KB Tabata Time!

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Good times for my 1st Q at Lake Wylie’s Premier (and only) Kettlebell workout!

Everything you see below was completed with music going on.  Because why not?  Music makes the workout more fun.  And yes, mumble chatter can still happen.  Events below kicked off with Kickstart My Heart-Motley Crue… booyah!

WarmORama–

Mosey around the full parking lot. Followed by toy soldiers, high knees, and butt kickers.

Exercises in quick succession:

Windmills, SSH, Weed Pullers, Imperial Walkers, Mountain Climbers

The Thang-

Tabata!  8 sets of 20 seconds AMRAP of an exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest. After set completion, Indian Run with 40 (or 50?) pound sandbad up front. Switch weight to person in front when they make it there.  Order of sets as followed:

  • Jack Press
  • Goblet Squat
  • Partner Curl/Merkin (one partner- merkins– the other takes both KBs for double curl)
  • Flutter w/ Press
  • Triceps Press
  • (And a couple rounds of KB American Hammers to finish out)

NameORama/COT

Great group of guys this morning with strong work.  I heard a lot of huffing and puffing from the group so I know that everyone worked hard.  We finished up with praise for Wolverine’s positive trip to the doctor, prayers for the tragic loss in Columbia and that the suspect was found, and prayers for the continued investigation for the lady in Lake Wylie.

 

Thanks for the opportunity to Q Two Ferns!  Can’t wait to make it back our for the next round!

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2019 Cannoli Run Supporting the Children’s Attention Home

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The 2019 Cannoli 5k Run and 1 Mile Family Walk is pleased to announce that 100% of this year’s Cannoli proceeds go to the Children’s Attention Home!!!

Support the race and your fellow PAX who are making outstanding efforts at CAH! Post early and you still have time to get the family to the family walk (8:30 am) or 5k run (9:00 am), then the St. Philip Neri Italian Festival after.

Bolt is race director (803-415-1946), Twister Exec. Asst. and NASA and ChickenHawk are your on-point PAX.

Saturday May 18….8:30 am 1 Mile Family ….9:00 am Cannoli 5k Run…ruck info TBA ASAP.

Cannoli Run and Family Walk.  www.SPNCannoliRun.com   

Children’s Attention Home  http://attentionhome.org/ 

Direct Donation to CAH (enter Cannoli under “organization gift.”) Donate Here.

Update 4-2-19. Our registration #’s are running a little behind. Get signed up!

Aye! Bolt

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Fire Ant 4/2/19

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I have been running too much… but now it’s time to get ready for May’s GoRuck Heavy.  No better way that to lead the men at our rucking AO the Fire Ant. Cool morning in April, they are expecting SNOW today (and it came). But for 5:15am we were good to go.

12 other  men rucked up and many brought extra sandbags so we put them to good use.  After the normal disclaimer, and Admiral’s 2nd post (1st ruck) we lined up 2×2.  Man to the left had a sandbag, man right would be his partner.  We took a nice stroll around the drop off loop, switched sandbag half way through.

COP rucks off

SSHs – Windmill – Daisy Pickers – IWs – Merkins – Mountain Climbers

To Tiered Hill

Bear Crawl to each Tier –  do exercise – then crawl bear down from top stopping to do exercise again at each tier

10 Merkins

10 Squats

10 Lunges

Mosey with bags 2×2 to back of school parking lot

Switch bags every 2 minutes

COP with Ruck off

  1. Curls      2. Overhead Press     3. Swings     4. Tricep Extensions

5. Man Makers      6. Flutters w Press           7. Bent over Rows

Mosey to the front of the school again carrying sandbags 2×2.  Switched partners once

Finished with Ab Lab: America Hammers and Big Boy situps.

COT

Announcements – 2nd F Lunch today, several ruck events coming up this week to get your miles and muscles in!

Prayers

For healing, surgery, getting along with family.

Thanks for the opportunity to Lead!

