Tag: Russo

  • Sweet smell of success – from Russo

    YHC picked up a full-in Q when Steve wasn’t able to make it, so we went to an old standby. I figured to throw some burpees in to help out Jose, but alas he was in the midst of his patented pre-thang thang as I drove up. We were joined by a Shooter and off we went.

    Warmup (all IC, 10x)
    -cherry pickers
    -Arm circles
    -torso twists
    -self love
    -Toe touches
    -high knees

    Thang
    Pax knocked out the Deck of Death (exercise and count based on value and suit of the card turned over from a standard deck of playing cards). YHC likes to split the deck into 4 groups to vary up the exercises, with some moseying between rounds.

    Round 1 at the benches
    Hearts – Freak Nastys
    Diamonds – step ups
    Clubs – BSSs
    Spades – Leg Raises

    Round 2 at the fans
    Hearts – SMCs
    Diamonds – wide merkins
    Clubs – monkey humpers
    Spades – gas pumps

    Round 3 at the bus stop
    Hearts – shoulder tap plank jacks
    Diamonds – durkins
    Clubs – star jumps
    Spades – crunchy frogs

    Round 4 at the stage
    Hearts – jump squats
    Diamonds – donkey kicks
    Clubs – Lunges (2 is 1)
    Spades – wife pleasers

    Somewhere along the way, the comment was thrown out about the unpleasant aromas emanating from sweaty mid 40s gents in the near 80 degree humid morning. One of us offered that it was a “sweet smell of success” so we’ll run with that for a while. It was not lost on YHC that in the three of us you probably had the gold, silver, and bronze medals of sweating: dukes of damp, masters of moisture, princes of perspiration. I would venture only Frank could give us a run for the podium.

    Mary

    All 10x IC
    -LMCs
    -Flutter kicks
    -Penguins
    -Rosalitas
    -Box Cutters
    -Freddy Mercurys

    -One minute or so plank

    COT, Name-o-Rama, announcements, and prayer closed us out. Thank you gentlemen for joining me and get better Steve!

  • Hold up Steve! I’ve got you! – from Jose10k

    YHC was lucky that his wife reminded him that he had the Q for the beatdown today. I honestly forgot, and I was hoping to take a day off. The alarm was set, but no early morning shenanigans. I knew exactly how to add those awesome “extras” Zoolander has inspired us to do. Absent this morning: Shooter. Where o where is shooter? I arrived to Steve, trying to get his early burpees in before the beatdown. I quickly yelled out to him: I got you bro.
    Warm-up: SSH, torso twists, snap crackle pop( apparently a Covington warm-up), toe touches.
    The thang: In breezy conditions (tropical storm Beryl made things bearable this morning, I crack myself up sometimes) we moseyed to the marsh to utilize the playground equipment. We did a modified mini murph. 10 sets: 5-10-15 of pull-ups, burpees, SMK for the first 3, then squats to round out the remaining sets. Two of us sweated excessively, while Steve made it look effortlessly. Despite the challenging exercises with heavy sweating, Russo and myself surivived, while Steve smiled at us. Mosey back to the street to lunge walk a block. Russo and myself discussed Electrolytes and dehydration. Y’all don’t even know the struggles of hyperhidrosis, but luckily for both him and I, we have great Katie’s in our lives that know when to take care of us. Maybe we need to bring out some Brawndo ( it is afterall, what the plants crave). Once at the stop sign, we planked up for 1 minute. Moseyed back to grandmas for another round of 1 minute plank. 5 minutes remaining which normally means Mary, however, with the chatter on the run back, YHC decided to use those 5 minutes for some well needed deep stretches. COT, Russo prayed us out with intentions of those affected by the hurricane and the sudden death of his coworker. Thanks for letting me lead Gentlemen, and thanks for the read. SYITG

  • Tabata, Ceiling Fans, and Jose’s Michael Jackson moves – from Chewy

    Yep. That’s about what happened.
    +COT, prayer by Russo
    SYITG

  • Deconstructing to Death – from Steve

    It felt like a real missed opportunity when The Pelican was a no-show this past Friday. YHC was looking forward to the incredible post-debate deconstruction that’s only possible between Pelican and Russo. But, alas, no Pelican.

