The Thang:
jog around baseball field (long way round) to centre field for:
SSH x 15
Merkins x 5
IW x 15
Merkins x 5
Perfect Mtn Climbers x 10
Squats x 10 (low slow)
Merkins x 6 (in case you thought YHC was going to stop at 5)
CDD x 10
SSH x 15 (why not?)
Merkins x 5
Mosey to bleachers
Partner up – size doesn’t matter
Partner 1 – 10 Merkins, 15 Dips, 20 LBC’s and 10 Supine Pull Ups
Partner 2 – Run round baseball field (the gravel path on the outside)
Flapjack then plank up
Repeato
While waiting for all PAX, 5 burpees on your own, wait we have more time? 5 burpees on your own, well if you finished early you must have the energy for 5 more burpees on your own (this might be Base Camp but there’s no standing around)
Mosey to Railing, plank walk up the railing, lunge walk down to football field
Partner 1 – backwards run to front (or back for those with energy), jog back to start
Partner 2 – 10 merkins, 10 LBC and repeat until partner 1 returns
Flapjack
Partner 1 – Karaoke to front (or back) of bleachers
Partner 2 – 10 slow squats, 10 something else (can’t remember)
Flapjack
Partner 1 – bear crawl to first football goal post peg then jog back
Partner 2 – 10 CDD, 10 Squirm
Flapjack
Mosey to parking lot for Mary
10 x slow flutters
10 x slow dolly
10 x slow rosalita
10 x heels to heaven
8 x mason twist
Moleskin:
Serious effort by the PAX this morning, more running than normal at Base Camp but done in intervals and everyone not only powered through but as PAX finished had seriously positive mumblechatter for those still pushing, well done folks, keep the encouragement flowing. Hops and Zip A Dee would have been proud. Robin Hood and Boomer leading the way for us younger folks (pretty much everyone in Area 51 is younger than these two) at 62, it was determined that Robin Hood is 2 months older but the consensus was that at 62 it really didn’t matter and that we all hoped to be out in the gloom at 62! Well done! Robin Hood and Pele showing noticeable improvement in only a short time with the pax, great effort. Dracula was looking slightly less sinister, especially on the track work. YHC couldn’t catch Deep Dish on the baseball field runs but I did try. Passport twisted ankles left and right and suffered in silence…a GRT in the making no doubt.
Announcements:
Passport is taking over co-site Q duties at Base Camp from YHC – T Claps for stepping up to lead with Smash and CMD.
YHC will be partnering with High Tide to start a Saturday Moderate intensity workout, location tbd, soft launch was this last Sat with hard launch this upcoming Sat. T Claps to High Tide for stepping up on that one.
F3 Dads at Camp Thunderbird event, more info on f3nation.com
Mall Cop has Area 51 T Shirts, ping him or meet him at a workout, he’s hoping to get them out of his car soon (T Claps to Mall Cop for organizing these awesome shirts)
The soft launch for Ascent has now come and gone with 6 brave PAX starting off the group, no doubt this will grow as the word gets out there and more FNG’s and other PAX look to join this august group. Thanks to Hops for getting this kick started and also to High Tide though while not in attendance (DR at the beach but posted anyway #strong) who is co-Q’ing with YHC long term. Final T-Claps to Mall Cop for letting Ascent leverage the Rock facility and fantastic getting the group launched and COT together, thanks again brother #hugeinspirationtome
So after all of that, I’m sure it is already enough to make Tiger Rag shed a tear…
Jog to COT:
20 SSH
15 Merkins
20 Imp Wokkas
15 CDD
10 Perfect Mtn Climbers
15 Perfect Squats (slow count)
Jog to Picnic Tables:
10 Dips
10 Step Ups (total, not per leg)
10 LBC ‘s
Plank then repeato x 3
Mosey to small hill
Reverse Merkin ladder from 5
Partner up
Partner 1: Backwards jog half of soccer field
Forwards jog back
Partner 2: First round squats, second round the squirm
Repeato
On Hill – 10 Incline Merkins
Hand over to Hops
Indian run to baseball field
Positional baseball work:
Bear crawl from home to pitchers mound.
