Category: Northshore

  • Murphish – from Akbar

    72 degrees and not too muggy yet on this early Monday morning. 4 showed up to get better. Great mumblechatter on the runs about fathers day weekend, Saturdays beatdown, and what we can do to bring some guys back.

    Warm Up x15 IC
    Imperial Walkers, SSH, Grass Grabbers, Arm Circles, Self Love

    YHC modified on the spot after learning that Hammer ran to the AO again, and shortened the runs. Was a modification for me as well after running around Noah’s Ark for 30 minutes Saturday.

    Run to the 2nd stop sign for High Knees (yes, we just ran Jose 10k) x15 IC, return to court.

    Head to the playground for a mini murph of 5/10/15 x 5 rounds = 25 pull ups, 50 Merkins, 75 squats

    Run to the 2nd stop sign for High Knees x15 IC, return to court.

    Partner up at the court.
    100 block shoulder presses while P2 runs the length of the basketball court, bear crawls to halfcourt, and runs back to relieve P1.

    Round 2 repeato with 100 skull crushers, same mosey.

    Run to the 2nd stop sign for High Knees x15 IC, return to court.

    Back to the playground for another modified Mini Murph. 5/10/15 x 5 rounds = 25 Supine Rows, 50 Dirkins, 75 Bouncy Squats.

    No relief at all on those Bouncy Squats. Hammer and Pik used the row bars for a Dirkin higher than the sea wall, we followed on rounds 2 – 4.

    Run to the 2nd stop sign for High Knees x15 IC, return to court.

    Back to the court for partners
    100 Shoulder Presses while P2 runs to half court and bear crawls back.
    50 Skull Crushers while P1 lunge walks to half court and runs back

    Mary – Peter Parkers and LBC x15 IC

    Count, Name, and Jose10k prayed us out with thoughts for Pik’s father in law.

    Announcements :

    Hammer has the Q Saturday. Hammer is starting a bible study in July, most likely Wednesday nights. Hammer has a CSAUP – Completely Sacred and Utterly Purposeful – at the Crisis Pregnancy Center – read slack for the full message & let him know if you are in.

    Sign up to Q and bring a friend.

    Thanks for showing up fella’s, and the opportunity to lead.

    SYITG, Akbar

  • Fitness is Picking Up – from Mobydick

    Trashercise. Amazing what 5 PAX can accomplish in 45 min. After a warmup of SSH/Grassgrabbers/Torso TwistsIC X20 bags were issue. The thang was to scour the three levels of the parking garage for trash. The PAX fanned out across the lanes and picked up every scrap. At the end and half point of each trip back and forth two burpees if anyone picked up trash. We always found trash. After about a hundred burpees and a thousand squats the garage was cleaned. A mosey up the Ramps to the roof And COT right on time made for a very satisfying workout.

  • Rotating Rock Party – from Jose10k

    YHC arrived to see a Mandevillian chilling in his car. Russo was ready to go, until they needed to weedeat behind his car, the only grass in the parking lot, and Russo parks there.
    With no one picking up the Q, YHC decided to pull out an old favorite. Time to rotate at the rock garden.
    Warm-ups: All IC, ssh, grass grabbers, torso twists, self love
    The Thang: Moseyed to the rock garden where everyone grabbed a rock. We did 10 reps in cadence. Curls for the girls, shoulder presses, squats, and rows. Then rotate. Rinse and repeat all the way around. Then we did a lap around the courthouse. Stopping at the back and the front for some irkins. Back to the rock garden where the two elder F3 brothers put their two heads together for 5 exercises in tabata style, 1 minute on, 30 seconds rest. Triceps, torso twists, bouncie squats, chest presses, and lbc’s. Moseyed back to the flag, COT, and Moby prayed us out.
    Announcements: Gnarly Nutria coming up on July 20th
    Intentions: Continue prayers for BBQ’s mother who is doing much better.
    Thanks for letting me lead gentlemen.

  • Jam Elatedly Replicating Intricate Cadences Half-Obediently – from Russo

    80 degrees or so and humid to begin the morning at Granny’s. YHC was looking for a unique way to remind folks about the beatdown and draw some attention to our mid week AOs as charged by Jose, and in doing so, Zoolander taught me a new word: acrostics. Who knew it was really a word puzzle in which certain letters in words are clues that form another word (e.g. Join Everyone Running In Certain Heat
    Outdoors) and not an acrobatic mystic or an acrylic heretic?

