F3 New Orleans

Category: Northshore

  • Akbar turns 50

    YHC was excited about sharing a beatdown to celebrate my 50th year on planet Earth, arriving 20 minutes early to plant the shovel flag at the Unit. Sneakily tiptoeing around the pre-thang crew so that they wouldn’t notice, I got back and arrived on a chilly morning just as the sun started to rise on the lake. 

    Today, or rather tomorrow, RESPECT would be given and observed – since YHC’s birthday was on Sunday the 20th, instead of the 19th. But we would celebrate the number 50 for an hour and have a good time. 

    Warm Up  (5×10=50)  Except we actually did 51 as the QIC had an early senior moment and hit 11 IC for the Grass Grabbers

    X10 IC SSH, Grass Grabbers, Torso Twist, Self Love, IWalker 

    Mosey to the unit, circle up for further instructions

    Thang: Grant’s Tomb

    Ulysses S. Grant was our 18th President of the US, and his mug adorns our $50 bill, so we would continue to celebrate “50”  with 50 reps and a 50 yard mosey for 8 sets of pain.  

    What looks good on paper sometimes does not translate in real life, as was the case today. This routine was hard. I knew I was in trouble when I looked over and saw @zoolander taking a break before finishing up Irish Jackass’s. The good news – we got a really strong shoulder workout. 

    1. George Thorogood’s*, Bear Crawl, Tuck Jumps
    2. Freak Nasty, Sprint, Superman Lat Raise
    3. Peter Parker Row*, Crab Walk, Irish Jackass*
    4. Stone Mountain, Sprint, Squat Walk*
    5. WW2 Squat Jump, Long Skip, Hallelujah High Knees
    6. Merkin  Jacks, Murder Bunny, Tae Bo Squat *
    7. Big Boi Situps, Sprint, Good Mornings
    8. Irkin, Sprint, Apollo Ohno’s

    *** Al Gore single leg calf raise; Merkin w/ pushoff Donkey Kick; Squat Hold with 2 steps back and 2 steps forward, Deep Squat with left and righthand cross (aka Billy Blanks)

    Mosey to the Gazebo

    Continuing on our celebration of 50, we did Tabata with 35s for exercise 1 and 15s for exercise 2. Our esteemed math teacher @jose10k quickly pointed out that 35 + 15 does not equal 60 seconds. YHC pointed out the theme again, and that 35 + 15 did indeed equal 50 – which was the whole point. 

    15 Minutes of Mary: 2nd exercise is always a plank,, either reverse or regular

    35 seconds/15 seconds Reverse Plank: Flutter Kick, Leg Raises, Crunchy Frogs, Windshield Wipers, Scissor Kicks, 1 Legged Wife Please (left), 1 Legged Wife Please (Right), American Hammers, Hello Dolly

    35 seconds/ 15 seconds Plank: Left Side Plank, Right Side Plank, Mountain Climbers, Superman, Bird Dog Left, Bird Dog Right, JLo’s, Scuba Steve, Peter Parker

    There again, that looked a whole lot easier on paper, and a whole lot quicker too. Thanks to the mumblechatter, time passed fairly quickly.

    Mosey back to the flags to find that Santa, or possibly Garfield  had spread some early Christmas cheer with Reeses Cups and Candy Canes on the cars. 

    COUNT, NAME-O-RAMA

    COT

    YHC gave thanks to my F3 brothers for pushing me to do what I could never do alone; making me a better man, husband, and father; and for supporting me in some difficult times over the last few months.

    @the-hammer prayed us out

    Coffeeteria: Book and the Bean for coffee and fellowship with a surprise visit from @ringo

    Moleskin

    “The friend in my adversity I shall always cherish most.” Ulysses S. Grant

  • The 12 Days of Christmas, 2020

    Ah, there was holiday spirit in the chilly, night air: the smell of firewood burning, the twinkling of white Christmas lights, and, of course, the angry mutterings of one Jose 10k exiting his car.  Apparently, Cowbell had pulled up behind him and, with the height difference between the two cars, Cowbell’s headlights were blinding Mr. 10k.  “I felt like I should be doing surgery in there!”  And thus the tone was set for a magical beatdown – short but sweet – with a Christmas theme to spread a little holiday misery on this cold, Thursday night.

