Author: Gypsy

  • Are You Ready for Some Football?!?!

    3rd F: Faith
    The big one this week is TAP for all the teachers, parents, and 2.0s trying to work through this new virtual world of public school. Stay strong everyone. This will pass.
    Thank you Attila for taking us out this morning

    2nd F: Fellowship

    • Men’s retreat October 3rd: Sign up for cornhole tournament
    • Friday after work events: Who wants to step up and plan the next one. Its easy.. just name the place and time.

    1st F: The Thang
    Two rounds of the below
    Perform the following exercises 1 arm/leg at a time
    Count is 10 per called exercise
    Bicep curl count is 8

    • One arm Swing
      • Bicep curl
    • Romanian dead lift
      • Bicep curl
    • Lawnmowers
      • Bicep curl
    • Snatch
      • Bicep curl
    • Reverse lunge
      • Bicep curl
    • Tricep extensions
      • Bicep curl
    • Goblet Squats
      • Bicep curl
    • Seated 1 arm shoulder press
      • Bicep curl
    • Louganis
      • Bicep curl
    • Flutter press
      • Bicep curl
    • American Hammer
      • Bicep curl

    NMS:
    Not much time to be creative on the BB this week. Dang work is getting in the way of my day drinking and BB writing.
    As always, I want to thank the PAX for allowing me to lead this morning. I mean lets face it… if it weren’t for you guys, I would have been that crazy guy on the news in all black, panting, and sweating on the sidewalk of a kids school at 0615 in the morning making weird grunting noises and cussing myself. At least with multiples of us there we kinda look like we were supposed to be there. 🙂

    Todays theme was curls.. trying to get the pax ready for some 12oz curls as we enter football season

    P.S. If you read this far down. spend the next 30 seconds and text a pax, friend, uncle, dad, brother or son that you have not heard from in a while and just say Hello. It maybe just what he needed today.

    v/r
    John (Gypsy) Boles

  • RVA 2nd F: Drive Shack

    The RVA 2nd F is on the move again.
    This week we will be meeting at Drive Shack:
    Date:
    September 11th

    Location:
    1647 Four Rings Drive
    Richmond, VA 23233
    (Conveniently located off I:64 and VA-288)

    Time: 1800-2000

    RSVP required to reserve bays: Please DM Gypsy by September 10th.
    Cost per booth is 45$ can have up to 5 “Golfers” per booth.

    Bring the M and 2.0s as well.

    v/r
    Gypsy

  • You wont get this in a gym

    You wont get this in a gym

    3rd F: (Faith) The last will be 1st

    • T-Clap for Mudface taking us out in prayer this morning.
    • TAP for all those parents that are striving to maintain a sense of normalcy as their children are attempting to navigate the waters of virtual schooling.
    • Mr. Holland nailed it this morning as we were wrapping up and the sunrise was painted above our heads….
      “You wont get that inside a gym“
      Well said sir.. the natural beauty of this morning’s sunrise is something only the Great Sky Q could paint for us. YHC likes to consider those wonderful acts of nature as a gentle reminder from him to us that he is: all powerful, all loving, and all forgiving.
    • Next 3rd F virtual meet-up is 9/1 at 8pm. See slack 3rd F channel for Zoom meeting URL.

    2nd F: (Fellowship)
    Lots of opportunities in RVA for fellowship and just like the 1st F in the morning.. you just have to show up.

    • Friday HH is moving around the region and it does not always have to mean having drinks. Top Golf, new Restaurants, chips and salsa at Honeydo’s (Hint Hint), etc. lets keep them moving around so all pax have an opportunity to join in. This week it is at Ardent Craft Beer at 6ish.
      • Next week we are moving the show out to Midlothian with Florence to try out Steam Bell Beer Works
    • YHC is working with Disaster Ops to set up a trip down to the Gulf coast for helping our F3 PAX in that region that have been crushed by the recent hurricane. DM me if you are interested in going.
    • October 3rd is the Fellowship retreat. Sign up for the Cornhole tournament

    1st F: (Fitness)

    The Thang:

