F3 New Orleans

Tag: Grandmothers House

  • We all need a substitute from time to time!

    With the Ragnar approaching and the ever friendly Waterpik willing to substitute the YHCs future Thursday Q, it only felt proper to fill an empty Q list on short notice.. YHC arose to a surprise text from a once regular posting Backdraft stating he was on the way.. He deserves many T 👏🏻👏🏻 for the commitment it takes to rise much earlier and embrace a 30 min commute to the AO for a beatdown with his F3 brethren who was part of the EH some 2 years ago at the Mothership. Now with all that said let’s get to it!!

    Warmup

    15 IC Windmills, 15 IC Toe Touches, 10 IC Good Mornings, 10 IC Smurf jacks, 15 IC Butt kicks and finished with Donkey kickoffs IC 5 count with 3 separate 5, 10 and 15 second holds in between. Q has found a new one he likes and intends to improve on moving forward..

    Thang

    Moseyed to the tunnel for BLIMPS. Completed series on the Southside then journeyed to the Northside for a R/R. Next up two men did LBCs while the lone amigo moseyed down to the flat and sprinted across then reversed backpedaling up the other with a flapjack back. Each man completed and then we did flutter kicks while each man cycled through a long suicide down and back up… Moseyed back to the Trailhead for the Stairway to 7 and finished up with 3 min of Mary consisting of Chillcut blank for a min hold, into Rosalitas 10IC, Hello Dollies 10IC and Abe Vigodas 10IC..

    Count, announce, COT

    YHC led us out with gratitude to the Sky Q!!

    Appreciate the opportunity to lead and see you guys at the next Gloom 👍🏻👊🏻✌🏻!!!

  • Tomorrow Never Knows

    After a lousy night of sleep, YHC was not particularly excited to get up and Q Granny’s House. But you never know what surprises might await and, as often happens, this gloom brought a big surprise with the welcome return of Ringo. Back in town for a few days before the madness of Spring Break begins, the PAX was surprised to see that Ringo has lost a bunch of weight while not posting to F3 beatdowns and… while running a pancake eatery??? The mysteries of the world are endless, people.

    The surprise return of a slimmed-down Ringo did nothing to diminish the return of Captain Sparkles, though, as his post today marks the start of an intense (albeit, abbreviated) training for the Ragnar in two weeks. If you doubt this man’s methods, look no further than last fall’s half marathon, or even the grow ruck back in ’17. If anyone can prepare this quickly, it would be Cap.

    Warmorama: (all IC)

    SSH x10, Toe Touches x15, SSH x10, Windmills x15, SSH x10, IW’s x15, SSH x10, Copperhead Squats x15.

    The Thang: A quick mosey around the block to get Cap’s running legs back, and then down to business. First up, a set of stations in the amphitheater area of the trailhead:

    • Burpees x20 / Shoulder Taps x5 on the stage
    • Big Boy (Big Ass/Huge Ass, *copyright pending*) Sit-Ups x20 / Freddie Mercuries x5 (IC)
    • Irkins x20 / Derkins x5 on sitting platform
    • Jump Squats x20 / Monkey Humpers x5

    Rinse and repeat, but with each cycle the first exercise at each station goes down by 5, the second goes up by 5. After 4 rounds, we were done.

    Recovery walk over to the corridor for an Indian Bunny Hop: PAX planks in a line, first man bunny hops over and drops into plank at the end, next man up, and so on until we reached the end of what felt like a very long corridor.

    Next up, a set of sprints with a partner.  First two men would sprint 100% to the end and jog back, while PAX performed squats.  Next two up, and so on.  With Waterpik doing extra credit and all men giving it 110%, this was a bit of a blur and YHC can’t remember exactly how many rounds we did.  What I do remember is the Big Man – Shooter – burning me every single time, and Cap looking like Turtle back in his glory days. Nothing like sprints to get the PAX going!

