No FNG’s but made sure to deliver a Disclaimer on this brisk 23-degree morning. The crowd was a little light this morning, but strong.
Warm-up
SSH x50- for Trucker
Quick stretch
Mosey- HS Lot- Toy Soldiers in between heading to big parking lot
Mosey to Hive area-
Circle up
Imperial Walker x20
Hillbilly Walker x20
Moroccan knight club x20
Mosey to Cut through
Shuffle/Karaoke
20 squats
Mosey to light post
5 burpees
The Thang
Mosey to front of school- Partner up for some DORA
100- Flying squirrels
200 merkins
300 flutters- double count
Partner 1- works through the exercises until Partner 2 returns
Partner 2- Runs the outside of the parking lot area around the 4 posts
Flapjack until Exercise goal is reached
Head to the benches- 20 dips OYO
Find a spot on the curb for calf raises- 25 reg, 25 out, 25 in
During the calf raises, I reminded the PAX of the upcoming theme for February- Living. It was great timing after Ginsu’s message last week at the Fort on finding JOY in every day. With everything going on, that is unbelievably a challenge. We need to start asking ourselves why? Because we are trying to keep up with everyone else instead enjoying what is right in front of us? Or maybe we are holding on to old scars that keep our mind from enjoying the moment? I need to work on this and try and fail every day. So much to be thankful for, but yet we (and I) struggle to live that way each day. PAX reach out to your Whetstone, or me, and let’s work together to get there. AYE!
Mosey back to cut through
15 LS squats/ 25 LBC’s/ 5 burpees
Mosey to end of parking lot to the curb and turn and face lot
Suicides- 4 lines x 3 three rounds. After each round, 5 merkins and 5 CDD
Mosey to COT
Heels to heaven
American hammers
Hello Dolly
COT-
Announcements-
Joe Davis- March 9th
YETI- Feb 23rd
OP Sweet Tooth- Virtual run in FT. Mill area. Check Pre-Blast
Praises-
JWWOW- family member cancer free (I might have messed that up but I think it is close)
PAX appreciation for the group that was present
Family
Prayers-
A lot of prayers went around which was positive. Good to hear PAX putting it out there for support
Laura
Rock Thrill’s daughter (recovery after a bad spill at school)
Family/ Children
And anyone else that was mentioned and missed.
Appreciate the PAX who made it happen today, and thanks LIL’ E for the opportunity.
A bit of cool rain couldn’t keep the 8 LacesIn pax in the fartsack this morning. Thankfully, it was 52 degrees and not 32 degrees. Fearing the bubble over Fort Mill wouldn’t hold up, YHC planned a workout under coverage, off campus of FMHS (someone needs to talk to Flash about getting more coverings built onto the school). Once the disclaimer was issued, we jetted up the hill and across Munn Road to St. Philip Neri. Vacant, well lit, and relatively dry.
Warm up under the drop-off awning:
SSH x25
Windmills x10
Mountain Climbers x20
Imperial Walkers x20
Low Slow Squats x10
Mosey around what would be the “loop” for the Thang.
The Thang Webb-o-Rama is always a crowd pleaser. Fortunately, none of the pax attended (or remembered) the last installment of Webb-o-Rama (The Abyss a few weeks ago, for the record).
[stand by while I look up that back-blast for copy/paste]
4 “stations” along a loop that was mostly covered there at the church. The exercises at each station were to be done in a Jack Webb style, (1:4 ratio).
Station 1: Burpees and Side Straddle Hops, then Bear Crawl to station 2
Station 2: Big Boy Sit-ups and American Hammers, then wheelbarrow to station 3 (flapjack half way)
Station 3: Bombjacks and Run-Stance Switches, then lunge walk to station 4
Station 4: Traditional Jack Webb (merkins and overhead claps), then run around track back to station 1
We did a total of 2 loops of the circuit before we ran out of time.
Round 1: 1-5 (made it all the way through round 1 before Pusher started complaining – gotta be some kind of record).
Round 2: 6-8
Moseyed back to COT where we met up with the Laces Out pax (5).
Strong work by all men! Hopefully all got a little better for it.
Seven men met at Fort Mill High School (with the Q coming in hot) on a perfect December morning and got back on the horse after the holiday indulgences. Here is what they did.
The Thang:
After a quick disclaimer, the pax did a light jog to the band parking lot and circled up for COP:
All in cadence: SSH x 25, windmill x 15, Imperial walker x 20, merkin x 10, squat x 20.
