F3 New Orleans

Category: New Orleans

  • What I Like

    With RevSox on the IL and a number of regulars “preparing” for the H8!, I figured we might have some low numbers and that maybe it would be a good time to do an impromptu Q school at Popeyes. We are going to need some more Qs with RevSox out for the time being.

    The Disclaimer

    I gave the disclaimer with a little extra explanation of what F3 is and why it is different. The mission of F3 is to plant, grow, and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership. There are other workout groups on the city, but not counting FIA, these workout groups are led by the same people each time. F3, not only provides us with a good workout, but it also gives us the opportunity to hone our leadership skills. If you are not stepping up to Q, you are missing out on the most important aspect of F3. I love the fact that F3 is organized to be a community of leaders. Every man not only has the opportunity, but is expected to provide leadership for the group. This benefits the entire group. At the most basic level, it gives us a variety of workouts that improves, helping to accelerate our fitness. On a higher level it teaches us how to operate in a community, it helps us to learn how to support one another, it teaches us what works and doesn’t work, etc.

    When you Q, you have to create a plan and execute it. You have to prepare for different situations. You have to effectively communicate your vision to a group of men and have them carry it out. You have to learn to be efficient. You have to motivate and encourage. You have to teach. You have to lead by example. You may just think of it as leading a workout, but if you do it correctly there are a number of skills involved that translate to the most important areas of your life.

    The Warm-up

    Counting is an important skill. We use a standard that helps us to communicate effectively. This makes the workout more efficient. Make sure you have memorized the following:

    • Next exercise is…..the ___________
    • Starting position…..move
    • In-cadence…..exercise

    There are several different types of cadences you can use. Make sure you think through them and choose the one that will be most effective for the exercises you are doing. Make sure you count at an appropriate tempo. You want to make sure you don’t leave others behind. You also want to make sure it supports what you are trying to accomplish with the exercise. In the Warm-up, make sure you touch all of the different muscle groups you will be using. Dynamic stretches are good after the body has warmed. I like to alternate exercise in a standing position and in a plank position to make the pax get up and down.

    SSH x 20 (4-count cadence – Chips), Imperial Squat Walkers x 20 (4-count cadence – Boo Boo), Mountain Climbers x 20 (4-count Kenna), Low Slow Squats x 20 (4-count cadence), Peter Parker x 20 (4-count), , 8-count Body Builders x 10 (Hokey Pokey), Red Bull Smurf Jacks x 20 (4-count cadence – Boo Boo), Catalina Wine Mixers x 10 (6-count cadence Dark Wing Duck), Abe Vigodas (4-count Chips), Merkins x 20 (2-count cadence Kenner Brah)

    The Thang

    The difficulty of Qing a workout is to plan for a variety of physical fitness and abilities. This is the F3 motto: Leave no man behind, but leave no man where you found him. This is difficult and it means that you, and other pax members, are paying attention.

    Mosey to the wall for a Red Hot Chili Pepper. I remember how hard this was when I did it for the first time. It has to be hard. It has to be challenging. Is it ok if guys can’t do it? Of course. They can modify. Make the workout so that you are pushing the fittest guys. Others can modify as needed. If you see a lot of people modifying or just all out quitting, encourage them to keep going by providing them with ways to modify.

    • Bulgarian Split Leg Lunge Right Leg Forward (IC) x 10
    • Derkins (IC) x 20
    • Bulgarian Split Leg Lunge Left Leg Forward (IC) x 10
    • Incline Merkins (IC) x 20
    • BSLL Left (IC) x 8 – (When you smoke yourself, call for a countdown)
    • Derkins (IC) x 10
    • BSLL Right (IC) x 8
    • Incline Merkins (IC) x 10

    Sometimes you have to admit defeat and an realize that you won’t finish eveything you want to. That said, it’s much better to plan too much than not enough.

    We moseyed back to the flag for a round of dealer’s choice Mary.

    • LBC x 20 (Kenna Brah)
    • Big Boi Sit-ups (Hokey Pokey) x 10
    • LBC x 20 (Chips)
    • Flutter Kicks x 20 (Darkwing Duck)
    The Skinny

    The above account is mostly true. It is certainly true that the 6 men named in this backblast all posted at Popeyes and we all led different exercises. Who led which exercises and how many reps did they lead – who knows? But I do know that everyone did a good job of leading and I see some hard-core beatdowns at Popeyes from this group of men in the near future.

  • 21 – Blackjack Baby!

    So I googled “blackjack quotes” and the following was the first one that appeared.

