Tag: Speed Handle

What’s in Your Bucket?

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9 men started their Easter Week off right on a cool morning (I was gonna bring my 2.0 this morning who turns 13 today but there was no luck getting him up).  A couple guys showed up that were up late watching some TV Show about Games or Thrones or the combination of the two.  Thanks to those who did and to bad to the others that didn’t.

I showed up with a trailer full of Buckets filled with Ziplock of Dirt.  A couple of the Pax seemed intrigued while a couple were confused.  Since I work for a Civil Engineering Firm I get paid to play in the dirt.  Typically I have to carry buckets full of Dirt around on a jobsite and no matter how good of shape I am in It always gets the best of me.  So I instructed the Pax to grab a bucket and lets mosey.  I did challenge them to grab  2 Buckets if they felt brave.  We took a short mosey to our normal area to circle up and do our COP: Nemo was running behind but caught up quickly after with his bucket.

Moroccan Night Clubs (10 in Cadence)
Cherry Pickers (10 in Cadence)
Sun Gods both ways (10 in Cadence)
SSH’s (30 in Cadence because it should always be 30 – I think I heard DOAH say that)
Merkins (10 in Cadence) – Hold into Downward Dogs into Honeymooners

I then explained  that the bucket of dirt is to symbolize what you are carrying around with you daily in life like Bills, struggles in marriage, children, Work and so on.  I wanted the Pax to carry the bucket around whole work out. If someone struggles then another Pax will take a couple bags out of their bucket and put them in their bucket to help them out. And when they start doing better we put the bags back into their bucket. Sometimes on my job sites I have to carry buckets of dirt around and it challenges me. Just like when you think you’re in good shape and you have everything under control in your life your bucket seems to get heavier.  I had a couple other small talks about this message that I threw in there for some 10 counts.  Fill your buckets with Joy and not Burdens.

So we went over to the Loading dock where we split up into 1’s and 2′ so we didn’t get over crowded on the dock and did 15 of the following while we jogged back and forth from the Dock to the Curb: Big Boys, Burpee’s, Mt. Climbers, Merkins and Monkey Humpers.

We then took our Buckets over to the Big Green Monster and did a 12 Ladder.  Bomb Jacks up top and Sumo Squats at bottom.  Lots of Slipping and Slidding today on the Green Monster.  It showed it’s teeth this morning.  Nemo went down along with some nice shoes turned into old mud shoes.

Had a few minutes left so we did a little Nascar Circle (sorta like Duck Duck Goose).  Each Pax would run around the Circle of Pax while each held a Bucket Squat and the second time while we held the Buckets over our heads.

Long mosey back with the buckets.  Not Fun!!!

Announcements about the Savage Race and Cannoli Run, Prayers for Injured Pax and traveling Pax.  Closed in Prayer remembering what this week really is about.  Oh and Homebrew announced that Me, I Two Ferns is getting Baptized this Easter Sunday!!

 

 

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1097 Day Review for Lake Wylie

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Today started off great.  It was warm(ish) around 58 degrees.  Set up at the Poopdeck and pulled in to a big crowd of guys.  In total we had 21 when I gave the disclaimer.  Once again really glad to see Funhouse, Fishsticks and Anchorman on their tour of the region for Asskickin’ April! 30 days, 30 AOs around the region, year #2!

So my teaser in twitter last night was a note on “Show up today to find out what happened 1097 days ago!” We would take a little trip down memory lane.  I gave the disclaimer and we were off.

dynamic warmup run =  High Knees – Buttkickers – Toy Soldiers

COP

SSH – IWs – Daisy Pickers – Merkins – Windmills – Broga – Mt Climbers

At the end of COP I shared what happened 3 years and 2 days ago (1097 days).  That was the first day of the launch of The Deep on the west side of Lake Wylie.  It has been just over 3 years that F3 has been around (seems like yesterday) for many of these men.  I let them know we would take a stroll down memory lane because I pulled some ideas off a few of my weinkes from that time.

1st Evolution

Lt. Dans with 10 flying squirrels at each of three cones

At the end we took an “Apache 10 count” and Anchorman got to share about himself.

2nd Evolution

I discussed that 1st day at thee Deep and Dark Helmet’s introduction to our own “special” exercise…the Kraken Burpee.  Half the guys didn’t know what it was! (I have truly failed you).  For the guys that did know, they let out a sigh knowing what was to come.

