Smoking sandbags at Chupacabra

We did a modified Manion type of workout:

15 squats with ruck and sandbag on

15 ruck curls

run one lap (1/4 mile)

partner up and toss sandbag for 100 yards

15 ruck curls

ruck one lap

partner up and toss sandbag for 100 yards

15 ruck curls

run one lap

partner up and toss sandbag for 100 yards

15 ruck curls

ruck one lap

partner up and toss sandbag for 100 yards

15 ruck curls

one of the sandbags couldn’t take it any longer and started smoking after the first 100 yards, filler bag was destroyed!

Crab cakes was voluntold upon arrival to lead us on a great 10 minute broga session and as the HIM he is he accepted with a big smile!!

It was a great combination of  ruck, run, broga plus all the mumblechatter.

Cicada and Badlands are morphing into ruckers.

Great to see Dinghy back in the gloom, we also had a visit from Snooze who drove 45 minutes to join us that morning.

Tinsel OUT

TClap |
0

Gettin’ Lazy

11 PAX showed up for this block party

Disclaimer then mosey to the front of the WEP amphitheater for a warmup

SSH, Windmills, IW, MNCs, Merkins all in cadence although much mumblechatter drowned out the counts

Lots of houses to visit during the block party, better get to it…

 

House #1

It looked like we had a lazy bunch this morning so we went with a Lazy Dora 1 2 3

partner 1 performs exercise while partner 2 “rests”

Merkins – partner 1 – 10 Merkins, partner 2 – “rest” in elbox plank position – swap and repeat until 100 reps complete

LBCs – partner 1 – 20 LBCs, partner 2 – “rest” in laying 10inch leg raise – swap and repeat until 200 reps complete

Squats – Partner 1 – 30 Squats, partner 2 – “rest” in Al Gore – swap and repeat until 300 reps complete

The mumblechatter subsided rather quickly here- like I said, lazy bunch out this morning.  The one comment I did hear had something to do with “I wish we were running”

 

House #2

Ask and you shall receive – Indian Run around WEP loop (x3)

First Loop – last runner drops off and does 5 Merkins then sprints to front of line

Second Loop – last runner drops off and does 5 Squats then sprints to front of line

Third Loop – last runner drops off and does 3 Burpees and then sprints to front of line

 

House #3

Bear Crawl from North Side of field to the Playground (about 2 street blocks)

Jack Webb style progression – 1 Pullup – 4 Monkey Humpers, 2 pullups – 8 MHs, 3 – 12, 4 – 16, 5 -20

 

Running low on time so we moseyed back towards CoT with time for one last stop

House #4

Hill sprint up Massey St

 

Gathered back at CoT right at 0600

 

Appreciate the chance to lead the group, Thanks Kermit

 

 

 

 

TClap |
1

Monkey Humper Missionary Burpee Beatdown

Raining on and off through the night and into the morning left us with a saturated soccer field as I pulled up to scope out the conditions.  Time to pivot from original plan and keep us out of the muck.

4 PAX at 0515

Disclaimer and we began to mosey toward Middle School when Mainframe pulled in.  Decided to be kind and not make him chase us so headed back towards the parking lot to meet him and do some warmups on pavement next to soccer fields.

Can’t remember warmup exercises since I am writing this two weeks late (lesson learned)

 

The Main Thang –

11s on pavement next to soccer field – about 100 yards between 2 stations with cone at the 50 yard mark

Station 1:  SSH (IC)

Station 2: Monkey Humpers (IC)

every time you pass the cone in the middle – 5 good ol’ normal missionary style burpees

 

We went on a short mosey after finishing 11s to recover and found our way back to the elementary building.

