F3 The Fort Thanksgiving Convergence 2017

70 Men came today to burn calories so they can eat whatever they want the rest of the day. Ok, maybe that was my reasoning, but most came because the know in order to get better, even in being Gratful, it is best when being challenged by your brothers. We all came to get better and realize this great thing we have called F3 and give thanks!
Santini Opening with warm up both physically and mentally with some leadership principles
Split off into the various groups!
4 went for for a Run
  • Drile (F3-Wapner)
    Mozy to the front of SFES, high knees, toy soldiers, Butt kickers, and Knees to chest.
    Mozy to front of SFMS, circled up…Side straddle hop, Merkins, Cherry Pickers, and Moroccan Nightclub
    Mozy to SFMS bus loop …high knees, toy soldiers, Butt kickers, and Knees to chest.
    Circled up.. Flutter Kicks and Low Slow Squats, America Hammer and Low Slow Squats, Merkins and Windmills, mountain climbers and windmills
    Mozy to back of SFES, circled up…Peter Parker’s and Side Straddle Hop, Plank and windmill, shoulder taps and Low Slow Squats, LBCs and Moroccan Nightclub
    Then rinse and repeated the above sequence…before joining the other groups at COT
    Lil E—Bootcamp Q
    Mosey to the parking lot in the rear of school and circle up. SSHs, Imperial Walkers, Windmills, Squats
  • The thang
    • 10 cones set up in a line spaced about 10 paces apart. Each cone had an exercise and rep count on them. Do exercises on the first cone and run a lap of the parking lot. Once you complete the lap do the first cone and the second cone and then run a lap. Repeat this adding the next cone until all 10 are complete. Here were the exercises in order from first to last:
    • Burpees x 10
    • Bombjacks x 10
    • LBCs x 25
    • Merkins x 20
    • Jump Squats x 10
    • Flutter kicks x 40
    • CDDs x 20
    • Lunges x 20
    • Mtn Climbers x 20
    • Monkey Humpers x 20

Majority of the pax finished in the Lunges lap with a few speedsters out in front on the mtn climbers. Mosey back to the front of the school for some Freddy Mercury’s and Rosalitas.

After that met up with the Moderate and Black diamond groups for COT.

Everyone put out great effort today and really pushed themselves.

 

Witch Hunt—Black Diamond Q

Not even a trip to the hospital the night before with a pregnant wife could keep me away from this Thanksgiving workout. Shout out to Royale and Cha Ching for stepping up to help me out. Luckily I made it and we put in work.
We stared by counting off by 4 creating 4 teams.
Each team will compete to complete as many burpees as possible in 2-minutes with a catch. You can only do 10 at a time before you most complete 20 reps of ab exercise. 2 rounds:
1.) Burpees with LBCs (Somehow Bounce House was able to do 50 burpees. That dude is not human.)
2.) Burpees with Knee Tuck with crunchy frogs
Winners plank while losers perform 10 Kraken Burpees.
Blood was flowing so we moseyed to the hill by the middle school for some broken down burpees. Catch was that we had 20 minutes for everyone to complete. If everyone doesnt finish within the time then group does 25 Burpees.
Here was the setup:
Run Hill 10 times. (1 Hill Run = Up & Down)

5 Squat Jumps
5  Plank w\ Shoulder Taps
5 Merkins
5 Froggers
5 Squat Jumps

Run Hill 8 times.

10 Squat Jumps
10 Plank w\ Shoulder Taps
10 Merkins
10 Froggers
10 Squat jumps

Run Hill 6 times.

15 Squat Jumps
15 Plank w\ Shoulder Taps
15 Merkins
15 Froggers
15 Squat jumps

Run Hill 4 time.

20 Squat Jumps
20 Plank w\ Shoulder Taps
20 Merkins
20 Froggers
20 Squat jumps

Run Hill 2 time

25 Squat Jumps
25 Plank w\ Shoulder Taps
25 Merkins
25 Froggers
25 Squat jumps

With some great teamwork by the Pax everyone completed within the 20 minutes so no penalty was given.

I attempted to have Backdraft give us a 10-count however  he responded “There are no 10 counts during the Black Diamond.” So no 10 count and a quick mosey back to the parking lot for the 10 Minute 100 Burpee Challenge:

Complete 10 1-minute rounds of burpees in the following set scheme. Any time left over in the round is yours for rest. (typically PAX finish the set between 25 and 40 seconds)

Rd1- 8

Rd2- 9

Rd3- 10

Rd4- 11

Rd5-12

Rd6-12

Rd7-11

Rd8-10

Rd9- 9

Rd10- 8

Total – 100

Amazing work by all the Pax. I didn’t pull any punches with this setup for the Black Diamond and the Pax took it on without hesitation. We all survived and are better for it.

