F3 New Orleans

Tag: Undertaker

  • 5 Years, and the ABC’s of F3

    5 years ago today was my first F3 post at the Birdcage. It was a cold dark morning and the rain was coming down hard. I texted @Captain Morgan (who EH’ed me) at 5:00am to ask, “Are we really working out in the rain?” You know the reply. @shorty was the Q and it was an Aquaman-themed beat-down running around Audobon Park and doing Merkins, Lunges, and Squats in puddles. At one point halfway through, some guy (@reluctant-yankee) said, “There’s an FNG out here today?!?” @amnesty named me Walleye after a Minnesota freshwater fish working out in the rain.

    Today, 12 other F3 Brothers joined me at City Park for my 5-year anniversary Q. Like all of you, F3 has fostered core values in me that makes me a better man and keeps me coming back. It is a true brotherhood and extended family with like-minded men with similar ideals and goals. So today I tried to express my gratitude for F3 with a workout focused on my ABC’s of F3. 5 sets of 5 exercises for 5 great years. The usual disclaimer and off we go.

    Warm-Up COP:

    • SSH x 20 IC, Hill-billies x 20 IC, Grass-grabbers x 10 IC, Windmills x 10 IC, Self Love x 10 IC, Mountain Climbers x 20 IC

    Indian Run to the end of Roosevelt Mall for COP #1:

    “A” is for Accountability. F3 makes us accountable to ourselves and to each other. Signing to Q, jumping in the Lakeview Clown Car, or promising a friend to post keeps us accountable to each other. Setting that alarm clock to get out of bed and show up keeps us accountable to ourselves. We start the day off strong with accountability to ourselves and others, and we take that accountability into our day to be better men and help those around us.

    • Abe Lincoln’s (aka hand release merkins) x 20
    • Aiken Legs (squats x 20 IC, lunges x 20 IC, Bonnie Blairs x 20 IC)
    • Albatross Wings (arm circles x 20 IC, reverse circles x 20 IC, seal claps x 20 IC, overhead claps x 20 IC, Moroccan nightclub x 20 IC)
    • Alabama Ass-Kickers x 20 IC
    • American Hammer x 20 IC

    Indian Run to the front of NOMA for COP #2. (At this point, YHC realized 20 of each exercise was going to run time out fast. Down to 10 reps each.)

    “B” is for Brotherhood. F3 truly is a Brotherhood. We treat each other with dignity and respect. We push each other, support each other, and raise each other up. And we support our communities with efforts like Food for the Front Lines, City Park Clean-Up, Hurricane relief efforts, and many more that the men of F3 organize and lead.

    • Body-Builders (8-count body builders) x 10 IC
    • Bay City Scissor Kicks (8-count with 4 vertical kicks and 4 horizontal kicks) x 10 IC
    • Bearcrawl Merkins x 10 IC
    • Big Boy Sit-Ups x 10 IC
    • Burpees x 10 OYO

    Indian Run to the Foundry for COP #3:

    “C” is for Camaraderie. Mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together. The friendships created through F3 Fellowship is what keeps me coming back. We will always have each other’s backs. Whether I see @shorty trick-or-treating on Halloween, @amnesty at Christmas Eve mass, @reluctant-yankee at a Mardi Gras party, @kuch at the ballpark, or @douille at the Saenger, it’s an instant smile and quick catch-up. We support each other’s businesses and pitch in to lend a hand when needed. That’s friendship.

    • Catalina Wine Mixers x 10 IC
    • Country Crabs x 10 IC
    • Carolina Dry Docks x 10 IC
    • Crunchy Frogs x 10 IC
    • Copperhead Squats x 10 IC

    Mosey to the Children’s Museum for COP #4:

    “D” is for Dedication. Dedication to make ourselves better, each other better, and our communities better. Participation in events like Run Ranger Run, the BlueRidge Relay, or the IPC makes us all stronger. Community outreach and disaster relief makes our communities stronger. And fundraising efforts makes our country stronger. Dedication to a good cause.

