Tag: Circus Maximus

A magnificent nine posted for another edition of Circus Maximus (yet another AO where YHC lost the naming discussion).  With cars pulling in at start time we got right to it.

Warmup COP: SSH, Don Quixote, squats, scapula merkins, merkins

Return to the 9 minute kb complex from hell (30 secs of ea. exercise with little or no stopping between sets)

• Two handed swings
• Cleans
• Snatch
• Clean and Press
• Lunge, 30 sec ea. leg
• Single leg dead lift, 30 sec ea. leg
• Single hand swings, 30 sec ea. arm
• Goblet squats
• Push press, 30 sec ea. arm
• Swing burpees

~1 minute rest while we did leg raises and flutter kicks then back through the complex above

Move to grassy area for ciabattas (4 sets of ea. exercise with 20 secs on and 10 off)

Group 1: Frog Burpees (think regular burpee but with a frog/donkey kick instead of the merkin) and alternating L/R Snatches

Group 2: Swings and Balls to the Wall Walk (B2WW= regular B2W position but then you try to walk out to a plank and then back up= crowd pleaser)

Circle up for American Hammers, Hip-up Sit-ups, V-up Tuck-ups

COT

NMM:  Halfway through the first complex Offshore asked if YHC had music for this previously.  He was correct, but the speaker kept going out, and it was abandoned halfway through the workout.  Before this is attempted again, a new speaker or some sort of effort to rectify the music situation will be undertaken.  It turns out that standing in a circle while swinging around weights does not always engender conversation and the grunting escalates as the workout progresses.  JVille eventually takes on a wheezing, ragged grunt.  Attila goes from grunt to whimper, and YHC realized that the person who sounded like they were giving themselves a hernia was in fact YHC.  All that said, the best had to be White Deer as his grunting took on an urgent and excited tone during B2WW.  We were all getting a look into his “O” face/vinegar strokes, and none of us needed to see/hear that.., least of all, his 2.0.

As indicated by the noises, hard work was done by all.

Stay Classy,

Toga

 

Seven redwoods bucked predictions of the sky falling and posted at CircusMaximus with kettlebells in hand. Johnsonville (YHC) took Q, and led a gloom-filled workout along these lines:

Warmup with SSH, mericans, crabcakes, LBCs, and armcircles.

Mosey between the columns by the bus loop for a sequence (somewhat) resembling the Golden Horseshoe along these lines:

— 10x sit and press, bearcrawl 10 strides, karaoke to point down corridor and back
— 10x kb swing, 10x sit and press, bearcrawl 10 strides, karaoke to point down corridor and back
— 5x standing kb press & repeat other arm, 10x kb swing, 10x sit and press, bearcrawl 10 strides, karaoke to point down corridor and back
***** respite with 3 minute plank sequence *****
— 10x rotating wall planks, 5x standing kb press & repeat other arm, 10x kb swing, 10x sit and press, bearcrawl 10 strides, run backwards to point down corridor and back
— 10x lawnmower pulls & repeat other arm, 10x rotating wall planks, 5x standing kb press & repeat other arm, 10x kb swing, bearcrawl 10 strides, run backwards to point down corridor and back
— 10x standing rows, 10x lawnmower pulls & repeat other arm, 10x rotating wall planks, 5x standing kb press & repeat other arm, 10x kb swing, bearcrawl 10 strides, run backwards to point down corridor and back
***** respite with 2 minute plank sequence *****
— 5x merican rows & repeat other arm, 10x standing rows, 10x lawnmower pulls & repeat other arm, 10x rotating wall planks, 5x standing kb press & repeat other arm, bearcrawl 10 strides, bunny hop to point down corridor and back
— 5x merican rows & repeat other arm, 10x standing rows, 10x lawnmower pulls & repeat other arm, 10x rotating wall planks, bearcrawl 10 strides, bunny hop to point down corridor and back
***** respite with 2 minute plank sequence *****
— 5x merican rows & repeat other arm, 10x standing rows, 10x lawnmower pulls & repeat other arm, bearcrawl 10 strides, bunny hop to point down corridor and back

Finish with AmericanHammers and AlabamaPrmDates.

COT with Attila taking us out.

This workout delivered a lot reps and sets. I may have distorted the ordering a bit up above, but I think it is pretty close.

I was expecting to face horrible weather and, as a result, a very small PAX. The predictions turned out to be wrong on both fronts, and it was a nice surprise to have solid numbers this morning.

I am not sure how I ended up on the Q roster for the 2nd week in a row — probably a clerical mistake by YHC. I did not mean to monopolize leadership of the AO, and I hope that did not bother anyone.

