WHETSTONE…Relaunches at THE FORT

Several weeks ago, it was announced that our region, THE FORT, would be closing all Saturday AO’s and holding a convergence at FMHS to get the PAX together as we thank Rebel for his leadership of Whetstone and relaunch it under Repeat and World Wide Leader (WWL). I was excited to hear we’d be getting many of the region together but I wasn’t expecting what came next. It was a text asking if I’d Q the workout.

Q, like part of it, half of it or …? The response was, THE WHOLE THING. I love to Q every chance I get but to do so on a day like this, well, I better make sure it includes a little something for everyone. Or, almost everyone.

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And this is where I let life get the better of me. I try to follow the 48hr rule on posting a BACKBLAST, especially when they’re significant but I let life and travel get in the way. It is now Saturday, one week later, and I’m just finishing this BB. Life can get challenging, it can get stressful, it can get you riding the highs or down in the lows. And this past week, our family has experienced some of each. Maybe this was the week where I really came to realize how valuable having a Whetstone partner can be. Someone that I can share the highs with and someone to help get me out of the lows; or to keep me honest when it’s my own doing that has me on the outside looking in on the joys of life.

That said, I’ll take you back to last Saturday, April 21 where we had a a few pre-ruckers and a total of 58 PAX converge to re-kick off this critical program.

We got ourselves into an odd-shaped kidney-like shape for the disclaimer, the announcement of why we were there this beautiful morning and to acknowledge our 2 FNG’s in the PAX. We counted off in 4’s then took off toward the big parking lot for a warm up jog in 4 lines. This jog included some karaoke’s and 4 lines doing an indian run which was way harder than it appeared on paper.

In these last 2 years, Whetstone has brought together some extremely HIM. One of those men has gone through a tough 18mos and he was gracious enough to share some of his story to include the impact Whetstone had on his life as we circled up to hear his words. I know he wouldn’t endorse this comment but anytime Mr. Clean wants to share experience or wisdom, the PAX listens. And listen we did.

After backing the group back out to a circle-like shape, I was giddy to honor Santini in the only way I knew how…with a deck of cards. However, on this day we utilized 1/2 the deck and considered it our warm up:

Hearts = Side Straddle Hops

Diamonds = Carolina Dry Docks

Spades = Squats

Clubs = Merkins

Then a little action from the Burp-Merk: Standing, we then dropped to a plank, did 5 merkins then jumped up. That equals 1 and we did 5 total.

This was when we got to listen to our very own Nantaan, Cake Boss, as he shared the impact Whetstone has had on him. Yet again, another powerful testimony.

Then off to do 4 corners in the lot with:

Corner 1 = Dancing Crabs x 15ea and Dips x 20

Corner 2 = Dying Cockroach x 15ea and Flutters x 20ea

Corner 3 = Burpees x 10 and Jump Squats x 10

Corner 4 = American Hammers x 25 and Freddie Mercury x 20ea

Mosey over to the wall for B2W while doing 5 “push ups” followed by 15 calf raises. We did this 3 times.

To close out our testimonies, my man Chicken Hawk laid it down for us. He shared the impact Whetstone has had on him, his marriage, his family…his life. Life isn’t meant to be traveled alone. Well said brother.

6ct Burpee which I needed a little help from the Helmet of Darkness to remind me the steps. Remember the line, “If you can’t Q it, don’t do it?” Yeah, me too but I obviously didn’t follow that too closely here.

This is where the cat-herding became evident. The PAX exhibited patience with me as we attempted a modified DORA series consisting of:

50 Flying Squirrels, 50 Diamond Merkins and 50+ Flutters

We then took off for the main entrance to the football stadium and lined up in 4 lines facing down the hill. Once everyone readjusted, it was 15 American Hammers, 15 Flutters and 15 Hello Dollies. This was done several more times.

Well, that put a bow on the workout portion of this convergence and after the COT, FNG naming of RBG and Whiskers, we then handed it off to World Wide Leader and Repeat to lead the Whetstone discussion.

Announcements: The relaunch of Whetstone. Thanks to Rebel for getting this off the ground 2 years ago and to Repeat / World Wide Leader for taking the reigns.

