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A taste of The Fort TexMex Style

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YHC got the nod to Q one of the OG workouts in the San Antonio region since was traveling for work so here is how it went down.

0529 One minute call
0530 Introduction of visiting Q and Disclaimer
Distribution of headlamps and spare light-emitting devices
0531 Mosey down from St. Lukes’s parking lot immediately offroading into ankle break valley towards the Olmos Basin Trail. Hopefully, everyone remembers the disclaimer.

Finally found the trail and we mosey for a bit before stopping to drop off the first cone (freshly purchased the night before) where PAX were lead in 10 SSH in cadence.
This pattern of a short mosey followed by a quick exercise, Pearls on a string style, continued until we reached the soccer fields loop where the intensity was increased and more than one exercise was demonstrated for the seasoned PAX.
Then the main event was finally started. Learning to take CHARGE:
Main event consisted of a two cones forward one cone back style suicide but the difference is the ability to learn from the leading PAX’s “experience”. Everyone starts the race at the same starting point and runs past cone 1 to cone2 to complete the exercise listed at cone2. Once complete run back to cone1 to complete the exercise listed on cone1. As soon as the first man completes the exercise listed on cone1 he yells out CHARGE and everyone heads past cone3 to cone4 to complete the exercise listed on cone4. After completing the exercise on cone4 run back to cone3 to perform the listed exercise. Again the first man to complete the cone3 exercise yells out CHARGE and everyone runs past cone5 to cone6 and so the sequence goes. This type of exercise is my favorite because it allows everyone no matter the skill level the chance to be in the lead and to help the team move forward. I hope that the 9 PAX were able to get this concept given the short amount of time spent actually playing CHARGE because of YHC’s poor clock management.

The list of exercises are listed below: rep count 10 of each
SSH Side straddle Hop
CDD Carolina dry docks
Cha Cha Merkins
Peter Parkers
Burpees
Jump Lunges
Bomb Jacks
Suicide Squats
Jump Squats
Apollo Ohno
Shoulder Taps
Burpees, Yes Again
Penguins
Imperial Walkers
Bobby Hurleys
Hand Release Merkins
Plank Jacks
and the crowd favorite the 8 count body bag builders. Burpee with a plank jack.

NMM:
I apologize to the PAX for the main event being short-lived because of YHC’s lack of time management, lowlight navigation in unfamiliar terrain, and the great 2ndF mumble chatter that filled the morning air. There is a special trust/bond that exists within this great organization we call F3 that allows a complete stranger who normally lives 1200ish miles away to lead a bunch of men with whom he has spent less than a few hours with through a workout with crazy exercise names and be treated like a lifelong member. I am very grateful to Dredd and OBT and all of the many OG’s and Redwoods that helped this organization grow and continue to give it away to other men in this great nation and beyond. I believe that F3 truly is a great solution to a problem that many men don’t know existed, including myself. It was an honor to be allowed to lead you men and it’s great to see the #acceleration you #HIM are doing in growing the San Antonio region. I know you gents will continue to EH guys, plant workouts and build leaders for the invigoration of male community leadership. I expect great things from you guys and if there is anything you fellas need feel free to contact me on the nation’s slack or Twitter and I will be happy to help.
Thanks to Hannibal for the opportunity to lead and Cobains for the late backblast.

Garrett Purvis
36 “Build your guardrails out of bricks”
Olaf

@g_purve on Twitter
Olaf on Slack

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12ish Days of Christmas at Snake Pit

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Been a while since I was Q at the ol’ Snake Pit and as I’m not scheduled for next month, I figured it was time to pull th5e 12 Days of Christmas workout out of the bag.

After a short warm up, we got after it.  Despite what U Haul said, we got to day 9.

Just like the song, you repeat each set every time you add another exercise.

1 – Run/Walk
2- Turkish getups
3- Goblet squats
4- LBCs
5- Shoulder press
6- Chest press
7- American hammers
8- Calf raises
9- Sumo squats
10- Lunges
11- Lawnmowers
12- Dead lifts

 

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pre_blast_METTLE FORGER_new_gear_AO

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Friends:

I’d like to make available the training gear I’ve accumulated as part of my personal training venture to the Pax of The Fort and start a new Gear AO!

