Tag: BattleBot

(Pre) Adopt a Highway Beatdown

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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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Laces In randomness

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11 Pax showed up at Laces In in some relatively balmy weather (45ish degrees).  Gave the disclaimer at 0515 and after a short warm-up with 20 SSH in cadence and 6 or 7 windmills (my count is a bit blurry from 5 hours ago) we were off.

 

From COT we moseyed over to the first parking lot for a riddle.  How do 17 merkins + 14 jump squats equal 6 burpees?  The PAX were very astute to the Buffalo Bills numbers and quickly figured out that 17 (Josh Allen) + 14 (Stefon Diggs) = 6 (Touchdown!!).  It was corny, but it was fun for YHC.  Since the group figured it out so quickly, we only did this once.

 

After this we moseyed again; this time over to the hill/entrance to the school.  From here we did 11’s with hand-release merkins at the bottom and ran to the top of the hill to do Freddie Mercury’s (nuring up the hill on one round).  I asked the pax to stay together to encourage both each other and mumble chatter…

 

Lastly we moseyed over to the band lot.  At this location we would do laps around the ‘field’ and do a corresponding exercise at the end of each lap.  The laps/exercises were:

Lap 1: 10yd to 10yd line with 10 Catalina wine mixers

Lap 2: 20 to 20 with 20 LBCs

Lap 3: 30 to 30 with 30 CDDs

Lap 4: 40 to 40 with 40 squats – cut this short due to time.

 

Headed back to COT.  Shared announcements and prayers/praises.

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2112

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Eleven of Ft. Mill’s finest met at the corner of route 160 and Gold Hill Road for another edition of the Golden Corral.    Here is what they did:

The Thang:

Before the workout began, there was some discussion about the exact time of day and apparently, my watch was about 2 mins slow.  So the Pax were disclaimed at 5:17 rather than the designated start time of 5:15. Today, though, that worked out for the best as we found one straggler rolling into the parking lot as I was finishing the disclaimer,  and that guy turned out to be an FNG!  After some minor ribbing for being tardy, we moseyed over to the ‘alley’ between Harris Teeter an O’Reilly Auto Parts for COP.

COP (all in cadence):

SSH x 40, windmill x 15, IW x 40, merkin x 10, LBC x 20, Mountain climber x 35, low, slow squat x 20, Morrocan night club x 40 while walking to the front of Harris Teeter.

Split into two groups for suicides using the 3 light posts as the stopping points.  We did 4 rounds and it was a crowd pleaser:

Round 1:  Group 1 run, while group 2 does merkins

Round 2:  Group 2 run, while group 2 does LBC’s

Round 3:  Group 3 run, while group 2 does monkey humpers

Round 4:  Group 4 run, while group does dips

Mosey back to the alley between Harris Teeter and O’Reilly.  All Pax in people’s chair and one by one bear crawl from one end to the other until we cycle through all the pax.  Shake ‘em out.  Now all pax in balls to the wall and then one by one, jog from one end to the other.

Mosey back to the main lot for a true 6 minutes of Mary:

Freddie Mercury x 20, Pretzel crunch x 10L/10R, Hello Dolly x 20, Superman hold x 3

COT

I was a last-minute sub for Decibel last night so just pulled an old Q from the archives.  This one was from September 29, 2014 and we had 20 guys back then.  Here is a little bit of F3 The Fort history:  Golden Corral was THE Tuesday workout in Fort Mill and we used to get 15 plus pax week after week so it wasn’t long before we needed to add the other Tuesday workouts (Colosseum, Ballroom).  Funhouses was the original site Q.

Big fun from the group today and plenty of mumble chatter.  Leading the charge (no surprise) was Jekyll and Twister.  At one point during COP, I could hear my own cadence count, but could not make out the count from the Pax because only 1/3 of the group was counting the other 2/3 were discussing how the beverage industry is changing (among other topics).    Everyone seemed to have a comment about something.  My favorite came from Airwolf who recognized that with our latest FNG Tailwind, F3 The Fort has met our EEOC requirement for 2022 – hahahaha.  All in jest of, course!

This morning exemplified what we all know and love about F3.  And that is, despite all that is going wrong in our communities (the death of a son, a local teacher robbed and shot, a worsening pandemic, and the huge political divide in our country), getting together to break a good sweat and have some laughs can keep all the bad stuff from getting to us.  Our bodies are stronger, we feel better physically and emotionally, and we know we have guys to lean on when we need them.

