Tag: Nasa

A Ring of Fire to Keep Jedi Warm

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Oh man would it have been awesome to stay nice and cozy and warm in the fartsack this ‘chilly’ morning. And to think that in a month or so we would look back and say this was warm. But myself and four others decided to shake off the Monday chill and get better. Jedi shows up in shorts and was shivering a bit, waiting to get going. He claims to own no mandex to keep his legs warm. Poor guy, we need a fundraiser to fix that.

Unfortunately no FNGs. The disclaimer was disclaimed and off we went for a warmup run…..but not too far.

COP at the parking lot at the water fountain by Just Fresh:

  • SSH x 15
  • WM x 15
  • IW x 15
  • MNC x 30

Then a very short mosey to the parking lot behind Just Fresh, near Home Depot, for the thang

Tabata Ring of Fire

YHC had placed 9 cones marked with fun stuff in a rather large diameter circle around a central light pole, with each cone about 10 yards or so apart. Each cone had an exercise and a transition movement. The idea is to perform the exercise AMRAP for 1min 45 sec nonstop, then you were given 20 seconds to transition to the next cone by the means noted.  All of the transitions and cone spacing gave no rest time once you got to the next cone. I had everything timed down to exactly 45 minutes total, COP and all.

Cone # / Exercise / Transition Movement:
1. Merkin / bear crawl
2. LBC / crab walk
3. Jump lunges / bear crawl
4. CDD / crab walk
5. Flutter / crawl bear
6. Monkey humper / side crab
7. Plank jack / long jump
8. American hammer / bear crawl
9. Squat hillbilly walker / crab walk

Each PAX picked a cone to start off at and away we went. I used a tabata timer app on my phone combined with a bluetooth speaker to audible a whistle when to start an exercise, an air horn when to transition to the next cone, and clapping when we finished a set. We did a complete set nonstop until we got back to where we started, then we had a 2 minute break where I spoke on encouragement, then we got back at it for another nonstop second round. We did 2 rounds / sets total. With the timing given and abilities of the PAX there, it was safe to say that each PAX probably did at least 100 of each exercise both rounds combined. Everyone did quite well, hammering it all out to my Pandora workout station tunes – even through the commercials. I do not have time to download music and make playlists, sorry.

Then a quick AYG run back to COT for announcements, P&P:

  • Read your newletter
  • Fast 5 – POSTPONED
  • SIGN UP FOR THE CHRISTMAS PARTY!! JUST DO IT!!
  • Prayers for Repeat’s mother who was quite recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. We are here for you brother!!
  • Get involved in making a difference in your community

NMM on Encouragement:

I did not have long to speak, I’ve been trying to cut back on my jibber-jabbering when I Q. I spoke a little on this month’s theme is on encouragement. As a leader, that is something you should be giving out all the time, but do we? I noted that we as men and leaders tend to give out encouragement to our kids, and other kids, rather easily, openly, and freely. If you don’t, then you should. But do we give out encouragement as easily, openly, and freely to our peers, coworkers, subordinates, friends, and/or to our M? Today’s society, especially in the workplace, is very results oriented, goal driven. It is VERY easy to completely focus on the results and goals and lose track of the most important resource that makes it happen – the people. It is very easy to hammer people on lack of results, how things can be better, how, in a nutshell, we are not achieving to our expectations. How often do folks in those situations go into a meeting where the person holding it just hammers on results, goals, and how they are not being met, then leave the meeting feeling unsatisfied? A little encouragement offsets alot of negativity if done in the right time and place. If you end a meeting pointing out inefficiencies, lack of achievement, or suggestions for improvements, that is not very motivating. Meeting agendas still have to cover those things, it is what it is. But if you end a meeting, or a personal conversation for that matter, on a positive note of encouragement and/or praise, that ends things on a totally different perspective. Always end an encounter on a high note of positivity. Rule #1 in my opinion for sustained positive interpersonal relationships. I challenge everyone out there to try it, and live by it, and you will see how people respond. Encouragement is a powerful thing simply because everyone wants to feel valued, respected, loved, needed, and that they belong. Those are simple human needs and desires. So no matter how bad things are, ALWAYS END ON A HIGH NOTE.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead.
– NASA

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7

Lazy Dora

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12 Pax posted to Fire Ant tossed on their rucks and got a little stronger today.

