4 Cones and a Teabag

10 Pax today including Chop Block, who rolled in 20 minutes late.  Better late than never I suppose.

I gave a somewhat sarcastic disclaimer and then made everyone do 5 fingertip merkins because Two Ferns gave me the finger last night in a Tweet.  Not very nice!

We took a mosey around the 1/4 mile dirt track and did some side shuffles and toy solders before circling up.

CoP

  • 10 Windmills
  • 20 SSH
  • 10 Merkins
  • 15 Low Slow Squats
  • 20 LBC’s

I then explained the routine for this morning, nothing fancy.  4 cones placed in the shape of a rectangle with an exercise written on each of them.  Pick a start cone and make your way around the cones as many times as you can, with a few small wrinkles.

  • Cone 1 – 5 Burpees
  • Cone 2 – 10 Merkins
  • Cone 3 – 15 Big Boy Situps
  • Cone 4 – 20 Squats

This was meant to hit some of the core muscle groups and is a great youvsyou routine.  The wrinkle was the ever changing method of travel between the cones.  Once Chop Block joined us, we took another lap around the track to let him warm up a bit and then got back to it.  That also gave us an even # of PAX so I threw in some partner work as well.

Transport methods included:

  • Bear Crawl long side
  • “Itchy Back Merkins” short side (plank position, down, roll over completely, push back up, down, roll over, etc., until we hit the next cone.
  • Crawl Bear long side
  • Crab Walk short side
  • Partner Assisted Bear Crawl Long side (this is what Chop Block affectionately named the “T-BAG”)
  • Partner Wheelbarrow long side

We finished up with a NUR around the track before banging out a set of flutters and then circled up for CoT.  I think most of us made it around 8-10 times which really starts to add up.  A good setup for some of the newer guys so they could pace themselves and it encouraged mumblechatter so it was a lot of fun this morning.

Announcements, Praises, Prayers

Yeti, Joe Davis run coming up.  Homebrew is changing jobs so prayers for that along with all the sick and injured PAX to get HEALTHY!  Also, some prayers for my sister-in-law who is in her mid-30’s and has to have all of her teeth pulled.

Thank you for the Q Homebrew!

Until next time,

-FLUX-

 

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Lazy Q-san

7 pax came out to be Abyss for a chilly Q.

After pax were thoroughly disclaimed, we mosied around the parking lot and over to the track for COP.

COP- usual: SSH, IW, MNC, LSS, windmills, Peter Parkers

The thang:.

No rules, just right (see below).   Pax were given the following guidance: every pax had to complete the list, but could transfer to any other pax what they wished.  Cinder blocks had to make it around the track 4 times, twice overhead and twice as farmer walks.   Goal was to have 2 rounds, but took a bit longer than anticipated so on to ab lab we went.

Abs: Pax mosied back to COT, everyone called out an exercise then sprinted to end of parking lot for 5 burpees while pax did exercise down the line.

  1. COT: read your newsletter.

 

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Sack Races at the Bermuda Triangle

For the first time in 5 or 6 weeks we had a dry day at the Bermuda Triangle. While working out in the rain makes you tougher it was nice only to have he 27 degree temps without any precipitation.

6 PAX showed up and we went for a mosey to the far side of the school.

Warm-o-Rama

SSH, produce pickers, low slow squats, worst merkins ever, superman hold. Then mosey to the main field where we grabbed our burlap sacks – previously used for hauling coffee beans. Shout out to Twitch for supplying them to me even though he couldn’t make it out today. The perks of knowing someone that owns a coffee company (see what I did there?).

 

The Thang

Old school sack race – 50 yards. YHC took the gold in this one, but the real winner was all of us as we got to watch Radar fall down coming out of the gate. It was in the middle of a sack joke as well.

Backwards sack race – 50 yards. By this point everyone was starting to realize that jumping around while inside a waste high sack is pretty good cardio work. Also, the sack related jokes and puns were hitting their full stride.

