Sweati or Not, #CSAUP is Saturday

0515 on a crisp…wait! This is not the Yeti preview!

0515 on a gloom-filled morning, moisture in the air, 22 Pax rolled in to get a little preview of #TheSweati. A lot of familiar faces. Nantan, Lakeridge Clowncars, Dirty, WWL, Senator, Double D…even the Weginator was there. There were more. I’ll tag them in the BB. Several came to get a little peek of the Sweati. I gave some “details”. Some true. Some false. All will be revealed this Saturday. Get your head right. Hydrate! Be Safe! Don’t Die! We did some exercises that may or may not happen this Saturday. They probably will…over a 3 hour period, not 45 minutes. So here we go:

THANG
Mosey around the parking lot and circle up for an abbreviated COP
-SSH
-10 Burpees OYO
-Imperial Walkers
-10 Bombjacks
-Mountain Climbers

Head to the curb for a short circuit (Part 1)
-25 Dips / Run across parking lot and back
-50 Merkins / Run across parking lot and back
-75 Squats / Run across parking lot and back

Mosey to the freshly repaved and striped Hive Parking Lot (Part 2)
-Burpee Broad Jump the entire length of the parking lot*
-Run Back
-Lunge Walk the entire length of the parking lot
-Run Back
*This is starting to become a thing. It should be stopped!

Mosey Back to Laces In parking lot for Reverse Pyramid (Part 3)
(Run across the parking lot and back between sets)
-40 LBCs
-30 Mtn Climbers
-20 Peter Parkers
-10 Burpees
-20 Parker Peters
-30 4-Ct Flutter Kicks
-40 Side Straddle Hops**
**Tclaps to Maximus for leading the pax in some Mary while waiting for the 6

In the interest of time, we stayed put and completed the next series of exercises in the LI parking lot versus the Hive (about 1/2 the distance planned) #yourwelcome
Bear Time (Part 4)
-Bear Crawl Across the parking lot
-NUR back
-Crawl Bear across the parking lot
-RUN back

I blew off Part 5, which would have been a repeat of Part 1, for some Mary. Thanks to the PAX that lead the last few sets of core.

0600 Arrived and YHC was #smoked

Appreciate all the PAX that came out to one of my quarterly Qs. I hope you gained some insight on what is to come this Saturday morning at the #Sweati

No NMM means no more details for the PAX. See you Sat.

Announcements
-Sweati this Saturday at the Armory (Forest Hill Church): 0530 Ruckers/0600 Runners, Q-Source to follow at Forest Hill (Charis Room)
-Stuff the Bus at Tega Cay Walmart (Look for details from Wegmans)
-A couple of 2ndF options at Carolina Beer Temple and Amor Artis
-Read your Newsletter

Prayers & Praises
-Prayers for Rock Thrill’s Father-in-Law who is having several medical issues
-Prayers for a friend of the Pax who’s marriage is struggling
-Prayers for Nasa’s wife who is struggling with some severe headaches
-Prayers for Repeat’s mom who is fighting cancer
-Prayers for discipline in the 3 F’s and to continually make sure our Concentrica is in order (something I struggle with)

Gentlemen, it’s been a lot of fun and an honor to serve you. Hope to see you at the Sweati!

Aye!
Zima

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Gemini Birthday Bash

The Thang:

Mosey to the parking lot near the tennis courts

COP: Hillbilly Walkers(20x), Imperial Walkers (15x), 1 min of 7 burpees and 33 SSH, 3x

Mosey to the band’s practice parking lot

Jack Webb Style with Crackin Burpees for the 1 and Bobby Hurley for the 4 with 3-4 partners for encouragement

Bomb Jacks (100x), Overhead Claps (200x), Merkins (100x), Big Boy Sit Ups (100x), Squats (200x)

Moleskin:

On this glorious day, we followed our own advice of not “going it alone.” So we decided to lock shields to celebrate the 40th birthday of two Geminis that were born two days apart. We are humbled and honored by the love and support of our F3 brothers for our birthday bash. We can’t thank you enough.

