The DaVinci Cones® Redux

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Forecast called for a warmish start for December, but a high chance of rain, so I wasn’t sure if we’d have a crowd or just a few. Very glad to see a bunch of cars when I pulled up. We ended up with 14 including YHC.

The Thang

Ran around the parking lot to warm up the legs, with a little side shuffle then circled up for some COP:

SSH x 15
Low, slow squats x 15
Slow, old-man windmills (just 10, since I was reminded it’s just a 45 minute workout
Merkins x 10
A little downward dog and honeymooner to stretch out
Mountain Climbers x 15

Then a short mosey to the traffic circle in front of school. I spoke briefly about our theme of the month, which is “Gifts.” At other workouts, the Qs have spoken about Gifts, be they tangible, material things that we give and receive, or intangible, like the gifts of time and support and love.

My message was about the holiday phenomenon of the REGIFT.

Today, I decided to reuse a workout I led earlier this year at the Abyss. It worked pretty good then, and worked well today, too.

Here’s what we did:

Partner 1 acts as a timer, going halfway around circle drive to the Cone using the prescribed means of conveyance (bear crawl, crab walk, etc), then runs the second half while Partner 2 does the prescribed exercise (squat jumps, merkins, etc); then switch

1. Bear Crawl | Squat Jumps
2. Lunge Walk | Merkins
3. Crab Walk | LBCs
4. Lt. Dangers | Plank Punches

Then a mosey around to the side of the school for some Wall Sits.

Have a seat, won’t you? A PAX from either end of the row runs out to the center stripe in the driveway, does 3 burpees, then runs back to the wall.

Finally, a mosey around to the track behind the school.

This is one of the set-it-and-forget-it workouts I like to uses. It’s self-paced and allows for some cardio as well as a variety of body-weight exercises. Plus, if someone finishes and there’s still time on the clock, we can always rinse and repeat.

Start at Cone #1 at one end of the track, do the exercise and prescribed reps, run to the other end of the track, do #1 on Cone 2 at  that end, and so on.

Cone #1
1. Slow Squats (20)
2. Curb Dips (20)
3. Mtn. Climbers (20 d.c.)
4. Curb Derkins (20)
5. CDD’s (20)

Cone #2
1. Imperial Wlkrs (20 d.c.)
2. Jump Lunges (10/leg)
3. Freddy Mercurys (20 d.c.)
4. Flying Squirrels (10)
5. Peter Parkers (10 d.c.)

NMM

All jokes aside about gifts and regifts, at COT I shared my feelings about what a gift F3 is to me. I was able to thank DarkHelmet again for EH-ing me for weeks, finally convincing me to post at the Deep on a warm Saturday in April of 2016.

I was hooked from the very first workout.

Mind you: it nearly killed me (curse you, Jack Webb!), but the remarkable thing to me was how I felt welcomed from the moment I got out of my car. I was supported and encouraged during that first workout, and that encouragement and support has continued to this day.

I challenge each of us to continue offering support and encouragement to FNGs and long-time PAX alike.

The world may beat us down. This group can help build us back up.

So during this time of giving, I want to thank all of my brothers for their gift of friendship and support and encouragement.

I feel blessed to be a part of this group.

DaVinci

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Pantheon: 45min Plank…..can you do it?

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It was forecast to be 100% rain at 5am and when I let the K-9 out at 4:40, it was not raining. Thank you Sky Q!! It drizzled on and off but no downpour. I was glad to see 7 PAX arrive so that me and Fish Stix did not push each other to the point of Merlot splash. Was nice to have even number of 8 because I’m a little OCD and like even numbers.

Away we went after the disclaimer and other chatter….

