Tag: Mainframe

Fire Ants Conquer the Iron Ruck Challenge

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I love the Fire Ant concept! Always a challenge for sure, pushes you to do more. When Spiderman put me on Q I knew what I wanted to do. It was not an original – I took a page from the Iron Pax challenge that has been going around lately. Week 2’s challenge was a beast. I had to work it into a ruck Q.

Great morning! 15 ruckers ready to roll……

We did not roll far. Super tough long ruck about 100 yards to one side of the Teeter parking lot where I wanted us to leave our sweat marks. Circled up for COP:

  • SSH x 20
  • WM x 20
  • IW x 10
  • HW x 10
  • MNC x 20

Then on to the main event. The Iron Ruck Challenge!

  • 5 sets of exercises, each done for 7 minutes AMRAP
  • Each exercise was using your ruck – note they were ALL weighted at least 35lbs, some had more
  • After 20 reps of an exercise, run about 25 yards and back
  • Continue, rinse and repeat exercise/run until 7 minutes are up
  • That completes one set
  • Rest for 1 minute
  • Move on to next set

Exercise sets were:
1. Thrusters
2. Curls
3. Flutters w Press (count on the press up)
4. Swings
5. Man Makers

Everything single count. Used a Tabata timer ap and speaker to keep things moving, audible time changes.

Folks complained about lack of music or a playlist of songs on my phone. I did not bring my boom box either. Hey, I am old – 2 years from 50. Got no time for tinker toys. It’s Pandora, Sirius XM, the radio, or nothing right now. Besides, when you have such epic mumblechatter like we had this morning, who needs music! Also – Cadre ain’t gonna play music while he is whuppin up on us. I’m trying to get my mind ready for that.

Not much talking from the Q. Too busy grunting, groaning, and being winded to talk between sets. Help make your kid’s minds as sharp as they can be is the only words I gave advice on. The kick-arse group of mean mother ruckers there this morning really ground through this. No mods. Good form. A lot of team encouragement and support. Grinded it out to the very end. Everyone ended up doing at least 80-100 of each exercise. Good livin!

Thanks Spiderman for the opportunity to lead. Excellent job by all the PAX there.

-NASA

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SlowBurn Send-off For Rooney

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47 pax of TheFort posted this morning to show support for #HIM Rooney, who is moving to Seattle.  Rooney has not only impacted his brothers in F3, but many of our kids through his tremendous servant leadership as a principal in our school system.  There is no doubt he will be missed here, but that sadness is somewhat offset by the knowledge that he’ll be positively impacting families out west.

In anticipation (accurately) of a large crowd, it was decided the launch point and COT would be the Empire Pizza parking lot behind Chick-fil-a.  CakeBoss opened up with a few words about Rooney, then handed off to YHC.  We started with 25 side straddle hops, then moseyed up around Chick-fil-a (to pick up any twitterless pax that didn’t get the message).  We landed back at a parking lot near our launch point.

Warmup-O-Rama

  • Windmills (10)
  • Hillbilly Walkers (15)
  • CDDs (20)
  • Flutters (20)
  • Chopsticks (20)
  • Seal Jacks (20)

Mosey to parking lot in front of Lowe’s where a few cones had been set-up. Pax asked to partner up and told we’d be doing a Dora 1-2-3.  This was the same exercise Rooney had done during his VQ, which I had the privilege of posting to (was my 3rd post, I believe) at WEP back in November of 2014.  The turn-around point for the running was about 50 yards.

  • 100 Merkins
  • 200 LBCs
  • 300 Squats

After a 10 count, we moseyed to the parking lot on the west side of Lowe’s.  Cones were set up there for some “4 Corners” action.  Each cone had two exercises listed for each round.  Pax were instruction to alternate between the 2 exercises for the appropriate round (to 10 reps of each exercise).  They were told to move to the next cone when the group at the previous cone reached them.  No count-off by 4s done…pax could just pick a cone to be their starting point (lazy pax like YHC took the closest cone). Here were the exercises:

Cone 1
  • Round 1 – Flutters <-> Freddie Mercuries
  • Round 2 – LBCs <-> Heals to Heaven
  • Round 3 – Dying Cockroach <-> American Hammers
  • Round 4 – Chopsticks <-> Plank Jacks
Cone 2
  • Round 1 – Side-step lunges <-> Imperial Walkers
  • Round 2 – Bomb Jacks <-> Lunges
  • Round 3 – Monkey Humpers <-> Squats
  • Round 4 – High Jumps <-> SSH
Cone 3
  • Round 1 – Plank Punches <-> Dips
  • Round 2 – Merkins <-> 10 second Elbow Plank
  • Round 3 – CDD <-> Moroccan Nightclubs
  • Round 4 – Alternating shoulder taps <-> Parkers Peters
Cone 4
  • Round 1 – Box Cutters <-> 10 second Superman
  • Round 2 – Toy Soldiers <-> Speed Skaters
  • Round 3 – Donkey Kicks <-> Peter Parkers
  • Round 4 – Big Boy Sit-ups <-> Inchworm Merkins

We got through 3 rounds before time ran out and we headed back to COT

Naked Man Moleskin

After the workout, a couple dozen men gathered at Chick-fil-a to share with Rooney how he has impacted us (except for Dark Helmet, who served as a one-man roasting machine).  It was beyond evident that Rooney had a deep impact on many men, their kids, and their family, as a brother and a principal.  Rooney is an inspiring individual, and his courage to respond to God calling him across the country will undoubtedly also be an inspiration to those wondering if they should act on words from the Sky-Q.

Rooney, you have been an amazing example of “giving it away” everyday here in Fort Mill.  And now we have to let you give it away to another community (on the west coast, no less!).  But one thing is for sure: the world is a better place because of who you are and what you do.  No man, student, or family is left behind, nor are they left where you find them.  Strong work, brother.  Strong work.

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No Hills at Alcatraz

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With a lot of the PAX spending time with their 2.0s at F3 Dads camp I wasn’t sure what type of turnout we’d have. Thankfully 8 other PAX missed the F3 Dads deadline like myself and decided to post.

Disclaimer was given and off we went on a warm up lap around the park. Onto field for normal exercises: 25-SSHs, 15-Windmills, 20-Merkins, 15-Peter Parkers in Plank, 20-Slow Squats, & 15 Smurf Jacks.

Mosey over to wall under concession stand and partner up.

  1. P1 does peoples chair while P2 runs to fence and back. Swap and then repeat so each PAX runs twice.
  2. Leg pushdowns – Try not to let your legs hit the ground after partner pushes them down. 15 then swap.
  3. Wheelbarrow from foul line out to back of infield behind short-stop then swap going back.
  4. Burpee jump overs – P1 is down in plank, P2 jumps over and does a burpee for a total of 8. Then swap so P2 does 8. Then keep swapping and reducing burpees by 2 (P1-8, P2-8, P1-6, P2-6, P1-4…)
  5. Empty shopping cart – Kinda like a backwards wheelbarrow. Crab walk instead of bear crawl with partner holding legs up.
  6. 15 partner merkins with handslaps, run to fence and back then 15 more.
  7. Come together into 2 5 man teams. 4 guys are in plank while the last guy weaves his way to the front then drops into plank and lets the last guy know to start. We made it about half way across the outfield before it was time for the main event.

Walker takes the Q and we mosey over to other field for 410 shotgun. 4 cones in a square, same exercise to be done at cone each time, 10 reps each cone, 10 times around the square.

  • 1st cone was 10 burpees
  • 2nd cone was 10 V-ups
  • 3rd cone was 10 diamond merkins
  • 4th cone was 10 body squats

The plan was to do 10 rounds of this but we audibled after the 7th round to circle up for the following pleasantries all in cadence:

  • 60 – 4 count flutter kicks
  • 40 Freddie Mercury’s
  • Heels 6″ off ground for 90 seconds
  • 20 single count Merkins
  • 20 staggered Merkins (10 left hand forward, 10 right hand forward)

Time’s up, PAX were smoked. COT.

