(un)Official Fast 5 Training

A little Fast5 training today with perfect 45F temps – great track weather!

1mile Warmup

Active Stretches x50 , jog x50 – Toy Soliders, Knee-to-Chest, Butt-Kickers, Duck walk in and out

400 x 2 – Run straights, Easy curves

1,000 (2.5 laps) – simulated race-pace for Fast5

400 Recover

Stairs Up and Down x3

 

Rinse & Repeat Set above x2 – tried to maintain or improve 1,000 race-pace each of the 3 times

 

Mile Warm-down

Stretch

 

 

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The real gloom at WEP

What a great Saturday morning. I got out to the AO a little early cause I hadn’t been out to WEP in a very long time. The air was thick with fog, it was dark, it was downright scary  – the perfect type type of gloom that we love to work with.

Men  start showing up about eight minutes before launch, by the time we were ready to go we had a total of 19 PAX ready to get after it . Nomad  brought 3 FNG’s from his youth group and they were excited to figure out what was in store for them this morning.  I bet they felt differently after words.

Maximus were starting us off today so he gave the long disclaimer for new friends and off we went .

It was a nice quick jog and then circle up to do several exercises that I can’t recall individually – but Maximus pushed us to get nice and warmed up.

the Thang

Partner up

partner 1 pull ups AMRAP while partner 2 runs around the playground  perimeter.

Repeat three times

After that we will circle up in the playground dirt and did several of the exercises which included toe touches, LBCs, flutter kicks and chopsticks. Maybe an elbow plank in there as well.

Maximus then turned it over to Royale

Mosey into the grass circled up and picked new partners

Lazy Dora

No running, consists  of the following exercises that are rotated between the two partners until you get to the combined number .

100 merkins

10 each while other partner planks

200 Squats

25 each while other partner holds low squat

300  American hammers single count

30 each  while partner holds 6 inches

This evolution was terrible so I gave the guys a break after it was done and read from Discipline Equals Freedom, a section called “application of discipline ”  from Jocko Willink’s most recent book. I shared his video about the book above.  It’s one of my favorite short motivational videos on YouTube!

The next evolution involved a nice little hill for 11’s

Run up the top the hill- do 10 bomb jacks – run back down – one plank jack until you reverse the cycle down to one Bomb Jack and 10 plank jacks.

Next we moseyed halfway around the park on the running track until we came close to the front road and entrance to the park.

We formed two lines and partnered up with the person right across from you in line- sat down and did two minutes each of big boy sit ups many as you can.

finally spent the last two minutes doing as many as you can burpees – real crowd pleaser

COT with FNG naming, Gomer, Ghost Rider and Chop Block.

Announcements prayers and praises

It was an honor to lead,

Royale & Maximus

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The Big Spoon

With the temp hovering right at about 40 degrees, the PAX were reluctant to leave the warmth of the vehicles. One by one they emerged, ready to get better together.

Warmup
  • Windmill – slow – 10 I.C.
  • Sitting Squat stretch 10 count
  • shoulder stretches
  • Mountain Climbers – 20 I.C.
  • Little Baby Arm Circles – 30 I.C.
  • SSH – 25 I.C.

Mosey to the parking lot with the football field painted on it

The Thang
  • Bear crawl to the 25 yard line. Stopping every 5 yards to do merkins, increasing by 5. (5, 10, 15, 20,25)
  • Crab walk back, stopping to do LBC’s every 5 with an increment of 10. (10,20,30,40,50)
  • 10 count
  • Suicides to the 50 yard line, every 10 yards. (10,20,30,40,50yds)
  • Circle up and asked several PAX to name everyone present. We had success so 10 burpees were done OYO in celebration.

Mosey to the bottom of the hill near the football stadium

  • Partner up for DORA. Partner runs to 4th light pole up  hill while other partner does exercise.
    • 100 Dips
    • 200 Monkey Humpers
    • 300 Flutters
  • 10 count and a brief word about “control”. Seceding our control to the one who is really in control.
  • Run to the top of the hill
  • 20 Calf raises
  • 20 Calf raises toes in
  • 20 Calf raises toes out

Mosey to COT for some Mary

  • Dying cockroaches – 20 I.C.
  • Superman + announcements
  • Honeymoon/Downward dog stretch
  • Boats and Canoes until time

Great work today gentleman. It’s an honor to lead.

