Tag: Uhaul

Happy Valentine’s Day, Happy Birthday, Birdcage is Bad at Math…

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Well, there were a few things we knew and one thing we learned on this cool Friday morning.  First, it was Valentine’s Day and many PAX were trying to get some last minute swollness.  Second, it was Birdcage’s birthday and even though it was his special day, he wanted to spend it leading HIM in a local high school parking lot.  Finally, we learned that Birdcage is not good at Maths.  The other thing that he struggles with is BackBlasts, but for now we will set that aside…

Upon arriving PAX were treated to a warm up which included the tried and tested, moseying, side straddle hops, windmills, etc.  The warmup may have included none of these, but it was so forgettable that I have already forgotten…

It was at this point that the PAX were introduced to some of the worst math of all time as Birdcage led all to a parking spot that would serve as the starting point for the morning’s supply of heavy lifting.  “We will do one tricep extension in the first spot, two in the second, three in the third, etcetera until we get to the end,” Birdcage said enthusiastically.  “Are you aware of exponentials and how many we will ultimately do,” asked many self interested PAX.  The mumble chatter would be strong with this group…

Omaha was called by parking spot 21…  That was how the morning progressed, and in all honesty, it was refreshing to see Birdcage get worn out by some strong mumble chatter and much weeping and gnashing of teeth.

In the end all were recipients of some solid face kicks and pain implementation before a jovial name o’ rama and an enthusiastic rendition of Happy Birthday…

https://twitter.com/f3_uhaul/status/1228283967914303490?s=21

 

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Valentine’s Day Hangover Milkshakes for Everyone

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Well, after very active Valentine’s Day celebrations there were 6 HIMs in need of recovery Saturday morning.  Almost 3 miles of ground covered, all while actively obeying traffic laws to ensure we did not have another run in with local law enforcement.

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Back to the bells

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I had the date on my calendar, but when I got a reminder over the weekend from 3D, I couldn’t help but be excited!

While I’ve Q’d my fair share at the old digs (The Tomahawk), this was my first official Q at the Snake Pit!  As I’ve thrown down some memorable Qs (there was the time…nobody was allowed to put down their bell for the entire workout, or the time we did the catch me if you can and we ran all the way out to Dobys Bridge Road, or the Ring of Fire (had to be there))…so what to do….what. to. do.

So there we were, the morning of…the PAX rolled in, a disclaimer was disclaimed, and off we went…the PAX lined up for an Indian run, man in the back performed 3 KB burpees before running to the front of the line as went meandered our way all the way around the perimeter of the school grounds.

The PAX rallied up at the bottom of a hill where they were divided into 2 groups of 4.  Stations (cones) were set up instructing the PAX on what exercise to complete.  There were 4 stations about 15 yards apart with exercises as follows:

1. KB swings, 2. Alternating Lunges w/ overhead KB triceps extension, 3. KB squat, curl, and press, 4. swap the bell for a 35lb brick and run to a cone about 25 yards away and back (this PAX was the timer).  Exercises at each station were completed while the PAX were running.  To rotate, the PAX that completed the run made their way back to station 1, while all other PAX bear crawled with their bell to the next station.  After 4-5 rotations through the stations, the PAX returned to the starting location for PAX-led Mary and COT.

Always an honor to lead!

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LE TOUR DE WEP Dora Style

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Great morning for a Q, my third one of the week, I was super pumped since my sidekick Sonic (2.1- 8 years old) accepted to take the lead roll and co Q with me.

This time I brought my battle rope and chatters started early, we welcomed all PAX. Drop Thrill was in charge of the milkshakers so off they went.

With the Bootcampers we grabbed the rope and moseyed/walked across the wet and cold grass to the playground for the warm up, many PAX whined about getting  their toesies wet but the idea is to get out of your comfort zone and accelerate, this is why you leave your fartsack every morning. We explained that we will move as a team and our team will be as fast as the slower PAX so we all encouraged each other to get better (this is what F3 is all about)

Warm up led mostly by Sonic:

Side straddle hops
Windmill
Weed picker
Low slow squat
Moroccan night clubs
Low slow merkin
Mountain climber

I mapped the park on my phone for 15 stops and we run in between stops (picture attached), we used the walking trail to run around the park. The idea was to complete the following Dora:

100 merkins (4 stops x 25)
200 carolina dry docks (5 stops x 40)
300 overhead claps (6 stops x 50)

We went back to our starting position at the playground for some fun with the battle rope.

