Category: The Fort

Modify “only” if Necessary

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11 men converged on the Abyss to experience an opportunity to push their limits (and legs).  After the initial “surprise” that there was a Q change due to sickness the mumble chatter began on why staying bed that morning may have been a better option.

A short disclaimer and “sermon” was given about why we get up at 4:30 to exercise and how it is our choice how we leave the workout.  Better than when we arrived…. or the same.  I reminded the men that they always had the choice to modify but that to use it “only” when necessary not just because it is an option.

Warm up (typical stretches and shenanigans)

Pavement Hill Work

  • Lunges to top (mosey down)
  • Basketball shuffle
  • One direction halfway- Switch other half
  • High knees and butt kickers on way down
  • Reverse lunges halfway- sprint second half
  • High knees and Butt Kickers on way down
  • Sprint to top and do 3 Burpees
  • Mosey down

Move over to Parking lot

Bear Crawls to each goal (4)

  • 1st goal- 20 squats
  • 2nd goal- 20 LBCs
  • 3rd goal- 5 Burpees

Broad Jump to each goal (3)

  • 1st goal- 10 merkins
  • 2nd goal- 10 wide merkins
  • 3rd goal- 10 diamond merkins

Over to benches

  • 30 dips
  • 10 steps ups each leg

Grassy Hill

11’s

  • Jump lunges/merkins
  • Go up hill (backwards)
  • Finish with 50 Merkins and final accent up hill to COT.

Every man pushed themselves and  finished strong.  May struggle with stairs and sitting on the throne for a couple of days but left stronger than they arrived.

Shared announcements and Prayers.

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OG Launch at The Fort

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13 pax posted at The Fort on a cool fall morning for the launch of Bonzai’s month of #OG Qs.  Decibel and YHC were honored to kick things off.  No FNGs on this morning, so with little delay we launched following a brief intro and Disclaimer.

The Thang (DD leading)

Warm up jog along the path, past the playground and to the grassy area along 160 by the WEP sign.

COP – IWs, SSH, Windmills, Merkins, Monkey humpers, Mtn climber, Peter Parkers, 10 burpees OYO

Line up even with the sign facing the street

Karaoke to first tree and back

Side shuffle to first tree and back

Run to far end of park near houses (4 trees away), accelerating pace at each tree.

Muster along the path facing with challenge to take the hill — bear crawl as far as possible toward hill on opposite end of field.  When gassed, rise and do 20 squats, then continue bear crawl, repeating as necessary until reaching bottom of hill.  Bear crawl to top of hill then do 10 burpees.  Run down hill and plank at the bottom.

Time for good old Jacobs Ladder — 7 burpees at top, 1 monkey humper at bottom.

Handoff to Decibel

Mosey to path at past statues at bottom of hill leading to soccer field…yes, more hills.

Run to top of hill, do 5 Three Merkin Burpees, run back to bottom, LBCs
(Repeat for total of 4 cycles changing ab moves at bottom each time and with last two series going all the way to gazebo)

Throw in some more abs and work at the bottom.

Mosey to playground for a partner series of runs around playground & exercises — Pull ups, dips, derkins, CDDs, LBCs (I think…YHC began to blackout at this point in the workout).

Circle up for some ab lab — some Boats & Canoes, Russian Hammers, & God knows what else (YHC gasping for air at this point).

Run home

COT

NMM

It was great to be among the pax for a 60-minute boot camp…what was probably my first since end of September.  And, yes,  I felt every bit of it during the workout, afterward and on Sunday and Monday.  I put the Twitter call out for #Sally on Fri night, but Decibel claimed that #Sally is not #OG vintage.  So instead he pummeled the pax with hills and Three Merkin Burpees.  Never thought I would say I missed #Sally.

Great effort by all the pax to endure a tough workout.   I am quite certain my oxygen deprived brain that morning and #Respect level memory missed some portion of Decibel’s Weinke from three weeks ago.  Trust me, I felt like it was Fall 2012 all over again given my recent absence due to personal and business travels.

Hanging tough throughout were three inspirational pax — Little John (War Daddy at 68 yo), Zildjian, a relatively recent arrival who I met for the first time and Mile High, a long timer who I saw back in the gloom for first time after some time out on IR for a while.  Well done, brothers!

Shout out to Senator Tressell whose status on IR kept him from leading at The Fort this month.  He and his #OG leadership were sincerely missed.

Thanks Decibel for a great co-Q and for his continued energetic leadership among the pax some 5 years into this adventure.

