Tag: GasHouse (Page 44 of 53)

As any good Q would do, I had three sets of gloves and was going to get to the AO at least 15 minutes early because I was excited there were some EH’s who said they were coming this morning.  Halfway there I realized my phone holder didn’t have a phone in it so I turned around and ended up hustling to make it to the Gloom with two minutes to spare.  It was a lively bunch which was exciting so I wanted to get it started with a disclaimer and the five parts of an F3 workout.

We started the warm up with the side straddle hop and I immediately realized that my money clip was still in my pocket.  I had to figure out a way to discretely get it back to the car without too much delay.

• SSH
• Merkins
• LBC
• Don Quixote

10 Burpees OYO.  I got through them quick so I could go back to my car and put my money clip away.

When I returned I heard the peanut gallery talking about me going missing we were done with the warmup and on to the Flag for the #PledgeOfAllegiance

The Thang:

A mosey to the Grier track and collected for a question…What is your weakness?  The PAX were asked to pick an exercise they need to practice.  Then they were told to do ten of them.  I think I saw burpees, dying cockroaches, and merkins.

Then on to the track for two lines of Indian runs for two laps.  Next we did two lines of Railroad tracks for ½ a lap and then leapfrog for half a lap.  We then collected again for another ten reps of another weakness with some discussion.  What is your weakness in life?  Who knows it and what are you doing to improve?  Who is holding you accountable to get better?

Next was the Burp and Merk…Circle up   One burpee, one pushup.  One burpee, two pushups, one burpee, three pushups.  We got to twelve with one break for a count off in between.  I counted all the merkins and if somebody else was counting we may have gone back down to one.

We then moseyed to the baseball field.  Five squats at the bottom of the hill and then run to the top for five more.  Repeado x 3.

Quickly returned to the Field and formed two lines for the tunnel of love.  Not everyone loves getting dirty, but some unnamed Prima donna’s were all toes and arms to keep their shirts and knees clean.
We then formed one long line of 27 and locked elbows for some windshield wipers and flutter kicks.  Before we started there was some amateur Rockette’s practice.  On the flutters Whoopie apparently likes to do a good morning darling on the four count which was smacking into my legs.  Counting a cadence and knocking shoes with the guy next to you is challenging but a lot of fun.   No harm no foul.

We then ran back to the Schiele and the PAX were planking to recover the six.  We kept going to the Nature trail pond and planked for the six.

One of my best friends passed away 3 years ago tomorrow and we dedicated some benches by the pond in his memory.  We were at this spot and we talked about family, brothers in arms, sad clown syndrome, and I spoke about what F3 has done for me in the past year.  Hopefully some inspiring comments to get the PAX thinking about naming their struggles, holding each other accountable, being better husbands, fathers, leaders and living third.

Then we did 50 merkins for my late friend Brian.

We went back to lot and Whoopie had the PAX getting it with some mountain climbers.  I started the clock and we did the Plank challenge until we heard the church bells.
Announcements: 

The Gashouse Advisory Board meeting March 6^th at GSM Services at 7 followed by bible study at the same location at 7.  Monk advises to read Genesis 2 and 3 to prepare.

Birthdays this week…T-Square and JK2 I believe.

I asked for the PAX to send me their favorite stories and or workouts they have done in the past year so we can incorporate their memories into the Backwoods Brawl.  Someone said, “not this one”.  Touché!  Seriously, send me your favorite memories/workouts for the Pre-Blast!

Prayers for Outhouse and his mother and my late friend’s family.  We ended with the COT.

Epilogue: 

After Coffeerama, Dolph, Boss Hogg, and Roscoe and later Bandit converged at the Hogg’s farm for some Backwoods Brawl preplanning and recon.  The ideas are endless and lots of brainstorming going on.  The Backwoods Brawl’s QIC might not be worth a hoot but the AO will be the best we’ve experienced.

With several Q’s this week I was struggling to come up with my workout for today. I spent some time Friday night going through the exercise list and decided we should experiment with a few that I had never tried. That sounds like a great idea! Right? 21 posted on this the last Saturday of February (looking forward to warmer weather) 2 of which were FNG’s( good job with the EH guys). There seemed to be an excitement in the air this morning with a lot of 2ndF before the workout and a lot of mumble chatter as we got started.

