F3 New Orleans

Author: Gideon

  • HEY, IT’S CALLED A CO-OP!

    Last minute switch on Q for Screw Top as he ran a marathon a few days before! YHC was happy to help out.  T-claps Screw Top! Meanwhile, (“unbeknowanstince” to us) a prepared and excited Catfish noticed an empty slot on the list and couldn’t wait to jump in.  A short conversation on site and we decided to split the difference for a progressive Co-Op Q; to which there was much applause and general excitement from the Pax. As we know, everybody loves change. Here at the Mothership, we call it growth.  Off to the Peristyle… DJ Diver had the tunes for the beatdown.

    WARM UP

    Arm Circles (front/back)
    Grass Grabbers
    Hill Billies
    Peter Parkers
    Parker Peters
    Run to Marconi and back, plank for 6

    PART ONE 

    10 Pax (and one K9) – Break into 2 lines of 5 pax, plank position with hands at feet of pax in front of you, straight line all facing forward, at bottom of the Great Lawn.
    Last Pax bear crawls to front of the line, shouts, next pax bear crawls to the front… etc
    At every second tree all pax recover to feet, ring of fire with your group, 20 squats while others hold Al Gore, back to crawlin’ maggot! We’re doing the whole lawn! The length, not across..

    Make it to end. Took longer than YHC anticipated. Partner up. Move to side of lawn.
    DORA 123
     -Merkins 100
     – LBCs 200
     – Squats 300
    Partner runs across lawn. 2 burpees on the other side. Back to trade off.

    PART TWO

    Complete and hand Q to Catfish who started us off with his favorite crowd pleaser:

    Jack Webs.. in perpetuity… (to 15 merks, 30 air presses)

    Back by popular demand, his world famous 8 count body builders – Couldn’t count that high.

    Run to Marconi and back

    20 Box Jumps

    20 Monkey Humpers

    Infinite Donkey Kicks…


    Back to the flag for COT, announcements etc. Lots of health and life and death concerns today. As a general announcement to all – the holiday seasons are of course a special time and there is a lot to get caught up in and fun to be had. As leaders in our community, don’t forget that little voice at the back of your head reminding you that folks around us are still going through real challenges. Think of those struggling with addiction, depression, and isolation as well.  Don’t forget to reach out to that person struggling, without any pressure. Let them know there is a door open for them somewhere, with warm food, good spirits, no judgement. At this high pressure time of the year, these small gestures can have huge impacts for those walking through a tough cycle of their life. Just another way for us to strive to be good HIMs in our community. Always sweep the 6.

    Thanks to all for showing up in the gloom yet again, to hold each other accountable to another victory in the morning. Accelerating in to the new year.

  • Born in the Shadows

    9/16/19 – Mothership

    Another Saturday morning, another Friday Night decision to choose the gloom over old habits.  

    A warm and inviting morning of about 40deg met the pax and everyone loved it. Greetings and disclaimer, mosey to the peristyle for warmups.

    WARMUP

    Mix of arm circles, grass grabbers, squats, round robin merkins (all pax holds plank while each pumps out 10 merkins in succession, complete the circle). 

    THE THANG

    Mosey to the base of Roosevelt Mall. Using the concrete benches – 10 box jumps, run to next, 10 incline merkins, all the way up mall. Plank for 6 at the practice track. 

    Practice Track – Partner up. Catch me if you can, one lap. 
    Keep your partner – double up with another set of pax partners. (we had 10 total pax, evenly split to two lines of 5, do not recommend going over 5) The exercise is Bear Crawl Inch worm. Make two lines in plank position, hands lining up behind feet of pax in front of you.  Pax at rear bear crawls to front of line, holds plank, next pax at rear bear crawls to front, holds plank… keep going. Half the football field. Cause why not. 

    Count to 20 for a breather (quickly). Back to your original partner. 200 squats. Set of 20 while partner holds a tree (Al Gore). 

    Mosey, listen to the mumblechatter, recalibrate, make a democratic decision to take the long way. All will celebrate. Back to the great lawn.  Tclaps to Triple shift who led some mary while six was swept. 

    Great lawn for 11s.  LBCs and Bonnie blairs across the lawn. Finished exactly on time. Mosey to flag, circle up. 

    Thanks to whoever tracked, we ran 3.6 miles with the workout. Tclaps to all. I didn’t exactly intend on it being quite so long… oops. We did some serious work. So for those who completed all the above… Respect. 

    THE NOTE

    A special huge shout out to F3 Kansas City!

    YHC was out in Kansas City for work this week and it’s worth mentioning how re-energizing it is to visit another outfit.  When I reached out, their lead, Blistex, went out of his way to organize with other pax.  Someone went out of their way to give me a ride from the hotel to beatdown, and some one else covered me for the ride back – every morning!  Just awesome that the beatdown means so much and the spirit of F3 would connect people to go so out of their way, for a stranger, to workout on a freezing cold morning, in the gloom. I mean how totally weird, and awesome is that?? I hope we NOLA Pax are representing ourselves and treating our visiting brothers even half as well. 

