In late June I moved to The Fort (Fort Mill) and yet I still seem to find myself back home to q.  You guys that haven’t q’d yet, you have no excuse.  Not cutting you any slack. Sign up to q.

So with all the site q’s away running a race, I saw an opportunity to q and signed up. I’m not sure how the results were for you guys, but I was sucking wind most of the workout.  My asthma probably contributed to part of that.

I arrived late due to my own slackness and an invasion of ants in my car I only discovered after sitting down in the midst of a gang of black ants and feeling one of them bite me.  My leg is still itching from that souvenir tonight.

So after I arrived a few minutes late and finding the pax we circled up for a little COP and then the fun began…

Repeat each set increasing by five. Five, ten, fifteen and then twenty.  The kicker is that all of these are done in cadence.  So we really did a whole lot more than we could have. Normally this is done in a parking lot, but as the lot gets busy on Saturday mornings we used the tennis practice court. Here are the exercises:

Squats
Lunges
Air dead lifts
Merkins
Mountain climbers
LBC
Reverse crunch
Dolly
Superman
Flutter

On round four (20 each) I decided to skip over either merkins or mountain climbers to give my lungs a break.  The pax chose merkins, but we still did the mountain climbers as our last exercise in the set.  I didn’t want you to feel cheated.

Next Mountain Mama  (aka timekeeper for the day) gave me the time and we moved on to the picnic tables for a little Cindy.

Cindy in this case consisted of five step ups each leg (or five jump ups), merkins (pick your poison) and five dips.  Repeato until the q calls time.

The pax were looking ready to kill me at this point so we started to wrap up this freak show.

After making our way back to the shovel flag, some Mary and stretching we were done.

Great work everyone!

It’s nice seeing a few new faces that have joined since I left town/ the state!  Crazy how many guys Mint Hill now has 50 and over and you all are killing it.  BLC is one of the guys that EH’d me into F3 and he’s always strong.  I hadn’t seen Normandy in a while and didn’t even recognize him at first as he’s grown about a foot since last time I saw him.  Good to see you staying after the old man.

Always an honor to lead in my home town, five minutes from where I grew up.

Hope you guys got a great workout in.  Thanks for allowing me to lead.

Announcements:

Southern Discomfort is coming up in Area 51 and the Mount Mitchell camping trip as well.  Checking the emails and newsletter.

Honor to lead 17 HIMs and co Q with Cornerstone this morning. Welcomed FNG Red Ryder.

I gave Disclaimer and threw everybody off with a surprise Mosey to the big parking lot in Front of Sullivan on the Eden Terrace Side.

Warm Up
25 SSH
10 Windmills
10 IW
10 HW
Stayed in the parking lot

The Thang
SUICIDES
10 Merkins, run to first line then back to start, 10 merkins, run to second line. Continued for the 4 lines in the parking lot. Rinse and repeat with 10 LBC’s as the workout for the second time.
Mosey to the hill at the Baseball field to some modified Elevens – did Seven reps instead.
6 Burpees at the bottom run up the hill and do 1 Bomb Jack at the top, run down the hill for 5 Burpees run up for 2 Bomb Jacks and so on to 1 Burpee at the bottom and 6 Bomb Jacks at the top.

Mosey back to AO and handed the torch off to Cornerstone to continue the beatdown.

He Spoke about Grace and Gods Riches at Christs expense then got to it

He kicked it off with a Resistance Push (I have no idea what this workout is called). We partnered up face to face pushed each other across the parking lot, your partner would give you resistance while you would push him across the parking lot, then reverse – your partner pushes you back to start while you gave resistance, rinse and repeat.

Then a mosey to the corner of the building for 7 pain stations around the school. Rinse and repeat with different workouts for the second time. Stations listed below
#1 30 Merkins, 30 range Merkins
#2 30 Bench Dips, 40 Incline Merkins
#3 25 Squats, 30 Moutain Climbers
#4 20 Imperial Walkers, 20 Plank Jacks
#5 25 Cherry Pickers, 30 Burpees
#6 40 LBC’s, 30 American Hammers
#7 40 SSH, 30 Carolina Dry Docks

Mosey to COT for an AB ring around the posey Routine
LBC’s
6″ for a few 10 counts
Hello Dollies
Flutter Kicks

Announcements and prayers

Great work #HIMS

18 HIMs unfartsacked to post at 0630 in the gloom at Normandy in Lancaster. We welcomed our FNG (Buffett) and circled up around the flag.

