F3 New Orleans

Tag: Junior Varsity

  • What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger – from Akbar

    3 strong at the Marsh this morning for another humid beatdown.

    Warm Up: SSH, Grass Grabbers, Mountain Climbers, Peter Parkers, Arm Circles, Self Love, Windmills, Plank stretches.

    Short mosey to the playground for 3 sets of 5 pull ups and 10 Supine Rows.

    Mosey to the lakefront for the Thang: Exercises at the wall, mosey to the light post, jog back and repeato

    Bulgarian Split Squats IC x12 , lunge walk , calf raises x14 IC

    Dirkins x 25 OYO, Bear Crawl, Bouncy Squats IC x20

    Freak Nasty x13 IC, Hallelugiah High Knees, Good Mornings x10IC

    Stone Mountain 25 OYO, Hallelugian Butt Kicks, Renegade Row x 20IC

    Irkins 25 OYO, Bear Crawl, Merkin Plank Jacks x5 OYO

    Mosey back to the Marsh stopping at each intersection for 5 Merkin Plank Jacks

    Mary:

    LBC x20 IC, Hello Dolly x 10 IC, Rosalita x10 IC, LMC x 20 IC, 5 Merkin Plank Jacks OYO

    Announcements:

    Gnarly Nutria this Wednesday, A1C 2 Yr Anniversary, Thibadeaux beatdown August 13th

    Count, Nameorama ,and YHC prayed us out with thoughts for Pik’s father in law; JV getting settled in the new house; my new job; recent post on Slack about a family losing their 17 year old son; and what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

    Thanks for letting me lead, always great to spend a Monday morning with my brothers to start off the week right.

    SYITG – Akbar

    NMM

    YHC was a little off in the beginning, but the Wiki helped get us back on track. Saw Garfield on his morning walk while doing Good Mornings. Mumblechatter was around the hard beatdowns lately, JV’s new house and improvements, and other weekend happenings.

  • Rocks and Blimps with a Splash of Merlot – from Akbar

    YHC took the late-night Q with a plan in mind for a different beatdown, where the PAX would pick up some bricks and mosey around carrying them the whole time doing exercises. The plan was quickly modified since there were no bricks, so we took a mosey for some time to think. Great to see Murdock again who brought his 2.0’s Demo and Varsity, who got named at the 007 this week.

    No better way to think than stop at the Rock Garden – so we each grabbed a rock and went through Shoulder Presses, Chest Presses, Skull Crushers, Rows, and Curls x 15 IC. During which time my brain clicked, and we continued to the Justice Center for BLIMPS.

    The route was from the first bench, past the Smokers Lounge, up the stairs for 10 Jump Squats, then return. Bear Crawls to the benches; Lunge Walk to Smokers Lounge; 10 Irkins at each bench; 10 Merkins at each light; 10 Peter Parkers; and 10 Squats at each bench.

    Varsity splashed Merlot after the Merkins but kept on pushing like any good kid would do.

    Back to the Rock Garden to finish where we started. x10 IC – Chest Presses, Rows, Curls, Shoulder Presses, Skull Crushers, and Good Mornings. BBQ requested a torso twist to help with our golf swings, and lead cadence for the finisher.

    Back to the flag with time for LMC’s, LBC’s and Hello Dolly x15 IC. Count, Name, and Murdock prayed us out.

    Announcements: Gnarly Nutria July 20th, 4th of July 5k in Covington, F3 Thibodaux CSAUP August 13th, Russo’s Big Easy Big Heart 5k July 16th

    Thanks for following my unthought out lead, always a pleasure to spend a Wednesday morning with y’all – Akbar

  • Uranus in Retrograde – from Steve

    Some weird planetary alignment threw us into an alternate universe this morning, and not a good one.

    Cowbell showed up on time (which should’ve been our first sign that things were askew), immediately souring JV’s intention to “live his life gloriously” while Cowbell was away for a week. As the smile dropped from JV’s face, it was immediately picked up by Cowbell who came frolicking (yeah, frolicking) in with a noticeable twinkle in his eye and a pep in his step. You might think this was due to his impending wedding bliss, but no – apparently there’s some sort of college baseball finals going on right now.