    “I like to play Blackjack. I am not addicted to gambling. I am addicted to sitting in a semi circle. ” Modify as needed – “I like the count-off and name-o-rama and intentions. I am not addicted to F3. I am addicted to the COT and standing in a circle.”

    The Lakeview clown car pulled up to the front of the museum with just a few minutes to spare this morning. After a quick disclaimer, the PAX moseyed for a warm-up run around the Museum and settled back on the grass in front of the lake for warm-ups as follows:

    SSH x 21, Windmills x 21, Peter Parkers x 21, Nolan Ryan x 21 (R & L), Merkins x 21 (this was input from youngest son last night when planning Q) and finish warm-up with some self love for one minute.

    Thang 1 – searched the F3 lexicon last night and stumbled across the “Blackjack” – we moseyed back to the area by the Muscleship flag, look up and see the Mothership PAX approaching/crossing the railroad tracks – like a scene from West Side Story, Romeo & Juliet, or possibly Revenge of the Nerds, a battle seemed imminent. Some mumblechatter ensued between the PAX and the Mothership PAX proceed to greet us with monkey humpers, but the Muscleship PAX cannot be distracted and remained focused on the beatdown and the F3 task at hand. Blackjacks – similar to 11’s, but better – ie. 21’s. Start with one Merkin, run three trees, then 20 LBC’s. Continue 21’s until 20 merkins and 1 LBC. The PAX powered through the end for the last 20 merkins. Apologies to Chips for not providing clearer instructions to the PAX. You may have done a few more LBC’s but your abs will be thanking you tomorrow.

    Thang 2 – continuing with the “21” theme we moseyed to the neutral ground in front of NOMA and lined up in single file line facing the museum for some 21’s. SSH x 5 in cadence. SSH 6-21 done in silence and PAX to stop at 21. Abacus, the Q, lost count and did one too many. No penalty burpees.

    Thang 3 – son Joel suggested toe-taps, aka Rocky Balboa’s. So the PAX did 100 Rocky Balboa’s on neutral ground by NOMA. 20 second rest then another 100 Rocky Balboa’s.

    Thang 4 – sensing the PAX shoulders were still steaming from the 21’s, we altered the Q’s plan and moseyed to the deck in front of the lake by NOMA. Time for some leg work. “Aiken legs” done in succession with no rest – Squats x 21, Lunges x 21, Box jumps/step-ups x 21, and Monkey Humpers x 21. 20 count recovery. Rinse and repeat a second time. The Q did not want the legs to miss out on the work-out.

    Thang 5 – short mosey back to the flag for the “Bear Crawl Ring of Fire” – circle up near flag and bear crawl in counter-clockwise motion. Upon direction from Q, stop and do 10 merkins. Resume bear crawl again. 10 additional merkins. Close out the last few minutes with some flutter kicks x 21 and warrior one stretch poses.

    Circle-up for count-off, name-o-rama, announcements, and intentions. Thanks to Kenner-Brah for reminding the 10 PAX of the importance of thankfulness and gratitude. Well said. Weather was perfect this morning, with sunrise over the lake by NOMA, slight breeze. Soon enough we will be working out in the “dog days” of summer. Thankful for the support and opportunity to lead the PAX this morning.

  • Birthday Q – “FORTY” – “one”

    YHC always gets excited on the days he Q. YHC is very thankful to lead his very first Birthday workout on a beautiful morning. 25 PAX were there to spend this special day with YHC. Usually, YHC sees familiar faces on a WPM Friday, but YHC noticed a few Non-Uptowners traveling to this AO. YHC is very appreciative of the support, including Hokie Pokey’s WPM debut, Mahatma, Bogey, and Jesus Juice. Sandbar made YHC aware of a FNG, later named BugBites. YHC gave his standard disclaimer and off we went!!!

    Warm-ups

    Short mosey to the base of the WPM and did the following in cadence:

    Grass Grabbers x 10

    Windmills x 10

    SSHs x 20

    Self Love x 10

    Mountain Climbers x 20

    The WPM

    Starting at the base (first ramp) of the WPM:

    1.) Partner up. Dora with 300 SSHs. While one PAX was performing the SSHs, the other PAX was running up and down the ramp. Flap Jack until the team finished 300 SSHs.

    2.) Now at the base of the 2nd ramp. Picked a different partner. Dora with 250 King Kong Shoulder Taps. While one PAX was in the plank position doing the shoulder taps, the other PAX was running backwards up the ramp and down. Flap Jack until the team finished 250 shoulder taps.