With Fire Ant moving to a new location in two weeks I took the opportunity to move us 2 by 2 around the back of Harris Teeter to enjoy the wonderful aroma emitting from the dumpsters.

Rucks off for the usual warmup – SSH, Windmills, Imperial Walkers, Mountain Climbers.

The Thang

Partner Up for Lazy Dora.  Each team of two will do 100 merkins, 200 Flutters and 300 Squats.

For the merkins, partner 1 will do 10 merkins, while partner 2 planks.  Switch at 10 and Partner 2 will do 10 merkins while partner 1 planks.  Continue alternating until you reach 100.

For the flutters, partner 1 will 20 flutters (double count) while partner two will hold six inches.  Switch at 20 and partner 2 will do flutters while partner 1 holds six inches.  Continue alternating until you reach 200.

For the squats, partner 1 will do 25 squats while partner 2 does an Al Gore. Switch at 25 and partner 2 will do 25 squats while partner 1 does Al Gore.  Continue alternating until you reach 300.

Once all are complete move 2 by 2 to the parking lot in front of Bubbles and Bows and line up on the island for 7s.  Complete 6 ruck swings and bear crawl across the parking lot to other island.  Do 1 man-maker.  Lunge walk back to other island for 5 ruck swings.  Bear crawl back for 2 man-makers.  Continue this until you have gotten to 1 ruck swing and 6 man-makers.

Ended just in time for COT with Golden Corral.

Announcements

Fast 5k and F3 soccer – 10/27

Christmas Party – 12/1

Check WWL’s pre-blast for the custom ruck event coming to The Fort 5/4/2019.  Options for a Heavy, Tough, and Light.  Get signed up.

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2

A Darth Visor Backblast

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I came across this backblast while trying to find something to say about Darth Visor’s passing.  After reading it, I figured what better way to learn a small something about the man he was, than to “participate” in his VQ.

Other than not having an outhouse or a baseball field (we used road by the playground and the track), I kept the Weinke as close to the original as I could.  It was surprisingly easy to tie the IR race.

After finishing, I let the PAX know who was responsible for the Q, and had some time left for ab lab.

COT

We finished up with some good discussion and prayers for Darth Visor and his family.

Thanks Bones for the opportuNITY.

The original backblast:

Virgin Q – Darth Visor – It’s about time Back Blast – 6.23.15

  • When: 06/23/15Where:

    The Pax: Hickory Stick, Trojan, Light Bulb, Sketch, Green Bean(@F3ATL), Gear(@F3theFort), Boomer, Foghorn, Def Con 2, Nacho Libre

    QIC: Darth Visor

11 PAX joined the party at THE RUBICON for a VIRGIN Q by Wardaddy in charge. Great to have @greenbean from F3Atlanta and @Gears from The Fort join in the GLOOM.

What had happened was…

7:00 sharp we mosey to the slice of heaven between the diamonds for a little warm up

Starting Position…Move….In Cadence….Exercise

SSH

Squats “really missed GRITS” was going to have him demonstrate proper technique

EW

Cotton Pickers

Feeling loose – we mosey

The Thang

1-2-3 ‘s lovely learn’t this’n up thar in fort mill region.

Partner Up and head for the outhouse…partner sprint around outhouse while other partner commenced to exercising!

100- step ups

200- dips

300 – LBCs’

Whew 10 count needed.

Let’s mosey to the ole ball field for a slight twist on our old favorite IR. PAX you got’s to sprint….not jog when its your turn. So we turned up the heat with a little team race – IR around the ballpark. Losers get to enjoy OYO 15 Burpees.

Trojan takes early lead for left side, then Boomer hits high gear to pad the lead, Hickory Stick notches one for the right side, and someone hit the speed switch for Light Bulb and it looks like left side is going to “run away” with it BUT amazing speed from Nacho Libre, Sketchy, and Gears even things up by the time we pass home plate.

