Reminisce about the “Pain”theon

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I haven’t been to one of my old favorite AOs in WAY to long.  We start to get spoiled with so many great  F3 options that it gets easy to stay close to home. I love Funhouse’s idea of Ass Kickin’ April and getting out to 30 different AOs during the month.  I challenge each of you to answer the call and post to a different AO and meet some new PAX once every few weeks!

So when I was asked to Q again at the Pantheon I answered the call.  I started DMing some of the Lake Wylie guys to see if they wanted to come with me and we had several show up this morning too!  I was quite surprised to see 24 PAX there at 5:15…. two were FNGs EH’d by Bones and two were 2.0s that Uber brought with him.  The FNGs were named “Grout” and “Safe Word”, respectively.  ALL of them did great on a challenging workout today.  Sorry to the 6 men that were cut out of the video Namorama.  I recalled 3 from my terrible memory, but 3 have been left off the tags…comment below and I’ll add you.

The Thang

Long disclaimer with new FNGs

Dynamic Warmup Lap

COP with SSHs – Imperial Walkers – CDDs – LS Squats – Merkins – Windmills – Mountain Climbers

I pulled some of my old favorite Weinkes from the Pantheon and put them together.

Evolution #1

Took two lanterns with me and we moseyed to the graded hill on the NE corner. Love that hill area and we did “8s” (because 7s is too hard of math for me it seems..)

Bottom of Hill 1 Bomb Jack

Top 7 Merkins

up and down the hill switching until you hit 7 Bomb jacks and 1 merkin

Evolution #2

I celebrated my one year anniversary back in 2016 at the Pantheon as Q.  I pulled out this terrible idea and we did it again.

Burpee Celebration

I counted in year 1 that I went to 147 workouts that year.  We would do the following.

17 burpees to start

Complete a lap in the parking lot

10 burpees at the start until we completed 13 laps. (10 x 13 = 130) + 17 = 147 burpees

With only 25 minutes of time that was a little ambitious.  Many finished 9 laps.  Some +/- 1 lap…

6am back to COT

Got to name our FNGs, Todd and Jason…both did great today.  Todd went first, said something about having a safe word after a pineapples reference that came from living in Hawaii…that was it for him…

Jason does sales somehow related to tile splash or tiles…Grout stuck!

Announcements – Prayers and time to go!

Thanks Bear Grylls and Fish Sticks for having me come out and share.  I really enjoyed being a part of the Pillars of Pantheon series as well!  Great idea and addition.

An Honor to Lead,

Royale

 

 

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Steadfast

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18 Pax posted at the Coop in full representation of 3 solid regions today (Richmond, Fort Mill and Ballantyne). The temperature dropped and it felt like spring again. Wegmans, Skate or Die, Sasquatch and Cici did a pre-run for extra credit. Double Mint put up a strong post as his downpainment before spending the day at Carowinds.  T-Claps to all 18 high impact men that challenged themselves both mentally and physically today. 

The Thang:

Mosey to Sugar Creek Elementary’s Bus Loop

COP: SSH (30x), IW (20x), HillBilly Walkers (15x), WM (15x), Moroccan Night Clubs (15x), Sumo Squats (15x), MC (15x), Peter Parkers (15x)

Mosey to the pull up bars: Jacobs Ladder with burpees at the bottom, pull ups at the top 8x

Mosey to Sugar Creek Elementary’s Parking Lot: Windsprints (2x)

Mosey to the wall: Wall Merkins 3x, People’s Chair 3x

Moleskin:  

We are constantly feeling good and bad vibes during our journey of life. Life is filled with valleys and peaks. Like a train on parallel tracks, we continually find ourselves between the good track and the bad track. When things go well in life, we are soon challenged with a tragedy or a loss. Remain steadfast. Be aware of when you become unbalanced between pride and humility, right and wrong, etc. Remain steadfast and in balance.