Popeye started us out with a disclaimer and words of encouragement. He then led the PAX in a warm up of 20 SSH, 20 Moroccan Nightclubs, 20 Merkins and then moseyed us down to a lower parking lot. There, we did a couple of combination bear crawls/Merkins for the width of the lot and continued over to the stairs of pain. Popeye then had us run up and down the stairs multiple times; his hardest struggle resembled that of a kindergarten teacher, trying to keep the kids in a line so we wouldn’t run into one another. The Navy Vet showed his military prowess and fixed our issues. No one got hurt.

Popeye sacrificed some of his Q time for Bourne’s VQ; Bourne took over at the football field for a four corners of remembrance.

Bourne gave a devotion centered around remembering what God has done for us in the past; we have a special freedom afforded to us through Jesus Christ. We also have a freedom from what our military heroes have sacrificed. This would be the theme of the morning’s workout. (Deut 6:5-9, “And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates”).

The PAX stayed together for a round robin, four corners workout.

Station 1: “CPO Chris Kyle,” in honor of our emotionally wounded Veterans. After reading a bio about CPO Kyle’s willingness to help wounded veterans upon his return from combat tours (even resulting in his death while helping a Marine with PTSD), Popeye led us in the following: 13 (stripes) Wide-armed Merkins; 50 (stars) Beat Your Boots (Airborne); 22 (veteran suicides/day) Merkins; 30 (% of Viet Nam Vets with PTSD) Squat with overhead air presses; and 20 (% of OIF/OEF Vets with PTSD) Carolina Dry Docks.

Station 2: “COL J. Nick Rowe,” in honor of our nation’s POWs. Sapper, although recovering from yesterday’s surgery, posted to read a bio about COL Rowe and then helped lead us in a five-minute, silent run: one minute for every year COL Rowe spent in Viet Cong POW Camps. The PAX naturally gathered around those us playing the 6 this morning and we finished our run together.

Station 3: “SGT Alvin York,” in honor of our Veterans who refuse to give up. Blackhawk read the bio of SGT York’s actions that earned him the Medal of Honor (leading 9 men to capture 132 German Soldiers during WWI). He then led us in teams of two: 17 Burpies (# of US Soldiers in initial raid where Corporal York assumed leadership over the nine); 132 Low Slow Squats with the partner planking in-between, representing the # enemy captured; no rest because the Soldiers did not get to rest while assaulting the German lines); and 340 Flutter Kicks / Freddie Mercuries (1 for every 10 Medals of Honor).

Station 4: “The Four Chaplains,” in honor of the teamwork and sacrifice of our Service Members and their families. Bourne read the bio of the Four Chaplains (Alexander, Goode, Fox, & Poling) who gave their life vests to others after their ship was torpedoed by the Germans in WWII. The men were last seen praying and singing hymns together. We performed 20 Derkins on our partner’s planked back and 20 LBS (also on a planked back).

We concluded by moseying to the flag, conducting a name-o-rama, and Fin took us out with a powerful prayer. Every HIM gave his best effort this morning and many concluded the F3 event with a 2^nd F at Chick-fil-a.

Got up filling good about the workout and that I had an interview that morning after the workout. Tinker Toy gave a message about grace and I also talked about prayer.  If it wasn’t for prayer, I don’t think I would have had the job interview today. I was told a few weeks ago that they made a decision and I didn’t get a chance to interview for the job. I prayed and told God if it wasn’t meant to be, it will be okay. I trusted in him that he has a plan for all of us. Today I get my chance for that interview.

Warm up

25 SSH (IC)

20 imperial Walker (IC)

20 Hill Billy Walker (IC)

10 Merkins (IC)

20 Seal Jack’s (IC)

Then we slow mosey to the back side of Harris Teeter.

Light pool work out

1st light pole – lieutenant Dan

2nd light pole – Dragon Crawl – note to self check the distance first. But the group completed the Dragon Crawl.

