Tag: Costanza

Challenged to “Bring It”

Leave a comment

A few months ago, Dark Helmet and I were challenged to “bring it” to The Deep. I’m not sure how I got roped into the conversation as I no longer provide the top-tier workouts I used to. You see, it’s not because I’ve gotten soft (well, maybe a little), it’s more due to the physical acceleration of the PAX, which is evident when I cross the water and see the brothers in Lake Wylie. My workouts aren’t as hard as they used to be for some.

That said, I’ve become known for 2 things: the deck of cards and cinder blocks. I couldn’t disappoint the fellas. Dark Helmet on the other hand, is known for many things (not including many leather-bound books, rich mahogany, a perfect quaff or starbuck-y hands). And, with these many things, he brought his level of creative, pain-inducing exercises to the first half of the morning’s Q.

Once DH signed a few autographs, gave a very clear disclaimer, he took off for the warm up mosey. Then did a few warm-up-type exercises which included all the regulars and plenty of chatter.

Grab a partner and since when does size not matter…in Wheelbarrow racing?

You and your partner will alternate wheelbarrow’ing around the circle which I swear, grew as we were encircling it.

Next, grab the cinder blocks from Maximus’ truck for a little DORA activity.

Partner 1 (P1) would run around the main lot while Partner 2 (P2) would do the exercise then flapjack for:

200 Bicep Curls

300 Overhead Press

400 Bent-Over Rows (modified the count for timing and inserted chest press)

Hand off to Maximus for more partner work

P1: Ski Abs

P2: Toe Taps on the block (25ea side)

Flapjack

P1: Burpee Broad Jump ~50yds & NUR back

P2: Mountain Climbers with your hands on the block

Flapjack

P1: Beep Beep I’m a Jeep for 25yds & Lunge Walk back

P2: Bomb Jacks

Flapjack

Now with both partners at one end and the block at the other:

P1: Sprint to the block, 10 Man Makers with the block, Sprint Back

P2: Flutters from the V-up position

Next up, partner big-boy sit-ups while passing the block back and forth

I can’t fully recall if we did a few 8ct burpees to finish it off but it’d be a lot cooler if we did…so let’s assume we did.

Hey PAX, wherever you call home, go somewhere different. Organize a clown car with a few other locals and go see a different AO on a Saturday and attend their Q-Source. You never know what you’ll learn. Dark Helmet and I appreciate the opportunity to put ourselves through misery in the spirit of Qing for a great group of F3’s finest PAX.

Until Next Time.

DH & MAX

TClap |
2

Who knew monkeys could vacuum?

Leave a comment

Bermuda Triangle – May 3, 2019

Pax
Radar (Q)
O’Reilly
Costanza
Two Ferns
Wolverine
Chop Block
Homebrew
Captain Jack
Flux
Olaf (Respect)
Iced T

Warm Up:
11 PAX gathered at The Bermuda Triangle for a Q led by Radar. I wanted to make sure I delivered a challenging workout – keep the heart rate up with some running and challenging exercises.

Disclaimer

Two laps around the track and then head to the soccer field for warm up.

Seal Jacks x 25 (IC)
Hillbillies x 10 (IC)
Windmill x 10 (IC)
Produce Picker x 10 (IC)
MNC x 20 (IC)
Peter Parker x 15 (IC)
Parker Peter x 15 (IC)

Routine 1:
We started off with doing some Lindsays aka Forties. Each pax started with 30 merkins sprinted to the other end and performed 10 plank jacks and sprinted back, then subtracted five from the first exercise added five to the second exercise. (i.e. 25 merkins/15 plank jacks)

Routine 2:
After the pax finished we lunged walk back to the end where we partnered up and did vacuum cleaners. Partner one in wheelbarrow position performed five derkins and then wheelbarrowed to the second line. We did this five times or to five lines and then did a reverse wheelbarrow to each line for one rep. After partner one performed the exercise, partner two took his turn.

Since we all had a great time with the vacuum cleaners. I thought what better way to bond than with some howling monkeys. In a circle, the pax grabbed their ankles and the first person does ten monkey humpers followed by the next person and so on. We did two rounds.

Routine 3:
Next we took a fellowship mosey to the picnic tables where we did 50 dips, 25 box jumps, 50 incline merkins and 25 Rocky Balboa’s.

Before ending the workout we had a few minutes of Mary.

  1. Makhtar N’Diayes
  2. Big Boy Sit Ups
  3. Dying Cockroaches
  4. Slow Slow Squat
  5. Crunchy Frog

COT

Prayer requests: We had quite a few today and we lifted them up in prayer.