Warm up:

Seal Jacks x 20 IC, Swimmers x 10 IC, Goofball x 10 IC, Floyd Mayweather x 10 IC, Imperial Squat Walker x 5 IC.

Mosey to the flag for Pledge then mosey to the library.

The Thang:

Route 66- This was made a little tougher by Brownstreak’s insistence that we do this with Burpee’s! At each line in the parking lot we did a burpee and a squat and increased that number by one each time we stepped to a new line. 1-11= 66 burpee’s and 66 squats. Still a lot of mumble chatter!

Mosey to the baseball field

#200-tricep dips till you can’t then run around and down the stairs. Freddy Mercury till you can’t then run up the hill. Rinse and repeat until you reach 200 of the exercise.

Circled up for some Calf raises, Toy Soldiers, Moroccans. Still some good mumble chatter!

#200-This time with Derkins and Flutterkicks. It suddenly got very quite! I think this was due to everyone concentrating on good form.

#200-One more round with Incline Merkins and LBC’s.

One more experiment left. We met up at the bottom of the hill and tried out the Joe Hendricks( Hats off to the guys that thought of this). Bear Crawl backwards up the hill.

Mosey back for the COT

Cot:

Announcements: BRR and Whoopie’s March challenge. We still need 6 more HC’s. I think I heard one from Jobu? Backwoods Brawl coming up. Community Fun Run, Gashouse Region meeting, F3 Mudrun- we have one team formed let’s get some more and represent, Burpeethon for special olympics.

Shoutout to Shingle for the hard work he has been putting in since joining us and presented him with a F3 sticker. Good work by all this morning! I see a lot of guys pushing themselves to get better. The best part about this thang that we have is that we are always there. If you show someone will be there to support you and help you get better. Keep posting and I promise you will get better. We don’t give any other option. The impact that F3 has had on my life is profound. It’s amazing what going to do a workout has done for me. I see it in all parts of my life. I truly owe this to the men that now surround me several times a week. Thank you all for being the great men that you are!

18 PAX showed up for what was said to include no work at all. We even had a few guest(did they come because they heard no work?). Sorry, I lie sometimes! I’m working on that. Before we got started it was asked how many Tarheel fans were in attendance? Due to this weeks lose to the Blue Devils they seemed to be reluctant to raise their hands. No worries we Blue Devil fans can always spot you.

Warm up:

Seal Jacks x 20 IC

Moroccan Night Clubs x 15 IC

Air Punches x 15 IC

LBC x 20 IC

Bobby Hurley’s x 15 (Go Devils)

Monkey Humper’s x 10 IC (for the Tarheel’s fans)

Mosey to the flag for pledge then mosey to the front of the school.

The Thang:

Wheel barrels from speed bump to speed bump.

Line up on curb and bear crawl to other side + 5 Merkins. Crab walk back + 5 WW2 Situps. 3 Sets

Line up on curb broad jump across and lunge walk back. 3 sets

Mosey to courtyard and partner up.

Partner 1 runs the stairs while partner 2 does the exercise.

147(total points scored in this weeks Blue Devil Victory) Flutterkicks

147 Merkins

147 Squats

Romans 5:3-4 about suffering

There may have been some mention about the Wolfpack losing to the Blue Devil’s as well?!

Mosey back to parking lot

147 Tricep dips/WW2 sit ups. Do as many as you can then run across the parking lot and switch the exercise. As many trips as needed to reach 147.

Circle up for some Mary. Boat/Canoe, Plank Challenge by Van Winkle(brutal), and a few more I have tried to forget!

COT :

Announcements:Hat’s off to our Yeti representative’s Whoopee, Dolph, Defib, and Brownstreak. Good work guy’s! Backwood’s Brawl on 4/9. Starting 2 new AO’s this week- Monday at the Storm(running based) and Dallas(Biggerstaff Park) Tuesday. I see great things happening in the Gashouse! Gastonia Rotary will be hosting Dredd and OBT on 3/3. 5 year anniversary at the Philmore coming up.

Nameorama: Had a few guest this morning. Great to meet you guy’s! I look forward to our next beatdown.

Ecclesiastes 12:13

Once again I really enjoyed leading you men. You have all really made an impact on me and I hope we continue to impact others! EH somebody this week and let’s grow! See you next week for another delivery by Freight.

