Author: Jim Huddle

  • Missing Pinto

    3 of us at WTH today. Gomer did his own thing and Lighthouse and I did the following. Right on 3 Chopt Road to John Rolfe, right to Old Brick, right to the parking deck near Dave and Buster’s. A few exercises while I recovered my breath. Then up the stairs to the top of the parking deck, across the top level and down the other stairwell, 20 merkins and back up the stairs to the top level, over to the initial stairwell and down to the start. 5 times. A little stretching. Over to the little gazebo on the lake. 15 Dips in cadence, a little stretching and return around the lake back to the start. 2 or 3 times around the ‘island’ at the school. Total distance, about 3.5 miles.

    Pinto will be missed for awhile. He is on rehab. Prayers that he doesn’t get too frustrated with the length of his recovery.

    Announcements:

    May 30 Convergence at Brown’s Island

    June 4 Blood Drive at Epiphany Lutheran. Please sign up on Redcrossblood.org

    June 4 The Bridge

  • The Takeover is Over

    7 at Hoedown today. Here’s how it went.

    Parking lot at the corner

    10 Lunge Twist Right

    10 Lunge Twist Left

    10 Travolta Right

    10 Travolta Left

    20 Rocky Balboas (toe taps in a plank position)

    20 Deep Mountain Climbers

    10 Alabama Prom Date (one-legged) Right

    10 Alabama Prom Date (one-legged) Left

    Upper Parking lot

    5 minutes of burpees

    Wall Courtyard: 15 air-press (People’s chair) in cadence, 10 BTTW hip slaps in cadence, 15 Donkey Kix OYO

    Wall Courtyard: 15 milkers (People’s chair) in cadence, 10 BTTW Australian Mountain Climbers in cadence, 15 Donkey Kix OYO

    Wall Courtyard: 15 Lalannes (People’s chair) in cadence, 12 BTTW ToeTaps in cadence, 15 Donkey Kix OYO

    Wall Courtyard: 15 Muhamad Ali (People’s chair) in cadence, 10 Dirty Hookups in cadence, 15 Donkey Kix OYO

    Playground: Teams of three

    Timer: 10 Pull-ups, Dips, WWIIs: Clockwise rotation: 3X

    Upper Parking lot: Pair Up

    Bear Crawl to middle: 10 Hand slap Merkins, Mosey back: 3x

    Wall Courtyard: 11s Angry Donkeys (People’s Chair airpress and Donkey kicks)

    Run around the circular (oval) driveway

    Grassy area in the middle:

    20 Dollies

    20 Heels to Heaven

    10 Merkins

    60 second leg lift

    Tuckahoe Takeover must be over because I was able to sign up for the Q. It’s now starting to get warm in the morning. It wasn’t quite 70 degrees but it was humid. Get ready for the summer! Drink lots of liquids beforehand. And maybe bring something to drink after the workout is over.

    Prayers for Lab Rat, Whitesnake’s neighbor, Pinto and the people of Ukraine.

    Announcements

    May 30 Memorial Day convergence.

    June 4 Blood Drive at Epiphany Lutheran, Please sign up to donate blood at Redcrossblood.org. Also, we need some assistance with the blood drive, You can sign up to help with the Q-signup sheet. There is a tab (worksheet) for the Blood Drive. Less than 3 weeks to go. We have 6 donors out of 37 slots.

     

     

  • Cinco de Mayo

    Circus Maximus had 6 today for some warm-up exercises from the Wall Street Journal and some KB exercises I found on the internet, plus a few oldies.

    Warmup with SSHs, Lunge Twist out, Lateral Lunge Knee Hug, John Travolta, Skaters (right foot back, right hand to left foot)

    20 High Pulls: 20 Deep Mountain Climbers; 18 of each, 16 of each, etc.

    Slingshot 10 each direction (around body)
    Halo 10 each direction (handle points up in front, upside down in back)
    Single Arm Deadlift (Keep back straight, KB on ground, to KB at waist) 10 each side
    Single Leg Deadlift 10 each leg (Same leg goes up as the arm with the kettlebell, balance)
    Turkish Getup 5 each side (leg bent at knee is the same side as upraised arm)
    Goblet Squat 20 in total (handles pointing down, deep squat)
    Racked squat 10 each side
    Racked lunge 10 each side
    Alternating Single arm swing 20 in total
    Clean and Press 10 each side (start with KB on ground, bend knees, keep KB close to body)
    Squat and Press
    Bottom up Clean 10 each side (KB upside down at rack, hold 5 seconds)
    Overhead squat 10 each side (KB held with arm straight above head)
    High Pull 10 each side (A swing but pull the KB to the shoulder at top of swing, then push back and finish the swing)
    Snatch 10 each side (Start with KB between legs, End with KB above head.)

