Welcome Back Struggle 004

AO: thestronghold
Q: SalPal , Chunks
PAX: bluemule, Dan and Dave, Wham-O, Sanctions, Papa Bear, Chunks, greyalbum, Crawlspace, Not-a-Sport, catfish, Penny Loafers, Shocker (Mark Holmes), Barney, toga, Decaf, Bobby Hill, Ice Box, Pick Me, Pope, Road Trip, Wendy’s, Stir Fry, Ambassador (F3 Annapolis), Mutt, Stage Dive
FNGs: None
COUNT: 26
CONDITIONS: Slightly moist.

WARMUP: A lot of side-shuffle hops and burpees, as it ought to be. Thanks to Chunks for getting the ball rolling.

THE THANG: 3 Groups rotating through sprints, burpees, and planks on a 1 minute timer, with 5 seconds to rotate. T-Claps to Dan and Dave for decreasing sub-30 second splits on all his sprints.

10 burpee salute to the Strugglers as they rolled in at 0600 hours.

Close with planks/”watersplashers” for Mary.

MOLESKINE: Great chatter and attitude today, and glad to be out in support of the men doing this latest Struggle. High concentrations of HIM on the 4:13 campus today.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Struggle 005 date TBD.

COT: Lift up the men that took on the Struggle the last 16 hours.

Tortoise & Hare, Run #4

AO: thestronghold
Q: Red Skull
PAX: Young and Restless, bluemule, Chunks, Right Said, Wham-O, Barney, Judy, Decaf, Wendy’s, Ice Box, Stir Fry, Road Trip, Bobby Hill, Mutt, Singlet, Touchback
FNGs: None
COUNT: 17
CONDITIONS: It is starting to get warm and humid. 66 degrees except by the barn where the temperature is noticeably cooler.

WARMUP: Road Trip was tapped to lead our warm up. While he switched up the order on us, he hit all the usual warmup exercises.

THE THANG: Partner up and RUN!! A great morning for a run. The F3 PAX were a huge source of encouragement to the 4:13 Strong men. For the first time ever, every 4:13 Strong man turned in a new Personal Best time! Thank you for all of the encouragement that you provided today.

MOLESKINE: Based on past experience, this is the hardest week of the 40 Day Challenge, not because we do anything different but because this is the week that things start to become a grind. The men have to dig deep and find some source of encouragement to keep pushing. Today, we saw 7 men who have done just that!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Struggle 004 is this week. The 4:13 Strong Clay Shoot is this Friday. Spots are still available for anyone who would like to participate. DM me and I will get. you hooked up.

COT: Everything about the COT went in reverse order this morning, but we got it all in! It was a great start to the day at The Stronghold!

Fun & Games

AO: thestronghold
Q: Minnie Pearl
PAX: Wham-O, Purple Tiger, Right Said, Skeet, Young and Restless, bluemule, Barney, Decaf, Minnie Pearl, Mutt, Ice Box, Practice?, Stir Fry, Road Trip, Singlet, Bobby Hill, Wendy’s, Life Saver
FNGs: None
COUNT: 18
CONDITIONS: Beautiful

WARMUP: Nope

THE THANG: Gorilla Complex
-8 curls
-8 rows
-8 presses
-8 triceps extensions
-8 merkins
-short run
Perform 8X

To elevate and reward morale, we played several games along the way.
-Rochamburpees
-Duck Jousting (bluemule would probably have won if he wasn’t robbed)
-Bear Crawl/Broad Tump Tag
-Guantanamo

MOLESKINE: Blessed is the man who delights in the Law of the Lord

Psalm 1
Psalm 16:11
Psalm 37:4
Psalm 20:4
Psalm 17:14

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

COT: prayers for endurance, hope, peace, communication. Also prayers for the health of family members.

Tortoise & Hare, Run #2

AO: thestronghold
Q: Red Skull
PAX: Minnie Pearl, bluemule, Right Said, Decaf, Young and Restless, Wendy’s, Ice Box, Stir Fry, Road Trip, Practice?, Bobby Hill, Life Saver, Mutt, Singlet, Hoop Dreams
FNGs: None
COUNT: 16
CONDITIONS: 72 degrees and humid…our first warm run of the year!

