Category: Backblasts

  • Steve’s last hurrah

    6 pax met up at the mandeville TH to celebrate good ol’ Steve’s last workout until October.

    The thang:

    warm up on the stage with a series of scapular stability exercises to counteract the plethora of merkins some of the pax have been pounding out.

    mosey through the woods to the underpass

    jane Fonda’s for glute activation

    BLIMPS

    burpees x 10

    stop motion lunges x 15

    imperial walkers x 20 IC

    Merkins 3 count x 10

    Plank jacks x 25

    squats x 30

    mosey back to Flag for 5 min of Mary led by Steve.

    COT, nameorama, prayer.

    Best of luck in Hollywood Steve, we will see you in October man!

    -Chewy

     

  • Oh the Terror

    This Q had me shaking in fear like night. I was not intending to Q this morning. I had made plans with Hawg to swap Qs. I would take his birdcage Q in early April, and he would take my Q in early June. I filled in admirably for him in the spring, but this week he informed me that he was running out of town to Arizona to avoid filling in for me. After eight weeks of missing birdcage workouts (family vacation, sickness, and trip to Israel), I did not feel ready to Q in my first F3 at this location since my April, but God gives grace to the weak and I faced my terror of leading a workout while feeling woefully out of shape.

    We started with 15 at the imaginary flag and following the disclaimer, we moseyed over to the WWI flag for a warm-up.

    SSH – 20

    Hillbillies – 20

    Peter Parker – 20

    Windmills – 21

    We ended by cleaning up with 20 Annies

    We did an Indian Run back past our starting spot and over to the monkey bars. We did a 4 part rotation with 10 pull-ups as the count Freddie Mercury, Merkins, and Big Boy Sit-ups with the other three stations. We did two rotations.

    We moseyed over to the open field in front of the zoo for the Suck. We did two rounds. 3 minutes each time to see how many reps of 7 SSH, 7 merks, and 7 squats we could each knock out.

    Following the Suck, we moseyed down Constance St. to the levee. My goal was to do elevens at this point. I think I sapped too much of our time and endurance with the 2nd suck, because we only finished half of the exercise before we needed to mosey back to the flag. The elevens started with 10 burpees on the bottom and 1 jump squat on the top. Most men finished the round with 5 burpees and 6 jump squats.

    We moseyed back to the flag. I hate Mary and tried to arrive right at 6:15, but we arrived about 90 seconds early. We did a round of American Hammers and then a round of Wife Pleasers to get ready for Father’s Day and my watch said we were done.

    We counted to 15, said our names, and called it a day.

    Thanks for putting up with my anxiety over my lack of recent attendance. The workout beat me down, and I hope all of the pax felt the same.

     

  • Fun and Games at The Gipper

    Summer is upon us and a number of Gipper regulars are enjoying themselves on vacation.  Expecting a light turnout, YHC was pleasantly surprised when two FNGs rolled in this morning to round off our crew for the day at 5.  Brief disclaimer and explanation of what we are all about in the F3 Nation before getting underway with a mosey to the Justice Center.

    Warmup of SSHs, plank jacks, windmills, Merkins, Imperial Walkers, Peter Parkers and finally some shoulder circles with overhead hand claps.  Mostly in cadence with 10-20 reps for each exercise.

    Mosey to the top of the Justice Center Parking Garage for some Merkin/Squat mountain.  Partner up and execute first 100 Merkins and then 200 Squats while your partner first sprints down/backpedals up the ramp and then lateral shuffles down and then back up the ramp.

    Mosey to the front of the Justice Center for fun and games.  Four cones delineated a rough circle, and the PAX counted off to establish an order and got to work passing a tennis ball around in that order.  Every dropped pass earned an OYO exercise.  While we had it going smoothly for a while, perfection can only last so long and so we ended up doing a fair number of jump squats, Merkins, Sister Mary Katherines, and Seal Jacks.  YHC also increased the level of difficultly as soon as the PAX kinda mastered things and so we switched up the passing order, had to leave the circle after each pass to do a burpee before coming back in to receive the next pass, etc.

    Mosey back to the Trailhead for some abbreviated Mary, a set of flutter kicks 20x IC, and then it was time for closing ceremonies.

    Welcome Bean and Buzz to the PAX!

