Tag: The FORGE

Huguenot High School

  • One Small Roll for Dice, One Giant Leap for PAX-kind.

    As YHC was doing his biweekly calendar review, he realized his Q next week would more than likely coincide with the birth of his second child. Not ideal timing… so an audible was called. After some last-minute coordination with Snuff, who graciously provided both the speaker and a perfectly dialed-in space-themed playlist, a new plan emerged, a space-themed beatdown in honor of the Artemis lunar mission.

    After a thorough warm-a-rama, the PAX moseyed to the amphitheater where we “took off”, rolling the dice to determine our fate, then immediately cashing it in with box jumps up the stairs and a lap around the amphitheater.

    From there, we pushed onward to Mt. Chaplin, ascending higher using a variety of “transport methods”, everything from bear crawls to crab walks, broad jumps to Bernie Sanders. Each climb ended with merkins at the summit, as if the elevation alone wasn’t enough.

    We finished with a light pole run, adding merkins at each stop, and circled up for core work, each man calling his own ab exercise to close out the mission. We ended with a great coffeerama about Impact and the people we touch in our lives.

    The Thang:

    WARM-A-RAMA:

    • Side Straddle Hops
    • Ukrainian Soldiers
    • Copperhead Squats
    • LBCs
    • Merkins
    • Alabama Prom Dates
    • Flutter Kicks

    COP #1 – Amphitheater Dice Roll– Circle up, each pax rolls the dice. After each roll, box jump the stairs and come back down the stairs.

    1 – 10 Burpees
    2 – 20 Merkins
    3 – 20 WWIIs
    4 – 20 Lunges
    5 – 30 Squats
    6 – 30 Side Straddle Hops

    COP #2: Mt. Chaplin Climb- each pax rolls the dice. At the top of the mountain, 10 merkins and mosey back down.

    1 – Bear Crawl up
    2 – Crab Walk up
    3 – Broad Jumps up
    4 – Run up
    5 – Bernie Sanders
    6 – Lunge Walk up

    COP #3- Light Pole Run

    Lap around Mt. Chaplin, 5 merkins at each light pole.

    End with ab circle exercises.

    Announcements:

    Saturday April 11, Ruck-A-Q Ruck starting at Ruckhenge, ruck to Machismo’s. BYOM (Bring your own Meat)

    Sunday, April 12 at 4:00 Family friendly Ruck with Beaver starting at Bottom’s up Pizza.

    May 16: NTB’s send off.

    Prayer Requests:

    DTH as he goes on his medical mission trip next week.

    Tin Man’s recovery.

    Prayers for the unborn children in our group.

  • 7 Year Forgeversary

    A festive party of 15 HIM’s showed up to celebrate The Forge and get smoked. Here’s how:

    The THANG: 

    WARMERAMA: 

    • Mosey lap around the loop then up to the top of Mt Chaplain
    • Complete x7 Burpees – Happy Anniversary!
    • Plank it up, Welcome & Disclaimer while two latecomers arrive
    • Still planking, Review F3 Mission, Credo, and the 5 Core Principles (conveniently lining up with the letters of F.O.R.G.E. 🔥)
    • Mosey to the bottom of Mt Chaplain, stopping for x7 Burpees at each landing to honor the anniversary (total of 49 burpees for the first 8 minutes of the workout)
    • Circle up for the usual IC warmerama reps
    • Mosey over to the bottom of Love Hill

    DORA 04/04/2019:

    • Including today there have been 366 Forge Thursdays! 💥
    • x66 No Cheat Merkins
    • x100 Scrunchy Frogs
    • x200 Nancy Kerrigans
    • Moving partner Bernie’s up Love Hill then runs back down to switch

    SENIOR LOG:

    • Mosey off-campus to YHC’s house
    • En route Senior Frog reminisced about log carries, so YHC scratched the second planned Dora (which would have represented 494 Q’s), and led the PAX into the woods to collect two massive spruce logs an take them for a brief walk 🪵 
    • Mosey over to introduce the PAX to YHC’s new 1,200sqft concrete pad, the latest love child of DTH & Machismo ❤️

