BACKBLAST: Thursday, May 6, 2021 “Sands of Time” 5:30AM @ AO Mastodon

We did PT with sandbags. Pretty simple stuff.

WOR:

20 Bat Wings

20 Goofballs

40 Slow Merkins lifting alternate leg (the moaning started here)

THANG 1:

PAX take turns with Sandbags going from lantern to lantern around the AO Path

At each lantern:

PAX with the Fat Man (120lb sandbag) calls an exercise from the pool of suggestions or comes up with something of their own and all the PAX do that exercise.

  • Fat Man does 10 reps

  • Small Bags do 20 reps

  • Bagless do 40 reps

Once complete do the holding exercise for the 6

Drop the bags and someone else carries it.

Sandbag

Bagless

Holding Exercise

Chest press

Merkins

People’s Chair

Side Lunges

Plank

Bent over Rows

Tricep Dips

Boat

Squat-press

Air Squats

Reverse Plank

Curls

Leg curls

Canoe

Good Morning

Al Gore

Overhead squat

No Surrenders

Side Plank

Split Squat

Low squat

We had enough sandbags and PAX that everyone had one turn with Fat Man, and had a small bag about every 2nd or 3rd lantern.

THANG 2:

Man Rise up Hoffa, sandbags included, Sandees/Burpees at the top. Shiplap did his sandies with the Fat Man followed by Nantan Banks getting in his own 10 bonus reps. YHC tried one with the Fat Man and found it could barely be lifted overhead, so the workout ended abruptly.

Mosey back to the flags was definitely slow today.

NOR: Aloha, Archive, Banks, Beaker, Big Mac, BOGO (FNG), Cookies (Q), Dress Code (FNG), Gummi Bear, Hotbox, Jolly, Katniss, Picasso, Shiplap, Sparrow, T-Bone ¡Respect!, Tortuga ¡Respect!, Wet Burrito ¡Welcome Back!

Run Club

Backblast, 4/2/21, 5:30AM, AO Ground Zero

Eleven PAX posted for this morning’s festivities. @Cookies, @DaVinci, and @Sparrow modified as needed and rucked to spare their knees and/or ankles.

The rest of us warmed up with a 1.4 mile jog over to the Blanchard Road hill, located next to Crossway Books. We ran the hill slowly the first time, made the return trip back down and did it again, increasing our speed each rep so that by the fifth ascent we were at an all out sprint.

Once hills were finished we sprinted the length of the island on Crescent Street that starts just east of the College Ave train station and goes to the end of the block. @Shiplap crushed us. (I think he might need to gain some of that weight back to slow him down a bit.)

The return trip got us back to the AO just after 6:15. We ended up just shy of 5 miles for the run.

NOR: (in alphabetical order) Beaker, Cheese, Cookies, Crack, DaVinci, Jolly, Katniss, Shiplap, Sparrow, T-Bone, Tortuga (Q)

COT: We prayed for T-Bone working to finish a deal with work, Crack and his work trip out east next week, for new believers Sparrow and his team witnessed to from Iran last week – for the strengthening of their faith, Sparrow whose feeling were hurt (not by @Jolly or anyone from F3, surprisingly).

Moleskin: Keep working on our verse of the week, and don’t leave the six behind: check in with your team and encourage/ push the stragglers to finish off the first part of Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith.” Next week we add the next chunk, “and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”

Backblast: Revised SuperDora 03/23/2021 5:30AM @ AO MASTODON

One month ago YHC attempted to create something Super, but as has been observed lately, this PAX never does anything half-assed. In this case it was not only too complicated, but also an insane quantity of reps that even the valiant baker’s dozen HIMs could not complete. Now, with the warmer weather, a new version of the SuperDora has emerged, and the PAX of F3-Wheaton were ready to meet the challenge: Banks, Beaker, Big Mac, Cookies (Q), Da Vinci, Hotbox, Jolly, Katniss, Panhandle, Saga, Shiplap, T-bone, Tortuga, Whittler

WOR: Daisy pickers and some leg stretching, Arm circles and some arm stretching.

