Conditions: yep, still summer
YHC was about to title this missive “In Defense of #DawnStrike“, but #DawnStrike needs no defense. Not from YHC, or anyone else. In fact, YHC is just sitting here in front of the TV and the iPad sipping a nice glass of rye, not even knowing why YHC started writing this. Certainly not because #DawnStrike needs it. #DawnStrike does not need YHC, or you, or anyone else. #DawnStrike is the Chuck Norris of F3 Columbia AOs, nay, of all F3 Nation AOs. @Betamax‘s “Make #DawnStrike Great Again” campaign, while admirable (and YHC got a sweet hat out of it), was ultimately misguided; #DawnStrike was, is, and will ever be great without the pax’s help. No, if there is a reason for this post, it is that you need #DawnStrike.
When YHC was an F3 novice—and here I will switch to the first person, because #DawnStrike deserves no less—when I was an F3 novice, with 2.0s in elementary school and an M with a job at a hospital that took her out of the house by 6:30, there was no weekday AO that I could attend regularly. #Woodshed and #Stumble were not even a twinkle in @Hee-Haw’s eye. The M posted at an 8am FiA workout on Saturdays and she had dibs due to joining FiA days before I showed up at #Thunder as an FNG—I swear those two events were mostly unrelated. #DawnStrike has been there for me this whole time, and it brings together pax from all over the region who don’t usually get to post together during the week, with one thing in common—they sucked it up and got to work early.
Back then, pax would roll into the AO to be greeted by the likes of @Subprime and @Costanza on Q, and you knew you’d leave there spent, with a solid excuse to not do Saturday yard work. Later on someone made the mistake of inviting @Paperboy to VQ what has gone down in history as perhaps the most epic workout ever held in F3 Columbia. It was here that #DawnStrike earned its reputation as the best place in the region for #mumblechatter. Less remembered is that that workout was as hard as it was entertaining; I came as close to spilling #merlot at the end of that workout as I ever have in 4 1/2 years in the Nation.
My attendance is spottier than it was back then. I could say it’s because the 2.0s can stay home alone now and I can go to a later workout. Nope. As weekly commitments increase, it’s just easy to settle for Saturday as a sleep-in day. But we are men. The #SkyQ did not design us for easy. Easy leads to beer guts and golf carts and Type II diabetes. We don’t really want easy, anyway; if you need proof, we created a whole category of event around the ridiculously hard (we call it #CSAUP). #DawnStrike is fun and it is hard, and it is hard not just because of the quality of the workout but because you have to drag yourself out of bed in the dark on a Saturday when your house is quiet and you probably stayed up later the night before. #DawnStrike is the most fun you can have getting your butt kicked while everyone else is asleep. You owe it to yourself to get out there and post and get better.
OK, I got all that off my chest, time for The Thang:
COP
• SSH x21 IC
• Merkins x14 OYO
• Glute bridges (there’s a #Lexicon name for these, and who knows if it’s the one @Froman used, but that one will not be repeated here to keep this PG-rated) x28 IC
Mosey to the far end of the field just past People’s Wall
• Mountain climbers x28 IC
• Plankorama ending with a star plank (spread arms and legs to make an X, hold it)
Mosey to the back lot where YHC explains the rest of the workout. It was inspired by a GroupMe challenge from @Boris:
YHC was looking for a theme for the workout and this seemed as good as any, so all that remained was to split the exercises up into Strength (Chest), Strength (Legs), and Core, and setup 7 stations with one of each category of exercise.
Perform 15 reps of the first two exercises, 5 reps of the third. Go all the way around the circuit. Next time through, it’s 14 reps of the first two and 6 reps of the third. Repeat until time called.
Station 1 (near corner of parking lot)
• Diamond Merkins x15
• Prisoner Lunges (hands in the air) x15
• V-Ups x5
Station 2 (far corner of parking lot)
• Inverted Rows
• Squats
• Superman
Station 3 (far end of wall by parking lot)
• Clap Merkins (on wall if necessary )
• Jump Squats
• Spiderman (plank knees to elbows)
Station 4 (courtyard)
• Walk-out Plank #CrowdPleaser
• Showgirls
• Burpees
Station 5 (courtyard)
• Decline Merkins
• Box Jumps
• High to Low Plank
Station 6 (courtyard)
• Carolina Dry Docks
• Split Squats
• T-Planks
Station 7 (near end of wall by parking lot)
• Balls to the Wall (x15 seconds)
• Pistol Squats #CrowdPleaser
• Freddie Mercury
The pax made it through 2 complete rounds and the first 2 stations of round 3 before time was called.
COT, BOM by Pipeline
Moleskine:
• Thanks to @Boris for a great (and tough) workout idea. Form was checked throughout the morning and it turns out @Beads does a pretty good @Boris impression.
• Back exercises are way underused in the the average F3 Columbia workout and should be done more.
Announcements:
• Labor Day convergence, 0700 at #Thunder. There will be something for everyone.
• Get your ass to #DawnStrike.
Pipeline out.