F3 New Orleans

Tag: Barely Legal

  • Inaugural Fire Fighter Challenge – from Bushwacker

    Since April 27 of this year YHC has been, for better or worse, persona non grata around the F3 northshore. I’ve done my best to show my face at least enough so that yous guys don’t forget what I look like. The Wacker of bushes has been on a journey to become a community servant as a Wacker of Fires. And thus, the long awaited, highly anticipated Fire Fighter Challenge has arrived!

    During academy, and from time to time on shift, we don our turnout gear – boots, pants jacket, hood, helmet, and mask – and go “on air” slinging a self-contained breathing apparatus and 4000 PSI air tank onto our backs – up to 80lbs! We then perform a series of strenuous activities which test our strength, stamina and endurance. And so it was with great preparation and only last minute planning that YHC brought to the men of the Lakefront a facsimile thereof as well as could be expected in the gloom. And, perhaps, a tradition was born?

    WARMORAMA

    In increasing reps starting with 12 (excepting for supersticious 13):
    SSH,
    High Knees
    Butt Kicks
    Cherry Pickers
    Windmills
    Fire Hydrants

    THANG

    We mossied to the gazebo for a few quick rounds of Merkin Waves and Squat Waves. This allowed for 2 things: QIC’s opportunity to count PAX for teams, and one of our resident byciclists, Turbo, to catch up to the crew.

    We then mossied to the shaft where, thanks to help from early birds Steve, Shooter, and Waterpik, the field was set! Breaking up into teams of appx. 3 the PAX lined up, each at a station including the Tire Toss, the Ax Chop, the Tire Flip, the Tire Drag, the Tire Pull, and Moby Chain Drag. While P1 was tackling the task, P2 & P3 was doing a specified exercise, including LBCs, Flutter Kicks, Mnt Climbers, High Knees, Leg Lifts and Gas Pumpers.Somewhere along the way, Waterpick split the massive log, and in a temper tantrum over having not been he who split the mighty oak, the lugubrious Shooter shattered the hickory handle of the ax! There was continuous conversation as men of all ages and capabilities gave it their all battling amongst a sea of black rubber with shimmerings of silver links, all covered in the grassy morning dew. After a couple of rounds, proving to edict that many a hands make light a work, the PAX loaded all the coupons back on the trailer from whence it came, and back to the flag we mosied.

    MARY

    With 3 minutes to spare, it was on your 6 for 20 Putins IC, 20 Flutter Kicks IC, and 100 100s OYO.

    COT

    Count and name-o-rama before naming FNG Dangerfield. Turbo prayed us out. (and Cowbell made it just in time for “Amen”)

    Gentlemen, it was a pleasure that I’ve missed, being back in the main event, and I want to thank ll of you for making F3 Northshore what it is, and allowing me the humble honor of leading you bunch of yahoos through a taste of a new chapter of my life.

    SYITG

  • A Bonnie Blair By Any Other Name Still Sucks – from Zoolander

    I know it says Zoolander was the Q for this one, but that’s only because YHC’s name isn’t on the dropdown menu yet. And, it was ultimately Zoo’s idea to get the fellas from down the bayou to Q a November Lakefront beatdown, and we couldn’t be more grateful!

    YHC showed up in the Goosemobile with four men and two boys who’ve been looking forward to this for weeks. It’s become very clear to me over the years that God has wired men in such a way that the more we suffer together, the more we come to care deeply about each other’s well being, regardless of differences in background, lifestyle, (number of kids), etc. So, it was easy to jump at the opportunity to travel north and lead a beatdown out of gratitude for the men who have allowed me to suffer with them and who first shared the gift of F3 with me. Now, the cycle is continuing down in Thibodaux with a growing PAX!

    Disclaimer was stated for the benefit of an FNG (Welcome, Crock Pot!). Warmups consisted of IC: SSH, Windmills, Imperial Walkers, Arm Circles, Cherry Pickers, Self Love, High Knees, and Butt Kicks, followed by a mosey to Noah’s Ark.

