Author: Fireman Ed

  • Oh sh$t! I have the Q!

    Fireman Ed set his alarm for 5:05, woke up thought “Hmm maybe today would be a good day to fartsack.” Then looked at the Q list and noticed that “He has this morning’s Q”. On his 10 minute drive thought of a few classics to run with the PAX.

    COP: DQs, DMH, Offshore arrives because who needs to stretch, HRMs, helicopters, MCs and FMs. Mosey to bus loop bench area.

    Elevens with sit and press and 2 count coupon step ups. Don’t perform sit and press on a large root. Mosey to road on bus loop.

    Lindseys with bench press and bicep curls. I could hear Attila adapting to his recent upgrade in weight.

    Loop arounds with run around the loop as pacer. Exercises included pole smokers, burpees, coupon flutter kicks, lawnmower pulls and tricep pulldowns. We did this twice.

    Finished with some boring stretching.

    Grow Ruck coming up in early May. Handshake loses his “hate” this weekend with a special Q this Saturday at Dogpile. As always see Slack for details. I am happy to lead and feedback was positive on my not as well planned Q. Sometimes we overthink and overplan things.

    Fireman Ed

  • Grumpy older men

    12 able bodied men, 11 regulars and an FNG (welcome Jelly Roll) came out looking for a workout, maybe even a beat down. For some reason, at times some of the regulars were not happy with aspects of my workout. As people get older, they complain more often.

    COP: DQs, DMH, merkins, mountain climbers (the ones that went to Circus noticed similarities between that COP and this one), FMs (flatulence makers) and Arm circles. Mosey to curb next to main football field.

    Curb crawls with 2 WWIIs added per merkin. Jelly Roll found it challenging but was a good sport. Went from 1 to 5 back down to 1. Mosey to bus loop.

    Ascending exercises of 5, 10 , 15 and 20 with pole smokers, HRMs, Carolina Dry docks and heels to heaven. Mosey to tennis court.

    Suicides for the 4 tennis courts with 5 squats on court 1, 10 on court 2, 15 on court 3 and 20 on court 4. Second set was 2 burpees, then 4 burpees, then 6 burpees and lastly 8. Mosey to bus loop again.

    Triple check with bear crawl, donkey kicks and flutter kicks. The length of the bear crawl was reduced to account for the grumpiness of some PAX with doing too many donkey kicks. they were right. The donkey kicks sucked. Long mosey to chin up bars.

    First set: 10 chin ups or whatever your max is, 20 dips. Second set 7 chin ups and 25 dips. Third set 5 chin ups and 30 dips. Mosey to home base.

    American hammers, APDs, LBCs (at half Jville speed) with stretching to end the fiesta.

    No announcements from us. No prayer requests. Welcome Jelly Roll whose given name is Jeremy. He works as a lawyer and lives out in the far far west end near Tater. The name came out of him telling us he likes alternative music and was more family friendly than the other suggestions. Congrats on the Spiders for a big victory over 16th ranked Dayton. Now they just have to beat VCU. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Safe returns for Pigskin, Gomer and Fudd’s parents from Honduras.

    Fireman Ed

  • What month is it?

    Fireman Ed has done his fair share of fartsacking the last few months and so he said “If I Q I need to show up” and that he did. I couldn’t use the weather as an excuse since it was 63 at 5 a.m. With 8 in total we did the following fun activities:

    COP: DQs, helicopters, HRMs, MCs and LBCs (at half of Jville’s normal pace). Mosey to bus loop.

    Ascending exercises from 5 to 10 to 15 to 20. Went through sit and presses (Fudd and my least favorite), bench press, lawnmower pulls (which I call rows) and high pulls. We would traverse the bus loop while going through these with some lunges and rifle carrying throughout. Mosey to behind Mills G.

    Dora with 50 burpees, 100 curls for the ladies, 150 calf raises and 200 squats (work those legs for spring). Mosey to base. Bear crawls through some swampy grass, wall sits and donkey kicks.

    Finish with American hammers, freddie mercuries, and stretching.

    Prayers for those doing mission work in Honduras including Pigskin who is probably leading workouts, Gomer and Fudd’s parents. Praise for my older daughter getting into Longwood nursing early decision (may be old news now). See Slack for all events including the upcoming Grow Ruck in May. Do great things gentlemen.

    Fireman Ed

  • Explore the Space

    5 warriors decided to embark on some muscle building/retention over at the friendly confines off Pump Road. 4 of us were ready for COP, one acted as if “COP is for wusses.” Maybe my COP is for wusses. Note for next time.

    COP: DQs, helicopters, merkins, LBCs, ACs.

