F3 New Orleans

Tag: Popeyes

  • Teamwork Gumbo- Add Burpees to Taste – from Paradox

    One of the many beautiful things about F3 is that beatdowns come in all flavors. Some are slow cooked for that low heat quad burn. Some, pan fried in zoysia and leave you needing 2.5 gallons of Rouses water to lick your wounds. Others, heavy on the spice , with unknown ingredients mixed in ready to ambush you at every dollar store cone. Saturday’s beatdown needed all our pax ingredients to blend together in a synergistic gumbeaux of team building exercises
    It went a little something like this….

    Recipe for Teamwork Gumbeaux
    1 cup extra crispy Yankee Joe , variable beard length for extra masculinity
    1 oven roasted Goose , dark meat or white meat you’ll find the form impeccable
    3.18 micrograms of Spicey Enron powder (kinda like a knock off Tony Chachere’s ) to challenge the palate,- works well on slow 10 counts
    1 complaint free twice baked Perclelator , Chackbay imported only
    1 tightly wrapped Wet Tap , 10 merkins before cooking or the chest meat will be gamey
    1 Kilo of unmarked everchanging vehicles to keep the recipe fresh
    1 sprinkle of Chocolate Montana Thunder to keep the fasting glucose below 300
    1 lb of freshly chopped Piccadilly,  imported from Houma
    A dash of Coyote so we have a benchmark for speed
    A spread of Pope to keep us young and humble
    Blend all together in a roux of burpees and squatsPreheat your Peltier Park Oven to 92 , adjust to max humidity and cook for 1 hour
    Serve hot and Bone app the teeth cus it always goes down smooth

    WarmUp

    The usuals plus a few added reps while we welcomed Kilo and Montana to the fray. (T claps to Montana for his first Peltch experience)
    Got started with a Black snake Indian run with the last PAX dropping for 10 ssh.  JBL dialed up Eye of the Tiger and was thumping to keep the intensity high. PAX came out of the gate strong with speed and tenacity. Set the tone and didn’t let up. This led us to the tennis courts. 

    With a goal of solidifying pax unity before our fundraiser event YHC had some teamwork training in mind today.  First step was to identify the key pillars of an effective team then immediately put them to the test. 

    Thang 1
    Mutual respect for your teammates

    Aretha Franklin taught the boys some RESPECT
    IW on song , Squats on “just a little bit “ , Burpees on “Respect “
    Followed by a Mini ladder – 10 reps of the following exercises with descending burpees From 7
    Ranger merkins
    Elbow plank jacks
    Squats
    Peoples chair arm raises
    Easy merkins (wide)
    Carolina dry
    Terrible merkins (diamond)
    Coyote continued to challenge the land speed record for mammals and Yankee Joe kept the mumble chatter to a simmer which was his lowest possible setting. – T- claps to Goose for watching out for PAX safety on those net jumps. May have to modify those if they tighten the net. 

    Mosey to ThunderDome

    Thang 2

    Communication, Accountability and Trust
    YHC welcomed PAX to the Burpee minefield where we will build communication or suffer the consequences.
    Pax holds plank on the surrounding rectangle with scattered cones in between. 
    send one pax through blindfolded
    if he knocks over a cone , 5 squats
    Decrease time each rotation as communication improves . Goose , Montana, Wet Tap, and Coyote ran the gauntlet safely. Great teamwork and flexibility here as the PAX learned to let the next man down the line control the instructions as they are closer to the action. Penalties were minimal.

    Thang 3
    Mosey To big field For Conflict resolution training Via JBL and Anker. If you’ve been following the bayou pax backblasts you may know about this storm that’s been brewing. The feud between pax bluetooth devices has been long, bloody and flooded many well planned beatdowns with chaos. Every great team must be challenged with internal conflict. But how you respond to the conflict seperates good from great. With this lesson in mind YHC extended an olive branch to Team Anker with a goal in mind…. Pax destruction via a two headed bluetooth hydra spitting fire , thumping tubs, and striking thunder in the hearts of the pax. 

    Split into 2 teams. one to Anker, one to JBL roughly 100 yards apart
    When your team does 3 burpees run to the other song
    High knees on song
    Sprint between devices
    JBL played ACDC ,  burpees on thunderStruck
    Anker played TubThumping
    burpees on “get knocked down”

    All YHC will comment here is that an anonymous tip of Whoop data was submitted later that day with HR spikes to the 190s and unprecedented strain. 

    We put it all together with a mission to advance the kettlebell to the 100 yard cone
    All Pax in single file, pass kettle bell behind you while in al gore
    Last man takes kb and lunges to the front hands off , does 5 squats
    Every time you hand off the kb, do 5 squats. Brutal quad burn.

    Mosey back to the flag for Special Musical Mary
    With our teamwork training complete we felt like a cohesive unit , cueing up Feel so close by Calvin Harris: Alternate freddie mercuries on the chorus with wife pleasers , penguins , LBCs, big boys, flutter kicks. A great burner and the effort here was tremendous. 

