Join us at 7am on Monday 5/29 at Belle Isle for our annual Memorial day Convergence.
We will do a beatdown finishing at the War Memorial and have coffee and bagel fellowship after.
Remember that May is FNG month. Bring an FNG out this month and get him to the convergence. Special prize to the region with the most FNGs and to the top recruiter.
Thirty four truth seekers, including one aggressor from Quincy, MA, convened in the dusk for this year’s iteration of alternative history. After a few reminders of where they sold shorts in Virginia off we went.
Quick mosey to Commonwealth. Form two lines for Native American run south towards Cary then veer unexpectedly to the middle of the field.
COP
The Thang
Mosey to the end of the field for a PAX accurate prediction of 11s. Merkins & WWIIs at each tree. Some may have only done 10, some 12. Either way, great fellowship with your nearby PAX.
Short mosey over to the side of the school for triple check. Peoples chair, LBCs, run to the fence and bernie sanders back.
Even shorter mosey to the west side of the tennis courts. Split up equally to four corners. 10x Lt. Dans / 20x LBCs / 30x SSHs / 40x Jump Squats. Repeat 3 times.
Collect ourselves on the eastern side of the courts for a reminder of what has been created and what is reborn in front of us every day.
Work our way back over to the bus loop, partner up. One runs 3/4 the way around then lunges the rest of the way. The other is doing merkins, LBCs, something else.
Mary for 5 minutes before TYA took us out.
Moleskin
YHC leaves this backblast here as a token to help memorialize Thanksgiving of 2022. Let us all be thanks for for those around us, our family, friends, co-workers. Regardless of who posted first, this was a Thanksgiving convergence.
White Deer agreed to lead the 2022 Thanksgiving Kettle Bell “Convergence” as long as I wrote it up. Conversations included bulging and detachable body parts, slow firing neurons, not missing Attila’s gas and Johnsonville reminiscing of the early days of this AO.
Since White Deer thinks Slack is only something he does not give to anyone, I will mostly make up the rest since he will never read this (but he will still tell me I did it wrong).
Warmups included White Deer SSH (moving one leg at a time), arm circles, APDs, DQ and probably something else.
We then did a Beast that included Curls, Overhead presses, Overhead Triceps, Sit and Presses, High Pulls and Squats (not in that order).
Runners then did 2 laps of the circle and walkers walked less.
We ended with 20 reps of Curb Pulls and then Floor Presses and then repeat.
White Deer led us in a round of thanks. I’m thankful for anyone who got his far in my write-up.
A perfect morning greeted 45 Redwoods who both caught some extra REM and showed today to celebrate our 8 year anniversary and get a little sweat on. According to the parents awaiting the Tuckahoe Tomahawks game here is what went down, more or less:
EF Hutton Q: COP In Cadence: 20x SSH, 10x Copperhead Squats, 15x Imperial Walkers, 10x Merkins, Plankorama, 10x Freddie Mercury
Johnsonville Q: 11s across the soccer pitch. Crabcakes + 8x 2count LBC (that means 80 on the first iteration)
Lockjaw Q: Triple check. BTTW, Elbow Plank, run the SPMS front loop.
Pigskin Q: Mary In Cadence 20 SSH, 10x Man Maker Merkins, 15x knee up, 20x lunges, 10x diamond merkins, 20x Hello Dolly, 10x Imperial Walker, 15 x Merkins, 60s feet held at 6 inches.
Gomer: 1 burpee for each year of F3 RVA. OYO.
Extra time at no charge.
Oyster took us out. Prayers for Gypsy’s sister, Whitesnake, Roger Rogers 2.0, Handshake’s M, healing for the broken.
NMS – Congrats to our new 1st F Q: EF Hutton! Over 300 posts in the last year and driving for more next year. Hutton is ever present and canvases the region already.
Great to see everyone out today. Thanks to all the Qs who helped out and those that helped with logistics and donations for 2nd F.
Welcome to twin FNGs Hans (Lockland) and Franz (Thatcher). Whats great about these guys is that they have never seen the SNL skits before and are soft spoken…. but thats all about to change.
As Oyster said, for many of us, F3 has changed life for the better forever. Lets share that with all we can for another solid year!
Thanks to all those pioneers that saw that this could be more than a workout and those that started F3 here in RVA in 2014. While some of those fine men were not available today be sure to thank them when you can: https://backblasts.f3rva.org/2014/09/20/
Looking forward to seeing everyone for the 8 year convergence at 0730 at GridIron!
Key tasks
For a little fun go back and look at the first few posts:
See if you dont learn a few things you didnt know before.
33 Dudes missed the national holiday memo to rest on this day. Instead they worked at this sweat shop :
Mosey to grass circle in front of tower
Warmarama : 20 SSH IC, 10 Marching Soldiers IC, 10 Don Q’s IC, 10 Cherry Pickers IC, 10 Imperial Walkers IC, 10 Merkins IC
Mosey to grass field by the Tower
Quarter Pounder – Sprint 25 yards and Do 25 merkins, Bernie Sanders back to start. Sprint 50 yards and do 50 squats, Bernie back to start. Sprint 75 yards and do 75 DOUBLE COUNT Mountain Climbers, Bernie back to start. Sprint 100 yards and do 100 SSH, Bernie back to start.
