Stations of the Cross

AO: pain-train
Q: G-string
PAX: DintyMoore, Timber, Pebbles, Sooie, Cheeks, Half Lyfe, morning stār, Wolfpack, Siri, Grizzly, FLO, Pitmaster
FNGs: None
COUNT: 13
CONDITIONS:

WARMUP:

THE THANG:
1 Jesus is condemned to death: Jesus is wrongfully judged by Pontius Pilate and sentenced to death. 
Warmup: 5 minutes of stretching and active warmup
2 Jesus carries His cross: Jesus is given the cross and begins his journey to Calvary. 
Lap around the track with logs
3 Jesus falls the first time: Jesus, burdened by the cross, falls for the first time. 
25 Burpees over log
4 Jesus meets His mother: Jesus encounters his mother, Mary, during his suffering. 
Mary: Twenty-Five Leg raises, Heel Taps, Hollow Hold
5 Simon helps Jesus carry the cross: Simon of Cyrene is forced to help Jesus carry the cross. 
To the stage and back
6 Veronica wipes the face of Jesus: A woman named Veronica wipes Jesus’ face with her veil. 
1 minute Rest
7 Jesus falls the second time: Jesus falls again, struggling under the weight of the cross. 
25 Burpees over log
8 Jesus speaks to the women of Jerusalem: Jesus consoles the women of Jerusalem who weep over him. 
21s 3 sets
9 Jesus falls the third time: Jesus falls a final time, nearing the end of his journey. 
25 Burpees over log
10 Jesus is stripped of His garments: Jesus is stripped of his clothing before being nailed to the cross. 
WLS to the cones and back X2
11 Jesus is nailed to the cross: Jesus is nailed to the cross, suffering the ultimate sacrifice. 
Rows 2X15
12 Jesus dies on the cross: Jesus dies on the cross, fulfilling his promise to redeem humanity. 
 Ring of Fire shoulder press 1/2/3
13 Jesus’ body is removed from the cross: Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus take Jesus’ body down from the cross. 
Buddy Carry
14 Jesus is placed in the tomb: Jesus’ body is laid in a tomb, awaiting the resurrection. 
Drop weight and recovery lap

MOLESKINE:
Taking time to think through the individual moments of Jesus’ passion is a great way to start off Good Friday. Old school covenants required the two people entering the covenant to walk between the halves of animals who had been sacrificed. This symbolized the promise to uphold the covenant lest they suffer the same fate as the animals. When God made His covenant with Abraham, he was the only one who passed between the animals. Abraham never did. This means that from the beginning, God promised that if we ever broke the covenant, He would bear the penalty. Only the sacrifice of Jesus could satisfy justice while also offering immeasurable mercy.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

COT: prayers were offered up

Thank y’all for letting me lead!

Nice Dice

AO: atlantis
Q: Subway
PAX: Oatmeal, Puzzlah, SalPal, Siri, Pole Dancer, DintyMoore
FNGs: None
COUNT: 7
CONDITIONS: 50 cool and beautiful

WARMUP: Various stretching, mosey to waiting coupons

THE THANG:

10 SSH buy in
Roll dice – number matches the station; 25 reps of each station movement
Station 1
Merkins
Ranger Merkins
HR Merkins
H/L Merkins
Station 2
Curls
CPRs
Rows
Lawnmower Pulls
Station 3
Lunges
Squats
Seesaw lunges
Calf raises
Station 4
Overhead press
Taint scrapper
Thruster
Truck driver
Station 5
Amer Hammers
Mtn Climbers
Flutter Kicks
BBSUs
Station 6
Chest Press
Grave digger
Side bends
Blockees

Mary for final 3 mins

MOLESKINE:

ANNOUNCEMENTS: wings/some impossible man mile- check slack

COT: prayers for SalPal interview; Siri’s cousins wifes treatment; Pole Dancers wife’s recovery and Pole Dancers new job

Gametron

AO: bomber
Q: Wolfpack , Firefox
PAX: Crawlspace, Chunks, Right Said, CubCadet, Papa Bear, Pep, Hedwig, Puzzlah, Vector, Sherlock, DintyMoore
FNGs: None
COUNT: 13
CONDITIONS: Good enough

WARMUP: Wolfpack led with
– SSH
– Imperial walkers
– Low and slow Squats
– Low and slow Merkins

THE THANG: With YHC and Wolfpack on Q, the only sensible outcome was some sort of gamified beatdown.

