Dealer’s Choice: Shovel Flag hand-off at The Ballroom

A beautiful early fall morning with a bright moon called some hearty soles to the “new” Ballroom. Q-drenaline was surging in my veins as the cars kept rolling in. YHC was proud to have my 2.1, Pigeon roll out of the fartsack to join us. As no FNGs were present, an abbreviated disclaimer was offered. Off we went.

Mosey to inbound carpool lines and circle up. COP: (all IC), SSH *20, Windmills * 15, Merkins * 10, Pater Parkers * 10, Plank-o-Rama (As hard as I try, YHC still can’t get execute the hand/foot in the air combo), Squats * 20, MNC*25. Now that we’re warmed up, mosey to the gym wall. Before we got to the wall sits, YHC offered a few words on Leadership: F3 is an incredible opportunity to hone your leadership skills. As I am also a scout leader, F3 has sharpened my abilities and made me much more comfortable taking on the mantle of leadership.

Wall-sits while Pax on each end run out of line, do 5 squats, return and next man goes. Repeat, but this time each Pax does 5 Bombjacks. Nice form by Twister and Anchorman had a nice vertical. Now that the hammys are sufficiently smoked, mosey to the staff parking lot, under the bright lights for:

Deck O Pain: Each Pax draws a card and the group does the number of exercises on the card. Exercises were based upon the suit shown on each card as follows: Hearts = merkins, Clubs = squats, Diamonds = LBCs, Spades = Bombjacks. Each time a 10 is drawn, everyone run a lap around the lot. This is an easy “set it and forget it” piece and gets everyone engaged in the workout. Newer Pax get a chance to practice calling out the cadence and can gain some confidence in their leadership skills. Some quality mumblechatter followed along with an inordinate amount of merkins. We made it to about card 42 when YHC called an Omaha and had us run one more lap. After that, mosey back to COT.

Before the announcements, YHC offered a quote that I really enjoyed on Leadership:

Men make history, and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better. – Harry S. Truman

 That really hit home- having the courage to lead and building my skills are areas that I often fall short on. But sharpening iron alongside my brothers will help me to progress in these areas.

Announcements: upcoming Invergence and Convergence, G-fit workout on Fridays, read your newsletter. Prayer and a praise for our scout leaders of Pack 250, other prayers for Houston, F3 Columbia team and injured Pax. Cake Boss took us out with an awesome, prayerful giving of thanks for the leadership shown by fellow Pax and asking that we each become the leader that our Father meant us to be.

Before we got to Prayers, the Shovel Flag for the Ballroom was officially passed off to YHC as the new Site Q. I was honored when Cake Boss asked me to take over for him. Big shoes to fill there, but this is always a solid group of supportive Pax, so just know that I’ll be reaching out to each of you to get on the schedule. Thanks also go out to Change Order for leading this AO for many years. One reason I was glad when Cake Boss approached me about taking over as site Q was that I had thought about it when Change Order had been looking for someone months ago. Probably should have stepped up then, but opportunity came knocking again. As always, color me honored and humbled. See y’all in The Gloom.

Short Sale out.

 

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22 for lessons on Self and Spiritual Discipline

BALL ROOM WORKOUT 8.29.17

 

 

Little baby arm circles 10 IC

Windmill 10 IC

Low slow squat 10 IC

 

 

Mosey to the bridge

Irkin then inch worm to the right to the end

Dip then crab craw back to the center

Meet back in the middle talk about spiritual discipline

 

Secrecy: not making our good deeds known, let god take receive attention. This is something i have been trying to work on and not to boast about what i have done but to allow him to receive the glory

 

Submission: to allow gods will to free us of our burdens & cares so we can follow Jesus. My testimony was when my daughter was diagnosed with cancer i gave it all to him and the worry and stress was gone something amazing.