    Anyway, a super chatty warmorama caused YHC to abandon cadence counting for the first time in 5 years, before finally just calling it and heading to the stage for the intended circuit routine.

    Now the night before, Bushwacker had texted Jose and me that today – the first official day of summer (yeah, right) – there would be a dazzling planetary alignment: five planets in an arc, with the crescent moon situated somewhere in the middle. So, once in the grassy knoll at the foot of the stage, we looked up. But it was difficult to see anything beyond the thick swarm of bats that had suddenly blotted out the sky. Seriously, it was like Old Testament Egypt out at the amphitheater this morning.

    One grazed JV’s face, which prompted a quick swat and a, “Get outta here.” But when one buzzed Cowbell’s face, mid-jumping rope, he let out a howl and nearly fell off the stage. Not wanting to bring Ebola or SARS down to Key West for his wedding, Cowbell was not happy about these bats. (JV, though, happily added this incident, along with Cowbell’s tire pull efforts, to his list of ammo for those occasions when he needs to defend himself.)

    Oh yeah, and we were doing some exercises out there, too: jumping rope, curls, plank toe taps with resistance bands, freak nasties, flutters, planks, hand release merkins, squat thrusters, etc, with occasional runs hoping the swarm would dissipate.

    But bats were only the first plague that descended on us this morning. The second, and arguably worse, was mosquitos. I guess it didn’t help that we were lying around in the grass complaining instead of doing said exercises, but those suckers were eating us alive. Eventually, we had the sense to move to another area that had fans going.

    All in all, there was a lot of grumbling, and in a weird reversal that must’ve been due to Jupiter’s third moon ascending, it was everyone BUT Jose who was complaining. I’m telling you, bad omens all over the place at Granny’s this morning.

    Some things that we complained about: obviously, bats, mosquitos, proper jump rope technique (double jumps??), Bypass (ok, ok – Jose did contribute a little here), airline security lines, and Richard Simmons being the most important Brother Martin alum.

    YHC nearly went over because, apparently, time flies when you’re being attacked by nature and having a good gripe session. COT, nameorama, and Jose prayed us out, with intentions for Cowbells wedding and everyone’s safe travels down there.

    Reminder, a few CSAUP’s coming up: Goose and Paradox’s St. Vincent 500 in Thibodeaux, Hammer’s yet-to-be-named standing guard at the CPC, and, of course, the fast-approaching Gnarly Nutria. Thanks guys for the entertaining morning, always appreciate getting stronger with you all.

  • Fire Fighter Challenge Part Deux – from Bushwacker

    I feel I’ve been so delinquent in my commitment to F3 lately and it showed as I tried to start the warmorama. IMHO (as the kids put it), that delinquency continued right on through the beat down with my unorganized leadership, chaotic participation, and off-the-cuff modifications. But YHC brought the coupons, set the games in motion, and we all watched with little surprise as the former Marsh Madness champion and current King of Distain quite literally ran away with the Badaxe award this go ’round. Nonetheless, all men (regardless of age) put forth an effort most valiant indeed!

    WARMORAMA
    As previously mentioned, QIC felt entirely out of practice, forgetting exercise names, miscalling cadences, and generally flubbing my return. But PAX kept showing up until the ranks grew to a respectable number. Even after out our mosey to the shaft, Grundy popped up to fiddle around with our tires.

    THANG
    Farmer’s Carry
    Sledge Hammer Tire
    Tire Flip
    Tire Pull
    Prisoner’s Carry
    Tire Drag
    Chain of Doom
    Lunge Walk

    Teams of 2-3 did 3 1 minute rounds switching between the coupon and plank or al gore. We kept this up until, with 5 minutes remaining, the 4 bad asses competing for the Badaxe award ran the tire drag for time. As previously mentioned, our own reverend pastor preacher man took home the prize… until next time!