    COT and Enron prayed us out 

    1 week until the SV 500!! The Stage is set and Sponsors are filled! . Check out Slack or Facebook for more info. Come see us Friday night for a burger at the Stage as well. 

    Grateful for you men and the strength we have when locking shields together
    . Thanks for the freedom to lead. 

    SYITG

     Paradox

    ◦

  • The Life of St. Vincent de Paul – from Paradox

    Bright morning sun, fresh cut grass and a few buried treasures met 10 PAX Saturday at the Peltch. The hype for the St. Vincent 500 is steadily building so YHC decided to give the PAX a history beatdown and honor the life of this great Saint.

    Standard issue warmup with some added flare. What/who is a Nancy Kerrigan? Still a mystery. During a recent beatdown intervention YHC was confronted by none other than Enron (Et tu, Brute?) about doing backwards arm circles during the time that is not clearly designated for either forward or backward arm circles. Strong opinions were laid on the table. An entire life’s work of beatdown warmups were questioned. Lines were drawn in the sand. In the end YHC acknowledged the error in his ways and gave into the authorities. Henceforth Q designates forward or backward AC. So let it be written.

    Enough Tom Foolery, to the beatdown..

    THANG 1 -The Early Life

    St. Vincent de Paul was born in a peasant village in rural France on 4/24/1581.
    PAX partnered up to get some monkey bar hang time while the partner knocked out 4 burpees, flap jack, followed by 24 LBCs, flap jack ,followed by 81 SSH. Flap jack. Tons of mumblechatter about the health attributes of a dead hang. Yankee Joe assured us his shoulder joints had actual cob webbs and Cardinal hung bravely from the short bar with worldclass form. We were all better for it. Coyote could still be hanging if he wanted to. The joint laxity is strong with 2.0s.

    A short mosey to the ball field where we continued to contemplate the hard work that St. Vincent learned while helping his family tend farm animals and plow fields. Staying in partner groups in wheelbarrow format we worked a small plot of land then had to flip the equipment for partner leg raises. Partners then swapped and one was the plow while the other provided the manpower. This was completed during the length of the classic from Jason Aldean “Amarillo Sky”. Team Goose with an impressive display of teamwork here as the 2.0s took a leg each to help Pops plow his field. Tclaps

    Mosey to the cornhole zone for a musical interlude. St. Vincent’s parents noticed his intelligence, and after many sacrifices were able to send him to study for the priesthood. After excelling in school, he was ordained as a priest at the age of 19. Due to the law at the time, he could not perform duties as a parish priest until 24 so he decided to pursue degrees in canon law and theology. Becoming a theology Rockstar was his goal but this was also a time of great spiritual turmoil for the young priest.

    PAX listened to “Party Rock” and performed Imperial walkers during the intro, seal claps on “claps” and then a cluster of
    Bonnie Blairs during the chorus. Earmuffs were applied as YHC could not find the nonexplicit version.

    Thang 2 -Seven Seas and “The Mission”

    After completing his education St. Vincent was eager to serve as a priest and put his years of learning into practice. God had other plans. He was captured by pirates and eventually sold into slavery. Through a span of 2 years he was traded from ship to ship. Instead of despair, St. Vincent used this time to learn alchemy, navigations, and continue the discernment process to find what God truly had planned for him.

    JBL played “Around the World” by Daft Punk while PAX completed around the world lunges and Moroccan night clubs during the short breaks.

    Next we headed for the seven seas. A preset course of cones directed us into stations of “treasure” on the crest of each wave. PAX started with 4x4x4 (merkins, mountain climbers SSH) as a single pax was fed into the ocean at a time. Crest stations included kettlebell OHP x10, heavy bar OHP x10 and dumbbell flies x10 while trough stations involved 5 merkins. Run between cones.

    St. Vincent eventually converted his own slave master to Christianity and won his release returning to France where he began the Congregation of the Mission and Daughters of Charity. Above all else his mission was to “be Christ among the poor “and to “see Christ among the poor”. He spent the next 30 plus years serving the poor and “left behind” population of France and allocating resources to provide for organizations to continue this work.

    We used these same 7 stations for “St. Vincent Webb’s” which consisted of increasing merkins x1 and air presses x2 until 7 merkins and 14 air presses were achieved. On the way back we did LBC x2 and American Hammers x4 in increasing fashion until 14 lbcs and 28 American hammers were complete.
    A mosey back to flag to complete the last segment of St. Vincent’s life. While afflicted with painful sores on his lower extremities St. Vincent was bound to a chair or bed until his death. He did not let this hamper his mission. He completed thousands of letters to the aristocracy of France and utilized these resources to provide for the poor and needy.

