After 94 days as a part of this rock solid organization, I took the plunge into Q-ship. Here’s my maiden Voyage:
Warmup:
Parking Lot Tracers (w/ back peddling and side shuffling) – Dug into Exicon for this. The Chamber just might have the smoothest, well marked and lit parking lot in all of NOLA.
Split into 2 groups/partner up. One Pax does Lt. Dan’s across the width of field will the other holds Al Gore’s
Moseyed to Bleachers…
Right Legged Step Ups (20 Ct.)
Dips (20 Ct.)
Left Legged Step Ups (20 ct.)
Incline Pushups (20 ct..)
Leg Wrecker Round 2 – The Same
Wrapped up the workout with some Mary (LBC’s x 20, American Hammer x 20, and Penguins x 20) and some stretches.
Concluded with COT and Prayer.
Many thanks for the support and feedback from the group through the workout. Thanks for the opportunity to plan and lead as Q and already looking forward to my next one. I encourage those who haven’t taken the plunge to just do it!
A great turnout at the Uptowner as we had 21 pax come out to enjoy another warm and humid October morning.
When I think back to what initially led me to F3, it was being able to have a great workout that always had a different twist; stepping out of our comfort zone to continually push ourselves to get better, and improve in areas that we may struggle or be uncomfortable with. As I thought about how to lead this workout, I wanted to incorporate some atypical aspects into the traditional “no running” workout and challenge everyone to “embrace the suck”.
With that said the standard disclaimer was given and we moseyed from the flag to the football field in the middle of the track. The warmup consisted of:
SSH x 20 IC
Arm circles (10 front and 10 back) IC
Windmills x 10 IC
Mountain Climbers x 15 IC
Hold the plank position after mountain climbers for 1 minute
Indian run around the track for 1 lap (4 groups of 5-6)
The thang-
All pax lined up in one end zone. There were 3 cones spaced out (20, 40, 60 yards).
Sprint to first cone and do 15 Burpees then sprint back to start line and do 20 merkins
Sprint to second cone and do 10 Burpees then back to starting line for 15 merkins
Sprint to third cone and do five Burpees and then back to start for 10 merkins
As pax finished they did some Mary waiting for the six and then did 20 LBC IC as a group.
Next was a crab walk from the end zone to midfield.
Once all pax arrived we lined up for an all-out, everything -you- have sprint to the opposite end zone. In the end zone we did a quick set of 20 flutter kicks IC.
From here the group moseyed to the playground and got back into groups of 4. Groups 1 and 2 lined up at the “ring pull-up station” and did 1 round of AMRAP of pull-ups. Groups 3 and 4 did 25 merkins on own, and when finished while waiting for the other pax to finish their pull-ups did squats. Once done the groups flip-flopped
Once everyone finished we moseyed over to the hill on the other side of Pontiff where we bear crawled over the hill and did 15 Carolina dry docks followed by a bear crawl back over the hill.
Moving on we moseyed to the shelter nearby where we completed the following:
15 power ups each leg IC
15 SLOW deep dips IC
15 diamond merkins IC
With about 5 minutes remaining we headed back for the flag for some more Mary called out by different pax.
Ended the workout with the COT, announcements and intentions. Special intentions for family members battling cancer and age-related struggles and illnesses.
I hope everyone enjoyed this beatdown as much as I did leading it. Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to lead as always!
‘Twas my turn to Q The Foundry this Wednesday, but I was having some trouble thinking about what to do. So I did what any reasonable PAX member would do in this situation: I read a backblast from a workout that i liked, and pretty much copied it on Wednesday morning. Shout out to my man, High Rise, as he was the Q on Monday at The Chamber, and it’s his exercises that I used for most of the workout on Wednesday
Warmup:
Side Straddle Hops – 15
Grass Grabbers – 15
Arm Circles – 8 forward, 8 backward
high knees – 15 cadence count
butt kicks – 15 cadence count
self love – 15 cadence count
The Thang: Gross 1
Floyd Mayweathers – 12
Low Slow Squats – 12
Flutter Kicks – 12
Carolina Dry Docks – 12
Calf Raises – 12
Hello Dollies – 12
Right Side Lunges – 12
Box Cutters – 12
Diamond Merkins – 12
Left Side Lunges – 12
Nola Claps – 12
The Next Thang:
Partner Up and then:
Partner 1 does a lap around Noma
Partner 2 does Rocky Balboas on Noma Steps
ROTATE
Partner 1 does a lap around Noma
Partner 2 does dying cockroaches
SWITCH
Partner 1 does a lap around Noma
Partner 2 does hand release merkins
SWITCH
The Next Thang: Gross 2
left leg step ups on fountain – 12
derkins on fountain – 12
LBC’s – 12
Irkins on fountain – 12
Calf raises on fountain – 12
Box jumps on fountain – 12
Mountain climbers – 12
decline Floyd Mayweathers on fountain – 12
We ran out of time, so we weren’t able to finish all 12 exercises for the last Gross. After the DFFM’s (decline fountain Floyd Mayweathers), we mosey’d back to the flag for the COT. Also, i couldn’t think up a good title for the workout, so i just named it “Ain’t Skeered” because I saw one of those bumper stickers on a truck the other day, and they’re still timeless
A couple weeks ago I helped out my fellow LVCC member Screw Top and we swapped Q’s. Unfortunately Screw Top went and had a minor setback and was not ready to return for his Q so I once again helped him out and took over my original Q slot. On a typical muggy morning 14 PAX, including 2 FNG’s, joined me in the gloom. Disclaimer was given and off we moseyed to the practice track.
