Pre-Thang: 4 PAX arrived at 6:00 for a pre-thang run. Crab Legs, Da Parish, Rudy and Tool enjoyed a 2.5 mile run around the Big Lake and the Lagoon in early morning. Da Parish then departed to be with his friend in time of need. Godspeed, Da Parish.
The PAX gathered around the VSF as the clock ticked towards 6:30. At 6:29, Tool asks Quick Draw what’s in store for the PAX. Alas, Quick Draw responded with a blank stare and a “What, Who Me?” look. So the PAX together decide on the most fearsome type of morning workout: the rotating Q.
Rudy: First up, for the warm up, Rudy leads PAX over to the great lawn.
SSH x30
IW x30
Smurf Jacks x20
Peter Parker x30
Smurf Jacks x15
Plank Jacks x30
Smurf Jacks x10
Parker Peter x40
Smurf Jacks x10
Quads are now feeling nice and warmed up.
Walleye: Walleye jumps up, making some comment about how Rudy must be feeling angry. So how about some Dora? Partner up. 1 PAX exercise, other PAX sprint across the lawn and back. Flapjack.
Merkin x100
Squat x200
LBC x300
Bogey: Bogey decides to stop singing for a while and toss out a new preposterous exercise – something like a 4-corner-ladder-8-count-body-builder on the great lawn. YHC hopes this one does not make a return appearance.
5 8-county-body-builders in corner 1. Run to corner 2.
10 8CBB in corner 2. Run to corner 3.
15 8CBB in corner 3. Run to corner 4.
20 8CBB in corner 4. Run back to corner 1.
Plank and wait for YHC….
Water break time…
Douille: Mosey to the NOMA fountain
Tatum Channing x25
Dips x20
Channing Tatum x25
Derkins x15
Quick Draw: Over to the lawn for some Mary (and some ants)
V-up and hold
Flutter Kicks
Something else
Tool: Mosey back to the great lawn for planks (high, left arm, reverse, right arm, high). Then mosey back to the VSF for announcements (no CSAUPs on the schedule – we’ll have to get something organized soon!) and naming of our FNG – thanks for EH’ing him, Cupcake! Bogey took us home with our prayer.
QIC filling in for Bogey today as he took the Q for me 2 weeks ago. I rolled in just in the nick of time, right at 5:30. I caught up with HVAC as he was finishing his usual pre-workout warm-up laps around Pontiff Park. A quick disclaimer and off we go.
I was immediately scolded by Triple Shift and Kim Chi for running too far for the warm-up COP and breaking the usual Uptowner routine. You live and learn, or I guess I live and learn. Better luck next time.
Warm-up COP:
SSH x20 IC
Peter Parkers x20 IC
Hill-billies x20 IC
Parker Peters x20 IC
Arm Circles x20 (10 forward, 10 backward)
J-Lo’s x20 IC
We moseyed over to a line of trees spaced 20 yards apart for some BLIMPS. I stole this one from Rudy, since I enjoyed it so much last time.
5 Burpees. Run to the next tree.
10 Lunges each leg. Run to the next tree.
15 Imperial Walkers. Run to the next tree.
20 Merkins. Run to the next tree.
25 Plank Jacks. Run to the next tree.
30 Squats. Run to the next tree.
Plank and wait for the PAX to finish.
Next we went to the baseball diamond for the Bearmuda Diamond. A variation of the Bearmuda Triangle, except 4 points instead of 3. Get it??? Very crafty.
Round 1: bear crawl the bases.
1st base: 1 burpee
2nd base: 2 burpees
3rd base: 3 burpees
Home plate: 4 burpees
Round 2: bear crawl the bases.
1st base: 2 merkins
2nd base: 4 merkins
3rd base: 6 merkins
Home plate: 8 merkins
We stayed put for the next exercise, where the name for our work-out was coined.
QIC: “The next exercise is a new one, called Aiken Legs.”
Triple Shift: “Like Clay Aiken legs?”
QIC: “Or maybe Achin Legs?”
Triple Shift: “Bacon legs? Like wobbly legs?”
Frac Sac: “Bacon and Legs?”
And there you have it.
