Tag: Slow Jams

Spoon Feeding Instructions

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Learning to give clear instructions and the power of commanders intent.

Gekko was supposed to have the Q this morning but life called and he had to answer. Prayers for him.
5:15 struck and SlowJams brought out an FNG so the disclaimer was disclaimed and an overview of F3 was made.
YHC called his own number and grabbed some cones and headed towards the Home Depot for the warm-up.
Luckily I have been fortunate to get to spend some time with Tesla during the few times I show up for a PreRun at Quagmire so I learned that he had not led his VQ workout yet. So I gave him a heads up that today was his chance to practice leading a few exercises in cadence during the workout so we could all give some feedback before his big day.

YHC started the warm-up off with some SSH and some windmills then passed it over to Tesla to lead some SSH and some merkins. He did pretty well after a few corrections and will be ringing that second bell in no time.
Passed the baton over to Console to lead a few other exercises since he is fairly fresh to the game and I have missed his first couple of Q’s because of scheduling conflicts. As expected he shined like the stud he is. Way to live up to the hype and not be frightened by the thought of being compared to Tesla.

On to the Thang.
Mosey over behind Home Depot on the way to Target and get in a few seconds of peoples chair while waiting on the 6 to join.

Continue over to the Kohls parking lot for the meat and potatoes portion.
This part was supposed to be a lesson in preparation and the chaos that is unavoidable when a leader fails to convey the message clearly.
So YHC started out with no clear instructions to the PAX rather giving them just a single instruction meer moments before they needed it. The PAX were stumbling over each other because my instructions were not delivered in a clear and confident manner and there seemed to be no method to the madness. We started at one end of the parking lot and were moseying to the first street light pole performing the exercise then coming back to the starting line to perform some burpees before going to another light pole but sometimes we would come back to the starting line and other times we would just move on to the next light pole and exercise. The objective was to show how failing to communicate a plan, even a bad plan, was ineffective in achieving the mission (the current mission that I always try to achieve when leading a beatdown is to push every member of the PAX outside of their physical comfort zone while keeping everyone together as well as possible and allowing each member to not feel like a burden to the group or that they should have stayed in the fartsack).
When there is poor leadership the entire group is at the mercy of the commands of the Q. The Q is forced to either abandon the guys at the 6 or handicap the guys at the 12 in order to keep everyone on the same page. Just as in life each one of us men is at different places along our journey and therefore has different needs.

Once we finally got down to the end of the parking lot I let the PAX know my intended message for the workout and apologized for the intentional poor leadership.
Gave the PAX new clear instructions on how to proceed on the way back across the parking lot and turned them loose to go at their own pace. We spent the remainder of the time working through the exercise and encouraging each other to push ourselves to get better.

Finally, it was time to jailbreak back to the COT for Count-A-Rama, Name-A-Rama, FNG naming (welcome GuyTai), announcements, and prayers& praises.

Thank you to the men that showed up and pushed yourselves to get better. Hopefully, I was able to challenge you to look at the people that you lead and reevaluate how well you are communicating instructions to your team. Are you spoon-feeding them one bite at a time or are you laying out the buffet and letting them get after it?

Remember that those you lead are faced with many decisions every day and you want them to have the knowledge and confidence that they can make the decision without having to go into a holding pattern while they run it up the chain of command and await a response.
Set clear expectations, communicate them often, and allow your people to react and overcome.

Garrett Purvis 36
Build your guardrails out of bricks!
Olaf

Stay frosty my friends

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Balls of Pain to start your Thanksgiving week off right

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Because of technical difficulties by YHC I had no idea who had the Q this morning so as we waited for 5:15 to roll around I was frantically planning a backup beatdown just in case.
So 5:15 is when we start so without any more suspense I gave a steller disclaimer and led the 7 other gents towards Homedepot.
Warmup:
SSH
Merkins
Windmill
Peter Parkers
Parker Peters
Burpees (In Cadence)
At some point, Flounder joined the party so we had a solid 9 HIM ready to get better.

