Tag: The FORGE

8 PAX joined together for a potential winter mix beat down at the Forge for the usurped (not really) Q.

Mosey to corner – warm up. SSH, Squats, Don Q, Flutters, LBC

New Glory Bro Code – one lap, PAX sticks together and tried to remember the exercises.

Dora #1 – 50 burpees, run bus loop

Dora #2 – 100 WWIIs, run down parking lot, bernie back

Dora #3 – 150 Derkins, run stairs and back

Dora #4 – mosey to football field, 300 LBCs. Suicide on football field adding 10 yards each time.

Mosey back to flag and mary to end with Dealer’s choice or literally Dealer’s choice.

Great work Forge faithful! A snowy workout was welcome but after some wet bootcamps in January, dry will certainly do. DTH rang the site Q and assistant for some coverage, YHC answered. Hopefully the extra rest gets him back in the fold soon. Chatter was abundant concerning the proposed New Glory (for old men!) that had been planned, so YHC decided to run a quick single loop in honor (and grumbles). Bro code helps a little. Thanks to Snuff and Last Call for the 411 on the football field access, we’d have found some extra miles if not for that info.

SOT will have an official running Q out of Midlo Middle Wednesdays (hasn’t it always?). Prayers to Thugs and all men in their older ages doing testing and preventive matters required to stay healthy. What exactly does DTH run out of the back of his truck again? Good to see Greenbow back out again.

-Singer

7 then 8 voyageurs took the gloom of the Forge for a tour of the property. YHC was Dora the exploring when 5:30 struck and beaconed the pax down the swamp gas trail to the Tennis Courts. There first COP went:

10 SSH, Starfish Situp, WWII, Tempo Merkins, Imperial Squat Squat walkers, Ukranian soldiers.

From there, through the Machismo Gate we went (backside of the tennis courts) to the Football field for 1st and 10 (look it up on the exicon for details https://f3nation.com/exicon/. Pax was thankful for Swamp Donkey as we bro coded our way down the field.

Next, to the courtyard amphitheater for some somewhat sketchy Super Mario Jumps to make a Triple check circuit with Dips and starfish situps.

Final disafio was a Dora in the pot smoker’s prison (elementary school courtyard) It went 50 Merkins, 100 Hoe Downs, 150 SSH.

Back to the flag to find Last Call waiting to start numbers.

YHC is thankful for the way F3 has a way of turning A$$’s into Donkeys. Better to Bro code in the gloom than be an A and leave every man for himself.

Kettlebells and running at Twin Team. Rucking at 6am and bootcamp at Rock N Roll. Prayers for my family as I’ll be out of town next week. Thank you Brothers. You are all Stars.

10 strong for another round of fitness, fellowship, and flagellation that we call The FORGE. Here is a brief summary for your viewing pleasure:

Massacre Start – Plank walk on the upper hill, switch to decline plank walk for the latter portion.

Warmarama: SSH’s, Helicopters, Mummy Kicks, Hillbillies, Alabama Prom Dates, LBC’s.

Mosey to the base of Mt. Chaplain for Exercise Two:

11’s – run up hill, crabwalk down. Crab cakes and Hand Release Merkins.

Exercise Two: Broke Back Railing indigenous people’s run. Man in the back does 10 jump squats. PAX worked their way down the sidewalk going under each section of the rail.

Exercise Three: Ab run with stops at each light for 25 count exercises. PAX choice! Mountain Climbers, WWII sit-ups, Starfishes, Rosalita Dips, Freddy Mercury’s, Flutter Kicks, Heels to Heaven, Side LBC’s, Elbow Plank (one minute).

On the way back to the flag: Bernie Sanders, Squatting Side Shuffle (x 2), high knees, butt kicks between light poles.

Numbers/Names/Announcements/Prayer Requests

DTH took us out

Final thoughts: Strong work by all this morning! Enjoyed meeting Flywheel and seeing Swamp Donkey back out. Lots of great mumble chatter throughout. Hope to see everyone on Saturday for the Frozen Triangle!

