Month: November 2017

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And now, Aaron Neville on Bells

19 bell ringers posted for some fun on The Hill.  Here’s how it went down:

Mosey down to gym for quick disclaimer, partner up for The Chipper: 30 pull-ups, 50 squats, 50 sit-ups and 100 kb swings (cumulative reps for the team)

Grab a kettlebell and head outside to the courtyard for multiple rounds of My Little Buddy:

  1. Partner 1 executes 10 kb clean and press ea hand while partner 2 holds a plank.  Flapjack and repeato x3
  2. Partner 1 executes 10 kb snatch while partner 2 holds balls to the wall.  Flapjack and repeato x3
  3. Partner 1 executes 10 curls ea hand while partner 2 holds boat pose.  Flapjack and repeato x3
  4. Partner 1 executes 10 merkins passing kettlebell from right side to left on each rep while partner 2 holds decline plank.  Flapjack and repeato x3
  5. Sit back to back with partner and pass kb 25x clockwise and 25x counterclockwise.
  6. Divide into two groups and pass all weights to top of amphitheater and back down.  AMRAP for 3 min
    COT and YHC took us out.
    NMM:  It never fails.  When you get a bunch of guys swinging weights around, you have the option of listening to a lot of mumble chatter or bringing a speaker.  YHC failed to bring the speaker, and a chorus of Aaron Neville wannabes happened.  CCR, Kathy and possibly Venus were bringing it with the falsetto.  YHC should have seen that coming??
    Solid work by all today, and it’s always fun to see who is smart enough to grab a decent sized kettlebell vs. those who maybe, kind of should have opted for a more sensible choice (looking at you BV and Umbrella, #Overachiever).
    As always, special thanks to Mr McDoogal/Keymaster for access to the facilities.
        Announcements:

GrowSchool this Saturday!!!! These are great opportunities to come together as a PAX, enjoy some good fellowship and refocus on leadership and the 3rd F. 

Details:
0600-0700 Workout at The Hill!
0715-0815 GrowSchool inside FRA w coffee (Rumored appearance by bagels or biscuits)
BV at the mic to speak briefly on 3-5 topics from past GrowSchools, Freed to Lead and the F3 podcast.

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Daddy is Back

Great to be pack with the fine men of West Nashville Westeros after paternity leave. Luckily everyone was sleeping and quiet when I left the house, so my conscience was clean as I depart for the AO.

5 Pax (YHC, Bad Boy, Megatron, Crawfish, High Viz) departed the parking lot and  wait, who is that appearing in the darkness, PA and Porcelain! Lucky 7 for the morning. Could tell everyone was moving a little slow either from turkey or last weekend’s GrowRuck.  We pushed on..

Here is what went down: 

Mosey to the school for COP under the lights – 30 SSH, Imperial Walkers, Squats, Mountain Climbers, Merkins, and Good Mornings.

Mosey to the playground for today’s route o pain:

Suicide on the tennis court, bear crawl down the sidewalk, 10 pull ups, and  a trip through the tunnel. Rinse and Repeat X5. Doesn’t look like much, but it was. As evidence by my wheezing and the rest of the pax.

Finished with about 10 minutes of Mary with the highlight being a perfectly executed Dixie Stamped. Indian Run back to the parking lot.

Bullhorn:

Great to be back after a few weeks off. Thanks to all the guys who have stepped up the last week or so as we’ve had guys out due to Grow Ruck recovery and holidays. You know who you are and it does not go unnoticed.

Megatron let us know about a great event that Parks Church PCA is hosting on Friday night. Details below. Also, Megatron is making his VQ debut on Friday. BE THERE!

7PM Friday, December 1 free event at the Cafe at Thistle Farms on Charlotte Pike.  Dessert and holiday drinks provided.  Songwriters round and Christmas tunes!
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5 PAX move coupons @ Stonewall 25 NOV 2017

5 PAX move coupons @ Stonewall 25 NOV 2017

PAX:  Blue Mule on Q, Cowboy, Edible Arrangement, Bagger Vance, JJ, Wall Ball.  Welcome JJ and Wall Ball who were in town for Thanksgiving from other areas.

0700 launch.  Weather is ~50 and sunny — no gloom going on today.  5 PAX.  5 coupons — varying in weight from 25#s to to 30#s.   Each PAX is assigned a coupon and off we go.