3rd light pole – karaoke

4th light pole – reverse karaoke

Now it’s time to put the burn in.

The pack counted of into 3 and we broke into 3 groups at the return cart stations. We all did the same workout in rotation. 10 sets x 10 rep’s x 3 exercise

1st – pull ups (Omaha to backwards rows if pull ups was to much)

2nd – LBC

3rd – Merkins of some type

After everybody did about 5 sets I Omaha to 7 sets. The pack was ready to put me in the crazy house. Kelvin said he was going to get me fead threw a feeding tube.

Next up was 100 leg throws per person. Switch every 25 with your partner. After we finished up we Mosey back to the COT for some 4 corners and more LBC.

4 corners

Slow squat

Imperial Walker

Hill Billy Walker

Calf raises

Then rinse and repeat

Circle up for more Abs workout

25 LBC (IC)

20 Mountain climbers. (IC)

20 LBC (IC)

Cot

Count off

Name A Rama

Announcement

Prayer and praise

Ahhhh, yes ~ P.H.O.P….. the A.O. where it all started for me and my F3 ‘career’….. the first step down the path of “gloom” ~ nearly seven (7) months ago!

So….. this is how my first Q at P.H.O.P. went down with the ‘dirty dozen’:

WARM UPS:

25 SSH

10 Imperial Walkers

10 Hillbilly Walkers

25 Windmills

15 ‘Tobacco’ Pickers

10 count of R over L

10 count of L over R

After the warm-ups, we took the long mosey around the back yard to the back of the shed to get our own personal cindar block….. one that we could call our very own…. for at least 45ish minutes.

We got to know our blocks with a modified ~ gear inspired ~ indian run……… it was actually a little simpler to do than to explain…. the block was the timing mechanism…… and started at the beginning of the line, passed down ~ while running ~ to the end of the line. Once the last person in line received the block, he had to run the block back up to the beginning, pass the block back, drop for 10 merkins, and run back to the front of the line again.

Everyone stacked their personal blocks together into one stack and got in shoulder to shoulder ‘people chair’ position…. the blocks were then passed down the line ~ stacked at the other end ~ 10 count ‘recover’ period followed by the reverse block pass down the line.

This was followed by a game of 11’s with one upright row folllowed by 10 ‘block squats’ 30ish yds away….. and the ‘game’ proceeded till we were at 10 upright down and one ‘block squat’.

The PAX then went straight into SEAL sit up formation for a hard fought 15 count display ~

The next portion of the workout went like “Clockwork” ~ two tractor tires were in the parking lot ~ all choose a tire and put their feet on it in ‘derkin’ position ~~~ three derkins in the 3o’clock position…. hand shuffle to the 6o’clock position with 6 derkins ~ hand shuffle to the 9o’clock position for 9 ~ hand shuffle to the 12o’clock position for 12.

Then back to the A.O. for some LBC’s, Rosalitas, and Freddy Mercuries ~

Sally finished out time out with “up/down” planks during the first song section, merkins during the second section, “up/down” planks repeated for the third section, and air squats during the last section.

PAX were reminded that God’s Grace is sufficient during good times and “bad”…….. to not take the grace of God for granted……. a lesson very near and dear to my heart at this very moment…… and in everything we say/do/think….. may it ALL be for His glory!!!!!!!!!!

Honored to be asked by Catfish to lead after he got FIA’d.

Grace is a big topic. The Bible is full of verses about it. Many smart people have written about it. I would recommend Future Grace by John Piper if you are a reader. I have a copy I can lend you.

I knew I didn’t have much to add to all the wisdom that has already been spoken and written.

So I was certainly not a professional, and I was intimidated to talk about it. I wanted to hear from the brothers and for us to encourage each other.

But we read 1 Peter 1: 13 – 19.

Big Idea: We have experienced huge grace by Jesus. And there is even greater grace to come…bigger and better than we can imagine. You are free from the past. Fight for what God has called you to. Put your main hope where it belongs. Not yourself, not your job, not your relationships. Not even F3 brothers. We are still men. We will let you down one day. Remember the grace you already have and the even greater grace you will have.

Thank you for the men who stepped up to share their own stories of God’s grace in their lives.