WARMUP: SSH, Tappy Taps, Windmills, Squats, IWs, Stretches, WMHs

THE THANG: RUN!! We got stopped by the train today and had to detour back around the white building. Now everyone knows the alternative route.

An overall great effort today resulted in 7 out of 9 4:13 Strong men setting a course PR!

MOLESKINE: Hard things get easier with more repetitions, so keep doing hard things.

COT: Prayers for strength, endurance and courage.

Cadence & Grisham

AO: thestronghold
Q: Ponzi , Ginger
PAX: Barney, Chunks, Ponzi, Purple Tiger, Young and Restless, Ginger, Decaf, bluemule, Wham-O, Right Said, Skeet, Red Skull, Practice, Gray Album, Pick Me, Lifesaver, Snuggie, Skud, Stir Fry, Roadtrip, Singlet, Mutt, Wendy’s, Bobby Hill, Icebox
FNGs: 7 Stir Fry, Roadtrip, Singlet, Mutt, Wendy’s, Bobby Hill, Icebox
COUNT: 25
Warmup (Ponzi on Q):
Started with the disclaimer — “Modify only as necessary, but we work to the standard.”
Talked through the importance of cadence — moving together, counting together, holding each other to a standard.
• First movement: Side Straddle Hops (SSH)
• Reps halted due to lack of unity → 3 burpee penalty
• Restarted but reps weren’t to standard → 5 burpee penalty
• Restarted again — this time, no unified count → 10 burpee penalty
• Fourth time was the charm: reps were clean, crisp, unified. 20 SSH IC.

Followed by:
• Imperial Walkers x10 IC
• Hillbillies x10 IC
• Merkins x10 IC (double time)

The Thang (Ginger on Q):
Grabbed blocks and moseyed to the court.
Partnered up in rows and columns for The Grisham WOD:
• Partner 1: Block Thrusters / Partner 2: Burpees → then swap
• Reps: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25
• Everyone held plank until the six was in

Then split into two groups:
• Each group had a leader and did movements in cadence together
• Group A: 20 Thrusters / Group B: 20 Burpees → then swap
• Reps: 20, 15, 10, 5 — all in cadence with group unity

Moseyed back, returned blocks, and circled up for COT.

Announcements:
• Brentwood Cookout – 5/22
• The Struggle 004 – 6/4

Prayers for Singlets mom and Ponzi dad for health and healing. Prayers for us as men to lead like we are meant to.

Moleskin:
We welcomed 7 FNGs — fired up to have the new 4:13 class in the gloom! Strong effort all around. We struggled, we led, we learned the standard together.
Iron sharpens iron. Let’s keep showing up.

SYITG,
Ponzi & Ginger

Big Freedia, Small % of Completed Passes

AO: middle-tooth
Q: Pole Dancer
PAX: Cocktail, TheShield, sooner, Oatmeal, Matador, Toothless, Young and Restless, Focker, bluemule, Esposa, Betty Ford, DrRupp, Steve Austin, Joe Dickey
FNGs: None
COUNT: 15
CONDITIONS: Dewy and Cool

WARMUP: Quick mosey to the fields, active warmup, stretching OYO while delivering instructions for the thang

THE THANG: DORA and Ultimate Frisbee! Set to the rhythmic stylings of New Orleans bounce tunes (obviously a fan favorite of the PAX)

Paired off for a DORA buy-in proceeding some all-offense ultimate!

50x Supermans
100x Burpees
150x Squats
200x Mountain Climbers

Once completed, we split into teams for a half field offense-focused frisbee scrimmage. Each possession ends in either a point for the offense (scoring a goal) or a point for the defense (a turnover). At the end of the possession, go back to the start and switch who’s on offense. Loser of the point performed 5 merkins.

After some lackluster attempts at offense, we instituted a game-wide 10 burpee penalty for each subsequent possession that did not end in a goal. The result was 4 straight possessions that did not end in a goal.

Moral of the story: Middle Tooth plays STIFLING defense (and our completion % more than 10 yards downfield was worse than Jayson Tatum’s 3 point % last night).

MOLESKINE: Welcome to three PAX downrange, come back around next time you’re in town!

Also great to see a return of TheShield!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Brewsday today, first beers on moneyshot! Yours truly will be in attendance, see y’all there!