Mosey over to the front of Target for some Balls Of Pain
Suicide style. 10 reps each
Squats,
Merkins,
LBC,
Jump Lunges,
Regular Lunges,
Diamond Merkins,
Bomb Jacks,
Jump Squats,
Wide Arm Merkins,
Burpees,
Flutter Kicks,

Pick up the six then head over in front of Old Navy for some four corners.
Starting out with 25 SSH at each corner with NUR and sprint on the long sides with bearcrawls on the short sides.
Then move to the next round of 5 merkins, 10 merkins, 15 merkins, then 20 merkins at each corner.
Power Skip the short sides sprint the long sides.
Finally last round was a sprint round. 1 burpee, 2 burpees, 3 burpees, and 4 burpees with a sprint from each corner to the next.
Stopped to get in some dips at the fountain which must have been dirty because someone recently soaped it up and it was full of bubbles a plenty.
Ended with a jailbreak to the COT flag with staggard starts for those that wanted a head start so we could all be pushing until the finish.
A little bit of mary and count-A-rama, name-A-rama announcements and prayers and praises before our WarDaddy Flounder took us out with some touching words.
Great work by all. Tclaps to Tesla for crushing a preRun and still finishing out front for the main thing.

Garrett Purvis 36
Build your guardrails out of bricks!
Olaf

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Honoring Those Who Impact Us

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This week, on Wednesday, we honor all veterans who have served and continue to serve our nation.  As part of that theme, YHC decided to get a little jump start by assigning a workout where PAX would honor a veteran of their choosing and, based on the name(s) of those veterans, complete as many rounds as possible of exercises associated with the letters of their name.

We gathered as 5 to start and, by the time we moseyed roughly 1/4 mile for some COP, Olaf and Flounder joined in.

COP – 11 windmills D/C I/C, 5 burpees, 11 Imperial Walkers D/C I/C, 5 burpees, 11 Hillbilly Walkers D/C I/C, 5 burpees, mosey further up the lot because YHC did not like the smell of trash, continuing with… 11 low slow squats D/C I/C, holding the last rep and remaining in the peoples chair for 9 Moroccan night clubs and 9 shoulder taps – both D/C and I/C.  Legs were warm and off we moseyed to the board of the alphabet.

The main event was designed to be between 2 & 5 rounds and all PAX worked hard, likely did more wall sits than they would in most workouts and it seemed a lot of leg work was done, but the beauty of these workouts was the simple fact that PAX were doing these to honor someone who impacted them – someone who made them better in their life.  May we be so fortunate to do the same for others as a matter of everyday practice.

YHC called time with 3 minutes to spare and we moseyed back to COT for geometry class with a few positions on the protractor before 0600 hit and time was called.

Announcements – Read your newsletter, XMas Party coming up and Thanksgiving convergence at the Ranch with a little football in Lake Wylie afterwards.  Travis Manion WOD on 11-20 at the Swamp.

Prayers – for families, for Olaf’s Mom as she relocates and his step dad struggling with an addiction.  For DaVinici and discernment on the path forward.

Praise for Jekyll’s Dad who served in Vietnam and is spending a weekend with his family coming up and for all veterans who have served us all selflessly and have sacrificed so that we might enjoy the freedoms and blessings of this nation.

NMM –  Q-ing is an honor.  Leading is a privilege and serving is our greatest form of impacting others.  YHC is grateful to the men of F3 who continue to serve as visible reminders each day of what impact and positive ripple effect can look like.  I am humbled to be in your company and thankful that all of you keep me on a better path with you than without.  My thanks to Olaf for the opportunity.

With Gratitude,

Cyclops

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APFT Oct 2020

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NAME                    Merkins              BBSU               RUN                 AVE

Lutefisk                  81                          78                   75                      78
Uber                        99                          82                   74                     85
Slow Jamz            79                           54                  57                     63.33

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APFT Sept 2020

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APFT late results from Sept at GC

Name                   Merkins %      BBSU %       Run %            AVE %
Olaf                         93                       66                      89               82.67
Slow Jamz           66                       52                      58               58.67
Fire Marshall Bill    58                  51                      43                50.67
Lutefisk                  71                     71                       78                73.33
Mile High               77                     58                       86                73.67
Shop Vac               94                     52                      NA                NA
Fun House           84                      95                      94                  91

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Shield Lock 2020.1

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Bobber and YHC were tossing around an idea of doing a Shield Lock focused month at his AO over the Summer – and we were finally able to land on the month of November. Today was part one of YHC’s shield lock taking over Block Party for the month to discuss the SL and inflict pain.

