Cool and crisp conditions this morning at Rock City, perfect “football weather” for a black and gold themed beatdown on the heels of the Monday night Saints vs. Panthers game. A few die-hards were sporting team gear and after the disclaimer along with a brief explanation of what lied ahead, we brought it in for a “Who Dat on 3″…not quite the same coolness as Brees in the Dome but it helped get the juices flowing. Then a mosey to the usual field for a quick warmup of SSH, Arm Circles, Imperial Walkers, Windmills, and LS Squats.
Made our way to the rock pile to select a companion for the morning and over to the large field for some drills. First up would be a round of exercises paying homage to the Saints 11-2 record so far this season. What better way to celebrate the 11 wins than with 11’s! Here’s how it went:-Curl Press with rock (10-1)-Backpedal to parking bumpers (approx 15-20yds)-Hand Release Derkins w/feet on parking bumpers (1-10) -Lunge Walk back
Now we couldn’t forget about the 2 losses so in an effort to push ourselves to get stronger, we circled up for 2 minutes of Up-Downs. Might have been a bit ugly at the end but the PAX hung in there for a long two minutes.
Next up would be a “Heisman Run” giving a shout out to Mark Ingram and Cam Newton that would be taking the field later that night. In order to be considered for the Heisman Trophy, one must show superb running skills with the ball, maintain possession of the ball, and be fast. Using our rocks as footballs and making sure not to fumble, we warmed up with Squat Press x20 before tucking in the rock(ball) for a run weaving around the trees(defenders) and finishing with an endzone celebration of Squat Press x10. Then waited for the six with a wall con roca sit on the fence.
Still time for another circuit so this time we partnered up in a line for some “Boom and Zoom” to give props to our elite running backs, Ingram and Kamara. YHC assumed it was common knowledge that the talented duo is nicknamed “Boom and Zoom” but apparently he was wrong. After some heckling and discussion, we noted that to be a star running back you must be strong enough to keep from coughing up the ball and fast enough to gain yardage. Therefore PAX #1 stayed put for “Boom” curls AMRAP to work on the guns while PAX #2 “Zoom” ran around the tree and back (50yds total?) as the timer. We did this for approx 4-5 minutes with some grumbling from the peanut gallery after a few minutes in.
Two minute warning was approaching so we called an audible to keep rocks overhead as we made our way back to the rock pile. From there a mosey back to the flag, a few minutes of planking, concluded by a “Who Dat” plank/merkin circle.
COT included some lewd yet fitting nickname suggestions for our FNG but we landed on Piper…welcome! Also an announcement for Crazy Ivan race coming up in Jan. Prayer intentions for Brad Brechtel and for a good, safe, injury free football game tonight.
Thanks for letting me lead. Hopefully we’ll be 12-2 by the time anyone reads this. Who Dat!
28 PAX ignored the threat of rain and made it out The Mothership this Sat. We lucked out with a “calm before the storm” as the the guys assmebled and prepared for takeoff. YHC wanted to mix things up with an old school City Park history tour as part of the workout, similar to a few beatbowns circa 2015. The night before had the forecast looking nasty, so the plan was to stay close to cover and hone in on a few of the iconic landmarks right there in the original part of the park. The 1300 acre park was established in 1854 and has lots of history, great architecture, nature, wildlife, and of course trees….home to one of the largest collection of live oaks in the world. Generations of New Orleans residents and visitors alike have enjoyed the park so it only seemed fitting to pay homage to a few things that make it a great place. As the clock struck 5:30 we discussed the plan for the day, followed by the disclaimer, then off to….
First stop, The Peristyle, built in 1907 to have outdoor dances and concerts for the “well heeled” New Orleanians….some chatter from Rudy about Jingle Vader being in that category. Using the year as the rep count, we started with Imperial Walkers x19 and Windmills x7.
Then an ugly mosey around The Casino Building with some doubt from the PAX before going up and over Popp Bandstand for Stop #2 on the nearby grass.
