Author: Opus

  • Da Bears.

    6 Dudes showed up this morning for a beary exciting workout.  Here was the flow…

    Bear Crawl Mosey to grassy area
    ATM’s, Doggie Paddles (also known as the hundred), rollups, freddy mercuries, gas pumps. figure 4 lbc’s, doggie paddles, dying cockroach, doggie paddles, bird dogs, flutter kicks, tabletops

    To the road…
    Run to each light.  At each light complete 5 merkins, then hold low plank until the 6 is done.

    To the poles…
    1.grab a pole, pax holds 6 inches, first member does 10 leg lifts then bear crawls to the end  repeato until all have completed.
    2. grab a pole, 6 inches, 10 merkins and a bear crawl

    Alternate bear crawling and sprinting to successive trees on the way to the next exercise area.

    Two teams of three…
    First member of team Bear Crawls from the sidewalk to the donkey kick wall.  10 donkey kicks there and then back down.  tag up.  Other members are doing hand release merkins.

    All to the wall for a round of mountain donkeys

    Indian Bear Crawl till we get to the blacktop.  Each pax member did it two times.

    Back to the flag for some scissor kicks, flutterkicks, and LBC’s

    Numbers, Names, and over and out.

    YHC has been having plantar fasciitis issues recently and is bothered by running, so YHC decided to Q this one, knowing he had control over the amount of running we did today.  Missed seeing Carpenter and Spit there this morning.  They would have enjoyed this workout.

    YHC is never really sure how his workouts go.  Is this too easy?  Is this too hard.  YHC always thinks his workouts are way too easy.  It might be that extra energy one gets from being the Q.  Anyways, it was a fun morning of bear crawling around Atlee.   Let’s EH some people we haven’t seen in a while since the weather is making a turn this week for the better.  See you all in the gloom.

    –Opus

  • Fibonacci’s Beast

    9 Crazy guys showed up this morning for a mathematical beatdown…  Here is what transpired…

    Bear Crawl up to the picnic tables
    Skull Crusher Starter — IC 25x
    Wheel of Merkins on PIcnic Tables 5 each direction IC
    Skull Crusher part deux IC 15x
    Wheel of Merkins repeato

    COP —
    Crabcakes, Plank Jacks, Arm Circles, Heels to Heaven, Dying Cockroach, Pistol Squats, Side Straddle Burpees (8 count)

    Fibonacci’s Beast
    Run to light post, do 2 merkins, then 3, then 5, then 8, then 13, then 21 in Fibonacci sequence.
    Other exercises — American Hammers, Jump Squats, WW2 situps, Smurf Jacks, Burpees

    Bear Crawl relay — 3 teams of three.  1st person bear crawls to 1st curb and runs back, 2nd person to second curb and runs back, third person to 1st curb and runs back.

    Back to flag — hold low merkin position for thirty seconds…

    Numberama, Nameorama, Announcements, Chowdah took us out!

    What a great day for a beatdown — YHC was impressed with not only this groups hustle today, but also their knowledge of the Fibonacci series of numbers!  No one really knows what date Leonardo Pisano (Fibonacci) was born, but today seemed like as good a day as any to celebrate  the joyous occasion.

    Highlights of this morning — watching the Carpenter totally kill these exercises, having LP back today (we missed you), trying out something new and the group really responding to it, being finished with all the burpees at the end of the fibonacci.

    As always it is a pleasure to lead you all!

    Opus

     

  • Make it a double, no a triple!

    10 Surly gentlemen made it out this morning for a little non-alcoholic refreshment.   Since some of you have given up alcohol for lent, this was the way to make it happen without having to break the lenten vows.

    Parking Lot tracers — in honor of Labrat, even though  he was there this morning.

    15 burpees OYO
    1 minute of butt kickers
    1 minute of high knees (just because I like saying it)
    Helicopters
    DQ
    Smurf Jacks
    Arm Circles
    Helix Squat arm circles while doing chinooks
    LBC’s
    Figure 4 crunches
    Dying Cockroach — ikk
    Freddie Mercuries
    More Dying Cockroach — still not dead yet

    Hold low position of merkin for 10, then 15, then 20, then about 28 — in between plank for the same number of seconds

    Situp, Jump up, Push ups 5 sets — Do 5 WW2 situps, jump up, then go down and do 5 merkins, jump up repeat until 5 sets are done.

