Empty Deck

WARMUP: trotted around the parking lot to wait on a late site Q. Got a good 5 minute trot in and picked up Cornerstone and Divac. Passed by this strange looking group in the parking lot that were doing dumb things with sand bags. Wegmans, WWL and this dude who looked dirty…
THE THANG: 3.25 miles of rucking. We got in some irkins, squats, and dips. Cruised through an abandoned parking deck that didn’t have a single scratch on it or look like it has ever been used.
MARY: no Mary – just enjoyed a nice sunrise over the Kingsley lake
ANNOUNCEMENTS: 4th of July workout at Nafo – 1776 workout, bethel mens shelter 7/7. Last weekend for F3 dads
COT: prayers spoken and unspoken – discussion on stillness. Enjoyed the skyQ sky painting.

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The Peacemaker

WARMUP:

Very quick demo of what was coming. 12 exercises pulled from the intro dance to Peacemaker.
The board:

Oh, and everyone grab a 4.5lb paver for each hand. They’re brand new so the gloves are to keep your skin from being sliced open.

THE THANG:

HIIT workouts with all 12 exercises. Everyone, just use the beat!
1. Squat lat pull w/alt leg raise
2. Dumbell scarecrow
3. Lat pulls w/alt high knees
4. Al Gore tricep extensions. Arms out, elbows turned UP
5. Apollo Ono with shrug/lat pull/whatever felt right
6. Overhead press (with optional pelvic thrust)
7. Lunges with full arm motion
8. Side arm lat raises
9. Hillbilly walker
10. Scarecrow again
11. Slow, full arm circles with one arm, holding the other out. Guitar hero style
12. overhead press to tricep extesion and back

We did the above for:
1. 90 seconds on, 20 seconds rest
2. Take a break with a long lap around the parking lot
3. 30 seconds on, 12 seconds rest
4. Two of each, straight down the line, try not to mess up or burpees
5. Everyone did fine, so 10 burpees as a reward
6. Two each one more time, because the ruckers needed to know what they were missing

Spotify playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6k0Pd1cAC3pmdvO7NstFkq?si=75f40460c85245c

Video of our last two minutes is here (as caught by the TeslaCam):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-Im8n1SVEW-_TXBNIcm-EoHATl797135/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-CcQb4RhCVMlU7UEx7gyL1tt1dlIvrO6/view?usp=sharing

ANNOUNCEMENTS

https://photos.app.goo.gl/SByJGmeayUfkfNab7
Funhouse talking about what AKA is all about
Tinsel talks about the Manion WOD at Chupacabra on 4/29
YHC letting everyone know that we can soon start posting BBs in Slack, and to update your names or you won’t get tagged

COT:

Talked about F3 being open to all men. While YHC is reasonably certain that most of the men there was some flavor of christian, I asked men to bow their heads for a moment of murmuring silence. When complete I also said I don’t want to ignore things that are difficult in each others lives. grab the man next to you if you need to talk about something. This is CoT, and we trust.

NMM:

I’d been thinking about this workout for weeks, basically the first time I saw the intro credits for Peacemaker, I knew I had to bring this to an AO near me. And it just so happened that I had the Swamp on AKA, so I watched that credit sequence over and over until I had a solid, awful, dumb, stupid workout ready to share with whatever AKA groupies were brave enough to drive out to Rivergate.
I knew it was going to make guys feel dumb, stupid, perhaps even embarrassed, but the smiles went on for miles, and the shoulders have been successfully melted. Mublechatter was epic, everyone had a great time, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have brought a fun, shoulder smoking Friday morning to The Fort. Thanks for putting me on the calendar, Slapshot!
Peacemaker intro:

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Keg and Kettlebell

Started with some warmup then the stuff.

One PAX takes the keg (empty, but still weighting approx. 30 lbs) and carries it around two parking islands and back to the group.  The rest of the PAW do an exercise until he returns.

American Hammers

Carolina Dry Docks

Squats

Box Cutters

Curls

Air Drama

LBC

Halos

Al Gore

UHauls

Butterfly BigBoys

Skull Crushers

Lunges

Superman

Lawn Mowers

Flutters

Chest Presses

Hello Dolly

Side Lunges

The PAX blasted thru this list in half the time so as each PAX left with the keg, he chose an exercise for the rest of the PAX to complete.  @Bandcamp is not invited back for calling Turkish Getups.

