The PAX are all painfully aware of YHC’s deep love affair with the Irish, and all things related to Notre Dame. The PAX are also fond of pointing out the flaws in my beloved Irish – “What a cupcake schedule”, and “You should join a conference”. This year’s CFB Playoff offered the Irish another chance to silence the doubting PAX.
Returning from Dallas angry and a wee bit humbled, YHC asked the scheduled Rock City Q if he would be willing to give up his Q so the PAX could share in my pain. “Manbun” Hawg willingly agreed. So the PAX got to ring out 2018 with the Notre Dame Ladder of Despair.
Warm Up
Perhaps you are not already aware, but Clemson drummed the Irish in the Cotton Bowl by the score of 30-3. (YHC will happily discuss how the game was closer than that – but you’d have a hard time hearing him over the howls of outraged PAX).
Burpees, of course. 10x OYO. Repeat. Repeat. That’s 30 (for Clemson). 3 more (poor lonely 3 for ND).
SSH x30. 3 more burpees.
IW x30. 3 more burpees.
PP x30. 3 more burpees.
The Thang – The Ladder of Despair
Most PAX know that this was not ND’s first time getting blown out on the big New Year’s Day stage. But they may not understand the full depths of my despair. This morning, they will learn just how many consecutive times ND has gotten embarrassed this way. With a ladder. A ladder that calls out each of these games. How long will it take? How far back in time? Only YHC knows.
Game 1: 2018 Cotton Bowl. Clemson romps. 5 Burpees
Game 2: 2015 Fiesta Bowl. Ohio State destroys. add 10 Shoulder Presses
Game 3: 2012 National Championship. Alabama cruises. add 15 Curls
Game 4: 2006 Sugar Bowl. LSU crushes. add 20 Merkins
Game 5: 2002 Fiesta Bowl. Ohio State pancakes. add 25 Squats
Game 6: 2000 Fiesta Bowl. Oregon State thwacks. add 30 Rows
Game 7: 1995 Orange Bowl. Florida State trucks. add 35 Chest Presses
Game 8: 1994 Fiesta Bowl. Colorado routs. add 40 LBT
Fortunately for the PAX – the clock ran out, coinciding with the end of the streak. 1993 Cotton Bowl, ND romped over the Texas A&M Aggies. But now it was time to return the rocks. Final Tallies: 40 Burpees, 70 Presses, 90 Curls, 100 Merkins, 100 Squats, 90 Rows, 70 Chest Presses, 40 LBT. And worst of all – the cumulative scores of those 8 games? Foes: 304, Irish: 138. Average defeat of 38 – 17. Yikes.
Return to the flag for our COT. Count-off for 20 PAX. Nice showing, gang! (Even if the uptown members were too scared to show). Lots of upcoming stuff (Krazy Ivan, BR convergence, Mobile Spartan, Jackson Day race). Always exciting to hear all of the opportunities that PAX are pursuing. Remember – if you hear something you want to do, DO IT. Q IT. Talk it up with the PAX, you will almost certainly find someone to do it with you!
Thank you Rev, for taking us home with a thoughtful prayer, challenging us to be better men, better leaders, better followers into the New Year.
Thank you, as always, for the chance to lead you all.
With the end of the year approaching I wanted to finish the year strong with a good beat down at the Mothership. This would be my 150th workout of the year. Having started F3 on Feb. 2nd at WPM, I have come a long way, and all for the better. At 6:30 the the disclaimer was given and we moseyed to the Peristyle.
Warm Up
SSH x 20
Hillbillies x 20
Mountain Climbers x 20
Plank Jacks x 20
Imperial Walker Squats x 20
Arm Circles -Fwd x 15, Rev x 15
5 Burpees OYO
Mosey to the Fountain in front of NOMA
Thang 1
Right Leg Step Up x 15
Dips x 10
Left Leg Step Up x 15
Dips x 10
Bulgarian Split Squats Right leg x 15
Dips x 10
Bulgarian Split Squats Left leg x 15
Dips x 10
Incline Merkins x 15
Line up for Indian Run to the “Rocks” – When “6” gets to front of line we halt and he calls out an exercise and did 5 reps, then continued run.
