The Standard

AO: thestronghold
Q: Chunks
PAX: Dan and Dave, Salami, hambone, Schnauzer, Young and Restless, Hair Band, Pole Dancer, Dan Tanna, Shocker (Mark Holmes), toga, Skeet, Spinal Tap, Grape, Right Said, Natural Ice, caprate, Red Skull, C Sharp, Snapper, DreamCast, Old McDonald, Coon Skin, Slash, Pearl, Vera Wang, Big Country, Old G, Humble Boxer, The Raptor(Miami), Zorro, Speedway, Filet O Fish, Ten Pack,, Big Bird
FNGs: 1 Big Bird
COUNT: 36
CONDITIONS: Pleasant

WARMUP: No warm up. Gave a 5 min warning to do some stretching.

THE THANG:

Circle up and partner up 1:1 F3 – 4:13
Welcome with Disclaimer and the standard: Push yourself

Then explain that during the workout the F3 & 4:13 men are to get to know each other with the F3 man prepared to give the 4:13 man a nickname at the end of the workout.

Right Said recited the Mission of F3.

Then we run in two lines with the F3 man on the left and his partner to his right. The partners sprint to the front as a team when I call out Front. We ran a mile around the campus, Train caused a little pivot to get the whole mile

At 1 mile we stopped and did a set of BOMBS starting at 5 and each exercise increasing the reps by 5 to 25 Squats. Then I talked briefly about how Mental Toughness is perishable. Just because you finished mental toughness week doesn’t mean it lasts forever, you must requalify every day.

Then we ran again following the same method I yelled Front and then stopped for another set of BOMBS starting at 5. Then talked briefly about 1 second decisions. Between now and the end of the 40 days they will have to make a lot of 1 second decisions. It only takes one of those to lose everything. You must gain control of your mind when all you want to do is quit. Cause at some point you will want to quit.

Ran back to start ex with a detour out onto foster ave and around the corner following the same method for a final set of BOMBS starting at 5. Then talked briefly on Performing without Motivation. Right now you have a purpose to finish the 40 days, but there will be times when you don’t have an easy goal like that and you have to Perform without Motivation, you just have to do it. Use these next 40 days to gain control of your mind and body. All these men here and the others that will take this journey with you want to see you succeed and win. But it’s not given without work. This program will push you, but will also support you. Take advantage of this opportunity, forget about your past and live in the present.

Circled up for the naming ceremony. The PAX did not disappoint with some good names this class.

We had and FNG that Red Skull named Big Bird.

Thanks to everyone that came out and the atlantis men.

Always an honor to lead you men.

Strength and Honor,
Chunks

COT: C Sharp asked to lead the closing prayer in the ball of Man.

100 8 Count Body Builder Finale

AO: thestronghold
Q: Natural Ice
PAX: Young and Restless, Ripcord, Dan and Dave, Dan Tanna, Shocker (Mark Holmes), Chunks, toga, Red Skull, Natural Ice, Longway, Fivepoints, Speedwalker, Skidmark, Baby Boy, Trajectory, Tempertantrum, Lightweight
FNGs: None
COUNT: 17
CONDITIONS: Perfect

WARMUP: SSH, Merkins, Squats, Imperial Walkers, Arm Circles, WHaze, and a nice Mosey

THE THANG: Each of the men from 413 Strong, took turns sharing lessons learned over the last 7 weeks in the program and then lead the group in a set of five 8 count Body Builders. Red Skull kick us off and I closed out the set for a solid 50.

Pax took a mosey toward the startdex and repeated the format, this time the men shared Goals for the future with Red Skull closing out with a challenge to push through the next stage of the program.

MOLESKINE: Trust the Process, Set Realistic and Attainable Goals. Do not sell yourself short and Do Not Give Up

COT: Prayers for Health, Future Jobs, and Perseverance

I am thankful to have gotten to know this group of men and I am looking forward to catching up and hearing about their progress.

