Fourteen of Rock Hill’s finest gathered at ManU Thursday morning for a brisk workout. The mumble chatter was strong throughout the workout, which led to lots of laughs and lots of good 2nd F.

Warmup:

Mosey the long way from the COT over to the fountain (down to Panera, around the parking lot in front of Dick’s Sporting Goods, back to the fountain).

SSH x 25 (Apache and Burgundy start mumble chatter)

Windmill x 10

Moroccan Night Club x 25 (Italian Job joins in at this point)

Merkins x 10 (in cadence)

Moroccan Night Club x 25

Mosey over to the hill behind Ross/TJ Maxx

CrawlBear up the hill (Bear Crawl backwards), doing a merkin with each step. Rinse and Repeat. Lots and lots of mumble chatter at this point. Definitely a favorite of the PAX.

Mosey over to the park. Someone arranged for it to be lit this week, thanks Rock Hill PRT!

Met beside the pond to do the following:

Swing Merkins with knees to chest x 10

Burpees x 20

Merkins x 30

Squats x 40

Calf raises x 50

Squats x 40

Merkins x 30

Burpees x 20

Swing Merkins with knees to chest x 10

Run 1 lap.

At this point, I thought we’d be able to rinse and repeat–but instead we got the 6 and moved on to the COT for a few other things…

At COT, we attempted a new song workout with the song Happy. It was supposed to go like this: Each time the phrase, “Clap along if you feel…”, the PAX were to do a clap plank with a partner, and then when it switched to the word Happy, the PAX were to jump up and give their partner high five. Unfortunately, it failed spectacularly.

So after an audible, we switched to doing Sally. After Burgundy and Tinker Toy wowed us with their abilities to not sweat throughout the song, it was time for COT.

Prayers for strength as leaders, continued growth, folks with Cancer.

It was an honor to lead these men. Its hard for me to believe that its been a year since I first posted to F3. (1 year will be 1/21). So much has changed for me…

I thought I was in good physical shape because I could run a 5k…I realized I could do so much more.

I thought I was a good leader for my family and at work…I realized I could do so much more.

I thought I had lots of friends…I realized that I needed brothers.

I thought I could do so much on my own…I realized I can’t do anything without SkyQ and brothers holding me accountable.

I thought things should be easy…I realized nothing worth doing is easy, and that’s what makes it fun when you accomplish it.

I could go on and on…but the fact is that I’m so grateful to my brothers at @f3rockhill and @f3thefort for everything.

Schrute out!

 

13 men showed for a cold gloom, filled with lots of pax looking to warm up!

The Thang

Speed Mosey to Clock Tower
Warm-Up
Plank up
Plank Stretches(Reach left arm out then down, repeat other arm and both legs X3)
10 Merkins
Left over Right Stretch
Right over Left Stretch
Group Huddle, Squat all together 25
Side Straddle Hops 25

Work out
Mosey to Tillman Hall
Caterpillar run up and down stairs around circle 3 times.

Partner up
100 merkins
200 LBC’s
300 Mountain Climbers single count
**Partner runs around Tillman Hall, and picks up where partner left off

Right Over Left Stretch
Left Over Right Stretch
25 Low Slow Squats

Mosey to light post walkway
Butt Kickers on the way there

6 light post workout
Each light post increase by 10 LBC’s
10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60
In between each post bear crawl to the next

Plank for Six to arrive

6 light post workout again 🙂
Each light post increase by 10 Squats
10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60
In between each post Lunge Walk to the next

Mosey Back to COT

COT
Prayer
limp Bizkit Prayer for Niece
Smoke Wagon’s Aunt in Recovery, finally able to see kids AMEN!

Announcements
Padre/Easily Convergence this Saturday, meet at 5:00am – 5:15am to Clown car down, you will be back by 12 at the latest.

2nd F this Friday at Eternal Church Check Newsletter!

Yeti Coming Up in February, Check Newsletter! Join me and others for a CSAUP Event!

