THE Challenge
New faces, different tunes…but unfortunately for the 11 Pax that found the courage to show, the Day Zero Challenge remained the same…hard exercises with high reps, alternating between upper body, lower body and core, and a 1/3 mile run in between each one. You vs You.
The Thang
See the picture for the list of exercises.
Moleskin
Radar gave the countdown to 0700 and at the top of the hour the Pax launched into the 100 burpees. About 2 minutes in, he uttered encouragement to the Pax…”100 burpees…such a defeating way to start.” Yep…and the rest of the list offers no consolation…it just keeps on bringing the pain.
Strong effort by all the men this morning…including several guys new to the Challenge. Come back in a couple of months and see how you’ve progressed.
Congratulations all around at the end. Ball of man with a great takeout prayer by Long Distance.
Announcements
- Still slots available for the 3/14 GRC.
- Contact Baracus and HC for BRR.
- Join Cheese Curd in doing all 3 Spartan races in 2014.
Multiple Personalities Collide Into A Tree
A tale of two cities…a collision of multiple personality disorder was on the agenda today at Olympus as Intense Cardio Kettle Bell Iron Work and a Tree all merged into one hellacious beast of a workout.
The Thang:
GULLAH on Q:
SSH x 25
Arm Rotations Forward/Backward x 20
COP: 10 Rounds Non-Stop
1) Burpee x 1; Kettle Bell Squat Thrust x 2; Kettle Bell Swing x 3
2) Burpee x 2; Kettle Bell Squat Thrust x 4; Kettle Bell Swing x 6
3) Burpee x 3; Kettle Bell Squat Thrust x 6; Kettle Bell Swing x 9
4) Burpee x 4; Kettle Bell Squat Thrust x 8; Kettle Bell Swing x 12
5) Burpee x 5; Kettle Bell Squat Thrust x 10; Kettle Bell Swing x 15
6) Burpee x 6; Kettle Bell Squat Thrust x 12; Kettle Bell Swing x 18
7) Burpee x 7; Kettle Bell Squat Thrust x 14; Kettle Bell Swing x 21
8) Burpee x 8; Kettle Bell Squat Thrust x 16; Kettle Bell Swing x 24
9) Burpee x 9; Kettle Bell Squat Thrust x 18; Kettle Bell Swing x 27
10) Burpee x 10; Kettle Bell Squat Thrust x 20; Kettle Bell Swing x 30
Total: Burpees x 55; Kettle Bell Squat Thrusts x 110; Kettle Bell Swing x 165
THE HOFF on Q:
Jog to Woods, Find Big Tree – Extract Tree from woods (Sorry BLC about the thorns)
Ruck with Log
Log Press x 10
Log Hold x 10
Ruck with Log
Log Press x 10
Log Hold x 5
Dump Log in Woods
Tabata Iron Work: 3 Minutes non-stop; 1 minute off between cycles
Round 1:
3 KB Single Arm Snatch Press Right. 3 KB Single Arm Snatch Press Left
6 KB High Pulls Right, 6 KB High Pulls Left
9 Merkins – FULL Merkins
*Rinse and Repeat for 3 minutes
Round 2:
3 KB Single Stiff Legged Dead Lift Right, 3 KB Single Stiff Legged Dead Lift Left
6 Plank Ups
9 Wide Merkins
*Rinse and Repeat for 3 minutes
Round 3:
3 Diamond Merkins
6 Tricep Extensions
9 Bicep Curls
*Rinse and Repeat for 3 minutes
Teams of 3: Kettle Bell Russian Twists x 20 Left; x 20 Right
High Flutter Kicks with KB Press x 20
LBC with KB x 30
COT
Moleskin:
We threw a curveball at you guys today with the Log. Yankee put it bluntly, “You aren’t going to sell us on GORUCK man”, so hear you loud and clear brother. YHC wanted to give the team a break from the norm and crack the door a little bit to a taste of Special Forces Green Beret Selection Training. As F3 was co-founded by an former Army Ranger our core principles and training philosophy at F3 mirrors those boot camp and routines those brave men and women go through every day. One of those excruciating staples is the team log carry. You men embraced the beast we found in the woods and owned it! It’s an excellent team building exercise and extremely difficult to move, but everyone stepped up and supported each other when needed. YHC for one Loves the log and will likely take it home and use it as a teddy, lol.
