Category: The Snake Pit

THE SNAKE PIT is born!!

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Announcing the upcoming birth of The Snake Pit, at FMSD’s new $100 Million facility, Catawba Ridge High School on Wednesdays at 0515 starting on OCTOBER 9th!!   Cyclops will be on Q!! This has previously been the slot for The Tomahawk AO at Doby’s Bridge.  The Tomahawk will have its last workout on October 2 0515 at Doby’s Bridge Elementary.   The last Q will be YHC leading the renowned Tomahawk Test!

I have much appreciation for the past PAX and site Qs that made The Tomahawk what it is, but this is  a great opportunity to use a huge facility and possibly explore some variety in our workouts.  The Tomahawk will remain a Gear workout.  Though it is primarily Kettlebells, I hope we can start a stash of other gear onsite.  Hopefully, this will give us a foothold to expand F3 workouts on the Southeast end of Fort Mill.  I’d love to see more AOs at CRHS in the future.

Directions to The Snake Pit.  Turn into the Student Parking  entrance off Fort Mill Southern Bypass and drive straight back to the stadium or turn on Whites Rd and then make a right into the Stadium lot.  If you get to Spitz’s house, honk to wake him up in time to Post as you turn around in his driveway.  Better map to come.

TheSnakePitMap

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Iron Paradise

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Since becoming the Site Q at The Coop YHC has been missing The Tomahawk. Luckily, 3D was gracious enough to swap AO’s for a day. Needless to say I was pretty excited.

10 PAX showed up 10 minutes early so we had some good mumble chatter in the darkness that is The Tomahawk parking lot. A few PAX snuck in as the clock struck 0515 and the disclaimer was disclaimed.

Mosey 400M without gear.

COP
SSH x 42 at different tempos
Tappy Taps x 10
Low slow squat x 15
Al gores hold 30 seconds

While holding Al Gore discussed isolation and how it is terrible for men like us. Explained the shield lock and how being surrounded by like minded men who want to accelerate will hold you to a higher standard.

Merkins x 15
Downward dog
Honey mooner
Side plank left arm/leg high
Flap jack
Low six inch hold

Discussed isolation further in depth and explained how when we are alone we are more prone to attacks from the enemy.

Mosey to back side of school to discover a beautiful piece of 1×12 with fresh weinke written all over it.

Weinke

Partner BOP w Light Pole Suicides

Partners will work toward the below exercises together. While one pumps the iron the other runs out and back to one of the five light poles down the backside of DBES. Partner one hits pole 1, swap, partner 2 hits pole 2, and so forth out to the farthest pole and back. Repeat until completing the BOP.

100 curls each arm
200 Swings
200 Tri Extensions
200 Goblet Squats
200 American Hammers
200 LBC’s

(This BOP may or may not have come from a prior workout at The Tomahawk).

We made it to the American Hammers as a group… then had to head back to COT. YHC had a BONUS on the backside of the board. That will have to happen another day. Maybe at The Armory on September 9… maybe…

In all, we got about 2.5 miles of running in. Not bad for a gear workout!

Got back to COT and had one minute to knock out some flutters with press x 16 (4 count).

Name a Rama

Announcements:

Shovel flag hand off at Footloose tomorrow.
Invergence is 9/6 at Rush Pavilion @ 1800. Sign up to bring some deliciousness.
Convergence is 9/7 at WEP @ 0630.
Bobber on VQ at WEP this Saturday @ 0630.

Prayers/Praises
PAX in isolation, either on IR or in a dark place. Reach out to them.
Cancer. It’s seemingly everywhere.
New ventures for Training Wheels.
Family members with mental illness, and those who care so much about them.

Thanks 3D for the creative opportunity to lead at a different AO than my own site. Had a blast meeting some of the newer PAX.

Punch List out.

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Mountain trip to Dupont State Forest on August 3rd with Trail Running, Rucking and Biking options – there will be a 2nd F afterwords

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3rd F

Alright we are 2 years ago we did a mountain trip to Roan Mtn. it was one of the best trips I have made with my fellow F3 brothers. After 10-16 miles we went to Daniel Boone Inn to refuel.

With this in mind I wanted to continue to do this hopefully every year. So on August 3rd we are going to do another mountain trip. This time it will be Trail Running, Biking and Rucking options.

Our destination will be DuPont State Forest. We will leave from the Newport Walmart at 6 am it is a 2 1/2 hr trip. we will either go to the Hooker Falls Access or the Lake Imaging Access. For runners we will try and get 12-18 miles in for Mountain bikers Vuvuzela has about 20-30 mile rout lined up.

 

2nd F

Afterwords will will go to Daddy D’s and refuel.

 

Make sure you bring water and something for energy do not come unprepared you will regret it. I did exactly that last time. This will be an unforgettable trip that we will try and do every year. we need to clown car to get there since there are no rental vans available.

Reach out to me if you have any questions.  I have attached links below.

