F3 New Orleans

Tag: The Gipper

  • Valentine’s Day Massacre

    Madness has officially descended upon the Northshore PAX.  At first, it was easy to blame Captain Sparkles and Bushwacker, who, like tyrannical taskmasters, drove the PAX to run ever-increasing distances.  But eventually we must all shoulder the blame for the insanity, with Shooter, EiEi, and YHC taking things a step too far ourselves, going as far as to suggest (and then carry out) a 5 mile run ahead of today’s usual beatdown.  When the foreplay becomes a thang in and of itself (and it certainly felt like we went far beyond 2nd and 3rd base on this Valentine’s day), then perhaps the F3 lexicon needs to be expanded – ‘foreplay’ and ‘pre-thang’ just don’t seem to cover it anymore.

    So when Grundy rolled in to the Gipper this morning to find Shooter and YHC already sweating profusely, he wondered aloud what was going on but privately, I suspect he wondered when and where he could get in on the action.  And that’s what I’m taking about when I say we must all shoulder the blame: this is our group’s mentality and I can pretty much promise you, it will only get worse… (which in our F3 world is, of course, always better).  Don’t say I didn’t warn you PAX!

    Warm-Up:

    SSH x25, IW’s x25, Good Morning’s x15, Windmills x15, MC’s x25, all IC.

    The Thang:

    On to the Taj Mahal for a COP: Plank – 10 Merkins – 10 Peter Parker’s (left leg only) – 10 Mountain Climbers – 10 Parker Peter’s (left leg only) – Chillcut Plank… hold and recover.  Next up, hold Al Gore, while PAX rotates performing 10 Sister Mary K’s.  Then the same plank routine, but right leg for the Peters and the Parkers.  And finally, Al Gore routine with jump squats in place of the SMK’s.

    Short mosey to the Justice Center for a partner routine: P1 sprints to first set of benches, 10 merkins and jogs back, sprint to second set of benches, 10 merkins and jog back, and finally all the way up the stairs, 10 merkins and jog back.  P2 performs that lovely 8-count exercise that YHC has been driving into the ground lately: plank, groiner and back, chillcut, plank jack, and back up to regular plank.

    Second routine using the same path: P1 lunge walks and performs squats at each set of benches, while P2 does flutter kicks.

    Mosey back to the flag for the finale, an AMRAP of Turbo’s raccoon crawl up the wall along the small hill, forward rolls or crab walks back down, hop up to the stage for 10 merkins, and back around to rinse and repeat for 6 mins.

    Mary: Freddie Flutters x22, Leg Raises x20, Putins x20.

    Countdown (we missed you Einstein, sorry to see your streak come to an end!), nameorama, and Shooter prayed us out.  Even though, comparatively, this was a fairly tame beatdown, it felt like a massacre to YHC by the end.  Thanks guys for always pushing, I can’t say enough about all the motivation/inspiration this group provides.

  • Back to the Farm

    This morning’s beat down was never going to compete with yesterday’s star studded event.  Reading Steve’s BB on his way out the door to the Gipper, YHC grudgingly conceded to himself that the likes of Choppa, Ocho, and Nacho Libre could not be expected to rise out of their fartsacks for two consecutive mornings.  It could have happened, YHC guesses, if Turtle had committed to back to back Qs.  Lacking the draw of a rock star Q like Turtle, however, YHC could only hope that he wouldn’t be posting alone. Fortunately there were a few PAX out there unaware of yesterday’s celebrity meetup, but YHC wasn’t too off in his prediction as Gipper regular Tanked Up regrettably decided he would not post with the rank and file this morning.  Et tu, Tanked Up?

    So it was to be a working man’s beat down this morning, strictly meat and potatoes.

    15 minutes or so of dynamic stretches on the train platform then a short mosey to pick up a couple of half filled sand bags for the main event:

    AMRAP for 20 minutes:  35 yards farmer’s walk with both sand bags, 35 yards run, and then 35 yards backpedal making up one round.  Shooter carried his sand bags like bean bags, and the rest of us struggled.  Good thing we all have office jobs…except for Bushwacker I guess but he is in lawn care management.

    Back to the Trailhead for Mary:  scorpions, swan preps, jackknives, and flutter Freddy Mercury’s, all IC.

    Countorama, nameorama, and Moby prayed us out.

    Thanks for letting me lead men.  I always look forward to Wednesday morning at the Gipper with you.

     

  • Global Warming at the Gipper

    Could not ask for a better morning with 9 bad ..ss F3 Warriors. Cold stopped no one this morning. Simply made for a great experience with the friendship thanks to F3.

