Author: Dr Tryhard

  • MAGA Clickbait, The Passion of Rossi, and more wood than you can handle….

    Twas a warm rainy dusk that YHC found himself alone at The Crossing questioning whether the solo glory would be his to earn, or if perhaps the emotional headlock of true brotherhood would win the day. Then, the unmistakable mean mean stride of Chaplain crossing the glistening hardtop caught YHC’s eyes and heart. Piercing the rainy gloom he cried “YYYAAAAHHHHHRRRRGGGG” – a true warrior’s battle cry defying the very gods of rain and thunder, and YHC knew, he was not alone to honor the Credo this night! Rain or shine, this PAX of two was bound for greatness. 

    The THANG: 

    QUAD-WARM -RAMA: 

    • 1800 hit, and the daring duo made a handsome mosey lap to then circle up for a simple warmerama with stretching and reps
    • Headlights… FIGO inbound with M and 2.0’s, so the 2-PAX moseyed to the front of the church, and hallooed our #3 
    • BTTF and circle up for more stretching and reps
    • Headlights…. HOUSE PARTY enters the scene, and it’s like a halo of light around the mountain of a man from the rain-shine
    • Another mosey in honor of #4, followed by a few IC reps and stretches
    • Welcome & Disclaimer
    • Will we spend the entire evening welcoming LIFO PAX or actually launch into COP’s?!? 

    COP #1:

    • MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN (MAHA) – The PETE & BOBBY CHALLENGE
    • Pete Hegseth and RFK Jr have issued a fitness challenge to America – complete x50 pullups and x100 pushups within 10 minutes, doing so with excellent form
    • CHAPLAIN and YHC accepted the challenge while HOUSE and FIGO alternated Burpees with Runs
    • Challenge CONQUERED by the 7 MIN mark, and that with the distraction of our 5th PAX member, and FNG, arriving. (He joined House & Figo for their burpee-palooza.)
    • FYI – Apparently completing the MAHA P&B challenge within 5-6min is the high bar goal to aim for. 

    COP #2: 

    • MARY – PAX enjoyed about 6min lying in the rain water doing Flutters, APD’s, Heels to Heaven, and more

    COP #3:

    • HOMING THE POLES
    • The PAX were directed to the back field where they found REACHER’s x7 telephone pole segments lined up and ready to go for a walk
    • YHC + Figo/FNG carried the single long 12’ pole while Chap and House wrestled a massively girthed 6’ segment on their shoulders
    • Circumnavigate the back field, complete shoulder press reps, and the place the logs onto a log platform YHC had prepped
    • Run back around the field and shoulder the next poles – TClaps to House taking his own pole single-handed while to other 2-PAX each shared a log to carry around the field to the pile, then run back
    • Final round – x3 on a heavy one, x2 on the other, walk around the field, pole curls IC, then stack em up with the others

    COP #4:

    • VARIABLE MOVEMENTS
    • PAX exit the field and traverse the Annex lot alternating Bear Crawl with Lunges
    • Line up on the sloped lot for sprints
    • 50% down
    • 100% to the top
    • 50% down
    • 100% BERNIE to the top
    • 75% down
    • 75% karaoke to the top
    • maybe other iterations…

    Mosey BTTF:

    • PLANKORAMA REVIEW – the F3 Mission, x5 Core Principles, and Credo

    COT:

    • Counterama # 5
    • Namerama (welcome ROSSI)
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • BOM Prayer

    NMS:  YHC wasn’t expecting a steady rain this evening, and honestly wasn’t sure if anyone would show. Nobody had signed up for the Q by the afternoon but as YHC is closing in on 500 officially documented Q’s, no reason to slow the roll. Needless to say it was entertaining to complete multiple warmeramas for each late-arriving PAX, and then the kicker of an FNG was awesome! That makes TWO FNG’s in one day after “STAG” joined the Ruckhenge PAX this morning. YHC takes no credit expect to have influenced the headlockers to EH as they should. “ROSSI” is the name of a famous motorcycle expert revered by our FNG “Johan” (from Venezuela) who is a coworker and friend of FIGO and has been playing indoor futsol on Monday nights with us at WEAG. He was over the moon to be welcomed into F3 and can’t wait to be back! Super grateful to be a part of all this. Yours AYE! ~DTH

    Announcements (SEE SLACK!)

