Tag: The FORGE

Huguenot High School

  • Tainted Forge

    12 men gathered for this weeks episode of The Forge. The Pax was expecting to make good use of the giant AO but YHC had alternate plans…

    We began with a mosey around the parking lot to see if Snuffleupagus would make an appearance, however he did not. We circled up for various exercises.

    Count off in 3’s to get in groups of 4. YHC knew we had 12 Pax members. Each group gets 1 micro-coupon from ‘Lil Blue.Mosey up to Forest Hill Avenue and turn left and head up the sidewalk to Stratford, turn left on Stratford and mosey down to the intersection of Stratford and Robert Bruce. Time for a Quad Check. P1 does an exercise with the Coupon (we varied between Overhead Presses, Curls for the Girls, Block Raises, and lastly Partner Squat/Block Raise/Pass/repeats). P2 runs up Stratford to the Speed Limit Sign, P3 does various exercises (HRM’s, Squats, WWII’s, Partner Squat/Block Raise/Pass/repeat), P4 runs up Robert Bruce to the Speed Limit Sign and back. After 3 rounds Last Call thought we were done but an energetic and enthusiastic NTB reminded him that it was a Quad Check. We Al Gored for the 6 and then completed the last round.10 minutes left on the clock and we had some ground to cover.

    Get back in your groups of 4 in a line and complete an Indigenous Peoples Block Run. Second to last man had the block and the last guy runs to the front. Last guy passes the block to the man in front of him and runs to the front. The idea was to make it to the top of Stratford/Forest Hill. All that glitters is not gold, our group fell apart about halfway there. At the top of Stratford/Forest Hill YHC called for 5 Merkins every other object on the side. We continued this all the way back to the Parking Lot.Circle up. 10 HRM’s, Pencil Roll left, 10 LBC’s, Pencil Roll right, 2 HRM’s to finish things off.

    Announcements – CPR class being organized by Flatline. Either see Flatline or Slack. Tryhard has his 6 year celebration this Saturday at Rock and Roll. Pre workout with Logs at 0600.

    Prayer Requests – Fudd’s sister as she has be diagnosed with cancer again. The Cancer appears to have spread according to the last scan. She is going in for a second opinion.

    NMS – After some serious hype game from Snuff YHC was surprised not to see him. Also, Honeydo said he’d be there but he was a no-show too. We missed you guys! Backblast title comes from a text from Last Call that verified YHC’s internal thought that we ventured to The Taint of The Forge. YHC likes to make off campus trips and this was another good one. Have a great day, it was a pleasure to lead.

  • Exploring crevasses

    What guy doesn’t love exploring cevasses. Noone knew what aerial acrobatics may be in store on the grounds of Huguenot Highschool. It was a canyon run not unlike the new Top Gun as 15 spelunkers explored the deep indent.

    Here’s what went down.

    Warmarama: SSH, ISW, DQs, UkS, Xcross Situps, MCs,

    Mosey to wide lot

    Thang 1: 4 corners 20 merkins, 30 Xcross Situps, 40 Mountain Climbers double count, 50 Squats,

    Cocaine bear crawl on the lot. Stopping at each line to grab sniff a line and do a merkin. Arrive at school for canyon exploratory wall conveyor. Here’s where we moved with purpose alternating to wall sit when we reached a window. This could have been done with more speed.

    Thang:2 Partner up for Dora the Explorer 1-2-3 50 No Cheat Merkins, 100 Dips, 150 Step ups – Partner touches 1 then 2 then 3 trees not the same. This could have been alternating 1 then 2 then 3 trees to keep it interesting.

    Mosey to next lot

    Thang 3: Wilt Chamberlain famous 100 point scoring basketball champ 94 foot identified start 100 LBCs, 100 squats, 100 Flutters, 1…ish apds with a premature finish.

    BTTF

    Numbers, Names, Announcements:

    Tomorrow meet at Snuffs for a 3rd F gathering 5-7 prior to the convergence Saturday. Crazy people begin at 5am, Ruck/Run options begin at 6am. 7am Convergence with awards and food to follow. 1:30 cookout for family’s at Huguenot park bring your family bring a side. Contact Flat Line to sign up for CPR

    Prayer request: Maria – Machismo’s church friend got home from surgery this week. Pray for recovery from liver surgery to remove cancer. Pray for Gumbo’s Childhood friend that just got diagnosed with breast cancer. Pray for Gumbo’s 16 y/o daughter Luci suffering with postural tachycardia syndrome (pots). This is a chronic condition pray not only for alleviation of her symptoms but also for her mental health. Pray for remission.

