F3 New Orleans

Tag: Shooter

  • Pumpkin Spice Latte

    All these holiday drinks…peppermint mocha, hot buttered rum, eggnog…anyway, inspired by recent coupon beatdowns, YHC had the idea to add a little SPICE to today’s beatdown by adding something new. After all, its the holidays and YHC likes the holiday drinks. So, desperately rummaging through the garage hoping to find a new crazy coupon, YHC settled on an old punching bag. Not nearly as manly as Moby’s chain or as rock solid as Hogsbreath’s cinder block RUCK carry, the punching bag served it’s purpose.

    With temperatures in the low 40s, YHC led the PAX through a longer warmup consisting of a mosey to the 4 corners around the Marsh with exercises at each corner. Squats, Merkins, Smurf Jacks, Flutter Kicks, Hello Dolly’s, Bear Crawl, Lunge Walk, Jog Backwards, Shuffle to each side.

    Thang

    3 Tabata Sets (30 secs, 10 secs Rest)

    The exercises were Burpees, Thrusters w/ cinder Block Coupon, Jack webbs w/ coupon, Curls w/ Punching Bag. The PAX alternated through each exercise during the 10s rest period, so each man did the exercises 3x.

    Mosey around the Block again to cool down before the closing out with some Mary: crunchy frogs, 100s, Putins, Freddy Mercs.

    Thanks, Men, for another great year for the F3 Northshore PAX. I am so grateful to be a part of such a great group of men. And I look forward to many more to come.

  • South Pole Bound

    20201214
    Q: Hogs Breath

    This was the [Louisiana] VQ of Hogs Breath. The wind was whipping and the 51* sure felt like we were heading to the South Pole! Trying to pull history into the Q, Hogs Breath found out that on 14 Dec 1911 Ronald Amundsen and four men reached the South Pole. Water Pick arrived to confusion finding that Hogs Breath had already planted a shovel flag!

    DISCLAIMER: Given

    Warmup: 

    10 Mount Man Poopers, 10 Arm Circles (in all directions), 10 Hairy Rockettes, Alligator Merkins across the basket ball court.

    THE THANG

    Grabbing coupons we began our “restrictor plate march” aka an Indian run while we carried cinder blocks. The pax began a brisk walk toward the lakefront, while the six would sprint to the front, utilizing a variety of different holds with the block. Shout out to Hammer who complited the March, only two days after a vasectomy!!!! The march still allowed for much mummblechatter on the way!

    Once we arrived at the lakefront, starring at an ominous rising sun, we circled up to continue our South pole inspire beat down. We did a 5×5 of:

    S- squats

    O- one arm merkins

    U- up right rows

    T- thrusters

    H- Hydrohalic squats

    After each round we took a 10 second countdown in a rotating fashion.

    Then… We had to return back to the flag. Continuing our restrictor plate march.

    Upon arriving the Q had a brainfart and though we had an extra 15 mins instead of our 6 mins. Luckily Bushwacker corrected him and we rounded out with 6 MoM;

    25 SSH

    Gas Pumps

    Big Boy Sit ups

    Heels to heaven / leg lifts

    And rounded it out to 100 100s

    Ended with Number-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, COT

    MOLESKIN
    Words of Wisdom: “Victory awaits him who has everything in order…luck we call it.

    Defeat is definitely due for him who has neglected to take the necessary precaution…bad luck we call it.

    Adventure is just bad planning”

    Ronald Amundsen

  • Audible at the Scramble

    YHC decided to change up the routine slightly at the Scramble in the Gloom. Each Pax had to complete 50 merkins, burpees, and squats during the course of the 5K. It was good to see Mathlete make a surprise appearance, even though he said he wont be coming back when he learned the Scramble was our running AO.

    It was good to share the streets of Old Mandeville with you, men! As always, it was my privilege to lead you guys this morning. Y’all push me to become a better man every time I am with you.

    Thanks to Steve for praying us out.

  • 1 Mile Time Trial #2

    12 strong showed up for the 2nd running of the 1 mile time trial.

    We started off with some light active stretching:

    15 X SSH

    15 X Mountain Climbers

    15 Leg Swings, L&R and Forward/ Back

    15 X 4 corner hops

    Skips down the parking lot

    1 mile warm up

    The mile course I plotted started at Causeway Approach heading south with ONE left turn (heading east) on Villere St. and finishing just before Coffee St.

    Ringo was on bike with a flash light and stopwatch to guide us.

