Twitter Burpee Challenge

There is something about twitter and Slack (your welcome Crab Cakes) where you get to poke the bear and start a rash of replies about which AO is better, which one will have more PAX post, and who’s WO will SUCK more. Your YHC tried to create an unofficial convergence by calling out multiple PAX, and then Punch List took it to another level and would do burpees if additional PAX would post….Stang where were you???? Your Vols are bowl eligible, you should be posting now that you can be seen without getting grief. Actually where were all those PAX who were called out??? Disappointing, we all wanted to see Punch List do 100 burpees 🙁

The 12 PAX who did post were not disappointed.

The Thang:

Warm up with toy soldiers along roadway for 2 light pole lengths (longer than I thought), return with knee ups and lunges.  Circle up for COP – some windmills (Dirty Harry loves these!), Imperial Walkers, Hillbilly Walkers, Slow Squats, and merkings. Mossy past the pull up bars….PAX were shocked we didn’t stop there….they just didn’t know what as in store for them…to the bottom of the hill for round 2 of COP. Moroccan nightclubs, overhead claps, and toe touches.

Mossy up the hill to the pull up bars. Time for the real thing. Dora 400! Partner up. As a duo, 60 pull-ups with a challenge that each PAX does 20 true pull-ups (not using the foot rests). 100 merkins, 150 squats, and 200 LBCs. I know, this does not total 400….The other partner runs to the bottom of the hill and back.

Each PAX was then required to do 10 true pull-ups and 10 toe touches, while resting wall sits. Once completed, 5 more pull-ups. Can’t get better without doing them and they are the best exercise out there!!

Mossy to crosswalk and sprint to next crosswalk. Finish with 3 minutes of Marry.

Appreciate the opportunity to lead and push PAX on pull-ups, thanks Punch List.

Read the newsletter!

Prayers for Cash and Karrie who are fighting cancer….you can do it!

Trucker out

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Snake Pit – Quarter Pounders w/ Cheese

After rescheduling this too many times due to conflicts, able to finally Q at this fine establishment. Special guest Partnerwork who’s kind of a big deal showed up. Gave the obligatory disclosure and we were off.

To get the blood flowing, began with a kettle bell mosey down to the lower entrance of the football field.

Warm up IN cadence:

  • SSH
  • IWs – little extra practice nice before to avoid repeating the epic failure from my Block Party Q
  • Cherry Pickers
  • Mtn. Climbers
  • Low Country Crab – found this one in the Exicon
  • Freddie Mercury

Quick recovery and Partnerwork opened the gates with the keys to the castle. Questions about a random tire placed by gate arose but was ignored.

The Thang

Line up at the goal line to explain the objective. Carry your kettlebell every 10 yards and execute number of corresponding reps to the end zone. Cyclops pointed out this is a reverse pyramid.

  • 10 – Man Makers
  • 20 – KB Swings
  • 30 – Gobblet Squats
  • 40 – Curls
  • 50 – Tricep Extensions
  • Repeat past the 50 to end zone

Checking time, needed to call a few audibles.

  • Grabbed some wall and proceeded with dirty hookups in  cadence x 30.
  • Jack Webbs (1×4 to 5×20)
  • Shoulder Taps x 30

Lined up on goal line for next field round.

Quarter Pounder

  • 10 KB swings to start, run to following yard markers, execute corresponding reps and run back backwards to start w/ 10 KB swings before running to next marker.
    • 25 yards – Merkins
    • 50 yards – American Hammers
    • 75 yards – Mountain Climbers
    • 100 yards – Calf Raises

With time running out, decided to head back to COT but with a bonus. Inspired by Geronimo’s Q at Laces In,  decided we should Indian run with our kettle bells with leader also carrying tire. It was met with enthusiasm.

Reached COT with a few minutes to spare, MARY Ab workouts in cadence until time.

Announcements: Thanksgiving convergence, Christmas party

Prayers/Praises: health, unspokens, upcoming travel

Thanks to Partnerwork for the field access , 3D for the opportunity, and the wisdom of other PAX  for this junior Q.

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Moving to keep warm on a windy day

Cyclops and YHC(Bass-o-Matic)  were blessed with the opportunity to have the Q at the Fort.  As we discussed that we had nothing really planned, nobody would have believed it as it came together nicely.