A few Take-Aways from today:
– Swiss Miss is a total animal. I think that guys was 1 or 2 rounds ahead of everyone during the 10 Rounds and Tabata. Either get him a bigger bell or we all need to step up #cardiomachine…I’d like to see a cardio competition between him and Lab Rat. not sure which one would win out but both of you continue to raise the bar
– We can finally put to rest the “Cardio Debate” as even though no running involved, our O2 capacity was a full peak the entire time
– Gullah is a silent assassin with these routines. That first 30 minutes was tough
– BLC was a bloody mess (not said with an accent like our brothers from across the pond, Bull Dog or Double D’s) but just like a true warrior, wasn’t going to let the front of that Tree fall on his team. #madrespect
– Yankee, Hacker and Bananas will never do GORUCK but drinking beer and taunting us is right up their alley. We can’t wait to have your Mumble Chatter out there!
-Olympus might need to hire Nibbler and Flo Rida over from Diamond Head for a Saturday so we can learn the art of mumble chatter…it might be slightly possible that we have less chatter because we cant breathe most of the routine…which means DH’s guys are in much better shape or our routines are tougher….maybe Byron and I can come up with some kind of friendly Challenge in the near future…#staytuned…Kettle Bell Site Civil War?
As always it was a pleasure leading such strong men today. Thank you
Respectfully – The Hoff and Gullah
Campus Tour of OP
Two shovel flags were planted and 15 ready, willing and able-bodied men posted in the gloom to get after it.
The Thang:
Outfield (warmup)
SSH x 20
IW x 20
Toe touches x 20
Low Slow squat x 20
Arm circles x 10 (forward, reverse, up)
To the Track:
Partner up: PT #1 run a lap; PT #2 do merkins til #1 returns; flap jack 3 rounds (wide, regular, diamond)
Lunge walk To the Playground:
Group 1: Navy seal sit-ups AMRAP for 1 min; flapjack
Group 2: AMRAP +2 pull ups with partner; flapjack
FlapJack groups
To the Benches:
30 sec each exercise x 2
Jump Up/Step Ups
Dips
Incline Merkins
In and outs
Through the woods, to the Neighborhood Hill:
Jump Squat x 10 at bottom; run up the hill, CDD x 10 at top; Repeat x 6
Back to Soccer(?) Field:
Found a soccer ball, kick it, sprint to ball, do exercise (rinse repeat):
Merkins x 10
Mountain climbers x 10
Russian Twist x 10
Peter Parker x 10
LBC x 25
Back to outfield for 40 yd Bear crawl home.
COT
Moleskin:
Why two Flags: well, YHC brought one to use because YHC didn’t think Strange Brew would be there. Then Brew pulls up and plants his. Something about his race being cancelled due to a flooded trail. Obviously not a F3 sponsored event.
Great effort by all today. YHC was told that it was on the high end of moderate intensity. Sorry about that if it was too much. YHC did advise to modify, modify if needed.
T-claps to FNG (Ram) now known as IPA, who was EH’d by Strange Brew. Way to hang in there. We hope to keep seeing you out in the gloom.
This was YHC’s first post to Ascent but I have been to OP before at Hydra. So, YHC thought we’d do a tour of the campus to see all that the site has to offer. The neighborhood hill was a crowd pleaser for sure. Perhaps 6x on the hill was a little aggressive. Audible, except for Hopper and Slimfast, who did 7x, I think. Strong!
Soccer ball provided a great little addition at the end since we had 10 mins left and the wienke was empty. That field was sloppy, good stuff.
Thanks for allowing me to lead Ascent. It was a true pleasure to serve you good men.
Announcements:
Needed- Q’s for Ascent and other moderate intensity workout. Contact Brew or High Tide
Back to Basics
13 Men answered the early bell for a SemiGloss led KettleBell Tabata that left little room to recover prior to the main course. As the Iron Dropped, 8 more men were eager to get after the Friday morning beatdown known as Kevlar.
