Category: Richmond, VA

  • Bad moon rising

    8 SOJ dudes put in some work today under a full moon at Timberwolf. 

    Mosey to front of school. Disclaimers, etc. 

    Warmorama: SSH, Helis, Ukrainian Soldiers, Copper Head squats, Muricans, Flutter Kicks, “Duke” stretch left and right side, 45 seconds for Pax to stretch OYO. 

    The thang: 

    Part 1: Mosey to picnic tables for a “quad check” 

    2 team rotation between picnic table step ups, dips, squats, and running to 3rd light pole in front of school. 

    Recover. On to next. Mosey to “love hill.” This is apparently the name according to old back blasts. 

    Part 2: Love Hill 11s with Muricans and Sauats. 

    20 count. Recover. Mosey to “pole alley”

    Part 3: Pole alley with burpee pyramid. 

    Start with 1 burpee increase by 1 each pole for 10 total sets that looked like this: 1/2/3/4/5/4/3/2/1

    30 count. To the courts. 

    Part 4: Two rounds of tennis court 4 corners. 

    Mosey back to flag

    Part 5:  1 round of Murican Mary. 

    Done. 

    Outro: Numbers and Names. 

    Announcements:

    • Nancy at the Hill tmw
    • VQ for Mudslide at Rock and Roll Saturday 
    • SOJ get together Friday. Text Nancy for details. 

    Prayers – Honeymoon took us out. Prayers for all in the Pax. Prayers for kids in school. May they know everyday God loves them. 

    Other thoughts: Lots of encouragement from Pax members today to one another. That is what it is all about people! 

  • SWAMP DONKEY: the latest love child of Moist Knolls & Stink Hill

    A whopping 15 studs of the gloom rang in the Forge new year with the enthusiasm of kids racing out of class for recess (or maybe racing out of holiday fat pants into new years resolutions). As our local weatherman Snuff predicted, the Forgecast did indeed include merkins…

    The THANG:

    WARMERAMA:

    • 0530:  Brief Welcome & Disclaimer
    • Short Mosey to KNOLLERCOASTER
    • Bear Crawl to top of each Knoll
    • Run down hill to bottom of Knoll & back to top
    • Crab Walk down back side of each Knoll
    • Curb Plank for the SIX

    COP #1:

    • Moseyrama back around to Stink Hill
    • x3 Merkins ea light pole all the way down to the Culdesac
    • Circle up for a few stretching IC Reps

    COP #2:

    • Moseyrama the straightaway back to the tennis courts
    • HARD-CORE FOUR CORNERS:
    • Bear crawl between corners, adding reps each corner in escalator fashion
    • Corner 1 – x10 WWII
    • Corner 2 – x10 + x20 Chainsmokers
    • Corner 3 – x10 + x20 + x30 Oblique LBC’s (split x15 ea side)
    • Corner 4 – x10 + x20 + x30 + x40 Flutters (2-ct)

    COP #3:

    • Mosey around to handicap rails
    • Line up for OVER-UNDERS half way up
    • INDIGENOUS JERKINS – last man completes x3 Jerkins, then runs to front while rest of PAX hang out in jerkin position

    COP #4:

    • Mosey back to base of Stink Hill and partner up
    • P1 begins POLAR BEARS up the hill (bear crawl, stopping to merkin every 5 paces)
    • P2 runs to SF at top of Stink Hill, then back down to switch 
    • Progress as team until flag reached

    Mosey BTTF:

    • Brief IC Squats & Lunges
    • Elbow Plank to run down the clock

    COT:

    • Counterama # 15
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • YHC took the PAX out in Prayer

    NMS:  First Forge of 2023 saw big numbers with guys coming off the IR bench (Lumberg and Nails), a couple old Forgers ready to start the year fresh (Greenbow, Fiona), an FNG brought by Rosie – hilariously nicknamed Swamp Donkey, and a couple brothers from North of the river (Otis from Daville who attends YHC’s church, and Hitchhiker who was sore for a good 2nd F Coffeerama). And YHC can’t exclude a shout out to the most faithful Forge brothers a man could ask for – Snuff, Last Call, Chaplain, Dealer, House Party and Machismo. You guys MAKE the Forge great every week, and YHC has been immeasurably thankful to regularly kick the gloom in the teeth with you studs. YHC announced at COT that after almost 4 years as the Forge Site Q, YHC is excited and proud to hand the reins to SNUFF for 2023. Hip Hip Hazahhh!!!! Can’t wait to see this AO grow and embrace the community impact YHC knows we have the potential for. AYE! ~DTH