    COT
    On the spot we carried out count/nameorama, with zoo having departed prematurely. I appreciate you guys. I cherish my time with you guys. Many many thanks!

  • F3 Kickball: Chico’s Bail Bonds v Xscissor – from Akbar

    18 men showed in the gloom this morning for a game of F3 Kickball. We are taught to modify as necessary, and learn through trial and error that some things work, and some things don’t. Even the best laid plans go wrong sometimes, and it happened today. Below is the way YHC envisioned it, and then what really happened.

    PAX Hammer, Minnow, Chainsaw, Pickaxe, Gilligan, Moby Dick, Agent Carl, Jose 10k, Zoolander, Grundy, Steve, JV, Shooter, Waterpik, Dangerfield, Maverick, Russo, Akbar

    Warm Up x10 IC – Merkins, IW, Self-Love, Grass Grabbers, SSH, Arm Circles F/B, Toe Touches

    Thang: F3 Kickball
    Count off 1’s and 2’s to form 2 teams. Run to the baseball field in teams, arrive at the field, plank up in teams to pick team names.

    Rules for Kickers

    Kick the ball and mosey around all bases without stopping while kicking team holds plank until the kick is launched. Modes of travel will change in each inning. Modification for runners is always a backwards run. When you score, you get 1 point and lead your team in 5 Wife Pleasers IC while the fielders do Nolan Ryans. Penalty exercises on outs, strikes, and fouls – 10 Australian Mountain Climbers (2=1) OYO while field does Nolan Ryans. No bunting.

    Rules for Fielders

    Ball is not in play until it touches the ground. When the ball hits the ground, fielders must do an exercise before they touch the ball – unless it is a pop fly. If a pop fly is caught, catcher gets to choose kicking team exercises x 5IC or 10 OYO. If ball is dropped on the catch, regular rules apply and exercises must be done before touching the ball. No pegging runners while running with blocks and no forced outs.

    Game
    3 outs or 1x through the lineup, no catcher, winner chooses exercise for losing team at the Flag.

    Pre-Game – The PAX lined up for the National Anthem by Metallica.

    Exercises for Kickers and Fielders
    Inning 1: Farmers Carry, Squat Hold and 30 Air Presses
    Inning 2: Brick Fly Runs, 20 Bobby Hurleys
    Inning 3: Rifle Carry, 20 Big Boy Situps
    Inning 4: Brick Hallelujah Run, 20 Diamond Merkins
    Inning 5: Bear Crawl, Renegade Row Merkins

    What really happened – YHC explained the rules clearly and effectively and it was decided the rules would be explained as we played. The idea is the fielders do exercises to give the runners time to score, assuming that all balls would be kicked in the outfield. That was not the case. By some magic, the balls were kicked into the players at the infield and just sat there. Someone mentioned very early on this would be a low scoring game. In fact, the first inning lasted about 20 minutes. Even the QIC forgot to do exercises sometimes.

    So we went to straight up kickball, regular rules, for the last 10 minutes and a new plan for the next game swirled around in YHC’s head.

    The final score was 9 to 7, Chico’s Bail Bonds took home the pride.

    We got back to the flag a little late, and Shooter prayed us out. Great to have Agent Carl with us, EH’d by Toto, who has been lost somewhere in Oz for the last year. Come back Toto!

    Count, Name, and Shooter prayed us out.

    Thanks for following my lead –
    SYITG, Akbar

  • Low and Slow – from Akbar

    YHC arrived with 2 minutes to spare, greeted by Pik and JV. Buschwacker came in on Cowbell time and with Cowbell speed just in time to finish the warm up. Today we did some tempo work, taking it slow with most exercises Copperhead style.

    Warm up: SSH, IW, Hillbillies, Self-Love, Grass Grabbers, Toe Touches IC x 10-15

    Mosey to the Lakefront stopping at each block for 2 exercises x 15-20: Merkins, Mountain Climbers; Copperhead Squats/Mountain Climbers; Stone Mountain/ Mountain Climbers; Little Manny Crunches/ Mountain Climbers

    Rips: Wall sit with 100 air presses. Run stairs stopping for 25 calf raises on each side.