So, what is a Shield Lock (SL)? 

If you click the link above, you’ll read about it in a manner much better articulated than YHC could. A Shield Lock is a metaphor of men who “lock shields” together to form a stronger barrier against those powers actively trying to bring us back to sad clown status. If you’ve seen the movie 300, you’ve seen a Shield Lock (Phalanx) in action and how effective it can be against an attacking force.

YHC led with a quick message about the SL being a group of 3-5 men with a common goal of getting better. YHC highlighted the three P’s (3P) of the SL being Proximate, Purposeful, and Periodic. Two of YHC’s SL were in attendance this morning, World Wide Leader (WWL) and Wegmans.

With that, we moseyed to the spot of our first iteration. Today’s Weinke was designed to focus on the ups/downs and how the men to your left and right can motivate you through the differing paces of life.

 

Proximate

“Proximity requires physical nearness. The Shield Lock will not function if its Members are geographically disparate. While men no longer literally interlock their shields to fight, the metaphorical battle still requires physical contact. Teams are founded upon Trust , and Trust waxes and wanes in direct proportion to physical distance. Trust is hard to build and maintain, and the farther away another man is the harder it is to Trust him.”

 

Slow/Pulse Circuit

Low Slow Squats x 20

Hold 60 Seconds at end of last squat

Pulse 20 times

Recover

Forward Lunges x 15 (one side at a time)

Hold 60 Seconds at end of last lunge 

Pulse 20 times

Flap Jack

Recover

PAX get into Forward Leaning Rest Position – 

Merkins x 10 IC

Plank Hold – 30 Seconds

Lift one leg at a time, pulse 20 times up and down

Recover

Mosey to Upper Pike Lot

 

Purposeful

“By locking shields with other men, the HIM hedges his brother’s peak against his own valley, and vice-versa. He knows that his valleys will tempt him to the Flux, and that he will need the strength of his brother’s peak to maintain Acceleration. Likewise, he knows that it will be his peak that provides his brother the bulwark he will need when a valley draws him toward the Flux. This, not companionship, is the ultimate Purpose of the Shield Lock and its primary distinction from a Club.”

WWL is a man of discipline. So much so that every evening at promptly 8:34 a text comes through from him highlighting four items, as a daily AAR.

  1. Daily Weight
  2. Daily Red Pill (DRP)
  3. Completion of our SL Bible Plan
  4. One extracurricular activity to better one’s self (reading a book, spending time with M/2.0, community service, etc).

This purposeful communication allows YHC to better fight the Flux and stay out of the valleys that are inevitable, and to return the favor to WWL and other members of the SL when they are down in valleys.

 

Build Up/Bearpee Circuit 

1:4-10:40

8 CT Body Builders:Bear Crawls

Many breaks were taken during this iteration, as it sucked terribly. During one of said breaks, YHC took time to talk about a hero (or anti hero, if you so perceive it) in the Bible – Samson. He was a man of great strength but he had many weaknesses. Instead of surrounding himself with strong, like minded men, he decided to take the solo path and “do it himself.” On many occasions, he made decisions that were unbecoming of his path as a Nazarite, and it led to his ultimate destruction. Ultimately Samson came back to God and was given strength to perform one more time for God’s glory – but YHC regularly wonders how Samson would have ended up if he had solid counsel and strong men to his left and right.

 

Now, my man Wegmans has it all going on in the SL. He uses a perfect combination of sass and positive language to really drive home a point of when YHC is veering off the Path. A true linguistic HIM that doesn’t let you give a BS answer when push comes to shove. He is not bashful in his correction of YHC and others in the SL. Every man needs someone to speak to them like this from time to time – especially in a horizontal relationship such as the SL.

