1’ Plank
10 Burpees
10 Man Makers
10 8 CT Body Builders
MARY:
Pistol LBCs
Flutter Kix
Speed Skaters (part of YHCs PT)
Time
NMM:
Small but hearty group for Hero WOD Laredo.
YHC shared the My3:59 concept in COT.
Prayers up as we are 9 days into Advent that we may humbly live and share the Story.
15 PAX shivered over to The Forge this morning to celebrate Christmas Vacation in the snow and cold.
But first… Preparty: A disappointed Little Miss Piggy and soggy CheezWhiz were bummed to discover no one had planned a preparty, so they made one up. It looked like lunges and toy soldier kicks.
PAX: Nimbus1500, CheezWhiz, Little Miss Piggy, Netflix, Two Star, NumbTucks, Show Me, Creeper, Tebow, Altidore, Typo+, MicDrop, TV Guide, Stats, RagDoll (QiC).
Today’s theme is the 1989 cinematic classic Christmas Vacation, and we’re gonna channel our inner Griswold for the hap-hap-happiest beatdown ever.
Mosey:
At 35 degrees with flurries flurrying we hit the pavement to the tune of the movie theme song. We keep it merry with a little winding and jolly zig zagging.
Warm Up:
Simple warm ups this AM. LBAC’s, forwards and backwards in cadence. Stretch out the legs with some cherry pickers, toe touches, and that move where you reach your arm all the way over your head and down your opposite leg towards your toes.
Ruby Sues:
Remember when Clark’s niece showed up and her eyes weren’t crossed anymore? “She falls down a well, eyes go crossed. She gets kicked by a mule, they go back to normal. I don’t know.”
We did about 10 Ruby Sues. They were kinda silly.
From standing position, fall down the well: Drop to the ground into a descended Merkin position.
Then get kicked by a mule: Rise to atomic position and do 4 mule kicks -(each leg straight back, 2x each).
Thang 1: Cut Down Your Christmas Tree
We gotta select the perfect Griswold family tree. Partner up and form a line. Here’s the routine.
First you give your tree some love. Both partners Al Gore for a 5 count.
Next you cut down your tree. Perform 10 Lumber-Plank-Jacks. That’s a Plank-Jack in diamond position (both arms together like the trunk of a tree). I know, it’s a stretch.
Finally you carry your tree back to the car. Partner 1 carries Partner 2 approx 20 yards then mosey back to starting line.
Flapjack this nonsense, alternating partner carries until Q calls time.
Thang 2: Griswold Family Dinner
Nothing could be quite as awkward and miserable as Christmas dinner with the Griswold’s … except maybe for bear crawling through this wet sludge. But it wouldn’t be complete without Snot the dog tearing across the dining table chasing a loose squirrel.
So here’s the routine. Partners form a line at one end of the parking lot and then:
Partner 1 bear crawls the width of the parking lot (approx 60 yards) while
Partner 2 runs like a dog the width of the lot and back, until he’s caught up with the bear crawling partner at which point they switch, and
Partner 2 continues bear crawling the width of the lot while
Partner 1 runs like a dog, the remaining width of the lot, back to the opposite side and finally back to his bear crawling partner.
Flapjack the above until partners have collectively bear crawled the entire width of the parking lot and back.
Rinse and repeat this family dinner, except swap bear crawls for lunges. Then a third time with crawl bear.
Round about this time we mosey towards the playground until we make a pit stop for…
Sally
This has nothing to do with Christmas. This has everything to do with giving our arms a break for 3 minutes and 26 seconds because we’re gonna need it.
To the song Flowers by Moby, starting from a squat position on every line “Bring Sally up”, rise to a stand, and on every line “Bring Sally down” lower back to a squat.
There’s more squats than stands, I’ll tell ya that right now. It’s good fun. Thanks Stats for the inspiration on this one.
Thang 3: 25 Days of Merkins
Upon passing through the playground fence, whence we PAX did so commence, a Merkin fest so ripe with pain we thought the Q had gone insane.