-River Rat

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Build-a-burp Workshop

19 pax made it out to the golden corral for some bootcamp, ruck, and run.  Big showing from lake wylie thanks to Jedi.

A disclaimer was made and the bootcampers mosied around HT for cop.
COP
Morracan Night Clubs x 20
Imperial Walkers x 19
Windmills x 13
Low slow squats x 16
Merkins x 11
LBCs x 15
Parker Peters x 15
(Reps are guestimates… no rhyme or reason to #s)
Bodybuilder burpees x 10 OYO (multiple demos requested, still no consensus on order of plank jack/merkin)
The thang
Mosied over to the fountain for some deconstructed bodybuilder burpees in pairs.
1st pax bear crawled to cone, ran to the hill to circle, and then crab walked back to the start from cone.
2nd pax did x16 of the following followed by LBCs until relieved by 1st pax:
Squats
Leg thrusts
Merkins
Plank Jacks
Leg thrusts
Squats
Bodybuilder burpees
(mumblechattter included complaints of lack of visible cones)
Finished just in time and booked it over to HT for COT with a push from Davinci.
Announcements
Christmas party
Probably missing something…. read your newsletter
Prayers and praises
Sick, injured, and traveling family.
Thanks Decibel for the opportunity
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Inertia

4 boot campers and 6 runners posted at Laces In/Out this morning. The cool temperature was perfect for a hideous beat down. We did hill work because was today’s message was focused on overcoming inertia.

The Thang:

COP: SSH (30x), IW (20x), WM (15x), Sumo Squats (15x), MC (20x), Peter Parkers (15x) and Freddie Mercuries(15x)

Mosey to the hill near the stadium to add inertia and do the following exercises.

  1. 100 Yard Dash
  2. Jumping Squats (2x)
  3. Big Boy Sit Ups (3x)
  4. Pepper Grinders (4x)
  5. Burpees (5x)
  6. LBCs (6x)
  7. Sumo Squats (7x)
  8. Heels to Heaven (8x)
  9. Dips (9x)
  10. Calf raises (10x)
  11. Merkins (11x)
  12. Penguins (12x)

Ruby runs with the following exercises: Flutters (15x), Rosalettas (15x), Swimmers (15x), Calf Raises (30x).

Moleskin:

Why do we sometimes struggle to answer God’s calling and purpose for our lives? Does our own inertia stop us?

Paul initially was filled with hesitation when he was called to God’s mission field. In the Acts of the Apostles 22, Jesus needed to encourage Paul to overcome his inertia. He kept telling Paul “Go,” “Get up,” “What are you waiting for?”

Paul eventually pushed through his inertia and fulfilled his mission. Paul’s story is a great illustration of how it’s sometimes tough to start your mission but you must finish strong. Answer when God calls on you to fulfill His mission.

Peace,

Deacon

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Have you seen my Baseball?

6 Veteran PAX joined YHC on a humid a.m. @ Laces In to take on the compound of FMHS as we know it!

Brief Disclaimer with no FNG’s so we Moseyed:

COP- A solid running loop around the large parking lot led us back to under the lights for some dynamic exercises to warm-up. Didn’t need too much as our bodies were already feeling the humidity. (Is this really October?)

IW’s, WM’s, HW’s, LSS’s, Honey Mooner stretch, MH’s, Plank Jacks. All followed by some leg stretches as the PAX were not aware we’d be getting a little running in!  #Trucker would’ve been pleased as we held off on the SSH’s! (For Now)

The Thang:

Mosey over to the Band practice parking lot to meet our friend DORA 1-2-3.

DORA:

Partner running from Light Pole to Light Pole across parking lot about 100+ yards-

100 Moroccan Night Clubs

200 Squats

300 SSH’s  which the PAX grumbled ‘there they are’.

Since the Award Winning FMHS Band wasn’t practicing this early we took advantage of the space and re-booted another DORA 1-2-3 into a round of Abs Lab.

50yards this time with-

50 Flutters

100 LBC

150 American Hammers

With time on the clock we Moseyed over to another parking lot that had a perfect resemblance to a baseball field. With MLB playoffs in full swing and the Yanks taking down the Tribe the night prior we played our own game of baseball. Stayed as a TEAM unit and ran the bases. @ each base was an exercise.