-Natty

Musical Beatdown

AO: thestronghold
Q: Minnie Pearl
PAX: Shocker (Mark Holmes), toga, Chunks, Young and Restless, Dan and Dave, Decaf, Ripcord, Red Skull, Skeet, greyalbum, Minnie Pearl, Unc, Trajectory, 5-points, Long Way, Speed Walker, Baby Boy, Temper Tantrum, Light Weight, Skid Mark
FNGs: None
COUNT: 20
CONDITIONS: Comfy

WARMUP: Nope

THE THANG:
Paired Various workouts with songs:

Chumbawamba Tubthumping-burpees
Dee-1 No car note-block rockets
Family Force 5 Chainsaw-thrusters & shoulder presses
KB Church Clap-Church Clap
Moby flower-merkins
Derek Minor who you know-shrugs
Limp Bizkit rolling-grip rip & rolls
Holes dig it up-gravediggers
Head Shoulders Knees & Toes-head shoulders knees & toes

MOLESKINE:
Suffer!
“For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.””
‭‭Acts‬ ‭9‬:‭16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Come to signing day!!!

COT: kept private

First time is the easiest

AO: thestronghold
Q: tampalibra
PAX: Red Skull, Decaf, toga, Dan Tanna, bluemule, Shocker (Mark Holmes), Spandex, Speed Walker, Baby Boy, Light Weight, Five Points, Layup, Temper Tantrum, Bumble Bee, Peso, Unc, Tampax, Skid Mark, Long Way, Soft Soap and Trajectory
FNGs: None
COUNT: 23
First. We’ve got 160 PAX in this channel and only 6 at the workout. 4 if you take out Red Skull and Decaf who are there by default. I personally cant come every time so I totally get it but I really cant overstate the impact y’all have on these men. I’d really encourage you to commit to coming at least once per class, more if you can. 4:13 speaks directly to the heart of the mission of F3.

CONDITIONS: Cool

WARMUP:
SSH x 30
Squats x 10
LBAC x 10 each way
Jack Webb 1/3 Merkin+Air Press up to 10/30

THE THANG:
Grab a block at mosey

Line up in 2 groups of 11. bluemule was kind enough to Q some 4-count flutters while YHC set up cones.

Sprint relay – grab a cone bring it back, next guy grabs the next and brings it back, so on and so forth until all are picked up and then reset back out.

Group 2 won the first round with Red Skull someone getting stuck with 3 legs of it! To the winner goes the spoils so I gave them the choice of burpees or block thrusters. The team chose thrusters so 15 thrusters while Group 1 did 20 burpees.

Rinse and repeat. Group 2 again took the W. They chose burpees this time so YHC obliged with 30 burpees. 20 thrusters for Group 1.

YHC had some other things planned but wasn’t super pleased with the sprints, the lack of full reps, etc. SO we lined up and every man ran 125ft sprint down, and 125ft back. Immediate rinse and repeat again.

Grab the blocks and mosey home for burpee-apocalypse. When we got to 6 YHC promised we could be done once every person completed every rep. @Tampax stepped up and called out the reps for PAX, awesome leadership.

MOLESKINE:
Barely Legal (repeat 413’r) asked me 3x for a new name. I told him no and that it only gets worse. I finally obliged after insisting several more times. Being at a Tampa Q, and the bright pink shorts, Barely Legal has been officially renamed Tampax. Dont let Red Skull put any of this Tampa-X nonsense out there. It’s Tampax. Period. (pun intended)

I had something a little different dialed up but last second changed it up. I thought it was important for the PAX to experience a team focused challenge. It was interesting seeing them only focus on the dude next to them and give only just enough effort that was required and forgetting about the bigger picture. Some good lessons in that for sure.

COT:
Lots of prayers for safety for the men, resiliency, and their families.

Spandex has a sister getting some cancer scans this week.

