Backblasts

9.28.19 – Good Form, Low Reps

by f3captcrunch, posted in Uncategorized

Being on the cusp of starting Year 3 of F3 Wheaton, and coming off of GrowRuck #16 the week before, we rose this morning with an eye to building a solid foundation to push into even greater improvement this year. Thanks to Cadre Danny, it was hammered home that reps that don’t have good form aren’t worth doing, and might even end up getting you injured. If we’re out here to do a hard thing that’s good for us, then we might as well be doing it with Good Form. 6 PAX (Jazz Hands, CATS (the Musical), Banks, Archive, Too Big To Fail, and Capn Crunch) answered the call on a slightly rainy day with the beginning of post-summer coolness settling in.

Warm-O-Rama:

  • Motivators ICx7
  • Imperial Walkers ICx21
  • Tin Soldiers ICx10

Pearls of Wisdom: (Mosey the islands stopping at the quarters to focus on full-range of motion on one exercise)

  • Form lecture: Squats – 10 Practice full-range of motion squats / Bolt 45s
  • Dan Taylors (lunge practice)
  • Form lecture: Merkins – 10 Copperhead Merkins (complete with form lecture)

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Interlude: Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes (10 count coupon exercise) ICx5

Application Section:

  • (demi-)Heartbreak 1,2,3’s (As partners – 50 Merkins / 100 LBCs / 150 Squats, partner runs the hill)
  • Pull-up practice: form lecture and then one (or AMRAP) pull-up with excellent form

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The Ender:

  • Dead-hang practice
  • Doomsday Clock: Plank in circle, take turns doing 1 Merkin until everyone has bowed out

COR/NOR/COT: Prayers for Archive’s job interview this coming week — for Jazz Hands’ Mom’s blood-work to go well enough in prep for surgery — for Tim’s friends heading back to Iraq to find work — gratitude for the group at Wheaton and blessing on it’s ministry and growth this coming year. Excited for the personal and relational growth of the next year and couldn’t be happier about the men I share that road with.

Coffeeteria @ the Park! (not pictured: Gummi Bear, Gummi Worm and the rest of the fam (minus M. Gummi Bear) dropped by to share some donuts and fellowship with us!)

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Thought of the day: it is amazing how hard an exercise can get if you start using good form. It keeps you honest about where your limits are. Full range squats are no joke.

9.26 Time for Pain

by Ridgeway Burns, posted in Uncategorized

5 PAX broke the gloom together for a post GrowRuck beatdown.

Archive (QIC) was fighting day 4 of a cold so I elected for a no cadence, no warm-o-rama beatdown.

Thangs
1 Minute AMRAP each: Stepups, Shuttle Run, SSH, Jump Squats, Arm Circles, Plank, OHCs, LBCs, Merkins, Burpees.

2 Minute AMRAP each: Bear crawl, Bernie, Crab Walk, Lunge Walk, Sprint.

3 Minute Hold: Plank Position, Squat Position, Dolly.

NOR- Archive (QIC), Noodles, Captain Crunch, Banks and Gummi Bear.
COT- Prayers for Archive’s job interview, continued recovery for everyone who’s sick, thanks for Noodles 2.0.

09.21.2019 IronPax Challenge Week 3 “Meters 43”

by Gummibear, posted in Uncategorized

A humid summer feel clung to the Saturday morning September air. Archive and Captain Crunch were in Naperville posting as part of a weekend long “GoRuck”event. In the spirit of camaraderie, and due to the fact that we had already completed two other Ironpax challenges, another Ironpax challenge was in order.

Five Pax posted; Gummibear, Banks, TBTF, Jazzhands, & Duckmaster.

Warm Up: Being limited on time, we went for a quick jog around the playground and grabbed some coupons along the way to take with us to the pull up bars.

The Thang: Ironpax Challenge Week Three “Meters 43”

We set our stop watch for 43 Minutes and began doing as many sets as we could of the following:

10 Pull ups

15 Burpees/coupon jump overs

20 Burpee curls

25 Burpee squat thrusts

30 gas pumps

With the morning being surprisingly humid, and in order to better enjoy what could be the monotony of 43 minutes straight doing these exercises, we had a lot of mumble chatter going on during the workout. While we hit it hard, we certainly made time to socialize as well. However, perhaps in part due to the socializing no one completed 6 sets or more, as most of us finished in the middle of our 6th set. We all still viewed this workout as a victory however. Kudos to Duckmaster who was the only one of us who did not have to switch to an alternative exercise on at least one of the sets, as the rest of us did. No fancy pictures were taken today, just 43 minutes of sweat will be remembered by all.