    Finished with a little Mary: Flutter Kicks x30 IC, Hello Dolly’s x20 IC, Rosalitas x20 IC, and Nolan Ryan’s, each side x10 IC.

    COT, Ringo prayed us out, and we discussed the Northshore’s upcoming 3 year anniversary. Look out for an email soon! As always, thanks for the lead guys.

  • Throw Grandma something, would ya!!

    Grandmas house looking for some throws on this Mardi Gras Gloom. Q decided to throw some new trinkets on this day for the dedicated men who decided to post… With a cold 34 degrees and a north wind 💨 YHC arrived to a ghost town at the Trailhead. Not knowing if anyone would post, Qs hopes were quickly lifted as the sight of headlights started rolling in from all directions. PAX quickly swelled to 6 with the late arrival of one masked Bushwacker with only eyes and lips showing..

    Circled under the breezeway for the warmup, which consisted of some new exercises not demonstrated by any other PAX to the Qs knowledge. Started with the traditional SSH IC 20, Hillbillies IC 20, Imperial Stormkickers (could not get the cadence) OYO to around 15, Febreze (2:10,4:20,6:30,8:40,10:50) first number big boy sit-up followed by feet 6 inches off the ground with second number air presses, concluded with Donkey Kick-offs (Plank position with kicks to 5 on the pillars with a 5 sec hold, R/R 10 kicks 10 sec hold, 15 kicks 15 sec hold) plenty warm by this point..

    Thang

    PAX assembled on Girard street for Four corners Escalator. C-1 10 Burpees, Mosey C-2 10 Burpees 20 Merkins, Mosey C-3 10 Burpees 20 Merkins 30 Mountain Climbers, Mosey C-4 10 Burpees 20 Merkins 30 Mountain Climbers 40 Shoulder taps.. With the sounds of grunts and groans replacing what would surly be the rumbling of tubas and trumpets as if marching down St Charles, Q calls for (2) 10 counts by Steve and Bushwacker.. Having destroyed the upper half, we turned and de-escalated to grind out the bottom half. Moseyed. C-1 10 Jump Squats, Moseyed C-2 10 Jump Squats 20 Lunges, Moseyed C-3 10 Jump Squats 20 Lunges 30 Squats, Moseyed C-4 10 Jump Squats 20 Lunges 30 Squats 40 Sumo Squats.. With the PAX finishing faster then anticipated, YHC had to react with quick thoughts to finish this carnival ride. Q moseyed the PAX back to the breezeway for the close. Partnered up, P1 did core work while P2 sprinted half of the breezeway up the steps and around the tower flap jacking. Core consisted of Plank, Right arm high/Left arm high, Chillcut, Misson Impossible, LBCs, Hello Dollies and Rosalitas..

    Circled for count, announce, COT.

    Water Pic returning from a guest post in Tallahassee shared that the PAX recites the Pledge at their AOs. We installed the same at Grandmas House on this Gloom.

    Appreciate The HAMMER for praying out the PAX!!!

    All 6 PAX gathered at the Waffe House for some F2 and reminiscing about the 80s and 90s programming. Talks of “Revenge of the Nerds 2” some “SNL” chatter and how Eddie Murphy saves the day.. But one that clearly stood out to the Q, The HAMMER mentioned the radio station WTIX and how they use to play 50s and 60s, but a recent tune in revealed that “Jesse’s girl” is now considered an oldie.. Whoa!!!

    The PAX all allowed that to sink in for a moment, then we continued some great F2.

    Appreciate the recommendation Water Pic of some coffateria after our beatdown on this local holiday. YHC enjoys the time shared with positive men looking to become better physically but ultimately better internally as stated on a recent 43 feet podcast with Dredd…

    Thank you for the chance to lead and ✌🏻 till the next Gloom!!

  • The Grundy-mobile

    The PAX knew something was up when YHC walked up to the flag from the backside. When asked about the reason for the strange entrance, a simple “you’ll find out” would suffice.

