F3 New Orleans

Blog

  • 2019 Rock City Review

    Conditions:  A cool 50 degrees and clear.  Dark.

    For our last 2019 Rock City we looked back on the year that was.

    Warm-up

    We hit the most popular RC warm-up exercises of 2019 according to those that write backblasts:

    • SSH x 19 – Still the popular starter.  We did 19 for the year 2019.
    • Hillbillies x 20 – A surprising replacement of the customary IWs.  Hillbillies seem wildly popular at RC.  We did 20 because I forgot to stop at 19
    • Grass Grabbers x 19 – I’m sure the popularity is based on the name.  The clap at the end feels silly, but it doesn’t keep us from doing them. 
    •  Windmills (aka Abe Vigodas) x 10 – Lots of Qs find these to be a warm-up staple, but you will have to do them prior to 5:30 anytime Spartacus is on the schedule. 

    A Sea of Crimson

    Our first Rock City Workout of 2019 happened on July 7th.  That just happened to be the day of the College Football National Championship.  War Eagle must have been feeling good that morning as he delivered a brutal beatdown, on par with the beating his Crimson Tide took later that night. 

    We paired up for a quasi-dora with the following exercises:

    • 250 curls
    • 200 squats
    • 150 rows
    • 100 shoulder presses
    • 50 burpees

    While pax #1 did the exercise, pax #2 ran 40 yards and back.

    Iron Pax

    This morning we paid tribute to the Iron Pax workouts of 2019 by reenacting Week Zero.  This time we did one round instead of six and we did the reps together. 

    • 24 squats
    • 24 merkins
    • 24 Lunges in cadence
    • 400 meter run

    Sgt. Bovia Tribute

    We saved my favorite Rock City Workout of the year for last.  It was the tribute Boo-Boo Qd for Marine Sgt. Joey Bovia.  Sgt. Bovia was killed in Afghanistan on August 31, 2010.  The Tribute consisted of 31 reps of 8 different exercises.  This morning, we did as many as we could in the allotted time.

    • 31 merkins
    • 31 Big Boy Sit-ups
    • 31 Squats
    • 31 Push Presses

    Time ran out before the 31 burpees.  We brought our rocks back to the pile and moseyed to the flag for the COT.

    NMM

    • Smallest numbers at Rock City all year. 
    • The 5 guys that posted were there to work though.  We made it through a lot more than I thought we would.  I honestly expected that I would have to cut the Iron Pax or Bovia workout, but that was not the case.
    • Looking back on the National Championship themed workout that started the year, who would have thought that LSU would be playing those same Clemson Tigers for the Natty after the 2019 season. And who could have forecast the Alabama program falling off the face of the earth like they did.  I don’t even think they made a bowl game this year.  Seems like the end of an era.

  • Turning 52 at the 6 – 24 Stomp

    Turning 52 this day comes with a flood of memories from my past and the ever-present uncertainty for the future. I don’t know about you but I always get a little melancholy and introspective during this time of year as things slow down due to the Christmas holidays and (relatively) cold temperatures. In this breakneck lifestyle we all find ourselves in, it is hard to press pause and look around to enjoy the present….our families, our friends, our health, our faith, etc..

    With every passing year, it seems I hear about another friend or acquaintance dealing with a life-threatening disease or living in the aftermath of the death of a loved one. It’s easy to get cynical, calloused and overwhelmed to the problems around me but this brotherhood of F3 shakes me out of my laziness and indifference. The shared struggle ( waking up at 4:50 am, burpees, “The Suck”, Dora 123, any form of running, etc.) of becoming physically, relationally, and spiritually stronger men in a community of men awakens me to be a real difference-maker (leader) for my wife, my children, and my community. Thank you F3 NOLA Pax for moving me forward, one burpee at a time!

