F3 New Orleans

Tag: Cat5

  • Double or Nothing

    Extra Credit

    Side Effects offered some extra credit for a few pax that showed early. After 5 rounds of 30 seconds of burpees topped off with a couple rounds of pull ups, we felt pre-warmed up.

    Warm up

    What’s the second greatest time of year? You guessed it- The NBA Finals. On the heels of feeling inspired that LeBron James and I started the Finals from the same place this year, it was time to get off the couch and engage in competition fit for the gym.

    We moseyed to the nearest circle for a round of Ring of Fire. This time only called for defensive slides. Then the following:

    15 Al Gores
    15 Bobby Hurleys
    15 merkins
    30 circle of merk(ins)

    The Thang

    With the teams assembled and no basketball court in sight, it was time for a different competition: Ultimate Frisbee. After explaining the rules (props to Shangeaux for the Spanish translation for our FNG) and playing a warm up, it was time to get serious. Enter sports betting. The winning team places the exercise bet (er, punishment) that the losing team must fulfill before the next game. Games were first to 3 points.

    The punishments that followed:
    8 wolverines (if burpees and Peter Parkers had a baby…)
    20 Bobby Hurleys
    20 Heels to the Sky
    Something forgotten here…

    With the series tied 2-2, we started the tie-breaking game. 10 Doctor W’s to the loser. The winning team won and Topanga, refusing to go down easily, doubled down the bet to 20 Doctor W’s for one more game. Fortunately, the rematch did not change the outcome and Topanga soon became very acquainted with Dr. W, an experience his abs will not soon forget.

    Count-a-rama. 11 Pax
    Name-a-rama
    COT

    Big Easy

  • Warming up at the Knoll, BR

    Had our howdys and the disclaimer.

    Had a good workout this morning. Began with a long set or warmups near the flag location. Then ran a mosey half way around our usual track, ending at the sundial. Did a variety of more exercises at the sundial. Mosey’ed to the top of the hill where we ran a plethora of runs up and down the hill towards the creek. Did merkins at the bottom and burpees at the top, all in ever decreasing numbers. Ran 5 laps up and down. Moseyed to the soccer field and did suicides to the 25 did merkins, 50 did situps, 75 did something else and 100 did squats. Mosey’ed back towards the flag location exercise bars foundry. Divided up into pairs. Did 100 pull ups or 100 situps in pairs. Chatted with the other group that starts out there at the foundry.

    Did a bunch of Marys and Jane Fondas there at the flag location. Finished up with our call for needs and then ending prayer. Everyone had places to go this morning so no coffeerama. Worms

  • Our White Knight

    The Scene:  The Knoll

    Conditions: Cloudy. Chilly for a Baton Rouge March.

    Welcome

    Disclaimer

    Warm-a-Rama:

    Looked like a b-class soccer team as we jogged about 50 yards, and then in pairs went to a lightpole about 20 yards away and did:

    High Knees/Butt Kicks/Side shuffle/Knee over-unders/Jog backwards

    Jogged to the sun dial for some fake jump roping! all reps of 20x:

    Regular jump rope/ side to side/ one legged/ one legged side to side/ double jumps.

    Now that we were nice and warm!

    —

    The Thang:

    11 is the #!

    11 reps of six different exercises followed by 11 burpees after each set.

    Box jumps/pistol squats/split squat jumps/paper beneath hands merkins/derkins/merkin walkout(which is underrated!)

    Our white knight came sprinting across the land halfway through this exercise^^^ that helped us grind through it.

    Ran over to the jungle gym and split into three groups. Each group had to do 100 total reps of each exercise:

    Al gores/big boy sit ups/inverted row

    Mosey’d back to the flag!

    Mary:

    15x:

    starfish/flutter kicks/upper circle crunches(brutal)/plank work

    Count-o-Rama

    Name-o-Rama

    COT / BOM:

    Great times before the humidity!