~Royale

 

 

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Proud Daddy Day at the Deep #Shorties

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I was rucking Friday morning with Olaf and the Chupacabra crew and he mentioned that he had the Q at the Deep but also signed up for the Operation Sweet tooth 8k so he was stuck with two HCs.  I mentioned I could take the Q at the Deep and about 12pm he took me up on that offer.

Here was my chance!  My 10 year old son “Blocks” has been asking me how he might get a name change.  He’s been saying “Blocks is his F3 Dads name and he’s looking to grow up” I told him that he’d have to lead some of the workout before a name change would be in order.

So Friday night I offered him the opportunity.  We worked on the warmup options, he picked 8 exercises, and we practiced some in cadence.  He even came up with a new exercise routine, “Death Grippers”.  More to come on that in a sec.

So Blocks and I got to the school early to set up and scope out the plan.  He was ready.  I told the guys what we had planned for a potential name change, gave the disclaimer and we headed out.

Mosey over to the soccer field for Blocks to take over.

He circled up the PAX and went to it.

SSHs – Arm circles 5 forward 5 back large and small – IWs – LS Squats – Windmills – Big Boy Situps (his favorite) and the new Death Grippers.  They are Burpee –> Squat –> Lunge = 1!

He had a strong voice, checked his paper several times, but kept cadence really well.  He was so excited when he was done!  I definitely had a proud Dad moment right then.

I took back over for the rest of the fun.

We headed back to the hill for 11s

10 CDDs at the top –> 1 Sumo Squat at the bottom .  Count up/down until flipped.

Good hustle, especially from our 2nd Day PAX Hermey.  The hill work is not easy.

Mosey to the back of the school for what I call “Concentrica Cornhole”

Blocks and I set up by drawing the Concentrica on the ground. From inside to out it went:

M = 10 SSHs

Shorties = 10 Flutter Kicks

Shieldlock = 10 Lunges

Whetstone = 10 Partner Hand Slap Merkins

Mammon = 10 Absolutions

I had set up a line about 20 yards away and the PAX would throw a cornhole bag at the bullseye.  It definitely paid to be a winner.  Missing the whole target was 10 burpees!  Each PAX got to go twice.  Let’s just say we did way too many burpees!

Once we finished up I shared a small message about Q-source and what the Concentrica is. How we have a limited and unknown number of arrows and that we should aim for the bullseye everyday… and how life doesn’t allow that often, but small and intentional changes can help to correct that!

Off to the front of the school. Time for some wall sits while each PAX from each end did 5 merkins. Then 30 count BTTWs, repeated this twice.

Only a few minutes left, made it back to COT for a little Ab lab.  The PAX finished strong!

So the group agreed Blocks did his part to get a new F3 name.  He shared with the PAX, we batted a couple things around…we ended on Lancelot at the recommendation of Shakespeare.  Pierce loves his new name, and I’m so happy I got to share that experience with him.

COT

Announcements – read your newsletter

Prayers from around the PAX, sorry I should record these…

More moleskin:

A lot of times I feel like an absent father.  I spend more time usually with you guys in the gloom than my own family each day… it’s a regular struggle for us men. I definitely spend way too much time at work, it’s not easy to balance…and shouldn’t be looked at as a balancing beam anyway. But it’s these moments, where you can put good intention into action, be intentional, and build that bond with your shorties.  We went to Qsource and I lead that with Lancelot sitting right next to me… it was an awesome Saturday!

 

An Honor to Lead

~ Royale

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Flag Day

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15 High Impact Men rolled up to the Crow’s Nest for a very humbling day for myself.  I did a quick disclaimer as we did have a FNG in the house and we moseyed on over to one of the side parking lots for some COP.

