Eleven forewarned pax posted for a bucket of pain at Slow Burn.  The last time the deceptively comforting, Easter-themed-bucket-with-bunnies-and-flowers-and-eggs made an appearance was also at Slow Burn a few months ago…back when Slow Burn attendance was averaging 30+.  And as memory serves, we only made it 1/2 of the way through the 30 or so exercise cards.  With only 11 pax this time, we made it further, and possibly could have made it all the way through if we had stepped up the pace a bit.  However, there was a bit of #mumblechatter about how this was supposed to be moderate intensity (especially after several consecutive Bear Crawls cards were drawn. #BlameTheDrawerNotTheGame).

The Thang:

Mosey to the back of Lowe’s for a little warm up.

• SSH x20 IC
• Windmills x15 IC
• Dips on the guard rail x20 OYO
• Inclined on the guard rail x20 OYO

Bucket-o-pain (a name given by one of the pax after the first work-out) is a bucket containing 30 or so cards with 50 various exercises specifically selected from the Exercise List.  Each card listed an exercise for the group to do in cadence, along with the number of reps, and a type of moving exercise.  The moving exercises was done outwards from the circle for about 15 yards (to next row of parking spaces.  Another 15 yards beyond that were the second row of parking spaces that pax were simply to run to after reaching the row.  Here is an example of one of the cards in the bucket:

—————————————
|  15 Hello Dolly (IC)             |
|       => High Knee                |
—————————————

Pax took turns randomly selecting a folded card from the bucket and announcing the exercises to be done.  We got through the following cards before having to head back to COT.  This isn’t the exact order they were drawn.

• 15 Parker Peters (IC) => Toy Soldier
• 10 Monkey Humpers (IC) => High Knee
• 15 Plank Punches (IC) => Karaoke (YHC demonstrated and had the pax do merkin punches instead)
• 10 Russian Twists (IC) => Butt Kickers
• 10 Mountain Climbers (IC) => Shuffle
• 10 Windmills (IC) => Karaoke
• 15 Dry Docks (IC) => Toy Soldiers
• 15 LBCs (IC) => Toy Soldiers
• 15 Hello Dolly (IC) => High Knee
• 10 Dying Cockroach (IC) => Bear Crawl
• 15 Pogo (on each leg) (IC) => Lunge Walk
• 10 Weezy Jefferson (IC) => Bear Crawl
• 10 Bomb Jacks OYO (IC) => Bear Crawls
• 10 Wide Arm Merkins (IC) => Lunge Walk
• 10 Low Slow Squats (IC)  => Backward Lunges
• 15 Calf Raises (IC) => Lunge Walk
• 10 Flying Squirrels OYO => Jog
• 15 Merkins (IC) => Bunny Hops
• 10 Alt. Shoulder Taps (IC) => Sprint
• 15 Moroccan Nightclubs (IC) => Broad Jump Burpees

The pax did a great job hitting a variety of exercises and tolerating a Q that made a few audibles.  It was an honor leading such a fine group of men.

AYE!

22 in the gloom for some Slow Burn Action. Welcome to 3 FNG’s – UHaul, Magic Hat, and Training Wheels.

COP at Empire Pizza

1. 25 SSH
2. 15 Windmills
3. 20 Imperial Walkers
4. 20 Moroccan Night Clubs
5. 10 Merkins – Hold for 10 count after
6. 20 LBC’s

Moseyed to Baxter’s Bunch for wall action. Two rounds of people’s chair while PAX rotated with Lunge Walks and Bear Crawls

Four Corners – visited each of the corners with 10 bomb jacks at the first corner, 15 Carolina Dry Docks at the second, 20 Squats at the third, and 25 LBC’s at the last.

Partnered up for running and

1. 100 Dips
2. 200 LBC’s
3. 300 Squats

Finished up with a COP

1. 15 Peter Parkers
2. 10 Freddy Mercurys
3. 15 Parker Peters
4. Protractor
5. 15 Windmills

Jailbreak back to the COT.

Thanks everyone! Pleasure was all mine!

YHC Hasselhoff.