    Announcements:

  • Its a fine morning to get better

    The Scene: 

    The Knoll

    Conditions: 

    A nice 65-degree morning, thankfully no rain…yet

    Welcome:

    5 men posted, Snack Pack stopped by to encourage us. Could not post due to hand surgery.   Hats off for that act of kindness! Some men won’t get up to  exercise at all and he comes all the way out to the AO just to shake our hands. Now thats a friend

    Disclaimer: “I am not a professional trainer”

    Warm-a-Rama: 15 reps for all  

    SSH, Al Gore’s, Toy Soldier, Arm Circles both ways, Wind Mills, then mosey around track to benches for Freak Nasty and incline merkins. Moved to picnic tables for step ups.  Warm up complete

    The Thang:

    From the Movie Full Metal Jacket “This is my rifle. There are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend.”  Well, lets just use a rock from the creek!

    This is MY ROCK!  Time to mosey to the creek for some Jacob’s Ladder.  Each Pax selected their rock to cuddle with for the remainder of the hour.

    Started at bottom of the hill, only to sprint to the top “with your rock”. At top we did set of merkins x 10 on our rock. Sprint down the hill, careful not to drop the rock. At bottom, we did Peter Parkers x10 then quickly gathered the rock for another sprint up the hill. Then it was time for 5 burpees’, then another sprint to the bottom for a final set of monkey humpers x 10.  20 second rest count!

    With you Rock! It was of on a mosey through the park trail to the football field to continue the Thang.  We paired up for relay.  One team member sprinted to the 25 while the other partner did merkins until they reached the 25-yard mark. Then that partner sprinted to them and did merkins while they made it to the 50, then repeated for 75- and 100-yard line. Rinse, repeat back the other way.  20 second rest count.

    Moseyed back to creek still holding our rock to carefully place them back for another day!

    Moseyed back to flag for some Mary’s:  Leg Lifts ¼ to full up position and down same for x 10, Baby Crunches x 15, scissor kicks x 15, Jane Fonda’s left and right x 10, finished with American Hammer x15.

    Count-o-Rama

    Name-o-Rama

    Prayers and request: asked for us to be leaders in our family and workplace. Prayed for our F3 brothers that were not able to be with us.

    After prayer we discussed the need to reach out to past participants, try to get them back out.

  • Operation Turkey Leg goes live. Annual Thanksgiving Day F3 event

     

    So glad I showed up!

    All hats off to the great TESLA who organized this first annual Operation Turkey Leg.  He wrote the Backblast below and I get to post it so I get to add some background of my own. This guy hits me up on Text about a beatdown on Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving?  Gotta be kidding. No one would show up and miss their turkey!  But we were wrong.  Tesla is from North Carolina.  He’s ok guys. North Carolina is still on the right side of the Mason Dixon Line.  He shared with us some new exercises  and near wore out this old man, and almost everyone else too. Its AMAZING what a 58 year old like Tesla can do.  This old 58 year old had a hard time keeping up with him!  We loved the Plank/Bear Crawl Slolom  Whats that?  Maybe we’ll show you if you didn’t show up. Maybe not.  Might just keep that secret.

    Tesla has been with the greats in F3 for many years.   He said he runs The Yank in Saturdays in Belmont, NC. Gaston region. Still works out two days a week in Charlotte Metro. Workout once a week in The Fort (Fort Mill, SC)

     

    Here’s Tesla’s report!

    QIC: Tesla

    Pax in the Pix: SnackPack, Banjo, CAT5, Shaengo, Moneycat, Tesla and the Worms.   We need a semi-professional photographer next year.

    So as YHC always spends Thanksgiving in Baton Rouge, La. And knew that F3 had started down that way it only made sense to reach out and establish contact with the boys in BR and see what they do for a Thanksgiving Day convergence. Turned out one was not planned. However, with some diligence and support (credit F3 Baton Rouge and Worms in particular) we were able to get one together using the LUS Parade Ground as the AO. And what an AO it is!

    So without knowing who might show up (though Worms felt at least four others would show) YHC made the trek over and found a shovel flag and waiting participants. The three became four, then five, then six! A hearty mix of men on a brutally cold (45 degree) Baton Rouge morning! Everything else went something like this:

    Mosey to the center of the field for COP

    SSH X 20

    2 burpees OYO

    Some arm and leg stretches

    IW X20

    4 burpees OYO

    Copperhead squats X 20

    6 burpees OYO

    LBCs X 20

    8 burpees OYO

    Mtn Climbers X 20

    10 burpees OYO.

