Tag: Bass-o-matic

RPG – Road to Perdition 1

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9 PAX for 15 min of Broga

Sequence starting with some yoga core work on the ground and finishing with a vinyasa flow
–Cake Boss felt YHC was tricking everyone into doing burpees (maybe….?)

5 split off for work in preparation for Ville to Ville
4 ran a 5k along the Road to Perdition
https://www.strava.com/activities/5135550667
The old golf cart paths are fun…if a little treacherous in the dark

Thanks to Bodywash for the opportunity to lead.

NMM:
Saw this picture yesterday:

Meyer is one of my fellow trombone professor’s son. He’s hugging his sister here. Meyer will go through THREE chemo and radiation treatments that will last 3-4 weeks EACH. He won’t be able to hug his sister again for a long time because his immune system will be so compromised during the treatments. Love your family today and be grateful for the time we’ve been given. We aren’t guaranteed anything, and we’re lucky to have this moment.

Nota Bene: I’m speaking to myself as much as I am to anyone else. That’s why writing the backblasts are important. We need to work the words out to ourselves.

Prayers for Meyer

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Ballroom abs

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YHC had the honor of leading some #HIM’s through a WO that allowed the PAX the ability to dial up or down their intensity. It’s important to recognize PAX levels of intensity when Q’ing so that you can ensure each PAX pushes one self to their acceptable level.

COP: SSH’s, IW, Windmills, LSS, big arm circles, and CDD (all in different cadence)

Mossy to bottom of hill at the backside of the PKMS gym.

At the bench 2 rounds of 10 reps each: Step ups each leg, dips, derkins, erkins.

Mossy to fire hydrant to where PAX chooses their intensity. Either NUR, Run, or walk for 11’s. Top of hill 10 Left Leg Scorpion merkins, run back to bottom for 1 Right Leg Scorpion merkin..rinse repeat till 11’s. If PAX finished early they went and picked up the 6.

Mossy back to benches for another 2 rounds of the same.

On the 6 for some marry – a crowd pleaser.

13 Hello Dollies right into 13 Rosaletta’s, right into 10 Hello Dollies and 10 Rosaletta’s, right into 5 of each without dropping feet to ground. Then box cutters, then flutters, then LBCs and finish with flutters.

Sprint to top of hill and come back for the six, mossy to COT for 15 more merkins.

COT

Prayers and praises where plentiful from Cake Boss 2.0 doctor news, to my co-worker and daughter Morvan and Mila, to Spark Plug’s daughter, to my 2.0 Evan.

Thanks all!!

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Embrace the low point…now get up.

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It’s Minnow Pond. It’s a 3mi minimum with a few push-ups as we now like to say.
Jekyll asked the question. I answered in the affirmative.
The day before, marketing for competing regional AO’s began and man, it was hot.
The weather was great and I’m hoping these other 15 PAX would’ve still posted in the 35deg rain. But…time will tell. Remember, durability and stories are best formed in adverse conditions.

There you have it, the setup is complete.
0500…A few pre-runners. Remember when guys did that at Minnow Pond? Isn’t the intent to push yourself?
0514 Pledge of Allegiance
0515 Disclaimer for the 16 of us

As a group, run to the FMCOG parking lot at the corner of Withers &  Academy.
Warmup consisting of windmills, SSH & Burpees

The plan…Run each leg then 10 Merkins, 10ea leg Jumping Lunges, 20 American Hammers in the parking lot upon the return.
Leg 1: Run up to Tom Hall & back.
Leg 2: Run up to Banks & back.
Leg 3: Run up to Meacham & back.
Leg 4: Run to Main St & back.

All were able to complete this at least 1 time and some completed it twice for a total distance of 3-4mi.
Run it back to COT for some final closing exercises.

Announcements:
Great Harlan’s Heroes fundraising update from Jekyll. Stay tuned for the next opportunity.
Yeti is coming next weekend. Partner up or do the full thing.

Hey Jekyll. Thanks for the nod.

Maximus

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Even an IR Guy can Q Part 2

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Answering the call of my Shieldlock brother needing a Q for The Ballroom, I figured I could dish out some pain.  PAX could modify up or down as needed.  Its YOUR acceleration. OWN it!

