F3 New Orleans

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  • WayBackBlast

    …like last Wednesday

    Four pax posted at the Gipper early this past Wednesday. And a fifth pax posted, shortly thereafter, for his 35 minute workout.

    While waiting for the six a.m.start bell, we wondered about California Steve. “It’s 4 a.m. out there”, Shooter remarked, “Steve is probably doing some pushups.”
    Or maybe fartsacking and dreaming about riding his bike past the moon, or dreaming of running for Govenor of California…then on to the Presidency.
    We’ll all vote for you Steve!

    Anyways…here is how it went

    Short disclaimer …

    warmup
    all 20xIC; side straddle hops, windmills, imperial walkers, hillbillys, arm circles, lunges, squats, mummy kicks

    mosey to Bedrock Quarry; pick up a 10 pounder or so

    about this time Maverick sidles-up, saying something about “my bus transfer expired and I had to jog the last five blocks.”
    after admonishing, we continue…
    all 15xIC; curls, overhead presses, rows, outward presses, elf on the shelf

    mosey to the back of the Taj-Mahal for a stop-start ladder; run up, backpedal back, repeat

    mosey to the front of the Taj-Mahal for the MERKIN MEMORIAL
    here we have lots of brick pavers, each with a name and date,
    one pax, at a time, bearcrawls in toward the flagpole to a brick, reads the name and the date, choose a number and that’s how many merkins we did.

    mosey to the St.Tammany Parish Courthouse parking garage for sprints up the ramps with a merkin stop at each level
    once at the top level, break up into two groups. One group holds Al-Gore postion, while the other group sprints down the ramp and backpedals back. Repeat

    back to the Gipper statue as time expires.
    count-o-rama, Shooter lead us out with a prayer.

    It’s always fun running around dowtown Covington, and thanks guys for letting me lead today.

    And I apolgize for the late posting of the BackBlast. I’ve been busy sitting on the couch in my boxers eating a block of cheese and watching Netflix.

  • Almost, Really Close, 2018 National Champions

    I took the opportunity this morning to celebrate Arkansas’ infamous runner-up in the College World Series.  Hoping to be able to work in groups of three, we had nine as we took off toward the Rock Pile.  Picked up JV along the way, making 10….hmm not divisible by 3.  Then we picked up Hand Grenada for 11….hmm still not divisible by 3.  Luckily I could count on my good friend Amnesty to show up during the warm-up, saving me from having to think too hard.

    Ninth Inning, 2 outs, man on 3rd.  Oregon State batter pops up along the right field line.  Arkansas second baseman Carson Shaddy takes off like his hair is on fire, looking to be the man that secures Arkansas’ first Baseball National Championship.  Unfortunately he overruns the pop up by about 6 feet.

    We continue our initial mosey past the rock-pile as we overrun our normal warm-up spot, finally stopping to warm-up near the T-ball field.

    SSH x 30; Peter Parker x 26; Windmills x 14; Parker Peter x 26; Squats x 26; Hillbillies x 26 (It was after the squats that Rudy figured out the reason for the 26 count exercises)

    As the pop-up hung in the air, the right fielder, second baseman, and first baseman all converged on it as it dropped between them.

    Next we headed to The Hill where we encircled the hill and did a crawl-bear, converging at the top, then bear crawled back done.  Round 2 was the most painful round as we repeated the crawl-bear convergence twice.  Our personal failures in round 2 lead to a round three where we did the crawl-bear convergence one final time.

    Arkansas, one of the nation’s most prolific offenses all year long, failed to hit a home run in the final three game series.  In fact, I think they only had 3 extra base hits in the three games.

    It was time for some strength training.  Not being afraid of failure,we grabbed the largest rocks we could safely workout with and circled up for some 3-6-3 reps.  That’s 3 super slow reps, followed by 6 normal cadence reps, and finishing with 3 more super slow reps.  Sets included Curls, Shoulder Presses, Rows, Squats, and Calf Raises

    In case you missed the game, after the three players allowed the pop up to fall, the Oregon State player hit a single tying the game at three.  The next batter hit a two-run homerun as OSU went on to win the game and take the series the next day.  A little better communication and teamwork by those three and things would have been much different.  