Strong Showing by both teams BUT WE TIE AND EVERYONES a LOSER.

15 burpees for all and all for the PAX

Outfield Fence for little Wall Squat to catch our breath.

Let’s Mosey to THE HILL

Merkin Ladder 10 down run up hill 9 at top back down 8 back to top 7…all the way to 1 MERKIN.

COT and BOM

Much to be thankful for…GBABY arrives for WD,  remembering Foghorns wife – expecting, Mufasa’s back.

Moleskin

There was some more Beatdown but who can really remember it was soooo long ago.

Pleasure to have led you men, inspiring, fun, makes me feel good at 6:15 AM on beautiful 2sday AM

Sorry CRACK, MUFASA, Grits, Peanut, Stang, and other faithful had to miss…we’ll get you next time.

NEXT DARTH VISOR Q coming soon to the Gloom near you F3Alpha.

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4

011 Ruck PT at Fire Ant

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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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1

Q School Week 3

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A big turnout of 24 pax posted to Golden Corral for the third week of Q School.  The Ruck gang added another 9 pax, for a total of 33!  It was great to see such a large and enthusiastic group seeking to learn and grow.  The F3 mission is all about leadership, and the leadership foundation of F3 is grounded in the workout Q.  So, YHC was honored by the chance to help teach new Qs and to do so alongside our new 1st F leader, Royale.

Royale started us off with a full disclaimer and why we give it every time.  The PAX need to know and understand the assumption of risk every morning, no matter how many times they’ve posted.

Before the mosey to warm-up Royale took a minute to explain how to “read the PAX”.  The Q should be deliberate when starting the workout by eyeballing guys with experience levels and condition levels.  We talked about a Sweeper and how a Q should assign someone to the six.  No man left behind!

The Thang (DD takes over from here)

Warm-up run to back parking lot behind HT and circle up

COP — series of warm-up exercises led by various pax to get loose and to gain familiarity with Counting in Cadence, emphasizing a few important points:

  • Consistent correct use of three commands of Cadence counting for earning confidence of the pax and keeping them altogether in rhythm
  • Sync each count with a movement in the exercise…the Q is counting MOVES, not just counting out numbers
  • Use good form in all exercises
  • Use moderate or even slow counting pace — you can count too fast but you can never count too slow (just ask Senator Tressell)

After COT we broke the large group into 2 sub-groups.  Double D took Q101 group for newer Qs and those that have not Q’d.  Royale took his hand at the Q201 PAX that have Q’d at least a few times.

Double D continued the COP format to allow all pax more opportunity to lead exercises in cadence.  We discussed the fact that the Q’s role is to lead, and as leader his priority needs to be on the pax.  This is not a workout built for the Q’s benefit.  It’s a workout for the pax who are present, led by the Q. We also discussed not feeling trapped by your Weinke and like you have to follow it rigidly.  If you miss an exercise or your rep count is longer or shorter than you planned, just carry on.  No one knows your Weinke and no one will call you out as making a mistake.  Show yourself some grace and just keep rolling on.

The pax also raised many questions:

  • How to prepare — review prior BBs for the AO, review BBs for other AOs, talk to the site Q, make a scouting trip to the AO, arrive early to the workout, ask site Q to arrive early to the workout, practice cadence counting, practice exercises
  • Exercise choice/workout structure — don’t include anything you can’t comfortably do yourself, don’t overdo # of reps, include Dora, small group stations, OYO or partner portions as means to limit period of time Q has to count in cadence
  • Start/end time — Always start on time (ie, 0515 for most weekday workouts) and always end on time (ie, 0600 for most weekday workouts)
  • How to manage COT — always starts at end of the workout period (ie, COT is not included inside the workout time, such as 0515 to 0600), includes 5 elements: (i) count off, (ii) Name-o-rama, (iii) announcements, (iv) prayers & praises and (v) Ball of Man.  Does not have to be long or complicated.  just plan to cover the basics.
  • Backblasts — Q’s job is not complete until Backblast is posted.  Get Backblast posting rights from Old Bay or Gears.  Don’t feel pressure to write a novel.  Get the names and a basic summary of what happened.  Backblasts are critical because they provide connectivity for all pax – those present and those absent – and they provide material for Qs to draw on for planning their workouts.