    Mosey BTTF:

    • Run the Stratford Rd hills back to Forest Hill
    • Mosey BTTF
    • Circle up for WWII’s and Flutters IC

    COT:

    • Counterama # 15
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • BOM Prayer
    • Pull-up Challenge! (Currently at 12)

    PRAYER: 🙏

    • Big Rig’s mom finishing Chemo
    • Tin Man’s recovery 

    NMS:  Fantastic group this morning to honor the greatest AO in RVA, and all PAX were accordingly smoked, YHC included! We didn’t get to the 2nd Dora so Senior Frog (now Senior Log in SOJ) could get some time under the log, but we can push the Dora to the next Q for 495 reps. T Claps to Dangle posting twice in his first week back after a year hiatus – both DTH smokefests! Well done to all these brothers putting in the hard work today. Keep posting and there’s NOTHING stopping any F3RVA PAX from doing what I did 7 years ago… start your own AO next to your house! Yours AYE! ~DTH 💪

    Announcements (SEE SLACK!)

    • Weekly Forge Coffee + QSource
    • 4/11 OTB Ruck + BBQ (Machismo’s)
    • 4/12 Family Ruck&Pizza led by Beaver 
    • Monthly: Breaking Bread, Bridge
    • SEPT 26 GROW RUCK! (Registration Link:

    https://event.freedom-ops.fit/gte-74)

  • “Was this your VQ?”

    warmarama:

    We kicked things off with a downhill parking lot run, mixing in high knees, butt kicks, and karaoke on the way down. Stretch: Worlds Greatest, Don-Quiote, Quad, Cherry-picker

    The Thang:

    COP#1: 11’s

    10 Jerkins (on a bar that runs along the sidewalk above the tenis courts) and 1 Merkin.

    COP#2: TourDeStade with dips

    Next, we headed to the stadium for a partner Tour De Stade (touch every stair twice). One partner did dips while the other ran up and down the stairs, then we switched and moved to the next set of stairs. Solid teamwork kept everyone together and having fun.

    COP#3: 200m Sprint with partners and a twist

    Hit the track for 200m sprints with a twist: at the 100m mark, everyone stopped for 20 Merkins before finishing the sprint. The group was smoked after that, so we took a quick 20-count recovery led by Snip.

    COP#4: Evolution

    On the football field we “Evolved” from a ameba, to a worm, to a crab, to a bear, to a man.

    • Pencil roll to the 20-yard line
    • Inchworm to the 40
    • Crab walk to the 60
    • Bear crawl to the 80
    • Broad jump burpees to finish it off

    COP#5: Catch me if you can

    We wrapped up at the tennis courts with Catch Me If You Can: one person running circles around the court while the other did exercises, switching back and forth until the round was complete.

    1. Lunge
    2. Side Squat
    3. Bear Crawl

    COP#6: Evolution

    With about 7 minutes left, we circled up for Five Minutes of Mary — each PAX called and led an ab exercise in turn. This became 6-1/2 minutes of Mary and a unplanned hill-sprint back to the COT.

    COT: Countarama, Namarama, announcements and prayer.

    Great work this morning, men. We covered a lot of ground and got after it. Thanks for pushing through!

  • Conquering Tryhard at Handicamp

    10 gloom studs assembled for a refreshing ride on the Forge pain train, with YHC digging back in the annals of historic novelty for a nonstop high rep whoopin – as follows:

    The THANG: 

    MORNING CALL:

    • Mosey the latecomers loop and end up back at the Mobile Taco Pullup Station
    • PAX plank while taking turns doing 5 pullups on the bar, each PAX declaring their nickname with gusto and the PAX repeating

    SLAUGHTER LIGHT POLES:

    • Starting at the flag, stop at every light pole going down Sheila Lane to the Culdesac, and at each light pole complete x5 Squats AND x5 Merkins

    WARMERAMA: 

    • Circle up in the Culdesac
    • Welcome & Disclaimer
    • Warm-up Reps IC, including the infamous 8-count “DTH” (Dolly, Toe touch, Heels to Heaven)

    CATCH ME IF YOU CAN:

    • Partner up, runner Bernies while chaser completes x3 Burpees then sprints to switch
    • Stop at the “handicamp” ramp

    THE GREAT WALL OF TRYHARD: 

    • Climb the 8-10’ stone retaining wall, safely, for those PAX feeling comfortable doing so. If not, either spot from the bottom or help out at the top. 

