Author: Dr Tryhard

  • Devouring a Drumstick

    The Source of True Beatdowns welcomed 10 veteran gloom warriors, a breaded FNG brought out by Pinto, and 4 brightly colored MOT studs. Here’s how the bootcamp heroes went to work:

    The THANG:

    WARMERAMA:

    • Mosey down to the lower lot and circle up
    • Welcome & Disclaimer
    • Don Q’s x10 IC
    • Nancy Kerrigans x10 IC ea side
    • Hairy Rockettes x10 IC
    • The Opus x10 IC
    • Kimchi Twists x5 IC
    • Rosalita Dips x10 IC
    • Oblique LBC’s x10 IC ea side

    COP #2:

    • Mosey up to the tennis court with variable movement exercises en route
    • Partner up for a BOOYAH LADDER
    • Start with x10 Booyah Merkins, then one partner circuits the court while the other does Chain Smokers, then do x9 BM’s, then switch runner/smoker …etc… continuing down to x1 BM

    COP #3:

    • Mosey over to the bottom of Mount Midlo
    • Partner up for LOVE HILL
    • While one partner begins bear crawling, the other runs to the top and back down to switch. After both do bear crawls, switch to broad jumps. After broad jumps switch to crab walking. 

    COP #4:

    • Mosey to the practice field
    • REVIEW F3 Mission, Credo, and 5 Core Principles
    • Imperial Lunges a distance
    • 25% Mosey, 50% Run, 100% Sprint

    COP #5:

    • Mosey back over to the school’s ECHO CHAMBER:
    • WWII’s x20 IC
    • Hoedowns x10 IC
    • Australian Mtn Climbers x10 IC
    • Crunchy Frogs x10 IC
    • American Hammers x10 IC
    • Dirty Hookups x10 IC
    • LBC’s x20 IC
    • Donkey Kick-Offs up to 20

    Mosey BTTF:

    • x3 Victory Burpees

    COT:

    • Counterama # 11 (and x4 Runners)
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • YHC took the PAX out in Prayer

    NMS:  Beautiful morning after the storm that rocked SOJ. YHC kept the PAX (mostly) on hard top, and no, there were no canoes were involved. Pinto punched his Visa to join his Salisbury buddy FNG Ian Fleck, AKA “Drumstick” so named for his love of wings. He did a GREAT job keeping up and plans to shed the breading with return posts around SOJ. The PAX put in some hard work this morning and were rewarded with delicious iced coffee from the DTH tailgate following. Keep posting gents and headlock those FNG’s! SYITG, DTH

    Announcements (SEE SLACK!)

    • Sunday 5-7pm SOJ Family Gathering behind Betty Weaver Elementary – grilled meat, yummy sides, live music courtesy of McRibb, pick-up basketball and kid-friendly games. Be there and bring a side! 
    • Every Monday 0530 SOJ 3rd F hangout at Starbucks off Huguenot/Robius. 
    • 5/29 7am Memorial Day convergence at Tredagger – bring back out your FNG’s!

    Prayer Requests:

    • Bullseye – loss of his father
    • Oyster – recovery from injury
    • Rosie’s M friend dealing with tough illness
    • Nancy – healing up from surgery

  • Dealer’s choice sucks, but we still love him…

    Nine nefarious SOJ studs gathered in the NoToll gloom to experience the latest SOJ attraction… the finest pair of beatdown balls in all RVA! Here’s why these fine gentlemen won’t be walking straight for the rest of the week:

    The THANG:

    WARMERAMA:

    • Mosey onto the BBall Court and circle up
    • Classic Rock ON
    • Welcome & Disclaimer
    • Variable IC Reps to get the muscles warm top to bottom
    • Mosey out to the bleachers, stopping en route to pay the Toll – x20 Dips, x20 Derkins

    COP #1:

    • DEATH DICE – Round 1
    • Circle up, each PAX takes a turn tossing the dice to determine exercise & reps
    • Highlight: DEALER rolls x30 “Dealer’s Choice” – he chose Burpees – oof

    COP #2:

    • Mosey the full field
    • TRIPLE CHECK: Dips, WWII, Run

    COP #3:

    • DEATH DICE – Round 2

    Mosey BTTF for COT:

    • Counterama # 9
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • OC took the PAX out in Prayer

    NMS: There was a death dice on Station in Papua New Guinea which looked like a really good/bad idea. We roped it into one of the last bootcamps while I was there and it produced a solid sweatfest. So YHC got home and ordered a version from Amazon with two foam dice, one with variable exercises and the other with total reps, seconds or “burn-out”. The PAX initially gave YHC’s squishy balls a D- on badassery but soon discovered (mostly thanks to 30 burpees called by Dealer) that the dice are worthy of an A+ in the world of bootcamp sweatfests. In fact, it was enough YHC spontaneously gave the PAX a break with a mid-way run and triple check between Death Dice sets. Always fun to bring something new to the gloom! #SOJSTRONG …SYITG fellas, DTH

    Prayer Requests:

    • Let’s lift up OC and all our fellow Dad’s in the throws of parenting difficult teenagers. 

