Tag: El Diablo

  • The Center of Attention – from Hawgcycle

    Conditions: Cloudy, 55 degrees, Humidity 81%, Wind 0.2 mph from the East

    Pax: The Bogé, Crypto-tron, The Champ, Pebbles, Lane Kiffin Fan Boy, Clayton Money, The Real Triple Shift, Extrinsic Muscles, The Black MABA, War Daddy, and YHC

    Mosey to the football field where YHC took his rightful place as the Center of Attention

    Warm-Up
    • SSH x 31, IW x 20, Don Quixote x 10
    • 20 Burpees OYO
    • Peter Parker x 15, Parker Peter x 20, Good Mornings x 10
    • 12 Burpees EMOM x 5
    • Forward Alternating Lunges x 10
    • 10 Burpees OYO
    • Backerds Alternating Lunges x 10…repeat with better form
    • 10 Burpees OYO

    The Thang
    • Jack Webb – Merkins:Air Presses, 1:2 -> 10:20
    • Right leg balancing (Tree Pose -> Table -> Morestead)
    • 10! (Merkins -> Lunges -> Big Bois)
    • Left leg balancing (Tree Pose -> Table -> Morestead)
    • Jack Webb – Squats:Bonnie Blairs, 1:2 -> 7:14
    • Hamstring Stretch

    Mary
    • LBC x 31, Left Crunch x 20, Right Crunc x 20, Dying Cockroach x 20, American Hammer x 10

    NMM
    I was a shy, introverted, simple, barefooted Arkansan a week ago. But after all of the media coverage, podcast shout outs, Instagram likes and Twitter retweets I have become quite accustomed to being the Center of Attention. I had everyone circle up (on me Belloq, in case you are wondering) for the warm-up and it felt so good that I stayed there the rest of the workout. It just felt natural to give the people what they want. I’m currently scheduled to be on the Roundtable Podcast this month. I’m fairly certain that this will spin-off into a weekly F3 podcast where I can wax poetic about the joy of running in flip flops, give my different product reviews for flip flops – feelgoodz vs. Locals, vs. that Reef flip flop with the built in bottle cap opener – The best place to take a leak in Pontiff Playground at 11:30 pm, etc….I have content for years.

    I’m also working with Scantron to create some NFTs to commemorate my flip flop 10Ks. Look for those to be dropping any day. You will be able to get a seat at the virtual auction table by writing a $100 check to my friend Cash. Small price to pay for a chance to buy image of me running in a pair of flip flops across your computer screen all day.

    There were some other things going on with the other guys at El Diablo, but honestly, I can’t remember what they were.

  • Il Giro d’Italia – from Rudy

    YHC started taking Italian classes over the last year, with the hopes and expectations of being able to speak the language on a yet-to-be-scheduled trip to Italy. The year started strongly, leading to a promise made to El Guapo that YHC would lead a Q in Italian by the end of the year.

    Then YHC fell off the wagon. But the promise remained. And running out of time, YHC finally bit the bullet and decided to give this a whirl. So 9 PAX joined YHC for a journey through l’Italia on this gloomy, wet morning. Welcome Boucher from Macon, GA! And good to see Special K back in the gloom!

    E cinque e mezzo. C’é F3 e mi chiamo Rudy. No sono un formatore professionista. Sei responsibile della tua sicurezza. Spingerti, ma non farti del male. Andiamo in campo!

    Warmup:

    SSH, Abe Vigoda, Pietro Parker, Parker Pietro. Posizione di portenza, Mossa! In Cadenza, Esercizio! Uno, Due, Tre….

    At this point, PAX count dropped by 1 as Magcyver sprinted off to “take care of some business”

    The Thang: A tour of Italy

    The fortress cities of the Tuscan Region. Lets tear down the walls (of Jericho). 7 8-count-body builders, and a lap around half the field. Repeat 7 times.

    The northern Alps. At the front of the gym, lets climb the mountains (aka “stairs”). Bear crawl up, 5 merks. OK, that one is easy. Lets get harder… Repeat with Crawl bear, Crab walk, and Walk crab. Then repeat going back down the ladder.

