Thanksgiving Convergence 2021

68 PAX in attendance for a pre-thanksgiving beatdown and some fellowship on a brisk morning Thursday 11/25/2021.

 

With the anticipation of fried turkey, oreos and coffee brought by @Change Order, @Smuggler and @RubySlippers, mumble-chatter abounded,  until @Hardwood took the center and called attention at 0600 hours. Disclaimer was disclaimed and the call for new FNG’s was made, no new FNG’s was the lone blemish on the otherwise fantastic morning in my humble opinion.

Run options led by @Gekko and a Moderate group led by @TripleLindy set off as the rest of the PAX moseyed towards back of Springfield Elementary. First Destination was in parking lot way back by the Middle School.

Circled up and @Hardwood called out the following exercises:

SSH- 40

Windmills

Downward Dogs and Honeymooners

Low & Slow Squats

Cyclops: Stay in Squat Position and complete Moroccan Nightclubs

 

The Thing

Series of Webs

Starting with Merkins and Overhead Claps

1×4 for 10 rounds of excruciating shoulder pain, mumble-chatter becoming more focused on the task at hand

more SSH 🤮

Next we completed ANOTHER WEB, worse than the last,

Shoulder Taps and Moroccan Nightclubs

1×4 for 10 more rounds that was never ever going to end

Lots of requests for Burpees strangely or anything other then arm workouts!

 

YHC began the 2nd half of the workout with more SSH

Mosey around to front of Middle School with 3 stops for 5 Burpees OYO, at the request of the PAX

Line up at bottom of small hill in front of school and explain the workout, AMRAP LEG CIRCUIT

Teams of 4 ish men cycle through three exercises at bottom of hill individually:

2 Squats

2 Split Lunges

2 Bomb Jacks

Next Broad Jump up Hill to top and complete the following:

2 V-ups

Bear Crawl to bench

2 Step Ups

Run around and down to bottom of hill stopping at cones for 2 burpees (two stops per lap)

Meet back at bottom of hill and repeat, only this time DOUBLE ALL REPS TO 4X

Goal is to complete 5 rounds or AMRAP, almost completed but just short of time before we had to get back to COT

YHC shared a article on Gratitude, and then @Shady shared the heart of the Fort, the success of @Seamstress initiative with the help of the PAX, @Seamstress shared his excitement and appreciation for the success of the event! Great job by all T-claps!

Finally we had a shovel hand-off YHC taking the Ranch from a long line of great site Q’s which I hope to make proud.

Then we were finally able to enjoy the fried delicacies and coffee! Cheers!

 

 

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Bushwood….where we never slice and gambling is fully acceptable!!

We had 6 for Running with push-ups at Bushwood 👏🏻💥💪🏻

We took off from launch through the gorgeous campus of Catawba Ridge High School.  Did a little dynamic warm up. Then hit the CakeBoss Pain Train with 4 Pain Stations . The work is listed below.

  • 2.25mi
  • 40 burpees
  • 20 inchworm Merkins
  • 80 Merkins
  • 60 wide arm Merkins
  • 15 Derkins
  • 40 dips

We had stories and lessons of bringing up girls. Dealing with lice and all that fun stuff……we are tight now!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Cake Boss out!

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Dora, not Dora

Earlier in the week, Mainframe lead a DORA without running.  I thought I would try the same at the Hive.  No running. well maybe just a little.

Warm-ups (No KB):  SSHs, Windmills, Imperial Walkers,  Plank Stretches

DORA #1:

  • 100 Overhead Presses (Alternate 10 reps while other partner holds bell overhead)
  • 200 Squats  (Alternate 20 reps while other partner holds Al Gore)
  • 300 LBCs (Alternate 25 reps while other partner holds bell above chest)

ok, we needed a break some we ran around the parking lot.

DORA #2:

  • 100 Curls (Alternate 10 reps while other partner holds bell in front of chest)
  • 200 KB Swings  (Alternate 20 reps while other partner holds Al Gore)
  • 300 Flutters (Alternate 25 reps while other partner holds bell above chest)

Next, we carried the KB overhead to the end of the parking lot, turned around and lunge walked back to the first light post.

Great work guys.  Lots of encouragement and mumble chatter.

Senior moment, forgot to change phone to video mode so I’ve got a cute picture of Airborne if anyone is interested.

 

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Pick Your Poison

Disclaimer. Mosey lap around parking lot. Warmup with usual.

Pax circle up. Go around circle, 1st pax picks an exercise for the rest of us to do while they run the lap. Go around circle with same method. Now, partner up. Partner does exercise their partner called the 1st go round, other partner runs lap. Pick a different partner–same thing. Now we finish with you doing the exercise you selected, 2 max out sets.