    Wall: Slow Dirkins, Bulgarian Split Squats, Freak Nasties x 15-20 each. Took a breather to say hello to Garfield, then back to the wall for another set of each.

    Head back to the Marsh stopping along the way for 20 Merkins, 20 Squats, and 20 LBC’s, arriving just in time for a 2 minute Mary of 100’s, aka Hummingbirds.

    Count, Name, and YHC prayed us out

    Announcements: 6 year anniversary this Saturday with TankedUp! and Cowbell co-Q

    Always a pleasure to start my week with you guys, thanks for following my lead.

    Akbar

  • “SUPER 21” – from Shooter

    Still recovering with soreness from accepting my 2.0s change of pace for some gym work on Saturday and Waterpik’s previous Monday Q of constant reps at the Marsh, YHC selected an oldie but goodie from the Exicon.. Arriving at the AO with 4 PAX already assembled in the freshly updated splash pad area I quickly jumped out and planted the shovel flag and began listening to the chatter of college baseball between Russo and JV.. Both hopeful of a Cowbell sighting, so that he could be reminded of his recent Rebels series loss over the weekend to the Volunteers..As to not disappoint the illumination coming down Girord street soon revealed the conversation would indeed be continued..

    Warmup
    All IC10 Cherry Pickers, Arm circles forward and back, Toe touches, Hillbillies, Imperial walkers and a brief mosey around the block back to the other side of the breezeway..

    Super 21
    After a short winded like Bushwacker explanation (if that’s even possible) PAX was given instructions on the exercises and break work between.. Instead of sticking to 2 body movements YHC decided to incorporate 6 different movements hopefully to accomplish total body work..

    Utilizing the breezeway pillars throughout its entirety we started with 1-7 Carolina dry docks and Donkey kickoffs.. Met at the stage for 21 recovery 8count body builders. 8-14 Merkins and Mountain climbers 2×1 again meeting at the stage for 21 recovery 8count body builders. 15-21 SSH and squats closing with 21 8count body builders.. Time remaining was 7 mins and after a slow recovery walk back to the splash pad 6 mins of Mary was left to close.. 15IC Crunchy 🐸, alternating elbow to knee both sides of course, Cowbell edition flutter kicks, Little Manny crunches and finished off with 100 OYO 💯s!!

    Count, announced all the great activities coming in April, COT

    Appreciate JV for closing out the PAX in 🙏🏼

    Until the next Gloom 👍🏼👊🏼✌🏼!!

  • Recycling: Good for the Earth, Good for the Soul – from Steve

    Rolled up a little early to secretly unload a few cinderblocks this morning, only to find Russo and and Murdoch already on the lookout. This was my first time meeting Murdoch, and YHC assumed he was visiting from another region because a) he looked fairly fit and, b) he was already wearing an F3 shirt. But no! Akbar named Murdoch last Wednesday and, with talk of four posts this week, it’s pretty clear he’s all in! Great, we need some new faces at Granny’s. But hey hey hey – let’s not pass along a shovel flag just yet guys.

    Little bit of catching up about the Nehemiah Project’s 4x4x48, about the SLU / Ole Miss game, and about JV doling out life lessons to ignorant teenagers who hit a car and run. Hey, they can’t all be as upstanding as Grover.

    Warmorama: Torso twists, SSH’s, IW’s, windmills, arm circles, seal jacks, cherry pickers, maybe some other stuff.

    Mosey to the stage for the main event.

    Now YHC will admit, recycling old beatdowns has become something of a pattern lately. And by ‘old,’ I mean, last week’s beatdown, maybe one from the week before. It’s not that I’m lazy, or that the beatdown was even that good, it’s… it’s just that… well, ok, yes, YHC is just lazy. And maybe a bit unimaginative. Mostly lazy though. Anyhow, what we did: a rotating circuit with one guy doing 20x burpees as a timer (JV loved this the first time, so you can imagine his delight in repeating it this morning), while the other pax were performing:

    – Curls
    – Squat thrusters
    – Chest presses
    – Lunges

    Because we didn’t have as many guys this time, once we had all completed the above, we set a one minute timer and knocked out big boys and plank jacks, which were part of the original circuit.

