F3 New Orleans

Tag: Grundy

  • The Nightmare Before Christmas 2021 (The Return) – from Grundy

    Twas six nights before Christmas, in 2020 it was spurned, but now the year reads 21’, and the nightmare has returned.

    This workout is intense, you need not take my word, that’s fine. But if you need a reference, Tanked up will tell you I’m not lying. Sometimes we went slick and other times was with a ruck, and in the times that it got hard we had to just embrace the suck.

    This year there was Hogs breath, Steve, and Junior Varsity. Russo and Amnesia and the newly disdained Grundy

    For those still unaware (or knew before and did not show), here’s the list of all we did…

    For workout see below:

    150 burpees
    2 miles of running
    150 man-makers
    2 miles of rucking
    100 Merkins
    100 Sit-ups
    100 Squats
    100 4 count SSHs
    100 4 count mountain climbers
    100 4 count flutter kicks
    100 Ruck Presses
    100 2 count Ruck twists (American Hammers)
    100 Ruck Pull Throughs

    We left with aches and bruises and pray we have no long term damage, but the tales we heard from Hogs breath will help us carry on and manage. The man shows up to beatdowns from the far land of Slidell, so if there was a “commitment” award he’d surely win the title.

    JV has become a real staple of our crew. With his completion of the nightmare he’s now earned his stripes to boot. He now joins a fraternity of those who’ve reached the end, forevermore he’s one of us and one I’m proud to call my friend.

    Russo showed up with what seemed was insufficient baggage. But once more it’s been shown “it matters not the size of package”. In the end it made it through with Russo’s sheer determination, and that describes the man I’ve come to have such admiration.

    Amnesia powered on when his body said ‘enough’! But just one look at that man’s legs will tell you that he’s tough! When the last rep was accomplished, and after talking with his spouse, Amnesia climbed up on his bike and then he rode back to his house.

    Steve returned once more for what could maybe be called penance, but how could one commit such evil where this would be the sentence?! The only way I can account for Steve repeating this endeavor, is that he’s a man who’ll walk ‘longside a brother through whatever.

    These examples, and countless more, are the reasons we all do this. And thus our workout completed once more “The Nightmare Before Christmas”.

    Until next year….
    Grundy

  • Die Hard is a Christmas movie! – from Jose10k

    Warm-ups: ssh, self love, grass grabbers; windmills, high knees

    The thang: After the warmups, the PAX moseyed to the courthouse. The tragedy at Nakatomi plaza occurred on Christmas Eve, and we gathered today to honor the hero of Nakatomi: John McClain. The event occurred on the the 30th floor, so that’s where we started. 30 merkins, 30 squats, 30 big boy sit-ups, 30 leg lifts. In between each exercise ran the length of the courthouse leading up to the stairs, up the stairs and then back down. Once the pax was finished we ran 1 lap around the entire courthouse. This is when the terrorists almost took out Grundy (asthma attack) and where we picked up some extra help from Miles Davis posting from Mississippi. We now stopped on the side of the courthouse.
    ‘‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring,except for the four assholes coming in the rear in standard two-by-two formation.
    Paired up. Partner one : side lunges the entire grass section to the concrete and back, partner 2= holds an al gore thoroughgood. Repeat.
    The terrorists planned to use C4 to blow up Nakatomi Tower. The PAX completed in cadence 15 reps of these 4 “c”ore exercises: little Manny crunches, flutter kicks, Freddy Mercury’s, and cowbells favorite: crunchy frogs.
    Come out to the coast, we’ll get together, have a few laughs.
    Famous line from the air ducts: time to do some ac duct crawling, while partner 2 does squats. Side not, ac duct crawling no fun when you hit the acorns. Mosey back to the second floor to do a Hans Gruber pull-up: the pax hung from the raptors for 10 count, then did 30 Superman’s (he did fall 30 stories) .back to the stair well to do 5 calve raises each to the top. And time was up. Cot, Russo prayed us out. Thoughts and prayers to Zoolanders friend. And to further celebrate the heroics of John McClain, a yell of Yippie Ki-yay Motherfu**er. Thanks for letting me lead gentleman

  • 51 – from Akbar

    Another year in the books as YHC turned 51, joined by 8 HIM who woke up early Monday morning – some after Sunday’s Nightmare Before Christmas. The theme was 51 on paper, 5 sets, 5 exercises 10 reps each, with the last exercise being a 10 second hold. Sometimes paper doesn’t translate in reality so there were some modifications.

