Are You Committed?

YHC had the honor to share the Q with Dark Helmet in celebration of his six years in F3. The disclaimer was disclaimed and the group split between The Fort and Milkshake. Here’s what we did:

  • 10 Imperial Walkers (IC)
  • 10 Low Slow Squats (IC)
  • 10 MNCs, Overhead Claps, Raise the Roofs, Little Baby Arm Circles (IC)

Mosey to the back parking lot

  • 20 Burpees
  • Lap
  • 40 Merkins
  • Lap
  • 60 Squats
  • Lap
  • 80 Little Baby Arm Circles
  • Lap
  • 100 Calf Raises
  • Lap
  • 80 LBCs
  • Lap
  • 60 American Hammers
  • Lap
  • 20 Burpees

Transition to Dark Helmet

For DOAH’s half, we ran around downtown to various parking lots for mumblechatter, Burpees, Bear Crawls, Flutters, and a myriad of other “fun” things. At each stop, he spoke to the 5 Core Principles, the Credo, and various other lessons on becoming a better man through F3. He’s an example of how a man can change if he commits.

So, are you committed? Without commitment, nothing happens. Commitment is required for any gains; gains in your fitness, faith, marriage, work, and life. Commitment is not a feeling. It’s a requirement to get through the hard times. We post in the heat, cold, rain, or shine. Why? Because doing the hard thing at the hard times prepares you for the the future. Commitment isn’t always easy, but it’s necessary to get you prepared for the next hard thing. You can’t get out of something that you don’t put into.

Six years ago, DOAH made the first commitment to daily investment into his fitness. Because of his efforts, he’s down over 50 pounds and up hundreds of new friends. He’s a better husband, father, and leader. What’s his secret? Commitment to betterment – the daily red pill. You have to commit if you want to see gains. Get after it, fellas. Today’s your day. Take it!

Aye!

Italian Job

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Maximus’ half

Disclaimer
Mosey on Confederate St to Main St then back to lot to turn left onto Monroe White St up to Tom Hall then back to the lot.
SSH x 10
Carolina Dry Docks (CDD) x 10
Peter Parkers x 10
CDD x 10
Parker Peters x 10
CDD x 10
3mins of Cherry Pickers & dumping them in the bucket
Up the Church steps and down, up and down, then up to Tom Hall then back to the lot.
Overhead Clap x 10
Merkins x 10
Overhead Press x 10
Diamond Merkins
Overhead Clap
CDD
3-tier suicides with 5 burpees at the end
5mins of Cherry Pickers & dumping them into the bucket

Tesh’s half

Mosey to the big CoG parking lot.

Suicides from the sidewalk to the middle of each row of parking spaces (3 progressions), and when you get past each line, chest to ground, hope back over the line, chest to ground, run back.

Honeymooners from hell (I can’t explain), one ab exercise [dying cockroach, JLo, flutter, snap-crackle-pop, freddy mercs]

Repeat 5 times.  Combination of redlining your heart rate and then simulating a 1 rep max on your core.  (If you’re Johnny Utah, chest to ground means 3 merkins…)

Mosey back to COT. (Air humpers with feet on the wall along the way.)

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Just. Keep. Posting.

On a crisp 48 degree morning, a similar # of pax posted for a convergence at The Fort/Milkshake to commemorate 8 yrs of pain and impact in the Gloom of Fort Mill, SC and elsewhere in York County.   The occasion drew pax from Rock Hill, Metro and Raleigh.

The Thang

Double D led a warm up with yog to the Church of God parking lot plus some Carioca

COP — Mtn Climbers, Peter Parker, Parker Peter, Monkey Humpers, SSH, Seal Jacks, Merkins

Hand off to Jekyll

Yog up the hill to the rug factory lot and a re-introduction to, yes, you guessed it  — The Board Pain!!!

See photo for the Weinke from here….or check your soreness today (Sunday) for those who were present.  A Jekyll Classic!  Heard at F3 from Redwood @Santini “I’ve been avoiding this Board for years…100 Burpees!!”

Yog back home

COT

Naked Man Moleskin

8 years…Is that a long time?  Well, the average time of degree completion for US college students is 6 years.  Only 50% of startups make it to the 5th year mark.  So, I suppose 8 years qualifies as something of a landmark.  At the same time, I don’t personally remember much about being 8 years old.  What about the 8 years from 2-10 years old?  Or maybe 10-18 years old?  Yes, I remember more…and if I had my way I’d like to forget some of those moments!

