Author: Fireman Ed

  • I remembered all 18 PAX, does that make me young?

    As I arrived at the Circus and saw Upchuck, EF Hutton and Lockjaw I thought to myself “Did First Watch go west?” The after a horde of regulars and a visitor from SOJ (State Farm) I thought “Oh sh^t I need to remember all of these names”. After a short COP (DQs, helicopters, merkins and Freddies) and dodging of a few incoming cars (including a couple of teenagers who thought the parking lot speed limit was 40 and finally slowed down after 10 seconds of our yelling) we started our workout.

    E1: Mosey to the track area. Lindseys with high pulls and curls. I thought the high pulls would be difficult but the curls were killing me. I had no idea the track was so popular so there was so more car dodging.

    E2: Another Lindsey with squats and lawnmowers (one count). a bit of mumble chatter about how to handle odd # of one counts between two arms. Mosey to basketball court.

    e3: Bear crawl across court with kb; lunge back with kb.

    e4: Mosey and do 3 sets of sit and press (10, 15, 20).

    E5: Mosey back to front of school. Rifle carry and do 3 sets of calf raises (10, 20, 30).

    E6: Head to home base (near the coffee): Finish with sets of swings, american hammers, bench presses, coupon flutters and DMH.

    All of us likely know of the CSAUP this weekend. Also a folk music concert (ask Whitesnake for details) and May 10th is the bridge (meet at Wawa in Westchester Commons at 6 a.m. I believe). State Farm wanted to give thanks for being able to start/promote F3 up in Pennsylvania. Prayers for Fudd’s family, Roger Roger’s surgery and my treatment tomorrow. We had 18 strong today and I did not need my phone to remember everyone. It would have been less stressful if I used my phone but whatever.

    Thanks for all of the PAX and for letting me lead.

    Fireman Ed

  • Keeping the Peace for all Pickleballers

    On the eve of Easter, 11 of our finest mature gentlemen converged on an Easter themed workout. We noticed two unmarked cars and a marked car gracing us with their presence. Was it for us? No it was for the following Pickleball tournament.

    COP: More jumping than usual. Inivisible jump ropes, SSHs, HRMs, MCs, DQs, FMs. Mosey to field.

    E1: Partner 1 broad jump burpees, other partner runs most of the way down the field and back. Switch until both reach the destination.

    E2: Partner 1 bear crawls, Partner 2 bunny hops switch at 25 yards at 50 yards do lunges until the end.

    E3: Wheelbarrows switch at 25 yards, run the last 50 yards.

    E4: Dora with 100 merkins, 200 WWIIs, 300 jump squats. Mosey to back of school.

    The main event. The Easter egg hunt while crabwalking. This took a lot less time that I anticipated. Tater came out as the winner with 9 eggs. Free coffee for him. Mosey to chin up bars.

    10 chin ups 20 dips, 8 chin ups, 20 dips, 6 chin ups, 20 dips, 4 chin ups, 20 dips, 2 chin ups, 20 dips. Mosey to home base.

    Triple check with wall sits, flutter kicks and run around most of the parking lot.

    Ended with a few ab exercises and stretching.

    Don’t forget the CSAUP in early May. See slack for details. Also, Whitesnake’s Pixies tribute band, Here comes your Band will be at the Canal Club tonight. Prayers for Fudd’s family, Roger Roger and me. I am doing pretty well though. Good job White Deer with your attempt to recruit a police officer to join F3, even while we were doing APDs. Thanks for letting me lead.

    Fireman Ed – let’s see how bad the Jets mess up the draft this Thursday!

  • Fifty Two

    I Q’d on my birthday. 10 Pax descended on the friendly confines of the land of pickleball but no pickleball for this crew.

    COP: DQs, DMH, ACs, merkins, FMs. Mosey to main field.

    E1: 4 corners cumulative with 13 HRMs, 26 heels to heaven (3 sets of these were kinda rough), 39 jump squats and 52 SSHs. Mosey about 50 feet.

