Tag: Cyclops

Chutes and Ladders (not really…)

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8 posted at The Armory and may wish they hadn’t.  I joked that I had done Demented Uno too recently (Friday at The Hive) so I had to come up with a new game.  Chutes and Ladders is what I threw out on Twitter.  Sadly, I couldn’t come up with a way for that to happen.  This was the best I could do.  More of a Pyramid of Pain.

Warmup – Mosey, Moroccan Nightclub, Hillbilly and Imperial Walkers, Windmills, Cherry Pickers, Plank, Honeymooner, Plank, Downdog, alternate calves in Downdog

Next started the pain

10 ManMakers

20 LBCs with Bell

30 Skullcrushers

Mosey w/ Bell

40 Curls (or 20 each arm)

50 Tricep Extensions

Mosey w/ Bell

60 Overhead Press

50 Flutters with Bell

Mosey w/ Bell

40 Goblet Squats into calf raises

30 Rows (15 each side)

Mosey w/ Bell

20 American Hammers

10 Turkish Getups with a butterfly or lat raise on your back to start (5 each side)

Still had 16 minutes, so PAX called exercises (Manmakers, Uhauls, etc, even rotate one bell and did rows and BBS)

 

 

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Launching the Snake Pit

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YHC was honored to be asked by 3D to Q out East and, based on the calendar, an inaugural Q for the Fort’s newest kettle bell AO.  It required a separate trip to get familiar with the grounds, but a quick scan of the A/O left YHC with lots of options and, fortunately, a great group of HIMs gathered to launch the Snake Pit.  After disclaimers were put forth and JWOW came in hot, we moseyed off around the parking lot, without the bells.

COP – Corner #1 – low slow squats x15

Corner #2 – Side Straddle Hops x 20

Corner #3 – Imperial Walker x 15, People’s Chair hold with Moroccan night clubs x 15 and a                                     10-count hold

Stadium entrance – Merkins x 10, salutations right and left, 6-inch hold with a 10-count

PAX grabbed their bells and moseyed into the stadium, down to the field for a partner pyramid.

In any adversity or challenge we face in life, going through it with others helps ensure we come out stronger on the other side.  In the spirit of working through a challenge (and because partner work was notably present), we did, well, partner work.

While partner 1 began the exercises at the goal line, partner 2 ran to the 50 yard line and back and picked up the exercises where partner 1 left off.  Exercises built on one another a la pearls on a string, to the mid point anyway.

10 goblet squats

10 goblet squats, 20 hammer curls

10 goblet squats, 20 hammer curls, 30 tricep extensions

10 goblet squats, 20 hammer curls, 30 tricep extensions, 40 American hammers (w/bell)

10 goblet squats, 20 hammer curls, 30 tricep extensions, 40 American hammers (w/bell), 50 swings

50 swings, 40 American hammers (w/bell), 30 tricep extensions, 20 hammer curls, 10 goblet squats

40 American hammers (w/bell), 30 tricep extensions, 20 hammer curls, 10 goblet squats

30 tricep extensions, 20 hammer curls, 10 goblet squats

20 hammer curls, 10 goblet squats

10 goblet squats

Once all were finished (PAX planked or did LBC’s if they finished before the 6), we moseyed with bells to the flag for a pledge of allegiance and did 30 flutters with the KB press

Mosey out of the stadium back to the lot for the start of a partner DORA – 50 swings and 100 hammer curls.  Partner 1 started the exercises while partner 2 ran to specified landmarks and back, and vice versa.

With no time left to get to 150 and 200 on the DORA, we moseyed back to COT for:  20 flutters with the KB press and 15 LBC’s with the bell.  At that point, it was 0600 and work was complete.

Announcements were made, prayers and praises were offered and YHC led us out.

Special thoughts are with Alright Alright Alright as his ankle heals.

Thanks to 3D for the opportunity to lead the inaugural workout and launch of the Snake Pit and to have the privilege of getting better in the presence of many HIMs.

