Category: Northshore

  • Rock’n’Roll

    Just a few Fred Flinstone quotes to go with today’s Rock’n’Roll:

    Fred Flintstone: Sorry I’m late. Had car trouble, I picked up a nail.
    [Shows everyone a bandaid on his dirty foot]
    Mr. Slate: Thank you for sharing that with us, Mr. Flagstone. May we continue?

    Sharon Stone: Can I get you anything? Coffee?
    Fred Flintstone: Sure.
    Sharon Stone: [seductively] How would you like it?
    Fred Flintstone: In a cup?
    Sharon Stone: Bold choice, Mr. Flintstone! You’ll go far in this company.

     

    Fred would have made an excellent F3

     

    Great weather this morning for the Pax! Here is how it went:

    Short Disclaimer …and lame attempt at business marketing by YHC

    warm-up
    all 20xIC; side straddle hops, imperial walkers, toe touches, good mornings, arm circles, lunges, smurf-jacks, butt-kicks, squats, seal-jacks, mummy-kicks, maybe some high-knees

     

    roll to the “BEDROCK QUARRY”, which before this morning, was called, by The Covington Women’s Auxiliary and Benevolent Society, “Garden of the Month.”
    each Pax picks out a medium sized limestone boulder, for coupon exercises:
    elf on the shelf; to the right…then to the left, over head press, curls, pick up and put down,lunge with boulder in opposite arm.
    I know if Grundy would have posted – he would have chosen the largest, heavy-est, most massive boulder to work out with.

    roll to the school board building (Taj Mahal) parking lot
    pair up, with one Pax doing 2,4,6,8,10,12 BLIMPS, while the other Pax painfully waits in human chair position. Switch roles.

    roll to the front of the Taj Mahal
    circle up by the flagpole – step back to outer ring, everyone in plank position,
    3 of 6 pax bearcrawl across the flagpole area, while the other 3 of 6 pax remain in plank, waiting for bearcrawling pax to arrive, tag, and switch. repeat a few times

    roll to the back of the St.Tammany Parish Courthouse Annex parking garage,

    backwards lunge walk halfway up the first floor ramp
    turn and sprint up rest of the way
    jog/walk across the second floor ramp
    backwards lunge walk halfway up third floor ramp
    turn and sprint up rest of the way

    mosey across the deck and down the stairs to the Eastern Parking lot,
    lateral hop/cross-over, tracing the parking lot striping for about a block

    roll back to the trail head, with a stop for a quick view/explanation of the USGS Benchmark posted in the Old Train Depot wall. Elevation approx 29 feet ASL.

    count-o-rama, good prayer led by Shooter, we bid our adieus and head out to take on the day.

     

     

  • Animal Planet

    PRE-THANG

    50 MIN YOGA CLASS

    WARMARAMA

    20 IC SSH

    20 IC IMPERIAL WALKERS

    20 IC HILBILLIES

    20 IC TOE TOUCHES

    20 IC WINDMILLS

    20 IC HIGH KNEES

    20 IC BUTT KICKS

    20 IC LIL ARM CIRCLES

    20 IC OVER HEAD CLAPS

    20 IC LIL ARM CIRCLES REVERSE

    20 IC AIR PRESSES

    MOSEY

    THANG

    1 MINUTE OF MERKINS

    1 MINUTE OF SITUPS

    MOSEY

    10 BURPIES OYO

    BEAR CRAWL FOR THE LONGEST BLOCK ON NORTH SHORE

    9 BURPIES OYO

    BUNNY HOP FOR THE LONGEST BLOCK ON NORTH SHORE

    10 IC 8 COUNT UPPER BODY BUILDERS

    MOSEY

    10 OYO STEP UPS

    10 OYO BOX JUMPS

    10 OYO STEP UP OTHER LEG

    10 OYO BOX JUMPS

    10 IC DERKINS

    15 IC FREAK NASTIES

    10 IC DERKINS

    14 IC FREAK NASTIES

    MOSEY TO SHOVEL FLAG

    MARY

    20 IC FLUTTER KICKS

    20 IC FREDDIE MERCURYS

    20 IC LBC

    20 IC PUTINS

    20 IC J-LOS

    COT BOM

     

     

     

     

  • Foundations

    Performing fundamentals is necessary for mastery. We’re not trying to do it until we do it right, we do it until we can’t get it wrong. Furthermore, you will perform how you train and we want to train to win. Building from this, the routine the PAX performed today is a simple one: no warm up mozy from start to finish straight through no stopping – going from town hall to sunset point and back again, with front runners circling back for their brothers behind until we arrived back at the start. Once back at the start, PAX performed a series of sprint races as follows:

    RACE 1: free for all – sprint to 20 yds then about face and back peddle sprint another 20 yds. mozy to the next location

    RACE 2: paired up team relay race – sprint 30 yds and return to slap team mate’s hand who repeated the run. mozy to next location

    RACE 3: paired up team relay race – runner 1 sprints 15 yds, runner 2 runs the same to meet runner 1, then runner 1 sprints 15 more yds and returns to slap runner 2’s hand and runner 2 runs the same and returns to slap runner 1’s hand, then runner 1 sprints back to start line which signals runner 2 to sprint back to start line.