“9 PAX came out for Hard Drive’s VQ as he planted the VSF on a VAO for the inaugural Slow Burn workout, and found out that the term ‘moderate workout’ is a work-in-progress. The tone was set with a few words by Henry Ford: “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” With that the PAX headed out into the gloom…”

That is the opening paragraph to the first Slow Burn backblast (and my first backblast as Q) back on 6/27/2014.  One year later, 17 Pax (including Trucker, the only other pax that was at the Slow Burn launch) came and worked together for an extra-moderate workout.

The Thang:

Mosey to Empire lot for COP:
15 SSH
15 IW
15 Merkins
15 Morrocan Night Clubs in x2
15 Monkey Humpers
15 Slow Sumo Squats
15 MC

Mosey to the front of Baxter Playhouse and partner up
15 Partner Derkins each
15 Partner sit-ups each
15 Partner Picaboo Streets

Bearcrawl to the crosswalk and lungewalk back

Rinse and Repeat partner exercises

Bunnyhop to the crosswalk and sprint back

Rinse and Repeat partner exercises

Stick with your buddy for Partner 100s (one partner runs to far crosswalk and back while other partner does called exercise, flapjack until 100 reps of each complete):
100 Merkins
100 LBCs
100 Squats

Mosey back to Empire lot for some Dealers Choice Mary for 7 minutes.

Line up with partner and platoon run (no, not an Indian Run Twister) back to the #ShovelFlag for COT

Moleskin:
Today’s post was special to me, not only because it was the one-year anniversary for Slow Burn but also my two-year anniversary of my first post.  In that time I’ve met a lot of special men and have done a lot of special things (Spartan Race I’m looking at you).  I know I don’t have to write a long witness about everything F3 has done for me.  You all know.  You all have been there.

Today’s theme was about teamwork and leaning on your buddy to help you get better.  Slow Burn has been a great success because the region’s pax have consistently been out over the year to make it that way.  “Working together is success.”  We’ve come full circle.

When it started, Slow Burn was the only Friday workout.  Now there are four as our region continues to grow.  Moving forward in Year 2 will be Solid State as the new Slow Burn Site Q.  I’m very excited that he has accepted the challenge and I cannot think of a better leader.  Please join me in supporting him.  AYE!

Announcements:
F3 Dads in June
Prayers for Kelly and Candace as they fight cancer.

23 men converged on the Chik-fi-la on a cool SC morning for a smooth start to the Memorial Day Weekend.  Here is what they did:

The Thang::

Easy jog to the Lowes contractor canopy for COP:

SSH x 25, windmill x 15, merkin x 10/hold/mountain cliimber x 10/hold for 6″, squat x 20, IW x 20, diamond merk x 10/hold/stagger merkin L/R hold fofr 6″, LBC x 20

Mosey to road in front of Lowes, break into 4 goups:

Each group does the following along the hedge line (approx 60 yds).  Short recovery in between reps

Karoake down and back

Power skip down and back

50% sprint down and back

75% sprint down and back

Bear crawl/crab walk down, jog back

10 burpees OYO

Mosey to hand rail in front of plaza, back to four groups:

Station 1:  10 donkey kicks

Station 2:  Arm walk along rail left

Station 3:  Arm walk along rail right

Station 4:  10 bomb jacks

Lunge walk in between each station in a figure 8 (thanks. Longshanks!) , each group does 3 circuits of each side.

Mosey to  grassy  patch for ab lab:

Hello Dolly x 20, LBC x 20, Freddie Merc x 20, Russian Twist x 20, Boat and Canoe x 5

COT

I remarked at the start of the workout that I was happy to see 23 guys show up to Slow Burn.  Hard Drive’s tweet yesterday, announcing my Q, was met with just 1 favorite – my own.  The Pax were greeted with cool temps and a light breeze this morning which felt great, and we had a fine group out there.  The growth of F3 in the Fort Mill area has been awesome to see, and the number of 50+ year olds posting at workouts also continutes to grow (we had 4 today).  Way to go men – it’s just a number anyway.   F3 brings out your best and it’s a privilege to be a member and lead this group.