Announcements: Go Ruck Challenge Send Off, F3 Father’s Day, Pancake Breakfast at New River Church (5/4)

Thanks for the opportunity!

TClap |
1

Remembering Family

Leave a comment

Thought about this one at the last minute.  April was a great month for me as I celebrated Easter with my family, Spring Break, my mother’s birthday, my 8th wedding anniversary, accepting an offer on my house and so many other things that were wonderful yet forgotten.  But as I tried to create something new for this Q, it dawned on me those family members that are still a part of me emotionally/spiritually but not physically. I wanted to do something that brought back and help me to preserve those special moments that will hopefully stay with me even longer.  That being said, I established a Q that honored the memory of two loved ones that I have lost in the month of April: my maternal grandmother, Gaye Lindsay (April 4, 2001) and my uncle Jody Hudson (April 28, 2014).

Warm-O-Rama: I honestly don’t remember what we did.  But we warmed up.  Some dynamic stretching and the usual amount of SSH’s.

The Thang: as a way to honor my family members, I chose to do a partner BLIMPS type workout with one person completing reps while the other partner running a lap to each respective name.  Up first, my grandmother…

We each grabbed a rock near Papa Doc’s and partnered up to complete 61 reps of each exercise:

  • Goblet squat press (with rock)
  • American hammers (with rock)
  • Yurpee (had to dig in the exicon for this one… and we did this one cumulative with a partner instead of individually…. and without rock)
  • Extensions (triceps extensions with the rock)

Gaye is for the name of my grandmother.  61 reps for her age when she passed.  She died when I was a junior in high school.  She was married for 42 years to my grandfather. She was a great definition of the word Matriarch.

 

Next up… my uncle (no rocks for this one).  Partner style BLIMPS workout again with 40 reps.

  • Jump squats
  • One legged burpee (cumulative reps between partner)
  • Dips
  • Y-lifts

Jody is for the name of my uncle.  40 reps for the age when he died.  He died 5 years ago.  He also died at a young age, which still sticks with me to this day.

COT/Name-O-Rama

This was a workout that I needed.  As time passes, we tend to lose memories of those who are not with us anymore.  There are certain memories that were brought back from just thinking about this workout which brought smiles to my face.  Memories that were long gone but not forgotten.  I hope that more memories I shared with these special people will continue to stay with me and pop up from time to time; allowing me to reminisce on how lucky I was as a child and growing adult to have such wonderful people in my life.

 

As always, thanks for the opportunity to lead Peg!

TClap |
1

Co-Q with Two Ferns

Leave a comment

Last minute Co-Q with my boy Two Ferns stepping up to lead the first half.

Those brave enough to pre-run made an appearance 45 minutes prior. (For the record, those PAX were Two Ferns and Shakespeare).

Disclaimer given by YHC and Two Ferns took us on a mosey to the elementary school parking lot for Warm-O-Rama.  We welcomed Delay-Of-Game (Chop Block’s name after missing the starting gun), his 2.0s, and Respectable Olaf to the party as they arrived.  Mosey to the football field.

Lacrosse Drills w/ Two Ferns:

Two teams pitted against each other for glory.  With YHC keeping score, I just want the record to show that my team won.  First drill of partners going out to pick up a lacrosse ball with a stick, minimum 5 partner passes (each drop, other team members complete a punishment), first team to retrieve all balls gets the win.  Team members “on deck” held plank until the others returned, when a ball dropped, teammates completed a merkin.  Other times through, we held Al Gore and completed a squat on dropped balls.

After a few rounds, we did 1v1 sprint retrieval, 1v1 back to back fight for the ball, and 2v2 sprint retrieval with passes.

Little Tykes Basketball w/ YHC:

In what seemed to be easy (and was extremely hard) each PAX took 3 attempts (some more as we had to change the rules a few times for LOTS of misses) at shooting on a Little Tykes kid hoop.  For every miss, we completed a Burpee.  Let’s just say there were lots of burpees.

Ultimate Football:

In what has become a tradition at The Deep, we played some Ultimate Football. It was a short game, but again, my team won (I was keeping score).

COT & Prayers

Thanks for helping me Q this one Two Ferns!