SSHx20/Windmillx10/Reach To Sky,Touch Toes, Down Dog,Honeymooner/Annie’s/Produce Pickersx10 

We then moseyed on over to the back playground which where all the fun toys are.  With the crowd at the Nest this morning I decided against having each individual PAX doing monkey bars swings while the rest of the PAX did Burpees as it would have taken forever and most of the PAX would’ve beed smoked within the first 15 minutes of the workout, so I went right into the …

Main Event

My very first post was the Crow’s Nest during the very first time there was an F3 workout there and in honor of this I borrowed from Flux’s workout all the way back from last March 5th, 2018.  He had us do crazy 8’s so I followed suite but with a little modification.  We all did 8 Pull Ups/ 8 Merkins/ 8 Squats for 8 rounds.  In between each round we traveled in between the parking lot islands in a figure 8 pattern but each time there was a different mode of travel. First was a normal run, then bear crawl curb to curb, then Crab Walk curb to curb, then bunny hop around islands, then pylo skip around islands, normal run, bear crawl, finishing off with a run.

Co-Main Event 

Bear Crawl up ramp to park area with plenty of stone seats where I had us do Elevens of Step Ups(each leg) and merkins.

Moseyed on over to side wall for some people’s chair while end Pax did 3 burpees each. Much to the chagrin of Flux, Qbert had the best burpee form though Flux’s bear crawl is second to none. Moseyed on back for COT.

Observations-never drink a protein shake before a workout or it might splash back up on you.  Luckily I was able to hold it down as it would have been real embarrassing to splash merlot while Q’ing.  Also welcome FNG Meltdown!  Someone wanted to name him Chernobyl but that would have been just wrong(LOL).

Grateful and honored to receive the Crow’s Nest shovel flag from Flux.  He has truly been a great leader. The 13 months I have been a member of F3 have been some of the best months of my life.  To many more adventures with you crazy people! Prayers for the families of some high profile murders that have been in the news lately, God give them strength.  Till next time, peace.

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Work at The Hive

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  • QIC: Dark Helmet
  • When: 11/16/2018
  • Pax:
  • Posted In: The Hive

A long time ago…
In an AO far, far away…

I Q’ed at The Hive.

I am certain we did some Kettlebell things, though at this point, I have no idea what they might have been.

I am writing this so that Band Camp won’t hold it over my head that I didn’t write it.

Helmet, out.

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#F3MentalBattle at The Coop

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It was a powerful day across F3 Nation as men from all over gathered at their AOs to workout and to raise awareness for Mental Health, specifically Depression and Suicide. It’s a thing that we as men tend to shy away from discussing, and our brothers Aerobie and Miyagi out of F3Louisville put out the call to post and to start eroding the stigma of mental health challenges among men (including our Pax).

So, we warmed up, I shared a bunch of statistics, and we went to work.

A modified Dirty MacDeuce was on the menu that morning.
3 exercises, 22 reps each (for the 22 Vets that commit suicide every day), then run a lap around the track. We did arms, legs, core each round; and we attempted to get in as many rounds as we could in the time we had.

I don’t remember all the exercises that we did, there were Merkins, and Squats, and Flutters, and Dry Docks, and lunges, and Makthar N’Diayes, and a bunch of other stuff. The point, though, wasn’t the workout. I’ll tell a couple of things I did remember…

  • Suicide is the 7th leading cause of death among men in the US
  • Every man in the circle raised his hand when asked if they or someone they know had experienced some sort of mental health issue
  • One of the main contributing factors to mental health issues is a feeling of isolation

You are not alone. You are NEVER alone. Reach out. Don’t suffer in silence.

Helmet, out.

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No foolin’ at The Honey Badger today

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17 PAX attended (probably most of them by accident) Ass kickin’ April Year 2.  AKAY2 started at the Badger today with YHC on Q (to make sure I post for day 1).  AKAY2 is a different AO every day (excluding Sunday) for the month of April.  Get to know the region by posting somewhere else.  Here is the schedule (shameless plug):

Today we honored a fallen soldier and YHC modified his workout.  See below for the Thang (the run portion was .33 miles):

Rinse and Repeat – I think the leaders got to a second round of the Squats.  The doubling up on the Burpees was a crowd pleaser….

There was a Shovel Flag hand-off this morning from the scarcely-posting Cheddah to the ever-posting Dirty Harry! Proof (that Cheddah even posted) below:

Prayers for new job opportunities, surgeries, injured PAX and unspoken.