 

Soul Friendship: engaging with fellow disciples of Jesus in prayerful conversation or spiritual practices. A great example is wet stone partner and i encourage you to be a part of that program

 

Mosey to the wall and stairs

Peoples chair with some arm straight out, overhead pumps 2 teams

1 from each team runs up the steps and back down

Feel the burn

 

Mosey to the left side of the school to open parking lot

 

2 teams, 1 team runs together around the parking lot while team 2 preforms exercise till the 6 is back then team 2 runs

 

CDD

Fire hydrants left leg (lift your leg up like a dog pees on a fire hydrant) thanks to my ST. Simmons brothers for that one

 

Fire hydrants right leg

 

Worse worse worse LBC ( start in LBC position right elbow to left knee then right elbow to left elbow to right knee then preform crunch) now you know how it got its name, thanks to my ST. Simmons brothers for that one too

 

Plank jacks

 

Bomb jacks

 

Calf raises

 

Next came a little word on self-discipline

 

Self-discipline: the ability to control one’s feelings & overcome one’s weakness. This one I struggle with especially sweets in the house I lack this and need to improve on it.

Will Power: control exerted to something or to restrain and impulse. I have taking on the Ragnar this year which a year ago I would have said you are crazy if you think I am going to attempt that. My mind set now is I am going to crush this race with my fellow brothers. So Saturday rolled around I choose not to stay and watch the fight that was so hyped up but to wake up and run at 5:45 in the morning to train for this race. Mind over matter

Determination: firmness of purpose

Mosey to cot

For some AB Lab

Start with American hammers IC

LBC IC

Freddy Mecury IC

LBC IC TCLAPS to the FNG (PSYCHO) perfect cadence count

 

22 at the BALLROOM

1 FNG (psycho)

Announcements

Prayers and praises

Nam-O-Rama

As always a pleasure to lead a great group of HIMS

Fantastic work gentlemen

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

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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Choose Wisely

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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Outland Invasion

Union County was really where the glue of F3 took hold for me. Pax like Double E, Hairband, Glass Joe and Counter Top were with me through the early days and the rough days of watching my mom decline and eventually pass in December 2014. So needless to say the UC has a special place in my heart and I was happy to help out and q even though the site q was nowhere to be found.

So the thang went something like this…

COP

SSH
Imperial Walkers
Morocan Nightclub (a fan favorite)
Hillbillies

Afer we were warmed up we made our way to the bus parking lot, which was empty. Perfect!

I don’t have a name for the first round but it goes like this:
In the center ten merkins, at one end ten squats at the other end ten LBC’s. Repeat until you’ve completed ten of each exercise. Always stop in the middle for ten more merkins. And go!

I could tell the pax were really enjoying this already for all the grumblechatter I was getting so since things were too easy we next moved over to the benches for a little Cindy.

Cindy in this case involves ten merkins, ten step ups and ten dips. Go until the q calls time. After about twenty minutes of this nonsense we make our way over to the wall for people’s chair with arm raises. We completed rounds of 40, 50, 60 and 100 (thanks Shephered for the 100).

Oh we’ve got more time! So another round of Cindy and some stretching then we headed back towards our start point.

At this point a lot of folks were rolling into the school, so they got to see our weird movements and they probably were thinking of calling the police.

After some Mary and stretching and yoga we wrapped things up.

Great work everyone!

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The Armory – Do kettle bells rust?

A slight delay in posting due to technical difficulties ie I forgot my password.  It was a little damp at the Armory on Monday, but that didn’t stop the 11 pax coming out for a wet beatdown.  We started off with the usual disclaimer and went into a brief warmup of SSH, WM, LSQ and Mtn Climbers.  At that point it started to rain so we moseyed over to the little porch are of the church.  There was talk about going down to the funeral home awning, but I didn’t want to.  No I’m not scared.

On to the Thang:

I tried to keep things simple so we did sets of 50.  Bad idea.  We did a 1/2 parking lot lap in between exercises.  Another bad idea.

Curls, triceps extensions, Goblet squats, overhead press, calf raises.  Did I mention that we did LBC after each lap.

The rain let up a little so we moseyed down to the short wall and did step ups, lawnmower pulls did some lunge walks and finished up with chest presses.

