F3 Knoxville

IronPAX Week 1 at the Quacken

THE SCENE: Damp from a night of storms, lower 70’s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH, Arm Circles, Tempo Squats, static stretching
THA-THANG:
IronPAX Challenge Week 1 Workout

EMOM (called by app)- 3 burpees

3 Burpees (Begins Rd & EMOM timer)
50 Hand Release Release Merkins
100 Leg Raises
150 Jungle Boi Squats “2Spoonz Style”
200 Big Boy Sit-ups
250 Stationary Lunge Steps (ct ea leg as 1 rep)

MARY:
yeah right
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
We’ve seen yet again another black man shot and protests rage, leading to a counter-protester being shot and killed. When I see these things happen my gut reaction is anger, and to want to drag people into the street and demand justice and accountability. Last week I read through James, which has a lot of things to say, apologetically, about those that are rich or in power and abuse their power. But what it says to believers isn’t to rage against them, but to be humble, mourn, and be unbiased and pray for those that need it. It reminded me of Matthew 9 that says when Jesus saw the masses He had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So my encouragement to the guys, especially myself, this morning was to consider compassion when reacting to these situations we seem to constantly be seeing in the news

In His Mansion

THE SCENE: Insert info about the weather, etc.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side-Straddle-Hops, 10 Burpees, 10 Plank Jacks, 5 Burpees, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Imperial Walkers, 10 Windmills, Michael Phelps

THA-THANG:

Each man picks up a pair of bricks from my truck.  We then run to parking lot by entrance to Northern Ball Fields.  There will be exercises posted at each corner of the parking lot.  Do the exercise listed, run around the parking lot, then do the next exercise listed.  Always have bricks when running.  Once exercises at one cone are complete, go to the next cone and do those.  When a man is done he will have done 12 exercises (3 from each cone and run around the parking lot 12 times).  Here are the exercises from each cone:

  • Cone 1:  1. 50 Overhead Presses with Bricks  2. 20 Big Boys  3. 50 Curls with Bricks
  • Cone 2:  1. 50 Rows with Bricks  2. 20 Big Boys  3.  50 Wings Up with Bricks
  • Cone 3:  1. 50 Wings Out with Bricks  2. 10 Mini Man-makers 3. 50 Wings Down with Bricks
  • Cone 4.  1. 50 Punches with Bricks.  2. 10 Mini Man-makers  3. 50 Triceps with Bricks

Mosey with bricks back to the truck and replace them there.

Mosey to stop sign at Northeastern corner of admin bldg.  We will do 20 American Hammers.

Mosey down steps to small alleyway.  Pick teammate. We will do Doras.  Teammate runs up stairs, around to beginning of alleyway and back to teammate while teammate does exercises.  Teammates the switch off.  Here are the exercises:

  • 150 Squats
  • 150 Big Boy Situps
  • 100 Merkins

Mosey to Parking Lot that semi-circles by soccer fields.  We will Bernie for 20 fence stakes then lunge for 10 tent stakes and repeat that pattern to the end of the parking lot.

Mosey to beginning of mini-cardiac.  Bernie to park sign, then sprint the rest of the way back to the AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
13 Men, no FNGs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Thomas Merton:  “Creation isn’t something that just happened in the beginning and then God walked off and left us to our own devices.”

Imagine if that were true.  God created this universe and everything in it and then said, “Good luck everybody, I’m going to sleep.”  Would the creator do that?  I don’t think so.

Thomas Merton:  “Creation is going on all the time.  That creation is absolute and perpetual.”

That creation is a gift and a miracle.  It surrounds us and is within us.  Yet, we so often fail to see it.  Some of the great church hymns have God saying to us (or use to Him), “Abide in Me”, knowing that we so often fall short in doing so.

James Finley describes this failure to see God’s gift to us in this way:

What if all along you’ve been living in this incredible mansion all your life but through a tragic mental condition you think you’re living in a little tent behind the garage?  And every week your psychotherapist comes over for your weekly session, and your therapist says, “Look, I wouldn’t, honestly, I wouldn’t lie to you on this one.  You’re in a mansion.  You’ve been living in it all along.”  You say, No.  No.  I . . . as a matter of fact, I don’t even think I deserve to even try to get in there, actually.”  In God, we live and move and have our being.  We’re living our life in the vast interiority of God pouring Himself out and giving himself away as every breath and heartbeat, as every passing moment of our life.  This is confusion.  Jesus called it blindness.  Buddha called it ignorance.  We don’t see the God-given, Godly nature, the boundary-less generosity of every blessed moment in our life.”

To abide in God is to accept his gift, to recognize His beauty, to breath it in what John Eldredge calls “The Sacred Romance.”  Other spiritual writers call it the “Sacred Dance.”  To abide in God is to ask him to abide with us.