4 exercises, no breaks in between. 2 rounds.
20 Squats
20 Step-ups (10 left, 10 right)
20 Lunges (10 each leg)
20 Split Jacks (10 each leg forward)
We went to the baseball outfield for some Mary.
LBC’s x20
Leg lifts x20
Dying cockroach x20
Flutter kicks x20
Hello Dolly x20
American Hammer x20
A slow mosey back to the tree line for another round of BLIMPS.
5 Burpees. Run to the next tree.
10 Lunges each leg. Run to the next tree.
15 Imperial Walkers. Run to the next tree.
20 Merkins. Run to the next tree.
25 Plank Jacks. Run to the next tree.
30 Squats. Run to the next tree.
Run back to the flag for 2 minutes of planks.
30 sec both hands
30 sec left hand up
30 sec right hand up
30 sec both hands
10 sec Mission Impossible
Utterly spent, I threw in the towel. Number off, Name-o-rama, intentions and a prayer. Thanks for letting me lead. A happy and safe weekend to all!
This 2 part workout will last about a month. Today’s beat down would be very basic. OYO, swim for 40 minutes. Keep a good count of your laps. This is your goal to beat next month. I propose that the last Plunge of the month be a stride for improvement.
Da Parish – 1800 yards, 36 laps
Maverick – 1600 yards, 32 laps
Moleskin – our contact at UNO will no longer be opening the pool at 5:30. The new keeper of the keys is not likely to arrive before 6. The sign in process is still the same for now. It is possible that someone may be opening earlier, but not likely. Also, due to school starting, the indoor pool will not be available. I suggest possibly doing a pre-thang from 5:30-6, or pushing the entire AO to 6-6:45 .
“Keep the Dream Alive” seems like a fitting slogan for F3. The dream may be our athletic prowess, our aging bodies, another 100 burpee work-out (no thanks, Hawg), or the hopes to run the Gnarly Nutria faster than Ringer and Barcrawl. But in this case, the slogan was on Out For Justice’s t-shirt: hitting the snooze button on the alarm clock to literally keep the dream alive. Check out the pic on the Group Me app. Here’s to all the men that beat the Wednesday Fartsack to make it out in the gloom and keep the dream alive. A quick disclaimer and off we go.
The Thang
Warm-up:
SSH x20 IC
IW x20 IC
Windmills x20 IC
Peter Parker’s x20 IC
Plank Jacks x20 IC
Arm Circles x20 (10 forward, 10 backward) IC
We took a short jog over to the Baby Foundry for a 5-station circuit for 5 men. Had to include pull-ups for Amnesty.
Round 1:
10 burpees for the count
Pull-ups
Dips
Body rows
Knee Ups
Round 2:
20 merkins for the count
Pull-ups
Dips
Body rows
Knee Ups
Next, Indian Run to the fountain in front of NOMA.
Left leg step-ups x20
Dips x20
Right leg step-ups x20
Stay put for some 11’s up the steps at NOMA
Merkins at the bottom (1-10)
Bear crawl up the steps
Squats at the top (10-1)
Run back down
The bear crawl up the steps proved to be more painful than anticipated. But with some blood, sweat, and tears… and grunts… we managed to get it done. Next we mosey back down Roosevelt Mall, stopping along the way for 2 minutes of Mary.
LBC’s x20
Flutter kicks x20
Hello Dolly x20
Finish strong with a run to the flag. Count off, Name-o-rama, and a prayer of thanks. Thanks OFJ for keeping my dream alive!
I saw Nip/Tuck had the Q this morning at the Birdcage. Knowing that he is currently incapacitated, I nobly tucked my long-sleeve Perlis shirt into my searsucker shorts, grabbed a braided belt, slid my bare feet into a pair of loafers and headed Uptown. Someone needed to step up and Q the workout and this provided a perfect time to reconnect with my Uptown friends and talk about the good times we had last Wednesday night at the Gnarly Nutria.
Upon my arrival there were lots of rumors and innuendo regarding Nip/Tuck’s unfortunate fall on the very dark and lonely part of the Audubon Park Loop when Cowbell was the only person near him. Let me repeat that it was only coincidence that Nip/Tuck won the Gnarly Nutria last year and suffered an unfortunate injury this year. Having said that, Barcrawl should probably stay home next year.