Thanks to Ginsu and Cake Boss for the opportunity to lead.

Pusher with closing remarks and finding #Victory 

Prayers & Praises

Thank you F3 The Fort

Cake Boss

TClap |
4

OG Launch at The Fort

13 pax posted at The Fort on a cool fall morning for the launch of Bonzai’s month of #OG Qs.  Decibel and YHC were honored to kick things off.  No FNGs on this morning, so with little delay we launched following a brief intro and Disclaimer.

The Thang (DD leading)

Warm up jog along the path, past the playground and to the grassy area along 160 by the WEP sign.

COP – IWs, SSH, Windmills, Merkins, Monkey humpers, Mtn climber, Peter Parkers, 10 burpees OYO

Line up even with the sign facing the street

Karaoke to first tree and back

Side shuffle to first tree and back

Run to far end of park near houses (4 trees away), accelerating pace at each tree.

Muster along the path facing with challenge to take the hill — bear crawl as far as possible toward hill on opposite end of field.  When gassed, rise and do 20 squats, then continue bear crawl, repeating as necessary until reaching bottom of hill.  Bear crawl to top of hill then do 10 burpees.  Run down hill and plank at the bottom.

Time for good old Jacobs Ladder — 7 burpees at top, 1 monkey humper at bottom.

Handoff to Decibel

Mosey to path at past statues at bottom of hill leading to soccer field…yes, more hills.

Run to top of hill, do 5 Three Merkin Burpees, run back to bottom, LBCs
(Repeat for total of 4 cycles changing ab moves at bottom each time and with last two series going all the way to gazebo)

Throw in some more abs and work at the bottom.

Mosey to playground for a partner series of runs around playground & exercises — Pull ups, dips, derkins, CDDs, LBCs (I think…YHC began to blackout at this point in the workout).

Circle up for some ab lab — some Boats & Canoes, Russian Hammers, & God knows what else (YHC gasping for air at this point).

Run home

COT

NMM

It was great to be among the pax for a 60-minute boot camp…what was probably my first since end of September.  And, yes,  I felt every bit of it during the workout, afterward and on Sunday and Monday.  I put the Twitter call out for #Sally on Fri night, but Decibel claimed that #Sally is not #OG vintage.  So instead he pummeled the pax with hills and Three Merkin Burpees.  Never thought I would say I missed #Sally.

Great effort by all the pax to endure a tough workout.   I am quite certain my oxygen deprived brain that morning and #Respect level memory missed some portion of Decibel’s Weinke from three weeks ago.  Trust me, I felt like it was Fall 2012 all over again given my recent absence due to personal and business travels.

Hanging tough throughout were three inspirational pax — Little John (War Daddy at 68 yo), Zildjian, a relatively recent arrival who I met for the first time and Mile High, a long timer who I saw back in the gloom for first time after some time out on IR for a while.  Well done, brothers!

Shout out to Senator Tressell whose status on IR kept him from leading at The Fort this month.  He and his #OG leadership were sincerely missed.

Thanks Decibel for a great co-Q and for his continued energetic leadership among the pax some 5 years into this adventure.

Finally, thanks to Bonzai for the invite and for his leadership of The Fort AO.  You are keeping it strong, as it should always be!

 

TClap |
0

Random Tabata

friday and a great morning, around 50.

 

WarmUp

Self Hug, left over right, right over left.

Side Straddle Hop

The Twist – in cadence

Moved to tabata

Curls, Tricep extension rotation.

Indian run – last pax runs up front and say their f3 name then something unique about themselves.  FYI airborne average weight of his children at birth is 10.5lbs.

low slow squats in cadence.

bridge raises in cadence

Tabata 2

round robin.  each pax called out their own tabata

Tabata 3

good morning and one leg deadlift.

Stones brings FNG, named as Whitewater

 

 

TClap |
1

I really wish we could do more Side Straddle Hops

Nice cool morning at WEP for 8 PAX to get after it and get better. Cornhole leads us off with the disclaimer and off we go.

The Thang

Cornholes Section:

Dynamic Warm up around path High Knees, Butt Kickers, Toy Soldiers, Side Shuffles

COP – Windmill, IW, SSH, MT climbers, 12 Ct Merkins, Moroccan Nightclubs

Hill – Accumulator
Run up SSH-28 run down, Jump Lunges-10,
Plank Punches-28,
Bomb Jacks-10,
Squats-28, Merkins-10.

