Ring of Fire^ The Return of the Wheelbarrow

Got the call from the #bullpen that @backdraft needed a “righty” to offer a proper beatdown. I waited for “Wild Thing” to blast through the speakers. *editors note: that didnt happen but 7 other men showed up.

Properly disclaimed and warned..err.. communicated what our plans were for the day. Everyone was excited (except @slash – but that is his own brand of excitement).

WARMUP: Dynamic warmup with #usualsuspects exercises and 100 yard mosey in between

THE THANG:
1. partner wheelbarrows/carries #crowdpleaser
2. Cindy Series: 2 lines of 4 PAX. P1: runner; P2: Cindy exercise; P3: Merkin, P4: AB or Leg. When runner returns- goes to back of line and everyone moves up a position. 3x rounds
3. Spring Series: 75%, 85%, 100%

COT: Closed out with Cash’s Prayer. Jay Griggs (F3 Cash) was a faithful member of F3 nation for many years and had many friends. He lost a prolonged battle with cancer not long ago. The Wednesday #AO at NAFO, originally named The Coop was renamed Ring of Fire in honor Jay.

At Jay’s funeral, a prayer was read that he lived by everyday. I often get to read this prayer at COTs but was especially meaningful today.

“Search me, Lord. Lead me to You. Help me to be a good man, a good father, a good husband and good employee. Help me to forgive and release from resentment those that I feel have offended me. Let me see the good in others and draw the goodness out of them.”

TClap |
0

Ballroom Bearcrawls

Beauty of a South Carolina Humid Sweatfest morning. Triple Lindy and Senator Tressel shook the Fartsack to get a little better.

WARMUP: Dynamic with SSH, Merkins, Squats, etc with 40 yard mosey in between
THE THANG: Jacobs ladder on grass hill. Merkins/Squats. Bearcrawl up, run down. Dip/step up series. Sprint series, 70%, 85%, 100%
MARY: 5 MOM

TClap |
0

Viking Metal forever 🤟🏻

WARMUP: we did some COP and jogging back and forth
THE THANG: AMRAP with partner and chalk it was accountability and inspiring
MARY: N/A
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Read your newsletter
COT: perspective!!
Are you attacking the day or dreading the day?
Are you moving forward or looking back?
Abram…aka Abraham settling in bethel was halfway from AI (dump) and God’s eventual permanent place for him
We are halfway from our past and our permanent and eternal destination….are you looking forward?? Are you ready??
Get your mind and spirit right!

8 From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.

TClap |
1

Accountability with Light Poles

WARMUP: SSH, Windmills, Morrocon NC, Merkin, Hillbilly Walkers, Big Arm Circles, Calf Raises, and Cherry Pickers
THE THANG: Started in front of Hobos and then at every light pole along Main Street, Round 1 consisted of (5) Burpees and (10) Big Boy Sit Ups and ran back to Hobos, then Round 2 consisted of (20) Shoulder Taps and (20). In between the Rounds we talked about Q2.5 Accountability.
MARY: Flutters until it was 6 AM
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Scheduled Trash up and Bourbon Tasting on 5/21
COT: Praise for Cohiba’s acceleration. Prayers for teachers ending the school year and Repeat’s friend recovering from an accident.

TClap |
2

7 of Diamonds

WARMUP:
SSH, Moroccan Nightclubs, Low Slow Squats, Cherry Pickers, Merkins, plank, downward dog, honeymooners

THE THANG:
Had a variation of the 7 of diamonds
7 rounds, various exercises starting with 7 reps at round 1 with increasing by 7 reps up to round 4 then back down 7 reps. Round 1 is completed when you do the first exercise at all 4 corners. Repeat for remaining rounds.

Corners 1 & 3
7 Burpees, 14 Merkins, 21 Squats, 28 Flutter kicks, 21 sumo squats, 14 dips, 7 burpees
Jog from corner 1 to 2
Nur from corner 3 to 4

Corners 2&4
7 Burpees, 14 Dry docks, 21 lunges, 28 Peter Parker’s, 21 calf raises, 14 shoulder taps, 7 burpees
Karaoke from corners 2 to 3 and from 4 to 1

Wrapped up the last 5 minutes with some Mary’s led out by Twister

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Check the newsletter

TClap |
1

Simple – Gear, Burpees and Sprints at the Armory

Typos quite possible…

Armory for the kickoff of the month of Gear/May:

PAX brought a few sand bags, a ruck, plate carrier and kettle bells ranging from 20lb-60lb. Tesh would’ve blushed.

Disclaimer but hey, push yourself.
Carry the coupons to the near end of the large parking lot.
Mosey lap around then circle up for some warm up things (garden variety).

10 Burpees and sprint to the other end of the lot
10 Burpees and sprint back, partnering up with a coupon of your choice (it pays to be fast)

25 Squat Thrusters
25 Curls
26 Merkins (1/2 & 1/2)

5 Burpees, run 1/2 way and run back (had to start watching the clock) to the coupon of your choosing…unless you had no other options.
25 Flutters
25 Freddy Mercury’s
25 X’s & O’s

5 Burpees, run 1/2 way and run back
25 LBC’s
25 American Hammers
26 Box Cutters

5 Burpees, run 1/2 way and run back
25 Bent Over Rows (slow cadence)
25 Overhead Press (slow cadence)
25 Chest Press (slow cadence)

10 Burpees, Run all the way down and run all the way back

Carry the coupons back for COT

Until next time.
Maximus

TClap |
2

Locking Shields, a how to…

Great Invergence today at WEP to close out an entire month of acceleration.

