Tag: Shooter

  • 4 laps for Bird’s Bday – from Chewy

    8 PAX met up on Tuesday morning for a beat down at grandmothers house.
    Warm-up included:
    Sidesaddle x 20 IC
    Imperial walkers x 20 IC
    Windmills X 10 IC
    Glut bridges X 20 IC
    SL Glut Bridges x 10 IC
    Scorpion kicks x 10 IC
    I’s T’s and Y’s x 20 IC

    The thang:
    11’s merkins and step ups

    Mosey to the underpass
    Walk the down, jog the flat, sprint the up x 4 laps

    glut bridges x 10 IC
    SL glut bridge x 5

    Mosey back to flag
    -SL RDLs x 10 pho
    -core rolling x 5 ea oyo
    Plank push ups x 10 oyo
    plank with kicks x 10 oyo
    HS stretch x 10
    Jane Fondas x 10 IC

    Name o Rama, COT, prayers by Shooter

    Happy Birthday to Bird!

  • All Star Festivities (4 year anniversary) – from Russo

    Beautiful weather this morning topping out at 60 degrees. Flags came in quickly as Shooter and JV arrived early and off we went with the mumblechatter.

    Around 4 years ago, an offhand “You should join us” from Toto began my adventure with F3, so today I thought we’d honor those folks that have shaped our beatdowns and who continue to be positive role models for their friends, family, coworkers, and in their corner of the world. While certainly not the only ones, each of these men have had a favorable impact on my F3 experience and have helped me grow tremendously over he years, with plenty of room for more growth and learning to go. Despite objection, SmashMouth was NOT played.

    Warmup (mostly IC)
    – Sealjacks
    – Arm circles
    – Self love
    – Imperial squat walkers
    – Toe touches

    All Star recognition 1: Zoolander – the HIM most likely to EH someone (and then we never see them again) – Goofballs and then 5 knuckle merkins

    Thang
    All star Speedy – the Crazy Ivan Ringer – mosey to the gazebo

    All star recognition 3 and 4:
    Hammer: pushed me as hard mentally as I’ve ever been pushed by F3 with 1,000 burpees, and Grundy, whose cakewalk is the hardest non-Iron Pax I’ve ever been pushed – cakewalk of 5 merkins

    Mosey to the shaft for more All Star recognitions:

    WaterPik- King of Form: 10 8 count bodybuilders IC

    Moby: Leader of the chain gang – without his chain, we subbed with an Indian bear crawl

    Turbo: the Godfather – mosey back to the flag, teams of 3, passing the tennis balls (NOT golf balls). If the ball hits the ground, team performs 3 merkins (in honor of All Star Akbar: Mr. Merkin Trap). Many T claps to Wicket and JV for being in sync all the way, and leading like they’ve been QBs and/or WRs all their lives.

    On the wall, we honor All Star Bushwacker: King of the impromptu Q: 10 IC freak nastys and 10 durkins, rinse and repeat. We skipped the additional 15 rounds he made us do one week.

    Move to All Star Barely Legal: Who knew his crab walk skills? Crab walk to the street and back to the wall. Bird, I hope your hands are ok.

    Mosey around Noah’s Ark where we honored All Star Jose 10k: most Supportive, Mr. Will Do Anything Another Brother Asks, always one of the first to join in, NOT Mr. Grumble, who “won” White Elephant 2021, by doing cherry pickers while moseying.

    At the block, we stopped to honor All Star Cowbell, Prince of Punctuality: 25 crunchy frogs (just enough for Jose to note “He’s waiting for everyone to just stop”)

    Back at the sea wall, we honored (1) All Star Steve: Most likely to outwork you and smile the entire time: 5 Kraken burpees

    and then (2) All Star Shooter: Most 6 pickups (at least when I was 6): 10 donkey kicks, where MVP was Bird and his handstand yoga walk

    followed by (3) the Futures portion: the 2.0s

    – Pickax
    – Wicket
    – FNG Wookie!
    – Yoda
    – Pixie stick
    – Hazard
    – Chainsaw
    – Gilligan
    – Minnow
    – Bear
    – Trakbar
    – Grover (Welcome back!)
    – Machete