Mosey over the lighted grass field for Tabata. 8 exercises, 8 sets each, 20 secs work and 10 secs rest each set. The exercises were:
Carolina Dry Dock
Freddie Mercury
Squats
Mountain Climbers
Flutters
Jumping Lunges
Merkins
Burpees
End with the body destroyer for 90 seconds.
COT
Moleskin
Man, I love winter. Growing up in NE Ohio, winter was OK until about mid-January and then I was done with it. Here in the south, it’s just the opposite. I can’t wait for the fall and winter after so many months of heat and humidity. For me, F3 is the best in the cold weather. A lot of guys avoid posting when it gets cold out, but they are missing out. Once you get warmed up, that brisk air feels soooo good.
I’ve done this workout a few times now and really like it because it’s easy to plan and can be done anywhere. You can also vary the difficulty depending on what exercises you do, and in what order you do them. We had a motivated group who went after it today and still had enough energy for good mumble chatter. It was a pleasure to lead them as always.
Announcements: Qsource coming to the Fort. Read your newsletter for the details.
We prayed for those struggling during the holiday season, safe travel for everyone, and for patience at home.
21 gathered at Laces Out and Laces In – 8 and 13 respectively – to prove the theory that movement keeps one warm in chilly December temperatures.
YHC had promised site Q for months that I would take a Laces In Q and it was great to finally fulfill that with such a strong group of PAX and make it through with good fellowship, a little mumble chatter and 45 minutes (or an hour for the 8 runners) of getting a little better than we were the day before.
After a disclaimer and delegating the assumption of risk to all gathered, we moseyed to the FMHS Band parking lot for COP:
COP: Moroccan Night Clubs IC x 20, arm circles – forward and backward in varying quantities, SSH IC x 30, Merkins IC x 12, Windmills IC x 15
Mosey back to the Stadium entrance for Jacob’s Ladder. Since our workout was 12 days before Christmas, it only seemed fitting that the exercises add up to 12 instead of 11. YHC, therefore, modified the ladder, given the date on the calendar.
Burpees at the bottom – 11, 10, 9, 8, etc.
Lunge Walks uphill to the 2nd lightpole (crowd pleaser )
Carolina Dry Docks at the 2nd lightpole – 1, 2, 3, 4 and mosey back down
Mosey to the main parking lot for a little partner Dora
100 merkins total – Partner 1 starts, partner 2 does a roughly 120 yard shuttle run – switch until 100 is reached.
200 squats – Partner 1 starts, partner 2 runs, you get the idea
Had a plan for 300 as well, but YHC was compelled to call an audible at 5:57 (time ran short) to head back for a little ab work…..but just a little.
Boxcutters IC x 30, American Hammers IC x 15, and a body destroyer promptly executed at 5:59 AM.
There was much movement, a little chatter, varying amounts of sweat and a few comments in the days that followed relating to the amount of lunge walks – complimentary of course.
Announcements – Christmas Eve convergence – 12-24 at the Abyss – Palisades Park Elementary and Q source begins on Saturday 1-5-19.
Prayers for all traveling for the holidays.
Relatively new to leading workouts, it was great to see some #HIM’s who, years ago, were encouraging of this serial runner guy to get out of his comfort zone and go do something else. You each know who you are. Thank you.
My thanks to Lil’ E for the opportunity to lead. It was a privilege.
Oh, you didn’t tote a ruck and join us at the Fire Ant this morning? But, you know how to read. Lucky you; you’ll feel as if you joined us in this perfect gloom. Well, aside from smoked shoulders, jail-breaks, curls, squats, lunges, weird-shaped circles, flutters and joyful times of getting yelled at. That’s basically the entire Weinke right there.
But for you more literary types, I’ll humor you just this time. 17 of The Fort’s finest Ruckers converged on the now guaranteed-to-please Fire Ant and we even had a non-typical out there which is always welcome. If you’re not a Rucker yet you’re still reading this, I owe you one. In addition, I highly encourage you reach out to Spiderman or DaVinci (Ruck Q’s) and see if they can wrangle an extra ruck for you to join us out there one morning. It’s a great time of fellowship and you’ll even learn a little more about your limits. Here’s a hint, you can take more than you think.