Aye, Freight

It was a balmy 27 degrees as 19 PAX awaited to see what treasures the Freight would have delivered. Would it be 2 goats? Would it be delivered by Brownstreak? The suspense was intense so these PAX showed because they had to know! They came from far and wide by plane, train, boat and car. As the time edged closer there were mumbles of there really being goats as Boss Hogg rolled in with the trailer. When the clock struck the package was opened and what was inside? A good old fashion beatdown of course!

Warm Up:

SSH (IC) x 20

Thai Punches (IC) x 20

Thai Kicks (IC) x 10 (have to be in fighting shape)

Jump Rope (Imaginary, great job with the double dutch guys)

Moroccan Nightclub (IC) x 20

Monkey Humpers(JOBU’s) (IC) x 10

Mosey to the flag for the pledge. Mosey back to circle up.

The Thang:

45 seconds of each exercise with a 20 second break in between. 3 sets of each group with a lap or burpee’s between each set.

1. Merkins, Flutter Kicks, Squat. Rinse and repeat 3 times.
2. Shoulder Tap Plank, Freddy Mercury, Lunge. Rinse and repeat 3 times.
3. Pointer Plank, LBC, Calf Raises. Rinse and repeat 3 times.

COT:

Announcements: Backwoods Brawl coming up 4/9. Order your shirts by 2/10. Yeti coming up 2/20. Community Foundation Run in downtown Gtown 4/16. Need a good showing from Gashouse! Gastonia Rotary will be hosting Dredd and OBT on 3/3.

Nameorama: FNG’s- Al Pastor and Shingle

Coffeerama: 11 and a Happy Birthday 2.0!

I had a great time with the Q this morning gentlemen. As always it was an honor. I look forward to many more. EH somebody this week and let’s grow!

The pre-blast picture promised no running, no burpees, no merkins, and no squats, but YHC was called out on that throughout the day but what a great day to get better.

Fifteen men braved 30 degree temperatures on a glorious morning at the Gashouse.  Several showed up early for some EC Yeti training with a bike ride.  I wasn’t there but at coffeerama I heard tales that Dolph had a mountain bike with tractor pull tires on it and that he wasn’t keeping it all on the street and was waking everyone up along the route due to the tire noise.
Though we had no FNG’s today, I thought back on Q School and C-Span stressing the importance of the disclaimer. I made an announcement that there would be no backwards running.  Anthrax is still on the PUP list and he remains in our thoughts for a complete recovery.  On to the warm up…

Warm up:  SSH IC x 31

Prayer Squats x 15

Don Quixote’s

Merkins x 10

LBC’s x 15

Press Press Fling (Whoopie was trolling for these)

Mosey to flag for Pledge

Another mosey to the front of Grier Middle School where the fast guys started a synchronized starfish plank series that looked a little choreographed.  Did you guys rehearse?

The next exercise was the Colonel Trautman between two speed bumps, approximately 55 yards between each set of Merkins.  We started with 20 Merkins, run to the other speed bump, 19, 18, etc.  When we started to finish we did a little ab-orama with Dolph leading Russian Twists and Whoopie leading flutter kicks.  A quick set of Seal Jacks to warm up the hands and off to Parkwood for the next exercise.

The Pax were instructed to burpee at every parking space line.  20 plus burpees were completed and everyone more or less stayed together except Dolph who was instructed to do Russian Twists by himself while we all slowed down our pace.  A couple of count off’s and then onward to Sherwood to the Playground.

P1’s did plank shoulder touches IC while P2’s did pullup holds on the bars.  Repeado x2 and then a lap around the track.  Whoopie and JK2 made the mistake of going for a PR lap without knowing what was next.

We ended the lap at the bottom of the hill.  Each exercise in cadence was followed by a charge up the hill.  The exercises were:

Squats

Jump Lunges

Squats

LBC’s

CDD’s

Jump Lunges

WW1 Situps

YHC has been on the DL for a week with massive crud and started to rethink this series, but misery loves company so thanks to the PAX for getting me through it.

After this series we ran out the back entrance and ran through the neighborhood to the Library for some ring around the Al Gore tree.  We planked on the curb at the planter and in cadence marched around the trees to the right.