    Along with a disclaimer issued for the FNG, YHC warned the crew that this beatdown was hastily thrown together after stumbling upon the idea, The 12 Days of Christmas, which may or may not be something that Yankee did (or does every year?).  I apparently don’t even know how the song goes – I tried to do the ladder the wrong way, starting at 1 each time.  Wouldn’t you know, Jose quickly corrected me, and we got down to business.

    • THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
    • Day 1: 1x Burpee
    • Day 2: 2x Merkins
    • Day 3: 3x Triple Jump Squat Burpees
    • Day 4: 4x Monkey Humpers (IC)
    • Day 5: 5x Sister Mary Katherine’s (2 is 1)
    • Day 6: 6x Triple Merkin Burpees
    • Day 7: 7x Sit-Ups
    • Day 8: 8x T-Merkins
    • Day 9: 9x Groiners
    • Day 10: 10x Crunchy Frogs (IC)
    • Day 11: 11x Freak Nasties (IC)
    • Day 12: 12x Derkins

    We sped through the first couple days and then things really slowed once we hit a few triple jump squat / triple merkin burpees.  Somewhere around Day 3 we learned that Jose can sing, and that an aspiring sleuth might actually be able to track down video of him belting out “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer.”  Around Day 9, Jose’s partner Amnesia turned up, fresh out of quarantine with his incredibly well-lit cargo bike (think the infamous neon “rave” vest).  And by Day 12, it was indeed a Christmas miracle that we had only gone over on time by 30 seconds (which is within the acceptable margin as set forth by the F3 Nation charter).

    COT and nameorama, where we welcomed FNG Red Baron.  Yes, he is named after the frozen pizza.  Seems dumb, I know, to name a guy because he likes pizza.  But no, really, this is a thing with this guy – his groom’s cake was decorated as a pizza, that’s how much pizza means to him.  (Which probably means that he will need F3 even more in his future.). So welcome Red Baron, hope to see you again soon, and t-claps to Cowbell from bringing out an FNG.  

    Onward to the Barley Oak, where Zoo was patiently waiting, sipping a beer in the corner, ready to dispense his wisdom on how to make duck edible (tacos) for those duck hunters who actually hate duck (Cowbell).  Thanks for the lead gentlemen, and for the F2 – it’s always a good time, even when it’s a bad time.

    And hey, don’t forget Akbar’s 50th birthday Q this Saturday!

  • Let’s just keep Running!

    Nothing much to write about today.. We journeyed some extra distance this Gloom chattering along the way with Burgundy who unfortunately for us will be heading out West to California with his work.. We all will miss his post and dedication to the CSAUP events held annually on the Southshore and Northshore.. Wishing you and your family sir nothing but the very best in your move out West…

    warmup

    20IC SSH, Hillbilly’s, Mummy kicks, Toe Touches, Windmills and skip to the end for our route down Messina turning on Monroe then West Beach back up Steve’s street to Villere and back to the AO.

    Countarama, namarama, COT

    YHC prayed us out!

    👍🏼👊🏼✌🏼 Till the next Gloom!!

  • 4 x 4 x 4 = DownPainment

    Six men posted in the Gloom at The Gipper this morning. After a warmup of Imperial Walkers, Torso Twists, Mountain Climbers, Side Straddle Hops, Shoulder Taps, and Hillbillies, all IC 10x, we headed over to the Justice Center and got to work with 4 sets of 4 rounds of 4 exercises, all OYO.

    Set 1: 4 rounds of 10 Squats, 10 yard Bunny Hop, 10 Single Leg RDLs, and 10 yards of Reverse Lunges back to the starting point.

    Set 2: 4 rounds of 10 OH Hand Claps, 10 yard Bear Crawl, 10 Merkin Shoulder Taps, and 10 yard Reverse Bear Crawl back to the starting point.

    Set 3: 4 rounds of 10 Ice Skater Hops, run up the Justice Center Parking Lot stairs, 10 180 Degree Hops, and run down the stairs to the starting point.

    Set 4: 4 rounds of 10 Seal Jacks, 10 yards of Burpee Broad Jumps up the ramp, 10 Clap Merkins, and 10 yards Backpedal down the ramp to the starting point.

    Back to the Shovel Flag for the COT where Einstein prayed us out.

    Solid work this morning, guys. Thanks for letting me lead.

    Don’t forget that Steve is leading a beat down tomorrow 1800 hours at the Mandeville Lakefront Gazebo followed by F2 at the Barley Oak and that Akbar’s 50th birthday beatdown is this Saturday morning. SYITG.

