F3 New Orleans

Category: New Orleans

  • Running With Scissors

    I had been looking forward to this (1 day after) Birthday Q. Since I am a Physical Therapist I wanted to introduce a few exercises that I have my patients perform in the clinic or suped-up modifications of those exercises. I had considered using the great lawn for a portion of the beatdown but due to the amount of rain we had received and the lack of any animal crawls I opted to stay dry (of water, not sweat) which I hope the PAX appreciated. 8 men gathered in the humid, muggy, but sunny morning, the disclaimer was given, and off we moseyed to the pavilion by the Festival Grounds as everyone carried their soon to be announced coupons while I carried the scissors so said coupons could be distributed.

    Warm Up:

    • Side straddle hops x 25
    • Windmills x 10
    • Self love x 10
    • Hillbillies x 20
    • Mountain climbers x 20

    Thang #1:

    I was inspired by 2 recent beatdowns by Mr. Awesome and Kuch that included Tabata. So I performed a dry run the night before with a free app I downloaded and chose a 90s grunge playlist on Amazon Prime for 20 sec of exercise and 10 sec of rest for a group of arm exercises all using Theraband. We performed 2 rounds, with some questionable grunge selections by Amazon (Goo Goo Dolls and Dave Matthews Band are not 90s grunge).

    • Shoulder flexion (forward straight arm raise)
    • T’s/airplanes (separate arms apart while maintaining arms at shoulder level)
    • External rotation (elbows by your side and swing open arms like a gate)
    • Shoulder abduction (lateral straight arm raise)
    • Biceps curls
    • Triceps extension

    Thang #2:

    With everyone’s shoulders burning it was time to work on some legs. After shifting the picnic tables out of the way, PAX lined up on one end of the pavilion and performed a series of exercises back and forth across the pavilion

    • Lunge with twist, there and back
    • Toe walks, there
    • Heel walks, back
    • Monster walks with Theraband around ankles, forward there and retro back
    • Lateral monster walks with Theraband around ankles, alternate direction after a lap

    Thang #3:

    Everyone’s quads and gluts seemed to be burning after those so PAX circled back up for a some merkin and plank variations all performed in cadence

    • Merkin plus x 15
    • Merkin into side plank x 10
    • Plank on elbows into a birddog position (lifting alternate arm and leg) x 10

    At this point my arms were getting worn out and I was slipping from my sweat on the pavilion concrete so I made slight change in my exercise order. Time for some People’s Chair x 30 sec each, with modifications of course to target different muscle groups.

    • Feet flat on ground
    • Shift weight towards heels to fire the gluts
    • Shift weight towards balls of the feet to fire the quads
    • Single leg with right leg in air
    • Single leg with left leg in air

    Following this I went back and completed by merkin/plank exercise group with side planks into a straight leg raise x 10 each side.

    Thang #4:

    Following our pavilion portion of the beatdown we moseyed over to the deck in front of Big Lake while carrying coupons (and scissors of course). All exercises done in cadence.

    • Prone T’s/airplanes (Theraband optional) x 15 ; my apologies to the tall people/people with long arms
    • Prone W’s x 15
    • Dips x 15
    • Step ups x 15; 1 set leading with right then 1 set leading with left leg
    • High rises x 15

    Yeah, I named an exercise after myself. I have a lot of patients at the clinic perform wife pleasers. However, I do not call them wife pleasers. They are called bridges. Wife pleasers/bridges seemed too simple for this group of men so I modified it into something different. Starting position is in a crab walk, then lift your hips/butt into the air while also lifting 1 leg in the air. So it’s a suped-up single leg wife pleaser. Hope this makes sense to anyone reading this nonsense.

    Mosey back to the Muscleship shovelflag for some static hamstring, butterfly, and figure-4 piriformis stretching x 15 sec hold for each. Count off, name-o-rama, annoucements, intentions, and sweaty ball of man prayer. Thanks to all PAX for showing up. Hope everyone was as sore and fatigued as I was.

  • 5 Stud Poker

    5 Stud Poker

    5 Studs showed up for some F3 Poker this morning. But first the disclaimer…”If you or someone you know has a gambling problem….”

