Rocks and Hoops at TheYard

10 of Fort Mill’s finest gathered at TheYard in hopes of some sweat and fellowship without rain.  Temps were in the lower 50’s with an overcast sky.  Still doesn’t feel like winter, and not even late fall, really.  Guess it’s the fact that Christmas Season is supposed to be “full on” that makes us feel it should be colder and snowyer.

YHC ended up flying in hot because I had arrived early, but then returned home to get a forgotten piece of the workout gear that was required, as per the loosely outlined weinke.  Spoiler alert: it was a basketball.

Warm-up:

  • Take a few steps back and do SSH until Wapner scrambled over from his car. (about 20 SSH’s)
  • Mosey to a parking lot around back
  • Imperial Walkers x10
  • Low Slow Squats x10
  • Wind Mills x10
  • Seal Jacks x10
  • Mountain Climber x10
  • Right arm high, then flip over to dip position for Dips (x10)
  • Left arm high, then flip over to plank for merkins (x10)

We then moseyed to the bottom of the hill entrance to the school and each pax was instructed to find a quarry rock.

The Thang:

  • 10 squats with coupon, set rock down, then
    • run to the top of the hill and plank for the 6
    • hold 6 inches for 5 seconds
    • run back to rock and wait for the 6
  • 10 squats, 10 curls, set rock down, then
    • run to the top of the hill and plank for the 6
    • hold 6 inches for 5 seconds
    • run back to rock and wait for the 6
  • 10 squats, 10 curls, 10 overhead presses, set rock down, then
    • run to the top of the hill and plank for the 6
    • 10 merkins
    • run back to rock (must select a different rock – because Beacon had become too comfortable with the size of his rock) and wait for the 6
  • 10 squats, 10 curls, 10 overhead presses, 10 tricep extensions , set rock down, then
    • run to the top of the hill and plank for the 6
    • 10 peter parkers
    • run back to rock (must select a different rock) and wait for the 6
  • 10 curls, 10 overhead presses, 10 tricep extensions , set rock down, then
    • run to the top of the hill and plank for the 6
    • 10 parker peters
    • run back to rock (must select a different rock) and wait for the 6
  • 10 overhead presses, 10 tricep extensions , set rock down, then
    • run to the top of the hill and plank for the 6
    • 10 of some other plank exercise I can’t remember
    • run back to rock (must select a different rock) and wait for the 6
  • 10 tricep extensions , set rock down, then
    • run to the top of the hill and plank for the 6
    • 10 of some other plank exercise I can’t remember
    • run back to rock (must select a different rock) and wait for the 6

Rocks returned to the rock pile, and pax moseyed back to the main parking lot for BLIMPS accumulator.

Station 1: 2 Bombjacks
Station 2: 2 Lunges
Station 3: 2 Imperial Walkers
Station 4: 2 Merkins
Station 5: 2 Plank Jacks
Station 6: 2 Scorpion Dry Docks

At end of first round, plank up for the 6, then repeat all stations doing 4 reps at each (then 6, then 8 reps).

Mosey over to the basketball goal and count off by 2’s.  1’s form a line on left side of paint, 2’s on the right side of the paint.  Each person took a turn (alternating back and forth between the teams) blindly selecting an exercise card from the buck-o-pain, then attempting a foul shot.  If they made the shot, the other team had to do the exercise.  If they missed, the shooters team had to do the exercise.

We made it almost twice through everyone before we ran out of time.

It was great getting back to TheYard.  Very much appreciate the opportunity to Q for the loyal group of guys that post there.

 

 

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Slow Burn – Solid to the Core

So, it was a fairly nice morning, especially when you consider it is December 1st!  I was able to workout in shorts and a t-shirt, so really…who can complain about that?

After reading Popeye’s back blast from down in The Rock region from a couple of days ago, it really got me off my six.  I saw that Trucker was scheduled to Q this week, but he posted that he needed a last minute Q change since he was DR last minute for work.  So I set out to plan a good ole’ core workout.  It went a little something like this…

Disclaimer (one FNG), then mosey down to the parking lot below for warmup.

