F3 New Orleans

Tag: The Birdcage

  • Double Indian Runs

    Pre-Thang

    It’s December and the temperature at 5:30am is hovering around the low to mid 50’s.  It was time to break out a long sleeve shirt today.  Shorty showed up decked out in full sweats and explained how he doesn’t do cold very well.  Somehow he just doesn’t sweat…must be nice

    Warm-Up

    Slaughter Starter – do 15 burpees around the flag

    Mosey over to the lamp posts for COP:

    • IC: Seal Jacks x 20, Monkey Humps x 15, Plank Jacks x 20, Plank Walks x 15,

    The Thang

    Pair up for a synchronized double Indian run around the track to the monkey bars.

    Circuit Training on count of first exercise:

    • 15 Cross-Fit Merikans (1st round), 15 Diamond Merikans (2nd round)
    • Pull-Ups
    • Dips
    • Smurf Jacks

    Pair up for more synchronized moseying around the track.  YHC will call out exercises (side shuffle, butt kicks, high knees, Indian Run) until reaching hole #16 golf green for some Mary.

    • IC: Pickle Pounders x 15, Russian Twists x 15, Hello Dolly x 20, LBC x 30

    Synchronized double Indian run back to the monkey bars for another round of circuit training.

    Hawg, RY, & Amnesty definitely brought the chatter doing Smurf Jacks, Monkey Humps, and Pickle Pounders – “People won’t join are cause if we just look like a bunch of men doing stupid exercises.”  Whatever, these are what YHC brings to the table because they burn.  Tool was pretty close to a swinging kick to YHC’s crotch on the monkey bar pull-ups.  That brought out a few chuckles during the pain session.

    Synchronized double Indian run back to lamp posts with a sprint to the end as the PAX makes the turn off the track.  In honor of our Denver comrade, Revelry, the PAX got into a tight circle for Circle of Man Merikans.  5 reps on each arm.

    Mosey over to the pavilion for IC Step-Ups Left x 15, Derikans x 15, Step-Ups Right x 15.  A couple of tomatoes/watermelons/whatever we call women were hanging out stretching in the Pavilion as YHC counted the cadence loudly.  YHC should have brought out the Monkey Humps here just to make a few  PAX members feel a little more awkward.

    Mosey back to flag for a quick Plank-O-Rama to finish up the Fitness portion of today’s Backblast.

    Name-O-Rama: 17 men showed up in the gloom this AM.  Roots dipped off a little early to get to work.  A few new faces from the previous couple weeks are returning on a regular basis now.  Nice to see we are still growing.

    Shout Out: Prayers go out to RY’s Aunt battling illness.  We express gratitude for helping all of us get up this morning to become better men.  As we are in the midst of the holiday season, we reflect that this is a time for giving and not receiving.  Go out into the last half of this week and try to make a positive impact on someone else’s life.  Reminder to bring a toy to next Wednesday’s DJ style evening backblast for Toys-for-Tots.

  • No Flags, One Ball

    No flags in the city or apparently in the rocky outskirts this morning. The uptown PAX instead turned their attention to a medicine ball resting in the circle. After a brief disclaimer, we moseyed to the bandstand. Luckily the intimidating, statuesque figure from last week was no where to be found so we took the stage for a COP:

    SSH x20, MC x 20, IW x20, Plank Jacks x20, Medicine Ball/ Air Push Squats 5x each w/ball, 20x w/o

    Mosey to the track for an Indian Run with ball – pass left to the row bars. Row Bars x15, Ball Lunges x5 intertwined w/ standard lunges

    Indian Run ball pass right – stop midway to foundation. #mumblechatter about the weight of the ball…seemed heavier every pass.

    COP under a street light for our most cultist looking exercise: The Jack Webb Ball Pump x5 each w/ball, 20x w/o ball. From the track it appeared five guys were praising a large black ball. Can we request a pic for the website?

    Indian Run to the foundation – pump once then pass overhead. At the foundation benches: Left leg step-up x25, Dips x20, Right leg step-up x25, Derkins x10

    Indian Run to the green – pump once then pass right

    COP #3: Russian Twist Ball Pass – 10x left, 10x right, Dying Cockroach x20, Hello Dolly x20, LBCx20

    Indian Run to monkey bar – pump three times then pass

    At monkey bar, switch to Indian Run – Hold Ball 3 count above head then pass (aka the Lloyd Dobler) back to flag.

    3min Plank-o-rama to close – standard, back, right arm up, left arm up, mission impossible

    Name-O-Rama then a close with the Serenity Prayer.