Next we ran to the Schiele and hit the nature trail and back to the parking lot just before the church bells told us it was time to stop.

We circled up for the announcements.  Bandit spoke of the Gashouse Planning meeting tomorrow at GSM Services at 6:30 to discuss our future expansion to a region.  YHC said that was on Sunday and was reminded twice that tomorrow is Sunday.  Whoopie then had to remind me to do Name-o-rama and as I ran to my car to get my phone I heard people talking about me having stroke like symptoms.  That was nothing compared to the mid-brain Freight was in when I put the phone up to his face and announced Name-O-Rama.  Nothing happened.  If it was live radio we would have been fired.  Dead air.  He was in a permanent gaze westward until I had to nudge him by saying, “you start”.

Is that a sign of a good Q?  Should Freight and I be in the F3 concussion protocol this week?

Name-o-rama and then we checked out with a closing prayer.  I think we had at least 9 for Coffeerama at Panera.

A pleasure to lead.  Get those EH’s strapped on tight.  The Gashouse will grow in 2016 and I look forward to being a part of it!
Roscoe

Conditions were better than expected with overcast and cold at 40 degrees

Started with a BOM and Disclaimer = I am not a professional

Quick discussion on the momentum built @F3Gastonia and how quickly they are building from “Nomad” to “Region”

Q101 (disclosure- this doc is plagiarized with all credit going to others):

PHILOSOPHY

Q – Pax Relationship: The unspoken social contract between the Pax and a Q: “We will follow until you give us a reason not to”. The Pax are very forgiving toward a new Q. Most have been through it and understand the anxiety.

PREPARATION

Considerations for the first few Qs:

1. Launch a quick grenade over twitter, let local Pax know that this is your VQ, most F3 vets enjoy being part of a VQ Pax.
2. Simplicity/Complexity and Originality
   1. Keep the Weinke simple. The fewer moving parts the better. Many first-time Q Weinke’s are too complicated.
   2. Keep it familiar. New exercises or sets that require more than the briefest of explanations usually lead to confusion.
   3. Don’t be shy about stealing a Weinke, or parts of a Weinke, from another more-experienced Q.

3. Go with strengths: “Don’t Q it if you can’t do it.”

4. Cadence Counting – PRACTICE THIS, OUT LOUD, BEFORE FIRST Q
   1. Next exercise is [brief pause], the merkin.

• The Pax then repeats the exercise called.
• Speak loudly so all Pax can hear. You are in charge.
  1. Start(ing) position [brief pause],
• Not “exercise” position. Start position.
• The “Move” is to get the Pax to the position required to begin exercise. The “Move” is not a command to begin exercising.
  1. In cadence [brief pause],
• In cadence simply means the Q counts the movements (1-2-3) and the Pax calls out the repetitions in unison (“One!”).
• The Q counts should correspond to a distinct movement in the exercise. It is in rhythm. For example, for a merkin: “1” is the movement to the down position, “2” is the movement to the plank position, “3” is the movement back to the down position, the Pax call of “One!” is the move back to plank position.
• The Q indicates the completion of an exercise by a higher inflection on his last repetition.

See OBT & Dredd’s excellent tutorial on the how and why of cadence counting: http://f3nation.com/2012/02/22/f3-tv-how-to-count/

NOTE: When a Q does not lead an exercise in cadence that would normally be done that way, he is giving away his authority to lead the Pax. He is implicitly telling the Pax that he not able to count in cadence or is not willing to learn.

5. Weinke review with Site Q or experienced Q. Not required, but a good idea for a vet to check for potential issues.

6. Too long, too short: It takes a few times go get a good feel for how long your Weinke will take to execute. Be flexible if running too long and have a couple of stand-by ideas in mind in case you run long. Think through transitions from one set to another. Minimize dead time, standing around.

7. Tap a vet – if you need time to get unsmoked or burned through Weinke in 30 minutes, there’s no shame in asking a vet to lead Mary or the next section of the workout.

EXECUTION

1. FNG inquiry and Disclaimer – every workout should start with an FNG Inquiry and Disclaimer
   1. Disclaimer:
      1. Why: We want to disclaimer in front of Pax because having witnesses adds a layer of protection above asking if they’ve read it on the website.
      2. What: Main points in your own words:
         1. I am not a professional
         2. This is self-policing: Stop or modify the exercises as required

2. Take control—be the leader. Be assertive, don’t mumble. If something doesn’t work and you have to audible, acknowledge it and move on to the next exercise. Don’t apologize, just move on.

