Guinea Pigs in The Swamp

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What does that title even mean? Well, it means that I stole a workout plan from the boys in F3 Lexington as we put a twist on the customary deck of cards. And since I wasn’t sure how much time this would take or how difficult it would be, we’d test this, Round 1, on 10 of The Fort’s faithful this Friday morning at The Swamp.

After the disclaimer, we took a mosey over to the Depot lot for some SSH & Windmills & a few stretches. We then moseyed over to the water fountain to read through the exercises and attempt to explain how this would be different from previous versions. And this is what it looked like:

We made it through about 85% of the deck and I think there is room to modify these exercises next time, too. Soooo, until that next time…

Read ya d*mn Newsletter.

Maximus

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Split Q / Shovel Flag Handoff at the Coop

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Lots of fun at the Coop on Wednesday. After a quick warm up which included 56 side straddle hops (representing 56 weeks of Punchlist’s leadership at the Coop) Punchlist delivered the first blow to the PAX.

Each Partner Wheelbarrows every other 10 yards for the length of the football field. At each 10 yard marker PAX performed that number of reps for each workout.

Endzone – Burpee Broad Jumps x 7
10 – Donkey Kicks
20 – Hand release Merkins
30 – Jump lunges
40 – Air Squats
50 – LBCs
40 – Air Squats
30 – Jump lunges
20 – Hand Release Merkins
10 – Donkey Kicks
Endzone – Burpee Broad Jumps X 7
Reverse Direction – All Together Now
Bear Crawls every 25 yards
15 Bomb Jacks at every 25 yard interval

2nd Round of Pain delivered by Kaiser

At the endzone performed a combination of exercises in cadence with the PAX
20 – Mock Tar Jays
20 seconds – Wide Arm Merkin – 6″ Hold Plank
10 – Burpees in cadence
5 sets of 10 push ups each
Run to the 50 yard line each set
Backpedal to the goal line each set

Group mozy over to the pull up bars. The bars were calling us and we answered. The pull up challenge was then initiated.

Started out with a group wall sit. Then 2 PAX would come off the line and challenge each other by doing 5 pull ups. Lots of mumble chatter erupted as each individual would get critiqued on their form. At the end of the workout New Site Q called out Old Site Q for a healthy & fun QVQ pull up contest. Group then ran back to COT to finish with very strong dose of Mary as the mumble chatter intensified.

Punchlist was honored for his leadership during the 56 weeks leading the COOP. He has truly been a strong leader to many including myself and I am honored to take the shovel flag from such a HIM!

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Dora Beatdown

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Seven years ago today I retired from the greatest police department in the world the NYCPD and  this morning I stand in the gloom with another great group of men that I had the privilege of leading in a Dora Beatdown and some added exercises that filled in our time at the end.

The brisk morning started with a mousey around the NAFO parking lot. We warmed up with some SSH, Tappy Taps, Windmills and Imperial Walkers.

The Dora consisted of:

100 Merkins

200 BBsitups

300 Squats

after that to fill in the time we did 25 knee ups, 25 flutters, 25 burpees, 25 LBC, 10 gaspumper and we held six inch plank several times to finish our beatdown.

COT followed…..we had 6 Bootcampers and 6 runners that split off after Broga

 

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Board of pain, faraway fences and bat flipper bear crawls

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Nearly 3 miles were achieved by some, significantly less by others (Slash & UHaul always chose Bear Crawls…).  Some very solid mumblechatter…  A little flatulence…  Short chat on Lent and the presence of Catholics in Fort Mill…  Probable hair styles for the Son of God…  All in all it was a pretty eventful morning…

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Runnin’ Long Laps at The Pond

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Minnow Pond on a brisk 35 degree morning? Sure, I’ll bite. This one’s gonna be short on content but heavy  on work. First I must say that it was good to see some of the not-so-regular guys at this edition.

We had 2 post for extra-extra credit, a few more post at 0500 for the extra credit. Finally at 0514, 10 of us made our way over to Ol’ Glory for The Pledge Of Allegiance. Have I said that I do love this tradition ‘Shanks has established.

Ok, it’s 0515 and here is your brief disclaimer to cover the bases. After that, we took off up the Massey hill just to pull a U-turn at the Church and run it back to the Minnow Pond parking lot for a little more warming up:

SSH & some 180 degree jump squats…THAT’S IT, after all, you just ran up and down that hill.

We then took off on our 1.1mi loop that we’d get more comfortable with. Again, go up the Massey hill but this time, go down to the gas station.
Post up at the gas station for our first set of exercises. Every time we stop, we’d be doing the same 3 exercises and the same number of reps.