Finally, thanks to Bonzai for the invite and for his leadership of The Fort AO.  You are keeping it strong, as it should always be!

 

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Just Say Yes

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9 strong men gathered for the latest edition of Block Party.

The Thang

Here is how it went down-

No FNGs today, so standard disclaimer was given and off we went into the gloom.

Mosey the long way to FFCU parking lot via Ardrey to McCammon. YHC has been to this AO many times to post and is very familiar with the homeowner with the small, but LOUD dog and her adoration for us at 5:15 AM. No desire to talk to the police today, so we went the LONG way. Plank up for the 6 to arrive.

Warm Up-all IC

Windmill x 19, Imperial Walker x 7, Merkin x 7, Low Slow Squat x 7

The PAX seemed eager to get to work, so we did.

Line up at the end of the parking lot for The Escalator. Jump Squats and Merkins. Run across parking lot for 1 Jump Squat, then back across for 2 Merkins. then across for  3 Jump Squats and back for 4 Merkins. Originally planned to do this to 20, but audibled to 10 so as not to miss the other fun stuff planned. Plank up till everyone finishes. Recover. CSPAN excelled at this!

Mosey towards the flags downtown by way of the big field by FFCU. Pit stop there and PAX line up in  plank side by side with enough space between that we can all take a turn doing box jumps over each PAX legs all the way down the line. Once everyone completes this,  all transition to  high plank while everyone crawls through for the tunnel of  love. Recover.

Mosey to the flag and say the Pledge of Allegiance in unison. Thank CSPAN and Hee Haw for their service. YHC is thankful for freedom and feels every day should be Veteran’s Day.

Mosey across street to brick steps at the millstone downtown. All together for the first circuit. 7 Hand Release burpees, Run up steps, run sidewalk to swings and do 19 calf raises. Run to short brick wall by playground for 19 dips, 19 derkins and 7 step ups per leg. Run to playground parking lot and bear crawl across the lot. Run down sidewalk back around to the brick steps.

Round 2 is U vs. U. All you got and then plank up to wait for the 6 when finished.

Running low on time, so let’s do 7 more hand release burpees and mosey back.

Gather up for some Mary at the parking lot near 160 and Audrey.

LBCs x 20 IC, Flutters IC x 20, Hello Dolly x 20

Mosey back and bell rang as we pulled in.

COT and a great take out by Chicken Hawk.

Moleskin

It was a great morning and YHC was honored to get the call up from DD. Everyone was getting after it and that is what we post for, to get stronger and better. We covered  2.25 miles.

Most exercises today were in sets of 7 or 19. During the warm up, YHC explained the reason for this. Recently, I posted a pre-blast for The Joe Davis Run for Recovery and I wanted to explain why YHC and my family feel passionately about this cause. 1 in 7 American will face Addiction. We had 9 in the circle. It could affect one of us. Also, 1 American dies of an opioid related overdose every 19 minutes. That is at least 2 lives lost while we worked out. Think about that. Addiction is a big issue and this is why we run the Joe Davis Run for Recovery.

Later on, YHC also took a moment to explain in COT that, as leaders, we need to understand that what we say and do influences others. Ideally, in a positive way. YHC doesn’t get to spend as much time with Double D as I would like, but a couple of years ago, at a Coop workout, he really impacted me by encouraging the PAX to “just say yes.” We all have a lot of responsibility in our lives, but are we missing the good stuff because our default answer is “no?” Since that day, it has stuck in my head and impacted my thought  process.  Whether it is our kids asking us to read to them after a long day at work or our wife asking us to watch a “chick flick,” let’s try to find a way to “say yes” and live 3rd. I gave a personal example of me being out of work  2 years ago for a short period and my wife asking if we should go ahead and take our kids to Disney World with the money we saved versus waiting. Timing and finances didn’t not seem optimal, but I “just said Yes.” It was one of the funnest trips we have ever taken and won’t ever be forgotten. What a blessing that came from what was a suboptimal situation. Be warned though, “saying yes” will take you out of your comfort zone! Not a bad thing.

Announcements-

Bags for Beds

Bags for Beds

Turkey Drive

Paradise Turkey Giveaway

 

Christmas Party

Pre-Blast: 2017 F3 The Fort Christmas Party

Joe Davis Run for Recovery

2018 Joe Davis Run for Recovery

 

CSPAN noted hat this is all in the newsletter and we should read it!

Thanks for the opportunity to Q, DD!

Honor to lead,

RT

 

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2018 Joe Davis Run for Recovery

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What-

The 6th Annual Joe Davis Run for Recovery

When- 01/06/2018 at 8:00 AM.

