F3 New Orleans

Author: TurboTax

  • Riverdance Redux

    Another beautiful morning on the Mandeville Lakefront. Fourteen men gathered around the shovel flag in the dark but quite nice Gloom to jump start their weekends with a beatdown.  T-claps to Bushwacker, Shooter, and Steve for posting pre-Fallen Heros 5k and special t-claps to Bushwacker and Steve for engaging in a little 2 mile Foreplay before the beatdown before the Fallen Heros 5k.

    Disclaimer and then down to business with

    The Warmup:

    5 Burpees OYO

    Seal Jacks 31x IC

    7 Burpees OYO

    Windmills 15x IC

    9 Burpees OYO

    Shoulder circles forward (golf ball, baseball, softball, volleyball, basketball, beach ball sized circles) then reverse (beach ball to golf ball) followed by OH hand claps 15x IC

    11 Burpees OYO

    Copperhead Squats 20x IC

    9 Burpees OYO

    Butt Kicks 20x IC

    7 Burpees OYO

    Imperial Walkers 20x IC

    5 Burpees OYO

    The Thang:

    Mosey Westward down the Lakefront for some multi-directional mobility/plyometric work from little oak tree to fireplug (about 15 yards):

    Straight legged toe bounces forward, lateral both directions, and then backwards.

    Bounce extends forward, lateral both directions, and then backwards.

    Prime times (Deion Sanders’) forward, exaggerated bounce extend lateral both directions and then exaggerated backpedals.

    Finally, frog hops to vertical jumps.

    YHC observes that this is perhaps the closest he’ll ever come to participating in a Riverdance performance.  Butt Splice, in particular, with his flowing hair and straight arms, looked straight out of the Old Country.  I hope the neighbors were watching because the PAX could have saved them a trip to the actual show.

    Mosey Westward again for the next COP, a Ring of Fire:  T push ups 10x IC, move to the right, Shoulder Taps 10x IC, move to the left, Hip Slappers 10x IC, move to the right, Peter Parkers, move to the left, then a 20 count Mission Impossible hold.

    Recover to a shuttle run:  4 cones positioned 20 yards apart, sprint to the first cone, execute one T push up, sprint to start, sprint to second cone, execute one T push up, sprint to start, etc.  Rinse and repeat for second round after a breather.

    Sticking with the cone setup, YHC split the PAX into two groups of seven, one group at 0 yards and the other at 80 with a tennis ball each for the second group.  Partner up with the PAX across from you.  The second group sprinted to the 40 yard cone, threw their tennis balls to their partners, and jogged to the 0 while the first group sprinted with tennis ball in hand to the 80 only to return to the 40 where they threw the balls back to their partners.  Four complete rounds.

    Mosey Eastward now to our little oak tree and fireplug for Animals on Parade:  crab walk, ostrich walk, duck walk, bear crawl, lizard walk, and then inchworm.

    Back to the shovel flag for some Mary:  Vladimir Putins 31x IC, Nolan Ryans each side 17x IC, Scuba Steves 31x IC, and then 60 seconds of front planks on elbows.

    Countorama, nameorama (welcome FNG Tiger Bait), and Ocho prayed us out on our way to the Coffeeteria.

    Great job men.  Thanks for letting me lead.  Always an honor and a pleasure.

     

     

     

  • Plyos for Breakfast

    A light turnout at the Gipper this morning but that did not stop the PAX from getting after it.  After the requisite disclaimer, Moby got down to business with the warmup:

    SSH, Toe Touches, Windmills, Butt Kicks and Shoulder Circles, all 15-20x IC.

    Mosey to the back of the Justice Center where YHC took the Q.  Picture a barbell with Merkins 10x IC on each side and plenty of plyos in between.  Total of 5 round trips up and down the Justice Center alley and steps.  100 Merkins total with skips, carioca, 45 degree hops, lateral hops, backward hops, bounds, and frog jumps in between.

    Mosey to the Veterans Memorial at the front of the Justice Center.

    Seal Jacks 20x IC

    Squats 10x IC

    Merkins 10x IC

    Split SSHs 20x IC

    Good Mornings 10x IC

    Merkins 10x IC

    Twisting SSHs 20x IC

    Squats 10x IC

    Merkins 10x IC

    One foot SSHs 20x IC (10 each foot)

    Good Mornings 10x IC

    Merkins 20x IC

    Mosey back to the Trailhead for some Mary:

    Vladimir Putins 25x IC

    Straightlegged Jackknives 10x IC each side

    Reverse leg raises 10x IC each leg

    Countorama, nameorama, and a prayer of gratitude to wrap things up.