Dupont State Forest Trail Map-1

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g49206-d2069003-Reviews-Daddy_D_s_Suber_Soulfood-Hendersonville_North_Carolina.html

www.Dupontforest.com

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100/300 Blind Spots

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9 PAX gathered in the humid pre-rain gloom at the southern end of The Fort for this iteration of The Tomahawk

Warmup:

Short mosey
10 SSH
10 Mountain Climbers (slow count)
10 Parker Peters
10 Peter Parkers
Honeymooner–>DownDog
10 SSH
10 Imperial Walkers
10 Hillbilly Walkers
Short mosey back to bells

The Thang: alternating with Kettlebell Swings

20 Merkins
10 KB Swings
20 Merkins
15 KB Swings
20 Merkins
20 KB Swings
20 Merkins
25 KB Swings
Short mosey

20 Goblet Squats
10 KB Swings
20 Goblet Squats
15 KB Swings
20 Goblet Squats
20 KB Swings
20 Goblet Squats
25 KB Swings
Short mosey – to check on a shovel flag in need of repair

20 Crunchy Frogs
10 KB Swings
20 Crunchy Frogs
15 KB Swings
20 Crunchy Frogs – hands up
20 KB Swings
20 Crunchy Frogs – bells in the air
25 KB Swings
Short mosey

20 Cossack Squats
10 KB Swings
20 Cossack Squats
15 KB Swings
20 Cossack Squats
20 KB Swings
20 Cossack Squats – with bell
25 KB Swings

Short message on blind spots
Plank up
’round the circle on what PAX think their blind spots are

Final round to get to 100 of each exercise and 300 swings
20 Merkins
20 Goblet Squats
20 Crunchy Frogs – bells in the air
20 Cossack Squats – w/ bell
20 Kettle Bell Swings

COT

NMM:

Blind Spots:
As we went around the circle every PAX mentioned that their blind spots are either related to their M or their 2.0(s)….Interesting to note these are at the center of the concentrica. My mind too often wanders back to a Donald Rumsfeld speech (circa 2002) where he lists categories of concerns about the war in Iraq. Known Knowns

  • Things we know
  • Things we know we don’t know
  • Things we don’t know that we don’t know

Phil Kline wrote an Art Song using the text.

At first, I felt Rumsfeld was just rambling, more than a little incoherent, and simply trying to justify the cause for going to war. But the more I hear Phil Kline’s little tune……

We all have blind spots, and often put these “blind spots” into the second category. Things we “know” are our blind spots. But more dangerous is the third category: blind spots we have, but don’t even know exist.

This is why it is important to have other PAX cover your blind spots, and be emboldened to speak with candor when they see your blind spot. If you could see it yourself, you would have already.

We post to get better, and the 1st F is the easiest  to push ourselves. “It’s simple really. If you want to learn how to run faster, just find a faster man. And chase him until you catch him.” Let’s make sure we commit to get better in the 2nd and 3rd Fs as well. And just as the Q and PAX will push you during a workout, let’s push each other to be better beyond just physically.

-Band Camp dismissed

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Return to The Tomahawk

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Always enjoy being asked to Q a workout, especially The Tomahawk.  It’s been a little while since I’ve Q’d there since I’ve been logging a bunch of miles for the #1000in2019 challenge.  My last workout there ended up being a discussion of my “best of” workout memories.  So, with this workout coming up, I wanted it to be one for the memory book.  Unfortunately, other priorities didn’t agree and I found myself last Wednesday morning with a impromtQ on my hands.

There I was standing by my lonesome in the gloom, questioning once again my decision of a pre-run.  Polaroid did not disappoint and provided someone to keep me honest and run, rather than catch a few extra zzz’s in the car.

The PAX rolled in and after the disclaimer we were off on a mosey around the parking lot, with some karaoke, toy soldiers, and dynamic stretching mixed in. We circled up for warm-ups and completed SSH, hillbilly walkers, seal jacks, mountain climbers, and cross cross jacks.

Mosey back to the pick up the bells for the Thang!  Mosey around the school, stopping at various locations for a veritable smorgasbord of pain…squats, wall sits/curls, lunge walks with pass through, swing crunches with Merkins, suicides, follow-the-leader through the pillars and around the basketball court, bear crawl with the bell, squat/curl/press, monkey humpers, flutter kicks with press, lawnmower pulls, overhead press, overhead tricep extensions, LBCs, and possibly a little bit more.

We ended back at the front of the school with a reverse pyramid of burpees (5…4…3…2…discussion of acceleration and doing so by getting outside of each of our own comfort zones…5 burpees)

Count-o-Rama, Name-o-Rama, announcements, prayers/praise, COT

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Cone Work

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Five HIM posted for pain on this cool May morning at Tomahawk. Quick disclaimer and then a mosey around the parking lot.

Warmup:

  • 20 Side Straddle Hops
  • 10 Cherry Pickers
  • 10 Low Slow Squats
  • 10 Merkins followed by Downward/Upward Dog

The Thang:

Three cones were setup each about 25 yards apart (two outside cones and one center cone). We broke off into partners of two. One partner started at the near outside cone, and the other partner at the far outside cone.