Where-Walter Elisha Park in Fort Mill, SC

Please join my family again this year as we celebrate my younger brother Joe’s life and continue our efforts to #breakthestigma associated with Addiction. All proceeds of this event go to benefit Keystone, York County’s authority on substance abuse and their unwavering efforts to help those fighting Addiction in York County. This event is family-friendly and will offer a 1 mile Fun Run, a 5k Walk/Run and a 10k Walk/Run. Ruckers welcome! It focuses on HOPE!

Why-

Because my brother Joe died on October 4th, 2009, of an accidental drug overdose, at the age of 28 with most of his life still ahead of him.  That is tragic. Joe struggled with Addiction from the age of 12, but had gotten sober in conjunction with turning his life over to Jesus Christ in October of 2007.  In the end, though, this battle was one that proved too strong for him to fight alone, unfortunately. Our family was unaware of Keystone as a resource for Joe to get help until after it was too late.  So, in the wake of his death, we felt a call to serve  and we decided to take action to get the word out. With my sister and I both being involved in running, we felt a race was a great way to not only get the word out about Keystone as a path to Health, Hope and Healing, but also to bring awareness to what our family already knew was becoming a serious problem in our society now.

This is an issue we need to face head-on. it affects and is affecting more people in our community than you realize. Think about these realities-

  • More than 21 Million Americans struggle with Addiction. That is more than the number of people battling all cancers combined.
  • According to the Surgeon General, Addiction will affect 1 in 7 Americans.
  • Drug overdoses are the leading cause of death among Americans under 50 years old.
  • Drug overdose deaths eclipsed 64,000 in America in 2016. Up 19% from 2015. Every 19 minutes an American dies from opioid or heroin overdose.

Action-

Last year, F3, FiA and their family members accounted for at least  275 of our almost 1000 participants! If you are unable to run or walk, we can always use volunteers and there is also a Sleep In option to support the cause from afar. To date, we have successfully raised more than $125,000 for Keystone to fight the awful disease called Addiction. These funds are primarily used to support the Men Under Construction program.

In appreciation for the continued support of F3 and our sisters of FiA, we have arranged for a $5 discount code, F3FIA, that will apply to whatever the current price is for the 5k or 10k races at time of registration, for as long as online registration is open.  It will not stack on top of any other discounts, however. Please help spread the word at COTs!

Register HERE.

Final Thoughts-

Joe spent a lot of his adult life as a lonely man. I firmly believe F3 could have helped change his course. While this event does benefit Keystone from a financial aspect, it is also allows for an incredible opportunity to let our communtity know what F3 and FiA are all about, so let’s take advantage of that. Wear your gear, let’s get the F3 flags and tents up, bring the business cards and let’s EH some folks while we fight Addiction. Aye?

I am especially excited for this year’s race as we will be hosting Speed for Need to kick off 2018. If you know of someone who would like to ride or you would like to push in the 5k, please reach out to myself or Dark Helmet. Check it out this amazing effort that goes hand-in hand with ours at Speed for Need!

With gratitude,

Rock Thrill

 

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You Still Have 40%

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17 brave men gave it their all this morning in the gloom of Quagmire.  After a disclaimer and a quick reminder of the theme of the month (VICTORY) it was off to better ourselves.

Quick Mosey complete with:

  • High knees
  • Butt Kickers
  • Karaoke
  • Toy Soldiers
  • Knees to Chest

Standard circle with warm up exercises

Series of exercises that “simply” came to mind:

Using the parking lot in front of Old Navy (slight incline) and Mosey up and down several times between exercises:

  • Lunge walks (up)
  • 10 Squat Jumps
  • Bear Crawl (down)
  • Reverse Lunge Walk (up)
  • 50 Squats
  • High Knees (up)
  • Butt Kickers (down)
  • 50 Merkins
  • 50 LBC’s in cadence
  • Plank challenge for 170 sec
  • 50 Burpee’s (10/min)
  • 3 Wind Sprints

It was repeated several times about pushing to the limits of what you are capable of.  As I have “famously” said once (and will obviously never live down), “When you think that you can’t go any further you have about 40% left in the tank.”  Many times we quit too early when pushing ourselves and it is not because we can’t “physically” do it but because our mind tells us to quit.  It is only when we push through those barriers on a consistent bases can be experience growth and grit to make us stronger men.  Super proud of every man who posted this morning and proved to themselves that they are willing to leave it all at COT.