Announcements:  Children’s Attn Home bike ride tomorrow, 4pm.  F3 Winsborro (clown cars leaving Ft MIll, check twitter),  Memorial Day Murph workout at NAFO (6:45a)  following the normal Monday workouts.  Hog/Coyote June 20 and Pusher Qing at Alcatraz tomorrow

Prayers/praises:  Sucessful round of chemo for Pax member’s wife.   Tumors shrinking!

Another pleasant morning at the Chic-Fil-A near Baxter, and 31 men chose to finish the work-week off with a moderately intense workout that hopefully was somewhat educational for the newer pax.

The Thang

Mosey to the back of Lowe’s for a little warm up.

• SSH x15 IC
• Low Slow Squats x15 IC
• Dips on the guard rail x20 OYO

Mosey around to the side parking lot and lunge walk back until 6 caught up.  Continue mosey around to parking lot in front of Lowe’s and quick switzer to explain the next exercise.

Bucket-o-pain (a name given by one of the pax after the work-out) was of a bucket containing 30 or so cards with 50 various exercises specifically selected from the Exercise List.  Each card listed an exercise for the group to do in cadence, along with the number of reps, and a type of moving exercise.  The moving exercises was done toward cones placed about 15 yards out, flanking the circle we had formed.  Another 15 yards beyond the first cones were a second set of cones that pax were simply to run to after reaching the first cone.  Here is an example of one of the cards in the bucket:

—————————————
|  15 Hello Dolly (IC)             |
|       => High Knee                |
—————————————

Pax took turns randomly selecting a folded card from the bucket and announcing the exercises to be done.  We got through the following cards before having to cut a little short to allow for travel time to the 3rdF event at 6am:

• 10 Low Slow Squats (IC)  => Backward Lunges
• 10 Squat Jacks (IC)  => Jog
• 10 Monkey Humpers (IC)  => High Knee
• 10 Mtn Climbers (IC)  => Shuffle
• Guantanamo
• 15 Calf Raises (IC)  => Lunge Walk
• 15 Hello Dolly (IC)  => High Knee
• 15 Merkins (IC)  => Bunny Hops
• 10 Alt. Shoulder Taps (IC) => Sprint
• 10 Wide Arm Merkins (IC)   => Lunge Walk
• 15 Moroccan Nightclub (IC)  => Broad Jump Burpee

Out of time – Run back to virtual shovel flag for COT.

Moleskin

As I explained to the pax in the switzer, the second time I posted to F3 was to a Slow Burn lead by Cornhole.  He did a similar type of workout that had a halloween “trick-or-treat” theme.  As a new pax, I found the workout to be a great intro to a variety of exercises.  My hope in this workout was that some of the newer pax posting today might have learned about a few exercises that were new to them.  In retrospect, I probably should have taken a little more time to demo each one prior to jumping right in.  On the other hand, we only got through 11 of the 30 cards, which surprised me (I even had a few exercises “in the bank” in case we blazed through those cards).  Definitely still have lots to learn when it comes to being on Q.  And I’ll just keep that bucket and the remaining cards around for another another day.

Thanks to all the pax this morning.  I’m humbled beyond words to have the opportunity to Q.

AYE!
-old bay

Last week at Slow Burn, Dark Helmet Qed the workout and set the bar very high for pain and attendance. With 30 Pax joining him, he earned the record for this AO. Nice work! Not only that, he welcomed several new FNGs with the 5 core beliefs of F3.

So in pure F3 fashion, I wanted to exceed the # of Pax for this week at Slow Burn. Of course, I did some Twitter Marketing (is that a term now?) but had no idea of what to expect. 33 Pax later, the bar has been reset….BOOM!

The Thang

Mosey around Lowes with (3) Burpee (or is that a flying squirrel, I am confused) stops along the way. Lots of mumble chatter here from Opie, Chicken Hawk and CSPAN which only made it worse.

Circle Up

SSH x 20

IW x 15

Windmills x 15

Merkins x 15

Dry Docks x 12

Mtn Climbers x 20

Night Clubs x 20

Mosey to Baxters Playhouse – Partner Up

Its time to break out those Abs! Lots of mumble chatter here (mostly by YHC) about Speedos, Banana hammocks, etc.

