F3 New Orleans

Category: Backblasts

  • The Song Remains The Same – from Akbar

    The plan was a block day, which we haven’t had at the Marsh in a while. Until a group text went out that Saturdays beatdown would be at the Marsh due to weather, and could someone bring blocks? Grundy put it to us and YHC was about to switch up but stayed the course. For most of the pax, a 2 block workouts back to back. This one to a BBC live soundtrack of Led Zeppelin.

    Conditions: Muggy, especially painful after the great weather we’ve had.

    Mumblechatter: LSU/Alabama mostly, but not a whole lot of time for mumblechatter.

    PAX: Akbar, Waterpik, Hammer, Bird, Quarterpipe

    Warm Up – SSH, IW, arm circles, Grass Grabbers x 20

    Round 1,2 x 20 each

    Curls, Merkin
    Goblet Squats, Chest Press, Merkin
    Thrusters, Merkins
    SMC, Merkins

    Run down to the 2nd stop sign and back
    Wall Sit 45s, 15s rest – REPEAT

    Mary x 15 IC
    Crunchy Frogs
    Hello Dolly
    Rosalita
    LBC
    Penguins

    Count, Name, and Quarterpipe prayed us out

    Thank for letting me lead, great way to start the week
    Akbar

  • Less Pax Due to Tigers’ Victory over Bama – from King Kong

    I had a feeling fewer Pax would show up this morning because of the late night festivities after Tigers put a whoopin’ on Bama. I thought I saw few Pax charged out to the field and climbed on the FG post in Death Valley. Moments later, I saw pictures of some Pax at the Tchoup Yard really late in one of my chats. But few strong Pax didn’t let a football game stop them from being HIM next morning at Sweaty Bells.

    Warm Ups – Self Love, Windmills, Arm Circles, Grass Grabbers, Hill Billies, Imperial Walkers, Slow Low Squats, and SSHs.

    The Thang One – Partnered Up
    1 – While one partner was in squat position with the bell, the other partner was bear crawling about 20 yards there and back. Flap Jack.

    2 – While one partner was carrying a bell overhead, the other partner was lunge walking 20 yards there and back. Flap Jack.

    2 – While one partner was carrying a bell in a boat position, the other partner was doing burpee broad jumps there and back. Flap Jack.

    The Thang Two – Dora 1, 2, 3.
    100 – Bulgarian Split Lunges with the bell.
    200 – Curls
    300 – Flutterkicks with the bell
    While one partner was doing the exercise, the other Pax was carrying the bell to about 25 yards and back. Dealer’s Choice – Pax chooses his own exercise on the walk with the bells. I saw overhead carries, curls, overhead triceps extensions, suit case carries, etc.

    The Thang Three
    We went to the wall in front of the Zoo. We sat against the wall and did the following x 2:
    1 – over head carry – hold in squat position against the wall for 15 long seconds.
    2 – carry the bell straight out in front – hold in squat position against the wall for 10 seconds.
    3 – curls x 10 while in squat position against the wall.
    Rinse and repeat.

    The Thang Four
    1 – curls then overhead presses x 10 IC
    2 – in plank position, pulled the bell from one side to the other and did a row x 10 IC
    3 – Rows x 10 on each side
    4 – Hello Dolly with the bell x 15 IC
    5 – Flutter kicks with the bell x 15 IC
    6 – Chest Presses x 10 IC
    7 – Protractor with the bell
    8 – LBCs in slow cadence count x 15
    9 – LBTs in slow cadence count x 20

    COT – We prayed for Sphinxter (quick recovery with his shoulder). We also prayed for a safe journey at sea for Dinghy. Gabby joined us at Panola Cafe for coffeeteria. I am always grateful to have the ability and strength to lead a beatdown.

    SYITG

    King Kong

  • Blimps on the Bayou – from Triple Shift

    YHC has been out of the Q game for quite a while. In fact, the last time I led a beatdown was over 4 months ago. I’m not sure why that I haven’t contributed to the betterment of the PAX but I would put laziness and a consumerism mindset at the top of the list. Yes…it happens to all of us!

    WARMUP
    As I have gotten older, jumping straight into an intense “warmup” creates more problems than it solves so I decided to do something a little different. More tempo and less reps.

