With all the new NOLA PAX members that have taken the Daily Red Pill and joined our ranks, there are so many great workouts they have missed since the inception of F3 NOLA. One of my favorites at Okwata is the 40! Thank you, Rudy! Other epic beatdowns such as the H8 and Elevens with Burpees at Okwata are always crowd pleasers. Since the Army Corps of Engineers raised the height of the lake levee, this AO is like no other in the city. As a side note, you can also thank Mayor Cantrell and former Mayor Landrieu for keeping the grass well manicured over the years.
WARMUP
After my disclainer, we do a quick mosey around the Mardi Gras fountain with side shuffles, high knees and butt kicks and head over to the levee. The space between the sidewalk and the bottom of the levee is very spongelike and lumpy so watch your step.
THE THANG
As I give the instructions, I hear some groans from the veterans and get some puzzled looks from the newcomers as they process the task ahead of them. It’s pretty simple. Run up and over the levee 40 times and perform 10 exercises 40 times. The sequence of the beatdown is as follows:
It’s 6:13am and we head back to the Freedom Hammer
COUNTOFF, NAMERAMA AND COT
Honored to lead all the HIM (High Impact Men) today and grateful for your friendship, camaraderie, and accountability. Prayers for those fighting cancer and those who have lost loved ones! Lord help us be the leaders we were destined to be for our wives, children, and community!
After losing Left Eye last week, I was offered redemption. Left Eye saw I had the Q at Rock City, and was kind enough to give me another shot. 24 men arrived in the dark gloom of Pontiff, without lights, for a beatdown in the dark and damp. Bogey suggested we all hold hands and sing Kumbaya during the workout so no man gets left behind. Not a bad idea… The usual disclaimer and off we go.
We moseyed to the usual spot by the rocks for our warm-up COP.
SSH x 20 IC
IW x 20 IC
Windmills x 10 IC
Arm circles 10 forward 10 backwards IC
LSS x 20 IC
Mountain climbers x 20 IC.
Grab a rock and head to the track. We lined up on the 20 yard line of the football field for a rock circuit. I kept one eye on Left Eye the whole time…
Shoulder press x 15 IC, sprint to the end zone and back.
Rock curls x 15 IC, sprint to the end zone and back.
Rock rows x 15 IC, sprint to the end zone and back.
Rock squats x 15 IC, sprint to the end zone and back.
By this time, Cowbell could see what was coming…
Shoulder press x 10 IC, sprint to the end zone and back.
Rock curls x 10 IC, sprint to the end zone and back.
Rock rows x 10 IC, sprint to the end zone and back.
Rock squats x 10 IC, sprint to the end zone and back.
Shoulder press x 5 IC, sprint to the end zone and back.
Rock curls x 5 IC, sprint to the end zone and back.
Rock rows x 5 IC, sprint to the end zone and back.
Rock squats x 5 IC, sprint to the end zone and back.
Next we bear crawled from the 20 to the end zone, 20 Merkins in the end zone, and lunge walked back to the 20. Next circuit.
Chest press x 20 IC
Flutter kicks with rock held high x 20 IC
Chest press x 20 IC
Hello dolly with rock held high x 20 IC
Then we moved our rocks out to the 40 yard line, and teamed up in Pax of 3 for Merkin relays. 40 yard dash, followed by 15 Merkins, until the other Pax got back to you. 3 rounds of 15 Merkins, followed by 3 rounds of 10 Merkins, for 6 rounds total.
Circle up for some Mary.
LBCs x 20 IC
Box cutters x 20 IC
Dying cockroach x 20 IC
Penguins x 20 IC
Return your beloved rock back to the pile and run back to the flag for a percent finish. (Maybe 1 minute late according to Triple Shift, but his watch must be wrong.) Count-off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, and a prayer. I am grateful I did not lose another Pax member today. We were 24 strong throughout. Thank you for letting me lead.
As many New Orleanians might be aware, Hamilton has been playing at The Saenger for a 3 week run. As many F3ians might be aware, Da Parish and Rudy have a thing for musicals. So of course, the Hamilton workout was an obvious combination. And a plot was hatched – only publicized to those PAX that were In The Room Where It Happened….. So Hamilton and Burr signed up to Q the Mothership and Muscleship.