    Finish times were:

    Cowbell 6:03

    Steve 6:13

    Turbo 6:13

    Waterpik 6:13

    The Hammer 6:33

    Bird 6:40

    Pixie Stix 7:13

    Shooter 7:37

    Pelican 7:43

    Russo 9:14

    Bushwacker DNF

    The Pax did a 1 mile recovery mosey as a pack back to the flag.

    We had a few minutes to spare so YHC led some light static stretching and 15 X Crunchy Frogs.

    Sealed the deal with 5 Burpees OYO.

    Thanks for coming out and testing yourself this gloom.

    Targeting March 2021 for the 3rd running!

    Thanks for letting me lead.

    Cowbell

  • Nothing Good Ever Happens at the Tunnel

    At least that’s what Zoolander says. Or, perhaps it was first said by Jose 10k. Who knows? But, after a brief warmup consisting of SSHs, GMs, HKs, BKs, ACs, and Self Love, YHC led the Pax on a Mosey to the tunnel for:

    THE THANG

    Partner up. P1 jogs through the tunnel and back, sprinting up the inclines on the both sides. P2 does 10 merkins, 10 smurf jacks, and 10 rower situps. Switch. Set the timer for 10 minutes and off we go.

    SLOW Mosey back to bus stop for 2 sets of 10: Derkins, box jumps.

    Mosey back to flag for bunny hops (2 columns), bear crawls (2 more columns), and back pedals (the rest of the covered area), then jog back, R and R (5 minutes).

    Mary: Cowbell’s crunchy frogs, flutter kicks, hello dollies, Freddy merc’s.

    COT and YHC prayed us out.

    It’s always an honor, men, to be a part of such an inspirational group. And, I am definitely a better man because of your positive vibes over the past 3 years. The positive habits that F3 engenders are definitely life changing.

  • Jose’s Pride and Joy

    Yep, you guessed it! It’s his sweat jug! (Zoo is starting to get nervous, folks). It’s not that he has his very own AO, the prized, smartly named, A1C (reminds me of Vanilla Ice). Nor is it his nickname, which he re-branded himself from Jose Mourinho to Jose 10k, more recently to Grumble Grumble (and who knows what else).

    We came here to exercise didnt we, Pik? Oh, yeah, here we go…

    YHC broke out and old standby today at the A1C, the Tabata workout. Every 30 seconds, the PAX did an AMRAP exercise with 30 seconds of rest in between. The exercises were: big boy sit-ups, merkins, derkins, flutter kicks, Hello dollies, more merkins, jump squats, bobby hurleys, apollo ohnos, leg raises, stone mountains.

    Thanks for hard work this gloom my brothers! Until next time, SYITG

    Pik

  • Walking on Sunshine

    To commerorate the 15th anniversary of Katrina, as well as the recent tragedy of Hurricane Laura, YHC crafted a beatdown that was not designed to be finished within the allotted time. The indomitable human spirit, however, persevered, and several beasts completed the task.

    We began by saying the Pledge of Allegiance, which will always begin any beatdown Q’d by YHC, and I would encourage all of us to, when Q’ing, take the 30 seconds to unite our hearts as Americans. Regardless of our views, when we can unite as Americans, we can overcome anything.

    Warm-o-rama:

    SSH x 20

    IW x 20

    Windmills x 10

    Way Backs x 10 (Intensified versions of toe touches, with a fully extended reach back upon returning to an upright position — suggested by none other than our newest PAX, my beloved son Pickaxe.

    We then moseyed to Noah’s Ark (a fitting venue for the date). Upon arrival, we paired up, with one partner running approximately halfway down Noah’s Ark while the other did burpees. Each partner took a turn, and once Partner 2 returned, they each completed 50 burpees, starting from the lowest number completed by a partner (i.e. Partner 1 does 15, and Partner 2 does 13, then they each do 37 more to get to 50 apiece. Thus Partner 1 does a little bit more). This initial exercise was designed not to be fair, but to emphasize we give our best even when things are not, and we always pick up our brothers.

    We then broke into a series of high repetition exercises with our partners:

    Cumulative:

    250 Bulgarian Split Squats

    Partner 1: BSS on the seawall

    Partner 2: Run Noah’s Ark

    500 Shoulder Taps

    Partner 1: STs

    Partner 2: Lunge Walk to/from street

    750 LBCs

    Partner 1: LBC

    Partner 2: Crab Walk to street ( I meant Bear Walk, but was told I said Crab Walk –subconciously wanting to intensify), run backwards from street

    1000 SSHs

    Partner 1: SSH

    Partner 2: Run around Noah’s Ark

    A couple of things: ANY exercise, no matter how simple, is HARD after 400 reps. Two, I’m so proud of our young PAX, ranging in age from 9-16 for hanging w/ the old folks. They manifest far greater maturity and composure than I did at that age (or now). One of the great things about F3 is that, when you show up, you are treated as an equal, regardless of age or ability. No one is above, and no one is beneath. We require not equal gifts, but equal sacrifice. Keep up the great work, gentleman, you inspire YHC!