To ease the pain, between each 25-rep set of Merkin variations we recovered by recalling one of our favorite Christmas Vacation quotes.
25 Merkins
25 Army Crawl Merkins
25 Derkins
25 Spider-Man Merkins
25 Ranger Merkins
At this point Coach Numbtucks was in full force. Something about his grandma doing push-ups better than Tucker’s present form. Show Me lost his Christmas spirit. Netflix said he hated the Q.
We forge ahead…
25 Diamond Merkins
25 Merkin Jacks
25 Travoltas
With mutiny drawing nigh we moseyed back to the parking lot.
Nameorama / COT
Appreciate your prayers for my (RagDoll’s) family this week as we celebrate the life of my 93 year old Grandpa. We had a safe trip to Nebraska today following the workout and looking forward to some time with family.
Announcements
For those partaking in the Advent devotional, there’s a tentative coffeeshop discussion to chat about the book scheduled for the morning of December 20th (following workout at The Pound). Stay tuned for more details – NumbTucks on point.
Always a pleasure to lead you gentlemen. Thanks for hanging out this morning – see you soon!
9 were present for today’s cold and wet squaredance. @Bigstick, @Baggervance, @lifechamp, @hambone, @deepdish, @thejeweler,@pumpkinspice, @carebear, and me. We began with quick warm up of SSH, BAC, Willymays, Goodmornings, ImpWalkers and Hillbillies, and slow and low Merkins. Mozy around the outedge of park over to the mud filled soccer field. Turned right up the hill towards tennis courts and began.
The thang:
Derrick Henry scores 4 touchdowns on Thursday night. His number is 22. And because he’s such a beast of a man, I figured we could really only measure up to half of him. Half of 22 is 11. Get it?!
So, we performed 4 different exercises of 11’s (10 to 1 and 1 to 10)…with some audibles thrown in.
The first of the 11’s was a 40 yard run beginning with Merkins and ending with Squatjumps.
Then mozy thru tennis court to b-ball court. Begin 4 line suicide runs for an 11 count. At suicide #6 we ran to half court and back and full court, then proceed to end.
Quick break with wall sit to hear BV talk about Roger Bannisters sub four minute mile and the teamwork that it required to do so.
We then counted of into 3 teams of three for the next exercise. Mozied to outside corner of tennis courts.
Then began the following: one teammate was to run around the tennis courts while other two performed 11 exercises with a team count of 110 reps.
First exercise was merkins, then single leg squats, then LBC’s, then Carolina dry socks, then incline Merks, then dips, then slow and low squats, then fence grabbers, and finished with Burpees. I forgot two of the excerices.
We mozied over to the covered pavilion and did next 11 with Pull UPS and Leg Lifts whilst on the picnic table.
One-minute warning at 0529 was followed by a brief disclaimer at 0530 (and after which YHC heard mumblechatter from some PAX about its verbosity), and then a brief mosey along Greenway to open area near the small playground for Warm-a-rama:
SSH x 20
LBAC x 15
rLBAC x 15
WMH x 16
Slow and Low Squat x 20
Count off 1-4 then another Mosey through the neighborhood and re-entry to Bomber near the smaller baseball diamond for Thang 1.
THANG 1: Field of Dreams
4s at Home Plate do 15 Burpees
1s at First Base do AMRAP Squats
2s at Second Base do AMRAP Merkins
3s at Third Base do AMRAP Big Boy Sit-ups
When 4s as a group are done with Burpees, all bases advance via Bear Crawl and perform next move. Wash, rinse, repeat. End once 4s return home.
Mosey to benches near the Community Center for Thang 2.
THANG 2: Forties
Round 1:
30 Dips
10 Merkins
Followed by full lap around Community Center
Round 2:
25 Dips
15 Merkins
Another lap.
Five full rounds then planks until all have returned.
Circle up for THANG 3.
THANG 3: Circle Burps
YHC began by vocalizing “Down,” and all PAX performed Burpee. Moved clockwise along circle until all PAX have said, “Down” and we have performed as many Burpees as there are PAX.