COT: Prayers for the dearly departed

PLAYLIST: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6UTW304bCrgZQ8Tu1aoRpX?si=a7936594a5e148ee

Blueliner’s triumphant return

AO: handsomizer
Q: Salami
PAX: Blueliner, Freakonomics, bluemule, Black Lung, Spinal Tap, Natural Ice, Red Skull, Old Maid
FNGs: None
COUNT: 9
CONDITIONS: Perfect

WARMUP:
Welcome to F3
Fitness
Fellowship
Faith
Mission statement
5 core principles
Disclaimer

Warmup:
25 SSH IC
12 forward arm circles IC
12 reverse arm circles IC
12 hillbilly walkers IC
12 Imperial walkers IC
12 Michael Phelps IC

THE THANG:
First Nations run around stadium
Pass hockey stick back and then last PAX runs to the front

Mosey to Astroturf
Break up into two teams and line up on turf – each PAX and his counterpart on the other team is a “line”
Lines will take the “ice” in turn and perform a different exercise with the hockey stick while everyone else does an exercise, until all PAX have taken the ice – this is one period

1st period
Lines: rotating stick lunges to edge of turf and back
Bench: WWIs

2nd period
Lines: stick hop x12 w right hand, x12 w left
Bench: Freddy Mercurys

3rd period
Lines: overhead stick squats x18
Bench: planks

Overtime
Lines: plank stick lifts x8/side
Bench: donkey kicks

Hockey trivia
Same teams as line drill
Answer questions – teams start in plank, I read question, whoever tags me first gets to guess first, if he gets it wrong other teams gets a chance. team w correct answer picks exercise and does 10 reps, losing team does 15. If they both get it wrong both do 15

Questions:
1. What year was the NHL founded? 1917
2. In the phrase “national hockey league,” the word “national” refers to which nation? Canada
3. What are the NHL’s “original six” teams? Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings
4. In hockey, if you act injured when you are actually not, you may receive a 2-min penalty for what? Embellishment
5. What is the national sport of Canada? Lacrosse
6. What is the only team in NHL history to have been eliminated from the playoffs by the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes twice? Nashville Predators

Mosey back to flag

MOLESKINE: pulled in an unnamed FNG right about when we started trivia, and he left right before COT. He lives in the apartment complex next to the AO so we hope to see him again.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

COT:
Count o rama
Name o rama
Prayer
Pray for Blue Mule’s friend Isaac who has a brain tumor
Natural Ice, Salami looking for jobs
Blueliner is thankful to be back and also asks prayer for Cuban Missile while he is abroad

We Ran to Love Circles (+Burpees) AGAIN!

AO: westeros
Q: Michelin Man
PAX: Crawlspace, Young and Restless, Tim the Toolman, Spinal Tap, Natural Ice – CBO, Pep, Michelin Man, bluemule, Puzzlah
FNGs: None
COUNT: 9
CONDITIONS:

NOT cold (after a minute). Pep had some brand of gloves on.

WARMUP:

Pre 5:30am warmup to “Lean On” by Major Lazer. I love :heart: that song.

THE THANG:

The Pax learned to run :runner: to love :heart: circles :large_green_circle: today. And we did burpees. Q also called for Constant Movement (TM) meaning if we stopped, we did “resting” exercises.

Music: Throwback Bangers to the early 2000s. Debate between Natural Ice – CBO and Puzzlah over whether these songs were recorded in the ’90s or ’00s.Vector feeling really old now…

Thangs 1: We ran an Indian Run with a medicine ball :large_green_circle: in a circle :large_green_circle: around the park 3x, performing a running burpee apocalypse along the way. Sprinkled in copious Side Straddle Hops along the way to wait for various 6s, though overall the PAX kept up well. Pax loved :heart: it.

Thang 2: We then ran to the school loop and did timed runs around the circle :large_green_circle:. Each time we had to beat our time to decrease the burpee counter. First run was 32(?) seconds/5 burpees around and we made it all the way down to 21(?) seconds/1 burpee before failure to beat time. Much better showing than last week. Pep efficiently completed the circle :large_green_circle: runs. 1 pax carried the medicine ball :large_green_circle: on each trip. Pax loved :heart: it.

Thang 3: We ran to the bottom of the parking lot hill and did sprints up the hill with 5 burpees descending to 1 burpee after each sprint. 1 pax carried the medicine ball :large_green_circle: on each trip. Pax loved :heart: it.

