Carrying Each Other’s Burdens

Seven men shunned the fartsack to get better in all three Fs this morning at Soul to Sole. We covered 3.16 miles while alternating the 60lb sandbag amongst us.

The men were encouraged to share what’s on their minds this morning. With men’s mental health being prominent in the news, YHC felt it necessary to remind the men to lean on their brothers to carry their burdens. None of us should walk the road of life alone. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 reminds us “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

So when you are down, raise your hand for help. When you are up, extend your hand to a brother that might need to be lifted up. Don’t walk alone. We’re in this together.

Aye!
Italian Job

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Playing Cards at The Kitchen Sink

WARMUP: Run the large loop around the field stopping for a few exercises at a few points.
THE THANG: We’re playing cards:
Spades = Diamond Merkins
Diamonds = Mountain Climbers
Clubs = Jump Squats
Hearts = 8ct Burpees
(4) Other Cards = 25 Flutters I/C
Twice during the deck, we took a run around the parking lot.
MARY: See Flutters & Burpees above
ANNOUNCEMENTS: All the things.
COT: You should’ve been there. It was strong.

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Cardio & A Little Failure

WARMUP: Run to the bottom of the first hill on Hubert Graham.
Wind Mills, Low Slow Squats, More Wind Mills
10 Burpees
THE THANG:
NUR 1/2 way back up the hill
Fixed Leg Lunges x 10ea leg
Run back down for 100 Calf Raises
NUR 1/2 way back up
Dips on the guardrail until failure. BTW, Senator took charity on the rest of us and stopped once we failed but he had some left. So, as a group, we did more.
Run around the back of the school to the parking lot on the far right side.
Bear crawl from island to island with 10 Diamond Merkins every other parking space line.
Mike Tysons on the curb until failure.
Crawl bear back to the starting point with 10 Mountain Climbers every other line.
Sprint to the entrance of the playground, 5 Burpees, sprint back. As I mentioned to the PAX, this is where I almost splashed, at my own Q.
LBC’s to failure.
This is where I had a moment of transparency with the PAX. You see, if I were here by myself, I would have absolutely quit on myself and not done what I had written down. I told the PAX what was written and with that spoken, we did it and it wasn’t that bad. We sprinted (or ran) back to the playground entrance.
Sucking wind, we did a long set of heels to Heaven but the legs never came down.
Run to the front lot for a set of suicides with a few Burpees at the end for good measure.

MARY: Performed throughout.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: D2DB…quit delaying and sign up. Tell your friends, too.
COT: It happened.

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Currahee – Sapper Style

YHC’s brother in law (F3 Blanca) recently graduated Sapper school for US Army and is headed to his first post at Fort Bragg as a 2nd LT tomorrow! YHC did my best to build a #weinke worthy of the Sapper level of fitness. Check out more on Sapper here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHuUk7lCNkI

Here’s the workout:
Currahee Weinke
1/16/2023

Warm Up:
• Ruck Shuffle around big loop with breaks to do exercises
o Squat
o Merkin
o Mountain Climber
o Flutter with press

Main Thang:
Partner up. Each partner does the exercise. Ruck OH for SIX (curls at failure)
Round 1 – Partner A has ruck; Partner B has ruck
• A: Ruck pull through with merkin
• B: Ruck to mid-field – 5 burpees slick; Ruck to fence – 5 burpees slick
• A: Ruck thrusters
• B: Dairy carry to fence – 10 burpees slick
• A: Ruck curls
• B: No strap carry to mid-field – 10 burpees slick
Round 2 – Partner A is slick; Partner B has both rucks
• A: Burpees
• B: Ruck on / Ruck OH to mid field – 5 squat with Ruck OH
• A: Lt. Air Dan (2 lunges + jump squat)
• B: Dairy carry both rucks to fence – 5 man makers
• A: BBS
• B: Ruck front/back to fence – 5 squats
Round 3 – Partner A has both rucks; Partner B is slick
• A: Ruck on / Ruck Press
• B: NUR to fence – Run back
• A: Ruck on / Ruck Curl
• B: Bear crawl to mid field – Crawl bear back
• A: One ruck TWO weights – Squat
• B: Run to fence – 10 burpees

Moleskin:
Strong work done by ALL men this morning. Great to see Tsunami back in the gloom! Mainframe did Mainframe things and we all watched in awe. Olaf did Olaf things and we all watched in confusion but also in awe (umm one armed burpees anyone?). Blanca confirmed the #weinke met his expectations. YHC just tried not to spill merlot.

Announcements: D2D Fundraiser – do it!

COT: Praise for seeing joy in our kids eyes. Prayers to make the first things first – ALWAYS!

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Fecta-Traz

11 pax posted at Alcatraz on another warm humid day.
This co-Q was the third Q in my birthday Trifecta (Ranch #1, Varsity was #2).