Thang 2 – 11’s with the Rock – We found where Mahatma and Tool had stashed the blocks, and eached grabbed one. YHC was not sure where this was going to happen, but figured we could find a semi dry spot – Not the case, and as we began the sky tried to open up on us, but just briefly.
The 2 exercise where Squat Thrusters with the Blocks and Offset Merkins on the Block(2 is 1). Started with 10 Thrusters and 1 Merkin and proceeded to 1 Thruster and 10 Merkins. In the middle we did 11 Curls when going one direction and 11 Tricep Extension when coming from the opposite direction. The usual Mumblechatter ensued, like no one has ever done 11’s before…Let’s GO!
With time getting tight we finished the 11’s and returned our blocks to their home and moseyed to the Great Lawn.
Thang 3 – Circle up for some Mary – The Great Lawn was soaked and trying to stay somewhat dry YHC opted for the Brick area where FIA warms up. which garnered plenty of mumblechatter.
LBC’s x 20
Dying Cockroach x 20
I had more but it was 7:30 so we moseyed back to the flag.
COT – Circle up for Count-o-Rama, Name-o-Rama Two FNG’s – Both are ILoveYouMan’s Business Partners (they make Adult Beverages and Icees in pouches you freeze) – Antonio(ILoveYouMans, Brother) is Jesus Juice and Craig is Screw Top(He’s their tight, accounting guy). Welcome Both! Hope to see them again soon! Announcements for Crazy Ivan Jan 19th.
With the New Year approaching, take these last few days of the year to set some goals for next year for your Life, Job, F3 and shoot for the moon. Write them down, make sure they are measurable, and have milestones through out the year to maintain focus. Not everyone is aware, but there is a tab in the Q Sign up Sheet called NYR2018 to track your workouts. I will make sure we have one for New Year Resolutions 2019. Keep track and compete with your brothers in F3. Thanks again for pushing and motivating me through 150 beatdowns this year. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
This was my birthday Q (51 yrs old) and I wanted to make it special for the PAX NOLA. As Christmas day is tomorrow, I wanted to not only strengthen the body but also strengthen the mind as well. As I was thinking about the direction I wanted to go in the Christmas Eve themed workout, I realized that we already done a couple of 12 days of Christmas beatdowns and desired to go a different route. During the Christmas holiday season, the pace of life slows down enough for me to be more contempletive and I have more time to read. As I was reading a book by Ace Collins called ‘Stories behind the best-loved songs of Christmas‘, I came across the ‘real’ history of God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman which fit the theme of the beatdown today. Here is an excerpt.
“When people today say “Merry Christmas!” the word merry means “happy.” When “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” was written, merry had a very different meaning. Robin Hood’s Merry Men might have been happy, but the merry that described them meant ‘great and “mighty.” Thus in the 15th century (Middle Ages), a strong army was a merry army, a great singer was a merry singer, and a mighty ruler was a merry ruler….the word rest in the title means to ‘make’ or ‘keep’. As the angel told the shepherds, “I bring you good news of great joy.” That joy and the power of faith can be felt and experienced in every note and word of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” You just have to know how to translate the words into the language of the day in order to have a very ‘Mighty Christmas!”
WARMUP
Run over to the field by the rock pile and proceed with the following
51 SSH x IC, 20 Imperial Squat Walkers x IC, 10 Abe Vigodas x IC, 10 Arm Circles x IC (Forward and Backward), 20 J-Los x IC
THE THANG
I instruct the PAX to get a medium sized rock and we head to the football field for Bearicides. Because we had 15 men, I had to break the groups up into 3s. We line up on the sideline and PAX 1 and 2 perform 100 lunges, 150 goblet squats and 100 straight leg deadlifts. Meanwhile, PAX 3 bear crawls out and pushes the rock forward to the middle of the field then bear crawls back while continuing to push the rock.
After the bearicides, we did a Febreeze. This exercise consists of WW2 situps followed by air presses with feet 6 inches off the ground while in a sit up position. The count was 2 situps / 10 air presses, 3 situps / 20 air presses…all the way up to 5 situps / 51 air presses. Whew….that hurt!
Running out of time we did a Jack Webb with a rock press up to 7 merkins / 14 rock presses.
Time is running out so we put our rocks back and mosey back to the virtual flag.
