F3 New Orleans

Tag: Steve

  • Duck Hunting 101

    YHC has always joked that he does F3 to he can be in shape for duck season, among MANY other reasons. Duck hunting on public land in the Mississippi Delta is a very physically demanding hobby and for some strange reason I absolutely love it. Waking up at 2am to wade through waste deep water in 20 degrees just sounds fun, right??

    Well, YHC wanted the Gipper pax to learn a thing or two about the prep that goes into a morning of duck hunting, sans water and 20 degrees.

    Disclaimer was given and PAX was instructed to grab some gear from the camp (cinder block). Each block was to account for all of the gear needed on a hunt.

    COP #1- Warm Up:

    10 Burpees OYO

    20 X SSH

    10 X Good Mornings

    10 F/B X Arm Circles

    20 X J Lo’s

    10 L/R X Nolan Ryan’s (on crushed gravel!)

    Now we need to load up the truck: 10 L/R X Elf on a Shelf with block

    Mosey to the courthouse walkway (boat launch) at a brisk pace as we need to beat all other hunting parties to the duck hole!

    Load the boat: split into 2 lines with blocks at the end of each line. Pass block down to the end of the line, and back down. R&R X3.

    The boat is launched, now we need to drive as far as we can in the timber…quick mosey to the parking garage entrance and ramp. Leave your gear while we go search for a good spot to set up: Run up the ramp and complete 10 burpees on one side and 10 merks on the other side all the way to the top. Repeat.

    We found a prime duck hole at the top of the garage!! grab your gear and meet there.

    Now its time to throw out the decoys, we brought 3 dozen this trip..

    Block swings X 12, R&R X3.

    Now its time to actually hunt, so we need to practice raising the gun to our shoulder: Chest press X 10, R&R X3.

    We shot a few ducks but ran out of time to pick them up!

    Carry your gear back to the camp.

    Count, Name, and Grundy took us out with a prayer.

    Thank you all for hunting with me and appeasing me!

    Cowbell

  • The Lord of the Thangs

    Huge thanks to the 20 men who posted this morning for Pope’s VQ! He’s been chomping at the bit to lead, and we greatly appreciate you guys making it so special for him, especially with our planning to move soon to an area where we’ll be starting F3 from scratch. Glad to know I can lean on him to Q every now and then!

    Excitement was in the air as more and more men made their way to the flag (Turbo Dog couldn’t hold it in.) The 11-year-old Pope had shown signs of natural leadership at previous beatdowns, so expectations were high, and he did not disappoint.

    The routine was centered around his new favorite topic, The Lord of the Rings. After having recently finished reading the books, a good percentage of his thought time these days is spent somewhere in Middle Earth, so the landmarks around The Gipper were quickly transformed into battlefields, fortresses, and volcanoes.

    Warmup: 20 Side Straddle Hops, 15 Windmills, 15 Merkins, 15 Cherry Pickers, 15 Butt Kicks, 15 High Knees

    Then, PAX grabbed age-appropriate coupons and mosey to the courthouse for the first stage of the Thangs:

    1st Stage–Battle at Helms Deep:

    Start as Legolas (fleet-footed elf) at the benches with 10 bench hops (hands on a bench and jump back and forth over), carioca run to the stairs, and run up to the top where each then becomes Gimli (short dwarf) and completes 15 dwarf jacks (smurf jacks). Then, down the ramp and back to the coupons where each becomes Aragorn (warrior king) and performs 12 sword unsheathings (overhead tricep presses).

    Three rounds of this, then haul the coupons up the stairs of the parking garage to the top ramp for…

    2nd Stage–Mount Doom:

    Hobbits Frodo and Sam teamed up to get the ring to the top of the mountain to destroy it in the flaming lava.

    PAX partnered up with partner 1 (Frodo) starting the beloved “Bear and Block” up the ramp: bear crawl a few steps, then drag/pull the cinder block forward from between your feet, then a few more steps, then drag, etc.

    Partner 2 (Sam) battled Gollum (coupon) at the bottom: 10 Man Makers for first round, 15 curls for second round, and 15 goblet squats for third. Once a set was complete, partner 2 ran up to Frodo to replace him dragging the block up the ramp, and partner 1 runs down to be Sam for a set at the bottom.

