F3 New Orleans

Author: billbass

  • F3 Baton Rouge 1st Anniversary

    January 26, 2019

    F3 Credo: Leave no man behind, but leave no man where you find him.

    Worms gave the standard disclaimer.  Megadad disclaimed himself too.   We’ve got 3 Q’s today.

    In celebration of the first Anniversary of the starting of F3 Baton Rouge at Highland Road Park, called “The Knoll”.  PAX from the Coliseum and the Knoll came for a celebration of the first year of Men growing in Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith, and the growth and success that F3 BR has experienced during that time.

    AO Flags was planted in the ground in  the center of the big lawn.  The Detailed Disclaimer (“You can’t sue us”) was given by Worms, and off we moseyed to the sundial for warmup and getting stronger.

    The Beat-down was divided into 3 segments, each with a different Q taking an opportunity to lead. 

    After a quick mosey to the sundial we circled up for the a warm up.

    WARM UP  by Worms

    15 – Worlds Slowest, Rigor mortis Side Straddle Hops

    5 – 6-Count SPRAWL Burpees (instead of a merkin we do a sprawl instead)

    10 – Imperial Walker Squats. Stand in squat position.  (Do mock situps while in the squated position)

    10 – Abe Vigoda A variation on the Windmill, which is performed much more slowly and with more stretching (aka “Old Man Style”).

    10 – Arm Circles – Fwd & Rev

    10 – Plank Jacks.  Side straddle hops but hands go together in front, not above our heads

    10 – Peter Parkers. Like mountain climber but legs go out to each side, not straight behind

    15 –  Bear Crawl Merkin. 4ct exercise. Start in bear crawl.  3 count crawl with the 4th step being the merkin. Hands should be staggered during merkin and if done correctly will result in each hand being staggered forward on opposing reps.

    FLAG GAMES, this was fun.  Equipment:  miscellaneous dish towels. One per man.  6 tennis balls and one 6” yellow nerf type ball.

    Mosey over to lawn between sundial and parking lot around the flag.   All right men, if it was warmer I’d ask everyone to take off our shirts.  Everyone was free to take off their sweat jackets and their shirts if they wanted to but since it was 34F with a little ice on the ground all decided they’d just use the dish towels brought by Worms.   Everyone take a towel. Create a “Flag” by tucking it in the back of your shorts. 

    2 Minute Flag Games – Your shirt is your Flag, Don’t let it get pulled!  Game is similar to flag football except most of the rules are completely different. Flag pulling is the only similarity.  4 parts to this game.

    1st Round –  Do 2 Knee-to-Chest Jumps every time your flag gets pulled, reload and continue pulling flags after the knee-to-chest jumps.

    2nd Round (x2) – Tennis Balls and a Nerf football were added as additional “Ammo”.  In addition to Jumps for flag pulls, if you are hit with a tennis ball do 5 Merkins.  Hit by the nerf ball do 5 Burpees.  Reload flag and keep going after the penalty.  Any balls found are fair game to use!

    3rd Round (x2) – Same Rules as 2nd round, but no reload of flag, perform penalty exercise, Plank and wait in place till end.

    4th Round – Trophy Flags – Same rules as Round 3 but Flag puller keeps and collects flags he pulls, Person with the most flags wins.

    Backflip was the winner with 4 flags!  Good work Backflip!  

    We’re all WINNERS because we showed up!  Certainly no losers in this game.

    Next time, set up a boundary area so the men don’t get spaced apart so much.  The close proximity works much better than having infinite space.

    The Q is then passed to Dagwood.

    Dagwood Qs.   SUICIDES.  Set up a long starting line for all to stand on.   Dagwood wisely uses 4 convenient trees as markers.

