F3 New Orleans

Category: Backblasts

  • Midsummer Beatdown

    The idea of striving to become the best version of one’s self daily is not a new concept. Embarking on that goal through F3 Beatdowns takes that idea to another level. Every breath I take in a Beatdown is partnered with a sense of humility and camaraderie that I have not experienced elsewhere. The opportunity to Q this Beatdown at the Birdcage was something I embraced, and I hope the 24 PAX enjoyed it.

    Quick welcome, disclaimer, and we were off…

    After a brief mosey, the warm-up:
    SSH X 20
    Windmill X 20
    Grassgrabbers X 20
    Hillbilly X 20
    Merkin Ring of Fire (hold in plank while PAX to right does 10 merks, next PAX starts on 5 count…repeat until back to start)

    We then moseyed to a nice paved area for some pre-thang plyos:
    Shuffle Right/Shuffle Left X 30 yards, jog back to start
    Karaoke Right/Karaoke Left X 30 yards, jog back to start
    Backwards X 15 yards/Turn and Sprint X 15 jog back to start
    Sprint X 30, mosey to James J Audubon Statue

    The Thang:
    Partner up for some BLIMPS (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30) with a “Catch me if you Can” Twist
    Partner 1 completes the first exercise (5 Burpees) while Partner 2 jogs away down the driveway. When Partner 1 completes the reps he sprints to catch up with Partner 2. Partner 2 then knocks out 5 burpees while Partner 1 keeps moving down the driveway. Essentially we are adding some sprints and jogs to the whole BLIMPS routine.
    Lunges X 10 (2 is 1), Imperial Walkers X 15 (2 is 1), Merkins X 20, Plankjacks X 25, and Squats X 30

    Awesome job by everyone!

    We then followed that up with some step work on the ledge:
    Right Leg Step up IC X 10
    Right Leg Power Up X 10 IC
    Left Leg Power Up X 10 IC
    Left Left Step Up IC X 10

    Legs burning, we knocked out some more sprints:
    In groups of 5 across the driveway…
    5 merkins followed by a sprint. 4 reps of that and we were on the move again…

    A little mary (LBCs, Penguins, Real Freddie Mercs) then back to the hammer…

    We were a minute early so we planked until 6:15.

    Count off, name-o-rama, sweaty ball o man, and my 2nd q was in the books. What an honor to sweat and work alongside these men. My fitness tracker said 2.89 miles done…not bad with two weeks left until the Gnarly Nutria.

  • 1776 Merkins and a tour of Okwata

    Well, that’s what 1776 Merkins feels like! I’m glad we decided to share them as a group…

    This was my first Q and we had an amazing attendance with very special guests from uptown. The idea was to get a little tour of Okwata and also celebrate America by doing Merkins and planking after each quick run.

    We started at the flag, moseyed to the “round thing with water in it” for 20 merkins, arm circles, Side straddle hops

    We then ran on top of the levy to canal for: 20 Merkins, bear crawl across canal on top of Levy, Then 20 Merkins

    Next, we ran down the levy to the “circle of benches” for an assortment of excercises including 20 Merkins, American hammers (thanks for reminding me how to do them! Lol), dips, derkins, low slow squats.

    Next, we ran to the parking lot by the “family reunion center” and did 20 Merkins, side straddle hops, imperial walkers,  Peter Parker’s, dying cockroaches.

    We then ran back to the “circle of benches” and did 20 Derkins, low slow squats, grass grabbers, box jumps, dips, each of these separated with a 180 degree rotation (jog) around around the circle.

    The group agreed to a “one minute of standing at attention” (maybe we can make a name for this) to honor our military.

    Back to the flag for20
    More merkins and cot.

    At some point we did some burpees for good measure. Can’t remember when though…

    Special thanks to all For putting up with my lack of consistency in beginning the exercises and to Sogo for remaining me the names of exercises. Also thanks to Screwtop for signing me up for this Q! He missed a good one!

    Pax:

    King Kong, Angie’s list, Breadsticks, Catfish, Hockie pokey, Shuffle, Dirty dell, Triple shift, Tanner, Surge, High rise, Ya mama and them, Walleye, Frack sack, Bongo, Willy , So go , Jingle vador, Smooth, Tool, Shuffles, Undertaker 

  • Remembrance and admiration to the many!

    As YHC arrived at the Scramble with few expectations of any men posting on this holiday of Independence, the thought of the movie featuring Kevin Costner with the tag line “If you build it they will come.” Through the darkness the Q could see the newly employed hairdresser Steve had already began stretching and preparing for the day. All of sudden as if they had met at a neutral location Wacker, Amnesia and Jose 10k come pulling up together like synchronized swimmers coordinating for a medal push in the Olympic Games.. As we all assemble, the chatter vibrates in the morning air and the sounds of “respect the time” Echo like voices of the far past when Turtle once posted with his F3 brethren.. YHC takes the PAX through a brief warmup of Windmills 10 IC, SSH IC 20, standing ISO quad stretches, lizard pose stretch L/R and Lunge walks across the parking lot..