    20 Pull-overs (laying on back)

    20 Presses (laying on back)

    20 Rosalitas

    60-count 6-inch leg lift

     

    Announcements:

    June 4 at Epiphany Lutheran from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM: Blood Drive. Please register at RedCrossBlood.org. If you would like to sign up to help, you can go to the Q signup sheet. There is a tab for the Blood Drive.

    June 4 ALSO: The Bridge: Flatline is the man to see on details.

     

    The dynamic stretching exercises we used as warm-ups were a little difficult to do in cadence. They also required demonstration to explain. Surprisingly enough, the Wall Street Journal does have things in it other than business news. They have some good articles on exercise.

     

    The 60-count 6-inch leg lift was accompanied by complaints from White Deer. Seems he visually measured the height of my heels off the ground and it was higher than 6 inches. I’m not sure he’s right but, I’ll give him 50% of my pay for being Q today.

  • Digital Clock

    11 at Hoedown today for a new set of exercises from YHC. Riddle: How to you explain ‘clockwise’ to people who are used to digital clocks?

     

    Mosey to the Corner Parking Lot

    20 SSHs

    10 Arm Slap Merkins

    20 Deep Mountain Climbers

    20 IWs

    10 Diamond Merkins

    15 Gorilla Jacks

    Stretch

    20 Squats

    10 Stagger Arm Merkins

    20 Heels to Heaven

    15 Star Jax

    10 Stagger Arm Merkins

    Stretching

    To the upper Parking Lot

    Burpee Bear Crawl from mid court to edge

    Crab Walk back

    To the grassy area in back

    Divide into three groups; Circuit with 20 Hanging Knee-ups at pull-up bars, at the benches for 20 Dips, 20 Ukrainian Hammers close to the swings; 3X Cycle clockwise. To be fair, I didn’t announce the direction of rotation until EF Hutton asked.

    To the wall for Angry Donkeys (11s with People’s Chair air press and Donkey Kix)

    To the rails for 10 Bulgarian Split squats each leg, 10 derkins, 9 and 9, 8 and 8 etc.

    To the lower parking lot for

    3X 20 WWII, mosey, bernie up the hill and return

    To the petting zoo (there was a tent up for a petting zoo at the school this past weekend.) for

    Heels to heaven and a 60 count 6-inch leg lift.

    I don’t know about the rest of you but I was tired.

    Announcements:

    June 4: We have 2 events

    Convergence with Charlottesville and with men who are serving time or on probation. We would like RVA to do this once a month, 3rd Saturday to help lead with Vinny(?) from Charlotteville. It’s 1 hour from Midlo, followed with BBQ. Sorry I’m a little weak on the details but see Flatline for questions or additional details. F3 did something similar in Charlotte with a group of men in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. The group was in-town so travel was real easy. This was rewarding. I went several times and lead exercises. I was always impressed with both the people there and the men from F3 who supported this. It’s a great opportunity to not only get in some exercise but to support men in the community who need a little support.

    AND, if that doesn’t work out for you, you have another opportunity! Blood drive from 10 to 3 at Epiphany Lutheran (west end of Monument where it intersects with Horsepen.

     

  • Lines on Football field

    Gridiron had 9 participants including Polly (FNG last week). Unfortunately, Homer was a little late and missed out on some burpees. You snooze, you lose. I was pleased to note that the football field was lined off.  That way, we knew where midfield was. No guessing!

    Mosey to tennis courts

    20 SSHs, 10 MM Merkins, 15 Knee-ups, (all in cadence), stretch

    Mosey to near pull-up bars

    5 minutes of Burpees, stretching exercise

    Using Pull-up bars:

    11s with Hanging Knee-ups and HRMs, stretching exercise

    Back to football field near fence

    10 Romanian Leg Lift (in cadence) Left leg then right leg

    Football field

    Burpee/Broad Jump to midfield, stretching exercise

    Jog to end

    11s with get ups and Ukrainian Hammers, stretching exercise

    Jog to Wall in front of school

    15 People’s Chair air press, 10 BTTW Hip slaps, (all in cadence), 15 donkey kix

    15 People’s Chair milkers, 10 BTTW Australian Mountain Climbers (all in cadence), 15 donkey kix

    15 People’s Chair la-lanes, 10 BTTW toe taps (all in cadence), 15 donkey kix

    Stretching exercise

    Mosey to the loading dock

    Behind the loading dock 10 Squats, climb wall and fence to loading dock, cross loading dock, climb down loading dock, mosey to asphalt for 10 merkins. 3X, stretching exercise

    Mosey back to football field

    Bear crawl/Crab walk to Midfield alternating every 10 yards

    Mosey to parking lot

    20 Heels to Heaven, 20 Rosalitas (all in cadence) 6-inch leg left to count of 60

    It’s always great to be out here. I had to miss coffee after the workout but I needed to help out with our grandson. His parents are out of town this weekend at a wedding and so we’re keeping their 10-month old. It’s a lot of work. Frankly, I don’t how we did it with our two or how they do it. He’s asleep now so I have time to write up the backblast.