    Russo was instead stuck with another “Sleepy Joe” (YHC), and he himself had stayed up late watching and analyzing the “event,” so YHC was thankful he was able to motivate enough to get out there this morning.

    Instead of deconstructing the debate, we deconstructed some burpees on the way to the Marsh: squats, merkins, groiners, squat jumps, 10x each at every intersection.

    Mini Murph at the Marsh (aka, a “Smurph” … I forget who coined that one, Zoo?). 5 rounds of: 5 pull ups, 10 merkins, 15 squats

    Russo schooled me on the different manicures and fake nails of some of the current Olympic track stars as we pressed onward (still deconstructing burpees), now heading to the bridge near Jackson for a set of 11’s: Big boys To SMK’s.

    Finally had to call it and head back for time. Russo prayed us out. Appreciate the fellowship and the absolute dedication and consistency from you, Russo.

  • Just the facts, creativity tank is on empty – from Russo

    Right at about one million degrees and 345% humidity this morning for Pax of 3.

    Warmup (all 10x)
    – SSHs
    – toe touches
    – Torso twists
    – Arm circles
    – hillbillies

    Thang
    Mosey around old Mandy, stopping every block or so to do a 5-4-3-2-1 rep for different exercises.

    Group 1 Reps/ exercises
    5 T merkins
    4 Peter Parker’s
    3 Wide merkins
    2 8 count body builders
    1 Burpee

    Group 2
    5 SMCs
    4 Ballerina squats
    3 Imperial squat walkers
    2 Star Jumps
    1 Smurfjack

    Group 3
    5 Leg raises
    4 Crunchy frogs
    3 V ups
    2 Gas pumps
    1 Big Boy sit-up

    After block 3, we performed all three groups before continuing on.

    At the seawall, it was the modified “Steve circuit”, all 10x IC, sans those step downs he loves so much.

    -freak Nastys
    -BSSs
    -Step ups

    Reverse! On the way back and at home base, we reversed the rep count (e.g., 5 burpees, 4 8 counts, etc.)

    Wrapped it up with some Mary:
    – penguins
    – Wife pleasers
    – Freddie Mercury’s
    – hello Dolly’s
    – Rosalitas
    – 1 minute or so plank

    Quick COT and we were done for another day. Gentleman, as always, enjoyed the comraderie, even if I was quiet because it was brutally hot and I was sucking wind throughout. SYITG

  • I’ll get all the sleep I need when I’m dead – from Akbar

    Fond memories flooding my sleepy brain as YHC arrived to 17 pax helping celebrate 5 years of F3. 11 hours of sleep in 2 days gave me brain farts. 2 Toe Touches IC almost back to back in the warm up, forgot PAX names when calling 10 counts, and didn’t think to tell anyone it was my 5 year anniversary.

    5 years ago, YHC arrived at the Lakefront, unwillingly, overweight, and probably hungover – EH’d by Russo and my wife. Bubba was the Q, there were men of all ages, speaking to each other like they’ve been friends for 10 years. The one thing I remember most vividly was being last, but I was not alone – learning the concept of picking up the six. No man left behind, that stuck with me. The rest of that year, I was hooked, stopped the gym, started hitting 3-4 days a week, CSAUP’s, and building lasting friendships. I lost 25 pounds in 6 months and never looked back. Fond memories, and more to come.

    Warm up:
    SSH, arm circles front/back, self-love, toe touches, Imperial Walkers, toe touches, Hillbillies, and some other stuff

    Mosey toward the wall near the Gazebo for Red Hot Chili Pepper: Dirkin, Freak Nasty, Irkin, Step Ups – x10 IC descending to 6

    Mosey to the Shaft for Benjamins.