The Thang
The Birdcage and Burpees have a long history. This is where Mr. Awesome famously started a workout on April 1st telling the Pax that they were going to do 100 burpees. They actually only did 25 at the time, but ended up completing 100 over the course of the workout. It’s also where Bounty Hunter brought us his #SuddenChange workout from North Carolina, a scourge that has infested Louisiana similar to other nasty imports like Formosan Termites and Nutria. Lastly it is where OBT did a redux of his “Shock and Awe” burpee slaughter starter at the GrowRuck weekend convergence.
My hope was to continue the tradition by starting the workout with 100 burpees. It’s no fun to do 100 burpees on your own, so we split them into manageable chunks and did them together (there is a life lesson there).
Warmup:
20 Burpees OYO
IW x 25; Windmills x 10; Good Mornings x 10
Burpees EMOM for 6 minutes. Sets were 12, 12, 12, 12, 10, 10 – That made for 360 seconds worth of burpees, but as everyone Uptown knows – 360 is not enough. We needed to do more.
Parker Peter x 25; Plank Jacks x 25; Peter Parker x 30 (This is the plank series made World Famous by Bubba and Rudy. I hate it.)
12 Burpees OYO – That makes 100 total. I have a math degree from Arkansas State.
We took an extremely short mosey (insert joke about Uptowners not liking to travel far here) and circled up to do some work using the World’s three favorite digits: 3-6-3.
All exercises started with 3 super slow reps, 4 count going down, 4 count going back up, 4 count going down again and then holding that position until I called it. Then we did 6 normal cadence reps, followed by 3 more super slow reps. We did one set of this with each of the following exercises:
Merkins
Squats
Wide Merkins
Plie Squats (A Shorty favorite)
Diamond Merkins
Sissy Squats – stand on toes, cross arms over chest and squat as you lean back as far as you can. This is the first time I had ever done this exercise and it is a burner. I like it. I promise I did not pick it out based on the name. There is nothing sissy about The Birdcage. The Skinny however….
Next I had to modify. Seems like all of the road construction uptown over the past 10 years has finally made it to the park. I wanted to incorporate the bandstand into Dora 1-2-3, but it was sealed off so we used the picnic tables under the pavilion instead.
Dora 363 – one partner performs the exercise while the other runs a short loop (another spot for a staying close to home joke) jumping over two picnic tables and returning to their partner. Each team worked to complete the following reps:
LBCs – 363
Frog Squats – 242 (These are like Monkey Humpers without the humiliation of grabbing your ankles)
Merkins – 121 (Frog Squats + Merkins = 363…Yet another instance where my Math Degree from Arkansas State has proved invaluable.
We were about 30 seconds from wrapping up the workout when G-Spot and El Wire bailed sending some finger gestures my way and telling me where I could go. Seaman assured me that I should not be offended and that this is a type of Uptown salute that I myself should provide to people when I leave. After that we sprinted to the flag where Jadaveon re-enacted the scene from the Gnarly Nutria where he sprinted by me and gave me the Usain Bolt stare down.
We wrapped up with an explanation of F3 for our FNG, naming the FNG Pony Boy for absolutely no reason at all, an announcement about the Power Mile this Saturday, thanks to God, and prayers for a speedy and healthy recovery for Nip/Tuck.
Moleskin
T-claps to all of the guys Uptown. They are good sports and they put up with my excessive obnoxiousness. In all seriousness, what happened to Nip/Tuck last week sucks and we all hope for his speedy and healthy recovery. Not only do we miss him, but he makes everyone of us better. Thanks for the opportunity to Q today, it was fun.
This concluded our two week celebration the 610 Stomp Centennial Celebration. The Inaugural Stomp went down on August 18th, 2015. Four men attended that first Stomp and we can proudly say that we have seen the Pax increase a whopping 50% in the past two years as the attendance was 6 this morning.