     

  • 11 Habits of Partially Effective Qs.

    Partially may be too strong of a word.

    15 residents and 2 prodigal sons gathered in perfect temperatures for this morning’s mystery Q.  The scheduled Q had to drop out so YHC and RY thought it would be appropriate to share the love and give some of the newer Pax a chance to Q, all the while proclaiming our sage wisdom to their eager ears.

    Habit 1:  Arrive to the AO 10 minutes early.

    Habit 1:  Grow an awesome mustache that commands respect

    Habit 2:  Don’t wear monkey feet

    Habit 3:  Watch out for bikes.

    Habit 4:  Always start with the disclaimer

    After explaining the importance of having different people Q and forgetting to state the disclaimer, we took off across Magazine  (taking slightly different paths) so we could warm-up within earshot of the tomatoes.

    Habit 4:  It’s important that you give the Pax clear direction.  We introduce each exercise with a standard set of three two part commands, e.g.  Command 1:  “Next exercise is (pause) The Side Straddle Hop!”…Command 2: “Ready position (pause) Move!”…Command 3: “In Cadence (pause) Exercise!” and then start the count.  Don’t forget the last command of “Exercise!.”  That is the one that ensures everyone starts together.

    Warm-up COP all IC:  SSH x 30; IW x 30; Merkins x 20; Plank Jacks x 30; Low-Slow Squats x 29; Peter Parkers x 24

    Habit 5:  If some jackass calls you into the COP to lead an exercise without any warning, then you should do some random number of said exercise so that he will be faced with how awful his memory is when he goes to write the backblast.

    From here we moseyed to the abandoned soccer goal and divided up into four groups, forming a diamond about 20 yards apart.

    Habit 6:  Design the workout so that no matter the fitness level, all men get smoked and no man gets left behind.  One way of doing this is for the Q and the fast guys to run ahead to the next location and plank or perform some sort of exercise while everyone catches up.  Another way is to include timed exercises where the pax does AMRAP (as many reps as possible).

    Rocket Man – AMRAP at each station for 30 seconds with a 10 second recovery as you rotate to the next station.  Peek-a-boo pull-ups, Squats, Merkins, Burpees, Rinse and Repeat.

    Habit 7:  Plagiarize.  If something works, steal it and use it the next time you Q.  There are hundreds of great exercises listed on the website.  Don’t feel pressured to be original.  By the way, thanks to Yuengling for Rocket Man.

    At this point YHC passed the Q off to Reluctant Yankee who had his heart set on driving his Chevy to the levee.  However, a train cut off our access to the levee so Yank made a sudden change to 6 MOM.

    Habit 8:  The best laid plans sometimes go awry.  Fewer pax may show up than expected, or more pax may show up, or a train may get in your way, or they may suddenly replace your favorite pull-up bars with some kind of twisted metal, post-modern sculpture with chains.  The point is you need to have some extra workouts in your back pocket (literally in your back pocket if you are using a weinke and wearing bike coach’s shorts) ready to use at a moments notice.

    Habit 9:  Remember that pace is important.  Standing around and not doing anything purposefully is a workout killer.  This is a corollary of Habit 8, or maybe vice versa.  I’m not really sure, but it probably doesn’t matter (Notice how obnoxious it is to ramble and not be purposeful, even in the backblast).

    Six Minutes of Mary all IC:  LBC x 25; Flutter Kick x 24; Rosalita x Veinticinco, LBT x 23; Russian Twist x 20

    At this time the train was gone so we followed Yankee to the levee

    Chevy to the Levee:  10 Burpees, 25 Mary Katherine’s at the top, 25 Parker Peters on the other side.  Run back to the beginning and repeat doing 10, 25, and 20 reps.

    Hit the rail road tracks for Wiley Coyote IC x 12

    Habit 10:  Never lead the pax into doing something illegal or highly dangerous

    Back to the park for some Tchoupitoulas Tchoo-Tchoo.  Pax in a line in plank as the man at the end bunny hops over everyone.  We made it through one rotation.

    Back to the flag for the COT.  Prayers for friends and family facing treatments and surgeries during the holidays.  Celebration of Amnesty’s grandmothers life.

    Habit 11:  There is probably never a good reason to quote John Cougar Mellencamp during the COT.  

    • T-claps to all the men that stepped up and led exercises today.
    • T-claps to Osha for channeling his inner Corps Commander.
    • T-claps to Heisenberg for being able to count to 3 in Spanish.
    • T-claps to the pax for being able to count to 25 in Spanish.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • The Skinny Arm post

    OK- AO – The Birdcage/The Skinny #norocks

    Sure there were only 4 of us again!  But 4 dudes trying to get better.  It was by far the coldest morning of this fall.  I kept thinking that bagasse would show up with the flag – but he fartsacked on us!

