F3 New Orleans

Category: Northshore

  • One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer

    One is the loneliest number. I knew some of the usual group was off running a completely stupid and utterly pointless race, so I was expecting a smaller than usual showing. But just me, who was I going to grumble to? At 5:15, I was pondering that idea. It was lonely, but then a pair on headlights came up the ramp. BBQ joined me at the A1C for this morning’s beatdown. I didn’t have to do it alone.

    Warm-ups: All IC to 10

    Windmills, Good mornings, Torso Twists, Cherry Pickers, Toe Touches

    The Thang: We moseyed over to Stone Hedge. Each of us picked up a cinder block. 42 Curls for the girls. Followed by Colt 45’s. 24 down and halfway up, followed by 24 halfway to up. Then 15 slow count WaterPick squats, 42 shoulder presses, 15 slow squats, 24 kettlebell swings, 15 slow squats. Moseyed back to the A1C for a mini dora. 100 mericans, 200 squats, 300 lbcs. Partner 1 held plank while partner 2 did 10 pushups. Then partner 1 performed what BBQ coined an Al Gore meets George Thorogood while parter 2 did 20 squats. (An Al Gore while doing alternating calf raises). Did I mention I was blasting classic rock during the beatdown, and one bourbon, one scotch, one beer was blasting during this section? Then lbcs while the other partner held 6 inches. We finished with plank rock paper scissors. Loser did 1 burpee, winner 1 push-up. Round 2, winner 2 push-ups, loser 2 burpees. Due to BBQ being a professional rock, paper, scissor champion, I did alot of burpees this morning.

    Small COT, prayers to those in the path of the hurricane, our foolish f3 brothers running the coast, Goose and his family.

    And then the joke of the day from BBQ

    A guy walks into a bar, bartender askes “What will you have today”

    The guys asks for a corona and two hurricanes. The bartender respondes ” That will be $20.20.

  • Windows Up / Heat On

    5 strong at the Scramble this morning as Hurricane Laura pummeled Lake Charles and many of the Thursday regulars prepared for their Gulf Coast CSAUP.

    QIC checked the regular route prior to arriving at the double shovel flag. No barricades or pier closures in sight, so after a quick warmup of 10 Good Mornings, 10 Abe Vigodas, 10 Imperial Squat Walkers, and 1-legged chair stretches, the scramblers scrambled with a few stops along the way for Merkins.

    Wrapped up with 50 LBCs, 50 flutter kicks and 15 Burpees. Jose prayed us out.

    YHC was looking forward to Jose’s daily deposit into the sweat jug, but he left it in the garage! So windows up and heat on for the car ride home to squeeze out every last drop. SYITG!

  • Farewell Q

    It is with great sadness and much gratitude that I write my last backblast as a regular member of the Northshore F3 family. (I trust you’ll forgive the length!) As I shared with the men this morning, F3 has been an overwhelming answer to prayer, and as Bushwacker reminded me, it’s the individuals involved who truly make it what it is, so huge thanks for all of you guys allowing me to participate. More on this toward the end.

    This morning’s beatdown was meant to be a quick rundown of a few of the life lessons that F3 has confirmed for me in very concrete ways. The first, of course, being the necessity of a good warm up when you know you’re about to get your rear end kicked:

    Warmup: IC Windmills, IW’s, Cherry Pickers, High Knees, Butt Kicks followed by the first exercise listed on the Exicon (Shooter aced the pop-quiz, like I knew he would!):

    21’s–21 side straddle hops in cadence, but only the first 5 are counted out loud with an expectation that all PAX count the rest silently and end in perfect sync after the 21st. 10 burpees and start over if anyone is anything but perfect.

    Life Lesson #1: Togetherness is more about what’s in your head than it is about the people you’re with. (I may or may not have just made that up, but I think it’s got some staying power.)

    After one penalty set of burpees and a second round of SSH, YHC decided to modify for the sake of time and get moseying to the rock garden for Colt 45’s and Bolt 45’s.

    Colt 45’s = 15 curls from halfway down to all the way up, 15 curls all the way down to halfway up, and 15 curls from all the way down to all the way up.

