4 Corners of The Ballroom

Welcome to Bonus Ass Kicking April

We had 19 at the Ballroom for a glorious 4 corners of pain!

Every morning we post, we go to one of the ‘corners’ of our region but in the end we are all one of The Fort PAX.

It was great to see so many PAX on this chilly March  morning. Special shout out to Beaker for posting for the second time in 2 days! Great job and keep posting, also great work 3D supporting him

The Thang:

We started off with a warm up:

15 SSH

15 Wind Mills

15 Imperial Walkers

Break out to groups at each corner.

Round 1 – mode of transportation- karaoke

Corner 1: 10 wide arm merkins, 20 mtn     climbers single count,

Corner 2: 10 big boys, 20 dying cockroaches do

Corner 3: 10 burpees, 20 grave diggers, single Ct

Corner 4 : 10 plank jacks , 20 Peter Parker’s

After all 4 corners were done we gathered at top of hill leading to bridge until the 6 was is in. Morrocacan Night clubs were done while we waited. We then moseyed down to the bridge and back as a recovery from the  4 corners.

Then it was onto Round 2!

Round 2 –  mode of transportation- nerr

C1:  15 jump squats, 15 low slow squats

C2:  15 box cutters, 15 American Hammers

C3: 15 monkey humpers, 15 Cherry Pickers

C4: 10 hand release Merkins, 20 SSH

After all 4 corners were done we gathered at top of hill leading to bridge until the 6 was is in. Morrocacan Night clubs were done while we waited. We then moseyed down to the bridge and back as a recovery from the  4 corners.

We completed a second set of rounds 1 and 2 substituting Moroccan Night clubs for flutters.

After the second set was completed, we did a

Batman Death March around the school with the 6 doing SSH

That brought us back to COT

Great work by all today

-Yard Sale

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I’m Back and Better Than Ever… Well, I’m Back at Least…

Following my 2 year hiatus I have returned and apparently been showing up enough to be voluntold that my fans have been waiting for my return to the Q… That or they had an opening and needed it filled, I chose to believe the former…

We started with a brief warm-up with some SSH, windmill, imperial walkers and hillbilly walkers and then began with the inflation impacted “Suns Out, Guns Out” buy in… 30 curls and 30 triceps extensions.  Following that  we turned on my little app with our very friendly coach and and began a little HIIT set to Foo Fighters in honor of their lost drummer.  Each exercise consisted of 4 sets of 30 seconds on and 10 second rest.  Every 3 exercises were separated by a more cardio based movement done in 2 sets of 50 seconds on and 10 seconds off

-Dead Lift

-Goblet Squat

-Row

-SSH (50 sec x 2)

-Pull Through

-Triceps

-Lunge

-Mountain Climbers (50 sec x 2)

-Curl

-Calf Raises

-Flutters

-Swings (50 sec x 2)

Following these sets we returned to COT to buy out at 30 reps of curls and triceps extensions.

We had the honor of welcoming a new PAX member this morning.  Welcome Beaker.  It was great to meet you and hope to see you in the gloom soon

The we formed into COT with announcements and prayer requests

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(Pre) Adopt a Highway Beatdown

16 PAX for The Fort and 6 PAX for Milllkshake on a lovely spring morning

Battlebot started off with disclaimer and straight into warmups in the amphitheater parking lot… first warmup exercise he called was Goofballs, and with that the milllkshake crowd had seen enough and split.

(IC) – Goofballs, Cherry Pickers, Overhead Claps, MNC,  Merkins

We then began a mosey on trail towards Harris Street Park with a pain stations along the way

Station 1: 10 reps – Monkey Humpers, Imperial Walkers, American Hammers

Station 2: 10 reps –  CDD, Peter Parkers, Lunges

 

At Harris Street Park:

use full length of basketball court – Bear crawl to one side, crab walk back

use full length of basketball court – high knees there, duck walk back

10 reps each exercise-

use benches – Bulgarian Split Squat, Incline Merkins, Step Ups, Derkins, Dips

use swingset – pullups

Burpees

Run halfway back up trail towards WEP until you get to the beer bottle, turn around and hit the full circuit again

 

BattleBot handed Q to YHC at about 0658 and we began our mosey back towards WEP – about 3/4 of the way back we stopped for 25 LBCs (IC)

Continued to WEP playground where we partnered up for a DORA – Partner 1 exercises while partner 2 runs from playground to the statue on the hill.