Warmups:

  • Side Straddle Hop – 25
  • Low Slow Squats – 10
  • Windmill – 10
  • Moroccan Nightclubs – 25
  • Cherry Pickers – 10

Mosey to the other end of the strip and circle up.

Gifts – that is the word of the month for December.  We discussed how, especially this time of year when we hear the work gift we think of things…things we get, things we give, things we buy for ourselves…just stuff.  I challenged the PAX to think of the Spiritual Gifts that we all have.  We talked about how God has given us ALL various gifts, and literally everyone has them!

Another gift, is the gift of this F3 Brotherhood, and the unconditional support we all give to each other!  And lastly, my gift to the PAX was a good solid to the core workout 😉

The Thang:

  • LBC’s in cadence – 15
  • Flutter Kicks in cadence – 25
  • Boat/Canoe in cadence – 10

Recover with 10 count

  • LBC’s in cadence – 15
  • Flutter Kicks in cadence – 25
  • Boat/Canoe in cadence – 7

Mosey to the side of Lowes

  • Line up in 4 lines and have a relay race (all out) for half the length of the parking lot.  Boy can these HIMs move!

Two walking 10 counts to the back of Lowes, with a mosey the rest of the way.

  • Hello Dolly in cadence – 25
  • Freddy Mercury in cadence – 25
  • Big Boy Sit-Ups OYO – 10
  • American Hammer in cadence – 15

Mosey over to the wall.

  • People’s Chair with a 10 count (or more) from each of the 29 PAX

Time for a break.

  • Merkins in cadence – 10
  • Diamond Merkins in cadence – 10

Heard from Gilmore a bit about how he got his name, and what F3 has meant to him.  Great story and inspiration!

Back to the core.

  • Hello Dolly in cadence – 25
  • Freddy Mercury in cadence – 25
  • Big Boy Sit-Ups OYO – 10
  • American Hammer in cadence – 15

Mosey to the other side of lowes (working our way back in the direction of COT) for a couple minutes of Mary.

  • Box Cutters
  • Protractor

Mosey back to COT for name-o-rama.  We had one FNG, who was named Elvis (which is a STRONG name)

So, I wore myself out, and am super proud of all the PAX who pushed through this morning and stood together.  It is an honor and a GIFT to be able to Q!  Stay strong, get better, be willing to drop to your knees and accept help…Have a Blessed Week!

 

 

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Spork and Knife

19 at Laces In, 6 passed on the fun and went Laces Out.

It was nice to break out of the norm and Q at Laces In, thanks Rebel for telling us where it was.

The Thang:

Anchorman Lead:

Mosey around the student parking lot and circle up. SSH x 20, Slow Merkin x 10, Imperial Walker x 20, other misc warm up exercises x 15(ish).

Burpee See-Saw, partner up, one burpee, other burpee, and back and forth x 10 each.

SPORK, one partner runs, the other exercises, combine count.
Squat x100
Peter Parker Peter x 100
Overhead claps x 100
Rosalie x 100
donkey Kicks x 100

Message about Awareness …

Hand off to Barry Manilow:

Jonah Hill (3 broad jump, 3 merkins x 7 times)
Mosey back near the start and find some soft grass
HR Merkins x 15
Low SS x 20
Kneetar Jai x 10
OH Claps x 50
Mahktar Jai x 12
Pause Squats x 10 (hold down for 2 extra seconds each time)
Alt Lunge x 10
Dying Cockroach x 20
JACK WEBB to 10/40
Moroccan NC x 50
Shoulder taps x 15
LBC x 15
Scorpion DD x 10 x 2

Great time, thanks for the opportunity.