Part 1: Castle (led by Wolfpack)
PAX split into two teams. Field split in half with each team having a castle (aka, a base) at opposite ends, with a line of short cones, tall cones, and a 25lb sandbag at midfield, plus 3 or 4 short cones on each side of the field along the midline.

PAX had to travel to a cone, do an exercise based on the object, and then return it to their castle (or deliver it to the opposing team’s castle, if they chose to do so). Objects could be stolen from the opposing team’s castle using the same exercise.

Teams had 60s (sometimes 90s) rounds to score as much as they could. Short cones were worth +1 pt, tall cones were worth +2pts, the sandbag (always requiring 5 burpees) was worth -2pts (later amended to -4pts).

1st set of three rounds:
Travel = running
Short cone = 5 squats
Tall cone = 5 merkins

2nd set of three rounds:
Travel = side shuffle
Short cone = 5 wide merkins
Tall cone = 5 diamond merkins

3rd set of three rounds:
Travel = broad jumps
Short cone = 2 iron Lt. Dan’s
Tall cone = 2 burpees

Team 1 (Vector Sherlock Puzzlah DintyMoore YHC) took an early lead against Team 2 (Wolfpack Papa Bear CubCadet Pep Hedwig), but gameplay evolved with PAX realizing that there was enough time for the sandbag to travel to both castles. That led to some interesting waiting games over sandbag delivery plus some blocking maneuvers. Ultimately, it came down to a final round to break a 4-4 tie, which Team 1 came away with. That was not without some impressive sandbagged broad-jump heroics from Wolfpack. Also, Vector and CubCadet may never speak to each other again.

Also? So. Freakin’. Exhausting.

Part 2: Flip the Cone
Keeping the same team and same general field structure, a couple dozen short cones were scattered on both sides of the field, with cones on Team 1’s side right side up and cones on Team 2’s side upside down. Team 1’s goal was to end a 90s round with as many cones as possible right side up, with Team 2 aiming to end the round with more cones upside down. Except only mode of travel was a bear crawl in rounds 1 and 2 and murder bunnies in round 3. Teams instinctively split up into offensive and defensive squads with YHC, Sherlock and DintyMoore facing off against the defensive line of Papa Bear and Pep while CubCadet Wolfpack and Hedwig crossed the field to battle with Vector and Puzzlah. By the end, Team 1 came away with a 3-0 sweep but all PAX’s shoulders and legs simultaneously won and lost.

Finally, a 50s Hollow Body Hold.

MOLESKINE:
– Big thanks to Wolfpack for venturing to our neck of the woods and delivering the fun and the “fun”.
– Yes, this is what we do at all Game Nights
– Loved watching strategies evolve
– If you want to do a Q-collaboration in June or July, let me know! Sneak preview for next month: the most sought-after immune-system-themed combination we didn’t know we wanted – Vector + t-cell!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– Spring Fling

COT:
– Everyone shared a word/phrase of gratitude

Month of the FNG Prep!

AO: bomber
Q: Toothless
PAX: Grape, Pep, Firefox, Vector, Tim the Toolman, Right Said, Sherlock, CubCadet, Papa Bear, Crawlspace, Supernova, DintyMoore, Toothless, Chunks
FNGs: None
COUNT: 14
CONDITIONS: Quite fair, a bit muggy but no complaints for being solidly back in T shirt weather!

