Backblasts

QIC:  Blackout

Date: 05/27/2021

PAX:  9 Volt, Abercrombie, Clothespin, Deep Dish, El Chapo, Mayhem, Mrs. Baker, Pipeline, RugDoctor, Schnitzel, WuzntMe

AO: The Battery

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Conditions

Around 70 degrees; nice and humid.

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COP

Mosey to Top of Hill

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The Thang

We did 11’s with Merkins on one end of the Parking Lot and Burpees on the other. Our coupons were in the middle. We would perform Merkins on one side, mosey to block and perform block exercise, mosey to other side of lot and perform Burpees, mosey back to block to perform exercise, and finally return to start line in Parking Lot. SSH or Al Gore for six each round

• Round 1: 10 Merkins, 15 Curls, 1 Burpee, 15 Curls
• Round 2: 9 Merkins, 15 Squats, 2 Burpees, 15 Squats
• Round 3: 8 Merkins, 15 Flutter Kicks w block, 3 Burpees, 15 Flutter Kicks w block
• Round 4: 7 Merkins, 15 Shoulder Presses, 4 Burpees, 15 Shoulder Presses
• Round 5: 6 Merkins, 15 Tricep Dips, 5 Burpees, 15 Tricep Dips
• Round 6: 5 Merkins, 15 Lunges (hard count), 6 Burpees, 15 Lunges (hard count)
• Round 7: 4 Merkins, 15 BBSU w block, 7 Burpees, 15 BBSU w block
• Round 8: 3 Merkins, 15 Thrusters, 8 Burpees, 15 Thrusters
• Round 9: 2 Merkins, 15 Incline Merkins, 9 Burpees, 15 Incline Merkins
• Round 10: 1 Merkin, Sprint, 10 Burpees, Sprint (No block exercises this round)

SALLY – Squat Version; Low squat on “Sally Down” and up into high squat on “Sally up”

4MOM

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COT

Spoke a bit about accountability. A couple items to remember (one bible verse and one quote):

Proverbs 27:17: Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

“Being held accountable feels like an attack if you’re not ready to acknowledge how your choices and actions impact not only yourself, but others” – anonymous

Challenged PAX to be open-minded and always welcome criticism and accountability. It is the only way to truly get better and in turn, make others around us better.

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Moleskin

Lots of good MC as always at The Battery!

More discussion surrounding cadence/no cadence on the forward fold. Cadence works great when certain people attend the beatdown. No cadence works great after you have just run up The Battery hill and need a moment to catch your breath!

Deep Dish continues to enjoy pain; His ten count consisted of “0” during the beatdown. He’s an animal! On that note, I have still yet to get Abercrombie to take his vest off. That’s got to be like: Abercrombie’s vest: 5 and Blackout: 0 at this point….

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News

Convergence at the Dame Memorial Day 05-31 (7-8) Burph; Convergence at Lookouts Stadium (7-8) Saturday 06/12; Fallen Five Convergence beatdown and ruck 07/17 at the Dame (reach out to Clothespin or Mr. Clean for more details)

See 3rd-F channel for continue opportunities there.

Woodrider at Parliament Friday; Sousa at Hacksaw Friday

Abercrombie at Battery Sat.; WuzntMe at Legacy Sat.

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Recent Backblasts

QIC: Blue

Date: 05-24-2021

PAX: Moneyball, Blindside, Offset, Rodeo, Snowcream, Kowbell, Teflon, Whoopee

AO: Lion’s Den

Conditions

Clear and dark 63° with little or no breeze. Perfect beatdown weather.

Warm-Up

Some SSH’s, some shoulder blasters, some stretching, and a mosey lap to get everyone warmed up

The THANG!!!

Blackjack @ the Den!!!

Blackjack is just like 11’s. Start on one side of the field doing 1 rep, mosey to the other side and do 20 reps of second exercise. Then 2 & 19, 3 & 18……etc.

