Posted on

Introducing… the Champ!

QIC: Prosciutto

Date: 12/06/2019

PAX: Walla Walla, Angel Hair, 9-Volt (Respect), Vaccine, Swipe Right, Threeskin, Plunger, John Doe, Toe Tag, Escobar, Money Ball, Bernie, Cavity Search, Coldplay, Sidekick, MaYhem (Respect), Fissure, Fastlane

AO: Hacksaw

Conditions

Burpee weather, apparently. Way too much testosterone pre-F3 with guys out-doing one another. [phrasing]

COP 1

Mosey over past the Sherriff’s lot

ExerciseReps
SSH 10
IW 10
Hillbillies 10
High knees  10
Catcher stretch  aka Something Something Tea Party 10

COP 2

Mosey a little further to the pavillion parking lot for some COP plank-o-rama. And just like Adam Sandler says in Big Daddy – do these and “don’t let ‘it’ hit the ground.” (that-IT being your knees)

Exercise Reps
Plank 10
Mtn climbers  10
Plank jacks 10
Plank 10
Peter Parker  10
Parker Peter 10
Plank 10
Mtn climbers 10

The Thang

These really suck…. So… worth it.
Mike Tyson’s Punch-out
Pax stand shoulder to shoulder facing the curb across from them (~15 yards; just outside of a South Carolina QB range):
Perform 1 Mike Tyson
*Bear Crawl to opposite curb
Perform 2 Mike Tyson
*Bear Crawl back to startex
Complete all the way to 7 Incrementing at each point
*Modification of Lunges as the movement was highly disobedient and disappointing ok….

Mosey to Pavillion picnic tables
Worst Merkins Ever™ Superset
PAX were shown the F3 Chattanooga Tradmark’d WMEs
Superset with Dips – no stopping; except that one time we won’t talk about
2 WMEs : 20 Dips
3 WMEs : 10 Dips
4 WMEs : 10 Dips (may have shorted two dips on Q cadence error; sorrynotsorry– no one was upset about it)
*And that was enough of that crap…As YHC really wanted to get to the highly acclaimed Holy Hill

Mosey to Holy Hill
Hill Work
5 Burpees at bottom of Holy Hill; Bernie Sanders up Holy Hill; 5 Incline Burpees at top; run down
5 Squats at bottom of HH; Bernie up HH; 5 Squats at top; run down
5 Burpees at bottom of HH; Bernie up HH; 5 Incline Burpeees at top; run down
10 Squats at bottom of HH; Bernie up HH; 10 Squats at top; run down

Mosey back to Sherriff’s lot for some Mary
Flutter Kicks
Mercurial Freddie Mercuries
LBC
BBSU OYO
Pretzel (L/R)

COT

YHC has been very encouraged by the leadership shown from the Hacksaw contingent over the past couple months at Smackdown. It’s satisfying to see the workouts bleeding over to the principles of leadership. I cannot express my appreciation enough of their support of the newer AOs and their willingness to be part of their growth and strategy.


F3 is an oddly shaped organization where we are apart of an organization “OF” Leaders; as opposed to “WITH” Leaders (oh, and it’s FREE). Unfortunately – those organizations with “Leaders” aren’t always the best kind of Leaders.

Good leadership oftentimes begets good leaders. I shared something I read recently:

The leader is always striving to grow, to improve, and is deeply concerned that those around him do the same. He or she has no nobler responsibility than seeing to the personal and professional improvement of others.

F3 Q-Source Blog

Moleskin

Never seen this one before – during Al Gore’s 9-Volt literally went over and hugged a shrub. I’m not sure who was holding who up – they both looked kinda pitiful.

According to Angel Hair – I might still be able to join the Marines. #lifeGoalz

YHC thought that choosing Escobar as the pace car today (given his knowledge and wherewithal of the scene) was slightly risky given his pre-F3 5k extra credit jaunt with John Doe and Toe Tag… YHC AAR assessment is that he did just fine

Maybe 99 burpees and LBCs pre-F3 isn’t the greatest life choice, but Plunger, Fissure and Sidekick showed no sign of weakness or backing down.

Motion to change “Mike Tyson’s” to Ear Biters going forward?

Term Life Insurance > Universal -or- Whole Life Insurance – ask Bernie or MaYhem how they know. #daveRamsey

News

F3 Convergence for Holidays – tune into Slack and/or Preblasts for more info
2nd Annual Tuff Muff CSAUP – Details forthcoming

Recent Backblasts

    Posted on

    Smackdown Iron PAX

    QIC: Prosciutto

    Date: 11/21/2019

    PAX: Bumblebee, Burrito, Geyser, Holy Kiss, Laces Out, Newport, Pomade

    AO: SMACkdown

    Conditions

    41 degrees, 60% humidity and beautifully calm… and then Burrito arrived. Smoking jackets were removed and checked at the door.

