F3 New Orleans

Tag: The Gipper

  • Am I A Masochist?

    Something that Turbo said a couple of months back kind of has stuck with me. He said something like (paraphrasing) ‘I’m not sure there are many people who like putting themselves through painful workouts, except of course Grundy…’ I laughed it off at the time, but the more I thought about it I had to conclude that it was actually true! If I see or hear about a workout that is labeled “painfully difficult” or “crazy hard”, my next thought without fail is “when can I try it!!!!”

    This type of attitude might categorize me as a lower level Masochist which by definition is “a person who enjoys an activity that appears to be painful or tedious. ” But on some level though, if we are being honest with ourselves, everyone in F3 is a little bit like that to one degree or another.

    So when Turbo said that the hardest workout he did all of last year was the week 2 cinderblock workout from the Iron Pax Challenge (which is coming up again in September so sign up here with F3 New Orleans at https://f3greenwood.com/ironpax-form/ ), my ears perked up and I immediately went into planning how I can make it happen again. I was not there the first time, so I needed to experience the pain…

    Turbo got me the cinderblocks and the rest was history. 8 men in total were going to go through that beatdown again because I am indeed a Masochist..

    After a brief warmup in cadence with some SSH, arm circle series, and good mornings, we walked over to the gravel pit near the trailhead for the main and only event.

    Cinderblocks in hand, we embarked on the madness.

    4 sets of 8 minutes
    * Perform as many reps as possible in 8 minutes of each set
    * After 25 reps, run 25 yards out and back (50 yards total)
    * Rinse and Repeat until 8 minutes is up
    * Make note of your rep count
    *Rest 2 minutes exactly between sets

    Set 1 – Squat Thrusters w/Coupon
    Set 2 – Curls w/Coupon
    Set 3 – KB Swings w/Coupon
    Set 4 – Manmakers w/Coupon
    * Coupon – Standard concrete block – 25lbs-35lbs

    Total Score = Set1+Set2+Set3+Set4

    It was as bad as it was hyped up to be and, true to my nature apparently, I loved it! We limped back over to the flag for a quick count off and Shooter prayed us out.

    Truth be told though guys, doing all of this type of stuff wouldn’t be anything outside of doing it alongside one another. We truly make each other better and it’s amazing to be a part of a group of men of the highest quality.

    Until next time,
    Grundy

  • Circuit court in Session

    Recovering from Waterpik’s light rep but high intensity beatdown from the day prior. YHC decided to bring some coupons of his own to the Gipper crew. Arrived at the AO to the sights of Moby, Akbar and Maverick loosening up around the flag. Knowing the PAX would soon swell by 4 as Cowbell rolls in hot and the prethangers of Legal, Turbo and Einstein come strolling in. Brief chatter as the instructions are given to what this beatdown will entail and wanting to make sure no modifications would be needed we jumped to it..

    Brief warmarama all IC 15 SSH, Imperial Walkers, Windmills and Toe Touches followed by our first 1:30 of the daily ISI (15:30 total for our final day) T-👏🏻 to all the participants on this great challenge offered up by the Northshore’s Bushwacker.. I never could have pushed through without the push of the PAX for this one but certainly glad I did.. Cowbell mentioned adding up the total cumulative count to know officially how long of planks we completed.. Look forward to seeing that number Cowbell, not to worry we will confirm with Grundy on your specs just to be certain nothing’s missed..

    Circuit court in Session

    PAX starts the Mosey carrying the coupons over to the Justice center and along the way Q has one of the PAX retrieve a medium boulder from the rock pile to add to our gadgets that will be used on this Gloom.

    Arrived in the middle for a long explanation by your YHC, but thankfully this high IQ PAX was able to put it all together. We created 7 stations with the 8th acting as our timer of sorts.

    S1 Band curls, S2 Jump rope, S3 Mountain climbers, S4 Boulder Shoulder raises, S5 Stretch Ball sit-ups, S6 30lbs plate press, S7 Alternating Step-ups and S8 controlled the timing by running to JC up the ramp down the stairs back up the stairs and backdown the ramp returning to the start creating on round of completion once of course the PAX dropped and completed 1:30 of Plank before the switch and the next round..

    Timing played out perfectly as each PAX completed the 8 circuits by 0640.. We gathered up our coupons and returned to the flag with a min to spare, so Q introduced a sample of next months challenge with a 30 sec hold in the lowered squat position.

    Counted off, announced the F2 plans, COT.

    Thanks to Maverick for leading us out with a prayer!!

    Always enjoy posting the Gipper with the Covington PAX and till the next Gloom 👍🏻👊🏻✌🏻!!

  • Gipper before Gnarly

    “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…”

    Yes, and us polite Northshore`ians would face the uptowners guillotine late Wednseday night. So an easy workout was the call for Wednesday morning.

