Honor at the ARMory

Perfect morning with 8 PAX gathering to the only work out with kettle bells at FHC- ask DH.  Needed help with a KB- Mr. Clean said I could use his rock but I had to give him a ride.  Deal.  Short Sale offered his on twitter- and that bringing his would assure he would escape the FS Monster.  Done.

Disclaimer Disclaimed. Warmed up with #usualsuspects and primarily targeting our verbal jabs at Twister.  He appreciated it.

The Thang- other than picking it up and putting it down, I wanted to isolate and wear out the muscle groups.  In between KB reps of 5, 10  15,- correlated bodyweight exercises were spliced in.

Run Lap

  • Curl
    • Merkin 10
  • Tricep Extension
    • Carolina Dry Dock 10
  • Turkish Getups
    • LBC 10
  • Goblet Squat
    • Lunges- 10 each leg

Run Lap

  • Lawnmower Pull
    • Merkin 10
  • Shoulder raise or press
    • Carolina Dry Dock 10
  • KB Swings
    • LBC 10
  • Figure 8
    • Lunges 10 each leg

6 Minutes of Mary

Naked Man Moleskin

Had the great privilege of attending an Eagle Scout Ceremony where 4  young men including Twister’s son were awarded the highest rank in Boy Scouts.  Of the many dignitaries that spoke, former marine in original dress blues from 1967 spoke of the most repeated word that day- Honor.  There is no greater compliment or description of a man than that of a man who has or act honorably.  In your words and actions- we must be honorable!

Prayers for new chapters in 2.0s lives: Stones’s son’s upcoming marriage, JWOWW’s daughter communion, and for Short Sale’s family as it has been one year since his brother’s passing.  God be with these men today.

Aye!

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Moderately Crabby

Thanks to Smithers for allowing me to lead this morning.  23 HIMs started with the disclaimer and then took a little twist on the mosey down the hill to the back side of Lowes for the warm-up and beat down. Two lines formed up at the shovel flag and proceeded to Blacksnake all the way to the warm-up.  It was noted that surprisingly no one was injured bobbing and weaving while running in a line.

The Warm-Up was short and sweet to get the muscles ready and not tired.

  • Brisk 25 SSH
  • 25 Moroccan Night Club
  • 20 Imperial Walkers

The familiar Burpees that are often limited or lost at Slow Burn were tweaked slightly to provide a little 4×4 action!

Immediately following the 4x4s, we jumped right into a round Batwings.  All to a 4-count cadence:

  • 20 Forward Arm Circles
  • 20 Reverse Arm Circles
  • 20 Seal Claps
  • 20 Overhead Claps

After the shoulders were smoked, we met up along the wall of Lowes facing the side parking lot.  Everyone partnered up for some 123’s with a rotating exercise for the traveling partner. The partners completed their 100 Merkins, 200 LBC’s and 300 Squats while crossing the parking lot performing either Bear Crawls, Crab Walks, Lunge Walks, or Toe-Walks.  The parking lot had 3 distinct rows of spaces along each PAX to determine the length of their crawls or walks.

Following the 123’s we circled up for a bit of core work; Abs and Back.  I thought it was important to incorporate the most often forgotten part of the core.  This is where the real “crabbing” started among the PAX.  All exercises done in cadence:

  • 20 Crab Cake
  • 20 Crunchy Frog
  • 20 Crab Humpers
  • 20 American Hammers
  • 20 Crab Jacks
  • 20 Big Boy Sit Ups
  • 20 Mountain Climbers
  • 15 Merkins done with several pauses at 6″

The PAX moseyed its way back up to the top at their own pace in preparation for COT

At COT, the origin stories for  a couple of PAX were shared so that we can all get to know one another a little better.

Great work from all the HIMs who pushed through some serious shoulder exercises and goofy crab work.

 

MOAB…out

 

 

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Today + You = History

10 Pax posted to #THEBallroom for another chapter in Redwood Originals month.  This was YHC’s first Q (or even post) to the not-so-new site now at Pleasant Knoll Middle School.  Prior experience the past 18 months as Site Q at #BlockParty prevented earlier posting.  Great AO# — @Ginsu should give this one consideration for future Convergences.

Site Q request was for me to cover a bit of “history” of The Fort as part of the workout and message.  It’s a story that truly reflects God blessing men who step into the unknown with faith, which is what every FNG does the first time he posts.  The history of The Fort is really the history of every member of the pax, from 2012 all the way to April 2018 and beyond.

The Thang

Mosey around to back of school

COP — usual IC warm up routine, particularly important on a 30 degree morning in mid-April!

