I’ve been doing breathing exercises for awhile now, but I didn’t consider it an activity worthy to include at an F3 workout. Then Santini did it, so now I had to do it better.
Warmup, nothing new here, go read a dozen other backblasts
The Thang
So the point of this is to max out your heart rate and then try to control it as best as possible. So step number one… max out heart rate.
40m sprint then 5 burpees, 40m sprint back, 5 burpees, repeato.
Continue till I call time, which ends up being around the 5-10 minute mark. I think I got 4 to 5 back and forths in… I just called time when I maxed my heart rate. I know I’m at it, cause I could lose control of my bowels at any moment. There are two kinds of people in the world, those that Merlot and those that crap in the woods.
On to step number two. Take 5-10 deep breaths (as deep as you can, pushing your abdomen out in every direction you can to put as much air in your lungs). Exhale and then hold your breath for as long as you can. When you can’t hold it any longer, take a deep breath in. Hold it for 15 seconds.
In this interval you should try to oversaturate your blood with oxygen in order to be able to hold your breath with no air in your lungs as long as possible. This triggers your parasympathetic nervous system, floods your body with CO2 (which will later help oxygen absorption), and slow down your hear rate.
Repeat the max heart rate, repeat breath exercise.
Change heart rate exercise to 40m bear crawls and 5 bomb jacks, repeat breathing.
Wrap up with core and back/shoulders.
Moleskin
Jekyll asked me if I’d ever used this for stress. I have. I have also used it for insomnia. Recently, I used it to get rid of a headache. Somehow it reduces inflimation as well, because when I do it in the morning, if I’m having sinus pressure, it goes away. I used to pop Ibuprofen like tic-tacs, but now I haven’t used it in years, and breathing is a player in that equation. Exercising is great, but it’s only step one in the effort to make yourself a less fragile human.
It was a cold and rainy morning at the Hive. Not an ideal morning for swinging metal around, but that did not stop seven men from battling the elements to workout. After a quick disclaimer, we took a jog around the parking lot. Next, we did some light stretching to reduce the risk of injury.
After the warm-up was complete, we formed a circle around a light pole. The workout was called the Kettlebell Clock (not very original, but it works). Like the face of a clock, there were twelve exercises. At twelve o’clock, the person performing the exercise would act as the second or “sweep” hand of the clock. Once complete, we would rotate to the next exercise by lunge walking to the next interval of the clock. Below are the exercises we performed for each interval:
American Hammer
Curl
KB Swing
Flutter
Upright Row
Shoulder Press
Tri-cep Press
Figure Eight
Lawnmower
LBC
Chest Press
Rounds 1 and 2 – Squat Thrusters (20 reps), Rounds 3 and 4 – Burpees (5 reps) with a light jog to the end of the parking lot and back.
Great job by all. We had some fun discussion ranging from how much a musical instrument costs to the Hamm brothers.
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.
September 29, 2012 the landscape of Fort Mill changed dramatically. Some men from north of the border grabbed the attention of a few men south of the boarder and said we may have something for you. Double D, Santini, Senator Tressel, World Wide Leader, Red Banjo, Assassin, Peach and maybe others made the commitment to come to a “workout” on that Saturday morning. It was very skeptical, but I am sure each of them will say it changed their lives.
Here we are 6 years later, meeting in the same park with more than 200 regular participants (800+ over the years) at 37 workouts across The Fort/Lake Wylie area. Thank you to those that gave it away and thank you to those that said yes!! I think it is safe to say, IT’S MORE THAN A WORKOUT!!!
Today we recognize the 6 years with 6 Qs leading a beat down in 1st F style. On September 21st, Jekyll led us in our Invergence, which reminds us of the 3rdF and that there is something bigger than ourselves. Serving, Praying and Worshiping together happened then. On this day, we are getting better physically and having some fellowship with 70 of our PAX,
Format was a rapid fire approach where each Q has 10mins to lay it on the PAX. Old Bay would keep time and blow the air horn (maybe tweet the horn??), and then the next Q jumps in.