    Make it a double — PLT’s 20, then 25
    Partner jumpovers — 2 count, do 20

    Make it a triple check —
    1)Bear crawl to light, stump merkins, american hammers
    2)run to light, donkey kicks, flutter kicks

    Back to flag for a little mary
    Merkins, Crab Cakes, Boat Canoes

    Numbers, Names, Announcements

    Highlights of the morning —
    Hearing PAX members groan during the holding of the downward merkin position. You’re welcome.
    Labrat soldiering on despite his feeble state.
    Trying to figure out which car belonged to YHC and which belonged to Wheelie.
    Seeing Liono and Pitbull back out there.  Guess it was warm enough this morning.  Welcome back!
    Leading Parking Lot Tracers for the First time.
    Dying cockroach sucks for me, that is why YHC chose to do them twice this morning.

    See you in the gloom,
    Opus

     

     

  • Merkins and Climbers and Bears, Oh My!

    9 intrepid and somewhat scared voyagers set off on a quest to find emerald city this morning.  YHC revealed that this workout was based on his favorite Christmas movie “The Wizard of Oz”.  YHC lied.  Actually it’s “Bridge on the River Kwai”.  Wizard is number 2.

    Anyhoo, the adventure started like this:
    ATM’s
    SSH
    Copperhead Squats
    Side Straddle Squats or as Phonics was calling them “Jack Squats”
    Seal Jacks
    Little Baby Squats with Arm Circles
    WW2 situps
    Dying Cockroach
    Plank Lifts
    Table Tops

    Mosey to side of Chick
    1 minute of Mountain Climbers
    Squerkin Ladder — partner exercise — 1 merkin, 1 squat, keep going until 10 of each, then let partners complete the other exercise

    Ascending Testicles — 10 merkins at 15 degrees against the wall, 45 degrees and then full BTTW position

    Triple Check — Mountain Donkeys, Rotating Merkins, Bear Crawl to the edge of sidewalk and back

    Catch me if you can — One partner runs, other does broad jump burpees.  Modified to lunges and then backwards run

    Native American Run to the Flag

    Wow — what a workout if YHC does say so himself.
    Todays feature film for no particular reason (don’t get mad if you don’t like your roles) starred Phonics as the Tin Man, Emoji as the Lion, Quaker as Scarecrow, Spit as Uncle henry, Carpenter as Auntie Em, Rounders as Glinda, Helix as Toto, Spike as the Wicked  Witch of the West, and Opus as the Wizard (who looks like he knows what he is doing, but is really flying by the seat of his pants most times)

    Thanks for putting up with me and all my new things I throw out there.  Have a blessed Christmas and New Year!

    • Opus

     

  • Mann-data

    Some mann -data for your Wednesday…

    6 to 7% of men do not wear underwear on a regular basis.  Say what?

    14% of men are 6 feet or taller.

    Guys brush their teeth an average of 4 times a week in the shower.

    25 percent of men  begin to see the first signs of hair loss before age 21.

    The typical U.S. Congregation draws an adult crowd that’s 61% female, 39% male. This gender gap shows up in all age categories

    More than 90 percent of American men believe in God, and five out of six call themselves Christians. But only one out of six attend church on a given Sunday.

    The average man accepts the reality of Jesus Christ, but fails to see any value in going to church.

    Males account for approximately 70 percent of all Ds and Fs in U.S. public schools.

    Young men are about four times more likely to commit suicide as young women are.

    5 chilly men showed up for Manndate this morning.

    COP:

    1 minute of merkins
    boat canoes
    sit up presses
    halos
    slingshots
    single arm deadlift
    single leg deadlift
    pistol squats without, then with KB IC
    Renegade Rows each side IC
    goblet squats
    racked squats
    half kneeling press
    side stepping swings
    1 minute of merkins

    CAtch me if you Can:
    1 partner KB side lunged around the bus loop, the other skipped to catch the lunger.  Modified to Waiter carry for times sake.

    Odd and Even Ladder:
    1 Burpee, 2 Tricep Presses, 3 burpees, 4 Tricep Presses, repeato up til 10 then come back down the ladder.

    1 partner does Mountain Donkeys, the other runs across the loop and back — switch until time is up.

    30 seconds of Merkins to finish.

    The data about men is startling and disturbing.  I believe that most men are looking for more in life than their current lives are showing.  We crave adventure, challenge and freedom.  We loathe the ordinary, the mundane, the cookie cutter lives that some of us lead.  We tend to  gravitate towards the comfort of an easy chair when we should be on our knees lifting up another brother in prayer, in plank position doing merkins, or spending time with our family and friends.  At times, I am guilty of trying to live that comfortable life and not doing what I need to do to spread hope or make myself a better person or inspire others to be awesome.  Let’s challenge ourselves this week to not be one of the statistics, but to help change what is considered the norm!