     

    Warmup–we shot through 13 exercises with highlighted Side Straddle Hops where as 1 man at a time bounced to the center and back like a one man show during a wedding reception party. I think Bushwacker took that one as the best SSH dancer!  Other exercises included high knees, butt kicks, lunges, Merkins, side lunges, sumo squats-that was fun too, especially with the added arm gestures. Some of the exercises were repeated for a total of 13.

    The Thang–mosey to the courthouse (and a cyclist) for a little fun with merkins and Derkins… 5/20 rotation till it was 20/5 for a total of 100 merk/derks!

    Mosey to the parking lot for 3 more activities. 1- Four laps of a combination of lunges, bear hops, and bunny hops 2- circle around the imaginary flag pole. To the center and back with 12/3/6/9 rotation followed by crab crawl… Oh, when we got to the center it required a hand slap or twinkle toe touches.. Have to have been there to get the picture.3–Fifteen merkins with 2 runs blended in. Great for the cardio.

    Mosey back to the Gipper for some warm down exercises. Some discussion about the race this Saturday at 9 pm.. Be there, we are ready! And don’t forget Tough Mudder on the horizon.

    Hero of the day–Shooter–why you ask– no gloves!

    Closeout prayer by Bushwacker..reminded us how blessed we are.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Return at the Gipper

    Returning to the Gipper on this Gloom without the beanies and mittens also produced the return of Grundy and Moby from IR. Welcome back F3 brothers. While the PAX on the the Northshore have many AOs to choose, if your QIC had a choice of only (1) F3 beatdown  by far the Gipper would be the selection.., As hard as the QIC try’s to tax these men when he leads, it never fails that his mission seems incomplete as the men always impress and crave more of what they came for..

    Warmarama

    15IC GM, WM, IW

    30 IC SSH, BK

    10 IC Arm circles (forward/reverse), Overhead claps

    The thang

    Moseyed  to the Taj Mahal for our first bit of action. Circled the flag pole with the PAX holding blank while each man journeyed up the steps dropped for 2 Burpees and returned. Covered regular plank as well as left and right plank until complete. Next each PAX bear crawled to the flag pole and after the ringing of the qong was sounded each PAX would complete 2 Merkins. The QIC doubled the Merkins halfway through.. Wrapped up and then moseyed to the garage top. Partnered up for the first round of suicides half and full distance while the other did LBCs. Next was Caricoas half left and half right and the same back while the other man did Bicycles, and finally we did back pedal half and turn and sprint while the others did flutter kicks..  Mixed in a few 10 counts as the QIC noticed he may have winded a few men, which on this day is a proud moment for anyone Qing this group… Next on to Tabata (American style) as one stated standard Tabata as 20 sec of work and 10 sec rest. The Q implemented 30 sec work and 10 sec rest for 2 rounds. Round 1 Merikins/Plankjacks and Round 2 Squats/Imperial walkers.. If one ever thinks 30 sec of Work can’t get you pumped or have the sweat flowing, I challenge you to a series of Tabata and promise there will be no disappointment.. With 3 mins to spare moseyed back to AO for countarama, annoucarama, COT.

    Much respect for the men working through injuries and pain on this Gloom. Shows the dedication and determination, which inspires me to work harder at each beatdown.. 👊👊

    Special thanks to Grundy for praying us out..

  • 7 COOL DUDES

    “temperature wise that is, not demeanor”

    6 Pax showed up on time
    1 Pax showed up late AGAIN. I won’t mention his name. But he likes to sidle-up.

    I was reminded of my university P.E. class, taught by the basketball coach. The DIV I basketball players would always straggle in late.
    The coach would admonish them, “three tardies equal one absence, and one absence equals a tardy.”
    As a “C” student, I could only look around, to see if anyone else was confused by that, shrug my shoulders, and wonder how different things would be if I were 6 foot, eleven.

     

    Anyways…time to jump on the Polar Express. To the best of my recall, here is how it went

    short disclaimer …

    warmup
    all 20xIC; side straddle hops, good-mornings, windmills, imperial walkers, toe touches, butt-kicks, hillbillies, arm circles, single leg lunges, squats, mummy kicks

    mosey to Bedrock; pick up a 10 pound, coarse crystalline texture, gray, limited porosity and permeability, limestone boulder.
    all 20xIC; curls, overhead presses, rows, outward presses

    mosey to the front of the Taj Mahal for the MERKIN HONOR ROLL
    here we have lots of brick pavers, each with a name and date, honoring former St.Tammany Parish school board employees.
    circle up at the flagpole outer ring
    one pax, at a time, bearcrawls in toward the flagpole to a brick, reads the name and from the last two digits of the date, chooses the higher number and this dictates the number of merkins for the PAX to do.
    for example if the brick reads “Joe Joblotz 1930-1967.” We call out Joblotz,Joblotz,… while doing 7 merkins. That pax bearcrawls out. The next pax bearcrawls in, reads the stats off his brick and we merkin to the stat, repeat with each pax taking a turn.
    We got in a lot of merkins, bear crawling, and planking, to keep us warm.