Looks like we made it,

Anchorman, Barry Manilow

 

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F3 The Fort Thanksgiving Convergence 2017

70 Men came today to burn calories so they can eat whatever they want the rest of the day. Ok, maybe that was my reasoning, but most came because the know in order to get better, even in being Gratful, it is best when being challenged by your brothers. We all came to get better and realize this great thing we have called F3 and give thanks!
Santini Opening with warm up both physically and mentally with some leadership principles
Split off into the various groups!
4 went for for a Run
  • Drile (F3-Wapner)
    Mozy to the front of SFES, high knees, toy soldiers, Butt kickers, and Knees to chest.
    Mozy to front of SFMS, circled up…Side straddle hop, Merkins, Cherry Pickers, and Moroccan Nightclub
    Mozy to SFMS bus loop …high knees, toy soldiers, Butt kickers, and Knees to chest.
    Circled up.. Flutter Kicks and Low Slow Squats, America Hammer and Low Slow Squats, Merkins and Windmills, mountain climbers and windmills
    Mozy to back of SFES, circled up…Peter Parker’s and Side Straddle Hop, Plank and windmill, shoulder taps and Low Slow Squats, LBCs and Moroccan Nightclub
    Then rinse and repeated the above sequence…before joining the other groups at COT
    Lil E—Bootcamp Q
    Mosey to the parking lot in the rear of school and circle up. SSHs, Imperial Walkers, Windmills, Squats
  • The thang
    • 10 cones set up in a line spaced about 10 paces apart. Each cone had an exercise and rep count on them. Do exercises on the first cone and run a lap of the parking lot. Once you complete the lap do the first cone and the second cone and then run a lap. Repeat this adding the next cone until all 10 are complete. Here were the exercises in order from first to last:
    • Burpees x 10
    • Bombjacks x 10
    • LBCs x 25
    • Merkins x 20
    • Jump Squats x 10
    • Flutter kicks x 40
    • CDDs x 20
    • Lunges x 20
    • Mtn Climbers x 20
    • Monkey Humpers x 20

Majority of the pax finished in the Lunges lap with a few speedsters out in front on the mtn climbers. Mosey back to the front of the school for some Freddy Mercury’s and Rosalitas.

After that met up with the Moderate and Black diamond groups for COT.

Everyone put out great effort today and really pushed themselves.

 

Witch Hunt—Black Diamond Q

Not even a trip to the hospital the night before with a pregnant wife could keep me away from this Thanksgiving workout. Shout out to Royale and Cha Ching for stepping up to help me out. Luckily I made it and we put in work.
We stared by counting off by 4 creating 4 teams.
Each team will compete to complete as many burpees as possible in 2-minutes with a catch. You can only do 10 at a time before you most complete 20 reps of ab exercise. 2 rounds:
1.) Burpees with LBCs (Somehow Bounce House was able to do 50 burpees. That dude is not human.)
2.) Burpees with Knee Tuck with crunchy frogs
Winners plank while losers perform 10 Kraken Burpees.
Blood was flowing so we moseyed to the hill by the middle school for some broken down burpees. Catch was that we had 20 minutes for everyone to complete. If everyone doesnt finish within the time then group does 25 Burpees.
Here was the setup:
Run Hill 10 times. (1 Hill Run = Up & Down)

5 Squat Jumps
5  Plank w\ Shoulder Taps
5 Merkins
5 Froggers
5 Squat Jumps

Run Hill 8 times.

10 Squat Jumps
10 Plank w\ Shoulder Taps
10 Merkins
10 Froggers
10 Squat jumps

Run Hill 6 times.

15 Squat Jumps
15 Plank w\ Shoulder Taps
15 Merkins
15 Froggers
15 Squat jumps

Run Hill 4 time.

20 Squat Jumps
20 Plank w\ Shoulder Taps
20 Merkins
20 Froggers
20 Squat jumps

Run Hill 2 time

25 Squat Jumps
25 Plank w\ Shoulder Taps
25 Merkins
25 Froggers
25 Squat jumps

With some great teamwork by the Pax everyone completed within the 20 minutes so no penalty was given.

