F3 New Orleans

Author: TurboTax

  • Smuckers

    There were no FNGs at The Gipper this morning.  If there had been, YHC would have named the first one Smuckers.  Because his arms and legs and the rest of his body for that matter would have felt like jelly.  F3 Greenwood must have it in for the rest of us.  Last week’s IronPAXChallenge workout was tough, but our South Carolina brothers turned the volume up to 11 this week.  What a workout.

    Knowing that we’d be pressed for time and anticipating the severity of the challenge before us, YHC kept the pre-game festivities to a minimum.  After a few SSHs, Seal Jacks, Copperhead Squats and Arm Circles, the PAX walked to their 26.6 lb cinder blocks like prisoners to the gallows.  Brief instructions and it was game time:  8 minutes of Thrusters, Swings, Manmakers, and Curls…50 yard run after every 25 reps…AMRAP for each exercise…2 minutes of rest between exercises.

    So simple yet so brutal.

    Countorama, nameorama and a prayer.  Then YHC gave the guys the rest of the day off from work.  Hey, they earned it.

    Thanks for letting me lead guys.  We need to come up with a challenge involving alligators and send it in the direction of the Carolinas.

     

  • IronPAXChallenge-Week 1 Pre-Blast

    Calling all Northshore PAX.  The Gipper will host this week’s IronPAXChallenge.  This week’s workout is 4 rounds for time of:  50 AirSquats, 40 BigBoiSitups, 30 Merkins, 20 BonnieBlairs (we call them Sister Mary Katherines), 10 Burpees, and a 400m run.  You can find more details here:  https://f3greenwood.com/2018/08/05/ironpaxchallenge-week-1-workout/

    Come to The Gipper on Wednesday and test yourself.  See you in the Gloom!

  • Northshore H8!

    There’s been a fair amount of mumble chatter emanating from the Southshore lately about the so called H8! beat down.  Never to be outdone by our Southshore brothers, the Northshore PAX decided to turn up the volume to 11 this morning with a modified version of the H8!   After the standard disclaimer and a warmup of SSHs, Seal Jacks, Toe Touches, Imperial Walkers, Front to Back Lunges, Lateral Lunges, and Windmills, all IC and with rep counts from 10-20, YHC led fourteen men westward on the Mandeville Lakefront to the launch pad for 40 minutes of suffering.

    The PAX started the clock and their first lap with one Merkin.  This one Merkin was the centerpiece of YHC’s diabolical plan to make the Northshore H8! .01% better than the Southshore version.  YHC’s poor reading comprehension and math skills actually made it a lot harder, however.  YHC misinterpreted Hawg’s Friday afternoon briefing, realized his mistake 1 lap into the H8!, but by that time the horses were out of the barn and it was too late to recall them for revised instructions.  Anyone who has Q’d a beat down know how that works.

    At any rate, after that first Merkin (which was terrific across the board by the way), the PAX bear crawled 35 yards, ran out and back for .4 miles round trip, bear crawled 35 yards back to our starting point and then performed 8 burpees and 8 Merkins within each burpee to complete one lap.  This last part is where YHC mangled Hawg’s instructions.  We should have performed descending Merkins instead of 8 Merkins for each burpee, i.e. 36 instead of 64.  Too late.  The die was cast, as mentioned above, and there was nothing to do but get on with it.

    So we did, completing as many laps as possible in 40 minutes, dropping the number of burpees and Merkins by one on each lap.  Whether it was the extra Merkins or our lack of fitness relative to our Southshore brothers, we’ll never know, but no one completed 8 laps in the prescribed 40 minutes.  The PAX cheerfully embraced the suck, however, which is something.  Even when the wind picked up, it started to rain hard, and the Sky Q started throwing lightening bolts nearby.

    Thanks for letting me lead this morning, guys, and welcome to FNGs Survivor and The Hammer.  See you in the Gloom.

     

     

     

     

  • Pre-Blast: Northshore H8!

    Calling all Northshore PAX.  Prepare yourselves for the Northshore H8.  Modeled after the Southshore H8 (but sure to be .01% better and more fun), the Northshore H8 will test your mettle this Saturday, August 4th, at 0630 on the Mandeville Lakefront.  You can expect a benchmark workout that will gauge your current fitness level.  We’ll run it again in 6 months and, unless you plan on spending the next 6 months on the couch with EiEi, you’ll see marked improvement and be proud of yourself.  The H8 involves burpees, merkins, bear crawls and running and will look something like Hawg’s April 19, 2018 beatdown on the Southshore (check out the backblast) but, again, will be slightly better in all respects.  Bring your A game and plan on getting some.  See you in the Gloom.

