Mary Go Round at the Colosseum

2017-10-06Leave a comment

QIC: Sparkle
When: 09/26/2017
Pax: Charbroil, Deacon, Frat boy, Fun House, Geeves, Ginsu, Javert, Jekyll, Maximus, Mr Jenkins, Nomad, Nutshell, Peabody, Seacrest, Sparkle, Straight Up, Sugar Daddy, Tesh
Posted In: 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.

TClap |

5 Year Anniversary Convergence BB

2017-10-032 Comments

QIC: Ginsu
When: 09/30/2017
Pax: Airborne, Anchorman, antivirus, Atari, Baby Conan, Backdraft, Band Camp, Beacon, Bear Grylls, Bird Cage, Blue Grass, Bolt, Bones, Bonsai, Cable Guy, Cash, Cha Ching, Change Order, Copperfield, Cotton Eye, Crawdaddy, CSPAN, Dark Helmet, DaVinci, Double D, Drop Thrill, Falcon Crest, Frat boy, Freon, Geronimo, Ginsu, Half Shell, Handy Manny, Harry Carry, Hat Trick, Hauschka, Homebrew, Javert, Jekyll, Jughead, Little John, Longshanks, Lulu, Lutefisk, Magnum, Mainframe, MASH, Maximus, McGillis, Menthol, Nasa, Nomad, Old Bay, Omaha, Peabody, Pinup, Pitts, Pusher, Quickbooks, Reborn, Rooney, Royale, Saul, Schaefer, Senator Tressel, Short Sale, Smithers, Solid State, Spitz, Spud, Straight Up, Sugar Daddy, T Square, Tater, Tesh, The Fridge, The Matador, Tinsel, Trucker, Tubs, Twister, Walker, Weezer, Whopper, Wolverine, Zildjian, Zima
Posted In: Convergence

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

TClap |

GC RUCK – 9/19 – RUCK HEAVY

2017-09-212017-09-21Leave a comment

QIC: RAD
When: 09/19/2017
Pax: Cornhole, Lil E, Maximus, Orange Crush, Rad, Trucker
Posted In: Golden Corral

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!

TClap |

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

2017-09-071 Comment

QIC: Ginsu
When: 09/07/2017
Pax: Assassin, Atlas, Bonsai, Bridgegate, Cake Boss, Cheddah, Chicken Wing, Crawdaddy, Crocket, CSPAN, Deacon, Deflategate, Destiny, Double D, Drop Thrill, Fire Marshall Bill, Flat Tire, Fratboy, Free Bird, Gears, Gekko, Ginsu, Handy Manny, Italian Job, Jedi, Jiffy, Lil'E, Mainframe, Maximus, Mr Clean, Nomad, Old Bay, Photobomb, Pigeon, Pinup, Polaroid, Rebel, River Rat, Rock Thrill, Senator Tressel, Shady, Short Sale, Sir Topham Hat, Skinny Jeans, Snap Hook, Sparkle, Spud, Stang, Straight Up, Sugar Bug, Tesh, The Fridge, Toto, Training wheels, Trucker, Twister, Uncle Sam, What Did, White Lightning, World Wide Leader
Posted In: Laces In, Laces Out, Tempo, The Ranch

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

TClap |

Choose Wisely

2017-08-312017-08-311 Comment

QIC: Italian Job
When: 08/31/2017
Pax: Anchorman, Asphalt, Assassin, Barry Manilow, Bass-o-matic, Beacon, Bird Cage, Bonsai, Deacon, Destiny, Dollywood, Drop Thrill, Fellini, Figaro, Frat boy, HeeHaw, Italian Job, Maximus, Neo, Rebel, Sauerkraut, Scarlett, Skippy, Smithers, Spitz, Uncle Sam, Vernon, Zimmerman
Posted In: Footloose

I had the pleasure to cross the river and Q #FootLoose this morning. Conditions were okay considering its August in South Carolina – temps in the lower 70s and a light rain. All in, 28 #HIM made the choice to roll out of the fartsack and start their day off on the right foot. Here’s what we did…

The Thang
Short Mosey across the street to the circle in front of the church. Bird Cage reminded me that this area was just as congested as the previous spot, but that didn’t stop us from warming up, shoulder-to shoulder with our brothers.