This evolution required four corners (cones) and one in the center for:

  • Center 5 Kraken Burpees
  • Corner 1 30 Merkins
  • Corner 2 30 Squats
  • Corner 3 30 Crunchy Frogs
  • Corner 4 30 Bombjacks

We split into four groups, started at the properly numbered cone.  Did the exercise, then met in the middle for the 5 Kraken burpees each time then rotated clockwise (yes Flux CLOCKWISE) to the next cone.

When all this fun was done I shared an old moleskin that I wrote back on 4/24/2016 a few weeks after The Deep’s launch.  I was so glad to see Anchorman today, because he’s mentioned in it!

Here it is:

Moleskin from 4/24/2016:

For the last month I have butterflies every time I pull up to The Deep…I always feel like I’m going to be alone at 7am. But every week, my fears go away when that first car makes the long turn into the parking lot…and more just keep coming! It’s been an honor to be able to share what F3 has done for me over the last year with the men of Lake Wylie. And although we didn’t have any FNGs this day, I know that the men already involved are going to make a difference in this community.

During our 10 counts today I shared some of the great truth nuggets I’ve gathered from our 3rd F conversations around fatherhood. There were 3 main lessons we received from What Did, Double D, Anchorman and Gekko at the 3rd F convergence a few weeks ago…and I thought it was something to repeat to the PAX today.  So Fatherhood was my 10 count.  Here’s what my interpretation looked like…I hope it does justice to the men that shared!

  1. Respect your M for your family to see. Your children see everything…every fight, joke, rudeness you put out there.  And then they think this is an acceptable way to treat a woman or wife.  Make sure it’s positive.
  2. Be present: We usually get family time at our worst time.  The last few hours in the day after you’ve done what it takes to feed the family.  Through F3 I’ve received the energy and strength to make that time worth while…when I used to want to veg out in front of the TV or my iPad for my alone time.  When you do get that time, use it and be there in mind, body and spirit!

3. I shared Gekko’s story about his daughter’s recent break up with her boyfriend. In short, she broke up with him because she expected more, like the relationship that Gekko and his M have.  What a complement to being a parent! But Gekko shared that his #1 advice was to raise his children to glorify God, and point them in his direction… and that’s the best you can do.  I appreciate those words Gekko.  Wanted to make sure they were shared!

Long enough share.  Mosey over to the wall by COT.  BUT WAIT! on our run back we see the Cat Lady… 5 burpees men!

Went to the wall…

Evolution #3

BTTW Mosey that Bart created back on his VQ in 2016. PAX would stand in a line doing reverse lunges while end of line would go to the wall, post up in BTTW and then hand walk down the full length of the wall.  This was new for a LOT of guys this morning.  Lots of mumble chatter on this one.  Half way through we switched to Squats to finish out the long line.

Evolution 4

Jack Webbs to 10…another crowd pleaser.  Radar lied and said he didn’t know what these were…

Back to COT with no time to spare

Announcements – Ass kicking April and Savage race 5/18

Prayers: For healing for Chop Block’s FIL with brain tumor and needs a true miracle,  Rocket in Lake Norman and his biopsy, Bones, Tinsel and Davinci for injuries that need healing.

BOM and we’re out!

BUT WAIT… on my way home I get a text from one of the PAX.  Next time you see Jedi you’ll understand what I mean… THAT happened at the Poopdeck. I’m so glad he is OK, pride will heal and cuts do as well… with 5 stitches.

An honor to Lead

~ Royale

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Incentive

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Spring is definitely here and so were 11 PAX ready to push themselves at the Crows Nest.

After giving a quick disclaimer we took the long mosey around to the back of the school where we circled up for a QUICK warm up.

  • 8 Windmills
  • 20 SSH’s
  • 10 Low Slow Squats
  • 10 Tempo Merkins

So a little backstory, not long before I took off for my 1st leg of the P200, I realized I forgot to sync some music to my watch.  So in a hurry, I quickly downloaded some “curated” playlists from Amazon.  I actually liked what I ended up running too, but there was one song that didn’t really fit the vibe, however, it had a great message.  The song was called “Perspective” from the Artist Blueprint.  It’s all about being equal and aware of what’s going on around you.  Being thankful for what you have and being considerate to everyone’s different cirucmstances.  In God’s eye’s we’re all equal.

I wanted the PAX to hear the song, however looking back on it, most of them we’re probably concentrating on not touching the ground than listening to the lyrics, but it was a nice follow-up to the quick warm-up and definitely setup the theme of the workout to follow nicely.