PLAYLIST: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/459qwYOyQ4j1hCmtMHFZsC?si=a23bad9eb37c4a0b

WARMUP:

Mosey to high ground, circle up

WAR
– SSH x 30
– Air presses x 10
– Windmills x 10
– Michael Phelps x 10
– Willy Mays Hays x 10
– Carrot pullers x 10
– Scorpions x 10 oyo

THE THANG: Month of the FNG Prep! :fng:

PAX count off forming three groups, 1, 2, 3…

– Group 1 does a patrol run down to end of lot and back up
– Group 2 does a ground exercise
– Group 3 does a standing exercise

All shuffle when G1 returns. Runners to the ground, ground stands up, and standing group runs.

Do four rounds (~2 mins AMRAP in each station based on runners):
1. G: Peter Parkers, S: Prisoner squats
2. G: American Hammers, S: Burpees
3. G: Carolina Dry Docks, S: Lt. Dans
4. G: Big Boy Sit Ups, S: SSHs (cut for time)

All answer a question within their group each round:
1. How did you get your F3 name?
2. What do you remember about your first workout?
3. Who invited you and why did you come to that first workout?
4. Why did you keep coming back? (cut for time)

Circle up for…

Rings of Fire :fire:

Thunderstruck
– High and low plank, up or down on “Thunder”
Roxanne
– SSH / Burpees on “Roxanne”
Flower (Bring Sally Up)
– Squat holds on “up” or “down”

MOLESKINE: Welp, the Respects may have HC’d, but the Un-Respectables recovered and showed out in force. Double Pickney action and the return of not 1 but 2 previous AOQ’s in Dinty Moore and Supernova walking into the warmup out of the Gloom made the comeback a statement victory. Will it start a streak??

Many people are saying the Rings of Fire section was their favorite part. That section was closely followed in the rankings by YHC calling out a penalty of 10 eight count body builders for the stalling of movement upon returning from a running segment, as Pep owned up to above, but there were others….

Hottest personal take of the day….Star Bagel has earned it’s place. After long dissent, taking over the porch with 10 dudes cracking wise ones and sharing about life has won me over (but just for bomber! don’t read this men of westeros)

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– Spring Fling! This Sunday from 12-3p! Edwin Warner Park Shelter #5 off of Vaughn Rd!
– It’s MONTH OF THE FNG! Let’s get new men out with us in the Gloom and give this thing away!
– The Merchant has a hot wing eating 2ndf opportunity the weekend after Easter, 4/26
– End of April will feature the Impossible Mile CSAUP @ greenmachine, Focker for details

COT:
– Toothless shared
– Grape shared

COT featured a message from YHC about Month of the FNG – F3 has been tremendously impactful to me over the last 6 years. This group has been there with me through job changes, kids, and all sorts of ups and downs. I want other men to have that same kind of connection and community, and I know you do too. Let’s give this thing away and invite the men in our lives who need F3!

As always, it was an honor to lead. Thanks to Firefox for the invite! It was a pleasure.

SYITG,
— Toothless :tooth:

I Can Drive 55 with a Few Friends

AO: bomber
Q: Vector
PAX: Pep, Firefox, Papa Bear, Strutter, DintyMoore, Chunks, CubCadet, SalPal, Cream Cheese, Wet Wipes, Tim the Toolman, Sherlock
FNGs: None
COUNT: 13
Today’s Q was to acknowledge YHC’s 55th birthday a few weeks back. The theme? What’s the best part about birthday parties? No, not the gift bags. The friends. So today (after a Strutter request for a Hagar classic), we celebrated friends.

CONDITIONS: Balmy

WARMUP:
Standard Vector Birthday SSH set — 55 (set to I Can’t Drive 55 – Sammy Hagar. You’re welcome, Strutter)
LBAC x 20
RLBAC x 20
Overhead Press x 20

THE THANG:
Count off and get a partner. Your homework – find out an unknown fact about your friend t reveal at COT.

Mosey to Rec Center.
Pair of friends run around the Rec Center (fun fact finding time) while the rest of PAX work on 55 reps of the following:
Freddy Mercs
Regular Pull-Ups
Iron Mikes
Excellent Form Squats
Normal Merkins
Dips
SSH

Rinse and repeat x 3.

