F3 New Orleans

Author: TurboTax

  • F3 Northshore 2nd Anniversary Convergence Pre-Blast

    Come one, come all…the F3 Northshore 2nd Anniversary Convergence is this Saturday, April 14th.  We will meet on the Mandeville Lakefront at 0630 as always and employ the use of mechanical devices knows as “bicycles” to visit all of the Northshore AOs for some birthday beat down action.  Please bring your bike if possible.  If you don’t have one, don’t worry.  We’ve arranged for some extras.  YHC just needs a head count if possible so reach out via DM on Group Me or via text at 985-630-8463 to reserve your wheels.  The Plan is to be back on the Lakefront for our coffeeteria by 0830.  Will everything go according to The Plan?  Probably not, but you’ll have to post to find out.  See you in the Gloom.

  • Another day at the Office

    Another beautiful morning at The Gipper and another beat down in the books.

    Warmup of lateral lunges, airplanes, seal jacks, squats and forward lunges.  All 20x IC.

    Mosey to the Justice Center for some 11s.  Merkin/Shoulder Taps combo at the bottom of the stairs, In and Out Squat Jumps at the top.

    Recovery walk to the Justice Center benches.  Lateral shuffle between two bookend benches with a lateral step up at each bench.  5 trips OYO.  Then back to lateral steps ups 7x IC, cross over lateral step ups 15x IC, then regular lateral step ups again 8x IC.

    Back to the Justice Center entrance for our ISI AMRAP Challenge of the day:  how many Merkins can you do in one minute?  So simple, yet not so easy.

    Circuitous mosey up and down the Justice Center parking garages ramps and stairs before heading back to the shovel flag, the PAX hitting some short accelerations along the way on the command of “sprint” and some soccer headers on the command of “jump.”

    Mary of windshield wipers 20x IC, Nolan Ryans 20x IC each side, Jane Fondas 10x IC each side, and 45 degree leg raises 10x IC.

    Moby Dick, still on IR but almost ready to get back in the game, joined the PAX for our countorama, nameorama, and Einstein’s prayer.

    Thanks for letting me lead, guys.  I always look forward to Wednesday morning at The Gipper with you.

     

  • Run for the Hills

    Beautiful morning at The Gipper.  Six men strong.  Glad to see Astro and Grundy back in action.

    Warmup with Seal Jacks, Windmills, Squats, Merkins all 20x IC.

    Mosey to the Landing for a Ring of Fire.  Merkins, Peter Parkers, Parker Peters, Plank Jacks, and T Stands between plank walks around the ring in both directions.

    Recovery walk to the Main Event:  Hill Sprints from the Landing up the gravel road to the second oak tree.  About 15 feet of elevation gain.  The PAX started each sprint from a prone position, jumping to their feet and hitting it hard for about 35 yards. Recovery walk back to the Landing.  Rinse and repeat for six quality sprints.

    Then it was time for the day’s ISI challenge:  AMRAP of Butt Kick Jumps for 60 seconds.  Partner up and count for your partner.  Just as hard as expected with everyone fatiguing as the minute mark approached.  T claps to the Southshore PAX who reportedly put in a 90 second effort this morning.  That extra 30 seconds must have been tough.

    Mosey to the STP Emergency Operations Center for two rounds of 10 burpees OYO, 5 clap Merkins OYO, and 20 SSHs and then Seal Jacks 20x IC.

    Final mosey back to The Gipper for Mary.  Pulsing, alternate arm/leg Supermans and then straight leg Freddy Mercurys, both 20x IC.

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

  • Super Bowl Saturday

    A little foreplay, a short disclaimer and then off to the races this morning on Super Bowl Saturday.

    52 reps of Seal Jacks, Mountain Climbers and Imperial Walkers, all in cadence, for a warmup.

    Mosey to the first COP for:

    10 count Al Gore, 10 copperhead squats, and 10 vertical jumps.

    10 count Mission Impossible, 10 slow Merkins, and 10 Northshore (plyo) Merkins.

    10 count balance on right leg, 10 slow pistol squats right leg, and 10 right leg hops.  Rinse and repeat on the left leg.

    10 count isometric lunge with the right foot forward, 10 slow lunges, and 10 half Sister Mary Katherines.  Rinse and repeat with the left leg forward.

    Mosey to the Main Event:

    The PAX set up a field approximately 30 yards x 30 yards and then separated into two teams, one donning wifebeaters left over from the Krazy Ivan.  Two teams, one football and an old fashioned game of keep away that reminded us all of our 12 year old selves.  Liberal sprinkling of Merkins, burpees, vertical jumps and star jumps every incomplete pass.  Not exactly Eagles v Patriots although some previously undisclosed skills were revealed by the wheezing PAX.