We returned to startex to do SSH plus toss the medicine ball :large_green_circle: in a counter-clockwise fashion. Pax loved :heart: it.

Then we let our heart rates come down. Constant Movement (TM) completed. We run :runner: to love :heart: circles :large_green_circle:.

Fin.

MOLESKINE:

I honestly was in a terrible mood on Sunday, feeling very de-energized and burned out. This post really inspired my day so thank you for that PAX.

We Ran to Love Circles (+Burpees)

AO: westeros
Q: Michelin Man
PAX: Pep, Young and Restless, Red Skull, Michelin Man, Bull Chutes, BTU, Grape, bluemule, Tim the Toolman, Vector, Go Green Go, Merch
FNGs: None
COUNT: 12
CONDITIONS: NOT cold (after a minute)

WARMUP: pre 5:30am warmup to “Lean On” by Major Lazer. No time to warm up during my Q.

THE THANG:

The Pax love to run in circles after today. And we’ll do burpees. Q also called for Constant Movement (TM) meaning if we stopped, we did “resting” exercises.

Music: 1st: Pink Pony Club by Chappel Roan. Then hits from 1998… the year Chapel Roan was born. Feel old yet Vector?

Thangs 1: We ran a circle around the park 3x, performing a running burpee apocalypse along the way. Sprinkled in copious Side Straddle Hops, Plank Jacks, and Indian Runs along the way to wait for various 6s. bluemule fell down.

Thang 2: We then ran to the school loop and did timed runs around the circle. Each time we had to beat our time to decrease the burpee counter. First run was 38 seconds/5 burpees around and we made it all the way down to 27 seconds/1 burpee before failure to beat time. We then did 5x burpees since we didn’t beat time. Pep completed some of the circle runs… creatively.

We returned to startex to do plank jacks and Side Straddle Hops and Mountain Climbers.

Then we let our heart rates come down. Constant Movement (TM) completed. We live to run in circles.

Fin.

MOLESKINE:

For President’s Day:

“For his fellow-citizens, if their prayers could have been answered, he would have been immortal. For me, his departure is at a most unfortunate moment. … His example is now complete, and it will teach wisdom and virtue to magistrates, citizens, and men, not only in the present age, but in future generations, as long as our history shall be read.”

— John Adams, second President of the United States, in a Dec. 23, 1799 reply to Congress following the death of George Washington nine days earlier.

We Ran to Love Circles (+Burpees)

AO: westeros
Q: Michelin Man
PAX: Pep, Young and Restless, Red Skull, Michelin Man, Bull Chutes, BTU, Grape, bluemule, Tim the Toolman, Vector, Go Green Go, Merch
FNGs: None
COUNT: 12
CONDITIONS: NOT cold (after a minute)

WARMUP: pre 5:30am warmup to “Lean On” by Major Lazer. No time to warm up during my Q.

THE THANG:

The Pax love to run in circles after today. And we’ll do burpees. Q also called for Constant Movement (TM) meaning if we stopped, we did “resting” exercises.

Music: 1st: Pink Pony Club by Chappel Roan. Then hits from 1998… the year Chapel Roan was born. Feel old yet Vector?

Thangs 1: We ran a circle around the park 3x, performing a running burpee apocalypse along the way. Sprinkled in copious Side Straddle Hops, Plank Jacks, and Indian Runs along the way to wait for various 6s. bluemule fell down.

Thang 2: We then ran to the school loop and did timed runs around the circle. Each time we had to beat our time to decrease the burpee counter. First run was 38 seconds/5 burpees around and we made it all the way down to 27 seconds/1 burpee before failure to beat time. We then did 5x burpees since we didn’t beat time. Pep completed some of the circle runs… creatively.

We returned to startex to do plank jacks and Side Straddle Hops and Mountain Climbers.

Then we let our heart rates come down. Constant Movement (TM) completed. We live to run in circles.

Fin.

MOLESKINE:

For President’s Day:

“For his fellow-citizens, if their prayers could have been answered, he would have been immortal. For me, his departure is at a most unfortunate moment. … His example is now complete, and it will teach wisdom and virtue to magistrates, citizens, and men, not only in the present age, but in future generations, as long as our history shall be read.”

— John Adams, second President of the United States, in a Dec. 23, 1799 reply to Congress following the death of George Washington nine days earlier.