What:  Dealers ( Q ) choice gear AO.

Where: 12:15 pm on Fridays at Turner Field parking lot in Tega Cay.  45 minutes in length.  Inaugural workout on Friday, 10/23.

Why:  To serve the Pax who have flexibility to work from home or may not be early risers.  To reinvigorate Kotters or recruit new FNG’s who need a shieldlock.

How:  the Weinke could include the gear in my trailer or based on the Q’s of the day preference like kettlebell, ruck, or a combination of all.  I will assist the Q’s in setup.

Special Bonus:  a commemorative patch will be awarded to the first 10 Pax who post!

FAQ:

What gear will Bear Grylls make available to the Q’s?

    • The contents of my trailer include sandbags, kettlebells, dumbells, barbells, slam balls, TRX, battle ropes, jump boxes, bench, water jugs, squat rack, strength sled, speed and agility equipment and resistance bands.  A full gear list will be provided to Q’s so they can build their Weinke.

What if the weather turns bad, will the equipment be ruined?

    • Most of the equipment is rubber-coated, however, we won’t use any bare metal items if there is precipitation.  The Q of the day can always revert to a run or boot-camp model.  There is a soccer and baseball field at Turner which provides many pain-station options.

Other questions and concerns can be sent to Twitter at F3_BearGrylls or on Slack.

 

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Three Amigos

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Small group posted Wednesday in the gloom.  No worries, we would work hard and get better.

We began with a lap around the carpool circle, stopped at the front of the school for some warm-up exercises:  SSHs, Imperial Walkers, Windmills, and Plank Stretches.

Next, we did a round of 11s between the sidewalks.  Merkins on one side, dips on the other, and bear crawl in between.  Once complete, we ran another lap around the carpool circle.

Next, we did another round of 11s.  This time, Squats on one side, calf raises on the other, and lunge walk in between.  Once complete, we ran another lap around the carpool circle.

We finished up with two sets of exercises in front of the school.  Two of us planked while the other did five Carolina Dry Docks (Second round – LBCs).  We alternated until we got to the last pillar.

Great workout and conversation with these men this morning.

 

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Sweep the core

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YHC  took over for Pantheon at the last minute to allow the scheduled Q to attend the memorial beatdown at the Coop.  I hadn’t Qed since before the pandemic and figured with numbers low, it’d be a good time to keep distant whilst also dishing the pain.

Five PAX gathered in the gloom this morning near the shovel flag at Pantheon. Divac, Tesla and Flounder I knew, but Slow Jamz I’d not yet met. The disclaimer was disclaimed while holding a chunk of cardboard that was carved off a shipment of wine that the M has been importing since February.  Fitting that the box for the merlot would have scrawlings of a madman, intent on seeing merlot on the pavement.

The Warmup

Quick mosey over to the parking lot space by the crosswalk for a quick warmup. Let’s keep it simple with 10 SSH, 10 Low Slow Squats, and a few ten count hamstring stretches. That’s it.

The Thang

Quick jaunt over to the crosswalk to explain. On the cardboard are two columns, aptly labeled “1” and “2”.  PAX are instructed to choose a column, do all the exercises and run a (.34 mile) lap on the queueing road, and continue until COT. Alternating columns is suggested as column 2 is a bit more difficult than column 1.  PAX may also choose to do both columns for a short lap in the parking lot. It’s UvU here, with about 40 minutes to see how many laps one can get in.

Column 1
10x BBS
20x Flutter (2 count)
30x LBC

Column 2
10x Rocky BBS (two punches at the top)
20x Box Cutter
30x LBC

It’s an attack on the abs, Sweep The Leg style!

COT

YHC shared some thoughts about the 3rd F (see NMM).

Announcements were announced.