    Warm-up

    A standard Hawgcycle warm-up, start with SSH to 31 then loosen the hips with some Imperial Walkers. Next, stretch the Hammies with some Abe Vigodas. Then make everyone get down on the ground for some Peter Parkers and back up for some grass grabbers to continue to stretch the hammies. (Note to Amnesty: I would have taken care of you) Then grab a rock and mosey to the tree-line by the outer track.

    The Thang
    Round 1: Five Card Stud

    My newly arrived F3 Deck of Death was sitting on a bench 50+ yards away. Bear crawl to the deck and draw a card. Jog back. Repeat until you have 5 cards. You can fold your hand or play. Folding earns you 10 penalty burpees. If you play and lose you get 15 penalty burpees. If you win, you get to return the cards to the bench at your leisure, shuffle them and return to the pax after doing zero burpees.

    Boo Boo and Left Eye folded. Darkwing Duck won the first hand with a pair of Kings. We went ahead and did all of the exercises in Darkwings Hand

    • King of Clubs – 25 American Hammers
    • King of Hearts – 25 Mountain Climbers
    • 4 of Diamonds – 14 Carolina Dry Docks
    • 7 of Hearts – Bear Crawl – 40 yards
    • 5 of Clubs – 15 Oblique Crunches (Both Sides)

    We then did our penalty burpees as Darkwing returned the deck to the bench.

    Round 2: Five Card Draw

    Sprint to the deck (50+ yards) and draw a card. Jog back to the start. Repeat until you have a hand of 5 cards. Same penalty rules apply, but this time you can draw extra cards at a cost of 5 burpees per card. Left Eye and Darkwing folded, taking their 10 penalty burpees. Boo Boo drew one card at a cost of 5 burpees. YHC and Tool, flying in the face of pure logic and common sense, each drew 3 cards at a cost of 15 burpees. While YHC, Tool, and Boo Boo sprinted to the deck and paid our burpee cost for drawing cards, Darkwing Duck led Left Eye in a round of LBCs. Boo Boo was drawing for a straight and ended with a 10 high, so he took 10 burpees and folded. YHC put up my Ace high against Tools pair of Aces – 15 burpees for me.

    Round 3: Five Card Stud (Fives are wild)

    The last round was dealer’s choice. We sprinted to the deck and Tool dealt us each five cards calling the fives as wild. We sprinted back to the start and commenced the round. Darkwing, Tool, and YHC all folded, taking the 10 burpee penalty. Left Eye Lopez had a wild five and beat Boo Boo with a pair of Aces. Before we did the penalty burpees we did a couple of exercises from Left Eye’s hand.

    • 6 of Clubs – Mission Impossible (60 seconds)
    • 7 of Hearts – Bear Crawl (40 yards)

    We finished our penalty burpees while Left Eye moseyed back to gather the cards and various things I left on the bench. Then it was back to the flag.

    The Skinny
    • Ridiculously low numbers to day, circa 2018. Was it the ISI or the fact that I was the Q. I’m telling myself it was the ISI. I’m sure the Lakeview Clown Cars were piling up the points at WPM, but where was the Old Metairie Krewe?
    • Tool, being the HIM that he is, went to Amnesty’s house to pick him up for the workout. Amnesty, being the fartsacker that he is, didn’t show.
    • I got the feeling that I should not play real poker with Darkwing Duck.
    • If nothing else, we got better at bear crawls today.
    • Lefty Eye was not pleased with the 75 yard rock mosey we started with to get to the playing field. Mr. Lopez, I am now deeming you the official Uptowner Compliance Officer. Your job is to make sure the Q adheres to the spirit of the Uptowner. Any violations should bring public chastisement and humiliation. I can tell you that Mambi will be a problem when he comes back. Start chastising him now.

