It was simple: 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats, and 2 miles. We had split off into different groups of different levels, but in the end it was 14 of my F3 brothers completing the Murph this morning. COT, Hammer prayed us out with special intentions for TruCoats friend and Zoolanders father.
Tag: @pickaxe
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F3 Kickball: Chico’s Bail Bonds v Xscissor – from Akbar
18 men showed in the gloom this morning for a game of F3 Kickball. We are taught to modify as necessary, and learn through trial and error that some things work, and some things don’t. Even the best laid plans go wrong sometimes, and it happened today. Below is the way YHC envisioned it, and then what really happened.
PAX Hammer, Minnow, Chainsaw, Pickaxe, Gilligan, Moby Dick, Agent Carl, Jose 10k, Zoolander, Grundy, Steve, JV, Shooter, Waterpik, Dangerfield, Maverick, Russo, Akbar
Warm Up x10 IC – Merkins, IW, Self-Love, Grass Grabbers, SSH, Arm Circles F/B, Toe Touches
Thang: F3 Kickball
Count off 1’s and 2’s to form 2 teams. Run to the baseball field in teams, arrive at the field, plank up in teams to pick team names.Rules for Kickers
Kick the ball and mosey around all bases without stopping while kicking team holds plank until the kick is launched. Modes of travel will change in each inning. Modification for runners is always a backwards run. When you score, you get 1 point and lead your team in 5 Wife Pleasers IC while the fielders do Nolan Ryans. Penalty exercises on outs, strikes, and fouls – 10 Australian Mountain Climbers (2=1) OYO while field does Nolan Ryans. No bunting.
Rules for Fielders
Ball is not in play until it touches the ground. When the ball hits the ground, fielders must do an exercise before they touch the ball – unless it is a pop fly. If a pop fly is caught, catcher gets to choose kicking team exercises x 5IC or 10 OYO. If ball is dropped on the catch, regular rules apply and exercises must be done before touching the ball. No pegging runners while running with blocks and no forced outs.
Game
3 outs or 1x through the lineup, no catcher, winner chooses exercise for losing team at the Flag.Pre-Game – The PAX lined up for the National Anthem by Metallica.
Exercises for Kickers and Fielders
Inning 1: Farmers Carry, Squat Hold and 30 Air Presses
Inning 2: Brick Fly Runs, 20 Bobby Hurleys
Inning 3: Rifle Carry, 20 Big Boy Situps
Inning 4: Brick Hallelujah Run, 20 Diamond Merkins
Inning 5: Bear Crawl, Renegade Row MerkinsWhat really happened – YHC explained the rules clearly and effectively and it was decided the rules would be explained as we played. The idea is the fielders do exercises to give the runners time to score, assuming that all balls would be kicked in the outfield. That was not the case. By some magic, the balls were kicked into the players at the infield and just sat there. Someone mentioned very early on this would be a low scoring game. In fact, the first inning lasted about 20 minutes. Even the QIC forgot to do exercises sometimes.
So we went to straight up kickball, regular rules, for the last 10 minutes and a new plan for the next game swirled around in YHC’s head.
The final score was 9 to 7, Chico’s Bail Bonds took home the pride.
We got back to the flag a little late, and Shooter prayed us out. Great to have Agent Carl with us, EH’d by Toto, who has been lost somewhere in Oz for the last year. Come back Toto!
Count, Name, and Shooter prayed us out.
Thanks for following my lead –
SYITG, Akbar -
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)!
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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.
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Another Cakewalk – from Russo
Hurricane Ida wrecked a lot of plans this year. She did a lot of damage, broke a lot of hearts, made life a ton more difficult. But one thing I’ve learned is that even in the darkest of hours, God can find a way to turn something terrible into something good.
I don’t want to belittle the struggle our region is still dealing with, and I can tell you firsthand there is a lot of work left. But I can also tell you firsthand that God has given us an opportunity to grow together, help each other, and all in all, be better people.
My original plan for the first week in September was to do a birthday Q, and following the lead of Grundy and/or Zoolander (depending on how good an idea it was), complete another “Cake walk” and hope it catches on as a thing.
Well, those plans changed due to Mother Nature, but God’s timing is perfect, so a pax of 17 said “Take Two” under beautiful weather with low humidity and temps topping out at around 71.
Warmup (between 10x and 20x, all IC)
Seal jacks
Toe touches
Arm circles
Torso twists
GoofballsThang: A cakewalk, your basic descending ladder of exercises and reps, starting at YHC’s age (in this case, 43), and work your way to 1, with some moseying in between around Old Mandeville/Lakefront.
The order:
43 High knees
42 SSHs
41 Plank Jacks
40 merkins (where Bird started to wonder where the burpees were)
39 squats
38 Hello Dollies
37 Calf raises
36 Apollo ohnos
35 Freak Nastys
34 step ups
33 flutter kicks
32 butt kicks (2 is 1) (lead IC by the entire pax rotating, very nice job, gents!)
