F3 New Orleans

Tag: Walleye

  • Trail Run #2

    Tclaps to Amnesty for getting this trail run idea started back during the beginning of Covid. Here we go for round #2!

    Stayed up late trying to plan a workout in a space with a lot of unknowns. Then, naturally, my youngest woke up at 2:30. The fear of oversleeping kept me mostly awake until 4:30 when I popped out of bed. I thought I would get out there early to scope things out again to make sure we didn’t get too lost. I arrived at about 10 after five, strapped on my headlamp, and mosey my way over to forest. I wasn’t even a few steps in when I saw a possum crawling towards me, a turtle to my right, and what looked like multiple sets of eyes starring back at me! I decided it was probably best to just trust my instincts wait for my brothers to join me on this adventure!


    Fifteen brave souls showed up for the adventure. There was lots of stretching going on pre-workout and not much talking, except when Ya Mom n Dem tried to give away his hat lamp! It was only a minor crisis when High Rise decided to wake up some peacefully sleeping ants. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Sandbar had gotten his passport just in time to attend the work out. Also, good to see Screwtop out for the second day in a row! 5:30 struck and with the normal disclaimer we were off. Started off in the open field to get things warmed up.


    SSH x 20

    Imperial Walker x 20

    Mountain Climbers x 20

    Left leg hip stretch

    Right leg hip stretch

    Peter Parker x 20


    Moseyed into the forest with an army of 14 behind me to the big open area by the swing. Split up into five groups of three. The count was 10 pull ups on the tree branch while one of the other PAX did dips on the fallen tree and the other did full body ab extensions on the swing. The other four groups were:


    Low slow squats

    Decline merkins

    Flutter kicks

    Decline merkins


    After everyone got their turn on pull ups we went into the thick of the forest! The tree branches were low so we decided to bear crawl through the narrow pass. When the trail opened back up we mosey through the forest and found our way to the gravel path. Headed down the path to the big open field. I had noticed when planning the work out that in this open field they had what looked like two big cement circles that resembled a figure 8. With the HATE8 on the horizon I thought it was a good opportunity to get some work in. Exercise was for 10 minutes:


    Bear crawl The stretch of grass between the two circles, run around to the top of the circle, five Burpee‘s, run down to the bottom of the circle, bear crawl across the grass, run to the top of the other circle, five burpees, run to the bottom of the circle. Rinse and repeat for 10 minutes while listening to Van Halen‘s greatest hits!


    Next, we moseyed to a separate gate back to the forest. This led us to the hill which is apparently the highest point in New Orleans. I thought Monkey Hill in Audubon Zoo was the highest point in New Orleans but I guess it’s for debate! At the top of the hill we squeezed in on the concrete pad and did some Mary:


    Pickle pounders x 20

    Freddy Mercury x 20

    Dying Cockroach x 20

    Reverse Crunch x 15


    Moseyed down the hill and headed to what I thought was the way out. We weaved back-and-forth through a very narrow trail head and ended up all the way in the back of the forest! We eventually found water and knew that we could follow the water back to the bridge that would get us out of the forest. There were several wrong turns and a couple of dead ends but we made it out and back with all 15 PAX! The unexpected detour caused us to be three minutes late. We got together in the open field for COT. Count off, Namorama, and a prayer for the upcoming hurricane with the sounds of what we think was ol’ Puke Dick in the background! This was a fun one. Thankful for the opportunity to lead!

  • Swolefest 10-5-2020

    The Swolefest AO is a great place to start off the week. Throwing around the cinderblock is a good way to get the blood pumping and the body moving. Today was no different. When 5:30am hit, I issued the disclaimer and then we proceeded with the warmup:

    WarmUp:

    • Side straddle hops – 20 in cadence
    • Mountain climbers – 20 in cadence
    • Windmills – 10 in cadence
    • Arm circles – 10 forward, 10 backward in cadence

    After the warmup, it was time to get it on. So we proceeded with the thang.