    Peace!
    Opus

     

  • Hot Pokettle

    There were 5 PAX members at the Hot Pokettle this morning.  It was a hot workout in the almost bitter cold.

    We started with Helix in the Circle of Pain
    SSH, Helicopters, arm circles, around the world, halos, maybe some others?

    Moved onto No Idea and 11’s
    Kettle Bell Merkins
    Lunge to the Other Side
    KB Swings

    Then it was Mudface’s turn to shine.
    We did a Quintuple check.
    Donkey Kicks on the KB
    Sit Up Presses
    Death Crawl across the lot
    KB Pulls
    Turkish Get ups

    Finally it came to Opus
    for a little Mary (4 minutes)
    Ring of Fire Merkins (10)
    Renegade Rows

    Numbers, Names, Take it out

    NMS
    YHC never realized before that the last person that goes in the HOT POTATO Q has to write the backblast.  Thanks for clearing that up, Mudface!  That means I am the only one who gets credit in big data for Q’ing!    As always, glad I was there!

    Peace!

     

  • The Polls are Open in Merkinville

    11 PAX members showed up for a perfectly brisk morning workout!

    Mosey to back of Atlee.
    10 Merkins IC
    Don Quixotes
    8 Merkins IC
    Helicopters
    6 Merkins IC
    Arm Circles
    4 Merkins IC
    SSH
    2 Merkins IC

    Goin to the Polls
    PAX holds pole and six inches — first PAX member does 5 merkins and runs to the back.  Rinse and repeat until all are done.

    Quickish (for YHC) mosey to the way back of Atlee where there is a small but proud hill.
    Modified Doras
    One person does broad jump burpees up the hill and runs down while the other starts completing:
    100 Heels to Heaven
    150 Merkins
    200 Flutterkicks

    Mini-fartlek
    All jog together — one member calls a spot to sprint to up ahead.  First person there starts doing an exercise and all join in until the Q moves us back to a jog and then another sprint, etc.  YHC thinks we did about 5 of these.  Some exercises were more merkins, burpees, more heels to heaven just to name a few.

    DK wall
    Partner up — one partner does DK’s while the other touches a tree, next partner touches two trees, moving up the ladder until the Q calls time.  Most groups got to 5 or 6.

    YHC wanted to try something new today so we did!  No name for this yet, but we did about 15 IC one legged runs on the wall.  It was kinda like a donkey kick and mountain climber combined so someone mentioned calling it the Mountain Donkey, which YHC likes.  Any other name submissions will be taken into consideration.

    Mosey back to flag.
    5 Pistol Squats each leg.
    Ascending Wheel of Merkins — We made it up to 4.

    Numberama, Nameorama, Bring it in!

    NMS —
    As always, it was a pleasure to lead you all this morning!  This workout was dedicated to Flatline who put us through a grueling 1 hour workout Saturday and included no merkins for those participating in the merkin challenge.  YHC was tired enough Saturday from all the running and then had to do merkins on top of all that later in the day??  Anyhow, we made up for it today.  Total number of merkins will vary depending on how many you did during the DORA’s and at other times as well.  YHC counted 205 for himself, but that is probably a low estimate.
    YHC, Grabber and The Carpenter all mosied over afterwards to Atlee to do their civic duty.  Hope everyone else does the same.  Have a great Tuesday!

  • Wilt the Stilt on VQ

    15 PAX members showed up to take on a Wilt and Opus designed beat down.

    Black Snake Weave around big Field.

    COP
    SSH
    Alternating Shoulder Taps
    Scissor Kicks
    Flutter Kicks
    Smurf Jacks
    American Hammers
    Freddie Mercuries

    BUTKUS — 1 minute of toe tapping delight on the curb, 30 second breather
    1 minute of toe tapping delight on curb, 20 second breather
    1 minute of toe tapping delight on the curb, 10 second breather
    1 minute of toe tapping delight

    4 CORNERS
    #1 — 40 WW2 Situps
    #2 — 30 Mountain Climbers
    #3 — 20 Merkins
    #4 — 10 Burpees
    then, we reversed the order and did Burpees, Merkins, Mountain Climbers and Situps

    TO THE PAVILION for some AIKEN LEGS
    20 Squats
    20 Box Jumps onto picnic tables
    20 Lunges
    20 Split Jacks
    Repeato with only 15 the next go round.