    2 exercises each round, 25 reps each, with a mosey back and forth from the flag. 100 total per round

    Another version of sleepyhead emerged – the plan was to do Freak Nasties and Dirkins first, until YHC realized we just did 180 Merkins on the wall. Modification was needed.

    1. Stone Mountain, Bear Crawl, Mountain Climber
    2. Superman’s, Flying Nuns (lunge walk with arm circles), George Thorogoods
    3. Squats, run, Renegade Row
    4. Reverse Grip Merkin, Bear Crawl, and something else.

    Mosey back to the Gazebo for more Benjamins with Core focus.

    1. Little Manny Crunches, run, LBC’s
    2. Crunchy Frogs, run, Hello Dolly

    Mosey a little further to get some shade, circle up for some shoulder work.30 second for each exercise with a hold at the end. Moroccan Night Club, We’re not Worthy – aka Field Goals, ,Cherry Pickers, Overhead Claps, hold arms out straight – @ 30 seconds each.

    Indian Run to the Flag – kinda – everybody just really took off and ran in a line with some sprints.

    At the Flag, 7 minutes of core. Hello Dolly, Crunchy Frogs, E2k, and some other stuff.

    Count, Name, and YHC prayed us out with thanks for F3. Remembering Birds family, Jose10K’s student and their family.

    Announcements:
    Spartan Dallas in October, sign up soon – talk to Hammer. Plenty of runs coming up for July 4th through Thanksgiving.

    Zoolander’s 6 year anniversary Q next Saturday.

    Here’s to 5 more years 👊
    SYITG, Akbar

  • If My Calculations Are Correct, When This Baby Hits 88 mph, You Are Going to See Some Serious… – from Steve

    My favorite part of Q’ing a Gipper beatdown? The disgusted look on Moby’s face when he finds out I have the Q and starts muttering obscenities under his breath. It warms my heart and makes me realize that some tiny part of me actually looks forward to being Moby’s age.

    Light chatter among the gathering crowd before a group of us took off on the 1 mile pre-thang, which saw a little excitement today: a silver sedan barreling down Theard and blaring Fortunate Son, thought it’d be a wise idea to take a left turn (and, mind you, not an intersection empty of… say, 5 running pedestrians) at 65 mph and accelerating, nearly taking out Einstein. Of course, you can’t take Einstein down that easily – he deftly outmaneuvered both the vehicle and a large puddle without much effort. I guess all those ice skater hops and star jumps have paid off. The whole episode became slightly awkward when we then caught up with Fogerty only a block later, to find him gently reversing into his apartment parking spot (still full volume with the Creedence, though; I’m sure his neighbors love him).

    Having survived a brush with death and safely back at the Gip, we found a nice crowd of 10 for the Juneteenth holiday. Knocked out the usual warmorama before taking off for the back of the Justice Center for a routine of 3 exercises, 15 reps of each, followed by a lap around the courtyard and another 3 exercises:

    – Merkins, Squats, Dollies (IC)
    – Hand-release Merkins, Bobby Hurleys, Gas Pumps (IC)
    – T-Merkins, Lunges, Dying Cockroaches (IC)
    – Staggered Merkins, Star Jumps, Box Cutters (IC)
    – Wide Merkins, Sister Mary’s, Wife Pleasers (IC)

    Chatter of Shooter’s burpeepalooza from the day before – a routine named “Hightower” (but apparently NOT after the character in Police Academy?!?) – sent our Pax down the 80’s rabbit hole, with characters and quotes from One Crazy Summer, Better Off Dead, and others being bandied about.

    Next up, over to the front of the Justice Center for the usual leg routine:

    x12 IC Step ups, Freak Nasties, Step Ups (other leg), Derkins -> 5x calf raises up each step
    x12 IC Bulgarians, Freak Nasties, Bulgarians (other leg), Derkins -> 5x calf raises up each step
    x12 IC Step downs, Freak Nasties, Step downs (other leg), Derkins (we caught you doing extra derkins, Moby – so don’t be acting like this was a hard beatdown!)

