Tag: Kenner Brah

  • Popeyes Down Range

    YHC woke up and checked the Q sheet, finding out this guy had the Q! Quick rush to the AO with a couple minutes to spare. 49er from out of town brought an out of town FNG. Brief disclaimer then get down to business.
    Warmup of

    SSH x 31, IW x 20, grassgrabbers x 10, Peter Parker’s x 20, Shoulder taps x 20, Parker Peter x 20.
    10 Burpees OYO

    Mosey to the outdoor gym for Stations:

    Station 1 – Step ups
    Station 2 – Rows
    Station 3 – Declined ‘mericans
    Station 4 – Squats
    Station 5 – Run 40 yards, 5 Burpees, run back (timer)
    Rinse and Repeat

    Mosey to the hill for 11’s

    On top of the hill, descending burpees, ascending squat jumps at the base of hill.

    times up, mosey back to flag for COT

    FNG is from Atlanta, raised in WV. Sending him back to Atlanta as Reluctant Falcon…

    SYITG


     
  • Circuit City

    A trio of PAX posted this Saturday at The Muscleship in an effort to ensure our chests stick out past our guts.

    Warmup in front of NOMA: IWx20, WMx10, ACx20, LSSx20, IPSWx10, then Lunge Walk approx 30 yards towards the lake where we planked for 1 min along the shoreline.

    Moseyed to The Foundry for a series of circuits, with emphasis on improving our pull-ups. Having a cozy PAX of three allowed us to quickly map out the stations and rotate through.

    Circuit #1: Pull Ups, Side Lunge, BB Sit Ups x20 (timer). Rinse and repeat.

    Low Plank 1 minute

    Circuit #2: Body Rows, Step Ups, Box Cutters x20 (timer). Rinse and repeat.

    Low Plank 1 minute

    Circuit #3: Let the arms recharge with some round robin Mary…Gas Pumpsx20, LBCx20, Freddie Mercs x20

    Circuit #4: Parter Assist pull-ups x10 while third PAX hold people’s chair. Rinse and repeat with pull-ups x6, then pull-ups OYO x4….t-claps to Kenner Bruh for grinding through those last ones.

    Mosey back to the Big Lake shoreline for an all-so-serene waterfront view while we knocked out…

    Circuit #5: Inchworm Burpees/Merkins x10, x8, x6, x4, x2

    Circuit #6: The Triple B Suck, cousin to the original “Suck”…3 Min AMRAP of Big Boy Sit-ups x6, Box Cutter x6, Burpees x6, calling your count out after each round. We had enough time to do this twice.

    Capped things off with a few min of yoga stretching to include the “HVAC Special”.

    COT, BOM, followed by a fly-by of F3 ruckers. Good to see the boys out there prepping for another Go-Ruck…way to get after it!

    Coffeteria and some good F2 to boot. YHC enjoyed meeting Shocker and pushing each other through some of the circuits. Great start to a Sat.

    Tool

  • Smoked Stack

    Conditions

    Mostly cloudy, 67 F, Feels like 68F, Humidity 100%, Wind 6 mph from SSE

    Warm-up

    Imperial Walkers x 30; Peter Parkers x 20; Windmills x 10; Moroccan Nightclub x 40 Hold it…. Forward Arm Circles x 10 Hold it…..Backerds Arm Circles x 10

    The Thang

    Bear Crawl to the 6th tree and hang a right, bear crawling to the cone (total of 100 yards or so).  Then recovery walk to the cone (down a level) and crab walk across (40ish yards), drop a level and side lunge left, drop a level and side lunge right, drop a level and crab walk backwards, drop a level and crawl bear back to the start. 