YHC asked for FNGS, (none) and explained the plan of attack, and then the Horn Sounded
The Thang:
Wegmans for COP
Mosey down path out to grass
Circle up and some traditional and not so traditional exercise moves.
We did notice another “Boot camp” group in the gloom. T-clapps to them, however also saw 2 holding clip boards…..not F3!!
Horm Blows
Funhouse on Q
Mosey to the hill for Jacobs ladder
Burpees
Squats
Some mary to fill time
Horn Blows
Jwow on Q
Mosey to top of hill for partner work
step ups/lunge walk up and down hill
squat jumps/lunge walk up and down hill
Plank hand slap with partner
Horn Blow
Twister on Q
Mosey to tree line
Army Crawl to tree /SSHs
Sprint to tree/Merkins
Army Crawl to Tree/SSHs
Sprint to tree/merkins
2 rounds
Run Path until Horm
Horn Blows
FLUX on Q
Mosey back to hill
6s – do following 6 times
bear crawl up hill
diamond merkins
bear crawl back down hill
Some filler in there of something aweful
Horn Blows
Assassin On Q
Mosey to play grownd
Dips
Derkins
Burpees
multiple rounds with running around the playground until…..
Horn Blows
The PAX was dripping wet from rolling in grass but also from the humid beat down that just occurred. Thanks to all the Qs for bringing it and having fun out there.
I brought up to the PAX “WHY”? Why F3 versus the many other options we have even outside of fitness and self help books. Why do we get up early and why do we do CSAUPS and why do we attend 3rdF and give away our time at various community organizations???
Pockets, Spud and Assassin all shared their Why. Thank you! I’m sure there were many more that would undoubtedly impactful.
I mentioned my why was straightforward for me. I want to continue to challenge myself physically, surround myself with like minded guys heading in the same direction and reach more guys for Sky Q and HIS purpose. I feel F3 has positively impacted my life in all 3 Fs and why would I not give it away??
10 HIM gathered in the gloom for a split Q and passing of the shovel flag.
Tesh began:
SSH x25
Windmill x10
Imperial Walker x10
Lap around the parking lot (counterclockwise…)
COP:
5 Kettlebell burpees
10 Snatches (5 each arm)
3 reps of this
Partnered up and Lined up facing the stadium:
Farmer carry both bells while partner planks & shoulder taps
Repeat with partner doing overhead claps instead of planking
Switch Q to BandCamp:
Bear Crawl towards the stadium until we ran out of pavement
Al Gore for the 6 and then Al Gore+Moroccan Night Clubs x10
Honeymooner–>Downdog rinse and repeat
Bear Crawl back to our bells. Moved to the wall outside the gym.
COP:
5 burpees
10 Overhead chest presses
10 Reverse Lunges w/ kettlebell held at the beltline
Reverse Lunge w/ single arm press and hold for 10 count
NAMED EXERCISE: The Solo Tesh: (standing)
– single-arm overhead press the kettlebell and hold for 10 seconds
– return kettlebell to clean position and hold for 10 seconds
We did 3 reps on each arm
20 Goblet Squats
10 Overhead chest presses
Wall Sit with bell intermittently held over our heads during storytime. Rinse and repeat.
Mary:
Flutter x15
Superman x10
Peter Parker x10
LBC x10
NMM:
In honor of Tesh’s two years of steady leadership at #TheHive, this workout drew some from his first post at The Hive: https://f3thefort.com/2016/02/15/afraid/ Q-ed by Geronimo.
