Author: NTB

  • The Three Kettle Bell Amigos

    YHC arrived to find Last Call and Doozy already conversing in the parking lot. We were joined shortly thereafter by Rosie for a literal 70 and not-quite sunny Betty Weaver kettle bell beatdown.

    At 05:30 we launched for a mosey lap around the school but Doozy bolted the opposite direction on a solo mission up Twin Team to put in some fast laps around Salisbury. Alas, the three amigos continued on with kettle bells in tow. Several of the world’s problems were solved, but because our hands were full we weren’t able to write down any of the solutions.

    WARMARAMA: Various OYO stretches in the parking lot. Mosey to the paved courts behind the school for the main event.

    COP: Kettle-Bell-Palooza

    1. Four Rounds of KB carries across the school. Right arm extended, left arm extended, and goblet lunges x2. At each end of the pavement perform 10 merkins, 20 WWIIs, and 30 LBCs before traveling back. Loooots of lunges…woof!
    2. Four Rounds of KB Four Square. The non-KB square was always 20 jump squats and then we came up with various KB movements for each square for each round, including chest press, rows, American hammers, etc.
    3. Triple Check. The timer farmer carries two KBs across the school and back while partner 1 performs KB chest press and partner 2 performs Rosalita dips.

    NUMBERAMA/NAMEARAMA/ANNOUNCEMENTS/PRAYER REQUESTS

    • GROWRUCK #47 – Only 24 RVA PAX have signed up?? I was shocked to learn that today. LETS GO! Your brothers will need you under those logs in the middle of the night.
    • Breaking Bread – Sign-up on the Q sheet with a fellow F3 brother. We also discussed finding more 3rd F opportunities around the city.
    • Prayers for Last Call working on finalizing a stressful deal at work.
    • Prayers would be appreciated for the NTBs as we’ve learned that we are pregnant once again. God is good, but the risks and brokeness of a fallen world cause us to be anxious as we’ve walked through the valleys of loss before and as recently as January of this year.

    NMS: YHC was stoked to see in the backblasts that FNG Justin was welcomed by the Satan’s Hill PAX this morning and named HUD. HUD is currently a client of mine and we had talked F3 on several occasions. Glad to see he was EH’d by the RounTrey/New Market mafia!

  • You Sound Funny

    An elite eight assembled outside the Huguenot Flatwater parking lot for another OTB ruck through the rolling Stratford Hills. Rather than our typical flat and fast roundtrip down Riverside Drive, YHC introduced the PAX to a hilly loop that covered approximately 3.5 miles. We hit a couple steep inclines on the out loop and then coasted back downhill to our vehicles, stopping for a quick detour at Chateau-de-NTB for 10 monkey humpers in front of the doorbell camera.

    It was a pleasure to ruck with Mayhem for the first time, as well as welcome FNG Alex to the PAX.

    FNG Alex and his family are members of the Dr. TryHard F3 factory known by most as Pediatric and Adolescent Health Partners and will earn his F3 name at The Forge tomorrow since today was an unsanctioned assault on the shoulders and lower extremities.

    The backblast title is a light jab at the FNGs quite fascinating dialect which most of us Yanks are not accustomed to…

  • Might As Well Jump

    Four frozen FORGE faithfuls came out on their bonus day of the year hoping YHC would find a dry patch of ground somewhere on semi-hallowed grounds of Huguenot High. Following the sage advice of Van Halen, YHC thought we might as well jump, and jump a lot, on this special leap day. We set off on a long mosey to the turf football field where a hobbled Don Draper caught up to the PAX for the following:

    WARMARAMA

    • Circle up in the end zone for IC movements such as SSH, Hill Billy’s, Helicopters, Merkins, etc.

    COP #1: Longest Yard

    Line up along the goal line for a sustained drive of broad-LEAP burpees that even Christian McCaffrey would have difficulty completing. Stop every 10 yds to perform the movement corresponding to the yardage marker:

    • 10 Bobby Hurley’s / 20 Pickle Pounders / 30 Apolo Ohno’s (double count) / 40 Australian Snowmen / 50 SSH / 40 Australian Snowmen / 30 Apolo Ohno’s (double count) / 20 Pickle Pounders / 10 Bobby Hurley’s… touchdown!

    Last Call displayed incredible athletic prowess with 7-9yd leaps with each burpee, and Don Draper learned of Bobby Hurley. All in all we hit the endzone winded and educated!

    COP #2: Chillcut Leap Frog

    We have to get back to the gate somehow, why don’t we leap frog!? Each of the PAX lines up chillcut style along the hash line while the PAX leap frog one another down the field. All in all a nice duration for an ab-burner.

