Prisoners over the Wall

11 men arrived at the park, with 1 FNG in tow.  Change Order and Copperfield had an alternate plan to run the Tega Cay hills.

Fishsticks began the workout with a warm-up jog around the neighborhood.

Circled up for COP

Plank Stretches

SSH x 20

Imperial Walker x  20

Windmill x10

Hello Dolly x 10

Moroccan Night Club  x 20

Mosey to the field for some partner exercises at each corner of the field

  1.  Elevated push-ups x10 – feet on partner’s back
  2.  Single arm lifts x10  – Lift partner up from ground with one hand
  3. Dips x 10 – Partner 1 in plank position while partner 2 dips
  4. Merkin claps x 20

Rinse and repeat two more times OYO

Jekyll takes the Q-

Mosey around backside of Alcatraz with a head fake to “the hill”.  Stopped for some seal jacks and plank jacks before having Sparkplug lead the pax to the coupons.

Taking our brick we pick it up and put it down several times in the form of curls, squats, lunges, shoulder press, tricep extensions.  Bonsai looked like he was lifting cobble stone.  That dude big.

Split off to team 1 and 2.  Team 1 on wall for sits and team 2 race across field, scale the outfield fence, run up the mulch hill and do 5 bombjacks- race back to wall.  Flapjack.  2 more rounds throwing in BTTWs and Wall sits.  Sparkplug continues to be a no quit leader.  #inspiration.  Falcon Crest almost had nonscheduled reassignment surgery getting up and over the fence.

Putting coupons back at home base we moseyed to the field for Jack Webbs and Lt. Dan’s.  Crowd favorite here- especially the LT. Dans.

Great effort by all.  Triple Hate- FNG Baywatch was a welcome surprise.  Nice job Router.  If you are still wondering- Shady has firm backside that provided a great bench for YHC.

 

Excellent work men!

 

Announcements:

F3 Chicago – Launching soon

The Fort Invergence – Sept 29

Paradise workout – Friday night at 7:00pm

Prayers:

Shaddy’s M interview

Change Order’s M turns 40

Jekyll’s 2.0 away on camping trip

 

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More than a Workout (at the risk of sounding cliche)

It was an 80 degree humid, gloomy morning at the Abyss. As we waited for the majority of the PAX to arrive, Witch Hunt pointed out something unique about this AO (important for anyone who with a VQ coming up). At around 5:12, just when you think not many PAX are going to show up, 7 cars come barreling in. Always good to see a lot of PAX at this great AO.

There were no FNG’s present so a super brief disclaimer was given and a challenge question about discipline was issued by YHC. Without question, the men who consistently post and workout in some fashion are disciplined enough to get up early and improve physically. What is an area of your life where you lack the same level of discipline?

And with that we moseyed to the bus circle behind the school (high knees, butt kickers, side shuffles) to warm up.

Warm up (IC)

20 SSH
20 IW
20 WM
30 MNC

The Thang

Mosey to the paved hill

Round 1 – Lunge Walk halfway up, run the other half, 10 merkins at the top, run down to the bottom for 10 merkins (plank for the 6)
Round 2 – Duck Walk halfway up, run the other half, 10 burpees at the top, run down to the bottom for 10 burpees (plank for the 6)
Round 3 – Bear crawl halfway up, run the other half, 10 deep squats at the top, run down to the bottom for 10 deep squats (plank for the 6)
Round 4 – Lt Dan’s (walking lunge, lunge, squat), 10 donkey kicks at the top, run down to the bottom for 10 donkey kicks (plank for the 6)

Recover

Mosey back to the bus circle and partner up

Round 1

P1 – Two suicides* (using the 4 basketball goals as our mark each time)
P2 – Hold a plank
Flap jack

*Later named Twoicides (TM by DaVinci) on Twitter. Nice work!

Upon announcement of the twoicides, and during, the mumble chatter was everywhere and none were too happy with YHC.

Round 2

P1 – One suicide
P2 – Hold a one armed plank
Flap jack

After a few 10 counts to recover, we moseyed to the wall

Peoples chair while PAX (one at time ran to the blacktop for 5 Monkey Humpers)
1/3 of the way through we lowered on the wall, 2/3 of the way, lowered again

With legs thoroughly burning and mumble chatter about inevitable soreness, we slow moseyed back to the shovel flag for some ab work (IC).

American Hammers
Modified Freddys (Knee, Knee, Crunch)
Protractor (6 inches to 20 degrees)
Hello Dollys

COT

Check the newsletter (Ragnar, Nun Run, etc…)
Prayers and Praises

Cornerstone’s wife – kidney stones
Cornerstone’s daughter Emma
Cobra Kai’s wife Jennifer and treatment
Wild Thing and Wife’s new baby born 8/22
Witch Hunt – Good report from the Dr. and he’s back!

Moleskin

It was another great day to post and always great to be out with F3 brothers. Great job grinding it out by all the PAX!

