F3 New Orleans

Tag: Grundy

  • Carpe Diem Convergence

    The F3 Nation knew about YHC before YHC knew about the F3 Nation.  You see, YHC’s brother-in-law, Lynchpin, lives in Charlotte.  In the early days, before the F3 Nation planted its flag in NOLA, Lynchpin routinely and enthusiastically regaled YHC with stories of legendary beatdowns and CSAUPs, tongue in cheek nicknames, funny exercise names and other F3 lore.  Then, when F3 decided to expand to NOLA, Lynchpin tried to EH YHC, but YHC begged off.  It all sounded, well to be honest, like a cult and how could YHC trust Lynchpin anyway?  After all, he married YHC’s sister.  Ugh.  But resistance was futile.  The NOLA PAX crossed Lake Pontchartrain in its Durham boat, Reluctant Yankee at the helm like George Washington crossing the Delaware. Nacho and Chewy fell in upon the PAX’s arrival and, together, they planted the shovel flag in the Gloom on April 9, 2016.  F3 Northshore was born.  How could YHC resist a free workout in his own backyard?

    A few weeks later, the NOLA PAX boarded their Durham boat and retreated back across the Lake, leaving the Northshore PAX to make the most of their gift of F3.  We stumbled about, we made mistakes, we created a new AO only to abandon it a few weeks later, and we had more than a few beatdowns with one or two PAX.  Somehow, however, we made it and two years later look forward to seeing one another regularly to suffer and have fun together.

    As this morning’s two year anniversary convergence approached and YHC learned that the weather more likely than not would be awful, there was no concern.  Two years of meeting rain or shine, hot or cold, left no doubt in YHC’s mind that the PAX would post.  And post they did.  And you know what?  The weather held off just long enough for us to celebrate our birthday with a 3 hour beatdown, visiting 5 of 6 Northshore AOs by the mechanical device known as the bicycle.

    Mandeville Lakefront:  4 burpees OYO, 19 SSHs IC, 20 IWs IC, and 16 Seal Jacks IC.

    Captain’s Cove:  4 vertical jumps OYO, 19 Copperhead Squats IC, 20 Sumo Squats IC, and 16 Regular Squats IC.

    Milestone Marsh: 4 plyo Merkins OYO, 19 Merkins IC, 20 Shoulder Taps IC, 16 slow seconds Mission Impossible.

    At this point, Chewy politely pointed out that he had figured out what YHC was up to with the count but that our birthday is April 9, 2016, not April 19, 2016.  Point well taken.

    Grandmother’s House:  4 Sister Mary Katherine’s OYO, 9 front to back lunges IC, 20 45 degree lunges IC, and 16 later lunges IC.

    And then, after a 10 mile mosey on the Tammany Trace to Covington:

    The Gipper:  4 Freddy Mercury’s IC, 9 Freddy Flutters IC, 20 Hello Dolly’s IC, and 16 Flutter Kicks IC.

    Then we mounted our bikes for the 10 mile ride back to the shovel flag for the countorama, nameorama, Shooter’s prayer and a coffeeteria, arriving about an hour later than anticipated.  No one will confuse YHC for a Swiss train conductor after this morning’s logistics, that’s for sure.

    Thanks for letting me lead, guys, and thanks for your willingness to try something different and new and for posting despite the threatening weather and actually being disappointed it didn’t pour on us.

    Some parting thoughts:

    We’ve come a long way on the Northshore.  Things have become almost comfortable and, while there’s a lot of positive to that sentiment, there are dangers too.  We could stop growing.

    So here’s a call to action.  Commit to EH’ing more FNGs and supporting them through their virgin post so that they return.  Commit to Q’ing more workouts, putting time into planning your Qs, and posting timely BackBlasts.  Commit to a CSAUP.  Commit to making yourself better and leading by example, always keeping your eyes open for growth and leadership in all three of the Fs.  If we want F3 Northshore to grow, then we are the ones that need to make it happen.

    Carpe Diem.

     

     

     

     

  • I’d better get this backblast done before Turbo yells at me

    Have you every felt like “Phil in the backseat of the Mirthmobile?”