THANG: SuperDora, revised version

Instead of pairs, the entire PAX was challenged to complete exercise reps including both cardio exercises and PT. Carry your coupon with you everywhere you go, and don’t linger at any one station too long. Exercise completion tracked by moving tokens from one bucket to another at 4 stations:

Station 1 – Hoffa: 50 tokens

1 Redrum up and down Hoffa per token

Station 2 – Cooties: 100 tokens

5 Pull ups or 10 Inverted rows or 10 Kettlebell swings or 10 Derkins per token

Station 3 – SHOP: 150 tokens

10 Curls or 10 Chest press or 10 Overhead press or 10 Tricep Extensions or 20 One arm rows or 5 Picnic table press per token

Station 4 – lamppost: 200 ‘tokens’

10 BBSUs or 10 Outlaws or 10 American Hammers or 5 Hodors per token

The PAX split up and got to work. It turns out that the Cooties and SHOP were very popular and all reps were finished before 6am, but there were plenty of Mary and Redrums still on the board to keep the PAX going to the end. With one Redrum token remaining and less than a minute left a beautiful Manrise rounded things out and the Q deemed the SuperDora complete!

3.24.2021 – This Goose Was Cooked (Martyr Q) @AO Tarpit

Warm-O-Rama

Early morning gloom, so early the sun hadn’t even posted yet, but 13 PAX had (well 12 had and SAGA would be joining shortly) (Babe, Panhandle, Shiplap, Banks, Whittler, Da Vinci, T-Bone, Gummi Bear, Noodles, Tortuga, SAGA, Katniss, Big Mac (QIC)).

Disclaimer (and Spoiler) Jan Hus found a cause worth dying for, an F3 morning workout is not worth dying for. Modify as necessary.

Warm-o-Rama:

Jan Hus – Born in the late 14th century. The exact year is disputed (sometime in the range of 1369-1375)

14 burpees

Born in Husinec, literally “Goosetown” from whence he received his surname.

10 Goose steps (like a tin soldier but elevate foot on ground to tip-toe)

Born into poverty to peasant parents,

10 lunges

Huss trained for the priesthood "I had thought to become a priest quickly in order to secure a good livelihood and dress and to be held in esteem by men."

10 good mornings

Committed to study hard

10 mountain climbers

Headed to Prague

Mosey to wheel

Earned his bachelors, masters and doctorate – 50 curls for bachelors run the hill, 50 bent over rows for masters run the hill, 50 overhead press for doctorate run the hill.

Along the way ordained- Rifle carry up and down the hill.

Encountered the writings of John Wycliffe, stirred interest in the Bible. "When the Lord gave me knowledge of Scriptures, I discharged that kind of stupidity from my foolish mind."

Preacher at Prague’s Bethlehem Chapel (Seats 3000) Preached in Czech not Latin

Mosey to the stadium and run the steps

Starts placing more emphasis on Bible, and more authority on church councils. Re: Bible "desiring to hold, believe, and assert whatever is contained in them as long as I have breath in me."

20 thrusters to lift up the Word of God.

Rift emerges, German and Bohemian sects, Two Popes vie for rule of Christendom

Murder bunnies to opposite ends, rifle carry back. It’s a race.

Everybody loses, both popes deposed. Church council elects Alexander V. Alexander bribed to side against Huss. Huss is branded a heretic and excommunicated. Excommunication only on paper.

Continues to preach.

20 thrusters to lift up the Word of God.

Antipope John XXIII replaces Alexander. Tries to raise money to conquer others vying for papal authority by selling indulgences. Huss is outraged.

10 Blockbees.

Speaks out and is excommunicated for real this time.

Mosey back to Wheel.

1414 – Council of Constance, Huss invited by Holy Roman Emperor, promised safe conduct and enticed by possibility of significant church reforms agreed to travel.

Two Laps around the wheel and then rifle carry to flag.

On arrival immediately arrested and asked to recant on views (papal authority is higher than protection of Roman emperor). No recanting, stops appealing to king, structures of medieval church or even the pope. He appeals to higher authority, Jesus Christ.

20 thrusters, uphold the Word of God.