1 wide arm. Bear crawl from mound to home.
2 wide arms
Lunge walk to 1st base
3 squats
Lunge walk to 2nd base
4 squats
Bunny hop to 3rd base
5 IWs
Broad jumps to shortstop
6 monkey jumpers
High knees to left field
7 exploding merkins
Backwards run to centerfield
8 Parker Peters
Jog to left field
9 incline merkins
Mosey to rocks and grab one
People’s Chair holding rock straight out
15 overhead presses w rock
People’s chair
15 squats with rock
People’s chair
15 tricep extensions w rock
Drop rock
Jog to lot
15 line jumps L-R
15 line jumps forward-backward
1 minute of quick curb steps (now known as Canadian Riverdance in honor of Strange Brew) (ED: YHC thinks it should be against etiquette to have someone post something self depracating when it really comes from someone else)
5 MoM
Flutters
Dolly’s
Freddie Mercury’s
CCVs
COT
Moleskin:
Great work by the PAX today, especially notable Pele and partner Hair Band on the field work were pushing it hard and Loki was flying on the baseball field. Barqs told a story on the move the created the ambiance for an audible by Hops to do…what else, hopping work before hitting the Mary. Thanks again to Hops for the kick start.
Announcements:
F3 Dads camping opportunity at Thunderbird park, sounds pretty cool, more details on the F3nation.com main page
Ascent will figure out it’s permanent home and will be posted online and tweeted
GO RUCK team heads out this Friday, go support the boys as they step off or come back in, I can attest to how awesome that is and YHC plans to be at least at one or the other if not both
2 Shovel Flags were planted for 2 simultaneous workouts at Calvary, and the pax were eager to get things started. We all ran to the launching pad for a COP warmup together led by the new Base Camp lower intensity workout #F3Ascent Qed by Strange Brew:
SSH x 20, Merkins x 15, Imperial Wokkas x 15, Carolina Dry Docks x 15, Perfect Mt. Climbers x 15, Perfect Squats (slow count) x 15.
The pax was split and the Ascent guys rode off into the distance towards the soccer pitches. At this point YHC informed The Rock pax of my hard week of late nights at work and the fact that YHC had to go in after coffeetiria for a few hours on Sat. as well and I needed to relieve some pent up stress.
The Thang:
Indian Run out to the front corner at Pineville-Matthews and Rea, then down Rea Rd to the entrance 4 hill. With 20 pax this was a long line to sprint!
Up the entrance 4 hill with backwards lunge walk, then 15 burpees at the top.
Backwards Bear Crawl down the hill, then Karaoke Left back up, then 15 burpees at the top.
Bear Crawl down the hill, then Karaoke Right back up, then 15 burpees at the top.
Indian Run #2 down back of campus to the pavilion for 2 minutes of Peoples Chair – Arm Ups in Cadence x 20, Left Leg Up, Right Leg Up, Arm Ups x 20.
Mosey to picnic table benches by kitty litter for 3 sets of: 10 Decline Merkins, 20 Jump Ups, 30 Dips.
Mosey out to the middle of the soccer pitches and pax splits in half. Half the pax run 75 yards out to the fence, the other half sprint 50 yards then up to the top of the Jacob’s Ladder Hill. Once at mid-point: 10 burpees, 30 squats, then sprint back to the starting point.
Rinse and Repeat with 20 merkins and 30 Jump Lunges.
Circle Up for Mary and COP:
Flutter x 20, then hold it 6″
LBC x 25
Cumberland County Viaduct Left x 15, then Right x 15
Parker Peters x 20
In honor of Run Stopper since he wasn’t there with us: Jack Webb up to 10 Merkins / 40 Arm Ups
Mosey to the hill and Crab Walk to the top of the hill for 15 more burpees.