6:29am, PAX loitering around both flags wondering who was stepping forward to claim the Q. Especially loud grumbling at the Mothership flag from Jingle Vader, who repeatedly expressed his dislike for all things in Pop Culture.
6:30am, Rudy at Mothership and Parish at Muscleship give the disclaimers to PAX (most of whom seemed to be saying “Yeah, I figured.”). And both PAX took off to meet at the flag standing by a large box in the field in front of the museum.
And what was in the box? No – this isn’t a Brad Pitt “What’s in the Box?” scene. Instead, it was the exercise gear for the Qs…
And all the PAX grumbled and groaned, but still circled up in one large combined workout circle.
The Warmup – Qs alternating exercise callouts
16 SSH (Hamilton was 16 on arrival to US)
7 Burpees OYO as we begin spelling out Burr
21 Imperial Walkers (Hamilton was 21 when he became aide to Washington
Up/Downs to Burr’s cadence
30 Peter Parkers (Hamilton was 30 at the Constitutional Convention
Rocky Balboas to more of Burr cadence
Then (thanks to Mahatma’s good advice), PAX numbered off. 1s go with Hamilton (Rudy), 2s go with Burr (Parish). The Q vs Q Showdown begins…
Burr – Round 1
Dora 1-2-3 to Aaron Burr, Sir & My Shot. Pax 1 will perform the exercise while Pax 2 Burr Crawls to the 2nd tree & back.
Floyd Mayweather x 100 (2=1) – Hamilton upon meeting Burr advised he had recently punched the bursar of Princton
Squats x 200 – Burr advises Hamilton, Laurens, Mulligan & Lafayette that he’d rather sit than stand for the revolution
American Hammer x 300 – Hamilton does not throw away his shot and drops his American Hammer on Burr, Lafayette, Laurens & Mulligan
MerKING Wave/Burr Crawl to You’ll be Back
While PlanKING during the song sung by King George, pax will do a MerKING wave (1 merkin performed in a wave around the circle). When the last pax merks, the entire circle will Burr Crawl clockwise 1 rotation. Repeat the MerKING wave with 2 merks, Burr Crawl, etc until song is complete.
Mary to the song Guns & Ships.
Hold out your gun at Yorktown by holding a James Bond for :30 center/left/righ
Yorktown would not have been a victory w/out the French ships in the harbor. Hold your Boat/Canoe for :30 and finish out the song.
Hamilton – Round 1
Hamiltabata. 8 exercises, 45 seconds high intensity, 15 seconds of rest. To the songs Alexander Hamilton and My Shot
Happy Jacks (5 SSH, 2 Squat Jumps)
Absolution (8 count plank-position exercise)
Merkins
Imperial Squat Walkers
Lunges
T-Merkins
Outlaw
No Surrender (aka “The Genuflect”, in F3 Nola lexicon)
20 Count
To the 2:30 song Aaron Burr: Burpees. OYO. Go. Until the song ends. Yes, grumbly PAX – I mean it. Till the song ends.
20 Count
Mosey to the fountain for a version of the Cabinet Battle.
PAX 1 planks
PAX 2 dips x30 – with feet on PAX 1 back.
Flapjack.
Flapjack for x20
Flapjack for x10
Interlude
Both groups met at the lawn, and switched. Now the 2s go with Hamilton and the 1s go with Burr.
Burr – Round 2
Take a Break while we mosey to the Foundry
Time for an amRAP Battle while we hear Cabinet Battle #1
5 Pull ups, 10 Merkins, 15 Squats, Repeat until song is complete (3:35)
How are you going to Say No To This first American Political Sex Scandal. Hamilton was being extorted by James Reynolds while Hamilton had sex with his wife Maria. The first time it happened Hamilton gave Maria $30. Perform 30 reps (IC) of these 3 Big Sexy Exercises
Pickle Pounders
Wife Pleasers
Monkey Humpers
Mosey back to the flag…Mr Burr has business to settle with Hamilton. Your Obedient Servant
Hamilton – Round 2
Same as Round 1. Equal amounts of grumbling about the burpees. Some members of this group seemed to have an entirely different perspective on the Plank/Dip combo. Rudy suggests the Uptowners pull their minds out of the gutter.