31 Peter Parker’s (2 is 1)
30 imperial walkers
29 Shoulder taps (2 is 1)
28 American hammers
27 George thoroughgood
26 Smurf jacks
25 leg raises
24 Rosalitas
23 crab jacks (crab position – opposite plank jacks)
22 groiners
21 Bear crawls
20 murder bunnies
19 Hand release merkins
18 Bobby Hurley’s
17 crab cakes (2 is 1)
16 circle ups
15 Bulgarian split squats
14 durkins
13 big boy sit-ups
12 LMCs
11 diamond merkins
10 star jumps
9 donkey kicks
8 8 count body builders
7 makhtar n’jais
6 6 inch drills (where Zoolander was wise to my plan)
5 Carolina dry docks
4 Bonnie Blair’s
3 jump squats
2 burpees (here they are Bird!)
1 minute plankCOT, name-o-rama, announcements, and prayer closed us out.
This Q doubled as my 3 year anniversary Q, so it’s time for me to again thank Toto for EH’ing me. Like I suspect has happened to many of us, I had no idea what I was in for. I showed up late to my first beatdown (Splice was Q) and quickly wondered what I got myself into. Manny’s words to me were “just stick with it” and he was right.
More than once, I was the 6. I’m still the 6 on occasion. But each and every time, someone is there to pick me (or you) up. Tanked up was the first I remember. Shooter seems to do it the most (especially on moseys).
And that’s what makes this group of men so darn solid. What started out as “I could use the exercise” or “I want to get back in shape” quickly turns to something more.
The F for Fitness is lowercase. The other two are uppercase. I’ve enjoyed laughing with you all, especially when Hammer gets a pax going with his 80’s references, or Zoolander makes an off color joke about doing a Freddy Mercury. You each have enriched me, made me a better person, lended guidance, and just in general have been a blast to be around.
Before I started, I didn’t have a lower back that constantly aches or stiffens up, nor did I have a left shoulder that tells me “That’s enough merkins for today.” I didn’t even know I had an Achilles’ tendon.
But it has all been worth it. Ever nagging pain and shortness of breath: worth it knowing I’m making a decision to better myself as a leader, a Christian, a productive member of society. And that’s due to each of you, whether I called you by name above or not. Because finally, after 3 years, I think I’ve learned your real names, which is maybe a bigger compliment.
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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 blockersFinish 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
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The Young and the Restless: IPC week 1.2 – from Akbar
15 braved the Lakefront on a beautiful day for a beatdown, 1 in a stroller. No, it was not Bushwacker. The 2nd day of IPC week 1 was upon us, and the plan was to have 2 Q’s. Jose 10k took the 2nd Q with a plan for football, but with only 3 PAX not doing IPC, it was a bust. So – Jose10k and Barely Legal did it again. T Claps guys.
After an elongated explanation and several questions, the playlist started and we got to work. Speedy and Tank were out of the gate hot with Hammer not far behind. Great work again guys, everyone finished. Here are the results from the score sheet – missing a few times.
Speedy 26.24
Tank 27.16
Hammer 29.56
Zoolander 30.0
Steve 32.30
Chainsaw 32.28
Akbar 36.15
Jose 10k 37:33
Slider 38.15
Enter your times here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdesBJtTGntJx9e2UfhmmcMyZ_UGEy6TtFk50Mz-W4DHHcN-w/viewform
Bushwacker arrived at 0700 after his shift and Moby came strolling up in his convertible just in time for COT.
And yes, Speedy beat Tanked UP! Impressive, a 17 year old and a 62 year old take the top 2 times. Tank may not be that restless – he went to cut a yard right after COT.
YHC had trouble lifting the phone for a picture after this beatdown, great work by all.
Jose10k prayed us out with thoughts and prayers, remembering 911.
Coffeeteria at Book and the Bean.
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Rock You Like A Hurricane – from Akbar
YHC arrived early in the gloom to plant the flag’s, knowing that the pre-thang crew would see it and wonder what was in store. Jose 10k an Tanked Up! came running up from the 2 miler and settled in with 5 others as we began the warm-up.
Conditions: mid 70’s, no rain, slight breeze
Warm Up:
SSH, IW, HB, HKNEE’s x 20
Freestyle, backstroke x10
THANG 80’S – one of the best decades, especially for music.
Partner up, 80 reps per exercise. P1 works, P2 mosey’s to the flag and does 5 Hand Release Merkins, then returns to relive Partner 1. Sets were divided into 3 exercises of 80 reps each, when done plank for the 6. We did 6 rounds as outlined below.
1. Shoulder taps (1=1), twinkle toes, freak nasty, karaoke, 5 HR Merkins
2. Stone Mountain, superman, air squared (Al-gore with overhead clap), bear crawl, 5 HR Merkins
3. Nolan Ryan’s, Freak Nasties, Monkey Humpers, sprint, 5 HR Merkins
At this time, Zoolander showed up and joined in. Better late than never.