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Sweating it out at Golden Corral

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15 #HIM met on this muggy morning at the Golden Corral for a good old fashioned beatdown.  Lutefisk had to substiQ for me last Friday and by coincidence he didn’t have a Q lined up today so lucky me and lucky PAX I stepped up to bring the pain at one of my favorite A/O’s.

Started with the disclaimer and we were off.

 

Warm Up

  • Mosey to the back of Harris Teeter
    • I intentionally asked the PAX to circle up pretty close to the dumpsters.  If you are on #SLACK and you read the fabulous piece Crab Cakes wrote last week then you would know why
  • SSH X 20
  • Imperial Walker X 15
  • Merkins X 15
  • Mountain Climbers X 10
  • Recover and mosey to the tire shop

Activity 1

  • 30 Durkins
    • Lap around the tire shop
  • 30 Dips
    • Lap around the tire shop
  • 20 Box Jumps
    • Lap around the tire shop
  • Elbow plank and wait for the 6
  • Mosey from the tire shop to the parking lot in front of Baker’s Buzzin

Activity 2 (11’s)

  • I instructed the PAX to partner up and size did matter
  • This activity was 11’s and consisted of burpees and merkins (hopefully all of you know what 11’s are and if not it pretty much means the exercises have to sum to 11.  Example 10 burpees and 1 merkin, 9 burpees and 2 merkins, 8 burpees and 3 merkins etc….)
  • There are a total of 10 rounds.  The method of transportation was different for each round.
  • Round 1 was 10 burpees at the beginning then wheelbarrow to the end of the parking lot (it’s a long way away) and then complete the 1 merkin.  The partner that was holding partner #2’s legs had to carry that partner back to the start.
  • Round 2 9 burpees then the second partner had to wheel barrow to the end.
  • We did the wheel barrows and partner carries for rounds 1-4
  • Rounds 5 – 7 were bear crawls and run back
  • Rounds 8 – 10 were crab walks and run back

Surprisingly enough I looked at my watch and it was 5:59.  Time to mosey back to COT.  As you can imagine there was a ton of moaning and groaning, that translates to #WINNING.  The PAX got their money’s worth

At COT we had an #FNG Sam and his handle is Mach3.  Went through the announcements, prayers and praises and Funhouse took us out with a prayer.  Couldn’t have asked for a better start to the day!

 

Mile High Out

 

 

 

 

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High Intensity SeaLegs

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The gloom was dark and the air was thick with humidity.  Any sane person would be under the covers giving their M’s a dutch oven, but not these brave Pax, oh no. Myself and three other  High Impact Men of F3 Lake Wylie/The Fort resisted the urge to do the easier thing and gathered themselves to SeaLegs for a high intensity beatdown the likes of which SeaLegs has never seen before(that’s probably an exaggeration).

A disclaimer was given (I’m not a professional/can’t sue me, the school, F3, the nature preserve, yada yada yada). Fun fact Yada means “to know” in Hebrew. I see what Seinfeld was doing there. We then proceeded with a warm up.  A warm up? At SeaLegs? Isn’t running a warm up? I say no and I was the Q so I directly ripped off Cha Ching’s parking lot agility drills from yesterdays CrowsNest Q and implemented them to my own Q. Run up a parking lot stripe/side shuffle over to other parking lot stripe/nur back down/rinse and repeat throughout SeaLegs parking lot. Now that’s a warm up.

We then did a routine run from the back of the school to the back of McDowell Nature Preserve and back. Just because it is routine does not make it easy however.  By this time all the Pax were glistening with sweat, wondering to themselves “is this over yet”, but no, there was 19 minutes left and I was just getting started.

The next evolution of the workout was to go to the bottom of the Abyss hill, sprint up it then run the track once, come back, rinse and repeat till we got a mile in, which we did.  At this point there was still 7 minutes on the clock and we still had work to do.

