Tag: Ya Mom’n Dem

  • Everyone Loves Jailhouse Rock, a Tribute to the King.

    Everyone Loves Jailhouse Rock, a Tribute to the King.

    In Tupelo, Mississippi, on January 8, 1935, in a two-room shotgun house in East Tupelo, then a separate municipality that some called the “roughest town in north Mississippi,” Elvis Aaron Presley was born. Times were hard in the U.S., especially in the South, when Elvis Presley entered this world. To be born poor then was not unusual. What was unusual about Elvis at his birth is that he was a twin. His twin brother, Jesse Garon, did not survive, making Elvis what is called today a “twin-less twin.”

    W/U

    • SSH x 35
    • HB x 35
    • IW x 35
    • AC x 18, Reverse x 17

    The Thang

    Don’t Be Cruel

    • Burp & Merk to 10 Merkins

    All Shook Up

    • Sit on your “throne” like Elvis and in COT style state your Hospital Name, F3 Name, & Favorite Elvis Song.   Hold until the end of the COT. (Jailhouse Rock is the clear favorite among F3 PAX. I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that it was the first song mentioned).

    We Can’t’ Go on Together with Suspicious Minds

    • Lunge Indian Run from track to road, then Indian Run to NOMA

    Find your twin Jesse Garon Presley for Dora 1-2-3

    • 100 Merkins
    • 200 Squats
    • 300 LBCs

    Indian Run back to the Flag.

    Counterama, Namerama, COT.  Happy Birthday Elvis!

    Thank you for the opportunity to Lead, Thank you very much,

    Da Parish

  • First Stomp of 2020

    First Stomp of 2020

    22 men came out in the darkened gloom to kick off 2020 with the 610 Stomp. No better way to start the year than a good run with your 22 best friends.

    The Thang

    YHC started with the basic disclaimer and gave the instructions for the morning run. Run out to the Wisner Bridge. Celebrate our run to the bridge with 10 celebration burpees. Run and back and forth over the bridge until the Q calls the time. Celebrate the end of the bridge runs with 10 more celebration burpees and run back to the flag.

    Important lesson learned this morning: Don’t follow Shuffles. Shuffles will go the long way. Shuffles can run faster than you, so take the short way to arrive at the same time as Shuffles.

    The Pax followed Shuffles the long way to the bridge and completed the 10 burpees at the base of the bridge. The pax proceeded to run back and forth over the 610 until YHC rounded everyone up to do 10 more burpees at 6:05. The pax ran back to the flag for the end.

    The Conclusion

    Count-off, Name-O-Rama, and one FNG. The Pax was off their game with name suggestions outside of Hawg who wanted to name the FNG something Canadian since the FNG was from Detroit. YHC went with Crazy Cat Guy. I hope he returns.

    Thank you for the opportunity to lead. May we all lead and push one another throughout 2020.

  • Get in gear for the new year with 400 reps

    On Tuesday evening, December 31st, YHC put out a brief message: Get some rest tomorrow, because Thursday will feature the 400 at Okwata. This was done for several reasons:

    • First and foremost, the 400 is hard. It’s a great aerobic/anaerobic mix, and I at least tend to get winded pretty quickly.
    • Second, if YHC knew that was coming, the thought, at least, was that YHC would be more responsible on New Year’s Eve knowing that he would be sweating out every drop of vodka. And publicly committing to it was the best way to assure it would actually go down.
    • Finally though, the 400 is a good test of where we all are. When you finish it, there is a sense of accomplishment. It’s a benchmark you can revisit and track progress, and progress is something we should never stop striving for, in whatever form it may come.