    Early mumblechatter revolved around dinosaur movies, cars in space, Omaha, sharknados, and JVs drinking habits.

    Warmup (all 10-20x IC)
    – Sealjacks
    – Cherry pickers
    – Arm circles
    – SSH
    – Imperial walkers
    – Air presses

    Thang
    A Shooter favorite, the Walls of Jericho
    (7 rounds of seven exercises, followed by a mosey around Granny’s)
    – 7 merkins
    – 7 squats
    – 7 groiners
    – 7 crunches
    – 7 side squats
    – 7 shoulder tap plank jacks
    – 7 American hammers

    Thang after the Thang (which reminded some of “Never have I ever”, so that’s now back on the rotation for a beatdown)

    One round of:
    – 7 Peter Parker’s
    – 7 Bulgarian split squats
    – 7 Durkins
    – 7 freak nastys
    – 7 step ups
    – 7 Urkins
    – 7 leg raises
    – Calf raises (2 on each step) up the pilot house, with a special guest on Jose’s trip (sorry about that)

    Mary
    – 25 wife pleasers IC
    – 20 LMCs IC

    COT, Name o Rama, Announcements, and prayer closed us out.

    Announcements
    – Hammer is putting together a bible study, check Slack for info and to discuss best time/day.
    – Co-Q by pickaxe and chainsaw on Saturday (Luigi’s and Boom ShackaLackas for everyone!)
    – Gnarly Nutria is July 20th at 9 – more info to come on Slack

    Good times all around, gents, thanks for joining me. SYITG

  • YOU CAN’T GET OUT WHAT YOU HAVEN’T PUT IN. INVEST IN YOURSELF! – from Jose10k

    There was 3 of us who decided to wake up early and put in the work to make us better men.
    Warm-up: SSH, torso twists, grass grabbers, windmills, self love, and cherry pickers.
    The thang: We moseyed to the rock garden for some work. Curls for the girls, squats, triceps, 45 degree presses, and rows. Each IC, ten count, rotate clockwise to the next rock. 3 rounds. Then Squat thrusters, alpos, triceps, grave diggers, and rows. Moseyed back up to the A1C to finish off with Mary: little Manny crunches, American Hammers, flutter Kicks.
    COT and Hammer prayed us out. Thank y’all for the chance to lead this morning. After all the fun, there was 25 minutes of conversation about everything, zucchini fries, car repairs, and how the numbers have been dropping at AOs and the reasons for the low numbers. It’s time to head lock y’all, time to get those brothers back out to the gloom. The hardest thing about exercising is start doing it. Once you start doing it regularly, the hardest thing to do is stop it. SYITG

  • Oy Vey: An Unorthodox Morning at Granny’s – from Steve

    “Saturday, Donny, is Shabbos, the Jewish day of rest. That means I don’t work, I don’t drive a car, I don’t lift cinderblocks or crawl like a goddamn bear, and I sure as shit don’t do kraken burpees!”

    -Walter Sobchak (paraphrased)

    Well, at least I tried. YHC thought maybe a pre-beatdown announcement on slack could lure in the likes of Zoolander or Shooter, but alas, they did not take the bait. No bigge, though – the Granny regulars were there, including Granny’s favorite son, Russo, who has (somewhat) recovered from throwing out his back a month ago.

    Now, not wanting to tarnish his enduring reputation for being late after a string of on-time appearances, Cowbell showed up this morning exactly five minutes after we began. What’s so crazy, and I think Hammer has pointed this out before, is that he is so precisely five minutes late every time. He’s got it down to a science, really. I mean, you’d think the guy could just set his alarm clock exactly five minutes earlier and that’d be that.

    Anyway, as he sidled up next to Jose and ignored whatever warmup exercise we were doing, he mentioned that he had a really good excuse for being late this time (and boy did he): Orthodox Jews. We’ll just let that one sit for a moment.

    Warmorama: Torso twists, self love, arm circles, windmills, side straddle hops, toe touches, 10x merkins.

