F3 New Orleans

Tag: Zoolander

  • Rock me like a…post tropical cyclone? – from Russo

    Pax of 11 braved the 14 mph gusts and one major squall lasting 3.4 minutes at Granny’s this morning. YHC arrived early to do a little chalk drawing of the day’s activities and Hammer was already ready to get going.

    Warm up (all IC, 10-15x each)
    – seal jacks
    – imperial walkers
    – cherry pickers
    – high knees
    – windmills
    – arm circles

    Thing before the Thang
    Never one to shy away from a good mosey (ahem), YHC led a slow mosey around the warehouse and back through Granny’s columns (where Hammer had flashbacks to 1986 in the Lakeside mall arcade lining his quarters up to challenge any and all comers to Centipede).

    In tribute to Shooter and his reluctance to get calf implants, Pax did calf raises up and down the pilot house (3 for each step).

    Thang
    Ladder: (A) 10 exercises, descending rep count from 10 to 1
    (B) 10 rounds
    (C) 10 different starting exercises, so theoretically 55 reps for each movement, 550 total (MATH!!!)
    (D) Rotate clockwise positioning so each person calls out the next rep count and exercise

    – merkins
    – scissor kicks
    – jump squats
    – crab cakes
    – plank jacks (2 is 1)
    – big boy sit-ups
    – sister Mary Catherine’s
    – monkey humpers
    – shoulder tap merkins
    – crunchy frogs

    Post-Thang Thing
    Continuing with the theme of 5 (at marked market position 55 as noted by Chewy), YHC fondly remembers when Arby’s would fill up a growing boy with their “5 for $5” so pax did 5 reps of 5 exercises
    – freak nastys
    – circle ups
    – groiners
    – leg raises
    – suicide squats

    A plank for a minute or so of remaining time closed us out.

    COT, count, name o Rama, and prayer wrapped things up.

    A few reminders:
    (1) FIA/F3 mixer this Thursday!
    (2) Jose is shooting for 15 at the A1C on Friday!
    (3) Gnarly Nutria is scheduled for 7/21
    (4) Planning trip to help out our brother Goose down in God’s other country (Thibodeaux) on 7/24

    BONUS set list from this morning:

    Nutshell – Alice In Chains
    Over the Hills and Far Away – Led Zepplin
    The Zoo – Scorpions
    Broken – Seether
    Money Talks – AC/DC
    Psycho Killer – Talking Heads
    Policy of Truth – Depeche Mode
    Wheels – Foo Fighters
    Little Things – Bush
    Dead Man’s Party – Oingo Boingo

    As always, thank you all for joining me, letting me lead, and helping with that task throughout, but mostly for continuing to entertain me as we make sweat angels. SYITG

  • Q Source – Grover’s Graduation – from Akbar

    It was a rainy, gloomy morn with what looked like 5-6 PAX for the beatdown. But out of the
    gloom came more Pax to help celebrate Grovers graduation. After Pixie Stix woke up from his nap, the count was 16 HIM. Great to have Hawgcycle and Carpool join us as well.

    QIC was ready with the biggest Wiki ever, laminated for the rain, and reading glasses to boot. We went through the first half of the Q-Source, including Foundations, Q1, and Q2 – with beatdowns in between readings.

    YHC will summarize and post the full content at the very end of the backblast if you want to read through it.

    The Q Source is F3’s Leadership Philosophy and leadership manual, which supports the mission to invigorate male leadership in our communities.

    WARM UP x 15-16 SSH, Hillbillies, Imperial Walkers, Self-Love, Mountain Climbers

    FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES:

    Disruption, disturbance of the status quo.
    Language, the Lexicon of Virtuous Leadership
    Group, a voluntary combination of two or more people.
    Leadership Development Process (LDP), great leaders develop new leaders
    Preparedness, get ready for the expected while being ready for the unexpected.