COUNTOFF, NAMERAMA AND COT
Prayers for peace, hope and healing for Brad Brechtel, Hawg’s mom, Disclaimer’s 2.2 and all the intentions we hold in our hearts. Truly honored to be leading such a great group of men looking to get stronger physically, relationally and spiritually! Many blessings to you and yours this Christmas Season!
A chilly 46 degrees and windy means a cold mountain at the top of Wolfpack Mtn. I had a few ideas in my head but I waited until the PAX gathered before committing to a plan for the whole workout. El Wire greeted me with his classic – he Yankee is that the North star?
It was so wet on the Avenue I decided to skip a classic Tinkles move by Blimping on the avenue – instead we went straight to the base of WOLFPACK MTN.
We circled for a warmup – SSH x 20, Hillbillies x 20, Mtn Climbers x 20 and Imperial Walker Squats x 20.
Then the thang. We did an Indian run up the Mountain. Each of the 2 lines had a football. The first guy would throw the football back to the 6. The 6 would sprint to the front of the line with his football. Then he would throw the football back to the six. If the football was dropped the punishment was 3 burpees. Team one only did 6 burpees up the mountain. Team two did 15 burpees up the mountain.
Once we got to the top we circled up for a 12 days of Christmas replay.
Burpees
2 V-Ups
Peter Parkers
FLutter Kicks **After this we did a lap down/up the stairs
Rising Suns
Dying Bugs
Plack Jacks
Bycicles **After this we did a lap down/up the stairs
Merks
Russian Twists
Low Country Crab
Burpees
We finished with 5 min left – ran to the benches and we did a side crunch exercise that I wanted to try — 10 OYO on each side. Not sure if that exercise is for everyone.
This was my last Q of 2018. I enjoyed being with you guys – I appreciate the accountability. We prayed for digits and her PAX and family in South Carolina.
Front Lung with elbow touch the ground – hold for 5 count – introduced by Tool at Foundry
Scorpion kicks
Star Plank – hold for 30 count
One leg lung jumps – this would need practice to be effective.
1st – Thang – Catch me if you can – run around the fountain
Pax lined up – Shoulder Press to 20 – Each Pax would count their rep out loud, once reaching 10 the Pax to their left would start, 1st Pax reaching 20 would sprint around the fountain with the next pax once reaching his 20 in chase this continued until all Pax completed 20 reps and attempted to catch the pax ahead of them.
Rinse and repeat except 20 jump squats
Mosey to the Canal St. Mountain
Pax split into 2 groups of 4 –
1st effort sprint to the top of Canal St Mnt. – do 10 Merkins walk back down same side- 10 more merkins
2nd effort sprint to the top of Canal St. Mnt – 10 Merkins walk down back side 10 more merkins
3rd effort sprint up and over to starting point. 10 Merkins
Mosey midway back – introduce new effort – All PAX got into a high plank then did a double under (both feet forward) into a jump squat (legs spreading apart like a jumping jack), transition down to a low plank with a double Peter Parker back to a high plank x 5
Mosey to levee – EMOM – 1-5 start with decline merkin x 1 – run up and over the other side there perform Prison up down (hands over head dropping to alternating knees) x 5 run up and over now decline merkins x 2 up and over then Prisoner Up down x 4 continue until the # are reversed. Key is PAX only got as much rest they earned completing the task in 1 minute before having to start again.
Mosey to flag for some Mary
All 25 x 4 count – Between each effort PAX would transition into high plank for 30 sec count
LBC
Crunch with heel touch
Crunch with legs straight up touching toes (similar to DC)
Crunch while reaching hands between legs
Straight leg scoops over head
Circle Up – Count Off – Name O – Prayer of Thanks giving
When YHC set out to plan this workout, I first considered a few exercises that I felt I could handle with little threat of splashing Merlot or generally embarrassing myself. But then it dawned on me: this is my chance to repay those who have made me so sore I can barely lift my arms the next day and reduced me to a sweating, panting mess. So at 5:30 AM, after a quick disclaimer, we set off, 12 PAX strong, to see about returning the favor to some of my F3 brothers gracious enough to appear for my VQ.