First Q at bat was Ruby Slippers who gave the disclaimer and warmup:
Cherry pickers, windmills, Peter parkers, parker peters (10x IC).

Thang 1: HIIT
At the playground area of Runde park.  Pax split into three groups. Exercise for 1 minute the groups move to next station.
station 1: pull ups (dead hang if you can’t do anymore)
station 2: Step ups
station 3: LBC
Next iteration was:
station 1: pull up and toes to bar (dead hang if you can’t do anymore)
station 2: Lunges
station 3: flutters
Next iteration:
station 1: Do one pull up and hold at the top.  Goal is 1 min; do a slow negative pull up if needed but hang on to the bars.
station 2: Lunges
station 3: V-ups

Thang 2: Field Sprints (with Merkins)
Pax line up on the outfield
Run at 50% for first 30 feet, then sprint/100% to end of the outfield.
Pax do 20 merkins.
Do the same run routine described above. At end pax do 18 merkins.
Rinse and repeat downwards to two merkins.

Q transition to Harry Carry.

Started with a run as a group in the surrounding neighborhood.  Simple loop of approximately ½ mile. Returned to Runde Park’s lot.

Thang 3: Prison Yard Burpees
Pax split into two groups.  Each group has a basketball half-court as their prison yard.
Groups start in corner 1 does 10 burpees.  Then bear crawl (alternate method allowed was lunge walk) to next corner and do 9 burpees.  Proceed with the descending count of burpees and bear crawls until 1 burpee is reached.

Run again as a group, different route, hit the hill on Tara Tea Drive. Distance of about 1/3 mile. Return to Runde Park’s lot.

Thang 4: Bear vs Crab Soccer
Done on a basketball court.  Cones used at each end to mark a ‘goal’.
Split pax in two teams
15lb slam ball is mid court
Team 1 bear crawls only, Team 2 crab walks only
Get the ball and try to score
One team did score, don’t remember who.  We did switch animals at some point.

Game was called when a bear tried to eat a crab.

Non-Mary: Monkey Humpers, Imperial walkers (both 10xIC).

Fini. COT

It was quite a spectacle to see pax go after the slam ball and had some scrums too.  A few pax were even able to ‘throw’ the slam ball…may have to modify the rules for future games.  This was good clean fun.
Quite a great way to end my Trifecta of Q’s.  Great group of HIMs we have in our region.

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Intervals at the Swamp

I have been on a motivated 1stF acceleration tear recently and this continued with some relentless pain. Some might even say it was terrible. Introduced multiple uncomfortable exercises that targeted those obliques and hips. Penguins were a crowd-pleaser. Cookout Squats were also a fan favorite. Nut crushers took the cake. See the Workout summary if you are like me and get geeked out on the data. Stay Frosty my Friends! OLAF
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Balls of Pain to start your Thanksgiving week off right

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

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

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

Garrett Purvis 36
Build your guardrails out of bricks!
Olaf

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Are You Committed?

YHC had the honor to share the Q with Dark Helmet in celebration of his six years in F3. The disclaimer was disclaimed and the group split between The Fort and Milkshake. Here’s what we did:

  • 10 Imperial Walkers (IC)
  • 10 Low Slow Squats (IC)
  • 10 MNCs, Overhead Claps, Raise the Roofs, Little Baby Arm Circles (IC)

Mosey to the back parking lot

  • 20 Burpees
  • Lap
  • 40 Merkins
  • Lap
  • 60 Squats
  • Lap
  • 80 Little Baby Arm Circles
  • Lap
  • 100 Calf Raises
  • Lap
  • 80 LBCs
  • Lap
  • 60 American Hammers
  • Lap
  • 20 Burpees

Transition to Dark Helmet

For DOAH’s half, we ran around downtown to various parking lots for mumblechatter, Burpees, Bear Crawls, Flutters, and a myriad of other “fun” things. At each stop, he spoke to the 5 Core Principles, the Credo, and various other lessons on becoming a better man through F3. He’s an example of how a man can change if he commits.

So, are you committed? Without commitment, nothing happens. Commitment is required for any gains; gains in your fitness, faith, marriage, work, and life. Commitment is not a feeling. It’s a requirement to get through the hard times. We post in the heat, cold, rain, or shine. Why? Because doing the hard thing at the hard times prepares you for the the future. Commitment isn’t always easy, but it’s necessary to get you prepared for the next hard thing. You can’t get out of something that you don’t put into.

Six years ago, DOAH made the first commitment to daily investment into his fitness. Because of his efforts, he’s down over 50 pounds and up hundreds of new friends. He’s a better husband, father, and leader. What’s his secret? Commitment to betterment – the daily red pill. You have to commit if you want to see gains. Get after it, fellas. Today’s your day. Take it!

Aye!