He is buried in a mound of wood up to his neck. Asked one last time by Duke of Bavaria to recant beliefs.

"No, (said Huss;) I never preached any doctrine of an evil tendency; and what I taught with my lips I now seal with my blood.

20 thrusters

From Foxe’s Book of Martyrs "You are now going to burn a goose, (Huss signifying goose in the Bohemian language:) but in a century you will have a swan which you can neither roast nor boil." If he were prophetic, he must have meant Martin Luther, who shone about a hundred years after, and who had a swan for his arms.

Every account I’ve read has him singing hymns as he died in the flames.

Moleskin – There are many cries for justice these days. I’m not sure I could clearly state what the word means, but by listening to those crying out it seems to be a deep sense that all is not right in the world and a longing for something better. Perhaps the climax of Huss’s life is the point when he stops appealing to any earthly authority. All had let him down, the Bavarian King, the Roman Emperor, the Medieval Church and the Pope, all he has left is Christ, and it is to Christ he makes his final appeal. As Christians, we lament injustice, but it does not surprise us. Our hope is not in any of the institutions of earth but in Christ.

Prayer: Babe’s grandfather, T-bone’s M (medical procedure), Noodles for wisdom in job-related conversations.

Backblast 2/24/2021 (Billy Madison Workout)

Challenge: Complete k-12 in 45 minutes.

15 PAX showed up for class, in attendance:

Warmorama

Motivators (x7); good mornings; arm circles

Run up the wheel with coupons.

Each grade consists of an exercise and a question aimed at students of that grade level. Graduation from each grade to the next requires running down and back up the wheel.

Kindergarten: Little Baby Crunches (50) (How many PAX are in attendance?)

1st Grade: Hodors (20) (Laura has 7 cupcakes. Jeremy eats 2. How many does Laura have left? 5; What does Jeremy have? A black eye.)

2nd Grade: skull crushers (25) (Which is not a state of matter? Solid, Color, Liquid, Gas)

3rd Grade: Star Jumps (30) What is the name for someone who studies dinosaurs? (Paleontologist)

4th Grade: Blockbees (11) 44 divided by 4

5th Grade: Bonnie Blairs (27) 5 and 2/5 into an improper fraction.

6th Grade: Wall climbers (6) Give number and symbol for Carbon (6, C)

7th Grade: Coupon swings (20) Obnoxious is to pleasant as radiant is to: (dull, bright, loud, quiet, soft)

8th Grade: Coupon curls (70) 4x-10=18, what is x? (7)

9th Grade: Big Boy Situps (90) What’s the formula for area of a circle? (pi)r^2

10th Grade: Merkins (100) What gas is needed for photosynthesis (Carbon Dioxide)

11th Grade: Air Squats (110) What is the belief that the US has the right to occupy all of America? (Manifest Destiny)

12th Grade: Flutter Kicks (120) SAT Vocab: What is an antonym for enervating (feeling energized, like after an F3 workout or after finishing all of school in 45 minutes)

Graduation Ceremony: Your coupon is your diploma, hold it high (rifle carry) and walk back to the parking lot.

Moleskin: Unlike Billy, you’re likely not a drunk who may fail to inherit his father’s business, but like Billy, working towards a clear objective in a community is pretty helpful. Thanks to F3 for helping me do better during COVID along several dimensions.

CoT; Prayer: Energy, focus, perseverance, Bloomer’s son, Jazz Hand’s friend

SuperDora 02/23/2021 @ AO MASTODON

Knowing that it has been cold lately and there is a LOT of snow and ice on the ground that will be in various states of melting due to the warmer temperatures, the challenge was to create a workout that left the PAX warm and not too wet for coffeeteria. It turns out that the snow was not melty, but instead was packed down firmly with a nice crust on top.

YHC has always been a fan of the Dora, but the Exicon came up short while planning this workout so a new Dora was born, the SUPERDORA. Answering the new challenge were many of the stalwart HIMs: Big Mac, Bloomer, Cookies, Da Vinci, Hotbox, Jolly, Katniss, Panhandle, Saga, Shiplap, TBTF, T-bone (first RESPECT workout!), Tortuga.