Round 1

Curls w/ coupon & Hillbilly Squats (easy count). Once reps are completed, mosey a lap

Round 2

(Only one PAX reached round 2)

Shoulder Press w/ coupon & Capt. Thor’s

Round 3

SSH’s & LBC’s

CoT

Accountability, vulnerability, & openness to criticism. We all come out to the gloom to get better. Part of getting better is holding one another accountable in and out of F3. If we can’t do that during the workout, then how can we expect to do it out in our lives? The other side to that is that we all have to be open to the criticism. Not letting our pride get in the way. We also have to understand that we are all struggling with the similar things. We all need to remember, “we are ALL, fearfully and wonderfully made”.

Mumble Chatter

Not much in the way of mumble chatter this morning other than encouraging one another to keep going and helping with what the count of reps were for one another.

QIC:  Blackout

Date: 05/24/2021

PAX: Abercrombie, AOL, Bandwagon, Flemish, M.I.A., Oui Oui, Picabo, Slim Shady, Sousa, FNG – Spread Eagle, Toe Tag, Top’em

AO: Hacksaw

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Conditions

Perfect, 65 and no rain

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COP

Mosey lap around Veterans Park

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The Thang

BLIMPS – DORA style

PAX grabbed a partner. PAX #1 did the exercises below while PAX #2 ran the lap around Veterans Park and flip flopped until total reps for duo equaled the number of reps noted below:

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COT

Q Spoke about increasing your faith by stepping out of some circles. When you are younger, it is easy to go outside and play with whoever is there, whether it be sports, exploring the woods, etc. There is usually very little consequence to those friend choices (except maybe getting beat at a game) during those years. As you get older, these choices become more important. It is easy to get sucked into peer pressure and social media pressure and get caught up in a friends circle that on the surface might look like a fun circle to be involved with. This is especially true in terms of the “keeping up” crowds of individuals. Social Media has unfortunately evolved many social circles into nothing more than the equivalent of immature high school friendships. It is important to recognize these warning signs and step out of friend circles that are bringing you down spiritually and/or emotionally. A message I heard over the weekend said this, “Sometimes to open up your faith doors to something greater, you have to close down some of your doors to circles that enable thought processes and choices that often times directly or indirectly go against your faith growth”. I have personally found myself often times falling into these traps and often times, I come out worse spiritually than when I went in. I have also lost friends over petty disagreements because the other side of the disagreement seems to be the “cool” option to take. Many of the men at F3 have become a new circle for me in a sense that has helped me grow both physically and spiritually in a way that I would not otherwise have been able to grow.

Left the PAX with one more thought process and question: Someone might ask, are we not supposed to reach out to these friend circles and groups and help them find their faith and become closer to our Lord and savior? The answer to that question is always a resounding yes. But, like anything else, there are two sides to a coin. Those friend circles must also choose to change their lifestyle to follow Jesus and his teachings, and if they don’t, it is just as easy for them to drag you in the opposite direction…. Be careful of the circles you choose to remain in.

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Moleskin

BLIMPS and DORAs are separate workouts, right??

Q led the PAX on a warmup lap around the park. Many PAX turned left at the flags out of instinct, the church parking and hill beatdowns have really cause some confusion amongst the Hack Pack…..

Q was asked yesterday: “Church or Dominos”. There may have been some steering in one direction over the other (cough, cough M.I.A.). At that point, it was determined that the Q process in F3 is very much anocratic (half Q dictatorship and half democracy). You never want too much of one side of that…..

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News

Lots of Convergence opportunties coming up: Memorial Day at the Dam 05/31 0700; Lookouts Stadium 06/12 0700; Fallen Five Ruck Convergence 07/17 0700 beatdown with ruck

See 3rd-F channel on Slack for opportunities.

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Recent Backblasts

QIC: Dundee

PAX: Bobbitt, Daisy, Gretel, Hoser, Knievel, NordicTrack, Roomba, Sheet Stain, Slois Lane, Snatch, U-turn

Date: 05-24-2021

AO: Detention

Conditions

66 degrees, but felt a little bit cooler. Not enough to keep the sweat at bay.