The Solo Tesh comes from a workout Tesh lead when he was the only PAX to post that morning. https://f3thefort.com/2017/02/24/2017-08-the-hive/ Looking at the dates and this tweet https://twitter.com/tesh_F3/status/966993038554882048, it appears that there may have been multiple solo posts for Tesh at The Hive. One aspect of his leadership that I appreciate and respect is how quietly he leads. He leads by example with little desire for fanfare . It was this solo-post tweet that got YHC to attend his first kettlebell workout: Tesh’s model encouraged me at The Hive at all. I’m grateful for Tesh’s work and honored to carry the shovel flag for #TheHive (and if necessary post in the gloom solo……ah February…..).
During storytime on the wall sits, I referenced the Poverty Simulation some of the PAX are putting on 10/13/18 at FBC in Fort Mill. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sc-thrive-poverty-simulation-york-101318-registration-49847017772. https://twitter.com/F3_ablock/status/1045695473707814912 I did not grow up in poverty, and specifically remembering my dad saying that folks could just work harder and would be successful. That was because my old man had worked hard and he was successful. But he also had a lot of advantages that allowed his hard work to pay dividends. Not everyone is so lucky. In my teaching, I see students that struggle with much more than the nuts and bolts of course work and assignments. The outside influences of poverty on college students is especially troubling. Consider a student that takes on debt to attend school to better themselves but is forced out of school after 3 years to work because their family needs the income. They have all the debt of a college degree with none of the job prospects. Understanding someone’s lived experience is a powerful tool. Hopefully PAX will take advantage of it.
It was an honor to be asked by Maximus to Q a Beyond Workout and after many days of juggling other commitments on the calendar, we ended up at Laces In. Thank you Lil’ E for allowing us to move in on your territory on this date. This Q was not that difficult to build as I have had plenty of time to work on it. Also, this BackBlast is a little different with the NMM at the beginning. The rest is below.
I had previously asked the PAX to warmup before the start time. However, just in case there were some who showed up cold, we did a quick warmup with 5 Burpees & 20 SSH’s in Cadence.
Let’s Go Beyond!
NMM
I Cor. 15:58 ‘Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.’
In the age of trains and cars, but before automatic crossing gates, the incidence of trains and cars intersecting at the railroad crossing often delivered disastrous results. Drivers of cars never seemed to see the train coming. The continued disruption with trains and cars brought forth the creation of the crossing guard position. The crossing guard was in a shack by the railroad crossing 24/7, with the train schedule, a lantern and the task of being on the road, at the crossing, waving a lantern to warn cars that a train was coming through.
One dark and stormy night, even with a crossing guard on duty, another tragic crash occurred. A lawsuit was filed by the aggrieved party (car). Who was at fault in this tragedy? Was it the car? Train? Crossing guard?
As the lawsuit proceeded in court, the judge begins his line of questioning to the crossing guard, “Were you there that night?”
Under oath the crossing guard replies, “Yes.”
Continuing with his line of questioning, the judge continues, “Did you have your train schedule?”
To which the crossing guard replies, “Yes.”
“Were you standing in the road at the appropriate time waving your lantern?” asks the judge.
“Yes,” replies the crossing guard.
The judge rules and finds in favor of the railroad, no damages and they were not liable for the tragedy. Upon leaving the courtroom, a spectator hears the crossing guard say, “Whew, sure am glad they didn’t ask whether the lamp was lit.” Moral to the story, don’t forget to ask if the lamp was lit. The judge asked the crossing guard all kinds of questions, but he did not ask the obvious, “Was the lamp lit?”
As we go through life, we are given many opportunities to ‘wave our lanterns’. Opportunities at home, at church, at work, in the community, etc. As a Christian, I can carry my Bible, act morally, share with my F3 brothers, those at work and in my home. I can attend church and participate in all sorts of ministries through the it and outside of it. However, if I do all of these things without my lamp being consistently lit, I do them in vain.
The verse from I Corinthians says we should always abound in the work of the Lord. It does not say, when you are at work, abound; or when you are at a workout, abound; at church, abound. It says ALWAYS.
This is something I think about regularly. It is easy for me to be joyful with my F3 brothers, those at my church, and even those at work. It is also easy to discuss salvation and what it means to me.
