Tag: Akbar

  • If My Calculations Are Correct, When This Baby Hits 88 mph, You Are Going to See Some Serious… – from Steve

    My favorite part of Q’ing a Gipper beatdown? The disgusted look on Moby’s face when he finds out I have the Q and starts muttering obscenities under his breath. It warms my heart and makes me realize that some tiny part of me actually looks forward to being Moby’s age.

    Light chatter among the gathering crowd before a group of us took off on the 1 mile pre-thang, which saw a little excitement today: a silver sedan barreling down Theard and blaring Fortunate Son, thought it’d be a wise idea to take a left turn (and, mind you, not an intersection empty of… say, 5 running pedestrians) at 65 mph and accelerating, nearly taking out Einstein. Of course, you can’t take Einstein down that easily – he deftly outmaneuvered both the vehicle and a large puddle without much effort. I guess all those ice skater hops and star jumps have paid off. The whole episode became slightly awkward when we then caught up with Fogerty only a block later, to find him gently reversing into his apartment parking spot (still full volume with the Creedence, though; I’m sure his neighbors love him).

    Having survived a brush with death and safely back at the Gip, we found a nice crowd of 10 for the Juneteenth holiday. Knocked out the usual warmorama before taking off for the back of the Justice Center for a routine of 3 exercises, 15 reps of each, followed by a lap around the courtyard and another 3 exercises:

    – Merkins, Squats, Dollies (IC)
    – Hand-release Merkins, Bobby Hurleys, Gas Pumps (IC)
    – T-Merkins, Lunges, Dying Cockroaches (IC)
    – Staggered Merkins, Star Jumps, Box Cutters (IC)
    – Wide Merkins, Sister Mary’s, Wife Pleasers (IC)

    Chatter of Shooter’s burpeepalooza from the day before – a routine named “Hightower” (but apparently NOT after the character in Police Academy?!?) – sent our Pax down the 80’s rabbit hole, with characters and quotes from One Crazy Summer, Better Off Dead, and others being bandied about.

    Next up, over to the front of the Justice Center for the usual leg routine:

    x12 IC Step ups, Freak Nasties, Step Ups (other leg), Derkins -> 5x calf raises up each step
    x12 IC Bulgarians, Freak Nasties, Bulgarians (other leg), Derkins -> 5x calf raises up each step
    x12 IC Step downs, Freak Nasties, Step downs (other leg), Derkins (we caught you doing extra derkins, Moby – so don’t be acting like this was a hard beatdown!)

    After solving the mystery of whether it was a Yorkshire terrier or Amber Heard that crapped the bed, it was finally time to call it and return to the flag. COT, announcements (more brutal Spartan training at the Scramble and an Akbar 5-year anny on Saturday), and then Einstein prayed us out with intentions for the Perrin family, the Tillery family, and Grundy’s new baby. It was really great to be back at the Gipper, made me realize just how much I miss this AO and the Covington Pax. Thank you gents for having us and for the opportunity to lead!

  • 6 Corners – from Akbar

    PAX: Akbar, Waterpik, Fletch, Shooter

    Great to see some part time visitors this gloom with Shooter on hiatus from Hanz and Franz Monday with Tank, and Fletch off of work. Hammer was fart sacking with much needed recovery from Spartan training. After some greetings and mumblechatter, we got started with Self-Love, Arm Circles, SSH, Grass Grabbers, Windmills, hillbillies, imperial walkers, 10 count hamstring stretch.

    Lunge walk to the Playground – 3 sets of 10 pull ups, 10 Hanging knee raises, 10 Merkins OYO

    Lunge walk to the street – for 6 Corners

    Starting out at Livingston, left on Marigny to Madison and back. Different counts and variations at each intersection consisting of Stone Mountain, Superman, Apolo Ohno. 20 to 5 on Q’s call – IC and OYO.

    Mosey to the benches for: Freak Nasty, Bulgarian Split Squats, Dirkins – 2 sets x10 IC. 3rd set was a 40 count hold in the middle for each exercise, dropping to 20 count hold on Dirkins – we were spent.

    Mary – Crunchy Frog, Jane Fonda, Hello Dolly, Rosalita

    Count, Name, and Fletch prayed us out
    Intentions: Little girl who lost her sister and mom in the weekend Amber Alert. Bird’s extended family with the loss of his brother’s son. Pik surgery this week.

    Announcements: 4 on the Fourth, 911 run, Spartan Dallas race in October, YHC 5 year anniversary next Saturday.