Honored,

Cyclops

 

 

 

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Let’s Make a Deal at The Armory

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10 PAX decided to take the challenge and show up on a balmy morning. NO FNG’s, disclaimer disclosed and off we went. Mosey went probably further than some PAX would have wished but wanted to switch up a little bit. Heading off FH campus and down across the street. Let the PAX know that once Trucker stopped complaining, we would head back.

Circle up

  • SSH x30
  • LS Squats x10
  • Windmill x10
  • Cherry Picker x10
  • MNC x25
  • Arm Circles x10 forward/back
  • Peter Parker- x10
  • Parker Peter- x10
  • Down Dog
  • Honey Mooner

Grab your bell and head to the far right parking lot of the Church. I had set it up for a game of Let’s Make a Deal after experiencing it the previous week at a Knoxville workout at the Abyss with Cinderblocks.

Each corner of the parking lot (under light posts) had 3 cards. One has a number of reps on each side. One has an exercise on each side. One has a traveling exercise on each side.
Only one side of the card is visible… Content of the other side is unknown.
PAX take turns choosing for each card to take what’s face up, or make a deal and switch to the unknown side…

Station 1:
single arm Tricep Extensions/(Goblet squats), 30/(50), Crawl Bear/(over-head mosey)

Station 2:
KB flutters/(KB Merkins), 30/(50), Lunge walk/(KB-icide)

Station 3:
KB Swings/(one-hand OHP), 30/(20), backwards overhead/(KB Broad Jump)

Station 4:
Single arm curls/single arm rows, 30/(50), KB-icide/(Bunny Hop)

The PAX decided on Round 1 they liked everything facing up, except the MOT for some. The Bunny Hop with the KB was a crowd pleaser. I added in the KB-icide, having had the privilege of these in Knoxville.

We completed all stations twice and did all the counts/exercises listed. Great work!

 

Mosey to the next parking lot closer to COT and partner up. With about 10 min to go, a mini DORA was the perfect way to close it out.

 

50- snatches

75- LBC

100- two-handed triceps extensions

 

Partner 1 runs to the bottom of the parking lot and back, while Partner 2 does the exercise. Switch and repeat until completed.

 

Everyone got it done. Always pick up the 6. It was great to see PAX stepping up to make sure our fellow brothers finished strong and with support.

 

Back to COT

 

Announcements: Read your newsletter

 

Prayers:

 

Cyclops Dad facing Pancreatic Cancer fight. Our prayers are with you and your family Brother.

 

Prayers for families, kids (teenagers), and Mental Health

 

I shared a quick topic from the sermon Sunday at Church on storytelling. Too often our kids are getting their information from social media, instead of the stories in the Bible. By no means am I an expert on this, but I challenged the PAX who are walking their Faith, or trying to get better, to share some of the great teachings in the Bible with their 2.0’s.

 

Thanks for the opportunity to lead.

Frat Boy

 

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Moving about frequently and getting better

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A little of this and a little of that took place on an early “coolish” September morning at #lacesin and #lacesout.   YHC had to call his own number to fill in for an injured PAX.  So a weinke was constructed and a total of 10 gathered to get better – 3 to run and 7 for boot camp.  After the disclaimers were announced and the assumption of risk was delegated, PAX took a Pledge of Allegiance to honor those who serve us and day in and day out and then we were off for a mosey to……

COP – 4 corners (and without side straddle hops no less!) – various exercises at each lightpole – 12 was the double count per exercise

  1. Low Slow Squats & Imperial Walkers
  2. Merkins & Mountain Climbers
  3. Windmills (for Trucker) & People’s chair held while doing Moroccan Night Clubs
  4. 12 Burpees – just because

Mosey to the wall by the high school entrance for:

  1. BTTW while each PAX bear crawled to the end of the line
  2. People’s Chair Held while each PAX did 5 burpees (the FNG did not splash merlot)

Mosey to the high school entrance for Partner Dora 1-2-3: One runs the bus loop and the other does:

  1. Burpees (100) – Some modified to Merkins
  2. Squats (200)
  3. LBC’s (300)

On the benches, PAX did 12 D/C dips I/C and D/C step ups I/C

Mosey to the band lot for 100 yards of Lunge Walks and Bear Crawls – Lunge 20, Bear Crawl 20, Lunge 20, Bear Crawl 20, Lunge 20.  Mumble chatter was encouraged down the field.

