F3 New Orleans

Category: Backblasts

  • 11s or 12s. I can’t remember

    Happy Monday – 7 PAX started the week off right with an early Monday post at Rock City. Tool was apparently still recovering from a weekend of Hogging for a Great Cause, so had handed the Q to YHC.  5:30 on the dot, time to get the show on the road. Disclaimer and off down the gloomy track towards the rocks.

    Warm Up: The usual, at least kind-a

    • SSH x25
    • BAM.  Abacus rolls in hot.  Take that, Tool.  That’s a #HIM, showing up on Monday after HfC.
    • Slow Windmills x10
    • IW x24 (YHC was confused on count.  An omen of what was yet to come, I suppose)

    Go grab a rock.  Any rock.  Triple Shift – you’ve been challenged.  I don’t know where Mahatma found that thing.  But it was RIDICULOUS.

    Bring your friend to the tree line.  Peter Parker x25 (didn’t think I’d forget plank stuff, did you?)

    11s: You know what YHC thinks of with the number 11?  Yup, Notre Dame National Championships (and yes, I am painfully aware that none are within the last 30 years.  But there’s always next year.)  So lets do some 11s.

    • Merkins on the far side
    • Curls on the near side
    • “Let’s get it, Baby” says Marlin.  “Go” says YHC.

    OK, YHC forgot how to add up to 11.  Something that shouldn’t be that hard, but seemed perplexing to me.  But fortunately, the heckling of Walleye and Rev Sox straightened out the PAX and got us started correctly.

    OK, YHC also forgot to tell people to BRING THE ROCK WITH YOU.  Several PAX grumbled as they returned to the starting line.  But finally, we were off – Back and forth.

    Plank for the 6, with some Parker Peter IC.

    11s: You know what else YHC saw with the number 11 yesterday?  ND Women’s Lacrosse upset #1 Syracuse 11-10.  So lets do another round of 11s.

    • Squat Jumps on the far side
    • Lunges on the near side
    • Rocks in the middle.  11 shoulder presses each time you run past your friend.
    • Halfway through, a Q-dible: change to 11 rows each time you run past your friend.

    Plank for the 6, with some MC IC.

    Mary: Circle up for a few mins of Mary

    • LBC x25
    • Flutter Kick x25
    • Penguin x25

    Return the rocks and mosey back to the flag.

    At the flag, when given the choice – Bogey selected that we close with 11 burpees.  So 11 burpees it is.

    Finish with Count-off, Name-o-Rama.  Quality group of gentlemen I’m proud to start the week off right with. Props to Hand-Grenada who has jumped into Pontiff F3 with both feet, quickly becoming a regular at Rock City and The Uptowner.

    Finish with our intentions (especially those who are sick and undergoing surgery), and a prayer for the graces of God to be with us today.

  • Minute Merkins are Harder Than I Thought

    A Pax of 6 arrived at the Uptowner for a morning of exercise without running. The usual disclaimer and off we go. The plan for today was Tabata with 60 seconds of exercise, and 10 seconds of rest. As it turns out, 60 seconds of exercise is harder than I thought.

    Warm-up COP:
    SSH x 20 IC
    Imperial Walkers x 20 IC
    Peter Parkers x 20 IC
    Low Slow Squats x 20 IC
    Windmills x 10 IC
    Arm Circles 20 Forward, 20 Backward
    Mountain Climbers x 20 IC

    We mosey 20 feet for the first Tabata:
    Merkins for 60 seconds, focus on form
    WWII Sit Ups for 60 seconds
    Planks for 60 seconds
    Squats for 60 seconds
    3 rounds total

    Grab a rock, a big rock
    Chest press for 60 seconds. At this point, I conceded that 60 seconds is a long time. So we went back to In Cadence.
    Curls x 10 IC
    Rows x 10 IC
    Repeat for 3 rounds.

    Circle up for some Mary.
    LBC’s x 20 IC
    Flutter Kicks x 20 IC
    American Hammer x 20 IC
    Crunchy Frogs x 20 IC
    Dying Cockroach x 20 IC
    Box Cutters x 20 IC

    We returned our rocks, and had just enough time for more exercise with a smaller rock.
    Biceps curls into shoulder press x 20 IC.

    Final circle for count-off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, and a prayer. Thank you for letting me lead.

    Walleye

  • Name change?