Mosey to back of school and form the letter “L” under the over hang to stay dry…..one time its drizzling

  • 20 SSHs
  • 10 Windmills
  • 20 Squats
  • 10 merkins

Mosey to swings

  • 20 swing crunches
  • 10 Inch Worm Merkins
  • 2 rounds

Mosey to road behind school (rain stopped)

  1. Run 100 yards, do 100 SSHs, Run back and plank for 6
  2. Run 75 yards, do 75 Mtn Climbers, Run back and plank for 6
  3. Run 50 yards, do 50 LBCs, Run back and plank for 6
  4. Run 25 yards, do 25 Merkins, Run back and plank for 6
  5. Run 10 yards, do 10 Burpees, Run back and plank for 6

Mosey to far side of school and form “L” again drizzling again

  • Lazy Dora 1,2,3
    • 100 Merkins – Partner 1 Planks, Partner 2 does 10 reps and switch back and forth
    • 200 LBCs – Partner 1 Planks, Partner 2 does 20 reps and switch back and forth
    • 300 squats – Partner 1 Squat Hold, Partner 2 does 10 reps and switch back and forth

Mosey to front of school find grassy spot

Jack Webb Plank Jacks

  • 1 merkin, 1 plank jack: 4 overhead claps
  • 2 merkins, 2 plank jacks: 8over head claps
  • 3 merkins, 3 plank jacks: 12over head claps
  • 4 merkins, 4 plank jacks: 16over head claps
  • 5 merkins, 5 plank jacks: 20over head claps

COT:

We talked about some of out favorite things about Christmas. Some of them were Cards, giving gifts, smiles on kids faces, being with family and my own was the peace and quiet on Christmas Eve was always my favorite…..away from the chaos of life.

We live in scary times; loss of jobs, marriages are tough, kids are angry or depressed, war, terror, fires, hunger, division and illnesses. No different than 2000 years ago in Bethlehem when the king was killing people at will and the roman soldiers were occupying the land and it was intimidating and scary. However they whole point of Jesus coming on Christmas was to remove fear. Believe in him and know the peace he brings and be confident that he has your back and you wipe fear from your future.

Humbled and honored to lead. Thank you Fish Stix!

Cake Boss

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Pre-Blast: 218 in ’18

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In 2018, the 1st F for F3theFort will be focusing on Growth & Consistency. We want to focus on GROWING the number of PAX not simply to increase our numbers. Rather, so that other men can reap the same rewards that F3 affords us every day: opportunities to lead, be held accountable, experience brotherhood, and push ourselves physically. If we continue to do this one PAX at a time, we slowly change our community.

We want to focus on CONSISTENCY so that we can maintain the standards and values that we have all come to expect and appreciate every time we post in the gloom.

In an effort to challenge ourselves to focus on Growth this year, your Fort Leadership Team is proud to announce the 218 in ’18 initiative. Our goal for this coming year will be to add 218 more consistently attending PAX. This may seem like a big number, but when put in the proper context, it is completely reasonable & achievable. That is 1 FNG for every 2 active members for the entire year, or roughly 1 FNG every 1.5 months for each AO.

However, as I mentioned before, we do not want to grow just for growth’s sake. We want to make sure that the new guys that join us this year stick with us so that they can reap the reward. So, I encourage you to headlock your neighbors, coworkers, friends, pizza delivery guys, insurance agents, and pretty much anyone who will talk to you. HOWEVER, EH’ing does not end after their first post…it continues until that new PAX no longer needs the constant encouragement to get our of the fartsack and in the gloom.

With that said, I encourage all of you to start early this year. Let’s get a jump on our goal by inviting FNGs to join us at our 2018 Kickoff Convergence on Friday, January 12th. There’s a high likelihood these sad clowns will have made resolutions to 1) get in shape and 2) save money in the new year….2 birds/1 stone. Gears and Old Bay will keep us honest through the year with a weekly SadClown-ometer included in the newsletter.

Let’s do this!