As we turn 40 years old, we understand that we are progressing into the next season of life. Age 0 to 20 is the spring season where we identify who we are. Age 20 to 40 is the summer season where we learn and grow. Age 40 to 60 is the fall season where we influence others. Age 60+ is the winter season where we share wisdom with others.

What season of life are you in? Own it. Celebrate life and your season daily.

Peace,

Deacon & Shady

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Olaf is evil

Snowman Celebrates America

22 Mericans joined YHC at #Abyss for some stars and stripes work.
Disclaimer was disclaimed very well and everyone was clear on my style of “fun” so to get the party started we counted off by twos but since nobody remembers their number we did stars and stripes. Then YHC’s paintrain was opened up and each PAX that was a star was asked to carry a tire carcass and the stripes had to pick logs.

Mosey over to back track and get artistic by making a flag with coupons from paintrain. Wish YHC would have taken a picture of the magnificently heavy flag.

Circle up for some COP/warmup
SSH x 13
Circle of hump x 13

Everyone grab a partner and grab something heavy and make a lap around the track AFAP.

Circle back up for more COP
Suicide squats x 17
Hip slap x 50 (crowd pleaser)

Everyone grab a partner and grab something heavy again and make a lap around the track AFAP.

Last little bit of COP
13 Bropees with high five at the top of the jump.

Now we storm the beaches and charge the back hill in memory of all the great men and women that have died protecting our great country.

One partner grabs a machine gun, aka log, while the other partner grabs a ring of belt ammo for the partner’s machine gun, aka tire carcass, and charge up the hill AFAP.

Starting at the top of the hill, lunge walk down to the middle light then backward lunge walk to the bottom. Then crab walk back up the hill to the middle light then bear crawl up to the top.

Grab all the coupons and rumble down the hill back to the track circle for some ring toss fun.

Broke PAX into 7 fire team columns of 3-4 men each. Starting at the end by the playground first pax up will ring toss tire carcass towards other end of parking lot, then run to where the ring stopped and perform 3 Kraken Burpees. Next man up grabs ring and tosses then chasses and performs krakens and so on until the team reaches the other side. Nobody was seriously injured so we ramp up the difficulty and with it comes more excitement and maybe more danger, remember the disclaimer….Same rules as first trip down but now ring has to be tossed overhead. Now as you can imagine the level of chaos and confusion got pretty intense. I can’t imagine the horror of being in a firefight with my fellow men getting dropped and scattered from a rain of machine gun fire from a superior position. Guys were ducking from other tires being heaved and jumping over their teammates and even jumping over other guys that were not even on their team but somehow there tire rolled into their path so they had to jump over them too, It was mayhem. Nobody died and there were some pretty good laughs so we continued.
All the coupons and logs were then distributed around the oval track for the final exercise. Deep squat expedition was about to start. Everyone started at a coupon around the track. Every time you encountered a coupon in your path you had to stop and perform three deep squats. If there were two coupons side by side, you guessed it, six deep squats for the double coupon. continue around the track until one minute to Endex then jailbreak to COT leaving coupons at the track.

Count-A-Rama,
Name-A-Rama,
Announcements before ball of man for COT with an open moment for PAX to lift up prayers and praises.

Great job by all the men gutting out a physical fast paced good old fashioned American beatdown in celebration of our wonderful nation.

Thanks for the opportunity Copyright to lead and Funhouse for the accountability to get it blasted.

NMM
If anyone has any suggestions or recommendations or comments on how I can offer a better beatdown please let me know. DM me or hit me in the gloom, I would love to discuss. I know that we are very fortunate to be AO rich and have multiple options on where we post each day so I want to make sure I am delivering a beatdown that is worth you unfartsacking yourself for. I don’t think I am alone in striving to serve up a beatdown that checks all of the 3S2T and if anyone has any feedback good or bad let me have it brother. Hit me with the hard truth, I demand it, because we can’t get better unless we get truthful. Here is your chance to work on your Candor, deliver a hard truth to me and let’s discuss like men how to make it better for everyone. I want to represent this region right when I have the opportunity to guest Q downrange so help me make us look good. Get out of your comfort zone and put yourself out there to become a better leader, be vulnerable and learn from the mistakes and analyze the feedback. I can’t wait until next time and I hope you feel the same way.