We achieved 7 min of planks this morning. The door is open to pick up extra minutes today for those doing the challenge.

Great job this morning on a hard sequence of KB exercises. Sincerely, Jville

Seven men took the redpill this morning by posting at CircusMaximus with kettlebells in hand. Johnsonville (YHC) remembered to plant a SF, and led a workout along these lines:

COT
25x SSH
25x DonQuiote
10x burpees

Mosey to courtyard by bus loop. COT
15x arm circles (front)
15x arm circles (back)
10x big arm circles (front)
10x big arm circles (back)
20x kettlebell swings OYO
10x burpees

Mosey to pillar area by bus loop
Ciabatta — single arm swings
Ciabatta — sit and press

Mosey to wall by parking area
10x burpees
DORA 1-2-3 (Normal teams of 2; 100 donkey kicks; 200 merican rows; 300 goblet squats). Runner runs without KB around landscaping area on other side of faculty parking lot.

Mosey to SF area.
12x slow American Hammers
12x pole smokers / heels to heaven

COT with Attila taking us out

MOLESKIN –

Attila and WhiteDeer were not as feisty toward one another as usual. I am starting to worry that they have reached some kind of a truce. Hoops was stood up by his sponsor (and mentor) Gumbo yet again. Hoops’ wingman, Cheetah, also stood up hoops in favor of a snug fartsack. Toga swung big kettlebells, taking care of business quietly and efficiently. Offshore shoes were super flashy this morning, making me think that they received a recharge last night. Offshore, himself, exhibited his usual steady and ultra-calm strength. Mudface deserves praise for many things, not the least of which are (i) showing up, (ii) always wearing a smile, and (iii) always giving it his all.

Time flew by this morning, which is good because I am getting tired…. It was an honor to lead kind and strong men this morning in RVA. Respectfully, Johnsonville

6 strong came out to the Circus on a non-spring like morning. What went down was:

COP- SSH, Merkins, Flutterkicks, DQs, Arm Circles. 30 Swings.

Mosey past the cars to length of parking lot for The Beast. 6 Exercises were: Halos, Curls, Swings, Tricep curls, Situp presses, Cleans.

Mosey to grass for Mary- Several rounds of Boat-Canoe. American Hammers, then 40 KB Swings. 15 more Situp presses. 2 min of Turkish Getups.

20 Swings, 20 AL honeymoons, 10 Merkin rows.

COT & Atilla took us out.

NMS – Smaller numbers at CM today. Apparently Cheetah was supposed to come but Mrs. Jville vetoed him going sans-Jville. Offshore posted without a Kettlebell, luckily White Deer had a spare.

To YHC’S knowledge this is the first iteration of the Beast with Kettlebells at CM. It took much longer than anticipated. 6 reps is not a lot, until you do that 6 times through. White Deer did his best to rouse Atilla  but to no avail.

Mudface was a late LIFO, thanks to your M for waking you up.  The TGU  were not a pretty sight, the Pax, including YHC, need much more practice. Swing  count for the morning was 126.

Six of the faithful posted at CircusMaximus on this cold morning, kettlebells in hand. Johnsonville took Q, gave a stark disclaimer, and the took the pax through a workout along these lines:

THANG:

warmup with random numbers of ssh, don quiote, imperial walkers, mericans, lbcs

mosey to northwest corner of school
quick COP arm circles
elevens consisting of KB swings, run about 50m, pole smokers
plank sequence

mosey counterclockwise to faculty parking area southwest of school. waive to police officer
elevens consisting of lawn mower pulls (each arm counted separately) and WWII situp with KB press
WhiteDeer led plank sequence with mericans

mosey counterclockwise around school to southeast corner around back
elevens consisting of merican rows and balls to the wall

mosey back to VSF

COT; YHC took us out with a prayer

MOLESKIN:

There was not much leg action in this workout, but it was fairly hard on upper body and core. I had trouble driving home, longing for one those 1980s old-man Cryslers that you can steer with one finger. At least I don’t have a manual transmission.

I thought about doubling up the merican rows by having each arm counted separately. That would have been a bad idea. Combining those with balls to the wall was pretty aweful.

As usual, WhiteDeer did a ton of talking for about 5 minutes, but fell silent after the first challenging set of exercises. Well, to be fair, he made a lot of noise during the last 40 minutes, just not with his mouth.

