F3 New Orleans

Tag: Tool

  • Sprints and Merkins

    On another glorious hot and muggy August morning, 11 pax arrived for what may possibly have been the last Danger Zone workout, and Smooth’s bon voyage before heading to the life of Tapas and Sangria. 

    After a quick disclaimer, we moseyed to the track for a warmup that consisted of:

    • SSH x 20
    • Squat jacks x 20
    • Windmills x 20
    • Grass grabbers x 15
    • High kicks 
    • Butt kicks
    • High knees

    The thang – 

    Pax were to make 4 laps (1 mile) around the track as fast as possible.   After each lap, pax were required to do 50 merkins each, totaling 200 merkins.  When finished the group did LBC’s and other core exercises waiting for the six.  

    Next on the agenda was a sprint beep test, which was initially planned to be done on the track, but a large group of runners were also on the track, so we shifted to the grass in the middle of the field.  

    YHC forgot to bring cones so we formed 2 points about 20 yards apart.   All pax lined up with the objective to sprint to the opposite “cone” before the sound of the beep.  Once the next beep would sound, the Pax would sprint back to the opposite side awaiting the next beep.  This continued while the time between beeps decreased.  If a pax was unable to make it back to the line before the beep, he would be eliminated and assume a plank position.  T-claps to Holy Grove and Jesus Juice for battling it out to the end with JJ taking the crown.  

    With about 5 minutes remaining, we circled up for some more core called out by the pax.  Exercises included Freddy Mercurys, LBCs, and a few others that I can’t remember.  Last but not least we finished up with a merkin ring of fire before heading back to the flag. 

    Circled up where intentions were offered for those battling cancer, Holy Grove’s father, Smooth’s impending move to Spain and giving thanks for our health and good fortunes.  

    Thank you for posting with me and the opportunity to lead. 

    SYITG!

  • 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 🇺🇸🇪🇸💪🏻👊🏻🏃‍♂️

  • ARMAPALOOZA

    The Uptowner Q list was running low, so YHC jumped at a chance to give Hawg a break and tryout an unused Uptowner resource YHC has had his eye on for a while. Turns out, a no running beatdown is more of a challenge than this F3 neophyte imagined. YHC was honored to lead 13 men through the gloom for this experiment.

    Warmup x 20

    SSH, IW, Arm Circles (10 forward/10 back), Grass Grabbers, Plank Jacks, and Abe Vigodas. There was quite a bit of mumblechatter towards the end of the warmup by a PAX who will remain nameless to protect the guilty so YHC imposed a five-burpee penalty to maintain order. The offending PAX refused to clap during the burpees, which almost lead to another round of penalty burpees, but there was more work to be done so the group was spared.

    The Thang

    The PAX was instructed to grab a medium-sized rock and slowsey to the parking lot in front of the gym. YHC is a fan of Dora 1-2-3 and merkin ladders. The PAX partnered up for 100 curls, 200 overhead presses, and 300 air squats (modified from squat presses with rock after a round or two of an excruciating arm and shoulder workout). While PAX 1 completed the above exercises, PAX 2 bear crawled from the parking lot to the steps of the gym for a merkin ladder (one merkin at the base of the steps and adding a merkin for each step up, for a total of 35), then lunge walk back and switch with PAX 1. Tclaps to mmmBop and Amnesty for bear crawling through a rather large puddle without complaining (guess Amnesty learned his lesson after the penalty burpees). After completing the ARMAPOLOOZA workout, the PAX circled up for a three-minute ISI compliant squat.

    COT- Nam-a-rama, announcements, and prayers.

    Thank you F3 for another opportunity to lead. It’s never taken lightly and always an honor. Thanks to the PAX for participating in my experiment. Parts of this beatdown will be repeated at a future beatdown, but YHC will look to modify to strive for a full body workout with compound exercises.