    Announcements:

    Blood Drive June 4 at Epiphany Lutheran, west end of Monument where it runs into Horsepen, 10 to 3. Please go to Red Cross Blood donate and sign up.

    Richmond Bluegrass jam: (F3 Whitesnake is helping to pull this together) April 30 11am to 8PM, Parking available at James River High School, Midlothian, VA 23113, Free shuttles: Bring chairs/blankets RVABLUEGRASSJAM.com

  • Springtime

    Heartbreak today had beautiful weather; 63 degrees with a heavy layer of pollen. Welcome back to Bacon Bits who has been working too much and rehabbing an injury.

     

    Warm-up around parking lot

    Run forward, Karioke left, run backwards, Karioke right

    20 SSHs in Cadence, 10 Manmaker Merkins in Cadence, 15 Knee-ups in cadence, Stretching Exercise

    Run to Hill

    Jacob’s Ladder

    Run to Playground

    10 Hanging Knee-ups, 20 Squats, 20 WWIIs, 20 IWs 3X

    Run to Railings

    11s Hand Release Merkins and Ukrainian Hammers while running over/under railings

    Back to Playground

    10 Pullups; (there’s only 2 bars) while the rest do WWIIs or Squats

    To the Benches

    20 Dips in cadence, 10 single count, each leg, Bulgarian Split squats 2X

    Back to parking lot

    20 Dollies in cadence, Stretching, 60 count 6 inch leg lift.

     

    Announcements:

    2nd F today at Firehouse Subs at Innsbruck; 4028 Cox Rd K, Glen Allen, VA 23060

    April 28, 9:00 PM, Friends of Barnabas have a benefit event: https://event.gives/fobf22

    Blood Drive Saturday June 4 at Epiphany Lutheran. We will need some volunteers in addition to donors.

  • SubstiQ

    Circus Maximus featured a “substitute for Atilla” Q. After last week’s 100% upper body KB workout, I took the hint and Q’d today. Please be sure to sign-up to Q. Next time, Atilla will likely make it 100% leg exercises or something equally awful.

    Welcome Link to his first time at Circus Maximus. Congratulations to Fireman Ed for figuring out how to put his shirt on correctly. And Congratulations to Soul Train for his second Circus Maximus as well as the headlock on Link.

    Warmup with SSH, IW Russian Soldier, Don Quixote, Shoulder stretch

    20 and 5, 15 and 10, 10 and 15, 5 and 20 of the following pair of exercises. Generally, followed each pair of exercises with a stretching exercise.

    Swings and Curls
    Press and Rows
    Single Leg Deadlift (both sides add up to 20, 16, 10 and 6) and Triceps Same leg goes up as the arm with the kettlebell
    10 Burpees and Run to end of covered sidewalk
    Racked Lunge (both sides add up to 20, 16, 10 and 6) and Single arm press on back
    Goblet Squat and Renegade Rows (both sides add up to 20, 16, 10 and 6)
    Squat-Press and Lawnmowers
    10 Burpees and Run to end of covered sidewalk
    20 Swings
    20 Curls
    20 Upright Rows
    20 Triceps
    20 Overhead press
    20 Goblet Squats
    20 Sit-ups using KB to anchor feet
    20 Rosalita in cadence
    6-inch leg lift for 1 minute

     

    Announcements

    Blood drive June 4, Saturday, at Epiphany Lutheran from 10 to 3.

    F2 this coming Tuesday. Gypsy is pulling together.

  • Poplar exercises

    At Gridiron today, we started out, after warm-up (SSHs, IWs, Don Quixote, US (Ukrainian Soldiers), Stretching), with 10 minutes of Burpees on Burpee Hill, in hopes that the Burpees will bring Homer back out to Gridiron. Almost expected him to sense the vibes and show up. But alas, no Homer. On the other hand, there was a rare Blue Moon appearance.

    Next, Stretching and then 11s:

    Pullups and WWIIs. J’vile and I forget who else finished early so I didn’t get to finish my 11s. Darn!

    Back to the parking lot for 3 rounds of 20, jumping over the line, in cadence, with a stretch in between.

    Over to the stands by the football field for single count Bulgarian split squats (each leg) and Dips: 10, 9, 8, etc. down to 1.