Stay frosty my friends,
OLAF

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SlowBurning a Ring Of Fire

Great morning for a workout!  13 pax posted (no new guys). The disclaimer was issued and we bolted out of the Chick-fil-a parking lot, Pusher style.

We ran past BP in front of Jimmy John’s for a bit of COP warm-up:

  • SSH
  • Imperial Walkers
  • Mountain Climbers
  • Merkins
  • Windmills
  • Morning Wood, OYO

The Thang

We then ran down to the parking lot in front of Empire and found 12 cones spread out to a large ring.  Time for a burning ring of fire.  Each pax was to start at a cone, doing the exercise (and count) written on the cone.  Once done, they were to run across the middle, around the cone on the opposite side, then back to the middle and plank up for 10 seconds (the non-modified version does cinderblock burpees – yuck!).  After planking up , the pax runs to the next cone.  Rinse and repeat until all 12 cones completed.  Pax were encouraged to pair up.  YHC struggled to keep up with MOAB.  Here were the exercises, in no particular order:

  • 10 Monkey Humpers (4 count)
  • 10 Hello Dollys (4 count)
  • 7 Burpees
  • 10 Merkins (single count)
  • 10 SSH (4 count)
  • 10 Mtn. Climbers (4 count)
  • 10 Bombjacks
  • 10 LBCs(4 count)
  • 10 Plank Jacks (4 count)
  • 7 Morning Woods (turkish get-up)
  • 10 Box Cutters
  • 10 Seal Jacks (4 count)

Once completed, we moseyed to a nearby wall for a little People’s Chair:

Round 1 – one person at a time jumps out and does 2 burpees
Round 2 – Jack Reachers (10x)

We ended with Jack Webbs.  But wait!  We got to COT with 2 minutes to spare so we did a few ab exercises.

Great work by all!  Thanks to Hootie for the opportunity to lead!

Keep it spicy,
Old Bay

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#LacesIn. 0515. It Pays To Be A Winner.

We played a little bit of “It pays to be a winner” this AM at Laces In in honor of GoRuck Team Selection which starts today.
If you aren’t familiar, this is a common phrase spoken in Selection, and it’s a great tool they use to get into guys heads to make guys feel pressure and push themselves.

Here’s what it looked like… The Thang:

We moseyed to the back parking lot behind the baseball field (the Band Practice Lot) for a little warm up. Some Mountain Climbers, Windmills, SSH… the usual fare.

Then we moseyed to the front of the school for some CDDs, lunges, and flutters. Spiderman made a comment at one point about losing guys because of the pace. I thought about that… With a crowd as large as we had this am, I wanted to get a sense of where their heads were. Who’s pushing, who’s trailing, who’s struggling…? Am I struggling? Am I trailing? Can anyone even really know these things…?

Anyhow, then we moseyed back the lot from whence we had just come, where we began every Pax’s favorite game show: “It Pays to Be a Winner” (at this point, the Pax didn’t know we were playing). We lined up at one end of the lot and got underway.

Round 1: Bear Crawl to the other end. Alchemy won this round. Because he’s 17. And quite fit. Since he won, he got to choose the method by which we traveled back to the other end. He chose Bear Crawl. He was disqualified from choosing anymore. Because he’s 17. And quite fit.

Round 2. Bear Crawl to the other end. Alchemy won again. Shock. So his prize was that he got to pick who chose the next method. He chose Moab. I don’t remember what he chose, but it was no fun.

We continued to play a few more rounds with Pax choosing sprints, Bernie Sanders (Nur, Backwards Run, whatever you want to call it), Power Skips, and finally Broad Jumps. J-WOW won that round and so he got to set the pace back to the bottom of the hill by the stadium (the driveway in). We made a stop at one point to let everyone catch up and did an exercise there… No recollection what it was… anyway, we finished our mosey to the bottom of the hill and partnered up. SIZE ALWAYS MATTERS. #TWSS

Bonsai won the sprint to the bottom of the hill, despite my best efforts to cheat, and so he picked the partner method of travel to the top of the hill. He chose wheelbarrow. Because he hates happiness. Funhouse and Jekyll tried to cheat to get ahead and despite my best efforts to pull them back and make it “fair” (which meant making them go back to the start so I could cheat instead), they still won. So we moseyed back to the bottom of the hill and since they were the winners, they chose the method of travel to the top of the hill. They chose Partner Carries. Because they hate Bonsai.