Rudy does note that this routine was significantly harder the 2nd time around….
The Duel
All PAX meet back at the flag for the final 10-Count Duel. Qs alternate calling an exercise, making a ladder.
1 Burpee
2 Squat Jumps (then 1 Burpee)
3 Merkins (then 2 Squat Jumps, then 1 Burpee. You get the idea…)
4 Lunges
5 Country Crabs
6 Dr W
7 X Fit Merkins
8 Box Cutters
9 Turkish Getups
10 Rise Ups – Hold a Squat while Q counts down from 5, squat Jump, immediately return to Squat.
And with that, the F3 NOLA Tribute to Hamilton comes to a merciful close. Just a few minutes overtime.
Countoff and Name-o-rama, welcoming our new FNG Water Boy (named quickly before the uptowners could start suggesting based on Water Boy’s pronounced profession of selling Industrial Hoses).
Upcoming F1 / F2 this Thursday night at Greenway (6:30) and Wrong Iron (7:00).
Intentions called out, ask all of us to offer our own prayers for the intentions (spoken and otherwise) for all of our brother PAX. Finally, circle up for our closing prayer. Offer of thanksgiving for the glorious day God has given us, and for the grace of His wisdom to use this gift wisely.
Rudy and DaParish both thank the PAX for their merciful tolerance of this workout.
We have the honor to be your obedient servants….A dot Ham….A dot Burr.
Last Thursday at Okwata Rudy being Rudy suggested I sign up
to Q. At first, I said to myself “not
going to happen” then over the course of the day I decided to look up the Q
sheet just to see when the next Q spot was open- thinking it would be about 5-8
weeks out. Not the case, there was an opening the next week (today). I decided
to rip the band aide off and pop my Q cherry and sign-up for my VQ.
18 PAX met out on the banks of Okwata with 15 mph winds whipping
a nice cool 50 degrees through our bodies. Considering this is the 2nd
official day of spring I hope the cold weather is past us. The 20 degree
weather swings from 5:30am to Noon is getting old.
We started off with a Mosey to the grass by Landry’s for
warm-ups. Probably one of the only time’s you’ll ever hear the restaurant Landry’s
come out of my mouth. The warm ups
consisted of:
25 – SSH IC 15 – Should Taps IC 15 – Arm Circles Front IC 15 – Arm Circle Reverse IC 15 – Plank Jacks IC 15 – Peter Parkers IC 15 – Mountain Climbers IC
In full disclosure the above workouts above were “the plan”
not sure what the final counts were. Never realized how hard it was to count when
the Q. Much respect for my past Q’s. Also,
a lot of mumble chatter about having to get back to your feet for arm circles
and then back down again for plank jacks might have to incorporate more of this
in future Q’s since everyone enjoyed it so much.
My novice and out of breath warm-up Counting self, decided a
30 second count down was a good idea – After some grumbling – Kuch quickly
counted to 10 (thanks for the help!) and we then proceeded to split into 2
groups for an Indian Run back to the Hill. At the Hill we partnered up for a
little “bern”. One partner did a Bernie Sanders up the Hill and run back down
(then switch) until the below exercises were complete.
Now that our legs were nice and “berning” we crossed the
street to complete running to the street light and post up for 5 merkin’s X 3 lights.
The goal was to hit 3 street lights that were a decent length from each other,
however I didn’t realize there were two sets of street lights one’s on the left
and one’s on the right. My intentions were the left (the distance one’s) however
we improvised and completed the exercise. We circled up for Mary where we did:
20 Flutter Kicks IC 10 Turtle Crunchs IC 10 Hello Dolly IC 10 Big Boy Sit Ups OYO
Again, this was “the plan” not sure what the final counts were
as I was once again out of breath from counting. Definitely need to work on
that for next time!
