Tag: The Gipper

It was back to the farm with 3 veterans and a FNG this morning at the Covington Trailhead.  Mardi Gras is over, and there are few better ways to get back to work than with farmer carries.  So after a nice dynamic warmup down the platform alley with various stretches, hops, strides, and sprints, the PAX made their downpainment as follows:

Jack Webbs with a 1:2 ratio working our way up to 10 Merkins and 20 kneeling air presses.

Grabbed our coupons and headed to the brickyard for a set of 11s:  squats on one side, back to front lunges on the other, connected by nice farmer’s walk carrying our coupons.

FNG checked out with what Chevy Chase would call a “thing” and the veterans soldiered on.

Back to the Trailhead for a 10 minute AMRAP:  down the hill to the stage, hop or climb onto the stage, back around and then bear crawl up the hill, followed by a Merkin.  Rinse and repeat but increasing the rep count on the Merkins with each trip.  Tanked-Up put in a particularly strong performance, making sure he got all of his 16 Merkin reps in even after the buzzer sounded.

Count-o-rama, name-o-rama and Einstein prayed us out.

Tanked-Up is Q next Wednesday.  Should be fun.

A Pax of four showed up today, Our fearless leader TurboTax could not make it for Q…something about his fitting appointment for the REX ball. Whatever… so this second-stringer had to Q on the fly.

here’s how it went:

salutations

short disclaimer

warmup
20xIC side straddle hops
20xIC arm circles
20xIC imperial walkers
20xIC toe touches
20xIC hillbillys
20xIC mountain climbers
20xIC imaginary kettle ball pickups, alternating leading leg
20xIC one leg lunge with back leg up on bench, alternating leading leg

 

 
mosey to the school board building (Taj Mahal) parking lot
run the parking spaces, ladder sprint up 2 spaces, backpeddle 2 spaces, repeat for 4,6, & 8
10xIC leg swings left to right, right leg
10xIC leg swings left to right, left leg
run the parking spaces, ladder sprint up 2 spaces, backpeddle 2 spaces, repeat for 4,6, & 8
10xIC leg swings front to back, right leg
10xIC leg swings front to back, left leg

 

 
mosey to the front of the Taj Mahal
circle up by the flagpole – step back to the outer edge of the circle
one leg bearcrawl, with right leg up in the air, bearcrawl hop forward to the flag pole,
do one merkin
one leg crabcrawl, with right leg up, crabcrawl hop backward to edge of circle,
jump up and run the stairs, up and around and back
rinse and repeat with left leg up on the bearcrawl and crabcrawl

 

 

mosey to the back of the St. Tammany Parish Courthouse Annex parking garage
run backwards half up the first floor ramp
turn and sprint up rest of the way, stop and do five burpees
jog across the second floor ramp, stop and using cement walk, do a compass derkin, with 5 derkins every 45 degrees, so basically,
your feet stay in position while arm walking to the left and right
run backwards up third floor ramp , turn and sprint up rest of the way, stop and do five burpees

on the top deck of the parking garage
sprint across the width of the deck, then 10 merkins
sprint across the width of the deck, then 10 derkins
sprint across the width of the deck, then 10 erkins
sprint across the width of the deck, 10 count

down the stairs to the “Noodling for Rats” ledge
5 pull-ups, 25 curb hops
repeat

 

 
mosey to the front of the St. Tammany Parish Courthouse
circle up around the flagpole, merkin and bearcrawl around clockwise, merkin and bearcrawl counter-clockwise

 

 
mosey back to the trail head

 

 

mary
20xIC Jane Fondas
10XIC V-ps

 

 
count-o-rama, lead-out prayer by Tanked-Up, we bid adieu, we “establish” our day

Seven men strong on deck this wonderful morning.  The PAX had to help Tanked Up with the lingo, but he didn’t mind as it is all for fun. After the workout I am sure it was fair to say everyone went home knowing they worked their butts off! Can’t wait for Saturday to turn it up another notch!

