Tag: #SOJ

  • It’s about the people- Swoop 1 year

    30 beasts showed up for the 1 year anniversary for YHC. YHC was taken back by the showing from this group and immediately began planning some audibles due to the size of the group. here is how it went down.

    Slow mozey up and down satans hill to get the blood flowing then

    warmarama- SSH, Dead man hang, Ukranian soldier, copperhead squats, merkins, LBCs, stretches

    THE THANG

    2 rounds of 5 burpees, 10 WWIIs, 15 squats , 20 monkey humpers

    mozey to the entrance of the neighborhood for some 11’s – runner to the sign and back. exercises were diamond WWII’s & HR merkins

    Mozey back through the parking lot and trail and over to the cul de sac near Wilson’s house for a triple check. mountain climbers, mike tyson pushups and runner up the hill.

    mozey to the top of the hill for a dora- 100 merkins, 200 APD’s and 300 jump squats ( called early for time)

    mozey back to the flag with one minute to spare… 5 burpees OYO….time called

    Announcements

    1. State farm one year
    2. Memorial day convergence
    3. 2nd F lunch @ firehouse north of the River

    PEDIATRIC CANCER FUNDRAISER – DONATE TO HELP KIDS WITH CANCER. SHARE WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW… https://pages.donately.com/teambrightside/fundraiser/john-schroepfer-f3-rva

    YHC gave a quick speech full of emotion for this group of beasts. I heard Gomer say ” It is not about the AO its about the people” this morning to another member of the pax and it home with me for the whole workout. YHC was taken back by the showing of love this morning and this group has meant a lot to me over this year. I have seen a group of men who step up to help others in many ways and will do anything to help a brother out. Growruck was a great way to finish out year one for me and to see first hand a group of this PAX coming together to pull each other across the finish line. MUCH LOVE AND RESPECT TO F3 RVA. Lets continue to show the sad clowns how F3 can change their lives!

    Wildcat took us out in prayer.

  • No Gloves Required

    19 strong at a celebratory version of The FORGE this morning. Those looking to enhance their upper body strength likely left disappointed. Here is a brief summary for your viewing pleasure:

    Mosey around the parking lots mixing in some Bernie Sanders, Butt Kicks, Side Shuffles, and Karaoke.

    AB Challenge One: 100 Alabama Prom Dates

    to the Parking Lot for Warm Ups:

    Ukranian Soldiers, Half Straddle Hops, Cherry Pickers, Copperhead Squats, Freddy Mercuries.

    Exercise One: Hillicides with Squats

    Suicide Style run up the hill: 25 squats before we started, run: then 50, 75, and 100 mixed.

    Ab Challenge Two: 100 LBC’s

    Exercise Two: Indigenous People’s Broke Back Railing: The line side squats under the railing and makes their way up the sidewalk. Man in the back break offs for 3 double count boxing cockroaches (dying cockroaches??), then runs to the front.

    At the top of the hill: Ab Challenge Three: 100 double count flutter kicks

    Exercise Three: Mt. Ab-Plain – at first level of Mt. Chaplain: One Broad Jump, plus 10 double count American Hammers…………..ad one additional Broad Jump at reach level and repeat pattern. Meet at the Summit.

    Ab Challenge Four: 100 Heels to Heaven

    50 jump squats, then mosey back to the flag

    Numbers/Names/Announcements/Prayer Requests

    YHC skipped the prayer and talked about my perspectives on Grow Ruck (shocker)

    Final Thoughts:

    This was YHC’s 5 year Q versary! Hard to believe it has been that long – so many great memories and friendships. It was also awesome having Touchdown out there, who was 10 when I started; and is now slightly taller than me. Appreciate all who came this morning and everyone in the larger group. With my shoulder temporarily out of commission, we had to stick to legs and abs only – but of course, the PAX adapted, overcame, and were looking strong. Great seeing P Trap back out!

    SYITG

  • Who doesn’t love a good skinny dip?!