Mosey across bridge to breezeway leading to athletic fields

It’s not too impressive in a BB to talk about the fact we did “a whole lot of sitting around” but that’s what transpired.  Of course it was in the People’s Chair while each pax recounted the story of his initial post, which AO, who EHd him, who Qd, etc.  Each rendition was interspersed with some form of merkins, CDDs, balls-to-the-wall, monkey humpers, squats, bombjacks and/or burpees.  We covered stories of 9 pax and then moseyed to the football field.

Circle up for some Mary — a rundown of the familiar but effective Hello Dollies, Freddie Mercurys, Flutters, Superman and Penguin (including reference to Burgess Meredith for the #Respectables among the pax)

Line up for suicides across the football field

Plank sequence

Pause to recount YHC’s EH story and honor OBT for that gift.

Another suicide sequence

Another plank sequence, topped off (for Longshanks) with Mahktar N’Dyae

Run home

COT

Thanks to Short Sale for the invitation to Q at The Ballroom.  It was a great morning with a lively and dedicated collection of the pax.  Truly an honor to lead on this day.

Short Sale posted to S2S last week when I had the privilege of leading the discussion that day, and he heard me talk about the launch of The Fort as being one of many instances where God showed up in amazing ways during a period of life transition to bless those who move forward in faith.   Too often I try to seize CONTROL when facing transition periods either out of PRIDE or in response to ANXIETY.  Reflecting in prep for S2S on my experience amid life’s transition points proved to me that God has repeatedly come through every time (!) in ways I could never have imagined and on a scale I would never have asked for.  And yet, I tremble each time I see a transition on the horizon.  Oh ye of little faith!

Upon reflection, the story about the launch of The Fort is a powerful one for me and the pax who experienced those lean early days, but for the rest among us, it is just names, places and dates.  Kind of like my history classes back in high school.  I had a hard time connecting to them because they were foreign to my experience…I had no immediate way to connect so history classes became all about pure memorization for me.

But, in the recounting of the history of The Fort at The Ballroom, we heard it from the mouths of those who lived it.  We heard about pax who’ve moved onto other pastures (Howitzer, Bing, Red Eye) who had EHd one of those present, leaving behind a legacy of their contribution to The Fort’s history.  We heard about workouts where present-day pax swore to God they’d never return if he let them survive that first day (Anchorman).  We heard about pax who did not return for YEARS, waiting until scores of pounds were shed and cigarettes were sworn off (Culture Club), only to be remembered upon later return by CSPAN who disallowed a name change.  We heard about AOs that don’t even exist anymore (the sandbag workout — can’t recall the name).  This was history that each man connected to, because it was HIS STORY.

And that is true for each day.  God willing, we are given a new day each morning to make a choice, to lay another piece of our history in place.  A piece of The Fort’s history.  A piece of the history of God’s people.  No, I don’t feel worthy to receive this daily gift.  But God sees that I am worthy of it.  And he sees you’re worthy of it, too.  So, go ahead, take the DRP and go make some history.

 

 

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Cannoli Run 5-19-18 ft Speed For Need

Twister and Bolt invite you the Cannoli Run (5k and 1 mile Family Walk) on Saturday, May 19, 2018! It is a fun family event and come out to be part of the Speed For Need teams! Vuvuzuela’s son Luka is one of our Track Commanders!

The Cannoli Run leads into the St. Philip Neri Italian Festival and we hope to have great attendance from the PAX and family again this year.

UPDATE 5-15: Celebrity F3 Runner is Rock Hill’s own Burgundy, Lucas McFadden of CN2! Watch him work his magic mingling and running with the crowd!

UPDATE 5-15: The ruckers will begin at the start of the race 9:00 am.  However, the F3-led prerace, family workout is at 8:15 am. Register online this week and arrive by 8:00 am.

UPDATE 5-14: Read the Speed For Need preblast. http://f3southcharlotte.com/2018/05/13/preblast-speed-for-need-st-philip-neri-cannoli-run-5k/

UPDATE 5-11: PAX #’s are a little low as of 5-11 compared to previous years. Get the family signed up!

UPDATE 5-9: We have secured a second Track Commander.

UPDATE 5-5: Speed For Need event Q is Scabby (Rick Gambs, (7zero4) 301-four900). We have 2 chairs in the run. FiA will also be part of our SFN pushing teams.

UPDATE 5-4: Ruck Division has been created led by Q Cornhole (John Ponder (eight03) 230-two002). 

