Tag: Renaissance

  • Back to the Basics

    Back to the Basics

    There is something special about the Sunday morning workouts. Maybe it’s about starting the week off right, or maybe it’s the opportunity to sweat with other dedicated men. Maybe it’s both. Regardless, YHC took the Q at the Renaissance this week to bring back the thing we all love to hate…..The Burpee.
    4 men committed to improving posted with a shovel flag planted in front of NOMA. There was discussions about LSU, Georgia, and Ohio State, but none of that mattered once the clock hit 0600. A brief disclaimer, and then……
    Mosey to the freshly cut grass area, really more of a 10 step mosey…..
    Warmup
    SSH IC x 31
    IW IC x 20
    Abe Vigodas IC x 10
    Grass Grabbers IC x 10
    Peter Parkers IC x 20
    Mountain Climbers IC x 20

    Mosey to the Foundry for Stations

    Round 1
    Dips, Step ups, knee ups, and 10 Burpees as the count

    Round 2
    Pull ups, Box Jumps, 90 degree flex hang, with sprint to the track 5 Burpees and Sprint back as the timer

    Rinse and Repeat both rounds for a total of 4 rounds, 2 of each.

    Mosey Back to NOMA

    Partner up for Mini Dora 123
    50 Burpees, 100 Merkins, 150 Squats
    Partner 1 starts exercise, partner 2 bunny hop up NOMA steps, 3 Burpees, run back down. Burpees on steps do not count toward the 50 cumulative!

    3 Minutes left, so YHC was going to do a little Mary, until Belloq asked, “No Sunday Mornings?” Silly Q!!! The Renaissance isn’t complete without Sunday Mornings!
    Mosey to closest wall of NOMA and complete 5 rounds OYO.
    10 Air Presses
    5 Donkey Kicks
    Last Donkey kick transitions into a Balls to the Wall with one merkin

    5 Rounds is no joke!

    Times up! Mosey back to the flag!

    COT
    Countoff, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, and closed with a prayer to the Sky Q.
    What a great way to kick off the week!

    SYITG

  • Renaissance 1…2…3…

    YHC felt the need to Lead, so sign up to Q he did! Four men and a canine posted for a classic Renaissance beat down courtesy of YHC. But first, a brief disclaimer and a reminder to show the shovel flag some respect……

    Mosey to the steps of NOMA for the warmup

    SSH IC x 31
    IW IC x 15
    Grass Grabbers IC x 10
    Abe Vigodas IC x 10
    PP IC x 20
    MC IC x 20

    During the Abe Vigodas, YHC was nearly bludgeoned during a drive by from the Super Size Sunday Paper being delivered….Totally worth the risk!

    Dora 1…2…3….
    Partner up for cumulative exercises

    100 Burpees
    200 Merkins
    300 Squats
    Partner 1 starts exercise partner 2 runs a lap around NOMA then flap jack.

    Mosey to the Big Lagoon for Bataan Death March. Indian run with last man dropping for 3 Burpees then sprint to front. Continue for 1 full lap.
    Finish up with some Sunday Mornings at the back of NOMA.
    10 air presses in peoples chair
    5 mule kicks against wall finishing last one with a Balls to the Wall and 1 shoulder press. Repeat x 5.

    Times up! Mosey to flag for COT where we did Count off, Namorama, Announcements, Intentions, and ended with a prayer to the Sky Q.
    Notice SOGO has the weighted vest going. #HIM
    Thanks for posting with me today!

    SYITG




  • Sunday Funday

    Nov 3 2019

    Once again the Renaissance crew gathered in the gloom.

    T-claps to Heisenberg who first appeared as a small dot at the entrance to the park, having rucked for an hour before the meet. Our small but dedicated group circled up and got to it.

    WARM UP
    I’m calling this the “Tour Guide” – YHC led pax on a 15ish minute run through the scenic portion of City Park that F3 nation rarely visits. Kept the mosey strong with a halfway intermission of box jumps and inclined merkins. Ultimately made our way to practice track.

