Farmers Carry Dora
Today at the Armory, we spent 45 minutes in an attempt to remember and honor the 13 Service Members who paid the ultimate sacrifice last Thursday, August 26, 2021 in Kabul Afghanistan. While they are not the only ones lost or affected by this last 20 years of service, they are the most recent.
We had 25 PAX (1 FNG) in attendance and a number of shovel flags.
Operation Freedom’s Sentinel: This is the operation involving U.S. forces serving in Afghanistan in/around Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan in an effort to evacuate U.S. citizens and those that have supported U.S. forces over the last 20 years.
Around 6pm local time, on Thursday, August 26, 2021, a suicide bomber walked into a crowd and detonated the vest.
13: U.S. Service Members were killed in the blast
170: Estimated number of Afghan civilians killed in the blast
15: U.S. Service Members injured
200: Estimated number of Afghan civilians injured in the blast
Regardless of your opinion of the events leading up to and surrounding this attack, our U.S. Military is a volunteer force aware of the risks they face.
Today, we will honor and remember those 13 U.S. Service Members who paid the ultimate price last Thursday.
Marine Corps
Sgt Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, assigned to the 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Naval Support Activity Bahrain.
Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, of Sacramento, California, assigned to the Combat Logistics Battalion 24, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, II Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Lejeune, NC.
Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31, of Salt Lake City, Utah. He was 0369, an Infantry Unit Leader assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
Corporal Hunter Lopez, 22, of Indio California. He was a Rifleman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
Corporal Daegan W. Page, 23, of Omaha, Nebraska. He was an Infantry Rifleman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
Corporal Humberto A. Sanchez, 22, of Logansport, Indiana. He was a Rifleman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
Lance Corporal David L. Espinoza, 20, of Rio Bravo, Texas. He was a Infantry Rifleman, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
Lance Corporal Jared M. Schmitz, 20, of St. Charles, Missouri. He was a Rifleman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
Lance Corporal Rylee J. McCollum, 20, of Jackson, Wyoming. He was a Rifleman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
Lance Corporal Dylan R. Merola, 20, of Rancho Cucamonga, California. He was a Rifleman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
Lance Corporal Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, of Norco, California was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
Navy
Navy Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak, 22, of Berlin Heights, Ohio. He was a medic assigned to the 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, California.
Army
Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss, 23, of Corryton, Tennessee. He was assigned to the 9th Psychological Operations Battalion in Ft. Bragg, NC.
Source: Military Times & Taskandpurpose.com
The Thang:
Plank while we listened to the list of names, ranks, assignments of the fallen.
13 Burpees
13 SSH
Mosey the estimated .1mi that we’d do before each of the 13 exercises
13 Upright Rows
Mosey
13 Lunges (ea leg)
Mosey
13 Staggered Merkins (13 with the right hand on the bell then flapjack)
Mosey
13 KB Swings
Mosey
13 Squats
Mosey
13 Leg Lifts
Mosey
13 Lawnmower Pulls
Mosey
13 Curls each arm or 26 two-handed curls
Mosey
13 Box Cutters
Mosey
13 Flutters w/ Press
Mosey
13 Overhead, single-arm press
Mosey
13 Side Lunges (ea leg)
Mosey
13 Merkins
We had a few minutes at the end:
Flutter Kicks w/ Press
American Hammers
We then reread the names.
SYITG
Maximus
It was Kettle Bell time at the HIve but that doesn’t hold a candle to the 2 FNGs we had this morning. That’s right. 2 FNGs!!! However, at the start, we only had 1. How’s that, you ask?
