Category: Northshore

  • Same ole, same ole – from Waterpik

    It was the same ole, same ole this morning at the mandeville city hall scramble. But that’s the beauty of F3, it’s the consistency. Yes, some of the regulars were out, and yes, there have been some AOs where numbers are low, but it’s still good to get out there in the gloom and hit the streets of Old mandeville for our weekly 5K. Here’s to a strong close to the week, men!

  • And there were two… – from Hogs Breath

    So first as YHC headed toward grandmothers house, the entrance to the trailhead on Girod st. was being repaired….not to be deterred I skirted the block to enter on Lafitte st.
    When as I pull up, only Zoolander and myself were present. The mumble chatter went something akin

    “Do you have the q?”
    “No, do you?”

    Well in the absence of a Q, what would we do?
    Make our own of course! We decided to wait a few minutes with a warm-up to see if any others should show…

    Imperial walkers x 15
    Touch touches x10
    Hairy rockettes x 15
    And maybe some side straddle hops

    When we determined that no one else would show, we headed for a mosey to the lakefront and North on lakeshore to the pier wall and back. On the way we had some good mumble chatter of life, nicknames and reasons both of these make us sore…

    Returning to grandmas house with about 10 mins we did some Mary. Zoolander preformed a Mary exercise (Big boy sit-ups, crunchy frogs, flutter kicks, LBC, Obliques) while YHC would run to the top of the tower and preform a Burpee at the top, the run down and switch. We rounded the Mary out with a 40sec plank.

    Where two gather there will be pain!

  • Brood of Vipers – from Akbar

    4 braved the frigid 37 degrees this morning to start out their week right. We arrived to witness the leftovers of a Sunday birthday party, and the Marsh was trashier than usually this gloom. Waterpik said it best – “the best thing about having a birthday party here is you don’t have to clean up.”

    6am – YHC, Hammer, and Waterpik started out with warm ups consisting of Windmills , SSH, Torso Twist Imperial Walkers, and… Hogsbreath pulls up speeding in Cowbell-like fashion to join us for Hillbillies

    If you ever run out of ideas to Q, the Exicon (frequently perused by @Shooter) and other backblasts across the nation offer a wealth of pain. That was the case for YHC this weekend, spending way too much time reading what our brothers have been up to in the gloom. Also gives you ideas on new exercises you may not of heard of – like the Wojo Squat, Flock o Seagulls, or String Rippers.

    QIC settled on a modified Brood of Vipers, from F3 Greenwood

    Thang: Three round ladder, 5 sets, 3-4 exercises in each set, IC and OYO, recovery run in between rounds

    All exercises Copperhead Style

    Round 1 12 reps
    Round 2 10 reps
    Round 3 5 reps

    1. Negative Pull Up (12 count down), Supine Row
    2. Calf raises, Wojo Squat (slap the ground), Side Lunge
    3. LBC, Hello Dolly, Heels to Heaven
    4. Merkin, Irkin, Werkin
    5. Freak Nasty, Cobra Merkin

    Mary IC

    Flutter kicks, E2k x 20, Stone Mountains x10

    Count, Name, Hammer prayed us out.

    Moleskin

    Hogsbreath was rather witty this morning. When we got to the second round of Irkins, Hogsbreath said “you’re really Irkin me.” Also noting as the daylight started to set in, that “the brighter it got, the uglier you guys look.”

    The term “looks good on paper” came to mind after set 4 & 5 in round 1, when YHC realized doing 3 tempo Merkin exercises x12 followed by 2×12 triceps was difficult to say the least. But we pushed through.

    I got enough workouts from surfing backblasts for 5 weeks. 😉

  • First Ever Northshore F3/FiA Mixer – from Cowbell

    If you ask someone that rhymes with mushtacker when is the best time to post a back blast, he would probably say within 5 minutes of it ending. I, on the other hand, like some time, a week give or take, to reflect on what the workout meant to me and the pax.

    Just kidding, I’ve been busy, and enjoy making mushtacker wait to see in writing form what it is he did himself.