    Tha Thang:

    DORA 1-2-3:

    • 100 curls with the block
    • 200 bench press with the block
    • 300 plank jacks with the block

    Highrise gave us a 30 count, then we went ahead & did another DORA 1-2-3

    DORA 1-2-3:

    • 100 leg raises over the block
    • 200 step ups with the block
    • 300 bend over rows with the block

    Once we finished with the second DORA, it was right at 6:15am, so we did the count-off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions & prayer. We also had an FNG out there with us in the Gloom this morning. He was a friend of Belloq & Tool, and he did well out there during his first beatdown. After the name-o-rama, he went into the middle of the circle and told us a little about himself. After some deliberation, the consensus on his F3 name was “Heart-o-Quack.” Welcome Heart-o-quack. Hoping to see you in the Gloom for more beatdowns in the future. As always, thanks for the chance to lead, fellas. It’s always enjoyable.

  • Lesson: Do Not Do Murder Bunnies on Pavement

    7 strong arrived at City Park on a cool early Fall morning to once again tackle Wisner Mountain. The plan for the day was a Dirty Double, running a Dirty MacDeuce over Wisner Mountain, with some Dirty Manmakers in-between. The usual disclaimer and off we go.

    Warm up COP: SSH x 20 IC, IW x 20 IC, Grass Grabbers x 10 IC, Windmills x 10 IC, Arm Circles 10 forwards and 10 backwards IC.

    On the mosey to the mountain we discussed the origins of the Dirty MacDeuce. Captain Seamus MacDeuce was an esteemed war hero loved by his crew. He started working as a deck hand at the age of 12, and commissioned his first ship before the age of 20. He captained 12 ships over the course of his long and storied career. His men loved him for his honor, his bravery, and his commitment to his crew. He was equally well-known for his feats of strength and his love of Rum. His physical strength was unparalleled, and including arm wrestling and the ability to overhead press full barrels of Rum. He was both loved and feared as a man of the sea, and his strength of character serves a a beacon for the men of F3.

    The Thang: Dirty MacDeuce over the Mountain: 12 exercises, 4 sets of 3 (shoulder, legs, core), 12 reps IC, while running back and forth over the Wisner bridge.

    Set 1: Hand release merkins, Imperial squat walkers, American Hammer

    Set 2: Merkins, Monkey humpers, Crunchy frogs

    Dirty Interlude: Murder Bunnies under the mountain. The plan was Murder Bunnies on the pavement for 30 yards, 10 Dirty Manmakers, and Murder Bunnies back. Dirty Manmakers are a Manmaker with 3 hand-release merkins at the bottom, and 3 shoulder presses at the top. Catfish would love them. On the first 30 yards, the Murder Bunnies attacked Saban. Saban’s block crumpled on the pavement under his brute strength. Saban left skin and blood on the mountain this day, but with bloody knuckles he persevered to finish the workout. Seamus MacDeuce would be proud, Saban. After the Murder Bunny bit Saban, we modified to rifle carry with the blocks. I think this may be way the IPC performed Murder Bunnies on grass, not pavement. But we did get the better off them during the IPC. Even Score. Murder Bunnies: 1, NOLA Pax: 1.

    Set 3: Leg cross-over merkins, Alternating lunges, LBT’s

    Set 4: Wide merkins, Squats, Flutter kicks

    We moseyed back to the flag for the COT with count-off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, and a prayer. Lesson learned: no murder bunnies on pavement. Thanks for letting me lead. Sorry about your knuckles, Saban.

    Walleye

  • 76’s

    I was on the drive home from Florida when I realized that I had the Q on Monday morning for swolefest. I had a lot on my mind as I was thinking about my dad and who he was and what he meant to me. I wanted to offer a solid beatdown and show honor to my father through the things that he taught me throughout his life. My dad lost his struggle with cancer on January 22, 2017 after a 20 year fight. Yesterday, August 9th, would have been his 76th birthday…

    FOURTEEN pax showed up for the beatdown. It was good to see a number of guys getting back out after a long hiatus. I was pleased to see Breadsticks, especially since I had just eaten at Vincent’s last Thursday for my birthday. After the normal F3 disclaimer, I informed the group that the beatdown would be inspired by my late father.

