F3NWInd

F3 NorthWest Indiana

Goon

Backblast: 2 Year Manniversary Beatdown

PAX: Optimus, Nuthouse, Goon, Gummy Bear, Elsa, FNG – Slim Jim, Beaker (QIC)

The Gloom was alive this morning as 7 PAX, showed up ready to put in the work and start their day off right.

Warm Up

  • Billy Mays Hays x15 IC
  • Arm Circles x10 Forward / x10 Backward
  • Hillbillies x15 IC
  • Michael Phelps x15 IC
  • Bean Pickers x15 IC

Circuit Training

Round 1 x3

  • Pulse Squats x15 IC
  • Side Straddle Hops x15 IC

Round 2 x3

  • Merkins x15
  • Side Straddle Hops x15 IC

DORA

Partners alternated running while completing:

  • Coupon Curls x150
  • Shoulder Press x100
  • Coupon Chest Press x200

Mary

  • Seated Straight Leg Hurdles x10 each leg
  • Flutter Kicks
  • American Hammers
  • LBCs
  • Penguins
  • Plank

Finished up with coffee, fellowship, and good conversation under the pavilion.

Moleskin

First, welcome to our newest FNG, Slim Jim. Glad you joined us this morning. We hope to see you back out in the Gloom soon.

Now for a confession. Apparently I committed a little stolen valor this week. I spent the last few days telling everyone this was my 3 year Manniversary, only to realize it is actually my 2 year Manniversary. I guess it’s easy to lose track of time when you’re having fun and surrounded by good men.

Two years ago I was searching for a community, where I could meet great people who also shared in my joy of fitness. What I found was much more than that. I found accountability, encouragement, friendship, and a group of men who challenge each other to become better every day.

F3 has helped me grow in ways I never expected. The workouts have really improved my cardio, but the bigger impact has been the consistency, discipline, and relationships built along the way. Through victories, setbacks, and everything in between, there has always been a group of men willing to show up, put in the work, and encourage one another.

One thing these last two years have taught me is that growth rarely happens all at once. It comes from showing up day after day. One workout. One conversation. One opportunity to encourage a brother. Small steps repeated over time become something much bigger.

Thank you to every PAX who has pushed me, encouraged me, shared wisdom, laughed with me, and walked alongside me these past two years. I am grateful for each of you and look forward to many more mornings in the Gloom.

Continue to grow in all areas of your life.

BACKBLAST: Monday, 5/25/26 Honor the Fallen @ Patmos

QIC: HHH

PAX: Boo Boo, Atticus, O.G., Lights Out, Editor, Dr. Freud, Class Act, Bert, Spur, Goon, Heisenberg, Al Gore, Optimus, Beaker, and HHH.

9 PAX did the 4 mi ruck that bled into the beatdown. We paid a little homage to the Murph by visiting the pull up bars. Tried to create a WOD worthy of those that served and lost their lives. Here is what we did.

Warm Up
Carry Sandbags to the Amp
Circle up at the base
Good Mornings (OYO) while reciting the mission, principles, and creed
MNC (15 IC)
SSH (20 IC)
8 Ct. WMHs (5 IC)
Toy Soldiers (10 IC)
IST (10 IC)
Hillbilly (10 IC)
Snake lap up the amp
Merkin Complex (2)
If a PAX yells, “Honor the Fallen”, each PAX has to do 1 merkin complex
Mosey to the Playground
Pull Up lines (3 min)

Mosey to the hill
Sprints (2)
Mosey back to the amp

The Thang
6-minute timed rounds
Everyone in front of a sandbag
Snake your way up the amp and back down
REPEATO until time

Round 1
Sandbag Burpee (1)
Bear crawl to next bag

Round 2
Deadlifts (5)
Lunge walk to next bag

Round 3
Cleans (3)
Broad jump to next bag

Round 4
Rows (5)
Plank walk to next bag


Mary
WWIs (10 OYO)
WWIIs (10 OYO)
WWIIIs (10 OYO)
REPEATO until time (~6 min)

Moleskin
15 PAX posted this morning with 9 HIM getting after it early for a 4-mile preruck that bled straight into the beatdown. No shortcuts. No easy route. Just men choosing the harder thing together.

If not every PAX used their “Honor the Fallen” yell for the Merkin Complexes, it was probably because the workout was already demanding enough to leave most men focused on simply grinding through the next rep. But that’s fitting too. Real sacrifice isn’t comfortable, and today wasn’t supposed to be.

