Tabata on the menu for a Q at BrickCity

Looking at the headline I am struck by how words do not have any meaning until you can somehow attach a meaning to them. So, let me see if I can provide some quick context.

1 -- I am in a group called F3Hartsville, which is part of something called the F3Nation and this is a workout group that was begun in Charlotte a few years back and seems to be quickly growing in the Southeast and along the East Coast. F3 stands for Fitness, Faith and Fellowship. The group was started to sharpen Men and increase the numbers of men taking leadership within their communities. The guys I work out with in Hartsville are generally between 28 and 53 with a couple of us older and a couple younger.  I appreciate them letting me hang out with them in the early mornings for this group exercise. The experience has helped take my late-60 fitness to higher levels.  I am known by "Radar" in this group.

2 -- Q is what we call the workout leaders and the general workout as in "Good Q" when the group appreciates the pain or exertion demanded from the workout chosen for the day. The person who chooses and leads the workout is called the Q. This morning I was Q for my second time -- and had the fun task of taking some 13 other PAX through the workout. PAX is the name for the workout group.

3 -- Back  at the Hartsville YMCA Robbie McLendon designed a lot of workouts for special workouts of the day and that is where I was first introduced to the concept of Tabata . This exercise concept is High Intensity Training for maximum effect.  I hate the workout, which means it is probably really good for me. You take a number of different exercises, from four to six generally, and you put in eight sets at full-out effort for 20 seconds per set with a ten second rest between. You go through all the exercises planned using the 8x20 seconds and you generally have a full body, exhausted workout in just over twenty minutes.  That was the design for this morning's workout.

4 -- Brickcity is what we call a place at Byerly Park in Hartsville that the F3Hartsville PAX  uses for storing cement blocks, filled sand bags, and bricks that we use in some exercises. When we say Brickcity we mean there will be extensive lifting in the exercises that day.

5 -- So today we had block or brick shoulder press ups -- eight sets of 20 seconds each followed by air squats with either bricks or blocks in eight sets of 20 seconds; chest press ups (like bench press) with blocks at eight sets of 20 seconds each and then man maker push ups with bricks same reps. As Q I probably should have added the curls but was fearful of the time.  I am guessing there were not many of the PAX who were totally disappointed we stopped before the curls.

Tabata is a good workout because it is totally up to the individual to give their max for each of the sets over the time. Using a combination of different weights helps all fitness levels demonstrate their personal best without the worry of competition with anyone but yourself. I like Tabata on the menu because it allows you to work on form, work on your own intensity and work to your maximum effort and besides I don't have to count, just pay attention to the tabata clock and lead the starting and the resting.