We had some discussion about discipline.  I shared about a video series I’ve been watching by Andy Stanley on Guardrails.  Guardrails are those things that might cause us to have a little damage but prevent us from going into serious danger.  These guardrails can keep us away from falling into some bad situations or help us stay on track to meet our goals.  Twister shared an example of a guardrail that he has been using in his life.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead.

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You Can Blame Dark Helmet

The past few weeks have been anything but typical for me. Laid off from my job and then I planned to do a road trip which turned into the road trip from hell in many ways. But God was and is faithful and I made it back home safely and was able to get some drugs in that helped start the recovery process. That being said, I wasn’t sure about my q coming up for the first time at The Fort. But I had just qed at Laces In with the same illness, but didn’t know it. So I figured let’s go for it. About five minutes into COP I thought I might have made a serious mistake, but thanks to the many mercies of God I made it through.

COP was a bit of a blur but it included your typical:
SSH
Imperial Walkers
Hillbilly Walkers
Merkins
Windmills (slowly)
Moroccan Nightclub

After COP we made our way up the parking lot Springs Industries to find a nice flat spot where we could hang out for a while.

The next thing that followed was my theft of Union County (NC)’s Mindcrime’s invention. At center do five burpees, run, to one end and do ten merkins, come back to center, five burpees, run to the other end and do ten LBCs. Repeato until you’ve done ten rounds of ten merkins and ten LBCs. This quickly started to suck in the soup that is South Carolina in August. There was much hatechatter against the q, which makes me very happy and I know you’re working.

After much hate mumblechatter we stopped for a breather to talk about discipline and got a good word about how that ties into being a disciple both of our Lord and of life and making a difference in our own lives so we can make a difference in our families and our world. Aye!

Next up Cindy showed her ugly face and we made our way to the wall where much standing around was seen and some work was put in. Cindy went like this: ten merkins, ten dips and ten squats (or at least I think it was squats. Haven’t gotten my nap in yet). Go until q calls time!

Jekyll was threatening a coup so I wrapped up the sweat fest and we went into some stretching, weird yoga moves and other things to distract you from the fact that I just made you burn off a lot of calories.

Welcome Iron Man to F3 Nation! Thank you sir for your service to our country and for checking out F3 one day while at the park. Great first post!

Be sure to read the newsletter and keep up with all that’s going on at The Fort.

Thank you Bonsai for the chance to lead and I hope I gave you your money’s worth. As in time is money and I hope it was well worth your time.

DT out.

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2

Get busy living at the Yard

12 #HIM responded to the call this warm and humid morning. We all said our normal grumbling hellos and soon the mumble chatter started. YHC gave the disclaimer, brief and to the point as there were no FNG’s, and the PAX began to mosey.

The Warm Up
The PAX circled the parking lot and proceeded to the front of the middle school where a little high knees, butt kickers and Karaoke were in the cards while running to the parking area near the top of the hill. Warm Up exercises were as follows:
SSH
Windmill
Moroccan Night Clubs
Cherry Pickers
Mountain Climbers
Imperial Walkers
Merkins

The Thang

The PAX proceeded to the bottom of the hill at the entrance to the schools, partnered up and began a little round of Dora 1,2,3. Partners traded off on running up and down the hill while the other performed the Dora, consisting of 100 Merkins, 200 LBC’s and 300 Squats.

From there, the PAX moseyed back up the hill, grabbed some wall for multiple rounds of preachers chair complete with arm raises and overhead claps.

Sensing there was more living to do, the PAX moved to the back parking lot where cones awaited for a bit of 4 corners. PAX were broken into 4 groups and instructed to perform 3 laps around the cones, performing 10 reps of the identified exercise at each cone. The exercises:
Flying Squirrels (this is a moderate so no Burpees)
Flutter Kicks
Carolina Dry Docks
BOXCUTTERS
One more round was performed for giggles.

All ended with a round of Mary, with nearly half the PAX having the opportunity to lead an exercise. Back to COT.