    15 SOJ HIM’s including one FNG (who was EH’d over the weekend by GTE Cadre Flight Nurse) shook off the weekend soreness at NoToll with a slightly slower paced beatdown, as follows:

    The THANG: 

    WARMERAMA: 

    • Mosey onto the BBall Court and circle up
    • Welcome & Disclaimer
    • Variable IC Reps to get the muscles warm top to bottom, lots of groaning
    • The number 18 was utilized to honor the 18 RVA PAX who completed GTE #47

    Q-SCHOOL – Part 1:

    • Brief explanation and demonstration of how to call cadence, then FNG Will Myers was invited to Q some reps – which he did admirably (we didn’t know at the time he just got out of the Marine Corps 2 years ago)
    • AAR (After Action Report) was provided by the PAX

    Mosey out to Pay the Toll at the Bridge – questionably dead copperhead in the road – decided to just keep moseying – No Toll today…

    BUDDY LADDER:

    • Partner up in front of the bleachers, complete x10 Buddy WWII’s, P1 runs across field and back, P2 remains for Bleachers Step-ups, then partners complete x9 WWII’s, P2 runs & P1 remains, etc. down to 1.
    • ABC’s for the SIX
    • Circle up in Plank and review the F3 Mission, Credo, and 5CP’s
    • Mosey over to the pavilion

    Q-SCHOOL – Part 2:

    • DTH demonstrates calling x18 squats IC
    • BROMANCE invited to take the Q, and guided to lead the PAX in Merkins then in Arm Circles
    • AAR provided – he’s a natural and will do his VQ very soon!

    CATCH ME IF YOU CAN:

    • Partner up
    • P1 lunges, P2 does x5 Mericans then bear crawls to catch ip and switch
    • Circumnavigate the pavilion

    1/2 CAPTAIN THOR:

    • 1:4 of WWII and Am.Hammers
    • Reps up to 5:20

    Mosey BTTF for COT:

    • Counterama # 15
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • YHC took the PAX out in Prayer

    NMS:  There were a good number of our GTE graduates in attendance today, all of us walking and moving a bit stiffly, but the reps got everyone limbered up OK. A big welcome to SKINNY DIP, who was EH’d by the GTE Cadre over the weekend. He’s a couple years out of the Marine Corps and spoke candidly that he hadn’t felt this brotherly camaraderie since being with his USMC brothers, and had been missing sorely. He had a great story of being a competitive swimmer and forgetting to tie his suit before leaping into a college pool in front of thousands of spectators – and having to get out of the pool totally naked, on film, etc. Well, we are honored to have you in our PAX and you did an AWESOME job on the QSchool challenge. Just do all the guys a favor and keep your suit on! 🙂 Bromance equally shined on calling cadence and plans to do his VQ in the next few weeks! SOJ is on FIRE and we’re not anywhere close to slowing down. LET’S GO!!! ~DTH

    Announcements (SEE SLACK!)

    • Friday PM Machismo hosting a BYO firepit debrief for all the GTE guys to share war stories
    • Next Tuesday (5/14) all of SOJ invited to DTH’s house for a 2nd F patio party

    Prayer Requests:

    • Scram’s mom in hospice
    • Chaplain’s shoulder healing
    • NTB alone weekends this month
    • Doozy’s daughter travel safety

  • Bear Crawls and Buckets!

    10 grown-boys flew out of bed this morning in hopes of playing wiffleball with some friends. But with the Q down for the count, we audibled and here’s how the play unfolded…

    Warm Up – Moseyed around the perimeter of the parking lot and set up camp in the middle for some stretching. Gave the F3 mission and got into it…SSH, Dead-Man Hang, Cherry Pickers, Arm Circles, LBC’s, Leg Stretches, Merkins, Wilson’s Wife and Fudd’s Wife.

    The THANG – With kettlebells in hand, moseyed over to the bus loop where the PAX spread out so that each man stood at the end of a painfully long bus parking stripe. YHC sandbagged some NFL Draft workouts (along with some NFL Draft fun facts) so we went ahead and unpacked those…

    • Bear Crawl to the end of the parking stripe and back, followed by (20) Curls w/kettlebell
    • Spiderman Crawl to the end of the parking stripe and back, followed by (20) Squats w/kettlebell
    • Slinky Crawl to the end of the parking stripe and back, followed by (20) Lat Raises w/kettlebell
    • Crawl Bear to the end of the parking stripe and back, followed by (10) Thrusts
    • Bear Crawl with the kettlebell to the end of the parking stripe and back

    After the Bear Crawl circuit, the PAX dropped their kettlebells and moseyed over to the basketball court. Whiffing on wiffleball was a bummer but YHC still found a way to scratch that sports itch. Let’s play some KNOCKOUT!