    Hold a deep squat position and recover x 2. Rotate hips left then right. Hold deep a squat position and recover. Perform some self love. Now that we are “warmed up”, SSH x 31. Forward arm circles x 10, arm pretzels x 10, reverse arm circles x 10. Tempo squats x 15, tempo front lunges x 10 and tempo side lunges x 10.

    THE THANG
    With the approx. 2.65 miles of running we did yesterday at Hawg’s rock around the clock beatdown, I realized that running sucks BUT….it is super helpful to get stronger. So, to get more running in, I recycled a similar workout that King Kong brought out a couple of years ago. Start off with 50 rocky Balboas at the NOMA steps and then run to the first lamp post and perform 5 burpees and 10 Red Sun/Yellow Sun Supermans. Once that was completed, run back to the steps of NOMA and perform 50 Rocky Balboas and then run to the second lamp post and perform 10 lunges (2 is 1) and 10 Supermans. Once that was completed, run back to the steps of NOMA and perform 50 Rocky Balboas and run to the third lamp post and perform 15 Imperial Walkers (2 is 1) and 10 Supermans. You get the idea! A lot of running and Supermans and picking up the six.
    Once we finished that set, we performed 15 body rows on the hand rails and 20 LBCs in cadence. With less than 10 minutes left, we headed to the back of NOMA for a modified Sunday Morning. 10 Supermans, 5 donkey kicks and 1 BTTW x 5. Head back to flag and stretch for 90 seconds.

    COUNTOFF, NAMERAMA AND COT
    Thankful for the bright sun this morning and the extra 60 minutes of sleep! Led us in prayer for all the PAX that are on IR and the ones who are suffering with loss. Honored to lead and have a front row seat to see Abacus, Hokie Pokie, and Catfish grind it out.

    The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity.
    Lucius Annaeus Seneca

  • Tick Tock – from Hawgcycle

    Conditions: Cloudy, 75 degrees, Humidity 88%, Wind 5 m/h from SSE (disappointingly dry.)

    Pax: Almonaster, Boge, Catfish, Cheetos (FNG), Eagle Fang, Heisenberg, Igor, Java (FNG), PVC, Revit, Roach (FNG), Rudy, Spalding, Thighs, Tool, Triple, Vagabond, YHC

    The Cantores were out last night, predicting a monsoon this morning. Excited to get wet, YHC laid out the swim trunks and took the Q. As previously established, YHC has little faith in the Pax’s desire to overcome conditions. So I started planning a workout for somewhere between 2-4 pax. I arrived at the flagless meeting point a customary 2 minutes early shocked to find more people than I could count on my hands….much less keep up with during the workout.

    The Thang
    • Mosey to the far side of the mediocre lawn and circle up for the warm-up: SSH x 25; Imperial Walkers x 20; Don Quixote x 10; Merkins x 10, Peter Parker x 15; Parker Peter x 15; Tempo Merkins x 10; Squats x 15; Lunges x 20; Low Slow Squats x 15
    • Mosey to the Foundry. Plank and wait for the six
    • Bernie Sanders (Hang in there as long as you can) – Partner up. Pax 1 does hangs starting above the bar and then below the bar for as long as possible. Pax 2 makes there way through BLIMPS. When Partner 1 can take no more – flap jack. Keep flap jacking, always picking up where you left off on BLIMPs until time is called
    • Start the mosey to the Football field stopping for 10 Catalina Wine Mixers
    • Continue mosey to Football field stopping under 610 for clock merkins (6 @ 12:00, 5 @3:00, 4@6:00, 5@9:00)
    • Continue mosey stopping in a mess of grass for 15 sumo squats
    • Arrive at football field and bear crawl 100 yards Then partner up and sled bear crawl back, switching on Q’s command. For sled bear crawl think the sled you push in football practice. One pax bear crawls while other pax stands in front of him pushing against his shoulders, providing resistance. We made it about 50-75 yards
    • Mosey to the parking bollards and balance for the six. Not a lot of participation on this one.
    • Start the Mosey back to the flag, taking a dangerous shortcut under 610 for the barefooted among us. Pausing at the Indoor Pickle Ball courts for some semi-balls to the wall
    • Continue mosey stopping for some alternating step ups by the Children’s Museum
    • Continue the mosey stopping for crunchy frogs.
    • Reach the flag 2 minutes early and finish up with penguins and 100s