Our team was split into two groups for some Tug of war competition, PAX enjoyed this part as adrenaline kicked in while pulling the rope in a friendly competition. I’m definitely repeating this in my Q’s

.

We had abut 11 minutes left so it was time for our superhero visit and the crowd started cheering:

Captain Thor
1 big boy situp,  4 american hammers
2 big boy situps,  8 american hammers
3 big boy situps,  12 american hammers
Progressive to 10 big boy situp,  40 american hammers

3 rounds of Superman to stretch the abs, honey mooners, downward dogs and tunnel of man for Sonic back and forth to finish our beatdown,

we finished our day running back to COT carrying the rope as a group.

We met with the milkshakers for namearama, announcements, prayers and praises.

Thanks to Slash for the opportunity to lead this great group of PAX, some of them I had only seen once or twice but it’s all about the camaraderie.

My 2.1 Sonic really enjoyed this as he does everytime he comes to F3 with me, all PAX welcomed him as one more of us encouraging him every minute, he’s only 8 but not afraid of the gloom.

TINSEL and SONIC are out!!

 

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Too Much Mania For Fort Mill

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Today seemed like a good day to shake up things and try to get arrested.  But wait, I’m getting ahead of myself.

We headed out from WEP and took a nice slow stroll towards downtown.  Along the way stopping for a few reps and exercises now and then.

I should’ve known something would happen because when Wegmania and Thrillmania both occur at the same point on the globe, then surely Fort Mill’s Finest will show up and they did.

We were hanging out doing 11’s at First Baptist when not one, not two but three policy officers showed up asking us questions, apparently being tipped off that we were supposedly spray painting the fair church grounds.  Of course we weren’t, but I figured I’d just play it safe and we moved on from there.

After we made a full loop and made it back to WEP, we did a bit of stretching, and some reps and then waited around for Tinsel and his followers to make to back to COT.

Needless to say, the cops showing up wasn’t on my Q plans, but like life, you never know what might come at you.  #GetRight #LiveRight

We missed site Q Shady out today, but you guys did awesome and there was much fellowship had.

Anyone that knows of anyone out for IR or any FNG’s, please send them this way.  Milkshake is a great workout to either help with injuries, or to get your feet wet with F3.

Thanks Shady for the chance to lead.

Thrill out.

 

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The Stairs at Footloose

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18 PAX gathered on a sub-30 morning in The Fort. After some griping about how “moderate” YHC would make this, it was 5:15 and a disclaimer was spoken. We snaked around the main entrance to FBC and then went down to snake around the COG….as a bonus we also hit the big stairs leading to their fellowship center.

This is a moderate AO; YHC kept all counts to 10….except for when Spitz got me laughing and I went to 11 once….something about Christian Yoga with Senior Ladies…..hard to recall. Here’s a brief synopsis of what we did for the warm-up and subsequent leg sequence:

We headed back to the long FBC parking lot for some wind sprints. 50% (that’s an F in school), 75% (just a C), and 93% (cause at least you know your A would transfer if you needed it). In between sprints we, did a yoga series or a leg series. One time (at band camp), I went off books and did some derkins and dips against a retaining wall.

Yoga series got more grumbling. Basic outline was:

Updog–>Downdog—>R Leg high–>bent knee–>R foot between hands–>warrior 1–>warrior 2–>extended side angle–>half moon–>warrior 2–>chaturanga (चतुरङ्ग) and repeat on other side

We walked through it a little modified to keep everyone together….lots of impressive half moons in the PAX today (take that however you like).

A little more wind sprinting and the leg series. To keep the moderate approach, but still push….we went to a 10-count frequently, but the next exercise was just a repeat. Similar to how YHC put a lot of SSH into the warmup.

COT
Prayers – the impermanence of life, illness, managing our aging and the aging of our parents

NMM:

My word of the year, INPUT, comes from jazz writer, Ted Gioia:

I think the most important skill anyone can develop is time management skills. How you use your day. But there is one principle I want to stress because this is very important to me. When people ask me for advice — and once again, this cuts across all fields — but this is the advice I give:

In your life, you will be evaluated on your output. Your boss will evaluate you on your output. If you’re a writer like me, the audience will evaluate you on your output.