    • Derkins x 10 IC
    • Dogs (Bird Dogs) x 10 IC
    • Dr. W x 10 IC
    • Dips x 10 IC
    • Donkey Kicks x 10 IC

    Indian Run back to the flag for COT:

    “E” is for Encourage and Enable. We encourage each other. @saban texted me last week to make sure I was OK after I fart-sacked a couple workouts. @kuch and @high-rise texted me to check in after I had surgery to remove kidney stones 2 months ago. We lift up intentions and prayer requests for injuries and illness for Pax and their friends and family. And we enable each other to grow. Through example we enable the men of F3 to be leaders amongst ourselves and in our community.

    • “E” was supposed to be Elevens, but we ran out of time. So we took eleven seconds to reflect on how the ABC’s of F3 (Accountability, Brotherhood, Camaraderie, Dedication, Encourage and Enable) can make us better men each and every day. Count-off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, and a prayer of gratitude.

    Thanks to all my F3 brothers for the friendships that have grown over the years. #SYITG

    Walleye

  • My Return to Okwata

    My return to my home base, Okwata, was exciting since I haven’t been here since the Murph in May. I know this AO always offers the potential for the toughest workouts between the elements and structures/obstacles offered. I was excited to know that there was no Q on the sheet because I wanted the challenge to lead this morning.

    When I arrived, I was greeted by the beautiful sight of 4 newly-minted shovel flags that we were hard at work last night finishing. It truly is amazing to see this when you arrive to workout.


    5:30 hit and after the disclaimer, we moseyed to the fountain for some high knees, butt kicks and carioca left and then right. We circled up in front of the fountain for warm-up.
    SSH x 20

    Imperial Walker x 20

    Peter Parker Peters x 20

    Arm Circles 10 front and 10 reverse

    20 Seal Claps

    20 Overhead Claps

    Self Love

    Moseyed to the House of Pain for a circuit workout which was divided into:

    Low Slow Squats

    Merkins

    Lunges

    Pull-Ups

    Timer was a run to the first oak tree on the sidewalk toward Canal and back to the HOP. We completed one round, and I decided to poll the PAX for the next challenge. We had one vote for a run and the rest chose levee work. They chose wisely…

    We hit the levee for 11’s starting with 8-count body at 10 reps, 5 plank jacks at the top of the levee (both ways) and low slow squats 1 rep. I called it when our six got to 6 eight counts and 5 low slow squats. We moseyed back to the grass in front of the fountain where we completed the 11’s as a group with 15 eight count body builders and 21 low slow squats.

    We concluded with 5 minutes of Mary.


    30 seconds of Halos clockwise then 30 seconds counter-clockwise

    1 minute reverse crunch twists

    1 minute dynamic planks

    1 minute chainsaws

    1 minute controlled, slow big boy sit-ups

    We closed with count off, name-o-rama and prayers of gratitude/safety from the storm. Always an honor to lead.

  • Trail Run #2

    Tclaps to Amnesty for getting this trail run idea started back during the beginning of Covid. Here we go for round #2!

    Stayed up late trying to plan a workout in a space with a lot of unknowns. Then, naturally, my youngest woke up at 2:30. The fear of oversleeping kept me mostly awake until 4:30 when I popped out of bed. I thought I would get out there early to scope things out again to make sure we didn’t get too lost. I arrived at about 10 after five, strapped on my headlamp, and mosey my way over to forest. I wasn’t even a few steps in when I saw a possum crawling towards me, a turtle to my right, and what looked like multiple sets of eyes starring back at me! I decided it was probably best to just trust my instincts wait for my brothers to join me on this adventure!


    Fifteen brave souls showed up for the adventure. There was lots of stretching going on pre-workout and not much talking, except when Ya Mom n Dem tried to give away his hat lamp! It was only a minor crisis when High Rise decided to wake up some peacefully sleeping ants. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Sandbar had gotten his passport just in time to attend the work out. Also, good to see Screwtop out for the second day in a row! 5:30 struck and with the normal disclaimer we were off. Started off in the open field to get things warmed up.