    That was the question of the morning at the Milestone Marsh.  YHC told the Pax to mosey on over to the”Workout”Equipment and Bushwacker, who pretty much does a play-by-play broadcast during every beatdown, opined that it was really “children’s play” equipment.  And, truthfully, he is probably correct.  But, I have a better question to ponder…Is it too late to rename Bushwacker, “Jim Henderson”, the F3 play-by-play announcer????  I think it would suit him well.

    Warmup

    20 SSH, BK, HK, WM, GM all IC

    Thang:

    we broke into two groups and alternated excercises across basketball court.

    group 1: plank, reverse plank, plankjack, burpees, hand release merkins, squats

    group 2: run the length of basketball court, line drills, lunge walks, bear crawls, run backwards, shuffle sideways.

    mosey to “workout equipment”

    pullups, hand release merkins, freak nasties.

    reverse “australian” pullups.

    Mary:

    FK, HD, Rosalitas, putins, feet to heaven, leg raises, LBCs, more FK, more putin.

    countarama, nameorama, thanks to the Bushhhhwacker for praying us out

    Thanks guys for making me a better man and getting off the the great start to the week.

     

     

  • Slow & Steady Up The Mountain

    “It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” – Sir Edmund Percival Hillary

    12 men were ready to go at 5:30. After a brief stop on the lush Loyola grass, 10 MCs & 10 MCMs, we headed to the base of the mountain:

    Two Line Indian Run to the 3rd level – nice of El Wire, YSR & Yank to join us – followed by 10 MCM (3rd floor)

    SSH Jumps up the mountain followed by 10 Burpees

    Lunge Indian Run then 10 MCMs (4th floor)

    Plank Broad Jumps then 10 Burpees

    Slalom Al Gores then 10 MCMs (5th Floor)

    Indian Run Bear Crawls while LBCing then 10 Burpees

    Slalom Al Gores then 10 MCMs (6th Floor)

    Indian Run Backwards Crab Walks

    Lastly after a quick peek at the skyline we finished with 10 Burpees (top floor)

    2 minutes to spare, down the stairs and back to the flag

    Count-off, name-o-rama & some brief thanks

    Good times…

     

  • Mastering the 8-Count

    Warm Up: Toe Touches, Good Mornings, Windmills, SSH’s, Toy Soldiers, Seal Jacks, Sister MK’s, all IC at or around 20x.

    The Thang:

    Mosey East towards the Lakefront playground, hitting a series of 8-count exercises at each cross street:

    1st 20x 8-Count Bodybuilders

    2nd 15x 8-Count Absolutions

    3rd 10x 8-Count Bodybuilders, 10x 8-Count Absolution

    So the F3 Nation website or – the more frequently visited – Grundy Audited Database (GAD for short) says that a wise Q will introduce the 8-count cadence for the exercise known as Absolution, but then “instruct the PAX to do the exercise OYO, lest he give the impression of weakness.”  Well, YHC has never been accused of being wise and this group of men has certainly already seen me act weak (ahem… the high-pitched squeal as Captain Sparkles emerges from the bushes), so… time to forget one’s pride and school the Q in mastering the 8-count!

    The thing is, the 8-count isn’t actually that difficult.  So really, this was more of an excuse to wreck the PAX early on, which seemed to have worked.  (At the very least, it wrecked this here Q.)

    A few 10-counts later, we arrived at the playground and split into partners for a little routine up the tallest “hill” in Old Mandeville.  These sort of rigorous elevation changes would be good training for those running the Blue Ridge Relay this fall.  Here’s what we did:

    P1 does squats, P2 run-walks (aka, lunge walks) up to the swingset pad and back.  Flapjack.

    P1 does merkins, P2 bear crawls up and back.  A little slippery this morning.

    P1 does lunges, P2 frog jumps up and back.

    And finally, P1 does Freak Nasties, P2 does an 80% sprint around the perimeter.

    A few more 10-counts sprinkled throughout, and we’re onward to the back of the baseball field, which had a lot of action for 0700.  Gearing up for an early morning game, the PAX got to watch some kids practice their swings, and also witness the slowest-ever flag raise while we planked up and one by one (or two by two, I suppose) hit the pull-up bars for 8 pull-ups.  The 2nd round was 4 pull ups, and the flag had still only made it to half mast.  Did a round of 25x IC Mountain Climbers, but still didn’t get to see that flag hit the top.  Oh well, can’t plank forever.  Time for an Indian Run back to the flag.

