F3 New Orleans

Tag: Spaulding

  • Goals and Accountability – from Rudy

    Halfway through 2023, YHC knew it was time for a re-focus on acceleration: reviewing where we are with goals we set up back on January 1st, and setting up for growth over the rest of the year. So today’s Q would focus on Goals and Accountability.

    And even better – Spaulding stepped up for his VQ. Way to accelerate, Spaulding!

    YHC started with a lengthy disclaimer. Two items to present to the 13 gathered PAX:
    1. At the end of the workout, everyone would get the chance to step forward and announce their goal for the rest of the year. Say it out loud, own it, and trust the PAX to hold you accountable to achieving it.
    2. Find your Burpee Partner. We will have 8 1-minute burpee breaks during the workout. Tell your Burpee Partner how many burpees you are going to do total during these breaks. Make a commitment to doing it.

    Then mosey over towards the rocks for a quick warm up with some stretches and imperial walkers. Spaulding took center stage for a strong SSH cadence. Nicely done!

    YHC’s goal for this year is a murph. That’s gonna require a LOT of strength training. So lets get a rock and partner up. (BUT FIRST – Burpee time #1!). Dora’s stay-in-one-place cousin: 100 Merkins, Squats and BBSU, with 20 Rows as the timer. Go… Stopped for a few more burpee breaks along the way.

    Then circle up for more rock workout. Lift your rocks – then the warning: if you put your rock down, the PAX to your left will pay the price with 5 burpees. Overheads, Curls then Rows. 10, then 8, then 6. Then time for another Burpee break (#5, I believe).

    Return the rocks, and let Spaulding take over.

    Mosey to the field in from of NOMA. Beach Volleyball – count to 21 for a winning score. What was each count? 2 lunge steps and a squat, all in cadence. Rudy thought that sounded easy. Rudy was Rong.

    Mosey to the baby foundry (stopping for more burpees). Spaulding tells the PAX about the correlation between grip strength and longevity – so in the interest in helping all of us, he’ll have us do rounds of 1 minute dead hangs. Most PAX appear to be on track for longer lifetimes than YHC….

    Mosey to Tool Wall for some calf raises. Then we need to head for home. Back at the Great Lawn for the final round of burpees, then head to the flag for what would promise to be a lengthy COT.

    All PAX hit their burpee goals. Nicely done! Good thing – because if you came up short, your Burpee Partner would pay the price by making up the difference. Then during the COT all of the PAX called out their goals. Several joined YHC in committing to a Murph. Lots of weight goals. Cheeto going to do his first Marathon (in absentia – Mayhem committed to a Half-Marathon). All of the goals will be in Slack, and all PAX are invited to hold us accountable and join in the fun.

    Thanks to all of the PAX who have helped me grow by encouragement and accountability over the years.

  • 7 Years of Acceleration and Growth – from Fracsac

    The last 7 years of my life have been my best years thanks to joining F3 and engaging in workouts, CSAUPs and F2 events with the HIMs of F3 Nola. To celebrate, YHC signed up to Q the Mothership.

    Brief disclaimer followed by a mosey to the great lawn for a warmup with regular stuff, including 31 SSH. The question surfaced about 31 and how that is divisible by 7. Patience grasshoppers.

    Mosey to the red baseball diamond near the Stadium for some 7 of Diamonds!

    Round 1 – 7 burpees at each base OYO
    Round 2 – 14 Flutter kicks IC
    Round 3 – 21 Superman at home and 2nd. 21 ‘mericans at 1st and 3rd.
    Round 4 – 28 LBTs, LBCs, dying cockroaches and Hello Dolly’s.

    Because someone….eh em Rudy….attempted to evade the sugar cookie style evolution, high knee burpee penalty in the middle.
    Just to make sure we were all good and coated, army crawl from home plate to pitchers mound.

    Mosey back to flag, stopping at the Tool Wall for calf raises and monkey humpers per pax request.

    Set up some cones in the grassy spot behind the flag and do SSH mind games. Count SSH IC followed by silent set count with all pax to stop with Q or suffer penalties. We had 3 rounds of high knee burpees. Time to move on.

    Ultimate pass football in the cones. 5 passes equals a point. This really kept the heart rate elevated.

    COT followed by Coffeteria where Triple Shift joined us.

    I’m blessed to have been brought into the F3 fold and I’m honored to know each of you. I love you men, and I look forward to accelerating for the next 7 years.

    SYITG

  • Dewars, Storks and Peanut Butter and Butter – from Rudy

    Yesterday (April 14th) was 3rd anniversary of my dad’s passing. YHC brought some memories to the beatdown this am. At 628am, YHC opened up the Mini, asked everyone to grab a pair of bricks. At 630am, YHC turned on the 80s playlist, and the 13 PAX moseyed (with their bricks) to the Peristyle.

