Tag: GridIron

Nine posted for the GridIron before last under chilly, but clear skies. COP in the main parking lot with the usual.

Hop the short fence into the nearby softball field for Vicious Circle (thanks F3 Exicon). Pax completes sideways Bear Crawl counter-clockwise around the bases. Last guy in line jogs to the mound for five two-count Mountain Climbers and jogs to the front of the line. Rotate through until all have completed one go. Second round with Lunge Walk around bases and Ball Dippers at the mound.

Cross the fence and head just down the hill from the far end zone of the football field to begin a round of Lindsays. Zombie Crawl (Exicon) up the hill to the end line for 30 two-count LBCs then Crab Walk back down the hill for 10 two-count American Hammers. Continue the sequence offsetting reps by five until 10 and 30 are done.

Mosey around the field to the sidewalk between the football concession stand and press box. Pair (with one set of three) up with one guy grabbing the press box posts for Pole Smokers while the other guy runs to the field to complete five Wal-Mart Burpees (Exicon). Complete three rounds.

Jog across the park to the pull up bars, break into two groups, and line up on each side of the bars. First guy in line completes a Pull Up with and counts out a 10 second hold. Last guy in line completes a negative Dip to the first guy’s count. Remaining PAX hold plank at the edge of the area. Rotate through until all have completed three rounds.

Return the parking lot for Wave of Merkins (yes, Exicon). Circle up. One guy completes a Merkin and as he finishes, the next guy starts a Merkin, and so on like a wave around the circle. First guy completes two Merkins and the rest of the circle does the same. Continue until six Merkins completed by all. Stand up and do the same with Squats, also stopping after six. Finish with a few minutes of stretching and a COT.

Congratulations to our friend, and GridIron regular, Quest who was married on 12/20/2020.

A frosty gloom welcomed 8 jolly and festive iron men on this day after Christmas.  The PAX celebrated the Christmas season in a manner that was befitting for 2020.  Here is how it went down:

• COP
  • SSH
  • IW
  • DQ
  • Arm circles – forwards and backwards, big and small
  • Helicopters
  • Scorpion kicks
  • Merkins
  • LBC
• 12 Days of Christmas – mosey to the turf field only to have to audible and go back to the football field (got to be flexible these days, nothing goes according to plan)
  • 12 merkins – 144 total
  • 11 WWII sit-ups – 121 total
  • 10 flutter kicks – 100 total
  • 9 reverse crunches – 81 total
  • 8 monkey humpers – 64 total
  • 7 Carolina dry docks – 49 total
  • 6 crab cakes (2 count) – 36 total
  • 5 burpees – 25 total
  • 4 lunges (2 count) – 16 total
  • 3 heels to heaven – 9 total
  • 2 diamond merkins – 4 total
  • 1 deep squat (hold for 12 seconds)
• After gathering for our Christmas celebration, we had to mosey to the pickle ball courts for a COVID test – 6 suicides to assess lung capacity
• Post-Christmas – the 3 wise men visited Jesus, so we did 3 sets of 6 pull-ups (one for each wise man, the pull-ups being the gift for all)
• Mosey back to the parking lot for COT with YHC taking us out

Great work by the PAX today on a brutally cold day that with the wind made conditions feel like the North Pole.  Good to have Probation join the Gridiron PAX as there is no truth to the rumor he was so late for Dog Pile that perhaps he just decided to come Gridiron.  The travails of a LIFO.  Also, welcome back Pigskin.  The Gridiron PAX is excited that Pigskin will become a permanent fixture come this summer as he and the M will be matriculating up to RVA.

Prayers for Gypsy with his toe surgery this week.  It was solid but frigid fellowship for the PAX at Einstein’s post workout.  Grateful for these men and their friendships.

God is good all of the time…a Savior is born!

