Pendulum of Pain

A gorgeous June morning awaited us in the Gloom. We circled up counted off and the disclaimer was given to the 5 Pax in attendance

We moseyed over to the church parking lot to start

Warm up:
-15 SSH
-15 Wind Mills
-15 Apollo Ono

The thang:

We started off with speed work sprinting laps around the small lot with pain in between laps

Round 1: 10 hand release merkins OYO
Plank for 6 to finish, lap
Round 2: 15 Wide Arm Merkins

Plank for 6 to finish, lap

Round 3 : 20 Grave Diggers, 10 each arm
Lap plank for 6

We Mosey to round about at bottom of fire station hill

We did speed now we do hills

5 Burpees at round about after each round:

Round 1:
Fire station: 20 American Hammers
Houses: 20 Cherry Pickers

Round 2:

Fire Station: 15 Mtn Climbers
House: 15 Hillbilly Walkers

Round 3

Fire Station: 10 Big boy Sit ups
Houses: 10 Monkey Humpers

Rounds 4

Fire Station: 20 LBC
Houses: 20 Moroccan Night clubs

Round 5:
Fire Station 20 LBC

5 minutes of Mary with Pax picking an exercise for 30,25,20,15 and 10 Reps

We moseyed back to COT

Prayers for Slap Shot’s family mental and physical health, praise and prayers for Change Order dad gong through palative care, prayers for Spectres wife and her lump removal surgery

Thanks to Slow Jams for the opportunity to lead
– Yard Sale

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Examining Parking Lots

WARMUP:
7 PAX did the hard thing on this humid Friday morning and arrived at the Swamp ready to work. 1 new face pulled in with a huge smile on his face.

Disclaimer was given for new PAX and we moseyed to Home Depot. Fairly standard warm up of:
25 SSH IC
10 Tappy Taps IC
15 LSS IC
15 MNC IC

Moseyed back behind Home Depot toward Target. Slowed for some Toy Soldiers, butt kickers and high knees, then moseyed to Target parking lot.

THE THANG:
Started with Apple Turnovers all the way across the Target parking lot. Bear Crawl to parking spot center line, complete 3 merkins, and continue with crab walk. 3 merkins and flip back over. Finished the last lane with 10 merkins.

This up close and personal time spent with the parking lot had some pondering why people clean out their cars in parking lots and leave the trash.

Quick discussion on the G3L and specifically the Get Right.

Moseyed to the Fountains. PAX partnered up and completed a DORA with one PAX running around the round-a-bout and back while the other PAX completed:
100 box jumps
200 dips
300 step ups

MARY:
Made it back in time for flutters IC and American Hammers IC.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
A lot of announcements this morning: MISOGI, Pints & Padres, Tec Dowling golf tourney.

COT:
Prayers for PAX in attendance, praise for leaders in our community. Welcome Hemorrhage!

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Funbags and whining

WARMUP: Moroccan night clubs, side straddle hops, windmills
THE THANG: Indian run w/ 40# sandbags. Front guy gives bag to next guy, drops to do 5 merkins, then sprints to rejoin line telling front person to pass bag. Broke into 2 teams and did that for a lap. Then stayed in teams and did sandbag pass back, last person runs with bag to front. Did this across field Then down to bottom of big hill. At bottom of hill, stay in 2 teams. Both teams had to complete 100 burpees, 200 merkins, 300 LBCs, 200 squats, 100 bent over rows w/sandbag, 5 laps running up hill, and 3 laps with sandbag up hill. These were totals by team. Sandbags were not to be dropped at all 5 burpee penalty for dropping bags, no penalties for the first 30 minutes.
Back to the grassy area to pick up the 60# Funbags, 3 Pax decided to run away before more pain was inflicted.
Next evolution was the tunnel of love; form a line and stay in plank position about 3 ft apart from other pax, pull/drag the sandbags sideways until we reach the other side of the field, back to start with same movement.
We formed two teams of 5, movements:
– sand bag toss (sideways) using only 60 # bags, alternate between all pax, across the field and back, loosing team did 5 burpees.
– squat, clean and toss with 60# bag, across the field and back, losing team did 5 burpees.
– bear crawl sand bag pull/drag, across the field and back, loosing team did 5 burpees.
Lots of whining coming from a few pax.
Done with sandbags, 10 burpees for everyone. Run to pull up bars, two rounds of 5 pull ups for everyone.
Back to COT, one minute AMRAP hand release merkins. Most pax completed 30 reps, a few pax more than 40, form was of the essence.