  • DEFCON: Battle Ready for Spiritual Warfare

    Many of you know I lost my job in September and went through some spiritual warfare for a couple of months. I did a devotion called DEFCON that helped me through, and vowed to share it when I got a job (offer came in last week and I start Dec 21). Feel free to share with others if you know of anyone who is struggling.  https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/17793-uncommen-defcon

    YHC arrived 15 minutes early to a rainy gloom thinking of the 3rd core principle of F3: All workouts are held outdoors, rain or shine. A lonesome Russo was hanging by the flag, and soon the pre-thang group arrived. Some mumblechatter ensued, and more pax walked out of the shadows.

    6:30 – Couple of comments from the PAX about my laminated Wiki (preparedness), and we circled up ready to begin. In the distance, a tall limping figure emerged with a short toe-head sidekick, and @the-hammer and Pickaxe joined us. Although literally he was a little less of a man this morning, he was much more of a man for posting the day after surgery.

    Great to see @maverick back in action. Missed @shooter today, but you get a hall pass on the fartsack, Friday’s lead at the A1C looked brutal!

    THANG: DEFCON – 5 STAGES OF DEFENSE READINESS CONDITIONS TO PREPARE FOR SPIRITUAL BATTLES

    We as men need to be ready to fight our personal and spiritual battles of the world because we fight a war every day. We went through each DEFCON stage and code name, with a thought on how we can apply defense readiness daily in our lives – and a beatdown to follow each stage

    DEFCON 5 – FADE OUT

    • Low state of readiness, everyone is at peace
    • Romans 12: 9-21 – Love those who persecute you – respond in love and kindness to others no matter what.  And let God handle the vengeance”.

    Pledge of Allegiance. x10 IC: SSH, torso twist, self-love, imperial walkers, hillbillies

    DEFCON 4 – DOUBLE TAKE

    • Increased security measures, God steps in to protect
    • Exodus 14: 13 – Moses said to the Israelites: Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you only need to be still

    SLOW x10 IC  Dirkin, Freak Nasty, Irkin, Diamond Irkin, Wirkin, Diamond Dirkin

    @bushwacker pointed out we were on the lowest point of the seawall, which I was happy about after this round.

    DEFCON 3 – ROUND HOUSE

    • Elevation in Readiness:  people are being alerted, preparation is key
    • 2 Timothy 4:2 –   Preach the Word, be prepared in and out of season: correct, rebuke, encourage – with great patience and careful instruction

    Stone Mountain x20 IC; Albatross Wings: arms up the whole time, each exercise x20 IC – The Randy, Arm Circles (front/back), Chinooks (overhead, reverse), seal claps, overhead claps, cherry pickers, front raise, side raise, Moraccan night clubs, overhead press, Albatross Wings(flaps), 45 degree front hold

    DEFCON 2 – FAST PACE

    • Ready for Battle – put on the Armor of God
    • Ephesians 6: 10-18– Be strong in the Lord and his mighty power. Put on the Belt of Truth, Breastplate of Righteousness, Shoes of Peace, Shield of Faith, Helmet of Salvation, and the Sword of the spirit 

    x20  Dirkin, Freak Nasty, Irkin, Freak Nasty, Wirkin, Diamond Dirkin

    DEFCON 1 – COCKED PISTOL

    • Sound the Alarm. We go to war. We do not fight alone, but with a heavenly warrior to help us defeat the beast.  
    • Revelations 19: 11-16 – A warrior riding on a white horse called Faithful and True. He wages war with justice, eyes of blazing fire, many crowns upon his head, robe dripped in blood. Followed by the armies of heaven on white horses, dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Ruling with an iron scepter. On his robe and his thigh he  has his name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS

    Pistol Squat x10 each leg, OYO. Where is @zoolander when you need him? Modification: Freak Nasty position on the wall, 1 legged squats

    x10 OYO WW2 Squat Jump, Box jumps, Squat Jumps, Apollo Ohno

    Ohno, YHC was doing the exercise wrong as @bushwacker pointed out, and Akbar may have created yet another exercise – the squat walk shuffle?

    x 20 Twinkle Toes, Monkey Humpers

    And ALL that took only 30 minutes – time for YHC to modify, because it was necessary. Burpee Apocalypse mosey to the flag:  Descending burpees 11, 10, 9, etc to 1

    Wall:  All in Dirkin position x10 IC Peter Parker, side plank lift, Mountain Climbers

    Whole Lot of Mary x 10-20   Sweat Angels (dolly  with arms), Rosalita, Leg raise, Freddy Mercury, Crunchy Frogs, Hands to Heals, Heals to Heaven, LBC, Little Manny Crunch, Wife Pleasers, E2k (each knee), Big Boi situps, WW1 Situps, 100’s

    Count-Name-o-rama

    COT  YHC prayed us out with thoughts of thankfulness, accountability, and friendships.