Great Job from all the Pax, Great to see RiverRat back out. Also #TCLAPS for SmokeWagon who keeps getting better week to week!

I am out, see you in the Gloom!

The Riddler

Conditions were better than expected with overcast and cold at 40 degrees

Started with a BOM and Disclaimer = I am not a professional

Quick discussion on the momentum built @F3Gastonia and how quickly they are building from “Nomad” to “Region”

Q101 (disclosure- this doc is plagiarized with all credit going to others):

PHILOSOPHY

Q – Pax Relationship: The unspoken social contract between the Pax and a Q: “We will follow until you give us a reason not to”. The Pax are very forgiving toward a new Q. Most have been through it and understand the anxiety.

PREPARATION

Considerations for the first few Qs:

 

1. Launch a quick grenade over twitter, let local Pax know that this is your VQ, most F3 vets enjoy being part of a VQ Pax.
2. Simplicity/Complexity and Originality
   1. Keep the Weinke simple. The fewer moving parts the better. Many first-time Q Weinke’s are too complicated.
   2. Keep it familiar. New exercises or sets that require more than the briefest of explanations usually lead to confusion.
   3. Don’t be shy about stealing a Weinke, or parts of a Weinke, from another more-experienced Q.

 

3. Go with strengths: “Don’t Q it if you can’t do it.”

 

4. Cadence Counting – PRACTICE THIS, OUT LOUD, BEFORE FIRST Q
   1. Next exercise is [brief pause], the merkin.

• The Pax then repeats the exercise called.
• Speak loudly so all Pax can hear. You are in charge.
  1. Start(ing) position [brief pause],
• Not “exercise” position. Start position.
• The “Move” is to get the Pax to the position required to begin exercise. The “Move” is not a command to begin exercising.
  1. In cadence [brief pause],
• In cadence simply means the Q counts the movements (1-2-3) and the Pax calls out the repetitions in unison (“One!”).
• The Q counts should correspond to a distinct movement in the exercise. It is in rhythm. For example, for a merkin: “1” is the movement to the down position, “2” is the movement to the plank position, “3” is the movement back to the down position, the Pax call of “One!” is the move back to plank position.
• The Q indicates the completion of an exercise by a higher inflection on his last repetition.

See OBT & Dredd’s excellent tutorial on the how and why of cadence counting: http://f3nation.com/2012/02/22/f3-tv-how-to-count/

NOTE: When a Q does not lead an exercise in cadence that would normally be done that way, he is giving away his authority to lead the Pax. He is implicitly telling the Pax that he not able to count in cadence or is not willing to learn.

 

5. Weinke review with Site Q or experienced Q. Not required, but a good idea for a vet to check for potential issues.

 

6. Too long, too short: It takes a few times go get a good feel for how long your Weinke will take to execute. Be flexible if running too long and have a couple of stand-by ideas in mind in case you run long. Think through transitions from one set to another. Minimize dead time, standing around.

 

7. Tap a vet – if you need time to get unsmoked or burned through Weinke in 30 minutes, there’s no shame in asking a vet to lead Mary or the next section of the workout.

 

EXECUTION

1. FNG inquiry and Disclaimer – every workout should start with an FNG Inquiry and Disclaimer
   1. Disclaimer:
      1. Why: We want to disclaimer in front of Pax because having witnesses adds a layer of protection above asking if they’ve read it on the website.
      2. What: Main points in your own words:
         1. I am not a professional
         2. This is self-policing: Stop or modify the exercises as required

 

2. Take control—be the leader. Be assertive, don’t mumble. If something doesn’t work and you have to audible, acknowledge it and move on to the next exercise. Don’t apologize, just move on.

 

3. Observation – Do your best to keep an eye on the pax during the workout to see if you are losing people, either from it being too easy, too confusing, or too hard. During your first few Qs, it is hard enough just to make it through the workout. Ask your Site Q or another experienced Q to keep an eye on things and whisper in your ear if needed.