    DISCLAIMER AND THE THANG – A little twist on the 6-10 Stomp for my December 24th birthday Q. Instead of doing 10 burpees for every 6 minutes of running, I choose to do 24 walking lunges (knee to the ground or close to the ground if possible) instead. I thought was more reasonable than 52 walking lunges every 6 minutes although I might consider doing 53 walking lunges next year. Standard out and back and we got 6 rounds in. – COUNTOFF, NAMERAMA, AND COT – prayers for those struggling with loneliness and depression this Christmas season. God, help us to provide words of encouragement and acts of kindness for those we encounter. Soli Deo Gloria!

  • Crickets at the Marsh!

    Abbreviated beatdown done as a sad clown. Consisted of brief warm up followed by Merkins, Squats, LBCs and Burpees in descending order from 20,15, 10 and 5 sprinting baseline to baseline. 4 rounds of (5) pull-ups with cylinder block chest presses (20). Ran a mile and that’s a wrap..

  • “The 12 Days of Christmas” or maybe “The 12 Exercises of Christmas”

    YHC was relaxing at home after a calm and quiet Christmas day with the family, when he received a reminder text for his Q at Okwata tomorrow morning.   So, after a few minutes of thought I had a basic workout prepared and was ready for the next morning.    As I dozed off to sleep, I was inspired by the Christmas spirit, hopped out of bed, and scribbled some notes on a random piece of paper.    YHC had to incorporate a Christmas theme to the workout

    11 PAX (JV coming in hot) met at the flag at Okwata the morning after Christmas and moseyed to the intersection of Canal Blvd and Lakeshore Drive for warmup.   Warmups consisted of SSH x 26, Imperial Walkers x 15, Grass grabbers x 10, Shoulder taps x 30, Arm circles x 10, and self-love.  

    The PAX remained in our circle and counted off.  We did one round of the following exercises at the count / number of reps next to the exercise.  

    1. 8 Count body builders
    2. Jack Webbs
    3. American Hammers
    4. Squats
    5. BURPEES
    6. Penguins
    7. Merkins
    8. Monkey Humpers
    9. Hillbillies
    10. Bonnie Blairs / Lunges
    11. Big Boy Sit Ups
    12. Flutter Kicks

    After the first round – PAX were ready to go again.    This time to the theme of the Christmas classic – The 12 Days of Christmas”. Shuffles started us out with “On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me – 1 8 ct. body builder. After the first 2-3 rounds of the song, the PAX got the hang of it.  Each PAX enthusiastically called out their exercise and we were able to complete the entire song with a few minutes to spare.

    In the remaining time, PAX did two laps of Bernie Sanders (run backwards up the hill and forward back down the hill).   Mosey back to the flag for finish at 6:15. 

    COT, announcements, intentions, and gratefulness for the Christmas holiday.  YHC is thankful for the opportunity to lead and for the participation of the PAX in the post-Christmas workout.  

  • I’m not modifying, you’re modifying

    My boy Screw Top was still nursing an injury following his marathon so for what felt like the 20th time I chose to step in for him as Q. I had not been a Q for a few weeks and wasn’t scheduled to Q for several more (not sure how I let that happen) so I took the opportunity to lead. 11 PAX joined myself on what has to be the greatest collection blacktops in the city at UNO. Disclaimer was given and off we went.

    Warm up:

    Took a lap around said parking lot and circled up.

    • SSH x 20 IC
    • Windmills x 10 IC
    • Concrete grabbers x 15 IC
    • Self love x 15 IC
    • Arm circles Fwd/rev x 10 each IC
    • Mountain climbers x 15 IC

    Thang 1:

    Moseyed over to the sidewalk along Elysian Fields. PAX gathered for what felt like the traditional Indian Run. However I found something on the exicon to change it up and we did a Prisoner Indian Run down to the traffic circle at Elysian Fields and Lakeshore Dr.