 

The Extra Thangs –

Performed a variety of exercises  (IC) while in a wall sit:

MNC, Overhead Claps, Toe Risers

Legs were starting to feel it but these 5 PAX came for pain so we performed a couple rounds of the following:

sumo squat shuffle the length of the sidewalk from the flagpole to the soccer field (Some thought it was not fair that Mainframe and I only had to do half the reps since our legs are so long…)

Move to curb – 1 Merkin with hands on curb then roll over and 3 dips then roll over and repeat until you make it back down to the flag pole

 

We then moseyed back to CoT and got in a few minutes of Mary

 

Thanks for the invite Poppins!

 

TClap |
0

(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

 

TClap |
0

Are you running to or running from? And Duck Donuts

SWEEP THE LEG

Monday, 3/7/2022

11 PAX – @Cubbie, @Vuvuzela, @Maximus, @Skipper, @Pusher, @Trucker, @38Special, @Shady, @FishSticks, @Badlands,@FireMarshallBill

Duck Dounts Workout Plan:

Run over to Brayden

Run 1 donut lap – 0.6 miles each

Complete next exercise

Donut lap is Emory to Helton, Helton to Emory

 

Lap 1 (Maple Bacon)

Exercise 1 – 20 Merkins

Lap 2 (Cookies and Cream)

Exercise 2 – 30 Dips on the curb

Lap 3 (Peanut Butter Paradise)

Exercise 3 – 50 squats

Lap 4 (Strawberry Shortcake)

Exercise 4 -Mountain Climbers – 50 each leg

Lap 5 (S’Mores)

Exercise 5 – Freddie Mercuries – 50 each leg

Extra Lap (Coconut Island Bliss) (@Vuvuzela, @Maximus, @Badlands, @Fishsticks, others??)

Exercise 6 – 50 Flutter Kicks

Head back for COT

PAX Notes:

Cubbie learned there are 5 rules to F3 not 3. Great start. Cubbie led PAX across 160 and went first while others decided not to become road meat, smart choice. We met at Emory and Helton by Brayden mailbox for workout plan. Trucker and 38Special got a head start, then ran in the reverse direction with Fire Marshall Bill. Cubbie ran with Skipper and helped with the hills. Mumblechatter helped push through. Vuvuzela, Badlands, and FishSticks led. Maximus, Shady, and Pusher followed in pursuit. Those 6 were able to complete Lap 6 / Exercise 6. Vuvu and Badlands stayed behind to catch remaining PAX and almost beat Cubbie back to COT.

4-5 miles ran

Covered plus/deltas for Cubbie VQ. Need more rest, less cardio in between running. Need to not shout at the nice Brayden neighbors during exercise explanation. Good plan with nice visuals and theme. Good workout, everyone seemed like they gave it 100%. There was some complaining about no actual Duck Donuts but the way I see it everyone had at least 5 while others went for half dozen.

Closing message before Announcements, Prayers, Closing Prayer – Are you running to or running from?:

STL is a running style workout. We are running around our communities, running for ourselves, running to be better men. We are running to these things – What are we running from? Is it that:

  • Anger that comes out when we are disciplining our children
  • The need to be in control
  • Joker in your life: Porn, Alcohol, drugs
  • Relationship with your wife that you want to improve that you don’t know how, with your children, with God

I had to start to get right in my mind to what I am running from. After being defeated, exhausted, and spent, I realized I couldn’t outrun my own Joker. By facing it head on, I was able to start that journey. I realized I need to be honest about myself and where I wanted to go. Most important I realized I could not go somewhere I had not gone before by using my same old mindset. I am not perfect and still struggle every day. But I try to be 1% better than the day before.

Start your journey today. Be honest about your struggle, get help professionally, join a Whetstone or Shieldlock, and start to attack your problems head on. And that is where each of us can become a better co-worker, leader, coach, Cub Scout leader, Dad, Husband, Son, and a man.

Honored to lead VQ. Thanks to those who showed and got stronger.

Cubbie out

TClap |
4

D2D FoMo- Hill Repeats

9 was the number that descended on the Earth Fare parking lot for a cool Monday beatdown. Quick disclaimer that I was not a professional and we took off towards South State Bank and ultimately towards the challenge that was presented by YHC on the Dave Gibson Hill.