Warm up:
SSH x 20 IC
Windmills x 10 IC
Arm circles fwx and rev x 10 each IC
Grass grabbers x 15 IC
Self love x 15 IC
Tha Thang #1:
For the first portion of the beatdown we stayed in the circle for a routine I created a couple weeks ago. It was time for the second attempt of Red Light/Green Light. All red light exercises would be static and all green light exercises would be dynamic. Exercises were called out by the Q and we would immediately change exercises once the randomized timer called out red light or green light.
Red light exercises:
Al Gore
High plank
L side plank
R side plank
Low plank
R leg lunge hold
L leg lunge hold
Supine leg hold
Reverse plank
Calf raise hold
Green light exercises:
Mountain climbers
LBCs
Merkins
Lateral/cross-over lunges
High knees
R single leg wife pleasers
L single leg wife pleasers
Penguins
Crunchy frog
Freddy Mercury’s
After this we moseyed to Roosevelt Mall where PAX splint into 2 groups for an Indian Run to the steps in front of NOMA.
Tha Thang #2:
At that time we partnered up for some Dora 1,2,3. Combined total of 100 merkins, 200 squats, and 300 LBCs. While PAX #1 performed the exercise, PAX #2 bunny hopped the steps and performed 3 burpees at the top of the steps. I may have overshot this one as I know my group only got halfway through the LBCs before it was time to mosey back to the flag. Although I know multiple groups were able to complete all reps so T-claps to you guys.
Circle up for countoff, name-o-rama, annoucement, named our 2 FNG’s, intentions, and COT. Welcome Blazing Saddles (had a tough time coming up with that name but props to Amnesty for nailing it) and Choppa. Can’t wait to lead again.
Popeyes not only holds the crown for the best chicken sandwich in the Fastfood wars but also holds the crown for the best location for the IronPax challenge.
12 men came out in the heat and humidity to conquer the IronPax challenge and all 12 men finished the task at hand.
Challenge One: The Killer Bs
10 Yard Bunny Hop
10 Burpees, 10 Bonnie Blairs, 10 Big Boy Situps
10 Yard Bunny Hop
10 Burpees, 10 Bonnie Blairs, 10 Big Boy Situps
10 Yard Bunny Hop
10 Burpees, 10 Bonnie Blairs, 10 Big Boy Situps
30 Yard Bear Crawl
Rinse and Repeat for 5 laps
SoGo won the day with a time of 21:15 but all 12 men pushed themselves through the dirt and grass to complete the challenge. YHC, SOGO, Tua, Shuffles, and Tanner all completed the Challenge for the 2nd time this week and each improved on his time before. T-Claps to Tua for knocking 7 minutes off his Rock City time.
The End
Count-Off, Name-O-Rama, Prayer in the Sweaty-Ball-O-Man
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:
It’s nice to have dry-ish feet.
Pop Tart killed it and is filling Smooth’s shoes as a front runner.
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.
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.
“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.
Over the weekend my fellow LVCC member, and unofficial F3 chauffeur, Screw Top was injured (not seriously) in a purely unavoidable pool incident in which he was emulating Odell Beckham Jr. Thankfully Kuch being the big man that he is volunteered to step up as replacement Q. Unfortunately it was determined on Tuesday afternoon that Kuch’s schedule would not allow him to Q. So your resident relief pitcher stepped in to clean up the mess. I scoured the F3 exicon for a solid routine and came across one that had a fitting name for me but also would somewhat put me out of my comfort zone.
25 PAX gathered at our usual location for The Foundry on a typical hot, humid, windless morning. Disclaimer was given and off we went to the track.