As mentioned earlier in the workout, discipline is something each of us has or we wouldn’t continue to post. But what part of your life lacks that same discipline and causing you grief? I could list some examples but you know what I am talking about. Give it some consideration and ask God for guidance and strength.

I have been involved in F3 since September 2015. After struggling through the first couple dozen workouts, I felt better than I had in a long time and I was thankful to my F3 brothers for pushing me and proud of myself for doing something about getting in shape. I wish I could remember the workout when it finally clicked that I was doing really well in some areas of my life while failing in others. I was putting in efforts, sometimes even doing well but I wasn’t the best husband or father I could be. I was a walking heap of good intentions. I fully intended to help more with chores, spend more time with the kids after a full day at work, etc… But I was failing to turn my good intentions into action.

I was living 1st instead of 3rd and there were areas of my life that needed to be overhauled.

Over the last 2 years, there have been many folks along the way (too many to name) that have helped push me and encourage me to be a better man. Just know if I have posted to a workout that you Q’d or posted along side you, Thank you!

When I have the privilege of leading a workout, my goal is to encourage you to be better men as well. I hope that you felt encouraged today. You certainly did that for me!

Thank you Bones for the opportunity!

Until next time…

Hauschka

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DaVinci Cones Redux

Full disclosure: 6 of the Pax listed above were ruckers and their workout was led by NASA.

Today was the first time I’ve Q’d in a long time. I was a bit nervous, but have worked out all over this AO and sort of know the lay of the land. My Q Lane is more of the Set-It-And-Forget-It variety, and today was no different. With no further ado, here is:

The Thang

Long Mosey to parking lot in front of Old Navy. Circle up for some COP:

SSH, windmills —SLOW (you’re welcome, CSPAN), low slow squats, merkins, downward dog stretches, honeymooner, mountain climbers, peter parkers, freddys, LBCs

Mosey to the Valvoline for some hill work. Sevens or Jacob’s Ladder: merkins at bottom, bombjacks at the top

Mosey to the raised patio the the old Riverbleu only to find the ruckers using the spot, so it was off to Plan B. I had cones set up on the drive, one on either side of the fountain. Each cone listed 5 exercises and the required reps. Do the exercise, run a half lap to the next cone, do the exercise. And so forth until everyone had finished the circuit. Exercise were as follows:

Cone One:

  1. Slow Squats (20)
  2. Curb Dips (20)
  3. Mtn. Climbers (20 d.c.)
  4. Curb Derkins (20)
  5. CDD’s (20)

Cone Two:

  1. Imperial Wlkrs (20 d.c.)
  2. Jump Lunges (10/leg)
  3. Freddy Mercurys (20 d.c.)
  4. Flying Squirrels (10)
  5. Peter Parkers (10 d.c.)

Then we made our way to the Rivebleu raised patio for the following:

Divide up into groups of 3. First man runs the stairs, does 5 burpees, runs down the back stairs and back to the group while 2nd and 3rd man do squats. Then repeat with 2nd and 3rd man.

By this point, it was time to mosey back to COT for a couple minutes of ab lab. Freddys, Crunchy Frogs (demo and cadence from WitchHunt), LBCs.

Announcements:

Children’s Attention Home: Q or post to support these great kids who are victims of circumstance and are in need of positive male role models.

Delta signups have begun! Reach out to Wild Thing if you’re interested in joining a LKW team.

Prayers for pregnant Ms, for family struggling with addiction and recovery.

Moleskin

At COT,  I shared that today, 7/28/17 would have been my late father’s 75th birthday. In 2001, he died  of a massive heart attack at the age of 59. My father was a good man. A loving man and unfailing provider for our family. But he had personal struggles. He was an alcoholic. A workaholic. Never exercised. Attended church sporadically, especially during my years at home.

My dad didn’t have what I would consider close friends or a strong social network. He had a family, a career, a mortgage, two kids who stayed out of trouble. But he always struck me as lonely. Isolated. I daresay alcohol use was his way of self medicating: his way of trying to fill a hole and mask his feelings of isolation.

I am grateful to write here that I am not an alcoholic, although there was a time in my late 20s that I was definitely auditioning for the part. No one will ever accuse me of being a workaholic (though I do work hard). Though I may not eat the healthiest diet, I do post at workout consistently between 4 and 6 days a week.

But, perhaps most importantly to me, I have gained a strong network of men who support and encourage each other to become better.

My life is on a completely different trajectory.

I am not alone. I am not isolated. I am a grateful part of this community, and I thank each of you for being a part of my life.

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DPQ – New F3 Acronym (Don’t Poke the Q) Rad Brad’s Fault

Rad decided it was a good idea the night before to start ragging on my Monday Q and that pre-runs should be required in order to get a decent workout.  Well, didn’t really need that motivation, but it definitely pushed me to add more weight to the flat bed relays.