Prayer Requests: Badger. Camp Care 5K. Jennings Palmer’s transplant. Olive’s 8K in memory of Sweet Tooth. Elmer.

Honored and appreciative of your patience.

Maximus

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Cone heads

First I want to thank Jiffy for the opportunity to lead the PAX today. 15 guys showed up and this was the biggest group that I had Q’ed for . I spent an hour or so the night before reading up on the exercise database found in the F3 website. The first exercise I introduced was the kimono dragon. It’s best described as a Peter Parker but you actually move forward. Note: very hard to execute backwards. This new move was implemented in the warmup.

Then we moseyed to soccer field for the main event. We started on the goal line and I had placed cones 10 yards out .First we did DMC. It’s a duck walk, merkins, and a bear crawl. Duck walk to the first cone, 5 merkins, and bear crawl back. Duck walk to the next cone(20 yards) and do 10 merkins and bear crawl back with increasing by 5 merkins every cone until we reached 50 yards.

The next thing we did was lunge walked to the first cone and did 10 squats and lunge walked back and progressed through each cone adding 10 squats each time. This was painful. A total of 150 squats and 300 yards of squats .

Next we paired up and partner 1 ran to the first cone, did 5 merkins and ran back. Meanwhile partner 2 is doing flutters . Each partner ran to each cone and did 5 pushups and ran back .

6 minutes of Mary and then the end .I looked up a new ab exercise called Dr . W .I still don’t fully understand what that is so you should go look it up .

Thanks agaun!

Wegmans

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#RPG

11 PAX posted to RPG for some Broga and miles.

Beautiful spring morning with a temperature of 54 degrees.

Disclaimer, disclaimed.

The Thang:

20 minutes of Broga (courtesy of Sasquatch) loosened up the PAX before we headed off on a 3.5 mile run through Regent Park.

NMM:

As the Q, one of my main goals, was to keep everyone together, or at least on course.  It goes without saying, running at 5am, through neighborhoods, on a newer AO, posses a challenge.

I fell short of my goal and had a couple of the PAX get lost in the neighborhood. I’m thankful for the opportunity to have the PAX give YHC the opportunity to develop and become a better leader by allowing YHC to make and learn from my mistakes.

In the end, everyone made it back to COT. YHC’s lesson learned: ask a PAX (or two) who is familiar with the course to pick up the six so QIC (YHC, in this case) can keep oversight of the other PAX.

F3 does develop leaders. For that opportunity, I am thankful.

COT – Prayers/Praises

Bass-o-Matic, thank you for the opportunity to Q.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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CSPAN Returns to The Coop for flutter kick freenzy

Perfect weather and 52 degrees

disclaimer in detail because we had 2 FNGs (T-claps Paul Bunyon and Sasquatch)

and we were off

mosey around until I got tired…

Warmup-O-Rama

Mosey around until I got tired…

Some abs and some core

Mosey around until I got tired…

partner up – 3 rounds of flutter, squats, and LBC while your partner ran the parking loop

Mosey until I got tired…

Same partner 4 rounds flutter kicks and pull-ups

Mosey until I got tired…

10 flying squirrel countdown with sets of 10 flutter kicks…

and I ran out of time…

COT/prayer or praise/BOM

welcome Llama and Puppy…weird that they were both animal names today…?

read your newsletter, and make a difference today, and my abs still don’t look Tesh…

AYE!

CSPAN

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Hump Day… Whatever… Pantheon 4/4

11 came to Pantheon ready to tell Hump Day to go pound sand. Too often, men look at Hump Day as the day that they check out and coast to the weekend. We aren’t those kind of men, so we will push hard and make it count everyday…

Warm-up:
1 lap around the lot to the side lot
Windmill x 10
IW x 10
Merkin x 10
PP x 10
Moroccan Nightclub x 20
Squat (with a hop) x 15
SSH x 20

On to the fun…
Mosey to playground (in parentheses are the mods)
20 burpees (15)
400M run (down and back)
20 Pull-ups (Supine pulls)
400M run (down and back)
20 Handstand push-ups/CDD (20 or 10-10 or 20)
400M run (down and back)
20 Swerkins (LBC)
400M run (down and back)
20 Knees to Chest