With 3 mins to Spare we Moseyed back to the Flag where Mahatma
suggested a little ring of Fire. 6:15am came and we circled up. 18 PAX were at
the AO. We welcomed a new FNG “The Greek”. Congrats to Two Yutes on making 10 years of
marriage!
8 men arrived at the Foundry in the dark. Sadly, we lost one along the way, but were reunited in the end. The usual disclaimer and off we go.
We moseyed down Roosevelt Mall, and stopped half way for the warm-up COP. SSH x 20 IC, IW x 20 IC, Peter Parkers x 20 IC, Windmills x 10 IC, Arm Circles 10 forward 10 backwards IC, Mountain Climbers x 20 IC
We continued our mosey to the end of Roosevelt Mall for the 2nd COP: Legs. Low slow squats x 10 IC, Side lunges x 10 IC, Al Gore x 10 IC, Jump lunges x 10 IC
Next off to the Foundry for some circuits. 4 stations with 2 men each. 2 circuits of Pull-ups, Squats, Dips, WWII sit-ups (15 count), followed by 2 circuits of Body Rows, Lunges, Hanging Knee-Ups, Crunchy Frogs (10 count).
This is where things got dicey in the dark. We moseyed down the back drive, stopping at each light post for 10 Merkins. Then we lost Left Eye. We turned left, he turned right, things got fouled up, and YHC did a terrible job of keeping the Pax together. Tool circled back for our lost man, but alas, Left Eye could not be found.
At the track, we paired up and completed 2 laps with one Pax sprinting 200 yards while the other Pax cut across the field. Then we circled at the end of the track for some Mary. Flutter kicks x 20 IC, LBC’s x 20 IC, Hello Dolly x 20 IC, Penguins x 20 IC.
We moseyed back to the flag, ready to jump in the car to go find our Lost Left Eye. When out of the gloom, Left Eye appeared. He made an extra mosey to NOMA, then found his way back to the flag. Count-off, Name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, and a prayer. Luckily we were reunited in the end. A good reminder to always circle back for the 6, and leave no man behind. Thanks for letting me lead. I’ll do better next time!
YHC and Ya Mom n’dem learned Monday morning as they rode in the Lakeview clown car home from Rock City that Abacus would not be able to Q the Stomp today. Instead of throwing it out to the Mumblechatter in search of a Q, an idea was born: why not do everyone a solid and bring the burpees back? Who wouldn’t appreciate our generosity?
And so, after a brief yet rambling disclaimer, 16 men set out to do the 610 Stomp our forefathers had envisioned when they created this workout many years ago: 6 minute run, 10 burpees; 3x on the way out, then turn and do it 3 times on the way back. Ya Mom n’Dem kept the time while YHC jsut tried to keep up. The Pax managed anywhere from about 4-5 miles (and however far Smooth ran) in 40+ minutes with 60 burpees thrown in for fun. Definitely a solid Tuesday.
We closed it out with IC LBC’sx20 and IC crab cakes x15, and then 5 Turkish getups OYO. Everyone made it back to the flag in time, and we welcomed back Woz, who had a strong showing back from several months laid up with an injury. We prayed for those dealing with cancer in our F3 family and extended F3 family.
This month I’ve tried to focus on appreciating each moment of each day, and making a concerted effort not to waste it. The basic concept is that if you do only what you have to do and what you really want to do, you will have more time to focus on those things, as opposed to procrastinating, playing on social media, or engaging in other non-productive/non-enjoyable habits we form. And so, we reminded ourselves to take advantage of today, but to also be thankful that we are able to – and to never take that for granted, because none of us is guaranteed anymore than this moment.
Meanwhile, I’m thankful for the privilege to lead this group. – Kuch
14 Pax set off into a mild, dry gloom that looked more like midnight than morning to find a good warm-up spot and get a little practice in for the upcoming H8. YHC was initially excited about not having to warm up in Surge’s favorite intersection, but the weeds were a little high, and we found ourselves back in the familiar intersection oval for warm-ups, consisting of:
Arm Circles
Hill Billies
SSH
Parker Peter
After the warm-up, we were back to everyone’s favorite Okwata exercises: levees and burpees and burpees and levees, and a few merkins thrown in.
