F3 New Orleans

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  • Train like the opponent who beat you!!

    After watching the Patriots Tom Brady march into the history books with his 6th Super bowl victory, the Q as much as he didn’t want too, couldn’t help but tip his hat to this remarkable achievement… Now had the Black and Gold been in the big game, I can only imagine the outcome would have been different.. As if the big game weren’t enough our beloved Tigers Men’s basketball team were up ended by the Razorbacks over the weekend breaking a 10 game win streak and 18 game homestand at the Pmac.. Knowing how we were clearly robbed of the first opportunity, I remain optimistic as our local GOAT Brees stated, we still have a window with a team of young rising stars and will only get better from the No Call that caused our City to demonstrate in multiple Boycotts across the area.. Which leads to the 2nd and the motivation behind the beatdown at the Marsh on this humid Gloom.. Scrolling through the list of exercises YHC spotted the Nolan Richardson. For those not familiar he was the Razorbacks coach back in the day who took his team to a National Championship and a spot into the College Hall of Fame.. Not trying to give too much admiration to our opposition, I still felt the PAX needed to train like the program that recently ended our streak in the only sport of interest left to the Q until next football season.. Enough tutorial, let’s get after it.

    Warmup and Thang

    “Nolan Richardson”

    20 IC Windmills and 20 American Hammers, Mosey to stop sign and back.

    Take to the court for 6 partnered exercises consisted of 150 and 300 rep counts cumulative. P1 exercise while P2 backpedals half court jog forward backpedal full court jog forward alternating in and out.

    Round 1 150 Burpees and 300 Squats.

    Round 2 150 Big Boy sit-ups and 300 Arm circles

    Round 3 150 Merkins and 300 Imperial Walkers

    With inspiration from the Men’s health article Q picked up on the 6 mins of Mary shown in the article, with limited time had to call an audible till future post and only completed 24 sec of Little MANNY crunches, 24 sec of High scissors and 24 sec of Low scissors…

    Appreciation to Ringo, Steve and Water Pik Marsh staples for the post..

    Thanks to Water Pik for the COT pray out!!!

    Till the next Gloom 👊🏻💪🏻👍🏻✌🏻!!

  • The Muscleship Launch

    “Without continual growth and progress. such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” —Benjamin Franklin

    The Muscleship blasted off in solid fashion this Saturday, thanks in part to the 16 PAX flight crew that hopped on board for the maiden voyage.  This new workout and AO was strategically engineered to accomodate the every growing number of men eager to start their Saturdays with a F3 beatdown.  Several guys got in some RRR miles before blast off…T-claps!  As the clock approached 6:30, it was good to see several reguklars trickle in and a few koters to boot.  After a brief description of what was in store, and of course the disclaimer, we made our way over to the front of NOMA to get started.

    Warmup Part 1: IWx20, WMx20, LSSx20, SSAC (Sixty Second Arm Circles, from the F3 website…T-plank Left ACx15, LBCx15, T-plank Right ACx15), capped off with IPSWx20.  In the middle of this we noticed The Mothership trying to invade our territory in the nearby field so we upped the volume on cadence in an effort to claim dominance.  Before departing, YHC asked the PAX to start thinking of some good jokes, hoping Bogey would be the star of the show.      

    Warmup Part 2:   Short mosey to the banks of The Big Lake for some Planking and Merkins.  We lined up all holding a high plank, then 5 Merkins, then a joke, then 4 Merkins, joke, 3 Merkins, joke, 2 Merkins….at this point The Mothership did a fly by so our last joke was centered around them, then 1 last Merkin.   

    Foundry:  Short mosey to The Foundry where YHC realized the PAX was too large for plan A so we settled for Plan B:  Split up with group #1 doing 3 rounds of PIMPS (timer) near the pull-up bars and group #2 doing BLIMPS AMRAP in the grass.  Flip flop with a “pimp daddy” being chosen in each group to be the timer. Lots of intense stuff here with very little opportunity for small talk.

    Lake-North Side:  Next stop was another stretch of shoreline for Inchworm Burpess x10, joke, x8, joke(s), x6, dirty joke, x4, another dirty joke, x2, maybe a final joke. 