 

BLIMPs

Partner up. P1 sack hops 50 yards then sprints back, while P2 does the exercise. Flap jack and rinse repeat until each partner has done: Burpees, Lunges, Inchworm merkins, Monkey Humpers, Plank jacks.

Duck Duck Burp

Circle up. One at a time, PAX take turns sack hopping around the circle. As each man is passed by the hopper, do 3 burpees. It ends up basically being a continuous burpee circle with PAX hopping around the outside. We did 2 full rotations.

Sack Lap

I told the men that we were going to do a full lap of the track in our coffee sacks, which was met with a combination of groans and “seriously?”s. By this point they had figured out that sack hopping is no child’s play. It wasn’t easy, but teamwork made it bearable. As a 2 man team, partners sack hopped all the way around the ¼ mile track. P1 hops while P2 does 10 big boy sit-ups. Then P2 sprints to catch up to P1. Flap jack and rinse repeat until the full lap is done.

 

Finished up and went to COT.

Thanks men an excuse to be stupid and get out there for some schoolyard fun. 

 

Stay Classy,

Homebrew

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Nothing but Poopdeck

I have been skipping Thursday’s of late because I almost always work from home that day and have been choosing to sleep in a bit and go for a run as a change of pace so it was nice to come back here.  I believe the Poopdeck was the 2nd “Lake Wylie” AO I ever posted.

It was chilly this morning and felt even colder because of the recent warm weather we’ve been enjoying, but that didn’t stop the other 8 PAX who joined YHC for some fun at the Poopdeck.

I gave a better-than-usual disclaimer since we welcomed back kotter Twitch and we did and Indian Run/5 merkin mosey to the upper parking lot.

CoP

  • Windmills (Abe Vigoda) x8
  • SSH x25
  • Low-Slow-Squat x12
  • Plank (1-2-3 count to x12)
  • Into 6″ Plank (1-2-3 count to x12)
  • Crab Cakes x10
  • Diamond Merkins x5
  • LBC x15

I chose a distance of about 50 yards (between 2 light posts) for the remaining routines.

Partner up, the 1st routine consisted of crawling under and jumping over.  1 PAX would be in plank position while his partner crawls under him, then he drops to 6″ hold while his partner jumps over.   Back to plank and you get the idea. Repeat x10 and then both he and his partner would Bear Crawl to the other light posts and the other PAX would perform the exercise before Bear Crawling back to the 1st light post again.

Then I told all the PAX to do 10 Burpees “OYO” and run “AYG” to the 2nd light post.  Mosey back (this was the break).  Repeat.

Next up, I had one PAX plank again while the 2nd PAX did 10 incline merkins with his hands on his partners back while he holds plank.  Once finished, crab walk to the light post, swap, repeat, and crab walk back.

Then I told all the PAX to do 10 Burpees “OYO” and run “AYG” to the 2nd light post.  Instead of the Mosey back I just had them repeat the 10 Burpees and sprint back “AYG” to the 1st light post again.

The last set consisted of decline merkins x10.  1 PAX would hold the legs of his partner while he did merkins (wheelbarrow merkins) and the PAX holding the legs would do x10 Squats.  Once complete, wheelbarrow to the lightpost, swap, repeat, and wheelbarrow back.

Then I told all the PAX to do 10 Burpees “OYO” and run “AYG” to the 2nd light post.  Repeat.

I then told half the PAX to hold Al Gore while the other half did 30 squats and then vice versa.  We then did a lunge walk about 100 yards or more before the mosey back to CoT.

We had 2 minutes to spare so I called on Ice-T for some ab work and we did 10 Big Boy sit-ups OYO, I called out x10 Hello Dolly’s IC and Twich finished us off with 10 American Hammers.

Well done everyone.

CoT

Ice breaker this weekend, Pre-Blast for the Yeti is out, Qsource on Wednesday and Saturdays.  Prayers for Iced-T’s grandmother and health for all those that are sick and still getting back in the groove after the holidays.

Thanks for getting me back out to the Poopdeck Peg!  Hopefully you can make it next time!