Below is the link to the greenwood iron pax week 3 event as posted: https://f3greenwood.com/2019/09/15/2019-ironpaxchallenge-week-3-meters-43/

NOR/COT: Unfortunately I had to depart early this day, but banks and the others finished up with NOR & COT. God Bless

9.23.19 – Ruck Day!

by F3Banks, posted in Uncategorized

The rain finally stopped and it was a nice clear morning ITG for Ruck Day! After very few HC the night before, we were pleasantly surprised with 5 PAX showing up for the day, (Gummibear, TBTF, Banks, and surprise posts by both Noodles (Fresh off the arrival of his newborn son) & Captain Crunch (Just finished Growruck16 the day before)!)

The Workout:

We warmed up with Motivators and Mountain Man Poopers, then we rucked around 2 miles and completed 25x Merkins and 5x Dan Taylor’s along the way. We finished the workout with 3 sprints up the hill. (It was going to be 2, but Captain Crunch thought 3 was a better number)

COR/NOR/COT

Prayers for Noodles and his M as they adjust to life as parents, focus for the upcoming week, and fast recovery for Archive and Captain Crunch after the weekends shenanigans.

9.19.19 – Old Fashioned Beatdown

by F3Banks, posted in Uncategorized

It was another beautiful day at AO Mastodon, and with the impending Growruck event and lack of HC’s our Q knew it would be a lightly attended event, so he decided to not do anything fancy and deliver an old fashioned beatdown for whoever decided to show up. Gummibear was the only other PAX to arrive, so the 2 of us set off for the workout.

Warm-O-Rama:

  • 7x Motivators
  • 15x Tin Soldiers

Thang 1:

We took off on a run around the AO, and completed a few exercises along the way:

  • 11’s – Merkins & Squats stopping at each lightpole. 1:10, 2:9,…,10:1
  • Monkey Bar Routine – 1 PAX cross the monkey bars and complete 3 pullups while the other completes 5 burpees.
  • Dan Taylors 8x – 1 Squat, 4 Lunges up to 8 Squats, 32 Lunges

Thang 2: Coupon Work

We then stopped at the faithful coupon pile and picked our coupon of choice and completed the following:

  • Hodor 30x
  • Colt 45’s
  • Bolt 45’s

Thang 3: The Finale

We put back our coupons and moseyed to the hill to complete a round of Jacob’s Ladder up to 7. (Run to the top of the hill: 1 burpee, repeat with 2 burpees, keep repeating until you get to 7.

COR/NOR/COT

Finishing right on time, our 2 faithful PAX gathered and said prayers for Noodles as he and his M are beginning their lives as parents, for Captain Crunch & Archive as they embark on Growruck 16 with the Naperville men, and for us all to stay focused in our daily lives and finish the week strong!

9.16.19 – The Ruck 5k

by f3captcrunch, posted in Uncategorized

4 PAX posted in the warm, slightly misty Gloom. (Gummi Bear, Banks, Crunch, Archive) The day held one simple task, 3 miles in 45 min.

The PAX limbered up with 10x IC Imperial Walkers and then headed S out of the park and due West on Oak for Lawson Field. Then back along on Prairie for what ended up being a decent pre-dawn house tour of the gas-lit lamp, faux French Country section of Wheaton. That covered 2 miles in good enough time that we got our final mile in around the lake, complete with some Scout Run shenangians with the flag that mostly averaged out, pace-wise. Sub 15:00 achieved!

A good day, and some good rucking. Someone forgot his phone, so it was a Casio-only workout.

9.14.19 – Even or Odd?

by F3Banks, posted in Uncategorized

It was another beautiful day at AO Mastodon, and our Q had 2 workouts planned in case there was an even or odd number of PAX. As we started our warmup, we had 4 faithful PAX, so we started down the path of the even workout. Suddenly Cats arrived and on to the odd workout we went, but then we all heard the usual Saturday morning screeching tires as Jazz Hands came speeding into the AO to put us back onto the even workout!

Warm-O-Rama:

  • 7x Motivators
  • 15x Tin Soldiers
  • 15x 4-Count Merkins IC

The Thang:

The PAX partnered up for a little Tortoise and the Hare B.O.M.B.S. Two sandbags mysteriously arrived at the AO, so two teams used those, and one used a regulation coupon. The PAX ultimately circled the Island-to-Island loop 3x completing a total of 25 Burpees, 50 Outlaws, 75 Merkins, 100 Big Boy Situps, & 125 Squats. We then gathered back up at the flag and finished strong with Captain Crunch’s favorite Old Ironsides (Boat/Canoe with American Hammers mixed in).