    Mosey back to the Shovel Flag for Mary:

    Scuba Steves, plank right leg pulses, plank left leg pulses, flutter kicks, and dynamic side planks both sides all 52x IC.

    Countorama, nameorama, and Chewy prayed us out on our way to the coffeeteria.

    Fun time this morning guys.  Thanks for being such great sports and letting me lead.

    Moleskin

    T claps to the 10 Northshore PAX participating in the Run Ranger Run February challenge.  As of this writing, Team Northshore sits in 21st place on the national leaderboard with 83 running miles logged since Tuesday.  Let’s keep up the momentum men.

  • Back to the Farm

    This morning’s beat down was never going to compete with yesterday’s star studded event.  Reading Steve’s BB on his way out the door to the Gipper, YHC grudgingly conceded to himself that the likes of Choppa, Ocho, and Nacho Libre could not be expected to rise out of their fartsacks for two consecutive mornings.  It could have happened, YHC guesses, if Turtle had committed to back to back Qs.  Lacking the draw of a rock star Q like Turtle, however, YHC could only hope that he wouldn’t be posting alone. Fortunately there were a few PAX out there unaware of yesterday’s celebrity meetup, but YHC wasn’t too off in his prediction as Gipper regular Tanked Up regrettably decided he would not post with the rank and file this morning.  Et tu, Tanked Up?

    So it was to be a working man’s beat down this morning, strictly meat and potatoes.

    15 minutes or so of dynamic stretches on the train platform then a short mosey to pick up a couple of half filled sand bags for the main event:

    AMRAP for 20 minutes:  35 yards farmer’s walk with both sand bags, 35 yards run, and then 35 yards backpedal making up one round.  Shooter carried his sand bags like bean bags, and the rest of us struggled.  Good thing we all have office jobs…except for Bushwacker I guess but he is in lawn care management.

    Back to the Trailhead for Mary:  scorpions, swan preps, jackknives, and flutter Freddy Mercury’s, all IC.

    Countorama, nameorama, and Moby prayed us out.

    Thanks for letting me lead men.  I always look forward to Wednesday morning at the Gipper with you.

     

  • Winter Soldiers

    Knowing that it was going to be cold on the Mandeville Lakefront this morning, YHC cast about late Friday for an appropriate pearl of wisdom to drop on the PAX.  Almost instantly, Thomas Paine’s immortal words from the American Revolution came mind:

    These are the times that try men’s souls.  The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.  Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.  What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.

    The parallels to a beat down in the Gloom on a cold, windy and kind of wet morning in South Louisiana are too obvious to require explanation.  Let’s just say that eight winter soldiers and stout patriots assembled in a brotherly manner to make themselves better this morning.

    The Warmup

    Steve has the Bulgarian squat, Butt Splice owns the longest block, EiEi is best friends with Jane Fonda, Einstein likes to lunge backwards, and Shooter frequently employs the front plank to adjust the PAX’s attitude.  For YHC, it’s the stairs at Rips Restaurant and so that’s where we headed for this morning’s warmup:

    Partner up, one partner does SSHs while the other heads up and over the Rips’ stairs, switch up, rinse and repeat for 10 minutes alternating SSHs with IWs and the straight runs up and over the stairs with crossover runs.

    The Thang

    Short 10 count then short mosey to the East for the first COP:

    Round 1:  Merkin Wave to 80; then on our Sixes holding feet at 6 inches for an Up and Out Circle Leg Raise Wave to 80; back on our feet holding the People’s Chair while executing a Vertical Jump Wave to 80.

    Round 2:  Another Merkin Wave to 80; then on our Sixes holding feet at 6 inches for a Out and Up Circle Leg Raise Wave to 80; back on our feel holding People’s Chair while executing a Knees to Chest Vertical Jump Wave to 80.

    Recovery walk morphing into a mosey to the Harbor Playground, spicing up the mosey with random short accelerations, Merkins, and soccer style headers.  Formed up for the next COP on arrival:

    Isometric lunge hold left leg forward to a count of 30 followed immediately by 30 lunges pulses; switch legs and repeat; then Mission Impossible hold for 30 seconds followed by 30 Merkin pulses.

    Mosey to the Harbor Pavilion where we spread out among the benches for a few rounds of box jumps. Every 30 seconds, the PAX was asked to perform a set of three jumps, a straight jump, a lateral jump to the right and a lateral jump to the left.  We then picked up the pace for the second round, executing four box jumps every 30 seconds.  Round 3 called for six jumps and then the 4th and final round called for eight jumps.

    Mosey to the baseball field where we partnered up once again for two rounds of pull ups, Northshore Merkins (OK we officially claim the name of Northshore Merkins for plyo pushups), Tonya Hardings, and lateral squat jumps.