    We took our rocks to the football field and divided up into groups of three for some teamwork exercise.  Rocks were placed on each end of the field.  Pax 1 does Shoulder Presses.  Pax two runs to the other end of the field (sin rock) to relieve Pax3 who is doing Bench Presses.  This continues until each team reaches 300 Shoulder Presses and 300 Bench Presses cumulative.

    After the game was over, I felt like punching someone.

    We dropped our rocks back off at the pile and circled up for some Nolan Ryan’s.  26 with the right hand and 27 with the left.  There’s always next year.

    NMM

    • Welcome to FNG Hunchback.  He came with Rudy and Rudy made him wear Notre Dame shorts to the workout.  No idea if he really likes ND or not.
    • No one else seems to be wearing flip flops to the workouts.  Give it time.
    • The Crawl-Bear was a crowd pleaser
    • Thoughts of Mahatma and Triple as they recover from their bike accident.
    • Remind me to have a Snickers on hand for Rudy during the COT.
    • Glad to see three Uptowners representing this morning at Rock City.  The World is all inclusive.

     

     

     

     

  • Dome Patrol

    The LARC took to the streets of Downtown New Orleans for another installment of the Dome Patrol.  YHC arrived a little late, I took a shortcut to catch-up to the much faster runners that were there on time.

    The Thang

    An approximately 4.5 mile run.  Up the Dome ramp on Poydras, down the dome ramp by Champions Square and Dave Dixon Dr.  Up the Champions Square Garage 2 times.  Then we crossed Dave Dixon Dr. and ran up the Hyatt Parking Garage 3 times.  Back to the Champions Square Garage for a final climb.  We ran back to whence we came via the Dome ramps.  Here is a visual.

    Parking garages wreak a little havoc on GPS.

    -Hawg

     

     

     

  • Remembering Wilt!!

    Following the start of free agency for the NBA with record breaking contracts of just 4 top players eclipsing 600 million the YHC decided to reminisce about an old baller back in the day. Although we wouldn’t be throwing around the millions this Gloom we paid tribute to one of the greats on the court. The Marsh with its full court available laid tribute to some of the down payment on this beatdown.

    warmup

    All IC 15 toe touches, good mornings, windmills, SSH and Butt kicks..

    thang

    Started off with”Wilt Chamberlains” 100 LBCs, sprint the court to the other end 100 Squats, sprint back 100 Flutter kicks, sprint again and wrap up with 100 leg lunges. Started a Mosey down Lamarque to the lakefront and hooked a right to the corner of Girod and Lakeshore. Arriving with the smells of cigarette smoke coming through the walls of a local saloon Q instructed the next round which is “Wall of fire” with a twist. Waterpik held balls to the wall while YHC completed 10 Merkins, 10 LBCs and 10 Burpees then reversed positions. Round 2 10 Werkins, 10 Flutter kicks and 10 Burpees. Round 3 10 hand release Merkins, 10 Putin’s and 10 Burpees.  Much respect to Waterpik who never released from the wall, unlike the Q who had to take breaks through the balls to the wall to salvage potential face plants on the concrete surface.. After a gathering of composure we began the journey back to the AO for a close with the ISI by Steve this month starting with 20 sit-ups.. Go get some men increasing by 5 daily which will prove interesting toward the end of July.

    2 count, announced 4 on 4th, Q prayed us into the day!!

    Thanks for posting Waterpik and keeping me accountable to not only myself but also the AO!!

    ✌🏻👊🏻👍🏻

  • 8ball Qball

    YHC’s first Saturday Q:

    BACKSTORY: YHC stayed out late the night before and still hadn’t formed the plan…but it was done by about 02:00 when YHC finished his festivities. As a precaution not to fartsack the Q YHC drove to the location and, after attaching a note to the window that said “WAKE THE Q”, turned down the seat and went to sleep until the morning. But the note wasn’t necessary as YHC just shot up awake at 06:00. Fortunately YHC awoke early because, like every morning, there was a sycamore down under if you catch my driftwood…err drift. After running behind a dumpster behind a building to fix the situation, YHC returned to start the thang.