Great job this morning, men! Jville

— See Wilson for info on his charity golf tournament. Thanks to all who have donated or signed up so far.
— You have until noon to sign up for the F3RVA Bracketology. Sign up before noon and get me the cash whenever. http://f3nation.com/2017/03/14/f3-rva-bracketology/

11 strong Circus veterans posted on this beautiful Thursday morning and even the Ghost Sponsor showed himself this morning to provide a promised beatdown.  It went something like this:

COP – SSHs, DQs, Arm Circles, Flutter Kicks, Merkins and Halos – all IC

Ask and you shall receive (Toga requested to not have to do any KB swings for the day after this beatdown was finished) — 25 KB Swings OYO followed by 5 Burpees OYO — Repeato x 4

Lindsay’s Revenge – As threatened/promised, YHC brought back the Lindsay’s with Merkin Rows and WWII sit and press.  Run around the Circus loop or 60 LBCs in between rounds – PAX Choice.  Add/subtract reps by 10 each round (30-10; 20-20; 10-30).

Curb Work – Find a part of the curb for 15 tricep pullovers IC followed by 15 Alabama Honeymoon Suites (bridge – raise – pullover) OYO.

Triple Check – Wall planks, KB Swings (extra credit for Toga and HoneyDo) and Waiter Carry to end of the sidewalk and back.

COT – number-rama- nama-a-rama and YHC took us out.

NMS:

Mumblechatter was high in COP with requests, jabs and other general commentary from the peanut gallery.  YHC was happy to oblige on the request for swings and to add in a few burpees for good measure.  Interestingly, Lindsay’s revenge quieted the crowd quickly.  All PAX members, young and old, got straight to work and pounded it out.  STRONG WORK MEN!!

YHC will admit that the wall planks are one of those things that looked better on paper than it felt in reality today.  Those things sucked and felt like they would never end.

Unfortunately, the week of Gumbo has to end early as a last minute work schedule change will prevent Gumbo from Qing at the Creek tomorrow.  BIG thanks to MudFace for stepping up and for EHing Wild Thing to help step in for the Q tomorrow.  Gumbo will Q at the Creek soon, I promise.

It was a great pleasure to lead another fine group this morning.  Each morning that YHC gets to join his F3 brothers for a beatdown is a great day and it is always that much more rewarding to step into the circle and execute a Q.  Thank you for the opportunity.

No more Gumbo for you!

 

Ten of the faithful and one FNG posted at Circus Maximus on a comfortable Thursday morning. Johnsonville (YHC), piloting a clown car hauling White Deer and FNG Hoops, pulled up with only 2 minutes to spare, but was able to kick things off on time. This is how it went down, more or less:

THANG: COP. Warmup without kettlebells, including SSH, Don Quiotes, Merkins, LBCs, Arm Circles.

Take kettlebells in hand. Mosey behind the school near the dumpster.
COP: 10x KB swing in cadence / 5 burpees OYO
10x sit-up & press OYO

Lunge-walk with KBs
COP: 10x KB swing in cadence / 5 burpees OYO
10x donkey kicks against brick wall

10x deathcrawl strides (left hand) OYO
COP: 10x KB swing in cadence / 5 burpees OYO

Mosey toward end of alley behind school.
Mini Dora 1-2-3 with 150x KB squats, 100 KB figure 8s, and 50 KB Halos

Mosey around side of school
COP: 10x KB swing in cadence / 5 burpees OYO
10x deathcrawl strides (right hand) OYO

Mosey to front faculty parking lot.
COP: 10x KB presses OYO
10x KB swing in cadence / 5 burpees OYO
10x deathcrawl strides (left hand) OYO

Long Mosey back to VSF.

Announce-A-Rama —
— F3Richmond Kettlebell challenge is 3000 during the month of March. We are on, and did the requisite 100x today. See the preblast for a spreadsheet link to track yo-self.
— Sign up for the AshCreek 5K (under team name F3, bring your Marys and kids) May 20, 2017 www.ashcreek5k.com, Let’s see if we can be the largest registered team and make a visible splash in the community.

COT with Attila taking us out.

MOLESKIN: FNG Hoops is WhiteDeer’s 15 year old son. WhiteDeer and I have been trying to get Hoops out for the better part of a year without any success whatsoever. At Church last evening, WhiteDeer and his family ran into, and sat beside, Gumbo and his family. Gumbo, a towering (despite actual height) HIM, brought substantial powers of influence upon Hoops, convincing Hoops to roll out of bed well before 5AM to post at CM. Unfortunately, however, it appears that Gumbo then turned his powers of influence upon himself, convincing himself to remain swaddled in the old fartsack while Hoops paired up with his old man to tackle a Dora.

