Author: Heist

  • Rock out with your block out

    SOJ takeover of First Watch complete. According to the female runners using the Spider’s campus as their personal toilet (ask Splinter), here is how it went down: 

    With Wildcat as copilot, we roll up to the AO with a truck full of borrowed cinderblocks (via Satan’s Hill) around 4:50 a.m. to find three homeless men apparently asleep on the pavement. False alarm. Just some of the Pax knocking out a little broga. 

    Began to discreetly unload the surprise cinderblocks and get greeted by a down range Pax member from Florida aka “Papa Smurf.”  He apparently was a second cousin of someone (I forget). 

    Rally the guys. 5 on the dot, I announce the official SOJ takeover and we get rolling. 

    Warmorama: Mosey down Cameron road back up to Culpepper road.

    Various warmup exercises performed along the way including copperhead squats, merkins, LBCs, dead man hangs, etc. 

    Roll back into the parking lot and greet the guys with our twelve cinderblocks. Apparently the guys appreciated the pristine condition of the New Market blocks, citing the lack of rust water or whatever stuff is in the back or Kubotas’s pickup. 

    Part 1: Line up along long end of the parking lot for 11s (cinderblock press and air squats on other side). We started with 10 cinderblock press/1 air squat. Ended with 1 cinderblock press/10 air squats. Fun. 

    20 second rest. Alternating arm farmer carry around the lot and overhead cinderblock hold (hallelujah). 

    Part 2: Perfect number (9) for triple check, so that’s what we did. Three teams:

    1. Wildcat/Kubota/Hand Shake
    2. Heist/Senor Frog/Papa Smurf
    3. Splinter/EF Hutton/Last Call

    Exercises were incline pushups/cinderblock swing and runner to the utility box off River Road. 

    20 second rest. Alternating arm farmer carry around the lot and overhead cinderblock hold (hallelujah). 

    Part 3: Circle up with blocks. Little hot potato session, where each guy took a turn calling out an exercise. Next round that guy would rotate as runner for time (lets say 30/45 seconds. Examples of exercises called:

    1. Curls
    2. Squats
    3. Dips
    4. Derkins (feet in block)
    5. Somewhat modified APDs ?
    6. Burpee block presses
    7. Tricep extensions

    Only a few minutes left so another round of alternating arm farmer carry around the lot and overhead cinderblock hold (hallelujah). 

    Pax helped me put blocks back and time!

    Numbers/Names. 

    Announcements: Kayak adventure next Wednesday from 5 to 6 am. Need to bring own kayak. See Kubota for details.

    Wildcat took us out in prayer. 

    Many thanks guys. Good seeing everyone. Good mumble chatter as always. People need to check out First Watch at least once. Good times. 

  • SOJ TAKEOVER COMETH – ARE YOU READY??!!

    Goodmorning F3RVA:

    10 HIMs charged New Market’s infamous Satan’s Hill this morning to ready for the upcoming takeover of all F3RVA starting tomorrow!

    Mudslide and Heist took the reins this morning for Flex Friday.

    Warmup:

    • 3 Laps around the parking lot
    • Helicopters
    • Arm circles (Front and Back)
    • Copperhead squats
    • L.B.Cs
    • A.P.Ds
    • Front Scorpion stretch
    • Planks with some merkins
    • Cobra and downward dog stretch

    Part 1: 11s across the parking lot with cinderblock squats and merkins (feel the burn!)

    Part 2: Mixed bag

    Split into three groups. One group worked with mudslide and did sandbag carry/atlas stone/bucket carry.

    The other two groups did triple check: cinderblock swing/cinderblock dips/cinderblock farmer carry (timer).

    Clock was ticking. We didn’t have time for everyone to play with Mudslide’s instruments of pain…next time.

    Part 3: Exercise bands + Hill – MUSH!

    Groups of 2. Bands around waist…sprint up the hill 10 seconds…jog in place…repeat until you reach the top. Switch…each guy got to go 1x.

    Time.

    Numbers/Names/Ball of Man.

    FNG: Shout out to Benny for bringing us Alex aka “Stellar.” Alex comes to us from Baltimore (4 years ago). Has two kids. Works in logistics. Training for a marathon….went to Elon (hence Stellar?). A few other names thrown out there like “crab cake, etc.” Welcome Stellar! Dude is in good shape!

    Announcements:

    SOJ takeover starts tomorrow. Get some!