    Theme was to mosey around the whole AO and if something caught my fancy we would do sets of an exercise by such landmark. Exercises included burpees, Lawnmower pulls, bear crawls/crawl bears, sit and presses, 2 count flutter kicks, dips, donkey kicks, halos, bicep curls, bench presses, derkins and a couple that I forgot. We made it to the football stadium and back. Not too shabby.

    Some mumble chatter ensued especially when some ripe flattulence was dispersed during derkins. at that point, a little jogging did us good. Ended with some stretching since it was pretty darn cold out.

    Be on the lookout for information about “Griddleiron” which is the full service breakfast fellowship following one of the Saturday Gridiron workouts. Prayers for a neighbor of mine who just started bone marrow treatments for cancer today (I just found this out yesterday asking him why he shaved his head, now I know). Have a great and hopefully limited stress holiday season.

    Thanks for letting me lead.

    Fireman Ed

  • Trying to get to a 20% Q rate

    11 men came out to find very little pickelballing (guess many hibernate for the winter) at Short Pump North. What they found is a compilation of a couple Fireman Ed classics.

    COP: DQs, Helicopters, Invisible Jump Rope, Merkins, FMs, ACs. Mosey to bus loop. Tater made sure I did not forget my discs.

    Bus Loop: Pacer throws disc and completes hole around temporary construction fencing. Others do the following: HRMs, WWIIs, jump squats, Burpees, pole smokers, SSHs, diamond merkins, heels to heaven, Lt. Dans, Wide grip merkins. Switch when pacer completes. the construction fencing threw me off but we figured it out. After completion we did a little yogging.

    Round 2 Bus Loop: Same exercises. Change is that the pacer bear crawls, picks up the disc and completes the shorter hole. No one got a hole in one. Guess we have to stick to our day jobs. mosey to Gridiron field.

    Bear crawl across field go halfway then run to end of field and Bernie back. Second round: Wheelbarrow with partner across field. Round 3. Lunge halfway then run to end of field and then Bernie back. Mosey to pavilion.

    Elevens with derkins and step ups. Chum appeared to be the fastest. He must practice at home. Mosey to parking lot. Blue Moon had a fascination with my off-rhythm cadence of SSHs so I entertained him for a quick set to the delight of some. Continued with MCs and American hammers. Then we done.

    Tuesday 12/12 lunch at Fireman Ed’s, I mean Firehouse Subs in Innsbrook. Also Chum wants to put together what I branded “Grilliron” where we will make breakfast after the Gridiron workout. It may even have an adult beverage if you are so inclined. Details will be forthcoming once a date is determined. Good to see a not as regular “The Handshake”. Also good to see Polly at Coffeeteria; looks like he is healing pretty well.

    Thanks for letting me lead.

    Fireman Ed

  • Dora Day

    8 marvelous athletes arrived on a seasonable morning to build that lean muscle mass. I was trying to think of a theme for the workout and I thought it is close to Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving is in honor of the Native Americans and Pilgrims, the Pilgrims were explorers and Dora is an explorer. Therefore, it must be Dora Day.

    COP: The usual: DQs, DMH, HRMs, FMs and ACs. Mosey to side of school.

    First Dora: 50 – Sit and Press, 100 – Bench Press, 150 – coupon squats, 200 – 2 count flutter kicks. Partner 2 is bear crawling across the side road and up the mini hill and running back down. Mosey to light post.

    Second Dora – 50 burpees (the crowd pleaser), 100 – Rows – 2 count, 150 – Curls, 200 – LBCs (no coupon). Partner 2 runs from one lamp post to the next. Mosey to home base.

    Third Abbreviated Dora – 50 Overhead presses, 100 Halos (these became challenging). Partner 2 runs from one part of the parking lot to the other. Oh crud we still have a few minutes left. Mosey to wall.

    Wall sits, 10 donkey kicks, wall sit, 15 donkey kicks. Finish with coupon American Hammers and stretching.

    Ruck this Friday at Tuckahoe Elementary 6:45 p.m. Collecting can goods. See Slack or Lockjaw for details.

    It was good to lead and good to talk to Pigskin and Fudd at Coffeeteria at Starbucks. Pray for those in Israel or the Gaza Strip and those suffering from health issues.

    Thanks for letting me lead.

    Fireman Ed

  • Four Corners

    On a nice warm late October morning, 8 of us got together near the beastly Pickelballers of Short Pump. In honor of Dean Smith, we went on a four corners themed workout. COP: DQs (without Attila), DMH, HRMs, MCs, FMs. mosey past football field to curbs.

    Curb crawls to 3 down to 1.

    Four Corners 1: 10 burpees, 20 WWIIs, 30 2 count Mountain climbers, 40 SSHs. Mosey to Bus loop.