    Bolt 45’s = same as above, but with squats (and rocks)

    Life Lesson #2: Don’t let your ego determine the size of your rock, especially if you don’t know what’s coming. But no matter how heavy or what the task ends up being, carry the weight you’ve got with courage. Own it!

    After “gently” replacing our rocks, we moseyed to the courthouse steps for some partner work:

    Partner 1 ran up (and down) the stairs using the following pattern: 2 up, 1 down, 3 up, 2 down, 4 up, 3 down, etc. until the top was tediously reached, then ran back down to Partner 2 who did continuous flutter kicks (round 1), Freddy Merc’s (round 2) and LBC’s (round 3) while waiting. In lieu of Jose’s math teaching prowess, Whacker provided tutoring for those who struggled.

    Life Lesson #3: Real progress is usually gradual and hard earned, so be patient, stay focused, and fight discouragement.

    This, followed by a mosey to the top ramp of the parking garage for more partner work:

    Partner 1 holds plank while Partner 2 sprints up the ramp, around to the opposite stairs, down, and back to Partner 1. His job is to get there in enough time for his partner to have held his plank without modifying; if his partner modifies, the sprinter has to do 5 burpees, so the planker’s job is to hold his position for the sake of his partner.

    Life Lesson #4: We are naturally more willing to endure pain and push harder for other people than we are for ourselves, we just need to tap into that power. F3 seems to exists for this reason!

    After two rounds of losing our breath (and eventually losing Bushwhacker to the irresistible call of nature), we moseyed back to the courthouse stairs for an exercise YHC forgot: three rounds of crab walking both up and down the courthouse stairs

    Life Lesson #5: Some things are easier for tall people. (Truth be told, pretty much every other F3 exercise seems to favor the smaller guys. It was nice to finally have an advantage over Cowbell.)

    After this we moseyed back to the flag for the last exercise/lesson:

    Followed the directions given in the song Flower by Moby (“Bring Sally up, bring Sally down…”) with squats, up and down with the words “up” and “down”. Thank you’s to Cowbell, Steve, and Amnesia for modifying with merkins and mission impossible planks to save their legs for the big race tomorrow–you guys made our leg pain seem relatively minimal in comparison.

    Life Lesson #6: Pain is temporary, though the worse it is, the more we tend to fear that it will last forever.

    COT and YHC prayed us out.

    Thanks, gentlemen, for following my lead today, and for an awesome year of comradery, creativity, and the best reason to get up early and sweat that I’ve had since college. Special thanks to Maverick who got me out there, the men who reached out to me during those first few beatdowns to make sure I felt like I was part of the team, the guys who hung back so often with me and kept up conversation to get my mind off my lack of oxygen, the men who were willing to share their lives with me during the longer runs, for the guys who continually witness to the truth that the men we’re exercising with are more important than the exercises we’re doing, and to the men who continue to push beyond their comfort zone so the rest of us can follow.

    It breaks my heart to leave what has become such a central part of my (and Pope’s) life, and though I’ll be working to get F3 started in the Thibodaux/Houma region, it won’t be with you guys, so know that you’re deeply appreciated, and you’ll be greatly missed. I know that God has great things in store for my family and I down there, and I’m sure there are a lot of guys who will greatly benefit from F3, so please keep us in prayer for the transition, and that we’ll remain open to all that God has in store for us, both the blessings and the trials. You’ll certainly be in mine.

    SYITG,

    Goose

  • Sayonara Fujiwhara

    Granny’s House was supposed to be a wash out this morning.  70% when I checked last night.  And as much as YHC appreciates a good wet beatdown, after the Marsh’s Week Zero IPC beatdown yesterday, it seemed like maybe some shelter was in order.

    Of course, there was no rain. But we remained sheltered regardless!

    Warmorama: Good mornings, windmills, torso twists, seal jacks, IWs, and SSHs.

