F3 Knoxville

Author: Kick-Flip

Soak It

THE SCENE:  Nice and cool.  Perfect for a beatdown.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Administered. 
WARM-O-RAMA: 

Little of this and that.

THA THANG:

I have good news!  …and bad news.  The good news is we have a fresh pile of CMUs for our workouts!  The bad news is we need to bring them to our hidey hole (about a quarter mile away).  Grab two and come on!

Perform a “move” exercise with two CMUs for some arbitrary distance.  Pause and perform a series of stationary exercises.  Repeat until we arrive at our CMU stash spot.

Move exercises included;

  • Farmer Carry
  • Heavy bear
  • CMU stack carry
  • Split carry
  • Rifle carry
  • Murder bunny

Stationary exercises included;

  • 20 Back squats
  • 25 curls
  • 20 Overhead squats
  • 15 good mornings
  • 20 Sumo deadlifts
  • 20 Curl and press
  • 10 Stacked squat
  • 20 Tricep ext w/ calves raise
  • 10 BBS Press
  • 20 heel taps
  • 15 Thrusters
  • Heavy step-ups
  • Dips w/ CMU in lap
  • Plyo Derkins
  • CMU swings
  • Burpee jumpovers

MARY:

No time!

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Me and 7 of the best men I know

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

“Your mind will be like its habitual thoughts; for the soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.  Soak it then in (positive thoughts)”. – Marcus Aurelius

I love that term, “soak it”.  Soak your mind in goodness… Immerse your soul in truth… Drench yourself in nobleness… Dwell on that which is honorable…

Paul says in Philippians, “Fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable.” 

On Tuesday, Erector spoke about a monthly challenge that is going on.  On Slack, it’s called “JUCO-Challenge”.  Each month, a new challenge is issued – one month is was diet-related, last month it was texting a friend each day…  This month, the challenge is, 1) to post an inspirational/motivational quote each day, and 2) to read the others which have been posted.  Right now, there are 9 of us in the challenge.

Just a few days in, I’m excited about it – and enjoying it!  Each day this month, I’m going to keeping my eye out for a nugget of wisdom that I can share with my friends.  That gets me in the habit of looking for inspiring messages around me and reading scripture with an expectation of impact.  That daily objective of finding a shareable motivating quote – it orients my mindset toward the positive.  Proverbs 16:24 says,

“Nothing is more appealing than speaking beautiful, life-giving words.  For they release sweetness to our souls and inner healing to our spirits.”

It doesn’t say, “nothing is more appealing that hearing life-giving words….” – but it is “speaking life-giving words” that is so sweet to our spirits.  I hope the words I’m sharing are helpful to others – but I know that the act of finding them and sharing them is releasing sweetness for my heart and spirit.

This challenge also means that each day this month, I’m reading six, or seven, or eight other passages that some of the most important men in my life have shared because those notes are meaningful to them.  Each time something is shared, I see a notification on my phone.  So, throughout the day my mind is being soaked in these good thoughts – and over time, my soul is being colored by them.

“Fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable.” 

MOLESKIN:

During the month of November, soak your mind in scripture and inspired thoughts.  Join the challenge group on Slack!  Send Spotter a DM to be added to JUCO-Challenge!

Great to see Rocket in the gloom!  Great to have Trolley and Biohack out for their first Project Heavy PT.

Prayers for Biohack’s parents – Trolley’s family, sanity, and job – Rocket’s friend, Tad.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Convergence this Saturday

Tune My Heart

THE SCENE:  64 and rainy.  Perfect for a heavy beatdown.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Uh…skipped? 
WARM-O-RAMA: 

Little of this and that.

THA THANG:

Grab two CMUs and head around to the back of the Senior Center.  We will work under the portico while it pours rain.

Tabata cycles with CMU exercises.  4 rounds each exercise.  20 seconds work / 10 seconds rest.  Four exercises (16 work rounds) was one Cycle.  After Cycle 1, farmer carry to the end of the building and back.  After Cycle 2, farmer carry to the end of the building and back, then rifle carry to the end of the building and back.  After Cycle 3, farmer carry to the end of the building and back, rifle carry to the end of the building and back, then heavy lunge walk to the end and back.

MARY:

No time!

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Me and 3 of the best men I know

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

In our living room, we have a decorative sign which reads, “tune my heart to sing thy grace” – a line from the old hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” by Robert Robinson.