    SOJ Happy hour tonight at diamond billiards. See you there.

    Do the summer tour. Fun times.

    Thoughts: Brings me great joy to see new faces in the gloom. Shout out to Benny for bringing an FNG this morning (double cool since Benny has been out for less than 2 weeks). Seriously guys – there are plenty of dudes that need this…not just the fitness, but the camaraderie, etc. Getting up early and pushing it builds character, makes us stronger so that we can serve our wife, kids, family, friends, and community. Grab a buddy and bring them out.

  • Building cardio

    Trying to mix up the workouts a bit. The back to back days of bootcamps has been beating me up. I got some advice from Mr. Rogers this Saturday at DogPile about mixing running between bootcamp days. Thought about it a bit and texted P.O.G last night (who is usually down for a run).

    Met at corner of Willowmore and Amethyst this morning at 5:30 sharp. We put in a good 5.25 mile run, slightly above 8:30 mile pace. Good run. I missed that post run high.

    Probably going to mix in more running here. Body needs the cross training.

    All welcome.

  • Long live the Alamo.

    Morning amigos. 15 strong came out in the gloom this morning, including three fresh recruits.

    Warmorama: 1/2 mile jog up to Rankin Lane Culdsec and back. 

    Gave the F3 prepared speech (nailed it): F3 is a national network of free, peer-led workouts for men. Our mission is to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership.

    Went through the main F3 tenets, the disclaimer and worked our way through the rest of the warmup: 

    SSH/CHS/Mountain Climber/Merkins/Flutters/

    Mosey to Courts for COP 1 and 2

    COP #1Partner burpee and Booyah Merkin

    Grab partner. Face partner along width of tennis court. Bear crawl accross the court and complete 1 rep booyah (1 rep is 2 pushups with a hand slap with partner). Recover and jog back to line perform 1 burpee. Repeato until Pax built up to 5x reps.

    COP #2 Warby leads four corners. “Lady of night” style:

    10 merkins (1)

    20 Jump Squats (2)

    30 Monkey Humpers (3)

    40 LBCs (4)

    COP # 3 Triple Check in the lot (from courts to dumpster)

    Squats/Decline Merkins/Runner

    COP # 4- Mini Dora (50/100/150)

    LBC/Squat/SSH

    COP #5: Ring of Fire abs

    Numbers/Names

    Nancy took us out in prayer (thanks brother).

     

    FNGs

    1. Jake (brought out by Warby) aka “Rudy.” Diehard Notre Dame fan.
    2. Jim (brought out by Armstrong) aka “Goldeneye.” Says he does government consulting…sure. ?
    3. John (brought out by Blacktop) aka “Swoop.” Eagles fan.

    Mumblechatter about YHC being too nice with the names for the FNGs. All I can say is grab the Q next time boys!

    Good deal of SOJ stuff going on this month. We also cap off May with a convergence.

    Closing thoughts: Since opening the Alamo, we have had the following FNGs:

    1. Warby
    2. 3 Doors Down
    3. Nap Pod
    4. Armstrong
    5. Cookie
    6. Pelé
    7. Blacktop
    8. Merman
    9. Goldeneye
    10. Rudy
    11. Swoop

     

  • Doce Hombres con Bloques.

    Heeeelllo F3 RVA. 12 dudes got it done today at Satan’s Hill on this glorious Cinco de Mayo. Hermes and Heist put together a combination of Cinderblock stations and Kárate.

    Here is how everything went down:

    1. Intro to F3 and disclaimer statement made. Need to write this down clearly, but point was made.
    2. Warmorama:
      • SSH
      • Hillbillies (very difficult to count this)
      • Ukrainian Soldiers
      • Merkins
      • LBC
      • Deadman hang (left/right)
    3. Block work
      • Many block stations with cardboard cards calling out exercises, including:
        • Sumo squat
        • Sumo squat high Pull
        • Feet on block werkins
        • Block Deadlift
        • Block front squats
        • Block plyo pushups
        • Block swings
        • Block OH Press
        • OH block hold with squat
        • Farmer carry run (this was the timer for the rotation- about 45-60 seconds)
        • bands for monster walks
        • KBs for some rows
    4. Karate with Hermey:
      • front kicks
      • sidekicks with a shuffle
      • round kicks
      • jab
      • jab front kick
      • uppercuts
      • speed bag with a runner timer
      • horse stance with karate punches
    5. Back to Block work for about 8 more minutes left cutting the Farmer Carry in half.

