10 strong at Rock N Roll this morning, including an FNG! Here is a brief summary for your viewing pleasure:
Mosey to the tennis courts for Warm-Up
Side Straddle Hops, Ukranian Soldiers, Helicopters, Cherry Pickers, Alabama Prom Dates, Freddie Mercuries, Hand Release Merkins AND High Knees, Butt Kicks, Karaoke all across the courts
Exercise One: Tennis Court Perimeter
Round one: Mississippi Side Lunges, Lunge Walk, MSL’s, Lunge Walk
Round two: Broad Jump, Forward Straddle Hops, Broad Jump, Forward Straddle Hops.
Round three: Bernie Sanders, Big Rig Jig, Bernie, Big Rig Jig
Round Four (cool down): Raise the Roofs, Walking Arm Circles, Raise the Roofs, Walking Arm Circles
Mosey back towards the road: Bernie Sanders and Side Shuffles mixed in.
Exercise Two: Beside the dog park – Bear Crawl to the shed. Crab Walk Back.
Exercise Three: Partner up for 20 count Boxing Cockroaches, 15 count PLT’s.
Mosey to the picnic shelter for Exercise Four:
50 Merkins, 50 dips, 50 WWII’s, 50 squats
Exercise Five: Murder Gorillas along the hill by baseball field. At the end: 25 pole smokers.
Exercise 6: 15 burpess plus 100 m sprint. 25 Bobby Hurleys plus 100m sprint.
Back to the Flag for some LBC’s and Crunchy Frogs
Numbers/Names/Announcements/Prayer Requests
YHC took us out
Final thoughts – What an awesome morning welcoming Benny to the SOJ clan. Great work by Heist bringing him on board. Benny is a transplant from New Jersey and huge Jets fan. The PAX were putting in some work today. Hardywood hit us with an energy boost after finally finding us near the tennis courts. It was great seeing Leap Year come back out – keep it up! Really looking forward to Shank’s Tae Bo themed workout at some point. Had a great group at Starbucks for some 2nd F as well.
Enjoy the weekend! SYITG
Tag: Rock N Roll
Rockwood Park
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I’m Still Standing
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Saturday at Rockwood
A group of 9 came out this morning. This is probably the first morning you could feel the humidity. We haven’t seen anything yet, wait about a month then mornings where it’s in the 70s with 90% humidity. For myself, I am usually awake and at the park earlier for a ruck but fell back asleep for a bit(with one of my cats laying beside me). The sign of I needed a little more rest.
Started off with a good warm-up with a little wrinkle added, SSH, Helicopters, Don Quixotes, Imperial Walkers, Merkins and LBCs. Then headed over to the baseline, we did full court Ukrainian Soldiers, ran back then full court runner’s lunge with a twist(getting the lower body stretched, loose plus adding a little movement. Let the journey begin…
An FYI….today’s workout all came together as we went along(I only had one thing set). First area was a 25-50-75-100 with a little lap after each exercise. 25 double count flutters, 50 jump squats, 75 calf raises, 100 jump ropes. After a 20 count, onto the next area
Triple check time….The exercises were monkey humpers, Freddie mercuries, and a run down to the other side of the lot and back. I saw a gentleman tried a quick recruiting to join us but he had to leave for work. This point you start to get into the flow, work on keep moving as you finish each part. A little breather, them mosey over to the next area.
Build a beast….this one is where I call out to someone, they chose the exercise that we should do. Merkins, shoulder taps, mountain climbers, jump squats, WW2 plus if someone was not home, we made sure to help them out and bring them in. After a quick walk, back to the road, between the baseball fields to our next stop
A quick 2 part upper/lower body. 3 rounds, 30 seconds each of wall sits and tricep dips. This was great to break things up, give us a little breather cause now we’re coming up to the big one
Prostitute… four corners where you hit a corner, come back, hit the next 2, etc….The exercises: 10 Merkins, 20 LBCs, 30 Air Squats and 40 SSH. At the completion of that for everyone, we had 45 seconds left so back to the flag. Count-outs, announcements and prayer by YHC to finish everything out.
