F3 New Orleans

Tag: The Birdcage

  • Rising Up, Back On The Street – from Russo

    YHC was taught in 2nd or 3rd grade that if you want to attract eyeballs to your writing, you need a hook: a catchy title or an opening sentence or paragraph that draws attention.

    I may not always be successful, but that’s my goal with these. I had no hook for this morning: that is, until the twin muses of Eagle 98.1 and the band Survivor provided inspiration from the 80’s classic “Eye of the Tiger”.

    Good looking pax of 10 braved the heat and humidity this morning to “rise up” and get “back on the street”…literally. They did their time and took their chances, went the distance, and got back on their feet: just men and their will to survive.

    Warm-up (all IC 15x to 20x)
    – Seal jacks
    – Grass Grabbers
    – Cherry Pickers
    – Self Love
    – Torso Twists
    – Goofballs
    – Imperial Walkers

    Thang

    Tabata today, 45 seconds on, 15 seconds rest, 1 to 3 exercises per stop, mosey a block or two between stops.

    – 8 Count Bodybuilders
    – Squats
    – LBCs (multiple rounds)
    – Shoulder taps
    – Scissor kicks (definitely NOT flutter kicks)
    – Lunges
    – Flutter kicks (definitely NOT scissor kicks)
    – Peter Parker’s
    – Crab cakes
    – Burpees
    – Monkey Humpers (Not at Steve’s front door desire the request)
    – Star Jumps
    – Freak Nastys
    – Step UPS

    A mosey took us back to start, where YHC could sense Shooter itching to stretch out his calves, so we did 3 calf raises at each step of the pilot house.

    Back at the bottom, a few more LBCs, a standard plank, and a chill cut wrapped things up.

    COT, Name-o-Rama, Announcements (sign up for Iron Pax, leadership meeting tonight on SS), and Prayer closed us out.

    Thanks, gents, for joining me. It’s always enjoyable, especially when we’re graced with a Bushwhacker sighting. Best of luck to you as you start your new adventures!

    It was encouraging seeing a couple newer faces (Bends and Swoll Patrol). I hope these two stick around! And the same goes for the “regulars”.

    Until next time, SYITG.

  • 5 Years Of Brotherhood, Bonding and Burpees – from Belloq

    I woke up at 4:20 to a very special day. Eagerly got ready and made the 21-minute drive from the Lakefront to Audubon Park where I have only been to the The Birdcage once to celebrate our 6 Year Convergence last year. How appropriate that I celebrate the start of my 5th year where F3 NOLA truly planted it’s flag and grew? To my delight, I saw both Reluctant Yankee (site Q) and King Kong (Q last time I was at this AO) in the gloom so my confidence in help if needed was growing as I was beginning the disclaimer promptly at 5:29.

    My standard disclaimer expanded to tell the PAX why today was special…Biegnet’s (Matthew Joubert’s) 17th birthday, start of his Senior Year at Jesuit and my 5-Year Manniversary. The looks from the PAX was telling that many didn’t know who this foreigner was and wondered if I was going to talk the rest of the work out so we began…

    Moseyed to the field across Magazine.

    As I could see the confused faces of most of the PAX as they were still wondering who the hell was this guy, who allowed him to Q and how have they not met me if I have been around for 5 years. I decided to introduce myself by asking the PAX to circle up on me.

    Warm-up
    8-Count Body Builders IC X 20 (I could tell I would be popular from this choice moving forward)
    Arm circles front and back IC X16
    Seal claps IC X 20
    Overhead presses IC X 20
    Overhead arm claps IC x20
    Moroccan nightclub IC X 16 (dancing was allowed and welcomed)

    Initially my plan was to honor Shorty’s workout which had 16 reps but I screwed up the whole process because for the first time ever in the history of F3…8-count arm circles were performed.

    I then walked over to complete the circle for our final warm-up
    Low slow squats IC X 20

    The Thang

    Ring of fire Merkins/Plank switching to Monkey Humpers/Al Gore X 3 Rounds

    PAX became talkative so I threw in 10 Burpees

    Ring of fire Catalina Wine Mixers/Plank and Bonnie Blairs/Al Gores X 1 Round

    Merkincides
    10 Merkins, sprint to first tree, return to start for 10 Merkins, sprint to second tree, rinse and repeat to 5 trees out.

    PAX was less talkative so we did 10 burpees as a reward.