UPDATE 5-2: We are proud to announce that Speed For Need is the charity for the Cannoli Run this year and a portion of race proceeds will go directly to Speed For Need! Help the cause with your registration!

The actual race is a one mile loop passing the festival/start-finish line 3 times (5k), great for observers…and also to stop at the cannoli tables to eat your 3 cannoli’s, if you so choose! Age group awards and King/Queen Cannoli to fastest male/female eating 3 cannolis. Team awards include fastest male and female team, most creative/enthusiastic team (youth and adult) and largest team.

Below is schedule. 

  • 7:30 am Speed For Need setup. SFN Q is Scabby 
  • 8:00 am  F3 PAX and family arrive.  Ruck Q is Cornhole.
  • 8:15-8:45 am  F3 Family Bootcamp Workout. CakeBoss is Q.
  • 8:45-8:55 am Pre-race stretch led by Barre3 of Fort Mill.
  • 8:55 am – Pre-race prayer and move into race positions.
  • 9:00 am 5k Start (SFN leading out, 5k, then walkers)
  • 10:00 am Age group awards and prize drawing
  • 10:30 am Kids 100 Yard Dash
  • After…the SPN Italian Festival!!!

More details:

Ruck: Ruckers will start at normal starting time but arrive by 8:00 am please. Ruckers need to be registered in the race. Cornhole on ruck Q.

Speed For Need: It is awesome we have SFN this year! VuVuzuela’s 2.0 Luca is our first Track Commander. We have secured a 2nd Track Commander.

Family Workout:  CakeBoss, etc, will lead the family pre-workout at starting at 8:15 am. Great EH opportunity and to advertise F3 to the Cannoli crowd,

Pre-race stretch: The prerace stretch from 8:45 am to 8:55 am has been given to one of the festival sponsors, Barre3 of Fort Mill.

Visit the website and get registered! www.SPNCannoliRun.com

Aye!

Twister, (9one8) 671-03zero9

Bolt, (803) 415-1946, thenewpauko@hotmail.com

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Old School Beat Down at The Fort

23 Pax joined YHC and Old Bay for Day 12 of 12 for Ass Kick’n April.  Lazy site Q saw The Fort on the calendar and volun-told YHC to Q.  Agreed and Old Bay made a plan to bring back the pain old school style.

The Thang:

Run around WEP, circle up for COP:

SSH X 50, Imperial Walker X 20, Hillbilly Walker X 20, Windmill X 10, Squat X 20, Plan Jacks X 20, Sumo Squat X 20, Merkins X 10, Lunges X 20, Mak tar Jai X 20

Mosey to the hill for a Jacob’s Ladder:  1-7 – Burpees up top, Squats at bottom

Quick Ab Lab with slow and fast Freddy Mercury X 20

Hand over to Old Bay

Run to parking lot and get a Coupon made of wood or a fire hose!

Drill bits with a deconstructed burpee – 10 Bomb Jacks, 10 Thrust Outs, 10 Merkins

Rinse and repeat for 6 drill bits – with the damn coupons

Head up the back hill to upper soccer fields – with the damn coupons

Wind sprints with partner – add an exercise to each sprint and with the damn coupon – 4 cones with a myriad of painful stuff to do with the damn coupon

Back to COT

Great to be back for a Saturday workout at WEP! What a spectacular place to have here in Fort Mill.

Funhouse

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Lucky Friday the 13th

The thang

Disclaimer given

Mosie dow and around the back of Empire Pizza

COP in front of Empire Pizza

13 of each exercise to keep with the Friday the 13th theme

Seal Jacks

Diamond Merkins

Moroccan night club

Mountain Climbers

Wind Mill

Peter Parker

Parker Peter

SSH

Plank Jacks

Mosie over to the sidewalk for 3 rounds of Dips and box/curb jumps 13 ea.

Mosie over to the cones and partner up

Partner 1 stays in and does LBC while partner 2 runs to first cone and does 1 Burpee, run back do 6 handslap merkins with your partner. Partner 1 runs to 1st cone does 1 berpee returns to home and does 7 more handslap merkins, both partners run to next cone together. Increase by one burpee each round till we get to 4 burpees

Round 2 we replaced hand slap merkins with hand slap squats

Mosie over toward COT and do some AB Lab led by each PAX and continue with the 13 theme

COT

A fairly moderate workout but not too moderate!!!

