Author: Jim Huddle

  • Geriatric Test

    One of the exercises today was the ‘getup’. The idea is that you sit on the ground and then get up to a standing position without using your hands. It’s not easy to do. I find that to do it, I have to roll backwards and put my hands over my head (parallel to the ground), then swing my arms forward as quickly as possible ending up with my hands in front of me almost touching the ground. Simultaneously, curl up as tight as possible and cross my feet. If I do it right, my center of gravity is over my feet and I can stand up.

    This is the first time I have done this in awhile and it took me a few tries to get it right. I find it difficult to do. Salt Lick pointed out that this is a good test for old people. I need to perfect my skill here. Gracias to those who participated in today’s activities as I try to stay out of the nursing home!

    Senor Frog pointed out that the wall was not available as it was under construction. Fortunately, by the time we got to the wall, construction was completed and we were able to do the standard wall exercises.

    Mosey to corner Parking lot and give standard disclaimer.

    I honor of January is Make America DoBurpees Again, we did a token 10 burpees.

    • 20 SSHs
    • 10 Man-Maker Merkins
    • 15 Crunchy Frogs
    • Stretch: on the ground, right hand to right foot with left foot on right thigh and then flapjack

    Mosey to Asphalt playground

    • 20 IWs
    • 10 Diamond Merkins
    • 10 each side Suzanne Sommers
    • Stretch: Plank position, right foot to right hand and then flapjack

    Mosey to corner parking lot

    • 20 Squats
    • 10 Stagger Arm Merkins
    • 15 Dollies
    • Stretch: Stand up and touch the ground

    Mosey to asphalt playground

    • 10 Don Quixotes
    • 10 Stagger Arm Merkins
    • 15 Ukrainian Hammers
    • Stretch: I forgot what else we did

    Line up on sidewalk to the asphalt playground for 11s

    • Mike Tyson & V-Ups

    To the grass playground in back; Count off by 3s. Rotate Clockwise. Each group starts out at a different station.

    • 10 Get-ups at the swings, (lay on you back and then stand up without using your hands. See description above.)
    • 20 Hanging Knee-ups at pull-up bars,
    • 30 Dips at benches,

    To the wall for

    • 15 People’s chair airpress
    • 10 BTTW shoulder taps in cadence
    • 3 burpees
    • 15 People’s chair Milkers
    • 10 BTTW Australian Mountain Climbers
    • 3 burpees
    • 15 People’s chair Muhammad Ali
    • 10 BTTW Toe Taps
    • 4 burpees
    • 15 Donkey Kix

    On the patio in front of the wall for

    • 60 count 6-inch leg lift

    Time’s up!

    Announcements:

    Frozen Triangle

    COT:

    Prayer requests: Guidance on summer camp selections!

    There’s a lot of angst over politics these days. Whatever your opinion, try to understand the other point of view and hold back on the judgment. Try to keep an open mind, maintain a sense of humor, evaluate policies and not politicians and appreciate that just because someone has a different opinion than you do, shouldn’t mean we can’t be friends. Finally, remember that’s whoever is in the White House doesn’t care about your house. That means you need to care about your house (and worry less about the White House.) Let’s all dedicate ourselves to being civil to each other and turning down the temperature. It takes self-control. It’s not easy but it is vital.

    Galatians 5:22-23 says this, “But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

    Let’s access the fruit of the spirit in these difficult times. Or as the joke goes: “God. Give me patience and give it to me NOW!!!”

  • Continuing a theme

    The COT continued the theme brought to us at Heartbreak by Salt Lick this past Tuesday; Resilience.

    But first, Fudd showed up fashionably late wearing his fashionable Head Covering. Fudd: You’ll have to tell Atila where he can buy one. I think we’re all jealous. Maybe Mr. Roger’s Buffalo Bill’s hat might be in the competition for best head covering.

    Offshore was also late. He remembered the coffee pot but didn’t remember his KB until he got halfway here. Details.

    As Q, I appreciated someone other than myself counting in German. Danke, Blue Moon!

    Disclaimer: Don’t leave here with more injuries than you came with.