1st base- 10 Burpees

2nd base- 20 CDD’s

3rd base- 30 Dips

Home plate- steal and sprint to home with 40 calf raises.

Mosey towards COT and finished time with Abs circle.

COT:

Met up with Maximus & Mcguyver from Laces Out (who got a solid 6 miles in)

Announcements:

Joe Davis 5k

Prayers/Praises:

California Wild Fires

October Breast Cancer Awareness

F3 and what it has done for PAX (personal growth)

Staying safe on the roads during running/training for the upcoming races.

Wheezer Out-

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Mary Go Round at the Colosseum

Warm up:

20 x -SSH

20 x MNC

15 x Windmill

10 x Merkins

Plank

Honeymooner

Downward Dog

15 x Mountain Climber

15 x Squats

The Thang:

So after some short sprints and side shuffles through the parking lot, we partnered off.  Then a word on leadership.

Leadership doesnt have to happen alone!  Just like your partner during the workout a partner in life can help you be the leader you are meant to be.

And the Mary-go-round begins…..

Each round consists of doing one exercise followed by a lap around the parking lot.  Since one round of each set of exercises wasnt enough, we decided to rinse and repeat each round.  Between rounds as we waited for the six (usually me) we did wall sits for round 1 followed by planks for round 2.

Round 1:

10 x Freddy Mercury

10 x Rosalita

10 x Protractors

Round 2:

10 x Crab Humpers

10 x Carolina Dry Docks

10 x Flutters

Meet back at COT for announcements, prayers and praises.

Thanks for all the support PAX for my VQ!

A great time was had by all!

Announcements:

-Invergence Friday

-Convergence Saturday

Prayers of PAX:

-Family who lost father due to fire ants

-Missionary family resolving paperwork stateside to return to Asia.

 

 

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5 Year Anniversary Convergence BB

Saturday, September 30th 2017 was a special Convergence for the PAX of The Fort. On that day we celebrated 5 years of using these small workout groups to invigorate male leadership in Fort Mill. To honor the occasion, 88 PAX gathered at one of our favorite AOs (Nations Ford HS) to celebrate the day and the leaders that made it all happen.

We also celebrated 6 Friendly New Guys that joined us that morning. Welcome Tubs, Band Camp, Jughead, Atari, Hat Trick, and Saul.

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, however. Here’s how we got better:

Warmup (led by Ginsu)

  • Mosey to the football field
  • 30 Side Straddle Hops
  • 10, 4-count windmills
  • 30 Moroccan night clubs
  • 10, 4-count merkins
  • 10, 4-count Peter Parkers
  • 10, 4-count Parker Peters
  • 10, 4-count LBCs
  • 20 low slow squats

Split into groups (Run, Regular Bootcamp, Black Diamond, Ruck, Moderate Bootcamp)

Run (led by Birdcage)

  • 800 meter indian run
  • 1000 meter 10k pace with 1 minute rest x2
  • 200 meter 1 mile race pace 200 meter cool down x4
  • 400 meter sprint corners recover straights
  • 1600 meter cool down
  • 5 miles total

Bootcamp (led by Royale)

  • Mosey over to the concrete football field
  • 10 merkins
  • Lunge walk 10 yards then do 3 burpees
  • Next ten yards bear crawl then 3 more burpees
  • Rise and repeat until we hit the other goal line
  • 10 count – going over the Five Core Principals of an F3 workout
  • Next phase we broke into 4 groups
  • At each corner of the end zones there were 5 exercises written on a board.  We would complete in your group and then run to the next corner. Everyone would hit al 4 corners.
    • Corner 1
      • 20 Merkins
      • 30 Lunges
      • 30 Dying Cockroaches
      • 30 Ski Abs
      • 3 Kraken Burpees
    • Corner 2
      • 20 Ranger Merkins
      • 30 Squats
      • 40 Freddy Mercurys
      • 40 Shoulder Taps
      • 10 burpees
    • Corner 3
      • 20 Durkins
      • 20 Jump Squats
      • 50 American Hammers
      • 30 Monkey Humpers
      • 10 Mountain Climber Burpees
    • Corner 4
      • 20 Wide Arm Merkins
      • 20 Sumo Squats
      • 20 V-Up Twists
      • 20 Bombjacks
      • 10 Squat Burpees
We talked about the word of the month – Leadership.  I shared we all have an opportunity to lead through F3, just like we all have the responsibility to lead in our homes.  I know I struggle with the balance of work and family time.  As the leader of our households we need to support our Ms and be the examples to our children.
  • Mosey over to the round about
  • Each man would take a lap around 1st doing Lt Dans
  • Finally we would bear crawl.
  • Mosey to the football field for the last 30 seconds and some LBCs