    COP

    This was off the cuff, so I’m probably forgetting one thing…
    SSH x 20 IC
    Plank and Calf Stretch
    Plank Jacks x 15 IC
    Merkins x 10 IC
    Slow Cotton-Pickers
    Slow Windmills
    SSH x 15 IC

    The Thang

    Delightfully copied from the Iron Pax 2019 Week 1 Routine
    The Suck
    Four cones laid out in ~10 yard spacing
    Starting line to first cone: Broad Jump to first cone
    – 10 Burpees
    – 10 Bonnie Blairs
    – 10 Big Boy Situps

    Broad Jump to next cone
    – 10 Burpees
    – 10 Bonnie Blairs
    – 10 Big Boy Situps

    Broad Jump to next cone
    – 10 Burpees
    – 10 Bonnie Blairs
    – 10 Big Boy Situps

    Bear crawl back to starting line and plank or hold Al Gore for Six

    Ten Count (3) – YHC is a compassionate guy, c’mon!

    One lap mosey with the pax

    Repeat the above once more

    Ten Count (3)

    One lap mosey with pax

    Modify the above slightly with the following for one more round:
    Lunge walk between cones;
    At each cone:
    – 10 Merkins
    – 10 Squats
    – 10 LBC’s

    Ten Count (2)
    *Geyser joins, stage – right

    The Very Indigenous Peoples and Native American run for one lap around track (roughly 394 meters – we counted two by two)

    Wheel of Merkin x 5 revolutions

    2+ minutes of 30 yard all you got, jail breaks with Burrito sounds

    5 minutes of Mary. Time.

    COT

    Discussion about shield lock, where it comes from, what it means to be there for another, what accountability really means and how you can’t have accountability of self because that doesn’t make sense. Not sorry if that hurts someone’s feelings.

    We kept El Chapo’s brother in our prayer intentions, Kickback’s upcoming events in Nashville, Geyser’s Father in Law, Prosciutto’s Mother

    Moleskin

    • Burrito is really fast and you can hear him moving fast, too.
    • Still on Burrito – his cross-examination technique in the gloom is second to noone. My best buddy
    • Good thing we start at 5:30 at SMACkdown – that parking lot likes to fill up right at 6am
    • Whittler was sorely missed; it was discussed. I’m not crying you’re crying.

    News

    • The Battery is celebrating their one year anniversary this Saturday in the gloom
    • Check Slack for the day of service on Saturday @ Hardy elementary

    Recent Backblasts

      Posted on

      Leaders don’t smoke, they VAPE

      QIC: Prosciutto

      Date: 11/02/2019

      PAX: Escobar, Fissure, Fly-By (Respect), Focker (Hate Hate), Goose, Mayhem (Respect), Peanuts, Steam Engine, She Shed, Skitch, The Count (Respect), Uncle Fester, Whittler

      AO: Landfill

      Conditions

      Fall is so woke right now it already got Winter figured out

      32 degrees and chill….

      COP

      SSH
      Signal Mtn Climbers
      ST Squats
      ST Merkins
      …. something else…
      Mosey to top gate and share the Vision, then right to it; 10 burpees and then a mosey to bottom gate
      Bottom Gate – 10 Burpees

      The Thang

      Vision – Need to get back to top (eventually) = Vision; The ability to receognize advantage and the movement required to achieve it. If you don’t know where you’re going (or why), then you cannot influence others to follow you there.

      Circle Burp – All Pax perform called exercise until a man calls down, then all go down for Burpee and then immediately back up to continue called exercise

      Burpees / Called Exercise: SSH
      Run to Dog Park area
      Burpees / Called Exercise: Squats
      Run to Pavillion
      Burpees / Plank
      Mosey to Bottom of Hill for Bernie

      Articulation – A quick lesson on lack of vision in a leader and proper instruction adherance. In order to effectively lead, a leader must clearly communicate the vision. With a clear understanding of vision – people will not abandon the vision.
      1/2 & 1/2
      Counted off by two’s. Half the group goes to one end of the field (pavillion) with the Q, other half of group goes to the other. Only one group has the Q with the vision and articulated plan…
      Q Group performs, Jump Lunges x 10 (each leg), Squats x 10, High Knees x 10
      Non-Q Group does???? Nothing – they yelled at the Q group asking what to do…
      Lesson learnt.

      Persuasion – Even with recognition that a leader’s vision is advantageous, it’s human nature to cling to Status Quo. With persuasion a leader can convince others to begin movement & gain momentum.

      Tunnel of Love
      All men line up (in a line, imagine that) and zipper plank. Man at the back army crawls under and through the men planking

      *Grab a rock

      Exhortation – Perhaps the most important of the four skills; requires empathy and candor by a leader. Given that a movement can cause uncontrollable or unforeseen circumstances, a leader can recognize that upfront and is ready to exhort and incentivize followers to overcome circumstances and maintain momentum.
      11’s on the Hill – Increment ejercicio at the bottom/Decrement ejercicio at the top
      Merkins (bottom) & Curls with Rock (top) with run up Hill betwixt the two.

      6MOM
      Flutter, Freddie Mercuries, LBC, Hollywoods, V-Ups (Aye! Whittler), maybe something else…

      COT

      From the Q-Source’s third quadrant (Lead Right) of leadership, YHC felt it was a good time to discuss the four capabilities of Effective Leadership.

      The Leadership Skills are the four capabilities of Effective Leadership that enable a man do what a Leader does

      Leadership is Influencing Movement to Advantage. To do that Effectively, a man must Competently apply the Leadership Skills:

      First, he must have Vision, which is the ability to recognize Advantage and the Movement required to achieve it. If he does not know where he is going and why, then he will not be able to Influence anyone else to follow him there.