    As stated earlier, a couple of teams finished the beatdown as Rx’d. Amazing.

    We moseyed back to the flag for COT, and welcomed 9 year old Pickaxe to the group. I have on good sourcing that as soon as he got home, he jumped into his parents’ bed and started telling his mother all about the “beatdown”. When Mrs. Hammer asked if he liked it, he responded, “Mom, nobody likes a beatdown, but you push through it.” Pickaxe also wants to make every beatdown every day of the week, even before school, and he is ready for next Saturday. I am so proud of him for coming, and I am humbled by the way each of you inspired him.

    Lastly, as I was running on the lakefront Friday evening, after the rain (intentional nod to the Nelson song), I saw a beautiful rainbow in its full arch. Such ugly weather produced something so profoundly beautiful. I was reminded that is also true in our own lives. In Katrina, we saw the worst of nature, but after, we also saw and experienced some of the best of humanity. People serving other people. We will see that with Laura as well. I am seeing that in my own life, and I hope, when the storms come, you all see it in yours as well. You just have to look.

    Except Jose’s Gallon Sweat Jug. There’s nothing beautiful about that.

  • Windows Up / Heat On

    5 strong at the Scramble this morning as Hurricane Laura pummeled Lake Charles and many of the Thursday regulars prepared for their Gulf Coast CSAUP.

    QIC checked the regular route prior to arriving at the double shovel flag. No barricades or pier closures in sight, so after a quick warmup of 10 Good Mornings, 10 Abe Vigodas, 10 Imperial Squat Walkers, and 1-legged chair stretches, the scramblers scrambled with a few stops along the way for Merkins.

    Wrapped up with 50 LBCs, 50 flutter kicks and 15 Burpees. Jose prayed us out.

    YHC was looking forward to Jose’s daily deposit into the sweat jug, but he left it in the garage! So windows up and heat on for the car ride home to squeeze out every last drop. SYITG!

  • Farewell Q

    It is with great sadness and much gratitude that I write my last backblast as a regular member of the Northshore F3 family. (I trust you’ll forgive the length!) As I shared with the men this morning, F3 has been an overwhelming answer to prayer, and as Bushwacker reminded me, it’s the individuals involved who truly make it what it is, so huge thanks for all of you guys allowing me to participate. More on this toward the end.

    This morning’s beatdown was meant to be a quick rundown of a few of the life lessons that F3 has confirmed for me in very concrete ways. The first, of course, being the necessity of a good warm up when you know you’re about to get your rear end kicked:

    Warmup: IC Windmills, IW’s, Cherry Pickers, High Knees, Butt Kicks followed by the first exercise listed on the Exicon (Shooter aced the pop-quiz, like I knew he would!):

    21’s–21 side straddle hops in cadence, but only the first 5 are counted out loud with an expectation that all PAX count the rest silently and end in perfect sync after the 21st. 10 burpees and start over if anyone is anything but perfect.

    Life Lesson #1: Togetherness is more about what’s in your head than it is about the people you’re with. (I may or may not have just made that up, but I think it’s got some staying power.)

    After one penalty set of burpees and a second round of SSH, YHC decided to modify for the sake of time and get moseying to the rock garden for Colt 45’s and Bolt 45’s.

    Colt 45’s = 15 curls from halfway down to all the way up, 15 curls all the way down to halfway up, and 15 curls from all the way down to all the way up.

    Bolt 45’s = same as above, but with squats (and rocks)

    Life Lesson #2: Don’t let your ego determine the size of your rock, especially if you don’t know what’s coming. But no matter how heavy or what the task ends up being, carry the weight you’ve got with courage. Own it!

    After “gently” replacing our rocks, we moseyed to the courthouse steps for some partner work:

    Partner 1 ran up (and down) the stairs using the following pattern: 2 up, 1 down, 3 up, 2 down, 4 up, 3 down, etc. until the top was tediously reached, then ran back down to Partner 2 who did continuous flutter kicks (round 1), Freddy Merc’s (round 2) and LBC’s (round 3) while waiting. In lieu of Jose’s math teaching prowess, Whacker provided tutoring for those who struggled.

    Life Lesson #3: Real progress is usually gradual and hard earned, so be patient, stay focused, and fight discouragement.