Warm-up (or lack thereof):  2 songs played – one drove merkin count, one drove squat count
– The Police – Roxanne:  every time you hear Roxanne, drop it down to 6 inch hold, next Roxanne push up.  Do it for the whole song w/ plenty of instrumentals played at the 6 inch hold
– AC/DC – Thunderstruck (sorry DaVinci):  same as above, only squat and hold down on the word “Thunder” and then when you hear it again, come up but then immediately do calf raises until the next “Thunder”

  • Next up – flat bed relays.  Prior to the workout, Olaf, Lutefisk and myself hit Home Depot looking for some flat bed carts.  After being questioned by the manager on duty for some “shady-ness”, we convinced her it was cool and that we’d return all Home Depot assets post workout.
    We then proceeded to load up each flat bed w/ the following:  2 cinder blocks, an engine, a car battery, and about 3 bags of metal pellets (each weighing approx 15-30 lbs).   2 teams (one for each flat bed cart) – while one pax from each team pushed the cart the full length of the Home Depot parking lot and then back, the rest of the pax did as many they could of the following exercises (each exercise was done 3x, ie. 3 seperate team member flat bed pushes) – carolina dry docks, jump lunges, toe touches
  • 2nd station – wall sits between Target and Home Depot.  All pax held a wall sit until all of the following was complete:  each pax sprints to the opposite wall one by one, does 5 burpees and sprints back (then the next guy can go), each pax sprints to the opposite wall one by one, does 5 vertical jumps (touch the highest brick you can on the wall) and sprints back.  We then finished her off w/ single leg wall sits for 20 sec holds each.
  • 3rd station – moseyed on over to the fountain and did some new wave tabata (thx for the inspiration On the Rocks).  No timer w/ this tabata – our “timer” was 2 pax at a time doing suicides.  While they did suicides, the rest of us did the following exercises max rep – single arm row planks, diamond merkins, crab cakes, knee to elbow merkins.
  • Finished it off w/ all you got 50 yd sprints in front of Best Buy x 3 w/ a jailbreak to COT.

Thanks for allowing me to lead DaVinci.  Had a blast.  Left the pax w/ some words around making more time for what’s important.  I’ve been struggling w/ putting in way too many hours at the office, and have sacrificed time w/ my kids, wife and in the word.  I recently got my hands on a leadership book from a guy at work (Leading…for God’s Sake) and one of the passages states “If you are too busy for God, maybe you are busier than he intended you to be”.  Make the time.

ChaChing

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2017 Board of Pain at The Abyss – 7/19/2017

17 brave souls showed up for everyone’s favorite summer tradition- the Board of Pain.   With the majority being first-timers I knew this was going to be fun.  There is not better representation of ‘You vs You’ than the #BoardOfPain.

The Thang: perform each exercise and the associated rep count.  You can not move on to next exercise until previous exercise is complete.  In between each exercise is a recovery run of 1/4 mile.  Below are the stats on the day.  Come back next week to compete against the others and yourself.

An amazing effort from all the Pax today, especially first timers.  The Board of Pain tests you both physically and mentally.  Below are resutls:

Prayers
Went around the circle and everyone Pax was asked to give a pray or praise. Too many to remember but they were heard.

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Squat’in on the dock of the lake…

Fifteen souls on deck this warm humid morning including the FNG who would later become… Nutshell.  I enjoy the look of confusion in peoples’ eyes when they show up to a workout and I’m already there- a flash of panic followed by a furtive glance at their watch.  Yes… I’ve crafted my reputation well- but unfortunately, being  Q is no last minute affair.  After some brief pleasantries and a firm word of caution we explode into a frenzy of motion on this finely moonlit morn.

The Workout

Open with a .7 warm up jog through the dark & gloomy residential loop behind the Y exiting and circling up at the Buster Boyd boat ramp.

  • SSH x 30
  • Imperial Walker x 20
  • Merkins x 15
  • LBC x 20
  • Russian twist x 15
  • Windmill x 20
  • Plank Jack x 15
  • Hello Dolly x 20

Split into 5 groups of 3 for a half-baked concept we’ll call the U-Turn.  Partner 1 is at  the Buster Boyd boat ramp doing Kraken burpees, Partner 2 is at the end of the T-Bones dock for squats, Partner 3 hauls ass between the two to take over the station and keep the cycle moving.  Awkward start, awkward finish, solid effort in-between.  Perhaps call it “euphemism” instead?

  • Moroccan night club x 30
  • Merikan x 10
  • Freddy Mercury x 20

Fast pace back to Bowl & Bounce for 2 circuits of Human Chair / Merkins on the wall / Ballz 2 the wall.

Finish with a mosey down to the front door of the Y and a strong gallop home to COT

Moleskin

  • Welcome FNG Nutshell, this guy kept a solid pace and was barely winded at the end.
  • Austin Powers is FAST- I hear the Benny Hill theme song each time he blasts past.
  • Thanks to the PAX for letting me know I was signed up for this Q- with friends like these, who needs twitter?

 

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