Blog

  • No U.S.? Who cares! World Cup Soccer–F3 Style

    After playing  touch football (who remembers those kids riding by, windows down, shouting at us??) on Superbowl Saturday (#Turbo Tax) and half court basketball at the Milestone Marsh during March Madness (#THE Manny), YHC began planning a soccer themed beatdown to coincide with the start of the World Cup.  I figured, correctly, that Shooter wouldn’t mind lending his truck to transport my kids’ soccer goal from my front yard to the Mandeville Lakefront.  After all, ISI has necessitated a “very chesty” month for our F3 Northshore PAX who are participating, so it seemed a break from the norm was very much in order.  And so it was.

    Warmup: SSH, High knees, butt kicks.  Mosey to the soccer field on the Mandeville Lakefront that you didn’t know about–the F3 Soccer Field, brah!

    Let’s get right to it:

    Divide the PAX into two teams (shirts and skins—like when we were kids–way before dry-fit, under armour, nike pro combat) and play keep away with the soccer ball in a square grid about 30 x 30 yards.  The Goal: each team tries to complete three consecutive passes without losing possession.  When that happens, the opposing team gets a penalty exercise–merkins, burpees, groiners (Steve may have been cussed here by a very ‘whacky’ someone if memory serves), squats, sprints, flutterkicks, hello dollys, freak nasties, mountain climbers, sister mary Katherine’s.

    After a while and with the competitive juices flowing pretty good among the PAX, YHC began to fear a regrettable, preventable injury, and called for “next goal wins.”

    Time for a change of pace, and more penalty exercises.

    Let’s do some PK’s:

    Each player gets to take a PK.  If you miss, or the goalie saves it, your whole team gets a penalty exercise. If you make it, the other team gets a penalty exercise.  Rinse and repeat until all players on both teams have taken a PK and played goalie.

    Let’s change things up again:

    Shots on an Open Net from about 30 yards out.  If you miss, the entire PAX gets a penalty exercise.  If you make it, everyone rests.  Easy enough, right?  Not so fast, my friend!  Unfortunately, only about 4 people made their shot.

    Now it’s time to mosey back to the flag.  Indian Run Style.

    Count off, naming of FNG, and thanks to Bubba for praying us out!

    Welcome, FNG, In-Time!  Hope to see you at the beatdowns.

    Thanks for following my lead today, men!  I look forward to seeing you all in the gloom.

     

     

     

  • A Beat Down 2 Years in the the Making

    When Jingle Vader said he would be out of town and needed someone to step up to Q, YHC realized this was roughly his two year F3 Anniversary, and agreed to take the reigns from the mighty JV.  YHC first posted on June 11, 2016 where Maverick was the Q, and it was a good one!  With two years under the belt, YHC figured he could deliver a good one.  Two FNG’s posted with us today, along with 20 Regulars.  After some odd discussions about circles and such (that’s Bogey and Rudy for ya), it was time for the disclaimer…….and then….

    Mosey to the Great Lawn for the Warmup

    SSH IC x 31
    IW IC x 20
    Sun Gods (Arms Circles) 10 fwd, 10 back
    Mountain Climbers IC x 20
    Peter Parker IC x 20
    Parker Peter IC x 20

    Someone set up some cones on the Great Lawn, wonder who that was? YHC figured we could thank him later….

    Well, since cones are set up to mirror a basketball court, roughly about 35 feet between cones, may as well put them to good use. Time for some:

    Suicides

    Part 1
    sprint to one quarter line, sprint back and do 5 burpees
    sprint to half line, sprint back and do 5 burpees
    sprint to three quarter line, sprint back and do 5 burpees
    sprint full court, sprint back and do 5 burpees

    Part 2
    Same suicides, only 10 merkins each time the pax sprints back

    Part 3
    Bear crawl semi suicides
    Bear crawl to one quarter line, complete 10 LBC’s, bear crawl back to base line and do 10 merkins
    Bear crawl to half court line, 10 LBC’s, bear crawl back to base line for 10 merkins.

    Part 4
    Lunge Walk Suicides
    Lunge walk to one quarter line, 10 monkey humpers, run back to base line for 10 merkins.
    Lunge walk to half court line, 10 monkey humpers, run back to base line for 10 merkins.
    Lunge walk to three quarter line, 10 monkey humpers, run back to base line for 10 merkins.
    Lunge walk full court, 10 monkey humpers, run back to base line for 10 merkins.

    Line up in two columns for an indian run to NOMA. Apparently YHC did not do a very good job of explaining this, but we all ran, and we made it, so all is good.