    YHC revealed an F3 Workout Deck, and three cards were pulled and listed exercises completed with a promise of more random suffering to come. This was followed by partner BLIMPS, but with a bit of a twist. Grundy’s late arrival provided an opportunity to reminisce back to YHC’s first beatown, whcih was Q’d by Grundy. It included Sister Mary Catherine’s in the warmup, which totally burned out my legs before we even got to Noah’s Ark. A fitting memory to share before introducing these BLIMPS:

    Thang 1:
    Partner 1 ran around Noah’s Ark, while Partner 2 huffed and puffed his way through their shared total of:
    50 Bonnie Blairs (another name for SMC’s),
    50 Lunge Jumps (another name for SMC’s),
    50 Iron Mikes (another name for SMC’s),
    50 Merkins,
    50 Plank Jacks,
    50 Sister Mary Catherine’s (SMC’s)

    Thang 2:
    Moseyed once again, stopping to complete exercises from three more cards from the deck, then lining up along the wall for two version of a newly minted “Indian Inchworm Wall Crawl”. The first version consisted of all PAX in dip position on the wall moving to the right and completing a dip with every “step” while the man in the rear of the line crab walked to the front. After a number of traffic jams and Bushwacker grumbles, the last of the PAX had crabbed their way to the front, so it was time to turn around and go the other way. Pax assumed the irkin position on the wall and moved to the right, completing an irkin with every “step”. The rearmost PAX bear crawled their way to the front of the line this time, so things moved a little more quickly.

    Thang 3:
    Another short mosey brought us to a grassy area big enough for the highly anticipated Tunnel of Love. Ironically, Zoolander had just shared his gratitude that YHC hadn’t included this exercise since it was a memorable highlight from my VQ a few years back. So, it was with a special joy that I announced that all PAX would be snuggling up shoulder to shoulder in plank position while the rearmost PAX in the line army crawled through Tunnel of Love. Bushwacker’s encouraging “love whacks” kept the line moving while the plankers’ shoulders burned and threatened to give out.

    Hope then rose in the hearts of many as we lined up for what would be a wildly chaotic Indian run back to the flag with many PAX digging deep, knowing that this would ultimately be the last time they’d have to push. But, YHC knew what lurked amongst the cards in the deck, and after two relatively harmless pulls to fill the small amount of time left before 7:30, a third and final pull was offered to the FNG. It was the new guy, at 7:29, who managed to pull the 400 meter sprint card, arguably the worst card in the deck. So, despite the shared astonishment and disbelief, the beatdown ended with 25 men sprinting toward an inhabited car and then back to the flag, all residual energy and will to live good and drained.

    COT, announcements, and prayer by Enron of F3 Thibodaux.

    Coffeeteria offered time to catch up and enjoy the beautiful weather before the long ride home to Thibodaux. All PAX in the Goosemobile shared their gratitude for the opportunity to experience F3 on that level and for the men who were willing to suffer with us as we continue to strive to get better at doing hard things. It was a great gift to get to spend such high quality time with you guys this morning, and I very much look forward to seeing you in the gloom (wherever that gloom might be)!

  • Yankee Doodle Dandy – from TurboTax

    Tomorrow is Veterans Day so YHC thought it’d be fitting to visit the American flag displays proximate to The Gipper. Amnesia reinforced this line of thought when he rolled up wearing Stars and Strips socks and bike shorts, our very own Yankee Doodle Dandy. At any rate, after a warmup of imperial walkers, shoulder taps, seal jacks, mountain climbers, hillbillies, merkins, and SSHs, the 9 PAX split up into three teams of three and the games began.

    Armed with tennis balls, each team was tasked with moving from flag to flag. The rules were simple: (1) the PAX holding the ball could take no more than one step while holding the ball and (2) every time a team dropped the ball, each team member had to execute two burpees before resuming the game. Then we were off to the races, visiting the flag displays at the School Board building, the Fire Station, the Justice Center, the Police Station and finally our own Shovel Flag.