    Cool down was leg stretches in a squatted crouch pushing knees out with elbows, straight leg streches left and right, straddle leg stretch in the middle, lunge step stretch right and left, neck rolls 3x each direction slowly, shoulder rotations big and small backwards and forwards.

    countarama, nameorama, ball of man

     

    “He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.”
    Proverbs 15:32 (NIV)

  • “We gotta Respect the Time!”

    Your QIC arrived at 510 on this Tuesday Gloom to 4 PAX already assembled in a circle raring to go..  As of lately the beatdowns have consisted of some large PAX, so in anticipation of more F3 brothers arriving your QIC chattered it up a little bit anticipating some brothers rolling in hot. As 515 approached Turtle reminded the QIC that “We gotta respect the time.”

    warmarama

    HB, BK, IW, SSH, Arm circles both directions IC to 20.

    the thang

    Began a Mosey over to the Trailhead tunnel of light,  where the QIC instructed the PAX to pair off. Being an odd number of course the Q joined in with Turtle and Dundee while Steve and Car Pool partnered up. Excerise consisted of holding plank while your partner sprinted down the ramp to the flat zone to bear crawl to the other side and then turn and back pedal up the incline upon arriving to the top R/R to replace your partner. Turtle shot out the gate like a Hare challenging Steve, who soon provided the answer that he is indeed a “Full grown man!” (Turtle terminology). Second series we began the 8 count body builder introduced at Q school some 2 weeks ago. This time the partner sprinted down then Carioca and Sprint (R/R). Third series repeated second series as a PAX minus the 8 count. Upon completion aloud for a ten count before starting back on our Mosey to the flag. With 15 min remaining we partnered back up and utilized the stairs for Crab walking up and reverse bear crawl down while your partnered Al gored.  We then used the columns for a set of Freak nasties IC to 20. At this point the QIC seeing we still had around 8 min gave the PAX a taste of ascend and descend series using the columns as our template. First column 10 Peter parkers followed by 2 Merkins BC to next column, 10 MC 4 Merkins, 10Parker Peters 6 Merkins,  10 IC Flutter kicks 8 Merkins, 10 IC Hello Dollys 10 Merkins. At this point with Car Pool alongside pushing hard the QIC felt challenged to descend in reverse, which closed the PAX out “Respecting the time!”

    Countarama, Annoucements, COT

    Offered prayers for the recovery efforts on going in Texas!!

    Appreciate you guys allowing me the opportunity to lead you on a beat down!!

    Shooter out

  • Labor Day Labor at the Marsh

    It was kinda a rough morning for YHC.  The wine was flowing last night and, as early as I cut myself off, it wasn’t nearly early enough.  But the sight of two FNGs and our usual gang of men helped bring YHC into focus (albeit, after a very fumbled disclaimer and some pretty shoddy counting).

    Warm Up: Good mornings, IW’s, High Knees, Butt Kicks, and Windmills, all 20x IC

    The Thang:

    Hit the basketball court first for a few rounds of suicides.  Each round interspersed with peter parkers, plank jacks, parker peters, and merkins.  T-Claps to Captain Sparkles for showing up early and sweeping the court.  YHC threw in one round of a full court bear crawl (bunny hops on the way back) just to take advantage of that newly cleaned floor.

    Over to the monkey bars for a few rounds of Knees-to-Chest, 15x IC.  Back to the benches for Bulgarian Split Squats, right leg 15x IC (I know, I know, it’s getting old…).  Back to Knees-to-Chest.  Left leg Split Squat.  10x Pull Ups OYO.  15x Box Jumps OYO (bad idea, by the way, on a metal bench in a residential neighborhood).

    Over to the swing sets for a set of 11’s in the pitch black:  Australian Pull ups to Sister MK’s.  And then back to the court for some:

    Mary: Jane Fonda’s, Quick Pulses, Heel to Knees, each leg 15x IC.  Flutter Kicks, 35x IC.  Hello Dollies 20x IC.