    Traditional Belloq Core Routine: (Borrowed from Jeff Cavalier)
    Halos Clockwise 30s
    Halos Counterclockwise 30s
    Reverse Corkscrew 60s
    Dynamic Plank 60s
    Chainsaw 60s
    Slow, controlled Big Boy Situps 60s

    Cool down

    Slow 8-count bodybuilders x 5 IC
    Stretch to sky with hands in air breathing deeply.
    Really, Really Slow Abe Vigodas IC X 5
    Touch toes

    Mosey back to the flag

    COT
    15 PAX
    Intentions for children, families and everyone dealing with going back to school. Giving strength to F3 Brothers in need of a friend(s) to lean on if they need support.

    A special thanks to Rudy for gifting me the greatest F3 name ever, Jingle Vader, Cowbell, Shorty, Bubba and Douille for being there for my initiation into the F3 brotherhood.

    “Btw, worst FNG naming process was held in the gloom today. Took over 10 min. Seems like none of us were on topic at all.” -Shorty’s BB 8/11/2016

    To start year 6, I’ll be back at Okawata for my Manniversary. Consider this an early invite. SYITG

  • Chancun… no passports needed – from King Kong

    I told Yankee that I will take the Q this Wednesday in honor of me missing my Cancun trip due to Covid Delta Variant.

    11 PAX showed up this muggy morning. First stop – short mosey to the fountain by Audubon Zoo, where we did the following warmups: SSH x 20, Ankle Grabbers x 10, Lunges x 10, Self Love x 10. The fountain reminds me hanging out by the resort pool with a margarita… but that didn’t happen.

    Next stop – moseyed to the main entrance of Audubon Zoo. I told the PAX that I hate to be rushed and running around on my vacation. I like to relax and stay put. So today’s focus is to stay in one place and work on our forms. So we did everything in cadence:

    Round 1
    20 SSH
    20 Air Squats
    15 High Knees
    20 Lunges
    30 seconds Rocky Balboa
    30 seconds Al Gore
    5 Burpees
    20 Crunches
    10 Merkins

    Round 2
    20 SSH
    15 American Hammers
    15 High Knees
    20 Lunges
    20 Shoulder Taps
    10 Burpees
    20 Mountain Climbers
    20 Jump Squats

    Short walk to the parking lot in front of the Zoo. We picked a great view on the beach and did 11’s. Start off one side with 10 jump squats and 1 hand-released merkin on the other side. Bear-Crawl in between. After 2 rounds of 11’s, Q noticed there were a lot of small pebbles / rocks on the beach hurting our hands…. therefore, we changed it to lunges and bunny hops in between instead of crawling. Next time, I will pick a different beach (maybe less of a view with soft sand).

    Finished the workout with a Round of Chancun, which included few exercises in Superman position. Moseyed back to the flag with some coconut water waiting for us before the COT.

    I am always grateful and thankful to be able to workout with you PAX on a regular basis. I hope to do this for a very long time.

    SYITG

    King Kong

  • Core Crusher and Flickerball – from Zoolander

    from TruCoat…”15 assembled Saturday at the North Shore Lakefront for a multi-phase workout and coffee. Following a short warm-up, the group conquered a 15 minute core toning medley of mountain climbers, V-ups, supermans, squats or jump tucks, and side touches. After a short mosey and 6 rounds of merkins with a soccer ball twist, the group divided and faced off for a 25 minute flickerball match. The Masters, led by Tanked-Up, and the Seniors led by very-soon-to-be-30 Grundy sprinted back and forth the long field trading scores. In the final moments, the Seniors’ secret weapon, 12 year old Baby Yoda, scored with a laser shot to the back of the goal. Bean made the highlight reel with impressive defense and Bird fearlessly recovered balls out of Lake Pontchartrain, proving gators, rough seas, and the possibility of a double dose Z-pak were no match for this aquaman. The game drew a few spectators, possibly to admire the elegant passing among the sides, or more likely, hypnotized by bare-chested Bushwacker wearing a much too small youth pinny. A good time had by all! ”

  • Prepping for the 2022 USA Games – from Hawgcycle

    Conditions: 76 degrees, Humidity 89%, Wind 3 mph from the East

    Pax: MulliCan, The List, Field Lice, Forty, Yank, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Two Tickets to Paradise, The Moistest, Papa, Will.I.AM, The Biebs, The Driest of Sockets, Grind Breaker, The Clammiest of Chowdahs, Bananarama, Bone Thug, and Nipster.