     

  • And the Tony for the best use of Musicals in a Q goes to….

    Due to some over-excitement to hit the “snooze” button, YHC was a couple of minutes late w/ the F3 Flag and to his own Q.  Thanks to the miracle of GroupMe & Mumblechatter, YHC was able to give directions to the PAX who would be lost w/out him.  When YHC arrived, the PAX had already begun the w/u at the Practice Track while also going over the command instructions for those who have yet to Q.

    W/U

    • SSH
    • AC (led by Mambi)
    • Windmills/Abe Vigodas/Don Quixotes (led by Pai Gow)
    • IW x 20
    • MC x 20
    • JL x 15

    Head to Roosevelt Mall for some Route 66

    • Starting w/ the first bench to your left, do 5 Irkins and 5 Derkins; run to the next bench and increase the reps by 1; proceed all the way down the mall. Total Irkin/Derkin count 81 each.

    Mosey to the left wall of NOMA

    • Hold the People’s Chair while each PAX names his favorite Musical Artist/Band, Favorite Broadway Musical, First Concert Attended.   T-Claps to some of those favs & first including Elvis Presley, Wicked, Cowboy Mouth, West Side Story, and the Cars.

    Mosey to the Foundry & partner up for AMRAP; while we pay tribute to some of the Best Musical Tony winners w/in the past few years.

    1. “Disappear” from Dear Evan Hansen – ~.25 Mile Run at your 1mi pace.  (This is the count)
    2. “Falling Slowly” from Once – Negative Pull Ups or Pull Up w/ a :03 down motion
    3. “Sex Is In the Heel” from Kinky Boots – Calf Raises
    4.  “All-American Prophet” from The Book of Mormon – Merkins
    5.  “My Shot” from Hamilton – Bobby Hurleys

    Mosey back to the Flag

    Counterama, Namerama, Announcements, Intentions, COT

    Thank you for the opportunity to lead,  SYITG,

    Da Parish

  • Stomp #146

    YHC arrived at the 146th running of the 610 Stomp to find not one, but two Kotters!  Welcome back Stubhub and Milkman!  Hope you’re here to stay!

    YHC isn’t creative enough to do anything other than a run on a Tuesday, so instructions were given to run out for 20 minutes and back along the Bayou St John route.  Great run with Great F2!

    Upon all arriving back at the shovel flag, YHC told all to “do some ‘merkins or something” while waiting for the 6.  Once all arrived, YHC figured he’s better get it organized, so we did the following:

    Merkin IC x 15

    Flutterkicks IC x 15

    Dying Cockroach IC x 15

    Penguins IC x 15 (no cheating!)

    LBC’s IC x 15

    COT

    Name-O-Rama, Announcements, Intentions, and Closed with a prayer to the Sky Q.

    Thanks for posting with me today.  No pictures today, my bad!

    SYITG!

     

     

  • Field of Dreams, and Rocks

    Well, summer is clearly here. Humidity, damp air, and sweaty shirts will be the norm for the next 3-4 months. And that means we are left with baseball and golf for the remainder of the summer. So to celebrate the nation’s (past) past-time, we worked in a beat down on the baseball diamond.  13 men showed up ready to sweat. A disclaimer and off we go.

    A short mosey to the warm-up COP:
    SSH x 20 IC
    Imperial walkers x 20 IC
    Windmills x 10 IC
    Arm circles x 10 forward, 10 backward, IC
    Mountain climbers x 20 IC

    Grab a rock! Mosey to the baseball diamond for some Rock Circuits.
    Round 1: exercise, then run to the next base with rock overhead.
    Shoulder press x 20 IC, Curls x 20 IC, Rock Rows x 20 IC, Chest Press x 20 IC
    Round 2: exercise, then run to the next base with rock at chest level.
    Shoulder press x 10 IC, Curls x 10 IC, Rock Rows x 10 IC, Chest Press x 10 IC
    Round 3: exercise, leave your rock, bear crawl to next base, and pick up somebody else’s rock.
    Shoulder press x 10 IC, Curls x 10 IC, Rock Rows x 10 IC, Chest Press x 10 IC

    Mosey to the baseball outfield for Dora 1,2,3:
    Partner 1 exercises, Partner 2 runs across the baseball outfield and back.
    100 merkins, 200 squats, 300 LBC’s

    Stay in the outfield for Mary:
    Flutter kicks x 20 IC
    Penguins x 20 IC
    Hello Dolly x 20 IC
    Dying cockroaches x 20 IC
    American Hammer x 20 IC

    1 sprint across the baseball outfield and back. Then return your beloved rock to the rock pile. Run back to the flag for a finish right on time. Count off, Name-o-rama, Announcements, Intentions, and a prayer. Thanks for letting me lead!

