Category: Backblasts

  • I didn’t go to Notre Dame

    We did a lot.

    Bushwacker sends us on our way with his St. Paulesque – Epistle to the Gipperians.

  • Preseason at Da Chamber

    12 PAX were greeted with the perfect mix warm, muggy, and damp conditions at the new UNO site on Monday. Ideal setting to sweat out the celebratory weekend beers from a kinda-stellar Saints preseason victory on Sat followed by our little league dudes lighting it up in Williamsport on Sunday. YHC encountered Belloq upon arrival where we gazed upon the intramural fields at UNO, recalling our time spent out there mid-90’s playing sports for our respective fraternities, oftentimes with a cold beverage in one hand and football in the other. Yes, those were some glory days, but I think it’s safe to say we’re probably both in better shape now than we were then, at least we’d find out in the next 45 min. Perhaps our real glory days still lie ahead?

    YHC stepped in to Q the day before, filling in for Holy Grove who originally stepped up to help lead, but is on IR and hopefully will be back in the fold soon. Quick warmup included paying a little homage to the Easbank All-Stars for playing strong, displaying great teamwork, and making Louisiana proud. Scores = rep counts. YHC is no ESPN commentator but did my best with a recap of the LLBWS:

    SW/LA vs W/Hawaii    2-5      2 SSH- 5 Burpees

    LA vs NW/Oregon    3-2         3 WM- 2 Burpees

    LA vs MW/Minnesota  10-0    10 AC

    LA vs MA/New Jersey   4-1      4 Side Lunge-1 Burpees

    LA vs SE/Virginia   10-0             10 PP

    LA vs W/Hawaii   9-5  (US Final)     9 IW- 5Burpess

    LA vs Carribean Region 8-0 (LLBWS Final)    8 GG

    Next up, time to pay some even greater respect to Staff Sergeant Edwardo Loredo by knocking out the Loredo Workout, a Crossfit favorite and the “preseason” workout for the F3 Iron Pax Challenge.

    6 Rounds For Time:

    • 24 Air Squats
    • 24 Push-ups
    • 24 Walking Lunges
    • 400m Run

    Given the rainy forecast, YHC mapped this out to be done near the overhang at the front entrance to the UNO HPC Building, aka Chamber of Horrors, using the parking lot as our 400M lap, verified by Google. As the PAX started churning away, there were some pros and cons with our site. Pros included lots of dry pavement and a steady flow of puzzled student athletes tricking in the building for training. Cons included a rather slippery sidewalk for the walking lunges (hindering form for some) and what appeared to be a rather long 400M lap, despite what Google said. Anyway, we plowed through and several PAX pushed extra hard. T-claps to Shorty and Shuffles for blasting out of the gate and setting the bar…and t-claps to several others that YHC saw digging deep. All PAX managed to finish before the bell rang, with times ranging from 27:48 to 36:ish minutes.

    Great job knocking out a not-so-pleasant WOD. September is going to be a looooong month, especially if one opts to do the Iron Pax workouts multiple times per week. Hopefully we’ll all be faster and stronger come October….the H8 should be chump change. We capped things off with a COT. Afterwards we officially named the AO “Chamber of Horrors” which is the old nickname for the adjacent HPC building which has seen many a sweaty athletes and students alike for the past 50 years.

    NMM:

    1. It’s nice to have dry-ish feet.
    2. Pop Tart killed it and is filling Smooth’s shoes as a front runner.
    3. T-claps to Shorty for knowing when to listen to your body/stomach and throw in the towel. With other PAX recently going down or feeling ill mid-workout, a new addition to the Lexicon has been proposed by Da Parish…..Kenny Rogers (verb?) – Knowing when to hold em and when to fold em.
    4. T-claps to the PAX for posting and supporting the new AO. We pay back F3 not only by leading workouts, but by continuing to grow and spread the footprint…just like several guys did here when they kicked things off in NOLA.
    5. U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Edwardo Loredo, 34, of Houston, Texas, assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was killed on June 24, 2010 in Jelewar, Afghanistan, when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He is survived by his wife, First Sergeant Jennifer Loredo; his daughter, Laura Isabelle; his stepdaughter, Alexis; and his son, Eduardo Enrique.”

    Thanks for the opportunity to lead and the motivation to keeping getting out in the gloom.