However before that I took the PAX down the hill and back towards Gold Hill Middle School and shared that I was very disappointed that I missed the relay and I was hoping to relive the experience with the unsuspecting PAX that showed including several HIMs that conquered the relay just two days prior. Maybe I should have had more mercy? 🤷🏽‍♂️

We stopped at the entrance to Gold Hill and I laid out the challenge. Run to the opposite end of the parking lot towards where Colosseum COT takes place. Challenge: run there and back and complete 100 Merkins in any combination rep total of your preference, just get 100 done before you get back to the start.

We took off and YHC decided to do 20 at a time and so make my 5 stops along the way with Badlands pushing the pace. Despite that Fishsticks somehow finished first and we waiting for the 6 in the plank position.

Now for the meat and potatoes, We were to run hill repeats from one set of cones to the next at the top of Dave Gibson approx .5 miles and then proceed to complete 1 Monkey Humper at the top of the hill and then 7 burpees at the bottom. Repeat, but next round its 2 Monkey Humpers and only 6 Burpees at bottom. Stretch Goal is to get 7 laps. None achieved the goal. Misery was had by all and the time went quickly and painfully slow at the same time.

Good mumble chatter from the PAX and it was great hearing about the D2D relay.  Around 5:55 we headed back to COT.

3.5-4.9 miles were achieved, with a minimum of 100 Merkins, 20-30 burpees and 10-15 monkey humpers and 300-400 ft of elevation gain 💪🏽 were completed. Upon reflection I should have made the monkey humpers in sets of 10.

Announcements were announced, prayers were prayed and praises were given to the Most High! Great work men!

Poppins Out ✌🏽

 

TClap |
1

“Twos”day Torture

9 PAX gathered on a beautiful February morning – a preview of spring that is right around the corner.

Disclaimer and we started to mosey down road towards the entrance when Olaf came trotting out of the woods making it 10 PAX.  Turned around at entrance and did some dynamic warmup on return to parking lot (Toy Soldiers, High Knees, Karaoke).

Maybe it was the weather or maybe it was just Olaf, but the mumblechatter was strong this morning.

 

The first Thang:

10 Minute hardCORE HIIT – 10 Exercises 45 Sec On 15 sec off

SSH

Freddie Mercuries

Standing High Knee Taps

American Hammers

Mountain Climbers

Laying Leg Raises

Plank In and Outs (think flying squirrel – plank jacks)

Plank side to sides (think elbow plank where you alternate rotating and touching each hip to the ground)

Star Crunches (essentially a Dying Cockroach)

Running High Knees

Before the circuit started, I proclaimed this was a core HIIT.  So thank you Bandcamp for letting us know halfway through that we were doing a lot of ab work – very enlightening 😉

 

The next Thang:

“Twos”day Torture – in honor of it being 2-22-22 on a Tuesday

2 stations separated by .2 miles – Station 1 at parking lot where we park, Station 2 at parking lot at entrance

Perform following exercises at Station 1:

2 Mickey Mouse Merkins

22 MNCs while in squat position

22 Lunges (11 each leg)

Run to Station 2 (Plank for the 6)

Perform following exercises at Station 2:

2 Kraken Burpees

22 overhead claps

22 calf raises

Run Back to Station 1 (Plank for the 6)

Rinse/Repeat – we made it through 4 rounds

 

Moseyed back and finished back at COT right on time

 

NMM:  As usual, an honor to lead the Pax.  Naturally, the runs back and forth between stations today evolved into long sprint races and competitions of who could get their heart rate highest.  Not sure there was a clear winner but we all got better together and fought the urge to slow down or cut it short.  Maximus would have agreed that we earned our 1% today –  great work from all the PAX.  Thanks for the opportunity Shower Curtain!

 

-Badlands

 

 

TClap |
1

3-1-22: 3 lessons, 3 stations

YHC took a call up on the schedule to kick off March.  20 decided to converge east of the peach stand.  Three lessons were shared from Seneca and a few exercises were called.