    • Played 5 rounds of Knockout
    • Once eliminated from the round, the PAX moseyed over to the side of the court to perform an exercise of their choice while the round finished up.

    Back to the parking lot for names and numbers

    Announcements –

    • Ultimate Frisbee at Timberwolf this Thursday at Timberwolf. Get some!
    • F3 BBQ this Friday

    Prayer Requests

    • Swoop has been KO’d. Prayers for healing!

    I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it…I’m so proud to be a part of this group of men! Thanks for allowing me to lead. Had a blast!

  • The Power of the Fellow PAX

    YHC was flying solo this morning and decided to do an AMRAP session with Merkins and Cindy Curls.

    YHC fell well short of the mark he set during the S.E.A.L fitness test a couple weeks ago and State Farm reminded him that having a PAX right next to you going tit for tat, will push you to different levels.

    Thank you to all the PAX out there pushing one another to be the best versions of themselves!

    Did 4 sets of each (as many as I could in 2 minutes)

    Merkins

    62

    58

    62

    56

    Cindy Curls

    47

    50

    56

    50

    Plus a 2 minute situp test

    63

  • The Fitness Test

    2 Early birds got up and got some worms in another edition of Premature Acceleration. Rosie was looking to test our fitness in preparation for Grow Ruck next week. Did a little warm up run, then 2 minutes to complete 40 hand release merkins, then a quick mosey to rest up to do 50 WW2s in 2 minutes. Then the final test before the TWO Bootcamp Beatdowns was to complete 2 miles in 18:30.

    Glad to see Rosie come out and push us with this fitness test. Both PAX passed just barely, and were the only ones to complete the Big Rig Brick today! (Premature Acceleration, Morning Wood, and Rocknroll)

  • Draft Day

    17 dudes chose to start their day at Timberwolf on the greatest day day on the NFL Calendar…DRAFT DAY! With the assistance of my QB Cheat-Sheet-Sleeve, here’s what went down…

    Warm Up – Moseyed to the far end of the school to warm up and stretch out. Gave the F3 Mission and got into it…SSH, Don Q’s, Cherry Pickers, Arm Circles, LBC’s, Leg Stretches, Merkins, Wilson’s Wife and Fudd’s Wife.

    The THANG – Moseyed over to the football field which was illuminated by my truck. What a gorgeous sight! (For about 2 minutes until the lights cut off). The PAX took their positions at the back of the endzone and awaited instruction. The objective was to perform the 1st exercise (1) time…perform the 2nd exercise (2) times and revisit the 1st exercise (1) time all the way up to (12). (Denver picks at #12…Go Broncos!) Easier to explain it like this…

    1, 2/1, 3/2/1, 4/3/2/1, 5/4/3/2/1, 6/5/4/3/2/1, 7/6/5/4/3/2/1, 8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1, 9/8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1, 10/9/8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1, 11/10/9/8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1, 12/11/10/9/8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1

    In the NFL Draft cadence, YHB broke it down like this…”With the first pick in my 2024 VQ Draft, your Q selects…”

    • 1st Pick – Run to the cones (~75 yards away) and back.
    • 2nd Pick – (2) Burpees
    • 3rd Pick – (3) Lt. Dan’s
    • 4th Pick – (4) HR Merkins
    • 5th Pick – (5) Carolina Dry Docks
    • 6th Pick – (6) Bobbly Hurley’s
    • 7th Pick – (7) Joe Louis’
    • 8th Pick – (8) Jim Braddock’s
    • 9th Pick – (9) Crab Cakes
    • 10th Pick – (10) Happy Jacks
    • 11th Pick – (11) Steve Earle’s
    • 12th Pick – (12) Up Downs on YHB’s count

    Back to the flag (thanks, Florence) for names and numbers

    Announcements –

    Prayer Requests –

    • Yeehaw’s baby girl
    • Rudy’s family planning.