    Run to marker 1 and back 5 Burpees

    Run backwards to marker 2 and back 5 Burpees

    Run to marker 3 and back 5 Burpees

    Run backwards to marker 4 and back 5 Burpees

    Burpee Broad Jump to marker 1 and back

    Catalina Wine Mixers IC x 10

    Run to marker 1 and back 5 Merkins

    Run backwards to marker 2 and back 5 Merkins

    Run to marker 3 and back 5 Merkins

    Run backwards to marker 4 and back 5 Merkins

    Worms takes time out to talk with our walk-on today, Vance Barney, on the way to the suicides now in progress.  He was there to do exercise all on his own at the park today. He walked up at our starting time and struck up conversation. He took us up on the invitation to join in. Wise young man. He had to leave before our finish time so we didn’t get to name him properly, yet. He was a great addition to our beat down and worked into all the activities like an F3 pro.

    The Q was passed to Moneycat. and we moseyed back to the flag in the middle of the lawn betwixt the sundial and parking lot.

    CONVERGENCE CIRCUIT

    8 stations had been designated around the perimeter of the Great Lawn with a Flag positioned in the Center.  Moneycat marked 8 posts, each with a sheet of paper with the exercise for each station.  The Pax was divided into groups to go to each station.   The Bobby Hurley station would provide the count of 20 reps,  while every other station did AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible) of their designated exercise.   At Halt, Everyone ran to the flag to CONVERGE and partner up for 5 Patty Cake Merkins, then rotate clockwise to the next station.  Some even did a 3-man patty cake merkin. Worked well.   The stations were:

    Bobby Hurley’s.  (Do a squat and slaps the ground with both hands like a Duke basketball player, then jumps up and raising arms as if taking a jump shot.)

    Merkins

    Mountain Climbers

    Plank Jacks

    Low Slow Squats

    Jump Lunges

    Freak Nasties

    Monkey Humpers –  A half-squat performed while grabbing the inside of one’s ankles. This restricts movement to a half-squat type exercise but increasing the burn.

    We are done!

    Moseyed over to the pic nic tables pavilion for our breakfast anniversary celebration.  We moseyed over to where a awesome spread of food awaited us in the N pavilion where Cherrypicker was so helpful to set up all the foods for 8:00.    Eggs with Bacon in a Croissant, Bottled Water, and Coffee and OJ.   Big thank you to all who made it out for this awesome beat-down in the park.   I know I speak for all the Q’s when I say, it was a pleasure to lead as always, and thanks for the opportunity to lead this great PAX.

    Had open discussion about all the benefits the men have had attending these F3 events this first year.  Great discussion.

    COT

    Circle up for Count-O-Rama –  12 counting the 2 that had to leave early (Vance and Dagwood)

    Name-O-Rama. 

    FNG’s Named – but Vance had to leave before this time so we’ll do his naming next time.

    The Pax thanked Worms for starting F3 here for all to enjoy. Worms thanked everyone for being so willing to join in. It makes it all worthwhile!  The Pax made many kind remarks to Worms and he is grateful to the men for being there for each of us and especially this big group for the anniversary!

    Bring it in tight for a Sweaty Ball of Man!! Not so much sweat actually. It was still just about 38 degrees.   Megadad finished it up with a prayer. Took some group photos.  Everyone hung around with lively banter until about 9:00 then all collected the breakfast materials and headed back to our wheels. 

    Pax:

    Hope to see everyone and more next year!!  SYITG!!  (See You In The Gloom)

  • Mistletoes delivers his first Q

    Disclaimer. Initial chit chat. Wondered by Moneycat wasn’t here and then moved to the Mosey.

    Mistletoes prepared a vigorous series of exercises for us today. Much of it styled after his heavy weight lifting exercises. Started off with a 1/4 mile mosey around the inner track through the sundial. Moseyed to the foundry. We did a variety of new exercises at the foundry including jump pull-ups. Then we moseyed east to the hill between the track and Highland Road and did a series of gruelling repetitions from the base of the hill to the plateau at the top, involving burpees at the top and Merkins at the bottom. We started with 10 Merkins at the bottom then ran to the plateau where we did 1 burpee then down the hill for 9 Merkins then up to the plateau for 2 burpees and so on till we did 10 burpees at the plateau. Simple. Nothing to it. Mosey to the sundial. Did side squats in a circle around the sundial. Moseyed back to the roofed area and did 6 or more minutes of Mary.

