Backblasts

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Christmas cookies

AO: the-knoll
Q: G-string (Eli Kresta)
PAX: AAA, G-string (Eli Kresta), morning star, The Banker, Pebbles, @bumblebee
FNGs: None
COUNT: 6
CONDITIONS:
Chilly

WARMUP:
Inchworm walkouts to merkin X5
Slooow squats X12
SSH X24
Willie Mayes Hayes (sp?) while we went over mission, principles, and credo
Bearcrawl to tree and lunge back

THE THANG:
Split into two teams of three
One Round robin
-PAX one does lunges with sandbag to the road and back
-PAX two does pull-ups until pax one returns
-PAX three does three-count merkins

Two Rounds robin
-25 front squats with bag
-Swing rows
-derkins

Three rounds individual
-10 Bulgarian split squats each leg
-20 ierkins

Pair up
Two fifteen yard brother bear crawls

End with little drummer boy merkins

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
New Year’s convergence at Green Machine
The Knoll is on for next week

MOLESKIN:
During BINGRO, one challenge was to write your own eulogy. This was quite an emotional experience for me, and one key takeaway was thinking about who I’ll leave behind. Furthermore, what am I doing to prepare them for my death? How can I train my children to be successful when I’m no longer around.
So in thinking about that, I started drawing up a plan of all the things I want to pass on to them like: how to change a tire, change the oil in their car, skin a pig, appreciate good food and good whiskey, etc. most of all, I want to teach them how to think and question and explore the world around them.
Keeping this in mind makes me so much more intentional with my day-to-day activities and conversations. Think about what you want to pass on and how you will set up your family to thrive when you’re no longer their protector.

Thank you for letting me lead you men this morning! Thanks @morning_star for the tea. It went great with the gingerbread cookies!

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Solid Fundamentals

AO: devilsden
Q: McAfee
PAX: Skeet
FNGs: None
COUNT: 2
Conditions: well below freezing

Warm Up: Farmer’s Carry all the weights to the playground.

The Thang:

Simple, straightforward work; EMOM rounds of 45 seconds, PAX switching between active/dynamic movements and static/isometric exercises.

Round 1:
Weighted Merkins
People’s Chair

Round 2:
Kettlebell/Plate Swings
Plank

Round 3:
Squat Thrusters
Dip pause

After 2 cycles it was time to cool down with Farmer’s Carries and Rifle Carries to return the weights.

This Q was about fundamentals, about doing the basics frequently and with exceptional form. No matter what age, experience, or fitness level, PAX can always benefit from going back to the fundamentals.

As in the Q so in life; we will continue to persevere at Devil’s Den until, in God’s timing, the seed of F3 we’ve planted continues to grow and mature into a full fledged region. This is the way.

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Katy Guest Q compliments of VMax

AO: the-knoll
Q: Cash
PAX: AAA, Cash, G-string (Eli Kresta), morning star, The Banker, Timber, VMax, Bumblebee (2.0)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 8
Honored to lead the men of The Knoll this morning for my first Tennessee BD! What a solid group of HIMs! We Rickrolled, slayed dragons and rocked around the clock. YHC was even “anointed”!

The Lineup: VMax, Morning Star, Bumblebee (2.0), AAA, GString, Timber, The Banker and YHC

Disclaimer + CPR Q + Sweeper assigned

Warmarama –  Motivator x 6 (countdown of slightly weird choreographed SSH things.), CH Squats x 10 IC, CH merkins x 10 IC, Abe Vagoda x 5 IC, GG x 5 IC

Rickroll Ohnos – the pax probably didn’t know what to think when the Q started doing his best Rick Astley moves, but they fell right in line and got after it!

Indian Run around the field with Bluetooth speaker at high port in the front (or at a “rifle carry” for the non-military types). Circled back at one point to pick up the 6. Never leave a man behind!

The Thang

Clock Merkins – starting at 12 o’clock high, we decreased in reps as we traveled around the dial from 12 to 1 on Q. Goal was to keep your knees off the deck all the way through to #1.

Clock Flutters – again decreased in reps as we traveled around the dial starting at 12 IC.   Involved some creative squirming on your 6 in order to meet the goal of keeping your feet off the deck.

Clock Mountain Climbers – decreased in reps as we traveled around the dial starting at 12 IC.  Fingers were nearly frozen towards the end so Q resorted to making fists.

Indian Run around the field with Bluetooth speaker at high port in the front.

Back to the starting COP. T-claps to Morning Star for bringing the red lantern so we had a beacon guiding us back.

Partner Up, line up across from your partner with the sidewalk in the middle for the…

Deconstructed Welsh Dragon – bear crawl to meet your partner in the middle.  Hand slap, 1 merkin, hand slap, 1 plank jack, hand slap, 1 pair of shoulder taps.  Crawl bear back to the starting point.  Increase in reps to 5 of each exercise.  Plank for the 6 or go work beside them.  Pax worked hard til the very end of this one!

