4 Corners…In All 4 Lots

For my 3rd and final Q of the week, 12 of us tied ’em up tight at Laces In Thursday for a bit of a twist on things. The weather was nice and the guys were ready for some work.

Warm Up mosey up the entrance hill then circle up back at the bottom for a few warm up exercises, your typical fare.

Now, here’s the deal. In each of our 4 parking lots, we’re executing 1 exercise at each of the lot’s 4 corners with 5  burpees in the center.
So, start in 1 corner, 15 Wide-Arm Merkins, run to the center, do 5 Burpees, run to the next corner, 15 Jump Squats and run to the center. Do 5 Burpees, then run to the next corner, 15 Carolina Dry Docks and run to the center for 5 more Burpees. Then, run to the last corner for 15 Dying Cockroaches and run to the center for one last time for 5 Burpees.

We ran to the next lot, did the same routine, then the next lot for the same routine again. We than ran to the final lot for a repeat performance. Once we completed that 4th lot, our totals were:
60 Wide-Arm Merkins
60 Jump Squats
60 Dying Cockroaches
60 Carolina Dry Docks
80 Burpees

We then moseyed to the area near the pull-up bars for the following:
20 Pull-Ups
20 Merkins
20 Flutters I/C

We made our way back to COT while stopping for a few SSH in 2 lots.

SYITG
Maximus

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Convergence – Shop Vac

65 PAX gathered to remember Shop Vac. Probably had closer to 70 at different points during the hour. Fishsticks took the Milkshakers

Lutefish warmup:
Sean Kelley, 56, Shop Vac

There are a couple of young men I was hoping would hear this this morning. While I’m talking to them, I’m also talking to myself and all of you.

We all know that or God, SkyQ, has written our books. He went before us, He knows us by name, and He alone knows when our earthly lives begin and end. God knew our brother Sean was to come home. And it doesn’t make sense to us.

But let me ask you this. What would it be like to know that when it is our time that we would also know that we accomplished the tasks that the Lord created us to do? God knows the great plans He has for each of you. You are here for a reason.

Wouldn’t it feel comforting to know that you full executed your purpose here on earth? Today we celebrate Sean, who I believe did just that. Sean loved his sons. It’s all he talked about when we worked out together. That, and his dream to have a home in Beaufort. He lived out and executed his purpose. We now have 2 of his sons as our brothers, and how great it is that the world is better because of him. Recover on your feet.

I read a quote recently:

“When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced; live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.”

Sean is rejoicing and would want us to do the same. And he would want us to do 56 side straddle hops in cadence.

Split out to:

  • Kettlebells
    • Uhaul
  • Bootcamp: split PAX into two groups for 20min sessions
    • Ruby Slippers
    • Band Camp

Uhaul’s KB workout:
56 Squats
56 Curls
56 Skull Crushers
56 Calf Raises
56 Uhauls
56 Flutters w/ press (4 count)
56 Dead lifts
56 Lawn Mower Pulls R
56 Lawn Mower Pulls L
56 American Hammers
56 LBCs (4 count)

Band Camp’s portion:
EMOM
minute 1 – 20 burpees
minute 2 – 30 jumping lunges
minute 3 – 40 Freddie Mercuries
minute 4 – 50 Carolina Dry Docks
minute 5 – 60 SSH

7s w/ Mike Tysons and Squats
Mode of transportation: bear crawl/crawl bear

Some in cadence jump squats, core work,

I found a backblast from Shop Vac…It reads with a lot more significance to me now. https://f3thefort.com/2021/04/14/403656/
I may have said something asinine while holding a squat and quoting his backblast.
Something like:
Have understanding when I say 5 more squat jumps
Show tolerance when I say 6 more squat jumps
Practice patience when I call 7 more squat jumps
Take direction as we’re now hitting 8 more squat jumps

Did a little sprinting as well with the second group. (Shop Vac would not have approved, and neither did most of the PAX)

NMM: Shop Vac’s love for and pride in his sons was palpable. He made me want to be a better dad. I’m glad to be around men that make me want to be better. Shop Vac was one of those dudes.

