Tag: Banks

9.30.19 – EZ Ruck + Surprise Thrusters

by f3captcrunch, posted in Uncategorized

After a brief bit of cooler weather, 6 PAX (Banks, Triple XXX, Too Big To Fail, Noodles, Gummi Bear, Capn Crunch) woke to a warm, foggy morning. YHC had Bertha and Jerry out as optional dial-ups for the day, and some PT in store to start off Monday properly. Continuing our “year of good form”, these were completed with full range of motion for maximum benefit and maximum groaning.

The Ease-In:

  • Imperial Walkers ICx20
  • Abe Vigoda ICx10

The Starting Gun:

  • 25 Ruck Thrusters

The Mileage:

  • First Mile (+Bertha, no love for Jerry): 15:20
  • Second Mile (no Bertha, still no love for Jerry): 14:20 / 14:40

The Wind Down:

  • American Hammers (with Ruck) ICx20

COR/NOR/COT: Prayers for work (focus, energy, motivation, endurance) —  for recovery for Triple XXX’s wife’s mom and her bypass surgery — for Baby Noodles’ sleep schedule and rest and respite for Noodles and M — for Gummi Bears’ grandpa as his children make decisions about where to locate him for assisted living care and all the choices surrounding that — for Gummi Bears’ sister who took a fall on the stairs this past week while pregnant, that she and the baby would be healthy and fine and avoid any similar mishaps.

The good form is definitely still a big adjustment, but hoping to see good return as that gets easier (eventually?). Looking forward to a long slew of Qs lined up for October and posting ready to hit whatever crazy thing they have planned.

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.

9.23.19 – 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.

9.16.19 – 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.

9.7.19 – 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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7.22.19 – Intro to Pain Rucking

by f3captcrunch, posted in Uncategorized

After the heatwave of the weekend, we got a nice cool 66 degrees this morning and 5 PAX (Archive, Banks, Crunch, Noodles, TBTF) showed up for Monday’s Pain Ruck with some bonus weight on-hand. After our sand and surf heavy week, the promise was no shenanigans, just straight up work. Specifically, 170 lbs of Ruck, 100+# of concrete, 50+# of water, and 67# of sand. We rotated as we went and everyone got a turn with the sandbag and the jerry can.

The Opener:

  • Ruck Motivators IC x 5
  • Abe Vigodas IC x 20

The Pain Ruck:

  • The Burpee Mile: The Long Mile – 12 Burpees OYO every quarter mile (Combined Ruck Weight = 170 lbs., Bonus Team Weight = 220 lbs.)
  • The Overtime: Extra .5 mile, dropped the coupons off, dropped the jerry can at the half-way mark (Rucks = 170#, Team Weight = 93#)

Total Combined Ruck Work = 607

COR/NOR/COT: Prayers for job travel, recovery from workouts, continued health.

Short and Sweet, but a heck of a workout. I don’t know about anyone else, but I was (am) still sore from Saturday. We’ll see how recovery time goes before Thursday’s workout.

7.20.19 – Beating the Heat

by f3captcrunch, posted in Uncategorized

With a heat index threatening our fun, 5 stalwart PAX (Archive, Banks, Jazz Hands, Noodles, Crunch(QIC)) posted in a muggy 80 degrees before it got any hotter. The Q’s genius plan to keep exertion to a maximum and heat related smart-sacking to a minimum was the addition of a makeshift kiddie pool courtesy of some not yet utilized workbench lumber. It worked surprisingly well for being slapped together, and we got good and soaked regularly throughout the rotation. We had rucks enough to go around, so no one had to do the modified coupon version.

The Standard: 

  • Motivators IC x 7
  • Tin Soldiers IC x 14

The Water Workout:

  • 100 Ruck Squats
  • 1 Kraken Ruck Burpee in the “pool” (3 hand release merkins)
  • Ruck up the hill
  • 70 Ruck Push-ups
  • 33 Ruck Swings
  • 30 Lunges down the hill
  • Mandatory water-break
  • Repeat all of the above steps 2 more times

The Filler:

  • PAX played “Deck of Pain” (draw two: 1st card is your exercise, 2nd card is your rep count) with the workout cards until the 6 arrived.
  • Tear down the “pool” and haul it to the Q’s car

COR/NOR/COT: Prayers for job applications, upcoming work-travel for Banks, “Crunch’s rat disease-thing”, Noodles 2.0 (and his room!) — praise that we all beat the heat and lived to tell the tale.