With 12 granite columns and topped with a bronze dome, Popp Bandstand was named for is benefactor, John F. Popp, and is a replica of the Temple of Love in Versailles. In 1916, Popp made a donation to the park to build the Popp Bandstand which was completed in 1917. The Spanish Mission Revival-style “Casino” building opened in 1913 as a place that sold refreshments. Because of that, the City Park legend says that the building originally was called a cantina, using the Spanish word for a place where food and drinks are served. In a 2008 Times-Picayune story, City Park Executive Director Beau Bassich said he believed the New Orleans dialect colloquialized the word into “casina.” However, 1913 newspaper articles do use the word “casino” to describe the new building, explaining it will be “the amusement center of the park,” though there is no mention of gambling.
Here we circled up using 1917 and 1913 to inspire the rep count for Peter Parkers x19, Low Slow Squats x17, Mountain Climbers x19 and Arm Circles x13.
Then we recaped the age of the park, 164 years, with a Plank Merkin circle where all PAX held a high plank while merkins were cranked out individually in a clockwise manner up to 164 total.
Then a mosey over the stone bridge towards City Park Ave for a meandering jog through the oldest grove of mature live oak tress the world. We made sure to recognize the two oldest ones by looping around McDonough Oak and then, after some doubt from the PAX about my navagation ability, made our way to the Ansmen Oak, both of which are approx 800 years old. Here we circled up for an 8 round burpee countdown, one round for each century…Burpees x8,x7,x6,x5,x4,x3,x2,…x8 for the crowdpleaser! More about City Park trees here: http://neworleanscitypark.com/in-the-park/trees-in-city-park
Then a mosey over the Ansmen Bridge, one of 9 built by the WPA, and back to The Peristyle where we lined up on one side for a partner circuit. This included 8 rounds of PAX #1 performing the specified exercise across the Peristyle and back (timer) while PAX #2 stayed put with a stationary exercise.
1)Inchworm & Wall Sit
2) Bearcrawl fwd/bwd & Balls to the Wall
3) Duck Walk & Declined Plank
4) Crab Walk fwd/bwd & Wall Sit
5) Lunge Walk & LBC
6) Kong & Balls to the Wall
7) Fiddler Crab & Flutter Kicks
8) Lateral Lunge & Wall Sit
Next up, we couldn’t leave out the adjacent Great Lawn that has hosted countless hours of F3 beatdowns. Built in 2010, the Goldring/Woldenberg Great Lawn is enjoyed by many and has seen a slew of picnics, concerts, yoga classes, and side straddle hops over the past 8 years. So we moseyed a quick loop to the Great Lawn and back to the nearby benches for a partner circuit of: PAX #1 Dips x20 OYO while PAX#2 runs to GL for Merkins x10 and back. Rinse and repeat for 3 rounds total follwed by a “victory lap” around the GL topped off with planking to wait for the six.
Still some time left for a few more history lessons so over to the rear of The Peristyle to gaze upon the banks of Bayou Metairie. Although it is now a landlocked lagoon, Bayou Metairie was originally a natural waterway spanning from Bayou St. John to the swampy area near what is now Old Metairie, essentially following the path of current day Metairie Rd. Once used by the Native Americans and early settlers, the banks of the bayou gradually formed the Metairie Ridge which provided high ground for ground transportation and later development of homes.
Since we didn’t have a year to use for rep count, we shifted our focus to 1946, the year of the first City Park Big Bass Rodeo, which is the oldest freshwater fishing rodeo in the country. At this point YHC had to alter the planned exercises and went with the first thing that came to mind, burpees, which really seemed to excite the PAX and peanut gallery, given the initial silence of disbelief followed by some grumbling and the “we already did enough burpees” comments. So PAX#1 knocked out Burpees x19 while PAX #2 held a wall sit on the ledge along Bayou Metairie, which had an awkward slope not conducive to said exercise. Then partner plank slaps, aka patty cake, holding a high plank and alternating hand slaps up to 46.