So the disclaimer was disclaimed, we fell in 2×2 and took it over to circle up around the flags. This next part was a bit of a mind game. While routine is something we all enjoy and can keep ourselves in check with, when it comes to a workout, it doesn’t always have the same benefit. We had fit, strong PAX out there this morning so I tried something slightly different and broke our typical 5min routine. We started off with 31 squats (with ruck) then 32-4ct flutters with ruck press.
Fall back in line for a 20yd 2×2 to our next stop. Rucks overhead 2×2 to the end of the drop-off lane…yup, that sucked too. Make a hard right, rucks on and lunge walk 1/2 way to the back. About face and reverse lunge walk the rest of the way to the back lane. Rucks overhead and 2×2 about 40yds down the back lane. Drop the rucks for an all-out jail break to the end of the lane (nearly 60yds). Catch your breath and jail break back to your ruck. Guess what was next…rucks overhead 2×2 back to the start of the lane.
5 Man-Makers & 10 Hand-Release Merkins
2×2 over to the bottom of the tiered stadium hill
Bear crawls up the hill in between the levels.
Level 1: 20 full Mak Tar Jai’s (yup, suck-fest)
Level 2: 20 Peter Parkers
Level 3: 20 Parker Peters
What goes up, must come down. We’ll now reverse bear crawl in between the levels.
Level 3: 20 Upright rows
Level 2: 20 Curls
Level 1: 20 Bent over rows
Rucks on 2×2 back to the drop-off lane.
Squats around the world. In a circle, PAX hold the Al Gore and each man does 1 full squat going around the circle. We did 7 total rounds.
Same idea but this time with a shoulder press. Hold ruck up overhead and do 1 full press when it’s your turn. We did 7 total rounds.
Same idea now with ruck curls. Guess how many rounds we did…7.
3-tier suicides with 5 ruck thrusters each time you come back to the start.
A high number of SEAL-team situps with awkwardly positioned rucks.
And that was it.
So much for the taper…
Announcements: Read the newsletter, keep collecting band-aids and support the Paradise Reading Center Monday/Wednesday 4pm.
Prayers: Double-Down in Louisville, PAX doing the GRT in Wilmington this weekend, PAX running Kiawah this weekend. Family relationships this Holiday season. It’s not always easy but help us to stay focused on opportunities to share grace and love. Sick kids, sick M’s, our teachers and education leaders, and several others I’m missing.
15 Pax fought off the fartsack and posted to Laces In on this chilly morning. Seeing 28 degrees is just under my over 30 degrees no tights rule, Tclaps to Stang and Senator Tressel rolling with shorts. #RealMen I wanted to keep moving this morning to keep everyone warm. This is one of my favorite workouts and was excited to bring it back from the vault. Here is what we did:
Warm Up: Run lap around student parking lot. COP coming back to stadium which included, SSH, Imperial walkers, Windmills, Peter Parkers, Merkins to Squats.
Main Course: Mosey to hill leaving school. 10 cones. Perform exercise at first cone then run hill. Perform exercise at first cone then second cone, run hill. Perform exercise at first cone then second then third, run hill. So forth and so on.
10 Burpees
20 Merkins
20 Mtn Climbers (Double count, like you have to ask)
20 Carolina Dry Docks
20 Flutter kicks
10 Lunges (each leg)
15 Jump Squats
20 Freddie Mercuries
20 Dips
20 Monkey Humpers
Appreciate all the pax telling me how much they were enjoying the workout everytime we started a new lap. We made it to around Dips. Bandcamp was king for the morning and made it to the last round. We had a great group today and appreciate the support. Without these guys pushing me, I would have been in my comfy, warm bed this morning. Thanks for the push and accountability. Aye
Prayers for Rock Thrill’s Mother, Stang’s house, Bonsai’s child care, Bandcamps co worker with cancer.
Until next time, (Which might be a while considering how bad I am at writing these things!)
It was an honor to be asked by Maximus to Q a Beyond Workout and after many days of juggling other commitments on the calendar, we ended up at Laces In. Thank you Lil’ E for allowing us to move in on your territory on this date. This Q was not that difficult to build as I have had plenty of time to work on it. Also, this BackBlast is a little different with the NMM at the beginning. The rest is below.
I had previously asked the PAX to warmup before the start time. However, just in case there were some who showed up cold, we did a quick warmup with 5 Burpees & 20 SSH’s in Cadence.
Let’s Go Beyond!
NMM
I Cor. 15:58 ‘Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.’