    NMM
    • YHC was not prepared for the number of Pax this morning. Maybe there are heartier guys in F3 NOLA than I thought. It’s hard to lead a bunch of dudes all over City Park. Pro-tip: Start the warm-up with SSH and then proceed to rotate in a circle counting each guy as the Pax count the numbers. I am pro, so I did this. The problem was the number was too high for me. I got lost somewhere around 14 or 15.
    • Why do you need to count the pax? Because you need to make sure everyone stays with you, especially if you plan to cover a lot of ground, as I hoped to.
    • I had no clue how many people were with us. I thought there were 17 in the beginning, but then we had an even number at the Foundry? Then Tool left and we had even numbers again at the Football field? Was it because there was a Vagabond wandering aimlessly around the park, sometimes with us, sometimes not? Was it Almonaster that showed up 55 minutes late? Was it because Tool disappeared? Or is it because YHC has trouble counting once the numbers get into the double digits? I don’t know, but it was not good. I think I got all the FNGs back to the flag. There were only 3, so I could manage that. For all I know, there may still be someone out there. I also don’t have much faith in the pax ability to navigate City Park solo. Maybe if the Renaissance guys could take a drive around the park tomorrow just to make sure?
    • Roach wasn’t too excited about his name. Don’t worry Roach, we came up with another one at coffeeteria. We will gladly change it next week if you want. It’s up to you.
    • The sled bear crawl is my new favorite exercise.
    • The barefoot movement is afoot. Three au naturale pax today. That makes 4 for the week.
    • The indoor pickle ball courts need some work. The smell is reminiscent of the WPM stairwell. A number of pax warily stood by the street refusing to enter the grounds. It was telling of how much of their trust I had earned 45 minutes in.
    • I wish we could have had a photo shoot there though. The graffiti had Stone Mountain written all over it.
    • Less than half way through the workout The Boge started chirping in my ear about getting back to the flag on time. Everytime we stopped for a COP he reminded me that I needed to consider the distance back and the time remaining. I later learned that The Boge was watchless. Does he just have an innate sense of time or was it his familiarity with the Q that caused his anxiety?

  • THE CARD GAME CONTINUES AT THE A1C – from Einstein

    The fog was so thick this morning, BBQ’s wife wouldn’t let him leave the house.
    Which is too bad, as he would have excelled at the river dance routine that we performed

    Warmup:
    all 15xIC: Toe Touch, Side Straddle Hops, Shoulder Rolls, Snap-Crackle-Pops(aka neck rolls), Imperial Walkers, Hillbillys, etc

    Thang:
    With Deck of Cards, each pax is assigned their suit: Moby-spades, Jose10K-clubs, Invisible Man-hearts, Einstein-diamond
    And with a few rules;
    #1, one at a time, each pax draws a card, the owner of that suit calls out an exercise of their choice and we do that number on the card
    #2, you can’t lay on the ground like a lazy f@t b*st#rd after being on your six, you had to get up for each card pulled
    #3, if the same suit gets pulled in consecutive order, the face amount doubles, triples, etc

    Joker #1 – back-peddle around the upper deck
    Joker #2 – mosey down the stairs and two calf raises per step up the stairs

    Count-o-rama

    Jose-10K led us out with a prayer

  • Return to routine, including Bushwacker!! – from Shooter

    6 PAX decided to post the Gloom at The Scramble for the return of routine.. No JV we will not meet at Messina and Monroe this time but may very well in the future, so resist killing the leg workouts at the gym till after Thursday’s.. YHC decided to instruct the sprinters in Waterpik and Bushwacker to make two loops will Chewy and I did one and the Ruckers to the gate and back…
    Everything was routine, including Bushwacker running straight to the bathroom upon our return as the rest of us closed out with some stretching…

    Appreciate the post gentlemen, including you Bushwacker 😝and Chewy closed us out with COT..

    Until the next Gloom 👍🏼👊🏼✌🏼!!!

  • Young at Heart – from TurboTax

    With a combined age approaching 300, 5 young at heart PAX kick started their Wednesday with a tough one at The Gipper. A warm up of imperial walkers, shoulder taps, side straddle hops, Peter Parkers, seal jacks, Parker Peters, merkins and toe touches got the blood flowing for our mosey to the Justice Center.

    It wasn’t the same without Steve, but somehow we managed a nice set of Bulgarian split squats combining isometric holds, dynamic movements and then plyometrics. Rinse and repeat but this time with incline merkins.