    Had our Circle of Trust time, Namorama and final prayer. Mistletoes, Shaengo, Duracell and Worms met at CC’s by Perkins Row for Coffeeteria. A great beatdown by the Mistletoes!

  • Operation Turkey Leg goes live. Annual Thanksgiving Day F3 event

     

    So glad I showed up!

    All hats off to the great TESLA who organized this first annual Operation Turkey Leg.  He wrote the Backblast below and I get to post it so I get to add some background of my own. This guy hits me up on Text about a beatdown on Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving?  Gotta be kidding. No one would show up and miss their turkey!  But we were wrong.  Tesla is from North Carolina.  He’s ok guys. North Carolina is still on the right side of the Mason Dixon Line.  He shared with us some new exercises  and near wore out this old man, and almost everyone else too. Its AMAZING what a 58 year old like Tesla can do.  This old 58 year old had a hard time keeping up with him!  We loved the Plank/Bear Crawl Slolom  Whats that?  Maybe we’ll show you if you didn’t show up. Maybe not.  Might just keep that secret.

    Tesla has been with the greats in F3 for many years.   He said he runs The Yank in Saturdays in Belmont, NC. Gaston region. Still works out two days a week in Charlotte Metro. Workout once a week in The Fort (Fort Mill, SC)

     

    Here’s Tesla’s report!

    QIC: Tesla

    Pax in the Pix: SnackPack, Banjo, CAT5, Shaengo, Moneycat, Tesla and the Worms.   We need a semi-professional photographer next year.

    So as YHC always spends Thanksgiving in Baton Rouge, La. And knew that F3 had started down that way it only made sense to reach out and establish contact with the boys in BR and see what they do for a Thanksgiving Day convergence. Turned out one was not planned. However, with some diligence and support (credit F3 Baton Rouge and Worms in particular) we were able to get one together using the LUS Parade Ground as the AO. And what an AO it is!

    So without knowing who might show up (though Worms felt at least four others would show) YHC made the trek over and found a shovel flag and waiting participants. The three became four, then five, then six! A hearty mix of men on a brutally cold (45 degree) Baton Rouge morning! Everything else went something like this:

    Mosey to the center of the field for COP

    SSH X 20

    2 burpees OYO

    Some arm and leg stretches

    IW X20

    4 burpees OYO

    Copperhead squats X 20

    6 burpees OYO

    LBCs X 20

    8 burpees OYO

    Mtn Climbers X 20

    10 burpees OYO.

    Now for a little Carolina culture, YHC NOT being a UNC or Dean Smith fan, we decided on some four corners.

    Mosey to the first corner

    10 hand release merkins

    Mosey to the 2nd corner:

    10 WWI situps

    Mosey to the third corner:

    10 Carolina Dry Docks

    Mosey to the fourth Corner:

    10 LBCs

    Assemble at center of the grounds and mosey over to the law building for 11s.

    Bottom of the Steps: Jump Squats

    Top of the Steps: Merkins

    Mosey over to the Union

    Step ups, Dips, Dirkins X 10, 15, 20

    Mosey back to center of the grounds

    Tesla Special!

    Bear Crawl slalom, 2X

    Agility run, 2X

    A crowd favorite!

    Coming back:

    10 burpee Broad jumps

    10 frog hops

    Do this to mid field

    Crabwalk to the end.

    Mosey back to the flag for some short Mary and a pledge.

    Done!

    Naked Man Moleskin:

    Awesome day with the guys down here. Great 2nd f afterwards. F3 is in great hands here and we are going to help them push this on up and out! Baton Rouge can be a great F3 city with all the AOs and willing participants to draw from. Nobody wore a spacesuit BTW! Not THAT cold!

    Glad we were able to put this together. Worms gets the credit. Now we have a tradition unlike any other down here! Next year let’s have a real turkey leg to chew on. I’m thinking 20-30 pax next year at least at the 2nd annual.

    Tesla Out!

  • Too slow for some

    Got video and pictures for today guys.

