Blog

  • Marsh Tabata

    The theme of the day was a Tabata Workout at the Marsh.

    Warmup of Good Mornings, Windmills, Arm Circles (forward and reverse), then mosey over to playground for a quick set of 5 pull ups. Last warmup was Mosey around the block before…

    The THANG started…

    Sets of 1 minute Tabata AMRAP workouts: Merkins, Squats, One leg hop-overs, Peter Parkers. After 4 exercises, the PAX ran around the block for a quick reset. Second set was Freddy Mercuries, Pull Ups, One leg hop overs (other leg), and Plank Jacks. Last set: Smurf Jacks, Chill cut plank hold, Flutter Kicks, Lunge Walk.

    With a couple of minutes to spare, the PAX hammered out another set of merkins, and ISI 24 Jump Squats.

    Thanks for getting up early today, men! Thanks for following my lead and inspiring me to become a better leader.

    SYITG

  • Renaissance Triple Co-Q 2019-12-15

    Three participants, three Qs. PAX in attendance were Dax, FracSack, and Catfish.

    Catfish started on the lawn with some side straddle hop, plank jacks, peter parkers, and parker peters. Followed it up with some burpee suicides – 5 burpees, run one tree length and back, 5 burpees, run two tree lengths and back, etc. up to four tree lengths. Did two rounds of these.

    Handed workout over to Dax, who had us to 11s across the museum drive with merkins and squats. Then went over to the fountain for some rounds of 20 dips, followed by 10 step-ups, followed by a lap around the museum (3 rounds).

    Handed workout over to FracSac, who had us do a Route 66 with jump squats along the lightposts on the museum main drive. Following this, moseyed to the fountain for three rounds of 10 merkins, bunny hop up steps, 3 burpees, and run back down. Finished workout with Sunday mornings in the back of the museum.

    Great workout, great leadership. Looking forward to Dax’s first full Q!

  • The Range

    Conditions: Foggy, 52 degrees, 100% humidity, Friday the 13th.

    The Thang

    Wolfpack Mountain

    The Warm-up consisted of running to the top of Wolfpack Mountain and doing the following:  Peter Parkers x 20; 5 rounds of Happy Jacks; Merkins x 10.  Ran down the ramps to…

    Wolfpack Hill

    Circled up at the bottom for Werkins x 10; Squats x 20.  Then ran up the ramps backerds, forward on the flats to the top and immediately ran back down to… 

    Sugarloaf Mountain

    Circled up at the bottom for Lunges x 10 and maybe something else.  Then ran up the ramps backerds, forward on the flats to the top.  Circled up for Merkins x 12 and ran back down the ramps to…

    The flag

    It was about a mile back to the flag.  The first ones to get there did 8-count Body Builders x 20. 

    NMM

    • I was interested to see how many miles and how long it would take to conquer all three peaks without using the stairs.  It’s 4.1 miles and took us 45 minutes. 
    • I think it would be awesome if we could have 50 guys at Wolfpack every Friday.  If that happens, I think we will need two Qs. We could have one Q that promises to get in multiple mountains and at least 3 miles.  The other could promise to do fewer than 3 miles. 
    • Shuffles is ridiculous
    • Not sure when this happened, but King Kong and Angie’s List are two of F3 NOLA’s fastest pax.
    • The 8-count Body Builders were Catfish’s idea.  He has great ideas.
  • HEY, IT’S CALLED A CO-OP!

    Last minute switch on Q for Screw Top as he ran a marathon a few days before! YHC was happy to help out.  T-claps Screw Top! Meanwhile, (“unbeknowanstince” to us) a prepared and excited Catfish noticed an empty slot on the list and couldn’t wait to jump in.  A short conversation on site and we decided to split the difference for a progressive Co-Op Q; to which there was much applause and general excitement from the Pax. As we know, everybody loves change. Here at the Mothership, we call it growth.  Off to the Peristyle… DJ Diver had the tunes for the beatdown.

    WARM UP

    Arm Circles (front/back)
    Grass Grabbers
    Hill Billies
    Peter Parkers
    Parker Peters
    Run to Marconi and back, plank for 6

    PART ONE 

    10 Pax (and one K9) – Break into 2 lines of 5 pax, plank position with hands at feet of pax in front of you, straight line all facing forward, at bottom of the Great Lawn.
    Last Pax bear crawls to front of the line, shouts, next pax bear crawls to the front… etc
    At every second tree all pax recover to feet, ring of fire with your group, 20 squats while others hold Al Gore, back to crawlin’ maggot! We’re doing the whole lawn! The length, not across..

    Make it to end. Took longer than YHC anticipated. Partner up. Move to side of lawn.
    DORA 123
     -Merkins 100
     – LBCs 200
     – Squats 300
    Partner runs across lawn. 2 burpees on the other side. Back to trade off.

    PART TWO

    Complete and hand Q to Catfish who started us off with his favorite crowd pleaser:

    Jack Webs.. in perpetuity… (to 15 merks, 30 air presses)

    Back by popular demand, his world famous 8 count body builders – Couldn’t count that high.