Mosey back to flag for Mary with Hello Dollys, Flutter Kicks, and Box Cutters.

PLAYLIST:
Why Can’t We be Friends? – War
Friends in Low Places – Garth Brooks
Friends – Jody Watley with Eric B. & Rakim
With a Little Help from My Friends – Beatles
You’re My Best Friend – Queen
Thank You for Being a Friend – Andrew Gold
Just a Friend – Biz Markie
You’ve Got a Friend in Me – Randy Newman
All My Rowdy Friends are Coming Over Tonight – Hank Jr.
Best Friends – English Beat
My Best Friend’s Girl – The Cars
All the Right Friends – R.E.M.

COT:
Prayers for those affected by cuts in public health and research.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Spring Fling this Saturday April 6th — check Slack for deets (right Cream Cheese?)

A Few Select Random Facts:
Wet Wipes posing nude in print
CubCadet doing black ops security for Yo-Yo Ma’s son
DintyMoore’s old bottle collection (which he puts highlighters inside off with black light backlighting?)

Thanks HIM for pushing me into year 55!
SYITG,
Vector :microbe:

Solve the riddle, escape the beatdown

AO: bomber
Q: Puzzlah
PAX: Firefox, Chunks, DintyMoore, Black Lung, Cream Cheese, Tim the Toolman, Papa Bear, Pep, hambone, Bravefart
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
CONDITIONS: Chlly-ish to start

WARMUP:
Dynamic warm-up
Arm Circles
a little old man yoga
Cherry pickers

THE THANG:

Put together some crummy rhyming riddles in the form of an escape game/puzzle Q that ask the Pax to guess where the next stop on our adventure would be.

I line up in rows, strong and high,
Where kids swing through the sky.
Grip me tight and don’t let go,
Or down to the ground you’ll go!

To escape:
100 Rocky Balboas
25 Incline Merkins
25 Dolly Partons

Mosey to Monkey Bars.

I eat small spheres, then spit them out,
into the bucket, without a doubt.
Before you swing, you must come to me,
Where dimpled orbs are set free.

To escape:
(Option to hit 50) 30 pull-ups – 30 merkins- 30 rows – 30 squats – 2 laps
(partitioned however you want)

Mosey to Driving Range machine.

While today is nice, sometimes it’s not,
Can find this covered spot?
Next to the clubhouse to get some gainz,
It’s where we work out when it rains.

To escape:
Lunge down, Broad jump back length of driving range

Mosey to clubhouse

Practice a gentle tap, get a generous roll,
Avoid the sand, your chip finds the hole.
To complete this puzzle, you must be quick,
A surprise is waiting to do the trick.

To escape:
30 burpees
30 Carolina dry docks
30 mountain climbers (each leg)
30 dips

Mosey to Chipping Green.

Beep Test, either running or a SSH on the side. Congrats to Black Lung for getting to 10.0 :exploding_head: and making it look a lot easier than I’m sure it felt. DintyMoore, Bravefart, and Cream Cheese rounded out the top 4, but Cream Cheese will never see this, so did it really happen? I think each got to Round 8, but I was struggling to focus after I got caught at 7.3 (I think).

MOLESKINE:
Appreciating Firefox’s request of words of gratitude even though I often struggle to put them together. Grateful to lead and put together some (hopefully) fun puzzles for the group.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
TONIGHT is Game Night at Chez Firefox
Sign up for Merkin Madness.
Night moves is now March 13.

COT:
A number of prayers for family and friends, clarity around jobs, and gratitude for wins of our family and friends.

