El Cap’s Indie Rock Block

AO: the-knoll
Q: El Capitan
PAX: morning star, G-string (Eli Kresta), Pebbles, Sooie, Wolfpack, El Capitan, AAA, @BigRed (2.0), @Link (2.0), @Bumblebee (2.0)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 10
CONDITIONS: Starlit, upper 30s

TUNES: Indie / Alternative Jams

WARMUP:  

– Climb stretch routine
– Willie Mays Hayes (3x each side)
– Don Quixotes (in cadence)
– Cherry pickers (in cadence)
– On your own stretch

THE THANG:

ROUND 1:

Caboose-is-loose up Harpeth knoll hill, right at Harpeth Bend, back up to the coupon tree.

ROUND 2:

Four light cones. PAX will team up in pairs of two, choose a coupon, & line up at starting line.

With coupon in tow, Player 1 will LUNGE to each cone.

First cone: 15x goblin squats

Second cone: 15x overhead presses

Third cone: 15x curls

Leave coupon at third cone & bear crawl to backstop benches for 15 step ups

Bear crawl back to third cone & pick up coupon to mosey to starting line.

Player 2 will do the following exercise, then rest (one exercise per round):

– 100x American hammers (2 is 1) with coupon
– 50x big boy sit-ups with coupon at chest or in lap
– Hold plank until Player 1 begins step ups.

Rotate & repeat (3x Rounds)

ANNOUNCEMENTS:  Convergence in Brentwood on 01/12 in honor of a Knoxville-based PAX that passed away one year ago.

Moleskin: Read a poem titled “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden. Encouraged the PAX to continue to serve their families well (even when it feels thankless & nobody sees).

Prayer requests:

– for @Sooie to get back into the mental groove at work
– for @ElCapitan ’s home recently invaded by ants (#stressful)
– for @Timber as he leads his wrestling team

Thank you @morningstar for the ginger tea!

One for Twenty Twenty-Four

AO: the-knoll
Q: Sooie
PAX: AAA, El Capitan, G-string (Eli Kresta), morning star, Pebbles, Sooie, @Bumblebee
FNGs: None
COUNT: 7
CONDITIONS: Cold and frosty morning…not a lot to say

WARMUP:
Hill Mosey, light sprint, high knees, butt kickers.
BAC
BBAC
Imperial Walkers
Don Quixote
WMH

THE THANG:
Partner Tabata.
1 partner works for 1 minute while the other partner recovers. Focused on form and power

Lunges into leg lifts
Jump Squats
Plank jacks
Power merkins (try to get hands and feet off the deck)
Mtn. Climbers
Rinse, repeat 3x

MARY:
PAX led round-robin:
Merican Hammers
Emperor penguins
Freddie Mercs
Dead Bugs
Big Boys
Jane Fonda’s

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Lean PAX
Plan to schedule a single PAX to lead both Tuesday and Thursday workouts at The Knoll on a given week.

COT:
Expressed gratitude for the men who post at The Knoll. Looking forward to facing 2024 together. Prayer requests mentioned. Prayers offered.

Q Rotation, Christmas edition

AO: the-knoll
Q: morning star
PAX: G-string (Eli Kresta), morning star, Wolfpack, Malibu, AAA, Pebbles, DB, Bumble bee (2.0), Pearl
FNGs: None
COUNT: 9
CONDITIONS: mild 30’s

Disclaimer given.
Instructions: Q will rotate with the Santa hat. Once the PAX is done with his round, choose the next man to lead.

WARMUP: mosey to tree line with marching and ground movement sprinkled in. 7 count motivator led by Bumble Bee at tree line. Mosey to bench while pax take turns circling around group.

THE THANG:
Lots of movement, including:
– dids
– squat jumps
– star jumps
– pull ups (1.5 edition)
– sprint to tree line
– lunges with 60# sand bags
– step ups
– plank rotation
– dead bugs & Freddy mercuries

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– nyd convergence
– lean pax

COT: Pearl encouraged us to shift from judge (of our selves and others) to scientist. Scientists are curious and explore how things work. Curiosity is key to personal growth. It’s something we naturally did when we were kids and it’s healthy to get back to it.

Honor to all the PAX for their situational awareness as they led.

Honor to Pearl for being willing to do a guest moleskin on his first visit!

Be kind, be curious,
– m out!

Present exchange

AO: the-knoll
Q: morning star
PAX: Timber, Pebbles, 2.0: Smoltz, Brig Red, Bumble Bee
FNGs: None
COUNT: 6
CONDITIONS: dark and in the 40’s

WARMUP: mosey to the tree line and do 5 star jumps oyo, mosey back … with ground movement and exaggerated marching mixed in

THE THANG: gift exchange …
– pax chose numbers
– group did the number of motivators of pax whose turn it was
– each gift had an exercise that the group did when it was opened
– 2.0s got to go twice
– dad 2.0 pair got to swap for last round
– some of the exercises: burpees, jump squats, star jumps. Lt dans, sit ups, pull ups, squats

COT: reflected on gratitude and shared, reflected on needs/wants and YHC closed the group out with a prayer.