    Walleye

  • Another NOTC 2 Miler in the Books

    Great turnout this year for the NOTC 2 Miler in City Park!  F3 stepped up once again to co-sponsor one of the Summer Series races and we lucked out with good weather and some good F2 to boot.  The F3 tent looked sharp with the signage, flags, flyers, and even a fancy tablecloth…t-claps Gabrielle for the attention to detail!  We managed to get some EH-ing in pre-race and post race, as well as good visibility in general.

    The Race:  Two miles through City Park.  Several PAX put it in high gear while a few others throttled back due to the aftermath of a Murph that morning.  T-claps for those out there with the 2.0’s, including Shorty running with his “shorty” in a stroller.  Lots of F3 regulars running as well as some occasional gloomers.

    The Post-Race festivities:  The F3 tent was hopping with the distribution of Mango Freeze, so graciously donated by the fine folks that make it for Jazz Fest.  Since cute 11&12 yr old girls handing it out seemed way more appetizing than us sweaty dudes, we put a few of our 2.0’s to work.  T-claps to Da Parish for providing the snazzy bottled water to hand out, complements of his insurance business.  The crowds were also treated several other tents serving beer, jambalaya, snacks, and more.  The biceps got plenty loving with lots of 12oz curls.

    The PAX that stuck around till the end were treated to some entertainment from a random, naturally-nawlins character, who is a former Marine and said he might show up in the gloom with us for some PT.

    Thanks to those who contributed to the sponsorship collection.  We have funds left over that will most likely go towards the upcoming F3 Family Picnic on July 21.

    A good time was had by all.  Visit runnotc.org for info on the next three Summer Series races and several other events.

    Tool

     

  • Fear Does Not Exist In This Dojo

    Except maybe when it comes to 10k merkins in a month.  And with approximately 6660 merkins bearing down on us ISI challengers for the remainder of the month, it was really no surprise what would be on today’s menu.  YHC would try to alter the flavor slightly, but whether it’s in the form of Bushwacker-sans’ Deck o’ Death (416 straight), or Maverick-sans’ Mucho Chesto Extravaganza (200+ spread over the course of an hour), it all ultimately goes down the same (with a lot of grunting and groaning).  

    Paint The Fence: GWs, Toe Touches, Imperial Squat Walkers, Windmills, SSHs, Seal Jacks.

    Wax on, Wax Off: Time to leave the premises.  PAX would be running 5 blocks to the lakefront, alternating between 2 exercises at each intersection: 25x merkins / 40x IC flutter kicks.  Who knew it’d be the flutter kicks that got us?

    Sweep The Leg:  Once to the lakefront, lunge walk to the sea wall.  Gusty winds and crashing waves gave this beatdown some much-needed gravitas, as we stood  atop the wall to do calf raises (40x IC).  Even though it was a dicey proposition considering the balance issues YHC was having with the calf raises, we elected to stay atop the sea wall for Jump Squats, x20.  No one pulled a Waterboy and jumped in.  “Balance good, everything good.  Balance bad, better pack up and go home.”  Then Knee-Ups (each leg, 15x), Bulgarians (each leg 15x), and finally some Monkey Humpers to finish off the leg portion of this beatdown.

    No Mercy: Next up, a merkin/groiner combo.  Ascending first (up to 5 merks / 5 groaners) and then back down.  

    Going Home In A Body Bag: And finally, that’s right, we returned the way we came – alternating between 25 merkins and 40 flutters at each intersection.  T-claps to Pik, who’s nursing a couple injuries and somehow made it through unscathed. A minute late but finished with the COT, Pik prayed us out.