Today we tried to put together a workout worthy of honoring those who served this country and paid the ultimate sacrifice. We will never fully comprehend the cost of the freedoms we enjoy every single day, but we can choose to live lives worthy of that sacrifice.

We paid a little homage to the Murph with a stop at the pull-up bars before getting after sandbags, sprints, carries, crawls, jumps, lunges, and plenty of suffering together. Every man gave what he had today, and that deserves T-Claps all around. Some pushed pace. Some battled through fatigue. Some modified when needed. All showed up and contributed.

That matters.

One of the greatest lies men tell themselves is that they’ll “get back to it later.” Later becomes complacency. Complacency becomes decline. And decline impacts more than just you. Your family, your brothers, your community, and the people counting on you need you at your best.

So post. If you’re injured, modify. If you’re tired, post anyway. If life feels heavy, that’s even more reason to come out. Keep moving forward.

And if you’ve been thinking about signing up to Q, do it. Lead. You don’t need the perfect workout. Men need your leadership more than they need perfection. Visit another AO. Meet new brothers. Push yourself outside your comfort zone. Find ways to serve others because the mission doesn’t stop at the workout.

To former PAX and future PAX: the door is always open. Come back out. There’s a spot for you in the gloom.

We are unbelievably blessed to live in this country and to have the freedom to gather the way we did this morning. Today we remember and honor those who gave everything so we could.

Never waste that gift.

SYITG,
HHH

BACKBLAST: Friday, 12/23/25 It’s Santa! @ Troy

Date: 12/23/25

PAX: Coors, Crash, Dr. Scholl’s, Goon, Gummy Bear, Hitchcock, Lights Out, Muck, Nut House, OCB, Optimus, PacRat, Roadshow (QIC), and Turtle Dove (DR)

Warm Up:

  • 10x IC Windmills
  • 10x IC Moroccan nightclubs
  • 10x IC Seal claps
  • 10x IC Skull claps
  • 10x IC Michael Phelps
  • 10x IC Toy soldiers

The Thang:

  • Head to lot by the bike path
  • All Pax pulled sled with battle rope
    • 2x tires w/wooden frame ~25lbs each
    • 1x battle rope ~20lbs
    • 2x 40lb sandbag
    • 2x 45lb jerrycan sandbag
    • 2x 55lb jerrycan sandbag
    • 1x 60lb sandbag
    • 1x 80lb sandbag
    • 1x 150lb sandbag
    • Total: 640lbs
  • Stop at stations along the way
  • Station 1 – Death Row:
    • 10x OYO Burpees
    • 20x IC 8 Count step-ups
    • 20x IC LBCs
  • Station 2 – Electrical Box:
    • 10x OYO Burpees
    • 15x IC Perfect Perfect squats
    • 20x IC American hammers
  • Between station 2 & 3:
    • Halfway to the end we tried having 4 PAX run down and back and swap out
  • Station 3 – End of Path:
    • 1 PAX does battle rope
    • All other PAX do 10x IC SSH/Mountain climbers
      • First two were 20x, third was 15x, and then we stuck to 10x (there were too many PAX)
      • We alternated between SSH and mountain climbers
    • Rotate until each PAX does battle rope once
  • Return:
    • Started with half PAX pulled and half ran to the electrical box and back
    • Did that twice and realized 7 PAX wasn’t enough to make much progress on the sled
    • We then counted off by 3s (sorry Gummy, when you originally suggested it my mind processed it as 1/3 would pull and 2/3s would run…)
    • 1s ran down to a point and back and swapped with 2s, who ran down to a point and back and swapped out with 3s, who ran down to a point and back.
    • We did that until everyone ran twice. We were almost out of time, so we all pulled for the last stretch.

Mary:

  • 20x IC Low flutters
  • 20x IC Fire hydrants

Moleskin:

Merry Christmas! (well, late since I didn’t backblast ’till the 27th…). I’m so thankful to get such support on my annual Santa’s Sleigh workout! This one was tougher because there were so many PAX – not complaining. We got guest appearances from Turtle Dove, Hitchcock, Goon, and Lights Out! Glad to have you all whether you’re just in town for the holidays, work allowed it, or wanted to have some fun up north.

Thanks for everyone who helped me work through there being too many PAX on the ropes. This has been a learning experience that I’ll take in for next year. Now I’ll be able to adjust accordingly. I appreciate the complements as well from Crash about taking turns with the battle ropes at the end of the path, and from Lights Out for getting his heart rate above 160 for the first time in a while!