    But we didn’t just travel. At each flag we paused to execute a sequence of isometric holds (Al Gores, front planks and shoulder taps, isometric Bulgarian Squat holds-where were you this morning Steve?-and hollow holds), dynamic exercises (squats, merkins, Bulgarian Squats, and leg raises), and explosive exercises (jump squats, clap merkins, Sister Mary Katherines, and heels to Heaven). And to top it off we executed a couple of agonizingly long isometric holds upon returning to the Shovel Flag.

    Countorama, nameorama and Einstein succinctly prayed us out. Good teamwork this morning, guys. Thanks for letting me lead.

  • Grundy Shrugged – from TurboTax

    It took a good thirty minutes, but Grundy eventually shrugged…or groaned…or exhaled loudly. Sources later confirmed that Grundy experienced a little fatigue at this point in the beatdown. It made YHC feel good. Honestly.

    At any rate, 11 PAX posted in the Gloom this morning. We warmed up with burpees, mountain climbers, SSHs, imperial walkers, and hillbillies and then made our way to the back of the Justice Center.

    We dispersed among the back benches for 3 sets of 10 Bulgarian split squats each leg and 10 derkins, all IC.

    Crab walk to the smoker’s lounge then a long lunge Indian walk/run to the front of the Justice Center.

    Circled up for 3 sets of 10 T merkins, 10 Nolan Ryans each side and 10 hollow hold flutter kicks, all IC.

    Deployed to the front benches for 3 sets of 10 lateral step ups each leg and 10 good mornings, all IC.

    Lunge Indian walk/skip back the way we came where we hit 3 quick rounds up and around the Justice Center stairs and ramp.

    Closed the deal with 3 sets of 10 shoulder taps and 10 Peter Parkers, all IC.

    Countorama, nameorama and a nice positive prayer from who else but Grundy.

    Thanks for letting me lead guys.

    Great to have Cowbell back from his marathon, Maverick back from his injury, and Bubba back from his hiatus for his 3rd Gipper post in a row.

  • Another Cakewalk – from Russo

    Hurricane Ida wrecked a lot of plans this year. She did a lot of damage, broke a lot of hearts, made life a ton more difficult. But one thing I’ve learned is that even in the darkest of hours, God can find a way to turn something terrible into something good.

    I don’t want to belittle the struggle our region is still dealing with, and I can tell you firsthand there is a lot of work left. But I can also tell you firsthand that God has given us an opportunity to grow together, help each other, and all in all, be better people.

    My original plan for the first week in September was to do a birthday Q, and following the lead of Grundy and/or Zoolander (depending on how good an idea it was), complete another “Cake walk” and hope it catches on as a thing.

    Well, those plans changed due to Mother Nature, but God’s timing is perfect, so a pax of 17 said “Take Two” under beautiful weather with low humidity and temps topping out at around 71.

    Warmup (between 10x and 20x, all IC)
    Seal jacks
    Toe touches
    Arm circles
    Torso twists
    Goofballs

    Thang: A cakewalk, your basic descending ladder of exercises and reps, starting at YHC’s age (in this case, 43), and work your way to 1, with some moseying in between around Old Mandeville/Lakefront.