    Partner up for:

    Mini Dora 123 (for time)
    Pax 1 runs from first tree, or tree zero, or whatever we call it now, to the fountain for 10 dip
    Pax two does exercise until relieved. The count is cumulative.
    50 Burpees
    100 Squats
    150 Merkins

    Partner Derkins
    Starting at the now infamous first tree
    Pax 1 planks, while Pax 2 uses Pax 1 for 10 Derkins.
    Run to next tree, flapjack
    Run to next tree, flapjack
    Run to next tree, flapjack
    Run back to starting point
    That’s 20 derkins for each

    Circle up for Mary
    LBC IC x 30
    Flutter Kicks IC x 20
    Dying Cockroach IC x 20
    Penguins IC x 20

    Mosey back to flags

    COT
    Count off, Name-O-Rama, Name the FNG’s, Announcements, Intentions, closed with a prayer to the Sky Q

    NMM
    Welcome Outbreak and Sour Patch, T-Claps to Woz and Coxswain for the EH’s!!!
    Thanks to all of you for continuing to post in support of F3. There is no doubt my life has changed for the better over the last two years, and I remain several pounds lighter. The daily beatdowns, the Capital Ruck, the Grow Ruck, the Gnarly Nutria, the ISI monthly challenges, and a plethora of other F2 CSAUP events have filled these last two years with incredible memories, and the experiences have improved my roll as a Father, a Husband, and a Friend.

    SYITG

  • What the Heck Happened Here? (Can We Say Heck?)

    Home is the place where, when you have to go there they have to take you in.

    -Robert Frost

    So Thursday at the scramble there was no Ocho. Other than that, I don’t remember too many specifics. Now I know why there’s a lot of back blasts that never get written – because, after being delayed for a day or 3, the Q can’t remember what went down… no excuse!

    THE THANG (I THINK)

    25 merks

    20 hi knees

    25 merks

    20 windmills

    THE SCRAMBLE

    As we ran our traditional route, I was observant of a few things. Number 1, The Hermitage subdivision, otherwise known as “the loop”, has become a very busy pre-dawn venue for fitness-minded nonresidents, especially random F3  brothers who ambush you during your run (not Capatin Sparkles this time). Number 2, If you want a premier example of what being consistent with F3 can do, look no further than our brother Sprockett. Although he had already been crowned with his F3 moniker by the time I first met him, he was fresh to the scramble. He has made serious progress in his performance levels. T claps to Sprockett! Number 3, though the tide may ebb and flow, no matter how much we F3 attack the refuse that lay in our paths, we will never eradicate the litter problem of Old Mandeville.

    POST SCRAMBLE

    Upon completion of our mighty 5K, it was core time. YHC has decided to bring back the ab assault to the people. Now as for this day, it’s already been mentioned that memories can fade quickly, and this is being written a full 39 hours after the end of the glorious beatdown of which YHC speaks, but there was a strenuous count of twist crunches, a lovely series of supermans and bananas (a la P90X/Chewy), and finally a run of putins.

    COT

    Many thanks to Burgundy for your solid message to send us out to face the day (Better late than never).

     

  • Viva la cucaracha

    Hurt yourself, don’t hurt yourself, your Q had disclaimer issues. Least of the Pax’ problems today…let’s mosey.

    Around the horn discover Brown Bag hiding in the shrubbery then over to touchdown Jesus for the first COP: SSHx 20, MC x20, HB x20, PP x20, Squat Jacks no Smurf Jacks x 20, PP x20

    Mosey to the mountain for three lines of Indian run fun to the top.

    COP #2 with a quick change between exercises: Dying Cockroach x10 > Flutter Kicks x10 > DC x10 > Hello Dollys x10 > DC x10 > High Dollys x10 > DC x10

    Mosey over to the down ramp: 10 RT, 10 merkins the run down for 7 crossfit-merkin jump sqaut burpees, backwards up the hill twice and third time bear crawl.

    Down the stairs for a nice cool round at the benches: RSLU x20, Dips x20, RLPU x20, Incline Merkins x10, LLSU x20, Dips x15, LLPU x20 & Incline Merkins x10

    Lastly another quick round of Mary at TD Jesus: Dying Cockroach x15 > elbow PP x15 > Dying Cockroach x15 > eblow MC x15

    Back to the flag for the count, name-o-rama, welcome FNG Shrinkage & the prayer.

    zero comments, please

  • Día de la cucaracha muerta

    Light crowd on a steamy Monday but the 12 PAX were up for the challenge.

    After the obligatory loop  around club parking lot, we headed for the water but an intense ladies kegel exercise class was occupying the space. No worries, a quick jump over the bandstand for the first COP:

    SSH x20, MC x20, HB x20, PP x20, Smurf Jacks x 20, PP (the other one) x20

    Line up at the lights for a intertwined bear crawl/lunge walk stopping to knock off 5 crossfit-merkin jump squat burpees at each light.