I didn’t know Walker that well before this but I heard he was a machine. There was talk the night before about pre-running so I decided to join him and Fish Sticks. Of course Tega Cay is nice and flat and those 2 are slow….so I learned not to pre-run a hard workout anymore. But overall it was a lot of fun and appreciate the opportunity to lead!

-Mainframe

 

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The Fire Ant!!!

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The Fire  Ant:

The ruck at Golden Corral is not new, however some things are.   After more than a year of being the Site Q all of the ruck options in The Fort, RAD asked to pass one AO off of YHC and the other site to Cobra Kai.  An AO set up to truly train PAX signed up for GORUCK events was already in the works.  Becoming the Site Q for the Tuesday Ruck option provided a great opportunity to do just that.

To start we needed a name.  “The ruck option at Golden Corral” does not exactly roll off the tongue.  Previous conspiring for the creation of an intense ruck option saw a few names thrown out by the group of PAX that started the recon effort and the development of what this thing needed to be.  Cheddah was the winner when he through out “The Fire Ant!”  Fire ants can carry 10-50 times their body weight, they spread aggressively, and most importantly, they work as a team.  Given that GORUCK events are built on the basis of team work and involve carrying heavy objects for long distances, the name just fit.

As I mentioned, the intention of original Fire Ant concept was to train PAX  for upcoming GORUCK events.  To start, there is no such thing as a 30lb ruck for a man weighing over 150lbs at a GORUCK event.  That is just the required dry weight.  Add 3L of water and your ruck will weigh ~37lbs.  Therefore the required weight for this AO was set to 40lbs.  Given that the Fire Ant has essentially taken over an existing AO and we want to continue for guys to try rucking, we will call the 40lbs, “highly encouraged.”

The second aspect of The Fire Ant is intensity.  This AO is not about miles, but about completing a soul crushing WOD.  This is anything with a very high discomfort factor.  “Get comfortable being uncomfortable!”  WODs designed to push to failure, get the heart rate up, and lift some extremely heavy objects (both individually and as a team) will be the norm.  OF COURSE, modify as necessary as you get stronger.  For the most part, this is not a huge change for the AO, as the Qs have delivered some great beat downs.  Some recent WODs from Mainframe & Cobra Kai, were great examples!

The Thang:

PAX were led to one of the parking islands and weight was added to every ruck that was not already over 30lbs.  From there the PAX moved 2×2 to the corner of O’Reilly Auto Parts.  Immediately started into the workout.

  • Duck walk to the front of O’Reilly Auto Parts
  • Complete a series of exercises in cadence
    • Flutters x20
    • Mountain Climbers x20
    • Squats x20
    • Bent over rows x20
  • Overhead Carry the length of O’Reilly Auto Parts (40 yds)
  • Broad Jump Man Maker the length of the parking spaces (30 yds) – this was a crowd favorite!
  • Move to the long wall next to Harris Teeter and complete a series of exercises in cadence
    • Merkins x15
    • Ruck Swings x15
    • Overhead Press x15
    • Curls x15
  • Bear crawl the length of the HT wall (60 yds)
  • Drop ruck and run the large parking lot (1/4 mile)

The PAX completed the series 2.5 times before time ran out.

Excited to be a site Q again.  Thank you RAD for all you have done for rucking in The Fort and appreciate you thinking of me to take over this site!

The Fire Ant continues on 8/14 with CSPAN!!

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Honoring Special Agent Forrest Leamon at HoneyBadger – 8/13/18

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24 #HIM joined YHC (25 total) to honor Special Agent Forrest Leamon at the 8-13-18 edition of HoneyBadger.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Forrest Nelson Leamon, 37, assigned to the Foreign-deployed Advisory and Support Team (FAST) Echo was killed October 26th, 2009, while on a counternarcotics mission in Western Afghanistan when the helicopter he was in crashed. He is survived by his wife Ana, his son Luke, his parents, Sue and Richard Leamon, and his sister Heather.

Warmup:

  • Mosey around the parking lot 1 lap
  • 50 Side straddle hops
  • 21 double count windmills
  • Downward dog to honey mooner x3
  • Small arm circles
  • Big arm cirles
  • Reverse small arm circles
  • Reverse big arm circles

Mosey to the pull up bars.