    Our F3 brothers founded their pax just in April of this year and they are already big enough to be holding steady AO’s 6 days a week.  Their push and their attitude was great to see and a solid reminder of just how needed, beneficial, and empowering F3 nation is. You’re not just showing up for yourself, even though that’s how it starts.  Once your life vest is on and you’re hooked, you’re showing up for the next man. For your neighbor. For some one who needs this just as much as you, but hasn’t started yet. 

    Speaking with one of the KC founders – Tapps (a great example of the F3 spirit) – he talked about how just like when you’re born in the hospital, you don’t get to chose your name, when you’re born in F3 you don’t get to chose your name.  You earn it by showing up and going through the pain of birth (or beatdown) and getting named by your new F3 family. So we are all born in the shadows, in the gloom. That’s the start of the new us, committed to being a little bit better, every day. 

    Thanks for the F3 community. Thanks for letting me lead. Thanks to the gloom. 

  • Hold It

    Mondays up in the Chilly Gentilly are strong.

    YHC had the opportunity to Q at the Renaissance the day before, which is a great AO to workshop new ideas. Today we got to tighten it up.

    WARM UP –
    x10 Arm Circle
    x10 Reverse AC
    x10 Abe Vigoda
    x15 Side Straddle Hops
    x10 Parker Peter
    x10 Peter Parker
    Mosey to Elysian Fields – Indian run to end.
    x20 SSH

    THE GRIND –
    Adaptation of the 4 corners
    Goal is to do two rounds of one movement with a paired static hold. At each corner. Bringing with you a reminder of the previous corner, to compound the pain.

    First Corner –
    Circle Up. All hold plank position. One pax member starts off – 10 merkins – then next starts on his completion. All hold plank till circle is complete. Clockwise. Yup, hold it. We had a bigger group so short recovery upon completion of each circle throughout workout was decreed. Do two rounds. Run to next corner (approx 100 yards)

    Second Corner –
    Circle up. Plank. Reduced value of 5 merkins. Complete circle. One Round. Move to your six. 20 LBCs per pax, complete the circle. Doesn’t matter how you do hold it, but feet may not touch the ground. Just hold it… 2 rounds. Run to Next Corner.

    Third Corner –
    Circle Up. Plank. 5 Merkins, complete circle. On six. 10 LBCs, complete circle. Back to Feet for next movment. All hold trees (al gore) while each pax cranks out 20 squats. Seriously. Hold it! 2 rounds. Immediately sprint the distance to last corner.

    Fourth Corner –
    Circle up. 5 of each movement while all hold matching static movement. Complete then run back to starting point for stretching.

    I’d like to work out the kinks on this one a little better so we could push through with enough time to go back down. It would be a good – solid – 45 minute plan for any Q. Either way, playing with the numbers a bit at each point is all it would take… For any interested to borrow.

    As a note, what YHC likes about this type of workout is it is F2 conducive. As others have noted about the Stomp, doing a sustained exercise with opportunity to banter is always a good one to solidify the community and accountability.

    As always, thanks for letting me lead. Thanks for the accountability to kick the week off right.

  • Sunday Funday

    Nov 3 2019

    Once again the Renaissance crew gathered in the gloom.

    T-claps to Heisenberg who first appeared as a small dot at the entrance to the park, having rucked for an hour before the meet. Our small but dedicated group circled up and got to it.

    WARM UP –
    I’m calling this the “Tour Guide” – YHC led pax on a 15ish minute run through the scenic portion of City Park that F3 nation rarely visits. Kept the mosey strong with a halfway intermission of box jumps and inclined merkins. Ultimately made our way to practice track.

    THE MEAT –
    An improvised four corners.
    First corner – All pax circle up, hold plank while each pax completes 10 merkins, counter clockwise, complete the circle. Two rounds.
    Run half lap of track (200 m) listen to pax debate the definition of a “corner” as you pass two.
    Second Corner – Again circle up. Again plank, again merkins @10, one round. Then on six for LBCs. 20 LBCs per pax member while all hold legs at 6in above ground or in LBC ready position. Whatever you do don’t let feet touch the ground. 2 rounds. Up for another half lap. Again, the “definition” of a “corner” sounds like a hot topic. Pass all the Army guys in their matching outfits (which were clean, unsweaty, and had no signs of workout) who were pointing and jealous of our F3 K9 pax member, DJ Diver, who had his vest and was blasting sweet tunes for all.
    Third Corner – Again circle up. Again plank, again merkins @ 10, one round. On six, one round 20 LBCs. Up to feet, next movement. 30 squats per pax while rest hold trees (Al Gore). Two rounds.