Warm-Up

SSH, WMH, SSH, 3GE, LBAC, LBACR, MNC, OHC, SC

The THANG

PAX split into two groups of six. All PAX do the exercise AMRAP while one PAX travels. When PAX returns, next PAX travels until all PAX have traveled. Travel is to the cone and back.

Round 1: Merkins / Rifle Carries
Round 2: Jungle Boy Squats / Murder Bunnies
Round 3: Hello Dollies with block overhead / Lunges
Round 4: John McCains with block overhead / Bear Crawl
Round 5: Curls / Crab Walk

CoT

A key principle to F3 leadership is the concept of Sua Sponte. Latin for “of one’s own accord,” it’s the idea of giving a man the freedom to lead as he sees fit, including the space to fail. YHC’s oldest 2.0 just turned 16 and there is a struggle to release him to the freedom that comes at this age. Sua Sponte is also one of the mottos of the Army Ranger Regiment. The Rangers believe there is a second corollary to Sua Sponte: that the leader has been equipped with the proper tools and skills to lead. Likewise, with our 2.0s and with F3 PAX, we have two responsibilities: equip them with the tools and skills needed to succeed and give them the freedom to fail.

Moleskin

The 80’s movie soundtrack was met with only slightly more enthusiasm than the crab walks. YHC will calibrate soundtrack choices for the next Q accordingly. Musical Theatre to Get You Moving, perhaps? Sweating to the Greatest 70’s Commercial Jingles? Best of minor league baseball contest winners singing the national anthem? Each member of Jodeci covering “When the Sun Goes Down,” but only the Uncle Kracker part, on loop?

There are options, is what I’m saying.

QIC:  M.I.A.

Date: 05/21/2021

PAX: Brain Fart, Hanson (Respect), Rodeo, Sunburn (Respect), VSquared

AO: Boneyard

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Conditions

Perfect weather – low 60s & (relatively) low humidity

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COP

SSH x 20
FF OYO
WMH x 10
ITT OYO
Abe Vigoda x 6
LBAC x 10 / Reverse x 10 / Seal Claps x 10/ Overhead Claps x 10

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The Thang

Drop blocks by workout station, run a lap identifying the PERFECT spot to do some SSHs (10 in case you are curious)

Two Choices were given to VSquared – He chose CPRs

10 x CPR (Curl-Press-Raise with block)
run a lap performing 10 x SSH at approximately half way

11 x CPR
run a lap performing 10 x SSH at approximately half way

12 x CPR
run a lap performing 10 x SSH at approximately half way

13 x CPR
run a lap performing 10 x SSH at approximately half way

14 x CPR
run a lap performing 10 x SSH at approximately half way

15 x CPR
run a lap performing 10 x SSH at approximately half way

Ran to pick up the 6 and choose again – This time VSquared chose Blockees

10 x Blockees
run a lap performing 10 x SSH at approximately half way

9 x Blockees
run a lap performing 9 x SSH at approximately half way

8 x Blockees
run a lap performing 8 x SSH at approximately half way

7 x Blockees
run a lap performing 7 x SSH at approximately half way

Time

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COT

We make tons of choices each day. The choice to be at this workout was made 4 or 5 times (including at least 3 times today).

In Joshua 24 were asked to choose whom we will serve. Choices have consequences.

We make choices on what we eat, who we choose to associate with, how we respond to an unreasonable child, and how we speak to others. Those choices have an impact on us. We often quote (or see it printed on F3 T-Shirts) that Iron Sharpens Iron, but we have to be willing to make the choice to sharpen others and to be willing to be sharpened.

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Moleskin

Grateful for the PAX that came out this morning – YHC got to meet several guys, and it was a push to be at the top of his game (questionable bar height).

The PAX were all given respite from the monotony of this beatdown by with the (semi)regularity of the bus schedule. Bus Burpees are a fun tradition. YHC may invite the PAX of Hacksaw to adopt a tradition similar with Little Debbie truck, also that location may be changed without notifying YHC (is being “Burritoed” a common term?).

