SQUALL AT THE FORT

Seven men posted at WEP. Three for Milkshake, and four for The Fort.
Not a tempest, not a gale, but squall best describes the initial conditions (rain and gusty winds).
Us bootcampers broke off and did:

Ran around the band shell a couple of times and then circled up on the band shell stage.

Warm up:
SWIMLAPPS
SSH (IC 15x)
Windmill (IC 7x)
Imperial Walker (IC 10x)
Mountain Climbers (IC 10X)
Low Slow Squats (IC10x)
Arm Circles, forward and backward
Peter Parkers
Plank stretches, up dog, down dog

Performed across the stage floor:
Toy soldiers
Lunge walk
Duck walks

Thang 1: Prison yard burpees
Start with 6 burpees at end 1, bear crawl to other end and do 5 burpees, bear crawl back and do 4 et cetera until 1. Total is 21 burpees.

Thang 2: HIIT routine
Chapter 1: Do the below 32 seconds on, 10 sec standing rest in between
Merkins
monkey humpers
Squats
Pickle pointers
Bobby Hurley’s
Chapter 2: Do the below 40 seconds on, 20 sec rest in between (rest is a Low Plank)
Mountain Climbers
LBC
CDD
American Hammers
Peter Parkers
Chapter 3: Do the below 45 seconds on, 15 sec standing rest in between
burpees
Imperial Walkers
Squat jumps
step ups
SSH
Repeated the three chapters

Mosey run into the neighborhood. Ran up/down stairs. Came across the Milkshake guys.

Back at the AO right at 0730, with the Milkshake guys alongside.
Fini

Strong work by all men. Sometimes foul weather can be fun.

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Psychedelic

Five pax, and one pooch, posted at Bushwood.  Conditions were slick, but no rain was falling despite the prediction. Disclaimer given and us bootcampers took off for a mosey run to the back of the high school.

Warm Up
Arm Circles, forward and backward
SSH (IC 15x)
Windmill (IC 7x)
Imperial Walker (IC 12x)
Low Slow Squats (IC10x)
Mountain Climbers (IC 12X)
Plank stretches, up dog, down dog

Main event: Psychedelic HIIT Routine Playlist from 1960’s psychedelic rock begins.
Chapter 1: Do the below 32 seconds on, 10 sec standing rest in between
Merkins
monkey humpers
Squats
Dips
Bobby Hurley’s
Chapter 2: Do the below 40 seconds on, 20 sec rest in between (rest is a Low Plank)
Mountain Climbers
LBC
CDD
Amer Hammers
plank jacks
Chapter 3: Do the below 45 seconds on, 15 sec standing rest in between
burpees
Imp Walkers
Squat jumps
step ups
SSH

Group run around bus loop.

Repeat chapters 1 and 2, and did burpees from chapter 3.

Fini

Ran back to shovel flag for COT.
Praises: Assassin’s cancer check-up was all good.
Prayers: Patience with the kiddos.

playlist:
Good Vibrations, Beach Boys
Tomorrow Never Knows, the Beatles
See Emily Play, Pink Floyd
White Rabbit, Jefferson Airplane
Paint it Black, Rolling Stones
Crimson and Clover, Tommy James and the Shondells
Hurdy Gurdy Man, Donovan (Guaranteed that Donovan has never been played at an F3 workout before today)
Helter Skelter, the Beatles

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Your Q is Not Complete Until You Write a Backblast

“Your Q is not complete until you write a backblast.”

Our 1st F Q is cracking down on backblasts… and YHC has put this one off for a week.  One week late is better than never.

 

L Train hit up YHC late Monday night to lead some Broga and Miles at Bushwood. Always happy to oblige some deep muscle therapy.

 

Started the BC off with our usual disclaimer + the five core principles of F3. Then we moseyed away from the music and warmth of UHAUL.

 

Circuit 1: Broga

15 min Yoga Flow after 1 mile warmup

Deep stretch positions including runners pose, lizard pose, modified pigeon, chair (w/prayer twist), etc. The PAX were not pleased to be done.

Finish off with 5 dead hang pull ups.

 

Circuit 2: Deep Burn

Mosey back up the hill and across Whites Rd to Forest Creek Middle bus loop.

Plank in wait for the six.

Low Slow Squats x 20

60 Second Al Gore Hold at end of 20th squat.

20 Squat pulses to finish.

Lunges x 10

60 Second Hold at end of last lunge

10 Lunge Pulses to finish.

Flap Jack to the other side.