Ruby Slippers’s portion:
I had the pleasure of working out a lot with Shop Vac. His attitude, smile, and laughter infected you immediately every time you met him.

YHC remembers a time during COT after a workout where frustrations from my work life came bubbling to the surface. After I vented to the PAX about the situation ( usual selfish rant where everyone else has a problem but me ) and the Q finished prayer, Shop Vac pulled me to the side and gently explained that it was my attitude that needed to be adjusted, not everyone else’s. He did it in a manner where I gladly and thankfully accepted his advice.

The Thang:
At every Shop Vac Q you could count on stations, simple exercises and/or routines, and minimal running. The six was never left behind at a Shop Vac workout so we are using the buddy system to make sure that does not happen at this workout.

Set-up 4 stations in the shape of a square in the middle parking lot at The Armory. 4 stations represented each member of the Kelly family, there were 4 exercises at each station, partner work to complete a cumulative total of 56 reps of each exercise:

Sean’s station:
– Merkins, Diamond Merkins, Wide Arm Merkins, CDD’s
Stacey’s station:
– Crunches in cadence, Flutters in cadence, Big Boy Sit-ups, Straight Lower Leg Lifts
Jack’s station:
– Squats, Jump Squats, Lunges, Jumping Lunges
Brian’s station
– Side Straddle Hops in cadence, Seal Jacks in cadence, Mountain Climbers in cadence, Plank Jacks in cadence.

PAX partner up – complete all 4 exercises at a station and then mosey to the center. YHC stood in the center of the square to represent Francis, Shop Vac’s faithful four-legged companion, where PAX would come to complete 56 monkey humpers.

Continued around the stations until time was called.

Video Evidence: https://twitter.com/jisenhour/status/1456967297453727750

Welcome FNGs: Bow Wow Wow, Bam!, Triple H, Dictator, Wax Off, and Pool Boy

Prayers for Sean’s family.

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Loopy Loop

Total of eleven pax for the third installment of Q-swap Thursdays in October.
Today, the Ranch swapped for Laces In. Bootcamp for Bootcamp.
Since Ruby Slippers’ shoulder is on the mend (TAPs), I covered for him today at Laces In.

Disclaimer given and began with some simple stretches.
Warmup: Motivators from 7 (thanks to Tesh for reminding me of a movement I forgot in these Motivators).

Run

Thang: Four corners loop
The routine is explained as: Four corners, cone in each corner, exercises noted on the cone. Will go through these four corners twice to cover a total of eight different exercises.
We do the exercise AMRAP-style for 1 minute
Pax then record the rep count w/ chalk
Pax run to the next cone together as a group
The eight exercises, in order, are:
Burpees
Squats
Leg lifts
SSH
Hand release merkins
Shoulder taps
Monkey humpers
Big boy sit ups
Then for variety, there is a ninth cone, which is:
Bear crawl forward five parking spots, then do 5 merkins, proceed to another five parking spots, then do 5 merkins…continue until time is called. Record distance traveled.

After the nine cones, had a slight break, talked about “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth measuring”
And read the two verses below. Point was: we are out here in the gloom working our butts off, we should be measuring it.

Then proceeded back to the cones for a last round of AMRAPs, with the goal of beating your prior number.

Time called, ran back to COT.

No Mary, got some in the thang.
Fini

1 Timothy 4:15
Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all.

Proverbs 13:4
Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.

NMM: could have removed the ninth cone…would have permitted more time to complete the second loop.
This parking lot has a total perimeter of about 400 meters; so running a loop gets you a ¼ mile.

 

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Remember the 13

Today at the Armory, we spent 45 minutes in an attempt to remember and honor the 13 Service Members who paid the ultimate sacrifice last Thursday, August 26, 2021 in Kabul Afghanistan. While they are not the only ones lost or affected by this last 20 years of service, they are the most recent.
We had 25 PAX (1 FNG) in attendance and a number of shovel flags.

Operation Freedom’s Sentinel: This is the operation involving U.S. forces serving in Afghanistan in/around Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan in an effort to evacuate U.S. citizens and those that have supported U.S. forces over the last 20 years.