I will close with some lines from the song “Abide With Me”:

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies
Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers of praise for Lillydipper’s wife (done with double masectomy surgery) and Choir Boys’ wife (does not have lymphoma and is getting rehab for the pain she is experiencing); prayers for wife of Mr. Jinxy who will have surgery on September 17; prayers for Lulu and Doubtfire who both have lost their mothers this past month.

JUCO WEEK 0 IPC

THE SCENE: Misty, Hot and Humid
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER   ✔
WARM-O-RAMA:
Jogged over to the Week 0 start.
THA-THANG:
IPC Week 0.  4 Rounds:

  • 50 Squats
  • 40 BBS
  • 30 Merkins
  • 20 Bonnie Blairs
  • 10 Burpees
  • 400m Run

MARY:
N/A
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
18
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Q passed the torch to Spotter who will serve as JUCO’s new AO-Q.  Q talked about the importance of being bold in sharing the Gospel with other people and how over the past month the Lord has placed on his heart a desire to do street evangelism.  Q shared that he and his family have engaged in approaching total strangers on the street and at public venues and handing out Gospel tracts.  This activity is definitely out of the Q’s comfort zone but he has made it his mission to become more efficient in spreading the Gospel on the street to glorify Christ.  Q believes bringing people to a genuine understanding of the Gospel is what is most needed in the World, now more than ever.
MOLESKIN:
Ran way over time and next time will start the IPC a little earlier than the usual 0530
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Prayers for Cosmo’s mom who has ovarian cancer.

Dora Explores Springbrook

THE SCENE: Beautiful morning, rain subsided shortly before 7am, 76 degrees
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Welcome to F3: Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith. Practice social distancing and other COVID precautions. Modify and needed. I am not a professional nor doctor. Push yourself.

WARM-O-RAMA:
15 SSH in cadence.

8 Cherry Pickers in cadence

10 Imperial Squat Walkers in cadence

THA-THANG:
PAX moseyed on over to a nice hill (approximately 50m with a ‘break’ halfway). Upon the way we traveled through the dangerous ‘path of fallen PAX’, which claimed two a few weeks back. All made it through successfully. Upon arriving to the hill, we completed a modified Heartbreak 1,2,3, renamed more appropriately to 808’s and Heartbreak after the Kayne West album

808’s and Heartbreak

  • 200 Squats
  • 2 Body Builders
  • 200 WWII
  • 2 Body Builders
  • 200 Gorilla Humpers
  • 2 Body Builders
  • 200 LBC
  • 2 Body Builders

While partner was working, the other would sprint to the top of the hill, complete 10 single count Iron Mikes, and return to switch. Rinse and repeat until everyone completed. Return to the AO.

CMU Dora arm circuit

  • 100 Curls
  • 100 Bent Rows
  • 50 4-ct Flutter kicks with a 2 presses in each 4 count
  • 100 Dips (no CMU)

While the partner was working, the other ran to the other side of the AO (30m) for 15 dips and returned. Rinse and repeat.

MARY:
With five minutes remaining, PAX grabbed a CMU for 2 minutes of wall sits, with presses (vertical) and pushes (horizontal) mixed in. After 2 minutes, there was 2 minutes of protractors with crunches mixed in. The final minute was spent back on the wall with presses.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
12 PAX came out to play with Dora: Napster, Taco, Moses, KY, Avocado, 3 Rivers, Fins, Hammy, Drifter, Peach, Nair, and Hellbender.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

COVID has been a frustrating season for all of us. F3 is not only a community for fitness, but also a community to push ourselves to be better men and make a difference in our communities. A verse on my heart recently is Ephesians 4:31-32:

‘Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted and forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has also forgiven you’

MOLESKIN:
We welcomed a new member to the F3 family: Pinocchio’s son Grant was born Friday! Wife and baby are doing well.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Just, Kind, and Right

THE SCENE: Not too hot, cloudy, low 80s, but soooo dang humid.  Not a stirring of a breeze to be found…
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!  Some additional COVID-19 considerations: keep your distance between you and other members of the PAX and any other folks that we pass during moseys, etc. to 6-10 feet.  We will be splitting up into groups smaller than 50 if necessary.  We need to set good examples and be good neighbors out here at this public park, especially with so many folks out and about.

WARM-O-RAMA:

-25 Side Straddle Hops (4-ct), in cadence

– 10 Abe Vigodas (4-ct), in cadence

– 25 Grady Corns (4-ct), in cadence

– 25 Tempo Squats (4-ct), in cadence

THA-THANG:

MOSEY to Area 51 parking lot.

  • 25s! 5x/20x, 10x/15x, 15x/10x, 20x/5x Reps of exercises
    • EXERCISES: Bobby Hurleys (far side) and Carolina Dry Docks (near side)
    • Do first exercise, run down to opposite side of the lot, do other exercise, BERNIE back.

MOSEY to top of sidewalk hill, going towards Everest.  20 American Hammers. 20 count.

Continue to Base of Everest. 10 American Hammers/10 Hello Dollies/10 Bicycle Kicks (4-ct), run to base of summit. Hold Plank until 6 catches up.