Yesterday, F3 Knoxville tragically lost Cardinal *during* his VQ. This morning, 11 men gathered at The Forge to pay their respects in the only way they knew how: running back the same workout. Sometimes you just gotta face your own mortality – that is the gift that Cardinal offered up to us.

Warmorama: 15 SSHs, 10 tempo mirkins, 10 Flutter Kicks, 20 arm circles, 10 Hallelujahs, 10 cherry pickers, 20 sec Samson hold in helix position, 10 Willie Mays Hayes.

Workout: ‘Card’s Run and Repeat’ burpee ladder. (Last Call asked ‘why we couldn’t just do an LBC ladder.’ As anyone at a Snuff workout knows, that’s just foreshadowing.)

5x of burpees, big boy situps, heels to heaven. Run to the end of the lot and back, then repeat.

10x of burpees, LBCs, mountain climbers. Run to the end of the lot and back, then repeat.

15x of burpees, squats, Freddie Mercury. Run to the end of the lot and back, then repeat.

20x of burpees. Run to the end of the lot and back, then repeat.

Quite a brutal set of reps. In true RVA style we still had 15 minutes left so we kept it going.

Mosey to the entrance of the HS and bear crawl all the way to the stairs and down the stairs. Mosey around the lot to the base of Mt Chaplain.

Up Mt. Chaplain with the LBC ladder Last Call asked for – 10x and adding 5 at each platform all the way to the top.

Mosey back to the flag.

Please listen to your body. Listen to your heart. This is the form we have been given to walk through this life, and each person has only one. Cardinal’s passing is a somber yet fortifying reminder that what we do in the gloom matters. To ourselves, to F3 RVA, to the nation, to everyone whose lives we touch throughout each day, spidering outward in a web of strength and leadership. Rest in peace brother.

A whopping 15 studs of the gloom rang in the Forge new year with the enthusiasm of kids racing out of class for recess (or maybe racing out of holiday fat pants into new years resolutions). As our local weatherman Snuff predicted, the Forgecast did indeed include merkins…

The THANG:

WARMERAMA:

• 0530:  Brief Welcome & Disclaimer
• Short Mosey to KNOLLERCOASTER
• Bear Crawl to top of each Knoll
• Run down hill to bottom of Knoll & back to top
• Crab Walk down back side of each Knoll
• Curb Plank for the SIX

COP #1:

• Moseyrama back around to Stink Hill
• x3 Merkins ea light pole all the way down to the Culdesac
• Circle up for a few stretching IC Reps

COP #2:

• Moseyrama the straightaway back to the tennis courts
• HARD-CORE FOUR CORNERS:
• Bear crawl between corners, adding reps each corner in escalator fashion
• Corner 1 – x10 WWII
• Corner 2 – x10 + x20 Chainsmokers
• Corner 3 – x10 + x20 + x30 Oblique LBC’s (split x15 ea side)
• Corner 4 – x10 + x20 + x30 + x40 Flutters (2-ct)

COP #3:

• Mosey around to handicap rails
• Line up for OVER-UNDERS half way up
• INDIGENOUS JERKINS – last man completes x3 Jerkins, then runs to front while rest of PAX hang out in jerkin position

COP #4:

• Mosey back to base of Stink Hill and partner up
• P1 begins POLAR BEARS up the hill (bear crawl, stopping to merkin every 5 paces)
• P2 runs to SF at top of Stink Hill, then back down to switch 
• Progress as team until flag reached

Mosey BTTF:

• Brief IC Squats & Lunges
• Elbow Plank to run down the clock

COT:

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

NMS:  First Forge of 2023 saw big numbers with guys coming off the IR bench (Lumberg and Nails), a couple old Forgers ready to start the year fresh (Greenbow, Fiona), an FNG brought by Rosie – hilariously nicknamed Swamp Donkey, and a couple brothers from North of the river (Otis from Daville who attends YHC’s church, and Hitchhiker who was sore for a good 2nd F Coffeerama). And YHC can’t exclude a shout out to the most faithful Forge brothers a man could ask for – Snuff, Last Call, Chaplain, Dealer, House Party and Machismo. You guys MAKE the Forge great every week, and YHC has been immeasurably thankful to regularly kick the gloom in the teeth with you studs. YHC announced at COT that after almost 4 years as the Forge Site Q, YHC is excited and proud to hand the reins to SNUFF for 2023. Hip Hip Hazahhh!!!! Can’t wait to see this AO grow and embrace the community impact YHC knows we have the potential for. AYE! ~DTH