    Then a short mosey around the trailhead before returning to… that’s right, rinse and repeat. Somewhere in there, Russo and JV checked the wall of the stage for the scrawled out wisdom of teenagers. A sort of bathroom stall version of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus-kinda thing that can’t be repeated here provided some good laughs (though god help any small kids who stumble upon this – maybe we’ll have to paint over

    After the second run, we kept the burpees (though we downsized to 15x this time) and threw everything else out in favor of:

    – Alpos
    – Rows
    – Goblet squats
    – Monkey humpers

    JV suspected there was some leftover animosity from the Ole Miss game in the way Cowbell kept shouting out: C’mon JV!! No time for the additional exercises this time, stashed away the blocks and circle up for some Mary: leg raises, Rosalita’s, and crunchy frogs to close it out.

    COT, announcements (April 9th, Northshore’s SIXTH anniversary convergence – be there!), and JV prayed us out. Thank you men for the opportunity to get stronger along side you, and the chance to lead. I appreciate it brothers.

  • All The World’s A Stage – from Steve

    Decent crowd at Granny’s yesterday for a kinda-sorta cinderblock beatdown. Kinda-sorta because YHC only brought 3 coupons and there were 7 players in company. But, as always, we made it work (I will say, it was helpful to not have Bushwacker there undermining the Q’s efforts with constant griping about said cinderblocks!).

    Warmorama: SSH, IW’s, arm circles, cherry pickers, hillbillies, grass grabbers, seal jacks, and 20x merkins.

    Cowbell finally rolled in, which meant it was officially the end of warmorama and time to get after it.

    Thang:
    Mosey over to the stage for a rotating circuit. Each pax has an exercise, with one guy knocking out 20x burpees as the timer. Exercises were:

    Burpees x20 (timer)
    Curls
    Squat thrusters
    Tricep extensions
    Lunges
    Sit-ups
    Plank jacks

    YHC initially experimented with a cinderblock exercise called “forearm thingies,” (Bushwacker would’ve had an aneurism) which poor JV dutifully knocked out before Waterpik took over and wisely transitioned to tricep extensions.

    Once everyone had hit each station, we did a quick mosey around the trailhead in an attempt to at least get some mileage for RCR, and then rinse and repeat. After a second mosey around the trailhead, we hit the bus depot for YHC’s usual leg business:

    Bulgarians right and left, x12 IC each
    Freak Nasties, x12 IC
    Step ups, right and left, x12 IC each
    Freak Nasties, x12 IC

    And back to the stage to finish up with a different set of exercises, this time the rotation was:

    Burpees x20
    Goblet Squats
    Alpos
    Chest Presses
    Jump Squats
    Freddies
    Peter Parkers

    We only completed one round of this before it was time. COT, nameorama, and Pik prayed us out. Good to see Grundy out there now that he’s officially local. And t-claps to Hog’s Breath, since he’s decidedly not local and yet often makes it to at least one weekday beatdown. Appreciate the push you guys provide, and the opportunity to lead.

  • The Merkin Trap, Episode 4: The Search for Plutonium – from Akbar

    Admiral Gail Akbar of the Mon Calamari returns to the Northshore Mothership once again, to fight another battle against Darth Fartsack and the Sad Clown Empire. His secret mission this trip is to investigate the galactical mystery of Plutonium, reportedly found in the NOLA area by some beast named Hawgcycle. The commander of the Rebel forces knew this human was clever and dangerous – using words like isotopes, casualties, retrospect, and defecate in past correspondence about this discovery. He was at this beatdown before, maybe he would return. Key reinforcements – Baby Yoda, Bushwacker, Pickaxe, Chainsaw, and Shooter were missing. But we had new blood to make up the difference – a burly man named Cathe, with medical-surgical powers specializing in catheters, and a visiting pirate from Cape Fear named Teach. We were pleased with our chances.