    Thinking back to a Chewy inspired sprint training, Q gave the tutorial on the 6 landmarks that the PAX would increase to a sprint for 250-300 yards as we moseyed through the streets of ole Mandeville… Bushwacker (Uncle Sam) being the always over achieving (also doing the 4 on the 4th @0730 in Covington) NON runner he sometimes claims to be, could only resist holding back for the first leg of sprints as he so kindly gave the PAX a glimpse of hope that he would not lap the rest of us. Thanks to Steve for saddling up and pushing the 2 year old colt as they both galloped the Scrambles standard route.. Tclaps to Amnesia for posting his 3rd Mandeville AO in as many days off his freshly moved locale to western St Tammany.. Although battling some issues, Jose 10k respectfully posted and persevered through the Scramble and showed his grit as if tackling the trails of the not so distant Ragnar loops he conquered in ATL.. By the way I still have that man shirt for you Wacker!!

    Returned right at 0600 for count, announce and COT!!!

    YHC prayed out the PAX asking them to remember what this day truly means and the sacrifices so many before us gave for us to have this independence! Wacker added by reminding us to also thank those who are not fortunate enough to have this day of rest and celebration as they work to ensure their abilities to simply survive and pay the bills…

    Good luck to all the F3 brethren out there running the 4 on the 4th!!

    God bless this great country and all the men and women who sacrificed to give us our freedom on this Independence Day!!

    👍🏻👊🏻✌🏻 Till the next Gloom!!!

  • ACME Round Robin

    Eight PAX arrived in the Gloom at The Gipper this morning only to learn that their favorite out of work hairdresser had been called away from his Q duties for, get this, work. Those who do not know him better might think that “work” is his euphemism for “fartsack” but they would be mistaken. When Hollywood calls, real life movie editors must respond, Q duties notwithstanding. So there we were left in the Gloom to our own devices.

    Not one to let a leadership void go unfilled, Shooter stepped up to the plate to suggest a Round Robin Q. The Mumble Chatter of assent was heard by all and then Shooter chose the magic number of twelve and got us started with a warmup of 12 reps IC of windmills, toe touches, imperial squat walkers and side straddle hops.

    Blood flowing, we moseyed to Bedrock for an appointment with coupons. After 12 IC each of OH presses, rows, curls, chest presses, chest presses with legs at 6 inches, triceps kickbacks, OH tricep extensions and lateral arm raises, we shed our coupons and headed over to the back of the Justice Center where YHC picked up the torch.

    There, the PAX partnered up for rounds of Wile E. Coyote, coupled with butt kicks, high knees and ice skater hops. Partner one made his way up the Justice Center ramp suspended with hands and feet only on the railings (a suspended lateral plank walk with consequences) while partner two performed the requisite butt kicks. Flip flop with your partner and then rinse and repeat for two more rounds substituting high knees and ice skater hops for butt kicks. YHC has loved the Wile E. Coyote since experiencing it at a Charlotte Metro beat down and hopes to share the pain with the rest of the PAX at his earliest opportunity.

    Jose 10k is somewhat glum about the possibility of more

    Cowbell then confidently assumed the mantle of leadership and mosied the PAX to the top of the Justice Center parking garage. We promptly partnered up again for a Dora 1-2-3 of Putins (100), Merkins (200) and LBCs (300), punctuated with trips to and from the nearest light pole with 3 burpees at each turnaround.

    The sweaty and heavy breathing PAX then made their way back to The Gipper for the COT. We would have made you proud this morning, Steve.

  • An Extra 5 seconds of Fun

    • Temperature: bad
    • Humidity: bad

    21 men gathered this morning for a Foundry workout. Like the Stomp, this workout – led by Amnesty since the olden days – has continued to grow, and the new faces are welcome additions. In fact, we had a late addition today from Butter, bringing the total to 22. He joined us for the COT, and plans to make some workouts soon.

    Quick Warmup (we’ve got work to do)

    • Mosey to the track
    • ISWx10
    • SSHx20 (some complaints from Amnesty and Bogey about YHC’s failure to instruct the already standing PAX to get in “position” before this one. Leaving this here for their next Q’s, where I’m sure their instructions and cadence will be perfect)
    • Peter Parker Peter x20 each
    • Arm Circles x10 each way
    • Line up in 2 lines and Indian Run to the Foundry

    The Thang: 8 Stations, 4 rounds on a Tabata timer of

    • Derkins
    • Jumping Rope
    • seated dips
    • Burpees
    • Pull-ups
    • Jump Squats
    • Bird Dogs
    • Side to side jumps over the snake

    We’ve done something like this workout a few times, so YHC decided to up the difficulty a bit by changing the timer from 20 seconds on, 10 off, to 25 seconds on, 10 off. That extra 5 seconds took a toll, but everyone persevered thanks to the rocking tunes.