Mosey back to COT for a little bit of Mary to finish off.

 

Apparently the boys at Snake Pit likes to listen to “Everybody Hurts” by R.E.M. on repeat. You do you, UHAUL.

 

‘Twas a good time at Bushwood. L Train – thank you for asking YHC to lead.

 

Punch List out.

 

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Rankel and RJ

Seven pax met at Honey Badger to honor two heroes and get some miles in.
Disclaimer given.  Began with stretches (honeymooner, downward dogs) to prep for the main event.  Two pax left for a run, leaving five for the hero workout portion.

Warmup
Ran a 400m loop
SSH (10x I/C)
Windmills (7x I/C)
Imperial walkers (10x I/C)
Moroccan N/C (10x I/C)

Hero workout #1: The Rankel [image with bio is attached]
6 thrusters (cinder block)
7 burpee pull ups
10 KB swings (cinder block)
Run a 400m loop
Repeat for 23 mins, as many rounds as possible

Light mary in between hero workouts: flutters, hello dollies, LBC (all 10x I/C)

Hero workout #2: The RJ [image with bio is attached]
800m run
50 feet of murder bunnies (cinder block; done on the grass section near the ROTC…great recommendation from the site Q)
25 merkins
Repeat (we got two good rounds in)

Put blocks back to their cozy stack.

Runners returned and all seven of us were able to get one (1) big boy sit up achieved before 0600.

COT
Prayer/Praises
Park, Tootie, and their entire family.
Our kids that are thinking through what/where to go after high school.
Joy and continued well-being for expectant pax/families.

Rankel Bio

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No Arrival

40-some pax posted to the region’s Ground Zero at WEP for a smorgasbord of pain, from 6@6 to Millkshake to a tried and true BC beatdown.  A very explicit and thorough Disclaimer was pronounced by Dark Helmet for the benefit of our FNG, and then the pax blasted off.

The Thang

The recitation of the 5 Core Principles quickly failed to meet DOAH’s standard, leading to some burpees.

Mosey around the parking lot with some toy soldiers and knee lifts mixed in, with the pax following onto the bandshell stage.

COP proceeded including more core principles along with some Merkins and DOAH’s proclamation that maybe the FNG’s fitness surpassed that of many of the pax present.  {Yes, he’s good at stirring the pot whether he’s poking at the Q or Qing himself.}

More mosey and more warm up exercises until the pax reach the far side of the WEP.

Enter stage left — the BAOPS boys via Clown Car — Trucker, Smuggler, Change Order & Longshanks, who just couldn’t stand the thought  of missing out on the best 1st, 2nd & 3rd F in The Fort on this given Saturday.  {Pro move by whoever made that call!}

Partner up for wheel barrow…to the playground…Yes…to the playground!…where the fun really starts.  {Fishsticks promptly cruised 85% of the way there to prove to his FNG that no matter what DOAH says, the FNG’s fitness had room for improvement.}

At the playground, each partner does 50 (yes, Five-O!) pull ups.  {Jiffy cranked out 30 in rapid fire.}

Some core work followed including LBCs and Rosalitas among others.

Handoff to Double D

Run to the bottom of the hill

Jacob’s Ladder with Donkey Kicks at the bottom and Sumo Squats at the top.  Traverse to the top via Bear Crawl and run to the bottom.

Mosey back to the parking lot with some Mary led by Jekyll

Climb the Stairway to Heaven via lunge walks, pausing for Carolina Dry Docks at each lamp post, starting with 5 reps and adding 5 more at each successive post.

Mosey down to the monuments with some Mary led by Longshanks

Circle up for an FNG introduction to Jack Webb by Change Order

Run home for final 2 mins of Mary by Longshanks

COT

NMM

A spirited pax at The Fort on this pleasant late winter morning!   Back to back weeks with a convergence at The Fort — thanks to the Alcatraz boys for adding their zeal to the day!

Maximus delivered the tailgate coffeeteria in the parking lot afterward and our FNG (EHed by Fishsticks) hung around long enough to learn the backstory of his name (Roy Kent) and to fill his rolodex with roofing customer prospects.

Welcome to Roy Kent!  Barry Manilow was quite vocal about the quality of the name and the importance of RK living up to it.  Well, if he doesn’t meet the mark, we can always default to what RK thought we named him — Rockette!

It was great to have Car Bomb among the pax today, fresh off his return trip from New Zealand, prior to his resettlement in another adventure.