Exercises:

50 reverse pushups on swings (short on swings so a couple groups got to do 50 pullups)

100 hand release merkins

150 squats

 

We finished up the last 7-8 minutes with a HIIT 45Sec ON 15Sec OFF doing the following exercises:

Burpees, Freddy Mercuries, High Knee Taps,  SSH,  In&Outs, Side to Side Squats, Shoulder Taps

 

Congregated back at the parking lot with about 30 seconds to spare and Al Gored to finish at 0730.

 

Got through announcements and started Prayers/Praises before I realized I forgot Name-a-Rama.  Another reminder that I am surely not a professional.

Thanks for the opportunity Grinder

 

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Horse Collar

There was a time when the world whispered. When quiet blanketed the meadows, and branches parted. When we hiked in wordless wonder and the birds regaled us once more with song. It was this morning at The Hive.

Warmup:

  • Side Straddle Hops
  • Windmills
  • Tappy Taps
  • Merkins
  • Perter Parkers
  • Down Dog/Honeymooner
  • Hamstring Stretch
  • LBC’s
  • Futters
  • Ran a lap

The Thang:

Partnered up because accountability matters. Cones were lined up with a plethora of KB exercises. The timer was an experiment of mine that was a cross between a human horse and buggy with battle ropes. The idea was to run across the parking lot with resistance. It was teeeeerible!! All of the pax would rotate through the cones onto the resistance run.

After a few rounds the timer switched up to bear crawls and waiter carries (aka The Tesh).

Six o’clock arrive fast. Back to COT for prayers and praises.

Prayers for mental health, cancer, and marriages.

JWOW

 

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Snake Pit – 3.23

8 PAX split off with Bushwood. I’m 100% certain Tesh’s backblast will be more interesting to read than mine. (I’ll tag him on Twitter and Slack to confirm this fact.) That left 8 PAX with kettlebells for the Snake Pit

The Thang:

Warmup alla cart of the top of my head based on what I felt my body needed. YHC was on Q; so, YHC went with what YHC knew.
Windmill
SSH
Merkins (slow count)
Halo
Around the World (AKA: Kettlebell Sling Shot)
1 Burpee

Flow 1:
5 reps each
Swing
Goblet Squat
Halo
Side Lunge
Deck Squat (click the link…these suck)
then 4 reps
3 reps
2 reps
1 reps as a full flow

Small Lap and some yoga

Flow 2: 5 reps, then 4, 3, 2, 1
Over Head Press
Suitcase Row
Clean and Squat

Small lap and no yoga

Flow 3: 5 reps, 4, 3, 2, 1
Single Leg Deadlift
Swing
High Pull
Snatch

A little bit of yoga (Birdcage does not enjoy pigeon lunge

Workout felt deceptively challenging

Dark Helmet-esque Report:
@WagonWheel has the tough work of being @Slash’s pastor
@Slash believes Encanto is a “foreign” film
@3D_Alex Geyling thinks it’s hilarious when somebody’s “dad” is escorted out of a theater for spoiling the movie and possibly being a “hobo”
@B.O.B. Is appropriately fearful of celebratory gunfire.
This is better than: @Sugarbug and YHC. We are unnecessarily fearful of unsuspecting coming across quicksand in our daily lives. Thanks Atreyu
@birdcage_f3 believes crossbreeding with an octopus is possible
@Drop Thrill doesn’t understand They/Them, but crushed today’s workout

NMM:

I struggle with being a musician in a time of WAR (Ukraine/Russia at the moment). I was a sophomore music major during 9/11/2001 and viscerally remember feeling useless. Leonard Bernstein said: “We musicians, like everyone else, are numb with sorrow… Our music will never again be quite the same. This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.” (he was speaking on JFK’s assassination.)

When I read an account from the last journalists in Mauripol, I again felt useless. My students and I spend so much practice and work exerting for something so ephemeral with no lasting product past last night’s performance. There’s a question of the validity of our efforts when so many suffer needlessly.

But this journalist’s account is a story. And many of the most lasting stories in our culture are turned to art (drama–> tv, stage, film). And much of what sticks in our minds and works in our hearts is through stories turned to lyrics and set to music. So, my individual labors may not single-handedly yield a song that awakens a generation, but my students may sing, write, teach, perform in a concert that does. Or at the very least, I’ll make d@mn sure that we work to make music more beautifully and devotedly than every before. And I’ll trust that the world will be a more beautiful place.

Men: stick with what gifts you’ve been given and the talents you worked to develop


Band Camp dismissed

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It dit-int rain

We had a few at a damp parking lot, but no rain (U-haul.)