    Each time the block made it all the way to the top and was run back down, partners moved on to the next round’s exercise. After the third round, all PAX ran backwards with their coupons to the top (in the style of Gollum, dancing his way over the edge of the cliff).

    About half of the PAX found a way to destroy their rings/coupons early (a little too much “man” in the “Man Makers”) making their task a bit easier and making a Home Depot run necessary for YHC before next Wednesday.

    Moseyed back to the flag to replace the coupon fragments. COT with some great opportunities provided for giving back to the community, and Turbo Tax prayed us out.

    Thanks, again, for all the support for the young Q, and for allowing us to be a part of the F3 family! We’ll be taking full advantage of it until the day we’re moved out, and then we’ll be counting on your wisdom and support for getting F3 started in the Houma-Thibodaux area.

    God will provide!

    Goose

  • Murph: The Chill-mode Edition

    Yes, maybe it was a bit cruel to spring a Murph on the Marsh crew on a Monday morning.  I figured I’d get a, “Oh hell no,” from Cowbell.  And a, “Yeah, that’s great, thanks Steve.  After I’ve done 120 frickin’ ISI squats,” from Jose.  And a lot of eye rolling from the Wacker.  But c’mon, taken at slightly less intense pace (apologies Tank), the Murph is really not as bad as it sounds.  

    So we started with some warmorama just to give Cowbell some time to navigate around the deep and dangerous ditches surrounding the Marsh. Then ran the first mile down to the lake and back at a leisurely “warm up” pace, loosening us up for 20 sets of 5 pull-ups / 10 merkins / 15 squats.  We did it together, waiting after each set before starting the next, and I think the pax would agree, it really wasn’t so bad.  T-claps to Pixie Stick, who did great in his first (near-complete) Murph.  

    Another leisurely mile run to the lake and back, some flutters, and we were done.  Countdown, nameorama, and Jose offered up a powerful prayer to close it out, with intentions for Goose’s soon-to-be born baby, Akbar’s travel to the Smokey Mountains, and some healing for our divided nation.

    Thank you for the opportunity to get stronger and better alongside such good men.  I truly appreciate it.

  • Cloudy With A Chance of Unitards

    It’s been threatening rain all week.  And the forecast for Thursday evening’s F2 beatdown was no different, with a 60-70% chance as of that morning.  YHC seriously envisioned 10k and I sitting under the gazebo drinking alone (he his bud light tallboys, me my overpriced hipster beer), while 10k grumbled about the sunset and my beer.  And while that vision partially came true – with the added bonus of a “only-in-Hollywood” rainbow overhead – we were spared the actual rain and a decent size group posted.

    YHC had planned for no warmorama, since time was short, but as BBQ was dealing with securing his bike (he rode from Covington! 👏👏👏), we knocked out some SSH’s before jumping into 20x burpees OYO.

    Next up, a Lazy Dora.  Same as the usual Dora (100 merks, 200 squats, 200 LBC’s), but instead of running between sets, the alternating partner would hold a static pose until it was his turn.  So plank for 10x merkins, Al Gore for 20x squats, and 6” hold for 30x LBC’s.  Cumulative goals were reached pretty quickly, and we moved over to the seawall for some leg work.

    20x jump squats, lunge walk to sidewalk, 20x monkey humpers IC

    20x Bulgarians IC (10 ea.), lunge walk, 20x Apollo Ohno’s

    20x calf raises IC (balancing on the edge of the seawall, which was more difficult than you might think), lunge walk, 20x Sister Mary’s.

    Finally, back to the wall for shoulders: 15x freak nasties IC, 5x derkins IC.  Rinse and repeat with 10x freaks IC / 10x derks IC.  Then 5x freaks IC / 15x derkins IC.

    Around this time we had an In Time flyby, with his cross country team in tow, and we then circled up for an abbreviated Mary of heels to heaven and leg raises, both x15 IC.  

    Upon completion, the guys noticed a rather large and somewhat magical rainbow stretched across the lakefront sky.  Turbo joked that all we needed now was a unicorn and, lo and behold, the hero we both deserved and needed materialized: Amnesia, donning, that’s right, a unitard.  (At least, according to Jose that is the official name of said bodysuit.  The differences between a unitard and a leotard and a bodysuit is a mystery to me, and one I’m not willing to google.)