Welcome Derek to the group. He used to come around but went away now he’s back. Since he went away and returned, needed a name first came Olympic but we decided on Leap Year. Posh will help get him set up on Slack. Look at Slack for everything upcoming including VQ by Wildcat coming Monday at The Alamo, Friday Purple Rain’s VQ at Satan’s Hill. We have a big convergence Memorial Day so everyone have a little extra in the tank that day. Enjoy your weekend, see you next time out there and if you are training hard, start hitting the hydration you will need it
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Creatine, Health, and Longevity!
10 RocknRollers made it out to Rockwood Park for another installment of Rock and Roll. It was certainly interesting and we may have something to look forward to next week. Here’s what went down in this morning’s throw down.
We started out with your typical warmup in the basketball court.
SSH IC
Imperial walkers IC
Don Quyotes IC
In and outs (Scrunchy frogs for Rosie) IC
LBCs IC
5 Merkins
We moseyed over to the far inner parking lot of the park for Four corners
20 merkins, 40 squats, 60 LBCs, 80 double count Mountain climbers.
Next we moseyed over to the baseball field for Chaplain’s Indigenous polesmokers around the outfield. The traveler would bear crawl to the front. Once we made it to center field we switched to American Hammers and crab walking. Dr. Try Hard saw an older man walking on the other side of the fence walking about the same pace as his crab walk. DTH said something along the lines of “you think you can walk as fast as my crab walk old man!” To which the man responded “I can do all that stuff you guys are doing, I’m 72 years old and I studied Health and Longevity! You boys better have taken your CREATINE!” They banterred back and forth for a few minutes and got a bit fired up before the guy (We decided to call him Creatine) moved on and we got to foul territory.
We lined up on the foul line for A Dora
Teams of 2 complete an exercise and run to center field and back
30 burpees
60 Plank jacks
90 squats
120 SSH
As Creatine came around again DTH suggested some Monkey Humpers. YHC obliged.
Next Mankillers from 10 to 1 once YHC messed up the counting about 5 times.
We moseyed over to the hill near the concession stand for another Dora
Traveler Bernies up the hill and bear crawls down
50 Merkins
100 Mountain climbers
100 WW2s
150 ball dippers double count
Time to mosey back to the flag. With some Bernie Sanders and some side shuffles.
Circle up for numbers, names, prayer requests, and announcements. Lots of announcements, be sure to keep up with them on Slack.
We also welcomed an FNG. Welcome to Mayhem! Looking forward to seeing everyone again soon!
I heard that DTH talked to Creatine on his way out of the park and he might be joining us next week. That should be interesting!
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Cliff Hangers
5 of us today for the latest edition of Rock N Roll. Here’s what happened :
Mosey to basketball court
F3 Mission Statement
Warmarama : 20 SSH IC, 10 IW’s IC, 10 Ukrainian Soldiers IC, 10 Merkins IC, 10 Flutters IC
THE THANG :
4 rounds of Broad Jumps from sideline to sideline
BLIMPS with Navy Seal Burpees for the “B” (Navy Seal Burpee includes a Mountain Climber on each leg at the bottom, then a Merkin, then jump up) : 5 Burpees, 10 Lunges DOUBLE COUNT, 15 IW’s DOUBLE COUNT, 20 Merkins, 25 Plank Jax, 30 squats
30 Flutters DOUBLE COUNT
Mosey to parking lot behind playground
BLIMPS
30 Flutters DOUBLE COUNT
Mosey to parking lot by forest trail
BLIMPS
30 Flutters DOUBLE COUNT
Mosey into forest trail and head to the workout station Monkey Bars
While hanging on the side, move counter-clockwise until you do a full rotation around to the other side of the bars and back
Repeato clockwise
Line up at the end of monkey bars
2 rounds of swinging across monkey bars skipping every other bar
1 round of putting your hands on the outside of the monkey bars and swinging across
2 rounds of AMRAP pull ups
BLIMPS
30 Flutters DOUBLE COUNT
Mosey to parking lot by Forest trail
BLIMPS
30 Flutters DOUBLE COUNT
Mosey to parking lot behind playground
4 Corners Prostitute : 10 Merkins, 20 Jump Squats, 30 Flutters DOUBLE COUNT, 40 SSH
Mosey to basketball court
1 minute of rapid fire alternating punches while holding Al Gore
DONE
Numbers, Names, YHC took us out in prayer
Prayer Requests : Mudslide safe travels to NC next weekend for 20k Spartan.; Cha Cha’s daughter is getting married! Congratulations.