    With the PAX aware of something looming, we began to warmup.

    • 30 Seal Jacks IC
    • 10 Forward Lunges IC
    • 10 Merkins OYO
    • Shoulder warmup series

    THE THANG

    Unaware of what the Q had in store, the PAX began moseying down the trace toward the tunnel of love with the men almost anticipating something to jump out at them. As we were approaching the final intersection of the trace before the tunnel of love, an object started to come into view… A shadowy object that was first identified by Coconuts… It was the Grundy-mobile!!!

    The Grundy-Mobile with my girlfriend Sandy

    It was only then that the PAX fully realized what I had in store. It was where the Q left his girlfriend Sandy… Don’t be rude guys, she’s a little self conscious because she put on at least 10 pounds since you saw her last. I don’t mind. It’s just more to love.

    After we picked her up, we finished our Mosey to the Tunnel for the main event.

    • Tunnel of Love in the Tunnel of Love. The PAX lined up in a plank and pulled Sandy up the ramp through the plank tunnel. When a PAX finished pulling her through they would get up and go to the front of the line. Rinse and repeat with the opposite arm.
    • Next the PAX did a core exercise while one PAX took Sandy and backpedalled the ramp and ran back. Rinsed and repeat until everyone had gone. Core exercises included: LBCs, flutter kicks, leg raises, hello dolly’s, plank, plank left, and plank right.

    After completing that we went back to the bus stop to finish up (dropping off Sandy at the Grundy-mobile on the way back).

    We finished with what Steve appropriately called crazy eights. It basically is 11’s but with 8 instead of 11. The only difference is the distance between the two points. Point A was the bus stop and point B was the top of the trailhead stairs under the American Flag. Bushwacker said he didn’t want to play anymore. I don’t blame him.

    The two exercises were freak nasties and sister mary katherines. We went until the time expired.

    Circled up at the flag where we went through the typical F3 closing ceremonies and Ringo closed us out.

    It was an honor to lead you gentlemen. Until next time.

    Grundy and Sandy

  • Silence of the lambs!!!

    With Q considering a day of rest from running, I awoke to a message from Waterpic. He mentioned that if I was running to Grandmothers house he would join in along the way. That is all the YHC needed was the simple EH from Pic to silence those negative thoughts and hit the pavement. Besides RRR is only one month and the miles count toward a great organization.. Appreciate the EH and the accountability Pic.. We arrive at the AO with no movement in sight, shortly after Garfield rolls in primed and ready to go as always as the Pelican and Ringo emerge as well. Knowing the forecast to be calling for Thunderstorms throughout the day, Q figured we would see a sighting of Bushwacker. He monitors the weather like a young “Bob Breck” knowing all the details and patterns of southeast Louisiana, besides I also believe he gets tremendous joy out of making ridiculous post in fridged temps, Thunderstorms, high heat index, etc.. With the mumble chatter building YHC rallies the PAX to begin.

    Warmup

    All IC 15 Windmills, Mummy kicks, Toe Touches and Air presses. IC (10) straight arm, 45 degrees and 90 degrees.. Not sure if my geometry is accurate on that, but we will go with it..

