Category: Cannonball

F3TheFort Holiday Drop-In

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The Forts annual holiday party will have a different feel this year.
With COVID still lingering we have decided to have a gathering but it will be a bit different.

We are encouraging The PAX to go to dinner with your M and either your Shieldlock, Whetstone, or small group of fellow PAX and their Ms. After dinner we will all gather for an hour or so of a social hour(s).
This will give our Ms the opportunity to meet the crazy fellas we spend the early mornings with but more importantly their M.

We are all fortunate to have this crazy group it is also just as important to try and let our Ms meet some other ladies in the community and possibly let them start great friendships as well.

Make it a day of F3. Start with the golf outing, go to dinner and then grab a couple beers, a bottle of J Lohr wine, a cocktail and let’s kick off the holiday season.

If COVID worries you or your M we will have an outdoor area to hang out at as well as indoor areas.

Where- Springfield Community Center- by the tennis courts/pool
420 Horton Grove, Fort Mill, SC 29715

Time- 7pm-9pmish

When- Dec 3rd, 2021

Contact- Backdraft with any concerns…

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F3 The Fort Anniversary Party

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Get ready to celebrate the Anniversary of The Fort. Location will be next to The Springfield neighborhood pool under the pavilion. but the date is set Sept. 17th, 2021. 1830-2130 or 630pm- 930pm for anyone that dosn’t know how to do military time. Cant wait to see you all. It will be the same as last year and bring your own dinner and drinks. We will have a few people speaking.

Look forward to seeing everyone.

location- Springfield Neighborhood Pavilion, next to pool

time- 630pm- 930pm

what to bring- whatever you want to eat and drink.

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The Sweati 2020

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The Sweati 2020-
79 HIM took to The Forts annual summer CSAUP event. It was 78 degrees when 24 Ruckers launched from The Coliseum at 0530. They had their disclaimer and direction to the first of the 3 pain stations. Just After at 0600 54 runners took to the route. They departed and ran about 2.5 miles and got to meet Bones at Golden Corral for the first pain station. He worked them over as they came in for about 10-15 minutes. Once he finished dishing the pain they took off to Pantheon only about 1.5 miles up the Road. Fishsticks was waiting for sprints and pain. He had the PAX attention for another 10-15 minutes. Once they left they brought the route back to YHC. While waiting for the PAX to return and doing burpees I decided that my other two Qs most likely put the PAX through so much I would give them a choice. Either 20 burpees at 5 light poles with bear crawls in-between or they could buyout of it for a $50. going to our brother Cash. Most wanted to take on both challenges. We wore black for Cash and am still amazed at the Photos coming in from across the Country showing support to this HIM. We love you Cash. Here is a link to the pay-pal account if you feel you would like to support.

paypal.me/f3thefort

Backdraft Out

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The Sweati

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The Sweati
8/15/2020

Want to Run or Ruck and Sweat? Join YHC for both. Let’s get out of your comfort zone.

Come out and enjoy 5.75 miles of running or rucking. Included with your ticket is 3 pain stations that will test out if you have been posting to workouts over the summer/ Covid pandemic. This has been and will continue to be the summer sweatdown.

Launch from Coliseum (1025 Dave Gibson Blvd) you will be told where to go next.

Ruck- depart 0530
Run- depart 0600

Water will be available at pain stations. Bring your own if you are against trash.

Coffee will be provided by The Fort. Donations to the fund are accepted.

Q Source will follow at this site. Please bring chair and Q Source manual (not required)
Q source will start shortly after PAX catch there breathe.

Fellowship, popsicles, and coffee to follow.

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Preparedness- Are You Prepared?

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Attn #HIM of the The Fort and Lake Wylie,

Preparedness is discussed in Foundation Point F5 of the the Q- Source.  As Defined Preparedness is: Getting Ready for the Expected While being Ready for The Unexpected. This is an all encompassing need to us as men.  It is valid in all parts out our lives;  Father, husband, boss, team member, Site-Q, WO Q ect.

The purpose for this pre-blast is in regards to life saving measures that Pax can take in the event of an unexpected medical emergency at home, work, or at an AO.  We have talked about it in Site-Q Meetings and at the last Invergence.

Last week HomeBrew ,a Pax from Lake Wylie, who is near and dear to our hearts, had just this type of medical emergency come crashing down on him after his 2.0 suffered a Febrile Seizure and stopped breathing.  He had no training but HAD to ACT. So he mimicked what he had seen on TV and was able to revive her before EMS was able to arrive.  Good On Ya for maintaining a cool head and doing what needed to be done.  CPR and Faith in the Sky Q is what saved her life.  I have maintained CPR/AED/First Aid certification for 6-8 years now for work.  I feel better knowing that if I am put in that sort of situation I have at minimum the base knowledge to try and keep someone alive till EMS-Fire arrive on site to take over.