TClap |
2

10/20/30 at Cannonball (Back to the Basics)

Leave a comment

12 PAX appeared in the gloom. We got the Kettlebells out and No FNGs present, but a lot of new faces in the gloom. Gave a basic disclaimer as we moseyed around the parking lot and through the dark tunnel and into the old Church Parking lot were Whitesnake took control of the COP. He has a VQ coming up so I hit him up yesterday and asked him if he wanted to lead us in the COP and he said “heck yah” . He was prepared, he later told me that he watched a Video online of Dredd showing how to lead a COP. Whitesnake killed it with some Imperial Walkers, Produce Pickers, Sun Gods both ways, MNC’s and then some fast paced until we slowed him down Wind Mills (something we all get a little fast on when we do them for the first time). I remember Jedi stopping me and setting me straight. I then went into the middle of the COP and had everyone hold an Al Gore and I briefly talked about all the new faces and that when leading up to the VQ’s remember you are the one in charge and to take lead and men will follow you. Also keep in mind that it is only exercise and not surgery so it is ok if you mess up.

We then moseyed over toward the New Parking lot and on the way we did some Toy Solders. Picked up our Kettle Bells and did the Following

10/20/30 (3 reps)
Big Boys with a Kettlebell raise and push over the head to the knees
Tricep Ext.
Lawn mowers (15 each arm)
Then take a lap with the Bell

10/20/30 (3 reps)
Kettlebell squat thrusters
American Hammers counting the right side only
Skull Crushers
Then take a short bear crawl lap with the Bell to the first cone and back

10/20/30 (3 reps)
Turkish Get ups 5 each side (not a popular one just ask Whitesnake and the Pax with the Ruck on
KB Swings
Shoulder Presses 15 each arm
Then take a lunge lap around the second cone with the Bell

Ended right on time with cheers that the Turkish Getups were done.

Announcements as usual Canoli Run, Savage Race, Heavy Coming up, New River Men’s Breakfast, F# Dads May 25th, Memorial Day Convergence, Read your news letter.

Prayers and Praises, O’Reilly had a friend end his life recently, Roger (Riverboat) and his battle with cancer, Traveling Pax and sick Pax.

Thanks to all that came and got better. I am glad to be out there with each of you . You make me stronger. Kudos to Whitesnake for leading the COP.

TClap |
3

Drunken Murph

Leave a comment

Wow, where to begin with this disaster.  I guess from the beginning.  Waking up hung over on three hours sleep my M started the morning off by telling me how stupid I was for getting drunk then having to lead a workout a few hours later, that was not bad advise by the way.  I pull in to the Triangle with about a minute to spare and as soon as the Pax saw me they knew (I happened to be drinking with some of them the night before).  A disclaimer was given, and a background on who Lt. Michael Murphy was and then I started the COP right away with 5 OYO Burpees/SSHx20/SunGodsx20/Low Slow Squatx10.  Surprisingly no merlot was splashed though was very close calling cadence with SSH.

Main Event

1 Mile Run

I did 5 Pull-Up/10 Merkin/15 Squat x20 but most Pax did a 10/20/30 x10 rep range with the exercises.  Every rep of the merkins made my head pound, just awful. 

1 Mile Run

Most Pax finished in time for COT.

Observations- Don’t get drunk and Q a few hours later.  It might seem like the cool rock star thing to do but really, it’s not. It’s also a lot harder to control a group of men when they know you’re bombed. However no merlot was spilt, was proud of that.  Kotters to Austin Powers, we missed him.  Welcome FNG Survey Says.  He is the youth Pastor over at the local church I attend which I have renamed the Church of F3 as many Pax go there so I wanted to call him Joel Osteen but his childhood dream of being a game show host earned him the nick name Survey Says, with Steve Harvey being a close second choice (favorite game show-Family Feud).  As always fellas-PEACE! 

TClap |
6

1097 Day Review for Lake Wylie

Leave a comment

Today started off great.  It was warm(ish) around 58 degrees.  Set up at the Poopdeck and pulled in to a big crowd of guys.  In total we had 21 when I gave the disclaimer.  Once again really glad to see Funhouse, Fishsticks and Anchorman on their tour of the region for Asskickin’ April! 30 days, 30 AOs around the region, year #2!

So my teaser in twitter last night was a note on “Show up today to find out what happened 1097 days ago!” We would take a little trip down memory lane.  I gave the disclaimer and we were off.

dynamic warmup run =  High Knees – Buttkickers – Toy Soldiers

COP

SSH – IWs – Daisy Pickers – Merkins – Windmills – Broga – Mt Climbers

At the end of COP I shared what happened 3 years and 2 days ago (1097 days).  That was the first day of the launch of The Deep on the west side of Lake Wylie.  It has been just over 3 years that F3 has been around (seems like yesterday) for many of these men.  I let them know we would take a stroll down memory lane because I pulled some ideas off a few of my weinkes from that time.