    Great job this morning men.  Thanks for letting me and Moby lead.  Always an honor.

    Moleskin:

    This is the first Gipper beatdown that Einstein has missed in over a year.  If YHC did not know that his daughter was visiting from Colorado, the PAX would have skipped the beatdown and commenced immediate search and rescue operations.

    Final Merkin count for the ISI challenge:  150.

  • One Dozen For PFC Jackson

    Do yourself a favor.  Visit the Congressional Medal of Honor website and read the commendation for our most recently departed patriot, Arthur J. Jackson, PFC, USMC.  PFC Jackson served our country with distinction in the Pacific during WWII, and his deeds on September 18th, 1944 deserve your attention.  We all like to believe that we would step up like PFC Jackson when called.  Most of us fortunately will never know.  However, all of us have the opportunity to step up in our daily lives in a more modest fashion to serve our families, friends, communities and country.  PFC Jackson’s story can inspire us to serve others with gratitude.

    So after a brief disclaimer, a dozen PAX got underway this morning with the warmup.

    Seal Jacks 20X IC

    Mountain Climbers 20x IC

    Copperhead Squats 20x IC

    Butt Kicks 20x IC

    Merkins 10x IC

    SSH 20x IC

    High Knees 20x IC

    Windmills 20x IC

    Then the PAX held an Al Gore while YHC read out PFC Jackson’s commendation.  It wasn’t short.

    Bushwacker assumed the Q, and we set off with wobbly legs on a mosey.  Found a nice stretch of ground, and Bushwacker lined us up for a Caterpillar from bench to tree, about 30 yards.  An exercise that looks much easier on paper, the Caterpillar or Chattanooga Choo Choo is a bear.  A grunting, mumble chattering PAX held their low planks while one by one they jumped over one another in an excruciatingly slow march to the oak tree.

    Bushwacker then handed off the Q baton to YHC.  Mosey to the harbor playground where we set up for a passing game using a lacrosse ball.  Counting off established the order of passing from PAX to PAX, and we attempted to keep the ball moving with one bounce passes.  The bad news is that the PAX needs to work on its communication and ball skills; the good news is that we paid the penalty of an exercise for each dropped pass and suffice it to say that we got our money’s worth on the exercise end of things.  Squat jumps, ice skater hops, split jumps, seal jacks, SSHs, Merkins…multiple reps of each multiple times.

    Back to Bushwacker who brought us on a mosey back towards the flag.  Bushwacker pulled a new one out of his VQ hat, the dirty hook up.  An eight count exercise, the dirty hook up consists of a plank position start, stepping up to the sea wall for an Irkin, then stepping back down for a Merkin.  Apparently, Bushwacker dialed the intensity down for us because the sea wall was too short to do whatever his diabolical mind originally had contemplated but trust YHC the watered down version was plenty challenging.  And what it is about 8 count exercises that totally confuse the PAX on the count.  We’ve seen it with the 8 count bodybuilder multiple times, and here the counting confusion returned for the dirty hook up.

    Final mosey back to the shovel flag where we finished things off with 50 long flutter kicks IC, a countorama, nameorama, and short prayer.  Off to the Beach House for our coffeeteria and some nice F2.

    Good stuff this morning men.  Thanks for letting YHC and Bushwacker lead.

    MOLESKIN

    A few parting thoughts:

    It is great to see new guys lead.  Moby and Bushwacker had their VQs this week, and we are seeing more and more PAX accept the challenge of leadership.

    Convergence with F3NOLA on October 14th at the Mothership in City Park to celebrate F3NOLA’s 3rd anniversary.  F3 Northshore will clown car over.  Details to follow.  You will not want to miss what promises to be an epic beatdown.

    Challenge yourself this month by participating in Iron Sharpens Iron.  Like Hawg’s invitation on the F3 Northshore Group Me, and Hawg will add you to the ISI group.  The only requirement to participation is a desire to make yourself better.

    T claps to Captain Sparkles for committing to Site Q our new Friday morning beatdown, Captain’s Cove, a 10k weekly run.  It is great to see the Northshore PAX putting in the miles and dropping their times.

    F3 is looking to expand to Baton Rouge but first we need to show some Redstickers what F3 is all about.  If you have a brother or friend who lives in the Baton Rouge area and needs F3 in his life, get busy with an EH and get him over to workout with us, the sooner the better.