I told them that for the duration of the song we would plank (about 3.25 minutes).  If any one of us touched the ground, picked and arm up, etc., we would do 5 Burpees at the end of the song for each person that didn’t make it all the way through.  He only says Perspective 4 times during the song, but when we heard it we would drop to six inches, then back to plank the next time.  It turned out to be about 2 minutes of straight planking and then 1.25 minutes of 6″ to finish out the song.  4 of us didn’t make it, 20 Burpees for all.

So that theme I mentioned earlier, it was all about pushing us together, to go faster, and harder.  We would either succeed as a group or fail as a group.  “NoOYO”

1st routine: (timed)

  • 10 merkins
  • 25 yard Crab Walk
  • 10 diamond merkins
  • 25 yard Crab Walk back
  • 10 Merkins

I actually called an Omaha on this one, not really intentional, but the Crab Walks kept hitting my lap timer on my watch, so I lost track of our group time.  Crab Walking can be tough on some of the PAX so we just moved on to the next routine.

2nd routine: (timed)

  • 24 Merkins
  • 24 Squats
  • 24 American Hammers
  • Lap around the parking lot island
  • x2

It took ALL of us 3:50 seconds to complete this set.  So we did it again, this time advising the PAX that we would do 1 Burpee for every second passed 3:50… everyone responded with a time of 3:01.  Knowing that the PAX really pushed it to beat the  1st time, I said we were going one more time and boy did they respond, 2:45!  Amazing what a little incentive will do.  I wonder what would have happened if I said one more time??

3rd and final routine:

  • 10 SSH
  • 10 Lunges
  • 10 Flutters
  • 5 Burpees

We had 90 seconds to complete this, which I knew was generous, but we had plenty of time left… if we went over 90 seconds, 1 Burpee per second team penalty.

As soon as the last man was done, we repeated, this time adding +1 (cadence), so 12 SSH, 12 Lunges, 12 Flutters, 6 Burpees.  This took us 1:12, still well under 90 seconds.  Lets do it again, +1.  We continued this until time was almost up, we managed to get to 9 before passing the 90 second mark and came in at 1:42, so 12 Burpees before heading back to CoT.

I really enjoyed this workout, it came off really well and loved how we all pushed ourselves and picked up the six to continue to beat the buzzer.

I’ll be bringing this one back in one form or another.

We ended up the usual way, sent up some Prayers for Peg’s daughter who’s been dealing with some concussions, and also for Rocket, an F3 brother from Lake Norman, who is having a biopsy on his lungs today.  We pray that everyone is OK.

Thank you for the opportunity to lead these men today Iced-T.

Until next time,

-FLUX-

 

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Papers Of Pain

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For the second Q this week I actually suckered 15 more PAX to come out to one of my workouts.  No really I feel extremely blessed that 15 HIM actually decided to crawl out of the fart sack and post.  My Twitter advertisement for the BOARD OF PAIN and a challenge to see how far you can get in it certainly had a factor to play in the strong showing.

After my usual goofy disclaimer and a short mosey around the parking lot (trying to keep the running to a minimum due to an annoying heel spur that does not seem to want to go away) we went to COP: SSHx20/Windmillx10/Nancy Kerrigan’s X10(each leg fwd and reverse)/Produce Pickersx10/Reach To Sky-Touch Toes-Down Dog-Honeymooner-reverse sequence.

MAIN EVENT

I did not have a board so I printed out the exercises on 7 sheets of paper and taped them to a store window for all to see.

100 Burpees/150 Calf Raises/100 Ski Abs/100 Merkins/100 Squats/200 LBC’s/100 CDD’s/100 Russian Hammers/100 Makhtar D’iayes/100 JumpSquats/100 Mountain Climbers/200 Shoulder Raises/100 Mary Cathrines/100 Hello Dollies/100 Wide Arm Merkins/100 Squat Jacks/100 Nipplers/100 Burpees

After a good 35  minutes of this Jedi got the furthest through the papers by getting to Shoulder Raises, great job!  I myself improved from CDD’s my first time on the board to Makhtar’s this time out. 

Prayers for all sick and injured Pax out there and people battling cancer.  Q source is heating up and read the Muggo! Till next time, peace.

 

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KB Tabata Time!

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Good times for my 1st Q at Lake Wylie’s Premier (and only) Kettlebell workout!

Everything you see below was completed with music going on.  Because why not?  Music makes the workout more fun.  And yes, mumble chatter can still happen.  Events below kicked off with Kickstart My Heart-Motley Crue… booyah!