I enjoyed the change of pace! See you all Thursday.
-m out

Christmas cookies

AO: the-knoll
Q: G-string (Eli Kresta)
PAX: AAA, G-string (Eli Kresta), morning star, The Banker, Pebbles, @bumblebee
FNGs: None
COUNT: 6
CONDITIONS:
Chilly

WARMUP:
Inchworm walkouts to merkin X5
Slooow squats X12
SSH X24
Willie Mayes Hayes (sp?) while we went over mission, principles, and credo
Bearcrawl to tree and lunge back

THE THANG:
Split into two teams of three
One Round robin
-PAX one does lunges with sandbag to the road and back
-PAX two does pull-ups until pax one returns
-PAX three does three-count merkins

Two Rounds robin
-25 front squats with bag
-Swing rows
-derkins

Three rounds individual
-10 Bulgarian split squats each leg
-20 ierkins

Pair up
Two fifteen yard brother bear crawls

End with little drummer boy merkins

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
New Year’s convergence at Green Machine
The Knoll is on for next week

MOLESKIN:
During BINGRO, one challenge was to write your own eulogy. This was quite an emotional experience for me, and one key takeaway was thinking about who I’ll leave behind. Furthermore, what am I doing to prepare them for my death? How can I train my children to be successful when I’m no longer around.
So in thinking about that, I started drawing up a plan of all the things I want to pass on to them like: how to change a tire, change the oil in their car, skin a pig, appreciate good food and good whiskey, etc. most of all, I want to teach them how to think and question and explore the world around them.
Keeping this in mind makes me so much more intentional with my day-to-day activities and conversations. Think about what you want to pass on and how you will set up your family to thrive when you’re no longer their protector.

Thank you for letting me lead you men this morning! Thanks @morning_star for the tea. It went great with the gingerbread cookies!

Partner Tabata

AO: the-knoll
Q: AAA
PAX: AAA, Timber, G-string (Eli Kresta), DB, morning star, Pebbles, Wolfpack, Ex-Pat, Sooie, El Capitan, Bumble Bee, Big Red
FNGs: None
COUNT: 12
CONDITIONS: mid 30s, foggy

WARMUP: mosey to tree line and back, 15 -4 count jumping jacks, 15 – 4 count lungs, 15 – BACs, 15- back BACs, 10 – slow squat, stretch out on your own.

THE THANG: 6 rounds of 2 sets of exercises with each set consisting of a tabata minute (20 seconds on and 10 seconds rest for a full minute). Partners alternated between a work set and a rest set. Exercises performed were:
-one legged step ups
-merkins
-one legged split squats
-dips
-jump squats
-swing rows

Finished with 4 minutes of alternating hill sprints between partners.

MARY: 20 American hammers, 20 4-count flutter kicks, 20 leg raises

ANNOUNCEMENTS: New Year’s Day convergence and ruck coming up

COT: Gratitude. Even though Thanksgiving has come and gone. The challenge is to keep the sentiment of gratitude through out the holiday season. Holidays bring up many different emotions, and sometimes this season makes can get stressful and consumeristic. It is easy to take people, events, and needs for granted, but try to always remember to be grateful for the things around you, especially in difficult or stressful times.

Gorilla Strength

AO: the-knoll
Q: G-string (Eli Kresta)
PAX: morning star, AAA, The Banker, Pebbles, DB, Wolfpack, Timber, G-string (Eli Kresta), V-Max
FNGs: None
COUNT: 9
CONDITIONS:
Crisp and clear

WARMUP:
Jog to @g-string truck since I pulled up late. Mosey to the Stop sign and back to the truck where we unloaded coupons. Suicides with alligator crawl to the first light and back, Murder Bunny to the second light and back, Gorilla run to the third light and mosey back.

THE THANG:
First three exercises were “Hero Style” (first team to finish, ended the exercise for all)
Three rounds:
-Teammate 1, run to first light then 5 burpees, proceed to second light and repeat, then third and repeat.
-Teammate A, 25 Floor-to-ceilings with coupon
(@g-string and @AAA were the heroes)

Two Rounds
-Teammate 1, Gorilla Run Suicides to all three lanterns
-Teammate A, Coupon overhead presses until teammate 1 returns.
(@Timber and @The_Banker were our heroes)

Mosey to the playground
Three rounds
-Teammate 1, 10 pull-ups
-Teammate A, Shoulder taps until Teammate 1 is finished
(@AAA and @g-string were heroes again)

Slowsey back to the lanterns and back to the playground
Two rounds of pull-ups to failure
Circle of pain: All PAX hold high plank while first PAX does 10 merkins. Then the next PAX does 10, and so on until all have done merkins while the rest plank.

MARY:
Two rounds of 15 4-count LBCs in cadence.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Holiday Brew Ruck
New Year’s Day Convergence

COT:
Prayers of thanksgiving but also healing memories for @pebbles youngest child’s 1st birthday.