1st Evolution

Lt. Dans with 10 flying squirrels at each of three cones

At the end we took an “Apache 10 count” and Anchorman got to share about himself.

2nd Evolution

I discussed that 1st day at thee Deep and Dark Helmet’s introduction to our own “special” exercise…the Kraken Burpee.  Half the guys didn’t know what it was! (I have truly failed you).  For the guys that did know, they let out a sigh knowing what was to come.

This evolution required four corners (cones) and one in the center for:

  • Center 5 Kraken Burpees
  • Corner 1 30 Merkins
  • Corner 2 30 Squats
  • Corner 3 30 Crunchy Frogs
  • Corner 4 30 Bombjacks

We split into four groups, started at the properly numbered cone.  Did the exercise, then met in the middle for the 5 Kraken burpees each time then rotated clockwise (yes Flux CLOCKWISE) to the next cone.

When all this fun was done I shared an old moleskin that I wrote back on 4/24/2016 a few weeks after The Deep’s launch.  I was so glad to see Anchorman today, because he’s mentioned in it!

Here it is:

Moleskin from 4/24/2016:

For the last month I have butterflies every time I pull up to The Deep…I always feel like I’m going to be alone at 7am. But every week, my fears go away when that first car makes the long turn into the parking lot…and more just keep coming! It’s been an honor to be able to share what F3 has done for me over the last year with the men of Lake Wylie. And although we didn’t have any FNGs this day, I know that the men already involved are going to make a difference in this community.

During our 10 counts today I shared some of the great truth nuggets I’ve gathered from our 3rd F conversations around fatherhood. There were 3 main lessons we received from What Did, Double D, Anchorman and Gekko at the 3rd F convergence a few weeks ago…and I thought it was something to repeat to the PAX today.  So Fatherhood was my 10 count.  Here’s what my interpretation looked like…I hope it does justice to the men that shared!

  1. Respect your M for your family to see. Your children see everything…every fight, joke, rudeness you put out there.  And then they think this is an acceptable way to treat a woman or wife.  Make sure it’s positive.
  2. Be present: We usually get family time at our worst time.  The last few hours in the day after you’ve done what it takes to feed the family.  Through F3 I’ve received the energy and strength to make that time worth while…when I used to want to veg out in front of the TV or my iPad for my alone time.  When you do get that time, use it and be there in mind, body and spirit!

3. I shared Gekko’s story about his daughter’s recent break up with her boyfriend. In short, she broke up with him because she expected more, like the relationship that Gekko and his M have.  What a complement to being a parent! But Gekko shared that his #1 advice was to raise his children to glorify God, and point them in his direction… and that’s the best you can do.  I appreciate those words Gekko.  Wanted to make sure they were shared!

Long enough share.  Mosey over to the wall by COT.  BUT WAIT! on our run back we see the Cat Lady… 5 burpees men!

Went to the wall…

Evolution #3

BTTW Mosey that Bart created back on his VQ in 2016. PAX would stand in a line doing reverse lunges while end of line would go to the wall, post up in BTTW and then hand walk down the full length of the wall.  This was new for a LOT of guys this morning.  Lots of mumble chatter on this one.  Half way through we switched to Squats to finish out the long line.

Evolution 4

Jack Webbs to 10…another crowd pleaser.  Radar lied and said he didn’t know what these were…

Back to COT with no time to spare

Announcements – Ass kicking April and Savage race 5/18

Prayers: For healing for Chop Block’s FIL with brain tumor and needs a true miracle,  Rocket in Lake Norman and his biopsy, Bones, Tinsel and Davinci for injuries that need healing.

BOM and we’re out!

BUT WAIT… on my way home I get a text from one of the PAX.  Next time you see Jedi you’ll understand what I mean… THAT happened at the Poopdeck. I’m so glad he is OK, pride will heal and cuts do as well… with 5 stitches.

An honor to Lead

~ Royale

TClap |
8

Papers Of Pain

Leave a comment

For the second Q this week I actually suckered 15 more PAX to come out to one of my workouts.  No really I feel extremely blessed that 15 HIM actually decided to crawl out of the fart sack and post.  My Twitter advertisement for the BOARD OF PAIN and a challenge to see how far you can get in it certainly had a factor to play in the strong showing.