Once complete, we headed to the back lane for Hair Burner Relays
2 teams
Each team performs an exercise while the front men do a hair burner of 100M (50) then Overhead carry back
Exercises will be determined by the winner of the heat…

Mosey back to COT

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NMM:
A couple of thoughts…
– If you are at a workout with Cha-Ching, Straight Up, Longshanks, and/or Jedi, you will likely be behind them. You should know that going in, so you don’t feel bad when it happens.
– Straight Up may not actually be from this planet. Dude is fit…
– CSPAN is still one of the wiser men I know, despite his current injury-related inability to do a proper Merkin…

Helmet, out.

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No Saggy Middles @ The Ranch

PAX: Wegmans, Cable Guy, Senator Tressel, Decibel, Jiffy, Geronimo, Funhouse, Cake Boss

16 PAX showed up to The Ranch on a relatively chilly morning. 7 joined Dark Helmet for a BEYOND workout… the remaining fools joined me (Sasquatch) for a lesson on core… and it was hard. -Hardcore- It is in my nature to look around and see how people move, and oftentimes, it’s sloppy- too many SAGGY MIDDLES or rears to the sky. Focus was to perform several of the exercises we do day-to-day at bootcamps (i.e. peter parker, plank jacks, etc *see below) and to do them with GOOD FORM. Maintain a flat lower back that is aligned with your upper spine and buttocks. Think about pulling your navel up in towards your spine. Any plank-type exercises (including Merkins) should be performed with your hands aligned directly below your shoulders for optimal stability… any other position will compromise the shoulder joints and take away from CORE strengthening. No SAGGY MIDDLES!

The Thang

Front Plank during long disclaimer

Dynamic Warm-up on the Field
Knees to chest / High knees
Heel to butt / Butt kickers
side shuffle / side shuffle other way
Inch worm / bear crawl

Mosey to Playground Parking Lot

Circle-up
Imperial Squats
Static Lunge with Moroccan Night Club
upward dog/downward dog
Mountain climbers
Peter Parker
Parker Peter
Elbow Plank Jacks

Mosey to Playground and Partner-up
Sit-ups holding feet x20 and switch
Toes to bar x10 (Partner 1) and supermans x10 (Partner 2) then switch
REPEAT x3

Mosey to front of school
Bench Jumps x10 (Partner 1) and Curb Burpees x5 (Partner 2) switch
Wheelbarrow ~30 yards and then switch
REPEAT x3

Mosey to COT and MARY

Announcement/Prayers
Honey Badger officially opens Monday at 5AM NAFO.
RPG on Fridays at 5AM Food Lion Parking Lot for some Broga and Run is a thing.
Prayers for family and friends suffering with cancer.
Attend CAH workouts, especially since new kids are showing up.
Still need volunteers for Strawberry festival booth.
Witbeck Golf Classic begins tomorrow but you have until April 22nd to sign up to join the league and play round 1. Message Wegmans on the Twitter machine for more information.

Thank you, Jiffy, for the opportunity to Q at the Ranch. Thank you, Dark Helmet, for not stealing my thunder and having everyone go BEYOND. Good lesson from him. Check out his Backblast when you get a chance.

–

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Hills, more hills, and some remembrance

With spring break starting and Longshanks having part of the Q I didn’t know what type of crowd would show up. With Easter being the next day and this week being very reflective for me personally, we tweeted out about some Easter trivia and before I knew it we had several of our more scholarly PAX HCing so I went back and tuned up the questions. It was great to a solid collection of PAX ready to go when start time rolled around.

Longshanks led us thru some SSHs and Wind-mills while Sasquatch finished getting dressed. Once he was ready Longshanks took us behind the park to the bottom of the big hill for a Longshanks style warm-up. Partner up for a Dora 1-2-3. 100 Merkins, 200 Squats, & 300 LBCs, other partner is running about 3/4 way up the hill and back.

After everyone was ‘warmed up’, we moseyed back up the hill to playground. Again with Easter being the next day I worked up some questions about the events leading up to Easter. 4 questions per station, 3 stations, and exercises accumulated at each station.

