F3 New Orleans

Tag: Walleye

  • Swole Fest Week 3

    Mondays have recently been turned into an all cinder block beatdown with no running, which is exciting news for a few of our banged up PAX. I took it upon myself to Q a block workout for the first time to challenge myself. Disclaimer/warning was given and off we stayed put for some warm up.

    Warm Up:

    • SSH x 20 IC
    • Windmills x 10 IC
    • Arm circles fwd/rev x 10 IC each
    • Self love x 15 IC
    • Mountain Climbers x 20 IC

    Tha Thang Part 1:

    Flora 1-2-3: Dora’s lazy, mean stepsister. All pax partner up, and grab a coupon, preferably of the 35 lbs CMU size (concrete masonry unit). 100 Merkins – P1 does 10 with feet on coupon. P2 holds plank with feet on his coupon. Flapjack.200 LBCs – P1 does 20 LBC holding coupon high on chest. P2 holds legs 6″ off ground, and extends arms w/ coupon over chest. Flapjack. 300 Goblet Squats – P1 does 25 goblet squats. P2 lowers to bottom of goblet squat w/ coupon, and holds. Flapjack.

    This took a lot shorter time than I anticipated but thankfully I had more fun in store.

    Tha Thang Part 2:

    Block Webbs: A Jack Webb using a concrete block incline merkin & a block press instead of an air press.

    As I’m typing this I failed to catch the instruction to do an inclined merkin so we did regular merkins instead. After 5 rounds YHC needed a rest. I had the full intention of making it to 10 rounds so we started up again. However YHC’s arms were shot and I stopped the misery at 8 rounds.

    Tha Thang Part 3:

    Butkus: 1 minute step ups on cement planters for each leg with 30 sec rest between rounds. 2 round performed with each leg.

    Tha Thang Part 4:

    Lagniappe: Biceps curls and overhead triceps extensions 2 sets x 20 reps each using cinderblock.

    Supine chest press with cinderblock 2 sets x 20 reps. Sandwiched in between was a set of 15 reps of supine arm raises with cinderblock.

    5 minutes of round robin mary were performed.

    Count off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, physically distanced COT.

  • Walk The Walk – Swole Fest week#2

    “It is in your hands to create a better world for all who live in it.” ~ Nelson Mandela

    Eight PAX made their way to City Park on Monday morning start the week off right.  Good to see some transfer students from other AO’s. It was week #2 for Swole Fest which has been heavy on the upper body block exercises in an effort to give the guns some much needed loving.  The plan included trying a few different things and giving a nod to many things recently brought to light regarding injustices and inequalities.

    We strive to not infuse politics or certain hot button topics in F3, and YHC aimed to make sure he didn’t bend these guidelines on Monday.  On the heels of some powerful backblasts, messages, and workouts shared by PAX regarding recent happenings in the community, YHC felt we should try to keep the ball rolling in the right direction. Seemed as though it would be fitting to have a theme for the workout…“Walk The Walk”….striving to be a H.I.M. (High Impact Man)….doing, not just saying…being proactive vs reactive…less talk, more walk….and pushing for what we believe is right.   Here’s what we did:

    “This is F3.  I’m not a professional trainer, nor a professional motivation speaker…bear with me on this, I’ll try to give us some food for though to stew on this week.  Grab your block and let’s get started.”

    Warmup:  The usual stuff including IP, SSH, AC, WM, and a few more.  Then a demonstration with group collaboration on the form for some of the planned block exercises, to include block swings x5, thrusters x5, and bent over rows.  

    The Thang: A Northshore inspired circuit that included 5 timed rounds, adding in some “marching” to different locations between rounds. 10-20 reps first min, 10-20 reps second min, 1 min AYG AMRAP…aka High Impact Minute, quick breather, then a 2-3 min march holding the block overhead or out, similar to a protest sign, and keeping to yourself what you are marching for…someone or something that you feel should change and/or could use your help.  

    Quick quote before we start….“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” Jackie Robinson

    Round 1: Block Swings, Block Swings, Burpees AMRAP, breather, “Walk The Walk” w/block overhead/out. T-claps to SOGO (and others?) for 20+ Burpees in a min.  On the march, several of us noted that it was good to see the protest that was 2 days prior right there in City Park went off without a hitch and remained peaceful…no ruckus as some anticipated…T-claps to those whose kept it cool.   

    Round 2: Thrusters, Thrusters, Curls AMRAP, breather, “Walk The Walk” w/block overhead/out, with some good mumblechatter along the way….and some grunts and grumbling aimed towards the blocks. 