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One more beach body workout

This week’s Q was constructed under a very sobering atmosphere. With the news of the passing of ShopVac, YHC tried to find a way to honor him with our actions this morning. However I’d only worked out with him a handful of times and hadn’t been able to attend any of his Qs. So the only way I know how to honor a HIM like that is to sweat it.

The gloom

7 appeared in the gloom at Pantheon, including Scalp, whom I had been trying to recruit to Q for some time. Guess I’ll have to pester him some more

warmup

A quick mosey down to the west side of the parking lot and over to the crosswalk for:

10x SSH
10x Cherry Picker
10x Imperial Walker

The thang

Today’s workout is a derivative of Slapshot’s “pendulum” workout, but with a simpler twist. Rather than keeping track of separate counts, just start at 15 each side and only subtract one each round. Less confusing and more painful, really.

PAX started at the crosswalk and ran east to the end of the sidewalk. Down on the six for 15 BBSUs. Back to the crosswalk, pausing for 3 burpees, and then running around the bend to the bike racks for 15 4-count flutters. Back to the crosswalk for another 3 burpees. Do this again with 14 reps, then 13, you get the idea.

With about eight minutes left Senator Tressel was able to get down to 4 reps, having lapped most of us TWICE. (He may be wearing a knee brace, but he doesn’t perform like it). Scalp was on 5 reps, and the rest of us on 6.  At this point I asked the PAX to let me know when we had five minutes left, to which they replied “we have two minutes left”.

“LOL, sure we do, guys. It’s a tough workout <changes watch screens>… oh, crap. Let’s get back to COT!”

Original plan was to use the last five minutes to do Lutefisk’s delightful “vacuum cleaner” routine in ShopVac’s honor. But it just wasn’t meant to be.

cot

Name-o-rama with all PAX opting to say “ShopVac, 56, Sean Kelley”.  YHC asked all present to speak any words they may have about ShopVac, followed by a brief discussion about being seen in the dark (in no way referring to our brother’s circumstances, of which none of us are cognizant). And prayers for the family and all involved…

nmm

Use your time well…

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Birthdays within the Colosseum

Good morning. After the joy (not happiness) of yesterday’s 20yr 9/11 remembrance workout, I recognized the need to have a co-Q for my Q today at The Colosseum. After all, we’re celebrating two birthday’s, DaVinci’s & mine, I was sore and not sure what I had in the tank, but mostly because I want to share the opportunity with a brother. Fortunately, Punch List obliged my request.

Here’s what happened:

Mosey to the back lot (basketball courts).
51 + 1 SSH for DaVinci
41 Mountain Climbers
6 or so Wind Mills
41 LBC’s oyo

Mosey to the lot further in the back with the short wall and line up on the white line.
Run to the wall, 20 Muscle Ups then 10 Over & Backs which is quite literally, jumping over the wall and jumping back over. Do this 10 total times then plank at the white line for the 6.

41 American Hammers (of course) with a stop after 31 to catch a breather and ensure proper form for the final 10 reps.

Hand off to Punch List

Head back to the left side of the basketball court for multiple sets of Suicides.
5 Butterfly Sit-Ups
Run to the foul line and back
5 Butterfly Sit-Ups
Half court and back
5 Butterfly Sit-Ups
Opposing foul line and back
5 Butterfly Sit-Ups
Opposing base line and back

Repeat the same lines but now, perform 10 Prisoner Squats (w/ a jump).

Then, repeat it with 10 Hand-Release Merkins.

Then, repeat that with 5 Burpees (put the nail in the coffin on this one).

Lastly, for the finisher. Bear crawl suicide with a Merkin at each turn around.

Yeah, that was a great idea, enough of that nonsense…hand it back to Maximus.

For the final minutes, we made our way to the light post at the bottom of the hill going up the back road.
Run to the next light post, perform 4 Spiderman Merkins + 1 Burpee.
Run to the next light post, do the same.
Continue until 0555 then make our way back to COT.

Plank for the final 60 seconds with some intentional thinking for the last 30sec.

Thank you for the Happy Birthday wishes but more importantly, your presence.

DaVinci, I love sharing this day with you.

Punch List, thank you again.

Until next time,
Maximus

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OPRAHS Vision at Quagsource

Qsource topic was Vison. Q point 3.4 if you happen to be following along with the numbering system.
Vision can be defined by Recognizing advantage and the movemnt required to achieve it.