It was truly a pleasure to lead the group today and I look forward to next time. And BTW, the title of the backblast is a continuation of my effort to work Rush song titles into this website (RIP Neil Peart).

Announcements/Prayers/Praises

  1. Dam to Dam 10K bar (check your newsletter)
  2. Prayers for Aquaman’s family, Covid victims, cancer victims, local teacher in hospital.
  3. I neglected to get Tailwind’s contact info this morning. If anyone reads this (which will be a very small number I think), please reach out to him if you happen to see him or hear that name at a workout.

 

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51st Hive of 2021 – Cultural Credit

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15 PAX gathered in the gloom. We started with one or two less, but by 0505 we were at 15 and nobody fell out….so I’m calling it a win.

Warm-up/Tuning

Mosey further than PAX were expecting
Some Yoga
SSH
IW
1 Burpee
HW
Mosey

1st movement

Head to the courtyard
15 Swings
5 Single Leg Deadlift
Bear Crawl w/ Bell (stop when Q calls for the next set)
15 Swings
4 SLD
Bear Crawl w/ Bell
15 Swings
3 SLD
Bear Crawl w/ Bell
etc.

2nd movement

Head to the outside of the gym
Try to keep the bell in your hands the whole time
8 goblet squats, suitcase carry w/ the left hand for about 40 feet
7 goblet squats, carry back w/ the kettlebell in the right hand
6 goblet squats, left hand suitcase walk
5 goblet squats, right hand walk
4 goblet squats, left hand walk
3 goblet squats, right hand walk
2 goblet squats, left hand walk
1 goblet squat, finished
Time under tension about 3 minutes

3rd movement

Back to the main parking lot. Line up facing the length of the lot and the practice field
5 Lawnmower Pulls each side
5 Racked Lunges each side
5 Snatches each side
Sprint to the other side and back (about 100yds)
10 Lawnmower Pulls each side
5 Racked Lunges each side
5 More Racked Lunges each side
3 Snatches each side
7 Snatches each side
Spring to the other side and back

Brief music history lesson. See NMM

4th movement

10 minutes of work
timer set for every minute
15 swings, 10 push-ups, rest the remainder of the minute
15 swings, 9 push-ups, rest
We made our way down to 15 swings, 1 push-up

0600

NMM

(Naked Man Moleskine)
YHC likes to incorporate some kind of message to encourage 2nd or 3rd F acceleration (in myself as much as the PAX). There wasn’t a whole lot on my heart beside focusing on work (teaching music) lately; so, I went with a short music history lesson.

A Concerto is a piece for soloist and orchestra. It comes from a Latin word meaning to contend or to strive. These showcase pieces are written for a soloist to contend with their instrument or strive to demonstrate greatness. Concertos are presented in 3 movements…fast-slow-fast (Think of “movements” like sections or large chapters in a book)

A Symphony on the other hand is a piece for an orchestra. It comes from a Latin word meaning “to sound together” or “in harmony.” Symphonies are typically presented in 4 movements (although some symphonic composers famously break that mold with 5 or 6 movement works). The movements were initially grouped fast-slow-dance (European courtly dance)-fast. Later (early 1800s) that structure became fast-slow-joke (called a Scherzo)-fast. PAX can decide for themselves if the 3rd movement of the workout was a joke or not! 🙂 Composers eventually began changing the tempo within each movement and even linking different movements together with no pause (like binge watching something on Netflix).

Here’s a Concerto to check out: Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto no. 1 https://vimeo.com/371584269
(the opening piano block chords in the first movement are a GREAT moment. Turn the speakers up!!)

Here’s a Symphony to check out: Brahms Symphony no. 4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QLuYj2jxoc
(The height of sublimely invigorating music, German seriousness, attention to detail, and connection with tradition.* Try to follow the melodies as the move and evolve. Again…listen LOUD!)

