F3 New Orleans

Blog

  • Staying on Track

    “The only bad workout is the one you didn’t do” – Author unknown 

    Another strong turnout with the PAX this Saturday.  T-claps to Worms for EH-ing a FNG and also to Coxswain for bringing his pops.  T-claps to Rudy for a pre-thang mosey along with joining us for a COP and giving us a taste of classic Rudy before ducking out to help the in-laws.  YHC had been kicking around several ideas and settled on a few themes for the day.  Theme #1 would center around October being the awareness month for both Down Syndrome and breast cancer.  YHC’s 13yr old son was born with Down syndrome, also known as Trisomy 21, which is a genetic disorder caused by the prescense of a 3rd copy of chromosome 21.  This meant 21 would be our number of the day.  We would also acknowledge awareness for breast cancer by adding in a few rounds of burpees as part of the “Burpees for Boobs” initiative led each October by the Spartan Race.  After the disclaimer, Here’s what we did:

    Mosey to grass area in front of sculpture garden for the pre-thang.

    SSH X21

    IPW X21

    ABE VIGODA X21 (this progressed to windmills due to heckling from Rudy)

    ARM CIRCLEs X21

    BURPEES OYO X21

     

    Then a briefing to the PAX on theme #2 which would involve a mosey around the 1.8 mile loop of the City Park amusement train tracks with stops along the way.  By paralleling the tracks, this would lay the groundwork for our “staying on track” theme with some related inspirational quotes courtesy of Google.  There were opportunities to modify the distance and the PAX planked to wait for the six at each stop.  After starting the mosey near the tracks by the sculpture garden, the rest of the workout went as such:

    Stop #1 – Refinery for a 4 minute, 4 exercise OYO circuit

    PULL UPS X21

    BODY ROWS X21

    SQUAT JUMPS X21

    BOX JUMPS X21

    “You only fail when you stop trying” 

     

    Stop #2 – Prison Bars aka Tool Wall

    CALF RAISES x35IC (keep ’em guessing)

    HIP SLAPPERS x21 IC

    CALF RAISES x30IC

     

    Stop #3 – RR Crossing

    LUNGE WALK to first light pole

    CRAB WALK to second

    LUNGE WALK to third

    CRAB WALK to fourth

     

    Stop#4 – Grass stretch near CP Ave.

    BEAR CRAWL approx 30yds to oak tree

     

    Stop #5 – Water Fountain

    Plank and wait

     

    Stop #6 – The two pedestrian bridges

    Partner up with PAX#1 running over bridge, BURPESS x10…for the ta-tas, run back over on second bridge

    while PAX #2 alternated between TIN SNIPS and LBT

    “You gotta hustle for the muscle” 

    YHC hoped to work in 3 rounds of these but had to cut it short with 2 rounds due to lack of time.

     

     

    Stop #7 – RR Crossing on the far end of the field from where we started.

    “Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there” 

    Line up at first light pole for said exercises and mosey to next with decreasing reps at each one.  This was an OYO circuit intended to be a brutal grand finale with 10 stops but had to be cut short.  The altered version included:

    CROSS FIT MERKIN x20,  GROINERS x20 at first light pole

    CROSS FIT MERKIN x15,  GROINERS x15 at second light pole

    CROSS FIT MERKIN x10….time expired around this point so back to flag to call it a day.

     

    COT: 

    YHC also read the following: “During Down Syndrome Awareness Month, we celebrate the significant contributions that people with Down syndrome make to their families, to their communities, and to our Nation.  We also salute the family members, caregivers, medical professionals, and advocates who have dedicated themselves to ensuring that these extraordinary people enjoy lives filled with love and increasing opportunity.  As a result of these remarkable efforts, people with Down syndrome are living longer, more enriching lives than ever before”.  – part of a statement released by The White House this earlier in the week

    We also capped off the train track theme with YHC mentioning the importance of “staying on track” in life.  This was inspired by the loss of a good friend 6 weeks ago who let his life and health get off track.  None of us are immune to slips and stumbles in life so it’s always good to strive to stay “on track” and keep those people close to us “on track” as well.

    Name-o-rama along with a welcome to FNG’s Bubble Wrap and Lasagna.