    T-Claps to Low Nays who overcame the strong urge to splash some merlot and made it back to the flag for some Mary: (all IC) Flutter Kicks x20, Leg Raises x 15, Putins x20, Jane Fondas/QuickPulses/Heel-to-Knees x20 each leg.

    Countdown, nameorama, announcements (Sign up for the Classic!  Sign up to Q!), and The Manny led us out in prayer.  Thank you guys for the push to be a better man, and for a truly great start to the weekend.

  • Solo I Roll-O

    I came

    I saw (no other PAX)

    I rolled

    On my own, I did the half route of 3.2 miles. Without the obscenely slow Shooter or Steve weighing me down, I was able to keep a respectable 8.17/minute mile pace. Crescent City Classic immortality, here I come!

    Ben Todd

    37

    Bush WACKA!

  • “Hello Dolly!” or is it “Rosalita!”

    YHC arrived with the return of Waterpik awaiting in the Gloom. Fresh off a trip to NY. We started some chatter about his experience while away. It appears there is a play named “Hello Dolly” that the pik and his M took in on there trip. All along one might think F3 had created the term or redefined its meaning of sorts, which the latter must certainly be correct. Simply put, I don’t think the play in NY was based on grown men laying on their backs and swinging out there legs in cadence. Although that may be appealing and theatrical in a place like NY. After all it is a big city with many different walks of life and one would never know what to expect or SWING into in such a place.. Maybe her name was “Rosalita!” Who really knows? Either way with Steve rolling up right on time, we get after it starting with a little warmup before our journey on this cool below 50 degree Gloom. 20 IC SSH, 10 IC GM, 20IC WM and 10IC Ws (chewy), which amount to what seems to be a reverse shrug compressing the upper back muscles. With headlights approaching the PAX is soon joined by the Choppa right before our departure.

    thang

    QIC explains to the PAX that we will be incorporating intervals of 30 second burst starting at 20 percent, 30 percent, etc. etc. increasing through the run till the final burst. We went after it at 100 percent completing the last as a sprint to the finish.  Now it did feel fitting to skip the 90 percent since we started with the 20 instead of 10. So in all when complete we totaled 8 intervals. YHC quickly realized on the last interval that Waterpik runs similar to the shifting of a CVT transmission.  His pace just continued to climb with no shift point and no chance of getting passed with a passing gear applied by the Q.

    Nice finish Waterpik!!

    Arriving with 15 to spare we head to the playground to tackle the ISI challenge of the day (1 min pull-ups) Upon completion we hit the deck for Spider man Merkins each leg totaling 10 in all. Then we take to our six for Mary. First we do hip raise hold better known as wife pleasers. Q implemented a 3 count hold at the top to 15. Next we did 15IC FK, 15IC Hello Dollies and closed with 15IC Rosalitas..

    count off, announcements, COT

    Appreciate Choppa for taking us out in prayer!!

    Always enjoy the lead gentleman!

  • Cooler (and possibly better) than Rudy

    Q list had Rudy scheduled for this Monday and YHC for the next, but that date was looking iffy.  After working a trade over the weekend, it meant YHC would be leading Rock City sooner than later.  Knowing it would be hard to deliver a beatdown that tops Rudy’s iconic Fighting Irish themed workout of years past or the recent 40’s on the levee, YHC brainstormed up a few ways to appease the PAX that were expecting their favorite ND alum instead.  Here’s what we did:

    Mosey to the usual area for a warm-up COP:

    • IW x25
    • Abe Vig x10
    • Arm Circles x10
    • Burpees x5
    • Burpees x5
    • Burpess x5
    • Burpees x10 #crowdpleaser

    Grab a rock good for curling, hold it overhead, and meander over to the track/field for COP #2 to work on the guns:

    • Curls x15
    • Rows x15
    • LS Squat x20
    • Curls x12
    • Press x12

    Partner up along the back of the end zone for 3 rounds of:

    • Partner 1 runs to opposite endzone, knocks out 5 Burpees, and runs back (Timer) while
    • Partner 2 cranks out x10 Curls, x20 LBC, x10 Curls, x20 LBC,…..

    T-claps to Abacus for the burst of speed on the final run!  #beastmode

    Next up would be yet another crowd pleasing circuit, hopefully way better than whatever Rudy had in store.  Here we circled up for (2) 3 minute rounds of “The Suck” which consisted of as many rounds as possible of SSH x6, Merkin x6, Squat Jumps x6, rinse and repeat for 3 minutes, calling out your count after each round.  Despite the one minute break between rounds, the grumbling never really subsided.  Once done there seemed to be a harmonious feeling of accomplishment.  T-claps to the PAX for pushing hard.