    Always a pleasure to start my week out right with y’all.
    Until next gloom – Akbar 👊💪

  • A Mini Spartan at the Scramble – from The Hammer

    The Hammer decided that it’s time to up the preparation for the Spartan Beast in October. Since YHC is off for the summer, I get to write the backblast. It’s only fair, since he created the workout. 6 arrived at 5 for 6 stations, 1 minute at each station, then rotate. The stations: dirkins, knee ups, planter carries (grip strength prep), rifle carries, pull-ups (which for round two turned into knee ups, then for round 3 was a dead hang), and the last was a 1 minute plank. 3 rounds total in 15 minutes, give or take. Then we moved to the running. 20 burpees followed by 1 lap around the park. 4 rounds of this was rough. The chatter was on point as usual. YHC brought the music which reminded the music videos of ACDC. Unfortunately, I cannot remember which videos I was supposed to come home and compare.
    One runner: Waterpik
    3 ruckers went 20 minutes out, 20 minutes back: Russo, Chewy, and Akbar. From what I gathered, they nearly solved all the world problems on the way out, and focused on conspiracy theories on the way back. Something about chem trails….Not quite sure.
    I believe that we are going to try and make this a Thursday thing for my fellow Spartan warriors. If you have any ideas to prepare for the Spartan, please share.
    COT with Hammer praying us out. Intentions: continued prayers for Bird’s family, and a Happy Fathers Day to all the Dad’s out there. SYITG!

  • A Mini Spartan at the Scramble – from The Hammer

    The Hammer decided that it’s time to up the preparation for the Spartan Beast in October. Since YHC is off for the summer, I get to write the backblast. It’s only fair, since he created the workout. 6 arrived at 5 for 6 stations, 1 minute at each station, then rotate. The stations: dirkins, knee ups, planter carries (grip strength prep), rifle carries, pull-ups (which for round two turned into knee ups, then for round 3 was a dead hang), and the last was a 1 minute plank. 3 rounds total in 15 minutes, give or take. Then we moved to the running. 20 burpees followed by 1 lap around the park. 4 rounds of this was rough. The chatter was on point as usual. YHC brought the music which reminded the music videos of ACDC. Unfortunately, I cannot remember which videos I was supposed to come home and compare.
    One runner: Waterpik
    3 ruckers went 20 minutes out, 20 minutes back: Russo, Chewy, and Akbar. From what I gathered, they nearly solved all the world problems on the way out, and focused on conspiracy theories on the way back. Something about chem trails….Not quite sure.
    I believe that we are going to try and make this a Thursday thing for my fellow Spartan warriors. If you have any ideas to prepare for the Spartan, please share.
    COT with Hammer praying us out. Intentions: continued prayers for Bird’s family, and a Happy Fathers Day to all the Dad’s out there. SYITG!

  • WE ARE F3 – AROO AROO AROO!!! – from Bushwacker

    This fall, some of the PAX of the Northshore will be CSAUPing at the Spartan Beast obstacle race near Dallas. There is a palpably intense excitement in the air and this beatdown was designed to make sure all in attendance felt it. YHC, along with some some kind and committed brothers, arrived at 5:15 to begin setting up. We just beat the pre-thangers back to the flag in time to get things started promptly.

    WARMORAMA

    Warm up consisted of briefly attended tabata, and a garbled pronouncement of rules, regulations, and “the way things aughta go”, which, thanks to Jose’s requisite comments and interjections of others, were immediately and throughout the course disregarded, slightly adopted, and outright ignored. But a great challenge was mostly bested and a fun time was had by all teams of 2 who attempted.

    1. Tire Shuttle – step in each of 6 tires while running through (QIC tripped and fell so never assume anything is TOO easy!)
    2.Sandbag StepUp – holding 50lb sandbag, 10 Step Ups on sea wall (MAY have forgotten to mention the step up part)
    3. Bucket Carry – 5gallon bucket filled with sand carried out and back
    4. Sledge Hammer Slam – 15 wacks on the tire with a 10lb maul
    5. Tire Toss – 2 tires tossed individually out and back
    6. Sled Drag – 2 45lb plates on a minil sled pulled out and back
    7. Battlerope – 3″ battlerope slung up and down for 15 reps
    8. Rope Climb w/ Cowbell (not the short crunchy-frogging runner) – climb rope appx 12′ and tap the bell. As indicated prior to start, if a PAX was unwilling or unable to complete an obstacle, they were to complete 10 Burpees and move on. However, the rare and awesome challenge that a rope hanging from a tree posed caused a bit of a pile up by the time QIC and partner Shooter arrived. Immediately Shooter was pulled in by the tractor beam as well
    9. Dummy Drag – appx 150lb hose dummy dragged out and back
    10. Tire Pull – giant tire with long rope attached, pulled length of rope
    11. Spear Throw – in addition to the Rope Climb, Farmer’s carry, Sand Bag, flags and cones our own Zoolander (aka Chaka Zulu)supplied his new favorite toy to be thrown at and stuck into a foam target strapped to a tree. However, our honorary FNG, Al Gore, let us know with great protest that we were committing arbocide and proceded to take picture of the crime scene, and tear down the foam target for good measure.
    12. Farmers Carry – set of appx 30lb logs with handles carried out and back
    13. Tire Flip – giant tire flipped end over end out and back
    14. Sawhorse Hurdles – 4 8′ sawhorses spaced 6′ apart hurdled over

    Strong Work, great fun, fantastic teamwork!