Hand of to Longshanks

Mosey to the Playground for a Dirty McDeuce (all IC except for Pullups)
12 Squats, 12 LBC’s, 12 Merkins, Run a lap around the playground
12 Sumo Sqwuats, 12 Rosalitas, 12 Wide arm Merkins, run a lap around the playground
12 Narrow Squats, 12 Flutters, 12 Diamond Merkins, run a lap around the playground
12 Monkey Humpers, 12 Dying Cockroach, 12 Pullups, run a lap.

Mosey to the Springs Building courtyard
10 Dips (IC), 10 Step ups each side OYO, 5 Derkins OYO
15 Dips (IC), 15 Step ups each side OYO, 10 Incline Merkins OYO

Mosey back to the WEP Parking Lot.
Stairway to Heaven
Run to first lightpole, 10 Burpees
Run to second lightpole, 9 Burpees
run to third lightpole, 8 burpees
run to fourth lightpole, 7 burpees
run to fifth lightpole, 6 burpees
run to the last lightpole, 5 burpees,
run back down stopping at lightpoles for 4 Burpees, 3 burpees, 2 burpees, and 1 burpee

Finish with COT and BOM

Announcements – Fastest 5k next Saturday, read your newsletter

Cornhole took us out in prayer

Moleskin
1. Weather is starting to get a little cooler so just remember the saying – there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear. Hats gloves, tights are all acceptable as it starts to get cooler.
2. YHC knows he talks a bunch of crap on twitter especially before a Saturday workout. its all in good fun. Get up, get going to a workout of your choice, and #getbetter
3. Thanks Bonsai for the opportunity to lead and to Cornhole for letting me share the Q.
4. Mary Lou is scary fast at Stairway to Heaven. I think he was done before the rest of us were halfway.
5. Mad props to Little John for being 68 and still kicking donkeys. Always good to have you out.

Shanks Out!!

TClap |
2

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

TClap |
2

Old School Playground/cinder block workout

Mosey to the playground for the warm up:
SSH
Windmill
Merkins
Hillbilly Walkers
Split into partners for two rounds of each
P1 – run to the hill and back
P2 – Pull ups
P1 – run to the hill and back
P2 – Toes to bars
Mosey over to the bottom of the hill by the statue:
Round 1 – run half way up the hill backwards and run back down
– plank until the 6 gets back
– 10 merkins in cadence
Round 2 – run all the way to the top of the hill backwards and run back down
– plan on until the 6 gets back
– 10 merkins
Round 3 – run backwards to the top of the hill and wait
Starting at the top of the Stairway to heaven
Round 1 (going down hill) – 10 merkins each light pole
Round 2 (going up) – 15 squats
Round 3 (up hill) – 20 LBCs
After completing 3 rounds Trucker handed it off to Bonsai
If you have ever come to any of YHC q’s you will start to notice a trend. I
like to find something different to do and I also like to use “toys”. Cinder
blocks or other stuff to make it different.
Today I decided we should use the cinder blocks as a workout tool. However the
Pax had no idea what was coming as I had them hidden in my vehicle unti it was
time. I didn’t hear too much complaining except from CSPAN, but that is just a
given!
We kept the same partners and each group grabbed one block and headed out to the
field for the following:
P1 – runs
P2 – performs workout move until P1 returns and you switch
Execises – Repeat 2 times each
Over head thrust
Squats
Bonsai Tree (1 round of 5 each)
Single arm merkin (One arm with forearm on the ground and the other palm on the
ground. Try to keep most of your weight over the palm when performing the
merkin (10 each side)
Toe Touches
Burpees (10 each person)
Bent over rows
Flutters – P1 bear crawled half the distance they were running and then ran back
With a few minutes left we enjoyed a few minutes of Mary until meeting for COT.
It was good to have a few Pax from the GrandStrand visiting us today including
an FNG that One Call brought with him.
TClap |
1

Choose Discipline and BRR

It was a steamy morning at WEP, but that didn’t discourage Last Call during his VQ nor did it scare off any pax from supporting him.   A lively and energetic group of 23 pax posted to honor and encourage him.

Santini had EH’d FNG/Wazowski (aka Ernie Bhend) so a full fledged disclaimer was pronounced and the baton was handed to Last Call to launch.

The Thang

Last Call took the pax on a warm up lap of WEP, then circled the pax up in the grass near the parking lot (YES, the grass!  What a bold move for a VQ!)