    E2: Doras with 52 burpees, 104 2 count flutter kicks and 208 LBCs. Mosey to benches

    E3: 4 sets of 13 derkins with 13 2 count step ups. Mosey to burpee hill.

    E5: After PAX tried to convince me that the hill was renamed LBC hill, I told them we had so far only done 26 burpees so we needed to do 26 more. We accomplished that OYO in 4 sets. Mosey to chin up bars.

    E6: 3 sets of chin ups and tricep dips. First set 10 and 20, second set 9 and 18 and the third set 7 and 14. Mosey to playground.

    E7: Triple check with shoulder taps, WWIIs, and lunges across parking lot and run back. For some reason this exercise had some grumbles. Finished with stretching.

    Prayers for Pinto’s friend and his family, Fudd’s sister and family, Roger Roger and me. I am doing well overall (praise god) but prayers that I can manage a medication side effect. It was good to go to coffeeteria and we even had someone ask Chum and Jville for help to try to fix a large car dent with a suction cup. Enjoy your weekend and thanks for allowing me to lead.

  • Thankful to be Q’ing again

    After a hiatus to take care of treating my cancer (which has gone well overall so far) I was back again leading the PAX with some kettlebell workouts. Admittedly I did drop 5 pounds in kb weight; otherwise I would have struggled more.

    The workout went like this:

    COP: SSHs (just kidding I don’t do those for COP), DQs, helicopters, DMH, HRMs, MCs and FMs. Mosey to back of school.

    Doras with a theme of 52 (upcoming birthday): 52 sit and press, 104 bench press and 208 LBCs. Mosey toward other side of school. 2 sets of 13 lawnmower pulls each arm.

    4 corners: 13 burpees, 26 high pulls, 39 curls (I struggled on this one) and 52 coupon squats (gotta build those legs for pool season). mosey back; 2 sets of 13 lawnmower pulls each arm.

    2 sets of 13 triceps and swings combo.

    Finished with coupon wall sits and a couple sets of halos.

    Gypsy is hosting a help him with chainsaws, shoot stuff and drink beer on 3/22. Hope everyone has good medical insurance and a good time. I will be Q’ing on my birthday on 3/29 at Gridiron. Attila took us out in prayer; it was good to see everyone out there. Also enjoyed coffeeteria ala Offshore; Al Gore would have been proud of our discussion.

    Fireman Ed

  • Head Treatments and a Dead Body

    11 muscled warriors including a Circus Maximus first timer showed up for a kettlebell workout. It was reported that a dead body was found the previous morning at the workout site. Whether such report is true may be a mystery. Given that the first timer at Circus was Handshake, the amount of mumble chatter went up. The chatter included a discussion about a PAX who shall remain nameless getting a treatment on his head. Well anyways here is the workout:

    COP: DQs, CPs, merkins, FMs and LBCs Mosey to Pump road side of school.

    E1: Death crawls which are bear crawls with coupon and at the curbs do 1 sit and press, crawl do 2 sit and presses up to 5 and back down to 1. Mosey slightly down the curb.

    E2: Triple check with bench press, overhead pulls and run to small tree left of the curb and back. Mosey to front parking lot.

    E3: Four corners with 10 burpees, 20 coupon squats, 30 high pulls and 40 curls for the ladies. mosey back to home base.

    e4: Sets of lawnmower pulls and calf raises. First set 5 each (per arm on lawnmower pulls), then 10 each, then 15 each. Mosey to home base.

    Finished with American hammers, coupon flutter kicks, heels to heaven, mountain climbers and some stretching.

    Announcements: Join gypsy and be part of the F3 team doing the Allianz Richmond Marathon next year. I swear there were other announcements but I forgot them. Prayers for Fudd’s sister Mary, Roger Roger’s wife and me (Fireman Ed). Thanks for letting me lead! What is wrong with the da$n Jets?

