Author: Gabrielle

  • Quality over Quantity!

    This was YHC’s first Q outside the friendly confines of Uptown.  So it was appropriate that it would be the Uptowner that would be YHC’s first Q in the great, big WORLD.  You can imagine my dismay when I pulled into the parking area with no other cars around.  Would this be a party of 1?  If you Q in an empty park, did it really happen?  Hold on….who is that walking over the train tracks?  None other than Hand Grenada!   Now we have a party!  But wait there’s more!  Here comes Fracsac to join this merry band.  The three musketeers it is.  Quality over quantity PAX.  Let’s get this party started…right?

    Circle up for Warm up,

    • Windmills X 15
    • Forward Arm Circles X15
    • Reverse Arm Circles X 15
    • Imperial Walkers X20
    • Hillbillies X20

    We’re all warmed so let’s go to the rock pile and pick a small rock.  Oh wait, in my excitement of actually having PAX show up for my Q, I forgot the all important disclaimer.  So, disclaimer it is and then…

    Circle up with small rock for Thang 1:

    Block Webb –  1 merkin to 2 air presses with small rock increasing by 1 merkin and 2 air presses all the way up to 10 merkins and 20 air presses.  All OYO.  Needless to say we were feeling the burn in the shoulders by the end.

    Let’s walk over and throw the small rock over the fence to the baseball field.  Back to the rock pile to pick a large rock

    Take Large Rock walk around fence to field drop rock and walk to grab small rock from other side of field.  Lunge walk with small rock back to where we dropped big rock.

    As we only had 3 Pax, we decided to combine forces for Thang 2

    Flora 1-2-3 (aka Dora’s Nasty Sister)

    • 100 merkins – 10 merkins on large rock while others plank with foot on his large rock flapjack till complete
    • 200 LBC’s – 20 LBC’s with small rock while partners hold feet 6” off ground while holding small rock over chest flapjack till complete
    • 300 Goblet Squats – 25 goblet squats while partners hold a goblet squat in down position flapjack till complete

    Next, circle up for Bear Crawl Ring of Fire                             c

    • Bear Crawl to Q yells halt. When stopped, all PAX on 6 and lift Rock over head.  PAX does 10 chest presses in sequence until all are done.  Bear Crawl counter-clockwise, stop for chest presses, bear-crawl clockwise for chest presses.  Let’s kick it up a notch Boo Boo Bear Crawl right leg up clockwise, stop for chest presses,  Boo Boo Bear Crawl left leg up counter-clockwise.  Feeling good now!

    Walk large rock over to fence and throw over – Lunge walk halfway back then crab walk the rest of the way back to small rocks.

    Walk back to rock pile holding small rock in front of chest with arms extended.

    Circle up for arms and back work with large rock:

    • Curls X 20 IC
    • Rows with large rock X20 IC

    Stay in circle for Flutter Kicks while holding small rock above chest X15 IC

    Count-Off, Name-o-rama, Announcements, Intentions and Prayer.

    Thanks to the PAX for letting me lead!

  • And for the Beatdown, I’ll start with Shoulders and then for my entrée shoulders with a side of shoulders and for dessert…Shoulders!!!!

    Oh yes, now we are in the dog days of summer.  So not only did we have 80 degree temperature greeting us at 5:30 but let’s add 100% humidity as it rained the day before.  Fun times and time for some upper-body work.  As El Wire duly noted towards the end of our beatdown.  Every exercise except one included shoulders.  Yes El Wire they did, they surely did.  Onward to the Thang!

    Mosey to a open space by Magazine St. for Warmup:

    • Arm Circles Forward X15
    • Arm Circles Reverse X15
    • IW X20
    • Windmills X 15

    Mosey to Soccer Field for Bear Crawl Ring of Fire

    • Bearcrawl Counter-Clockwise all till Q yells halt
      • 10 merkins
    • Bearcrawl Clockwise
      • 10 diamond merks

    Let’s increase the difficulty!

