Author: Opus

  • Bark at the moon

    YHC was pleased to lead 5 stark raving mad men under the light of the full moon (or at least mostly) this morning.
    Here is what went down…

    COP —
    Arm circles
    WW2 situps
    Heels to Heaven
    Renegade Rows (each side)
    Inverted Tricep Presses (ouch)

    The Thang
    KB Swing and run — #1 runs the loop, the rest of the group does KB Swings — then #2 goes, then #3, etc.  YHC was #5 and was ready to run when Mudface came back.

    Odd and Even Ladder–
    Start at wall — do 1 Donkey Kick, run short distance to sidewalk, do 2 merkins, then 3 DK’s, 4 merkins, continue with odd donkeys and even merkins up to around 12, then we started back down the ladder until YHC called time.

    Tabata Sequence
    Bob and Weave with KB — 8x

    KB Thrusters — 8x

    KB Sit up presses — 8x

    KB High Pulls — 6x

    Head back to the Flag for a little Mary boat canoe style.
    1 minute Around the World with KB’s and that is all.

    What a great morning for a KB workout!  The PAX worked their butts off today between the odd and even ladder and all the Tabata madness.  Way to go gentlemen!

    Announcements —
    Keep Labrat in your prayers as he is grieving the loss of his grandmother.
    First Thursday this Thursday at Ashcreek!
    Convergence on September 30th at Gridiron

    Opus

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Are you ready for some football??

    15 surly dudes showed up this morning at The Creek (5 were 2.0’s) to tackle a football themed workout!

    Scout Run around the church 2x

    Increasing Emom
    1 minute to perform the task given.  If a PAX member finished early, it was rest time for them.
    Started with 5 SSH and 5 merkins, increased to 10 of each, then 15, then 20, then 25, then 30.
    Circle K suggested that he could do 40 of each in a minute, so we tested it.  Everyone else did AMRAP’s.
    At the end, Circle K said he did complete the task, but with not the best form on the Merkins.

    Shift over to the picnic tables to do 10 IC dips and 10 IC raised merkins to give time for more light to appear in the sky so we could do the next thang.  haha.

    Headed to the far corner of the field (where there is one lone street light) to perform a fumble drill.
    One PAX member was the fumbler at the end of the run.
    All else lined up behind the first cone and held squat position until it was their turn.
    Runner ran forward to first cone, sideways to the next, backwards to the next cone, sideways to the next one
    and finally forward to the last, where the fumbler threw the ball on the ground and the runner dove on the ball to collect the fumble.
    The runner became the next fumbler and Fumbler moved to the back of the running line.  Every once in a while, the PAX did squats or jump squats while waiting.

    Next drill:
    3 groups — one QB, one WR, one DB.
    QB hikes, WR runs a pattern, DB tries to defend
    Incompletion = 1 burpee for all
    Interception = 5 merkins for all offense
    Completion = 5 merkins for defense
    rotate stations

    Over Under Relay
    2 teams spread down the line in plank position.
    One runner from each team leaps over the first dude, goes under the second, etc. until the end where they get in plank and become part of the obstacle course.
    First team to complete everyone running through wins.

    Back to the Flag for some Mary
    Spit led the gang while YHC retrieved his phone.  10 merkins around the circle.
    Then, after YHC got back, we did X’s and O’s, then 10 Rosalitas, 10 Dories, 10 Rosalitas IC

    Numbers, Names, Announcements, Bring it In

    YHC wore his RG3 jersey this morning to commemorate the beginning of the new football season!  In the opening circle, I was explaining why I wore my RG3 jersey this morning and Carpenter chimes in with some pithy comment about us getting injured and never being the same afterwards.  He is a Giants fan, so take that for what it’s worth.
    The fumble drill was fun to do and to watch others do as well.  Highlight was Circle K receiving a fumble that was more like a bullet pass right to the upper chest/head area.

    Wish it had lighter for the passing drill bc we would have had more completions, but as it is, we had a few interceptions and completions.  Mostly bad passes and drops though.  Highlight was Wilt’s longish catch in the dark.  YHC was impressed!

    The over under relay had some funny moments, like YHC trying to go under one of the 2.0’s (possibly Recess) and lifting him off the ground in the process.  Mudface — kudos to you on the unders.  You rocked it.