    Naked Moleskin: PS 133 says “How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity”. Reflecting on the word remission. YHC likes to think in double meanings and this one has a powerful effect in prayer. We pray for both the remittance (remission) of a disease or malody sending it away. Also, we think invigorating us to move with purpose (re-mission). As we gather this weekend to celebrate 10 years of F3 in RVA let us move with purpose.

  • Ordered Way Too Much

    A Bakers Dozen of F3RVA’s finest doughnuts came out hot and ready for the inviting conditions awaiting this SOJ beatdown. Machismo arrived in his newly purchased Gumbomobile, complete with F3 stickers and sweat rings on the seats. Off we go.

    Slaughter start with some hill work. Bearcrawl up the hills, lunge across the top, Crawlbear down the hills.

    Mosey to the bus circle for introductions and warm ups that included DQ’s, Helis, Jazzercise, Ukrainian Soldiers, Merkins, LBC’s, Suzanne Summers left, Reverse Crunch, Suzanne Summers right, Dead Bugs.

    Find yourself a couple friends for a triple check. Timer runs the loop, HR Merkins and various Wall Exercises (Balls to the Wall/Donkey Kicks/Peoples Chair).

    Mosey over to the hill for Clockwork Merkins.

    Mosey down to the amphitheater for 11’s. 10 crunchy frogs at the bottom. Box Jump/Lunge to the top for 1 incline merkin, return to the bottom and continue 9/2, 8/3, 7/4…… Plank work for the 6.

    Mosey to the loading dock and find a partner. Love Hill back up to Forest Hill (or most of the way). Timer runs a distance and returns to find his partner bearcrawling for round 1, lunging for round 2, and broad jump burpees for round 3. 5 booyah merkins at each exchange.

    Mosey up to the sidewalk along Forest Hill mosey BTTVF performing 2 burpees at every other light post. Time caught up with us so just Mosey BTTVF.

    Numbers/Names/Announcements – Convergence Weekend coming up – see slack to fulfill all your F3 desires. YHC took us out.

    Naked Moleskin: Great work this morning fellas with a strong turnout. YHC forgot that he signed up for the Q until receiving Snuff preblast late in the evening. My eyes were bigger than my stomach on this occasion as YHC was all over the place on the fly. Thank you for your patience and willingness to roll with YHC. Great to have some travelers from the south up for a visit. Welcome Sawzall, a frequent RVA visitor that started F3 in January and has already hit his 200 post for the year. Couple of VQ’s coming up with Snip taking the lead at the Forge and Sin Bin at No Toll. Exciting times. Great mumble chatter as always and great work today. Thank you for the opportunity to lead. SYITG.

  • Slowly up the hill

    We went down the hill and then we made our way back up. That is all – end of backblast.

    Not really, it was a challenge to remember all that we did but here is my best recollection.

    After NTB warned Rev that ‘Rosie’s a runner’ and Gumbo provided a correction that you never know what you’re going to get with Rosie at the helm, a mighty 15 took off in a slow mosey down the hill.  The cul-de-sac was much further than I remembered but we made it in tact.  #16 arrived after a brief search of the AO.

    Warm up starting with DQ (you’re welcome Last Call), Ukrainian Soldiers, Imperial Walkers, SSH, Shoulder Taps, Peter Parkers, Tempo Merkins, Freddie Mercuries and LBC.  After rave reviews of the low rep/good form at Dogpile YHC tried to recreate a similar beatdown to work our way back up the hill.  Exercises included lunges, no-cheat (HRM w/ shoulder tap) merkins, American Hammers, bear crawl, crunchy frogs, 30 seconds of curb taps, reverse lunges, copperhead squats (add the twerk, if needed), single leg squats, werkins, heels to heaven, and burpees.

