Archive for the ‘Team Black’ Category

Team Green vs. Team Black

20 vs. 20... Let the games begin!

Cory vs. Bud

Time to get down with the get down...

Battle starts now...

Everybody literally "Getting Down"

One of the toughest Mudders I know!

He's so dreamy...

Scraped and bruised!

Jessica won the plank off... These are her trophies 🙂

He never loses this intensity...
Placed 2nd place on the plank off out of both teams!
I was doing something...

Get in there Cara!

I love that woman :)

She always keeps me on my toes!

About ready to Hulk Smash...

Makin' the shovel look good 😉

Beast mode

This man is a beast. Jose Zavala. Remember the name.

Diggin' deep at its finest

This girl is amazing. Shaleena Gibson. Remember that name too. Ask her to show you her "Invincible" tattoo 😉

Get it girl!

"Make your own luck." She is. Love her.

AhhhOOOOOO!!!!

I get a little excited 🙂

Core destruction!

Both teams of twenty in a race to pass back an 18 lb kettleback back and forth twenty times

Birthday Boy!

Should say "Shut up and look FAAAAAAABULOUS!"

Ginat Killer

I can't tell you how many people from Team Black this man took down... GIANT KILLER!

Make your own inspiration

Feet don't fail me now! Cara Tocchini got Tye and myself a pair of these bad boys... Unveiled at the "Blacklight Special 3.0" workout perhaps? Yes. Definitely.,

'Zactly!

'Nuff said. Brain Stew

Ready to pull!

The REAL Superstar was Trevor, the young buck in the red!

Ready to pull!

"Shut up and pull"

Well ladies and gents… The showdown at the park was as legendary as I was hoping. Other than an unfortunate injury (Anne is ok everyone! A partially torn Gastrocnemius is what it ended up being. A pre-existing running injury did not help the cause :(. Bottom line, she will be ok! CLICK HERE to wish her well! As a matter of fact, CLICK HERE to wish Tami Larsen some votes of confidence! She ruptured her Achilles doing Tough Mudder, and I know some words of positivity will help tremendously!)

The air was thick with anticipation as both teams, donning battle gear with their team colors, took the grassy stage… Tempers were cool but motivation to show the other team how hard each team has been working was on the fore front of everyone’s mind! That, or “just make it through… just make it through…”

First, I lined everyone up facing each other. Then, I took the “alternates” (People who I invited to take the place of team members if the teams were uneven) and placed them accordingly. Next, I went down the line and individually matched people up with likely abilities (until the end when people had to get pair up based on who was left :D). Once every Team Green member had their Team Black nemesis lined up in front of them and vice versa, it was time to GET DOWN!

First on the agenda was 15 rounds of 5 squats, hold for 5 seconds, and repeat! This was the warm-up, and boy howdy was it effective :). Next up? A Plank off! I had everyone get down into a plank position on the grass. The last planker planking took the point for the team! What did you have to do if you fell? You had to lunge… You were either lunging or planking. You get the results people don’t get by doing the work people don’t do :). PS Jessica LaVenter took that one (away from Team Green’s plank champion Randy Paul Larsen! This is getting interesting…)

Next up, a tap out push up battle! Everyone was instructed to line up across from their opposing team member, and push up in a “battle” format (ie one person goes, the other person goes…). The idea was to go until you couldn’t possibly do anymore. First person to tap out had to get up and jog from cone to cone while the rest of their team kept battling. Once your opponent was taken out, you then went down the line and kept your push up stride with the NEXT opponent. The winning team? Team Black again… The overall Winner? None other than Bud Hulk!