    Thang:

    Starting at the trailhead stairs, we’d bear crawl to every 4th column in the corridor and then perform an exercise.  (The guys were probably dismayed to discover these columns just kept going and going…) 

    Exercises were:

    • 60 Squats
    • 50 LBC’s
    • 40 Merkins
    • 30 Flutter Kicks IC
    • 20 Donkey Kicks
    • 10 Burpees

    And then, of course, head back to the start:

    • 60 Dollies
    • 50 Scorpion Kicks
    • 40 Staggered Merks (20 ea. side)
    • 30 Jump Squats
    • 20 Groiners

    What, no 10 burpees? Well…

    Coconuts was on the brain after talking about him at coffee Monday, so I thought we should bring back one Coconut classics, The Dab:

    10 burpees EMOM for 5 minutes, followed by a 300 yard run.  Rinse and repeat! (This seemed brutal, but then I just kept thinking about the time that Maverick began a beatdown with 100 straight burpees.)

    Normally YHC would search for a GIF to insert here and make the Coconuts tribute complete, but I gotta get to bed for Goose’s final Q tomorrow.

    Mary: Dying cockroaches, leg raises, Freddie Mercs, Rosalitas, something else? 

    Countdown, nameorama, Chewy prayed us out, and Jose filled the sweat jug.  Thank you guys for the push this morning, it was one of those mornings that I really was not feeling, I definitely needed you men out there to get ‘er done! 👊

  • You Want Fun N Games, Call Turbo: Wacker’s Wild Ride!

    The Wacker writing this back blast is not the FNG that our very own Grundy named 3 years ago. The lessons learned – from leadership, kindness & generosity and compassion to grit, tenacity, and perseverance – have come from doing life with my F3 brothers. Fitness fanaticism and adventures of perilous proportions have helped make these last 3 years some of the best. Having gotten so much, giving back is now what it’s all about. And on that note…

    While the Pre-Thangers pre-thanged, YHC was out setting the scene for things to come.

    WARMORAMA

    x10 IC:

    Cherry Pickers, Imperial Walkers, Torso Twists, 30 second Plank, Mountain Climbers, 15 Second Plank, Fire Hydrants

    THANG

    Mosey to the Unit…

    BLACK/BURPEE, RED/RUN

    Split into 4 teams of 6, with each getting a completely random hand of 13 playing cards from a deck shuffled before the PAX’ very eyes.

    With 14 cones placed along the approximately 50 yards to the untit, teams were, as a group, to flip their cards one at a time. Clubs or Spades resulted in team burpees of the number on the card. Hearts and Diamonds sent the team member running to the corresponding cone and back. Out of pity and boredom from planking for so long, the entire PAX joined Manny’s team in finishing out their last 4 PURELY RANDOM cards.

    BURPEE LEAP FROG

    Ok, the wheels may have started falling off the bus around this time, but there were plenty of laughs on the way down! Teams were supposed to form a line with the continuously last man leap frogging the men ahead of him until he reached the front of the line where he did a burpee. There were to be 5 burpee hi 10s, 10 hi 5 merkins and 15 hi 10 squats along the way but that just became fodder for folly and school yard nostalgia.

    TAP BALL

    Finally, with each team grabbing a sadly deflated soccer ball or the one excitedly inflated pink bosu ball the PAX formed circles tapping the ball in the air like a volley ball drill, except after each man tapped, he had to drop for a burpee before he could touch the ball again. Play continued until he ball hit the ground, at which point teams planked until the last team standing finally dropped the ball.

    Mosey back to the flag for…

    MARY

    20-60 seconds each of:

    Freddy Mercuries, Leg Raises, Heel Pulses, 100s, LBCs, Oblique Crunches, and Supermans

    COT

    count, name, named FNG Pussy Cat (thanks Freon)

    Pussy Cat prayed us out.

    Gentlemen, I am humbled by your dedication to your fitness, your friendships and your fellow man. There is never a shortage of inspiration at an F3 Northshore beatdown. Thank you for teaching me how to lead, and for following that lead for the last 3 years, as verbose and boisterous as it may have been.

  • The DNC at the A1C, drop it likes it hot!

    https://youtu.be/T6bjORaYktk

    Well coming off of 4 nights of channel surfing and landing on the DNC, YHC figured the PAX would like to drop it likes it hot..

    Disclaimer:

    This is not any particular endorsement of any one candidate..