The “Forrest” WOD:

3 rounds for time:

  • 20 L Pull-ups
  • 30 toes to bar
  • 40 burpees
  • 800M run

COT

Announcements:

  • Weekend events honoring #HIMs CSPAN & Rooney
  • #218in18
  • SiteQ Meeting this Wednesday

Prayers:

  • Parents
  • Kids back to school

– Ginsu

 

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Husky VQ at Honey Badger

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It was my pleasure to bring a new look with some “fun” exercises to The Honey Badger.  Everyone knows that although the Honey Badger may be small, it is a tenacious and sometimes vicious creature.  Thank you to all this who came out for my VQ, you all did the Honey Badger proud.  It may not have been easy but you scratched your way though when lesser people would have quit.  This AO is Hero or Hero inspired workouts.  I am inspired by all of those who are willing to put their lives on the line to protect the freedoms we enjoy every day.  It was only fitting to discuss our workout theme which was leadership.  We all know and have varying definitions of leadership such as lead by example etc.. Leadership is the development of a vision, establishing what matter, then articulating why.  Set the direction and inspire others.  Translate vision into reality.  I hope I was able to inspire others to push themselves to do things they did not know were possible.  Make a better you every day.  “Accept the challenges so you can feel the exhilaration of victory.”  Everyone who came and conquered the Honey Badger are licking their lips today because the taste of victory is amazing.

Warmup:  Windmill, Copperhead Squats, Chinook, Sun Gods, Tempo Merkin

10 Chin ups immediately followed by 10 negative release for a 10 second down count each rep. (Wall pushups and wall sits while waiting for bar)

Bleacher Run X3

Tooth Fairy up Stairs then Reverse Bear Crawl down stairs (2 Rounds)   Sweat Angles while waiting for remainder of Pax to complete

Butkus (Rapid step ups) 1 minute on then 30 second rest

Inclined Mountain Climbers 1 minute on then 30 second rest

Reverse Bear Crawl up steps, Jameis Winston Down Steps with 5 dips every step (crap walk feet first), at bottom 10 Ground and Pound Merkins (Fist on ground with thumbs pointing to the sky then push up mimicking tricep extension movement)      (2 Rounds)  Happy Jacks while waiting for remainder of Pax to complete.

Duck Walk Up Stairs (this is low and slow, do not rush.  Should feel great burn, if not get lower and slower)  Run down  (2 Rounds)

Cool Down:  X’s and O’s, X Cross Sit-ups, Captain Therkins (1:4, 2:8, 3:12, 4:16, 5:20), Superman to Canoe without arms or feet hitting the ground.

 

 

 

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Golden Corral Shovel Flag Hand Off

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We had 20 Combined for the Boot Camp  and Ruckers.

Boot Camp Work Out:

Mosey behind shopping center and circle up:

15 Imperial Walkers, 15 Mountain Climbers, 15 Wind Mills, 15 Peter Parkers, 15 Parker Peters, 10 Merkins and 15 CDD

Mosey to hill:

On Guard Rail do 14s: 13 Derkins and 1 Dip; 12 Derkins and 2 Dips…………..to 1 Derkin and 13 Dips

Mosey to Hill:  Backwards halfway  up hill then run forward- 20 Sumo Squats down the hill then alternating lunges until the 6 is in and then 10 in cadence as a gaggle.  Rinse and repeat x2.

Mosey to roundabout and lunge walk to entrance of the shopping center.

Mosey to parking lot: Backward run to first island then turn and forward run at end of parking lot do 25 CDD then run back….incline merkins until 6 is in then 10 as a gaggle in cadence.

Mosey to COT

It has been an honor to serve as the site Q.  Over the last couple of years I have seen a lot of faces come through and all are better for it.  I am excited to have my good friend Falcon Crest take over and you will see me there on a regular basis.

Remember that the next step is to get involved in volunteering in our area.  Children’s attention home and paradise both need volunteers.  Make the next step in leadership and you will not regret it.  Falcon Crest is a man doing that not just within F3 but also at CAH.  Thank you buddy!

