Thank you for the 24 guys that came out to The Coop this morning for the shovel flag handoff to YHC from Sugarbug. I decided to give the FBI PFT test as the workout.
We moseyed to the field and did a chicken wing approved warmup. We warmed up until he gave the clearance to proceed.
FBI PFT is as follows:
Max situps in 1 minute
300m sprint
Max pushups
1.5 mile run
Pull-ups (optional) we didn’t have enough time for these.
Out of the 25 PAX that posted only 7 passed unofficially.
Dark Helmet
Subprime
Sasquatch
Skate or Die
Harry Carry
Caddy Shack
Bonsai
Some guys were close, but the sprint and run is where most guys got caught . Welcome FNG Easy Button!
My first order of business as new Site Q is to move the congregation point to the good asphalt so when we do Mary, we don’t feel like we are laying on broken glass.
Thanks to sugarbug for the peaceful transition and thank you for all your leadership!
I was at The Fort a couple of months ago and mentioned to Bonsai that I would like to be put on the Q Schedule, as I had never had a Q at this great AO. Soon after, he contacted me to request that I give him a date. Well, that date has arrived.
I had originally had Ponytail as a CoQ, but do to his schedule change he couldn’t make it. I quickly asked Bonsai to find someone who could lead a short warmup as a VQ. Bonsai put it on Twitter about a week and advance and the HIM to step up was . . . well nobody. His only choice then was to tell everyone that Longshanks would be the CoQ if nobody stepped up. Well, again nobody stepped up, so YHC’s CoQ was Longshanks as determined by the PAX.
WARMUP
Well, this really wasn’t a warmup as it was Longshanks leading. It was more of a beginning to the madness that was about to continue. Longshanks led us in 15 SSH; 1 Burpee; 10 Windmills; 2 Burpees; 10 Imperial Walkers; 3 Burpees; 10 Hillbilly Walkers; 4 Burpees; 15 Low Slow Squats; 10 Burpees. We then took a mosey over to parking in front of US Synergetic for the following: High Knees; Butt Kickers; Toy Soldiers; & Soccer Moms.
We then moseyed over to Millstone Park for some Lucky 7’s. At the bottom of the stairs, 7 dips; at the top of the stairs, 7 squats; and at the short wall, 7 box jumps . . . X 7. As the PAX waited for the 6 they performed LBC’s. We then all performed 7 chin-ups on the bar, 7 pull ups on the bar, and 7 Bombjacks.
Then Longshanks passed it off to YHC.
THE THANG
Prior to moseying back to the following locations, we turned and faced the flag at Veteran’s Park for the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag led by Geronimo.
A few days earlier in the week, I had done an afternoon ReCon of the area to know exactly where I wanted to go to be prepared for this workout I have been long awaiting for. Well after we did the Warmup, we took a mosey over to the small parking lot in front of US Synergetic for the following: BOMBS-Burpees; Overhead Claps; Merkins; Big Boy SitUps; and Squats.
I’m not a big fan of exercises where the PAX have to do a lot of counting because I believe it takes away from the fellowship of our time in the gloom. So I did these BOMBS a little different. I asked the PAX to pair up with someone they know fairly well. Then we began the BOMBS. Partner 1 performed the exercise as the bottom of the hill (Massey St. Hill) while Partner 2 ran to the top and back. Then they flip flopped. We did this for 1 round of BOMBS at a pace that each PAX could maintain.
Before starting I had asked the PAX to get to know the other PAX while either running the hill or performing the exercises. The objective of this whole series of exercises was to allow for good fellowship in between breaths.
During the workout we stopped at a statue located just across from Veteran’s Park of three people assisting each other up a wall. I then discussed what is below in the NMM.
We then moseyed back to the COT where Zildjian led us in some MoM.
NMM
When I am unable to post due to work or other commitments, it seems as if my day just aren’t the same. Even if I have to do a #fern Workout or Run at the house or Y it is not the same. I can get fit by myself. I cannot keep a relationship with that #fern for a long period of time. I just get tired of talking and never getting anything back. It is a one way street.
F3 is just the opposite. It is a two way street with a purpose. The PAX of F3 push me to get better physically, emotionally, spiritually with a purpose to live a better life. F3 allows me to humble myself to authority and be led and it allows me to lead, all to make me a better man.