Mosey back to parking lot area for 4MoM on our sixes:
Freddie Mercury x 15
American Hammers x 15
Boxcutters x 12
Flutter Kicks x 15
LBC x 15
Then, CoT for Count-a-rama, Name-a-rama, Sixth Man (Preacher Man), Announcements, Prayer Requests, and BoM, all followed by a heavily-attended coffeeteria.
MOLESKINE:
YHC must admit that he is humbled by the turnout today and equally humbled that he is granted the opportunity to lead this group of HIMs. Every time YHC takes the Q, YHC is positively transformed and the hope is that the PAX feel even the slightest bit of that same transformation.
Today’s lesson learned was YHC focused ever-so-slightly on upper body to the detriment of the lower body, but seeing as it’s not a Friendly Friday, can we just consider that a minor flaw?
BULLHORN:
Let’s get a few more Qs on the sign-up sheet! Deets on Slack. YHC is 100% willing to co-Q with anyone who hasn’t taken the Q yet.
Libeery on the 18th at 7:30pm at Fat Bottom. Book is Freed to Lead. Google it. It’s the well-written backstory of a men’s workout group that originated in Charlotte, NC. For more details, hit up Bicentennial Man on Slack.
4 PAX in Attendance: SoccerMom, BoyBand, BackLash & 3D (QiC)
BG Music provided by Tedashii, BlackSabbath, Foo Fighters, Colony House, Van Halen , Greta Van Fleet and others.
Warm-Up
Dancing Bear Pyramid: PAX perform 1 Merkin and then recover to perform 1 Dancing Bear (Andean Bear from Nashville Zoo on news…basically a jump squat and OHP). R&R going up until 10 & 10. Then back down the other side of the pyramid back to 1 each. Great way to get in 101 Merkins and OHP Jump Squats in ~6 minutes. Everyone warm? Good!
Whoops, YHC forgot something in my car, Imperial Walkers OYO until my return.
SJ IC x 10
BigACs x 5 Forward and Reverse
30 seconds GM OYO
Mosey to the Parking Garage and sprint up the ramp to floor 2
The Thang(s)
BearCrawl 11s Pyramid
Pax lined up in the parking lot for 10 Mountain Climber Merkins, Bear Crawled to a middle line for 1 War Hammer (a WW1 with a 4-count American Hammer at the top) Crawl Bear to a third line for 10 Iron Mikes. Pax then Bear Crawl to the middle line for one more War Hammer, Crawl Bear to first line. Plan is lowering reps at the end lines & increasing reps at the middle line. Audible called after round 1 to skip ahead to 6:1:6:1 for time’s sake.
Let’s Sprint the garage ramp again, shall we???? Got the Pax worried we were about to R&R the pyramid, but nope…more fun planned…
Lastly…that thing I forgot in my dash earlier:
The Deck of Death: 4 suits, 4 exercises. Do the number of reps on the card, all face cards are 10, Aces=11. Joker is 20 of Pax’s choice (mix & match or all of one). For today: ♥ = Iron Mikes (each leg = 1/2) ♠️= pull-ups ♣️= Burpees ♦️= WWIs
Everyone got multiple turns and for some reason the burpees were very under-represented, so YHC had to draw 10 to finish.
Down the stairsMosey to the Shovel Flag.
CoT/Numbers/Names
Moleskin
Make sure to sign up for Q slots for F3 F3nashville.com under Q Sign up (created a link in this sentence)
Shared a little about how there are no substitutes for getting up and making the right decision to post and work hard, but there is one situation where a substitute was absolutely necessary. Christ lived the life we could never live, died the death that we deserved, he rose back to life and now through Him in faith and repentance, we are loved by God. This is the real reason for Hope and Joy found in this Christmas season. Enjoy the rich words of Christmas Carols that proclaim this truth, and then get motivated to show up and work hard in all phases of life 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake, He made Him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God”
Everyone is getting stronger, faster and better the more you post. GREAT WORK!
Good coffeeteria discussion re: first real jobs, BoyBand’s staying in Nashville since offered a contract at Vandy
Week One of the Winter Hillympics is in the books! See the end of the backblast for more details on scoring and some of the changes to this year’s competition. It’s not too late to come out – join us next week!