    Mosey to the Gazebo wall

    PDerkin IC x 12 (8 count Derkin with Peter Parkers) OYO 50 Dirkin, 50 Freak Nasties

    Q1: Get Right – the pursuit of proper alignment.
    DRP – Daily Red Pill. The daily commitment to accelerate Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith.
    King. The daily discipline of training the physical body.
    Queen. The daily discipline over what is put into the Body
    Jester. The temptation of the flesh that hinders acceleration

    Wall – X10 IC Tempo Stone Mountain & Shoulder taps in Derkin position
    Circle up. X20 IC -arm circles – front, back, overhead and reverse, cherry pickers, Moroccan night clubs, overhead press, Randy, 20 count lateral hold
    OYO X20 Stone Mountain & shoulder taps

    FELLOWSHIP – a man’s healthy relationship with the people in his Concentrica, or closest circle.
    M – The transformational relationship between a man and his wife.
    Shorties – the Sacrificial relationship between a man and his kids.
    Shield Lock – the horizontal relationship between men
    Whetstone – The vertical relationship between Men.
    Mammon – The sustaining relationship between a man and His work..

    Wall. OYO – 50 step ups, 25 each leg. IC x 10 Bulgarian Split Squats each leg.
    Line up at the wall. 10 x Twinkle Toes, lunge walk to the sidewalk, 10x Monkey Humpers, run back. Rinse and repeat x9, x8, x7 – and Q said that was enough.

    FAITH is a man’s right relationship with his Creator.
    Prayer – The daily discipline of talking with the creator to build faith.
    Study – Faith is a practice that requires study to accelerate.
    Meeting – Public manifestation of Faith

    CIRCLE UP OYO X10 Superman (regular, feet and arms up) ; Y Superman, W Superman, T Superman (arms straight out), Superman Row, Superman Merkin, Renegade Row

    Q2 LIVE RIGHT – THE DEDICATION TO PURPOSEFULNESS. To live right, a man must have an ultimate purpose in mind, which requires self-sacrifice & helps a man to stay right
    Impact – Forcible contact to strong effect.
    Influence – igniting a strong desire for movement.
    Missionality – Service in the High Impact Zone.
    Positive Habit Transfer – ingraining advantageous tendencies in others.
    Accountability – submission to a standard through enforcement and consequence.
    Correction – zealously advocating for shared virtue.
    Targeting – initiating Missionality in others.

    Mosey Back to the Flag.

    Mary- IC x 15ish. Heels to Heaven, Hands to Heels (Penguins), Leg Raises, Crunchy Frogs, American Hammers, LBC’s, Hello Dolly

    Grover was then presented with a Q Source inspired shovel flag, which was his grandfather’s shovel, and contained the 4 Quadrants of Preparedness. Get Right, Live Right, Lead Right, and Live Right. ISI on the back right of the shovel and a F3 and Super Grover sticker on the front. A copy of the Q Source was given to him also on the way to Coffeeteria. Great fellowship and conversation as usual at the Book and the Bean with surprise arrivals of Amnesia and Slots.

    Many thanks to Zoolander who had the shovel flag idea; for Shooter helping me put it together; and for the M who painted the flag.

    Count, Name and Shooter prayed us out.

    Thanks for letting me lead!
    Til next gloom, Akbar

    —————————————————————————————————-
    FULL CONTENT

    FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES
    Disruption: Disturbance of the Status Quo. A leader is a person who can influence people to do things that they would not have done otherwise. Leaders influence movement to advantage which causes disruption

    Language: The Lexicon of Virtuous Leadership. Leadership is evolutionary, not revolutionary. Effective groups have a unique language

    Group: A voluntary combination of two or more people. Man is by nature a Group-forming animal. 3 group types that must be led to advantage are Community, Organization, and Team. Dynamic teams are the heart of healthy communities and effective organizations

    In the Leadership Development Process (LDP), great leaders develop new leaders. There are 4 steps: schooling, apprenticeship, opportunity, and failure

    Preparedness: Get ready for the expected while being ready for the unexpected. The process of preparedness is deliberate and sequential. 4 quadrants: Get right, live right, lead right, and leave right

    Q1: GET RIGHT is the Pursuit of Proper Alignment. There are 3 components – Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith. FITNESS is a man’s right relationship with himself through physical fitness. Fitness is inward seeking. A man must get right before he can do anything else. To be able to help others, a man must first help himself.