    Lunge walk and bear crawl to the stairs for some Wile E Coyote.

    Recovery walk to the mailboxes then some Mary: Scuba Steve’s, Nolan Ryan’s, flutter kicks, Superman’s, hello Dolly’s and jackknives.

    Run with burpees at every light to the flag where we circled up for curtesy squats, single leg RDLs and good mornings.

    Back to the stairs for a few rounds up and around and then a nice long walk sit.

    Mosey to the shovel flag for a final exercise-a back plank.

    Countorama, nameorama and Einstein prayed us out. Thanks for letting me lead guys. SYITG.

  • There is Only 1 First Time – from Goose

    There is only 1, first time

    We arrived at the stage to an eager group of Pax, ending up with 8 in total. I had the que adrenaline flowing as each man who joined will be a part of my F3 journey as my first que. Humbled by the excitement and wishing for mumble chatter to test my “one liners of fear” that I have been practicing we began. I tried to view this que thru the eyes of the gunny drill Sargent from full metal jacket. I digress but full disclosure if you would of told me I would be in the gloom doing this a yr ago I would of called u a liar but this has been an amazing group thank each of u.

    Warm up: the usual with the add on of “Moroccan self love” and Enron wishing upon a shooting star.

    Thang 1: a true Dora 1,2,3 with partner taking a lap while other worked on getting 100 merkin 200 LBC and 300 flutter kicks

    Thang 2: Burpee Big Boy Ladder 11s with “Murder Maker” transports
    10 burpee then murder maker (murder bunny man maker combos) across the field 1 big boy and walk the coupon home. We repeated till assistant que Yankee Faux called for me at 6:09

    Mary til 6:15 the usuals with a goose add on so he can get a taste of the YHC power to finish off his work week.

    Enron prayed us out and it was an amazing and humbling moment getting to do this with u guys.

    YHC Wilford Montana

    #goose #paradox #yankeeFAUX #enron #fencepost #fireinthehole #cardinal #wilfordMontana
    #thestage

  • Pax on a rope – from Mahatma

    A cool crisp Autumn morning along the lake front of NOLA where 10 pax (none in yoga pants) showed up for a beatdown. Disclaimer given

    Head towards the field in front fountain
    Warm up
    X 10
    Mnt Man Poopers
    X 20
    SSH
    X5
    AbVagoda
    Grassgrabbers
    X5
    Fwd
    Back
    Arm Circle
    X10
    Good mornings

    YHC brought just enough rope for 10 pax – holding with 2 hands overhead we started at a walking pace then with a level of confidence picked it up to a slow mosey as we ascended the levee transitioning to an Indian run towards our destination that only YHC knew.

    Once arrived we dropped the rope and descended the levee lining up along the bottom.
    1771 – 1+7 up and over 7+1 up and over repeat with numbers ascending and descending now 2+6 up and over 6+2 continuing until there is a reverse order 7117 yet always added the total number of reps = 8
    V-Ups and Jump Squats
    So 1 VU + 7 JS then up and over 7 VP + 1 JS (or you could do 1JS + 7VU same thing). The reps change as outlined above always = 8
    When pax finished we did Mary until the 6 joined and finished through the reps YHC had on his mind.

    Then line up with the rope Indian run to the starting spot of the “H8”. 2 teams of 5 – race – as a group pax complete 5 hand release merkins run to the top of the levee cross over to center bear crawl across run down the other side to opposite side corner 5 more hand release merkins (these will be done at all corners) back up cross over bear crawl across the middle back down finishing HS merkins at the corners.

    YHC had planned for a looser punishment yet it was skipped (some may say b/c YHC was on the loosing team yet there was a plan).

    Align at the base of the levee – “7”
    6 merkins 1 double under then 5 merkins 2 double under so on.

    Now grab the rope for overhead mosey to the “house of pain” (this was our recovery)

    Partner up – YHC did a bad job of assigning a rotation yet we seemed to figure it out.
    Pull Ups
    Dips
    Incline Merkins
    Timer – run to top of levee 2 burpees run down

    Looking at the time YHC put in an old school “Okwata rite” – Quadrophilia! We only went 2 rounds which brought about some sad protest that YHC didn’t plan well enough for the full 4 minute effect…..this will be adjusted as arm circles won’t ever make a future beatdown of this YHC!

