Wednesdays are great. You’re in the middle of the workout week and your body and mind are prime to push things a bit. Today was no exception at the Coop.
No FNGs. Disclaimer was disclaimed. Off we went.
Slow mosey around the parking lot and pretty much back to the COT area for the COP:
15-30 of the following, keeping folks off balance:
* SSH
* WM
* IW
* MNC
* LSS
Then off to the track for the following:
Hillbilly 12s:
You vs you, as far as you can push it. 12 rounds of the following:
Most completed 8-9 rounds, a few completed more. Everyone did great!! There was a lot of good mumblechatter as always with the Coop group, as well as some good ol fashioned complaining which means I did something right. If I can get Alchemy to slow down then I know I picked a good workout routine.
Kudos to those PAX who said they are not runners, that they do not like running – they ran well the WHOLE TIME and pushed themselves. That’s how you get better at a weakness.
We do not do enough regular running / cardio in my opinion. We made up for that today. About 3 miles running plus around 80 BH and HH. Cardio health is the key to your longevity. Do not slack on it!!
Back to COT for Announcements, P&P.
Thanks Punch List for the opportunity to lead.
-NASA
Mosey around the side of the school.
quick word about what mental health means to you
Warm up
15 – Windmills
15 – Imperial Walkers
20 – Moroccan Nightclubs
10 cherry pickers
5 burpees OYO
30 count people’s chair with arm flutters
Balls to the wall 10 count
30 count people’s chair with
Balls to the wall 10 count
30 count people’s chair
Balls to the wall 10 count
5 burpees OYO
Mosey to the back of the School
discuss that there is more to mental health than depression
20 Merkins
20 CDD
20 Hand Release Merkins
5 burpees OYO
Lunge walk half way down flip to LT. Dan’s
5 burpees
mosey to the side of the school
Plank
Plank shoulder taps
Seal Team Sit-ups
20 American Hammers
Mosey to the front of the School
Global warming with 30 Monkey Humpers each Pax one at a time while Every one held al-gore, imagine 25 pax = sore legs
Maximus Shared his struggles and YHC spoke about my struggles in the past due.
It was awesome to hear so many Pax open up and being vulnerable. T-Claps to all that attended this is not a easy subject to discuss.
Prayers sent up for those that are struggling and have struggled with this topic.
I was excited to be the Q at The Colosseum this cool morning and my attempt to push the Pax at one of The Fort well known challenging AO’s. Being one of the older pax, I wanted to push everyone physically and also share what has been going on in my life storm and how I have felt the love and support of the Pax.
A short disclaimer was given since all of the Pax were well versed in F3. Off we moseyed to the basketball courts and circled up for some warm-up.
Moseyed to the back bus entrance drive for some light pole work. I arrived early and with the side walk chalk (borrowed from a neighbors child, DD made mention that my kids were to old for sidewalk chalk) I put an exercise at 6 poles. Start at 1st pole, do the exercise and run to 2nd. Return back to 1st and go 2nd, 3rd and return. Continue this up the hill to the 6th pole and back.
Poles:
Once all Pax completed then we went back to the 6th pole and worked our way back to the 1st pole.
Mosey back to the basketball court for Mary.
This past week has been one of the toughest in our parenting years. When we got a call at 1:30am from our 21 yr old daughter and she had a serious accident and her car flipped and then caught on fire, our hearts sank. Thankfully through the Grace of God, all of the events of that night turned out to be ok for our daughter physically. No injuries and just a loss of material items. This has opened our eyes to a couple of things. God’s love and protection of His children even when sometimes we have run far away from Him. Mental Illness is real and when you see your adult age children struggle with this, it is heart breaking. The relationships that we build in F3 are real and I have felt the love and support of the PAX.
In the QSource we talk about preparing for the expected and unexpected and the unexpected preparation was confusing to me. I now understand that for me, this preparation was building the relationships with My Lord, My Shieldlock, Pax and having a good relationship with my M. When the unexpected storms of life come and crash on the beach, you have to have others around to help walk through the storm and lift you up. I have felt this over the past week.
Thanks to Jekyll for the opportunity to Q and share!!!