  • Bridges & Burpees in lieu of Bars & Beers

    Strong showing of fourteen runners and four cyclists posted at the Stomp in City Park to get their usual Tuesday fix.  With the annual Bar-a-thon just 10 days away, YHC figured the PAX could use some training to make sure the legs and lungs will be up to par for the pinnacle of F3 CSAUP events….liver training will be OYO in evenings.  Since it wouldn’t be practical to squeeze in 6 miles, 6 bars, and 6 beers in the gloom, we opted for a “Bridge-a-thon” instead to include 6 kilometers, 6 bridges, and 6 rounds of burpees.  Goal was 40 minutes, F2 encouraged, and awards to follow for various categories TBD.  As the clock neared launch time, we recapped the 6K route w/burpees x10 at each of the 6 bridges:  Start with normal run down Roosevelt Mall, across bayou, left on Moss St., left on Desaix Bridge, right onto Wisner overpass, run down paved path along bayou, hit Harrison bridge, turn around, pass in front of Pan Am Stadium down Zach Taylor Dr, left at underpass, then Henry Thomas Dr to Roosevelt Mall back to the flag, then sweep the six or start some Mary. 

    The PAX all completed the mission, some modified up or down, most with extra time for additional running and/or Mary.  The guys on bikes embarked on a longer route and met us back at the flag, just in time for the “awards ceremony“.  In true Barathon fashion, koozies were awarded for the following random categories, with the entire PAX coming to a 2-3 second consensus for each award:

    Fastest Runner – El Guapo took home the chic Nyx koozie, since he was the manliest guy that morning and can best pull off using a girly koozie

    Most Sophisticated/Best Dressed – Chips was unanimous winner with his tank top and bright orange shoes…he left with the fancy zip-up longneck koozie

    Most Ordinary/Average PAX – After a breif debate, War Eagle took this title for the morning and left with the most average, used koozie that YHC could find in his garage. 

    Best Cyclist – Amnesia was awarded this by his fellow biking peers, I think for his speedy use of the Blue Bike.  

    Sweatiest Guy – This was to be the most coveted award since it meant you probably worked the hardest….went to Screw Top, who took home a custom, one-of-a-kind vintage F3 puffy foam koozie. T-claps for pushing hard!

    T-claps to all, and sorry that everyone didn’t get a trophy.    

    COT included usual announcements, GiveNola details, and a reminder that while many of us might joke about beer drinking being a “sport”, YHC suggested we strive to do it in moderation and not let it get the best of us….and to be a help to others around us who may be slipping down that slope.  We lifted up several intentions for those battling illness as we closed with a prayer.

    Great to see lots of new faces lately consistently out in the gloom.  And lots of good F2 as always.  I was able to chat with a few guys along the run, which is always a good way to start the day. Also shout out to Dirty Dell who used his doctor skills to asses a downed PAX. Fortunately all was well.  

    Hope to see everyone at the Tchoupitoulas Barathon on May 17.  It’s always a blast, even if you’re not a beer drinker.  Details here:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2019-tchoupitoulas-social-aid-athletic-club-bar-a-thon-the-38th-registration-46260502408

    Tool       

  • Relay Race – 8.5 Teams Got Stronger Today

    17 PAX managed to meet up on a humid, sunny Wednesday morning. Summer is coming since the Knight King was handled by a teenager. PAX will miss the cool, dry air for the next 6 months. Welcome back – PaceCar from F3 Houston and Hand Grenade from San Antonio. At 6:30, YHC gave his standard disclaimer and off went the PAX.

    Warm-ups

    Short mosey to the Band Stand and did the following in cadence:

    SSHs x 20

    Windmills x 10

    Grass Grabber x 10

    Self Love x 10

    Hill Billies x 20

    MC x 20

    PAX did BLIMPS down the Oak Alley. Stopped at each light post and did the following:

    5 Burpees

    10 Lunges (2 is 1)

    15 Imperial Walkers (2 is 1)

    20 Merkins

    25 Plank Jacks

    30 Squats

    Got back on the running track of Audubon Park and ran to the front of Audubon Zoo where the PAX normally do DORA.