    • Boo Boo Bearcrawl Counterclockwise Right Leg Up
      • 10 staggered right
    • Boo Boo Bearcrawl Clockwise Left Leg Up
      • 10 staggered left

    Mosey to street leading to statue for:

    Indian Crab Crawl to Statue – Line up in four lines of four or five PAX.  Last PAX crabwalks to front of column while other PAX does LBC’s and so on.  This exercise took a little bit longer than expected so we stopped about halfway and…

    Moseyed to the statue for:

    Dora 123 – Partner Up

    • 100 burpees
    • 200 derkins
    • 300 squats

    Ran out of time, so called it with most PAX somewhere in their Squat count.

    Moseyed to flag with one minute to spare, so, 10 Nolan Ryans each side OYO!

    Count off, Name-o-rama (one FNG, Betty Crocker as he likes to bake), announcements, intentions and prayer.

    Thank you for letting me lead!

  • Did I mention the ISI Challenge….

    So as 23 PAX gathered in the short-lived gloom, YHC reminded everyone that this month’s ISI challenge is 10,000 Merkins in one month.  Quite the task as that equates to an average of 333.33 merkins/day for those who are mathematically challenged.  Merkins were promised and as you will soon see,  Merkins were delivered.  After the standard disclaimer, we were off!

    Mosey around entrance to Golf Club and then to front of bandstand for Warm Up:

    • Hillbillies X 20 IC
    • Windmills X 15 IC
    • Imperial Walkers X20
    • Forward Arm Circles X15
    • Reverse Arm Circles X15

    Then short Mosey to Oak Alley for Red Barchetta (went deep in Exicon for this one).  Apparently it’s supposed to get your heart racing like a “Rush song”.

    • Start at 1st light run to last light for 100 SSH
    • Run back to starting point
    • Run to 2nd to last light for 75 Mountain Climbers
    • Run back to starting point
    • Run to 3rd to last light for 50 LBC’s
    • Run back to starting point
    • Run to 4th to last light for 25 merkins
    • Last is 10 Burpees

    I agree the routine got the heart racing, but even though I’m a fan of Red Barchetta, I think this Rush song seems more appropriate:

    Here’s to all you Working Men! Or is it Working #HIM?  BTW, where’s all the merkins?  That’s only 35 including the burpees…

    Next Mosey to Kickball Field for Merkin Ladder.  There they are!!!

    • Start on one side and do 20 merkins sprint to other side and do 19 back to starting point for 18 and so forth until you hit 1. 210 merkins total if you’re counting.  Now we’re cooking…or at least our chests are burning.

    Quite a bit of mumblechatter during this routine.  I even think I heard some comment about t-rex arms that help some of the PAX do push-ups faster… All I got to say is sometimes it’s good to be short…or short-armed.

    Next mosey to shelter for

    • Incline Merkins X15 IC
    • Right Leg Step Ups X15 IC
    • Decline Merkins X15 IC
    • Left Leg Step Ups X 15 IC
    • Merkins X15 OYO

    Next mosey to right outside shelter for

    Mary

    • Flutter Kicks x 15 IC
    • Penguins X 20 IC
    • Tin Snips X 15 IC
    • Nolan Ryans X5 each side OYO

    Mosey to Flag for Count-Off, Name-o-rama, Intentions and Prayer.  PAX, don’t forget about NOTC 2-miler this Wednesday.  Should be some good F2 and recruiting opportunities.

    So, for those counting, that’s 320 merkins to get your ISI Challenge day started.  Keep ‘em coming and Go Team Gabrielle!

    Thanks for letting me lead.

  • …Featuring some Classic Hits from the World!

    So, on a warm, muggy Wednesday morning, YHC greeted 20 PAX for a classic beatdown.    With a heavy assist from Tool and Rudy, YHC decided to go through some of the classic hits from the World.  After the standard disclaimer, off we go!

    Mosey to Kick-Ball field for warm up

    • Windmills X 15
    • Hillbillies X 20
    • Imperial Walkers X20
    • Peter Parker X20

    Next a quick mosey to Soccer Field for Thang 1

    Partner Plank Slaps – partner up in plank position facing each other for

    • 50 Partner Plank Slaps 5 Burpees
    • 40 Partner Plank Slaps 4 Burpees
    • 30 Partner Plank Slaps 3 Burpees
    • 20 Partner Plank Slaps 2 Burpees
    • 10 Partner Plank Slaps 1 Burpee

    Mosey to fly, no wait the levee! (sorry seaman) for thang 2

    Everest

    • Lunge on one leg then squat
    • Lunge other leg then squat

    At the top 10 Burpees, at the bottom 10 Burpees (Thanks El Wire!)