    Finally, get your F3 Northshore t-shirt order in.  The deadline is October 9th.  Steve did an amazing job with the design, and YHC bets that it will win some type of an Emmy award for t-shirts this year.

     

     

  • Return to Bedrock

    Seven strong at The Gipper this morning with a VQ by Moby and a welcome to the neighborhood appearance by Maverick.  After the requisite disclaimer, Moby got down to business with a warmup of

    SSH 20x IC

    Toe Touches 15x IC

    Windmills 15x IC

    Squats 25x IC

    and Arm Circles forward and reverse 10x IC

    then Moby handed the Q off to YHC and it was time to mosey to Bedrock to grab a coupon for two rounds of

    Woodchoppers 10x IC each direction

    Crossover RDLs 10x IC each (left over right then right over left)

    Torso Twists 10x IC holding the coupon away from the body as much as possible

    Mosey to the top level of the Justice Center Parking garage where we split into two working groups.  The first group executed 10 burpees, 10 squat jumps, 10 Merkins, and 10 mountain climbers all OYO then back to the burpees, etc. for more reps until relieved by the second group  charged with running a loop across the parking deck, down the stairs to ground level, across the ground level sidewalk, and then up the stairs to the starting point.  Four complete rounds for each group with the goal of getting as many individual reps in as possible between runs.

    Return to the Trailhead on a mosey to close out with Mary.

    Nolan Ryans 10x IC, Jane Fondas 10x IC, and Jane Fonda little circles forwards and back 10x each IC…right then left side.

    Long flutter kicks 10x IC

    Hello Dollys 10x IC

    Leg Lifts 10x IC

    Countorama, Nameorama, and Einstein prayed us out.

    Solid job this morning guys.  Thanks for letting me and Moby lead.

     

     

  • In Cadence In the Rain

    There is plenty of shelter at The Gipper AO.  The PAX did not take advantage of it this morning.  Instead, the PAX chose to brave the elements for a wet and dirty beatdown.

    YHC and Brat tag teamed for The Warmup:

    Squats 20x IC

    SSH 20x IC

    Butt Kicks 30x IC

    Merkins 10x IC

    High Knees 30x IC

    Shoulder Circles 10x IC each direction

    Peter Parkers 20x IC

    IW 10x IC

    Good Mornings 20x IC

    Windmills 10x IC

    Mosey to the back of the Justice Center for The Thang:

    Round 1:  Burpee to Forward Bench Jump 5x OYO, circle up for Plank Jacks 20x IC

    Round 2:  Burpee to Lateral Bench Jump 5x OYO, circle up for Shoulder Taps 20x IC

    Round 3:  Burpee to Lateral Bench Jump 5x OYO, circle up for Carolina Dry Dock Ankle Taps 20x IC

    Mosey back to the Trailhead for an AMRAP:

    In the spirit of trying something new and somewhat stupid, YHC threw down instructions for a 10 minute AMRAP.  Raccoon crawl up the concrete barrier, tumble or backwards crab walk down the grassy knoll, jump up on the bandstand, jump down the stairs or bunny hop down the ramp, back to the raccoon crawl for as many rounds as you can complete in 10 minutes.  The PAX were good sports, spread out along the circuit, and got to work.  The jump up to the bandstand was interesting coming out of the tumble; jumping while dizzy is somewhat disconcerting.  It goes without saying that everyone enjoyed getting dirty.  Why not?

    Into the bag of tricks for a Game:

    Another first for YHC as Q.  Distributed tennis balls among the PAX and teamed up into groups of 2 and 3 with each team possessing two balls.  Passed the tennis balls to one another with the goal of keeping them in the air as much as possible.  Most if not all of the PAX apparently have years of little league baseball under their belts as there were very few dropped balls and the pace picked up once the teams settled into a rhythm.

    Circle up for the Finale:  Seal Jacks 101x IC

    Countorama, nameorama and prayer of gratitude for one another and all the first responders, public and private, helping out in Houston.

    Moleskin:

    Great job Brat stepping up to Q the warmup.

    Thanks to the PAX for the eager willingness to try new things.  YHC loves games.  When did we, as men, stop playing the stupid games we enjoyed so much as boys?  YHC is committed to bringing back a taste of that silliness to his beatdowns.

    Thanks for letting me lead.