    Here is how it went:

    disclaimer

    warmup ICx20: ss hops, toe touch, arm circles, good mornings, imperial walkers, high knees, butt-kicks, smurf-jacks

    mosey to the Taj-Mahal: circle up around the flag pole for a ring of fire – pushups and bear crawl clockwise, pushups and bear crawl counter clockwise.

    step over to the nearby “Grassy Knoll” for 10 sprawls and 10 roll-ups

    mosey to the Justice Center parking garage top for a deck of cards routine – using: clubs to do crunches, hearts to do hillbillys, spades to do squats, diamonds to do merkins, joker to do wife pleasers. When a “2” card turned up, we did a 2 minute plank

    mosey back to the flag as time expired.

    Shooter prayed us out with a good one.

    Thanks guys – it’s always a fun Wednesday morning at The Gipper.

  • Twenty Hate

    YHC rolled up to The Gipper in the Gloom this morning armed with the knowledge that Grundy turns 28 years old today. What better present could YHC bestow than a proper beat down? So once the preliminaries were out of the way, the birthday celebration began with a warmup of

    28 Seal Jacks IC and 28 Toe Touches IC followed by the first of four 70 second front planks

    Mosey to the back of the Justice Center where YHC deployed a quick feet ladder a few yards in front of the stairs. The PAX then executed some agility drills:

    two feet every hole then one foot every step up the stairs, leading with the right foot on the first two trips and the left foot for the next two trips

    two feet in and one foot out then one foot every other step up the stairs, again leading with the right foot for the first two trips and the left for the next two

    hop scotch through the ladder then two foot hops every step up the stairs, leading with the right foot for the first two trips and then left for the next two

    lateral one foot hops through the ladder then crossover run up the stairs, leading with the right foot for the first two trips and then left for the next two

    The PAX then hit their second 70 second front plank, made their way to the North side of the Justice Center for 4 sets of 7 T Merkins punctuated by 28 yard sprints, and then hit their third 70 second front plank.

    Mosey back to the South side benches for 4 sets of 7 lateral box jumps separated by 28 yard sprints.

    Return to the quick feet ladder for a four rounds of high knees through the ladder followed by a jog up the stairs and then a single depth jump on the way down the stairs and four rounds of two feet every hole moving laterally and then sprinting up the stairs as quickly as possible.

    Last 70 second front plank, giving us a total of 280 seconds in the front plank position on the day (leaving our ISI participants with only 20 seconds to complete on their own to punch today’s 300 second ticket), and then return to the trailhead with a mosey.

    4 way Jane Fonda (straight leg, forward circles, backwards circles and pulses) for 7 reps each, 28 Scuba Steves IC, and 28 Nolan Ryans each side IC and this morning’s twenty hate birthday celebration was complete.

    Nameorama, countorama and a short prayer to wrap things up.

    Thanks for letting me lead today guys and Happy Birthday Grundy!

    Next Wednesday is Einstein’s 3rd year anniversary Q. Don’t miss it!

  • ACME Round Robin

    Eight PAX arrived in the Gloom at The Gipper this morning only to learn that their favorite out of work hairdresser had been called away from his Q duties for, get this, work. Those who do not know him better might think that “work” is his euphemism for “fartsack” but they would be mistaken. When Hollywood calls, real life movie editors must respond, Q duties notwithstanding. So there we were left in the Gloom to our own devices.

    Not one to let a leadership void go unfilled, Shooter stepped up to the plate to suggest a Round Robin Q. The Mumble Chatter of assent was heard by all and then Shooter chose the magic number of twelve and got us started with a warmup of 12 reps IC of windmills, toe touches, imperial squat walkers and side straddle hops.

    Blood flowing, we moseyed to Bedrock for an appointment with coupons. After 12 IC each of OH presses, rows, curls, chest presses, chest presses with legs at 6 inches, triceps kickbacks, OH tricep extensions and lateral arm raises, we shed our coupons and headed over to the back of the Justice Center where YHC picked up the torch.

    There, the PAX partnered up for rounds of Wile E. Coyote, coupled with butt kicks, high knees and ice skater hops. Partner one made his way up the Justice Center ramp suspended with hands and feet only on the railings (a suspended lateral plank walk with consequences) while partner two performed the requisite butt kicks. Flip flop with your partner and then rinse and repeat for two more rounds substituting high knees and ice skater hops for butt kicks. YHC has loved the Wile E. Coyote since experiencing it at a Charlotte Metro beat down and hopes to share the pain with the rest of the PAX at his earliest opportunity.

    Jose 10k is somewhat glum about the possibility of more

    Cowbell then confidently assumed the mantle of leadership and mosied the PAX to the top of the Justice Center parking garage. We promptly partnered up again for a Dora 1-2-3 of Putins (100), Merkins (200) and LBCs (300), punctuated with trips to and from the nearest light pole with 3 burpees at each turnaround.

