F3 Knoxville

Speedway Launch

THE SCENE: Upper 50s, a beautiful morning to launch

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER


WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH x 20; Windmill x10; Toe Merkins x10; Tie Fighter x10 (F/B); Tempo Squat x10; Dancing Bear x10

THA-THANG:

Bear Crawl Inch Worm: Partner up and form two lines holding plank, partners at end Bear Crawl to front of line, when both make it to the front the next pair starts.

Bear Brawl: 5 Burpees on each side of small soccer field. Partners take turns putting pressure on shoulders while the other Bear Crawls. Go back and forth 3 times.

Mosey to next field

Squat Totem: Lunge from cone to cone, increase reps by 5 at each cone, 6 total cones

Mosey to another field

Wheelbarrow with partner halfway then switch positions to go the other half. Partner carry halfway then switch for other half. Did this twice.

Mosey to hill at back of fields

11s with Merkins and Big Boys, Bear Crawl up the hill, Mosey down

Mosey to shovel flag

Afterburner:
Overhead Claps IC x50

Seal Claps IC x25

Grady Corn IC x25

MARY:
F3 is not about any one person so we did PAX Roulette

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
21 HIM

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Whenever I talk to someone about F3, I always say that it is so much more than a workout. It is truly about all three Fs, Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith.

That first F is the magnet. Every man standing here started coming because they had some fitness goal in mind. Some of us may be elite athletes but most are just men that want to be healthy for our families. My goal when I started was being able to do simple things, like walking up the stairs, without being winded.

That second F is the glue. I knew that I needed others to hold me accountable for me to actually work out. What I didn’t know or expect, is that I needed manly friendships. I thought I was good on friends, but those relationships, for the most part, were only surface deep. Now I have so many men that I can go to when I need help, a listening ear, or just someone to vent my frustration with. The value of the second F is immeasurable.

That third F is the dynamite. F3 defines faith as believing in something greater than yourself. Full disclosure, for me, that is my belief in Jesus Christ. I believe that He lived a sinless life, died on the cross to save us from sin, and rose from the grave to sit at the right hand of God. The thing is though, that those are just words if my actions don’t line up with them. My belief must change the way I treat others, it must influence my decisions, and it should guide my actions. So whatever your faith is make sure it is doing those same things for you because we all are meant to be putting others in front of ourselves.

MOLESKIN:
Excited to see where Speedway goes from here! Thank you to all those that came from other AOs to the launch!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Convergence on 7/2 at JUCO, there will be no beatdown at Speedway that day.

Tabata and Hills

THE SCENE: mid 70s, partly sunny, humid as heck after the storms
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Welcome to F3, Fitness, Fellowship and Faith. F3 is a free workout program designed to improve fitness, share some camaraderie, and foster male leadership in the community.  I’m Pele and I will be your Q today.  I am not a professional, and I do not know your fitness level or injury history.  Please push yourself, but modify the workout as necessary to avoid making any existing injuries worse.  The goal is to get better together!


WARM-O-RAMA:

-30 Split Jacks (4-ct), 15 each leg, in cadence

– 10 Windmills (4-ct), in cadence

– 10 Plank Jacks

– 20 Grady Corns (4-ct), in cadence

  • 10 Steave Earles, (4-ct), in cadence
  • 10 LBCs small and wide (4-ct), forward and backward in cadence

Run to tree down the road, 5 squat jumps, Bernie back

THA-THANG:

TABATA 1 (20 seconds exercise, 10 seconds rest, 4 rounds = 2 minutes per exercise x 5 exercises = 10 minutes per round)

  • Plank Jacks
  • Mountain Climbers
  • Catalina wine mixers
  • Bottle Openers

RUN DOWN STAIRS, OVER TO BASE OF SUMMIT, UP SUMMIT, BACK TO BAT HOUSE.  At EACH “CORNER” DO 15 SMURF JACKS

TABATA 2

  • American Hammers
  • Gas Pumps
  • Wide Flutter Kicks

RUN LOOP, DO 15 BOBBY HURLEYS

TABATA 3

  • High Knees
  • Squats
  • Lunges

RUN LOOP, DO 15 DESONSTRUCTED BURPEES

MARY:
No time for Mary today.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
13 strong. Pop a top not tagged.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Fellows, it’s been a difficult past couple of weeks for our AO.  We recently, had to part ways with a brother, and that’s just not something we ever want to do.   I have to admit I lost a lot of sleep over it.  And the situation made me consider the fine line between holding someone accountable versus judging someone.  We try to do the former in F3, but stay away from the latter, but sometimes that’s a tough distinction.