COT: prayers for all pax and family members that are going through health issues.

Tinsel out!

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Swampy At The Swamp

WARMUP:  We did a typical Circle Of Pain.
THE THANG: 10 of each run a lap after each set

Cat 1 – Merkins
Cat 2 – Merkins, Squats
Cat 3 – Merkins, Squats, LBCs
Cat 4 – Merkins, Squats, LBCs, Lunges
Cat 5 – Merkins, Squats, LBCs, Lunges, Diamond Merkins

Two rounds with a stretching break in between rounds.

MARY: Each pax led an exercise then we stretched some and called it a day.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Bourbon, BBQ and trash pickup
COT: Prayers for Spectre’s M and Airewolf and my brother.

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Danger Zone, B.O.M.B.S, ABC’s

WARMUP:
10 – Side Straddle Hops
10 – Windmill
10 – Moroccan Night Club
10 – Cherry Pickers
10 – Merkins

While moseying to The Circle Fountain…

Danger Zone
PAX runs while Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins plays in the background. Every time the words “Danger Zone” are heard PAX does single squat then resumes running. End result is 3 and a half minutes of run with sporadic squats.

THE THANG:
B.O.M.B.S.
Similar to Dora 1-2-3 but more exercises. Partner up. Pax 1 does exercise while Pax 2 runs to the other end of the end of the sidewalk and back. Swap out and continue the exercise until each amount of reps are complete. The exercises and reps are: 50- Burpees / 100- Overhead Claps / 150- Merkins / 200- Big Boy Sit-ups / 250- Squats.

Short message about pushing through the trials in your life. It’s only making you stronger to get through those tough times.

“Your life will be enlarged in proportion to the amount of iron you have endured, for it is in the shadows of your life that you will find the actual fulfillment of your dreams of glory. So do not complain about the shadows of darkness —in reality, they are better than your dreams could ever be. Do not say that the darkness of the prison has shackled you, for your shackles are wings —wings of flight into the heart and soul of humanity. And the gate of your prison is the gate into the heart of the universe. God has enlarged you through the suffering of sorrow’s chain.”
~GEORGE MATHESON

Mosey back to Parking lot

3 minute EMOM
10 Burpees
20 Merkins
30 Squats

MARY:
Alphabet (or ABCs)
On your 6 – feet elevated like 6-inch hold – spell out the alphabet with your feet. All capital letters preferred.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Royale last Q at The Abyss – 5/18/22
DaVinci Art Raffle
New AO – The Yard starts tomorrow, Grassy Knoll on Q
COT:
Anxiety and Prayers for Families

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90’s Pirates and the Killer B’s

WARMUP: Mosey around the parking lot until we circled up by the Petsmart

3 Burpees
10 HR Merkins
18 SSH IC
24 Seal Jacks IC
25 Mountain Climbers IC
Mosey back to Best Buy

THE THANG:
This was a derivation of the Killer B’s workout from the Iron Pax Challenge.

Starting at the stop sign the workout consisted of the following:
10 yard broad jump
10 Burpees
10 yard broad jump
20 Bobby Hurleys
10 yard broad jump
30 Big Boy Sit-ups
Bearcrawl back to the stop sign
4 rounds.

Tesla killed it and we all picked up
The 6 together. With a few minutes left we moseyed across the parking lot for a 6 minute EMOM
10 HR Merkins
15 LBCS
15 2ct Flutters
(Last minute we did 10 BBS and 30 Hello Dolly’s)

Ran to flag for 21 Tempo Merkins and 10 LBCS which got us to 6:00.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Invergence tomorrow.
COT:Prayers for anxiety and families.

Just for context the Pirates of the early 90’s featured Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla… otherwise known as the Killer B’s. Reminiscing about this on Wednesday with Anchorman made me nostalgic…So of course it inspired me to incorporate it into a workout. 😁

Thanks to all who came out this morning!