    Over to the parking lot in front of the school for more 11s: Mike Tysons and Plank-arm raises.

    Back to the original parking lot for 1 leg balance. Impressive balance shown by Atilla and Tater. Tater was able to touch his nose to his shoe while maintaining his balance.

    Finished up with Dollies, Heels to Heaven and one-legged APDs,

    So, a bit of a geography lesson today: Ukraine (tribute to Lighthouse and the people of Ukraine), Bulgaria (split squats) and Alabama (APDs).

    J’ville offered to work on Pinto’s Porsche. Pinto didn’t seem interested. Wonder why? I know Chum was disasppointed we didn’t do a lot of really long distance running.

    I just checked and the Q-sheet is wide open. Lots of opportunities!

     

  • Bitch bitch bitch

    At Hoedown today, I mostly recycled my standard workout. Bitch, bitch, bitch. It looks like I need to come up with something new. However, I’ll note, that for Trainer, it was all new. This is his second workout, and his first with me as Q.

    Warmup: Corner Parking lot: 20 SSHs, 10 Man-maker Merkins, 15 knee-ups, stretching exercise

    Warmup: Upper Parking lot: 20 IWs, 10 Diamond Merkins, 15 Ukrainian Hammers, stretching exercise

    Warmup: Corner Parking lot: 20 Ukrainian Soldiers, 10 Wide Arm Merkins, 15 Crunchy Frogs, stretching exercise

    Warmup: Upper Parking lot: 10 Lunges, 10 Merkins, 20 Dollies, stretching exercise

    Wall Courtyard: 10 single count air-press (People’s chair), 10 BTTW hip slaps in cadence, 15 Donkey Kix OYO

    Wall Courtyard: 10 single count milkers (People’s chair), 10 BTTW Australian Mountain Climbers in cadence, 15 Donkey Kix OYO

    Wall Courtyard: 10 single count Lalannes (People’s chair), 12 BTTW ToeTaps in cadence, 15 Donkey Kix OYO

    Upper parking lot: 5 minutes of burpees

    Railings: Dips and Derkins: 10 each, then 9 each, etc.

    Up to the grassy area behind the school: Quadruple check: partner 1 runs to the pull-up bars and does 5 pull-ups, Partner 2 does Step ups, Partner 3 does Reverse crunch and Partner 4 does wall sit with air press. 2 times

    Wall Courtyard: Alternating arm raise from Plank position

    One legged Alabama Prom Date

    60 count 6 inch leg lift

     

    Announcements:

    8 mile run at RAMM on April 15. Get there in sufficient time to be done at 6:15.

  • MASH

    At Circus Maximus: If you shouldn’t be running, Circus Maximus is the place to be. BYOKB (bring your own kettlebell, or let someone know in advance and we’ll bring one for you.) On the other hand, if you have back issues, you might need to modify some exercises.

    In other news, Kyiv still stands! We pray for peace, safety for all Ukrainians (especially for Lighthouse’s family) and we pray that Russia gets out of Ukraine soon. By the way, the colors in the Ukrainian flag (blue on top, yellow or gold below) represent golden fields of grain under a clear blue sky, appropriate for a country known as the “breadbasket” of its area.

    Please also remember those here managing family health issues (Roger Roger for example).

    So here’s what happened at the Circus.

    Warmed up with SSHs, Don Quixote, Helicopters, various stretching exercises.

    We did ‘SHOTS’

    Swings

    Hammer Curls

    Overhear press

    Triceps

    Squats

    Started with 5 swings; then 5 Hammer curls and 10 Swings, then 5 Overhead press, 10 Hammer curls and 15 Swings, etc. After we got to 5 Squats, etc. and 25 Swings, we dropped the swings (we did NOT go to 30 swings) and so forth until we ended with just 25 Squats.

    Run to the end of the sidewalk and back

    Next, 10 Racked Lunges, each leg

    15 Renegade Rows, each arm

    10 Partial Turkish Get-ups, each side

    10 Romanian Dead lifts, each leg

    15 Swings

    20 Hammer Curls

    20 Upright Rows

    20 Triceps

    20 Squats

    Run to the end of the sidewalk and back

    20 overheads

    20 Press while lying on your back

    10 Romanian Dead lifts, each leg

    15 swings

    20 Hammer Curls

    20 Upright Rows

    20 Triceps

    Finished with Mary and stretching

    Announcements:

    Tonight at 6:00 PM: Capital Ale House on Cox Road near Broad Street (Innsbrook).

    Go UR Spiders (Paid announcement by Fireman Ed.)

    MASH available tomorrow at Curahee for those unable to run. (Announcement by Gypsy)