We once again went down the hill and Nur’d up twice then sprinted up it once.  We then ran back to COT where we did 3 light post to light post sprints to finish the workout strong.  Hushka said we got 4.2 miles in, all at different intensities, which to me was a job well done by all the PAX.

Observations- SeaLegs is a hidden gem amongst the AO’s of Lake Wylie/The Fort.  There are hills for days there which makes you a better runner, which makes your bootcamps easier, which makes your overall fitness better.  This AO should be attended at least once a month if not more so, despite the competing AO’s. Give Haushka your support!

Prayers for teachers for the upcoming year, Omaha learning how to drive and making the Cross Country team at his school, and general daily anxiety for everyone.  Prayers for me at Spartan Race this Sunday(I heard the Sweati was harder so I should be fine). Thanks Haushka  for the opportunity to lead. Peace!

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Q School 201 – The Weinke at Bermuda Triangle

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I was the privileged Q that was able to lead week #2 of Q school following behind Wild Thing.  I got to the AO 10 minutes early to set up, guys were already pre-running… nobody ever seems to sleep in Lake Wylie!  By the 5am start we had 18 PAX with us.  Uber all the way from Tega Cay, one PAX, Crabby Cabbie – only on his second post to F3! I opened by sharing some of this message below.  Being the Q starts with being prepared.

Preparedness

There are four quadrants of preparedness: get right, live right, lead right and leave right “G3L” 

F3 is an Organization of leaders rather than an Organization with leaders. As such, every Member of F3 is asked and expected to be a leader both within F3 and in the other Groups in which he is a Member. This ethic arises from our Mission , which is to plant, serve and grow men’s small workout groups in order to invigorate male community leadership.

Within F3 a leader is called the Q, which we define as a leader who takes responsibility for the Outcome in the Groups of which he is a Member.

Some Outcomes are envisioned beforehand by the Q while others are thrust upon him by unexpected and sudden circumstance. For envisioned Outcomes, the Q can anticipate and get prepared for what will be expected of him to be Effective. But the Q cannot do that for unexpected Outcomes because they come upon him suddenly—for those Outcomes he must already be prepared to be Effective.

How do you prepare?

“The Weinke” – named after Panther QB, Chris Weinke (Carolina QB from 2001-2006) where he would have every play in a giant playbook on his arm.

Scout the AO – Check the Weather report – Check previous Backblasts for regular PAX in attendance

PREPARE! Doras, Ladders, partner work, stations, coupons

My 1st few Qs I wrote the COP exercises in permanent marker on my arm…

Write it down, keep it handy but try not to use it.

Create Evolutions!  Have more than you will use. 3-5 depending on complexity

Make it Tough, but a balance is needed for all level PAX.  Have an adaption plan in place.  Guys failing to work hard, get them back in line or adjust.

Adapt = tell a PAX what is OK to modify to.  Can’t sprint?  Jog ½ way and turn around.

Give the PAX a choice! Option #1 or #2

BE CONFIDENT – SPEAK LOUD – DON’T GIVE UP YOUR CONTROL – YOUR TIME TO LEAD!

 

WEINKE FOR BERMUDA TRIANGLE 7/19/2019 Q SCHOOL 201 (Full example)

Welcome each PAX

Disclaimer

Dynamic Warmup High Knees – Butt Kickers – Toy Soldiers – Soccer Legs out & In

COP

SSHs – IWs – CDDs – Merkins – LS Squats – Seal Jacks – Peter Parkers – MNCs – Broga

 

Evolution #1  BB Court

Partners modified LAZY DORA size does not matter

100 Swing Crunches – Partner Elbow Planks (in grass)

To BB Court

150 Merkins by 10s  – Partner Planks

200 Squats 25x – partner hold Al Gore

Alternative under picnic area

Dips and Derkins with Step Ups

 

Evolution #2

Speed Work

Field Sprints 4 cones plank when complete repeat 3x

Alternative

Bear Crawl to #2 or Jog to #3

 

Evolution #3 (Ran out of Time – Did not do, but had at the ready)

Bear Crawls and burpees between cones 5 burpees each cone

Alternative Lunges and Wide Arm Merkins or CDDs

 

Evolution #4 Ab Lab

Give all Pax another opportunity to count cadence

COT with Count, Namorama, Announcements, Prayers

I think the guys enjoyed the time together, maybe learned a little something to take to their next Q, and definitely worked hard!