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I really wish we could do more Side Straddle Hops

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Nice cool morning at WEP for 8 PAX to get after it and get better. Cornhole leads us off with the disclaimer and off we go.

The Thang

Cornholes Section:

Dynamic Warm up around path High Knees, Butt Kickers, Toy Soldiers, Side Shuffles

COP – Windmill, IW, SSH, MT climbers, 12 Ct Merkins, Moroccan Nightclubs

Hill – Accumulator
Run up SSH-28 run down, Jump Lunges-10,
Plank Punches-28,
Bomb Jacks-10,
Squats-28, Merkins-10.

Hand of to Longshanks

Mosey to the Playground for a Dirty McDeuce (all IC except for Pullups)
12 Squats, 12 LBC’s, 12 Merkins, Run a lap around the playground
12 Sumo Sqwuats, 12 Rosalitas, 12 Wide arm Merkins, run a lap around the playground
12 Narrow Squats, 12 Flutters, 12 Diamond Merkins, run a lap around the playground
12 Monkey Humpers, 12 Dying Cockroach, 12 Pullups, run a lap.

Mosey to the Springs Building courtyard
10 Dips (IC), 10 Step ups each side OYO, 5 Derkins OYO
15 Dips (IC), 15 Step ups each side OYO, 10 Incline Merkins OYO

Mosey back to the WEP Parking Lot.
Stairway to Heaven
Run to first lightpole, 10 Burpees
Run to second lightpole, 9 Burpees
run to third lightpole, 8 burpees
run to fourth lightpole, 7 burpees
run to fifth lightpole, 6 burpees
run to the last lightpole, 5 burpees,
run back down stopping at lightpoles for 4 Burpees, 3 burpees, 2 burpees, and 1 burpee

Finish with COT and BOM

Announcements – Fastest 5k next Saturday, read your newsletter

Cornhole took us out in prayer

Moleskin
1. Weather is starting to get a little cooler so just remember the saying – there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear. Hats gloves, tights are all acceptable as it starts to get cooler.
2. YHC knows he talks a bunch of crap on twitter especially before a Saturday workout. its all in good fun. Get up, get going to a workout of your choice, and #getbetter
3. Thanks Bonsai for the opportunity to lead and to Cornhole for letting me share the Q.
4. Mary Lou is scary fast at Stairway to Heaven. I think he was done before the rest of us were halfway.
5. Mad props to Little John for being 68 and still kicking donkeys. Always good to have you out.

Shanks Out!!

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The real gloom at WEP

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What a great Saturday morning. I got out to the AO a little early cause I hadn’t been out to WEP in a very long time. The air was thick with fog, it was dark, it was downright scary  – the perfect type type of gloom that we love to work with.

Men  start showing up about eight minutes before launch, by the time we were ready to go we had a total of 19 PAX ready to get after it . Nomad  brought 3 FNG’s from his youth group and they were excited to figure out what was in store for them this morning.  I bet they felt differently after words.

Maximus were starting us off today so he gave the long disclaimer for new friends and off we went .

It was a nice quick jog and then circle up to do several exercises that I can’t recall individually – but Maximus pushed us to get nice and warmed up.

the Thang

Partner up

partner 1 pull ups AMRAP while partner 2 runs around the playground  perimeter.

Repeat three times

After that we will circle up in the playground dirt and did several of the exercises which included toe touches, LBCs, flutter kicks and chopsticks. Maybe an elbow plank in there as well.

Maximus then turned it over to Royale

Mosey into the grass circled up and picked new partners

Lazy Dora

No running, consists  of the following exercises that are rotated between the two partners until you get to the combined number .

100 merkins

10 each while other partner planks

200 Squats

25 each while other partner holds low squat

300  American hammers single count

30 each  while partner holds 6 inches

This evolution was terrible so I gave the guys a break after it was done and read from Discipline Equals Freedom, a section called “application of discipline ”  from Jocko Willink’s most recent book. I shared his video about the book above.  It’s one of my favorite short motivational videos on YouTube!

The next evolution involved a nice little hill for 11’s

Run up the top the hill- do 10 bomb jacks – run back down – one plank jack until you reverse the cycle down to one Bomb Jack and 10 plank jacks.

Next we moseyed halfway around the park on the running track until we came close to the front road and entrance to the park.

We formed two lines and partnered up with the person right across from you in line- sat down and did two minutes each of big boy sit ups many as you can.

finally spent the last two minutes doing as many as you can burpees – real crowd pleaser

COT with FNG naming, Gomer, Ghost Rider and Chop Block.