During our workout I stopped at a statue the three people helping each other up a wall. I mentioned the person at the top. This was someone who had already made it to the top: but one thing to notice is that this person was not still looking up or over the wall finding a way to get to the other side. They were looking down at the others with his hand held to assist them get over as well. Then there was the one in the middle being pushed and pulled. Almost to the top, but not quiet there. Needing assistance from both of the other two men. Then there was the person at the bottom. This person did not appear to be down in spirit because he hadn’t started. This person was pushing the other person up to make them better.
The important thing in all of this is they were all working to make each other better. This is what F3 is about. We are all in this as a team, and if we see another struggling we need not look the other way. We as F3 brothers, as men, should help in whatever way possible to help or assist.
This is a call out to all of our brothers. Keep you ears open and your eyes wide. There is always another brother struggling and you, yes YOU might be the HIM God has called to help.
Eccl. 4:9-12 ‘Tow are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him-a threefold cord is not quickly broken.’
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Read Your Newsletter.
Start Time Change at The Fort starting June 2: 6:30-
Great way to start a week, we had 14 PAX (2 ruckers, Cha Ching and Jedi) that decided to get better and honor “the seven” a group of 5 CIA officers and 2 Security contractors killed when al-Balawi detonated a bomb sewn into a vest he was wearing. Six other American CIA officers were wounded. The bombing was the most lethal attack against the CIA in more than 25 years.
Al-Balawi was a Jordanian doctor and jihadist website writer who was detained and interrogated over three days by the Jordanian intelligence service, the General Intelligence Directorate (GID), in January 2009. The GID and the CIA thought they had turned al-Balawi to penetrate al-Qaeda in the Pakistani tribal areas to provide intelligence for high-level targets. Instead, al-Balawi used this trust to gain access to the CIA base in Afghanistan unsearched and perpetrate the attack. The Pakistani Talibanand al-Qaeda claimed responsibility, saying they helped al-Balawi with the attack.
The names of our honored heroes are listed below:
CIA OFFICERS:
-Harold Brown Jr, 37, Bolton MA
-Elizabeth Hanson, 30, Rockford IL
-Darren Labonte, 35, Brookfield CT
-Jennifer Matthews, 45, Cedarville OH
-Scott Roberson, 39, Tolland CT
SECURITY CONTRACTORS:
-Dane Paresi, 46, Portland, OR
-Jeremy Wise, 35, Tigard, OR
After a quick disclaimer on the go we moseyed around the parking lot with some high knees and butt kickers, our warm up consisted of the following exercises with different reps each to total about 9 minutes into the WO :
Side straddle hops
Windmill
Moroccan night clubs
Squats
Arm circles
Merkins
Lunges
THE THANG:
I followed the book as much as I could but had to include a tire exercise (otherwise it wouldn’t be a Tinsel workout) and also replaced a couple of exercises from the book to focus on upper body strength. The main idea of “the seven workout” is to complete 7 rounds of 7 exercises with 7 reps each, each round took about 7 minutes to complete, after round # 3 we run down and up the hill to give our upper body a break and then continued with 4 more rounds, these are the 7 exercises:
THE SEVEN
7 handstand push-ups
7 thrusters with log
7 sledgehammer swing each side
7 worst merkin ever
7 burpees
7 log swings
7 pull-ups
Everything was planned to be completed under one hour and I’m glad everyone pushed hard to reach our time window. With a couple of minutes to spare at the end, straight up took over for some Broga and stretching exercises, much needed after the beatdown, thanks for your help!!
We ended up our WO with announcements, prayers and praises.
18 PAX showed up strong on a beautiful spring morning. After the disclaimer, we shuffled out for a brief mosey replete with a Longshanks-style warmup: Butt kickers to Carioca around the Springs corporate center parking lot.
COP in front of the Springs corporate center (more on location later)
Shoulder Taps x15
Tempo Merkins x10
Single-count Merkins x10
Head over to 8ft(ish) wall for some Muscle Ups x10 (oyo)
Plank up ATM Variation:
Shoulder Taps x15
Hand release Merkins x5
Mosey to UC Synergetic upper parking lot
Brief Thang:
Line Drill w/ Partner (Dora-sides): After both partners complete the line drill running, switch to bear crawl until exercises are completed. Partners strive for 20 Burpees, 100 LBCs, 200 Squats collectively. Mercifully, few had to bear crawl more than two line segments.
No Block Party is truly complete if the police don’t make an appearance. One of Fort Mill’s finest made a round through our parking lot. It appears, in YHC’s zeal to move from Springs Global to UC Synergetic, a stealth mosey of 18 PAX ignited a fire in the hounds of the mill hills. Despite our best efforts a local resident was not pleased with their dogs barking and asked for an officer to investigate. Once we’d been deemed nonthreatening, we completed the modified Dora/Line Drill.