One of them, now known in the gloom as Father Time showed up 12mins late. When you see him in the gloom, you should ask him how he got his name. Regardless, here’s what we did:
Warm Up lap that would become our lap after each set of exercises. Followed that up with some basic warmup exercises before heading into the following:
10 Lunges (ea leg) – lap
20 Man Makers – lap
30 Merkins – lap
2min Plank done together
40 “Real” Squats and the quotes are a reminder that we’re not doing half squats – lap
50 Mountain Climbers – lap
60 Curls – lap
2min Plank done together
70 LBC’s – lap
80 Bent Over Rows – Lap
2min Plank done together
Flutters the way I now like to do them
Boats & Canoes
Maximus
My apologies for breaking my own self-imposed 48hr Backblast rule but I appreciate the grace. It’s been a few weeks since my last time leading men from the Q spot so it was good to be back. What did we do? I’m so glad you asked:
Disclaimer and Polaroid took the BC’ers while the KB’ers stayed with me.
Your typical warm up exercises and some pretty good chatter if I remember correctly. If I don’t remember correctly, there’s a chance you don’t either.
Next, we did an atypical thing, we ran around the school…without the KBs. That was a 1mi warm up.
5 Man Makers with the KB
10 KB Swings / 20 lunges (10 ea leg) / 30 Curls (15 I/C)
Run down to the bottom of the hill. 5 Burpees. Run back up. 5 Burpees
10 KB Swings / 20 Leg Raises w/ KB at a 45 / 30 Flutters w/ a press
5 KB Man Makers / Run down to the bottom of the hill. 5 Burpees. Run back up. 5 Burpees
2min Plank
10 Very sloooooow squats I/C / 20 Thrusters / 30 Calf Raises
2min Plank / 5 KB Man Makers
Thanks for the invite.
Max
7 at the hive. never left COT and flowed through all the standard workouts with kettles,
curls gets the girls
tricepts get the guys
legs get the looks
abs get the talk
and lats get likes.
hips never get worked
stretching keeps the injuries away.
12 men gathered in the gloom at the Fort. 6 of which were destined for Milllllllkshake and the other six submit themselves to a beatdown by Keiser and YHC. I will not attempt to begin to understand the inner workings of Millllllllllllkshake, and will let their Q write more about that later.
Keiser looked for any new faces and dispensed the disclaimer to the crowd of veterans.
Despite having never met Keiser, this co-Q worked out very well. Keiser started us off with some tappy taps, windmills, SSH, and imperial walkers. Then passed the baton to YHC who added some low, very veeerrry slow, squats, and hillbilly walkers. Then gave the baton back to Keiser.
Immediately moseyed straight to the playground and paired up for an arm-burning dora.
50x pullups
100x derkins
200x dips
The run was around the playground (roughly 160m).
As the workout continued to move along we noticed that a large group of people were gathering on the Eastern field. Turns out they were wearing Krav Maga shirts and eventually running in circles around the park.
That wasn’t enough to pad out Keiser’s half of the workout, and he knew it, because there was a round two.
100x hello dolly
200x LBC
300x flutter
With one minute left, there was a 6″ plank called.
The first thing YHC said was that Keiser must have overheard him talking at the Christmas party because the dora (which is an old standby for a darn good reason) was my idea, too. No matter, let’s do AMRAP and run even farther!
Split the group up according to the original partners and instructed the 3 PAC running and doing the exercise to work as a group. We did all of our reps at the picnic table just outside the SE side of the playground. The runners would B-line from picnic table to the white mile marker thing seen just over the trash can here. Then turn right and run to the top of the hill turn around and head back on the same path. In total about 530m. The exercises were (again, AMRAP):
YHC was pleased to hear mublechatter amongst the PAX as they ran together and learned about Big Ben’s graduation from AIT recently. When YHC mused, “I suppose these runs are easy mode for you.” Big Ben responded with a smile and an enthusiastic “Yes, sir!” YHC is always honored to work out with veterans and those actively serving and Big Ben was no exception.
Five minutes left, not quite enough time for one more round, so YHC announced a mosey back to COT for 5 minutes of Mary. But that seemed like a darn waste of such a fine field. So we stopped 4 times for 5 OYO burpees.
Met up with the Milllllllllllllkshakers and noticed there was a WHOLE MINUTE left and did 10 windshield wipers. There were some park maintenance people who were (im)patiently waiting for us to vacate the parking lot so we kept it quick. But first we renamed Big Ben to Screaming Eagle.