Black Diamond (led by Backdraft)

  • Mosey from warm up top pull up bars
  • Pull ups/ Burpee challenge – 9 pull ups 1 burpee., 8-2 , 7-3 until finished.
  • Mosey to stadium run the bleachers
  • 10 derkins
  • 10 dips
  • Mosey to track run 1/4 mile as fast as you can. U vs. U
  • Mosey to end zone. Count off by 2s. split into groups first person flips tire 10 times than run end zone to end zone while next person flips tire everyone else continuously do 10 merkins, 10 squats, 10 big boy sit ups. Keep going until all of group is finished.
  • 10 min 100 burpees. Do 10 burpees every minute on the minute. U vs. U
  • Mosey to 50 yard line 5 minute of Mary
  • Sideline sprints x 2 first set after you run 10 tuck jumps. 2nd set 5 hand release merkins

Ruck (led by Trucker)

2 20lb, 3 40lb, and 3 60lb sandbags were snagged from back of car as 8 PAX tucked down to the elementary school and dropped the sandbags next to the telephone poles. The 8 PAX carried the telephone pole around the parking lot. Left telephone pole where we found it and rucked backwards up the hill to the pull up bars. What’s a WO by Trucker without pull ups? YHC challenged the 8 PAX to do 2 sets of 5 pull ups with ruck on.

Rucked into stadium and lined up in 2 columns for sandbag throws from one end of football field to other and back. Then rucked up and down the football stand stairs from one end back. Rinse and repeat with sandbag throws and stadium stairs. Threw sandbags again down to other side of endzone and then formed 2 lines abs flipped tires from one end to other. Sandbag threw back to other endzone and climbed stadium stairs one more time. Finished with a 20 count flutters. Great work by seasoned and rookie ruckers.

Moderate (led by Short Sale)

  • MOSEY to Elementary School
  • Grab some Wall. Wall Sits while Pax at each end jumps out of line for 5 squats
  • Repeat with 5 Bombjacks.
  • Count off by 5’s and mosey to back of the parking lot
    • Number 1’s go to station #1
    • 2’s start at Station3, etc.
  • Stations: 3 minutes/station. Q calls stop & go
    • 1: 10 Merkins, 20 Calf raises
    • 2: 20 LBCs, 20 Monkey Humpers
    • 3: 10 SSHs, 20 Moroccan Night Clubs
    • 4: 10 Scorpion Dry Docks, 20 Squats
    • 5: 20 Imperial Walkers, 10 Apollo Ohnos
    • 6: 10 Broad Jumps, 20 Flutters
    • 7: 10 Bombjacks, 20 squat jabs
    • 8: 10 handclap merkins w/partner, 10 partner Derkins- Beloved by veteran Pax and FNGs alike
    • 9: 10 Jump Squats, 10 CDD’s
    • 10: 10 Dips, 5 jack Webbs
  • Mosey to Stop sign at bottom of hill for some Mary- Hello Dollies, Flutters, Protractor

MESSAGE ON LEADERSHIP- F3 gives us a great platform to grow our leadership skills and build confidence as a leader. The Pax will let you know if/when something has gone wrong but will also be there to lift you up. Also, the best leaders don’t focus on their ROLE, they focus on the GOAL. So, be the leader you were called to be.

Great group of men came to work. Veterans guided the FNGs and encouraged them at every step of the way. YHC kept reminding the group that it is UvsU out here. Some quality mumble chatter about what moderate means. Smiles all around when moved on from the stations.

