Author: backblasts

Date: 04/09/24
AO: #ao_mastodon
PAX: @Stock boy @LeMond @Linc @Panda Express @Bloomer @Ankles @Captain Crunch @TBTF
FNGs: 0
Q: @TBTF
Total: 8WoR
– SSH
– Abe Vegodas
– Squats
– Picking Daisies
– Merkins
– Michael PhelpsThang – Stations across the field and up Hoffa (hill)
Station 1 – East end of the open field in front of Hoffa
Station 2 – Mid-point of Station 1 & 3
Station 3 – Base of Hoffa
Station 4 – Top of Hoffa
Dop all stations and mosey back to the starting point, carry coupon for rounds 2 & 3.Round 1 (warm up/no coupons)
S1 – 5 burpees
S2 – 10 squats
S3 – 10 merkins
S4 – 5 star jumpsRound 2 & 3 – coupon work
S1 – 15 blockees
S2 – 30 goblet squats
S3 – 30 derkins
S4 – 15 thrustersRound 4 & 5 – no coupon, try to pick up speed but maintain good form
S1 – 15 burpees
S2 – 30 squats
S3 – 30 merkins
S4 – 15 star jumpsFinished with a recovery lap around the baseball diamondCoT – PAX and family health, potentially more but can’t recallMoleskine – Seek to Understand first – shared a story where I immediately took a side in a disagreement before I knew all the information and later needed to address other issues/frustrations I caused

Date: 4/5/2024
AO: #ao_ground_zero
PAX: @Toto@TBTF@Frank@Mr Roboto@Panhandle@T-bone@Topham@Dr. Phil@Buns (Cotter!!!!) @Crack
FNGs: 0
Total:
Q: @TBTFWOR: SSHs, Tappy Taps, Runners StretchThe Thang: We ran or rucked to the Wheaton College football field, made a few laps and/or ran bleachers and then made our way back to the AOMoleskin: repurposed @Lemonds moleskin on the 5-5-5 rule. Shared a story about a situation that is bothering me right now but I know it won’t matter 5 days, 5 months, or 5 years from now.COT: Prayers for the health of the PAX and their families, don’t recall other prayers at this time

Date: 4/9/24
AO: #ao_tar_pit
PAX: @Panhandle @Tortuga @Banks @Jolly @Beaker
FNGs: 0
Q: @Beaker
Total: 5

WOR:
31 goofballs, ic
10 actual Abe Vigodas
10 tappy taps
Michael Phelps, oyo
5 @T-bone burpees
An appropriate amount of noticing @Da Vinci’s absence
A significant amount of whining from the assembled PAX

The Thang:

Mosey to the bottom of the wheel.

A 2-minute EMOM timer was set. PAX were tasked with completing the exercises below. Every time the timer went off, PAX stopped their exercises and completed 10 burpees and then returned to dutifully completing their exercises.

Additionally, 1 PAX was always running a loop (around the school for the first loop, and up to the spa and around the long loop connecting the two rear ramps for their 2nd and 3rd loops. After completing their loop, PAX picked back up on their reps and the next PAX in order began to run.

Grumbling ceased pretty quickly into this.

Required reps
100 thrusters
100 coupon swings
100 Mike Tysons
100 WWIII situps

Most PAX made it to WWIII situps, none finished.

Moleskine: Take your M on adventures with you and figure it out together.

COT: @Sparrow and his family following his mom’s death, @DQ and his family following his aunt’s death, @LeMond and his M following his MIL’s death, @Panhandle niece–praise for finding a good school for her and prayers to find a way to pay for her schooling.

Backblast: Turtles all the way down

Date: 03/29/2024

AO: #ao_flat_earth

PAX: @Tortuga, @Velveeta, @8-Track, @Jolly, @Spit Valve, @Panda Express, @Samsonite, @DQ, @LeMond

FNGs: 0

Q: @LeMond

Total: 9

• Warmorama: 5 mins

  • 20 SSHs

  • 5 T-Bone burpees

  • Jog across field, high knees; return with butt kickers.