 

Periodic

“Periodic is the final element of the 3P. The Shield Lock must come together periodically to be Effective. For the HIM, this is a form of preventive maintenance. The Amateur waits until the needle is on empty before he stops for gas, but the Pro fills his tank periodically–regardless of where his needle is pointing at any given moment. By meeting periodically, the Members of the Shield Lock recognize each other’s incipient valleys and proactively initiate the fight against the Flux as a Team. In this way, the Shield Lock parcels out the pain felt by the man in the valley and bears it together as a team.”

Every Tuesday at 0445, YHC’s SL comes together for an hour ruck followed by an additional DRP to strengthen one another. We takes turns switching out who Q’s.

 

Fast/Hill DORA Circuit

Because what good is a message about the Shield Lock without some DORA?

Partner up, P1 runs down Massey St Hill and back while P2 works on reps of:

100/200/300

CDD’s/Curb Dips/Seal Jacks

Head back to COT.

 

What has my SL done for me?

It has kept me away from bad habits, kept my head up in challenging times, it has allowed me to tap into wisdom that I would have otherwise been blind to if I were doing this thing alone. It has stretched and challenged me to be a better man. It has given me life long friends. 

At the end of the work out, YHC asked by show of hands who was in a Shield Lock. About 75% of the PAX raised their hands. Good.

If you’re not in a SL, look to your left and your right. Who do you post with regularly? Who’s in a similar stage of life? It doesn’t have to be some magical connection reminiscent of a Hallmark movie. We are men who (for the most part) all have the same struggles. This is important. Take the step!

 

Dirty Harry and Repeat are the other two in YHC’s shield lock. They could not be in attendance due to illness today, but they have impacted YHC in many ways.

DH is the kind of friend who will do dumb things with you because you want to do them. By dumb, YHC means ridiculous GORUCK training and marathon rucks – for fun. He has impacted YHC in many ways beyond taking a DRP, as he has served our country and he proudly serves his M and 2.0’s above all others.

Repeat is the quiet one in the group, but he has stepped up when hitting the peaks to pull YHC out of the valleys. He is a solid member of the group and has walked alongside YHC recently in life challenges that we both are facing. YHC is happy to have him in the group.

 

Announcements

FiA LKW Marathon this weekend – hit up Slow Jamz for more info!

Fort Mill Golf Tournament Dec 12 – hit up Stang for more info.

Christmas Party up and coming. 

Read your newsletter.

Prayers/Praise

Rebel’s 2.0 is 23 today! 

Praise for YHC’s Shield Lock

Prayers for our country.

Prayers for One Niner looking for a job. 

 

Bobber – thank you for tapping our SL to lead on such an important topic. We men cannot do this alone.

Punch List out.

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Mentality – Thinking Right is a Daily Decision

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Footloose 10.22

15 Pax got a little better in the gloom at Footloose.  HIIT warmed up the group with 2 rounds of 3 min intervals (4 exercises w 10 reps each)  and a long lap around the yard.   A slow mosey returned the group to a parking lot with a slight incline and a cone.   In honor of Rebel’s Double Nickel Birthday, we began with a modified version of 5’s:   5 Burpees at the bottom with 5 Squats at top and the modified bear crawl up to the cone with a Donkey Kick before continuing a mosey up to the top. We finished the A$$KIcking Autumn workout with a modified 5’s of Diamond ( in honor of the double nickel Birthday for Rebel, we completed 5 rounds with 5 reps at each of the 4 corners.  Round 1 -5 burpees at each corner, Round 2 – 10 Merkins at each corner, Round 3 – 15 Monkey Humpers at each corner, Round 4 – 20 Overhead Claps…….Running out of time, we headed back to COT with 1 min to spare and 1 min to finish a quick Round of Mary.