    DRP – Daily Red Pill – the daily commitment to accelerate Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith. A man needs help to get right – to turn from amateur to pro.
    To do that, we must master 3 things

    King – Daily discipline of training the physical body. Fitness begins with the body and is maintained for reasons outside of ourselves. Fitness is best accelerated by running with faster men.

    Queen – Daily discipline over what is put into the Body. Man does not stay fit through exercise alone. Weight control requires accountability. You cannot out King your Queen

    Jester – The temptation of the flesh that hinders acceleration. Every man has his own personal Jester. The jester is a master liar – the jester and Virtue can coexist. Preparedness keeps the Jester at bay

    FELLOWSHIP – a man’s healthy relationship with the people in his Concentrica, or closest circle. Fellowship is the outward seeking act of relational rhythm – and takes as much discipline and attention as it does to maintain physical fitness – if not more.

    M – The transformational relationship between a man and his wife. The M is the most important relationship. Accelerating the M requires both skill and love

    Shorties – the Sacrificial relationship between a man and his kids. A man gives everything he has for his kids. The IMPACT that a man has on his kids cannot be underestimated

    Shield Lock – the horizontal relationship between men. Men Hunt best in a pack because we need someone to watch our six. Men recognize the advantage of mutual defense and lock shields together into a defensive wall to repel the invader. The shield lock must come together periodically to be effective.

    Whetstone – The vertical relationship between Men. It’s man’s natural desire to pass on what we have learned to a younger man. A man must be sharpened like a knife blade. The HIM acts as the Stone to the younger man’s Blade – providing the hard surface against which he becomes sharper. The Whetstone is necessary for both the blade and the stone to get right.

    Mammon – The sustaining relationship between a man and His work. Work is a virtue – Mammon is a relationship, not a pursuit. Mammon is a man’s least important relationship.

    FAITH is a man’s right relationship with his Creator. A man cannot live, lead, or leave right unless this spiritual relationship is accelerating along with Fitness and Fellowship. This is done in 3 ways:

    Prayer – The daily discipline of talking with the creator to build faith. A virtuous leader must have Faith. Prayer provides answers and is the antidote to worry.

    Study – Faith is a practice that requires study to accelerate. The acceleration of Faith requires a belief system. Study puts a leaders belief system to the test. If you stop studying, you decelerate.

    Meeting – Public manifestation of Faith. Faith is best accelerated in the company of others. To be competent in your Faith requires Skill, which results from practice. To leave a legacy, a man must be competent in the practice of his belief system – turning head knowledge into heart knowledge

    Q2 LIVE RIGHT – THE DEDICATION TO PURPOSEFULNESS. To live right, a man must have an ultimate purpose in mind, which requires self-sacrifice & helps a man to stay right

    Impact – Forcible contact to strong effect. Some movement – action taken in furtherance of Purpose – is required by at least 1 person. The proximity we create results in changes in the lives of the people that we meet. Sad Clown’s need help to Get Right, this can only be done in context of a relationship

    Influence – igniting a strong desire for movement. Persuasion is the initiation of first movement, using influence to convince a man to want to move. Movement must be voluntary and is influenced through word and deed.

    Missionality – Service in the High Impact Zone. The course of action taken to achieve an articulated purpose, which is made up of the tasks we undertake to bring our purpose to fruition. The comfort zone is a cultural myth that encourages men to be in-Effective. A HIM’s mission marks the boundaries of his high impact zone – his place of highest productivity, where he is the most effective. And preparedness helps resist straying from his mission

    Positive Habit Transfer – ingraining advantageous tendencies in others. 3 types of habits – negative, neutral, positive. A Positive habit is advantageous to the individual or others. We should help others minimize neutral habits and discontinue negative habits.

    Accountability – submission to a standard through enforcement and consequence. The HIM seeks accountability because his life is not his own. Accountability shines the light of Hope into a man’s blind spots. An effective shield lock provides mutual accountability.

    Correction – zealously advocating for shared virtue. The HIM preaches what he practices. Correction requires courage and love.

