AO: Bon Iron

• QIC: Machizmo
• Date: September 12, 2026
• PAX (9): Machizmo (QIC), Turtle Wax, Rage Bait (FNG), Chicken Muddle (FNG), Tenman, Trojan, L Woods, Scram, Ranger
• FNGs (2): Rage Bait, Chicken Muddle

The Welcoming of the FNGs

• Rage Bait (FNG Dan): Down range from out of town alongside his brother Turtle Wax to celebrate their sister’s wedding at the Botanical Gardens after a 17-year courtship and engagement. Turtle Wax shared childhood memories of Rage Bait pushing his buttons to the point of household foot chases with kitchen cutlery. Dan’s high-level electronics expertise makes him the architect of modern automated headaches (think unresponsive Alexa/Google smart-home tech). Thus, your new antagonist was christened Rage Bait.
• Chicken Muddle (FNG Thomas): Recruited by Tenman during a neighborhood stroll. Father of four (raising three solo until meeting his wife of 11 years, plus one stepdaughter) with a son preparing for the U.S. Navy. When the PAX suggested Mr. Wilson or Brunswick Stew honoring his southern drawl and Brunswick County roots, Thomas set the record straight: down home, it’s strictly known as Chicken Muddle. A gentle giant has officially entered the gloom.

Warm-Up

Machizmo led the crew on a mosey around the kiosk circle mixing in high knees, step-overs, and butt-kickers before circling up for:

• Side Shuttle Hops (SSH)
• Don Quixote’s 
• Big Boy Sit-ups (arms crossed) 
• American Hammers
• Merkins 

The Thang

Part 1: 20-Minute Bus Loop AMRAP

The PAX marched to the truck to claim their cinder blocks (“ball and chain”). True HIMs took the challenge up a notch with a dual-block farmer’s carry out to the bus loop.

After a walk-through demonstration at each station, the 20-minute clock started. The PAX crushed approximately 4 continuous rounds of:

• Station 1: Goblet Squats & Kettlebell Swings (block-weighted)
• Station 2: 10 Incline Merkins on Bent-Over rows (5 right, 5 left)
• Station 4: Block Thrusters & Presses
• Station 5: 10 Block Hammers & 10 Block Sit-ups

Chicken Muddle arrived mid-AMRAP, jumping straight into the grinder without missing a beat.

Part 2: A Tale of Two Hills (11s)

With grip strength thoroughly spent, the PAX returned the Cindys to the truck bed and moseyed to the church hills for an 11s ladder:

• Hill 1: Incline Merkins (10 down to 1)
• Hill 2: Lieutenant Dans (1 up to 10)

The PAX left no man behind, circling back to pick up the six and burn out the clock.

COT (Circle of Trust) & Coffer

• Announcements: Fall rec sports kick off this weekend. Shoutout to Hooker, Scram, L Woods, and Machismo for coaching youth leagues and investing in the community.
• Message: Reflecting on Chicken Muddle’s wisdom on fatherhood and raising kids into solid human beings. F3 is about physical sharpening, but more importantly, about stepping up as leaders, fathers, and brothers for the people who rely on us.
• Prayers: Safe travels for our down-range visitors, blessings and great weather for Turtle Wax and Rage Bait’s sister’s wedding at the Botanical Gardens this afternoon, and perseverance for Thomas’s (Chicken Muddle’s) son as he enters the Navy.

Forecast fulfilled: A scattering of cinder blocks, guaranteed pain, and clear skies for the wedding.

two men this morning a great time in the gloom

**Warm-o-Rama**Moseyed around the area to get loose, working through the warm-up almost entirely in conversation with Trojan — good sign of an AO that’s found its rhythm. Don Quixote in cadence, Michael Phelps, obliques (right and left), capped off with 20 merkins (10 on a 2-count) to get the blood moving

.**The Thang***Baseball Diamond — 3 Rounds:*- 15 merkins at 1st- 15 squats at 2nd- 15 Freddie Mercuries at 3rd- 15 burpees at home

*Dora at the Playground:*Partner-style — one PAX ran the gravel track around the playground while the other worked through 25 pull-ups, 50 merkins, and 100 dips.

*Wall Work — The Great Wall at Bon Air Elementary:*Full stop for wall work, hoedowns, 15 donkey kicks, 15 milkers, and 15 more donkey kicks.

*Bus Loop Wind Sprints:

*A few sprints working up through effort levels — 50%, 75%, up to 100% — then moseyed back.

*Curb Work:*Closed out with 25 curb ups and some more ab work.**Mary*

*Cooldown and a prayer walk around the church.*

*COT**Good fellowship and conversation to close it out. Talked through the Hernán Cortés question — tool in the hand of God, or violent and objectionable conquistador? — with some solid reflection on the age of exploration. Trojan and I got into male leadership: the accountability that comes with hard decisions, and the need for bold leadership in the church — men willing to take risks for the Kingdom and for the good of their communities.**Announcements**- Snuff’s pool party — 8/28, 6:30 PM- Elle Woods leading a food distribution event on 8/29 — reach out to him for detailsAlways amazed how much you get out of a workout even when it’s just two men in the gloom. ?