    Thang 2:

    Here is where the modification begins. I wanted to do 11s. But in honor of Michael Thomas being a bad man and breaking the single season catch record we did 13s. The modification didn’t stop there. I was inspired by Tua’s VQ a few weeks ago and stole from his playbook. So for the Double Modified 11s (AKA 13s) the PAX would run in the bike lane of the traffic circle. Once they ran half the circle they would stop and perform 12 Carolina dry docks and 1 squat jump. Run the other half the circle and do 11 CDD and 2 squat jumps, etc. until the last round was complete with 1 CDD and 12 squat jumps. The Q was stunned to find that much traffic at 5:40 AM 2 days prior to Christmas but thankfully we were able to avoid any incidents.

    Thang 3:

    Mosey over to the nearest parking. With Christmas coming up I was inspired when I found Santa’s Ladder on the exicon. PAX would start at one end of the parking lot and run to a randomly selected spot (that huge light post looks good) where we would perform 10 burpees, run back to start and perform 9 burpees, and so on until we got to round 5. Rounds 5-1 would be merkins. Plank and wait for the 6. As everyone was catching their breath I explained to the PAX that completing the ladder consisted of also performing the runs with rounds 10-6 being merkins and 5-1 being burpees. However due to time constraints I opted to modify and perform only 6 rounds.

    Mosey back to the flag in time for some Mary. Flutter kicks, Freddy Mercury’s and some other exercise that I can’t remember x 20 each IC. Count off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, and sweaty ball of man. As always it was a great time leading the men of F3. Hopefully trying the new location at the traffic circle didn’t scare anyone but there was WAY more traffic than I anticipated so I will store that in memory for future beatdowns.

  • Misty Morning Beatdown

    YHC ate way too much over his Christmas break and so was quick to respond to Steve’s call to Q this morning. After joining Legal, Hammer and Zoolander for a little Foreplay in the Gloom, YHC circled up the PAX, partnered up with Grover and got down to business with a warmup.

    YHC and Grover rotated warmup exercises of Imperial Walkers, SSHs, Hillbillys, Seal Jacks, Butt Kicks and High Knees, all 20x IC. Good job Grover in leading for the first time.

    The PAX then headed down the Lakefront for a set of Dora 1-2-3s with a partner: 100 hand release Merkins, 200 45 degree lunges, and 300 SSHs with bear crawls and crab walks in between.

    After a brief recovery walk and a short mosey a little further eastward down the Lakefront, YHC set up a few cones for a version of Catch Me if You Can. Partner 1 backpedals about 10 yards from cone 1 to cone 2 while Partner 2 holds at cone 1. As soon as Partner 1 hits cone 2, Partner 2 sprints to try to beat his backpedaling partner to cone 3 about 30 yards away. Recovery walk back with the partners switching spots and then repeating.

    Three more sets with three different partners and it was time to dig into the bag of tricks to retrieve a ball for the next stage of our beat down.

    The PAX divided into three teams, each with a ball, for a race to the Harbor playground. Despite HanDcock, Esquire’s attempt to confuse matters with lawyerly questions, the rules were very simple for the race: PAX cannot run when holding the ball and each time the ball hits the ground the entire team has to do one burpee before getting underway again. Serious high jinx ensued, and YHC cannot even remember who won except that it wasn’t his team.

    The PAX then hit some staggered Merkins and took a brief reprieve and then it was a race back to the starting point, this time using only your non-dominant hand to catch and throw.

    Mosey to the virtual shovel flag for some Mary with dynamic back and front planks.

    Countorama, nameorama and Goose led us out in prayer on our way to the coffeeteria.

    Moleskin

    If you are old and grumpy like YHC and think that our youth should be doing something other than spending all of their time glued to their phones, then you need to meet 9 year old Bear and 17 year old Grover. Bear can bear crawl like, well, a bear and singlehandedly kept his team in contention for the ball games this morning and his dad honest on the hand release Merkins. Grover quickly accepted YHC’s invitation to lead this morning’s warmup and cheerfully executed like a seasoned veteran. It is absolutely fabulous to see these two young men join their dads in the Gloom. Mathlete and Akbar should be very proud of their 2.0s.