    Finished it off with AMRAP Merkins 1 minute.  Everyone knows how many merkins they can do in a minute before the beatdown, we wanted to find out the answer after the beatdown.  (Turns out it’s roughly the same for beasts like Grundy and Captain Sparkles.)

    Welcome to the gang Joker and Whip (Shooter 2.0), great to have you guys in the group.  Hope to see a lot more of Whip in the future, and Joker, you gotta look up our brethren on the southshore!

    Thanks guys, I needed to be out there this morning.  Always great to lead you men.

  • Labor Day Vacation??????

    When  you a make a trip to the beach, you  expect a few things to happen.  Things like getting sand inbetween your toes, and running into the water. Usually, you don’t expect these things to happen when you wake up at 6am, or 6:35am if you are Ocho, when you are getting ready for your Saturday morning beatdown at the mother ship. NOT THIS WEEK BABY. This group of Beach Boys started their Labory Day weekend BayWatch style! Running around with orange buckets, filling them with water, hoping that it was filled past the 30 pound marker, so they did not have to complete their penalty burpies!!!!!!

    I am glad to report that no penalty burpies were completed on this Labor Day outing, but there were many other beach time activities that we did to pass the time. Side straddle hops, merkins, and imperial walkers just to name a few.

    I hope yesterday’s beat down will encourage all of you to bring duct tape and an orange Home Depot bucket with you the next time you bring your family to the beach. As you wrap the bucket with grey duck tape, and your family asks you, “What the hell are you doing?” Just look at them and say, “Let’s Do This!”

  • The Day After Donuts!

    Well The Captain ate to many donuts the day before so there was a lot of guilt that caused some very sore thighs the next day.

    It was a triathlon kind of day working areas to strengthen the swim, bike, & run.

    Since The Captain isn’t much on WARMARAMA here it was.

    Side straddle hop’s in cadence X 30

    Now to the Thang:

    starting off with.

    1.) 1 Minute plank

    2.) Then up the stairs skipping as many steps as possible stretching them ham strings

    3.) Bear crawl back to start area 1 merkin at first brick column bear crawl to next column 2 merkin bear crawl to next and next up to 9 merkins

    4.) 1 Minute plank

    5.) Then up the stairs skipping as many steps as possible

    6.) Lunge walk back to starting area about 50 yards

    7.) 1 Minute J Lo’s

    8.) Then up the Stairs skipping as many steps as possible

    9.) Lunge walk back to starting area about 50 yards

    10.) 1 Minute Flutter kicks Low

    11.) jog to other end about 50 yards to exercise bands for 2 Minute swim simulation

    12.) 1 Minute flutter kicks High

    13.) Back to exercise bands 2 minutes swim simulation

    14.) 1 minute sitting position backs against wall legs at 90%

    15.) back to exercise bands 2 minute swim simulation

    To Finish with 1 Mile jog Putting Dundee in front to lead the pax since he was the newest member. through tunnel on trailhead lunge walk up hill then jag back.

    No More Donuts for this guy it hurts to much!!!

     

     

  • In Cadence In the Rain

    There is plenty of shelter at The Gipper AO.  The PAX did not take advantage of it this morning.  Instead, the PAX chose to brave the elements for a wet and dirty beatdown.

    YHC and Brat tag teamed for The Warmup:

    Squats 20x IC

    SSH 20x IC

    Butt Kicks 30x IC

    Merkins 10x IC

    High Knees 30x IC

    Shoulder Circles 10x IC each direction

    Peter Parkers 20x IC

    IW 10x IC

    Good Mornings 20x IC

    Windmills 10x IC

    Mosey to the back of the Justice Center for The Thang:

    Round 1:  Burpee to Forward Bench Jump 5x OYO, circle up for Plank Jacks 20x IC

    Round 2:  Burpee to Lateral Bench Jump 5x OYO, circle up for Shoulder Taps 20x IC

    Round 3:  Burpee to Lateral Bench Jump 5x OYO, circle up for Carolina Dry Dock Ankle Taps 20x IC

    Mosey back to the Trailhead for an AMRAP:

    In the spirit of trying something new and somewhat stupid, YHC threw down instructions for a 10 minute AMRAP.  Raccoon crawl up the concrete barrier, tumble or backwards crab walk down the grassy knoll, jump up on the bandstand, jump down the stairs or bunny hop down the ramp, back to the raccoon crawl for as many rounds as you can complete in 10 minutes.  The PAX were good sports, spread out along the circuit, and got to work.  The jump up to the bandstand was interesting coming out of the tumble; jumping while dizzy is somewhat disconcerting.  It goes without saying that everyone enjoyed getting dirty.  Why not?