However, I am not as consistent when it comes to my own home. We get on a good roll, but it always seems that busyness and life takes over, and the first thing that is affected is my joyfulness at home and good discussions on our faith. So, as I start each day, I ask God to grant me a day where I can be a light for him no matter where I am at or who I face, especially at home. I have to request this because I know I need his help.
Are you waving a lantern that is not lit today? Is your lamp lit in most places, but not in some? Where do you need to ask for help from God and your F3 brothers to help you keep your lamp lit consistently?
Always abound in the work of the Lord, and your work will not be in vain. Make sure you are not just waving your lantern. Make sure your lamp is consistently lit.
WARMUP
See above.
THE THANG
After the warmup YHC requested that the PAX perform 5 burpees. From that point to the end of the WO we performed 5 burpees at the beginning of each round of exercises and at the end, with the exception of a few.
We quickly moseyed over the the large parking lot where I requested that the PAX circle up and perform the following in cadence: Merkins, CDD’s, Alternating Lunges, and V-Ups.
We took another quick mosey another parking lot where we performed Wide Arm Merkins, Pike Presses, Low Slow Squats, and American Hammers.
We took another quick mosey another parking lot where we performed Diamond Merkins, Dips, Low Slow Jump Squats, and LBC’s.
We took another quick mosey another to the front of the stadium we performed Hand Release Merkins, CDD’s, Alternating Jump Lunges, & Big Boy SitUps.
Then we took a mosey over to the Stadium and a small wall where we performed: Irkins, Dips, Step-Ups, & Derkins.
Then we took a mosey back to the COT for some blast off merkins, squats, and big boy sit-ups while I discussed the NMM.
The burpees were the constant in everything and if I forgot them, the PAX reminded me we didn’t perform them. As we went through the workout and I had some time, which was limited, I spoke about the NMM while doing planks or Al Gore’s. The completion came at the end.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Read Your Newsletter.
Hurricane Florence Relief Efforts-Watch Twitter.
Sept. 29-6-Yr. Birthday Convergence at The Fort-0600.
Oct. 13-Poverty Simulation-0900-1200/First Baptist Church Fort Mill.
So today I had the privilege to Q at Tomahawk. After driving what seemed like a time i could have squeezed in a Lord of the Rings movie, I finally made it out to Doby’s Bridge Elementary. I’ll make the backblast short and sweet.
There was a warmup that consisted of the usual suspects: SSH, Windmills, Merkins, Peter Parkers…
The THANG consisted of three parts
Lunge walk with bell pass through. Lunge steps not in cadence but on my “Step!” and sprint when I say “Go!” This was broken up by burpees (everything was broken up by a few burpees), KB swings x20 and snatches x5 each arm.
Next was a DORA but one runs with your partners and your own bell to the end of the parking lot and back. Exercises were 100 Merkins, 100 LBCs, 100 squats
Last (I think) was mobility. Wide sumo squat and hold, left, right. Then work it out with a low slow quat in cadence. Superman hold to an overhead clap for shoulder mobility. Then work it out with some plank work: merkins, shoulder taps, 1 arm holds, 6 inches, mountain climbers.
Finish it with a few minutes of mary. Flutters with bell, protractor with bell, LBCs with bell.
This thing got started with a quick gathering to listen in to the disclaimer before we began the 45 min of activities planned. Short mosey from COT over to the band practice practice field for a warm up.