    COP #3: Super Mario Triple Check

    Mosey to the amphitheater for a triple check. Sticking with the leaping theme, the timer jumps the stairs/retaining wall while the PAX performs flutter kicks, hand-release merkins, and LBCs.

    COP #4: The People’s Tooth Fairy

    Mosey up and down the hill over near the courtyard of the damned that Chaplain introduced to us on Tuesday. Line up for people’s chair. The first PAX leaves the wall to tooth fairy merkin up two flights of stairs and resumes people’s chair at the top while the rest of the PAX follow one at a time. Last Call brought in the six and gave us a quick 30-count from the chair position to release us to mosey back to the flag.

    COT: Numbers/Names/Announcements/Prayer

    • Continue to pray for Don Draper’s flirtatious relationship with IR.
    • Reminder to grab a buddy and sign-up for Breaking Bread on the Q-sheet.
    • YHC took us out.

  • Can I Hold Your Log?

    A magnificent seven assembled in the Huguenot Highschool parking lot, rucksacks on their backs for a guided tour through the rolling Stratford Hills.

    Mosey down to the lower parking lot for stretching to allow for any last minute stragglers to arrive. After DMH, Helicopters, Runner’s Lunge, and the like it’s clear that seven truly is the number of completion and we are ready to roll.

    Marching back to the flag would be too easy! Bear crawl up the grassy knolls, hit 10 squats at the top, lunge across the parking lot, and repeato the sequence until we’re back at the flag. Now we ruck!

    Today we made two laps around the Stratford/Kenbury/Burrundie loop for a total of 2.5miles. On the first loop we stopped by DTH’s vacant home to borrow an 8’ log and a cindy for the PAX to rotate through. We dropped off the coupons for a fast-paced second loop to get us back to the flag on time.

    Prayers for the injured PAX and their recovery, as well as Colonel Tobit.

    Very exciting to see Heist and McGruff join us for their first Wednesday morning ruck.

  • NoToll Block Party

    A prime number of SOJ HIMs gathered in the NoToll parking lot eager for the low-cardio pump session YHC had teased the night before. Little did they suspect the pump they sought would come at such a high price.

    Mosey to the far parking lot, stopping at the bridge to pay the toll (10 incline merkins & 10 dips).

    WARMARAMA

    • With temps in the high 20s we have a quick intro and jump into fast-paced SSH, followed by various IC movements waking up the whole body.
    • Warm-up complete. Locate the eight CMU coupons behind the dumpster enclosure and carry them overhead, with arms straight, back to the basketball court.

    COP #1: Gorilla Complex

    • Line up the coupons along the baseline and partner up for 5 rounds of the following:
      • 8 Curls for Girls
      • 8 Standing High-Pulls
      • 8 OH Press
      • 8 Tricep Extensions
      • 8 Merkins (coupon on the ground off to the side)
    • While Partner 1 is completing the complex, Partner 2 bear crawls to the far baseline and back.
    • The objective is to hold the CMU the entire time while performing the complex until the merkins, working the upper body muscle groups continuously while moving around the center of mass.
    • Zero mumble-chatter, just solid work by the PAX. Those bear crawls kept our shoulders smoked the entire time.

    COP #2: Coupon Indian Crawl

    • Stack the coupons in the corner of the court and line up, on your six, along the sideline.
    • HIM closest to the coupon pile grabs one, performs 2 WWIIs, then passes the coupon to his right.
    • Repeato until all of the coupons are passed over, then get up and run to the end of the line to receive the coupons coming down the tracks.
    • Choo-choo, the pain train is rolling! It didn’t take long to find our groove as a unit and we circled the perimeter of both basketball courts despite Last Call attempting to divert the train down the center between the courts. In protest, he broke one of the coupons.
    • Mumble-chatter starts to pick-up as we turn the first corner and we realize how long this is going to take. Honeymoon reminded us he was cold about every five minutes.
    • After doing 2 WWIIs for 3/4 of the loop, we switched it up for 2 seated OH presses.
    • All-in-all this was about a 20-minute suck-fest. Great work!!

    Three minutes left so we march the coupons back to their resting place behind the dumpster and gather there for COT.

    Announcements

    • Meatball VQ tomorrow night (2/21) at The Crossing!
    • Off the book rucking at Huguenot Flatwater tomorrow AM w/ YHC and DTH. We have extra packs for anyone who wants to try rucking!
    • GROWRUCK May 4-6: You’ve heard about it. You know you should sign up.

    Prayer Requests

    • YHC is very grateful for the PAX lifting up my family in prayer and supporting us as we move forward from our miscarriage a few weeks ago.
    • Dr TryHard took us out.

  • Just Like Clockwork

    A dirty dozen did exactly what you do at the West End Assembly of God. They assembled, ready to be washed by the water of an NTB beatdown. For five of the PAX, this was their second post of the day!