In order to get he heart pounding and the sweat flowing, we did some sprints up the street by Grace Church.  Then we moseyed back to COT.  We discussed along the way back the importance of watching the clock and location so that you can finish on time back at home base.  It’s better to arrive back home early and knock out a few exercises there than to reach finish time 1/4 mile or more away from home.

During his session, Royale explained how you handle a Q-Jack or too much mumble chatter.  The group will usually self-police but if they don’t making guys do burpees is an easy way to get them back on track.  Do not give up your authority to lead.  Also talked about how to address the Larry Birds (guys out front on  their own) with a communication to them on what to do if they finish early.

But sitting around was not what we here to do!  Our next evolution started with a Lazy Dora.

  • Partner Up
  • 100 Merkins combined.  Rotate partners at 20 while other partner planks
  • 200 Flutter Kicks (double count) while other partner holds 6 inches.  Rotate at 25
  • 300 Squats while other partner holds Al Gore.  Rotate at 25

During these exercises I shared more about an advanced Q style.  What message can you bring to the PAX to help them become Accelerating men?  Some of my favorite workouts are when the Q shares a life lesson during breaks or incorporates it into his workout.  I gave ideas that I’ve stolen from all kinds of sources.  The Q-source, 43 feet podcasts, Jocko podcast, twitter, our 3rd F theme of the month, etc.…

An example I shared about a recent Q I had at the Abyss (see back blast) around the 43 Feet podcast and a Man’s Concentrica.  I made a bull’s eye game with corn hole bags.  The PAX competed around the different areas of focus in a man’s Concentrica.

We moved on to a wall for some more discussions and exercise.

The first wall had a ledge and was no good, so we moved down to the next building where a better wall was located.  Another great lesson from my mistake by telling guys to recon the site before the workout!

During wall sits we opened up questions from the PAX.  Some great questions were raised around workout groupings, how many reps should you prep for, and knowing your group.  We continued with BTTW and another Wall sit.

Last item I shared during the final wall sit was around the COT Prayer.  This was something that made me very nervous around my first Q.  I was not accustomed to praying much, and certainly not in public.  I told the PAX this is an important piece of your leadership when you Q.  Do not give this away to another man.  Finish what you started by sharing from your heart.  It does not have to be each individual prayer request from COT… but don’t forget about this practice too!

We moseyed back to the front of Harris Teeter and joined back up with Double D’s group.

COT

Naked man moleskin

Double D double-clutched the smartphone video during COT (where’s a millennial when I need one?), so this BB is missing a few pax names.  Apologies to those I missed for allowing my Respect traits sabotage the recording of your presence.

Thank you to all the pax who posted!  It was great to see so many new faces as well as some veterans in support of new Qs.  This morning reflected the excitement and engagement  of the pax necessary to sustain the culture of The Fort.

Thank you to each of the new Qs for stepping up. You will be nervous and anxious — that’s normal and expected.  Your workout won’t be perfect — no Q’s workout ever is.  You will also learn and grow through the process.

And a shout out to the Site Qs — take a look at the list of pax here and get these guys booked into Q slots!

 

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5

The Abyss – Pushing the Perimeter!

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Put this one together fairly quickly the night before my Q while laying in bed w/ my 2.0.  Those tend to not work out so well for the Pax as it’s super easy to write down everything that is awful and hard and then ask the Pax to make it happen.  Well, that’s what I did.  It felt lazy.  It felt last minute.  It was both of those things.  And I was happy about it.

Had a solid crew of 18 boot campers – gave them the general theme of what this would be about, quick disclaimer, just enough to scare them a bit, and then we were off for a very quick warmup – something I am known for.

Warm-up:  seal jacks, merkins, plank punches, shoulder taps, superman coupled w/ Moroccan night club, slow as day windmills and we were done.