 

FOLLOW UP

1. Twitter counts – check with Site Q on whether he or the Q will tweet the count. Remember to use workout tag (i.e., #TheArmoryF3 also include @F3Gastonia) and the #F3Counts

 

2. Backblast –
   1. Part of the workout Qs responsibility to post the Backblast, not the Site Q. The Site Q may volunteer to post the Qs first workout on his behalf but that is at his discretion .
   2. Get backblast credentials BEFORE first Q so that you are prepared to write up BB when it’s done. The website interface is not difficult and will take only a few minutes to learn. Here again, your Site Q will be an invaluable aid in assisting you to post your first BB.
   3. Get login credentials from Bandit

 

3. Post Mortem – follow up with your Site Q about what went right, what could be improved, what was a disaster, etc. Seek out honest feedback from other veteran Q and Pax. The best way to improve is to address your weaknesses head on.

 

0700-0800 #Gashouse did a workout and felt like we did enough flying squirrels and broad jumps, “The Swiper” took it easy on us, @F3Gastonia has quality #mumblechatter and as we discussed Second F creates the workout comradery. It was great to see to see Gastonia leaders jumping into the ring to Q. Fun morning… and I always recommend gloves

Q201 was a scaled back for @F3Gastonia

• Get more FNG’s (#sadclowns need friends)
• Get more men involved with Q (F3 = developing male leadership)
• Develop your regional leadership group (all men can support)
• Rotate Q’s often (this keeps the PAX interested)
• Change your location at each AO (get them running)
• Warmup and cooldown are essential to reducing injuries
• Q’ing improves your leadership
• Enjoy your Q, let your personality show, thi sis part of the fellowship

 

 

NMM

 

Thank you for the invite for Q-School Q and the great attendance

 

@F3Gastonia has got the momentum, keep posting

 

Appreciate Swiper for getting involved and helping out, and providing commentary #HIM

 

Get on twitter (yea BA, you guys have potential with the pictures, keep up the good work)

 

AYE!

CSPAN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The past couple of years, Santini has challenged our F3 brothers to choose one word to focus on that year to help make a meaningful impact in their life and the people closest to them.  See here – http://f3nation.com/2015/12/28/your-one-word-for-2016/

Some intial words I came up withe were GOALS, PLANS, and SERVE with each being an acronym for something else.  I saw Santini at church last week and told him my word would be PLANS.  He asked me to search deeper.  So deeper I would search and spend some time in prayer trying to decide on a word.  The word Sacrifice kept coming to mind (it was part of the S in each of the acronyms above).  So I decided that Sacrifice would be my word for the year.

MOLESKIN – WHY F3 WORKS

There I was, Disappointed!!  First race of 2016 and my first DNF ever.  I was bummed not only for me, but for Double D as well.  After being cleared by Medics, I told Double D we should go towards the Finish Line to cheer everyone on as they finished.  I know it would bring me some joy (and also some hurt) to see my F3 brothers finish.  One by one they came across the line asking what happened to me.  And I told them.  And this is why F3 works.  It wasn’t a bunch of guys calling you a p*ssy for quitting or telling you that you should have just sucked it up and finished.  It was a group of guys that were sincerely concerned with how I was doing and feeling.  Where else will a group of guys do that?  And it really doesn’t matter if its a 5k/10k/half marathon or something else going on in your home life, work life, etc.  These guys are always here for you.  It’s why F3 works!!  Thank you Double D for helping to reinforce my word for 2016.

John 15:13 – Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends

It’s getting cold out there boys, however 10 winter tested F3 brothers came to the Gloom ready! We had five prepping for the P200 as we have an amazing neighborhood next door to the AO. The other five were there for a fantastic Boot Camp let by YHC.

Warm-up
Both groups ran together into the neighborhood to get us started led by Schrute. The boot camp boys did a little over a mile loop and then headed by to the AO. The P200 crew set a blistering pace and continued on to the next loop.

