No Excuses…

26 fighters rolled into the Milestone community clubhouse parking lot this morning for a second-longest day of the year workout that went something like this…

YHC and Spit gave an introduction about F3 in terms of the purpose and history (both the start in Charlotte and the beginnings in the RVA). YHC then gave an overview of the flow of the workout for the FNGs.

Mosey to the far side of the field.

COP All IC – 20 SSHs, arm circles, 10 don quixotes, 10 helicopters, 10 imperial walkers, 10 merkins, 20 LBCs, 10 mountain climbers, 10 copperhead squats.

Mosey to the front corner of the field.

Partner Four Corners

Partner up. One partner heads in one direction around the field. The other partner heads in the other direction. Stop at each corner for an exercise. Corner 1 = merkins, Corner 2 = WWII sit-ups, Corner 3 = burpees, Corner 4 = jump squats. Stop to do BOOYAH merkins when you meet up with your partner.

First round – 5 exercises each. Second round – 10 exercises each. Third round – 5 exercises each.

Mosey to the tennis courts.

11s (part-way)

Bear crawl back and forth across the width of the tennis court. Start with 10 hand-release merkins (HRMs) and 1 two-count flutter kick. Decrease/increase the reps of each. YHC called an audible halfway through.

Mosey back to the field.

Plank Leaps

The PAX counted off by three. The three groups formed lines, went into plank position and the last guy leaped over each person in the group. Continued this until all the way across the field.

Tunnel of Love

Turn around and army crawl under each planking PAX member with the last guy going through the tunnel. Continued this until partway across the field.

Mosey to the front corner.

Minutes of Mary all IC – 10 LBCs, 10 american hammers, 10 heels to heaven, 10 freddie mercuries, 10 ALABAMA PROM DATES, superman…

Numberama, Namerama, Announcements, YHC took us out.

Announcements:

• More updates on the purpose and benefits of F3
• 5 AOs in the DaVille region – Tomato Run on Monday at Atlee HS, DaVille boot camp on Tuesday at Atlee HS, MANNDate kettlebell workout on Wednesday at Washington-Henry Elementary, The Anvil boot camp on Thursday at Mechanicsville Elementary, The Creek boot camp on Friday at New Highland Baptist Church – ALL ARE INVITED!

Naked Moleskin (NMS):

This morning brought to fruition a vision that YHC has had for many months. YHC has heard all of the excuses for not coming to a F3 workout. He also has seen how many of the PAX are growing in strength and how we can easily lose track of a someone new in terms of his strength and endurance. The “No Excuses Workout” was born out of these streams of thought.

The Facebook event along with personal invites from the PAX to potential FNGs and those who haven’t participated in awhile (re)opened the doors for many to consider trying out a F3 workout.

Most of the PAX was arrived by 7:30 am and was greeted by an introduction and overview from YHC. Spit received a download of the history of F3 RVA this morning and he shared that background. As he was sharing, YHC noticed someone looking out her door across the street at the strange sight of 20+ men gathering in the parking lot. Joggers, dog-walkers and others driving out of the neighbor took notice as well!

The PAX went to work in the COP with a reasonable amount of SSHs (sorry to those who wanted 100 SSHs for our FNGs) and a buffet of COP exercises. Emoji brought his high energy and laughter permeated the circle.

The partner four corners provided ample opportunities to encourage and support the FNGs and those who came back. Spit, Phonics and Helix took the lead on making sure to pick up the six and keep everyone feeling included. That was an important goal of this morning’s introductory workout.

The 11s in the tennis court started out well but YHC realized that it would drain the rest of the time so he called an audible. This allowed for more FUN in the field. YHC wanted to include at least one exercise that would bring the thought, “I would never do this on my own. Never…” Leaping over 8-9 others and then army crawling through a “tunnel of love” qualifies for that line of thinking! The PAX crushed it with the necessary modifications when required.

Welcome to Green Top (Spit invite), Clinger (Mudface invite) and Dixon (Wild Thing invite). Welcome back to the college guys on summer break (Jif, Flea, Bucketmouth) and to others who returned for some F3 fun/pain (Bam Bam, THUMPER, Pick 2, MayTag).

This event brought around 10 FNGs or return guys to the PAX this morning while allowing for some of the newer PAX to clock in another workout in order to gain confidence.

We are not sure where this will lead in terms of future Saturday morning workouts like this in the DaVille region. YHC sees the potential for engaging new guys and re-engaging guys who have dropped back into the fart sack through a Saturday option like this. How often? Quartertly? Monthly? All the time with specific “road trips” to Dogpile? That will be determined as we let the experiences and memories of this great morning sink in.

YHC shared during the COT about how much F3 means to him personally and shared what he has seen in the lives of other men. F3 is more than a workout. F3 is a way to go on OFFENSE against the problems of loneliness and lack of purpose that many men (including YHC!) experience. We can easily fall into the trap of trying to take on life’s challenge alone or feel like we have lost our way/purpose. The PAX, the workouts, coffeeteria, ways to serve and all of the different parts of F3 attack this problem.

Let’s keep it rolling. Let’s stay on offense! See you in the gloom!!

The Carpenter