    Lake-South Side:  After a pit stop at the water hydrant to hydrate, we made our way over to the raised ledge along The Big Lake track.  We rotated duties with mutiple PAX running cadence and various counts for LLSUx20, Dipsx20, RLSUx20, Derkins x15…breather….rinse and repeat with the highlight being Bogey and Abacus peforming a duet in tandem. 

    Lelong Drive for Cinco de Cardio:  Here we gatherded for five 1-minute rounds of various cardio-rich exercises which proved to be much more manly than the moseying and frolicking that our counterparts were doing with The Mothership.  We dug deep and did Semi-Circle Mountain Climbers, Rocky Balboas, Partner Plank Slaps, IPSW, and Groiners as the finale. 

    One minute left so back to the flag to call it a morning.  COT, annoucements, prayer, and some admiration for the new steel encased shovel flag that may be worthy of it’s own name.  Also, YHC thanked the PAX for posting and making The Muscleship launch a success.  YHC wasn’t sure what to expect knowing so many of us enjoy and look forward to The Mothership each week and trying to split that up is no easy feat.  The F3 vatican has always encouraged an “addition by division” concept when trying to grow so it was good to see all the PAX on board with that.  YHC also mentioned a workout several years ago where a fellow PAX Q’d with some new exercises and routines, which worked well, and after talked about one of the strengths of F3 is that the group always supports those trying new things, typically with little or no heckling from the peanut gallery.  Thanks to the PAX for pushing hard and helping to make it a good one! 

    Tool       

  • The Running Ship

    Today’s the day for the inaugural Muscle Ship at City Park, so YHC decided to emphasize the difference between the workouts – for one day, the Mothership became the Running Ship. As the 15 PAX gathered in the gloom (after a brisk 3 mile pre-thang run) YHC gave notice that we would be running. We would to a quick fly-by and give any PAX the opportunity to join the loafers, if they wanted. With that warning, and a disclaimer, off to the races.

    First run to the lawn in front of NOMA for the warm-up:

    • SSH x25
    • Peter Parker x25
    • Parker Peter x25
    • Shoulder Touches x25
    • Mountain Climber x25

    Then run some more (looky by the lake, there’s a group of 16 men who appear to be laying down. I think I see yoga mats too), heading towards Roosevelt Mall.

    At the foot of Roosevelt Mall, Heisenberg chooses Merkins for the Route 66 exercise. Go. 11 benches to visit, 66 merkins. Plank up by the entry to the track.

    Time for an old favorite of YHC: The Dirty McDeuce. 3 exercises, 12 reps. Upper Body, Core, Legs. Then a lap. Repeat x4.

    • Merkins, Penguins, Squats (YHC struggled mightily with cadence counting). 1 lap.
    • Stagger Merkins, Dying Cockroaches, Low Slow Squats. 1 lap.
    • Stagger Merkins, LBT, Monkey Humpers. 1 lap.
    • Floyd Mayweather, Flutter Kicks, Jump Squats. 1 lap.

    Slowsey towards the pole-vault mat, half-way along the straight away. Partner up for the game of “Catch Me If You Can”. PAX 1 sprints half way round the track. PAX 2 moseys across the field to meet the sprinter. Tag up and reverse (PAX2 sprints, PAX1 moseys back). Repeat repeat repeat for 8 mins.

    Slowsey to the Refinery for 5 stations: Burpees, Jump the Green Snake, Pull Ups, Derkins and Hanging Knee Raises. 12 Burpees is the timer.

    Getting late, so lets mosey back to the flag. Stop half-way to get the group back together – doing Monkey Humpers while waiting for the 6. Then again at the flag, Monkey Humpers for the 6.

    All told, 4.1 miles earned towards RRR this am.

    Close out by remembering our PAX struggling with illness and deaths among family and close friends. Finish out with St. Ignatius Prayer for Generosity.

  • NOLA No Call Beatdown – Northshore Edition

    It was great seeing the South Shore on the North Shore. I am sure they were happy it was not at 7pm, in tank tops, and 30 degrees!!!! Thanks for making the trip across the bridge to take part of our beatdown. Let’s get this thing going!

    Warmarama: Toe Touches – 15 IC, Windmills – 15 IC, IWs- 15 IC, SS Hops- 15 IC, Seal Jacks 15 – IC, High Knees 15 – IC, Butt Kicks 15 – IC, Eight Count Body Builders 10 – IC

    Mosey….