Warmup

Imperial Walkers, Hillbilly Walkers, Windmills, Cherry Pickers, Big Arm Circles, Baby Arm Circles, Moroccan nightclubs, Arm Stretch, Down dog, Calves, Honeymooner, Down dog, Calves, Honeymooner, Down dog, Walk leg and hands together and stand slowly

The Deal – 3 Rounds, 9 exercises each focusing on Upper body, Core and Legs

Round 1 – 10 each exercise

Merkins, LBCs, Calf Raises, Diamond Merkins, Flutter Kicks, Squats, Wide Arm Merkins, Hello Dolly, Lunges

Take a lap or Bear Crawl until crew gets back

Round 2 – 10 each exercise, find a curb

Incline Merkins, Bridges, Step Ups, Switchboards on and off the curb, Rosalitas, Side Lunges, Dip, Freddie Mercuries, Back Lunges

Take a lap or Crawl Bear until crew returns

Round 3 – 10 each exercise, find a curb

Decline Merkins, Heel taps, Al Gore, Left Incline Merkins (left foot and hand on curb), BB Situp, Right Incline Merkins (Rt foot and hand on curb), WWI situp

Take a lap (fast guys were to take 2 laps)

Airborne Hip Flexors

Round of Mary

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average age 50.9 yrs, Kevin Bacon would be proud

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The elder statesman ran around today at Footloose
The old guys were on hand for a Manilow mall walk

10 seasoned veterans took to the streets and parking lots at Footloose for a Barry Manilow beatdown!

No last minute modifications needed, all attendees perfectly capable of taking anything I could dish out.

The thang:
mosey to the back of the church and circle up, 10-15 reps of each, in this order:
imperial walker, LBC, LS squat, shoulder tap, hill billy walker, freddie mercury, windmill, dying cockroach, jump squat, travolta
walk over to the wall for the unveiling of “on the rail”, 10 reps in cadence

mosey the long way around the block to the lower church lot, partner up. one snake the stairs, one donkey kicks, switch, 2nd round, one snake the stairs, one plank jacks
line-up on on end of the lot, Jonah Hill going the other way

mosey toward the “big” hill, but since that is what everyone was expecting, took a left and circled the church once before stopping at the bottom of the hill. partner up, one run the hill, the others choose between LBCs and BB sit-ups, switch, 2nd round, one run the hill, at the bottom of the hill alternate between 5 LBCs and 5 hand release merkins.

walk across the street to the other lot, line up across the church side. karaoke L to the other side, 10 LBCs, back, 10 LBCs, karaoke R, 10 LBCs, the same back, 10 LBCs, powerskip across, 10 LBCs, and back, 10 LBCs, 50% across, 10 LBCs, 75% back, 10 LBCs, all you got across, 10 LBCs, all you got back, 10 LBCs.

5 minutes left, so we mosey in the exact opposite direction of COT, around a bigish block and back to the church sign by COT. On the grass for 11 makhtar n’ diayes, in cadence.

announcements, prayers around the horn, and Assassin took us out.

Thanks for the opportunity Boss Hogg.

Looks like we made it,
Barry Manilow

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80s Rock Block at The Ballroom

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5 men took a trip down memory lane at The Ballroom this morning for an 80s music-themed beatdown. Here’s what we did.

The Thang

  • 10 Low Slow Squats (IC)
  • 10 Imperial Walkers (IC)
  • 10 Seal Claps (IC)

Mosey to front of school

Perform the first exercise until you hear the keyword. At the keyword, you perform the second exercise, then back to the first.

Song 1 – “Who Can it Be Now” – Men at Work

  • Exercise 1 – Plank, exercise 2 – Plank Jack every time you hear “Who can it be” (13 Plank Jacks)
  • Mosey around the lot

Song 2 – “Your Love” – The Outfield

  • Moroccan Night Clubs, Overhead claps when you hear “Your Love” (21 Overhead Claps)
  • Mosey around the lot

Song 3 – “Jessie’s Girl” – Rick Springfield

  • American Hammers, Big Boy Situps when you hear “Jessie” (28 Big Boys)
  • Mosey around the lot

Song 4 – “867-5309/Jenny” – Tommy Tutone

  • SSHs, Burpees each time you hear “867-5309” (24 Burpees)
  • Mosey around the lot

Song 5 – “You Spin Me Right Round” – Dead or Alive

  • People’s Chair, Calf Raises on every “Spin me” (10 Calf Raises)
  • Mosey around the lot

Song 6 – “Take on Me” – A-Ha

  • Flutters, Freddies every “Take on Me” (16 Freddies)

Song 7 – “Down Under” – Men at Work

  • Dip position up, Dip position down on every “Down Under” (3 Dips)

Song 8 – “Another One Bites The Dust” – Queen

  • Hold People’s Chair, Knee Tar Jais on every “Bites the dust” (18 Knee Tar Jais)

Song 9 – “Roxanne” – The Police

  • Mountain Climbers, Merkins on every “Roxanne” (26 Merkins)

NMM

Thank you, Drop Thrill for the opportunity to lead this morning. Today’s workout was built to burn out one body part at a time. We didn’t cover much ground, but if you’re not sore later today, I’d be surprised.

