Three Month Launch of AO Gumby
Between the two AOs there were Sixteen Pax, took the Daily Red Pill (DRP) this morning and got better because of it.
The Pax: Flying Tomato, Napalm, Waldorf, McFly, Snake, Chitwood, Berry, Meat Sweats, T-Bone, Striker, Roadhouse, Hammerhead, Wrangler and Vault. Q’s Quatro and Squirrel
The Scene: Amazing morning to be out in the Gloom!
The Thang: Stronghold was the 12 days of Christmas beatdown by Quatro
Gumby AO was stretching
BREATHING – Movement to breath. Be peaceful! Be calm.
Are you wanting to move quickly to the next thing? We’ve got 90 days to set things up right. Don’t be in a hurry.
SITTING – Draw left foot in & bring right foot in front of it. Sit up straight – crown of head to the sky, like someone’s pulling a string . Head over heart, heart over pelvis. Slouching? tighten the abs – zip up. If your hamstrings are tight this will be harder for you.
NECK
Neck rotations – draw a circle with your nose. Ear to shoulder.
CHEST
Prone Pec stretch – Face down, arm out roll toward outstretched arm
Prone V-Arm lift – Face down, arms out, pull back of hands backwards
SHOULDERS
Prone cross arm & lay on them
LATS
Side body stretch – plant left hand on ground, right arm overhead. Watch out you don’t lean forward. Be mindful of keeping the back straight.
Standing Side Bend – Start in mountain. Right hand overhead, left hand traces the line on your tux pants. Reach high, bend to left – push hips to right. Flapjack
HAMSTRINGS
Standing Forward Bend – Start in mountain pose. Hands on hips, exhaling, bend at the hips to fold forward. Pro Tip – lengthen the front of your torso to avoid curling the spine. Relax head, neck & shoulders and let your arms hang loosely. Lift up on an inhale.
Pyramid – Right foot forward, left back & 45 degree. Feet hip width apart. Hinge forward until you feel it in the meat of the hamstring. On exhale deepen the stretch. Four breaths here. Flapjack.
HIPS / QUADS
Low Lunge – Right foot forward, left back. Left knee to ground. Shoulders stacked above hips, core & hips pushing forward. Arms to goalposts or press on thigh. Move to runners lunge – Straighten front leg, hinge forward and feel the stretch in back of leg (move foot to enhance)
Table Top – reach back and grab foot.
CALVES
Downdog – Start in tabletop; hands under shoulders & knees below hips. Press hands firmly into the ground, Pro Tip – index fingers pointing forward. Exhale & lift bum toward the sky (kinda like a pike). Press heels down toward the ground and your thighs back to straighten legs. Draw shoulder blades against back and down toward your bum.
Moleskine:
Why split our small F3 Sandhills Pax? Warriors (that’s y’all), on occasion need an ‘active rest’ day from the intense beatdowns we have been receiving from our humble Q’s.
The goal is to (a) learn new stretching techniques, (b) get to know our bodies a bit better – minds out of the gutter Scout & Waldorf, and (c) work toward a hard physical workout that’s easy on the joints.
The Gumby AO is all about the training of joints, ligaments, core and everything else to keep you off the bench and in the game performing at the highest level.
A little backstory…YHC has been known to RARELY stretch or practice Yoga in his free time. After the Colonial I made a (broken) promise I’d stretch more. So…as a way to find accountability I am recruiting my F3 brethern. As CPT D says, “Squirrel doesn’t show up unless he Q’s.” There is some small, insignificant amount of truth to that, so I figured I’d better start by Q’ing a stretching working.
I’m not a Yoga instructor. I am not a professional and I’ll likely learn just as much as anyone else out there, just by doing.
We’ve seen too many Sandhills Pax go on the Disabled List (DL) and couldn’t post because they darn sure didn’t need a beatdown. Could it be we are getting old? But, they weren’t getting the all important 2nd F (Fellowship). Well, we’re removing the beatdown stumbling block so they can get back out with us.
The Gumby AO is NOT//NOT about being competitive. This is you v. you. This is designed with a focus on breath control, mental control, body/injury awareness, balance work, mobility, flexibility and concentration. The aforementioned are all key areas that YHC has neglected and needed to work on. Of course I’m alone here I’m sure. To be a well-rounded, functional warrior forgetting to take care of these components can torpedo even the most hardened F3 PAX.
I hope to see some of you out in the Gloom alongside me. If it benefits the Pax we’ll keep it going after February.
Aye!