    Announcements:

    • SOJ Leadership Mtg – this Friday 1/6 starting at 6pm at Diamond Billiards – all SOJ PAX are welcome to attend while we organize a Shared Leadership Team, ensure all our AO’s have Site Q’s, and everyone participates in sharing vision for 2023. Aaaaand we’ll play some pool too.
    • Frozen Triangle 1/21/23

    Prayer Requests:

    • Last Call shared about a JRHS kid who just took his life, and another local college kid who did the same. With the dark winter months here, and in a culture that fosters isolation and embraces evil, its no surprise young people feel lost. Let us pray for these families, our communities, and seek opportunities to lift others up – we can’t always know who’s struggling so best to assume everyone we encounter could use a good word! 
    • Hitch also shared again about Swipe Right, and said Flatline is working on creating a 2nd F opportunity with CPR training included. You never know when you may need to save a life! 

  • Break on Through to the Other Side

    The joggers too out of breath to say “good morning” caught glimpses of the following as they ran away before Fireman Ed could sentence them to burpees:

    COP: SSHs, IWs, DQs, Merkins, Pickle Pounders IC

    Mosey to Godwin HS door #13 for 13 Tricep Presses. Proceed around the school, completing a variety of exercises, with the reps matching the red door numbers. For example, at door #9, PAX did 9 Overhead Pulls, at door #8, 8 Overhead Pulls, at door #7, 7 Overhead Pulls. At one door, Lighthouse requested Curls which he would later regret.

    The PAX asked about the brown doors and their numbers. YHC assured them he would keep a running total. The PAX completed all 23 red doors.

    PAX took a lap around the bus loop, and YHC announced that the brown doors totaled 400 and challenged them to check his math. The PAX split into partners and dropped the lighter heavier kettlebell. One PAX walks around the bus loop performing Curls while the other runs the other way around, relieves the partner, and flapjack. Partners completed 400 curls total.

    BTTF for American Hammers IC.

    Announcements: Gypsy is still collecting shoes. Frozen Triangle 1/21. Prayers for the Freezes, Cobles, and Hunns.

    NMS:

    YHC believes this is the first time that all of the red doors were completed at Circus, thus the BB title. The sneaky part about a doors workout is staying under weight the entire time, but the PAX crushed it. YHC intended a “full glam” arms-only workout to preserve the legs for the Snowy Owl, but lapsed by calling Step Ups at door #11. Credit to the DR PAX at The Galaxy for the “stupid” 400 curl exercise. Nobody wanted to be YHC’s partner, and then everyone wanted to be Pigskin’s partner.

    Fudd and Pigskin discussed plans for their upcoming trip to Honduras along with Gomer. Necesitamos practicar mas espanol en Fin Oeste.

    YHC requests our (non)resident grammarian Vinny to check the capitalization in the backblast – the internets can’t seem to agree.

  • On the twelfth day of Christmas… an arm circle for Oyster

    5 intrepid HIMs overcame the irrepressible pull of a slothful existence and gathered for 45 minutes of Mary. According to the elderly gentleman pacing the track and talking loudly to a friend at 5:30 in the morning, this is what happened…

    COP: Short mosey to the blacktop, quick stretch with deadman hang, Helicopters, DQs, Imperial Walkers, SSHs.

    OLD 100. Perform a set of excercises, run the track, wait for the six

    • Round 1: 100 Squats.
    • Round 2: 90 2x Mountain Climbers.
    • Round 3: 80 2x Flutter Kicks.
    • Round 4: 70 LBCs.
    • Round 5: 60 Carolina Drydocks.
    • Round 6: 50 WW2s.
    • Round 7: 40 Merkins.
    • Round 8: 30 Jump Squats.
    • Round 9: 20 2x American Hammers
    • Round 10: 10 Burpees.

    COP. end with stretching.

    COT. Numberama, Namerama, YHC took us out.

    NMS. Love the Old 100, grabbed this one from the Charlotte pax. Great to be with some great guys this morning. Anthrax made an important announcement about Colonoscopies – GET ONE !

    SYITG.

  • Spring in January?

    6 men posted on a warm January day for some KB action.

    • COP
      • SSH
      • Neck rotations
      • Arm circles
      • Imp walkers
      • Don Qs
      • Lunges
      • HRMs
      • Alabama prom dates
      • LBCs
    • Tabatha – 30 seconds on, 10 seconds off, 6 sets, 8 exercises
      • Squats
      • Shoulders thrusts
      • WWIIs w/ KB
      • KB swings
      • Deadlifts
      • Flutter kicks w/ presses
      • Demon crushers
      • Didn’t time for the 8th exercise
    • Numberama, namerama, Yardsale took us out
    • Notes:
      • It was great to see a good turn out today, keep posting gents!
      • Hard work was put in by all

  • Solitary Workout

    YHC ran around the park.