    Mosey to first work out station on river side of park for thang 3

    Route 66 starting at running man by workout station

    • First Running Man Merkin 1x
    • Second Running Man Merkins 2x
    • up to Merkins 11X

    Mosey to Shelter for thang 4

    • RL Step Up X 16
    • Dips X 15
    • LL Step Up X 16
    • Dips X 15
    • Bulgarian Split Squats RL Up X 15
    • Derkins X 15
    • Bulgarian Split Squats LL Up X 15

    Great job counting PAX!  Funny how sharing workout space with four fellow boot campers of the fairer sex gets everybody participating.  Hope we didn’t scare them off!  I see some FiA recruiting in the future.

    Mosey to open area for “The SUCK” for thang 5

    • SSH X6
    • Jump Squats X6
    • Merkins X6

    Complete as many rounds in 3 minutes calling out each round when completed

    Stay in circle for 10 Nolan Ryans each side OYO

    Mosey to Flag for count-off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions and prayer

    Thanks to PAX for letting me lead.

  • Tony! Toni! Tone’! or is it Trevor…..?

    On a beautiful Monday morning YHC gathered with 15 other PAX for a great start to the day.  As I walked up to the AO I noticed Seaman.  Not only did he come to wish all the other PAX a good beatdown but he brought his new dog and an FNG he EH’ed.  After introducing myself to Tony or was it Toni, maybe Tone’?, we all circled up and waited for a few PAX coming in hot.  When all were ready, I asked if there were any other FNG’s in the group besides Tony, Toni, Tone’ apparently there were none and I was quickly corrected by numerous PAX that the FNG who was there was not actually Tony or Toni or even Tone’ but Trevor.  I guess a weekend in Lafayette for International Festival de Acadiens had me a little slow.  With that, disclaimer and we moseyed to an open field by Magazine Street for:

    Warm-Up

    • Forward Arm Circles X 15
    • Reverse Arm Circles X 15
    • Hillbillies X 20
    • Imperial Walkers X20

    Next we moseyed to the levee (dodging multiple cars, what’s up with the traffic at 5:30AM?) for:

    Burp Back Mountain

    • Partner 1 does 8-Count Body Builders
    • Partner 2 runs up the hill backwards and down hill forwards X 3 then Flapjack

    Rinse and repeat until 100 Body Builders are completed.

    Next, mosey to median by Audubon Statue for:

    Rock IV aka “I must break you”

    • Rocky Balboa’s X 100 on curb 1
    • Bear Crawl forward over median to far curb for
    • Incline Merkins X 10
    • Crab Crawl forward to beginning
    • Rinse and repeat X3 alternating between forward and backward bear crawls and crab crawls

    next, mosey to Oak Alley for:

    C.L.I.M.B.

    • Crab Cake
    • Lunge
    • Iron Cross
    • Mountain Climbers
    • Burpees

    1 Crab Cake, 2 Lunges, 3 Iron Cross, 4 Mountain Climbers, 5 Burpees at first light then double up each successive light.  Carioca one way to second light, other way to third light, defensive slide one way to fourth light then other way to fifth light. Due to time constraints, we had to cut this short before the last light.

    We quickly moseyed to the flag and as it was still 6:14, 10 Nolan Ryan’s each side OYO!

    Count off and Name 0 Rama (where YHC initally forgot to give his name, etc. see note about International Fest above).  We had one FNG who is a Marine which lead some kind of way to his F3 name of Colonel Mustard.  Who just so happens to be YHC favorite Clue character.  Maybe it’s the monocle?  Who’s your favorite character????

    We ended with announcements, intentions and prayer to be safe and have a good time this JazzFest week.

    Thanks for letting me lead.

     

  • Eyes on the Road! Ya Merkin Maniac!