    Moleskin:  YHC was hesitant to structure a workout around a long run like this, never knowing when/if some “non-runners” may show up.  I rolled with it even though a few of the new guys mentioned they’re not crazy about running.  Gladly, there were a few shortcuts that allowed for modified distance and they still seemed to get in a solid beatdown.  T-claps to Yankee, Walleye, and others for making sure that “no man was left behind” and keeping the rear PAX company.  At times, I was occasionally the last guy in a mosey and was always appreciative of those that scaled back on their run to make sure to push me on mine.  Now that I’m a little better shape than my early days with F3, I now find it very rewarding when I can reciprocate that favor to newcomers and strive to make sure they are felt both welcome and motivated.

    Thanks for letting me lead.

    Tool

  • #ConqueringH8!

    Event:  3rd Running of the H8!

    Conditions: Breezy and 70ish

    Field: 12 F3 Nola Pax

    Post your results in the comments below to have a record of your progress.

    The Thang

    Each lap consists of running south to the top of the levee, crossing canal (bear crawling the neutral ground), running south to the bottom of the levee, cross canal and run north to the top of the levee, cross canal (bear crawling the neutral ground), running north down the levee and back across canal to the starting point.  At the starting point you do a descending burp and merk pyramid starting at 8 (bupee with 8 merkins, burpee with 7 merkins, …..burpee with 1 merkin)

    At the end of the 2nd lap the burp and merk pyramid starts at 7, etc.

    The goal is to complete 8 laps in 40 minutes.  According to MapMyRun, each loop is approximately 0.4 miles.  Therefore, to conquer the H8! you will have to do the following in 40 minutes:

    • Run over 3 Miles of Hills
    • 550 Yards of Bear Crawls
    • 36 Burpees
    • 120 Merkins

    We did AMRAP and then moseyed back to the flag.

    Moleskin

    • 5 of the 12 participants #ConqueredH8!  That’s a pretty good percentage.
    • Welcome to Cowbell and Nip/Tuck, the two newest members of H8! club.
    • Nip/Tuck is the first Uptowner to #ConquerH8!
    • SOGO showed up 6 minutes late, or he would have conquered.  #DontBeL8.
    • Now that Cowbell has done it, I fully expect to see him standing across Lakeshore Dr. in flip flops with a Pina Colada in his hand observing the next one.

    Shorty suggested that #ConquerH8! become the new social motto for the world.  There’s a lot of hate in the world today and this has been are rough few months.  So let’s keep growing this thing.  There were thousands of men this morning that committed to making themselves better, and that’s some good news for the world.  Keep at it.  #ConquerH8!

  • Into the Brier Patch

    “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.”

    Michael Jordan

    YHC arrived early enough to plant the shovel flag and to set up some cones for an Uptowner beatdown. It’s 0530, the disclaimer is given, so nothing holding us back now.
    Warmup
    SSH IC x 31
    Abe Vigodas IC x 10

    Grab a medium large rock and set it by the cone nearest the Shovel flag. There are 4 cones set up in a baseball diamond configuration, each approximately 15 yards apart. Home plate is nearest the shovel flag.
    Although YHC has improved his bear crawl ability, it’s not nearly good enough. If one wants to improve at something, one must do more of it!  Wanting and wishing won’t get us there, so let’s make it happen!
    Round one:
    Bear crawl 15 yards to first cone:
    Merkins IC x 20 (4 count x 10)
    Bear crawl 15 yards to second cone:
    Catalina wine mixers IC x 10 (6 count)
    Bear crawl 15 yards to third cone:
    10 Burpees OYO
    Bear crawl 15 yards to home plate cone:
    Grab the rock – Curls IC x 20

    Round two:
    Bear crawl 15 yards to first cone:
    WW 2 Sit Ups IC x 20 (4 count x 10)
    Bear crawl 15 yards to second cone:
    Tin snips IC x 20
    Bear crawl 15 yards to third cone:
    10 Burpees OYO
    Bear crawl 15 yards to home plate cone:
    Grab the rock – OH Shoulder Press IC x 20

    Round three:
    Bear crawl 15 yards to first cone:
    Copper head squats IC x 20
    Bear crawl 15 yards to second cone:
    Monkey Humpers IC x 20
    Bear crawl 15 yards to third cone:
    10 Burpees OYO
    Bear crawl 15 yards to home plate cone:
    Grab the rock – Elf on the shelf IC x 10 left, IC x 10 right

    Rinse and repeat all three rounds for a total of 6 rounds!