    What is the 400? I had last done it courtesy of a Triple Shift Q, and struggled mightily through it, but I believe it goes back to the early days of Okwata. The 400 is

    • 10 trips over the levee and back
    • stopping at the top of the levee, then the neighborhood side of the levee, then back to the top of the levee, then back to where you started for….
    • 10 reps of a particular exercise

    So a typical round is:

    • run up the levee for 10 merkins (for example)
    • run down to the other side for 10 merkins
    • run back up the levee for 10 merkins
    • run back down to where you started for 10 merkins

    Today we did

    1. SSH 50% effort for a warm-up. (YHC had done an abbreviated warmup because last time, we’d used almost the entire 45 minutes to complete it, so we used this as part of the warmup)
    2. Merkins
    3. Burpees
    4. Squats
    5. Carolina dry docks
    6. Bonnie Blairs (3 count, 1,2,3 1; 1,2,3 2)
    7. J-Lo’s (3 count)
    8. LBC’s (3 count)
    9. Monkey Humpers (3 count)
    10. At this point, we still had some time, so YHC decided we would redo the SSH at 100% so as not to short ourselves. So SSH (3 count)
    11. Final exercise, only one choice (and a very popular one judging by the groans and mumblechatter). More burpees!

    Some stretching led by High Rise, prayers for one our pax who has a child going through some challenges, and something I wanted to share with the group from a friend who recently died from brain cancer. Several months before his death, having lived with the cancer for a few years, he remarked:

    “While I’ve lost nearly everything, physically, financially, emotionally, materially, Never, not once, have I lost hope, belief, faith.”

    I know of no better way to live.

    I also know of no better group of men than this one, and for that, I thank all of you. Here’s to a great 2020. – Kuch

  • High Rise’s and Kuch’s F3 NOLA Chamber of Horrors War Eagle Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Pro-Am Beatdown Throwdown For The Cure

    Late last week Kuch and I were contacted by Gideon asking for us to step in as Q’s for the initial beatdown throwdown at the newest AO The Chamber of Horrors. Our AO originators Gideon and Tool would be unavailable to Q so, as usual, Kuch and I stepped up. Gideon agreed to attend and offered to monitor the time so we would stay on track.

    The agreement was that a brief 5 minute warm-up would commence. Then each Q would alternate 10 minute rounds of exercise for the remaining 40 minutes. The challenge was for each Q to come up with a challenging and creative beatdown and then the PAX would vote on a winner at the end. In order to avoid wasting time running all over UNO’s campus we agreed to centralize the location of our rounds. 16 PAX joined the 2 Q’s, disclaimer was given, sort of (sorry about that; my energy and desire to stay on time got the better of me), and off we went.

    Warm up:

    Mosey a lap around the parking lot and circle up.

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

    Round 1 (High Rise):

    T-claps to Gideon for helping me set up the baseball diamond prior to 5:30 and to Kuch for the cones and tape measure which allowed us to play some F3 Baseball. PAX divided into 4 teams (1 at each base) and would perform said exercise then perform another exercise in transition to the next base. Due to the numbers we split into 2 groups of 5 and 2 groups of 4. The goal was for each group to complete 150 reps of said exercise as a team and then rotate to the next base. It dawned on me quickly that the groups of 4 would be passed up and possibly create a log jam, not to mention each group member perform a good bit more reps than members of the 5-PAX groups, so it was announced that 4-PAX groups would complete 120 reps total instead.

    • Home plate: merkins then broad jump/bunny hop to first base
    • First base: squats then bear crawl to second base
    • Second base: shoulder taps (1 is 1) then crab walk to third base
    • Third base: lunges (1 is 1) then crawl bear to home plate

    Round 2 (Kuch):

    Prior to 5:30 several PAX assisted Kuch in moving our monster truck tire into position so T-claps to those men. Kuch then announced we would split into 3 groups of 6 and complete a rotating circuit for the allotted 10 minutes.

    • Group 1: Each PAX would flip the tire, jump through, and return to the back of the line until the tire had reached group 2. Then plank.
    • Group 2: Plank while group 1 flips tire. Then group 2 flips tire back to the start line where they would hand it off to group 3.
    • Group 3: While groups 1 and 2 do their thing, group 3 sprints to where group 2 is planking and back, then holds an Al Gore until the tire returns to the start line.

    Each group would rotate through all 3 stations until Gideon called time. Once again T-claps to Gideon for setting up the cones for the next round while Kuch’s round was going on.

