F3 New Orleans

Blog

  • Bloom Where You are Planted

    A lot of pre-workout mumble chatter regarding Shorty’s double Q beatdowns at both Rock City and City Park last week.  The yoga master left quite an impression on the Pax.  YHC can only assume our skinny armed brethren had two flags this morning as there was none to be found at Rock City.  After a quick disclaimer, we moseyed to the Rock Plie

    The Thang

    Circle up by the tracks for the warm-up COP all IC:  SSH x 30; Good Mornings (aka Hammy Poppers) 20; Forward Arm Circles x 20, backwards arm circles x 20; merkins x 15; calf raises x 40; squats x 30

    We Selected our rocks and moseyed about 20 feet, circled up, and dropped our rocks. We then went back to the rock pile to select a bigger rock to go with our first one.  YHC did have plans for using the first rock, unfortunately those plans never materialized, as we stayed in this COP using the big rock for the rest of the workout.

    All exercises were in cadence and included 5 sets:

    • Shoulder Presses x10, x8, x6, x4, x2.  Total = 60 reps
    • Curls x10, x8, x6, x4, x2.  Total = 60 reps
    • Bench Presses x20, x16, x12, x8, x4.  (That one was harder than I thought it would be)  Total = 120 reps
    • Rows x20, x16, x12, x8, x4  (This one was as hard as I thought it would be)  Total = 120 reps
    • Squats x10, x8, x6, x4, x2.  Total = 60 reps
    • Lunges x10, x8, x6, x4, x2.  Total = 60 reps
    • Calf Raises x30, x25, x19, x12, x7.  (YHC missed the mark on the number of reps a few times with this one.) Total = 186 reps

    We returned both rocks back to the pile and then ran horses to the stable back to the virtual flag.

    Naked Man Moleskin

    It was great to see Jingle Vader back at Rock City after his recon mission to The Skinny last week.  When we asked him what it was like, he said it was mostly hugging and talking about your feelings.

    This may have set the record in New Orleans for the least amount of moseying.  That wasn’t the original intention, but it worked out.  As I sit down to right this up, I am a little dismayed that it took the whole time to do that one COP.  I guess we will know later today or tomorrow if it was effective or not.

    It seems like there is an inverse relationship between running and #mumblechatter.  With almost no running this morning, #mumblechatter was rampant.  T-claps to Bogey and Amnesty for their ability to distract the Q with random questions about astrology and Q commands.  YHC was a little slow on recognizing their tactics.

     

  • Goodyear

    Gathered around Old Glory in the damned cold (47). Then after a lame disclaimer, off to The Thang.

    We first moseyed around until we came to the front of Tulane for a COP:
    30x IC SSH
    5 burpees
    20x IC lunges
    20x IC imperial walkers
    25x merkins
    25x plank jacks
    20x squats
    No one discerned a regular pattern, so we had to repeat–four more times. Moseyed to the corner of Calhoun for two sets of BLIMPS around the hill: 5 burpees at bottom, 10 lunges at top of the hill, 15 imperial walkers at side, 20 merkins at bottom, 25 plank jacks at top, 30 squats at side and back to start; repeat. After a fine countdown from 15 by Bad Moon, we moseyed to Wolf Mountain.

    Then moseyed to the top with a set of BLIMPS and another set of BLIMP without squats (one at each end of a floor). [Note to Qs: for BLIMPS on Wolf Pack Mountain, PAX can get in two sets if Q remembers to start with burpees at the start.]

    Short circle of mary with 32x IC LBCs, 24x IC Helly Dollys and 20x Russian Twists.

    Moseyed down the stairs and back to Old Glory, for Name-O-Rama, Announcements, Shout Out and Prayer, by which time it had warmed up one degree. But sky was clear, so we were in for a great day.

  • 9,600

    “In union, there is strength” – Aesop

    A chilly gloom this morning.  It was also my VQ at a Saturday City Park and final AO for the #cycleQ. Cowbell and YHC were worried no one would show up as we pulled in about 10 minutes early, but like clockwork with 5 min to spare, the PAX grew to 15 (16 to come later on).  I am not trying to push Ole Miss on the PAX, but Coach Hugh Freeze has a great way of motivating the team.  One of my favorite messages he pushes is “Do your absolute best, and give it your all so that your brother next to you can succeed.”  So in honor of this message, here goes the workout, but first:

    DISCLAIMER

    The Thang:

    Mosey towards the great lawn.