Warmup–side straddle hops, imperial walkers, squats, merkins, windmills, 20 reps per

Onto the courthouse with 5 cycles of  20 reps De-Construct Burpees

Mosey to the parking lot to take on 5 laps of Bernie Sanders hill climbs… The 5th lap you could feel the “Bern”

Onto the roof for 100 merkins, 200 imperial walkers, 300 leg thrust from a merkin position..with  50 yard runs at intervals.

Wrapped up the  activities with a rotation of Bataan Death March…Picking up the foot pace at the end to punish Tanked Up😀

Mosey back to the starting point for some cool down Jane Fonda’s and Flutter Kicks

Closed out prayer led by Chewy..

Up Next– Collard Greens..

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Pax of four showed up today under the Gipper statue to “love every minute of it.”

here’s how it went:

salutations

short disclaimer

warmup
20xIC side straddle hops
20xIC windmills
20xIC imperial walkers
20xIC toe touches
20xIC hillbillys
20xIC sealjacks
20xIC imaginary kettle ball pickups, alternating leading leg
20xIC one leg lunge with back leg up on bench, alternating leading leg

 

 
mosey to the school board building (Taj Mahal) parking lot
run the parking spaces, ladder sprint up 2 spaces, backpeddle 2 spaces, repeat for 4,6, & 8
10xIC leg swings left to right, right leg
10xIC leg swings left to right, left leg
run the parking spaces, ladder sprint up 2 spaces, backpeddle 2 spaces, repeat for 4,6, & 8
this sprint was a competition run for the Pax with Tanked-Up coming in first place, no doubt he had Frosted Flakes before posting.
10xIC leg swings front to back, right leg
10xIC leg swings front to back, left leg

 
mosey to the front of the Taj Mahal
circle up by the flagpole – step back about 3 yards out
pushup and bearcrawl clockwise, pushup at quarter hour marks while bear crawling all around the clock
circle up by the flagpole – step back about 6 yards out
pushup and bearcrawl counter-clockwise, pushup at quarter hour marks while bear crawling all around the clock

 

mosey to the back of the St. Tammany Parish Courthouse Annex parking garage
run backwards half up the first floor ramp
turn and sprint up rest of the way
jog across the second floor ramp
run backwards up third floor ramp
turn and sprint up rest of the way

on the top deck of the parking garage
sprint across the width of the deck, then 10 merkins
sprint across the width of the deck, then 10 derkins
sprint across the width of the deck, then 10 erkins
sprint across the width of the deck, then 10 toe taps

down the stairs to the “Noodling for Rats” ledge
5 pull-ups, 10 box jumps
5 knee-ups, 10 box jumps

 
mosey to the front of the St. Tammany Parish Courthouse
20xIC bench hops, with arms on the middle of the bench, legs on the ground, hop to the other side
10xIC burpees

 
mosey back to the trail head

 

mary
20xIC Jane Fondas
20xIC Ted Turners
one set of Breathing 100’s, start on sixes, then legs slightly up, and head and shoulders slightly up, arms outstretched, breath in on 5 count, breath out on 5 count

 
count-o-rama, prayer led by Tanked-Up, Q assignment for next time, we bid our adieus and headed-out to take on the day.

 

Another beautiful morning in the gloom at the Covington Trailhead.  The PAX gathered and got to work straight away with a dynamic warmup using the train platform:  heal to toe walks, lunges, shuffles, skips, freestyle shoulder swing toe walks, backstroke shoulder swing toe walks, carioca and a few other exercises down the platform with a short mosey back to the starting point after each trip.

Mosey to the Taj Mahal where the PAX formed up in a large COP around the flagpole.  SSH, IW, Merkins, mountain climbers, dynamic back planks, twisting SSHs, squats, all IC 20x collapsing the circle to the flagpole and back to the starting point between each exercise with sprint/backpedal, forward and backwards frog jumps, forward and backwards bear crawls, forward and backward knuckedraggers, forward and backwards crab walks, and an ostrich walk.  This last “walk” was a new one for the PAX and if the neighbors didn’t think we were weird before they definitely do now.