    Round 3 (High Rise):

    With cones set out 10 yards apart in a line, the same 3 groups of 6 PAX would perform Plank Hurdles. PAX #1 sprints 10 yards and then holds a plank. PAX #2 sprints to the 20 yard marker while hurdling PAX #1 in the process. PAX #3 hurdles PAX #1 and #2, etc. until all 6 PAX have hurdled and planked. Then PAX #1 hurdles all the way to the end, followed by PAX #2, etc. until all 6 PAX are at the last cone. Rinse and repeat back until Gideon calls time.

    Round 4 (Kuch):

    Shirts vs Skins soccer. Thanks again to Kuch for providing a light up soccer ball (or brick depending on where you kicked the ball). The soccer goals that are always at the field were moved into position, PAX was randomly split into 2 teams, and a very competitive match on the ant hill covered pitch commenced. A tightly fought match ended in a 1-1 draw until Gideon called time so as is the case in most soccer games, there were no winners.

    Mosey back to the flag where the PAX voted YHC as the winner with the final tally being 11-7. It was then decided by Gideon that since I received 11 votes, Kuch then performed 11 burpees as today’s losing Q. Numerous other PAX joined in because that’s what we do at F3 (but not me since I won).

    Count off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, sweaty ball of man. Once again it was a pleasure to lead the PAX. This was the second showdown between Kuch and I. The score is now tied at 1. We shall meet again.

  • Baby, it’s cold outside

    To quote the late great Johnny Mercer, ‘baby, it’s cold outside.’ Or at least it was last Wednesday at The Foundry. When we got out of the car, it was 39 degrees with wind gusts of 20+. To get the blood pumping, I issued the disclaimer & then we mosey’d from the flag to the museum. Once at the museum we did the warmup.

    Warmup:

    Side straddle hops – 15 in cadence

    High knees – 15 in cadence

    Butt kicks – 15 in cadence

    Mountain climbers – 15 in cadence

    Windmills – 10 in cadence

    Self love

    Next we did The Thang:

    The Thang:

    Mountain climbers – 25 in cadence

    Irkins on fountain – 25

    Mountain climbers – 25 in cadence

    Box jumps on fountain – 25

    Mountain climbers – 25 in cadence

    Dips on fountain – 25 in cadence

    Next we partnered up and did a Dora 1-2-3. We did 100 merkins, 200 LBC’s & 300 calf raises. While one partner was doing the exercise, the other partner would run a lap around the museum

    Lastly, we did a burpee circuit on the museum steps. We ran up & down the steps of the museum & then did 1 burpee. Then we ran up & down the steps again & did 2 burpees. And so on until we reached 7 burpees.

    Once we completed that, we took a quick water break & then mosey’d back to the flag. Once at the flag, we did the count-off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions & prayer. It was a cold day, but a good day. And, as always, thanks for the opportunity to lead, fellas  

  • Tony Little’s haircut

    Gentlemen, it was a brisk morning on the Lakefront today; which got me thinking about how working out indoors might be nice; which then got me thinking about which exercises I would do if I were in the gym; which then got me thinking about the different gym equipment I could use; which then got me thinking about the elliptical machine; which then got me thinking about the ‘Gazelle Freestyle’ machine; which then got me thinking about Tony Little’s haircut. But I digress.

    T-claps to Jingle Vader for showing up in shorts & a sleeveless shirt this morning. Most of the other PAX came bundled up in winter gear. Once my watch hit 5:30am, I issued the disclaimer, and then we mosey’d to the concrete part of the levee. Once we got there, we hit a lap up & down the concrete levee, and then did the warmup.