Warm-A-Rama

• Mosey: Lap around the school (Sufficiently winded!)
• Don Quixotes
• Arm Circles (Forward & Backward in cadence, with plenty of chatter)
• Dead Man Hang (Stretching right & left legs)
• Merkins

The Thang (4 Rounds of Cinder Block Beatdown)

Location: Bus Parking Loop (keeping it close to the Flag)

1. Farmer’s Carry: Both blocks to the far end of the bus loop. And back (this was a bit of. Stretch and we had to stop on passion to give the grip a rest)
2. Bear Crawl Block Drag: 10–20 yards down and back.
3. Alternating Rows: 12 reps Right / 12 reps Left (hand anchored on the other block).
4. Cinder Block Thrusters: 12–15 reps.
5. Block-Over-Burpees: 8.
6. Rest & Repeat for 4 full rounds! X

Ended with several rounds of block excercises and Ranger Resistance – 3 seconds of iso resistance reverse leg lift (great burner).

Always good for the hang afterwards. Coffee started around 6:45 and ended around 7:30. 45 min. workout 45 min. hang. This is starting to become the Bon Iron way. Good talk about conversation and communication at coffeeteria. Cindy makes a good makeshift camp chair after a burner of a workout. Tin Man and Ranger great having you.

The Scene

Five HIMs gathered in the Gloom ready to take on a classic tour of the neighborhood—specifically, two churches and a bank. Legend has it if you hit enough holy ground and financial institutions in one beatdown, you either find salvation or a siren.

Warmerama

Location: Stony Point Parking Lot

We got the blood flowing with a quick-progression warm-up:

• Side Straddle Hops
• WWII Sit-ups
• Ukrainian Soldiers
• Arm Circles
• Raise the Roofs

The Thang

Stop 1: Stony Point — Four Corners

We hit the corners for a classic circuit:

• Corner 1: Merkins
• Corner 2: Lt. Dan’s
• Corner 3: LBCs
• Corner 4: Side Straddle Hops

Stop 2: Bon Air Baptist Church — Dora

Partnered up to grind through the reps while the partner ran:

• 100 Merkins
• 200 Squats
• 300 Freddie Mercurys

Stop 3: Wells Fargo Bank — Parking Lot Pain

• Cocaine Bears: Bear crawls across 12 parking spaces.
• Squat Escalator: Worked our way through a painful progression before heading back on the run toward the flag.

COT / Devotional

Mumblechatter & Reflection

During the beatdown, chatter turned toward the movie The Odyssey and how its timeless themes strike a surprising parallel with Hebrews 13.

‘Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” ‘

Hebrews 13:2-5
https://www.bible.com/bible/111/HEB.13.2-5.NIV

We reflected on the virtue of hospitality—how ancient Greek culture (and Zeus’s laws of xenia) stressed the importance of entertaining strangers and keeping the marital bed pure, ideas echoed directly in scripture. We talked about the call in Hebrews to commiserate with those in captivity as if we were alongside them, cultivating true empathy and open doors for those around us.

Prayers & Intentions

• Trojan’s Dad: Prayers for continued healing and full recovery following his recent heart attack.
• Tin-Man’s Son (Brandon): Prayers for wisdom and guidance as he considers joining his dad at the roofing company.

Solid work by all five men today. If Wells Fargo didn’t appreciate us doing Cocaine Bears in their lot, no worries—they’re closing down anyway!

YHC: Machismo

The PAX: Machismo, Tin Man, Dookie

The Vibe: High-grade conversation, contractor iron sharpening iron, and a firework-inspired beatdown to celebrate America’s 250th.

Warm-O-Rama

We kicked off with a mosey around the school. The conversation started immediately and didn’t stop. With three contractors in the mix, the focus naturally locked into construction, communication, and leadership. We knocked out an “in-conversation” warmup:

• Side Straddle Hops (SSH)
• Ukrainian Soldiers
• Imperial Walkers
• Dead Man Hangs

The Thang

1. The Firework Four Corners

We hit the first rectangular pavement area for a hurricane-style routine. The center was the “fuse” (called in Cadence), building tension before exploding to the four corners.

• Corner 1: 15 Diamond Merkins
• Corner 2: 20 Wide-Grip Merkins
• Corner 3: 25 Carolina Dry Docks
• Corner 4: 30 Shoulder Taps

What worked: The cadence in the center genuinely felt like a shell getting ready to explode. It completely redefined the usual four-corners monotony.