Mosey to amphitheater
Stairway to Seven – start with 1 Burpee at bottom, 1 incline push-up on first step, box jump all the way to the top, 1 squat on top step, then run back down. Repeat 7 times up increasing reps of each exercise by 1 each time, so you finish with 7 burpees, 7 incline push-ups, and 7 squats at the top.
Mosey to the Stage
Tripe Check : Timer runs all the way down to bottom of the hill by ampitheater, Partner 2 does Cindy Overhead Press, Partner 3 does WWII’s
Mosey to rusty cage
Triple Check : Timer runs to trees, Partner 2 does pull ups, Partner 3 does LBC’s
Mosey BTTF
Numbers, Names, YHC took us out after COT
Announcements : Sat 9/24 F3RVA 8 year anniversary at Grid Iron 7:30 am then Retreat that same day in Amelia (contact Gomer);
Good luck to those doing BRR next weekend;
9/11 Ruck, Walk or Run at Lincoln Memorial in DC (contact Doozy);
Shawn Hogan Memorial Beer Mile (forgot date but contact Faceplant)
F3 Hampton Roads hosting National Grow Ruck during weekend of 10/7 – 10/9
NMMS : The impact F3 continues to make on my life is immeasurable. I appreciate every one of you. Having someone show they care about you and want to push you to be the best is what this is all about.
Proverbs 11:14 NIV :
“For lack of guidance a nation falls,
but victory is won through many advisers”
Thirty men celebrated freedom F3 style. Here’s what transpired:
Mosey over to side field next to the Stone House.
COP (IC)
Mosey to the Big Bowl
11s
Mosey down the Stone Path to the Pond retrieving all the coupons along the way
Death Loop
Light Pole Alley
Mosey back the SFs and re-deposit coupons
Numberama, Nameorama, COT
MOLESKIN
YHC threw out the idea of converging at the late great Batteau in hopes of drawing a few guys on this special day. Should’ve known the men of F3 would show up in droves. In celebration of America, YHC thought it would be appropriate to pay tribute to the original Batteau legendary workout. Hardywood would have been proud. Welcome to the 4 FNGs, see you again soon. God Bless America, be safe out there.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Prayers for local families suffering tragic losses
Gents, after asking around it seems many PAX are out of town to celebrate the 4th, but I plan to work out. Call it a Convergence if you want, OTB, or simply a blast from the past, but 6 years ago our old friend Hardywood dropped a bomb that nearly killed half the PAX in attendance, YHC included. Let’s do it again. We’re throwing it back to Batteau. For those who don’t know, that is a now retired AO at Forest Hill Park. Meet up spot is the Stone House on 41st Street and Forest Hill Avenue. We’ll start at 0700 and go for an hour. I’ll have a cooler with water and some other things after the workout. There’s a Blanchard’s nearby for coffeteria afterward. https://backblasts.f3rva.org/2016/07/04/batteau-beatdow-july-4th-spectacular/
A lucky 13 from F3RVA converged in Buckingham with 23 other F3 Charlottesville, F3 Lynchburg, F3 Capital and Bridge brothers to celebrate the one year anniversary of The Bridge. In short, those who know, know. Some things just can’t be explained. The Bridge is one of those things. I always love posting at The Bridge, and today was no different. The energy was palpable. The brotherhood was real. The bond was everlasting.
When I arrived at 7:01 – launch time was 7:30 – I was not surprised to see my RVA brothers already there, ready to go. Shortly, clown cars from all over arrived, including a solo clown car for our brother Major Payne from F3 The Capital. To say I was pumped to see everyone and celebrate this day is an understatement. It was Christmas morning, in a sense.
On top of the organic energy, a film crew was on hand to capture F3s involvement with The Bridge. We were ready to hit the ground running.
07:30, it was time to start. Circle up. Slaughter start = 11 Burpees.
Warm-o-rama: YHC decided the best way to involve and introduce everyone was to call members of the PAX to the center of the ring, one at a time, to lead an exercise 10-15 total. SSHs, Scorpion Kicks, Carolina Dry Docks, HR Merkins, Burpees, Peter Parkers, Grass Angels, Australian Grass Angels, LBCs, Imperial Walkers, Jump Squats, and more…
Circle of Doom: The Bridge has a nice track, and we made full use of it. Partner up – different nano regions. Partner one runs the track until they reach their partner, then switch. Partner 2 performs called exercises. Exercises are Bear Crawl, Triple Jump Squats, Lunges. Rinse and repeat until the exercising partner reaches the start/finish line.
Modified Forest Gumps: New partners. PLTs x 10 to each side and 10 Dealer’s Choice. In between rounds PAX performs 10 BooYah Merkins.