But your input is just as important. If you don’t have good input, you cannot maintain good output.

The problem is no one manages your input. The boss never cares about your input. The boss doesn’t care about what books you read. Your boss doesn’t ask you what newspapers you read. The boss doesn’t ask you what movies you saw or what TV shows or what ideas you consume.

But I know for a fact I could not do what I do if I was not zealous in managing high-quality inputs into my mind every day of my life. That’s why I spend maybe two hours a day writing. I’m a writer. I spend two hours a day writing, but I spend three to four hours a day reading and two to three hours a day listening to music.

People think that that’s creating a problem in my schedule, but in fact, I say, “No, no, this is the reason why I’m able to do this. Because I have constant good-quality input.” That is the only reason why I can maintain the output.

Think about where you want to be better and then just take one step in that direction. If another step doesn’t come until tomorrow, it’s still progress. Always an honor to lead.

-Band Camp dismissed

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Armory Led Zep Tribute

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Eleven in total at the Armory.  Weather was a cool 38 degrees, no wind, dry.  Ideal for what we were going to do.

Warm Up
Mosey Run
Exercises:
SSH (IC 12x)
Windmill (IC 12x)
Imperial Walker (IC 12x)
Moroccan Nightclub (IC 12x)
Low Slow Squats (IC12x)
Peter Parker (IC 12x)
Plank stretches
Downward dog
Honeymooner

Thang 1: Intervals 
Led Zepplin playlist going during this.

45 seconds on, 13 seconds rest in between.  Set 1 exercises:
Kettlebell Swing
Kettlebell Goblet Squat
Tricep press/OH press
Snatch
American Hammers

Run approx. 500’ lap

Then Set 2 exercises, same interval timing as above:
Curls
Single-Leg Kettlebell Romanian Deadlifts
One arm kb row
Shoulder Press
Kettlebell crunch / rollup
Run approx. 500’ lap
Rinse/Repeat above

Thang 2: Thunderstruck routine
Do a burpee each time “Thunder/Thundedrstruck” is mumbled in the song.

Mary, Five mins worth

Fini, COT

Prayers include those undergoing cancer treatment; and for most of us, driving is the most dangerous part of our day…let’s be mindful and careful out there.

 

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Push, pull, who mows your lawn…what?

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8 (soon to be 9…then 10) PAX gathered for chilly Snake Pit morning.  Getting the formalities (disclaimer) out of the way, YHC didn’t waste time moving b/c it was COLD!  We took off behind, I guess it’s behind, the football field for a short mosey down to the break in the road, then circled back to the side parking lot where warm-up would be conducted (before we ran back to the parking lot, 5 burpees were thrown in…yep, that kind of warm-up). As we were running back, this is where PAX #9 (JWOW) graced us with his trademark tardy appearance…glad you made it my friend!  Better late than never and he was energized out of the gate like a kid on Christmas morning!

Warm-up included: mountain climbers, Morracan night clubs, imperial walkers, cherry pickers, SSH, windmills, burpees (yes burpees in the warm-up is a crowd pleaser), squats, then some up stretching.  Stretching was downward dog, honeymooners, leg and back stretches.  The warm-ups above were for the most part counts of 10 with exception of burpees (3) and SSH (30…only b/c we were waiting so long for Trucker! hahaha).  Birdcage was kind enough to pay YHC a “compliment” that he needed a 10 count during the warm-up…joking/not joking is how I took it but we moved on to The Thang.

The Thang

As we all got mentally prepared for next steps, YHC tried to start some tunes which turned out to be an interesting topic for the workout.  90’s hip hop was first up…hopefully no one was offended by Biggie or Snoop’s lyrics b/c there was about zero movement from YHC to stop that “parental advisory” train from coming.  The following exercises were called out in sequence after each was completed by the PAX.  About midway through these exercises, the local legend (and PAX #10) joined our group of merry men…none other than Spitz!  Just in time for Snoop to bust some rhymes…Spitz was not entertained by these lyrical beats.