Around 6pm local time, on Thursday, August 26, 2021, a suicide bomber walked into a crowd and detonated the vest.

13: U.S. Service Members were killed in the blast

170: Estimated number of Afghan civilians killed in the blast

15: U.S. Service Members injured

200: Estimated number of Afghan civilians injured in the blast

Regardless of your opinion of the events leading up to and surrounding this attack, our U.S. Military is a volunteer force aware of the risks they face.

Today, we will honor and remember those 13 U.S. Service Members who paid the ultimate price last Thursday.

Marine Corps
Sgt Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, assigned to the 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Naval Support Activity Bahrain.
Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, of Sacramento, California, assigned to the Combat Logistics Battalion 24, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, II Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Lejeune, NC.
Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31, of Salt Lake City, Utah. He was 0369, an Infantry Unit Leader assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
Corporal Hunter Lopez, 22, of Indio California. He was a Rifleman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
Corporal Daegan W. Page, 23, of Omaha, Nebraska. He was an Infantry Rifleman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
Corporal Humberto A. Sanchez, 22, of Logansport, Indiana. He was a Rifleman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
Lance Corporal David L. Espinoza, 20, of Rio Bravo, Texas. He was a Infantry Rifleman, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
Lance Corporal Jared M. Schmitz, 20, of St. Charles, Missouri. He was a Rifleman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
Lance Corporal Rylee J. McCollum, 20, of Jackson, Wyoming. He was a Rifleman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
Lance Corporal Dylan R. Merola, 20, of Rancho Cucamonga, California. He was a Rifleman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
Lance Corporal Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, of Norco, California was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.

Navy
Navy Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak, 22, of Berlin Heights, Ohio. He was a medic assigned to the 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, California.

Army
Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss, 23, of Corryton, Tennessee. He was assigned to the 9th Psychological Operations Battalion in Ft. Bragg, NC.

Source: Military Times & Taskandpurpose.com

The Thang:
Plank while we listened to the list of names, ranks, assignments of the fallen.

13 Burpees
13 SSH

Mosey the estimated .1mi that we’d do before each of the 13 exercises
13 Upright Rows

Mosey
13 Lunges (ea leg)

Mosey
13 Staggered Merkins (13 with the right hand on the bell then flapjack)

Mosey
13 KB Swings

Mosey
13 Squats

Mosey
13 Leg Lifts

Mosey
13 Lawnmower Pulls

Mosey
13 Curls each arm or 26 two-handed curls

Mosey
13 Box Cutters

Mosey
13 Flutters w/ Press

Mosey
13 Overhead, single-arm press

Mosey
13 Side Lunges (ea leg)

Mosey
13 Merkins

We had a few minutes at the end:

Flutter Kicks w/ Press
American Hammers
We then reread the names.

SYITG
Maximus

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B is for Bushwood

Big crowd over at CRHS this morning, but most stayed behind for UHaul and the Avett Brothers.  This is what the bootcampers did for Bushwood.  Simple but effective.

The Thang

Bone the Fish across the parking lot.  Some Karaoke and Side Shuffles.

Butt Kickers up to the other parking lot past the round about

Bearpees to 10.  That’s a 1:4 ratio of Burpees and Bear Crawls.  So we ended with 10 Burpees and 40 Bear Crawls, which is 55 Burpees and 220 Bear Crawl steps.

Blackjack across the lot with a 20:1 ratio of Merkins to LBCs till we got to 1:20 (210 of each).  Mosey around to the bottom of the hill that leads back to COT.

Bernie Sanders up the hill to the Shovel Flag.

NMM

Highlights today:

  1. When planning the workout, I started scrolling through the Exicon and realized there are a ton of B exercises.  Thus the outcome.
  2. Italian Job complained about being winded on Bone the Fish.  Then crushed the rest of the Workout.
  3. 10 Bearpees is alot.  Especially when that is your “warm up”.
  4. I thought Blackjack would take less time…. It didn’t and it sucked.  IJ commented that I knew it would take that long and suck in my heart of hearts.  There may be a #TruthNugget there.
  5. I planned for a Burpee mile before Bernie Sanders, but we ran out of time.  You are welcome.