    But wait – Cheese Steak rolled in hot. YHC back to the car to get one more set of bricks. A few minutes later, our DR visitor from Chicago (Bob the Builder) rolled in. Hokie went for more bricks.

    After a brief warmup (thank you Mahatma!), we got to work. We were going to visit a few places in the park. At each place, we’d have a cycle of exercises – 60 seconds on, 20 second rest.

    Stop #1: The Peristyle with bricks. My father’s favorite evening night cap was a splash of Dewars. We still keep a bottle of it around with my family to periodically celebrate. 2 rounds of exercises to spell out DEWARS

    Donkey Kicks
    Eagle Wings (bat wings stuff – with bricks)
    Wonderbra (peoples chair – then push the bricks out, then push’em up)
    American Hammer
    Rocky Balboa
    Starfish crunch

    Stop #2: Return the bricks to the Mini, and head to the rocks by the fountain. My father was an OB/GYN. His passion was delivering babies. What else delivers babies? 2 rounds of exercises (con roca) to spell out STORK

    Squats
    T-Merkins
    Overhead Press
    Rows
    Kettlebell Swings

    Triple Shift gratefully let YHC have a shot with TS’s rock while TS proceeded to one-arm Overhead Press YHC’s rock. Eventually, Frac relieved YHC.

    Stop #3: Return the rocks, mosey to the little foundry. My father’s favorite treat that he introduced to my kids – the Peanut Butter and Butter sandwich (only to be made with spreadable tub butter). 2 rounds of PBB exercises

    Pull Ups
    Burpees
    Big Boy Situps

    Stop #4: Stop by the Tool Wall. As the cancer took his life, he lost strength in his legs. YHC will pay a bit of honor with some leg strengtheners.

    Calf Raises
    Monkey Humpers
    Bonnie Blairs (modify to Lunges)
    Calf Raises

    Couldn’t get through 2 full rounds as. we were already late. Back to the flag – getting their about 5 minutes late. YHC didn’t apologize for the delay, as he didn’t feel bad about it.

    Finished with our COT. Prayers offered for other PAX who also go through struggles with their aging parents and health concerns.

    Thank you all for allowing me to celebrate my father’s life. He meant the world to me. I miss him daily. But I know he has moved on to the next phase of his life, and I know I will be rejoining him again one day.

  • Nickel and Dime – from Rudy

    No Q at the Mothership as of 6:25am, so YHC steps in (to avoid having Frac or Heisenberg grab it and turn it into a burpeefest). Needing a moment to think, YHC instructed 8 PAX to plank. PAX responded with mumbling and chatter about how disappointed they were in the workout. And even more grumbling when we arose from the plank for Abe Vigodas and Windmills. PAX wanted more.

    YHC would do his best to deliver for them.

    Mosey over to the F3 fountain to grab a rock. Triple Shift complained that the rocks weren’t big enough, so he scurried away. YHC thought maybe he was heading home (and leaving E Major behind), but no – he returned with his trusty sandbag. Meanwhile, the rest of us got busy with a “keep dem rocks up”. Shoulder Press, Curl, Row. 10x/8x/6x/4x/5x. Catfish’s boulder certainly outweighed mine.

    Now time to get some mileage on the books, so bring the rocks back to the Great Lawn for the Nickel and Dime. Laps around the Great Lawn. Over yonder at the half-way point, 10 BBSU. Back home at the starting point, 5 Man Makers with your rocks. Each lap is about a quarter mile. Go. Got in 8 laps, 2 miles in the bank for RCR. Return the rocks, and then back to the Great Lawn for some Mary and 1 last lap, bringing the total mileage to 2.9 (or 3.1 on Heisenberg’s watch).

    NMM: Suicide took the life of the father of one of my daughter’s med school friends – a man who, on the surface, appeared to have everything in order as part of a successful life. What a reminder for all of us – we can’t know the battles that someone near us may be facing. We can (and must) be ready to be there for people, and do what we can to look for signs and support people. And SPECIFICALLY FOR ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE READ THIS FAR: YOUR BROTHERS AROUND YOU IN THE COT ARE THERE FOR YOU. USE US. RELY ON US. WE HAVE YOUR BACK IF YOU WILL LET US IN.

  • Maverick++ and 99 Burpees – from Rudy

    Brisk Mothership morning. 12 PAX in the cool gloom came out to better themselves. YHC wanted to reward them – and what better way than with burpees.

    Mosey over to the Peristyle for a quick warm up of some stretching and SSH/IW.

    Thing 1: YHC went way back in the backblast archives looking for something new, and found what Reluctant Yankee termed “The Maverick” from July 2015. But – YHC wanted to one-up them. The Maverick was 11s. What one-ups 11s? A larger number. So in honor of the 220th anniversary of Louis XVI’s beheading – we went for 16s.

