The Train Arrived Early……therefore PAX we’re fashionably late

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7 PAX gathered (eventually) to take the DRP in the gloom.  It was foggy and a bit humid.  PAX gathered at the shovel flag thanks to the work of Shatner (HIM).

At 0515, Anchorman and Barry Manilow promptly moseyed off for a jog (soft J) while 3 of us remained.  The train passed through downtown a bit early and was a potential culprit to hold up a few PAX (or so I had guessed).  Instead of immediately moseying off (which was the plan), YHC audibled to remain stationary for COP (for the time being).  After a few minutes of warm up exercises and the train clearing downtown, 0517 saw two PAX roll in hot.  Destiny and Boogie Down joined us in the middle of Imperial Walkers.  Once those were complete, we sauntered off down the hill for some more warm up exercises and a few Broga poses (but just a few).  From there, YHC called for a mosey up Monroe White Street to the Comporium lot – 1/4 mile later, PAX were a bit winded and we took a pause, recited the pledge with a bit of shortness of breath.  From there, it was on to the main event – 4 Corner Century Club

PAX were to perform 4 sets of exercises OYO at each designated cone in downtown Fort Mill – running between each station.   The exercises and locations were as follows:

Cone #1 – Pumpkin Patch at St. John’s UMC

25 SSH’s , 25 Squats, 25 Merkins, 25 Mountain Climbers

Cone #2 – Kimbrell’s Furniture Parking Lot

25 American Hammers, 25 Seal Jacks, 25 Werkins, 25 Plank Jacks

Cone #3 – Parking lot behind Amor Artis (some PAX found the shortcut behind Kimbrell’s (modify as needed) as an alternative to Main Street and Confederate.

25 Big Boy Sit Ups, 25 Lunges, 25 Diamond Merkins, 25 Peter Parkers

Cone #4 – Footloose Parking Lot – PAX were glad to see this cone there and not some where else downtown.

25 LBC’s, 25 Squats, 25 Incline Merkins on the curb, 25 Parker Peters

PAX got through 2 rounds just in time to hustle to COT at 0600.  Great effort was put in by all.

Announcements – Travis Manion WOD on 11-21; Cobra Kai has details.  Christmas Party is happening with limited capacity.  Details forthcoming.

Prayers were offered up for mental health and Praises were given for the men of F3 and the guardrails we are to one another in helping keep us on the right path.

My thanks and gratitude go out to the PAX who chose to do the hard thing this morning, rise early, and get better as well as to Boss Hogg for the opportunity to Q.  It is always a privilege to lead and serve.  Thank you, men!!

Until next time,

Cyclops

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pre_blast_METTLE FORGER_new_gear_AO

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Friends:

I’d like to make available the training gear I’ve accumulated as part of my personal training venture to the Pax of The Fort and start a new Gear AO!

What:  Dealers ( Q ) choice gear AO.

Where: 12:15 pm on Fridays at Turner Field parking lot in Tega Cay.  45 minutes in length.  Inaugural workout on Friday, 10/23.

Why:  To serve the Pax who have flexibility to work from home or may not be early risers.  To reinvigorate Kotters or recruit new FNG’s who need a shieldlock.

How:  the Weinke could include the gear in my trailer or based on the Q’s of the day preference like kettlebell, ruck, or a combination of all.  I will assist the Q’s in setup.

Special Bonus:  a commemorative patch will be awarded to the first 10 Pax who post!

FAQ:

What gear will Bear Grylls make available to the Q’s?

    • The contents of my trailer include sandbags, kettlebells, dumbells, barbells, slam balls, TRX, battle ropes, jump boxes, bench, water jugs, squat rack, strength sled, speed and agility equipment and resistance bands.  A full gear list will be provided to Q’s so they can build their Weinke.

What if the weather turns bad, will the equipment be ruined?

    • Most of the equipment is rubber-coated, however, we won’t use any bare metal items if there is precipitation.  The Q of the day can always revert to a run or boot-camp model.  There is a soccer and baseball field at Turner which provides many pain-station options.