2. Hub & Spoke Bus Loop

Next, we rolled to the bicycle course/bus loop. We held the Ab Center in Cadence, bursting outward down the spokes for:

• Imperial Squat Walkers
• Squats
• Ukrainian Soldiers
• Curb Hops: A new crowd favorite. 25 reps jumping from the gutter onto the yellow curb. Total burner that required unexpected balance and coordination.

3. The Triple Check

We moved to the chain-link fence by the baseball diamond for a grueling 6-to-8-minute rotation:

• Station 1: Chain Smokers
• Station 2: Squats
• Pacer: Run to the far end of the fence and back.

4. Skate Ramp 11s

Dookie dubbed this one perfectly. At the Stony Point berms by the church, we launched into 11s:

• Start at Berm 1: 1 WWII Sit-up
• Run down into the parking lot and up the other side to Berm 2: 10 Merkins
• Descend/Ascend and scale it (2 WWIIs / 9 Merkins… down to 10 WWIIs / 1 Merkin).

The Real Burn: It was the constant running back down and up between the berms that redlined our heart rates. Pushing through together three brothers holding the line made for an incredible finish. Hit the clock perfectly right at the cutoff.

The Naked Moleskin & Coffeeteria

YHC had the privilege of sharing about my dad for a second time, handing out two more paisley white handkerchiefs. Tin Man reflected on how his own grandfather always carried one, sparking a great conversation on what it means to simply be useful men.

At Coffeeteria, the contractor talk continued on a deeper level. Dookie and Tin Man opened up about their job sites and the genuine pride they take in their craftsmanship. While they talked about the daily frustrations of managing crews who leave trash or sloppy work behind, the ultimate resolution of the group was clear: having pride in the work you do is incredibly important and defines who you are.

We also got personal: Dookie shared about Eliza heading to Roanoke for “grandma camp.” We reflected on loving our kids well—especially the difficult ones, who actually need that extra grace and love the most.

The EH of the Day: Machismo spotted a marathon runner cruising past the AO. He successfully ran him down and engaged him. Turns out his name is Jeb (F3 Name: Sandy), and he used to attend F3 a couple of years ago. We grabbed his contact info and are shifting him to plug into The Forge or NoToll since he lives near Bon Air. Welcome back, Sandy!

Q’s Review: What Went Well & How to Level Up

• The Wins: The thematic “Firework/Fuse” concept kept the energy high, and integrating the heavy conversation seamlessly into the movements made the workout fly by. Catching “Sandy” was a masterclass in Always Be Recruiting.
• For Next Time: The Curb Hops and Skate Ramp 11s were massive hits; we can easily expand on curb/obstacle balance work and high-intensity hill transitions in future Qs to keep pushing our coordination and endurance.
• Dookie called the Q for next week. Get ready for it.

AO: Bon Iron

Date: Saturday, June 27, 2026

QIC: Machismo

The PAX: Machismo, Ranger, Trojan, Tinman

The Pre-Blast Departure (The Spilled Carafe)

At $5:45$ AM, Machismo bolted awake in a panic, convinced he had completely overslept. Meanwhile, your Q was groggily channeling the spirit of Heisenberg, pulling on a pair of blinding, fluorescent orange shorts to honor Heisenberg’s legendary highlighter-yellow shirt from the Forge.

In the rush to hit the AO, a fresh airpotof coffee was loaded into the truck. “Secured” is a strong word; “poorly balanced” is more accurate. One quick acceleration later, a healthy portion of the morning caffeine supply was baptized into the back seat of the truck. No time to cry over spilled coffee—the clock was ticking.

Warmarama

A quick mosey over to the Riverside School Fields, which were freshly cut and waiting for our arrival. We circled up at the bottom of the field for:

• Don Quixotes
• Cherry Pickers
• Arm Circles forward and backwards
• Ukrainian Soldiers
• WWIIs
• Carolina Dry Docks

The Thang

1. The Hillo Dora

We made our way to the hill next to the playground, partnered up, and attacked a classic Hill of a Dora (YHC misspoke and called it a kilo Dora next time we’ll add 400 to get a good burn).

• The Route: Partner 1 works on cumulative exercises at the top of the hill. Partner 2 runs to the bottom of the hill and Bernie Sanders (backpedals) to the top. Switch and repeat until the team hits the target reps:
  • 100 Carolina Dry Docks
  • 200 LBCs
  • 300 Squats

600 reps later we were on to thang 2. 

2. The Wall Dora

Next, we headed behind the large brick school building to find some wall space for a modified Wall Dora:

• Same partner running/swapping format:
  • 100 Donkey Kicks
  • 200 Ho Downs
  • 300 Muhammad Alis

3. Carolina Dry Dock Suicides

We transitioned to the back side of the school for a suicide drill designed to exhaust whatever shoulder strength remained.