    On to Pompeii (the Gazebo), in the shadows of Mount Vesuvius (the giant hill…). Here, the PAX recreated the everyday activities that the people of Pompeii were engaged in when the volcano erupted. We “put the dishes in the cabinet” (aka, Right Leg Stepups). Then put some dishes in the Left cabinet. Then we went and sat down for a bit in our Peoples recliner chair.

    On to the ruins of Roma (the Rock Pile). Grab a rock for some “Eternal City” exercise sets. Rows, Curls, Situps. In silence. Just start going. YHC has a count in his head, and announces when we have hit the end. But until then – just keep on lifting.

    Finally, a quick visit to the rocky mountainous island of Sicily (i.e., the railroad tracks) for some balance and walking as we stare into the lights of the approaching train.

    Then back to the flag for a COT (welcome back Macgyver!). Prayers of thanksgiving and for health of ill PAX. Thank you all for pushing me to meet a commitment. May 2022 bring me a better grasp of the Italian Language!

  • The 12 Days of FITmas (El Diablo edition) – from Bolt

    With a couple PAX keying off my self-promoting post offering the Bolt 3M guarantee, 7 PAX joined YHC in the gloom for a peek at what’s in my sack, like good little boys anxious for their gifts! Upon the disclaimer we moseyed to the goal line where we circled up for the warmup. At some point during the warmup War Eagle and Rougarou snuck in as if I didn’t see them—COAL for you; those who are late do not get fruit cup!

    Warmup IC: SSH (25), Abe SLOWgodas(10), arm circles forward/back, tclaps, MNC (all 20x), self love (15); Toy soldiers, Hillbillies (20x), Grumbling from Rudy about the length of warmup (hey, Rapper’s Delight is 7+ minutes—my Q, bro!)

    YHC explained each day of Fitmas would be performed alternating between the 50 and goal line via mosey (Day 1) and each day represented a different exercise and the corresponding number of reps matching the day of Fitmas, followed by each previous days’ exercises/reps. As PAX completed their mosey to the 50/goal line to await the six they were treated to milk and cookies, if milk and cookies were, in fact, SSH which allowed all PAX to open the next day’s gift from their Q together.

    Day 1: Mosey
    Day 2: Diamond merkins
    Day3: Shoulder Taps (2:1)
    Day 4: Reverse Lunges (2:1)
    Day 5: Burpees
    Day 6: Squats
    Day 7: Merkins
    Day 8: Big Boy sit-ups
    Day 9: Flutter Kicks
    Day 10: LBCs
    Day 11: Plank Jacks
    Day 12: Mtn. Climbers (2:1)

    Mosey to the bleachers and celebrate the eight crazy nights of Hanukkah with what else? Up and down a Merkin ladder of course, rungs one through eight adding a rep on the way up and decreasing a rep on the way down.

    Mosey to flag and circle up for Mary: 20 LBCs, 25 dying cockroaches, 30 penguins, 35 LBT. Don’t think I didn’t notice some unnamed PAX NOT performing reps at various points and Bogey even gave me a little side eye that I could only interpret as, “You gotta be Fitmas-ing kidding me!?” as he took a breather—or four…

    COT; honored to lead this group of fine men and thankful for each of you for pushing me—forward is the direction we go!

  • The Wood – from Rev Sox

    After YHC’s run on Tuesday, he was exhausted. He comforted himself with the knowledge that tomorrow was Wednesday, and he could take the morning off, sleep in a few minutes, and do some reading.

    At 12:06pm on Tuesday, YHC received a text
    Hawg: Reminder that you have the Q at El Diablo tomorrow.
    YHC Response: Oh I forgot.
    Hawg: You are good? You can do it?
    YHC Response: None sent

    YHC awoke at 4:50am this morning with zero desire to run around Pontiff park and lift rocks. YHC wanted to sleep. YHC wanted to sleep and read. Thanks to Hawg and his stupid texts, he got out of bed, dressed for F3, walked out into the rain, and drove to Pontiff Park.
    YHC prayed a simple prayer on his drive to Pontiff. “Please Lord keep everyone home, so YHC doesn’t need to Q this morning. Encourage my brothers to rest or at least go to other AOs today.” In the Lord’s goodness, He did not give YHC the answer he sought. 7 Pax join YHC this morning.