    Now for a little Carolina culture, YHC NOT being a UNC or Dean Smith fan, we decided on some four corners.

    Mosey to the first corner

    10 hand release merkins

    Mosey to the 2nd corner:

    10 WWI situps

    Mosey to the third corner:

    10 Carolina Dry Docks

    Mosey to the fourth Corner:

    10 LBCs

    Assemble at center of the grounds and mosey over to the law building for 11s.

    Bottom of the Steps: Jump Squats

    Top of the Steps: Merkins

    Mosey over to the Union

    Step ups, Dips, Dirkins X 10, 15, 20

    Mosey back to center of the grounds

    Tesla Special!

    Bear Crawl slalom, 2X

    Agility run, 2X

    A crowd favorite!

    Coming back:

    10 burpee Broad jumps

    10 frog hops

    Do this to mid field

    Crabwalk to the end.

    Mosey back to the flag for some short Mary and a pledge.

    Done!

    Naked Man Moleskin:

    Awesome day with the guys down here. Great 2nd f afterwards. F3 is in great hands here and we are going to help them push this on up and out! Baton Rouge can be a great F3 city with all the AOs and willing participants to draw from. Nobody wore a spacesuit BTW! Not THAT cold!

    Glad we were able to put this together. Worms gets the credit. Now we have a tradition unlike any other down here! Next year let’s have a real turkey leg to chew on. I’m thinking 20-30 pax next year at least at the 2nd annual.

    Tesla Out!

  • Chumbawamba!

    Chumbawamba!

    The Scene:  The Knoll

    Conditions: Sunny. Humid. Watery grass.

    Welcome

    Disclaimer

    Warm-a-Rama:

    Looked like a b-class soccer team as we jogged about 50 yards, and then jogged backwards to the flag.

    Butt kicks about 20 yards out and then high knees back to the flag.

    Shuffle facing the road about 20 yards and then shuffle back.

    Brought us to the real warm-a-rama.

    Q asked the pax if they loved 90’s music. Chumbawamba was mentioned (t-claps to Shangeaux for supporting this).

    Proceded to play Chumbawamba’s only hit, Tubthumping. Performed SSH the entirety of the song and everytime the song said “I get knocked down, but I get up again…” the group did a burpee. It started with fun smiles and ended with everyone hating the repetitiveness of this hit.

    —

    The Thang:

    Indian run to the football field.

    Wide football sprints in place (think remember the titans but without the up-downs. We did not get blood on our uniforms).

    Lined up under the field goal. Sprinted to the other field goal post. 15 second break. Did this 4x overall for a real punch to the gut.

    Lined up three cones five yards apart for shuttle runs. Line up at middle cone, sprint to one cone and touch the line, run to the farthest cone and then back to the 2nd cone. Pax planked while everyone went through this d-lineman drill.

    Took three cones and made a ‘L’ shape, 5 yards apart. Start at one cone, run around the middle cone and make a hard u-turn around farthest cone, and then sprint back to original cone. Pax did six inches for six while everyone did this drill.

    —

    Made a baseball diamond with the cones. Pax divided into four teams of three. Each team starts at its own base. Teams completed a cumulative number of reps of different exercise at each base:

    100 team merkins at first, 100 team crab cakes at second, 100 team lunges at 3rd, 100 team squats at home, and then sprinted to each next base. Each time a team passed a station, it got a point. Did this for a 15-minute period.

    A solid competition ended with 2 teams having 13 points, one with 12, and one with 11. A masterful effort.

    As reward, the 13-point teams ran to midfield and back, the 12-point team 75 yards and back and the last team ran to other field goal post and back.

    Mosey’d back to the flag!

    Mary:

    Crunchy Frogs x20 in honor of Snackpack being back!

    Count-o-Rama

    Name-o-Rama

    COT / BOM:

    Great to see Snackpack and Trooper!

    Announcements:

  • Gettysburg

    Bill, it was hard but I did find a pic from this morning.

    By: MegaDad

    The Scene:  The  Colosseum

    Conditions:  perfect. Moonlight and light fog

    Pax: 10!