Attila

A wet evening turned to a gloriously gloomy December morning.  Six noble warriors agreed to tackle the morning with an enthusiasm unbeknownst to the common man.  Here is how it went down:

• Parking lot tracers followed by a mosey to the turf field
• COP
  • SSH
  • IW
  • Dead man hang
  • Arm circles – big and small
  • Helicopters
  • Suzanne Somers
  • Merkins
  • LBC
• 10 minutes of burpees at midfield
• 40 APD
• Captain Thor
• Mosey to the pull-up bars for an 11 with pull-ups and step-ups in the Pavilion
• Mosey back to the turf field for sprints
  • 8 full field sprints
  • 12 ½ field sprints
• Mosey back to the parking lot for COT with YHC taking us out

Great work by the PAX today as we mixed some cardio with core work.  Great to have Quest back in the fold with the PAX today as he prepares for nuptial bliss.  YHC wanted to make sure he remains solid and sculpted for the big day.  Pinto sported to the Magnum PI look today for charity.  Good work brother!

Solid fellowship followed at Einstein’s.  Prayers continue to the Biggs family as they look to remain healthy following COVID exposure. 

God is good all of the time!

Attila

A beautiful morning awaited 10 magnificent warriors on the Gridiron.  With 1 hour to burn, here is how it went down:

• COP
  • SSH
  • Dead man hang
  • IW
  • Arm circles
  • Helicopters
  • Suzanne Somers
  • Merkins
  • LBC
• Mosey to the turf field to find out girls soccer warm-ups were in full force
• Mosey to the pull-up bars for an 11 with pull-ups and step-ups at the Pavilion picnic tables
• Mosey through the woods to the back of the school to the tennis courts for a lap of luxury
  • 3 rounds with 20 exercises at each diagonal corner, 10 burpees at the midpoint of the long portion of the rectangle and an arch loader movement through the short portions of the rectangle
  • Arch loader rounds – bear crawl, crab walk, cheetah sprint
  • Total reps
    • 60 burpees
    • 40 merkins
    • 40 HRM
    • 40 Carolina dry docks
    • 40 WWII sit-ups
    • 40 LBC
    • 40 flutter kicks
• Mosey back to the parking lot for a ring of fire
• COT with YHC taking us out

Great work from the PAX today.  Great to have Spit visit Gridiron, and to have our marathoners back in the fold.  210 merkin reps today for the November challenge, and the PAX were true gentlemen in letting the young girls warm-up on the turf soccer field.  Good to be with these men today for a modest beat-down. Plenty of arm work, so no complaints there.

There will be a Thanksgiving convergence at 6 am.  Please look for announcements on location.  YHC already forgot. 

God is good all of the time!

Attila

9 noble warriors braved the mean streets of the Far West End for a coupon-aided beatdown. It went like this:

COP: Dead man hangs, cherry pickers, DQs, merkins (20 merkins) and Freddie Mercuries. 5 punitive burpees. Sorry no SSHs.

Exercise 1: Run and do 10 merkins at each stop. One person gets to carry the coupon. Total 50 merkins.

Exercise 2: 4 corners with 10 burpees, 20 WWIIs (feel that cool ground), 30 2 count pickle pounders, 40 jump squats

Exercise 3: Elevens with HRMs and flutter kicks – 55 merkins

Exercise 4: 10 donkey kicks, 30 seconds wall sit and 20 seconds balls to the wall, Followed by 15, 45 and 30 and then followed by 20, 60 and 40. After chum bucket made a special ed comment 5 more punitive burpees.

Exercise 5: Curb bear crawl and crawl bear with 1 merkin up to 8 merkins – 36 merkins

Mosey to chin up bars sans coupon – 9 chinups, 18 dips, 7 chin ups, 14 dips and 5 chin ups with 10 dips. The odd numbers threw the PAX off. Do one minute elbow plank.

Finish with merkin ring of fire – 10 merkins, American Hammers, dead man hang, cherry pickers and DQs and 5 punitive burpees.

Closed in prayer. Good luck to Blue Moon and his pacer Gypsy. Prayers are with a teammate of mine who is COVID positive and for civility in politics post election.

Total merkins (including burpees) – 191, not too shabby for the geriatric ward. The Special Ed comes from a name that the PAX gave me due to someone stating they thought today was going to be a special guest Q and I said yeah I am the special guest Q. And somehow that led to the name Special Ed. Even though the Jets su$k, I am sticking with Fireman Ed and yes my mama does think I am special:). Have a great weekend.