It was a crisp February morn… crisp enough to wear short sleeves, in fact. A change was in our midst and you could feel it coming in the air as Phil Collins would say.
Three weird-O’s (NASA, Dirty Harry, and YHC) showed up at approximately 4:10-4:13 to pre ruck four miles. Wegmans joined in somewhere along the way to get his daily mileage in, and then peeled off to get the field ready for his Weinke.
As Wegmans prepped, we finished our rounds and met up with other PAX around the shovel flag, which would soon be in my possession. Sixteen was the count.
Wegmans called the time, disclaimed the disclaimer, and then took us to the field.
We moseyed, we circled up, and we wind milled. Three times, in fact. Just enough to get Ginsu going about his affection for this specific movement. I cannot recall the other warm up exercises, but they were all counted to prime numbers in true Weginator fashion.
It was at this moment that I realized I had to utilize the best part of the AO. The toilet. I truly understand why NaFo is the #bestAO now.
Wegmans counted us off by 1’s and 2’s as I ran for the facilities. I took my break and found there was a 100 yard race of burpee/tire flips (one at a time), and my team has lost. This meant we did 10 Burpees while the other team did monkey humpers in our direction. We had a second chance, and we just about prevailed until shenanigans took place. Wegmans punished all of us with Burpees. That was fair.
Then he handed it off to the new site Q. I had some plans as well…
Football Field Circuit
Partner Workout
Each Partner Wheel Barrows every other 10 yards, both partners complete workouts equal to yard marker on the field that you land. Start at one end zone and work toward the other.
Endzone – Burpee Broad Jumps x 7
10 – Donkey Kicks
20 – Hand Release Merkins
30 – Jump Lunges (each leg)
40 – Air Squats
50 – LBCs
40 – Air Squats
30 – Jump Lunges (each leg)
20 – Hand Release Merkins
10 – Donkey Kicks
Endzone – Burpee Broad Jumps x 7
Gotta go back across the field.
All Together
Bear Crawls every 25 yards, stop for a workout
25 Yards
15 Bomb Jacks
25 Yards
15 Jump Squats
25 Yards
15 Bomb Jacks
25 Yards
15 Jump Squats
Props to Shield for kicking this weinke’s tail on his second post.
End with some Jack Webbs to burn the shoulders – made it to 5 Push Ups & 20 Claps.
Headed back to COT to do some quick Mary.
Ended with a shovel flag hand off. Looking forward to Site Q’ing the Coop for the foreseeable future. Hopefully I can keep the same momentum that Wegmans had working. Thanks to Wegmans for what he’s done with this AO. A true HIM.
Due to my slacking and not submitting this backblast immediately… I’ve lost track of the prayer requests. Please forgive me for that.
Some @HeardatF3 Mumblechatter…
Dark Helmet: “I wonder how this split Q is going to be?”
Wegmans: “Well I’ve already seen PL’s Weinke… so…”
Punch List Out.
0545 – Arrive at Palisades Elementary School AKA The Abyss where Bear Grylis is tailgating like its the Summer Concert tour and he’s at FORT-A_PALOOZA.
Ruckers and Runners were gathering and getting ready for a full morning of all 3 F’s. The Pre-Ruck led by Bonsai (as Worldwide Leader was MIA) got together and away they went.
YHC gathered all of the Clave Boss 5k runners and gave the instructions for the course. Signs were posted however it was still difficult for some to follow (Royale, Funhouse and some others) and they got 3.5mi surprise.
0605 – The 4th Annual Clave Boss 5k launched and 32 runners hit the hills of Palisades. This year we awarded Bundt Cakes to the first runner at various paces.
Appreciate all the participants. Next Year’s 5th Annual will be a special event for sure!!
0700 – Preruck has returned, Clave Boss has wrapped up and now more cars have entered the parking lot with PAX gathering all around. It was time to launch the convergence. YHC ask if there were FNGs, and we had 4 in attendance, gave the disclaimer. YHC then gave RUCK crew green light to jet with a 0750 COT. The remaining 75 or so PAX had YHC and Maximus for the next 50minutes
The Thang:
Mosey parking lot….20 SSHs, Go to other end of lot, Merkins, go to other end of lot for squats, back to other end of parking lot for LBCs
Line up in 6 lines, each line goes to a cone and each cone has exercise on it
3 rounds of above, 5 reps, then 10 reps, then 15 reps
The mumble chatter was classic and the fellowship as always enjoyable
Handoff to Maximus
Mosey to back of School and line up in 6 lines for Pain Platoon
Mosey to front of school for COT:
Plank while waiting on RUCK crew and 6 inches with Walker…..always fun!!