    According to the children hecklers on the playground, here’s what happened at the third iteration of The Crossing:

    WARMARAMA

    • Welcome, Mission Statement, Disclaimer
    • Various IC movements with the Epic Sax Guy track on loop to keep us moving to the beat. SSH, Jazzercise, Don Quixotes, Merkins, LBCs, Reverse Snow Angels, Dead Man Hang…

    COP #1: Touch a Tree

    • Touch 10 trees and return to the center for 10 Peter Parker merkins. Repeato decreasing the reps and always finding new trees.
    • Mosey to the grassy area in the middle of the parking lot for the main event.

    COP #2: Clockwork

    • Partner up and get the tunes blaring. Fan out to find the 12 exercises written down on notecards around the WEAG parking. Once an exercise is completed, return to the center for burpees, working from 12 down to 1.

    Numbers/Names/Announcements/Prayer – YHC took us out, pumped to get to share a good beatdown with a new PAX as well as some solid F3 HIMs. Respect to DTH, Chaplain, House Party, and Broadway for getting in a second hour of work today following this morning’s coupon ruck.

    Next Week at The Crossing: Meatball VQ!

  • I Ain’t As Good As I Once Was…

    …But with a frosty ruck down Riverside Drive the three amigos that are DTH, Mudslide, and YHC pushed one another to improve our fitness and conquer the day.

    At 0530 we set off from Huguenot Flatwater through the wooded trails heading down river. We leveled off at a 15min/mile pace which warmed up our cores and our spirits as we charged past the gates to Pony Pasture, circled the roundabout at Riverside & Rockfalls, and returned back to the flag at HFW for a total round trip of 3.7 miles in 55 minutes.

    Along the way we discussed relevant topics such as alternate rucking routes, headlocking more PAX into GrowRuck, Chaplain’s snooze button, and YHC’s mom.

    Drink your liquids from a red solo cup today.

    Announcements:

    • TONIGHT – 6pm Bootcamp – The Crossing (West End Assembly of God parking lot) – Chaplain Q!
    • 2/10 – Frozen Triangle CSAUP
    • 5/3-5/5 – GrowRuck #47 – SIGN UP!!

  • Q Confusion

    Over the course of two days and two messaging platforms there were many mixed signals from YHC to Doozy about ownership of the NoToll Q and the potential for a fartsack disguised as a sick child at home. YHC was glad to join the NoToll brethren, but at 05:29 this morning it seemed as though solving the war in Gaza had a clearer solution than determining who would lead the nine at NoToll into the mornings’ gnarly, snowy conditions. At 05:30 all was resolved when YHC took the Q and ran with it to the parking lot for the following:

    WARMARAMA

    On the way to the parking lot, stop at the bridge to pay the toll. 20 incline merkins and 20 dips. Mosey on for IC SSHs, Helicopters, Arm Circles, Cherry Pickers, and the like.

    COP #1 – Parking Lot Squat

    We lined up at one end of the parking lot and performed one squat at the first white line before running to the curb island at the other end. Repeato that interval back and forth across the parking lot, each time stopping one stripe closer to the finish line and adding one squat to the total reps at that station. In the end, one parking lot was crossed and 190 squats were completed.

    COP #2 – Field of Trees

    Mosey from the parking lot to the pavilion.

    From the pavilion run across the field of your choosing and touch five trees, then head back to the pavilion for 50 LBCs. Repeato for the other two fields. 15 trees, 150 LBCs.

    That was a good bit of running… let’s do it again.

    Touch five new trees at each field and rack up 25 WWIIs between each run. 15 new trees, 45 WWIIs.

    COP #3 – License Plate Punisher

    Each of the PAX stands in front of their vehicle and adds up the numbers on their license plate to set the rep count for the movement of their choosing. Take turns going down the line hitting things like merkins, SSHs, starfish SSHs, mountain climbers, Freddie Mercuries, and of course burpees. Made it through 1.5 rounds before time was called.

    COT

    Numbers/Names/Announcements/Prayer Requests

    NMS: Not a lot of mumblechatter today due to all of the running around the AO. Perhaps Last Call should host a Broga Q so we can all sit around in a frozen circle and chat. Always an honor to lead.

  • Nearly A Light-Duty *Monster* Truck Rally

    All but one of the PAX got the pre-pre-blast memo to bring their pickup truck to the inaugural NTB beatdown of 2024. Hoping to shake-off the “bum” label given out by Dr. Try Hard in last week’s backblast, YHC was ready to bring the pain. In between the parking lot pre-huddle and the post-COT shooting crossbows at Dealer, the school security system captured footage of something like this:

    WARMARAMA

    Mosey down hill to the next parking lot to circle up for the welcome/disclaimer/core principles.