    With Cowbell throwing a mix of an after party for Steve and Bushwacker, Q thought he may be journeying solo to the A1C, however Cowbells consistency with late arrivals at AOs allowed for a pre-conversation car ride. Knowing there is always an adventure when you ride with the Wacker this morning’s entertainment was provided by an obviously tired or inebriated vehicle switching signals and lanes as if he was driving like the Joker.

    https://youtu.be/y_7urB6CMgk

    Arriving at the top of the parking garage Bushwacker was anxious to bare a gift he had for the Hammer, but with the mood not correctly set and the hot tub moment in the distant past the Wacker was rejected of his moments joy when the 🔨 respectfully said “No thank you!” If you would like further details Jose10k will be happy to explain at his 41st consecutive post on Saturday (Freaking animal) shirtless of course 😬…

    Enough jabbering let’s get to it.

    15IC SSH, Mountain climbers, Mummy kicks

    20IC Shoulder taps, Windmills, Imperial walkers.

    Now if my numbers are off it’s okay, remember this is the DNC!!

    Thang

    All exercises can be found in the Exicon.

    Climate change:

    Al Gore stance by the PAX as we go around counter clockwise completing 5 Burpees and returning to Al Gore. R/R 4x as we waited for Cowbell to make is entrance.

    Merkin Mania:

    Held blank as we went around completing 5 Merkins, 5 Diamonds, 5 Wide, 5 Curcin (Think that’s right), 5 staggered either side, 5 T-Merkin and Q remembered the 5 Tempo Merkin at the close of the beatdown after Mary..

    Global warming:

    PAX basically assumed the Al Gore position shuffling 360 degrees as the Q stated a called exercise to 10OYO. 8 count body builders, jump squats, wife pleasers and donkey kickoffs air style..

    Quarter pounder:

    Because real men eat Beef! Take that Burger King 👊🏼. I think it’s 100% all beef patty? Who knows? I do however know there were no animals harmed in the making of this beatdown as well as no methane released.. Then again the PAX may need to be questioned on that one.

    Actual quarter pounder, 25 Burpees sprint 25 yards return backpedaling, 50 Merkins sprint 50 yards return back pedaling, 75 Mountain climbers sprint 75 yards return back pedaling and close with 100 squats sprint 100 yards return back pedaling..

    6mins of Mary

    15IC Nolan Ryan’s each side, 15IC 100s, 15IC LBCs, 15IC flutter kicks and finished with 15IC hello dolly!!

    Count off, Announcements, COT and appreciation to Steve for closing us in prayer!!

    And that completes my trifecta Q and BB for the week gentlemen!!

    Till the next Gloom 👍🏼👊🏼✌🏼!!

  • Site Q default!

    Well, well, well, our very own Head of the headlock and Captain of CSAUP Mr. BUSHWACKER himself ghosted our PAX at the Scramble on this Gloom.. No worries though, with a solid PAX of numbers posting this week at each AO it inspired this site Q to go ahead and grab and go…

    Brief warmup

    10-15IC SSH, Toe touches, Grass grabbers, leg swings and Cowbell skips..

    thang

    Although the PAX moseyed together for roughly a mile, we broke off into three separate groups. Steve and Waterpik logged 4.8 to 5 miles and the Core PAX roughly 4.4 while the Caboose consisting of YHC finished with 3.8ish to 4.

    count, name, COT and YHC prayed us out.

    Thanks for the commitment to post and till the next Gloom 👍🏼👊🏼✌🏼!!

  • Welcome to F3 “Fletch”!

    YHC intended on posting the pre-miler however the DOTD had other intentions. Steve and Bushwacker should understand if there are any questions.. Upon arrival Jose10k with his ridiculous count on consecutive post could be seen pacing the trailhead looking for an area to complete his ISI for the day, however with nothing visible to complete the task we engaged in some conversation, which allowed us to reminisce about the Ragnar experience sometime back.. Pre-milers returned and the arrival of the rest PAX swelled to 12 with an addition of (FNG) Fletch..

    warmup

    IC mixer of 10 rep count and 20 rep count.