To honor the dogs:
Plank up
Honeymooner to Down Dog
Hold Down Dog
Raise right leg high – bend the knee (open the hip)
Swing right leg forward between hands (knee to nose) into one-legged plank
Tap right knee to right elbow x5
Tap right knee to left elbow x5
Return to Down Dog
Repeat with Left Leg
Mosey down Massey hill to lower UC parking lot
Wall sit (till PAX began grumbling)
Monkey Humpers x20
10-count
Monkey Humpers x20
10-count
Derkins w/ feet on wall x10
Monkey Humpers x20
Derkins w/ feet on wall x10
Rest facing wall – 10-count
Calf raises facing the wall x20
Jump the wall and mosey up the hill
Word of the month is “Worthy.” This word has been on my mind for quite some time. Matthew 22 and Luke 14 give a parable about a great banquet or wedding feast where the invited guest (those “worthy”) don’t show up or actively refuse to attend. As a Christian, Jesus’s death has made my unworthiness worthy. But do I respond when he calls? How can I live in a way that is worthy of the blessings I’ve received and the gifts God has bestowed upon me?
One last thought on worthiness. In Jedi’s BackBlast from his Beyond Q (https://f3thefort.com/2018/03/12/identity-and-purpose-digging-deeper-and-going-beyond/), he mentions the idea of our motivation. Is my motivation for being worthy for my own benefit/vanity, or is it to glorify God. It may be that my current struggle with the concept stems from a selfish or myopic motivation. Can I be more worthy of God in order to glorify God rather than myself? This is my goal.
As an aside (if anyone has made it this far in the BackBlast reading), the actual act of writing his BackBlasts served to solidify the message I tried to deliver during our workout. I’ve been working out at F3 AOs for 6 months now, and I’m beginning to see what Old Bay, who EHed me to my first workout, mention about how much more than a workout F3 is.
Grateful for the opportunity to lead and appreciate of all the PAX that showed up to work and grow this morning!
The faithful grew to 10 this week, some new, some old, but the buffet of pain has been a common stay. Starting off at 0500 is a Q’s dream as it provides ample time to deliver the Pax some pain.
A call was put out the night before for the PAX to bring some 65lbs or their weapon of choice, and all kinds of coupons showed up.
We did a warmup COP style and went off to the track. I promised out P200 PAX that the running would not be excessive, but I would not have been present based on past experiences, so I am sure it seemed like a mountain to them. Great courage on coming out and working through the post P200 pain.
First up was The Looney.
We ran a warm up lap to clear the track of debris and moved benches, lonely cones, and general trash off the track where our dreams came true.
7 400 yard sprints round the oval at AYG pace. After each lap, 20 yards weighted lunge. The book called for 65 lbs, but all shapes and sizes were had.
After we hit 4 rounds, it was all down hill, although I am not sure the breathing was any easier. We then proceeded to the Brenton with our remaining time.
The Brenton was 5 rounds of 30 yards bear crawls, then broad jumps back with 3 burps after each set of 5 jumps. In succession, this ended up as a killer. Great way to spend 10 minutes of your life right there.
At that point, we were on our way back to COT. We finished with peer led ab work. Did we care about the 6 quitting time? NOPE, The Honey Badger said to have all PAX lead, so we ended at 6:03.
Thanks men for the opportunity to lead. Wegmans is on Q next week.
This was my first kettlebell Q so truth be told I googled “kettlebell circuit workout” and the bulk of the decent sites were ladies teaching how to firm up you “bum-bum’s”… Seemed like we all could use a little help in that department so I plagiarized heavily from these sites…
The disclaimer was disclaimed and we began with a short mosey around the lot with some butt kickers, high knees, side shuffles, and toy soldiers.
We circled up for warm up consisting of:
-25 Side Straddle Hops
-25 Moroccan Night Clubs
-12 Windmill
-12 Imperial Walker
-12 Hillbilly Walker
-12 Goofball (for Geronimo)
We mosey over to the pick-up line curb for the beginning of toning our “Bum-Bum’s”
We completed 2 circuits each consisting of 15 reps of 15 exercises with a lap around the parking lot between every 5 exercises.