    mosey to the St.Tammany Parish Courthouse promenade
    In forward motion; One Burpee, Two Burpees, Three Burpees, Four Burpees, then up the steps, down the ramp, down the block and around. Repeat four times.
    Then to the benches for 20xIC dips, 20xIC step-ups

    Indian Run back to the trail head

    mary
    20xIC flutter kicks
    20xIC Jane Fondas

    count-o-rama, prayer led by THE MANNY

    Thanks guys, for showing up on this cold day!

  • A-Wash at the Gipper

    There’s been a slew of cold and rainy days here on the Northshore, and while YHC can’t attest to PAX attendance earlier in the week, I can say it was no surprise finding the usual gang ready to go at The Gipper (minus Maverick, that is, who materialized immediately after the warm-up).

    Warm Up: Good Mornings, IW’s, Seal Jacks, Windmills, SSH, Butt Kicks, High Knees, all IC, either 15x or 20x.  Followed by 20 Merks, OYO.

    The rain wasn’t coming down hard, per se, but there was enough of it to make YHC shuffle things around a bit.  We moseyed to the covered parking garage for a set of suicides.  Looooong suicides.  Rest was a set of Peter Parkers, 20x, IC.  Another set of long suicides.  Parker Peters, 20x IC.  Then Burpee Dans across the length of the garage, to finish with a set of slow squat jumps, 20x IC.  Rain had slowed to a light mist by this point, so….

    Mosey to the back of the justice center and partner up for The W.A.S.H: Partner 1 runs the length of the lot, up the stairs, around the ramp and back, while Partner 2 starts what would be a cumulative set of: Werkins (50x), American Hammers (100x), Step Ups (150x), Hip Thrusts / Wife Pleasers (200x).  Because these are above average men (ah-hem, Tanked Up), we had to adjust and make it a cumulative set of 100x Werkins, so the other partner could get his in and wouldn’t miss out on the fun.

    Back to the flag for a Burp n’ Merk, ascending to 10 merkins.  Quickly down for an abbreviated Hurricane Hoedown (Tropical Depression?) which we’ll tackle again some other day.  Countdown, nameorama, and Einstein prayed us out.  Thanks men!

  • Covington Trailhead- nice morning

    Was a beautiful morning for a workout with 8 strong.

     

    Warmup– merkins, side straddle hops, merkins, squats, merkins, and various other wonderful warmup exercises.

     

    The Thang–jog to workout position 1– Point 1-Balboas run to point 2-merkins,plank jacks, and mountain climbers. 3 sets of various rotations.

    Jog to position 2 flagpole  sets of arm and chest exercises,  we rotated left to right. Good upper body workout.

    Jog over to position 3  The Maverick– 100 Merkins with partner with running in between. That got us.  Bushwacker team 115 of those bad boys.

     

    Jog over to position 4–1 round 1 minute with Ali.. Had to be there to know what that involved.

     

    Jog over to our starting point— Side Stradle Hops, Squats.

     

    Close out with prayer led by Bushwacker!  On with our daily activities

     

     

     

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  • Steely-Eyed High Impact Men…and Superman PJs

    Four steely-eyed High Impact Men, one in his Superman PJ bottoms (whose name shall not be mentioned although it rhymes with Tushwacker), joined YHC this morning at The Gipper.  T-claps to these men for conquering the fartsack on a rainy, cold and gloomy morning.  It was definitely sleeping weather at 0600.

    One of the great things about The Gipper AO is that it has several covered areas.  The PAX made full use of them this morning to stay relatively dry while exercising to bring the heat.

    Warmup on the Bandstand:

    SSH, IW, Merkins, Toe Touches, Torso Twists, Shoulder Circles, and OH Hand Claps, most IC 20x.

    Mosey to the Train Platform:

    Mobility and plyometric work for a steady 20 minutes or so, including skipping, bounding, caricoa, lunge walks, bounce extends, frog jumps, lateral/vertical jump combos, one legged hops as well as some accelerations/sprints.

    Mosey to The Gipper HQ:

    Four rounds of Merkin variations, squat/jump variations, and Good Morning variations, all IC 20x.

