Tag: Bobber

Thanksgiving Convergence 2021

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68 PAX in attendance for a pre-thanksgiving beatdown and some fellowship on a brisk morning Thursday 11/25/2021.

 

With the anticipation of fried turkey, oreos and coffee brought by @Change Order, @Smuggler and @RubySlippers, mumble-chatter abounded,  until @Hardwood took the center and called attention at 0600 hours. Disclaimer was disclaimed and the call for new FNG’s was made, no new FNG’s was the lone blemish on the otherwise fantastic morning in my humble opinion.

Run options led by @Gekko and a Moderate group led by @TripleLindy set off as the rest of the PAX moseyed towards back of Springfield Elementary. First Destination was in parking lot way back by the Middle School.

Circled up and @Hardwood called out the following exercises:

SSH- 40

Windmills

Downward Dogs and Honeymooners

Low & Slow Squats

Cyclops: Stay in Squat Position and complete Moroccan Nightclubs

 

The Thing

Series of Webs

Starting with Merkins and Overhead Claps

1×4 for 10 rounds of excruciating shoulder pain, mumble-chatter becoming more focused on the task at hand

more SSH 🤮

Next we completed ANOTHER WEB, worse than the last,

Shoulder Taps and Moroccan Nightclubs

1×4 for 10 more rounds that was never ever going to end

Lots of requests for Burpees strangely or anything other then arm workouts!

 

YHC began the 2nd half of the workout with more SSH

Mosey around to front of Middle School with 3 stops for 5 Burpees OYO, at the request of the PAX

Line up at bottom of small hill in front of school and explain the workout, AMRAP LEG CIRCUIT

Teams of 4 ish men cycle through three exercises at bottom of hill individually:

2 Squats

2 Split Lunges

2 Bomb Jacks

Next Broad Jump up Hill to top and complete the following:

2 V-ups

Bear Crawl to bench

2 Step Ups

Run around and down to bottom of hill stopping at cones for 2 burpees (two stops per lap)

Meet back at bottom of hill and repeat, only this time DOUBLE ALL REPS TO 4X

Goal is to complete 5 rounds or AMRAP, almost completed but just short of time before we had to get back to COT

YHC shared a article on Gratitude, and then @Shady shared the heart of the Fort, the success of @Seamstress initiative with the help of the PAX, @Seamstress shared his excitement and appreciation for the success of the event! Great job by all T-claps!

Finally we had a shovel hand-off YHC taking the Ranch from a long line of great site Q’s which I hope to make proud.

Then we were finally able to enjoy the fried delicacies and coffee! Cheers!

 

 

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3

Q School at Footloose

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10 pax decided to post at Footloose this morning for a little bootcamp Q School. YHC endeavored to create a WO this morning that would provide a few reminders/tips to seasoned PAX while focusing on some key fundamentals for newer PAX.

Pre-Disclaimer: I had all the PAX hold plank while I talked a bit about what goes into Quing a workout before 5:15. In short, 80% of a great Q happens before 5:15. Some best practices that were mentioned:

  • Write the Weinke down
  • Over prepare ( always have more than you need)
  • Make the workout scalable both in types of exercises and difficulty
  • Be site aware ( how to best utilize the AO)
  • Try and keep the group together as much as you can
  • Start on time

Remember, PAX are getting up early to drive to a Workout you are running. If anything you owe them the time and effort to make their time and effort worth it.

Disclaimer: We talked about the key components of a good disclaimer.

  • Announce who you are, you are not an expert
  • Ask for anyone new (I prefer to ask for new ppl as opposed to “FNG” in the event someone shows up not knowing what a FNG is)
  • If we have a FNG make sure there is someone (Site Q or person who EH’d him) that will stick with him and encourage him. Also be sure to mention our 5 core principles and welcome them to the WO.
  • Make clear that all exercises are suggestions and participants in the workout are assuming all risk. As a result, modify as needed to avoid injury
  • Highlight potential risks during the workout (going off campus, traffic, wet surfaces, poor footing etc….)
  • If you are going off campus count how many PAX you have before you break COT. If you leave with 10…end with 10.
  • Start the workout.

The Warmup:  Maintaining our position at the Shovel Flag but before the actual exercises I mentioned how important it is to show proper form during this portion of the workout. Often times all eyes will be on you and as a result you will need to set the example. If you cannot maintain good form (or cadence) during an exercise then just don’t’ do it. ( If you can’t do it …..don’ t Q it)

Next YHC went into the fundamentals of cadence calling. Announcing the exercise, telling pax to “move” into position, declaring if this next exercise will be in cadence(or OYO) and then to “begin”.  The key is to practice and to be mindful of “setting a pace”. I executed a set of SSH’s both at a slow place to demonstrate the cadence and then speeding it up to demonstrate how to pace the exercise. The next exercise was the Windmill. Which I was very careful to ensure that a proper pace was maintained.