Read your newsletter and prayed for the pax who are hurting.
So admittedly this just a tad late but I’m thankful I have both written and video evidence to reference for my first Kettlebell Q at the Hive.
As I recall It was a relatively cool and damp morning for the day after Halloween but 9 sturdy and resilient PAX plus one FNG braved their (candy) hangovers to partake in an iron pax inspired beat down courtesy of YHC.
A “professional” disclaimer was provided and we took a quick mosey around the parking lot. Once we completed a lap we circled up and began a quick warm up.
IW x 20
HW x 20
MC x 15
MNCx 20
After the warmup we grabbed our bells and moseyed over to a portion of the parking lot where I had chalked out the next 30 minutes of pain.
The Thang
The bulk of the workout was divided into 3 sets where the Pax would have 10 minutes to get through each set as many times as possible. Each of these sets were inspired by weeks 2-4 of the Ironpax challenge.
Set 1
10 Merkins (5 each side w/bell)
15 Thrusters
20 Curls (10 each side)
25 Goblet Squats
Once through those exercises you would then complete 1 lap around the parking lot.
After 10 minutes were up we moved right into the next stage of pain.
Set 2
10 Lawnmowers (5 each side)
15 Burpee Jumps (Burpee then jump over the bell and do another burpee)
20 Tricep Extensions
25 Chest Presses
30 Flutters with Bell raised
Followed by another Lap
10 more minutes flew by and we didn’t waste anytime moving onto Set 3
Set 3
This set was pick your poison. Meaning that you needed to do the number of reps cumulatively but you got to pick the method of your pain.
50 Merkins OR Squats
Followed by carrying your bell to a predetermined distance and back.
50 Thrusts OR Lunges
Followed by the same bell carrying lap
75 Curls/Extensions/Flutters
Followed by the same bell carrying lap
After the third set was complete we did a 10 count and then finished with thrusts, squats, and….. I think burpees because we had 30 seconds left.
Back at COT we had the privilege of naming a new FNG who happened to be from Chicago. I suggested Windy City but after that was dubbed as “too nice” we settled on Wrigley (he’s a White Sox Fan)
All told it was a great way to work off the 100 Twix I had the night before. Great work by all who showed. Also, big thanks to Bandcamp for the opportunity!!
YHC was pleased to be asked by J-Wow (there’s a guy who is accelerating) to come back to the Armory and Q. While not a true Redwood, I was there when the idea of a KB workout was launched at the Baxter pool with Package and Orange Crush (never posted). I immediately went out an purchased a 25lb’er via the internet (shipping costs!) and away we went.
Since that start, I have gravitated to running partly due to CSAUPs and given my bell to Anchorman. But there’s no question that YHC needed a beatdown after a long golf weekend. I started the Hype Train on Sunday with a request to borrow a bell and was met with some witty replies. The Fort represents!
Weather: Its F3 time! 63 with a light breeze
The Thang
Partner KB Workout
Round 1
Partner 1 – KB Swings x 12
Partner 2 – Rests until Partner 1 is finished
Partner 2 – 1 arm military press x 12
Partner 1 – rests until Partner 2 is finished – you get the idea
Partner 1 – Goblet Squats x 10
Partner 2 – Bob and Weave x 10
Partner 1 – Merkins x 12
Partner 2 – Bench Press x 12
Partner 1 – SSH x 20
Partner 2 – SSH x 20
Rinse and Repeat for 7 minutes
Take a lap around the parking lot
Round 2 – Flip the exercises for 7 minutes then take a lap
Round 3
Partner 1 – Curls x12
Partner 2 – Triceps x 12
Partner 1 – Bent Over Rows x 10
Partner 2 – CDD x 12
Partner 1 – Reverse Lunge w/ Hammer x 8
Partner 2 – Jump Squats x 10
Partner 1 – Bombjacks x 12
Partner 2 – Man Climbers x 16
Rinse and repeat for 7 minutes then a lap
Round 4 – Flip the exercises and head home
Mosey to COT
Moleskin:
Pusher out!