Gumbo, your heart was in the right place. Good job on getting Hoops out! Welcome Hoops.

I spent some time trying to figure out the F3 term for what Gumbo did to Hoops this morning. It eluded me. Earthworm suggested that I call it a Ghost Sponsor, which I like. Does anyone know the actual term?

DK swallowed a huge RedPill this morning. His alarm did not sound, and YHC was forced to drive the clown car away without DK. DK was awoken by YHC’s text, rolled out of bed, jumped in his car, and arrived at the AO at 0529. Strong…

Welcome back Kotter Attila. It’s awesome mixing with the Mechanicsville crew.

In searching for the official F3 lingo for a Ghost Sponsor, I was motivated by the description of a “Disrupter.” It is as follows:

DISRUPTER: A [High Impact Man] who is a powerful Influencer of Movement toward Organizational Advantage. Highly valued within a Lizard. Feared and loathed by Goo Nation. A menace to the status quo.
INFLUENCE: The ignition of a palpable desire for action in the heart of another.
MOVEMENT: Actions taken in furtherance of Purpose.
PURPOSE: An Outcome sought through the performance of a Task.
OUTCOME: What happens or fails to happen, whether good or bad.
TASK: Something done to achieve a Purpose.
ORGANIZATION: A Group of two or more people that voluntarily combine for the accomplishment of an Articulated Purpose.
ARTICULATED PURPOSE: An Organization’s disclosed and primary end-state.
ADVANTAGE: A superior condition achieved by Movement.
LIZARD: An Organization that is dedicated to the Effective achievement of its Mission.
EFFECTIVENESS: The degree to which a person or Group successfully performs their Mission.
GROUP: A voluntary combination of two or more people.
MISSION: A Task performed in order to accomplish a Purpose.
GOO NATION: Those for whom Goo is a legitimate Organizational Purpose.
GOO: The cultural philosophy of universal Happiness.
HAPPINESS: A transitory positive feeling governed by mere external circumstance.

Contrast that to the definition of a Jackass.

JACKASS: A man who lives for himself, rather than Living Third.
LIVING THIRD: The consistent and deliberate placement of oneself third, behind Creator and Community.
CREATOR: The Sky-Q.
SKY-Q: The Q of the Big Ball and the Super Unknown. AKA: the Creator.
Q: A Leader who takes responsibility for the Outcome. (Q1.1).
OUTCOME: See above.
BIG BALL: The Earth. More generally, that which can be seen rather than that which comprises the Super Unknown.
SUPER UNKNOWN: A realm not clearly visible on the Big Ball that, nonetheless, is still believed through Faith to exist.
COMMUNITY: Two or more people who voluntarily live in close Proximity.

See also the 3rd verse of James.

These things, along with the strength and character of many in the F3 community, make me strive to be better, both by acts and by words.

Great job, all, Jville

4 cars, 8 able bodies assembled on a beautiful February morning to embark upon a KB beatdown that went something like this:

Slaughter Start: 10 burpees OYO

COP: SSH, DQ, Freddie Mercury’s, Imperial Walkers

KB Waiter Carry around the Circus Bus Loop

Lindsays: KB Merkin Rows + KB Curb Lift Overs

Some Dead Cockroaches

Mosey to Bus Loop

KB Standing Row Zig Zag Death Crawl: start with 4 PAX on each side of bus loop, 10 KB Standing Rows, KB Death Crawl across, drop off KB, Crab Crawl to the KB left behind by the guy in front of you, guy at front runs to the back.

Repeato w/ KB Lawnmower rather than KB Standing Row

KB Waiter Carry around the Cirus Bus Loop back to VSF

COT – Johnsonville took us out.

Naked Moleskin

Kudos to the DaVille boys who showed up late, spilled out of MuddFace’s truck and still almost beat Johnsonville to the start of the COP.

The Merkin Rows crushed the PAX today and took way longer than YHC thought they would. They definitely crushed White Deer’s mumblechatter, anyway. Head’s up to check the Q signup because Gumbo liked the idea of repeating the Lindsay with KB Merkin Rows & WW II KB Presses.

The Zig Zag Death Crawl made sense in YHCs mind on the way to the AO this moring, but the explanation wasn’t working when all 8 PAX were lined up on the SAME side of the bus loop. The Merkin Row affect was strong…and it took YHC some time to remember we needed dudes on BOTH sides of the loop. Duh. The zigging and zagging made for a fun twist, but it seemed to sink in more with the PAX closer to the Q than the poor lost souls further away who bungled their way through the first round. (Bungle…good F3 name for later…and popular English children’s TV character)

Impressive Carbon Footprint today: 4 cars for 8 bodies

Good work today, gents. YHC is still feeling it.

