F3 New Orleans

Blog

  • Went on a Bear Hunt

    Second Q but first back blast. Please forgive errors, or mercilessly ping me with advice as you see fit. Started out this morning dark and gloomy without a flag, but on the right spot. Began with mosey to the labyrinth which gave me the opportunity to quiz Angie’s List for the correct way to prompt, set, and begin the exercises. Angie’s List, thank you.

    Circled up for SSH, Pagoda’s, Grass Grabbers. Mosey from Labyrinth to next field over.

    Bear crawl and crab walked across first field to somewhere near the Tree of Life (Perpetual youth bestowed on all). Did LBCs until all finished the crawl. Next moseyed to the top of the Levee on just past Avenger Field.

    Dropping to the left of the road at the top of the levee for a great view of the frozen chicken storage facility (who knew point of interest?), we then bear crawled to the weather station (second “who knew?”). Again, LBC’d until all accounted for.

    Moseyed to the corner of where Terminal Drive meets the river, and bear crawled from there to the sidewalk along East Drive.

    Moseyed along East, and turned right onto Soccer Field Drive. Q attempted to cross-kick a stray soccer ball (poorly) to Peaches whilst running and entire pax nearly rolled ankles. We then circled up on the Soccer Fields for 1) Dying Cockroaches, 2) Real Freddie Mercs, 3) Merkins, 4) Imperial Walkers, and 5) LBCs. Then moseyed to the Berm.

    Group of non-F3 fitness goers were working out at or near Berm, were temporarily stunned into silence by our physiques, but this did not affect our egos or tempo. We proceeded directly to bear walk up the berm (quite easy) and then bear walk down (much more difficult). On the other side of the Berm Merkins on our own. Crabwalk back up and down berm to LBCs while all collected.

    Then moseyed further counter-traffic along River Drive past the Fly and to the train tracks. Then walk while shoulder circles across the zoo parking lot to the field. Circle of Pain merkins (one round), then Mosey to the starting point. With minutes to spare we did LBCs in cadence, Russian Twists in cadence, and then for Angie’s List Merkins, for remaining Pax Australian Merkins while commenting on Angie’s form, which most conceded as perfect.

    Countoff, Name-o-Rama, and COT where each HIM briefly reflected on a personal gratitude (picked up on comment from the Q-source discussion on evening of 7/21).

    Thank you for bearing with me to all present as well as to those not present. I am grateful for F3 and my friendships here. It is consistently one of the most fun and rewarding aspects of my day.

  • Flip and Roll!!

    Rolled up to Jose10k, Band Camp and Russo waiting to get in the pre miler. Pre-thangers quickly doubled and we moseyed our usual destination to get things going. Arrived back at the AO to a swarm of men awaiting the beatdown, each Wednesday of the last few months has proved to be well attended with numbers usually surpassing 15 plus and today proved no different. YHC has great anticipation of what next week will provide as the young “Pope” has committed to his VQ.. Look forward to attending that one and encourage all to post in support of this great young leader.. Well knowing all the awesome coupon options around Covington, Q decided to pair a few for this morning’s beatdown. So let’s Flip and Roll gentlemen..

    warmup

    10IC Toe touches, Torso twist, Arm Circles and Cherry Pickers

    20IC SSH, Mummy Kicks, Imperial walkers

    thang

    Pax selected 9 cylinder blocks from behind the trailhead office and proceeded around the block to our parking lot with our 2 Flipping tires. Pax broke into two groups. YHC called named exercise for one group which would be completed while the other group would work with the tires.

    First set:

    Group 1 did block extender squats while group 2 flipped the tires about 30yards down and back alternating back and forth with both tires. Flapjack

    Second set:

    Group 1 did curls while group 2 rolled the tires down alternating with 2 men at the other end working in some core. Flapjack

    Third set:

    Group 1 Tri-extensions while group 2 did 2 min intervals of tire flips back and forth across from each other.

    Fourth set:

    Group 1 Chest press while group 2 rolled and bounced the tires off a local establishment wall, which hopefully was not occupied because if so the other side of that wall may have sounded like it was coming down with the impact. YHC quickly saw the destructive side of Jose 10k on this one as he thrust the tire over the railroad footing returning as if he was trying to destroy and rollover Zoolander like a locomotive.. 😬😬

    Fifth and final set:

    Group 1 Kettle block swings with multiple versions thanks to Bean for the alternating arms on this one. Group 2 individually flipped the tires 30 yards each way back and forth as their teams did Mountain climbers and leg raises respectively on each end..