    Run to Marconi and back

    20 Box Jumps

    20 Monkey Humpers

    Infinite Donkey Kicks…


    Back to the flag for COT, announcements etc. Lots of health and life and death concerns today. As a general announcement to all – the holiday seasons are of course a special time and there is a lot to get caught up in and fun to be had. As leaders in our community, don’t forget that little voice at the back of your head reminding you that folks around us are still going through real challenges. Think of those struggling with addiction, depression, and isolation as well.  Don’t forget to reach out to that person struggling, without any pressure. Let them know there is a door open for them somewhere, with warm food, good spirits, no judgement. At this high pressure time of the year, these small gestures can have huge impacts for those walking through a tough cycle of their life. Just another way for us to strive to be good HIMs in our community. Always sweep the 6.

    Thanks to all for showing up in the gloom yet again, to hold each other accountable to another victory in the morning. Accelerating in to the new year.

  • 21 Gun Salute

    21 PAX braved the foggy Mandeville Lakefront for the running of the H8! After 20 SSHs IC and a short mosey down the Lakefront, the PAX pumped themselves up for a 45 minute DownPAINment on the weekend. It looked like this:

    First round of one burpee (with eight hand release Merkins inside it), followed by a second burpee (with seven hand release Merkins inside it), then a third burpee (with six hand release Merkins inside it)…all the way down to one burpee (with one hand release Merkin inside it)…bear crawl for 35 yards, round trip run for .4 miles, bear crawl for 35 yards back to the starting point to complete the first round.

    Second round starts with one burpee (with seven hand release Merkins inside it)…descending to one last burpee (with one hand release Merkin insdie it)…bear crawl, run, and bear crawl back to the starting point.

    AMRAP in 45 minutes with an objective to hit 7 rounds.

    The Northshore PAX definitely is growing in fitness as an impressive number of men completed 7 rounds and some men completed even more. Not bad considering 7 rounds translated into 36 burpees (with 120 hand release Merkins inside them), 490 yards of bear crawls, and 2.8 miles of running.

    Slow mosey back to the shovel flag where Speedy Gonzales prayed us out after the countorama and nameorama. Then it was off to the coffeeteria.

    Thanks for letting me lead, guys. It’s great to see everyone getting better.

  • Nippy at the Gippy

    ‘Twas a little nippy at the Gipper this Wednesday.

    So a hardy warm-up was the order for the day.

    ICx20; toe-touches, arm circles, seal jacks, ss-hops, imperial walkers

    Mosey over to the Taj-Mahal for a ring of fire. One counter-clockwise bearcrawl with merkins along the way. Break for a set of hill-billys, then bearcrawl clockwise with merkins.

    Mosey over to the Justice Center parking garage for a set of elevens, doing burpees on the uphill side and merkins on the downhill side.

    Mosey over to the East parking lot, tracing out the parking space striping doing leg cross-overs.

    Mosey over to the front of the Justice center. Partner up. One partner straddles the bench, hopping from side to side while the other partner runs up the stairs and loops around. Then trade tasks.

    Mosey back to the flag.

    Moby prays us out.

  • Tony Little’s haircut

    Gentlemen, it was a brisk morning on the Lakefront today; which got me thinking about how working out indoors might be nice; which then got me thinking about which exercises I would do if I were in the gym; which then got me thinking about the different gym equipment I could use; which then got me thinking about the elliptical machine; which then got me thinking about the ‘Gazelle Freestyle’ machine; which then got me thinking about Tony Little’s haircut. But I digress.

    T-claps to Jingle Vader for showing up in shorts & a sleeveless shirt this morning. Most of the other PAX came bundled up in winter gear. Once my watch hit 5:30am, I issued the disclaimer, and then we mosey’d to the concrete part of the levee. Once we got there, we hit a lap up & down the concrete levee, and then did the warmup.

    Warm Up:

    • Side straddle hops – 30 cadence count
    • High knees – 20 cadence count
    • Mountain Climbers – 25 cadence count
    • Windmills – 10 cadence count
    • Self Love – 10 cadence count

    The Thang:

    • Side Straddle Hops – 10 cadence count
    • 1 burpee
    • Repeat 7 times
    • Al Gore – 10 cadence count
    • 2 burpees
    • Repeat 5 times
    • Mountain climbers – 10 cadence count
    • 3 merkins
    • Repeat 6 times

    Hit a Lap up & down the concrete levee

    • Seal jacks – 10 cadence count
    • 5 burpees
    • Sean jacks – 10 cadence count
    • 4 burpees
    • Repeat until we got down to 1 burpee
    • Bonnie Blairs – 10 count
    • 5 burpees
    • Bonnie Blairs – 10 count
    • 4 burpees
    • Repeat until we got down to 1 burpee
    • Mary:
    • Flutter kicks – 30 cadence count
    • LBC’s – 25 cadence count
    • Penguins – 20 cadence count
    • Dying Cockroaches – 20 cadence count
    • Double-reverse reverse crunches – 30 cadence count (majestic exercise)

    Hit a lap up & down the concrete levee

    • Rocky Balboas – 25 cadence count
    • Floyd Mayweathers – 25 cadence count

    After that, we headed to the flag for the count-off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions & prayer. Thanks for the opportunity to Q, fellas. I always enjoy it.