    I also had to give a disclaimer that we would not be running or doing much lower body since I have a torn meniscus in both of my knees. And without further ado we were off. Started the warmup with sets of 20 which represented the number of years that my dad fought cancer:

    Hillbillies x 20

    Wind Mills x 20

    Peter Parker x 20

    Parker Peter x 20

    Next, I informed the group that my dad’s name was Jack and that I had done some research on the lexicon last night to find some good “jack exercises”.

    In my three years of F3 I hadn’t come across these, Happy Jacks. Five count jumping jack in cadence followed by two jump squats. We did four rounds of 5 counts.

    My dad would have been 76 yesterday so I let everyone know to look out for that number. Some of the exercises would be difficult but if there was one thing that I remember about my dad was that he was a fighter. A lot of times you have to push through the struggle in order to get to the joy on the other side.

    We started the 76’s easy with plank jacks. All of the exercises would be done on your own so I let the pax know to go at their own pace:

    Plank Jacks x 76

    From there we got into a more difficult exercise, man maker merkins! I chose this exercise because it reminded me of the things my dad taught me about being a man. This was the highlight of the workout for me. The exercise starts with your block to your right while in merkin position. Perform one merkin then pull the block across the ground to the other side, perform another merkin, and pull it back to the right. One is one, all the way up to 76! There were some breaks in between but we all made it through.

    Next, we did curls. 76 reps OYO.

    My dad was an architect and a builder so we had to get some 8 count body builders in. We did them with the coupon, Catfish would have been proud! I intended to push for 76 but realized that was not realistic about 10 reps in. We made it to 30.

    I could tell that we were needing to give the upper body a break so next we went to goblet squats, 76 reps OYO.

    Finally, had to get one more jack exercise in and multiple pax knew it was coming, Jack Webbs…actually, Block Webbs!

    We changed the count to one merkin and one block press. We aimed for 10. On the 9th round I began to feel nauseous. I thought for a moment that maybe we would stop at 9 but got encouragement from the group to push through to 10. We did it!

    When I stood up I felt like I was going to pass out. There were just about 5 minutes left in the workout but it was that bad. I had visions of Holy Grove passing out of dehydration at WPM and knew that I had to get some water. I told High Rise to lead the group in some Mary to finish things up. Tool followed me to my car to make sure I was alright. I took a sip of water but still felt like I was going to pass out. I sat down, another sip, still nauseous. Finally, I laid on the ground. I was there for about 30 seconds then miraculously felt instantly better. Took another sip of water and walked back over. I was able to finish the last two Mary exercises with the group.

    So thankful for F3 and for the group of guys that were out this morning! F3 has meant so much to me over the years. My attitude has suffered over the last month or so that I have been out dealing with the torn meniscus. That’s why I keep pushing to go out even though I know that I should be resting. F3 gives me resilience throughout each day to push through the difficult parts of life.

    You know, you get that part every morning that you post. There is always someone there pushing you to finish strong and I really appreciate that. But this morning I experienced what makes F3 so special. It’s not every morning that you push yourself to the brink of exhaustion both emotionally and physically but that was the case this morning. I am forever grateful to have my health and to know that if I fall that there is someone there to help me up. It reminded me of the verse in Ecclesiastes 4:10 that goes like this:

    “For if they fall, one will lift up his brother. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!”

    Thank you Tool for looking out and thank you brothers for pushing me every day to be stronger and thank you dad for being such a good father to me and showing me what its like to be a good man. I miss you dearly.

    Thankful for the opportunity to lead!

  • RED Friday at Wisner Mountain

    5 Patriots arrived at City Park for a RED Friday workout. The real disclaimer today is that the workout was devised by @Boo-Boo, and we just completed it at City Park. Thank you for the workout @Boo-Boo, and reminding us to remember and honor our servicemen and servicewomen around the world.

    And welcome back, Ya Mom’n’Dem!

    The workout today is in honor of 9 men and women who died in a military training exercise on 7/27/20. 9 exercises for 9 fallen soldiers, 27 reps each. As we felt the burn, we tried to remember the pain (physical, emotional, psychological) that American soldiers endure as they fight for and protect our Freedom around the world.

    Warm-up COP: SSH x 20 IC, IW x 20 IC, Arm Circles 10 forwards 10 backwards, Grass Grabbers x 10 IC, Windmills x 10 IC, MC x 10 IC.

