Tag: Bonsai

Pillars of Pain

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Tuesday was hot and muggy, like everyday this week.  PAX sweating from just talking before the workout. It was oppressive and the workout didn’t help.

The Thang

Warm Up with a quick Mosey and a COP:

SSH, Merkins, Plank Jacks, Morrocan Night Club, Windmill, etc….

Mosey to the Pillars of Pain

Loop in front of Middle School is .2 miles, run that loop with pace and then do the Exercise at each Pillar – Decided not to accumulate, was a good decision.

Pillar 1 – 10 Burpees

Pillar 2 – 25 Merkins

Pillar 3 – 25 Carolina Dry Docks

Pillar 4 – 25 Monkey Humpers

Pillar 5 – 25 Curb Calf Raises (per leg)

Pillar 6 – 50 SSH

Pillar 7 – 25 Squats

PAX finished and we did 2 laps with sprint intervals from lamp post to lamp post.

Then some Mary – Freddy Mercury, American Hammers, Protractor, Ins and Outs.

COT

When it gets cooler out (or when the Q can do it) this will turn into an Accumulator.

Prayers for California fire victims, for F3 brother with missing son, and new moms and dads.

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5 Year Anniversary Convergence BB

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Saturday, September 30th 2017 was a special Convergence for the PAX of The Fort. On that day we celebrated 5 years of using these small workout groups to invigorate male leadership in Fort Mill. To honor the occasion, 88 PAX gathered at one of our favorite AOs (Nations Ford HS) to celebrate the day and the leaders that made it all happen.

We also celebrated 6 Friendly New Guys that joined us that morning. Welcome Tubs, Band Camp, Jughead, Atari, Hat Trick, and Saul.

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, however. Here’s how we got better:

Warmup (led by Ginsu)

  • Mosey to the football field
  • 30 Side Straddle Hops
  • 10, 4-count windmills
  • 30 Moroccan night clubs
  • 10, 4-count merkins
  • 10, 4-count Peter Parkers
  • 10, 4-count Parker Peters
  • 10, 4-count LBCs
  • 20 low slow squats

Split into groups (Run, Regular Bootcamp, Black Diamond, Ruck, Moderate Bootcamp)

Run (led by Birdcage)

  • 800 meter indian run
  • 1000 meter 10k pace with 1 minute rest x2
  • 200 meter 1 mile race pace 200 meter cool down x4
  • 400 meter sprint corners recover straights
  • 1600 meter cool down
  • 5 miles total

Bootcamp (led by Royale)

  • Mosey over to the concrete football field
  • 10 merkins
  • Lunge walk 10 yards then do 3 burpees
  • Next ten yards bear crawl then 3 more burpees
  • Rise and repeat until we hit the other goal line
  • 10 count – going over the Five Core Principals of an F3 workout
  • Next phase we broke into 4 groups
  • At each corner of the end zones there were 5 exercises written on a board.  We would complete in your group and then run to the next corner. Everyone would hit al 4 corners.
    • Corner 1
      • 20 Merkins
      • 30 Lunges
      • 30 Dying Cockroaches
      • 30 Ski Abs
      • 3 Kraken Burpees
    • Corner 2
      • 20 Ranger Merkins
      • 30 Squats
      • 40 Freddy Mercurys
      • 40 Shoulder Taps
      • 10 burpees
    • Corner 3
      • 20 Durkins
      • 20 Jump Squats
      • 50 American Hammers
      • 30 Monkey Humpers
      • 10 Mountain Climber Burpees
    • Corner 4
      • 20 Wide Arm Merkins
      • 20 Sumo Squats
      • 20 V-Up Twists
      • 20 Bombjacks
      • 10 Squat Burpees
We talked about the word of the month – Leadership.  I shared we all have an opportunity to lead through F3, just like we all have the responsibility to lead in our homes.  I know I struggle with the balance of work and family time.  As the leader of our households we need to support our Ms and be the examples to our children.
  • Mosey over to the round about
  • Each man would take a lap around 1st doing Lt Dans
  • Finally we would bear crawl.
  • Mosey to the football field for the last 30 seconds and some LBCs

Black Diamond (led by Backdraft)