Started by stretching just enough to get Funhouse a little grumpy ’cause he could feel something coming.

A sampling of a few groups of exercises with a light jog in between:

KB Swings 15
Lawnmower Pulls 15 each arm
Tricept Extensions 15
Halo circles 20
Hillbilly Walker with Bell 10 each leg (20)

Squats 15
Deadlifts 20
KB Swings 20
Tricept Extensions 15
Around The World single count 20 

Lawnmower Pulls 15 each arm
Clean press 10 each arm (20)
Halo circles 20

Squats 15
Around The World single count 20
Shoulder Press 15

Lawnmower Pulls 15 each arm
Tricept Extensions 15
Deadlift 20
Clean press 10 each arm (20)

Unfortunately, at one point, we lost Funhouse. Something got pulled. Hope you are doing much better soon.

Prayers to the Cyclops fam.

We talked about the Mental Battle podcast dropping Friday with DH, DThrill and C-Span (who is moving to Dallas?)  Also great fellowship with the young turks who are married and engaged in being strong dads. I am glad to see so many under 40’s taking advantage of F3 and what it brings in building the I am Third. I am more than happy to chat about the mistakes I made as a young dad trying hard to make my mark (before F3 existed.)

Thanks to 3-D for the opportunity.

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Fantastic Four at Footloose

4 came to Footloose for some moderate work.

Mumble chatter varied… Dads doing cheer hair….diaper changes….Michael Jackson buying trains from Carowinds…

1 min per exercise,  10 sec rest

LBC, Rev Crunch, BB Situps, Heels to Heaven, Flutters, Superman, Freddie Mercury, Hello Dolly, Hillbilly Walkers, Imperial Walkers, Squats, Lunges, Calf Raises, Side Lunges, Air Drama, Monkey Humpers, Al Gore, Step Ups, Back Lunges

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No Arrival

40-some pax posted to the region’s Ground Zero at WEP for a smorgasbord of pain, from 6@6 to Millkshake to a tried and true BC beatdown.  A very explicit and thorough Disclaimer was pronounced by Dark Helmet for the benefit of our FNG, and then the pax blasted off.

The Thang

The recitation of the 5 Core Principles quickly failed to meet DOAH’s standard, leading to some burpees.

Mosey around the parking lot with some toy soldiers and knee lifts mixed in, with the pax following onto the bandshell stage.

COP proceeded including more core principles along with some Merkins and DOAH’s proclamation that maybe the FNG’s fitness surpassed that of many of the pax present.  {Yes, he’s good at stirring the pot whether he’s poking at the Q or Qing himself.}

More mosey and more warm up exercises until the pax reach the far side of the WEP.

Enter stage left — the BAOPS boys via Clown Car — Trucker, Smuggler, Change Order & Longshanks, who just couldn’t stand the thought  of missing out on the best 1st, 2nd & 3rd F in The Fort on this given Saturday.  {Pro move by whoever made that call!}

Partner up for wheel barrow…to the playground…Yes…to the playground!…where the fun really starts.  {Fishsticks promptly cruised 85% of the way there to prove to his FNG that no matter what DOAH says, the FNG’s fitness had room for improvement.}

At the playground, each partner does 50 (yes, Five-O!) pull ups.  {Jiffy cranked out 30 in rapid fire.}

Some core work followed including LBCs and Rosalitas among others.

Handoff to Double D

Run to the bottom of the hill

Jacob’s Ladder with Donkey Kicks at the bottom and Sumo Squats at the top.  Traverse to the top via Bear Crawl and run to the bottom.

Mosey back to the parking lot with some Mary led by Jekyll

Climb the Stairway to Heaven via lunge walks, pausing for Carolina Dry Docks at each lamp post, starting with 5 reps and adding 5 more at each successive post.

Mosey down to the monuments with some Mary led by Longshanks

Circle up for an FNG introduction to Jack Webb by Change Order

Run home for final 2 mins of Mary by Longshanks

COT

NMM

A spirited pax at The Fort on this pleasant late winter morning!   Back to back weeks with a convergence at The Fort — thanks to the Alcatraz boys for adding their zeal to the day!

Maximus delivered the tailgate coffeeteria in the parking lot afterward and our FNG (EHed by Fishsticks) hung around long enough to learn the backstory of his name (Roy Kent) and to fill his rolodex with roofing customer prospects.

Welcome to Roy Kent!  Barry Manilow was quite vocal about the quality of the name and the importance of RK living up to it.  Well, if he doesn’t meet the mark, we can always default to what RK thought we named him — Rockette!