    The Admiral received this note before his journey:

    Before night falls on this long winter day,
    A shining sword must find its way
    Into your hands and out of the gloom—
    Or Admiral Akbar shall meet his doom.
    To begin your quest for the Sword of Light,
    Call for the help of another to get right.
    You can always depend on an F3 brother,
    As Iron Sharpens Iron, so one man sharpens another.

    PAX

    Waterpik, Dangerfield, Freon, Bubba, Moby Dick, Bean, Russo, Jose 10k, Barely Legal, Speedy, Grundy, Bird, Zoolander, Maverick, Akbar, Hammer, Junior Varsity, Cathe (FNG), Teach

    Conditions – 40ish, no wind, a little foggy

    Warm Up – Arm Circles (F/B), Self-Love, Imperial Walkers, Grass Grabbers

    Thang

    Mosey up and down the Lakefront stopping for 2 exercises in each set, one of which would always be Merkins. 12, 8, 5 IC or 24,16,10 OYO. Each set = 50 Merkins, and most were 50 of another exercise except for a couple done Copperhead style.

    1 – Flag SSH, Merkins
    2 – Rips Calf Raises, Wide Merkin
    3 – Parking stripes Lunge walk, 5 Merkins every 2nd stripe
    4 – Noah Wall Tempo Freak Nasties, Dirkin
    5 – Grass Circle Al Gore/Shoulder raise, Wide Merkin
    6 – Wall Copperhead Squats, Irkin
    7 – Grass Circle Scuba Steve, Stone Mountain
    8 – Grass Circle Al Gore/Shoulder raise, Merkin
    9 – Noah Wall Scuba Steve, Diamond Irkin
    10 – Rips Twinkle Toes, Prime Time Merkin
    11 – Flag Little Manny Crunches, Merkin

    Total 550 Merkins

    Mary – x10 IC

    Fire Hydrants, Leg Raises, Hello Dolly, LBC’s, Lay flat on your back for 1 minute, time called

    Count-o-rama, Name-o-rama. Welcome FNG Cathe! Pronounced Cathy

    Announcements

    – Run Cajun Run, log your mileage
    – Hammer, Grundy, Steve, and Tanked Up! have put together a team to support The
    Nehemiah Project. They will run 48 miles over 48 hours on March 18th at Fontainebleau
    State Park. Check Slack for more.
    – Bird has the Q next Saturday

    COT

    YHC prayed us out with thoughts of words like man, father, husband, brother, friend – all verbs – and to take action this week remembering to flex our heart muscle. Don’t forget tomorrow is Valentine’s Day

    Alas, the Admiral did not find Plutonium, or Hawcycle, or the Sword of Light. But what he did find was a group of men who sharpened each other – enjoying camaraderie, food, and a hot cup of coffee for their efforts. Sad, but undaunted, he shall return next year.

    Thanks for letting me lead, and for following.

    SYITG – Admiral Akbar

    NMM

    Of all days to be late, YHC misplaced the keys and had to hall butt to make it there just in time to start.

    Great to have Teach from F3 Cape Fear make the drive from Gulfport while working out of town for a while.

    Bird brought Ian, a FNG who we named Cathe, pronounced Cathy, he works in med devices sales with vascular catheters.

    YHC had to modify pretty quickly after the Dirkins in the 4th set – in which QIC almost face planted from exhaustion. The plan was to go all the way to the playground and work my way back, but time forced a modification. We still got in around 550 Merkins in an hour

    Grundy showed up late, half way through, and owes 250 Merkins.

    I’ve been reading a lot of Jack and Annie books with the kids, and the poem came from a Merlin Mystery novel. I have to admit, these books are great – historical fiction and mystery combined. Kids and adults alike will love them. Sometimes, the book titles become backblast titles.

    The Plutonium reference came from the master backblast writer himself, Hawcycle. Look back and read it, it’s good stuff.

    Coffeeteria was great, this time including more King Cake, breakfast bowls, and my 2.0’s showed up for sugar and hot chocolate.