Warm Welcome

AO: thestronghold
Q: tampalibra
PAX: Decaf, Skeet, Dan and Dave, Dan Tanna, Goodwill, Chunks, Young and Restless, Barney, Red Skull, Pearl (Jonathan Halter), Wham-O, Hipster, Tater, Zumiez, Puff Puff, Finger Tips, Papa Bear, Slurpee, Pom Pom, Torta, Giggity, The Count, Chicken Little, Guppy, Stir Fry, Bedazzle, Sticky Fingers, Nut Spread
FNGs: 15 Zumiez, Puff Puff, Finger Tips, Papa Bear, Slurpee, Pom Pom, Torta, Giggity, The Count, Chicken Little, Guppy, Stir Fry, Bedazzle, Sticky Fingers, Nut Spread
COUNT: 29
Red Skull commented that we saw the softer side of Tampa today :joy:. Nothing too brutal, didn’t harp on cadence, and didn’t start with burpeeapocolypse!

Warm ups:
SSH x 50 (to get the heart rate going, warmup, and stop the complaints about the cold weather)
Squats x 10
WMH x 10 OYO
Air Press x 50
LBAC x 10 each
Finger Bangers x 10

Grab a coupon and mosey to the courts.

Without explaining group 1 vs group 2 here is what we did:
Perfect Merkin x 20
Mosey (either murder bunny or lunge)
Ground to shoulder x 20
Mosey back

R&R 15, 10, and then 5

Then. same pattern with:
We’re Not Worthy x 5
Mosey (no blocks)
Thruster x 5
Mosey back

R&R 10, 15, 20

Back to startex, circle up for name-a-rama, started burpees instead bc everyone wanted to dilly dally getting back to startex.

These men are breaking deeply rooted habits and ways of living/thinking. Pray for them. Pray the Lord gives them the vision to see why they need it, courage to do the hard things, and confidence that they can accomplish it despite the difficulty,

…And we named a dude Nut Spread :peanuts:

[after-hours] The Inaugural After Hours

AO: after-hours
Q: Strutter
PAX: Hipster, Strutter
FNGs: None
COUNT: 2
CONDITIONS:
Glorious, clear evening.

WARMUP:
20 SSH IC
Run to the base of the steps.
THE THANG:
Run up steps, do a random exercise.
Run up more steps, do a random exercise.
Run down steps, random exercise.
Run through a parking lot, and then back up steps for a random exercise.
Run down the big set of steps and back to the map.
Repeato.
Threepeato.
MOLESKINE:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Holy Smokers Thursday night.

COT:

[tortoisehare] Run #1 – The Slowest Run of the Year

AO: tortoise-and-hare
Q: Red Skull
PAX: Chunks, Decaf, Young and Restless, Goodwill, Judy, Barney, Right Said, Hipster, Stir Fry, 12 FNGs
FNGs: 1 12 FNGs
COUNT: 23
CONDITIONS: Brisk 34 degrees….perfect running weather

WARMUP: Standard Pre-Run Warm-Up: SSH, Squats, IWs, Stretches

THE THANG: RUN!!! – One 4:13 Strong man under 30:00, One 4:13 Strong man over 55:00. Lots of room for improvement over the next six weeks.

MOLESKINE: Sometimes we make what should be the easiest parts of the day hard (like getting into the circle for COT). Men who are successful in life do not let the easy things knock them off track.

Hipster called Chunks old and slow and challenged the 4:13 Strong men to beat him next week.

COT: Prayers for strength and courage.

Cherry Poppers – VQ & VAOQ

AO: the-castle
Q: Brown Slip
PAX: Chunks, Hipster, Dilbert, Mr. Pancake, Horizon, Brown Slip, Steely, Butterfingers, Barney, Flipper, Goodwill, None
FNGs: 1 None
COUNT: 11
CONDITIONS: Drizzle, Wet, Perfect Temp

WARMUP:
• SSH – 20 IC
• Windmills – 10 IC
• Imperial Walkers – 15 IC
• Arm Circles – 10 forward/10 backward IC
• Cherry Pickers – 10 IC

THE THANG:
Cherry Bomb Circuit – 4 Rounds
** Randomized Q for each activity**
• Merkins – 20
• Squats – 20
• High Plank – 20 seconds
• Lunges – 15 each leg
• CarolinaDry Docks – 15
• Mountain Climbers – 25

Rest 30ish seconds between rounds.

MOLESKINE:
• Typewriter – 20 IC
• Standing Side Crunch (Hillbilly Walkers)– 15 IC
• Chunks with the 5 Burpee Audible
• CarolinaDry Docks Buyout

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
• thestronghold 4:13 Tuesdays & Thursdays – support the new cohort
• Holy Smokers this Thursday Strutter house – check Slack for details
• Check Slack for surrounding AOs and activities
• Lean PAX

COT:
• Prayers for Strutter’s MIL family & safe travels
• Strength & Guidance

New Years Day Convergence – Welcome 2026!

