Backblast. June 30, 2018
So who else is noticing that after exercising for a couple of months and more that your T shirts must be shrinking?
By Worms, with comedic assistance from Moneycat | June 30, 2018
The Scene: The Knoll
Conditions: 82F, got warmer as it went. Ahhhh….the “cool of the morning” in BR.
Welcome: 9 men posted.
Disclaimer:
“I am not a professional trainer….well, you guys know the rest.”
(Sorry about the pics guys. Even if I flip the image upside down on my computer before uploading the photos they still come out upside down on the Backblast posts. Just so everyone knows, we were not doing head stands to take our photo. That came later.)
Warm-a-Rama:
The local MADD group had a festive event going on at the park this morning, not to be confused with DAMM, Drunks Against Mad Mothers. They were taking over OUR parking places, so we moved over a little down the parking lot.
Had some new exercises this morning requiring new coordination. Some of us neared falling down on some of these.
Capri lap Squirm. Not a “run” but can still call it a “mosey”. (A squirm is a fast walk To be “walking” you have to have one foot on the ground at all times. “Running involves a moment in time where no foot is touching the ground. Its about 4-9/13 microseconds, I believe.)
Goofball – A standing mountain climber (running in place) while you alternate your arms up and down (like climbing a ladder). Call it goofball b/c you look exactly like one when doing this.
Annie – This exercise instructs pax on the art of clean floors, be warned some pax may break out in song and dance. Hold plank and rotate one arm in a circular motion while holding plank with the opposite arm.
Sky Reaching – Long reaching upwards with your fingertips high. Can be as strenuous as you want to make it. You can be lazy and just point up like you want to ask a question, or you can stretch about 64 muscles till they hurt if you like. If someone was asking a question I ignored them. Sorry. No questions can be asked once the counting begins.
Sun God’s – This exercise is the rotating of shoulders through act of moving outstretched arms (with purpose and intensity) forward or backward in circular motion – Options for little Sun Gods and/or Big Sun Gods for desired effect.
Batwings – Progression of arm exercises that are deceivingly difficult and named after Austin’s bats. Start with 20 x Forward Arm Circles, hold, 20 x Backwards Arm Circles, hold, 20 x seal claps, hold, 20 x overhead claps. Everything is on a 4-count. Remember to enjoy the pain on the faces of your fellow men.
Fabreze – Certainly not the first production run of “Fabreeze” air “freshener”. How do you make air “fresher” by contaminating it with “pretty” smells? My sinuses rebelled with that stuff and I told my wife to throw it out and never buy it again. On your six, do 2 Big Boy Situps. Remain upright after last BB and lift feet up 6″. Do 10 Air Presses. (Thanks to Sparknut, visiting from Raleigh, pointing out that this is an arm press in the air, not a leg press.) Back down for 4 BB followed by 20 Air Presses with legs held 6″. Repeat using increments of 2:10 ratio. (2:10, 4:20, 6:30, 8:40, 10:50, etc…). Didn’t quite do the numbers as planned because the Worms was tuckering out.
Goose Step – Marched 65 paces just like the Nazis though we don’t hold to the fascist model otherwise. A real leg muscle stretcher.
Finkle Swing – Named for the infamous kicker “Ray Finkle” it is said that this was the stretch that lost him the big game. Pax swings one leg at a time back and forth to warm up those hips.
Happy Jacks – Do 5 side straddle hops in cadence then after the 5th one everyone does two jump squats. Like this… Side Straddle Hops IC: One, two, three, ONE! One, two, three, TWO! One, two, three, THREE! One, two, three, FOUR! One, two, three, FIVE! Quickly followed by two jump squats. Repeat 4x or until no one can breathe. Cool activity twist on some familiar exercises.
Mozy to the sundial for da thang……..
Dem Thang
Freak Nasties – One stand, straddle other’s head. Man on ground feet up high grasps the standing man’s ankles for support. The stander throws the other man’s feet straight away 2 times. To left 2 times, to right 2 times then over again. SWAP positions. That was the plan but I think most of us just did the throw straight away routine. 16 reps
Hillbillies – Similar to Imperial Walkers but knee comes up to elbow on same side of body as side that knee is raised. About 16 reps
Happy Feet – Arms out to sides. Feet do rapid running in place but spread shoulder width apart. Commonly a football exercise. 20 reps.
Stormtrooper: Another similar to Imperial Walker but with a twist. Extend arms straight out in front of the body. Twist arms to one side of the body while raising and twisting the knee and hip the opposite direction. Can be done IC or OYO. Repeat both sides until the Q halts. Like a pretzel, twisting, sprinkler head thingy. Good back and hip stretch. Sound effects optional. 16 reps
Ring of fire with a twist: A spin on ring of fire. Pun intended. In a walking side squat, rotate in a circle until the Q gives an order to “SPRAWL” then back to the squat walk. We went in CW and then CCW directions. The Q would instruct everyone to “sprawl” after a varying number of steps. (“Sprawl: body straight like in a plank. Arms straight. Bow your middle body down deeply towards the ground while attempting to face upwards as high as possible. This is an exercise used by wrestlers and other marshal arts as a beginning to other actions. I’m not talking about the scripted, choreographed entertainment some of you watch with the wild outfits and raging threats to their opponents, then the girls with the signs. What do those signs say?)
Sometime during the exercises at the sundial Moneycat took a catnap in the shadow of the sundial brick. The Cat looked a bit woozy in the sun. It was probably the heat. We all heard him loudly purring on the other side of the wall. The cool of the dew must have caused him to fall asleep very fast. But his catnap didn’t last long as he quickly woke up to go play with rocks. He must have heard ball…….
Mosey to the creek for fun with rocks (coupons).
-find the rock you like and lineup
-chest pass the rock with 2 hands, up the hill, as far as you can, pick it up and chest pass over and over until we make it to the plateau of the hill. About 6-10 throws, depending on how well you chose your rock and how far are your throws. Choosing the pea gravel ain’t fair.
-chest pass up the hill. Rocks don’t move uphill by themselves, despite evolutional theories to the contrary.
-Alternating right arm then left arm shotput throws, down the hill.
Posed for a rock picture at the base of the hill by the creek. We’ll call that a Rock Shot. The “older” guys might be mistaken for Rolling Stones ( minus Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. ) There was much “Satisfaction” in this exercise.
Mosey to benches at the pavillion. Did step up with right leg first, 20 reps. Then did step up with left leg first.
Mosey’d back to the flag for Circle of Trust and a group pic.
Circle of Trust, COT
Welcome to the new member Cyborg and thanks to Sparknut for bringing him. Sparknut is from BR but now lives in Raleigh. Super glad you all posted with us this morning and looking forward to seeing you all again soon!
Ended with prayer.
Five met at Starbucks for coffee, water, cool down and man-talk. Great conversation. After a quick search on Facebook, Moneycat realizes he went to college with Sparknut’s wife! Amazing connections. This means 4 men missed out on the social time with the Pax:(
Thanks to all for posting this morning and putting up with the old man’s beat down. Did you sweat? Its been 16 hours now and I’m still sore from this mornings beat down, but I know I’m getting stronger for it.