OPRAHs made an appearance thanks to DiVinci and my fatigued mental state from being on vacation last week.

OP => Overhead press
R => Rows, bent over alternating with upright rows or as I like to call them Scooby Doos.
AH => American Hammers with ruck
S => Ruck Swings

Thanks to Flounder for taking us out at COT. My man has a gift.

Also note that Flounder is getting much better in his leading of cadance and will be on the q schedule very soon at Quagmire.
Thanks for the mumble chatter gents.

Stay frosty my friends.
Olaf

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Quag-source

When Olaf asked YHC to queue at Quagmire he, not surprisingly, had a little something different in mind.  In advance of the upcoming GrowRuck he asked me to make the workout ruck friendly and also to discuss Qsource Q1.10 (Prayer)

A quick disclosure was given, we acknowledged our FNG, Bones picked up his sandbag, and we were off.  During the ruck to a nearby parking lot we discussed the first Socratic: Does Faith Play a Role in Leadership?  Great discussion ensued and the consensus was that yes, it does because without faith, man sees himself as the king of his world and can’t serve others.  All actions will be focused on the improvement of himself and he will be unable and unwilling to lead others.

At the parking lot we dropped our rucks and ran to the other side to start some “back and forths”.  Five burpees at the start line then run back to your ruck.  Grab your ruck and walk back to the start with ruck overhead.  Rinse and repeat 5 times.

Now that we were warmed up, we rucked over to the front of Target for some Red Balls of Pain.  On the way we discussed the second Socratic: If Faith plays a role in Leadership, how do we get here?  Answers from the group centered around study, discussion and prayer with your creator.

At the Target we combined discussion with exercises.  At each red ball we did 20 ruck squats and 10 ruck curls.   Transportation between the red balls alternated between lunge walks and overhead ruck carries.  Discussion centered on the “What What”.  What will happen when I die?  and What does that mean about the way I should live?  The “What What” can’t be answered by yourself.  It is only through talking to your creator through prayer that you build faith and find the answers.

With enough time left we headed back to first parking lot for some more “back and forths”.  (Can’t have enough of a good thing)  On the way we discussed the third and final Socratic:  Are fear and worry bad things?  Discussion centered around them being both.  Good, in the sense that they help you avoid dangers and enable you to teach others to do the same.  Bad, in the sense that too much fear and worry can be paralyzing and you can’t accelerate without it.  Prayer is an essential element to overcoming fear and anxiety.  It unburdens you and builds your faith in knowing that there is something out there bigger than yourself that has your best interests at heart.

After an unknown amount of “back and forths” we headed back to COT while reinforcing the lessons learned.  YHC asked the Pax to, at some point during the day, to give some additional thought to their own “What What” and to continue their dialogue with their creator.

At COT we welcomed “Ski Patrol” (Cory) to F3, announcements, prayers and praises.

Olaf, thanks for the opportunity to lead.

Half Shell

Qsource April 23

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Last min Charge at Chupercabra

YHC was feeling saucy so I took up the challenge to Q the ruck workout only because it was going to be Lutefisks virgin ruck experience. I usually can’t post to Rivergate on Fridays because I have a journey meeting that starts at 6 bells over in Baxter. So to make sure the PAX get their money’s worth I showed up to preruck at 445 to make sure all of the cones were ready to go. MileHigh joined me around 500 for a quick lap around the parking lot to get introduced to the feats of strength written on each cone.
We got almost an entire full lap before swinging back by StartEx to grab the rest of the cronies for the official party.
Disclaimer was disclaimed as we were rucking to the first cone.
Idea is to keep everyone together while still pushing each man to his limit. A modified Paula Abdoole was described and the exercises were as follow:
Penguins,
Shoulder taps,
Hand release Merkins,
8 count body bag builders,
Ruck getups,
Ruck curls,
Scooby Doos-AKA ruck rows,
Squat thrusters,
Lunges,
Ruck swings,
Man makers,

The Guys did a really good job of performing the exercises and hustling to the next stop which is two cones up before coming back to the cone that was skipped. Keep pushing the pax and doing the work.
Great to see everyone’s smiling faces this morning. DaVinci thanks for the opportunity to lead. Hate I had to bounce before COT but I needed to be at The Journey before 6 more than I needed those last few reps.