A brief intro, disclaimer and welcome Slim Jim from the New Bern PAX we started right into the warmup as we waited for stragglers to roll in.  We did the typical SSH, Windmills, merkins, imperial walkers, peter parkers and plank jacks.  A brief challenge to the group on how do you plan for the unexpected and how do you respond to those situations?  Now that everyone was ready we split off with Milkshake and moseyed to one of my favorite walls across from the memorial park.

Since the PAX looked a little tired we started of with some wall sits.  This is where it started getting a little saucy.  Round 1 each PAX did a 10 count with an arm variation until we go to the end.  Short 20 second break.  Round 2 Each PAX did 10 bombjacks till we made it down the line.  Saw some great form from the pax.

Changed it up and went to the plan position.  Each PAX held the plan until we went down the line with plank jacks.  20 second recovery and then repeated with mtn. climbers.

Rinse and repeat.  Went back to wall sits with squats for round 1 and SSH for round two.  Funny how quick 30 minutes went and then it was time to hand it over to Cyclops.

We moseyed from the Springs lot to Footloose – a good sojourn.  Once all PAX came in, we circled up for a 10-20-30 pyramid:

10 burpees OYO, 20 squats in cadence (because Bass-o-Matic did no leg work in his half of the Q ; – ) and 15 double count merkins in cadence.  After merkin completion, PAX stretched out from the plank with salutations to the left and right then holding 6 inches off the ground while Tesh gave an efficient 10 count.

We moseyed from Footloose to the front of the Fort Mill Police Department, held a belated veterans day Pledge of Allegiance to honor all who serve, and then moseyed on to Main street for more “fun”.

On the main street benches, PAX did 20 dips and 20 derkins OYO and then we moseyed to the Founders Bank lot for the “main act”

7’s –  6 Kracken Burpees on the horizontal parking space line, lunge walk to the opposite side (because we needed more leg work), 1 Carolina Dry Dock, mosey back to the line, 5 kracken burpees, lunge walk, 2 CDD’s, mosey back……etc. etc. etc. all the way down too 1 KB and 6 CDD’s to finish. PAX finished at this lot before moseying by holding a squat position and did 10 Moroccan night clubs in cadence.  A quick recovery via a 10-count and we moseyed back to the East side of WEP.

At the .1 mile drill bit – Pax bunched up for some more work:  15 double count flutters in cadence, 10 burpees OYO (just because) and 10 double count diamond merkins.  A little mumble chatter came about…but just a little – likely due to the love of burpees and diamond merkins.

A quick mosey back to COT brought us to a few minutes of Mary – which included 15 box cutters in cadence and 45 (ish) seconds worth of protractor work – PAX seemed to enjoy holding legs 6 inches off the ground after completing box cutters making the transition to the protractor more “fun”.  For some reason, pre-mature a count off started at this point – I don’t know why.

We wrapped up at 0730 per custom and moved to name-o-rama, announcements. praises and prayers.

Praise for the health care providers who are caring for many sick friends and family, who are in our thoughts, including Tesla’s Mom and Cyclops’ Dad who are battling forms of cancer.  And for Assassin who is working through an infection and awaiting biopsy results. Slim Jims grandson who is recovering from illness. Kenyan’s loss of his M; prayers for comfort and peace.

Read your newsletter.

 

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You want me to take that coupon to the top of that hill HOW??

The morning started simply enough with a warm-up mosey around WEP with stops at each pain station to warm up and explain the ins and outs of the first half workout…

Station

  1. Carolina Dry Dock to Bear Crawl in the direction of the next station in an ascending fashion…
    1. 1:4, 2:8, 3:12, 4:16, 5:20 and then run to the next station
  2. 5 Burpees then 25 Low Slow Squats finishing with 5 burpees before running to the next station
  3. 25x Shoulder Taps in cadence to 25 Lunge Walks (each leg) then running to the next station
  4. 60 count Honeymooner to allow for reset, 20x Merkins in Cadence, 20x Low Slow Squats in cadence and running to the final station
  5. 25x American Hammers in cadence, 25 Plank Jacks in cadence
  6. Rinse and Repeat course until halted by JWow

Then began the real pain…  after unloading coupons in the shape of cinder blocks from the back of the Slash-mobile we wandered off to a secluded portion of the park…

JWow found many ways to carry the coupons up a hill in an irrational and chaotic way…  A grand time was had by all.

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11 braved the gloom and supported my VQ at the Tomahawk this morning.

Set up was in stations and with partners to facilitate the proper acceleration from each participant.  Songs set the beat and the timer with a periodic visit from our favorite Chainsaw wielding problem solver, Malcolm.

