F3 New Orleans

Blog

  • Royal Huddleston Burpee, and other esoterica – from Sandbar

    Before YHC achieved 49 for a second time in December, he led the PAX on a 110 burpee challenge with some levee fun thrown in at the Birdcage. Not wanting to be redundant YHC did some digging on the Burpee we have all grown to love, and found out we are doing it wrong. Royal Huddleston Burpee Sr. was a physiologist who invented (arguably) one of the most effective exercises of all time in 1939 for his PhD thesis in Applied Physiology at Columbia Teacher’s College. The burpee is a squat thrust with a stand in between repetitions. Anything added – pushup (merkin) or a jump – is a modification of the original.

    In pouring rain the PAX ran to Wolfpack and did some warmups of SSH, Windmills, Grass Grabbers, Toy Soldiers, Hillbillies and Imperial Walkers. Then the PAX proceeded through various elements of military physical fitness tests.

    1. The first test – 50 burpees OYO

    The exercise was popularized when the United States Armed Services made it one of the ways used to assess the fitness level of recruits when the US entered World War II.[3] Although the original test was not designed to be performed at high volume, the Army used the burpee to test how many times it can be performed by a soldier in 20 seconds[3] – 8 burpees in 20 seconds is considered poor, 10 is fair, 13 or more excellent. The Army also considered that a soldier fit enough for the rigor of war should be able to perform 40 or 50 burpees non-stop in an easy rhythm.

    Then Pax paired up, one to exercise, one to count.

    2. Second Test – Army Physical Fitness Test – 2 minutes pushups.
    3. 2 minutes situps.
    4. Pax then ran sprints of about 200 yards for an element of the Bar Or test of the IDF. a Sprinting in a straight line 150 meters then turning and sprinting back another 150 meters. Regular infantry must complete it under 50 seconds.

    PAX then moseyed through even heavier rain to the ROTC pullup bars to complete that element of the Army Ranger test. Ranger Test – For soldiers attending the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program (RASP) (to join the 75th Ranger Regiment) a special Ranger Fitness Test is conducted for all age groups, which is separate from the Army Physical Fitness Test. The test is pass/fail and involves push-ups, sit-ups, chin-ups, and a five-mile run. Push-ups and sit-ups are to be performed within 2 minutes. Pax also completed another element of Bar Or test – the dips. Below is the entire Bar Or in case some PAX would like to challenge themselves.

    “Bar Or” – The official IDF fitness test
    1) Pull – Ups (palms facing out) – Regular infantry are required to do at least 7 with a 7 kilo weighted vest.

    2) Dips – Regular infantry are required to complete at least 11. (without weighted vest)

    3) Trap Bar Jump Squats – 7 reps of 60 kilo

    4) Sprints – 300 meter sprint ( usually performed after the 3 kilometer run) Sprinting in a straight line 150 meters then turning and sprinting back another 150 meters. Regular infantry must complet it under 50 seconds.

    5) 3000 meter run (1.86 miles) – Regular infantry must complete it under 15:33 minutes in basic training and under 14:30 in advanced training.

    Back to flag, COT.

  • Run Cajun Run Mumblechatter, and Teethchatter – from Ballz Deep

    Another Thursday, another 5k. The saddle is starting to feel familiar again after the holiday hiatus. The usual suspects arrived at 5:15. Although we miss #The Hammer as he prepares for the Louisiana Marathon. He will return soon!

    Jose 10k, Steve, Shooter, and I rounded out the group on this cold Thursday morning. Warmups were:
    10 count Ass Grabbers
    10 count side straddle hops
    10 count arm circles, front/back
    10 count windmills

    An “Elevens” modification was used to honor 01-09 before the normal running route:
    1 mountain climber, 9 merkins… 2 mtn climbers, 8 merkins, and so forth. 45 pushups total helped get the blood viscosity higher.
    Mumblechatter included learning the great Run Cajun Run group names. Talked outdoor sports with Shooter. Talked the merits of deermeat burritos, how to justify buying a boat off love for fish tacos, why Adam Sandler never picked Steve for pickup basketball in LA, and how unlikely the Steelers are to beat the Ravens Saturday. #Shooter led the way on a double 3.8 mile loop around Hermitage Court. That, plus the “elevens” modification had us return with 2 minutes to spare. Run Cajun Run announcement, and COT to finish. Plenty of hearty mumblechatter to distract us from the teethchatter.