    NEW GLORY RAMP:

    • 1st Half – Bear Crawl
    • 2nd Half – Lunge

    JERKIN GYM:

    • NEW Partners, each completing reps, for three rounds total
    • x10 Dips (feet held)
    • x10 Cliffhanger Merkins (feet held)
    • x10 Jerkins (feet held)

    DORA:

    • NEW Partners assemble at the stairs
    • x100 Heels to Heaven
    • x200 LBC’s
    • x300 Flutters (2-ct)
    • Moving partner Tooth Fairies the stairs and runs the loop back around to switch

    Beeline Mosey BTTF for COT:

    • Counterama # 10
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • BOM Prayer – specifically lifting up Scram’s brother in law with new esophageal cancer diagnosis and Dookie sharing about his son’s teacher who suddenly passed 

    NMS:  Solid PAX to run through some of our favorite DTH routines. TClaps to these Forge studs embracing the suck and conquering all these COT’s with great enthusiasm and effort. While bearcrawling the handicap ramp (AKA hadicamp) Snuff noted the brutal hear crawl was better than needing it for a wheelchair. This sentiment of gratitude for the strength and health we enjoy was rolled into the sober reality during COT that none of us can count on tomorrow, and we all ought to do all we can for the time we have today – seek and give forgiveness, put others needs before your own, stop to enjoy the beauty and blessing of moments and margins. Lovely coffeerama followed courtesy of Snuff, with excellent discussion about our 3rd F topics of Prayer and Study. We are better when connected with each other and with a greater power’s accountability and guidance of the What-What. The joyful grand finale on the morning was Scram agreeing to VQ this Saturday at Bon Iron. Let’s GO!!! Yours AYE! ~DTH

    Announcements (SEE SLACK!)

    • *Scram VQ* this Sat (3/21) at Bon Iron
    • 3/21 Kickers Game Home Opener
    • 3/29 Family Ruck (2pm Ruckhenge)
    • 4/11 OTB Ruck + BBQ (Machismo’s)
    • Weekly: Forge Coffee + QSource
    • Monthly: Breaking Bread, Bridge
    • SEPT 26 GROW RUCK! (Registration Link:
    https://event.freedom-ops.fit/gte-74)

  • HB WOD: The Calm Before the Storm

    An enthusiastic group of 9 assembled for the latest edition of Huge Bells. The skies looked ominous; but the fellas were ready to put in some work. Here is a brief summary for your viewing pleasure:

    Grab the KBells for a Slaughter Start on the grassy knoll. Bear Crawl up hill, overhead carries on the flat sections, regular mosey downhill.

    Warm-Up in the parking lot: Mario Jumps, Karoake (x2), Minecraft Walk, Butt Kicks, Bernie Mummy Kicks, Side Shuffles, BOC’s.

    Mosey to the Amphitheater area for Exercise One: KBell Wall of Death
    5 rounds of 20 Wall World II Sit ups, People’s Chair Upright Row, Wallabama Prom Dates (with Kbell), One Legged Shoulder Presses, People’s Curls, run to the abandoned school and back.

    Back towards the flag mixing in a couple exercises: Around the Worlds, Reverse Arm Curls, Bernie with High Hold, Lunge Walk.

    Numbers/Names/Announcements/Prayer Requests

    Stag took us out.

    Final Thoughts: Amazing effort by all the PAX this morning! By the end we were all swole and ready for the F3 Calendar photo shoot. Well deserved cups of coffee were provided by Snuff. Good luck to NTB as he starts his new job – just smile and nod!

    SYITG

  • Care Bears Ripping Discs

    10 men came together at the Forge for some fun with discs and burpees.