    25 pax met at the Covington trailhead for the first ever joint F3/FiA workout

    COP #1 Warm Up (all IC X20)
    SSH, Seal Jacks, IW, Arm Circles (F/B), Toe Touches, OH Arm Claps, Mtn climbers, Windmills

    The Thang
    Tabata Style (45 sec work, 25 sec rest) 6 stations

    Exercises included:
    Burpees
    Freak Nasties
    Chest press with block
    Bobby Hurley
    Big Boi Sit Ups
    J Lo’s

    Rinse and repeat

    COP #2 6MOM
    20 X Hello Dolly (Hey zoo)
    20 X LBC
    20 X Crunchy Frog

    COT: Count, Name (a lot of FNG’s), Jose Prayed us out

    We met at the Covington Tap Room for post work out beverages.

    All in all I think the first mixer was a success. looking forward to doing another one in the next month or so.

  • Springtime couponing at the A1c… – from Shooter

    YHC was looking forward to leading the A1c this week and seeing some guys from the Gipper crew. I had unfortunately (not) missed Akbars Wednesday Q, which I heard and read about as being quite intense with a block and high rep count. Ideas swirled my mind throughout the week and Sir Wacker resurrecting the Dice of Doom the previous day at the Scramble helped with finalizing what the A1c should and would expect on this mid 50s Gloom. Leaving the house a few mins early YHC stopped by the supply shed at the trailhead to scoop up 6 coupons. Arriving to the likes of Jose 10k and Backdraft atop the parking garage with Einstein arriving shortly after. As we chattered and started to get ready the PAX could see the ascending BBQ arriving right on time.

    Warmarama
    15IC Imperial walkers, Mummy kicks and SSH
    10IC Toe Touches, Good mornings, and Torso twists.

    Thang
    PAX instructed to grab a coupon out of the roomy Honda FIT mid section, which I know impressed a few as this was not to be expected coming out of YHCs clown car.. but hey as I like to say everything fits in the FIT..
    We assembled at the Southern end with coupons in tow and utilizing the Dice of Doom count block for our called rep count. Q rolled out the first 25 at which we completed Chest press and Freak Nasties followed by a mosey down the steps and back up the parking garage. Next roll 20 Military press and Squat thrusters R/R the Mosey. Third roll wouldn’t you know 15 Curls for the girls and Rows for the _____…….. R/R the Mosey. Passing the roll off to Jose he drops a 50 which the YHC could not have planned out had he tried. This time he completed 50 rep counts of all of the above finished by our Mosey.. 😢😢 With time to spare upon completion each PAX rolled both dice for the next series of work to complete while incorporating our coupon along the way. BBQ rolled 25 Merkins using the coupon as a tight military style. Einstein rolled 10 Burpees which we converted to Man Makers. Backdraft rolled 15 2xPutins which we included at 5s 15 LBCs with coupon. And to finish Q rolled his lucky number 50 jump squats which after 10 we included a squat thruster. Finished off with one more Mosey and then wrapped things up with our count, name and COT as BBQ took us out..

    Thanks for posting men and following my lead… Until the next Gloom 👍🏼👊🏼✌🏼!!!

  • We’ve Had Enough of Your Shenanigans, Shooter! – from Bushwacker

    Everything is relative. This morning’s 40° Felt like 35° to YHC, and 55° to Shooter. He was already off to a bad start.

    WARM UP (to 50°)

    IC x10: High Knees, Butt Kicks, Toe Touches, Imperial Walkers, Windmills, Torso Twists

    THANG

    The pack of 6 PAX ran the regular route together at slightly slower than a 9 minute pace. Great mumblechatter complete with contemplations and chuckles.

    MARY

    After another appropriately extended absence, the Dice of Doom emerged from the presumably dank and dark dungeon where they reside when not inflicting groaning terror, generally at the hands of Shooter. And so it went that after Pelican started us off with a roll of 20 Merkins, it was Shooter’s turn. Shooter, Dice of Doom, Scramble – only one possibility, 50 Burpees! Instantly tired of Shooter’s shenanigans, instead of passing the dice to Waterpik, we wrapped up with 100 100s and 50 LBCs.

    COT

    Pelican prayed us out. Thanks gents, Shooter, you’re out!