  • Gridiron – the Movie

    11 PAX showed up to play parts in the greatest movie filming of all time, or at least the best one filled at Short Pump middle school, at 7 in the morning.

    COP: DQs (with an abundance of mumble chatter), helicopters, HRMs, Freddie Mercuries (in honor of Tater Mercury who is growing a mustache for a good cause), LBCs and arm circles. Mosey to track.

    4 corners on track 1/4 of the track, 10 merkins, 1/4 track, 20 merkins, 1/4 track 30 merkins and 1/4 track 40 merkins. 100 merkins – not shabby at all my friends. Mosey to nearby soccer field which looked like a swamp so audible to nearby asphalt.

    Bear crawl as far as you can or to the stop sign. When you can bear crawl no further, lunge.

    Lindseys: Lindsey 1: Carolina Dry docks and monkey humpers. Lindsey 2: plank jacks and squats, Lindsey 3: APDs and pickle pounders. Mosey to front of school.

    Triple check with wall sits, dips and run around the road in front of the school. Mosey to bus loop.

    Burpee for each two posts. ~15 burpees total, Burpee per two post on way back. Mosey to home base.

    Ab mary with each PAX calling out an ab exercise for all PAX. Finished with a stretch.

    Prayers for Fudd’s sister Mary (and Fudd/family too), Fireman Ed and Roger Roger (wife). A lot of this workout was being filmed with Attila and Mariner for PE class. I bet the film will be rousing and entertaining for all. And the Emmy goes to…..

    Have a great rest of your weekend.

    Fireman Ed

  • Girly Exercises can be tough

    9 middle aged plus men descended on the cool confines of the land of the Mills Godwin Eagle.

    I decided since we are in the 2020s to make the workout based mainly on female exercises. I got my inspiration from an attendee from the folk festival which said, “In the future the world will be ruled by females.” I thought it already was.

    COP: Helicopters, DQs, Merkins, mountain climbers, heels to heaven and ACs. Mosey to side of school.

    Dora #1: 75 Sit and Press, 150 Bench Press and 300 LBCs. Pacer runs down parking lot to next lamp post (one that goes on and off) and Bernies back. Mosey to home base parking lot.

    Dora #2: 75 Coupon Squats, 150 calf raises and 225 SSHs. Partner lunges to top of parking lot and runs back. Mosey to loop.

    Lindsey with bicep curls and triceps. Mosey to wall of school.

    Wall sit with coupon, 15 donkey kicks, wall sit with coupon – 5 presses (this hurt my back – I guess my form was bad) and 20 donkey kicks. Mosey to home base and stretch.

    Announcement: Whitesnake’s band (not called Whitesnake) will be playing at Kindred Spirits satellite location next to Hardywood location this Saturday. Prayers for Fudd’s sister Mary and for Fireman Ed’s M’s family (father n’ law passed away early Monday).

    Hopefully all of the shakeup with the Jets will actually help them against the Bills.

    Fireman Ed

  • Musical Circle of Prayer

    10 mature warriors showed up in Northern Short Pump and dodged pickleballers for a Fireman Ed beatdown. Mosey to the football field that is the inspiration for Gridiron.

    COP: DMH, DQ, merkins, HRMs, FMs, Phelps the arms out to get them ready.

    Line up at goal line for a Triple Check.

    Pacer bear crawls to 20 and crawl bears back. Others do Carolina Dry docks and APDs. Three sets of bear crawls and crawl bears are tough especially when you are next to energetic Tater. Line up at 50.

    Pacer lunges to 25 and bernies back. Others do squats and jump squats. Mosey to little hill next to parking lot.

    Burpee time with first set 30 seconds of burpees with 30 seconds rest, then 35 and 25, 40 and 20, 45 and 15, 50 and 10, and finally 55 and 5. This one was a crowd pleaser. Mosey to the Gator bars.

    First set 10 chinups/jerkins and 20 dips, then 7 chin ups/jerkins and 30 dips, then 5 chin ups and 40 dips. Mosey to Marcy’s playground.