    COP #1 – IC: Plyo Warmup

    • 20 x Seal Jacks
    • 20 x Squat Jacks
    • 20 x SSH
    • 20 x Plank Jacks
    • 20 x Single Leg Iso Hops (Left x10 / Right x 10)

    Partner up and line up by side walk.

    Exercise #1 – OYO: Dora 1-2-3 (Part One)

    • Teams of 2 PAX working together to reach cumulative exercise goals. Pax 1 executes as many reps as possible while Pax 2 sprints to the 2nd set of light poles and back. Flapjack until team goal is reached.
    • Goals:
      • 100 reps: Burpees
      • 200 reps: Hello Dolly
      • 300 reps: Squats (PAX grew to 16 at this spot. #Tclaps to RY for getting the PAX to an even number and being my partner)

    Plank up and wait for the Six once each goal is complete.

    I believe Tool issued a decree about not having a Q under the age of 35 while doing the burpee set.  Hopefully that doesn’t pass…I like this too much!  Mosey to the Fountain by NOMA.

    Exercise #2 – OYO: Dora 1-2-3 (Part Deux)

    • Teams of 2 PAX working together to reach cumulative exercise goals. Pax 1 executes as many reps as possible while Pax 2 runs to steps and jumps up to the top and back. Flapjack until team goal is reached.
    • Goals:
      • 100 reps: Dips
      • 200 reps: Plank Punches
      • 300 reps: Step-Ups (150 reps each leg)

    Plank up and wait for the Six once each goal is complete.

    I think we got out of there with no bloody shins.  I wanted to make a stop for the #Foundry, but time went by too fast (Sorry Amnesty).

    Also, if you take the cumulative reps from each Dora set, each group of two performed 1,200 reps of exercises.  Multiply that by the eight groups and the PAX had a grand total of 9,600 reps performed this Gloom!  Mosey to the right by a grassy area for some yoga work.

    Exercise #3 – IC: Plié Stretch

    • PAX holds a Plié Stretch (low wide squat) and performs the following exercises:
      • 10 x wide arm claps
      • 10 x high arm claps
      • 10 x forward arm circles
      • 10 x backward arm circles

    Mosey back to the flag for Name-O-Rama, Shout-Outs, & Prayer.

  • Japanese Torture

    18 men in the gloom. A beautiful thing, and the weather was pleasantly cool.

    Mosey to bandstand down to the ledge by the pond to put on a show for the man standing and staring on the bandstand.

    Channing Tatum x15 in cadence (right leg step up)
    Tatum Channing x15 in cadnce (left leg step up)

    to the other side of the bandstand for a quick COP

    SSH x30 in cadence
    LBC twists x30 in cadence
    Merkins x15 in cadence

    Mosey to light post alley

    Sudden change

    Animals on parade from one light to the next
    Crab walk
    Frog hop
    SpiderMan crawl
    Bear crawl

    Quickest route mosey to the levee,
    Sudden change on the way

    At the levee

    The bear went over the mountain (bear crawl all the way up the levee, backwards bear crawl down the other side to the fence then backwards back up the backside of the levee, turn around and regular bear crawl all the way back to the bike path)

    Mosey down the path to the levee at The Fly

    Levee elevens
    Start ten knee slaps on the bottom then up for 1 Jack Webb…

    Recover

    Mosey to goal post

    Japanese torture
    Tabata protocol (20 sec 100%, 10 sec rest x8) – all burpees

    #tclaps to the Pax: no one splashed Merlot

     

    1 min to be back the flag – don’t be late! 

  • 610 Stomp #16

    As the QIC (Q In Charge), I selected the route for today’s stomp. Nine men, including one FNG, headed towards the bayou. We went a little further on this route this time. At Stomp #15 per my GPS watch, two blocks past Canal Street is 4.3 miles. We ran to Tulane Avenue this morning to make sure we got the 4.5 miles in, sans GPS watch. The normal routine was in effect, run 6 minutes and walk/burpee for 1 minute.

    Griswold, welcome to the Stomp. We look forward to seeing you at all Stomps in the future….

    The Pax pushed themselves and finished strong. We wrapped it up with a character building exercise…15 burpees OYO.

    Count Off, Namerama, Announcements, Shout Out, and we’re out.