Mosey to the Hive lot for F & F – Freddy’s x 12 I/C and Flutters x 12 I/C

Mosey through the Hive lot to the opposite corner for Hello Dolly’s x 12 I/C and Rosalitas X 12 I/C

Hustle to COT for last little bit of ab work (PAX watches were conveniently ahead of YHC’s) so we wrapped up with 13 D/C American Hammers I/C – just to do something more than 12 times.  Then it was 0600.

COT was held and we welcomed FNG Bottlebot to the PAX.

Announcements were made – read your newsletter

Prayers were lifted up for those recovering from a fall, going in for testing, dealing with sickness and dealing with a recent cancer diagnosis.  Praise was offered for those giving care to all those in need and those who will help restore their healing and paths forward.

Honored to serve,

Cyclops

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Acceleration Thursday

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It was a swampy morning in the Fort as 8 HIM showed up ready to accelerate their Thursday morning. A quick disclaimer and we were off.
Moseyed over to The Hive parking lot.
  • 10 Side Straddle Hops
  • 10 Windmills
  • 10 Tappy Tap Taps (Cherry Pickers)
  • 10 Low Slow Squats
Moseyed over to the band parking lot.
  • 10 Merkins
  • 10 LBC’s
  • 10 Hello Dollies
  • 10 Rosalitas
Moseyed over to the front of the school.
The Thang:
Partner up for Jacobs Latter. One loop around the parking lot and met your partner in the middle for hand slap merkins. Loop back and met for big boy situps.
Jacobs Latter:
  • 10 Hand Slap Merkins -1 Hand Slap Big Boy Situp
  • 9 Hand Slap Merkins – 2 Hand Slap Big Boy Situp
  • 8 Hand Slap Merkins – 3 Hand Slap Big Boy Situp
  • 7 Hand Slap Merkins – 4 Hand Slap Big Boy Situp
  • 6 Hand Slap Merkins – 5 Hand Slap Big Boy Situp
  • 5 Hand Slap Merkins – 6 Hand Slap Big Boy Situp
  • 4 Hand Slap Merkins – 7 Hand Slap Big Boy Situp
  • 3 Hand Slap Merkins – 8 Hand Slap Big Boy Situp
  • 2 Hand Slap Merkins – 9 Hand Slap Big Boy Situp
  • 1 Hand Slap Merkins – 10 Hand Slap Big Boy Situp
Moseyed over to the band parking lot for Jack Web. This next set was hot off the press from the Waxhaw convergence.
Jack Web:
  • 1 Carolina Dry Doc – 4 Count Bear Crawl
  • 2 Carolina Dry Doc – 8 Count Bear Crawl
  • 3 Carolina Dry Doc – 12 Count Bear Crawl
  • 4 Carolina Dry Doc – 16 Count Bear Crawl
  • 5 Carolina Dry Doc – 20 Count Bear Crawl
  • 6 Carolina Dry Doc – 24 Count Bear Crawl
  • 7 Carolina Dry Doc – 28 Count Bear Crawl
  • 8 Carolina Dry Doc – 32 Count Bear Crawl
  • 9 Carolina Dry Doc – 36 Count Bear Crawl
  • 10 Carolina Dry Doc – 40 Count Bear Crawl
Moseyed over to the back of the school wall for wall sit/overhead claps. The timer was 5 burpees as each of the PAX took turns.
Moseyed towards COT for 6 minutes of Mary.
Announcements/prayers/praises.
J-WOW
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September 11 Memorial Stair Climb

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Today I was honored to lead 39 men of the Fort in my version of a 9/11 Stair Climb…. I asked these gentlemen to bring rucks or sandbags and headlamps. This was to simulate the equipment worn by the first responder’s who entered the World Trade Center to do their jobs. We also had Charetta appear courtesy of Dirty Harry…she was our victim that needed to be  carried up and down the NaFo bleachers ….everyman carried their fare share of weight.