Warm up included:
40 SSH, 2 burpees
30 shoulder press, 2 burpees
25 Moroccan night club, 2 burpees
8 windmill, 2 burpees
15 squats, 2 burpees
10 hillbilly walkers, 2 burpees
quick leg stretches, honeymooners, and downward dog – then we took off to the next spot
Mosey’d over to the smaller parking lot in front of the school with the loop in front of the main entrance where YHC scooped up a parking cone and dropped it off about 80-100 yards from the front of the school. Next piece of fun ensued was as follows:
50% run from main entrance to cone, followed up by 5 burpees
50% run back to main entrance, followed by 10 bench step up’s each leg, and then 20 dips
Then repeat the above for round 2
75% run from main entrance to cone, followed up by 5 burpees
75% run back to main entrance, followed by 15 bench step up’s each leg, and then 25 dips
Repeat the above @ 75%
100% / all you got run from main entrance to cone, followed up by 5 burpees
100% / all you got run back to main entrance, followed by 20 bench step up’s each leg, and then 30 dips
Repeat the above @ 100%
In-between the 50-75% round and 75-100% round, YHC provided some words on “control”. While some of us are more controlling than others, we all have our control issues somewhere in our lives. Whether that be at home with the M and 2.0s, at work with co-workers or just the company in general, or trying to control and plan for a hurricane. In the end, we can only control ourselves, how we act, what words we use and choices we make, if we want to push ourselves during a workout, etc. When something like a hurricane comes along and we have no control, we can comfort our M’s and our 2.0s, but it’s really in God’s hands and we need to put our trust in Him.
Quick mosey back to COT (with the Laces Out PAX “stretching”) for some Mary, name-o-rama, announcements, prayers / praises, and ball of man. Also knocked out 42 burpees in total for #1000September !
I do this thing called The Tomahawk Test every 8 weeks at #TheTomahawk site. It’s all about making sure we are getting better/getting stronger. I encourage the pax to workout the same way they did the previous session…if you curled on your knee last time, curl on your knee this time. Seeing our reps increase is a good thing. Seeing them decrease is a weird thing that hopefully becomes a motivator to push harder. I brought it to #TheHive because we have different “regulars”. I believe only 1 person at this workout had done the #TomahawkTest before (DESTINY). Check out the image for how our workout went down. I have all the hard copies and will be sharing them with the pax individually, as well as keeping a digital copy for reference. Blasted 90’s Alternative while we tossed the iron around.
Just so we could get our burpees, I blasted Chumbawumba’s Tubthumping. 28 burpees (27 if you don’t follow my lead and do 1 as the song ends). We moseyed back to COT and did 6 more burpees so we all got our 33 in for the day. #1000burpees
Shout out to Tesh for the Q opportunity. I love it and consider it an honor. Prayers for our brothers on IR.
I’m sitting down to write this BB and literally can’t do what I challenged the PAX with at this morning’s BEYOND workout. Eliminate the distractions. Oh, what’s this text say, how about this tweet mention (can’t miss that), work email really needs my immediate response, man those kids left their cereal bowls on the counter, what time are we leaving today, etc, etc, etc. At times it can be funny but others, it can be really frustrating. I allow myself to continuously chase progress and other tasks rather than finding joy in where I am. It then leads to what you’ll read about later…burnout.
So there you have it, this BEYOND post will be focused on a struggle many of us face and that is running from joy, not finding joy where we are or honestly, not being a joy to spend time with. That latter one has been my challenge over these last several years because of those first two.
On to it. Car after car after car rolled into the Hive parking lot and you know the feeling, the feeling of way more cars than you were expecting. It doesn’t happen often but when it does, it gives you that kick in the pants, that extra motivation, that reminder of why you put your feet on the floor in the 4 o’clock hour. That’s what I was blessed to experience this beautiful morning as 33 other men, men that have pushed me over the years, men I’ve looked up to over the years, men who are about to bust it right along side me as we embark on something that typically looks better on paper. But that’s the idea, to push ourselves BEYOND our sense of normalcy both physically and mentally.
Funhouse escorted a group of 5 PAX for his killer initiative of RYAOA (T-claps on keeping that going) and the rest of us, 29 to be exact, circled up. After a quick explanation of BEYOND for the rookies and the search for any FNG’s, we discussed the plan with the weight, either Kettle Bell or Ruck…your choice. What I just realized, and to which nobody held be accountable, was that I forgot the all-important disclaimer. Men, never do that again. DO NOT START A WORKOUT WITHOUT A DISCLAIMER. You don’t have to be an attorney but verbalize the basics.