BTW: audiences traditionally no longer clap between movements as a sign of unbroken contemplation, attention and general respect for the integrity of the larger work. However, most performances pre-1900 would have had a fairly raucous amount of applause between movements. Some audiences even demanded a movement be performed again before the orchestra could go on. So if you clap between movements, just know you’re following an older tradition than the one now common in our concert halls. And feel free to bring that up during intermission when someone looks at your side-eyed for clapping between movements. #Candor

Here endeth your cultural credit for the day

*As I wrote these notes about Brahms 4, I noticed they’re also things Uhaul gripes about working for a German company. No commentary; just thought that was an interesting connection worth thinking about.

An honor to lead as always. Thanks Airborne for the opportunity

Announcements:
12/24 Santa Boss 5k/10k – 0600 launch from Pantheon (Tega Cay Elementary)
12/24 Convergence – 0700 at Pantheon (still Tega Cay Elementary)

Video evidence in tweet form

Prayers for:
Praise from Straight-Up for a wonderful day yesterday
Praise from Drop Thrill on Xmas performances happening again with his vocal ensemble
Peabody’s co-worker that had a seizure
Pausing to actually enjoy this season with your kids, despite all the business of things that need to happen. (Thanks for this one Slash!)

—

Band Camp dismissed

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4

My pain, your gain

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When given the option to Q on the 11th or the 18th, YHC made the right choice. Last week I was not sick, now I am.  I wanted to make sure that whatever I did would prepare me for Sugar Daddy’s mountain party, and thereby make everyone a bit stronger for the experience.

I asked OTG if he would be so kind as to bring along a truckload of cinder blocks, and he obliged. This also gave me the ability to truthfully say I was not bringing cinder blocks, with the hope that it might attract a few more PAX.

The warmup

Quick mozey to the big parking lot for some SSH, squats, imperial walkers, and windmills. Then back to OTG’s truck.

The thang

Very simply, grab a block and follow me to the base of the hill. What’s that? The gate is open to the stadium? YHC called an audible and we took our cinder blocks to the bottom of the road.

The workout was simple. 21s.  Start with 20 murder bunnies at the bottom, run up to and around the traffic circle, 1 squat.  There was not enough time to finish this big bowl of stupid but, as expected, the PAX were easily able to overtake me.

COT

Some prayer requests went out and we talked announcements. There’s a lot going on

NMM

I overheard a good deal of mumblechatter during the workout as Yard Sale, JWoww and BattleBot easily lapped me. OTG hung back to help me feel better about the sorry state I’m in. LOL

But it’s never bothered me to be in the six. When I Q I try to make sure that all levels can work against themselves and get something out of it.  And since there was Q school going on and 2 of the PAX were relatively new to F3, I felt it was worth expounding a bit on that in CoT.

The best workouts aren’t always defined by an insurmountable burpee count, but by the fellowship experienced under that load.

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Pick Your Poison

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Disclaimer. Mosey lap around parking lot. Warmup with usual.

Pax circle up. Go around circle, 1st pax picks an exercise for the rest of us to do while they run the lap. Go around circle with same method. Now, partner up. Partner does exercise their partner called the 1st go round, other partner runs lap. Pick a different partner–same thing. Now we finish with you doing the exercise you selected, 2 max out sets.

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Way-Backblast – Pushing Through at Laces In

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It’s been a long time coming, but finally stepped into the ring at Laces In and handled my VQ. 14 other PAX joined in the gloom for a little of everything, including an FNG.

Disclaimer

With one fresh face in the crowd, we went over the disclaimer, the Five Core Principles of F3 and the Credo. There was absolutely no mumblechatter during this disclaimer and the message was clear and concise.

Warm Up

We moseyed over to the band practice lot for 15 Low Slow Squats IC and 15 Cherry Pickers IC. Then began to mosey back to the student parking lot, but mixed in some Toy Soldiers, High Knees and Butt Kickers. Once in the student lot, CoP for 21 SSH IC and 10 Merkins IC.

The Thang

Utilizing the very large student parking lot, we did a modified 4-corners. The modification was to return to the center for 5 burpees between each corner. The 4 corners consisted of:

  1. Jump Squats & Fredie Mercury
  2. Derkins & Flutter Kicks
  3. Alternating Side Squats & Mtn Climbers
  4. Diamonds & Hello Dollys

We began with 20 reps, and increased the rep count by 10 each time around (round 2 was 30 reps of each exercise and round 3 was 40 reps).