    • Weekly Forge Coffee + QSource
    • 2/21 Part 2 of Frozen Triangle
    • 3/7 10am Latinos Food Bank
    • 3/7 NOS OTB RUCK 
    • Monthly: Breaking Bread, Bridge
    • SEPT 26 GROW RUCK!

  • not all who wander are lost

    The balmy gloom of Larus (aka Lazarus) Park welcomed a 10 PAX of ruck lovers to trail blaze some new ground and enjoy a wide range of topics on our 3 mile jaunt, some off trail, some on. Sandy (60#) accompanied our adventures and was shared among YHC, L Woods, Sable, and Snip. Our FNG for this morning is Snip’s brother in law who enjoys bourbon and will be hiking 47 peaks with Snip this summer – welcome STAG! Great discussion at Einstein after including the concept of a Shield Lock. Snip’s apt summary was that a man on his own is a danger to himself and others. Until next time brothers. Yours AYE! ~DTH

  • Nine of Hearts

    After an unseasonably long hiatus from Rockwood, YHC returned on bended knee, a dozen red roses in hand (frozen solid given the 20 degree temps) and asked the PAX “Will you be mine?!” Here’s how they said… YES! 

    The THANG: 

    WARMERAMA:

    • Step onto the BBall Court and circle up
    • Random collection of OYO exercises called while listening to YOU MAKE MY DREAMS COME TRUE by Hall&Oats
    • Welcome & Disclaimer
    • Next up in the Musical Warmerama – I BELIEVE IN A THING CALLED LOVE – SSH’s to the beat, with a Burpee for every “I believe in a thing called love”, and deeply sensual lunges for “Touching You, Touching me”
    • Foreplay’s over, let’s GO!

    COP #1:

    • Mosey around the traffic loop back to the big parking lot
    • BROMANCE 4-CORNERS, with a nod to our hard working ladies of the night (AKA, Prostitute Style)
    • Partner up with your favorite gigalo to conquer these reps, bro code all the way
    • x10 Booyah Merkins
    • x20 Bromance Squats (back to back)
    • x30 Leg Fencing (x15 ea way)
    • x40 Yards of WheelBarrow each

    COP #2:

    • Continue mosey around traffic loop and stop near the nature center
    • Hit play on LOVE SHACK – Flutter Kicks to the Beat, Alabama Prom Date for every “Love Shack” …modify to other core reps as needed for this ridiculously long version of the song

    COP #3:

    • Continue mosey around traffic loop and step up onto soft new field to line up in plank for TUNNEL OF LOVE – x3 rounds through the tunnel listening to the horrendous Justin Timberlake song SEXY BACK

    COP #4: 

    • Continue mosey around loop and circle up in the well fertilized turf adjacent the dog park
    • Partner up for Buddy WWII’s, ankles locked and high fiving at the top, while playing LET’s GET IT ON
    • Switch to PLT’s for second half of song

    COP #5:

    • Mosey around loop BTTF
    • Circle up and play AIN’T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH 
    • Mountain Climbers to the Beat, Merkin for every “Mountain” or “Baby”
    • 3 MIN’s of stretching to close time

    COT:

    • Counterama # 9
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • BOM Prayer

    NMS:  Chilly morning for a ruck & bootcamp combo-Q but YHC was thankful for an awesome group of brothers to share it with. L Woods supposedly slept in and missed Bon Iron, but YHC saw right through this facade to the deeply loyal DTH-love. Yes L, I will be yours. 🙂  The PAX were duly appreciative of the Valentines-themed songs, and YHC confessed plagiarism of a 2020 DTH Valentines Q at NoToll. This stuff is too good to only ever do once. Yours AYE! ~DTH

    Announcements (SEE SLACK!)

    • Weekly Forge Coffee + QSource
    • 2/21 Part 2 of Frozen Triangle
    • 3/7 10am Latinos Food Bank
    • 3/7 NOS OTB RUCK 
    • Monthly: Breaking Bread, Bridge
    • SEPT 26 GROW RUCK!