    Time became a factor and it is a poor Sunday Q who forgets our finishing burner… The one and only, Sunday Mornings.

    THE POTATOES –
    Run/Mosey to back of NOMA. 5 sets OYO
    one set =
    Assume the people’s chair, do 10 air presses
    Down to merk position for 5 donkey kicks
    Then Balls to wall, do one hand stand press, or count to 10
    rinse/repeat

    Side note –

    As YHC takes more opportunities to Q I’ve noticed that the best compliment a Q can receive is grumblings and doubt from the peanut gallery. It means we’re getting somewhere, and the pax is getting what we all pay for – The Push. Have you ever complained when you’re working out on your own? Absolutely not. Because you just speak to management (yourself) and stop. The reward of F3 is we push and get pushed to a point we would not typically take ourselves. Getting comfortable being uncomfortable. That’s where the growth happens. Everyone of those complaints turn in to victories at coffeteria once it’s all over.

    I don’t know how I started coming to Sundays… It might have been Catfish. But I’ve got to tell you. They are now one of my favorites. When it seems there is absolutely no reason to keep a commitment, even to yourself, and every reason to let off the gas… It might be the most important moment to keep it.

    Thanks for letting me lead

  • Failing Upwards

    These warm, thick, moist ( I said it) Southern mornings seem to stretch in front of and behind us without variation. It’s unmistakable. That feeling, the transition, of stepping from your front door (that sweet clean cool conditioned air) into the physical force of warm jell-o that is the south. A low level of perma-sweat is the accepted norm. Under these conditions 20 men (one FNG) met, with great enthusiasm, in the gloom of City Park.

    YHC was looking forward to his Second Q. He even planned out a few maneuvers he thought might be fun and thought of how to map out the days work. However, today’s BB is not a story of great triumph, it is one of progress.

    To start YHC forgot about the disclaimer momentarily, so some men did think I was a professional and did not know that they could modify. Second, YHC bumbled through the lead-in to each warm-up exercise, giving a variation for each, which opened the door to chatter amidst the ranks. As Q, variation can lead to chatter, chatter, can lead to dissent, dissent can lead to mutiny. A fair warning for any who might take the mantle as future Q. But not to worry, YHC was open to input, heard the people and adjusted accordingly.

    The THANG

    Warm Up in Peristyle (…to the best of recollection)
    x10 Arm circle fwd/bck
    x10 Hill Bill
    x20 Peter Parker
    x20 Parker Peter
    x15 jump jack
    Then everyone pick a column x3sets of Sunday Mornings:
    People’s chair w/ x10 jack web
    Donkey kicks x5
    Balls to wall, count to 10
    (three movements = 1 set)

    Line up – Mosey/Indian run to practice track
    Partner up
    1. Catch me if you can – Partner runs ahead backwards while other partner drops for 5 burpees, sprint to catch, alternate, 400m
    Cont. w/ Partner – following cumulative
    2. 100 Merkins – Sets of 10, partner holds plank while other partner completes set, alternate to total
    3. 200 LBCs – Sets of 20, partner holds legs raised while other completes set, alternate to total
    4. 300 Squats – Sets of 30, partner holds squat while other completes set, alternate to total

    At this juncture YHC had two ideas of what he wanted to do, but was a little uncertain of time. Opting to start a mosey back to the Great Lawn, he lost a little control of the group, who, like cats when not given explicit direction, had a mind of their own. This led to a different route back, which altered timeline. YHC takes full responsibility for this fork in the road, which was a result of indecision. Once outside my comfort zone, I turned to a wisened veteran, Screwtop for a tip on a next workout, he advised 4 corners. Since YHC wanted to keep momentum and control, he jumped on idea, announced to group, and tasked 4 individuals with deciding on a movement for each corner. However, in haste, I was not clear about time spent at each corner, or much of anything, so it turned in to everyone being responsible for their own time in 4 corners.

    While this was not the smoothest F3 beatdown that many know and love, I feel like there was plenty of sweat and ready-to-be-done’ness’ by the end of our hour to say it was a successful day nonetheless.

    My lesson – don’t go in to a Q with too many ideas of what to accomplish. Pick your workouts. Keep it simple. And stick to your plan. Any time allowed to think about what to do next, gives rise to chaos. Anarchy. (Don’t look into applying this reminder to life… it might lead to improvement). Also, the older I get I find myself abiding the principle, “If you haven’t failed at doing something, and gone back to it to keep doing it, are you even invested in it?”


    I appreciate the patience of all while I had a growth Q and want to thank the spirit of F3 for keeping it fun for all. Veterans stepped up, tclaps to those who did, and ultimately this group is about camaraderie, practicing leadership, and pushing each other to be better all around. I am excited to step up to another Q in the near future, and tighten up the execution then.