For more than a year, Emily and I have been praying a specific prayer – that God would make His will known to us in one area of our lives: children.  Should our family grow?  If so, through biological children? Adopt? Foster? We are asking and trying to patiently wait for that direction to be made clear to us.

But what does God’s voice sound like? Should we expect an audible voice? A flash of lightning? A vision in the clouds?

In the book of Jerimiah…starting in Chapter 7 the prophet is standing at the gate of a city and relaying God’s words to the the occupants.  Part of the message is this, (speaking from God’s perspective), “I have spoken to you time and again, but you wouldn’t listen and I have called you but you wouldn’t answer” (vs 13). Later (vs 24), “(I gave) them this command, ‘Obey me, and then I will be your God, and you will be my people. Follow every way I command you so that it may go well with you”.  Then, “Yet they didn’t listen or pay attention, but followed their own advice and their own stubborn, evil heart”.  Another translation says, “but they harkened not, nor inclined their ear.”

I’ve recently enjoyed reading some meditations by a Hebrew scholar named Chaim Bentorah.  He offers context for some words or phrases which, in the original language, may have a deeper/different meaning than what the word implies when translated into English.  The Hebrew word from this passage which we translate as “inclined” is natah.  Traced to its Semitic root, you find it is a musician’ term, used for the tightening of strings on an instrument to tune it.  The Hebrew word for “ear” is ‘azan, which means ear – but also in the Semitic, it is a term used for a musical instrument.  So, the idea of “inclining one’s ear” is really a word picture of tuning a musical instrument so that it is in harmony with other instruments.

“Hearing the voice of God” might be a matter of tuning the strings of your spirit or heart…so that you are in harmony with His mind and heart.

How do we tune our hearts?

Lynette Kittle offers these three strategies:

  1. By talking with God. Prayer helps to align our hearts with His.  We can ask Him to create a pure heart within us and renew a steadfast spirit within us.  Psalm 51:10
  2. By watching what we say – since our heart is where the words on your lips originate. Luke 6:45, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”
  3. By choosing God’s ways over your ways. Disobedience is a sure sign of a hard heart that is not in harmony with His.  Zechariah 7:12, “The Lord of Armies says this: ‘Make fair decisions. Show faithful love and compassion to one another. 10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the resident alien or the poor, and do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’ 11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they closed their ears so they could not hear. 12 They made their hearts like a rock so as not to obey the law or the words that the Lord of Armies had sent by his Spirit”

Maybe the way you come to know God’s will is by tuning your heart to be in harmony with His.  Work at this by prayer, controlling your tongue, and living in obedience.

MOLESKIN:

Hat tips to Chaim Bentorah and Lynette Kittle

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Convergence Nov 7

Keep Your Head

THE SCENE:  59 and foggy.  Perfect for a beatdown.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: Administered. 
WARM-O-RAMA: 

Little of this and that.

Mosey to wall.  10 wall-ups + 20 squats.

Mosey to the amphitheater.  20 merkins, bear crawl the length of the stage, 10 box jumps.  Mosey to through the parking lot, stopping for 3 burpees at each light pole.

THA THANG:

Mosey to the cinema – grab a block.

  • 10 Single arm squats – Left
  • 10 Sumo deadlifts
  • 10 Tricep ext w/ calves raise
  • 10 Curl and press
  • 10 heel taps
  • 10 BBS Press
  • 10 Good mornings
  • 10 Single arm squats – Right

Next… 5 stations laid out in the parking lot.  Perform exercise at a station, rifle carry block to the bottom of the steps, carry to the top of the steps and back down, rifle carry to the next station.  Repeat until all stations are completed.

Exercises were;

Station 1: 30 Single-arm squats + 20 Curl and press + 10 Blockee

Station 2: 30 tricep ext + calves raise + 20 CMU swings + 10 Burpee Jumpover

Station 3: 30 sumo deadlifts + 20 heel taps + 10 BBS Press

Station 4:  30 heavy freddy (4-ct) + 20 Thrusters + 10 Good mornings

Station 5:  50 CMU benchpress + 25 Derkins

MARY:

Mosey to the amphitheater.  Flutter kick for the 6.

At 6:14, jailbreak!  Get 60 seconds worth of distance run.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Me and 5 of the best men I know

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

The day after Hardship Hill, our weekly email’s “Say What” featurette included a long quote from the Q-Source.  It was borrowed from Q3.12, Courage – which was appropriate given our race the day before.  What does it take to face hardship virtuously?  It takes…courage.

The chapter has a long quote from Rudyard Kipling’s poem, If.