    Announcements

    • Hogsbreath Louisiana VQ Monday at the Marsh
    • F2 this Thursday, Lakefront gazebo 6pm (Steve)
    • Akbar 50th birthday celebration next Saturday
    • FIA has started
    • Krazy Ivan coming up early Feb
    • BBQ’s wife is cooking breakfast after the New Year’s Day beatdown at the A1C – sign up to get the breakfast!

    Coffeeteria: Great to see @the-manny at coffee after his Mary tribute

    Thanks for your prayers and support during this difficult time for YHC, and for letting me lead,

    SYITG – Akbar

  • DJ 10k with the beats y’all!!

    Arrived at the A1c with just the site of AO leader Jose 10k’s car at the top of the garage. YHC thought the Gloom would produce few PAX however the sight of only ☝🏼 sure brought down my spirits. Wouldn’t you know it Einstein came from the stairway then BBQ arrived on his bicycle and the always on time Cowbell (literally) swelled the PAX to 5… My spirit was most certainly lit up by this point like a glowing candle from Bed Bath and Beyond.. 3 wick of course with fresh aroma in the air.. Only downside is I would not be able to share with fellow Mandevillians such as Steve, Waterpik and Bushwacker. I know most certainly these men would have enjoyed the opportunity of reminding one YHC of his epic attempt to earn points with the M and missing last weeks chain gang… All was well though as DJ 10k so quickly engaged in conversation about the event with the blaring of music ok’ing from his phone as we got started..

    prethang

    20IC SSH, Mummy kicks, Windmills, Hillbilly’s and warmup run down and backup the stairwell.

    thang

    Coupons emerged and we set the course of work utilizing a ruck plate (30lbs), jump rope and a tension band, which fell victim to the Superman strength of Jose 10. YHC recalls previous post where this same PAX crumbled a cylinder block with his bare hands… Of course Jose 10k has many strengths but his ultimate is blaring his music so loud that the Q asked for a volume adjustment as he blotched the rotation of exercises to get started but quickly recovered with the assistance of Cowbell..

    Rotated bear crawls, sprints, back pedals, shuffles, lunges, bunny hops, crab walks and Duck walks. Had to include the last for our departing PAX Cowbell who was leaving for a few days of enjoyment in the Delta chasing those fluttering feathers..

    Work included jump rope, curls, tension press, internal curl, lateral press, chest press, rows, Merkins and Mountain climbers.

    Thanks to Einstein for 🙏🏼 Us out!!

    Appreciate the post gentlemen and until the next Gloom 👊🏼👍🏼✌🏼!!

  • Where Did They All Go?! (Snip snip)

    Early birds were abound with Hammer in his usual cabin light- lit reading position, while Cowbell and Steve, one not to be outdone by the other, were both putting in some pre thang milage. 

    Hogsbreath and Pelican, like the grasshopper following the master, suddenly materialized from the gloom. 

    YHC and Pik doubled down one rolling in right after the other, and Bird just rolled up  and wondered if he had missed anything.

    WARMORAMA

    X15 IC:

    High Knees, Butt Kicks, Windmills, Cherry Pickers, Merkins, Squats

    THANG

    To help Cowbell with his self-imposed quest to hit the 1000 mile mark this year, QIC, quite poorly, explained the idea that the regular route would include the addendum audible, post-loop up W Beach to the lakefront then back on course. 

    The peer-pressure group of YHC, Cowbell, Steve, & Bird took off at a pace solely meant to keep up with the Jones’, and pulled up to the flags with mere minutes to spare.

    Meanwhile, the much more sensible crew of Hammer, Hogsbreath, Pelican and Waterpik weren’t quite sure how the hell the route had been altered exactly and, upon returning to an empty parking lot proceeded to waste no time with idle chatter. 