– Ginsu

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BRR Comes Early to Laces In

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It was a cold, windy December morning where 9 pax (7 BC and 2 Runners) showed up for their daily down payment.  The wind was fierce today, the kind that cuts right through you so I wanted to make sure we got nice and warm.  Laces Out went off campus for a tour of Fort Mill.  Here’s what went down (or as best I can remember) at Laces In:

Mosey to Band lot (it was further than I thought) for COP

Line up facing across the band lot for a series exercises

  1. Toy Soldiers to mid way – Sprint to other end of parking lot
  2. Butt Kickers back to midway – Sprint back
  3. Karaoke one way
  4. Karaoke back the other way

COP: SSH x 20, Windmills x 10, Mountain Climbers x 15, Squats x 15, Slow Merkins x 10

Main Course: Line up facing across the band lot for a series exercises again

  1.  Alligator Merkins for three parking spaces – sprint to other end.  LBC x 25
  2. Frog Jump Merkins for three parking spaces – sprint to other end of lot.  Flutters x 25
  3.  Bear Crawl half way – Sprint to other end of lot –  LBC x 25
  4. Bear Crawl half way – Sprint to other end of lot

Mosey to hill by stadium for partner work .  B.OM.B.S – 75 Burpees, 100 Overhead claps, 150 Merkins, 200 Big Boy Situps, 250 Squats in accumulation while your partner runs to (almost) the top of the hill.

Once finished – Partner 1 holds a plank while partner 2 runs hill and performs 10 Bombjacks at the (almost) top.  Rinse and repeat until COT

NMM: 2.3 miles was the count on my Garmin this morning.  I had no idea we were going to run that far but we did.  Thanks Longshanks for pointing that out!  Team Chafing the Dream is locked and loaded again for BRR 2018 so I was anxious to get out there and hit the inclines.   I love running hills and feel it really gets the blood flowing and makes you stronger.  The pax worked hard this morning and we were all better for it.  Thanks Lil E for the opportunity.  I’m usually at Laces Out so it was cool to explore the bootcamp option at FMHS.  Lastly, I had never formally met Sugar Daddy.  It was nice to meet you and I appreciate the mumble chatter.

Announcements: Joe Davis Run, Christmas Convergence, Focus on recruiting those FNGs

Prayers – Deacon’s upcoming Christmas present!

Until next time…

STH

 

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It’s a Burpee and Bear Crawl Tuesday!

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15 PAX total with 4 Ruckers and 11 Bootcampers!

Disclaimer given……

Mosey to the back of Harris Teeter and circle up

Q called out 20 Seal jacks to start

Each PAX picks an exercise and calls out the cadence for 20 reps each

SSH

Merkins

Imperial Walker

Hillbilly Walker

Freddy Mercury

Squats

Wind Mills

A few more I can’t remember

Peter Parker

Parker Peter

Stay in the area and line up for some suicides!

Bear crawl to each line in parking lot run back to start and do 1 Burpee

13 lines total (Crowd Pleaser) Especially Anchorman!!!

Round 2 Run to each line and do 2 Burpees at the start line each time

Round 3 Run to the 6th line do 5 Burpees, back to start 5 Burpees, to the end 5 Burpees, back to start 5 Burpees

There were some 10 counts in between just for a little bit to catch our breath!

Mosey to the wall for some wall sits and some more Burpees!!!

Mosey to COT and do a little Ab Lab to finish out!

Great workout! Warm weather (No complaints)

 

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The G.R.I.N.C.H. Posts to Colosseum

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18 pax showed up at Colosseum to steal Christmas back from the GRINCH.  Though not a regular at this AO, YHC jumped at the chance to pinch-hit for Pusher.  And being so close to Christmas, it’d almost be a sin to not have a Christmas theme.

Fresh out of Christmas workout ideas (see Alcatraz backblast from 2 weeks ago), YHC took to backblasts from other regions and found a Grinch theme workouted posted in F3GSO. T-Claps to GSO’s CHiPS and WoJo for the idea.

Disclamer was delivered as a few pax were coming in hot.  25 SSH allowed them time to catch up.

Warm-up

We ran a bit, then stopped for 5 burpee broadjumps and a few toy soilders.