    GM, Toe touches, Windmills, SSH, Mummy kicks, Hillbilly’s, Imperial Walkers.

    thang

    Moseyed to the Taj Mahal for a partner routine called 4×4. P1 dropped to Plank position completed 4 Merkins and 8 Mountain climbers while P2 moseyed around the Taj. R/R 2 rounds. Upon completion moseyed over to the back parking lot behind the courthouse garage. At this section YHC laid out the next series consisting of 7 Diamonds. Using the parking curbs PAX started with 7 (28) Burpees at each part of the diamond or square adding 7 to each cycle there after. 14 (56) jump squats, 21 (84) Merkins, 28 (112) LBCs, 35 (140) 100s with time pressed called an audible on the final 2. Moseyed back to the rock pile for a coupon retrieval with 42 curls for the girls and 49 chest presses.. Returned to the flag for the count, announce and COT with Jose 10k taking us out in prayer..

    👏🏼 To Einstein for the headlock on FNG Fletch..

    Appreciate you fine men following along and starting this day with a beatdown!!

    👊🏼👍🏼✌🏼till the next Gloom!

  • Audibles at Granny’s (I’m not a Professional)

    As YHC pulled up to Granny’s, there was an unusually large group of F3 men ready to start the day off right. With the incessant soreness from Cowbell’s ISI pull-up challenge and Bushwacker’s consistent weekly prodding for some yoga infused workouts, we got started with some power flow, sun salutation, warrior 1, 2, 3, 4, half moon, whatever, whatever…I’m not a professional!

    Mosey to the bus stop. Not a lot of mumble chatter here, and Cowbell even kept his shirt on.

    – Bulgarian split squats (IC),

    – Box Jumps (OYO)

    – Burpee Box Jumps (OYO)

    – Irkins (IC)

    – Dirkins (IC)

    – Freak Nasties (IC)

    – Balls to the Wall Burpees aka Decline Burpees (Durpees?) OYO.

    Mosey to the tunnel, where, according to Jose, nothing good ever happens (including QIC’s cadence counting).

    – Top of the tunnel – 10 Jump Squats IC

    – ½ way down the incline – Merkins, I think

    – ½ way through the tunnel – 12 count body building, mounting climbing, shoulder tapping, squat jumping, burpees (IC). QIC was just calling audibles at this point. I’m not a professional!

    – Sprint to the top of the tunnel for some cool down Imperial Walkers

    – ½ way down the incline – hand rail dirkins, I think

    – ½ way through the tunnel – We did something. It’s a blur after the earlier 12 counts.

    – ½ way up the incline – slow Peter Parker/Parker Peter (there’s a yoga term for this, I’m sure…Bird said we were “flying”…I guess that’s what birds do.)

    – Top of the tunnel – 20 Sister Mary Katherines

    Mosey back to the trailhead, bunny hop up the stairs and reconvene at the shovel flags. Jose, did you notice we had two this morning?

    Closed out with Cowbell Crunchy Frogs and Goose-led Nolan Ryan’s.

    QIC prayed us out into the day. Thanks for posting in numbers today and following my lead, men. SYITG.

  • The Thunder Rolls….

    After doing Cowbells crazy 5 sec rest ISI in the parking garage, Q noticed the storm rolling in. The rain wasn’t my concern, however, the amazing display of lightning was. A small modification was needed.

    Warm-up: Toe touches, torso twists, Bushwackers T motion, and something else I cannot remember.

    The thang: We moved from the top of the garage to the second floor (remember the lightning). It was time for 4 corners. 4 rounds: 7 burpees, 14 merkins, 21 squats, 28 lbcs. After each round, down the stairs, around the corner, and run back up to the second level. After the four rounds, down the staircase. 10 calve raises each step to the top. At the top, Hammer tried Cowbell’s plank with feet high up on the wall and try to put your shirt back on. Cowbell then demonstrated with the Q following. Everyone else Al Gored while watching the foolishness. 5 minutes left, round robin mary. 20 leg lifts IC, 30 american hammers, flutter kicks, then hold a plank to Queen’s We will rock you. Thank you to cowbell for showing me plank paper, rock, scissors. Will use it soon. COT with Hammer praying us out. Thank y’all for allowing me to lead such a great group of men that I am lucky to call my brothers. I love y’all, and will see you in the Gloom soon.

    Jose 10k signing off.