WARMUP
YHC had a few tricks up my sleeve for the warmup, but the conditions quickly caused a change of plans. So we did a more traditional warmup:
SSH, Peter Parker, Imperial Walkersx20
Run in place, high knees, butt kicks, chop feet (this was a hs wrestling warm-up that would normally include some up-downs, but YHC decided it would be unpopular to get everyone completely drenched in the first 5 minutes). Mosey to Canal blvd for
Station 1
Pair up. One partner, Bernie Sanders up the hill, while the other works on 200 Floyd Mayweathers, 100 big boy situps, and 25 burpees. Cross the street very carefully in the fog for…
Station 2
Route 55 with burpees on the way out, Merkins on the way back in. PAX instructed to begin in opposite directions on this very foggy morning so as not to collide. Mosey to the leveee for…
Station 3
What is an Okwata workout without an Indian Run? A bit of mumblechatter about how Indian Run + disperse would have been the more manly option, but at this point, I was just glad to be still moving. Maybe next time we can thrown in a Bataan Death March.
Mosey to Flag and Finish Up
Continuing the theme, I had picked out several of my least favorite exercises to share with the PAX
Planking, high, low, one arm up, other arm up for about as long as I could go
Monkey Humpersx20
Dying cockroachesx20
LBC’sx20
Flutter Kicksx20 (led by the flutter kick king, JV)
Frac Sac’s favorite exercise that I cannot remember the name ofx20
And a few rounds of burpees o/y/o to close it out.
Count-o-rama, Name-o-rama, we discussed the Crazy Ivan, prayed for Brad Brechtel, and Rudy led us in a fine prayer.
On a serious note: I’m infinitely grateful for all of you who have pushed me, made me do countless [hated] burpees, made me plank until I felt like my arms would crumble, and inflicted all other sorts of punishment that made me tougher both mentally and physically. To name all the names of those who have pushed me – especially since I’ve been back the past few months – would be like writing out the entire members list, but I’m especially grateful to Mahatma, Frac Sac, Jingle Vader, Rudy, Mambi, Abacus, Tool, Two Yutes, and too many others to name, who never spare words of encouragement and motivate me to better.
Getting to lead an F3 workout of such a strong group is a honor, and I hope I was able to deliver. It means a lot that so many of you showed up for my VQ, and I look forward to doing it again soon.
With the PAX carrying an obvious naughty designation from Kris Kringle himself, we proceeded to find our first of three lumps of coal at the corner of CalhounSt. and St.Charles Ave. The PAX broke into 3 groups and did the exercises listed below. The groups rotated through each station, and the Burpee group had the count.
Burpees – 20 (count)
Lunges
LBCs
The PAX moseyed from there to the big mountain, where we gathered into 3 lines, and did an Indian run to level 4 where our second lump of coal was waiting. Each line was assigned the following exercises, the burpee group had the count, and the groups rotated through each station.
Burpees – 20 (count)
Low Slow Squats
American Hammers
Once complete, the PAX formed 3 lines again and completed an Indian run to the top of the mountain where lump of coal number three was discovered. The following exercises where completed in the same fashion as previous stations. Santa gave the winey PAX a break with only 15 burpees.
Burpees – 15 (count)
Al Gores
Flutter kicks
The PAX went down to the benches via the stairwell where we did the following:
Incline Merkins – 20
Right and Left leg step ups – 15 each
The PAX moseyed back to the flag for some brief stretching before announcements, name-o-Rama, and a prayer. We welcomed one FNG, Tom Patrias, who is now referred to as Mudbug!
A good showing considering the fine turnout and time we all had at Urban South Brewery and Christmas party last night! Thanks to all that brought or cooked food!
A quick disclaimer and off we go to the fountain for typical warm up:
Running exercises: butt kicks, high knees, carioca, etc around the fountain
IW x (21)
Happy Jack X (20)
Mountain Climbers X (20)
Peter Parkers X (25)
Arm Circles X (30)
Off to the levee for an 11 using the entire levee for the exercise. Merkins on the north side, plank jacks on the south side.
Mosey down to Canal blvd. via of a group Indian run, and then to the Lakefront area.
Last time I was at Dave and Busters I was fortunate (and good enough) to earn enough tickets to earn an “exercise dice”. All the exercises similar to our normal routines, so now the opportunity to put it to use and “Roll the Bones”. Each PAX got their chance for a roll and took ownership in the beat down, some in cadence some on our own. Here are some of the exercises if I recall we were busy with, but not limited to:
Burpees — (20)
Squats (25)
Lunges — (30)
Plank (1) minute
Crunches — (30)
Dips (15)
Burpees — (20)
Lunges (30)
etc.