    11’s : Start at the seawall by doing 1 step with each leg. Bear crawl to the street, and do 10 plank jacks. Lunge walk back to the sea wall. Rinse and repeat, increasing the step ups until you get to 10 and decreasing the plank jacks until you get to 1.

    Mosey….

    With it being the eve of Superbowl 51, where our beloved Saints received the shaft, I thought it would be fitting to incorporate a part of our beatdown dedicated to the Black and Gold. All pacs were asked trivia questions regarding The Saints. An exercise was performed that was coinciding with the answers. The knowledge of the pacs regarding out team was quite impressive.

    1. How long was Garret Bartley’s field goal that sent the Saints to the super bowl in 2009? Answer: 40 yards, Exercise: 40 Jump Squats OYO
    2. In what year did the Saints play their first season in the Super Dome? Answer: 1975, Exercise: 75 Air Presses OYO
    3. What is the most touchdowns that a Saints player has scored in a season? Answer: 18, The original exercise was 18 burpees. Due to The Channel Mullet knowing that the Saints player who scored these 18 touchdowns was Dalton Hillard, we only had to do 17 burpees, IC. Thank You Channel Mullet!!!!
    4. What team did the Saints give their first victory after starting 0 and 26? Answer: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Exercise: 26 Merkins
    5. On what date did the Saints beat the Rams for their first playoff win? Answer: Dec 30, 2000, Exercise: 30 American Hammers IC

    Merkin Wave – with a twist

    All pacs take the plank position, starting with THE Manny, do one Merkin. Going in a clockwise direction, each pac does one Merkin while all other pacs hold plank position. Rinse and repeat this 4 times. In between each wave, all pacs move a 1/4 turn to the right in a plank position. This is Butt Splice’s absolutely favorite exercise on the F3 website.

    Mosey …..

    Mary- LBCs – 20 IC, Freddie Mercuries – 10 IC, Flutter Kicks – 10 IC, Leg Lifts- 10 IC, Crunchie Frogs – 10 IC

    Break into 4 groups of 6, each group sprints back to flag after giving the group in front of them about a 40 yard head start.

    Welcome to the 3 FNGs that joined the F3 Nation today, Celtic Warrior, Hogie, and Shrimp Boots. Glad I could Q your first of many beatdowns.

    Circle of Trust -Butt Splice prayed us out

    Great F2 at coffeterria afterwards.

  • Good Morning, EMOMs

    Early Morning Sunrise

    At 5am, three brave men broke their warm slumber to boldly complete some morning EMOMs (Every Minute, On the Minute).

    We started with some warm-ups:

    • 10 – Hairy Rockettes
    • 10 – Windmills
    • 10 – Cherry Pickers
    • 20 – SSH
    • 20 – Mountain Climbers

    We then mosey-ed over to the track to start the morning EMOMs.

    At each station around the track, we stopped to do 5 minutes of EMOMs.

    Station 1:

    • 5 – Burpees
    • 10 – Toe Touches
    • 10 – Dips

    Station 2:

    • 10 – Merkins
    • 8 – Jumping Lunges (single count)
    • 6 – Broad Jumps

    Station 3:

    • 5 – Derkins
    • 8 – American Warhammers
    • 12 – Donkey Kicks (each leg)

    Station 4:

    • 15 – SSH (single count)
    • 10 – Mountain Climbers
    • 10 – Flutter Kicks

    Station 5:

    • 5 – Imperial Walkers
    • 5 – Imperial Squat Walkers
    • 5 – Imperial Storm Kickers

    We ended the morning EMOMs with some cool-down stretches, name-a-rama, and sweaty ball of man.

    It was a tough set of exercises. But at the end, we all agreed that Master Melvin was a great place to get refreshed for the day.

    All our invited to check out what the Westbank has to offer.

  • Cold, wind & rainy

    Did the usual 15 out and 15 back route but finished at the lawn where we did 8 minutes of 1 lap around with 5 burpees and then 1 lap of sprinting the long straightaways and jog across the shorter horizontal runs with another 5 burpees upon completion of lap. Rinse and repeat this pattern for 8 minutes. Trying to strengthen the heart by confusing it with some interval training. Great work gents! We made it back to flag a few minutes past 615 so we kept announcements brief. It was a great way to start the day. Thanks for letting me lead.