Mosey to the shovel flag and do squats while we wait on the Ascent pax to finish their 6 MOM.
COT
Moleskin:
Great work by all the pax today as I thought is was a pretty descent workout. YHC had to relieve some of the stress of my work week and YHC pushed us pretty hard to the point I almost made myself spill merlot. Though the great part about being the Q is you can slightly pull back on the reigns when you almost smoke yourself!
It’s been great having Unfair (20 years young) pushing us all summer at various Area51 workouts and we wish him the best as he heads back up to the Northeast to continue his college education! Hope you come back out each time you’re in town visiting through the school year.
YHC is still trying to figure out why we call Slim Fast by this nick name as he should be called jet. Dude was flying out there as usual along with many of our usual suspects Salt Lick, Donkey Kong, Harley, etc. We have a great group pax that show up week in and week out and it is an honor to get to lead the pax on a regular basis. We’ve had quite a few first time Qs recently and we would love to continue with this trend. If you’ve Qed once or twice and would like to get in on the rotation at The Rock please let myself, Hops, or Run Stopper know. If you’ve been coming to F3 workouts for the past 2 months you are very capable and ready to step up Q and I encourage you to do so. We will walk you through the F3 way of leading a workout and split the session with you.
Announcements:
New Base Camp/Core style lower intensity workout #Ascent had it’s soft launch here at Calvary today. This is a great choice for FNG’s, newer pax looking to build their strength and stamina, as well as those of us with injuries or coming back from injuries. Talk it up amongst your neighbors, co-workers, and friends as there is no excuse now in South Charlotte for a Saturday workout as this is designed and geared towards them. Ascent will temporarily be held on the Calvary campus at the same time as The Rock until it moves to it’s permanent home in just a couple of weeks. More will come about this location soon.
F3 Dads Camp in a couple of weeks. See the article here on the front page of the F3 website and sign-up for yourself and 2.0s, both boys and girls.
Until next time!
As the day dawned, YHC was scheduled to lead the crew at Area 51 for their weekly scheduled hour long downpainment at McKee Rd Elementary. Little did the PAX of 20 know as they gathered around the VSF that I had a back-up plan just in case O2 deprivation set in before the hour was up.
To get the day started on the right foot, let’s start with 10 Pull-ups or 20 Dips (PAX can pick their poison. Start in honor of Countertop who has moved on to Outland but is not forgotten)
Mosey to Soccer Fields for COP, YHC brings out his secret weapon and introduces his co-Q for the morning, Dennis the Menace (YHC 2.0)
Mosey to the light pole in center of Soccer Fields for Starfish
Jog to Playground for a little Circuit Work
Jog to Back of School with a Lunge Walk mixed in for good measure
Head towards the Trail for a little bird watching
Jog up to the Track for 6 MOM
Line up on the track for 7’s with Squats and Knee-ups
Mosey over to front of school & break into 2 groups
Jog back to launch point for final 6 MOM & COT (PAX picks)
Moleskin
Announcements
(On behalf of Good Hands)
20 strong and eager PAX showed up at Day Zero, ready for a Saturday downPAINment. Anticipation grew and groans were heard as Radar rolled in with the tailgate down revealing the return of the beloved sandbags.
The Thang:
WARMUP
Short baby jog around the parking lot. Circle up for COP:
SSH x 25
Imperial Walker x 25
Stop Motion Merkins (Smokins?) x 13
Hold it!
CDD x 10
Partner up, size doesn’t matter. Mosey to Radar’s truck and pick out a fun bag, on the way down to the track.
Catch-me-if-you-can around the 1/3 mile track. Partner 1 does 10 merkins while partner 2 runs with the sandbag, flapjack when partner 1 catches up to partner 2. Plank at the end of one lap. Rinse and repeat, this time with 10 squats. Plank when finished.