    Relay Race

    Partnered up. YHC stressed this is a team race. While one PAX was resting and waiting in front of the Zoo, the other PAX was sprinting to the first light post, did 3 Hand-Release Burpees (Hurpees), and sprint back. Tag his partner and flap jack where the 2nd PAX ran to the same first post and did 3 hurpees. This is the sequence of the Relay Race:

    to the first light post with 3 hurpees

    to the 2nd light post with 30 LBCs

    to the 3rd light post with 3 hurpees

    to the 4th light post with 30 shoulder taps (2 is 1)

    to the first light post with 2 hurpees

    to the 2nd light post with 20 LBCs

    to the 3rd light post with 2 hurpees

    to the 4th light post with 20 shoulder taps (2 is 1)

    to the first light post with 1 hurpees

    to the 2nd light post with 10 LBCs

    to the 3rd light post with 1 hurpees

    to the 4th light post with 10 shoulder taps (2 is 1)

    YHC stressed to each PAX to give it all on their sprint because each will get a chance to rest in between and there will be a prize for the first, second, and third place teams – more burpees 🙂 T-claps to Bartman & King Kong, G-Spot & Yankee, and Tinkles & 86 for finishing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, respectively.

    Round of Mary with the help of the PAX

    King Kong – Dying Cockroach x 20 IC

    Yankee – O Dolly

    PaceCar – Monkey Humpers x 25 IC

    Quarter Pipe – Willie Wrecker x 15 IC (Willie Wrecker is BACK!!!)

    G-Spot – Real Freddy x 20 IC

    Moseyed back to the flag at 6:15 a.m.

    COT

    Count-O-Rama 17 PAX, Name-O-Rama, announcements, intentions. Thank You all again for the opportunity to lead. I am always grateful to be able to workout with the PAX. SYITG

    King Kong

    PaceCar needs to take a better pic.

  • Hoke no like Cinder Block. Hoke Smash.

    On a warm, muggy morning that serves as a reminder of what’s to come in the next few months, 13 PAX (a Popeye’s record) gathered for YHC’s Q, motivated only by getting better and not missing YHC’s Q…. and maybe because Popeye’s was the ISI point today. Perhaps they knew there would be smashing involved.

    Brief mosey to one of the workout areas with some high knees and butt kicks along the way, followed by a fast-paced warm-up of the following:

    • Imperial Squat Walkers x10
    • SSXx20
    • Arm Circlesx20
    • Parker Peterx20
    • Self love

    The workout

    8 stations using Tabata as a timer (20 seconds on, 10 seconds to rotate)

    • Turkish Get Up’s w/ 10lb Kb (became sweat angels when we “ran out of” a cinder block)
    • Jumping rope (with 2 recently purchased speed ropes, neither of which withstood the workout. This eventually became Rocky Balboas)
    • Pull-ups/hang from pull-up bar
    • Burpees (of course)
    • 8 count bodybuilders (right after burpees because why not?)
    • Dips
    • Jump Squats (side note: while on vacation recently, I attended a yoga class that took place on a raft in the pool. One exercise was jump squats, and let’s just say the instructor’s form was a bit better than mine. He would squat down, jump up, turn 180 degrees in the air, and would drop back into a squat as he landed. This resulted in YHC falling off the raft several times, but being convinced this was the right way to do a jump squat. YHC encouraged everyone to try it this way today.)
    • Curl and press with cinder blocks.

    A couple rounds in, and we were all feeling it, some more than others. And by some, I mean Hokie Pokey, who opted for a demonstration of strength during this exercise. And by demonstration, I mean he smashed the cinder block at his feet, and then stood over it like a DB who had just leveled a receiver coming across the middle. We all applauded this feat of strength, made certain modifications and mental notes, and moved on.

    All in all, I think we got 5 rounds of this Tabata circuit in. For the first 3, we listed to Rage Against the Machine songs, but YHC made the mistake of throwing out a couple song choices to the Pax. Thus, our final round was done to “Video Killed the Radio Star”, compliments of Frac Sac. Thanks?

    We moseyed back to the flag, down a coupon, for some stretching led by Mahatama, and then a bit of planking. We gave thanks for the day, and remembered to appreciate even the hot, muggy days.

    Thanks to our Uptowners, Nip Tuck, Bones and JV who hopped on their flights this morning and made it all the way out to Lafreniere. And thanks for letting me lead. – Kuch

  • Ren & Stimpy

    As it is Tuesday, the book of Revit says Burpees are acceptable, however, still unpleasant, so we began with 10 OYO. Mosey uptown to the parks edge looping back to Tulane and Gibson Quad for a warm-up circle.