     

     

  • Simple but Deadly

    11 PAX gathered under the Gipper’s gaze in the Gloom this morning for a simple but deadly beatdown.

    Warmup:

    SSH, Merkins, IWs, Plank Jacks, Windmills, Butt Kicks, High Knees, Seal Jacks and Torso Twists, all 20x IC except for the Torso Twists at 10x.  Enter Ocho, precisely timing his arrival to miss the warmup.

    Mosey to the top deck of the Parking Garage for

    The Thang:

    Burp Back Mountain-Partner up and hit 100 burpees as a team; one PAX burps it up while his partner runs down the ramp and the backpedals up the ramp to tag and relieve the first PAX.  Much Mumble Chatter to start but that petered off fast enough because O2 was soon in short supply.  500 burpees total for Cadre Danny.

    Recovery walk to the Justice Center alley for a Princess Tea Party-Partner up again, plank up facing your partner and play pattycake IC for 10x, then Partner back to back Al Gores for 30 seconds.  Rinse and repeat in ladder fashion so 15x and 45 seconds for round 2, 20x and 60 seconds for round 3, back down to 15x and 45 seconds for round 4, and then 10x and 30 seconds for the last and best round.

    Mosey back to The Gipper for a little plank work then Countorama, Nameorama and Moby prayed us out.

    Welcome FNG Brat!  Great to have you in the PAX.  It never gets easier; you just get better.

  • For Lt Col Raymond G Davis

    Ten PAX gathered in the plank position to dedicate this morning’s beatdown to Lt Col Raymond G Davis, USMC.  A Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, Lt Col Davis served in the Korean conflict.  The entire citation is worth reading, and YHC did exactly that to the planking PAX.  An excerpt to give you a feel of this man’s leadership and courage under fire:  “When the battalion encountered strong opposition from entrenched enemy forces commanding high ground in the path of the advance, he promptly spearheaded his unit in a fierce attack up the steep, ice-covered slopes in the face of withering fire and, personally leading the assault groups in a hand-to-hand encounter, drove the hostile troops from their positions, rested his men, and reconnoitered the area under enemy fire to determine the best route for continuing the mission (to relieve a beleaguered rifle company).  Always in the thick of the fighting Lt Col Davis led his battalion over 3 successive ridges in the deep snow in continuous attacks against the enemy and, constantly inspiring and encouraging his men throughout the night, brought his unit to a point within 1,500 yards of the surrounded rifle company by daybreak.  Although knocked to the ground when a shell fragment struck his helmet and 2 bullets pierced his clothing, he arose and fought his way forward at the head of his men until he reached the isolated marines.”

    10 Merkins in cadence from the plank position after the dedication and then the PAX moseyed down the Lakefront for the next COP:

    Seal Jacks, Plank Jacks, IWs, Crab Cakes, OH Hand Claps, Mountain Climbers, Butt Kicks, Shoulder Taps, High Knees, Lateral Lunges, Torso Twists, all 20X IC with the exception of the Lateral Lunges and Torso Twists which were 10x IC.  Collapsing circle to a PAX fist bump between exercises.

    Mosey across the street for a 20 year Bear Crawl to the starting point for an Indian Run.

    Indian Run down Lamarque Street to the playground.  Our mission was to stay together as a PAX which we did successfully by adjusting our pace as needed.  No man left behind, plenty of quality sprints, and some agility work as well, i.e. prime times, back pedals, lateral bounces, carioca.

    Halt at the playground where we used the basketball court to play four rounds of Sharks & Minnows.  Lots of short sprints, accelerations, decelerations, and changes of direction in the context of a game.  Funny how a sprint is much easier when you are being chased.  Short breaks between games to hit 2 sets of 10 burpees OYO, 1 set of knee highs 10x IC, and 1 dead hang pullup with a pause a the top every 15 seconds for three minutes.

    Indian Run back to the shovel flag, again with the mission to stay together adjusting pace as needed.

    Countorama, nameorama, and The Manny prayed us out.  Coffeeteria at the Beach House.

    Welcome FNGs Night Train and Rainbow Unicorn.  Good to have you in the PAX.

    T-claps to Butt Splice for posting then heading over with Cpt Sparkles for the Mandeville Battle Race.

  • It’s All Fun and Games before the Big Event

    Seven PAX met in the soggy yet sunny gloom this morning under the Gipper’s watchful gaze to make themselves better.  With an eye towards this weekend’s Grow Ruck 03 festivities, the PAX focused on agility and explosiveness, keeping it relatively light overall.