Mosey to the playground/basketball court area, kicking Gullah’s 2.0’s off the playground for some circuit work:
3 rounds of:
– 10 pull-ups
– 20 merkins (1st round regular, 2nd round diamond, 3rd round wide-arm)
– 30 dips
– 30 LBC’s
Plank when finished.
Turn it over to Radar
Mosey to mid-field, thankfully bypassing the sandbags left on the ground.
Form 2 lines for bearcrawl indian run race to the end of the field. After much modifying/groaning, audible to 20 burpees.
Stay in lines, face each other for a game of 5-card stud. Dealer pulls out a deck of cards, each with an exercise written on them. Each team gets dealt a card and does the stated exercise and # of reps. At the end of 5 rounds, best poker hand wins. Winners mosey around the track, losers do 100 yard partner-carry.
Rinse and repeat.
YHC can’t remember all of the exercises done, but it looked something like this:
– 30 burpees
– 40 knee tucks
– 40 merkin-jacks
– 50 LBCs
– 40 dollies
– A bunch of some other things I can’t remember
Mosey back to the parking lot for some Mary:
– 50 flutters
– 40 LBCs
Moleskin:
Great job by all the PAX today. The sandbags were welcomed back with open arms. Appreciate the time and effort put in by Radar for everyone else’s enjoyment and pain. YHC made the mistake of partnering with Purple Haze, who carried it like it was a beanbag. Hard to tell with all the sweat dripping into my eyes, but I think it was Stagecoach & Radar leading the way around the track with the sandbag. Strong work guys (PEDs?). YHC had a couple other things planned, but due to time and anticipation of Radar’s experiments, decided to go ahead and turn it over. Mumble chatter definitely picked up with the bear crawl indian run, which was simply insane #CSAUP. The poker game was also a crowd favorite, love the creativity. Nice work by Stonecold, who ran in from The Rock.
Brick got into some fire ants out on the field…lit up his leg. Try not to think about that undeniable, incessant itching while on the air brother!
Radar squelched a coup-de-tat to move Mary to the grass by the school and instead we did it yet again on the roughest parking lot in Area51. Makes Mary hurt just a little bit more with gravel sticking into your back.
Good luck to all the Go-Ruck PAX next week. #muchrespect
Thanks to all for letting me Q today, it was an honor to lead such a strong group of men.
– Good Hands
Got lost cutting through the woods taking under Bulldog’s direction. Should have known better he grew up driving on the wrong side of the road.
C.O.P.
10 Burpies
20 SSH
9 Burpies
20 Imperial Walkers
Work out:
10 pullups
20 Box Jumps
30 Merkins
40 Dips
50 LBCs
Rinse and repeat 3x’s
Jacobs Ladder: 7‘s-Hill Run with Burpies at the top and Carolina Dry Dock at the bottom.
Bear Crawl
Crab walk
Hill Run
Lunge Walk
Run back
Mary: Superman, slow freddie mercury, Michael Phelps, protractor, glute bridge
Thank you for the great send off! I appreciate the shirt and consider it a badge of honor. You all have encouraged and inspired me greatly. I pray that God continues to bless my brothers in Charlotte.