    After that fun, an Indian run to the crossbar next to the zoo.

    Four groups rotating: Eblow MC, Merkins, Elbow PP and crossfit-merkin burpee pull-ups for the count of seven.

    Back in Indian run formation hoping to spot the movie star du jour at the zoo. No luck so we trudged on to the pavilion.

    RLSU x25, Dips x20, LLSU x25, Derkins x10

    Mosey to lights for another COP lighting round of Mary: Dying Cockroach x10 > quick change > Flutter Kick x10 > DC x10 > Hello Ds x10 x DC x10 > High Dolly x10 > DC x10 > RT X10 >DC x10

    Lastly enough time for another intertwined bear crawl/lunge walk with 5 merkins at each light

    Back to flag for a count-0-rama & prayer.

    Good start to the week…Thanks

     

     

     

     

  • More Tool in lieu of more Cowbell

    Nineteen men posted to get the usual Saturday fix at The Mothership.  YHC filled in as Q for Cowbell who anticipated a late night at the Taylor Swift concert or something of the sorts.  Typical June conditions meant we were in for another sweat fest but nothing the PAX couldn’t handle.  YHC has been slacking lately on themed workouts and didn’t want to throw together a last minute history tour so then plan was a no-frills workout in an effort to deliver a beatdown to all, and make sure to include plenty Merkins for the ISI challenge.  As the PAX trickled in, it was good to see some 2nd and 3rd timers in the mix which is always a good thing.  After the disclaimer, we were off in a longer than usual mosey around the Great Lawn, made clear by Rain Man, and circled up for the Pre-Thang:

    SSH x25, AC x20, WM x10, IPW x25

    Then we lined up on one side of the lawn for a bear crawl halfway followed by a lunge walk the other half.

     

    Next up, a mosey around Storyland to the back of TG Stadium where we broke up into three groups for:

    Group 1 – Wall Sit against the train shed, which we made base for the circuit

    Group 2 – Run to the Refinery for 10 pullups and 10 inverted rows, or any combo of the two, run back and plank

    Group 3 – Run to the prison bars, aka Tool Wall, for calf raises x40, run back and plank

    After one round, rinse and repeat.

     

    Then a mosey to the Museum water fountain where we lined up along the trees for:

    Merkins x10, Squats x10 (OYO) at each light pole, run to the next…think think were 10 poles.

     

    How bout some Mary:  LBC x20, Box Cutters x20, Penguins x25

    How bout an Indian Run:  PAX split in two groups, one on each side of Lelong Dr., down and back (almost half mile), with a little friendly competition along the way.  T-claps to Rudy for the Nascar-like announcing.

    This brought us back to the light poles so this time we knocked out Merkins x5 and Squats x5 at each one, plank and wait/hydrate by the water fountain.

     

    More Mary:

    LBTs ? x20

    Merkins x10 OYO

    Russin Twist a la Jingle Vader x20?

    Merkins x10 OYO

    Mahatma took the mic for: Dying Cockroach x10, keep feet up, Flutter Kicks x10, repeat

    Time to head back to base.  Total ground covered was 2.68mi.  Merkin count was 170 for those in the ISI challenge.

    COT to seal the deal.  Coffeeteria included some good F2 followed by bible study…t-claps Woz.

    Thanks for the opportunity to lead.

    Tool

     

     

  • Steve’s last hurrah

    6 pax met up at the mandeville TH to celebrate good ol’ Steve’s last workout until October.

    The thang:

    warm up on the stage with a series of scapular stability exercises to counteract the plethora of merkins some of the pax have been pounding out.

    mosey through the woods to the underpass

    jane Fonda’s for glute activation

    BLIMPS

    burpees x 10

    stop motion lunges x 15

    imperial walkers x 20 IC

    Merkins 3 count x 10

    Plank jacks x 25

    squats x 30

    mosey back to Flag for 5 min of Mary led by Steve.

    COT, nameorama, prayer.

    Best of luck in Hollywood Steve, we will see you in October man!

    -Chewy

     

  • Oh the Terror

    This Q had me shaking in fear like night. I was not intending to Q this morning. I had made plans with Hawg to swap Qs. I would take his birdcage Q in early April, and he would take my Q in early June. I filled in admirably for him in the spring, but this week he informed me that he was running out of town to Arizona to avoid filling in for me. After eight weeks of missing birdcage workouts (family vacation, sickness, and trip to Israel), I did not feel ready to Q in my first F3 at this location since my April, but God gives grace to the weak and I faced my terror of leading a workout while feeling woefully out of shape.

    We started with 15 at the imaginary flag and following the disclaimer, we moseyed over to the WWI flag for a warm-up.