      Second, he must be capable of Articulation, which is the act of describing his Vision to others. People will not abandon their Status Quo for a superior position unless they understand where they are going.

       Third, he possess the means of Persuasion, which is the initiation of first Movement. Despite their recognition that a Leader’s Vision is Advantageous, human nature is to cling to the Status Quo even it is inferior. Through Persuasion, a Leader convinces people to begin Movement and gain Momentum.

      Fourth, because Movement produces uncontrollable circumstances, the Leader knows that Obstacles (Problems that impede Movement) will inevitably arise. An Effective Leader is ready to use Exhortation to incentivize his followers to breach Obstacles and maintain Momentum toward Advantage.

      Moleskin

      The gates of the Landfill claimed another victim in Gusher who had the right idea, but not the right intel (my bad), but saw the closed gates. He chose to do the hard thing, took the DRP and went to Hill City for his own downpainment. AYE!

      Fissure & Whittler must be some serious buds as they wouldn’t quiet down – so the 11’s were effective in silencing that rhetoric (for a short time).

      Friends, it’s simple, if you want to make the pax happy, bring coffeeteria to the gloom. Works every time.

      Cell phone ringers set to Crickets are hard to find. Elusive doesn’t even begin to describe it.

      News

      Convergence 11/16 – 3rd birthday of F3 Chattanooga at the next new AO in town – Brainerd Baptist. Stay tuned for details coming soon in ‘Announcements’ channel.

      Recent Backblasts

        Posted on

        BBSRBBCCMS

        QIC: Prosciutto

        Date: 10/22/2019

        PAX: Bumblebee, Burrito, Early Bird, Escobar, Geyser, Gusher, Kickback, Pediasure, Whittler

        AO: SMACkdown

        Conditions

        Soggy from over night rains. 52 degrees and humid. T-shirt and shorts weather.

        COP

        SSH x 36 IC
        Mtn Climbers x 12 IC
        Plank x 10 (Regular/Right side/Left side)
        Third Grade Exercises IC
        High Knees IC
        SSH x 12 IC
        Indian Run 400 M

        The Thang

        BLOCK BURPEES SHUTTLE RUN BURPEE BEAR CRAWL CURL MERKIN SQUAT
        (BBSRBBCCMS) – It’ll catch on one day…
        Initially didn’t plan for partner work, but only had so many blocks, so Q signaled for an omaha to partner-up
        Partner 1:
        1) 3 Side jump-over block burpees
        2) 3-line shuttle run
        3) 5 burpees at far end of shuttle run
        4) Bear crawl return to start point
        5) With block – 15 Curls, 15 Merkins, 15 Squats
        *switch with Partner when done

        Partner 2:
        Round 1: SSH AMRAP
        Round 2: 400 M run
        Round 3: 400 M run

        Both partners plank for 6 if finished before the group.

        CURL PARTY
        PARTNER TRUST EXERCISE
        Partner with block stands on partner on ground’s feet while he does Big Boy Situps
        Pax 1: Low Curl w/ block x 10, Top Curl w/ block x 10, Full Curl w/ block x 10
        Pax 2: BBSU AMRAP

        repeat 3x

        3MOM
        Flutter Kicks IC
        Pretzel (R/L)
        Box Cutter (IC)

        COT

        Strive to be better in everything you do. Sometimes simply striving to be better can bring you out of a rut or help you focus less on that rut. Being 1% better at anything is better than nothing at all. If that 1% is your focus, your task and your mindset will likely gain more than you expected.

        Moleskin

        Even though it was soggy/rainy/dreary this morning, these men showed up and supported one another. This accountability is why we’re here…

        Speaking of showing up! Early Bird (from East Ridge) and Escobar (from Apison) came up the mountain this morning … Wow! Great job. Glad we could host! Awesome to see and share the F3 gloom brotherhood with these men. Now, our task at SMACkdown is to figure out how to get the guys who need to make two right-turns from their drive way to get out in the gloom!

        Early Bird said he can feel his liver; that’s a new one for me. Maybe less cervezas and more Love Potion #9?

        Bumblebee is back! And promptly picked up the vacant q-slot on Thursday. High impact man. What a guy, but he’s still a Death Valley # 2 Tiger…

        Burrito knows everyone and everything Signal Mountain. Future town Mayor? Probably one day. But we’ll still know him as Burrito…

        Prayers

        Laces Out M illness this morning
        Cottontail attending Officer school (Air Force) as a Chaplain

        News

        Stay tuned for the announcements on the #announcements channel on Slack.
        F3 Chattanooga 3 Year Anniversary coming up in November

        Recent Backblasts

          Posted on

          Iron Pax on Ice

          QIC: Prosciutto

          Date: 10/17/2019

          PAX: Burrito, Coypu, Kickback

          AO: SMACkdown

          Conditions

          Cold, clear and brisk. Less campfire smell than Tuesday, but still perfect morning for committing ourselves to the gloom.

          COP

          SSH x 20 IC
          Russian Twist x 10 IC
          IW x 10 IC
          Forward Fold x 8 IC
          Wide Stance Fwd Fold x 8 IC
          ….