Coupon mosey from starting parking lot to that other parking lot.

Warm-O-Rama:  At parking lot, all PAX circle up and perform the following warm-up exercises without the coupon in cadence:   good morning, Willie Mayes Hayes, squats, merkins, and arm circles.

Coupon mosey from parking lot to basketball courts.

Coupon Laps:  At basketball courts, all PAX perform laps as a team.  Coupon must be carried at all times.  Concept is as follows — one PAX is assigned the role of lap runner while other four PAX perform a stationary exercise, and this is repeated five teams allowing all PAX to be a lap runner.   First round was two laps around the court with stationary exercise of coupon thrusters, second round around the court was one lap around with coupon held completely overhead with stationary exercise of flutterkicks, and third and final round was duck walks with overhead press as stationary exercise.  Those duck walks with coupons were tough….

Coupon mosey from basketball courts to small bridge.

Dragonflys:  Perform 50 at the small bridge — self-explanatory.  50 repetitions got the PAX huffin and puffin.

Coupon mosey from small bridge to dog park area.

Coupon Laps… Again:  Same concept as before.  Two rounds here.  Both rounds the stationary exercise was the wall sit.  First round was run ~40 yards and perform 5 merkins, second round was run ~10 yards and perform 25 merkins.

Coupon mosey from dog park area to play ground.

Pull-Ups and Core at Play Ground:  Similar concept to coupon laps.  One PAX performs 5 pull-ups and announces a core exercise all other PAX must do.  Rinse and repeat until all PAX have performed 20 pull ups.  The core exercises were the usual suspects — flutter kicks, planks, box cutters, hello dollies, etc.

Coupon mosey over to the short wall.

Coupon Step Ups and Burpee Box Jumps:  Self explanatory.   First round was one rep of each, second round was two reps of each, continue in this manner until reaching the sixth round with six reps of each.

Coupon mosey over to hill next to playground.

Coupon Hill Sprints:  For five minutes, all PAX repeat hill sprints with coupons.  Welcome Wall Ball from Knoxville who was in town for Thanksgiving and happened to be passing through and could tell F3 when he saw it.  His timing was nice — he helped carry some coupons by the weary PAX!

Mary:  Flutterkicks while holding coupon above head, WW2 situps with coupon, American Hammers with coupon, and 60 second plank.

Fun was had by all!  Those coupons got really heavy towards the end of the workout.  It was my pleasure to lead you gentlemen and I’ll see you in the gloom.

Blue Mule out.

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Black Friday on #REDFRIDAY

Today marked the 3rd Annual Black Friday Convergence held at our newest and seemingly most popular AO The Hill.  Sub freezing temps didn’t stop 24 RedPillers that included a Willie Loman from the land of Q-Tips and 2.5 FNGs.

WOR (BV): Mosey to stairs and hit the deck for some bear crawl butt sniffers up the steps over to the Concession stand for 5 HSPU, mosey down the hill to the soccer field sidewalk…Side Shuffle R, L, Politician, Mosey, High Skips…Circle up at 50 yard line…

Disclaimer

All IC, All 13X

SSH, Imperial Walkers, Deep Squats, Ok Mornings, WMH

Thang:

Evolution I (Floppy Disk)

Count off and partner up.  Head West EZ and perform the following total reps as a team:

100 X Burpees, 100 X Butterfly Sit Ups, 200 X Gorilla Humpers.  P1 runs to East EZ and back while P2 performs exercise.  Flap Jack until finished…

Evolution II (Big Bang)

Line up in West EZ, brief history of Black Friday.  Bear Crawl to East EZ.  First to arrive finds the pack of Goo…this would come in handy lately.  Perform 100 X OYO Merkins.  Flutter Kix for the 6 on the 5 yard line.

Books A Million found the Goo and BB asked him over, under or the same.  Under was called and everyone under his age of 42 performed 20 burpees, those over his age 20 LBCs.

Crawl Bear Back to the West EZ and perform 50 Diamond merkins.

Evolution III (Frugal McDugal)

Head off to the weight room and grab some gear for the evil that FM had in mind.  Break up into groups of six…G1 Dumbbells, G2 Kettle bells, G3 Bar bells, G4 Hold the Doors.