    In their honor we performed 26 Smurfjacks IC (13 x 2.0)

    Moving over to Rip’s, we paused for the In Memorium portion of the festivities, up the steps and back down to honor those that we hope rejoin us one day, including but not limited to:
    – Bypass
    – Butt paste
    – Mick
    – Stock boy
    – Coconuts
    – Amnesia
    – Bends
    – Slider
    – Toto
    – Ocho
    – Pelican
    – Pea shooter
    – Swoll patrol

    Back at the sea wall, it was my pleasure to honor All Star Manny: Encouragement personified, the first to tell me “Just keep coming” – 10 LMCs IC

    Quickly running out of time, we wrapped up with our final All Star: Maverick: the Music Man, who makes me hate Roxanne to this day. Performed to “She’s so Cold” by The Rolling Stones, high knees, with a squat every time you hear “hot” or “cold”.

    Mosey back to the flag where COT, count, Name-o-Rama, announcements, and prayer closed us out.

    Announcements about NOLA convergence next week, Bushwacker’s camping trip and wife’s birthday party, upcoming potential Halloween beatdown on Sunday 10/30, among others. Check Slack for more info.

    Special welcome to Wookie, Chewy’s 2.0 and our newest HIM.

    One final note: as each year passes, I remember less and less of that first October post back in 2018: pre-COVID, pre-Joe Burrow becoming Joe Burrow, pre- many of our newest brothers, 10 pounds lighter.

    I remember I was late, Buttsplice had Q, we did some yoga. But I’ll never forget feeling sore for at least 3.5 days after, and loving it. Doing something different. Outside with no weights.

    Not wanting to make that same mistake, lest I be judged, I was about 20 minutes early, either the next week or the week following that, and made the mistake of being TOO early, to where I joined the pre-Thang run and after about 40 yards, thought “This was a mistake”.

    But then either Tank or Shooter picked me up as the 6 (details aren’t important, because both have done it repeatedly and offered encouragement). Having started off on the wrong foot, not one but twice, would have normally sent me packing and wishing the group the best in future endeavors. But the encouragement sparked me. That kept me coming back.

    I said it last year, and the statement holds true: Because of what we do, and what our mission is, our reach extends beyond losing a few pounds, getting bigger arms for the gun shows, or finding our abdominal muscles again. If we’re doing it right, we’re improving confidence in those around us, encouraging each other to be impactful in our commmunity, and exemplifying Christ’s disciples in our words and actions. My prayer is that we keep doing that. Whatever “that” is, keep doing it. We’re doing something right.

    That’s my goal, and even if I fall short, I know I’ll have another opportunity to do it soon enough.

    Thank you for making that commitment and for all that you do. SYITG

  • B.O.M.B.S. with a Fuse – from Einstein

    Humid under a near full moon for the gathered PAX, this Wednesday morning, at The Gipper

    Short disclaimer …

    Warmup:
    all 20xIC: Toe Touch, SSHops, Shoulder Rolls, Imperial Walkers, Thumb Drives, Hillbillys, Neck Rolls
    mosey over to the top of the Justice Center Parking Garage

    Event: Set of B.O.M.B.S. with a fuse (run); partner up, one does the exercise, one does the run, flip flop keeping the total exercise count going
    50 Burpees, 20 yard run
    100 Os (on your six tracing the letter “O” with your extended legs), 40 yard run
    150 Merkins, 60 yard run
    200 Bridges – single leg, two is one, 80 yard run
    250 Squats, 100 yard run
    between each letter of the bomb, the whole pax does a 200 yard mosey around the parking lot
    mosey back to The Gipper Trail Head

    Count-o-rama, Shooter leads us out with a prayer.

    BBQ’s sweat-o-meter KCC hat registered near to the top squatchee button.

    Thanks guys. Always fun to lead

  • Kamara Ingram and Moby – from TurboTax

    Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram have nothing on Moby Dick. At least that’s the way it looked from my perspective at The Gipper this morning. Allow YHC to explain.