I attempted to have Backdraft give us a 10-count however  he responded “There are no 10 counts during the Black Diamond.” So no 10 count and a quick mosey back to the parking lot for the 10 Minute 100 Burpee Challenge:

Complete 10 1-minute rounds of burpees in the following set scheme. Any time left over in the round is yours for rest. (typically PAX finish the set between 25 and 40 seconds)

Rd1- 8

Rd2- 9

Rd3- 10

Rd4- 11

Rd5-12

Rd6-12

Rd7-11

Rd8-10

Rd9- 9

Rd10- 8

Total – 100

Amazing work by all the Pax. I didn’t pull any punches with this setup for the Black Diamond and the Pax took it on without hesitation. We all survived and are better for it.

Thanks to Ginsu and Cake Boss for the opportunity to lead.

Pusher with closing remarks and finding #Victory 

Prayers & Praises

Thank you F3 The Fort

Cake Boss

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Boards and A Hill at The Yard

9 at The Yard for some morning fun before the Paradise lunch and turkey giveaway. Though I was disappointed by the attendance number (it’s not that cold and my workouts are not that hard … maybe too easy ??), I was encouraged by the generosity of the PAX, 8 turkeys and cash for another. Props to MASH for fighting through a tough morning himself to help 5 Paradise families.

The Thang:

Mosey around the bus loop and back to the big lot for some warm up, back and forth across the lot, high knees, butt kickers, soccer knees in, soccer knees out, toy soldier, 10 dips OYO, shuffle L, shuffle R, 10 dips OYO, karaoke L, karaoke L, 10 dips OYO, windmill walker, imperial walker walker, 10 dips OYO, squat walkers

Mosey to the bottom of the hill by the entrance. 7’s up and down the hill, hand release merkins at the bottom, flying squirrels at the top.

Mosey back to the big lot and circle up, in cadence, 10 x LBCs, 10 x weed pullers, 10 x Freddie Mercury, 10 x LSS, 10 x V ups, 50 x OH claps, 10 x shoulders taps, 10 x SSH, 10 x Travolta, 10 x hillbilly walkers

Mosey to the first tall light toward the bus exit. Boards were placed at the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th light. 4 exercises on each board, do 1 at the 1st, 2nd and 3rd board, 2 at the 4th, back to the 3rd, 2nd, and do 2 exercises  back at the 1st, one at the 2nd, 3rd, 2 at the 4th, back to the 3rd, 2nd and 1st. 16 exercises like so, all in cadence: 10 x Makhtar N’ Diayes, 10 x SSH, 10 x LSS, 20 LBCs, 20 x Hello Dolly, 10 x imperial walker, 50 x OH claps, 10 x Kneetar N’ Diayes, 10 x hand release merkins, 100 x MN Clubs, 10 x hillbilly walker, 20 x Freddie M, 20 x dying cockroach, 10 x sumo squat, 10 x seal jacks, 20 Carolina DD.

Good work from the PAX

Looks like we made it,

Barry Manilow

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Sweatin’ To The Oldies @ #Slowburn

26 HIM came out for a warmer-and-drier-than-the-day-before “moderate” beatdown.  Welcome and disclaimer given and then I turned it over to Clark Kent for a little VQ Warm Up that went a little something like this:

10x Goofball
10x Windmill
10x Cherry Picker
10x Low Slow Squat
10x Side Straddle Hop

10x Merkin

Polaroid took back over and we moseyed to the back of Lowe’s for 2 rounds of:

30x Dips
Bear Crawl to the line
Lunge back to the rail
30x Calf Raises
Mosey to the side of Lowe’s for 1 round of Deck of Pain
Hearts = SSH
Diamonds = Bomb Jacks
Spades = Merkins
Clubs = Carolina Dry Docks
Jokers = 10 Burpees – – – – Dangerfield pulled the Joker!Mosey to the front of Lowe’s for a quick ab workout:

10x Flutter
10x LBC

Mosey back to the Warm Up circle for some Sweatin’ To The Oldies with
“I Get Around” by The Beach Boys.

