It has been awhile since YHC has posted at Granny’s so missing things like the memorable “Bus Stop” and the “Tunnel of pain” motivated the Q to taste both. Arrived as Russo came out of the darkness soon followed by Steve. Started on time with chatter of the possibility of Cowbell’s always right on time or slightly late entry, but this gloom would provide the PAX with a new late arrival in Big Cat..
Warmup
IC varying from 10-15 SSH, Imperial walkers, Hillbillies, Windmills, Toe touches, and arm circles..
thang
First stop the “Bus Stop” brief IC10 Irkins, left step ups OYO to 10, Freak Nasties IC10 and finished with right step ups OYO to 10. Hit the trailhead for a Mosey over to the “Tunnel of Pain.”Along the way proved difficult in the week of a New moon 🌙 casting illumination with little through the trees, but thankfully as we approached the halfway point a recumbent bike lit the path to get is to our destination.
Partnered up for 50 burpees, 100 Merkins and 150 squats. P1 moseyed down, Carioca across the flat and back then backpedaled up picking up the count of P2. Upon completion took to the street with some lighting for our return stopping along the way for some Parker Peters and Peter Parker’s IC10. Arrived back at the flag for wrap up Mary consisting of Little Manny Crunches IC20, Hello Dolly IC20, Jane Fonda’s each leg 10IC including pulses and knee taps (EiEi) special. We miss you at Granny’s EiEi oh? Closed with Freddy Mercuries 20IC.
Appreciate your 2nd post Big Cat and look for to your return!!
cot and YHC closed the PAX in prayer!!
Always enjoy the post gentlemen see you in the next Gloom 👍🏼👊🏼✌🏼!!
YHC showed up this morning with sidekick Grover to a surprisingly clean Milestone Marsh, unwelcome heat, mosquito’s, and a stranger in the dark. Turns out it was not a stranger, but Hogsbreath in the flesh from Slidell by way of Monterey. Quick introductions all around, welcome back Hogsbreath!
Warm up x 10 IC: SSH, arm circles, torso twist, imperial walkers
Mosey to grab coupons, head to the playground for a round of hang time
Thang
Dead hang until you drop, grab your block
x 12 Alternating Block Merkins, bent rows, curls, tricep extensions, goblet squat, shoulder thrusts, .2 mile run out and back
Rinse & Repeat
Did YHC invent another exercise?
Researchers have long known that mosquitoes are attracted to the human scent of sweat. We’ve all been swarmed by them in the gloom at some point in time. Today they were so bad YHC had to drop the block, perform the kill slap to the leg, then pick the block back up and resume exercise – at least 15 times.
5:50: return blocks and head to center court
Mary x 10 IC Plank kicks each leg, Mountain Climber, Peter Parker, Rosalita, Hello Dolly, Freddy Mercury. LBC x30
COT Shooter prayed us out with thankfulness to be in the gloom, protection for those in the hurricane aftermath.
With Hurricane Delta bearing down on the Eastern Louisiana coast, it was the intermittent heavy rains that greeted YHC as his 4AM wake-up call. Fortunately, the AO has a built-in audible area for just such occasions. However, don’t tell that to the site Q Jose 10K who, upon our arrival, Shooter and I found doing his customary laps both in and out of the down pour.
WARM UP
x10 IC: Windmills, Torso Twists, Toe Touches, T Stretches
THANG
Partner up , P1 sprinting 40 yards & back while P2 does core work for rounds:
R1 – 300 100s
R2 – 400 R E2Ks
R3 – 400 L E2Ks
Early dismissal for Mr. Anderson and Mr. Breve` with a brief restorative yoga interlude.
R4 – 150 Flutter Kicks
MARY
4 minutes of alternating planks, to side planks, to chill cut, etc.
COT
Q prayed us out, and much banter (both political and otherwise) carried on amongst the remaining Spartans for an extra inning.
Thanks for following my lead at this year’s 3rd… 4th… or was it 5th (it seems I’ve lost track) F3 Northshore Hurricane Party 2020.
With the Q sheet light in attendance the YHC signed up for back to back days. Upon arrival the Bushwacker not realizing I had officially taken the Q started to organize as if he were the leader on this day. YHC quickly challenged sir Wacker to which point he surrendered and took to the role he so welcomes of starting the mumble chatter.. PAX did short warmup of Toe touches, Windmills, Torso twist, Scorpion kicks and some static stretching..
Big thanks to Cowbell for pairing up and pushing the slow guy 🙋🏻♂️ of the PAX as Steve and Waterpik bolted out and finished with a 7.45 to 7.55 pace and Zoolander and Bushwacker finished shortly behind them. Cowbell thankfully kept the chatter going to distract YHC as we finished with an 8.36 pace..
Upon return we took to the Pad with a “Cut a flip” of Merkins and Big boys to 50. Then we circled up holding plank as each PAX completed max reps of pull-ups..