    • Easy warm up lap around the bus parking lot as we did some butt kickers and high knees to get us into the teacher parking lot for some COP.
    • COP: 1 round of BLIMPS
      • 5 Burpees
      • 10 Lunges
      • 15 Imperial walkers
      • 20 Merkins
      • 25 Plank Jacks
      • 30 Squats
    • 4-Corners (always a staple at YHC workouts)
      • Start in the center: 2 burpess then run to one of 4 corners and perform called exercise to a 15 count then return to center for 2 burpees.. rinse and repeat until all 4 corners are completed.
        • Round one: Merkins, Diamond Merkins, Wide-arm Merkins, Carolina Dry-dock
          Took the time after completing this round to talk over the F3 Foundation and Disaster Ops
        • Round two: WW2 situps, LBCs, Dolly’s, Flutter kicks
          Took the time after completing this round to talk over the Mission of: Speed For Need and tell a 1st hand story that changed my life forever with a SFN track commander
        • Round three: Squats, Wojo Squat, Sister Mary Catharine’s, reverse lunge.
          Took the time after completing this round to talk over the two F3 supported Missions in Peru and Africa.
        • Round four: Merkins, WW2, Squats, Burpee
          Took the time after completing this round to talk over the importance of following through with the 2nd and 3rd F in F3.. to make sure its not “Just Another Workout”.
    • Burn Out: Nonstop workout rotating who the timer pax is
      • Each location is assigned an exercise then one pax takes that position. One pax runs to a designated location and back (the timer) as the remaining pax continues to do the exercise at his location until the timer returns; then everyone moves down one exercise position.
        We had 4 pax this morning so we had 3 assigned exercises and 1 timer.
        • Exercises:
          Station 1 Plank (Hold in high plank until timer returns)
          Station 2 Donkey kicks to the wall.
          Station 3 People’s chair air presses.
          Station 4 was the timer.
      • Rinse and repeat.
    • Return to the AO for a cool down:
      • you cool down like you warm up. One round of BLIMPS.

    MoleSkin:
    1st and foremost, thank you to the men this morning for allowing me the opportunity to lead. I look forward to seeing you all in the gloom again very soon.
    Lots of good mubblechatter this morning. I am pretty sure we have convivence Mudface to sign up for the 1/2 marathon beer tour. Need the Da-Ville guys to keep on him for that. 🙂
    Best of luck to Mr. Holland as he not only takes on the adventure of being a teacher during this new learning environment. but also having two 2.0’s of his own at home that are also going through this from a student perspective. If you need to get away for coffee or lunch or to hide.. just give me a call and I will be on my way.
    Cornbeef is laying down the gauntlet this morning with regard to the upcoming team relay race. Sounds like his team is stacked and I might just have to put a wager on them taking the 1st place position on this one.

    NMS (Naked Moleskin)
    AS always, I challenge every pax member that has taken the time to read this far down the Backblast to spend the next 30 seconds texting an F3 pax you have not heard from in a while. Reaching out to someone for no reason is hard to do…but we are F3.. we do hard things every day. So just do it. It may be the quick hello your gloom buddy needed for the week.

    Next Challenge: Look at your F3 actions in the last 30 to 60 days. Have you signed up to Q? Why not? Have you come out to a 2nd or 3rd F event? Why not? The reasons and excuses are just as vast as that sad clown you had to convince to get out of the fartsack and post in the gloom (no time, not ready to lead, I get my fellowship somewhere else, etc…).
    F3 is a fellowship of men .. leaders leading and teaching peer leaders.
    Our mission is to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership. Our mission is not to be the fastest, most fit, strongest guy out there in the gloom… Don’t fall into the trap of making F3 only about the 1st F.. there are 2 more F’s to explore and for that matter that you can bring FNGs to. There is no F3 rule that says your FNG has to post 1st to a bootcamp. Bring him out to a 2nd F.. or invite him to the virtual 3rd. The workout is just 1 aspect of the thing we call F3.

    V/r
    John (Gypsy) Boles
    SYITG!!