3rd F: Faith

• Thank you Chum Bucket for taking us out.
• Pray request for YHC’s Uncle Greg. He was diagnosed with Lung Cancer yesterday and they are still determining what stage and type.
• Virtual 3rd F Q openings are available.
  Come talk with your brothers across the region every other Tuesday from 8pm to 9pm as we explore thought and ideas from a faith perspective for today’s challenges of life.

2nd F: Fellowship

• Shout out to UpChuck with lining up and supporting the Breaking bread. read more here:
  https://backblasts.f3rva.org/2020/10/14/breaking-bread-we-need-you-now-two-nights-per-month/
• Grid Iron will be on the road next week as we go support BlueMoon at this Richmond Marathon that he will start at 6:30 am. More details to come out this week so please stay posted to the Slack 1st F channel.
• The RVA shoe drive has been more successful than we 1st anticipated. We are over 100 pairs of shoes and YHC will be getting a final count tomorrow morning as I understand more came in today around the region.

Announcements:

Merkin challenge is starting tomorrow 11/1. Keep yourself accelerating and burn off some of those Thanksgiving calories ahead of time.
SIGN UP TODAY so you are not starting up behind. See more details here:
https://backblasts.f3rva.org/2020/10/30/november-merkin-challenge-2/
Virtual Happy Hour and Kettle bells has moved from Mondays at 530PM to Thursdays at 530PM. The Zoom link will be posted in the 1st F Slack channel Thursday morning.

1st F (Fitness)
The Thang: Cage Fight

6:50AM. finished the pre-run and found a few pax already standing outside on this cool fall morning. As the PAX continued to roll in, YHC knew that the we had a lot of work to get in this morning so I gave the disclaimer right at 7am and we took off immediately for a mosey to get the blood flowing.
Circle up at the Tennis Courts on the back side of the school.

COP: (Circle of Pain) warm-up
1 BLIMPS

• 5 Burpees
• 10 Lunges
• 15 Imperial Walkers
• 20 Merkins
• 25 Plank Jacks
• 30 Squats

4 Corners
Starting in the center of the 4 tennis courts you run to one of the 4 corners and perform 10 of a set exercise then run back to center for 2 Burpees.
Go to the next corner and so on and so forth until all 4 corners and 4 sets of burpees are completed. We did 4 rounds of this with the following exercise in the corners. (32 burpees in the middle as well)

Round 1	Merkins	Wide arm Merkins	Narrow Merkins	Carolina Dry-dock
Round 2	WW2	Reverse LBC	Flutters	Hells to heaven
Round 3	Squats	Lunges	Reverse Lunges	Jump Squats
Round 4	Merkins	WW2	Squats	Burpees

Great Work guys!!!

Why are we standing around talking about F3 Disaster Ops and F3 Mission trips, WE have more work to do.
(but seriously if you want to know more about the Nations 2nd F events, DM me and I can get you connected with the events NANTAN or Q lead)

The PAX looked like they were getting chilly as YHC talked their ears off so figured we needed to warm up with 1 round of BLIMPS:

• 5 Burpees
• 10 Lunges
• 15 Imperial Walkers
• 20 Merkins
• 25 Plank Jacks
• 30 Squats

Modified CAGE FIGHT WAR!!!
YHC has a pack of F3 Workout cards. (See MudGear site to order a set)
The game is simple: PAX lines up against the cage fence. One by one you draw a card, announce the exercise on it and keep it. (yes Chum.. you keep just your card)
(Number cards you add 10 to it, face cards are 20, aces are 100)
The entire pax does the exercise at the far end fence (4 tennis court lengths away) and return to start. This is done until each pax member has pulled a card.
To finish this off; after each pax has their card, in pairs, they pick another pax member to “Play war” with. The higher card is the winner and the reward is we all get to do the exercise before collecting those 2 cards.
Exercises pulled today: Heels to heaven, 100 M lunge walk, Ranger Merkins, Calf raises, Low Slow Squats, Flutters, Freddy Mercury, Explosive Merkins, and ??. (I forgot the last one).
Mosey back to the AO launch.

DONE!!. Lets go get coffee and Bagels

NMS (Naked Mole Skin)
Great work by all today!
It was a bit chilly so YHC wanted to keep us moving and NOT roll in the wet fields. YHC DOES NOT LIKE rolling around in the cold wet fields. So a good ol’ Fashion cage fight was perfect for today:
3 miles of intervals almost all within he confines of the cage
200 calf raises
100 Merkins
52 burpees
Countless Squats, Lunges, and Core.


