Category: Richmond, VA

  • Better Late than Never

    Under the better late than never category, we did kettle bells 2 weeks ago.   It had everyone complaining.  Here is how it went down:

    • COP
      • SSH
      • DQ
      • IW
      • Arm circles
      • Helicopters
      • Merkins
      • LBC
    • Deck of death – full deck of cards, each suit is an exercise of 12 reps, work through the deck
      • 156 overhead pulls
      • 156 curls
      • 156 high pulls
      • 156 sit ‘n presses
      • 24 burpees (jokers)
    • Run the bus loop 2x
    • COT with YHC taking us out

    YHC has been on vacation since the workout.  This prepared his body for a week on the lake.  Everyone else was sore.  You’re welcome!

    God is good all of the time!

    Attila

  • Predawn business

    At least 18 men showed up in the gloom to get some cardio in. One of the gear oriented, Offshore, was back for circle but a few others who started were still out it was surmised. For the 7 launching at 5:30 this was the route:

    West on Grove to St Stephens, through the parking lot to Henri, 4’s take right on Ferguson to R on Maple, L on Grove and back, 5’s and 6’s left off Henri on Wesley, R on St Christopher’s, dogleg left across Patterson to Hampstead, follow around to Maple. 5’s R on Maple, L on Grove and back. 6’s L on Maple, R on Monument, R on Patterson, L on Maple, cross Grove, L on Linden, R on Libbie, L on Tuckahoe Ave. Follow Tuckahoe Ave around to Grove. R on Grove and back.

    The route was relatively simple for the 4’s and 5’s. The 6’s had a few extra turns to get the distance and in retrospect QIC thinks it was a bit much to quickly explain. Noted for future routes. Reportedly the 6’s improvised on their route a bit which allowed Chippendale to stop off at a construction site and get a little pre-dawn business taken care of.

    Announcements – The Crucible is off to a great start, check it out Saturdays at 7:30. Next Saturday is The Bridge in Charlottesville. Labor Day Convergence at DogPile 7am

    Great work men!

  • Stranger Danger

    One solo runner nearly got jacked but lived to tell the story. Watch your back out there.

  • Hmmm…

    Three guys came out to take on the day the F3 way.

    COP — copperhead squats, arm circles, cherry pickers, twisty jumps, Jazzercises, SSH, ukrainian soldiers, gas pumps, DQ

    Regressive plank exercises
    25 supermans
    20 2 count AST’s
    15 merkins
    10 2 count mountain climbers
    5 second 6 inch plank

    RUN A LAP
    25 2 count AST’s
    20 merkins
    15 2 count mountain climbers
    10 second 6 inch plank
    5 supermans

    RUN A LAP
    25 merkins
    20 2 count mountain climbers
    15 second 6 inch plank
    10 supermans
    5 2 count AST’s

    RUN A LAP
    25 2 count mountain climbers
    20 second 6 inch plank
    15 supermans
    10 2 count AST’s
    5 merkins

    RUN A LAP
    25 second 6 inch plank
    20 supermans
    15 2 count AST’s
    10 merkins
    5 2 count mountain climbers

    NEXT ROUND
    25 flutters
    20 freddies
    15 am hams
    10 heels to heaven
    5 box cutters

    RUN A LAP
    25 freddies
    20 am hams
    15 heels to heaven
    10 box cutters
    5 flutters

    RUN A LAP
    25 am hams
    20 heels to heaven
    15 box cutters
    10 flutters
    5 freddies

    Back to the flag for a few minutes of stretching

    Great morning for a workout — mumble chatter was minimal even though Yardsale was there. 🙂

    Announcements — next Thursday at 5:30 meet at drive shack for some fellowship time.

  • A day late and Nickel short

    Wednesday morning’s workout is now just a faint memory: 3 strong-willed gentlemen broke the quiet stillness of Dogwood Dell with warmups in cadence: DQs, helicopters, dead man hangs, imperial squat walkers, mirkins etc etc.

    Mosey to the Nickel bridge for a mumble-chatter friendly expedition: 20 reps of varying exercises at each light pole including decline mirkins with feet on the rail, WW2s, squats, sprints, and a bunch of other stuff all the way across.

    Burpee bridge on the way back with 2 per lightpole. We stopped to admire the sunrise coming up over the James. Truly a beautiful city.

    Back on land at the big parking lot rocks: alternating box jumps, breath-slowing exercises, 30 hand-release mirkins, breath slowing exercises.

    On the way back to the flag, mosey up the big hill with sprints at every other lightpost.

    Back at the flag, hold 2-minute elbow plank until time.

    Thanks for coming out and thanks to Hitch for the Korean coffee – nothing like dessert for breakfast.

    Peace.