Returning to the PAX after a 6 days away would prove to be taxing on this YHC. None the less these Gipper men don’t post for light workouts as proven from the month of September and the IPC challenge.. Every Wednesday has provided double digit post for quite sometime now which is great to see. So not wanting to disappoint Q pulled out the ole “Nolan Richardson“ from the Exicon. Having done this in weeks past at the Marsh and knowing the work it entailed YHC knew he could rely on his F3 Brethren to motivate and inspire once again to get through it..
Many T-👏🏼👏🏼 to Einstein as the Q was fortunate to partner up with he and Hammer as the odd man out.. Einstein crushed the Merkin round with a great display of endurance ripping out 70 without stopping this was most impressive considering all accomplished prior to that round in the Nolan.
With each PAX partnered I am sure limited conversation was shared as we grinded to completion..
As we moseyed back it was nice to hear the chatter amongst Barely Legal, BBQ and Hammer as they remembered the years past of college games including the likes of LSU and Loyola Marymount. When it comes to knowledge of music and movie quotes the PAX all know who that trophy belongs to being no other than Hammer.. YHC learned this Gloom that it also expands into the realm of College stats and statistics as Hammer rattled off the score of the above game and the former LSU star Chris Jackson (not sure of the name change) and the points he dropped.
I always enjoy the fellowship and chatter with you men and look forward to many more Gloom’s to come..
Great to have Maverick back in the Gloom as well as the inspiration of a young PAX in Gilligan out here posting so early..
Cool temperatures greeted the PAX in the gloom at the Milestone Marsh. After a long, hot summer, the drop in temperature offers a nice respite for the hard-charging men of F3 Northshore. Even Shooter would have sweat less if he was out there today.
YHC led the PAX straight into the fray by Warming up with Sets of Tabata w/ increasing levels of difficulty
Tabata Sets: (30 secs w/ 30 secs rest)
SSHs, Arm Circles, Squats, Imperial Walkers. Then some ball buster sets: merkins, burpees, bobby hurley’s, crunchy frogs, plank jacks, mountain climbers.
Mosey to Lakefront, stopping at each intersection:
more exercises…jump squats, flutter kicks, hello dollies, J- Lo’s, Leg raises, more of Cowbell’s Crunchy Frogs, more merkins, more burpees.
At the Lakefront, the PAX hit the seawall for some boxjumps and freak nasties.
YHC issued a GroupMe message last night in an attempt to lure a few more bodies over to The A1C: no gloves required. That’s right, no coupons. No bear crawls. Hell, I’d even drop burpees from the menu! (This, of course, was more of a technicality, as you’ll see below.) Unfortunately, the bait didn’t quite work. Maybe everyone’s resting in preparation for the Butt Splice beatdown tomorrow (which is probably wise).
One of the things I’ve enjoyed about The A1C is the traveling jukebox that accompanies the pax to each station. When YHC showed up early, Jose had the tunes blaring, and was running all-out sprints. We’re talking Cowbell/In Time speeds here. The man was moving. I had planned to join him on a light jog, but when he barreled past I was having second thoughts. Luckily, 10k slowed it down for me and soon after, Akbar and BBQ pulled in so we began.
Warmorama: Self love, arm circles, air presses, SSH’s, slow squats, IW’s, windmills, seal jacks, all IC at or around 15x.
Thang: First up, a trip to the back of the courtyard for a partner routine. P1 grabs a bench and does 2x irkins, walks hands down to ground, 2x merkins, walks back up and repeats until P2 relieves him. P2, meanwhile, bunny hops down the corridor and up the stairs, does 15x smurf jacks and runs back. Flapjack.
Continued this idea with P1 switching to horizontal squats (x5, feet on bench) followed by shoulder taps (x5, feet still on bench), repeated until P2 returns from lunging corridor and doing 15x star jumps at top of stairs. Final one was irkins then flip over for freak nasties repeated, with P2 bunny hopping and doing 15x Sister Mary’s up top.
Once completed, we headed back to the parking garage for a series of deconstructed burpees: 12x squats, 12x merkins, 12x groiners, 12x jump squats. Run the ramp up to the top, then perform the same series, decreasing by x2. Back down and up the ramp until we reached 2x everything. Unfortunately we lost Jose (and thus our traveling jukebox) around this time, but the pax powered through the final minutes.
Circle up for a COP: plank and chat about Akbar’s relentless set of interviews, mountain climbers IC x20, rotate circle clockwise, plank a bit more, right arm high, left arm high, plank jacks IC x20, rotate circle counter-clockwise, plank a bit more, then knock out 10x merkins on your own.
It was safe to do a quick set of sprints now that Jose had left (mixed in with some Peter Parkers and shoulder taps), before finally settling down for some scorpion kicks followed by Mary: heel pulses, leg raises, LBC’s, and hello Dolly’s, x12 IC.
COT with BBQ praying us out. Thank you men for the opportunity to lead, for posting early on a Friday morning and pushing me to get better, and thanks to Jose for taking the initiative to get this Friday beatdown going. What better way to kick off a Friday than with you guys?