  • Carrying your cross

    “I believe God puts adversity in our lives not to hold us back, but to push us forward.  Adversity forces us out of our comfort zone to make us better and stronger.” – Dr. Gene Orlowsky.

    8 men gathered for this downPAINment in the Gloom.  As the clock was approaching 530am, YHC thought we would have our “virtual” flag streak extend to three days, but Tool saves the day!  This was my VQ at this AO, and I was excited to get after it.  One of my favorite workout styles is cardio exercises while holding weight, and #RockCity is the perfect AO to incorporate this.

    DISCLAIMER

    The Thang:

    COP #1 – IC: Warmup

    • 15 x SSH
    • 10 x Good Mornings
    • 15 x Merkins

    PAX to the rock pile to select their friend for the next 30 minutes.  YHC stressed the importance of picking a smaller rock for this beatdown (about 5 – 10 lbs).  Once you grabbed a rock, you would not drop it until the end of the rock cardio circuit.  After everyone had a buddy, we were off with a quick mosey to a grass patch.

    COP #2 – IC:  Cardio Circuit – Part One

    • 20 x Rock Jacks
    • 20 x Rock Twist (10 each side)
    • 20 x Rock Marches

    Mosey for 2 minutes to another grass patch.

    COP #3 – IC:  Cardio Circuit – Part Two

    • 20 x High Knees….. w/ a rock
    • 30 x Rock Squat Reaches
    • 20 x Rock Lunge Jumps

    Mosey for another 2 minutes to another grass patch.

    COP #4 – IC:  Cardio Circuit – Part Three

    • 20 x Rock Hops
    • 20 x Rock Knee Curls (10 each leg)
    • 20 x Rock Shuffles

    Mosey across the trees to another well-lit grass patch.

    COP #5 – IC:  Cardio Circuit – Part Four

    • 20 x Side Lunges w/ Jumps (10 each leg)… and w/ the rock
    • 5 x Rock Chairs (Alt. Low Lunge Holds in between reps)
    • 11 x Rock Low Squats and perform various moves that YHC calls out will still squatting

    This marks the end of the rock cardio circuit.  A lot of #MidwifeNoises from the PAX after the 3-in-a-row Squat Jumps.  Mosey to the playground and partner up for some pull-ups.

    Set #1 – OYO: Pull ups & 6MOM

    • Partner #1 performs AMRAP pull-ups while Partner #2 preforms the following ab exercises each round:
      • 30 x LBC’s
      • 30 x Flutter Kicks
      • 30 x Hello Dolly

    Mosey back to the rock pile to drop off our friends… was it just me, or did your friend get heavier?  Then it was back to the flag.  The PAX killed this workout today!  YHC was not prepared to be around the flag with 10 minutes to spare, but after following Hawgcycle’s masterful backblast of “11 Habits of Partially Effective Qs”, I used Habit #8 to fill in the remaining time.

    COP #6 – OYO:  Plank-o-rama

    • High Plank, Right Arm Up, High Plank, Left Arm Up, High Plank, Low Plank, then 10 x Peter Parkers

    Still 5 minutes to spare… I’ve been wanting to add a little yoga to my beatdowns for a while, but #Tclaps to Amnesty for bringing it up today.  Perfect idea with 5 minutes to spare.

    COP #7 – OYO: Sun Salutations

    • Round One: Sun Salutation
    • Round Two: Sun Salutation – Runner’s Pose (Right) – Warrior #1 – Warrior #2 – Warrior #3 – then reverse order back to high plank.
    • Round Three: Runner’s Pose (Left) – Warrior #1 – Warrior #2 – Warrior #3 – then reverse order back to high plank.

    Finally! It was 615am. We finished with the Name-O-Rama, Shout-Outs, & Prayer (Courtesy of Bubba)