    Upon completing the final Elf on the Shelf, just enough time for a little Mary!

    Freddie Mercury IC x 20
    Flutter Kicks IC x 20
    Hello Dolly IC x 20

    Return the rocks to the pile.

    COT for count off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, and closed it out with a prayer.
    Stay safe with Nate coming through this weekend!
    Thanks for posting this morning for a stroll through the brier patch!
    Moleskin
    For those in the October ISI Challenge, each Pax completed 120 merkins with a whole lot of bear crawlin’! Well done!

  • The Classic Levee?

    YHC needed a change of pace from the loop, the lights and the leg-ups next to a drifter so we spent the morning at the levee.

    Warm- up on the way: SSH x20, MC x20, Lunge-Throughs x10

    At the Levee:

    5 burpees  then run up levee & back –  repeat 5 times

    Peter Parker X20

    5 All-American Body Builders then run up levee & back – repeat 5 times

    Parker Peters x20

    5 Jump Squats then run up levee & back – repeat 5 times

    Real Freddie Mercurys  x20 (after the Pax almost pulled a Hawg)

    10 Merkins then run up levee & back – repeat 5 times

    Russian Twist x20 (the bots told me to do it)

    10 LBC then run up levee & back – repeat 5 times

    Mosey back to the flag for plank-o-rama and the obligatory 20 second MI

    Count off, name-o-rama, thoughts on National Taco Day & a prayer…always good times.

  • Would someone teach this Q to count already??

    Tuesday at the Trailhead is proving to be mathematically difficult on this QIC. The last 2 weeks have produced double digit numbers and this Gloom proved to be no different. I arrived to the  AO with 6-7 PAX standing around mumble chattering. Quickly the PAX awoke to 11 men including 2 FNGs ready to accept the challenge the QIC intended to deliver. But wait it’s a bird, it’s a plane nah it’s just Chewy coming through the darkness.. Total of 12 now. Now that was easy.. The Q was attentive to some of the chatter about Merkins (Turtle) so he felt the need to store that info in his memory bank for the beatdown.. Lets begin.

    Warmarama

    All 20IC SSH, IW, BK and Arm circles F/B..

    the thang

    Moseyed to the Trailhead, wait the AO is the Trailhead🤔 ment to say the Tunnel of glow on the Trace. Upon arrival the instructions were to split into 2 teams of 6 (math skills) with the first man starting a series of Merkins (incline/decline) at the top for 20 at the start of the glow 20 at the end of the glow 20 and at the top of the other side for 20 again. (Total 80) Yes!  The PAX hanging back awaiting there turn once the first man completed his first set was required to hold the Al gore while waiting and upon the first man completing on the other side had to hold plank and await the rest of the PAX. Seemed like a nice R/R excersise but first let’s reverse the order of the teams  and changed the staging workout to Mission Impossible hold (nice job Bushwacker I saw you killing this one brother 👍💪) on the start and finish.. The QIC and an FNG (to be continued) began the 2nd round. Once complete the PAX moseyed back to the official Trailhead to another team excersise which consisted of 8 man body builders building to 10 starting at one end moseying to the steps and up (1 top, 2 bottom, 3top 4 bottom) team Ocho,Turtle, Song Bird (FNG), Carpool, Dundee decided to put in some extra work..  Nice job fellas. (Something about not hearing instructions). Completed the task and circled up to count off and here is where the QIC takes blame in not realizing he had 2 men unaccounted for, Dundee and Carpool who were going the extra mile and completing the mission was still at the top once the count began.  My mistake gentleman, so we recounted off while Turtle gave a card to a future FNG who jumped in the mix for some work at the end..

    countarama, annoucarama, COT

    Appreciate Butt Splice closing us in prayer offering intentions to those in Las Vegas and those still impacted in TX, LA, FL and PR in the wake of the hurricanes..

    Welcome FNG Song Bird glad to have you!

    Appreciate the opportunity to lead gentleman!!

  • Ultimate Frisbee #2

    YHC wanted to do another round of Ultimate Frisbee, but the only problem is that YHC doesn’t have a frisbee… but you can always count on the Pax to pull you through.  Thirteen Pax at the start, Sixteen Pax at the end…Tclaps to Two Yutes for the Frisbee; and Tclaps to the three FNGs that posted! Otherwise, we would have been doing less fun things.  The DISCLAIMER was given and we were off.