Thought of the Day: It has been a long time since I did that many modified push-ups.

7.15.19 – EMBRACE. THE. GRIT.

by f3captcrunch, posted in Uncategorized

Sometimes it’s not the reps, it’s the environment that gets to you. Sometimes it’s not the body, but the mind that refuses.

The sun rose and 3 unsuspecting PAX (Noodles, Banks, Gummi Bear) rucked over to Mastodon to perform a morale test. This morning’s sadistic Q (YHC, Crunch) felt like rising to the bait of our sand and surf rucking challenge this month and even found a nice little tucked away sandbox for our ruck PT pleasure. (Mastodon has it all!)

Warm o Rama:

  • Ruck Motivators IC x 5
  • Abe Vigoda IC x 10
  • Arm Circles over to the C.O.O.T.E.E.s ring
  • One Complete Ruck-Up (a pull-up or dead hang for 30 seconds)

The Thang:

Proceed to the volleyball courts (tucked behind the aquatic center) for a lovely patch of damp sand. Try not to get it in your eyes while bear crawling.

AMRAP for 20 min:

  • Flutters x 20 (we did IC, because that’s how you count Flutters!)
  • Bear Crawl 30 yards
  • American Hammers x 20 (IC, because that’s how you count American Hammers!)

After 6 rounds we went to straight count to finish out the 9 sets before time was up. No time for MoM, but a quick ruck back to the parking lot and a rinse at the drinking fountain.

COR/NOR/COT: prayers for work / productivity / purpose — anxiety about upcoming vacations — anxiety about past vacations (waiting out incubation periods for rat-borne illnesses) — Noodles’ transfer application processing (and 2.0’s room) is taking longer than expected.

All things considered, these guys passed their “putting up with a crazy Q” test with flying colors. Sand does not make a workout more fun. But it does send you home with more genuine grit than you came with…

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7.13.19 – There will be Burpees…

by F3Banks, posted in Uncategorized

It was a beautiful, hot humid summer day. 6 brave PAX showed up knowing full well that they had burpees coming there way. This was my 1 year anniversary Q, so I knew I needed to make it a beatdown that won’t be soon forgotten.

Warm-O-Rama:

  • 7x Motivators
  • 21x Cherry Pickers
  • 10x 4-Count Merkins
  • 10x Burpees OYO

Thang 1: Bataan Death March

  • 5x Burpees, then run to catch back up. Each PAX did it twice

Thang 2: Burpee Extravaganza!

  • Bearpees across the tennis courts (1 Burpee, 4 Bearcrawls)
  • Mosey to the Exercise Equipment
  • 10x Burp-ups OYO
  • Mosey to Hoffa
  • Run to the top of the hill, 5x Hand Release Burpees
  • Run to the top of the hill, 5x Hurpees
  • Mosey to the other side of the grassy area
  • 10x Rochamburpees
  • 10x The Wolverine
  • Mosey to Coupon Island sans Coupons
  • 5x Yurpees
  • 5x Jackees

Thang 3: Mary

We rotated around with each PAX calling an exercise for the group

  • Banks – 50x 4-Count Flutter Kicks
  • Captain Crunch – Old Ironsides (Boat, Canoe, 10x American Hammer)
  • Archive – Bissyous – 20? (Yours truly was just trying to keep getting up…)
  • Too Big To Fail – Russian Twists – 20x 2-Count
  • Prince Eric – Cobra
  • Gummi Bear – Side Plank + 10x side dips

We moseyed to the top of the hill, completed 10x Merkins, and then moseyed back to the parking lot to finish out the workout.

COR/NOR/COT

Prayers for Archive in his new job search, Captain Crunch’s family health and for all of the brothers who didn’t make it out to join us today.