    Mosey to the ramp railing for an indigenous jerkin run.  Everyone hang, those with long arms may have a cheat code, man at the end does 3 jerkins (chest to bar) and run to the front – 2 rounds.  Mosey to the box office for diamonds merkins, WWII, wall sits, questionably cadenced hoe-downs, and high donkey kicks.

    Mosey up the stairs to the next level for more lunges, stagger merkins, and varying speed flutter kicks – the only exercise with high reps and obviously a crowd favorite.  Up to the next level for bear crawl, crab walk, reverse lunge, and plank jacks.  Mosey to the flag for a ring of fire but first, we have to scratch the itch for arm circles – do them in a boat position, legs raised, back off the ground – forward and reverse.  Solid flair during the ring of fire with some Chuck Norris, HRM, Hitchhikers, single leg, and others.  Stretch it out to close out the full 45.

    NMM

    Minimal running today but solid work by the PAX on a beautiful late summer morning.  Chatter with other PAX recently have lamented the lack of good form in some exercises.  Sometimes it good to do high volume, fast, and to fatigue but there is a lot of benefit to getting it done right– including a lower risk of injury – and sometimes that takes lower reps. 

    Solid chatter around the PAX this morning but I missed most of it trying to think of what to do next. Go out and get better today, it takes effort but the PAX is there for support.

    Announcements –

    James River Float Sunday at Huguenot Flatwater

    F3RVA 10 Year – Friday 9/20 and Saturday 9/21 events – see pre-blast.

  • SOGA & GREMLIN

    Seven Saints of the Almighty locked shields and slayed that small but cruel beast which is fabled to prowl the grounds of The Forge. Gallons of sweat were sacrificed in the following heroic efforts:

    The THANG: 

    WARMERAMA: 

    • Moseyrama around the top loop and circle up at the flag
    • Welcome & Disclaimer
    • The usual DTH top to bottom IC Reps

    GETTING THERE:

    • Long mosey down to the turf field through a highly guarded many-gated secret pathway
    • Circle up in plank on the 50 yard line
    • Plankorama with review of the F3 MIssion, Credo, and 5 CP’s (with impeccable execution by the Forge PAX)
    • Mosey down to the 10 yard line

    THE GREMLIN:

    • A short-sided beast between the 10 and 50 yard lines, with exhaustingas movement activities between reps completed on the 20/30/40 yard lines (down & back for 6 total stops, 6 reps at each stop)
    • Round 1 – Bear Crawl & WWII’s
    • Round 2 – Lunges & Squats
    • BREAK FOR SPRINTS
    • Round 3 – Murder Bunnies & Merkins
    • Round 4 – Low Shuffle & SSH’s
    • Round 5 – Crab Walk & LBC’s
    • Round 6 – Broad Jumps & Line Hops

    Mosey BTTF:

    • Ensure all gates carefully closed
    • Bernie Sanders up Love Hill

    COT:

    • Counterama # 7
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • MACHISMO took the PAX out in Prayer

    Prayer Requests:

    • Bollywood starting grueling combat training
    • Machismo friend Maria cancer battle

    NMS:  YHC awoke early to secure the AO and join Last Call for Broga, only to find himself locked out of his house without keys in hand. No problem, run to AO. Sweat pouring already. AO secured and field access confirmed. No Last Call, no problem. SOGA (solo yoga) ensued, joined by REV towards the end. PAX arrived with much angst about DTH Q’ing and no truck in sight… was it hidden somehwere loaded down with cabers? Last Call broke out in a sweat even before 0530, but that may have just been the 1000% humidity. Turns out, no cabers, just a super challenging Gremlin in need of conquering on the perfectly soft turf football field. BTW, the guaranteed access to the field is through the tennis courts. Awesome effort by the PAX this morning. Always a pleasure to Q at the best AO in RVA. Yours AYE! ~DTH

    Announcements (SEE SLACK!)

    • ONGOING – The Bridge
    • 9/2 – 7am Labor day Convergence at Nuckols Farm Elementary
    • 9/4 – Kickoff Ruckhenge QSource
    • 9/8 – F3 Family James Float
    • 9/20&21 – 10 Year Anniv (multiple events)
    • 10/25-27 – F3 Family Camping
    • 11/2 – F3 Daddy Daughter Dance

  • Here come the GOATS

    Musical Mystery Tour in full effect.