    So on a beautiful Monday morning, YHC moseyed up to the AO and noticed no water anywhere around!  It’s been awhile since we haven’t had the sweet aroma of ducks@#t surrounding us in our beatdowns.  Maybe this is a good sign…  After disclaimer we moseyed to open field on the Calhoun side of the park for:

    Warm Up

    • Forward Arm Circles X 20 IC
    • Imperial Walkers X 20 IC
    • Reverse Arm Circles X 20 IC
    • Hillbillies X 20 IC

    Next we moseyed to Row Fitness Area

    Split into 5 Groups

    • Group 1 Catalina Wine-Mixers X 10 as the Count
    • Peter Parkers
    • Lunges
    • Parker Peters
    • Rows

    Next we…Double-backed, WHAT?, surely we were going to make the Audubon loop it’s a Monday after all.  Those PAX don’t know YHC and his general distaste of running; body-weight exercises is my JAM.  So back to the Shelter!  Through the normal shortcut route hugging the lagoon which apparently is now a construction area.  Careful running through this Men at Work zone PAX.  Can I interest anyone in a Vegamite sandwich?  Maybe after the beat down.  Think about it…

    Anyway, we finally hit our destination after much ducking and diving, but no diving ducks too dry for them.  Did I mention I like body-weight exercises?  Specifically merkins, so MERKIN MANIA it is:

    8 different merkins all done 5 count OYO as fast as you can.  On the menu:

    • Diamond Merkins
    • Merkins (the classic, it never goes out of style)
    • Staggered Merks Right
    • Staggered Merks Left
    • Wide-Arm Merks
    • Crucible Merks (these were fun)
    • Hand-Release Merks
    • Tempo Merks (why did I save these for last?)

    Next up at the Shelter, let’s get some leg work in PAX:

    • Right Leg Power Ups X15 IC
    • Dips X15 IC (Wait Dips aren’t leg work, just go with it)
    • Left Leg Power Ups X15 IC
    • Dips X 15 IC (Again?)
    • Right Leg Bulgarian Split Squats X 15 IC
    • Left Leg Bulgarian Split Squats X15 IC

    Now we’re feeling good, so let’s mosey to…the Bandstand.  That was quick!  Let’s do some 11’s.  Grab a wall, step, another PAX’s shoulders for Mike Tyson’s on the lagoon side of the bandstand starting at 10 count then up and over the bandstand and run to the first light for 1 Monkey Humper.  Run back to the lagoon side for it all to start again decreasing/increasing.  You know the drill PAX!  For those who might be wondering, a Mike Tyson is you start in a merkin position with feet against a wall or step, you squat back as first move of exercise back to merkin position and then complete a merkin.  That’s one.  Those were fun, are we seeing a merkin theme here?

    Surely we’re done, we can see the Flag (or where the Flag should be) from here?  Well, we have 3 minutes left so let’s mosey to an open field, which used to be an open pond not that long ago, for one last CoP.  Let’s do Febreze!  A new one for me, here’s how it works.  Kinda like an AB version of Jack Webb with way more Air Presses.  PAX starts with 1 Big Boy Situp and then at the top of that sit up, hold feet up six inches and do 10 Air presses.  Back down for 2 Big Boy Situps and 20 Air Presses holding those feet up the whole time.  PAX made it up to 4 Big Boy Situps and 40 Air Presses until our time was up.  Great job PAX!

    Mosey back to Flag for:

    Seaman and his new dog!  We missed you at the beat down Seaman, but happy to see you and meet your new friend.

    Count-Off

    Name-O-Rama, we had one FNG who is an artist that paints scenes of live music shows.  Think Frenchy.  What a cool gig!  After much mumblechatter, Splatter is the name.  Welcome to the PAX, Splatter!  And thanks to Brown Bag for EHing.

    Announcements

    Intentions

    Prayer

    Thanks to all the PAX for letting me lead today.  It’s truly an honor!