    Targeting – initiating Missionality in others. Missionality is an essential virtue. Targeting moves a man beyond himself. A man’s life is a single thing comprised of many components that must all work together in rhythm.

  • How to Not Win Friends and Influence People – from The Hammer

    On Friday afternoon, as my thoughts strayed from work, and found their way to my F3 brothers, I noted Bushwhacker’s bat signal that the Lakefront had no Q for the following day. Unacceptable! I leapt at the opportunity to lead such finely honed machines and volunteered to take the proverbial bull by the horns.

    Later that Friday evening, as Bushwhacker destroyed me in Pickleball while local pros Chewy and Nacho gave YHC pity looks, we discussed the following morning’s beatdown. Shortly thereafter, Zoolander texted to inquire if the beatdown would be “burpee heavy”, as he was already 2 scotches in. Apparently YHC’s reputation for continual, repeated, full body movement exercises is well-established because he later assured me he cut himself off at 5, though I thought I detected a faint Highlands brogue in his speech.

    Anyway, 15 strong, including FNGs (Xerxes and Snapper) posted. And away we go…

    Warm Up:

    SSH x 15
    Butt Kicks x 10
    Cherry Pickers x 10
    Arm Circles x 10
    I think one more exercise…

    Thang:

    Mosey towards the beach, stop at Noah’s Ark for 15 Derkins, 15 Irkins oyo…then continue to the beach for…the most intense Battle of the Poles since Jaworski and Bartowski faced off in the early 80s.

    We split into teams of 2, though this was an individual exercise. To quote those motivational sages of Rocky lore, Survivor, “Its you against you”, and “though his body says stop, his spirit cries, NEVER!”

    The Main Event:
    Descending ladder of 8 count body builders. YHC did this once in my spare time and hated it, so I knew others would feel likewise. It goes like this — Each 8 count bodybuilder consists of merkin, plank jack, and groiner movements, so we began descending rounds from 10 to 1.
    Round 1: 10 bodybuilders (Each bodybuilder required 10 reps each of merkins/plank jack/groiners). Thus, to complete this round, one would have done 100 of each movement (10×10).

    Good news: Each round descended by one not only in bodybuilders, but also reps of each movement, thus:
    Round 2: 9 BBs (9 of each movement per rep = 81 each of Merks/PJ/Groiners)
    Round 3: 8 BBs (64 merks/PJ/Groiners)
    Round 3: 7 BBs (49 each)
    …you get the picture. By the Round of 5, it was actually quite refreshing.
    For those that finished, like Sir Whacker, I believe that translated to 387 reps of each movement. (check my math)

    Between each round, we ran about 50 yards to tag a swingset pole and run back.

    We called it about 7:23, and did an Indian Run back to the flag. Said Pledge of Allegiance, and moved our minds and hearts upon the heroic men and women who gave it all so we have the luxury to recreationally torture ourselves. Though best known for one of the most annoying earworms of the early 90s, Billy Ray Cyrus got it right in his song “Some Gave All”:

    “All gave some, but some gave all. Some stood true for the red, white, and blue, and some had to fall. If you ever think of me, think of all your liberty and recall…some gave all”

    YHC prayed us out, lifting up brothers Hog’s Breath, Jose, and welcoming FNGs Xerxes and Snapper. Welcome guys!

    Thanks for letting me lead. It is always a privilege. God Bless!

  • Northshore H8! Practically Perfect in Every Way – from TurboTax

    21 PAX posted for the fourth semi-annual and second official Northshore H8! which, like Mary Poppins, was practically perfect in every way. The weather was great, the course was marked clearly and the PAX were motivated. Plus everyone knew that whatever we did it would be at least .01% better than anything the Southshore could accomplish. We have the Freedom Hammer to prove it.

    Anywho…we hit it hard. Reputations were burnished, feelings were hurt and everyone seemed to get their money’s worth. Several PAX completed eight laps and those that didn’t weren’t far behind. Except, of course, for Akbar who very conveniently was “injured.” YHC didn’t see any doctor’s note…just sayin.