  • Call a missing brother

    It’s easy to get caught up in the day to day grind. It’s easy to get stuck in the rut and just stay on the path. It’s easy to follow the Status quo and just move through life.
    Good thing the men of F3 don’t do things that are easy.
    I ask each of you that read this to do something that’s not easy. I ask each of you to look through your contacts and find that one pax (or future pax) that you have not talked to in a very long time and call him. Sounds easy right?!? Just like the readings this week in the 3rd F study group lead by Tobit and how it should be easy of taking up the yoke..
    But the truth is it is not easy, its hard… and that is why you have not done it. That awkward moment when you are not sure what to say or how to ask how things have been since you have not called him. and yes.. I said since “YOU” have not called him. WE are F3.. WE are disrupters.. it is not on that fellow pax to reach out to you.. it is up to you to reach out to him. So I challenge each of us that meet in the Gloom to call a fellow pax you have not heard from in a while and just tell him you are thinking of him. It may be the exact words he needed to get him through the day.

    3rd F: Thank you Attila for taking us out in COT.

    • TAP: Johnsonville on a speedy recover (i cant image how you are in the gloom if you were injured today. Way to push through brother)
    • TAP: Farfanugan (Recovering from being hit by a cop car running in the Gloom.
    • TAP: The Brothers of F3 and Sisters of FiA that are personally recovering from COVID or helping family members that are.

    2nd F:

    • As things continue with work from home, is there anyone interested in 1st Friday F3 lunch at a common location?
    • Puppy Pile coming up. DM me if you have a 2.0 interested in needing a Speed For need chair.
    • 2nd annual F3 retreat on October 3rd (camp out)
    • Date is getting nailed down for the 10k/Half Marathon Brewery tour (November 7th) we will stop in on no less than 6 breweries for the half marathon and 3 for the 10k. Pre-blast and price will be coming out soon.
    • Bone Thugs 10k on 8/21. See the HIMs of W Dog or Corn Beef for details

    1st F: The Thang

    Not to much complexity to today’s Kettlebell workout. it was just plain ole’ putting in some work with a little bit of iron. Each pax removed a piece of paper covering an exercise on the whiteboard. We performed exercise with 15 reps. (If it was a one arm or leg exercise it was 15 each side.)
    Between each exercise was a 50 yrd waiter carry.
    This was repeated until all papers was removed.
    If we finished there was an extra credit Kettlebell burn out for us all.

    The exercises were:

    • The Clean (sorry for the mix up on the board guys)
    • Curls
    • Tricep extensions
    • Seated over head press
    • Standing over head press
    • Louganis
    • Flutter Press
    • American Hammers
    • Goblet Squat
    • Reverse Lunge
    • Romanian dead lift
    • Single arm Swing
    • Halo
    • Lawn Mower

    WE finished with 5 mins remaining so we got to do the burn out

    Without putting your bell down:
    7 up right rows, 7 Squats
    6 up right rows, 6 Squats
    5 up right rows, 5 Squats
    …
    1 up right row, 1 Squat

    and done!!

    Final exercise YHC carried a cooler of cold water bottles around for the guys to grab one before the COT.

    NMS:
    Great work by all today. Good to continue to see new faces and meet new pax.
    Solid work done by Pinto at his 1st Kettlebell work out. I hope you see you back out brother.
    Johnsonville, let me know if you need anything while you heal up brother. Just DM and I’m on the way. Bruised ribs isn’t anything to play with so TAP on you healing up.
    Not sure what White Deer ate for dinner, but down on our side of the line this morning he was seriously laying down some cover fire for an attacking army. (You might want to get that checked out brother. Just sayin’ something didnt smell natural there. ) 🙂
    I keep running into Light house in the gloom and beginning to think he might be just as much a gypsy as I am. I’m gonna have to get in contact with you Light House and go grab some lunch and 2nd F to hear more of your back story to that name.

    I want thank you all for coming out this morning. It’s the pax of F3 that has allowed me to celebrate my 3rd anniversary of not smoking today. Without F3, I would have never made it. Being able to seeing all your mugs in the morning is what has kept me motivated to stay with it.

    Thank you for allowing me to lead this morning.
    SYITG!!

    v/r
    Gypsy

  • Insert clever title here

    The 5 core principles of F3 on display across the RVA region today as #HIMs decided to wake up and take the DRP. It was one of those mornings as a Q that you know there is a VERY real possibility that not a single pax may show up as driving rains from a named tropical storm passing right over the area at launch time. Yet on the other hand, it is one of the those mornings as a Q that you know the mission of F3 is to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership. Therefore, it is understood that as the Q, there is also a VERY real possibility that there will be pax at the AO needing that extra support and I for one am not going to miss my opportunity to be there for them, even if the Great Sky Q is blessing us with ample hydration.

