On a warm sticky morning at the Crow’s Nest 7 Pax rolled into the parking lot while I was preparing for my first ever Q and I was pumped! After about 10 weeks of following all the great Q’s of my past workout’s I was eager to prove my mettle and present a challenging workout with a theme of how animals move in nature.
Warmup
I had an instant COP to warm up the morning stiffness
20 SSH
10 Cherry Pickers
Arm Circles
10 LSS
Then I had the Pax do an Indian Run to the main event area with the rear Pax doing 1 Burpee to continue the warming up period.
The Thang
I pulled out a deck of playing cards for the beatdown
Spades were Bear Crawls
Clubs were Crab Walks
Hearts were Donkey Kicks
Diamonds were Pull Ups (Monkey)
Jokers were 14 Grasshopper ‘Mericans
Rep ranges were 2-14 depending on the card with BC’s and CW’s going a certain distance corresponding to the card. Thanks to Flux for the helpful modification on the BC’s and CW’s.
During the beatdown I pulled out 2 scripture readings, the first being on how our bodies’ are our temple’s to SkyQ from 1 Corinthians and with the word of the month being Accountability I knew a great passage from Ezekiel on being watchers on the wall.
After getting through most of the deck we moseyed back right on time for COT.
Thoughts and prayers for this country on yet another school shooting.
The PAX were in for a treat as we started out the warm up with some routine Broga. This obviously started after I did the disclaimer since I’m no where close to a professional like Sasquatch. There was a lot of mumble chatter during broga so I had to stymie that with a 25 count of Mtn. Climbers. That fixed the chatter. We did a few other moves and then moseyed out to our first pain station.
If you’ve never been to the Ballroom there are a lot of light poles there. I’m sure you can ask any of the PAX and the would confirm that. I think we did 15 for the first round. Below are the exercises 15 counts for each: Merkins, LBC, Squats, CDD, Calf Raises, Flutters, Side Straddle Hops, Shoulder Taps, American Hammers, Mt. Climbers, Hillbilly Walkers, Freddy Mercury, CDD’s
Then we moseyed over for a round of wall sits that got a little outta hand so we had to cut that short.
Rinse & Repeat for more pole work. Right before we finished up we found Cindy and did a round of curls. Jail break back to COT for a final round of Broga to work out the kinks.
Great time with the PAX. Thanks for the Opportunity.
Complete three rounds for time of:
40 pound Dumbbell snatch, 21 reps, right arm
21 L Pull-ups
40 pound Dumbbell snatch, 21 reps, left arm
21 L Pull-ups
This is a LOT of pulling. These are both total body moves emphasizing the back and some shoulders… I tried to break it up with some core/legs/pushes between rounds. My instructions were to do this with a partner and get assistance for pull-ups.
End with a quarter mile run then 6MOM.
I seem to get random questions every now and again about what I do or eat. I look for the hardest thing I can do, and do that. I don’t try to make it through it, while distracting myself from the discomfort. I concentrate on it. The human body is meant to be uncomfortable, because that is when growth happens. Muscles tear and get bigger, your lungs burn and your cardio gets better, you hold your breath and your oxygen efficiencies increase, you stretch muscles and increase range of motion, you freeze yourself and your circulation increases, you get hungry and your HGH goes up (burning fat and protecting lean muscle)… and all of these produce adrenaline and endorphins, which helps you enjoy all aspects of life. So don’t look for comfort. Don’t covet comfort. It is a thief, stealing life from you. Get out and move. Commit to each rep of each exercise. Respect the next rep.
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
AKA, lip service gets you no where. AKA, I can tell what kind of tree you are by the fruit you bear. Do the hard stuff.
Welcome Schwinn! Please come back to another workout.
Sweatbox of a Monday. I was honored to be given the opportunity to Q a BEYOND workout. BEYOND, the brainchild of Maximus acting on the very definition of reverse flow incubator. See a problem/opportunity- create the solution. Maximus so a need to push the men of The Fort not just physically but mentally as well. Typically a bit of a deeper dive into what’s going on in a man’s life.