    Grab your rock and start heading back to base, knocking out shoulder presses along the way.  Circle up for one last COP:

    • Flutter Kicks holding rock x20
    • Penguins x20
    • Wife Pleasers x20
    • Curls x15

    Head back to the rock pile but first, SUDDEN CHANGE – Shoulder Press x10.

    Mosey back to the flag with one minute left for some hip flexor stretching.

    COT to seal the deal.

    Hopefully the PAX enjoyed this more than the Hamlet themed stuff Rudy probably would have subjected everyone to.

    Thanks for letting me lead,

    Tool

    P.S. – I had to pick on Rudy since he heckled me for the untimely backblast

     

     

     

     

  • Spring is in the air

    5 men gathered in the gloom to start their day off right with the commitment to improve. YHC has noticed that recent Q’s have been making F3 beatdowns more challenging, and YHC could only hope that he would be able to continue the trend.
    The clock hit 0530, time to give a disclaimer, then mosey to the track for:

    Warmup

    SSH IC x 31
    Abe Vigodas IC x 10
    Imperial Squat Walkers IC x 15

    Bataan Death March
    Traditional Indian Run on the track, only thing added is the last Pax drops for 5 Burpees and catches up with the other Pax to take his position in the front, tagging the last Pax as he passes. Continue until all Pax had the pleasure of 5 burpees.
    Continue one lap of regular Indian Run, just because we can.

    COP – Johnny Cash (Ring of Fire) #1

    Muster on the matted area inside the track and circle up.
    Each Pax completes 5 merkins, then says next, sending the fire clockwise in the ring. All Pax hold plank position until YHC calls it, which was 5 revolutions.
    Back to the track for:

    4 Corners!

    Corner 1 – Bobby Hurley’s IC x 10. Run to next corner.
    Corner 2 – Catalina Wine Mixer IC x 10. Run to next corner.
    Corner 3 – Iron Mike’s aka jump lunges IC x 10. Run to next corner.
    Corner 4 – merkins IC 4 count x 10. Run to matted area.

    COP – Johnny Cash (Ring of Fire) #2

    Muster once again on the matted area inside the track and circle up.
    Pax does continuous monkey humpers, one Pax does 1 burpee then says next, sending the fire clockwise in the ring. Each Pax did 10 Burpees and a lot of monkey humpers!

    Mosey to the Foundry

    Five Stations:

    Station 1 – pull-ups AMRAP
    Station 2 – Dips AMRAP
    Station 3 – Box Jumps AMRAP
    Station 4 – jumping back and forth over the green snake AMRAP
    Station 5 – run to track, 5 Burpees and run back – Timer
    Rinse and Repeat

    The Pax completed 2 revolutions, and it was time to mosey back to the flag.

    COT
    Count off and Name-O-Rama, intentions and closed with a prayer.
    Thanks for posting with me today, and way to kill it in the gloom this morning!

  • Another day at the Office

    Another beautiful morning at The Gipper and another beat down in the books.

    Warmup of lateral lunges, airplanes, seal jacks, squats and forward lunges.  All 20x IC.

    Mosey to the Justice Center for some 11s.  Merkin/Shoulder Taps combo at the bottom of the stairs, In and Out Squat Jumps at the top.

    Recovery walk to the Justice Center benches.  Lateral shuffle between two bookend benches with a lateral step up at each bench.  5 trips OYO.  Then back to lateral steps ups 7x IC, cross over lateral step ups 15x IC, then regular lateral step ups again 8x IC.

    Back to the Justice Center entrance for our ISI AMRAP Challenge of the day:  how many Merkins can you do in one minute?  So simple, yet not so easy.

    Circuitous mosey up and down the Justice Center parking garages ramps and stairs before heading back to the shovel flag, the PAX hitting some short accelerations along the way on the command of “sprint” and some soccer headers on the command of “jump.”

    Mary of windshield wipers 20x IC, Nolan Ryans 20x IC each side, Jane Fondas 10x IC each side, and 45 degree leg raises 10x IC.

    Moby Dick, still on IR but almost ready to get back in the game, joined the PAX for our countorama, nameorama, and Einstein’s prayer.

    Thanks for letting me lead, guys.  I always look forward to Wednesday morning at The Gipper with you.