  1. At the last Supper, who did Jesus say would deny him 3 times before the cock crowed twice? Peter – 5 Pull-ups
  2. After dinner they walk to the Garden of Gethsemane , when Jesus goes off to pray what does he ask Peter, James & John to do? Not go to sleep – 5 Pull-Ups, 10 Dips
  3. In the Garden, how to Judas identify Jesus to the guards? Kisses him – 5 Pull-Ups, 10 Dips, 10 Derkins
  4. What was the name of the Jewish group that initially condemns Jesus? Sanhedrin – 5 Pull-Ups, 10 Dips, 10 Derkins, 5 Burpees

Mosey over to small hill

  1. When Jesus is initially brought to Pilate, who does Pilate then send Jesus to? Herod – 10 Monkey humpers, run up hill and back
  2. Pilate nor Herod can find anything to convict Jesus of so Pilate asks the crowd if they want to free Jesus or a criminal. What was the criminal names? Barabbos – 10 Monkey humpers, 10 squats, run up hill and back
  3. What is the name of the location where Jesus was crucified? Golgotha or Calvary – 10 Monkey humpers, 10 squats, 10 lunges, run up hill and back
  4. Who was voluntold to carry the cross when Jesus was unable? Simon of Cyrene – 10 Monkey humpers, 10 squats, 10 lungers, 10 calf raises, run up hill

Mosey over to parking lot

  1. When Jesus was crucified, at noon what natural event occurred? Sky went dark for 3 hours – 3 line suicide
  2. Who took Jesus’ body down, wrapped it, and place it in the tomb? Joseph of Arimathea – 3 line suicide with 10 Plank Jacks at each end line
  3. Who was the 1st human to see Jesus after he rose from the dead? Mary Magdalene – 3 line suicide with 10 Plank Jacks at each end line and 3 Burpees at each start line
  4. How many days did Jesus stay on Earth before ascending to heaven? 40 – 3 line suicide with 10 Plank Jacks at each end line and 3 Burpees at each start line: waited on all PAX and we did 40 SSHs

Longshanks finished us up with about 3 minutes of Mary.

PAX went 100% on the questions. There really wasn’t going to be more exercises if they didn’t answer a question correctly but I was impressed nevertheless. Hopefully everyone got a good quick recap of the events that occurred but also got a solid work-out. Always an honor to lead this group. Thanks Smuggler for the opportunity!

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We Have Something Good Here

The faithful grew to 10 this week, some new, some old, but the buffet of pain has been a common stay. Starting off at 0500 is a Q’s dream as it provides ample time to deliver the Pax some pain.

A call was put out the night before for the PAX to bring some 65lbs or their weapon of choice, and all kinds of coupons showed up.

We did a warmup COP style and went off to the track. I promised out P200 PAX that the running would not be excessive, but I would not have been present based on past experiences, so I am sure it seemed like a mountain to them. Great courage on coming out and working through the post P200 pain.

First up was The Looney.
We ran a warm up lap to clear the track of debris and moved benches, lonely cones, and general trash off the track where our dreams came true.

7 400 yard sprints round the oval at AYG pace. After each lap, 20 yards weighted lunge. The book called for 65 lbs, but all shapes and sizes were had.

After we hit 4 rounds, it was all down hill, although I am not sure the breathing was any easier. We then proceeded to the Brenton with our remaining time.

The Brenton was 5 rounds of 30 yards bear crawls, then broad jumps back with 3 burps after each set of 5 jumps. In succession, this ended up as a killer. Great way to spend 10 minutes of your life right there.

At that point, we were on our way back to COT. We finished with peer led ab work. Did we care about the 6 quitting time? NOPE, The Honey Badger said to have all PAX lead, so we ended at 6:03.

Thanks men for the opportunity to lead. Wegmans is on Q next week.

COT.

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The Coop – Sweetness all around!

5 min till launch and the cars started rolling in. The PAX of The Coop are like the John Dally of F3…..they just show up and go!

Sugar Daddy took the lead for the warm up. The football stadium was open and so we utilizied the comfortable turf for COP. Dark Helmet was coming in hot, so we made sure we counted loud enough for him to locate the PAX.