Prayers were offered up:
Flounder’s friend, Sue, who we’d prayed for last week, has gone home as expected, and for her husband who has seen two wives lost to cancer.
Slow Jamz’s M, who just returned from NY. The family has lost a brother/son to a hit and run in New York.

Naked Man Moleskin

Some great mumblechatter was heard at the crosswalk. YHC was pleased with the number of complaints as well, though it was a bit disturbing as many of these complaints manifested in noises that are generally reserved for the boudoir… I suppose I’m not complaining.

Tesla smoked everyone with nine full laps. YHC got a solid eight.

Slow Jamz tried to get the flying EH on a sad clown that has been flying by Pantheon for a few weeks now, but he’s not biting. I believe Olaf spoke with him last week.

The 3rd F from CoT…

In CoT I talked briefly about how the 3rd F, Faith, is often hard to explain to people who reject faith.  I translate that pretty frequently to “Faith that I am not the center of the universe”.  And spoke a bit about my personal conviction that we need to try to put others needs in front of our own needs. And we should always be putting the needs of others in front of our convenience and luxury.

Here I expound:

I find it difficult talking about F3’s core principle “Open to all men” in relationship to the 3rd F, “Faith”.  On the surface it’s hard to make the relation work, they seem incompatible because no matter what I say, what men seem to hear is “Open to christians”, and I don’t want that to be the case.

F3 obviously isn’t for every man (if it was there would be mass logistical chaos in every city at 0500).  But how do we stop the word “faith” from auto-translating to “barrier”?  I evangelize F3 pretty frequently, and I’ve seen the facial twitch when that third F is uttered more often than not. When I witness that tic, I try to weaken the barrier.

As mentioned in CoT, that third F may be described as “Faith that I am not the center of the universe”, you often hear “I am 3rd”. Which, I feel, is a lot more appealing to those men we will meet (generally on a daily basis) who may not share your/our/my faith. While I believe in Jesus, I cannot require others to do the same (Paul going so far as to say, if they reject you, shake it off and move on).

Despite this, I know that there is often great honor to be had in living 3rd. Though there are the depraved few who see Michael Douglas in Wall Street as their god, they still might be attracted to a free workout… unless they own gyms.

There are dozens of scriptures in the Bible that expound on the inherent wrong of living luxuriously while others live in want. To live 3rd, to me, my “faith that I’m not the center of the universe”, means that I have to decide between commodity (Starbucks, Beer, Wine, the newest cell phone, my ruck, the list is almost shamefully long…) and the aid of others.

Jesus said we’d always have the poor… Those who live in luxury will never be able to shed the responsibility of caring for them, and the result of shirking that duty is pretty well explained. Over and over…

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10 Rounds at The Swamp

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Kept it simple today:

Mosey for a while:

Warmup
20 SSH
10 IW
10 HW
Some Yoga

Mosey towards Kohl’s

One round in the front of each store:
10 merkins
10 squats
10 burpees
10 squats

There are 9 stores

Mosey back stopping once for one more round. We hit 2 miles total.
We also did some BTTW at some point to break up the run.

NMM:

Been working out on what my overarching principles are… As I brainstorm, I see more that to be the human I want to be, I’ve got to choose to do the hard things.

—
Band Camp dismissed

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The Sweati 2020

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The Sweati 2020-
79 HIM took to The Forts annual summer CSAUP event. It was 78 degrees when 24 Ruckers launched from The Coliseum at 0530. They had their disclaimer and direction to the first of the 3 pain stations. Just After at 0600 54 runners took to the route. They departed and ran about 2.5 miles and got to meet Bones at Golden Corral for the first pain station. He worked them over as they came in for about 10-15 minutes. Once he finished dishing the pain they took off to Pantheon only about 1.5 miles up the Road. Fishsticks was waiting for sprints and pain. He had the PAX attention for another 10-15 minutes. Once they left they brought the route back to YHC. While waiting for the PAX to return and doing burpees I decided that my other two Qs most likely put the PAX through so much I would give them a choice. Either 20 burpees at 5 light poles with bear crawls in-between or they could buyout of it for a $50. going to our brother Cash. Most wanted to take on both challenges. We wore black for Cash and am still amazed at the Photos coming in from across the Country showing support to this HIM. We love you Cash. Here is a link to the pay-pal account if you feel you would like to support.

paypal.me/f3thefort

Backdraft Out

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Running trip not to far from town

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Wow! That was a SWEATY SWEATI! It was another step for me in moving toward getting back in shape since my last post a month ago. One day at a time. Thanks for the fun Backdraft! Live every day!