A honor to lead,

Royale

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Productive little day at the office

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It’s not often that I get asked to Q all the way out in Clover, so knowing those guys and always trying to make the most of everyone’s time, I made it my personal goal to have the most productive little Monday they’ve ever had out at the Crows Nest.

Was pleasantly surprised to see two faces I wasn’t expecting – Maximus making the trek all the way out from Tega Cay (much thanks for the long commute!) and then Witch Hunt who we’ve been missing in the gloom for a couple months now (welcome back brother!).  I’m not one for warm-ups as many of you know, so at 5:12a I warned the pax to start stretching on their own.  At 5:15a ,the disclaimer was said and we then went on a burpee mile warm-up to see the AO since it had been a while since I was last there and wasn’t sure of where we’d be doing the exercises I had lined up.

  • Burpee Mile – starting w/ 5 burpees OYO at COT, we then ran 1 mile stopping every 1/4 mile to do 5 burpees.  25 burpees in total, 1 mile under our belt.

Second half of the warm-up was on the parking lot lines near the playground.  Starting at the first parking space, do the following:

  • Sprint up one side, side shuffle to the right, back pedal down the next line, side shuffle to the right, sprint up, shuffle, back pedal and so on and so on.  Once you get to the end of the spots (about 8 spots), side shuffle around the bend and do the same thing on the other side.
  • We then moseyed over to the next parking lot that was equivalent to the one we just left and did a similar drill, only do a quasi skip (one leg in front, one leg in back) back and forth down the full parking lot lines, back pedal to the line behind you and bunny hop over and back going left back down the line.  Do for all spots and then mosey back to the start.

With the warm-up and heart rate spike complete, we hit the playground for some 11’s.  Not your standard 11’s, but a play on the 21’s that Zima and Anchorman had us suffer through at the Sweati 2 days prior.

11’s = I give two exercises, you do 1 rep of the first, and 1 rep of the second.  Then do 2 reps of each, then 3 of each, then 4, then 5….then 11 reps each.  Ends w/ you doing 66 reps of each exercise in a short period of time.  We did the following:

  • Dips / Burpees…brought the cumulative burpee count to 91 (25 from warm up mile + 66 here)
  • Jump lunges / diamond merkins
  • Sprints / big boy sit-ups…yes, the runs, ughhh.  So we started on one cross walk and then had to sprint to the next one about 30 yards up (that’s 1 sprint) and do 1 big boy sit up.  You then sprint back to the original cross walk and then back to the one you started at (that’s 2 sprints) and do 2 big boys…you work that up to 11.  This one took the remainder of the time with having to sprint 30 yards back and forth 5 times in a row, then 6 times, then 7….ugh.  A few got to 10 sprints in a row before we had to call it.

Survey Says mumbled something about making the burpee count an even 100 at some point during the workout so I thought it was a very valid suggestion.  We got back to COT and everyone knocked out 9 more.

Final totals = 2.7 miles, 100 burpees, 66 dips, 66 jump lunges (1 = both legs so really 132 jumps), 66 diamonds, 66 (or close to) big boys and 66 (almost there) sprints.  Not a bad day at the office right there.  We didn’t really break, we didn’t really warm-up, and the pax didn’t really complain one bit.  Just came to work as they knew we would.

Prayers were shared for those suffering from cancer (Alex in particular, who is 22 yo), our kids safety / independence away at camp, job interviews and for those who find themselves living homeless – White Snake shared a really cool story about a guy he ran into Uptown who was rocking a F3 tshirt and offered to give it to him.