27 men gathered in the gloom to put a downpainment on the day. The grass was wet, the air was cool, and the muscle fibers were screaming:
Run around school and circle up in field
Side-Straddle Hops x 26
Imperial Walkers x 26
20 Burpees on your own
Mountain Climbers x 26
LBC’s x 26
10 Burpees on your own
Flutter Kicks x 26
Line up on edge of field:
Bear Crawl x 40 yards
10 Burpees
Bear Crawl x 40 yards
10 Burpees
Crab Crawl x 40 yards
10 Burpees
Crab Crawl x 40 yards
10 Burpees
1-Legged Bear Crawl (Right leg high) x 40 yards
10 Burpees
1-Legged Bear Crawl (Left leg high) x 40 yards
10 Burpees
10 Burpees on your own
Jack Webbs (1 Merkin x 4 arm-raises, increasing incrementally) up to 10 Merkins/40 arm-raises
Arm Circles while in squat position x 20 (10 forward/10 back)
Mosey to playground for exercise set:
10 Pull-ups / 10 Merkins / 20 Squats x 3 sets
Mosey to field
20 Burpees on your own
Mosey to parking lot for COT
Moleskin –
Total Burpee Count – 120 (This was disputed by some after the COT, some believe it was 140)
Strong work by everyone this morning. Everyone loves Burpees, right? There may have been chatter amongst the Pax, however the Q could not hear much of anything over the sound of the blood pounding in his head and ears. Technical difficulties were had during the Name-o-Rama, which resulted in a very interesting combination of words being dictated and interpreted into a sentence by YHC’s iPhone, hence the confusing workout title above. If anyone would care to interpret, translate, or or otherwise work with said title below in the comments to weave some sort of coherent narrative or explanation of the events being described, go for it.
Announcements-
2 workouts are being led concurrently at the Rock (Calvary Church) this Saturday, July 27. Bring a friend, coworker, an injured man still looking to work out, or anyone who has been using the excuse that they are not ready for an F3 workout. Good times will be had by all.
-Donkey Kong
Forty emails later, the Seven meet. One more came to listen to Brittany, but he joins. They run.
Eight plus eleven. Silent. Up, up, up. The thirsty pavement drinks our DNA, drop by drop.
Eight depart. Choppers in the distance? No–loose bowels.
Moleskin
Mass Confusion: It had all the appearances of a good idea: Anvil would run over for a fly-by at DV, bid a teary farewell to Psycho T, then run back. But the Bonus Run from DV to Anvil at 0515 muddied the waters. Then the ruck guys and the emails. Offline texts. It was 10 monkeys and a football, I tell you, so we stayed put after all (and a couple dozen emails). Godspeed, Psycho T.
Poaching: Despite the disarray, seven men met for the early run from DV over to Anvil. Poor Zip. All he wanted to do was get to DV early (which was late by his standards–why does he get there so early anyway?), jam out to Brittany on the iPod and try to feel young again, if only for those few minutes. Before he knew what happened, he was running to Anvil. What we discovered was parking at the entrance end of DV is a great way to scrape pax off to Anvil. Could have hijacked three FNG (ish) pax, too, had we been heartless bastages–but we weren’t. Zip went willingly, if begrudgingly.
Smoke Boots: the pre-blast had promised smoke boots, but I had since changed the plan. No fly-by. So we moseyed down the hill to the shopping center of $5 cups of coffee and $3 free range bananas. Then we fast-moseyed up the hill, pausing to sniff the sidewalk, 10 bursts at a time, every 30 strides or so (read: when I got tired). That left us at the base of Entrance 4 with only 35 minutes left to squeeze in some hill work. Lively up yourselves, men. Up we go.
Ad Nauseum: Hill and more hill. Forwards, backwards, sideways. Sprints, lunges, bear crawls, walking planks. I think everyone really enjoyed themselves here–I heard no complaints. In fact, I didn’t hear any chatter at all. We two-stepped with one-legged Mary, but only briefly, then collapsed on the pavement for COT.
Superlatives: Outstanding work by many. Crabcake, the pax who wears his shirt sleeves on his calves, dominated the hill work on the outbound lane. Spackler, after trying the old “entertaining clients tonight” line on twitter the night before, still led the way on the inbound lane. Haze was right there with him. Some new faces, to me, at least were tearing up as well: Hannibal (two more and we have the A-Team covered), a sprightly–and punctual–Matlock, to name a few. Donkey Kong has been in beast mode ever since he dropped the workout khakis about a year ago. Unstoppable.