The other PAX raised the bar by asking YHC to modify up continually… shout out to VSquared and Rodeo who wanted more SSHs and who wanted the CPR counts to increase rather than decrease… YHC doesn’t want to miss opportunities like that to get better (or opportunities to write parenthetical remarks).

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News

Lots of opportunities to get together outside the normal gloom coming up.
Memorial Day Convergence (Mustache Required – Sleeves Optional)
Lookouts Convergence – June 12
Fallen Five Ruck – July 17
Chubby’s Every Monday
Habitat for Humanity July 10

QIC:  M.I.A.

Date: 05/20/2021

PAX: AOL, Blair Witch, FNG – DOA (Respect), Gilligan, Mayhem (Respect), Radar, Ramrod (Respect), Sousa, Snow Bunny, The Count (Respect x 2), Uncle Joe

AO: Legacy

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Conditions

Low 60s and very little wind. It was a perfect morning to move around. The PAX later wished we had in fact moved around.

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Disclaimer was disclaimed – mission statement stated.

COP

SSH x 20
FF OYO
WMH x 10
ITT OYO
LBAC x 10 / Reverse x 10 / Seal Claps x 10/ Overhead Claps x 10/ Chinooks x 10/ LBAC (Yes… again and eyerolls were welcome) x 10/ Reverse (you get it) x 10/ Moroccan Night Clubs x 10 / Recover was called to the apparent relief of several PAX

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The Thang

Lazy Dora

Partner Up –
Partner 1 Completes 1/10th of total counted exercises (i.e. 5 Burpees in first round, 10 merkins in second round, etc.)
Partner 2 performs non-counted exercise
Switcheroo and repeat until total is reached. Perform non-counted exercise until 6 is in.

Round 1
50 Burpees
SSH

Round 2
100 Merkins
High plank

Round 3
200 Squats
Al Gore

Round 4
300 LBCs
6 Inches (starting position for flutter kicks)

Round 5
400 Gorilla Humpers
Hold Gorilla Humper Starting Position

11’s

Big Boy Sit Ups – Start at 10
Dive-Bombers – Start at 1
A roughly 20 yard run between

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COT

Recently read this book and Bible verse, so YHC totally stole this whole COT from Chappie at F3 The GritMill, a Mustard Seed AO in Delaware (dele – where?), when I saw it. TClaps and credit given:

“In Sacred Romance, John Eldredge writes: “As a young boy, around the time my heart began to suspect that the world was a fearful place and I was on my own to fund my way through it, I read the story of a Scottish disc thrower from the nineteenth century. He lived in the days before professional trainers and developed his skills alone in the highlands of his native village. He even made his own discus from the description he read in a book. What he didn’t know was the discus used in competition was made of wood with an outer rim of iron. His was solid metal and weighed three or four times as much as those being used by would-be challengers. This committed Scotsman marked out in his field the distance of the current record throw and trained day and night to be able to match it. For nearly a year, he labored under the self-imposed burden of the extra weight, becoming very, very good. He reached the point at which he could throw his iron discus the record distance, maybe further. He was ready.

The highlander traveled south to England for his first competition. When he arrived at the games, he was handed the official wooden discus—which he promptly threw like a tea saucer. He set a new record, a distance so far beyond those of his competitors that no one could touch him. For many years he remained the uncontested champion.”

Something in our hearts ought to connect with this story. That’s how you do it: Train under great burden. 

That’s why we workout the way we do, day after day. It’s a great burden. Maybe the burden is simply getting up at O-Gawd-Thirty, but it is a burden nonetheless. That’s why we ruck with greater weight than the usual rucking events, we carry heavier burdens in training so that when we face the test of an event the burden is, well, not so burdensome. That’s why we train ourselves to do hard things, to embrace doing hard things. F3 workouts are essentially designed by the Q’s to be somewhat burdensome for the sole purpose that they makes us stronger, train us to endure, so that we will be better able to translate facing those burdens to walking through and enduring the heavy things we face in life: Maybe its your marriage, a wayward teenager, something in the workplace; whatever it is we are training not only physically to face them, but more so we are training spiritually, mentally, and emotional to be able to endure and come our victorious and better for having faced whatever we faced in that season.