  • Mosey from warm up top pull up bars
  • Pull ups/ Burpee challenge – 9 pull ups 1 burpee., 8-2 , 7-3 until finished.
  • Mosey to stadium run the bleachers
  • 10 derkins
  • 10 dips
  • Mosey to track run 1/4 mile as fast as you can. U vs. U
  • Mosey to end zone. Count off by 2s. split into groups first person flips tire 10 times than run end zone to end zone while next person flips tire everyone else continuously do 10 merkins, 10 squats, 10 big boy sit ups. Keep going until all of group is finished.
  • 10 min 100 burpees. Do 10 burpees every minute on the minute. U vs. U
  • Mosey to 50 yard line 5 minute of Mary
  • Sideline sprints x 2 first set after you run 10 tuck jumps. 2nd set 5 hand release merkins

Ruck (led by Trucker)

2 20lb, 3 40lb, and 3 60lb sandbags were snagged from back of car as 8 PAX tucked down to the elementary school and dropped the sandbags next to the telephone poles. The 8 PAX carried the telephone pole around the parking lot. Left telephone pole where we found it and rucked backwards up the hill to the pull up bars. What’s a WO by Trucker without pull ups? YHC challenged the 8 PAX to do 2 sets of 5 pull ups with ruck on.

Rucked into stadium and lined up in 2 columns for sandbag throws from one end of football field to other and back. Then rucked up and down the football stand stairs from one end back. Rinse and repeat with sandbag throws and stadium stairs. Threw sandbags again down to other side of endzone and then formed 2 lines abs flipped tires from one end to other. Sandbag threw back to other endzone and climbed stadium stairs one more time. Finished with a 20 count flutters. Great work by seasoned and rookie ruckers.

Moderate (led by Short Sale)

  • MOSEY to Elementary School
  • Grab some Wall. Wall Sits while Pax at each end jumps out of line for 5 squats
  • Repeat with 5 Bombjacks.
  • Count off by 5’s and mosey to back of the parking lot
    • Number 1’s go to station #1
    • 2’s start at Station3, etc.
  • Stations: 3 minutes/station. Q calls stop & go
    • 1: 10 Merkins, 20 Calf raises
    • 2: 20 LBCs, 20 Monkey Humpers
    • 3: 10 SSHs, 20 Moroccan Night Clubs
    • 4: 10 Scorpion Dry Docks, 20 Squats
    • 5: 20 Imperial Walkers, 10 Apollo Ohnos
    • 6: 10 Broad Jumps, 20 Flutters
    • 7: 10 Bombjacks, 20 squat jabs
    • 8: 10 handclap merkins w/partner, 10 partner Derkins- Beloved by veteran Pax and FNGs alike
    • 9: 10 Jump Squats, 10 CDD’s
    • 10: 10 Dips, 5 jack Webbs
  • Mosey to Stop sign at bottom of hill for some Mary- Hello Dollies, Flutters, Protractor

MESSAGE ON LEADERSHIP- F3 gives us a great platform to grow our leadership skills and build confidence as a leader. The Pax will let you know if/when something has gone wrong but will also be there to lift you up. Also, the best leaders don’t focus on their ROLE, they focus on the GOAL. So, be the leader you were called to be.

Great group of men came to work. Veterans guided the FNGs and encouraged them at every step of the way. YHC kept reminding the group that it is UvsU out here. Some quality mumble chatter about what moderate means. Smiles all around when moved on from the stations.

Wrap Up

What we have at The Fort is special. It is a strong group of PAX led by men who live with intentionality. I am sure that each of us would agree that it has impacted our lives in ways that we will never be able to describe. At some point for each of us, we were gifted F3. We were headlocked by someone who recognized the impact that F3 had on them and how it could help us. With that in mind, let’s pay this gift forward. Be the leader you were called to be and use your influence to headlock the sad clowns around you, FNGs and Kotters, that are where you once were. Be a leader.

Ginsu

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Trucker Strong

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Its been awhile since I had an opportunity to Q the Ranch, so dug into my bucket of go-byes to find something that I haven’t done or other Q’s haven’t done in a while. Sometimes it is just as fun to bypass pull-ups and just focus on merkins. So as the PAX arrived, mumble chatter revolved around the assumption of doing 1,000 pull-ups….ha!

COP consisted of 15 to 20 reps of: good mornings, windmills, Russian twists, Moroccan nightclubs, squats, LBCs, and Hip-leg thrusters. Mossy to Middle School drop off circle for 4 corners.