    This, followed by a mosey to the top ramp of the parking garage for more partner work:

    Partner 1 holds plank while Partner 2 sprints up the ramp, around to the opposite stairs, down, and back to Partner 1. His job is to get there in enough time for his partner to have held his plank without modifying; if his partner modifies, the sprinter has to do 5 burpees, so the planker’s job is to hold his position for the sake of his partner.

    Life Lesson #4: We are naturally more willing to endure pain and push harder for other people than we are for ourselves, we just need to tap into that power. F3 seems to exists for this reason!

    After two rounds of losing our breath (and eventually losing Bushwhacker to the irresistible call of nature), we moseyed back to the courthouse stairs for an exercise YHC forgot: three rounds of crab walking both up and down the courthouse stairs

    Life Lesson #5: Some things are easier for tall people. (Truth be told, pretty much every other F3 exercise seems to favor the smaller guys. It was nice to finally have an advantage over Cowbell.)

    After this we moseyed back to the flag for the last exercise/lesson:

    Followed the directions given in the song Flower by Moby (“Bring Sally up, bring Sally down…”) with squats, up and down with the words “up” and “down”. Thank you’s to Cowbell, Steve, and Amnesia for modifying with merkins and mission impossible planks to save their legs for the big race tomorrow–you guys made our leg pain seem relatively minimal in comparison.

    Life Lesson #6: Pain is temporary, though the worse it is, the more we tend to fear that it will last forever.

    COT and YHC prayed us out.

    Thanks, gentlemen, for following my lead today, and for an awesome year of comradery, creativity, and the best reason to get up early and sweat that I’ve had since college. Special thanks to Maverick who got me out there, the men who reached out to me during those first few beatdowns to make sure I felt like I was part of the team, the guys who hung back so often with me and kept up conversation to get my mind off my lack of oxygen, the men who were willing to share their lives with me during the longer runs, for the guys who continually witness to the truth that the men we’re exercising with are more important than the exercises we’re doing, and to the men who continue to push beyond their comfort zone so the rest of us can follow.

    It breaks my heart to leave what has become such a central part of my (and Pope’s) life, and though I’ll be working to get F3 started in the Thibodaux/Houma region, it won’t be with you guys, so know that you’re deeply appreciated, and you’ll be greatly missed. I know that God has great things in store for my family and I down there, and I’m sure there are a lot of guys who will greatly benefit from F3, so please keep us in prayer for the transition, and that we’ll remain open to all that God has in store for us, both the blessings and the trials. You’ll certainly be in mine.

    SYITG,

    Goose

  • Audibles at Granny’s (I’m not a Professional)

    As YHC pulled up to Granny’s, there was an unusually large group of F3 men ready to start the day off right. With the incessant soreness from Cowbell’s ISI pull-up challenge and Bushwacker’s consistent weekly prodding for some yoga infused workouts, we got started with some power flow, sun salutation, warrior 1, 2, 3, 4, half moon, whatever, whatever…I’m not a professional!

    Mosey to the bus stop. Not a lot of mumble chatter here, and Cowbell even kept his shirt on.

    – Bulgarian split squats (IC),

    – Box Jumps (OYO)

    – Burpee Box Jumps (OYO)

    – Irkins (IC)

    – Dirkins (IC)

    – Freak Nasties (IC)

    – Balls to the Wall Burpees aka Decline Burpees (Durpees?) OYO.

    Mosey to the tunnel, where, according to Jose, nothing good ever happens (including QIC’s cadence counting).

    – Top of the tunnel – 10 Jump Squats IC

    – ½ way down the incline – Merkins, I think

    – ½ way through the tunnel – 12 count body building, mounting climbing, shoulder tapping, squat jumping, burpees (IC). QIC was just calling audibles at this point. I’m not a professional!

    – Sprint to the top of the tunnel for some cool down Imperial Walkers

    – ½ way down the incline – hand rail dirkins, I think

    – ½ way through the tunnel – We did something. It’s a blur after the earlier 12 counts.

    – ½ way up the incline – slow Peter Parker/Parker Peter (there’s a yoga term for this, I’m sure…Bird said we were “flying”…I guess that’s what birds do.)

    – Top of the tunnel – 20 Sister Mary Katherines

    Mosey back to the trailhead, bunny hop up the stairs and reconvene at the shovel flags. Jose, did you notice we had two this morning?

    Closed out with Cowbell Crunchy Frogs and Goose-led Nolan Ryan’s.

    QIC prayed us out into the day. Thanks for posting in numbers today and following my lead, men. SYITG.