    COT

    Count, Name, Grappler demurred praying us out in lieu of Rev Russo.
    Just a small taste of thing to come in October, gentlemen. Thank you for allowing me to lead you in tackling this Fire/Spartan obstacle course

    Post Script: Many thanks to the many hands who made light work of picking up the coupons!

  • Every left turn – 20 Merkins – from Waterpik

    A large crowd assembled today for the scramble. Instructions from Y.C. were run the lakefront route and every time we take a left jump down and do 20 Merkins. The watch said we got in 4.2 Miles and we did 100 Merkins a nice even number.

  • Inaugural Lakefront Rugby Sevens – from Brexit

    12 HIMs graciously posted for my Virgin-Q in full knowledge that it would likely be an absolute shambles. I had to do something British-themed for my first ever Q so, with it being the day of the London Sevens which is an annual rugby sevens tournament, I decided to do a Rugby Sevens inspired workout. You may not know it, but the US is part of the World Rugby Sevens and they’re sometimes pretty good at it (although sitting at 9th in the standings right now). Sevens is a much more simplified version of rugby, which is probably why the US is better at it than normal rugby, played with seven players instead of the full 15. Thought that by focusing on sevens it could be a good intro to the game.

    Warmup:
    Side straddle hops, arm circles, grass grabbers, toe touches, imperial walkers, peter parkers, merkins (only messed up the cadence once)

    Got into pairs and moseyed to the shaft passing the rugby ball between each other. The Rugby ball can only go backwards so each player had to sprint ahead to pass the ball backwards to his teammate. You could not move if you didn’t have the ball. Any dropped passes meant 5 burpees which is the number of points you get for a touchdown in rugby, aka, a try.

    7 burpees on our own at the gazebo after regrouping. Continued the passing drill to the shaft with the addition that the person without the ball had to do a single burpee while the person with the ball moved ahead of him. It appeared that I had over-estimated the hand-eye coordination of the group (to be fair, some of the pairs were geared up more than others…only so many rugby balls in circulation here so some were forced to use toy footballs that got completely taken with the wind with each pass…) and so was running a little behind schedule but we made up for this for a quicker than expected Sevens (staying on theme) – derkins and sister Mary Catherines. Bear crawl one way, run back.

    Moseyed to the rugby pitch, no passing this time.

    Get into teams and then did a passing along the line drill. A dropped pass was 7 burpees for the team (this was changed to 5 burpees for the team that YHC joined in with). The other team did merkins/squat jumps in the meantime (merkins on way up, squat jumps on way back).

    YHC gave his best attempt at explaining the rules of touch rugby in about 3 minutes and then game-on – 15 min (7 min halves).

    Skins v Shirts with Shirts kicking us off. Good formation to start with but it seemed like some of the players got confused with the fact that you are actually allowed to run forwards, you only have to pass it backwards…not too much territory made in the opening play. The Skins got the first try after a good line break (apologies, can’t remember which HIM scored first as I left it a week before I wrote this), but the Shirts re-grouped and came back strong to score two tries in quick succession. After a high-risk move to intercept the ball by the Skins didn’t pay off (if you don’t catch an interception and fumble it, it means a possession turnover), the Shirts were in a commanding position. In the closing minutes of the game, the Skins had their backs against the wall in defense but held firm to win a turnover deep in their own territory. From this position, Zoolander scored a highly controversial try to level the game in the final seconds. The try was awarded against a fierce appeal from the Shirts about a forward pass…this decision was in no way affected by the fact that the impartial ref had jumped into the game a few minutes beforehand and had started playing on the side of the Skins.
    Throughout the game, there was some obvious flouting of the offside rule and a little bit of confusion on the number of touches before a turnover, which wasn’t helped by a very forgetful ref, however we had some great runners of the ball on both sides and, all in all, was very impressed with the ability of the HIMs to pick up the concept of the game very quickly. Obviously a testament to the Q. It was great way to get some good cardio in while having some fun. Next time we’ll be introducing scrums…

    After a few reminders about time running out, we moseyed back, no passing the ball. No time for any core.

    Announcements – Spartan Beast, T-shirt ordering and Bogue Chitto trail run on June 15.

    COT – Russo closed us out with a special prayer for Grundy and his soon-to-be new addition to his family.