Moseyed some more (in the general direction of 160), stopping at various times for warm-up exercises, including:

  • Squats
  • Peter Parkers
  • Seal Jacks
  • Moroccian Nightclubs
  • Windmills

Our run end in the Velux parking lot.  A few pax tried to claim we were at Golden Corral (sarcasm, perhaps?).  On the hill of the parking lot, 3 stations were set up:

  • Bottom of the hill was an orange cone, representing “Whoville”.
  • Mid-way up the hill was a green cone
  • At the top of the hill was a lantern with this sheet:

GRINCH

To summarize, pax were to do the exercises, run down the hill, stop halfway for 5 squats, run the rest of the way and do 5 LBCs, then run backwards up the hill, stopping halfway for 5 monkey humpers.  Once returning to the top, pax planked up for the 6 before starting the next round.

Exercises were cumulative, so pax had to repeat all previous exercises for each round.  A smattering of #mumblechatter ensued when pax learned 30 HR Merkins would follow 25 CDDs.

We wrapped up with about 12 minutes left, so we headed back, with Jekyll (who ran to the WO from home) Larry Bird’ing most of the way back.

We stopped at a parking lot on the edge of campus and effectively did a lap of alternating bear crawls and lunges, with a couple segments of crab walks.

Finally we ran to where we had done the initial burpee broad jumps, and finished out with the same.

Moleskin

Great job by the pax.  Seems like we put on more miles than a typical bootcamp, and with some hills, yet the 6 was never far behind.  Prayer requests at COT:

  • For Trucker’s neighbor
  • For Orange Crush
  • For Fratboy’s friend
  • For Stang

 

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A different kind of Dora

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Perfect weather for the Gloom today, 43 degrees and foggy at Walter Elisha Park.

Quick Disclaimer and of we went.

The Thang

Mosey up the Hill
20 x SSH (IC)
10 x Slow Merkins (IC)

Butt Kickers Down the Hill
15 x IW (IC)
10 x Windmills (IC)

High Knees Up the Hill
15 x Squats (IC)
15 x Mountain Climbers (IC)

Mosey back down the hill
At The bottom, Karaoke Left, then Karoake Right.

Mosey to the first Drill Bit
10 X Peter Parkers
10 x Parker Peters

Mosey to the playground For Dora 1,2,3
Partner up one partner runs to path and back while one does the exercise.
100 Pullups
200 Sumo Squats
300 Dying Cockroaches

Drill Bit work with 10 Merkins, 15 Squats, 20 LBC’s with Indian Run Between each.
Finished with 5 minutes of Mary/Q school as each PAX called out an exercise IC.

COT and BOM

Announcements – Joe Davis Run, Christmas EVE EVE Convergence this Saturday – Clave Boss 5k/10k at 0600, Regular workouts at 0700.

Prayers – Lonely and depressed during this time of year, those battling cancer and other diseases.

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Milkshakes at Tomahawk

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I love a good Twitter Storm… a little chatter and we had a pretty strong showing for a Monday. Milder weather probably didn’t hurt anything either… Let’s get to it:

Warm up lap around the outer loop of the parking lot

Circle up in middle of lot:
10 x windmill
10 x merkins
10 x squats
15 x SSH
10 x Moroccan Nightclubs

Grab your bell and go around school to small back parking lot.

AMRAP is the name of the game today… As Many Reps As POSSIBLE… You define possible for yourself, but I 100% promise you are capable of more than your mind thinks you are.

Very simple… 40lb. Sandbag is hoisted on to a Pax shoulders, and he runs about 150 yards down and back. This man is the timer. Do the exercise on the cone until the sandbag runner gets back, then rotate to the next cone.