Exercise 1: Sprint up the levee, jog down, 10 Burpees. Sprint back up the levee, jog down, 10 Burpees, 25 merkins, Plank and Wait.
Exercise 2: Indian Run where the sprinter drops for 3 Merkins before sprinting to the front. Rudy claims Jesus Juice almost passed me on a sprint despite the 3 merkins, but I think we should all consider the source. Although Indian runs are not necessarily part of the H8 (or at all part of it), I do hate them.
Exercise 3: Sprint up the levee, 5 Turk and Burps; jog down, 5 T&B; jog back up, 5 T&B; jog back down, 5 T&B. A little controversy about the form for these, so below is a demonstration of the Turkish Get-Up that I at least attempt to follow. It’s a great exercise for any workout, and worth practicing on your form. Start light if you do; a 10-lb kettlebell should be plenty at first.
Exercise 4: At Okwata, there is always time for running backwards up a levee, and this workout was no exception, so we did a couple rounds of Bernie Sanders, planked and waited for the 6, and then moseyed back to the flag, where we got in a few LBC’s as the clock struck 6:15.
We wished Jesus Juice a happy 35th, and welcomed Edible Arrangements from F3 Nashville. We prayed for some of our F3 brothers who are going through some tough times right now, and we recognized how thankful we are that we were able to come together this morning for a workout.
I’m also thankful for the opportunity to lead this group. -Kuch
With Run Ranger Run in full effect, and with the split of the Mother Ship Saturday workout into two Pax’s, Hokie Pokey thought it would be good to get some running in between exercises.
Warm up started with a run to the railroad tracks and back with folks circling back to the six until we were ready to gather.
10 baby are circles forward
10 baby arm circles backwards
10 big arm circles forward
10 big arm circles backward
Right leg lunge forward with clockwise and counter clockwise trunk stretch.
Left leg lunge forward with clockwise and counter clockwise trunk stretch.
Another run to the tracks and back with leaders getting extra running in by circling back to the six.
1st exercise ~ “A” ~ Ascending testicles with balls to the columns and hold for 1 minute, down for 30 seconds, back up for a 2nd minute, back down for 30 seconds and back up for a 3rd minute… followed by … Another run to the tracks and back with leaders getting extra running in by circling back to the six.
2nd exercise ~ “B” ~ Burpee’s on the law suicide style… 1st tree and back for one burpee; 2nd tree and back for 2 burpee’s; 3rd tree and back for 3 burpee’s… the last, 10th, tree and back for 10 burpee’s. For our fitter men, they could box jump while the rest of the Pax wrapped up. This was followed by … Another run to the tracks and back with leaders getting extra running in by circling back to the six.
3rd exercise ~ “C” ~ Chillcuts (Dancing Style) ~ Elbow planks with right leg up for one minute, then back to rest in the elbow plank position for 30 seconds and left leg up for one minute. This was followed by … Another run to the tracks and back with leaders getting extra running in by circling back to the six.
4th exercise ~ “D” ~ Diamonds ~ Diamond Merkins ~ AMRAP style ~ as many as possible in 60 seconds followed by 30 seconds rest… 5 times … followed by Another run to the tracks and back with leaders getting extra running in by circling back to the six.
5th, and last “exercise” ~ “E” ~ Elevator ~ with 10 squats, 20 jump squats, 30 second Al Gore, 40 Front Lunges and 50 back lunges.
We mosey’d back to the flag and heard we logged 3.6 miles as we counted off to 25. No FNG’s.
Thank you for the opportunity to workout with such a great group of guys! I admire you all and appreciate you pushing me!
Attendees: Catfish, Highrise, Gabrielle, King Kong, Jesus Juice, Screw Top, Fracsac, Care Bear, Brown Eye, Organ Grinder, Tubbs, Angie’s List, Flipper, Rudy, Two Yutes, Dewey, Bongo, Mudbug. We had three FNGs. Welcome Scrapple, Da Crane, and Sunny D!