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Beyond with Tinsel’s Utensils at the Ranch

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Today I had the opportunity to lead a Beyond Workout, I’ve been to many of them and decided to share some of my personal stories. I was welcomed by all the PAX that decided to get better and a new name for my toys/props, Tinsel’s Utensils, great name Mainframe!!

We started the warm up with a short run around the parking lot with high knees and butt kickers and then circled up for a few warm up exercises:  Windmills, Moroccan night clubs, low slow squats followed by story sharing while on different variations of planks (regular, elbows, right/left leg up while on elbows, right/left arm up while on regular, back to regular), downward dog-honeymooner; with 9 minutes into the WO we split in 4 groups and each group went to a different station.

Station 1:

-> 10 diamond merkins

-> 15 wide arm merkins

-> 20 regular merkins

-> 30 battle rope wave SC

-> 40 plank jacks

-> 50 Shoulder taps

Station 2:

-> 15 boat and canoe

-> 20 Rosalitas

-> 30 Sledgehammer swings (15 each side)

-> 40 Heel Touches SC

-> 40 Dying Roach

Station 3:

-> 15 overhead press

-> 15 biceps curls

-> 25 dumbbell swing

-> 30 SSH

-> 50 Carolina drydocks

Station 4:

-> 10  Tire flips

-> 20  Monkey Humpers

-> 30 reverse lunges

-> 30 squat pops

-> 50 calf raises

After each group completed a station we met at the center for a brake and to continue my story sharing, on first brake we had a visit from Captain Thor (1 big boy sit up and 4 american hammers, 2 BBSU and 8 AH, 3 BBSU and 12 AH and so on) the plan calls for 10 BBSU and 40 AH but it’s looks easier on paper so we stopped at 8 BBSU and 32 AH. Back to the next station.

Time for brake number 2 and more story sharing, we did one of my favorite exercises the famous Worst Merkin ever, start with wide arm, down to regular and finish with a diamond merkin, that counts as one, we did 10 total. Back to the next station.

Brake number 3 came up and more of the story of my life was shared and since we were running out of time we went back to finish our 4th station.

I guess I didn’t take all the talking that I was going to do into consideration and we stopped at about 49 minutes, circled back into COT for a final chatter about my personal story.

We finished up with prayers, praises and announcements.

Thank you Straight up for lifting us up for the final prayer.

I think the best part of the WO was at the end when some of the PAX decided to skip the fist bump and switched it for a hug!!

Big props to Maximus for this great idea to go Beyond!

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Lots of balls at the Swamp!

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Short notice Q for the swamp bootcamp this morning could very well be my last before I move to Everett Washington. A lot of Ruckers, only 5 of us for the boot camp.

Thang:

COP

mosy to target balls for the main event:

one armed merkin each arm and a regular merkin at each ball, running between each

15 squats and bear crawl to each ball

5 burpees and lunge to each ball

10 monkey humpers and crabwalk to each ball

last thing we did I beleive is a variation of belching, sprint to each ball and drop to 6 inches, sprint forward and repeat when Q says go. That one actually was pretty intense.

Kept things simple but painful.

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GC 7/10

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7 bootcampers and 5 ruckers showed up for the buffet.

After a disclaimer by Olaf, we went our separate ways and bootcampers mosied around HT and started COP.

COP – MNC x 15, IW x 15, LSS x 10, Merkins x 10, PP x 15

We then made our way to HT where YHC had set up some cones for the main event.  PAX did 7s (but really 8s) of big boy sit-ups and burpees, bear crawling to the first cone and crab walking back.

For the main event, PAX did suicides starting with 1 SSH x 10, 2, 1 SSHx 10 Plank Jack’s x 10… Building up to 4, 3, 2, 1 SSH x 10 plank jacks x 10 bomb Jack’s x 10 and ski abs x 10.  We then rotated through again with squats, lbcs, monkey humpers, and diamond merkins.

After the main event we sat on the wall a did some burpees, and finished up with some mary.

Met up with the ruckers for COT.  Sweti coming up, read your newsletter.

Thanks decibel for the opportunity to lead

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