“If you can keep your head when all about you  

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,  

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;  

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;  

    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;  

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

    And treat those two impostors just the same;  

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

    And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,  

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,  

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

    If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,  

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,  

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!”

 

“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs…”  The Q Source calls this a pretty good definition of what it means to gracefully handle hardship.  Where does this courageous gracefulness emerge from?  It comes from living in peace.

And how do we grow this depth of peace in our lives?

  • Through PRAYER… (Philippians 4:6-7), “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
  • By LIVING VIRTUOUSLY…(Psalm 119:165), “Abundant peace belongs to those who love your instruction; nothing makes them stumble.”
  • By TRUSTING IN OUR GOD…(Isaiah 26:3), “You will keep the mind that is dependent on you in perfect peace, for it is trusting in you.”

Use prayer, virtue, and trust to cultivate the peace of God in your heart – so that when you are confronted with hardship, you are able to keep you head…and respond to that hardship with courageous grace.

Use Your Words

THE SCENE:  48 and clear.  Perfect for a beatdown.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Administered. 
WARM-O-RAMA: 

Overhead clap IC x 8
Seal jacks IC x 8
Hillbilly walkers
Knee tap merkins
Mountain climbers
Monkey humpers

Grab a block…

Tempo curls
Tempo shoulder press
Tempo squat
Let it hang

THA THANG:

Heavy suicide.  Rifle carry CMU to line 1.  25 heavy freddies (4 ct).  Mosey carry back.  30 CMU curls.  Repeat with lines 2 and 3.

Bearicide – Bear crawl 1 line, do 1 donkey kick, crawl bear back, do 1 CMU thruster.  Repeat w/ lines 2-7, donkey kick and thruster reps equal the number line (e.g. line 7 = 7 donkey kicks and 7 thrusters…)

Doracide.  Partner up.  P1 runs to first island and does 2 burpees then back, run to second island and does 2 burpees then back.  P2 does exercises.  Switchero.
Team does 100 CMU squat curls, 150 uneven merkins, 200 heavy LBCs

Block work with serpentine run.  20 Triceps. 15 curls, 10 shoulder press.  Run serpentine around the islands (about ¼ mile total).  Sprint the straights, jog the curves.

MARY:

Sprint to a line.  First one there calls out an ab exercise and leads IC.  Got through flutter kicks, pickle pounders, pickle pointers.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

9 plus 3 Rushers

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Inspiration for this morning’s Word came from the Hardship Hill race, which several of us competed in two weeks ago.  The event was raising funds and awareness for Operation Enduring Warrior, an organization that provides rehabilitation opportunities for wounded military and law enforcement veterans.  As the race was being introduced, a combat veteran came to the microphone and said this… “Two years ago, I went onto the back deck of my house, put a gun into my mouth, and pulled the trigger.”  Mercifully, the gun misfired.  He went on to start working with the awesome men and women of OEW.  That organization helped him rehabilitate, and now he is helping others work through trials.

Closer to home… The division I work in has 19 people – about half are my staff, about half are my peers.  Last summer, we had an intern – an engineering student from UT.  For 8 weeks, he worked with us 8 hours a day, sat near us, ate with us, and laughed with us.  At the end of the summer, he went back to school to finish his senior year – and we talked about having him back during Christmas break.  But by this time last year, he was dead.  That young man who had just spent so much time around me and my colleagues had killed himself.  You know what?  None of us had any idea that he was suffering from depression.  We spent months living most of our days right next to him, and we had no idea.  I’ve replayed conversations with him – and cannot think of one word he said that indicated he was suffering.

 

Quick story to make a point…

“Friends, I shall ask you to be as quiet as possible…”  That was the first line in a speech given by Teddy Roosevelt 108 years ago today – October 14, 1912.  The second line was a bombshell – and it revealed why he needed utter silence from the crowd that evening… “I don’t know whether you fully understand…that I have just been shot”. 

The 53-year-old former president was in Milwaukee, campaigning for a third term.  He stepped out of his hotel and into an open car waiting to take him to an auditorium where he would deliver a speech.  As he stood up in the open-air automobile and waved his hat, a would-be assassin fired his Colt .38 revolver straight into Roosevelt’s chest.  Roosevelt reached inside his heavy overcoat and felt a dime-sized bullet hole on the right side of his chest. Having handled guns as a hunter, a cowboy, and an officer during the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt knew enough to put a finger to his lips to see if he was bleeding from the mouth. When he saw that he was not, he concluded that the bullet had not entered his lung.  An accompanying doctor naturally told the driver to head directly to the hospital, but Roosevelt gave a different order; “You get me to that speech.”