    Tool

  • The Backup

    Being called in as a last minute backup can go one of two ways: either you’re a little stressed because you have to plan a beatdown quickly, or maybe the opposite, a little too relaxed, shirking that preparation because… hey, you’re the backup, what’re they expecting?

    Now, I’m not gonna say that YHC came wholly unprepared, not my style.  But preparation was …light.

    We already knew Pik and Wacker were out this morning, so Shooter and I stood in the darkness wondering if it’d be just the two of us.  Then we saw Cowbell’s truck coming in hot… or at least, we thought it was Cowbell’s truck.  It came and went.  Hmm. “I guess that wasn’t Cowbell,” I say to Shooter. “No, that was him,” he responds. And sure enough, the car returns after pulling a three-point turn and Cowbell pops out.  Hmm. Well, it is early in the morning, no judgement here.

    Warmorama:  Torso twist, arm circles, SSH, IW’s, high knees, and butt kicks, all x20 IC.

    Thang:  Mosey a whopping 20 feet to the edge of the basketball court for a mix of suicides and AMRAPS:

    Full court suicide

    1 minute of merkins

    Full court suicide

    1 minute of BB sit-ups

    Full court suicide

    1 minute of jump tucks

    Full court suicide

    1 minute of one leg lateral hops, another minute for the other leg

    Full court suicide

    1 minute of Aussie pull-ups

    Full court suicide

    90 seconds of plank jacks

    Lunge walk half the court, bear crawl back

    1 minute of shoulder taps

    Full court suicide

    Over to center court for a rousing round of Burp n’ Merk (ascending merkins with each burpee), up to 10. Shooter requested we descend back down to 1, as real men would, but time was short.

    Closed it out with some Mary, little manny crunches, hello dolly’s, x 25 in random cadences.

    COT and Shooter prayed us out.  A sincere thank you for the opportunity to better myself with good men like yourselves.

  • Back Blasts from the Past

    Inspired by Chewy’s spate of back to back to back blasts, YHC figured it was time to put some fingers to the keyboard. I love to read these things, so why have I shirked my duty for my last 3 Q’s?  

    Alright, let’s forget the counts just this once, as I’ll be lucky to get the rest of it right:

    Warmorama – SSH, IWs, Cherry Pickers, arm circles, air presses, etc.

    And finally, high knees until called, then drop for a burpee…. round the circle we went, a few times.

    Thang: Over to the pull-up bars, my favorite feature of the marsh.  One man does 5 pull ups, while the rest of the pax does flutters.  5 rounds of this, (that’s 25 per man for you non-mathematicians) and then on to hanging knee tucks.  10 per man this time, while everyone does J-Los.  3 rounds here of this.

    A long mosey from the warm confines of the Marsh to the warm expanse of the lakefront.  Oh, forgot – we sprinted a few of those blocks.  Maybe… 2?   Then hit up the sea wall for none other than: Step Ups, Freaks, Bulgarians, Freaks, Step ups with Knee Raises, Freaks.

    Over to a grassy spot for some Captain Thor, 1 sit-up to 4 putins, up to 10/40.  This was Cowbell’s virgin Thor experience, he seemed to enjoy.

    Mosey back to the Marsh, this time stopping at each corner to do 10 merkins.  Switched it up each block, alternating between wide, diamond, T, and your plain ol’ average merkin.  

    COT and Cowbell prayed us out.  Thanks gents for the opportunity to lead, and for keeping each other sharp.  Love to start the week out here with you guys.

  • It’s All About The Legs

    6 Pax showed up on a cool Tuesday morning. Disclaimer was given and repeated several times so we didn’t have a repeat of what happened on Friday (See BB)

    Mosey over to Loyola for Warm up

    SSH x 20

    • Self Love x 10 (Some guy named “Yankee” showed up)
    • Grass Grabbers x 10 (Lots of Mumble chatter from Yankee)
    • Mountain Climber x 20 (Finally some silence)
    • Peter Parker x 20
    • Arm Circles x 10 Backward
    • Arm Circles x 10

    Mosey to WPM. Backward run up the incline. Forward run when level. Stopped at every level for a 2:00 static hold. Pax were told they can stop whenever they want if they do burpees to finish out the 2:00

    • 1st level plank
    • 2nd level wall sit
    • 3rd level flutter kicks
    • 4th level Al Gores (Mumble chatter from JV saying things like “It’s all about the legs apparently” and “So much for getting a FULL body workout)
    • 5th level forearm plank

    Down the stairs and over to the Tulane quad.