Announcements : Memorial Day Convergence at Tredegar
5/21 SOJ family cookout and basketball at Bettie Weaver Elementary (contact OC)
NMMS : Purple Rain took a bit longer on our last mosey BTTF. He made the mistake of outing himself as spilling Merlot (because he had too much Merlot last night). Cha Cha has some serious muscles at the ripe age of 59 (in January he’ll be DOUBLE RESPECT). But he’s still getting used to the rigorous cardio endurance of F3. Great to meet you today and hope you keep coming back!
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If you’re happy and you know it…
10 SOJ studs, including two FNG’s and one repatriated missionary, stepped up the beatdown game with a DTH homecoming celebration. Here’s how the PAX recalled what a real bootcamp feels like:
The THANG:
WARMERAMA:
- Mosey onto the BBall Court and circle up
- F3 Welcome, Review of the Core Principles for our FNG’s, and a standard you-VS-you Disclaimer
- Variable IC exercises with a MUCH-appreciated early dive into 8-count reps …you’re welcome. 🙂
- Warm? Let’s wreck the shoulders…
COP #1:
- Mosey to the next BBall court
- 4-CORNER SHOULDERAMA
- x10 Diamond Merkins
- x20 No Cheat Merkins
- x30 Werkins
- x40 CDD’s
- Bear Crawl between Corners
COP #2:
- Mosey around the perimeter road
- Stop on a grassy area for PLT’s
- Complete x3 sets of x25 each
COP #3:
- Mosey to the gravel road hill
- LINDSEY
- Top of the hill – Ball Dippers 30–>10
- Bottom of the hill – LBC’s 10–>30
COP #4:
- Mosey to the Bath House Wall
- IC Reps: Hoedowns, Dirty Hookups, BTTW, Donkey Kick-Off’s to 15
- Back to People’s chair – in super spontaneous style OC took us out with hand claps and feet stomps to his hearty singing of “If you’re happy and you know it” …THIS…WAS…AWESOME!!! (#NewOneForLexicon)
COP #5:
- Bernie Sanders down the Lot
- Other variable movements to slowly move the PAX to the Pickleball Courts
- PICKLEBALL 50’s
- At each of the individual Pickleball court the PAX is given an exercise to complete – first man to x50 calls out, and PAX moves on to the next court (front runner calls the next exercise)
- x8 courts completed with variable exercises called: Heels to Heaven, Merkins, Flutter Kicks (2-ct), Monkey Humpers, Shoulder Taps (2-ct), LBC’s, Calf Raises, SSH’s
COT:
- Counterama # 10
- Namerama
- Announcerama (see Below)
- YHC took the PAX out in Prayer
NMS:
Ain’t nothin like F3RVA mumble chatter in the whole dang world! Man it feels GREAT to be among the SOJ brotherhood again. Awesome to have a couple baller FNG’s as part of the welcome party – welcome CHA CHA (heard about us from Florence’s church blast, and is a VCU interventional radiology guru who does Salsa with his M), and welcome TUG (Rosie’s slow-burn neighbor, about 20 steps from where we started with his nickname, but we love it!) And how about Orange Crush spontaneously busting into song during our Wallerama…AWESOME – pretty sure “If you’re happy and you know it…” will be now making a regular appearance on every wall around SOJ. Thanks to our FMG’s, Hardywood, rosie and OC for quality coffeerama time after. SO GOOD to connect and catch up. YHC is on the Q sheet a few more times coming up – come find me to hang out! SYITG, DTH
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 Memorial Day convergence!
