New? Start Here

If you've never done an F3 workout, this page tells you everything you need. It takes about two minutes to read, and then you're ready.

The short version

Show up at 5:45 AM on Tuesday at Muscle Beach in Santa Rosa Beach, or Thursday at Pier Park in Panama City Beach. Wear shoes you don't mind getting sandy (you can always kick them off). Bring water. That's the whole preparation.

It's free. There's no signup, no membership, and nobody will ask you for money — not on your first day, not ever.

If you want to, check out the list of common excuses for not showing up to your first workout - and why you shouldn't fall for them. If you're still with us, keep reading to get a sense of what the before, during, and after of your first workout will look like.

Let us know you're coming (optional, but it helps us)

Fill this out and we'll have a guy watching for you in the parking lot, so you're not walking up to a group of strangers in the dark wondering if you're in the right place.

You're welcome to just show up cold. Plenty of men do. But most guys find the first morning easier when someone knows their name before they get there.

What actually happens

1. 5:40 AM — You arrive. Park and walk toward the group. Someone will introduce himself and ask your name. Tell him you're new. This is the hardest part of the entire morning and it lasts about forty seconds.

2. 5:45 AM — We start. One man leads the workout. He's not a trainer; he's a guy who volunteered. Next week it's someone else. We warm up, then move through a mix of bodyweight exercises, running,  and whatever the leader dreamed up.

3. 6:30 AM — We finish. We circle up, make announcements, and someone closes us out. Some guys head to coffee after. Some go straight to work.

4. By 7:00 AM you're home, having already done the hardest thing you'll do today.

Am I fit enough?

Yes. This is the question every man asks and the answer has never once been no.

Workouts are scaled — the leader gives a hard version and an easier one, and you pick. Men in their sixties and men in their twenties finish the same session. If you need to stop and catch your breath, stop and catch your breath. Nobody is counting your reps and nobody gets left behind. We finish together, every time.

The men who are hardest on themselves about being out of shape are the ones we're most glad to see.

What to bring

• Shoes you don't mind getting sandy or wet

• Water

• A headlamp if you have one  (helpful in winter, not required)

• Gloves, if you'd rather not do burpees on bare pavement

That's it. No equipment, no special clothing, nothing to buy.

After your first workout

Come back. One workout tells you almost nothing. Three tells you everything. Most men who stick with F3 say the second week was when it clicked.

Get on Slack. It's where we coordinate everything — pop-up workouts, coffee, travel. Ask any of us and we'll get you an invite.

You'll get a nickname. Everyone does, usually within your first couple of workouts, and you don't get to pick it. This is a real F3 tradition and it's most of the fun. (Curious about the rest of the vocabulary? Here's the Lexicon.)

Bring someone. The best thing you can do for another man is drag him out of bed.

Still have questions?

Email f3emeraldcoast@gmail.com — that's Nathan, and he'll answer.