    Circle 1: SSH x 20, Arm Circles Forward & Reverse, Peter Parkers*x10 (Pace Car / Alamo Style), Russian Twist x 20

    *So last Friday at the Mountain, Pace Car from San Antonio was doing his Peter Parkers differently than we do. Our version is more bow legged mountain climber. Pace Car did that but with a Merican in between each rise of the leg!

    Moseyed on to the Navy building where we broke up into 2 groups Alpha and Omega. Omega did pull ups while Alpha journeyed into the Navy Building to get the log! T-Claps to #SeaBiscuit for the assist. Returned to the pull up bars, gave the log to Omega group to carry it over to LBC quad. Alpha stayed behind to do a max set then joined Omega at the quad.

    Circle 2: BLIMPS increments of 10. While one group BLIMP’d the other took the log around the quad.

    Following BLIMPS we were tight on time but attempted 1-2-3. 50 Big Boy situps with the log while the other group ran to the opposite side of the quad then 100 chest presses. Wanted to do shoulder presses but out of time.

    Returned the log to the COT.

    *It’s give NOLA day and YOUTHNOLA Run was there raising the bar. We all do a lot in our goal to make a difference. Some mentor with Son of a Saint, YOUTHNOLA, and CAFE HOPE, please consider!

  • Shorty Dooby Doo…Where are you?

    So as YaMomAnEm and I arrived in the smallest possible LVCC possible to the AO a small group of men were ready to engage in some Shorty-style sprinting. I don’t own a watch but I knew 5:30 had to be approaching so I casually turned to Rudy and asked, “Is it 5:30 yet?” since our Q hadn’t arrived. He looked at his watch and said, “It’s 5:30 now. And since you asked you’re the Q.” Mildly taken aback I took it in stride, said the disclaimer, and moseyed over to the track.

    Dynamic Warm Up:

    • Frankenstein kicks
    • Butt kicks
    • Open the gate/Close the gate
    • Toe grabs
    • Karaokes
    • Standing quad stretch (with partner for balance)
    • 100m run at 50% speed

    At this point I opted to steal from Hawg’s Danger Zone debut so we did some sprints of varying lengths with a walk back to the starting line following each sprint. We roughly did 25m, 50m, 75m, and 100m sprints.

    After this, I stole from Screw Top’s Danger Zone beatdown and we ran 4 laps, split into 2 groups of 3, around the track with 100m sprints on the straight-a-ways and a mosey in the turns.

    During our 4 laps a growing crowd of runners was gathering near the entrance to the track. Following the completion of our 4 laps I wanted to perform some static stretching. Since there were only 6 of us, the PAX decided to perform these stretches in the warm-up section of the track in the turn to stay out of that group’s workout.

    Static Stretching:

    • Seated hamstring stretch 2 sets each leg x 15 sec hold
    • Butterfly stretch 2 sets x 15 sec hold
    • Supine figure-4 piriformis stretch 2 sets each leg x 15 sec hold

    Since the other group was breaking off into smaller running groups, I wanted to get 1 full sprint with all 6 PAX in our respective lanes. So we lined up for one more 100m sprint which YaMomAnEm took home handily. Afterwards we moseyed back to the warm-up area for some Mary.

    Mary (all done in cadence):

    • LBCs x 20
    • Sweaty Angels x 15
    • Dying Cockroaches x 20
    • Freddie Mercury’s x 15
    • Single-leg wife pleasers x 10 each leg

    Mosey back to (invisible) flag, count off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, sweaty ball of man.