    Warmup:

    • 20 SSH,
    • 15 IWs,
    • 10 Don Quixote,
    • Plank stretch,

    Countdown:

    • 20 Upright rows, 20 Deep Mountain Climbers (single count), 18 Overhead Presses, 18 Deep Mountain Climbers, 16 Upright rows, 16 Deep Mountain Climbers, 14 Overhead Presses, 14 Deep Mountain Climbers etc. down to 2 Overhead Presses, 2 Deep Mountain Climbers.
    • Run around the island

    Triple Check:

    • The Timer rifle carries their KB to the Propane Tank, does 5 burpees and returns
    • Partner 2 Squats
    • Partner 3 does Curls
    • Run around the island
    • Stretch

    Triple Check:

    • The Timer rifle carries their KB to the Propane Tank, does 5 burpees and returns
    • Partner 2 Swings
    • Partner 3 Flutters while holding the bell
    • Run around the island

    Back to the flag for Mary

    • 20 Dollies in cadence
    • 20 APDs in cadence
    • 20 Hammers in cadence

    Numberama, namerama

    Announcements:

    Frozen Triangle Feb 8.

    Take by YHC:

    Two quotes on Resilience:

    “You are not defeated when you lose. You are defeated when you quit.” Paul Coelho

    “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill

    We also offered our prayers for Roger Roger and his spouse, Fudd’s sister Mary, Fireman Ed, and the victims and their families of the airplane-helicopter crash last night near Reagan airport in Washington.

    Afterwards, Coffee! It included a discussion on investment advice from Lighthouse (A Random Walk Down Wall Street is my basis for investing) among other worthy topics.

  • Breaking things and Fruitcake

    In the spirit of breaking things, we took a break from Atilla’s Q-ing and had a Pigskin Q.

    We began by moving under the covered walkway. Fortunately, no injuries occurred (at the workout) before the standard disclaimer was issued.

    Warmup

    • 20 SSHs
    • 20 Imperial Walkers
    • 20 Ukrainian Soldiers
    • 10 Don Quixote

    The workout is a cumulative Ring of Fire. Each person gets to add a KB exercise.

    I started out with

    • 15 Swings OYO
    • Run to the end of the walkway, do 3 Burpees and return to the start

    Next

    • 15 Swings OYO
    • 15 Curls OYO (Fudd)
    • Run to the end of the walkway, do 3 Burpees and return to the start

    Next

    • 15 Swings OYO
    • 15 Curls OYO (Fudd)
    • 15 Upright Rows OYO (Lighthouse)

    The other exercises added with each ‘round’ were

    • 15 Hammers OYO (Offshore)
    • 15 Sit and Press OYO (Atilla)
    • 15 Bench Press OYO (Whitesnake)
    • 15 Squats OYO (Blue Moon)

    After everyone had a turn at calling an exercise, we ‘Deconstructed’ at each round, dropped an exercise.

    • Swings were dropped first
    • Then Curls were dropped
    • Then Upright Rows. I think we ran out of time after dropping the Upright Rows.

    Warm down

    • 15 Heels to Heaven in Cadence
    • Various Stretching exercises

    Announcement:

    • 2nd Tuesday, 2nd F, but this time at Joey’s Hot Dog in Innsbrook (near Firehouse Subs)

    We finished up with coffee, fruitcake, discussions of the electric grid (one of my favorite topics), well water, your own power supply, the threat from the Chinese government to the grid and Jones breaks.

  • Is anyone going to Hoedown?

    Fortunately, the answer was ‘yes’. Given the rain, and with the snow on the ground, we opted for the covered walkway and stayed dry. We did a ‘Hot Tater’ and dreamed of 67-degree weather in Florida.

    Actually, I’m hoping for a decent snow. Since I moved here 3 and half years ago, we haven’t had much snow. I’m hoping the rain doesn’t wash it all away.

    Upchuck started us off with: (this is roughly right)

    • 35 SSHs in cadence
    • 10 Monkey Humpers in cadence
    • 15 Imperial Walkers in cadence
    • Stretch (touch the ground)
    • Cobra
    • 10 Reverse crunch in cadence
    • 10 WWIs in cadence
    • 3X: Bear crawl to the break in the railings, 3 merkins and mosey back

    1-800 took over:

    Triple check: This was harder than it sounds. We had to pick 2 other partners. Very challenging. The other challenge was remembering to rotate thru the 3 exercises. It takes a Harvard education to do this correctly.