    YHC skipped the foreplay and awaited the rest of the PAX that would show.

     

    Warmup:

    Monkey Humpers, imperial walkers, windmills, monkey humpers

    The Thang:

    1.) partnered up, one person does sit-ups while the other is lunging with twist approx. 30yds and return back with side shimmy to switch with partner until 200 sit-ups reached.

    2.) partnered up, one planks while other sprints same distance back and forth. 10 rounds.

    3.) partnered up, “Bad Dog” one bear crawls while other is in front of them back peddling 30 yds. Then switch roles back to start line. 5 rounds.

    4.) duck duck goose abs circle – PAX in a circle doing flutter kicks until everyone takes a turn sprinting around the circle. Second round was same thing but with Freddy Mercuries.

    COOL DOWN

    ran back to flag, monkey humpers

    COT, BOM – jul 4th event announced by Turbo

    new FNG = ZOOLANDER

     

  • Is this still the Warm Up

    For those that are still figuring out the F3 NOLA brotherhood and workout schedule – I strongly recommend you circle a couple of mid week days and make the commitment to yourself to give them a shot.  I’m confident if you do your weekly outlook will change….physically for the better.

    Thursday….the alarm goes off at 4:41 – my routine on task: 8 brothers met at the tree near the fountain on the lakefront for what I consider, regardless who’s Qing one of the toughest (grant it I’ve not yet done WolfPack Mountain); maybe it’s the lake adding more humidity or the thought of having the levee loom in the background knowing it’s calling for some activity…..

    After a quick disclaimer we set off for 45 minutes of sweat!  Mosey to the open field in front of the fountain for a quick warm up:

    SSH x 15

    Toe touches (slow count) x 11

    Windmill x 15

    Mnt Climbers x 16

    Mosey to the levee – it’s interesting to hear the back chatter  – “Have you been this direction”, “what’s in store?”…..all just heading to a different starting point.

    Non the less – we ran to the top of the levee with instructions – Indian run with a little twist; when the pax member gets to the front he puts his hand up and yells “disperse” then the remaining pax runs down the levee to complete 3 burpees before running back up to get in line (in the same spot Rudy quickly reminded us).  Pax member in front performed 5 derkins while waiting.  We continued this until all had a chande to disperse the group……Perfect timing with Surge – “surging” to the front dispersing the pax while he went and greeted his dad on a morning walk.  Awesome to see this family connection and that Surge’s dad still puts fitness as a priority in his life!  But as Pax got back to the top of the levee – someone commented; “This is still the warm-up”!

    Now we were ready to start our work:

    Q had all Pax line up at the base of the levee –

    1st initiative:  x 2

    5 squat jumps – then sprint up the levee – WALK down the other side for “active recovery” – 5 squat jumps sprint up the levee – Walk down

    30 Seconds of rest

    2nd initiative: x 2

    5 ea switch leg jump lunge – FROG Hop up the levee – Walk down the other side – repeat on the way back

    45 Seconds of rest

    3rd initiative: x 3

    5 merkins with a double climber – then Bear Crawl up the levee – Walk down the other side- repeat on the way back

    1 minute of “active” recovery as we moseyed over to the house of pain.

    3 pull bars with 2 pax to spot to get 10 “solid” pull ups

    others would perform 5 “Cowbell – Burpees” then sprint top of levee then back down perform 5 more Cowbell -Burpees

    Head back toward the Flag for Mary

    30 seconds of “black hole” direct transition into 10 crunchy frogs – immediately repeat.

    10 4 count cockroach – direct transition to 10 4 count flutter – immediately repeat.

    High Plank – 1 minute – switch to Rt then Lt plank 15 seconds ea. repeat.

    DONE

    Name O Rama – Intentions and Prayerful Thanksgiving.  Brothers I joyfully look forward to the opportunity of pushing as hard as I can when you lead and have humbly learned to lead through being pushed.

     

     

     

  • Stretching & Sweating in the Sun

    Backblast.  June 30, 2018

    So who else is noticing that after exercising for a couple of months and more that your T shirts must be shrinking?

    By Worms, with comedic assistance from Moneycat | June 30, 2018

    The Scene:  The Knoll

    Conditions: 82F, got warmer as it went. Ahhhh….the “cool of the morning” in BR.