    Stack – use coupons for squats, shoulder presses and curls

    • 10 eight count body builders
    • 10 eight count body builders, 20 squats
    • 10 body builders, 20 squats, 30 shoulder presses
    • 10 body builders, 20 squats, 30 shoulder presses, 40 curls
    • 10 body builders, 20 squats, 30 shoulder presses, 40 curls, 50 dying cockroaches

    Unstack

    • 50 dying cockroaches, 40 curls, 30 shoulder presses, 20 squats, 10 body builders
    • 40 curls, 30 shoulder presses, 20 squats, 10 body builders
    • 30 shoulder presses, 20 squats 10 body builders
    • 20 squats, 10 merkins
    • 10 merkins

    NMM

    • The crowd seemed pleased with the Moroccan night clubs followed by the arm circles
    • I’ve never asked for as many count downs as I did today.  I had to have asked Tool and Kenner Brah to countdown from 20 or 10 at least 15 times.  I was toast.
    • Thanks to Tool for keeping the energy up and pushing us to get down the mountain.  We had to take the ski lift down by swapping the body builders for merkins.
    • Kenner Brah, never one to shy away from making things awkward at the end of a workout, came through again by quoting Ed Sheeran lyrics as we started the COT.
    • COT got much better from there.  I had a really neat experience where for some reason, I felt compelled to pray for a young man from our church who recently got a job at Acropolis on Feret.  I’m rooting for this kid that he will stick with this job and get some good life experience.  Not sure why I felt compelled to share this with the guys but as soon as I did, Kenner Brah asked me his name.  He knows the kid and will soon be in-laws with the woman that owns Acropolis and give this kid his opportunity.  I walked away knowing that God is very much in control of this situation. 
  • Need to Warmup? Burpee!

    6 men posted in a cold windy gloom where a shovel flag marked the spot to start their day off right with the commitment to improve.  The thermometer said 38 degrees, but the wind made that seem much lower.  YHC has not posted that many times at Popeye’s, and the blocked off areas made it even more challenging when coming up with a planned beat down.  But the Pax posted for a reason, and YHC intended to deliver.    

    The clock hit 0530, time to give a disclaimer, then:

    Warmup

    • SSH IC x 31
    • Hillbillies IC x 20
    • Arm Circles IC 10 fwd, 10 bwd
    • Grass Grabbers IC x 10

    Mosey to the Shelter to find some benches.  There was some mumblechatter about the wall-less shelter really providing a wind breaker….YHC can take sarcasm all day…..

    • RL Step ups IC x 20
    • Dips IC x 20
    • LL Step ups IC x 20

    With the warmup over, mosey to the hill.  There’s only one way to fend off the cold on a day like this….

    COP 1 – Burp Back Mountain

    YHC has pulled this one out at Okwata, which was always a crowd pleaser.  Looking up this hill, it sure looked higher than the levee, which makes it that much more awesome! 

    Partner up!  Pax 1 starts Burpees at the base of the hill.  Pax 2 runs backwards up the hill (quadraphillia) to the top, then run back down x 3.  Flapjack until 100 cumulative Burpees are achieved.

    Once Burpees are complete, both Pax continue with Quadraphillia waiting for the six.

    Now the Pax is really getting warm.

    COP 2 – Burpees and Jump Squats on the Hill

    Keeping the partner theme, Pax 1 starts Burpees at the base of the hill.  Pax 2 Quadraphillia up the hill, completes 5 jump squats and runs back down.  Flapjack until 5 evolutions are complete.

    Finish it off with Catalina Wine Mixers IC x 10 (gotta fit it in)

    COP 3 – Suicides Circuit

    Mosey back toward the flag, stopping at the parking lot.  With 4 lamp posts to take advantage of, completed the following:

    Starting at lamp post 1:

    • Sprint to lamp post 2 and back – Merkins IC x 10
    • Sprint to lamp post 3 and back – Lunges IC x 10
    • Sprint to lamp post 4 and back – Low Slow Squats IC x 10

    COP 4 – Mary

    • Flutter kicks IC x 20 
    • LBC’s IC x 20
    • Freddie Mercury’s IC x 20
    • Tin Snips IC x 10
    • American Hammer IC x 10
    • Crunchy Frog IC x 10

    Dealers Choice….

    • War Eagle – Penguins IC x 20
    • Rev Sox – Wife Pleasers IC x 20

    Finish it off with 1 minute of planking.


    COT

    Count off and Name-O-Rama, intentions and closed with a prayer. 

    Thanks for posting with me today, and way to kill it in the gloom this morning!  YHC is pretty sure this was the coldest day so far this fall/winter….

