Author: Waterpik

  • Round Robin Q at the Marsh

    With no one signed up on the Q Sheet, the Men at the Marsh huddled up and called an audible to a round robin Q to start the week off.  It was a true team effort!  And, apparently, unlike Saturday, there were no celebrities posting at the Marsh. However, there was some chatter about New Orleans’ most famous celebrity, Drew Brees.  Here’s to hoping Drew Brees’ record breaking evening goes as smoothly and as well orchestrated as our Round Robin Q on this Gloom.

    Warmup w/ me, the Pik, the Waterpik.

    SSH, WM, HK, BK, Arm Circles.  All IC, to 10.  It may have been 15, but who’s counting?

    Let’s get the party started:

    35 Merkins OYO

    Bear Crawl from one end of the court to the other.

    Back pedal from one end of court to the other.

    Bear Crawl again.

    Last, run 2 line drills.

    Next Up to Q was the Pelican.

    His idea…Mosey to the Lakefront, to Rips in particular for some Calf Raises.

    Each man does 5 Calf Raises on each step to the top, then jog back down the other side.

    Next, each man does one leg Calf Raises (3) up the steps, alternating feet along the way.  Jog down the other side.

    10 Derkins, then

    Mosey to seawall for some Freak Nasties, 20 IC.

    With 15 minutes left, Coconuts gets his turn to play Q for the day.

    Mosey back to Marsh for some SERIOUS WORK!

    Circle up at center court. Time’s almost up.

    Set of 30, broken into 3 individual, continuous exercises:

    10 high jumps (try to bring knees to chest), 10 squat jumps, 10 squats.  Rest for 1 minute, then rinse and repeat.

    Core Work/ Mary:

    20 Rower sit-ups OYO

    20 Freddy Mercuries IC

    Plank for 1 minute.

    Down Dog, then Geico (Lizard Pose), each side.

    COT, and Coconuts prayed us out.

    See yall in the Gloom! Go Saints!  Drew Brees is the Man!

     

     

     

     

  • The 41 Club!

    With some of the regulars MIA this morning at the Scramble, it was purely coincidental, but all 3 PAX posting in the Gloom had one thing in common-we are all 41 years of age.  And, yes, we all wish we ran as well as the other more noteworthy #41 common in these parts—Mr Alvin Kamara.  But the pace on our regular 5K through the streets of Old Mandeville was far slower than the pace at which Mr. Kamara has shredded NFL defenses during his first season and a half in the Black and Gold.

    Before we completed the routine 5K, we warmed up to the following cadences.

    SSH x 15

    GM x 15

    HK x 15

    BK x 15.

    Then after the 5K, we returned back to City Hall for some work…

    PLANK for 1 minute.

    REVERSE PLANK for 1 minute.

    25 ROWER SIT-UPS OYO

    25 MERKS OYO

    20 PUTINS IC

    20 FKs IC

    20 HELLO DOLLYS IC

    Next, we closed out with some Chewy inspired strecthing and YOGA.

    DOWN DOG

    GEICO

    AND THAT’S ALL FOLKS!

     

    COT, and YHC prayed us out!

    Thanks for following my lead, fellas. And thanks, as always, to F3 and its collection of brothers, for pushing me to greater heights in fitness and life!

    PIK!

     

  • Some F3 Gratitude

    Simply put:  there is a 0.00% chance I would exercise so often and so vigorously without F3.  For that, I am very grateful!  For all of you, I am very grateful!

    We had a nice turnout in the gloom for today’s Scramble.

    Our warm up consisted of:

    SSH x 10

    High Knees x 10

    Butt Kicks x 10

    Wind Mills x 10 (all IC)

    With such a large group, we were able to spread out along our normal 5k route with groups of 2 or 3 running together.

    We finished up with enough time to spare to get some work in, so here’s what we did:

    merkins x 20

    rower situps x 20

    squats x 20

    putins x 20

    rower situps x 20 (again)

    leg raises x 20

    Count off, and thanks to Chewy for praying us out.

    Thanks for letting me lead, guys, and thanks for pushing me to greater heights.

     

     

     

  • That’s All It Took Was Just One Look

    One look at Greenville’s Iron Pax Challenge posting for this week, and YHC felt weak in the knees.  50 pullups??  Then do a bunch of stuff and do 50 more pullups???  I really love F3 and how much stronger and more fit it has gotten me, but I had no illusions of completing that challenge.  So, hat’s off to the men who will participate in the last week of the Iron Pax Challenge.

    So, here’s what we did instead:

    Warmarama

    SSH, High Knees, Butt Kicks, Arm Circles all IC x about 10.  Bushwacker says, “boy, good luck with the backblast, youre not gonna remember how many we did.”  and, bushwacker, youre right.  I cant remember.

    Thang.

    Mosey to workout equipment.  Tabata set 1 minute of alternating exercises. Merkins/ pullups, squats/freak nasties, wifepleasers/bigboy situps.

    Mosey back to basketball court for some line drills–10 total.  After each line drill, we did an exercise x 10 reps.  more merkins, squats, leg raises, calf raises, vertical jumps.