    We moseyed to Wisner Mountain for Tha Thang: 9 exercises for 9 fallen soldiers, exercises at the top and each side of the mountain, 27 reps each in cadence in honor of the day of their passing.

    Merkins, Squats, Flutter Kicks, Lunges, Dips, Hello Dolly, Shoulder Taps, LBC’s, and Low Slow Squats.

    We moseyed back to the Pavillion for 10 Pull-ups and 1 minute of Plank-o-rama. Count-off, name-o-rama, intentions, and a prayer. Thank you to all of servicemen and servicewomen around the world for protecting our Freedom.

    Walleye

  • Gnarly Nutria Prep

    6 men arrived at City Park for a little beat down on the morning of the Gnarly Nutria. The prep work for the Gnarly Nutria was not to run, save the legs, plain and simple. The usual disclaimer and off we go. We moseyed to the track for the Thang.

    Warm-up COP: SSH x 20 IC, Hill-billies x 20 IC, Windmills x 10 IC, Grass grabbers x 10 IC, Arm circles 10 forwards 10 backwards, MC x 20 IC.

    COP #1:

    Merkins x 20 IC, Shoulder taps x 20 IC, Low slow squats x 20 IC, Lunges x 20 IC, LBC’s x 20 IC, Left leg cross-over merkins x 10 IC, Flutter kicks x 20 IC, Right leg cross-over merkins x 10 IC, Side lunges x 20 IC, Crunchy frog x 10 IC

    Run One Lap

    COP #2:

    Plankorama x 15 IC (High plank, right arm, backwards, left arm, mission impossible), Superman I Y T’s x 15 IC, Hello dolly x 20 IC, Rosalita x 20 IC,  Bird Dogs x 20 IC

    Run One Lap

    COP #3:

    Merkins x 10 IC, Low slow squats x 10 IC, Left leg cross-over merkins x 10 IC, Lunges x 15 IC, Right leg cross-over merkins x 10 IC

    Then right into some Mary: LBCs x 20 IC, J-Lo x 20 IC, Reverse crunches x 20 IC, Dying cockroach x 20 IC, Russian twists x 20 IC, Freddie Mercury x 20 IC.

    Count-off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, and a prayer. See you at the GN. Thanks for letting me lead.

  • Wisner Mountain 2.0

    After Kuch led a heck of a beatdown last week at the Wisner Mountain we discussed moving our AO a little closer to the overpass so we wouldn’t spend quite as much time running to and from the bottom of the overpass. We all agreed to set our AO over by the pavilion by the festival grounds. 5 men gathered in what was a very dark parking lot and then while we were warming up Kuch and Snooze joined in as they had set up in front of NOMA in case any PAX had not gotten the message of the new AO.

    Warm Up:

    Mosey for a couple laps around the parking lot then circle up

    • SSH x 20 IC
    • Windmills x 10 IC
    • Hillbillies x 15 IC
    • Self love x 15 IC
    • Arm circles Fwd and Rev x 10 IC each
    • Mountain Climbers x 20 IC

    At this time we moseyed over to the base of Wisner Mountain. Instructions would be given for each trek up and down the mountain. First we moseyed up and over the mountain and then we circled up for a quick round of Mary. Freddy Mercury’s x 20 IC, Sweat Angels x 15 IC, and LBCs x 25 IC. Mosey back up and over to the start.

    Next we would vary which direction and which method we would run up the mountain.

    • Round 1: High knees to the top, mosey back to the bottom, and perform 20 Incline Merkins
    • Round 2: Side shuffle facing Wisner Blvd half way up, mosey back to the bottom, and perform 20 shoulder taps IC
    • Round 3: Bernie Sanders to the top, mosey back to the bottom, and perform 20 Carolina dry docks
    • Round 4: Side shuffle facing Bayou St John half way up then due to time constraints mosey all the way back to the pavilion.

    After a little confusion on where to circle up for some more Mary due to the presence of a high school girls cross country team, we finally landed on the playground area which had some lovely cushion for the coccyx.