As a next step in the progression, I’d love to have you join me for a fellowship “run” but with plenty of options for what you are after. On this short trip you could:

  • Trail run anywhere between ~3-6 miles (quite flexible)
  • Ruck if you want (you will need to appoint someone to lead it because I will be running if the body is ready)
  • Hike
  • Train – you can do targeted training at this sight quite easily, especially different types of hill terrain
  • Or I can bring you a “Minnow Pond/STL-style trail running” workout if you are up for a challenge.

When do we leave?

  • 5:15 a.m. August 29, 2020 from Harris Teeter parking lot at 160/Pleasant Rd.
  • You can choose if you want to clown car or drive separately.

Where are we going?

How long will I be away from my home?

  • My estimate is the following:
    • 5:15 am-6:20ish drive time. It opens at dawn.
    • 6:20-6:40 stretch/warmup/get organized in parking lot
    • 6:40 explore and exercise 40 Acres
    • 8 am Hopeful finish back to parking lot
    • 8:10 am Snack it up and drive back
    • 9:15 back at HT parking lot or your home
  • Total time: not less than 4 hours including drive time. Probably not more than 4.5.
  • You will still be back in time to do your family responsibilities for the day starting at 10 a.m. (my goal).

What do I need to bring?

  • Regular running shoes for street running (I do not recommend trail running shoes unless the tread is very low key as we will be on the rocks some)
  • I will be wearing a small running backpack with plenty of water.
  • Sunscreen if desired
  • Snacks/energy bar
  • Ruck if rucking
  • Towel(s)
  • Your phone and ID
  • Hand sanitizer
  • Extra shirt/shorts

How much does it cost?

  • There is no cost
  • There is no donation suggested or required.
  • Just show up with a good attitude.

What will I see?

  • An awesome series of rocks
  • A cave
  • Wildlife
  • Kershaw County
  • Waterfalls during winter, spring, fall only

What will I experience?

  • Fun
  • Hills in the middle of Kershaw County, SC 29067

What pace will you be running?

  • The area is mostly shaded (minus the rocks) and pretty easy to understand so all paces are welcome. It is unlikely you would get lost or in a situation where we could not find you.

What are some reasons I would do this?

  • To challenge yourself outside of a typical 45-60 minute F3 daily workout
  • To do something a step above a “Minnow Pond/STL” and running the Greenway or Whitewater
  • To get outside of York County
  • To scout out a unique and awesome SC area to figure out how you will give your M multiple hours to herself in the future without the kids as you take them on a “hike/exploration”
  • To discover how you could come back and do further running/training/rucking

What do I need to be aware of?

  • There is no Port-o-Jon or bathroom.
  • You will be using the woods if you need to go so plan accordingly.
  • Closest bathroom is a 15 minute drive if they let you use it.

Are 2.0s invited?

  • Not this time. I would not doubt that we would try to do this again with 2.0s.

What would cancel this outing?

  • Expected rainy weather of 40% or more rain chance between 6:30-8:30 am that morning in Kershaw County
  • Significant rainy weather the day before
  • My M says at the last minute there is a change of plans

So whether you attend the 8/28 F3 discussion that night or not, make time in your schedule to join me at 5:15 a.m. for this unsanctioned F3 outing! Take time our of your schedule to scout out this beautiful area to take your family to in the future or to give your M some time to herself one day!

P.S. If you cannot come, then please attend one of our awesome Saturday F3 workout options: The Fort, Alcatraz, The Deep, The Patriot or Planet Pain!