          The Thang

          Taking the queue (Q?) from Iron Pax Warmup Week 0
          6 Rounds for Time
          24 Squats
          24 Walking Lunges (both leg strides count once)
          24 Merkins
          Run 400 M

          You know you’ve done it right when you’ve run at least 1.50 miles

          Moleskin

          Coypu is really good at swearing; some folks are better than others, but this guy is a pro.

          Lots of kidnappings today (Whittler seized by the “on-call” doctor witchcraft; Newport home with sick kid)

          ROY fartsackers need to come out and quit laying in bed dreaming. There’s work to be done.

          Kickback crushed his second ever F3 workout – Credit to Coypu and Burrito for encouraging and picking up the six. That’s what we’re here to do! Great job by all.

          News

          F3 Dad’s day workout on 10/19 at The Landfill.

          Breakfast to follow at the nearby Southern Restaurant that used to be the zipper-head restaurant which shut-down due to cat problems.

          Recent Backblasts

            Posted on

            The Real Seven Wonders

            QIC: Prosciutto

            Date: 10/10/2019

            PAX: Whittler, FNG-Rogan, Gusher, Jazzy Jag, Newport, Burrito, FNG-Pediasure, Blindside, Cottontail

            AO: Smackdown

            Conditions

            58 degrees, misty mountain high-dollar air, Paul Blart on the scene trying to ruin our morning plans. No thanks, Paul. Join us!

            COP

            Forward Fold, Willy Mays Hays, SSH, Mtn Climbers, Slow tempo merkins, maybe something else…

            200 M run and return to shovel flag and blocks

            The Thang

            Course was set with 5 blocks (official Iron Pax weight) on each side of the shovel flag; paint buckets as way points for the designated stop points

            Burpee Broad Jump (BBJ) Relay
            All pax line up with their own block. First man in the line performs burpee broad jumps to the first bucket; do 5 burpees, turn around and lunge back to starting point. Upon returning, the next pax in line goes.

            While traveling PAX performs BBJ’s, all other pax perform the following movements non-stop:
            1) SSH x 10 IC
            2) Squat with block x 10 IC
            3) Curl x 10 IC

            400 M run; jail break for 50M

            Head over to maintenance building.

            Wall Sit Superset

            Mohammad Ali’s x 10 IC
            Smurf Jacks x 10 IC

            Joe Frasier’s x 10 IC
            Smurf Jacks x 10 IC

            Ray Lewis’ x 10 IC
            Smurf Jacks x 10 IC

            Mini Dora

            Partner up for shuttle-run mini dora
            1) 50 Merkins
            2) 100 Monkey Humpers
            3) 150 LBC

            400 M Run

            Mary:
            Flutter Kicks
            Hollywoods
            Freddie Mercuries

            _Time

            COT

            The Real Seven Wonders of the World

            A group of students were studying geography and they were asked to list what they considered to be the Seven Wonders of the World.

            Though there was some disagreement, the following got the most votes:

            1. Egypt’s Great Pyramids
            2. Taj Mahal
            3. Grand Canyon
            4. Panama Canal
            5. Empire State Building
            6. St. Peter’s Basilica
            7. China’s Great Wall

            While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one quiet little girl hadn’t turned in her paper yet. She asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The girl replied, “Yes, a little. I couldn’t quite make up my
            mind because there were so many.”

            The teacher said, “Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help.”

            The girl hesitated, then read, “I think The Real Seven Wonders of the World are:”

            1. To Touch
            2. To Taste
            3. To See
            4. To Hear
            5. To Run
            6. To Laugh
            7. And to Love.

            It is too easy for us to look at the exploits of man as “wonders” while we overlook all God has done, regarding them as merely “ordinary.” May you be reminded today of those things which are truly wondrous.

            Moleskin

            • Future Weasel Shaker Jazzy Jag brought up Weasel Shaker discussion point around #pax-data and the ‘Post : Q Ratio’; offering advice on improving that number. The important note here is he’s speaking YHC love-language (data). He definitely knows how to get into the moleskin (wait, what?)
            • FNG – Pediasure loves the Braves; even wore his Chop shirt this morning. This is what a real fan looks like, Volunteers!
            • FNG – Rogan is a ring-side orthopedic physician for UFC, so there’s that… talk about job security!
            • So get this, you ever get the feeling you’re being watched?? I do…

              So, I roll up to the parking lot – dark everywhere and no cars in the lot to speak of – I’m there early to set up the workout.  So, I park close to the gate opening and I’m tossing buckets and blocks over the fence to then walk around and set up.  OUT OF NOWHERE! The GI Joe version of Paul Blart Mall Cop comes marching down the track (it’s dark and I don’t see him until last second) to cross-examine me as if I’m a witness called to the stand.  Very early in the conversation he offers his credentials as Athletic Club Property Manager and goes on to tell me it’s private property. Wanted to be sure there wasn’t any money changing hands or anyone getting paid to do the workout. I gently talk him down from an 11 to a 5.5. then, GET THIS – He walks off to go train (read: clipboard) this woman he was with!  What?!?! … So, Paul is a personal trainer and a property  manager???  I EH’d him. He will definitely never come. He definitely was the opposite of nice in his cross-examination. I hope we see him again real soon; we should bring and throw monopoly money around next time during the workout to make it look like we’re exchanging currencies. I wonder if this  is allowed? Only see these kinds of checks and balances on Signal Mountain folks…

            • Burrito confirmed his love for F3 Signal Mountain (and YHC). He will prob be on slack soon. We can confidently say that his cup is now overfloweth with Purple Cyanide F3 Koolaid
            • Don’t sleep on Blindside’s quickness. He’s sneaky fast. How else does a guy give three sermons on Sunday morning with travel in between to two different campuses? I don’t see how the man does it, but full respect for his ability to reach and preach to the Sunday faithful. True High Impact Man.