Key notes taken from today.
Johnsonville can whistle REALLLLLY loud..
Chum Bucket cant hear Johnsonville whistle
Fireman ed is never allowed to play F3 War again. (My Calves are still burning from 200 Calf Raises)
BlueMoon ditched us to go run in traffic.
Deuce is a runner in disguise. (and fast on a sprint)
Attila loves bootcamps with lots of squats, lunges, jump squats, calf raises.. more squats and a few more lunges.
LightHouse doesn’t tie his shoes??? No idea how he does that for a workout and not trip??
Tater has more energy than a 10 yr old on 3 Monster energy drinks and a red bull.
Pinto is secretly in the Secret Service but wont tell any one so keep that just between you and me. SHHHHHHHHHHH!.
This ENTIRE PAX crushed it today. I look forward to seeing you in the gloom again soon. (like at WTH on Wednesdays. #ShamelessPlug ? )

AS always: If you have read this far. Take the next 30 seconds to text a person in your life that you have not heard from in a while. It may be what helps them through the day.

Thank you for allowing me to lead.
v/r
John (Gypsy) Boles

Eleven gathered for Saturday’s GridIron at the usual location. Under normal circumstances, our use of Pouncey Tract Park is free from conflicts with other users at 7 AM, but this was Virginia Paddleball Classic weekend and the lot was full early. While we might mosey near or on the paddleball courts during GridIron, we went the other way for Saturday’s workout.

Mosey to the football field and loosen legs with a few 10 yard repeats with High Knees, Butt Kickers, and Karaoke. Circle for 25 x Invisible Jump Ropes, 20 x Hillbillies, 15 x Don Quixotes, 15 x Helicopters, 10 x Elevated Suzanne Somers (one side), 20 x APDs, 10 x Elevated Suzanne Somers (other side), and a few Arm Circles.

Jog to the school for five minutes of Donkey Kicks. Complete 30 or more Donkey Kicks and rest for the remainder of the minute. Five rounds.

Hit the bus shelter and pick a pole for 20 x Pole Smokers followed by 20 x Plie Squats. Three rounds.

Circle up in the nearby grass for Jack Webb with Arm Circle chaser. Complete one Merkin, four Overhead Presses, and eight Arm Circles. Wait until all are done. Complete two, eight, and sixteen. Wait. And so on, maintaining the same ratio until 11/44/88 are completed.

Shift to the sidewalk. Using a three large, wooden dice, roll one to determine the exercise and the other two to determine the number of reps. Initial determination was 1=SSH, 2=WWII Sit Up, 3=Plank Jack, 4=Flutter Kicks, 5=American Hammers, and 6=Burpees, but we had some lawless moments in our efforts to complete a couple of rounds. More Merkins! Nobody likes Plank Jacks! Rigging the roll to maximize Burpees! And so on.

Saunter back to the parking lot for COT and YHC took us out.

Nine posted for Saturday’s GridIron with YHC as a substitute Q. More on this later. Warmup in the parking lot with 25 x SSHs, 20 x IWs, 15 x DQs, 15 x Russian Soldiers, 10 x Suzanne Sommers (one side), 2 x Superman (oldie – while singing the GAH theme song), 10 x Suzanne Sommers (other side), 30 x Arm Circles (little, forward), and 30 x Arm Circles (little, reverse).

Mosey down the hill adjacent to the parking lot. Line up and get seated with heels facing uphill. Complete 10 WWII Sit Ups. Crab Walk a couple of steps uphill, feet first, on Attila’s mark, halt, and complete another Sit Up set. Repeato, all the way up the hill to the sidewalk. Probably 12 or so sets total.

Short mosey to the renovated playground. Break into groups of three and find a swing on the swingset. One guy completes 10 Jerkins while the other two complete three squats, holding the last squat. One round has every guy complete one set of Jerkins. Three rounds.

Circle up for 10 Minutes of LBCs. Complete about 30 Little Baby Crunches (in cadence, two count) and rest for the remainder of the minute. Repeat 10 times.