Started the workout with a mosey to the lawn on the side of the museum. Ran some side straddle hop, arm circles, abe vigodas, and overhead claps to warm things up. Moved to plank position for Catalina wine mixers, plank jacks, peter parkers, and parker peters.
From here we moseyed to the museum fountain for a Dora. Dora included 100 box jumps (on the fountain), 200 dips, 300 LBC’s, while partner hopped up the steps, did 5 merkins at the top, and hopped down.
From here we moseyed back to the field for burpee suicides. These involved suicides with length of 2, 4, then 6 trees, with 5, 10, then 15 burpees at each end.
From here we moseyed to the paddleboat dock for monkey humpers, squat jumps, and lunges. Followed these up with a lovely long round of Jack Webb.
Moved to the grass to round things out with some Mary – Crunchy Frog, Penguins, Leg Lifts, American Hammer.
Thanks to everyone who pushed through, this was a good one! Can’t wait till next time!
After some last minute scouting, YHC pulled up without a minute to spare. The disclaimer was given, including a word of caution about possible broken ankles, and we moseyed to the Great Lawn for the warm-up
Warm-Up
This month is Run Ranger Run and every yard counts, so YHC forwent the customary circle warm-up and chose to go old school Jr. High football style:
High Knees, Butt Kicks, Karaoke left, Karaoke right
The Thang
We divided up into 5 teams of 4. Each team received a baseball and were provided the simple rules of Rarájipari – You must kick the baseball to the Foundry. One team member can kick it the whole way or you can pass between team members. First team to the Foundry wins.
At the Foundry we all found some pull-up space for the Bern ‘n Burp – keep your chin above the bar as long as you can. When you drop out, do 10 burpees and take a 10 second rest. Repeato until time is called. Most of us got in 3 or 4 rounds.
Rarájipari under the 610 overpass to Zachary Taylor Drive.
From there we moseyed to the football field between Grow Dat and the Dog Park. 100 yard Bear Crawl
Next we moseyed to the 9th hole of the frisbee golf course for The Jack Nicklaus. Starting at the 9th hole tee box, sprint to the 9th hole (or whatever you call the contraption that you throw the frisbee into). At the 9th hole, do 9 merkins followed by 9 air presses. Then walk to the 10th hole tee box and sprint to the 10th hole where you do 10 merkins and 10 air presses. Continue this through the 16th hole. We repeated the 15th and 16th holes.
Rarájipari to the port-a-potties on the backside of the track.
On the track – 600m run as hard as you can.
Mosey back to the flag
NMM
Mistake #1 – We arrived at the flag late. How late? More than 3 minutes, less than 35. I don’t really know. I wasn’t using a watch. I was wearing one, but I wasn’t using it.
Mistake #2 – Quiche wasn’t with us.
Mistake #3 – It took me a minute to realize Quiche wasn’t with us anymore. Fracsac went out to find him. Somehow in the 30 seconds we had been standing at the flag, Frac forgot where we had come from and ran off in the wrong direction. Meanwhile, rumor has it that Quiche had accidentally locked himself in one of the Rock ‘n Roll Port-a-lets. Fortunately all City Park Roads lead to the Port-a-lets on the backside of the track. Frac finally made it there and through brute strength was able to free Quiche. Both returned to the circle, smelling of excrement and unwilling to speak about what had happened.
Mistake #4 – While playing Rarájipari on the way to the track, I mentioned to my teammates that we shouldn’t tell the groups ahead of us that they should take the street to the right up ahead. As the Q, I am apparently supposed to be taking care of the pax and so I received some instant F3 karma when the sidewalk rose up and tripped me. It felt like a pretty spectacular fall.
We had one FNG – Scrub. He came out on his own. I wasn’t paying close attention, but I believe a medical resident at Tulane mentioned F3 to Scrub while he was there being treated for a virus he contracted in South Central Jersey.
We ran a lot. It was at least 4 and half miles, no more than eight.
Rudy met us for the circle of trust. He’s just in it for the fellowship.