Starting on the curb nearest the tennis courts, run to the other side of the parking lot at 50% then 25% back. 10 Squats, 5 Burpee Broad Jumps then run to the other side at 75% then 25% back. 15 Diamond Merkins, 5 Burpee Broad Jumps then 100% to the other side followed by 100% back.
Switzer up for the first part of the discussion. I read the following definition: “Feeling of great pleasure & happiness.” After a few likely words were tossed out when I asked what word that defines, we got to the word of the day, JOY. I’m sure guys were wondering why in the world we’re talking about joy at an F3 workout, what kind of soft, starbucky-hands nonsense is this? That exact reason is the reason we’re discussing this word. It’s a word and feeling we don’t allow ourselves to enjoy often enough. There are people I enjoy being around and things I like doing but do I truly find joy in those situations? Said differently, do I enjoy being around those people or being in those moments and perhaps more importantly, do people find joy in being around me? Over these last few years, I’ve been operating like a hard-ass, focusing on task completion and moving from one thing to another. I can tell you, I’ve not been a joy to be around. While I was in it, I didn’t even realize it. How did I get here? Really, how do I get out of it?
That said, we split up into 4 groups, 1 for each corner of the large parking lot. In each corner, we did 10 Man Makers with your weight of choice. What varies is your mode of transportation between the corners.
Lunge walks with the weight overhead.
Bear crawl and transport the weight by any means necessary.
Reverse lunge walks with weight overhead or held out front. (This was definitely better on paper as many of us had to modify to a bear hugging of the weight.)
4 Kettle Bell swings or Ruck swings followed by 4 walking steps.
After 3 of these 4, time got away from me and I had to audible and bring the group back to the center of the lot. As mentioned before, us task-completers run from one half-baked focus to another and we rob ourselves of contentment and joy in the moment. After weeks, months or years of doing this, we inevitably get burned out. Very rarely does something positive come after this stage. However, here in the gloom of our Hive AO here, burn out means something different. I was hoping to have 15mins left at this point but as it was, we had 6 and only got part of the way (you see, I tried to fill the schedule with too much and didn’t complete what I intended). See the irony?
21 Curls in cadence (3ct down, 1 up)
21 Flutter Presses in cadence
21 LBC in cadence
15 Overhead presses in cadence (b/c I didn’t have what it took to get to 21)
Closeout: We have a hard time refocusing once something bad happens or if it’s not bad, just something that temporarily knocks us off our trajectory. Oddly enough, our kids do a better job of getting back on track than we do. If something negative happens to you during the course of the day, how quickly are you able to course-correct? Are you able to move on from a less-than-positive comment made about you and not let it affect the rest of your day? Watch your kids and take note. Watch them get in a disagreement with a sibling, maybe pout, then start playing or hanging out with them 1-2hrs later. Could you imagine what it’d be like if we dusted ourselves off and went back at it? There’s joy in overcoming.
Listening to a podcast yesterday where Rob O’Neill was being interviewed, he briefly touched on this by saying something that hit me like a 50lb Kettle Bell across the bridge of the nose. A little background, Mr. O’Neill is the Operator on Seal Team 6 who fired the shot that killed the most wanted terrorist of all time, OBL. I’ve been fascinated by our military and specifically, SF, for years and imagine how quickly they need to pivot on a decision and adjust to chart a new course. His comment was this when discussing attitudes, “Are you having a bad day or did you have a bad moment that you’re milking into a bad day.” Don’t shake that off, marinate on that for a while and it might just change how you respond in that next bad moment.
Tesh, I appreciate your willingness to let me run BEYOND at the Hive.
Men of F3, I’m humbled by your company this morning and every morning you allow me to state my hospital name, age and F3 name.
No man left behind but leave no man where you found him.