    The order:

    43 High knees
    42 SSHs
    41 Plank Jacks
    40 merkins (where Bird started to wonder where the burpees were)
    39 squats
    38 Hello Dollies
    37 Calf raises
    36 Apollo ohnos
    35 Freak Nastys
    34 step ups
    33 flutter kicks
    32 butt kicks (2 is 1) (lead IC by the entire pax rotating, very nice job, gents!)
    31 Peter Parker’s (2 is 1)
    30 imperial walkers
    29 Shoulder taps (2 is 1)
    28 American hammers
    27 George thoroughgood
    26 Smurf jacks
    25 leg raises
    24 Rosalitas
    23 crab jacks (crab position – opposite plank jacks)
    22 groiners
    21 Bear crawls
    20 murder bunnies
    19 Hand release merkins
    18 Bobby Hurley’s
    17 crab cakes (2 is 1)
    16 circle ups
    15 Bulgarian split squats
    14 durkins
    13 big boy sit-ups
    12 LMCs
    11 diamond merkins
    10 star jumps
    9 donkey kicks
    8 8 count body builders
    7 makhtar n’jais
    6 6 inch drills (where Zoolander was wise to my plan)
    5 Carolina dry docks
    4 Bonnie Blair’s
    3 jump squats
    2 burpees (here they are Bird!)
    1 minute plank

    COT, name-o-rama, announcements, and prayer closed us out.

    This Q doubled as my 3 year anniversary Q, so it’s time for me to again thank Toto for EH’ing me. Like I suspect has happened to many of us, I had no idea what I was in for. I showed up late to my first beatdown (Splice was Q) and quickly wondered what I got myself into. Manny’s words to me were “just stick with it” and he was right.

    More than once, I was the 6. I’m still the 6 on occasion. But each and every time, someone is there to pick me (or you) up. Tanked up was the first I remember. Shooter seems to do it the most (especially on moseys).

    And that’s what makes this group of men so darn solid. What started out as “I could use the exercise” or “I want to get back in shape” quickly turns to something more.

    The F for Fitness is lowercase. The other two are uppercase. I’ve enjoyed laughing with you all, especially when Hammer gets a pax going with his 80’s references, or Zoolander makes an off color joke about doing a Freddy Mercury. You each have enriched me, made me a better person, lended guidance, and just in general have been a blast to be around.

    Before I started, I didn’t have a lower back that constantly aches or stiffens up, nor did I have a left shoulder that tells me “That’s enough merkins for today.” I didn’t even know I had an Achilles’ tendon.

    But it has all been worth it. Ever nagging pain and shortness of breath: worth it knowing I’m making a decision to better myself as a leader, a Christian, a productive member of society. And that’s due to each of you, whether I called you by name above or not. Because finally, after 3 years, I think I’ve learned your real names, which is maybe a bigger compliment.

  • When Life Gives You Lumber – from Grundy

    The old saying goes that when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. A lesser known saying is that when life gives you lumber, make a bunch of other guys move it around back and forth pointlessly for an hour. So, when Ida provided my backyard and neighborhood with a plethora of logs and stumps, YHC went ahead and tried out that lesser known saying. In addition, the Q was able to get rid of the lumber at the end of the beatdown which was in danger of becoming part of the permanent fixtures that are still adorning many neighborhoods around the Northshore. Win-Win.

    So after having almost knocked out Bird with my open car door before the beatdown, I proceeded to try to give us all that same opportunity of physical injury by throwing, dragging, pressing, lifting, and flipping logs/stumps.

    That’s really all there was too this workout. After a brief warmup, we went to the field where YHC placed all of the logs. All of the logs had different corresponding exercises associated with them and we rotated through them for the hour. The signaling of when to rotate was when the one individual flipping the main log returned to the starting line.

    Sprinkled in the beatdown was some Mary as well.

    We left the field a little worse than we found it, but I guaranty that we were better men by the end of it.

    We returned to the flag and Russo closed us out.

    Thanks guys for letting me lead and have a great weekend!

  • Blocks and Jocks Oh my!! – from Shooter

    11 PAX posted at the Gipper on this Wednesday for YHCs return after a month and a half layoff would certainly require some coupon work… So after returning with Einstien, Legal and Steve on the 1 mile prethang we got right to it…

    Warmup
    15IC Cherry pickers, Toe Touches, Imperial walkers, Windmills, Butt kicks and Grass grabbers.