Nearing the end of our hour, we had just enough time remaining to circle up under The Persistyle for some themed Mary. YHC breifly talked about the various projects completed by the WPA (Works Progress Administration) in the 1930’s throughout City Park, including Tad Gormley Stadium, nine concrete bridges, a golf course, several art deco conrete benches, and Roosevelt Mall. In 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt came in town for the dedication ceremony. Pics below and more info at: http://neworleanscitypark.com/in-the-park/works-progress-administration-in-new-orleans-city-park
In this undated archival photo, President Roosevelt chats with New Orleanian Paul Alfred Montreuil, 7, at the dedication of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Mall in City Park. Also pictured: Marcel G. Montreuil, park superintendent; George Grundmann, chairman of the dedication committee and vice president of the park board; and James H. Crutcher, administrator of the WPA in Louisiana.
Our WPA and FDR themed Mary consisted of:
W – Weezey Jeffersons x10IC
P – Pickle Pounders x15IC
A – American Hammer x20IC
F – Flutter Kicks x20IC
D – Dying Cockroach x15IC
R – name??? exotic exercise led by Triple Shift x25IC
Moseyed back to the flag with some rain for added bonus. Capped things off with a COT and announcements. T-claps to War Eagle for stepping up to lead the prayer. He’s a pro at that stuff and much more eloquent in that field than YHC.
NMM – Thanks to the PAX for bearing with my non-professional tour guide ability and abbreviated history tidbits throughout the morning. As always, the peanut gallery led by Rudy and others kept it entertaining. T-claps to Mahatma and others for the occasional motivational cheers and USMC grunts to keep the PAX in high gear. Several guys asked for links (http://neworleanscitypark.com/in-the-park) to some of the City Park history in so I included several in this backblast, which may be one of the longest in F3 history….sorry for the long read, if you made it this far. My wife asked if I was writing a book.
I took the Q this am bc I have been dying to try some Rarajipari after Hawgcycle told me about playing it in City Park for the 610 Stomp.
We showed up for a hot 68 degree AM in the gloom. We had a FNG – (CHIHUAHUA) named after the province in Mexico that is home of the Tarahumara people who invented this game. He was wearing a Bulldawg shirt so clearly this is a man of great taste and pedigree. Thanks to Brown Bag for EH’ing him!
We gave the disclaimer and headed directly to Wolfpack Mtn. I picked up a bucket of balls on the way.
At the base of WPM SSH x 20 IC, Dying Roach x 20, Imperial Walker Squats x 20, and Mtn Climbers x 20
Partnered up – got a ball and started to play RARAJIPARI on our way up the MTN. At each end of the garage we did 10 merks. Congrats to the winners Sandbar and Saban who won the race up the MTN.
At the top of the MTN. We circled up for Peter Parkers x 20, Flutters x 20, Parker Peters x 20 and Hip Dips each side x 10 each.
Then we got a new partner and went down the garage with 5 squat jumps at each side. This in hindsight was probably a bad exercise choice. – Most of the PAX did their jumps with their back to the balls still rolling down the MTN. A couple of near missed ankle injuries – as far as I know – no injuires occured.
Congrats to Mariah and Peppa for winnning the race down. It certainly helped that their ball plummeted over the edge to the bottom floor from 6 stories up.
At the base – we put the balls in the bucket and ran to the benches. At the benches we did x 20 shoulder taps x 20 power ups left and right, and x 20 dips.
We sealed the deal with x 15 low country crab in cadence.
Then we hustled back to the FLAG. If you got to the FLAG before the 6 each PAX knocked out a BLIMP or as far as he could get.
Announcements: Tree sale at HNJ tonight!, Lycee is having a Christmas Market Saturday
Thanks for letting me Q – I’m looking forward to a Flaming Lips beatdown next Friday!
YHC arrived to the Mothership a few minutes early, and was surprised to be one of the first on the scene. With only 5 minutes to go, there were no more than a dozen Pax, which is a low number for the Mothership, but is understandable given a holiday weekend. YHC was pleasantly surprised with the final push of arrivals, bringing the total posting to 23, including an FNG!
With the clock turning 0630, time for a brief disclaimer, then…
Mosey toward the Great Lawn, in a direction that threw the Pax off. Keep ’em guessing is the best policy. Circle up on the Great Lawn for the Warm Up
SSH IC x 31
IW IC x 15
Ave Vigodas IC x 10
Grass Grabbers IC x 10
Arm Circles IC – 10 fwd, 10 bwd
Chinook Squats IC x 10
Plank-o-rama…Peter Parker IC x 15….Mountain Climber IC x 15….Parker Peter IC x 15.
