THANG 1 Split into groups of 3-4 (depending on if you count 9 like the Q or 10 like everyone else) DRAG RACE- 1 PAX does sandbag drag to tree and back while rest of Pax does AMRAP of:
1 arm rows
Hammers
Clean and Press
OH Squats
Titan Pull All three sandbags (~180 pounds) attached to a tow rope. 1 Pax pulls load around shrubs while other Pax AMRAPs the following:
OH Flutters
Merkins
Ruck Swings
OH Dolly
Shoulder to Shoulder Thrusters
HODORs
Plank
Getups
Curls
Burpees
10 exercises for 10 HIMs. Almost like I planned it that way.COR/NOR/COT — Prayers for @Crack s daughter settling into college, @Noodles finishing strong at work, and sleep/rest for all Pax (looking at you @Jäzz Händz)
An impressive (17? PAX joined at the AO for an extended Saturday beatdown, some following a Banks EC beatdown shortly before!
Today’s workout was called “Friendly Fire” – named after a semi-friendly, semi-competitive Thang 2 routine that pit partner against partner.
Warm-0-rama
7X motivators
Arm Circles (B and F)
10 Tappy taps
Thang 1: 11’s via lightposts
Start with 1 burpee, 10 merkins
End with 10 burpees, 1 merkin
Thang 2: Friendly Fire
Partner up! Equal speed/strength.
P1 exercises. Keep your count
P2 runs the hill and back (bear crawl and other variants thrown in for pain)
Switch
Once both have run and exercised, reveal your number of reps to your partner.
Winner planks, loser makes up the difference with the makeup exercise.
Exercise/Makeup
Merkins/Merkins
Curls/LBCs
JumpSquats/Big Boy Situps
Blockbees/Flutter kicks
Overhead press/lunges
Monkey Humpers/LBCs
Star Jumps/Crunchy frogs
American Hammers/Diamond Merkins
Finale:
John Cusack your coupon around the hill and back to its home.
You-call-it Mary round. 50LBCs (sparrow), flutters (SAGA), E2Ks (Pele), Leg raises (Hotbox)
COT:
Prayers for family and friends of Crack and Saga for loss of close friends
For Crack’s daughter as she heads down to school
For all grappling with the decision to return their kids young/old to school – your decision is the right one.
For any struggling with anxiety and restlessness – that they find needed peace.
Warm-O-Rama – we didn’t need much. Due to all the EC workouts your QIC decided to take the crew around Wheaton for some good 2nd F! We completed 15 Merkins IC for good measure
As we began to Ruck @saga showed up a little after time, while we waited we did some OH Squats and some one arm curls. Once the group was complete we headed out
The Thang – We rucked through the streets of Wheaton. Your QIC wasn’t super familiar with the surroundings but with some help from some fellow HIMs we made it back to the AO just in time.
EC Thang – for good measure and a little @DaVinci encouragement we repped of 15 more merkins IC.
With mist off the lake and plenty of dew on the ground, the PAX rolled in (DaVinci, Big Mac, TBTF, Shiplap, Banks, HotBox, and Crunch(QIC)) ready to get after it. The Q had recently injured himself in a brief 2 seconds of woodworking stupidity, so his planned coupon-heavy beatdown was out the window. The challenge, to bring the heat with some classic bodyweight movements worthy of the name of beatdown and balance out the merkin mania that has seized the Qs of recent weeks.
The Standard
Motivators
Don Quixotes x15
Mountain Man Poopers ICx15
Dora 1,2,3 (but with Bernies (Bernices?) on the hill run) — It was fun to introduce this bread and butter workout to a few of the newer PAX. As Shiplap explained, “it’s like Greta, but without the coupon”. lol.
The Business End
Time to repeat those muscles but with some heavier hitting reps to dial things up.
Archer Push-ups x10
Ol’ Ironsides (Boat/Canoe + American Hammer ICx20 (x2))
Dan Taylors (you know and love them, now do them up to 11!) — we worked in some wider side-to-side lunges to mix things up a little bit. TOTALLY different muscle groups…
“Abs for Days” (15 min of Mary)
The flip side of “if you can’t do it, don’t Q it.” is “Q to your strong suit”. Apparently, I’m known for core exercises, so we did some until it hurt, then we did some more.
Dr. W’s ICx15
100s OYO
Crunchy Frogs (aka “Dutch Bazookas”) ICx10
Heel Touches ICx20
J-Lo #1 ICx15 each side
J-Lo #2 ICx20
COR/NOR/COT — It was a beautiful day that made you grateful to be out and awake for it. Prayers for the group, for God’s presence to be with each of us as we go about our day serving those around us. Lifting up the brothers here, in Naperville, and beyond that more would be added and that the PAX would grow in grace and wisdom in this season.
Today was a highly anticipated workout at AO Mastodon. The AO continues to grow thanks to a great addition of HIMs. Noodles on the Q as 15 PAX posted for today’s workout. Today’s workout revealed plenty of what AO Mastodon has to offer as Noodles managed to cover all 6 bridges and still left plenty of time for goodies. It definitely killed the mumble chatter towards the end.