The original idea was to celebrate the Stomp by running the old route – up Marconi, across Filmore, back down Wisner and into the park past Pan Am Stadium. Tool did some reconnaissance and found that the construction of the new overpass makes the route difficult, but still passable. In the end, I decided to retire the old route for good. It’s just not a very safe route (remember the silver 4 runner going 80 – not sure what the make and model was as it was always going 80 when it past me on Filmore). There is a lot of running on or near the road, it’s dark, and at times you have to run with traffic.
In memoriam of Cheech’s death during an F3 Lexington run, we went sleeveless and I used the disclaimer to preach running safety. I went long on the disclaimer, but I thought it was important. Some good tips I stole from someone else:
Ditch the badass black F3 shirt and wear something bright
Wear reflective bands or lights to make yourself more visible
Run against traffic and stay on sidewalks or grass if possible.
Run with a group – leave no man behind.
Bring your cellphone.
Get an ID bracelet or carry emergency contact info.
The Thang
The 610 Stomp was originally created to prepare for a Spartan race. The idea was to jog for 6 minutes and then take one minute to do 10 burpees and catch your breath. Then repeat until the 45 minutes are up and you are standing back at the flag. The 6-10 Stomp. The 6-10 part has been modified to mean different things. If doing burpees, the Pax usually picks their own number to do. Sometimes we run for 30 seconds in lieu of burpees (a SFx special). Sometimes we do something totally different, but today, we were going to get back to the original intention, with one caveat. Since Side Effects famously got our numbering system of track by making us repeat 610 Stomp #18, the Pax was instructed to do 18 burpees during 2 of the breaks – you could choose when, but extra points if you did them on back to back breaks.
YHC hung with Shorty and we went too far. We did complete the 86 burpees on the route. When we got back (6 or 7 minutes late – #Cobains) everyone had to bail except Stubhub. We sealed the deal with 15 more burpees bringing us to a grand total of 101 for the 101st running of the Stomp. T-claps to Stubhub who makes his own rules and sealed the deal with 16 burpees.
Moleskin
Thanks to those that came out to celebrate today. Cobains for getting back so late. We had some great representation today. I went back into the historical records and found that Tool was there with me for the very first Stomp. Shorty showed up for the second one (he was an FNG at RockCity the day before). Fracsac shows up in the Backblasts at Stomp #56, although I’m not sure that is his first. Stubhubb debuted at Stomp #96 and Roots grabbed his passport and posted for the first time at Stomp #101. T-claps to all.
“Monday is the perfect day to correct last week’s mistakes.” -author unknown
YHC missed last Monday’s workout so it was time to man up and post. Several other PAX opted to beat the fartsack as well making for a total of 8 men. Exchanged the usual pleasantries, then the disclaimer, then down to business with a goal of keeping the PAX in constant motion and trying to deliver a respectable beatdown. Here’s what we did:
Burpees x10 …just to make sure everyone was awake
Mosey to the usual warm-up area
Burpess x10
Windmill x20
Arm Circle x30 (10ea Forward, Backward, Chinook)
IPW x20
Low Country Crab x20
Grab a rock of the Med-Med/Lg variety and circle up for a quick COP:
Re-position in the second baseball field for another chance to become one with your rock. The PAX lined up 10ft apart and about 15yds from the parking bumpers. This would be a round of 11’s to include:
Curls at starting point (starting with 10 down to 1)
Backwards Bear Crawl to parking bumper
Derkin w/feet on parking bumper (from 1-10)
Bear Crawl Back
This proved to be brutal, with plenty of grunts, groans, and perspiration. At some point the PAX heard “…well we didn’t come here to play bridge this morning” which couldn’t have been more true. Many PAX modified/supplemented the bear crawls and crawl bears with lunge walk or other. T-claps to Hawg and Rudy for pushing hard and completing in full.
Next up a quick recovery mosey to the water fountain and back.
Line up in same spot and partner up. Partner 1 knocks out shoulder presses while partner 2 crab walks backward to parking bumper and crab walk (forward) back as the timer. We knocked out two rounds of these.
Grab your rock and curl as the PAX walked back to the rock pile. Then a mosey to the flag with a 90 seconds left for Plankorama.
Announcements included an upcoming fundraiser that Babyface is involved with for an youth mentoring organization called Next Generation. Details at NextGenclubs.com/banquet.