  • Pre-Game

    With the Gnarly Nutria on this evening’s agenda, YHC considered taking it easy on the PAX this morning at The Gipper.  That thought disappeared into the morning’s humidity as soon as Moby approached the AO wearing his new DeWalt contractor gloves, ready to get to work.  So we did:

    Warmup of Torso Twists, Toe Touches, Good Mornings, Squats, Cossack Squats, Front to Back Lunges, 3 Position Calf Raises, Seal Jacks, and SSHs, all IC 10x.

    Mosey to the Justice Center lawn for a 4 minute Tabata shuttle run…run 20 seconds, walk 10 seconds, repeat 8x for 4 minutes total effort.

    Mosey to the Justice Center Veterans Memorial and circle up on our sixes for 11 rounds IC 10x per round of:  Rower Situps, Straight Legged Jackknives (10x each side), and Hand Release Pushups.

    Mosey back to The Gipper for five solid minutes of Arm Circles (forward and back from golf ball to beach ball), OH Hand Claps, OH Air Presses, OH Scissors, Horizontal Scissors, and then we Hitchhiked our way to the

    Countorama, nameorama, and prayer.

    Thanks for letting me lead guys.  Looking forward to World Domination at the Gnarly Nutria tonight.

  • Duty Calls

    Making ourselves better is in many ways a critical first step towards making a positive impact on our friends, families and communities.  This simple statement is a core tenant and one of the things YHC loves most about F3.  Making ourselves better requires discipline and hard work.  No one can make you better except for yourself.  You must answer the call of duty if you want to project positive force in the world.  Teddy Roosevelt had this figured out.  He observed “the things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living, and the get rich quick theory of life.”  Amen.

    In this spirit, five patriots gathered under The Gipper’s gaze to celebrate their 4th of July with some hard work.  Mosey to the St. Tammany Parish Justice Center for a warmup of SSHs, Windmills, Seal Jacks, and Overhead Hand Claps, all IC 10 to 15 reps with trips up and down the Justice Center stairs between exercises.  Then it was off to the animal races with:

    30 yard Ostrich walk, 70 yard strides, and repeat in the opposite direction.  Rinse and repeat with Crabwalks, Bear Crawls, Lizard Walks, and Duck Walks.

    Mosey to the Veterans Memorial at the front of the Justice Center for 30 seconds each of front to back jumps and lateral jumps with a short pause to reflect that we as Americans may be blessed with freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but the duty is ours to manifest and maximize those gifts through our actions and words.

    Mosey to the top of the Parking Garage where we performed a 7 minute AMRAP of sprints down the ramp, climbs up the stairs, and short run back to the starting point complete the loop.

    Mosey to the back of the Justice Center for 30 seconds each of lateral box jumps.

    Then back to The Gipper for our ISI challenge of the day (30 rower situps IC), countorama, nameorama, and prayer.

    Thanks for letting me lead guys.

    God Bless America!

     

  • Discipline Equals Freedom

    “Don’t expect to be motivated every day to get out there and make things happen.  You won’t be.  Don’t count on motivation.  Count on discipline.” – Jocko Willink, Discipline Equals Freedom:  Field Manual

    “The test is not a complex one:  when the alarm goes off, do you get up out of bed, or do you lie there in comfort and fall back to sleep?  If you have the discipline to get out of bet, you win-you pass the test.  If you are mentally weak for that moment and you let that weakness keep you in bed, you fail.  Though it seems small, that weakness translates to more significant decisions.  But if you exercise discipline, that too translates to more substantial elements of your life.”  Jocko Willink, Extreme Ownership:  How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win.

    “Our freedom to operate and maneuver had increased substantially through disciplined procedures.  Discipline equals freedom.”  Jocko Willink, Extreme Ownership:  How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win.

    YHC sprinkled words of wisdom from his favorite U.S. Navy SEAL throughout this morning’s beatdown.  He was preaching to the choir, of course, because all seven PAX standing around the shovel flag on the Mandeville Lakefront at 0630 already had passed their first test of the day.  Their alarms sounded and they posted, ready to get some.