    Welcome: 9 men posted.

    Disclaimer:

    “I am not a professional trainer….well, you guys know the rest.”

    (Sorry about the pics guys.  Even if I flip the image upside down on my computer before uploading the photos they still come out upside down on the Backblast posts.  Just so everyone knows, we were not doing head stands to take our photo.  That came later.)

    Warm-a-Rama:

    The local MADD group had a festive event going on at the park this morning, not to be confused with DAMM, Drunks Against Mad Mothers. They were taking over OUR parking places, so we moved over a little down the parking lot.

    Had some new exercises this morning requiring new coordination. Some of us neared falling down on some of these.

    Capri lap Squirm.  Not a “run” but can still call it a “mosey”.  (A squirm is a fast walk  To be “walking” you have to have one foot on the ground at all times.  “Running involves a moment in time where no foot is touching the ground. Its about 4-9/13  microseconds, I believe.)

     

    Goofball – A standing mountain climber (running in place) while you alternate your arms up and down (like climbing a ladder). Call it goofball b/c you look exactly like one when doing this.

    Annie – This exercise instructs pax on the art of clean floors, be warned some pax may break out in song and dance. Hold plank and rotate one arm in a circular motion while holding plank with the opposite arm.

    Sky Reaching – Long reaching upwards with your fingertips high.  Can be as strenuous as you want to make it.  You can be lazy and just point up like you want to ask a question, or you can stretch about 64 muscles till they hurt if you like.  If someone was asking a question I ignored them. Sorry. No questions can be asked once the counting begins.

    Sun God’s – This exercise is the rotating of shoulders through act of moving outstretched arms (with purpose and intensity) forward or backward in circular motion – Options for little Sun Gods and/or Big Sun Gods for desired effect.

    Batwings – Progression of arm exercises that are deceivingly difficult and named after Austin’s bats. Start with 20 x Forward Arm Circles, hold, 20 x Backwards Arm Circles, hold, 20 x seal claps, hold, 20 x overhead claps. Everything is on a 4-count. Remember to enjoy the pain on the faces of your fellow men.

    Fabreze – Certainly not the first production run of “Fabreeze” air “freshener”.   How do you make air “fresher” by contaminating it with “pretty” smells?   My sinuses rebelled with that stuff and I told my wife to throw it out and never buy it again. On your six, do 2 Big Boy Situps. Remain upright after last BB and lift feet up 6″.  Do 10 Air Presses.  (Thanks to Sparknut, visiting from Raleigh, pointing out that this is an arm press in the air, not a leg press.)  Back down for 4 BB followed by 20 Air Presses with legs held 6″. Repeat using increments of 2:10 ratio. (2:10, 4:20, 6:30, 8:40, 10:50, etc…). Didn’t quite do the numbers as planned because the Worms was tuckering out.

    Goose Step – Marched 65 paces just like the Nazis though we don’t hold to the fascist model otherwise.  A real leg muscle stretcher.

    Finkle Swing – Named for the infamous kicker “Ray Finkle” it is said that this was the stretch that lost him the big game. Pax swings one leg at a time back and forth to warm up those hips.

    Happy Jacks – Do 5 side straddle hops in cadence then after the 5th one everyone does two jump squats. Like this… Side Straddle Hops IC: One, two, three, ONE! One, two, three, TWO! One, two, three, THREE! One, two, three, FOUR! One, two, three, FIVE! Quickly followed by two jump squats. Repeat 4x or until no one can breathe.  Cool activity twist on some familiar exercises.

     

    Mozy to the sundial for da thang……..

    Dem Thang

    Freak Nasties – One stand, straddle other’s head.  Man on ground feet up high grasps the standing man’s ankles for support.   The stander throws the other man’s feet straight away 2 times.  To left 2 times, to right 2  times then over again.  SWAP positions.  That was the plan but I think most of us just did the throw straight away routine.  16 reps

    Hillbillies – Similar to Imperial Walkers but knee comes up to elbow on same side of body as side that knee is raised. About 16 reps

    Happy Feet – Arms out to sides.  Feet do rapid running in place but spread shoulder width apart.  Commonly a football exercise.  20 reps.