    After a quick warmup of toe touches, shoulder taps, windmills, Peter Parker’s, Imperial Walkers, Parker Peters and Seal jacks, the PAX made its way to the back of the Justice Center for the Thang.

    Partner up with partner 1 executing burpees while partner 2 runs up and down the stairs to relieve partner 1. 50 burpees per team. Then we combined crossover runs first with 100 45 degree lunges and second with 200 simulated jump ropes.

    We then brought the show to the front of the Justice Center for the main event. YHC laid out the cones and we sprinted, backpedaled, cut, juked and otherwise ran agility drills like any other professional team. It was impressive stuff I tell you, but Moby was particularly impressive. Like I said, Alvin and Mark are lucky the Saints scouts did not post this morning, or they might both be out of a job.

    Thanks for letting me lead this morning guys. Always fun.

  • Fit as a Fiddle – from Akbar

    YHC arrived to 4 shadows on the basketball court at 5:14 today, the pax already in deep mumblechatter. Still sore from IPC week 4, we would stick to the normal Marsh route starting at the playground and heading down to Rips and the Wall. The exercises came from an article I read in Men’s Health UK called Fit As A Fiddle, but are really just the same as here in the good ole US of A.

    Warm Up: SSH, Imperial Walkers, Hillbillies, Grass Grabbers, Self-Love

    Head to the playground for 3 sets of Merkins 12,8,5 IC and Inverted Rows 10 OYO

    Mosey to lakefront stopping at intersections for Diamond Merkins 12, 8, 5 IC and Deep Squats with a 3s pause at bottom, IC x 15. Superman’s and Jump Squats x 15 IC

    Head to Rips for 1 set of Single Leg Calf Raises x20, Irkins OYO, and regular Calf Raises x 20 IC

    To the wall for Freak Nasties x 20 IC and Jump Squats. Head back to the Marsh stopping for Supermans and Jump Squats along the way.

    Circle up for Mary of Merkins and Deep Squats with 3s hold IC. Plank with single leg lifts x20 IC. Nolan Ryans x 10 IC each side.

    Count, Name, and Hammer prayed us out.

    Announcements – IPC week 5; Wednesday night bible study

  • IPC Week 3 – Mrs. Burns – from Akbar

    Saturday, what a great day. YHC hasn’t really thought about it lately, but it’s true. As Wicket told me after Coffeeteria – On Saturdays I get to go to F3, wear my gym shorts all day, play with friends, don’t have to do school, and eat donuts and pancakes. That’s good, and so was the beatdown.

    YHC and Wicket arrived early to set up, seeing Pik and Speedy for the pre-thang 2miler. Circle up for the flag just in time to hear loud crying – Hammer brought Machete out for a beatdown. Machete cried pretty much the whole time, until we started the warmup. The cadence call was like a lullaby for the young man.

    Everyone arrived and we started out with warm ups x 10 IC, except for 1 exercise that was x9IC. SSH, arm circles front/back, imperial walkers, hillbillies, high knees, butt Kicks, self-love, toe touches, and grass grabbers.

    Grab blocks, head to the tree/start line and instructions were given.

    Week 3 was called Mrs. Burns, doing 571 reps to honor Kathleen Walzer and her fight with pancreatic cancer for 571 days.

    5 Rounds + one extra 400m run at the end. 571 reps for time

    20 Overhead Presses

    20 Burpees

    20 Curls

    20 V Ups

    20 Goblet Squats

    13 Manmakers

    400m run

    Grundy, Tank, and Steve were out of the gate fast. Wicket did some stuff, then put on my shades and decided to DJ for a while – then got back to work. This was brutal. The workout pretty much took everything out of you making the run harder. So instead of making up time on the run, it was more recovery. Halfway through a guy joined us that was unrecognizable, and I thought we may have another Fly By EH. But it turned out to be Gronk who we haven’t seen in a couple of years. Great to have you back man.

    T Claps to the top unofficial finishers, meaning the guys sitting on the wall while everyone else was still working hard. Grundy, Tanked Up, Steve, and Hammer

    Time called, with a short rest in the grass. A brief glimpse of Jose 10k holding Hammers legs over the seawall. YHC figured Machete had dropped a baby toy in the water. Hammer waded in the murky water to retrieve only his hat. Which is much better than dropping a toy.