            News

            F3 Dads – 10/19 at Landfill. reserve your tickets now!

            F3 Chattanooga turns 3 in November. Convergence plans underway – stay tuned!

            Recent Backblasts

              Posted on

              A Foolish Hypocrite

              QIC: Prosciutto

              Date: 09/10/2019

              PAX: Odd Job, Ducktales, Freetime, Whittler, FNG-Coin Slot, Money Ball, FNG-Shredder, FNG-Cottontail, Blindside

              AO: Smackdown

              Conditions

              Muggy, humid, purest and rarest mountain air in the region

              COP

              SSH x 10 IC
              High Knees x 10 IC
              Wide High Knees x 10 IC
              Merkins x 10 IC
              Third Grade Exercises IC
              Willy Mays Hays
              Baby Arm Circles (F/B)
              Morrocan Night Club with Dancing/Bobbing/Moving with the Funk
              SSH x 12 IC

              Indian Run lap 400m for good measure

              The Thang

              With IronPax Challenge going on, it seemed only right to give the regions newest AO a taste of what has been accomplished so far; pair off in groups of 3 / team

              And since we have a track at our disposal – why not summon my inner Candu, and offer a relay?

              IronPax Relay
              3 Rounds with 3 pax per team; cones set 40 yards out as a marker for the traveling man

              Round 1:
              Traveler: Lunge to Cone & Lunge Back
              P2: Squats AMRAP
              P3: Worst Merkins Ever AMRAP

              When six is in, all together LBCs in Cadence

              Jail Break width of field, both ways.

              Round 2:

              Traveler: Broad Jump Burpee to Cone and Bear Crawl back
              P2: Big Boy Situps
              P3: Bonnie Blaire

              When six is in, all together Plank Jack x 20 IC

              Indian Run 400m

              Round 3:
              Traveler: Bear Crawl to cone, perform 5 burpees, Bear Crawl back
              P2: Man Makers w/ Block
              P3: Overhead Press w/ Block

              When six is in, all together Flutter Kick x Forever IC

              Jail break width of field

              Arrive at bleachers on other side of track:
              Box Jump to the top
              Dips x 12 IC
              Incline Merkins x 10 IC
              Decline Merkins x 10 IC

              Jail break back across width of field; Ducktales false started, won, gloated, argued false start accusation. Well done.

               

              Mary:

              > Infinity Plank with a side of *G2

              While planking, YHC inserted wisdom regarding ‘the magnet’; half-paraphrasing from Freed to Lead:

              There’s three F’s in F3. First is Fitness. We call it the magnet... but why?

              It’s the draw to the group. It fills the gaps of a man’s inconsistent fitness. But it’s more about a man showing up consistently and becoming part of something. As he shows up consistently, he has no choice than to get better, be better.

              He finds out he’s getting better each time he shows up because he’s gaining on the guys today who were faster than him yesterday; he’s making progress. It’s simple.

              No longer does he need to pay “Crystal” the trainer to make him do lunges and squats; the Q does it now. Once he posts, he can say so long to the fake plants in the corner of the gym who “were” his comfort zone. He can say good bye to the personal trainer check he was stroking each month; without seeing any progress.

              Now he has real men to push him, hold him to his commitments; call him out for good reason if he’s backsliding or falling short in his progress.

              He finds it doesn’t necessarily get easier, but instead it’s the opposite. But he has so much fun doing it - he keeps coming back for more.

              That’s the magnet. Next week, we can talk about the Glue, or the second F; 
              Fellowship.

              * Lexicon: G2 = Information

              COT

              A research scientist was giving a commencement speech back in the late 70’s at Cal Polytech. His name was Richard Feynman.

              He spoke about research methods, the scientific method, what makes a good scientist and integrity in experimentation. One particular thing I came across In the speech that spoke rather profoundly to me is where he said this,

              “Be careful not to fool yourself; and you’re the easiest one to fool”

              Got me thinking… Every day we walk through life witnessing, assessing, judging and making decisions. All of these assessments, we view through a prism of good or bad, that prism is based on our world view or ideals. Often times, a rather narrow prism, in fact.

              One thing I’ve noticed is how I can internally place judgement on another’s actions or words, but completely fall blind to my own actions. I’ll judge another, only to turn around and justify my own (at times) exact same behavior; sweeping it under the rug.  That’s fooling yourself in a most extreme way. Who’s really the fool? Joke’s on who now?

              In essence, we can all be fool’s trapped inside ourselves. I challenge and encourage each of you, to go and find that fool – cast him aside, overcome him and his judgments. Stop lying to yourself first, open your eyes and realize that kind of hypocrisy will only take you down a long winding dark road of suckitude.