    Barely Legal assisted YHC with this morning’s Warmup, a Q school of sorts.  YHC led the PAX in Seal Jacks, lunges, Merkins, Copperhead Squats, windmills, and OH Hand Claps.  Barely Legal followed suit and, being a quick study, had mastered several counting styles in no time at all.  When all was said and done, the PAX had a solid 20 reps IC for each exercise and was ready to mosey down the Lakefront for a

    Ring of Fire

    Forming a ring around YHC’s backpack, the PAX bear crawled around the ring to the left, then the right, forward to the backpack and back, performing Merkins, Parker Peters, and plank variations along the way.  Then we recovered for a standing Ring of Fire, shuffling with thighs parallel to the ground around the ring to the left, then the right, duck walk forward to the backpack and back, with Copperhead Squats and some Al Gore mixed in.  Brief recovery then a mosey further down the Lakefront for

    3×30

    YHC placed two cones about 100 yards apart, sweeping the lane of travel for land mines as an early morning gift to the PAX.  The next bit went like this:

    10 regular Merkins, stride it out to the far cone, backpedal to the near cone; 10 right hand forward Merkins, stride/backpedal again, then 10 left hand forward Merkins, final stride/backpedal

    10 Good Mornings, prime time to the far cone and back; rinse and repeat two times

    10 hand release Merkins, lateral bounce extend to the far cone and back; 10 hand release T Merkins, lateral bounce extend again; 5 regular hand release Merkins and 5 hand release T Merkins; later bounce extend for the final trip

    Another pause to catch our breath and then time for the main event.

    Flying Sprints

    Starting at the near cone, the PAX ran at 50% for the first 75 yards and then executed an all out sprint the remaining 25 yards to the far cone.  Instructions were to give it everything for those final 25 yards, run ugly if necessary to close the distance as fast as possible.  Recovery walk back to the start.  Rinse and repeat twice for 3 high quality sprints.

    Of note, Moby surprised us all, and himself as well, with Bo Jacksonesque sprints.  If anyone personifies our “discipline equals freedom” mantra for the day, it’s Moby.  When was the last time you saw a 67 year old run like a Heisman trophy winner?

    Back to the shovel flag for

    Mary

    70 second front plank, Jane Fonda left then right 20x IC each, single leg lifts 10x IC each leg, and finally a set of scorpions 10x IC.

    Countorama, nameorama and then off to the Beach House for our coffeeteria with a few wins under our collective belts to start our weekends.

    Thanks for letting me lead this morning, guys, and for always pushing me to be better.

  • Fun and Games at The Gipper

    Summer is upon us and a number of Gipper regulars are enjoying themselves on vacation.  Expecting a light turnout, YHC was pleasantly surprised when two FNGs rolled in this morning to round off our crew for the day at 5.  Brief disclaimer and explanation of what we are all about in the F3 Nation before getting underway with a mosey to the Justice Center.

    Warmup of SSHs, plank jacks, windmills, Merkins, Imperial Walkers, Peter Parkers and finally some shoulder circles with overhead hand claps.  Mostly in cadence with 10-20 reps for each exercise.

    Mosey to the top of the Justice Center Parking Garage for some Merkin/Squat mountain.  Partner up and execute first 100 Merkins and then 200 Squats while your partner first sprints down/backpedals up the ramp and then lateral shuffles down and then back up the ramp.

    Mosey to the front of the Justice Center for fun and games.  Four cones delineated a rough circle, and the PAX counted off to establish an order and got to work passing a tennis ball around in that order.  Every dropped pass earned an OYO exercise.  While we had it going smoothly for a while, perfection can only last so long and so we ended up doing a fair number of jump squats, Merkins, Sister Mary Katherines, and Seal Jacks.  YHC also increased the level of difficultly as soon as the PAX kinda mastered things and so we switched up the passing order, had to leave the circle after each pass to do a burpee before coming back in to receive the next pass, etc.

    Mosey back to the Trailhead for some abbreviated Mary, a set of flutter kicks 20x IC, and then it was time for closing ceremonies.

    Welcome Bean and Buzz to the PAX!

     

  • Strides and Sprints on the Incline

    Great to see Moby finally off IR and posting this morning at The Gipper for our warmup.  By the looks of things, it’ll be no time before he is completely back in action.

    Warmup consisting of toe touches, front to back lunges, imperial walkers, seal jacks, shoulder circles, full/empty can shoulder pulses, windmills, and Merkins…IC more or less 20x for most.  Then a tennis ball warmup exercise.  Bounce your ball and move to catch it as close to the ground as possible.  Once you get the hang of it, you’ll find yourself squating and lunging in all directions, and we did just that for a couple of minutes.

    Mosey to the back of the Justice Center for the W drill.  YHC placed some cones done in a W formation and then the PAX rotated through them via sprints/backpedals, lateral shuffles, and sprints with changes of direction.  Then a round of Peter Parkers before heading over to the roof of the parking garage for the main event.