    Some of you young whippersnappers may not be familiar with Phil, if so, check out this link

     

    So as the heavy weather plowed through Covington early Wednesday morning, it made me think of the lyrics from Bohemian Rhapsody…Thunder Bolt and Lighting very very frightening me….

    anyways… with the inclement weather I had to ditch my workout plan and go with the Bohemian Rhapsody:

    Bohemian:having informal and unconventional social habit

    Rhapsody:episodic yet integrated, free flowing in structure, featuring a range of highly contrasted moods, color, and tonality

     

    Here is how it went in the steady rain:

     

    Warmup: Side Straddle Hops,Squats, Arm Circles, Seal Jacks,Butt Kicks, Toe Touches, Speed-Skater Hops, all 20xIC, with plenty of merkins in between.

    Mosey over to the parking garage for Hurdle and Plank fun-o-rama:

    Each pax in plank position, spaced about 10 feet from each other. One jumps up and hurdles each of the planking pax, then assumes plank at the end of the line. Did this up the ramps to the upper deck.

    Then we ran the stairwells up and down and around with a task (burpees, merkins, ditchdiggers, duckhops) in between each of the four roundtrips.

    Then we did a few sets of sprints across the top deck and back. The rain was feeling good!

    Then we did a slow meandering Indian run down the parking garage ramps & back to the flag.

    A few minutes of mary: Nolan Ryans and flutter kicks.

    Count-o-rama, announcements, and Astro leads us out with a prayer.

     

  • 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.

  • I got a fever……

    T-Claps to the south shore and north shore pax who completed the Tough Mudder. The mumble chatter is that no obstacles were skipped and major injuries were avoided.  The mothership at the Lakefront was 5 strong including Rev Socks and Hog Sickle from the south shore. Honorable mention the Hog Sickle’s dad who took the ride to the north sore. He got in over 5000 steps during the beatdown!!!

    Warm-Up

    20 SSHs IC, 20 Windmills IC, 20 Toe Touches IC, 20 IWs IC, 20 Butt Kicks IC, 20 High Knees IC, 10 forward arm rolls IC (baseball) – rinse and repeat in reverse, 10 forward arm rolls IC (basketball) – rinse and repeat in reverse, 20 Overhead Claps IC

    COWBELL DISCLAIMER

    Those of you who made it to Ei’s Crazy Ivan on the North Shore saw the debut of the cowbell. It made it to the beatdown this past Saturday. Every time you hear the cowbell ring, all paxs drop and do ten burpees. After you ring the cowbell, you bestow the cowbell to another pac and they ring it at their discretion. The goal was to complete 100 burpees by the end of the beatdown. Mission Accomplished!!!!!

    Mosey…

    Indian Bear Crawl

    All paxs line up in a single file line in the planc position. The pac at the front of the line starts doing merkins IC while the pac at the end of the line bear crawls to the front. Rinse and repeat until you get to pre-designated destination.

    Indian Lunge Walk

    Once you get to the pre-designated destination from the Indian Bear Crawl, all paxs turn around and stay in the single file line. Pac at the front of the line starst doing squats IC while the pac at the end of the line lunge walks to the front. Rinse and repeat until you get to the original starting point.

    Mosey…..

    Heavy Bag Pull and Carry

    All paxs line up facing “The Shaft” holding the Al Gore. First pac, sits on ground and pulls a 75 foot rope that is attachd to a 45lb heavy bag. Once the heavy bag gets to pac, pac picks it up and runs with it  it back to the starting position next to “The Shaft.”  Drop it and assume the planc position until all pacs are finished.

    Mary

    25 LBCs IC, 25 Puttins IC, 25 Leg Lifts IC, 25 Flutter Kicks IC

    Mosey to Cazebo

    Freak Nasty Step Up Super Set

    10 Freak Nasties IC, 10 left leg step ups IC, 10 right leg step ups IC- Rinse and repeat three times adding 5 reps to each exercise every set

    On the final mosey to the flag, we were left with 10 burpees to get reach our goal. I thought that Rev Socks was going to sabotage the mission, but he did not dissapoint. Turbo did not dissapoint either by changing his last 10 burpees into slurpees by doing them in a large puddle left by the torrential rain from Friday. Way to embrace the suck Turbo.

     

    COT – Prayed out by THE Manny – Coffetteria afterwards

     

     

     

     

  • Run for the Hills

    Beautiful morning at The Gipper.  Six men strong.  Glad to see Astro and Grundy back in action.