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Convergence – Shop Vac

65 PAX gathered to remember Shop Vac. Probably had closer to 70 at different points during the hour. Fishsticks took the Milkshakers

Lutefish warmup:
Sean Kelley, 56, Shop Vac

There are a couple of young men I was hoping would hear this this morning. While I’m talking to them, I’m also talking to myself and all of you.

We all know that or God, SkyQ, has written our books. He went before us, He knows us by name, and He alone knows when our earthly lives begin and end. God knew our brother Sean was to come home. And it doesn’t make sense to us.

But let me ask you this. What would it be like to know that when it is our time that we would also know that we accomplished the tasks that the Lord created us to do? God knows the great plans He has for each of you. You are here for a reason.

Wouldn’t it feel comforting to know that you full executed your purpose here on earth? Today we celebrate Sean, who I believe did just that. Sean loved his sons. It’s all he talked about when we worked out together. That, and his dream to have a home in Beaufort. He lived out and executed his purpose. We now have 2 of his sons as our brothers, and how great it is that the world is better because of him. Recover on your feet.

I read a quote recently:

“When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced; live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.”

Sean is rejoicing and would want us to do the same. And he would want us to do 56 side straddle hops in cadence.

Split out to:

  • Kettlebells
    • Uhaul
  • Bootcamp: split PAX into two groups for 20min sessions
    • Ruby Slippers
    • Band Camp

Uhaul’s KB workout:
56 Squats
56 Curls
56 Skull Crushers
56 Calf Raises
56 Uhauls
56 Flutters w/ press (4 count)
56 Dead lifts
56 Lawn Mower Pulls R
56 Lawn Mower Pulls L
56 American Hammers
56 LBCs (4 count)

Band Camp’s portion:
EMOM
minute 1 – 20 burpees
minute 2 – 30 jumping lunges
minute 3 – 40 Freddie Mercuries
minute 4 – 50 Carolina Dry Docks
minute 5 – 60 SSH

7s w/ Mike Tysons and Squats
Mode of transportation: bear crawl/crawl bear

Some in cadence jump squats, core work,

I found a backblast from Shop Vac…It reads with a lot more significance to me now. https://f3thefort.com/2021/04/14/403656/
I may have said something asinine while holding a squat and quoting his backblast.
Something like:
Have understanding when I say 5 more squat jumps
Show tolerance when I say 6 more squat jumps
Practice patience when I call 7 more squat jumps
Take direction as we’re now hitting 8 more squat jumps

Did a little sprinting as well with the second group. (Shop Vac would not have approved, and neither did most of the PAX)

NMM: Shop Vac’s love for and pride in his sons was palpable. He made me want to be a better dad. I’m glad to be around men that make me want to be better. Shop Vac was one of those dudes.

Ruby Slippers’s portion:
I had the pleasure of working out a lot with Shop Vac. His attitude, smile, and laughter infected you immediately every time you met him.

YHC remembers a time during COT after a workout where frustrations from my work life came bubbling to the surface. After I vented to the PAX about the situation ( usual selfish rant where everyone else has a problem but me ) and the Q finished prayer, Shop Vac pulled me to the side and gently explained that it was my attitude that needed to be adjusted, not everyone else’s. He did it in a manner where I gladly and thankfully accepted his advice.

The Thang:
At every Shop Vac Q you could count on stations, simple exercises and/or routines, and minimal running. The six was never left behind at a Shop Vac workout so we are using the buddy system to make sure that does not happen at this workout.

Set-up 4 stations in the shape of a square in the middle parking lot at The Armory. 4 stations represented each member of the Kelly family, there were 4 exercises at each station, partner work to complete a cumulative total of 56 reps of each exercise:

Sean’s station:
– Merkins, Diamond Merkins, Wide Arm Merkins, CDD’s
Stacey’s station:
– Crunches in cadence, Flutters in cadence, Big Boy Sit-ups, Straight Lower Leg Lifts
Jack’s station:
– Squats, Jump Squats, Lunges, Jumping Lunges
Brian’s station
– Side Straddle Hops in cadence, Seal Jacks in cadence, Mountain Climbers in cadence, Plank Jacks in cadence.

PAX partner up – complete all 4 exercises at a station and then mosey to the center. YHC stood in the center of the square to represent Francis, Shop Vac’s faithful four-legged companion, where PAX would come to complete 56 monkey humpers.

Continued around the stations until time was called.

Video Evidence: https://twitter.com/jisenhour/status/1456967297453727750

Welcome FNGs: Bow Wow Wow, Bam!, Triple H, Dictator, Wax Off, and Pool Boy

Prayers for Sean’s family.