    Giant props to Recess for finding YHC’s car keys after the workout was over.  Whew.  Thought Wilt and YHC were going to have to squeeze in the Mudface-mobile to head home.

    Fun times had by all this morning.  Enjoy the video — it included Leon Lett’s gaff as well as the Romo screwed up FG hold so it had to go on the BB.

    — Opus

     

     

  • American Donkey

    9 brave and fearless dudes conquered the temptation to take it easy and landed at Atlee for a beatdown.

    Mosey to Wall for Merkin Donkeys
    2x each (merkins then donkey kicks), progressing by 2’s up to 10 each, then
    AMRAP for about 45 seconds each exercise

    Progressive COP — mosey and circle up 4 different times on the way to the hill at the back of Atlee
    1st stop — Heels to Heaven
    2nd — Rollups
    3rd —  Ankle Reaches
    4th — Flutter kicks

    Finish moseying to the hill.
    11’s — striders up the hill, run down, WW2 situps at top, burpees at bottom (modified to merkins half way through)

    Mosey back to suicide courts, on the way circle up and complete several exercises waiting for the 6.

    Suicide relay —
    1) regular with the rest of the team planking
    2) reverse with the rest of the team doing SSH while waiting

    Mosey back to flag

    Time for jump squats and Freddie Mercuries before the
    Numberama and Name-o-rama

    NMS:
    It was actually not too bad of a morning to try out the American Donkey exercise, loosely based on the Guess Who song from 1970 “American Woman”.  Said song was later covered by Lenny Kravitz, but that version sucked, IMHO.
    There was a Carpenter showing this morning.  It was the first showing since he and his family cruised across the US in their mini-van.  Carpenter and 5 females in the same van for 5 weeks.  Holy (fill in the blank with whatever word comes to mind)!  He really needed some F3 time this morning!  YHC was glad to see him back and that he was keeping up with everyone pretty well despite his long absence.
    Sad to hear that Abacus will be leaving us soon, geographically at least.  He was the one who came up with my name and has been an inspiration to me to keep on keepin on!   Friday is his last Q at the Creek — would be awesome to have a record amount of people there Friday!!

    Peace out,
    Opus

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • For Whom The Kettlebell Tolls

    No man is an island,
    Entire of itself.
    Each is a piece of the continent,
    A part of the main.
    If a clod be washed away by the sea,
    Europe is the less.
    As well as if a promontory were.
    As well as if a manor of thine own
    Or of thine friend’s were.
    Each man’s death diminishes me,
    For I am involved in mankind.
    Therefore, send not to know
    For whom the (kettle)bell tolls,
    It tolls for thee. — John Donne

    5 Burly men braved the fierce humidity and themselves this morning.  None were lost.

    COP —
    helicopters
    don quixotes
    arm circles
    chinooks
    sumo squats
    SSH
    ATM’s
    KB Overhead Warmup
    KB slingshot
    KB Bottoms Up Clean

    Elevens —
    Single Leg Dead lift, run to the other side, burpees

    Long Mosey to track for 4 corners
    #1 — boat canoes
    #2 — Goblet Squats (1 minute) — side lunge to next corner
    #3 — High Pulls
    #4 — More Boat Canoes!

    Numbers, Names, etc.

    Moleskin —
    “No man is an island”.
    Let that sink in a little — what does that mean in your life?
    YHC has seen how that plays out in the F3 world — guys helping other guys pull through physical challenges, racing back to pick up the 6 to let him know that he is not on his own, lifting a brother up in prayer when cancer has crept into a loved one’s life.

    How does this play out in our daily life?  Will we be at the ready whenever some situation calls for something extraordinary from us?  Are we ready to sacrifice our time, our resources for someone we might  not even know? Are we willing to stick our necks out, lay it on the line, damn the torpedos and full speed ahead for people in this world that need a spark of light, a glimmer of hope?  It all starts when we turn away from the usual, the expected, the everyday and towards the unique, the unexpected, the original.  Every one of us has what it takes to be that change in someone else’s life.  Be there.  Keep your antenna up and your phone down.  Look around.  Act boldly.  Be that guy today!

