HELP! The COVID-19 pandemic has severely diminished the Red Cross’s blood supply and they have called upon the men of F3 Nation to step up like we always do. Our blood drive in October was a great success and we need to out do ourselves in 2021!
Our friends at the Brace Family YMCA(3127 Weddington Road Matthews NC) have offered to host the Red Cross and our pax for a donation day from 8AM to Noon on Friday February 19 2021. I know it’s not the cool thing to HC to things several weeks in advance but make an exception this time, block off your calendar on the morning of 2/19 and SIGN UP NOW! Most of the companies we work for offer you volunteer time off and this falls under that category!
Q and A
Q: How do I sign up?
A: Go to redcrossblood.org
Next enter the code F3 in the Find Blood Drive Search
From there you will be shown a list of ALL F3 blood drives that are currently scheduled. You will choose the Brace Family YMCA on February 19th option. Then you will see all of the remaining appointment options from 8 AM to Noon.
Q: My wife/brother/son/neighbor/coworker is interested in donating at this drive. Are they welcome to join?
A: Absolutely. The more the merrier. Provide them the same signup information I provided above and have them sign up the same way.
Q: I’ve been on some weird vacations recently. Will that prevent my eligibility to donate?
A: Maybe. But read the eligibility requirements www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/how-to-donate/eligibility-requirements.html
and see if you are still a candidate for donation. If you read through the eligibility requirements and determine you will NOT be able to donate, please refrain from signing up because you might be taking a spot away from another donor.
Q: I’ve already signed up. How can I help spread the word?
A: Remind other pax to sign up in the COT of all the workouts you attend between now and Feb 19. Publically shame pax who are dragging their heels and not signing up. And spam the slack channels with this link.
Q: I am not able to donate but I still want to help. How can I?
A: Mighty Mite needs help moving chairs/tables/equipment and with general logistics/signups. If you’d like to volunteer for the whole day or just an hour or two, let him know!
Q: F3 has a lot of blood to donate in order to reach their lofty goals. Is this one blood drive going to be enough?
A: No. We had one in October and will continue to do it every few months. All regions participating in this effort are expected to host 3-4 drives between now and the end of 2021. Plan on donating and helping out at the next one! If you can’t make this one, find another F3 blood drive that fits your schedule. If none of them work for you, donate somewhere!
Q: Mighty Mite was really annoying on slack and in person during the recruitment for the last blood drive. How can I get him to shut up and leave me alone?
A: Sign up and get your fellow pax to sign up. Mighty will be quiet when all the open slots are full.
Q: I am confused about _______
A: Reach out to Mighty Mite
Made it to the AO with 2 minutes to spare. Two cars in the parking lot.
The Thang:
Warm Up 10 Windmills, 10 arm circle forward, 10 arm circle back.
10 rounds of 6 double swings
KB Complex 15 mins of 5 cleans, 5 front squats, 5 presses. Doubles if you can.
EZ Strength
2X10 of double RDLs
2X10 KB Pushups
2X10 Lawn Mowers
4X10 High Pulls(doubles if you can)
Abwork
1 min elbow plank
1min hollow body hold
1min glute bridge
COT
Moleskin:
We had over 10 pax for the first Swole of 2021, hopefully today’s dip in numbers is more related to coincidence than fading New Year’s resolutions.
YHC had a Q Fail by forgetting my speaker and leaving the pax musicless. I suggested we sing some a capella to fill the silence and started the beginning of For the Longest Time by Billy Joel but when it was time for the chorus to join in, WT and IS neglected to sing. That was the inspiration for this backblast’s title.
Announcements
Next blood drive coming Friday Feb 19. Check for backblast later this week.
Let MM know if you’d like to Q Swole in the coming weeks. WT and IS on deck the next two weeks.
11 pax met in the parking lot of Calvary to listen to and swing some metal. YHC put on the tunes a few minutes early and the first song to come on “Jump”, lined up perfectly with Wild Turkey’s jump roping.
The Thang:
Warm Up
10 windmills, 10 arm circles forward, 10 arm circles reverse, 10 low slow squats.