The Return of Bagger Vance

AO: thestronghold
Q: baggervance
PAX: Chunks, Hair Band, Natural Ice, Skeet, Shocker (Mark Holmes), Red Skull, Decaf, Dan and Dave, Mayday (F3 Omaha), Cabana Boy, Moon Walk, Tealfin, Midnight Club, Practice?, Night Light, Chef Boyardee, Cruise Line, LifeSaver, Dr. Seuss, Skechers, Double Flush, Pick Me!
FNGs: None
COUNT: 23
CONDITIONS: A perfect 63 degrees with a beautiful sunrise. Rumored to be the last nice day for a while.

WARMUP: Circle up in the parking lot for a standard warm-up consisting of SSH, IW, HBW and some fancy stretching. Take off for a brief run which included some side shuffle and skips.

THE THANG:
Meet on the basketball court for some movements to half court and back. Bear Crawl + Crawl Bear x 2, Inch Worm, Worm Inch.

To the block pile, every man grabs a block. Block work included Merkins with feet on the wall, Murder Bunnies, Redrum Bunnies, Blockies, OH Press, 1 arm OH Press, Block Swings, Lung Walk, Rifle Carry, March back to block pile to drop off the blocks.

Meet in the circle for a little BV Yoga before time was called.

MOLESKINE: Good energy this morning. It was nice to see some of the 4:13 Strong guys push hard and complete the work instead of giving up and stopping short like they would have done a couple of weeks ago. Progress is being made!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Signing Day for this class will be Friday, June 28 at 11:30am.

COT: Prayers for fallen 4:13 Strong men, families and our city.

Concrete vs Steel

AO: thestronghold
Q: Chunks
PAX: Shocker (Mark Holmes), Dan Tanna, Young and Restless, toga, Grape, Dan and Dave, Skeet, Decaf, Red Skull, Right Said, Frozen, C#, Blitz, Sgt Meatball, Westside, Pacer, Triple 7, Yak, Wes (DR Seattle)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 20
CONDITIONS: More than Pleasant

WARMUP: No Warm Up – Played the Song “Great Day to Be Alive” as a 4 min warning and opportunity to stretch

THE THANG:

TRIVIA Concrete vs Steel

Divided the 4:13 men into their fraternities and divided the rest of the PAX

Must perform a Burpee before answering the question
Q1 – Core Principles of 4:13 Strong
13 SSH
Q2 – Mission of F3

2 Column Caboose is Loose run with YHC setting the pace

Round 2 – Bible
Q1 – Noah’s Sons Names
BOMBS – Starting at 5 and adding 5 reps each exercise
Q2 – How many years were the israelites enslaved

2 Column Caboose is Loose run with YHC setting the pace

Round 3 – Finances
Q1 – Reasons to save money
BOMBS – Starting at 10 and adding 5 reps each excercise
Q2 – Who needs a budget

2 Column Caboose is Loose run with YHC setting the pace

Round 4 – Work
Q1 – What does OSHA stand for
BOMBS – Starting at 10 and addeing 5 reps each excercise
Q2 – What are two free things you can bring to the job

2 Column Caboose is Loose run with YHC setting the pace

Stopped at stop sign and walked back to the Startex together.

Last Question for 5 points:
What are the requirements to graduate 4:13?

Group stuggled to answer this question, so we settled it with a Ring of Fire won by West Side.

Game ended in a tie for the first time.

Always honored to lead at 4:13. Thanks, Chunks

SIGNING DAY 4/26 AT 11:30 AM! Come support these men as they start the real work at their new jobs.

