Tag: Bobber

12 Days of “Its Not April Yet”…

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We left the parking lot and moseyed our way towards WEP with a quick stop along the way for some SSH (more than intended since Bobber had to run back and turn his lights off and we had to do them until he returned… ALA high school sports style punishment), Imperial Walkers, Hillbilly Walkers, Moroccan NightClubs, Windmills and also a quick set of Cherry Pickers at Bobbers request.

Once we arrived at WEP there happened to already be a board of pain there with the workout listed

1 x Kraken

2 x 10 Second All Gore

3 x Burpee

4 x Merkin (4 count)

5 x Calf Raise (4 count)

6 x Derkin (4 count)

7 x Moroccan NightClubs in Squat

8 x Monkey Humpers (4 count)

9 x Flutter (4 count)

10 x LBC

11 x Jump Squats

12 x Side Straddle Hops (4 count)

 

We then moseyed back to the start and closed in a COT

A great time was had by all

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The Best You can Do is All That’s Asked of You

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YHC got a last minute request to lead at the Colosseum.  Of course, the privilege was accepted and off we went.  11 PAX assembled, were disclaimed and we moseyed off for some “fun”

COP – various exercises in cadence, a few burpees sprinkled in and we moseyed from there to the flag for a Pledge of Allegiance, afterwards – we were off to the bottom of light pole hill.

PAX were given the advice – “The best you can do is all that asked of you”.  The instructions were to do a series of the following at each light pole:

7 – burpees, 23 – squats, 19 – merkins, 48 side straddle hops.  More on the significance of the numbers later.

Upon completing each light pole, PAX returned down the hill and attempted the same at every other light pole.

At 0555 – YHC called a return to COT and PAX obliged.

NMM – This was YHC’s first Q since my father’s passing.  When considering the best way to honor him, it seemed fitting to use the date of his birth (7-23-1948) as the numbers of reps for the exercises we completed.    It also seemed appropriate to pass on the very advice he was given by his mother, YHC’s grandmother – hence the title of this back blast.  The advice is simple, yet entirely fitting for anything we take on in life as leaders – whatever the calling may be.

Shower Curtain, YHC thanks you for the opportunity to Q and to share, in the process, some timeless and relevant advice that serves as a good reminder to us all.

The best you can do is all that’s asked of you.

Grandma & Dad, thank you.

Gratefully,

Cyclops

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2

Psychedelic

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Five pax, and one pooch, posted at Bushwood.  Conditions were slick, but no rain was falling despite the prediction. Disclaimer given and us bootcampers took off for a mosey run to the back of the high school.

Warm Up
Arm Circles, forward and backward
SSH (IC 15x)
Windmill (IC 7x)
Imperial Walker (IC 12x)
Low Slow Squats (IC10x)
Mountain Climbers (IC 12X)
Plank stretches, up dog, down dog

Main event: Psychedelic HIIT Routine Playlist from 1960’s psychedelic rock begins.
Chapter 1: Do the below 32 seconds on, 10 sec standing rest in between
Merkins
monkey humpers
Squats
Dips
Bobby Hurley’s
Chapter 2: Do the below 40 seconds on, 20 sec rest in between (rest is a Low Plank)
Mountain Climbers
LBC
CDD
Amer Hammers
plank jacks
Chapter 3: Do the below 45 seconds on, 15 sec standing rest in between
burpees
Imp Walkers
Squat jumps
step ups
SSH

Group run around bus loop.

Repeat chapters 1 and 2, and did burpees from chapter 3.

Fini

Ran back to shovel flag for COT.
Praises: Assassin’s cancer check-up was all good.
Prayers: Patience with the kiddos.

playlist:
Good Vibrations, Beach Boys
Tomorrow Never Knows, the Beatles
See Emily Play, Pink Floyd
White Rabbit, Jefferson Airplane
Paint it Black, Rolling Stones
Crimson and Clover, Tommy James and the Shondells
Hurdy Gurdy Man, Donovan (Guaranteed that Donovan has never been played at an F3 workout before today)
Helter Skelter, the Beatles

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Your Q is Not Complete Until You Write a Backblast

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“Your Q is not complete until you write a backblast.”

Our 1st F Q is cracking down on backblasts… and YHC has put this one off for a week.  One week late is better than never.

 

L Train hit up YHC late Monday night to lead some Broga and Miles at Bushwood. Always happy to oblige some deep muscle therapy.

 

Started the BC off with our usual disclaimer + the five core principles of F3. Then we moseyed away from the music and warmth of UHAUL.

 

Circuit 1: Broga

15 min Yoga Flow after 1 mile warmup

Deep stretch positions including runners pose, lizard pose, modified pigeon, chair (w/prayer twist), etc. The PAX were not pleased to be done.

Finish off with 5 dead hang pull ups.

 

Circuit 2: Deep Burn

Mosey back up the hill and across Whites Rd to Forest Creek Middle bus loop.

