Pendulum of Pain

A gorgeous June morning awaited us in the Gloom. We circled up counted off and the disclaimer was given to the 5 Pax in attendance

We moseyed over to the church parking lot to start

Warm up:
-15 SSH
-15 Wind Mills
-15 Apollo Ono

The thang:

We started off with speed work sprinting laps around the small lot with pain in between laps

Round 1: 10 hand release merkins OYO
Plank for 6 to finish, lap
Round 2: 15 Wide Arm Merkins

Plank for 6 to finish, lap

Round 3 : 20 Grave Diggers, 10 each arm
Lap plank for 6

We Mosey to round about at bottom of fire station hill

We did speed now we do hills

5 Burpees at round about after each round:

Round 1:
Fire station: 20 American Hammers
Houses: 20 Cherry Pickers

Round 2:

Fire Station: 15 Mtn Climbers
House: 15 Hillbilly Walkers

Round 3

Fire Station: 10 Big boy Sit ups
Houses: 10 Monkey Humpers

Rounds 4

Fire Station: 20 LBC
Houses: 20 Moroccan Night clubs

Round 5:
Fire Station 20 LBC

5 minutes of Mary with Pax picking an exercise for 30,25,20,15 and 10 Reps

We moseyed back to COT

Prayers for Slap Shot’s family mental and physical health, praise and prayers for Change Order dad gong through palative care, prayers for Spectres wife and her lump removal surgery

Thanks to Slow Jams for the opportunity to lead
– Yard Sale

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BOMBS Away!

WARMUP: SSH, Imperial Walkers, Hillbilly Walkers

The month of May is mental health month. Most Americans struggle with some form of mental health. One of the biggest things I’ve learned during my short time at F3 is that this community cares about the mental health of the PAX and their families. I believe that’s why 🛡 🔒 are a thing as well. To help foster that bond between men.

Loss of life due to suicide is the #2 leading cause of death in ages 10-34.

This workout was curated with the idea that we are not alone and through teamwork, we can get it done.

THE THANG:
BOMBS workout
50 Burpees
100 Overhead claps
150 Merkins
200 Big Boy SitUps
250 Squats

Mode of transportation was suicide runs.

Partner up. Pax 1 does exercise while Pax 2 does suicide run. Then swap.
If finished before the other groups, help them wrap up their sets.

Wrapped up with 10 merkins on the minute for 7 minutes followed by 15 squats on the minute for 7 minutes.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Check your newsletter

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Break Time at Golden Corral

We started the beautiful morning with a nice mosey around the dumpsters.  Thankfully, the one in the back had the aroma we were looking for.  Oh, the memories.

Circle Up:

10 Merkins, 20 Windmills,  15 CDD, 12 Cherry Perkins, 10 Mountain Climbers, 10 Parker Peters and 10 Peter Parkers.

Mosey to the front for some circle of Abs.

Low and behold her come the Ruckers and they needed some men to help them carry their coupons.  We joined them and did some Ruck Pushups, Coupon carries with shoulder press and squats and some Burpees.  We then carried the coupons to Napa where we parted ways.

We had an AMLAPs with 10 burpees, 20 CDD, 30 Squats, 40 LBC/Hello Dolly, 30 lunges, 20 Merkins and 10 Bomb Jacks then a lap.

Once finished we mosey to COT and ended with some boats and canoes, Cha Cha Planks, Windshield Wipers and X-O’s.

Good time was had by all.

Keep the Change Orders in your prayers.

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New perspectives

The theme for today was looking at things from a different perspective. That perspective was upside down nose to nose with a brick wall.

 

Disclaimer asking PAX to modify as needed – you know your limits, but also don’t be a wuss.

 

Warmup on side of HT:

20 Goofballs – increasing the pace to ludicrous speed by rep 20

10 merkins

10 moroccan night clubs

10 Carolina Dry docks

lean up against the wall and stretch the lats. I find that when doing shoulder work, warming up the shoulders and stretching the lats really helps me. Your mileage may vary

 

Part 1 – The wall

balls to the wall

10 count from PAX

shoulder taps – 5 each side

another 10 count

get off the wall

 

20 merkins

10 wall walks with a merkin

People’s chair

while holding people’s chair, leapfrog x2

Duck walks round 1 to really get after the quads

Crab walks round 2

 

Balls to the wall

10 Hand stand pushups – preferably without smashing your face on the sidewalk

optionally Carolina dry docks – know your limits here

 

Mozey to the other side of the parking lot near the Indian restaurant

 

Part 2 – The Pain

AMRAP (15 minutes)

5 burpees every minute on the minute

20 Squats

20 Lunges (10 each leg)

10 Diamond merkins

Bear crawl to other side and repeat

 

Part 3 – The calm before the storm

10ish minute AMRAP

20 Mountain climbers

20 LBCs

20 Flutters

10 Box cutters

skip to the other side

 

Part 4 – The Finisher

3 minute AMRAP – This is a sprint

10 jump squats

10 jump lunges (5 each leg)

10 wide arm merkins

sprint to other side

 

“That was sufficiently terrible” – Change Order

This took us straight into COT, where we discussed being better husbands.

