In between torrential downpours, we were able to fit in a beatdown on the soaked streets of old mandeville.
All somewhat reluctant to be out there in the drizzle, we all said we were glad to have posted after all was said and done.
Have a good day, men!
What a great day it was, as today’s experience crystallized the essence of F3 in so many ways. YHC awakened, checked my phone and noticed a text from cowbell, inquiring on the status of the beatdown on behalf of the PAX from Nola who were preparing to cross the causeway. That was at 0455! T-Claps to those guys for even considering making the trip across for the convergence. After all, and unbeknownst to them, the causeway was CLOSED at the time due to the severity of the weather.
And don’t forget Goose, who decided to make a surprise appearance and left his home in Thibodeaux at 0445, driving through rain storms, lightning, and thunder at a mere 45 mph on the interstate before encountering the closed causeway bridge himself. T-Claps to you, Goose, for your perseverance and your faith that F3 would stick to its credo of “rain or shine”. And that we did! It was really go to see you, Goose!
And what about Jose and Speedy and Bushwacker, who showed up at 0600, ready for the pre thing on the Lakefront? Thanks for sticking around, guys, until 0730, and for your dedication to our Organization.
And then, despite the horrific weather over night, 15 PAX showed up the beatdown! T-claps to all of you guys who showed up for the convergence. Without a PAX, we are all sad clowns. And thanks to F3 for giving me more than I have given to it! I am definitely a better man now than I was before. That is, more dedicated, more confident, more responsible, more faithful, more resolute, more grounded, and more and more and more!
And here’s a prayer for F3 Nation, who has had a change of leadership and has very ambitious goals to keep growing, thriving, and adapting. Those will be no easy tasks, but my prayer is that they (we) will succeed. It’s because of PAX like YOU GUYS that I have confidence that WE can do just that.
And by the way, there was a workout. It was much of the same. You know the drill, merkins, cinder blocks, Mary, COT, special intentions and Goose to pray us out
The Northshore beatdown on Holy Saturday was themed around Dante’s Inferno. A group of 18 Pax, including a guest appearance from the Southshore’s SOGO, descended upon the Lakefront for 9 Circles of Hell. Warmup exercises were completed in reverse cadence (4-3-2-1) to align with the date (4/3/21) and to remind everyone it was Cowbell’s birthday. We traveled 9 blocks, circling up at each one to perform the 66 exercises illustrated below. Lots of Mumble Chatter, especially at Circle no. 2. We finished at the shovel flag with some Absolution, completing 666 total reps (or there about) for the day.
Announcements:
– Northshore 5 year Convergence to be led by Waterpik on Saturday 4/10.
– Fia/F3 mixer at the Gipper on 4/29 at 6:30pm.
Cowbell prayed us out. Happy Easter to all.
Cool temperatures greeted the PAX this morning out at mandeville city hall. We took the regular route today, then hit the Play ground equipment for some exercises such as Merkins slow squats Peter Parker‘s 100s crunchy frogs.
T-claps to shooter for showing up And riding the bike with us despite having a bum ankle
Last week YHC picked up the Q at the A1C after a long absence. The iron was present, the core was tested, and QIC walked away happy, yet unsatisfied. So with building upon that success in mind, it was time to double down! Same iron, same core, more exercises plus cones. But sometimes the best laid plans of mice and men go awry.
WARMORAMA
x10 IC: Windmills, T Stretches, Torso Twists, Hairy Rockettes, Imperial Walkers
THANG
What was SUPPOSED to happen: With 5 cones spread out across the length of the parking garage and a pair of 20lb dumbbells, 45lb dumbbells, a 25lb plate and a 45lb plate at one end. Each man would walk/run the length with a designated weight while the rest of the PAX did various core exercises. At each cone on separate turns(there AND back) would be: 5 Burpees, 10 Merkins, 10 Squats, 10 Sister Mary Katherines, 10 Torso Twists, 10 Mountain Climbers, 10 Squat Thrusters, and 10 Kettle Bell Swings.(See, could’ve been worse, huh guys?)