God’s gonna cut you down

AO: titan
Q: Puzzlah
PAX: Firefox, Sherlock, Black Lung, CubCadet, DintyMoore, Tim the Toolman, Young and Restless, Pep, Papa Bear
FNGs: None
COUNT: 10
CONDITIONS: springtime is peeking through

WARMUP:
SSH
Imperial walkers
Arm circles
Yoga
Merkins

THE THANG:
Mosey over to HCA garage
– Bottom (Ground Floor): 20 Merkins
– 2nd Floor: 20 Squats
– 3rd Floor: 20 Big Boy Sit-ups
– 4th Floor: 20 Burpees
Rd 1: sprint up inclines, mosey to next spot
Rd 2 (coming down): in reverse (Bernie down ramp), mosey to next spot
Rd 3: Bernie up, mosey and laps on roof for 6
Rd 4: mosey down and around.

Burpee for 6
My counts:
90 merkins total
60 burpees (plus any done at Start)

MOLESKINE:
On Johnny Cash’s 102nd birthday, we reflect on redemption.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Game night on Friday
Biscuit run on Saturday
Night Pax

COT: :black_heart:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6qf0kAUBFwuH8uMLC36atc?si=9_TvrRvVTC294TCkY8hHQw&pi=M2EKxuFhTkCOHq

A Day of Celebrations

AO: bomber
Q: Firefox , Pole Dancer
PAX: Vector, Black Lung, Tim the Toolman, CubCadet, DintyMoore, Puzzlah, Pep, Poppa Lock
FNGs: None
COUNT: 10
CONDITIONS: Arctic

WARMUP: Pole Dancer led us in some active warm-ups:
– 50 SSH
– A skips
– B skips
– Zombie walks

THE THANG: Pole Dancer and YHC could not decide which Feb. 21 national day to celebrate; so, we celebrated all of them.

Thang 1: Sticky Buns Day
To celebrate National Sticky Buns Day, YHC had us do a bit of leg and bun work. PAX did the following circuit as many times as they could within our allotted celebration time. Everyone finished 2, some were about done with their 3rd when we called time.
– Iron Mikes (20x/side)
– Bulgarian Split Squats (20x/side)
– Jump Squats (20x)
– Raised Alabama Prom Dates (20x, with feet elevated on a bench)
– Bear crawl around the circle behind McCabe

Thang 2: Grain-Free Day
To celebrate National Grain-Free Day, Pole Dancer had us do a number of exercises that looked familiar but were ultimately worse. After each set, we ran a bernie around the circle
– Navy Seal Burpees (merkin, knee tuck, merkin, knee tuck, merkin) – 25x (but many shortened to 20 because, wtf)
– Deep Squat Star Jumps – 25x
– Something else, I forget

Thang 3: Caregiver’s Day
To celebrate National Caregiver’s Day, YHC had us partner up. First 1 PAX did sit-ups while the other held feet in a high plank position. We did this for 50s and then swapped. We did 2 rotations of this and then switched to Partner Decline Merkins. 1 PAX held the feet of the other who did merkins for 50s and then swapped. 50s is a long time, y’all.

Thang 4: Boiled Peanuts Day
Pole Dancer was unfamiliar with boiled peanuts and other things we eat here in the South (if we’re not allergic to peanuts). He led us in a number of Southern-themed exercises, with a short jog to the parking lot in-between.
– Carolina Dry Docks
– Alabama Prom Dates
– Hello Dolly’s
– Ragin’ Cajuns (elbow-to-opposite knee crunches)

MOLESKINE:
– Definitely was fun collaborating with Pole Dancer on this!
– Much discussion of the Tomb Raider-esque amalgamation of YHC and Pole Dancer. Vector called it pornography.
– So cold.
– If you want to do a Co-Q mash-up with another of our respected brethren, send me a DM! We’ve got a couple others lined up for the spring.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– Saturday Breakfast Q at Focker’s
– Game night next Friday
– Other things that are on the calendar

COT:
– Much gratitude

Love is . . .

AO: bomber
Q: Vector
PAX: Pep, Firefox, DintyMoore, sooner, Sherlock, Right Said, Tim the Toolman, Puzzlah, Fish Food (DR)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 10
YHC was the Q-pid for today’s Valentine’s Day prep for the PAX. I even had a bow . . . seriously.