Announcements:

• SOJ Leadership Mtg – this Friday 1/6 starting at 6pm at Diamond Billiards – all SOJ PAX are welcome to attend while we organize a Shared Leadership Team, ensure all our AO’s have Site Q’s, and everyone participates in sharing vision for 2023. Aaaaand we’ll play some pool too.
• Frozen Triangle 1/21/23

Prayer Requests:

• Last Call shared about a JRHS kid who just took his life, and another local college kid who did the same. With the dark winter months here, and in a culture that fosters isolation and embraces evil, its no surprise young people feel lost. Let us pray for these families, our communities, and seek opportunities to lift others up – we can’t always know who’s struggling so best to assume everyone we encounter could use a good word! 
• Hitch also shared again about Swipe Right, and said Flatline is working on creating a 2nd F opportunity with CPR training included. You never know when you may need to save a life! 

YHC was on a solo mission at the Forge this morning.

Mosey to the circle island in front, between the schools for COP

Schrunchy Frogs, American Hammers, Deadman Hangs, Imperial Walkers, Squats

Man Killers

Mosey to the corner for a solo triple check

50 LBC’s, 50 Plank Jacks, Run around the circle island (X3)

Lung from light pole to light pole, Bear Crawl from light pole to light pole, mosey to front of HS

Another solo Triple Check

50 WWII’s, 50 Squats, Run big circle island (X3)

Mosey beside the school towards the back by the ticket office

Another solo Triple Check

Wall sits (count to 50), 30 Dips, (tried to do Tooth fairies but had to modify to) Bear Crawl up steps mosey around fence back to the start (X3)

Mosey down the ramp BTTF finish with Schrunchy Frogs and American Hammers

Numbers / Names YHC took me out

NMS:

A solo Q is tough especially when it’s cold out, thoughts of stopping early, not doing something because its tough and reducing a count all cross your mind from time to time. Beatdowns are not meant to be done solo, that’s what makes F3 such a great resource. Accountability and fellowship keep you focused and push you to be better. Are you better today? I am better because I know that there are guys that will read this BB who were not there with me physically today but because I am accountable to them and because I draw strength from their friendships, YHC was able to do the hard stuff even when nobody was with me.

Welcome to The Forge Underground, RVA’s most secretive club experience. Part endorphins, part Mission-district oxygen bar post-Google IPO, this wildly exclusive workout is the talk of the Southside glitterati. With all you eat mirkins, this unique venue is hidden deep in the bowels of Hugeunot High school and jamming all morning with the sounds of Snuff’s mind conveniently collected in his Spotify top songs of 2022. “What’s the name of this band?” “The name of this band is Robot Koch.” Incredulous looks. The tunes flowed, the bass echoed off the frozen concrete walls, and the gloom reverberated with the aural manifestations of a mind unhinged.

After warmups, the tech elite performed a spontaneous addition from DTH: Cinco de checko. Timer runs the loop, monkey humpers, WW2s, wall-sit hoedowns, and hand-release mirkins. Times five rounds. With a nice cherry on top: 11s of donkey kicks and dirty hookups. The tech team monitoring my work computer is very confused.

Thanks for the rainy morning – post workout rush reminded me of the days of clubbing until the sun comes up. I guess this is just how F3 likes to party. So happy to see Crash Test Dummy roll up. Good man.