    THE MEAT
    An improvised four corners.
    First corner – All pax circle up, hold plank while each pax completes 10 merkins, counter clockwise, complete the circle. Two rounds.
    Run half lap of track (200 m) listen to pax debate the definition of a “corner” as you pass two.
    Second Corner – Again circle up. Again plank, again merkins @10, one round. Then on six for LBCs. 20 LBCs per pax member while all hold legs at 6in above ground or in LBC ready position. Whatever you do don’t let feet touch the ground. 2 rounds. Up for another half lap. Again, the “definition” of a “corner” sounds like a hot topic. Pass all the Army guys in their matching outfits (which were clean, unsweaty, and had no signs of workout) who were pointing and jealous of our F3 K9 pax member, DJ Diver, who had his vest and was blasting sweet tunes for all.
    Third Corner – Again circle up. Again plank, again merkins @ 10, one round. On six, one round 20 LBCs. Up to feet, next movement. 30 squats per pax while rest hold trees (Al Gore). Two rounds.

    Time became a factor and it is a poor Sunday Q who forgets our finishing burner… The one and only, Sunday Mornings.

    THE POTATOES
    Run/Mosey to back of NOMA. 5 sets OYO
    one set =
    Assume the people’s chair, do 10 air presses
    Down to merk position for 5 donkey kicks
    Then Balls to wall, do one hand stand press, or count to 10
    rinse/repeat

    Side note –

    As YHC takes more opportunities to Q I’ve noticed that the best compliment a Q can receive is grumblings and doubt from the peanut gallery. It means we’re getting somewhere, and the pax is getting what we all pay for – The Push. Have you ever complained when you’re working out on your own? Absolutely not. Because you just speak to management (yourself) and stop. The reward of F3 is we push and get pushed to a point we would not typically take ourselves. Getting comfortable being uncomfortable. That’s where the growth happens. Everyone of those complaints turn in to victories at coffeteria once it’s all over.

    I don’t know how I started coming to Sundays… It might have been Catfish. But I’ve got to tell you. They are now one of my favorites. When it seems there is absolutely no reason to keep a commitment, even to yourself, and every reason to let off the gas… It might be the most important moment to keep it.

    Thanks for letting me lead

  • Renaissance for the recovery – Focus on Form not Reps!

    Post Half Marathon & GoRuck

    3 Pax gathered on the morning after several Pax ran the Half Marathon and 3 Pax did the GoRuck Light.

    Catfish did both the Half Marathon & the GoRuck Light and wisely chose to hand off this morning’s Q.

    After welcoming Dax to his 1st Renaissance and congratulations were extolled upon Fracsac for his half marathon we moseyed to start our 1st loop of the City Park NOMA entrance and BLIMPS after each loop.

    Ran a loop and did one minute of Burpees

    Ran a loop and did one minute of Lunges

    Ran a loop and did one minute of Imperial Walkers

    Ran a loop and did one minute of Merkins

    Ran a loop and did one minute of alternating Peter Parker’s and Parker Peters

    Ran our final loop and did one minute of low slow squats

    We then moseyed to the back of NOMA and introduced Dax to a deconstructed Sunday Morning (Chair position with 10 air presses, 5 mile kicks, balls to the wall and one hand press) in honor of Gideon and finished with one minute of Sunday Mornings.

    We closed with count, name-o-Rama and COT mentioning F2 event on 11.08.19 thanks to El Wire and lifting up prayers of gratitude for F3, half marathon success and GoRuck completion.

    This humbled member was grateful for the day to focus on form and Saunder 3.0 miles as your Q.

  • F3 Renaissance with a 610 Feel

    F3 Renaissance with a 610 Feel

    Short and sweet…. we met in front of NOMA and proceeded to the practice track stopping every 6 minutes for 10 Merkins. 60 Merkins later we were at the back of NOMA for Sunday Mornings (chair position with 10 air presses, 5 mule kicks, 1 balls to the wall with a Derkin/hand press…. repeat for 5 minutes). Close with COT lifting up Da Parish & Bellhop’s family and onto Coffeeteria at Café Navarre

  • Renaissance Run

    YHC arrived at the AO a little early to put some miles in to continue preparing for the half marathon coming up in October. After 2 miles, YHC made it back to the flag to see what other Pax were there. Upon finding only Hokie Pokey, it was decided we would focus on running this day.