Today, we broke into three teams and got work done in beautiful 27 degree weather.
PAX:
Team Red – Yard Sale, Boy Band, Too Tall, Hot N Ready, Life Champ
Team White – Blood Clot, Umbrella, Frugal Macdoogal (QIC), Black Lung, Prevac
Team Blue – Tampa Libra, White Russian, Venus, Bagger Vance
Here’s what happened:
Disclaimer then mosey down to the amphitheater for WOR:
SSH x 12, GM x 12, WMH x 12, FBAC x 12, RBAC x 12, Overhead Claps x 12, Shoulder Press x 12, Seal Claps x 12, Imperial Walkers x 12
We divided into our three teams and grabbed a barbell with weight (65lbs. total) and the battle ropes.
Competition One: Curls
First team to complete 200 curls wins.
Additional rule: someone had to be doing the battle rope at all times – if the ropes were dropped then that team would have a -10 rep penalty on their curls. The rest of the team was rotating between wall sits and abs.
1st place (2 points) – White
2nd place (1 point) – Blue
3rd place – Red
Competition Two: Upright Rows
First team to complete 200 upright rows wins.
1st place (2 points) – White
2nd place (1 point) – Red
3rd place – Blue
Competition Three: Shoulder Press
First team to complete 200 shoulder presses wins.
1st place (2 points) – White
2nd place (1 point) – Red
3rd place – Blue
Competition Four: Squats
First team to complete 200 squats wins.
1st place (2 points) – Blue
2nd place (1 point) – Red
3rd place – White
Competition Five: Battle Rope
One representative from each team would do the battle rope as long as possible.
1st place (2 points) – Blue (Venus)
2nd place (1 point) – Red (Yard Sale)
3rd place – White (Frugal)
Return weights and then mosey to top lot for COT.
Reminders:
First Friday/Leadership Lunch tomorrow at Richland Country Club. Let Umbrella know TODAY if you’re in.
Bring a gift to next week’s workout to support YES. Check with Tampa Libra and slack for more details. Hillympics points awarded.
Great job today and look forward to the second annual Winter Hillympics!
Till Next Time,
Frugal Macdoogal
SCOREBOARD:
Red – 5
White – 7
Blue – 6
DETAILS ON THE WINTER HILLYMPICS:
The Winter Hillympics is a competition over the months of December and January to have fun, get better, and encourage attendance during the cold/bad weather time of the year. After talking with some of the PAX, we’ve made one big change this year – we’re going to have two separate competitions: Team and Individual. See below for those dates. Here’s the point system and a few more bits of information:
Points:
Competitions:
1st place: 2 points
2nd place: 1 point
3rd place: 0 points
Attendance (Team Competition):
75% or more of your team in attendance: 1 point
At least 50% of your team and temperature below 20 degrees: 1 point
At least 50% of your team and constant rain: 1 point
75% and temperature below 20 degrees: 2 points
75% and constant rain: 2 points
At least 50% of your team and snow on the ground: 2 points
At least 50% of your team and temperature below 10 degrees: 2 points
75% and snow on the ground: 3 points
75% and temperature below 10 degrees: 3 points
Additional Points (Team Competition):
Shovel Flag:
1 point per week if your team has a shovel flag.
YES Christmas Drive:
1 point for each person who brings in a toy/item for the YES Christmas drive to the workout on December 13 (max of 5 points per team).
Other Details:
The Team Competition will run for six weeks until January 10. This competition will be between 3 teams (Red, White, and Blue). PAX that were not at Week One will be placed on a team at their first post during the Hillympics.
On January 17, the Hill will converge at 413 Strong to support their new class.
The Individual Competition will run for two weeks on January 24 and 31 with a crowning of a Winter Hillympics champion.
12 embarked on an Al Gore themed workout in the gloom. 5 came for a one-legged burpee pre-party (8 on the min). Thanks to 3rd Degree suggestion we had a leg/ab focused workout.