    The Krazy Ivan is coming up, Comrades. All Northshore PAX need to clear their calendars for the evening of January 18th. It is imperative that we have maximum participation. The Southshore PAX have been gloating over last year’s victory and posting pictures of themselves with the Freedom Hammer all year. It’s enough to make you sick.

  • Math O Rama at the Knoll

    Math O Rama at the Knoll

    The Pax was graced with visiting Q Side Effects who led us in a beatdown that was grueling both physically and mentally (all that math)

    Warm O Rama

    • Arm Circles
    • Mountain Man Poopers
    • Abe Vigodas

    The Thang:

    • 21s Up and Down the Knoll – Run down hill for Decending reps of Merkins 20-1 at Bottom of Knoll interspersed with running up hill for ascending reps of LBCs 1-20 at top.
    • Stationary 21s consisting of 21 American hammers, 20 Diamond merkins, 19 Bonnie Blairs, 18 American Hammers, 17 Diamond merkins, 16 BBs………and so on.

    COT

    • Name O Rama
    • Update and Prayers for Benjamin V and general Benediction

  • Reindeer Games

    You know Charmin and Hokie and Tool and Sogo
    Heisenberg and Mop and Rev Sox and Belloq
    But do you recall
    The most famous reindeer of all?

    Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
    Had a very shiny nose
    And if you ever saw it
    You would even say it glows

    All of the other reindeer
    Used to laugh and call him names
    They never let poor Rudolph
    Join in any reindeer games

    Then one foggy Christmas Eve
    Santa came to say
    “F3, with your fitness so fine
    Won’t you do some burpees tonight?”

    Then how the reindeer loved him
    As they shouted out with glee
    “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
    You’ll go down in history”

    The Warm Up

    SSH – 25

    Imperial Walkers – 20

    Peter Parkers – 20

    Grass Grabbers – 20

    Hillbillies – 20

    Reindeer Games

    The Pax split up into two teams of 4:

    Mop, YHC, Tool, and Heisenberg vs. Charmin, Sogo, Hokie, and Belloq

    The teams will play the reindeer games while one pax member plays the role of Rudolf. He misses out on the reindeer games while doing burpees. Finish 30 burpees and tag another pax member to take your place as Rudolph.

    Game One

    F3 dodgeball – standard dodgeball but once you are out, you hold plank or do merkins until a teammate catches the ball and you can reenter the game. The team with the most players out at the end of 9 minutes loses. Each team had one player out so dodgeball was a tie.

    Game Two

    Rarajipari – get your team’s baseball to the dog park statue only using your feet. Once you get to the dog park, travel back to the top of the largest hill. You can’t kick the ball twice in a row. Team Belloq wins game 2 by climbing the hill first.

    Game Three

    Ultimate Frisbee – standard Frisbee rules but do 3 merkins for every turnover and 5 merkins when you are scored on. Team Belloq wins game 3 at a score of 2-0.

    Game Four

    Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animals Race – Relay race: bear crawl round one, crab walk round two, duck walk round three. Race down to the cone like an animal and back. First team to finish wins. Team Mop wins game 4.

    Mary

    You can’t skip Mary on Christmas Morning

    American Hammers – 20

    Hello Dolly – 20

    Flutter Kicks – 20

    Penguins – 20

    Circle of Trust

    Count off, Name-O-Rama, and announcements. Remember to pray for all those who are alone or experiencing loss this Christmas season. Find a way to bring family and community to someone who is on the outside. Pray that we will continue to push one another to improve in 2020.

    -Rev Sox

  • Ba Humbug!

    Ba Humbug!