    The PAX started off with a gentle Mosey then things got harder.

    First COP – SSH x 25, Hilllbilly x 25, Imperial Squats x 25, Merks x 20, Good mornings x 25

    Kind of a quiet pax – I had to remind them to count in cadence.  Finally felt warm after that COP.

    Run following the loop and stop at the Rows.  Rows x 20 while partner does burpees until Rows are done.  Then Rows x 15  while partner does burpees until Rows are done.

    Then we mosey’d following the loop at Audubon.  We stopped and visited our old friend Jack Webb.

    No rocks but our arms were still hurting!

    Some mumble chatter about these goofy air pumps until we got to 10.  Then Douille had his ah-ha moment.  Jack Webb to 10.  Gives + 50 push ups.

    Then we mosey’d to the benches at the fountain near St Charles Ave.  I offered the opportunity to the faster runners to meet at the benches.  Nip Tuck and Douille took off.

    Here we did a COP:  Step Ups left leg, step ups right leg, Dips, one leg left squats, one leg right squats and slow dips holding each position.  x 20

    Mosey to the Golf tees.  Here we got to work on our 6 minutes of Mary.

    Hello Dolly, Russian Twist, Dying Cockroach, LBC, Peter Parkers, Flutter, x 25

    Mosey a half mile.  Finish the 6MOM that we started.

    Parker Peters, Plank Jacks, Mtn Climbers x 20

    Then it was a sprint to the finish at the Flag!

    A quick prayer to better human beings – every day all day!

     

     

     

  • It’s a bird, it’s a plane… no, it’s…Aquaman??

    “Some people feel the rain… others just get wet.”  – Roger Miller

    The perfect Gloom: Rain was everywhere and mixed with an uncomfortable chill in the air.  As YHC pulled up about 10 minutes early, Jingle Vader could be seen walking back and forth from his car to the usual flag spot.  I believe he was trying to avoid the lightning.

    To my surprise, we had 15 men post today! It must have been RY’s tough love:

    Ok old ladies–
    Shorty has the Q in the AM.
    There is a 100% chance of RAIN at 530AM.
    You will be wet, you will be muddy, you will have fun.
    Get your SIX out of the sack and meet us at Audubon 530AM.
    I wonder how many tomatoes will attend the YOGA session in front of the zoo?
    Probably not as many hardcore psychos as we will have tomorrow!
    Be there or be an old lady.  You will be one or the other.
    You choose.
    See you in the Soggy Gloom-
    RY

    Lots of mumble chatter at the pre-thang mentioning things like “Why are we doing this” and “We are awesome!” and “Look how packed the park is now (sarcasm)” and “Why would an FNG show up today” (#Tclaps to Walleye-FNG for his first post in this storm),  all with an occasional teeth chatter.

    At 530am sharp, we were off, but first…

    DISCLAIMER

    The Thang:

    COP #1 around the flag – IC: Plank-O-Rama

    • 20 x SSH
    • 20 x Elevator Merkins
    • 20 x Plank Jacks
    • 20 x Mountain Climbers
    • 15 x Ski Abs
    • 10 x In & Outs

    Exercise #1 – OYO: Indian Run Part One to the Fountain

    • Every time YHC gets back to the front, the PAX pulls over to the side to perform:
      • 15 x Peter Parkers Arthur Currys
      • Spiderman Aquaman Walk (low Bear Crawl) back to path.

    COP #2 – IC: Dips at the Fountain

    • 20 x Dips
    • 10 x Incline Merkins
    • 10 x Dips (Left Leg Up)
    • 10 x Derkins
    • 10 x Dips (Right Leg Up)

    Exercise #2 – OYO: Indian Run Part Deux to the Light post

    • Every time YHC gets back to the front, the PAX pulls over to the side to perform:
      • 15 x Peter Parkers Arthur Currys
      • Spiderman Aquaman Walk (low Bear Crawl) back to path.

    Partner-up by the light post for Exercise #3.

    Exercise #3 – OYO: Dora 1 – 2 – 3

    • Teams of 2 PAX working together to reach cumulative exercise goal of 200 prisoner squats. Pax 1 executes as many reps as possible while Pax 2 sprints to the 2nd set of light poles and back. Flapjack until team goal is reached.

    Mosey back to the flag for Name-O-Rama, Shout-Outs, & Prayer.  I’m glad everyone was able to learn who Arthur Curry was.  We all became Aquamen today!