Theme of Concentrica was revealed to me through #collisionlearning only about a week prior. I chose TCES as its a fountain of unlimited and varied painstations. 8 men answered the bell and after a disclaimer we went.
COP
More a of dymanic warmup with #Usualsuspects at either end of a short 70% run distance. Although squatjacks and Imperial Squat Walkers created a voluminous amount of mumblechatter. #crowdpleaser
Mosey to back parking lot. Discussed Concentrica which is the conception of relationships, how they tie together and ordering them from most important relationship in the center moving outward to the “relatively” less important. In order you have:
We started with 5 laps and 5 merkins at each lap but I called audible. STH and Gekko kept me honest up front, Double D, Rad, & Mr. Clean kept us moving and Pick 6/CB kept us motivated driving forward and never quitting
Naked Man Moleskin
Men- the concentrica model has been an incredible tool and roadmap for me. I shared however that as someone who possesses an abundance of self awareness, I often know WHAT to do. My problem is DOING it. I’ll be successful in keeping the rings in good priority for a while, then slowly over time, I will revert back to an innately selfish being. Before long, I have put work in the center, and yes even altruistic endeavors like F3 and Scouts in the center moving my M further out. When conversations shorten, or happen less frequently, you risk the headspace of the most important relationship telling you they “don’t feel loved”, “don’t feel heard”, “don’t feel like a priority”. This is the is RED ZONE men that you must pull the nose up immediately. None of your relationships can truly flourish with out having the M in the Center. (Sky Q is inherent). Remember that if we are pouring in to the M, have our alignment correct, she is much more likely to give you grace and latitude during your “peak work” times than when every work time is “peak”.
Go BEYOND and be the man at home that you are at the workouts and in the community.
As the school closes out and the doors of the Paradise Reading Center close until the next school year, I wanted to write this BB to shed some light on all that F3 and PRC have been through.
We embarked on the opportunity to engage with the youth the second half of the school year at the Paradise Reading Center and what a pleasure its been ever since! We have been able to read with kids of all different reading levels and see them excel and grow. We also have been able to make the PRC more than a Reading Center. We have had the opportunity to mentor and discuss topics of financing, higher education, careers, etc. With the awesome donation of 5 Apple Mac computers from Forest Hill Church Fort Mill , the Center was able to expand their computer lab providing access and resources to more students. We also established the”See it, Be it” campaign given the youth an opportunity to hear from various professionals with many coming from neighborhoods similar to their own. The youth were encouraged by various professionals that they too could do the same thing if they aspire to. It has been a honor to be a part of the team along with other voluteers to see the development of some great young minds at the Center who have been nothing more than accepting of F3 from day one!
Cant begin to thank all the PAX and the 2.0’s that came through week in and week out to provide that impact as well! Whether it was once or several times it was much appreciated and the youth are better because of the PAX and 2.0’s consistent presence. Also want to thank those PAX that donated books, supplies, etc. As the title states this is is only the end of the beginning! We have just scratch the surface of what we can do through this Center so very excited about the future! We have a updated schedule for the upcoming school year for use the link below to sign up because its never too early for an HC! If you did not have a chance this school year, I encourage you to take the tie to come through and #serve.
It’s been difficult for me to make it over to Quagmire on a consistent basis lately. It use to be my regular Monday morning hangout. There were several great workout options this morning. It was great to see a good turnout. After the standard disclaimer, we made our way over to the parking area near Jush Fresh.
COP: SSHs, imperial walkers, merkins, squats, more merkins, flutters, LBCs
Next, we moseyed to the side of Books A Million for a sidewalk shuffle (plank walk between light poles). Rinse and Repeat.
More running to the front of vacant Gander Mountain. We partnered up for a few unique exercises. The mode of transportation based on the number of hands and feet.
2 feet, no hands – Partner Carry
2 feet, 2 hands – Wheelbarrow
4 legs, no hands – Leg lunges (recovery from wheelbarrow)
4 hands, 2 feet – one-legged bear crawl
Jedi showed off his skills by walking on his hands….impressive!
Next, we jogged back to Just Fresh for a recovery wall sit while each person ran up and down the stairs.