    • Partner 1: Bernies up the walkway to the door and moseys back (touch door lightly so as not to set off the alarm)
    • Partner 2: Merkins
    • Partner 3: Squats

    11s up the covered walkway to the doors

    • Jump squats
    • WWIIs

    Pigskin finished:

    To the wall under the covered area by the gym

    • 15 People’s chair air press in cadence
    • 10 BTTW Hand touch in cadence
    • 10 Mike Tyson OYO
    • 10 BTTW Australian Mountain Climbers in cadence
    • 15 Donkey Kicks OYO
    • 10 BTTW Toe Taps in cadence
    • 10 Mike Tyson OYO

    To the Railings

    • 10 single count Bulgarian split squats: right leg back
    • 10 single count Bulgarian split squats: left leg back
    • 10 single count Derkins
    • Repeat above except 9 single count
    • Then 8 and so on down to 1

    Finished with some Mary

    • 15 Crunch Frogs in cadence
    • 15 Heels to heaven in cadence
    • Plank, right arm and/or leg high
    • Plank, left arm and/or leg high
    • Elbow plank to count of 45
    • 6-inch leg lift to count of 60

    Announcements:

    The Bridge on Saturday, January 25. See Fudd (not Fud, Fudd). This is a ‘halfway house’ (my choice of words) to ease inmates back into the outside world. As the saying goes “every saint has a past and every sinner has a future”. We all have regrets, it’s a part of life. Dedicate yourself to forgiving the ‘f-ups’ of others as well as your own ‘f-ups’. I think it helps when we think of these things as ‘opportunities to learn from experience and get better’.

    Tomorrow at Heartbreak Ridge, the Q sign-up sheet has Honeydo with a “?” mark. Will we be pencil rolling up the Ridge? Scorpion Kicks in the snow? If you want to find out, show up!

    1-800, Upchuck, Pigskin

  • Almost Over

    The year is almost over. It will soon be time to start a new one. I hope everyone had a great year and I hope 2025 is even better!

    We welcomed back Blue Moon from Deutschland and Atilla from Sick Bay. And Bon Voyage to Mr. Rogers who in a few days is going to Hawaii.

    Mosey to the entrance to the school.

    Standard disclaimer and we begin.

    Warm-up: all in cadence

    • 30 Side Straddle Hops
    • 15 Arm circles: forward
    • 15 Arm circles: backward
    • 20 Leg swings: right leg
    • 20 Leg swings: left leg
    • 20 Imperial Walkers

    Main Circuit: 4X

    • 20 Jump Squats in cadence
    • 10 Merkins in cadence
    • 15 Lunges in cadence
    • Plank: hold for 45 seconds
    • 10 Side Plank: Left side in cadence
    • 10 Side Plank: Right side in cadence
    • 10 Burpees OYO
    • 20 Mountain Climbers in cadence
    • Jog around Loop in front of the school

    Cool Down:

    • Stretch
    • Downward Dog Stretch: Hold for 30 seconds
    • Child’s Pose: Hold for 30 seconds (knees on the ground, butt on your heels, hands on the ground in front you)
    • Cat-Cow Stretch: 1 minute (knees directly under hips, hands directly under shoulder. COW: drop belly and raise head up; CAT: tuck head in and curve head in)
    • Forward Fold: Hold for 30 seconds (keep your legs & back straight)
    • Pigeon

    Announcements:

    • Convergence New Year’s Day at 7:00 AM at Dogpile.

    COT

    At work, we used to have ‘programs’ that were rolled out every 4 or 5 years. The first one we did was something called ‘Connections’ and their slogan was “Be here now”. The idea is a good one. Focus on what’s going on right now. Give your full attention to the people and the situation you are in right now. ‘Be here now’.

    Dear Lord, we want not only to be here now and focus on what going on, we want you to be here now. We want to feel your presence in our life every day.

  • BroCode

    This being the last Friday of the month, we ran the usual Bro Code route (Pump to Church to Copperas to Ridgefield to Old Prescott and back to the start). For the record, Pigskin led for the first 30 yards. We were also accompanied by Wally and Lulu.

     

    Afterwards, we finished up at Dunkin for some 2nd F.

  • The Week Before Christmas

    Twas the week before Christmas, and we in our shacks
    Seven F3 faithful were determined, not to fart sack
    Their workout clothes, were laid out with care
    In the hopes it would be enough, for the chill in the air
    The children were nestled, all snug in their beds
    While visions of Merkins, danced in our heads.
    Mom in her kerchief, and I in my cap
    And me on the throne, for my pre-workout crap.
    At Heartbreak Ridge, there arose such a clatter
    I got out of my car, to see what was the matter
    When what to my wondering eyes should appear
    Seven F3 cars, but no White Deer
    Lighthouse Frog and Atilla, are here to debate
    Is Die Hard a Christmas Movie, but Whitesnake is late
    Offshore Mr. Rogers and Pigskin can’t wait
    We begin with a run, going out straight
    Next a disclaimer, the warmup and railing
    The carbon monoxide did not leave us failing
    Over to the porch, and up against the walls
    We put gravity to work, on our pair of balls
    Prisoner getups were added, to the Jacob’s ladder
    Then to the parking lot, but now we are sadder
    We ran out of time, to finish the Dora
    Maybe next time, we’ll do some mora
    A run by the street, passing the fire station
    To give us a chance, to admire the Christmas decorations
    There’s be more fun this week, with the celebration of Festivus
    It will be on Thursday, at Circus Maximus.
    But I heard Whitesnake exclaim as he drove out of sight
    “There’ll be coffee for all, May your kettlebell, feel light”