  • Maiden Voyage

    Eager to mark our territory with a trail of sweat, 14 PAX, aka privateers, gathered this Monday for a maiden voyage in the uncharted waters of northern 70122, and area deep with nautical history.  This would be a test run to check out the area and also see what interests there may be in establishing a new AO.  As the clock neared 5:30, it was encouraging to see a mix of guys, coming from near and far, that all wanted to be in that number.  Before we set sail, YHC mentioned that this workout would be somewhat of an exploratory mission and perhaps a work-in-progress as we bounced around.  The disclaimer came next followed by the annual recitation of a crude yet useful nugget from the F3 Lexicon that is something we should strive to avoid:  Whiskey Dicking (verb) – “Half stepping through a workout or other event.  More generally, execution of anything without sufficient zeal”…recently updated to read “Tentative execution of a task”.  Basically, try to give it your all and make the most out of the next 45 minutes.  Here’s what we did:

    Quick “capri lap” around the parking lot with a COP in the nearby field for a warmup of IW, Phelps, WM, AC, Toy Soilders, LSS.  

    Then we kept it close for any lost latecomers with a continuation of the warmup, getting in a diamond formation for Burpees x20, Bench/Bleacher Dips x15, Jump Squats x10, Tire Flips x5.  This circuit would hopefully be repeated later on but no dice.  

    From there, we moseyed into the heart of UNO’s campus, with a stop to plank for the six followed by 10 Merkins.  T-claps to Kuch and Gideon who YHC overheard discuss trying to nudge a guy back out in the gloom…#HIM!  We ended the mosey near an area officially named “the lazy river” by Gabrielle which is adjacent to a few tall sets of stairs leading up to the amphitheater hill.  Here we dropped anchor for the first round of Dora, partnering up for 100 crossfit/hand-release Merkins while PAX#2 ran a lap up and down the stairs and hill.  Pull anchor up…

    Northerly mosey to the concrete planters in front of the Alumni Building for the second round of Dora.  T-claps to Holy Grove and others for pushing hard then sweeping the six. Partner up with someone different (swinger style) for Inclined Hip Slappers x200 while PAX#2 run to the top of the levee and back.  Some groans and panting were heard on this one.    

    From here we changed course back towards harbor, stopping in front of The UC for the third round of Dora.  Original plans called for a stair running loop but time was ticking and we had to wing it with LBC x300 (in sets of 50) which PAX#2 held a low squat #ISI.  We had to cut this a tad short and hightail it across the field to the flag.  Shout out to HG and JJ for kicking it in high gear on the final run.  Total distance covered was approx 2.17 miles.  YHC’s goal of scoping out the area was accomplished but the run/plank time squeezed out some of the circuit work.   

    Finished things off with a COT.  Next two workouts in that location (NW corner of Leon C. Simon and Elysian Fields) will be 8/26 and 9/9.  Input and Qs are welcome so please chime in and/or step up.  Hopefully this AO takes off, in turn further growing the footprint of F3 and having a positive impact on more men.  T-claps to Gideon for the nudge and pledge to help get this going.  

    Thanks for the opportunity to lead. 

    Tool 

  • No Fancy names today….

    No fancy name but hopefully a little pain; that was the mantra going into my VQ. 12 Pax braved the heat and humidity of an August morning to get better physically and mentally.  

    Throughout the week leading up to the big event, I went back and forth thinking, “Would the beatdown be tough enough?  Do we need more to fill the time?”   About 20 minutes in after YHC was sucking wind, and judging by the groans coming from the other Pax, those questions were answered.  

    Gave the disclaimer and we did a quick mosey around NOMA before circling up for some warmups in cadence.  

    • SSH x 20
    • Kettle Bell Squats x 20
    • Peter Parkers x 20
    • Shoulder taps x 20 each shoulder
    • Arm circles – 20 forward and 20 backwards 

    From here we lined up in 2 groups and did an Indian Run from NOMA down to the entrance of the park (Carrollton) and back up heading to the Foundry.  