    Round 3: This stop was in front of NOMA where we discussed the museum’s namesake, who was a HIM of his time.  YHC pulled out a cheat sheet with some notes on Isaac Delgado’s legacy: “Immigrating from Jamaica in the 1850s, Isaac Delgado would make a fortune in the sugar and molasses business. He would repay the city with a surgical center at Charity Hospital and an art museum in City Park that began as the Delgado Museum of Art, but which is now NOMA. His will established his most enduring legacy, a trade school for boys that opened in 1921 that later evolved in Delgado Comm college. The quote: “The problem of city life is not its streets, its tenements or its gain, but what is to become of its boys. Give them a chance and a fair chance, and if the boys turn out right, the city will be right and so will all connected with it.” — Isaac Delgado, on the importance of early education.  We then knocked out Block Swings, Block Swings, Bent Over Rows AMRAP, breather, “Walk The Walk” w/block overhead/out

    Round 4: Thrusters, Thrusters, Merkins AMRAP, breather, “Walk The Walk” w/block out and pump out some Curls as we headed back to base camp located in the LCM parking lot.  

    Round 5: Before our last set, we took in another thought nugget from a former Saints favorite…”I’m hopeful, because I know that while we still have race issues in America, we enjoy a much different normal than those of our parents and grandparents.  I see it in my personal relationships with teammates, friends and mentors.  And it’s a beautiful thing.”  -Benjamin Watson.  Then on to Block Swings, Block Swings, Flutter Kicks AMRAP while holding block over chest….time’s up! 

    COT included one last quote: 

    “Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.” ~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

    T-claps to the PAX for pushing hard, and to those battling injuries that still posted.  Thanks for the opportunity to lead and for allowing me to throw in some unorthodox stuff to the workout.

    Let’s continue to listen to those impacted by inequalities and see what we can do (or continue to do) to make things better….and be high impact men.  

    Tool

  • Flannel Friday @ NOMA

    High Rise coined the term Flannel Friday during Covid for Friday City Park workouts with 90’s grunge tunes. We kept the theme going today at NOMA. Today was a simple Tabata theme with no running. We have many F3 brothers recovering from leg injuries at City Park. The disclaimer was given reminding of physical distancing and off we go.

    A slow mosey around NOMA and the warm-up COP: SSH x 20 IC, IW x 20 IC, Grass grabbers x 10 IC, Windmills x 10 IC, Arm circles 10 forwards 10 backwards, Michael Phelps x 10 IC.

    The Thang: Tabata at the NOMA fountain. 10 stations, 10 exercises, 45 seconds of exercise, 15 seconds rest. 3 rounds. 2 minutes of rest in-between with Mary.

    The exercises: Broad jump up steps, Dips, Mountain-climbers, Shoulder press with cinder block, Parker-peters, Power-ups, Shoulder taps, Burpees, Curls with 20# dumbbells, Merkins.

    The tunes: 90’s grunge and rap.

    3 minute cool-down with stretching. COT: name-o-rama, intentions, and a prayer. The work-out was reminiscent of a JV leap-year beat down on leap-day where JV led 29 exercises in one spot without ever leaving the circle. Beautiful. Thanks for letting me lead.

    Walleye

  • Rarajipari at the Mountain

    Rarajipari is a running game played by the Tarahumara people of the Copper Canyons region in Chihuahua, Mexico. Two teams of four or more run and kick a baseball-sized ball. The goal is to win, and not step on the ball and bite it in the process. I was first introduced to Rarajipari by Yankee at Wolfpack Mountain, and Hawg at the Mothership. We decided to bring it back to City Park.

    7 men met at NOMA. Disclaimer given reminding of physical distancing. We ran a warm-up lap around NOMA.

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

    Next we moseyed to Wisner Mountain, stopping at several spots along the way. COP #1: LL step-ups x 15 IC, Dips x 15 IC, RL step-ups x 15 IC, Dips x 15 IC. COP #2: Peter-parker x 15 IC, Shoulder taps x 15 IC, Parker-peter x 15 IC, Merkins x 15 IC.

    Wisner Mountain. At the bottom: Incline merkins x 10 IC, Dips x 10 IC. Sprint to the top of the mountain. At the top: Decline merkins x 10 IC. Mosey to the bottom for round-robin Mary: Box cutters x 20 IC, Dying cockroach x 20 IC, V-ups x 20 IC, American Hammer x 20 IC, Hello dolly x 20 IC, Wife-pleasers x 20 IC, LBC’s x 20 IC.