    16 Squat Jumps to start, in the Peristyle. Run to the benches, stopping for 1 Hand Release Merkin on the way. Then 1 Dip. Return for 15/2/2. 14/3/3. You get the idea. That was a gasser… Way to go, SOGO and Mahatma (the early finishers) as they pushed the rest of us through to completion. Spaulding’s form was, as always, impeccable.

    YHC was accused of running away, merely because he had to return to his car to get…. The Deck o’ Death. Mosey to the center of the newly-resurrected Great Lawn.

    Thing 2: Hearts = Burpees, Diamonds = Squats, Clubs = Sit Ups, Spades = More Hand Release Merkins (Kennah Brah started griping about that early). Meanwhile, because Macgyver refused to pay attention, he drew a 5 burpee penalty while the rest of the PAX waited. Then the cards began. Out of the gate, Squats took the early lead. But then Hearts started showing. Again. And again. Forever it seemed.

    20 mins later, 26 cards down, YHC called it – so we could get to the last thing. 12 of 26 cards were BurpeeHearts. Frac reported that we did a total of 91 burpees.

    Thing 3: A few rounds of Tyson, with Core exercises. Sprint half-way on the lawn, 10 reps. Sprint to the end, 10 reps, Sprint halfway back, 10 reps, Sprint to the end, 10 reps. Start with V-Ups. YHC instructed PAX who finished first to keep going until the 6 finished 10 reps. Several of the PAX revolted – leading to a 5 Burpee penalty (96 burpees, YHC thought to himself).

    Then we did rounds of Freddy Mercury, Wife Pleasers, and Hello Dolly. Heisenberg and Frac TRIED to get additional penalty burpees to hit 100. But YHC would not bite.

    7:29 – time to head back to the flag. BUT WAIT: 3 more burpees, just because. 99 burpees total.

    COT: Close up with a count-off and name-o-rama. Lots of stuff going on, especially running – Run Cajun Run, Krazy Ivan and City Pork. Several intentions – new life (congrats Disclaimer!) and sad passings. Prayers go with those heading to the next stage of life, and for comfort for those they have left (temporarily).

    And prayers for Spaulding’s friend suffering from Shingles. PSA: The shingles vaccine. If you haven’t (looks askance at himself), please get it. It is painful and 100% unnecessary to suffer through. That is all.

  • Burn that Turkey – from Fracsac

    Saturday after Thanksgiving at the Mothership brought a 60 degree Misty feel to the AO. The attendance was light with 4 pax: Carpool Downrange from Houston, Spaulding, Cheetos and YHC, but that didn’t stop us from turning up the heat to burn off that Thanksgiving meal!

    Warmup at the flag with regular stuff. Mosey to the peristyle with a stop at the truck to grab some toys:
    60 lb sandbag and rope

    Stations:

    Burpees x 10 with sandbag (timer)
    Battle rope
    Big boi sit-ups
    Donkey kicks

    People’s Chair on columns for 1 minute
    10 x 8 count body builders IC
    People’s Chair on columns for 1 minute
    Monkey humpers x 15

    Stations:

    Sandbag overhead lunge and squat x 5 (timer)
    Battle rope
    Freddie Mercury
    Bonnie Blair’s

    Mosey to great lawn for BLIMPS at each corner

    Mosey back to peristyle for a little Shock & Awe!
    SSH x 5 then 10 burpees
    SSH x 5 then 9 burpees
    Etc., etc

    Two rounds of taking turns rolling the exercise die. Jump squats, derkins, American Hammer, Skaters, and burpees all came up.

    Finish off with a little Mary.

    COT

    Good stuff!

    SYITG

  • Building the Bums – from Triple Shift

    I recently read an article about the importance of strengthening our glutes and hamstrings (BUM as they say in the U.K.) or sometimes called the posterior chain for all you Kinesiology wannabees….Bogey. Specifically, strong bum muscles contribute to better posture, prevents hip osteoarthritis, and reduces the likelihood of chronic low back pain, knee pain and hip pain. It’s not complicated, having strong bum muscles makes physical movement easier and, just to be totally honest, they are nice to look at on the opposite sex.
    https://theconversation.com/glute-force-why-big-strong-bum-muscles-matter-for-your-overall-health-190978
    So, with that in mind, I crafted a workout to focus on the bum and to remember Veterans Day by having the number 11 sprinkled throughout the workout.