The Long Ride Home: In a show of Pax solidarity, we could have run as a unit back to DV, Could have. Bug would have none of it. The #HappyNebraskan passed us at Davie and never looked back. Strong work after a tough workout. There were reports that Radar was felling a bit “rumbly in the tummy” and had to make a pit stop. He left with two socks and came back with one… All in all 5.4 miles for the 8 who did the bonus work. Right around 3 for the rest.
Coda….: Got to see Psycho T in the parking lot after all. Godspeed in Denver, my friend.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
This Friday at 0630 (Arboretum Chic Fil A) we will begin a new book focusing on the 3rd F after finishing up “The True Measure of a Man.” The new book is called “The Resolution for Men” and here is the challenge offered up on the opening pages:
Weak men will not be able to handle the contents of this book. The Resolution is not for the faint of heart, and those that commit to it will be more accountable in the future. You will be challenged to get out of your comfort zone, work through hidden issues from your past, and make strategic sacrifices for the sake of your family and your faith. But those who step up to the challenge will find that living out the Resolution will radically impact their priorities and assist them in becoming strong men who are found faithful. It will take courage, but it will be worth it all. You’ve been warned.
I hope that you accept the challenge to join Stone Cold and myself this Friday!
If you would like for me to email you a copy of the first chapter for this Friday email me at mcpinch21@aol.com. You can buy the Kindle version for $1.99 or Amazon has used copies for $6.
Bulldog
24 Pax ventured to initiate the week on a positive note, starting at Basecamp, with all eyes set on a target of getting better and climbing higher. For the race is not given to the swift nor the strong, but he who endureth to the end…
And off we set to endure.
The Thang
Big group this AM, so a little mosey-in off to the baseball field we went…
COP: SSH x15, Imperial “Wokka” x15, Invisible Jump Rope x30 (though invisible, it’ll still trip ya), (a little) Merkin (action) x10, Carolina Dry Docks x14 (one short, only b/c YHC can’t count and call; too much like Sesame Street), Squats x 25 (YHC, can’t count… )
Mosey over to the bleachers for a little “Curves” station simulation:
20x incline merkins + 20x dips on the bleachers + 20 LBC (StrangeBrew shooting for a 2-pack; figured we’d help the cause… more core to come). Rinse and repeat times 3 (yes, I said three…)
Mosey over to the track, completing some lunge walks on the approach
The next call was for Partnering Up (or as YHC refers to the process “TwinUp”)
DASH TIME
Dash1 -> Partner 1 on the line, Partner 2 on the ground… P1 sprint to the bleachers, P2 starts the LBCs…flapjack as many times as possible until dup reaches the (easily surmountable) count of 60.
Dash 2 -> same format – Backwards run in tag tandem till CDD x 40
Dash 3 -> ditto – Karaoke run in tag tandem till Jumping Lunges x 40
Dash 4 -> ditto – Regular sprint, with ground exercises administered (YHC forgot to write that in the moment update in Weinke… and yes, YHC is Weinke dependant)
MARINA TIME
Human Sled – Partner 1 pushing Partner 2 to the bleachers, flapjack and bring it back!
Human Anchor – Partner 1 dragging Partner 2 to the bleachers, flapjack and bring it back!
VISITOR STOPS BY
Mr Jacques Webbe stopped by for a short taste of Basecamp… climb to 5 merkins/20 raises
…And brought his cousin, Mr Webb Jack… climbing to 5 merkins/30 LBCs
AND IT WOULDN’T BE F3 WITHOUT
A Burpee… actually 3 quick burpees, on your own!
MARY
Mr 2-Pack himself (StrangeBrew) led all in Mary with substantial counts of:
– (more) LBCs
– Dolly
– Bicycle
– the Flutta (Flutter Kicks)
– Heels to the Heaven (and hopefully Tarheels to suspension)
– Matching sets of CCV (Cumberland County Viaducts)
And then a little Mosey back to the SF! (a last minute all-out sprint by Longhorn to lead the pack!— we see you Longhorn!)
COT
Moleskin Quick hits…