Following the push ups was a partner crunch competition! Each opponent took turns standing on the other team member’s feet while said team member did crunches for 90 seconds. The person standing on the other person’s feet kept count. When both people had gone, I had a show of hands to count out the winners. The first round, Team Black BARELY pulled it out. The next round, was a tie. I decided a 3rd, 2 minute TIE BREAKER round was needed (even though Team Black technically took the first round… it wasn’t substantial enough to please me :D). The result? A landslide victory for Team Black…

Following THAT was an 18 lb kettle V-sit relay! I lined everyone up and had them facing each other. The goal was to pass the kettlebell down the line all the way to the OTHER end of your team, only to have it passed back to the other side again. Each time it went down the line, that was one lap. We were doing 20 laps :). Who won? Team Green took it like champions!

Oh wait…

Team Green WAS going to soundly beat Team Black until Team Black turned into a Phoenix and rose up from the ashes! Don’t call it a comeback… Actually, you can. Team Black took the kettlebell relay as well… We need to get you a point Team Green!

Then came the shovel relay…

I had 10 people from each team line up on opposing sides of the field. It was as simple as this… sprint with your shovel to the other cone and hand the shovel off to your teammate. While THEY are sprinting, you are getting into “flutter kick” position to keep your body moving. This one was Team Green all the way… Team Green rocked the speed round like nobody’s business (Bobbi, you called it). Just like that, Team Green’s spirit was lifted back up towards the beautiful sunshine we were all working so hard under!

Lastly, the tug-of-war… By this time, we’d been out in the sun for an hour and a half. Some people had time constraints and had to leave, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t left with about 15 people per side ready to BATTLE! Team Green ended up eeking out the first one, then Team Black took the final two… I was going to go into more detail about this one, but I’m going to save that for the slideshow since there are so many awesome pictures of these jam I’d rather let the pictures and song do the talking ;).

In the end, even though Team Black kicked some ass and won all but one event, it wasn’t by much… It wasn’t by enough to be settled with the fact that Team Green won’t be able to beat you, which is what I LOVE. If anything, I saw a spark get set off in Team Green that I am going to take advantage of… How so?

October 8th’s core workout has been cancelled. In 13 days, both teams will be meeting again… Same time format (EVERYONE at the gym at 10:30am) and we will battle until 12:30pm. Expect some of the same exercises… and some that we have never done before :). After the demand I got to do another one, I’d be a fool not to pit you Hulk-monsters up against one another again!

Get ready… “Team Green vs. Team Black – Last Stand” coming your way October 8th…

ARRRRREEEE YOOOOOUUUUU REEEAAADDDDYYY?!?!?!?!

– Hulk

PS every picture has a song tied to it 🙂

PPS Black Light Special 3.0 tomorrow night and Thursday (Black Light Zumba going down Thursday night!)

Pretty emotionally charged night, I must say

Sometimes I like to make fun of Chanra...

So… my legs hurt. Just wanted to put that out there. Also, Tough Mudder is in 4 days. Wanted to toss that out as well. Moving on!

So last night was a pretty emotionally charged night. I had posted in Hulk – Team Black’s Facebook group that last night was going to be the toughest workout yet for any Hulkster (don’t worry Team Green, it applies to you too!). This opened up the flood gates of people on Team Black sending me messages of self doubt and fear. Going into halfway done with the challenge, I was hoping that everyone had overcome their biggest obstacle (themselves) and we could start tackling the work that most people never get the chance to tackle! This didn’t incite anything negative in me though. Quite the contrary, it showed me there was still work to be done! A twist needed to be implemented greater than just a “take-no-prisoners-good-to-the-last-sweat-drop” workout can offer. So, a couple hours beforehand, the curriculum changed…

Something Team Black doesn’t know is pretty much the EXACT same thing happened to Team Green a couple weeks prior. They got the same treatment… The song I chose for them was “Fix You” by Javier Colon. It had worked. For those that needed to receive the message, it was received. I watched it happen…

Last night was no different.