(20) 2ct Flutters
(15) Jump Squats
(10) Hand-Release Merkins

Take off to make a R/T on Harris St
R/T on McCammon St
Straight through the light to the Founders Bank parking lot for

(20) 2ct Flutters
(15) Jump Squats
(10) Hand-Release Merkins

Take off to make a R/T on Clebourne St
R/T on Main St
Back to the Veterans Memorial flags for

(20) 2ct Flutters
(15) Jump Squats
(10) Hand-Release Merkins

So that is 1 lap and the goal is to do this repeatedly to ensure you cover the 3mi minimum but also including the exercises at each of the 3 stops on each lap.

Some of the PAX got close to 3mi. Some got over 3.5mi but all pushed and got pushed.

READ YOUR NEWSLETTER

Maximus

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F3 Mental Battle Day 2020 – 3/27/2020

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For all of F3 Nation: March 27 is a special opportunity.  Last year Miyagi and Aerobie did a huge service to F3 Nation by shedding light on mental health among men after the loss of a close friend of Miyagi.

If you are missing someone whom you’ve lost  due to mental health issues or suicide and who was an inspiration or major part of your life, lift them up and do this work out in their honor.

If you or a loved one struggle with depression, anxiety, and mental wellness, take advantage of the opportunity to lock shields with other HIM who have your back.   Work out with a special focus, having that person or that challenge on your heart.

If you’ve felt the loving hand of Sky Q as you walked through a past valley of darkness in your own life, take advantage of the opportunity to listen to another man who may be going through his own valley and wants to talk about it during or after the COT on March 27.

March 27 will be a day to celebrate our fellowship and our ability to make an individual weight into a team weight. Let’s do this thing. Looking forward to it.

Below you will find a guide or an idea how you can lead a Mental Battle workout on March 27.  You don’t have to use this guide, feel free to make up your own as you see fit.  We encourage you though to leave some time during COT to remember any Pax we have lost, family or friends lost or struggling with mental health issues.

I’ve provided body weight and also kettlebell options if you are Qing a gear workout instead of a boot camp that day.

First I provide stats in regard to mental health, then below using those numbers provide each round of exercises.

Do your normal COP warmup, then move on to the suggestions below.

9% of men in the United States have daily feelings of depression or anxiety.
33% of those men mentioned above take medication because of those feelings.
25% of those men actually spoke to a mental health professional in regard to their feelings.
85 – White men aged 85 and above have the highest rate of suicide in the United States.

9 – Turkish getups
33 – Kettlebell swings or Calf raises
25 – Curls or Big Boy (WW2) Situps
85 – Flutters

17% have a common mental disorder, e.g. depression, anxiety, phobias, etc.
43% of adults believe they have had a mental disorder at some point in life.
25% of people with eating disorders are men.
20% of people will have a diagnosable mental health condition in any given year.

17- Cleans / Flying  Squirrels
43 – American hammers
25 – Merkins
20 – Flutters

20 – Veterans commit suicide daily
75% of deaths by suicide are male
32% of Americans have anxiety disorders
36% of all psychological referrals are for men.

20- Lawnmowers / Diamond merkins
75- Rosa Litas
32- Clean and Press / Jump Squat
36- LBC’s

Some final stats to consider: In the US, 7% of adults have major depression, 17% have depression, 13% of youths aged 12-17 have major depression which equals 3.1 million.  6% of people have PTSD or 12 million.

As time allows, feel free to repeat the sets again and be sure to leave time for COT and discussion of mental health and our own personal battles.

Let’s lock shields brothers!

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter at @TheWestate and follow F3 Mental Battle at @F3Battle.

Also, on Mental Battle Day, please be sure to tag your tweets and other social media as #F3MentalBattle and #F3Battle2020.

  • The Mission of F3 is to plant, grown and serve small workout groups for the invigoration of male community leadership.

If you would like to listen to last year’s Roundtable podcast, visit:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/f3mentalbattle-3-27-19/id1218921251?i=1000431825661

or Pick Up The Six:

https://soundcloud.com/f3pickupthesix/pick-up-the-six-f3mentalbattle

Drop Thrill Out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thrillmania – Uno Style At JOC

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So our fearless Site Q apparently wasn’t feeling well, so he left Kenyan and I to lead the way at JOC and this is the nonsense I came up with.

Take one deck of Uno cards and use your numbers 0-9 as follows.  1-9 equals your rep and 0 = 10 reps.  Strange how we never found a 0 today.

Color determines exercise:

Blue – Merkins
Green – LBC
Yellow – Squats
Red – Lunges
Skip – Run a lap
+2 – Pick 2 exercises, 2 reps of each
+4 – All 4 exercises, 4 reps of each
Reverse – Repeat last rep, but keep going around the circle (rule change from real Uno)
Wild – Change color/exercise

It was a fun morning, got a little warm out there in the fog.  Speaking of the fog, I wonder if some Pax got lost in the fog.  Anyway, thanks Big Papi for inviting me to Q.

I’m Site Q now for The Fort’s 0630 IR Friendly/Low Intensity workout at WEP in Fort Mill Saturday’s .  Would love to have any of you Q or join us.  0630 each Saturday.