Main event
20 swings, 1 TGU, 20 swings, 1 TGU other side, 10 swings, 5 snatches each arm
20 swings, 1 TGU, 20 swings, 1 TGU other side, 10 swings, 6 snatches each arm
20 swings, 1 TGU, 20 swings, 1 TGU other side, 10 swings, 7 snatches each arm
20 swings, 1 TGU, 20 swings, 1 TGU other side, 10 swings, 8 snatches each arm
20 swings, 1 TGU, 20 swings, 1 TGU other side, 10 swings, 9 snatches each arm
Ab work, 1 min of plank, hollow body hold, glute bridge.
30 sec of goblet squat hold, 1 min goblet squat hold.
Moleskine
Rousey would have been our 12th pax this morning but when he realized he was standing in the circle for Meathead and not Anvil he quickly ran away.
Our playlist was 100% Van Halen in honor of the recent passing of Eddie. It was a spotify playlist and some of the pax expressed their displeasure that some of their favorite hits didn’t play. I thought it was a little Sammy heavy myself. Ickey Shuffle said it would be a struggle for him not to cry but he kept himself composed.
I call this weinke KettleHell. It starts out easy but if you make it all the way through(without modifying) your legs will be jello and your cardio will be tested.
Annoucements:
It’s my birthday tomorrow. Nothing would be a better present than you signing up for the blood drive.
It’s a big day at Da Vinci…Convergence with Stonehenge, FNG/Kotters day, and Q School 201. 0630 Blakeney Petsmart. Chicken to follow.
SOB Happy Hour next week 10/15 at Middle James Brewing/Driving Range.
HELP! The COVID-19 pandemic has severely diminished the Red Cross’s blood supply and they have called upon the men of F3 Nation to step up like we always do. Regions throughout the country are hosting blood drives including ones close to us like F3 Metro and F3 Waxhaw(who is going to be done with 2 before we get done with our first). I’d say it’s our turn.
Our friends at the Brace Family YMCA(3127 Weddington Road Matthews NC) have offered to host the Red Cross and our pax for a donation day from 10AM to 2PM on Friday October 23rd. I know it’s not the cool thing to HC to things several weeks in advance but make an exception this time, block off your calendar around lunch time on 10/23 and SIGN UP NOW!
Q and A
Q: How do I sign up?
A: Go to redcrossblood.org
Next enter the code F3 in the Find Blood Drive Search
From there you will be shown a list of ALL F3 blood drives that are currently scheduled. You will choose the Brace Family YMCA on October 23 option. Then you will see all of the remaining appointment options from 10 AM to 2:30PM.
Q: My wife/brother/son/neighbor/coworker is interested in donating at this drive. Are they welcome to join?
A: Absolutely. The more the merrier. Provide them the same signup information I provided above and have them sign up the same way.
Q: I’ve been on some weird vacations recently. Will that prevent my eligibility to donate?
A: Maybe. But read the eligibility requirements www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/how-to-donate/eligibility-requirements.html
and see if you are still a candidate for donation. If you read through the eligibility requirements and determine you will NOT be able to donate, please refrain from signing up because you might be taking a spot away from another donor.
Q: I am not able to donate but I still want to help. How can I?
A: Mighty Mite has already wrangled Tuck and War Eagle to help out but we can always use more volunteers to assist in registration, logistics, setup, cleanup, and running the canteen. If you would like to assist on the day of the drive, please reach out to Mighty Mite.
Q: F3 has a lot of blood to donate in order to reach their lofty goals. Is this one blood drive going to be enough?
A: No. All regions participating in this effort are expected to host 4-5 blood drives between now and the end of 2021. Plan on donating and helping out at the next one!
Q: I am confused about _______
A: Reach out to Mighty Mite
Most pax were off work today so we decided to converge with the pax of Base Camp, The Matrix, and Iron Pax Challenge. We had a full hour this morning so that means 400 swings were on the docket.
20 swings, 1 tgu
20 swings, 1 tgu on the otherside
10 swings, 10 snatches
20 swings, 10 rdls
20 swings, 10 rdls
10 swings, 10 clean and press
20 swings, 10 squats
20 swings, 10 squats
10 swings, 10 highpulls
20 swings, 10 lawnmowers
20 swings, 10 lawnmowers
10 swings, 10 plank pull throughs
Thats 200 swings, repeato everything to get us to 400.