    3.) Ran through the flat level. However, stopped at each beam (10 per level), and did a burpee with a jump touching the above beam. All the way until the PAX got to the base of the 3rd ramp. Picked another different partner. Dora with 200 LBCs.

    4.) Ran through the flat level. However, stopped at each beam again (10 per level) and did a burpee with a jump touching the above beam. All the way until the PAX got to the base of the 4th ramp. Picked a different partner. While one PAX was lunge walking up the ramp, the other PAX was running backwards up the ramp. Once at the top of the ramp, ran back down the ramp and tagged his partner. Flap Jack. Now the other PAX continued to do the lunge walk where the first PAX left off. Complete the task until the team lunge walked all the way to the top of the ramp.

    5.) Ran through the flat level. However, stopped at each beam again (10 per level) and did a burpee with a jump touching the above beam. All the way until the PAX got to the base of the 5th ramp. Picked a different partner.

    HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) Race

    YHC stressed this as a team race. While one PAX was resting and waiting at the base of the ramp, the other PAX was sprinting up the ramp, did 5 Hand-Release Burpees (Hurpees), and sprint back down. Tag your partner and flap jack. YHC stressed to each PAX to give it all on their sprint because each will get a chance to rest in between. Rinse and repeat 4 rounds for each PAX (total of 8 rounds for the team). T-claps to Mahatma & Saban, GSpot & Douille, and Flaming Lips & Quincy for finishing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, respectively.

    Circled up for a quick Round of Mary:

    Hello Dolly x 20 IC

    Dying Cockroach x 20 IC

    Ran down the stairs back to flag and finished at about 6:17 a.m.

    COT

    Count-O-Rama 25PAX, Name-O-Rama, announcements, intentions. One FNG from Florida. He owns a franchise dealing with mosquito control. Therefore, he was named BugBites. Today we celebrate Peppa’s retirement from the Navy. He has flown F18s for the past 20 years. Thank You for your service and we couldn’t be happier that you and your family moved to NOLA and are a part of this great F3 Nola cult. Thank You all again for the opportunity to lead. Always a pleasure and honor to workout with the PAX. Thank you for all the birthday wishes. SYITG

    “FORTY” – “one”

    King Kong

  • Better late than never Backblast – we put the “Ab” in Abacus

    YHC enjoyed the Easter weekend with Friends and Family and was a bit tardy with this backblast. Well off we go. YHC wanted the workout to focus on our “ABS”. Also wanted to focus on some pull-ups as I don’t think we do these often enough.

    On to the warmup as follows: (probably off a bit on some of the counts)

    Windmills x 15, Grassgrabbers x 15, Self love – arm stretch (ode to Hawgcycle) (this brought some mumble chatter from the PAX), SSH x 15, Peter Parkers x 15, Nolan Ryan x 15 each side, Low slow squats x 15

    Grab a rock and mosey to the playground – on top of the wood chips.

    THANG 1 – YHC wanted a new exercise combo so we did a Febreeze – 2 Big Boy sit-ups then 10 air presses. Increase sit-ups by one and air presses by 10 until the last round we did 9 Big Boy sit-ups and 100 air presses. Somewhere along the way we lost count but finished strong.

    THANG 2 – YHC continues with the Ab theme – each PAX does 10 pull-ups. While waiting for the pull up bars, all other PAX are doing flutter kicks on your own.

    THANG 3 – Bench presses 5 count followed by 10 LBC’s. Increase bench press by 5 and LBC’s by 10 until we did 25 presses and 50 LBC’s.

    THANG 4 – repeat of thang 2 – more pull ups and flutter kicks.

    THANG 5 – random exercise – 100 monkey humpers

    THANG 6 – bench presses with rock, combined with more flutter kicks

    Bring rocks back to the pile – close it out with some Yoga type stretches with guidance from Triple Shift. I think we each did about 892 flutter kicks. COT, name-a-roma – FNG Prodigal Son, and closing prayer from War Eagle. Impromptu coffeteria due to Easter holiday for some fellowship was a great way to end the morning.

    Thanks again to all – SYITG.

  • Suicidal Tendencies

    Disclaimer:

    Warmup: SSH x 30, Pe/Pa x 20, AC 15/15, Abe x 15, Pa/Pe x 20, IW x 20

    To the track for Suicides with a twist…and a rock

    First quarter lap – mosey with rock held straight out, drop rock return to start for 5 each…burpees, squats, merkins, monkey humpers

    Half lap – grab rock at quarter point, mosey with rock overhead to halfway point, drop rock and return to start for 10 each…burpees, squats, merkins, monkey humpers.