Thanks Iced T for the call to lead – looking forward to the next time.

Cha Ching

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F3 Prayer Convergence for Clover Schools 2019

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Ecclesiastes 4:12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Calling All PAX of Lake Wylie and Clover to step up and live out the 3rd F. Most of us have children that attend Clover schools, as well as neighbors, friends and family that work at these schools. Some PAX work in these schools. What better way to start off the school year than to go to the schools, physically go, and pray?!? Regardless of how we are connected to them, we are all impacted by what happens in these schools and this is a chance for us to live out what we are called to do.

What: The Lake Wylie PAX (at least 2, preferably 3 or more at each location!) converging at multiple schools in the Clover School District, to pray for the students, school leadership, every employee of the school, the safety of the school, etc.

When: Sunday, August 11th, 5:00PM

How (do I get involved): Pick a school, let me know which one, grab a few fellow PAX and show up, ready to pray. Spread the word in COT!!! Take your M’s, 2.0 and Spread the Word at your Church (especially with the Church Leadership)

Why: Evil looks for every opportunity to cause chaos in schools. Now, more than ever, we need prayer. We pray that any and all evil is kept away from these schools, administrators, teachers, children and families. We also pray that God uses the believers in these school to be a light unto those that do not know him (students and adults alike).

Thanks to Beacon for getting this going!

Two Ferns SYITG

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Beach Ants

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6 PAX made it out for the GORUCK beach challenge at the Tega Cay beach club’s volleyball court.

The challenge:
20 Flutters (with press for EC)
30 meter bear crawl w/ ruck drag (about x1.5 length of court)
20 Russian twists
…for six rounds of sandy fun.

Finished up with a mosey up the road and back to COT.

Talked about the new AOs coming to the region. The 3 mile+ bootcamp sounds fun. Read your newsletter.

Thanks Router for the opportunity to lead and shame on me for taking so long to write up a really short backblast.

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Everyone’s a winner at the Swamp

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YHC got a text from the QIC for the Swamp on 07/19/2019 that he was on IR.  Coming off of IR myself I felt the need to answer the call.  11 HIM got moseying after a proper disclaimer (hola FNG from Lox).  We ran to Target – the other end of the AO because I didn’t incorporate running into the #winkie. Stopped by the Target balls and asked the PAX if they saw them.  Then ran right by them and said “good we’re not doing anything here” (save those for Monday, amirite Jedi?).  Nice little warmup COP starting with nice slow windmills. Next up, the Cha Ching Mercuries (similar to Freedie Mercuries but every 5 count speed up then slow down then speed up… to 30). Next up were the adult version of an LBC (hands and feet touch the ground for each count rather than staying up… to add some pain).  Finishing up were the Bonsai hammers (American hammers but with a little leg action down and up).  Mosey toward COT to some random parking lot.

The Thang, part 1:
2 columns, relay race. Bear crawl to curb, 5 irkins, crawl bear back. Teams of 5. The 4 that were staying back held Al Gore or Plank. Ran this through 3 times which was terrible.  So many bear crawls & crawl bears.  Tardy has been working on his form.  #Gazelle  Mosey toward COT to some other random parking lot.

The Thang, part 2:
Herein all PAX were warned of you vs you… meaning you’re guaranteed to win. Sort of like a millennial.  Run the following sets OYO 5 times through: 5 burpees, 10 squats, 15 LBCs.  At this point many PAX were near vomit status; a true sign of a good Q.  As I was about to inflict additional pain, Duck said he thought we’d be running.  Good idea, mosey to Home Depot parking lot for the final act.

The Thang, part 3:
10 burpees, 20 diamond merkins, 30 dips, 40 squats, and 50 jump lunges (double count = ouch).  Mosey to COT.