- 5/3 – Volunteer to Build a play area at Dogwood
- 5/6 – Currahee CSAUP
- 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
- COMING SOON – School of Rock workout for our kids that will follow R&R monthly through the summer
- COMING SOON – Ultimate Frisbee at the Forge – dates TBD
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Finally….feeling better
Well, leading the Q 2 Saturdays in a row(wait what) after today though it will be a little time before I lead another one. A good group of 9 came out on a slightly humid Saturday morning(today is the Monument Ave 10k) so the numbers will be a little lower. After I finished Morning Wood, needed to drop something off(a sign of there’s mayhem and chaos coming)
Started off with the usual Warmaramma(SSH, LBCs, American Hammers, Flutter Kicks, then back up for Imperial Walkers, Ukrainian Soldiers, and Copperhead Squats). After the completion, took a little more time to stretch out anything additional, then mosey to the first lot
Dora time….a good way to start things out and get the body rolling early. Partner up and hit the usual pattern(100 Merkins, 200 squats, 300 LBCs). El Chapin and Bone Thugs joined up, the energy was good. Everyone was dialed in getting it done
A little mosey, then off to the lot across the way where…what do we have here(the bands). The first time the bands making their Saturday debut. Starting off just getting used to them a couple rounds of jogging in place, next we hit the ice for some speed skaters. A hill right there so 4 rounds of sprints(El Chapin was our chaser) each run up starting at about 25% intensity all the way up to the last round full on. Florence, poor guy had me so trying to hold onto a bull isn’t easy. A little breather then to the lot right beside
I call this the Triple Torture 2s(2 walking lunges per side, 2 Murder Bunnies, 2 broad jumps) and you had the band around your waist. Each person did a trip, not so easy bodyweight wise then add the band(adds more intensity). A little break then side shuffles(with the bands) down and back. There’s always one side that’s a little looser than the other yet it makes you work on that weakness. Finally, plank walks halfway down and back(those are no joke). A little moment, then to the basketball court for the finish.
A final 2 part combo: suicides(half, full court and back) along with leg throw downs(30 total hitting left, middle and right side of the abs). Once those were done, to the middle for some good stretching to help the muscles stay loose, flexible then done
Count out, Names and prayer by YHC.
Announcements: 4th Thursday lunch coming up at the Rusty Taco(see Slack). Oyster will have the UnCrustables or brought some mini tacos purchased for you.
Rugged Maniac 4/29. The email went out yesterday. Your parking pass will be in an email Thursday should see the course outline Thursday or Friday. If any questions, reach out on the Slack channel and I can answer them.
Final thing: I am sure a few are going(where have I been)? I have been resting plus working on recovery and retraining my body to handle the stress of training better. We all struggle from time to time and need a break. for myself, it was a break long overdue. Today probably the first time in a good while that on both the ruck and workout(I felt good). For myself, get back into yoga stretching and getting more flexible is a key as I get older. I do the DDP Yoga(yes the yoga by the wrestler). It works great, plus the moves they are named differently and I get a really good workout. I will be coming back, getting near the usual schedule again but I have to make sure I am stretching, getting my body and mind ready. Father time will never lose, I can’t beat it but if I can keep going and use methods to help me then no reason why I can’t get better both physically and mentally in my 50s, 60s, etc
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The Wall of Humanity
Wow…I have been with big Qs, but this morning with 15(16 at the end), it felt like the number was higher. The warmer weather bringing everyone out(humid that thick air you can feel). After the ruck, the game plan was simple: good, steady flow plus stay moving.
Warmaramma: with it being warmer went a little different today(SSH, Helicopters, Don Quixote, Cherry Pickers, Imperial Walkers, Copperhead squats, LBCs) then took it over to the baseline for a little more warm up to get mobile and hit the lower half(suicides plus adding rounds of squats, flutter kicks, and lunges). Then it was time to take off, I had a route in mind I wanted to do so down the path to the next lot.