    The sweaty and heavy breathing PAX then made their way back to The Gipper for the COT. We would have made you proud this morning, Steve.

  • To Keep the Backblast Short…

    Bushwacker lamented that he had yet to do a workout where the Pax does one thing for the duration of the workout. It’s a simple idea but it can be tough to find that right workout that fits the time frame just right. I drill into the f3 exercise list searching for that perfect but elusive combination of a tough routine that will take the whole time. One of the reasons I particularly like doing this is that it can keep the backblast short. I’m all for that! Luckily, I was able to find one for this beatdown.

    After a warmup of IC Seal Jack’s, windmills, cherry pickers, and high knees, the Pax moseyed the shortest distance possibly ever in F3 history (about 50 feet) to diagon alley. If you are wondering what diagon alley is, it’s what I’m starting to call the alley that connects the trailhead and the justice center. Deal with it…

    We did walk like an Egyptian down the alley to the stop sign. This exercise is an indian run concept using lunges and holding them until the entire group moves forward one leg at a time with the person in the back running to the front. The cycle continues until said destination is reached.

    We then made our way to the justice center for the main event. The exercise was a simple 11 series with jump squats and merkins, the caveat is that you do the jump squats in the back of the justice center and the merkins in the front. In between you do an indian run as a group.

    Everyone did a great job and all told the distance of the indian runs was over 2 and a half miles!!!

    After our last lap we made our way back to the flag where we circled it up, counted off, and cowbell prayed us out.

    What an honor it is to lead. Thanks for letting me do that.

    Until next time,

    Grundy

  • Wash Wednesday! Too be continued….

    3 PAX converged at the car pool spot to travel slightly further North to the Gipper on this pleasant non humid Gloom.. Bushwacker and Steve already positioned and ready to roll as the YHC rolled up at 0535.. Arrived at the Trailhead with greetings from Turbo, fresh off a recent visit much further North where the mild 60s we were experiencing was an all day affair.. PAX swelled to 8 quickly as 10k Jose also stopped in to give a good morning after finishing up a 10k to start his Gloom. Had he not been assigned to summer school I am sure he would have stayed and enjoyed the lesson plan of the day… 0600 so it was time to get started.

    Warmup was short to spare time for the beatdown and consisted of 10IC Windmills, Seal Jacks, SSH and Butt Kicks..

    Moseyed to the rock pile to pickup moderate coupons to be used later in the workout. Dropped them off by the courthouse and then across to the parking garage to get things going. With an odd number of 7 we split into three groups.. Exercise was the William Wallace.. Each group placed at a corner P1 held plank while P2 ran to the center of the square to perform a series of exercises called by the Q. Flap jacked till everyone completed 10 Burpees, 10 (8) count body builders, 20 Merkins and 20 Squats… Once completed we returned to the courthouse for an extended W.A.S.H better known as the WASHATERIA!! Still in pairs with P1 doing the exercise while P2 moseyed up and back down the stairs picking up the count..

    Werkins (50)

    American Hammers (100)

    Step ups (150)

    Hip Thrusts (200)

    Alternating Shoulder taps (250)

    Toe Touches (300) with time running short and wanting to use the coupons we had delivered modified to (250)

    Elf on the shelf (350) intended but with time expiring (Most teams reached 50)

    Reverse Crunches (400) to be continued…

    Imperial Walkers (450) to be continued…

    Arm circles (500) to be continued…

    Moseyed back to the flag with one min over.

    Count off, announcements, COT

    Appreciate Barely Legal praying us out!!

    Thanks for following my lead and next time the Q will be better prepared with his timing and change so we can complete our day at the WASHATERIA!!!

    👊🏻💪🏻✌🏻 Till the next Gloom!

  • At the Gipper

    warmup; windmills, ss hops, arm circles, seal jacks, good mornings, high knees, imperial walkers, butt kicks, toe touches, smurph jacks

    mosey to the Taj Mahal back parking lot; partner one does a stop-start ladder run while partner two holds al gore for round one, then switch. Repeat 3 more times with position holder doing atlas squat, joga warrior pose left leg front, joga warrior pose right leg front.

    at the parking stanchion, leg swings front to back, then over and across,then on six, with feet up on parking bollard for body lifts x 10

    mosey to the front of the Taj, circle up for bear crawling, crab crawling, pushups, and planking.

    mosey to the grassy knoll for sprawls x10, and roll-ups x10

    mosey to the Justice Center parking garage upper deck for hill work – run up the ramp and jog back down, with the run part at 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%

    back to the flag?

    Mr. Bean prays us out

    Thanks guys.