    Once we reached the Foundry the Pax split into groups at 5 stations for a Tabata workout of 45 seconds on, with a 10 second break in between stations.  We completed AMRAP and did 3 rounds of the following:

    • Jump squats
    • Carolina dry docks
    • Single leg jump lunges
    • Pull-ups
    • Dips

    After completing the 3 rounds we moseyed back to the field in front of NOMA, where there were 4 cones spread about 20 yards apart in a square formation.  The Pax formed 4 groups with 3 at each cone.  Moving clockwise, each Pax had to bear crawl to the first cone and wait for all Pax to reach their cone.  While waiting for the 6, Pax were to assume a squat position.  

    Once everyone reached the cone, the Pax did 10 burpees.  Next cone was a crab walk with the same instructions (hold squat waiting for the six and then 10 burpees).  We repeated the same pattern for the remaining 2 cones for a quick 40 burpees after both bear crawls and crab walks. 

    After a short 20 count break, we regrouped lining up with the first tree and did an all- out sprint (40-50 yds).  We repeated this for a total of 4 sprints.  

    With a solid 6 minutes or so remaining, we circled up for some core exercises called out by different Pax.  From memory we did:

    Wife pleasers

    Hey mary? (Probably butchered the actual name)

    Side leg lifts

    Dying Cockroach

    Reverse cork screw? (See above)

    LBC

    Crunchy frogs

    1-2 other core 

    Finally we finished in the CoT for the conclusion with the NOR, announcements, intentions and prayer.  

    With the exception of YHC losing his car key, it was a great first Q, and I appreciate everyone coming out and posting.  Also,  big thanks to everyone for helping me look afterwards for the missing key, albeit without any success.  And lastly, thank you to Thumb War for the ride home.  

    Enjoyed the opportunity to lead and SYITG!


  • Typical, Humid, Summer 610 Stomp Morning

    What is also becoming typical on Tuesdays is the large PAX and participation we continue to see and grow through F3.  This is despite even adding a Monday morning running workout.  This is a good thing.

    The workout was very simple:

    15 minutes out and back,  traditional route via Bayou St John.

    Then directly to the track for 10 minutes of running the straights,  jog

    curves.

    Then some stretching exercises, LBCs,  and a “slant” hold for that last 5 minutes.  Some folks haven’t stretched since high school.

    Count off, Nam-a-rama, Announcements, COT.

    Always a privilege to lead with such a great large group of like minded individuals.

    From San Jose, CA see you in the gloom and on the radio,

    Bongo

     

  • This ain’t no democracy

    Just sit there and shut up. This ain't no democracy.

    A very very damp morning greeted the PAX, after yesterday’s squall lines rolled through. YHC had done a quick drive by one of the intended workout areas to see whether it was usable, and alas – discovered that it was quite soupy. So perhaps an audible was going to be necessary. More on that later.

    5:30 – Issue a disclaimer, and 21 PAX moseyed off to the track. YHC is not a regular at the Foundry. His recollections of the Foundry from way-back-when was of an intimate gathering of just a few close friends. Now we are at 21 PAX (and apparently that’s the new normal at The Foundry!) Fantastic to see such growth – more HIMs, more impact, more motivations. Thank you all.

    The Warmup

    Circle up on the track for a typical warmup, consisting of Windmills (oops – bad move on the part of the YHC, needed to restart , SSH, Arm Circles, Overhead Claps, more Arm Circles (alas, Amnesty kept chit chatting and missing the instructions to KEEP YOUR ARMS UP). Then some planks, just because.

    The Thing #1

    BLIMPS. Partner up for the BLIMPS-a-go-go. Partners run opposite directions on the track, and wherever they meet – do the next letter exercise. Then run opposite directions again. Start with Burpees x10. You all know the drill from there (except, apparently, YHC who attempted to spell out BIMPS). Ya Mom’n’Dem did a great job carrying an additional heavy weight on his back (“Jesus Juice”). Meanwhile, Holy Grove and Smooth finished about 15 minutes ahead of the next closes finisher.

    As PAX finish, start LBC’ing and Dollying awaiting the 6. YHC then offered the PAX a choice:

    • Elevens: PAX who want to do 11s, line up on YHC’s left
    • Get your shoes wet: PAX who want to get their shoes wet, line up on YHC’s right

    YHC was astounded to see a vote of 20-1 in favor of “Keep your shoes dry” (and the humble reader can guess who was the “1”). Apparently, a lesson in the Art of Manliness was in order. As this is NOT a democracy – the PAX moseyed off to collect a cinderblock from the swamp.