    Me

    Cat 5

    Workhorse

    Tapanga

    Fastball

    Big easy

    Duracell

    Shangeaux

    Dagwood 

    MegaDad

    It was another random fluke that I was able to post on Wednesday. Maybe divine intervention, as worms reached out to me through email yesterday and that reminded me that I was working from home and could sneak away for 1hr

    I volunteered to lead, to get back in the swing of things.

    It was not planned, so I’m going to do a haphazard attempt to document what we did

    Mosey under the bridge and over to the foggy field. Tapanga pointed out that we had entered the Gettysburg scene of remember the titans. We stopped at ~3 park benches for various Merkin rotations, jump squats, SS hops,  pistol squats, etc

    We turned around next to the bayou behind Pennington. After enjoying the moonlight remove seat all the way back doing some front, sideways, backwards,  karaoke right and left, and repeat all of those while squatting.   Finished with a slow sprint to the bridge, running back to meet the six if you were fast enough. Few were by this point.   Actually, it’s probably because shangeaux and work horse are the fastest 6’s of ever seen

    We did lunges to the top of the hill then mosey to the circle in the back corner behind baseball fields. Duracell took my challenge to lead a long ring of fire. I wasn’t sure if he was ever going to stop, so I killed it finally.

    Mosey back to home point and finished with some Mary’s. Leg toss on the bench, then again at 45°.  Cat5  was, by far, the best counter.  Although, easier to count when your legs are swinging around.  Next was crunchy frogs on the table top and then CAT5 finished with a bang. I shout out to rocket. Jane Fonda on the table top. I’m sure someone  got a picture,  look for it on the onion or  Jimmy Fallon.

    Best of all, all the conversation between men. I’ve never seen that much during the work out. It was still tough, but these men are getting tougher

     

  • Morning Miracle at the Colosseum

    The Scene: The Colosseum

    Conditions: Balmy.  Rainy.  Ample Puddles…..  Just Right.

    Welcome & Disclaimer:  The Q is neither bonded nor insured.  But no FNGs today, so we all knew the drill.

    Warm-a-Rama:

    Mosey twice around the parking lot  (a chance to chat and see how everyone is doing)

    Shoulder circles (lest our shoulders should atrophy)  x30 each direction

    Frankensteins (to stretch out those hamstrings)  x20

    Imperial Squat Walkers (using the big muscles to get the blood flowing)  x15, 4-count

    Windmills (hammies again, and backs)  x10

    SSH (cuz we like ’em)  x20

    The Thang:

    Partner Pullup Nasties: 5 pullups each, with help from partner as necessary; then mosey to the parking bars for 10 freak nasties; then mosey back. 3 sets.  (working on those arms)  Great teamwork!

    Gladiator Mosey:  1.5 laps around our beloved Colosseum, ending at the steps by the Gym.  A longer mosey than we’re used to – definitely saw some perseverance here – really nice work.  As usual, MegaDad sets a high bar and got to plank for the Six longer than the rest of us.  And I had a chance to chat it up with Big Easy whom I hadn’t met before.

    Baby Freak Nasties on the steps.  x10.

    Partner Windmill Pushups:  one partner on top of stairs; the other at bottom.  5 windmill pushups (4 count), then change places.  3 sets.  A bit of grunting and swearing.

    Catch Me If You Can:  Mosey back to the Shovel flag, with the last man sprinting (um, sometimes) to the front.  Lots of mutual encouragement on this part.

    Freak Nasties x10 on the parking bars to wrap it up.

    6MOM  (listen for the midwife noises)

    Since we were already soaked from the rain, no one minded getting just a bit wetter on their sixes….

    Homer to Marge (one of my favorites)  x10

    Reverse Crunches  x10

    Bicycles x10

    Jane Fondas x20 each side   (amid a few tears for Rocket, who was strangely absent)

    Then we were supposed to do some Manatee, but my notes were too wet to read by this time.  So I’ll save it for another day.  And Workhorse saved us by suggesting

    American Hammers, to close it out with a bang… banging our knuckles on the ground on each side.

    Count-O-Rama:  8 men.  A strong Wednesday.

    COT:  A strong closing in prayer by MegaDad.

    Oh, and the title of this post?  The MIRACLE of seeing MegaDad at 5:30am on a Wednesday!  Nice job making it out there, despite a late night of fellowship with the extended family.