    MARY

    With just one minute left, the PAX hit The new Bushwacker favorite, 100 100s OYO

    COT

    With Bird dropping…RIM SHOT… we counted/named and Pik prayed us out

    FIA launch Saturday 7am at the Gipper

    F2 next Thursday at the gazebo on the lakefront at a time to been finalized by weekly emIl deadline.

    And last, but certainly not least, prayers for Hammer as he says farewell to his little swimmers today, that the only snips are the one’s he’s paying for!

    Thanks for another round at the pub, gents!

  • Tres Amigos Mosey

    YHC and family hit the Cradle to the Grave drive through exhibit last night with a hot cup of Mexican Hot Chocolate – containing cayenne pepper and cinnamon. We could have used another one this morning as Grover accompanied the Q arriving at 5:10  to a chilly 40 degree gloom. A few minutes later Waterpik showed up and we got to work.

    Warm Up

    Grass Grabbers, SSH, HillBillies x10 – while waiting to see if Cowbell would arrive. 

    Mosey to the lakefront stopping at intersections for Imperial Walkers, Self-Love, Torso Twist x10

    Thang: Slow Tempo on the Wall: IC x10 each

    We slowed it down and mixed it up a bit with slow tempo exercises, most starting in the Dirkin position. Twinkle Toes and Monkey Humpers were NOT on the wall, because the last place we wanted to end up was in the lake. 

    • Dirkin | Freak Nasties
    • Side Plank Lifts | Bulgarian Split Squat
    • Mountain Climber | Twinkle Toes (Al Gore calf raise)
    • Irkin | Monkey Humpers
    • Peter Parker | Diamond Irkin
    • Stone Mountain | Body Saw (chill cut calf raises)
    • Plank Rows | Superman (4ct)
    • Wirkin | Copperhead Squat

    Mosey back to Marsh stopping for 10 Jump Squats, 10 Merkins,  OYO

    Playground:  10 pull ups, 10 hanging knee  raises

    Mary 

    Sweat Angels (hello dolly with arms), hands to heals, heals to heaven, LBC

    Crunchy Frog for @cowbell E2k for @bushwacker

    Count-Name-Orama

    Announcements: 

    • FIA Saturday in Covington
    • Don’t miss DEFCON this Saturday at the lakefront

     YHC prayed us out

    Parting Thought

    “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” – Vince Lombardi

    Til next gloom, 

    Akbar

  • Babes in Toyland, er…Tabataland

    Never underestimate the power of thermogenisis! A beatdown temp in the 30s had the PAX seeing their collective breath as we got underway, but by the time we wrapped up COT it was collective steam that could be seen.

    WARM UP

    Several exercises, from Imperial Walkers to Cherry Pickers were performed IC x15 before grabbing cinder blocks and mosying up the street to the Dungeon (or Prison Yard or pick a name).

    THANG

    After partnering up, the tabata started with 30 second sets with 15 seconds of rest in between, ad infinitum. There were 5 stations to rotate around. There were 3 tires of varied sizes which the partners would flip back and forth to each other. The 2 cinder block stations were Squat Thrusters and Cinder Block Swings. After 30 minutes or so, we returned to the flag.

    MARY

    QIC wanted to make sure the PAX felt it by the time we were done. So we hit our 6’s 50 IC Freddy Mercurys, 40 IC E2Ks left and right, 30 IC Flutter Kicks, 100 OYO LBCs and 100 OYO 100s. Looking up to see some of the modification was all the inspiration YHC to push hard!

    COT

    After count off and nameorama, Cowbell prayed us out.

    Namaste

  • Army PT Test at Grandmas House

    As a late notice fill in to Q, I went with something I know well, the old Army Physical Fitness Test.

    Warmup
    Max Pushups in 2 Minutes
    Max Big Boy Situps in 2 Minutes
    2 Mile Run

    180 is the minimum score for the Arm. 300 is max. Here’s how our group did:

    Russo: PU: 82 Points, SU: 86 Points, Run: 65 Points – 233 Points total
    Cowbell: PU: 100 Points, SU: 96 Points, Run: 90 Points – 286 Points total
    Pelican: PU: 100 Points, SU: 88 Points, Run: 75 Points – 263 Points total

    Here’s a link to the scoring chart if you want to test yourself
    https://armyrotc.sdsu.edu/images/uploads/DA__form_705_APFT_scorecard.pdf

    We will try it again in a few months.