    Tunes accompanied courtesy of Grover’s Camp playlist.

    Rd 1: Block press, shoulder taps, squat press, Alpo’s, 10 count mid-way hold.

    Rd 2: Block row wide, block row narrow, supine row, renegade block row L, renegade block row R. 10 count hold.

    Rd 3: Merkin, chest press wide, chest press narrow, right arm single block press, left arm single block press, 10 count hold.

    Rd 4: Block curl wide, block curl narrow, forearm curl, left arm block curl, right arm clock curl ( the single arm curls did not happen). 10 count hold

    Rd 5: Diamond merkin, overhead block extension wide, overhead block extension narrow. 10 second hold.

    Mosey to the stop sign and back, circle up for Mary

    Squats x 20, Lunges x 20, LBC – leg raises, dolly x10

    Count, Name-o-rama, and YHC prayed us out with thoughts of focusing on unselfishness this week and thanks for accountability.

    Thanks for letting me lead, it’s always a blast.
    Akbar

  • 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

  • Black Friday Shopping – from Jose10k

    ‘‘Twas the day after Thanksgiving and all through the house, not a creature was ….not entirely true, I was up, moving slow because I consumed way to much thanksgiving day food. But it was Black Friday, and the beat down needed a theme for such an occasion. I couldn’t disappoint the whacker of bushes, so I created a workout that mirrored the Black Friday,
    Warmups: ssh, windmills, grassgrabbers , self love , torso twists
    The thang: you can’t go shopping without coupons, so yhc brought some. He set the up in a line so as my customers were waiting to check out, they each had to perform an exercise . 1. Man makers 2. Altos. 3. Curls. 4. Windshield wipers. 5. Overhead presses. 6. Squat Thrusts. 7. Rows with two 30 pound dumbbells. Each customer exercises while one shopper bear crawls the width of the parking lot, back pedals halfway up the length of the garage, sprints the rest, bear crawls again, back pedals, and sprints. Upon returning to the line, everyone moves up a spot in line. Kept going until everyone went through once, completed 3 extra shoppers. The group helped turn in their coupons, finished off with leg raises until my nephew had to stop twice. He smoked me at the turkey trot, I had to beat him in something. Cot, hammer prayed us out with great words of thanks and appreciation. And we had an FNG… welcome Chaps.
    Thanks for allowing me to lead my brothers. 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)!

  • Fall Back – from Steve

    Talk about a dark warmorama. About the only definable figure I could make out was, well nobody, really, since Shooter wasn’t there. Of course I knew Jose was present from the early morning grumbling, but the rest of the crew were shrouded in mystery. Given such circumstances, YHC delivered a clear disclaimer in case there were any FNGs (turned out there were two), and we got things rolling.

    Started off with the usual – good mornings, windmills, torso twists, arm circles, IW’s, Hillbillies, SSHs, High Knees – mostly at 10x IC, but a 15 and a 30 crept in there. I like to say those instances are “to keep the pax on their toes,” but of course the pax is smarter than that – they know it’s just early morning brain fog.

    We hadn’t moseyed to the playground in a while, so that was on the menu today, stopping at each intersection for a set of 10x deconstructed burpees. Zoolander’s No-Booze-November had hit a snag the night before (a snag by the name of Woodford Reserve), and so my originally planned set of x20 burpees seemed cruel as he had, not but 5 minutes before this point, requested “no burpees, please.” So we deconstructed instead, which would mean 10x squats, 10x groiners, 10x merkins, and 10x jump squats. Knocked those out at the three intersections and then hit a fourth one when we reached the playground.

    Then it was time for one of my lakefront standards, a partner routine where P1 wall sits and performs overhead air presses while P2 hits three stations: 10 t-merkins, 10 jump squats, 10 big boys. Three rounds of that and it was on to neighboring grass patch for a few games.