Now that we have finished a month of accelerating HIMs all over the Fort, how do we maintain that acceleration?

Answer? ACCOUNTABILITY!

Best way to execute accountability? Locking shields with fellow PAX.

Best way to consistently lock shields? Join a Shield Lock.

Today we heard from some 🛡🔒 PAX sharing experiences, advice and offering up themselves to their fellow PAX to learn the power of 🛡🔒.

To know more, ask a PAX that was present.

Need guidance or advice moving forward?  Reach out to @Pusher and he will point you in the direction of success and accountability.

TClap |
1

Failure is an Option

Disclaimer:  I didn’t plan my workout the way I should have this morning, but I did have a topic we would run (literally) with this morning.  Failure. No one wants to hear the word.

synonyms
loser · born loser · incompetent · nonachiever · underachiever · ne’er-do-well · disappointment · write-off · no one · nobody · inadequacy · insufficiency · deficiency · lack · dearth · scarcity · shortfall

Back to the workout, first stop was the Subway parking lot.  I gave the Pax a few minutes to think about how many merkins they could do in 2 minutes, similar to APT.  Next, we each did our best to meet or exceed the goal.  I asked the Pax who didn’t meet their goal how they felt..most disappointed.  We briefly discussed failure.  How do we teach our kids how to handle it? Do we help them through it or let them learn on their own?

More discussion later as we moved to the next location.  After 13 years in the area, I still can’t remember street names.  We took a left at Hardees and I right on Hill (I called it Shady street) which wrapped around to 160.  We ended up at the Presbyterian Church.

Three rounds: Half the group ran around the front of the church while the others did an exercise.

Round 1:  Squats

Round 2: Burpees

Round 3: Plank

Next stop was First Baptist Church parking lot.  The group was split in half again.  Two pax were lined up on opposite sides on parking lot approximately 50 yards apart.  The other pax ran to the far end of the parking lot and switch places with the other pax.  It short, continuous sprinting back and forth for seven minutes.  With a few minutes left, we caught our breath, compared our heath rates, and moseyed back to the flags.

We had some extra time on the clock for some Mary.  Jekyll shared his experience with his 2.0 working on his Eagle scout project. The tricky balance between helping him navigate and letting him learn on his own.  Whether you call it a setback or failure, the more you learn how to handle these situations, the more the boulder becomes a pebble.

Keep getting better, Don’t give up!

 

 

TClap |
2

3-1-22: 3 lessons, 3 stations

YHC took a call up on the schedule to kick off March.  20 decided to converge east of the peach stand.  Three lessons were shared from Seneca and a few exercises were called.

COP – After the pledge, a mosey to Kimbrell’s for COP – squats, people’s chairs, windmills, seal jacks, and burpees sprinkled in got everyone warmed up and on to station #1.

Lesson 1 – “Train your body rigorously so it is not disobedient to your mind”

Station 1 – 10 burpees upon arrival.  7’s to follow – kraken burpees at the top of the circle with squats at the entrance of the circle.  PAX returned to the top of the circle to confirm the lesson was learned.  It was. From there, we moseyed to…….

Lesson 2 – “He who is everywhere is nowhere”

Station 2 – PAX paired up completing a 4 corner, 2 round circuit 5-10-15-20 – burpees, merkins, squats and seal jacks.  Upon completion, 5 more burpees to ensure the lesson was learned.  It was.

Lesson 3 – “Happy is he who makes others better”

Station 3 – flutters in cadence, LBC’s in cadence and a mosey back to COT.  Early arrivers did a few burpees to finish out and a few abs – geometry class brought us to 0600 and COT.

Announcements were shared, prayers were offered and praises were given.

NMM – 3 takeaways to expand on the lessons learned:

1 – Rigorous training enables us to be durable as leaders in our homes and communities.  We are better equipped to handle life’s challenges and keep a calm and clear mind when our bodies are strong.  Our mind and spirit require the same training.

2 – The person who feels busy may find themselves living the life of a hamster on a wheel – in a sense, being everywhere, but nowhere.  Are we setting routines that allow for avoiding that trap? Our world is great at distracting us.  We are equipped to mitigate that through our disciplines, our training and how we apply it daily.

3 – Helping others improve in their journey expecting nothing in return is the ultimate gift of impact.  As leaders, we are called to give away what we know in the pursuit of helping others seek advantage.  The feeling of knowing your effort inspired or encouraged someone to go further, work harder, apply themselves more, etc. brings about a joy knowing your work as a servant manifested itself positively in others.

My thanks to Kermit for the call out and the opportunity to lead a fantastic group of HIMs.  I am grateful to start the day (and in this case) month off on an advantageous foot.

Keep going!!!

Cyclops

TClap |
7

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

 

 

 

TClap |
4