Eight of Mecklenburg County’s finest made it out on the last morning of February 2017 to get their collective jam on for the grand MixTape unveiling. While my blog has many more of the salacious details of just what went down, the following serves as a more sanitized summary for purposes of public consumption.
Warm-o-Rama
High knees, butt kicks, karaoke x 2, backwards run, SSH, toy soldier, windmills, cotton frickin’ cherry pickers, mercans
The Thang
Cinder block pain stations. There were a total of eight stations, with exercises denoted in chalk / hieroglyphics. Do all 8 exercises in a set, then run around the parking lot. Most exercises had a total of 12 reps in them, with some non-cinder ones being longer for extra credit. Before starting, press play on the Natty MixTape with additional audio accompaniment provided by a portable speaker.
First set
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Bent over hockey stick rows (one cinder at each end of hockey stick)
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Alternating mercans with one hand on cinder
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Cinder swing (kettle bell swing with cinders)
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Squats with shoulder press
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Gun show curls
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Jerk and press (alternate sides)
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Medicine ball Mason twists
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Mountain climber
Pax runs one lap around school parking lot together
Second set
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Incline mercans (one cinder at each end of hockey stick)
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Upright row (trapezius)
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Skull crushers
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Front raises
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Alternating steps on cinders (50)
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Laying down cinder Overhead raise with chest press
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Medicine ball Lunges with twist
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Jump rope (sans rope)
Pax runs one lap around school parking lot together
Third set – repeato of first set
Fourth set – repeato of second set
No time left for Mary after that one
Moleskine
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An article in The Health & Sciences Academy outlined some very poignant and positive research pieces about the beautiful relationship between the role of music and how it can enhance one’s athletic performance. It listed four key ways for how music can influence and enhance performance, power and strength:
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Dissociation through music diverts the mind. Music can distract an athlete from fatigue.
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Music promotes flow states for internal motivation. Music can act as a mood altering catalyst
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Synchronized music movements can shift your level of workout. Music can synchronize an athlete’s rhythm and movement.
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Music evokes emotions that enrich your enjoyment. Music can act as a trigger for learning certain motions and aid with muscle memory.
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To be fair, the music accompaniment was not actually a MixTape, per se. It was more of a random shuffle of an eclectic list of workout accompaniment songs specially curated for your enjoyment. Summary of the songs emanating from the MixTape playlist randomness:
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AC/DC – For Those About To Rock, We Salute You
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Pearl Jam – Leash
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Night Ranger – Sentimental Street
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Van Halen – Hot For Teacher
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Nine Inch Nails – March Of The Pigs
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U2 – Vertigo
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Foo Fighters – Best of You
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Guns N' Roses – Rocket Queen
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Stevie Wonder – I Wish
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At risk of sacrificing my man card, Q can attest how much music accompaniment helps me at my CycleBar class. That and a panoramic view of sweaty spandex from my seat in the back row. Just wait for the Electronica/Mash-up MixTape to be completed….
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Taking ones shirt off apparently helps to develop the upper body. Is that a Microsoft tattoo?
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There is a really big difference between Goo Goo Dolls and Foo Fighters
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We’re not sure if it’s in the F3 MIL budget, but we may need to invest in laminated cards with exercise diagrams to prevent re-explaining of exercises every set. Perhaps it's just due to Q's poor chalk-manship or quick demonstrations at the onset
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In all seriousness, we really need to make sure we are doing the proper form on these weighted exercises since improper form can cause issues. We not like issues
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Although they look the same, apparently not all cinders are created equal
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Strongest call of day by the Q was bringing the portable music player along for the second lap
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Not sure we have ever ran that fast of a lap before
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We forgot to count off at the end. Next week’s workout is therefore free
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Although some of the accompanying lyrics may have been questionable, much praise to the Lord above for the opportunity to be out here with these fine specimens
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Great work men!