    Fella’s, I know I told the PAX this a couple times but I want to say it again. I am so proud to be a part of this group of men and am so thankful for having the chance to lead you all this morning. This group has meant so much to me and has come into my life at the PERFECT time. Today marks my completion of the “60-Hard” Challenge (abbreviated “75-Hard Challenge”) that my wife and I set out to accomplish after we went through a miscarriage in February. The challenge proved to be a great way for us to stay close/connected and helped serve as a reminder that life hits hard but, “it’s not how hard you hit, it’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward!”

  • A meander through the Q’s

    16 HIM turned up at the FORGE for another VQ during this week of firsts. After minimal sleep and concerns about timing, YHC gave the usual welcome and intro regarding sensible modifications where needed etc. After experiencing multiple epic beatdowns over the past two months YHC decided he would pay homage to each in some way. Welcomed Gaston’s FNG.

    WARMARAMA:

    • Mosey around the top loop of the carpark BTTF.
    • IC reps of forwards and backwards shoulder circles, SSHs, imperial squat walkers, DQs, HRMs Alabama prom dates.

    COP #1: Start of New Glory

    • 10 burpees at the Flag
    • Mosey to 1st street light for 5 merkins, continue down the hill towards the ramp, stopping at each of 4 lights, repeato
    • At ramp, bear crawl to half way and walking lunges to top
    • 20 jerkins OYO at top on railings
    • Mosey to flat wall on side of school at top of next car park.

    COP #2: Brief stop for BTTW

    • Aussie mountain climbers
    • Mosey around the front of the school to opposite side of the building
    • Repeat AMCs

    COP #3: The Beast

    • Mosey to Football field
    • The Beast, stopping at 25, 50 and 75 yard lines down and back
    • Repeat 6 X 6 reps of 6 exercises
    • Merkins, WWIIs, Walking Lunges (2 cnt), American Hammers (2cnt), Jump Squats, Dry Docks

    COP #4: Hold the Wall

    • Mosey to wall on side of school, lower level
    • Hold the wall – 60 seconds
    • Mosey to wall upper level
    • Hold the wall – 60 seconds

    COP #5: Crab walks & crawl bear

    • Mosey to upper care park front right of middle school.
    • front crab walk width of half car park, crawl bear back
    • Get the timing warning !!!!
    • Mosey to starting car park
    • PAX split in 2, half BTTF – Each half builds to a print down length of car park

    COP #6: Pencil rolls (gets its own section)

    • Pax in single file, arms lengths apart
    • On the ground, 5 pencil rolls towards the flag IC for 5 PRs
    • Counterama
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama
    • FNG provided his background and with a Navy background was named “Periscope” Welcome!

    Thanks for the support of the VQ, it’s been great getting to know all the pax over the past couple of months. Looking forward to the upcoming GTE47. More VQs to support this week. SYITG. Sable

  • Extra Credit Pull Up Sesh

    2 SOJ insomniacs raised the bar, or rose to the bar for another 5am pull up session. We’re getting stronger and improving form as the Murph quickly approaches. May 25th at Rocknroll.

    We did some hollow rocks, a pull up pyramid, some EMOM sets as well as some toes to bar. YHC needs to work on the rocking motion for doing toes to bar.

    Glad to have State Farm come out and push me to get better every week.

    We decided to postpone our CSAUP for a later date to be named later.

    Be sure to come out for the Murph and Memorial Weekend tribute on Saturday May 25th at Rocknroll!

  • Bermuda 911

    3 of F3’s Finest came out for a chilly morning to celebrate our brother Florence’s official acceptance into the fraternal order of police. Here’s what they did to celebrate.

    10-41

    The official 10 code for the start of shift. PAX performed 41 reps of 10 exercises including but not limited to Side Straddle Hops, Merkins, Chair Dips, Folding Suitcases.

    9-11

    Of course this is the emergency number to dial when in need of Florence to come to your rescue

    PAX would run 9 laps and perform 11 merkins in between each lap.

    Cops and Robbers

    1 PAX would be the cop and the others would be the robbers. If the cop catches a robber before the finish line of the 100 meter dash the robbers have to do 5 burpees. If not the cop has to do 5 burpees.

    10-42

    This is the official 10 code for the end of the shift. You can guess what happened here.

    Called it a few minutes early so we could indulge in Florence’s new diet. (Coffee and doughnuts!)

    Thanks for bringing the coffee State Farm!

    Congratulations Florence!