Tag: False Alarm

  • City Park Landmark Tour & Workout – Part 3

    City Park Landmark Tour & Workout – Part 3

    28 PAX ignored the threat of rain and made it out The Mothership this Sat.  We lucked out with a “calm before the storm” as the the guys assmebled and prepared for takeoff.  YHC wanted to mix things up with an old school City Park history tour as part of the workout, similar to a few beatbowns circa 2015.  The night before had the forecast looking nasty, so the plan was to stay close to cover and hone in on a few of the iconic landmarks right there in the original part of the park.  The 1300 acre park was established in 1854 and has lots of history, great architecture, nature, wildlife, and of course trees….home to one of the largest collection of live oaks in the world.  Generations of New Orleans residents and visitors alike have enjoyed the park so it only seemed fitting to pay homage to a few things that make it a great place.  As the clock struck 5:30 we discussed the plan for the day, followed by the disclaimer, then off to….      

    First stop, The Peristyle, built in 1907 to have outdoor dances and concerts for the “well heeled” New Orleanians….some chatter from Rudy about Jingle Vader being in that category.  Using the year as the rep count, we started with Imperial Walkers x19 and Windmills x7.  

    Image result for the peristyle city park

    Then an ugly mosey around The Casino Building with some doubt from the PAX before going up and over Popp Bandstand for Stop #2 on the nearby grass. 


    With 12 granite columns and topped with a bronze dome, Popp Bandstand was named for is benefactor, John F. Popp, and is a replica of the Temple of Love in Versailles. In 1916, Popp made a donation to the park to build the Popp Bandstand which was
    completed in 1917.
    Image result for city park casino building

    The Spanish Mission Revival-style “Casino” building opened in 1913 as a place that sold refreshments. Because of that, the City Park legend says that the building originally was called a cantina, using the Spanish word for a place where food and drinks are served. In a 2008 Times-Picayune story, City Park Executive Director Beau Bassich said he believed the New Orleans dialect colloquialized the word into “casina.” However, 1913 newspaper articles do use the word “casino” to describe the new building, explaining it will be “the amusement center of the park,” though there is no mention of gambling.


    Here we circled up using 1917 and 1913 to inspire the rep count for Peter Parkers x19, Low Slow Squats x17, Mountain Climbers x19 and Arm Circles x13.  

    Then we recaped the age of the park, 164 years, with a Plank Merkin circle where all PAX held a high plank while merkins were cranked out individually in a clockwise manner up to 164 total. 

    Then a mosey over the stone bridge towards City Park Ave for a meandering jog through the oldest grove of mature live oak tress the world.  We made sure to recognize the two oldest ones by looping around McDonough Oak and then, after some doubt from the PAX about my navagation ability, made our way to the Ansmen Oak, both of which are approx 800 years old.  Here we circled up for an 8 round burpee countdown, one round for each century…Burpees x8,x7,x6,x5,x4,x3,x2,…x8 for the crowdpleaser!  More about City Park trees here: http://neworleanscitypark.com/in-the-park/trees-in-city-park

    Then a mosey over the Ansmen Bridge, one of 9 built by the WPA, and back to The Peristyle where we lined up on one side for a partner circuit.  This included 8 rounds of PAX #1 performing the specified exercise across the Peristyle and back (timer) while PAX #2 stayed put with a stationary exercise.  

    1)Inchworm & Wall Sit 

    2) Bearcrawl fwd/bwd & Balls to the Wall 

    3) Duck Walk & Declined Plank

    4) Crab Walk fwd/bwd & Wall Sit 

    5) Lunge Walk & LBC

    6) Kong & Balls to the Wall

    7) Fiddler Crab & Flutter Kicks

    8) Lateral Lunge & Wall Sit 

    Next up, we couldn’t leave out the adjacent Great Lawn that has hosted countless hours of F3 beatdowns.  Built in 2010, the Goldring/Woldenberg Great Lawn is enjoyed by many and has seen a slew of picnics, concerts, yoga classes, and side straddle hops over the past 8 years.  So we moseyed a quick loop to the Great Lawn and back to the nearby benches for a partner circuit of:  PAX #1 Dips x20 OYO while PAX#2 runs to GL for Merkins x10 and back.  Rinse and repeat for 3 rounds total follwed by a “victory lap” around the GL topped off with planking to wait for the six. 

    Image result for city park great lawn new orleans

    Still some time left for a few more history lessons so over to the rear of The Peristyle to gaze upon the banks of Bayou Metairie.  Although it is now a landlocked lagoon, Bayou Metairie was originally a natural waterway spanning from Bayou St. John to the swampy area near what is now Old Metairie, essentially following the path of current day Metairie Rd.  Once used by the Native Americans and early settlers, the banks of the bayou gradually formed the Metairie Ridge which provided high ground for ground transportation and later development of homes.  