They took Roosevelt to the arena.  He went to the podium and stunned his audience by opening his shirt to show the bleeding wound.  Then he took out his manuscript, showed that the bullet had passed through it, and said, “…(this) probably saved me from (the bullet) going into my heart.”  His nervous aides positioned themselves around the podium to catch him if he collapsed, and they begged him to stop speaking.  He answered their petitions with a glare – and went on to give an 87-minute long speech…with that bullet still lodged in his chest (what a dude!).

After the campaign event, Roosevelt went to a hospital.  X-rays showed the bullet lodged against his fourth right rib – and confirmed Roosevelt’s self-diagnosis.  The bullet had halted on an upward path to his heart.  It had been slowed by the manuscript – a 53-page speech, folded double, and held in his breast pocket.

The message is this; the way you use your words can save your life. 

 

The point:  If you are depressed, don’t suffer alone and in silence.  The way you use your words can save your life…  If you can tell someone, “I need help… I need prayer… I’m depressed… I have thoughts of killing myself...” – those words might just save your life…

If you are suffering with depression or thoughts of suicide – brother, TALK TO SOMEONE.

Talk to me or anyone else in F3.  Talk to another trusted friend, or a minister, or a counselor, call a hotline and talk to a total stranger…just talk to someone.  Ecclesiastes 4:12 (The Message translation).  “By yourself you’re unprotected.  With a friend, you can face the worst.  Can you round up a third?  A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.”  Maybe you think that your confidant will react with alarm or judgement – but don’t believe that lie for a second.  What you’ll hear is some version of, “It took real balls to share that with me – thank you.  Now, let’s do the work to get you through this and back on your feet.”

One CDC study has estimated that a little over 40% of your peers have experienced symptoms of depression during COVID, and 11% (ELEVEN PERCENT!!!!) have seriously considered suicide.  White men are a high-risk population – dying at 3.5 times the rate of other demographics.

Men, we must talk to each other about hard things.  We must listen closely to each other and remain alert for signs of a brother in despair.  We must look out for each other and speak life to one another. 

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue”.  Proverbs 18:21 (CSB)

MOLESKIN:

Around the time COVID started, I remember somebody posting on the F3 main chat an alarming statistic about an uptick in suicides – particularly in men.  The response to that post was one of the coolest things that I’ve ever seen a group of men do – several posts rapid-fire, all with the same basic message, “if you need to talk, call me!” and a phone number.  I’ve never been prouder to be a part of this remarkable group of men. 

T-Claps to Steam and Tank for talking about depression and suicide awareness during Episode 2 of the F3 Knoxville Podcast. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Convergence at the Bomb Shelter this Saturday.

At the Track

THE SCENE:  50 and clear.  Perfect for a beatdown.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Administered.
WARM-O-RAMA: 

LBAC F/B
Overhead claps
Seal jacks
Cherry pickers
Merkins
Mountain climbers
Tempo squats

THA THANG:

Mosey to track…

1:  45 seconds on, 15 seconds off.  Start at 7 reps each exercise.  If you finish, add a rep until you get to 10 of each or run out of time.  Round 1: Burpees + Bobby Hurleys (5 sets).  Round 2:  4-count flutter kicks + Clap Merkins (5 sets)

2:  At the track starting line, perform exercises, sprint 50 yards, bear crawl 30 steps, then mosey back to the starting point.  First man finished leads an ab exercise until six is up.

  • 10 Burpees + 10 BBS
  • 20 CDD + 20 Heals to heaven
  • 30 Merkins + 30
  • 40 Monkey humpers + 40 Hello Dolly (2-count)
  • 50 Squats + 50 LBCs

MARY:

No time

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Me and 4 of the best men I know

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Shared part of the Word from at our church service this past Sunday.  Colossians 3 instructs us to put to death sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed – and put away anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language.  But the abundant life you are called to live is not just a bunch of don’ts.  Getting rid of this crap just cleans the slate.  Vitality comes when you put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, forgiveness, love, and gratitude.  We are to let the peace of Christ rule our hearts. We are to admonish one another and sing to God with gratitude in our hearts.  All in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God.

MOLESKIN:

Prayers for Rocket’s family.

Prayers for all the M’s.

Today’s Q was a riff on one of my favorites that Rocket does from time-to-time.  We miss you today, brother – and are wishing you and your family well!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Convergence at the Bomb Shelter, October 17th