    Three Quarter lap – grab rock at halfway point and mosey with rock held straight out, drop rock at 3/4 point and return to start for 15 each….burpees, squats, merkins, monkey humpers.

    Full lap – grab rock at 3/4 point and carry overhead to complete full lap, drop rock and return to start for 20 each…burpees, squats, merkins, monkey humpers.

    Tabata – mary style: 8 rounds, alternating between American Hammer and Crunchy Frog.

    COT: CO, Nameorama, anouncements, SI’s, Prayer, xxxoooo’s

  • Post Easter in the Park

    The PAX was reeking of crab boil and peeps, well at least I was. Headed out to Oak Ally after a short mosey for some warm up. (I did count 15 windmills so it was not 100% OYO workout your welcome JV!)

    After warm up we lined up at the first set of lights and started with progressive blimps (each light we added an additional blimp exercises until we got to the 6th light) alternating duck walk and running between lights.

    Then we circled up for ring of fire holding in Al Gore as the PAX did 5 burpees around the circle.

    Second round of ring of fire LBCs while PAX did 10 merkins.

    Then to the picnic tables for Dora 1,2,3

    50 right and left leg step ups

    150 dips

    200 Russian twists

    While partner ran to the track

    Back to Oak Ally 50, 40, 30, 20, 10 LBCs at each light

    Then ran back 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 merkins at each light.

    Moseyed to the flag for 10 OYO burpees.

    Count off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions and prayer.

    Thanks for letting me lead today.

    86

  • Coupon H8

    YHC is nothing if not not creative. After employing the pax at Popeyes a couple weeks back to transport coupons back to the flag, and noticing how little fun we all had doing it, the idea of a coupon run was born. Luckily, I overbought pavers a while back for a backyard project, and not wanting to do the walk of shame to return some pavers that each cost about 50 cents, we now have some “square running coupons”. They shall be referred to as the SRC’s henceforth, and they will always have been bought for the good of the F3 Nola pax, not my much smaller than expected backyard project.

    Warmup

    • Mosey to the center of the intersection with some high knees and butt kicks
    • SSHx20
    • Arm circlesx20
    • Parker Peterx20
    • Hold for planking on each hand
    • Open the gate, close the gate
    • LSSx10

    Station 1

    An abbreviated H8 with the SRC’s. Grab 1 in each hand, run to the top of the levee, deposit them, bear crawl across, run down to the bottom, straight back up, bear crawl across, retrieve SRC’s, down to the bottom at Lakeshore Drive for 5 Manmakers w/ the coupons. X 4.

    A few Pax completed 5 and even got in some Bernie Sanders while they waited for the slow guys, i.e., YHC to complete their 4th.

    Station 2

    Indian Run to the end of the levee on the concrete, where we got in a bit of Mary.

    • Crab Cakes x20
    • Absolution x10 (pretty sure I messed this one up again – going to need another demonstration the count, Triple Shift)

    Mosey down the levee and back to the flag, led by our FNG, Chips. Chips was EH’d by Hokie Pokey, and he put in a hell of an effort for his first workout. I saw he posted the next day at The Uptowner as well, so if you have not met him yet, you’ll probably see him soon. He’s a great addition to F3 Nola.

    We also bid farewell to Cowbell, who is going to the Northshore. Our loss, their gain. Cowbell is a quiet leader who pushes hard and helps those around him. Hopefully we’ll SYITG from time to time.

    Thanks for having me. I see the next month is covered, but we have been having some difficulty filling Q’s for Okwata. This is the best time to sign up for Okwata, as the days get longer, and we get absolutely beautiful sunrises over the lake. Show up for an Okwata or two when you can, and then sign up to lead one. With so many options for exercises, it’s truly one of the great AO’s we have. – Kuch

  • I Feel the Need

    The newest F3 Nola workout exploded on to the scene today with a Pax of 6. This was my first workout with Rudy since he has been back. It was nice to have him keep me accountable on the time as I started one minute late with the disclaimer.

    Warm-Up

    I believe this AO will prove to be high risk / high reward so the warm-up will prove to be the most important part of the workout. Today was cooler than normal so it became extra important.

    Jog to the track and continue for one lap (About 1/3 of a mile).