  • The Yo Yo

    With no Q in sight the pax grabbed the hot potato.

    The 4’s ran Upchuck’s YoYo route.
    The 5’s ran the YoYo and added some extra.
    The 6’s, well they just run all of Richmond.

  • Happy Birthday Pop

    Happy Birthday Pop

    YHCs grandfather (Arlett Franklin Edwards, Jr.) was born August 19, 1922 and left this world on June 13, 2022 (just a little more than two months shy of his 100th birthday). Five HIM joined YHC at Twin Team this morning to help pay tribute to a man that inspired me more than I can ever express. Here’s what went down this morning:

    COP:

    Burpees x 8

    SSHs x 19

    Merkins x 19

    LBCs x 22

    Burpees x 6

    DQs x 13

    Helicopters x 20

    Cherry Pickers x 22

    Mosey to jungle gym for Morning Call:

    Plank up in a line. First PAX member does five pull-ups and the rest of the PAX does a merkin for each pull-up. Repeat for all.

    Crawls and WWIIs: Starting at the end of the field, 1) army crawl to somewhere that looks like 25 yards and perform 10 WWIIs, 2) then bear crawl to the 50 and do 15 WWIIs, 3) crab walk to the 75 and do 20 WWIIs, 4) polar bear crawl to the end and do 25 WWIIs.

    Mosey to black top for Millennial (or 10 100s): Exercise is called. First person to 100 ends the round and PAX runs to the other end of the black top for the next round. Exercises included American Hammers, Jump Squats, Merkins, Shoulder Taps, Flutters, Burpees (done as a collective), something kind of like Peter Parkers, Squats, and two more I can’t remember.

    BTTF for 5 minutes of Mary: Rosalitas, Crunchy Frogs, Alabama Prom Dates, Dying Cockroaches, and something else.

    Numbers, names, announcements, prayer requests, YHC took us out.

    Announcements: F3RVA retreat coming up (see pre-blast for details), Labor Day Convergence at Dogpile (7am)

    NMS: YHC is gonna admit it, today is tough. Pop was a constant in my life for 42 years and a HIM that inspired me to work hard. YHC is grateful for the HIM of F3RVA that also inspire me to be a better version of myself. Special thanks to those that endured my tribute to Pop this morning.

    Pop was a very proud WWII vet serving in Europe from 1942-1945 with the Army’s 2nd General Hospital 44th Evac Hosp. His constant stories of those good ole days always served to remind me why they call his the greatest generation. He owned a tv and radio repair business in Danville for many years…and although he shut down that business in the 80s, he kept working until he was 90. I never met a man that worked as hard as he did. He was married to my grandmother for 75 years before she passed in 2021. He truly missed her and I suppose it makes sense that he followed her as quickly as he could.

    Have a great Friday fellas! Hug your families and let the know how much you love them. Peace!

  • Darth Tater

    8 for Circus Maximus today. Three days in a row for our recent FNG, Lasso. Lasso is Lighthouse’s niece’s husband. Great to have him! Great to have Fireman Ed back from vacation. The highlight from his vacation was without a doubt, the visit to the Potato Museum in Idaho. Maybe followed by the 40-degree nights. However, lately temperature wise in Richmond, I can’t complain, especially for August.

     

    I forgot my kettlebell. Byproduct offered me his and was going to take the 20-pound KB I use to anchor the flag. But fortunately, Whitedeer had an extra 25-pound KB. The great thing about kettlebells is that it’s like a handicap with golf. You can compensate with the weight of the KB so everyone is equal. Sometimes, I feel guilty only handling a 25-pound bell when Offshore has a 45-pound bell. But I am able to get over it.?

     

    We started with a warmup:

     

    SSHs, Ukrainian Soldiers, Don Quixote, stretch arms, stretch hamstrings.

    20 High Pulls (single count): 20 Deep Mountain Climbers (in cadence); 18 of each, 16 of each, etc.

    Stretch and catch breath

    Slingshot 10 each direction (around body)
    Halo 10 each direction (handle points up in front, upside down in back)
    Single Arm Deadlift (Keep back and legs straight, bend at waist, KB on ground to KB at waist) 10 each side
    Single Leg Deadlift 10 each leg (Same leg goes up as the arm with the kettlebell, try to maintain balance)
    Turkish Getup 5 each side (leg bent at knee is the same side as upraised arm)
    Run around Island Oyster backed off at the last letting me have first place. What a pearl of guy!
    Goblet Squat 20 in total (handles pointing down, deep squat)
    Racked squat 10 each side
    Racked lunge 10 each side
    Alternating Single arm swing 20 in total
    Clean and Press 10 each side (start with KB on ground, bend knees, keep KB close to body)
    Run around island
    Squat and Press
    Bottom up Clean 10 each side (KB upside down at rack, hold 5 seconds)
    Overhead squat 10 each side (KB held with arm straight above head)
    Curls 20 each
    Snatch 10 each side (Start with KB between legs, End with KB above head.)