G4 Amphitheater Jumps

G3 BB curls

G2 KB swings (USSR or USA…your choice)

G1 Farmer Carries around the quad (also acted as timer for G2,3,4)

All PAX Rotate through Evolution…Return Gear to Weight Room

MARY (CCR)

50 F Kix IC

TIME

Name o Rama

BOM

NM:

Great turnout for our 3rd Black Friday offering.  Pretty sure that Big Bang, Blue Mule and I have been in attendance for all three but really who besides me is counting?

Always a good time when you have multiple Qs that step up and lead.  Not that much crossover on exercises either.  Fun group of HIMs out today.

BullHorn:

Rumor on the street is Co-VQ happening at The Skunk on Monday from Razor er Venus and Cathy.  Yall post and support them!

Grow School 2.0 happening on 2 December at The Hill 0600-0700 Q with Grow School i.e. the Genesis of F3, what does the 2nd and 3rd F mean and how do we give this thing away…

Keep an eye on the Twitter and Slack for Frugal McDugal’s crazy ideas for The Hill and what The Winter Hillympics entails.

PAX: Numbtucks, Venus, Grease Trap, Tampa Libra, Mr. Clean (Willie Loman), WTF (formerly ATF), Missionary Physician (FNG), Chanel #4 (FNG), Big Bang, CCR, Floppy Disk, Frugal McDugal, Funyuns, Cowboy, Books A Million, Yard Sale, Savannah, Swamp Fox, Foggy Pirate, Right Said, Blue Mule, Edible Arrangements, BV

 

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Deck of Death

Clear and Chilly 38 degrees as 11 PAX chose the DRP and defied death for at least another day. Obligatory warm up lap around the courthouse. Pick up Sea Gull after lap 1. Lunges on municipal side of court house. Toy soldiers on the woodsviking side. Some time during the Toy Soldiers, Scraps arrives and with his best old lady voice says “Won’t you go away you Nazi’s, we kicked you out before. Lot’s of awkward laughs until we realized who it was joining us as our second LIFO of the morning.

Mosey to the plaza out side of the Library

WOR
Good Mornings x 12 IC
SSH x 20 IC
Imperial Walkers x 12 IC
Hill Billed x 12 IC
Tempo Merkins x 10 IC

The Thang
Deck of Death
YHC distributed a newly opened and shuffled deck of cards to the PAX each got 5 YHC only got 4 as we were an odd number for distribution.
Spades=Squats
Diamonds=Merkins
Hearts=Crunches
Clubs=Burpees
Joker=Choose Exercise and reps

Going around in a circle the pax revealed a card and all completed exercise x reps corresponding to number on the card. 1-10 Self explanatory. Jack=11, Queen=12, King=13, Ace=14.
Two jokers were left in. Noble Virus selected 6 Squats for his. YHC selected 7 Burpees. Each time a round the circle we completed 1 lap.

5 laps total
111 Squats
105 Merkins
105 Crunches
112 Burpees

Mosey back to courthouse.

MARY
Flutter Kix
Heels to Moon

YHC Shared some reflections from personal reading this am in James on trials and temptations. Prayed for Pax and others going through trials and temptations.

**Thursday @ MMC Special Turkey Day Workout Yosef/Iditarod Co-Q ** 5:30-6:30AM at MMC

YHC,
Iditarod

QIC: Iditarod
PAX: Scraps, Sea Gull, Aristotle, Grohl, Mr. Roboto, NPR, Schnitzel, Yosef, Noble Virus, Papa Juan

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Acción de GRACIAS

PAX: Rooms2Go, Bagger Vance, CCR, Big Bang, PSL, Cowboy, Big Stick, Venus, Cathy, Black Lung, Foggy Pirate, FNG Triple D, Binary, Juan Valdez, Vegemite, Jigsaw, Prevac, Braveheart, Ludwig, Offshore, Umbrella, Too Tall, Wall Ball, Walter White, Floppy Disk

40 degrees, a homecoming Rooms2Go and no Floppy met the 24 PAX this morning that gathered to give thanks in workout form at Sir Ellington. YHC had a coffee maker snafu, and therefore came in on two wheels 30 seconds late. On the warmup mosey R2G was thinking about two things: 1. WTF was Floppy? 2. WTF was he going to do as this was supposed to be a co-Q? Perhaps this is a bit of an embellishment. R2G had it under control.