    The Thing #2

    Grab your cinder block and line up along the left field line in the puddles (you know, the area that looks like a baseball field when not covered by muck and grass clippings). Pop Tart scoffed at the rest of us, as the mud and water just oozed right out of his mandals…

    Round 1: 15 each Overhead Press, Curls, Rows, Bench Press. Then a Bear Crawl out about 30 yards, and Lunge Walk back. Briefs grumbling “my shoes won’t be dry for days”. Screw Top whining “Can’t we go do pullups instead? Its dry over there”.

    Round 2: 12 each. Crawl Bear out, Walk Lunge back. Words fail to express my disappointment at hearing Tool suggest that Walk Lunge would be easier if his footsies weren’t so wet.

    Round 3: 10 each. Not enough time for more out-and-back, so return our Cinderblock friends and slosh back to the flag.

    Finished about 5 mins late. Sorry PAX (but not really)

    Count-off and name-o-rama (lots of young guns at the Foundry – thanks for pushing me harder everyone!) Announcements and Intentions, especially praying for Holy Grove’s dad in his recovery from health challenges.

    As today is the feast day of St. Ignatius, YHC closed with his Prayer for Generosity. Thanks for letting me lead. And thanks for following where I go! Into the Muck and Mire!

  • It’s All Fun and Games

    Earlier in the week Hokie Pokie asked for a replacement so YHC was happy take over Q for Muscleship. Recently my son suggested we play Red Light/Green Light as part of our workout. I did my best to design a beatdown involving games of some kind and hopefully what we did sufficed.

    Warm-Up:

    Mosey around NOMA and then circle up for exercises done IC:

    • SSH x 20
    • Windmills x 10
    • Self Love x 15
    • Imperial Squats Walkers x 15
    • Arm circles fwd/rev x 10 each

    Then it was time to grab my speaker and describe the routine that was to follow which I’m sure lead to some confused faces initially. Based on my son’s suggestion of Red Light/Green Light I found a randomized timer app. Timer was set for random times between 15 and 45 seconds during which it would alternate between red light and green light. During green light we would perform exercises in which we were moving and during red light exercises we would exercises in which we would maintain a static position.

    Green Light exercises:

    • Mountain climbers
    • LBCs
    • Merkins
    • Cross-over lunges
    • High knees
    • Right single leg wife pleasers
    • Left single leg wife pleasers
    • Crunchy planks L elbow/R knee
    • Crunchy planks R elbow/L knee
    • Freddie Mercury’s

    Red Light exercises:

    • Al Gore
    • Plank
    • Left side plank
    • Right side plank
    • Low plank
    • Static lunge left leg in front
    • Static lunge right leg in front
    • Reverse plank
    • Static heel raise
    • Static leg hold

    After this we moseyed to the Foundry for some Deck of Death Battle Edition. PAX was split into 2 teams and cards were flipped. Winner of the battle would select the exercise between the suits of the 2 cards flipped. Reps were determined by the winner’s card. In the event of a battle (same card number/face card is flipped) both exercises were performed.

    • Diamonds – pull ups
    • Spades – jump squats
    • Hearts – merkins
    • Clubs – sidelying leg raises

    After this it was time to mosey back to the flag for some cool down stretching. Count-o-rama, name-o-rama, annoucements, intentions, naming of our FNG, and sweaty ball of man. Welcome Triple Bypass. I hope some fun was had by all as everyone (my son included) continues to challenge me to get creative with my beatdowns.

  • Sweep the 2

    22 Men gathered on a wet, dark morning to catch a quick run. The usual disclaimer was given, and to the best of my recollection, it was eloquent and concise this time. A first perhaps. Aside: Are you supposed to say “my name is so and so” in the disclaimer? Maybe I’ve just never gotten comfortable announcing “My name is Kuch”. I didn’t say it.