    Ending with 3 mins we recovered as we walked back to the AO and returned our coupons..

    Count, name and COT

    Reminded the PAX of some F2 tomorrow by the Barley oak and the new AO kickoff on Friday at the top of the parking garage.

    Much thanks to Bart for praying us out into the Gloom.. Always enjoy the glooms with you men!!

    Great job men hope you got your 💰💰 worth 🤑🤑..

    Till the next Gloom 👍🏼👊🏼✌🏼!!

  • Back to the Basics

    YHC signed up to Q long before knowing Tuesdays would become interval running days. The solution was simple, no running and do some quality exercises, Tabata style.

    Disclaimer was given and we did a short mosey to the commuter bus stop.

    COP #1) Warm Up

    20 X SSH, 20 Jlo’s, 10 X PP, 10 X PP, 20, Mtn Climbers, Arm Circles, 10 X LSS

    Mosey back to the stage area for little activity: Everyone take off your shirt and put it on the ground in front of you. Now get in balls to the wall stance and try to put your shirt on. I think we got close to 100% completion!

    COP #2) Tabata (10 Rounds, 1 min work, 15 sec rest)

    1. Burpees
    2. Merkins
    3. Sister Mary Catherines
    4. Freak Nasties
    5. LBC
    6. Derkins
    7. Box Jumps
    8. Serratus Merkins
    9. Crunchy Frog
    10. Low Plank Hold

    Rinse and Repeat

    We still had some time left so we started another round of Tabata to stretch out, something we all admitted we could use more of.

    1. Straight leg hold
    2. Hip Flexor Left
    3. Hip Flexor Right
    4. Quad Left
    5. Quad Right

    Mosey back to the flag for COT. Count, Name, Goose prayed us out.

    F2 this Thursday right in front of Barley Oak. 30 min beatdown led by Steve with Tailgate beers to follow.

    Thanks for letting me lead!

    Cowbell

  • Band camps vq!

    It was a hot and humid morning. The sun began to rise, and the smell of greatness filled the air ( maybe it was the garbage truck that was passing by). A 13 year old stepped out of the car, nervous, but ready to lead. He started off with side straddle hops ic, confidence in his counting. Arm circles, air presses, windmills followed. Again, confidence could be heard in his voice. We moseyed to Noah’s ark for some Dora. 100 merits, 200 squats, 300 lbcs while partner 2 ran the ark. Little did we know that this sick little man was just warming up. We then lined up on the wall for 11s. Freaknastys folllowed by a lunge walk to the street, then burpees followed by bear crawls back to the wall. Shooter, Jose, and Russo were sweating buckets from this beat down. (However, they would sweat that much just sitting there fishing, but that’s besides the point) The young lad smiled as we were gasping for air, grunting in displeasure. He was happy, but realized quickly that there was time left, and he had finished his list. We moseyed back to the flag, and got a series of on the spot exercises. No rhyme or reason to them. The young man was tired, but relieved the workout was over. He led a group of men who’s average age was 3 times his own. That is F3! COT, and prayers after,

  • Tabata, Tabata, and more Tabata

    Monday morning came and after discovering a treasure trove of exercises and routines on a Youtube page recently I wanted to try out a leg dominant beatdown. But don’t worry the upper body was addressed at the end. 5 PAX joined me, including 2 PAX that have not been able to attend in a while, in the muggy gloom.

    Warm up:

    After a brief jog around the fork in the road we circled up in front of LCM.

    • SSH x 20 IC
    • Windmills x 10 IC
    • Grass grabbers x 15 IC
    • Hillbillies x 15 IC
    • Mountain climbers x 20 IC

    Today we performed an APEX routine. Anterior muscle exercises, followed by Posterior muscle exercises, and completed with Explosive exercises. Once this series is completed follow that with 2 “corrective” exercises consisting of hip abductor strengthening exercises.

    Round 1:

    Goblet squat, bridge march with cinderblock on waist, and kettle bell swing with cinderblock. Rest 30 seconds.

    Perform 30 seconds each leg: sidelying leg raises and 1 1/2 standing hip abductor slides.

    Round 2:

    Reverse lunge, sprinter lunge, and jump squats. Rest 30 seconds.

    Perform 30 seconds each leg: 1 1/2 sidelying leg raises and standing hip abductor slides.

    Round 3:

    Neverending squat, hamstring RDL, and Glut RDL. Rest 30 seconds.

    Perform 30 seconds each leg: sidelying leg raises and 1 1/2 standing hip abductor slides.

    Round 4:

    Reverse creeping lunge, long legged bridge with block on waist, and Bonnie Blair’s. Rest 30 seconds.