COP – After the pledge, a mosey to Kimbrell’s for COP – squats, people’s chairs, windmills, seal jacks, and burpees sprinkled in got everyone warmed up and on to station #1.

Lesson 1 – “Train your body rigorously so it is not disobedient to your mind”

Station 1 – 10 burpees upon arrival.  7’s to follow – kraken burpees at the top of the circle with squats at the entrance of the circle.  PAX returned to the top of the circle to confirm the lesson was learned.  It was. From there, we moseyed to…….

Lesson 2 – “He who is everywhere is nowhere”

Station 2 – PAX paired up completing a 4 corner, 2 round circuit 5-10-15-20 – burpees, merkins, squats and seal jacks.  Upon completion, 5 more burpees to ensure the lesson was learned.  It was.

Lesson 3 – “Happy is he who makes others better”

Station 3 – flutters in cadence, LBC’s in cadence and a mosey back to COT.  Early arrivers did a few burpees to finish out and a few abs – geometry class brought us to 0600 and COT.

Announcements were shared, prayers were offered and praises were given.

NMM – 3 takeaways to expand on the lessons learned:

1 – Rigorous training enables us to be durable as leaders in our homes and communities.  We are better equipped to handle life’s challenges and keep a calm and clear mind when our bodies are strong.  Our mind and spirit require the same training.

2 – The person who feels busy may find themselves living the life of a hamster on a wheel – in a sense, being everywhere, but nowhere.  Are we setting routines that allow for avoiding that trap? Our world is great at distracting us.  We are equipped to mitigate that through our disciplines, our training and how we apply it daily.

3 – Helping others improve in their journey expecting nothing in return is the ultimate gift of impact.  As leaders, we are called to give away what we know in the pursuit of helping others seek advantage.  The feeling of knowing your effort inspired or encouraged someone to go further, work harder, apply themselves more, etc. brings about a joy knowing your work as a servant manifested itself positively in others.

My thanks to Kermit for the call out and the opportunity to lead a fantastic group of HIMs.  I am grateful to start the day (and in this case) month off on an advantageous foot.

Keep going!!!

Cyclops

TClap |
7

STL – Just Keep Going

9 PAX at Sweep the Leg

3.75 mile route through Baxter, some got a little extra at the end.

Every stop we did the following exercises for the 6 to arrive. When the 6 was in, YHC called either one more exercise or we went back to moseying
Exercises:
5 burpees
10 merkins
15 squats
20 flutters
25 lbcs
Mostly we continued on after squats or flutters

When we arrived at Alison Park everyone had 5 pull-ups, but they called the up and down. Other PAX were doing merkins because there’s only one pull-up bar in all of Baxter. 40 merkins and 5 pull-ups for everyone at Alison. From there we continued our route

NMM:
The workout was designed to model the following scenario. Sometimes things are rough and you want them to change. But you find the change is just as rough or worse. So, you go back and forth. The point is: you don’t stop.

An honor to lead such a fast group.


Band Camp Dismissed

TClap |
5

Convergence: Love & a passing of the flag

Station 1 (Santini): Traditional Pain Platoon

Just your basic beat the hell out of your legs exercises of lunges, squats, and burpees intermixed with meditation and box breathing exercises. Sprint to the top of the hill, recover, and do more exercises including Moroccan night clubs and Carolina dry docks.

NMM: Anxiety and gratitude are not able to occupy the same space.