We mosey’d up to the big house for R2G to get us all warmed up.

Disclaimer
WoR (all IC)
ssh x25
bac x10
rbac x10
overhead claps x10
air press x10
willie mays x10
high knees x25
Hamstretch x10

THANG

Acción de GRACIAS
G – orilla Humpers x100. Focus on form. Pain started quickly.
R – oute 66: Mosey around the top loop and stop at each speed bump for ascending burpees. Starting with 1x and work our way to 11x for a total of 66x burpees. Plank/wait then WW1 and wait. Mosey to the tractor pavilion.
A – lternating toe taps on the green benches by the tractor. We did 50x and everyone seemed to be enjoying them so much that we did 30x more.
C – arolina Dry Docks x50. Momentary brain-lapse for YHC on the name for this exercise, though I knew it started with a C. Thankfully, CCR came to the rescue as he does so many times.
I – mperial Squat Walkers x50 IC. A real crowd pleaser. I thought about more, but we were short on time.
A – lternating Shoulder Taps x50 IC. We were running out of time, so we quick moseyed over to the big and traffic-busy hill.
S – evens (Mtn. Climber Merks/Diamond Merks). Due to poor clock management by YHC, we had to cut this short. Traffic is also unwieldy at this point. Noted for future Q planning efforts.

We trail moseyed back to the start where reigns were passed to R2G’s very capable hands for a quick Mary.

Mary
Boxcutters x25 IC
ABC’s kinda IC

MS
It was so great to have Rooms2Go back out in the gloom. He’s a great friend, and his willingness to co-Q was inspiring. Welcome FNG Triple D. He’s a friend of Foggy Pirate’s, who was in classic foggy form this morning. It was also good to see some faces that we haven’t seen out in the gloom in a while. Apologies to R2G and the PAX for my clock management. At least we got a couple minutes of Mary in. I am sure everyone will do their own ab makeup.

BH
Reminder to sign up for Room in the Inn at Crievewood Baptist. Info and link are on Slack. Reach out to Dupree for more details.

Black Friday convergence at The Hill (Franklin Road Academy). Workout will be 6-7am. Meet around back at the football fields.

Grow School on Saturday, December 2nd at FRA. Workout 7-8am followed by biscuits and discussion about the purpose behind F3. If you value F3 please come to this. It will be a good chance to learn more about why we do what we do and how we can make it better.

See you boys in the gloom,
Floppy Disk & Rooms2Go

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Chillin at Detention

A dirty dozen showed up today that started out with .75 Mile run then approximately 10 burpees with Bear crawl (10 yards) to 50 sit-ups with broad jumps (10yards) to 10 worst mercans with bear craw (10 yards) to 50 flutter kicks. We didn’t this approximately 2 to 2.5 rounds with another .75 mile run. Followed up with about 6 40 yard sprints

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Warm Feelings at The Skunk

6 warm blooded creatures posted for some frosty fun at The Skunk.  Here’s how it went down:

Warm-up COP: Russian Soldiers, Copperhead squats, Imperial Walkers, Scorpion Stretch, Good Mornin’s

Go grab some weights for the following:

10, 9, and 8 reps of rows, jump squats and dive-bomb merkins

1 min each for single arm snatch, single arm swings, goblet squats, deadlifts, burpees

7, 6, and 5 reps of rows, jump squats and dive-bomb merkins

1 min each for single arm snatch, single arm swings, goblet squats, deadlifts, burpees

4, 3, 2 and 1 rep of rows, jump squats and dive-bomb merkins

1 min each for single arm snatch, single arm swings, goblet squats, deadlifts, burpees

ab fun including, leg raises, v ups, pull overs, oblique crunches and weighted WWI’s

NMM:  YHC was truly a bit concerned when there were no other participants at 0526.  Thankfully En Fuego rolled in with Venus and Kathy rolling up and hanging in their sled while YHC and En Fuego started the warm-up promptly at 0530.  Big Stick rolled in somewhere around 0540 after claiming a failed Foxtrot pickup.

Hilarity ensued as everyone went through the sets, and we learned that Kathy’s special purpose is the dive-bomber merkin.  Who knew!?  It’s also interesting to see how people gear up when the temperature drops.  We had everything from tights, Venus/Razor’s ode to Mike Tyson and Kathy’s fourteen layers.  It could be that Kathy was still cold from the ruck.  He said it went well and was not overly taxing.