    As you can probably tell, this was a retroactively-themed beatdown.  Maybe one day I’ll prepare a bit more and pick up where Grundy-san left off with his well-thought out movie themed beatdown.  But for now, this’ll have to do.  Thanks guys, sincerely, for coming out and for the opportunity to lead.  Not just today but for the past year and a half.  It’s gonna be tough not having this group of guys to lean on for support for the next few months.  I won’t get too sappy, but let’s just say that going back to the days of sad clown workouts will indeed be… sad.   You guys will be missed.

    But I’ll see you men in October, hopefully in time for the Northshore Half.  Until then… sayonara, gents.

  • Scales and Burnout

    The Scene:  The Knoll

    Conditions: Sunny. The sun makes you sweat while you stand there with no exercise.

    Welcome

    Scales came today, which was awesome!

    Disclaimer

    Warm-a-Rama:

    Little mosey around the “huge baseball field”, aka to the sun dial and back to the flag via the path.

    [All in place]

    • Jumping Jacks x12
    • Butt Kicks x12
    • High Knees x12
    • 123 Heisman (strike the heisman pose with side-to-side shuffles in between) x12
    • Mummy Kicks x12

    Moseyed to the sun dial as part of the warm up. This round we did it as fast as we could to really fire up the muscles.

    • Jumping Jacks x20
    • Butt Kicks x20
    • High Knees x20
    • 123 Heisman x20
    • Mummy Kicks x20
    • 5 burpees-on your own

    Two sets of recovery countdowns after that warm-up. Worms points out the sun dial doesn’t work correctly.

    The Thang:

    The pyramid!

    • Slow-Jangle Biscuit x15
    • Merkins x20
    • Al Gores x25
    • Freak Nasties x30

    ***recovery countdown*** Did each exercise as a pulse-style on the way down the pyramid. Start halfway positionally and then you are doing small “pulse” reps during the count.

    • Freak Nasties x30
    • Al Gores x25
    • Merkins x20
    • standing lunges on each leg x15

    ***Hard to walk after the way down the pyramid. They do say it’s harder to go down stairs than up.

    —–

    Moseyed to the patio area for the circuit.

    **15 reps each exercise; 3x on our circuit**

    • Dwight Howards (bend to to a squat position next to a wall and then explode up like you are trying to touch the top of the backboard)
    • No-momentum Merkins (go down in your Merkin to where your chest is on the ground, act like you are skydiving, and then go back up)
    • Faux Upper Cuts (sit in the squat position and then upper cut with alternating fists)
    • Take a lap around the building

    —–

    **really starting to sweat now.

    Walked to edge of grass of our proverbial football field.

    Wide football sprints!

    In place, hands out, quick tapping of your feet while on our five pax sprinted to the sundial across the grass and back. Once they got back we did an up-down, and then the next person sprinted out. Props to Shangeaux for really legging it.

    —–

    We walked to the jungle gym (I can’t remember what worms called it!) as our recovery countdown and did a team exercise.

    Gathered around a middle-heigh pull up bar. One person stepped up and did burn-out pull ups from a 45 degree. (arms in pull-up position on the bar, feet “stepped through the bar” so when you are “down” you are at a 45 degree position to the ground. Pull up.)

    The pax gathered around and counted/cheered for each guy as they stepped up and gave every rep they could. Gotta love the burn out! Very fun.

    Props for Scales for killing it with 60! Those biceps…

    Moseyed back to the flag and did six inches for six till Worms finished telling a guy about F3. T-claps to worms!

    Mary:

    • Crunchy Frog x10 (shout out to Snack Pack)
    • American Hammers x15 (Rocket, I thought of you)
    • Ski abs x20 (Worms said he’s a great skier)
    • Leg lifts x25

    We all laid on the ground for a solid 30 seconds.

    Count-o-Rama

    Name-o-Rama

    COT / BOM:

    Duracell’s wife coming home from Thailand!

    Scale’s friend.

    Fastball being gone to Georgia. #respect

    Announcements:

  • Cool with a Southern Dose of Humidity

    “If a path be beautiful, ask not where it leads.”

    -Anatole France

    What can I say? We met, we warmed up, we ran, we exercised. We did quite a few merkins throughout the run. Oh, and it was a cool yet typically humid morning on the northshore of Lake Pontchartrain in southeast Louisiana. All hail F3 Northshore!

    “Well done is better than well said”

    -Benjamin Franklin