It was great to have Car Bomb among the pax today, fresh off his return trip from New Zealand, prior to his resettlement in another adventure.

The theme for the day was geared around the notion of life being an endless series of mountain climbs, peak after peak, with no arrival to the top in sight — ever.  Depressing, huh?  No, not for the HIMs of F3 and The Fort.  Give us the hard stuff.  We’re playing the long game and we know you can’t play it alone.  So keep posting, stay engaged with your brothers.  Together we’ll keep accelerating.

It was a treat to Q with DOAH for the first time.  We all look at him as just another member of The Fort, which of course he is.  At the same time, he also invests a huge amount of his life leading the 43 feet for the Nation.  Not only is it not easy being Frank {imagine how hard it must be for Traci his wife}, it’s also lonely at the top of any organization {how about leading one with 50,000 type A men?}, and it’s incredibly challenging to serve as the successor to any founder {would you want to try one Dredd’s shoes}.  Despite the small jabs, I say this with all seriousness — DOAH has taken on an extremely difficult challenge, one that he executes well with tremendous energy and virtue and that we all benefit from.  We’re fortunate that he calls The Fort “home” and that we get to take his crap on a regular cadence.  Thank you, DOAH!

Thanks to Grinder for the opportunity!  Always an honor to lead the men of this brotherhood!

SYITG

 

 

 

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Push It Real Good

Arrived early to walk the parking lot, still trying to figure out the plan for the morning. One thing was certain, we needed to start fast, because it was cold!

9 PAX showed at the Snake Pit (and another 5 at Bushwood) on a cold and crisp morning. With the traditional tunes blaring, and the chatter already strong, YHC stepped into he ring and gave the disclaimer. Being my first kettlebell Q, a strong disclaimer was given. We ran off the boot campers and got started.

Warm Up
20 SSH IC
10 LSS IC – hold
10 MNC’s IC while in Low Squat Position
10 Windmills

Buy In
11’s (or 22’s – depending on your interpretation) with KB Merkins and Snatch’s. All reps were completed.

This warmed the PAX up real quick. Or perhaps it was the playlist that took some PAX back to their middle school dance days. Evidently, 12-13 year old’s did not realize what Salt-N-Peppa were talking about.

The Thang
Farmer’s carry over to the adjacent parking lot, where 4 stations were set up. Each station had 3 exercises with a goal of 20 reps per exercise. Between each station, PAX were to run quick lap around the parking lot.

Station 1
Curls – 10/each side
Goblet Squats
American Hammers

Station 2
Single Arm Thrusters – 10/each side
Tricep Extensions – 20 or 10/each side
Standing Oblique Crunch – 10/ each side

Station 3
Kettle Bell Swings
Single Leg Deadlift -10/each side
Halos – 10/each direction

Station 4
Lawnmower Pulls – 10/each side
Front Raises
V-ups

Most made it through 6 stations. Then we farmer carried back to CoT. We had time for one set of LBCs, and the boot campers arrived back, though one was sitting in his truck? It was cold out.

Announcements. Prayers for recent loss within PAX family and workplace. Praise for Bitcoin’s new addition.

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Fort Mill Tour – No Charge

We had 20 men show up this morning at Block Party.  Alot more than I anticipated, but it’s good to have a big crowd.  After a quick disclaimer, we did the typical warm-up exercises (SSHs, Imperial Walkers, Windmills).

I explained to the Pax, we would be on the move this morning, touring Fort Mill.  Our first stop was the Hardee’s parking lot.  Once everyone arrived, we did the following exercises:

20 Squats

15 Merkins

10 LBCs

5 Burpees

Next stop was Unity Church on Tom Hall, instead of taking the shortest route, we ran down Spring Street to Leroy and met at the front of the church.  The same exercises were done by the Pax.  We continue our tour around town to the Church of God parking lot on Academy Street.   Once exercises were complete, we moved to the next stop, the parking lot across from the gas station on Spratt Street.

Our fifth stop was the Fort Mill Church of Nazarene on Harris Street.  We took the longer route up hilly Massey Street to Harris Street.  Again, another round of exercises.  Our last stop was Walter Elisha Park.

We then made our way back to COT for one last round of exercises. Total distance was a little over 3 miles. The continued theme from Monday’s Q, “No Shortcuts”.  We took the longer route to each location.  The routes were hilly and more difficult, but we are better than when we started this morning.  Keep getting after it.

Great job everyone!

 

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