  • Sweaty Bells on Cinco de Mayo

    Pre-Thang

    When Hawgcycle posted May’s ISI Challenge, YHC was excited to see that there will be a workout every Sunday. Hawgcycle even called YHC out “@King Kong We have one if someone gets it going.” Without any hesitation, YHC nominated himself to Q the first Sunday Uptown workout. YHC originally wanted to meet at the Audubon Park entrance on St. Charles Ave because YHC wanted to go to places where we don’t go often. YHC was thinking to explore Tulane Campus, possibly to the Yulman Stadium since YHC is an alum. However, Yankee was messaging YHC about how he really wanted to have a Kettle Bell Workout in NOLA because it was never done before and that other AOs in other cities have dedicated Kettle Bell workouts. Yankee even suggested maybe the new AO can be the Hill at the Fly behind Audubon Zoo. YHC couldn’t agree more because the Uptown AOs lack a workout with weights. Cinder blocks were introduced at the Skinny and Birdcage during last year’s ISI Challenge. The PAX used those blocks for about 6 months until the maintenance crew of Aududon Park discovered them and tossed them away. This would be a perfect opportunity to bring weights back with kettle bells. With all that being said, Yankee didn’t even show up for the Inaugural Sweaty Bells Workout 🙂

    YHC couldn’t ask for better weather. It was a cool, dry, sunny morning in the low 70’s. At 6:30 a.m., 8 strong PAX showed up by the Hill. YHC gave his standard disclaimer, and the PAX brought their kettle bells to a flat, smooth, soccer field right next to the hill with warm ups.

    Warm Ups in cadence:

    Hill Billies x 20 (with the help of Tool because YHC needed to get his phone out of his car).

    Windmills x 15 (with the help of Tool)

    Grass Grabber x 10

    SSHs x 20

    Forward Arm Circles x 10

    Backward Arm Circles x 10

    Peter Parkers x 20

    Then a warm up jog to the end of the soccer field and back leading to our first set of exercises with our beloved kettle bells

    Thang 1

    Low Slow Goblot Squats x 20 IC

    Curls x 15 IC

    Kettle Bell Swing x 20 OYO

    Triceps x 10 IC

    Thrusters x 10 OYO

    Rows x 10 IC

    Reverse Grip x 10 IC

    Overhead presses x 10 IC

    High Pull x 10 OYO

    Then moseyed to the end of the soccer field and back.

    Rinse and repeat the same exercises with a different amount of reps.

    Thang 2 – AMRAP

    AMRAP in 3 minutes with the following exercises to celebrate Cinco de Mayo by doing each with 5 reps: 5 thrusters, 5 curls, and 5 SSHs = one set. Each round was 3 minutes. Then rested 1 minute. Rinse and repeat. The PAX did a total of 3 rounds. Every time a PAX finished one set of 5 thrusters, 5 curls, and 5 SSHs – he shouted out the number of set he just finished. YHC believes the highest was 10 sets in 3 minutes.

    Thang 3 – DORA

    Partnered up with a DORA 1-2-3 (100 curls, 200 kettle bell swing, 300 LBCs with or without the bell). While one PAX was doing those exercises, the other PAX was running up the hill and back with his kettle bell. In the middle of the workout, YHC called for modification with 150 kettle bell swing instead.

    Round of Mary

    With the help of the PAX, each PAX called out an exercise:

    1.) Angie’s List – Penguins x 20 IC

    2.) Peppa – Protractor

    3.) Hokie Pokey – arm circles x 20 IC

    4.) Tool – American Hammer with or without the bell – 20 IC

    5.) Jingle Vader – flutter kicks with or without the bell x 20 IC

    6.) Gabrielle – Reverse Mountain Climber x 20 IC

    7.) Rev-It – Dying Cockroach x 20 IC

    Finished at 7:31 a.m.

    COT

    Count-O-Rama 8PAX, Name-O-Rama, announcements, intentions. Thank You all again for the opportunity to lead. The PAX met up at PJs on Magazine St. after the workout. Always a pleasure and honor to workout with the PAX. I hope the Sunday workout will stick around beyond May. SYITG

    King Kong

    Inaugural “Sweaty Bells” Sunday

  • H8! #6

    The Thang

    Event: The 6th running of the H8!

    Conditions: 72 degrees, 90% humidity, winds out of the SSE at 4 mph.

    Participants: 30 Pax including, 7 H8!ers, and 14 first timers.