  • KISS with Crucial Taunt – from Jose10k

    Late Friday evening, when everyone else was busy pretending their weekend plans were too important to sweat it out, I decided to keep it “simple stupid” and crank out a Murph at the marsh. Because why not combine the serenity of nature with a borderline masochistic workout, right?

    We kicked things off with a quick warm-up around the flag—mostly to loosen up, but also to stall and hope for a miracle excuse to skip leg day. No such luck. Straight to the marsh we moseyed, where we proceeded to grind through 20 sets of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 20 squats.

    Now, here’s where the comedy gold begins. You’ve got Bird over there doing jump squats with a full spin like he’s auditioning for Cirque du Soleil, and Zoolander showing off with thumb-only pull-ups and one-legged inverted Bulgarian split squats. The rest of us? Oh, we were doing our own kind of heavy lifting—debating whether Guns N’ Roses could out-mosh New Kids on the Block, swapping embarrassing stories about our ‘90s crushes, and contemplating if VH1’s Behind the Music counts as cardio.

    After wrapping up the Murph and rethinking life choices, we moved on to some Lt. Dan lunge-walking—because who doesn’t love a good Forrest Gump reference in the middle of quad destruction? We finally ran into Grundy, who had been “enthusiastically” searching for us by running laps around the lakefront. (Sure, buddy. We believe you.)

    Stop signs became our new nemeses, where we busted out 20 squats at each one. At the second-to-last stop, we switched it up with two rounds of 20 penguins and 20 LBCs because nothing screams camaraderie like flapping around like aquatic birds. A few brave souls sprinted to the flag to finish strong while the rest of us casually redefined what counts as a “sprint.”

    We wrapped up with C.O.T., where Russo prayed us out, undoubtedly asking for divine intervention to heal our sore muscles and to forgive Bird and Zoolander for showing us all up.

    Thanks for letting me lead, gentlemen. Next time, let’s try something harder—like keeping a straight face when Zoolander breaks out those one-legged shenanigans again.

  • Hot Sauce, Bushwhackers, and Catapults: A Wet and Wild Morning at the A1C – from Jose10k

    So there I was, ready to tackle the day in a parking garage, wetter than a swimsuit calendar in monsoon season but warmer than yesterday’s frozen hellscape. Just as I was prepping for some solo misery at 5:14 AM, Fletch rolls in like a spicy savior, hot sauce in hand. This wasn’t just any hot sauce, though—it was Fletch’s special blend, the kind that burns twice, if you know what I mean. Naturally, I knew it had to go to Bushwhacker, the only guy who won’t whine about getting left out of the heat.

    And just as I’m cursing the heavens for starting without him, who do we see rolling up in his signature white chariot? Bushwhacker himself, arriving late but still managing to make an entrance. Hot sauce exchange complete, we got to work.

    Since it was January 10th and football is life, we honored the playoffs with a First-and-Ten special: a brutal round of 11s, featuring burpees and copperhead squats on opposite ends of the driest concrete we could find. Between sets, we experimented with various ways to move—sprinting, sidestepping, karaoke-style, bear crawling, and then, thanks to Bushwhacker’s brilliant idea, catapulting. Turns out, launching yourself repeatedly down a parking garage isn’t the best move unless you’re training for the Olympic Dizzy Decathlon. Three attempts in, Bushwhacker was down for the count, but hey, at least he left us all laughing.

    We wrapped it up with a trip to the spa—aka, the driest spot for some Mary. We crunched through LBCs, flapped like penguins, and topped it off with the infamous wife pleasers (a crowd favorite for both fitness and innuendo).

    By the end, I had to bounce, leaving the rest to round-robin their way through the last few minutes. COT brought it home, and I thanked the crew for letting me lead—a morning filled with sweat, spice, and more questionable decisions than a college frat party.

    Remember: never catapult the length of a parking garage, but always show up with hot sauce.