    Perform 30 seconds each leg: 1 1/2 sidelying leg raises and standing hip abductor slides.

    Now that the leg portion had been completed I kept with the APEX theme for a few rounds of upper body Tabata.

    Round 1:

    Block biceps curls, Overhead triceps extension with block, and T merkins

    Round 2:

    Front raises with block (heretofore known as Walleye’s), prone T’s, and Burpees

    Round 3:

    Repeat round 1.

    Round 4:

    Repeat round 2.

    Cooldown with various leg stretches. Countoff, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, physically distanced COT. As always it’s a pleasure to lead the fine men of F3. Can’t wait to do it again.

  • Again? Why do we keep farting?

    While searching for Fartlek’s in prep for the Scramble a few weeks ago, YHC discovered another type of interval that sounded like fun. It would also give us a baseline to track our progression over the year.

    Today we did the Marine Core Officers Candidate School Fartlek, which is done in preparation for the OCS physical training test. Marines consider physical fitness as an indispensable aspect of Leadership, as does F3.

    From the QSource:

    Fitness is a man’s Right relationship with himself, Fellowship is his Right relationship with the people with whom he is in Proximity, and Faith is his Right relationship with his creator, the SkyQ .

    The order of the Get Right (1-Fitness, 2-Fellowship and 3-Faith) is prescriptive, not random. Although it might seem philosophically that Faith should come first and that Fellowship should precede Fitness, that just does not turn out to be true as a practical matter.

    Why? Because men who have no self-control over what they eat or drink and the daily use to which they put their bodies become captive to their lack of physical fitness. Ultimately, that defines them, primarily in their own minds but also in the eyes of those around them.

    So YHC pulled up with a mission, a timer, and a pink clip board provided by my daughter – ready to put us to the test. Joined by 4 men and 1 small man, we hit the ground running. Which is not what anyone wanted to do after Speedy’s half marathon beatdown Saturday. I think next time we’ll do this on a Wednesday to allow for more recovery.

    Warmorama: 2 minute run to Monroe Street and back. SSH, Mountain Climbers x 25, arm circles front and back, Torso Twist x 10

    Thang

    • 30 Second AMRAP Merkins, 1 minute run
    • 30 Second AMRAP LBC’s, 1 minute run
    • Star Jumps x 25
    • Max Pullups
    • Burpees x 25
    • Lunges, 25 per side
    • Max Freak Nasties
    • 30 Second AMRAP Big Boy Situps
    • Max Squats
    • Max Merkin
    • Max Plank

    The live OCS test includes running a mile in between each exercise station. YHC could tell time would not allow, so we cut out the runs in between. No one minded.

    We were pretty even on AMRAPS and Max outs until we got to squats – where Bushwacker and Jose 10k blew us out. Below are the numbers.

    ExerciseAkbarWaterpikPixie StickShooterBushwackerJose- 10k
    AMRAP Merkin 332735353735
    AMRAP LBC 8070637995104
    Max Pullups 89109154
    Max Freak Nasty 355060428362
    AMRAP Big Boy Situps302529273136
    Max Squats 601255970152202
    Max Merkin 233246415142
    Plank1:492:252:102:143:202:05

    Announcements

    F2 Thursday at Lakefront this Thursday, Jose 10k leading new AO Friday at the top of the parking lot by the Courthouse in Covington

    COT

    Thanks for those who serve our country – this was only a sampling of the OCS Physical Fitness test, and representing only one branch of our Military. Prayers for safety for those who protect us, asking for opportunities to lead and influence others for good this week.

    Thank you for the opportunity to lead.

    ‘Til Next Gloom,

    Akbar

  • Impromp Cat Rock (Rock City 2020-07-20)

    Great start to the week with Rock City at Pontiff with the following PAX: Mahatma Ice, Bogey, Vagabond, War Eagle, Undertaker, Hand Grenade, Hawgcycle, and Catfish (Q).

    Grabbed some rocks, warmed up with SSH, Imperial Squat Walkers, and 8-Count bodybuilders.

    Moseyed over to the practice field for a partner Dora 1-2-3 with 100 jump squats, 200 shoulder presses, and 300 curls. PAX were wither exercising or running to the 50 yard line, and running PAX held their rocks the whole way.

    Mahatma led some Mary waiting for the six as PAX finished this (Gas Pumps, LBCs, Hello Dolly). Moved to center of the field for Jack Webb up to 10.

    Went back to starting point. Did lunge bounces on each leg (holding rocks). Then low slow squats, also holding rocks. Got in some flutter kicks and 8-counts to finish up.