The Thang
Circle up for a brief Warm up consisting of the following:
5 Burpees OYO – Side Straddle Hops x 30 IC
5 Burpees OYO – Peter Parker x 15 IC
5 Burpees OYO – Parker Peter x 15 IC – 5 Burpees OYO
Grab a Partner and head to the Outside loop around the campus. Stopping along the way for the following:
Hand Release Partner Hand Slap Merkins x 20
Partner Plank Decline Merkins x 20 (Flapjack)
Swap w/your Partner between Bear Crawls and Crab Walks along the hedges (200 Yards)
Partner Wheelbarrow from End of Hedges to Buses near base of Hill 250 yards (audible to half the distance)
Hillwork 100’s – Partner 1 Runs hill + 5 Turkish Get ups at top – Partner 2 Performs Called Exercise and Flapjack until 100 reps are completed
Round 1 – Diamond Merkins
Round 2 – Squat Jumps
Round 3 – Wide Arm Merkins
Round 4 – Speed Skater 1 legged Squat
Round 5 – Carolina Dry Docks
Round 6 – Calf Raises on the Curb
Wide Variety of Plank exercises were called between rounds to keep the pax together at each round
Mosey to Pavillion for Dips – Partner 1 Dips While Partner 2 does 25 LBC’s – Flapjack until 200 total Dips
AYG to the Parking lot for – 5 Burpees OYO – Flutter x 30
Moleskin:
Semi-Gloss was all business this morning during the 30 Minute Kettlebell Tabata pre-Kevlar. Great variety of exercises with very little rest. The popularity of the pre-KB work is really taking off – particularly with the nicer weather. If you haven’t tried it – get up a little earlier and swing some Iron. It will make the boot camp which follows that much more challenging. Brown had to depart following the KB routine – hope it wasn’t anything serious and gets better soon.
The plan this morning was to get back to basics and utilize many of the core exercises that make F3 workouts unique. The partner work makes each partner accountable for pulling their weight especially during the aggregate rep exercises. Witnessed some great partner work out there this morning with many of the pax pushing themselves and their partner to their limits. The hand release partner hand slap merkins were a crowd pleaser this morning. Not only does this exercise put form in the forefront, it requires a good bit of coordination as well. Audible was called pretty early in the Wheelbarrow – the called distance we were to cover was far less on paper than in reality.
The pax made quick work of the first few rounds of hill work – but as the repetitions mounted the Turkish Get ups at the top of the hill became more and more unpleasant. Didn’t hear too much chatter out there this morning beside a few calls for time and one “is it 9 oclock yet?”. I would say mission accomplished when 45 minutes feels like a lot longer. No 10 counts today gentlemen, hope everyone enjoyed and has a great weekend.
Thank you Sussudio for taking us out this morning – strong work this morning and an equally strong prayer.
Announcements:
Trips for Kids Mountain Bike Ride – 3/8 9am – See PreBlast for All details (Contact Far Side to sign up)
RuckBata
Aye, the bell sounded and YHC posted at Spearhead for the first time to Q, courtesy of a kind invitation from Rucktard Nation.
The Thang:
Jog to football field, pull out Tabata timer for a full Ciabatta Cycle, Ruck-style (rucks up, unless otherwise noted):
1) Bear Crawl/Crab Walk (reverse ruck)/Lunges in rotation (use the 10-second rest to move your ruck as needed and change position)
2) Ruck Presses (from chest level, do an overhead press with the ruck; ruck remains at high chest during the 10-second rest periods)
3) Bottom-to-Bottom Squats (hold at the bottom of the squat during the rest period)
4) Ruck-ian Twists (rucks grounded, used like a medicine ball is used in Russian Twists; try to keep your feet off the ground during the rest periods)
5) He Sees Me … (sprints during the 20-second work period; drop to your belly, as in ‘He Sees Me … ‘ during the rest periods)
6) Four Minutes of Ruck Mary (rucks on chest for flutter kicks, Rosalita, high, slow flutter, LBCs, Freddie Mercury, leg raises, Hello Dolly, LBCs part deux)
7) Mountain Climbers
8) Tunnel of Ruck (a GRC707 fave … ‘We’re going to do a completely new exercise now … ‘)
Spreadsheets from the Gloom:
_ It was an honor and a privilege to lead this crew; I spend a lot of Friday mornings on the Front Porch in the WV doing Tabata exercises, so it was cool to do it instead with a ruck on and bring some ruck-style variations to the usual themes.