    • Wilt Chamberlains 100 LBCs
    • 100 yard (ish) run
    • 100 Real Freddie Mercuries
    • 100 yard (ish) run
    • Repeat cycle but with 50 of each exercise
    • 10 Burpees OYO

    Mosey to flag

    Announcements: Please stay hydrated and always make sure you are not overworking yourself. Update contact list on Q sheet and include ICE numbers. Brown Bag said that beer is a great recovery drink… then something about new releases

    Intentions Yankee’s Family, Hollygrove

    Thanks for letting me lead!

  • Iron PAX Prelude

    YHC had plans for his 52nd birthday Q at Rock City (hint: what other workout option includes the number 52?). But Sunday night, Hawg posted the Iron PAX Prelude. And Tanner jumped in immediately – “Hey Rudy, lets do this!” So what option did I have? The belated 52-birthday-Q will have to wait…

    19 PAX were greeted by a typical humid August morning. Disclaimer issued, then mosey to the water fountain on the north end of the track. Circle up for a quick warmup (some Windmills, Grass Grabbers and Open/Close The Gate). Then explain the drill.

    6 times. 24 Squats, 24 Merkins, 24 (2 count) Lunges, then run 1 lap (a full lap, not a “Rudy” lap where you start late and end early). For Time – so push yourself (but make darn sure to hydrate!). Go.

    Billy Goat knocked it out of the park, coming in somewhere around 25 minutes. Hawg (barefeet and all) came in 2nd, followed by Mahatma. Nice work, gentlemen!

    As PAX finished, they gathered at the end line to cheer on the other finishers. Special #TClaps to Cheese Fries and Boo Boo who powered through to completion while we were moseying back to the flag. Way to persevere and keep after it!

    COT: count-off, name-o-rama, intentions and prayers for guidance. Then Hawg persisted in getting a few more people registered, and get our times logged.

    IronPAX Q makes for a pretty easy preparation. Thanks, F3 Greensboro!

  • Impromptu

    The rule of thumb is “Plan for the expected. Prepare for the unexpected!” Seems the unexpected has besieged us more than our traditional morning strolls in the park. Today was one more of those days. Q was unconfirmed and a no show, so YHS, picked up the shovel and dug ourselves into a hole.

    Quick mosey into a warm up, SSH (do we know anything else), Imperial Walker Squats (it had been a while), Arm Circles Seamen Style, 10 Burpees OYO as King Kong counted arm circle in an offensive matter. Quick survey of those registered for Iron Pax Challenge, all but Nip Tuck have registered. So for Nip Tuck 10 more Burpees OYO. Back to the track and mosey.

    At the Row Bars we broke into 5 groups of 5. The count was 10 Peter Parkers with an Merican in between each knee to elbow, 2 was 1. Meanwhile a group did squats, lunges, rows, and russian twist.

    We continued to mosey, on ways for a ring of fire. Did Mericans in sets of 10, setting it around the circle in both directions from YHS.

    Back to the track with alternating Sprint and Mosey between the running men to the fountain. As YHS was gimping along, requested the fastest of the pride come sweep up the six. Around the fountain we gathered for some One leg and Opposite Leg step ups, Dips, and Declined Mericans x10 w/ Shoulder Taps 2 is 1 x10.

    Back to the to Sprint and Mosey to the Mary Green as before. Hello Dolly, Rosalita, Box Cutters, J-Lo / Pickle Pounder, and Doctor W (Jingle Vader your presence was needed).

    We attempted an Indian Run to the pull up bars. In the process we ran down two group of ladies running. It is never our intention but I have been told we can be like fat people on a SouthWest flight. Where the fat bodies sit in a row, lift the middle arm rest up and dare you to sit next to them. When we are doing 2 lines of IR we need remember to share the track. In this instance we did a poor job of sharing. The first duo completely freaked out almost began to cower swallowed by the passing pax , the second group of 4 or 5 also freaked but joined in liked the idea of an Indian run.

    Wanted another pearl but we were running out of time so proceeded to the flag and COT.

    The work out blew! Not original! Not Exciting! But we got it done. We were prepared because we planned pushed ourselves previously in the gloom. As you prepare for your next Q, next Sad Clown meeting, next lunch, I challenge you to ask yourself what could go wrong and make your plan for what you will do. The situation will make you a HIM!