Warm Up (all exercises IC):
SSH x 20
Windmills x 10
Arm circles fwd/rev x 10 each
Grass grabbers x 15
Self love x 15
Tha Thang:
I found a routine on the exicon called The Cooper which was fitting for me since my youngest 2.0 is named Cooper, who also happened to turn 3 y.o. 4 days ago. The Cooper consists on running a lap around the track then performing 10 burpees, 10 squats, and 10 merkins. Then run a lap and follow with 9,9,9, etc. in descending order until completed.
T-claps to Shuffles and Holygrove who absolutely killed it. Speaking for myself I still had over 2 laps plus exercises to go when they finished. As instructed (rather poorly) anyone who had finished all 10 rounds were to plank, perform the ISI squat, do some mary, or help sweep the 6. I apologize if I missed anyone deserving of T-claps.
Around 6:10 I yelled for anyone who hadn’t completed all 10 rounds to circle up back at the start with the rest of the PAX for some mary. To keep in line of helping newer members get practice with leading workouts Mmmbop, Tug Boat, and Pop Tart stepped to each lead an exercise. T-claps to all 3 men.
Mosey back to the flag. I explained to the PAX my reasoning for choosing this routine. I will never be the best distance runner, I will never be able to easily crank out merkins, and burpees are among my least favorite exercises. But I wanted to better myself in these areas and hopefully everyone that participated was able to do the same. Countoff, name-o-rama, announcements, sweat ball of man.
The Uptowner Q list was running low, so YHC jumped at a chance to give Hawg a break and tryout an unused Uptowner resource YHC has had his eye on for a while. Turns out, a no running beatdown is more of a challenge than this F3 neophyte imagined. YHC was honored to lead 13 men through the gloom for this experiment.
Warmup x 20
SSH, IW, Arm Circles (10 forward/10 back), Grass Grabbers, Plank Jacks, and Abe Vigodas. There was quite a bit of mumblechatter towards the end of the warmup by a PAX who will remain nameless to protect the guilty so YHC imposed a five-burpee penalty to maintain order. The offending PAX refused to clap during the burpees, which almost lead to another round of penalty burpees, but there was more work to be done so the group was spared.
The Thang
The PAX was instructed to grab a medium-sized rock and slowsey to the parking lot in front of the gym. YHC is a fan of Dora 1-2-3 and merkin ladders. The PAX partnered up for 100 curls, 200 overhead presses, and 300 air squats (modified from squat presses with rock after a round or two of an excruciating arm and shoulder workout). While PAX 1 completed the above exercises, PAX 2 bear crawled from the parking lot to the steps of the gym for a merkin ladder (one merkin at the base of the steps and adding a merkin for each step up, for a total of 35), then lunge walk back and switch with PAX 1. Tclaps to mmmBop and Amnesty for bear crawling through a rather large puddle without complaining (guess Amnesty learned his lesson after the penalty burpees). After completing the ARMAPOLOOZA workout, the PAX circled up for a three-minute ISI compliant squat.
COT- Nam-a-rama, announcements, and prayers.
Thank you F3 for another opportunity to lead. It’s never taken lightly and always an honor. Thanks to the PAX for participating in my experiment. Parts of this beatdown will be repeated at a future beatdown, but YHC will look to modify to strive for a full body workout with compound exercises.
Eager to mark our territory with a trail of sweat, 14 PAX, aka privateers, gathered this Monday for a maiden voyage in the uncharted waters of northern 70122, and area deep with nautical history. This would be a test run to check out the area and also see what interests there may be in establishing a new AO. As the clock neared 5:30, it was encouraging to see a mix of guys, coming from near and far, that all wanted to be in that number. Before we set sail, YHC mentioned that this workout would be somewhat of an exploratory mission and perhaps a work-in-progress as we bounced around. The disclaimer came next followed by the annual recitation of a crude yet useful nugget from the F3 Lexicon that is something we should strive to avoid: Whiskey Dicking (verb) – “Half stepping through a workout or other event. More generally, execution of anything without sufficient zeal”…recently updated to read “Tentative execution of a task”. Basically, try to give it your all and make the most out of the next 45 minutes. Here’s what we did:
Quick “capri lap” around the parking lot with a COP in the nearby field for a warmup of IW, Phelps, WM, AC, Toy Soilders, LSS.
Then we kept it close for any lost latecomers with a continuation of the warmup, getting in a diamond formation for Burpees x20, Bench/Bleacher Dips x15, Jump Squats x10, Tire Flips x5. This circuit would hopefully be repeated later on but no dice.