With the word of the month being FREEDOM, the discussion turned to what that meant to each of us. The common theme iterated by the group centered on the freedoms we have as a country, as a people, to worship where and how we want and most frequently, the choices we have the freedom to make. Choices that have positive outcomes, such as the choice these HIM made to come out and get better, and choices that have consequences which everyone of us has experienced in this life.

We prayed for families, those traveling, those with job loss, and those struggling to live lives based on choices that the Sky Q would be proud of us making.

Thanks to Hasselhoff for allowing me to lead this group. I remain thankful and humbled.

V/R, M*A*S*H

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What If

What an amazing day to be in the gloom! 19 Pax exercised their freedom by choosing to post and get better over the fart sack. My man Flacco blessed us with his presence. Seeing him gave me flashbacks of posting at WEP 4 years ago.

The Thang

Mosey to the Postal Route Office’s parking lot:

Warm-Up: Stretches, SSH (30x), IW (20x), WM (15x), Sumo Squats (15x), MC (15x), CDDs (15x), Moroccan Night Clubs/Overhead Claps (15x)

Mosey to Founders Federal Credit Union’s parking Lot:

One partner runs around the islands in the parking lot. The other does exercises then alternate until the team of two has done: Merkins (100x), LBCS (300x), Donkey Kicks (50x)

Mosey to Publix’s parking lot:

Partner up. Wheel Barrells to each side of the parking lot (2x), Partner Big Boy Sit Ups (15x for 2 rounds), Partner Ski Jumps (15x), Partners Push Ups (15x for 2 rounds), Partner Leg Lifts (15x for 2 rounds), Burpees (10x)

Moleskin:

You have the freedom to choose how you react to tough situations. Our faith will be tested and how we respond helps to define us.

We often think of the “what ifs” when we are tested. Those “what ifs” tend to take us on a downward spiral of negativity.

We can also respond to tough situations with an optimistic mindset of “God Is.” After all, doesn’t He provide your needs? The answer is undoubtedly “Yes!” You could not have made it out of tough situations in the past without His grace and mercy.

Stop thinking about the “What Ifs” and understand that “God Is.” God is stronger and powerful than your challenges.

Be encouraged and know that “God Is.”

Peace,

Deacon

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Rock Region invades Block Party, Week 2

Twelve of The Fort and The Rock’s finest joined YHC for a little fun at Block Party this morning. It was YHC’s first posting at Block Party and I appreciated Double D giving me the invitation to Q.

The Thang:
Disclaimer was disclaimed–one FNG (Dollywood)

COP:
SSH x 20
Merkin x 10
Mountain Climber x 15
Carolina Dry Dock x 20

Grab a curb, perform the following: Derkin on the curb, then flip over perform a dip, then flip back over perform a Derkin, etc until all of our arms were appropriately burning.

Mosey over to the swingset for 10 pullups, followed by 10 burpees.

Mosey over to Founders parking lot for the following:
Parking lot shuffle (side shuffles back and forth on parking spaces)
Bear Crawl
Crab Walk

Mosey over to hill at WEP for 11’s with 1 jump squat at bottom, 10 merkins at top. Keep rolling until 10 jump squats at the bottom, 1 merkin at top.

Mosey to COT.

I want to thank Double D for the invitation to Q. When I got word that he was looking for guest Q’s from Rock Hill, I jumped at the opportunity. I can remember when I began posting at F3 almost two and half years ago–and men like Double D, CSPAN, Deacon, Pusher, Santini, Chaser, and others were constantly supporting our Pax in Rock Hill by posting with us. Today was a small opportunity to repay a bit of that investment in us south of the river as we’ve grown to over 500 Pax. Also appreciate my brothers from The Rock–Apache, Bill Nye, and Sapper posting with me.

Good work by all today–especially our FNG, Dollywood. Glad to have you out!

Prayers and praises:
Our young people as the prevalence of suicide and other similar negative behaviors continues to grow. Find a kid and invest in them.
Prayers for families dealing with Cancer.

Schrute out!

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