In the age of trains and cars, but before automatic crossing gates, the incidence of trains and cars intersecting at the railroad crossing often delivered disastrous results. Drivers of cars never seemed to see the train coming. The continued disruption with trains and cars brought forth the creation of the crossing guard position. The crossing guard was in a shack by the railroad crossing 24/7, with the train schedule, a lantern and the task of being on the road, at the crossing, waving a lantern to warn cars that a train was coming through.
One dark and stormy night, even with a crossing guard on duty, another tragic crash occurred. A lawsuit was filed by the aggrieved party (car). Who was at fault in this tragedy? Was it the car? Train? Crossing guard?
As the lawsuit proceeded in court, the judge begins his line of questioning to the crossing guard, “Were you there that night?”
Under oath the crossing guard replies, “Yes.”
Continuing with his line of questioning, the judge continues, “Did you have your train schedule?”
To which the crossing guard replies, “Yes.”
“Were you standing in the road at the appropriate time waving your lantern?” asks the judge.
“Yes,” replies the crossing guard.
The judge rules and finds in favor of the railroad, no damages and they were not liable for the tragedy. Upon leaving the courtroom, a spectator hears the crossing guard say, “Whew, sure am glad they didn’t ask whether the lamp was lit.” Moral to the story, don’t forget to ask if the lamp was lit. The judge asked the crossing guard all kinds of questions, but he did not ask the obvious, “Was the lamp lit?”
As we go through life, we are given many opportunities to ‘wave our lanterns’. Opportunities at home, at church, at work, in the community, etc. As a Christian, I can carry my Bible, act morally, share with my F3 brothers, those at work and in my home. I can attend church and participate in all sorts of ministries through the it and outside of it. However, if I do all of these things without my lamp being consistently lit, I do them in vain.
The verse from I Corinthians says we should always abound in the work of the Lord. It does not say, when you are at work, abound; or when you are at a workout, abound; at church, abound. It says ALWAYS.
This is something I think about regularly. It is easy for me to be joyful with my F3 brothers, those at my church, and even those at work. It is also easy to discuss salvation and what it means to me.
However, I am not as consistent when it comes to my own home. We get on a good roll, but it always seems that busyness and life takes over, and the first thing that is affected is my joyfulness at home and good discussions on our faith. So, as I start each day, I ask God to grant me a day where I can be a light for him no matter where I am at or who I face, especially at home. I have to request this because I know I need his help.
Are you waving a lantern that is not lit today? Is your lamp lit in most places, but not in some? Where do you need to ask for help from God and your F3 brothers to help you keep your lamp lit consistently?
Always abound in the work of the Lord, and your work will not be in vain. Make sure you are not just waving your lantern. Make sure your lamp is consistently lit.
WARMUP
See above.
THE THANG
After the warmup YHC requested that the PAX perform 5 burpees. From that point to the end of the WO we performed 5 burpees at the beginning of each round of exercises and at the end, with the exception of a few.
We quickly moseyed over the the large parking lot where I requested that the PAX circle up and perform the following in cadence: Merkins, CDD’s, Alternating Lunges, and V-Ups.
We took another quick mosey another parking lot where we performed Wide Arm Merkins, Pike Presses, Low Slow Squats, and American Hammers.
We took another quick mosey another parking lot where we performed Diamond Merkins, Dips, Low Slow Jump Squats, and LBC’s.
We took another quick mosey another to the front of the stadium we performed Hand Release Merkins, CDD’s, Alternating Jump Lunges, & Big Boy SitUps.
Then we took a mosey over to the Stadium and a small wall where we performed: Irkins, Dips, Step-Ups, & Derkins.
Then we took a mosey back to the COT for some blast off merkins, squats, and big boy sit-ups while I discussed the NMM.
The burpees were the constant in everything and if I forgot them, the PAX reminded me we didn’t perform them. As we went through the workout and I had some time, which was limited, I spoke about the NMM while doing planks or Al Gore’s. The completion came at the end.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Read Your Newsletter.
Hurricane Florence Relief Efforts-Watch Twitter.
Sept. 29-6-Yr. Birthday Convergence at The Fort-0600.
Oct. 13-Poverty Simulation-0900-1200/First Baptist Church Fort Mill.
This thing got started with a quick gathering to listen in to the disclaimer before we began the 45 min of activities planned. Short mosey from COT over to the band practice practice field for a warm up.