    Head back to the flag just in time for Count and Nameorama.

    YHC closed us out with this prayer – which was said each day the Kathleen Welzer had pancreatic cancer:

    “Lord, we thank you for this day. A day we get to choose. We get to choose between darkness or light. Today, we choose light. Amen”

    Coffeeteria at Book and the Bean:

    Great work today guys, way to push hard and get it done. 1 more week and IPC is in the books.

    SYITG – Akbar

  • Split Q (IronPax and Cakewalk) – from Russo

    78 degrees to start today, and looking for any reason for positive weather news, (1) there was no rain and (2) it was slightly less humid than it has been. Really good start to the morning for a split Q of IPC week 0 and a birthday cakewalk.

    Warmup (between 10x and 14x, all IC)

    -Toe touches
    -Arm circles
    -Self love
    -Cherry pickers
    -Grass grabbers

    Thang: while Zoolander took half the pax to the west for IPC, YHC led a cakewalk (trademark to either Grundy or Zoolander), your basic descending ladder of exercises and reps, starting at YHC’s age (in this case, 44) and work your way to 1, with some moseying in between around Old Mandeville/Lakefront.

    The order:

    44 High knees (2 is 1, which YHC forgot right off the bat and thought “count by 2”, so thanks to Jose for keeping me honest. Math is hard)
    43 SSHs
    42 Plank Jacks
    41 goof balls
    40 squats
    39 Hello Dollies
    38 Calf raises
    37 Apollo Ohno’s
    36 Freak Nastys (correctly guessed by JV Raider Pride!)
    35 step ups (also correctly guessed by the Pax)
    34 flutter kicks
    33 butt kicks (2 is 1) (lead IC by the entire pax rotating, very nice job, gents!)
    32 Peter Parker’s (2 is 1)
    31 imperial walkers
    30 Shoulder taps (2 is 1)
    29 American hammers
    28 Monkey Humpers (Happy Birthday JV!)
    27 Merkins
    26 Smurf jacks (where we were joined by Ms. Cute Young Jogger, who either (1) felt bad for the old guys struggling to mosey and catch their breath, (2) knew it was JV’s birthday and wanted to give him an early birthday present, (3) was on a runner’s high and wanted to be friendly on a Saturday morning, or (4) some combo of all of the above)
    25 leg raises
    24 Rosalitas
    23 crab jacks (crab position – think reverse plank jacks, which Moby was having none of)
    22 groiners
    21 Bear crawls (counting your right hand as a rep)
    20 murder bunnies
    19 Wide merkins
    18 Bobby Hurley’s
    17 crab cakes
    16 circle ups
    15 Bulgarian split squats
    14 durkins
    13 big boy sit-ups
    12 LMCs IC
    11 diamond merkins
    10 star jumps
    9 donkey kicks (an ode to Shooter)
    8 wife pleasers
    7 merkins
    6 6 inch drills
    5 Carolina dry docks
    4 SMCs (2 is 1)
    3 jump squats
    2 burpees
    1 minute plank

    COT, name-o-rama, announcements, and prayer closed us out.

    Thank you, gents, for either joining me or pushing yourself hard with IronPax. And a larger thanks to each of you for not only pushing me harder, making me better through your example, and providing friendship for 4 of my 44 years, but for being a light in your families, work, and communities.

    SYITG

  • Kickball Redeaux – from Akbar

    21 strong at the Lakefront for a redeaux of Kickball. This time, it was simple.

    Conditions
    Wet, muggy, just another day in SE Louisiana.

    Warm Up
    SSH x20 IC, Grass Grabbers, Butt Kicks, Self Love, High Knees, Imperial Walkers, Mountain Climbers, Merkins – x15 -10 IC

    Thang
    Mosey to the baseball field, count off 1’s and 2’s and teams were made. Regular rules apply this go round, with exercises called by QIC at random of Merkins and Sister Mary Catherines. Team 2 came out strong with a big lead, while Team 1 went 3 and out pretty quickly. A modification was made to not let all the kids kick first, and it was better. After a couple of innings, we were getting stomped. At this point, Mathlete had a suggestion that YHC implemented- Team 2 would have to Bear Crawl the bases to give us a chance. We made a short rally, but still got squashed by double digits.