    Rarajipari through City Park. After a disclaimer to be careful and not step on the ball or twist an ankle, YHC proceeded to step on the ball and almost bust my a$$. Luckily no one got hurt. We split into 2 teams, with Rarajipari back to NOMA. We took a short tour of City Park, running past Pan Am stadium, down Zachary Taylor drive, turning to go under the 610 underpass, pausing for calf-raises x 20 IC and monkey-jumpers x 20 IC, and continuing down Henry Thomas drive back to NOMA.

    COT: Count-off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, and a prayer. Thanks for allowing me to lead.

    Walleye

  • The New Foundry

    Please read Jadaveon’s backblast from 6/1/20. Follow with Shocker’s backblast from 6/1/20 (posted on 6/3/20). They will move you and motivate you to act.

    The New Foundry is temporarily the track at City Park on Roosevelt Mall. Come by and check it out. The water’s great. You’ll love it. Pull-ups will be returning soon (hopefully).

    7 Men and Man’s Best Friend arrived this morning in the rising humidity. For those that have never met him, DJ Diver is Gideon’s dog. He is one great dog. Loyal, obedient, always has Gideon’s back. He completed the entire workout and didn’t complain once. The usual disclaimer, recommending physical distancing, and off we go. Mosey to the track.

    Warm-up COP: SSH x 20 IC, IW x 20 IC, Peter Parkers x 20 IC, Windmills x 10 IC, Grass Grabbers x 10 IC, Arm circles 10 forward 10 backward, Mountain Climbers x 20 IC

    The Thang: 4 laps around the track. At the 200m mark: 25 merkins, 25 squats, 25 LBC’s. At the 400m mark: 25 Floyd Mayweathers, 25 lunges, 25 LBT’s. In total, 1 mile run with 100 of each exercise (merkins, squats, LBC’s, FM’s, lunges, LBT’s).

    Animals on Parade: 30 yard square: bear crawl, forward crab, bear crawl, backward crab for one loop.

    Rear Deltoid circuit, on your face: I’s, Y’s, T’s x 10 IC.

    Mary: Flutter kicks x 20 IC, Hello Dolly x 20 IC, Penguins x 20 IC, American Hammer x 10 IC, Crunchy Frog x 10 IC, J-Lo x 20 IC.

    Mosey back to flag for COT. Count off, name-o-rama, intentions, prayer. We reflected on Jadaveon’s plea to act. Living in silence in not good enough. Hopefully we can all have the strength and courage to do our part for equality. Thanks for letting me Q.

    Walleye

  • Loredo at The Foundry

    Ten PAX posted in City Park to get their Wednesday off to a good start. On the heels of Memorial Day, YHC thought it would be fitting to incorporate a Hero WOD, especially for those of us that missed The Murph days before. Here’s what went down:

    Mosey to the practice track for a quick warmup consisting of SSH, IPW, WM, and AC. Then YHC filled the crew in on who Loredo was:

    U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Edwardo Loredo, 34, of Houston, Texas, assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was killed on June 24, 2010 in Jelewar, Afghanistan, when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He is survived by his wife, First Sergeant Jennifer Loredo; his daughter, Laura Isabelle; his stepdaughter, Alexis; and his son, Eduardo Enrique.

    The Thang: Loredo WOD, push hard, AYG, check your time at the end, boomer friendly tunes played for added motivation.

    • 6 Rounds For Time
    • 24 Air Squats
    • 24 Push-Ups
    • 24 Walking Lunges
    • 400 meter Run

    All PAX finished in the 20-something minute range, a few times were estimated:

    Saban 21:00, Walleye, 23:08, Tool 26:29, Bogey 24:05, Kuch 24:44, Beignet 25-ish, Full Nelson 25-ish, High Rise 23:35, The Undertaker 25:30, Belloq 22:50

    We did some round robin Mary until all PAX finished, then a few more rounds for the female onlookers, who mumbled something along the lines of “where’s that handsome guy named Sheetrock?”

    Capped things off with 4 minutes of Plankorama, with first 2 min in silence to pay a little more homage to Staff Sargent Loredo and our fallen soldiers.

    COT and prayer.

    Thanks for the opportunity to lead.

    Tool

  • Memorial Day Murph 2020 on the lake

    Due to all the recent changes that have taken place as a result of Covid-19, I figured what’s one more change, right? F3 has proven, if nothing else, to be very flexible with modifications to AOs and exercises. So instead of meeting at our newly baptized Monday AO in front of the Children’s Museum, I opted to meet at the House of Pain steps away from our usual Okwata AO. Tool (and some others) had previously installed 3 pull up bars so I figured with all the playgrounds still roped off this would be a good place to perform our Murph.