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines accountability as an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions, while judgmental is defined as “characterized by a tendency to judge harshly”.  After thinking about it a little more, I came up with sort of my own definition of these terms… accountability is holding someone responsible for norms, traditions, rules, etc. that are broadly accepted by a group, while being judgmental is passing judgment on whether someone measures up to your own PERSONAL ideas or notions.

As I’ve expressed in Slack, I feel it’s VERY important to refrain from publicly passing judgment on our fellow brothers, because when you do so it inevitably causes rifts.  Disagreement is fine, but if you have something you object to, I think it’s always best to have a private discussion about it.

Before parting ways, the former member of our group first passed judgment on our AO in terms of how we uphold the Second F (Fellowship), then passed judgment on an individual in terms of his interpretation of the Bible and his message, and finally, in a parting message to me, passed judgment on me (and, more broadly, our entire group) in challenging our religious beliefs, patriotism, and leadership.

Although I’m not perfect about it, I try to refrain from passing judgment on others.  I have my own belief system, and sure, I appreciate seeing qualities in others that follow a similar system, but I try not to denigrate or think ill of those who have other beliefs.  But let’s face it… we all judge others, and on a pretty regular basis.  It’s part of our DNA, as far I’m concerned.  But there’s a difference in making that determination of judgment internally, and publically attempting to coerce others to conform to your perception of how things should be.  The latter is something that I feel we need to avoid in F3, which was intentionally formed as a very inclusionary group of men.  If you were here a few Saturday’s ago, we had a Guest Q from Chattanooga that emphasized F3s core mission: to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership.  That’s it.  There are certain components to every F3 workout, and one of those is the Word, followed by the Ball of Man.  I can honestly say that I have personally disagreed with at least a small portion of just about every Word, but also that is OVERHELMED by the amount of wisdom and perspective that I have received.

In closing, I found a couple of statements that I thought really hit the nail on the head when it comes to being Judgmental :

Judgment is the basis for separation, which is the ego’s goal. When we judge a brother or sister, be it in thought or action, we create a sense of separation.

You will save yourself and others years of stress, anger, disappointment and resentment if you allow your brothers and sisters to follow their own hearts. If your brothers and sisters know that they can come to you for advice without criticism and judgment attached to it, you will forever be their sounding board. However, if you end up judging and criticizing their efforts and decisions they will put up walls every time you question or try to advise them.

– James Blanchard CisnerosAuthor of You Have Chosen to Remember: A
Journey from Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy
, p. 91-92

Born in Geneva, Switzerland. He grew up in Caracas, Venezuela and obtained his B.S. and MBA degrees in the United States. James states “My grandfather served in WWII as a colonel in the United States Marines, my father was a Vietnam Army veteran. After the Vietnam experience, my father wanted to break the cycle and protect us from a future draft. So he arranged for my brother and myself to be born in Geneva, Switzerland (a neutral nation), so that we could choose to refrain from the next conflict if that was our choice.”

James 4:11-12

Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

Romans 16:17 

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.

MOLESKIN:
Great to see Sparkler out there, and Pop a Top killed it in his second workout.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Speedway launch Saturday at 6 am, Convergence July 2!

AMRAP and Math

THE SCENE: Great Gloom-y weather for June

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Administered, consistency is key, Bookman’s VQ

WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH’s x 40 since I can’t multiply, baby arm circles front and back x 10, cherry pickers x 5, rockettes x 10, Mosey to the rock pile

THA-THANG:
Round 1 16 min – Stinky Rocks AMRAP
10 deadlifts
10 overhead press
10 curls
10 triceps
1 lap around Stonehenge

Rest! 2:30

Round 2 16 minutes – Splashpad AMRAP
20 air squats
10 merkins
20 lunges (1 left, 1 right = 1 rep)
10 burpees
1 lap around Stonehenge

MARY:
n/a

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
6 HIMs, 0 FNGs, Stay safe to those downrange and traveling to and fro

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.” – Lao Tzu –> The little things usually go unnoticed but add up.  Lead with humility, compassion, sympathy, and empathy