3. Observation – Do your best to keep an eye on the pax during the workout to see if you are losing people, either from it being too easy, too confusing, or too hard. During your first few Qs, it is hard enough just to make it through the workout. Ask your Site Q or another experienced Q to keep an eye on things and whisper in your ear if needed.

FOLLOW UP

1. Twitter counts – check with Site Q on whether he or the Q will tweet the count. Remember to use workout tag (i.e., #TheArmoryF3 also include @F3Gastonia) and the #F3Counts

2. Backblast –
   1. Part of the workout Qs responsibility to post the Backblast, not the Site Q. The Site Q may volunteer to post the Qs first workout on his behalf but that is at his discretion .
   2. Get backblast credentials BEFORE first Q so that you are prepared to write up BB when it’s done. The website interface is not difficult and will take only a few minutes to learn. Here again, your Site Q will be an invaluable aid in assisting you to post your first BB.
   3. Get login credentials from Bandit

3. Post Mortem – follow up with your Site Q about what went right, what could be improved, what was a disaster, etc. Seek out honest feedback from other veteran Q and Pax. The best way to improve is to address your weaknesses head on.

0700-0800 #Gashouse did a workout and felt like we did enough flying squirrels and broad jumps, “The Swiper” took it easy on us, @F3Gastonia has quality #mumblechatter and as we discussed Second F creates the workout comradery. It was great to see to see Gastonia leaders jumping into the ring to Q. Fun morning… and I always recommend gloves

Q201 was a scaled back for @F3Gastonia

• Get more FNG’s (#sadclowns need friends)
• Get more men involved with Q (F3 = developing male leadership)
• Develop your regional leadership group (all men can support)
• Rotate Q’s often (this keeps the PAX interested)
• Change your location at each AO (get them running)
• Warmup and cooldown are essential to reducing injuries
• Q’ing improves your leadership
• Enjoy your Q, let your personality show, thi sis part of the fellowship

NMM

Thank you for the invite for Q-School Q and the great attendance

@F3Gastonia has got the momentum, keep posting

Appreciate Swiper for getting involved and helping out, and providing commentary #HIM

Get on twitter (yea BA, you guys have potential with the pictures, keep up the good work)

AYE!

CSPAN

Introducing first, at a combined weight of five-hundred ninety-five pounds, hailing from Vandalia, Ohio and Southern Pines, North Carolina, your Q’s for this morning’s beat down: BA and Godfather!

Introducing second, at a combined weight of (approximately) 3600 pounds: the rest of the PAX who showed up for a guaranteed no-running, cinder-block beatdown.

Godfather began the match with a mosey to the back-country farm at the entrance to the Schiele Museum’s nature trail. The Warm-Up consisted of 20 Side-Straddle Hops, 50 Moroccan Night Clubs, 20 Flutter Kicks, 20 Freddie Mercury’s, and 20 Low Slow Squats all in cadence.

Godfather made his way to the corner and tagged in BA for the next part of the beatdown. The PAX moseyed back to the parking lot, partnered up, and took one cinder-block to the bottom of the big hill on the nature trail. Counting on aggregate, the group would complete 50 Berkins, 100 Blockies, 150 French Curls, 200 Bicep Curls, and 300 Overhead Press using the cinder-blocks while the other partner runs up the hill and completed a random exercise to a count of five and returned to the bottom to switch out with their partner.

With most of the PAX reeling, BA decided to stay in the match and continue the beat down with an original exercise. The group moseyed to the bridge and split into two groups. One half of the group would complete 5 Merkins on one side of the bridge while the other half completed 5 Carolina Dry Docks. Between each exercise, the group would either run over the bridge or through the stream to get to the next exercise. This exercise ended after five rounds.

BA made his way to the ropes and tagged Godfather back into the match and he would stay in until the end of the match. Making their way to the benches that circled the gazebo, the PAX completed 50 Dips on their own. Next, they made their way to the stone wall and completed 10 Inverted Merkins aka Balls to the Wall aka BTTW in cadence.