    Quick mosey back to the track for some static stretching led by High Rise because why would I lead stretching when there is an actual physical therapist there who went to school for this sort of thing? T-claps to High Rise for always being up to the task.

    Mosey to the flag, little planking for the ISI challenge this month, and COT and a prayer. Thanks for having me.

  • Celebrating the Real Independence Day

    Celebrating the Real Independence Day

    On July 2, 1776, 13 hardheaded colonies stomped all over their British lords by approving a resolution of independence from Great Britain. YHC’s ancestor John Adams predicted that on July 2nd every year, America would forever celebrate the anniversary of that day with great festivals of pomp and parade, shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illumination from one end of the continent to the other.

    Alas, Americans now celebrate July 4th when the declaration was signed not voted on. As a descendant of the Adams, YHC led the 610 Stomp in a festive July 2nd celebration this morning.

    The 21 men of the Stomp took place in the first ever July 2nd Independence Day Race. A 13 lap race on the City Park Practice Track in honor of the 13 original colonies. The race of 3.25 miles was won by Smooth with a second place finish by Screw Top. May their names be forever remembered in F3NOLA lore. Once 13 men finished the 13 laps, the race was called so the Pax could play one more game in celebration of the Nation’s independence.

    The Pax ran over to the football field for a good old fashioned game of American football. Smooth and Screw Top served as our captains for a school yard pick. Following sloppy play by the QBs, two interceptions and a turnover on downs, team Smooth scored the only touchdown of the game to seal the victory 6-0 in celebration of America!

    The Pax ran back to the flag for the Count Off, Name-O-Rama, Announcements, and Intentions. Welcome to F3NOLA to our FNG, Uncle Si!

    Happy Birthday America! May you have 243 more!

    – Rev Sox

  • Not Spartacus

    For those who expected Spartacus, they were disappointed……at first.  After the DISCLAIMER, let’s mosey and take a left out the gage.  In life you have to expect the unexpected.  We circled up in a parking lot by the backside outdoor gym.

    -SSH X 30 IC

    -IW X 30 IC

    -Mt Climbers X 30 IC

    -Arm Circles X 30 IC (15 ea dir)

    -LSS X 20 IC (hold at the bottom)

    Count off “1”, “2”, “1”, “2”…etc…  Form up in two columns, “1”s on left and “2”s on the  right.  Let’s Indian Run to the Rock Pile.  Grab your friend and head to the ball field.  Make two piles, “1”s and “2”s, then line up.  It’s time to move Boss Kean’s Rock Pile.  The pile was moved across the field.  When last rock left the pile, the pax moved to the end to keep going.  Time to move them back.  T-Claps to Mahatma challenging group “1” to see who would finish first….Group “2” did their 10 burpees.  YHC correspondent had the winners, Group “1” do 5 Manmakers…..they’re still trying to figure it out….

    Let’s head to the Spartacus Arena (the shelter). 

    -Shoulder Press X 20 IC

    -Squats X 20 IC

    -Curls X 20 IC

    -Step-Ups Right Leg X 20 IC

    -Step-Ups Left Leg X 20 IC

    -Chest Press X 20 IC

    -Shoulder Press X15 IC

    -Squats X 10 IC

    -Curls X 15 IC

    -Step-Ups Alternating Legs X 15 IC

    -Chest Press X 20 IC

    Times Up!  Take your friends home and mosey to the SF.  Plank and wait.  Countoff, namerama, announcements, shoutouts and a prayer. 

    WELCOME FNG-Coin Star

    Q: Amnesty

    PAX:  Boo-Boo, FNG-Coin Star, War Eagle, Hokie Pokie, Tanner, Dark Wing Duck, High Rise, Billy Goat, Left Eye, Marlin, Kuch, Bogey, Mahatma, Jingle Vader, Reluctant Yankee, Jesus Juice, Rugaroux, Smooth, Scantron, Madulaoblongata, M-Bop, Screw Top, Handgrenada, Amnesty-YHC

  • Strangers in the night!