    Warmup with Seal Jacks, Windmills, Squats, Merkins all 20x IC.

    Mosey to the Landing for a Ring of Fire.  Merkins, Peter Parkers, Parker Peters, Plank Jacks, and T Stands between plank walks around the ring in both directions.

    Recovery walk to the Main Event:  Hill Sprints from the Landing up the gravel road to the second oak tree.  About 15 feet of elevation gain.  The PAX started each sprint from a prone position, jumping to their feet and hitting it hard for about 35 yards. Recovery walk back to the Landing.  Rinse and repeat for six quality sprints.

    Then it was time for the day’s ISI challenge:  AMRAP of Butt Kick Jumps for 60 seconds.  Partner up and count for your partner.  Just as hard as expected with everyone fatiguing as the minute mark approached.  T claps to the Southshore PAX who reportedly put in a 90 second effort this morning.  That extra 30 seconds must have been tough.

    Mosey to the STP Emergency Operations Center for two rounds of 10 burpees OYO, 5 clap Merkins OYO, and 20 SSHs and then Seal Jacks 20x IC.

    Final mosey back to The Gipper for Mary.  Pulsing, alternate arm/leg Supermans and then straight leg Freddy Mercurys, both 20x IC.

    Good stuff this morning guys.  Thanks for letting me lead.

  • Valentine’s Day Massacre

    Madness has officially descended upon the Northshore PAX.  At first, it was easy to blame Captain Sparkles and Bushwacker, who, like tyrannical taskmasters, drove the PAX to run ever-increasing distances.  But eventually we must all shoulder the blame for the insanity, with Shooter, EiEi, and YHC taking things a step too far ourselves, going as far as to suggest (and then carry out) a 5 mile run ahead of today’s usual beatdown.  When the foreplay becomes a thang in and of itself (and it certainly felt like we went far beyond 2nd and 3rd base on this Valentine’s day), then perhaps the F3 lexicon needs to be expanded – ‘foreplay’ and ‘pre-thang’ just don’t seem to cover it anymore.

    So when Grundy rolled in to the Gipper this morning to find Shooter and YHC already sweating profusely, he wondered aloud what was going on but privately, I suspect he wondered when and where he could get in on the action.  And that’s what I’m taking about when I say we must all shoulder the blame: this is our group’s mentality and I can pretty much promise you, it will only get worse… (which in our F3 world is, of course, always better).  Don’t say I didn’t warn you PAX!

    Warm-Up:

    SSH x25, IW’s x25, Good Morning’s x15, Windmills x15, MC’s x25, all IC.

    The Thang:

    On to the Taj Mahal for a COP: Plank – 10 Merkins – 10 Peter Parker’s (left leg only) – 10 Mountain Climbers – 10 Parker Peter’s (left leg only) – Chillcut Plank… hold and recover.  Next up, hold Al Gore, while PAX rotates performing 10 Sister Mary K’s.  Then the same plank routine, but right leg for the Peters and the Parkers.  And finally, Al Gore routine with jump squats in place of the SMK’s.

    Short mosey to the Justice Center for a partner routine: P1 sprints to first set of benches, 10 merkins and jogs back, sprint to second set of benches, 10 merkins and jog back, and finally all the way up the stairs, 10 merkins and jog back.  P2 performs that lovely 8-count exercise that YHC has been driving into the ground lately: plank, groiner and back, chillcut, plank jack, and back up to regular plank.

    Second routine using the same path: P1 lunge walks and performs squats at each set of benches, while P2 does flutter kicks.

    Mosey back to the flag for the finale, an AMRAP of Turbo’s raccoon crawl up the wall along the small hill, forward rolls or crab walks back down, hop up to the stage for 10 merkins, and back around to rinse and repeat for 6 mins.

    Mary: Freddie Flutters x22, Leg Raises x20, Putins x20.

    Countdown (we missed you Einstein, sorry to see your streak come to an end!), nameorama, and Shooter prayed us out.  Even though, comparatively, this was a fairly tame beatdown, it felt like a massacre to YHC by the end.  Thanks guys for always pushing, I can’t say enough about all the motivation/inspiration this group provides.

  • Super Bowl Saturday

    A little foreplay, a short disclaimer and then off to the races this morning on Super Bowl Saturday.

    52 reps of Seal Jacks, Mountain Climbers and Imperial Walkers, all in cadence, for a warmup.