    The Thang

    Mosey over to the Festival Grounds while the Pax split up into two teams, Uptown vs The World….then each team to a separate end zone for some Ultimate Frisbee.  Rules are simple:

    • Teams advance the frisbee by throwing/catching the frisbee to reach the other teams endzone for a point.
    • Thrower (guy with frisbee) cannot move.
    • Defense on Thrower – 3 yd safe zone.
    • Penalties:
      • Turnovers (frisbee hits the ground or intercepted) – turnover team does 2 reps of exercise before playing defense
      • Scores – defense does 5 reps of exercise while scoring team runs to their endzone for kickoff

    We played two (25 min) halves.

    • Penalty Exercises:
      • 1st Half – Burpees
      • 2nd Half – Jump Squats / Merkins

    The World won by a landslide….But both teams won by still doing a bunch of burpees and never thinking about it.   Your mindset has everything to do with it!

    Mosey back to the flag, with some random stops along the way to get some time with Mary.  Ended with the COT, which included the Countoff, Nameorama, Shoutouts and a Prayer.  Thanks for letting me lead.

    -Shorty

  • A Rough Day

    A long anticipated cold front moved through the New Orleans area and YHC woke up to 69 degrees and light rain.  I had noticed it raining throughout the night and was excited about getting down and dirty at Rock City.  8 others joined me at our local flood reservoir.  I gave the disclaimer, adding the fact that we were going to get muddy, and headed to the rock pile.

    Warm-up

    SSH x 31 (IC); 8-count Body Builders x 10; IW x 25 (IC); 8-count Body Builders x 10;  Abe Vigodas x 10 (IC); 8-count Body Builders x 10; Good Mornings (IC) x 10

    The Thang

    Grab a rock, small enough to mosey with, but large enough to hurt.  We moseyed to the hill (I feel like it’s been a while).  We did a modified 11s exercise.

    Run con roca over the hill and do 10 rock burpees on the other side, run back con roca over the hill and do 20 bench presses.  Continue, descending the rock burpee count on the far side by 1 each time.  Hold the bench press count steady at 20 on the near side each time.

    Totals:  Rock Burpees = 55;  Bench Presses = 200

    We ran to the top and circled up for some squats.  20 regular squats in cadence followed by 20 squat pulses.  Some mumble chatter made YHC realize standing on the tallest point in Old Metarie with lightning strikes nearby was not OSHA compliant, so we grabbed our rocks and moseyed back to the pile.

    Here we completed our Squats:  Plié Squats (IC) x 20 followed by Plié Squat pulses (IC) x 20; Sissy Squats (IC) x 20

    Sprint back to the flag #punctuality

    Moleskin

    • I thought the work on the hill was a beast.  At the 8 rock burpee set I was sure I was going to have to call for a break about half way through and finish later.  However, the pax dominated this exercise.  What do you call it when all of the Pax finishes ahead of the Q?  These men are strong.
    • Sissy Squats are a crowdpleaser.
    • I am really disappointed in how clean I was after this workout.
    • If you are participating in the ISI challenge this month – that was 85 merkins.  If you are not particpating – you really should, loser.
    • Thanks to the Pax for calling out the repetitions so loudly this morning.  It really helped.  However, I did get confused a couple of times.  I think I was hearing Douille yelling them out Uptown.
    • Woz was a beast this morning.  It seemed like he ratcheted it up a couple of levels this morning. T-claps my man.
    • We woke this morning to the horrific news of the Las Vegas shooting.  One of our own, Terabyte was on vacation with his M in Vegas, staying 10 floors below the shooter at Mandalay Bay.  They were awakened by the gunfire.  He let us know that he and his wife are both safe.  Let’s continue to pray for those affected and keep growing F3 as a way to heal our country.
    • Later this afternoon we learned of the passing of Houston’s Big Wheel.  Unfortunately I never had the opportunity to meet him.  I did have the good fortune of spending 14 hours carrying the world’s heaviest telephone pole with his father, a man that was beyond impressive to me in our short time together.  I have no doubt that the world has lost a High Impact Man.  Our hearts and prayers go out to F3 Houston and those touched by Big Wheel’s life.  Godspeed brother.