    That’s right, games. Let it not be said (Toto) that I do not include any fun in my beatdowns! First up was a game called When Animals Attack, which features one pax (it) bear crawling to tag any of the other guys, who are all crab walking. Any one who is tagged then performs 5 burpees and immediately joins in as a bear, to help tag the rest of the crew. I had initially envisioned a rabid, growling Tanked Up tearing through that patch of grass, but alas, when the sun finally rose this morning and it was clear who was standing before me, there was no Tank to be found. Grundy was the next best choice, so he became the first bear. Now, whoever invented this game clearly did not know the Northshore region’s distaste for crab walking because when the game finally began, the crabs all just sat in place waiting to be tagged. Some even moved closer to the bear! It seemed unanimous – the guys would rather do their 5 burpees and half-heartedly attempt to tag others than crab walk five steps. The next round was hardly better than the first, with Zoolander and his stomach of steel as the bear, and so we moved on to another game: Duck Jousting.

    To say duck jousting was more successful might be a stretch, but it was certainly more entertaining. In this game, it’s every man for himself. You get in a low duck walk position with your arms across your chest, and hobble over to the nearest pax to try and topple him without the use of your hands. Once you’ve been knocked over, you start high kneeing until the game ends.

    Though this was totally a Mathlete type of game, a surprise attack by Zoolander knocked him out early on. It came down to Jose, Swole, and Zoo. Swole attempted a Switzerland type of strategy, where he simply sat (or squatted) off to the side and awaited the victor between Jose and Zoo. But this proved faulty when Zoo took him down by surprise. By this point, our two gladiators had entirely abandoned the rule of duck walking (well, let’s be fair, Zoolander was never actually duck walking from the start). Even with an assist from Bird, Zoo was unable to take down Jose, but one final assault sent both men to the ground in a tie.

    Time to head back, so we formed two lines and Bataan Death Marched back to the flag. Once back, we did some single leg squats to the sea wall while Turbo graciously picked up the six. Quick Mary and time for COT. Welcome FNG’s Slater and Woody, and t-claps for hanging in there. Hope to see you guys back out soon. (And a personal thanks to our FNG’s for forcing me to write a backblast after months of negligence.) Hammer prayed us out and off to Book and the Bean for coffeteria. Appreciate the opportunity to lead you men, SYITG.

  • 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.

  • 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!

  • Iron Pax week 4: We’re all super ants! – from Russo

    Pretty nice weather, a little on the humid side, but that’s picking nits, for the final week of the 2021 Iron Pax at the Lakefront this morning.

    Between a storm, a sinus infection, and vacation, YHC has been MIA for most of this year’s IPC, so my goal was to at least proctor and attempt some of the fun this week.

    As we gathered, Tanked Up took things to that next level with a (homemade) tee showing off his Raider Pride. Any Rummel alumni worth his salt (admittedly not much) knows the story of the Super Ants: an underdog Raider football team defeated the might Chalmette Owls (!!!) back in the day, and the moniker Super Ants made it into the newspaper write up (remember those?). From them on, a super ant is anyone that displays courage, heart, fight, and a motor that never quits (all characteristics of your typical college football “possession receiver”). Think Don Beebe running down Leon Lett. Danny Amendola. Abram Booty. Any Iowa receiver.

    I digress, but this week there was a colony of super ants that gave an incredible effort and pushed themselves HARD in the gloom.

    Pre Thang
    Quick warmup of seal jacks, cherry pickers, toe touches, and mummy kicks approx. 10x each, all IC)

    Thang
    A descending ladder, each set 25 reps, with a 25 yard run, followed by three burpees, and then 25 yards back for the next round of 25 reps.

    Rounds were:
    8 sets of curls (200 total)
    7 sets of squats (175 total, you get the picture)
    6 sets of overhead presses
    5 sets of kettle bell swings
    4 sets of merkins
    3 sets of thrusters
    2 sets of Bonnie Blair’s
    1 set of blockers

    Finish those, and you work your way back up the ladder, times for a total of 52:30.

    Major T claps to Grundy and Tanked up for setting the pace, but incredible effort and very little resting (excluding YHC) from what I saw.

    A mosey back from the Shaft and a COT closed us out with name-o-rama, announcements (F3/FIA mixer on the 21st and NOLA convergence on the 16th), and a prayer. Special appearance by Speedy and Cowbell, while Bean, Swoll Patrol, and an FNG had to scamper out early.

    Much respect to Zoolander for commandeering the coupons and markers and helping to coordinate this week. It was very much appreciated.

    Raider Pride and SYITG