    After solving the mystery of whether it was a Yorkshire terrier or Amber Heard that crapped the bed, it was finally time to call it and return to the flag. COT, announcements (more brutal Spartan training at the Scramble and an Akbar 5-year anny on Saturday), and then Einstein prayed us out with intentions for the Perrin family, the Tillery family, and Grundy’s new baby. It was really great to be back at the Gipper, made me realize just how much I miss this AO and the Covington Pax. Thank you gents for having us and for the opportunity to lead!

  • Walls of Jericho!! – from Shooter

    The title explains it all except for the warmup and core wrap up..
    Warmup
    Mixture of 12IC and 20IC
    Selflove, Cherry Pickers, Arm circles, Butt kicks, Grass Grabbers, Good Mornings.
    Thang
    Walls of Jericho
    8 count Bodybuilders, Merkins, Mountain climbers 2/1, Flutter kicks 2/1, LBCs, Jump squats and Sister Mary Katherine’s 2/1..
    Wrapup
    Bridges, wife pleasers, Superman’s and Nolan Ryan’s..

    Appreciate the post gents and until the next Gloom. 👍🏼👊🏼✌🏼

  • A Mini Spartan at the Scramble – from The Hammer

    The Hammer decided that it’s time to up the preparation for the Spartan Beast in October. Since YHC is off for the summer, I get to write the backblast. It’s only fair, since he created the workout. 6 arrived at 5 for 6 stations, 1 minute at each station, then rotate. The stations: dirkins, knee ups, planter carries (grip strength prep), rifle carries, pull-ups (which for round two turned into knee ups, then for round 3 was a dead hang), and the last was a 1 minute plank. 3 rounds total in 15 minutes, give or take. Then we moved to the running. 20 burpees followed by 1 lap around the park. 4 rounds of this was rough. The chatter was on point as usual. YHC brought the music which reminded the music videos of ACDC. Unfortunately, I cannot remember which videos I was supposed to come home and compare.
    One runner: Waterpik
    3 ruckers went 20 minutes out, 20 minutes back: Russo, Chewy, and Akbar. From what I gathered, they nearly solved all the world problems on the way out, and focused on conspiracy theories on the way back. Something about chem trails….Not quite sure.
    I believe that we are going to try and make this a Thursday thing for my fellow Spartan warriors. If you have any ideas to prepare for the Spartan, please share.
    COT with Hammer praying us out. Intentions: continued prayers for Bird’s family, and a Happy Fathers Day to all the Dad’s out there. SYITG!

  • A Mini Spartan at the Scramble – from The Hammer

    The Hammer decided that it’s time to up the preparation for the Spartan Beast in October. Since YHC is off for the summer, I get to write the backblast. It’s only fair, since he created the workout. 6 arrived at 5 for 6 stations, 1 minute at each station, then rotate. The stations: dirkins, knee ups, planter carries (grip strength prep), rifle carries, pull-ups (which for round two turned into knee ups, then for round 3 was a dead hang), and the last was a 1 minute plank. 3 rounds total in 15 minutes, give or take. Then we moved to the running. 20 burpees followed by 1 lap around the park. 4 rounds of this was rough. The chatter was on point as usual. YHC brought the music which reminded the music videos of ACDC. Unfortunately, I cannot remember which videos I was supposed to come home and compare.
    One runner: Waterpik
    3 ruckers went 20 minutes out, 20 minutes back: Russo, Chewy, and Akbar. From what I gathered, they nearly solved all the world problems on the way out, and focused on conspiracy theories on the way back. Something about chem trails….Not quite sure.
    I believe that we are going to try and make this a Thursday thing for my fellow Spartan warriors. If you have any ideas to prepare for the Spartan, please share.
    COT with Hammer praying us out. Intentions: continued prayers for Bird’s family, and a Happy Fathers Day to all the Dad’s out there. SYITG!