    3rd F:

    • TAP for F3 MECA member Fafegugen as he recovers from being hit by a police car while running in the Gloom
    • Tobit on Q this evening for Tuesday virtual 3rd F

    2nd F:

    • October 3rd is the 2nd Annual retreat. See Vinny for details. PreBlast to be out soon
    • Due to all the road races being closed down: Socializing the idea of a 10k / Half Marathon Beer run. Hitting 6 breweries in late October early November. 1/2 Marathon will hit all 6 and meet the 10Kers at stop 4 along the way. Will be one fixed price that includes a pint at each stop, plus a little extra for a local charity. Preblast to come out soon with stop locations

    1st F:

    The Thang:
    Like Mike Tyson once said.. Everybody has a plan until you get punched in the mouth. Welp, YHC had the weinke planned out for a good ole’ fashion WIB called Cage Fight. But when its literally raining so hard that the parking lot is a minor lake, its time to Improvise, Adapt, and Over Come. So move on to plan B.

    05:30
    Flanked on either side by VMI; with one being an alumni and one entering in 11 days, YHC didn’t really think rain was a valid excuse to back out of this one. Modifications are called for, but its time to launch this party.

    Time to mosey:
    Move to the far side the school to a covered breeze way. ( although it did not matter if it was covered. we were already soaked when we got there.)

    1st Exercise: BLIMPS

    • 5 Burpees
    • 10 Lunges each leg
    • 15 Imperial Walkers
    • 20 Merkins
    • 25 Plank Jakes
    • 30 Squats

    2nd Exercise: 4 corners (Modified to a breezeway)

    1st round: 2 Burpees run to far side of breeze way 10 Merkins and return to start. 2 Burpees run to far side of breeze way 10 diamond and return to start. 2 Burpees run to far side of breeze way 10 Wide Arm and return to start. 2 Burpees run to far side of breeze way 10 Carolina Dry-Docks and return to start and 2 Burpees

    2nd round: 2 Burpees run to far side of breeze way 10 Squats and return to start. 2 Burpees run to far side of breeze way 10 Summo Squats and return to start. 2 Burpees run to far side of breeze way 10 Lunges and return to start. 2 Burpees run to far side of breeze way 10 Reverse Lunges and return to start and 2 Burpees

    3rd round: 2 Burpees run to far side of breeze way 10 WW2s and return to start. 2 Burpees run to far side of breeze way 10 LBCs and return to start. 2 Burpees run to far side of breeze way 10 American Hammers and return to start. 2 Burpees run to far side of breeze way 10 Hells to heaven and return to start and 2 Burpees

    4th round: 2 Burpees run to far side of breeze way 10 Merkins and return to start. 2 Burpees run to far side of breeze way 10 Squats and return to start. 2 Burpees run to far side of breeze way 10 WW2s and return to start. 2 Burpees run to far side of breeze way 10 Burpees.

    Time to Mosey: To the Basketball court

    3rd Exercise: 7s
    One side of court is Merkins other side is Bomb Jacks
    Count down was 1 Merkin/6 Bomb Jacks, 2 Merkin/5 Bomb Jacks, 3 Merkin/4 Bomb Jacks… 6 Merkin/1 Bomb Jacks.

    4th Exercise: Modified burn-out (3 cycles)
    Pax 1 in peoples chair doing air press, Pax 2 LBCs, Pax 3 is timer running to far side of basketball courts and back.
    Rotate
    Pax 1 running, Pax 2 peoples chair, Pax 3 LBCs
    Rotate
    Pax 1 LBCs, Pax 2 running, Pax 3 Peoples chair.
    Time for one more cycle
    Pax one Donkey kicks, Pax 2 American hammers , Pax 3 running (same rotation as before.)

    Time to mosey back to AO launch

    5th Exercise: BLIMPS
    Just enough time for one round of BLIMPS.

    and DONE!! Time to go home and dry off.

    Thank you all for the opportunity to lead this morning.
    SYITG on Thursday at Circus Maximus!!

    v/r
    Gypsy