WoR: Motivators x 7, Abe Vigodas x 15, Ballerina Toe Squats x 15
Thang #1 – A.L.A.R.M
Bridge #1 – Arm (Body Bag Builders) x 15
Bridge #2 – Leg (Monkey Humpers) x 25 – cadence count
1 squat, 4 lunges. 2 squats, 8 lunges, etc. Final count 7 squats, 28 lunges. AYG mosey/run to Squat Row.
Thang #3 – Squat Row
Squats at every street lamp (SL). Mosey between SLs. Increments of 1, ex: SL #1 – 1 squat, SL #2 – 2 squats. Bear Crawl across the last bridge. Mosey over to base of Hoffa.
Thang #4 – Broad Jump Burpees
Pax split into groups of 7 & 8. Groups were spread out on opposite ends, 25 yards apart. Pax to perform Broad Jump Burpees to opposite side and back. Rinse and repeat for time.
MoM: Arm Circles, Raise the Roof, Chinooks, Moroccan Nightclub
CoT: Prayers for rest and continued health. Prayers for Europe and recent spikes in COVID. Prayers for Crack’s daughter, older sister to Crash and K-Pop, as she transitions to college. Asking for guidance and protection. Overall, continued growth for AO Mastodon so as to continue sharpening, motivating and pushing each other to be better men, sons, husbands, leaders in our communities.
5 highly motivated PAX participated in an EC workout that destroyed our arms. Huge shoutout to @Saga, @TBTF, @BigMac, and @DiVinci for coming out ready to rock and roll. Not only did these 4 guys bring the energy 3 of them are fairly knew to the group. What a way to get after it
Warm-o-Rama – motivators x 7, arm circles forward and backward on the Q, Hamstring stretch
Thang 1 – 10 hill runs – get up and down anyway you want just keep the heart rate going. @BigMac was a machine! Idea was to get the blood slowing before getting our upper body pump on!
Thang 2 – With a coupon in hand we moseyed over to the outdoor equipment. We did three round of the following
5 Pull up, 5 negative chin ups on the Q, 25 bent over rows, 10 one arm rows each arm, 15 curls with palms facing up followed by 5 negatives on the Q
10 Merkins in cadence, 15 chest presses, 15 skull crushers followed by 5 negative skull crushers on the Q
We ended the fun with some Mary – 25 butterfly LBCs, 25 oblique crunches each way, 25 flutter kicks in cadence
COT – Praise for the guys for joining this morning. Incredibly grateful for such a wonderful morning. Praying for the College of Wheaton and a resolution to the turmoil.
13 (!) PAX hit it hard this morning with a big sandbag workout.
WOR- 7x Motivators, 15x Merkin IC
Thang 1- Sandbag Time: Groups of 3-4.
1 PAX does the following set: 5x Burpee Power Clean, 10x Clean and Press, 15x Shoulder to Shoulder Thruster. While PAX completes the set, 1 PAX AMRAP BBSitups, other PAX lunges. PAX run to other partner at completion of the set and switch roles. Rinse, repeat until all PAX in group have done sandbag set.
Same groups, same setup this time sub Bear Crawls for lunges and these for the sandbag reps: 10x Merkins w/ Sandbag on back, 20x Front Squats, 30x Bent Over Row.
Mosey to bottom of the hill. Groups must toss the sandbag up the hill alternating throws.
Ring of Fire- PAX calls exercise than Bear Crawls around the outside of the circle while other PAX do the called exercise. Repeato until all PAX have gone around.
COR NOR- Archive, Banks, Big Mac, JLiz, Saga, Gummi Bear, Hotbox, Katniss, Shiplap, TBTF, Sparrow, Da Vinci, FNG (Welcome Tulip!)
BOM- Thanks to Gummi Bear for the exhortation yesterday to Kill Hitler if you get a chance and to be patient with our families. Prayers for Keith’s broken arm.
4 PAX (Archive QIC, Banks, Gummi Bear and Hotbox) for not yo’ momma’s Ruck Monday.
WOR- 2 minute plank. Surprisingly easy, don’t think I was fully awake yet. Made lap of the AO with 4 stops for:
3×3 Dirty Man Makers- Manmaker with 3 hand release merkins at the bottom and 3 squat thrusters at the top.
Fully warmed up PAX moved onto Thang 1:
M.E.R.C.Y. High Fives Done with FIVE stations at the bottom of a hill. The hill climb and distance is your challenge. PAX must complete each station’s circuit at the top of the hill before moving to the next. All stations (except the C-Crawl Station have a WO at the top of the hill which start with 1 Rep and ascend up to 5 Reps before that station’s circuit is complete. Station 1 – M – Manmakers w/ ruck – Station 2 – E – Squat w/ Extension- Squat with overhead lift of Ruck Station 3 – R – Rock-a-Bye Babies w/Ruck Station 4 – C – Crawl (aka Bear Crawl) w/Ruck Station 5 – Y – Yoke Walk w/ Sandbag At the top of the hill, complete the required number of ascending Squats Lord Have MERCY on your muscles after you climb HIGH up the hill FIVE times for FIVE sets.