This year I removed the blocks and added more bags. I got more weight in less space (the blocks are too big for the weight they provide). If you don’t count the ropes, the sled was around 620lbs – that’s a lot. Neither Nut House, nor OCB, couldn’t pull it by themselves.

It was a lot of fun, and I’m glad I got to spend the morning with ya’ll, and then we had a great breakfast right after. It’s great to have such a wonderful group to belong to. Thanks for everything and let’s get ready for the new year!

#SYITG

BACKBLAST – 8/25/25 – Pete and Bobby Challenge

Patmos A.O.

PAX: OCB, Goon, Gummy Bear, Optimus

Q: PacRat

First day since summer I wore a long-sleeve t-shirt at F3. Go-time put us at 52 degrees. It felt fantastic. Tons of travel this week, but make sure to notch out time for my homies before I left.

When I was in H.S., we had the Presidential Physical Fitness Test. I sucked at pull-ups, and that boxed me out. Now that I’m grown, I’m a bit handier with PT. I didn’t realize, but the PPFT was suspended several years ago. And a shame it was, as giving the youth a standard to strive for raises many boats. Recently (like 3-4 days ago), I heard about something called the “Pete and Bobby Challenge”. The premise is simple: you have 10 minutes to perform 50 chin/pull-ups and 100 merkins. OYO. Break the sets into chunks that work for you. I’m mega creative so I went with 10 sets of 5 chin/10 merkins. But we had a beast or 2 in our ranks that knocked them out in well under 10 minutes. Granted, not as fast as Bobby Jr (71 yr old (LEGEND!). But we did well in our own right.

0530

Warm-Up

Arm warmup complex (5 movements x10 IC, with dramatic pauses between)
Toy Soldiers x10 IC
Hillbillies x10 IC
IST x10 IC
SSH x30 IC
Perfect Squats x10
Perfect Merkins x10

2 laps around the islands

Perfect Squats FTH x10
Shuffle Merkins x6

Big Back Complex

  1. Coupon in the up position. Squeeze that back. Hold for a count of 60 Ring-of-fire style
  2. Coupon Row (PacRat count) x10 IC
  3. Coupon Row x10 IC

Mosey to the playground, mosey around the playground

The Thang

Pete and Bobby Challenge

10:00 min time limit to complete 50 pull-ups / 100 merkins. Break up in sets any way you like. Challenge is OYO.

Stopwatch starts. PAX hit lap when complete with the last rep.

RFK clocked in at 5:48. OCB completed first at 7:04

Recovery

Lap around the playground, up the hill, past the lot, to the sidewalk. Mosey back to the coupons and circle up:

Coupon Complex x10 IC
Coupon Thrusters x10 IC

Mary

American Hammers x10 IC
Low Leg Flutters x10 IC
LBCs x10 IC
Penguins x10 IC
Dying Cockroach 🪳 x10 IC
Plank ‘til time (~30 sec)

0615

Moleskin

I love to see men striving for excellence. 50 pull-ups and 100 merkins in a land where just under 50% of recruit age men cannot pass the APFT. That does not make for a strong nation. Discipline and consistency can get you there. Completing this challenge on a whim was satisfying. The first half felt like a challenge to me, and the last half was determination.

RFK completed at 5:48. OCB completed at 7:04, and the rest of us followed suit shortly thereafter. Adding this at a Q is a great way to burn 10-12 minutes of real work.

OK Plane board in 10 min. TTYL

73’s

PacRat
KD9GNS

Quarters @ THE DUMP

Date: 08/20/2025

PAX: Pacrat, Goon, Gummy Bear

WARMUP:

  • Some stretchies
  • Jog to the hill

THANG:

25 Minutes of up and down the hill. At the top do the exercise, at the bottom take a quarter in your pike to track your accents. Exercise changes every 5 minutes, they were the following

  • 5 Merkins
  • 5 Jump Squats
  • 5 4-ct American Hammers
  • 10 WW1s
  • 5 Burpees

Jog back home

MARY:

Round the horn, each PAX chooses a mary or stretch and leads cadence for about 7 minutes

MOLESKIN:

Good time with 2 of my favorite PAX to chat with! Coffee time was nice outside with the cool breeze and picnic tables. Good to have Goon stay a bit longer with no work, we prayed for his sister moving to college. We also lifted up everyone on the prayer list including Pacrat’s Aunt Ruthie with dementia. Keep up with praying for PAX it helps.

My leggies are absolutely toasted after this one! It’s always a good push using the stairs. Push hard, don’t give up!

-Gummy Bear

PHP Code Snippets Powered By : XYZScripts.com