    BrushBurn, G Spot, Nip Tuck, King Kong, Angie’s List, Reluctant Yankee, Tube Steak, Gabrielle, Saban, Bartman, Bones, Willy, Organ Grinder, Squeal,Brown Bag, Peppa, Chowdha, Sand Bar, Tinkles, Quarter Pipe

  • Popeyes Preseason

    Popeyes Preseason

    8 men came out in the gloom and suffocating humidity to Popeyes on Wednesday, August 28th at 5:30am to try their hand at the IronPax Preseason challenge.

    YHC started with the basic disclaimer at 5:29am and led the pax in a 400 meter warmup mosey to establish the lap for the run of this morning’s challenge.

    The Thang

    24 squats, 24 merkins, 24 lunge steps (2 count as 1), and a 400 meter run is one lap. The goal is to complete six in the fastest time possible. Simple but not easy, especially in the humid conditions.

    The Times

    Two Yutes – 23:57

    Tua – 27:25

    RevSox – 30:09

    Hokie – 32:47

    BooBoo – 34:01

    Darkwing Duck – 37:36

    KennerBrah – 39:21

    Chips – 42:02

    Tclaps to Two Yutes for coming in first with a dominate time under 24 minutes!

    Tua for finishing 2nd after starting F3 only a couple of months ago. He’s going to be gunning for Mahatma soon.

    BooBoo for picking up the Uptowner AO Q (if you ask me the Uptowner Q has been slacking off on his Q duties lately, it’ll be great to see fresh blood restore life to the Uptowner)

    Hokie for improving on his previous time for the IronPax preason by an insane 8 minutes. Hokie basically lapped his Monday time.

    Darkwing Duck for improving in leaps and bounds since his F3 start and making me feel guilty for being more consistent to the Metairie workouts than I am.

    KennerBrah for putting all of us young guys to shame with his work ethic.

    Chips for pushing through to the end and ensuring that every Pax member left this morning stronger and faster than when he arrived.

    The Conclusion

    Count-Off, Name-O-Rama, Chips continued with last lunge walks as we counted off and the Pax ran Chips last lap with him. Announcements and Prayer in the extra sweaty ball of man.

    -Rev Sox

  • With a little help from my friends

    Mosey to the bandstand:
    Warm up. IC
    20x SSH’s
    20x windmills
    20x hillbillies
    20x mountain climbers

    The thang:

    Mosey to the light poles

    BLIMPS
    Burpees
    Lunges
    Imperial walkers
    Merkins
    Plank jacks
    Squats
    Initially did 3x rinse and repeat with a little resistance from the group and added another round on for good measure

    I Love You Man helped with some Freddie
    Mercs while I finished

    Mosey to the picnic benches under the shelter
    20x right leg step ups
    5x dips accident raise in cadence caused everyone to halt-oops
    20x left leg step ups
    20x Decline merkins

    6 MOM
    20x lbc’s
    20x jingle Vader- Dr.W
    20x Willy
    20x 86

    Mosey back to the light post
    Good old fashioned suicides at the 5 light posts

    Stayed at the light posts:

    Bear crawl
    Duck walk to the first light pole
    Low country crab to the second

    Mosey back to flag
    Plank it out for 20 seconds
    Right arm planks 20 seconds
    Left arm planks 20 seconds

    COT, Name-O-Rama, Welcome FNG Paper Mache

    Thanks for giving me the opportunity to lead and thanks for the help with the cadence.
    Who would have thought it would be that hard to count to 20. A little advise for those doing their first Q. Add more exercises than you’ll need in your routine. It goes by fast.
    Very little hazing from Seamen and Angies’s List.

  • B-Limps

    8 pax met at Gma’s house on the gloriously muggy morning.

    The attendance was a little up this morning, after Cowbell’s call to action on Saturday at the lakefront.

    The Thang:

    Mosey to parking lot for Quick Warm up:

    SSH x 20; IW x 20; Merkins x 20 all IC

    Mosey to the under pass for

    1 lap of hill repeats and 25 Burpees, Lunges, IW, Merkins, Plank J’s, and Skwaats after each

    Mosey back to the Flag
    Distance 2.5 miles according to Cowbell.

    COM: including Side ups, and V Ups x 25 and BB sit ups x 10 led by Zoo

    Zoolander, again showing his ability to heal like Wolverine, running hill repeats < 10 weeks post-op ankle surgery.

    COT, Name-o-Rama: Welcome FNG Handy, who is married to Zoolander’s sister. Prayer .

    thanks guys for letting me lead,

    Chewy.