    Warm-up

    SSH x 25; IW x 25; DQ x 10; Floyd Mayweathers x 24; LSS x 25; Joe Bidens x 25; Bat Wings (FAC x 25; BAC x 25; Seal Claps x 25; OH Claps x 25; Moroccan Night Clubs x 59)

    The Thang

    Mosey to ….The Wall
    • BTW + Floyd Mayweathers x 12; BTW + Joe Bidens x 12….repeato
    • London Bridge x 12; Mike Tysons x 12…..repeato
    • BTW + Floyd Mayweathers x 12; BTW + Joe Bidens x 12

    Mosey to the Bandstand for…..

    Ring of Fire – 9 merkins each (start when pax on the left gets to 5). Hold plank the rest of the time. 2 rounds

    Mosey to the grass for….

    EMOM Burpees. 4 rounds of 12 and one round of 11 for 59 total

    Mary – Crunchy Frog x 20

    Mosey back to the flag for COT

    Prayers for Landing Strips Dad and Fast Tax Son and friend deployed in Syria

    NMM
    • Thanks to Yankee for having the idea of running my 181st 10K after the Birdcage as I raise money to help send 59 Louisiana athletes and 25 coaches to the 2022 USA Games in Orlando. Special Olympics has a lot of shared values with F3 – physical fitness, inclusivity, and leadership. Heartfelt thanks to everyone in F3 for their support of this fundraiser. If you would like to volunteer with Special Olympics, reach out to me and I can show you how.
    • Thanks to Bieber, Angie’s List, Mulligan, and Yankee for joining me for 10K #181. It’s always a big help to run with others.
    • I’m convinced that Bat Wings is totally mental. It sucked the first time I ever did it, but not anymore. I think my mind got used to it more than my shoulders. You get to a point, where your mind says “you should not be holding your arms up this long….PUT THEM DOWN.” But if you can get past that, your shoulders become fairly numb and it doesn’t hurt too much anymore. I’ve done it so many times now that I think it takes too long to really make it suck. I didn’t want to do much running or cardio today, so I was okay with spending 5 minutes basically doing arm circles.
    • I didn’t want to do much cardio, but there is too much science saying burpees are the best exercise ever, not to include them in a workout. I personally think you have failed as a leader if you don’t include at least 50 burpees in a workout. I’ve said what I said.
    • When we went to get coffee Yankee was telling the Baristas and the people in line that I had just completed my 181st 10K in a row. They immediately referenced much more impressive feats like “one of our customers runs a half-marathon every day” and “I follow a guy on Instagram that is running from San Francisco to New York and has run 1500 straight days.” Picture them with the McKayla Maroney face as they are saying this. They were clearly not impressed. Then he mentioned that I run in flip-flops and they lost their minds. They couldn’t believe that I had just run a 10k in a pair of $5 flip-flops. My marketing campaign will be changing for the second half of the year. I have clearly been stressing the wrong part of what I am doing.

  • Get ups, obstacles and shuttle runs, oh my… – from Chewy

    12 pax met at the Lakefront Saturday morning.
    Hammer showed up for a solo Pre-thang. Steve did some other thang with Cowbell and Pik.

    Disclaimer followed by Warm-up:
    -SSH x 20 IC
    -IW x 20 IC
    -Windmills x 10 IC
    -Merkins x 10 IC
    -Mt Climbers x 20 IC

    The Thang:
    -Green Mile: run to playground with 3 burpees at each hydrant.
    Once at playground:
    -Get ups:
    Partner up: P1 performs 10 turkish get ups with Right shoe balanced on R fist (5 Burpee penalty if the shoe falls), P2 performs Curtsey lunges. plank and wait for pax.
    P1 then performs 10 get ups with L shoe balanced on L fist, P2 performs rotational lunges.

    -Obstacles:
    Pax divides up into groups of 3 follows a circuit created by Turbo back in the early days, this includes burpee pullups x5, run to play ground tower up stairs and down fire pole, run to splash pad and broad jump across, run up and over smaller playground tower, and back to pullup/burpee x 5 rounds

    Quick rest and pump primer with some good ol’ Jane Fonda’s x 15 IC followed by

    -Shuttle Runs:
    Partner up: 2 lines partner vs partner in shuttle run relay foot race x 2 rounds. This proved to be brutal.