    WORDS OF WISDOM:

    “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.” Abraham Lincoln

    “The boy who is going to make a great man must not make up his mind merely to overcome a thousand obstacles, but to win in spite of a thousand repulses and defeats.” Theodore Roosevelt

    “God meets daily needs DAILY. Not weekly or annually. He will give you exactly what you need when it is needed.” Max Lucado

    Announcements (SEE SLACK!)

    • MAY – FNG CHALLENGE – Bring out as many FNG’s in May as you can, then get them to come out again for our Memorial Day convergence
    • 5/12 – SOJ Happy Hour and Leadership Chat
    • 5/21 – SOJ Family BBQ at BWE
    • 5/29 – Memorial Day Convergence at Tredagger 
    • 5/30 – Rosie hosting the 1st SOJ Summer Coffee Tour following NoToll
    • 6/3 – School of Rock workout for our kids that will follow R&R monthly through the summer
    • 6/29 – Ultimate Frisbee at the Forge – other future dates/locations TBD

  • May the Fourth be with you…

    15 Jedi gloom warriors answered the DTH call and the Force was with them as they crushed the following Galactic beatdown:

    The THANG:

    WARMERAMA:

    • Mosey loop around back to the first parking lot
    • Welcome & Disclaimer
    • Blast the Star Wars Soundtrack Tunes
    • Warm-up Skywalker Hops – SSH
    • Imperial Storm Troopers – lunging imperial walkers across the space
    • C-3PO Stretches – DQ’s
    • Ewok Jacks – Smurf Jacks
    • Boba Fett Broad Jumps across the space
    • R2-d2 Plank Walk

    Mosey down to the bottom of the lower parking lot and circle up:

    • Nicknameraama awaiting the SIX
    • Chewbacca Merkins
    • Vader V-ups

    YODA’S TRAINING CIRCUIT

    “Do or do not. There is no try.”

    • Partner Up
    • Partner carry to the top of the lot
    • Partner Squat/Dips x20 each
    • Partner Jerkins x20 each
    • Partner Cliffhanger Merkins x20 each
    • Over-Unders on the handicap rail down to the bottom

    12 PARSEC KESSEL RUN

    • Indigenous Run around to the soccer field with last man doing x12 SSH before sprinting to the front

    THE DEATH STAR

    • Form up in the middle of the soccer field
    • PAX charge the SuperLaser by running to each corner of the field to complete given reps, returning to center between each corner for x5 burpees, then upon completing four corners they beam the laser to the amphitheater for some final world-exploding reps
    • Corner 1 – x20 No Cheat Merkins
    • Corner 2 – x20 WWII
    • Corner 3 – x20 Sumo Squats
    • Corner 4 – x20 Groiners
    • Amphitheater – Box-jump up the steps, with x5 Vader V-ups at the top, then return to the bottom. Repeato with x5 Vader V-ups at each step in descending order. 

    Circle up on the concrete pad, HOLD IT, and review the 5 Core Principles and Credo

    Mosey BTTF for COT:

    • Counterama # 15
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • YHC took the PAX out in Prayer

    NMS:  Awesome numbers at The Forge today for our Star Wars themed workout. Just goes to show most guys appreciate a hearty invitation to join the party. There’s a lot of momentum in SOJ, and it’ll be great to see everyone work on their FNG invites this month. Great to be back! SYITG, DTH

    Announcements (SEE SLACK!)

    • MAY – FNG CHALLENGE – Bring out as many FNG’s in May as you can, then get them to come out again for our Memorial Day convergence
    • 5/6 – Currahee CSAUP
    • 5/12 – SOJ Happy Hour and Leadership Chat
    • 5/21 – SOJ Family BBQ at BWE
    • 5/29 – Memorial Day Convergence at Tredagger 
    • 5/30 – Rosie hosting the 1st SOJ Summer Coffee Tour following NoToll
    • COMING SOON – School of Rock workout for our kids that will follow R&R monthly through the summer
    • COMING SOON – Ultimate Frisbee at the Forge – dates TBD

  • If you’re happy and you know it…

    10 SOJ studs, including two FNG’s and one repatriated missionary, stepped up the beatdown game with a DTH homecoming celebration. Here’s how the PAX recalled what a real bootcamp feels like:

    The THANG:

    WARMERAMA:

    • Mosey onto the BBall Court and circle up
    • F3 Welcome, Review of the Core Principles for our FNG’s, and a standard you-VS-you Disclaimer
    • Variable IC exercises with a MUCH-appreciated early dive into 8-count reps …you’re welcome. 🙂
    • Warm? Let’s wreck the shoulders…

    COP #1:

    • Mosey to the next BBall court
    • 4-CORNER SHOULDERAMA
    • x10 Diamond Merkins
    • x20 No Cheat Merkins
    • x30 Werkins
    • x40 CDD’s
    • Bear Crawl between Corners

    COP #2:

    • Mosey around the perimeter road
    • Stop on a grassy area for PLT’s
    • Complete x3 sets of x25 each

    COP #3:

    • Mosey to the gravel road hill
    • LINDSEY
    • Top of the hill – Ball Dippers 30–>10
    • Bottom of the hill – LBC’s 10–>30

    COP #4:

    • Mosey to the Bath House Wall
    • IC Reps: Hoedowns, Dirty Hookups, BTTW, Donkey Kick-Off’s to 15
    • Back to People’s chair – in super spontaneous style OC took us out with hand claps and feet stomps to his hearty singing of “If you’re happy and you know it” …THIS…WAS…AWESOME!!! (#NewOneForLexicon)

    COP #5: 

    • Bernie Sanders down the Lot
    • Other variable movements to slowly move the PAX to the Pickleball Courts
    • PICKLEBALL 50’s
    • At each of the individual Pickleball court the PAX is given an exercise to complete – first man to x50 calls out, and PAX moves on to the next court (front runner calls the next exercise)
    • x8 courts completed with variable exercises called: Heels to Heaven, Merkins, Flutter Kicks (2-ct), Monkey Humpers, Shoulder Taps (2-ct), LBC’s, Calf Raises, SSH’s

    COT:

    • Counterama # 10
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • YHC took the PAX out in Prayer

    NMS:

    Ain’t nothin like F3RVA mumble chatter in the whole dang world! Man it feels GREAT to be among the SOJ brotherhood again. Awesome to have a couple baller FNG’s as part of the welcome party – welcome CHA CHA (heard about us from Florence’s church blast, and is a VCU interventional radiology guru who does Salsa with his M), and welcome TUG (Rosie’s slow-burn neighbor, about 20 steps from where we started with his nickname, but we love it!) And how about Orange Crush spontaneously busting into song during our Wallerama…AWESOME – pretty sure “If you’re happy and you know it…” will be now making a regular appearance on every wall around SOJ. Thanks to our FMG’s, Hardywood, rosie and OC for quality coffeerama time after. SO GOOD to connect and catch up. YHC is on the Q sheet a few more times coming up – come find me to hang out! SYITG, DTH

    Announcements (SEE SLACK!)

    • MAY – FNG CHALLENGE!!! Bring out as many FNG’s in May as you can, then get them to come out again for Memorial Day convergence! 
    • 5/3 – Volunteer to Build a play area at Dogwood
    • 5/6 – Currahee CSAUP
    • 5/12 – SOJ Happy Hour and Leadership Chat
    • 5/21 – SOJ Family BBQ at BWE
    • 5/29 – Memorial Day Convergence at Tredagger 
    • 5/30 – Rosie hosting the 1st SOJ Summer Coffee Tour following NoToll
    • COMING SOON – School of Rock workout for our kids that will follow R&R monthly through the summer
    • COMING SOON – Ultimate Frisbee at the Forge – dates TBD

  • The Triple Crown

    #1 – Tuesday 4/18/23 0600 – DTH, The Quadfather, C30, and Boardwalk – and the Thang is the one and only appearance of the F3 beatdown deck. The Quadfather was dry heaving within the first 5 minutes but rallied and the PAX completed nearly the entire deck in 45 minutes. Boom!

    #2 – Thursday 4/20/23 0600 – DTH & Boardwalk spend 45 minutes of quality sweatfest time hitting all the usual highlights and digging deep into some truth bombs to gird up Boardwalk for a lifetime of living third.

    #3 – Saturday 4/22/23 0600 & 10AM – Not everyone got the memo that our VQ Mojang had requested the bootcamp get pushed back to 10am, so a bomb squad of Mountain Oyster, C30, Messi, and Boardwalk posted at 0600 and whooped a prostitute 4-corners among other badassery. There’s hope this thing might actually continue beyond the departure of DTH! At 10am a 2.0-heavy PAX assembled on the soccer field for Mojang’s VQ. After a brief warmerama, he revealed the Death Dice – a large 12-sided foam dice with a huge variety of pain. A 20-strong PAX circled up and each had a turn tossing the Death Dice, with a run after every 3rd throw. The triceps dips, ball dippers, and wall-sit were rolled the most frequently, but x20 burpees made a painful appearance on two occasions. What a beatdown! With a ton of FNG’s the COT was entertaining, and we closed with a powerful word of prayer from NoGrass (Mojang’s dad, fellow Doc, and YHC’s BFF on Station). What a way to end our time in Papua New Guinea! SYITG next week SOJ! ~DTH

  • 2 for 1 Deals, and all the Feels

    Welp, YHC forgot to post a BB from Tuesday’s bootcamp, so here’s a 2 for 1 deal on backblasts.