Shift position to the nearby picnic area. With different groups of three guys each, one guy completes eight Abyss Merkins on the picnic tables while the other guys complete three Burpees and hold in Al Gore. One round has ever guy complete the Merkins. Three rounds, too.

Return to the hill, line up at the top, and begin to jog down the hill and backpedal back up the hill. Continue this for about 4 minutes.

Circle up in the parking lot. Complete Carolina Dry Dock Ring of Fire with each guy finishing eight reps. Brief knee, then another round. Three rounds total. Flip over for a few minutes of stretching. COT and Attila took us out.

We missed our brother Johnsonville on Saturday morning. He’d signed up to Q on Saturday, but I found out Friday night that he had an mountain biking accident on Friday. Thankfully Jville is now at home and recovering.

A beautiful, cool morning greeted 10 noble warriors at the Gridiron.  A full body beatdown awaited each man, and here is how it went down:

• COP
  • 30 SSH
  • 15 IW
  • 10 DQ
  • Arm circles – 10 small, 5 big/front and back
  • Suzanne Somers – 20 each leg
  • 20 merkins
  • 60 LBC
• Mosey to the turf field for a one-man Dora
  • 100 HRM
  • 200 squats
  • 300 LBC
• Mosey to pull-up bars for a de-escalator
  • Start at 8 pulls up with a chaser of 25 2x flutter kicks and work down to one with same chaser
• Mosey to the football field a mini-Montana
  • 6 20 yard bear crawls
  • 6 50 yard runs
  • 6 20 yard crab walks
• Circle up for a ring of fire
• COP with YHC taking us out

Great work by the PAX today.  Solid pace for the full 60 minutes, with the added bonus of Splinter and Corn Beef joining the Gridiron PAX this morning.  YHC enjoyed the occasional Gridiron Q as it has been observed that it has become a harder Q to get with the PAX.  As always, the workout was followed by great fellowship at Einsteins afterward.  Value my time with these men!

Continued prayers for various guys, including for all of our kids in school, K through college.  Lots of transition, patience and grace needed as it is tough for all. 

Don’t forget the shoe drive if you have any gently used shoes.

God is good all of the time!

Attila

8 warriors braved the mighty drizzle of Short Pump to brave a workout from Fireman Ed. The workout went something like this:

COP: 15 SSHs (for some reason my body went faster than my cadence causing a near uproar from the geriatrics who prefer predictability and order), 10 DQs, 20 FMs, 15 ACs (each direction) and 13 Cherry pickers. Mosey to curb near track

Exercise 1: Curb Bear Crawl and Crawl Bear up to 5 merkins. Rest and go 6 to 9 merkins. Mosey around track (with Jville splashing in the puddles like a good country boy).

Exercise 2: With the theme being 9 26 (cause that’s what today is) we did 9 donkey kicks followed by 26 WWIIs, then 9 chicken peckers and 26 2 count LBCs, then 9 donkey kicks and 26 2 count flutter kicks. Mosey around school to get some cardio.

Exercise 3: 1 burpee at each pole, 13 poles; then 2 burpees at each pole for 13 poles. Mosey around school to benches near swampy field.

Exercise 4: 9 merkins then 26 bench kicks (probably wrong term), 9 HRMs then 26 2 count steps, and 9 diamond merkins then 26 calf raises on the bleacher steps (with two of us almost falling). Mosey to pavilion

Exercise 5: 9 derkins 26 squats, 9 derkins 26 jump squats, 9 derkins 26 2 count mountain climbers. Mosey to famous Gainesville chin up bars.

Exercise 6: 9 chin ups, 26 dips, 7 chin ups, 13 dips, 5 chin ups, 13 dips. Mosey to parking lot after 2 rounds around the parking lot

26 2 count American hammer, round of Mary with merkins, DQs and rotten cherry pickers.

Closed in prayer.

Announcements: There is a gently used shoe collection for an organization called Homeward. The POCs are Gypsy, Honeydo (West End), Spit (Daville) and TryHard (SOJ). Please give the shoes that you no longer wear.

Field Event in Amelia on 10/3 (next Saturday). I am guessing other backblasts will have more details.

I am glad to entertain with the uneven SSH cadence. It proves some of you were paying attention.

Help those in need.

Fireman Ed