Sugar Daddy did a great tradition warm up and then added a plank series to work our shoulders with some multiple taps. I felt like pre-school all over with Head, shoulders, knees and toes….. Was a great move and added to the coming meat of workout and not being able to use our arms the rest of the day.

YHC took over and did a little dynamic warm up back down the football field.  Mosie  to the pull up bars for a mini Murph written on the ground. Since being asked to Q, got to go to a quality no thought but painful plan.

  • Take lap down to Sugar Creek Playground and back
  • 50 Pullups
  • 100 Merkins
  • 150 Squats
  • 30 Calf Raises
  • Take lap down to Sugar Creek Playground and back
  • Airborne’s Hip Exercises
    • 7 exercise moves with each leg…..real crowd pleaser!

COT

Prayers for all the PAX and many things going on in life

Crawdaddy mention the Reading opportunities at Paradise…..make an impact Mondays and Wednesdays

YHC talked about Worry and Anxiety and how we are working ourselves to reach retirement and accumulation of stuff. With these goals they can cause stress when they don’t meet our expectations. We need to find contentment and joy in the work we do and see we work for a higher purpose than leisure…..which will lead to joy……less stress. Phil 4:19 Sky Q provides!

Thanks Sugar Bug for lead!

Cake Boss out!

 

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We got our 28+ at The Colosseum

We had a total of 28 guys in The Fort region post yesterday (Monday, Feb 26) amidst the rain so I threw out the challenge of getting 28 men out to the Colosseum this AM. With some help from Jeckyll, Pusher, Ginsu, Cha Ching and a few others, we got that done. The PAX made it even better when that was just the boot camp number as we totaled 31 with our 3 runners included.

I can not even begin to tell you how humbled I was to see headlight after headlight roll in and to have 27 other guys run around this AO at 0515 with me. As Assassin mentioned in COT, we do in fact know how special it is to be blessed with the opportunity to be out with the PAX on just another Tuesday morning. To see some faces out there that I haven’t seen in quite a while was great. With the chatter that ensued, I knew I had better bring it.

So after our disclaimer and the departure of the Pathfinder runners, us boot campers jogged to end of the back parking lot. We counted off to our number of 27  at the time and dropped down for a 2min plank followed by a 2min reverse plank. Well 90 seconds into that latter plank, we had a masked ninja run up to join us for our lucky number 28. That ninja also goes by the name STRAIGHT UP  and man, it was good to have him join us.

1/2 of 28 equals 14 Burpees so that is what we did followed by 28reps of the following:

Dying Cockroach, Boats & Canoes, Jumping Lunges, Jump Squats, X&O’s, American Hammers, Monkey Humpers and Squat Calf-Raises

We partnered up for:

Partner 1: Run to the 1st speed bump and back
Partner 2: Diamond Merkins then flap jack

Partner 1. Run to the 3rd speed bump and back

Partner 2: Merkins then flap jack

Partner 1: Run to the gate that was no longer in existence

Partner 2: Carolina Dry Docks or some ab work then flap jack

Bring it back to the GHMS side of the bus parking lot and circle up for some coupon work.

Begin with the 30lb Ruck and 35lb Kettle Bell on opposite sides of the circle. When the coupon came to you, 10 bicep curls of your choosing while the rest of the PAX cycled through Freddy Mercury, Rosalitas and Flutter Kicks.

COT

Announcements: Read that Sunday email containing your F3 Newsletter. New AO launching from Regent Park. Includes (br)yoga, run and coffeeteria  (contact Cake Boss or Sasquatch) every Friday. Don’t forget about the drive for 218 FNG’s. Reading center opportunity (service).

Prayers/Praises: Flat Tire’s new promotion, Straight Up’s wife is feeling better and S.U. is back with us. Cornerstone’s daughter Emma had her last chemo pill last night and will be ringing the bell soon. Ginsu’s daughter took her first steps yesterday. Jeckyll’s son is now a Boy Scout and Jeckyll has now handed over the leadership. Prayers for Mr. Clean and his desire to be out in the gloom. Prayers for Squeaky for what he is facing right now. Praises for reconnecting with my daughter.

Thank you again for coming out in the gloom.

Maximus

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