    Sprinkle some more merkins, rower situps, freak nasties, and box jumps in there the workout is nearly complete.

    Then, it was, Yoga.  Making Chewy proud!

    10 minutes of Yoga, stretching, Down Dog.  And of course, our newest fun–Making fun of the Lady on the Down Dog App.

    Countarama, Namorama, and YHC prayed us out.

    Thanks for following my lead, men.

    See you in the Gloom

  • Can You Feel The LOVE?

    We were all FNGs once…BUT….IF….you’ve been an F3 Northshore FNG recently, making your first post at the most logical AO, the Mandeville Lakefront, you’ve experienced some extreme H8 from on-Q-high.  Of course, I would never mention any Qs by name…but a few nicknames come to mind: Turbo (extreme H8), Maverick (he called it “a sampling” of H8), and who could forget Bushwacker and his “animal planet” on what had to be the longest set of city blocks in all of Mandeville (I attribute my slow typing to the blisters on my fingers from bear crawling).  And, there may have been another obstacle course beatdown sprinkled somewhere in there, but YHC cant remember that one very well.  To make a long story short, there seems to have been some sort of Challenge or Race at each Saturday morning beatdown this summer.   So YHC figured with all this H8, it was time for some LOVE.  So here’s how it went:

    Warmarama

    SSH, Imperial Walkers, High Knees, Butt Kicks.  x 15 all IC.  Then off we go for some fun and games.  Mosey to the Great Lawn…

    Thang:

    45 Minute game of Ultimate Frisbee with some school yard smack talkin’ mixed in.  It was awesome!  YHC felt like a kid out there.  Raise your hand if you’ve said, “Losers walk” in the last 30 years.    The game went great–we had some diving catches, some nice throws, some blocked passes and deflections.  Even Chris Berman and Tom Jackson would have been impressed if they had seen the full speed, Sportscenter-esque collision between Assets and TankedUp.    Relieved that no one was “Jacked Up” after the collision, YHC called “next point wins.”  With a quick score by the Shirts (the Skins fell asleep because the rest of the game was such a blowout), it was time to mosey back to the Flag for some Mary:

    Flutter Kicks, Hello Dollys, Putins, Rower Sit-ups, and Leg Raises.

    Countarama, Namorama, and YHC prayed us out.

    Thanks for the opportunity to lead, men.  I appreciate it.

  • I hope I never see a Cinder Block again

    With this month’s Iron Pax AMRAP Challenge being led by our F3 brethren in Greensboro, South Carolina, YHC decided the Milestone Marsh was a good opportunity to give this week’s version a try.

    Warmup: (all IC to to 20)

    SSH, Good mornings, High Knees.

    Thang:

    Here’s how it went down.  There were 4 exercises–all done with a coupon–a 25 lb cinder block.  The exercises were Curls, Thrusters, Man Makers, Kettle Bell Swings.  Each interval was timed at 4 minutes.  Each man was to do As Many Reps As Possible in the alloted time.  We did sets of 12 with a 50 yard run between each set and a two minute rest period after each 4 minute interval.

    Good luck to the crown Wednesday morning at the Gipper.  This was some serious business.  Some serious Man Making!

    Needing a reprieve from the cinder blocks we, moseyed to the Lakefront for some Mary.  Flutter Kicks, Hello Dollies, Putins, Leg Raises, Rower Situps.

    Then mosey back to the Marsh for count off, and thanks to Bushwacker for praying us out.

    Looking forward to Saturday, men!

     

     

     

  • Obstacle Course on the Mandeville Lakefront

    The idea was simple: raid my junk filled garage to come up with some objects to create an obstacle course on the Mandeville Lakefront for the Saturday morning beatdown.  Here’s how it went, more or less.

    Short warm up, then mosey down the Lakefront to the large grassy area for some fun.  (at least that was the original idea)

    PAX lines up behind a set of cones while one man at a time starts running the course.   When one man finishes the first obstacle, the next man goes until everyone is on the course.  The first obstacle was hurtles (2 ice chests and a wagon). Second obstacle…I took the net off of my son’s field hockey goal.  It was perfect to crawl under, or you could pretend you were sliding head first into second base.  PAX moves on to third station.  And on, and on it went.  There were a total of 7 stations. Before moving on to the next station, each man had to complete an exercise.  Here’s a flavor of the exercises we completed: merkins, hello dollys, flutter kicks, Steve’s groiners, burpees, putins, squats, jump squats, sister mary katherines, etc.  After 8 grueling trips through the obstacle course, time was up.  It was time to…

    mosey back to flag for announcements, countarama, and thanks to Maverick for praying us out.

    thanks for letting me lead today, men.  and thanks for helping me become a better version of myself.

    Waterpik

  • The Marsh Was HOPPIN’ today, Boys!