P.P.S. Also keep in mind that this local YMCA event is coming up soon (9/12) so this would be good training ground for it: https://www.ymcacharlotte.org/community-events/c2-obstacle-trail-run-1

P.P.P.S. And this one (9/26) 70 minutes from Ft Mill (awesome trail/OCR course-mine and Yoshi’s favorite one and super cheap, F3 Hickory likes to compete at this one so if you want to get a team together let me know): https://www.adventuresignup.com/Race/NC/GraniteFalls/ENDURE

Straight Up!

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The Coop: A Pint Down

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YHC gave blood last night…so today’s workout was highly modular. (In case I passed out)

We headed to the center of the football field and circled up for a warm up
SSH
IW
HW
Shoulder Taps
Did some light yoga

Moved toward the goal line doing butt kickers, inch worms, and/or toy soldiers
Moved back towards the opposite goal line Karaoke, side shuffle, and more toy soldiers
Bear Crawl toward the 50-yard line adding 10 merkins every 25 yards.

Did some heavy yoga

Ran the track with four burpees at every corner

Did some heavier yoga

Sprinted 100 yards a few times until Yoshi looked a bit tired.
Mosey back to COT

Did pigeon lunge at COT and was called out for not having any ab-specific exercises by Straight Up. Fair point.

NMM:

Kaiser asked YHC to think about a bible verse that speaks to me:
Exodus 4:2 [God talking to Moses]

Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A stick,” he replied.

Moses only needed what God had already provided to accomplish the divine work laid out for him. What do you already have that God can use in your life?

–
Band Camp dismissed.
 

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Quagmire Gut Punch

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Pulled this one out of the archives from a couple years back w/ some subtle changes.  I informed the men that we may run a bit seeing that I was coming off a week of vacation and needed to detox a bit.  Here we go:

Nice 0.8 mile mosey to get things started, behind the Depot, Target, down to Kohl’s and back up Rivergate Pkwy to the Sun Trust Bank, with stops every quarter mile for some quick stretching / warm-up (1st quarter mile – wind mills x10, 2nd – mountain climbers / merkins x20, 3rd – squats x10 in cadence)

The real thang, taking up the remainder of the time:  pax will run the remaining length of Rivergate Pkwy, and stop 10 times along the way and do the exercise and rep count I tell them.  To be clear, they do the same exercise and rep count 10 times until they get to the very end, and then run back to the start.  I then change the exercise and rep count up.  Each set of 10 stops was a 0.30 mile run down, and then you had to run back so 0.60 miles were covered for each exercise.

  • 5 burpees per stop = 50 burpees + 0.6 miles
  • 10 big boy sit-ups = 100 big boys + 0.6 miles
  • 15 jump squats = 150 jump squats + 0.6 miles (this one was a d1ck move)
  • 10 merkins = 100 merkins + 0.6 miles

From there, we were out of time and headed back to CoT.  One of these days we’ll get the full weinke in with a 5 / 10 / 15 / 15 / 10 / 5 rep ladder, ending in burpees a second time.  For today, the 500 reps inclusive of the warm-up and 3.2 miles was enough.

I mentioned to the pax that when I was reading my old back blast from a couple years back, I had noted in the write-up that DaVinci was back in the gloom after 2-3 months on IR.  He had spoken to us back then about preparedness, and how we need to prepare for the unexpected, because his IR stint took its toll and he wasn’t ready for what it would do physically, emotionally, relationally, you name it.  It was fitting to read what he said 2 years ago because I had a gut punch myself a week and a half ago.  But honestly, because of this group, and the arsenal of resources we’ve built up supporting one another, I’m more prepared now than ever to pray, lean on others and power through this minor set back.

Prayers were said for Tsunami and his wife, Olaf and his 36 years, and my situation.  I really appreciate the pax who came out and gave it their all, even though some of the things I asked of you were pretty mean.  You guys all did and it and didn’t complain.  Just got to work and kept sharpening your body for when the time comes you’ll need that extra bit of gumption.  Go get it.

Cha Ching

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