    Thang

    Lindsey’s aka forties from the F3 list would be our first at the bus stop.. Exercise consists of 2 chosen movements always equaling a total of 40 subtracting 5 from the top and adding 5 to the bottom. YHC chose Merkins and Freak nasties. First set 30 Merkins followed by 10 Freak nasties. Second 25 and 15, Third 20/20, Fourth 15 and 25 and final 10 and 30. Although it’s only a 100 total of each the combination seemed to quickly silence the PAX. So much so that as we began our Mosey to the tunnel there was no chatter for nearly half a mile, then Ringo mentioned as long as he was ahead of Wacker he was good. To appreciate that comment one would have had to be there, no PAX wanted to be behind Wacker as he had earlier demonstrated that his previous days meal would not allow for him to keep the Silence so to speak.. Arrived to the tunnel where the PAX was instructed of our next routine. Quarter Pounder (add onions) except for you Wacker.. Broke into 2 teams of 3. Team 1 sprinted 25 yards and completed 25 Merkins returning back pedaling while Team 2 did Al Gores (reversed sequence), Team 1 50 yard sprint and 50 squats back pedaled while Team 2 held plank (reverse), Team 1 75 yard sprint 75 plank Jacks back pedaled while Team 2 did alternating lunges (reverse) and finally Team 1 100 yard sprint with 100 SSH while Team 2 did LBCs (reverse).. Moseyed back to AO with Garfield reminiscing of a Mickey Rork show and mentioning other moments from In Living color with Shhh NayNay and Jim Carey. Both scenes related to Silence that sometimes is broken without saying a word.. Arrived at the AO for a min of Mary low Flutter, high Flutter and Hello dollies..

    Count off, announcements (mentioning about the Ragnar in April), COT

    Pelican took the honors of praying us out!!!

    Appreciate the post gentleman and the accountability!!

    Till the next Gloom 👊🏻👍🏻✌🏻!!

    • Rise When the Rooster Crows (or, Do Monkey Humpers when the Rooster Crows)

      Granny’s house is the only real wild card in the northshore schedule these days.  While other AO’s maintain a consistent crew, Granny’s House can fluctuate greatly.  And it’s kinda nice not knowing what you’ll get – sometimes it’s 8-10 pax, other times it’s 2.  For two weeks in a row, though, it’s been a packed house.  Maybe because of the special appearances by Captain Sparkles?  Who can say.  But it was nice to have a solid number of men in the gloom this morning, up early enough to hear the rooster crow.   Literally.  That’s right, we have a rooster at Granny’s House.  (Or, at least, in the general vicinity of Granny’s.) 

      Warmorama (under the safe confines of the covered corridor, while the rain petered off): Toe Touches x15 IC, 10 Merkins, SSH x15 IC, 8 Merkins, IW x15 IC, 6 Merkins, Copperhead Squats x15 IC, 4 Merkins, High Knees x15 IC, 2 Merkins, Butt Kicks x15 IC.

      The Thang:

      This beatdown was a bit of a medley – less rinse and repeat, more mosey from COP to COP.  Our first mosey was through the woods over to the Marigny intersection for a quick set of Peter Parkers, Alternating Should Taps, and Parker Peters, all 20x IC.  

      Then onward to the Lamarque intersection, where the Pax circled up to perform monkey humpers while each man got a turn at 5x jump squats.  A neighborhood dog caught sight of Wacker humping and, well, let’s just say it’s a good thing there was both a fence and the dog’s owner came out to restrain him.  Between that and the rooster, it was pretty clear that it was time to move on,  so we moseyed quickly over to the Marsh’s pull-up bars.

      First up, a set of 7’s : 6 hanging knees-to-chest to 1 Sister Mary Katherine.  Next up, 20 squat / pull-up combos OYO.

      Another mosey, this time back towards Granny’s, but with a quick stop on Girod to circle up for Al Gore, while each pax quickly performs 5x IW’s.

      Mosey onward, until we were safely back at the trailhead, where YHC confidently explained how to do Bear Crawl Merkins across the length of the corridor.  Incorrect explanation, but done with great confidence so no one questioned it until about halfway through, when someone realized the count should be an odd number to correctly alternate our staggered merkins.  Regardless though, the pax seemed to enjoy.

      Another mosey, this time to the bus stop benches for: 10x Jump Overs, Freak Nasties x10 IC, Knee Ups R Leg x10 IC, Freak Nasties x10 IC, Knee Ups L Leg x10 IC, Freak Nasties x10 IC.