    8 laps translates to 3.2 miles running, 550 yards of bear crawls, 36 burpees and 120 hand release Merkins. Not too shabby.

    So rest up for 6 months, guys, and we’ll test ourselves again in November. Thanks for letting me lead. Over and out.

  • Time will tell – from Shooter

    In a selfish attempt to slow multiple PAX down for the upcoming H8, YHC will need to wait 24 hours to see if his evil plan plays to his favor.. Then again all the men that posted on this wonderfully cool gloom at the A1c have proven time and time again that they won’t be denied when it comes to a challenge.. Wether it be Einstein continuing an amazing streak of 38 years at the CCC T👏🏼, or Russo’s transformation of shredding lbs and becoming a runner through this last year of COVID, perhaps most importantly Cowbell breaking his record this week of being on time for the start of every beatdown 😬 (Alexis aka Brains for loaning the Audi)🤪 that must be the reason? Maybe it’s Jose10k and the past 60 plus streak of beatdowns I believe it was with inspiration of course from Zoolander with the sweat gallon challenge 🤢… My skin still itches for you Zoo!! However considering your one armed modified Merks or your Murphs in true form with a ruck sack I am sure your armor repelled the acid filled jug with ease… I look forward to seeing you guys crush the H8 in the Gloom, as I know my evil wish will NOT deter any of you from showing up or showing out or perhaps showing off as we meet at the Lakefront tomorrow for a Turbocharged Turbo tax Q!!

    Brief warmup
    All 10IC Grass grabbers, Torso twists, Cherry pickers, Toe touches, Imperial walkers and Seal Jacks.

    Moseyed over to the front or rear Tax payor funded fortress of a Justice center to Qs parked car. Retrieved our coupons with the perfect number of six.
    Instructions simple
    “Ring of Fire” check out the Exicon for details.

    Short order alternating Blocks/Cardio
    Squat thrusters, Bench box jumps, Shoulder press, Sister Mary’s, Curls, Apollo Onos, Chest press, Jumping Knee tucks, Block clean and jerks, Sprint up stairs and return to R/R 2 full rounds of all 10 and pressed for time we got back to the first 4 for the final round.. 24 sets of AMRAP with time blocks of 1 min…

    Returned to the top of the garage right on time to count-off, announce and YHC closed out the COT with intentions of awareness of Mental health Month for May..

    Always enjoy the Gloom with you men and appreciate the accountability!!

    PAX
    Cowbell, Einstein, Jose10k, Russo, Zoolander

  • The beatdowns have gotten easy lately – from Waterpik

    That’s what cowbell said this morning. If you sign up to Q a workout be sure to take that into account.

    That’s all I’ve got, men

  • What’s Tabata with you? – from Russo

    While I realize YHC is not the first to use that phrase when describing a pseudo-HIIT beatdown, it was certainly appropriate as a superstar pax of 6 knocked on Granny’s door this morning under pleasant (albeit warming) temps.

    Warmup (all IC, 12x to 20x)
    Seal jacks
    Grass grabbers
    Self love
    Toe touches
    Imperial walkers
    Cherry pickers

    Thang
    Trying to mix it up some, YHC deliberately stayed away from all things “Tunnel” and “Pilot House”, opting instead to rock around the block and give old Mandeville (well, at least every car that just HAD to turn onto Monroe) a Tabata show, 45 seconds at a time.

    Topics of chatter somehow included Humboldt State University, the date of April 20th, and Spongebob Squarepants.

    Standard mosey for one or two blocks in between the following, not necessarily in order or to scale:
    – 8 count bodybuilders
    – squat jumps
    – rower sit-ups
    – plankjacks
    – lunges
    – leg raises
    – shoulder tap merkins
    – suicide squats
    – hello dollys
    – T merkins
    – gas pumps
    – Peter Parker’s
    – LBCs
    – Calf raises
    – butt kicks
    – freak nastys
    – step ups (nicely in sync from Chewie, Zoo, and YHC)

    A mosey back home and a quick slalom through Granny’s columns closed us out.

    COT, Name o Rama, announcements, and a prayer from Hammer wrapped it up.