  • Everyone Needs a Friend from St. Bernard

    • Kuch: next, we’re going to do 11’s, but a little different
    • Da Parish: How is this 11’s?
    • K: Well you go back and forth and do a different exercise on each side of the levee like 11’s, but we’re going to do it together.
    • DP: So you don’t count to 11?
    • K: Well, No
    • DP: Those are not 11’s
    • K: Look, I’m new here, okay?

    Cool, dry mornings at Okwata with a hint of a sunrise thrown in truly make the 5 AM wake-up call worth every minute of lost sleep. At 5:30 this morning, as we started out over the dark course ahead, I mumbled out a brief disclaimer and off we went into the 40 degree gloom for a bit of a leg workout. T-claps to Rudy who had already run a couple miles at that point, a decision he may have later come to regret…

    WARMUP

    • IW’s x 24 (everyone always starts with SSH, so we switched it up a little)
    • SSHx25 (a very little in fact)
    • Windmills x 15
    • Parker Peter x 25
    • 5 8-count bodybuilders OYO just for a bit of practice…
    • Mosey across the street and down the lakefront past canal for…

    FIRST EXERCISE

    Route 55, 8-count bodybuilders OUT, Low-Slow-Squats IN

    Route 55 v2, Low-Slow-Squats OUT, 8-count bodybuilders IN

    The nice thing about 8-count bodybuilder is, if you do enough of them, they make burpees feel like side straddle hops. I felt it was important to put this contrast on full display for the PAX in attendance, so we moseyed to the foot of canal for….

    SECOND EXERCISE

    “11’s”

    All Pax do one exercise for one minute on one side of the levee, and then scale the levee together to the other side, where we do another exercise for one minute, then back, rinse and repeat. We managed to get in:

    • Burpees – Monkey Humpers
    • Merkins – Squats
    • Shoulder Taps – Alternating leg lunges
    • Going up forwards got a little dull, so we did the last round Bernie Sanders, and then moseyed to the flag and got back right at 6:15 or so….

    It’s truly a privilege to lead this group.

  • Strangers at the Scramble from all directions!!

    Having talked with Rudy from NOLA on Wednesday he mentioned the Scramble may have a surprise on this Gloom. As the Q cracked his eyelids on this Thursday to the illumination of a strange area code and reading the message he quickly realized the Scramble would indeed have a surprise PAX.. Walking through the park to plant the shovel flag a familiar voice caught my attention. Could it be Captain Sparkles? Following up a recent post at Grandmas House. Or was it Garfield? Having become a staple at the Scramble.. with much joy it was both brothers chattering it up with Water Pik, who the YHC must throwout a T-👏🏻 too for posting and staying consistent even through injury… And with all, was Hot Wheels from Charlotte as Chewy emerged from the darkness to join the PAX.. Respecting the time we circled up to get started and await any possible late arrivals, which indeed we had as Ringo rolls in Hot to join in as we begin warmup..

    Warmup

    All to 15 IC, SSH, IW, Windmills, Scorpion 🦂 kicks and finished with Chewys famous “Ws”!!

    Moseyed our routine path!

      Returned to the park for 2 cycles through the playground equipment.. PAX held plank as 1 did pull-ups (5) and Knee tucks (10) returning to plank as each man cycled through. R/R adding in Freak Nasties (10) as the PAX changed to right arm high, left arm high and reverse planks till completion…

      Countoff, nameorama, COT

      Appreciate the opportunity to lead and for the PAX there to follow!!

      Thank you Chewy for closing us out in prayer and safe travels to Hot Wheels!!!


    • TSUNAMI!

      A strong wind blows, the rain and waves approach! 13 men of purpose and intent launched into the howling gloom and alas, F3 Tsunami had launched. 

      Thang:

      Mosey down the block and back to front of Tulane for warm-up:

      • SSH x15
      • Imperial Walkers x10
      • Mountain Climbers x15
      • Merkins x10

      Up Law Rd, right into Johnston Quad

      Four corners circuit work x3:

      • Merkins x10
      • Dips x10
      • Knee ups x10
      • Squats x10
      • 2 more laps around, adding 5 reps to each time (x15,  x20)
      • Mary while we wait for the 6

      The wind and rain are picking up now…the angry, dark sea approaches.