Playlist was as follows:

  • The Boys are Back in Town
  • Welcome to the Jungle
  • Wake Up Call
  • All Summer Long
  • Jump
  • Malcolm the Chainsaw Man
  • Golden Years
  • Crazy Little Thing Called Love
  • You Shook Me All Night Long
  • Malcolm the Chainsaw Man
  • Fat Bottomed Girls
  • Down Under
  • I Want You to Want Me
  • Malcolm the Chainsaw Man
  • Everybody Hurts – for 5 minutes of Mary
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15 Runners at Honey Badger

Warmup: 28 SSH – I usually begin every workout this way; looking at each pax as we count off a couple rounds.
The Thang: A mosey to the track for some hard work.

800m Indian Run
100yd Indian Bear Crawl
600m Indian Run
100yd Domino Broad Jumps
600m Indian Run
100 Partner Plank Claps
Rinse & Repeat

We got through 1 full round and the 2nd round of Broad Jumps. Before leaving the track we stretched a bit and the mosey’d to C.O.T. 10 LBC’s and 10 Flutters got us to 6am.

We totaled 3.3 miles and we all got better. Except for DH, he may have injured his back trying to jump further than Punch List. I hope it’s not serious.

Prayers for pax on IR and Offspring’s health, praise for Straight Up’s family having a great weekend.

READ YOUR NEWSLETTER – changes to Saturday’s AO’s and be watching for a convergence preblast.

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Minnow Pond- fishing with lights

It was a nice cool morning. All were given the oppoetunity to see what Backdraft had a feeling for.8 gathered for the unexpected. THis is minnow pond all knew know warmups no breaks and definitly no 10 counts. A few minutes before YHC gave a quick and to the point disclaimer (Wasnt really neccesary due to all in attendence being veterans of F3, but wanted to be in regs. Dont want the man to come down on me)
We took off to the old service station. Once there hit mountain climbers and SSHs until 6 appered.
Heres the route head down old Nations every .4 to .5 miles yu will find a glow stick with exercises on it do them and move to the next. pretty simple. (that is what minnow pond is, Work plain and simple)
4 stops.
the guys from laces out join for a bit of the fun. Thanks for stopping by.
1. 5 flying squirrels/ 15 flutter kicks
2. 5 flying squirrels, 10 hand release merkins/ 15 flutter kicks
3. 5 flying squirrels, 10 hand release merkins, 15 squat jacks/ 15 flutter kicks
4. 5 flying squirrels, 10 hand release merkins, 15 squat jacks, 20 burpees/ 15 flutter kicks.
repeat the cards on the way back.
Meet at service station until 6 comes in PAX there first continuous MARY.
Head to COT.
WE got in 4 miles
Remeber always start small and work your way into the bigger picture.
Pray for PAX having family issues. (remember you may be the only guy a fellow PAX can talk to. Always be open to listen. We all can use it.)

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Block Party Steps and Bits

8 PAX took the DRP and made their way to WEP for some fun!  During the course of the workout YHC dropped some F3 hacks. Ranged from having a towel and extra shirt in your car for after posting, to being prepared with a Wienke to make writing BackBlasts easier, to giving this thing called F3 away. Disclaimer and we were on our way.

The Thang

Mosey to side parking lot for COP

SSH X 30, Merkins X 10, Squats X 20, Windmills X 10, Mountain Climbers X 20, Peter Parker X 20, SSH X 30

Mosey to courtyard and get some ledge

Right leg step ups X 20, Decline Merkins X 10, Dips X 10.

Left leg step ups X 20, Decline Merkins X 10, Dips X 10.

Rinse and Repeat but cut in half.

Rinse and repeat but cut that one in half (round up).

Mosey back to WEP for Drill Bits

At first drill bit: 1 Burpee, 2 Merkins, 3 Squat Jumps, 4 Plank Jacks, 5 Squats

At second drill bit: 2 Burpees, 4 Merkins, 6 Squat Jumps, 8 Plank Jacks, 10 Squats

At third drill bit: 3 Burpees, 6 Merkins, 9 Squat Jumps, 12 Plank Jacks, 15 Squats

At fourth drill bit: 4 Burpees, 8 Merkins, 12 Squat Jumps, 16 Plank Jacks, 20 Squats

At fifth drill bit: 54 Burpees, 10 Merkins, 15 Squat Jumps, 20 Plank Jacks, 25 Squats

Then a mosey to eat up about 3 minutes an try to get to 2 miles…. didn’t make it…

COT

FunHouse

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Honoring 5 heroes from 9/11 at the Honey Badger

16 PAX joined me to honor our fallen heroes, this time I went off the book and decided to do my own version and honor some of the heroes from the tragedy of 9/11.