      Back to the start for a blast from the past, an old favorite that YHC had nearly forgotten (thanks Bushwacker for mentioning groiners and triggering a light bulb moment): an 8-count exercise known as Absolution.  It involves groiners, Makhtar N’Diayes, and plank jacks, and it’s a pain in the ass to count off. But we managed to knock out 10 of those IC and then finally finished up with a muddy Mary of: flutter kicks, high flutters, LBCs, crunchy frogs, and Putins, all 20x IC.

      COT and Captain took us out with a special prayer for Dan Ziegler, who was seriously injured in the Metairie condo fire over the weekend.  Please send your thoughts and prayers to Dan and his family.  And thank you men for the opportunity to lead!

    • Getting Our Money’s Worth at Grandma’s House for Ringo’s Virgin Q.

      Upon arrival, most of the PAX aired grievances about how the Saints were robbed. This will probably be a topic of F3 discussions for many beatdowns to come.

      WarmaRama:

      Good Mornings, Windmills, Arm Circles, Imperial Walkers, Toe Touches.

      YHC kept getting a few of the warm up exercises mixed up, but thanks to the PAX for helping keeping everyone in line.

      Pax then moseyed to the tunnel.

      1st routine:  “4×4” – YHC called for 4 rounds. Group 1 did bear crawl down the slope of the tunnel, jogged the flat bottom part, then sprinted up, and repeated on the way back while group 2 did AMRAPs of 4x4s (Burpee to Plank, 4 Merkins, 4 Mountain Climbers).
      Doing 4 rounds proved to be good in theory, but just after the first round, YHC and Pax realized it had to be modified. It was taking too much time and losing our form, with many more fun and games planned. So, YHC called an audible after only Round 1 and Pax moseyed on to the next routine, but not without vowing to the 4×4 gods that we would be back. 

      Next we moseyed to the bus stop/benches and did 10 Box Jumps, 10 Merkins, 20 Step-ups, 10 Derkins, 20 Lunges, and 10 freak nasties. Pretty uneventful, but a good routine nonetheless.

      Next we moseyed over to the flea market area. 

      Next Routine: “Dora 1,2,3”- Pax coupled up and had a team goal of 100 merkins, 200 LBC’s, and 300 Squats. Pax alternated where 1 team member did sprints while other team member continued towards team goal. YHC and Pax lost count only a couple times.

      Finished just in time for Circle of Trust.

      One Pax mentioned that he “got his money’s worth” out of YHC’s VQ.  Although these workouts are Free, YHC chooses to believe it was a positive comment.

      Shooter prayed us out. 

      Special thanks to those who supported YHC today for my VQ and thanks to all of our F3 guys who inspire and keep each other motivated during each workout.

      ‘Til the next gloom…

    • Grandma’s Boys

      Another day in paradise at Grandma’s House.  The Tuesday beatdown that started it all here on the Northshore has had relatively low turnout lately, but the company couldn’t be better.  Grandmother-regulars Chewy and Shooter both posted and reminded YHC of the high quality of men F3 seems to attract.  We’re all works-in-progress, but these guys seem to be a bit ahead of the curve in terms of their attitude, priorities in life, and the standards they set for themselves and others.  Getting up early with guys like Shooter and Chewy is one of best things about F3. (Quick aside, YHC has not seen the movie that loosely inspired this post’s title and so can neither endorse nor dismiss it. We’ll need Choppa to come back from his extended leave and give us a full breakdown and analysis.)

      Alright, let’s get to it before Einstein cranks out his backblast and makes my tardiness even more apparent (couldn’t beat Pik though, that man is too quick!).

      Warmorama: Good Mornings, Abe Vigodas, Toe Touches, IW’s, SSH, Butt Kicks, all at or around 20x IC.

      The Thang:
      Zoolander’s challenge seems to have single-handedly resuscitated ISI and, since the 1st, we’ve all become a bunch of running fools.  So first thing up was a run to the tunnel and back, rounding the block to make it an even 2 miles.