YHC can’t thank Mr Clean enough for this message and his friendship. over the last 2 years we have grown together to be better Christ followers, better husbands and fathers. He is such a great leader and I’m blessed to have him in my life.
If you need someone like this in your life, reach out to me and we’ll get you set up as there are a boatload of HIMs in the PAX
********ALERT***********ALERT**********ALERT*********ALERT***********ALERT****************
It was time for some major announcements in leadership. YHC has led as NANTAN for The Fort region for about 15months. Prior to that I was Weasel Shaker and prior to that 3rdF Q and in-between Site Qs of Ranch, Ballroom, Crossroads,, ChicknWizdim, and led CSAUP teams at P200, Kiawah and others.
It was time to hand over the keys to this well oiled machine to a new leader. A man I’ve watched grow and lead in all 3 F’s and lead well. First got to know him well on the 2014 BRR 9 man team. I was asked to attend Colombia mission with with him in 2015 that he led. Have Qd many times with him and attended a retreat in Boone with him in 2017 and saw his heart for God, Family and the PAX of The Fort. In 2018 he led BEYOND and pushed men to not only dig deep physically but to stretch themselves emotionally and spiritually. This sealed it for me that this man understood leadership and that men needed to be Freed to Lead.
MAXIMUS is the new NANTAN of The Fort!
I personally am excited for this next chapter and look forward to more men being Freed to Lead by his example and inspiration. With this change, some other leaders have stepped up as well.
I personally want to thank Old Bay for years of leadership and more importantly friendship. I true HIM who makes so much happen behind the scenes that there is no way The FORT would be where it is today without him.
Also, want to thank Anchorman for 2nd F Q during my time as Nantan, as well as all his leadership at Footloose, encouraging guys to push themselves and the many great ideas and ways to challenge the PAX. Appreciate you brother!
BOM – Gecko had great words to close out this convergence. As we celebrate the birth of Jesus and all of the Holidays, I pray we find JOY in everything and not take anything for granted. I appreciate all the PAX and my brothers of THE GLOOM.
Cake Boss
13 #HIM joined YHC at the Ranch for Chest Day. Welcome Greenspan (nomad from Winston Salem).
Mosey to the big concrete circle.
WARMUP
THE THANG
Start at the top of the circle at the first of 5 speed bumps. Run around the circle, completing the indicated chest exercise at each speed bump. Do 10 incline merkins and 10 decline merkins on the benches at the top of the circle after each round. LBCs while we wait for the 6.
Exercises for each speed bump:
= 350 total chest reps
Mosey back to COT for one last exercise
Captain Thors to 7 x 28
COT
Thanks to Jiffy for the opportunity to lead
– Ginsu
The Coop takes me an extra 5 minutes to get to. I should really set my alarm 5 minutes earlier but hey, I’ll just move quicker. I don’t go often to this AO but it’s where i took my first face-plant at an F3 workout (I was the only PAX wearing a headlamp), so it’s got a special place in my heart. Running a bit late I rushed to get there on time and brush the fog away from my head. Arrived with a minute to spare, almost take a couple PAX out as I roll in, fall out of my car and greet the PAX. Oh boy, there’s some fit dudes here. Better make it count.
Brief Disclaimer (butchered it) and a bunch of jokes about how many miles are we going to run this AM, we set out for a 0.50 mile mosey warmup. Which ended at the Band Practice Field.
COP (SSH, Windmills, Mtn Climbers, Merkins) all in Cadence at varying counts
Line Up on the Baseline Goal Line (Thanks Ginsu)
Mosey to the pull-up bars for some DORA (Partner 1 Exercise, Partner 2 Run down to Stop sign and back)
Mosey to the parking lot for a few minutes of Mary and close with a Body Destroyer.