              Rid yourself of that negativity, you’ll find greater happiness and peace in your thoughts and greater hope restored in your fellow man.

              Moleskin

              • #Kotters to Odd Job. Happy you’re back brother! This sentence is mostly true.
              • Ducktales false starts on jail breaks; doesn’t need it because he’s a Deer with very very very long long legs.
              • Gonna be alot of squinty eyes in the Smackdown COT vids; Signal Mountain folk don’t like the “light pollution”. See: City Council meetings proposing any development
              • Post-gloom coffee from the Ducktales canteen will burn everything from your tongue down to your… well, past your tongue. The first sip is delicious, after that – no taste in anything for 4 days. Worth it.
              • Blocks ‘borrowed’ from the church may require future tithing (this is not a commercial and I accepted zero-endorsement $ to print this)

              News

              Iron Pax Week 2 is upon us. Smackdown will host IP Week 2 for those interested. Perfect setting.

              Signal Mountain AO is here! Headlock everyone

              Recent Backblasts

                Posted on

                Acceleration/Competence doesn’t come Standard

                QIC: Prosciutto

                Date: 08/01/2019

                PAX: Flemish, Threeskin, Sidekick, Blindside, Dirk, Deer Jack, Peanuts, Uncle Fester, Iron Butt (Respect), Milkman, Laces Out (Respect), Back Pew, Loan Shark, Raptor (2.0), Hobo, Red Tees, Early Bird, Skitch, Goose, Fissure, Ringwald, Sunshine, Moneyball, Sunburn (Respect), Countdown

                AO: Hill City

                Conditions

                Felt like 70, but who knows. Dew was present, therefore, ground exercises were necessary

                COP

                Guys kept coming this morning, so we kept emptying the cars with blocks. Needed 1 block per man and two more shovel flags for stopping points. Then we needed to get those blocks and flags to their end point. That felt like a warm-up in and of itself.

                We moseyed to beneath the Market St bridge. Had to make quick work of this since we needed as much time as necessary for the main thang.

                SSH IC
                Mtn Climbers IC
                Windmills IC
                Something else? I didn’t write this part down
                SSH IC

                The Thang

                This was a modified version of what we completed for the Chattanooga GRT this past May in the welcome party beat down. I found it to be extremely challenging and couldn’t wait to share it with F3 Chattanooga brethren. It’s derived from the GoRuck Jerome Gonzalez WOD, named after a Ruck Participant whom tragically died during the Joe Warner Bragg Heavy on February 17, 2018.

                The Setup:
                1) Plant 3 flags in succession ascending the hill – roughly 10-15 yards apart
                2) Each pax pairs up with another pax of equal or lesser value
                3) Each pax ensures he has his own block

                1 Minute AMRAP (As Many Reps as Possible):
                Pax 1 (P1) – Merkins; Pax 2 (P2) Holds Plank & counts reps aloud… Switch
                P1 – Big Boy Sit ups; P2 Holds plank and P1’s feet in place… Switch

                Next…

                P1 Partner Carries P2 to top of hill; P1 runs back down hill while P2 Performs 10 Flutter Kicks IC, 10 FM’s, 10 LBC (All OYO and repeating until P1 arrives back up hill)

                P1 – Farmer Carry both of his group’s coupons to first flag on the hill and performs 10 burpees OYO; repeat this at each of the remaining 2 flags until P1 reaches P2.

                At the top, P1 Partner Carries P2 back down to bottom; P1 goes back up and gets both partner’s coupons and returns while P2 – Plank or Hold Al Gore and wait for P1

                Switch

                 

                At 10 minutes remaining, YHC called for all Pax to return to bottom of hill.

                Circle up for 1 min overhead coupon hold.

                Then 5 coupon presses going around circle for all 25 pax. Very Niiiiice!

                 

                Run back to startex

                Countorama, Nameorama, COT, Endex

                COT

                 

                I think alot about acceleration in F3 Chatt. Well, I think alot about F3 Chatt in general… It’s a daily commitment to acceleration. I want to be better at it and want to make it better each day.

                So, today I talked about competence relative to acceleration. In the 1st F sense of F3 (Fitness), Acceleration implies you simply commit to doing something more/better each day than yesterday; for F3 that’s Fitness. That you TRY to do your task, do your duty, do your responsibility – something- better each day every day. While we may not all be on the same level, we are all capable and accountable to a set standard. So, by that principal, the F3 standard is acceleration and Competence of acceleration is “adherence to that standard”.

                What does this competence look like? What does adherence to the standard of F3 look like?

                Look at our “credo” in F3?
                “Leave no man behind, leave no man where you found him” – Our intentional acceleration and our competence.

                What’s the F3 Mission? Plant, Grow, Serve small workout groups for the invigoration of male community leadership.

                Most notably, “Plant, Grow, Serve” demonstrates our mission to accelerate.
                * Plant new workout groups – Establish new groups; Acceleration
                * Grow those workout groups, Foster/Support groups; Acceleration
                * Serve small workout groups – Support/Have more men take leadership roles, growing and serving; that is to say, we are accelerating and giving back to the men who fuel fire of F3.

                We’ve set the standard, we have accelerated to that standard and we continue to adhere to said standard. (How many times can I say standard?)

