F3 New Orleans

Tag: Yes Deere

  • partial Backblast for July 15, 2018

    F3 July 15, 2018, LBCs, IMG_0008

    I’ve been out of town and didn’t get the BB from Dagwood before I left so the above is all I have at the moment.

  • Stretching & Sweating in the Sun

    Backblast.  June 30, 2018

    So who else is noticing that after exercising for a couple of months and more that your T shirts must be shrinking?

    By Worms, with comedic assistance from Moneycat | June 30, 2018

    The Scene:  The Knoll

    Conditions: 82F, got warmer as it went. Ahhhh….the “cool of the morning” in BR.

    Welcome: 9 men posted.

    Disclaimer:

    “I am not a professional trainer….well, you guys know the rest.”

    (Sorry about the pics guys.  Even if I flip the image upside down on my computer before uploading the photos they still come out upside down on the Backblast posts.  Just so everyone knows, we were not doing head stands to take our photo.  That came later.)

    Warm-a-Rama:

    The local MADD group had a festive event going on at the park this morning, not to be confused with DAMM, Drunks Against Mad Mothers. They were taking over OUR parking places, so we moved over a little down the parking lot.

    Had some new exercises this morning requiring new coordination. Some of us neared falling down on some of these.

    Capri lap Squirm.  Not a “run” but can still call it a “mosey”.  (A squirm is a fast walk  To be “walking” you have to have one foot on the ground at all times.  “Running involves a moment in time where no foot is touching the ground. Its about 4-9/13  microseconds, I believe.)

     

    Goofball – A standing mountain climber (running in place) while you alternate your arms up and down (like climbing a ladder). Call it goofball b/c you look exactly like one when doing this.

    Annie – This exercise instructs pax on the art of clean floors, be warned some pax may break out in song and dance. Hold plank and rotate one arm in a circular motion while holding plank with the opposite arm.

    Sky Reaching – Long reaching upwards with your fingertips high.  Can be as strenuous as you want to make it.  You can be lazy and just point up like you want to ask a question, or you can stretch about 64 muscles till they hurt if you like.  If someone was asking a question I ignored them. Sorry. No questions can be asked once the counting begins.

    Sun God’s – This exercise is the rotating of shoulders through act of moving outstretched arms (with purpose and intensity) forward or backward in circular motion – Options for little Sun Gods and/or Big Sun Gods for desired effect.

    Batwings – Progression of arm exercises that are deceivingly difficult and named after Austin’s bats. Start with 20 x Forward Arm Circles, hold, 20 x Backwards Arm Circles, hold, 20 x seal claps, hold, 20 x overhead claps. Everything is on a 4-count. Remember to enjoy the pain on the faces of your fellow men.

    Fabreze – Certainly not the first production run of “Fabreeze” air “freshener”.   How do you make air “fresher” by contaminating it with “pretty” smells?   My sinuses rebelled with that stuff and I told my wife to throw it out and never buy it again. On your six, do 2 Big Boy Situps. Remain upright after last BB and lift feet up 6″.  Do 10 Air Presses.  (Thanks to Sparknut, visiting from Raleigh, pointing out that this is an arm press in the air, not a leg press.)  Back down for 4 BB followed by 20 Air Presses with legs held 6″. Repeat using increments of 2:10 ratio. (2:10, 4:20, 6:30, 8:40, 10:50, etc…). Didn’t quite do the numbers as planned because the Worms was tuckering out.

    Goose Step – Marched 65 paces just like the Nazis though we don’t hold to the fascist model otherwise.  A real leg muscle stretcher.

    Finkle Swing – Named for the infamous kicker “Ray Finkle” it is said that this was the stretch that lost him the big game. Pax swings one leg at a time back and forth to warm up those hips.

    Happy Jacks – Do 5 side straddle hops in cadence then after the 5th one everyone does two jump squats. Like this… Side Straddle Hops IC: One, two, three, ONE! One, two, three, TWO! One, two, three, THREE! One, two, three, FOUR! One, two, three, FIVE! Quickly followed by two jump squats. Repeat 4x or until no one can breathe.  Cool activity twist on some familiar exercises.

     

    Mozy to the sundial for da thang……..

    Dem Thang

    Freak Nasties – One stand, straddle other’s head.  Man on ground feet up high grasps the standing man’s ankles for support.   The stander throws the other man’s feet straight away 2 times.  To left 2 times, to right 2  times then over again.  SWAP positions.  That was the plan but I think most of us just did the throw straight away routine.  16 reps

    Hillbillies – Similar to Imperial Walkers but knee comes up to elbow on same side of body as side that knee is raised. About 16 reps

    Happy Feet – Arms out to sides.  Feet do rapid running in place but spread shoulder width apart.  Commonly a football exercise.  20 reps.