A quick countoff proves an odd number of pax. YHC had a game of “Catch Me If You Can” planned out, but the odd number threw a wrench in the cogs. Not to fret, YHC had the odd and even numbers split up into two groups. Odd numbers start running backward on Great Lawn, Even numbers do five Burpees and “Catch Up” to Odd numbers. Once first Pax arrives, all drop into a plank and wait. Even Pax run backwards while Odd numbers do five Burpees and “Catch Up” to Even numbers.
One round of that was enough, YHC knew he should have put the cones out……but trying to infuse something new into the routine!
Mosey to the NOMA Fountain.
Box Jumps OYO x 10
LL Step ups IC x 10
Dips IC x 15
RL Step ups IC x 10
Derkins IC x 15
Mosey to the Tree Line, line up along the first tree.
Bear Crawl to 2nd tree, 10 merkins
Bear crawl to 3rd tree, 10 shoulder taps (King Kong did Kongs…)
Bear Crawl to 4th tree, 10 Floyd Mayweathers
Bear Crawl to 5th tree, 10 Burpees OYO and stand back up
Split the Pax in two groups again. Even number pax form one circle, Odd number pax form another circle.
Circle Burps!
All pax run in place. Each pax takes turns saying “down” which signals the entire circle to do a burpee, recover, and run in place. The odd numbers went around the circle twice, one can only assume the Even’s did roughly the same.
Mosey to the Foundry for Stations!
Station 1 – Dips AMRAP
Station 2 – Pull ups AMRAP
Station 3 – Merkins AMRAP
Station 4 – Leg Lifts AMRAP
Station 5 – Big Boi Sit Ups AMRAP
Station 6 – Run to bike trail, 5 Burpees, Run back – Timer
Complete 2 Rounds
Mosey back to the Great Lawn
Flutter Kicks IC x 20
Crunchy Frog IC x 10
Tin Snips IC x 10
Seal the Deal with 10 Burpees OYO!
Mosey back to the Shovel Flag.
COT
Count Off, Name-O-Rama, Announcements, Intentions, Close with a Prayer. Welcome Pele’!
NMM
The Pax were expecting some Burpee Suicides, but YHC threw ‘ em off with some new routines. Expect the Unexpected! Don’t worry, you’ll find yourselves doing Burpee Suicides again soon enough……
Not exactly sure how a guy born in Venezuela is named after a renowned soccer player from Brazil….but it works!
On a weekend of Giving Thanks, I’d like to say thank you to my F3 Brothers for continually pushing and supporting me to be a better person overall. This is a great organization, one that too many miss out on.
The disclaimer was short and there was no warm-up.
The Thang
A Murph.
1 mile run on the track around Pontiff
100 Pull-ups
200 Merkins
300 Squats
1 mile run on the track around Pontiff
We partitioned the exercises in reps of 5-10-15. I think we all modified the pull-ups in some form or fashion: jump pull ups, legs on the slide or step, not going all the way up, negatives, etc.
Tool, still recovering, rode his bike to the AO and then did the exercises sans runs. T-claps to Tool for keeping at it while injured. Glad to hear he was able to run the Turkey Day race with no issues.
Everyone pushed hard and finished strong. The first mile was just a little over an 8:00 pace. Below are our unofficial times:
Hawg – 43:16
JV – 43:41
War Eagle – 44:31
Rev Sox – 44:36
The Murph is tough, especially the pull-ups. Kudos to the men that came out to do it today. That’s how we get better.
Well Fight Club is destined to be a workout for three. It doesn’t matter who drives out or stops by for a random morning beatdown, we will always have three. YHC will thrilled to see War Eagle arrive, knowing that JV and Hawg were on the way, YHC was excited to bust out some Dora for the first Wednesday since the Fight Club launch. Alas, Hawg fartsacked for something called R3 (rest, relaxation, and recovery). Since War Eagle and Jingle Vader are part of F3 we got in a glorious three man beatdown this morning.