AO: thestronghold
Q: Red Skull
PAX: Hipster, DintyMoore, Mumbler, Ponzi, Natural Ice, Purple Tiger, hambone, toga, Chunks, Barney, Wolfpack, Tinkertoy, Young and Restless, Tim the Toolman, Decaf, Grape, Pep, Topanga, Take 3, Animal, BTB, Tool Bit
FNGs: None
COUNT: 23
CONDITIONS: 32 Degrees – perfect workout weather!

WARMUP: Mosey to the gravel lot for the usual warm-up: SSH, IWs, Windmills, Squats, Merkins, T-Ups and Scorpion Stretch.

THE THANG:
Mosey to the Auditorium

Part 1: Mental Toughness Week (Tryouts) – Burpee Apocalypse with a run around the building the building in between each round.

Mosey to the North Lot

Part 2: 40 Day Challenge – 6 weeks of work condensed down to six movements: Lt. Dan, Bear Crawl, Crab Walk, Burpee Broad Jump, Crawl Bear and Politician.

Mosey to The Hill

Part 3: The Work Phase – 7’s on the hill with Hand Release Merkins at the top, run down the hill, Jump Squats at the bottom, Politician up the hill.

Mosey back to the flag and time!

MOLESKINE:
4:13 Strong is a great program for men who want to change the course of their life, but it is hard. Only 35% of the men who enroll have what it takes to complete all program requirements. A big factor to success are the relationships that our men build with other men who can show them how to handle hard things. You can make a real difference for the 4:13 Strong guys by showing up, working out with them and modeling how HIM face challenges.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
LeanPax begins on 1/5
The Stronghold is now meeting every Thursday
Struggle Prep is coming in a few short weeks
Young and Restless is the new AOQ of The Stronghold

COT:
A great turnout for our New Years Day Convergence. Thank you all for coming out to join us!

NYE Countdown

AO: titan
Q: Spinal Tap
PAX: Natural Ice, Good Morning America, SalPal, Pep, Tim the Toolman, Choo Choo, Juicy J, Right Said, bluemule, Hipster, Papa Bear, Young and Restless, Stumbles
FNGs: None
COUNT: 14
CONDITIONS: :cold_face:

WARMUP: The usual

THE THANG:
DORA 100 merkins, 200 LBC, 300 squats
Midnight countdown madness around the circle with our coupons
Mary

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
4:13 New Years convergence at 6! Set alarms now and SC!

COT:
2026 – challenge everyone to build a deeper community where conversations go beyond “I’m good.” Everyone has ups and downs and deep, accountable, and challenging relationships are a life line to our mental health. We cannot grow if we are just counseling ourselves and not sharing and encouraging each other.

Natural Ice and I host a small group every Wednesday night at 7:30 and you are all invited whether you go to our church or not.

Lastly thanks to Pep for being our new AOQ as he will take us to new heights and start being in our photos!

“Die Hard” – A Christmas Workout

AO: greenmachine
Q: Matador , EZ-Go
PAX: Shy Guy, Esposa, Hipster, Cowboy, Chunks, Grape, Topanga, Matador, Pep, EZ-Go, The Merchant
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
CONDITIONS: As cold as Christmas on the 30th floor of a skyscraper with the windows blown out

WARMUP: OYO party: SSH, Good mornings, Willie Mays, broga, etc

THE THANG: DIE HARD

Ascend 30 floors up Nakatomi Tower
-Run the Bleachers many times

Survive against terrorist-thieves, lead by Matador
Start in Endzone 
Bearcrawl (thru glass) to 50 yard line
20 burpees (climb up elevator shaft)
Peter parker to other endzone (crawl thru AC vent)
50 calf raises bc your feet hurt from glass
Bearcrawl back to 50 yard line
20 burpees
Peter Parker to original endzone
50 calf raises

Hostage Rescue Relay, lead by Matador
Partners — 1 person doing SSH while waiting
1 person sprint out to 30 yards
30 high knees (escaping down 30 floors)
Sprint back, switch places
Do this a bunch of times. There are many hostages

Hans Gruber hangs and falls to his death, lead by EZ-Go
Partners – 1 does a dead hang until failure
Other partner does V-Ups
Switch and do again, many times

The Final Shot, lead by EZ-Go
Reginald VelJohnson (Al) shoots final terrorist for John McClane
Partners – 1 of you takes the bullet (burpees) – the other… shoots the shot? Somehow related to the plot (full sprint across field and back) 

MOLESKINE: spoiler: they’re not actually terrorists, they’re just regular old German thieves.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: this is what slack is for

COT: prayers for challenges related to divorce, family hardships during Christmas travels. Gratitude for Shy Guy’s new baby.

The 2nd Annual Crieve Hall Butterball Crawl

AO: 1stf
Q: EZ-Go , EZ-Go, Smokehouse, Donkey Hammer, Esposa
PAX: Donkey Hammer, Esposa, Harry Caray, Hipster, moneyshot, Smokehouse, Sugar mama, tampalibra, Young and Restless, 125 Cold Crieve Hallers, So many
FNGs: 1 So many
COUNT: 125
The second annual Crieve Hall Butterball Crawl delivered in full force! Many F3 HIM’s of the Shire came together to serve our neighborhood and put on the best 5K this side of Ellington Ag Center.