One other tip to mention with warmups. Be mindful that it’s a “warm-up” As the Q don’t blow yourself up on the warmup…you have at least another 40-35 minutes to go.

 

The Thang:  As we begun the main portion of the workout I mentioned to the PAX that one thing I like to do with my workouts is “time box” my Wienke. In short, I like to keep to a schedule to ensure we get plenty of work in the 45 minutes while guaranteeing that we get all PAX back to COT at 6:00. For example a  Weinke of mine is laid out like this:

5:15-5:17 Disclaimer

5:17-5:18 Mosey to Warmup

5:18-5:23 Actual Warmup

5:23-5:25 Mosey to Thang Part 1.

5:25-5:40 Thang Part 1

5:40-5:42 Mosey to Thang Part 2

5:42-5:58 Thang Part 2

5:58-6:00 Run to COT

Through experience you’ll be able to determine how much time certain types of exercises or routines take  so be prepared to audible if needed or modify a workout up or down depending on the time allotted.

Specific to todays Q School I wanted to share with the Pax some basic exercise routines we leverage in F3 that are great ways to structure a workout and enable the opportunity to both scale up and down if needed. The routines we did were:

  • Pearls on a String ( 15 Merkins, Squats, Plank Jacks, LBC’s)
  • 7’s ( Carolina Dry Docks and Hello Dolly’s)
  • DORA (28 HR Merkins, 56 Squats, 112 LBC’s and 1 Kraken Burpee Each per Partner) In honor of Veterans Day I arranged the rep counts of this Dora to reflect the different Regiments, Brigades, and Divisions my father (CSM Pysher) served in during his career.

A couple things I mentioned during this portion of Q School:

  1. Don’t be afraid to modify up or down during these types of routines by changing reps, modes of transportation or by adding or subtracting exercises. Notice if the Pax are struggling or if they are blowing through it. You want to keep ppl moving and not have anyone standing around or getting discouraged.
  2. An easy way to do so is to carry chalk with you during your Q. For example I had written out the Dora in the parking lot before we started. At the conclusion of the Dora I simply added with chalk 50 SSH OYO. It’s an easy simple, effective way to modify the workout as you go.
  3. Keep things as simple as possible. The routines highlighted in today’s Q School are very simple yet very effective in that they provide a structure that will enable all pax to participate in a workout. Remember, if you are explaining……you are losing.

After the conclusion of the Dora we had roughly 10 minutes left which gave me the opportunity to go over a couple “time killing” routines that I have used in the past couple years.

Going back to what I had mentioned earlier about being over prepared it’s always a good idea to have in your back pocket a couple things (not just 5 minutes of Mary) that you can execute either on the way to COT or at COT that will keep PAX engaged.

  • Last Man Planking: all Pax in a circle. Essentially the last person maintaining good plank form “wins”. At the Q’s discretion he will call out an exercise like merkins  to “weed out” the herd. If and when someone taps out they will then do an exercise AMRAMP until a winner is declared.

 

  • EMOM Series: Utilizing your phone (and the SMARTWOD app) you can fill the remaining time by calling a series of exercises with a certain number of reps to be completed each minute on the minutes. What’s great about this is you can set the total time of the workout but modify the rep count to either increase or decrease the intensity of the workout.

 

 

  • 5 Burpees OYO :  This is always a crowd pleaser. You can leverage this throughout any workout to help quite out of control mumble chatter or to give you a few moments to think on your next piece of the workout.

COT: I have two alarms on my phone set for my workouts. One at 5:58 to remind me to get moving towards COT and the second one right at 6:00am

We discussed doing the count, namearama, the video and leading into announcements and prayers. At todays Q School there were specific prayers for our veterans and all they do, have done and continue to deal with. Additional prayers for health and guidance.

Final thoughts on Q School:

  1. Preparation is key to leading a successful Q. practice cadence, write your workout down, scout the site, and time box the workout to ensure everyone gets their money’s worth.
  2. As the Q you are the example if you can’t do it…don’t Q it.
  3. While leading the workout is 1st F. Remember to ensure that 2nd F is covered as well and keep ppl together.
  4. Leverage the Site Q for ideas and for counsel if you are concerned about a certain type of exercise or course. (if you are around houses you may want to be quite or if there’s a fence that’s locked…don’t jump it)
  5. Always have your phone on you (or ensure the site Q has theirs). It helps with the workout but from a safety perspective it’s good to have on your person.
  6. Look at F3Nation for additional workout ideas. Your brothers from across the country are constantly putting together innovative ways to lead workouts in the gloom. Feel free to “leverage” their input and ideas.