  • I LOVE YOU

    A frosty foursome gathered for the Valentine’s Rockwood Ruck and enjoyed 3 miles of solid bromantic conversation. We also toyed with a little Garmin spelling bee, and won first place!  (see Slack for Garmin image)  

    It is true my beloved F3RVA PAX, I love you. Yes, ALL of you (whether or not you like it).  But I’m truly thankful to have reciprocated love from so many of you. F3 is a powerfully unique brotherhood, but like everything else in life, you’ll reap what you sow. Keep pushing past the status quo – iron sharpens iron. ~DTH

  • implements of woe

    Q planted the shovel into handy ice mound on the South side of the AO. PAX rolled in, some on time, others LIFO. Variable movements. No reps called in cadence. Eventually a disclaimer and stretching. Implements of Woe conveniently planted adjacent to the Q’s truck – 50# ruck (thx Snip), 40# ruck, 30# ruck, 30#KB, and the mobile pull-up station. PAX moved between completing OYO reps (modify to whatever, however, just keep moving) with various other movement breaks and a DORA to eat time and break from the Woe. Temps dropping. Steaming HIM’s forged in pain and endurance. Deeply good to have Figo back in the mix. Gratitude shared and a perspective that sometimes a closed door is God’s loving way to show us the path He wants us to go. He is good all the time. Yours AYE! ~DTH

    COT:

    • Counterama # 6
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • BOM Prayer

    Announcements (SEE SLACK!)

    • Weekly Forge Coffee + QSource
    • 2/7 Frozen Triangle
    • 3/7 NOS OTB RUCK 
    • Monthly: Breaking Bread, Bridge
    • SEPT 26 GROW RUCK!

  • HB#14: All Hail Heavy Bells!

    Six iron wielding luge riders braved subzero temps and breakneck ice to start the week off with a nod to Rod. Bottom line: Everest has nothing on Mt Chaplain. Here’s banana shenanigans for ya:

    The THANG: 

    WARMERAMA: 

    • Mosey lap WITH bells and circle up
    • Welcome & Disclaimer
    • PLAY “Heavy Bells” by RVA’s own J.Roddy Walston and the Business (3:53). For the duration of the song the PAX squat to the beat with KB racked in front, then complete a KB burpee for every “Heavy Bells” (x24) throughout the song. Super warm.

    COP #1:

    • Mosey over to Love Hill for TURKISH LIGHT POLES
    • At each light complete a T.Getup, but once the KB is overhead, mosey/walk to the next light to complete the TG going to the ground, and then start the next TG with other hand to get the KB back overhead, to then carry agin overhead to next light, etc
    • Down to bottom of Love Hill, freak out the skid-steer driver, and back up to the top

    COP #2: 

    • Pull off Love Hill onto a lovely patch of ice and plank it up in line for THE FROZEN TUNNEL OF LOVE. Last PAX belly slides with his KB to the front to plank. 
    • x2 Rounds completed

    COP #3:

    • Mosey around to mid-way slope of Mt Chaplain for the PAX to penguin slide down the slope. (while most KB’s survived the journey, Snip’s Trans-KB shattered the plastic handle after a beautiful launch over pavement. Good thing LWoods came prepared with a 2nd KB)
    • PAX were then directed to use their KB’s to ICE-CLIMB MT CHAPLAIN – slam the KB ahead of you through the ice to create a purchase for hand/foot, and ascend the sheer ice face to the top. Phew! 
    • Lawnmower Pulls for the SIX

    COP #4:

    • Mosey BTTTaco for a few rounds of PASS THE KB
    • Standing, Side lift to Overhead press, then pass, x10 IC then repeato other direction 
    • Seated, Side lift to WWII Press, then pass, x10 IC then repeato other direction 
    • Plank, Pull Through pass, x10 IC then repeato other direction

    GRAND FINALE:

    • Using KB as ice-breaker and anchor, PAX ascended topmost knoll of Mt Chaplain, which is quite steep and required great intestinal fortitude to achieve the summit, which all PAX (eventually) did!
    • KB and Belly slide to bottom. FUN!

    BTTF for COT:

    • Counterama # 6
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • BOM Prayer
    • Amaaaazing Snuff Coffee!!!! 

    NMS:  Is it possible to get a great workout while keeping everyone safe on lethal ice AND have a ton of fun doing new stuff?!? YES. This was another one for the all-time favorite F3 memory bank. And if you haven’t started your week with the image seared into your mind of a starkly nude Snuff, hard and white as African ivory, timing his perfect-form pullups for his M to walk in on him… well you just ain’t livin! The NOS sauce is getting good, REALLY good. Keep posting gents. Yours AYE! ~DTH

    Announcements (SEE SLACK!)

    • Weekly Forge Coffee + QSource
    • 2/7 Frozen Triangle
    • 3/7 NOS OTB RUCK 
    • Monthly: Breaking Bread, Bridge
    • SEPT 26 GROW RUCK!

  • ICE can’t detain THESE HIM’s!