Bobby Hurleys x 25 IC (Q demo’ed proper BH form of slapping both hands on the deck then shooting a J. Swish!)
American Hammers x 25 IC
Carolina Dry Docks x 25 on Q
Bonnie Blairs (jumping lunge) x 15 IC
CH Merkins x 15 IC with a little HOLD at the end.

And for the finale, YHC’s signature move. The Low Flutter with my own twist at the end which in Katy has been affectionately dubbed:
Cash Kicks™️ x 46 IC + HOLD your legs out straight alternating between feet at 6″, 45°, 90°, 45°, 6”. Hold the final 6” til 0615.

COT – Counterama, Namearama

Word – YHC made the point about the importance of the HC not just in the gloom with your brothers but in all the more important parts of life. As always, YHC was preaching more to myself than any of the pax.

TAPs – stay in COT

(Rest of the BB will be shared in the Comments…)

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The Shoppes of Green Hills

AO: iiipillars
Q: t-cell
PAX: Focker, Black Lung, Baguette, Grape, Pep, Bad Boy, Go Fish, Gov’t Mule, Howitzer
FNGs: None
COUNT: 9
CONDITIONS: Cold, but warmed up just enough to get colder at Coffeterria

WARMUP: Light stretching while I complained about @blacklung and others being late and messing up my meticulously timed shopping workout.

THE THANG:
2.5 (25!) mi jaunt thru the main shopping district to gather gift ideas and look at lights. Generally speaking we did the following along the way.
25 Anthro Abs
25 Lululemon Lunges
25 Kendra Scott Drop Squats
25 Bud’s Liquor Burpees
25 Mall Merkins
2 sets of Doughbird Did
25 King Jewelers Jump Squats

MARY:
25 Happy Crunchy Frogs from TCell
25 Flutter Kicks from Go Fish
25 crunches from Focker
30(??) split leg sit ups from Black Lung who continued to sabotage my workout until the very end.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
LeanPax and Convergence next week at Middle Tooth

COT:
Pep and Baguettes dads.
Reminder from Focker that holidays are tough time for so many, including us as fathers, husbands, friends, etc. Stay present and stay alert during the next few weeks.

Coffeteria Festivus:
Grape told me to shut up and just lead the workout.
Focker told us about a workout that’s harder than F3.
We don’t like it when PA works is out too hard.

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Christmas Q

AO: middle-tooth
Q: Rocket Mortgage
PAX: moneyshot, Cowboy, sooner, Oatmeal, Topanga, TheShield, Esposa
FNGs: None
COUNT: 8
CONDITIONS: 24 Degrees. Beards were icy

WARMUP: The usual. Mosey’d to tennis courts for some additional butt kickers, high knees, skips, and karaoke. It was hard not to be merry.

THE THANG: 11s on the tennis court. 1st set: Merry Thrusters and Bethlehem Star Jumps. 2nd set: WW2s and burpees.

Ran a lap around the circle and stopped at bleachers for 50 step ups, 40 dips, and 20 decline merkins.

COT: Prayers for traveling families and those lonely during the holidays. ✌🏼

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Chchanges

AO: westeros
Q: Salpal , Chunks
PAX: Crawlspace, Vector, Michelin Man, hambone, Pep, DintyMoore, Grape, Natural Ice, Spinal Tap, Tim the Toolman, Red Skull, Supernova, Sherlock
FNGs: None
COUNT: 15
CONDITIONS:
Cold enough for @Supernova to come out

WARMUP:
OYO

THE THANG:
Prompt start at 0529; @Michelin_Man ran. Other PAX grabbed coupons courtesy of @Tim_the_Toolman.

Thang 1: DORA on a timer:
– Blockies and Broad Jumps
– Burpees and Murder Bunnies
– Lt. Dan’s and Weighted Lung Walks

Ran back to parking lot, handoff to @Chunks

Thang 2:
– Mid-Beatdown Mary (preponderance of flutter kicks…)
– Various coupon routines (curls, press, squats, etc.), each PAX went around taking turns 10 burpee timer
– P90X Yoga

MARY:
(see Moleskin)

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
@Chunks is your new AOQ of Westeros! Coffee requests complaints, suggestions, and feedback can all be directed to him. I myself will vanish, never to be seen again this side of the Cumby (jkjk I’ve already HC’ed for a Holly Jolly Christmas beatdown courtesy of @Chunks).

See above re: Christmas workout at Westeros.

It’s been a pleasure to serve you all, I’m grateful for this community of men, and the invitation by @Siri and @Michelin_Man to lead this past year.

COT:
Prayers for @Salpal boss during a time of mourning in what for many is a season of hope and joy.

Green Sally down.

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Say Boney M three time fast……

AO: cruelhall
Q: Cowboy
PAX: Accounts Receivable, EZ-Go, moneyshot, Winona, Deep State, blackwidow, Esposa, baggervance, Pedialyte, YHC
FNGs: None
COUNT: 10
Glad to be welcomed back in The Shire on a Cruel Friday.
Coming in hot makes for too
Disclaimer + Capri Lap

Warmarama –  Bro-Ga, Runners Stretch

Gather Coupons and head to the Bus Hill.