A cone was placed at each end of the circle and in the middle. Start at first cone and do 15 right leg scorpion merkins, run to second cone for 15 regular merkins, run to third cone for 15 left leg scorpion merkins, run to fourth cone for 15 wide arm merkins, run back to first cone. Rinse and repeat two more times.

Plank and LBCs until 6 is in.

Bear crawl up hill and do 10 squats, run down: rinse and repeat by dropping 2 squats each time

Mossy to benchs for:

15 dips/15 step ups per leg; 15/dips/15 squat sits; 15 merkins/15 LBCs; 15 derkins/15 Russian twists; 15 merkins/ 15 step ups; 15 irkins

Mossy to COT

Great work by all, 240 merkins during an AO is Trucker Strong!!

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Webb-o-Rama and Snake Hops

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The Golden Corral hosted 27 pax total (about a dozen ruckers, a dozen boot campers, and the rest runners) for fun and pain.  YHC can’t speak for the ruckers or runners, but here’s an account for the boot campers.

Mosey around the north side of HT and circle up in the back parking lot for COP Warm-up:

  • SSH x25
  • Mountain Climbers x20
  • IW x20
  • Windmills x10
  • Low Slow Squats x10
  • Run Stance Switch x10

Mosey between the buildings and circle around to the south side of HT to find a cone.  Partner up:

WEBB-O-RAMA
At each cone pax are to do (in cadence) 2 exercises in the spirit of Jack Webbs (1:4 ratio)

  • Cone 1
    • 1 burpee to 4 run-stance switch
      • Repeat with 2 burpees, then 3 burpees
      • >> Bear crawl to 2nd cone about 20 yards away
  • Cone 2
    • 1 big boy sit up to 4 american hammers
      • Repeat with 2, then 3 big boy sit-ups
      • partner wheelbarrow to third position
  • Cone 3
    • 1 box jump (or step up) to 4 dips
      • Repeat with 2, then 3 box jumps
      • partner wheelbarrow to fourth position
      • During the box jumps, YHC noticed Wheezer had an extra spring in his jumps for a few of the reps and then he fled his wall position for a new spot.  Seems there was a snake on the ground near where he was exercising.  Whether it was actually alive is not known.
  • Cone 4
    • Jack Webb – (1:4 ration) for 3 reps
      • Run around to cone 1

For round 2 of the cones, we did reps 4-6 at each station.

Mosey to the wall on the south side of HT parking lot for to Dora with your partner

  • Merkins – 100
  • LBCs – 200
  • Squats – 300

Back to COT

Great work by the pax.  Special welcome to FNG “Panda”, who looked like a regular out there, despite it being his first time.  It was also great seeing Cobra Kai at a boot camp!  Hopefully the ruckers won’t revoke his membership for taking a step out of the dark side.  Thanks to Decibel for scheduling me to Q.  Look forward to next time!

-old bay

 

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Block Party – Leading through adversity

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9 At Block Party for a Cake Boss word on leadership and some hill work…..I think this is the one time the PAX wished I talked more……we took the DRP today!

Mosey to Founders Bank

COP:

·         10 Plank Series

·         10 Plank Punches

·         10 SSHs

·         10 Squats

·         10 Imperial Walkers

·         10 Merkins

·         10 LBCs

·         10 Peter Parker

·         10 Hill Billy Walkers

·         10 Mountain Climbers

Mosey to Massey Street

·         Jacobs Ladder – Run up Massey Street

o   Bottom = Squats

o   Top = bombjacks

Slight Mosey along sidewalk

·         Jacobs Ladder – Bear crawl up grass hill

o   Bottom = Dips

o   Top = Carolina Dry Docks

Mosey to Small Springs Lot

·         People’s chair on Wall

o   Each man bear crawls across parking lot & Sprints back

Mosey to path at Springs Building

·         20 dips

·         10 derkins

·         20 dips

·         10 derkins

Mosey to COT

Be at the Invergence and hear from some HIM and have some fellowship.

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Living the High Life

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5 souls arrived in the mild late-September gloom for a High Life-led Q at Laces In.

25 x SSH, 10 x merkins, 20 x squats, 10 x windmills

Line up on the parking lot line for: karaoke, side shuffles, butt kickers, run backwards (or, nur for Rock Hill familia), and run forwards.