-Flux-

 

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The 2018 Fort Clave Boss 5k & Christmas Convergence

0545 – Arrive at Palisades Elementary School AKA The Abyss where Bear Grylis is tailgating like its the Summer Concert tour and he’s at FORT-A_PALOOZA.

Ruckers and Runners were gathering and getting ready for a full morning of all 3 F’s. The Pre-Ruck led by Bonsai (as Worldwide Leader was MIA) got together and away they went.

YHC gathered all of the Clave Boss 5k runners and gave the instructions for the course. Signs were posted however it was still difficult for some to follow (Royale, Funhouse and some others) and they got 3.5mi surprise.

0605 – The 4th Annual Clave Boss 5k launched and 32 runners hit the hills of Palisades. This year we awarded Bundt Cakes to the first runner at various paces.

  1. MacGyver flew in at 20:47 6:60/mi and then went back to encourage other runners – True #HIM
  2. Sharkbait came in at 24:43 7.88/mi
  3. Islander rolled in at 27:10 8.74/mi
  4. Twister with a 31:25 10.08/mi
  5. Smuggler wrapped it up with a solid 34:11 11:00/mi

Appreciate all the participants. Next Year’s 5th Annual will be a special event for sure!!

0700 – Preruck has returned, Clave Boss has wrapped up and now more cars have entered the parking lot with PAX gathering all around. It was time to launch the convergence. YHC ask if there were FNGs, and we had 4 in attendance, gave the disclaimer. YHC then gave RUCK crew green light to jet with a 0750 COT. The remaining 75 or so PAX had YHC and Maximus for the next 50minutes

The Thang:

Mosey parking lot….20 SSHs, Go to other end of lot, Merkins, go to other end of lot for squats, back to other end of parking lot for LBCs

Line up in 6 lines, each line goes to a cone and each cone has exercise on it

  1. Merkins
    1. Bearcrawl
  2. Leg Lifts
    1. Lunge walk
  3. Wide Arm Merkins
    1. Run
  4. Donkey Kicks
    1. Bearcrawl
  5. Spider-man Merkins
    1. Lunge walk
  6. Sumo Squats
    1. Run

3 rounds of above, 5 reps, then 10 reps, then 15 reps

The mumble chatter was classic and the fellowship as always enjoyable

Handoff to Maximus

Mosey to back of School and line up in 6 lines for Pain Platoon

  1. Santini led squat routine that is always a crowd pleaser
    1. Burpees
  2. Pusher led Lunges
    1. Burpees
  3. Double D led Mc-tar-Ny ??
    1. Burpees
  4. Bubba Gump led SSHs
    1. Burpees
  5. 4 lines – turn to face one another – then Seal Team Sit ups–always a big crowd pleaser

Mosey to front of school for COT:

Plank while waiting on RUCK crew and 6 inches with Walker…..always fun!!

  • 93 was the count with 4 FNGs
    • Bo Knows
    • Ferris
    • Gaylord
    • Doubtfire

 

  • We Switzered to gather around and listing to Mr. Clean give a message and challenge to the PAX
    • I’m honored to speak with you today;
      Tomorrow (Christmas night) is the 1 year anniversary of me and the kids finding Cindy (my wife) unconscious. She was immediately put on life support
      Cindy died 3 days later from complications of MS and an addiction to alcohol
      I thought our life was on cruise control. I was being non -purposeful and non intentional. Being a single parent and grieving thru the tragic death of a spouse has been unreal.A few things I have learned from this that I would like to share.