Finished up with a shout out the the Sky Q and prayed for those in battling health issues and those in need of prayer.
Thanks for letting me lead and helping me get back on the Monday routine.
What time is it? SHOW TIME! YHC had pondered a workout based around Hamilton, ever since his 2.0 introduced the soundtrack to him a year ago. Finally – the time had come. I pity the PAX – what could improve the heat and humidity of a summer NOLA morning besides the glorious sounds of show tunes reverberating through the air? Who wouldn’t want to start their day with a little singing and dancing?
Start with a disclaimer, and fair warning to the PAX that this workout might be messy. Then we mosey to the Great Lawn.
Alexander Hamilton: Open the day with the intro to Hamilton and spelling it all out. First challenge of the workout – YHC’s speaker was not nearly loud enough. This will be corrected for the next show tunes workout.
Outlaw (new to NOLA pax – legs together, draw a big O) x10 each direction
Nolan Ryan x10 each side
Aaron Burr, Sir: 2:36 duration. What else starts with “Burr”? Why Burr-pees of course. OYO, Burpees for the duration of the song. Go. “What time is it? SHOW TIME!”
At this point, YHC encountered an unexpected challenge. Mud, grass and dew from the burpees made accessing and controlling the phone darn near impossible. Moments of panic – “What now? How will I play my sing-along songs for everyone?” But in my moment of deepest and darkest despair, my phone suddenly began responding to my frantic gestures. Whew, crisis averted.
Non Stop: Alexander Hamilton, famous for non-stop work (check his Federalist Papers work). Pax to replicate with non-stop activity for the 6:30 duration.
Suicides out-and-back to the first 3 palm trees
Peter Parker x10, Plank Jack x10, Parker Peter x10
Pax 1: Bear Crawl to the 2nd Palm. Crawl Bear back.
Pax 2: Lunges (go deep!)
Flapjack
Repeat with Crab Walk out, Walk Crab back.
Repeat with Duck Walk out, Walk Duck back.
Note: YHC had never tried Walk Duck before. It kinda sucks. In a good way.
Mosey to the Baby Foundry for the Revolutionary War re-enactment.
Guns and Ships and Yorktown: On morning reconnaissance run, YHC saw a collection of wooden pallets next to baby foundry. Perfect. On arrival at the foundry, send PAX over to collect 5 of them. PAX will use this time to work on their own Guns.
Pull Ups x5
Pallet Curls x10 (There was quite a difference in weight between the Oak and Pine pallets…)
Mericans x15
Rinse and Repeat. OYO. Until the 2 songs end (6:30)
Return the pallets
Mosey to the corner wall by the sculpture garden
Cabinet Battle #1: Partner up for the battle between Jefferson and Hamilton over the role of the federal treasury.
Pax 1 (Jefferson): Plank
Pax 2 (Hamilton): Feet on the butt of Jefferson, Dips x15
Flapjack. Repeat. Until Washington takes Jefferson aside to tell him to either get the votes, or lose his job.
NOTE: Next time, YHC will look for a partner a wee bit smaller than Quick Draw.
Mosey back to the Great Lawn. We have time for one more exercise. DaParish gets to choose which song. He goes with:
Election of 1800: Squats x18, Lunge x18, Squat Jumps x18. Repeat for the 4:00 duration of the song. (Alternative was My Shot with the Okwata “Two shots at the Bar” jack webbs. Next time…. And we never got to the Duel either!)
With that, our hour reprise of Hamilton, The Musical is done. Mosey back to the flags for count-off (19 PAX, alas one early departure by Hawg), name-o-rama and naming our FNG (welcome to F3 Gilligan!) followed by announcements
Triathalon coming up – talk to DaParish if interested
Training towards Rock and Roll Marathon in February – talk to Rudy if interested
Several intentions, including those who are sick (Maverick’s uncle, FracSac’s dad, Rudy’s friend’s daughter). As always, I am extremely grateful for the friendships I have made with my fellow F3 brothers. I hope to use the inspiration they offer me as an example to help me lead a life that may offer inspiration to others.