    Into the bag of tricks for a Game:

    Another first for YHC as Q.  Distributed tennis balls among the PAX and teamed up into groups of 2 and 3 with each team possessing two balls.  Passed the tennis balls to one another with the goal of keeping them in the air as much as possible.  Most if not all of the PAX apparently have years of little league baseball under their belts as there were very few dropped balls and the pace picked up once the teams settled into a rhythm.

    Circle up for the Finale:  Seal Jacks 101x IC

    Countorama, nameorama and prayer of gratitude for one another and all the first responders, public and private, helping out in Houston.

    Moleskin:

    Great job Brat stepping up to Q the warmup.

    Thanks to the PAX for the eager willingness to try new things.  YHC loves games.  When did we, as men, stop playing the stupid games we enjoyed so much as boys?  YHC is committed to bringing back a taste of that silliness to his beatdowns.

    Thanks for letting me lead.

     

     

  • Monday Blues

    The pax are nuts to be coming out 0500 on a Monday!! But thats what its all about!! #1 rule… never skip Monday! For the true and dedicated we stood in silhouette as the gloom consumed us. The quiet of the morn broken by the 4 world disclaimer.. “Im not a professional”. 7 warm bodies quickly came alive as we began our endeavor!!

    WARMARAMA

    All in cadence X20:

    SSH

    TOE TOUCHES

    IMPERIAL WALKERS

    HILLBILLIES

    SLOW SQUATS

    LIL ARM CIRCLES FWD/BKWD

    (In honor of our Q School YHC decided to introduce some):

    8 COUNT “UPPER” BODY BUILDERS… 2 count merkin, 4 count shoulder taps, 2 count merkin

    and Steve (out the loop) had a burning desire to know what the original

    8 COUNT BODY BUILDERS were

    the YHC had the pax do 20.. for demonstration purposes of corse!!

    THANG

    At half court BEAR CRAWL to baseline for 1 BURPEE.. BUNNY HOP back. Rince and repeat with ascending BURPEES all the way to 10!!!!! Easier said than done!! Also an easy way to quiet down the mumble chatter to quickly be replaced with grunts and gripe.. and Grundy’s inspiration as he enters the plank before the rest of the pax.

    insert 10 count here…

    WINDMILLS x20 (for YHC to think)

    At half court LUNGE WALK to baseline for 5 J-LO and 5 FREDDIE MERCURYS..SPRINT back Since and Repeat descending the exercises.

    MARY

    All X20

    FLUTTER KICKS

    LBC

    FREDDIE MERCURY

    HELLO DOLLY

    ROSALITA

    and…

    1 MIN PLANK (thanks grundy for the assist) who wanted badly for a second minute. but the Qlist said Butt Splice!!

    COT, BOM 

    Prayer For all those affected by Hurricane Harvey

     

     

  • Q School in God’s Country

    Four Southshore Pax made the trek to the most scenic AO in F3Nation to join our Northshore brethren for a Q school beatdown.

    Pre-thang

    We made it just in time to join the Pax on their traditional 2 mile pre-thang run.  Turbo and Butt Splice set an 8 minute/mile pace as we Southerners tried our best to keep up.  Ocho joined us for the last 0.00002 miles and we returned to the flag with a minute to spare.

    Introduction

    At 0630 we ovaled up around the flag as the group had grown too large to make a circle.  #NiceProblemToHave. YHC briefly introduced myself and the other Southshore pax, gave everyone an explanation of why we were there and moseyed to wider area.

    As we moseyed, Kimchi notified me that I had not given the disclaimer.

    Q Rule #1 – Don’t let anyone know when you screw up.

    We circled up and YHC proceeded to give the disclaimer, acting as if I had been waiting for the stragglers to arrive.

    Q Rule #2 – Always start the workout with a disclaimer.

    The Q should start each workout by letting everyone know that he is not a professional trainer, that there are inherent risks involved in what is about to take place, and that if you choose to participate it is upon your own volition.

    Q Rule #3 – Make it hard.

    We keep coming back to F3 because it challenges us.  It’s important that the workout is tough.  When you Q, push yourself.  Have a plan, believe in your plan, and execute your plan confidently.  Make sure you are moving from exercise to exercise with purpose and direction.  Keep the pax engaged and don’t give them any downtime to wonder what they should be doing.  Note:  There are going to be times that you smoke yourself and are going to need a breather.  Give yourself and everyone else a break by having one of the fit guys countdown.  10 -20 seconds ought to do.