    Thank you to each of the gents posting this morning. It was another fantastic crew.

    Looking forward to Thursday’s F3/FIA mixer (6:30 Covington trailhead) and the Zoorich Classic on Saturday. SYITG

  • Moonshine? – from Russo

    Pax of 7 had a party at Granny’s this morning. After HogsBreath noted a lack of prior week participation, the call went out and was answered this week!

    Party started promptly at 5:15 (there were no fashionably late arrivals) with:

    Warmup (All IC, between 10x and 20x)
    – sealjacks
    – self love
    – goofballs
    – toe touches
    – cherry pickers
    – imperial walkers

    Pre-thang
    YHC loves granny’s house because of the layout. Stairs and the pilot house are one of my favorite places to do something a little different on occasion, so we started with something I’m going to call the Moonshine: 3 steps up, 2 down, until we reach the pilot house. 20 monkey humpers at the top (with no sunrise yet, that’s the “moonshine” part), then back down 3 steps, up 2.

    Round 2 replaced the 3 up, 2 down model with 3 calf raises on each step (because Math in the gloom is hard).

    Pax moseyed to the tunnel for Thang:
    A modified Dora 1-2-3 where Dora learned how to divide by 2:

    – 50 shoulder tap merkins
    – 100 squats
    – 150 crunchy frogs
    – Partner moseyed down to center tunnel and back peddled back up

    Round 2 (modified until the clock ran out)
    – plankjacks
    – lunges
    – Hello Dollys
    – karaoke in between

    A mosey back through the woods to our start wrapped us up.

    COT, name o rama, announcements:
    – F3/FIA get together next Thursday 6:30PM led by Bushwhacker
    – Potentially lunch on Friday
    – Zoorich Classic on Saturday

    Prayer closed us out.

    A thank you to the truly All Star team that posted this morning and one in particular to HogsBreath for the extra push. Until we do it again, SYITG.

  • Need more 10 counts – from Waterpik

    We definitely should have had more 10 counts at the beatdown. Since there were none, we hammered through 16 sets of Tabata (30 seconds with 10 seconds rest) and about 40 minutes with the cinder block coupon. Alternate cinder block reps with an assortment of other reps (mostly pull ups). At the concluding bell, YHC was thoroughly tired. Until next time!

  • Northshore 5 year convergence – from Waterpik

    What a great day it was, as today’s experience crystallized the essence of F3 in so many ways. YHC awakened, checked my phone and noticed a text from cowbell, inquiring on the status of the beatdown on behalf of the PAX from Nola who were preparing to cross the causeway. That was at 0455! T-Claps to those guys for even considering making the trip across for the convergence. After all, and unbeknownst to them, the causeway was CLOSED at the time due to the severity of the weather.

    And don’t forget Goose, who decided to make a surprise appearance and left his home in Thibodeaux at 0445, driving through rain storms, lightning, and thunder at a mere 45 mph on the interstate before encountering the closed causeway bridge himself. T-Claps to you, Goose, for your perseverance and your faith that F3 would stick to its credo of “rain or shine”. And that we did! It was really go to see you, Goose!

    And what about Jose and Speedy and Bushwacker, who showed up at 0600, ready for the pre thing on the Lakefront? Thanks for sticking around, guys, until 0730, and for your dedication to our Organization.

    And then, despite the horrific weather over night, 15 PAX showed up the beatdown! T-claps to all of you guys who showed up for the convergence. Without a PAX, we are all sad clowns. And thanks to F3 for giving me more than I have given to it! I am definitely a better man now than I was before. That is, more dedicated, more confident, more responsible, more faithful, more resolute, more grounded, and more and more and more!

    And here’s a prayer for F3 Nation, who has had a change of leadership and has very ambitious goals to keep growing, thriving, and adapting. Those will be no easy tasks, but my prayer is that they (we) will succeed. It’s because of PAX like YOU GUYS that I have confidence that WE can do just that.

    And by the way, there was a workout. It was much of the same. You know the drill, merkins, cinder blocks, Mary, COT, special intentions and Goose to pray us out