Sorry for not taking roll. You know who you are.

Walked outside this morning and man was it nice out, got me looking forward to the fall and winter workouts! Rolled up to the AO about 5am and some pax were already onsite. Very Honored to lead this fine group of 23 #HIMS including 2 FNG’s today, Welcome Crosswalk and Freon. While thinking of what I was going to do I knew there were about 8 or 9 fast food joints in running distance of the AO so I thought there wasn’t a better way to burn off that very healthy and nutritious food (sarcasm of course)  because what’s better than a Burger and Fries, or Tacos and Burritos or Pizza. Just Sayin!

Just before 515 Apache spoke about signing up for softball. Then we jumped to it!

Warm Up

15 Windmills IC
Right over left stretch
Left over right Stretch
25 SSH IC
15 Cherry Pickers IC
Mosey to Cookout and pulled out the Deck of Cards to let the fun Commence.
Mumble Chatter instantly started.

The Thang

Deck of Death Concept
Spades – Merkins
Clubs – LBC’s
Hearts – Dips
Diamonds – Squats
Jokers – 10 Burpees
Reps indicated by Number on card
We would Mosey to a fast food restaurant, hand out 4 cards, complete exercises and mosey to another and so on….

Honestly I would be lying if I put what exercise and how many we did at each place because I lost track pretty much right as we started 🙂 but I can tell you that we did 4 at each – Well 5 at Pizza Hut when Apache pulled a joker out of his pocket and I still don’t know how he got it?? Below are the places we hit for some fun.

Cookout
Taco Bell
Nicks Gyro’s and Seafood
Pizza Hut
Burger King
Subway

Mosey back to COT for some extra credit.
25 LBC’s IC
25 Rosalita’s IC
25 American Hammers IC
25 SSH IC

Announcements
Prayers and Praises

It’s time to block your schedule for The Fort and Rock Region Christmas Party. All PAX are invited to this annual tradition that will be fully catered with a professional DJ. Here are the details:

• When: December 17 from 6:00PM-10:00PM
• Where: The Dairy Barn in Fort Mill
• What: Christmas party to celebrate our PAX. Get a babysitter, get dressed up, and bring your M for a fun celebration of F3 Fellowship in Fort Mill, Rock Hill, York, Tega Cay, Lake Wylie, and Lancaster.
• Cost: $75 per couple to cover expenses

Think of it as a nice evening out with your M while having the epic mumblechatter with the PAX. Who wouldn’t want that? This is a BYOB event. If you would like to partake of a festive drink, please bring it and our bartender will be serving the PAX.

On the menu is pulled pork, roasted Italian chicken, baked beans, coleslaw, and rolls from Ranucci’s award winning BBQ (http://www.bigbuttbbq.com/).

I know it’s hard to believe we’re talking Christmas before Halloween, but I’ve learned it is easier to come across $75 now than it will be closer to the holidays. Spots are limited so sign up today. Let me know if you have any questions.

• Payment details: Pay here paypal.me/italianjob or mail a check to Dustin Jordan 1734 Craven Hill Drive Rock Hill, SC 29730

Let me know if you have any questions. This promises to be an EPIC event! It truly is a great opportunity to fellowship with friends across the area and to introduce your M to who we are and why we do this crazy F3 thing.

This morning, Apache led 13 PAX for a Recon/Q School for our Lancaster brothers at Second Baptist. Each man took a turn leading exercises and calling cadence. Looking forward to seeing the leaders in Lancaster continue to grow the group in the Red Rose City. Keep your eyes and ears open for new AO locations and the final shirt design.

Announcements

• Invergence – The Fort’s 4th Birthday Party 9/30/16 5:30 at Bruce T. Rush Pavillion at the Anne Springs Greenway. Sign up here http://f3nation.com/2016/08/28/pre-blast-4th-annual-fort-mill-invergence/
• The Climb – A Gastonia CSAUP. Amazing Race style CSAUP with overnight camping at Crowder’s Mountain State Park November 11 and 12. More info here http://f3nation.com/2016/09/03/the-climb-csaup-pre-blast-1-the-facts/
• Rock Hill Shirt Order – Only 7 more days to order your Patriot shirt.http://f3.mudgear.com/products/f3-the-patriot-shirts-pre-order
• Charity Softball Tournament at Guns ‘N Moses 9/24/16. Details here http://f3nation.com/2016/08/30/charity-softball-tournament-at-guns-n-moses-92416/

YHC had been looking forward to this Recon for Days and last night didn’t sleep much, which is normal in my case so it wasn’t a big deal and as the pax kept rolling in I knew it was going to be a special day..