Read your Newsletter.

Honor to Serve.

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Fast 5 friendly, except…

Remember, the Fast 5 was kicking off 2 hours post-COT so we need to make this one leg friendly. I got the memo but apparently, Bonsai did not. While the complaining in the second half ramped up, we knew we’d all be better for it.
With Maximus up for the first 30mins, here’s what happened:

We moseyed around lap around the park with Toy Soldiers and Butt Kickers thrown in for good measure.
Back in the parking lot, we did some slow squatting, 3-way calf raises and wide-arm Merkins

At the playground:
Group 1: 15 Pull-Ups & 30 Merkins
Group 2: American Hammers until Group 1 is done
Due to some questionable form, we did that one again with 10 Pull Ups and 20 Merkins.

Group 1: 15 Pull-Ups & 30 Carolina Dry Docks
Group 2: Freddy Mercury’s until Group 1 is done

Back to the lot for 10 Burpees, Boats & Canoes, Grave Diggers and Super Mans

Hand off to Bonsai:

We moseyed to the area at Fire Dept wall:
Level 1 Drill – 10 each
Merkins / Mountain Climbers, Hip Thrusters (questionable call)
25 LBCs
30sec Wall Sit
Repeat then run to the basketball court and back

25 Dirty Myrtle
15 Mike Tysons
25 American Hammers
25 Squats
Repeat then run to the basketball court and back

30sec BTTW
20 Plank Jack
10 Lunges each leg
15 Leg raises
Repeat then run to the basketball court and back

Bear crawl some, mosey, 30sec 6″ Merkin hold, mosey

COT

Maximus & Bonsai

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Coupons & Rucks…and a surprise

About 1.5wks out from the CLT GTE, we had most of the guys bring sandbags for Currahee. Here’s what we did last week:

Slick: Mosey the loop, Wind Mills, Freddy Mercury’s, Flutters

Rucks overhead movement for ~ 200yds, then rucks on for a shuffle back to the starting point.

Rucks on and grab all the coupons for a .25mi ruck. Drop the coupons.
Bear Crawl a bit then Crawl Bear a bit, back
Overhead Press / Ruck Swings / Flutters w/ a press

Rucks on and grab all the coupons for a .25mi ruck. Drop the coupons.
Duck Walk a bit then Walk Duck a bit, back
Curls / Upright Rows / Bent over rows

Rucks on and grab all the coupons for another movement. Drop the coupons.
Al Gore w/ Cherry Pickers / Tricep Extensions / OH Press / Plank

Rucks on and grab all the coupons for another movement. Drop the coupons.
Merkins / Peter Parkers / Mountain Climbers / Mike Tysons

Then out came the deck of cards. This time, it was modified and only included cards 7-10 so the eventual count was 34 of these…#moderate:

Clubs: Slow Flutters
Hearts: Curls
Diamonds: Mountain Climbers
Spades: Merkins

COT with us all offering a prayer request.
It was a good one.

Maximus

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Pantheon Burpee Lane Humid Fest

12 PAX + YHC chose to post at Pantheon. Why it was never named Painathon I don’t know……but here we go.

Mosey warm up with some running and some other stuff

  • Mosey the .4 route of pain to point out the 4 pain stations
    • Weezy Jeffersons
    • Big Boys
    • American Hammers
    • Squats
    • Box Jumps
    • Lunges or Lungs….whatever you like
    • Diamond Merkings
    • Derkins
    • Hand Release Merkins
    • Inch Worm Merkins
    • Parker Peters
    • Mak Tar Za’s
  • Hit Burpee Lane
    • 5 Burpees
    • Bear Crawl 25 yards
    • 5 burpees
    • Bear Crawl 50 yards
    • 5 Burpees

Great Mumble Chatter and lots of sweat!

Thx 38 speacial! Everyone get better!!