Old School Partner Sit Ups x 25 – Rinse and Repeat

Green Mile (See the Patriot)  300 Partner LBCs – Partner 1 runs/Partner 2 does LBCs, then switch (You get the idea)

Partner Heels to Heaven x 15 – Rinse and Repeat

Green Mile 300 Partner Flutters – See above

Partner wheel barrel – Flapjack

Green Mile  100 Donkey Kicks – See above

3 Burpees at each crosswalk  back to COT

There was consistent mumble chatter throughout the workout so I know it was good. If guys are complaining, then you are doing something right!

Moleskin

Prayers and Praise for Paige (Flat Tire’s M) – had 3rd chemo on Wednesday and the tumor is shrinking

Prayers for Wendy from First Baptist diagnosed with pancreatic cancer

Prayers to Philadelphia UMC as they search for another pastor

5/15 Convergence on Marriage at Eternal after Slow Burn – You need to show up!

Memorial Day Murph on 5/25

Asheville on 5/30

Hog and Coyote on 6/20

For all others, check the weekly email.

Lastly, do not forget the M’s and Mothers this weekend!

Why do we do this to ourselves? Why did 30 (no, not a typo) men show up this morning to a cool, dark parking lot at an unheavenly hour? Because someone gave us the gift, and now we are hooked… So here’s The Thang:

Some FNGs in the crowd so Disclaimer was disclaimed in more detail than it sometimes is, and we also did a quick review of the 5 core principles of every F3 workout:
1. Free
2. Men Only
3. Outside (Rain or Shine)
4. Peer led
5. End with a Circle of Trust
With that, we mosey to the parking lot in front of the strip mall and circle up.

Vince Lombardi once said, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” Today, we chase perfection, in that we will try and do each exercise with “perfect” form in the hopes that we will attain a more “excellent” form.

First we stretched a bit to get us loose:
– Toe touches x 5 with a 10 count
– On your 6 and open hip stretch (feet together and pull them close) x 3 with a 10 count
– On 6 – one leg over other and twist and stretch outer hip x 1 each leg for a 10 count
– Plank on hands and stretch calves and Achilles tendon

Then we warmed up a bit:
– SSH x 20 (IC)
– High Knees with a sprawl at command of Q (sprawls x 10 – basically just a drop to a push up)
– Ludicrous Speed SSH x 10 (IC)

1 forward lap around the small lot (OYO)
1 backwards half lap around the small lot (OYO)
Plank for the 6

Grab a partner (speed matters, so does size a little):
Partner 1 planks on hands and Partner 2 takes his feet and does 20 curls then flapjack.

Then your partner will keep you accountable to “perfect” form (each exercise demonstrated by YHC) for the following exercises:
– Perfect Merkin x 15 (arms around shoulder placement, elbows in, head up, body straight)
– Perfect Squat x 20 (back straight, head up, weight more on heels)
– Perfect Plank x :30 seconds (just counted around the circle – core tight, abs doing the heavy work – not your back)
– Perfect Burpee x 10 (squat down – don’t bend down, feet shoulder width apart, strong plank when you kick out your feet, perfect merkin, jump nice and high at the end)
– Perfect Bombjack x 0 (The only perfect Bombjack, is NO Bombjack… so we didn’t do any of those)

Mosey over to the big Lowe’s parking lot and move to triple partners instead of doubles (seriously, there are 30 guys here…). There, YHC had placed some cinderblock coupons (10 to be exact) with P-E-R-F-E-C-T-I-O-N spelled out on them. So we lined up for a Devin Hester. We literally are going to “chase perfection” now… Partner 1 takes a coupon and gets a (roughly) 30 yard headstart then the other 2 partners try and catch him before he reaches the end of the parking lot (100 yards away). Then flapjack through the other two partners. Then 10 guys who didn’t get caught, grab the bricks and do one more run against the remaining PAX. (Hey, I had to get all those blocks back down toward my car somehow…)

Circle up for Ring of Fire:
All Pax plank and wait while each PAX in turn does the following:
– LBC x 10
– Flutter Kick x 10

Time’s up! Head back up the hill to the COT and Name-o-rama where 4 men (Barry Manilow, Flashdance, Blackjack, and Rocky Top) got their new names.