    The Thang

    Pledge, run around the parking lot, warm up with SSH, Good Mornings, Michael Phelps

    Indian Run down to the court for a round of care bear square with 25 burpees, 25 merkins, 25 squats, and 25 BBS

    Then to the football field in pairs with one PAX throwing a disc as far as he could while the other PAX did 3 exercises per every 10 yards on the way back after retrieving the discs including: hand release merkins, squats, and burpees.

    Weaving Indian Run back to the flag for Chumba Wumba Burpees

    Q Tip: Listening is a key leadership principle: “Tell me more”, repeating the last word, and repeating back the words said are effective ways to improve the skill.

  • Introducing: The Hardcore Cage

    15 men entered the cage, ready for a high intensity ab extravaganza. This one was not for the faint of heart…………A brief summary for your viewing pleasure.

    Mosey our way through the parking lots, mixing in some arm circles, raise the roofs, overhead claps, high knees, butt kicks, etc.

    Circle up for Jazzercise, Pickle Pounders, and various stretches. Warm-Up concluded.

    Mosey to the tennis courts for Exercise: The Hardcore Cage
    PAX complete as many rounds as possible in 25 minutes:

    25 WWII Sit-ups
    30 American Hammers (x2)
    30 Heels to Heaven
    50 Flutter Kicks (x2)
    25 Scrunchy Frogs
    30 Hello Dollies
    25 V Ups
    50 Alabama Prom Dates
    30 Chain Smokers
    50 LBC’s

    In between each exercise, sprint to the other end of the court and complete 5 hand release merkins. Run back.

    Wrapped things up with a cool down lap, additional stretching, then back to the flag.

    Numbers/Names/Announcements. Machinehead took us out.

    Final Thoughts: I have been thinking about trying the Hardcore Cage for awhile, and finally pulled the trigger. Hoping that it will become an Old Glory Style workout where we can track our progress. I believe TryHard was our top finisher and completed over 2 rounds. Everyone was looking strong out there! We had a great mixture of newer PAX and even some distinguished guests. For those who stuck around for coffee, there was also an excellent Q source discussion. As for the hardcore playlist………..opinions ranged from Incredible to God Awful. Perhaps that was the artist’s intent.

    SYITG

  • Hill of the Skull

    11 shredders cranked up the amps to 11 for an axe-slinging homage to Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.

    Morbid Angel mosey to the roundabout for some warmarama, a Valley of Eternity with SSHs, DQs, Rosalita dips and a whole lot more.

    Mosey around the back to the clockwork hill where we burned some time with 11s, donkey kicks at the top of the steep hill and mirkins at the bottom. Then clockwork LBCs and clockwork APDs. Smoked and we still had a good 20 minutes left.

    Back around the front of the school and all the way down to the base of Mt Chaplin for a triple check – jerkins on the bar, WW2s, timer runs to the end of the lot. Cliffs of Dover wasn’t done so we did burpees almost to the end. Its a very long song.

    Then, the Hill of the Skull. Race to the tip top of the mountain.

    Once up top we crab walk down, bear crawl up. Craw bear down, crab walk up. Bernie down, Bernie up. Bear crawl down, craw bear up. That last one was tough.

    Then over across the top the hills for some WW2s to bring it home.

    COT and coffee.

  • Tour – De – Stade

    Warm-Up.
    The PAX Mosey’d to the football field and then winded it’s way like a snake from Greek mythology up and down, down and up through the stairs on the bleachers. Mumble chatter about “skipping,” the stretches were heard from the unhappy serpent until we arrived at the top of the last set of stairs.

    Circle up:

    • Cherry Pickers x 10 IC
    • Worlds Greatest stretch 10 OYO
    • Arm Circles fwd/bwd x10 IC 
    • Imperial Walkers x15 IC

    I proceeded to miss-name exercises and ruin the “Next exorcise, In Cadence, ready position, move,” procedure, but my supportive PAX was quick retrain me. Here I thought I was a big bad Q with 2 notches in my belt, but I clearly have some homework.