• Q chose teams by lining up Pax in alphabetical order and counting off in twos.

• That didn’t work so well so we swapped players when one team began to dominate.

• Moleskin:

Do small sacrifices matter?

Reflect upon the small things today. What is it that you do each day that tires you and seems boring or unimportant. Know that these acts, perhaps more than any other, present you with a glorious opportunity to honor and glorify God in a magnificent way.

Backblast: spiritus animalis

Date: 3/28/2024

AO: #ao_dark_room

PAX: @Toto, @Framed, @Mr Roboto, @LeMond

FNGs: 0

Q: @LeMond

Total: 4

• Warmorama: 5 mins

  • SSHs

  • Monkey Humpers

  • Side Leg Raises

  • Bat wings

• Pre-thang 1:

  • Hang from bar, partner does 20 BBs

  • Body weight support from from blocks; partner does 10 burpees.

• Pre-thang 2:

  • Bunny versus bear

• The Beast:

  • 1 Jungle Boy Squats, two spoons

  • 2 Crunchy Frog

  • 3 Alligator merkins: two is one

  • 4 Donkey Kicks

  • 5 Kraken Burpee: burpee with 3 hand-release merkins

  • 6 Flamingos: toe touches

  • Note: always jog back to start; always do the movement.

• The Beast: movements

  • Bear Crawl

  • Ape Walk

  • Duck Walk

• Extra: crab walk to and from second tree to the right.

• Mary:

  • Lizard dance

  • Flutter kicks

  • American Hammers

• Moleskin:

  • “There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy.”

  • Nietzsche, Friedrich

Date: 03/28/24
AO: #ao_mastodon
PAX: @Samsonite @Ankles @DQ @Tortuga @Archive @Panda Express @TBTF @Jailbreak @Jolly
FNGs: 0
Q: @Jolly
Total: 9WOR

• Abe Vigodas
• Arm circles
• Michael Phelps
• 5 min EMOM 35 SSH/8 Burpees

The Thang
We made our way to the base of Hoffa and separated into 2 teams for a little bit of a competition. The competition went like this: each team completes a certain number of reps of the selected exercise and then has to get the Frisbee to the top of Hoffa and back to the bottom. Frisbee had to be thrown and caught at least once by each team member. It if was dropped on the way up it had to go back to the bottom, if dropped on the way down it had to go back to the top. Pax were also permitted to play defense against the other team.Each round one team randomly selected the exercise by spinning the magic wheel. The other team chose the number of reps. The following exercises were completed:

• Burpees
• Merkins
• American Hammers
• Curls
• LBCs
• Rows
• Thrusters
• Goblet Squats

Moleskin
When you are around other females (or males if you are at Sebastian’s in Lombard) behave as though your M is there with you.

COT

• @Anklesupcoming MRI, and 2.0’s travels
• @Jailbreak’s M and upcoming decisions

Date: 03/26/24
AO: #ao_mastodon
PAX: @Samsonite @Linc @Mr Roboto @Ankles @Dr. Phil @LeMond @DQ
FNGs: 0
Q: @DQ
Total: 7

WOR

• SSH
• Goofballs
• Arm circles
• Oblique warriors
• Worlds greatest stretch

Thang 1
20s work / 10s rest tabata. PAX rotated through the following 5 exercises 5 times, for a total of 25 rounds of tabata work:

• In and outs
• Bear twists
• Dive bombers
• Bonnie blairs
• Burpees

Thang 2
PAX partnered up at the SHOP and completed the following pairs of exercises:

1. Thrusters / Derkins – 50 reps combined between partners
2. Thrusters / Derkins (again) – 50 reps combined between partners
3. Coupon swings / Table press – 50 reps combined between partners
4. Single arm row / Deep swimmers press – 15 reps completed per PAX (ran out of time)

Moleskin
Matthew 11:28-30
Rest prevents deception from taking advantage of fatigue and elevating apathy, hopelessness, selfishness. Rest is an orienting surrender. It focuses less on controlling your fruitfulness, and puts more focus on your faithfulness.