  • Core Values

    Just before 5am, out of the gloom converged Turtle, Shooter, and QIC, making note of the ubiquitous site of Captain Sparkles truck looming like an F3 sentry to watch over the marsh. This could only mean that while the rest of us were justifiably still fartsackin in the 4 o’clock hour, the machine was out here putting in work. So no hate as he came jogging up while the PAX was warming up. Conversation of the outdoor variety masked the growing intensity of the workout, where, after warming up , we unleashed upon our cores The Bruce Lee, a 5 exercise ab run that quieted talk of Turtle taking to a deer stand in a wind storm, painting visions of Lt. Dan with all his righteous fury. Next we partnered up for leg pushdowns and wrapped core with  2 minute plank. With the latest ISI in mind, we shifted gears and proceeded with contra burpees, bump ups, and fortunately last but, unfortunately not least, a merkin ladder. Many thanks to our resident mathematician for calculating our total merkin count for the beatdown at 265. Finally, we closed things out with COT and much needed prayers .

    WARM UP:

    20 Imperial Walkers IC

    20 Windmills IC

    20SSH IC

    THE THANG:

    The Bruce Lee – superset: putins, leg raises, LBCs, heel touches, crunchy frogs, 100s  3 sets of 20 reps IC

    Leg Push Downs – partners,  3 sets each 10 reps OYO

    2Minute Plank

    Contra Burpees – increase merkins each burpee up to 10 merkins

    Bump Up – burpee under pull-up bar with a pull-up on each jump  10 reps OYO

    Merkin Ladder – starting at 20 merkins, run up and down basketball court decreasing rep count at each end until down to 1

    COT

    1st solo Q in da books. Thanks F3 brothers!

     

  • Dog poo landmine for the Q

    Hey Guys –

    Good beatdown this AM.  Sad that I didn’t mention the Vegas shooting.  #prayforvegas  Now my thoughts and prayers go out to all of those people and their families.

    We started this rainy gloomy morning with a pre-planned weinke but once I saw 2 FNGs I decided to modify and stay in the neighborhood.  Good thing bc that allowed us to find Thumper!

    Tclaps to Brown Bag who had 2 FNGs at the flag ready to go.  Brown Bag showed up at 529AM – we thought he did the ole’ EH and Sack.  However he was kind enough to post!

    Tclaps to Chic-ka-chic-ka for coming back for his second beatdown in 2 weeks

    Welcome back Kotters to Quick Draw.  We have missed you in the gloom.

    Also had an exchange from North Carolina – welcome to the PAX – unicorn.

    We did a short Mosey around the parking lot and circled up in front of the Gazebo.

    IC SSH x 20, Imperial Walker Squats x 20, Mtn Climbers x 20, LBC x 20

    Mosey down the muddy path to the row bars.

    At the row bars – a circuit   20 rows is the count, then the other 3 groups – low/slow squats, plank jacks and burpees.

    Only bc Seaman and revit decided to no-show due to the rain.  At this point I landmined myself by the row bars.

    As we were working at the row bars – a guy ran by and I decided to mid workout EH him.  Turns out it was F3 Thumper and he nerviously asked are you guys F3?  So I was all excited about my mid-workout EH and then it ended up being one of our guys – so welcome back kotter to Thumper.

    We ran the WWI monument.  We did a small circle of merks.  Merks x 20, Wide merks x 10, Staggered L merks x 10, Staggered R merks x 10.

    We ran back to the pull up bars.  At the pull ups it was 5-10, then a lap around parking lot, then 20 step ups per leg, then back to the pulls ups for burpees, then a lap around the lights.  You could have started in a different spot for that circuit.   BLIMPS to wait for the 6.

    Then we mosey’d back to the Gazebo for 6 min of Mary.

    This we did low country crab x 20, Fire Hydrant x 20, donkey kicks each leg x 20,  Russian Twist x 20, LBT x 20, Peter Parkers x 20, Parker Peters x 20.  More like 10 min of Mary.

    Mosey back to the Flag but do 10 decline merks on the benches on the way to the FLAG.

    We closed with a hopeful thought to be more mindful of our relationships.

    Thoughts and prayers for Vegas

    Thanks for the opportunity to lead!

    Reluctant Yankee

     

     

  • 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.