Warm up included:
40 SSH, 2 burpees
30 shoulder press, 2 burpees
25 Moroccan night club, 2 burpees
8 windmill, 2 burpees
15 squats, 2 burpees
10 hillbilly walkers, 2 burpees
quick leg stretches, honeymooners, and downward dog – then we took off to the next spot
Mosey’d over to the smaller parking lot in front of the school with the loop in front of the main entrance where YHC scooped up a parking cone and dropped it off about 80-100 yards from the front of the school. Next piece of fun ensued was as follows:
50% run from main entrance to cone, followed up by 5 burpees
50% run back to main entrance, followed by 10 bench step up’s each leg, and then 20 dips
Then repeat the above for round 2
75% run from main entrance to cone, followed up by 5 burpees
75% run back to main entrance, followed by 15 bench step up’s each leg, and then 25 dips
Repeat the above @ 75%
100% / all you got run from main entrance to cone, followed up by 5 burpees
100% / all you got run back to main entrance, followed by 20 bench step up’s each leg, and then 30 dips
Repeat the above @ 100%
In-between the 50-75% round and 75-100% round, YHC provided some words on “control”. While some of us are more controlling than others, we all have our control issues somewhere in our lives. Whether that be at home with the M and 2.0s, at work with co-workers or just the company in general, or trying to control and plan for a hurricane. In the end, we can only control ourselves, how we act, what words we use and choices we make, if we want to push ourselves during a workout, etc. When something like a hurricane comes along and we have no control, we can comfort our M’s and our 2.0s, but it’s really in God’s hands and we need to put our trust in Him.
Quick mosey back to COT (with the Laces Out PAX “stretching”) for some Mary, name-o-rama, announcements, prayers / praises, and ball of man. Also knocked out 42 burpees in total for #1000September !
Sir Topham Hat and I were pretty excited to take on Alcatraz together. A couple or “runners” who really “enjoy” hills? What could possibly go wrong? A warning was sent on the Twitter machine that this would be hill intensive, so I was pleased to see 11 Pax show in addition to YHC and STH. It was a bit of an Alcatraz reunion of sorts with some familiar faces. We knew we needed to bring it.
STH on Q
Warm up jog with side shuffles, butt kickers and high knees
Mosey to the play area
Amrap pull-ups (unassisted), 20CDD – 3 Times
Mosey to Parking Lot
COP: SSHx20, cherry pickers x 10, Mountin Climbers x 20, Peter Parker’s x 10, 6” twice
Mosey to Upper Hill for Jacobs ladder
7 burps and 1 bombjack at top. Made it 4 rounds
Al Gore to squats (which prompted some colorful comments. Just do an Al Gore while doing squats and it’ll become clear immediately.
Mosey to Wooden wall. 7 count incline merkins in cadence, flip to dips 7 count in cadence. Flap jack 4 times #smokefest
Handoff to Zima
Zima on Q
Mosey to Parking Lot
25 SSH IC
17 Something I can’t remember IC (I blame it on being light-headed)
Mosey to Middle of Parking Lot for Suicide Burpees (5 burpees at baseline each time running to 3 increasing suicide targets)
Walk 20 yards back for 10 hand release merkins at baseline with 4 suicide series targets
Walk 20 yards back for 7 bombjacks at baseline and 5 suicide series targets
Go to field for 4 corners
Corner 1 20 Monkey Humpers IC
Corner 2 20 Walking Lunges IC
Corner 3 20 Monkey Humpers IC
Corner 4 15 LS Squats IC
Run to short steep lower hill for 5 Min Quadzilla (insert copious amounts of complaining herre)
Mosey back to parking lot for 5 mins Pax Choice Mary
Finish with double 10 count body destroyer
All in all it was a pretty good smokefest. Everyone pushed their limits
NMM (here are our notes)
STH is super fit but bailed for Zima Q (cited family commitments)
Fish Sticks = #King #WarDaddy
Great mumblechatter this AM
Maximus is a beast and smiles through the entire workout like “Is that all you got?” Yes Max, it is.
Highlight of the morning was Dark Helmet’s commentary on STH’s Al Gore Squats #graphic #hilarious
A couple of Pax almost got laid out by a Buck (Deer) that didn’t see them and then shot off across the street
Quadzilla is still a crowd pleaser (esp. when you add a minute)
For all the comments about being out of shape, Gears seemed to be towards the head of the pack
Glad to see half the team of “Beauty and the Beasts” support us
Prayer, Praises, Announcements
BOM on Zima
Thanks for the opportunity to lead Smuggler! Keep me in the rotation.