Sidekicks (Keep Fighting)

AO: the-knoll
Q: Sooie
PAX: AAA, DB, G-string (Eli Kresta), morning star, Pebbles, Sooie, The Banker, Timber, Wolfpack, VMax (recently moved from Katy TX), Smotz (2.0), Bumblebee (2.0)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 12
CONDITIONS:
Cold and clear. 🌕

WARMUP:
Mosey to stop sign and back.
15 SSH
15 Imperial walkers
10 low slow squats
10 slow merkins
10 Willie Mays Hays
OYO stretches 1 minute

THE THANG:
5 cones, each 10 paces apart.

Return trips from cone 5 to cone 1 were alternating sprints, slip-line uppercut drills.
Plank for the 6’s

4 double-sidekicks low/high at each cone.
Return
4 squat punches at each cone.
Return
4 tuck jumps at each cone.
Return
4 more squat punches at each cone.
Return
4 burpee, jab, cross combos at each cone.
Return
Repeated the full sequence 2x

10 minutes of single-flag Capture the Flag. If you get tagged, 5 burpees or sprint to your base to return to the game. If anyone dropped the flag, everyone does 5 burpees.

MARY:
None

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
New years Day convergence.

COT:
When I was a kid, Sidekicks (Chuck Norris, Jonathan Brandis) was one of my favorite movies. Since my brother passed away last week, I’ve been reflecting a lot on the past and how we grew up. Still processing through all of it but a couple things stand out. Community is vital. Inevitably we’ll each face a moment when we’re tempted to give up. When that happens, we need the strength of those around to help carry us through it.

Failure is a good thing!

AO: the-knoll
Q: Timber
PAX: Pebbles, The Banker, El Capitan, Sooie, AAA, G-string (Eli Kresta), Malibu, morning star, Timber, Smoltz (2.0), Bumblebee (2.0), Iowa (2.0)
FNGs: 1 Iowa (2.0)
COUNT: 12
CONDITIONS: 58 degrees, and raining!

WARMUP: Mosey to stop sign, 10 pull-ups (OYO), 10 merkins (IC 4 ct), 10 jump squats (OYO), hip flexor stretch and hamstring stretch (10 ct)

THE THANG:
1. Hill sprints (8 min): Sprint uphill, recovery jog down (50 yards)
2. Leg burnout (3 sets): Bulgarian squats (10 each leg), jump squats (10), “shadow wrestling” movements (~30 seconds)
3. Upper body burnout (2 sets – 1 min, 40 sec): towel curls, towel tricep extensions, shoulder raises
4. The finisher: towel hang for as long as you can hold

MARY: None

ANNOUNCEMENTS: polar lunge this Thursday, hosted by @morning_star. Reminder/encouragement about No Noise November.

COT: Growth is experienced in challenges. Don’t fear failure! As the Governator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) once said, go to failure and then do a few more reps!

Thanks for coming out in the gloom. There was something oddly satisfying about working out in the cold rain with you men (and the brave 2.0s)!
– Timber

If you can do 1, you can do 10…

AO: the-knoll
Q: Wolfpack
PAX: Sooie, morning star, Wolfpack, Pebbles, El Capitan, AAA, G-string (Eli Kresta), Timber, Link, Bumblebee, Big Red, Tonks, Fishbiscuit
FNGs: 1 Fishbiscuit
COUNT: 13
CONDITIONS: Could it get any nicer!?

WARMUP:
Mosey to stop sign
BACs
BAC BACs
Imperial Walkers
Don Quixote’s
Willie May Hayes

THE THANG:
Partnered up… leave no man behind, but leave no man where you found him!

All exercises were performed in alternating reps with the partner. You do 1, partner does 1.  You do 2, partner does 2.  You do 3, partner does 3. All the way up to 10. That’s 55 reps per exercise. Holding a plank for the 6 until everyone gets to each location.

Overhead Claps
Run to Backstop
Iron Mikes
Run to River Table
Dips
Run to Backstop

Pause to play a quick game of freeze tag. If tagged must stand with legs wide to allow PAX to bear crawl beneath you to unfreeze. Switch up partners and back at it…

Carolina Dry Docks
Run to big tree
Jump Squats  
Run to other big tree
Merkins
Run to Backstop

Played a game of Bear Tag. All PAX in Bear crawl position. Everyone tries to slap the hand of another while not getting slapped yourself. If you get slapped, you must step out and do 5 burpees.

Mosey to the playground

MARY:
Mary go round for the final 5 minutes
– Scissor kicks
– High plank to low plank Merkins
– Write the ABCs with your legs outstretched
– Bicycles

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Hobble Gobble run on Thanksgiving morning
Cold Plunge at Morningstars after Knoll Thanksgiving workout (Congratulations Banker on the Q!)
January convergence… details coming soon!

COT:
Read an excerpt from the book Into The Clouds. There’s a term called “crumping” in mountaineering that is used when the desire to climb is all but lost. We may not be climbing K2, but we all have our own daily mountains to summit. When the hard times come up remember… if I can do 1, I can do 2. If I can do 2, I can do 3 and keep pushing forward my brothers!  

Sending good vibes to everyone who is sick or injured on a quick recovery.