    Special round of Mary where we completed no leg movement core exercises. Penguins, big boy situps, Nolan Ryans, scuba steves and Australian sweat angels.
    COT and Prayer

    **Post Beatdown extra curriculars: encore version of “Party Rock” was completed while picking up cones and YHC accessories. Some say Enrons dance moves changed the course of Thibodaux history. Others were less enthused.

    Thanks for letting me lead fellas. As always I had a ball creating and attempting to execute this one. Excited to serve this community and continue the mission of St. Vincent de Paul through our upcoming fundraiser.

    Sign up your team for the SV500 and lets get those sponsorships locked down.

    SYITG
    Paradox

  • I Will Survive – from Paradox

    9 PAX met up at the airport of Peltier park to depart on an Alaskan moose hunt. Things started off safe enough with some casual warmup by the ball field: SSH, IW, WM, AC, cherry pickers, grass grabbers, high knees, butt kicks.
    We boarded our small engine plane and headed for the monkey bars. After a short layover to pick up Tighty Whitey (the red truck signals we are exactly 5 minutes into a beatdown) we settled in a for a nap with dreams of moose steaks dancing in our heads. That’s when all hell broke loose…

    THANG 1 STAMINA
    Your pilot had a massive MI and you have crash landed in a ravine in the middle of northern Canada. You find your friend hanging on a limb over the ravine and you must run back to the plane for supplies.
    Round1 : Partner 1 dead hang on monkey bars, Partner 2 sprint to thunder dome, 5 merkins, sprint back Flapjack
    (*Considering these dead hangs step 1/600 on our murph training journey)
    Once out of the ravine you come face to face with a pacific northwest rattlesnake and must wait while your partner runs through the jungle to get a machete.
    Round2: Partner 1 hold plank, Partner 2 10 jump squats traverse monkey bars, 10 jump squats
    Flapjack
    Your adrenaline is now torched so you stop by a stream for a sip of water andddd…..immediate dysentery. Your partner must go in search for the largest and softest leaf he can find. (shout out to Oregon Trail)
    Round 3: Partner 1 hold Al Gore, Partner 2 run to thunder dome for 10 freak nasties run back.
    Flapjack

    THANG 2 SPEED
    After recovering from dysentery you bump into a hive of Killer Bs (Canadian bees are different, its science)
    Canadian Killer B’s equal 5 Burpees, 5 BBSU, 5 Bonnie Blairs (2 is 1)
    During the duration of the song “I will survive” Gloria Gaynor

    All of this Killer bee commotion caught the attention of a grizzly bear and now the chase is on.
    Cones in Triangle formation at the Chimney
    Sprint to chimney, Nur to next cone. Bear Crawl back while Partner does R1 hillbilles, R2 MNC, R3 LBCs
    Several PAX wanted it known for the record that they would just take their chances with the bear instead of sprinting.

    Thang 3 STRENGTH
    You have successfully evaded the bear but your partner twisted his ankle and you need to get to the chopper evac zone.
    10 cones 10 yards apart
    Partner drag to cone. 5 power merkins, swap partner drag

    Care package Drop
    Another few miles and we’ll be home free.
    Indian Run, Last man drops off for 5 BBSU (care package) then catch up to front

    CHOPPER EVAC FINISHER
    While waiting on the chopper you and your partner decided to try out ice fishing and your partner fell in the lake. You have 5 minutes till the chopper arrives but you have to keep his heart rate up….

    Destinys Child- Survivor- SSH with Burpees on the word survivor. Finished very strong with the last 30 seconds of holding plank and merkins on the word survivor.

    Took the rescue chopper back to the Flag for some Mary: dolphin hops, BBSU, LBCS, penguins, Aus sweat angels, scuba steve. ALL IC X15-20

    Announcements: Continued preparations for our fundraiser the St. Vincent 500.
    Mudgear pre order coming soon.

    COT and Wet Tap prayed us out.

    I loved every minute of creating this one fellas. The effort for the JBL sponsored Survivor finisher was phenomenal. Congratulations! You all passed the Paradox survival camp and made it home to your families.

    Thanks for the opportunity to create and lead
    Till the next gloom
    Paradox

  • Holy Saturday and a Visit from a Forefather – from Goose

    As the PAX slowly trickled in at the Peltch on the morning of Holy Saturday, we tried to guess whose car was pulling in as soon as we could see the headlights down the road. But one car mystified us, even as it pulled to a stop in the parking lot–was it another one of Tighty Whitey’s FNG’s showing up nervously without him? Or, was it an overly excited little league coach coming to set up his dugout a few hours early? We were way off. White hair was the first thing to become clear in the gloom, and then a Run Cajun Run shirt–could it be? Yes!! It was Reluctant Yankee! I had the distinct pleasure of directing the following proclamation to the PAX, “Gentlemen, this is the founder of F3 NOLA, and today he has deigned to join us bayou PAX for our humble beatdown at The Peltch.” YHC would have preferred to have some trumpeters, a red carpet, and a scroll to read from, but all we had was Coyote, my 10-year-old 2.0, who rattled off as many F3 terms as he could think of (“fartsack” came up multiple times).
    Ultimately, 12 PAX, including an FNG, were present as we commenced a Holy Saturday themed beatdown.