    Following the most encouraging disclaimer in F3 NOLA history, “I don’t want to be here. I am not looking forward to this, and I made no plans for this workout. This is obviously not a professional workout. Don’t hurt yourself.” The Pax was off to mosey to the rock pile.

    The Warm-Up
    SSH – 27
    Imperial Walkers – 20
    Shoulder taps – 20
    Annies – 20
    Hillbillies – 20

    At this point Mahatma mentioned that he brought the wood, so YHC made an audible and decided to do something from different from his initial workout plans of nothing. Pax! Mosey to Mahatma’s truck.
    Sadly there were only six wood pieces in the back of Mahatma’s truck, so with eight Pax in total, YHC went the Dora route to make use of the wood.

    Dora on the Football Field
    Pair off for 100 rows, 200 curls, 300 chest press all with the wood. The partner runs forward to mid-field and backwards on the return trip to his partner while the partner knocks out the exercises.

    Route 66 but Not Really
    Drop the wood off at the flag, mosey to the rock pile, grab a rock, and go to the field lined with trees.
    10 trees are our markers. One shoulder press with rock at tree one. Two shoulder presses at tree two… Between the trees do one genuflect after the shoulder presses and then lunge walk to the next tree. Final set with 10 shoulder presses, so not a true Route 66.
    Return your rocks

    Mary
    Flutter kicks – 20
    Wife pleasers – 20
    Hello Dolly – 15
    Penguins – 15
    Mosey Back to the Flag

    The Closing
    Count-Off, Announcements, Intentions, Prayer in a Sweaty Ball of Man
    Thank you men for allowing YHC the privilege to lead. He didn’t want to be there, but as always, the men of F3 make YHC a better man, and he can only hope to do the same for all of you.
    And Rudy said my book is the 2nd best book he has ever read after the Bible.
    – Rev Sox

  • Bringing the Wood (-en toothpick) – from Rudy

    El Diablo Bringing the Wood. Thanks to Thumb War for inspiring Hawg to start a new tradition! The El Diablo bat was to make its first appearance this fine morning. From here on out – 30 El Diablo workouts, including 5 Qs, will get your name etched on this fine bat.

    The PAX were all anxious to see The Wood. The anticipation. The anxiety. The desire to be like Reggie Bush, bringing That Wood to El Diablo. YHC had the Q, so Hawg who was allegedly travelling delivered the wood the night before.

    YHC took one look at the Wood, and suspected there would be problems. And as the PAX gathered in the gloom, YHC was right. “Where’s the Bat?” asked Scantron. “Wait, is that it?” sez Bogey. “That looks like a Toothpick” mocked Bolt. And on and on it went. YHC had to deflect criticism, happily throwing Hawg under the bus – “Hey, don’t hate the messenger.”

    But anyway, this is our Wood (or Wood-let, or Wooden Toothpick). Whatever, lets get started.

    Quick Warmup, then all the PAX grab one of the presents that YHC had delivered to the football field. A Log, a Bag o’ Rocks, A workout rope, dumbbells (not the War Eagle kind), medicine ball, etc.. All in, some 10 toys were available. But alas – there were 16 of us (counting the late arriving Triple Shift). So make do with some other exercises (burpees – what else would FracSac pick, 8 counts, etc…). One good addition – balancing on a basketball for derkins. Challenge both the upper body and core to stay on that ball.

    The Thang: one PAX (“it”) runs a lap with the bat above their head. (shortly modified to half a lap in the interest of time). Everyone else is doing their exercise with their thing. Then we rotate. Everyone got a chance with all of the toys, and everyone got to run once with the glorious bat. FastTax had an interesting take on “Thruster” that looked strangely like a “Squat”.

    Still had time for a Brian Kelly inspired game of “Turncoats and Traitors”. Groups of 3 – one PAX sprint backwards across the football field. The other two start with 2 burpees (later 1 burpee, later 1 8 ct) then sprint to catch the traitor. If they caught him, the traitor did burpees. Otherwise, the chasers did burpees. Or maybe everyone did burpees. Depends on how YHC felt at the moment. So everyone got to be a traitor and get chased down. Good times. Enjoy your coach, LSU.

    COT – 16 PAX welcomed the bat. Great seeing everyone in the glom, and welcome to Downhiller from Birmingham. Thanks for letting me try some new things – look forward to June 22nd, 2022 (the 30th El Diablo workout from now) to see who may be first to get their name on the bat.