Warmorama was a simple classic to get the blood pumping: motivators, goofballs, and a quick lap of high knees around the parking lot while the Q explained the beatdown.

Queue the SuperDora:

Instead of pairs, the entire PAX was challenged to complete exercise reps with interspersed bursts of cardio. (up to 4 exercises between cardio, the PAX chose various strategies)

Cardio options were: run up or down Hoffa, Run to the cooties/SHOP or back (convenient if targeting one of the exercises that are executed there), 15 Burpees, 25 Star Jumps, 30 Mountain climbers

Exercise rep targets were determined by number of PAX to show. The Q failed at math and targeted about 2000 reps per PAX to spread around. It should have been half of that. The board was prepared with 72 marks per exercise group, each mark originally representing 75 reps which the Q revised to 60 reps, it really should have been 30 reps per mark.

Categories and exercises available per type:

4320 – Chest/shoulders: Derkins, Chest press, Picnic table press

4320 – Back/shoulders: Bent over coupon rows, Inverted rows, Pull ups

4320 – Mary: Leg raises, American Hammers, jumping crunches or imperial walkers

4320 – Legs: Weighted squats, Calf raises (4 = 1), Pistol squats

4320 – More: Kettlebell swings, Coupon Curls, Rifle carry (4 paces = 1)

There was a bit of confusion at the beginning, but the PAX quickly figured out their strategies and started their exercises. After a few minutes YHC noticed it was rather quiet, the grunts of hard work and an odd picnic table being dropped were about all that broke the silence. Thankfully Shiplap had already taken matters into his own hands and came back from his rifle carry to the car with Jock Jams pulsing, this clearly invigorated the PAX and they picked up the pace.

Nonetheless, the absurd number of reps planned were not coming off of the board fast enough and ⅔ of the way through the beatdown the Q called “double credit” and each set of 60 reps took 2 marks from the board. Alas, it was too little, too late and we ran out of time with quite a few marks on the board. At least we didn’t run out of exercises before the end of our time.

Cookies VQ: 12/30/2020 @ AO TARPIT

After an overnight snow turning to rain creating extremely wet and “crunchy” conditions, this morning the rain tapered off at TARPIT for 45 minutes allowing 9 HIMS to emerge for a beatdown treating their cores with special honor. @Shiplap @T-bone @Hotbox @Da Vinci @Archive @Big Mac @Gummi Bear @Tortuga (Respect), and @Cookies marked their workouts in the temporary trappings of the ground, the snow will melt and wash away but their gains will remain. The only angels in the snow this morning were the PAX!WOR: Arms out the whole time, core tight
“Baseball” Bat wings and lunges – like bat wings, eagle wings, or dragon wings, but holding two baseballs in each hand. Forward circles with palms down, backward circles with palms up.
· 20x small forward, 20x small backward (fast)
· 20x medium forward, 20x medium backward (fast)
· 10x large forward, 10x large backward (slow)
· 20x bringing arms together in front and crossing over then as far back as possible (like Michael Phelps but slow)
· 20x bringing arms together overhead then all the way down at sides (medium pace)
· (Q forgot the last one) 20x standing lunges with arms straight out to the sides or at right angles then twist at the torso as far as you can without bending in the direction of the forward knee
10x SLOW Abe Vagodas (keep holding baseballs if you want)
15x GoofballsThe stairs/hill running activities were shelved for a future beatdown due to the wet/slippery conditionsTHANG: Paired up and each pair carried a coupon and a baseball bat to the grass on the far side of the field for a paired up AMRAP in 5 minute segments. One PAX in the pair performed the A exercise, the other the B exercise until one of them called switch then they would switch, alternating thusly for 4 minutes then a new A/B exercise was assigned during the 1 minute rest period. While this was an AMRAP workout, PAX were reminded that form is more important than sheer number or reps, focusing on correct shape of the spine and protecting their lower backA1 – Plank up/down with an Annie
B1 – American HammerA2 – Nolan Ryan
B2 – Lunge position but leaning forward (straight back), one arm coupon rowA3 – Coupon pull through
B3 – LBBBCs (LBCs w/ or w/o a baseball bat behind neck, only lift one side of the body with each crunch)A4 – Sit Through
B4 – Marching bridgeA5 – Dancing Bear
B5 – BBSU, twisting alternate elbow to kneeFinisher:
5 sets: Sprint to the fence and back then 5 flutter kicks (two kicks with each foot counts as 1) followed by a clockwise and counterclockwise Outlaw
Hold Al Gores for the 6
Laying down in the snow some of us took a couple of back stretches while @Gummi Bear tried hitting snowballs with the baseball bat
Mosey back to the parking lot for COTMoleskin:
1 Corinthians 12:12-23