    Mosey to the first COP for:

    10 count Al Gore, 10 copperhead squats, and 10 vertical jumps.

    10 count Mission Impossible, 10 slow Merkins, and 10 Northshore (plyo) Merkins.

    10 count balance on right leg, 10 slow pistol squats right leg, and 10 right leg hops.  Rinse and repeat on the left leg.

    10 count isometric lunge with the right foot forward, 10 slow lunges, and 10 half Sister Mary Katherines.  Rinse and repeat with the left leg forward.

    Mosey to the Main Event:

    The PAX set up a field approximately 30 yards x 30 yards and then separated into two teams, one donning wifebeaters left over from the Krazy Ivan.  Two teams, one football and an old fashioned game of keep away that reminded us all of our 12 year old selves.  Liberal sprinkling of Merkins, burpees, vertical jumps and star jumps every incomplete pass.  Not exactly Eagles v Patriots although some previously undisclosed skills were revealed by the wheezing PAX.

    Mosey back to the Shovel Flag for Mary:

    Scuba Steves, plank right leg pulses, plank left leg pulses, flutter kicks, and dynamic side planks both sides all 52x IC.

    Countorama, nameorama, and Chewy prayed us out on our way to the coffeeteria.

    Fun time this morning guys.  Thanks for being such great sports and letting me lead.

    Moleskin

    T claps to the 10 Northshore PAX participating in the Run Ranger Run February challenge.  As of this writing, Team Northshore sits in 21st place on the national leaderboard with 83 running miles logged since Tuesday.  Let’s keep up the momentum men.

  • Is it a sign?????

    In the gloom this past Saturday morning, we had 6 pax show up for the beat down. Could this be a sign that the Patriots will be winning their SIXTH Superbowl Championship this upcoming weekend. Who knows maybe the Eagles will win their second superbowl. It is about time. The last time they took home the Lombardi was in 19SIXty.

    The last time that they played in one was on February SIXth, 2005 with Macnabe and Owens. No matter who wins, there are beatdowns that are getting served up SIX days a week on the Northshore. Here is the one I was honored to serve up in the absence of Captain Sparkles.

    Warmarama:

    Windmill – 20 IC, Toe Touches – 20 IC, High Knees 20- IC, Butt Kicks – 20 IC, Happy Jacks: ( 5 SSH’s IC, 2 Squat Jumps, rinse and repeat x 4), Seal Jack Burpees: (5 Seal Jacks, 2 Burpees, rinse and repeat x 4)

     

    Mosey…..

     

     

    Elevens:

    1 Derkin at seawall, bear crawl to street, 10 Copper Head Squats, lunge walk back to sea wall, you know the rest!

     

    Mosey…..

     

    Bearmuda Triangle:

    Each pac teams up with a partner. Group 1 does one burpee, run to spot 2 (about 50 yards)-do 2 burpees, run to spot 3 (about 50 yards) – do 3 burpees, run to starting position (about 30 yards) – Rinse and repeat 3 times. The three spots form the shape of a triangle, hence Bearmuda Triangle.

     

    Mosey to the Cabildo…..

    3 Sets:

    Step ups left leg( 5 IC), Step ups right leg (5 IC), Freak Nasties (5 IC), Knee Ins (5 IC)……Doubled the amount of reps for each set.

    Mosey back to park for some Mary…

    3 Sets:

    10 LBCs , 10 Freddie Mercuries, 10 Flutter Kicks, 10 Putins- All IC. Inreased reps by 5 on each set.

    Mosey….

    Pax circle up in a plank position. Starting with THE Manny, do one Merkin and hold plank. Go around circle with each pac doing one merkin until we get to 60.

     

    Indian run back to flag.

     

    Thanks to backdraft for praying us out. Keep an eye out for Backdraft’s virgin Q coming to an AO near you.

     

     

  • A Mild Morning at the Mothership

    T-Claps to Butt Splice for continuing to bring out the FNG’s – producing not one, but two on this balmy 41° morning.  And in turn, t-claps to FNG The Clap for convincing fellow FNG Phooey that he was attending some sort of outdoor bible study group in workout clothes.  Hey, whatever it takes.