CONDITIONS: Chilly, 23 degrees with love in the air

PLAYLIST:
Theme of “Love is . . .”
Love is like Oxygen – Sweet
Love is a Battlefield – Pat Benatar
Love is an Open Door – Kristen Bell/Santino Fontana (from Frozen, not Moana sooner)
Love is the Drug – Roxy Music
Love is the Answer – Aloe Blacc
Love is a Stranger – Eurythmics
Love is in the Air – John Paul Young
Love is Blindness – Jack White
Love is the Answer – Dan Seals
Love is Dangerous – Fleetwood Mac
Love is Strange – Mickey & Sylvia
Love is a Long Road – Tom Petty

WARMUP:
Mosey in heart-shaped circles
LBAC x 20
Seal Claps x 20
Overhead Presses x 20
RLBAC x 20
WMH x 10 OHO
Good Mornin’s x 10 OHO
SSH x 20

THE THANG:
Q-pid started his work by having the PAX partner up and do several partner themed exercises:
Partner merkins x 20 (with clap between rep)
Partner WWI x 20 (with claps at top)
Partner chair squats x 30 sec x 3

Mosey to playground for some LOVES
Lunges x 100
Overhead presses x 100
V-shaped Pull-Ups x 100
Excellent form incline merkins x 100
Sexy squats x 100

[Aside: at some point sooner got caught up in the love and might have been twerking on the swing set pole . . . Q-pid supports all kinds of love, so go crazy HIM)

Mosey to flag for V-Day Mary of Alabama Prom Dates, J Los, Monkey Humpers, Jane Fondas to get those special parts trained for the day. So good, we rinsed and repeated.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– No Beer Ruck this weekend
– Game Night at Firefox abode Feb 28 at 7p
– Night Moves March 6 at 7:30pm

COT: Words of gratitude, prayers, and praises lifted up. Listened to the morning for a bit. Thankful for all of the HIM during what for me has been a very stressful time in both my personal (losing my mom) and professional (funding uncertainties, colleagues losing jobs abruptly) lives. Thankful to the PAX for pushing me each day.

SYITG, Q-pid (aka Vec)

That-workout-from-Friday redux

AO: westeros
Q: CubCadet
PAX: DintyMoore, Vector, bluemule, Pep, SalPal, Spinal Tap, Michelin Man
FNGs: None
COUNT: 8
CONDITIONS: Brisk 32 but manageable

WARMUP: 25 SSH, WMH / GM OYO, mosey around the big field (on the pavement)

THE THANG: Yeah, I stole my own workout from Friday / Bomber. Modified it slightly to make it less confusing (based on anonymous feedback)

– Endzone: 5 SSH
– 10 yard line: 10 burpees
– 20 yard line: 20 WW1
– 30 yard line: 30 mountain climbers
– 40 yard line: 40 merkins
– 50 yard line: 50 squats
– 40 yard line: 40 ski jumpers
– 30 yard line: 30 American Hammers
– 20 yard line: 20 box jumps
– 10 yard line: 10 wide arm merkins
– Endzone: 5 SSH

Rinse / repeat in reverse order

Travel between yard lines as a group was half bear crawl / half lunge worms (lunge, lunge, inchworm forward, 2 merkins, inchworm back up)

Sprint length of the “field” – 1x

Mary – round robin, 25 reps each exercise for 8 minutes

Playlist as also a recycle: Super Bowl Halftime songs.

MOLESKINE: Things I learned today:

– DintyMoore is alive
– SalPal was 12 in 2011
– Prince was the greatest SB halftime act. Ever.
– Coffee at Dose is pretty cool (#lovingmysabbatical)

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Congrats to those who finished Leanpax. Check slack for details on Brewruck and Night Moves coming up.

COT: Prayers for:
– People and critical care / research institutions impacted by government budget cuts, and struggling with uncertainty.
– Vector and family over his Mother’s passing
– Michelin Man dealing with some back issues (and our gratitude that he came to hang with us)
– SalPal dealing with some leadership challenges / change at work
– Intentions in our hearts.

Grateful for the opportunity to lead.