_ There was plenty of high-quality #mumblechatter, even during the super-smoker sets (Ruck Presses proved to be harder than I thought they would be, and the Ruck-ian Twists were no joke either) — there’s nothing like some high-quality Second F to get a man through a tough Ruck or F3 workout.
_ There was talk of a marathon ruck this weekend. I am most definitely OUT for that (I prefer my 26.2s with no extra weight), but I’m sure the Spearhead site will have details.
OBT
Covering some new ground
The virtual flag was flying high and we had 17 pax for this pleasant, Feb morning. Several pax arrived with tires squealing and brakes smoking, but everyone was able to take off and away we went.
The Thang
Split into pairs- size does not matter
From the lot run towards Walgreens
P#1 – back peddle until caught
P#2 – 3 merkens catch-up w/ partner 1
At the corner before the turn to Walgreens, YHC audibled and broke the partner carry due to traffic and space, so complete mosey to lot
COT (is it a workout w/out)…..
SSHx 20 , Merkens x 15, IW x 12 and moving on!
Retaining wall and Curb / 90 sec intervals (all cadence OYO)
1) P#1 Finger tip pull-ups to fail, then hang to fail and/or Wall sit w/jack web / P#2 Curb calf raises (Inside, outside and standard)
2) P#1 Balls to wall (shift L&R and/ or push ups) / P#2 Curb toe taps
3) P#1 Deep squat to jump ups / P#2 Curb Mtn Climbers
4) P#1 Wall Sit/ Jack web / P#2 Curb step ups
5) P#1 Finger tip pull-ups to fail then hang to fail or Wall sit w/jack web / P#2 Curb jump ups
Curb Merkens and LBC
20 Incline, 20 decline and 40 LBC
Mosey back to the way we came, repeato on the partner back pedal / 3 merken catch up. Arrive at the rock pile
Now find 3 ttl pax and one of you go get a “Rock that you would be proud of”
Relay Race- non stop for 12mins
P#1 SSH / P#2 run with rock to / P#3 LBC , swap rock and run to P#1 and repeato .
We also did,
p1 Mason Twist/ p#2 run w/ rock / p3 Merken
p1 Flutter/ p#2 run w/ rock / p3 Seal Jack
3 man Plank Merken- few audibles regarding method, but settled on the original 3 person
-Similar to Indian run formation, but legs on shoulders of fellow man.
-Do 3 push ups and move from back to front
Mosey back to the parking lot
1 MOM- getting your moneys worth
Boat / Canoe
Naked Moleskin
– This was my first Q at Centurion, sorry if my head was in the clouds this AM. This head and chest cold w/ addition to some good meds from the DR and no hops, it’s not the flu (I was tested), I just felt slightly out of it. Either way, thanks for allowing me to lead, I always have fun putting a workout together.
– I can’t even tell you who arrived at exactly 0530 (maybe later). Nice Job boys. I intended to run and pick you up with the rest of the Pax, but I realized when I said run to 51, they took the shorter route- well played.
– I heard some mumble chatter for using a new wall at Walgreens, hope you liked it. It looked good on my recon trip so I wanted to spend sometime there.
– Ok, YHC took a lot of crap about his F3 handle, many of you seem to be cheese coinsures:) I think I also overheard comments about finger tip pull ups on the wall. The wall was textured making them harder, but I found if you were creative with you position, it wasn’t so bad.
-Apparently a few pax had concern on my form on occasion and was also counting my pull ups (Mic Check)..like I said, head cold, just tying to remember what was next.
– I was proud that at least one team picked a “boulder” for the relay race. Please sound off if someone took a small one.
– Since numbers did not workout, I got to partner with our solo rucker- Udder and we made the best out of swapping the ruck v rock. Sorry Udder, I had a party foul and set the Ruck down (several times)- my bad!
Announcements
– F3 has a discount for the Spartan Race on March 23, I am doing all 3 this year and would like to have more Area 51 guys out there.
– GoRuck there is STILL time to get in, but please hurry. Go to webpage for details
– BRR this will close out soon…see our website
The Game Plan BB: Respect and Greed
Six prayer warriors met this morning to study Proverbs 30.