    Inspired by Mudface’s slow mo workout a few weeks back at the Creek, we did 10 slow dips and 10 slow derkins off the benches.  Ouch.

    Back to flag for 5 merkins all around.

    Announcements –
    Turn clock back 1 hr Saturday night!

    Fun workout this morning.  YHC is super proud of his progeny for stepping up and helping to create the workout and helping to Q as well!  Aiken Legs are no joke.

  • triskaidekaphobia

    9 guys (hoping for 13) showed up this morning in the gloom to suffer together.

    Break up into two groups — one ran around the church clockwise, the other anticlockwise (as the brits call it)  High fives as we passed each other.  (or trying to bowl people over.  thanks to the carpenter for that)

    COP —
    polar bears around the world — 13 each way
    Helicopters
    Chinooks
    butt kickers
    high knees
    ww2 situps
    boo yah merkins 5 with 4 different people
    jumpovers with a friend 20
    Trifecta
    3 exercises 10 each, then run to the other side of parking lot and plank up till PAX is together
    #1 SSH, smurf jacks, split jacks
    #2 plank jacks, alternating shoulder taps, mountain climbers
    #3 merkins, diamond merkins, werkins
    #4 abs – flutter kicks, dollys, am hammers
    #5 dips, derkins, inclined at picnic tables
     Repeat with 15 of each the next time around. We did get to do #1 and #4 as 20 per set.  Then we moved on to Marys
    Marys
    Everyone’s favorite exercise around the circle done 13 times, some in cadence, some OYO.
    10 count windshield wipers

     

    What a great morning to workout!  Nice and cool — little breeze.  Fun times!  YHC thinks some stayed home today because it is Friday the 13th.  Best part of today — the 2.0’s after the first Trifecta thought that they had heard they were supposed to run to the back of the building and do more exercises there.  Ummm… no.  They eventually figured it out and made it back to us at some point further in the routine.
    Nice to have Abacus back in town today!!  Miss you bro!  He brought up a lot of mumblechatter about how things go down for F3 in Charlotte.  Basically the gist was their counting sucks and they have one person who is in charge of leading each AO and one has to ask permission to get to lead anywhere.  YHC thinks that is a crummy idea and likes the variety of leadership we have here in RVA!
    YHC tried to get Wilt to lead a little today, but we should have had a better plan.  Next time!
    Have a great Friday the 13th!

  • Something New

    4 Davillians plus one crazy runner (who just popped in for the COP) came out this morning for something new.

    COP — the longest COP in history

    don quixote IC
    ww1 situps IC
    figure 4 crunches each side IC — new
    bird dogs IC — new
    single leg toe touches IC — new
    arm circles all big IC
    pistol squats without, then with KB IC — new
    Renegade Rows each side IC
    straight arm sit with KB — new
    lateral swings — start across body 10 each side — new
    side stepping swings — new
    one legged clean! — new

     

    The Rest —
    Triple Check with 4 people —
    One runs loop, Second does Sit up Presses, Third Does Bob and Weave

    Semi-lazy Doras
    100 goblet squats between the two partners while partner hangs in peoples chair, switch as needed
    150 overhead presses while partner holds plank or does merkins, switch as needed
    100 (due to time) KB swings while partner does SSH, switch as needed

    NMS —
    Think about some of the best times in your life.  How many of them came because of a change that stretched you, that challenged you?  Coming to F3 was one of those things that set YHC on a course for health and wholeness.  Is F3 easy?  No, but that is the point.  The best things in life aren’t easy.  There are growing pains.  There are bumps in the road.  Is it worth it?  Can I get an Amen?
    When Carpenter challenged YHC to come out to F3 a year and several months ago, YHC knew he needed it being several pounds overweight (ok more than several) and lacking energy and not having a whole lot of direction.  530?  Are you serious?  In the morning?  YHC went for it and has never looked back.
    So, this morning was all about stretching the PAX, trying new things, new exercises — realizing that we aren’t there yet and we can be so much better.  Some of the exercises this morning were a challenge to the PAX and YHC as well.  Some we could only do about 5.  And that is just fine.  Baby steps lead to better things — greater growth and the ability to realize that there is so much further for us to progress.
    Glad for the brothers in F3 and the bond we share through shared experience and growing together.
    TClaps to Spit who showed up during the middle of the run and did COP with us!

    Later,
    Opus