The final ten minutes were spend running back to Office Depot for 7 minutes of rugby sprints. We alternated with the following exercises: CCDs, LBCs, Flutters, Calf Raises, Merkins.
Great job by all! We covered over 2.5 miles this morning.
Prayers:
Healing for family and friends suffering from illnesses
I’m afraid of Varsity…not gonna sugar coat it. Hardcore Boot Camps scare me, especially AO’s that have pull-up bars on site. I stay as far away from them as possible. So, to get me to one of these crazy AO’s, you’ll have to ask me to Q. I tried my best to make this not moderate. I probably only hurt myself though.
We started by running around the NAFO parking lot. 25 SSH here, 25 SSH there, 25 more here and then 25 more there. SSH are my favorite warmup exercise because…science says it’s the best. Our last stop in the lot was for a few Merkins.
Next we moseyed towards Sugar Creek Elementary. I head faked a pitstop at the pull-up bars but kept going. At the bottom of the hill I decided it would be good to run back up the hill and then back down. I hate running.
Next obstacle was the Basketball Court. We ran Suicides, Bear Crawled, Crab Walked, and Lunged. This is why I #Slowburn on Fridays.
I had my speaker box setup in the bus loop to entertain us while we worked it. We split into 2 teams. 1 team worked out while the other team ran a lap. Exercises included: Balls to the Wall, Merkins, LBC’s, Big Boy Situps, Planks of sorts, Makhtar N’Diayes…I tried to get a good mix in.
When I decided I couldn’t take anymore running, I put Chumbawamba’s Tubthumping on the speaker and we did 28 burpees in 3m32s. I hear they’ve done more burpees in less time at Varsity. Beasts!
It was time for COT. I tried to walk a bit but Ginsu said he felt like running so we ran back. A couple Ruckers met us there and we closed it out with a Big Ball of Man. Happy Birthday to Dark Helmet! Thank you Kielbasa for the opportunity. I’ll trade you Q’s again in a couple months!
It’s always exciting to see cars come in hot around the curves of Pleasant Knoll Middle School to get to the workout on-time. Everybody was in the circle when my phone alarm signaled it was 0515. No FNG’s, but I disclaimed because a Q should always disclaim.
We took off for a mosey towards the super far back parking lot with butt-kickers and high-knees. Halfway to the lot we stopped for some warmup moves that included:
SSH
Seal Jacks (Jack Seals? Apparently I do them in reverse.)
Weed Pullers
At the back lot we did more SSH before grabbing a Cindy for some Walking Lunges ending with an All You Got back to the start line. We did that 2 times across the parking lot before we cleaned up the lot of random bigger Cindy’s.
I broke out the Jumbo Cards for a round of Deck of Pain. As we went around the circle, I asked pax what Accountability means to them.
Spades = Merkins
Clubs = Crunches
Hearts = SSH
Diamonds = Monkey Humpers
Face Cards = 10
Aces could be 1 or 15, Dealer’s Choice.
Jokers = 5 Burpees (no Jokers were pulled, hallelujah!)
We had plenty of time left so we counted off by 2’s and did an Indian Run to the track where we completed 1 lap.
We took a 20 count as we walked to the bleachers. At the bleachers we ran up and down each stairway (4 rows) and then kept on running all the way back to the school.
I gave the pax 2 options: Continue running around the paved path to COT or take the “shortcut” and Bear Crawl up the hill to COT. It was about 50/50.
We did the Big Ball of Man thing.
Continue to pray for Badger and also our brothers who can’t seem to beat the fartsack. Prayers and Praises went out and up for Cornerstone’s MIL. Signup to cut the grass at Fort Mill Care Center, see Assassin for more info. READ THE NEWSLETTER!
I consider it an honor and privilege to Q a workout. A big THANKS to Short Sale for the invite.
I was at The Fort a couple of months ago and mentioned to Bonsai that I would like to be put on the Q Schedule, as I had never had a Q at this great AO. Soon after, he contacted me to request that I give him a date. Well, that date has arrived.