I didn’t know how long this next part would take, so I had a few extra things to do if we had time, but I was a bit uncertain from the get-go.  If you’ve been to Abyss (Palisades Elementary School), you know the front of the school is a standard school set up – a long road in w/ some turns, making its way to the parking lot, a roundabout for the drop off, etc, etc.  My goal was for us to do the outer perimeter with exercises as our mode of transportation – for the entire thing.  Starting at the loop at the front doors of the school:

– Lunge Walk (90 yards / 80ish meters) to the first turn
– Burpee Broad Jump (175 yards / 160 meters) to the next turn that then goes uphill to 49
– Crab walk up the hill (230 yards / 200 meters)
– Bear Crawl down the side walk parallel to 49 and then down the stairs (140 yards / 130 meters)
– Grand Finale:  Burpee Bounces around the loop / circle back to your starting point…you make ground by doing one burpee and as you push-up, you explode up and throw yourself forward 3 times on all fours.  Pop up, jump, that’s one burpee.  Keep it moving.

After the last of the pax finished the full loop, we had about 10 minutes, which we leveraged for partner carry work.  Thanks GRT from Friday night.  Felt inspired.  Partner up –
– Partner 1 does Spiderman Merkins while Partner 2 runs the length of the parking lot.  When they get to the end, they call for Partner 1 who starts to run to their Partner 2 (while Partner 1 is catching up, Partner 2 does Spiderman Merkins).  When they meet up, they partner carry each other the full length of the parking lot back to the starting point.  Did that 2 more times so everyone carried their partner 3 separate times.  The other exercises while one partner was running were squat touches (squat low enough to touch the ground w/ your fingers) and crunchy frogs.

2 minutes left – good old fashioned sprints.  Everyone back pedal 1/2 the length of the parking lot, all you got, and then turn and sprint the second half.  Did that 2 times and then it was time for COT.

Praises – new jobs / promising job interviews
Prayers – marriages, big flo barreling our way

Thanks to Bones for giving me the chance to lead these great men.  Big thanks to all the guys who made it out today – was awesome to bust a$$ together and get after it.

ChaChing

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8

Q School 101- Part II

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School was back in session at Golden Corral for the 2nd week of “September Q School”.  Bones and Senator Tressel were the originally scheduled professors.  However, due to Senator being on the IR, YHC was called in as a substi-Q teacher.

14 pax posted for 2nd of two workouts covering 101 material.  An additional 8 pax went their own way with their black backpacks (likely not filled with textbooks).  NASA and TwoFerns brought out FNG, later to be named “Ruxpin”.

Bones kicked us off with a mosey around the parking lot with some high knees, butt kickers, Karaoke, and lunges.  Circling up for COP, he shared advice and wisdom on exercises that are simple and keep pax together. We did a few minutes of COP warm-up, with some exercises called out (and lead by) by pax that hadn’t Q’ed before (or only Q’ed once):

  • Windmills
  • Cherry Pickers
  • Moroccan Night Clubs
  • Seal Jacks
  • Slow Low Squats
  • Peter Parkers
  • Side Straddle Hops
  • Carolina Dry Docks

Mosey over to a different part of the parking lot where Bones emphasized that “simple” doesn’t mean “easy”, and that partnering up helps hold men accountable during the exercises.  We each partnered up for the next exercise event. All of the following were done with your partner, not switching off, like some lazy pax (or maybe just YHC) were hoping for.

  • 10 Merkins
  • Lunge across small lot
  • 10 Burpees
  • Bearcrawl back
  • 10 LBCs

Rinse and repeat 4 times.

Hand off to YHC.  We took a couple 10 counts and moseyed to the parking lot behind the shopping center.  I discussed a bit about how pax will follow and trust the Q until they have reason not to.  Trust can be broken by putting pax in dangerous situations.  Trust can be built by showing effort in planning.

Next up, Rugby Sprints.  Two sets of cones were set up about 30 yards apart.  Pax were instructed to perform exercises (together) until Q called out “GO!”.  At that point, pax were to sprint to the other cones, sprint back, then recovery walk back to the other cones.  Rinse and repeat as time allowed.  Stationary exercises we did where:

  • Merkins (in cadence)
  • Overhead Claps (in cadence)
  • Crab Cakes (in cadence)

Mosey back to COT.  Along the way we discussed the importance of promoting your Q via Twitter and documenting it afterwards via BackBlast.