Merkin Balloon Toss: Partner up. PAX tosses water ballon and performs 5 called merkins each round until a winner is declared. Diamond Merkins, Merkins, Carolina Dry Docks were called.
Tug-O-War: Round 1: Bridge v C’ville. Bridge won. Round 2: C’ville v. RVA. RVA won. Round 3: Hodge Podge v Hodge Podge. Round 4: Bridge v. All-Stars. Bridge won again! 2 for 2. Boom!
American Hammers (Ivey) x 20.
Announcements: F3RVA will Q at The Bridge the 4th Saturday of every month. BRR teams are beginning to form.
NMS: Today we converged to celebrate a very important milestone – 1 year of F3 at The Bridge. At The Bridge, we talk with these mean a lot about leadership, and its meaning. I wanted to demonstrate leadership as a true vulnerability, and not being out front without meaning. We started by forming an inner circle of the men from The Bridge, with all other PAX standing directly behind them. Leadership starts with vulnerability and trust. You cannot lead until you know that you can trust those around you, that you are accepting of help and support. The outer circle is there for you. You cannot lead by yourself. You cannot lead until you can be open, free and trusting.
Next we switched places. Now The Bridge PAX was on the outside. An equally important component of leadership. You are there to lend unconditional support. To catch a brother when he falls. Champions don’t show up to get all that they want. Champions show up to give all that they have. The same goes for leadership. As members of F3 and The Bridge, we must give all that we have. We must be selfless. We must get back up when we fall down.
The men at The Bridge are doing very special things. It is a true honor to be a part of it. Thank you all so very much for being here to celebrate and honor. It meant the world to me.
49 redwoods gathered today to celebrate our brotherhood in the region with a humid beatdown , remember the fallen, and announce some changes in F3RVA. According to the amateur documentary crew filming us during burpee hill, this is how it went down.
TYA COP all In Cadence. 25x SSH, 10x DQ, 10x Merkins, 25x LBC, 15x Freddie Mercurys, 10x SSH. After saying a few words TYA passed the Q to YHC.
Gomer COP all IC. 15x Merkin, 15x WW2, 15x Copperhead squats, 10x Shazzam. 10x Burpees on your own. Break into 4 groups for 20 minutes.
1. Corned Beef Q. 11’s across canal bridge. Hand release merkins on one side and squats other side run across bridge. Circle of merkins around nourishment fountain. One merkin at each stone rotating clockwise until complete circle. Start triple check ( only had time for one rotation). P1-run to parking lot entrance from fountain and back (timer) P2 – dips on Bench P3 – LBC’s. BTTF
2. Doozy Q. Mosey across the bridge stop at each bench for merkins 25,20,15,10 and finish with 10 Derkins at the rocks on the other side. Lunges, butt kickers and high knees to the stairs for 11’s 10 – count American Hammers at the bottom and 1 Crunchy frog at the top. Indigenous People Run BTTF with last person doing 1 merkin before running to the front
3. Swirly Q. Incline merkins and dips on the steps. 4 corners merkins , Burpees, Squats, Lt. Dans; Polar bear across field crawl bear poler bear back: High knees across field 5 burpees Bernie sanders back plank exercises hold it ! Mosey to picnic tables – dips incline Merkins step ups Mosey to bottom of hill for some Mary till all groups back
4. Gomer Q. Mosey to base of hill. 11s Merkins and squats. 2 rounds individual. 2 rounds partners. 4 rounds in groups of four. 2 rounds all PAX. BTTF
Come back together. Movement to the War Memorial. 1x Burpee at each left hand light pole – go back for the six. Ring of Fire at the top of the hill. Moment of silence for Memorial Day – PAX announced their brothers and sisters lost to defending the Nation – some listed below. Florence led us in a COT. Prayers for those healing, our departed and the families that carry their honor forward.
NMS – On behalf of the PAX, YHC wants to thank Bleeder, TYA, Swirly, and the rest of the founding brothers for the inspiration to start and to lead F3RVA for all these years. We are known as doing things a little different. Thats ok – we have our reasons. We were one of the first regional expansions – before F3 became organized with a board and other corporate positions and as the F3 philosophy evolved and was captured. We are also in the land where liberty and a revolution was born – among those events in Patrick Henry’s speech at St Johns Church – and while are not perfect we are working and will continue to evolve as the best nation on the planet. Many more things make us unique. We will keep true to ourselves while we increase leadership opportunities to fulfill the F3 Mission:
Our mission is to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership
YHC wants to thank the PAX for your support and leadership. We have much to do.
Thanks also to Honeydo and Seymour for organizing and setting up coffeeteria.
Finally on Memorial Day, we want to remember those that have fallen to build and defend this great nation. YHC does not participate in twitter often, but one asked Joko Willink how to best honor those that did not return. His response “Live a life that honors their sacrifice.” Cannot say it better brother Jocko! https://twitter.com/DaveDillon44/status/1530163689147465730
Feel free to list your Memorial Day remembrances below.
Get Some!