Cones:
Curls
Goblet Squats
KB Front Hold
Flutters with press
Clean and press (L then R)
KB Swings
Around the World (or Slingshot)
REPEAT

NMM:
If you want to know what’s in a man’s head, watch his actions for a bit… We will eventually always betray what is inside us. I had hard work on the mind over the last few days, so I attempted to bring it to the Pax. After a couple rounds, though, I think I had quitting on my mind… I gave some inspiring blah, blah, blah at the start about working hard and how we were going to do as many reps as POSSIBLE, and how we should push and so on and so on… I ran fast when it was my turn… I lifted the heavy things… but I didn’t do it with the intensity and purpose that I knew I should/could have… I keep saying, “The hard work of this world will not be done by weak men.” I know it’s true, but I think I’m not even close to strong enough yet. Fortunately, I don’t have to be yet.

Helmet, out.

 

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12 Laps of Christmas with Some Discussion on our Favorite Gifts as Well as The Greatest Gift

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We began with Sugarbug taking the lead for a mosey around the park and circle up in the field to get warmed up on this fridged 20-something morning.

24 SSH, 12 Windmill, 12 Moracan Nightclub, 12 Peter Parker, 12 Parker Peter (by now Dark Helmet and his ruck were starting to notice a trend and were getting nervous)

 

Mosey over to the playground to do some laps “12 Days of Christmas” style. It went like this (feel free to sing along)

One 4 count merkin and a lap around the WEP playground

Two 4 count LBC’s, One 4 count merkin and a lap around the WEP playground

Three 4 count Mountain Climbers, Two 4 count LBC’s, One 4 count merkin and a lap around the WEP playground

Four 4 count flutters, Three 4 count Mountain Climbers, Two 4 count LBC’s, One 4 count merkin and a lap around the WEP playground

Five bombjacks, Four 4 count flutters, Three 4 count Mountain Climbers, Two 4 count LBC’s, One 4 count merkin and a lap around the WEP playground

Six lunges (each side), Five bombjacks, Four 4 count flutters, Three 4 count Mountain Climbers, Two 4 count LBC’s, One 4 count merkin and a lap around the WEP playground

Seven dry docks, Six lunges (each side), Five bombjacks, Four 4 count flutters, Three 4 count Mountain Climbers, Two 4 count LBC’s, One 4 count merkin and a lap around the WEP playground

Eight double count american hammers, Seven dry docks, Six lunges (each side), Five bombjacks, Four 4 count flutters, Three 4 count Mountain Climbers, Two 4 count LBC’s, One 4 count merkin and a lap around the WEP playground

Nine dips, Eight double count american hammers, Seven dry docks, Six lunges (each side), Five bombjacks, Four 4 count flutters, Three 4 count Mountain Climbers, Two 4 count LBC’s, One 4 count merkin and a lap around the WEP playground

Ten SSH, Nine dips, Eight double count american hammers, Seven dry docks, Six lunges (each side), Five bombjacks, Four 4 count flutters, Three 4 count Mountain Climbers, Two 4 count LBC’s, One 4 count merkin and a lap around the WEP playground

Eleven plank jacks, Ten SSH, Nine dips, Eight double count american hammers, Seven dry docks, Six lunges (each side), Five bombjacks, Four 4 count flutters, Three 4 count Mountain Climbers, Two 4 count LBC’s, One 4 count merkin and a lap around the WEP playground

Twelve burpees, Eleven plank jacks, Ten SSH, Nine dips, Eight double count american hammers, Seven dry docks, Six lunges (each side), Five bombjacks, Four 4 count flutters, Three 4 count Mountain Climbers, Two 4 count LBC’s, One 4 count merkin and a lap around the WEP playground

 

Once the carol had been sung the choir lead was passed over to Quack Attack who began his lesson on the greatest gift

-Began with a circle of core work.  Quack Attack would call out an exercise and a PAX would ten count followed by another ten count by the next PAX clockwise. He would then discuss the next exercise as well as some insight into life for about a 10 count and we would begin again with the next PAX clockwise for a revolution around the circle. I don’t remember every exercise because I was trying to not fall over, but we did some plank, a dying cockroach of sorts (but it looked much nicer so we called it a dying palmetto bug), as well as some side planks with a hip dip that apparently looked so impressive the women on the track started giving us more room when they came by.