    • Lunge walk x 10 each leg
    • Elephant walk (Reach down with your right hand grabbing the toes on your right foot and pull up on them for 2-3 seconds. Take three steps and repeat with left foot, yadda, yadda, yadda.
    • High knees
    • Butt kicks
    • Carioca right then carioca left
    • Exaggerated Skip aka Super Mario
    • Short sprints with recovery (10 yards, 20 yards, 30 yards, 40 yards, 50 yards)
    The Thang

    We ran a mile for time to set our baseline. The plan is to check our progress in 3 months or so. Here are the times:

    • El Guapo: 7:01
    • High Rise: 7:54
    • Kuch: 7:29
    • Rudy: 7:09
    • Screwtop: 6:48
    • Hawgcycle: 6:37

    After finishing the mile we did some more stretching: Butterfly and Hamstring.

    A few more sprints: 220m at 75%, 110m at 50%, finished with 3 100m sprints at full speed

    Cool Down

    Easy Jog for 330m followed by lunges x 10 each leg and a mosey back to the flag for COT.

    The Skinny
    • Cool morning so the long warm-up was necessary. I stuck with my plan in spite of Rudy’s mumble chatter. To tell you the truth, I enjoyed it. It’s been a while. It’s possible that I started a minute late and extended the warm-up just to hear his sarcasm.
    • Kuch and Screwtop set the standard for the 100m sprints.
    • Screwtop and YHC both left the track a little gimpy. Based on early returns there is only a 33% chance of getting injured at this AO. This is better than I envisioned. The risk is high, but I think the reward will be greater.
    • Screwtop stepped up to take the next Q. Don’t miss out.
    • Still looking for a name. I’m good with “Need for Speed” if nothing else emerges over the next week or so. After he set the bar for the first two 100m sprints, we could go with “The Kuch is Loose.”

  • We have 23ish…

    23 PAX posted at WPM for ILoveYouMan’s VQ. After a quick introduction and disclaimer we were off with a quick run down St Charles and back to TD Jesus.

    WARM-O-RAMA

    • 20 x Grass Grabbers, 20 x Self Love, 15 x Windmills, 25 x SSH, 20 x Mt Climbers, 20 x Peter Parker

    THA-THANG 1

    • Head to the ledges in front of Loyola, Group 1 is the count with 20 x merkins w/ peter parker in between, Group 2: Dips, Group 3: Crunchy Frogs

    THA-THANG 2

    Chumbawamba Burpees – Music  = “Chumbawamba” (their only song), SSH and then Burpees done every time the words, “I get knocked down, but I get up again” are said.  Total = a lot of burpees and complaining

    THA-THANG 3

    • After the amazing music routine, the PAX headed to the mountain where we did an Indian run to level 3 followed by 20 x wide arm merkins. We then side shuffled and sprint to the next level followed by 20 x pickle pounders. Backward run the next flat with an attempt to Alligator merkin+ bunny hop the incline followed with 20 x diamond merkins. Finish off the mountain with a run to the top of the mountain and complete 10 x dirty hookups, 8 x partner decline merkins while partner is in plank + 10 x leg throws.

    Head back to TD Jesus for a quick circle of Mary + Stretches

    • 20 x low country crab, 20 x penguins, 20 x LBC, Grass Grabbers with stretching

    Wrap it all up with a quick count off that was botched by Angies List and name-o-rama. Thank you all for enduring my VQ!

  • With a little help from my friends…

    When Tool asked me if I wanted to Q the Muscleship the Thursday before, it brought to mind how far I’ve come since starting and that I could not have done without the support of my F3 friends. From Willie continuing to try to get me out here, from seeing Medulla’s transformation, from Tool literally giving me the shirt of his back, the support from my F3 brothers (including those who made sure to be there for my first Q) has made a profound impact on my life since starting a few months ago. Therefore, I took the opportunity to lead and after the disclaimer, we were on our way.

    Warmup

    • 20 SSHs
    • 20 Imperial Walkers
    • 20 Abe Vigodas
    • 20 Mountain Climbers
    • 30 Arm Circles (15 forward, 15 reverse)

    After warmups, we broke into pairs for a Dora of 100 Plank Jacks, 200 Alternating Lunges, and 300 LBCs. We then moseyed across the road to do Deconstructed Burpees (squats, followed by leg thrusts, then merkins, more leg thrusts, then squats). We did descending rounds of 10-8-6-4-2 with the Q receiving some help from his friend Hawg on cadence and a few extra squats for Q to get his cadence straight. Next, we pulled a page from an earlier Triple Shift workout and did Embrace the Suck – 6 SSHs, 6 Merkins, and 6 jump squats (clapping optional). We did three 3-minutes rounds with 1-minute rest. The PAX them moseyed back to the starting spot for some Mary with the PAX taking turns calling out exercises. We finished with announcements and intentions. Thank you to all for your support since I’ve started this journey and for giving me the opportunity to lead.