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New leaders bring new ideas and new ideas bring growth.  In hopes of accelerating that growth Tool suggested we have a Q school at Rock City today, so we gathered 17 strong in the gloom for some lessons in leadership.

Disclaimer

Most of us don’t do a good job with this, as we usually gloss over it as we start our mosey.  It’s important to emphasize a few points – We are not professionals, this is going to be physically demanding, there are inherent risks (physical exertion, it’s dark, mud, roots, rocks, etc.) and all participants assume those risks, and you should modify if necessary.

Getting Started

We moseyed past the rock pile to the t-ball field (Pontiff Playground was in surprisingly good shape after serving as a reservoir during Saturday’s street flooding).  It’s important to set a good tone for the workout early.  You want to portray that you believe that what you are about to do is worth doing.  That it is worth getting out of bed and to the park for 5:30.  We have to make it hard or it won’t be in important to the Pax.

• 20 Burpees OYO (On Your Own)
• SSH x 15 (IC); Imperial x 20 (IC); J-Los x 10 (IC)
• Burpees EMOM (Every Minute on the Minute) x 6 minutes (Reps: 12, 12, 12, 12, 10, 10)
• Peter Parkers x 20 (IC); Plank Jacks x 20 (IC); Parker Peters x 20 (IC)
• 12 Burpees OYO

Total Burpees during Warm-up = 100.

Cadence and Counting

An important part of our workouts are the commands used to lead an exercise in cadence.  We use 3 two-part commands.  The fact that we use the same commands every time promotes efficiency and pace and keeps us together.  The commands are straight up army style, consisting of two-parts, a preparatory command, followed by a very brief pause, followed by a command of execution.  Example:

• Next exercise is….the side straddle hop
• Ready position…move
• In cadence….Exercise

There is great deal of controversy over whether it is Ready Position…move or Starting Position…move.  In the infamous DREDD/OBT video “How to Count” DREDD says “Starting Position.”  I gave my Freed To Lead Book away two years ago, so I’m not sure what it says.  However, I am pretty sure OBT used “Ready Position” when he taught me how to do it.

Kimchi took over at this point and provided instructions for the different cadence counts we use.  Some points to remember:  The Q always counts 1-2-3, while the Pax responds on the 4th count with the number of the repetition.  The Q must change the tone of his count on the last rep to let the Pax know the exercise is ending.  If you are on the ground, tell the Pax to get up by saying “recover” after the exercise is over.  If you want the pax to stay down so you can lead them through 15 variations of plank and merkin exercises a la Rudy, then don’t tell them to recover until the end.

• Red Bull Count – This is a super-fast 4 count.  Kimchi demonstrated by leading us in Red Bull Smurf Jacks
• Normal Count, but slow exercise – This is a normal count, but you do half the exercise on the first 3 counts and then complete it quickly on the four count.  Normally used with Low Slow Squats, which Kimchi demonstrated with, but also works well with Merkins.
• Slow Count – This is a super slow four count.  This one can be a little difficult and takes metronome like skills to keep everyone together.  Kimchi demonstrated with Merkins.  Personally, I use it for Don Quixotes and Good Mornings.
•  8 count – Used for our more complicated exercises.  Kimchi demonstrated with 8-count Body Builders #crowdpleaser.  Also commonly used by JV for Dr. Ws.
• Woz then reminded us that we left one out – the 2 count aka up/down cadence.  This cadence works well for all exercises in which you move up and down.  The Q calls out the commands Up and Down (or Down then Up depending on the exercise) as the Pax counts after Down (or UP).  Woz demonstrated with Squats.  #GRT

Throughout this section, several men posted to the middle to practice leading an exercise.  T-claps to Babyface, Milkman, Marlin, Yo-Yo, Tiny Dancer, and the aforementioned Woz for stepping up to lead.

Smoking the Pax

When structuring a workout, you want to make sure that you smoke the super fit guys without leaving everyone else behind.  You also don’t want to make it so that the really fit guys are waiting around a long time for everyone else to finish.  The goal is to create a workout that smokes everyone, regardless of fitness level.  Shorty took over at this point and gave some examples of exercises one can use for this purpose.  You want to use exercises where the intensity is not dependent on time or distance.  For example, Tabata is a good one where everyone stays together and each man does as much as he can during each 20 second interval.  The EMOM used during the warmup is another good example.  Shorty suggested partner work.  Partner work is good because one partner may be able to carry more of the team load than the other.  As long as you don’t let Jadaveon and El Wire partner up together, it seems teams are usually more even than individuals.  Shorty led us in a round of abbreviated Dora.  One partner did Jump Squats while the other jogged to 40 yards and back.  Teams were to complete 300 jump squats, but we ran out of time around 200.

Circle of Trust

If there are FNGs, it’s a good idea to recap what F3 stands for and why we find it important.  We always finish with countarama, namearama, announcements and a prayer.

Naked Man Moleskin

• Great turnout today for Q-school.  We should have at least 17 for every Rock City.
• Judging fro the mumblechatter, the 100 burpee warm-up seemed to be as much of a hit in The World as it was Uptown.
• Good input from all the Pax today:  Triple Shift reminded us the importance of paying attention to the Pax as you lead and that it is ok to stop and correct form when you see people doing it wrong.  Tool suggested that splitting your VQ with someone else is always a good option.  Walleye reminded us of the importance of planning a total body workout and not just focusing on one area.
• Rudy had a section planned on Trying New Things, but we didn’t get to it.  One reason we want new Qs to step up is because they often bring fresh ideas.  It never hurts to try something new.  If it doesn’t work, you don’t have to bring it back.  But more often than not, it works.
• That brings me to flexibility.  Today, the cadence training was going well and we had a lot of newer Qs that we wanted to give some practice to.  We spent some extra time on that section, knowing it would cost us Rudy’s section at the end.  You want to bring a plan, but always be prepared to change it during the workout.
• Also, it’s much better to over plan than under plan.  You never want to run out of things to do and then just be making stuff up to kill time at the end.  You want to finish strong.  In case you do run out of stuff, you can always finish with Mary, but it works best to have a go-to Mary series ready, instead of making it up on the fly.
• If you attended the Q school today, let me know what worked well and what didn’t work well.  You can post it in the comments below.  I would love to have your feedback.  We are going to take this show on the road at the end of the month, and I would like for it to be better than what it was today.

Thanks,

Hawg

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