    Warm Up:

    • Side straddle hops – 30 cadence count
    • High knees – 20 cadence count
    • Mountain Climbers – 25 cadence count
    • Windmills – 10 cadence count
    • Self Love – 10 cadence count

    The Thang:

    • Side Straddle Hops – 10 cadence count
    • 1 burpee
    • Repeat 7 times
    • Al Gore – 10 cadence count
    • 2 burpees
    • Repeat 5 times
    • Mountain climbers – 10 cadence count
    • 3 merkins
    • Repeat 6 times

    Hit a Lap up & down the concrete levee

    • Seal jacks – 10 cadence count
    • 5 burpees
    • Sean jacks – 10 cadence count
    • 4 burpees
    • Repeat until we got down to 1 burpee
    • Bonnie Blairs – 10 count
    • 5 burpees
    • Bonnie Blairs – 10 count
    • 4 burpees
    • Repeat until we got down to 1 burpee
    • Mary:
    • Flutter kicks – 30 cadence count
    • LBC’s – 25 cadence count
    • Penguins – 20 cadence count
    • Dying Cockroaches – 20 cadence count
    • Double-reverse reverse crunches – 30 cadence count (majestic exercise)

    Hit a lap up & down the concrete levee

    • Rocky Balboas – 25 cadence count
    • Floyd Mayweathers – 25 cadence count

    After that, we headed to the flag for the count-off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions & prayer. Thanks for the opportunity to Q, fellas. I always enjoy it.

  • Burpee Claus is coming to town

    Gentlemen, tis the holiday season, and we all know what that means; Burpee Claus is coming to town! So in honor of Burpee Claus and everything that he stands for (which is doing burpees), we did a traditional 6-10 Stomp this morning using the traditional Stomp route: the PAX ran for 6 minutes, then did 10 burpees for 1 minute (we did this 6 times, and then ultimately met back at the flag).

    T-claps to Hawg, Rev & War Eagle for running to the workout from Hawg’s house. I think they also aspired to run back to Hawg’s house as well once the beatdown was over, so they probably each logged 10+ miles this morning. T-claps also to Puddles, Amnesty’s dog, for joining us for the run.

    Once the beatdown was over, we did the count-off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions & prayer. During announcements, Amnesty mentioned that he has a keg of F3 beer & that he will send some info out on Mumblechatter to let the PAX know when/where to meet if they would like to sample it. Mayhem & Holy Grove both had prayer intentions, so we concluded by lifting up their intentions, lifting up the unspoken intentions & then ultimately thanking the Sky Q for another day of F3 exercise & fellowship. Thanks for the opportunity to lead, fellas. I always enjoy it.

  • It’s All About the Benjamins

    Well done is better than well said.” ― Benjamin Franklin

    Another Monday in the books at The Chamber.  Today we had 9 men and 1 K-9 looking to sweat out the frustration of a Saints loss, and also sweat out any celebratory weekend libations of LSU’s win and/or holiday festivities.  Since we haven’t ventured much to the westward region of the AO, YHC figured we’d explore a bit and check out the area near Ben Franklin High School, and use the namesake as our theme for the day. Here’s what we did: 

    Warmup – quick lap around the lot, IW, WM, PP, Plank Roll

    Moseyed to the front of BFHS, kicked around the F3 mantra of “male leadership”, followed by an intro about Ben Franklin’s impact as a leader of his time.  Since he’s on the $100 bill, 100 would be our number of the day….cause “it’s all about the Benjamins“, according to Puff Daddy.    

    Wall Sit for 100 sec to start things off while YHC shared a refresher of BF’s accomplishments, contributions, and accolades….

    Benjamin Franklin played an important role as one of the eight Founding Fathers, helping draft the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. He never served as president but was a respected writer, printer, political philosopher, politician, Freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, humorist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.”  Then a few quotes to stew on….“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”……….“In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is Freedom, in water there is bacteria.” ― Benjamin Franklin

    BF stop #2 at the front steps, partnered up for a Dora-ish circuit…..PAX #1 works on 100 Step Jumps (2nd step) followed by 100 Declined Hip Slappers  while PAX#2 runs the parking lot loop, where some good F2 was had along the way.  T-claps to Pop Tart for the brisk runs!  

    BF stop #3 near the rear of the building for another Dora-ish circuit…PAX#2 works on 100 Hand Release Merkins followed by 100 Low Slow “Real Man” Squats, cause Ben Franklin didn’t shortcut anything, while PAX#2 runs a similar parking lot loop….more good F2.   