Triangle of Sadness

AO: thestronghold
Q: Sunshine
PAX: Chunks, Red Skull, Dan Tanna, Shocker (Mark Holmes), Decaf, Hacker (Franklin), Swingline / Jason Aeverman, bluemule, Skeet, Dan and Dave, Shoota, McFly (Franklin), Sunshine (Franklin), Woopie (Franklin), Noble Virus (Franklin), Blitz, Fozen, C Sharp, Yeti, Sgt. Meatball, Pacer, Westside, Trajectory,
FNGs: None
COUNT: 24
CONDITIONS: Cool and damp

WARMUP: SSH, Mosey, Arm Circles, Seal Claps

THE THANG: 3 station beatdown. PAX separated into 3 groups and partnered up within those groups. Group 1 grabbed coupons for their station and we all moseyed to the bball court. Each group started at a different station and rotated throughout.

Station 1
Curls
Overhead Press
Dips

Station 2
Bolt 45s

Station 3
Big Boys
American Hammers (2=1)
Leg Lifts

Perform 5 reps of each exercise, then move on to the next station. After completing all 3 stations, go up 5 reps to 10 total. Next round, 15 reps. So on until Mary.

Mary consisted of the song “Roxanne.” SSH through the song, performing a burpee every time Roxanne is said.

MOLESKINE: Sometimes we act like life gets easier the older you get, always looking to the next stage you think will be easier than the present. Like this workout, though, it often gets harder. You may find your groove or sweet spot, but then you up it by 5 reps, making it more difficult. Moments like that are when you lean on your battle buddy.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

COT: YHC was too busy trying not to splash merlot to finish up after Moleskine.

Last Minute Switch

AO: thestronghold
Q: Red Skull
PAX: Shocker (Mark Holmes), Chunks, Dan and Dave, Minnie Pearl, Bill Dance, Decaf, Young and Restless, Yak, Frozen, Westside, Pacer, Trajectory, C#, Triple Sevens, Blitz, Sgt Meatball, Mr. Clean
FNGs: 1 Mr. Clean
COUNT: 18
CONDITIONS: A chilly 46 degrees

WARMUP: Mosey to the gravel lot for a Toga-inspired warm-up:
– Motivators
– Slow and Low Squats
– Imperial Walkers
– T-Ups
– Scorpion Stretch

THE THANG:
– Run to the front STEM parking lot for some EMOM work: 15 burpees, 20 squat jumps, 25 WWI’s
– Run to the NSA parking for another round of EMOM work
– Run to the Dept of Safety parking lot
– 15 burpees then Lt. Dan’s with locked arms to the next light
– 20 jump squats then bear crawl to next light
– 25 WWI’s then crawl bear to final light
– Run to the helipad – 15 burpees
– Run to the maintenance parking lot – 20 jump squats
– Run to the smoke stack – 25 WWI’s
– Run to the hill for two attempts at crawl bears up the hill
– Run to the StartEx for a little Mary

ANNOUNCEMENTS: The Stronghold is headed to Franklin to defend the flag. Join us at The Armada at 0630 for a Mid-TN / Alabama convergence.

COT: Prayers for strength, courage and wisdom

First One – Done!

AO: thestronghold
Q: Right Said
PAX: Dan and Dave, moneyshot, Betty Ford, Cowboy, Shocker (Mark Holmes), Skeet, Young and Restless, Decaf, Minnie Pearl, bluemule, Red Skull, Sunshine, Bill Dance, Wookie, D Pole, Comeback, Army Surplus, Yak, Frozen, Pacer, Mix Tape, Milli Vanilli, For the Girls, Westside, Trajectory, C Sharp, Triple Seven, Blitz, Sergeant Meatball
FNGs: 9 Mix Tape, Milli Vanilli, For the Girls, Westside, Trajectory, C Sharp, Triple Seven, Blitz, Sergeant Meatball
COUNT: 30
CONDITIONS: Absolutely perfect at 57 degrees

WARMUP:
Mosey to the front parking lot for:
– SSH, LBAC, R-LBAC, Seal Claps, Good Mornings, WMH
– Partner Up – 1 F3 PAX to 1 4:13 Strong Participant (we had the perfect number to get to our 1:1 ratio!)
Mosey to the basketball court with a quick stop at the Block Pile to pick up one block per pair.