-Following this circle of fun we proceeded to run halfway around the tack around the park in a “native american” fashion… The PAX running to the front was instructed to yell their F3 name and the favorite gift they received as a child.  I must say based upon the answers it seems Nintendo did well during our childhood… Also I felt bad for the poor lady who must have thought 10 minutes earlier “What a nice cool morning for a peaceful walk with Fido at the park… It will be so relaxing… The odds of 20 men running in circles around me screaming the names of video games is incredibly low…”

-Once everyone had discussed their favorite gifts and we reached everyone’s favorite hill we split the group in half for a relay race.  The line was at the base of the hill and those PAX in line were to squat while the lead member ran up the hill and completed some sort of one leg squat jump that from any distance away looked like a typical drunk wedding dance.  They were then to run back to line and tap the next PAX

-Following this completion which was decided to be a tie (dealing out 5 burpees to everyone) we finished with another “native american” fashioned run the remaining distance around the park to the lot for COT.  On this run we were to say our F3 name and who was going to win the College Football Championship.   While there was some limited SEC support CLEMSON certainly was the polling favorite with a notable write-in (scream in) vote for Air Force… Maybe this is the year of the triple option…

 

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Poking the Q leads to sprinting at The Deep

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7 showed up, including one Rock Region PAX for my VQ at the Deep

Proper full disclaimer was given – and a note that while you can modify if you feel like it… I am trying to push you to new limits.

Long mosey around the baseball field to the front entrance for …

The Warm-Up in cadence

  • Abe Vigoda x20
  • Mumble Chatter included poking the Q about my HATE age so further warm ups were doubled
  • SSH x40
  • Moroccan Nightclub x25
  • Sumo Squat x30
  • Hillbilly Walker x30
  • Got some good stretching in Right over Left for a 10 count and switch Left over Right for 10
  • On the 6
  • LBC x20
  • Flutter x20
  • Chopsticks x20
  • Stretching 10 counts, right leg flat left knee to chest, switch left leg flat right knee to chest

Mosey across the street to the football field and partnered up to have someone push us through the next exercises

The Thang

Cones were preset about 20 paces to the first cone then 10 to each cone to total 5 cones

Suicides along the cones ending at the final cone with an exercise incrementing 5 each time, so the final step would be a 25 single count

  • Round 1: Overhead claps
  • Round 2: Calf Raises
  • Round 3: SSH
  • Round 4: Plank Jacks – tested how cold the grass was in case I had to Omaha the upcoming bear crawl

Gifts

Al Gore circle

Tangible gifts certainly give people a sense of belonging and friendship throughout this holiday season, but what intangible gifts do we have as HIMs that we can share with others, PAX or not, at any time in the year?

I love to pack trucks, maybe even thrive on the experience. To date I have packed 96 homes into trucks for families moving or student camp for hundreds of kids and have enjoyed every minute of it. Primarily because it seems to be such a stressful time and a dread for families and friends, that my experience with it becomes a huge relief for them.

We switched between honeymooner and downward dog while the other PAX shared their intangible, practical gifts that they gift to others.

More Thangs

Stayed partnered up for Doras, bear crawl to first cone, cumulative partner single count exercises

  • 50 merkins
  • 100 LBCs
  • 150 squats
  • 200 seal jacks

A few 10 counts were needed to save the poor calf muscles of those involved

Then we took a mosey back towards CoT and took the long route down the main road. Stopped for some hills by the baseball field.

3 sets of 5 hills with an exercise each time you get back to the top

  • Set 1: 20 dips
  • Set 2: 20 calf raises/dips on the curb
  • Set 3: 10 merkins

Long sprint around the parking lot for some people’s choice AbLab

Name-o-rama

Announcements READ YOUR NEWSLETTER!!!!

Prayers/Praises

Coffeteria at Bagel Boat (better than Dunkin Donuts, you guys are crazy)

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