    Then some Mary to wrap things up:  over/under flutter kicks, jackknives, and of course Supermans, again all IC 20x.

    Countorama, nameorama, and a prayer of recognition for the gift of today and the opportunity to serve as a positive force in the world.

    Thanks for suffering with me in the Gloom this morning men.

    Moleskin:

    T claps to Moby who, at 67 years old, posted in the nasty weather despite a sore Achilles.  Unable to execute the mobility and plyometric exercises, Moby held a People’s Chair for what seemed like forever and otherwise kept himself moving.  Now that’s a steely-eyed High Impact Man for you.

  • “Sweet Fancy Moses!” ~George Costanza

    George: Have you ever seen Elaine dance?
    Jerry: Elaine danced?
    George: It was more like a full bodied dry heave set to music.
    Jerry: Did she do the little kicks and the thumbs?
    George: What, you mean you know about this?
    Jerry: For some time. It was about five years ago. I never knew what to say to her
    about it. It was one of those problems I hoped would just go away.
    George: Well, sometimes you can’t help these people ’til they hit rock bottom.

    Hey, Elaine’s dancing is distinctly inferior when compared to a bunch of PAX doing the Frankie-C.

    here is how it went on this beautiful, crisp, November morning:

    short disclaimer

    warmup

    side straddle hops, imperial walkers, toe touches, good mornings, arm circles, lunges, butt-kicks, squats, seal-jacks, Frankie-Cs

    mosey to the “BEDROCK QUARRY”
    each PAX picks out a good sized limestone boulder, for coupon exercises
    elf on the shelf-lower left to upper right then lower right to upper left, squats, rows

    mosey to the back of the Taj Mahal
    trying to incorporate an excersize utilizing these expensive looking parking stops/staunches/balustrades
    YHC tried some isometric arm work using these whatever they are, followed by merkins

    mosey to the front of the Taj Mahal
    circle up by the flagpole – step back to outer ring, everyone in plank position,
    1 merkins each, then everyone bear crawls one pax position counter-clockwise until the circle is complete
    Next, lunge walk in across circle, backwards lunge walk out

    mosey to the back of the St.Tammany Parish Courthouse Annex parking garage,
    backwards lunge walk halfway up the first floor ramp
    turn and sprint up rest of the way
    jog/walk across the second floor ramp
    backwards lunge walk halfway up third floor ramp
    turn and sprint up rest of the way

    on the upper deck, partner up with one pax doing froggy-planks while the other runs down the ramp and backpeddles up. repeat to 100 count on the froggy-planks.

    mosey to the Courthouse East parking lot, trace out the parking spaces with lateral hops for about a city block

    mosey back to the trail head. Mary-out with Jane Fondas, and Nolan Ryans

    count-o-rama, prayer led by The Manny, we bid Thanksgiving adieus and head out to take on the day.

    Happy Thanksgiving All!

  • Six PAX

    Great to have Maverick with us in the Gloom this morning, stateside after his Spanish adventure.  FNG Astro joined us as well making the PAX a Six PAX for our Wednesday morning beatdown at the Gipper.

    Standard disclaimer and then down to business with the warmup:

    Merkins 20x IC

    Seal Jacks 20x IC

    Windmills 20x IC

    Plank Jacks 20x IC

    IW 20x IC

    Butt Kicks 20x IC

    Mosey to the Bedrock for the first COP:

    Woodchoppers con roca 20x IC

    Torso Twists con roca 10x IC

    Crossover RDLs con roca 10x IC

    Rinse and Repeat

    Mosey to the Justice Center for:

    30 yards lateral plank walks with stops at each of the three little live oak trees for 5x T pushups OYO

    Tabata set of Al Gores and vertical jumps then

    30 yards lateral plank walks back to the starting point again with stops at each of the oak trees for 5x T pushups OYO

    Mosey to the top of the Justice Center Parking Garage for:

    Burpback Mountain.  PAX breaks up into three teams of two.  Each team performs 100x burpees….one team member performs burpees while the other sprints down the ramp and then backpedals back up the ramp to relieve his teammate, flapjack until the team hits 100 burpees.

    Mosey back to the Gipper shovel flag with an old soccer drill:

    YHC calls out “head it” and each PAX performs a vertical jump with a virtual header; YHC calls out “hit it” and each PAX accelerates for 5 strides.

    Back at the shovel flag with just enough time for a set of Jane Fondas 10x IC.

    Countorama, nameorama and a prayer to start our day.

    Welcome FNG Astro.

    Thanks for letting me lead.