 

Hope you all find this helpful! Be on the lookout for more Q School in the coming months! SYITG

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1

Do not be anxious

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I think we all can feel it. The holidays are upon us. The calendar is beginning to fill up. The “to-do” list is getting a little bit longer. And all the while, we’re supposed to enjoy this time of year.

Just typing that makes me feel anxious.

Personally, I will be hosting my first Thanksgiving this year. So the anxiety has been building over the last week. Over the same time period, I have felt a need to spend more time studying and praying. So when Kaiser asked me to Q, and to prepare a message if possible, I felt I should share the message I was experiencing, because often times, others are going through similar circumstances.

5 PAX plus YHC took the DRP and showed up on this frosty morning (25degrees in SC?!?). No new faces in the crowd, but disclaimed nonetheless, and added the disclaimer that I would try to delve into the topic of Prayer (Q1.10). Though I am a Christian, I reminded the PAX that F3 is open to ALL men, of ALL faiths.

We moseyed down to the Elementary school parking lot and circled up for a few warm ups:
• 10 Windmills IC
• 25 SSH IC
• 20 LSS IC

Philippians 4:6-7 “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Then we moseyed back up the driveway to behind the stadium scoreboard and continued to warm up with:
• 10 Cherry Pickers IC
• 10 MNC IC
• Followed by some mild stretching

PAX partnered up for Chase the Bear back to the pull ups bars. Partner 1 began Bear Crawling while Partner 2 completed 10 merkins, then caught the bear and flip flopped.

The Thang
PAX all grabbed Cindy’s, and completed the following:
• Carry Cindy to stop sign at bottom of hill
• Murder Bunny with Cindy back up the hill
• Sumo Squats w/ CIndy
• Shoulder Press w/ Cindy
• Curls w/ Cindy
• Tricep Extension w/ Cindy
• Pull ups
First circuit included 10 reps, second circuit 20 reps and attempted third circuit had 30 reps. We lost a few Cindy’s along the way (but I blame the bitter cold for that).

Moseyed back to COT for Mary, but ran out of time in the first set of flutters.

Completed my sermon (aimed directly at myself) that an often neglected aspect of the Get Right is our faith. I encouraged the PAX to spend time daily studying and praying, for we never know when the anxiety will arise.

Name-O-Rama, announcements and prayers for safe travels, good times with our families, those that are experiencing the holidays without a loved ones, and for injuries.

Thanks to Kaiser for the opportunity to lead, and I hope everyone got as much out of it as I did!

Happy Thanksgiving, brothers.

TClap |
10

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

A Dozen in the mist

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When 19 HIM descended upon Bushwood and the Snake Pit, YHC did not know how the split would break out.  7 opted for no kettle bells and a ruck or a beatdown delivered by Olaf but 11 HIM chose to join YHC for a 4 corners style workout  – parts of which may have surprised a few folks and parts were likely expected (consistency is a trait we are trying to sharpen after all).

At 0500, YHC came upon a large parking lot and with no rain falling, sidewalk chalk was decreed the flavor of the day to sketch out the work that was to follow.  Upon completing the 4 corners of 3 exercises each, an arrival happened at 0511.  The next 4 minutes of mumble chatter and the joy of seeing fellow brothers in the gloom ensued until 0515 arrived, when Olaf disclaimed us enthusiastically.  With that, we were off.  Here’s what happened.

COP:

Noticing that a total of 12 PAX brought bells, the math worked out favorably to break up into groups of 3 (more on the significance of that later).  We walked/jogged/ran/moseyed with our bells to Corner number 1 of the parking lot.  After completing 10 windmills IC, 3 bells were left and the PAX and 9 bells moseyed to

Corner #2 – after 10 Imperial Walkers were done in cadence, 3 bells were left and PAX and 6 bells moseyed to….

Corner #3 – after 10 Hillbilly Walkers in cadence, 3 bells were left and the PAX and the last 3 bells moseyed to…..

Corner #4 – the last 3 bells were left and we circled up to complete COP of:

5 burpees, 10 low slow squats, after squat #10 the people’s chair was held while we completed 10 moroccan night clubs and 10 air presses in cadence.  Bobber was notably pleased at this sequence and we recovered to begin 4 corners in groups of 3 – the main event.