I had originally had Ponytail as a CoQ, but do to his schedule change he couldn’t make it. I quickly asked Bonsai to find someone who could lead a short warmup as a VQ. Bonsai put it on Twitter about a week and advance and the HIM to step up was . . . well nobody. His only choice then was to tell everyone that Longshanks would be the CoQ if nobody stepped up. Well, again nobody stepped up, so YHC’s CoQ was Longshanks as determined by the PAX.
WARMUP
Well, this really wasn’t a warmup as it was Longshanks leading. It was more of a beginning to the madness that was about to continue. Longshanks led us in 15 SSH; 1 Burpee; 10 Windmills; 2 Burpees; 10 Imperial Walkers; 3 Burpees; 10 Hillbilly Walkers; 4 Burpees; 15 Low Slow Squats; 10 Burpees. We then took a mosey over to parking in front of US Synergetic for the following: High Knees; Butt Kickers; Toy Soldiers; & Soccer Moms.
We then moseyed over to Millstone Park for some Lucky 7’s. At the bottom of the stairs, 7 dips; at the top of the stairs, 7 squats; and at the short wall, 7 box jumps . . . X 7. As the PAX waited for the 6 they performed LBC’s. We then all performed 7 chin-ups on the bar, 7 pull ups on the bar, and 7 Bombjacks.
Then Longshanks passed it off to YHC.
THE THANG
Prior to moseying back to the following locations, we turned and faced the flag at Veteran’s Park for the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag led by Geronimo.
A few days earlier in the week, I had done an afternoon ReCon of the area to know exactly where I wanted to go to be prepared for this workout I have been long awaiting for. Well after we did the Warmup, we took a mosey over to the small parking lot in front of US Synergetic for the following: BOMBS-Burpees; Overhead Claps; Merkins; Big Boy SitUps; and Squats.
I’m not a big fan of exercises where the PAX have to do a lot of counting because I believe it takes away from the fellowship of our time in the gloom. So I did these BOMBS a little different. I asked the PAX to pair up with someone they know fairly well. Then we began the BOMBS. Partner 1 performed the exercise as the bottom of the hill (Massey St. Hill) while Partner 2 ran to the top and back. Then they flip flopped. We did this for 1 round of BOMBS at a pace that each PAX could maintain.
Before starting I had asked the PAX to get to know the other PAX while either running the hill or performing the exercises. The objective of this whole series of exercises was to allow for good fellowship in between breaths.
During the workout we stopped at a statue located just across from Veteran’s Park of three people assisting each other up a wall. I then discussed what is below in the NMM.
We then moseyed back to the COT where Zildjian led us in some MoM.
NMM
When I am unable to post due to work or other commitments, it seems as if my day just aren’t the same. Even if I have to do a #fern Workout or Run at the house or Y it is not the same. I can get fit by myself. I cannot keep a relationship with that #fern for a long period of time. I just get tired of talking and never getting anything back. It is a one way street.
F3 is just the opposite. It is a two way street with a purpose. The PAX of F3 push me to get better physically, emotionally, spiritually with a purpose to live a better life. F3 allows me to humble myself to authority and be led and it allows me to lead, all to make me a better man.
During our workout I stopped at a statue the three people helping each other up a wall. I mentioned the person at the top. This was someone who had already made it to the top: but one thing to notice is that this person was not still looking up or over the wall finding a way to get to the other side. They were looking down at the others with his hand held to assist them get over as well. Then there was the one in the middle being pushed and pulled. Almost to the top, but not quiet there. Needing assistance from both of the other two men. Then there was the person at the bottom. This person did not appear to be down in spirit because he hadn’t started. This person was pushing the other person up to make them better.
The important thing in all of this is they were all working to make each other better. This is what F3 is about. We are all in this as a team, and if we see another struggling we need not look the other way. We as F3 brothers, as men, should help in whatever way possible to help or assist.
This is a call out to all of our brothers. Keep you ears open and your eyes wide. There is always another brother struggling and you, yes YOU might be the HIM God has called to help.
Eccl. 4:9-12 ‘Tow are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him-a threefold cord is not quickly broken.’
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Start Time Change at The Fort starting June 2: 6:30-