    #Shooter #The Pelican #Waterpik #Akbar #Zoolander

  • Oh I Bet! – from Russo

    If you’ve ever seen YHC at a beatdown, there are certain things you can bet money on:
    (1) There will be sweating. A lot of sweating. Shooter in a sauna sweating. Tanked up on mile 10 sweating. (Even money)
    (2) At some point the phrase “Yeah you right” will be uttered (2:1)
    (3) A deck of cards might find its way into the beatdown (5:1)

    If you had found a way to find a casino willing to take a three-bet parlay on those things happening at Granny’s this week, you would have made at LEAST $4.17.

    Pax of 4 this week to see what the cards had in store.

    Warmup (pretty much all IC)
    Seal jacks
    Toe touches
    High knees
    Arm circles
    Butt kicks
    Torso twists

    Thang before the thang

    Pax did a quick course YHC refers to as a “conveyor belt”: lunge walk to each column at granny’s, and drop to a burpee there. Up and around the pilot house, then lunge walk backward, hitting a burpee at each column on the way back as well.

    Thang
    It had been a few months since breaking out the stinky, dirty, stained deck YHC loves to use, so Pax did another deck of death (!!!), this time splitting into halves instead of fours

    1st half:
    Diamonds: Merkins
    Spades: jump squats
    Clubs: shoulder tabs (2 is 1)
    Hearts: Six inch drill (IC)

    Halftime: Almost as much fun as the puppy bowl is to the super bowl, a quick slalom mosey among granny’s columns, just to say we, ahem, “ran”.

    2nd half:
    Diamonds: Makhtar N’Diayes (which morphed into more merkins because exposed elbows and forearms don’t much enjoy smacking pavement repeatedly)
    Spades: Suicide squats
    Clubs: Freak Nastys
    Hearts: Leg Raises

    Having a little time left, Pax gave it a go for another mosey around the warehouse and past the stage.

    COT and Name-A-Rama closed us out. You can say it was, err, um, ahem: Aces!

    Thanks for joining me and we’ll do it all again soon.

    SYITG

  • Building Blocks – from Akbar

    Pax Grover, Maverick, Bruno, BBQ, Bean, Barely Legal, Moho, Fletch, Turbo, Moby Dick, Cowbell, Maverick, Tarheel, Akbar

    14 strong at the Gipper on a chilly morn in the gloom. Actually, it felt more like 24 degrees after a few days near 80. What a great morning for a block party!

    WU SSH IC x 15

    Torso Twist, Self-Love, Grass Grabbers, Butt Kicks IC x 10

    Thang

    7 block exercises, complete 10 reps, .2m run to Beck and Call and back

    Rinse and repeat, adding 1 rep per exercise for each round

    Manmakers

    Block Curls

    Block Squat

    Bicycle Block Press

    Kettle Block Swing

    Triceps Block extensions

    WW1 Situps

    My count had Turbo in the lead with 17, all in all a brutal beatdown where most finished 5-7 rounds. Might need Bean to check my math, but that’s 531 to 756 reps per man in a 35 minute time span.

    Mary IC x 12

    Hello Dolly, Heels to Heaven, Hands to Heals, Flutter Kicks, Leg Raises, LBC, Crunchy Frogs for Cowbell

    Count, Name-o-rama, quick shout out to the Unitards RCR win

    QIC prayed us out

    Well done guys, thanks for letting me lead

    SYITG – Akbar

    Naked Man Moleskin

    It was great to have Bruno back with us again, and T-Claps for him coming out every time he’s in town – even if BBQ makes him

    Great to have Moho back as well after learning last week that us old guys should probably not sprint, at least until we stretch for 15 minutes.

    It’s always a crapshoot when picking out blocks at the Gipper, could get a 28 or 35 pounder. But those blocks were definitely waterlogged today!

    As Cowbell noted on GroupMe – it did feel good to have the blocks out after all that running in Feb.

  • This is what happens when you don’t sign up to Q – from Amnesia

    Pre-Thang: Some of the PAX ran the 2 mile Pre-Thang to get those miles in for RCR.

    Warm-O-Rama: 25 SSH, 25 Imperial Walkers, 20 mountain climbers – we needed some warming as the temps were still below freezing.