An intrepid 6 pack of gloom explorers assailed the Forge to test their metal against the elements. To ensure none of his mighty flock caught a cold, the Pediatrician kept the PAX (mostly) dry under the school’s awning. 90’s rock blasting, these HIM’s conquered the following:

The THANG:

WARMERAMA:

• Mosey over to the high school’s main entrance awning (mostly dry) and circled up
• Upon arrival, the rock station simultaneously began playing Thunderstruck by ACDC, so the Q called a warm-up where the PAX complete SSH, then do a ball-dipper for every time the lyric “Thunder” or Thunderstruck” os heard …LIFO Snuff arrived to enjoy the last 20 seconds of this 4:53 warm-up
• Variable IC Reps, including setting the all time record on Crab Cakes IC… “do it for your momma!”

COP #1:

• With Snuff making it a perfect 6-pack, the Q then called a DORA
• x100 Box Jumps
• x200 Merkins
• x300 American Hammers (2-ct)
• Moving partners moseys around the short end of the bus loop

COP #2:

• Tight circle for x2 Burpee Ring of Fire, PAX holding deeep squat while waiting
• Big-O’s x10 IC, CW then CCW
• Derkins, slow and painful, x10 IC
• Dips x10 IC
• Maybe some other IC exercise?

COP #3:

• TRIPLE CHECK
• P1 – Hoedowns 
• P2 – Groiners
• P3 – Crab or Bear down to end, mosey back

Mosey BTTF for COT:

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

NMS:  Always heartwarming to have company for the ugly gloom, and the mostly dry space to workout accompanied by the 90’s rock brought some cheer. Toto’s 12:36 live performance of “Africa” was an interesting distraction during the Dora, and there’s a consensus that Big-O’s done on a surface without something to hold onto at least doubles the difficulty. Many thanks to these guys for helping YHC kick off an otherwise cold gloomy rainy day with a victorious Spirit! SYITG, DTH

Announcements:

• See Slack

Prayer Requests:

• Dealer’s Mom Kathy and her partner Micky going through a rough patch

YHC arrived at the Forge to find a Red Fox mulling around the AO but quickly darting off into the woods once the headlights of the truck came into view. 10 others soon started filling in the parking spaces to bring us to 11 total. According to the owl here is how things went from there.

Mosey to the ticket office for the COP

DQ’s, Imperial Walkers, Helicopters, Deadman Hangs, LBC’s, Heals to Heaven

Mosey to the corner of the bottom parking lot

Four corners prostitute – Exercises are Smerf Jacks, WWII’s, Plank Jacks, Squats

Mosey up the stairs to the next parking lot

Four corners prostitute – Exercises are LBC’s, Sugar Sticks, American Hammers, Scrunchy Frogs

Big four corners from the top of the upper lot stop at the first stop sign your choice WWII/Merkins, stop at the entrance of the lower lot your choice WWII/Merkins, stop next to the ticket office Smerf Jacks, up the stair to the last corner for Ball Dippers.

BTTF

Numbers / Names Machismo took us out

Three certainties in life: death, taxes, and a holiday Mystery Box appearance at the FORGE. 5 men came to see what our enigmatic friend had in store. A brief summary for your viewing pleasure.

Mosey to the elementary school for Warm Up: SSH’s, Arm Circles, Ukranian Soldiers, Alabama Prom Dates, High Knees, Butt Kicks, Karaoke x 2.

Mosey to the back of the school for the Mystery Box Workout:
One man pulls an exercise from the box, grabs medicine ball, and runs to Forest Hill Avenue and back. PAX perform that exercise for the duration. Rinse and repeat.

Bearpees
Carolina Dry Docks
Hand Release Merkins
(S)Crunchy Frogs
Broad Jumps
Crab Walk
American Hammers
Side Straddle Hops
Crab Cakes
Lt. Dans
Mountain Climbers
Jump Squats
Hello Dollies

Back to flag – 2 minutes of Monkey Humpers to close out.

Numbers/Names/Announcements

YHC took us out

Final Thoughts: Mystery Box was bringing the heat today! YHC was merely there to assist. Appreciate all who came out. I think the Mystery Box Playlist received mostly positive feedback with a few controversial choices. Strong mumble chatter highlighted by Bone Thugs talking about “Sucker MC’s.”