12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free–and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the [oblique], “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the [lower back], “I don’t need you!”22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor.

We lift up all of this PAX, our Ms and 2.0s. We lift up all that cannot join us in the gloom because their bodies don’t work the same as ours or their schedules make it impossible. We remember that in the body of Christ we are all together and interdependent but also all dependent on Christ.

11/4 at AO Tar Pit: The Bearmuda Triangle

14 weary-eyed PAX rolled in to AO Tar Pit at 5:30 for a post-election day beatdown. Shiplap, Tortuga, SAGA, Panhandle, Katniss, Banks, Captain Crunch, Big Mac, Sparrow, Cookies, Da Vinci, T-bone, Noodles and Gummi Bear. Many reported turning in late the night before as they anxiously awaited the election results that are still outstanding. After planting some flags, we rolled into the warm-o-rama:

7X Motivators
10 burpees
10 slow merkins IC
*Head to field w/ coupon*

The Thang

PAX partnered up into teams of two

Partner 1:
Runs a suicide line (3 stops with a graduated 1, 2 and 3 merkins owed at each)
At the third line, PAX runs straight to the “Bearmuda Triangle.” (Bear crawl to each of three stakes arranged in a triangle, graduated 1, 2 and 3 merkins owed at each)
When complete with this cycle, runs back to switch/relieve partner

Partner 2:
Partner who was not performing suicides/crawls does AMRAP of exercises below until partner returns to relieve/switch.

Burpees100
Overhead press w/ coupon200
Big Boy Sit Ups200
Bent Over Rows w/ coupon300
Totals above are team total (DORA fashion)

COT:
Prayers for our country as we adjust and accept the results of a close election. Thank the Lord for this fall season with beautiful weather, colors and the morning bootcamp fellowship.

10.21 Hilltoppers Coupon Club

Wet Burrito VQ

We warmed up with motivators, imperial walkers, Baryshnikov squats, Alabama @sskickers, arm circles.

Then had fun with 15 rounds of Hilltoppers!
30 squats (descending by 2) at the base of the hill/ramp and 15 alternating blockies/burpees (descending) at the top. Run/mosey or walk (like Banks) up and down in between.

I don’t know about the rest of you but I was a frozen burrito at 5:30 and a sweaty burrito by 6:00am.
Thanks team for the support: Banks Big Mac Da Vinci Saga T-bone Panhandle Tortuga & TBTF

Improv Comedy workout

Warmups
Motivator
Bat wings by ,
Mountain Man Poopers to 20
Abe Vigoda

The Thing

Circle of Block Exercises: “Go With It”

16 exercises, 16 reps each
Overhead Press
Curls
Block Burpees
Hodors
Leg over block
Jump over Block
Goblet squats
Superman on the Block
Nipple Scrapers on the Block
Kettle Bell Swings
(If you remember the other 6 block exercises, please put them in the comments below.)

Broken promises don't upset me.
I just think “Why did they believe me?”.

Merkins to the count of 10.

One person, and only one, says the number after each merkin. Count goes back to “1” if two people talk at the same time.

Heroes and Villains on Hoffa Hill

(This was ok, but not as strenuous as expected. I probably won’t do it again.)

Nipple Scrapers to 15

First Nations runs with two flags, two columns.

Circle of Trust

Bonus excercises:
10   Merkins.
“End on a Nipple Scraper” –