    Warmup: SSH, WM, AC, Cherry Pickers, IW, high knees, butt kicks

    Thang 1:
    Moseyed to the Thunderdome for a Flora 1, 2, 3 and a couple of songs. The theme was uncomfortable waiting–Jesus is lying dead in a dark, stone tomb, and we’re waiting with him.
    Partnered up for the Flora (waiting in uncomfortable positions while your partner completes his reps):
    1. Partners split 100 dips, each does 10 at a time while the other holds dip position (down).
    2. 200 air presses in people’s chair against the columns, 20 at a time while other holds chair position.
    3. 300 flutter kicks, 30 at a time while other holds legs six inches off the ground.

    Song 1: “While I’m Waiting” by John Waller–held plank for the duration (almost 5 min.) and 3 mountain climbers (2:1) every time he said “Waiting” (90 mountain climbers total). YHC’s calves are still sore.
    Song 2: “The Final Countdown” by Europe–side straddle hops for the duration (over 5 min.) and three Bonnie Blairs (1:1) for every “Final Countdown” (over 50 total).

    Thang 2: Empty Tomb
    When the disciples saw/heard the tomb was empty, the waiting/difficulty wasn’t immediately relieved. There were questions, confusion, running, freaking out, etc. So, the PAX lined up at the first of three cones and completed 20 Chinooks (arm circles over the head) to represent the women freaking out and telling the disciples the tomb was empty, and then sprinted to the second cone to represent to apostles running to the tomb, and then army crawled from there to the third cone (crawling into the tomb to check it out).
    Repeated this 5 times (and gained some souvenir brush burns in the process).
    Then, all PAX ran backward to the last cone and back followed by carioca to the last cone and back.
    Then, partnered up and PAX 1 ran backward from the first cone to the third, and PAX 2 sprinted to try to catch him once he reached the second cone (like Peter trying to catch up with John). Flapjack and then rinse and repeat.

    Indian Run around the park gave YHC a chance to chatter with Yankee a bit about F3 leadership, followed by some substantial Mary at the flag. Tried to include 10 Absolutions, a somewhat complicated 8-count plank exercise, which failed miserably, leading to the obvious lesson that absolution (cleansing from sin) can’t be earned. Other exercises were crunchy frogs, wife pleasers, leg raises, and a couple of other things, I think.

    Count off, name off, and named our FNG Neanderthal–welcome!! Announcements included a push to hop in the clown car headed to the Northshore for the Zoorich Classic this Saturday, and Kilo prayed us out. Thanks, gents, for letting me lead, and huge thanks to Reluctant Yankee for the surprise visit!

    SYITG,
    Goose

  • TENET – from Percleator

    YHC recently saw the film Tenet. So many questions. How does time inversion work? Who is Neil really? Is Christopher Nolan the greatest director of our time? (Yes). It’s all still unclear. So YHC had the PAX reenact parts of the movie to try and figure it out. Tenet is a palindrome and a theme in the movie is things going forward and going backward.

    Warmup: SSH, AV, AC, CP, BK, HK, Self-Love, IW

    First thang: T.E.N.E.T – Dora style workout but “mirrored”
    50 T – Merkins w/ Run to the Chimney and Nur back
    100 Empirial Walkers (don’t question the spelling) w/ bear crawl then crawl bear
    300 Never Cross Dollies (hello dollies with back off the ground in up crunch position) w/ lunge walk then walk lunge
    100 Empirial Walkers
    50 T- Merkins

    Second Thang: The McGuffin Game – A McGuffin is an object in a movie that exists just to drive the action. Ex: the brief case in Pulp Fiction
    Coupons placed in the middle of field. One member gets the coupon to the other side via murder bunnies. Opposing team member runs to one end of the field, 15 Maktar Njais, run to other end, 15 Freddie Murcurys, then steals the coupon and murder bunnies in the opposite direction. Getting the coupon to your side earns a point, though after enough running, no one had a real count on the points. 2.0’s ran laps around the field w/ 8 count bb’s, then got to make the PAX perform man-makers. Was it a little confusing? Yes, but so was the movie…

    Last Thang: Tunnel of love, in forward, then reverse. PAX held plank to make a tunnel while members army crawled through one at a time. Once everyone had gone through, reverse army crawl backward through the tunnel. Call back to the tunnel at the end of the movie.

    6+ minutes of Mary: American Hammers, Penguins, Lazy Boys, Australian sweat angels, Nolan Ryans, Flutter Kicks

    Always fun when the PAX doesn’t mind being the guinea pigs. Best bit of mumblechatter at the end:
    YHC: “Well hope y’all liked it.”
    Coyote: “I didn’t.”