    Slow mosey back to shovel flag.
    COT, Prayer, Coffeteria

  • Q Source – Grover’s Graduation – from Akbar

    It was a rainy, gloomy morn with what looked like 5-6 PAX for the beatdown. But out of the
    gloom came more Pax to help celebrate Grovers graduation. After Pixie Stix woke up from his nap, the count was 16 HIM. Great to have Hawgcycle and Carpool join us as well.

    QIC was ready with the biggest Wiki ever, laminated for the rain, and reading glasses to boot. We went through the first half of the Q-Source, including Foundations, Q1, and Q2 – with beatdowns in between readings.

    YHC will summarize and post the full content at the very end of the backblast if you want to read through it.

    The Q Source is F3’s Leadership Philosophy and leadership manual, which supports the mission to invigorate male leadership in our communities.

    WARM UP x 15-16 SSH, Hillbillies, Imperial Walkers, Self-Love, Mountain Climbers

    FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES:

    Disruption, disturbance of the status quo.
    Language, the Lexicon of Virtuous Leadership
    Group, a voluntary combination of two or more people.
    Leadership Development Process (LDP), great leaders develop new leaders
    Preparedness, get ready for the expected while being ready for the unexpected.

    Mosey to the Gazebo wall

    PDerkin IC x 12 (8 count Derkin with Peter Parkers) OYO 50 Dirkin, 50 Freak Nasties

    Q1: Get Right – the pursuit of proper alignment.
    DRP – Daily Red Pill. The daily commitment to accelerate Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith.
    King. The daily discipline of training the physical body.
    Queen. The daily discipline over what is put into the Body
    Jester. The temptation of the flesh that hinders acceleration

    Wall – X10 IC Tempo Stone Mountain & Shoulder taps in Derkin position
    Circle up. X20 IC -arm circles – front, back, overhead and reverse, cherry pickers, Moroccan night clubs, overhead press, Randy, 20 count lateral hold
    OYO X20 Stone Mountain & shoulder taps

    FELLOWSHIP – a man’s healthy relationship with the people in his Concentrica, or closest circle.
    M – The transformational relationship between a man and his wife.
    Shorties – the Sacrificial relationship between a man and his kids.
    Shield Lock – the horizontal relationship between men
    Whetstone – The vertical relationship between Men.
    Mammon – The sustaining relationship between a man and His work..

    Wall. OYO – 50 step ups, 25 each leg. IC x 10 Bulgarian Split Squats each leg.
    Line up at the wall. 10 x Twinkle Toes, lunge walk to the sidewalk, 10x Monkey Humpers, run back. Rinse and repeat x9, x8, x7 – and Q said that was enough.

    FAITH is a man’s right relationship with his Creator.
    Prayer – The daily discipline of talking with the creator to build faith.
    Study – Faith is a practice that requires study to accelerate.
    Meeting – Public manifestation of Faith

    CIRCLE UP OYO X10 Superman (regular, feet and arms up) ; Y Superman, W Superman, T Superman (arms straight out), Superman Row, Superman Merkin, Renegade Row

    Q2 LIVE RIGHT – THE DEDICATION TO PURPOSEFULNESS. To live right, a man must have an ultimate purpose in mind, which requires self-sacrifice & helps a man to stay right
    Impact – Forcible contact to strong effect.
    Influence – igniting a strong desire for movement.
    Missionality – Service in the High Impact Zone.
    Positive Habit Transfer – ingraining advantageous tendencies in others.
    Accountability – submission to a standard through enforcement and consequence.
    Correction – zealously advocating for shared virtue.
    Targeting – initiating Missionality in others.

    Mosey Back to the Flag.

    Mary- IC x 15ish. Heels to Heaven, Hands to Heels (Penguins), Leg Raises, Crunchy Frogs, American Hammers, LBC’s, Hello Dolly

    Grover was then presented with a Q Source inspired shovel flag, which was his grandfather’s shovel, and contained the 4 Quadrants of Preparedness. Get Right, Live Right, Lead Right, and Live Right. ISI on the back right of the shovel and a F3 and Super Grover sticker on the front. A copy of the Q Source was given to him also on the way to Coffeeteria. Great fellowship and conversation as usual at the Book and the Bean with surprise arrivals of Amnesia and Slots.

    Many thanks to Zoolander who had the shovel flag idea; for Shooter helping me put it together; and for the M who painted the flag.