    The Warmup:

    SSHs, squats, good mornings, lateral lunges, front to back lunges, Merkins, and torso twists, all IC 10x for the lateral lunges and torso twists and 20x for the rest.

    Mosey to the Justice Center for some more dynamic warmup exercises:

    Working down the lane, the PAX got in some toe walk forward arm circles, reverse toe walk with reverse arm circles, skips, backpedals, cariocas, lateral bounces, lunge and reaches, dynamic quad stretches, and dynamic hamstring stretches.  Then the PAX executed increasing intensity runs down the lane starting at 65% and progressing to 75%, 85%, 95%, and finally 100%.  10 count and then…

    The Thang:

    Working with four cones set roughly 10 yards apart down the lane, the PAX executed a lateral shuffle shuttle (shuffle from the first to the second cone, return to the first, shuffle to the third cone, return to the first, then shuffle to the fourth cone, return to the first).  Next up was a sprint/backpedal using the same sequence.  Rinse and repeat for two complete sets.

    Short recovery walk and after a brief set up the PAX played a passing game that YHC remembers from his soccer days.  Five cones demarcate a rough circle.  The PAX counts off, begins moving within the circle, and then using a lacrosse ball #1 bounce passes to #2, #2 to #3, etc.  Every missed pass results in an exercise for the whole PAX.  Then we count off again and start and of course the order of passes will change as a result of the count.  Once we mastered the first level, we added a level of difficulty.  First, you have to exit the circle after passing by running around a cone before you can receive your next pass, using a different cone each time.  Second, you have to add a SSH every time you exit the circle around a cone.  Finally, you have to execute a clap Merkin every time you exit the circle around a cone.  The possibilities are endless, but our efforts ended with clap Merkins this morning.  As for the exercises performed within the game, we hit vertical jumps, seal jacks, SSHs, clap Merkins, star jumps, split jumps, plank jacks, forward and reverse hops, and lateral hops.  Fun stuff.

    4 position planks to close things out:  back plank, T stand planks each side, and regular front plank…45 seconds each.

    Mosey back to the Gipper for countorama, nameorama, announcements and Einstein prayed us out.  Shooter has the Q next Wednesday.

    Moleskin

    Welcome Captain Sparkles to the Gipper.  Glad to have you.

    Convergence this Saturday, June 10th, 0800-0900 Audubon Park.  You do not want to miss this beatdown which will be lead by OBT and DREDD, F3’s Founding Fathers.  We will be joining F3 NOLA and F3 Houston.

     

  • Northshore GrowRuck 03 Training-Final Edition

    The Northshore PAX rolled out at 1830 Friday night for the final edition of GrowRuck 03 training.  5 hours and over 13 miles later, the PAX returned to the starting point on the Mandeville Lakefront for some cold ones.  Lots of good miles on our feet and lots of great F2.  Along the way Steve tried to EH two armadillos, Chewy apparently is scared of his own shadow and will try to relieve himself on fire plugs if not reined in, Grudy spreadsheeted the entire coupon exchange protocol with his beautiful mind, and Shooter was a steady presence as always.  Needless to say, we all missed Butt Splice but guess who was ready and waiting at 0545 this morning on the Lakefront for Part II of the Final Edition? Ei and his sarcastic sense of humor were there too for Part II and declined multiple requests to shadow the PAX for the Main Event next weekend to keep us entertained while suffering.

    100 burpees, 1 mile, 50 burpees, and another mile later it was time for Part III, the regular Saturday morning beatdown.

    Suffice it to say that YHC is too tired at the moment to recount accurately Part III’s exercises but can report that it was Round Robin Q’d which was very appropriate considering.  We really didn’t cut ourselves much slack, and it is safe to say that we will all sleep well tonight and are ready for next weekend.

  • Northshore GrowRuck Training #10

    Five PAX rolled out from the Mandeville Trailhead at 1900 Friday night and met up with a dedicated sixth shortly thereafter.  We made our way along the Lakefront, back to the Trace and then to and from Pelican Park, exchanging two coupons every fifteen minutes or so and making periodic stops for some exercises which migrated to the stretching variety after a few hours under ruck.  11 or so quality training miles, lots of F2, some cold ones at 2300, and then a short ruck back to the starting point.  T-claps to all those PAX who conquered a short night of sleep and the fartsack in order to post Saturday morning.