    Time/Numbers/Names.

    Welcome to our newest member of the Pax, Hunter aka “Leche.” Name comes from his roots growing up on a dairy farm (and because it is Cinco De Mayo).

    Announcements:

    1. CSAUP Tomorrow at Godwin
    2. SOJ lunch at Rusty Taco next Thursday
    3. SOJ family get together on 5/21. Ask OC or McGruff how you can help

    Wildcat took us out in prayer.

    Yo, did you know? Cinco de Mayo:

    Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day, a popular misconception. Cinco de Mayo, or the fifth of May, is a holiday that celebrates the date of the Mexican army’s May 5, 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War. The day, which falls on Friday, May 5 in 2023, is also known as Battle of Puebla Day. While it is a relatively minor holiday in Mexico, in the United States, Cinco de Mayo has evolved into a commemoration of Mexican culture and heritage, particularly in areas with large Mexican-American populations

  • Break in the rain

    We got in a little under 6.3 miles this a.m. Good run south of the James. Good times with the all Hokie crew.

  • Fall back to the bunker!

    13 SOJ desperados mounted up for another Monday session at (whistles) THE ALAMO (whip snap)

    Mosey around the parking area and enter the Tennis Court. Disclaimers, etc. 

    Warmorama: SSH, Ukrainian Soldiers, Copper Head squats, Muricans, LBCs, “Duke” stretch left and right side, 60 seconds for Pax to stretch OYO. 

    The thang: 

    Part 1: Started out with a “lady of the night” four corners on the tennis court. Exercises were 10 squats/20 LBCs/30 Drydocks/40 SSH. Build up and build down.  

    Part 2: For context, the parking lot at the Alamo is U-shaped, so I decided to kick off partner bear-crawl/lunge/broad jump burpees. My bad on this one guys…

    We started at tennis court and worked our way towards dumpster. Audible for the next corner (in front of the Alamo.  Halfway through the broad jump burpees we switched to crawl bear. Made it to the final stretch and I decided to bring it all then way home. Finished up with backwards lunges to the end. Lots of grumbling. 

    Part 3: Mosey to small hill behind Pool for 11s with Muricans and Sauats. 

    20 count. Recover. Mosey to “the bunker”

    Part 4: Bunker is the tunnel that goes underneath  Woolridge Road. 

    Teams of 3. A man goes to opposite side of tunnel holds plank/B man holds squat position along the tunnel wall and shuffles to A man. C man performed flutters. Rotated several times through this and then back to flag. 

    Part 5:  1 round of Murican Mary. 

    Cool down with some stretches. 

    Outro: Numbers and Names.  Welcome Adam aka  “Pelé” our newest member of the Pax. Name comes from his time spent in Brazil. 

    Announcements:

    • OC has KB Q tmw
    • CSAUP at Godwin Highschool on May 6. See slack
    • SOJ get together last Friday. Lots of good stuff coming. 

    Prayers – Wildcat took us out. Prayers for all in the Pax. Prayers for all the guys on IR. 

    Other thoughts: Shout out to our Pax members Vagabond and McGruff who suggested the idea of the Alamo. It has been awesome having all these new guys out in the gloom. Would not have happened without that idea. 

  • B L I M P’n ain’t easy.

    5 desperados met at the Alamo for one last stand against the joys of weekend excess!

    Warmorama: Jog to culdsesac some SSH and went over how to BLIMP. BLIMPS: Burpee-5x/Lunge-10x/Imperial Walker-10x/Merkin-10x/Plank Jacks-10x/Squats-10x.

    Jogged around Rountrey about 3 miles and stopped in various culdesacs for around 6 rounds of BLIMPS.

    New dude superlatives:

    Comanche scout: Warby was part tour guide and scout. Now I know where Vagabond, Nap Pod and Warby live.

    Safety Warden: Cookie wins the award this morning. He was rocking a pair of sporty safety glasses as way to avoid pollen in the eyes.

    Names/Numbers. Wildcat took us out in prayer

    Strong work today.

  • Carpe Diem

    10 dudes got swole for another Flex Friday at Satan’s Hill. 

    Warmorama: Up the Hill and Back. CHS (20x), UKS (20x), Merkins (20x), OYO stretch 60 seconds.  Grab the Cindys for some warmup sets of sumo squats, deadlift, push press, etc.