    Stormtrooper: Another similar to Imperial Walker but with a twist. Extend arms straight out in front of the body. Twist arms to one side of the body while raising and twisting the knee and hip the opposite direction. Can be done IC or OYO. Repeat both sides until the Q halts. Like a pretzel, twisting, sprinkler head thingy. Good back and hip stretch. Sound effects optional.  16 reps

    Ring of fire with a twist: A spin on ring of fire. Pun intended. In a walking side squat, rotate in a circle until the Q gives an order to “SPRAWL” then back to the squat walk. We went in CW and then CCW directions.  The Q would instruct everyone to “sprawl” after a varying number of steps.  (“Sprawl:  body straight like in a plank. Arms straight.  Bow your middle body down deeply towards the ground while attempting to face upwards as high as possible.  This is an exercise used by wrestlers and other marshal arts as a beginning to other actions.  I’m not talking about the scripted, choreographed entertainment some of you watch with the wild outfits and raging threats to their opponents, then the girls with the signs. What do those signs say?)

     

    Sometime during the exercises at the sundial Moneycat took a catnap in the shadow of the sundial brick. The Cat looked a bit woozy in the sun. It was probably the heat. We all heard him loudly purring on the other side of the wall. The cool of the dew must have caused him to fall asleep very fast. But his catnap didn’t last long as he quickly woke up to go play with rocks. He must have heard ball…….

     

    Mosey to the creek for fun with rocks (coupons).

    -find the rock you like and lineup

    -chest pass the rock with 2 hands, up the hill, as far as you can, pick it up and chest pass over and over until we make it to the plateau of the hill. About 6-10 throws, depending on how well you chose your rock and how far are your throws.  Choosing the pea gravel ain’t fair.

    -chest pass up the hill.  Rocks don’t move uphill by themselves, despite evolutional theories to the contrary.

    -Alternating right arm then left arm shotput throws, down the hill.

     

    Posed for a rock picture at the base of the hill by the creek.  We’ll call that a Rock Shot. The “older” guys might be mistaken for Rolling Stones ( minus Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. ) There was much “Satisfaction” in this exercise.

     

    Mosey to benches at the pavillion.   Did step up with right leg first, 20 reps.  Then did step up with left leg first.

    Mosey’d back to the flag for Circle of Trust and a group pic.

     

    Circle of Trust, COT

    Welcome to the new member Cyborg and thanks to Sparknut for bringing him.  Sparknut is from BR but now lives in Raleigh.  Super glad you all posted with us this morning and looking forward to seeing you all again soon!

    Ended with prayer.

     

    Five met at Starbucks for coffee, water, cool down and man-talk.  Great conversation. After a quick search on Facebook,  Moneycat realizes he went to college with Sparknut’s wife! Amazing connections.  This means 4 men missed out on the social time with the Pax:(

    Thanks to all for posting this morning and putting up with the old man’s beat down.  Did you sweat?  Its been 16 hours now and I’m still sore from this mornings beat down, but I know I’m getting stronger for it.

  • Fastball honorarium event exercise

    By: Money Cat

    The Scene:  The Knoll

    Conditions: Sunny (longing for arctic air in June.)

     

    The men of F3 Baton Rouge gathered together in a circle. A voice spoke up, “who’s going to Q?” Immediately the men’s eyes darted skyward and downward. A look so reminiscent from childhood as if their mother’s caught them with their hands in the cookie jar. You could cut the fog of silence with a dull butter knife like Scooby-Doo did in his weekly cartoon. A lone wolf could be howling out on the football field. Suddenly, Fastball spoke up…”I’ll do it!” And thus was born the Ballad of Fastball.

     

    Welcome: 11 men posted.

     

    Disclaimer:

    After the disclaimer Fastball informed the men this was his last week in F3. He explained his job with Home Depot ( cue Home Depot music ) will take him out of town for 2 weeks and after that he’ll be home to help family pack up and make the move to Georgia. This sudden news caught the men by surprise. We knew Fastball would be leaving us soon, but not this soon! The men began loudly weeping and tearing their shirts!!! Runners near us stopped in their tracks, cupped their hands to their ears and headed back in the direction they came. Thankfully someone made a joke about all of us receiving Home Depot gifts (free orange aprons) Fastball would send back to us. Aprons are nice for making lemon zest bundt cakes but I believe many of the men secretly longed for one thing and one thing only…power tools and bandoleer’s filled with beef jerky (GRUNT!) (GRUNT!) (GRUNT!)

    Warm-a-Rama:

    We mosey’d around the track once and cut into the middle for warm ups.

    Jumping Jack’s, arm circles-forward and backward, goof-balls, Bobby Hurley’s were all done in cadence.

    Merkins and burpee’s were done on our own in a count of 10.

    The Money Cat was breathing heavily when Fastball gave the order to mosey to the football field. 