    When YHC pulled up at the always quiet, very dark Basketball Court at the corner of Livingston and Lamarque, a spot known by our band of F3 brothers as the Milestone Marsh, there was a car slowly patrolling the area.  Driving slowly, first it passed on Livingston street, then it turned on Lamarque street, and finally the car parked next to mine and a guy got out.  But the person who emerged wasnt one of the regulars -Bushwacker, Shooter, etc.  This was a new car, an unknown one. After a while, we all can recognize our F3 compadres as soon as they round the corner by the car they drive.  We can always identify who drives what car, from which direction they usually come, where they usually park, and… if they usually come in HOT or not to the workouts.  (Unless you are OCHO and you sleep at the AO!).  By this time, I was trying to figure out who this guy was, certain, at some point, I would recognize him.  But, he was avoiding eye contact, and keeping his distance as I was at center court, our normal meeting point.  Long story short, he was an FNG, who lived in Hawaii, went to Duke University, and now works for Chevron.  He was EH’ed by co-worker, Sea Bass.  Here’s a BIG WELCOME to FNG, COCONUTS!

    Warmup: SSH, HK, BK, GM, WM all IC x 15

    Mosey to Lakefront for some action at RIPS:

    One member of Pax runs up and over the staircase at Rips while the other members do an exercise.  When one man goes up and over, the next man goes, until everyone is done.  Then, rinse and repeat with a new exercise.  Here’s a sampling, a taste, if you will, of the exercises: merkins, squats, lunges, flutterkicks, calf raises, Rocky Balboa’s.

    Mosey across the street to seawall.

    Starting at sidewalk, one man does an animal walk (this morning it was bearcrawl, crabwalk, duck walk). to seawall while Pax does an exercise (Al Gore, lunges). Sorry, Turbo, for leaving out the Ostrich walk, and OCHO for not sprinkling in your monkey humpers.

    Then it was ISI (rower sit-ups) sets of 10 x 4, alternating w/ 10 merkins x 4.

    Mosey back to Marsh.  COT, and YHC prayed us out!

    Thanks, fellas, for letting me lead and making me a better version of myself.

    Waterpik

     

  • Post July 4th Scramble

    YHC and Shooter  descended upon Mandeville City Hall on July 5th a little weary from Turbo’s July 4th Patriotic beatdown combined with a full day of holiday activities due to the rare mid-week day off.  On this particular gloomy Thursday, it just felt like a Monday.  But, both Shooter and YHC acknowledged a sense of accomplishment that we passed Jocko Willink’s first test of our day, getting out of bed at the sound of the alarm clock. So off we went and here’s what we did, more or less.

    Warmup: SSH, Toe touches, WM, GM. all IC x 10.

    5k run.  It seemed the Mandeville Pier at Sunset Point was a happening place this 4th of July as there was an over abundance of trash to collect (as has become the custom of the F3 Pax at the Scramble).

    After the 5k, mosey to the playground equipment for ISI, some pull-ups, Merkins and some Putins.

    YHC prayed us out.  Thanks to the always dependable, Shooter, for joining me for the weekly 5k.  I appreciate the companionship, it makes me a better man.

     

     

  • No U.S.? Who cares! World Cup Soccer–F3 Style

    After playing  touch football (who remembers those kids riding by, windows down, shouting at us??) on Superbowl Saturday (#Turbo Tax) and half court basketball at the Milestone Marsh during March Madness (#THE Manny), YHC began planning a soccer themed beatdown to coincide with the start of the World Cup.  I figured, correctly, that Shooter wouldn’t mind lending his truck to transport my kids’ soccer goal from my front yard to the Mandeville Lakefront.  After all, ISI has necessitated a “very chesty” month for our F3 Northshore PAX who are participating, so it seemed a break from the norm was very much in order.  And so it was.

    Warmup: SSH, High knees, butt kicks.  Mosey to the soccer field on the Mandeville Lakefront that you didn’t know about–the F3 Soccer Field, brah!

    Let’s get right to it:

    Divide the PAX into two teams (shirts and skins—like when we were kids–way before dry-fit, under armour, nike pro combat) and play keep away with the soccer ball in a square grid about 30 x 30 yards.  The Goal: each team tries to complete three consecutive passes without losing possession.  When that happens, the opposing team gets a penalty exercise–merkins, burpees, groiners (Steve may have been cussed here by a very ‘whacky’ someone if memory serves), squats, sprints, flutterkicks, hello dollys, freak nasties, mountain climbers, sister mary Katherine’s.

    After a while and with the competitive juices flowing pretty good among the PAX, YHC began to fear a regrettable, preventable injury, and called for “next goal wins.”

    Time for a change of pace, and more penalty exercises.

    Let’s do some PK’s:

    Each player gets to take a PK.  If you miss, or the goalie saves it, your whole team gets a penalty exercise. If you make it, the other team gets a penalty exercise.  Rinse and repeat until all players on both teams have taken a PK and played goalie.

    Let’s change things up again:

    Shots on an Open Net from about 30 yards out.  If you miss, the entire PAX gets a penalty exercise.  If you make it, everyone rests.  Easy enough, right?  Not so fast, my friend!  Unfortunately, only about 4 people made their shot.

    Now it’s time to mosey back to the flag.  Indian Run Style.

    Count off, naming of FNG, and thanks to Bubba for praying us out!

    Welcome, FNG, In-Time!  Hope to see you at the beatdowns.

    Thanks for following my lead today, men!  I look forward to seeing you all in the gloom.