Hard Truths

The BackBlast:

T Claps to Nutt & Hoe Down for pushing me to lead. I have never attended Diamondhead before so I had to do some Sunday recon. I found a nice stack of bricks-so my plan was set.

I started the workout by explaining that this would be a different workout. I was going to teach & share with the PAX what I have learned from my hundreds of hours of direct instruction from a personal trainer. A trainer, so good, that he would smoke the best of you, by far. I have seen you and this is just true, & he’s 56 years old to boot. The F3 12 would be the 6 behind him in short order. This is a good man to learn from. This is also good news for the F3 PAX, as it illustrates the potential we have for further acceleration. I do not do a lot of F3, as some of you know, because F3 is not that great at resistance training. I suck at and hate running, so Gear and Resistance training is where I choose to live. I should share this knowledge that I have attained, so this is what I planned to do. I started a Twitter handle last January under @F3_Challenges. I have been posting Resistance Training & Gear stuff there if you want to learn more.

I instructed the PAX we would concentrate on fundamentals including the following:
1. Full Range of Motion
2. Time under Tension
3. Proper Form

After my explanations of what to expect, we formed 2 columns behind Dr Belding (who recently had a hip replacement). I instructed him to lead the PAX to the brick stash with KB in Rifle Carry Position. He actually went faster than I anticipated-my man is Back! I also had a full hip replacement so I have a soft spot for Dr Belding and want him to accelerate. I put him out front, he stepped up.

Warm up was 100 SSH as a tip of the hat to Snoop and Hardcore. Y’all know I hate these, so it was important that I did this.

Highlight Exercises:
Iron Cross w/ Bricks – 3 Sets
Single Arm Brick Ups- 3 Sets
Single Leg Alternating Front/Side Lat Brick Raises- 3 Sets
Feet Together Lat Brick Raises- 3 Sets
Lunge Position Brick Twist- Both Sides- 3 Sets
KB Squats- 3 Sets
Single Leg Brick Curl to Press- 2 Sets
KB Upright Row-Elbows High! – 3 Sets
Single Brick Russian Twists- 3 Sets

Merkins from the Knees- 1 Set and Regular Merkins 1 Set. I explained here the importance of muscle Brain connection, getting those neurons to fire right. When I do a heavy bench day, I will do about 20 reps with just the bar, this shows the body what it needs to recruit. I then add some dimes or quarters and do another set. After that, I’m ready to stack on the 45’s. Remember, it’s the last reps of the last sets where the money is. This is important to know. When you recruit all those secondary muscle fibers, you can do so much more weight, it’s scary.

Step ups- I did a demo of step ups and how I see everyone cheating them in F3. Why it’s important to use the upper leg and why it’s important to not propel from the lower leg. Drag the heal forward and it leaves the ground last. Why it’s important to pause at the top and balance. These are hard & very painful when done correctly, especially when weight is added, but done correctly, they will make you hard. You cheat them, and you cheat yourself. Anybody can walk up steps, these are not walking up steps, they are lifting your weight with just the one leg, then holding that position with an engaged core.

Key Points:
We did many movements OYO. Why? Because I wanted to focus on Form & Full Range, not speed of the leader showing off how fast he can go short stroking. We left no man behind by me instructing the PAX with a Rep Range vs a set number. Many times I said, “give me 8-12 Reps take all the time you need to get them right.” It should be noted that we are not 20 years old-we need to work out differently now to avoid injury, but we can still build lean mass, cardio and strength.

We needed another 45 minuets but we covered much ground and I hear reports of PAX being sore from using new muscles. These are CORE muscles, so I believe we should Trian them in CORE…AYE?

Dr Belding lead two columns in KB Rifle Carry Position back to the Flag for the Pledge of Allegiance. Another final tip o the hat to Hardcore where this is the standard. We NEEDF to say and remember we are:
One Nation
Under God
Indivisible.

COT: Prayer/Take out by YHC- PHT announcements by Chelms and Backup. Off to work to make a dollar.

Love,
Forge