    COT, prayed out by Akbar, and we all headed to the Gazebo joined by Cowbell, Tank, and Tank’s son (a soon-to-be named F3 brother).  Good beer, good company, and a good sunset – what more could you ask for?  Great time out there with you guys, thanks for posting and thanks for the opportunity to lead!  

    *rainbow and unitard not captured on film due to Cowbell’s usual tardiness

  • Back to the Basics

    YHC signed up to Q long before knowing Tuesdays would become interval running days. The solution was simple, no running and do some quality exercises, Tabata style.

    Disclaimer was given and we did a short mosey to the commuter bus stop.

    COP #1) Warm Up

    20 X SSH, 20 Jlo’s, 10 X PP, 10 X PP, 20, Mtn Climbers, Arm Circles, 10 X LSS

    Mosey back to the stage area for little activity: Everyone take off your shirt and put it on the ground in front of you. Now get in balls to the wall stance and try to put your shirt on. I think we got close to 100% completion!

    COP #2) Tabata (10 Rounds, 1 min work, 15 sec rest)

    1. Burpees
    2. Merkins
    3. Sister Mary Catherines
    4. Freak Nasties
    5. LBC
    6. Derkins
    7. Box Jumps
    8. Serratus Merkins
    9. Crunchy Frog
    10. Low Plank Hold

    Rinse and Repeat

    We still had some time left so we started another round of Tabata to stretch out, something we all admitted we could use more of.

    1. Straight leg hold
    2. Hip Flexor Left
    3. Hip Flexor Right
    4. Quad Left
    5. Quad Right

    Mosey back to the flag for COT. Count, Name, Goose prayed us out.

    F2 this Thursday right in front of Barley Oak. 30 min beatdown led by Steve with Tailgate beers to follow.

    Thanks for letting me lead!

    Cowbell

  • By The Numbers

    It was supposed to be a Cowbell beatdown. YHC brought gloves, as I imagined it’d likely be something tough… maybe a lazy Dora… maybe a merkin ladder as a warm-up. One of those beatdowns that’s a constant push, no 10 counts, pouring Shooter-eque sweat in the first 5 minutes. No mercy, as the sensei of Cobra Kai might say.

    And to be fair, we waited for the Bell and even gave him his standard 5 minute grace period.

    Knowing that he sorta does his own warmup anyway, YHC took the Q and we started with the usual (good mornings, arm circles, SSH, IWs, WMs, etc.), expecting the truck to pull in at any moment. But with warmorama options fully exhausted and no Cowbell in sight, it was time to roll. After all, Pik and Pixie traveled to the AO on foot this morning (t-claps!) and would need to wrap it up quickly to get back.

    First up, mosey to the Marsh for some…

    30’s: 25 t-merkins / 5 hanging knee tucks on the pull up bars. 20/10, 15/15, etc. Next up, some…

    10’s: 9 pull ups / 1 big boy sit-up. 8/2, etc.

    YHC is not a quick thinker to begin with, and this becomes even more true at 0515, so we kept it simple and stuck with the number theme. Back to the trailhead for a true set of …

    11’s: 10 Freddie Mercs (4-count) / 1 Sister Mary K (2 count), with a bunny hop up the stairs because, yeah, that’s what I’ve been into lately.

    Finished up with some Mary: Putins, leg raises, crunchy frogs, LBC’s, and 10x burpees OYO.

    Nameorama and Goose prayed us out. Thanks guys for pushing and letting me lead on this gloriously hot and humid morning!

  • Burpee Crowd Pleaser

    Ok ok, last week got away from me. But, here is the backblast nonetheless.

    11 men met out on a beautiful morning in at the Gipper.

    COP #1: Warm up (All IC X 20)

    SSH, IW, Hillbillies, Arm Circles (x10), Jlo’s, Grass Grabbers, Toe Touches.

    Mosey to the Justice center parking lot for the first crowd pleaser:

    COP #2: Merkin Variation Ladder

    10 regular merks, 10 wide arm merks, 10 diamond merks

    9 regular merks, 9 wide arm marks, 9 diamond merks

    and so on…. we got down to 5 and YHC asked the pax if they wanted to stop and the only voice he heard was from Einstein (Respect Respect) “Lets finish!”

    and finish we did..