     

  • Daylight Savings at The Knoll

    Knowing that we were about to lose an hour during the coming evening, we wasted no time getting started!

    The Scene:  The Knoll

    Conditions:  Chilly, a bit wet but no rain… we thought.

    Welcome. Saw no FNGs so we skipped the Disclaimer.  (Noted that since my last Q when I was not a professional trainer, I’m still not a professional trainer.)

    Warm-O-Rama:

    Mosey – Two laps around the Field – one forward, one back.  A bit of competitive spirit kicked in, with relish.  Then for some breath-catching and stretching exercises:

    Shoulder Circles.

    Imperial Walkers.

    SSH.

    Windmills.

    SSH.

    Al Gores.

    SSH.

    The Thang:

    Mosey to The Sundial, our faithful companion, for some upper-body work.

    Freak Nasties, putting “diamonds of gold” (a Tony Horton term) on our upper arms.

    Incline Merkins, to sharpen the edges of our pecs.

    Step Ups, to vary from upper body and give us the Buns of Steel that drive our wives crazy.

    And then some Partner Plank Curls, for biceps (which are hard to hit in F3) – where one guy planks and the other does standing bicep curls with his partner’s ankles.  We definitely learned a bit about ourselves on this one… and not necessarily for the better.  (10 curls each man, except for YHC who had no partner in this odd-numbered PAX)

    Then a second round of the above to make sure we all hit our Personal Best.

    Finally some La La Leggy to hit the buns again.  A 10-count of squats and lunges and calf raises.  (Yeah, your buns needed it, and you know who I’m talking to.)

    Mosey to The Hill, our Other faithful friend.  (Not the first hill, but across the creek to the second hill.  That’s where the action is.)

    Partner Run & Windmill Merkins.  One partner runs up the hill and back while the other does windmill merkins (just google it if you don’t believe me).  Got to 50 merkins per team, which brought a lot of groans from the girls in the group (And I’m talking about Tiger Bait, whose noisy complaining must spur him on because he finished first.)

    So we cooled down with more Shoulder Circles, before one more trek up the hill:  Bear Crawl Up, Crab Walk Down.  Dagwood made a fine showing until his log roll to the finish line.  But he also finished near the front of the pack.

    Then Black Snake back to the Shovel Flag – mosey in single file, with the last man weaving his way to the front until everyone has woven once.  This one seemed to raise everyone’s enthusiasm a bit, or maybe it was just knowing that we were almost done…..

    6MOM:

    LBFC:  LBCs while doing Flutter Kicks.

    Jane Fondas (in honor of Rocket who could not be with us.  I don’t know what he thinks of Jane’s politics, but he sure likes her leg exercises)

    American Hammer, to fist-pound our way to the finish.

    Homer to Marge (leg lifts), which always makes us recall The Simpsons fondly, and which also got us facing upward just as a delicate, refreshing drizzle began.  Just God’s way of saying He’s proud of us.

    And one more set of Jane Fondas, to close out with a second tribute to Rocket.

    COT/BOM.

    Then to the coffeeteria for some Friendship building, hoping the barista wouldn’t comment on the way we smelled.

    Now don’t forget to set your clocks forward tonight!

  • Legs, Core, Stretch at the Colosseum

    Warm a Rama

    Annie x20

    Capri Lap

    Toy Soldier x20

    High Knees x15

    Butt Kicks x15

    Trunk Twist w/extension  x20

    Arm Circle  F/B   x15

    Single Arm  Arm Circle R/L x15

    The Thang

    Mosey to Stairs

    Al Gore x15

    Plank w/Leg Lifts   x15

    Forward Lunge R/L  x15

    Plank Shoulder Taps  x20

    Backward Lunge R/L x15

    Plank to Elbow x15

    Squat Hold   1 min

    Incline Merkin on stairs   x20

    LB Freak Nasty on stairs  x15

    Elbow Plank   R/L   1 Mom each

    Mosey to Playground

    In Teams   Pull Ups Merkins Leg Step Ups (10 each)

    Mary

    LBC x15

    Leg Lifts x15

    Toe Touch x15

    Jane Fonda R/L  x15

    Plank Hold   Count to 30

    Stretch

    Child Pose

    Back Extension or Pickle Planters

    Count o Rama 

    COT