  • It’s All Fun & Games

    Still sore from Memorial Day’s Murph and knowing that some Gipper regulars pleaded for but did not receive mercy from Chewy yesterday at Grandmother’s House, YHC planned a morning of fun and games. The aforementioned Gipper regulars must have really needed a break because the Mandeville clown car never materialized out of the Gloom. So the rest of us got on with it and after a brief disclaimer and a warmup of Seal Jacks, Windmills, Butt Kicks, Toe Touches, SSHs, and High Knees headed over to the Justice Center for the Thang.

    YHC coned off a good size square, produced a lacrosse ball, and we started a passing game with consequences. After counting off, the PAX starting moving within the square, bounce passing the lacrosse ball to one another in order. A dropped pass resulted in penalty exercises, among them Tuck Jumps, Sister Mary Katherines, Merkins, Mission Impossible, Box Cutters, Pickle Pounders, and J-Los.

    The PAX mastered the first level quickly, and it was time for YHC to add some complexity. We counted off again, changing the passing order to keep everyone mentally sharp, and added the requirement of leaving the square to round a cone after making a pass and before receiving the next pass with a prohibition against using the same cone twice. We continued in this vein for the rest of the beat down, adding levels of difficulty. Not only did we keep changing the passing order, but we required each passing PAX to leave the square and perform an exercise (2 burpees, a star jump, an 8 count body builder, 2 plank jacks, and ice skater hops) before reentering the square to receive the next pass. For one game, we even prohibited the use of your strong hand…so a right hander could only use his left hand. The ambidextrous Jose had a distinct advantage here but since we were all in it together that didn’t make much of a difference. There were lots of penalty exercises, especially as the speed of the game accelerated and fatigue set in. However, YHC is proud to report that the level of play increased significantly with each game.

    Countorama, nameorama and Cowbell prayed us out once we made it back to the Trailhead.

    Thanks for letting me lead guys. See you in the Gloom.

  • Back-to-Back Blasts

    Anyone who has posted with me knows that YHC is not much of a talker.  Hell, I can hardly find enough to say for one backblast each week.  And yet here we are.  YHC supposes it is a small price to pay for all the benefits of F3.  And hey, if a bear craps in the woods and no one is around to write a backblast about it, did it really happen?

    Pre-beatdown, with mumble chatter about our aches and pains from the last few days, Einstein noted that as the PAX gets stronger, the ceiling on beatdowns is pushed higher and higher.  It’s both great (hey, we get our money’s worth) and at the same time pretty awful (might not be able to walk like a normal human being the next day).  That got me thinking about Chewy’s request for a more restorative beatdown on the Northshore, which is a great idea.  Today’s beatdown, though, wasn’t going to be so restorative. And with that in mind, YHC gave a disclaimer for the first time in… well, too long.

    Warmorama: Air presses, overhead arm circles, arm circles forward and backward, SSHs, hillbillies, high knees.  All x 20 IC.

    The Thang: First stop, the quarry for some rock work.  Part of YHC’s mission this week was to introduce Cowbell to the various offerings at each AO, and this seemed to be one we hadn’t seen much of lately. 

    • Curls x12 IC
    • Squat-to-Overhead-Press x10 IC
    • Bent over Rows x 12 IC

    Rinse and repeat, swapping the counts. Then we gingerly placed the rocks back just as we had found them (so as not to offend the beautifying efforts of the Covington Garden Club), and we were off to the front of the Justice Center, where the bulk of today’s efforts would take place.

    First, a quick stop at the benches for lateral jump overs x20 OYO, and Bulgarians x10 IC each leg. Then partner up…

    P1 runs the length of the courtyard, up the stairs, does 15x jump squats, and returns to relieve P2, who is planking in front of a bench, walking his hands up onto the bench and then back down again, repeatedly. There’s probably a name for this or, at the very least better wording to explain it, but YHC can’t take the time to look it up in our exicon.

    After two rounds of that, we did a variation, P1 runs same route, does star jacks x10, while P2 is now walking his feet up to the bench and back down, adding a derkin in each time both feet are up on the bench. R&R.

    A quick 10 count then grab a bench for step ups x15 IC each leg, and freaks x15 IC.

    Next up, suicides across the courtyard for P1, Mahktar N’diayes for P2. Swaparoo. Again the beautifying efforts of Covington were appreciated, as some men opted to save the skin on their forearms and avoided the concrete, using instead the small gardens near each bench.

    And then the finale, P1 up at the top of the stairs holding a people’s chair and doing air presses, P2 bear crawling backwards up the stairs.  (We missed you Maverick.)

    Back to the flag for a quick Mary of 100’s, Crunchy Frogs, and LBC’s x20 IC.

    COT and Einstein Cowbell prayed us out.  Thank you for following my lead today guys, I sincerely appreciate it!