What beautiful weather we had this gloom! Mid 50’s with a nice cool breeze. Seems Bean was the only one prepared, adding long sleeves and high socks to his standard outfit.
On the agenda was 28’s, a variation of the 21’s biceps exercise made popular by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the early 80’s.
Warm up: SSH, Torso Twist, Arm Circles (front, back), Self Love, Imperial Walkers x 10
Thang
Mosey to pick up cinder blocks and 2 bricks. Full body exercises divided into 4 parts with 7 reps each. Bottom half to middle, middle to top half, full rep, back to middle of exercise and hold for 7 seconds. 28 reps per exercise
YHC was a little nervous on the cadence count, but hammered through with only a few mess ups. Enough to decide going forward with round 2 would be OYO.
5 minutes through the first round, we had a walk up EH who seemingly came out of nowhere, but we could not take credit. As we later found out that Goose and Bubba were responsible for the EH.
I arrived at 4:30 to the A1C ready to work. Knocked out the ISI, then started running laps. I was pleasantly surprised when Hammer showed up at 5 to run with me. He ran at my much slower pace, and the conversations were great. BBQ was the next to arrive, then Cowbell. A much needed smile came to my face. I am loving the A1C, and I am glad my brother are showing up for the beatdowns. Well, a little confusion in our conversation, I thought Hammer volunteered to take the Q, so on the spot, he began this semi-intense workout with the IPC due in the morning.
Warm-up: SSH, imperial walkers, toe touches, cherry pickers. We had a bit of everything this morning: a smorgasbord if you will.
We ran up and down the garage stopping a specific points doing freak nastys, merkins, jump squats, sister mary’s, lbcs, and other various exercises including bear crawls somewhere in there. And Cowbell’s favorite: crunchy frogs. Then a long sprint at the end with Cowbell pushing me to go faster with his squeeky voice lol.
Then suicides, the length of the parking garage, going every 2 lines. Unfortunately, my alarm went off at 5:46, so I had to leave. It was a great beatdown, with great friends.
Prayers to all us teachers. Y’all we don’t make the rules or the schedules. It’s crazy for us. We plan for one thing, and then bam: They change it up on us, yet again. We want the best for our students. We will get them where they need to be.
This September is the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII. We set out to accomplish the original GI test in honor of our forefathers who fought for our freedom. This is the original test from Fort Bragg in 1946. What stood out most to me is the insane attention to detail and form – the focus on quality instead of quantity.
Why another test? Tests motivate us to improve our physical condition. We may not realize when we are in poor condition. When tests reveal our deficiencies, we are much more receptive to intensive physical training in order to remedy our shortcomings. And, because its fun.
Warm Up: SSH, Toe Touches, Torso Twist x 10-12
Thang Pullups, Squat Jumps, Merkins, Situps, Shuttle Run
TEST 1: PULL UPS. Start in dead hang position, chin above bar, all the way down until elbows are straight. Kicking, raising the legs, or jerking motions are not permissible and will only count for 1/2 rep. AMRAP
TEST 2: SQUAT JUMPS. Coming soon to a beatdown near you, the best I can describe this is a prisoner squat jump Sister Mary Catherine. It was brutal. Spring upward until both knees are straight and both feet clear the ground. While off the ground, reverse the position of the feet bringing the right foot in front. Spring up again and continue AMRAP. The performer is credited with 1 squat jump each time he springs up from the squat to the erect position and returns. The movement is not scored if he fails to descend to a complete squat. If the performer falls but immediately recovers and continues, he shall not be penalized.
TEST 3: MERKINS. Arms straight starting position, hands facing forward directly under shoulders, chest touches the ground and back up to straight arm position = 1 rep. Stomach, thighs, or legs must not touch the floor and whole body must remain straight. Performer is credited for 1 push-up each time arms are completely straightened. When performer can no longer hold correct form, the test is terminated.
TEST 4: SIT-UP. Can anyone say coccyx? I’m getting really tired of the brush strokes. Performer lies on back with knees straight, fingers laced behind head, elbows on the ground. With feet held, raise upper body and rotate right elbow to left knee – keeping knee’s as straight as possible. 2 minutes AMRAP
TEST 5: 300 YD SHUTTLE RUN: On the basketball court, we ran 12 lengths of 25 yards each for a total of 300. The numbers were a little off since a basketball court is 28 yards in length, and the shuttle run should have been 250 yards to allow for extra turn time vs the 5 * 60 yard straight run.
Mary 100 SSH. Crunchy Frogs, Gas Pumps, Rosalita, Staggered Merkins, American Hammers, Mountain Climbers, Dying Cockroach x20
COT Shooter prayed us out, thoughts and prayers for those to the east and west of us dealing with the after affects of the hurricanes and for my job interview (which went great!)
If you see or know a WW2 Vet, tell them thank you. And ask them to tell you a story or two.