      1. I have a much deeper awareness of emotional health. I have been humbled. Being humble creates avenue for change and growth. My question to you is…are you vulnerable and humble enough to let brothers in to help you?? Are you humble enough to ask for him if you are escaping reality w addictions? Alcohol, porn, etc
      2. I have a more real relationship w Christ.At a time when I doubted Christ care for me and my children and his desire to help our family Christ stepped in and answered a very exact prayer request. If you have doubts about Christ, speak to me please. I would love to share with you what He alone has done.
      3. I am thankful for the suffering. It has brought our family closer together. Even though I and the kids are miss Cindy everyday, we have so much to be thankful. I am thankful for the life that we had w Cindy. I am thankful that she is suffering no more. I am thankful that Cindy is made as new. Most importantly, am thankful for the birth of Christ. He gives us HOPE for a better day.
    • My Challenge to you is Love Deeper and Speak Sweeter. — too often people speak disrespectfully of their spouses and children and parents. Words matter and we all need to choose them wisely. We need to hold each other accountable and “get our heads out of our asses” as you never know when that person will be taken from you.

YHC can’t thank Mr Clean enough for this message and his friendship. over the last 2 years we have grown together to be better Christ followers, better husbands and fathers. He is such a great leader and I’m blessed to have him in my life.

If you need someone like this in your life, reach out to me and we’ll get you set up as there are a boatload of HIMs in the PAX

********ALERT***********ALERT**********ALERT*********ALERT***********ALERT****************

It was time for some major announcements in leadership. YHC has led as NANTAN for The Fort region for about 15months. Prior to that I was Weasel Shaker and prior to that 3rdF Q and in-between Site Qs of Ranch, Ballroom, Crossroads,, ChicknWizdim, and led CSAUP teams at P200, Kiawah and others.

It was time to hand over the keys to this well oiled machine to a new leader. A man I’ve watched grow and lead in all 3 F’s and lead well. First got to know him well on the 2014 BRR 9 man team. I was asked to attend Colombia mission with with him in 2015 that he led. Have Qd many times with him and attended a retreat in Boone with him in 2017 and saw his heart for God, Family and the PAX of The Fort. In 2018 he led BEYOND and pushed men to not only dig deep physically but to stretch themselves emotionally and spiritually. This sealed it for me that this man understood leadership and that men needed to be Freed to Lead.

MAXIMUS is the new NANTAN of The Fort!

I personally am excited for this next chapter and look forward to more men being Freed to Lead by his example and inspiration. With this change, some other leaders have stepped up as well.

  • Weasel Shaker = Funhouse
  • 1stFQ = Royale
  • 2ndFQ = Wegmans
  • 3rdFQ = Gecko

I personally want to thank Old Bay for years of leadership and more importantly friendship. I true HIM who makes so much happen behind the scenes that there is no way The FORT would be where it is today without him.

Also, want to thank Anchorman for 2nd F Q during my time as Nantan, as well as all his leadership at Footloose, encouraging guys to push themselves and the many great ideas and ways to challenge the PAX. Appreciate you brother!

BOM – Gecko had great words to close out this convergence. As we celebrate the birth of Jesus and all of the Holidays, I pray we find JOY in everything and not take anything for granted. I appreciate all the PAX and my brothers of THE GLOOM.

Cake Boss

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The Cornerstone – Challenge ( One Year Long )

To all the Pax of F3 Nation

Are you prepared to challenge your self for 2019? I am challenging all Pax’s to join me for 2019 we will take on one exercise for January (merkins single count) 100 reps every day. Then in February we will add another exercise which will be done every day on top of the 100 merkins and so on and so on. We will increase by adding one exercise each month.  These exercises will be above and beyond when you post. So by the end of the year there will be 12 exercises that need to be done everyday at the reps set.

Do you accept the challenge? Do you want to get better?

I will set the next month exercise and reps the week before to keep you on your toes

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Fantastic 4 at the Triangle

4 Pax (Two Ferns, Homebrew, Respectable Olaf and Radar) joined YHC for a wet and chilly time at the Bermuda Triangle.  At first it was just me and Homebrew so after a quick but thorough disclaimer we began our mosey but were suddenly joined by Radar and Respectable Olaf.

Warm-O-Rama:  (Under the Bus/Car line Canopy to stay dry)

  • Cotton Pickers, IC
  • SSH’s
  • Moroccan night clubs, IC
  • Merkins, IC
  • Mountain Climbers, IC
  • Some Leg stretches

The Thang:

We started with another Christmas song, this time it was “Feliz Navidad”.  We did Burpees every time the song said “Feliz Navidad” (about 24 by the time we got done) then SSH’s every time the song said “I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas).