CONDITIONS: Colder after sunrise than before, somehow.

WARMUP: 15 minutes of standing in the cold waiting for EZ-Go to start the race

THE THANG: A 5K and 1 mile loop exhibiting some of the best rolling hills and gradual grades Nashville has to offer.

MOLESKINE: 300 pancakes were flipped, friendships were forged, community was built, and coffee was drained. Great time had by all.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Come see us again next year!

HAIL HYDRA

AO: greenmachine
Q: Natural Ice , Chunks, Squatter
PAX: Pep, Esposa, SalPal, Grape, Topanga (Scott), Focker, Cowboy, Young and Restless, Hipster, Wham-O, Betty Ford
FNGs: None
COUNT: 13
CONDITIONS: Low 40s and perfect

WARMUP: NO SSH FOR YOU Pep!!!
Why warm up when you can run to the track :man-shrugging:

THE THANG: The 3 Heads of Hydra

Squatter kicked off the first 15 minutes with a simple and effective concept

Start at 0m
10 merkins, 10 burpee broad jumps, 10 air squats, 10 lunges, 10 flutter kicks, bear crawl to the 100m line, run the rest of the track (picking up the 6), and rinse and repeat.

YHC took over at 5:45

Starting at the end of the field with performed 30 SSH – (My psyop to get the full PAX into cadence was a complete failure)
10 8-count body builders, 20 Big Boy Sit Ups and we ran to the other side of the field to rinse and repeat.

Now that we are over Ocotburpee, 8 count body builders are all the rage.

Lastly Chunks closed us out.
Sprints up the hill, sets of Perfect Merkins, Burpees :pinched_fingers: the perfect way to close out a beat down before ending with some light stretching.

MOLESKINE: IMHO – Co Qs should be about keeping the momentum high and not planning to much as team. Mission accomplished

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Percy Warner Accent this Saturday, f3 Afterhours/Afterdark/NightF3 next Thursday, Turkey Trot in Crieve Hall, Grow School in December

COT: Prayers for the Clay Family, Lifting up Hipster, and for all of us to lean into community as we are not built to grow/thrive on our own.

I am thankful for you guys!
-Natty Out

All typos courtesy of me writing this out and not using Chatgpt

We’re Too Saxy for this Q

AO: greenmachine
Q: Firefox , Grape
PAX: Wham-O, Betty Ford, Hipster, Topanga, Esposa, Works for a Guy, Black Lung, Pep
FNGs: None
COUNT: 10
CONDITIONS: Saxy

WARMUP: Grape led us on a long mosey around the block (accompanied by some sweet, sultry, saxy sax songs) and back to Startex for:
– SSH
– Imperial walkers
– Hillbillies
– Good mornings
– LBAC
– Overhead claps
– Seal claps

THE THANG: Today is National Saxophone Day. The Saxophone was invented in the 1800s by Adolphe Sax, who was born on November 6, 1814 and went on to live a life full of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_Sax.

To celebrate National Saxophone Day, PAX moseyed to the football field and partnered up. 1 partner did an exercise in the endzone while the other bear crawled 20 yards and back. Each exercise was accompanied by a true/false trivia question. Wrong answers increased the bear crawl distance by 5 yards (each direction).
– S – SSH; The Saxophone is a woodwind instrument – True
– A – ?; Adolphe Sax was Austrian – False, he was Belgian
– X – X-jumps; Kenny G is best known for playing the alto saxophone – False, he primarily plays the soprano sax
– O – Overhead Press; Richard Nixon was a saxophone player – True, he could play 5 instruments
– P – Pop Squats; A saxhorn is another name for the saxophone – False, it’s another family of instruments invented by Adolphe
– H – Hand-release Merkins; Adolphe Sax invented 8 types of saxophone – False, he invented 14 different types
– O – Ohno’s (skaters); The name of the saxophonist for the Electric Mayhem (from the Muppets) is “Lips” – False, it’s “Zoot”
– N – Newton’s Cradle; The smallest saxophone is only 12 inches long – True, it’s called a soprillo
– E – Elbow plank jacks; The most expensive saxophone ever purchased was made of plastic – True, it belonged to Charlie Parker

The bear crawl stretched out to the 30yard line but by the end had come back to the 20.

PAX did 18 burpees and 46 Iron Mikes (each side is a half) for the year 1846 when the saxophone was patented.

Pax then did 45 merkins for the 45 pound heft of the contrabass saxophone (which is over 6ft tall)

Mosey back to Startex. 2 separate 47 second hollow body holds for the 47 minute world record of the longest note ever held on a saxophone.

MOLESKINE:
– Sadly, I did not get to share one more factoid, the largest gathering of simultaneously playing saxophone players involved 1875 musicians.
– Kudos to Betty Ford for guessing our theme during warm-up
– Props to Pep Esposa and others for throwing out many other saxophone-related names and references
– Grape link that sweet, saxy playlist in the thread, please!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– Check Slack

COT:
– Thoughts prayers to marriages, new phases in life, and safe travels