The winners this time were the come from behind, dark horse team of Zima and Dirty Harry. Turns out Harry runs faster under weight. Which confirms our suspicion that he’s not actually from this planet. One more trip up running backwards and that was pretty much it for us…

The party bus came, saw, and spread the love…

-DH

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Form Matters…And So Does A Belly Button

I put the pre-blast out a few days ago saying this edition of Slow Burn would be a bit different. No speed work this time, it’s all about good form and controlling the core. The core is essential to balance, stability and strength. You don’t need to do 1000 LBC’s, its different than that. We welcomed a man that was an FNG but is now known as Body Glove (San Diego transplant) which is an EH from Router. We disclaimed and explained F3 then got into why today would be different.

So, why does the title include “belly button.” Here’s why…

  1. Not worried about speed today because for today’s workout, if you go fast you’re likely doing it wrong. We’re going to focus on form and the education of good (or better) form.
  2.  A (long) statement on the importance of your CORE. Using F3’s 5 CORE principles as a foundation for the importance of a strong core, I explained the benefits of having a strong(er) physical core.

Warm Up jog to the long wall on the opposite side of Lowe’s and create some space between you and your chair-sitting neighbor. The explanation of “Tighten Your Core” is to try to move your belly button back to your spine while tucking it down into your pelvis. If you’re not used to this, it feels unnatural until your core strengthens then you realize the stability and strength benefits. So whenever we’d say Core or Tighten Your Core or Tighten Up, this is what we’re meaning…Tuck It In.

While TIGHT and in the people’s chair, we did Overhead Claps

Then fall forward into a plank with your hands on the parking space stops for Slow Mountain Climbers aiming to get your knees up to your elbows.

Back to sitting against the wall and doing Moroccan Night Clubs.

Back to the Slow Mountain Climbers.

Run to the car mechanic’s lot for a little more core/form explanation and having Walker in attendance was awesome. Talk about applicable Pro-Tips, he nailed it.

COP for 12ct exercises: 4 down, 4 hold at the bottom, 4 up

12ct Merkins, 12ct Planking Calf Raise (4 up to toes extended, 4 squeeze in that position, 4 coming back to starting position), 12ct Sumo Squats

Mak Tar Jah’s

Peter Parkers (slow, knees up as far as you can)

J-Lo’s

Parker Peters (slow, knees as close to opposite elbow as you can)

8ct Burpees: My biggest learning of the day was that for a true burpee, you squat down first then pop into the plank. Don’t bend at the waist and essentially fall down to the plank. Look out for my next Q for a lesson on this…thank you Walker.

Minnesota Mike Tysons: Why Minnesota? No good reason other than that is what they called them in MN when I was there earlier this week. Explanation, get in a plank with your toes on the ground and the soles of your feet against a curb or wall (curb in our case today). Squat back against the curb like you’re getting ready to shoot out of a cannon, return back to the plank position, then perform a controlled merkin. That is 1.

A few slow lunges…COT.

Be intentional on your form, don’t go through the motions. You’re only hurting yourself and those around you. Welcome Body Glove!! Thanks Hootie.

Until Next Time,

Maximus

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Awkward and Uncomfortable

On a Monday following the Ragnar, most PAX in the Fort/Lake Wylie seemed to find their Fartsacks more than their local AOs.  Just 3 PAX total seemed it a wise idea to find themselves at Quagmire for an awkward and uncomfortable BC.

In “honor” of Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples Day, the plan was to perform a series of awkward and uncomfortable partner exercises but because there were just 3 of us, that weinke went right out the window!

Now it became a little more awkward for me as I had to resort to my backup plan on the fly.