  • Rocks!? We don’t need no stinking rocks.

    Five men gathered in a rock starved Audubon Park. Feeling the need to lift something heavy, but too lazy to drive to Metairie, YHC brought a 35ish lb. sandbag to the morning’s festivities.

    The PAX made the short mosey to the bandstand for a COP. Plans changed when the PAX observed a fine gentleman catching some z’s on the bandstand. So as not to disturb the fine gentleman, the PAX headed down a ways for the COP.

    SSH x 20, Mountain Climbers x 21, Imperial Walkers x 22, Peter Parkers x 23.

    Mosey back to the flag, grab the sandbag, and begin the 2 mile sandbag Indian run. Man in the back shouldered the sandbag, sprinted to the front of the line, passed the sandbag down the line to the man in the back who shouldered the sandbag and ran to the front. Interesting discovery, albeit a small sample size, the sound that a man makes throwing a sandbag appears to be universal.

    Stop at the first exercise station for Rows x 20 and Incline Merkins x 20. Back to the run, but this time, the non-sandbag holding PAX members ran hallelujah style (arms in the air) until the next break.

    Stop for a break of Burpees x 5 and LBCs x 25. Resume run but without that hallelujah style nonsense.

    Stop at next exercise station for Pull-Ups x 8, Leg ups x 10, Derkins x 10, Incline Merks x 10, and step-ups, really high step-ups, x10. Continue the run.

    Stop at the next exercise station for bean bag toss. PAX gathered in a circle and tossed the sandbag to the man on the right x 10. Continue the run.

    Stop for some Mary. LBCs x 20, Flutter kicks x 15, Russian twists x 15, Hello Dolly x 15. PAX abandoned Mary because of a  mosquito swarm. The run was resumed all the way back to the flag for the remaining two minutes of Mary. Rosalitas x 15 and Real Freddie Mercury’s x 15.

    Take a count, name-o-rama, shout out, and prayer, with special thoughts to those in Paris.

  • Veterans Day Workout

    Beautiful morning.  57 degrees when I pulled up to see the PAX around the flag and ready to go.  I was filling in for Splash whose back has been bothering him.  It seemed fine when I saw him and Griswold pounding beers at the Pelicans game (First win!) last night!

    Since it is Veteran’s Day we started with a pledge of allegiance.

    Then we mosey’d over to the Kickball field and we did a quick COP.

    IC:  SSH x 25, Mountain Climbers x 25, Slow Count Merks x 20, Slow Count Squats x 25

    Then we mosey’d over to the Rocketman field.

    We did a 4 corners workout.  First Round –  Per corner we did 30 Flutter, 30 Lunge Jumps, 30 Plank Jacks, and 30 LBCs

    Second Round – 15 of the same

    Third Round – 10 x burpees, Diamond merks, Russian Twist, Wide Merks

    The we mosey’d over to the levee for some Chevy to the Levee.  We crossed the muddy ditch to get to the Levee (in honor of Splash)!

    We did 10 burpees at the bottom, 10 Squat Jumps at the top, and 40 Flutters on the other side.   Then we did it again but reduced to 30 Flutters.

    Then we circled up for some Mary.

    In Mary we did: IC x 20 LBT, Russian Twist, Hello Dolly, Rosalita, Dying Cockroach, Peter Parkers

    Then we did one more push on the Chevy to the Levee.  10 Burpees, 10 Squat Jumps, and 40 Parker Peters

    After last push on the levee  (since Casey Jones was AWOL) we did X12 Wiley E Coyote on the train tracks.

    A gentle mosey over to the Rocketman field again.  At Rocketman field – we did The newly named Tchoupitoulas Tchoo-Tchoo.  All guys planked – the Pax Broad Jumped over legs until they get to the front – then wait in plank for the next guy to Broad Jump.  Good times.

    Then a final sprint to the FLAG.

    COT:  Prayers for our past and current soldiers.

    Not much mumble chatter today.  Just a solid workout.  Nip-Tuck got landmined by some dog on the levee.  Peck lost his Specks on the levee.  (Maybe his 3rd nickname is coming soon?) I lost my Weinke on the levee too.  Splash get better.

    Tclaps to the PAX that donated to the Movember Prostate Cancer fundraiser we are doing right now!

