Category: Richmond, VA

  • The Macebell

    YHC brought a surprise to the PAX today. The mace bell or gada as it is known in India, is an equipment used by Indian wrestlers and warriors for centuries. YHC built an DIY macebell using a shovel pole, my daughter’s Halloween candy bucket and quickcrete.

    Some COP then the PAX was introduced to the macebell. Then the PAX went back to our regularly scheduled KB program.

    4 corners – Halos x 10 each side, Squats x 20, sit-up presses x 20, calf raises x 20

    Triple check – P1 curls, P2 demon crushers, P3 sprint between islands

    11s – deadlifts + step ups

    Some stretching, numbers, names, No Idea took us out.

    Great to see No Idea again.

  • Traditional Loop Brings the Group

    9 Runners and 1 PAX on gears making a short appearance, enjoy the warm morning for the first run of the week

    Route – Farmhouse Loop was set the night before with some getting in some “extra” distance so the PAX ran between 4 to 4.5 miles.

    Opus and Corned Beef got in a walk/run

    Finally we had ride by with Circle K on his bike stopping by during the COT before head went home. It was good to see him

    SPIT ON THAT!!

  • Dealer’s choice sucks, but we still love him…

    Nine nefarious SOJ studs gathered in the NoToll gloom to experience the latest SOJ attraction… the finest pair of beatdown balls in all RVA! Here’s why these fine gentlemen won’t be walking straight for the rest of the week:

    The THANG:

    WARMERAMA:

    • Mosey onto the BBall Court and circle up
    • Classic Rock ON
    • Welcome & Disclaimer
    • Variable IC Reps to get the muscles warm top to bottom
    • Mosey out to the bleachers, stopping en route to pay the Toll – x20 Dips, x20 Derkins

    COP #1:

    • DEATH DICE – Round 1
    • Circle up, each PAX takes a turn tossing the dice to determine exercise & reps
    • Highlight: DEALER rolls x30 “Dealer’s Choice” – he chose Burpees – oof

    COP #2:

    • Mosey the full field
    • TRIPLE CHECK: Dips, WWII, Run

    COP #3:

    • DEATH DICE – Round 2

    Mosey BTTF for COT:

    • Counterama # 9
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • OC took the PAX out in Prayer

    NMS: There was a death dice on Station in Papua New Guinea which looked like a really good/bad idea. We roped it into one of the last bootcamps while I was there and it produced a solid sweatfest. So YHC got home and ordered a version from Amazon with two foam dice, one with variable exercises and the other with total reps, seconds or “burn-out”. The PAX initially gave YHC’s squishy balls a D- on badassery but soon discovered (mostly thanks to 30 burpees called by Dealer) that the dice are worthy of an A+ in the world of bootcamp sweatfests. In fact, it was enough YHC spontaneously gave the PAX a break with a mid-way run and triple check between Death Dice sets. Always fun to bring something new to the gloom! #SOJSTRONG …SYITG fellas, DTH

    Prayer Requests:

    • Let’s lift up OC and all our fellow Dad’s in the throws of parenting difficult teenagers. 

    WORDS OF WISDOM:

    “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.” Abraham Lincoln

    “The boy who is going to make a great man must not make up his mind merely to overcome a thousand obstacles, but to win in spite of a thousand repulses and defeats.” Theodore Roosevelt

    “God meets daily needs DAILY. Not weekly or annually. He will give you exactly what you need when it is needed.” Max Lucado

    Announcements (SEE SLACK!)

    • MAY – FNG CHALLENGE – Bring out as many FNG’s in May as you can, then get them to come out again for our Memorial Day convergence
    • 5/12 – SOJ Happy Hour and Leadership Chat
    • 5/21 – SOJ Family BBQ at BWE
    • 5/29 – Memorial Day Convergence at Tredagger 
    • 5/30 – Rosie hosting the 1st SOJ Summer Coffee Tour following NoToll
    • 6/3 – School of Rock workout for our kids that will follow R&R monthly through the summer
    • 6/29 – Ultimate Frisbee at the Forge – other future dates/locations TBD

  • The Art of the Elusive Successful Flying EH

    Eight eager stalwarts became 9 with an FNG pickup mid-beatdown since it looked like we were having so much fun, which we were…

    COP: Standard HD stuff including Scorpion kicks

    Mosey over to PES for worst ever teamed-up Quad Check. Exercises were HRMs, Reverse Crunch, & Squats. Head over to Jerkin Gym with stop of Freddy Mercurys along the way. 4 sets of 8 at the Jerkin Gym. Head over to benches for 3 rounds on increasing Bench kicks & Derkins. Finish up with several rounds up and down our namesake hill. Finish with 2 min of Mary back at the flag.

    NMS: Great morning to be back at HBR. The PAX were glad to have their Site Q back as Atilla came up and hugged YHC with what looked like some tears in his eyes, or maybe he was cranky running on 4 hours of sleep. Welcome to Van Damme who jumped right in on the Benchkicks and Derkins. Apparently he is a legit kickboxer who knows a damn good workout when he sees one. Credit to Tater for the invite and reel in.

    The Quad check had 2 unevenly split teams, where the slower group had a Clydesdale as their speedster. A veteran PAX will make it so you’re doing the Hand Release Merkins while Gypsy is running.