    We headed back to the flag a little early since we didn’t really exercise that much and YHC implemented the Red Hot Chili Pepper. A standard of Hogcycle, we did Merkins and Squats to finish out in 3 rounds. Merkins and Squats x20 IC, Merkins and Squats x15 IC, Merkins and Squats x 10IC

    Count, Name
    Announcements

    Sept 10 5k/5mile at Covington trailhead

    Iron Pax is coming in September

    Hammers bible study Wednesday at 8:30 at the Crisi Pregnancy Center

    Bubba prayed us out with special prayers for JV’s Grandma who passed this morning at 98.

    Head to Coffeeteria and called it a day

    Thanks for following my lead – Akbar

  • 3 for 11’s and 7’s – from Russo

    YHC has to wait another week to provide a weather report that doesn’t include “humid” or “hot and sticky” or “muggy”. Pax of 3 this morning at Granny’s.

    Warmup (10x to 16x all IC)
    – High knees
    – Good mornings
    – Arm circles
    – Grass grabbers
    – Butt kicks

    Thang
    I had a developed plan for next week that I debated pulling forward, but it leant itself to a larger number, so we went with a backup plan of the ever trusty 11s (or 7s in some cases), with a mosey or side shuffle between.

    Round 1 (10 and 1): ST merkins and Nut crackers (2 is 1)

    Round 2 (10 and 1): Jump squats and Apollo Ohnos

    Round 3 (6 and 1): Freak Nastys and Step ups (2 is 1)

    Round 4 (6 and 1): Big boi sit-ups and leg raises

    We wrapped it up with a minute of planking and 10 chill jacks just for fun.

    COT, Name-o-Rama, announcements, and prayer to close us out. Reminder that Hammer’s Bible study (this Wednesday) and the September 11 5k (on 9/10) are both ongoing or approaching. Check Slack for more info.

    Good work, men, and thanks for joining. SYITG

  • The St. Vincent 500 – from Paradox

    Our tale begins in the spring of 2022 in a small bayou town where a community pharmacy, after taking losses from storm and plague, had great need. After decades of providing vital prescription medicine for those in need, this team of volunteers now searched for the same helping hand. The Pax of F3 Thibodaux heard the call, and a plan was devised. We consulted our sage leader for advice. This HIM had carried the torch of 3Fs from the Mandevillage many moons ago. He knew the way of the pax and was skilled in the smithing of a fine beatdown. He peered into the gloom with a thousand-mile stare and the fate of the fundraiser hung in the balance. “if you build it..they will come” Goose said with a nod and then promptly vanished into a flurry of burpees. With a team formed and a grant secured we dove into the work.
    An event was needed and a place to rally the pax. A race, but not just any race. A challenge of physical and mental strength that would call to the hearts of the Louisiana PAX. A series of pain and cardiovascular torture so intense that no self-respecting HIM of F3 Nola could resist. It was forged in the caves of .word files and hammered through the gmail circuit boards. Welded to perfection one station at a time. A burpee here, a bonnie blair there. Precious metals adorned it at every corner to award prepared pax but many traps lay waiting for poor form. It was written, and it was done and it was beautiful.