    Image result for bayou metairie
    Image result for bayou metairie

    Since we didn’t have a year to use for rep count, we shifted our focus to 1946, the year of the first City Park Big Bass Rodeo, which is the oldest freshwater fishing rodeo in the country.  At this point YHC had to alter the planned exercises and went with the first thing that came to mind, burpees, which really seemed to excite the PAX and peanut gallery, given the initial silence of disbelief followed by some grumbling and the “we already did enough burpees” comments.  So PAX#1 knocked out Burpees x19 while PAX #2 held a wall sit on the ledge along Bayou Metairie, which had an awkward slope not conducive to said exercise.  Then partner plank slaps, aka patty cake, holding a high plank and alternating hand slaps up to 46.

    Nearing the end of our hour, we had just enough time remaining to circle up under The Persistyle for some themed Mary.  YHC breifly talked about the various projects completed by the WPA (Works Progress Administration) in the 1930’s throughout City Park, including Tad Gormley Stadium, nine concrete bridges, a golf course, several art deco conrete benches, and Roosevelt Mall.   In 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt came in town for the dedication ceremony.  Pics below and more info at: 
    http://neworleanscitypark.com/in-the-park/works-progress-administration-in-new-orleans-city-park 

    https://www.nola.com/living/index.ssf/2014/08/city_park_throwback_thursday.html


    In this undated archival photo, President Roosevelt chats with New Orleanian Paul Alfred Montreuil, 7, at the dedication of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Mall in City Park. Also pictured: Marcel G. Montreuil, park superintendent; George Grundmann, chairman of the dedication committee and vice president of the park board; and James H. Crutcher, administrator of the WPA in Louisiana.

    Our WPA and FDR themed Mary consisted of:

    W – Weezey Jeffersons x10IC

    P – Pickle Pounders x15IC

    A – American Hammer x20IC

    F – Flutter Kicks x20IC

    D – Dying Cockroach x15IC

    R – name??? exotic exercise led by Triple Shift x25IC 

    Moseyed back to the flag with some rain for added bonus.  Capped things off with a COT and announcements.  T-claps to War Eagle for stepping up to lead the prayer.  He’s a pro at that stuff and much more eloquent in that field than YHC.  

    NMM – Thanks to the PAX for bearing with my non-professional tour guide ability and abbreviated history tidbits throughout the morning.  As always, the peanut gallery led by Rudy and others kept it entertaining.  T-claps to Mahatma and others for the occasional motivational cheers and USMC grunts to keep the PAX in high gear.  Several guys asked for links (http://neworleanscitypark.com/in-the-park) to some of the City Park history in so I included several in this backblast, which may be one of the longest in F3 history….sorry for the long read, if you made it this far.  My wife asked if I was writing a book. 

    Thanks for the chance to lead.

    Tool     

        

  • Bringing a Typical Uptown Beat-down to the Mothership

    Pre-Thang

    Gabrielle originally had the Q for this Mothership.  He had asked if YHC could take the Q.  Although YHC has another Mothership Q scheduled on Dec 1st, YHC was more than happy to help a F3 brother out and lead another workout. 22 PAX managed to meet up on a beautiful, dry, cool Saturday morning.  At 6:30, YHC gave his standard disclaimer and off went the PAX.

    Warm-ups

    Short mosey to the Peristyle and did the following in cadence:

    SSHs x 20

    Windmills x 10

    Seal Claps x 15

    Hill Billies x 20

    Imperial Walkers x 20

    MC x 20

    Peter Parkers x 20

    Then picked a partner and jogged across the street to the Great Lawn. Side hopped while facing the partner from one end of the field to the other.  5 burpees. Then side hopped back to the other direction facing the partner. 4 burpees. Rinse and repeat side hopped from one end to the other with decreasing count on burpees from 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. When finished, moseyed with the partner to the fountain in front of NOMA and performed 10 box jumps. Planked and waited for the six.

    The Thang (Chipper Workout)

    Because YHC doesn’t see much of the PAX from Metairie and MidCity at Uptown AOs, YHC decided to bring a typical Birdcage / Skinny workout to the Metairie and MidCity folks. Starting off by the steps in front of NOMA, each Pax had to do the following:

    Round 1

    • 50 Rocky Balboa (2 steps count as 1) in front of NOMA,
    • to the fountain with 50 dips
    • to the first light post with 5 burpees
    • to the 2nd light post with 50 Hello Dollies
    • to the 3rd light post with 5 Burpees
    • to the 4th light post with 50 squats
    • to the 5th light post with 5 burpees
    • to the 6th light post with 50 leg raises
    • to the 7th light post with 5 burpees
    • to the 8th light post with 50 King Kong shoulder taps.
    • Then moseyed back about a quarter mile to the steps in front of NOMA.  Rinse and repeat.

    Round 2 – rinse and repeat but shaved off the reps for all exercises to 40 count and all burpees to 4 count.

    Round 3 – rinse and repeat but shaved off another set of reps for all exercises to 30 count and all burpees to 3count.

    Round 4 – rinse and repeat but shaved off another set of reps for all exercises to 20 count and all burpees to 2 count.

    Round 5 – rinse and repeat but shaved off another set of reps for all exercises to 10 count and all burpees to 1 count.

    Each lap is approximately 0.5 mile.  In total, the PAX toughed out 60 burpees and 150 reps on each exercise and little less than 2.5 miles.

