Goals of a Q School

GO DO: Once a Q School has been provided, there should be explicit targeting of VQs (virgin Qs) to incorporate what they learned as quickly as possible before knowledge and confidence are lost

Teach F3 Fundamentals

Mission

The mission of F3 is to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for the invigoration of male community leadership.

Core principles

1. 1. Open to all men
   2. Free
   3. Always outdoors, rain or shine
   4. Peer lead
   5. Ends in Circle of Trust

Credo

We leave no man behind but don’t leave them where we found them

Teach different styles of leading

4 count cadence is the most complicated for some to call

• • • The process of announcing an exercise
      • The next exercise is __________________
      • Starting position, move (or you are in it)
      • In cadence, exercise

Down count (you call down, the PAX counts on the up)

OYO (on your own) 

Teaching incorporation of each F

1st F

Make the workout challenging; this encourages shared suffering

Q Tip: Organizing routines that require a lot of OYO or AMRAP (as many reps as possible) allows men to perform at their own levels while still getting challenged

• • DORA is a good example of this
  • Having a portion of the PAX do something as the “timer” while the other PAX do AMRAP of an exercise or routine

2nd F

Giving the men an opportunity to encourage each other during the workout
Another type of fellowship is the mumblechatter that happens during the workout

3rd F

Watching out for the six (when moseying, make sure there are no stragglers being left behind)

• • Feel free to ask a man at the beginning of the workout to own staying with the six during moseys
  • Respect for the six (this is probably 2nd and 3rd Fs)
    
    • Go back to PUT6 (pick up the 6) and finish the exercises with them
    • Planking while the 6 finishes up

The Q owns the Words at CoT, whether that be a prayer or some other type of vulnerability or words of wisdom

Allow the PAX to practice learnings during the Q

The above are your notes to ensure you know what to incorporate; the below, the actual practice of the teachings, is critical for PAX who have never Qed to provide them opportunity to practice during the Q School what you taught them and encourage them to perform their VQ

Ask the PAX either before the workout or during the warm-o-rama who has never Qed before and give those folks opportunity to practice along the way

The main things to give them practice on are

• • Calling cadence (of each kind)
  • The process of announcing each exercise
  • Once you have shared the Mission, Principles, and Credo, ask the PAX to quote these along the way
    
    • A good time for this is between exercises (while in some form of plank, of course) to “do something while doing nothing”

Other leadership qualities to be shown before, during, and after the workout

As a Q, the leader should encourage others to join him for his workout, calling or texting his peers the day or two before the workout

The Q should show up early, welcoming each man and thanking them for coming

It is just about always a good idea to give the Disclaimer, even if there are no FNGs

The Disclaimer is something to the affect of:

“I am not a professional; I don’t know your ailments, so please modify as necessary; we want to see everyone at the next workout, so please monitor your own limits’

The Q should have a count of the PAX at a workout and should monitor that the count is the same along the way to ensure no one got left behind

A good time for this is during SSHs; count each man as you call the cadence

Call this out to the men, to make sure they know you are doing it purposefully

When a man enters the workout, it should be known who the leader is

The leader should show a command by being centered in the circle

A leader should not ask the PAX to do something they cannot do themselves

If you cannot do it, do not Q it

Emphasize good form to ensure the men know what it looks like and to keep the men safe

Start on time and finish on time

This shows respect for the PAX and builds trust through setting expectations and then meeting them

Backblast

Although it is nice to detail all the doings of a workout in the backblast, that is not its primary purpose

The backblast should mainly do two things:

• 1. Encourage each PAX that was there by calling out their efforts during the workout
     
     • An attention to detail is required here, as this will require the Q to watch each man during the workout
  2. Call out the PAX who were not at the workout to encourage them that they were missed, making them feel known

CSAUP-Completely Stupid and Utterly Pointless- F3 Puget Sound Definition

Definition from F3Nation Lexicon– “Difficult, dirty and dangerous events that build Trust between Team Members”

Goal: TO STRESS test the PAX to strengthen Trust. “Shared pain builds Trust”- Dredd

Difficult-

• The event must push both the physical and mental limits of the PAX. The mere consideration of participating in said event should give even the most seasoned and fit member of the PAX significant pause. The risk of failure is high.
• The event must require that the PAX works as a TEAM to overcome great adversity. The various elements must be near impossible as a solo endeavor.
• The event must require great expenditure of time, both in terms of training, preparation and the event itself. The event time shall either by contiguous or in tightly spaced days such that participation requires significant personal sacrifice.

Dirty-

• The event must require a significant degree of discomfort: be that in terms of actual dirt, sweat, tears, cold, heat, physical pain, etc. or thru great mental or emotional toil. 
• To a mere outsider the event must seem absurd or certainly stretch the boundaries of what is considered feasible, wise or achievable.

Dangerous-

• The event while not being unsafe should certainly challenge the PAX to push the limits of their capability. There shall be elements that cause trepidation and anxiety which forces a HIM to dig deep to overcome.

Number of PAX-

The goal should be to have as many PAX participate as possible, however at a minimum an event MUST include at least 2 PAX members (how can you have a team event with 1 PAX?) and the event should be broadly open to all PAX.

Examples:

• Tough Mudder/Toughest Mudder, Worlds Toughest Mudder.
• Spartan Super, Spartan Beast, Spartan Ultra
• GORUCK Tough/Heavy/Custom (No Light) Stars Course 50 mile
• Extreme Week (at least 7 workouts contiguous with no gaps)

Examples of Events to do NOT qualify:

• Exclusively Running events (5k, 10K, 13.1, 26.2, etc) UNLESS the involve a relay portion, extended time, distance  and the entire team is exclusively F3 PAX (For example Hood to Coast, Ragnar) as running is primarily an individual event even if run as a group.
• GORUCK Light/Spartan Sprint/Mudder 5k- as a entry level event it does not meet the Difficult or Dangerous component, however these are suggested as great training events for completing future CSAUP events.

CSAUP Training-

• While true CSAUP events will be relatively rare within the Region we would encourage the PAX to design, implement and Q training events with the eventual goal to prepare the PAX to successfully complete a CSAUP.
• These could include Ruck training, extended or linked together AO’s (Sinister Saturday, Tour de Kirkland, etc.) or other training events primarily designed to expose PAX to the CSAUP concepts and prepare them for the larger challenge.

Ultimately we encourage the PAX to design, market and implement CSAUP events to stress test each other, demonstrating the PAX is made up of HIM capable of true Shared Leadership.