    The Thang: YHC had signed up planning to run the whole time, as Run Cajun Run was still ongoing. After warning from some PAX as to the running abilities of other PAX, YHC had to adapt. So adapt we did! We ran to the beach, with random stops for 5 burpees OYO.

    Then we came back and completed Dora at Marigny Avenue. You know the drill: 100 merkins, 200 big boi sit-ups, and 300 squats cumulative – one partner runs while the other completes the exercises.

    I don’t blame Jose 10k…at this point he said “screw it” and left the workout to get pure running in. Which was my intent anyway.

    Next was BLIMPS…5 burpees at the shovel flag, then run a block and complete 10 lunges…continue with 15 Imperial Walkers, 20 merkins, 25 plank jacks, and 30 squats. I had the leaders complete SPMILB on their way back to the shovel flag.

    Mary: After running back to the flag, we had barely enough time for 20 each of leg lifts and hello dolly’s.

    Name-O-Rama and COT concluded the beatdown and then YHC had to skip coffeeteria as a drive to Dallas was planned for that afternoon!!

  • Boom-Shaka-Laka! And Then There Was Chainsaw! – from The Hammer

    As YHC has/am learning, a large part of being a parent is nothing more than a glorified chauffeur/ATM. If you are Pickaxe’s dad, you can add scribe into the mix. An excuse to get in my cave and crack some AC/DC while I write. So all good!

    Pickaxe has been itching to Q again since his initial Q the day after Christmas. With a dearth of Northshore PAX donating their talent to the Lakefront beatdown, no better time than the present. So off we go…

    Warm-o-Rama

    Windmills
    Waybacks (Toe Touches w/ extra stretch at end)
    IW
    SSH

    This 9 year old drill sergeant made us bear crawl towards Noah’s Ark. Along the way, he planted several Easter Eggs with exercises or candy in them. As we approached them, he had members of the PAX open and read them. On our journey to the Ark, we did:

    Jump Squats x 15
    8 count Bodybuilders x 10
    Luigis x 10 (This is a PIckaxe original spawned from a Mario video game wherein a short, fat Italian plumber falls down, does some movement only possible through coding, and arrives in an erect posture. In practice, it must be modified from its video precision, and basically looks like a burpee where you turn over on your back before you jump up.)

    For the second half of our journey to Noah’s, we karaoked. Once at the Ark, our leader had us partner up for the following:

    Burpees x 120
    Freak Nasties x 240
    Crunchy Frogs x 360 (We missed you, Cowbell!)

    Cumulative, done by one while the other partner ran around the Ark.
    As an aside, the human body is not designed to do 360 Crunchy Frogs. Just an aside.

    On the mosey back, Pickaxe saved the most brutal Easter Egg for last. Another Pickaxe original that he made up one night as his father begged him not to! Boom-Shaka-Lakas! What is that you ask? It is a “different” kind of cadence exercise. While Pickaxe said “Boom-Shaka-Laka, Shaka-Laka, Shaka-Laka, Shaka-Laka, Boom…”

    Now, we started doing Merkins, then when he said Boom, we turned over into a crab-walk like position to do what can only be described as elevated Wife Pleasers (Hip Thrusters according to Pickaxe ;). Nonstop. 20 of them. There was almost Mutiny on the Bounty. Had our Q been old enough to see a PG-13 movie, there almost certainly would have been! However, his leadership and willingess to push all us old dudes is actually inspiring (if YHC does say so himself.)

    Back at the flag, we did some Mary, ran to the Gazebo and back, Name-o-Rama, COT. We had one FNG, Pickaxe’s younger brother, who happened to turn 7 on this day. He wanted to come out to F3 to support Pickaxe. His older brother gave him a ridiculously awesome name that he made his dad call him the rest of the day.

    As Pickaxe shared, his brother once cut his foot on a chainsaw…so welcome, Chainsaw! It was a special day for both Pickaxe and Chainsaw. Shooter bequeathed the Freedom Hammer to Pickaxe’s care for the time being, and the PAX sang Chainsaw Happy Birthday. Be it known that later that day, Chainsaw and his friends “played F3”, with Chainsaw as Q.

    Thank you to all for allowing yourselves to be led by a 9 year old, and for making a 7 year old’s birthday so special. Their dad just might be proud of them.