WarmORama–

Mosey around the full parking lot. Followed by toy soldiers, high knees, and butt kickers.

Exercises in quick succession:

Windmills, SSH, Weed Pullers, Imperial Walkers, Mountain Climbers

The Thang-

Tabata!  8 sets of 20 seconds AMRAP of an exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest. After set completion, Indian Run with 40 (or 50?) pound sandbad up front. Switch weight to person in front when they make it there.  Order of sets as followed:

  • Jack Press
  • Goblet Squat
  • Partner Curl/Merkin (one partner- merkins– the other takes both KBs for double curl)
  • Flutter w/ Press
  • Triceps Press
  • (And a couple rounds of KB American Hammers to finish out)

NameORama/COT

Great group of guys this morning with strong work.  I heard a lot of huffing and puffing from the group so I know that everyone worked hard.  We finished up with praise for Wolverine’s positive trip to the doctor, prayers for the tragic loss in Columbia and that the suspect was found, and prayers for the continued investigation for the lady in Lake Wylie.

 

Thanks for the opportunity to Q Two Ferns!  Can’t wait to make it back our for the next round!

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Proud Daddy Day at the Deep #Shorties

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I was rucking Friday morning with Olaf and the Chupacabra crew and he mentioned that he had the Q at the Deep but also signed up for the Operation Sweet tooth 8k so he was stuck with two HCs.  I mentioned I could take the Q at the Deep and about 12pm he took me up on that offer.

Here was my chance!  My 10 year old son “Blocks” has been asking me how he might get a name change.  He’s been saying “Blocks is his F3 Dads name and he’s looking to grow up” I told him that he’d have to lead some of the workout before a name change would be in order.

So Friday night I offered him the opportunity.  We worked on the warmup options, he picked 8 exercises, and we practiced some in cadence.  He even came up with a new exercise routine, “Death Grippers”.  More to come on that in a sec.

So Blocks and I got to the school early to set up and scope out the plan.  He was ready.  I told the guys what we had planned for a potential name change, gave the disclaimer and we headed out.

Mosey over to the soccer field for Blocks to take over.

He circled up the PAX and went to it.

SSHs – Arm circles 5 forward 5 back large and small – IWs – LS Squats – Windmills – Big Boy Situps (his favorite) and the new Death Grippers.  They are Burpee –> Squat –> Lunge = 1!

He had a strong voice, checked his paper several times, but kept cadence really well.  He was so excited when he was done!  I definitely had a proud Dad moment right then.

I took back over for the rest of the fun.

We headed back to the hill for 11s

10 CDDs at the top –> 1 Sumo Squat at the bottom .  Count up/down until flipped.

Good hustle, especially from our 2nd Day PAX Hermey.  The hill work is not easy.

Mosey to the back of the school for what I call “Concentrica Cornhole”

Blocks and I set up by drawing the Concentrica on the ground. From inside to out it went:

M = 10 SSHs

Shorties = 10 Flutter Kicks

Shieldlock = 10 Lunges

Whetstone = 10 Partner Hand Slap Merkins

Mammon = 10 Absolutions

I had set up a line about 20 yards away and the PAX would throw a cornhole bag at the bullseye.  It definitely paid to be a winner.  Missing the whole target was 10 burpees!  Each PAX got to go twice.  Let’s just say we did way too many burpees!

Once we finished up I shared a small message about Q-source and what the Concentrica is. How we have a limited and unknown number of arrows and that we should aim for the bullseye everyday… and how life doesn’t allow that often, but small and intentional changes can help to correct that!

Off to the front of the school. Time for some wall sits while each PAX from each end did 5 merkins. Then 30 count BTTWs, repeated this twice.

Only a few minutes left, made it back to COT for a little Ab lab.  The PAX finished strong!

So the group agreed Blocks did his part to get a new F3 name.  He shared with the PAX, we batted a couple things around…we ended on Lancelot at the recommendation of Shakespeare.  Pierce loves his new name, and I’m so happy I got to share that experience with him.

COT

Announcements – read your newsletter

Prayers from around the PAX, sorry I should record these…

More moleskin:

A lot of times I feel like an absent father.  I spend more time usually with you guys in the gloom than my own family each day… it’s a regular struggle for us men. I definitely spend way too much time at work, it’s not easy to balance…and shouldn’t be looked at as a balancing beam anyway. But it’s these moments, where you can put good intention into action, be intentional, and build that bond with your shorties.  We went to Qsource and I lead that with Lancelot sitting right next to me… it was an awesome Saturday!