Nice work by all!!  Thank you to Boss Hogg for the opportunity!  Prayers / Praises and a Happy Birthday Celebration wrapped up the morning: Bass-oh-Matic brought Bundt cakes for all Pax to enjoy.  Happy Double Nickle Birthday to Rebel (the day after actual Bday 10/21/2020)

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Back at the Swamp

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We had 12 Pax for the Friday morning workout at Rivergate.  After the disclaimer, the boot and ruck groups split up.

The boot camp group moseyed to the front of Buffalo Wild Wing for the following warm-up exercises:  SSHs, Imperial Walkers, Windmills, and Plank Stretches.

Next, we ran over to Khol’s for a round of 11s between the curbs.  Carolina Dry Docks, Bear Crawl, LBCs, and Crab Walk back.  When we were finished, we headed back to the front of Target.  The message, “Go as fast as you want but when you arrive at the Target, burpees until the six arrives.”  The message was not a deterrent, a few of the guys ran ahead and completed about 10 burpees before  the rest of the group arrived.

We continued to the fountain for a round of Dora.  One partner ran around the parking lot while the other partner started on the leg heavy routine.

100 Jump Squats

200 Step ups

300 Lunges

Back to COT.

Great job everyone!

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Fresh off GR021, we’re now at the Fire Ant

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If you were one of the 20 PAX that attended Fire Ant today, you heard me talk briefly about the impact of GR021 (GrowRuck 021) in Louisville this past weekend. Along with Olaf, Shady, Italian Job and Dark Helmet, I was blessed to participate in this extremely impactful weekend. Much like the rest of F3, the true benefits go way beyond the workout or in this case, the 14hr team ruck event spanning Saturday night into Sunday morning.

I tried to bring back just a taste of what we experienced and some of my learnings but unless you actually participate in these GrowRuck weekends, it’s hard to comprehend. However, I did want to bring a taste of the PT to our local PAX and so with 19 other Ruckers, we did the following.

Disclaimer

Warm Up
Jog, Knees to chest, Jog, Toy Soldiers, Butt Kickers, Jog back to our rucks

SSH x 5
Windmills x 5
SSH x 10
Windmills x 5

Ruck Up
Rucks overhead for a 30ct
Ruck Curls x 20 IC
Squat hold with rucks overhead for a 20ct
Ruck swings x 20
Tricep Extensions x 20 IC
Squat with ruck press x 10 IC

2 line ruck shuffle to back lot & ground the rucks
3-tier suicides then ruck up
Bear crawl to the far suicide line and plank
Bear crawl back to the half way point and circle up
Slick-dying cockroach x 30IC
BEAR ROACH for a while (I think we did a total of 20 to the left and 20 to the right). For this exercise, you get into a bear crawl position with your ruck on then upon command, roll over to the dying cockroach position. Upon command, get back to the bear crawl position.

2 line ruck shuffle back to the first starting spot and circle up
5 Merkins – 10 Carolina Dry Dock – 15 Bent Over Rows (all IC)
5 Squats – 5 lunges each leg
2 line ruck march back to COT

Announcements:
Read your newsletter
SIGN UP FOR THE F3 10YR
SIGN UP FOR A FUTURE GROWRUCK

SYITG
Maximus

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“Buffet of Awfulness”

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14 HIMs posted at Footloose this cool, dry Thursday morning for a Shatner beatdown. We started with the usual warmup exercises at the shovel flag, and then moseyed to the Church of God parking lot for the OYO main event.

Mumble chatter started immediately when the plan was shared. Anchor Man was super excited to start off with 100 pushups, and coined the phrase “Buffet of Awful.”

We started off with 100 reps of each of the following;

  1. Merkins or CDDs, then run around the church building and over the high stairs.

2. LBC/Hello Dolly, then lap around the church and stairs.

3. Squats/Alt. Lunges, then lap around the church and stairs.

4. Plank Jacks/Shoulder Taps, then lap around the church and stairs.

Repeated the same exercises at 50 reps each round with same lap around the church, and then we moseyed up the hill to the back of First Baptist Church for wall sits. Each of the 14 PAX did a 10-count, and then we moseyed back to the shovel flag for COT.

Thanks Boss Hog for the opportunity to lead at such a great F3 The Fort AO!

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