    Count, Name and Shooter prayed us out.

    Thanks for letting me lead!
    Til next gloom, Akbar

    —————————————————————————————————-
    FULL CONTENT

    FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES
    Disruption: Disturbance of the Status Quo. A leader is a person who can influence people to do things that they would not have done otherwise. Leaders influence movement to advantage which causes disruption

    Language: The Lexicon of Virtuous Leadership. Leadership is evolutionary, not revolutionary. Effective groups have a unique language

    Group: A voluntary combination of two or more people. Man is by nature a Group-forming animal. 3 group types that must be led to advantage are Community, Organization, and Team. Dynamic teams are the heart of healthy communities and effective organizations

    In the Leadership Development Process (LDP), great leaders develop new leaders. There are 4 steps: schooling, apprenticeship, opportunity, and failure

    Preparedness: Get ready for the expected while being ready for the unexpected. The process of preparedness is deliberate and sequential. 4 quadrants: Get right, live right, lead right, and leave right

    Q1: GET RIGHT is the Pursuit of Proper Alignment. There are 3 components – Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith. FITNESS is a man’s right relationship with himself through physical fitness. Fitness is inward seeking. A man must get right before he can do anything else. To be able to help others, a man must first help himself.

    DRP – Daily Red Pill – the daily commitment to accelerate Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith. A man needs help to get right – to turn from amateur to pro.
    To do that, we must master 3 things

    King – Daily discipline of training the physical body. Fitness begins with the body and is maintained for reasons outside of ourselves. Fitness is best accelerated by running with faster men.

    Queen – Daily discipline over what is put into the Body. Man does not stay fit through exercise alone. Weight control requires accountability. You cannot out King your Queen

    Jester – The temptation of the flesh that hinders acceleration. Every man has his own personal Jester. The jester is a master liar – the jester and Virtue can coexist. Preparedness keeps the Jester at bay

    FELLOWSHIP – a man’s healthy relationship with the people in his Concentrica, or closest circle. Fellowship is the outward seeking act of relational rhythm – and takes as much discipline and attention as it does to maintain physical fitness – if not more.

    M – The transformational relationship between a man and his wife. The M is the most important relationship. Accelerating the M requires both skill and love

    Shorties – the Sacrificial relationship between a man and his kids. A man gives everything he has for his kids. The IMPACT that a man has on his kids cannot be underestimated

    Shield Lock – the horizontal relationship between men. Men Hunt best in a pack because we need someone to watch our six. Men recognize the advantage of mutual defense and lock shields together into a defensive wall to repel the invader. The shield lock must come together periodically to be effective.

    Whetstone – The vertical relationship between Men. It’s man’s natural desire to pass on what we have learned to a younger man. A man must be sharpened like a knife blade. The HIM acts as the Stone to the younger man’s Blade – providing the hard surface against which he becomes sharper. The Whetstone is necessary for both the blade and the stone to get right.

    Mammon – The sustaining relationship between a man and His work. Work is a virtue – Mammon is a relationship, not a pursuit. Mammon is a man’s least important relationship.

    FAITH is a man’s right relationship with his Creator. A man cannot live, lead, or leave right unless this spiritual relationship is accelerating along with Fitness and Fellowship. This is done in 3 ways:

    Prayer – The daily discipline of talking with the creator to build faith. A virtuous leader must have Faith. Prayer provides answers and is the antidote to worry.

    Study – Faith is a practice that requires study to accelerate. The acceleration of Faith requires a belief system. Study puts a leaders belief system to the test. If you stop studying, you decelerate.

    Meeting – Public manifestation of Faith. Faith is best accelerated in the company of others. To be competent in your Faith requires Skill, which results from practice. To leave a legacy, a man must be competent in the practice of his belief system – turning head knowledge into heart knowledge

    Q2 LIVE RIGHT – THE DEDICATION TO PURPOSEFULNESS. To live right, a man must have an ultimate purpose in mind, which requires self-sacrifice & helps a man to stay right

    Impact – Forcible contact to strong effect. Some movement – action taken in furtherance of Purpose – is required by at least 1 person. The proximity we create results in changes in the lives of the people that we meet. Sad Clown’s need help to Get Right, this can only be done in context of a relationship

    Influence – igniting a strong desire for movement. Persuasion is the initiation of first movement, using influence to convince a man to want to move. Movement must be voluntary and is influenced through word and deed.