Today I pulled out my inner coach from childhood and we got to work (3rd degree encouraged the inner coach for sure). This morning it was all about Al Gore, and there was an emphasis on form over speed.
Warmup:
Up Straddle Hop (one leg) IC X 20
Squats IC X 10
Arms Circles IC X 12 (forward and backward)
WMH OYO
** At this point the Q revealed a proper Al Gore since we would be doing this most of the morning if you are waiting you need to be in Al Gore
THANG 1: Iron Hulk
with a ratio of 1:4, we did Merkins: Air Presses, starting with 1 Merkin: 4 Air Presses until we id 10:40.
THANG 2: Leg Wrecker
After numbering of in 2s, the 1s lined up 25 yards from the 2s facing each other. The 1s LT Dan to the 2s while the 2s hold Al Gore. Once 1s reach 2s the 2s LT Dan back to where 1s began. everyone stops and does Hydraulic Squats (10). Then rinse and repeat Lt Dan and Al Gore. Everyone does 10 Imperial Squats, rinse and repeat but do duck walks, with more Imperial Squats.
** in the middle we did some attitude adjustments with 10 one-legged burpees.
THANG 3: Swing Set Failure
After the legs are nice and warm we ran over to the swing set, the goal was 3 pull-ups with 1s while 2s performed monkey humpers, but halfway through the ice on the swing set made it difficult so we switched to Carolina Dry Docks, we performed around 10 rounds.
THANG 4: Captain Therkin
With a ratio of 1:4 we did 1 WW1: 4 American Hammers (each side is .5). After each “round” you do 5 Merkins. We went to 10:40 (Abs were hurting). At the end, we held Al Gore to finish our time.
Q Encouragement: Ephesians 5:6-14
A reminder to live in the light. It hurts to expose weaknesses and bring them into the light, but remember there is joy once we do. We are here for one another no matter what is going on.
Christmas Party is tomorrow at 601 Mer Rouge Dr 37135 at 6:00pm!!
PAX- Big Stick, Foxtrot, Too Tall, Pop a Lock, Backlash, Boone’s Farm, Lumberg, Yoga, Tampa Libra, Olan Mills, Vera Wang, Double Check, Umbrella, Offshore
Conditions: Cold. But above 30. Anything above 30 is fine. Shorts weather.
Quick mosey to the top of the garage for some COP. Upon arrival, Big Stick and FTTAL came dashing through the door. Quick COP – SSH X 20, GM X 20, Willie Mays Hays X 20, Merkins X 10, Little Baby AC X 20.
Mosey back down. At that point we were joined by 3 additional PAX for the main event.
The Thang:
Shopping along the commerce route in the newly renovated shopping area was the theme. Before any Christmas, need to get your bank in order. There was a 25 burpee buy-in at the ATM to start.
The circuit then consisted with a set of 25 salad squats at Chopt, mosey down to Puffy Muffin for a mid-shopping snack and worked it off with 25 WWI sit-up., picked up some boxes at FedEX with 25 box jumps (step up modification for some, high wall), and we finished the shopping with 25 Mountain Climbers at REI. Like any good shopping experience, we needed to make a lap through the parking lot, so we looped up and around after the circuit.
The next round was a rinse and repeat, but some items were returned. So we skipped the Salad Squats and proceeded with previous route. Same thing next round minus WWI, and so on until all items were returned. For the sake of time, we did take an Uber on the last trip and saved ourselves the parking lot nightmare.
Some quick Mary while the PAX completed and then a mosey back to the start.
Bullhorn: Great to have so many opps to give back during this season. See below for just a few. A great reminder that this is MORE than a workout group.
Let’s make Friday’s Leadership Luncheon on a priority. Tclaps to Umbrella for arranging. Should be a great day. Don’t let cost be a prohibitive factor and please invite non-F3 guys who may be interested. Info on Slack.
Tampa Libra is collecting toys for YES. Great ministry and gives back to inner city kids. See Slack or Tampa for info. Decision was made that anyone who didn’t bring a toy by next week would have 10 burpee penalty. Info on Slack or see Tampa.