    COT and Cardinal prayed us out.
    Thanks for the opportunity to lead.
    SYITG

  • The Louisiana PureChest: Life, Liberty, and the Trivial Pursuit of Alligator Merkins – from Paradox

    The mindset: After a few months of baptism by fire beatdowns at the Stage YHCs first Peltier Park Q was set with great anticipation. Was the confidence there? Was my cadence on point? Enough props? What if it rains? Will Cardinal ask fine print questions? Will Goose undoubtedly question my form? The questions swirled as I pulled up to the peltch on a lovely spring morning. The JBL was charged. The props were set. Now just add PAX and its gumbeaux time.

    The mission: Take the PAX on a geographical, historical and cultural journey through the time and space of Louisiana history while giving multiple muscle systems two options: Fight or Run.
    The Pax: An impressive display of Gentleman with scattered 2.0s to make up 13.
    The warmup: 18 for all IC- (LA joined the US as the 18th state) SSH, IW, WM, Cherry Pickers, Self Love, High Knees, Butt Kicks
    Disclaimer was given for those recently minted PAX and reminders of modifications and safety were given for all. Lets get to it.

    THANG 1
    Mosey to the Thunder dome for a Cajun classic warm up. Louisiana Saturday Night- Tin Soldiers the entire song, Bonnie Blairs (boths sides) on “Louisiana Saturday Night”. We got down the fiddle, we got down the bow but most of all we danced in the kitchen.

    Next YHC explained that the LA Purchase doubled the size of the US. I could not gift the men land but I did promise a certified Louisiana PureChest after todays beatdown merkin variety (I worked on this dad Joke for months and the laughter was minimal, PAX were lazer focused). We assumed ring of Fire formation and completed 100 incline merkins, 75 Decline merkins, and 50 diamon merkins.

    Capped this off with Calling Baton Rouge just to make sure everyone had the juices flowing. High knees during whole song, Burpee on “Baton Rouge”, “Operator”, and “Louisiana”.

    THANG 2
    Mosey to the Football field for the Main event: Paradox Trivia. 4 cones set up 25 yards apart in a square. Each corner would be a trivia question. If correct we complete the associated exercise (see below). If incorrect we complete the exercise plus the punishment by traveling to the middle gumbo pot. When we arrive at the gumbo pot the PAX make a group decision to take 5 burpees or pick from the pot. (soon to learn the pot had some extra bay leaves). Mode of travel between all corners is 10 alligator merkins followed by bear crawls. Disclaimers: YHC used a childrens LA history website and Wikipedia for all sources and discrepancies were dismissed immediately.

    1. Who is LA named after? King Louis 14- Wide Merkins- Correct!
    2. How long is the causeway bridge? 24 miles. No mercy for 23.6 miles so the PAX had the first incorrect. (YHC wanted to test the gumbo pot). 50 SSH were selected and performed.
    3. How many parishes in LA? Local Theologian Goose came in strong with 64 and saved the PAX. 64 shoulder presses in squat position.
    4. Edwin Edwards # of terms and prison years? 4 terms, 8 prison years. Incorrect so we did 8 prisoner squats and alligatored to the pot for a selection. 10 diamond merkins
    5. How much $ for LA purchase? Pope came in with early correct answer (15 million) BUT was questioned by the PAX. Learned a lesson about listening to the quiet confidence in a group. PAX selected 17 million and paid with a trip to the gumbo pot for 15 carolina dry docks.
    6. NO is how far below sea level? 8 feet: 8 Jump squats. Pax guessed 12 and took another gumbo trip. This time fear of the spice was growing, and PAX accepted the 5 burpee offer.
    7. Highest point in LA? Mount Driskell- 535 ft. PAX got this correct and unlocked a special Paradox challenge. JBL whipped up a tune and the pax were instructed to start mountain climbers. If they can guess the song, artist, AND movie the song was played in they would reduce the pain to 1 minute. In a moment of pure astonishment our beloved parish priest came through with “miley Cyrus, The Climb andddd The Hannah Montana Movie” only 10 seconds into the work. Cardinal is truly gifted at reducing the pain for the PAX at all costs, even embarrassment.
    8. Name the distinguishing characteristics of alligator vs crocodile? Answered correctly and we advanced for the last set of alligator merkins.
    9. This LA animal recently transitioned from Endangered to Threatened list: La black bear. This pax again got this one down and earned bear crawls to the next cone.
    10. Official state song of LA: you are my sunshine. Enron shamed 318 by labeling Jefferson Davis as the artist of the song but quickly corrected to Jimmy Davis. (all is forgiven). YHC showed off some rather shakey sunshines (seated position with hands behind head and touching elbow to the ground) and an even shakier cadence. Promise I will shelf that one for a while
    11. Official boat of LA: Correct- Pirogue- 25 Scuba steves
    12. LA state dog: Correct- Catahoula leopard dog: 13 carolina dry docks
    13. La state fruit: Correct – Strawberry- alternate 25 superman and banana boats

    Circled up for the FINISHER***
    The Cajun Classic “Jumbalaya” with burpees on Bayoooo, calf raises on the rest.