    Mosey to the roundabout for some warmarama including SSHs, DQs, helis, imperial walkers, copperhead squats, etc.

    Mosey around the bend for some wall work: People’s chair hoedowns, donkey kicks and dirty hookups x3.

    To the amphitheater for a triple check with WW2s and jump squats.

    Mosey to Snuff Underground where the beats reverberate off the walls and through your bones: OYO 50 mirkins, 75 mountain climbers, 100 flutters.

    Then, everyone’s favorite: burpees until the song ends. When will the song end? No one knows.

    Mosey back towards the flag for some parking space bear crawl ascending mirkins all the way to 10. Run it back with lunges and ascending squats.

    COT with gratitude for another day in this Creation.

    Welcome to Smuggler and Drill Bit, glad to have you out. “Felt like wrestling practice.” Will take that as a compliment. No apologies for the names – anytime PAX wants to name an FNG the Q sheet is open and everyone is free to lead.

    Strong work today, powered by the beats. Playlist on Slack.

  • My Q? Snuff Q? + the debut of Rev

    Blame the Russians! Some how, I signed up to Q, but the Q sheet appeared open for the Forge, so Snuff signed up ready to rock! Anyway, Snuff kicked it over to me at 5:29:59. No problem. Let’s go.

    Warmorama by flagpoles: Provided F3 mission statement, core principles, and disclaimer.
    Exercises were: SSH/Deadman hangs/CHs/Ukranians soldiers/DQ/merkins/LBCs/APDs/flutters/ and Rosco’s Mom stretches (my fav!)


    COP 1: 11s using the amphitheater stairs. 1 squat to start. Box jump or lunge up. 10 erkins at top. Continue on 2/9,3/8……10/1. Al Gore for six. 20 second count.

    COP 2: Mosey to the field gate. Locked. Mosey back to the wall for a Pigskin inspired COP. 4 rounds of hoedowns/milkers/donkey kicks sandwiched with 5 burpees each round. Did my best “OYO” impersonation of the man/myth/legend himself. Not as good as the real thing. Respect Respect Respect Sir!

    COP 3: Mosey back to front of school. Triple check. Runner goes down about 75 yards towards field and back. Team rotating between carolina dry docks and flutters.

    BTTF for three minutes of cool down stretches.

    Numbers/Names and Rev!: I asked our newest Pax member Raymond (69 y/o African American built like Pigskin) to come to the center of the COT to provide an introduction and get his new name. Paraphrasing here (trying my best to capture the moment)

    First and most important, I am born again. I saw this group last week praying (referring to the COT) and I asked myself “are those guys praying?” I knew these guys were the type of men I wanted to be around, so I got here at 5:05 a.m this morning (I wasn’t going to miss it). This country needs leadership more than ever. God and liberty (some reference to founding fathers and Patrick Henry’s “give me liberty or give me death” speech). This country and our communities, now more than ever, need to be lead by men who are devoted to Jesus Christ. I will be back.

    And…that’s how we got “Rev.”

    Announcements:

    1. Ruck event on August 25. 2.0 friendly. 7 am launch from Byrd Park Pump house. See DTH.
    2. Labor Day (9/2) convergence. 7 am at the new AO Nuchols Farm Elementary.
    3. 9/21 convergence 7 am. Dog Pile

    Prayers:

    1. Tragic car accident off Buford road last night in front of Lastcall’s home.
    2. Pray for DTH church members and their new journey with Christ.
    3. Prayers for the kids back to school next week.

    Thanks for letting me lead dudes!

    Heist

  • Super.

    The Bad Boys of Bon Air gathered in the gloom for the latest edition of the FORGE. The guy sleeping in his car would never be the same again………..Here is a brief summary for your viewing pleasure:

    Mosey to the lower circle for Warm Up:

    Ski Jumps, Imperial Walkers, Copper Head Squats, Mummy Kicks, Hand Release Merkins, Australian Snow Angels, LBC’s, Heels to Heaven.

    Exercise One: Merkin Wave
    PAX circle up and and hold plank. Start with one merkin and work our way around the circle. Build up to 7. Shout out to Meatball for introducing this one.