    Missionality – Service in the High Impact Zone. The course of action taken to achieve an articulated purpose, which is made up of the tasks we undertake to bring our purpose to fruition. The comfort zone is a cultural myth that encourages men to be in-Effective. A HIM’s mission marks the boundaries of his high impact zone – his place of highest productivity, where he is the most effective. And preparedness helps resist straying from his mission

    Positive Habit Transfer – ingraining advantageous tendencies in others. 3 types of habits – negative, neutral, positive. A Positive habit is advantageous to the individual or others. We should help others minimize neutral habits and discontinue negative habits.

    Accountability – submission to a standard through enforcement and consequence. The HIM seeks accountability because his life is not his own. Accountability shines the light of Hope into a man’s blind spots. An effective shield lock provides mutual accountability.

    Correction – zealously advocating for shared virtue. The HIM preaches what he practices. Correction requires courage and love.

    Targeting – initiating Missionality in others. Missionality is an essential virtue. Targeting moves a man beyond himself. A man’s life is a single thing comprised of many components that must all work together in rhythm.

  • How to Not Win Friends and Influence People – from The Hammer

    On Friday afternoon, as my thoughts strayed from work, and found their way to my F3 brothers, I noted Bushwhacker’s bat signal that the Lakefront had no Q for the following day. Unacceptable! I leapt at the opportunity to lead such finely honed machines and volunteered to take the proverbial bull by the horns.

    Later that Friday evening, as Bushwhacker destroyed me in Pickleball while local pros Chewy and Nacho gave YHC pity looks, we discussed the following morning’s beatdown. Shortly thereafter, Zoolander texted to inquire if the beatdown would be “burpee heavy”, as he was already 2 scotches in. Apparently YHC’s reputation for continual, repeated, full body movement exercises is well-established because he later assured me he cut himself off at 5, though I thought I detected a faint Highlands brogue in his speech.

    Anyway, 15 strong, including FNGs (Xerxes and Snapper) posted. And away we go…

    Warm Up:

    SSH x 15
    Butt Kicks x 10
    Cherry Pickers x 10
    Arm Circles x 10
    I think one more exercise…

    Thang:

    Mosey towards the beach, stop at Noah’s Ark for 15 Derkins, 15 Irkins oyo…then continue to the beach for…the most intense Battle of the Poles since Jaworski and Bartowski faced off in the early 80s.

    We split into teams of 2, though this was an individual exercise. To quote those motivational sages of Rocky lore, Survivor, “Its you against you”, and “though his body says stop, his spirit cries, NEVER!”

    The Main Event:
    Descending ladder of 8 count body builders. YHC did this once in my spare time and hated it, so I knew others would feel likewise. It goes like this — Each 8 count bodybuilder consists of merkin, plank jack, and groiner movements, so we began descending rounds from 10 to 1.
    Round 1: 10 bodybuilders (Each bodybuilder required 10 reps each of merkins/plank jack/groiners). Thus, to complete this round, one would have done 100 of each movement (10×10).

    Good news: Each round descended by one not only in bodybuilders, but also reps of each movement, thus:
    Round 2: 9 BBs (9 of each movement per rep = 81 each of Merks/PJ/Groiners)
    Round 3: 8 BBs (64 merks/PJ/Groiners)
    Round 3: 7 BBs (49 each)
    …you get the picture. By the Round of 5, it was actually quite refreshing.
    For those that finished, like Sir Whacker, I believe that translated to 387 reps of each movement. (check my math)

    Between each round, we ran about 50 yards to tag a swingset pole and run back.

    We called it about 7:23, and did an Indian Run back to the flag. Said Pledge of Allegiance, and moved our minds and hearts upon the heroic men and women who gave it all so we have the luxury to recreationally torture ourselves. Though best known for one of the most annoying earworms of the early 90s, Billy Ray Cyrus got it right in his song “Some Gave All”:

    “All gave some, but some gave all. Some stood true for the red, white, and blue, and some had to fall. If you ever think of me, think of all your liberty and recall…some gave all”

    YHC prayed us out, lifting up brothers Hog’s Breath, Jose, and welcoming FNGs Xerxes and Snapper. Welcome guys!

    Thanks for letting me lead. It is always a privilege. God Bless!