    Mosey back to the flag for COT and Cardinal prayed us out.

    Moleskin: This one produced some great mumble chatter as the PAX worked on communication to get a “final answer”. Learning that correct answers can often come with early confidence from some of the younger or less experienced voices.

    An absolute joy to bring this one together and share it with the PAX.
    The opportunity to lead you men is a blessing.

    SYITG

  • The Great Nursery Rhyme Beatdown of 2022 – from Goose

    Kilo warned us it might happen. “Bring a towel,” he said. “It might be wet out there,” he said. But, little did he or the rest of the PAX know the level of carnage that YHC had in store for this cold, windy, soggy morning. Of course, Cardinal may have used his spiritual upper hand to gain some kind of foresight that led to his admittedly pure, unexcused fartsacking. The rest were caught off guard by what at first seemed to be just a semi-creative way to work through a hard, but not impossible Tabata list. But, then came Jack and Jill…

    Warmup: the usual Goose faves–SSH, WM, AC, IW, and Self-Love with some high knees and butt kicks to wake up the cardio system

    Thang 1: Tabata (“It’s Italian for…”)
    One minute, as many reps as possible (AMRAP) of each of the following exercises, with 30 seconds of rest in between, which was long enough for YHC to explain the next nursery rhyme and its connection to the assigned exercise:
    * Humpty Dumpty—wall sit
    * Jack be nimble—hop back and forth over a line, feet together
    * Sing a song of sixpence—8-count body builders (the king was in his counting house…)
    * Pop Goes the Weasel—monkey humpers
    * Old King Cole—wacky jacks (like a jester)
    * Georgie Porgie—suicides (when the boys came out to play, Georgie Porgie ran away)
    * Little Boy Blue—BBS (wake up, boy!)
    * Little Miss Moffet—Dips (rise up off that tuffet!)
    * Peter Peter—Peter Parker Peter
    * Old Mother Hubbard—Nolan Ryans (reaching into a bare cupboard, coming up empty-
    handed)
    * Rockaby Baby—LBC’s
    * Three Blind Mice—mosey to the sidewalk in front of the playground (see how they run).

    Thang 2: Jack and Jill
    Partner up (Jack and Jill): Jack (partner 1) runs up the hill to fetch a pail of water, and does five jump squats at the top before coming back down, while Jill (partner 2) falls down (burpees). Partner 1 takes over the burpee count upon returning until 100 are completed. Then, Jack broke his crown: 100 Carolina Dry Docks, while partner 1 still ran up the hill to do five jump squats. Lastly, Jill came tumbling after, which meant 100 Superman/Canoes while Jack still ran up for jump squats. Superman/Canoes = PAX started on faces in Superman position (arms and legs up), then rolled to the six without the use of hands to Canoe position (head and legs a few inches off the ground, hands down by hips).
    The combination of that many consecutive burpees with jump squats at the top of a small hill seemed to be a new level of suck for many of the Bayou PAX, but complaints were few. Could’ve been because we still hadn’t laid in any cold puddles yet (Superman/Canoes were done on the sidewalk.)

    Thang 3: Deal or No Deal
    YHC left the nursery rhyme theme behind for the last 15 minutes as we moseyed to the practice field and the heretofore hidden F3 Deck of Death was revealed. (Note: the cards are very much waterproof, mudproof, and tear proof, but the box is very much not.) Each PAX was given a chance to pick two cards but only look at the first. They could then decide whether all would complete the first card’s exercise, or blindly commit to the second.
    Though most of the ridiculously hard cards were avoided, the greater majority of exercises chosen seemed to require lying in the mud, so Kilo’s warning was well grounded. Due to the high winds, most PAX were still wearing their sweatshirts (even after Jack and Jill) so they soaked up the frigid puddles like sponges. The mosey back to the flag was heavy and cold, but spirits were high as the proud PAX discussed making t-shirts or getting tattoos that said, “I survived the Great Nursery Rhyme Beatdown of 2022!”

    COT and Paradox prayed us out.

    Thanks for letting me lead and being willing to keep pushing, especially you new guys who are still working through your first weeks of this! And, much gratitude for you somewhat more experienced PAX who have decided that F3 is now a part of how you do life well. Your companionship in the gloom is a gift beyond value!

    See You in the Gloom,
    Goose

  • The Reality of Weakness – from Goose

    A solid nine PAX gathered at the Peltch despite having six regulars out due to sickness or travel. An FNG showed early and was almost spooked by what at first seemed only to be a pile of kids wrestling around a flag. It was only YHC’s three 2.0’s, and it didn’t take long for the rest of the PAX to pull in and make it clear that there were plenty of out-of-shape adults to play with, too. The FNG (Jacob Broussard) was EH’d by Tighty Whitey, and is an awesome addition to the Thibodaux crew!