  • Museum tour

    A mild morning: nice day for a museum tour for JV’s first Saturday Q.
    To the great lawn (to pick up stragglers) for a short warm-up: 30x IC SSH, 29x IC Hill Billies, 15+15x IC arm circles. I think there was something else, but I can’t remember what it was.
    Mosey to the Lichtenstein pond in front of MOMA: 20x IC right-leg step-up, 20x IC incline merkin, 20x IC left-leg step-up, 20x IC decline merkin and 20x IC dips.
    Touring up and down the promenade: starting on the south side, run from lamp post to lamp post, with 1 squat jump at the first lamp post, then 2 at the second, then 3 … to 10 at the 10th lamp post. At a plank-up for the old Q, run back on the north side lamp post to lamp post, with 1 lunge at the first, then 2 at the second, then 3 … to 10 at 10th lamp post.
    Another set at the fountain: 20x IC incline merkin, 20x IC derkin and 6x IC ultra-slow dips (4 court down, 4 count hold, 4 count up).
    Repeat the promenade, but in declining order: 10 squat jumps at the first lamp, 9 at the second, … to 1 at the 10th; then switch sides to run back with 10 lunges at the first lamp, 9 at the second, … to 1 at the 10th.
    Slow mosey to the steps on right side of the museum to split into pairs: wheelbarrows up and down the stairs, while others wait in people’s chair. Then switch–Q plus 5 moseyed to the stairs on the other side to see the other metal work. But Q was unclear, so 4 stayed put, causing Q plus 5 to mosey back to the first set of stairs.
    Nothing to do but mosey back to the great lawn for a circle of mary: 25x IC LBC, 25x IC flutter kick, 25x IC dying cockroach, 25x IC hello dolly, 6x IC the REAL Dr. W (Side Effects: it’s 1 out, 2 close, 3 up, 4 open, 5 arms up and in, 6 arms out and down, 7 close, 8 down: no touching the ground). Sudden change for 15 burpees. Then close out with some plank work: on elbows for 3 minutes with 30 seconds or so up for left leg up and another 30 or so for right leg up (someone-Heisenberg?–was trying it with both legs up), then up on all fours for another 3 minutes or so.
    Finish out with a mosey to the virtual flag to close with a Prayer of Thanksgiving.

  • Black Friday Beatdown

    Five men gathered around the virtual shovel-flag, gave the Disclaimer and….one more joins us as we step off. Mosey straight to the Tulane sign for COP:
    -SSH x 30 IC
    -IW x 30 IC
    -Arm Circles x 30 IC (15 each direction)
    -Peter Parkers x 20 IC
    Mosey to the Wolfpack Mountain and Indian Run to the top.
    Time for some 11’s at the top most ramp. Run down and Merkins x 10 at the bottom of the ramp and LBCs x 1 at top of ramp. Continue until numbers reverse. TClaps to Rocky Top and Duille for lapping YHC…twice. Mosey down the mountain and head to the benches:
    -Left Leg Step Ups x 20 IC
    -Dips x 15 IC
    -Right Leg Step Ups x 20 IC
    Mosey to lawn in front of Touchdown Jesus for some Mary…
    -LBC x 20 IC
    -Hello Dolly x 20 IC
    -Flutter Kicks x 20 IC
    -J-Lo’s (fka Pickle Pounders) x 15 IC
    -Superman hold and rest x 3
    Mosey to the VSF

    Announcements, Shout Out and time for Coffee. Busy day for the pax so JV and YHC headed for some coffee and F2.

  • 11 Habits of Partially Effective Qs.

    Partially may be too strong of a word.

    15 residents and 2 prodigal sons gathered in perfect temperatures for this morning’s mystery Q.  The scheduled Q had to drop out so YHC and RY thought it would be appropriate to share the love and give some of the newer Pax a chance to Q, all the while proclaiming our sage wisdom to their eager ears.

    Habit 1:  Arrive to the AO 10 minutes early.

    Habit 1:  Grow an awesome mustache that commands respect

    Habit 2:  Don’t wear monkey feet

    Habit 3:  Watch out for bikes.

    Habit 4:  Always start with the disclaimer

    After explaining the importance of having different people Q and forgetting to state the disclaimer, we took off across Magazine  (taking slightly different paths) so we could warm-up within earshot of the tomatoes.

    Habit 4:  It’s important that you give the Pax clear direction.  We introduce each exercise with a standard set of three two part commands, e.g.  Command 1:  “Next exercise is (pause) The Side Straddle Hop!”…Command 2: “Ready position (pause) Move!”…Command 3: “In Cadence (pause) Exercise!” and then start the count.  Don’t forget the last command of “Exercise!.”  That is the one that ensures everyone starts together.

    Warm-up COP all IC:  SSH x 30; IW x 30; Merkins x 20; Plank Jacks x 30; Low-Slow Squats x 29; Peter Parkers x 24

    Habit 5:  If some jackass calls you into the COP to lead an exercise without any warning, then you should do some random number of said exercise so that he will be faced with how awful his memory is when he goes to write the backblast.

