F3 Knoxville

Hard Things at the Project

AO: the-project
Q: Erector
PAX: Flying Dutchman, Biohack, Munge, Mathlete, Ocho, Tom Tom, slappy, Erector
FNGs: None
COUNT: 8
WARMUP:
15 SSH, 15 mountain climbers, 10 tempo merkins, 15 Moroccan night club, 10 tempo squats, 5 cherry pickers
THE THANG:
Mosey to the Friendship Bell. The workout is including and variations of the burpee mile. 12 burpees followed by 1/4 mile lap. Repeat 4 times. Same routine with the following exercises: 24 step ups, 25 merkins, and 24 flutter kicks (2-ct). Permission was granted to mix and match the exercises in case of time constraints.
MARY:
No time
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Escape from Haw Ridge is on the calendar! 3/28/25
COT:
Burpees are hard! Sometimes, life is hard. Sometimes, this is by choice, e.g., burpees, running, rucking, etc. A lot of times, it is not: loss of jobs, loved ones, illness, etc. I listened to a Youtube video recently from an olympic marathoner talking about doing hard things. He mentioned that a lot of times he didn’t achieve the result he hoped for, but doing hard things still benefited him overall. We can be disappointed with the results of difficult tasks too. Many times they don’t turn out the way we would prefer, but they can still serve a purpose. I want to share a scripture that addresses this topic.
James 1:2-4 – “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Hard things are in the moment difficult to see the benefit. As a result of getting through them, we can come out stronger. Our faith is the same. Testing of our faith through the difficult things of life can produce a stronger faith. One that can get us through this life to a heavenly reward.

We Did Burpees As Well

AO: the-equalizer
Q: Bookman
PAX: Madoff, Cheney, Ribbed (Joshua Sagraves), Stripped, Smithers, Headgear, Mouthwash, Bookman
FNGs: None
COUNT: 8
WARMUP:
SSSHs
Rockettes
Abe Vagodas
LBaCs
Michael Phelps
Lil bit of this, lil. It of that

THE THANG:
Mosey to splash pad for a Tabata
20 on 10 off, 60 secs between tabatas

Incline merkins
Squats
Georgia Cheerleaders
Burpees
LBCs
Calf raises
Dips

MARY:
Stretch it out

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Hot Toddy Q on 2/1
VQ month in February- can you redo a Vq?

COT
Read Demon of Unrest by Erik Larsen. About the time and events leading up to the battle of Ft. Sumter. Lincoln in the face of chaos and uncertainty, and knowing he could not stop the inevitable, stayed cool and stayed the course.

52 Card Beatdown with CMUs

AO: thequacken
Q: Z-Pack
PAX: Herbie, DoorKicker (Jud), Shotgun, FixerUpper, Z-Pack
FNGs: None
COUNT: 5
WARMUP:
SSH
Windmills
Knoxville Cherry Pickers
OH Claps
Baby Arm Circles
Imperial Walkers
Raise The Roof

THE THANG:
52 Card Beatdown
:heart: = Burpees
:diamonds: = CMU Thrusters
:spades: = Squats with CMU
:clubs: = CMU Curls
The card number is the number of reps. Jacks are 11 reps, Queen 12, and King 13.
Ace = 25 SSH, 4 count and jokers are wild

MARY:
No, we ran out of time, but we made it though the entire deck.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Fixer is doing a Burpee Extravaganza on Friday instead of the ruck.
Hot Toddy Q at the Asylum on Saturday at 7am.
February is for VQs. If you haven’t Q’d before, F3 Knoxville AOs are encouraging you to lead a workout. The mission of F3 is to invigorate male community leadership afterall, and leading a workout is a great way to train your leadership muscles. Our 1st F Q, Butter knife, is encouraging us to use Q101 training to help us in our Qs.

COT:
Relax in the Lord
Psalm 23 talks about a good shepherd with his flock. The bible often refers to God’s people as sheep. Sheep are dumb and they need alot of looking after. We need a good shepherd, and thankfully one is available. We can trust and relax in Him.

[virtuous-leadership-school] F4 LDP

AO: virtuous-leadership-school
Q: Mermaid
PAX: Pebbles(Kenaniah Rush), Mermaid, Spinner, McFly, Otis, Borg, Skeletor
FNGs: None
COUNT: 7
The is morning we took Virtuous Leadership on the road. We started at 0600 and kept the cadence of our Sunday morning meeting. We met at the Victory lodge at Wafloy Mountain Retreat. This was during the Forg3 retreat where we studied Virtuous Leadership in the context of q.1 get right, q.2 live right, q.3 lead right, and q.4 leave right.

We did our study of LDP (the leadership development process) as a lead in to studying lead right with Borg . The LDP focuses on another acronym SAOF which stands for:

Schooling – essentially what we are doing with Virtuous Leadership
Apprenticeship- once you have been educated, you work alongside someone who is a leader
Opportunity- you get to practice being a leader
Failure- you have to fail or “court minor disaster” in order to improve leadership. Essentially learn through a series of mistakes.

We were a little slow and sleep deprived to get started. But as per the usual, this was another highly impactful meeting that even with a location change and new faces, we still managed to enlightening conversation that sharped iron.

As guys woke up, our numbers grew and we had lots of participation towards the end. We discuss the SAOF approach and how it applied to being a leader at work and especially with our kids.

Two quotes from Dr Brad Greene who I listened to in a leadership presentation this week.

“We can waste time, but time is never wasted”

When we are empowering a new leader, it takes time and feels like a waste because we can do it faster and easier. But that investment is not wasted time in the long run when you have developed a new leader.

“Fail cheaply”

When I asked Dr Greene about the best way to train a young leader, like my kids, as they don’t teach leadership directly in college. His reply was that kids, or new leaders need to be provided opportunities to fail cheaply. A brand new driver doesn’t need and expensive sports car or luxury vehicle. When the inevitable car accident, bad parking job, or fender bender occurs, that is the opposite of failing cheaply.

Today was an amazing morning, and I am a better man for sharing the insights we had this morning.

Life’s a Ruck

AO: the-farm
Q: Bartman
PAX: Lightweight, Waxjob, Einstein, Mayberry, I-Beam, Monstar, Gibbler
FNGs: None
COUNT: 8
WARMUP:

THE THANG:
Ruck around Turkey Creek with exercises along the way.
MARY:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

COT:”Life’s a Ruck”
Alright, fellas, let’s talk about life. It’s a lot like rucking, isn’t it?
* The Load: You’ve got your responsibilities – family, work, bills. That’s your ruck. It’s heavy, it’s uncomfortable, but you gotta carry it.
* The Terrain: Life throws curveballs. Sometimes it’s smooth sailing, other times you’re climbing uphill, facing obstacles, maybe even getting lost.
* The Pace: There are days you’re crushing it, feeling strong and motivated. Other days, you’re dragging, every step a struggle.
* The Team: You’ve got your brothers, your support system. They help you carry the load, navigate the tough spots, and keep you moving forward.
* The Finish Line: There isn’t always a clear finish line. But the journey itself, the discipline, the camaraderie – that’s what matters.
So, next time you’re facing a challenge, remember the ruck. Dig deep, find your rhythm, and keep moving forward. You got this.