Welcome FNG Flojo and thanks Cha Ching for the substiQ opportunity.  In total there were 11 ruckers and 11 boot campers.  What a way to end the week…

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Red Bird flies in from Morocco

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15 PAX gathered for a VQ from Red Bird…it was also his second post (he was an FNG a year ago and lives/works/serves in Morocco). Red Bird took the warmup; YHC handled the thang.

Being Red Bird’s first Q and only his second post, the PAX did significantly more reps of some exercises than typical….Imperial Walkers past 25 get a little more taxing than expected.

Warm Up – Red Bird

SSH x 26
IW x 28
HW x 24
Al Gore + Moroccan Night Club x29
Windmill x 23 (yes…you read that right..these will get to ya)
Downdog –> Updog
Merkins x 10
Al Gore + Moroccan Night Club x27

Mosey slowly around parking lot – burpee at each light pole

The Thang – Band Camp

Circle up
PAX is shooting for 225 PAX through the course of the workout. The American-style school where Red Bird works has 225 students.

25 KB Swings
10 Single-arm squat % press, right
25 KB Swings
*At this point, Tesh corrected my form on the swings–my back was curving too much. Always grateful for correction offered up, whether it’s the form on an exercise or my behavior. We need to get our egos out of the way when correction takes place. Personally, YHC would much rather be corrected in front of 14 PAX than hurt my back and be on IR for 14 weeks.
10 Single-arm squat % press, left
25 KB Swings
10 Single-arm squat % press, right
25 KB Swings
10 Single-arm squat % press, left

5 Burpees
5 Manmakers
4 Burpees
4 Manmakers
Total of 9 each. Only .09% of the population in Morocco is Christian.

Mosey over to concrete pad outside of the gym area.

Downdog –> right leg high, bend knee/open hip
Repeat on left side

Wall Sit
3 Burpees down the line from each side
BTTW
10 Merkins (upside down against the wall)

25 KB Swings
10 Thrusters
25 KB Swings
10 Thrusters
25 KB Swings
10 Thrusters
25 KB Swings
Seated Forward Bend
25 KB Swings

There was some debate over the math, but YHC is pretty sure we got to 225…..possibly a little more….

NMM:

Band Camp:
Great to share the gloom with Red Bird, a HIM living out his faith. His life demonstrates so much of Q-Source quadrant 2 in tact: Impact, Influence, Missionality, Targeting…“If you want to learn how to run faster, just find a faster man. And chase him until you catch him.” If you want to learn how to accelerate your 3rd F, just find a man moving through his faith ahead of you. And chase him until you catch him.

Sidenote:
As you read Red Bird’s words remember, Red Bird has only posted twice. However, he has clearly dug into the F3 lexicon and ethos. Great to see the support that F3 can provide even removed from the proximity of other HIM. I also read this in light of how I saw him respond to his call. Leaving a comfortable job in a place he knew with his family (including his two small girls) to head to a much less welcoming environment…T-Claps to him on continuing to do what he and his M knew they should do.

Red Bird:
It’s difficult to do what you know you should do. Getting up at 4:45am to post, being patient with your wife even if she’s not patient with you, putting in the extra unpaid that is sometimes required at work to do your best. That’s why we revere the HIM – he does what is necessary to do what is good for Group Advantage. Especially in the USA, where it’s in our national collective DNA to honor the disruptors that came before us to create this great nation.

In Eastern cultures, though, the disruptor is not revered. He is a problem. He is going against what centuries of lived experience have proven to be ideal. For a man to disrupt the Status Quo, he could lose everything – the support of his family, the respect of his wife and kids, his job, everything. For a man in an Eastern culture to break out of Disadvantage, he must be 100% certain that the Advantage is worth it, because there is no going back. Most likely, will be alone in his pursuits.

Remember that the Group Advantage is worth the Course of Action. Be 100% certain. Be thankful for the support in F3N, and pray that your brothers will not leave you alone in your pursuits.

—
Band Camp dismissed

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