The “group” took a short mosey to the back of Home Depot’s parking lot for a short warm-up.  After a few windmills, Moroccan night clubs, and walkers of the Imperial and Hillbilly variety, we moseyed on over to the front of Target.

With the wildly popular red balls, we did 4 rounds of Route 66:

Merkins, Squats, LBCs, and CDDs  stopping at 11 different stations, adding one rep at each step.

After the fourth round was completed it was another short run over to the stairs adjacent to the fountain where the PAX took on a little of the awkward partner work.

In a rotating partner fashion, one PAX started on the top balcony performing Merkins while the other two performed Stair Barrows then on partner stayed at the top and did Merkins while the other two ran down the stairs to perform Stair Barrows again; rotating until all PAX had performed both the Stair Barrows and Merkins at the top.  After all PAX had performed the Merkins, the exercises changed to Deep Squat Rows using the railings-then calf raises and then Carolina Dry Docks.  If you think this sounds awkward and confusing, you should have been there….terrible.

We finished at the fountain with two rounds of Dips and Step-ups: 25 reps each.

COT was a little more personal than usual as the three of us were able to speak a little more directly and with more detail about the things going on in our lives. Some following up on things that had been mentioned in COTs of past.

Thank you Jedi for the opportunity to lead.

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Pre-Michael Showdown at the Abyss

YHC didn’t look at the weather forecast last night so it was a bit of a surprise walking outside this morning to the pouring rain. No big deal but had to audible a couple of things on the weinke.

One thing I love about F3 is the dedication of the PAX to show up rain, shine, freezing rain, snow, single-digit temps, etc…to get to a workout. Today was no exception and 16 men (2 of whom were runners) showed up in the pouring rain to get better. One FNG was present so an F3 certified disclaimer was given and off we went.

Mosey to Bus Circle

Butt Kickers, High Knees, Side shuffle facing the school, Side shuffle away

Warm up (In Cadence)

15 – SSH
15 – IW
15 – WM
15 – Mountain Climbers
25 – Moroccan Night Clubs

Mosey to the covered sidewalk for some partner work. Some grunge music seemed apropos so it accompanied our work.

Brief Discussion on Encouragement – YHC asked the PAX to thing of someone in their life who has been a big encouragement as we completed the exercises.

Partner up – Size doesn’t matter

Partner 1 – Run the circle
Partner 2 – Work on the exercises
Flapjack

150 Carolina Dry Docks
250 Squats
350 LBC’s

Everyone completed one round and a few Pax made it through the CDD’s for the 2nd round.

Mosey to the paved hill at the exit of the school. No partners for this part.

Lt Dans to the first set of rocks, backwards lunge to the second set, sprint to the top, and slow mosey to the bottom
Rinse and Repeat (Mumble chatter)
5 burpees OYO
Bear crawl to the first set of rocks, backwards Lt. Dans to the second set, sprint to the top, 5 burpees OYO and slow mosey to the bottom

Mosey to the wall for wall sits

Round 1
Each PAX counted to 10 while holding the wall with one leg out
Shake it out, Rinse and Repeat (Mumble chatter)
Round 2
Hold the wall while each Pax ran to the sidewalk, 2 burpees and back to the wall
Shake it out, Rinse and Repeat (Mumble chatter)

Mosey back for COT

Announcements

Read your newsletter. Christmas Party, Bourbon Chase, etc…

Prayer Requests

Moab and his wife are foster parents and are receiving a newborn today. Prayers for them and for the mom.
Unspoken prayers that are heavy on our hearts
Having the strength to encourage others in our circles

Great job by the Pax and great job by the FNG Matt (F3 Aztec). He did a great job keeping us with us and did a lot better than I did on my first post. Keep up the good work!

Always an honor to lead. Thanks Bones for the opportunity.

Until next time…

Hauschka

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Six every 3 at Quagmire

Quick disclaimer, then to start, a volunteer PAX chose 3/6 out of 3/6, 4/8, 5/10. So, 6 burpees every 3 minutes, or the best the Q to do to maintain that throughout the workout.

Then, it was:

Mosey to Home Depot w/ BK’s, HK’s, SS’s.

6 every 3.

Warmup w/ SSH, WM’s, Flutters, MNC’s, 1-leg scissor lifts, etc.