  • It’s good to be back with the Gipper’s!! – from Shooter

    With the summer season here and the opportunity to post again at the Gipper.
    YHC figured the best way to do it would be to take the Q. Jose 10k head locked YHC for the pre-miler but you better not be on time or your late is what I gather as he was already moseying when I arrived. Stated a quick GM and hello to Moby while he was planting the flag and off I went to try and catch Mr. Anderson.. Before the turning point joined up with Jose 10k and returned to the AO with the PAX now at 4. Jumped into our warmup of 15IC Imperial walkers, Hillbillies, SSH, Grass grabbers, Toe Touches, Cherry pickers, front claps. 10 OYO arm circles forward and reverse and finish with selflove..
    Plan was to touch all the memorable spots around on Covington with some reps along the way. First stop SB admin building with a series of hop scotch and back pedal, 30-40% sprints and Carioca back 2x, leg lunge 2 parking spots and bunny hop 2 R/R till the end.. Moseyed to the flag pole for AL Gore and some George Thourogoods while we completed a ring to 5 of 8 count bodybuilders. Moseyed to the backside of Justice center.. Partner 1 did stated exercise with the benches while Partner 2 moseyed up the steps and completed a Burpee. 2 rounds each of jump overs, Freak Nasties and bench Mountain climbers. Moseyed to the front of Justice center for step ups P1 and P2 up the steps for choice of 5 count Merkins 2x.. Time of 10 mins remaining had to make sure to get in the Rocks so moseyed over and instructed medium rock or the option of a cylinder block. Overhead press 20x, Curls 20x, Rows 20x and Chest press 2x 40 reps each.. Returned coupons and moseyed back for 3 mins of Core. LBCs, Flutter kicks and 💯s 100 OYO..

    Appreciate the morning with you gentlemen and prayers extended for intentions of BBQs coworker and the loss of his mother, prayers for Jose 10ks coworkers surgery and prayers for Einstein’s son with the closing of his job at the end of the month and the landing of another to come soon…

    Always enjoy the gloom with you gents and until the next 👍🏼👊🏼✌🏼!!!!

  • Milestone Memorial Day Murph – from Akbar

    13 for the Memorial Day Murph at the Milestone Marsh. Mumblechatter was strong and the weather was stifling hot, muggy, and brutal.

    PAX: Speedy Gonzalez, Bird, The Hammer, Parrot, Zoolander, Steve, Shooter, Tanked Up!, The Manny, Chewy, Jose 10k, TruCoat, Akbar

    Warm Ups: SSH, Self-Love, Arm Circles, Grass Grabbers, Windmills, Overhead Claps, Slow Squats

    Thang: The Murph

    1 mile run to the Lakefront wall and back

    100 Pull Ups

    200 Merkins

    300 Squats

    1 mile run to the Lakefront wall and back

    Count-o-rama, name-o-rama

    Trucoat shared personal experiences of how tough battle can be, reminding us that the wars fought don’t end on the battlefield – but can carry on for a lifetime. Shooter prayed us out with thanks and honor to all U.S. Military who have served and will serve, honoring those who died while serving our country.

    Announcements:

    Spartan Dallas in October – se Zoolander or Hammer for sign up information

    T shirt order ends in 6 days.

    Coffeeteeria at Zoolander’s house

    SYITG,

    Akbar

  • Bring on the BEAST!! – from Shooter

    Boy that’s a big statement coming from a guy who was in then out, in again out again and now yes it’s official. Or maybe I was simply acting like an M on a date night trying to decide if this restaurant or that restaurant is what I want… All I do know is the motivation came from many. Started with my brothers Hammer/Zoolander. Then the consistent nudges of Bushwacker, which everyone knows is the most persistent of CSAUP advocates on the planet.. Then, who truly wants to decline the always happy and smiling Steve? Or the just so happened bump into the freshly returned Manny at planet fitness simply stating yeah I am in… I must be honest though the icing on the cake was a post by BD (MarshMadness) title holder for 2024 that sealed the deal. There is something about a new F3 brethren who initially posted with Ruckers but decided now it’s time to get ready and join the runners at the Scramble.. And get this, Zoolander and I were informed he has begun the QSOURCE podcast already… So, YHC brought out the coupons (cylinder blocks) to get some hardness started on the PAX soft hands… No one brings gloves to the Scramble 😬😬..

    Warmup 5 one min intervals, Curls, Presses, Left one arm rows, Right one arm rows and SSH.
    10IC Imperial walkers and Grass Grabbers

    Ruckers 18 out and back and Runners the ole traditional with Hermitage loop and 3/4 loop around the park on return..

    Announced the Murph on Monday at the Marsh with Akbar at 0630 with coffateria to follow..
    Zoolander as promised an introduction of some obstacles to expect for the BEAST…

    VQ coming for Brexit Saturday at the Mothership (sorry to miss). I know he will crush it..

    Great morning, with great men and until the next Gloom 👍🏼👊🏼✌🏼!!!