    Six Pax plus the QIC were able to slip out of their festive homes to sneak in a Christmas morning workout. Pop-a-lock wanted to co-Q to prepare for his VQ and  birthday Q on January 8th at the Birdcage. After the standard disclaimer the Pax mosyed around the parking lot and circled up in front of the Grand Stage. The following Warm up exercises commenced led by Pop-a-lock and QIC.

    SSH x20

    Windmills x20

    Self Love x12

    Arm Circles F/B x12

    Grass Grabbers x12

    As a tribute to the Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker, the Pax performed Imperial Walker Squats from the front of the stage to the track… and the Pax thought they were going to get a brake on Christmas morning.

    After a mosey to the field in front of the zoo, the Pax paired up into Naughty and Nice Pax. The Naughty Pax Reindeer crawled 25 yards sprinted to the end of the field, Reindeer crawled another 25 yards back, then ran backwards to the Nice Pax, and flap jacked the following exercises. 

    Elf on the Shelf (Al Gore’s)

    Shiny Bicycles (Freddie Mercury’s)

    Chimney Climbers (Mountain Climbers) Name credit to Pop-a-lock!

    Next up was a Christmas Wreath of Fire. 4 rounds, one for each week of Advent.

    Once complete the Pax made their way to Santa’s Workshop (the Shelter) for the following exercises led by Pop-a-lock in cadence:

    Left leg step ups x15

    Right leg step ups x15

    Dips x 15 

    Incline Merks x20

    The Pax rounded out the Christmas morning workout with a quick circle of MARY, complete with a little coal for the stocking, if you know what I mean…

    Little Baby Elves x20

    Hello Santas x20

    The Pax mosyed back to the flag for COT, nameorama, announcements, and a closing prayer. We attempted to EH a passer by. He took our picture, but I know he thought we were crazy because we all EHed him at the same time! That is an area of oppotunity in 2020.

    Lest not forget, He is the reason for the Season!

  • Brick by Brick v.2

    DISCLAIMER

    YHC was ready to start my 46th trip around the sun this morning with a beatdown in the gloom. Quick disclaimer and we were off on the running path for warmup mosey, the long way around to the band stand.

    WARM UP
    45 SSH IC, 20 Grassgrabbers IC, 20 windmills IC, 10 Self Love IC, 20 Peter Parkers IC, followed by 45 LBCs 4 count IC..

    THANG 1 – BLIMPS at the lightpost intervals, followed by….another BLIMPS across magazine to the fountain.

    THANG 2 – Thanks to some sunday recon by YHC’s 2.0s, the PAX were able to locate some brick coupons that had been stowed since August. These were a donation from pile in YHC’s neighbor’s yard. This particular neighbor is an accomplished writer, atheist curmudgeon and all-around new orleans character. I encourage the PAX to look him up, Don Spears and his most famous epistle – “In Search of Good P______.” P does not mean persimmons. The lord works in mysterious ways.

    PAX paired up for CBGB (Curls, Brickbys, Goblet Squats, Brick-flys ), one PAX lifts while the other runs with the bricks up two lights and back and flapjack, until all PAX complete. Repeat.

    THANG 3 – Mosey over to the wall. Dodo Bird (With two bricks assume the People’s Chair, brick in each hand and at rest down your sides is the default position. In cadence or OYO, (1) side shoulder raise [arms straight and lifted to the sides to shoulder height], (2) back to default, (3) front shoulder raise [arms straight and lifted in front of you to shoulder height],and Wonderbra (assume the People’s Chair position. Start with bricks close to body at chest level. Push bricks up over head fully extending arms, bring bricks back down to chest position, then push them straight out in front until complete arm extension reached. Return to starting position). 3 sets 3 each. 10 count between.

    The PAX then “stashed” the bricks in an orderly fashion with the hopes they will again be there for the Skinny and Birdcage in upcoming weeks.

    PAX then circled up in front of the fountain for some quick core work then back to the flag.

    COT

    Countoff, name-o-rama, announcements and intentions. Thanks for the opportunity to Q