    The workout went something like this.

    Mosey forward, Karioke left, Mosey backwards, Karioke right back to start

    Disclaimer

    Warmup: in cadence

    • 20 SSHs
    • 20 Imperial Walkers
    • 10 Don Quixote

    Mosey to railings behind Quioccasin for 11s; Over the railings in one direction and under in the other direction)

    • Toy Soldiers on grassy side (Elbow Plank with left/right toe taps)
    • Star jumps on the gravel side
    • Stretch

    Mosey to the wall at Quioccasin

    • 15 People’s chair airpress
    • 10 BTTW Hand Slaps in cadence
    • 10 Mike Tysons OYO
    • 15 People’s chair Milkers
    • 10 BTTW Australian Mountain Climbers
    • 15 Donkey Kix OYO
    • 15 People’s chair Muhammad Ali
    • 10 BTTW toe taps
    • 15 Donkey Kix OYO

    Mosey to hill between Quioccasin and Pemberton

    • Jacob’s ladder with 5 Prisoner Getups at bottom each time: up the hill 7 times with 1, 2, 3, etc. to 7 Burpees at the top
    • Stretch

    Mosey to wall across the parking lot at Pemberton for a Dora with

    • 100 Merkins
    • 200 Crunchy Frogs
    • 300 SSHs

    Except we ran out of time before anyone finished the Crunchy Frogs

    Mosey to flag passing by the Fire Station and its decorations.

    • 15 Heels to Heaven in cadence
    • 15 APDs in cadence
    • 60-count 6-inch leg lift

    No announcements

    Closeout

    The gospel lesson this week included the verse from Matthew 17:20: “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you”.

    Mr. Rogers commented that having faith is like many things in life; it’s either a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’. Just like you can’t be a little pregnant, you either have faith or you don’t. A little faith is often all you need.

  • Wake up and smell the coffee

    It was very windy today, and cold, so we immediately went over to the covered walkway and stayed there (other than the run around the Circus Maximus (bus loop).

    Disclaimer: Don’t leave here with more injuries than you came with.

    Warmup:

    • 20 SSH,
    • 15 IWs,
    • 10 Don Quixote,
    • Arm/shoulder stretch,

    Countdown:

    • 20 Upright rows, 20 Deep Mountain Climbers (double count), 18 Upright rows, 18 Deep Mountain Climbers, etc. down to 2 Upright rows, 2 Deep Mountain Climbers (double count)
    • Run around the island

    Partner up:

    • Partner 1 rifle carries their KB a short distance, does 5 burpees and returns
    • Partner 2 does the called exercise
    • 100 curls
    • 100 squats
    • 100 Triceps
    • Run around the island
    • Stretch

    Partner up again:

    • Partner 1 rifle carries their KB a short distance, does 5 burpees and returns
    • Partner 2 does the called exercise
    • 100 Swings
    • 100 Bench press
    • 100 Flutters with Bell held
    • Stretch
    • Run around island

    Finish

    • 20 Lawnmowers each arm OYO
    • 20 KB Lunges each leg OYO
    • 20 Overhead pulls OYO
    • 20 Hammers 2 count OYO
    • 20 Sit and Press OYO
    • 20 Heels to Heaven without bell in cadence
    • 20 APD in cadence
    • Stretch

    Back to the flag for numberama, namerama

    Announcements:

    Tuesday noon: 2nd F at Firehouse Subs

    COT

    Many years ago, there was an advice column called ‘Ann Landers’. “Ann Landers would use the phrase “wake up and smell the coffee”. She would often use this phrase when people seemed to be denying situations that made them uncomfortable or unhappy. For example, “Dear M&L: Wake up and smell the coffee, sister. If you think this guy is going to come back to you, you’re two sandwiches short of …” (copied from Google)

    Ann Landers is no longer with us. But you can still get advice from prayer.