Appreciate the heckling from Spiderman and DH. It’s how they love on you. Great mix of PAX this morning and got to meet a few new guys. Appreciate the opportunity Wegs and looking forward to hosting PAINtheon Games 3.5 this December at The Coop. I’m sure there was a bunch of other shenanigans that occurred during this workout but YHC was a little light-headed and focused on not spilling his merlot. Feel free to add on the twitter train. Aye!
COT
Announcements
Prayers/Praise
Thanks again Wegmans!
Zima Out!
18 men joined YHC for a total of 19 for a late summer beatdown.
Mosey to back parking lot.
Warmup
The Thang – LIGHTPOSTS!
Mosey back to COT
Announcements
Prayers
– Ginsu
18 PAX showed up strong on a beautiful spring morning. After the disclaimer, we shuffled out for a brief mosey replete with a Longshanks-style warmup: Butt kickers to Carioca around the Springs corporate center parking lot.
COP in front of the Springs corporate center (more on location later)
SSH x30
Imperial Walkers x10
Hillbilly Walkers x10
Windmill x10
Plank up ATM Variation:
Shoulder Taps x15
Tempo Merkins x10
Single-count Merkins x10
Head over to 8ft(ish) wall for some Muscle Ups x10 (oyo)
Plank up ATM Variation:
Shoulder Taps x15
Hand release Merkins x5
Mosey to UC Synergetic upper parking lot
Brief Thang:
Line Drill w/ Partner (Dora-sides): After both partners complete the line drill running, switch to bear crawl until exercises are completed. Partners strive for 20 Burpees, 100 LBCs, 200 Squats collectively. Mercifully, few had to bear crawl more than two line segments.
No Block Party is truly complete if the police don’t make an appearance. One of Fort Mill’s finest made a round through our parking lot. It appears, in YHC’s zeal to move from Springs Global to UC Synergetic, a stealth mosey of 18 PAX ignited a fire in the hounds of the mill hills. Despite our best efforts a local resident was not pleased with their dogs barking and asked for an officer to investigate. Once we’d been deemed nonthreatening, we completed the modified Dora/Line Drill.
To honor the dogs:
Plank up
Honeymooner to Down Dog
Hold Down Dog
Raise right leg high – bend the knee (open the hip)
Swing right leg forward between hands (knee to nose) into one-legged plank
Tap right knee to right elbow x5
Tap right knee to left elbow x5
Return to Down Dog
Repeat with Left Leg
Mosey down Massey hill to lower UC parking lot
Wall sit (till PAX began grumbling)
Monkey Humpers x20
10-count
Monkey Humpers x20
10-count
Derkins w/ feet on wall x10
Monkey Humpers x20
Derkins w/ feet on wall x10
Rest facing wall – 10-count
Calf raises facing the wall x20
Jump the wall and mosey up the hill
Word of the month is “Worthy.” This word has been on my mind for quite some time. Matthew 22 and Luke 14 give a parable about a great banquet or wedding feast where the invited guest (those “worthy”) don’t show up or actively refuse to attend. As a Christian, Jesus’s death has made my unworthiness worthy. But do I respond when he calls? How can I live in a way that is worthy of the blessings I’ve received and the gifts God has bestowed upon me?
Mosey back to COT (not past the dogs)
Mary: Flutters x20, Seating forward bends (right leg, left leg, both)
One last thought on worthiness. In Jedi’s BackBlast from his Beyond Q (https://f3thefort.com/2018/03/12/identity-and-purpose-digging-deeper-and-going-beyond/), he mentions the idea of our motivation. Is my motivation for being worthy for my own benefit/vanity, or is it to glorify God. It may be that my current struggle with the concept stems from a selfish or myopic motivation. Can I be more worthy of God in order to glorify God rather than myself? This is my goal.
As an aside (if anyone has made it this far in the BackBlast reading), the actual act of writing his BackBlasts served to solidify the message I tried to deliver during our workout. I’ve been working out at F3 AOs for 6 months now, and I’m beginning to see what Old Bay, who EHed me to my first workout, mention about how much more than a workout F3 is.
Grateful for the opportunity to lead and appreciate of all the PAX that showed up to work and grow this morning!