  • Twas an Epic Battle – from Fast Tax

    ‘Twas an Epic Battle
    The morning dawned bright and clear at El Diablo as 10 PAX made their way to the flag, having made the wise choice to avoid the pot-hole ridden millennial Frisbee game Uptown. You could feel the wonder and anticipation permeating in the crisp November air as questions swirled in the minds of the PAX present; what did Fast Tax have in store for us? Would there be chocolate as promised? Did I leave the iron on?

    After a quick disclaimer, we moseyed to our usual warm-up area by the rocks accompanied by Fracsac’s and Bogie’s moaning about it being a sprint instead of a mosey.
    Just for Hokie, YHC modified his regimented game plan to begin with Hillbillies, for a reason that I can no longer remember…something to do with some team winning something…

    Remaining warmups consisted of:
    o Arm Circles (fwd and bwd)
    o Seal Claps
    o Skydiving Australian Snow Angels

    Right as warmups completed, we were joined by Stripes, (Fast Tax 2.0) having returned from deployment.

    Unwilling to jump right into the main event, YHC selected the Ascending Testicles to kick things off: 10 Merkins OYO at 15 degrees (hold for PAX), 10 Merkins at 45 degrees, and hold at 90 degrees (aka balls to the wall).

    The next exercise, the Bruce Lee, would test the bounds of the concentration or understanding of many of the PAX (apparently), since the difficulty evident in following directions was paramount.

    The Bruce Lee was supposed to consist of 3 sets of 15 reps of each the following: Hammer, Leg Lifts, Dying Cockroach, LBCs, Heel Touch, and Crunchy Frog, with a 30 sec rest b/t sets.

    However, with time and comprehension both limited, YHC wisely decided to push on to the next event, the Flip-Flop.

    The Flip-Flop is a 2-PAX team exercise that begins on a starting line with PAX 1 flipping a pallet end over end to a designated finish line while PAX 2 lunges to the same line holding a 35-40lb rock. PAX switch at the line and race back. Admittedly, YHC could have engineered more creative uses for the pallets (thanks to Hokie for the pallet loaner) but, I didn’t want to take too much time away from the main event.

    After returning rocks and pallets, we moseyed to the field for the big reveal…BATTLE FRISBURPEE.

    To the wonder and delight of those in attendance, YHC explained the concept and the rules.

    Battle Frisburpee – The Concept:
    A blend of ultimate Frisbee and dodgeball, with an emphasis on individual burpee punishment, played running the width of a football field as the length and the 5 and 20 yard lines as the left and right boundaries. Each sides goal began 5 yards in from the corresponding end. This equates to a field 160 yds from end to end, including a 5 yd end zone on each side, and a width of 15 yards (or more if more than 10 players).

    Battle Frisburpee – The Rules:
    To score, a PAX must catch the Frisbee in the opposing team’s end zone (duh).
    When a team scores, the entire opposing team must do 4 burpees.
    If the Frisbee is dropped, i.e. thrown but not caught, the last person it touches (usually the one throwing it or the one who muffed the catch) must immediately drop and do 4 burpees. The Frisbee is still “live” and is treated as a fumble, any nearby PAX from either team can pick it up and resume play.

    If the Frisbee goes out of bounds, the last person it touches (usually the one throwing it or whoever it hits on the way out) must immediately drop and do 4 burpees. The Frisbee is “dead” and is treated like a soccer ball that went out of bounds, i.e. the opposing team now stands at the spot it went out and immediately resumes play (without waiting for burpees to be completed).

    If either of the player’s feet or any part of the Frisbee itself crosses the boundary, it is deemed out of bounds (clarification provided for Frac’s sake).
    Each team must appoint a “Baller” to act as a goalie of sorts. The Baller stays in the end zone and can throw the dodgeball at any approaching opposing team member, whether they are holding a Frisbee or not. A player hit with the ball, must immediately drop the Frisbee, if carrying one, and do 4 burpees. The Frisbee is still “live” and can be picked up by anyone else.

    The Baller is the only one who can throw the ball at an opposing player and the Baller must throw only from the end zone.
    The player is only “hit” if the ball doesn’t touch the ground first.