    SYITG

  • Stand-in Q for the Tanner

    Stood in for a stricken Tanner at the rocks, Clear and breezy day with 17 PAX. Crimson visited from Raleigh
    Mosey to the spot

    Warmup
    19 Self love @ 4 ct
    19 Each way Arm circle @ 4 ct
    19 Abe Vigoda
    19 SSH
    Poor inflection discipline on my part caused some chortles

    Thang 1 With Rocks in the circle
    After each set of exercises, we rotate clockwise using the next rock till you get back to yours, Very few chose challenging weights so so ribbing ensued.
    SET
    5x Slow Squat
    5x Over Head Press
    5x Curls
    5x Rows or Tricep Extension

    Thang 2 – Rock Relay Ladder –
    The group is split in two and sent to opposite sides of the parking lot of an area. Group A Does 5 burpees then carrites rock to the other side while B side holds Plank.
    Then 10x Merkin, Carry while opposite guy does LBCs
    Then 15x Squats, carry, while Opposite guy dies Side Plank Right
    Then 10x Merkins,carry, while Opposite guy dies Side Plank left
    Then 5x Burpees,carry, then Wife Pleasers.

    Thang 3 – Setup PAx in pairs, back-back and transferred rock to the partner either right or left depending on my call This was metally challenging since rock holder and receiver ofter went opposite ways, Many laughs,

    Mosey to the pumps, then we wrapped up with 10 or so merkins to left/right side plank for a brief hold. Then back to the flag and namearama etc.

    Sweaty, breathless men balled up and closed out.

  • 12 Days of Christmas – Sunnyside

    More 2.0s than Dads gathered at UrbanSouth Brewery for the annual Christmas beatdown and fest. Quick disclaimer and we were off up Market St. Some ambitious 2.0s had to be full-stopped before racing across Religious St. in the dark. A few motorists were surprised by the pack the of seemingly feral children that were leading a group of wheezing middle aged men, winding through the dark streets between the warehouses.

    We arrived at Annunciation Square and circled up. Quick 20 SSH in cadence to warm us up. Then the began the days, using the 2.0s as coupons where possible. YHC lucked out with a 2.0 under 25lbs. For PAX without a 2.0, they borrowed from others with several to spare. Modifications were offered if 2.0s were uncooperative.

    1. Partridge in a Pear Tree – squat thrust 2.0 up to the shoulder; or a burpee
    2. V-Ups
    3. Lords/ladies leaping (2.0s hop over dads in plank)  or Russian Twists
    4. Flutter Kicks 
    5. Dizzy Bears
    6. Dying roaches
    7. Plank Jacks
    8. Freddy Mercurys
    9. Measly Merkins
    10. Baby crunches
    11. Crabs a crawling
    12. Burpees or a (12) Partridge in a Pear Tree. 

    The PAX then went to COT and the naming(!) Lots of creativity and individual expression from the 2.0s. Then a mosey back to Urban South to a feast, a bounce house, sweaty & dirty children, and excellent fellowship. Much good food, but shout out to #bones for the smoked boudin he served up.

  • Classic Muscleship

    12 pax gathered on a perfect Saturday morning after Thanksgiving to burn off all the excess indulgence from earlier in the week.  YHC was volunteered to Q and happily accepted to lead the pax for a Muscleship beatdown. 

    The pax started off with a jog to Wisner and back to the field where the following warmup exercises were performed IC

    • SSH x 20
    • Peter Parkers x 20 
    • Alternating hand to foot touch  x 20,
    • Arm circles x 15 both ways 
    • Windmills x 15

    Next we got into 2 lines and did an Indian run to the Foundry. Once there we paired up at 6 different stations for a Tabata workout of 30 seconds, with a 10 second break between stations. Stations consisted of the following;

    • Pull-ups
    • jump squats
    • snake jumps
    • Dips
    • Shoulder taps
    • Diamond merkins

    Rinse and repeat for 4 total rounds. 

    Next we moseyed back to the field in front of NOMA for “The 300”

    Again all pax partnered up where there were 4 cones spread about 40 yards apart.  At each cone the pax had to perform 75 cumulative reps of the designated exercise.  