Announcements prayers and praises

It was an honor to lead,

Royale & Maximus

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Pre-Blast: 2017 F3 The Fort Christmas Party

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2nd F….. AKA Fellowship to celebrate the year and blessings.

The Thang:

Meet up at Regal Manor Clubhouse for a diet beatdown at 6:30 p.

Warmup with some meetin’ and greetin’.

Mosey to the buffet line for smoked beef tenderloin, mashed potato bar (with bacon), salad, green beans and rolls.  Partner carry plate to table and fellowship.

Dora 123 on the dance floor with Flat Tire delivering the hits.  Mumble chatter welcome.

Moleskin:

F3 is awesome and it makes us all better.  If you were just here for the fitness part you probably would just join Cross Fit and then bore your friends with stories about how awesome it is.  2nd ‘F’ is Fellowship.  That means hanging together, enjoying conversation and having a good time.  Make every effort to be part of events like this.  Because #ISI.

Details:

  • Place: Regal Manor Clubhouse 549 Starlight Drive Fort Mill, SC 29715
  • Date: Friday December 1st
  • Time: 6:30pm-10:30pm
  • Cost: $30/person
    • Includes: Facility, Tables/Chairs, Food, Music
  • Menu:
    • Smoked Beef Tenderloin
    • Mashed Potato Bar
    • Spring mix salad
    • Green Beans
    • Rolls
    • Sweet Tea
    • Fruit Infused Water
  • BYOB – No bar this year…responsible for own drinks
  • Dress: Nice Casual or crush velvet red suit

Instructions:

  1. RSVP: We need names of all attending
    1. Google Forms: https://goo.gl/forms/0BvuF4eeV1U6gVH02
  2. Cost: $60.00 per couple or $30 per person
    1. Pay here: PayPal Link: https://paypal.me/f3thefort
  3. Gift options for Children’s Attention Home – Duffle bags 36″ or larger, alarm clocks or travel size umbrellas
  4. Gift options for Operation Sweet include —any age toy and/or gift cards to take to Levine’s children hospital.

Questions: Contact Cake Boss or Anchorman

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Coliseum- Mumble Chatter- Not on my watch

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After seeing twitter post about possible mumble chatter at my Q from some legendary yackers YHC decided to bring one of his old school simple but effective workouts to these guys. a nice 46 degrees to start the day had a few arriving in there sweatshirts, a few were mumbling about not knowing where their cold weather gear was. Little did they know the ones that showed up with it on would be wishing they hadn’t in a few.

Quick disclaimer and were off.

Mosey to basketball court, dynamic stretching toy soldiers, knees to chest.

Circle up SSHs, mtn. climbers, flutter kicks, Windmills, peter parkers, chopsticks.

Mosey to light poles. at each light pole perform 15 Carolina dry docks, 10 alternating jumping lunges, 5 burpees. 10 light poles. Flutter kicks until 6 arrives.

Return down the line except 15Air Squats, 10 merkins, 5 burpees. LBCs until 6 arrives.

Mosey to parking lot and pair up for DORA. 50 merkins, 100 squats, 150 LBCs while partner runs to wall and does 1 muscle up.

Back to COT with 25 yard bear crawl on the way.

COT.

Announcements- Fast 5, Family Ruck, Community Café 5k, The Fort Christmas Party.

Prayers- Passing of Cake Boss sister. PAX looking for work.

Praises.

 

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The Ranch

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Disclaimer

Mosey around parking lot doing various dynamic stretches/warm ups.

Circle up for warm ups- 20 SSHs, 10 merkins, 10 peter parkers, 10 Morakin night clubs.

Mosey to picnic benches 10 step ups, 10 dips, 10 single leg squats (each Leg), 10 derkins, hold plank for the 6 to finish. Drop to 9 the next set until we get to 1.

Mosey to playground- 5 strict pull ups 10 in and out ab crunches on the swings. drop 1 rep on each pull up until you get to 1.

Mosey to middle school parking lot partner up. run 1 lap opposite direction from partner half way do 10 alternating push up and clap. Run other half 1 partner chair sit while partner does 10 air squats. repeat 2 sets.

Mosey to middle school wall. 15 Balls to wall peter parkers 20 second wall sit. 10 balls to wall peter parkers 10 second wall sit.

Mosey to front of school same partners wheel barrow 1 partner to end switch and go back.

Mosey to COT.

Announcements- fast 5, family ruck

Prayers and praises- Our country ( the people and the natural disasters going on), PAX looking for work, families.

 

 

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