    With that out of the way YHC will finish the tale…
    Team 1: Fast Tax, Stripes, Bolt, Shooter, and Triple Shift
    Team 2: Boo-Boo, Hokie, Bogie, Frac Sac, Hawg, and Rudy

    The battle was close and hard fought…not really. It was close for the first 2 points, then admittedly, Team 2 pulled ahead, clearly due to their height advantage over Team 1. After several close calls and numerous burpees, Team 2 walked away with bragging rights, with a final score of 4-1.

    With game over we headed to COT for name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, and prayer.
    Followed by Coffeteria at PJs.

    Thanks for the fellowship!
    SYITG

  • Look Mom! I’m 4! – from Rev Sox

    Everyone is born once. Many have been born twice. A select few have been born thrice. Today YHC celebrates the 4th anniversary of my third birth.
    On January 27, 1983 on a cold, wintry morning in Binghamton, NY, Shawn Willson was born to David and Becky Willson at Wilson General Hospital.
    At some point in the late 80s, YHC has no clue to the precise date, he had his second and most important birth. YHC believed and trusted in Jesus to save him and give him His life. At that moment, YHC was born again through the power and saving work of Jesus to now live with eternal life.
    On Veterans Day weekend in 2017, Hawgcycle and Channel Mullet heaped unending piles of guilt on YHC’s two scrawny shoulders and convinced YHC to join them for his first F3 workout. The following morning through sweat, tears, and much complaint, YHC was born a third time as Rev Sox. Hater of Red Sox and hater of step ups. The Pax celebrates that day, today.
    Circle Up for the Warm Up
    No mosey to the Rock Pile or some dark corner of Pontiff Park, the Pax starts this one hot with the warm-up right at the flag.
    SSH – 20
    Hillbillies (in honor of the hillbilly standing next to YHC who introduced him to this stupid group) – 20
    Smurfjacks – 20
    Low Slow Squat – 12
    Bat wings (don’t put your arms down until we’re done) – 10 forward arm circles, 10 reverse, 10 seal claps, 10 overhead claps, 10 Moroccan night clubs
    The Thang
    Mosey to the first pavilion, it’s occupied, mosey to the second pavilion to commence the memory of YHC’s first F3 – this means step ups
    Dips – 15
    Right leg step ups – 15
    Dips – 15
    Left leg step ups – 15
    Mosey to the bleachers
    Tooth fairy
    Seven merkins on the first bench of the bleachers, six on the second bench, and so on until you hit one at the top
    Alternating step ups – 20
    Mosey to the playground
    Alternating step ups – 20
    Mosey to the Rock Pile and Grab a Rock
    In Cadence, 6 curls and 1 shoulder press, 5 curls and 1 shoulder press, 4 and 1, 3 and 1, 2 and 1, 1 and 1
    Now with 6 shoulder press and 1 triceps extension
    Now with 6 chest press and 1 big boy sit up
    Now with 6 squats and 1 curl
    Return your rock and Mosey to the football field. At this point, Mop began to trash talk that he was feeling perfect and maybe the Q needed to step things up and make it more difficult. That kid is such a punk. Who lets a 9-year-old come to F3 anyway?
    Circle Up for Some Climate Change
    In honor of COP26, F3 NOLA did our part this morning by hugging our imaginary trees and putting our faces in the grass in remorse over all the noxious gases that have been released into the atmosphere during F3 workouts. The Pax held Al Gore while the first Pax went down and did 6 merkins, the second began his after 3 were completed. Two rounds around the circle.
    The Celebrating Fun
    It’s not a Rev birthday without Ultimate Frisbee and some guys running around without a shirt on in the cold so Boo Boo and War Eagle can complain about it on end for the next couple of years.
    The Pax split up in two teams – shirts and skins. The shirts won because they are a bunch of jerks who don’t let the Q win on his birthday celebration. Thankfully, since there were no Lakeview players present, cheating was at a minimum with everyone hitting the ground for their merkins after every turnover. Final score: shirts 5, skins 4.
    The End
    Short mosey back to the flag as the Pax counts off, name-o-rama, announcements, and prayer. Thank you all from the depths of my heart for what you have each meant to me over the past 4 years. Your presence is everything. Working out alone is the worst. May F3 endure from now until the end of Christ’s rule on earth. I hope to do F3 into eternity.