COP

SSH x25

Moroccan night clubs x20

Mash up of Hillbilly Walker + Imperial Walker x20

Merkins x10

Peter Parkers x20

Slow squat x20

LBCs x20

Hand off to DD

Mosey to playground & partner up
Partner 1: Run lap
Partner 2: Continuous pull ups (keeping cumulative count with partner)
Flap jack
Rinse & repeat
Tip of the cap to Senator Tressel for his emphasis on need for more pull ups

Plank sequence including Makhtar N’Dyae ( requeted by Santini)

Mosey to the grassy area near the statues at the bottom of the hill & plank it up for commentary about Blue Ridge Relay.  (Yes, it is a shame that The Fort has no teams competing this year in BRR.  Thus, the next 30 mins of the workout became BRR-lite)

Run to top of hill almost to gazebo + 5 Burpees + run back down
Rinse + repeat for 5 total rounds

Mosey to pathway heading out the back of the parking lot & regroup with partner
Partner 1: Run down hill, up other side to trail intersection and back
Partner 2: Continuous merkins (continuing cumulative count with partner from earlier point)
Flap jack
Rinse + repeat

Plank sequence, squats, bombjacks

Mosey to bottom of hill at COT & regroup with partner
Partner 1: Run up hill to 4th light post and run back down
Partner 2: Continuous donkey kicks (keeping cumulative count with partner from earlier point)
Flap jack
Rinse & repeat

Mosey back to grass where Last Call started and circle up

Flutter x10

Hello dolly x10

Freddy Mercury x10

Rosalita x10

Penguin x10

Superman x3

Run to tent in middle of park

Run home AYG

COT

Naked man moleskin

Solid VQ effort by Last Call today — well done, brother!  Welcome to the club and find a way back into the center of the circle somewhere ASAP so you can hone the skills and expand the experience.

Welcome to FNG/Wazowski (yes, he’s an eye doc)!  You had the privilege (and pain) of enduring a tough workout on a particularly swampy morning — great job making it through to the finish today!  A little merlot splash proves just how far you can push when challenged by other like-minded men.  You’ve found a home here in The Fort for sure.  Look forward to seeing you back in the gloom soon!

T-claps to all the pax for the support of Last Call and Wazowski today.  Special recognition to Santini for EH of Wazowski and Sir Topham Hat for EH of Last Call two months ago.  Also kudos to Peabody, Longshanks and others sweeping the six.

Welcome back home to Ginsu!  Great to have you back in the gloom with your brothers.  Look forward to hearing more about the China experience and your expanded family.

Did I mention the weather was warm and humid today?

That was a tough outing today – great work by everyone pushing through!

In the absence of any BRR activities in The Fort this year, I felt compelled to bring that experience home.  It is an incredible event, and I am disappointed we won’t have any teams to represent The Fort this year.  I know Rooney is running with Dredd & OBT on a 6-man team — way to represent us, brother!  The hills and the pain and the sweat today were all reflective of the reality of what it is to run the BRR – but only the smallest taste of the joy of that event was gained today.  Please consider BRR in 2018 – you won’t regret it.

The message throughout today’s workout revolved around the monthly theme of Discipline.  When I saw Chicken Hawk’s message at the start of the month, I was immediately disturbed.  The word brings about uncomfortable feelings for me related to punishment, reprimands and admonishment from parents, teachers and bosses.  Discipline is something I experience as being imposed on me by someone else, which I never receive well.  I quietly thought maybe I would check out on the theme for August.

Then, on a business trip this week I made some poor choices around web surfing in the lonely isolation of a hotel room.  My re-entry back home included a volatile interaction with the M around my indulgence in a personal vice.  BOOM!  Discipline (or my lack of it) suddenly hit me between the eyes.  It became very real very quickly…clearly this is the right theme for me this month.

I have much to learn still around Discipline.  Santini mentioned during the workout and in a long conversation afterward that the root of the word Discipline relates to “learning.”  The learning I’ve gained in the past few days has come through dwelling on my word for 2017 — CHOOSE —  in the context of Discipline.  In this frame of mind, I am beginning to see Discipline as part of my pathway from where I am currently to the future I CHOOSE to pursue.  In this way, Discipline becomes part of the learning process of how I move toward the fuller, holier life I long for…because I CHOOSE to seek that future point, NOT because someone else is imposing anything on me.

Thanks to Bonsai for putting me on the calendar and for looping in Last Call for the VQ.  We missed you today.