  • First SOT of 23

    19 Warriors hit SOT on a warm Jan morning. Some ran, Some bootcamped

    Runners 5 plus miles, Boberry may still be out there.

    Running COP – SSHs, Imperial Walkers, Invisible Jump Rope, Arm Circles, Copperhead Squats, Stretches

    11s on track – WWIIs, Dry Docks

    Dora – Runner, 100 Merkins, 200 Flutters, 300 Squats

    Mosey up to school to door 26, progress to door 30

    26 – SSHs OYO

    27 –

    28 – Dying Cockroaches

    29 – merkins

    30 – 3 mins of 30 secs on 30 sec off toe touches

    BTF – Numbers, Names, Oyster took us out

    Announcements – SOJ Happy Hour Friday – see slack, Frozen triangle coming up, New AO starting in Chester on Tuesday, see Florence for details or check Slack.\

    Honor to lead this group this morning, make it a great one gents!

  • Going on a Walkabout

    Thirteen early gloom knuckleheads, a third of whom gathered even earlier, convened in the church parking lot for the first First Watch of ’23. After Ronnie and Last Call traded t-shirts, we took a quick counter clockwise mosey around the parking lot before circling up for:

    COP

    • SSH x20
    • Arm Circles x15
    • Helicopters x10
    • Copperhead Squats x5
    • Prisioner Squats x10
    • Reverse Crunches x10
    • Mountain Climbers x10

    The Thang

    Extremely short mosey to South Ridge. The name of the game was left, right, or left & right. Mosey the big loop down South Ridge, up Highland, left on River back to the AO. Every time we come to a crossroad, we did 20 of 3 different exercises.

    • Left and a right turn: air presses, squats, LBCs
    • Left turn only: shoulder tap merkins, lunges, WWIIs
    • Right turn only: hand release merkins, tuck jumps, flutter kicks (audible to 2 count after the first round)

    BTTVSF where ample announcements were made before YHC took us out.

    Announcements

    • Memorial service today for Swipe Right
    • Two Can sentencing coming up
    • Please update emergency contact info in Slack
    • Flo VQ @ Hoedown Monday

    Moleskin

    Thanks to the PAX for sticking with the theme today. As Bodo’s proclaimed, it was a high cardio workout. For those counting at home, 7 L/R, 3 L, 3 R and ~1.75 miles. By all accounts, the PAX enjoyed it.

    Some of the PAX especially enjoyed the tucking practice during tuck jumps. Flo may have lost a ball so be on the lookout.

    Splinter out.

  • Circles, Not Loops

    Five men of peace assembled quietly in The Gloom for a seasonally pleasant version of Broga. Temperatures were 70 and sunny. According those stuck in traffic on River Road, the following quite likely happened:

    Towels down. Welcomes shared. Shoes removed (optional).

    Neck stretch. Arm stretch. Shoulder stretch.

    Yadda, yadda, yadda.

    Torso.

    Legs.

    Full body stretches.

    Pigeon.

    Shivasavan.

    Ankles.

    Hips.

    Groin.

    Numbers, names, etc.

    No announcements.

    NMS: Successful workout. Convinced Handshake to stay for First Watch.

  • Sold out!

    Eight great men came to the big sale and the free 20 minutes of bootcamp was the clear promotion winner. 7 ran off to short pump park while Pigskin did his Pocahontas workout solo. The lucky seven did some warmups of DQ, Helicopters, Moroccans & Ukranian Soldiers and then did elevens of dips and merkins and ran the park circle for about a mile total.

    The lucky seven eventually found a street in the Village and did some Bear Crawls one way and WWIIs the other and ran back to find Pigskin. Total mileage of 3.4.

    Pigskin was feeling better today and ran around Pocahontas for 45 minutes and stopped for merkins and dips. Basically, we all ran in circles and did merkins and dips.

    We all joined together for a minute of Freddie Mercuries.

    Announcements:

    Brunch Club run this Sat at 6:30 before Gridiron at the Starbucks across from the mall. Frozen Triangle 1/21. Amazon merchandise sorting and loading/unloading MLK day. Happy Hour tonight with the Daville crew. See Slack for all the details of these and more.

    Great turnout today and thankful I got to lead a little.