-During the September 11 of 2001 attacks, 2,977 people were killed (excluding the 19 hijackers) and more than 6,000 others injured

-The immediate deaths included 265 on the four planes (including the terrorists), 2,606 in the World Trade Center and in the surrounding area, and 125 at the Pentagon

-Of those who perished during the initial attacks and the subsequent collapses of the towers, 343 were New York City firefighters, 23 were New York City police officers and 37 were officers at the Port Authority.

We had hundreds of heroes that day but I decided to honor 5 that made a great impact, they are not in any specific order but here are their names:

  1. NYPD Officer Moira Smith was the first officer to report the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 when she saw the first plane strike the first tower of the World Trade Center. Smith, a 13-year veteran, ran into the towers and began assisting in the evacuation. Officer Smith is credited with saving hundreds of lives that day, giving her own in the process. She was the only female NYPD officer to die on 9/11.
    She was survived by her 2-year-old daughter and her husband.
  1. Welles Crowther was an investment banker working on the 104th floor of 2 World Trade Center (the south tower). When United Airlines Flight 175 struck the south tower, Crowther remained calm. Just minutes after the plane hit, Crowther called his mother to let her know he was okay. He then began assisting others in evacuating, at one point carrying a woman down 17 flights of stairs, only to return to the 78th floor to continue helping others.
    Crowther had made it out of the building and was running back into it with a “Jaws of Life” tool when the tower collapsed. He was 24 years old.
  1. Mark Bingham ark owned a public relations firm, the Bingham Group. He was a passenger on board United Airlines Flight 93. Bingham was among the passengers who, along with Todd Beamer, Tom Burnett and Jeremy Glick, formed the plan to retake the plane from the hijackers, and led the effort that resulted in the crash of the plane into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, thwarting the hijackers’ plan to crash the plane into a building in Washington, D.C., most likely either the U.S. Capitol Building or the White House. Before their final mission, Mark called his mother and told her that he loved her very much. His mother, Alice Hoagland, is a former flight attendant. Since Mark’s death, she has become a world-renowned expert on airline safety as well as an activist for LGBTQ issues in memory of her heroic son.
  2. Ronald Paul Bucca was a Fire Marshal with 23 years on the job with FDNY. An Army Special Forces reservist, Bucca was known as “The Flying Fireman” after a spectacular fall from a tenement fire escape. Bucca, a marathon runner, died responding to the 78th floor of the south tower moments before it collapsed.
    He was the only FDNY Fire Marshal to be killed on 9/11.
  1. Retired United States Army Officer Rick Rescorla was working as the head of security at Morgan Stanley on the 44th floor when tragedy struck. Rick was there during the bombing at the Trade Center in 1993 and believe that the Towers were still a target for terrorists. He even predicted that a plane might be flown into them one day. He implemented security procedures for Morgan Stanley, including having practice evacuations every three months.
    On 9/11, Rick systematically helped the firm’s 1,000 employees out by ordering them through the stairways. He sang a Cornish battle song to boost morale, as he had done for his troops in Vietnam. After someone told him that he also needed to evacuate Rick said, “As soon as I make sure everyone else is out”. He was last seen heading up the tenth floor when the Tower collapsed.

WARM UP

We started with a slow mossey around the parking lot with some toy soldiers in between runs.

Back to COP for warm up exercises:

Windmill

Moroccan night clubs

Low Slow Squats (crowd favorites)

Cherry pickers

THE THANG

Mosseyed to the pull up bars area were some utensils had been setup for the following 9-11 format WO, 9 exercises with 11 reps each and then RUN down the hill to the stop sign and NUR back up, RINSE AND REPEAT, the plan was to do this 5 times, one for each hero but due to time restriction we completed 4 circuits with just enough time to run back to COT for announcements, prayers and praises.

11 pull ups BAR

11 big boy situps

11 toes to BAR

11 sledgehammer swing

11 knee raises BAR

11 merkins

11 slam ball to ground

11 Carolina dry docks

11 tire flips

It was a tough workout but it’s totally worth it when honoring our heroes; everyone pushed themselves through it with lots of mumble chatter but at the end we left better men!!

I was honored to Q the Honey Badger this week, thank you Dirty Harry for the opportunity to lead. #NeverForget

TINSEL out…

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7th Year Convergence for The Fort

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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