    Countoff, name-o-rama, annoucements, intentions, and a physically distanced COT. As always I appreciate the opportunity to lead.

  • I’m a Q. You’re a Q. We’re all Q.

    Wednesday arrived and we were without a Q. I offered to lead the warm-up and gets things started. Tool offered to lead the next part of the workout which ended up being a group effort. All in all it ended up being a group effort and a very solid beatdown.

    Warm Up:

    Mosey over to the warm-up area of the practice track and circle up.

    • SSH x 20 IC
    • Windmills x 10 IC
    • Hillbillies x 15 IC
    • Self love x 15 IC
    • Arm circles Fwd and Rev x 10 IC each
    • Mountain Climbers x 20 IC

    Next up was 4 corners. Head over to the starting line. Run not quite a full sprint for 100 meters and then perform 25 Merkins. Run 100 meters and perform 25 squats. Run 100 meters and perform 25 Carolina Dry Docks. Run 100 meters and perform 25 jump squats.

    At this point Tool took over and we moseyed back over to the area where we warmed up. We circled back up and Tool set his timer for 1 minute. Each of the 5 PAX would call out an exercise and perform it for the full minute. Exercises varied between upper body, lower body, and abs. After all 5 rounds were completed we ran a lap around the track. This routine was performed for a total of 4 rounds. The last round was a round of Mary only. At that time it was 6:15.

    Count off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, and a physically distanced COT. Thanks to all the men who stepped up to lead a group effort.

  • Raise the Floor Not The Ceiling

    …Daily practice raises the floor allowing for incremental gains. With daily practice bad days become less so and it has added benefit of raising the ceiling as well. It will keep you on a path of forward progress and builds a strong foundation so when you fall the floor is not that far.

    Warm Up

    SSH x18
    Hillbillies x 14
    Grass grabbers x 12
    Toe touches x 12
    One leg stretch – 30sec x 4
    Self love
    Arm rotations x 10 (reverse)
    Shake wrists and feet

    Heart rate:
    Burpee – 10 Peter Parker – 2 merkens up x 10

    Exercise / F3 Relay
    Break into pax of 3
    Set up 2 stations, 1st at 0 meters / 2nd at 200 meters
    Station 1 / Exercise 1 – 400 Cumulative Merkins
    Station 2 / Exercise 1 – 400 Cumulative Lungs
    Station 1 / Exercise 2 – 400 American Hammers
    Station 2 / Exercise 2 – 400 J-Lo’s
    Pax rotate one person at each station one person running between to relieve.

    2nd Q in the books thanks for all the support!

  • Swole Fest IV

    Mondays at City Park Children’s Museum have become cinder block work-outs with minimal to no running. 8 strong. 35# cinder blocks. Disclaimer. Short mosey, and off we go.

    Warm-up COP: SSH x 20 IC, IW x 20 IC, Grass grabbers x 10 IC, Arm circles 10 forwards 10 backwards, Windmills x 10 IC, MC x 20 IC

    The Thang 1

    Flora 1-2-3, aka Blockora 1-2-3, aka Dora with blocks 1-2-3. High Rise introduced this last week during Swole Fest 3, and it was so much fun I brought it back for another round. All Pax partner up with blocks. 100 Merkins: P1 does Merkins with each hand on a block, P2 does squats, flapjack after 20 Merkins. 200 Power Cleans: P1 does Power Cleans with block, P2 does side lunges, flapjack after 20 Power Cleans. This one was quite tiring. 300 LBC’s: P1 does LBC’s with block on chest, P2 does block hops, flapjack after 30 LBC’s.

    The Thang 2

    Block-o-round. Each Pax stood 15 feet apart with block. Exercises with blocks x 20 in cadence, then animal crawl counterclockwise to the next block for the next exercise. Curls, Right leg lunges, Rows, Left leg lunges, Dips, Block raises, Curls, Bus-drivers.

    We ended with 8-count cinnamon twist crunch, explained and led by Belloq. Very nice exercise!

    COT: count-off, name-o-rama, intentions, and a prayer. We plan to continue Swole Fest for most of the summer, Mondays at City Park. Please come and join us. Thanks for letting me lead.

    Walleye