 

 

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Fabulous Four

A small, but dedicated group of four hit the rock this morning for a workout with  sandbags and some old Alcatraz classics.  Here is what they did:

The Thang:

Skipper on Q:

Disclaimer and mosey on the path around the park.  We bypassed the pull up bars for now, but the Pax would  not escape them completely today.  Circle up on the lot for COP:

All in cadence:

SSH x 20, Merkin x 10 (hold plank), Peter parker x 10, Parker peter x 10, MC x 10).  Mosey to the other side of the lot and pick up two sand bags.  Partner up.

Dora 123:  Partner 1 does the exercise while partner 2 carries the sandbag to the basketball hoop, does 5 squats, and returns to the start.

Exercises:  100 diamond merkins, 200 big boy situps, 300 shoulder taps.  At about midway through the shoulder taps, Skpper made the call to modify and swapped squats for shoulder taps, and 10 sandbag throws out and back in place of carrying the sandbag and doing squats (GOOD CALL – I was getting smoked and I believe the others were too!)

Hand off to Senator Tressel

Line up in the field for 40 yd sprints out and back with short recovery.  I believe we did 5 sets, maybe 6.  Recover and walk to the concession stand wall for the Strong Square:

Starting at the wall, assume BTTW and walk on your hands the length of the wall, lunge walk to about the 2nd base line, backwards bearcrawl towards the fire station, and power skip back to the start.  Repeat this 2 more  times.

Mosey to the playground for pull ups (10), reverse step ups (10L/10R), and big boy sit ups (20).  We did 3 sets.

Mosey back to the field for 2 minutes of Mary:  Freddie Merc x 20, Pretzel crunch x 10.

End with 60s of Body Destroyer (my favorite)

COT

It was a pleasure to lead the group today with Skipper.  We had a good mix of newer exercises (seeing a lot of sandbags at workouts these days) and stuff we did years ago (40 yd sprints and walking on your hands).  With a smaller group, we moved from exercise to exercise quickly and didn’t waste a lot of time.  Everyone left it out there today and I felt we gave them their money’s worth.  Well done, men!

Announcements:  Fastest 5K next Saturday, Stuff the bus for Ft. Mill schools, read your newsletter

Prayers/praises:  raising teenagers, families traveling, new job in NY for a college grad, and famlies and friends with cancer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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F3 Dads #2 @ The Fort

I must admit, major fail on the part of the Q. I missed getting the FNGs names on video so I missed tagging them here. My apologies.

With Watch This & 5th Set by my side (missing Cheetah), we welcomed the 54 PAX to F3 Dads and provided the disclaimer. We even had some Kotter PAX (Dads) and a whole bunch of 2.0 FNGs. The total was 57 for today!

We then took off down the hill and circled up for the brief warm up:
SSH & Low Slow Squats

Then, line the kids up on one side of our square and the dads on the other side for the classic, Sharks (dads) & Minnows (kids).
After a few rounds, we flipped it around so the roles were reversed and the kids seem to really enjoy this one.

Next, line up in a long line for a family cone drill. As a family,
Run to the first cone. 1 Merkin & 1 Jump Squat per family member in attendance.
Run to the second cone. 2 Merkins & 2 Jump Squats per family member in attendance.
Run to the third cone. 3 Merkins & 3 Jump Squats per family member in attendance.
Run to the fourth cone. 4 Merkins & 4 Jump Squats per family member in attendance.
NUR back to the start.

Move over to our (2) 4-cone squares for a friendly kids vs dads relay competition.
Due to the number of kids, the dads would have to complete the following twice while the kids only once:
Cone 1 to Cone 2: Crabwalk
Cone 2 to Cone 3: Lunge Walk
Cone 3 to Cone 4: Bear Crawl
Cone 4 back to Cone 1: NUR

Shocking, the kids won so the dads got to do 5 Burpees per kid they had in attendance while the kids laughed at us.

Lastly, go run as fast as you can to the top of the hill for COT.

And then…POPSICLES!!!!

Great job leading this Band Camp.

Watch This, 5th Set, Maximus appreciate the opportunity to Q today.

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