    Stride down the ramp at 80%, execute a single leg burpee on each leg at the bottom, and then sprint back up the ramp at 100%.  Rinse and repeat for 6 total trips with some 10 counts and Mary thrown in between trips…Parker Peters, shoulder taps, flutter kicks, Hello Dollys, and cross over wife pleasers all 10x IC.

    Recovery walk and then mosey back to The Gipper to close things out.  Straddled a crack in the pavement in the plank position and the walked the hands laterally back and forth over the crack as fast as possible 20x OYO.  Repositioned and repeated this time walking the hands forward and back over the crack as fast as possible 20x OYO.

    Countorama, nameorama, and then Grudy prayed us out.

    Good stuff this morning men.  Thanks for letting me lead.

     

  • Carpe Diem Convergence

    The F3 Nation knew about YHC before YHC knew about the F3 Nation.  You see, YHC’s brother-in-law, Lynchpin, lives in Charlotte.  In the early days, before the F3 Nation planted its flag in NOLA, Lynchpin routinely and enthusiastically regaled YHC with stories of legendary beatdowns and CSAUPs, tongue in cheek nicknames, funny exercise names and other F3 lore.  Then, when F3 decided to expand to NOLA, Lynchpin tried to EH YHC, but YHC begged off.  It all sounded, well to be honest, like a cult and how could YHC trust Lynchpin anyway?  After all, he married YHC’s sister.  Ugh.  But resistance was futile.  The NOLA PAX crossed Lake Pontchartrain in its Durham boat, Reluctant Yankee at the helm like George Washington crossing the Delaware. Nacho and Chewy fell in upon the PAX’s arrival and, together, they planted the shovel flag in the Gloom on April 9, 2016.  F3 Northshore was born.  How could YHC resist a free workout in his own backyard?

    A few weeks later, the NOLA PAX boarded their Durham boat and retreated back across the Lake, leaving the Northshore PAX to make the most of their gift of F3.  We stumbled about, we made mistakes, we created a new AO only to abandon it a few weeks later, and we had more than a few beatdowns with one or two PAX.  Somehow, however, we made it and two years later look forward to seeing one another regularly to suffer and have fun together.

    As this morning’s two year anniversary convergence approached and YHC learned that the weather more likely than not would be awful, there was no concern.  Two years of meeting rain or shine, hot or cold, left no doubt in YHC’s mind that the PAX would post.  And post they did.  And you know what?  The weather held off just long enough for us to celebrate our birthday with a 3 hour beatdown, visiting 5 of 6 Northshore AOs by the mechanical device known as the bicycle.

    Mandeville Lakefront:  4 burpees OYO, 19 SSHs IC, 20 IWs IC, and 16 Seal Jacks IC.

    Captain’s Cove:  4 vertical jumps OYO, 19 Copperhead Squats IC, 20 Sumo Squats IC, and 16 Regular Squats IC.

    Milestone Marsh: 4 plyo Merkins OYO, 19 Merkins IC, 20 Shoulder Taps IC, 16 slow seconds Mission Impossible.

    At this point, Chewy politely pointed out that he had figured out what YHC was up to with the count but that our birthday is April 9, 2016, not April 19, 2016.  Point well taken.

    Grandmother’s House:  4 Sister Mary Katherine’s OYO, 9 front to back lunges IC, 20 45 degree lunges IC, and 16 later lunges IC.

    And then, after a 10 mile mosey on the Tammany Trace to Covington:

    The Gipper:  4 Freddy Mercury’s IC, 9 Freddy Flutters IC, 20 Hello Dolly’s IC, and 16 Flutter Kicks IC.

    Then we mounted our bikes for the 10 mile ride back to the shovel flag for the countorama, nameorama, Shooter’s prayer and a coffeeteria, arriving about an hour later than anticipated.  No one will confuse YHC for a Swiss train conductor after this morning’s logistics, that’s for sure.

    Thanks for letting me lead, guys, and thanks for your willingness to try something different and new and for posting despite the threatening weather and actually being disappointed it didn’t pour on us.

    Some parting thoughts:

    We’ve come a long way on the Northshore.  Things have become almost comfortable and, while there’s a lot of positive to that sentiment, there are dangers too.  We could stop growing.

    So here’s a call to action.  Commit to EH’ing more FNGs and supporting them through their virgin post so that they return.  Commit to Q’ing more workouts, putting time into planning your Qs, and posting timely BackBlasts.  Commit to a CSAUP.  Commit to making yourself better and leading by example, always keeping your eyes open for growth and leadership in all three of the Fs.  If we want F3 Northshore to grow, then we are the ones that need to make it happen.

    Carpe Diem.