THE THANG:
Assemble along the baseline – Partner 1 works while Partner 2 moves the length of the court and back, swap and then hold plank for all in.
– Round 1: Block Curls, Suicides
– Round 2: Block Squat, Lunge
– Round 3: Overhead Block Press, Suicides
– Round 4: Block Wings, Suicides

Circle up for the Doomsday Circle (Ring of Fire) – Each man does one merkin, advancing around the circle until 500 merkins were completed. If a break was needed, complete 15 SSHs and then re-enter the circle.

Mary – Flutter Kicks, Hello Dolly, Freddy Mercuries,

ANNOUNCEMENTS: The newest class is off and running. Thanks to the PAX from greenmachine who joined us this morning. It was great to have you out!

Six more weeks with this class. Come out and join them.

Discern the signs

AO: thestronghold
Q: morning star
PAX: Chunks, Skeet, Minnie Pearl, Wolfpack, baggervance, Dan and Dave, Decaf, Shocker (Mark Holmes), Red Skull, morning star, Woodpecker, D Pole, Wookie, Goldie Locks, Army Surplus, Yak, Frozen, Lost & Found, Evel Knievel, Sunshine, Neanderthal, Peach Pie, Prince’s Hot Chicken, Tatter Tot, Iron Flush, Mittens, Mr. Krabs, Long Horn, Bill Dance(?), Dantana, Cat Man
FNGs: 1 Cat Man
COUNT: 29
CONDITIONS: high 20’s and lively

5:30 – disclaimer given … YHC asked men to raise their hands if they were willing to take personal responsibility for their own safety. Modify as necessary.

WARMUP: mosey to the light, circle up … motivator x5, lazy imperial walkers x10, hard style low slow squats x11

YHC taught PAX how to do fast and loose drills (active recovery) … dubbed “Mickey’s” or “Soviet Sprinter Shakes” … the idea is to shake the tension out of your limbs as if you were shaking water off after a shower.

THE THANG: partner up and stay in a circle. 11 seconds of jump squats, then 49 seconds of active recovery …. for 30 minutes. pairs take turns carrying coupons around the basketball counts, completing 5 supermans between the far two goals.

PAX were instructed to transition from jump squats to SSH if they experienced 1 of 2 signs: lots their power on the jump or had trouble singing along/talking between sets of squats.

It was long and monotonous and we passed our time by encouraging each other, signing along with “Lean on me” (which was on repeat). The challenge was to stay mentally engaged the whole time; powerful jump squats and constant movement during active recovery.

Mary: baby crawl, bear crawl, cat crawl, imperial walkers, skipping … all done while moving in a circle.

MOLESKIN: YHC shared the story of when my mom kicked my dad out of our apartment when I was 13. Talked about how that flipped my world upside down. I cried myself to sleep that night, lonely and afraid. Ultimately my parents got divorced and my adolescence was an experience of me being emotionally orphaned; there was not a place in my home for my heart to express itself or grow in maturity.

YHC shared how I used to avoid my past, the painful memories and even grew to despise my story.

However, as I’ve leaned to go back to those traumatic moments, bring them into the light, share them with others … I’ve found the capacity to offer grace, kindness and tenderness to parts of my heart that were frozen in time. As I practice this, I grow in resilience.

Just as we had 2 signs that we used to transition exercises during the workout we also have signs that our heart and body gifts us with: emotions. Each emotion I experience can be a doorway into my story. And if I discern it and go back with curiosity and kindness I have an opportunity to find healing and ultimately grow in maturity.

New approach to consider: we accelerate our capacity to do hard things not by gritting our teeth but by offering tenderness to our hearts.

So, go forth and do the hard internal work … do it with a guide (a trusted friend or mentor or counselor) and see your maturity advance!

YCH blessed the PAX and we ended with “Heart on 3”.

Was wonderful to finally make it out to the stronghold.
– m out!