    6 PAX met at the HoP, instructions were given for The Murph, timer was started, and off we went. For our 1 mile loop we simply ran along the lakefront/sidewalk towards Canal, U-turned to head back towards the pumping station, and then U-turned back towards the HoP. 100 pull-ups, 200 Merkins, and 300 squats were done. Then run another mile. In the midst of our exercises Gideon decided to join us for a few rounds during his morning run. And there was even a drive-by appearance by Hawgcycle and Rev Sox during their morning run.

    Final times:

    • Saban 41:00
    • Sogo 41:20
    • Walleye 44:45
    • Catfish 45:30
    • Belloq 48:52
    • High Rise 50:00

    After resting for a few minutes and drinking some water to hydrate (thanks Sogo), COT was done where we took time to remember those lost in the line of duty. Never forget!

  • Last Mothership Before COVID-19 Changes Everything

    Back in January, I have already heard about the Coronavirus because of my family living in Hong Kong. My father, who is still currently stuck in Hong Kong due to the travel restriction, had informed me how bad this thing is and how many people had already died in China. I knew it was somewhat serious, but I never expect it to be THIS bad where it will affect everyone of us for a very long time. Particularly, I remember my parents were in Hong Kong when SARs broke out in 2003. Because Hong Kong did a great job containing SARs, I never thought a similar highly contagious respiratory infection would hit us all the way to NOLA.

    Before City and Statewide stay-at-home mandate, we get a chance for one last Saturday beatdown. 20 PAX showed up on a beautiful morning. I gave my standard disclaimer and off we went!

    We started off with a lap around the great lawn and back to the Peristyle for our warmups in cadence:

    SSHs x 20

    Forward & Backward Arm Circles x 10 each

    Windmills x 10

    Grassgrabber x 10

    Hill Billies x 20

    Peter Parker x 15

    Mountain Climbers x 15

    Parker Peter x 15

    Part 1

    Picked a column at the Peristyle. In plank position, each Pax did hands on the wall x 20. Then did 20 right leg step ups. Then back to a column and did another 20 hands on the wall in plank position. Then back to the bench to finish with 20 left leg step ups.

    Part 2

    Walked across the street to the Great Lawn. We were using palm trees on the right as our markers. At the first tree, we started off with 1 lunge (Two is One). At the second tree, we did 2 lunges (Two is One), at the third tree, ….. all the way to the eighth tree. Then sprinted back to the very first tree and planked / waited for the Six. Then we added another layer of exercise. At the first tree, we started off with 1 lunge (Two is One) and 1 big boy sit-up. At the second tree, we did 2 lunges (Two is one) and 2 big boy sit-ups. At the third tree…. all the way to the eighth tree then sprinted back to the beginning and waited for the Six again. Final layer of exercise we added on was everyone’s favorite: burpees. At the first tree, we did 1 lunge, 1 big boy sit-up, and 1 burpee….. all the way to the eighth tree again. So in total, each PAX ponied up 108 lunges (2 is 1), 72 big boy sit-ups, and 36 burpees.

    Part 3

    We moseyed to the fountain in front of NOMA. We picked a partner and did DORA 1, 2, 3. The exercises were 100 leg raises, 200 inclined merkins, and 300 LBCs. While one pax was doing the exercise, the other partner was burpee broad-jumping towards NOMA on the flat surface and bunny hopped on the steps. Then ran back to flapjack with the partner.

    We ran back to the flag for COT. We went overtime by a minute or so. At every COT, I always mention how grateful I am able to do this with the PAX on a regular basis. F3 is a big part of my life. I do this 4 to 5 times a week. I enjoy the F2 part the most. We had our last Cafe Navarre breakfast together. Now, I still workout with few PAX in a smaller group and keeping our social distance. I’ve been running into other smaller F3 groups here and there in the gloom. I cannot wait till we can all get back together with 30 plus PAX at the WPM, Mothership, Rock City, The Skinny, Chamber of Horrors, 610 Stomps, Tsunami, The Birdcage, Foundry, Popeyes, Okwata, Stiffler’s Mom, Master Melvin, Wally Run, Uptowner, Sweaty Bells, and Renaissance. Until then, stay safe!

    King Kong

  • Dirty Dozen for Rock City with no Rocks for BLIMPSS

    The weather was perfect at 64* for 12 men to gather in the gloom during this time of uncertainty to push each other and to control what was in our control.

    Safety does matter!