    Moseyed to the 2nd deck of the parking garage for the main event crowd pleaser.

    The Thang:

    The instructions were so simple. 4 exercises, 5 rounds.

    Reps were: 50,40,30,20,10

    Exercises were: Burpees, Squats, Merkins, Big Boi Sit Ups

    Complete 50 reps of each exercise, run up the ramp to the other side of the garage, down the stairs and back and then begin the next round of 40 reps each…. etc.

    most of the pax completed 2 rounds while a few over achievers (Steve, Turbo, Zoo) got halfway through round 3.

    YHC will be back and we WILL finish!!

    Mosey back to the flag.

    Thanks for letting me lead, as always.

    Cowbell

  • A Pictogram is Worth a Thousand Words

    *Stick figures not to scale, rep counts lost in the haze of the last few weeks.

  • Hip old granny, who can hip-hop, bebop, dance til you drop…

    Alright, aside from some bunny hops up the stairs, this was a fairly laid back beatdown at Granny’s House.  Almost enjoyable one might say.  In retrospect, it was as if YHC knew that Bean would bring the pain the next morning and that Cowbell’s 1 mile time trial would bring back memories of last year’s Nutria.  So we pushed, but also had enough running breaks that we could chat between sets.

    Warmup: windmills, toe touches, IW’s, SSH’s, arm circles, etc.  All IC, at or around 20x.

    First up, a set of 11’s on the Stairs:

    Merks at bottom, the aforementioned bunny hops up to the top of the stairs, then squats up top.

    Next up, the Dirty McDeuce over at the Stage: Three exercises at x12 reps each, 4 rounds total.

    Round 1:

    • Diamonds
    • Jump Squats
    • LBC’s

    Round 2:

    • Wide armed
    • Lunges
    • Leg Raises

    Round 3:

    • T-merks
    • Groiners
    • Crunchy Frogs

    Round 4:

    • Burpees
    • Monkey Humpers
    • Hammers

    And the finale, a few races down the corridor where the winner chooses both the next exercise as well as the method of racing back.

    A sprint first, which Goose won easily and chose LBC’s x12 IC.  Then he picked broad jumps for the race back.  

    YHC was close, but Cowbell pulled off the win on this one.  We did some (?) crunchy frogs and then he chose a backwards shuffle as the next race. 

    Obviously his strength because he won that one as well (even though Goose put up a good fight) and called of penguins x12 IC as the final exercise.  Time up, COT with Akbar praying us out.

    Thank you men for the push and for the chance to lead!

  • Light June Jaunt

    We’re gonna keep this short and sweet, as YHC is behind the eight ball on these backblasts.  The usual crew posted this morning (minus Shooter, who may still be hauling trees Commando-style out at his camp, and minus Bushwacker, who is attempting to heal a wide assortment of ailments).  Cowbell doesn’t really count, because he is usually “stuck” at the beach anyway on Mondays.  Jose 10k rolled in mid-warm up after a disoriented drive around Old Mandeville finally reminded him of the Marsh location.  

    Warmorama – Good mornings, toe touches, SSH, arm circles, air presses, seal jacks, IW’s, all IC somewhere between 10-20x.

    YHC missed Cowbell’s reopening of the Marsh last week (it’s been barricaded for months), and though it was nice to be able to warmup under on the court again (which could’ve used a Captain Sparkles sweep, btw), we decided to take it on the road this morning.

    Mosey towards the lake, with a stop at each intersection for 15 merkins, 20 squats, and 25 IC flutter kicks.  5 blocks later, we headed over to Rips for a backwards bear crawl up the stairs, followed by calf raises (5x each step) going back down.  Calf raises for the guys either waiting in queue or finished and waiting.

    Already time to head back the way we came, with the same 15 merkins, 20 squats, and 25 flutters at each intersection until we returned to the court just in time.  (Well, ok, maybe a minute late.)

    Pik prayed us out, wishing his brother a happy 40th on this day, and we went on our way.  Thanks gents, posting with you guys is the best way to start the week!