    F3, Sept. 8, 2018, the Knoll, video IMG_1228  

    Beautiful morning it was. Had some exercises too easy today. Really its just easy to cheat at some of my novel, extraordinary exercises. I know I got what I came for.

    Worms is Q.

    ?? whats the FNGs name behind Rocket?  I need some help from you young whipersnappers with memory for things like this

     

    WARMUP.

    Finkle swing.  Swing legs far back to far front, slooooooowly.  L R L R….

     

    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.)

     

    Neckercises.  Front, rear, left right.  Hold hands on forehead.   You will be using your arms to fight against your neck muscles.  If you do it wrong, you are going to wonder why this is called and exercise. If you do it right, your neck will know it tomorrow.  (I don’t think anyone believed me.  I admit this seems a little like a woosercise activity like the ones I saw at the Retirement center a couple of years ago with the 80 year olds.)  Done right its well worth doing.

     

    Front: While pushing back on your forehead with both hands, move your head all the way forward as far as it can go and then move it all the way rearward as far as it can go.

     

    Rear: While pushing forward on the back side of your head with both hands, move your head all the way forward as far as it can go and then move it all the way rearward as far as it can go.

     

    Left: While pushing on the right side of your head with your right hand, move your head all the way left-ward as far as it can go and then move it all the way right-ward as far as it can go.

     

    Right:…. Just the opposite of the above.

     

    The Thang

    Sun gods. Kind of a shoulder roll.  Sun Gods is the rotating of shoulders through act of moving outstretched arms (with purpose and intensity) forward or backward in circular motion

     

    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.

     

    Flying sun gods sobriety style (AKA Nancy Kerrigans). Lean torso forward, raise one leg out to the back, reach arms out to side and do small arm circles. Count in cadence just like sun gods. Forward on one leg, then switch legs and reverse.

     

    Annie

    Hold plank and rotate one arm in a circular motion while holding plank with the opposite arm.

     

    Sky reachers.  (another seeming woosercise, that doesn’t have to be.)  Super looooooong reaching upwards with your fingertips high.  This can be as strenuous as you want to  make it. If you aren’t hurting by the end of this you didn’t do it right.  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.

     

    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,

     

    On your six, do 2 Big Boy Situps. Remain upright after last BBS and lift feet up 6″.  Do 10 Air Presses (hands pushing out).  Back down for 4 BBS 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…).

     

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

     

    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 rock creek

     

    Find a rock.

     

    Chest pass your coupon up the hill

     

    Coupon Peristalsis.  (no one ever figured out what peristalsis means?)   Everybody get a coupon.   Line up like the Center and the quarterback.  Place rocks in a pile at the front. Pass rocks toward rear. First man go to rear.   This one needs a little more thought to keep the men busier but it could be a good exercise.

    Freak nasties.  Did 16 freaky nasties

    2 man event.

    Palm punching.  Group up in pairs.  Take turns.  This is a boxers punching exercise.

    Jab — a quick, straight punch thrown with the lead hand from the guard position.

    Cross — a powerful straight punch thrown with the rear hand. …

    Hillbillie:

    Similar to Imperial Walkers but knee comes up to elbow on same side of body as side that knee is raised.

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

    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.)

    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

    -Alternate 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.

    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.

    Welcome to the new members. s this morning!

    Ended with prayer.

    Meet at CC’s on Seigen Lane

    Thanks to all for posting this morning and putting up with the old man’s beat down.  Did you sweat?

  • 7-18-2018 at the Colloseum

    5 posters this morning but I didn’t get the exercise list.  Who was the Q?

  • 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.

  • Backblast for 7-8-18. The Knoll

    The Scene:

    The Knoll

     

    Conditions:

    Surprisingly refreshing for a July Saturday morning at 7am.

     

    Welcome:

    8 men posted.

     

    Disclaimer:

    Money Cat: “I am not a professional trainer….huh? Why’s that funny to y’all??? Seriously guys…why is that funny?? Stop laughing or I’ll bring back Fastball and make all of y’all feel the pain!!!”