PRAYERS:
Excitebike’s son’s friend’s family
Blindside and his family.  Beatdown that dissertation!!!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Speedway AO official launch Saturday 6/4 6am at First Baptist Seymour
FHS Lacrosse kickball tourney **POSTPONED**.  I refuse to say canceled, yet.
Convergence 7/2 @ JUCO 6AM Pre-ruck, 7AM BD, 8AM 3rd F Speaker

June EMOM Kraken

THE SCENE: 68 and Wet
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH’s 15, Tempo Merkins x 10, Windmills 4ct x 10, 3 Burpees, 3 Burpees

THA-THANG: Kraken EMOM

Every minute on the minute work move to the next exercise.  After completing all 8 exercises run 1 lap and begin the Kraken again. (We made it through 4 rounds)

  • 1- Rope Throws
  • 2- Power Clean 50 lb sandbag
  • 3- Turkish Getups 20 lb kettlebell (Switch arms each round)
  • 4- Burpees
  • 5- Rope Waves
  • 6- Kettlebell Two Arm Swings 35 lbs
  • 7- Kettlebell Squat Push Pull 20lbs
  • 8- Box Jumps
  • Run a lap and start back at the beginning

MARY:
Bring Sally Up Bring Sally Down – Fragmented Burpees

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Baby Weight, Butterfingers, Belding, Smuggler, Scoutmaster, Swerve, Walt
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Over the last couple of weeks I made my tour of Sweden and Germany. It was a work trip and definitely not a vacation.  Over the 8 days we stayed in 6 different hotels and caught just as many flights.  However, we were fortunate to have a friend and business acquaintance take us on a weekend tour of Stockholm.  One thing really stuck out from my conversation with Andreas.  He had once owned a gym and had competed in several triathlon type events in the past.  He brought up this idea of getting a group of men together and having a workout out at local park.  So of course I began to tell him about F3 and what we do.  Not sure if we are going to have a Sweden launch anytime soon, but I think this speaks volumes to the mission of F3.

In 2015 right after the birth of my second child I was running the greenways on my own, doing merkins, lifting rocks, and other stuff.  I thought, wouldn’t it be great to get some other guys out here and do this same kinda thing.  Anyway, my experience and Andreas experience aren’t unique.  The reason F3 has been successful is because it speaks to something in every man.  What ever that thing is might be hard to describe, but rest assured we’ve found it.

Deck of Death Speedway Edition

THE SCENE: Mid-60s, cool but not too cool, great weather for a beatdown
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH x20, Cherry Pickers x5, Little This, Little That, Michael Phelps
THA-THANG:
Deck of Death.  Circle up, PAX picks card to determine exercise and rep count.

  • Diamonds = Pull-up Hangs and Bent over Rows (handful of PAX use monkey bars to hold at 90 degrees pull-up while remaining PAX do Bent over Rows which is back parallel to ground and bring CMU up to chest)
  • Clubs = Goblet Squats
  • Hearts = BBS
  • Spades = Blockees (modified for whole group to Merkins after almost 75 blockees in 15 minutes)
  • Number card = number x 2
  • Face card = 25 reps
  • Ace = 30 reps
  • Joker = 40 skull crushers (tricep extensions over head)

MARY:
Hold plank for time
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
14 HIMs with 2 FNGs – Outhouse (FNG Welcome!), Trousers, Doctor, Hooiser, Malfoy, Cow Patty, Halfday, Pennies, Shenanigans, Streaker, Rep Sleepy, XYZ (FNG Welcome!), Doppelganger, Grouch
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Building from Trousers word on Tuesday.  As men, we feel as if we are not allowed to be vulnerable; that we have to pick ourselves up by our own bootstraps and do it alone.  YHWH never meant for us to go it alone in this world as Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says.  It is hard to open up because we do not want to be seen as weak or be judged for our failures.  However, there is some comfort in knowing that what we are experiencing, other man have experienced or suffered through as well.  You are not alone.  We need to stop pretending like we are and that we are the only ones who have experienced the things we have experienced when there are plenty of guys out there and can just say, “I hear ya man!  Life sucks!”
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
#thespeedway launch on Saturday from 6A – 7A!  Woop woop!  Convergence, July 2 @ JUCO.  No other beatdowns in Knoxville area on this day.  Go to JUCO or stay in the fartsack (psst, we’d prefer you come to JUCO).