Well, I can remember quite a bit of the past 8 years.  I quite clearly remember 9.29.12…a date etched in my memory like my wedding day, my daughters’ birth dates and my birthday.

As I reflect back on 8 years of #Impact delivered by the men of F3TheFort, what really matters is 10.06.12 and 10.13.12.  You see, those were the Saturdays when pax returned to WEP for week 2 and week 3.  And FNGs posted for their own personal version of #TheLaunch.  And then Saturdays became Tuesdays, too.  And then a short time later they also became Thursdays.   In the end, what matters the most is not what happened in the past, but what happens today.  Or what will happen tomorrow when pax post to one of 30+ workouts across Fort Mill/Tega Cay or 70+ workouts across York County.

Just. Keep. Posting.  The one true constant across life is #Change.  Since 2012, I’ve moved to a different house,  nurtured two chicks out of the nest, collected a paycheck from two additional employers and traversed through a lot of ups and downs.  One of my rocks during this period has been the community of #HIMs known as F3TheFort.  You’ve been steady in your acceptance of me each time I post.  And along the way, you’ve revealed to me more and more parts of myself as you’ve revealed parts of yourself.  I know I’m all the better for it, and so is my family.  I’m pretty certain you’re better too.  And in the process our town, county and country are also better.

So, yes, we should take heart in what’s transpired over the past 8 years.  It is remarkable.  It is a blessing.  Some might call it a miracle….or miracles.  And the only way to honor this fruit and express our gratitude to God and the men who’ve contributed (past and present) is to Just. Keep. Posting.  Because if a day ever comes when no one posts…well…let’s Just. Keep. Posting.

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Crazy 8’s & The world’s second longest heart charger

11 #HIM began their Tuesday at the Colosseum by choosing the DRP. Here’s what we did:

COP – Mosey to the front of the school – we circled up for a warm up – All execrises were double count and in cadence:

Imperial Walkers X12, Hillbilly Walkers X 12, Windmills X 12, 10 burprees OYO, Low slow squats X 12, hold in the people’s chair while doing 10 air presses and 10 Moroccan night clubs both in cadence.

Mosey to the flag for a pledge to honor those who serve and protect us each day.

Mosey on to the basketball courts for Crazy 8’s – Kracken burpees at one end, run to the other end of the courts for Bobby Hurleys – 7 & 1, 6 & 2, etc. etc.

LBC’s were done while the 6 came in and we then moseyed to the base of the hill for the world’s second longest heart charger.

Every other light pole had two exercises listed – one was an 8 count, one was 25 count – because it was August 25.  Every PAX did 5 burpees every time they returned to the start line.

Pole #3 – 8 merkins, 25 side straddle hops, return to the start for 5 burpees OYO

Pole #5 – repeat pole #3 exercises, then 8 diamond merkins & 25 squats, return to start

Pole #7 – repeat poles 3 & 5, then 8 werkins and 25 calf raises, return to the start

Pole #9 – repeat poles 3, 5 & 7, then 8 burpees and 25 lunges, return to the start

Pole #11 – repeat poles 3, 5, 7 & 9, then 8 kracken burpees & 25 jump squats, return to start

Sir Topham Hat and Harry Caray were kings and all got their share of hill work in. Most PAX were toward the top of the hill when YHC realized at was 0555.  Time to call for the mosey back to COT.

Announcements were given, prayers & praises were offered up.  Newsletter was encouraged to be read.

Thanks to Hardwood for the opportunity to Q.  Always great to get out with a group of #HIM and get better.

Honored,

Cyclops

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Back to school

Warm-up:
Mosey from parking lot down the the drop-off circle in front of the elementary school. There we did the following:
SSH
Hillbilly Walker
Moroccan Night club

Continued to mosey around the loop and around the middle school drop off and then over to the basketball court. There we did a few more warm-up exercises which I don’t remember at this time.

Once the Pax were good and warm we kicked off the starfish. YHC was expecting heavy rain and potential thunderstorms so the plan was to stay under the breezeways connecting the elementary school and middle. At each end point Pax would have 2 exercises to do. Pax completed one of the two exercises listed at each spot each time through. Every time pax came through the main intersection they did 5 burpees. All pax completed 4 rounds for a total of 60 burpees each.