The theme for the day was geared around the notion of life being an endless series of mountain climbs, peak after peak, with no arrival to the top in sight — ever.  Depressing, huh?  No, not for the HIMs of F3 and The Fort.  Give us the hard stuff.  We’re playing the long game and we know you can’t play it alone.  So keep posting, stay engaged with your brothers.  Together we’ll keep accelerating.

It was a treat to Q with DOAH for the first time.  We all look at him as just another member of The Fort, which of course he is.  At the same time, he also invests a huge amount of his life leading the 43 feet for the Nation.  Not only is it not easy being Frank {imagine how hard it must be for Traci his wife}, it’s also lonely at the top of any organization {how about leading one with 50,000 type A men?}, and it’s incredibly challenging to serve as the successor to any founder {would you want to try one Dredd’s shoes}.  Despite the small jabs, I say this with all seriousness — DOAH has taken on an extremely difficult challenge, one that he executes well with tremendous energy and virtue and that we all benefit from.  We’re fortunate that he calls The Fort “home” and that we get to take his crap on a regular cadence.  Thank you, DOAH!

Thanks to Grinder for the opportunity!  Always an honor to lead the men of this brotherhood!

SYITG

 

 

 

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Convergence: Love & a passing of the flag

Station 1 (Santini): Traditional Pain Platoon

Just your basic beat the hell out of your legs exercises of lunges, squats, and burpees intermixed with meditation and box breathing exercises. Sprint to the top of the hill, recover, and do more exercises including Moroccan night clubs and Carolina dry docks.

NMM: Anxiety and gratitude are not able to occupy the same space.

Station 2 (Shady / Maximus)

Warmup (Shady) – 21 SSH, 5 burpees, 18 SSH, 5 burpees, 12 SSH, someone whined about burpees so we did 10 diamonds merkins…then did 5 burpees
Group 1
  • partnered up and Dora style started out with 100 pull-ups.  Partner 1 on the pull-up bar, partner 2 did a lap around the playgroud
  • Stayed on playground, stayed with partner, Partner 1 AMRAP merkins while partner 2 ran the length of the playground and back to AMRAP merkins
  • Stayed on the AMRAP theme with flutters, then back to merkins, then back to flutters…then (I think) time was called

Group 2

  • Partnered up and Dora style, but this time 50 pull-ups with the run around the playground (Q modification given time and we aren’t cyborgs)
  • AMRAPs were just 1 round of merkins and flutters (again, I think…may need a lifeline here from Max)
  • We made our way to the hill with the statue where Maximus laid down the NUR up the hill and at the top 10 bomb jacks and ran to the bottom where we did 20 American hammers..we did this twice
  • W/ time to spare we ran to the top for 10 diamond merkins and ran to the bottom for 10 V-ups
  • In buzzer beater fashion, we ran to the top again for 10 ranger merkins and ran to the bottom for a partner 1 lay on the ground and grab partner 2s ankles where partner 2 would throw partner 1s feet down 10 times as you straight leg lifted them to his face

Group 3

  • Dora style 50 pull-ups with the run around the playground
  • We made our way to the hill with the statue where Maximus laid down the NUR up the hill and at the top 10 bomb jacks and ran to the bottom where we did 20 american hammers..we did this twice
  • Running low on time ran to the top for 10 diamond merkins and ran to the bottom for the ankle grabbing / feet throwing core exercise 10 times
NMM: After each of the groups had done their pull-ups, Maximus and Shady shared their thoughts and experiences on LOVE.
  • Shady – areas of focus were loving your brother and being your brothers keeper.  Sending a text or reaching out to someone to just say “hey, thinking of you” could change their day.  Realizing that the ones you love are watching you, emulating you, picking up on good and bad habits.  Realizing we don’t know it all, especially to the ones we love, is a sign of humility and a factor of growth and development.  For those of us with children, we have never been parents before so we honestly have no idea what we’re doing.  Love starts with servant leadership and personally for YHC, this usually progresses when the mouth is shut and ears are open.
  • Maximus – For my discussion on love, it begins with being intentional as love is a decision. We must make the decision to be intentional with our actions. Whether it be in our faith, marriage, parenting of our kids, with friends and yes, even with work relationships, we must be intentional. Think about how easy it is to get distracted, whether at dinner with your wife or even on a Zoom call for work. We often allow our minds to wander or even start doing something else while the other person is talking, looking for our engagement. Stop. Be the person who is present in the moment. Put the shoe on the other foot. Love that person as your relationship to them allows.