Italian Job

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Beatdown at #TheFort

10 Forters and 2 Milkshakers in #TheFort COT. Longshanks and YHC split the #TheFort Q. I knew that my weinke would be a bit easier than Longshanks’, because he’s a beast, so I took the first half.

Jog around the parking lot and to the Municipal Lot near the railcar for the warmup.
10x SSH
10x Imperial Walkers
10x Hillbilly Walkers
10x Tempo Squats
10x Tempo Merkins
10x Mountain Climbers
Honeymooner
Downward Dog
10x Peter Parkers

A quick jog to the scent of bacon and we played 4 corners. Improper Pig to Fort Mill Animal Hospital to The Cutting Room to Hobo’s.
Round 1: 10x Monkey Humpers and 10x Carolina Dry Docks (every other stop)
Round 2: 10x Merkins and 10x Big Boy Situps
Round 3: 10x Flutters and 10x Rosalitas

Another jog down Academy Street to Fort Mill Church of God for some partner Dora.
100 Merkins
200 Dry Docks
300 Squats

Longshanks gave us a minute or two to stretch/recover for his beatdown.

We had 2 options: 1)includes burpees or 2)includes burpees The consensus was option 2 (Bounty Hunter tried to convince us Option 1 would be better).
Uggggg
To the Hill for some Burpee Repeats
Bottom of hill for 10x Burpees
Top of the hill for 10x Burpees
Bottom of hill for 9 Burpees
Top of hill for 9 Burpees
All the way down to 1 and 1.

I definitely modified to deconstructed burpees and still Tesh lapped me a couple of times. I’m pretty sure he did an extra 50 Burpees.
We had time for a few sets of Ab exercises: Dying Cockroaches, Gas Pumpers, and Big Boy Situps and then a slow mosey back to COT.

NMM: Work hard and do your best. My F3 brothers are inspirational and push me to work harder. For that I am extremely appreciative. I lift each of you up daily and give thanks for our time together.

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Just. Keep. Posting.

On a crisp 48 degree morning, a similar # of pax posted for a convergence at The Fort/Milkshake to commemorate 8 yrs of pain and impact in the Gloom of Fort Mill, SC and elsewhere in York County.   The occasion drew pax from Rock Hill, Metro and Raleigh.

The Thang

Double D led a warm up with yog to the Church of God parking lot plus some Carioca

COP — Mtn Climbers, Peter Parker, Parker Peter, Monkey Humpers, SSH, Seal Jacks, Merkins

Hand off to Jekyll

Yog up the hill to the rug factory lot and a re-introduction to, yes, you guessed it  — The Board Pain!!!

See photo for the Weinke from here….or check your soreness today (Sunday) for those who were present.  A Jekyll Classic!  Heard at F3 from Redwood @Santini “I’ve been avoiding this Board for years…100 Burpees!!”

Yog back home

COT

Naked Man Moleskin

8 years…Is that a long time?  Well, the average time of degree completion for US college students is 6 years.  Only 50% of startups make it to the 5th year mark.  So, I suppose 8 years qualifies as something of a landmark.  At the same time, I don’t personally remember much about being 8 years old.  What about the 8 years from 2-10 years old?  Or maybe 10-18 years old?  Yes, I remember more…and if I had my way I’d like to forget some of those moments!

Well, I can remember quite a bit of the past 8 years.  I quite clearly remember 9.29.12…a date etched in my memory like my wedding day, my daughters’ birth dates and my birthday.

As I reflect back on 8 years of #Impact delivered by the men of F3TheFort, what really matters is 10.06.12 and 10.13.12.  You see, those were the Saturdays when pax returned to WEP for week 2 and week 3.  And FNGs posted for their own personal version of #TheLaunch.  And then Saturdays became Tuesdays, too.  And then a short time later they also became Thursdays.   In the end, what matters the most is not what happened in the past, but what happens today.  Or what will happen tomorrow when pax post to one of 30+ workouts across Fort Mill/Tega Cay or 70+ workouts across York County.

Just. Keep. Posting.  The one true constant across life is #Change.  Since 2012, I’ve moved to a different house,  nurtured two chicks out of the nest, collected a paycheck from two additional employers and traversed through a lot of ups and downs.  One of my rocks during this period has been the community of #HIMs known as F3TheFort.  You’ve been steady in your acceptance of me each time I post.  And along the way, you’ve revealed to me more and more parts of myself as you’ve revealed parts of yourself.  I know I’m all the better for it, and so is my family.  I’m pretty certain you’re better too.  And in the process our town, county and country are also better.

So, yes, we should take heart in what’s transpired over the past 8 years.  It is remarkable.  It is a blessing.  Some might call it a miracle….or miracles.  And the only way to honor this fruit and express our gratitude to God and the men who’ve contributed (past and present) is to Just. Keep. Posting.  Because if a day ever comes when no one posts…well…let’s Just. Keep. Posting.

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