    4.3 miles later, we finished up with a COT. 100% participation at coffeteria.

    This Sunday was off on the right track!

    SYITG

  • Sunday Mornings aka “Donkey Kicks”

    YHC has made it a habit to attend the Sunday morning workouts at the Renaissance as we can workout, have coffeeteria, and still be home by 8am before the house wakes up. One constant exercise that has showed up in each Q the last few weeks is Donkey Kicks on the back wall of NOMA – in fact, we now call Donkey Kicks – “Sunday Mornings”. The inspiration for today’s Q was Sunday Mornings and trying to incorporate some music into the work-out. So with the help of my family at the ranch – we set up a play list last night and made sure the Bluetooth speaker worked. Off we go……

    7 pax met at the flag at 6am. Quick disclaimer and a short mosey to the grassy area between NOMA and adjacent to the lake for warm up. TRACK 1 – VAN HALEN’s – JUMP – played during the warm-up with each time we hear the word “Jump” the PAX did SSH. In between, PAX did some Imperial Walkers, Arm Circles, and Mountain Climbers to warm up.

    TRACK 2 – THE BLACK EYED PEAS – LET’S GET IT STARTED (- RUNNIN’ RUNNIN’, RUNNIN’) – perfect song for indian run up and around delong drive in front of the museum

    TRACK 3 – SURVIVOR – EYE OF THE TIGER – three minutes of Rocky Balboa’s in front of the museum

    TRACK 4 – PETER GABRIEL – KISS THAT FROG – i am a huge fan of peter Gabriel so we had to incorporate one of his songs. For the length of the song perform flutter kicks – when Peter sings “Kiss that frog” – time to morph to Crunch frogs.

    TRACK 5 – BEASTIE BOYS – BRASS MONKEY – hold the Al Gore, until “Brass Monkey” transition to monkey humpers. This was more monkey humpers than Al Gore. Around the time Belloq noticed the sunrise – a site to see this morning over the lake in front of NOMA.

    TRACK 6 – IMAGINE DRAGONS – THUNDER – Dragon Walk on the neutral ground in front of NOMA about 30 yards.

    TRACK 7 – LIONEL RICHIE – EASY LIKE SUNDAY MORNING – mosey to the rear wall of NOMA for some Sunday Mornings – aka Donkey Kicks. Hold Al Gore or People’s Chair throughout song – Each time Lionel belts out “Easy like Sunday Morning” time for 10-20 Donkey Kicks on count of YHC.

    TRACK 8 – MAROON 5 – SUNDAY MORNING – No rain was falling so the PAX were in for more Sunday Mornings at NOMA – Incline shoulder taps with feet on back wall of NOMA with “Sunday Mornings” sprinkled throughout the song.

    With about 7 minutes left circled at the flag for some Mary – each PAX led an exercise in cadence – LBC’s, boxcutters, Cockroaches, SSH, then with one minute left and Fracsac yet to lead – you guessed it 10 burpees.

    Circle up for announcements and intentions. Enjoyed the opportunity to lead and had fun this morning. If you have not been to the Renaissance, come check it out on Sunday.

    Sunday at the Renaissance
  • Nothing Gold Can Stay…

    So the time had finally come. The great scepter of Q had been passed to YHC, for the first time ever – with wise words from the Q’s before, and much great advice, pomp and circumstance; I had been called to lead and could not refuse. Humbly, I accepted.

    And while some historians may have differing stories… about how the burden of Q leadership was thrust hastily upon the first available, unsuspecting, member of that weeks coffeteria; or how there were no wise words, or any advice, or how the pomp mostly came from the circumstance of bad jokes and poor planning… YHC chose to see the bigger picture, to take away the more important lesson: Historians are dumb, and only believe what they read in books, or on Backblasts. So there is really no way way of knowing exactly what happened on that day except that the result was, I was an HC to Q the #Renaissance for my VQ.