Start in a squat and every time “I get around” is said you go up and down.  It’s 2m8s of squattin’ and hopefully the guys were feeling the Slow Burn.

Most of the PAX gave AYG to the Chick Fil-A hill and a mosey back to COT.  Great job!
Announcements:
-Turkey Day Convergence 11/24 0600 @ The Ranch
-Christmas Party 12/1 1830 @ Regal Manor Clubhouse
-Paradise Turkey Giveaway Bring a FROZEN turkey to an AO on Saturday, November 18th. Why? To bless the Paradise Community with turkeys for Thanksgiving. This turkey giveaway will reduce the financial burden for underprivileged families in this neighborhood as they prepare for the holiday. We will also eat lunch with the community during this event to further build relationships with our brothers and sisters in Paradise. Read the pre-blast for details regarding this fruitful event. Contact Deacon with questions.

Pinup prayed us out.

It’s always an honor Q’ing.  Thanks, again, Barry Manilow.  Peace.
~Polaroid

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Speak Victory

 

What an amazing morning in the gloom on this Fall day. Spitz posted early for a pre-run. We had a couple of young Pax present to push us. Twister was wide open and fueled with enough caffeine the town of Fort Mill. #LoveIt

 

The Thang

 

Leg Warm-Up: Toy Soldiers, Shuffle Left, Shuffle Right, Back Pedals, Karaoke Left, Karaoke Right, Power Skips

 

COP: SSH (10x), IW (10x), HBW (20x), Sumo Squats (15x), MC (20x), Peter Parkers (10x), Parker Peters (10x), Pepper Grinders (10x), LBCs (15x)

 

Stretch-o-rama

 

3 on 3 basketball games for intense cardio.

 

Moleskin:

Many people wake up groggy and dreading the day. Starting your day with a negative mind set is a self-defeating choice. You lose the battle before it starts.

 

Start and end your day on a positive note. What you think and say become reality. Speak victory into the atmosphere to win the battle before it starts. When you are troubled, call on God and His angels to help ensure your victory.

 

Deuteronomy 20:4 NIV – “For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”

 

Peace,

Deacon

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Ballroom Fun

The Thang (Workout)

Disclaimer was communicated!

Warm Up: 25 SSH, lunge stretching & 10 Low Slow Squats

Mosey

10 Merkins Upon Request (this should be a new exercise – MUR!) & 25 SSH

Mosey to back Wall – Wall Sits and Balls to the Wall – two counts of 10 each.

Moleskin:  Having God in Control is key.  At the same time WE must be a participant.  We cannot sit on our six and expect action.  We must heed God, His word, His instruction, His will and be a part of the game!!

Mosey to front parking lot.  With a partner, execute partner push across parking lot, 15 Big Boy Sit Ups and 10 Partner Merkins, Rinse and Repeat!!

Dora – with partner and cumulative, 100 squats, 200 LBC and 300 SSH

Mosey back to COT with :10 of Mary starting with Dynasty and moving clockwise

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Control

19 High Impact Men posted for a moderate workout in the misty gloom today. Smuggler made a strong come back, kotter style. Stang lead the second stretch-o-rama which made the Pax grunt like they were in a birthing center. Asphalt came to  COT and blessed us with his powerful testimony.

The Thang:

Strech-o-rama for warm-up

COP: SSH (10x), IW (10x), HBW (20x), Sumo Squats (15x), MC (20x), Jumping Lunges (10x), Swimmers (10x) Freddie Mercuries (15x),

Toy Soldiers, Shuffle Left, Shuffle Right, Back Pedals, Karaoke Left, Karaoke Right, Power Skips

Dips (15x), Extreme CCDs (10x) and LBCs (20x)

Decline Merkins (15x), Extreme CCDs (10x), and Flutters(20x)

Incline Merkins (15x), Extreme CCDs (10x), Heels to Heaven (20x)

Wall Merkins, People’s Chair (3x)

Partner Drills: One partner runs to the light post and back while the other does the following until the team does a total of 100 Merkins, 200 Monkey Humpers, 300 Flutters.