Here is what HomeBrew and I are proposing.  This will be a friendly competition between The Fort and Lake Wylie regions.  From 4-1 to 4-15 every PAX from either region that completes certification or re-certifies in CPR/ AED/First Aid he and I + the Nan’tan and 1st F Q will complete 5 burpees.   The region that draws the most new or recerts will pass that number on to the “Loser”, but honestly- Who really loses in this situation? IE The Fort get 30 pax LKW gets 20 pax = LKW will do 150 burpees. The Fort will do 100. As you all know, I HATE BURPEES, but have committed to drive action across the regions.

The Certification I have been using comes from NationalCPRFoundation.com.  It is Red Cross compliant and should take between 30 mins to 1 hour to complete.  It is free unless you decide to purchases the hard copy certificates.  We will require a screen shot/ picture Tweeted or slacked to both HomeBrew and myself of the completed training for a CPR/AED/First aid at the end.  It will be added to the spreadsheet we will use to document Pax completion. The certification is good for 2 years.

It is highly recommended that All Site Qs get on board with this effort, but all PAX can benefit from this training. What better way to show leadership than making sure the Pax that Post to your AO know you have that training and are ready to act in the even that someone goes down.

Please join us in this and lets Ensure we are Prepared for the unexpected. Stay tuned to TwEETAR for a message from Homebrew.

Thanks

Duck Dynasty  🦆👑and HomeBrew 🏠🍺

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Lake Wylie QvQ Bracket Tournament

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Alright Pax it is time for the first annual QvQ bracket style tournament to determine who is the Baddest Motha F3 Q in the Lake Wylie region! A championship belt (and bragging rights)will be given to the winner. Maybe even a ticker tape parade…and a Nike shoe contract…and guest appearances on all the late night talk shows.  Ok, so none of that stuff will happen but hey…one can dream after all.

Da Rules

 We are currently Beta testing whether to go with one 20 minute round per contestant or two 10 minute rounds.  Scoring will be judged on Fun Factor, Creativity, and Toughness. A 1-4 for each category will be entered by the judges(Pax who attend). A perfect 12 is the object for all the contenders to aspire to.

Contenders and Dates

December 2 at Crows Nest (5 AM Crowders Creek Elementary) – Survey Says vs Two Ferns 

December 9 at Black Flag (7PM at Good Samaritan Church) – O’Riley vs Royale

December 11 at ShipWrecked (5AM at Oak Ridge track side parking lot)- Clutch vs Wolverine

December 17 at Cannonball (5AM at New River Church) – WhiteSnake vs Flux

December 21 at Tha Deep (Quarterfinal)

December 27 at Bermuda Triangle (Quarterfinal)

Finale TBD

Let’s Get Ready To Rumble!!!!!!!!!!!

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The Kettlebell Tolls for Thee, at Cannonball

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It was a misty morn as 14 gathered to sling kettlebells at Cannonball, including FNG “Silent Bob”, who was EH’d at Trunk or Treat by O’Reilly just this past Sunday.  YHC sort of forgot I was on Q till yesterday, so props for the promo from Two Ferns.  Post disclaimer for the FNG, here’s how it went down:

Warm-o-rama

  • 20 SSH IC
  • 15 Imperial Walkers, IC
  • 10 Windmills, IC
  • 10 Merkins, IC
  • 20 Moroccan Night Clubs, IC
  • 200 year walk with kettlebell held high, around the parking lot

The Thang, Part I

We split the group into two teams of 7 so we could divide and conquer 3 boards:

Board I – all with 25lb kettlebell

  • single arm curls, 10 per arm
  • Goblet squats, 10 (although group 2 did 15)
  • around the body partner pass, 15 revolutions each direction
  • take walking lap around the parking lot with kettlebell held high with one arm
  • KB swings, 10 IC
  • KB Merkins, 10 each arm
  • KB lunges, 10 per leg
  • take walking lap around the parking lot with kettlebell held high with one arm

Board II:

  • Lawnmowers, 10 per arm
  • Tiny Tim (75ish lb KB) deadlifts, 10
  • Alternating shoulder press ladder, 1-5
  • take walking lap around the parking lot with kettlebell held high with one arm
  • KB calf raises, x30
  • 2 handed triceps extensions, x20
  • Single arm chest press, 10 per arm
  • take walking lap around the parking lot with kettlebell held high with one arm

Board III:

  • 10 burpees, (without KB)
  • Flutters with KB, 15 IC
  • Freddie Mercurys, 15 IC
  • KB American hammers, 15 IC
  • take walking lap around the parking lot with kettlebell held high with one arm

The Thang, part II

  • People’s chair with KB, guys on the end do 3 leaping jump squats
  • BttW (or People’s chair mod), guys on the end do something I can’t remember
  • take walking lap around the parking lot with kettlebell held high with one arm
    • on the last leg, KB Lieutenant Dans (about 30 yards)

The Thang part IV:

  • Bear crawl relay, about 25 yards…not sure which team won
    • started by dragging the KB, then Omaha’d to simple bear crawl

For a non-running post Nessie workout we still got 1.4 miles in.  Prayers for healing and New River Women’s retreat.  Welcome to FNG “Silent Bob”.  It was an honor to lead.