Switch gears but remain around the flagpole for a quick battery of shuffles around the circle, sprint/backpedal to the pole, and take a lap up and over the Taj Mahal front steps.  After about 5 minutes of this nonsense and a 10 count, the PAX moved on to the main event at City Hall.

So YHC promised the PAX cinderblocks this morning and he delivered, sort of.  Paving stones served as the weapon of choice for a set of 11s.  Bench presses on the grass using the paving stones on one end and Tonya Harding ice skater hops hugging the paving stones on the other.  The tough part was the in between…walking tall back and forth holding the paving stones overhead with elbows locked out.  YHC’s thought process went something like this:  this paving stone is too light; this paving stone is getting heavy, $%#^%%*!! this paving stone!  At any rate, the PAX did themselves proud, kept their weapons high and completed the mission.

Quick Mary on the spot using the paving stones for some weighted torso twists then mosey back to the Gipper for the count-o-rama, name-o-rama and prayer of gratitude.

Great to see Steve made it with the PAX even though he was out with friends till 0100 this morning. 0600 came early for him. Sorry we missed EiEi, something about  butter milk and cookies hurting his tummy😬!

The Thang

Warmup

20xic Side Straddle Hops, Windmills, Squats, Butt Kicks, Mountain Climbers, Merkins

Get To Work

Mosey to the Courthouse- fun with Rocky Balboa’s, 7 hard laps filled with Toe Taps, Derkins and Irkins. Continued with 5 reps of De-Contruct Burpees.

Mosey to the parking lot rooftop for some fun with Bearmuda Triangles. Three sets with ascending Burpees  at each cone. Could feel the sweat after this activity! No time for rest as we challenged ourselves with the Baatan Death March. Next time 2 men down instead of 1 to do the Burpee portion. Sure to increase the intensity.

Mosey backed to our starting point to conclude with Jane Fonda’s and a host of other leg exercises.

Prayer- bless these men, our entire north shore team and our families.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There certainly are no mountains in Covington but we do have stairs, plenty of fog this time of year, and YHC believes that Einstein could sing a plaintive Bluegrass tune or two if requested.  It was that kind of morning as the PAX converged around the shovel flag in the foggy gloom.

The Thang kicked off with a mosey to the Taj Mahal.  The PAX circled up around the flagpole for the warmup:  SSH, IW, Butt Kicks, High Knees, Windmills, Torso Twists, and Front to Back Lunges…all IC 25x.

The PAX then put the Taj Mahal stairs to work.  One PAX hit Merkins and one hit Seal Jacks while the third ran up and over the stairs.  Rotated through the line up, AMRAP for 6 tough minutes.

Mosey to the Justice Center Parking Garage benches for Step Ups, Derkins, Freak Nasties, and Irkins..all IC 15x.

Mosey to the Justice Center itself for some speed and pre-agility work.  The PAX made six trips down the back entrance alley.  The first two trips consisted of a backpedal for 20 yards, turn and sprint for 10, and then decelerate quickly for 5, sticking the last footfall like a Romanian gymnast.  The next four trips substituted carioca for backpedal and then it was time to mosey back to the Trailhead for Mary.

Roaches, Freddy Mercury’s, Jackknives, and Scuba Steves…all IC 20x.

Count-o-rama, name-o-rama, and Einstein prayed us out.

Announcement:  Collard Greens has his Virgin Q next Wednesday so plan on getting out of your fartsack and joining us in the gloom.