Moseying back to the cinder-blocks that had been resting at the bottom of the hill, the PAX got back with their partner and completed a Duck Walk up the hill with the cinder-block hanging between their legs while the other partner lunged up the hill. When one partner got tired, the other partner would tag in.

Back in the parking lot, the PAX circled up for some continuous Mary, which included Hello Dolly, Rosalita, Homer to Marge, World War sit-ups and French Fries.

With time expiring and no clear winner, the referee was forced to call the match a draw. There was no clear winner, but the PAX were certain to have a painful reminder of the beatdown for next few days.

20 PAX showed up in the gloom for the first Gashouse workout of 2016.  It was refreshing to see so many familiar faces and at least one we had not seen in a while, Wink (Respect!).  The normal pre-workout chatter was more than normal as the discussion surrounded the previous day’s convergence which sounded like quite the beatdown and a good all around event and workout.  Sorry I was not able to attend.

We dispensed with the disclaimer as there were no FNG’s and got right to the warm up all in cadence:

SSH X 20

LBC’s X 20

Imperial Walkers X 20

Mountain Climbers X 20

We then moseyed to the main Schiele flag for the pledge and readied ourselves for the 2016 Forrest Gump Resolution.

The Thang

The Q attempted to split the group (20 large) into two for an indian run to the right out of the Schiele but that quickly turned into a indian run free for all…….we all made it however to station 1 at the Church for some in cadence work:

Merkins X 15

Prayer Squats X 15

LBC’s X 20

Mountain Climbers X 18 (I think)

Second attempt at a two group indian run was much more successful as we moseyed/ran to Hillbilly’s BBQ parking lot for Station 2 in cadence:

Hillbilly’s X 15 or 18 or maybe 20??

Merkins X 15

Prayer Squats X 15

Flutter Kicks X 20

Not sure what the next running leg was to Lineberger Park flags – it might have been a single file mosey, it might have been two group indian run, it might have been a single line indian run….just…not…sure.  However, the PAX all made it to station 3:

Partner up for a step up to 600.  While one partner did the exercise and other ran/sprinted/skipped up the concrete ramp and to the pool steps and back for an aggregate count as listed below:

100 Merkins

200 Mountain Climbers (Double Count)

300 Flutter Kicks (Omaha to single count as the Q realized he had a problem)

The group knocked this one out and many planked but not for long as the group finished quickly.

A single file death mosey then took us up the ramp and steps up to the upper playground inside the train tracks.  After a quick count off we jumped on the in cadence work of station 4:

Dips X 20

Prayer Squats X 15

Derkins X 15

Flutter Kicks X 25 (or 26 or 30???)

Mosey as a group back to the Lineberger Park flags to finish off the park stations at # 5 with a wave of merkins X 5 in the counter clockwise direction much to Roscoe’s dismay.  He made the Q pay as he stretched out his merkins in quite a display of agonizing, slow reps.  We survived.

Last mosey of the day as we ROYO (Ran On Your Own) back to the Church for station 6 for some last in cadence work:

Flutter Kicks X 30+ (Some number in the range of 28 – 35)

Merkins X 15

Monkey Humpers X 12 – These were especially interesting as we turned away from Garrison Blvd to show all the car drivers exactly what F3 is all about.

Finally, the final mosey back to the Schiele.  I’m estimating that we got in somewhere close to 3 miles total today.

Must send a shout out to Outhouse, Brownstreak and Whoopee for getting in some running before the main workout today, somewhere in the 3 – 4 mile range.  Good work guys.  Whoopee had to hit work at 7:00 am so he missed the second beatdown but that’s F3 dedication to get out there at 6:15 am at 31 degrees for a pre-work run.  T-claps to all 3 of those guys.

We finished the workout off with the name-o-rama, several announcements (Joe Davis Memorial 10k next weekend in Fort Mill; community service opportunity on the 16th to help on a house renovation), prayer request for Stroganoff’s cousin who is battling cancer and happy news for Wink who just welcomed his 3rd grandchild and first boy to the fold.  Congrats.

Finished with a prayer and great BOM.

6 – 7 guys then met for a great Coffeeteria.

As always, it was an honor to lead this morning.  I’m looking forward to a great 2016.

Aye!

Stroganoff