10 of us settled in at Morning Call for coffee and camaraderie. Lots of great ideas about how to continue spreading the mission of F3 through several different venues in the NOLA area. Here’s looking at you, Jadaveon!
Thank you for letting me lead, and thank you for humoring me in my attempts to try something different with my Qs. I hope you enjoyed it – even if your enjoyment came from heckling and mocking your Q. Offer your suggestions for show-tunes workouts in the comments. I know DaParish wants to see Wicked…
Eleven Pax gathered early Friday morning with mumblechatter rehashing the Gnarly Nutria and what coulda, shoulda, woulda been… The “world” won! What’s done is done. Time to move forward and get stronger for next time. What better place to do so than the center of the universe– Wolfpack Mountain! After the disclaimer we were off at 05:30.
The Thang: Mosey up the avenue and back down to Touchdown Jesus(the replica, as Rudy reminded us) for the warmup. Forward arm circles standing on the left foot, Forward arm circles on right foot, SSH, Mtn Climber, Imp. Walker, Plank Jack, Hillbilly, Plank Walk x 20 IC.
Mosey to WPM. Lunge the first ramp, then OYO to the 6th level with stops at the church side for 20 squats and stops at LU side for 25 LBC’s. Plank and wait for the six. T- Claps to Mariah for leading the early arrivals in some Mary while we gathered up the six, some of which YHC might have confused. There’s a rumor they were lunging all the way up… Cobains.
Once we regrouped we were faced with the last and steepest ramp. Not a better place in the universe for Bearpees. Hardcore Okwatans may disagree. Each pax was to make their way to the top via the Bearpee– a four count bear crawl followed by one burpee, increasing each rep 4:1 and finishing w a 40 count bear crawl and 10 burpees. Pretty sure there was plenty of hate for the Q at this point. T Claps to the pax for getting it done. It sucked… At the top we did a little Mary– R. Twist, Real Freddie, Dying Roach x 20 IC.
With 5 minutes to go, we hit the stairs and moseyed toward the flag. Yankee mentioned how shocked he was that we didn’t stop at the benches for dips and it might be a Roots first. Not wanting to disappoint, we detoured to the fountain benches near the flag for a quick 25 dips IC for the win!
COT w shout out by YHC
T Claps to Mariah for making all three uptown workouts this week while visiting from Charlotte.
The Pax completed a total of 605 Burpees which YHC will donate to Cadre Danny’s million burpee challenge. T Claps
“Well done is better than well said.” – Benjamin Franklin
It is easy to talk about what you want, but the hard part is putting those words into action. You may say that this problem could be resolved with stronger self-discipline…but even that is limited. Sometime you may be tired, sometimes you may make excuses….and your actions fall short of what you actual want. The real key is to have someone hold you accountable for your words, which will lead you to your desired action. That’s where F3 comes in. It is a great tool to develop relationships (2nd F) to help you take more action and become a HIM. #lexicon
Let’s get to it… 5 men of NOLA gathered in the gloom to get stronger. So let’s begin…but first…
DISCLAIMER
The Thang
COP#1, and only: The beatdown (since we are acting like Uptown)
20x LS Squats IC
10x Arm Circles IC (while holding a squat)
15x Tap Dancers IC
15x Mountain Climber Stretch IC
Enough for now, go grab a small rock.
20x Rock Jacks IC
20x Rock Marches IC
30x Squat Reaches IC
Recover with a Bear Crawl about 30-40 yards
Repeat that one more time, but do 10 reps this time.
8x Balance Pistol Squat IC (Right, then Left)
10x Balance Rock/Leg Curls IC (Right, then Left)
Repeat that one more time.
10MOM:
15x Putins IC
15x Hello Dolly w/ Leg Lift IC (preparation for the Doctor)
10x Penguins IC
15x Heel Taps IC
10x R. Leg Curl/Lift IC
10x L. Leg Curl/Lift IC
8x Dr. Ws IC (there he is!)
Done. Circle up for the COT, where we held the Countoff, Nameorama, and Prayer (for the injured…get better Josiah!)
Moleskin
Great work by the Pax today! Tclaps to StubHub for posting & pushing through his injury!
Tclaps to Hawg for keeping me accountable on the Snooze Formula!