  • 30 swings
  • 30 squats (bell hits the ground and that doesn’t mean lean over, it means bend your back…)
  • 30 shoulder presses
  • 30 up rows
  • 30 (15 each leg) lunges
  • 30 (15 each arm) clean and press

With the first set done, our “cool down” was running lines in the parking lot (old school suicides) so 3 lines of different distance became our next task to attack.  Once the PAX finished their cool down, it was back to business.   Prior to getting back to business, 80s rock station was selected (much to Trucker’s approval!).

  • 30 (15 each arm) plank rows
  • 30 American hammers (single count)
  • 15 manmakers (crowd pleaser)
  • 30 (15 each arm) lawnmower pulls….or Javier pulls…huh Birdcage?  If you’re reading this and have questions, take them up with the Cage’iest of all Birds.
  • 30 KB presses (on your back, bench press)
  • 30 triceps extensions (on your back if you want Trucker…jeez, but those are technically skull crushers which we didn’t call, but you do you)
  • 30 shoulder shrugs

Back to our 3 sets of lines for cool down…and no, we didn’t do any 10 counts that I can recall.  That’s what running lines is for.  Back to the mix where the music changed again, not without some ribbing from Birdcage, who was quickly satisfied by the new selection “Beastie Boys” channel.  Uhaul also started to bust some rhymes, but nothing to the effect of what can be thrown down by the likes of Flat Tire, Jekyll, or rap goddess Pusher (goddess just seems to fit better)…sorry Uhaul, you’ve got to see these guys go and then you’ll see where I’m coming from.  Before we got started, beachbody enthusist 3D was asked to select “1 or 2″…he choose 2 without knowing why, only to be informed we were doing the 2nd set of exercises all over again.  C’mon man, I thought this was a softball of the 1 or 2…YHC was way wrong on him picking up on this.  Can’t win them all.  See set #2 above for what we did again.

Once this was done, another cool down was in store, then 3 short exercises of MARY.  We stayed where we were for COT, did all things at the end, and collected some great praises!  Thanks for the opportunity 3D, hopefully I qualified to the Snake Pit standards.  If not, bring me back and we can dial it up a few more levels if that’s what the Site Q wants!  Great group today and I’d give the group a 8-9 on the mumblechatter scale which is good when it’s cold!

Shady

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Chutes and Ladders at the Hive

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drug this up from a past Q I’ve done

Warmup – Mosey, Moroccan Nightclub, Hillbilly and Imperial Walkers, Windmills, Cherry Pickers, Plank, Honeymooner, Plank, Downdog, alternate calves in Downdog

Next started the pain

10 ManMakers

20 LBCs with Bell

30 Skullcrushers

Mosey w/ Bell

40 Curls (or 20 each arm)

50 Tricep Extensions

Mosey w/ Bell

60 Overhead Press

50 Flutters with Bell

Mosey w/ Bell

40 Goblet Squats into calf raises

30 Rows (15 each side)

Mosey w/ Bell

20 American Hammers

10 Turkish Getups with a butterfly or lat raise on your back to start (5 each side)

Still had 16 minutes, so PAX called exercises (Manmakers, Uhauls, etc, even rotate one bell and did rows and BBS)

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Snake Pit: New Year’s Day…

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“Under a blood red sky
A crowd has gathered in black and white
Arms entwined, the chosen few
The newspapers says, says
Say it’s true, it’s true”
– New Year’s Day, U2

It was New Year’s Day and the #Faithful convened at the Snake Pit to work. Nothing fancy, the sugarplums had danced out of everyone’s heads and there was no telling aroma of vodka being sweat out to indicate that this was different than any other morning. I guess even an 0700 start wasn’t late enough to entice some folks to post. U-Haul had some sort of TimeLife “Best of the Late 70’s” playing on the roof rack, and it was loud enough to entice a Spitz sighting. Spitz can hardly resist when “Radar Love” starts strumming the rhythm strings deep in his soul. Play it long enough and he’ll eventually meander over to tell some stories of the glory days of Fort Mill. “This used to be entirely wild boar paths through here…” Anyhow, with a promise of no running, we got going.

HIIT Style workout was on the menu: 60 seconds on 20 seconds off.

Curls
Goblet Squats
Chest Presses
Triceps Extensions
Pass-through Lunges
Clean and Press
LBCs
and more…

Finished up with a round robin of Mary and such then 3D took us out.

Until next time… Helmet, out.

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