Special thanks to Bagger for letting me take the Q so I could make sure of no running on the bum knee.

Stay Classy,

Toga

PAX: Big Stick, Kathy, Toga, Venus, Leatherneck, En Fuego

QIC: Toga

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VQ at the Racetrack

Pax: Greasetrap (Co-Q), Too Tall, Venus, Olan Mills, Funyuns, CCR, Cinderella, Cheese Curd (visiting from North Charlotte), Offshore, Captain Derivative, Private Sandman, Numb Tucks (VQ)

12 Pax total gathered for a new day, with a new Q (thanks for humoring me fellas). With Greasetrap helping the new Q we had sandbags and med balls waiting in the lot. With a quick Molly to the park to drop off the bags and med balls, we headed to the garage. A quick warmup and then the work began.

Sprint up each ramp, at the flat perform 5 4x4s (burpee w/ four merkins, and four mountain climbers – thats one rep) – bear crawl forward to other side and 10 Sit Ups. After another sprint do 5 Worst Merkins (wide merkin – normal merkin, diamond merkin: thats one rep – bear crawl backward – 10 flutter kicks) Do OYO until you reach the summit. Since a VQ led we had to break early and molly to the top before going back down the stairs to the park.

Once all arrived to the park (the men with rucks were working hard) we partnered up into two groups.

Group 1: 10 clean and jerks with sandbags (going down to 1 alternating with partner. Group
Group 2: 5 pull ups, 5 chin ups, 10 dips, 10 lunges each leg, 10 med ball throws and one lap around the racetrack.

After group 1 finished switch. Again timing was off a little but we still got a good workout in. Molly back to the cars for some planks and flutter kicks. Good learning experience, thanks for coming out men.

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We Focus on the Second F (with YHC Hopeful it’s not Historically Bad)

PAX: Life Champ, Foggy Pirate, Leatherneck, Venus, Erector Set, En Fuego, Cathy

QIC: En Fuego

Six other PAX braved an En Fuego VQ – arriving to a 46 degree gloom under some breezy skies.  Mumble chatter begins with PAX discussing all time worst VQs and the corresponding exercises.  YHC’s mind starts sweating as the lists are tossed out – hearing the sounds of exercises about to be partaken.  Alas, too late to rewrite the script, the 5:30 bell tolls and we’re off.  Here’s what we did:

Quick mosey followed by COP: SSH, WMH, GMs and Scorpion Stretch.  YHC instructs that today’s theme is the Second F – and from this point forward you won’t do another exercise without your partner.  With that, commence fireman’s carry mosey to the soccer field:

The Thang:

Partner 1 begins suicide utilizing length of soccer field – 1/3rd, 2/3rd and full length with one burpee, two burpees, three burpees at the respective stops.  The Second F twist is Partner 1 never takes their eyes off Partner 2, always facing Partner throughout length of suicide (so half the suicide is backwards run).

Partner 2 commences the following, with Partners flapjacking until the below is complete:

  • 100 Burpees
  • 100 Jump Squats
  • 100 Merkins
  • 100 Lunges
  • 100 LBCs

Following mumber chatter consensus on a growing disdain for backwards running, we’re all in and commence fireman carry mosey back to parking lot.  YHC later realizes VQ lesson #1 – never go back to initial place of COP until it’s officially Mary time – because we aren’t there yet.

With same Partners grab a parking spot lane – wheelbarrow across lot to opposite parking block in your lane.  Partner 1 completes 5 urkins followed by 5 derkins while Partner 2 performs back and forth jump over parking block until Partner 1 completes.  Flapjack and R&R x 3.

Slight mosey back to initial COT spot – confusion reigns again with PAX thinking it’s over (confirming VQ lesson #1 a second time).  Nope, we’ve got 3 minutes for Mary’s – where we complete group ABCs recited around the horn at a level slightly ahead of 3-year old’s pace followed by a plank closeout.  VQ officially a wrap.

COT: TAP for Leatherneck’s brother-n-law, T-Cell and Leatherneck with babies forthcoming and Cathy’s in-laws both battling pneumonia.

Great job to each of the PAX – 1.65 miles total on the suicides.  Thankful and am appreciative for the opportunity to lead and work alongside you!

SYITG,

En Fuego