Mosey back over to the flag, for some final Mary:
Leg Throws with partners (10) each
Plank ~ 1 minute or so
Normal countoff, namearama, announcements, intention, COT.
Being inspired by Yankee’s gentle reminder to post our backblasts, I went looking through my phone notes hoping I had written everything down. Luckily I never delete anything and found my notes at the bottom of a grocery list.
We started with the circle. I forgot to write these numbers down so the circle reps might be a little off.
Secure Shells(A little IT humor) x 30
Windmill x 30
Peter Parkers x 30
Mountain Climbers x 30
Imperial Walkers x 30
Then we did an Indian run to the top of the mountain.
At the top of the mountain we partnered up and took turns running all the way down the stairs and then back up and doing the following:
Burpees x 50
Jump Lunges x 100
Real Freddy Merucrys x 200
Next we moved to the benches for some rapid fire dips and incline m’rcans. We started with 12 of each back to back with no break and the intent was to work our way down to 1 reducing by 1 each time. Turns out this is ridiculously hard so once we got to 8 we reduced by 2 each time.
Once done we stayed at the bench for some step-ups and then moseyed back to the flag for a little bit of mary.
After the mary we did name-o-rama and and honored Ron Jeremy by naming the FNG Hedgehog.
28 PAX ignored the threat of rain and made it out The Mothership this Sat. We lucked out with a “calm before the storm” as the the guys assmebled and prepared for takeoff. YHC wanted to mix things up with an old school City Park history tour as part of the workout, similar to a few beatbowns circa 2015. The night before had the forecast looking nasty, so the plan was to stay close to cover and hone in on a few of the iconic landmarks right there in the original part of the park. The 1300 acre park was established in 1854 and has lots of history, great architecture, nature, wildlife, and of course trees….home to one of the largest collection of live oaks in the world. Generations of New Orleans residents and visitors alike have enjoyed the park so it only seemed fitting to pay homage to a few things that make it a great place. As the clock struck 5:30 we discussed the plan for the day, followed by the disclaimer, then off to….
First stop, The Peristyle, built in 1907 to have outdoor dances and concerts for the “well heeled” New Orleanians….some chatter from Rudy about Jingle Vader being in that category. Using the year as the rep count, we started with Imperial Walkers x19 and Windmills x7.
Then an ugly mosey around The Casino Building with some doubt from the PAX before going up and over Popp Bandstand for Stop #2 on the nearby grass.
With 12 granite columns and topped with a bronze dome, Popp Bandstand was named for is benefactor, John F. Popp, and is a replica of the Temple of Love in Versailles. In 1916, Popp made a donation to the park to build the Popp Bandstand which was completed in 1917. The Spanish Mission Revival-style “Casino” building opened in 1913 as a place that sold refreshments. Because of that, the City Park legend says that the building originally was called a cantina, using the Spanish word for a place where food and drinks are served. In a 2008 Times-Picayune story, City Park Executive Director Beau Bassich said he believed the New Orleans dialect colloquialized the word into “casina.” However, 1913 newspaper articles do use the word “casino” to describe the new building, explaining it will be “the amusement center of the park,” though there is no mention of gambling.
Here we circled up using 1917 and 1913 to inspire the rep count for Peter Parkers x19, Low Slow Squats x17, Mountain Climbers x19 and Arm Circles x13.
Then we recaped the age of the park, 164 years, with a Plank Merkin circle where all PAX held a high plank while merkins were cranked out individually in a clockwise manner up to 164 total.
Then a mosey over the stone bridge towards City Park Ave for a meandering jog through the oldest grove of mature live oak tress the world. We made sure to recognize the two oldest ones by looping around McDonough Oak and then, after some doubt from the PAX about my navagation ability, made our way to the Ansmen Oak, both of which are approx 800 years old. Here we circled up for an 8 round burpee countdown, one round for each century…Burpees x8,x7,x6,x5,x4,x3,x2,…x8 for the crowdpleaser! More about City Park trees here: http://neworleanscitypark.com/in-the-park/trees-in-city-park
Then a mosey over the Ansmen Bridge, one of 9 built by the WPA, and back to The Peristyle where we lined up on one side for a partner circuit. This included 8 rounds of PAX #1 performing the specified exercise across the Peristyle and back (timer) while PAX #2 stayed put with a stationary exercise.