Exercises:
Station 1 – Mike Tysons and Diamond Merkins (10)
Station 2 – Big Boy Sit-ups and Leg Raises (20)
Station 3 – Back Rows and Dead-lifts (15)
Station 4 – Squats and Dirty Myrtles (20)

Burpees between stations – 60 Total

After 4 rounds complete we have a few minutes left for the following:
LBCs with feet on wall
2 rounds of 10 Mike Tyson Merkins and 20 Dirty Myrtles

Then we headed back for COT after covering about 2 miles, a bunch of exercises and a little rain.

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The 2 Wisemen Visited The Fort

3D led off with some running and warmup then to the Pike Engineering brick wall for wallsits with arms up, alternating legs and the 5 burpees each HIM starting from the end.  Run to Massey Hill. Jacobs Ladder to 7 with squats at bottom and Merkins at the top.  Several PAX were losing clothing.  3D led mosey back to WEP playground for Q handoff to LTrain.

LTrain
Partner work

5 sets
10 merkins, partner holds plank
250 yard run

5 sets
15 squats, partner holds Al Gore
250 yard run

5 sets
20 big boy situps, partner holds plank
250 yard run

Indian run around WEP (~.5 mile)

End with Mary

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Friday the 13th: Rain at the Varsity

Friday the 13th
7 PAX

Started out undercover and did a warm-up series of running between cover at the student entrance and the bus drop off area.
SSH
IW
Shoulder Taps
HW
Merkins
Down Dog–>Up Dog

Focus on 3S2T

Speed in the rain to front of school
quick lap

Return to cover for Thang

YHC had placed these signs pre-0500.

Started under cover at 5 merkin sign
– bear crawl to squats, do squats and run back
– 5 merkins, bear crawl, 10 squats, bear crawl, 15 lunges, run back
– etc.

Got to 25 burpees. Then did 25 more burpees and bear crawled straight through the sequence but backwards.

Some Mary and COT

NMM:

Somethings you can’t just start working on. For example, stamina. You can only work on increasing stamina once you start to get tired. You can only work on toughness in adverse conditions. Take adverse conditions as an opportunity.

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Snake Bite At Snake Pit

Five years ago my mom passed away after six months of hell, dealing with kidney failure and all that entails.  She had mental health issues, that meant she had to take some strong medicines that basically eventually killed her kidneys.  Ironically my mom retired as a kidney dialysis nurse.

So with today’s anniversary coming up, I thought it was a good opportunity to remember mom, and talk about mental health.  I shared some facts, and the facts decided our numbers for each exercises after COP.

Mom was a huge fan of Elvis and Ricky Nelson. Facts about the two artists:

Elvis – Born 1935
Elvis – Death at age 42
Elvis – 33 #1 singles
Ricky Nelson – Born 1940
Ricky Nelson – Death at age 45
Ricky Nelson – 14 top 10 singles

35 – KB swings
42 – goblet squats
33 – curls
40 – skull (Helmet) crushers (face for radio)
45 – flutters
14 – Turkish getups (pax favorite)

A few facts about my Mom’s life:

Mom – Born 1945  Death – 2014
Mom – Married 49 years to my father
Mom – 69 years old at death

49 – American hammers
14 – cleans

49 – merkins
69 – flutters  

Then we went on to some facts about suicide and mental health among men:

20 US veterans commit suicide daily.
77% of deaths in the US by suicide are male.
10% of men experience depression and anxiety.
Only 36% of psychological referrals are for men.

20 – Lawnmowers
77 – Rosa Litas
10 – Burpees
36 – LBCs

Finally some lighter facts, about Christmas and New Year’s Eve:

14 days till Christmas
The Twelve Days of Christmas starts on Christmas, not before.
The Twelve Days of Christmas ends 1/5/2020.
12/31 – In the Catholic faith, NYE is the Feast of Pope Sylvester.

I had the pax pick an exercise for the above numbers.  There was much rejoicing.

And we were done!

Thanks 3D for rearranging some schedules to allow me to Q today. Thanks to Bird Cage for all the whining.  Love you brother! Just payback for the Coors Light board of pain!