    The Thang: 

     

    Out on the football field Fastball explained the routine.

     

    • Sprint out 25 yards and perform 25 merkin’s. Run backwards to start.

     

    • Sprint out 50 yards and perform 50 Al Gore’s. Run backwards to start.

     

    • Sprint out 75 yards and perform 75 crazy leg stretchy thingy’s. Run backwards to start.

     

    • Sprint out 100 yards and perform 100 jumping jacks. Run backwards to start.

     

    After each man lost 5 pounds of sweat on the field, Fastball told us to mosey to the sundial for more back breaking exercises.

     

    At the sundial many F3 men planked while waiting for Worms and Money Cat who was ripely turning into a Smelly Cat. The next group of exercises started at 25 and decreased at increments of five. There were two sets: merkins and dips. The Money Cat was running on his 7th life and ready to give up his 8th when the tiny twinkling stars appeared in his eyes. He began pawing at them like a real cat would and was meowing loudly. Money Cat realized it would be best to lie down on the concrete bench and perform standard flapping motions with his arms. The amusement was seen by all but just like the Honey Badger…..Money Cat don’t care!

     

    Fastball gave the order to mosey to the pavilion for some warm tepid water. At the pavilion Fastball noticed Money Cat hiding in the slender shadow of a pole. Fastball asked him if he was ok. Money Cat gave him a thumbs up as he figured it would be impolite to give him the middle finger of friendship. Fastball yelled out, “hey gang….lets go have a groovy time across the street on the baseball field” or at least that’s what I think I heard??? The Money Cat realized he needed water. He lumbered to the Catmobile and secured his iced cup of H2O. He and worms made it over to the ball field where the guys partnered up. Half the guys ran around poles out in the outfield and the other guys did grunting exercises. Money Cat couldn’t see what the exercises were because his concentration was on the clear frosty water cascading down his throat providing well needed relief to his thirsty soul. Not excited to pass on a raging case of cooties to the other men…Money Cat drank alone.

     

    The guys made it back to finish up with Mary’s at the Pavillion. Not wanting to have all the “Q” glory to himself, Fastball started the first set but called out F3 names to lead a Mary. The called on dudes did as they were told and there was great splendor in the grass……well, not the 1961 dramatic romance movie staring Natalie Wood type of splendor in the grass. That…would…just…be…wrong…..

     

    Count-o-Rama

    Name-o-Rama

    Circle-o-Rama 

    ***TISSUE ALERT***

    All of us F3 dudes are going to miss Fastball saying, “I’ll go ahead and Q, but you guys are going to hate me!” We are going to miss the pain our F3 brother put us through. I recall being partnered up with Fastball when he used baseball seasons’ opening day as his theme. When we ran the foul poles 5X’s in the outfield…I thought I was gonna die!!! But I didn’t and if I had…the Money Cat has 8 more lives to give. I went back to read all the back blasts that he led on those early Saturday mornings. Reading these memories are good for the soul! It reminds me what I was and where I’m headed. I believe I speak for all of us F3 guys that Josh Black aka FASTBALL lives the F3 Credo: leave no man behind, but leave no man where you find him. Fastball, you have left your mark on F3 Baton Rouge -The Knoll and The Colosseum. We all thank yeaux for molding us into better and thinner men. We know you’ll leave your mark with more guys where ever the Lord leads you.

    Friends – Michael W. Smith

    And friends are friends forever
    If the Lord’s the Lord of them.
    And a friend will not say never
    ‘Cause the welcome will not end.
    Though it’s hard to let you go
    In the Father’s hands we know.
    That a lifetime’s not too long
    To live as friends.

  • Soggy Bottom Boys at The Knoll

    Conditions: Mild temperatures, Wet, Damp, Humid, overcast. Although the rain stopped there was plenty of standing water so we could get our shoes and backsides soaked.

    ***Great post exercise story below too.  One new FNG on the way!***

      

     

    After getting over our disappointment that the rain had stopped we moseyed to the sundial for warmups consisting of Abe Vigodas, Austin Ass Kickers, 21’s and Bat Wings

    Following warm ups, we descended the Knoll to come up the other side doing lunges. The purpose of the lunges was to make the group look like Zombies from the Walking Dead. It worked.

    Assembling on the rugby pitch for Bearway to Heaven with Merkin Ladder, Q neglected to instruct the PAX to do a bear crawl between Burpee and Merkin intervals so the group just ran the first set. Rocket and Yes Dear were going fast and appearing to enjoy it so bear crawl requirement was reinstated for subsequent sets.

    Captain Thor Big Boy Sit Ups were next followed by a mosey down the Knoll so we could run up backwards 5 times doing the Bernie Sanders. Bern set in after rep 2

    Next, we moseyed to a spot with adequate mud and water for the Crunchy Frog exercise. Q’s cadence at this point sounded like a frog.