Round 1 – 10 KB Swings near outside cone, 5 Burpees center cone, 10 Upright Rows far outside cone. Reps went from 10 down to 5.

Round 2 – 10 Curls each arm near outside cone, 5 Plank Jacks center cone, 10 Snatches each arm far outside cone. Reps went from 10 down to 5.

Round 3 – 10 LBC’s near outside cone, 10 Squats center cone, 10 Flutters far outside cone. Reps went from 10 down to 5.

Between each round we went around the circle of PAX for a Mary session.

We wrapped up the workout with two rounds of Ring Of Fire. One round of planks, and one round of leg lifts.

Headed back to COT for announcement/prayers & praises.

JWow

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What State Is This Tomahawk?

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A few weeks back, I agreed to Q at the old Tomahawk and somehow I agreed to Q at Mint Hill on the same day, but as I never got confirmation from my brothers in Mint Hill, Tomahawk won the day.

I’ve learned to keep things simple but simple doesn’t mean the workout will be easy.  We took a stab at the old ladder methodology with kettlebells and it went something like this:

COP – Typical warmup thang.

The ladder goes like this:

20 – Swings
20 – Goblet Squats
20 – Merkins
20 – Tricep Extensions
20 – LBC’s
20 – Curls
20 – Skull Crushers
20 – Calf Raises
20 – American Hammer
* Run a lap after each round.

Once round one is complete, step up to 25 reps and then 30 with each repeat.

Mutiny was in the Pax eyes, so we didn’t get to try out round four and after a bit of broga and stretching we called it a day.

Thanks for the opportunity 3D and Polaroid to lead.

Great job 3D stepping up to be sight Q at Tomahawk.

Make today a great day and make the world a better place because you’re in it.

DT out.

 

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Frying Pan Fun

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Sometime in the last couple of weeks, YHC’s youngest 2.0 wanted to watch a Disney movie that I never wanted to see.  I did my best to pick apart the plot holes and inconsistencies to keep myself entertained, and the thing that stuck out the most was the fact that the main character, some lady with absurdly long hair, could wield a cast iron frying pan as if were a hair brush or whiffle ball bat..  I walked into my kitchen and picked up my iron skillet and noticed that swinging it around would require someone to be JACKED…

The Setup

The night of the 23rd, a plyometric box, 3 bells (20, 25, and 30), as well as a cast iron skillet (with lid) were loaded into the back of YHC’s suv.  The M was very confused.  The morning of the workout, I arrived around 0505 and had to navigate through half a dozen runners who answered Polaroid’s call for a pre run.  It’s alway encouraging to see such bad-assery so early in the morning.  Today would be a good day to Q.

During setup PAX continued to arrive in droves. I plunked down the plyo box in a parking space and held onto the cards I made to deploy depending on group size. Thankfully, Polaroid threw his slam ball into the COT, so I grabbed it and threw it into the plyo box space so everyone would be able to have fun

Overall, 20 PAX appeared in the gloom at The Tomahawk.  A lot of faces were new to YHC, and so we quickly talked about the 5 core principals and disclaimed.

The warmup

Started with a quick mosey around the parking lot to warm up those whom had not already accumulated a couple miles, circling up on the east side (more of an ellipse).
2 sets of single-leg stretches (one leg bent, six close to the earth, other leg straight with toes up) Lots of mumble chatter already
Hands down into plank
10 werewolf merkins – The chatter continues
Back into plank

The workout

Mosey to pick up the bells and count off by 5’s.

Four stations were created including that of the plyo box.

PAX worked on their station exercise while the timer group grabbed the cast iron skillet and walked to the other end of the lot and back. The skillet was to be held with arm at a 90 degree angle, holding the handle with the skillet extended (in theory but not often in practice). At 15lbs it’s not that heavy, but holding just the handle makes for a sneaky bit o pain. The other PAX of the group would distribute the remaining bells and walk with the skillet holder, trading off as necessary. Optionally, the PAX could do lunges at the station.

Genuinely cannot recall the ORDER of the exercises, but below is what was available to the non plyo spots.
Snatch and squat
Plank Row
American Hammer
Goblet Squat
Upright Row
Man Maker
Plank Pass Through
Lawn Mower Pulls
Swings

One station was dedicated to the plyometric box (20x24x30) and the slam ball.

After each group visited each station the PAX were pulled aside for some group exercises.
Between sets 1-2
10x Imperial Walker
10x Merkin

Sets 2-3
10x Imperial Walker
10x Hillbilly Walker
10x Straight leg kicks (each leg)

One station short of a full third set and it was time to hit COT. Name-o-rama revealed the presence of an FNG, now named Tricycle (WELCOME!!!).

Polaroid got the former site Qs together and handed off the shovel flag to 3D.

Announcements were announced and the COT ended with a prayer. Great work by all the PAX. YHC is truly humbled and honored to have gotten to Q this day.

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