What ACTUALLY happened: With such a strong showing It took us nearly 30 minutes just to get through the 1st exercise! QIC didn’t audible soon enough, but when I did two men went at a time, it went from 5 to 4 to 1 cone, and it was exercise on the way there and walk/run back. With these changes we still only got through the Burpees, Merkins and Squats before time experied.
COT
With no time for Mary, the COT capped by Einstein’s prayer was all we could fit in. From what was SUPPOSED to happen you can see YHC had intended some strenuous coupon work, but for the best of reasons it simply was not quite to be. Regardless, the attendance and effort are both appreciated and applauded. Well done gentlemen!
I showed up at grandmas house just in time to see Hammer pull in around 5:05am. Planting the flag, that Aikbar confidently left behind on Monday’s marsh beatdown, YHC awaited to see if any others would arrive.
Once we had a decent crew arriving we began the warm-up to some “unfamiliar” and “new” exercises (that YHC simply pulled off the F3 exicon!). Bushwhacker was insistent that Grandmas House hid a tire so YHC began to mentally formulate how we could incorporate this into our workout!
10 IC MountainMan poopers
15 Hairy Rockettes
15 or so Butt Kicks
10 Torso Twists
The thang:
A bear crawl the length of the pavilion, up the stairs! Yes, up the stairs. Around the tower, and back down the stairs! Yes, down the stairs. Returning to the start point.
We then moved to a round of Jack Webbs. Having some trouble keeping rhythm and cadence the Q threw in a few extra merkins!
At this point do our eyes deceive us????? But it was Cowbell arriving only 12 minutes late!
Back to the pavilion for a round of lunge walks. Up the stairs, round’ the tower, back down the stairs and returning to the start line!
Then a set of Squat Webb’s. 1 squat, 2 calf raises followed by 2 squats, 4 calf raises a la Jack Webb style.
At this point we detoured and spent a few minutes crawling through the bushes, looking for a tire that simply was not there!!! So we returned to the pavilion for a round of Inch Bears. All pax would get into the plank while the last pax would bear crawl to the front, rinse and repeat. For the return trip we modified to a Gore Lunge, where all pax would Al Gore and the last would lunge walk to the front, rinse and repeat.
We finished out with 90seconds of Mary. Some LBCs and Flutter kicks.
Announcements about camping, go-ruck San Antonio, FIA/F3 mashup, and COT and prayer.
Seven strong posted for Scramble at 0515. A little cooler temps than expected this am as a result of the storm that rolled through Mandeville yestereve. Personally still adjusting to the time change and shaking the cobwebs off at the early hour is still a work in progress. Q arrived 0505 to find Ackbar stretching it out and getting loose. The rest of the PAX posting for the morning included: Shooter, Bushwacker, Zoolander, Waterpick (ran from his house wearing some crazy red, white, and blue getup) and Cowbell (rolling in hot as per usual).
Q counted down watching the clock to get moving right at 0515 beginning with 10 counts, in cadence, of side straddle hops, toe touches, windmills, and torso twists. A ten count forward fold was sprinkled in to try and further loosen the hamstrings; however I recently read that there isn’t supposed to be any stretching in F3 – you’re supposed to do that at home! I guess that’s a bit like no crying in baseball? Keep stretching it out at home fellas, don’t wanna get too tight!
The brief warm up with F3 exercises was followed by a “dynamic warmup” with a lunge walk with twist, t-walk, and ninja squats. PAX was commenting at YHC’s flexibility during the ninja squats, but little did they know that a muscle pulled during the process was concealed so as not to show any weakness prior to the beatdown.
Typical route to sunset point was mixed up with 4x4s (burpee to plank, 4 merkins, and 4 mountain climbers). After starting with 3, PAX added 3 more each time passing the intersection at Monroe and Massena, finishing with 12 4X4s on the return trip. PAX mostly stayed together during the run, but regrouped after each round of 4x4s to begin again.