COR/NOR/COT

Prayers for Noodles and his M over the next few weeks as they welcome a new member to their family, Captain Crunch and Archive as they take on Growruck 16 next weekend, and Jazz Hands Mom and family as they prepare for her upcoming surgery. All photography and video evidence was captured by Captain Crunch and will be posted accordingly.

9.12.19- Nice and Easy Now and Again, from the Candy Man.

by Gummibear, posted in Uncategorized

The Q had an ingenious workout planned for a team competition, but when only three pax posted, that plan was abandoned, perhaps lost forever to AO Mastodon. Worse things have happened I believe.

The 3 PAX; Captain Crunch, Banks, and Gummibear had all completed the ironpaxs challenge the following day. So in the spirit of esprit de corps that they were being swept up in, the Q decided today would be a bit of a victory lap, taking it pretty easy and laying off the coupons.

Warm Up: 2 mile group Jog (crunch mile) (9 min pace).

Thang: One 15 min circuit: Complete as many sets as possible:

-5 Pull Ups

-20 Box Jumps

-25 Sit ups

(5-7 total sets were complete by each pax).

Cool Down: 5 minute Ab workout; misc ab exercises.

Conclusion: This truly was a pretty easy workout. But it is important to adjust the tempo now and again. I think we all had fun and still got some good cardio and were able to work on pull-ups, which no one is terrific at. Also it was good to provide some focus to the abs, and help get the lactic acid out of the legs, through the jog. Overall, it was nice to be outside, together, and getting low intensity reps in.

NOR/COT/Prayers: Banks;Continue to be strong, Gummibear; God would bless Gummi Bear’s business and give him wisdom and long term vision, For Noodles and family and upcoming new member, For Archive and his career, and I honestly cannot remember what Crunch requested…Forgive me Captain Crunch.

Crunch….doing crunches. Actually he is doing sit-ups…in perhaps the smallest pair of shorts he could find.
Banks doing pull-ups… Photography sometimes is the most difficult part of these workouts. Only the best pictures are posted.

9.7.19 – Surprise! Killer Bs!

by f3captcrunch, posted in Uncategorized

With much the Nation registered and hyped up about IronPax 2019, YHC wanted to see what all the fuss was about. So when he got thrown the Q for Saturday this locked and loaded workout seemed too good to pass on. Being a certifiably sick individual, he also felt fine springing it on whoever decided to post that day, sandwiched in between some more extended running than usual.

4 PAX (Banks, Archive, Gummi Bear, Crunch) posted and got Motivated (Pittsburg-style!) and then moseyed over to the track (less than a mile, guys, 1km) to begin the Killer Bs.

5 Rounds (steps 1-5) for time:

  1. 10 yard Broad Jump
  2. 10 Burpees
  3. 10 Bonnie Blairs
  4. 10 Big Boi sit-ups

(repeat steps 1-4 two more times, ending at the 30 yard line)

5. Bear Crawl 30 yards back to the start

We made a good motley crew for it, with Banks posting to his first time back in almost a month and Archive having a bad back from some unknown (most likely parental) cause. But it did mean that he could take some good pictures for us. Two sub-30 finishers, and called for time so we could mosey all the way back to the flag for a prompt coffee and donuts.

Through a series of unfortunate events, we missed dragging Jazz Hands through this experience, but he did make it out and ad hoc’d his own workout (Route 121s) around the park until we found him on our return.

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09.05.19 Diagnostic Test

by Gummibear, posted in Uncategorized

4 pax ( Archives, Captain Crunch, and Gummibear, and an FNG) posted.

This workout was one of the easier workouts we have done in that the purpose was for each pax to re-assess where he is on basic exercises. This workout was simply to serve as a new baseline.

Warm Up:

We moseyed around the playground for a warm-up jog. .

Test: (As many reps as possible for time)

30 Sec -Pull ups

1 min – Inverted Rows

2 Min- Push ups

1 min- Modified Dips

Q forget to include sit-ups in this event. Needs to include this next time.

1 min- coupon squat presses (in hindsight this is not a testable event- no one reached muscle failure, or was even close to reaching muscle failure on this.

2 mile run for time

NOR/ COT: FNG given name Papa Bear. Prayers: Captain Crunch: wisdom in disciplining children. Archive: continued prayers for interview. Papa Bear: for wisdom with housing for his father. Gummibear: mother’s allergies/ wisdom for doctors.