 

An Honor to Lead

~ Royale

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Flag Day

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15 High Impact Men rolled up to the Crow’s Nest for a very humbling day for myself.  I did a quick disclaimer as we did have a FNG in the house and we moseyed on over to one of the side parking lots for some COP.

SSHx20/Windmillx10/Reach To Sky,Touch Toes, Down Dog,Honeymooner/Annie’s/Produce Pickersx10 

We then moseyed on over to the back playground which where all the fun toys are.  With the crowd at the Nest this morning I decided against having each individual PAX doing monkey bars swings while the rest of the PAX did Burpees as it would have taken forever and most of the PAX would’ve beed smoked within the first 15 minutes of the workout, so I went right into the …

Main Event

My very first post was the Crow’s Nest during the very first time there was an F3 workout there and in honor of this I borrowed from Flux’s workout all the way back from last March 5th, 2018.  He had us do crazy 8’s so I followed suite but with a little modification.  We all did 8 Pull Ups/ 8 Merkins/ 8 Squats for 8 rounds.  In between each round we traveled in between the parking lot islands in a figure 8 pattern but each time there was a different mode of travel. First was a normal run, then bear crawl curb to curb, then Crab Walk curb to curb, then bunny hop around islands, then pylo skip around islands, normal run, bear crawl, finishing off with a run.

Co-Main Event 

Bear Crawl up ramp to park area with plenty of stone seats where I had us do Elevens of Step Ups(each leg) and merkins.

Moseyed on over to side wall for some people’s chair while end Pax did 3 burpees each. Much to the chagrin of Flux, Qbert had the best burpee form though Flux’s bear crawl is second to none. Moseyed on back for COT.

Observations-never drink a protein shake before a workout or it might splash back up on you.  Luckily I was able to hold it down as it would have been real embarrassing to splash merlot while Q’ing.  Also welcome FNG Meltdown!  Someone wanted to name him Chernobyl but that would have been just wrong(LOL).

Grateful and honored to receive the Crow’s Nest shovel flag from Flux.  He has truly been a great leader. The 13 months I have been a member of F3 have been some of the best months of my life.  To many more adventures with you crazy people! Prayers for the families of some high profile murders that have been in the news lately, God give them strength.  Till next time, peace.

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Walk around the Kettlebell Clock…

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Two Ferns was kind enough to put me on the Kettlebell Q at Cannonball.  I decided P200 will be plenty of running, so why not work the rest of the body?  I showed up to set up and it was pitch black in our parking area… seems Two Ferns didn’t change the timer at the church for day light savings!  Well he fixed that in two minutes and I set up for the fun.

Guys were gathering and it was great to see two of our FNGs this week, Whitesnake &  Speed Handle show back up for there 2nd and 3rd WO (respectively).  And it’s ONLY TUESDAY?  These guys are in for a treat… and are hitting the ground running!

Gave the long disclaimer, and we left our kettlebells and started a mosey around the parking lot.

High knees, butt kickers and some Toy Soldiers

Circle Up for some COP

Standard exercises with a varied rep count to keep the guys guessing.

Side Straddle Hops – Windmills – MNCs – Imperial Walkers – Ranger Merkins – Mountain Climbers – Peter Parkers

We moved on to my setup. So I’m still new to kettlebells, so I stole this WO from my friend Fishsticks WHO DID THE PROPER THING AND POSTED A BACKBLAST!  Let’s keep that going Site Qs and QICs.

12 cones, one centered. One PAX move from clock to center, KB Lunges then 5 burpess at center and lunge back. Rotate to next spot holding KB overhead. Continue pattern for as long as I want.

  1. American Hammers
  2. Curls
  3. KB Swing
  4. Flutter
  5. Upright Row 10x times 2
  6. Goblet Squat
  7. Tricep Press
  8. Figure Eight
  9. Shoulder Press Single Arm and rotate
  10. Floor to Shelf 10x times 2
  11. Chest Press
  12. KB Clean 10x times

After we make it around the whole clock, do a lap without KB –  We repeated around the clock 2 times.

Round 2 finished right at 6:00am to we moseyed back to COT

Annoucements

Read your newsletter, join us tonight for 2nd F at Mac’s Speed Shop

Praises and Prayers for unexpected passing of F3 WaterBug, our children and being present, and a friend to the PAX’s mother who is 92 and in the hospital for potiential NORA virus.

Two Ferns shut down the lights, and it was time to go!

An Honor to Lead

~Royale

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