 Lancaster is a great city with a lot of heritage and hard working citizens that have been through a lot over the years with industries coming and going, like a lot of textile communities they have had to adapt to the changing times. And take themselves out of the  comfort zones.

Which is one of the reason I love F3 nation so much. When tough times arise you have your brothers of the gloom to depend on and not being hoarders of F3 and sharing this thing we call The Brothership of the Gloom lets like minded men gather together and sharpen themselves, “As iron sharpens Iron, so does one Man Sharpen each other” to prepare us for that next hurdle we may have to cross..

We gathered at the Lancaster County building parking lot right off main street and the shovel flag was planted.

18 of the finest gents unpartook the far sack including 5 FNG’s welcome brothers to your new family of HIMS‘ (High Impact Males)

FNG’s Thanks for leaving your comfort zones and unfartsaking yourselves to partake in the brotherhood of the gloom “The workouts don’t get easier we get stronger”+

1. Shake and Bake AKA Richard Doby
2. Captain AKA Jason Freeman
3. Ladies Man AKA Devin Aycock
4. Grave digger AKA Chris Stevenson
5. Ticket AKA Andrew Riner

So today was supposed to be a simple mosey around downtown Lancaster for a recon but when all the Lancaster Gents kept arriving I had to modify to give the Men their moneys worth

So I gave a very detailed Disclaimer with 5 fng’s present and mentioned modify on several occasions we circle up and

Warm up: all in cadence

• SSH 20
• Merkins 20
• Italian night clubs 20
• Seal Jacks 20

After the warm I explained the benefits of being involved with F3 and how you have orther positive like mind individuals to hold you accountable in daily struggles in life.

How the fitness is the draws you in. The fellowship is the glue. And the faith is the end goal out of the whole thing.

Thang #1

We moseyed to the shovel flags and circled up and I introduced the new Lancaster Gents to lady Sally.. and we did the Bring Sally up and Bring Sally Down. And left Roxanne at home this morning.

Thang #2

We counted off into 2 groups and separated into 2. Each group had an American Flag. The object was group 1 run clockwise around the parking lot while group 2 runs counter clock wise while as the pax that was running called an excise for the waiting pax to do.. A real crowd pleaser and a great attention getting activity.

After we replanted the flags and said the pledge of allegiance in cadence…

Thang #3

We divided into 2 rows and moseyed to main street and did the infamous Apache merkin Indian run up main street until we reach Arch St. where stopped and received some information from different FNG’s on the likes and don’t likes after that

People chair while picking cherries 30 in cadence

Air chair over head claps 30 in cadence

Thang #4

We lined up again and told Cujo To head us in the direction of Lancaster’s very own HOTBOX

Where we all hit the BTW Balls to the Wall and did 5 merkins

Recovered and Fin lead us in a series of Carolina Dry Docks 20 In cadence

Formed our 2 squads and Fin lead us back to COT with a nice airborne shuffle

Five Minutes Left = five minutes of giving it all you got

SSH in cadence 25

LBC in cadence 25

Merkins in cadence 25

staggered merkins each arm in cadence 10

NMM:

Awesome job from all men today, can not believe what has happen over one Month period of time in Lancaster. The men are on fire welling to better themselves to be that HIM in the community, Family, and work.

A I can foreseeing I Lancaster becoming its own region one day which is our main Goal plant small men’s workout groups to promote better leaders in our communities….

With that being said don’t be hoarders of a great thing just as you don’t want to be a hoarder of your Religion. We need to spread the word and stick with like minded positive thinking individuals and nothing but great things will happen

A lot of praises and prayers this morning with our true HIM Bourne closing us out in prayer

Humbled, honored, and happy to be able to leaded the  leaders of F3

Aye!! Apache