WarmUp
SSH – 27 (to remind War Eagle in his ugly sweatshirt that the Yankees still have more WS Championships)
Hillbillies -20
Arm Circles – 10 forward and 10 reverse
Inchworms – 20
Windmills – 10
Hold a Plank
YHC is terrible at holding a plank position*, so the Pax moseyed back to the start and held a plank for a while. During the plank we did some exercises.
Shoulder taps – 20
Annies – 20
Peter Parker – 20
*YHC is still horrible at holding a plank.
Big Laps
The Fight Club has a long sweet ramp up the levee that is great for a calf burning run. The Pax did 5 big laps up the ramp, down the stairs and around the parking lap back to the ramp. At the end of each lap the Pax did descending burpees to celebrate the completion of each lap.
Bear crabs
Bear crawl from one bench to the other and do 15 incline merkins
Crab walk back and do 15 dips
Repeat twice with 10 and then exercises. There was a great deal of complaining at this point in the beatdown. JV’s hands hurt and War Eagle complains like an Alabama fan would if they needed to play an LSU schedule. War Eagle’s complaints continued throughout the beatdown. Nothing makes a Q smile like some good complaints from the Pax.
The OMV
Mosey down to the Kenner OMV and take a seat on the wall while the Pax waits for our numbers to be called. Since the OMV is currently closed, the wait was longer than normal. Ended the first sit with some air shoulder presses and ended the second sit by holding our arms in the Al Gore position.
Suicide Merkins
The Pax crossed the road to the parking lot for some suicides between the light poles. At each light pole, stop and do 5 merkins at the first pole, 10 at the second, and 15 at the third.
Lunge Walk back
The Pax alternated between lunge walks and mosey at each telephone pole on the way back to the start.
Mary
Wife Pleasers – 20
Hello Dolly – 20
Circle up, Count Off, Name-O-Rama, Announcements, and Prayer
Thank you men for coming out to the Kenner for a beatdown and thank the Lord for the joys of salvation in Christ and community in the Church and our families,
On the tail end of a surprisingly cold November week, four men proved their manhood by posting in the 45-ish degree gloom at Pontiff Park for The Uptowner. The scheduled Q requested a sub days prior so YHC hopped on it as to commit to posting and help ensure the frigid-fartsack would not prevail yet again. As the PAX trickled in, one could only notice some crazy dude walking up in beach-like attire….sleeveless, in shorts, no gloves, no hat….wait, that’s the one and only Jingle Vader! YHC is always in awe of his tolerance to cold weather. After exchanging a few stories to recap the frigid workouts throughout the week, the clock struck 5:30 and we kicked things off with a disclaimer followed by a quick warmup:
Hillbillies x20, WM x10, AC x20, ISWx10, Plank Roll x15
Circuit #1: Next up, grab a small “good form” rock to work with before moving on to a larger one. In an effort to avoid wet rocks and wet feet, we opted to stay on the pavement for:
Tricep Ext x10
Rock Overhead/Side Press to Opposite Knee x10 (Imperial Rock Press?)
One Hand Rock Curl x10 (use other had to balance/assist)
Squat x10
Rinse and repeat (all IC)
Circuit #2: Set small rock down, grab a larger “man maker” rock and return to the circle. JV once again declined an offer of the extra pair of gloves YHC had five feet away….must be immune to the numbness that the rest of the PAX encounters with chilly boulders. I’m envious. This circuit would be w/partners doing the following:
Today marks year 3 of YHC’s F3 addiction. Thanks to the brotherhood which has welcomed me, challenged me, improved me. Its been a great ride, and one I look forward to for many more years. I hope that in some small way, I’ve helped other F3 members in the same way that everyone around the Flag has helped me.
So – what better way to celebrate 3 years than by replaying the workout that first got me hooked on this. Back before Hawg became a stoner, he was a thrust into the role of Emergency Q, as the Q for the morning of November 23rd, 2015 failed to show. No, it was not “Shorty”. It was a true and faithful brother of a slightly different height.
In hindsight, I have no idea how I survived that workout. As Mambi referred to his first workout – I would echo that description for mine: “From Couch to F3”. But it hooked me, and set me on a path.