    In spite of ICE’s best intimidation tactics, seven NOS HIM’s beat the allure of a cozy fartsack to embrace the warmth of a DTH beatdown. Here’s how we all gave and received a glowing after action report:

    The THANG: 

    WARMERAMA: 

    • Mosey loop around to a clear patch of pavement to circle up
    • Welcome & Disclaimer
    • Warm-up Reps IC with plenty of stretching

    COP #1:

    • Partner up for a DORA 1-2-3
    • x100 Merkins
    • x200 Squats
    • x300 LBC’s
    • Runner moseys down the cleared road and back to switch 
    • ABC’s for the SIX

    COP #2: 

    • Mosey the extent of the cleared sidewalk and back around to a dry patch near the wall
    • x40 Hoedowns IC
    • x20 Dirty Hookups IC
    • x40 M.Ali’s IC
    • x10 Hip Slappers IC

    COP #3:

    • Mosey back to the pavement circle for a spot of Q SCHOOL. 
    • Each PAX takes a turn to step into the center and practice executing a perfectly called exercise in cadence, after which the rest of the PAX provided an After Action Report (what was done well, and what needed improvement).

    Circle up for COT:

    • Counterama # 7
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • BOM Prayer
    • Pullups on the mobile bar
    • Polk House Coffeerama

    NMS:  Solid 7-PAX for another frigid morning dodging the treacherous undercover ICE agents. Excellent effort by the PAX practicing all the proper language for Q’ing in cadence, and SCRAM is signing up for his VQ soon! Congratulations to Machinehead for not just a healthy pregnancy but the wonderful news of a BOY!!! May Machineboy be just as likely as his old man to be the BEST Q anyone has EVER witnessed! And TClaps to Machismo for the delicious coffee after. Appreciate all you guys coming out. NOS is the best. Period. Yours AYE! ~DTH

    Announcements (SEE SLACK!)

    • Weekly Forge Coffee + QSource
    • 2/7 Frozen Triangle
    • 3/7 NOS OTB RUCK 
    • Monthly: Breaking Bread, Bridge
    • SEPT GROW RUCK!

  • remote waffling

    A dozen hardened HIM’s entered The Forge for another turn under the hammer. Here’s how the slag was beaten away:

    The THANG: 

    WARMERAMA: 

    • Mosey down to the bottom of Love Hill and back up
    • Lunge for the SIX, then butt-kickers, high knees, karaoke both ways, and circle up
    • Welcome & Disclaimer
    • Warm-up Reps IC – extended edition, top to bottom with excellent stretching along the way – in Dookie’s words “a workout in and of itself”

    A WEE JAUNT:

    • PAX mosey across Forest Hill Ave into the neighborhood and around the corner a la maison d’Henderson
    • Collect a solid concrete cindy and back out to the road

    CONCRETE PEARLS ON A NEIGHBORHOOD STRING:

    • Mosey between stops, reps in the lamp light
    • Stop #1 – Lunge with blocks held out front
    • Stop #2 – buddy WWII’s x25 with blocks in hand tapping the ground behind and “cheers”-ing in the middle
    • Stop #3 – burpee block jump overs x15
    • Stop #4 – block crushers for the SIX
    • Stop #5 – racked squats for the SIX
    • Stop #6 – going up the steep hill complete x25 murder bunnies then bernie to top
    • Stop #7 – 2-hand rows for the SIX
    • Final stop in DTH front yard – circle up for Captain Thors holding blocks (1:4 WWII to Hammers) and escalate to 5:20
    • Return blocks

    Mosey BTTF for COT:

    • Counterama # 12
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • BOM Prayer – GRATITUDE THEME

    NMS:  Solid numbers out for a surprise jaunt around the neighborhood with coupons. Mumble chatter was strong, most of us overdressed for what turned out to be almost balmy 40 degrees compared to other mornings in the 20’s. Belay and Machismo got in some extra credit miles beforehand and Snuff served up some delicious coffee after while regaling us of his nighttime waffle hunting escapades. You had the be there… Pullups on the mobile bar were accomplished and another fine day at (near) The Forge was fully honored. Thank you permitting me the honor to lead gentlemen. Yours AYE! ~DTH

    Announcements (SEE SLACK!)