4. Shoulder taps (2=1), twinkle toes, freak nasty, run 5 HR Merkins
5. Stone mountain, squats, LBC, lunge walk to flag, 5 HR Merkins
6. Nolan Ryans, Freak Nasties, Monkey Humpers, backward lunge to flag, 5 HR Merkins
Head back to the flag for Mary
Box cutters X 20 – 6 inch hold (feet together), dolly out, up, together, down= 4ct
LBC, E2K L/R X20; LEG RAISES, HANDS TO HEALS X10
Count, name, Happy Birthday (57) Yellow Snow! Hammer prayed us out – safety for all during and after the storm.
It’s been a great two years: met a lot of great men, lost a lot of weight, did some stupid stuff, and look forward to doing it again and again. Thanks, Russo, for the EH!
NMM
The main thang went a lot faster than YHC expected. Originally only having 3 rounds of 6 exercises total, another 3 rounds were added with some quick thinking. Basically, whatever Bushwacker complained about – we did more of. He was sore from work – which is a lot harder than what most of us do.Hammer entertained us with his insane knowledge of everything, peppering “did you knows” or “remember when’s” throughout the beatdown.
Jose 10k was hurting from last night, and after a while just did whatever he wanted (he did run with Tank on the pre-thang). Thankfully Zoo showed up to take his place. See what missing Pickle Ball does to you? Great work guys.
Playlist:
· Ratt – Wanted Man, Round & Round
· Scorpions – Rock You Like A Hurricane, No One Like You
· Def Leppard – Rock of Ages
· Whitesnake – Still of the Night
· Quiet Riot – Cum on Feel the Noise, Bang Your Head
· Billy Squier – The Stroke
· 38 Special – Hold on Loosely
· The Clash – Should I Stay or Should I Go
· AC/DC – Back in Black
· Twisted Sister – I Wanna Rock
· Tesla – Modern Day Cowboy
· The Cult – Love Removal Machine
· Skid Row – Youth Gone Wild
· Van Halen – Hot for Teacher
· Queensryche – Jet City Woman
· Echo and the Bunnymen – Lips Like Sugar
· Violet Femmes – Blister in the Sun -
Bunch of Dora’s – from Akbar
16 PAX arrived at the Lakefront Saturday to get better. Today’s agenda would be simple, a Steve workout if you will. Dora 123 * 3. Great to be back with my brothers after a 10 day vacation.
WU – SSH, Merkins, High Knees, Butt Kicks x 25. Grass Grabbers, Self-Love, Arm Circles (F/B) x 10
THANG: 3 Doras, partners switch each time
Mosey to the wall at Rips
Dora 1
Partner 1 runs to the top of the stairs at Rips, 10 Calf Raises, return to relieve Partner 2
100 Stone Mountain (feet on wall)
200 Freak Nasty
300 Halleluiah Squat (hand up in the air)
Mosey to the wall at the Gazebo
Dora 2
Partner 1 Bear Crawls to sidewalk, mosey back to relieve Partner 2
100 Dirkins
200 Gas Pumps
300 Superman Rows
Mosey back to the flag
Dora 3
Lightning round, partner 1 runs to the street and back, relieve partner 2
50 Big Boy Situps
100 American Hammers (2 is 1)
150 Step Ups (1 is 1)
Most were finished with 2 minutes left, but not all. QIC called recover and we circled up to honor The Manny with 25 Little Manny Crunches.
Count, Name-o-Rama. Welcome Swole Patrol!
NMM – T Claps to The Manny for making the trip from Picayune, great to see you brother. Manny will try and make 2 workouts a month going forward. And to Grundy for the EH of Swole Patrol, who walked up late with no fear and jumped right in. Going head-to-head in Bear Crawls with Swole was quite impressive, he gave it all he had. Chainsaw and Pickaxe teamed up with YHC for the lightning round, with impressive modifications and counts. Also great to see Bypass again for his 3rd beatdown of the week. We worked a lot more shoulders than I thought, mine are still burning at this writing. Hammer named Swole, reminiscing back to his working days on the West Bank – where he saw a stout dude in a truck with Swole Patrol emblazoned on the front. Good work men.
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Time to be a Big Boy – from Waterpik
Crowds have been smaller than usual this summer at the various beatdowns around town with many regulars out of
Town with family vacations.Circle up around the shovel flags to warmup, with SSHs, ACs, squats, imperial walkers.
Mosey westward almost to the gazebo and the pax got down to business.
First up were 11s with derkins on the sea wall and burpees at the street. YHC instructed the pax to bear crawl to the walking path, then jog to the street to do the burpees. On the way back the pax back pedaled.
Only about halfway to the closing bell, YHC made sure everyone was a Big Boy. Partner up and do 3 sets of 20 Big Boy sit ups while partner holds feet down. Switch.
Circle back up for a set of Al Gores. Sprinkle in some Peter parkers, and one footed and two feet hops. 15 minutes to spare.
Last on the list for this downpainment was a set of 5s. Same as previous with Derkins and burpees as the exercises.
With less than 5 minutes to spare, the pax moseyed back to the flags.
Cot and thanks to Manny for praying us out.
Thanks for letting me lead