This was my VQ at Slowburn and I’d be happy to go back any time! Not sure the regulars feel the same!!!  🙂

 

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Colosseum Classic (yes, wall and light poles)

Beautiful 50F AM at the Colusseum
Mosey through Pickup Lanes x2
Mosey Hill with the light poles
Worked our way up the hill stopping at each light pole:
  • 30x SSH
  • 10x Slow Windmill
  • 25x Moroccan Nightclub
  • 20x 4-count mountain climbers
  • Plank – Reg, L, Reg, R, 6”, Reg
  • 10x Merkins
  • 15x Al Gore calf raises
  • 10x Burpees
YHC had just read “What Radical Husband’s Do” a couple of points were shared.
Give Acceptance to your Wife… Criticism comes from a place of Judgement… which means you are suggesting you are the judge (you aren’t)
Over the wall 11’s + 2
  • Big Boy Sit-ups (1, 2… 10)
    • Over the wall
  • Donkey Kicks (10, 9… 1)
    • Over the Wall
  • +2 Burpees (+2 each round)
Encouragement of the PAX was strong finishing this one
Drop the Rope… most small fights are like tug of war. Everything is small. Drop the rope more often.
Box jumps on Benches x20 until 6min to go…
Mary
  • American Hammer’s
  • Flutter
  • Holly Dolly
  • Protractor
  • Straight up picks – some rendition Holly Dolly + Dying Cockroach
  • Jekyll picks – Rosalita
Twister showed us all out to count (loud under that GHMS awning!)
COT
Ephesians 5:25
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ has loved the church (people) and gave Himself up for her.
Prayers
  • T-Squares wife Michelle Angeldorf – surgery colon (laproscopic) 4/11
  • Jekyll – Mrs. Ann Griffin passed away
Praises
  • Straight up – that Longshanks crushed 2 Spartan Races this weekend
  • Longshanks – that Mom got to be around for Spring Break

Thanks Jekyll for the opportunity

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Redwood Original Tour Kickoff

9 men posted on a beautiful SC morning for a moderate start to their day, and also took a look back to the origins of F3 The Fort.  Here is what they did:

The Thang:

Mosey out of the parking lot and circle up on the cement pad in front of the center building along Pleasant Road.

COP (all in cadence)

SSH x 20, Windmill x 15, Mountain Climber x 20, Rosalita x 15.  Pause for back/shoulder stretch L and R, Squat/Merkin/Dip seqence (5-10 reps, repeat 3 or 4 times).  Peter/Parker/Peter x 15, Freddie Mercury x 15.

Mosey around the building to the hill near the steel bridge

Jacob’s Ladder.  5 trips up the hill starting  with 1 burpee and finishing with 5.  Plank at the bottom when finished.  YHC took time to mention that Jacob’s Ladder was a staple of most F3 workouts in the early days, but seems to be absent from workouts these days.  Too bad – this is one of the best cardio/strength exercises and one of YHC’s favorites.  Take notice Q’s and bring it back.

After completing JL, mosey to the edge of the steel bridge and pair up.  With your partner, make your way across the bridge by lunge walking.  At each light, stop and do 10 partner merkins (with handclap).

When all the Pax have crossed the bridge, turn around the lunge walk back to the start.  At each light, stop and do 10 partner big boy sit ups with a hand clap.

Mosey to the building, find a bench, and do 10 steps up each leg.    Find a spot on the wall and do peoples chair with arms up/out.  Stand up, walk/shake em up and come back for balls to the wall.  Hold while each Pax does a 5 count.

Mosey back to the front of the school for some Mary.  Pax choice today with Grave Diggers (10R/10L), Hello Dolly x 15, and LBC x 15.

Finish up with the Body Destroyer for 60s in silence (another YHC favorite).

COT

I have been on IR for several months and was very happy to get the invite to Q from Short Sale a few weeks back.  This was the perfect way to ‘get back on the Q horse’ after a long lay off.  The PKMS location is awesome – expansive, a great turf field, and plenty of variety to work with. It was a blast to Q a workout again and I appreciate the effort put forth by the Pax today.

YHC talked a little about how F3 The Fort got started with the first group of Pax (me, Assassin, DD, Santini, Red Banjo, and Peach).  Nice to have Assassin in the Pax today too!  Back in the day,  Fort Mill was one of the first areas outside of Charlotte to launch F3 , and F3 Nation leaders, Dredd and OBT,  were part of the Fort Mill launch team.   What I recall from the first workout was that it was very hard, and I was plenty sore the next day.  But, I was hooked right away, and could not wait for the following Saturday when we posted again.  For us, back then, it was just a workout ( a really good one), and we didn’t know what would happen with the group, or where the group; was headed.  We just enjoyed the workouts and being together.    During the 1st year, the group started to grow and we started having 2nd F events and a regular Friday morning bible study.   The Pax kept coming and we kept expanding.  More workouts were added in new locations, regular 2nd F events appeared on the calendar, and a thriving 3rd F community was established.  The leadership we had in the beginning and the high caliber guys that have joined us since have built the Fort into what it is today.  I am a proud F3 member and plan to be one for many years to come.