Groups of 3 completed all 3 exercises in counts of 9, 22 and 21 – fittingly aligned with today’s date.  Upon completion, PAX ran to the next corner and continued this effort for 30 ish minutes with the kettle bells left at each station (more on that later).  The lucky exercises were:

Corner 1 – 9 thrusters, 21 chest presses, 22 flutters with press

Corner 2 – 9 manmakers, 21 hammer curls, 22 squats

Corner 3 – 9 burpees, 22 swings, 21 upright rows

Corner 4 – 9 flying squirrels, 22 merkins on the bell (11 each side), 21 LBC’s with the bell

PAX completed nearly 2 rounds and got their money’s worth.

All bells were then brought back to corner #1 at 0555 and YHC posed the following thoughts:

NMM – Ecclesiastes 4:12 tells us that though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves but a cord of three strands (the number of PAX per group) is not easily broken.  PAX were assigned 3 per corner for a reason beyond the math.  We reflected on this as well as the significance of being a part of as shield lock and how we are better with this in our life than not.  It ensures that we are also leaving no man behind per F3’s credo.

The different weights of kettle bells represent the fact that, in life, we never know what weight we will be asked to carry – the same way no PAX knew this morning what weights would be at which stations (other than their own of course) but we do know that a weight shared among many becomes less and less of a burden and more of a joy.  As we work through and overcome struggles and challenges, we realize that the joy on the other side is worth the work, the pain, the sacrifice and the abandonment of ourselves in serving and being there for others – living 3rd.

My thanks goes out to 3D for the call to the bullpen and the opportunity to Q #eastofthepeachstand.

Honored to share the gloom with you all.  Until next time,

Cyclops

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1

eating our way through the air

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19 PAX Gathered and it was so humid we had to “eat our way through the air.” (-Slash)

We started with a quick warmup
SSH – 19 to the number of PAX

Mosey towards the old Church of God parking lot
IW
HW
Moroccan Night Clubs
Merkins – slow count (everybody’s favorite)

Brief mosey to the other Church of God parking lot
Burpee Square (thanks Naperville)
Start in one corner
10 Burpees – bear crawl to next corner
9 Burpees – lunge walk to next corner
8 Burpees – crawl bear to the next corner
7 Burpees – reverse lunge walk back to the first corner
6 Burpees – bear crawl to next corner
5 Burpees – lunge walk to next corner
4 Burpees – crawl bear to the next corner
3 Burpees – reverse lunge walk back to the first corner
2 Burpees – bear crawl to next corner
1 Burpee

View the retaining wall and consider how it works…not by specific acceleration, but by staying put at the ground falls around it revealing all the bricks supporting the top layer

Mosey to the old middle school (banks st. community gym)
Some Yoga for the 6
10 Squats
10 lunge steps
10 Jump Squats
10 lunge steps back
Repeat

Mosey Back – I got gassed on the mosey back. Once your belly is full, eating your way back through the air is really difficult.

Flutters to 0600

NMM:

Sometimes, as the flux hits us all, we lack the motivation to accelerate of our own accord. But if we can call on discipline to continue moving, we can see ourselves rising even though we feel like we’re staying put–just like the top level of that retaining wall. I’ve been feeling that flux for a little while leading up to the big 4-0. And honestly didn’t know how to convey that message until I looked up at the end of too many burpees and too many bear crawls and saw that wall.

Grateful for the opportunity to lead and the support of all the PAX. Y’all help hold me up whether you know it or not. Thank you.

—
Band Camp Dismissed

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5

Manmaker Ranch

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Started with six pax on a warm humid morning.; the seventh came in a tad late and caught up with us.

Disclaimer given.
Mosey run to flag pole of middle school.
Started with Motivators (from 6)
Windmills (10x IC)
Imperial Walkers (10x IC)
Moroccan N/C (10x IC)
Los Slow Squats (10x IC)
Arm circles (10x IC)
Peter Parkers (10x IC)
Plank stretches: Down dog, honeymooners

Run (to Elementary school)
Thang 1: Manmaker Relays
Two cinderblocks, pax split into two groups a form a line behind each block
Pax do 2 manmakers run 150’ down the lot, there is another set of cindys there,
Pax do another 2 manmakers, then run back to the end of their line.
Rinse/repeat. We progressed to 4 manmakers on the next iteration, then to 6, then to 8.
Plank/mary for the six.

Run to benches
Thang 2: bench work
Butt touch squats
Derkins
Calf raises
Incline merkins
Step ups (10 each leg, OYO)

Run towards shovel flag, grab one cindy along the way
Minor ab work to catch breath: Flutters, LBC

Grab cindy and run to curb
Thang 3: Pass the Ammunition
Pax on curb, one man’s arm length apart
Pax do curb merkins in cadence
Then cindy is passed down the pax line and returned (pax stay in plank on curb)
Did 10x IC curb merkins, passed block, then 6x IC, passed, then 3x IC (I think).