    Each lap consists of running south to the top of the levee, crossing canal (bear crawling the neutral ground), running south to the bottom of the levee, cross canal and run north to the top of the levee, cross canal (bear crawling the neutral ground), running north down the levee and back across canal to the starting point.  At the starting point you do a descending burp and merk pyramid starting at 8 (burpee with 8 merkins, burpee with 7 merkins, …..burpee with 1 merkin)

    At the end of the 2nd lap the burp and merk pyramid starts at 7, etc.

    The goal is to complete 8 laps in 40 minutes.  According to MapMyRun, each loop is approximately 0.4 miles.  Therefore, to conquer the H8! you will have to do the following in 40 minutes:

    • Run just less than 3.5 Miles of Hills
    • 550 Yards of Bear Crawls
    • 36 Burpees
    • 120 Merkins

    We did AMRAP and then moseyed back to the flag.

    The Skinny
    • 12 finishers for a 40% success rate: SOGO, Cowbell, Smooth, Mahatma, 86, Thighs, Mariah, Triple Shift, Dirty Dell, Ya Mom N Dem, Screwtop, and Hawgcycle
    • No one got nine. Who will be the first?
    • I feel like YHC spent most of my energy chirping at Mahatma, at least until the 5th lap at which point he left me far enough behind he couldn’t hear me anymore.
    • I may have to put cones out next time to protect the integrity of the H8!.
    • Rudy had his first DNF at the H8! but it was for medical reasons. His doctor says no burpees. I would like to find a doctor like that.

  • Adapt, Improvise, Overcome!

    YHC had a different title in mind for the beatdown today, but God had other plans. YHC arrived at the Muscleship AO ten minutes early in real gloom, rain and lightening. Catfish was already in place and doing somersaults in the rain. Then Bogey appeared out of the gloom. At this point, there was no turning back. The Muscleship flag was planted as a total of ten PAX arrived, including Pace Car from Houston, ready to conquer the day. YHC is not creative, but made a feeble attempt to be creative with an animal themed workout to satisfy Kuch’s recent fascination with animal exercises; however, Abacus quickly pointed out a obvious missed opportunity for a Star Wars theme being May 4th (May the Fourth be With You)! Again, creativity is not YHC’s area of strength.

    Warm-up

    As leaders we have the responsibility of the safety of those we lead. With lightening in the area, an open field, and a shovel flag built out of metal pipe, YHC made the decision to adapt the planned beatdown to avoid the lightening. A short mosey was made to the overhang at the entrance of NOMA for a warmup IC, as follows x 25: SSH, Hill Billies, Arm circles (x 10 each direction), Grass Grabbers, Plank Jacks, Abe Vigodas (x15).

    The Thang

    We moseyed to a nearby pavilion for the amended beatdown and were greeted with music and booths for the Daiquiri Run, where the pre-race prep involved libations and cigarettes. There was mumble chatter about registering for the race to exude dominance over the smoker division, but the PAX chose a wet, semi-animal themed beatdown. We opted for the neighboring play area, which provided little shelter from the rain or the lightening, but it’s what we had. As an added bonus, we were treated to an unexpected test of mental toughness by having to dodge garbage strewn throughout the play area. An immune builder technique for the PAX and the children of NOLA.

    In lieu of an animal theme suicide routine, the PAX performed alligator merkins, dragon walks, frog hops, and bear crawls at the distance of two support poles per exercise.

    Next, the PAX paired off for DORA 1-2-3 consisting of 100 crunchy frogs, 200 incline merkins, and 300 LSS. A 363 routine of merkins and LSS was completed, with some confusion over the Q’s cadence. Tclaps to the PAX for staying with it.

    Then some Mary consisting of the following x 20: side lunges, tin snips, LBCs, penguins, and Freddy Mercury.

    Next, the PAX formed a circle and executed a Ring of Fire using burpees and LSS, x5 each.

    The PAX moseyed back to the flag just in time for the lightening and rain to stop. With two minutes left, the PAX completed monkey humpers x 20 and smurf jacks x 15.

    COT: Count off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions and a prayer. Tclaps to the PAX for showing up on a truly gloomy Saturday; staying with it through less than ideal conditions; and helping me adapt, improvise, and overcome. It’s truly an honor to be part of such a great group of men and even more of an honor to be given an opportunity to lead them.