Bagger and PA are involved in an event on Monday at the Rescue Mission in which mentors/sons are needed for gift giving at the Nashville Rescue Mission. At last glance, needed 3 more men. Info on Slack or see Tampa.
Bagger Vance, Floppy Disc, Donuts, PSL, Dilly Dilly, Black Widow, Boy Band, Funyuns, Big Bang, Blood Clot, White Russian, Edible Arrangements, Razorback, Caps Lock, QIC The (Scranton) Strangler
Warm Up
Short Mosey/ 12 Good Mornings/ 20 SSH/ 12 Baby Arm Circles/ 12 Reverse Baby Arm Circles/ 12 Overhead Presses/ 12 Willy Mays Hays/ Sets of 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 Hand Release Merkins
Partner off 1’s and 2’s
Thang 1:
One partner will run to Marchant Drive and back – while the other will knock out the following sequenced workout:
100 Squats
100 Merkins
100 Mountain Climbers
100 Split Leg Squats
Thang 2: In no particular order
A lot of squats/ Pause Squats
A lot of Merkins/Hand Release Merkins
1 set of Bear Crawls
2 Sets of Walking Lunges Across the parking lot
Multiple Indian Runs around the church
Numerous Sprints
Zero (0) Burpees
Teaser Marry
20 WWI’s
20 Count Flutter Kicks
Thang 3:
More Indian Runs/ Additional Merkins/ and more Squats
Marry X2
Good Mornings
Announcements:
-New AO at the Concord Road YMCA (Titled “Slamboots?” By Dmish) Will be a 4:45 to 6 AM workout of a Slamberry/Smokeboots themed mix.
-Everyone please check out the YES Christmas Store. It is a great opportunity to give to the community and those less fortunate in order to provide a Christmas meal/presents to various families. Check out Slack or reach out to Tampalibra for more information.
-12th man leadership/first Friday lunch this Friday at Richland Country Club (11:30 AM). RSVP to Umbrella no later than this Thursday. Tickets are $20. See slack for more details.
21 PAX endured mid 30s temperatures in an extra oppressive gloom to work out this morning.
PAX: Numbtucks, Mic Drop, Nimbus 1500, Sterno, Rag Doll, Altidore, Barney Fivel, Woody, Tebow, Soccer Mom, Netflix, Show Me, Creeper, Gaylord Focker, Jason Bell (FNG) know known as “Kermit”, Cheese Whiz, TV Guide, 3rd Degree, Inspector Gadget, Typo +, Stats (QIC)
Disclaimer
Warmup:
Mosey around parking lot
Baby Arm Circles X20 IC
Reverse Baby Arm Circles X20 IC
Side Straddle Hops X20 IC
Round of Good Mornings, Willy Mays Hayes and Cherry Pickers OYO
Thang 1: Bataan Death March
PAX ran in a straight line last in line dropped for three Burpees. Caught back up with the last PAX and tagged him out for a his three Burpees proceeded to front of the line. We proceeded until everyone had the chance to do Burpees and lead the group. Appx .75-.8 of a mile.
2nd Thang: 11s Pyramid
Pax lined up in the parking lot for 10 Atomic Merkins, Bear Crawled to a middle line for 1 War Hammer (a WW1 with an American Hammer at the top) Crawl Bear to a third line for 10 Plank Jacks. Pax then Bear Crawl to the middle line for one more War Hammer, Crawl Bear to first line for 9 Atomic Merkins, Bear Crawl to the middle line for 2 War Hammers, Crawl Bear to the third line for 9 Plank Jacks and repeat lowering reps at the first and third line increasing reps at the second line. We called this as finished after about 20 minutes.
Mary (Sally):
PAX did the Sally squat challenge.
-Sign up for the Christmas party December 7th.
– Through this season take time to slow down from all the running and remember the meaning of Christmas. “Long lay the world in sin and error pining, til he appeared and the soul felt its worth”
– Keep Spicoli in your thoughts as he walks through his illness.
– Remember Rag Doll and his family during this time.
-Prayers continue for Little Miss Piggy and his family.