    Thanks for letting YHC get a little deep!
    Blessings,
    Opus

  • Gimme 5… 10… 15… 20

    What a beautiful day to be in F3RVA!  6 awesome dudes showed up for a VQ at Punisher.  YHC tried not to disappoint!

    Mosey to the brick wall for a donkey kick-off.  5 donkey kicks, then hold for 5 seconds, then 10, then 15, finally 20!

    Mosey to a grassy area for COP
    Merkins
    SSH
    Side Plank Raises
    American Hammers
    Roll Ups
    Tabletops
    Smurf Jacks

    Mosey to Picnic Tables for some light refreshments and
    Skull crushers 5 each side IC, then 5 Derkins OYO
    Repeat adding 5 to the number each time until we got to twenty.

    Mosey to basketball court
    Partner Sprints —
    1) One partner does a regular wind sprint, the other does AMRAP merkins — switch up
    2) One Partner does a reverse wind sprint, the other does AMRAP freddy mercuries — switch up
    3) Wheelbarrow 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, full.  Each stop do 5 merkins.  Switch and let the other partner do their thing.

    Stay with partner, alternate 5 partner jumps over elbow planking partner– then 10, then 15
    alternate 5 leg throwdowns, then 10, then 15
    15 boo-yah merkins

    Mosey over to field
    Lunge and Runs — 5 lunges, then run to the tree designated by the Q! (Spit, come back!!!)
    5 on the way back.
    10 lunges, then run — same on the way back
    15 lunges, then run

    Forgo the Balls to the Wall exercise I had planned — opted for Marys back at the flag.
    Wave of Merkins — started at 1 merkin around the circle, then 2 — made it up to 8 before time ran out.

    NMS — Why is it that even though Lab Rat is not at a workout, that his name still is mentioned?
    When EF Hutton and YHC were teamed up for Partner Leg Throwdowns, EF asked  if he could do it LabRat style.  YHC didn’t know what that meant and wasn’t sure he really wanted to find out.

    Other observations —
    EFHutton must have done a lot of jumproping in his formative years, because he did all of those jumpovers in rhythm without stopping, one right after the other.  T-claps.

    The Wheelbarrow thing was much harder than YHC originally imagined it would be,  The PAX did amazingly well with this.

    It was good to see Conspiracy out there — he mentioned he was just getting back into the swing of things after the birth of his daughter.  Congrats!  Kids are a blessing (at least most of the time).

    Spit needs very specific directions when it comes to which tree to run to.  YHC said “Not the furthest one”  — Spit must have heard everything except for the first word.  Next time, I will go into more detail describing the bark, leaves, height, shape of the tree before proceeding.

    Had a great time branching out to VQ another AO!

    Announcements —
    First Thursdays in Mechanicsville starts NEXT Thursday the 6th.  6 PM Meet at Atlee for pickup game of Ultimate.  (30-45 minutes) — then head to COTU for a little 2nd F time.  If you can only make it for part of the time, that is totally cool.

    Going away party at the Answer BrewPub on July 12th.  See preblast for full details.

     

     

  • What’s tabata for you?

    What a beautiful day in RVA for another classic beat down.
    12 surly dudes showed up at The Creek to see what was going to happen.
    This is how the whole thing went down…

    COP —
    52 SSH
    Helicopters
    10 merkins OYO
    Arm Circles
    Chinooks (overhead arm circles)
    10 merkins OYO
    Roll-ups
    LBC’s
    side plank raises both sides
    10 merkins on own
    Gas pumps
    Freddy Mercuries

    Indian Bear Crawl up to the Field

    4 Tabata Workouts
    TABATA 1 — Plank Jacks and Mountain Climbers
    TABATA 2 — Flutter Kicks and Heels to Heaven
    TABATA 3 — Merkins and Werkins
    TABATA 4 — Jump Squats and Frog Jumps

    Back to the Flag, Numberama, Name-o-rama

    YHC is deeply indebted to Phonics for introducing the Tabata concept to the PAX a long while ago at DaVille.  Since then, YHC has wanted to incorporate Tabata into a Creek workout.  This was the perfect morning for that.  Tabata was developed by a Japanese scientist who was obviously also a sadist.  It doesn’t seem like it would be that difficult to do an exercise as hard as you can for 20 seconds, break for 10, and then do a complementary exercise, break for 10, and then alternate between the two for a grand total of 4 minutes.  The ten second breaks never seem long enough.  YHC is trying to figure out at this moment in time which muscle group hurts the most.  It seems to shift throughout the day.  At first, the legs were complaining the most.  Now it’s the arms.  It’s always a pleasure to lead this great group of guys even if they do complain from time to time.  (I won’t mention any names)  Suck it up, buttercup! 🙂
    Looking forward to the beatdown Saturday morning!