T-claps to FNG Ruxpin for not only posting, but making his first post a Q school! With a Q school now under his belt, he should be ready to lead workout in no time.  Also, great work by NASA and TwoFerns for brining him out.

 

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1

Board of Pain at the Fire Ant

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It was an honor to again be placed on the Q list of the long list of candidates for The Fire Ant. After Spiderman renewed the mission of this AO, I knew I needed to make it worthwhile for the 14 others who decided to remove themselves from the fartsack this gloom.

THE THANG

So we began with the following: We took a quick ruck march around the building to the front of the Harris Teeter where YHC had previously placed the BOP. At this point YHC gave the F3 Disclaimer. YHC requested that everyone partner up. I then explained the Board: Partner 1 was to perform the first exercise and partner 2 was to perform the movement timing mechanism/then flapjack. The the pair was to go to the second exercise and timing mechanism. The exercises and timing mechanisms are listed below:

Exercises: Merkins, Low Slow Squats, CDD’s, Lunges, Flutters w/Press, Ruck Thrusts, Curls, Tricep Extensions, Lateral Lunges, American Hammers, Overhead Presses, Ruck Swings, and Man Makers.

Timing Mechanisms: Shuffle, Karaoke, Butt Kickers, High Knees, Ruck Run.

After much mumblechatter was had and we made it through the list YCH led us into the following word. Once the message was given the group headed back to the COT and held our Rucks overhead until 0600.

NMM

This was a morning surrounded with many HIMs in whom YHC is intrigued by. Men who wake up at 0345-0445 to get to a workout at 0500 or 0515 almost every day of the week. Most of the PAX in attendance this gloom are planning on taking what they do with fellow F3 brothers each day and taking it into the world this coming weekend. These PAX will be participating in a Goruck event in Charlotte in remembrance of 9/11 and the men and women who sacrificed their lives on that horrific day. 9/11 is a day, if you were alive, that all will remember no matter what you were doing on that dreadful morning. However, our country came through the struggle united and closer than I had ever seen before.

This morning I challenged all PAX to remember who and what they represent when they leave the workout each morning. First they represent the one who they place their faith in. Second, they represent their families. Then they represent F3 Nation (an event is a great place to EH Sad Clowns into the brotherhood). Finally, they represent the communities they are a part of from where they live to where they work.

The challenge was to represent well no matter where or what they are doing. And trust me, I write this to remind myself of this challenge.

Announcements, Prayers, & Praises were given with the whole group.

Longshanks led the COT.

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4

BEYOND the JOY

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I’m sitting down to write this BB and literally can’t do what I challenged the PAX with at this morning’s BEYOND workout. Eliminate the distractions. Oh, what’s this text say, how about this tweet mention (can’t miss that), work email really needs my immediate response, man those kids left their cereal bowls on the counter, what time are we leaving today, etc, etc, etc. At times it can be funny but others, it can be really frustrating. I allow myself to continuously chase progress and other tasks rather than finding joy in where I am. It then leads to what you’ll read about later…burnout.

So there you have it, this BEYOND post will be focused on a struggle many of us face and that is running from joy, not finding joy where we are or honestly, not being a joy to spend time with. That latter one has been my challenge over these last several years because of those first two.

On to it. Car after car after car rolled into the Hive parking lot and you know the feeling, the feeling of way more cars than you were expecting. It doesn’t happen often but when it does, it gives you that kick in the pants, that extra motivation, that reminder of why you put your feet on the floor in the 4 o’clock hour. That’s what I was blessed to experience this beautiful morning as 33 other men, men that have pushed me over the years, men I’ve looked up to over the years, men who are about to bust it right along side me as we embark on something that typically looks better on paper. But that’s the idea, to push ourselves BEYOND our sense of normalcy both physically and mentally.