    Begin with IC SSH while the stragglers catch up to the PAX and continue on with IC movements to get the body warmed up. Mosey further downhill to the handicap ramp.

    COP #1 – Pure Bar

    • Partner up for (5) rounds of the following:
    • A: (10) Incline Merkins while partner holds chest-to-bar from the row position.
    • B: (10) Dips while partner holds chest-to-bar from the row position.

    COP #2 – Long Crawl

    • With tight forearms and warm shoulders the PAX set off on a cross-country bear crawl. It went something like this:
    • Partners work together for the long journey from the handicap ramp to the top of Love Hill. Partner 1 begins to bear crawl while Partner 2 runs to the top of Love Hill and back to his partner.
    • When the running partner gets back to his bear crawling commrade, both stop and perform (25) WWII’s each.
    • Work as a team all the way to the top of Love Hill.

    COP #3 – The Hot Light is On

    • For a fleeting moment, YHC considered calling a reverso on the Long Crawl and heading back to the handicap ramp. Self-preservation kicked in and we start to mosey towards the road. The PAX ran down the sidewalk across the face of the school, stopping at every streetlight for (5) merkins.
    • Mosey back to the flag for the final ten minutes.

    COP #4 – 10 Minutes of License Plate Mary

    • Back at the flag, the PAX stood in front of their vehicles and added together the numbers on their license plates to get the rep count for the movement they would select for the rest of the PAX to perform.
    • Round 1: Anything but abs.
    • Round 2: Only abs.
    • Round 3: Bring it in tight for (10) Eskimo merkins. Time called.

    COT

    • Numbers and Names
    • Announcements: Frozen Triangle on (2/10). GROWRUCK #47 (5/3-5/5).
    • Prayer Requests and YHC took us out.

    NMS: YHC was pumped to bring a beatdown to the PAX and am always grateful for the opportunity to lead. There is a lot of positive chatter, training, and head-locking for GROWRUCK #47. If you have not signed up, YHC hopes you feel the positive momentum surrounding this event and decide to be a part of this transformative weekend. Don’t miss out and unlock a new level of acceleration in your life! The difficult things in life are the ones worth doing!

  • Kinda Like Eskimo Brothers, But Different

    The weather report said 70 and sunny when the alarm went off this morning, but in the Midlo Middle parking lot a solid group of 8 huddled together in anticipation for an NTB beatdown. Time to go and YHC takes off across four lanes of traffic to the north side of Midlothian Turnpike. The PAX, confused at first, follows cautiously until it is abundantly clear that we are heading across the street for an NTB @ NTB warmarama!

    WARMARAMA

    The PAX circles up in the parking lot for a variety of IC movements. After taking an extra warm-up lap around the school, Hardywood finds the PAX and joins the fun to make it a 9-pack. Warm-up complete. Let’s mosey across traffic and back to the parking lot.

    COP 1: 7 of Diamonds – 7 rounds of 4 corners where the PAX performs each round’s movement and corresponding reps:

    • 7 Merkins / 14 Crunchy Frogs / 21 Squats / 28 Flutters / 21 Carolina Dry Docks / 14 Mountain Climbers / 7 Burpees

    COP 2: Heartbreak 1,2,3 – Mosey around to the hill and partner up for 100 Merkins, 200 Squats, 300 LBCs while the timer runs downhill to the snack bar and back up. Many cars driving the hill to get to their busses added a dangerous thrill to the challenge.

    COP 3: Four Corners – Step over to the tennis courts for a bro-code lap including 50 Freddy Mercury’s, 50 Box Cutters, 50 Merkins, and 50 Heels2Heaven.

    COP 4: Eskimo Merkins – With three minutes left on the clock the PAX circles up for 10 eskimo merkins.

    1. Start in plank.
    2. Drop to a 6″ hold on the Q’s “down” call.
    3. Q counts “one” and calls “up”.
    4. Push back up to plank.
    5. Repeato while extending the time holding 6″ with each rep.
    6. Example: “Down, one, up. Down, one, two, up. Down, one, two, three, up…”

    COT: Numbers, Names, Announcements, Prayer Requests

    • Prayers for Double Mint’s mom who is scheduled to have surgery on 1/2/24, as well as his niece who walked out of a 90-day drug rehab facility after one week for the second time.
    • 12/19 Rosie’s 12 Days of Christmas @ NoToll. Gift exchange to follow for participating PAX.

    NMS: OC was going to be left off of the PAX count as payback for last week had he not said something in the COT in front of everyone. The bromance flame was dwindled but not extinguished. YHC enjoyed introducing the eskimo merkin to the PAX, which was picked up from the T-Gives convergence in Cary, NC last month.