Brothers your presence today is testimony of what F3 can do.  Five years ago I found out about Mom’s passing about 2:00 am and didn’t make it back to bed that night.  So I posted at Peak 51 in Area 51 (South Charlotte) and was glad I did.  I needed the pax to be around me and pray for me and our family.

Your continued prayers for my father who is 78 and plugging right along are appreciated.  He definitely misses Mom.

Remember: Leave no man behind, but leave no man where you find him.

DT out!

 

 

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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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A Slow and Steady Howler on Friday the 13th.

Can you believe after all of my time at NaFo, I’ve never been on Q at Varsity? What?! Thankfully, Harry Carry noticed a gap in my portfolio and decided that needed to be filled.

This week has been rough… and when I mean rough I mean my taint has been kicked multiple times. Between Iron Pax week 2 and Shield’s 9/11 Stair Climb, my body was aching heavily. I took the opportunity to Q at Varsity as a chance to do some active recovery. The goal was to stretch and burn as much as possible. Some of the PAX were pretty excited when I brought it up at the front end of the workout, as was I. The focus was to hit one some Yoga/Recovery and a ton of Abs.

0515 hit and the disclaimer was disclaimed.

Run around parking lot to get the blood flowing. This brought some mumblechatter because I had previously said we would not be running today. It was only about 250M… and that was it!

Circle up near the Shovel Flag – which is where we spent the rest of the morning.

I led the guys in a full on Broga flow. Every position was held for 4-5 breaths to get a nice burn. #worthit

Broga

Sun (or in this case Full Moon!) Salutations with breathing – forward folds – halfway lifts x 5.
Chaturanga training – Moving properly from plank to upward dog to downward dog.
Jump to front – repeat salutations w/breathing.

This is where I looked up and Kielbasa was looking like a jigsaw puzzle. It was awesome, and he told me afterward he felt super limber and wanted to do more of this.

Chair Pose (AKA “Tipper Gore”) & hold – prayer twist both sides – catch outside of right knee with opposite elbow and flapjack.
Downward dog – knee to both elbows – knee to forehead
Warrior 1 – 2 – reverse – right angle – down, flapjack.

Chaturanga (AKA 6 inches) hold for 30 seconds.

Active Recovery – Leg Focus

Low Slow Squats x 20
Hold 60 Seconds at end of last squat
Pulse 16 times
I dare you to try this. Seriously. Do it. It sucks. 

Forward Lunges
Hold 60 Seconds (both sides)
Pulse 16 times after 60 second hold
Ditto.
Flap Jack

Plank –
Merkins in Cadence x 10
High Plank Hold – 30 Seconds
Lift one leg at a time, pulse 16 times up and down

I looked at my watch and was happy to see we had just enough time to work the abs.

Ab Ripper X – #fifteenminutesofmary

25 of Each Exercise
In & Out (Boats & Canoes)
Bicycles (Forward)
Bicycles (Backward)
Crunchy Frog
Cross Leg/Wide Leg Sit-Ups
Fifer Scissors
Hip Rock n’ Raise
Heels to the Heavens
V-Up Roll Ups
Oblique V-Ups (Left)
Oblique V-Ups (Right)
Leg Climbs to touch Heels – 12 each side
American Hammers (25 total, 50 taps)

I about collapsed at the V Up Roll Up portion and struggled through the rest of the work. My core is smoked! Oblique V-Ups = terrible invention.

Thoughts

This weinke was different than our typical face kick – but it was a face kick nonetheless. All of the PAX seemed to enjoy it. Especially Shield – who told me “I used to like you, Punch List” during the workout. That gave us all a chuckle.

Trust me, I love me some burpees, but I’m finding that I can’t do them day in and day out, so days like this are a MUST! Do yourself a favor and check out RPG on Fridays to get some good stretching in and take care of your body. It’ll be worth it in the long run.

 

Announcements

Read your newsletter

Q v Q is coming in October to The Coop!

 

Prayers

Kaiser and his business. It’s at a crossroads and he needs to know what to do within a few days or else it may close down.

Ruby Slippers – close family friend has recently passed at the age of 35. Pray for the family and friends to come together and find solace with one another.

 

Thanks, Harry Carry for the opportunity to lead on this fine Friday. YHC always enjoys working out with you and the other HIM that showed today.

 

Punch List out.

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