After 2.5 laps, we circled up for one last set of burpees and moseyed across the parking lot to the hill. Since coming off a nagging injury, I have noticed “plateaus” during workouts even more. I reminded the PAX that when we’re faced with difficulty or plateaus in life, whether it’s our health, our relationships with our M and/or our 2.0s, or even at work, that’s when we should focus more and “push harder.” Here at the at the end of the workout, push yourself to sprint up the hill and get better.

After 3 trips up the hill, we moseyed back to CoT (merlot may or may not have been splashed by yours truly) for Name-o-rama, welcomed Battle Bot, announcements, prayers & praises.

Thanks for the VQ support, gentlemen.

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11

Loopy Loop

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Total of eleven pax for the third installment of Q-swap Thursdays in October.
Today, the Ranch swapped for Laces In. Bootcamp for Bootcamp.
Since Ruby Slippers’ shoulder is on the mend (TAPs), I covered for him today at Laces In.

Disclaimer given and began with some simple stretches.
Warmup: Motivators from 7 (thanks to Tesh for reminding me of a movement I forgot in these Motivators).

Run

Thang: Four corners loop
The routine is explained as: Four corners, cone in each corner, exercises noted on the cone. Will go through these four corners twice to cover a total of eight different exercises.
We do the exercise AMRAP-style for 1 minute
Pax then record the rep count w/ chalk
Pax run to the next cone together as a group
The eight exercises, in order, are:
Burpees
Squats
Leg lifts
SSH
Hand release merkins
Shoulder taps
Monkey humpers
Big boy sit ups
Then for variety, there is a ninth cone, which is:
Bear crawl forward five parking spots, then do 5 merkins, proceed to another five parking spots, then do 5 merkins…continue until time is called. Record distance traveled.

After the nine cones, had a slight break, talked about “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth measuring”
And read the two verses below. Point was: we are out here in the gloom working our butts off, we should be measuring it.

Then proceeded back to the cones for a last round of AMRAPs, with the goal of beating your prior number.

Time called, ran back to COT.

No Mary, got some in the thang.
Fini

1 Timothy 4:15
Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all.

Proverbs 13:4
Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.

NMM: could have removed the ninth cone…would have permitted more time to complete the second loop.
This parking lot has a total perimeter of about 400 meters; so running a loop gets you a ¼ mile.

 

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5

How Much Time Will We Waste?

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Last week a dear brother of ours passed unexpectedly. He was one of the good ones – and he taught me a most valuable lesson about time spent and time wasted. He fought his demons and let them reign supreme for far too long – but he eventually said “enough is enough” and overcame those demons. From then on he was the husband, father, and brother to those around him that lead from the front. It was in that moment that he became the man God designed him to be.

So, today, we won’t waste time in doing what we need to do.

COP

56 x SSHs, Low Slow Squats, Overhead Claps

Mosey to Endzone on Field

Proverbs 6:9-11

9 

How long will you lie there, you sluggard?

    When will you get up from your sleep?

10 

A little sleep, a little slumber,

    a little folding of the hands to rest—

11 

and poverty will come on you like a thief

    and scarcity like an armed man.


Field Work

Partner up, swap wheel barrow every 10 yards.

Endzone – Burpee Broad Jumps x 7

10 – Donkey Kicks

20 – Hand Release Merkins

30 – Jump Lunges (each leg)

40 – Air Squats

50 – LBCs

40 – Air Squats

30 – Jump Lunges (each leg)

20 – Hand Release Merkins

10 – Donkey Kicks

Endzone – Burpee Broad Jumps x 7

 

James 4:13-15

13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”

14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”


Bear Crawl, Exercise

25 Yards

15 Bomb Jacks

25 Yards

15 Jump Squats

25 Yards

15 Bomb Jacks

25 Yards

15 Jump Squats

 

NMM

I’ll tell you this – I am a hypocrite. I have not been doing as I say here, but that is going to change. I am not going to be a man of inaction regarding what matters any more.

Dawson Trotman once said: “The biggest waste of time is the waste of time in getting started.”

 

Jack Webbs

1:4 to 10:40 on the field.

Mosey to Shovel Flag for COT.

Jack Webbs Cont’d

11:44-14:56 for Shop Vac

10 flutters to end it.

Final Thought

What do I need to do to stop procrastinating? What do you need to do?

Prayers/Praises

Prayers for Shop Vac and Nugent’s families – both died unexpectedly last week under terrible circumstances.

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