    From here we moseyed to the abandoned soccer goal and divided up into four groups, forming a diamond about 20 yards apart.

    Habit 6:  Design the workout so that no matter the fitness level, all men get smoked and no man gets left behind.  One way of doing this is for the Q and the fast guys to run ahead to the next location and plank or perform some sort of exercise while everyone catches up.  Another way is to include timed exercises where the pax does AMRAP (as many reps as possible).

    Rocket Man – AMRAP at each station for 30 seconds with a 10 second recovery as you rotate to the next station.  Peek-a-boo pull-ups, Squats, Merkins, Burpees, Rinse and Repeat.

    Habit 7:  Plagiarize.  If something works, steal it and use it the next time you Q.  There are hundreds of great exercises listed on the website.  Don’t feel pressured to be original.  By the way, thanks to Yuengling for Rocket Man.

    At this point YHC passed the Q off to Reluctant Yankee who had his heart set on driving his Chevy to the levee.  However, a train cut off our access to the levee so Yank made a sudden change to 6 MOM.

    Habit 8:  The best laid plans sometimes go awry.  Fewer pax may show up than expected, or more pax may show up, or a train may get in your way, or they may suddenly replace your favorite pull-up bars with some kind of twisted metal, post-modern sculpture with chains.  The point is you need to have some extra workouts in your back pocket (literally in your back pocket if you are using a weinke and wearing bike coach’s shorts) ready to use at a moments notice.

    Habit 9:  Remember that pace is important.  Standing around and not doing anything purposefully is a workout killer.  This is a corollary of Habit 8, or maybe vice versa.  I’m not really sure, but it probably doesn’t matter (Notice how obnoxious it is to ramble and not be purposeful, even in the backblast).

    Six Minutes of Mary all IC:  LBC x 25; Flutter Kick x 24; Rosalita x Veinticinco, LBT x 23; Russian Twist x 20

    At this time the train was gone so we followed Yankee to the levee

    Chevy to the Levee:  10 Burpees, 25 Mary Katherine’s at the top, 25 Parker Peters on the other side.  Run back to the beginning and repeat doing 10, 25, and 20 reps.

    Hit the rail road tracks for Wiley Coyote IC x 12

    Habit 10:  Never lead the pax into doing something illegal or highly dangerous

    Back to the park for some Tchoupitoulas Tchoo-Tchoo.  Pax in a line in plank as the man at the end bunny hops over everyone.  We made it through one rotation.

    Back to the flag for the COT.  Prayers for friends and family facing treatments and surgeries during the holidays.  Celebration of Amnesty’s grandmothers life.

    Habit 11:  There is probably never a good reason to quote John Cougar Mellencamp during the COT.  

    • T-claps to all the men that stepped up and led exercises today.
    • T-claps to Osha for channeling his inner Corps Commander.
    • T-claps to Heisenberg for being able to count to 3 in Spanish.
    • T-claps to the pax for being able to count to 25 in Spanish.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • 610 Stomp #15 – Bayou Boogaloo

    5 Burpee starved men met in the brisk City Park gloom hoping to earn their turkey and dressing this week.  There was some necessary needling of Amnesty for missing his Q yesterday.  YHC decided to stick with the new Moss Street route, extending it two blocks past Canal to get it closer to 4.5 miles.  After a quick disclaimer we we set off

    The Thang

    Run past the museum and out of the park.  Head Southish on Bayou St. John / Moss St.  Continue 2 blocks past Canal, then turn around and come back to the flag running along the other side of the Bayou.  All the while, stopping every 6 minutes to do one minute of burpees/recovery.  Once everyone gets back to the flag we seal the deal with 10 additional burpees.

    Naked Man Moleskin

    • In reality the route was about 4.3 miles.  I think we can stretch it out to Banks and make it 4.5.
    • Great job this morning.  I think everyone ran this route faster this week than last week.  Everyone was under the 10 min/mile pace.  Time to add more burpees?
    • For some reason Shorty and SFx decided it would be a good idea to try to fit in 15 burpees at each stop.  T-claps to them for getting in 100 burpees this morning.
    • The dew on the banks of the bayou is much thicker and wetter than other places.  #Science
    • The Ideal gas station near Parkway Bakery has gas for $1.53 #Corn

    Shout Out

    We prayed for those facing physical ailments and poor health during the holidays.