    Prayers for Gypsy, Firehouse Subs (scratch that: make it Fireman Ed, Mollie (Roger Roger’s wife) and Mary (Fudd’s sister)

    Post workout coffee discussion: For two or three months, Offshore (today Mr. Rogers) has made coffee for us after the workout. There’s a percolator and we’ve found an outlet that is ‘hot’. Good discussions take place. The gender reveal for Gaudí’s second baby due around Christmas will come when the baby is born.

  • Is there anyway to do exercises in our cars?

    We decided the answer was ‘no’ so we ran to the parking deck where Dave and Buster’s is. It turns out that across the street is a really nice-looking Ford Model A(?). It is not true that I learned how to drive in that model. (I learned how to drive in a 1965 Rambler Classic.)

    We started at the bottom of one stairwell with 20 merkins, ran up the stairwell, across the top level to the other stairwell, down to the bottom and back up, returning to the first stairwell and down to the bottom. I managed to get 7 ‘cycles’ in while Lighthouse did 8 and Gaudí and Whitesnake did 7.5. Then we returned the way we came back except that Lighthouse took the detour around the lake.

    This is slightly warmer than the temperature outside, which was about 18 degrees.

    Announcements

    2nd Tuesday, 2nd F (except I will be in Charlotte for a Duke Energy retiree’s luncheon.)

  • It’s cold!

    The frozen tundra on the Gridiron was about 25 degrees. A great group showed up 2 days after Thanksgiving. Tater’s still got his mustache, for another week. Senor Frog is back from 4 weeks in Argentina, Uruguay and Chile.

    The game plan was to do 72 burpees in groups of 9 or 6. Success!

    Warmup in the parking lot

    • 20 SSHs in cadence
    • 20 Crunchy Frogs in cadence
    • 10 Don Quixotes in cadence
    • 9 Burpees OYO

    Mosey to the Gridiron:

    • 20 IWs in cadence
    • 20 Hammers in cadence
    • 20 Lunges in cadence
    • 9 Burpees OYO (Total 18 Burpees)

    Mosey to Parking Lot on other side of Gridiron

    • 20 Copperhead Squats in cadence
    • 20 Suzanne Summers in cadence (10 each side)
    • 20 Ukrainian Soldiers in cadence
    • 9 Burpees OYO (Total 27 Burpees)
    • Stretch

    Mosey to Wall in front of SPMS

    • People’s Chair 15 Air Press, 10 BTTW Hip Slaps, 6 Burpees OYO
    • People’s Chair 15 Muhammad Ali, 10 BTTW Australian Mountain Climbers, 6 Burpees OYO
    • People’s Chair 15 Milkers, 10 BTTW Toe Taps, 6 Burpees OYO: (Total 45 Burpees)
    • Stretch

    Mosey to middle of Covered Walkway Triple Check

    • Partner 1: Timer runs down the covered walkway, turns right to run down the sidewalk by the back of the school to the gate, does 6 Burpees and then runs down the other sidewalk back to the covered sidewalk and turns right to run to the ‘entrance’ to the covered walkway.
    • Partner 2: Shoulder Taps
    • Partner 3: Pole Smokers
    • After three times stretch (Total 63 Burpees)

    Mosey back to the benches beside the Gridiron. (3X)

    • 10 Dips in cadence
    • 10 Bulgarian Split Squats right leg in cadence
    • 10 Derkins in cadence
    • 10 Bulgarian Split Squats left leg in cadence
    • Stretch

    Mosey to the parking lot for Triple Check: Timer runs around lot

    • Dirty Hookups
    • Crotch Grabbers

    Mary

    • 20 Flutters in cadence
    • 9 Burpees OYO (Total 72 Burpees)
    • Brazilian Mind-Benders

    Announcements

    Friends of Barnabas: Gomer and I are going to Honduras next year. If you would like to contribute, 3rd F on Slack.

    Likewise for Tater. He’s raising funds. https://m4krichmond.org/donate-to-a-grower/grattansmith

    Circle of Trust

    Thanksgiving services were routine in what became the Commonwealth of Virginia as early as 1607; the first permanent settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, held a thanksgiving in 1610. On December 4, 1619, 38 English settlers celebrated a thanksgiving immediately upon landing at Berkeley Hundred, Charles City. (One of Tater’s ancestors landed in 1619 with the group.)

    George Washington designated November 26, 1789, as “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness”.

    • The above was copied from a couple of Google searches.