-15 Kettlebell Swing
-15 Sumo Squat
-15 Lunge Pass Though (each side)
-15 Calf Raises (I actually raised this to 20 on accident but Dark Helmet kindly reminded me that I had committed to 15 earlier in the description)
-15 Split Squat (squat in a lunge position) – each side
LAP
-15 Bent Row (each side)
-15 Shoulder Press (each side)
-15 Curl (each side)
-15 Halo (each direction)
-Drive the Bus for 3 10 counts (bell extended 10 straight, 10 turned to the right, 10 turned to the left)
LAP
-15 LBC’s
-15 Flutter
-15 Hello Dolly
-15 Freddy Murcury
-15 Box Cutter
LAP
after about 2 cycles we mosey to COT for announcements and prayers
This morning was a good day for some positive influence. There were two options this morning, but everyone decided to try something a little harder and go Beyond.
Mosey to the basketball parking lot for some warmup.
SSHx50, Hillbilly walkers x20, Typewriter merkins x10 (I wasn’t the only one!)
Mosey to the paved path behind the half wall. I went over the word of the month, anxiety. I used to have extremely high anxiety with a life of distraction. I would become anxious about anything and everything, so to get by, I had to constantly keep my mind off of things. One day, I decided to put all my focus on my anxiety. Everything I feared, I would think about constantly until I was tired of thinking about it. I would fight the beast until somebody won. The main one was, does God exist? You have to figure this out for yourself. The answer is going to be yes or no, but what that answer means is going to be different for everyone. So figure it out, come to a conclusion, and make it your assumption from that point going forward. When you doubt again, remember the time you came to the conclusion (even if you don’t know why) and move on.
Balls2wall shoulder taps x10, Muscle ups x10 w/ a 20 sec 6inches hold within the set. (3 rounds)
Mosey to rock pit paste the gate of the school. I ask if anyone had seen “Fight Club”. I love this movie because it shows the most basic problems of Sad Clown Syndrome, even though it pursues completely destructive pathways to fix the problem. One scene Tyler asks “How much can you know about yourself if you’ve never been in a fight?” I love this self-analysis of learning oneself, but I don’t care about fighting. Instead, I asked myself “How much can you know about yourself if you’ve never been hungry?” I explain to the PAX that for the past week (Sat-Fri) I did a strict water fast for a week. I had always wanted to know what it was like physically, emotionally, and spiritually, but had always been afraid because of anxiety of losing weight (irrational fear of being the guy that’s too skinny). There are about a dozen reasons why I did it, but one was to face a fear.
Find a pet rock for…
Clockwork deadlifts:
I call out a time, you lunge in that direction, set the rock down, reset, lunge out, pick rock up, repeat
Clockwork deadlift
Al Gore calf raises x20 (w/ pet rock)
Clockwork deadlift
Jump squat (w/ pet rock)
Clockwork deadlift
Russian twist (w/ pet rock)
Clockwork deadlift
Al Gore calf raises x20 (w/ pet rock)
Jump squat (w/ pet rock)
This exercise to help you remember how to lift a load in awkard positions so hopefully you don’t teak your back one day picking up a grocery back off the floor behind you.
Mosey back for 6MOM
Freddy Merc x50
Flutter (good form, hollow body) x20
Dying cockroach x50
And that’s the game… Loved leading this morning. Go Beyond!!!
12 PAX and YHC came in da Gloom of Doby’s Bridge Elementary to take our daily Red Pill. As I thought about what type of beat down I’d apply I realized simple is sometimes enough. We over complicate many things and our lives and we can’t do any one thing well. So I kept it simple and effective!
The Thang:
Warm Up around the parking lot with mini COP
Grab the bells and get after it. 20 exercises for 60 secs or 1 min each and after 4 we run a lap. Fun times had by all!!
Flutter kick
Russian twist
V up
Hello dolly
Leg raises
Lunge
Squat
Right leg
Squat figure 8
Left leg
KB Swing
Shoulder press
Upright row
Bent row
Lat raises
R/L Curl
Concentration curl
Tri extension
Skull crushers
Calf Raises
YHC spoke about restoring old cars and how people can see the beauty in things that some of us don’t. I mentioned the research center in NC where body parts are being grown with people’s actual cells, so they can be interchanged if something goes bad….like car parts.
As much as we can exercise and change parts there is only one way to be restored…..through the Grace of Sky Q. He takes our old away and makes us New. He sees beauty in us that we don’t even see in ourselves. Find time to realize how Sky Q plans to make you restored and living a brand new life today!!
2/17-Breakfast at Philly UMC
2/20-1stF and 3rdF convergence at Forest Hill Parking lot