FunHouse

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Bell In The Ring

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On Friday, I had the opportunity to Q The Hive, a Kettle Bell workout that has developed the history of being a great, body-challenging, way to end your work week. Under no circumstances was I going to let that change on my watch. After all, Frat Boy was promising an FNG (welcome Mich Ultra) that he’s been working on for 2yrs. What does this tell you about Frat Boy? Leave it to say, Dog On A Bone.

Once we all circled up in the beginning and dropped our metal bells, the PAX were disclaimed. They were then reminded of the critical mission of F3 and if you’re a little hazy: Plant, Grow and Service small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership. None of those words are there by accident.

And then, we’re off for a mosey to the other large parking lot then back (sans bells) for a little warming up all in counts of 16:

SSH

Mountain Climbers

Peter Parkers

Parker Peters

SSH

Moroccan Night Clubs

American Hamers

Merkins

Grab your bells (notice the “e”) and report back to our circle. Only now, much larger; roughly 40yds in diameter. I would call out an exercise, we’d do a count of 16 of said exercise, set the bell down, run to the center of the circle, perform 5 burpees, then return to your bell. The running back and forth eventually turned to a jog. Here’s the menu:

Kettle Bell Swings

Left Arm Bicep Curls

Right Arm Bicep Curls

Overhead Lunges (Lunges with KB held overhead – 8ea leg)

Upright Rows

Bent Over Rows – Right Side

Bent Over Rows – Left Side

Tricep Extensions

Overhead Squats (Squats with KB held overhead)

Flutters w/  Press

Big Boy Sit-Ups

Stretch it out with some KB-free SSH’s

Thrusters (with the KB)

Now it was time for a little more cardio training. Lining up on the side of the large parking lot, we did a set of 5-Tier suicides followed by a set of 2-Tier suicides.

Line up for Seal-Team Sit-ups

LBC’s

Hello Dolley’s

Rosalitas

A reminder of the F3 Credo: Never leave a man behind but leave no man where you found him.

A reminder of F3’s 5 core principles: Free of Charge, Open to ALL MEN, Held outdoors-rain or shine, Peer-Led (no professional training), Ends with a C.O.T.

Several announcements which included upcoming events, headlined by the OST 8K for our man, Olive in LKN which by the time you read this, will have already happened. Get involved, Stay involved, and LEAD.

Read YOUR Newsletter.

Until Next Time…It has been my honor to serve

Maximus.

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Alcatraz, Keeping it Simple, and Burdens

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I think Shady and I were both planning to do the virtual run to for Operation Sweet Tooth, but ended up on the Q schedule.  No biggie – someone’s got to do it.

Shady – 1st half

Quick warm-up mosey down the street and back, including some high knees, butt kickers, side shuffles and karaoke

Circle up for IC low slow squats, 1 burpee, IC SSH, 2 burpees, IC plank jacks, 3 burpees, IC Merkins, 4 burpees, IC cherry pickers, 5 burpees.

Mosey to playground for Dora 1-2-3, consisting of 100 chin-ups, 200 Carolina dry docks, and 300 flutter kicks with partner 1 completing exercises while partner 2 runs to opposite end of parking lot and back.

Shady spent some time before handing off to YHC speaking about “bringing it back to the basics” especially when interacting with your 2.0s.  He challenged us to remember the endless patience we had when they were first born and how important it is to take a breath and be the adult when interacting with them now.

High-five handoff to YHC.  We mosey’d to the trunk of my car where I pulled out a 35lb brick and shared what we’d be doing with it.  As PAX, it is important that we support on another, doing this workout and I’m ultimately life together.  We would be moseying, stopping to perform 5 burpees at various locations, some of the hills of Tega Cay.  The Brock, representing, the heavy burdens that each of us carries, would be carried he entire time (not to touch the ground, only handed off to a brother to help when it becomes to much to carry on your own).

A total of 10 stops we’re made prior to ending up at the bottom of one of the nastiest hills I know of in TC..where we performed a Jacobs ladder of burpees.  90+/- burpees were completed for the day.

Mosey back to COT where we met up with the runners.  TAP for Olive and his family was on all of our hearts.

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