    Indian Run back to the Shovel Flag for a round of Mary:  back plank bicycles IC 20x, side plank dips IC 20x each side, and J Lo’s IC 20x.

    Countorama, nameorama, and Tanked Up prayed us out on the way to THE Manny funded Coffeeteria.

    Moleskin

    CRAZY IVAN.  It’s on next Saturday, January 20th at 2100.  Mandeville Lakefront AO.  EiEi scientifically has designed this CSAUP event to be .001% better than the Southshore’s Gnarly Nutria.  We’ll see if the Southshore PAX forgo their regularly scheduled Saturday evening bubble baths in order to cross the Causeway for some Cold War games.  Bragging rights for the next six months are on the line.  The Northshore Cold Warriors are ready.

    Chewy is off IR and how appropriate to have one of our Founding Father’s Kotter on a Thomas Paine themed beatdown.

    YHC learned at the Coffeeteria that Carpool’s employer has traded him to the Houston AO.  We’ll miss him here on the Northshore but of course are proud of him for his promotion and know that he’ll represent us well at the Houston AO.

    Captain Sparkles and Turtle are hunting with Shooter this weekend.  Will Shooter make it home alive?

     

  • Field of Dreams

    “Shoeless” Joe Jackson:  “Is this Heaven?”

    Ray Kinsella:  “No, it’s Iowa.”

    YHC has never been to Iowa.  He has, however, been to Baton Rouge….Saturday morning as a matter of fact…and has to admit that Highland Park is beatdown heaven.  If we build it in Baton Rouge, they will come…just like Charlotte, just like NOLA, and yes just like the Northshore…that is a certainty.

    So seven Northshore PAX arrived in the Highland Park Gloom, appearing seemingly out of the mist like Shoeless Joe Jackson and his teammates, ready to play ball.  It went like this after a thorough and legally binding Disclaimer:

    The Warmup

    Determined to deliver knowledge, each Northshore PAX led one of our standard warmup exercises then picked out one of the Baton Rouge PAX to repeat it.  YHC kicked things off with Seal Jacks 10x IC, kicked it to Worms for a repeat, EiEi picked it up for Hillbillies 10x IC,  kicked it to Rocket for a repeat, and so on working through High Knees, Butt Kicks, Side Saddle Hops, Copperhead Squats, Good Mornings, and Imperial Walkers.  False starts, mental lapses, and counting errors a plenty but, hey, the School of Q was in session and the Northshore PAX could have stayed in their fartsacks instead of piling in the Clown Car for the road trip  if the BR PAX already knew the drill.

    The Thang

    Shooter took over for a Tabata set with Merkins and Plank Jacks as the featured exercises.  30 seconds on, 10 seconds rest, repeat 3 rounds.  Professor Shooter then explained to our Baton Rouge brothers the versatility of the Tabata format for delivering pain through a variety of featured exercises, dropping a big pearl of wisdom on the BR men.

    Mosey to the Sundial where Steve unleashed his trademarked Bulgarian Squats on the PAX.  Sprinkling in Freak Nasties, Step Ups and Derkins had the BR PAX thinking that they were no longer in the minor league.

    And if that didn’t do it, the Mosey over to the top of Mount Highland Park for Burpback Mountain definitely signaled the arrival to the Big League.   Partnering up, teams of PAX performed 100 burpees…one partner running down the mountain to the stream and then back up while his partners performed as many burpees as possible on the way to 100.  Is it worth crawling out of the fartsack for an easy beatdown?  Negative.

    Mosey back towards the Shovel Flags where THE Manny set the PAX up for a plank slalom.  16 PAX planked up while the last man sprinted/backpedaled through the others, planking up himself when he reached the end and signaling the next man to get busy.  Once the last PAX completed his sprint/backpedal slalom, it was time for a 10 count refresher course before the PAX moved on to Mary.

    Carpool educated the Baton Rouge PAX on LBCs and then EiEi delivered the final pitch of the morning with his legendary Jane Fonda sequence.

    Countorama, nameorama, and THE Manny prayed us out on our way to the coffeeteria.

    The Northshore PAX was honored to lead.  Thanks for having us.

     

     

     

     

  • Snowmen and Real Men on the Mandeville Lakefront

    Snowfalls are few and far between in our part of the World.  Snow accumulating on the ground for any length of time is rarer still.  But as the PAX rolled into the AO this morning, we were greeted by an army of snowmen waiting for us in the Gloom.  The kids must have gotten after it Friday afternoon.

    Once gathered, the PAX wasted no time getting down to business with a Warmup because we all certainly needed to warm up.  Seal Jacks, Windmills, Squats, Arm Circles forward and backwards, OH Hand Claps, and SSHs, all IC 20x.