• Sprint to Line 1 $\rightarrow$ 5 Carolina Dry Docks $\rightarrow$ Sprint back to the baseline.
• Sprint to Line 2 $\rightarrow$ 10 Carolina Dry Docks $\rightarrow$ Sprint back to the baseline.
• Sprint to Line 3 $\rightarrow$ 15 Carolina Dry Docks $\rightarrow$ Sprint back to the baseline.
• Sprint to Line 4 $\rightarrow$ 20 Carolina Dry Docks $\rightarrow$ Sprint back to the baseline.

4. Mary (The Birthday Countdown)

We returned to the flag for some abdominal work to close out the session. To celebrate Ranger’s Birthday, Ranger introduced a special, slow-count resistance leg lift sequence:

• The Cadence: Raise legs up slow, slow count to the bottom.
• Q Count: $1, 2, 3$
• PAX Response: $1$ (and raise back to the top).
• We completed exactly 39 reps to honor Ranger’s milestone!  

Ranger that was a great cadence! 

Naked Mole Skin & Coffeeteria

Hill dora is no joke that really got the legs burning.  A few of us are going to have to get bigger jeans to accommodate our massive thighs. Ranger’s resistance leg lifts were awesome.   Trojan did his thing (everyone should have one) we prayed then he swiftly went behind the 96” mower in the field to reverse chug what seemed to be a whole bottle of merlot (that was great shout out to the Q).  Great Work today.

The Coffeeteria today was elite—we perfectly executed an equal ratio of workout time to coffee-drinking time.

The conversation spanned some incredible, intellectual, and unexpected horizons:

• Book Recommendation: Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose, covering Lewis and Clark’s epic adventure and Thomas Jefferson’s vision/sponsorship.
• The 250th: Trojan shared that he is celebrating America’s upcoming 250th birthday on Friday with his community group. 
• The Pivot: Machismo suggested Trojan write an official speech for the occasion. Naturally, this led to a deep, sprawling, and incredibly long discussion about death. Truly an uplifting and philosophical way to celebrate Ranger’s birthday!

Prayers & Praises

• Hooker’s Daughter: Prayers of support following her autism diagnosis. We celebrated her incredible superpower—she reads exceptionally well! Prayers that she continues to thrive and unlock her unique gifts.
• Machine Head: Prayers of expectation and health for his soon-to-be-born son, who could make his arrival any day now!

The Warmarama

We kicked things off precisely on time with a quick, eye-opening jog over to the baseball diamonds to get the blood pumping. Once there, Machismo led the PAX through:

• Don Quixote’s / Ukrainian Soldiers
• Imperial Squatwalkers
• Merkins
• Freddie Mercurys

The Thang

Part 1: The Catch-Me-If-You-Can Nine of Diamonds

We launched into a… unique rendition of Nine of Diamonds, blending it with Catch-Me-If-You-Can style around the bases. We alternated movements between the bags and paused to hammer out 9 Pickle Pounders at every single base. Look, was it weird? Yes. Would the Q do it exactly the same way next time? The jury is still out. But did it work? Absolutely. An unprecedented volume of pickles were pounded.

Part 2: Four Corners (Prostitute Style)

Shifting over to the adjacent ball field, we hit a four corners rotation, dubbed “Prostitute Style.” The PAX hit each corner for a heavy dose of:

• 20 Squats
• 20 Merkins
• 20 Pickle Pounders (because you can never pound too many pickles)
• 20 Side Straddle Hops

Part 3: The Bus Lot Escalator

Next, we migrated to the vacant bus parking lot for a grueling Pickle Pounder Escalator. Spread across 14 total lines, the rep count ascended with every line. We started with 1 at the first line and worked our way up to 13, bear crawling the entire distance between the lines to keep the shoulders thoroughly smoking.

Part 4: Bank Seize 11s at Stony Point Church

We wrapped up the main event at Stony Point Church with a round of 11s on the bank. The plan was Inclined Merkins and Incline World War II sit-ups. However, gravity had other ideas. Once the PAX realized their silos were actively sliding down the grassy bank, we audibled on the fly to Decline World War IIs to keep from sliding completely out of bounds.

Mary

We wrapped up the morning with a solid 5 minutes of Mary to ensure the cores were thoroughly cooked before calling it a day.

Coffeeteria & COT

The coffee was spectacular, and the conversation was even better. The PAX traded culture recommendations, covering a wide spread of media:

• Movies: Inglourious Basterds, The Patriot, Rocky
• Books: The Bomber Mafia, Revenge of the Tipping Point, and Ben Sasse’s The Vanishing American Adult

Mumble Chatter of the Day: Ranger proudly flexed his newly found six-shooter action, offering to hold someone up for a premium caffeine fix and bring it to our next cafeteria following the beatdown. Watch your backs, men.

An excellent push by everyone today. Way to lead the men, Machismo!