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VQ Warmup with a side of Tabata

WARMUP: Spectre led the warmup for his VQ. He was well prepared with a plan and executed :
10 SSH IC
10 Merkin IC
10 Mountain Climbers IC
10 Imperial Walkers IC

The second portion of his warmup had the pax circle up. One pax would take off running in a loop around the parking lot while the remaining pax would do an exercise. The exercises were :
Squats
Parker Peters
Arm Circles
Arm circles reversed
Moroccan Night Clubs.

We each got a turn. At the conclusion of the warmup feedback was provided. Overall a great VQ warmup! Can’t wait to see him lead a full WO in the future! (Spoiler it’s going to be at the Swamp)

THE THANG:
For my portion of the workout I led a simple Tabata. 1:00 minute of reps followed by 15 seconds of rest. During each minute the reps of the exercises would increase by 1 as you go. Meaning you would start with 1 Merkin to 1 shoulder tap but could end with 6 merkins to 6 shoulder taps by the end of the minute.
This sequence repeated for all exercises listed below.

Merkin: Shoulder Tap, Peter Parker, Row, Plank Jack

Squat: Forward Lunge, Calf Raise, Reverse Lunge, Jump Squat

Big Boy Sit-up: LBC, Hello Dolly, Flutters, Freddy Mercury

Recovery Lap around the parking lot and then round 2.

Once we were done had 60 seconds left so we did 20 Hand release Merkins and 10 Burpees.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Read the Newsletter
COT: prayers for cable guy and prayers for safe travels.

Thanks to Triple Lindy for the invite!

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All Good at The Swamp

WARMUP:
Mosey to Fuji
SSH, Imperial Walker, Hillbilly, Mtn Climbers
Mosey to Near Death Island
One pax runs around the island while other pax exercise — Squats, Merkins, Parker Peters, Moroccan Night Clubs, Arm circles forward & backward

THE THANG:
Mosey to the fountain
20 Step Ups
20 Dips
10 Box Jumps
20 Derkins
Mosey to side of Best Buy
Balls to the Wall followed by People’s Chair (rinse & repeat)
Mosey to back end of Best Buy lot
10 Monkey Humpers
20 Parker Peters
30 Lunges
40 Shoulder Taps
50 Squats
Pax completed 3 rounds of the above with one lap in between
Mary — Flutters, Dollies, Backscratchers, Box cutters, Superman
Mosey home
10 Burpees OYO

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Spectre VQ next week!
AKA convergence at WEP 4/30
Invergence on Shield Locks at WEP 4/30
Q School coming in May

COT:
After several days of intense upper body beatdowns at AKA this week, on this Good Friday YHC concentrated on legs & core along with a message about the GOOD that is all around us and inside of us at all times. It’s easy to get sucked into the negative in our media, our workplace, our schools, our families and friends. Even when I block out media, change jobs and reel in my interactions with others, the negative INSIDE ME can still take charge and become my focus. It takes strong and intentional commitment to focus on the GOOD. The GOOD is just as much around us as the negative, and the GOOD even surpasses everything else! Let’s make it our mission to focus on the abundance of GOOD all around us.

Among the GOOD this morning was FNG/Hot Wheels, EH’d by Tesla and rising out of bed at his home in Mooresville! Not only did HW drive an hour to post at The Swamp, he engaged like a veteran pax taking his turn counting exercises, sharing about his priorities (Faith, Family, Friends) and his how he surrounds himself with people focused on values and character. In talking about the GOOD in his life experience he highly recommended Love’s as the best truck stop food on the interstate!! Sorry Cake Boss, no Bucee’s mention.

Airwolf’s cadence count melody suggest some real talent hiding in those vocal chords. Hey, Band Camp, we might have a Barbershop quartet or Acapella group Q here!?!?!

Slapshot continues to Make The Swamp Great Again! Thanks for your leadership and the invite to lead in the Gloom!

Last, among the NOT SO GOOD things today was YHC’s poor safety skills. I made the decision to wear the florescent vest even though the parking lots are lit to ensure we could be seen. But that’s not even half the battle — strong safety also requires SEEING and good judgment. Near Death Island got it’s name because of my call to mosey to the traffic island across from Fuji then my lead of the pax into the street without looking left. Yes, I missed an incoming car with high speed destined to take out the back of the pack. Fortunately, they looked and had the presence of mind to stop. The driver stopped too and waved them across. A teaching moment for sure. Stay safe men!