    Stormtrooper: Another similar to Imperial Walker but with a twist. Extend arms straight out in front of the body. Twist arms to one side of the body while raising and twisting the knee and hip the opposite direction. Can be done IC or OYO. Repeat both sides until the Q halts. Like a pretzel, twisting, sprinkler head thingy. Good back and hip stretch. Sound effects optional.  16 reps

    Ring of fire with a twist: A spin on ring of fire. Pun intended. In a walking side squat, rotate in a circle until the Q gives an order to “SPRAWL” then back to the squat walk. We went in CW and then CCW directions.  The Q would instruct everyone to “sprawl” after a varying number of steps.  (“Sprawl:  body straight like in a plank. Arms straight.  Bow your middle body down deeply towards the ground while attempting to face upwards as high as possible.  This is an exercise used by wrestlers and other marshal arts as a beginning to other actions.  I’m not talking about the scripted, choreographed entertainment some of you watch with the wild outfits and raging threats to their opponents, then the girls with the signs. What do those signs say?)

     

    Sometime during the exercises at the sundial Moneycat took a catnap in the shadow of the sundial brick. The Cat looked a bit woozy in the sun. It was probably the heat. We all heard him loudly purring on the other side of the wall. The cool of the dew must have caused him to fall asleep very fast. But his catnap didn’t last long as he quickly woke up to go play with rocks. He must have heard ball…….

     

    Mosey to the creek for fun with rocks (coupons).

    -find the rock you like and lineup

    -chest pass the rock with 2 hands, up the hill, as far as you can, pick it up and chest pass over and over until we make it to the plateau of the hill. About 6-10 throws, depending on how well you chose your rock and how far are your throws.  Choosing the pea gravel ain’t fair.

    -chest pass up the hill.  Rocks don’t move uphill by themselves, despite evolutional theories to the contrary.

    -Alternating right arm then left arm shotput throws, down the hill.

     

    Posed for a rock picture at the base of the hill by the creek.  We’ll call that a Rock Shot. The “older” guys might be mistaken for Rolling Stones ( minus Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. ) There was much “Satisfaction” in this exercise.

     

    Mosey to benches at the pavillion.   Did step up with right leg first, 20 reps.  Then did step up with left leg first.

    Mosey’d back to the flag for Circle of Trust and a group pic.

     

    Circle of Trust, COT

    Welcome to the new member Cyborg and thanks to Sparknut for bringing him.  Sparknut is from BR but now lives in Raleigh.  Super glad you all posted with us this morning and looking forward to seeing you all again soon!

    Ended with prayer.

     

    Five met at Starbucks for coffee, water, cool down and man-talk.  Great conversation. After a quick search on Facebook,  Moneycat realizes he went to college with Sparknut’s wife! Amazing connections.  This means 4 men missed out on the social time with the Pax:(

    Thanks to all for posting this morning and putting up with the old man’s beat down.  Did you sweat?  Its been 16 hours now and I’m still sore from this mornings beat down, but I know I’m getting stronger for it.

  • Quality over Quantity!

    This was YHC’s first Q outside the friendly confines of Uptown.  So it was appropriate that it would be the Uptowner that would be YHC’s first Q in the great, big WORLD.  You can imagine my dismay when I pulled into the parking area with no other cars around.  Would this be a party of 1?  If you Q in an empty park, did it really happen?  Hold on….who is that walking over the train tracks?  None other than Hand Grenada!   Now we have a party!  But wait there’s more!  Here comes Fracsac to join this merry band.  The three musketeers it is.  Quality over quantity PAX.  Let’s get this party started…right?

    Circle up for Warm up,

    • Windmills X 15
    • Forward Arm Circles X15
    • Reverse Arm Circles X 15
    • Imperial Walkers X20
    • Hillbillies X20

    We’re all warmed so let’s go to the rock pile and pick a small rock.  Oh wait, in my excitement of actually having PAX show up for my Q, I forgot the all important disclaimer.  So, disclaimer it is and then…

    Circle up with small rock for Thang 1:

    Block Webb –  1 merkin to 2 air presses with small rock increasing by 1 merkin and 2 air presses all the way up to 10 merkins and 20 air presses.  All OYO.  Needless to say we were feeling the burn in the shoulders by the end.