    Warm-a-Rama:

    Money Cat led the first third of the workout. I told the guys we would start off on a mosey but would call out a change and to mimic my movement regardless if I was at the front or the back because I’m usually in the back on these running kinds of things. At the sundial I called out a fast walk. At the next change I called out a mosey and after that was a fast walk. I decided to try something different. I called out a left side straddle mosey. During the side straddle mosey I called out to switch sides and lead with the other leg…(that means we now switched to leading with the right leg.) By now we had mosey’d the course almost two times and felt for the last 50 yards (I’m guessing) to the sundial we needed to do a full sprint. I could tell the guys were itching for me open it up a bit. I had the lead the entire way until I yelled out “FULL SPRINT!” And suddenly Mega Dad passed me up. What he doesn’t know is I allowed him to pass me on my left side. I didn’t want all the attention by getting there first so I turned down the after burners and slowed up a whole lot….it’s my story and I’m sticking with that. Remember….don’t question the Q.

     

    Money Cat called out a recovery countdown….it sure seemed to go by fast.

    We began our morning exercises.

    20 Arm Circles Forward

    20 Arm Circles Backwards

    20 Raised Arm Claps

    20 Dips

    20 Mexican Dips

    20 Walking Al Gore’s

    10 Burpees

     

    I was glad to turn over the next 3rd of the Q to my F3 brother Work Horse.

    Workhorse jumping in!  Well, missing Fastball’s beatdowns I decided to combine his “quarterpounder” and the “Murph”.  We based in the Sundial as it’s called, so it went like this!

    I had four F3 brothers pick an exercise, Topanga (Al Gores), Dagwood (Little Baby Crunches), Big Easy (Merkins), and Shangeaux (Side Straddle Hop). The strategy was to do a 25 count on exercise #1 and then run a lap around the running track and at the last turn heading back to sundial, turn and run backwards to complete at sundial. Plank until the last man was in!

    #1 – 25 Merkins and Lap

    #2  – 50 Little Baby Crunches and Lap

    #3 – 75 Al Gores ( which Shangeaux hijacked from Topanga )

    #4 – 100 Side Straddle Hops (which actually “unfortunately” with Topanga’s count ended up being 200) then a Lap, but changed the turn at last corner to a sprint to the sundial.  Shout out to youngster Trooper, he was in the mix leading the charge back to complete.

    At this point, we began a mosey back to the flag to do some Mary’s to close it out.  Megadad took over from there.

    • Lay Flat sit ups
    • Buddy Back Squats (wall squats on partners back)
    • Crunchy Frogs
    • Jane Fonda’s ( 3 ways right and left) for Rocket
    • Partner Leg Toss ( 10 straight, 2 left and 2 right)

    Circle of Trust

    • Name off and prayers ( special intention for F3 brother “Trooper” recently lost his daughter )

  • 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.

  • Houston sends big guns to Baton Rouge Knoll

    Baton Rouge, Knoll AO

     

    PAX – MoneyCat, Shango, Topanga, SnackPack, MistleToes, BigEasy,Workhorse, Dagwood, Worms Qs-Boyscout TP

    Conditions – Hot and Humid

    The PAX circled up. Boyscout and YHC were introduced as the co Qs.   Push yourself don’t hurt yourself. You against you. We are not professionals.  

    The Thang

    Warms ups consisted of SSH, Seal Jacks, Plank Jacks,  Smurf Jack. Without saying, a hat trick of Jacks completes a jack off.  Mountain climbers, burpees, Abe Vigoda, and Grass grabbers completes the warm up.  

    The PAX mosied to the sun dial for a Dora.  The Dora consisted of 100 burpees, 200 Merkins, and 300 Big Boy sit ups.  

    We mosied to one of the hills to look for keys while doing bear crawls.

    We mosied back to the sun dial for a Blue Falcon    Teams we’re divided into two and we had 3 min to do as many OYO exercises as possible. The other team then had to match that effort in their 3 minutes.  

    We finished with announcements and COT

    Thank you to the Baton Rouge PAX and to Worms for letting us have this Q.  You guys have created an awesome AO.

    Jason Godfrey

    281 814-7958

    Spectrum Water Technology