      Back to Law Rd, and continuing up to Freret then deeper into campus to Newcomb/LBC Quad

      • Line up for 20 LBCs > Backwards to wall and mosey back, 40 LBCs
      • Side step to wall and mosey back, 40 LBCs
      • Sprint to wall and mosey back, 20 LBCs

      Ahoy now, see how the sea she churns and the waves doth rise…the dreaded Tsunami is nigh. 

      Back to Freret then over to West Rd, to the familiar sight of Wolfpack Mountain. Up the stairs to the roof.

      Now above the turbulent seas that froth below, but 7 stories up the wind howls and the rain cuts like needles into our dampened microfiber, wicking performance apparel.

      Better circle up for 10 diamonds. 

      The tsunami is really rolling in at this point.  Starfish and creatures of the deep strewn here and there, covering the manicured campus below. 

      Down the ramp to find some cover. Circle up for merkins IC x10, flutters x20, widearms x10, Dolly x15, Merkins x10 

      Back down the stairs and out into the storm…Mosey back to the flag…but wait, what’s this?? 4 minutes to spare?

      • At the Gumbel Fountain:
      • Right leg step ups x20
      • Dips x15
      • Left leg step ups x20
      • Derkins x10

      6:15…the tsunami hits the pax and we’re all dead. 

      COT

      Strong group today for the first Tsunami, including two visiting pax from Nashville and Tallahassee.  It’s truly awesome to see the growth and health of F3 NOLA, and fun to be able to launch a new workout to provide the nation with another alternative in our busy schedules.  There are so many un-explored areas in this AO, and today was just a taste.

      Hawgcycle has the Tsunami Q next week, so come on out and see what’s in store. (Btw, his baby soft feet loved the Tulane quad…maybe enough to make him a regular!)

      Until next time, your friend,

      Mariah xo 

    • New Venue at The Gipper


      With the forecast showing temps in the 20’s, the night before, YHC confirmed with PAX about a Pre-Thang mile run to help those with ISI, but also to make sure we were all thawed out for The Thang. YHC was offered a “Clown Car” ride to The Gipper and graciously accepted (Thanks Steve & Shooter).

      Temps actually worked out to be in the 30’s instead. Usual jokes were made about Shooter wearing shorts, no gloves, etc…Seriously, how does he do it?!! Also prior to The Pre-Thang, Einstein shared with the PAX that he had a history of frostbitten hands and feet, growing up in Chicago, but we were all relieved to hear that he never lost any fingers or toes(yet).


      WarmaRama:  Good Mornings, Side Stradde Hops, Wind Mills, Arm Circles, Hill Billies, Imperial Walkers.


      The Thang:
      PAX moseyed over to the rear parking lot of the Taj Mahal, where we performed a modified version of “Bearway to Heaven.”  PAX did Bear crawl suisides of 7 increasing legnths. Bear crawling one way, then lunging back, with 7 decreasing burpees upon each return to the starting point.


      Next PAX moseyed over to the front of the Taj Mahal and circled up around the flag pole. PAX performed a “Fire Drill.” PAX did high knees. Taking turns clock-wise. Each PAX yelled “FIRE” and all PAX would do a version of “stop drop and roll”, where PAX would stop, drop to the ground, roll to the right, Merkin, roll to the left, Merkin, then spring back up to running in place again. This continued until all PAX got their chance to say “Fire.” 


      Next, PAX moseyed over to the “New Venue”…The Landing. With daylight creeping in, Pax performed “11’s.”  PAX ran down the hill of the landing, started with 10 Burpees on the wooden landing, then ran up the hill and did 1 Merkin at the top. This was viscously repeated until Burpees decreased to 1 and Merkins increased to 10.
      With stop time upon us, we high-tailed it back to the trailhead. Every Q, or any leader, is always concerned about doing a good job, pushing the PAX to their full potential. YHC was reassured, when on the run back, Barely Legal joked that his secretary would be doing a lot of dictation today, since he wouldn’t be able to lift a pen. 


      Count O Name O


      Coconuts Prayed us out. 


      ‘Til the next gloom….