  • Hot Sauce, Bushwhackers, and Catapults: A Wet and Wild Morning at the A1C – from Jose10k

    So there I was, ready to tackle the day in a parking garage, wetter than a swimsuit calendar in monsoon season but warmer than yesterday’s frozen hellscape. Just as I was prepping for some solo misery at 5:14 AM, Fletch rolls in like a spicy savior, hot sauce in hand. This wasn’t just any hot sauce, though—it was Fletch’s special blend, the kind that burns twice, if you know what I mean. Naturally, I knew it had to go to Bushwhacker, the only guy who won’t whine about getting left out of the heat.

    And just as I’m cursing the heavens for starting without him, who do we see rolling up in his signature white chariot? Bushwhacker himself, arriving late but still managing to make an entrance. Hot sauce exchange complete, we got to work.

    Since it was January 10th and football is life, we honored the playoffs with a First-and-Ten special: a brutal round of 11s, featuring burpees and copperhead squats on opposite ends of the driest concrete we could find. Between sets, we experimented with various ways to move—sprinting, sidestepping, karaoke-style, bear crawling, and then, thanks to Bushwhacker’s brilliant idea, catapulting. Turns out, launching yourself repeatedly down a parking garage isn’t the best move unless you’re training for the Olympic Dizzy Decathlon. Three attempts in, Bushwhacker was down for the count, but hey, at least he left us all laughing.

    We wrapped it up with a trip to the spa—aka, the driest spot for some Mary. We crunched through LBCs, flapped like penguins, and topped it off with the infamous wife pleasers (a crowd favorite for both fitness and innuendo).

    By the end, I had to bounce, leaving the rest to round-robin their way through the last few minutes. COT brought it home, and I thanked the crew for letting me lead—a morning filled with sweat, spice, and more questionable decisions than a college frat party.

    Remember: never catapult the length of a parking garage, but always show up with hot sauce.

  • Proposal Q – from Kilo

    YHC woke up this morning to a weather report from his soon to be best man who said “it’s freezing rain, are we doing this?” The reply “of course. F3 is rain or shine.” Today being YHC’s second Q and the day of the big ask, decided to keep it simple and do another Mogadishu Mile to remember the fallen of Blackhawk Down. It was rainy but warm and 9 HiMs started out for the warmarama and then to the thang.

    Pick up a rock, get to the gazebo

    4 rounds:
    19 ground to overhead
    19 front squats
    19 push-ups (one hand on the rock, then switch so 38)
    15 burpees
    run a 1/4 mile.

    All this was done with smiles and joy and the promise to show up this afternoon and try to talk some sense into my future fiancé. It’s a great day to have a great day, gentlemen.

    COT and Announcements as well as a welcome to FNG, Freaky Fast who drove 12 hours yesterday for the occasion.

  • The Levee Will Keep You Warm – from Fracsac

    Pinewood rallied the Pax the night before and encouraged a strong showing at Okwata. 8 Pax heeded the call including YHC.
    Upon a quick check of the Q sheet at 0528 YHC noticed it was still empty, and by 0529 Okwata had a Q.

    Conditions: 35 degrees and dry with a cold NE wind bringing the feel like temps into the 20s.

    Brief disclaimer with a mosey to Canal for the warmup.

    The thang:

    11s up and over the levee in the bike lane on Canal. Hand release merkins on one side and burpees on the other, always stopping at the top for 5 x SSH.

    Thanks for coming out and keeping Okwata going!

  • Burpeepalooza: Heisenberg would’ve loved this one… – from Bolt

    It went like this: YHC showed up to the last “chapter” of the Tu pamphlet (book) club…sans BD where Boo-Boo remarked he had been slacking which was interpreted as a cry for accountability and who was I to not oblige!? Space Cowboy unwittingly dragged me into MABA Monday so I offered to Q Wednesday with a promise to deliver the RDA of burpees, penance for not doing anything Tu, and accountability to all pax posting.
    The gloom came after a short night of sleep and a very cold, windy morning to accompany my bad attitude and sore body (courtesy of Space Cowboy); the pax were counting on me and guilt/obligation brought me here. The playlist demanded what we’d do—Burpeepalooza!
    Warmorama with Mosey to JPAS, Rapper’s Delight (of course): Abe SLOWgodas, OH/Seal/FAC/RAC, Self Love, LSS, Willie Mays Hayes, SSH, Sampson Stretch, finish with 10 burpees IC even though the Q called 5 (do what I do/say during, not before the action…)
    The Thang: A group of songs requiring burpees on a certain word/phrase with different body movements for each song. Leveling up burpees between songs to honor Heisenberg. All pax did at least 155 burpees (playlist below), mosey back to flag and burpee on the six. COT

  • Annual Norwegian Speed Skater Workout – from Einstein

    Cold and windy at The Gipper this morning ~ 28 degrees.