    Ending with an All You Got Run showed we had left it all somewhere back on the field with Moneycat’s car keys.

     

    Add-on by Worms:

    In the rain, lakes and mud Moneycat’s key fob fell out of his zipped jacket pocket somehow.  Most of the Pax had already left but the few remaining, Snackpack, Two-Shoes, Moneycat and Worms searched every inch of the park where we travelled and especially where he’d laid his jacket that morning but no luck. We called a known auto locksmith, Tigers Locksmith,  (an on-the-road key programming shop) but he wasn’t answering at the moment so I left a message.  We then called Popalock and they had someone on the way.   Then the Tiger Locksmith called back and said that “if you don’t have the fob then you still can’t start that car without the fob and the key”.   Fooey.    So I called the Popalock and said not to bother coming since Popalock could only open the car door to get Moneycat’s key but he’d still be stuck there since it was the key fob somewhere out there in those 96 acres of grassy knoll.   Popalock asked about the kind of car so they knew that but they failed to tell us that their guy could only get into the car and could not give him a way to drive the car.  I told Moneycat that we were not going to push him home while his engine was off and his transmission in park.  If it was in neutral I’m sure the 3 of us could grab that rear bumper and push Moneycat home since its only 12 miles to his home, but not with the wheels locked. I said no way.   So Drew of Tiger Locksmith showed up and he and Moneycat had a great time.  Turns out Drew Mulvanah is a Brother and is from New Zealand and he is very interested in F3.   He’s supposed to post with us soon!  Good work Moneycat for EHing the new man!  What a way to make friends other than over a beer!

  • Daylight Savings at The Knoll

    Knowing that we were about to lose an hour during the coming evening, we wasted no time getting started!

    The Scene:  The Knoll

    Conditions:  Chilly, a bit wet but no rain… we thought.

    Welcome. Saw no FNGs so we skipped the Disclaimer.  (Noted that since my last Q when I was not a professional trainer, I’m still not a professional trainer.)

    Warm-O-Rama:

    Mosey – Two laps around the Field – one forward, one back.  A bit of competitive spirit kicked in, with relish.  Then for some breath-catching and stretching exercises:

    Shoulder Circles.

    Imperial Walkers.

    SSH.

    Windmills.

    SSH.

    Al Gores.

    SSH.

    The Thang:

    Mosey to The Sundial, our faithful companion, for some upper-body work.

    Freak Nasties, putting “diamonds of gold” (a Tony Horton term) on our upper arms.

    Incline Merkins, to sharpen the edges of our pecs.

    Step Ups, to vary from upper body and give us the Buns of Steel that drive our wives crazy.

    And then some Partner Plank Curls, for biceps (which are hard to hit in F3) – where one guy planks and the other does standing bicep curls with his partner’s ankles.  We definitely learned a bit about ourselves on this one… and not necessarily for the better.  (10 curls each man, except for YHC who had no partner in this odd-numbered PAX)

    Then a second round of the above to make sure we all hit our Personal Best.

    Finally some La La Leggy to hit the buns again.  A 10-count of squats and lunges and calf raises.  (Yeah, your buns needed it, and you know who I’m talking to.)

    Mosey to The Hill, our Other faithful friend.  (Not the first hill, but across the creek to the second hill.  That’s where the action is.)

    Partner Run & Windmill Merkins.  One partner runs up the hill and back while the other does windmill merkins (just google it if you don’t believe me).  Got to 50 merkins per team, which brought a lot of groans from the girls in the group (And I’m talking about Tiger Bait, whose noisy complaining must spur him on because he finished first.)

    So we cooled down with more Shoulder Circles, before one more trek up the hill:  Bear Crawl Up, Crab Walk Down.  Dagwood made a fine showing until his log roll to the finish line.  But he also finished near the front of the pack.

    Then Black Snake back to the Shovel Flag – mosey in single file, with the last man weaving his way to the front until everyone has woven once.  This one seemed to raise everyone’s enthusiasm a bit, or maybe it was just knowing that we were almost done…..

    6MOM:

    LBFC:  LBCs while doing Flutter Kicks.

    Jane Fondas (in honor of Rocket who could not be with us.  I don’t know what he thinks of Jane’s politics, but he sure likes her leg exercises)

    American Hammer, to fist-pound our way to the finish.

    Homer to Marge (leg lifts), which always makes us recall The Simpsons fondly, and which also got us facing upward just as a delicate, refreshing drizzle began.  Just God’s way of saying He’s proud of us.

    And one more set of Jane Fondas, to close out with a second tribute to Rocket.

    COT/BOM.

    Then to the coffeeteria for some Friendship building, hoping the barista wouldn’t comment on the way we smelled.

    Now don’t forget to set your clocks forward tonight!