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Naked….and Afraid VQ warmup! Then up and down and sit in a circle…easy stuff

Oh my special backblast, how I’ve missed you.  You are now my motivation for at least the next 2 months to write you after workouts (and I will not commit to the scrutiny of “within 24 hours” some of these monster writers make happen).  Need to build some habits here so next 2 months I know I’m on some calendars to Q so lookout (and hold me accountable anyone who may be reading this).

This morning started out with a Naked and Afraid warmup (which now duet o waiting too long to write anything up), the details are a bit fuzzy.  See kids, this is what happens when you wait TOO long.  I do recall some SSH, merkins, squats, and some windmills…I think.  AAR was given (3 things he did well, 3 things to work on next time).  AAR = After Action Review

For the first time doing a warm-up, I think this boy has something.  You know what else Naked and Afraid did – he asked some questions about what a full Q would look like, what to prepare for, how to prepare for it, how to make sure it’s long enough.  And you know what, we had answers for him so he could be more successful next time.  I little quote from QSource:

The LDP (Leadership Development Process) has four steps: schooling, apprenticeship, opportunity and failure.

These 4 steps were exercised today.

Next up was YHC for the main KB event.  Here’s what we did, and we didn’t take breaks.

  • Shoulder Press
  • Swings
  • Shoulder Shrugs
  • Triceps extensions
  • Curls
  • Chest Press
  • Lawn Mower
  • Good mornings
  • Squat
  • Lunge pass through
  • Calf raise
  • Flutters
  • Circle of fun (more on this)

For the shoulder press down to Lunges, we started with 10 reps and then increased by 5 up to 20, and for Calf raise and flutters we started with 10 and increased by 10s up to 30.  We did the full circuit at 10s, did the “circle of fun”, then went to 15 (or 20s), and so on.  After we got to 20 (or 30s), we came back down for round 4.

Circle of fun = we sat in a circle with our feet in the middle and passed each of our bells around clockwise until your bell returned to you, then we went counterclockwise until your bell returned.  And for the record, there are some monster bells of 45lbs and up in this group – ouch!

Wrapped up with COT (prayers and praises which again, sadly I don’t remember…fail again).

Thanks for the opportunity Shatner and keep getting after it Naked and Afraid!!

Shady

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Keg and Kettlebell

Started with some warmup then the stuff.

One PAX takes the keg (empty, but still weighting approx. 30 lbs) and carries it around two parking islands and back to the group.  The rest of the PAW do an exercise until he returns.

American Hammers

Carolina Dry Docks

Squats

Box Cutters

Curls

Air Drama

LBC

Halos

Al Gore

UHauls

Butterfly BigBoys

Skull Crushers

Lunges

Superman

Lawn Mowers

Flutters

Chest Presses

Hello Dolly

Side Lunges

The PAX blasted thru this list in half the time so as each PAX left with the keg, he chose an exercise for the rest of the PAX to complete.  @Bandcamp is not invited back for calling Turkish Getups.

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EDM at The Hive

14 total at The Hive. 10 PAX for the KB workout
Maximus and Spiderman did a foot rehab ruck workout
L-Train and Hardwood did a murph (I think just for the sake of running laps around us at the end to get that second mile) Trucker was very tempted by the Murph.

YHC put together a playlist of mostly EDM and some acoustic music that mimics a NYC basement danceclub DJ set list. Not my typical listening, but it kept the tempo active. Music for an environmental purpose more than music for listening. (kinda like those  at that trendy corporate office…there’s no way sitting in those is comfortable).

T-Claps to Uhaul for the playlist inspiration and his help manning the speaker. Having the song list assisted my pacing for the workout.

Warmup:
SSH
Burpee
Windmill
IW
HW
2 Burpees
Suitcase carry to other end of the parking lot
3 Burpees
Suitcase carry back

Thang: 1 step forward, 2 steps back
5 reps
6 reps
4 reps
5 reps (this is where it felt depressing to be back where you started)
3 reps
4 reps
2 reps
3 reps
1 rep
2 reps
35 total

Set 1:
Cleans (5 each side)
Single Leg Deadlift (5 each side)

Suitcase carry
4 burpees
Suitcase carry back

Set 2:
One Hand KB Swings (5 each side)
Merkins one hand on the bell (5 each side)

Suitcase carry
5 burpees
Suitcase carry back

Set 3:
Snatch (5 each side)
Goblet Squat (5 total)

Suitcase carry
3 burpees
Suitcase carry back

Set 4:
Manmakers (5 total)
Renegade Row w/ pass through (5 each arm)
We did not finish the full set

Some seated yoga stretches

Highlight was when Trucker left to go closer to Spiderman’s speaker and avoid the club music, but still did our exercises. #LovedIt #DontHateThePlayerHateTheGame

NMM:
This year, with my students, has felt like 1 step forward, 2 steps back. They’ve made gains in one area only for me to discover deficiencies in another area (I think due to online classes or atrophy from the COVID shutdown). However, this workout proved that when we go 1 step forward and take 2 back, we can still accomplish a lot. I’ll keep working on 1 step forward from wherever we are until there are no more steps to take.