     

    Waiter’s carry to the flag. 20 flutters in cadence, 60 second leg raise. Finish

     

    Numberama, namerama, announcements

    Announcements:

    The Crucible this Saturday at 7:30. Offshore has the Q. Blackwell Elementary, south of the James. Byproduct reported that Labrat rode 18 miles on his bicycle recently. How wonderful!

     

    Takeout by YHC.

  • Salty Rain & Fancy Feet

    A swarthy half dozen gloom warriors took the Forge by storm, kicking off with DTH doing some kinda freaky rain dance that Juanita later came to regret…

    The THANG:

    WARMERAMA:

    • Mosey down to the culdesac, stopping for x3 Groiners at each light pole en route
    • Circle up, Welcome, Disclaimer
    • Variable IC Reps to get the muscles warm top to bottom

    COP #1:

    • Mosey to the handicap ramp, completing x3 Merkins at each light pole
    • Bear Crawl half way up ramp, Lunge walk the rest of the way
    • Partner up for Jerkins
    • x3 Sets of x10 each

    COP #2:

    • Tooth Fairies up the steps
    • Partner up for PLT’s
    • x3 Sets of x20 each

    COP #3:

    • Mosey up to the School Wall
    • x10 Hoedowns IC
    • x10 Hip Slappers IC
    • x10 Dirty Hookups IC (each side)

    COP #3:

    • Mosey around to the Soccer Field
    • Team up 3V3 for 10min of pick-up soccer
    • x3 burpees if you get scored on

    Mosey BTTF for COT:

    • Counterama # 6
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • YHC took the PAX out in Prayer

    NMS:  Awesome time with the Forge fellas today, and with such cool weather! Enjoyed hearing all about Sundance having blue ribbons affixed to his banana hammock – but actually congrats, that’s a ton of work to win a body building competition! Was also entertaining to overhear during PLT’s Juanita ask “Is it raining?”, to which Last Call replied ”No, that’s ball sweat bro!” Yikes, hope you didn’t taste that salty rain. And we finished the morning with a quick game of pick-up soccer in the dawn light. Very kind of the HHS grounds crew to cut the grass – it’s only been about 3 months since the last trim! Notable soccer highlights were Posey megging Sundance for the first goal, Last Call doing a fancy behind the back kick, and YHC taking about 10 hits in a row to stop a Juanita goal from happening. It was fun and definitely got the heart rate up. Until next time, YHC, DTH

    Announcements:

    • 9/24 F3 Retreat – sign up for cornhole on the challenges spreadsheet

    Prayer Requests:

    • Doublemint, Fresh Prince, Heartburn, and plenty of other guys on IR

  • Earning Cuffs & Collars

    Fourteen aspiring gentleman dancers gathered in a darker than usual corner of the AO to earn their cuffs & collars. According to the dog walker the fistful of dollars, this is what might have happened:

    Warmarama: SSH, DonQ, Imperial Walkers, Side Benders, WWII, & Dive Bombers

    Mosey to tennis courts. Partner up for:

    • Lunges
    • Bear Crawls
    • Grapevines
    • Burpee Broad Jumps

    Mosey to soccer field. Triple up for:

    • Australian Pull-ups
    • Triple-Check:
      • P1: Run field perimeter (adjusted to end-line)
      • P2: Elbow Plank
      • P3: WWII

    Backtrack to flag. Stations along the way:

    • Freddie Mercury + Back Extensions
    • Jack Knives + Flapping Superman
    • Flutters + Obliques
    • Chase the Rabbit + Squats + Calf Raises

    Back to flag for Elbow Plank + Announcements to run out the clock

    Announcements:

    • Labor Day Convergence @ DogPile
    • BRR needs a driver (Handshake might be covering?)
    • Sit n sip 9/24 in Amelia. Let Gomer Pyle know if you need the address.

    NMS: Awesome weather and turnout this morning. As the PAX was well aware this was my Virgin Q and I appreciated all of the constructive feedback (cadence, jargon, distance). Welcome to our FNG, Sweater a Wheezer groupie who lives in the Museum District – look for him at Mary, WDog, DogPile, etc.

    Thanks again to Bodos for nudging me to lead. Personally, this was a nice bookend to an unusual spring/summer filled with incredible highs and devastating lows. Being outdoors pushing myself with this crew was an important point of reference that kept me on track and moving forward. Remember to ask your brother how he’s doing; listen; share your story; lean on each other; pull each other up; keep moving forward.

    Excelsior!