Funhouse escorted a group of 5 PAX for his killer initiative of RYAOA (T-claps on keeping that going) and the rest of us, 29 to be exact, circled up. After a quick explanation of BEYOND for the rookies and the search for any FNG’s, we discussed the plan with the weight, either Kettle Bell or Ruck…your choice. What I just realized, and to which nobody held be accountable, was that I forgot the all-important disclaimer. Men, never do that again. DO NOT START A WORKOUT WITHOUT A DISCLAIMER. You don’t have to be an attorney but verbalize the basics.

Starting on the curb nearest the tennis courts, run to the other side of the parking lot at 50% then 25% back. 10 Squats, 5 Burpee Broad Jumps then run to the other side at 75% then 25% back. 15 Diamond Merkins, 5 Burpee Broad Jumps then 100% to the other side followed by 100% back.

Switzer up for the first part of the discussion. I read the following definition: “Feeling of great pleasure & happiness.” After a few likely words were tossed out when I asked what word that defines, we got to the word of the day, JOY. I’m sure guys were wondering why in the world we’re talking about joy at an F3 workout, what kind of soft, starbucky-hands nonsense is this? That exact reason is the reason we’re discussing this word. It’s a word and feeling we don’t allow ourselves to enjoy often enough. There are people I enjoy being around and things I like doing but do I truly find joy in those situations? Said differently, do I enjoy being around those people or being in those moments and perhaps more importantly, do people find joy in being around me? Over these last few years, I’ve been operating like a hard-ass, focusing on task completion and moving from one thing to another. I can tell you, I’ve not been a joy to be around. While I was in it, I didn’t even realize it. How did I get here? Really, how do I get out of it?

That said, we split up into 4 groups, 1 for each corner of the large parking lot. In each corner, we did 10 Man Makers with your weight of choice. What varies is your mode of transportation between the corners.

  1. Lunge walks with the weight overhead.
  2. Bear crawl and transport the weight by any means necessary.
  3. Reverse lunge walks with weight overhead or held out front. (This was definitely better on paper as many of us had to modify to a bear hugging of the weight.)
  4. 4 Kettle Bell swings or Ruck swings followed by 4 walking steps.

After 3 of these 4, time got away from me and I had to audible and bring the group back to the center of the lot. As mentioned before, us task-completers run from one half-baked focus to another and we rob ourselves of contentment and joy in the moment. After weeks, months or years of doing this, we inevitably get burned out. Very rarely does something positive come after this stage. However, here in the gloom of our Hive AO here, burn out means something different. I was hoping to have 15mins left at this point but as it was, we had 6 and only got part of the way (you see, I tried to fill the schedule with too much and didn’t complete what I intended). See the irony?

  1. 21 Curls in cadence (3ct down, 1 up)
  2. 21 Flutter Presses in cadence
  3. 21 LBC in cadence
  4. 15 Overhead presses in cadence (b/c I didn’t have what it took to get to 21)

Closeout: We have a hard time refocusing once something bad happens or if it’s not bad, just something that temporarily knocks us off our trajectory. Oddly enough, our kids do a better job of getting back on track than we do. If something negative happens to you during the course of the day, how quickly are you able to course-correct? Are you able to move on from a less-than-positive comment made about you and not let it affect the rest of your day? Watch your kids and take note. Watch them get in a disagreement with a sibling, maybe pout, then start playing or hanging out with them 1-2hrs later. Could you imagine what it’d be like if we dusted ourselves off and went back at it? There’s joy in overcoming.

Listening to a podcast yesterday where Rob O’Neill was being interviewed, he briefly touched on this by saying something that hit me like a 50lb Kettle Bell across the bridge of the nose. A little background, Mr. O’Neill is the Operator on Seal Team 6 who fired the shot that killed the most wanted terrorist of all time, OBL. I’ve been fascinated by our military and specifically, SF, for years and imagine how quickly they need to pivot on a decision and adjust to chart a new course. His comment was this when discussing attitudes, “Are you having a bad day or did you have a bad moment that you’re milking into a bad day.” Don’t shake that off, marinate on that for a while and it might just change how you respond in that next bad moment.

Tesh, I appreciate your willingness to let me run BEYOND at the Hive.

Men of F3, I’m humbled by your company this morning and every morning you allow me to state my hospital name, age and F3 name.

No man left behind but leave no man where you found him.

Maximus

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