Announcements:
Splinter is leading March’s HDHH

YHC got used to pulling into the parking lot at Circus Maximus to a crowd of cars and men carrying around chunks of iron so imagine my surprise when I pulled into an empty lot at 0525.  After briefly contemplating whether the AO would turn into a mix of running and bells an unfamiliar vehicle rolled up next to YHC.  Welcome to Circus Maximus Bunny Slope.  A couple others rolled in before the warm up and then 2 LIFOs from DaVille to make a total of 6.

THANG

SSHx25, DQx10, Helicopter x15, ArmCircles x15 each

1 Burpee:4 KB Swings, increasing by 1 and 4 each round OYO for 5 minutes

Super Six

• ½ Get Up (Turkish Getup with only situp portion)
• Goblet Squat
• High Pull
• Reverse Lunge w/ under the leg pass
• Clean
• 1 arm alternating swing

Do 30 reps of each, run an easy lap around the curb islands, 20 reps, run a lap, 10 reps, run a lap

Captain Thor (Hulk Style) – 1 WWII:4 American Hammers w/ KB, increasing by 1 and 4 each round OYO about 4 minutes

A little time remaining so – 10 Snatch each arm, 10 Alabama Honeymoons, 25 Flutter Kicks w/ KB held high

NMM

A lighter crowd today than the past few weeks at CM.  Between the HDHH and MANNdate starting up yesterday in DaVille the fartsack ruled the morning.  Those that escaped the fartsack got to enjoy a simple yet effective beatdown.  Good to see another new face at CM, Bunny Slope was a first timer but seemed to know his way around a workout and KB.  That’s at least 3 days this week for him and after the sandbags yesterday, that’s impressive commitment early on, I’m  sure Corporate will take note of this.  As always it’s a you against you workout and after the Captain Thors Emoji said he thought he lost.  I disagree, I say he won, the only way to get better and stronger is to push and challenge yourself.  YHC was glad to help Mudface delay a decision to go up in weight, apparently today was enough to put that off for a few weeks.  Shockwave made it back out and was a little shocked to have a day below 30 and only 4 to start after his first CM post of 60 degrees and double digit PAX.

Note to other Qs if you are going to try a new exercise, try it out first with the full weight.  The ½ get ups were tried at home with the Ms 10 lb KB for form but the 35 did not work out so well for YHC.

Great job today, lots of swings, lots of time under weight and lots of arm fatigue as I type this with my toes.

Announcements:

See EF Hutton’s backblast from NoToll earlier this week, he summed it up well.

Lucky number 13 posted for some kettle bell slinging action and still managed to get in their 1 mile challenge committment.

Thang: Warmup COP= SSH, merkins, Bridge and Reach, Spiderman Twists, unweighted goblet squats

Round 1: Sumo Squat and press x10, Deadlift and drop squat x10, Switch Swing x10: Repeato x2 (some random KB swings and ab work thrown in)

Round 2: Execute 40 push press and 10 goblet squats then run the circle.  Repeato while decreasing  presses by 10 and increasing squats by ten each round (30-20, 20-30, 10-40).  Heal touches over bell to collect the six

Round 3: Head to the columns, partner up and partner 1 bear crawls with kb while partner 2 executes 10 swings.  Run to partner and switch then repeato with 10x cleans and 10x snatch until each partner has completed each set.  Finished with varied speed Freddy Mercuries

Round 4: Mosey to curb for pull overs and heal touches over bell

Mosey back to parking lot for assembly line bell passes

COT

NMM:  Ye old back was still feeling it from the Anemone of Doom that Sippy Cup doled out yesterday.  That said, the PAX was ready to go and there seemed to be some expectation that YHC would be in rare form after it was insinuated that JVille was the grumpier.  YHC was in too good of a mood to reset the bar today, but there will be opportunities in the future.  The leading theory is that JVille is only the Mayor of Grumpville when leading.  YHC would encourage the PAX to test the theory.  White Deer stepped it up to sit in the heckler’s chair today, but most conversation was ended in round 2.

YHC remains humbled that the PAX gets it done no matter what you throw at them.  Having never done the circuit we did in round 2, it was hard to gauge how long it would take.  Rosie and Gumbo rolled right through it with everyone else not far behind.  Honey Do then put his kettle bell dragging knuckles to work and was part of the only team to make it down and back during round 3.  Well done by all!

Stay Classy,

Toga