    Announcements:  Pancakes – Saturday after we workout!  Join us!  Hosted by Side Effects and Amnesty

     

  • Meanwhile in the City

    Whilst six of our comrades battled rocks in the outskirts, four men decided to test their skills in the friendly confines of Audubon Park. YHC gave a lively disclaimer (thankful for not having to go solo) and then we headed off to the bandstand for nice warm-up COP:

    SSH x25, MC x25, LBC x20, IW x25, Peter Parker x25, LBC x20

    10 quick box jumps OYO down below then we moseyed down the loop to row bars: Rows x10, Low slow squats x20, rinse, repeat

    Took a long mosey (at least it seemed that way) to the next feats of strength station: Dips x10, Pull-Up/Knee Up x10 & Jump Squats x10 then a good ole repeat

    Short mosey past the Friday ducks onto the benches: Step-Up R x25, Dips x20, Step-Up L x25 & Derkins x10

    Moseyed to station #3 for a couple rounds of pull-ups x5 and lunges x10. Yankee commented the new exercise bench reminds him of a love seat toilet for two (must be popular up north).

    After a mosey over to the fountain for a sip of the Mississippi and discussion on how to best utilize the stations when Mondays go double digit (next week?), we set off a good pace to last station for leg swings x10 on the Monkey bars and Parker Peters OYO while you wait.

    For the finale, we booked it back to the flag on a furious (yes, furious) pace. Tclaps to all for finishing strong.

    Thoughts and prayers for RY’s aunt.

    Great start to the week. Thanks

     

     

     

  • Blackjack

    Pre-Thang:

    Shorty rolled in early, blasting Lil Wayne from the factory speakers of his mid-sized sedan. The rest of the PAX then began trickling in one by one. When 5:30 a.m. rolled around, a non-convergence record of 20 men had assembled in the morning gloom.

    The PAX made a short mosey across the street for a Circle of Pain with a blanket of fog slowly lifting from the dew dampened ground.

    SSH x 20, Mountain Climbers x 20, Imperial Walkers x 20, Peter Parkers x 20.

    On the mosey back across the street, Rocky Top appeared out of the fog, joining the PAX and giving us 21 (Blackjack, get it?)

    The PAX gathered by the row of 12 light poles near the track for a drive down Route 66.

    Round 1, Low Slow Squats at each light pole. After the requisite eleven light poles were hit, a sprint to the end of the row of lights, plank up, and wait for the six. With six in hand, a walk to the pond behind the bandstand for Hip Slappers x 5 each hip, Incline Merks x 15, dips x 15. Sprint back to first light pole near the track.

    Round 2, Lunges – plank up, and wait for six. Walk back to the bandstand for some more Hip Slappers x 5 each hip, LBCs x 20, Merks x 20. Sprint back to first light pole.

    Round 3, Squat Jumps – sprint to end, plank up, and wait for six. Back to the bandstand for some more Hip Slappers x 10 each hip, LBCs x 20, Derkins x 15.

    Another sprint down the row of lights. Bear Crawl from the first light to the third. Backward Crab Walk from the third light to the fourth. Lunge walk from the fourth light to the fifth. Get some well deserved water and plank up for the six, then mosey to the flag.

    At the flag, take a count, name-o-rama, shout outs and prayer.

    Nice work fellas!

     

     

  • Mondays at the Cage

    Six men started the week off right by gathering at the birdcage this morning. This marked the first Monday at the cage and a split from the guys who like rocks a little too much. Much to YHC’s surprise, our good friends at Audubon upgraded all the workout stations along the track. YHC will look to incorporate more of the fun (and somewhat medieval looking)  contraptions into future Monday workouts. Let’s mosey…

    Mosey to the landing in front of the bandstand for a COP:

    SSH x20, IW x20, Mountain Climbers x20 & LBC x20

    Move over to the step for OYO:

    Incline Merks x10 left leg up, x10 right leg up then x10 box jumps

    Mosey to the new row bars for OYO 2 sets:

    Rows x10, Lunges x10 & Squat jumps x10

    Mosey & Sprint to the fountain by going off the track markers, Mosey 3 then Sprint 1

    Step up Right x 25, Dips x20, Step up Left x25.5 (tclaps to Capt. Morgan for shouting halt) & Derkins x10

    Indian Run to the 14th green for a COP but not before 5 quick pull ups at the new bars

    Hello Dollys x20, High Dollys x20, Real Freddie x20 & Penguins x20 (you look like a penguin)

    Indian Run halfway to flag for a 20 count breather then mosey on home. With the fall back in time this weekend, traffic on the track was heavy. Maybe everyone comes out Monday then gives up. We’ll see on Wednesday…

    Gave thanks for our health and the ability to push ourselves on a somewhat cool Monday morning. Thoughts and prayers on keeping a positive attitude throughout the week.