    Thang 1: “Tour – De – Stade” The pax will revisit the bleachers to touch every stair twice

    Set-up: 8 stair sections; assign 1 pair per section to start (staggered). 

    Per cycle (together or alternate): 

    • Run up stairs to top → 10 Dips
    • Run down stairs → 10 Merkins

    – After completing aisle, move right to next section & repeat. 

    – At far right end, mosey back to far left & loop again. 

    Transition: The PAX regrouped at the bottom of the bleachers and did air squats till the six joined us. Then we ran to the football field.

    Thang 2: Field Mary Suicides  

    Set up: Start in end zone. Suicide-style: sprint to each line (10, 20, 30, 40, 50 yd), do full reps of listed exercise, sprint back. Advance to next line after completing previous. 

      – 10 yd: 10 Australian Snow Angels 

      – 20 yd: 20 WWII’s

      – 30 yd: 30 American Hammers 

      – 40 yd: 40 Alabama Prom Dates

      – 50 yd: 50 Flutter Kicks 

    Thang 3: Dora

    Pair up, each group does 100 Squats, 200 Plank Jacks, and 300 monkey humpers as a pair. One member of the pair runs to the other sideline and back while the other member knocks off sequential reps and then they switch.

    Transition: Run to the ramp for some lunges and then back to the parking lot.

    Thang 4: 2 minutes of Side straddle hops.

    Back at the cars we found a fearless leader, very ill, and equally Nyquilled Snuff who rolled out of his death bed to bring us coffee.

    I needed to kill 2 minutes so we did 47 SSH in cadence.

    – Name-o-Rama, announcements, prayer, and Coffee-Rama followed by a DTH lead discussion of our Shorties and shield wall

  • Come On Baby, Light My Fire

    🔥 WARMARAMA

    A jog with some butt kickers, high knees, and Bernie’s. Light exercises to get us into the Valentines Day mood: monkey humpers, pickle pounders, Fudd’s wife and then Wilson’s wife. 

    Turned on Valentine’s Day playlist. Finding love songs that were not slow and sappy was a task but we succeeded. 

    Mosey to the turf field to recount love lost. 

    💪 THE THANG

    Cupid’s Arrow 

    To honor all those times the teenage PAX were shot out of Cupid’s bow like a love arrow only to suffer heartbreak and then mend. 

    • The Arrow: 100y sprint across fields. 
    • The Heartbreak: Bear crawl various lengths back. 
    • The Mend: Walk the rest back to the start.
    • Repeat 4 times.

    Heart Rate Escalator

    A ladder-style burn to ensure the PAX left with a rosy red face.

    • 10 Burpees
    • 20 Groiners
    • 30 Big Boys
    • 40 Squats
    • 50 Side Straddle Hops

    Then we worked our way back down.

    Now that the PAX remembered love, suffered heartbreak, and healed, they were ready to tie the knot. 

    The Wedding Ring

    The PAX forms a large circle.

    • Everyone holds a Plank. One man runs around the outside of the ring. When he returns to his spot, the next man goes.
    • If the “Ring” collapses from plank we go “through the big D and I don’t mean Dallas.” It was a long, lovely marriage, however. No divorce penalty. 

    Mosey back up the hill for one final push. 

    Heartbreak Hill

    Move the whole PAX to the base of the hill to climb the Valentine’s ladder.

    • Run to the top: 14 Merkins (for Feb 14th). Run down.
    • Run to the top: 14 Squats. Run down.
    • Run to the top: 14 WWIIs (Wide-grip). 

    Mosey BTTF 🇺🇸

    🧘 MARY

    Various an burners. Ended with a minute of Alabama Prom Dates which is 45 seconds longer than any of the PAX ever lasted. 

    🗣️ COT 

    • Name-o-Rama
    • Announcements
    • Prayers:
      • For practicing unconditional love. 

    Dealer’s Musings:

    • Love is difficult but love is the way. 
    • Help us practice unconditional love and, when we are not, let’s try harder. 
    • Love my F3 brothers. Happy early Valentine’s Day.