Then all gathered around to hear about “living the high life”.  What was it?  Not Dora-lite, but Dora-heavy.  Grab a partner or two, and crank out:

100 merkins, 200 BURPEES, 300 squats….and 400 monkey humpers.  With running up the hill towards Munn Road.  Modify was needed to 150 burpees.  Don’t Q it if you can’t do it…

We survived and a standing 10 count was provided by all.  Mosey to the FMHS stadium for what Bonsai says is Pink Floyd.  2x Wall Sits, 2x Balls to the Wall.

Circle around around the bleachers for ab work (penguin, protractors, canoe/kayak, etc.).

Mosey back to COT doing Moroccan night clubs along the way.

Ball o’ man – reminder about the Invergence from CSPAN.

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“Make him curl up in the fetal position”

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Twitter is a great way to nudge PAX to post, or in my view call out PAX who haven’t posted to the Armory in ages. The second best thing about Twitter is that other PAX reply with announcements that an FNG is posting and they want to Q to punish them FNG….even though he was headlocked as he was serving on a church mission trip. Prior to knowing an FNG was posting, YHC already created a wicked weinke. After a somewhat lackadaisical disclaimer…

COP consisted of: windmills, IM, Hillbillies, SSH (lots of them), squats, and a quick mossy around the church parking lot. PAX grabbed their KB and mossy over to the edge of the parking lot for some sidewalk chalk instructions.

Partner up and split the groups into 2. Half the group follows the LT parking stall sidewalk instructions while the other half follows the RT parking stall sidewalk instructions.

LT parking stall consisted of Partner 1 runs backwards to the other end of the parking lot and runs back while Partner 2 does the exercise. Swap with partner, then rinse and repeat with the next exercise. Exercises consist of: KB swings, upright rows, skull crushers, chest presses, merkins, flutters.

RT parking stall consisted of Partner 1 runs  to the other end of the parking lot  and back while Partner 2 does the exercise. Swap with partner, then rinse and repeat with the next exercise. Exercises consist of: Curls, shoulder presses, squats, LBCs, bent over rows, good mornings, burpees.

Once each group completed their side, flapjack.

Mossy to church benches for OYO of 20 or so reps of the following:

Overhead lat swings, Dips, Derkins, Irkins, Squat Sits. Then round of Mary consisting of American Hammers, Hello Dolly, Big Boy, and LBC with toe taps.

Mossy to COT

Thanks to the PAX for coming out and for the mumble chatter. Great morning for a KB workout.

Asked Crawdaddy to provide a quick hihglight of their mission trip that diverted them from Columbia (the Country) to FL in the wake of Irma. Great message of leadership. Prayers to Change Orders mother, Hot Pockets (FNG) on seeking a new job, and all other spoken and unspoken prayers.

Read your newsletter and sign up for the 5yr invergence!!

Trucker out

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Colombia Mission Trip Sendoff @ The Ranch 9-7-17

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On a cool morning in early September, the men of The Fort gathered together to support the group of 12 men that answered the call to serve those in need in Colombia.

Mosey to the soccer field

The Warm-up (VQ led by Skinny Jeans)

  • 20 4-count side straddle hops 
  • 15 4-count windmills
  • 10 4-count Merkens
  • 15 4-count mountain climbers
  • 20 low slow squats
  • 8 burpees OYO

Mosey to the football field

The Thang

Markers set up every 25 yards on the football field from endzone to endzone. PAX will start from one endzone and run from marker to marker and do the following exercises (below) at each. They will then run on the track back to the starting point.

  • 10 merkins, 2 burpees
  • back to start – LBCs for six
  • 10 Carolina DD, 2 burpees
  • back to start – flutter for six
  • 10 squats, 2 burpees
  • back to start – American Hammer for six
  • 10 bomb jacks, 2 burpees
  • back to start – freddy mercury for six
  • 10 dips, 2 burpees
  • back to start – heels to heaven for six
  • 10 lunges (5 per leg), 2 burpees
  • back to start -diamond LBCs for six
  • 2 burpees per marker

Mosey to COT

Today we focused on the 12 men that are leaving tomorrow to serve in Colombia. We had the privilege of hearing the reasons why each of them have been called to serve during todays workout and then pray over them at the close. We are all lucky to have these men as our brothers and will continue to pray for them as they make their way abroad.