  • Nothing Gold Can Stay…

    So the time had finally come. The great scepter of Q had been passed to YHC, for the first time ever – with wise words from the Q’s before, and much great advice, pomp and circumstance; I had been called to lead and could not refuse. Humbly, I accepted.

    And while some historians may have differing stories… about how the burden of Q leadership was thrust hastily upon the first available, unsuspecting, member of that weeks coffeteria; or how there were no wise words, or any advice, or how the pomp mostly came from the circumstance of bad jokes and poor planning… YHC chose to see the bigger picture, to take away the more important lesson: Historians are dumb, and only believe what they read in books, or on Backblasts. So there is really no way way of knowing exactly what happened on that day except that the result was, I was an HC to Q the #Renaissance for my VQ.

    In the darkness of a sultry morning, while the rest of the city slept, like so many sheep, YHC went to the AO early to scope out a few areas for our challenge – only to find a wiley Catfish who apparently had run to the site to warm up for the beatdown. Tclaps! (and consequently ran to coffeteria and then home…)

    As a small digression, YHC had just spent the week in Austin on a work trip and was able to commune with the NATX AOs to stay sharp. It is a powerful and reassuring feeling to stumble in to another F3 group (in another city, in another state) and see them keeping the same commitment, the same standard, to the F3 code. Our brothers are out there just as we are here, every day.

    So as we waited for the remainder of the Renaissance crew to materialize in the gloom, YHC had the eerie feeling of waiting on all the other good men, materializing in the gloom of cities all across the nation. All, ready for a new day and a new beat down.

    THE THANG

    The rabble gathered and YHC gave a short disclaimer sure to let all know he was not the professional he appeared to be, and a circle was made.

    All IC:
    x10 Grass Grabbers
    x10 Toe touches
    x15 Windmill
    x20 Peter-Parker
    x20 Parker-Peter

    A quick turn around in the grass, facing up Lelong Dr, with Trees to our left, noting them as markers for first exercise (as measured on gmaps, Trees are 50ft apart):
    OYO, in succession no break-
    5 Burpees
    Bear Crawl to next tree
    5 Burpees
    Crawl-Bear to next tree
    5 Burpees
    Crab Walk to next tree
    5 Burpees
    Walk-Crab to next tree
    5 Burpees
    Sprint distance back to start
    Plank for 6

    Next a mosey up Roosevelt Mall to Track, plank for 6
    Partner up

    Next Ex:
    Catch Me if You Can – One man starts with 3 Burpees while partner runs/sprints backwards around track. When Burpees complete, sprint normal to catch partner; alternate. Tagged man goes down for Burpees while other switches to backwards run… Until tagged… Continue all around track. – 1 lap. Plank for 6

    Next Ex: Move to open area of track
    Keep your partner
    100 Merkins/Plank combined. Alternate in intervals of 10. While partner completes merkin set, you hold plank, back and forth… hold plank for 6

    Next:
    200 Squats/Al Gore combined. Alternate intervals of 20 squats. While partner completes set, you hold (a tree) Al Gore, back and forth…

    Next:
    300 LBCs/Leg Raise combined. Alternate intervals of 30 LBCs. While partner completes set, you hold 6in leg left (or modify with legs kept in LBC position…. either way, no touching the ground till complete), back and forth.

    Might have had a 20 count in here for recovery, but I’m no historian…

    Mosey back to flag, stop at rear of NOMA to post up against the wall for a rest… sort of.

    Next Ex:
    x3 sets of following, OYO
    1 set =
    Peoples chair timed by completing x10 Jack Reachers
    x5 Donkey Kicks (half plank type position, kicking both feet up and back against wall)
    Straight in to Balls to the Wall, or Reverse Wall Stand (Kick feet all the way up, walk back if need be, doing hand stand). Do 1 hand stand press, or hold count 10. (YHC open to better name for this maneuver, or maybe one already exists).

    Complete mosey back to Flag
    Approx 4-5m easy stretches

    All above written upon memory of YHC, the quality of which cannot be accounted for or verified. As a reminder, YHC is NOT a historian. So while no one really knows what happened on this day, or others before it, the sound of trumpets were heard in the distance at one point, and it has been said that a bevy of doves was seen above, as this VQ came to a close (whether or not those trumpets were the screeching brakes of local dump trucks and the doves were pigeons is not for us to debate).  But one thing is for sure, no more Gold of showing up to another man’s Q, just to make it through. It’all Iron now.

    Jokes aside – I am thankful for the opportunity to Q, had a lot of fun doing it, and I hope I presented a challenge to those who showed. Tclaps to FracSac for nudging me in and putting me on rotation. I am appreciative of the F3 brotherhood and have seen huge strides in health, fitness, and energy in just the few months I’ve been committed. Thanks to all who continue to show up daily so that we can all hold each other accountable, to be just a little better, every day. Thank you, F3 NOLA.