The 20 PAX who showed up at the Vortex this morning didn’t get anything as refined or symmetrical as a pyramid, much less a new or innovative game that made us all hurt so good. The workout was even shamefully weak on cardio! Alas, we had to settle for something more like a ziggurat: simple and (very) old-school, with broad plateaus of muscle failure.
After the usual warm-ups, we paired up and went into a series of Lazy Doras. The base was 150 merkins per pair, with the resting partner planking. Early finishers did SSHs until all had completed the task. Next up was 250 tuck jumps, with the resting partner in the low squat hold (well, ideally in the low squat hold; the holds got higher and higher, and–with a few notable exceptions, including Kitten, the jumps got lower and lower). More SSHs. The top of the ziggurat consisted of 350 irkins per pair. YHC is not sure why he thought anyone would be able to do this without breaking the plank. On the way back down we did 250 jump squats instead of tuck jumps, again with the resting position the low squat hold, on our way to another 150 merkins. Big Cat’s commitment to excellence on the jump squats deserves special notice.
As a group, we then did a pair of 200-yd sprints, each including equal parts running and sideshuffling, followed by 25 hand-release merkins. After rapid-fire Mary, we closed with a ring of fire involving five more merkins apiece (bringing our individual total, including warm ups, to 350).
The combination of teamwork and high reps was the most redeeming feature of this rough-hewn workout. Even if no one could finish every set of everything without breaking form at some point, I know I held the plank longer, squatted a bit lower, and stayed off my knees as a result of Pi’s presence. I hope we can encourage one another to be just as persistent in the rest of life. On a personal note, it was great/terrible to do merkins again, but even better to see the PAX. Knocking out 350 is not exactly like riding a bike.
Hillsborough folks: soft launch on Wednesday at 5:30 of a new site! Write Buffay for details.