Announcements:
– Convergence (all other AOs closed) – LET’S BREAK 100 PAX!!!
– Hog and Coyote: 13 mile run with 5 workouts along the way – do it OYO or as a 2 man relay

Prayers/Praises:
– Prayers for Destiny and his emerging company that the highs and lows will even out and things will continue to go well
– Prayers for Flat Tire and his M and family
– F3 Golf was successful, and reminds us to give it away
– Praises for Stang’s Dad, as he got the “all clear” on his medical issues

==========

Moleskine:
As I snapped awake today at 4AM, my thoughts turned to the impending #gloom, and a smile spread across my face. Today, I get to give it away…
See, just under 6 months ago I posted at my first F3 workout at WEP. Pusher (in attendance this AM) and Jekyll split the Q that Saturday morning. Here’s how it went (briefly). I didn’t know what I was in for. I didn’t tell the guy who EHed me (Whitesnake – who was at this workout this AM) that I was going, so I knew no one and vice versa. Within a few minutes, Package notices that I have no gloves… In November… and so he runs and gets me some out of his car. I’m thinking, “hey, that was decent of him.” I was certainly the 6 more than once and guys ran back to finish with me. I remember thinking, “hey, this is pretty cool.” Then Pusher brings us in and says something inspirational, and I thought, “hey, that was a good workout, I am beat!”. Then he said, “Now I’ll hand it off to Jekyll for the cardio portion of our workout.” I thought he was kidding, then realized, oh no… We ARE only halfway through… ARE. YOU. KIDDING. ME? How do I go home unseen…? Bear crawls up hills? Partner carries (sorry WWL, you got the crappy end of that one)? But I finished. And I got it. And I was hooked.
So, I thank Whitesnake for giving it away to me. I thank all the men of F3 Nation for being willing to chase perfection. To keep motivating their brothers. To keep EHing SadClowns to get them out of their life ruts… To keep pushing me to chase perfection and hopefully, one day, land somewhere near excellence in every single aspect of my life. Because for me, the real “First F” that F3 has given me, is Freedom. Freedom from wimping out on myself and my family. Freedom from saying “can’t”. Freedom from all the bullsh*t reasons that I tell myself about why I am not living the life that God planned for me. Freedom from excuses for not giving it away…

Helmet out…
#GoBeAwesome

20 men posted this morning for a light workout in preparation for a great weekend.

The Thang:

Mosey to parking area between bouncy houses and Lowes and circle up for Side Straddle Hop x 20, Merkins x 10, Imperial Walkers x 10, Windmills x10 then head over to the wall for some people’s chair.  Two rotations of chair with a break of some Morracan Night Clubs.  Paired up (no man goes alone) for two laps around the strip mall using the four corners as follows:  14 Merkins, 28 LBC, 14 Diamond or Wide arm Merkins, and 14 Burpies (rinse and repeat) and the third lap with 14 Pullups and Wide Arm Merkins. Mosey over to P Lot for some PAX choice X 10.  Times up and head to COT.

Moleskin

We all have a testimony (or should have) and we should all be working towards building relationships with others to share our testimony.  Keep It Simple Stupid and keep it short and to the point.  Follow the Great Commission and realize that our biggest focus should not be exercise but focused on investing into others lives.

Announcements

Clown Car to Gastonia on 4/25?, Children’s Attention Deficit Home 4/25 at 1600 HRS, Convergence on 5/2 Patriot led by Dredd, 5/25 regular workouts and Murph at Coop.

Prayers

Family, marriages, Flat Tire’s M.,  spoken and unspoken requests

The gloom rain broke for 20 PAX as they explored some not-typically-traveled territory for a dose of Slowburn.  As promised, not too much running was required for this “moderate intensity” workout.  Rather, focus was set on slowing the exercise speed way down to give muscles a chance to dwell on the burn.

The Thang:

Warm up

• SSH x20
• Windmills x15
• Tunnel Touches x 15
• IW x15
• Merkins x15
• Peter Parkers x15
• Low Slow Squats x15
• Monkey Humpers x10

• Wide arm Merkins
• Squats
• LBC

• Dry Docks
• Flutter Kicks
• Calf Raises

• Dips
• Step Lunges
• Weezy Jeffersons

• Merkins
• 4x slow air presses
• 4x squats