PAX made it through at least one round of each station.
Prayers for Archive’s car shopping and a good start to the work week!
It was a hot muggy Saturday at AO Mastodon, but we had our largest Saturday turnout in a while! 13 PAX, yes 13! (Archive, Captain Crunch, Noodles, Davinci, Saga, TBTF, Katniss, Shiplap, Sparrow, Big Mac, Hotbox, Jazz Hands, Banks). With the growing numbers, YHC felt it was time to spend a few minutes on how to Q and properly call cadence so that everyone is on the same page moving forward with workouts.
Warm-O-Rama:
We started off reviewing the disclaimer, as well as the 5 principles of F3.
Disclaimer:
Welcome to F3, this is a free, volunteer, peer-led workout. I am not a professional. I have no knowledge of any injuries or fitness considerations. It is each person’s responsibility to be safe and modify exercises if you need to. We all do it, most important thing is that you don’t get hurt.
5 Principles of F3:
Be free of charge
Be open to all men
Be held outdoors, rain or shine, heat or cold
Be led by men who participate in the workout in a rotating fashion, with no training or certification necessary
End with a Circle of Trust
We then covered the importance of and how to call cadence. The workout today demonstrated various different types of cadence to show it is not all one size fits all.
Counting Cadence:
Creates rhythm which distracts the mind from the task at hand
Builds teamwork by synchronizing PAX and creating focus
Not knowing the number of reps discourages budgeting of effort; you get used to going as long as you have to
Proper Cadence Sequence:
“The next exercise is…” [pause] “Side Straddle Hop!” (or name of other exercise) – PAX REPEAT BACK!
Stop #1 – We broke into 3 groups and completed 15x Pull ups as the pacer, the other PAX did BBS and planked while waiting
Stop #2 – Basketball Court Suicides – We all ran one iteration
Stop #3 – Pool Complex – we circled up and completed the following
20x Merkins
10x 8-Count Body Builders IC
25x LBC IC
25x Right side oblique crunch IC
25x Left side oblique crunch IC
50x Flutter Kicks IC
20x Squats IC
Stop #4 – Dan Taylor Alley – We completed Dan Taylor’s up to 7 Squats & 28 Lunges
Stop #5 – Baseball Diamond – We held people’s chair while we rotated through PAX “Running” the bases by crab walking to first, bear crawl to second, lunge to third, and sprint home
Stop #6 – Caterpillar – We planked and then box jumped over all the PAX indian run style
Stop #7 – Monkey Bars – We quickly all crossed the monkey bars
Stop #8 – 11’s – We ran the lightposts back to the flag completing 11’s of Merkins and Squats along the way.
COR/NOR/COT:
All PAX survived the heat and were better for it. I am thankful for the group indulging me in a little different type of Q, but hopefully it makes us all better and gives us some more things to try out. Prayers for Beth, Big Mac’s friends going through a tough time in their relationship, and praise for Jazz Hands getting some much needed rest. Great job today men!
Your school is on a field trip to the zoo, and you’re trying to catch the attention of your new crush. With your friend holding on to you shirt, you lean way over the gorilla pit and smack the largest gorilla on the back of the head. Your friend loses his grip, and now you’re eye to eye with an angry gorilla, who is trying to decide if you are another gorilla, a snack, or his long lost girlfriend.
You’ll have to do your best gorilla impression if you want to survive until the zoo keepers arrive.
Do 75 total reps in any combination of these:
Overhand Pull ups Underhand Chin ups. Toe to bar.
You’ve fallen into the hands of several elderly zombies. They will eat your brains, unless you can blend in with them.
To blend in, you must perform 300 reps on ANY of the permanent workout machines in this area. Choose any machine. Bodyweight chest press, inclined sit-up, elliptical movement, etc.
Any machine, any rep count, until your team gets to 300 reps total.
You’ve aroused the anger of time traveling cowboys. They decide to teach you a lesson by “making you dance”. With pistol shots at your head and feet. You’ll be ducking and jumping to survive.
To dodge the bullets perform 150 reps total of any combination of:
Bench dips
Box Jumps
Step ups
A rival workout gang claims Northside Park as their exclusive territory, unless you can beat them at their own game.
To prove you’re the strongest, you need to do 150 reps in any combination of:
Merkins Burpees Star Jumps Squat jumps
Out of innocent curiosity, you wandered behind the bathhouse. You walked right into a secret meeting of bully’s club called Rodney and the Wrathbones.
They’ll let you go free, but only after you do 150 of these (total reps in any combination):
Bent over rows Kettle bell swings Coupon lunges
You drank something, and it wasn’t Kool-aidTM. You can’t tell if someone laced your drink with PCP, Speed, or just the heady power rush that accompanies becoming commander in chief.
Work off your power rush and prove you’re the best by performing150 Total Reps in any combination of:
Coupon Bicep Curls
Overhead Press
Scull Crushers.
F3 Wheaton 