Along the run, YHC and Bushwacker exchanged grateful observations of the night sky, clear and bright after the previous night’s washout. During the 4x4s, it was obvious that the after-effects of Shooter’s Building Blocks at the Gipper on Wednesday were taking their toll. As I’m writing this post-Saturday beatdown, YHC is amazed at the Ackbar’s dedication to the merkin. I had to pull out excel to calculate the Scramble merkins (120 if you didn’t already count), but that pales in comparison to the 500 PAX executed this am.
PAX arrived back at City Hall with only a few minutes remaining and alas there wasn’t time for the Bruce Lee that Q had planned. Those arriving first dropped into a plank hold while waiting on the six. The rest of the PAX dropped into plank and alternated chill cut and high plank until 0600. COT, YHC prayed us out, and announcements. If you haven’t heard, next Saturday’s beatdown in at the Marsh!
It’s been too long…I’ll be missing a lot of F3 in the next few months…Jose’s a nagger. Take your pick, but YHC felt it was high time he made an appearance at the A1C (2nd of the year?) and as Q at that! Now there has been frequent talk and use of “coupons” lately. So much so, in fact, that the warning to “bring Gloves” has simply become assumed. The problem is that Q is NOT a fan of cinder blocks. They scrape forearms and lead to poor form – simply not ergonomic enough for a former weight lifter (yea yea boohoo). So, Inspired by a favorite beatdown, “Moby’s heavy-ass chain”, YHC brought a 50lb &30lb pair of doumbbells, as well as x2 25lb, 35lb, & 45lb plates!
WARMORAMA
This time inspired by Turbo Dog, we started off with (IC x10): Squats (sans poop), High Knees, T-Stretches, Torso Twists, Air presses, and Self Love.
THANG
With the plates on one end of the garage roof and the dumbbells at the other end, the PAX split up to either side. One man would carry any weights of his choice, so long as each hand was gripping metal, and move from one end to the other in any fashion he found sufficiently challenging. Meanwhile the rest would be doing a core exercise, changing each time someone returned with weights. There was walking and running, while doing shoulder presses, shrugs, flies, arm swings, or just carrying. While on the ground, you name it, someone did it. There were even games of keep away and fetch thrown in for good measure!
MARY
We finished with 2 minutes to spare, and the PAX were kind enough to grab the weights and return them to the back of my truck.
COT
BBQ prayed us out and all was right in the world! Thank you guys for rising to meet my ergonomic challenge and start the day out right.
Short disclaimer …
Warmup:
all 15xIC; side straddle hops, toe touch, imperial walkers, drew brees, knee highs, good mornings
Mosey:
to the front of the Taj-Mahal, circle up around the flag-pole, for the MROF (Merkin Ring Of Fire)
all pax do a merkin then sidecrawl counter-clockwise, then repeat in the clockwise direction, with a set of ten jumps squats in between
Mosey:
to the top level of the St. Tammany Parish Courthouse parking garage, line up and at each of the parking stripes, do a burpee (twenty five in total) then follow with a core exercise.
We repeated this sequence about six times, inserting a different challenge for the stripes
Mosey:
back to the Gipper statue as time expires,
count-o-rama, Bushwacker leads us out with a prayer.
It’s always fun running around downtown Covington, and thanks guys for letting me lead today.
It was a draw. The Gnats mobilized early and mounted a fierce attack, but the PAX persevered and evened the score with a strong showing. It all started with a burpee heavy warmup which, in all honesty, wasn’t much of a warmup at all. It was The Thang from the bell. Burpees were performed with a sprinkling of standard warmup exercises added to the mix and then it was on to the main event…PAX vs sandbag. Dividing up into teams of two and three, we moved back and forth in 10 yard increments carrying our sandbags in various fashions while bear crawling, running, burpee long jumping, etc in between rounds. We then dropped the sand bags and ran a few sprint relays wrapping things up with some Mary after returning to the Shovel Flag. Countorama nameorama and Russo prayed us out. Thanks for letting me lead guys and making us all look good for the little old lady videographer. Hammer, did you remember to give her Bushwacker’s contact info?