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AKA jack-Web-inar

WARMUP: mosey, Moroccan night clubs, windmills, cherry pickers, low slow squats, los slow merkins

THE THANG: 4 jack webs with a short mosey in between.

MUCHO SHOULDER:
1 merkin – 4 shoulder taps progressive to 10 merkins – 40 shoulder taps (total 55 merkins, 220 shoulder taps)

Take a lap

CALF BURNER:
1 monkey humper – 4 calf raises progressive to 10 monkey humpers – 40 calf raise (total 55 MH, 220 CR)

Take half a lap to the soccer field

CAPTAIN THOR:
1 big boy sit-up – 4 American hammers progressive to 10 BBSU – 40 AH (total 55 BBSU, 220 AH) we had to throw some body destroyers in between and did Superman’s at the end to stretch our abs and lower back.

Half a lap

HOPS AND DIPS:
1 side straddle hop – 4 triceps dips progressive to 10 SSH – 40 TD (you guessed it 55 SSH, 220 TD)

Super slow slow mosey to COT, next time I Q I have to make sure to bring lots of cheese for all the whine we had.

MARY: Moroccan night clubs, windmills, walking dogs and honeymooners
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Read your newsletter
COT: prayers for kids, families and people recovering from injuries and surgeries.

TINSEL OUT!!

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The Peacemaker

WARMUP:

Very quick demo of what was coming. 12 exercises pulled from the intro dance to Peacemaker.
The board:

Oh, and everyone grab a 4.5lb paver for each hand. They’re brand new so the gloves are to keep your skin from being sliced open.

THE THANG:

HIIT workouts with all 12 exercises. Everyone, just use the beat!
1. Squat lat pull w/alt leg raise
2. Dumbell scarecrow
3. Lat pulls w/alt high knees
4. Al Gore tricep extensions. Arms out, elbows turned UP
5. Apollo Ono with shrug/lat pull/whatever felt right
6. Overhead press (with optional pelvic thrust)
7. Lunges with full arm motion
8. Side arm lat raises
9. Hillbilly walker
10. Scarecrow again
11. Slow, full arm circles with one arm, holding the other out. Guitar hero style
12. overhead press to tricep extesion and back

We did the above for:
1. 90 seconds on, 20 seconds rest
2. Take a break with a long lap around the parking lot
3. 30 seconds on, 12 seconds rest
4. Two of each, straight down the line, try not to mess up or burpees
5. Everyone did fine, so 10 burpees as a reward
6. Two each one more time, because the ruckers needed to know what they were missing

Spotify playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6k0Pd1cAC3pmdvO7NstFkq?si=75f40460c85245c

Video of our last two minutes is here (as caught by the TeslaCam):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-Im8n1SVEW-_TXBNIcm-EoHATl797135/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-CcQb4RhCVMlU7UEx7gyL1tt1dlIvrO6/view?usp=sharing

ANNOUNCEMENTS

https://photos.app.goo.gl/SByJGmeayUfkfNab7
Funhouse talking about what AKA is all about
Tinsel talks about the Manion WOD at Chupacabra on 4/29
YHC letting everyone know that we can soon start posting BBs in Slack, and to update your names or you won’t get tagged

COT:

Talked about F3 being open to all men. While YHC is reasonably certain that most of the men there was some flavor of christian, I asked men to bow their heads for a moment of murmuring silence. When complete I also said I don’t want to ignore things that are difficult in each others lives. grab the man next to you if you need to talk about something. This is CoT, and we trust.

NMM:

I’d been thinking about this workout for weeks, basically the first time I saw the intro credits for Peacemaker, I knew I had to bring this to an AO near me. And it just so happened that I had the Swamp on AKA, so I watched that credit sequence over and over until I had a solid, awful, dumb, stupid workout ready to share with whatever AKA groupies were brave enough to drive out to Rivergate.
I knew it was going to make guys feel dumb, stupid, perhaps even embarrassed, but the smiles went on for miles, and the shoulders have been successfully melted. Mublechatter was epic, everyone had a great time, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have brought a fun, shoulder smoking Friday morning to The Fort. Thanks for putting me on the calendar, Slapshot!
Peacemaker intro:

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