As a reminder, F3 open to ALL men. We welcome men of all races, faiths, political views, income levels, sizes, ages, abilities, & sexual orientation. We respect differences even when we don’t understand them and cast no judgment. Our willingness to get better unites us. All means ALL!

Let’s continue to give away what was first given to us. All men need an outlet like this and friends like our brothers. F3 is a game changer. Let’s keep the ball rolling. I’m convinced we can change the world, one man at a time.

Aye!

Italian Job

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Broke loose at Footloose

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Footloose = Hill options. You don’t think so? I disagree.
28 degrees on this crisp Thursday morning in our once Mill town for 9 of us to converge at Footiest of all Looses…yeah, it doesn’t work well for this one. Anyways

Disclaimer and look we even have Crop Duster with us…yeah, he’s definitely lost.

Run to Minnow Pond AO
SSH / Butt Kickers

5 Burpees & 10 Merkins

Run up the hill to the parking lot on the right.
15 Squats & 20 Peter Parkers

Run down the hill and back up
25 Merkins & 30 LBCs

Run down the hill and over to the FM COG lot (the really nice lot)
25 Bobby Hurley’s / 20 Flutters I/C

Run up the adjacent hill and back down
15 Mountain Climbers I/C & 10 CDD I/C

Run up the adjacent hill and back down
5 Burpees

To the lot across the street, the other really nice one, for a ladder of sorts
1 Squat Jump on one end and 5 Burpees on the other with running in between
2 Squat Jumps & 4 Burpees
3 Squat Jumps & 3 Burpees
4 Squat Jumps & 2 Burpees
5 Squat Jumps & 1 Burpee

Back to COT

Thank You for entertaining me.
SYITG
Maximus

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Drishti

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6 PAX in the rainy gloom moved over to the awning of the pyramid building for some Broga.

I lead some movements that required little hands on the ground to keep us from getting too wet:
Volcano Pose
Standing forward bend
Triangle
Extended Side Angle
Warrior 1
Warrior 2
Warrior 3
And a little Vinyasa flow through Surya Namaskar A

Experimented with leading out front and mirroring (e.g., I used my right foot, but called left to match the PAX). I prefaced it by saying: “if I mess up, do what I do, not what I say.” Which is pretty much happens when we’re leading anyway, right?

Bass lead the run portion:

Returned to COT for some more of Surya Namaskar A during the last few minutes prior to 0600.

A thought for today on Warrior 2. A “drishti” is a focal point that you gaze at over your middle finger in Warrior 2. The visual focus brings the pose into physical focus. What’s your drishti when you’re at your computer later today? Or right now reading this? Is your visual focus assisting your body’s focus? Your mind’s focus? Your spirit’s focus?

Do you want it to?

Thanks Body Wash for the opportunity to lead

—
Band Camp dismissed

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Shaolin Moderate Workout and Cult Chat

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This is the first full week of 2021 and YHC was glad to step in when a Q was needed at the Ballroom. IIRC, the last time I Qed there was back during Short Sale’s tenure, when Google Maps had no aerial photos.

8 PAX appeared in the gloom on a cool Tuesday morning. The weather said that there was some light rain in the area, but it wasn’t at the Ballroom.

The disclaimer was a disclaimed in a new way today, because YHC would be describing some very odd, new exercises and prescribing modifications as we went along. It may have sounded a bit professional, but I assured the PAX that I was not getting paid.

The warmup

A quick mosey around the parking lot followed by:
15x SSH
10x Low Slow Squat
10x Imperial Walker
10x Hillbilly Walker

Mosey around the back of the school for a stop by the bridge. Here we would do some stretching and exercises that were passed down from the Shaolin lineage, as well as from a cult known as Chung Moo Quan (more on that, later). This was part of the standard warmup from YHC’s studio in MN.

Legs about shoulder width for these, always both sides. Static stretches held 10s

1. Arms overhead, grab the R hand and stretch (pull) to the left without a twist. (lats)
2. Arms straight out, L hand toward L ankle, no twist (obliques and some lats)
3. L arm out, palm up. Grip L fingers with R hand using overhand grip (thumb to thumb) and pull down and back to armpit (inner forearms)
4. Elbows tucked into sides, L hand by chest, grab top of L palm with R overhand. Pull L arm up, push R hand down. Basically fold your hand back toward the elbow (wrist tendons)
5. Widen stance a bit. R in L hand fingertips up. From standing position, dip down to behind the ankles and come back up. (like cherry picker, but just once and up) 3 times.  Then both hands on lower back, chest and stomach out for the “old man getting out of bed” stretch three times. 5 rounds
6. Both hands make a diamond near the ground, legs straight as possible. Slowly orbit from ground, to the right, behind, to the left and back to the ground. Reaching as far as possible for entire movement. 3 orbits each direction
7. Legs out as far as they go, heels down and toes up. Fingertips on the ground (was pretty easy for the PAX to get the fingertips down). Fingertip pushups. Rock back on the way down, over the hands on the way back up. 10x