Station 3 (Pusher & Cakeboss): Love Edition

COP
  • SSHs
  • Windmills
  • Squats
  • Mtn Climbers
  • Merkins
  • IWs
Cake Boss spells love “B-U-R-P-E-E”
The Thang
  • Jacobs Ladder with Derkins and Monkey Humpers
  • Plank/Dip sequence
  • Bear crawl to top with burpees
NMM:
  • Cord of 3 strands cannot be broken. Having God in your marriage is the 3rd string. Adding communication to the marriage strengthens it. – CB
  • Gifts vs Gaps. Focus on the gifts that your wife or significant other bring vs what she is missing. Seeing her this way builds love. – Pusher
  • Much love was on display with all of the mumblechatter and fellowship. The relationships formed through F3 has increased our love internally and is reflected outward to our Ms, 2.0s, PAX and community… #morethanaworkout

Shovel Flag hand off for two leadership positions in the Fort:

Shady handed off the Nantan role to Double D
Esso handed off the Weasel Shaker role to YHC

Awesome work by the PAX today. Hard to put into words how much improved my disposition on life is since moving back to Fort Mill because of F3. Grateful for an opportunity to serve the PAX of The Fort.

NMM: Double D was the site-Q at Block Party when I started posting. If it wasn’t for his steady presence with a commitment to the integrating 2nd F and 3rd F elements into each workout, I doubt I’d have kept posting. Double D is a genuine human, I’m a better dude for knowing him, and I’m excited for his leadership.


Band Camp dismissed

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Sometimes you got it

…and sometimes you don’t.

Two guys pulled into WEP’s lot.  I checked the “find a workout” tab on f3thefort.com and saw WEP’s address (but I did not check the “schedule” tab, which said Veteran’s Park).  My mistake.

We launched, did a warm up lap and then: SSH (12x IC); Windmills (10x IC); Imperial Walkers (10x IC)

Then into the main event:
Seven of Diamonds:  Four cones making a loop with a total length of about 1200 feet.  At each cone you do the exercise/count noted then run to next cone and do same exercise/count, repeat until back at the first cone, then transition to the next exercise.

7 burpees
14 Merkins  <<at this point, the crew from Veteran’s Park came running into WEP.  We converged for a total of eleven pax and continued.
21 SSH
28 squats
21 Bobby Hurleys
14 Carolina Dry Docks
Began to run out of time, so whole group ran to Veteran’s Park for COT.

Got in just over 2.5 miles.

NMM:
So got the location wrong, got a cadence count wrong, said the D2DB10K was on a Friday, and forgot myself in Name-o-rama.  What a comedy of errors.  Oh well, even Babe Ruth struck out 1300 times.

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Multitasking is not a thing……

As we all know we live in an overstimulated world…We are constantly bombarded with demands, tasks, responsibilities, fake news :), and distractions. There is more information and access available at our fingertips than ever before yet we are more drained and burned out as a society. We struggle to live in the present moment and to stay focused on things that matter. We get sucked into playing whack a mole on a daily basis. Work, chores, errands, kids, wife, family, etc. etc. Our phones beep and buzz about every 30 seconds and the email inbox is constantly filling up.  There is no more margin…

We discussed at COT how multitasking is somewhat glorified in our culture today.  I heard someone speak the other day about a term called “monotasking” and it captured my attention.  Actually learning to focus on doing one thing at a time.  Why the hell is that so hard?  What would actually happen if we were to focus on one task at a time, one conversation at a time, one project at a time.  Like actually eating your lunch at work without reading email or working, actually paying attention to the person speaking on your zoom call, shutting down your inbox and silencing your phone to work on a project.  I think that is where we can learn to actually find life in the present.  Reading the Gospels this is exactly what Jesus did.  He was never in a hurry, took time for prayer when the world was screaming for his attention (including his posse), was extremely present in the moment, and focused on doing one thing at a time.  Food for thought.   

Oh yeah…we did a workout.  Here it is.

Warm up – Side straddle hops, quad stretches, imperial walkers, overhead claps

The Thang – 

Suicides on the football field 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and then run 100 yards.  Nurr back to goal line.

Ring of Fire (or Rectangle of Fire). Start center field with 5 burpees.  Run diagonal to each 20 yard line and do 20 reps of an exercise.  Run back to center and do 5 burpees at each transition.  Exercises include Merkins, Bobby Hurleys, V ups, CDDs.  Round 2 included wide arm merkins, squats, flutters, and overhead claps.