25-50-75-100: first lot consisted of these 4 exercises….25 smurf jacks, 50 2 count mountain climbers, 75 jump ropes, and 100 toe taps. After the completion of each exercise, a lap around the lot where we were. After we finished, a small walking recovery to the main path, then down to the next lot
Prison burpees-quick punches: This one I called an audible on due to the fact I felt some would really struggle as the burpee numbers got higher. A prison burpee is one where you add a little hit to the side of your stomach(gives the abs a little something to brace for). One thing that helps is each part, you count so 1,2,etc hit the top, then start over again.My original idea was 10 prison burpees, side shuffle down, then throw your punches, side shuffle back. After 3, I saw the. struggle and went cut it off at 5 and 20 which still is a lot. As we were finishing up, those waiting hit some hollow holds(in the future, will add the rocking motion) everyone came back, onto the next area
Triple check time: with 15, it was perfect. The exercises, single leg v-ups, jump squats, Mario jumps(in honor of the movie). The key just keep moving plus not worrying about counting reps, work on form, keep moving and everyone was on the mark. We hit a little plank(down to the elbows) then onto the next area.
A mini dora: today it was 50 plank jacks, 100 LBCs, and 200 squats. The only thing where we were was still a little slick so you needed to be a little careful with traction. I felt stronger, getting a little more movement going which is what I wanted(be strong as the time was later). Finished it quickly, then one final mosey to the courts, I needed to get my phone cause I had a surprise so the the rest did some box cutters while waiting for me.
I have known some strong women: Roxanne, Thunder but Sally is one that will kick your butt. Yes bring Sally up, bring Sally down. Merkins(as we couldn’t hold it, switched to hand released or deep squats). The song is a little over 3 minutes(there are longer mix versions which you might kill me on that). After we recovered, a new wrinkle I am adding to my Qs is stretching cause we need to. We did about 5 minutes of good stretching to help those muscles get looser plus recover. After that it was time
Announcements: We went over upcoming events that will be posted in Slack over the upcoming weeks and months. Rugged Maniac is 2 weeks away, if anyone has a friend or someone interested still I have a friend who has a few passes at a great deal(parking not included) but price wise a lot better then what you will pay plus prices will rise Sunday.
Keep Oyster and his family in your prayers over the recent events.
I am done….have a good rest of the weekend
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Humid Start to Saturday
Good morning….2 ruckers(Big Rig and myself) got going after Big Rig came back from a pre ruck workout. I thought I was running a little late, turned out I was on time. We took off with weight on the body and the humidity in the air. We hit the usual trail with some good chatter about his brother and adventures out west this year(all the snow created much needed water which is helping but hurting a few minor things). A lot of good topics including ways to try and get better as we get older(work on flexibility and mobility which will come up later), plus we headed back to the flag to drop off the dumbbell, then did one final lap around(a touch over 3 miles today)
The 3 runners(Chaplain, Touchdown, and Rosie) took off at their usual time and hit the trails hard. A lot of people either running or walking today(this is what happens as the weather warms up). Once Big Rig and I came around the last corner and on the home stretch, the 3 runners were closing in. We all met back at the flag, getting a little rest and waiting for the others to come for the main part
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33 A Day Early
10 Rockstars assembled to celebrate YHC’s birthday a day early. Here’s what the walkers of Rockwood Park observed :
Mosey to basketball court
Warmarama : 20 SSH IC, 10 IW IC, 10 Ukrainian Soldiers IC
THE THANG :
33 Burpees
33 Flutter Kicks In Cadence
33 Broad Jumps
Mosey to parking lot behind playground
33 Merkins
33 Freddie Mercuries DOUBLE COUNT
33 Squat Jumps
Mosey to parking lot by forest trail side entrance
33 HRM’s
33 Leg Lifts
33 Lunges DOUBLE COUNT
Mosey to forest trail exercise station