    SSH – 20

    Hillbillies – 20

    Peter Parker – 20

    Windmills – 21

    We ended by cleaning up with 20 Annies

    We did an Indian Run back past our starting spot and over to the monkey bars. We did a 4 part rotation with 10 pull-ups as the count Freddie Mercury, Merkins, and Big Boy Sit-ups with the other three stations. We did two rotations.

    We moseyed over to the open field in front of the zoo for the Suck. We did two rounds. 3 minutes each time to see how many reps of 7 SSH, 7 merks, and 7 squats we could each knock out.

    Following the Suck, we moseyed down Constance St. to the levee. My goal was to do elevens at this point. I think I sapped too much of our time and endurance with the 2nd suck, because we only finished half of the exercise before we needed to mosey back to the flag. The elevens started with 10 burpees on the bottom and 1 jump squat on the top. Most men finished the round with 5 burpees and 6 jump squats.

    We moseyed back to the flag. I hate Mary and tried to arrive right at 6:15, but we arrived about 90 seconds early. We did a round of American Hammers and then a round of Wife Pleasers to get ready for Father’s Day and my watch said we were done.

    We counted to 15, said our names, and called it a day.

    Thanks for putting up with my anxiety over my lack of recent attendance. The workout beat me down, and I hope all of the pax felt the same.

     

  • Fun and Games at The Gipper

    Summer is upon us and a number of Gipper regulars are enjoying themselves on vacation.  Expecting a light turnout, YHC was pleasantly surprised when two FNGs rolled in this morning to round off our crew for the day at 5.  Brief disclaimer and explanation of what we are all about in the F3 Nation before getting underway with a mosey to the Justice Center.

    Warmup of SSHs, plank jacks, windmills, Merkins, Imperial Walkers, Peter Parkers and finally some shoulder circles with overhead hand claps.  Mostly in cadence with 10-20 reps for each exercise.

    Mosey to the top of the Justice Center Parking Garage for some Merkin/Squat mountain.  Partner up and execute first 100 Merkins and then 200 Squats while your partner first sprints down/backpedals up the ramp and then lateral shuffles down and then back up the ramp.

    Mosey to the front of the Justice Center for fun and games.  Four cones delineated a rough circle, and the PAX counted off to establish an order and got to work passing a tennis ball around in that order.  Every dropped pass earned an OYO exercise.  While we had it going smoothly for a while, perfection can only last so long and so we ended up doing a fair number of jump squats, Merkins, Sister Mary Katherines, and Seal Jacks.  YHC also increased the level of difficultly as soon as the PAX kinda mastered things and so we switched up the passing order, had to leave the circle after each pass to do a burpee before coming back in to receive the next pass, etc.

    Mosey back to the Trailhead for some abbreviated Mary, a set of flutter kicks 20x IC, and then it was time for closing ceremonies.

    Welcome Bean and Buzz to the PAX!

     

  • And the Tony for the best use of Musicals in a Q goes to….

    Due to some over-excitement to hit the “snooze” button, YHC was a couple of minutes late w/ the F3 Flag and to his own Q.  Thanks to the miracle of GroupMe & Mumblechatter, YHC was able to give directions to the PAX who would be lost w/out him.  When YHC arrived, the PAX had already begun the w/u at the Practice Track while also going over the command instructions for those who have yet to Q.

    W/U

    • SSH
    • AC (led by Mambi)
    • Windmills/Abe Vigodas/Don Quixotes (led by Pai Gow)
    • IW x 20
    • MC x 20
    • JL x 15

    Head to Roosevelt Mall for some Route 66

    • Starting w/ the first bench to your left, do 5 Irkins and 5 Derkins; run to the next bench and increase the reps by 1; proceed all the way down the mall. Total Irkin/Derkin count 81 each.

    Mosey to the left wall of NOMA

    • Hold the People’s Chair while each PAX names his favorite Musical Artist/Band, Favorite Broadway Musical, First Concert Attended.   T-Claps to some of those favs & first including Elvis Presley, Wicked, Cowboy Mouth, West Side Story, and the Cars.

    Mosey to the Foundry & partner up for AMRAP; while we pay tribute to some of the Best Musical Tony winners w/in the past few years.

    1. “Disappear” from Dear Evan Hansen – ~.25 Mile Run at your 1mi pace.  (This is the count)
    2. “Falling Slowly” from Once – Negative Pull Ups or Pull Up w/ a :03 down motion
    3. “Sex Is In the Heel” from Kinky Boots – Calf Raises
    4.  “All-American Prophet” from The Book of Mormon – Merkins
    5.  “My Shot” from Hamilton – Bobby Hurleys

    Mosey back to the Flag

    Counterama, Namerama, Announcements, Intentions, COT

    Thank you for the opportunity to lead,  SYITG,

    Da Parish