from Steve

    [*Again, a situation where YHC could use a GIF (hard g, soft g, doesn’t matter), for those who didn’t grow up with a luck dragon named Falkor, being chased through the swamps by The Nothing and a bad tempered, green-eyed wolf. And as for the buck moth in your pants, well, that’s not something we’re going to delve into here… file that as one of those had-to-be-there moments.]

    So. A fairly big (six!) crowd at the Pad this humid morning – and, incredibly, Bushwacker somehow simultaneously posted to both the Splashed and the A1C. He and his clone are working overtime this month to blow the lid off those Pax Miner charts.

    But – before Bush’s clone rolled in with a buck moth in his pants, and before any of the other guys rolled in – it was just Russo and some young woman with a knee brace knocking around a soccer ball. She kept suspiciously re-parking her car in various spots around the trailhead – maybe looking for some privacy? Unfortunately for her, on this particular day we happened to be bear crawling all around the trailhead, which proved slightly awkward when every now and then we’d turn a corner and catch a glimpse of her coming out of a thicket of bamboo with her ball. It was very bizarre, though I’m guessing she thought the same – seeing six men crawling up the corridor and down the street.

    And that, obviously, was the main order of the day – bear crawling. We started on the eastern-most end of the corridor, crawling the long straightaway first before stopping for:

    10x merkins
    10x slow squats
    10x Apollo ohno’s (2 is 1)
    10x star jumps

    More crawling, this time to the stage, and again the same 4 exercises. Then to the west end of the corridor, and yeah, you get the idea. We eventually found ourselves at the bus depot for the usual leg business:

    Step ups, freak nasties, step downs, freak nasties, Bulgarians, freak nasties, jump overs, freak nasties – all x12 IC.

    Bear crawling our way back to the start, we swapped out the initial 4 “rest” exercises for:

    10x big boy situps
    10x crunchy frogs
    10x american hammers (2 is 1)
    10x 100’s (4 is 1)

    This is when things started to get a little dicey and when YHC realized just how soft I’ve gotten lately – quite literally. I guess wearing gloves the last few years has made me a baby because my hands have been jacked up since that beatdown. I don’t know if it was the loose gravel or what, but I’ve got blisters all over them. And the big boys would’ve likely have added a flayed coccyx to the list of injuries (hmm, that does not sound right), but most of us wisely took to the grass for those.

    COT and Pelican prayed us out. Thank you gents for the camaraderie, the push, and the opportunity to get out there and get stronger alongside you. I appreciate you guys.

  • Tabatta Tuesday – from Chewy

    Tabata Tuesday
    Seven PAX met up last Tuesday at the Mandeville Trail head for a Tabata Tuesday workout. Exercises included jump rope, agility ladder, side, straddle hops, mountain climber, lunges, and a flight of steps.