    Peace,
    Opus

  • Holy Crap — that took a long time!

    15 Native PAX members showed up for a fun and frolicking good time at Daville!

    Here is what went down:

    COP
    Hillbillies
    Arm Circles
    Flutter Kicks
    dollys
    Rock Em Sock Em Robots
    Jump Squat
    Plank Jack
    Roll Ups

    Longish Mosey to Hill near the Gate
    Doras — One partner does Broad Jump Burpees up hill, run down hill.  100 ww2 situps, 200 merkins (modified to 175), 300 SSH (1 count)

    Say good-bye to the hill by running up and down three times as fast as possible.  Wheelie did not fall down the hill for the first time ever.  Props and T-Claps.

    Indian Run back to wall for donkey kick fun

    2 donkeys, touch 1 tree
    4 donkeys, touch 2 trees
    6 donkeys, touch 3 trees
    Some of the PAX made it up to 8 before YHC realized what time it was and had to scurry the group back to the flag.

    Numberama, Nameorama, Announcements, Chowdah took us out this morning.

    YHC has not quite gotten the hang of how long something will take for a certain PAX.  Sometimes, there is not enough stuff and some scrambling occurs.  This morning, there was way too much stuff and massive cutting and splicing took place.  The original title of this Backblast was supposed to be “What the Hill?” — YHC had two more adventures with the hill planned, but realized that time was not on our side because the daggone DORA’s took much longer than I thought they would.  No worries, I will be Q’ing again at Daville soon enough!! 🙂

    Yardsale mentioned that the PAX should have a Shovel Flag making/ tasty brew drinking night at someone’s house.  YHC concurs.  Who is up for having some guys over to make that happen?

    Announcements:
    Fudd’s house this Saturday.  Not sure the time or how to get there.  Check the Pre-Blast for more info.

    Have a blessed takeover week!
    Opus

     

  • My pre-birthday suit

    15 gentlemen showed up to celebrate YHC and his birthday eve. It truly was 70 and sunny this morning when we started.

    Slaughter Starter — 20 Burpees
    Mosey to field
    ww2 situps 1 minute
    SSH
    arm circles
    gas pumps
    Sumo Squats in cadence — wide stance, touch ground
    Jump Squats in cadence — take it slow
    Rockem Sockem Robots — squat kicks with a punch

    ww2 situps 1 minute

    mosey to pavilion
    skull crushers in cadence — 5, 10, 15 per side and derkins on own 5,10,15

    triple check from middle of field
    bear crawl and flutterkicks start in same spot, dips at bench
    bear crawl relieves dipper who relieves american hammer
    each exercise 3 times

    ww2 situps 1 minute
    dan taylor across width of field
    1 squat, 4 lunges
    2 squat, 8 lunges

    Native American run

    Weasel Crawl — YHC sings “Pop Goes the Weasel” on the word “Pop” PAX goes down into a merkin, on “Weasel”, PAX does alternating shoulder taps

    Merkin Ring of Fire — 5 each

    NMS —
    Today was the last day YHC will ever get to say 47 during the name-o-rama.  Another year gone, lots of great memories, including meeting a bunch of you blokes.  Where has the time gone?  My eldest is going to high school, my youngest to elementary school.  My head is spinning.
    Enough of that — workout was fun — Thanks Circle K for the great mumblechatter this morning — made the workout less painful.
    Not sure who had the really awkward form on the bear crawls, but it was great entertainment observing it and pointing it out to other PAX members.
    Weasel Crawl didn’t work as well as it should have.  Live and learn.
    Looking forward to another year in F3!

