The Cones Return at Laces In

15 Pax fought off the fartsack and posted to Laces In on this chilly morning.  Seeing 28 degrees is just under my over 30 degrees no tights rule, Tclaps to Stang and Senator Tressel rolling with shorts.  #RealMen   I wanted to keep moving this morning to keep everyone warm.  This is one of my favorite workouts and was excited to bring it back from the vault.  Here is what we did:

Warm Up: Run lap around student parking lot.  COP coming back to stadium which included, SSH, Imperial walkers, Windmills, Peter Parkers, Merkins to Squats.

Main Course: Mosey to hill leaving school.  10 cones.  Perform exercise at first cone then run hill.  Perform exercise at first cone then second cone, run hill.  Perform exercise at first cone then second then third, run hill.  So forth and so on.

  1.  10 Burpees
  2.  20 Merkins
  3.  20 Mtn Climbers (Double count, like you have to ask)
  4.  20 Carolina Dry Docks
  5.  20 Flutter kicks
  6.  10 Lunges (each leg)
  7.  15 Jump Squats
  8.  20 Freddie Mercuries
  9.  20 Dips
  10.  20 Monkey Humpers

Appreciate all the pax telling me how much they were enjoying the workout everytime we started a new lap.  We made it to around Dips.  Bandcamp was king for the morning and made it to the last round.  We had a great group today and appreciate the support.  Without these guys pushing me, I would have been in my comfy, warm bed this morning.  Thanks for the push and accountability.  Aye

Prayers for Rock Thrill’s Mother, Stang’s house, Bonsai’s child care, Bandcamps co worker with cancer.

Until next time, (Which might be a while considering how bad I am at writing these things!)

STH

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Four Corners of Heck at the Abyss

Twas a nip in the air this morning but nothing that would bother the mighty lads of F3.  We gathered and at 5:15 sharp disclaimer was given and we moseyed.   Here is how it went down:

Warm-o-Rama

  • 400 Meter Mosey with side shuffles and toy soldiers thrown in
  • 20 SSH IC
  • 10 Imperial Walkers IC
  • 10 Hillbilly Walkers IC
  • 10 Wind Mills IC
  • 10 Merkins IC

The Thang, Part I

YHC asked Captain Jack to pick a number between 39 & 41.  With that we settled on the number of pull-ups each Pax was to complete.  Each was instructed to do as many as possible then at failure, run to the top of the inclined road behind the school, execute 5 merkins,  run back down and pick up the pull-ups where he left off.  Repeat until reaching 40 pull-ups or 5 trips up the road, whichever came first.  As we waited for the six, the Q regaled the team with an amusing tale about forgotten reading glasses and a Portobello Steak sandwich minus the steak.

The Thang, Part II “Four Corners of Heck”

  • Bear crawl to the middle, execute 5 burpees and lunge out between stations

Station #1

  • 10 Medicine Ball Jump squats
  • 10 single count curls/arm; 25lb or 20lb dumbbell, Pax choice
  • 20 Nolan Ryan’s (10/side)
  • 25 LBCs (single count)

Station #2

  • 10 Lunges per leg
  • 10 WWI Sit ups
  • 10 Tricep hammers/ arm with 20lb or 15lb dumbbell, Pax choice
  • 10 Diamond merkins

Station #3

  • 30 SSH – Single Count
  • 20 Flutters – Double Count
  • 15 Derkins
  • 15 CDDs

Station #4

  • 20 Ranger Merkins
  • 20 Monkey Humpers
  • 10 Lt. Dans
  • 15 Crab Cakes IC

Repeat one station

The Thang part III

These Pax are finely tuned boot camp machines and as such, finished parts I & II with time to spare.  YHC, not wanting to cheat them, ad-libbed:

  • People’s chair during which Pax on each end ran 5 yards out and executed 5 squats
  • Repeat with balls to the wall

Mosey to COT with 2 min to spare; 10 crunchy frogs IC; 10 Freddie Mercuries IC; 10 American Hammers IC

Ended the session with a reminder about the F3 Christmas party, praise for family gatherings, prayers for travelers and those dealing with loss.  Gentlemen, being part of the F3 brotherhood brings me great joy.  It was an honor to lead this morning.