Strech-o-rama for cool down

Moleskin:

God is in control. Type A people, like myself, struggle to understand that reality. Reality became very clear when the Colombia Mission Team and I were stranded in Miami right before Irma hit.

I brainstormed solutions to “control” the situation like:

– Get another flight to escape the hurricane (reality check: the airport was closing).

– Take a train (reality check: the train station was closed).

– Find a hotel for shelter (reality check: all local hotels were closed).

We prayed and then escaped the storm by driving in what the media claimed would be 15 mile/hour traffic.

God was in control and His plan was far greater than ours. Instead of 12 men going to Colombia, he sent 17 of us to Florida to help hurricane survivors. Instead of serving 1 organization in Columbia, we served 5 organizations in Florida. Instead of engaging a few donors to raise money for the mission trip, He engaged over 1K people in our church/community to collect supplies for the hurricane survivors in Florida. Instead bringing a few supplies to Colombia (less than the 50 lbs limit), He had us bring over 10K lbs of supplies to  people who needed it in Florida.

I’m glad that God is in control. His plans are far greater than what we can imagine.

Peace,

Deacon

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Smithers VQ at Footloose – Stairway to Heaven

Smithers VQ

The weather was wonderful this fine fall October Morning…it felt just about as thick as ever and I was sweating even before I got out of bed!  Perfect day for my VQ!

As we were standing around talking before everything got kicked off I was amazed by the show of support of all the PAX rolling in one after another, 29 in all.  If only they had known what was coming ;-).

Started off with my first ever disclaimer…then a mosey to the back parking lot at First Baptist for the warmup:

  • Side Straddle Hops
  • Low Slow Squats
  • Windmills
  • Walking Calf Raises (aka how Cakeboss walked to school) to the wall
  • Wall sits for each PAX 10 count

Mosey across the street, down the steps, and across the next street to the parking lot next to Fort Mill Church of God…and wait, what was that in the humid glow of the streetlight?  Was that a board of pain?  Oh yes…

The Thang:

Partner up.  One partner starts the exercise while the other runs across the street and runs the snake on the set of steps…then back to take over the exercises for the partner.

  • 50 Bombjacks
  • 150 LBC’s
  • 200 Monkey Humpers
  • 150 Squats
  • 50 Merkins
  • 200 Calf Raises
  • 200 Side Straddle Hops

CONTROL is the word of the month.  We are all men….it’s in our DNA to want to be in control.  What do we need to find control?  In a car you need good tires…in a house you need a solid foundation.  You need a STRONG BASE…so…we worked on ours today.  Our legs (and a little bit of our core) were the focus…to give us a strong base to improve our control!

That said, we have all experienced things that didn’t go according to plan, and in many cases you could not regain that control no matter how hard you tried.  It is not easy to let go…it is not easy to adapt quickly…at least not all the time.  So, even when we ARE feeling in control we know that it is the Sky Q who has allowed that and trusted our leadership, Aye!  You see, the Sky Q uses us daily…sometimes to help others who are down, and pick them up…sometimes we are there to help those looking to help a brother up and we are the ones who are down.  Then there are the days where things just move right along without much resistance.  Those are the days where we should be letting the Sky Q know how much we appreciate His trust in us, and asking for continued strength to make Him proud!

Mosey back to COT for a quick round of Mary (just one set of flutter kicks) to close out our time.

My biggest fear was getting done WAY too early or not coming anywhere CLOSE to finishing the workout.  Sky Q steered me right in all the decisions, and I think for my first Q to finish with less than 2 minutes to spare…well, I’ll take that any day!

So, in closing…

My legs hurt, how about yours?

Smithers Out

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