    • MACHINEHEAD VQ THIS SAT AT BON IRON
    • Dry January Ongoing
    • Weekly Forge Coffee + QSource
    • 2/7 Frozen Triangle
    • Monthly: Breaking Bread, Bridge

  • Creek Hopping & Hill Crawling

    11 gloom studs tackled an off-trail adventure this morning that was perfectly suited for our favorite boy scout Doner Kebab, but perhaps the joke about ruck pull-ups thwarted his attendance. The all new 2.7 mile route (see pic on Slack) redefined the “outer loop” of Larus Park and started with a tiny jaunt trespassing around the Sabot School grounds, then back onto the North end of the park trail system, and then followed along Chippenham with quite a few steep decents, creek crossings, and incline bear crawls up steep leafy slopes. Akin to a gaggle of boy scouts on their first woods adventure, the PAX were in high spirits to conquer these little challenges, and in honor of our Credo dutifully completed squats (or other reps) for the SIX on many an occasion. TClaps to Sable and Doublemint bringing in the SIX. Been a LONG time since we enjoyed Doublemint’s fine company, and was also great to have his 2.0 Spinal Tap with us before he heads back to Colorado State this weekend. The PAX completed the Larus loop via off-trail woods between a couple houses and a small development, regrouped at Sneeds Nursery, then a final jaunt on trail back through to Trader Joes. COT included prayer for LWoods paralegal who lost her father yesterday, and for YHC’s church friend battling depression/suicide. Dealer and YHC decided ruck-wearing pull-ups would be a solid CSAUP challenge, and Snip, Sable, Bromance and L Woods joined the pull-up fun. YHC proudly completed two chin-ups carrying 40 pounds, but foresees great gains with a full year of pull-up strength training. The mobile pull-up station attached to YHC’s truck now proudly sports the numbers 1-26 on one 2×4 and 27-52 on the other, with those PAX completing the 2026 pull-up challenge able to sign the boards next to each week/number they complete. You versus you. GET SOME, AYE!!! Yours, DTH

    Announcements (SEE SLACK!)

    • Dry January Ongoing
    • Weekly Forge Coffee + QSource
    • 2/7 Frozen Triangle
    • Monthly: Breaking Bread, Bridge (1/24)

  • Pain Train Stations & Highland Games

    Light Rain, Cool Mud, Streetlight Gloom, 50# Kettlebell, 10’ Caber, Classic Rock, 60# Sandbags, balmy 60 degrees, DTH Mobile Pull-up Station, and 8 heroic badass HIMs embracing the suck and conquering the day before it even began.  Here’s what the fartsackers missed:

    The THANG: 

    WARMERAMA: 

    • Mosey lap and circle up
    • Welcome & Disclaimer
    • Warm-up Reps IC

    PAIN TRAIN STATIONS:

    • #50 Kettle Bell Sumo Squats
    • Caber Flips (lift heavy end to flip over repeatedly)
    • DTH Mobile Pullup Station – alternate pullups with chin-ups with Negatives
    • #60 Sandbag Chest Press
    • Abbs – Crunchy Frogs or Hammers
    • #60 Sandbag Clean
    • Burpees
    • TIMER: Runs the field loop, then all PAX rotate stations
    • x2 Rounds completed

    HIGHLAND GAMES:

    • Switch the Music to Scottish Pipes&Drums
    • DTH demonstrate the Caber Toss and sets the distance to beat at 11 paces
    • While each man takes a turn flipping the caber, the rest of the PAX complete OYO reps – squats, imperial walkers, humpers, WWII’s, single leg shoulder taps, etc
    • Ran out of time to try the Hammer Throw & 50# KB Throw …next time

    Circle up for COT:

    • Counterama # 8
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • BOM Prayer – lifting up the health and safety of THREE 2.0’s coming int the world in 2026, as well as Figo’s M who admitted with a psych scare
    • Coffeerama at the Polk House!

    NMS:  This was a FANTASTIC group of brothers for some CSAUP fun in the rain. Definitely challenged with the circuit reps and the mobile pull-up station worked out just fine! Nobody beat the DTH caber flip distance but a couple guys got close. To be fair this is YHC’s 12th year competing in the Henderson family Highland Games (coming up in 2 weeks) so experience pays off. The Coffeerama was amazing!!! What an awesome venue Machismo has created for this AO. And we had the very pleasant surprise visit from Snuff to join the hearty conversation. God is good ALL the time brothers. Yours AYE! ~DTH

    Announcements (SEE SLACK!)

    • Dry January Ongoing
    • Weekly Forge Coffee + QSource
    • 2/7 Frozen Triangle
    • Monthly: Breaking Bread, Bridge (1/24)