The workout was simple!!!!  There was no warmup….we didn’t need one….

The object was to climb the bleachers 27.5 times up and down carrying a ruck or sandbag….the goal 1980 steps or 110 stories….NaFo bleachers are 36 steps up and down…the men of the Fort  conquered this simple request but there was a catch…..when they came back down they had to do 9 inclined merkins and 11 squats… I think most did more than the required amount and for that I’m in awe…. I love being part of this great nation

Before the climb I shared a little about my experience that day 18 years ago as an NYPD officer and I asked each man to reflect between the hours of 8:46 am to 10:28 am these were the hours that changed my life and change the world as we knew it….I also wanted to remember my friends who gave their lives to save as many people as they could that morning :

NYPD PO MARK ELLIS TRANSIT DISTRICT 4

NYPD PO RAMON SUAREZ TRANSIT DISTRICT 4

PAPD PO ANTONIO RODRIGUES PORT AUTHORITY BUS DEPOT

I worked with these gentleman and they will never be forgotten…

Thank you Punchlist for letting me.lead these great men .

We had one FNG Lassie….welcome

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7th Year Convergence for The Fort

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The 7th Year Convergence for The Fort followed an exhilarating Invergence from the night before.  Hoping to continue that acceleration, the 4 Q’s had a plan to talk about the 4 Skills needed for Virtuous Leadership: Vision, Articulation, Persuasion, Exhortation.

CakeBoss to start us out with Vision: Recognizing advantage and the movement required to achieve it.

Disclaimer and welcome
“Go Hard or Go Home!”

Take off for 100 yard mosey up path, Get in 3 lines – Indian Run across WEP

Break into 4 lines, 2 groups of seal teams -20 seal team sit ups in cadence

Back into 2 lines , Everyone plank – Tunnel of Love (25 guys per line) – Plank series while guys army crawling under

Crowd pleaser for sure!

7 Burpees for 7 Years!

Vision is what I spoke about and the men that saw the advantage of F3 and planted it (moved towards it) in Charlotte, the The Fort and we continued to give it away in Rock Hill & Lake Wylie.

Hand off to Maximus

Articulation: Describing vision to others in a clear manner. Being able to tell others where we’re going and being able to describe that vision to others.

So, with that said, we’re going over to the top of the big hill to start with drill bits:

½ the group goes one direction while the other goes the opposite way

At each white post (drill bit), 10 Jumping Lunges (10 each leg)

10 Jump Squats

Mosey to the base of the other hill, the one with the statue on it:

NUR (backwards run) up the hill

3 Burpees at the top

Bear Crawl down

5 Burpees at the bottom

Hand off to Fun House for the “P”.

Persuasion – The initiation of first Movement.  Convincing people to move in the direction of advantage, abandoning their Status Quo,

YHC gave an awesome yet forgettable speech about Persuasion.  Then the Thang:

Circle Up – Duck, Duck, Goose – One guy runs around the circle the rest of us plank, the next guy goes when the running guy finishes.  Planking excercises were called out: High Plank, Low plank, Mountain Climbers….. Audible called to get the next guy running after 1/2 a lap around the circle of Pax….. Peter Parker, Parker Peters….. Audible called to get the next guy running after 1/3 lap around….. Mak-Tar-Jai, Left Hand High, Right hand high…..Done.  That took 10 minutes!  60 guys is a lot of guys to be running around in circles.

Stay in circle, 5 minutes left, Jack Webb: 1 Merkin to 4 Overhead hand claps.  We got to 8!

Hand off to Pusher for Exhortation!

Exhortation – Incentivizing The Breach Of Obstacles.