    While YHC was giving the instruction for the Thang, a lot of mumblechatter.  Triple Shift informed YHC with “that’s a lot of leg raises.”  The time was approximately 6:53 when the PAX started.  The goal was to finish all 5 rounds before 7:30.  YHC knew this would not be an easy challenge.

    Respect to Jingle Vader setting the tone early and starting at a very fast pace. Not sure what happened, but Triple Shift was screaming at JV telling him to come back during the first round.  The PAX finished strong.  T-Claps to Triple Shift, Tinkles, Rudy, JV, and Two Yutes for finishing the beatdown before 7:30. YHC had to call off the challenge right at 7:30, but much respect to few PAX (Mambi, Walleye, Fracsac – I may be missing few names here) ignoring the Q’s request and finishing all 5 rounds regardless of the time.  YHC loved it because he would do the same.  Needless to say, moseyed back to the flags few minutes late at about 7:35. YHC got a sense that everyone really enjoyed the challenge.  This was YHC’s most satisfying Q when he saw the PAX not giving up and giving every thing they had. The PAX who gave YHC a hard time about the leg raises finished first. 3 PAX finishing within the time were over 50. Everyone who came out today got stronger. Mad respect. YHC has a feeling the PAX will see this challenge again.

    COT

    Count-O-Rama 22PAX, Name-O-Rama, announcements, intentions. 2 FNGs (Flo and Gasper Goo) Our thoughts and prayers for I Love You Man’s niece, Hawgcycle’s mother and family, Two Yutes’ brother, Fracsac’s family, and safe travels for all family and friends during the Thanksgiving week.  Thank You all again for the opportunity to lead.  SYITG

    King Kong

     

  • Teamwork makes the DREAM WORK!

    Your QIC had a really rough week with work and dealing with trolls on Social Media.  It’s crazy how people act so ugly and with such vitriol, when behind a computer screen and it has bled over into face to face encounters.  After witnessing the unraveling of civility in our society these past years, it’s so easy to withdraw from the fray and disconnect from making a positive difference.  Well, that is where we as the F3 Nation are creating leaders through physical training.

    Leaders by nature are agents of change!  We must change for the betterment for ourselves, our families, our friends, and our community.  It all starts with taking the Daily Red Pill (DRP) and making the choice to get stronger physically, emotionally, mentally, relationally and spiritually.  Without the support and encouragement of my brothers of F3 NOLA, I could not be the leader I was designed to be.  So thankful and blessed to be part of this PAX’s Shield Lock!

    Proverbs 27:17 (AMP) As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens and influences another through dialogue.

    The goal today was to show the importance of having that Shield Lock or at least a Wing Man to keep us accountable.  So the theme was partner workouts!

     

    WARMUP

    Proceded with the Disclaimer and had to pause so the PAX could finish their discussions with each other (not going to mention anyone), I completed my monologue and headed to the Great Lawn only to find it sopping wet.  I don’t have a problem getting soaking wet in a workout but I would like to start off dry so we headed to the Peristyle and Ovaled up.

    20 SSH, 20 Hillbilly, 10 Abe Vigoda, 10 Arm Circles (Front and Back), 20 Red Bull Smurf Jacks (is that fast enough for you Rudy and Fracsac?), 10 Peter Parker Merkins, 10 Imperial Squat Walkers all In Cadence.

     

    THE THANG

    We partnered up and took turns piggybacking to the front of NOMA which was about 1/4 mile.  From there we headed to the tree line for a modified Flora.  It was 100 hand slap merkins, 200 Leg throws and 200 squats / Al Gore.  This was a cumulative effort.

    Embrace the Suck – As I was wearing my Go Ruck T-shirt, it was a foreshadowing of planned Suck.  The Suck consisted of 3 rounds of 6 SSH, 6 Merkins and 6 Jump Squats AMRAP for 3 minutes with a one-minute rest in between rounds.

    With less than 10 minutes left, we slowsyed to the Great Lawn for a few minutes of Get on Up (lying on the ground and then standing up without using your hands) and the Rotiserrie (Boat to Superman back to Boat all the while with your arms and feet off the ground).

     

    COUNTOFF, NAMERAMA AND CIRCLE OF TRUST

    Welcome False Alarm!  The workouts don’t get easier, you just get stronger!  Prayers of thankfulness for positive health reports (Rudy’s sister) and life successes (Rudy’s daughter got accepted to Medical School), prayers of courage for all the people affected by Hurricane Michael and the ongoing recovery efforts,  prayers of strength for families with special needs (Tool and his family) and prayers for peace to know we are doing God’s will even when undeservingly criticized and verbally attacked.  Thank you for the honor and privilege of leading!

     

    Abacus, Babyface, Bogey, False Alarm (FNG), Fracsac, Gabrielle, Green Screen, Gyro, Jingle Vader, King Kong, Left Eye, Mahatma Ice, Mambi, Medulla Oblongata, Out for Justice, Quick Draw, Rudy, Tool, Tube Steak, Two Yutes, Wille