    COT – be aware as to “lost sheep”. Are we in the 99 who should be encouraging and praying for the 1 or are we at times the 1?

  • #F3Counts – from Hawgcycle

    Conditions: Perfect – Clear and 65 degrees. 83% humidity. Wind from the ENE at 4 m/h

    Pax: Belloq, Fastest of Taxes, Glitter Balls, HG, Heisenberg, Hokie, Mahatma, Pool Boy (FNG), Tiny Dancer, Triple Shift, Vagabond, War Eagle, YHC

    Warm-Up
    • SSH x 30; Imperial Walkers x 20; Don Quixote x 10; Low Slow Squats x 15; Merkins x 10; Peter Parker x 15; Parker Peter x 15
    • Bat Wings: Forward Arm Circles x 20; Reverse Arm Circles x -2; Seal Claps x 20; Overhead Claps x 20, Moroccan Night Clubs x 20

    The Thang

    Animals on Parade (20 Yards Each) – Bear Crawl, Crab Walk, Leap Frog with Partner, Inchworm, Kong

    Mosey to the Rock Pile and select a rock.

    Counting Exercises
    • 2 count Rock Merkins x 15
    • 4 count Squats x 10
    • 6 count Catalina Wine Mixers with feet on rock x 10
    • 8 count rock builders x 10
    • 10 count Squat-Curl-Press-Curl-Squat x 10
    • 12 count Around the World Lunges x 10

    Mosey back toward the flag for Rock Toss – Partner up and chunk the biggest rock you have back and forth over the fence to one another. About 5 minutes.

    Return rocks to the Rock Pile and do 20 reps of Crunchy Frog

    Horses to stable back to the flag

    NMM
    • Welcome to our FNG Pool Boy Eh’d by Glitter Balls.
    • It was great to see Vagabond back out there. True to his name he kind of wandered around the playground.
    • I left the SSHs one short this morning. Off my game.
    • I knew Bat Wings was a #CrowdPleaser, but I didn’t realize how much. Mahatma made his disdain known just in case anyone was wondering. I had planned to go even further, but I was satisfied once Triple and War Eagle started jawing at each other about perseverance and form.
    • Fracsac and Bolt weren’t in attendance, so I felt fine calling Moroccan Night Clubs. Dancing was highly discouraged, although Tiny Dancer flashed a little preview of what he is capable of. Frac is not in the same league, but who is?
    • There was discussion as to whether crabs and inchworms are animals. The answer is yes. An animal is any living organism that feeds on organic matter, typically having specialized sense organs and nervous system and able to respond rapidly to stimuli. Basically, if you can pronounce it and it ain’t a plant or toe fungus, it’s an animal.
    • My 12 year old daughter has been mopping the floor with me at Equations – a math game she plays at school that involves a bunch of dice, numbers, operations, solutions, etc. I need to practice my counting skills. Hence the different cadences. IN
    • The Rock Toss was an oldie but a goodie. I’m pretty sure I am going to be feeling it over the next couple of days. No one ended up with dog feces on their face today. That’s always a win.
    • At one time I had the password to the F3 NOLA Twitter Account. Unfortunately I am now locked out, because there are some movie trailers I would like to post. Back when I had access it was common for different regions to tweet out the number of pax that posted that day and hashtag it with #F3Counts. It was a pun. I probably don’t need to explain it. A lot of people didn’t realize it was used to post actual counts. So you would often see it used when someone would post something meaningful about F3. They may have missed the pun, but they understood the important part. F3 has value. It is significant. It counts. That fact was on full display today. We had a new guy post. He was invited by a man that has been posting for two months and already realizes that everyone needs this. We had a few guys too injured to do the full bootcamp. They showed up and did what they could because they realize how important it is. We had a recent kotter that realizes he needs it again and is committed to returning. He held up his commitment this morning by starting the second week of his return. I had friends there today that I have been sharing the morning with for 5, 6, even 7 years. Where else do we get that? The physical fitness is significant. More significant are the friendships. And even more significant is the spiritual growth and the opportunity to be a part of something. Sometimes we have trouble keeping up, sometimes we have to modify, and sometimes we get off cadence. But it’s good to know we can rely on F3 to be there when we need it. Let’s do our part to make sure F3 always Counts.