  • Back in the Saddle…

    So after a sun-filled week in Orlando with the M and 2.0’s,YHC was ready to get back to the regular beatdown with his F3 brothers.  So much so, that we even suspended the no-burpee Monday rule.  Apparently one week of no burpees equals a burpee pyramid.  After disclaimer 16 PAX moseyed to kickball field in front of Audubon Zoo for:

    Warm Up

    • SSH X 20 IC
    • Forward Arm Circles X 20 IC
    • Windmills X 20 IC
    • Reverse Arm Circles X 20 IC
    • Imperial Walkers X 20 IC

    Next we moseyed to Soccer Field for Thang 1

    Four Corners/BOMB

    • First Corner 5 Burpees
    • Carioca to Second Corner for 10 OH Presses
    • Crab Crawl to Third Corner for 15 Merkins
    • Backward Run to Fourth Corner for  20 Big Boy Sit Ups
    • Crab Crawl to Beginning.

    All of the above OYO

    Because that was so much fun, rinse and repeat!

    Next we moseyed to Audubon Statue for Thang 2, a little DORA

    Partnered up as 1 PAX ran other completed:

    • 100 Derkins
    • 200 Squat Jumps
    • 300 LBC’s

    And just as Medulla Oblongata thought we were done “But wait there’s more!”

    Moseyed to Oak Alley for Thang 3, Burpee Pyramid

    • Starting at first light one burpee with one merkin
    • Run to second light for 2 burpees with two merkins on each burpee
    • Run to third light for 3 burpees with 3 merkins on each burpee
    • Run to fourth light for 4 burpees with 4 merkins on each burpee
    • Run to fifth light for 5 burpees with 5 merkins on each burpee

    For those mathematicians, that’s 55 merkins and 15 burpees for the PAX who completed.

    As we were running out of time, we cut burpee pyramid short and moseyed back to flag.  And because we had one minute left, 10 Nolan Ryans each side OYO.

    Count-off, Name-o-rama with one FNG, who PAX named Peaches as he is from Atlanta, went to UGA and we thought 28-3 would be too harsh.  Announcements and COT/Prayer.

    Thanks to PAX for letting me lead.  Truly grateful for this group of men and F3.

  • Wait is that who I think it is….?

    So, on a cold, wet Wednesday morning YHC was ready for his second Q.  Wondering how many pax would be up for a beat-down in this Post-Christmas, chilly weather, you can imagine my astonishment when a surprise guest decided to join us fresh off his Respect Q.  None other than Triple Shift!  It’s been three long years (by his count) since he joined his brothers Uptown.  Welcome, my friend, welcome.  Five more pax joined for a respectable 7-man group including a FNG.  After pleasantries all around and standard disclaimer, we moseyed to grassy space for:

    Warm-Up

    • SSH X 20 IC
    • Arm circles Forward X 20 IC
    • Arm circles Reverse X 20 IC (Yes, I get it, 3,2,1 not 1,2,3)
    • IW X 20 IC

    Moseyed to Levee for Thang 1

    • 11’s alternating Burpees at the bottom with Squat Jumps at the top. With an extra run up to the top for Seaman who “mis-heard” that we were starting with 1 Burpee at the bottom. Nice try Seaman, nice try

    Moseyed to Pull-Up Bars for 1 round of Thang 2

    • Station 1 Catalina Wine-Mixers X 15 (Timer/Count)
    • Station 2 Pull-Ups AMRAP (Please hurry Catalina Wine-Mixer group)
    • Station 3 Alternating Lunges AMRAP

    Indian Run to Shelter for Thang 3

    • Grab some wall pax for Jack Webb X 10 with air presses in peoples chair OYO
    • RL Power Ups X 15 IC
    • LL Power Ups X 15 IC
    • Dips X 15 IC

    Stay for some Mary

    • 10 each side Nolan Ryans OYO
    • Flutter Kicks X 15 IC
    • 10 each side Side-Plank Pendulums OYO
    • Hello Dolly X 15 IC
    • 10 4-Point Plan OYO

    Mosey to where Flag used to be for Count-off, Name-o-rama (FNG was duly anointed as Monument as he went to school at Washington and Lee or as one pax pointed out Washington and _____ as Lee has been duly removed), announcements, intentions and prayer.  Feeling blessed to be part of this group.  Thanks to all who came out in challenging conditions.