    I’ve spent many paragraphs already on why the Stomp is great: great F2, generally a bit lower intensity than Monday and Wednesday, and great for runners of all speeds. So on the one hand, you don’t want to fix something that aint broken. On the other hand, we’ve had some great variations at the Stomp lately, including Rev Sox’s 13 colonies workout/football game, El Guapo’s light post runs, Smooth’s Jazzfest themed beatdown, and VQ’s for Shuffles and Briefs, who both added their own touches.

    What I’m getting at is: come Q the Stomp. Bring a slight (or significant) variation, or just tell everyone to run 20 out and 20 back and do some Mary. It doesn’t matter. It will be great. Your contribution will be appreciated no matter how much or little you deviate from the norm.

    Anyway, back to the actual workout. We moseyed 20 minutes out at about a 10:30 pace as a group, all staying together. When he hit 20 minutes, the instructions were simple. Run back to the flag as fast as you can. Don’t leave anything in the tank.

    When you get to the flag, you mosey to the guy behind you, and run hard back with him. And then the 2 of you sweep the next guy and run back hard with him and so on until 20 or so guys are running down Roosevelt Mall together to sweep the 6. It worked well, and you will see it again.

    To mentally prepare myself for this one, I told myself that I would run as hard as I could back to the flag, and I wouldn’t save anything for the sweep. If I had to walk, I would, but I would not mosey. I surprised myself and ran a lot faster than usual. Didn’t know I had it in me. That will be the instruction to all the PAX next time: save nothing. Go as hard as you can. Walk, if you must, but don’t cruise. (and of course, modify if you need to)

    The usual formalities, and a prayer that we carry the goodwill and decency shown everyday at F3 workouts with us through all our interactions. Thanks for having me. – Kuch

  • Curls For The Girls, Lunges For The Ladies

    Is there a F3 name for writer’s block when mapping out a workout?  If so, YHC had a case of that leading up to the Uptowner on Fri.  Lots of good ideas brewing but hard to settle on which ones….maybe a tabata timer? do we fumble with a sweaty phone, music?, rocks or no rocks?  One rock or two rocks?  How muddy would it be from the rain and the the pumps?  Perhaps a 1000 rep workout but would there be time?  How do you pick?  Well, YHC picked up Amnesty in the original LCC and tapped his old and wise brain while in route.  We decided on a few tweaks, and would make sure to incorporate curls since he would be beach bound the following day.  As to the clocked neared time for kickoff, it was good to see a mix of F3 veterans and rookies alike trickling in, including a FNG.

    After the disclaimer, YHC informed the PAX the plan may change on the fly and we’d hone in on upper body and core since many of us were still recovering from running the GN.  Here’s what we did:

    Warmup – IW, WM, AC, SSH, LSS, all IC

    COP #1 – We grabbed two rocks, one large for curls, etc. and one med/small “good form” rock.  Circled up for Curls, Tricep Ext, Rows, Alt Lunges, V-roach w/rock), Chest Press, one min plank…maybe one or two more?  Rinse and repeat.  

    Drop the rocks and bear crawl approx 50-60yds to light pole, then mosey to the water fountain for hydration.  There we circled up by the benches for:  Dips, LLSU, RLSU, Dips, all IC.  Then a mosey back to the track, with a 50-60yd lunge walk before heading back to the rock circle.

    COP#2 – Round robin style with alternating core and/or upper body exercises.  The PAX took turns leading merkins on rock, curls, chest press, skull crushers, scoops, merkins, LBC w/ rock, all IC.   
    Deposited rocks and finished up with a minute of hip flexor stretching.   

    We capped things off with a COT.  Welcome FNG Shocker who is an up-and-coming low voltage video and alarm guru.  Prayed for Mambi’s father and Holy Grove’s father as they struggle with health issues and daily things we all may take for granted.  Also prayed for gratitude and a few other intentions. 

    Hopefully this workout helped Amnesty look buff on the beach this week and his M was the envy of every lady around.  And hopefully everyone else left stronger than when they came.  As always, thanks to the PAX for the continued motivation.  Always a pleasure to lead. 

    Tool