    Warmup was led by Coyote, whose cadence count was adequate, and consisted of: SSH, Windmills, high knees, butt kicks, Arm Circles, IW, and Self-love
    Moseyed to the Diamond for…

    Thang 1: Duck Jousting
    The infield was the ring, and with arms folded across the chest (most of the time), duck-walking PAX tried to knock each other down. Last man standing won while those who fell did exercises while they waited: squats for the first round, lunges for the second, and heel raises for the third. There may have been some elbows, arm hooks, and very tall ducks here and there, but even without performance enhancing tactics, rounds were short, and the FNG proved himself a sturdy duck.

    Thang 2: All Around the Thunderdome
    Moseyed to the Thunderdome and circled in the center while YHC explained that the PAX would do an exercise for the length of time it took for one of us to run the sidewalk around the dome and the adjacent community center building (approx. 400 meters). While each took a turn running, the rest completed one of the following exercises while yearning to catch a glimpse of the runner coming around the final corner from behind the building:
    * Mission Impossible plank
    * Heel raises
    * J-Lo’s
    * Donkey kicks
    * Diamond Merkins
    * Heels to Heaven
    * Bonnie Blairs
    * Chill cut plank
    * Merkins

    Thang 3: The Ground is Lava
    Moseyed to the playground where YHC revealed the lesson of the day, particularly as it related to Thang 2 and 3:

    There’s only so much we can do at any particular moment about the fact that we have weaknesses, and those weaknesses will affect other people in a negative way whether we like it or not. And, we will be affected in a negative way by the weaknesses of others, whether we like it or not. What reveals the true greatness in man (and the image of the Maker in man), however, is our ability to choose how we respond when affected by another’s weakness. Our true greatness is shown clearest when we choose to allow ourselves to be affected by the weakness of another so that he’s not left alone in it. “No man left behind” is most deeply and fruitfully fulfilled when we’re willing to suffer with another man even if we have the ability to avoid that suffering ourselves. “Catching the six” is the most obvious example of this in F3, but so is “The Ground is Lava”:

    PAX lined up at the long-ish monkey bars to traverse, hand over hand, without touching the ground. If any appendage so much as brushed the ground, all PAX dropped for 10 burpees. Same rules applied for two other areas of the playground–mostly requiring upper body strength, balance, and perseverance. Most of the elements were chosen knowing that one or two guys might struggle, but the burpees were done with willing camaraderie, and there was no room for shame or isolation.
    What seemed like it might have a childish feel on paper ended up feeling more like a joint challenge, and the shouting of encouraging words and guidance were a constant.
    The only thing YHC might have changed was the use of the slides at the end. These suckers came down long and steep from the second story, and they were wet. There were three next to each other, the middle one straight and the other two bending sharply, one to the right and the other to the left at the very end. Percleator was the first down the middle, and he almost had his pretty grill knocked out as he was thrown dangerously close to the perimeter boundary at about 30 mph. Paradox chose the one to the right, and YHC wished he would have caught the violent, body-tossing action on camera as he was jarred sideways at the hip air after slipping a reportedly “six-times faster” than he expected through the bend at the bottom. He landed hard on his side after barrel rolling in the air once or twice, but he’s a medical professional, so he was able to reset all dislocated joints before we could even ask if he was ok. The rest used the shoe brake method, but the fire-pole may have been the better call.

    Indian Run around the park before a final sprint to the flag for three long minutes of Mary: all IC–Alphabet (with feet in leg raise position), LBC’s, Wife Pleasers, Crunchy Frogs.

    Welcome Pledge! Way to stick with it!

    COT and Percleator prayed us out.

    Awesome morning, and so grateful to you men for posting and pushing hard!
    See You in the Gloom,
    Goose

  • Lundi Gras and Mental Gymnastics – from Percleator

    YHC had some fresh ideas to keep the PAX on their toes this morning. The exercises included some references to Mardi Gras and some tasks that required everyone to be awake and alert (YHC hopping that some PAX were hung over from parades).

    PAX: Cardinal, Paradox, Goose, Pope, Coyote, Kilo, Percleator

    Warmuparama
    SSH, WM, HK, AC, Chinooks (called here “throw me somethin mista”), CP, IW
    A good warm up Indian run around the neighborhood (the Sweat Loop?) w/ 7 big boys before the sprint. Indian run devolved into an all out foot race on the last leg. YHC loves this energy so no penalties were given.

    PAX arrived back at the Stage for 3 rounds of 21s. 21 SSH in unison but only the first 5 were counted out loud. If PAX stopped at 21, an easy exercise. If anyone went over, a punishment exercise for all.
    1st round: squats x10 or squat jumps x15
    2nd: Merkins x10 or Derkins x15
    3rd: Plank Jacks x 15 or Burpees x 10

    Lucky for the PAX everyone kept the count. Coyote was especially lazer focused. YHC tried to force a punishment but didn’t have the heart.