Thanks Airborne for the opportunity to lead. I’m always amazed at how much further I’m willing to push at a workout when I’m the one leading. There’s a metaphor in there somewhere; I’ll work on fleshing it out.

Also I struggled with numbers while tweeting this morning.


Band Camp dismissed

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Good Morning at the Ranch

Five Fort Millians converged at Springfield Elementary for another day at the Ranch.  Here is what they did:

The Thang:

After introductions and a disclaimer, we recognized Sean Kelly (Shop Vac) with a moment of silence.  We then moseyed to the middle school and circled up at the pickup line in front of the new retaining wall.

COP, All in cadence:

SSH x 30, IW x 20, Merkin x 10, Windmill x 15, Squat x 20, LBC x 25, Jumping lunge x 20, Carolina Dry Dock x 20, Cherry Picker x 15, Mountain climber x 25

Form a line at the back of the road facing the new retaining wall and complete the following circuit five times:

10 merkins, run to the wall, climb over and run to the upper road, turn left and run back to the start.  Plank up when finished.

Mosey to the back of the elementary school and meet up on the cement basketball court. Split into two groups and complete the following:

Group 1 runs to the pullup bars and does 7 burpee pullups, while group 2 does squats (flapjack)

Repeat with group 2 doing Freddie Mercurury’s (flapjack)

Repeat with group 2 doing calf raises (flapjack)

Mosey back to our starting point at the elementary school for mini-ablab (all in cadence)

V-up x 10, Hello Dolly x 20, Superman hold x 30.  End with the Body Destroyer

COT

NMM

Thursdays have always been a running day for me with F3, but since I’ve scaled back the last couple of years, The Ranch has been my regular stop on Thursday mornings as of late.  I have not Q’d here in a long, long time and it was good to get back at it.  The group was pretty quiet at the start and I didn’t hear much of anything even during COP (I think Tesh was the only one counting with me).  Later on in the workout, he and Uhaul engaged in their usual chatter   (one of the topics today was Brittany Spears of all people -hahahaha).   It was a pleasure to lead the group today and I look forward to next Thursday.

Prayers/Praises:

Shop Vac’s family

ST’s friend Joe with cancer

Those recovering from Covid-19

 

 

 

 

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CHAD Training @ The Armory

The weather was delicious in The Gloom today. A cool temp with <50% humidity is hard to come by in September… so YHC was more than blessed to be leading a group of men this morning.

0515. Let’s get to work.

COP

22 SSH’s IC

11 Merkins IC

Yoga Flow to get loose.

11 Squats IC

 

Now that we were all breathing a little bit, YHC led the group to the concrete walls in front of the church.

 

I asked if anybody knew the significance of the number 22. Divac was dead on – 22 US Veterans commit suicide every day. Twenty-two. That’s a staggeringly large number. Today we spent some time remembering those who have taken their own lives – with a specific focus on the below Navy Seal.

WEINKE

22 Step Ups w/bell

Upper 

Halos (5 each way)

Negative bicep curls (20)

Bottoms Up Press (5 each side)

Tricep Extensions (20)

22 Step Ups w/bell

Lower

Overhead Squat (one arm – 5 each side)

Lunge Twists (KB Racked Position – 10 total)

Slick Box Jumps (10)

KB Swings (20)

22 Step Ups w/bell

Core

Z Press / Gas Pumpers (10 – 4 Count)

American Hammer (10 – 4 Count)

Flutter w/Press (10 – 4 Count)

Dollys w/45° Hold (10 – 4 Count)

22 Step Ups w/bell

Short Lap around parking lot, repeat entire circuit. 

Rinse and Repeat as Time Permits

 

In total, two rounds. 176 Step Ups plus 2x all of the above reps. Fun times.

 

We headed back to COT to knock out 5 Big Boy Sit-Ups as the clock struck 0600. Another morning, another DRP.

NMM

Let us not forget those who pay the ultimate sacrifice – either while serving or long after service. We can’t let those who sacrifice so much go isolated. Nor can we let our brothers to our left and our right go it alone. We are not made to do so. We need one another.

Announcements

Sweati

Nessy 

The CHAD WOD is coming. Keep an eye on Slack for our region’s date/time. In the meantime register.

Prayers/Praises

Marine had a heart attack last week, single dad with 8 year old – Paul Rabb

COVID – Divac Brother in law and his family

Praise for sickness passing through YHC’s house

Prayers for kids on quarantine

 

Thanks, Shatner, for inviting this wandering GRT to a KB workout.

 

Punch List out.

 

 

 

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