Other questions and concerns can be sent to Twitter at F3_BearGrylls or on Slack.

 

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The Face Kicking Five

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It was a foggy cool morning as 5 HIM decided to make the hard choice and accelerate their Thursday. Quick disclaimer and went right to warmups.
Warmup:
20 High Octane Side Straddle Hops (Fishsticks enjoyed them)
20 Truckers (Windmills)
10 Cherry Pickers
20 Hillbilly Walkers
Everyone was feeling warm, so we moseyed over to the hill entrance where things got saucy.
We did a little thing called 11’s. 10 Big Boy Situps at the bottom of the hill. 1 Merkin at the top of the hill. We ran up and down the hill until we got to 1 Big Boy Situp and 10 Merkins.
A quick Mary recovery was done at the top of the hill.
20 LBC’s
20 Hello Dolly’s
20 Dying Cockroach’s
We moseyed over to St. Phillips church were the fun began. Someone named Dora came out to play.
Partner 1:
100 Burpees
200 Squats
300 American Hammers – The Q learned to what the difference is between single and double count.
Partner 2:
Run a lap under the covered church gauntlet.
After getting through pain station number 2, we did 25 American Hammers together and moseyed back to COT for another 25 before announcements, prayer, & praises.
– JWOW
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Hero Workout for PFC Jacob Hancher “Hightower”

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Monday we sadly added a new Hero to our workout.  PFC Jacob Hancher was known to F3 Grand Strand as “Hightower”

Jacob William Hancher, 23, passed away October 03, 2020 in Myrtle Beach, SC while serving in the line of duty with the Myrtle Beach Police Department.  He was born July 24, 1997 in Silver Spring, MD.

Jacob graduated from Thomas Stone High School in Waldorf, MD in 2015 and attended Horry Georgetown Technical College in Conway, SC.  He began his career with the Myrtle Beach Police Department in 2015 as a Community Service Officer and became a Myrtle Beach Police Officer in January 2020.  Prior to moving to Myrtle Beach, he was a member of the Waldorf Volunteer Fire Department, Fire Station 3 from 2014 to 2015.  After moving to Myrtle Beach, he became a member of the Horry County Fire Rescue, Station 45.  He was also an Eagle Scout, Troop 417 in Waldorf, MD

Shield and I created this workout in honor of Hightower.  We wanted to incorporate his age, End of Watch date, and his badge number (374).

We did 9 rounds of 10/3/20 run 400 meters. 10 merkins, 3 burpees, 20 big boys.  Checkout with 77 squats and 100-meter sprint.  This gets you 2.3 miles, 10/3/20 EOW, and 374 reps.

Most of us got to the last round and then the heavens let go and we got POURED on.  After 1/2 of us had finished, we ran for shelter up to the front of NaFo to get out of the rain.  From here, those who didn’t finish completed it under the awning and the rest of us took turns calling out exercises for the rest of the hour.

My phone and speaker were out in the rain too long and malfunctioned during Name-O-Rama.  So no video evidence exists.  RIP Hightower.  Thank you for your service!

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Do 1 More

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We had 10 for a Do 1 More workout at Bushwood.

The best part of a Do 1 More for the Q is that you don’t tell the PAX that they will have to do 1 more 😉

Mosey from the football parking lot down the road toward the school.  As we ran past each lamp post, PAX saw an exercise written on the pavement, which started some mumble chatter.  After a little warm-up, PAX were instructed to get a piece of chalk and to AMRAP each of the 8 exercises, with good form, of course.

The 8 exercises were: Merkins, Squats, Burpees, Flutters, CDDs, SSH, Big Boys and Plank Jacks.

There was very little mumble chatter as we were all focused on counting.  Gotta remember music next time 😉

We then ran back down the hill where YHC told them to put their chalk back.  Then we discussed doing 1 more.  Do one more for your M, your 2.0’s, work, and for yourself.  I think Kilbassa said he wanted to have 1 more beer 😉

Then OYO, we completed 1 more rep than we did in round 1 without a timer.  YHC got through the burpees and realized I left my chalk bucket back at the start so I hard to run back to get it and then fell behind.  Stand and Hardwood picked me up as the 6.