    What we did:

    Part 1: Cindy 11s

    I kind of swore off burpees yesterday…after a solid whooping by the likes of McGruff, OC and Florence this week. Deep down, I knew my inner “B” had gotten the best of me…so tapped into that PAX energy for a nasty set of 11s. Start with 1 burpee cinder block (more like a groiner with a dead-lift…no OH movement) and jog about 25 yards across parking lot for 10x jump squats. Pretty brutal after about 6/7 rounds. Ended with 10x cinder block burpees and 1x squat jump

    Part 2: Cindy work and bands:

    • Transition warmup with some side-shuffles down and back in the parking lot before exercises.
    • Swings: Mudslide provided some solid instruction on proper cinder block swing form. We did several warmup rounds of this. Then, we partnered up with flex bands to add resistance (pulling from behind) while partner performs cindy swings. The flex band resistance requires utilization of core strength and emphasis on proper form. See link below.
    • Cindy Pushups with Bands – A few rounds of pushups on cinderblocks while partner pulls flex band from left and then right side. Requires core strength utilization.
    • Cindy Clean and Press – 2x rounds of OYO cindy clean and press with good form
    3 Unique Uses for Cinder Blocks

    Part 3: Sprints + Band Resistance – With flex band around waist, A man sprints Full Parking Lot while B man holds flex band for resistance. 2x rounds percent.

    Part 4 Moseyed back to flag area and grabbed the bands for some stretches.

    Time…maybe a little over time (but we had time).

    Outro: Numbers and Names. 

    Announcements: Need a Q for Alamo next week. Jump on that.

    Great news and glory to God shared in our COT this morning. Praise shared by Wildcat: He has been kicking the butt of stage IV lung cancer since Summer of 2021. As part of this journey, he gets a quarterly scan at UVA to keep tabs on his condition….recent scan this Tuesday looked stable. Amazing dude….a beast…amazing what our brother Wildcat does in the Gloom.

    Prayers – Mudslide took us out. Thanks to God for Wildcat’s good news. Prayers for all the Pax.

    Have a good weekend everyone. I plan to hit the fart sack this weekend to catch up on sleep!

  • Feelin’ like spring time at the Hill.

    Starting to feel more like sunny and 70. The bugs are making noises and it is feeling good outside. Perfect day to get after it!

    12 (that’s right T W E L V E) dudes got swole for another Flex Friday at Satan’s Hill. 

    Warmorama: SSH (20x), CHS (20x),UKS (10 x), Dead Man Hang, Sitting Hamstring stretch, LBCs (15x), Merkins (10x), Hip Flexor stretches, Fudd/Wilson stretch, OYO stretch 30 seconds. 

    What we did:

    Part 1: Cindy work and corners:

    3x rounds as follows:

    Corner 1 – 20x Cindy Bench Press (walk to corner 2 with cindy tight to chest)

    Corner 2 – 20x Cindy Squats (walk to corner 3 – right arm farmer carry)

    Corner 3 – 20x Cindy Shoulder Press (walk to corner 4 – left arm farmer carry)

    Corner 4 – 20 x Cindy Swings (walk to corner 1 – cindy OH carry)

    Part 2: Band pain: Mudslide busted out the flex bands of pain. Partner up and grab 1 flex band, Pax completed the following (1 man holds band for resistance while the other performs workout):

    • Jog/Warmup – With flex band around waist, each Pax did 2x rounds of 30 second jog in place
    • Shuffle Left/Right/Up drills – With flex band around waist with resistance. Sprint in place…on MudSlide’s command shuffle feet left/right and back to center on command. Mixed in were jumps. 2 rounds at 45 seconds a piece.
    • Groiner– With flex band around waist, A man performs as many groiners as possible (bottom movement of burpee) for 45 seconds. B man holds band for resistance.

    Part 3: Hill + Band Pain – With flex band around waist, A man sprints about 30 yards up Satan’s Hill while B man holds flex band for resistance. 3x at 50/75/100 percent. Wrap up with 1x Bernie. FEEL THE BURN!

    Part 4 Moseyed back to flag area and grabbed the bands for some stretches.

    Time.

    Outro: Numbers and Names. 

    Announcements: None

    Closing thoughts: VERY cool to have a bunch of new faces at the Hill today. F3 is about bringing more men out to the gloom. Leaning on each other and getting it done. Proud of you guys!

    Prayers – Mudslide took us out