    Since ole Ben was a smart fella, most would assume he was no stranger to the library, so that’s where we headed next.  As the centerpiece of UNO’s campus, the Earl K Long Library boasts some of the finest concrete ledges and sprawling grass around, ideal for some staple F3 exercises.  The plan called for 100 total reps on each of the 4 sides of the building…

    #1 – Dips x25, Calf Raises x25, rinse and repeat  

    #2 – Wall Sit for 100 sec while we brushed up on the history of Earl Long, a former Louisiana governor, leader, and lover of the ladies.    

    #3 – 25 merkins, 25 step lunge walk, rinse and repeat

    #4 – no time left sooo….

    Indian Run back to the flag, getting back just in time.  Capped off with a COT, announcements, and prayer intentions for several families battling serious medial issues, along with those fighting addiction, and for guidance to continue to be strong men, husbands, fathers, and leaders.  

    YHC then remembered to share yet another Franklin quote on the wanke, this one with a bit more substance and relative to what we strive for through F3, and Holy Grove was really digging it, so it was requested that it be read again…      

     “Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.” ― Benjamin Franklin

    Thanks for the opportunity to lead.  

    Tool 

  • Rinse and Repeat at the Foundry

    Made the standard introduction and disclaimer.

    Mosey to “second set” of trees. 

    Circled-up to Warm-up which consisted of: 

    Monkey humpers
    Grass grabbers 
    arm circles  
    Self love 
    Imperial  walkers

    Moseyed to first tree of the “second set” and lined up tree to tree. 

    Bear crawled to each tree of the “second set” – performed 5 merkins at each tree of the “second set” for a total of 6 sets of trees or 30 merkins.
    Plank and wait for the six. 
    Lunge walked back to the first tree of the “second set” – performed 15 squats at each tree
    Al gore and wait for the six. 

    RINSE AND REPEAT then…

    Moseyed to the track where we broke up into two columns and…

    Bataan death marched – 2 burpees for the caboose – for one lap around the track. End at the warm up section where we circled-up for freddy mercuries, lbc’s, flutter kicks.

    Another Bataan death march lap then big boy sit ups, American hammers and penguins at the warm-up area.

    One more death march lap then….

    5 monkey humpers to finish up. 

    Moseyed to the flag at 6:15 where we had count-off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions and prayer.

    Thanks for the opportunity to lead. 

    PAX: BRIEFS, UNDERTAKER, YA MOM AND DEM, BREADTICKS, BOO BOO, ABACUS, RUDY, TOOL, SHEETROCK, DIRTY DELL, SCREWTOP, GAINES, MMMBOP

  • Mountain Music

    Conditions: 47 degrees, dry and WINDY

    First Sub 50 degrees post for this Q who came prepared. 

    Mosey to open green space for warmup 

    • SSH x 20 IC
    • Arm circles x 15 (front and back)
    • Windmill x 15
    • Hillbillies x 15
    • Grass grabbers x 15

    Jog to fountain mountain for a version of Burp Back Mountain with a variation of 2 rounds to the sounds of mountain themed music:

    Round 1 – with a partner, one back peddled up and ran forward down 5 times (decline by 1 on each switch) while other does burpees (50 total). By Exicon definition, it called for 100. Ouch.

    Round 2 – with a partner, bear crawl up and run down 2 times, while other does squats (150 total)

    Bench Work (near by):

    Right leg step ups x 15

    Left leg step ups x 15

    Dips x 20

    Box jumps X 15

    Decline merks x 13

    Mary (on Amphitheater stage):

    Dolly

    Flutter kicks

    LBC’s

    Freddie mercuries

    Dying cockroaches

    Penguin 

    Side Planks

    Jog / return to flag for Stretching & COT. 

    FNG EH’d by Kuch was named Da Pope by Da Parish. Da Pope was a QB at Slidell High so he will forever pay tribute to his rival. 

    Thanks for letting me lead for my second time and thanks for showing up!