    In the darkness of a sultry morning, while the rest of the city slept, like so many sheep, YHC went to the AO early to scope out a few areas for our challenge – only to find a wiley Catfish who apparently had run to the site to warm up for the beatdown. Tclaps! (and consequently ran to coffeteria and then home…)

    As a small digression, YHC had just spent the week in Austin on a work trip and was able to commune with the NATX AOs to stay sharp. It is a powerful and reassuring feeling to stumble in to another F3 group (in another city, in another state) and see them keeping the same commitment, the same standard, to the F3 code. Our brothers are out there just as we are here, every day.

    So as we waited for the remainder of the Renaissance crew to materialize in the gloom, YHC had the eerie feeling of waiting on all the other good men, materializing in the gloom of cities all across the nation. All, ready for a new day and a new beat down.

    THE THANG

    The rabble gathered and YHC gave a short disclaimer sure to let all know he was not the professional he appeared to be, and a circle was made.

    All IC:
    x10 Grass Grabbers
    x10 Toe touches
    x15 Windmill
    x20 Peter-Parker
    x20 Parker-Peter

    A quick turn around in the grass, facing up Lelong Dr, with Trees to our left, noting them as markers for first exercise (as measured on gmaps, Trees are 50ft apart):
    OYO, in succession no break-
    5 Burpees
    Bear Crawl to next tree
    5 Burpees
    Crawl-Bear to next tree
    5 Burpees
    Crab Walk to next tree
    5 Burpees
    Walk-Crab to next tree
    5 Burpees
    Sprint distance back to start
    Plank for 6

    Next a mosey up Roosevelt Mall to Track, plank for 6
    Partner up

    Next Ex:
    Catch Me if You Can – One man starts with 3 Burpees while partner runs/sprints backwards around track. When Burpees complete, sprint normal to catch partner; alternate. Tagged man goes down for Burpees while other switches to backwards run… Until tagged… Continue all around track. – 1 lap. Plank for 6

    Next Ex: Move to open area of track
    Keep your partner
    100 Merkins/Plank combined. Alternate in intervals of 10. While partner completes merkin set, you hold plank, back and forth… hold plank for 6

    Next:
    200 Squats/Al Gore combined. Alternate intervals of 20 squats. While partner completes set, you hold (a tree) Al Gore, back and forth…

    Next:
    300 LBCs/Leg Raise combined. Alternate intervals of 30 LBCs. While partner completes set, you hold 6in leg left (or modify with legs kept in LBC position…. either way, no touching the ground till complete), back and forth.

    Might have had a 20 count in here for recovery, but I’m no historian…

    Mosey back to flag, stop at rear of NOMA to post up against the wall for a rest… sort of.

    Next Ex:
    x3 sets of following, OYO
    1 set =
    Peoples chair timed by completing x10 Jack Reachers
    x5 Donkey Kicks (half plank type position, kicking both feet up and back against wall)
    Straight in to Balls to the Wall, or Reverse Wall Stand (Kick feet all the way up, walk back if need be, doing hand stand). Do 1 hand stand press, or hold count 10. (YHC open to better name for this maneuver, or maybe one already exists).

    Complete mosey back to Flag
    Approx 4-5m easy stretches

    All above written upon memory of YHC, the quality of which cannot be accounted for or verified. As a reminder, YHC is NOT a historian. So while no one really knows what happened on this day, or others before it, the sound of trumpets were heard in the distance at one point, and it has been said that a bevy of doves was seen above, as this VQ came to a close (whether or not those trumpets were the screeching brakes of local dump trucks and the doves were pigeons is not for us to debate).  But one thing is for sure, no more Gold of showing up to another man’s Q, just to make it through. It’all Iron now.

    Jokes aside – I am thankful for the opportunity to Q, had a lot of fun doing it, and I hope I presented a challenge to those who showed. Tclaps to FracSac for nudging me in and putting me on rotation. I am appreciative of the F3 brotherhood and have seen huge strides in health, fitness, and energy in just the few months I’ve been committed. Thanks to all who continue to show up daily so that we can all hold each other accountable, to be just a little better, every day. Thank you, F3 NOLA.