Thanks to all who posted and endured today’s workout.  Your presence, effort, resilience, encouragement and support inspire me!

 

 

 

TClap |
12

Let’s do it…

10 PAX started out on a cooler, but humidity brewing, morning.  Shady took us on a nice mosey over to the playground area with some buttkickers, shuffles, high knees, karaoke and then some circle up time for warm up.

Warm up included:

SSH – 25 double count

Windmill (slow) – 10

Cherry pickers – 10

Moroccan night club – 30

Mountain climber – 20

Merkins – 10 double count

Honey mooner and downward dog stretches

Peter Parker – 15

Short Mosey to the playground where there was a nice piece of paper waiting for us.

Co-Q Dora (or Crazy Dora 1-2-3???):

Partnered up, size didn’t matter, and partner 1 did the exercise below while partner 2 ran around the playground area to pickup where partner 1 left off until the number was met.  Then moved on to the next exercise.

50 chin-ups

50 straight leg lifts

100 dips

100 knee to chest jumps (these were lots of fun)

150 derkins

150 lunges (both legs = 1)…this was modified to 100 and each leg counts

Stopped with 4 min left to do a couple 10 counts, and a short message on accountability.  Then turned it over to Cooter.

Cooter took us over to the “step” are of FM where we found a nice wall to do some wall sits.

Sit or go do some flying squirrels or all of the above:

Everyone sits on the wall, then starting down the line PAX 1 runs to other end of parking lot for 3 flying squirrels, runs back to spot in line and next PAX takes off….all the way through the line.

After this we took off towards the steps by the FM mill stone!

Why use your legs to climb steps when you have perfectly good arms:

Partner up and wheelbarrow up the 2 different sets of steps.  Run around and down the hill where you’ll switch.  Rinse and repeat 2x.

Took off to another short mosey up the monster hill (jailbreak mind you), then a brief cooldown through the parking lot.  Couple 10 counts, then over to the balls to the wall area.

Balls to the wall and then some:

Balls to the wall PLUS some mountain climbers for the dreaded Australian.  Followed by some 10 count wall sits, only to rinse and repeat.

Took off for some Mary prior to COT.  Mary consisted of a “choose your own adventure” of ab workouts.

Welcomed Nutmeg to the PAX party (friends with Hottie Tottie).  Had a great time as usual and co-Q’ing definitely takes a beating when you have Q strength!  Need to keep that in mind next time for sure!

TClap |
1

The Fort F3 Dads…week 2

As my F3 Dads VQ, I had to solicit some help. This time, it was FishSticks himself and he brought his super-human 2.0, Sharkbait to make us all feel bad. We had 47 total post up at WEP for this week’s version of F3 Dads, The Fort style.

After a necessary disclaimer focusing on uneven ground, listening to your body and to please modify as the heat will sneak up on you, I dropped the bomb all the kids were waiting on…WE HAVE ICE POPS at the end. Boom, they’re all ours now.

Mosey to the center of the field for a warmup including:

SSH, Merkins, Squats, Mountain Climbers and more Squats.

FishSticks took the older kids and their dads off to do the following:

Lined up for some additional warm-ups: toy soldiers, inch worms, lunges, shuffle left, shuffle right. Break for water Dora 1-2-3. 100 Merkin, 200 squats, 300 sit-ups. One partner ran up the hill while the other performed the exercise. Break for water Back to the shady hill for abs lab. Flutters, American hammers, six inch plank hold, plank jacks, and super man. FNG 2.0 Rocky showed off his one armed merkin abilities. Back for some more water. Finish off with a Native American run around the field.

For the younger kids, we started with a bear crawl tunnel with dads in the plank followed by a over under drill with dads STILL IN THE PLANK.

We then took it to the hill without all the ant hills and as individual families, introduced a little Jacob’s Ladder. We went to 7 with Merkins at the top and Bomb Jacks at the bottom. So I could catch my breath and slow the head spin, we talked about why the dads find themselves doing this F3 thing and what we get out of it and why that’s important.

Then it got a little more interesting with 2.0 Carry races. The dads had to carry their kids from one cone to another (about 15yds) then bear crawl-carry them back. Those of us with multiple kids thoroughly enjoyed that last part.

Then the games were played: The wolf lunch time game for a very long time, sharks and minnows then the fence game.

We closed it out with COT and a great message from Bear Grylls and family about the importance of good decisions in life.

Great job 2.0’s and thanks to the dads for involving their kids in something that is so important to us.

As you were.

TClap |
0