    Thang: First up today, a mosey to the lakefront, stopping at each intersection for a set of 10x leg, 20x chest, and 30x core exercises. Exercises were as follows:

    Squats
    Merkins
    Flutters

    Lunges
    Diamond Merks
    LBCs

    Jump Squats
    Explosive Merks
    Freddie mercs

    Star jumps
    Hand release merkins
    Crunchy Frogs

    Sister Mary’s
    T-merkins
    Leg Raises

    Jump Knee Tucks
    Staggered Merkins
    Heel Pulses

    Before Jose could continue kvetching about helping his uncle with a stuck trailer, or about the number of merkins that were rapidly piling up at this point (130), Cowbell elaborated that some of his biggest (and best) clients are Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn. While detailing some of the interesting quirks of the orthodox, he assured us that he was a man of integrity (yeah, sure, a mensch) and that he loved those guys. In fact, he is often confused for being an orthodox Jew himself! But man, those guys sure send a lot of emails after shabbos…

    Alright, so once we reached the sea wall, it was the usual leg work:
    Step ups L x15
    Step ups R x15
    Freaks x15
    Bulgarians L x15
    Bulgarians R x15
    Derkins x15

    Then a short mosey to rips for 5 calf raises on each step before heading back to Granny’s, alternating between standard mosey and sprints every other block. COT where Hammer prayed us out, thanking God for all of our blessings and asking to open Cowbell’s heart to his people. YHC had to leave shortly thereafter, as the guys stood around discussing the soft white underbelly of America and, trust me, you don’t want to be a part of that conversation. Thank you men for the opportunity to get stronger alongside you, always appreciated!

  • Dollar Dollar Bills Y’all – from Akbar

    Not quite related to the Wu Tang Clan song, but some were found on the Mosey this morning by Jose 10k. Good to have him back after a short trip to the beach. Just 3 in the Monday gloom this morning, but 3 is good company.

    WU SSH, Grass Grabbers, High Knees, But Kicks, Arm Circles, Self-Love, Down Dog.

    Mosey 2 blocks stopping along the way for 10 IC Copperhead Squat, Lunges, Bouncy Squats, and Monkey Humper.

    THANG – Each man cycles through stations with Tabata, 30s work, 15s rest. Then Run 2 blocks working legs x 10 IC. Rinse and Repeat

    Station 1: Block Curls
    Station 2: Renegade Row Merkin with bricks
    Station 3: Single Arm ISO Shoulder Press with 20 lb Dumbbell

    Mosey 2 blocks stopping along the way for 10 IC Copperhead Squat, Lunges, Bouncy Squats, and Monkey Humper.

    Station 1: Skull Crushers
    Station 2: Brick Shoulder Flys
    Station 3: Dumbell 1 arm Snatch to Merkin

    Mosey 2 blocks stopping along the way for 10 IC Copperhead Squat, Lunges, Bouncy Squats, and Monkey Humper.

    Station 1: Good Mornings holding Block
    Station 2: Brick one arm Bicep Curl to Shoulder Thruster
    Station 3: Dumbbell Chest Press

    Mary
    Little Manny Crunches x10 IC

    Count, Name, and Jose 10k prayed us out

  • Sweatin’ at the Krak of Dawn – from Steve

    Conditions this past Tuesday morning were such that you could step outside, do 15 side straddle hops, walk right back in to your well air conditioned home and you’d still look like you’d just given Russo an overly long bear hug (or perhaps engaged in some sort of scissoring activity with Jose). So a 45 minutes beatdown? Forget about it, we’d all be dripping in Shooter-esque proportions.

    It was no surprise then, when a sweaty, shirtless figure emerged from the shadows heading eastbound on the trace at around 0500. What was a surprise, though, was that this guy was neither an F3 dude nor part of Garfield’s crew. Furthering the mystery was that he was riding one bike while guiding a second, passenger-less bike. He seemed a little jumpy when he reached the bathrooms and disappeared for a bit, only to then re-emerge and make a very determined beeline for Hammer the second his truck pulled in. And although Hammer had probably only awakened 15 minutes prior to this moment, he unsurprisingly had enough wits about him to easily deflect the man’s urgent request for a ride to Lacombe.

    Cowbell then rolled in (completely unaware of the above) and once it was clear that it’d only be three of us, we got down to it. The usual warmorama before moseying west to the tunnel (and leaving my own bike behind, reasoning that it’d probably be difficult for one man to successfully steer three bikes to Lacombe without some help).

    Originally I had planned to stop at each intersection on the way for 10x kraken burpees, but with conversation flowing (and not wanting to immediately sour anyone on their decision to post this morning), YHC filed that one away for the journey back.