20 SSHs (IC)
15 Hillbilly Walkers (IC)
30 Moroccan Night Clubs (IC)
Mosey to the Church steps
Bear Crawl up
Crawl Bear down
Squats while you wait

Apparently, the steps get slippery when wet. Since I like to keep my teeth, we Omaha’d round two and moseyed to the lot to behind the church.
Circle Up for Choose Your Poison. We took turns rolling dice and choosing exercises. One die was the exercise (see below); the other was the rep count (x10). The roller had to choose which die was for the exercise and which was the rep.
1. Merkins
2. LBCs
3. Squats
4. Side Straddle Hops
5. Overhead Claps
6. Burpees
Luckily we didn’t have two sixes (60 Burpees) rolled, and if we did, the PAX calling the shots wisely modified. Even though this is a moderate workout, we did our share of Burpees (probably 50ish). Overhead Claps and SSHs were popular choices (maybe 200ish). Merkins and LBCs came up a few times (150ish). Squats were tossed a couple times (100ish).

Mosey to the wall
15 People’s Chair (IC)
15 One-legged Squats (flapjack)
10 Merkins (IC)
Mosey back to COT

NMM
I was honored to be asked to Q this morning. TClaps to Anchorman for his dedication to growing #FootLoose and awesome leadership stepping up to take over, Beacon. This AO has tons of options, so reach out to Beacon to get on the Q schedule.
Today’s workout reminds us that every day brings choices. Post or not post? Boxers or briefs? Paper or Plastic? Gossip or Gospel? We have opportunities each day to choose wisely or poorly. Every choice brings consequences. Sometimes you will face a challenge where the choice is hard to make and the outcome is difficult to take, but when you make it through, you will garner something from the experience. When a choice needs to be made, you need to make it. You’re either in or you’re out. Own it.
It’s been said that opportunity knocks, but temptation leans on the doorbell. When there is a knock, open the door and dive in to the challenge at hand. When temptation leans, step back and evaluate the potential outcome. Is it worth it? Opportunity is often missed because it looks like work. Temptation is often chosen because it looks like fun. Realize that every action has a reaction and you have to deal with the consequences of bad choices.
Today, I encourage you to choose positivity. Whatever you want, make the decision and do what it takes to get it. There will be challenges, but the greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it. Sometimes it takes time, but remember, patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.

Aye!
Italian Job

TClap |

Eclipse at the Colosseum…Rock Hill Rip-off

2017-08-22Leave a comment

QIC: Maximus
When: 08/22/2017
Pax: Atticus, Bonsai, Greenwave, Ham, Javert, Jekyll, macgyver, Maximus, Mr Clean, Nomad, Nutshell, Rebar, Shady, Sir Topham Hat, Snap Hook, Sparkle, Spoonman, TSquare
Posted In: The Colosseum

Leading up to this fine Tuesday at THE COLOSSEUM, there were a few challenges and statements made about who would be willing to come out. Of all the conversations, I’ll give credit to those who showed after being personally invited: Jekyll, Bonsai, Snap Hook, Shady, Sir Topham Hat. The others that didn’t show…well, you’re probably better off not trying to erase a few bad songs from your memory. But for those that did, you’re welcome and I’m sorry (actually, not really).

I wanted to do something a little different from my usual, like pullups at the playground or the deck of cards. So, in search of something creative, I didn’t have to go far. So much can be found if we travel across the river; whether virtually or physically. In this case, Italian Job gave me beat down rights with a slight modification to his Eclipse-Day post and I brought it to the Colosseum.

Once I get to the parking lot, I am immediately met by two better-than-punctual FNG’s that Nomad EH’d. Welcome Rebar and Ham. And oh by the way, we quickly realized these are two of the most fit FNG’s to post at 0515. Side note on Ham, it’s comical when an FNG receives a call sign to which he is clueless on its reference. That’s why we all help to contribute to Wikipedia.

So after a disclaimer that turned into mumbling, we were off to the back parking lot where we circled up for a warm up of:

SSH x 20

Butt Kickers x 35

Merkins x 10

American Hammers x 25

Merkins x 10

Freddy Mercury’s x 20

Merkins x 10

LBC’s x 25

Calf Raises x 50 OYO

This is where the plagiarism came in. We used the same 5 songs Italian Job used which for those who didn’t read that yesterday, went a little something like this:

Song 1: Ain’t No Sunshine: Hold squat position then do a tuck jump when you hear, “Ain’t No Sunshine.”