Wolverine out.

 

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Always a burpee mile at Pantheon

Not too much creativity was brought to Pantheon on this comfortable, non-raining day. Arrived and set out 4 marker softballs around the larger running loop. YHC started with a message about serving and talked about the Thanksgiving drive in the Paradise neighborhood.

No FNGs, gave disclaimer. Started with a jog around the loop to note location of softballs for future use. Butt kickers, side shuffles, and a run backward high knees with no injuries reported. Followed with a circle of a few warmup exercises which included the always popular scissor one-leg flutters.

Workout consisted of running the large loop, stopping at 4 softballs along the way to do burpees. First loop 5 at each softball, then 4 and we eventually finished the 3rd lap. PAX took turns leading during the laps at the pace they desired. After each lap, we performed a series of exercises focusing on arms or legs. Exercises included, but may not be limited to:

Legs: squats, sumo squats, mountain climbers, people’s chair ( a few times with PAX counting down) , ski jump squats (very difficult to count as Q).

Arms: Balls to the wall 3x?, merkins, 6″ merkins, etc.

Calves: Rocky Balboa toe taps, calf raises, squat jumps focusing on getting off toes.

Finished with 3+ minutes of Mary feet never touching ground.

Gave more info about the food drive for our Thanksgiving efforts in Paradise. Thank you to Pantheon PAX for their pledges and donations which have already started come in just a few hours later!

Sign up for Christmas party.  Cornerstone is accepting character bandaids for the children’s hospital until somewhere around Dec. 20.  Come out to G-fit, our weekly workout in Paradise on Saturdays at 3:00 pm at Steele Street Park with the kids. Volunteer at the Reading Center on Mondays and Wednesdays at 4:00 pm at the Bethlehem Baptist Church, 601 Joe Louis St.

Prayers for Triple Lindy’s son. Prayers for our kids in school and sports. Support each other outside of our workouts. Triple Lindy is seeking employment if any PAX can help. While overlooked in COT, prayers to Lutefisk and family in their time of loss of his mother.

Thank you to Olaf for taking us out.

YHC had a good talk after with Fishsticks and Triple Lindy (first time meeting).

Here is the link to support our Thanksgiving efforts in Paradise. We must move quickly, within the next couple days.  https://f3thefort.com/2018/11/13/support-thanksgiving-food-efforts-in-paradise/

Aye Bolt.

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Pax singing Panama at Pantheon

5 men showed up for the workout at Pantheon.  Numbers low due to the Ragnar race on Saturday.  No worries, we had a great group of guys ready to take on the challenge.

The warm-up began with a lap around the car pool line.  We then circled up for the following exercises:

SSH x20

Imperial Walkers x15

Plank – downward dog, honeymooner

Arm stretch – up, down, side to side

That’s when the pax started singing Panama by Van Halen

uhh, I reach down between my legs n’ ease the seat back

She’s runnin’, I’m flyin’
Right behind in the rearview mirror now
Got the fearin’, power steerin’
Pistons poppin’, ain’t no stoppin’ now

It took me a while to make the connection..I am more of an 80’s R&B guy.

Next, we began the more difficult part of the workout.  We moseyed to the front of the school next to the pillars.  We started with an exercise, then a movement to the next pillar, skipping a pillar.  There were eight stopping points where we performed the following exercises:

Merkins x 10 = 80, lunge walk between pillars

LBCs x 10 = 80, bear crawl between pillars

Burpees x  5 = 40, duck walk between pillars

Carolina Dry Docks x 10 = 80, reverse lunge walk between pillars

After each round we ran around the parking lot.

Great job by all!

 

Prayers 

Family health

Injured Pax

Unspoken prayers

 

 

 

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Run, run, run. Do some things. And then run some more. Grass is wet.

The Thang:

 

Mosey up Munn Street to the other side of the school.

A few warm up exercises in the parking lot.

Partner up for accountability and run the LARGE half circle stopping three times to do 10 burpees, 20 merkins, 40 lbcs at each stop.