33 Pull Ups (break them into whatever # of sets you need)
33 WWII’s
33 Groiners
33 Dips
Mosey to near parking lot
Crawl Bear for 33 steps DOUBLE COUNT
Forward facing Crab Walk for 33 steps DOUBLE COUNT
Bear crawl forward for 33 steps DOUBLE COUNT
Backwards crab walk for 33 steps DOUBLE COUNT
Murder Bunny (without the Cindy) for 33 steps
33 Mountain Climbers DOUBLE COUNT
Mosey to basketball court
Suicides (touch foul line, half court, opposite foul line, and opposite end line then repeat until you’ve touched 33 lines)
1 minute of rapid fire Straight Leg Kicks with left leg
1 minute of rapid fire Straight Leg Kicks with right leg
1 minute of rapid fire punches
Switch stance then 1 more minute of rapid fire punches
33 LBC’s In Cadence
33 WWII’s In Cadence
DONE
Numbers, Names, YHC took us out in prayer
Announcements : This upcoming Friday 4/14 SOJ Happy Hour & Leadership Meeting at Diamond Billiards on Midlo Turnpike (arrive as early as 5 pm or whenever you can make it and leave whenever you need to);
This upcoming Saturday 4/15 3rd F event Walk & Roll at Virginia Home where you push a resident in a wheel chair for about a 5k (contact Doublemint if interested)
CPR evening classes 4/25 and 4/26 (contact Gypsy and/or Flatline for more info)
NMMS : A big thank you to those who came out today. I know it’s been a busy week with Spring Break and Easter activities so I appreciate it. Enjoyed breakfast and coffee afterwards with Chaplain, Touchdown, Smithers, El Chapin, Mudslide and Hardywood!
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The Merkin Wave!
14 Hard chargers (including an FNG) met at Rockwood Park to test their limits and do the Merkin wave.
Mosey to the Basketball court. The Warm-Up:
Side Straddle-Hops, Ukrainian Soldiers, Don Quixotes, Imperial Soldiers, Cherry Pickers, Super Mario Jumps, Karaoke.THE MERKIN WAVE!
What is a Merkin wave? Good question; here goes my best: It starts with the group getting into a circle and setting up in a good Merkin position.
Starting from the down position of the Merkin, with your chest 1 to 2 inches off the ground, the First Hard Charger pushes up, and holds the position, and the person to the immediate left does a Merkin and holds, and it continues in a circl…… Have you either seen the wave done while watching a sporting event, and/or performed the wave while you were at a live sporting event? Well, that’s what we did. Imagine instead of people doing the wave around the stadium, we were doing Merkins in lieu of the wave. I don’t have a number of Merkins we did, but it was an amount that is making it difficult to type right now.Next up, Mosey to the baseball fields. Partner up in twos. Everyone does the wall sit, while the first two run down steps, complete 10 Bo-Ya (spelling) Merkins, run back up the steps, and begin doing tri-cep dips. While first two are doing tri-cep dips, next two come off the wall, go down the steps and complete 10 high-five Merkins, run back up the steps, and begin doing dips. The two that were doing dips return to wall sit. Rinse and repeat until everyone had a chance to gets some more Merkins in.
Next up, indigenous line, everyone in the line doing American Hammers. Hard Charger in the back runs down and around the steps, comes back up, sets up in the front of the indigenous line, begins doing American Hammers, and person in back runs. Rinse and repeat until the everyone had the opportunity to run two laps. An Audible was called halfway through to transition from American Hammers to Word War 2s.
Last, and certainly not least, Blackjack. Two workouts with a run in the middle, both workouts equaling 21. The first exercise, 1 hand release Merkin, run 40 yards, 20 jump squats, run 40 yards back, 2 hand release Merkins, run 40 yards, 19 jump squats, etc. etc. in total, 210 hand release Merkins and 210 jump squats.
Mosey back to the parking lot.
COT: There were no announcements or prayer requests. We welcomed the Friendly New Guy, and he received the name of Gaston.
Note: This was my first time being the Q for a big group/an area that wasn’t Bermuda Triangle, and I have to say it is a blast. I came in confident that I had everything I needed to get the job done. I found out, like many sound plans, that a few audibles needed to be called, and some prior plans sound much better in your head/on paper than they do in action. I look forward to being the Q again someday in the future and encourage anyone that has never been a Q before to sign up!