Burpees x 10 OYO
Flutters IC x 10
Mosey to a corner of WEP
Burpees x 9 OYO
Flutters IC x 10
LBCs IC x 10
Mosey to another corner
Burpees x 8 OYO
Flutters IC x 10
LBCs IC x 10
Rosalita IC x 10
Mosey to another corner
Burpees x 7 OYO
Flutters IC x 10
LBCs IC x 10
Rosalitas IC x 10
Hello Dollies IC x 10
Mosey to another corner
Burpees x 6 OYO
LBCs IC x 10
Flutters IC x 10
COT
Naked Moleskin – The name-o-rama took forever.  That is a good thing. When 60+ PAX post to celebrate something that has obviously changed their lives, then change is happening!  Thanks to Maximus who put this awesome weekend celebration together!  His leadership is not only Effective (Using VAPE) but he is a Virtuous Leader! (Check out the Q Source for the 5 C’s Virtues of Virtuous Leadership) Can’t wait to see what year 8 brings to The Fort!  More importantly, who it brings!  Time to go EH someone.  See you in the gloom.
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19 That Didn’t Mail In Their Saturday

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So there was this Saturday in Ft. Mill, SC that 17 men joined 2 Q’s to have a little fun in the city park, talk about the impact F3 & others have had on us and the community, and do some crazy exercises that would make others shake their head. That Saturday was yesterday and I must say that Router and I thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity granted us by Slash.

3 years ago, Router began his journey with F3 and as he said, the life change has been great and there’s no looking back. As we all know, it’s much more about the 2nd & 3rd F’s but the magnet of the 1st F is what attracts us and propels us to that life change F3 is know for.

That said, Router lit the torch with a disclaimer and a brisk mosey around the WEP path stopping along the way for 20 SSH, 20 Moroccan Night Clubs, 10 Merkins and 10 Peter Parkers; a great opportunity to stretch the PAX out and bring them back together.

Router brought us to the middle of the grass field for the start of the Worlds Longest Lasting, Most Disputed, Loudly Criticized, Not At All Controversial, exercise in The Fort. Sorry, the Pullman got the best of me (which has nothing to do with what we did). This is where he introduced us to a modified Catch Me If You Can. However, there were no rucks, no running, no monkey humpers, just a lot of Tesh-chasing which, for me as Tesh’s partner, made for a quick rendition of this terrible idea. Partner 1 is doing inch-worm merkins while Partner 2 does 20 Flutters, 10 Merkins, 20 American Hammers and 10 Carolina Dry Docks then bear crawls to his inch-worming partner. We did this for what seemed like the entire Saturday morning but in all reality, it was about 100yds (go ahead and try it…I dare you).

Oh, that wasn’t bad enough? How about Router bringing us back to the starting point for a round of Jack friggin’ Webbs. Yup, you just read that. And yes, we went to the 10:40 mark with merkins & overhead claps.. Say hello to your Jell-O arms. Good thing none of our resident hair models were in attendance because hair-washing would’ve been a challenge later that morning.

Then Router topped it off with an explanation of his growth over the last 3yrs since joining F3. Thanks to the fellas like DD (in attendance), Santini, Senator Tressel, Assassin and others, there are hundreds of men who share a similar story to Router, each one unique and powerful in their own right.

Hand off to Maximus.

Mosey to “The Hill” and line up at the base. Identify the tree at the top, about face and reverse lunge walk all the way up the hill to the tree. At the top, drop to your six and crab walk back down.

Mosey back to the field and in true Jack friggin’ Webb fashion, take that to the legs for Lieutenant Dan’s. Just like before, we went to the 10:40 mark with squats & jumping lunges.

Lined up the cones about 30yds apart, PAX line up at one end then the explanation. WWII situps into a burpee broad jump. Repeat until you get to the other cone.

2 lines facing each other for Knee Tar Jah’s or Prisoner Lunges or whatever we’ve decided to call these things.