COP
Announcements:
Swole is back to its usual time and place next week(530 at InVue) with Beetlejuice on Q.
A51/SOB Blood Drive on October 23 Brace YMCA. Signups coming soon.
Moleskine:
YHC planned on calling a wide variety of exercises so we could teach new pax.
Which was good because Rousey was an F3 fng last week and a kettlebell fng today and got to learn the ropes.
YHC agreed to Q Bagpipe a few weeks ago but was still caught by surprise when Cooter2 made his Monday night marketing post. Thankfully I have plenty of old Qs to recycle so thats what we did.
It looked like a small group when I arrived but cars kept pulling into a foggy parking lot until 5:30. Veteran group so I didn’t think we needed until the pax asked for one. YHC backpedaled gave the disclaimer as the pax moseyed and almost injured myself. That would have been funny.
In the parking lot near the fountain we did a quick warm up.
10 IW
10 Windmills
10 Arm Circles Forward, 10 Arm Circles Back
Continue to mosey to the bull ring
The Main Event
Run around the bull ring, do 5 merkins at each entrance to the parking lot.
Repeato but trade the merkins for squats
Repeato Again but trade the squats for lbcs.
A this point is was 610 so time to mosey home.
The leaders of the group got back to launch a little early and did some mary but everyone else rolled in right at 615 so time for…
COT
Announcements
SOB/A51 Blood Drive at Brace YMCA on October 23.
It’s staying dark all morning. Wear bright colors, reflective bands, and blinkies.
If you haven’t Qed somewhere in a while, do it soon.
Moleskine:
I have Qed this same workout before at Stonehenge(yes, believe it or not, I used to Q Stonehenge). I even had an extra lap with burpees planned but ran out of time.
This is a good weinke because it is well rounded(just over 2 miles), hits all the muscle groups(arms, chest, abs, quads, and glutes), and doesn’t require a lot of instruction which allows pax to go at their own pace.
It was a sweaty morning. Stay hydrated.
Today’s Swole blackbast title was Voodoo’s response to hearing my plan on Sunday afternoon.
YHC rolled in at about 5:27 with 4 pax waiting in the parking lot. I only needed one bell(28 kg) so I took it out of the car and was ready to go. Hoover showed up during the warmup.
Warm Up 10 Windmills and 10 Arm Circles in each direction
The Main Event:
20 Swings: 1 Turkish Getup Left Hand
20 Swings: 1 Turkish Getup Right Hand
10 Swings: 5 snatches each hand
Repeato 5 rounds, with increasing snatches each round 6 each hand, 7 each hand, 8 each hand, 9 each hand.
1 min waiter carry left, 1 min rest 1 min waiter carry right
1 min Elbow Plank
1 Min Hollow body hold
1 Min Glute Bridge
End
COT
Voodoo takes the reigns at Meathead on Wednesday.
YHC needs help finding a venue for the upcoming SOB/A51 Blood Drive. We need a large air conditioned room for 5-6 hours. Think church fellowship halls, school cafeterias, gyms, etc. This would ideally be in the early part of October but we are flexible at this point.
Since the last edition of in person Da Vinci(March 14), 9 Saturdays have come an gone without the men of F3 SOBland from sweating and accelerating in the gloom of Blakeney followed by a delicious chicken breakfast. That all changed this morning as NC moved into phase 2, 16 men met in the Petsmart/Best Buy parking lot for a Memorial Day Weekend beat down.
The Thang:
Give updated COVID 19 disclaimer. And we’re off. Mosey through the trail behind the stores for a quick dynamic warmup of
high knees, butt kickers, lunges, toy soldiers, karaoke. YHC had to tie my shoes after that so I had the pax do 20 merkins.
YHC was prepared to copy one of Tuck’s Qs from about a year ago and trail run to Polo Ridge Elementary. Unfortunately, the 2nd leg of the trail was closed and we were not going to be able to use it.
Mosey to the grassy square for some partner work.