    TUE 4.13.23 – PAX of 3 with Boardwalk, Messi, and DTH – 45 minutes riding the Tryhard pain train, featuring an introduction to a Prostitute 4-corners on the soccer field, though the word prostitute was never used amid juvenile company. The PAX completed a horrific number of reps in best bro-code style, so it took up most of the workout.

    THUR 4.15.23 – PAX of 3 with NoGrass, Mojang, and DTH – 45 minutes of “fun”, including variable reps on the wall, attempting dirty hookups on the swinging chain-link railing, introducing 11’s between light poles on the steep part of the hill, and a TON of core exercises once our legs were spent on the hill.

    Coming up on YHC’s last week at Kudjip there are a lot of feels brimming …gonna miss these people, gonna miss this extremely challenging, rewarding, and impactful medical work, gonna miss the jungle highlands bright sunshine, thin cool air, misty mountain vistas, and birdsong …how can we make the most of the time we have left here? …has God been calling us to return here for longer/more time than currently planned? (3mo every other year) …all clashing with the: man, I can’t wait to be home, to see my church/F3/work families, to sleep in my own bed, to plug back into so many ongoing projects and ministries…

    Good thing we can enjoy the peace that comes in trusting the Spirit each day to show us the way forward. Be back in the gloom with ya’ll before you know it. ~DTH

  • Just Try Hard

    No literally, it was just Tryhard this morning. But without tiny humans slowing things down the Q absolutely smashed the PAX today, and it was soooooo good. An hour later and YHC is still feeling the lactic acid shakes! With just a couple weeks left here in PNG, and attendance still being completely variable, it’s unlikely Ground Zero will continue beyond our departure, but YHC is confident in the positive impact on those who have attended. God is good all the time! SYITG, DTH

  • First time cruising the Boardwalk

    YHC awoke early to the sound of raindrops on the tin roof. Exhaustion after taking hospital call last night was screaming to go back to sleep, but was properly ignored in anticipation of a VQ by Boardwalk, who has been a loyal attendee this last month of Ground Zero. At the age of 10, and still carrying a bit of childhood weight, Boardwalk is on the cusp of leaving childhood behind, and it can be seen in the way he carries himself, all the more since joining F3 Ground Zero. He’s gone from being the six to being the servant leader going back for the six, and YHC was super proud on Thursday to hear him volunteer for the Q today. What a stud! YHC left the headlocking and Q-planning up to him, and he delivered an awesome beatdown! This kid LOVES merkins. He also learned a hard lesson today that what folks say is not always what they mean, and with just his brother and YHC in attendance, he’s already re-strategizing his headlocking for next time. From the rainy Easter-weekend gloom of PNG’s Western Highlands, Yours Always, DTH

  • Sunrise Sweatfest, Party of 12

    F3 PNG’s one and only and still unofficial AO “Ground Zero” is rapidly accumulating FNG’s of the 2.0 variety. Unlike other 3rd world sweatshops utilizing child manual labor, this one is voluntary and free and ends with a COT. A few adults corralled the gaggle of a 9 umpa lumpas into completing a variety of warm-up exercises, running down and up the gravel hill with various movements, plenty of mary, running around the nursing college, carousel plank walking, a mini-Dora on the field, a solid dose of wall-work, and variable chain reps. We welcomed an Australian friend nicknamed “Kanga”, a shirtless little brother of Mojang nicknamed “Sixpack”, and the Stewardson girls nicknamed “Narwhal” and “Athena”. A great time was had by all and we closed with a solid word of prayer for the mission work ahead of us for the day. Interesting to see how this thing is growing, and always happy for the company – no matter who it is. 🙂 Yours in the Field, DTH

  • Back on the Horse

    After getting knocked down with a nasty cold last week and missing two bootcamps (many thanks to Mountain Oyster for covering the Q!), YHC got back on the horse this morning with a slightly lighter-than-usual recovery Q. Joined by Messi and Boardwalk, then later Tiny TRex, the PAX did a fair number of core exercises, hit the hill once with variable movement exercises, completed a triple check, and also some other fun things under the big tent where they’ve set up a stage in preparation for Holy Week services that will go every night Wed-Sat. God is good all the time, and YHC is so thankful to be nearly done with the viral crud. Make it a good one brothers! ~DTH