                Anything other than acceleration and improvement is simply, deceleration and complacency. With the lack of acceleration, you’ll assuredly be passed by the man in acceleration in no time and soon your world will falter or worse, fail (e.g. marriage, relationships, faith, fitness). Align yourself with proper accelerating High Impact Men; set your standards appropriately. No matter your pace, no matter your goal, Actively accelerate every day and your standard will become your competence.

                Moleskin

                Renaissance Park feels like a six mile jog when running with a coupon. Who runs with coupons? Stupid idea.

                Thanks to the epic Subway mudslide/collapse of 2019 on Signal Mountain Boulevard, we had some really heavy cinder blocks with mortar.

                Q’ing 25 adults can be tough. Q’ing 25 adults and your 6 yo son who does his own thing is a whole different ball of wax. More sharpening still required. Where are the instructions that come with this thing? Thankful for this group of guys to help steer (and “babysit” – as Fissure calls it)

                Zero merlot splashes this time around – although I was certain we’d get at least one. F3 guys are some fit dudes with iron stomachs.

                News

                F3 Dad’s Day – 08-10-2019

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                  The Hills of Landfill

                  QIC: Prosciutto

                  Date: 07/20/2019

                  PAX: Sunburn (Respect), Early Bird, Iron Butt (Respect), Peanuts, WuzntMe, Threeskin, VSquared, Moneyball, FNG-Raptor (2.0), Fissure, Back Pew, Loco, The Count (Respect)

                  AO: The Landfill

                  Conditions

                  Muggy as a mug, Dewey like the Decimal, 78 degrees

                  https://youtu.be/pftMNgF0dsY

                  COP

                  Warm up

                  SSH, High Knees, Imp Walker, Forward Fold, Willy Mays Hays, SSH, Merkins

                  Lap around field with native american runs; pick up the six and head to the park’s gate.

                  Run up Pine Breeze hill and back, plank for 6, SSH for good measure

                  The Thang

                  Grab a partner (Note to self: Don’t count off 1’s and 2’s if you want the group to pair up; YHC is an idiot).

                  Hill Suicides
                  A nod to The Count for the gauntlet idea (P1 run to a point 3 times and back while P2 performs exercises). Then switch.

                  Starting at base of hill

                  P1 runs up the hill (run down), Bernie up hill (run down), Bear Crawl up hill – 5 burpees at the top and run down and switch with P2.

                  P2 is performing superset (no pause between exercises) with provided mason bricks at bottom:

                  R1) 10 shoulder press, 10 full curl, 10 big boy sit ups
                  R2) 10 wide squat, 10 lunge, 10 monkey humper
                  R3) 10 bent over row, 10 upright row, 10 rear delt row
                  R4) 10 half burpees, 10 shoulder taps, 10 carolina dry docks
                  R5) 10 Supermans, 10 Flutter Kicks, 10 Supermans (yes, twice)

                  Mosey to Wall by the toilets

                  Wall Sit Supersets:
                  1) Joe Frasier x 10
                  Smurf Jacks x 10
                  2) Muhammad Ali x 10
                  Smurf Jacks x 10
                  3) School Bus x 10
                  Smurf Jacks x 10
                  4) Prosciutto Gold Chain x 10
                  Smurf Jacks x 10

                  *Special thanks to WuzntMe and VSquared here for picking me up with the cadence – as I was properly cured ham.

                  Mosey back to base of hill for Wheel of Merkins (5 rounds)

                  6Mom:
                  Capt Thor 1:4 (bbsu, hammer)
                  Dolly
                  Rosalita
                  Single leg extension
                  Flutter Kick

                  COT

                  Full disclosure – I found this from an Italian Job post in Rock Hill Region (“The Rock”) and found it to be extremely… “Impactful”. I couldn’t have said it better myself, so I didn’t.

                  As #HIM, we influence many around us – our brothers, our co-workers, our communities.

                  The most important influence we can have is at home. Sometimes we forget how much impact our words and actions have on our families. Our children are watching and learning with every move we make. If we lose our temper, they see it. If we are glued to our phones, they notice. When we love our wives, they see it. When we make time for our families, they notice.

                  Our children are the future of this world. If you want to change the world, it starts at home. We have to make sure our impact is positive. We need to carve out time for our families. If we can do it for work, why can’t we do it for those that really matter? If you lost your job today, they’d replace you within the month. But you cannot be replaced at home.

                  I’ve said it before, our children spell love T-I-M-E. You see, the story that may seem trivial to us is really important to our children. We must make sure we pay attention to those little things, because to our kids, they are everything.

                  Here’s the challenge for all reading: Be the dads we need to be. Be the husbands we are called to be. Then watch as the future generations become better versions of us. We reap what we sow. If we sow encouragement, we get love. If we sow discord, anger ensues. If you want to change the world, start at home. 