We then moved to some Box Jumps on the close by Bench while our partners did some running (3x).  Followed this up with some Big Boys and Partner running (2x).

Moseyed over to the picnic shelter to help stay dry where we did some Picnic table presses and dips while our partners held and Al Gore, High Plank and 6” leg hold. (Christmas Music played in the background).

Next we recycled the Merkin themed workout to “Jingle Bell Rock” from a previous Two Ferns workout.  PAX liked it and sang along some.

Due to the Rain I decided to Omaha and finish with a little Deck of Death.  Diamonds were Burpee’s, Spades were Merkins, Clubs were SSH’s and Hearts were Big Boys.

 

All in all it was a pretty good time had by all 4 HIM.  I was very grateful they showed up on a cold rainy Friday.  I was about 2 minutes from either running a few laps on my own or going back home.  Glad I didn’t have to decide which.

COT:

Kept the announcements brief (again Cold Rain) they were basically about the Christmas Convergence, Prayers for Radars recent loss of his Wife’s mom, Respectable Olaf’s mother in law still not doing well in her last few days and Homebrews daughter dealing with the dreaded winter cold.

Thanks Homebrew for the lead. Appreciate all the PAX!!

Two Ferns

 

 

 

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KettleBell Temple Of Doom

The temperature was below freezing, the AO is in the recon stage, but 8 brave souls came out of their fart sacks at an un-Godly hour to go to Church.  Special thanks to New River Church for allowing us to workout at their parking lot. 

After a disclaimer in which I repeated several times during the workout to modify if necessary since we would be working with weights, we moseyed around the parking lot with our kettlebells and did some toy soldiers which are much more difficult with the kettlebell in hand as the grumbling already began.  We then circled up…

COP

SSHx30

Hot Potatoes x10

Halo’s x5 each direction

Kettlebell Windmill’s x 5 each arm

5 Turkish Get-ups x5 each arm

The Thang

In my second ever Q I whipped out the Burpee Temple Of Doom, so in my first KettleBell Q I figured I would do a repeat concept but with KettleBells.  I placed 10 cones in the shape of a pyramid with exercises pasted on each cone.  Each level had progressively more difficult exercises with the pinnacle being the most difficult. 

Level 1

Cone 1- 1 Kettle-burpee/10x right hand merkins with the left hand on the kettlebell

Cone 2- 2 Kettle-burpee/10x left hand merkins with the right hand on kettlebell

Cone 3- 3 Kettle-burpee/10x right hand Kettle-thrusters(squat turning into over head press)

Cone 4- 4 Kettle-burpee/10x left hand Kettle-thrusters

Level 2

Cone 5- 5 Kettle-burpee/20x right hand kettle-swings

Cone 6– 6 Kettle-burpee/20x left hand kettle-swings

Cone 7- 7 Kettle-burpee/20x press jacks(SSH but instead of swinging arms you press the kettlebell over your head)

Level 3

Cone 8- 8 Kettle-burpee/30x right hand Kettle Snatch

Cone 9- 9 Kettle-burpee/30x left hand Kettle Snatch

Pinnacle- 10 Kettle-burpee/20x Clean and Press Right and Left Hand

We then did Lieutenant Dan’s over from the parking lot to the Church wall where we sat down to rest by doing People’s Chair while holding our KettleBells.  The outer 2 Pax(going into the middle) did…

Monkey Humpers x10

Sky Humpers(Back Bridge while pressing the Kettlebell) x10

Figure 8’s(Passing the Kettlebell between your legs in a figure 8 pattern) x10

2 minutes of Mary

10x Kettle Big Boy sit ups

12x Box cutters holding Kettlebell over head(Nemo)

20x Flutter Kicks holding Kettlebell over head(Two-Ferns)

COT

Travel Prayers for Royale and prayers for HomeBrew’s Father-In-Law whose Shell Plant is closing down.  Thanks to Two-Ferns for setting up the Church for us.