    Mosey Eastward to the next COP for an 8 minute Tabata set featuring Al Gores and Squats.  Then we hit 3 Vertical Jumps every 15 seconds for the next 3 minutes.

    Mosey to the Harbor Playground for a Ring of Fire:  Shoulder Taps, Plank Jacks, Hip Slappers, Lateral Plank Walks, T Stands, a couple of Merkin Waves and some Mumble Chatter.

    Short mosey to the Harbor Parking Lot for some agility exercises and sprints.  The PAX started each of seven reps with a 10 yard agility exercise (caricoa 2x, backpedal 1x, lateral bounce extends 4x) transitioning into an all out 20 yard sprint.

    Lunge walk about 40 yards to the bridge (which somehow looked much closer than 40 yards away when we started) and then mosey Westward towards the VSF with one stop for another 8 minute Tabata set alternating Mission Impossibles and Merkins.

    Mosey to the VSF for Mary:  Hello Dollys IC 20x, 6 inch holds to a 70 counts by the PAX, Nolan Ryans each side IC 20x, and finally Scuba Steves to a count of 20.

    Countorama, nameorama, and Splice prayed us out before heading to the Beach House for coffee.

    Welcome FNG Waterpik.  Thanks for letting me lead guys.  The Maverick is up next Saturday.

  • Steely-Eyed High Impact Men…and Superman PJs

    Four steely-eyed High Impact Men, one in his Superman PJ bottoms (whose name shall not be mentioned although it rhymes with Tushwacker), joined YHC this morning at The Gipper.  T-claps to these men for conquering the fartsack on a rainy, cold and gloomy morning.  It was definitely sleeping weather at 0600.

    One of the great things about The Gipper AO is that it has several covered areas.  The PAX made full use of them this morning to stay relatively dry while exercising to bring the heat.

    Warmup on the Bandstand:

    SSH, IW, Merkins, Toe Touches, Torso Twists, Shoulder Circles, and OH Hand Claps, most IC 20x.

    Mosey to the Train Platform:

    Mobility and plyometric work for a steady 20 minutes or so, including skipping, bounding, caricoa, lunge walks, bounce extends, frog jumps, lateral/vertical jump combos, one legged hops as well as some accelerations/sprints.

    Mosey to The Gipper HQ:

    Four rounds of Merkin variations, squat/jump variations, and Good Morning variations, all IC 20x.

    Then some Mary to wrap things up:  over/under flutter kicks, jackknives, and of course Supermans, again all IC 20x.

    Countorama, nameorama, and a prayer of recognition for the gift of today and the opportunity to serve as a positive force in the world.

    Thanks for suffering with me in the Gloom this morning men.

    Moleskin:

    T claps to Moby who, at 67 years old, posted in the nasty weather despite a sore Achilles.  Unable to execute the mobility and plyometric exercises, Moby held a People’s Chair for what seemed like forever and otherwise kept himself moving.  Now that’s a steely-eyed High Impact Man for you.

  • Six PAX

    Great to have Maverick with us in the Gloom this morning, stateside after his Spanish adventure.  FNG Astro joined us as well making the PAX a Six PAX for our Wednesday morning beatdown at the Gipper.

    Standard disclaimer and then down to business with the warmup:

    Merkins 20x IC

    Seal Jacks 20x IC

    Windmills 20x IC

    Plank Jacks 20x IC

    IW 20x IC

    Butt Kicks 20x IC

    Mosey to the Bedrock for the first COP:

    Woodchoppers con roca 20x IC

    Torso Twists con roca 10x IC

    Crossover RDLs con roca 10x IC

    Rinse and Repeat

    Mosey to the Justice Center for:

    30 yards lateral plank walks with stops at each of the three little live oak trees for 5x T pushups OYO

    Tabata set of Al Gores and vertical jumps then

    30 yards lateral plank walks back to the starting point again with stops at each of the oak trees for 5x T pushups OYO

    Mosey to the top of the Justice Center Parking Garage for:

    Burpback Mountain.  PAX breaks up into three teams of two.  Each team performs 100x burpees….one team member performs burpees while the other sprints down the ramp and then backpedals back up the ramp to relieve his teammate, flapjack until the team hits 100 burpees.

    Mosey back to the Gipper shovel flag with an old soccer drill:

    YHC calls out “head it” and each PAX performs a vertical jump with a virtual header; YHC calls out “hit it” and each PAX accelerates for 5 strides.

    Back at the shovel flag with just enough time for a set of Jane Fondas 10x IC.

    Countorama, nameorama and a prayer to start our day.

    Welcome FNG Astro.

    Thanks for letting me lead.