The Thrill is gone!

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Bright Colors for #F3forFaye

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Yesterday Spiderman & YHC had the realization that we were Qing at the same site today…I had the Golden Corral bootcamp which means he had the Fire Ant Ruck beat down. It’s always good to shake things up so we decided to do just that for this mornings edition.

As can be the case with our own lives, we sometimes over-complicate a workout and stray from the simple but effective model. I’ll go ahead and cut to the chase, I think this was certainly effective but it overshot simple pretty quickly. But hey, we were just looking to give the other 17 PAX that joined us an opportunity to chatter at our expense.

Enough rambling, here it is. We combined Ruckers & Boot Campers (wait, you can’t do that…oh yes we can) and split the combined group in half. We had 4 corners established covering most of the parking lot (corner of Harris Teeter to Red Bowl to the insurance office to the dog wash place). It was a large square-ish figure. Half went with Spider Man and half came with me.

Each corner had a sheet with exercises written on it but here’s the kicker, don’t just jog from one corner to another. Get on it. The ground is wet but “well lit” so you do you but GET IT.
For those present, you can remember all the fond times you had of poking the Q’s about how “things look better on paper” or “I bet these seemed easier in your head” or any number of other completely appropriate jabs that were thrown while trying to figure out the Ruck logistics but none of that matters ’cause you loved it and this is peer led (remember…we’re not professionals).

Corner 1 (with Rucks):
(5) 8-count Body Builders
(10) Squats
(15) Bent over rows

When your group is done, sprint

Corner 2 (w/o rucks):
(5) 8-count Body Builders
(10) Box Cutters
(15) Diamond Merkins
(20) Butt Kickers

When your group is done, sprint

Corner 3 (with Rucks):
(5) 8-count Body Builders
(10) Squats
(15) Bent over rows

When your group is done, sprint

Corner 4 (with Rucks):
(5) 8-count Body Builders
(10) Heels to Heavan
(15) Hand-Release Merkins
(20) Butt Kickers

Sprint back to Corner 1.

We did this full evolution about 3 times then brought the group back together for something we unknowingly stole from Tinsel (plagiarism is the finest form  of flattery, right?).
1 Merkin : 4 Shoulder Taps and we made it to 8:32 before having to cut it short for COT.

Important to remember today why we wore the bright colors. Remembering a little girl, Faye, whose life was too short but her impact will be far-reaching; to families and communities her or her family never knew.

Announcements: In the words of the eloquent Mainframe, “Read your da*n NEWSLETTER.” Hey, he’s right.

Prayers: Family members in battles for their lives. Communication in marriages. Cash’s recovery. Kids healing from broken bones.

Until Next Time.
Spiderman & Maximus

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Manion WOD

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  • QIC: Mainframe & Cobra Kai
  • When: 04/25/2020
  • Posted In: Pre-Blast

PAX, for the second year we’re honoring Travis Manion (USMC), killed in Iraq while saving his wounded teammates. Today, his legacy lives on in the words he spoke before leaving for his final deployment: “If Not Me, Then Who…”.

We’re converging with our brothers in Lake Wylie and Rock Hill to support his Foundation by doing the Manion WOD on April 25, 2019 at Tega Cay Elementary School starting at 6:00 AM. They have created our own F3 Fort Mill/Lake Wylie/Rock Hill site to register. Cost is $35.00.

The Manion WOD is:
· 400 meter run
· 29 Ruck Squats w/Ruck & 40 lb sandbag
· 7 Rounds

Sign up here: Manion WOD Sign-Up.

Note: Due to order time on shirts and patches, if you want those on the day of the
event, you need to register by Mon, March 9th. Otherwise, they
will be mailed after completion of the event.

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The Hindenburg Hop

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Seven was the count for a cold crisp morning at Milkshake. There was some great fellowship this morning as we rucked/power walked around The Fort.

As we reached the top parking lot near Pikes, we circled up and did a little number called Pass the Dutchie. We took our rucks off and passed them around in a circle. There was an attack dog barking at us so after a few minutes, we decided to hightail it out of there and continue our our journey through The Fort.

As we reached downtown Fort Mill, we proceeded to do an Indian Plank up the hill. We lined up in a straight line in plank position and the HIM in the back of the line lunged to the front. We did a few rounds of this up the hill.

We headed down Tom Hall Street and Twister made a pit stop at Hardee’s. There were a few requests for biscuits, but Twister came back empty handed.

We started to make our way back to COT and we learned some interesting Fort Mill trivia. The Pikes building was designed to resemble the Hindenburg as the original owner was actually on the Hindenburg. I haven’t fact checked this, so I am just taking Twisters word for it. We may need to run this by Mayor Spitz to see if it checks out.

Back to COT for some praises and prayers.

– JWOW

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