As mentioned in COT, each of us were blessed with passion for certain causes and influence to impact them. Find your passion and your calling and answer that call, whatever it may be.

Ginsu

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80’s/90’s Themed High School Sports

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SSH 15
Mtn Climbers 15
Squats 15
windmill 15
Moroccan night club 25
The Thang:  (football style)
Monkey rolls for 30 secs
butt rolls 30 secs
chop and drop 30 secs
squat thrust 10
Discussed discipline and what that means to the Pax
Turned over to Bonsai for basketball style workout
Moseyed over to First Baptist Church back parking lot
Ran suicide with a twist up the hill
(Start running backward to first line)
– first line 10 merkins
– second line 20 squats
– third line 30 LBCs
– fourth line 40 toe taps
(After completing each exercise return back to start running forward)
10 merkins in cadence
Single leg hop to next row of parking spaces and back
Switch and repeat
Next split up in two groups
Group 1 – work their way through the cones setup with the defensive slide
Group 2 – merkins until the 6 completes the defensive slide
Rinse and Repeat
Group 2 – Bobby Hurley’s until 6 gets back
Move over to the wall for 20 jump wall taps
Mosey back to COT
Anchorman I appreciate the opportunity to lead and it was a great idea to
incorporate High School sports.
In case you can’t figure it out Destiny was the one in high school in the 80’s.  Just saying – All most respectable.
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Choose Wisely

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I had the pleasure to cross the river and Q #FootLoose this morning. Conditions were okay considering its August in South Carolina – temps in the lower 70s and a light rain. All in, 28 #HIM made the choice to roll out of the fartsack and start their day off on the right foot. Here’s what we did…

The Thang
Short Mosey across the street to the circle in front of the church. Bird Cage reminded me that this area was just as congested as the previous spot, but that didn’t stop us from warming up, shoulder-to shoulder with our brothers.

  • 20 SSHs (IC)
  • 15 Hillbilly Walkers (IC)
  • 30 Moroccan Night Clubs (IC)
  • Mosey to the Church steps
  • Bear Crawl up
  • Crawl Bear down
  • Squats while you wait

Apparently, the steps get slippery when wet. Since I like to keep my teeth, we Omaha’d round two and moseyed to the lot to behind the church.
Circle Up for Choose Your Poison. We took turns rolling dice and choosing exercises. One die was the exercise (see below); the other was the rep count (x10). The roller had to choose which die was for the exercise and which was the rep.
1. Merkins
2. LBCs
3. Squats
4. Side Straddle Hops
5. Overhead Claps
6. Burpees
Luckily we didn’t have two sixes (60 Burpees) rolled, and if we did, the PAX calling the shots wisely modified. Even though this is a moderate workout, we did our share of Burpees (probably 50ish). Overhead Claps and SSHs were popular choices (maybe 200ish). Merkins and LBCs came up a few times (150ish). Squats were tossed a couple times (100ish).

  • Mosey to the wall
  • 15 People’s Chair (IC)
  • 15 One-legged Squats (flapjack)
  • 10 Merkins (IC)
  • Mosey back to COT

NMM
I was honored to be asked to Q this morning. TClaps to Anchorman for his dedication to growing #FootLoose and awesome leadership stepping up to take over, Beacon. This AO has tons of options, so reach out to Beacon to get on the Q schedule.
Today’s workout reminds us that every day brings choices. Post or not post? Boxers or briefs? Paper or Plastic? Gossip or Gospel? We have opportunities each day to choose wisely or poorly. Every choice brings consequences. Sometimes you will face a challenge where the choice is hard to make and the outcome is difficult to take, but when you make it through, you will garner something from the experience. When a choice needs to be made, you need to make it. You’re either in or you’re out. Own it.
It’s been said that opportunity knocks, but temptation leans on the doorbell. When there is a knock, open the door and dive in to the challenge at hand. When temptation leans, step back and evaluate the potential outcome. Is it worth it? Opportunity is often missed because it looks like work. Temptation is often chosen because it looks like fun. Realize that every action has a reaction and you have to deal with the consequences of bad choices.
Today, I encourage you to choose positivity. Whatever you want, make the decision and do what it takes to get it. There will be challenges, but the greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it. Sometimes it takes time, but remember, patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.

Aye!
Italian Job

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