From there, we moseyed into the heart of UNO’s campus, with a stop to plank for the six followed by 10 Merkins. T-claps to Kuch and Gideon who YHC overheard discuss trying to nudge a guy back out in the gloom…#HIM! We ended the mosey near an area officially named “the lazy river” by Gabrielle which is adjacent to a few tall sets of stairs leading up to the amphitheater hill. Here we dropped anchor for the first round of Dora, partnering up for 100 crossfit/hand-release Merkins while PAX#2 ran a lap up and down the stairs and hill. Pull anchor up…
Northerly mosey to the concrete planters in front of the Alumni Building for the second round of Dora. T-claps to Holy Grove and others for pushing hard then sweeping the six. Partner up with someone different (swinger style) for Inclined Hip Slappers x200 while PAX#2 run to the top of the levee and back. Some groans and panting were heard on this one.
From here we changed course back towards harbor, stopping in front of The UC for the third round of Dora. Original plans called for a stair running loop but time was ticking and we had to wing it with LBC x300 (in sets of 50) which PAX#2 held a low squat #ISI. We had to cut this a tad short and hightail it across the field to the flag. Shout out to HG and JJ for kicking it in high gear on the final run. Total distance covered was approx 2.17 miles. YHC’s goal of scoping out the area was accomplished but the run/plank time squeezed out some of the circuit work.
Finished things off with a COT. Next two workouts in that location (NW corner of Leon C. Simon and Elysian Fields) will be 8/26 and 9/9. Input and Qs are welcome so please chime in and/or step up. Hopefully this AO takes off, in turn further growing the footprint of F3 and having a positive impact on more men. T-claps to Gideon for the nudge and pledge to help get this going.
A very very damp morning greeted the PAX, after yesterday’s squall lines rolled through. YHC had done a quick drive by one of the intended workout areas to see whether it was usable, and alas – discovered that it was quite soupy. So perhaps an audible was going to be necessary. More on that later.
5:30 – Issue a disclaimer, and 21 PAX moseyed off to the track. YHC is not a regular at the Foundry. His recollections of the Foundry from way-back-when was of an intimate gathering of just a few close friends. Now we are at 21 PAX (and apparently that’s the new normal at The Foundry!) Fantastic to see such growth – more HIMs, more impact, more motivations. Thank you all.
The Warmup
Circle up on the track for a typical warmup, consisting of Windmills (oops – bad move on the part of the YHC, needed to restart , SSH, Arm Circles, Overhead Claps, more Arm Circles (alas, Amnesty kept chit chatting and missing the instructions to KEEP YOUR ARMS UP). Then some planks, just because.
The Thing #1
BLIMPS. Partner up for the BLIMPS-a-go-go. Partners run opposite directions on the track, and wherever they meet – do the next letter exercise. Then run opposite directions again. Start with Burpees x10. You all know the drill from there (except, apparently, YHC who attempted to spell out BIMPS). Ya Mom’n’Dem did a great job carrying an additional heavy weight on his back (“Jesus Juice”). Meanwhile, Holy Grove and Smooth finished about 15 minutes ahead of the next closes finisher.
As PAX finish, start LBC’ing and Dollying awaiting the 6. YHC then offered the PAX a choice:
Elevens: PAX who want to do 11s, line up on YHC’s left
Get your shoes wet: PAX who want to get their shoes wet, line up on YHC’s right
YHC was astounded to see a vote of 20-1 in favor of “Keep your shoes dry” (and the humble reader can guess who was the “1”). Apparently, a lesson in the Art of Manliness was in order. As this is NOT a democracy – the PAX moseyed off to collect a cinderblock from the swamp.
The Thing #2
Grab your cinder block and line up along the left field line in the puddles (you know, the area that looks like a baseball field when not covered by muck and grass clippings). Pop Tart scoffed at the rest of us, as the mud and water just oozed right out of his mandals…
Round 1: 15 each Overhead Press, Curls, Rows, Bench Press. Then a Bear Crawl out about 30 yards, and Lunge Walk back. Briefs grumbling “my shoes won’t be dry for days”. Screw Top whining “Can’t we go do pullups instead? Its dry over there”.
Round 2: 12 each. Crawl Bear out, Walk Lunge back. Words fail to express my disappointment at hearing Tool suggest that Walk Lunge would be easier if his footsies weren’t so wet.
Round 3: 10 each. Not enough time for more out-and-back, so return our Cinderblock friends and slosh back to the flag.
Finished about 5 mins late. Sorry PAX (but not really)
Count-off and name-o-rama (lots of young guns at the Foundry – thanks for pushing me harder everyone!) Announcements and Intentions, especially praying for Holy Grove’s dad in his recovery from health challenges.
As today is the feast day of St. Ignatius, YHC closed with his Prayer for Generosity. Thanks for letting me lead. And thanks for following where I go! Into the Muck and Mire!