6 every 3.

Six balls in parking lot. At each do 1 then 2,3,4,5,6 reps w/ mode of transport:

  • Broad Jump / Toe squats               6 every 3.
  • Crab Walk / V-ups w/ 3 sec hold               6 every 3.
  • Lunges / Squat Thrusters (leave ground)              6 every 3.
  • Bear Crawl / Donkey Kicks                6 every 3.
  • Straight Suicides / Monkey Humpers               6 every 3.

Jog, sprint behind HD to People Chair wall. 3 x we did PAX count 5 sec each x 12 = 1 min each time. Run across to opposite wall.

Jog to red balls. Half group went to ball 2, 4, 6 and did that many bombjacks. Other half did American Hammers.                       6 every 3.             Switch groups.

Jog back, finish with 10 Panther Pound  Eagle Pound Burpees (minus the roll on the macadem). We had done our best to stick to 6 every 3 but with some improvisation and timing issues, probably ended up around 58 or 68 burpees.

A brief discussion about the clock of your life. Where are you on the clock right now? What are things you want to do in that time? Is there anyone you need to talk to in that time…and how much time do they have left?  YHC has a strained relationship with parents and they are further along on the clock.

YHC’s clock with lifespan of 72 is 8:36.

Announcements, Convergence 9-29, Ragnar 10-5, .Praises, Royale for new 1st F leadership role. Thanks Jedi for the opportunity and for taking us out. Thank you PAX for following.

 

 

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011 Ruck PT at Fire Ant

Lucky me, after the weekend of the GoRuck Selection Facebook Live event I get to Q the Fire Ant.  I felt privileged to be the first.  If you don’t know what the GoRuck Selection is just check out Go Ruck on Facebook.  This event goes 48+ hours of some of the worse PT, ruck marches, and extra weight carries you can imagine.  If you’ve done a GoRuck Tough, it like that on steroids for 2 straight days!  And it’s led by 7-10 of GoRuck’s best cadres.  Completion % is > 2%.  And you get to watch this live on Facebook!  It’s crazy, if you want to check it out, video replays are on their FB page.

So we had 14 PAX ready to test their will on the ruck, including Sasquatch and Wegmans who borrowed rucks to join us, as well as Tinsel for his 1st ruck workout! I had asked all the regular ruckers to bring their sandbags and they did not disappoint.  It’s amazing how the numbers work out sometimes.  14 guys + me /  7 sandbags of extra weight = perfect fit!  (Spiderman later ragged me for clip boarding for like 4 minutes…he was right) After Dark Helmet’s Q school disclaimer we lined up 2×2 with a sandbag between each man and started the long march.

We moseyed over to the church parking lot north of the shopping center talking about the GoRuck Selection and Doug – the only man to finish the 48 hour Selection this year.  About half of the ruckers watched some of the Selection on Facebook Live at some point this weekend.  Many of them were yelling at their devices “DFQ 011!!!!!” at least a few times…

When we arrived I told them about our goal today.  In honor of 011s Selection completion we had 11 ruck exercises and we would complete 11 reps for each.  These were some of my favorite PT items the cadres had 011 go through countless times during Selection!

  1. 8 count Burpees with ruck on
  2. Ruck Curls
  3. Squat Thrusters
  4. Flutters with ruck press
  5. Overhead ruck press
  6. Ruck sandbag toss (in the grass)
  7. Ruck Swings
  8. Man Makers
  9. Tricep Extensions
  10. Overhead Ruck Hold with Lunges
  11. Ruck sandbag Bear-hug Carry for 110 yards

This PT was brutal and allowed for plenty of mubblechatter.  We completed the full rotation twice before we were almost out of time.

Once complete, we lined back up in 2×2 formation.  Each man had a sandbag between them.  This time we would rotate the bags between partners on our route back to COT.  We took the long way and each man carried a bag twice.

Back to COT right on time – Dark Helmet and his 6 PAX not so much.  We did flutters while we waiting for their LATE return.

COT with Nameorama – announcements – prayers – BOM

An Honor to Lead

-Royale

 

 

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