    WARMUP: shortest warmup ever – IC15x; toe touch, side staddle hops

    THANG: Norwegian Speed Skating Dryland Workout
    2 sets of 10 routines, each 20 minutes

    With intentions for LA fire victims, NOLA French Quarter victims and families – Barely Legal prayed us out.

  • What’s Cooler than being Cool? – from America’s Best

    YHC had originally planned a totally different beatdown, but upon seeing the sub-freezing temperatures predicted, changed to a beatdown that would keep all body parts moving throughout the morning.

    YHC pulled into the Frozen Tuesday Tundra with minutes to spare to find a larger than expected PAX assembled and ready to get warm.

    Warmarama (augmented to keep all limbs moving):
    SSH
    Tie Fighters
    Imperial Walkers
    Self Love+Butt kicks (deemed “Butt Love” by Popeye)
    Windmills
    Mountain climbers (Paradox starts to stand up)
    Shoulder Taps (Paradox starts to stand up)
    Peter Parkers (Paradox stays put, so back on our feet)

    Quick mosey around what may someday be a neighborhood.

    Music selection today was all about the Fahrenheits, and began with “Frozen Heart” from The Girl Dad Earworm album. Goose said something vaguely offensive like “Is this the dwarves from Lord of the Rings?” It was like a Basketball Jones slur but for the Sami mountain people. From there the music warmed to “She’s so Cold” which is basically an exercise in Mick Jagger trying to think of cold things that also rhyme with the word “cold.” (Near misses: “tombstone,” ice-cream cone.”) Only warm summertime songs from there on out to keep us mentally warm.

    We arrived back at the flags for a Dora that would ensure we would be constantly moving to maintain warmth.

    Partner 1 starts on 50 Burpees while partner 2 MOT is The Nur (mosey back).

    Followed by 100 goblet squat curls, MOT Flying Nun (mosey back).

    Then 200 Bobby Hurleys, MOT Bear Crawl (mosey back). When we were beginning this portion, Valve just laughed and said “leg day, huh?”

    (Aside: If you have not ever partnered up with Safety Valve, I highly recommend it. The more difficult the beatdown becomes, the bigger his smile gets. The grin is not exactly maniacal, but it’s also not comforting. I’m not sure if its origin is the pain he felt or the pain he saw on my face. Either way, this man eats pain for breakfast. )

    Next we moved up to the stage for 100 Mike Tyson Merkins whilst the partner ran a lap.

    At this point, YHC thought he saw that we had only 5 minutes left, so we moved down to run in place while listening to the FOTC Classic “Mutha’uckas”. YHC quickly fabricated something about F3 needing all 3 F’s, and so each time we heard a word missing a letter “F” we would Burpee. There were a lot of missing F’s. The chatter about this song being where 75% of YJ’s vocabulary comes from drowned out the song.

    Now somehow (either due to time dilation or presbyopia) there were 10 minutes left, so YHC quickly added a second Conchords song “Hurt Feelings.” The PAX held plank and merkined with each “hurt.” “Have you ever been told that you look like a llama?”

    Now that we had about 6 minutes left, we had just enough time for some Mary. Goose surprised everyone by not calling Dr. W’s and YHC takes that as a compliment as a sign of a challenging beatdown. Popeye led us in fire hydrants, and YHC accidently did alternating legs, which I do not recommend unless you are already in the market for new kneecaps. YHC then offered Freddy Mercs, and Enron gifted us penguins. I can’t remember too much more, other than Tana trying to run out the clock with 6” until everyone dropped. But when the Q is done, the exercise moves on to the next man. It’s always that New Year’s Resolution Guy who shows up multiple weeks and then struts around like he owns the Planet Fitness.

    YHC was impressed by the fortitude of all you men who braved the frozen tundra to make it out.

    SYITG,

    AB