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Crossing the Line

WARMUP: Mosey, SSH, IW, HW, yoga
THE THANG:
Run
5 burpees
10 jump squats
15 merkins
20 split squats

https://strava.app.link/98HQMpfDYob

NMM:
Sometimes it’s hard to know when you’ve crossed the line. We ran to NC
COT:
Prayers for Cable Guy

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In Da Club

Five men showed on a cold morning at Golden Corral.  After the disclaimer, we moseyed over to Bubbles and Bows for a few warm-up exercises (SSHs, Imperial Walkers, Windmills, and Plank Stretches).

Next, we were on the move around the HT building and down to the traffic circle for a round of merkins, lunges, and calf raises.  We then ventured to a little-known hill in the back of the apartment complex.  Three rounds of Nur up the hill, three burpees at the top, and ten Carolina Dry Docks at the bottom.  We made our way around the neighborhood with exercises (Merkins, Squats, and LBCs – 10 each) at each stop sign.

After traveling around the neighborhood, we ended up at a familiar fountain where we bear crawled around the circle and completed 20 dips on the guardrails.  We continued our run to the top of the hill and found a quiet parking lot for a few rounds of Mary (Flutters. LBCs, and Hello Dollies).

We returned to COT for a 2+ minute plank and finished our discussion on the Superbowl Halftime show.  50 cent was the most talked about artist.   I shared a story about a time when I was traveling to India for work.  One of the managers took me and a couple associates out to dinner.  He drove us to the restaurant in his car, playing “In Da Club”.  I remember closing my eyes thinking “I am driving around India, listening to 50 Cent”.  Wow.

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2112

Eleven of Ft. Mill’s finest met at the corner of route 160 and Gold Hill Road for another edition of the Golden Corral.    Here is what they did:

The Thang:

Before the workout began, there was some discussion about the exact time of day and apparently, my watch was about 2 mins slow.  So the Pax were disclaimed at 5:17 rather than the designated start time of 5:15. Today, though, that worked out for the best as we found one straggler rolling into the parking lot as I was finishing the disclaimer,  and that guy turned out to be an FNG!  After some minor ribbing for being tardy, we moseyed over to the ‘alley’ between Harris Teeter an O’Reilly Auto Parts for COP.

COP (all in cadence):

SSH x 40, windmill x 15, IW x 40, merkin x 10, LBC x 20, Mountain climber x 35, low, slow squat x 20, Morrocan night club x 40 while walking to the front of Harris Teeter.

Split into two groups for suicides using the 3 light posts as the stopping points.  We did 4 rounds and it was a crowd pleaser:

Round 1:  Group 1 run, while group 2 does merkins

Round 2:  Group 2 run, while group 2 does LBC’s

Round 3:  Group 3 run, while group 2 does monkey humpers

Round 4:  Group 4 run, while group does dips

Mosey back to the alley between Harris Teeter and O’Reilly.  All Pax in people’s chair and one by one bear crawl from one end to the other until we cycle through all the pax.  Shake ‘em out.  Now all pax in balls to the wall and then one by one, jog from one end to the other.

Mosey back to the main lot for a true 6 minutes of Mary:

Freddie Mercury x 20, Pretzel crunch x 10L/10R, Hello Dolly x 20, Superman hold x 3

COT

I was a last-minute sub for Decibel last night so just pulled an old Q from the archives.  This one was from September 29, 2014 and we had 20 guys back then.  Here is a little bit of F3 The Fort history:  Golden Corral was THE Tuesday workout in Fort Mill and we used to get 15 plus pax week after week so it wasn’t long before we needed to add the other Tuesday workouts (Colosseum, Ballroom).  Funhouses was the original site Q.

Big fun from the group today and plenty of mumble chatter.  Leading the charge (no surprise) was Jekyll and Twister.  At one point during COP, I could hear my own cadence count, but could not make out the count from the Pax because only 1/3 of the group was counting the other 2/3 were discussing how the beverage industry is changing (among other topics).    Everyone seemed to have a comment about something.  My favorite came from Airwolf who recognized that with our latest FNG Tailwind, F3 The Fort has met our EEOC requirement for 2022 – hahahaha.  All in jest of, course!