    YHC arrived to a quiet AO with no sign of life. With the always posting Water Pik out of town for the holiday week, I was thinking this may be a repeat of a Hans Solo appearance from recent memory. As I walked around the court with mixed emotions not knowing if any brethren would be appearing my hopes were quickly lifted as the site of movement revealed that Amnesia had taken the previous nights EH. Welcome to our newly planted West St Tammany resident.. Shortly there after the likes of Bushwacker coming in hot to join the PAX, we assembled around a dirty center court.. Missing you Captain (Chief) Sparkles, your diligent cleanliness was surly missed this Gloom..

    Warmup consisted of all IC to 15 Toe Touches, Arm circles forward, Arm circles to the sky, Windmills, Cherry pickers (which prove much more effective following Arm circles) and SSH..

    Thang consisted of a series we will call 10s..

    Monkey bars for 5 pull-ups, 10 jump squats and 15 Merkins for 10 rounds..

    Total 50 pull-ups, 100 Jump Squats and 150 on the Mérks for those not wanting to work out the simple math 🤯😬..

    To the court for a mixture of other exercises with full court sprints between.

    25 IC was the count for exercises consisting of Little Manny crunches, Cowbell Flutters, Rosalitas, Ocho Monkey Humpers and Sparky wife pleasers..

    With time quickly expiring we close out with 3 full court sprints to end with the elevated heart rate we all come for in this early Gloom..

    Circled for the count/announce/COT

    YHC closed with prayers for the F3 brethren traveling this week and reminded Bushwacker of my more recent take away to intentionally be KIND and not just nice!!

    Appreciate you fine men following my lead and 👊🏻👍🏻✌🏻 Till the next Gloom!!

  • Disobeying the Book of Revit

    Rule #1: No burpees on Mondays

    Over 20 PAX gathered on a not-so-gloomy morning to hear a half-assed disclaimer by the Q. With a mosey over to the bandstand, a brief warm-up COP:

    SSH x20, Seal-Jacks X20, Arm circles forward X12, backwards X only 10, moroccan dance clubs x10, IW x10, HB x10

    On the the track for a double-time indian run to the rows. At the rows: 12 Burpees are the count for the rotation: Burpees, Peter Parkers, Jump Squats, Parker Peters & Rows

    Back to track for another Indian Run – stopping halfway to the benches for another 12 Burpees

    Prisoner run to the benches: RLSU x20, Dips X20, LLSU x20, Derkins x10

    Another Prisoner Run to the green: Russian Twists x20, Flutter Kicks x15, Penguins x20 & Real FMs x15

    Last Indian Run to the monkey bars: OYO – 10 pull-ups, 20 Burpees & 30 running men

    Back to the flag for plank-o-rama & 20 seconds of MI

    Count off, name-o-rama & a prayer of thanks, health and safe travels

  • Competing in the only race that matters

    “Without change something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens.” – Frank Herbert

    Saturday the Mothership and the Muscleship competed. A workout was drawn up, and the groups pushed themselves and their teammates to finish. It was like any other day. All paid the same price, and all got the same result: sleep, sweat, comfort were offered in return for change, improvement, fulfillment. This workout was different, but exactly the same; all competed, and all reaped the rewards.

    In this era of participation trophies and certificates of completion, it may sound trite to say there were no losers. You might even shake your head reading that sentence. In any competition, someone must win, and someone must lose.

    Everyday we compete against the forces that would detract from who and what we are: complacency, laziness, disengagement. Everyday, we take a step toward winning that battle when we rise early and trade in our warm comfortable bed for a chance to change, be better, seek fulfillment. Everyday is another step in winning the only race that matters. Everyday we take that step, we’ve taken a step toward victory.

    For one year now, minus some time on the shelf here and there, I’ve been taking that step. It starts off small enough – show up for some kind of workout out on a Saturday morning and be absolutely destroyed by Disclaimer. That’s how it started for me at least. It felt like the only thing I did right that day, one year ago, was show up. It definitely did not feel like a victory. But urged on by others, I showed up for a few more. And then a few more. And all of a sudden, I was showing up all the time. And things got a little clearer. And the fight became a bit easier. And I began to feel like I was winning it.

    And I’m not the only one. I watch you all improve daily. You inspire me. I watched Angie’s List crank out 25 pull-ups without stopping Saturday. While an accomplishment on its own, that’s not the crazy part. By his own admission, he could not do 1 when he started F3. How’s that for change?

    On Saturday I watched guys do extra to help those around them, not to win a competition. I watched slower guys move faster and faster guys push harder to help the slower guys. At any given workout, I’m the slow guy, the fast guy, or sometimes both at the same workout. But I’m not racing Douille (who I believe was first to finish in our group) or Catfish or Screwtop or any of the other guys who probably ran a faster mile than I could have while fresh. I’m racing against complacency, laziness, and comfort. We all are, and it’s the only race that matters. On Saturday, that battle was won by all.

    Thanks for a great year of helping me fight that battle daily. – Kuch