GRINDERS! Count off by 4s to do a staggered start.  1’s start immediately, 2’s = 5 Imperial Walkers, 3’s = 10 Imperial Walkers, 4’s = 15 Imperial Walkers then start.  When finished do Imperial Walkers until 6 catches up

  • BASE OF SUMMIT: 25 1/2 Burpees (no pushup), run up to top of summit
  • TOP OF SUMMIT: 25 LBCs, run to bat house
  • BAT HOUSE: 25 Smurf Jacks, run down stairs
  • BOTTOM OF STAIRS: 25 BBS, run back to summit

RINSE AND REPEAT (we really only did this once, but ran the summit hill twice)

.11s W/ PARTNER in grassy area with wall at top of Evereset: Exercises are DIPS and INCLINE MERKINS.  One partner does the 11, while the other partner does LBCs, then switch.  Progress through the 11s sequence until we run out of time. (most pairs got to 6/5 or 5/6).

Mosey to AO.

MARY:
25 Hello Dollies, courtesy of Lillydipper, (who was complaining about getting on our 6 in the newly cut grass, so I “volunteered” him to lead so he’d quit his yappin’ 😉 ), 10 star jacks, courtesy of Brick, who after his VQ on Tuesday is almost a professional .  All 4-ct, IC.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
17 HIMs, including one FNG!

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

THE STORY OF JOSEPH.  The story of Joseph has been on my mind lately.  Joseph was the eleventh son of Jacob, and Jacob’s favorite.  He was a Daddy’s boy.  Jacob gave Joseph a beautiful coat (coat of many colors), and Joseph had dreams showing him as superior to his brothers, which he tells them about for some reason.  Maybe not the best idea.  To no one’s surprise, all of this causes the brothers to become jealous, throw him in a pit, and sell him into slavery in Egypt.  Although they left him essentially for dead, Joseph thrives in Egypt and becomes vizier to the Pharaoh.  The brothers return to him during a famine, starving, asking for help, but they don’t recognize him.  He is in the position of evening the score.  REVENGE!! (cue Braveheart music…) Does he let bitterness take over his heart?  No.  He ultimately brings his whole family over to Egypt, saving them from the famine.

Who else has thought to themselves when they’re in a difficult situation, struggling in life, or at their wit’s end, “NOTHING GOOD CAN COME OF THIS”? But looking back, how often do you see that something good HAS come of it?  God is always there, bending our history and lives to justice and love.  As Joseph tells his brothers when they are reunited, what they had meant for evil, God had meant for good.

Even in the greatest darkness there can be something beautiful and good.  A literal example of this can be seen in some of the great paintings of the world.  There are brushstrokes of darkness and light.  The most beautiful pieces of art contain both sadness and joy.  Without those dark areas, the art would not be as beautiful.  So it is with life.  There is always a source of comfort in difficult times for those who love God.  In the story of Joseph, God was there with him, in the pit, as a slave, in prison, and in Egypt.

Instead of revenge, Jacob focuses on what is JUST, KIND, and RIGHT. He helps his brothers and brings his family to Egypt to avoid the famine.  He does not take the dangerous position of standing in for God.

I saw another example of this in Abscess’s Facebook post from Dredd who was discussing a sign that said NO BIGOTS, RACISTS OR MISOGYNISTS. His point was essentially that this is the wrong approach.  While the sentiment may be admirable, you could argue that this type of judgmental exclusion is taking the position of standing in for God.  We should actually invite factionalists to our table and sit down with them, so we can have discussions.  Who are we to judge?  The Pharisees mocked Jesus for the low company he kept and brought an adulterer to him demanding justice.  The penalty was death by stoning.  That’s when Jesus said “Let whoever is without sin cast the first stone”.  They all dropped their stones and went home.  It does us little good to judge, especially when none of us are exempt from flaws and sin.

We don’t always have to even the score.  Let go of the anger, the frustration, the desire for vengeance, like Jinxy talked about in his Word at the workout on Saturday.  Get rid of it. There is another path.  Today’s world has complex problems, and one of the difficulties I have is that I often see some value in everyone’s perspective (LIBRAs, amiright??…).  Therefore, I have trouble coming to a definitive conclusion about what the best solution is, and become frustrated that there are so many problems, and so few solutions.  The world is very confusing, and the problems we face are numerous, nuanced, and intertwined.  It can be overwhelming to try to make sense of it, try to figure out exactly how to act and fix it.  I think that if we all focused on what is JUST, what is KIND, and what is RIGHT, we can make a bit of difference in the world for the better.

MOLESKIN:
Praise for Jenner for positive developments in his pursuit of a medical degree.  Prayers for Guppy’s grandmother and for Jan, Lillydipper’s wife.

Welcome to FNG Spanky! (Raphael… sorry, I forgot his last name.  He is friends with Puddle)

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
None