    Senor Frog only had one bout of coughing, which means he is basically ready to sign up for his VQ soon…

  • Does that thing have a radio in it?

    13 strong posted out for another installment of kettle bell hell. Great to see all the new/newer faces posting out. The Alamo has to be the top producing FNG magnet in Richmond! YHC failed to put together any organization so here is what was thought up on the fly.

    COP- 20 each SSH, LBC; 10 Each DQ’s, Jazzercise, Helicopters, Imperial Walkers, , Coper head squat, Dead man hang, Merkins, Box cutters, Plank jacks,

    the thang: complete 4 exercises with coupon 25 reps then run lap around parking lot. Did this 5 times with Pax choice for several exercises. Triple check. Runner to end of the lot, man 2 kettle curls, man 3 kettle press. Finish out with a few more pax choice. Time was called.

    Announcements: Friday happy hour at diamond billiards. Sunday 5/21 family picnic event at Bettie weaver.

    Prayer Requests: to Oyster on a speedy recovery

    Hermie took us out in prayer.

    Make Today Awesome!  

  • Keep Climbin

    FSU football’s head coach Mike Norvell has a theme for his team called “The Climb”. He inherited a 5-7 team that had been on a slide downward for several years. He’ll often tell his team and coaches to “Keep Climbin” while they work on their weaknesses to get better each day. That’s what we did today at Bermuda, literally and metaphorically :

    Warmarama – 20 SSH IC, 10 IW’s IC, 10 Ukrainian Soldiers IC, 10 Merkins IC

    Mosey to workout area behind basketball court then spread across 4 stations

    3 Rounds of the following :

    Station 1 – 5 Pull Ups

    Station 2 – 10 Jerkins

    Station 3 – swing across monkey bars skipping every other bar

    Station 4 – hang on monkey bars and move sidewards in a circle around them for a full rotation

    Mosey to playground : go through 4 different monkey bar stations without your feet touching the ground (YHC’s right hand is blistered and bleeding at this point)

    Mosey to parking lot in the back of Elementary School

    4 Corners Prostitute : 10 Merkins, 20 Jump Squats, 30 Flutters DOUBLE COUNT, 40 SSH

    Mosey into disc golf forest trail then stop at the meadow on the left

    BLIMPS : 5 Navy Seal Burpees, 10 Lunges DOUBLE COUNT, 15 IW’s DOUBLE COUNT, 20 Merkins, 25 Plank Jax, 30 Squats

    Mosey back to parking lot behind elementary school

    25 WWII’s IC

    Mosey BTTF

    1 minute of rapid fire Straight Leg Kicks with left leg

    1 minute of rapid fire Straight Leg Kicks with right leg

    DONE

    Numbers, Names, YHC took us out

    Announcements : Sat 5/21 SOJ Family cookout and basketball (contact OC); Mon 5/29 Memorial Day Convergence at Tredegar at 7 am with bagels and coffee afterwards; Invite FNG’s for the May challenge

    Prayer request : Safe travels to State Farm who’s in Kansas City for work. He plans on posting with F3 out there

    NMMS : At the end of the Q, we actually saw a real human being in the Gloom at Bermuda Triangle! He was going for a run so of course YHC put the EH on him. He said he plans on coming out to post and that he lives in the neighborhood right next to the park. He seemed enthusiastic but you never know until they actually post

  • Ideal Broga

    A late night inquiry for Broga was what YHC needed to get the morning started right. Perfect conditions were on tap for a pair of Broga regulars to hit No Toll early. Chaplain called for hamstrings and hips to be the focus of todays’ routine and YHC happily obliged while throwing in some shoulders and back work as well. Pigeon is always a crowd favorite and no exception this morning. Thanks Chap for the encouragement to get up this morning.

  • The Devil’s Intervals

    The Devil’s Intervals

    Eighteen unsuspecting spiderlings, including one world traveler, met in our usual spot to wait for directions. Directions were brief because we would be staying together today. It went something like this:

    The Route

    4s: Through the batcave and over to Westham Station

    5/6s: Follow the main road to River then over to westham station. 6s run around starbucks.

    Meet at the bottom of Panorama for 3x intervals, shifting up to the first tree after the first interval. Slow mosey over to one of the H streets for the next round. 3x up Highland then 1x up Old Bridge. Mosey back to the flag via the route you came.

    Numbers, names, YHC took us out.

    Moleskin

    Great to have a visitor from Katy, TX today. Glad you were not upset with the concept of intervals. YHC enjoys throwing these on the PAX from time to time.

    Way to crush it today fellas. I don’t think we have done intervals on the devil’s pitchfork until today. Well done!

  • Figure 8s

    3 men posted to DaVille to get their week started right.

    COP – various exercises

    Triple Check – P1 run figure 8s around islands, P2 dips, P3 step ups

    Parking lot polar bear crawls from island to island

    Triple Check – P1 run figure 8s, P2 pull ups, P3 flutter kicks

    Bus loop circuit – P1 on one end of bus loop holds plank, P2 on other end Al Gore, P3 starts at one end relieves P1, rinse and repeat

    Mosey to flag for some stretching.

    Numbers, names, Corned Beef took us out.

    Memorial Day convergence coming up.

  • Little Sappling

    Thankful for all the small things today, this crew covered a traditional route that included Monument and Grove. Classics never go out of style.