    Pax 1 does 10 burpees as a timer while pax 2 does each designated exercise at cone.   When pax 1 finishes his 10 burpees, the pax switch where partner picks up until the 75 cumulative reps are finished. Once finished both pax would bear crawl to the next cone to perform the next set of exercises.. The 4 cones consisted of:

    • Cone 1 – 75 merkins
    • Cone 2 – 75 big boy sit-ups 
    • Cone 3 – 75 Carolina dry docks 
    • Cone 4 – 75 American Hammer 

    With about 8 minutes remaining we circled up for some Mary called out by all the pax.  From memory this included, LBC’s, flutter kicks, dying cockroach, Freddy Mercury, and 1-2 more I’m missing.  

    Finished up with COT for countoff, NOR and intentions followed by Coffeteria.  

    Thanks for posting and the opportunity to lead as always.  

  • 5 Card Studs

    Conditions:  Dry, 48 degrees

    Warm-up:  Jog to the Rock Pile; SSH x 20; Peter Parkers x 20; Low Slow Squats x 20; Parker Peters x 20; Windmills x 10; Dying Cockroaches x 20; Arm Circles x 20; 8-count Body Builders x 12

    The Thang:

    Grab a Rock and Circle Up for a progression of Shoulder Presses, Curls, Rows, and Squats.  10 reps the first round, straight into 8 reps the 2nd round, then 6, 4, and 2.  No breaks to put down the rock.

    Take your rocks to the track for some Poker.

    Prior to the workout, the Bogé helped me strategically place a bench roughly 30 yards from the end line.  We divided up into 4 teams of 3.  One man bear crawled to the bench, retrieved a playing card from the deck and jogged back to his team, this continued until each team had a hand of 5 cards.  While one team member was bear crawling to get the next card, the other two team members performed 20 perfect merkins and planked.    

    5 Card Stud-ish – Each team was allowed to discard one card and draw again.  That way everyone got to bear crawl twice.  Each team could fold or play.  The penalty for folding was 10 burpees.  The penalty for playing and losing was 15 burpees.  Tua, Hand Grenada, and Scantron won the first hand with three of a kind (Jokers wild).  They shuffled the deck while the rest of us did burpees.

    5 Card Draw – Hand is dealt with bear crawls again.  This time rock chest presses in lieu of merkins.  As many as you can until the bear returns.  Each team was allowed to discard as many cards as they like, with a penalty of 5 eight count body builders for each discard.  Each team member ran to the bench, discarded, paid the penalty, drew to a full hand and ran back.  Same penalties for folding and losing.  Rudy, Tanner, and the Undertaker won with a straight. 

    Grab the rocks and head back to the rock pile and on to the flag for COT.

    NMM

    • Not sure that Marlin checked the weather.  He looked underdressed for temps in the 40s.  Looked like he had no more than 3 layers on. 
    • Scantron made up for Marlin’s lack of clothing. 
    • Kenna Brah was appropriately shamed for being late, but Marlin not so much.
    • I was 100% positive that Hand Grenada, Tua, and Scantron were going to stack the deck after their first victory.  I was ashamed of myself after seeing how bad their second hand was. 
    • I blame my mistrust of Hand Grenada on my raising.  Being from Arkansas, you develop a superiority complex and automatically think you’ve been cheated if someone from Mississippi beats you.  The fact that we are 49th in every meaningful ranking is ingrained in us from an early age and celebrated at every opportunity.  Hopefully time spent with Hand Grenada will chip away at this deep rooted prejudice. 
    • If you enjoyed the Round of Poker, go to the Mothership on Saturday.  It’s likely Rudy will steal my idea. 
  • Is this Heaven? No, it’s Lafreniere Park.

    While perusing the Q list to see who would be leading the beatdowns this week of the AOs I most often attend, I happened to see my name listed. I thought this was odd because I had just Q’ed 2 last week and didn’t remember signing up. I then gazed up to see that I was Q for Popeye’s which is not my regular Wednesday AO. I’ve been out there a few times and enjoy the challenge of a virtual blank slate of opportunities to lead a PAX. I accepted the challenge of Q’ing an unfamiliar locale and brought 2 Lakeview guys with me. 8 PAX joined me at the shovelflag, brought to you courtesy of Fracsac, disclaimer was given, directions were asked by me to the exercise area near W. Napoleon, and off we went.

    Warm up:

    Mosey over to the parking lot directly next to exercise area where we circled up.