The complaining..errr…mumblechatter started.

Nice soft grass was found on the lacrosse field along with 2 tires.  Two groups lined up.  One line ran carrying the smaller tire while the other line rolled the tractor tire the length of the field.  The remaining Pax did a series of exercises until their turn.

Complaining.

A nice lil mosey o a wall for some sits and BTTW.

Another run and then 150 calf raises (50 regular/50 toes in/50 toes out)

Lots of complaining.

Ran back to COT for a quick round of Mary.

The End.

My message was short but hopefully is remembered when life happens – there is opportunity in change.  Look for the good side and embrace what that can mean for you.

As always an honor to lead the men of The Fort, esp on the day we honored Dark Visor who passed away yesterday in Alpharetta at a workout.

Until next time….

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10/1/18 – Quagmire BackBlast – 4 Corners to Kick off the Week

10 HIMs joined YHC to kickoff the week and the month with 4 corners of pain.

Warmup

  • Mosey around the parking lot
  • 35 Side-straddle-hops
  • 12 Windmills
  • 11 4 count merkins
  • 20 4 count mountain climbers
  • 20 4 count Moroccan Night Clubs

Mosey to parking lot corner & partner up for accountability and encouragement

We’ll be doing a workout at each of the 4 parking lot corners, about 50 yards apart. We’ll start with 1 rep and we’ll be going to 11.

Corner 1 – Burpees, Corner 2 – Merkins, Corner 3 – LBCs, Corner 4 – Jump Squats

Total Reps = 66 each corner/exercise & ~2200 yards

Mosey back to corner 1

  • 10 diamond merkins, sprint to Corner 2
  • 10 wide arm merkins, sprint to Corner 3
  • 10 diamond merkins sprint to Corner 4
  • Mosey to Corner 1
  • 10 wide arm merkins, sprint to Corner 2
  • 10 diamond merkins, sprint to Corner 3
  • 5 burpees, sprint to Corner 4
  • Mosey to Corner 1
  • 10 diamond merkins, sprint to Corner 2
  • 10 wide arm merkins, sprint to Corner 3
  • 5 burpees, sprint to Corner 4

Mosey to COT

1 minute left – Captain Thors to 5×20

COT

Announcements

  • Ragnar
  • #218in18

Prayers

  • Family routine
  • Marraiges
  • Brothers getting married (with broken foot)
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Six every 3 at Quagmire

Quick disclaimer, then to start, a volunteer PAX chose 3/6 out of 3/6, 4/8, 5/10. So, 6 burpees every 3 minutes, or the best the Q to do to maintain that throughout the workout.

Then, it was:

Mosey to Home Depot w/ BK’s, HK’s, SS’s.

6 every 3.

Warmup w/ SSH, WM’s, Flutters, MNC’s, 1-leg scissor lifts, etc.

6 every 3.

Six balls in parking lot. At each do 1 then 2,3,4,5,6 reps w/ mode of transport:

  • Broad Jump / Toe squats               6 every 3.
  • Crab Walk / V-ups w/ 3 sec hold               6 every 3.
  • Lunges / Squat Thrusters (leave ground)              6 every 3.
  • Bear Crawl / Donkey Kicks                6 every 3.
  • Straight Suicides / Monkey Humpers               6 every 3.

Jog, sprint behind HD to People Chair wall. 3 x we did PAX count 5 sec each x 12 = 1 min each time. Run across to opposite wall.

Jog to red balls. Half group went to ball 2, 4, 6 and did that many bombjacks. Other half did American Hammers.                       6 every 3.             Switch groups.

Jog back, finish with 10 Panther Pound  Eagle Pound Burpees (minus the roll on the macadem). We had done our best to stick to 6 every 3 but with some improvisation and timing issues, probably ended up around 58 or 68 burpees.

A brief discussion about the clock of your life. Where are you on the clock right now? What are things you want to do in that time? Is there anyone you need to talk to in that time…and how much time do they have left?  YHC has a strained relationship with parents and they are further along on the clock.

YHC’s clock with lifespan of 72 is 8:36.