So here we are – November 19th, 2018. Anniversary #3. What did I do for the anniversary? Uh, the same thing I did on November 23rd, 2015. Same as I did on November 21st, 2016. Same as I did on November 20th, 2017… I’ve never been called “creative”.
Mosey to the Rock Pile! Oh wait, an old-school Cowbell Special: 10 Burpees OYO before we get started
Warm Up
SSH x5. Then grab a rock. Some muttering about how the warmup was as hard as Notre Dame’s schedule. I will remember that comment, Rev-Sox. But we’ve got to get busy.
The Thang
The thang that hooked me. The Lieutenant Dan. Yes, Bogey – WITH A ROCK. At the end of the tree line, start Lunging and Squatting until you get to the fence. x2. x4. x6. Must. Keep. Going. That’s a loooong way to that fence. When you get there, no rest for the weary! Grab a People’s Chair on the fence while we wait on the 6. Mix in some curls while waiting for Triple Shift to finish hauling the largest rock ever seen.
Once everyone gathered at the fence, it was time to give the legs a breather. What better way to rest the legs than with The Jack Webb. Yes, Amnesty – WITH A ROCK. Merkins (one arm on the rock), Rock Presses. 1x/2x. 2x/4x. Up to 8x/16x. Hand Grenada 20 count, please!
Circle up for some Mary. One group of 4 PAX scoot over to the playground. Everone get in a solid 10 Pull Ups, with spotting if needed. Then hurry back. Rest of the PAX are doing Mary.
Dying Cockroaches while PAX group 1 followed King Kong’s slow mosey return, hanging us out to dry. 31. 32. 33. 34……
Hello Dolly for PAX group 2, who seemed to understand that they should try and move a bit faster.
Leg Raises for PAX group 3
Flutter Kicks for PAX group 4
Time to start moseying back. And by Moseying back, I meant The Lieutenant Dan. Yup, go the other way down the field. Same as the first time. Only Al Gore at the end. Thanks, Kuch, for explaining the Al Gore to Momma and Dem. “You see, you’re hugging a tree. A tree hugger. Get it? Get it?” As we again waited on Triple Shift, the PAX were given the choice of modifying the Al Gore: do it with your rock, or do it like Rudy (sans Rock). Bogey tried with a rock for about 10 seconds, then decided he’d rather be like Rudy. Good choice!
Next up – another Hawg special from my second week: the Bloom Where You Are Planted. Grab your rock. The goal is to NOT PUT IT DOWN.
Shoulder Press, Curl, Row, Squat, Bench Press x12
Repeat x10
Repeat x8
Time to return. But Mambi wanted more – so one more Shoulder Press x6, just for you. Now return the rocks and head back to the flag.
Back at the Flag, PAX did 10 more OYO burpees, just because Rev-Sox thought we needed a bit more from the workout.
Count Off, Name-o-Rama, Announcements, Intentions and circle up for the sweaty Circle of Trust. Thank you all for what you’ve given me. And thanks for the opportunity to lead again.
Over the last three months, YHC has quietly sat back an observed all that is F3. Trying to explain F3 to family and friends makes YHC sound like he joined a cult. “Yea, so me and a bunch of random guys I don’t know show up early in the morning for a workout. We have code names and end each workout by getting in a big circle and praying.” Regardless, YHC has discovered that F3 is the real deal. Physically, I am in the best shape of my life, and mentally you have all stretched me further than I could on my own. For that, I say thank you to all.
YHC was volunteered for this workout (thanks, Rev Sox), but I have discovered the best workouts are planned, and the PAX ends sweaty…
Welcome, Disclaimer, Mosey.
Warm-Up:
SSH X 29 (Random number stuck n my head from this past weekend :))
Mountain Climbers X 25
Imperial Walkers X 20
Windmills X 10
Arm Circles X 10
Peter Parkers X 20
Hillbillies X 20
The Thang:
Mosey to the Hill for 11’s…
First side – burpees
Bear crawl uphill
Crab walk downhill
Second side – jump squats
Mosey to the field and partner up…
200 LBCs as a pair. The first partner does LBCs while the second partner lays down and holds legs 6 inches off the ground. Rotate every 20.
200 squats as a pair. The first partner squats while the second partner does a sitting squat, Rotate every 20.