Run to COT.
Mary: Monkey humpers, gas pumpers, protractors.
Then Airbornes
Then short mosey run to feel the airbornes effect.

The finish the same way we started: Motivators, from 6.
Fini.

I was part of the support crew for GrowRuck 24 last Saturday Aug 7. Watching those fellas go through what they did reminded me of this passage, so I read it for the pax at the Ranch:

Romans 5:3-5 NIV
3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

This was Q number 1 of 3; doing a Trifecta for turning 47.  Varsity on 8/13 and Alcatraz on 8/14.  Oh boy.

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3

Burden Sharing

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Thank you to the 3 other PAX who showed up to Bushwood on this beautiful gloom to share in some great fellowship and a little fitness. Thank you to L-Train for allowing YHC to lead this morning.

WARMUP

We began the morning with the following in cadence without the bells: Side Straddle Hops, Imperial Walkers, Low Slow Squats, Peter Parker Peters, Merkins, and 10 6-Count Burpees.

THE THANG

After the warmup we began what is known around F3 Nation as Pearls on a String. Basically, we took a mosey (quick one) and stopped every so often for a round of some exercises (mostly in cadence) called out by YHC. We attempted to impact every muscle group each time we stopped.

Stop 1: Merkins, Static Lunges (each leg), Carolina Dry Docks, LBC’s.

Stop 2: Diamond Merkins, Static Lateral Lunges (each leg), Pike Presses, V-Ups.

Stop 3: On the Bleachers: Irkins, Dips, Step-Ups, Derkins.

Stop 4: Each PAX performed 10 pull ups while everyone else did burpees until all PAX completed their pull-ups.

Stop 5: At the Wall: 5 Squats on one side of the wall, jump over the wall, 5 Merkins on the other side until 0550.

Then we moseyed up the .25 Mile hill behind the football field stopping at each streetlight to perform 5 Burpees.

This morning was full of mumblechatter and fun. What you want to have at any F3 Workout.

NMM

Yesterday I received an unexpected phone call from a brother in F3 The Fort asking me a question. He asked, “How can we help?” What he was asking about is way too long to put into a BackBlast, but just to know that he and others are there to help me is one of the most important aspects of F3 to me, if not the most.
I challenged the PAX today to not carry their burdens alone. We are not meant to bear the weight of everything we put on ourselves. Be vulnerable and share your burdens with others and take the burden off of someone when you know they need it.

Aye!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Reach out to a Site Q to Q a Workout.

Sign up to serve at Bethel Men’s Shelter. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0444adaa23a2fa7-bethel

The Sweati – TBD.

FM Care Center Lawn Care.

Read your Newsletter.

PRAYERS/PRAISES

The PAX shared their prayers and praises and YHC lifted them up.

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3

Building reliability at Bushwood

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It’s Bushwood and L-Train says to bring a message. Honestly, I struggled with this one as I get caught in the misnomer of thinking I have to have it perfected or the idea that I can’t still be struggling with something if I’m going to talk about it with others. I recognize that’s not the case but nevertheless, it’s still an obstacle.

That said, the topic was essentially, building reliability. Throughout the workout, I would pose questions to the PAX that I personally have struggled to answer over the years. Questions like:

  • Can you be counted on in less than ideal conditions? What if it’s not 65 degrees and sunny; do you have what it takes to take charge? Will I be ready?
  • What if life doesn’t give me a 10ct; what then? You mean I don’t have time to catch my breath? How will I handle it?
  • What if I step out of my home office and the mess just hits the fan? What’s my response?
  • Do I have what it takes to shut my mouth and open my ears when listening is all that is desired?
  • You mean, I don’t have to be right?
  • Sometimes I just feel like licking my wounds and quitting? Can I be relied upon?

As for the physical part of the bootcamp, it went a little something like this:

SSH / Jump Squats / Tuck Jumps / Burpees
Run 1/2mi

Flutters / V-Ups / American Hammers / 10 Burpees
Run 1/2mi

Carolina Dry Docks / Mountain Climbers / Diamond Merkins / 10 Burpees
Run 3/4mi

Now for the crowd pleaser:
1 Burpee: 4 Tuck Jumps / 2 Burpees: 8 Tuck Jumps up to 5:20
Run 3/4mi

Quick discussion on life that sometimes all it takes, is all you got.
Sprint the final 1/2mi to COT

FUNHOUSE WAS KING on this one

Brothers, I appreciate you pushing yourself and pushing me as we covered right at 3mi this morning..

See you Friday.
Maximus

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