    As we started to gather we immediately moved towards the football field to give us extra social distance rather than gathering in the confines of the fence, With an opening disclaimer about the Q not knowing if the virus can linger on rocks and therefore no rocks would be used today we took a nice 400 m mosey around the track before meeting in the middle of the football field along some cones that made their way to the field around 5:10 this AM

    EMOM’s of BLIMPSS … with no breaks

    The Q announced as we lined up midfield the BLIMPS would be done with each exercise lasting for one minute and immediately leading into the next exercise without any breaks between the EMOM (to eliminate any confusion on last week’s debate on EMOM’s and breaks). One minute of Burpees, one minute of Lunges, one minute Imperial walkers, one minute of Merkins, one minute of Plank jacks, one minute of Squats and then one minute of Suicides (utilizing the cones).

    The Q then had Rev Sox give us a 20 count and we moseyed back to the track.

    Another 400m mosey followed by BLIMPSS round 2 – One minute of Burpees, one minute of Lunges (Backwards lunges this time), one minute Imperial walkers, one minute of Merkins, one minute Plank (not plank jacks), one minute of Squats and then one minute of Suicides (utilizing the cones) ~ This time we did the suicides in reverse at request of Mahatma.

    Back to the track for another 400 m mosey and then round 3 of BLIMPSS repeating round 2 with the lunges going from midfield of the football field to the end zone.

    Mahatma gave us a 20 count as we made our way to the end zone area of the track for our last rendition of BLIMPS. This time we only moseyed about 100 m and then did 19 of each (BLIMPS) then another 100 m. It was noted as folks were planking for the 6, one could see steam rising from our backs.

    We then gathered at a safe distance for countarama, nameorama, announcements, intentions and closing prayer.

    Walleye lets us know about the young attorney from St. Ann’s who was misdiagnosed with the flu and is now in EJ ICU with COVID-19.

    We closed with prayers and lifted up all those brothers dealing with adversity, injury, cash flow changes, health issues, families with health issues, life changes from COVID 19 and encouraged each other to recognize COVID 19 is real and to exercise prudent precautions to protect each other and our families.

    Be safe my brothers! Thank you for pushing this 60 year old man to be better!

  • Sloppy Seconds Ain’t My Style

    Today is March 2nd, which means we’re nearing the end of the (sometimes) cold season here in New Orleans. For those of you keeping track, and I’m sure you all are, my attendance has been spotty over the past several months in what can only be described as F3 hibernation. I loathe below-50 degree weather and do my best to avoid it, especially if its also been raining. I know many people hate the humidity here, but I’ll take the heat any day.

    Now, given the Calvinist nature of the Q assignment, we (usually) don’t select our own Q-ings, but are predestined according to the (presumed) foreknowledge of the AO site coordinator. And as such, I’ve only “reported for duty” on days when the temperature was 50+, unless I was predestined for Q-ing in the cold (see 11/13/2019). But it seems that Rock City AO coordinator Mahatma, in his grace and mercy, saw fit to elect me to Q on March second, a day that had no cold and no sloppy ground – really a perfect weather day.

    So it began with warm-up exercises in the traditional Rock City warm-up area. It was the usual bag of tricks:

    SSH

    Abe Vigodas

    Imperial Walkers

    Grass Grabbers

    Peter Parkers

    Arm Circles

    All @ 26 each. There appeared to be some great letdown among the PAX that 26 had no significance other than having an equal number of forward and backward arm circles. Sorry for those that thought that I might be honoring P.J. Williams or celebrating my 26th birthday…

    Next up we gathered our rocks and headed to the football field, where we paced 10 yards for every exercise, from the goal line, in reps of 15, in cadence:

    Curls

    Tricep Extension

    Merkins

    Chest Press

    Shoulder Press

    We then partnered up for a dash from the 50 yard line to the goal line and back, while the alternating partner worked to complete the following:

    Burpees x 50

    World War II Sit-Ups x 100

    Squats x 150

    Flutter Kicks x 200

    Rows x 300

    Finally, we reversed our 10 yards/reps of 15/in cadence to the original goal line, finishing with just enough time to return our rocks and circle up. I have to say, given my F3 hibernation as of late, I’m definitely not in the same shape I was in November. So much so, that I was fading badly on the last set of tricep extensions and apparently lost the ability to count. Fortunately, Mahatma stepped in and picked up my slack continuing the cadence. It reminded me of that scene in Casino when Joe Pesci is all coked out near the end of the film, and he starts to beat a guy to death, but then doesn’t have the stamina to finish, so one of his henchmen takes over to finish the beatdown. Only without the coke. Or murder.

    In closing, we had no announcements, only prayers for those in our F3 community and those connected to it, giving thanks and glory to God.

    *The title of this post was a line uttered by Danny Zuko (John Travolta) in the movie Grease referring to…well, not muddy fields or March 2nd.