Then we did a little Mary where FloppyDisk brought back the overhead claps that he forced us to do at Colesseum.  That was just mean, but made us better.

Great workout gents!  Thanks to Ltrain for the opportunity to lead.

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Rain and Pain at #TheArmory

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It wasn’t supposed to rain after 4am but it was sprinkling when I arrived at Forest Hill Church. My weinke was prepared and I wasn’t going to change directions just because of a little rain. We did 21 SSH’s to warmup and then walked over to the far side of the lot where I knew there were the most parking spaces. It started to pour. I briefly thought about going under cover (because it was pouring, not sprinkling) but got over it really quickly.

The Thang:
Line up along the parking space lines.
1. 10 Swings at every line (hold plank for the 6) walk back to start
2. 10 Squats at every line (hold plank for the 6) walk back to start
3. 8 Double Arm Curls at every line (hold plank for the 6) walk back to start
4. 7 Double Arm Tricep Extensions at every line (hold plank for the 6) walk back to start
5. 5 Big Boy Situps w/ Press at every line (hold plank for the 6) walk back to start THESE WERE THE BEST THANKS TO THE PUDDLES!
6. 4 Halos at every line (hold plank for the 6) walk back to start
7. 2 Lunge Pass Throughs at every line (hold plank for the 6) walk back to start
8. 1 Man-maker at every line (hold plank for the 6) walk back to start

Did I forget something?

We finished at 05:58, just in time to walk back to COT.

F3 is outdoors, rain or shine. We embraced the suck with minimal whining and it was good.

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Fresh off GR021, we’re now at the Fire Ant

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If you were one of the 20 PAX that attended Fire Ant today, you heard me talk briefly about the impact of GR021 (GrowRuck 021) in Louisville this past weekend. Along with Olaf, Shady, Italian Job and Dark Helmet, I was blessed to participate in this extremely impactful weekend. Much like the rest of F3, the true benefits go way beyond the workout or in this case, the 14hr team ruck event spanning Saturday night into Sunday morning.

I tried to bring back just a taste of what we experienced and some of my learnings but unless you actually participate in these GrowRuck weekends, it’s hard to comprehend. However, I did want to bring a taste of the PT to our local PAX and so with 19 other Ruckers, we did the following.

Disclaimer

Warm Up
Jog, Knees to chest, Jog, Toy Soldiers, Butt Kickers, Jog back to our rucks

SSH x 5
Windmills x 5
SSH x 10
Windmills x 5

Ruck Up
Rucks overhead for a 30ct
Ruck Curls x 20 IC
Squat hold with rucks overhead for a 20ct
Ruck swings x 20
Tricep Extensions x 20 IC
Squat with ruck press x 10 IC

2 line ruck shuffle to back lot & ground the rucks
3-tier suicides then ruck up
Bear crawl to the far suicide line and plank
Bear crawl back to the half way point and circle up
Slick-dying cockroach x 30IC
BEAR ROACH for a while (I think we did a total of 20 to the left and 20 to the right). For this exercise, you get into a bear crawl position with your ruck on then upon command, roll over to the dying cockroach position. Upon command, get back to the bear crawl position.

2 line ruck shuffle back to the first starting spot and circle up
5 Merkins – 10 Carolina Dry Dock – 15 Bent Over Rows (all IC)
5 Squats – 5 lunges each leg
2 line ruck march back to COT

Announcements:
Read your newsletter
SIGN UP FOR THE F3 10YR
SIGN UP FOR A FUTURE GROWRUCK

SYITG
Maximus

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Three Amigos

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Small group posted Wednesday in the gloom.  No worries, we would work hard and get better.

We began with a lap around the carpool circle, stopped at the front of the school for some warm-up exercises:  SSHs, Imperial Walkers, Windmills, and Plank Stretches.

Next, we did a round of 11s between the sidewalks.  Merkins on one side, dips on the other, and bear crawl in between.  Once complete, we ran another lap around the carpool circle.