  • J

    praise the Lord it wasn’t raining!!!

    Was gonna skip this one due to the cold front but then briefs reminded me the night before that I was q ing. Yikes

    warm up: ssh, self love, windmills, mosey to the track with high knees, butt kicks, karaoke.

    we used half the track as an out and back. This way everyone could run at their own pace yet still do the exercises “together”. When the first member made 100m, they did ten Merkins, everyone else would stop where they were and also do ten Merkins, this happened at 200m also, at which point we turned around and ran back. I scepter whenever the first person gets back to the 100m mark, we all do 10 Merkins together. Run back to starting point, plank and wait for the 6. The fast runners would catch the slow runners on the way back. Once the 6 arrives, Merkins in cadence.
    the next round followed the same format except with squats. Round three was burpees.
    next we took a jog around the track to catch our breath and did it in reverse order. This time only doing 5 of each exercise at each stop. Finished off with some rock climbers, hillbilly’s, imperial walkers, stretches and a mosey back to the flag.

    There was a record prayer request/answered prayer session. So many praises and still so many needs. Guidance for our children/youth, Fathers/in laws with cardiac issues and upcoming cath, basketball head injury, the coach recovering from major surgery, prostate cancer recovery, The spine tumor that ended up benign benign, challenges in business, Bongo’s dad, special intentions. We better get to praying!

    glad y’all all came out and let me be a part of your morning! Please let screwtop know I signed him up for New Years morning (2020, 2021, and 2022)

  • Stand-in Q for the Tanner

    Stood in for a stricken Tanner at the rocks, Clear and breezy day with 17 PAX. Crimson visited from Raleigh
    Mosey to the spot

    Warmup
    19 Self love @ 4 ct
    19 Each way Arm circle @ 4 ct
    19 Abe Vigoda
    19 SSH
    Poor inflection discipline on my part caused some chortles

    Thang 1 With Rocks in the circle
    After each set of exercises, we rotate clockwise using the next rock till you get back to yours, Very few chose challenging weights so so ribbing ensued.
    SET
    5x Slow Squat
    5x Over Head Press
    5x Curls
    5x Rows or Tricep Extension

    Thang 2 – Rock Relay Ladder –
    The group is split in two and sent to opposite sides of the parking lot of an area. Group A Does 5 burpees then carrites rock to the other side while B side holds Plank.
    Then 10x Merkin, Carry while opposite guy does LBCs
    Then 15x Squats, carry, while Opposite guy dies Side Plank Right
    Then 10x Merkins,carry, while Opposite guy dies Side Plank left
    Then 5x Burpees,carry, then Wife Pleasers.

    Thang 3 – Setup PAx in pairs, back-back and transferred rock to the partner either right or left depending on my call This was metally challenging since rock holder and receiver ofter went opposite ways, Many laughs,

    Mosey to the pumps, then we wrapped up with 10 or so merkins to left/right side plank for a brief hold. Then back to the flag and namearama etc.

    Sweaty, breathless men balled up and closed out.

  • 12 Days of Christmas – Sunnyside

    More 2.0s than Dads gathered at UrbanSouth Brewery for the annual Christmas beatdown and fest. Quick disclaimer and we were off up Market St. Some ambitious 2.0s had to be full-stopped before racing across Religious St. in the dark. A few motorists were surprised by the pack the of seemingly feral children that were leading a group of wheezing middle aged men, winding through the dark streets between the warehouses.

    We arrived at Annunciation Square and circled up. Quick 20 SSH in cadence to warm us up. Then the began the days, using the 2.0s as coupons where possible. YHC lucked out with a 2.0 under 25lbs. For PAX without a 2.0, they borrowed from others with several to spare. Modifications were offered if 2.0s were uncooperative.

    1. Partridge in a Pear Tree – squat thrust 2.0 up to the shoulder; or a burpee
    2. V-Ups
    3. Lords/ladies leaping (2.0s hop over dads in plank)  or Russian Twists
    4. Flutter Kicks 
    5. Dizzy Bears
    6. Dying roaches
    7. Plank Jacks
    8. Freddy Mercurys
    9. Measly Merkins
    10. Baby crunches
    11. Crabs a crawling
    12. Burpees or a (12) Partridge in a Pear Tree. 

    The PAX then went to COT and the naming(!) Lots of creativity and individual expression from the 2.0s. Then a mosey back to Urban South to a feast, a bounce house, sweaty & dirty children, and excellent fellowship. Much good food, but shout out to #bones for the smoked boudin he served up.