The Workout

Over the last few weeks I have noticed we have done a good bit of leg work, I decided it was time to switch it up.

We went ahead and did a few stretches, legs arms and shoulders.

Then we lined up at the front of the Church.

Started with line bear crawls.

One Pax crawls up the stairs in a triangle formation then back to the end of the line.
The other Pax do merkins until the bear returns. Rotate each pax through.

Next round rinse and repeat other Pax do Carolina Dry Docks, while we wait for the single pax to return to the line this time completing Aligator crawls.

On the Curb
20 Urkins
20 Derkins

Bear Crawl three times back and forth between stair and other curb.

Get in a few more stretches

On the curb
Alternating Merkins 5 on each turn, complete a full 360 spin.

Circle up
Planks 20 seconds
Honey Mooner 20 seconds
Planks 20 seconds
Honey Mooner 20 seconds

Flip 20 crap humpers

Flip 27 ground jacks(stretch arms/legs up and out. Perform slow jumping jacks while laying flat)

Recover and run around Church and return to COT.

COT
Prayer for marriages, job situations and families.

Challenge for this year get into the Word.

P200 Crew Complete a 5 mile run, bootcamp crew could not feel our arms.

Good Work by all.

The Riddler Out!

With the temperature being lower than the age of this young whipper snapper of a Q, I was glad this post of constant motion would get and keep the blood boiling.

The Thang:

Mosey around the parking lot to get the juices flowing then heading towards the stop sign at the top of the hill near ROTC building

Circled up for 20 SSH, 16 Imperial Walkers, and 16 Cherry Pickers IC

Mosey down the bottom of the hill to do Standing Mountain Climbers for 1 min

Mosey up the hill to pull up bars for 6 pull ups OYO

Mosey back to top of the hill for 20 LBC’s. Plank when finished until the 6 completed

16 Merkins and recover

Rinse and repeat with pull up and ab exercise changing each cycle

PAX completed 6 cycles

COT:

Was a pleasure to lead some great men in the gloom! The chatter was great from Nat’l Championship plans to the building being moved several inches thanks to the standing mountain climbers, and 1min, 6 reps 20 reps, 16 reps, oh I got it!! T-Claps to Decibel for showing up late but still getting a full workout. #HIM showing late is better than never!

Prayers for the spirit of health to cover all those who are dealing with sickness. For those who have lost loved ones to have comfort through transition.

Announcements: Joe Davis this Saturday, Fuel Challenge

Thanks to Geronimo for reaching out with the opportunity to Q. Enjoy the Coop and leaving a better man because of it. Until next time treat every day just like we did 1-6-20-16, breaking down to breaking through!! #getbetter

Copay

 

The hills-of-gloom new AO location-base has changed from Dave Lyle to Riverwalk 575, Herron Ferry Road, Rock Hill S.C. 29730, parking in the round about.  The new AO will be more user friendly and a tremendous opportunity for the pax of the fort and rocktrill to have a mid way workout AO on the scence catawba riiver. It’s primary running workout, with the opportunity to grow in many directions.

The time will stay the same wheels up 0600 til 0700 on Sundays.

There will be 3 to 7 mile loops set for the pax who prefer min and extra milage and depending on level of runners. All routes will be adjusted to pax level of training and potential.

I’m also in the process of putting the Q schedule together for the hills of gloom, so throw me a HC if you want to Q and bring some added experience and excitement to the group.

Hope to see everyone in the hills, Aye!!!!

Apache!!!!!

 

Mark your calendars for the next block in The Foundation titled – Living Life as a High Impact Man.

When: January 26th, 6:30AM – 8:15AM

Where: Christ Church (1412 Providence Rd)

Please click here to register*

*There is no cost….feel free to invite a friend; however, we ask that you sign-up so we can plan accordingly.