    20 pole smokers OYO Mosey to basketball court.

    Four Corners 2: 10 burpees, 20 V ups, 30 plank jacks – 2 count, 40 jump squats. Mosey to other side of bus loop.

    Bear crawl to 3 to 1. Mosey to front of school.

    Four corners 3: 10 burpees, 20 WW1s, 30 carolina DDs , 40 LBCs (without Jville). Mosey to nearby parking lot.

    Four corners 4: 10 burpees, 20 heels to heaven, 30 squats, 40 2 count flutter kicks. Mosey to front of school.

    Quadruple check: Donkey kicks, wide grip merkins, American hammers, and run around loop. 3 times.

    Mosey with squats to home base pavilion. Elevens with derkins and dips.

    Finish with stretching because some of us are old. Coffeteria was good with a lot of discussion on the Middle East. Pray for peace and help to those you need it. Enjoy the warm weekend.

    Fireman Ed

  • 1620

    7 men met and they worked out with kettlebells. That’s what we do at the Circus. The theme was 16 for my daughter’s birthday and 20 for my years as a married man.

    COP: DQs, DMH, Merkins, MCs, add in a little Suzanne Somers since she passed (I did not make them do 76 of them thankfully), LBCs. Mosey for some 1620s.

    Sit and Press do 2 sets of 8 and 2 sets of 10. Mosey a bit.

    Then Bench press 16 and 20. Mosey and repeato the 16 and 20 with Lawnmowers pulls (which I called dumbbell rows – who calls them that?), Step ups 1 count, High pulls and Finish with 2 count flutter kicks with coupon.

    Mosey to bus loop. Line up. Pacer runs to end of bus loop and back. Others do burpees, bicep curls, overhead presses, swings, LBCs and coupon squats. SOS the second time with bear crawls and bernies as the pacer and the third time lunges and run back as pacer.

    Finish with prayer. Please pray for Whitesnake’s father n law as he grieves the loss of his M and goes through the pains of needing specialized care.

    Thanks for letting me lead and for finding a way for the Jets to beat the Eagles even without a decent QB.

    Fireman Ed

  • Good to be out of the fartsack

    6 regulars and a former regular (me) showed up to embark on an early workout. Temperatures were about perfect; the parking lot could use a bit of lighting but I digress.

    COP: DQs, DMHs, merkins, MCs, and ACs. There was a little complaining of the COP location (it was a little tighter than the normal spot). Mosey to main entrance (one that looks like it is for valet parking).

    1. Elevens with HRMs and WWIIs. Mosey to Pine tree road in SW Westham.

    2. Catch me if you cans starting with bear crawls and the other partner doing 10 jump squats. I should have made it more jump squats since the bear crawling intervals were a bit quick. After reaching Westham Drive, turn around and do lunges with the other partner doing 5 burpees. This was a little harder. Mosey to triangle park (Henrico’s smallest park – allegedly).

    3. Triple check with run to River and back, Carolina dry docks and 2 count flutter kicks. Mosey to home base.

    We finished with a couple stretches at home base. There is a collection of shoes – see backblast or Gypsy for details. A few of the West End AOs need a Q this week. FW supposedly only has one Q spot left this year. If no one signs up, it is a Fireman Ed disc golf Q.

    I appreciate having the ability and opportunity to lead. Pray for the situation in Israel and thanks for all that we have.

    Fireman Ed

  • Rodgers’ 23 season highlights

    6 regulars and one new possible regular got together to celebrate Aaron Rodgers’ epic 2023 season with the Jets. The theme was four (# of plays) and 8 (jersey number). COP: DQs, DMH, FMs, Merkins, MCs and ACs. Mosey to bus loop.

    While moseying to Pump road side of school, perform 4 sets of 8 overhead presses.

    Curb crawl to 4. Mosey to parking lot by main entrance to MG.

    4 corners – 8 burpees, 16 sit and press, 24 – squats and 32 swings.

    Mix in sets of 8 2 count rows while moseying to back of school.

    Dora with 100 bench presses, 150 bicep curls, 200 squats and 250 LBCs. For some reason, a couple folks who like to park in the back head to work ~6 a.m. I guess there is lots to be done.

    Rifle carry to first light post (I mistakenly called it farmer’s carry) and then triceps on the mosey to the second light post. Head to home base.

    Finished with American hammers, 2 count coupon flutters and stretching (can’t mess up our achilles).

    Prayers for Offshore’s older co-worker who is dealing with a fall and COVID and is at Henrico Doctor’s. Convergence at Crucible – see back blast for details. Happy to lead and hope is out there for Zach Wilson.

    Fireman Ed