1)Inchworm & Wall Sit
2) Bearcrawl fwd/bwd & Balls to the Wall
3) Duck Walk & Declined Plank
4) Crab Walk fwd/bwd & Wall Sit
5) Lunge Walk & LBC
6) Kong & Balls to the Wall
7) Fiddler Crab & Flutter Kicks
8) Lateral Lunge & Wall Sit
Next up, we couldn’t leave out the adjacent Great Lawn that has hosted countless hours of F3 beatdowns. Built in 2010, the Goldring/Woldenberg Great Lawn is enjoyed by many and has seen a slew of picnics, concerts, yoga classes, and side straddle hops over the past 8 years. So we moseyed a quick loop to the Great Lawn and back to the nearby benches for a partner circuit of: PAX #1 Dips x20 OYO while PAX#2 runs to GL for Merkins x10 and back. Rinse and repeat for 3 rounds total follwed by a “victory lap” around the GL topped off with planking to wait for the six.
Still some time left for a few more history lessons so over to the rear of The Peristyle to gaze upon the banks of Bayou Metairie. Although it is now a landlocked lagoon, Bayou Metairie was originally a natural waterway spanning from Bayou St. John to the swampy area near what is now Old Metairie, essentially following the path of current day Metairie Rd. Once used by the Native Americans and early settlers, the banks of the bayou gradually formed the Metairie Ridge which provided high ground for ground transportation and later development of homes.
Since we didn’t have a year to use for rep count, we shifted our focus to 1946, the year of the first City Park Big Bass Rodeo, which is the oldest freshwater fishing rodeo in the country. At this point YHC had to alter the planned exercises and went with the first thing that came to mind, burpees, which really seemed to excite the PAX and peanut gallery, given the initial silence of disbelief followed by some grumbling and the “we already did enough burpees” comments. So PAX#1 knocked out Burpees x19 while PAX #2 held a wall sit on the ledge along Bayou Metairie, which had an awkward slope not conducive to said exercise. Then partner plank slaps, aka patty cake, holding a high plank and alternating hand slaps up to 46.
Nearing the end of our hour, we had just enough time remaining to circle up under The Persistyle for some themed Mary. YHC breifly talked about the various projects completed by the WPA (Works Progress Administration) in the 1930’s throughout City Park, including Tad Gormley Stadium, nine concrete bridges, a golf course, several art deco conrete benches, and Roosevelt Mall. In 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt came in town for the dedication ceremony. Pics below and more info at: http://neworleanscitypark.com/in-the-park/works-progress-administration-in-new-orleans-city-park
In this undated archival photo, President Roosevelt chats with New Orleanian Paul Alfred Montreuil, 7, at the dedication of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Mall in City Park. Also pictured: Marcel G. Montreuil, park superintendent; George Grundmann, chairman of the dedication committee and vice president of the park board; and James H. Crutcher, administrator of the WPA in Louisiana.
Our WPA and FDR themed Mary consisted of:
W – Weezey Jeffersons x10IC
P – Pickle Pounders x15IC
A – American Hammer x20IC
F – Flutter Kicks x20IC
D – Dying Cockroach x15IC
R – name??? exotic exercise led by Triple Shift x25IC
Moseyed back to the flag with some rain for added bonus. Capped things off with a COT and announcements. T-claps to War Eagle for stepping up to lead the prayer. He’s a pro at that stuff and much more eloquent in that field than YHC.
NMM – Thanks to the PAX for bearing with my non-professional tour guide ability and abbreviated history tidbits throughout the morning. As always, the peanut gallery led by Rudy and others kept it entertaining. T-claps to Mahatma and others for the occasional motivational cheers and USMC grunts to keep the PAX in high gear. Several guys asked for links (http://neworleanscitypark.com/in-the-park) to some of the City Park history in so I included several in this backblast, which may be one of the longest in F3 history….sorry for the long read, if you made it this far. My wife asked if I was writing a book.