The first two sessions we discussed Accountability and Finding Significance in a World of Success. The next step as we move into January is to develop those topics into a series of actions that you can take in 2016. High Impact Men (H.I.M.) are intentional. They move with a sense of purpose, mission, and focus because they are on task. They have been called to something bigger than themselves. They focus on a life of legacy that shapes generations to come. They honor their families, their wives, their children, their communities, their country, and, most importantly, they honor God. They begin by praying, planning, and preparing – then acting with precision.

This session will be a workshop style format held at Christ Church. You will join other men as they seek to uncover the Ultimate Life Problem (U.L.P.) they are setting out to fix. You will begin a journey to uncover your High Impact Goals for 2016. You will then begin a process of distilling those goals into a One Word theme that captures the essence of your mission and purpose for 2016. This is not a secrets-of-success, print-off-your-goals workshop. However, if you want to ask some hard questions of yourself, then come join more than 100 other High Impact Men on the same journey. This session will not solve your entire 2016 plan, but it will set you on that path and give you a word that will inspire your focus for your year ahead.

The first 100 men to arrive will receive a copy of Jon Gordon’s book, One Word.

We look forward to seeing you on the 26th.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Given the overwhelming response, we are moving up our time to meet to 6:30AM. We will begin seating at 6:50AM. Please ensure to register so we can have plenty of food for the attendees. Please park in the upper parking lot of the church. There will be people directing traffic to manage the traffic flow properly.

 

5 Gloom warriors braved the cold and clear skies (for once) to see what was in store for a workout without any rucks, kids or anniversaries.  Not mentioned in the Pax (under the new Isotope site) was brother Longshanks who traveled from the far lands of The Fort to support his F3 and Spartan brother in a nice sweat induced workout by YHC.  For a minute there I thought it would just be the two of us with rucking workouts, FS Kids and anniversaries going on.  Thankfully, a few more pairs of headlights came rolling in and we had ourselves a party.  Some quick introductions and the bell sounded.  Like any good fight, the Pax came out swinging!  Here’s how it all went down:

Warm O Rama- Run through the parking lot of GCC and mix in some butt kickers, high knees, Karioke and circle up by the back of the church.  Longshanks was kind enough to let me run the warmup when I posted during his workout a few weeks back so of course I had to pay it forward.

Cheesy Disclaimer

Via Longshanks:

SSHx20 IC

ISTx10IC

Windmill x10 IC

Mountain CLimbers x10 IC

Moroccan Night Club x10 IC

Peter Parkers x10 IC

Hillbilly Walkers x10 IC

Parker Peters x10 IC

The THANG:

Dora 100

Partner Up (Olive Solo)

P1 completes broad jump burpees

P2 circles the church

Flap Jack

Rinse and Repeato until 100 completed.

Mosey to Hell’s Ascent for 7’s

Bear Crawl up hill and perform 1 squat.  Normal down hill and perform 6 Merkins

Repeato with increasing 1 count at top and decreasing 1 count at bottom.

Mosey to the forest of fun.

10 PullUps OYO

Grab a soaked, waterlogged sandbag with sand pouring all over.

10 Squat with Press IC

Tire Flip x5

Mosey to Home Depot

Peoples Chair.  Add Air Press x15

Add heal touch x15

Ballz to the Wall.

So much fun lets do it again.

Peoples chair with Air Press x12

Add heal touch x 10

Balls to wall

Mosey to rock pile and grab a non travelling rock.

Curls x10 IC

Skull Crushers x10 IC

Chest Press with Low flutter x10 IC.

Rinse and Repeat.

Mosey up the walk and stop in the front parking lot.

Lets go island hopping.

Sprint 1 to the middle island

Sprint 2 to the far island

Merkins x10 IC

Sprint 3 back to cover entire distance.

M.A.R.Y.