     

     

  • Breakin’ the law

    18 PAX members showed up on a glorious morning to better themselves and hopefully not hurt themselves.  Here is how it went down…

    Mosey to Circle of pain, but wait, no… it’s a detour to the Atlee wall first to do a Donkey Kick-Off. (This one is going up to the exicon).  5 Donkey kicks, on the fifth one hold feet on the wall for 5 seconds.  Then, up it to 10 donkey kicks and 10 second hold.  Then 15 and then 20.

    Now to the COP…
    IJR
    Arm Circles
    Mountain Climbers
    Werkins
    Copperhead Squats
    Heels to Heaven
    Crabcakes
    Plank Jacks
    ATM’s — 15 Alternating Shoulder Taps, 10 tempo merkins, 10 fast merkins

    Mosey to the poles for what I thought were Pole Smokers. (More on that in the Moleskin)  All hold the pole and do 6 inches.  First PAX member does 10 WW2 situps and sprints down the line.  Repeato till all are done.

    We are Family Run…
    Run from Atlee to the corner of Atlee Station and Atlee service road stopping and doing 15 merkins and 15 jumps squats at every light post.  I think it was about 7 light posts, maybe 8?

    Partner exercises…
    15 partner leg throwdowns
    15 partner merkins
    15 jumpovers

    Mosey to Bus Loop
    One partner runs bus loop while the other holds isometric prayer hands and a leg lunge at the same time.  Only had time for one of these

    Off to the flag for a quick round of Mary…
    5 merkins each around the circle while all held plank.

    NMS —
    YHC is hoping not to be fined by corporate for not having a Circle warmup at the very beginning of the workout.  Had to change things up a little.  The PAX enjoyed the Donkey Kick-off immensely except someone whose F3 name I can only tell you rhymes with StabBat.

    This workout was supposed to be called “My F3 Workout — what is important to me”.  It was supposed to have a theme regarding the things that are important in YHC’s life like friends, family, faith and music.  YHC came up with that 6 months ago.  How lame that title sounds now, so YHC kept most of the workout intact and just changed the name.

    Observations
    — YHC was going to go to 25 donkey kicks, but Carpenter looked tired so we moved on.
    — Pole smokers (or whatever what I did was called) take a long time with 18 people.
    — Kudos to the 2.0’s for one armed merkins during the Mary!

     

    Announcements — see labrat’s comments below

     

  • These go to 11!

    5 pretty studly gents showed up on this bright beautiful morning to take on a Q inspired by the movie mockumentary “This is Spinal Tap”.  Here is what transpired…

    COP
    arm circles — just eleven large forward and back
    plank 1 minute — discuss most memorable F3 workout whilst waiting
    SSH — 11
    elbow plank 1 minute — discuss least liked exercise
    IJR — 11
    plank step outs 1 minute
    ww2 situps — 22
    shoulder taps 1 minute
    Smurf Jacks — 11
    mountain climbers 1 minute

    Sets of Eleven
    1) Donkey Kicks,  run to kettle bell, situp press
    2) goblet squats, bear crawl to edge of bus loop and back, lawnmowers

    4 Corners — turned into 2 corners for time’s sake
    good mornings — 11
    boat canoes — 11

    Mary
    american hammers
    renegade rows

    Moleskin

    YHC had never Q’ed a Kettlebell workout before — thanks to the PAX for their understanding and patience!
    We started out with an aimless kettlebell mosey to emulate the section of the movie when the fictional band gets lost within the maze of the arena and can’t find its way to the stage.  The rest of the workout was devoted to the theme of 11’s.  Nigel Tufnel, lead guitarist for Spinal Tap, is showing his amp to the interviewer and explains that his amp is special because all the knobs are numbered to 11. (see the clip).

    The hardest part of being the Q is knowing how long something is going to take.  Elevens take a long time…  Modification was necessary, but the PAX took it in stride.

    We ended up doing 77 ww2 situps this morning for those who are participating in the May challenge.

    On a side note, thanks for Mudface for teaching us the correct way for doing Boat Canoes.

    Announcements
    5/20 — Ashcreek 5 K
    5/11 — New AO startup at Pole Green Park — meet at the school lot