    Exercise Two: Indigenous Super Mario’s
    PAX form a line and Mario Jump. Man in the back does 10 SSH’s, then runs to the front. We made it all the way back to the flag.

    Exercise Three: SUPER 11’s

    Start in the Parking lot with One Jump Squat. Run and do 10 WWII Sit ups on the summit of Mt. Chaplain. Follow the normal 11’s pattern, but every ascent add one Burpee on the upper lot. Build up to 10.

    Back to the Flag for Numbers, Names, Announcements (see Slack)/Prayer requests

    YHC took us out

    Final thoughts: Great group today as we only had sporadic rain and some wind. We were able to prove that Mario Jumps do get hard if you go far enough and/or up a large hill. Super 11’s also was a crowd favorite?? Boberry’s mind was blown during Mummy Kicks. Nice seeing Blue Moon out again – he has been killing it on the Summer Tour. Strong work by all this morning!

    SYITG

  • A classic audible

    11 men gathered for this weeks episode of The Forge: Tuckahoe Takeover edition and this is what transpired

    Arrival 5:27:36 when YHC arrive the AO was already secure, 9 men ready and waiting with bated breath. 5:29 Snuffaluffagus arrived and off we moseyed. Extra long mosey with a few circles until Last Call started to complain.

    COP to include various exercises to included Scorpion Kicks and Inverted Scorpion Kicks, also a couple of Pencil Rolls.

    Mosey down towards the Track and stop at the Softball Field. The first gate we looked at was locked so we hopped the Fence. Easily task for some. Get in groups for a Triple Check. Man 1 does HRM’s, Man 2 Squats, Man 3 runs the track next to the fence for the entire field, 3 rounds.

    Mosey towards the Football Field only to find out it was locked. The Audible begins. Mosey over to the Loading Dock and partner up. P1 Wheelbarrows up the Ramp and then both partners run down and around. Switch.

    After the debacle of jumping the fence it is obvious work is needed. Same partners. P1 hop up and down the Loading Dock 5 times while P2 Squats. Switch.

    Line up for Pencil Roll Train. First stop Merkins, 3 count. Pencil Roll to the right, 3 count. Next step 10 WWII’s, Pencil Roll left, 3 count.

    Wall Walk – tight rope walk up the wall. Walk down the railing.

    Start the mosey back, stop by some Toe Taps and Dirty Hook Ups on the wall.

    Continue the mosey back to the Parking Lot. Crawl Bear to start then Bear Crawl. Mosey the rest of the way to the Flag and do 5 Burpees in Cadence.

    Announcements – Tuckahoe Takeover continues, Homegrown Half this Saturday at 0600 at Robious Landing Park. 5k/10k/Half Marathon, 2nd F at Tryhard tonight, see Slack for details.

    Prayer Request – Recovery for Bodo’s after his Deer attack. Safe travels for Sunspot on his way back to Pennsylvania.

    NMS – good times today, there is no shortage of things to do at The Forge. YHC’s ideas were thwarted by a locked gate but there were plenty of audibles that kept us busy. YHC was glad to bring Pencil Rolls back to The Forge.

  • Slow Dance COT…

    …was going to be the title of this backblast until Snip came screeching into the parking lot at 0530 to join Purple Rain and YHC for another storied beatdown at The Forge. Temperatures were sunny and 70 with a humidity of 102%.

    Warmarama at the flag pole and then mosey around to the amphitheater courtyard for 11s hill-style! Hand-release merkins at the top of the hill accompanied by SSH at the bottom.

    With our bodies warmed up and hearts pumping a little harder it was time for the main event back at the amphitheater.

    • Ascend the amphitheater steps, executing the movement called on each step and adding a rep with each level (8reps at the top).
    • Run a full lap around the courtyard (two sets of stairs) to return to the top of the amphitheater.
    • Descend the amphitheater steps, executing the same movement as before and decreasing the reps with each level.
    • Run a full lap and return to the bottom of the amphitheater steps for a new movement.
      5 rounds completed: Squats, Crunchy Frogs, Incline Merkins, Hello Dolly’s, and Lieutenant Dans for the finisher.

    Mosey back to the flag during extra-time for COT. YHC took us out!