Wrap Up

What we have at The Fort is special. It is a strong group of PAX led by men who live with intentionality. I am sure that each of us would agree that it has impacted our lives in ways that we will never be able to describe. At some point for each of us, we were gifted F3. We were headlocked by someone who recognized the impact that F3 had on them and how it could help us. With that in mind, let’s pay this gift forward. Be the leader you were called to be and use your influence to headlock the sad clowns around you, FNGs and Kotters, that are where you once were. Be a leader.

Ginsu

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GC RUCK – 9/19 – RUCK HEAVY

Alright Pax, get ready for a ride.

It was a great day to Ruck, wait actually everyday is a great day to Ruck.  As we stood around waiting for the 5:15 call I heard Trucker say, “I know this is going to be a heavy one, I don’t see anything but I know he’s hiding them.”  Keep reading if you want to see if he’s right.

As we moved off we split into two groups, a PAX is recovering from an injury and a few went with for a casual RUCK.  6 came with me  and we were on our way.

Before we took off I told them get ready its going to be a strapless start.

Part 1.

Bear Hug your Ruck, and move to the next destination.

Wall sit with Rucks on lap.  Pass Rucks down the line, two burpees and make it down to the end of the line.  Those of you who have done a RUCK with me know I use this as a unofficial weight check.

Overhead carry to next destination.

Exercise – 10 lunges each leg, 10 man makers, 10 ruck swings, 10 bicep curls

Farmer Carry to next destination

Exercise – 8 Lunges each leg, 8 man makers, 8 ruck swings, 8 bicep curls

Table carry (arms bent at 90, on forearms) to next destination

Exercise – 4 lunges each leg, 4 man makers, 4 ruck swings, 4 bicep curls (4 due to time constraints)

Strap privileges back – Double time to next destination

Part 2

Made it to my hiding spot where we got acquainted with a 10 foot cement filled pole, a 4 foot cement filled pole, and a 250 pound tire.

We carried to the next destination as a team and made it to a spot where we did some partner work.

Partner 1 runs – Partner 2 does LBC’s (rucks overhead) then swap

Partner 1 Runs – Partner 2 does Pushups – Rucks on then swap

I saw a wall so of course we did step ups with rucks on, 10 each leg.

Manned up and picked up the heavy items and made our way back to my truck where we finished with some Mary.

The smaller group was great, I focused this Q on event preparation.  If we continue to do the same thing over and over again we are never really growing and preparing for the unexpected.  This months theme is leadership and the best part of this Q was the teamwork involved.  Most of you know I’m a fan of Rucking Heavy so for me we got pretty heavy on Part 2.  It was amazing to see everyone work together and switch shoulders, spots, and look out for one another.  We talked about the importance of finishing as a team and not becoming the grey man, and that we start strong as a team and finish strong as a team.

Such a killer group and was proud to RUCK with them!

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Colombia Mission Trip Sendoff @ The Ranch 9-7-17

On a cool morning in early September, the men of The Fort gathered together to support the group of 12 men that answered the call to serve those in need in Colombia.

Mosey to the soccer field

The Warm-up (VQ led by Skinny Jeans)

  • 20 4-count side straddle hops 
  • 15 4-count windmills
  • 10 4-count Merkens
  • 15 4-count mountain climbers
  • 20 low slow squats
  • 8 burpees OYO

Mosey to the football field

The Thang

Markers set up every 25 yards on the football field from endzone to endzone. PAX will start from one endzone and run from marker to marker and do the following exercises (below) at each. They will then run on the track back to the starting point.

  • 10 merkins, 2 burpees
  • back to start – LBCs for six
  • 10 Carolina DD, 2 burpees
  • back to start – flutter for six
  • 10 squats, 2 burpees
  • back to start – American Hammer for six
  • 10 bomb jacks, 2 burpees
  • back to start – freddy mercury for six
  • 10 dips, 2 burpees
  • back to start – heels to heaven for six
  • 10 lunges (5 per leg), 2 burpees
  • back to start -diamond LBCs for six
  • 2 burpees per marker

Mosey to COT

Today we focused on the 12 men that are leaving tomorrow to serve in Colombia. We had the privilege of hearing the reasons why each of them have been called to serve during todays workout and then pray over them at the close. We are all lucky to have these men as our brothers and will continue to pray for them as they make their way abroad.

As mentioned in COT, each of us were blessed with passion for certain causes and influence to impact them. Find your passion and your calling and answer that call, whatever it may be.

Ginsu

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