Station 2 (Shady / Maximus)

Warmup (Shady) – 21 SSH, 5 burpees, 18 SSH, 5 burpees, 12 SSH, someone whined about burpees so we did 10 diamonds merkins…then did 5 burpees
Group 1
  • partnered up and Dora style started out with 100 pull-ups.  Partner 1 on the pull-up bar, partner 2 did a lap around the playgroud
  • Stayed on playground, stayed with partner, Partner 1 AMRAP merkins while partner 2 ran the length of the playground and back to AMRAP merkins
  • Stayed on the AMRAP theme with flutters, then back to merkins, then back to flutters…then (I think) time was called

Group 2

  • Partnered up and Dora style, but this time 50 pull-ups with the run around the playground (Q modification given time and we aren’t cyborgs)
  • AMRAPs were just 1 round of merkins and flutters (again, I think…may need a lifeline here from Max)
  • We made our way to the hill with the statue where Maximus laid down the NUR up the hill and at the top 10 bomb jacks and ran to the bottom where we did 20 American hammers..we did this twice
  • W/ time to spare we ran to the top for 10 diamond merkins and ran to the bottom for 10 V-ups
  • In buzzer beater fashion, we ran to the top again for 10 ranger merkins and ran to the bottom for a partner 1 lay on the ground and grab partner 2s ankles where partner 2 would throw partner 1s feet down 10 times as you straight leg lifted them to his face

Group 3

  • Dora style 50 pull-ups with the run around the playground
  • We made our way to the hill with the statue where Maximus laid down the NUR up the hill and at the top 10 bomb jacks and ran to the bottom where we did 20 american hammers..we did this twice
  • Running low on time ran to the top for 10 diamond merkins and ran to the bottom for the ankle grabbing / feet throwing core exercise 10 times
NMM: After each of the groups had done their pull-ups, Maximus and Shady shared their thoughts and experiences on LOVE.
  • Shady – areas of focus were loving your brother and being your brothers keeper.  Sending a text or reaching out to someone to just say “hey, thinking of you” could change their day.  Realizing that the ones you love are watching you, emulating you, picking up on good and bad habits.  Realizing we don’t know it all, especially to the ones we love, is a sign of humility and a factor of growth and development.  For those of us with children, we have never been parents before so we honestly have no idea what we’re doing.  Love starts with servant leadership and personally for YHC, this usually progresses when the mouth is shut and ears are open.
  • Maximus – For my discussion on love, it begins with being intentional as love is a decision. We must make the decision to be intentional with our actions. Whether it be in our faith, marriage, parenting of our kids, with friends and yes, even with work relationships, we must be intentional. Think about how easy it is to get distracted, whether at dinner with your wife or even on a Zoom call for work. We often allow our minds to wander or even start doing something else while the other person is talking, looking for our engagement. Stop. Be the person who is present in the moment. Put the shoe on the other foot. Love that person as your relationship to them allows.

Station 3 (Pusher & Cakeboss): Love Edition

COP
  • SSHs
  • Windmills
  • Squats
  • Mtn Climbers
  • Merkins
  • IWs
Cake Boss spells love “B-U-R-P-E-E”
The Thang
  • Jacobs Ladder with Derkins and Monkey Humpers
  • Plank/Dip sequence
  • Bear crawl to top with burpees
NMM:
  • Cord of 3 strands cannot be broken. Having God in your marriage is the 3rd string. Adding communication to the marriage strengthens it. – CB
  • Gifts vs Gaps. Focus on the gifts that your wife or significant other bring vs what she is missing. Seeing her this way builds love. – Pusher
  • Much love was on display with all of the mumblechatter and fellowship. The relationships formed through F3 has increased our love internally and is reflected outward to our Ms, 2.0s, PAX and community… #morethanaworkout

Shovel Flag hand off for two leadership positions in the Fort:

Shady handed off the Nantan role to Double D
Esso handed off the Weasel Shaker role to YHC

Awesome work by the PAX today. Hard to put into words how much improved my disposition on life is since moving back to Fort Mill because of F3. Grateful for an opportunity to serve the PAX of The Fort.

NMM: Double D was the site-Q at Block Party when I started posting. If it wasn’t for his steady presence with a commitment to the integrating 2nd F and 3rd F elements into each workout, I doubt I’d have kept posting. Double D is a genuine human, I’m a better dude for knowing him, and I’m excited for his leadership.


Band Camp dismissed

TClap |
8