Mosey up the hill to the back of the school. Everyone on their six. Both sides if only one is listed, static stretches for 10s if not listed

  1. Legs straight out, separated as far as possible, toes up. Arms crossed in front fingertips up, sweep arms over toes 3 times, then grab and pull down for 5s hold.  4 times
  2. L hand to L foot, bending to L, R hand overhead reach to foot
  3. Feet together, pushing down knees (butterfly)
  4. Lay back, L hand grabs R foot and pulls to chest, L foot hovering
  5. Sit up, legs straight. Leaning back with straight back until feet start to hover, hands in fists, pound stomach 30times with fists, double count
  6. 10x 4count Flutter
  7. 10x 4count Hello Dolly
  8. Sit up, hands on ground behind. Both knees bent, kick both legs straight out, to right, and to left 10x. No break between R and L

Mosey around to the front of the building again and instructed PAX to find a pillar for support. Each exercise is right and left leg

  1. L knee at waist level, bounce knee up above waist and don’t let drop below waist. No touching the ground either  x40
  2. L knee again at waist level, snap kick out, no touching the ground  x40
  3. L foot to the side, toe forward. Raise as high as possible, no touching the ground x40

The Thang

Now that the warmup is complete, walk over to the high side of the parking lot and line up for the Doji. This is a balance and strength exercise that can be done by anyone.

Start by standing straight up. Using your L hand reach behind the R shoulder and ‘scoop’ with your fingertips, as you come around the front of your body, step into a deep forward stance with your R knee at 90º, and your L leg straight out, both feet parallel and about 45º off the direction of travel. Shift your stance to L forward stance while scooping behind you with your R hand, when you come back around, step forward staying very low, into L forward stance and push ahead with your L hand open, fingertips just at the shoulder level. Scoop behind w/L going into  R forward, then step forward with R and push with R.

It sounds like a complicated movement, but it wasn’t too difficult for the PAX. YHC called out each movement and we travelled about 15m with it (about 10 steps each foot), then turned around for another go.

After this movement we had about 12 minutes left. I had planned on getting more running into the workout, and skimmed over in my head the various workouts and exercises that would be good for a moderate workout without toasting the legs any more than I already had.

The best way to get some extra steps in? Dora

100 pushups, 200 squats, 300 LBCs!!!

We finished with about 90 seconds left, which was enough time for 20 flutters and a very quick saunter over to CoT

Cot

8 PAX counted off and name-o-ramad

Not a lot to announce right now, so Drop Thrill hyped the 2021 Christmas party.

Praises were voiced, prayers were requested.

nmm

Yeah, so the cult thing. My Shaolin teacher got caught up in a cult known as Chung Moo Quan in the early 90’s. I joked with the PAX about this commenting that they should hand over their wallets and sign some forms, to some good natured chuckling.  Obviously none of us are involved in anything like that, so we can laugh about it.

But have you ever tried to point out someone’s poisonous indoctrination? It’s usually not pretty. The cult indoctrinated don’t usually even know it’s happened because of how “normal” it seemed on the way in. They’ve received a lot of training and are well equipped to remain indoctrinated. Pride, ignorance, shame… all of these methods are veiled as normal and create an indoctrinated member.

I realize it’s super weird to expound on cult membership at a workout or in a backblast, but I assure you, dear reader, that it is relevant to every day lives.

Because while we may not be members of Chung Moo Quan, vandalize a building in the name of Tyler Durden, chant “the greater good” in a hooded robe,  or follow Jim Jones into death, we’re all subject to attempted indoctrination during almost all of our waking hours.

TV advertisements try to indoctrinate you into the cult of yourself.  Talk shows and news commentary try to indoctrinate you into the cult of bitterness, greed, or supremacy.  Our free country is, for the most part, monetizing our minds through indoctrination.  It’s incredibly difficult to tune it out.

This is why my word this year is “Discipline”.  I’m using two definitions. The first is the study of a subject, the second is to train.

Discipline as a study helps me to understand my beliefs and how they work in a world that wants me to change them all the time.  It applies to all 3 Fs as I intend to refocus on nearly 20 years of Shaolin training, be more intentional about being social (the pandemic has made life very cozy for a hardcore introvert like YHC), and actually focus on spiritual beliefs.

Discipline as a training regiment helps me to be strong enough to understand whether indoctrination is attempting to change my beliefs, or I’m just wrong.  As a physical training regiment, discipline can help me get the sleep I need and eat correctly. And as social training, I can tune out awful social static.

 

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