    Let’s walk over and throw the small rock over the fence to the baseball field.  Back to the rock pile to pick a large rock

    Take Large Rock walk around fence to field drop rock and walk to grab small rock from other side of field.  Lunge walk with small rock back to where we dropped big rock.

    As we only had 3 Pax, we decided to combine forces for Thang 2

    Flora 1-2-3 (aka Dora’s Nasty Sister)

    • 100 merkins – 10 merkins on large rock while others plank with foot on his large rock flapjack till complete
    • 200 LBC’s – 20 LBC’s with small rock while partners hold feet 6” off ground while holding small rock over chest flapjack till complete
    • 300 Goblet Squats – 25 goblet squats while partners hold a goblet squat in down position flapjack till complete

    Next, circle up for Bear Crawl Ring of Fire                             c

    • Bear Crawl to Q yells halt. When stopped, all PAX on 6 and lift Rock over head.  PAX does 10 chest presses in sequence until all are done.  Bear Crawl counter-clockwise, stop for chest presses, bear-crawl clockwise for chest presses.  Let’s kick it up a notch Boo Boo Bear Crawl right leg up clockwise, stop for chest presses,  Boo Boo Bear Crawl left leg up counter-clockwise.  Feeling good now!

    Walk large rock over to fence and throw over – Lunge walk halfway back then crab walk the rest of the way back to small rocks.

    Walk back to rock pile holding small rock in front of chest with arms extended.

    Circle up for arms and back work with large rock:

    • Curls X 20 IC
    • Rows with large rock X20 IC

    Stay in circle for Flutter Kicks while holding small rock above chest X15 IC

    Count-Off, Name-o-rama, Announcements, Intentions and Prayer.

    Thanks to the PAX for letting me lead!

  • One to grow on!!

    With another year in the books the YHC arrived at the Scramble on his birthday Q. To no surprise the regulars, with the exception of one Bushwacker 🤔decided to post and celebrate in the festivities. Jumped into a short warmup before we embarked on our standard Scramble route..

    Warmup

    15 IC Toe touches

    15 IC Windmills

    15 IC SSH

    Started our Mosey with Chatter of the previous nights Arkansas/Oregon State game ending in a way, which surly would have a betting man thinking how did that just happen.. Come on!! Let’s hope a routine  pop up with 2 outs to win your first Ship doesn’t come back to put the Razor in their Backs figuratively speaking.. Enough with the hate of an SEC foe, go Hogs!! Returned to the AO for 42 Merkins and two rounds of  protractor with each PAX calling out a degree of leg extensions.  Something the Q picked up in his travels to Charlotte this past weekend.. Closed with 21 IC LBCs. For those with better math skills than I equals  42 hence the one to grow on..

    Appreciate the post gentleman!!

    Count, announcements (Choppa considering a Q featuring a beefed up Murph at a post near you), COT

    Much thanks to Sprocket for the pray out into the day!!!

     

  • Wednesday With Walleye

    8 men arrived at the Foundry for some sweat in the summer heat. Man it’s muggy. Welcome back Smooth!
    The usual disclaimer and off we go.

    Warm-up COP at the track:
    SSH x 20 IC
    IW x 20 IC
    Peter Parker x 20 IC
    Windmills x 15 IC
    Arm circles IC, 10 forward, 10 backward
    Mountain climbers x 20 IC

    Route 66 to the Foundry, with 10 lunge jumps at each light post

    Foundry Circuit x2
    1. 15 WWII sit-ups has the count
    2. Dips
    3. Pull ups
    4. Derkins

    Mosey to NOMA for Dora 123
    100 Merkins, 200 Squats, 300 LBC’s, while the other partner runs a lap around NOMA.

    Mosey back to the flag, with some Mary along the way
    Flutter kicks x 20 IC
    Hello Dolly x 20 IC
    American Hammer x 20 IC

    Back to the flag at 6:15. Count off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, and a prayer.
    Thank you for letting me lead!
    Walleye