After my usual goofy disclaimer and a short mosey around the parking lot (trying to keep the running to a minimum due to an annoying heel spur that does not seem to want to go away) we went to COP: SSHx20/Windmillx10/Nancy Kerrigan’s X10(each leg fwd and reverse)/Produce Pickersx10/Reach To Sky-Touch Toes-Down Dog-Honeymooner-reverse sequence.

MAIN EVENT

I did not have a board so I printed out the exercises on 7 sheets of paper and taped them to a store window for all to see.

100 Burpees/150 Calf Raises/100 Ski Abs/100 Merkins/100 Squats/200 LBC’s/100 CDD’s/100 Russian Hammers/100 Makhtar D’iayes/100 JumpSquats/100 Mountain Climbers/200 Shoulder Raises/100 Mary Cathrines/100 Hello Dollies/100 Wide Arm Merkins/100 Squat Jacks/100 Nipplers/100 Burpees

After a good 35  minutes of this Jedi got the furthest through the papers by getting to Shoulder Raises, great job!  I myself improved from CDD’s my first time on the board to Makhtar’s this time out. 

Prayers for all sick and injured Pax out there and people battling cancer.  Q source is heating up and read the Muggo! Till next time, peace.

 

TClap |
3

Bermuda Triangle gets introduced to Olaf’s capture the coupon

Leave a comment

Loaded up my truck with all the goodies the night before since YHC usually does it the morning of as a preworkout routine but since I had a bit longer commute it was deemed necessary.

First time making it to the triangle of Bermuda and was excited because I know that region is constantly finding FNG’s.

The disclaimer was disclaimed in dept before the party started.

If you haven’t experienced the joy of childhood games while almost killing yourself and your friends, all while trying not to throw up, you really need to look for my next Q.

NMM: Homebrew remains the mastermind strategist of capture the coupon and will forever have him on my team. It was great meeting so many new faces.

FLUX owes me a replacement kitchen or bathroom sink.

Chop block owes me a replacement log. yeah, (I know what you’re thinking), “how do you break a log?”

Note to self: Always locate keys before loading up truck after beatdown. Finally found them under some logs.

Grateful for the opportunity to lead.

Stay frosty my friends!

Olaf

TClap |
2

Walk around the Kettlebell Clock…

Leave a comment

Two Ferns was kind enough to put me on the Kettlebell Q at Cannonball.  I decided P200 will be plenty of running, so why not work the rest of the body?  I showed up to set up and it was pitch black in our parking area… seems Two Ferns didn’t change the timer at the church for day light savings!  Well he fixed that in two minutes and I set up for the fun.

Guys were gathering and it was great to see two of our FNGs this week, Whitesnake &  Speed Handle show back up for there 2nd and 3rd WO (respectively).  And it’s ONLY TUESDAY?  These guys are in for a treat… and are hitting the ground running!

Gave the long disclaimer, and we left our kettlebells and started a mosey around the parking lot.

High knees, butt kickers and some Toy Soldiers

Circle Up for some COP

Standard exercises with a varied rep count to keep the guys guessing.

Side Straddle Hops – Windmills – MNCs – Imperial Walkers – Ranger Merkins – Mountain Climbers – Peter Parkers

We moved on to my setup. So I’m still new to kettlebells, so I stole this WO from my friend Fishsticks WHO DID THE PROPER THING AND POSTED A BACKBLAST!  Let’s keep that going Site Qs and QICs.

12 cones, one centered. One PAX move from clock to center, KB Lunges then 5 burpess at center and lunge back. Rotate to next spot holding KB overhead. Continue pattern for as long as I want.

  1. American Hammers
  2. Curls
  3. KB Swing
  4. Flutter
  5. Upright Row 10x times 2
  6. Goblet Squat
  7. Tricep Press
  8. Figure Eight
  9. Shoulder Press Single Arm and rotate
  10. Floor to Shelf 10x times 2
  11. Chest Press
  12. KB Clean 10x times

After we make it around the whole clock, do a lap without KB –  We repeated around the clock 2 times.

Round 2 finished right at 6:00am to we moseyed back to COT

Annoucements

Read your newsletter, join us tonight for 2nd F at Mac’s Speed Shop

Praises and Prayers for unexpected passing of F3 WaterBug, our children and being present, and a friend to the PAX’s mother who is 92 and in the hospital for potiential NORA virus.

Two Ferns shut down the lights, and it was time to go!

An Honor to Lead

~Royale

TClap |
2