Wolverine

 

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Taking the Kettle Bells Up the Ladder

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15 posted at Cannonball to climb the ladder with their Kettle Bells

It was supposed to go like this:

Warmup

Long mosey to lower parking lot LEAVE BELLS

(Mod slow mosey the short route)

SSH

Moracan NIght Clubs

Hillbillys

Freddie Mercurys

The Merkin

Windmills

Bears and Bells back to the top lot

 

The Thing 4 corner ladder

Corner 1:

Big Boy transfers / twist 10, 20, 30, 20, 10

Curls 10

Tricep ext 10

Corner 2:

KB Swings 10

KB Bench press 10

KB Squat Thrust 5, 10, 15, 10, 5

Corner 3:

Bent over rows 10 each arm

Overhead press 10

Figure 8 10 single pass

Corner 4:

Straight up rows 10

KB pass (partner) 10

Hand on Bell merkin 10

But we had to mod the reps because time was not on our side!

However there was a great push from all men and lots of encouraging words were being spread.

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Cards & Bells

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Yeah, why not take the deck of cards across the lake? What could go wrong? Oh, you mean Cannonball is a kettle bell workout…uhhhhh, ok.

Welcome to what went through my head as I penned the Weinke for this morning’s Q at Cannonball. During the TRAINING process for an upcoming event, I’ve spent a decent amount of time with the infamous deck of cards so the last thing I wanted to be called was selfish. I must share this with my “friends.” After all, we only have 45mins which, after a little warm up, means closer to 40.

So, once 14 others joined me and got disclaimed, we took off on our warm up jog with a little, and I mean a little, additional stretching. Back to the start for some warm up exercises consisting of:

Mountain Climbers, Peter Parkers, Merkins and Windmills

Soooooo, get comfortable with your bell and listen to today’s version of the deck of cards.

Like normal, each suit represents an exercise and the number/face on the card represents the rep count. Here’s the twist, I’m planning to get through the entire suit (numbers at random and are decently shuffled) before moving on. Once we finish a suit, we’ll do a little 4-corners visiting. I know, I know, you’re longing for a better explanation so for those still reading (hey Funhouse), you’re welcome:

Diamonds: Slow upright rows w/ the KB.

Run the 4 corners of the parking lot with 15 Merkins at each corner.

Hearts: 8ct Body Builders with a KB swing at the top rather than a jump. We made it through about 1/2 of these before I noticed the time was getting away from me. Yeah, I’ll blame it on that.

Run the 4 corners with 15 Chop Sticks at each corner. Think Flutters but in a “C” formation rather than straight up and down.

Spades: KB Curls. While challenging these were a welcome change.

Run the 4 corners of the parking lot with 10 Dips at each corner.

Clubs: KB Thrusters. We made it through 5 of these before losing to Father time.

It seemed a little too easy in the beginning but as has been the case EVERY SINGLE TIME we do the deck of cards, it turns into a heavy dose of humility. For those that travel with work and you’re not able to find an AO to visit, take a deck of cards with you to have your own workout in the hotel gym or parking lot. It’s a great alternative to running with the fern. Unless of course, you get to run with Two Ferns.

My message today was about training. I shared some personal training journeys I’m currently on and encourage the PAX to train for something. Don’t make the mistake thinking training is only possible in the physical sense. Training is putting a plan together to get better at something or in some aspect of life. Think about how you can train spiritually, mentally, emotionally or, in a relationship. If you’re not training, you’ll be stagnant which means you’ll become part of the culture. We need to be the “break the glass” people that our conentrica calls. However, if you’re not training, you won’t get the call.

Good times hanging & laughing with the boys of LKW.

Maximus

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Cannonball : Bakers Dozen of courage, was just what the Cake Boss ordered!

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YHC got the invite to lead at Cannonball and I seized the opportunity. The PAX of Lake Wylie are accelerating at high pace and I did not want to miss an opportunity to encourage and continue to “Give it Away”.

Met a bunch on new faces and brothers of da gloom. It was awesome to post and get better with this crew. Two-ferns is doing great work out there so I encourage all PAX to get out there and post.

Disclaimer and Introductions made. AWay we went

  • Mosey around parking
  • Shuffles
  • Karaoke
  • Plank series
  • Merkins

Grab the bells and mosey to lower parking lot

Count off in 3s and get to a station

First round, do 10 reps of each exercise, mosey to play ground and get 10 Swing Crunches rotate to next station

Second round, do 15 reps of each exercise, mosey to play ground and get 15 Dips, rotate to next station.

Kettlebell swing
bent row
Figure eight
squats
Upright row

Lunge press
Sumo
Curls L/R
American Hammer
Tri Extension

Flutters
Hello dolly’s
Freddy’s
Deadlift
Kettlebell Merkins

Lots of encouragement and team work. F3 is best when we operate as a group and accomplish things together.

I spoke to the men about Courage and when we were young and foolish we had stupid courage like picking fights for no reason other than stupidity. Today as men with families and responsibility our Courage has different meaning. Having tough conversation, making tough decisions and trusting in Sky Q and his direction in our lives. I challenge the PAX to take a step towards uncomfortable and be courageous in getting better in relationships and living for something bigger than ourselves.

Thanks Two Ferns!

Cake Boss out!

 

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