We then went back to the goal line and repeated suicides.

There was time remaining so we ran to the pull up bars for some fun.  20 dips, 20 curls with cindy, 5 pull ups, some wall sits, 25 dips, 25 curls with cindy, wall sits, finish with 5 more pull ups

Closed at COT

Prayers for Aquaman and his family, Prayers for Sawdust and his support of his fellow soldiers, Prayers for my wife Elizabeth’s Deviated Septum surgery and recovery.

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Power of Ranch

Another split Q for two IR guys: Ruby Slippers (restricted arm movement) and Harry Carry (restricted jumping-related exercises).  Total of eight pax in attendance.

Ruby started and did:
Took the PAX to the front of the school for some leg work. Planned 4 laps around the car rider loop with an exercise to be completed in each turn of the loop. At the completion of a lap the PAX were instructed to head to the benches from some Bulgarian Split Squats and Step Ups.  Here was the flow:  Lap 1 – 10 Jump Squats in every turn and then complete 15 BSSs per leg and 15 Step Ups per leg,  Lap 2 – 10 Jumping Lunges in every turn and the complete 15 BSSs per leg and 15 Step Ups per leg,  Lap 3 – 10 Squats in every turn and then complete 15 BSSs per leg and 15 Step Ups per leg,  Lap 4 –  10 Alt. Lunges in every turn and then complete 15 BSSs per leg and 15 Step Ups per leg.  Legs were definitely pumped after those 4 laps.  The PAX were passed on to HarryCarry for more torture.

Harry Carry (focus on arms) :
Thang 2.1: grab a bench and derkins (20X IC)

Thang 2.2: Suffer in place:
Pax split into two groups (P1 & P2): half ‘suffer in place’ while the other half do the exercise noted for 1 minute straight.
Suffragettes do Low plank, Exercisers do Merkins
Suffragettes do wall sit, Exercisers do bobby hurleys
Suffragettes do Balls to the wall, Exercisers do leg lifts
pax swap places and we go through the above again.

Thang 2.3: Fish tracks
move forward per the below, then stop and do exercise noted
bear crawl – merkins
crab walk – LBCs

Run to COT and do Big Boy Sit ups and mak tar jais. Fini.
Prayers for Senator who has since contracted COVID.

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The Bradley and Hey Buddy WODs

First Honey Badger of the year – and so far the hardest.

Bradley

On January 3, 2010, while on a dismounted area reconnaissance patrol in the vicinity of Badvan village, his 13-man platoon-sized element was attacked by indirect mortar fire and an improvised explosive device. The initial attack threw an Airman and a Soldier into an adjacent creek, critically wounding the Airman and mortally wounding the Soldier. A second Soldier was mortally wounded and thrown 200 meters across the village by the blast. Airman Smith, without regard to his own safety, immediately rushed from his covered position, and into the waist-high water of the creek to save his fellow Airman and recover the killed Soldier. After moving the victims of the improvised explosive device attack to the Casualty Collection Point, Airman Smith volunteered to retrieve the soldier thrown across the village. Determined to never leave a comrade behind, Airman Smith proceeded at extreme risk, and without regard to his personal safety, along the eastern edge of the village to the Soldier’s remains. Airman Smith retrieved the fallen Soldier and began maneuvering back through the village toward the extraction site. Airman Smith waded back through the waist-high creek and proceeded toward the Casualty Collection Point. Upon arrival, a second Improvised Explosive Device detonated, killing Airman Smith and the platoon medic instantly.

10 Rounds For TIme

100 meter Sprint

10 Pull-Ups

100 meter Sprint

10 Burpees

30 seconds Rest

 

We finished the Bradley with twenty or so much minutes to spare, so we jumped into the second planned hero WOD on the agenda.

Hey Buddy WOD

This hero workout is dedicated to Patrolman Christopher Mark Goodell of Waldwick, NJ, who died on July 17, 2014, due to a collision between a truck and his stationary unmarked police car. Chris’ badge number was 38, hence the 38 total repetitions per round (10/10/10/8). The 5 rounds represent the 5 years he served as an officer. Chris specifically liked running and bodyweight movements. “Hey Buddy” was Chris’ signature greeting.

250M Run (Buy-In)

5 Rounds: 

10x Lunges

10x Air Squats 

10x Sit Ups

8x Burpees

250M Run (Buy-Out)

 

’Twas an honor to lead this morning. Bonus was seeing Tube Sock after a few years.

Punch List out.

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