This morning exemplified what we all know and love about F3.  And that is, despite all that is going wrong in our communities (the death of a son, a local teacher robbed and shot, a worsening pandemic, and the huge political divide in our country), getting together to break a good sweat and have some laughs can keep all the bad stuff from getting to us.  Our bodies are stronger, we feel better physically and emotionally, and we know we have guys to lean on when we need them.

It was truly a pleasure to lead the group today and I look forward to next time. And BTW, the title of the backblast is a continuation of my effort to work Rush song titles into this website (RIP Neil Peart).

Announcements/Prayers/Praises

  1. Dam to Dam 10K bar (check your newsletter)
  2. Prayers for Aquaman’s family, Covid victims, cancer victims, local teacher in hospital.
  3. I neglected to get Tailwind’s contact info this morning. If anyone reads this (which will be a very small number I think), please reach out to him if you happen to see him or hear that name at a workout.

 

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F3 The Fort – Adopt a Highway (#2)

****March 5th 2022- 7:45am – 8:00am****

Men,

We have officially signed up for the Adopt-A-Highway Litter pick-up program.  Our adopted Highway is US21 from Peachstand south to Sutton Rd. (2 miles). We will have a sign installed to promote this section of the highway.  We are encouraged to complete 4 pick-ups a year (once a quarter).  All supplies will be provided.  All we need to do is show up.  The SC DOT will come out and pick up our bags along the route after completion.

**Our NEXT Clean-up date is tentatively scheduled for March 5th. (start time )  7:45 am – 8:00am**. There is no time expectation for participation.  Stay as long as needed or head out early.  Modify as needed. Plan for 2 hours if you complete the 1-mile loop.  We split up into two groups last time and met at the halfway point.

We will begin at the Peachstand (rear of the building) and coordinate.  I have 30 vests and all supplies.

Fogerty will be the main contact for this event over the next two years.

Here are some of the logistics:

• Make sure your group knows that in case of bad weather the cleanup will be postponed. Litter collection should never be done in the dark or in bad weather.
• Notify local news media who may have an interest in publicizing your group’s activities. • Remind your group of the appropriate clothing. Long pants and long-sleeved shirts and sturdy shoes help avoid scratches and irritation from poisonous plants. Light or brightly colored clothing will make them easily visible to passing traffic.
• Be sure you have all the materials and supplies you’ll need beforehand, including first aid kits.
• Check with members of your group to be aware of any allergies that might be important (such as bee-stings, etc).
• Work out a plan for what you will do in the event of an emergency. Find out what the quickest route to the hospital is.
• Park vehicles at both ends of the adopted section.

• Volunteers must be at least 13 years old to participate in Adopt-A-Highway cleanups. Children under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult on all Adopt-A-Highway cleanups.

The state does provide adopt-a-highway orange and blue bags.  Orange bags are for trash and blue bags are for recyclables if you want to recycle.  Your group is also provided with orange safety vests.   We do require four pickups every year, usually once every quarter.  All that is needed to be done after trash is picked up is to call or email me and I will send one of our crews to pick up the bags.

It is volunteers like you who are going to make a difference by speaking up and doing what they can to help their community.  Please let me know If you have any questions, I will be glad to assist you.

Thank you,

Sherry J. Johnson
Administrative Specialist/
Adopt-A-Highway Coordinator
SC Department of Transportation
803-327-6186 O I 803-327-6184 F
JohnsonSJ@scdot.org

District Four Maintenance
338 Robertson Road West
Rock Hill, SC 29730

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1st Annual The Fort Weight Loss Challenge

The weight-loss challenge for 2022 has been established to create some focus on the Queen.  The goal is fellowship, accountability, support, discipline, and a little motivation.  Pax will depart on a 90-day journey beginning January 3rd, 2022, and ending on approximately April 2nd or 3rd.

There will be a buy-in and payouts to the top 3 places – determined by “percentage of weight loss”.   Uhaul has agreed to be the holder of the buy-in with a tracking spreadsheet created for each pax to help monitor their progress.  Good Luck Pax!

T-Claps to Uhaul for assisting with this endeavor!

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The Deck at The Corral

It’s Golden Corral, there were 9, and we worked in the following manner:

Disclaimer
Warm up run around Harris Teeter and post in the top parking lot for a few warmup exercises then the Deck of Cards

Spades: Diamond Merkins
Clubs: Jump Squats
Hearts: 8ct Burpee
Diamonds: Mountain Climbers
Jokers (there were 4): 25 Flutter Kicks I/C

That’s 104 of each suit and 100 Flutters I/C

We had a few minutes to spare so we did 2 rounds of a 3-tier suicide and a plank series consisting of Peter Parkers, Grave Diggers, Dips, Grave Diggers.

SYITG
Maximus

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