    Back to flag for COT. Appreciate the opportunity to impromptu Q! It was a good one.

  • La Vue de D’gloom

    La Vue de D’gloom

    Four pax rallied for the 60-minute beatdown.  Circled up for warmup by the shoreline for SSH, windmill, peter parker, parker peter, mtn climber, caterpillar, arm circles f/b, grass grabber, low slow squats, self lovin’.

    Moseyed westward to the benches.

    7s over the levee:   cataline wine mixer, 5x prisoner kneels, wife pleaser situps, 5x reverse lunges down levee

    Tabata sequence with rocks + 80s Rock:  ~1 min w/20 sec recovery

    • Lunge twist with rock
    • Flutters
    • On back vertical rock lift
    • Slow burpees
    • On back horizontal rock rotation
    • Hello dolly
    • Plank moving rock R/L
    • American hammer w/rock
    • J Lo
    • Curls

    Moseyed back to concrete ramp:  35s

    • 7 burpees
    • 14 dirkins
    • 21 incline situps
    • 28 side squats
    • 35 x  2 penquins

    Abs

    • 20x LBC
    • 20x Freddy M.
    • 20x Dying C.

    To burn down the clock, onward to levee for several Hawg-style descents forward, ascents backward (heavily modified by Vagabond)

    Circle ‘round flag, count / ID / COT

    God bless F3Nola – Strength and Honor

  • 12’s for my 2.0

    12’s for my 2.0

    At 0530, six PAX gathered at the View for a workout in honor of my 2.o’s 12th birthday….

    After the disclaimer we started our Warm up with: 12 Side straddle hops, 12 Abe vagoda, 12 grass grabbers, 12 arm cirlcles and 12 big boy sit ups

    The Thang … We moseyed down towards Treasure Chest and grabbed heavy rocks for just 12 reps of chest presses (at a time)…

    12’s not 11’s…. 12 Chest presses, run up and over the levy then 12 burpees… back to the Lakeside of Levy for 12 more presses and back over to the riverside for 12 lunges… back Lakeside for 12 more presses and back to Riverside for 12 Imperial Walkers, back to Lakeside for 12 more presses and back to riverside for 12 Merkins…. you got the idea…. presses, planks jacks, presses and squats… BLIMPS is only six letters so we had to repeat to get to 12 up and over the levy round trips 😉

    Now for a new and lighter rock and a ring of fire, except to 12 not 10. Three rounds of Al Gores and curls and three rounds of rocks over heads and shoulder presses.

    Back to the flag for COT.

  • Start with Shoes off???

    Start with Shoes off???

    At 0630 after a brief intro and disclaimer by Hokie, Hokie and Catfish decided to lead 4 Pax in some new stuff focusing on strengthening our feet, arches of our feet, and toes by asking the Pax to remove their shoes.

    Part of the disclaimer by Hokie was not all workouts have to be beatdowns, even when Catfish is involved 😉 The links for these new exercises are https://posturedirect.com/how-to-fix-flat-feet/ and https://posturedirect.com/improve-your-ankle-dorsiflexion/

    We did have a 5th Pax join us during our Foot Focus warm ups

    After 10 minutes of foot focused exercises we continued our warm up with big arm circles both forward and backward and Abe Vigodas

    The Cinderblock party then started with 1 minute of right leg step ups onto the cider blocks raising trailing knee as high as possible and 1 minute of left leg step ups, followed by 4 minutes of burpees jumping over the cinder blocks after each burpee. Then 1 minute of right leg step up and leap over the cinder blocks and one minute repeat with left leg.

    Next was another disclaimer about protecting our backs followed by two minutes of lunges with twists while holding cinder blocks close to our chests and two minutes of Sumo Squats with Cinder blocks.

    We concluded our front of NOMA tour with two minutes of bench presses with cinder blocks before doing farmer carries with two cinder blocks each to the back of NOMA.

    Once at the back of NOMA, before closing with our usual Sunday Morning ritual, we assumed one legged endurance squats with left leg up followed by one minute right leg up while in squat position…. no cinder blocks!!! We finished with Sunday mornings and a farmers carry back to the flag.

    It is always a pleasure to create something new to change up our workouts so we can not be accused of being predictable. I thank Catfish for the very different beginning and would not be surprised to see us do that again as I believe all agreed it was good!

    We closed with our COT lifting up our F3 brothers and giving thanks for F3!

    All in attendance left with two party favors, their own set up two F3 coupons. We then had 120% attendance at coffeeteria as Gabby joined us at PJ’s.