    “Memory Game”
    PAX stood in wide circle performing a repetitive exercise (SSH, high knees, Moroccan night clubs, hold Al Gore) . One member runs to middle of circle and performs 3 reps of any exercise. Next member does three reps of that exercise and adds 3 reps of another exercise. Each member must preform the string of exercises from memory and add another. No talking or counting. Mumblechatter to a minimum.
    This was a trial run for the concept. First round was no stakes. Just see how long we could do it. Then if PAX couldn’t go all the way around once, a punishment exercise. There were also plans to punish the one who goofed up, but that ended up being YHC… YHC would be honored if other PAX might take this routine and tweek to make it better.

    Played Iko Iko by The Dixie Cups
    Hold plank position, when you hear “hey now” do a merkin, “Iko Iko” or “Jackamo” perform mountain climbers until phrase is over.

    Relay
    Partnered up. PAX 1 bear crawled down field. PAX 2 sprinted in same direction, touch cement, turn around, run until you touch cement again, turn around, catch your partner. Then switch so that the crawl is done as a team, the full length of the field, there and back. Luckily for the PAX there was just time for one round because alligator walks were next.

    Mary: Nolan Ryans, American Hammers, Crunchy Frogs

    COT and Goose prayed us out.
    It brings YHC much joy when others seem to like being the guinea pigs.
    Thanks for the opportunity to lead.
    SYITG

  • Starting EH Month a Couple of Weeks Early! – from Goose

    Naming 5 FNG’s in one week is definitely a record for F3 Thibodaux, as was the number of PAX at The Stage this morning. Three FNG’s made up for a couple of missing regulars to make for 13 total, and a glorious day it was!
    After a prolonged disclaimer and explanation of the benefits and culture of F3, YHC led us in a warmup meant to assuage the soreness brought on by Thursday’s F3 poker beatdown.
    PAX: Enron, Paradox, Cardinal, Pope, Coyote, Dumpster Fire, Red Card, Horse Pill, Tighty Whities, Kilo, Wet Tap, Percleator, Goose

    Warmup: Side Straddle Hops, Widmills, Arm Circles, Cherry Pickers, Imperial Walkers, Self-Love, High Knees, and Butt kicks (to wake the cardio system a bit).

    Thang 1:
    Moseyed to the Chimney for Partner Dora: 100 Burpees, 200 Twinkle Toes, and 300 LBC’. Transportation was Bear Crawl and run back, then Crawl Bear and Nur back, then Attempted Murder Bunnies (Murder Bunnies without the coupon) and run back.
    The FNG’s and relatively new guys were not too keen on this whole F3 thing about 2 minutes into this one. Once the intensity set in, the soon-to-be-named Horse Pill (Kip) bemoaned the fact that he had planned to do work on his house later in the day, no to mention having run five miles before we even started. (Jose 8K?) But, YHC knew the next couple of exercises would lift the spirits and make for some good memories and some good camaraderie.

    Thang 2:
    Moseyed to the Thunderdome (octagonal outdoor pavilion with bleachers setup around the edges facing the middle) where PAX found some bleacher space for a couple of rounds of Ring of Fire.
    Round 1: feet on the bleachers in decline plank while each PAX counted off in a circle executing one Derkin. After reaching the seeming insurmountable total of 100, and the cool feeling of yelling numbers in a circle of intensity under an echoey metal roof, we recovered to our feet for round 2.
    Round 2: PAX held Al Gore position facing the bleachers, and PAX took turns yelling numbers and executing a box jump, once again reaching 100, and once again enjoying the experience of shared intensity (this time with the added sound of crashing bleachers) and team accomplishment, which rolled nicely into…

    Thang 3:
    Moseyed to the practice field for the final round of Name That Tune. It took three beatdowns to get through the playlist YHC had put together erroneously thinking there would be enough musical knowledge to get through them more quickly. But, it made for an opportunity to spread the fun over a few days and allowed more PAX to get in on it. With a few more older PAX in the group this time, songs like “To Be With You” by Extreme and “Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm” by Crash Test Dummies were nailed relatively quickly, though the amount of Bonnie Blairs we ended up having to do was not foreseen–“Something in the Way She Moves” by James Taylor should have been an easy one, but I guess brains were foggy after the Dora. Or, YHC should’ve just assigned it a different exercise. Or, the PAX just needed to see the Q hate his life a little bit.
    After shoulder tapping our way through “Send Me on My Way” by Rusted Root (no one could get the artist), we moseyed back to the flag for some Mary:
    Crunchy Frogs x20 IC
    Freddy Mercuries x15 IC
    Penguins x15 IC

    Named 3 FNG’s: Welcome, Tighty Whities, Red Card, and Horse Pill!

    COT: shared gratitude for F3 and the awesome group, prayer intentions, and Cardinal prayed us out.

    Very encouraging morning! The soreness over the next couple of days will be a beautiful reminder! Thanks for joining me on the journey, gents, and for allowing me to lead.

    See You in the Gloom,
    Goose