    Once at the tunnel, we did a round of B.O.M.B’s, with a backwards jog up the far end ramp between each set:

    B – x10 Burpees
    O – x20 Overhead claps (IC)
    M – x30 Merkins
    B – x40 Big Boy’s
    S – x50 Sister Mary’s (1 is 1)

    It finally felt like the right time to drop the krakens on them, so we knocked out one set right there at the base of the tunnel before starting the mosey back, completing a second set once we had emerged from the wooded area.

    Took a quick break at the bus depot to get the usual leg work in:

    12x step ups
    12 jump overs
    12x step ups
    12 jump overs
    12x bulgarians
    12x freak nasties
    12x bulgarians
    12x freak nasties

    Slow mosey over to Lafitte to complete the kraken trifecta (at this point, I think we were all wishing Russo a quick recovery so he could take the next Granny Q and relieve me of this bizarre affinity for krakens), and then finally back to the flag for some Mary. (Oh, and one last round of x20 merkins to bring our total to a nice, even 150.).

    COT where we prayed for those injured or lost in the boating accident the night before and gave thanks for another day on this earth. And thank you gents for the opportunity to lead, for putting up with my Q’s, and for getting me out there – YHC certainly wouldn’t do it without the accountability.

    Also, Jose – I essentially wrote this backblast for you. Since you’ve been posting 4-5 times a week now that school’s out, and you’re always hounding me for backblasts, I figured you would appreciate me finally writing one for the only beatdown you didn’t attend.

  • Speedy run over here, or NOT!!! – from Shooter

    With the Q sheet quite empty, site Q stepped up to take charge of 4 pax and just to confirm yes Speedy was really there this morning sir Wacker… Decided to change up things this morning, after of course we completed our warmup of 10IC self love, Abe Vogadas, and Cowbell leg swings and also 15IC Butt kicks and SSH.. We ran along East causeway approach to Golden shores entrance and completed 2 loops around the neighborhood.. On our return Speedy felt a little rebellious and decided to run along in the middle of East causeway approach as the PAX instructed multiple times to return to the shoulder but he simply wasn’t having it, so thankfully there was little traffic to contend with and avoid. Returning back to the AO we circled up by the equipment to utilize the pull-up bar for our cycling as we focused on Merkins, core and legs through 3 rounds. Each PAX completed 5 pull-up’s per round while the remainder of the PAX completed alternating staggered left/right Merkins, Diamond merkins, mission impossible and regular.
    Round 2 was core with Crunchy frogs, (while Cowbell did pull-ups just to get at him), flutter kicks , 💯s, alternating elbow to knees left/right, lil Manny crunches. Final round squats, jump squats, lunges, reverse lunges and AlGores..

    Waterpic graciously prayed out the PAX..

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

  • Awww Crap! – from Akbar

    6 men chose the Red Pill this morning for a hot mosey around the Gipper.

    PAX: Hammer, Akbar, Moby Dick, BBQ, Barely Legal, Jose 10k, F3 Northshore, The Gipper

    Conditions: Clear, 72°F, Feels like 73°F, Humidity 80%, Wind 1mph from NE

    Warm Up x 10 IC mostly: SSH, IW, Hillbillies, Cherry Pickers, Arm Circles F/B, Self-Love, Grass Grabbers

    Thang 1: Rock Garden for Curls and 45 degree shoulder press x 10 IC, 3 sets. Much shorter than Mavericks nightmare last week.

    Thang 2: Justice Center benches: Freak Nasties and Bulgarian Split Squats x 10 IC, 3 sets

    Thang 3: 11’s on the Justice Center Stairs. Merkins at bottom, Y Supermans at top, 5 Calf Raises every 4 steps on the way up.

    Turbo Dog took a dump at the entrance to the Justice Center, possibly a metaphor for some. Then 2 ladies made their way up the stairs saying hello to Hammer.

    Finishing 11’s we helped Moby look for a cleanup device, which was found, and while Moby was cleaning up we did Freak Nasties and Dirkins on the benches IC
    .
    5 minutes left, Mosey back to the invisible flag for E2k both sides x 10 IC

    Countorama, Nameorama

    Announcements:
    BBQ is a Grandaddy! Another possibly very tall boy.
    TopGun 2 movie at The Movie Tavern 8:45 tonight.
    The Elite Part 2 at the Lakefront Saturday with Tanked Up!
    Sign up to Q and write a backblast!

    COT: Hammer prayed us out with thoughts of BBQ’s mom who is doing better and his new grandchild, the school shooting last week, Ukraine, and a wayward bullet killing a lady at a graduation at Xavier recently.

    Thanks for following my lead – SYITG. Akbar