    SSH x 20

    Imperial Walker x 20

    Mountain Climbers x 20

    Left leg hip stretch

    Right leg hip stretch

    Peter Parker x 20


    Moseyed into the forest with an army of 14 behind me to the big open area by the swing. Split up into five groups of three. The count was 10 pull ups on the tree branch while one of the other PAX did dips on the fallen tree and the other did full body ab extensions on the swing. The other four groups were:


    Low slow squats

    Decline merkins

    Flutter kicks

    Decline merkins


    After everyone got their turn on pull ups we went into the thick of the forest! The tree branches were low so we decided to bear crawl through the narrow pass. When the trail opened back up we mosey through the forest and found our way to the gravel path. Headed down the path to the big open field. I had noticed when planning the work out that in this open field they had what looked like two big cement circles that resembled a figure 8. With the HATE8 on the horizon I thought it was a good opportunity to get some work in. Exercise was for 10 minutes:


    Bear crawl The stretch of grass between the two circles, run around to the top of the circle, five Burpee‘s, run down to the bottom of the circle, bear crawl across the grass, run to the top of the other circle, five burpees, run to the bottom of the circle. Rinse and repeat for 10 minutes while listening to Van Halen‘s greatest hits!


    Next, we moseyed to a separate gate back to the forest. This led us to the hill which is apparently the highest point in New Orleans. I thought Monkey Hill in Audubon Zoo was the highest point in New Orleans but I guess it’s for debate! At the top of the hill we squeezed in on the concrete pad and did some Mary:


    Pickle pounders x 20

    Freddy Mercury x 20

    Dying Cockroach x 20

    Reverse Crunch x 15


    Moseyed down the hill and headed to what I thought was the way out. We weaved back-and-forth through a very narrow trail head and ended up all the way in the back of the forest! We eventually found water and knew that we could follow the water back to the bridge that would get us out of the forest. There were several wrong turns and a couple of dead ends but we made it out and back with all 15 PAX! The unexpected detour caused us to be three minutes late. We got together in the open field for COT. Count off, Namorama, and a prayer for the upcoming hurricane with the sounds of what we think was ol’ Puke Dick in the background! This was a fun one. Thankful for the opportunity to lead!

  • Pull ups? Oh yeah, pull ups!

    It had been a while since I had done a beatdown involving pull ups. The more I thought about it I had not done a pull up since the Murph Memorial Day Beatdown. And prior to that it had been since the Covid shutdowns began. So I really felt like doing some pull ups. Well it just so happened I was the Q. So guess what exercise I included today?

    Warm up

    Mosey over to the parking lot adjacent to the track and circle up.

    • SSH x 20 IC
    • Windmills x 10 IC
    • Grass grabbers x 15 IC
    • Arm circle x 10 Fwd/rev each IC
    • Self love x 15 IC
    • Hillbillies x 15 IC
    • Mountain climbers x 20 IC

    Next up we performed an Indian Run down the street to the foundry. Sweep the 6. Leave no man behind.

    Tha Thang:

    It’s Tabata time! I wanted to incorporate a beatdown that addressed all major muscle groups. With a little help from some Youtube workouts I found 10 exercises I wanted to complete. 25/10 Tabata timer was set for 5 stations.

    Round 1:

    • Pull ups
    • Dips
    • Rotational merkins
    • Bulgarian split squat
    • Hamstring RDL

    Rinse and repeat

    Round 2:

    • Human pullovers
    • Inverted chin curl
    • Long leg bridge
    • Derkins
    • W’s

    Rinse and repeat

    Mosey back to the virtual flag. Sweep the 6. Plank for over 1 minute until 6:15.

    Countoff, name-o-rama, annoucements, intentions, physically distanced COT.

  • Making Monday Great Again

    Five pax gathered by the rock pile after the disclaimer for SSH, Grass Grabber, Single foot balance raises, L/R Squat toe touches, Peter Parker, Mtn. Climber, Windmills.

    GYM CIRCUMNAVIGATION:  3 sets of 12 reps of four maneuvers:  dirkins, big boys, jump squats, hillbilly.  Run to back of gym, reverse ascend the wide ramp, 6 donkey kicks, return to front for another round via the ramp in front. Capped with calf raises.

    FOOTBALL FIELD O’ PAIN:  bear crawl while pushing rock 15 yards, then at 20 yard intervals, ALL WITH ROCK:  10x Turkish getups, 10x prisoner kneels, 10x lunge twist, 10x burpees rock lifts.  Returned back across field doing same thing with 6 reps apiece.  At end zone 15 curls, 10 tricep extensions.