The song I chose for this spur of the moment occasion was “Who You Are” by Jessie J. Only, I had it done a little differently… With Team Green I had everyone circled as I explained what the true meaning of “Hulk” was after the lyrics to “Fix You” were soaked in. With Team Black however, you guys were in need of a little bit more personal flavor… So, personal flavor is what you got! I had Team black face the mirror and stare themselves in the eyes. “The windows of the soul” a great man told me today… Not everybody did it however, and I know why… Because it is HARD. When that self assurance is cracked and confidence is running on empty, it’s hard to be good and honest with yourself… I say dig. I say get the results people don’t get by doing the things people don’t do. Not physically… Mentally. Emotionally. Spiritually. Most people never have the chance to face their demons because the fear of failure has them tied down to the point where self deprecation and “I’ll just try to stay out of everybody’s way…” is the best option. Well guess what? The Achilles heal of these said demons just so happens to be effort. As long as you try, you are NEVER a failure. You may not succeed right away all the time… but you WILL. As long as you hold that head up high then there isn’t a force, tangible or not, that can knock down your castle.

You are as beautiful on the outside as you feel on the inside. Until you learn to love yourself, you will always see “ugly” in the mirror.

SoI played the song “Who You Are” by Jessie J. With Team Green the lyrics to the Javier Colon song (originally Coldplay, in case Chris Martin is reading this. Love your new song! “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall” is my jam!) took a moment to set in. With the Jessie J song however, the lyrics were felt immediately.

The rest of the moment of listening to the song will be for Team Black’s memory blanks in case they’d like to share :). I encourage everybody to watch the “Boombox Series” version of “Who You Are” I have posted below. I dare you not to feel SOMETHING.

 

Jessie J – Who You Are

“Who You Are”

I stare at my reflection in the mirror:
“Why am I doing this to myself?”
Losing my mind on a tiny error,
I nearly left the real me on the shelf.
No, no, no, no, no…

Don’t lose who you are in the blur of the stars!
Seeing is deceiving, dreaming is believing,
It’s okay not to be okay.
Sometimes it’s hard to follow your heart.
Tears don’t mean you’re losing, everybody’s bruising,
There’s nothing wrong with who you are!
(who you are [x11])

Brushing my hair, do I look perfect?
I forgot what to do to fit the mold, yeah!
The more I try the less it’s working, yeah
‘Cause everything inside me screams
No, no, no, no, no…

Don’t lose who you are in the blur of the stars!
Seeing is deceiving, dreaming is believing,
It’s okay not to be okay.
Sometimes it’s hard to follow your heart.
But tears don’t mean you’re losing, everybody’s bruising,
There’s nothing wrong with who you are!

Yes, no’s, egos, fake shows, like WHOA!
Just go, and leave me alone!
Real talk, real life, good love, goodnight,
With a smile, that’s my home!
That’s my home, no…

No, no, no, no, no…
Don’t lose who you are in the blur of the stars!
Seeing is deceiving, dreaming is believing,
It’s okay not to be okay…
Sometimes it’s hard to follow your heart.
Tears don’t mean you’re losing, everybody’s bruising,
Just be true to who you are!
Yeah yeah yeah

Coldplay – Fix You

“Fix You”

When you try your best, but you don’t succeed
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can’t sleep
Stuck in reverse

And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can’t replace
When you love someone, but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

And high up above or down below
When you’re too in love to let it go
But if you never try you’ll never know
Just what you’re worth

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

Tears stream down on your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down on your face
And I…

Tears stream down on your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down on your face
And I…

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

– Hulk

ps I started work on the slideshow today… 😉

1/5th of our Tough Mudder Team! The finale picture… I dare you to find a dry spot of clothing!

I just wanted to lete everyone know that your team shirts are on their way! I will share my shirt story with you in person since I’m not a big “Slander supporter” but let’s just say a local company screwed my HARD. I had shirts meticulously designed and worked out, only to be given the finger and a frown by said company… But never fear, I made it work! They’re just a little later than I would have liked them to be…

Also, a reminder that tomorrow is the red, white, and BRUISED workout! Come dressed accordingly! Your best red, white, and blue apparel :). Let’s honor the lives lost on the 10th year anniversary of September 11th! See you all in a few short hours 😉

 
– Hulk