    Now you know that things have warmed up around here when everyone goes back to ordering iced coffees at coffeteria.  The cold front that brought temperatures down to a record 16° at The Gipper on Wednesday have hardened our PAX, and typical winter Louisiana weather now seems downright cozy.  So off with the knit caps and the Driving Miss Daisy gloves (Tanked Up!), and down to business:

    Warm Up: SSH, Seal Jacks, Windmills, IW’s, Good Mornings, Mummy Kicks, High Knees, Butt Kicks. Then mosey East to circle up for…

    COP: Holding plank, the PAX performed: Mountain Climbers, Peter Parkers, MC’s, Shoulder Taps, MC’s, all 20x IC, followed by 10x Merkins OYO.  Quick rest, before:

    Round 2: MC’s, Parker Peters, MC’s, Plank Jacks, 20x IC, followed by 20x Merkins OYO.  Recover and mosey to the Lakefront Playground for….

    Partner Routine 1: P1 does 20x Big Boy Sit-ups followed by 20x Merkins continuously while…

    P2 starts at Pad 1 with 20x LBC’s, then crab walks to Pad 2 for 20x Plank Jacks, bear crawls to Pad 3 for 20x Squat Jumps, then bunny hops to the start.  Partners flapjack until each has done 3 rounds.

    Partner Routine 2: P1 does Lt. Dans down the stretch, sprints back, while P2 does Burpees.  Switcheroo.  If you need instructions on the lunge-to-squat ratio for Lt. Dans, ask Maverick, I think he went to a fancy New Orleans school.  And if you need to know why shots of Cuervo the night before an F3 workout might not be a great idea, ask Phooey.  (Though to his credit, he was unaware of what he was getting into this morning, and was somehow able to finish without splashing merlot.  An impressive feat.)

    Then a Double Applesauce Bataan Death March back to the flag for…

    Mary: Putins 25x IC, Leg Raises 15x IC, Crunchy Frogs 12x IC.

    Countdown, nameorama, naming of the FNG’s, and…. hey, who shows up, but EiEi – just in time for free coffee and to plug his event, The Krazy Ivan.  Tanked Up sent us out to coffeteria with a great prayer.   Thanks gents for a great start to the weekend, it’s always a pleasure to lead this group.  And hey, wash your tank tops, dust off that ushanka, do what you need to do, but whatever you do – show up tonight.  The Ivan is finally here and our honor rests in your hands.

  • Return at the Gipper

    Returning to the Gipper on this Gloom without the beanies and mittens also produced the return of Grundy and Moby from IR. Welcome back F3 brothers. While the PAX on the the Northshore have many AOs to choose, if your QIC had a choice of only (1) F3 beatdown  by far the Gipper would be the selection.., As hard as the QIC try’s to tax these men when he leads, it never fails that his mission seems incomplete as the men always impress and crave more of what they came for..

    Warmarama

    15IC GM, WM, IW

    30 IC SSH, BK

    10 IC Arm circles (forward/reverse), Overhead claps

    The thang

    Moseyed  to the Taj Mahal for our first bit of action. Circled the flag pole with the PAX holding blank while each man journeyed up the steps dropped for 2 Burpees and returned. Covered regular plank as well as left and right plank until complete. Next each PAX bear crawled to the flag pole and after the ringing of the qong was sounded each PAX would complete 2 Merkins. The QIC doubled the Merkins halfway through.. Wrapped up and then moseyed to the garage top. Partnered up for the first round of suicides half and full distance while the other did LBCs. Next was Caricoas half left and half right and the same back while the other man did Bicycles, and finally we did back pedal half and turn and sprint while the others did flutter kicks..  Mixed in a few 10 counts as the QIC noticed he may have winded a few men, which on this day is a proud moment for anyone Qing this group… Next on to Tabata (American style) as one stated standard Tabata as 20 sec of work and 10 sec rest. The Q implemented 30 sec work and 10 sec rest for 2 rounds. Round 1 Merikins/Plankjacks and Round 2 Squats/Imperial walkers.. If one ever thinks 30 sec of Work can’t get you pumped or have the sweat flowing, I challenge you to a series of Tabata and promise there will be no disappointment.. With 3 mins to spare moseyed back to AO for countarama, annoucarama, COT.

    Much respect for the men working through injuries and pain on this Gloom. Shows the dedication and determination, which inspires me to work harder at each beatdown.. 👊👊

    Special thanks to Grundy for praying us out..