Romans 5:3-5 says, “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,  and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

These verses tell us we know there is produce to behold in our suffering: Endurance. Character. Hope.”

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Moleskin

PAX were generally encouraging of today’s Q until the COP began. Only one murmur of complaint during SSH when surpassing 10, comparing YCH to John Doe – harsh.

Multiple grumbles during the shoulder blasters…. YHC called some foul names including some which one should hesitate to type here (Mr. Clean & Coldplay).

The fervor of the collective PAX was quelled when it was announced that only 50 total burpees were required (a bow was taken…. or maybe that is just what YHC looks like when trying to start a burpee).

The threat of violence seemed to have passed until PAX groaned (unenthusiastically) at the prospect of resting from squats in the tree-hugging position (Uncle Joe was close by guessing sycamore but incorrect apparently the exercises’ name sake preferred the popular (vote) tree.

YHC was amazed at the relaxation of the PAX when told to “hold 6 inches” between sets of crunches tensions seemed relieved – nay jovial. There was, however, a bit of confusion as most of the PAX were apparently unsure of how to gauge such a distance. All were quelled when YHC demonstrated.

YHC was prepared to step down the exercises to a lower repetition count until Uncle Joe pressed to see what exercise would be completed 400 times. Thank you for your determination to get better.

Also, The Count can’t count… or at least firmly believes that no-one else can.

The 11’s at the end were going to involve merkins, until at the last moment YHC realized that Radar, and his undying love for dive-bombers were present. Why not give him that simple joy.

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News

Lots of opportunities to get together outside the normal gloom coming up.
Memorial Day Convergence (Mustache Required – Sleeves Optional)
Lookouts Convergence – June 12
Fallen Five Ruck – July 17
Chubby’s Every Monday
Habitat for Humanity July 10

QIC: Blue

Date: 05-19-2021

PAX: Dundee, Snatch, Bobbit, Ponce, She Shed, U-turn

AO: Detention

Conditions

A warm and moist 67° with intermittent sprinkles of water from above.

Warm-up

Some SSH’s (42 total for my birthday), some stretching, 5 Manmakers, and a mosey to the pavilion down at the ball fields.

The THANG

7 of Diamonds

Start at the pavilion/concession stand and mosey to the four corners of the fencing, doing specified exercises at each corner in multiples of 7.

Round 1 – 7 Burpees x 4 corners

Round 2 – 14 Squats x 4 corners

Round 3 – 21 BBS’s x 4 corners

Round 4 – 28 Shoulder Taps(single count) x 4 corners

Round 5 – 35 Calf Raises x 4 corners

Round 6 – 42 SSH’s x 4 corners

Round 7 – 49 LBC’s of which time only allowed 1 corner

CoT

Accountability again. It’s been on my mind lately that we need to start holding one another accountable. I don’t say anything to my brothers in the gloom due to my own fear of sounding condescending or risking offending someone. But if not here then where? Aren’t we supposed to hold one another accountable? Isn’t that how we become better? If we can start with something as simple as our form during an exercise then maybe it’ll be easier outside of the F3 workouts?

Mumble Chatter

PAX who were in attendance at Shothouse last Friday for my Q, we’re quick to tell me about the stinging sensations they received when the water from their respective showers touched that infamous spot at the top of the crack of the ass. Especially when we started in on Round 3 with the BBS’s. They were even so kind in saying that their calf muscles were going to really be thanking me tomorrow after the 140 calf raises in Round 5. It all ended well with our Name-O-Rama when Snatch misspoke and called himself “Blue Snatch”, to which the rest of the PAX then added “Blue” to their names in honor of my Birthday. Snatch even blessed me by not telling me to shut-up even once because it was my bday Q. Good times were had by all and we all got a little better.