 

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Keeping Warm At The Triangle

With the threat of the big bad snow storm(we might get 1/2 an inch) hovering over the Charlotte metro area, 8 men got out of their warm comfy beds and braved the 36 degree weather to get their fitness and fellowship on.  As pointed out by a few grumbling members, this was a bit of a lazy Q by YHC.  I did not plan much as I just wanted to stay warm, and what better way to stay warm on a cold morning than running laps and burpees…spoiler alert, there is no better way!

I did a short disclaimer and then we moseyed around the school parking lot(still cold).

COP

SSHx30(getting warmer)

Windmill x10

Cherrypickers(or weed pullers or cotton pickers, whatever)x10

LSSx10

The Thang

The Pax then moseyed on over to the pull up bars where I mentioned that it was Pearl Harbor Day.  The day of remembrance is important in our nations history as WW2 is where the USA became the de facto leader of the world…also my grandfather was a seabee in the Navy during WW2.  Then the bad news…we partnered up and while one of the Pax ran a lap lap the other did…

100 Pull Ups (combined total, now officially warm)

200 Burpees (combined total, much grumbling by the Pax)

300 Single Count Lunges (combined total)

It turns out that the burpee portion took a gigantic chunk of time and we unfortunately did not have enough time for my planned grand finally(fortunately for the Pax) which would have been a Wave of Merkins.  We finished up with two minutes of Mary.  Nemo had us do 12 box cutters in cadence and Homebrew had us do 15 Freddie Mercuries at a hilariously fast cadence and then mercifully for the Pax, the workout was over.

COT

Mission accomplished in the keeping us warm department, as I left a sweat angel on the pavement and nobody complained of being cold(though they did complain about the burpees).  Prayers for Respectable Olaf’s mother-in-law who is battling stage 4 lung cancer and also for a family in Homebrew’s church group who is having trouble with their son who has Muscular Dystrophy.  Yogi mentioned a York CSAUP obstacle course race which sounds interesting and there is the Lake Wylie Christmas Party to look forward too.  Thanks to Homebrew for the opportunity to lead, peace.

 

 

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Bricks for Kicks at Bermuda Triangle

Today’s warming coincided nicely with the early start, as usual, at the Bermuda Triangle this morning.  Six early risers joined YHC for a brick-tacular beat down at Bethel Elementary.  This is how it went down:

Warm-o-Rama

We began with an easy mosey around the “track” (aka a dirt trail) guided by the Q’s headlamp.  As we rounded turn three, Homebrew noted that is has been christened “Copyright Corner” commemorating the namesake’s recent faceplant at that very spot (hence YHC’s headlamp).  Following the mosey, we executed the following:

  • 10 Windmills
  • 20 SSH
  • 15 Imperial Walkers IC
  • 15 Hillbilly Walkers
  • 10 Merkins IC
  • Downward D Oh Double G
  • Honeymooner

The Thang Part I

11s – Derkins and Squats with a Nur around a traffic circle.  (Quads were nice and warm after that)

The Thang Part Deux

Dora with a paver brick in each hand, 100 meter mosey when not exercising; 100 reps each:

  • Two arm curls
  • Lunges – single count
  • Shoulder presses
  • LBCs
  • Squats
  • Flock of Seagulls
  • Flutter  Kicks

The Thang Part III – we had 10 minutes left, here is how we burned it:

  • 50 triceps hammers with paver bricks – OYO
  • 50 forward shoulder raises with bricks – OYO
  • 50 check flys, lying on the ground, with bricks – OYO
  • 50 chest presses, lying on the ground, with bricks – OYO
  • 15 Freddie Mercuries IC
  • 15 Crunchy Frogs IC
  • 15 American Hammers with bricks, IC

 

Announcements: Christmas party.  Praise for family on Thanksgiving; Prayers for healing, peace, acceptance and protection.  As always we are grateful for our health, lives and for F3.  Aye!

Wolverine out.

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