    WARMUP
    There was a great deal of mumble chatter this morning with a steady drizzle and windy conditions. I gave the disclaimer and reviewed the F3 mission statement with the PAX and headed off to the Children’s Museum. Reverse Plank for the Six. To loosen things up I had the PAX focus on good squat / side lunge form. We held those positions for 5 – 10 seconds each x 5. Lots of mumble chatter and hiking up of shorts!
    Forward Arm Circles x 11. Arm Wave x 5. Reverse Arm Circles x 11. Michael Phelps x 5. Pretzel Arms x 11
    Hand release Merks (no worming allowed) x 20. – Huge crowd pleaser!

    THE THANG
    We headed across the street over to the rut filled field next to the exercise station.
    Genuflect across the field (1 kneel down followed by a lunge for each leg. Increasing to a max of 10 kneel downs and 10 lunges for each leg). Reverse Plank for the Six
    Bearpees to get back (4 hand touches on a bear crawl followed by 1 burpee. 8 hand touches on a bear crawl /2 burpees and so on until you reach 40 hand touches and 10 burpees. Reverse Plank for the Six. No mumble chatter…I guess I’m doing something right.

    THE THANG 2 – Mosey back to the Peristyle Benches for our BUM work. Reverse Plank for the Six
    Glute Bridge (Figure Four) x 11 IC
    Bulgarian Split Squat x 11 IC
    Glute Bridge (Figure Four) x 11 IC
    Bulgarian Split Squat x 11 IC
    Frog Pump x 11 IC
    Donkey Kick x 11 IC
    Monkey Humpers x 11 IC
    Alternating Supermans x 11 IC
    Frog Pump x 11 IC
    Mission Impossible for last minute

    Countoff, Namerama and COT. Welcomed FNG Hoffa and Animal from F3 Jacksonville! Prayers of gratitude that we got up today and did something hard. So blessed for the opportunity to lead and to call you my F3 NOLA brothers!

  • Q for Sale – from Fracsac

    The Mothership needed a Q, so YHC stepped up around T minus 12 hours and signed up with a specific theme in mind. As Long as we had some solid HIMs post, the theme would work out well. Lucky for YHC, Igor and Spaulding posted, with the latter bringing an FNG. The six others were Hawgcycle, Rudy, Heisenberg, Catfish, Triple Shift and Revit. YHC made it ten. Plant the flag and a brief disclaimer given. 70 degrees and slightly humid, no rain yet.

    With an exercise die and a speaker playing classic rock, mosey to the inferior lawn. It’s far from Great these days.
    Start the warmup with SSH x 31. At this point YHC unveils the much anticipated theme.

    Q for sale.

    The rules are simple. To buy the Q one simply states “I’m buying the Q” followed by 5 burpees which everyone must do. Then the buyer rolls the die and leads that exercise in cadence. From that point the new Q can do whatever he wants. There must be at least one Pax that buys the Q before buying the Q again. Two Pax can’t buy it back and forth.
    YHC continued with the warmup. Grass Grabbers, Imperial Walkers, and Catfish called to buy the Q. Continued warmup.
    Before Catfish could get to his 8 counts, Rudy bought it. He had us doing 11s across the mediocre lawn with jump squats and big boi sit-ups. During this time some of the sprinklers came on which Hawgcycle seemed extremely pleased by. Once the 11s were done, Hawg bought it. After the 5 burpees and the roll of the die he had us crawling under and jumping over the streams of water. Everyone did it similarly except for Triple Shift. He claimed he was using his head, which technically was correct as he had his head right at the sprinkler. Hawg then gave a long drawn out explanation of how we would bear crawl in an arch just outside of the sprinkler reach. Heisenberg then bought the Q. Not sure if he got tired of listening to Hawg or if he just didn’t want to do it. We did some rings of fire. There was a monkey humper demonstration for the FNG which nobody was allowed to watch.
    YHC bought the Q back and started a suicide run routine with burpees which Revit would have no part of. He bought it and took us through some Mary. With 3 minutes to go it was chaos similar to what it looks like on the NY stock exchange floor.
    0730, mosey back to the flag.

    COT and name the FNG. Welcome Eagle Fang!

    No NMM as this backblast was long enough. This was a memorable Q, thanks to all for making it a good one rather than a total train wreck that it could have been. Coffeteria at Cafe Navarre followed.

    SYITG

  • I got you buddy – from Bogey

    Brief warmup…
    Grass grabbers-10/AB-10/Squat Twist-10/SSH-20/AC for&back-10ea/PePa, PaPe, MC-10ea.

    To the gym…
    20-Merk/Calf raises/Monkey H. then a lap
    15-….
    10-….
    5-…

    To the Pavilion
    Rt leg step up-15/Dips-15/Lt leg step up-15/Dips-10/Rt leg-10/Dips-10/Lt leg-10

    Peoples Chair – 30sec/30 sec w/ air curls

    To the rock pile…
    All with rock
    15-Curls/Rows/Ov. Press/Triceps
    10-…
    5-…

    Frisbee Toss game

    COT

    Gratitude!