                  >Italian Job

                  Moleskin

                  • Happy 39th Birthday to Early Bird! Proud of you my man!
                  • Everyone died, as expected and warned. Felt a lot like the Oregon Trail.
                  • It was YHC son’s (Wyatt aka “Raptor”) third post this week. Previously he didn’t want to be named – but today he had no choice. I couldn’t be more proud of my boy!  It was an honor to talk about the importance of Impact, influence at home and having my son join us for F3.  Full heart, Watery Eyes, Cant Lose.
                  • Again re: Raptor – he decided to log roll down the hill once and when he got up he fell over four times from dizziness. That would have been enough for YHC to splash alone
                  • Pine Breeze hill is nothing to scoff at – brought us to our knees. Most everyone died.
                  • Fissure died midway through the Thang; he recovered and went to the toilet. Last I heard, he’s still there at White Oak Park bathroom facility.
                  • The Count has a drone and is not afraid to use it!

                  News

                  2.0 & Dad Workout @ the Dame on 8/10

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                    The General Purpose Practice Area Center for Multi-Purposeful Activities

                    QIC: Prosciutto

                    Date: 07/10/2019

                    PAX: Picasso, Peanuts, She Shed, Ringwald, Sunburn (Respect), Red Tees, FNG-Doubtfire, Milkman, Ducktales, Radiohead

                    AO: Lions Den

                    video evidence: https://youtu.be/_m0ftbWdFYo

                    Conditions

                    Hot everything. All hot everywhere.

                    Some back of the napkin stats:

                    1. 0% chance of sky precipitation
                    2. 100% chance of bodily precipitation
                    3. 100% chance of getting better
                    4. 1000% chance Ducktales posts without a shirt.

                    COP

                    SSH x 10 IC
                    HK x 10 IC
                    Forward Fold x 10 IC
                    Hamstring Stretch x 10 IC
                    Superman x 10 IC
                    Plank x 10 IC
                    Plank R/L x 10 IC
                    Some Prosciutto Gold Chains for good measure

                    Mosey to all-purpose track and pre-game / all-around general practice area for events for general practice and all purpose activities and such as.

                    The Thang

                    8-count Body builders x 5 IC
                    Back Deltoid and Rhombus Rear merkins x 5 IC
                    Worst Merkin ever  x 5 IC
                    Burpees x 5 OYO

                    Mosey one lap around track together. “Slowsey” as Ringwald describes it in Albertville “English”(?).

                    8-count Body builder x 5 IC
                    Back Deltoid and Rhombus Rear merkins x 5 IC
                    Worst Merkin ever  x 4 IC
                    Burpee x 5 OYO

                    Sprint long stretch of track and mosey around the turn

                    Go to concession area for blow pops, slushees, hot dogs and Wall Sit/Smurf Jack super set:

                    Wall Sit x 10 IC / Smurf Jack x 10 IC
                    Wall Sit x 10 IC / Smurf Jack x 10 IC
                    Wall Sit x 10 IC / Smurf Jack x 10 IC

                    Once again, mosey to the not-so-clearly-marked all-purpose track assembly grounds for movements and actions that are negotiated mostly in a general fashion for multi-purpose activities that involve movement and coordinated judgement for make benefit and better for all people in US and A.

                    4×4’s x 4 (1 burpee: 4 plank jacks & 4 merkins)
                    Rear Merkin x 5 IC
                    Worst Merkins x 3 IC (It sounded like Ducktales was doing Candu’s impression of the worst merkin ever at this point)
                    Burpees… Maybe?? I don’t remember, should have been burpees here.

                    Slowsey to stadium steps

                    10 Pull-ups OYO
                    One-legged bulgarian step ups minus Candu

                    10 Pull-ups opposite of the first set OYO
                    Hop Sprint to top of steps

                    10 Pull-ups wide version of the first set OYO
                    Hop Sprint to top of steps

                    Indian Run from steps to general purpose and all-encompassing place with red sponge material for movements critical and crucial relative to multi-purpose efforts involving the core, back and lower small of back to make Americans Great for the sake of making America More Better Again! and such as.

                    6MOM

                    LBC
                    Dolly
                    Flutter Kicks
                    Mercurial Fred’s

                    Endex

                    COT

                    Prayers for those needing guidance/counseling
                    Prayers for the guys who couldn’t join us this morning that they get better enough to come join again

                    Had alot of time away on vacation. The consistency instilled from overcoming the fartsack with my F3 brethren helped me to stay consistent and fight through negativity and lackadaisical thoughts. Consistently doing anything will make you more consistently consistent. Negative habits creep up at the intersection of inconsistency and laziness. My Grandfather probably (definitely) told me that at one time.

                    I mentioned that I’ve been reading James Clear’s stuff (jamesclear.com) for three or four years now. Have a look at his commentary on habits (https://jamesclear.com/habits).

                    Moleskin

                    Radiohead joined us this morning, said he had to shake off the negative thoughts. Proud of you man. Great effort.

                    Lions Den leaves a mark on you; literally and figuratively.

                    FNG, Jason Rocket, is a semi-retired home-maker who completed the GoRuck Star Course last year after breaking his leg midway through (yeah, read that again). Baker by trade and on the side and is an all-around great guy. This morning’s contingent thought he should be named Doubtfire for his role in being a homemaker, yet being a man. He does not cross-dress, nor does he identify as a woman. I have no idea.  Welcome!

                    News

                    7/11 – Pre-ruck Hill City and get on TV tomorrow morning; see mumble-chatter on Slack for more. News doing a piece on the Fallen V ruck…
                    7/13 – Fallen V Ruck – Check out the #Rucking channel, see Mr. Clean for more details or just go ruck

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