Dealer calls game:

Dying cockroach x15 IC Longshanks

Maktar Jai x15 in crazy cadence (Contra)

J SLOW x10 IC (Firestone)

Freddie Mercury x15 IC (Zuul)

Rosalitta x20 IC (Olive)

Peter Pointers x15 IC (Longshanks)

2 Minute Plank (Contra) YHC called out left/right arm up, left/right leg up.

Recover Recover

Naked Moleskin

It is always great to see Pax from other AO’s make a trip.  Its even nicer when one is a friend.  T Claps for Longshanks for making the trip up and introducing us to some Fort exercises-more on that to come.

Kotters for Zuul to be back in the gloom and our Respect and WD today.  Glad that calf is getting better and look forward to seeing you out in the Gloom more often.  Great work today brother.

It’s not every day you get a partial BS call from Contra regarding burpees…but right out the gate I got that slight compliment.  I will say this..man you have one sick broad jump on those. Great work and thanks for the support.

Buck Furpees…definitely looked better on paper.

Firestone is like the quiet assassin.  Not to much mumble chatter and he seems to do the exercises without breaking a sweat…although we know that was not the case today.  Excellent work as always my friend.

This was my first Q at GCC and I definitely made use of the terrain as contra pointed out.  The people’s chair was definitely a leg burner.  And they need to hire better professionals to paint their bricks as Longshanks kindly pointed out.

I must admit, I litterally felt the ground shake after the 2nd round of skull crushers when Contra dropped his rock…ahem boulder.  Sorry YHC did not call a coupon rotation as that would have only hurt me…and Zuul.

Lastly, some interesting mumble chatter during MARY at the entrance to GCC. #ShowtoKnow.  Hopefully we did not desecrate the her holiness to bad with the aforementioned Peter Pointers!

Thanks to Firestone for taking us out during CoT.

It is always an honor a pleasure to lead the great men of F3.  This is what it is all about. Getting together to sharpen our irons, physically, mentally and spiritually.  Being a part of F3 and witnessing all the men who posted at the New Year Day Anniversary celebration was incredile to witness and be a part of.  Lets do our best to EH some #SadClowns so that in another 5 years, that number triples.

Appreciate Ramrod for allowing me to take the reigns and shine some of my light on The Beacon.

Have a great weekend men. Challenge yourselves to have an impact on someone’s life today! #HIM

-Olive

10 Total, on a chilly second day of January

Peach led us out to the first COP. Warmed-up on
SSH*25
Windmill*10
ImpWlkr*15
PepperGrinder*10

Move to Peach’s take on a 12 Days of Christmas workout (all in cadence unless specified):
One Hundred Yard Mosey
Two Mak Tar J’ai
Three Regular Merkins
Four Wide Arm Merkins
Five Diamond Merkins
Six Freddie Mercurys
Seven Hello Dollys
Eight Rosalitas
Nine Long Slow Squats
Ten Step-ups
Eleven Box Jumps (OYO)
Twelve Burpees (OYO)

Moleskin: Accountability starts at home. How many of us make sacrifices in order to be part of an F3 workout? Going to bed early, skipping that additional beer, passing on that couples night out? OK, now how many of us make sacrifices to please our loved ones? If you have the discipline to do F3, then you need to find the discipline to keep your family life together, and to keep it as your highest priority. We should all hold each other accountable to the notion that family is the priority. Now… Go do that chore she’s been after you to do for the last several weeks… Go on, DO IT!

Pass to Posh:
Mosey to Field of Pain
Baseball drill:
– Starting at home, run to each base in turn, do 5 bombjacks
– at home plate, reverse direction and repeat
– Second pass, do the 5 bombjacks and add 10 squats
– Third pass, do 5 boat/canoe, and 20 American Hammer

Posh shares his “Word for the Year”: “Relevant”. Being “Relevant” in every aspect of life.

Meet at the mound for some Jack Webb; 2*4
2 “Sky High” Merkins (down, up, right hand high, down, up, left hand high)
4 overhead claps
add 2 Merkins until the final cycle of 10 Sky High Merkins with 40 claps

Mosey back to COT

Welcome FNGs: “Green Mountain” and “Al Borland”