    • SSH x 20 IC
    • Windmills x 10 IC
    • Concrete grabbers x 15 IC
    • Arm circles fwd/rev x 10 each direction IC
    • Self love x 10 IC

    Thang #1:

    Tabata is always a tough routine to choose as the Q because you never know how many PAX will be there, odd numbers always make it interesting, and the AO site can make it interesting to select exercises. So naturally we had 9 men total. I was going to initially go solo but I was appropriately convinced to go with 3 groups of 3. I opted to have the groups perform 2 sets of 3 different exercises. (for a total of 6 sets per round). Rinse and repeat x 3 additional rounds with all different exercise combinations.

    • Round 1: Pull ups, 8-count absolution, box jumps/step ups
    • Round 2: Burpess, Al Gore, Jump the snake
    • Round 3: Merkins, Low plank, Rocky Balboas
    • Round 4: Box cutters, Freddy Mercurys, levels

    Thang #2:

    I figured most, if not all, of the PAX had not experienced my son’s previous suggestion for a “game.” So we proceeded to play the F3 version of Red Light/Green Light. As explained in previous backblasts all red light exercises will be static and all green light exercises will be dynamic. Exercises alternate between red light and green light. Timer for each exercise is controlled by randomity timer.

    Red Light exercises:

    • Al Gore
    • High plank
    • L side plank
    • R side plank
    • Low plank
    • Static lunge with L leg in front
    • Static lunge with R leg in front
    • Reverse plank
    • Static calf raise (heretofore renamed Tippy Toes)
    • Static leg hold (level)

    Green Light exercises:

    • Mountain climbers
    • LBCs
    • Merkins
    • Lateral lunges
    • High knees
    • L single leg wife pleasers
    • R single leg wife pleasers
    • Penguins
    • Crunchy frog
    • Freddy Mercury

    20 exercises total, randomity timer set between 15-45 sec. Average time of 30 sec per exercise should take about 10 minutes total for the routine. While toggling between apps on my phone while leading the Q it was only until I was on my way home that I accidentally skipped over one of the side planks and lateral lunges. Sorry guys.

    But it all worked out in the end because at 6:10 we moseyed back to the shovelflag and got back at exactly 6:15. See I knew what I was doing all along. Countoff, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, sweaty ball of man. Can’t wait to come back to Popeye’s for future beatdowns and whoever put me on the list can do so in the future if you are looking for Q’s.

  • “Do they make men’s sports bras?”

    The answer to that question is no, but more on that in a moment.

    YHC arrived at Popeyes on this cool, crisp morning with a beatdown appropriate for individuals who would find their joy in running the following morning at the Wally Run. The temperature was 62 degrees but based on Boo Boo’s attire you would have thought it was minus 62 degrees. With the park set-up for a weekend event, the mosey to the Esplanade workout equipment would take a bit longer. At 5:28, YHC gave the disclaimer and headed out making sure not to get out of sight before 5:30 in case someone came in hot.

    Warm-Up

    No time to circle up so a warm-up on the go—

    High Knees, Butt-Kicks, Carioca Right, Carioca Left, Walking Imperial Walkers, Arm Circles as we ran. We did circle up once about halfway through for SSH, Abe Vigodas, and Seal Jacks (note: these men do not have the coordination required for Seal Jacks)

    The Thang

    At the Esplanade workout equipment we completed one minute each of the following exercises:

    Burpees, Lunges, Dips, Inch Worms, Irkins, Military Sit-Ups, Plank Jacks, LBCs, Squats, Bonnie Blairs, Leg Raises (hanging from the pull-up bars), and Imperial Squat Walkers. We completed the circuit with a 6-pack (Think 11s with pull-ups and Merkins but only totaling 6 reps)

    We completed the round and moseyed back toward the flag. Along the way we had an opportunity to encourage one of our newest Metry Pax, Mile High. Mile High has worked hard over the last couple of weeks but has made it known to everyone he is not a runner. We let him set the pace on the return mosey but not without asking, “Do they make men’s sporting bras?” They don’t, but T-claps to Mile High for sprinting to the finish.

    Mile High’s effort and the Pax response is a subtle reminder, “Leave no man behind, but leave no man where you found him!”

    COT, prayers for families and marriages associated with F3

    As always, it was a please to lead.