The Thang – Some college football conferences have been rightsized at the expense of others. So we chose our reps based on number of teams in each conference.
For the ACC 17 reps Chop at bottom of hill
For the Big 10 18 reps Curl at top of the hill
For the Big 12 16 reps Press at bottom of hill
For the Pac 12 2 reps Partner squat at top of hill
For the SEC 16 reps Hammers at bottom of hill
For the Sooners 16 reps at bottom of hill cause they are my favorite.

Mosey to pavillion
Tabata for 10 exercises 2 rounds – 25 sec on and 15 secs rest. Partner Up for last exercise.
Burpees
One Leg dead lifts (Coupon Optional)
Hand Release Merkins
Sit Outs
Coupon Press
Dips
Step Ups
Decline Merkins
Marine Crunches – Partner holds legs
Swap with Partner for Marine Crunches

Return Coupons

Mary – PAX Choice
And Time ……

COT – Counterama, Namearama
BOM – Gather our senses to prepare to meet the day.

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Q de Sanders

AO: mistymountain
Q: Sanders
PAX: Skeet, Linus, Flash, McAfee, Daniel Gragg, Transporter, Mountain Man x3 + Mt Man Kotter
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
CONDITIONS: cold but not horrid

WARMUP: 400M Run

THE THANG: – 2 ROUNDS
Leg Spread Knee Tuck
Diamond Pushups
Side Plank with Hip Abduction
KB Squats
Flutter Kicks
DB Arnold Press
Plank
Sandbag Deadlifts
V-Ups
Burpees
Changer: Run to the rig to do 10 pull-ups and run back.
COOL DOWN: 400M Run

ANNOUNCEMENTS: @Skeet
announced that Journey Church in Lebanon will be having father/son Bible Studies twice a week, and that there is now a wrestling club for kids/youth at Lebanon high school.

COT: Prayer of thankfulness for the opportunity to fellowship with this group of men.

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Merkins and Abs

AO: bomber
Q: Siri
PAX: Puzzlah, Firefox, Vector, Pep, Tim the Toolman, Crawlspace, Focker, DintyMoore, Black Lung, hambone, Wet Wipes, Cream Cheese, Young Pawn, Apologies to those who I can’t remember! Tag in the comments.
FNGs: None
COUNT: 17
CONDITIONS: Swell

WARMUP: mosey

THE THANG: mosey, merkins, mosey, merkins, mosey, etc. (merkin count: 120)

Abs at the playground:
3 sets of:
40 flutter kicks
10 merkins
30 LBCs
10 merkins
20 American Hammers
10 merkins
10 V-ups
10 merkins
(Merkin count: 240)

Miscellaneous exercises for the remaining 10 minutes including 70 incline merkins and 5 minutes of broga.

MARY:

ANNOUNCEMENTS: NYD convergence at Green Machine, 6-7am
Lean PAX starting 1/2/24
BrewRuck happening soon – ask Hambone
Other??

COT:

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The Holiday Special

AO: greenmachine
Q: Timber
PAX: Esposa, t-cell, Cowboy, The Banker, Pop-A-Lock, Timber, Black Lung, Focker, Works for a Guy, moneyshot, monster biscuit, Grape, G-string (Eli Kresta), Haggis, Blinky (guest from North Carolina F3), Boyardee (said with a French accent)
FNGs: 1 Boyardee (said with a French accent)
COUNT: 16
CONDITIONS: 34 degrees, frosty turf, and beautiful

WARMUP: Mosey around the parking lot, coupon (cinder block) carry to the field, IC to 10: high knees, butt kicks, merkins, slow squats, BACs, back BACs, lunge stretch (covered F3 mission and core principles here)

THE THANG: done to a playlist with a lot of variety!
Part 1: 20/10s (20 sec AMRAP, 10 sec recovery)
– 10 exercises: merkins, iron mikes, burpee, coupon row, dry dogs, squat jump, coupon shoulder swings, mountain climbers, Apollo Ohnos, Prime Time merkins
– 1 min recovery run to opposite end zone and back
– rinse and repeat!
Part 2: DORA 100s (100 reps total between partners, 1 person runs 200 yards while other does reps)
– 3 exercises: burpees, floor to ceiling with coupon, WWIIs

MARY: The Little Merkin Boy: done to Bing Crosby’s “The Little Drummer Boy,” plank til end of song, merkin on every “pa rum pum pum pum”

ANNOUNCEMENTS: N/A (forgot to ask)

COT: famous playwright Tennessee Williams changed overnight after the success of his work “The Glass Menagerie.” He went from a man that scraped together all his money to afford an apartment and food, to a man that had everything given to him. He wrote about his unhappiness and how he became miserable in an essay titled “The Catastrophe of Success”. His lesson is a good lesson for me: don’t wish for a life without challenges, because that’s not the life we were meant to live! Embrace the virtue, joy, and authentic friendships you gain out of doing hard things!

We finished with a quick prayer, particularly for those during this holiday season who have lost close ones.

Thank you for the invitation, and for the great coffee, @Focker!

– Timber