SSH x 21

Back to the cones. Run from cone 1 to cone 2, 20 Plank Jacks, NUR back to cone 1, 15 WWII situps, back to cone 2, 10 Plank Jacks, then NUR back to cone 1, 5 WWII situps.

PAX back together for:

SLOW Peter Parkers x 21

Flutters x 21

Squats x 21

Jail break to COT for a short set of LBCs.

So that was it. Great time I hope for all. Didn’t get a lot of miles but my body 24hrs later tells me that wasn’t needed. Remember what’s been done for you as you have the opportunity to do something positive and impactful for others.

**ONE REMINDER**: September 6 is our Annual Invergence followed by our regional Convergence September 7 back at WEP.

Until Next Time,

Router & Maximus

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The Armory Anniversary

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10 PAX showed up for my one year anniversary of F3.  I appreciate all of the PAX who have pushed me and motivated me over the past year!

We started out with some routine exercises:

  • SSH
  • LS Squats
  • Windmill
  • Cherry Picker
  • MNC
  • Arm Circles
  • Peter Parker
  • Parker Peter
  • Down Dog
  • Honey Mooner

After the warm up we got into the first routine:

6 exercises, 10 reps, times 10 sets – Pretty sure this was 100 each

  • Kettle Bell Swings
  • Goblet Squats
  • Curls
  • Bear Crawl 10 yards
  • 10 Merkins
  • Crawl Bear back 10 yards

I realized we forgot to mosey so we did a quick lap when all PAX were finished

Second routine:

4 exercises, 8 reps, times 8 sets

  • Clean and press
  • Tricep Extension
  • Squat and Press
  • American Hammers
  • Run a figure 8 around two light poles

We and about two minutes left over for some Flutters and Protractors.

Pretty much some standard announcements.

Prayers for Routers M who is having surgery this week.  Prayers for Cyclops Dad who is having some back pain.  Prayers for parents and children as we wind down summer vacation.

Thank you to JWOW for inviting me to lead, timing was good for the missing the DH beat down at the Honey Badger!

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Do a few things, but do them well.

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Jekyll asked me to Q at Colosseum like a month and a half ago. I had reservations, as the Colosseum is outside my radius of comfort for a weekday post and it’s not like the Q can leave early. Throwing caution to the wind I said sure, I’ll just make it an extra short shower before work…

Let’s roll!

Warm-ups
-Quick mosey to the first light- SSH
-Quick mosey to the next wide spot for slow count merkins and Imperial walkers.
-Quick mosey to the parking lot for some more COP.
Count off by 3 and line up behind one of 3 KB, 30# 40# and 50#
-All pax take turns for 20 KB swings, while the Q leads everyone else in squats, merkins and calf raises.
Main Course
4 cones that delineate 4 lines in the parking lot. Everyone lines up at one end line.
Lunge walk to the next line, bear crawl to the next line, then run the the end line.
25 merkins, then lunge walk walk, bear crawl, and run back to the original line.
Plank for the six.
Exercise- IC
This will be the pattern for the next 30 minutes or so.
Exercise 1: Flutter kicks 25 x
Exercise 2: Squats 25 x
Exercise 3: WW1 Sit-ups 15 x
Exercise 4: 6 in LBC’s 15 x then Monkey Humpers 20 x

Cool-out  with a pyramid of Suicide sprints.

COT

Hopefully that wasn’t too hard or too easy for most of the PAX. I had planned on about 6 PAX posting, what with Tater at Ballroom, Mile High at Golden Corral and Shanks at Block Party there were so many other options that it seemed inconceivable that more than 10 people would post to Colosseum. When I looked around and there were 22 other guys looking for a good push this AM, I really had a hard time believing it. Not saying everyone came just ’cause it was me, but I really did appreciate that everyone came to hang out with me in the Gloom. As always, it was my pleasure leading the PAX, pushing everyone a little bit, practicing my cadence, and maybe practicing my DI voice a little bit too.
Your Welcome!

Geronimo!

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