  • Adios para ahora

    It was a typical summer Sunday morning in front of NOMA. We had our biggest showing yet at the Renaissance and it was the first time I q’d that wasn’t the stomp. All in all it went really well…even a little tougher than I originally thought. Started off with the disclaimer in Spanish and translated to English for those that took Latin in school.

    Warmup with a lap around noma and circled up for TARRAGONA (where I’ll be living)

    Tin snips, air squats, Russian twists, ranger merkins, Abe vigoda, gas pumps, intended to do one armed pickle pounders but turned into the normal ones, Nolan Ryan’s, and finished with angle grinders

    Then we partnered up and did bear crawl 1,2,3 (cumulative 100 merkins, 200 lbc, and 300 air squats while other person bear crawls to second tree and back). My neck is still a little sore.

    Lastly, everyone completed two rounds of what I call 3 x 5’s. Kept your same partner…one is running up and back lelong drive while the other goes through 5 smurf jacks, 5 merkins, and 5 crunchy frogs). Continue with that pattern until partner gets back.

    I’m very grateful to belong to such an awesome group. Best wishes to everyone! I look forward to seeing you all in the gloom 🇺🇸🇪🇸💪🏻👊🏻🏃‍♂️

  • Emergency Free Renaissance

    YHC arrived at the Renaissance AO a solid 2 minutes before kickoff with 4 other Pax eagerly awaiting my arrival. Each Pax was a HIM looking to kick off their Sunday right. As War Eagle pointed out at the Mothership on Saturday, the Q should always carry a phone in case of an emergency. So, YHC zipped the phone in his FlipBelt, gave a brief disclaimer and got right to the warmup:
    SSH IC x 31
    Hillbilly’s IC x 15
    Abe Vigodas IC x around 8 or 9 – Remember that reference to the phone in the FlipBelt? Somehow, Siri thought we had an emergency, and she called 911. YHC heard her speak around #4, but what she said didn’t sink in until around #8. Upon pulling out the phone, YHC saw the 911 call had gone through and hung up. YHC was apparently no match for NO emergency services, as a call came right back. A sincere apology followed, and the call was disregarded. Let’s move on….
    Grass Grabbers IC x 10
    Peter Parkers IC x 20
    Mountain Climbers IC x 20
    Arm Circles IC x 20

    First up, help a brother out. Tanner that is. Line up on tree #1 and do the following, all while looking for the infamous lost Fob lost at the Muscleship:
    Tree #1 to Tree #2 – Bearcrawl followed by 5 Burpees
    Tree #2 to Tree #3 – Lungewalk followed by 5 Burpees
    Tree #3 to Tree #4 – Bearcrawl followed by 5 Burpees
    Tree #4 to Tree #5 – Lungewalk followed by 5 Burpees
    Sprint back to Tree #1
    Spoiler Alert – No luck on the Fob……

    Mosey to the Foundry for Station Set #1
    Split up in two groups, a group of 3 and a group of 2.
    Group 1 – Merkins IC x 20 (timer)
    Group 2 – 90 degrees flexed arm hang
    Flapjack for 3 full sets.

    Mosey to the bike trail for Bataan Death March. An Indian Run where the last man drops for 3 Burpees and then sprints to the front of the column. As the sprinter is passing the new last runner, the new last man drops for 3 Burpees. Continue for a full lap, or about a mile.

    Return to the Foundry for Station Set #2
    Station 1 – Run to Bike Trail, complete 5 Burpees and run back (Timer)
    Station 2 – Dips – AMRAP
    Station 3 – Squats – AMRAP
    Station 4 – 90 Degrees Flex Hang
    Station 5 – Big Boi Situps – AMRAP

    Mosey back to the Flag. With 1:30 remaining, fill it with ISI challenge. Each Pax completed 1:30 of the mobility challenge, the other 2:10 are on you!

    COT
    Count off, Name-o-rama, Announcements, Intentions, closed with a prayer to the Sky Q.

    NMM

    If ever there was an emergency, YHC proved today that he stands at the ready. The summer heat and humidity is really on us, even at 0600 to 0645!

    Coffeteria was great as always. Glad to see the Renaissance AO is getting some love! Thanks for posting with me today, and thanks for allowing me to be a part of F3!

    SYITG