      Next up (and last up), was a routine, running to the following stations:

      • Up to the top of the stairs for 10x merkins
      • Down and over to the benches for step ups with knee raises 10x (5 ea. leg)
      • Run the corridor to the end for Mountain Climbers 10x IC
      • Over and up to the stage for Plank Jacks 10x IC
      • Hop down and to the wooden platform for LBC’s 10x IC

      Then back to the start, add 2x to each exercise.  Again and again until time expired.

      COT and Chewy prayed us out.  Thanks guys for the steady inspiration – it’s always an honor to be in your ranks!

    • Happy New Year, F3 Brothers!

      Happy New Year, F3 Nation! 7 PAX posted in the Gloom ringing in the New Year at Grandmother’s House, not too long after the last fireworks were blasted into the Gloom of the night sky.

      WARMARAMA

      SSH, Arm Circles, Good Mornings all IC x 10.

      THANG: Move to far end of covered area, partner up. One man runs to stairs, goes up and down, and returns while his partner is doing an exercise (shoulder taps, T Merkins, one leg hops). Rinse and repeat.

      Bear Crawl to stairs, run up stairs and back down. Lunge walk to stairs, and do Defensive lineman squat walk, then run up stairs and back.

      Mosey to Lafite St bus stop where the PAX did 3 sets of 10 of the following: Box Jumps, Derkins, Freak Nasties.

      Mosey “through the woods” (hence the name, Grandmother’s house) to the Tunnel. Partner up again. First partner jogs down and through tunnel, sprinting up the far side. At the far side, PAX turns around and comes back, while partner is doing the following exercises for the two sets: Flutter kicks, Al Gore (5 secs, 5 secs rest).

      Mosey back to Trailhead to close things out.

      Count a rama, COT. Thanks to Jose for praying us out.

      Thanks for getting up early with me guys, following my lead and for the camaraderie over the past year. Thanks also for joining me for some F2 at Cafe Du Monde. It was good times, good company. I always enjoy that as much as the beatdowns.

    • Christmas Wing (What Time Is It Now?)

      I’m ready to step up for what I love. No Q for Christmas? I got this! Get back before 2.0s spring from their beds (hopefully not from my clatter)… Mission Impossible!

      YHC arrives with time to spare to see Jose and Manny warming it up. Garfield pulls up with a minute or 2 to spare – where y’at Mr. Shoota?!

      I’ll be both frank and Bushwacker, this beatdown feels like days ago, plus my wife’s aunt plied me with enough Natchez, MS version of “Amber Wind” cocktail that my memory would not be submitted into evidence at a trial at this point. That being said, I’ll do my best to recollect what was a mighty effort on today’s PAX.

      WARM O RAMA

      x10 IC:

      Toe Touches

      Imperial Walkers (Enter Shooter)

      Windmills

      Air presses

      New and, Burgundy may say, improved Fire Hydrants

      THANG

      Mosied to end of brick columns at the other end of the stairs. In 2 groups, one from each runs half way and does 5 _______, continues to the end and does 5 ______, runs up the stairs and down and does 10 ______, then half way back and does ______. Meanwhile remaining PAX is doing _______.

      Merkins, Squats, Freddy Mercuries

      (recall confusion disclaimer)

      Dive Bomber Merkins, Mountain Climbers, LBCs

      Peter Parkers, jump Squats, Heel Touches…

      Burpees…aaaahhhhhh??? What time is it?

      Mosied to the bus stop for:

      10xs Freak Nasties, 12xs In n Outs – all x3

      Mosied back to the stairs for some Bunny Hops and 3-step strides up n down.

      COT

      Jose the beast prayed us out and QIC made it back with 30 minutes to spare on 2.0 #1 stirring! Thanks you gents for showing up (NOT BUTT SPLICE) and for following my some what wingin’ it lead.

      MERRY CHRISTMAS!