Announcements/Prayers/Praises

Prayers for Badger who was recently diagnosed with cancer.

Praises for an M with a recent good report from her doctor.  Cornerstone’s 2.0 is cancer free!  Vuvuzela’s 2.0’s seizures are not as frequent.

 

 

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Sparkplug’s 4 Corners + Coupons

The morning was actually pleasant.  Upper 60’s, a slight breeze, and no active rain…to start.   Sparkplug was on Q and had Twister bring a trunk load of coupons!  Started out with a partner carrying a coupon in a mosey down to the corner of the restaurant row, Then off to the parking lot for some warm-up.

Mosey around to the far side of Lowes for some wall sits, bear crawls, and a few other things.

Then Mosey back up to the restaurant row where there were 4 exercises listed for each corner.  We counted off in 4’s and each started at our own corner, going clockwise around the building.  It was a great full body workout!  Rain started somewhere during the first cycle, but it was pleasant, not a hindrance. Plus, we got wet on the parking lot when Sparkplug called for LBC’s and Freddy Mercury’s during the initial warm-up!

We even had one of Fort Mill’s finest from the police department stop to check us out.  Spitz did his best to EH him…he seemed interested, but Spitz said he would stalk him to make sure he came out ;-).

Finished up, and partnered up to carry the coupons back up to COT.

Great job to Sparkplug for the Q today!  I have to be honest…I really just wanted to hear him talk for the full 45 minutes ;-).

Smithers, out

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Ruck W/O: Playing with Large Sacks at Golden Corral

After focusing on running and boot camps for so long for the P200, my ruck was getting dusty. I knew I had a ruck Q coming up. When Rad reached out to me to see if I still wanted it, I was not sure. We have some heavy duty seasoned ruckers in The Fort and I did not want to Q below their level. Plus, I wanted to keep the weinke simple enough for those who put alot into their running training for the sake of the ruck. Hopefully I found a middle ground.

8 Ruckers were ready. The boot campers tore off with Sir Topham Hat at the Q….wasn’t going to be any easier for them. We rucked up a little heavy with 4 qty 60lb sandbags, one per every 2 PAX. Rucked over to the Grace Presbyterian church parking lot for a quick COP:

Rucks off, 20 ea, in cadence
* SSH
* WM
* IW
* MNC
* PJ

Then we started

The “play area” was between two parking lot lights, approx 25-30 yards or so apart. Starting at one end we would each complete a series of ruck exercises, then with a partner take turns getting a 60lb sandbag from the start to the other end of the area. Once we get to the other end, complete the series of ruck exercises again. Then partner work again getting the sandbags back to the start. Out and back with the sandbags is one round. We did 3 rounds. No stopping, just keep getting after it until time is up.

Ruck Exercises, 10 ea:
* Squat
* Curl
* Swing
* Upright row
* OH Press

Sandbag Rounds:
1. Forward/upward press toss
2. Reverse scoop overhead toss / deadlift overhead toss: back is facing direction of bag travel. Bend down, grab sandbag, swing/deadlift up and toss overhead.
3. Sideways toss or shovel toss – right to left at first, then left to right on the return trip

Gleek joined us halfway through round 2. He wanted to try rucking, so Rad let him use his ruck while he went off with the bootcampers who were exercising in the same lot. Great job Gleek! Welcome to rucking!

The PAX did GREAT! ALOT of mumblechatter…..epic stuff with this ruck group! What is said during the ruck WO stays with the ruck WO. Made the workout fly by. Great stuff. We almost went for a for a fourth round, but opted to do 20ea of the ruck exercises then rucked back to the COT.

COT: In short, read your newsletter. Get out there, get involved. Alot of prayers said, and I am sure there were many more not said.

Pray for Zoe Deen, her family, and the driver of the car that hit her right around the time of COT.

I did not talk much during my Q. That is happening more and more. Less talking, more working. I briefly spoke while we were in listening position (rucks overhead) about how we all have some aspect in our lives that we need to get better. That we are out here trying to get better, to help others get better. We should be trying to get better in some way every day. I know I have alot of room for improvement in alot of ways. Today was one step towards that.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead.
-NASA

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