    Doras with 100 derkins, 200 2 count flutter kicks and 300 LBCs. Other partner runs a half loop around the parking lot.

    Finished with APDs, American hammers, diamond merkins and stretching exercises (I am allowed to lead those since I am an AARP member).

    Firehouse subs on Tuesday. Pray for Fudd’s sister, Fireman Ed’s father and law, Fireman Ed’s medical test on 10/14 and those recovering from Helene’s aftermath. While Attila graciously took us out in prayer, a parent of one of the young football players decided to come in with 90 decibel modern rap music. Hence the title of the backblast.

    Let’s go Mets!

    Fireman Ed

  • Happy Belated Birthday

    The Circus was strong this morning with 11 PAX prowling the confines of our favorite bomb shelter school, Mills Godwin. After getting my bearings together and with the lights of the bus loop shining, we started some KB work.

    COP: DQs, arm circles, HRMs, MCs, plank jacks, Freddies. With a strong trumpet blast from White Deer, I ended the COP. Mosey to Pump Road side.

    I was planning to do Triple Checks around the indented area between the school and Pump Road. Given the area would have taken a couple PAX several minutes to navigate, I changed it. Pacer runs around 50 yards and back, partner 1 does sit and press, partner 2 bicep curls.

    Lindseys with high pulls and lawnmower pulls are next. We would mosey toward the bus loop after each set. The set of 30 high pulls proved to be a pain inducer.

    Next is the Fireman Ed loop. Line up on the curb. Pacer runs around bus loop. pacer finishes and the PAX rotate. Exercises included Bench Press, squats, Triceps, Coupon flutters, american hammers, tricep pull downs, sumo squats, lawnmower pulls and I forget the last one.

    Finished with coupon wall sits and some stretching.

    Big 10th anniversary at Dogpile. See slack for details. Please attend the next Firehouse subs gathering (me included since I work 1/2 mile from there) on the second Tuesday. Prayers for my father n law battling liver cancer.

    The reason for the title of the backblast was during namerama, White Deer mentioned his age and I said “Happy Birthday White Deer.” He then said, “my birthday was in July”. So most of the PAX decided to tell me when their birthdays were so I could wish them belated happy birthdays. So if I forgot your birthday, happy belated birthday to you.

    Enjoy the rest of your week and hopefully I will see you soon.

    Fireman Ed

  • Quintiple checks and Pearl Jam

    10 – 12 mountains of muscle showed up on College Football day to embark on a cardio coupon workout.

    Fireman Ed realized he forgot his watch but the PAX stepped up to give him time updates.

    COP: DQs, ACs, HRMs, MCs, Plank jacks, etc. Go to coupons.

    I was hoping for a multiplier of 4 but we had 10 at this point. I had the brilliant idea of doing a quintiple check with bench presses, WW2s, merkins, coupon flutter kicks and a bear crawl run/bernie pacer. The PAX were getting restless as they were forgetting the exercise order and the routine dragged on a bit. I stopped it after 4 rounds; I will put in on the “Do not do again” list. Mosey to other portion of field.

    Triple check with bicep curls, coupon squats and a 50 yard and back pacer run. This was more efficient. Mosey to other part of field.

    Dora with 100 coupon rows, 200 jump squats and 300 LBCs. Mosey to home base.

    Pass the coupon wall sits both directions and finished with American hammers, heels to heaven and DQs. I was told I finished a little early; my bad.

    Finished with prayers for healing for Gomer and for me to have a good specialist check up this Thursday.

    Convergence Labor Day is west Short Pump at Nuckols elementary. 10 year anniversary at Dogpile later in September with a 7 a.m. main event and some pre events for go getters (including happy hour at Snuff’s in Bon Air). See backblast for further details.

    I enjoyed coffeeteria including the debate on whether Pearl Jam sucks. I for one think Pearl Jam is a great band but there are those who think otherwise.

    Fireman Ed