  • Hip Hop Hooray – from Dry Socket

    Beautful morning out there at Audubon park. We had 20ish PAX present. Warmups included SSH, Grass grabbers, Peter Parkers, Mountain climbers and forward and reverse arm circles.
    Then we posted up at the zoo. DJ Dry Socket broke out his 90s/2000s underground hip hop classics to the delight of the 2 PAX that recognized a Beastie Boys song 🙂
    Did a DORA BOMBS (Burpees, Overhead Press, Merkins, Big Boy Sit up, Squats). Partner ran 0.3 miles around the zoo and switched off.
    We logged close to 3 miles today.
    Then we headed back to the field for a little game of Roxanne/Redlight. Ring of Fire, stayed in plank until your part came up then the pax did 4 merkins at a time.
    Ran back to the flag for some Penguins, LBC, Freddy Merks.

  • We Interrupt This Broadcast – from Grundy

    Bushwacker:
    Welcome to the Zoo-rich classic everyone and thank you for tuning in! Excited is just not a big enough of a word to accurately describe how I’m feeling today.

    Jose-10k:
    You took the words right out of my mouth Wacker. Covid-19 took many things from us, but I think we can all agree that it crossed the line when it forced the Zoo-rich classic to be cancelled in 2020.

    Bushwacker:
    You got that right. It was tragic. I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that this event might be the biggest source of hope and inspiration for America.

    Jose-10k: AND THE WORLD!

    Bushwacker: So here we are. The moment we have been waiting for for over 2 years. It is time for the Zoo-rich classic! And nothing, I MEAN NOTHING, can stop this thing from happe…

    We interrupt this broadcast to inform you that the Zoo-rich classic is currently in a weather delay and has been officially postponed until 5/1/2021. We thank you for your patience and do hope you enjoy today’s programming brought to you by the washed up wanna-be trainer Grundy.

    The Warm-Up

    We started with the following exercises in-cadence:
    * SSH
    * Seal Jacks
    * Windmills
    * Imperial Walkers
    * Cherry Pickers
    *Arm-Circles

    We continued with the warm-up by lining up on the base line in a bear crawl formation. We did a alligator crawl together across the court where we stopped to do 2 merkins every third movement.

    The next sequence turned out to be way harder than the Q anticipated. We split the group in half and each took a corner of the basketball court. We went around the court in circles doing gorilla crawls from baseline to baseline, and side crawls between the two baselines. We went for 10 minutes which worked out to be 4 trips around the court (after 2 trips we went the opposite counter clockwise). I definitely didn’t anticipate it being that difficult in my head when I made it up. Live and learn.

    The Main Event

    We walked over to grab the cinderblocks for what was the main thing the Q wanted to do that day. It was an exercise sequence first introduced to me by an Israeli personal trainer named Sagi Kalev. In it, the Q almost splashed merlot after attempting it for the first time. In the exercise Sagi gave some incredible advice, he said “When you feel like you can’t go anymore and you want to drop the weight and quit, what you need to do is… NOT QUIT!!!”

    The Q couldn’t offer any better advice to the PAX than that. Let’s do this thing!

    In this sequence the first step is to assume a lunged position over the cinderblock. Next you grab the block overhand using the opposite hand of your outstretched leg while the other hand grabs the backside underhanded. Straighten your back and try to keep the weight as much as you can to be right underneath your outstretched leg so when you straighten your leg in the lunge, the weight will hit the middle of your hamstring. As soon as you begin holding the weight underneath like that, your leg gets put into a tension that will not be relieved due to its positioning until you drop the weight. It makes it very difficult to cheat.

    The sequence then begins by doing 7 reps of the lunge by straightening your leg until the coupon hits your hamstring. After the 7 reps you go back to the starting position and begin a 10 count hold. (REPEAT SEQUENCE FOR 7 ROUNDS (COUGH COUGH sometimes 8 rounds)…

    We didn’t have enough cinderblocks for everyone to do the sequence at the same time so half the group did merkins and held a plank in the same cadence as everyone else. Rinsed and repeated on the opposite leg (and did squats and al gores the second round instead of merkins)

    Great job men!

    We walked back over to center court and did a core sequence that got named “Slot Machines” which really turned out to be quite effective.

    We went back to the monkey bars and did some forearm and grip training by hanging on a bar for different lengths of time interspersed with merkins.

    We circled up, counted off, and Waterpik closed us out.

    (Now back to your regularly scheduled programming. We thank you for your patience. Enjoy the Zoo-rich Classic)

    …ning!!!!