Next, we did another round of 11s.  This time, Squats on one side, calf raises on the other, and lunge walk in between.  Once complete, we ran another lap around the carpool circle.

We finished up with two sets of exercises in front of the school.  Two of us planked while the other did five Carolina Dry Docks (Second round – LBCs).  We alternated until we got to the last pillar.

Great workout and conversation with these men this morning.

 

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Stationary 11s Sprint

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11 PAX gather, about 8 of them on time…

Warm Up:

Lap for late comers to catch up
Side-straddle Hops
Imperial Walker
Hillbilly Walker
Moroccan Night Club
Plank
Some yoga
Mountain Climbers
Some yoga
Monkey Humpers

Move to bells
Thang:

5 rounds:
5 Manmakers
10 Goblet Squats
15 Calf raises (with bell)
20 Swings

(total 100 swings)

Move to start of parking lot paint facing cones.
Left side:
5 Power Clean
4 Front Squat
3 Push Press
2 Snatches
1 Manmaker
Sprint 50 yards to cones and sprint back
Repeat on Right side

Did some planking as active recovery. Rinse and repeat

Stationary 11s (started at 0550)
10 merkins, 1 snatch (1 right and 1 left)
9 merkins, 2 snatches (2R/2L)
etc.
Sir Topham Hat finished (but he’s a knight, so…)
Everyone got to at least 3 merkins, 8 snatches

NMM:
Stopped w/ 2 minutes left for a brief message.
The present moment calls for our best work. Our best work as parents, husbands, community members. But we’ve got to let go of expecting the same outcomes we’ve always had when doing our best work.

We finished strong with 3 manmakers

Prayers:
For moves, jobs, M’s health, and the kid that was airlifted to the hospital at a pep rally yesterday at FMHS.

—
Band Camp dismissed

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Bricks Are Our Pain Stations

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7 for BAOPS at Alcatraz this week.  Apparently some Pax on this side of town were afraid of a little rain, forgetting Core Principle #3.  Either way, Pothole and YHC decided not to disappoint those who chose the harder thing today.  I didn’t really intend to play with the BAOPS acronym, but it works.

The Thang

Gears up first.  Mosey off campus by the Golf Course down Tega Cay drive on the paved path.

Three stops on the way, mostly to keep the 6 with us:

  • SSH
  • Low Slow Squats
  • Mountain Climbers
  • CDDs
  • Dips
  • Derkins

Gathered at the bottom of the bottom of the Golf Cart path just past the Glennon Center for the main event for this half: Man Maker Circuits

PAX choose a rock that will challenge them.

10 Man Makers with the Rock, then hoist the Rock and jog it to the top of the hill at the light pole.  Each time a different exercise with 10 reps and back down to repeat:

  • Overhead Press
  • Flutter Press
  • Curls
  • Up and Overs

Ditch the Rocks and Mosey back with two stops, 5 Reps each:

  • Bombjacks
  • Burpees

Hand off to Pothole.

Short COP, since Gears doesn’t do them to start.  Move to side of lot with 6×6’s for calf action.

50 calf raises, 40 American hammers, 30 calf raises, 20 American hammers, 10 calf raises.  Run 2 laps around parking lot after finishing each exercise.

Next set. Sprint finisher. Sprint from first parking spot to last. Walk to end of pavement. Rinse and repeat 8-10 times.

6MOM to Finish

NMM

A few of the guys laid it out there today.  The key takeaway is to find men you can open up to and don’t be afraid.  You’ll find guys are struggling and together we can rise above the flux.  Don’t keep your walls up and pretend everything is ok.

Also, Uber shouldn’t cut corners on the run.

Announcements:

Ass Kicking Autumn starts Monday.  Bring your boys out and see what the region has to offer.

Plans underway for Christmas Party, Dec 4th.  Limited capacity, so plan ahead.

Call up/Text/DM three friends you haven’t seen in a while and invite them out.  They will thank you.

 

Honor to Serve.

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