    RING O’ FIRE: 3x around:  hold rock in squat, then extend arms holding  7 secs, and then hold rock directly overhead for one time around

    Count, ID, COT Sharing / Prayer.

    mmmBop is leaving for Hawaii soon… will miss him, but dude I be jelly furreal.

    God bless the F3Nola brotherhood.

  • Gnarly Nutria Prep

    6 men arrived at City Park for a little beat down on the morning of the Gnarly Nutria. The prep work for the Gnarly Nutria was not to run, save the legs, plain and simple. The usual disclaimer and off we go. We moseyed to the track for the Thang.

    Warm-up COP: SSH x 20 IC, Hill-billies x 20 IC, Windmills x 10 IC, Grass grabbers x 10 IC, Arm circles 10 forwards 10 backwards, MC x 20 IC.

    COP #1:

    Merkins x 20 IC, Shoulder taps x 20 IC, Low slow squats x 20 IC, Lunges x 20 IC, LBC’s x 20 IC, Left leg cross-over merkins x 10 IC, Flutter kicks x 20 IC, Right leg cross-over merkins x 10 IC, Side lunges x 20 IC, Crunchy frog x 10 IC

    Run One Lap

    COP #2:

    Plankorama x 15 IC (High plank, right arm, backwards, left arm, mission impossible), Superman I Y T’s x 15 IC, Hello dolly x 20 IC, Rosalita x 20 IC,  Bird Dogs x 20 IC

    Run One Lap

    COP #3:

    Merkins x 10 IC, Low slow squats x 10 IC, Left leg cross-over merkins x 10 IC, Lunges x 15 IC, Right leg cross-over merkins x 10 IC

    Then right into some Mary: LBCs x 20 IC, J-Lo x 20 IC, Reverse crunches x 20 IC, Dying cockroach x 20 IC, Russian twists x 20 IC, Freddie Mercury x 20 IC.

    Count-off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, and a prayer. See you at the GN. Thanks for letting me lead.

  • I’m a Q. You’re a Q. We’re all Q.

    Wednesday arrived and we were without a Q. I offered to lead the warm-up and gets things started. Tool offered to lead the next part of the workout which ended up being a group effort. All in all it ended up being a group effort and a very solid beatdown.

    Warm Up:

    Mosey over to the warm-up area of the practice track and circle up.

    • SSH x 20 IC
    • Windmills x 10 IC
    • Hillbillies x 15 IC
    • Self love x 15 IC
    • Arm circles Fwd and Rev x 10 IC each
    • Mountain Climbers x 20 IC

    Next up was 4 corners. Head over to the starting line. Run not quite a full sprint for 100 meters and then perform 25 Merkins. Run 100 meters and perform 25 squats. Run 100 meters and perform 25 Carolina Dry Docks. Run 100 meters and perform 25 jump squats.

    At this point Tool took over and we moseyed back over to the area where we warmed up. We circled back up and Tool set his timer for 1 minute. Each of the 5 PAX would call out an exercise and perform it for the full minute. Exercises varied between upper body, lower body, and abs. After all 5 rounds were completed we ran a lap around the track. This routine was performed for a total of 4 rounds. The last round was a round of Mary only. At that time it was 6:15.

    Count off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, and a physically distanced COT. Thanks to all the men who stepped up to lead a group effort.

  • Raise the Floor Not The Ceiling

    …Daily practice raises the floor allowing for incremental gains. With daily practice bad days become less so and it has added benefit of raising the ceiling as well. It will keep you on a path of forward progress and builds a strong foundation so when you fall the floor is not that far.

    Warm Up

    SSH x18
    Hillbillies x 14
    Grass grabbers x 12
    Toe touches x 12
    One leg stretch – 30sec x 4
    Self love
    Arm rotations x 10 (reverse)
    Shake wrists and feet

    Heart rate:
    Burpee – 10 Peter Parker – 2 merkens up x 10

    Exercise / F3 Relay
    Break into pax of 3
    Set up 2 stations, 1st at 0 meters / 2nd at 200 meters
    Station 1 / Exercise 1 – 400 Cumulative Merkins
    Station 2 / Exercise 1 – 400 Cumulative Lungs
    Station 1 / Exercise 2 – 400 American Hammers
    Station 2 / Exercise 2 – 400 J-Lo’s
    Pax rotate one person at each station one person running between to relieve.

    2nd Q in the books thanks for all the support!