Announcements, Convergence 9-29, Ragnar 10-5, .Praises, Royale for new 1st F leadership role. Thanks Jedi for the opportunity and for taking us out. Thank you PAX for following.

 

 

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Laces In – 9.20.18

14 strong at LacesIn on a great morning.  All tolerated a few of YHC’s favorite exercises.

Warm up

Short mosey and circle up for the usual suspects.

  • SSH
  • Windmill
  • Imperial Walkers
  • Merkins
  • Squats
  • Peter Parker
  • Parker Peter

The Thang

Mosey over the band lot and line up on the goal line for the following

  • Lunge walk 50 yards. Stop every ten yards for 10 squats.
  • Bear Crawl remaining 50 yards and 10 CDDs every ten yards.
  • Crabwalk back 50 yards with 10 LBCs every ten yards.
  • Burpee broad jump remaining 50 yards.
  • Theee rounds of suicides to the 10, 20, and 30

 

Mosey to base of hill at the entrance to parking lot from Munn Road and do the following:

  • 10 singe count Merkins, 10 sumo squats IC, 20 Freddy mercury IC. Run to third light pole and back.
  • 10 single count diamond Merkins, 10 monkey humpers IC, 20 Flutters IC. Run to top of hill and jog back down
  • 10 single count wide Merkins, 10 bombjacks, 10 hello dollies IC. Run to top of hill and jog back down.

Mosey back to start for a few minutes of Mary

COT

Announcements

Prayers/Praises

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Q School Week 3

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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Games At Pantheon

7 HIM began with a brief disclaimer followed by a mosey to the back of the school, the long way.

Circle up for Warm-O-Rama:
2 slow windmills.  Q altered his count for a HALT when he realized the wind was about to be stronger, so we did:
2 medium windmills.  Q altered his count for a HALT when he realized it was going to be a hurricane, so we did:
10 fast windmills.
Imperial Walkers x 15
Freddie Murcuries x 15
LBC’s x 15
Plank to 6″ for a 10-count, back to plank, right arm up, wave goodbye to clear skies, plank, left arm up, wave goodbye to clear skies, plank, 6″ for a 10-count. Recover on feet.
Q joins circle for Howling Monkeys (hold monkey humper position while one PAX at a time completes a 10 count monkey humpers), went two times through. Mosey to field in front of TCES

THA THANG: LET THE GAMES BEGIN

Considering the Q felt like we all may be stuck in our homes without power and we may have to play games with our kids, Q decided to  play some outdoor games while we could.
GAME 1: The BOPO Cornhole
Q brought cornhole boards, teams of 2 (one w/3). Start with 15 points (21 for the team of 3). Each team member threw two bags to attempt to reduce the score of 15.  Remaining number was # of BOPO reps.  Most ended up with 12.  Q modified all down to 7 reps, as he expected better cornhole throwers.  We did not do well.  Each PAX did 7 BOPO’s (Burpee, One-legged Burpee, Plank Jack, Other One-legged Burpee).  Thank goodness for modification.

Q is from God’s country, Minnesota, where the proper name for the next games is Duck Duck Grey Duck  (How does a goose get thrown in there? So silly…).  The only difference is PAX holds Al Gore whilst playing.  Played until our legs were shot.

Next, in consideration of the hurricane, we did the Bermuda Triangle.  3 cones approx. 30 yards apart, in the shape of *you guessed it* a triangle.  Cone 1, one burpee.  Cone 2, two burpees.  Cone 3, three burpees.  Rinse and repeat.  Travel from cone to cone via bear crawl.

Last game of the day was a nice game of frisbee.  Each PAX got a throw.  Upon the throw, PAX sprinted toward the frisbee.  As soon as it hit the ground, the thrower of the frisbee called out how to get the reminder of the way there. (Bear crawl, Crab Walk, Reverse Crab Walk, Duck Walk, Lunge Walk, Broad Jump).

Lastly, a little Triple Check. One team of 3 and One team of 3 plus Q.  Partner 1 held people’s chair while Partner 2 held plank while Partner 3 sprinted to the end of the parking lot and back.  Completed three of each position.

COT, announcements, prayers, praises, BOM.

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