Plank in wait for the six.

Low Slow Squats x 20

60 Second Al Gore Hold at end of 20th squat.

20 Squat pulses to finish.

Lunges x 10

60 Second Hold at end of last lunge

10 Lunge Pulses to finish.

Flap Jack to the other side.

Mosey back to COT for a little bit of Mary to finish off.

 

Apparently the boys at Snake Pit likes to listen to “Everybody Hurts” by R.E.M. on repeat. You do you, UHAUL.

 

‘Twas a good time at Bushwood. L Train – thank you for asking YHC to lead.

 

Punch List out.

 

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3-1-22: 3 lessons, 3 stations

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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

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No Arrival

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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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Convergence: Love & a passing of the flag

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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

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8

Sometimes you got it

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…and sometimes you don’t.

Two guys pulled into WEP’s lot.  I checked the “find a workout” tab on f3thefort.com and saw WEP’s address (but I did not check the “schedule” tab, which said Veteran’s Park).  My mistake.

We launched, did a warm up lap and then: SSH (12x IC); Windmills (10x IC); Imperial Walkers (10x IC)

Then into the main event:
Seven of Diamonds:  Four cones making a loop with a total length of about 1200 feet.  At each cone you do the exercise/count noted then run to next cone and do same exercise/count, repeat until back at the first cone, then transition to the next exercise.

7 burpees
14 Merkins  <<at this point, the crew from Veteran’s Park came running into WEP.  We converged for a total of eleven pax and continued.
21 SSH
28 squats
21 Bobby Hurleys
14 Carolina Dry Docks
Began to run out of time, so whole group ran to Veteran’s Park for COT.

Got in just over 2.5 miles.

NMM:
So got the location wrong, got a cadence count wrong, said the D2DB10K was on a Friday, and forgot myself in Name-o-rama.  What a comedy of errors.  Oh well, even Babe Ruth struck out 1300 times.

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Richard John Webb, Esq.

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5 PAX

Disclaimer
YHC added, I’m not taking responsibility for you following my suggestions until 0600.

1 mile buy in. Spiderman pushed the pace to 7:30/mi

Bobber joined us. 6 PAX

Warm-up
Wall sit for 6
Tibialis Raise
SSH x40
IW x40
HW x40
Yoga
Monkey Humpers x10

Mosey
Leg Sequence
1 burpee
2 bomb jacks
3 jump squats
4 jumping lunges (2 each leg)
5 Bobby Hurley’s (also renamed to every Duke basketball player I could think of on the fly for Mainframe’s “benefit”)
6 split squats
7 Carolina Dry Docks (on of these things is not like the other ones)
8 lunges (4 each leg)
9 monkey humpers
10 squats

Mosey
Leg Sequence
Added Bulgarian Split Squats in cadence x11
Added 1 pistol squat

Mosey
Bear Crawl the car rider line at the elementary school
Leg Sequence

Mosey to playground
Dick Webbs (Richard John Webb, Esq.)
We made it to 7 rounds. That’s:
– 28 pull-ups
– 112 merkins
We did another leg sequence in there to mitigate the lactic acid in our arms
Getting to ten rounds of this (with legitimate form) seems difficult. Challenge Accepted

Mosey back towards COT
Stop for Bulgarian Split Squats on the way

Finished the 28 merkins at COT
Flutters in cadence
Pigeon Lunge to hit 0600

Great to be out at The Ranch. Solid mumble chatter and Tressel proved he can still respectfully hand us our rear ends. (I’m paraphrasing Mainframe’s spot on observation)

NMM:
Here’s an actual text thread of me texting stream of consciousness:

Poppins: So whatcha thinking for tomorrow? Wanna hype appropriately lol
Me: Angry college professor takes out aggression on non-syllabus reading students
Poppins: So same old?
Me: Pretty much

(Then I was struck by a little more and I’m getting the vision of an eventual video trailer promo here)

Man who loathes the phoniness of Disney World is forced to pre-book meals at places he cares very little about visiting much less eating. And his only solace is an ability to bear crawl and perform burpees in the school parking lot before the sun rises.

I’m thinking the trailer ends with a clip of the man saying,
If it were up to me, I’d drink a nice whiskey neat and stare into a fire. But it ain’t about me, so I’m trying to live third and watch my kids have a good time. What a great opportunity to work on not being a selfish a-hole

I think there’s something here…I’ll keep work shopping it a bit

Thanks Bobber for sharing the Gaffigan bit on Disney. It will seriously be a good opportunity for me to work on not being selfish. If I’m gonna spend the cash on Disney, I might as well not ruin it with my attitude, right? https://youtu.be/eYacdfsORec

Prayers for wisdom when dealing with teenagers
Praise for my M being named Teacher of the Year at GHMS

Thanks Poppins for the opportunity to lead:

—
Band Camp dismissed

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3

Fort Mill Tour – No Charge

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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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