1 partner bear crawls the other burpees, flapjack
1 partner crab walks, the other jump squats
1 partner broad jumps the other carolina dry docks
Mosey to the roundabout for modified BLIMPS
5 burpees, mosey back 25 plank jacks, 30 squats
10 Lunges, mosey back 25 plank jacks, 30 squats
15 IWs, mosey back 25 plank jacks, 30 squats
20 merkins, mosey back 25 plank jacks, 30 squats
Mosey across Rea Road to Blakeney, stop outside the CVS for bear crawl merkin ladder, up to 20 merkins
Mosey to HT parking lot for 6 min of Mary led by the pax
Last round of partner work by the fountains
1 partner does dips, the other runs to Banana Republic
1 partner does incline merkins, the other runs to Banana Republic
1 partner does decline merkins, the other runs to Banana Republic
20 step ups, 20 split squats,
Mosey back to launch and plank until time is called
COT
Moleskine:
My Q-Fail this morning can teach 2 lessons to less experienced Qs,
It was good to see everyone in person again. Zoom is great but it doesn’t capture the essence of 2nd F gloom like trash talk and Frehley’s farts.
I also noticed a lot of silent refusniking going on especially during the the bear crawl/crab walks(YHC was guilty of this) and during the bear crawl merkin ladder. Once again, Zoom is great but it did create some bad habits.
We didn’t run a ton(2.5 miles??) but it was still a lot compared to the virtual workouts. I was smoked.
Announcements:
It’s up to Site Qs to decide when and how they reopen their sites. Stay tuned to slack for updates from your favorite workouts.
Cooter2 asked YHC to Q vBagpipe tomorrow. Already on the calendar for Swole and Da Vinci, I was hesitant but I realized I might not have many more opportunities for virtual Qs in the future so I decided to take it. We really didn’t really have a lot of variety but we did a lot of reps.
9 pax eventually made it into the zoom room and at 530 we were off.
20 SSH
20 IW
20 Windmill
2 minute run
11s of burpees and jump squats
2 minute run
Now that the blood is flowing, time for the main event…JACK WEBB
1 merkin + 4 air presses, 2 merkins + 8 air presses…….10 merkins + 40 air presses
2 minute run
Jack Webb Abs 1 heel to heaven + 4 lbcs, 2 heels to heaven + 8 lbcs…..10 heels to heaven + 40 lbcs
2 minute run
Jack Webb Legs 1 squat + 4 calf raises, 2 squats + 8 calf raises…..10 squats + 40 calf raises
2 minute run
Plank until 615
COT
Moleskine
This workout was simple but tough. And time did seem to fly by. Pretty good WIB to keep in mind when you can’t post(weather, travel, etc.) and don’t have any gear.
Announcements
Some AOs will be opening over the next week(Da Vinci, Bagpipe, Rebel Yell etc), keep an eye on slack to see which of your favorite workouts will be held in person vs virtually.
As workouts reopen, remember that not everythings is “back to normal” just yet. Pax are asked to remain in small groups(less than 10), avoid partner exercises, pax touching the same things(gear/pullup bars), and have a socially distant COT. It is up to site Qs to figure out if we are welcome back at the respective AOs.
Who: The Pax of SOBland
What: A virtual CSAUP featuring the most Qs of any F3 workout.
When: Saturday April 25 at 630A until…? (It will probably take 1.5 to 2 hours)
Where: This Zoom Room
https://zoom.us/j/294527202?pwd=YUg3c1ljRlB5YVpDVmxXcWl6RnZSdz09
Why: Because you have nothing better to do….
We were planning on having a regional town hall meeting this weekend but with COVID19 cancelling that, Tuck cooked up a brilliant way to get all SOB pax to show up to a Zoom workout. Put them all on Q….Well it won’t be all the pax on Q but plenty of them and hopefully even some newcomers to Zoom or F3 in general. Each Q will have roughly 3 minutes to lead the pax in any way they choose. Tuck will serve as MC and help the list of Qs(shown in link below) navigate through this CSAUP by letting everyone who is up next and who is on deck. If you want to get in on the QTrain, reach out to Tuck ASAP. Pax will be scattered amongst a variety of AOs(basements, garages, parks) but Qs can assume pax are in a place they could run for a few minutes, lift something heavy(kb, rock, sandbag, etc) or do any plethora of bodyweight exercises. See you there.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14apGYDeBoo2_aci1wx_FJOM6NuZhSGUq7GOHaTmFW2Y/edit#gid=0