Stay frosty my friends.
Olaf

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Honoring Those Who Impact Us

This week, on Wednesday, we honor all veterans who have served and continue to serve our nation.  As part of that theme, YHC decided to get a little jump start by assigning a workout where PAX would honor a veteran of their choosing and, based on the name(s) of those veterans, complete as many rounds as possible of exercises associated with the letters of their name.

We gathered as 5 to start and, by the time we moseyed roughly 1/4 mile for some COP, Olaf and Flounder joined in.

COP – 11 windmills D/C I/C, 5 burpees, 11 Imperial Walkers D/C I/C, 5 burpees, 11 Hillbilly Walkers D/C I/C, 5 burpees, mosey further up the lot because YHC did not like the smell of trash, continuing with… 11 low slow squats D/C I/C, holding the last rep and remaining in the peoples chair for 9 Moroccan night clubs and 9 shoulder taps – both D/C and I/C.  Legs were warm and off we moseyed to the board of the alphabet.

The main event was designed to be between 2 & 5 rounds and all PAX worked hard, likely did more wall sits than they would in most workouts and it seemed a lot of leg work was done, but the beauty of these workouts was the simple fact that PAX were doing these to honor someone who impacted them – someone who made them better in their life.  May we be so fortunate to do the same for others as a matter of everyday practice.

YHC called time with 3 minutes to spare and we moseyed back to COT for geometry class with a few positions on the protractor before 0600 hit and time was called.

Announcements – Read your newsletter, XMas Party coming up and Thanksgiving convergence at the Ranch with a little football in Lake Wylie afterwards.  Travis Manion WOD on 11-20 at the Swamp.

Prayers – for families, for Olaf’s Mom as she relocates and his step dad struggling with an addiction.  For DaVinici and discernment on the path forward.

Praise for Jekyll’s Dad who served in Vietnam and is spending a weekend with his family coming up and for all veterans who have served us all selflessly and have sacrificed so that we might enjoy the freedoms and blessings of this nation.

NMM –  Q-ing is an honor.  Leading is a privilege and serving is our greatest form of impacting others.  YHC is grateful to the men of F3 who continue to serve as visible reminders each day of what impact and positive ripple effect can look like.  I am humbled to be in your company and thankful that all of you keep me on a better path with you than without.  My thanks to Olaf for the opportunity.

With Gratitude,

Cyclops

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Fresh off GR021, we’re now at the Fire Ant

If you were one of the 20 PAX that attended Fire Ant today, you heard me talk briefly about the impact of GR021 (GrowRuck 021) in Louisville this past weekend. Along with Olaf, Shady, Italian Job and Dark Helmet, I was blessed to participate in this extremely impactful weekend. Much like the rest of F3, the true benefits go way beyond the workout or in this case, the 14hr team ruck event spanning Saturday night into Sunday morning.

I tried to bring back just a taste of what we experienced and some of my learnings but unless you actually participate in these GrowRuck weekends, it’s hard to comprehend. However, I did want to bring a taste of the PT to our local PAX and so with 19 other Ruckers, we did the following.

Disclaimer

Warm Up
Jog, Knees to chest, Jog, Toy Soldiers, Butt Kickers, Jog back to our rucks

SSH x 5
Windmills x 5
SSH x 10
Windmills x 5

Ruck Up
Rucks overhead for a 30ct
Ruck Curls x 20 IC
Squat hold with rucks overhead for a 20ct
Ruck swings x 20
Tricep Extensions x 20 IC
Squat with ruck press x 10 IC

2 line ruck shuffle to back lot & ground the rucks
3-tier suicides then ruck up
Bear crawl to the far suicide line and plank
Bear crawl back to the half way point and circle up
Slick-dying cockroach x 30IC
BEAR ROACH for a while (I think we did a total of 20 to the left and 20 to the right). For this exercise, you get into a bear crawl position with your ruck on then upon command, roll over to the dying cockroach position. Upon command, get back to the bear crawl position.

2 line ruck shuffle back to the first starting spot and circle up
5 Merkins – 10 Carolina Dry Dock – 15 Bent Over Rows (all IC)
5 Squats – 5 lunges each leg
2 line ruck march back to COT

Announcements:
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SIGN UP FOR A FUTURE GROWRUCK

SYITG
Maximus

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