    Thang
    Gathered 6 coupons for our mosey over to the courthouse.. Partnered up..
    First round
    P1 Using coupon did murder bunnies up the stairs keeping rep count. Combined count of 100 cumulative while P2 did rail crawls up the ramp returning to pickup count.
    Second round
    Moseyed to back side of courthouse where P1 did Curls and P2 bunny hopped up returning to pickup count..200 cumulative
    Third round
    Moseyed back to front for P1 Squat thrusters 100 cumulative while P2 Crawl bearers half the ramp the bear crawls other half.

    Moseyed back to AO returning coupons wrapping up with Mary of 20IC Flutter kicks, LBCS and Hello Dollies..

    Count, Announce, COT

    Thanks to Moby for the closeout in prayer and until the next Gloom 👍🏼👊🏼✌🏼!!!

  • UPPER DECK – from Einstein

    Short disclaimer…

    Warmup:
    all 20xIC: Toe Touch, Side Straddle Hops, Good Mornings, High Knees, Shoulder Shrugs, Imperial Walkers,
    Swimmers, Butt Kicks

    Thang:
    After a reverse lunge walk and sprint mix on our way up the ramps to the upper deck of the Justice Center Parking Garage,
    The Pax did a set of elevens with burpees up hill and merkins down hill
    Next Thang:
    Using the twenty four parking space striping, the Pax performed a StarJump routine:
    1 jump every other space, jog back, 2 jumps every other space, jog back, 1 jump plus 1 up to 13 for every other stripe

    Mosey back to the flag for times-up.

    Count-o-rama, Akbar leads us out with prayer.

    Thanks guys. Always extremely decent of you letting me lead.

  • MaryAnne’s Mayhem at The Gipper – from TurboTax

    Some guys liked Ginger best, but YHC always found himself in the MaryAnne camp with the Professor. Until this morning in the Gloom, that is.

    The Gipper PAX tackled the latest and last installment in the 2021 IronPAX challenge, MaryAnne’s Mayhem. 52:30 minutes of hard work. YHC doesn’t remember anything of that nature happening on Gilligan’s Island but maybe he missed something. 200 coupon curls, 175 body weight squats, 150 OH coupon presses, 125 coupon swings, 100 Merkins, 75 coupon thrusters, 50 Bonnie Blair’s, and 25 blockees as well as multiple 25 yard runs and burpees were the order of the day. Everyone made their downpainment on the day and got their money’s worth this morning.

    Thanks for letting me lead guys.

  • The Young and the Restless: IPC week 1.2 – from Akbar

    15 braved the Lakefront on a beautiful day for a beatdown, 1 in a stroller. No, it was not Bushwacker. The 2nd day of IPC week 1 was upon us, and the plan was to have 2 Q’s. Jose 10k took the 2nd Q with a plan for football, but with only 3 PAX not doing IPC, it was a bust. So – Jose10k and Barely Legal did it again. T Claps guys.

    After an elongated explanation and several questions, the playlist started and we got to work. Speedy and Tank were out of the gate hot with Hammer not far behind. Great work again guys, everyone finished. Here are the results from the score sheet – missing a few times.

    Speedy 26.24

    Tank 27.16

    Hammer 29.56

    Zoolander 30.0

    Steve 32.30

    Chainsaw 32.28

    Akbar 36.15

    Jose 10k 37:33

    Slider 38.15

    Enter your times here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdesBJtTGntJx9e2UfhmmcMyZ_UGEy6TtFk50Mz-W4DHHcN-w/viewform

    Bushwacker arrived at 0700 after his shift and Moby came strolling up in his convertible just in time for COT.

    And yes, Speedy beat Tanked UP! Impressive, a 17 year old and a 62 year old take the top 2 times. Tank may not be that restless – he went to cut a yard right after COT.

    YHC had trouble lifting the phone for a picture after this beatdown, great work by all.

    Jose10k prayed us out with thoughts and prayers, remembering 911.

    Coffeeteria at Book and the Bean.