    • 8 Count Body Builders IC x 20
    • Abe Vigodas IC x 20; Imperial Walkers IC x 25; J-Los IC x 15
    • EMOM – Burpees x 12; 8 Count BB x 8; Merkins x 40; Squats x 50; Burpees x 10; 8 Count BB x 6
    • Floyd Mayweathers IC x 20; Connor McGreggors (aka Parker Peters) IC x 20
    • 8 Count Body Builders IC x 15

    Q Rule #4 – Know how to count.

    When leading exercises we use 3 two part commands to keep the pax together.  These commands are standardized across F3 Nation.  By using the standard commands the pax knows what to expect and is able to easily stay together.  It makes the workout efficient, allowing us to get more done with the time we have.  Here is an explanation by the founders of F3.

    At this point Kimchi took over and coached several “volunteers” on counting.  First he explained the commands:

    1. Next exercise is….The Side Straddle Hop.
    2. Ready position….Move.
    3. In cadence….Exercise.

    He also explained how to vary your count on the last rep to let everyone know that the exercise is ending, and if you are on the ground, tell everyone to “recover” if you want them to get up.  Each man that posted to the center led the group in a traditional 4 count cadence exercise along and a non-traditional cadence.  The oddball cadences and exercises were:

    • Redbull Smurf Jacks (Super fast 4 count)
    • Merkins (Super Slow 4 count)
    • Squats (Down Up 2 count)
    • Copperhead Squats (Slow movement on first 3 counts, exploding on 4th)
    • Dr. Ws (8 count) – T-claps to Grundy for his assist.

    Q Rule #5 – Plan more than you can do

    You want to make sure that you have enough exercises planned to fill the entire time slot.  You never want to get to run out of things to do with time on the clock.  That inevitably leads to down time as you scramble to think of what you can do next.  The pax will notice and the mumble chatter will start.  It’s always better to plan too much than too little.

    Q Rule #6 – Be flexible and ready to adjust your plan

    After YHC’s extended warm-up and Kimchi’s counting school, we had about 7 minutes left to fit in Fracsac’s COP and the 600 reps Triple Shift had planned.  Quick regroup by Frac and Triple and they created a mash-up of their COPs to top off the workout.

    Q Rule #7 – Smoke the world. 

    One pillar of an F3 workout is that it is open to all men, no matter what their fitness level is.  As a Q it is your job to devise a workout that pushes the Stallions to get better without leaving the Clydesdales behind.  There are a few tricks we can use to accomplish this:

    • Exercises where you do as many reps as you can within a time limit – Tabata, EMOM, etc.
    • Partner exercises.  By dividing into groups some of the pax can carry a heavier load – Dora 1-2-3, Foul line to Foul line, etc.
    • Exercise where you run station to station, Elevens for example.

    After a little trouble counting to 2 (come on St. Tammany Parish School Board!) the pax was divided into two groups.  Group one did 15 freak nasties, 15 pistol squats each leg, and 15 derkins while group two bear crawled out 35 yards and back.  1 Flapjack and we were out of time.

    Q Rule #8 – Be Attentive

    Know how many guys are at the workout and keep an eye out to see if any are struggling.  When going on long moseys make sure you assign someone to sweep the six to make sure everyone gets to the destination.  You would be surprised at how many times we have heard a new guy express his appreciation for someone that went back and got him.  It’s important that everyone that participates in the workout knows that no man is left behind.

    It’s also important to give clear directions about form.  There is nothing wrong with coaching guys.  We all want to get the most out of our workouts and we often don’t realize that we are doing something incorrectly.  It is time well spend to take a few seconds to discuss the correct form when doing an exercise (like merkins).

    Q Rule #9 – Be punctual

    It’s important to start and end on time.  If you wait on people before you start you are allowing them to be late and you’ll find that your workout time gets pushed back later and later each week.  If you don’t end on time, you may be keeping some of the pax from getting to their next big thing on time.

    Q Rule #10 – End with a COT

    As Q you get the final say in naming the FNGs.  Try not to suck at it.  We had 4 today and I am notoriously bad at FNG naming (see The Dentist).  Fortunately EIEI rolled out of the fartsack to join us this morning.  Welcome Sisqo, Grasshopper, MASH, and Carpool.

    Be prepared to lead the prayer at the end, but you can usually find a volunteer if needed.

    Q Rule #11 – Write a Backblast

    It’s important to commemorate your achievements in the historical records.  Here is a good one if you need an example.

    Q Rule #12 – Sign up and lead.

    Man up here.