    The beacons of aid were lit! Thibodaux called for aid…and our brothers answered.
    39 PAX (including 6 FNGs!) assembled at the stage on a gorgeous bayou morning! They came from northern shores and from western banks. From uptowns and motherships. From Grannies and Lakefronts. They came in calf sleeves, mudgears and some even bare of foot! Namesakes that struck fear like Shooter and Tanked. Some that drew intrigue like Hokie and Hawg. Famed backblasters we had read for years like Steve and Akbar. Even legends of the gloom like Frac and the Reluctant Yankee, who were there when the deep magic was gifted to us from the eastern coast. They followed a lonesome bayou road and mumbled Deliverance jokes along the way. They came as one to help a great cause and lock shields with their brothers in the bayou. The course was set, pleasantries exchanged, and the only thing left to do was make a run at 500. Let’s get to it…

    Warmup

    Goose gave the disclaimer and race details, and pointed out key safety and strategy reminders. Each two-person pax team would start at a numbered station along the course. Once the horn was blown, they would begin at their station and advance. Each station had 3 options: bronze, silver or gold. (Worth 10, 15 and 25 points respectively. So, a perfect score of gold at all 20 stations would reach the mythical 500 points. These corresponded to the number of reps completed by a team combined. They then would grab the token and secure it in an advanced technology carrying case (Ziploc bag). Head for the next station and rinse and repeat until you have finished 20 stations or ran out of time.
    After this was explained he led a thunderous cadence of our usuals stage warmups. This was YHCs first experience with a >20 pax group and the big group energy was powerful

    THE THANG

    Pair up, line up and we were numbered off 1-19 (one team of 3). Each team headed for their station and when GI Joe hit the airhorn it was geaux time. The stations were as follows:

    STATIONS:
    1. Merkins- 40, 80, 120
    2. Bobby Hurleys—30, 60, 90
    3. Freddy Mercuries—50, 100, 200
    4. Coupon Curls—40, 60, 100
    5. SSH: 50, 100, 150
    6. Carolina Dry Docks- 40, 60, 100
    7. Big Boy Sit Ups- Partner does big boys, one partner sprints to next station and back. 100, 150, 200 situps
    8. Side lunges (2 is 1)- 40, 80, 120
    9. Coupon OHP- 40, 60, 100
    10. Burpees- 30, 50, 100
    11. LBC’s- 50, 100, 200
    12. Peter Parker Merkins- 30, 60, 90
    13. Bonnie Blair (2 is 1) 40, 60, 100
    14. Brick Back Flys- 50, 100, 200
    15. Leg Raise Dora – One partner Leg raises, one partner bear crawl to next station and run back. 50, 100 or 200
    16. Mission Impossible Plank- combined time: 1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes
    17. Coupon Swings- 40, 60, 100
    18. Prisoner Squats – 50, 100, 150
    19. Mountain Climber (2:1) 50, 100, 200
    20. Arm Circles while partner crabwalks to next station and runs back. Complete 100, 200, or 400

    After 1 hour of “Pax vs St. Vincent course” the dust settled and everyone returned to the flag. Chatter was high about the difficulty of the layout, the supreme fun had traversing the course and low rumblings of scores north of 400 permeated the air. A few teams completed counting up their coins while we began the count off, and name off. YHC was impressed with the veteran naming experience of NOLA and northshore pax. Their FNG naming skills were unparalled and we left with six newly minted local PAX: Welcome Sir Lawrence, Kodiak (CodyYak), MeatSweats, One Call, Wallflower and Lambchops. Looking forward to getting yall in the mix.

    Now down to serious business. YHC and Goose dramatically unveiled the official St. Vincent 500 dual trophies for the final presentation. Imagine a 12-inch manifestation of the love child between Hulk and Stretch Armstrong, in a full rage pose. Victory is all he has ever known. After appropriate oooohhhhs and ahhhhsss Goose led a suspenseful point count-off to see who the last team was standing. In the end, the combination of Tanked Up and Speedy Gonzalez tallied 470 points and took home the first annual St. Vincent 500 trophy! T- Claps on those numbers gentlemen. Phenomenal effort. We’ll all be gunning for you next year.

    Coffeeteria after provided by our St. Vincent de Paul board and it was great to get a chance to talk shop with all the pax and compare notes on course strategy.

    YHC could not have envisioned the tremendous amount of support we would receive from both our local community and our F3 community for this cause.
    So grateful for each one of you who spent your weekend time and energy for this event.

    At the time of writing this backblast we have raised $10, 451. 51!! This goes directly to purchase of prescription medicine for those individuals in need. Praise God!

    Thank you for the oppurtunity to lead.

    SYITG,
    Paradox