COT

• @Mr Roboto’s son and work getting done on their porch
• @Ankles upcoming MRI

Date: 03/25/24
AO: #ao_flat_earth
PAX: @Tortuga d@Cheese @8-Track @Manhole @Samsonite @Velveeta @Spit Valve @Jolly @Panda Express @Krampus @DQ
FNGs: 0
Q: @DQ
Total: 11

WOR

• SSH

The thang
A one sided affair, but towards the end we had fans cheering and jeering on the sidelines. Word must be getting out that catching one of our games is worth the price of admission.

Moleskin
In one of my Lent devotionals, the author described a day where everything was going right. The house was in order. His family was enjoying the outdoors. Everything was right. Yet despite the perfection of this day, he still yearned more to be with Jesus in Heaven. So he prayed, and asked why am I still here? God’s response, he says, was "You’re here to learn to love". From then on, he started looking at every situation, encounter, relationship, through the lens of "this is meant to teach me to love". Let that be our primary motivation in everything we do.

COT

• @Krampus’s baby girl getting some vaccines today

Backblast: Legs, Core, and Cardio

Date: 3/19/2024

AO: #ao_mastodon

PAX: @Stock boy, @Samsonite, @Dr. Phil, @Linc, @Panda Express, @Captain Crunch, @Jailbreak, @Mad Cow, @TBTF, @LeMond

FNGs: 0

Q: @LeMond

Total: 10

• Warmorama: 5 mins

  • Goofballs

  • Monkey humpers

  • Imperial Walkers

  • Arm circles forward, backward

  • Side leg raises

• Pre-Thang near parking lot:

  • Jacked Up

    • SSH x 20 IC

    • Seal Jacks x 20 IC

    • Plank Jacks x 20 IC

    • Crossover Squat Jacks (aka Deny Terio) x 20 IC

    • Smurf Jacks x 20 IC

• Parking Lot Suicides

  • 150 Jungle Boi Squats between partners

  • One parter does squats, the other does suicides using parking lot lines.

  • Suicides: 2,4,6,8

  • Then relay race from island to island

• At baseball field

  • Prisoner Cell Merkin Burpees aka PCMBs.

  • Sprint to each base:

    • Start with 1 rep

    • Add 1 rep at each base.

    • Q acknowledges that this was too many reps!

• Head to shed.

  • Bulgarian Split Squats off of picnic tables

  • Dips off picnic table

  • Bent-over toe touches

  • Bunny vs bear.

    • 5 hops, hold squat

    • partner bear crawls, then catches up.

• Mary

  • Box cutters

  • Reach ups

  • Freddie Mercuries

  • American Hammers

• “If you treat every situation like a life and death matter, you’ll die a lot of times.” — Dean Smith, University of North Carolina basketball coach

• Try the 5-5-5 trick: Ask yourself, “Will this matter in five days? Five months? Five years?”

Date: 03/16/24
AO: #ao_mastodon
PAX: @Stock boy @Mr Roboto @Samsonite (Respect) @TBTF (QIC)
FNGs: 0
Q: @TBTF
Total: 4
WoR: SSHs, Squats, Merkins, Abe Vegodas, Tappy TapsThangs:
TBTF Routine in full – TBTF = Tuck Jumps, Blockee, Thrusters, Frog Jumps x5 each movement at each light posts (15 light posts along route)We did 1 round of standard TBTFs and a modified round (no coupon, replace blockees with burpees and thrusters uses same movement but no coupon)We then did a small recovery mosey and headed to the flag for MaryMary – plank 30 seconds, flutter kicks, LBCs, American Hammer, plank 60 secondsMoleskine: "I used to think 10 blockees was hard until @SAGA made me do 120". Today’s moleskin was all about perspective and not letting things that seem hard (ie TBTF routine, 120 blockees, etc) prevent you from going after it.