These verses provide us with guidance of respect and greed.
The PAX identified the following takeaways from today’s readings.
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Proverbs 30:6 ~ Do not add to His words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.
Takeaway ~ We need to intrepret God’s words for their true meaning. Do we hold ourselves accountable to God’s instructions or do we try to revise them to our favor?
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Proverbs 30:11, 17 ~ There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers. The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures.
Takeaway ~ It is important to honor our parents.The lack of respect for our parents breeds arrogance and eventually results in disrespect for others.
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Proverbs 30:15 ~ The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. Three things are never satisfied; four never say, “Enough”
Takeaway ~ God provides to meet our needs. Pray for His wisdom and strength to avoid greed.
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Please visit http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+30&version=ESV
Have a great weekend and prepare your minds/hearts to wrap up the Proverbs series next Friday.
~ Deacon
Preblast: Stonehenge – Do you have the stones for it?
Dolphin asked YHC to Q Stonehenge this week and as you know, Ruck training is in full effect.
So here’s the plan (a little something for everyone):
4:45 am: Meet for optional ruck around Ballantyne. Bring your ruck or something you have really been wanting to carry around Ballantyne and join YHC for a brisk walk. We should cover between 2 and 3 miles in the 45 min available. You could even Prancercise if you want (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-50GjySwew). Completely up to you.
5:30 am: Kettlebell warmup. Bring your bell and swing it.
6:00 am: The main event. Expect some brutality with an intermittent mix of moderate running activity. We may or may not avoid these exercises. http://www.mensfitness.com/training/five-body-weight-exercises-you-should-never-do
Get some rest brothers, you will need it!
Preblast Compass- 3rdF starts new book
Tomorrow (2-21-14) at Compass we will start our new book study. The book is Limitless Life by local pastor and former NFL football player, Derwin Gray. Come out and join us for good conversation. 0630 Chick-fila Arboretum.
Explicit Nature
5 Pax endured a brutal KB beatdown delivered by Bulldog and a total of 12 Pax took on Murderhorn with Spack on Q.
The Thang
Jog to Jersey Mike’s for 30 turbo SSH in cadence then off we went to “Murderhorn” for the rest of the morning.
Murderhorn Shuffle
Perform exercise at top and run down to stopsign and return for more exercise.
10 burpees / 20 hand release merkins / 30 squat / 40 Monkey Humpers / 50 CCD
For all intensive purposes, we repeated the routine one time – 16 trips x .2 miles
3.2 miles – All hill no flat spots
Mosey to movie theatre for “The Semi Gloss” with a bunny hop twist
20 J Lo’s OYO
Moleskin
As you can see from the text message picture, Bulldog wanted to add in some cardio to his KB routine if it was OK with YHC for what he had planned for the main event. More cardio? Perfect. It was shaping up to be a tough morning. Based off the low amount of chatter – it was. I would say this was ‘impromtu’ but in reality YHC knew there needed to be more running than normal since his weigh in is tomorrow morning for the F3 Weight Loss Challenge. Is there any hope to win? Nope. Just wanted to bring all of you into my misery. Murderhorn brought the perfect pain. Sorry guys. Wasn’t going to tweet that one. Nice little rest as you jog down though. Going up was a different story – 8 different times. Well, 6 times for Frehley’s as he wanted to focus on his abdominals up top for a few minutes. That’s his story and he is sticking to it. T-claps to Bulldog and Spinner as they were out front most of the time. When YHC called repeato on the shuffle, pretty sure “Bollocks” was heard from the bullish Brit. Had to google that one. Didn’t have to google, “I hate you” which seemed to be the only thing coming out of Semi Gloss’ filthy mouth all morning. Speaking of filthy mouth, the KB iPod playlist was….in a word…explicit. Honestly, had no idea there was that much ‘explicitness’ on there. 50 cent don’t care if it’s your birthday. He will find you in that club. And curse. A lot. Sorry TR! Noted, and revised this afternoon for Kevlar in the morning.
Thanks for coming out gents. Always a pleasure.
Announcements
3rd F – New book called Limitless Life beginning tomorrow at Chic Filet Arbo 0630.
Check the site for info on F3 Mentors. Sign up.