 

 

“Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reached for the last one they had, but so did another man. As I rained blows upon him, I realized there had to be another way” …Frank Costanza

Well.. today, the PAX had no festivus pole, no airing of grievances, but we did have feats of strength, and we did find another (F3) way…

warmup
20xIC side straddle hops
20xIC windmills
20xIC imperial walkers
20xIC squats
20xIC arm rotators
20xIC toe touches
20xIC hillbillys
20xIC sealjacks

mosey – jog to the school board building (Taj Mahal) parking lot
run the parking spaces, yellow line to yellow line crossing over right-to-left
10xIC leg swings left to right, right leg
10xIC leg swings left to right, left leg
run the parking lot spaces, yellow line to yellow line crossing over left-to-right
10xIC leg swings front to back, right leg
10xIC leg swings front to back, left leg

 
mosey – to the front of the St. Tammany Courthouse
lunge walk to the first set of benches, 10 merkins
lunge walk to the second set of benches, 10 derkins
lunge walk to the third set of benches, 10 irkins
run up the steps, through the facade, around and down the block to starting point
… and repeat

mosey – to the back of the St. Tammany Parish Courthouse Annex parking garage,
run backwards half up the first floor ramp
turn and sprint up rest of the way
jog across the second floor ramp
run backwards up third floor ramp
turn and sprint up rest of the way

 

feats of strength
on the top deck of the parking garage
The PAX spelled out a giant Merry Christmas, leaving a trail of sweat and puke that could be seen from outer space.
with each of member of the PAX taking a letter, choosing the exercise, tracing the letter(in cursive), with the rest of the PAX following in Indian fashion, until it was his turn for the next letter. We did letters in bear crawl, crab crawl, lunges, skips, hops, box jump, etc. Ended with a burpee exclamation point!

 
mosey – back to the trail head

 

no mary – the clock ran out

 

count-o-rama

 

prayer; safe travels & Merry Christmases all around

 

dismissal

 

 

 

The shovel flag is now a regular fixture at the Covington Trailhead on Wednesday mornings. City employees have embraced the PAX.  One glance at Tank-Up counting out his Merkins have them convinced that we are some sort of retired SEAL collective.

So the PAX got down to business this morning with a dynamic warmup under the Gipper’s gaze.  Multiple drills down a 20 yard lane…heel to toe walk, forward backward and lateral skips, lateral bounces, figure 4s, lunges with a twist, Frankenstein kicks, caricoa, hamstring sweeps, and a few more that YHC remembers from his soccer days but cannot remember as he writes this post…followed by 6 strides/sprints down the lane at increasing intensities.

Mosey to the Justice Center, spread out along the breezeway curb, and hit two minutes of toe touch bounces off the curb.  YHC suggested that he would call out either #1 or #2 randomly at which point the PAX would execute vertical toe touch bounces (#1) or lateral toe touch bounces (#2), working hard to stay off the ground and in the air for as much of the two minutes as possible.  YHC was thinking of making this a longer exercise but is glad he reigned himself in at the last minute.  Two minutes was plenty as the PAX got after it and made every second count.

Well earned recovery walk to the top of the Justice Center Parking Deck where the Sky Q fortuitously placed a few sandbags.  Mumble chatter from the PAX accusing YHC of pre-positioning supplies.  YHC has to admit he would have done exactly that if he had thought of it.  To give himself some time to figure out what to do with the sandbags, YHC set the PAX to running Xs on the parking deck.  Sprint diagonally across the deck maybe 40 years to the opposite corner, mosey the length of the deck to the adjacent corner, sprint diagonally to the opposite corner, mosey the length of the deck to the adjacent corner…hitting as many reps as possible through and around the big square for 5 minutes.

Back to the sandbags.  With 5 PAX and 3 sandbags, YHC challenged the PAX to move the sandbags from one side of the parking deck to the other.  However, the PAX had to follow two rules:  (1)  the sandbags could not touch the ground and (2) no PAX could walk or run holding a bag.  It took a minute but only a minute before the PAX worked out a system to get the bags moving, passing them down the line and sprinting to the head of the line like an Indian Run with multiple sandbag exchanges.  Fun exercise, and the PAX will see it again if they ever ask YHC to Q in the future.

Mosey back to the Trailhead for a Merkin wave 50x IC.

Count-o-rama, name-o-rama, and Tank-up prayed us out.

Thanks for letting me lead.