F3 Knoxville

Category: Asylum AM

Founding AO

The Last Shall Be First and First Shall Be Last

THE SCENE: Sunny, clear, temps in 50’s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side-Straddle-Hops, 15 Mountain Climbers, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Windmills, Michael Phelps, Little of This and That
THA-THANG:
Mosey to parking lot by entry to northern ball fields.  Line up on curb of parking lot closest to street.  There will be two cones in middle of parking lot.  On some of the following exercises we will ignore the cones while on some we will use the cones. These are the exercises:

  • Side twister run to other curb and back, facing south as we run.
  • Bernie Sanders to curb and back
  • High Knees run to curb and back
  • Bear crawl to first cone, hop to second cone and lunge to curb.  Do same thing going back.
  • Sprint to curb and back.

Next we go to CMU pile.  Each man grabs a CMU.  We will do the following exercises:

  • 25 Overhead Presses
  • 25 Curls
  • 25 Rows
  • 25 Squats
  • 25 Bench Presses

Mosey to Serpentine Sidewalk (between northern ball fields and outdoor chapel).  We will do 14’s (run one light with listed exercise and sprint four lights, continuing pattern with that exercise until done) all the way to perimeter trail.  First men getting to perimeter trail sweep other men back. The following are the exercises for the 14’s:

  • Duck walk one light, sprint four
  • Hop one light, sprint four
  • Bernie one light, sprint four

Mosey to Playground at northern ball fields.

We will do elevens, starting with one Bench Dip and ten Bench Jumps.  We will repeat elevens with one Decline Merkin and Ten Legs Up Sit Ups.

Mosey to AO.

MARY:

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Eight men, no FNG’s.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Insert the WORD here.
MOLESKIN:
Insert any personal comments, notes, devotion content, etc.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
God uses all people, whether big or small, powerful or lowly, famous or unknown, rich or poor, for his purposes.  We are all important to God – His Kingdom is quite different than that of what we see in our world.  We may feel sometimes that we don’t count.  We believe there are others out there who have much more “say” than we do.  But each one of us, each one of you, count just as much to God as do presidents and rulers.  Who did Jesus go to for his disciples?  Was it the rulers of Isreal, the rabbis or scholars?  He chose “common” men.  And he said to them, that in God’s Kingdom “The last shall be first and the first shall be last.”

In his book, The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis, a group of tourists are visiting heaven.  They see a great parade held in honor of someone who had recently died on Earth.  They wonder who the parade is for.  Surely, it was for someone special on Earth, an inventor whose invention changed the course of the world, a dignitary, a ruler, a great athlete.  They find the parade is for Mary Smith, an unknown woman who loved God and lived out that love toward others.

If my mother-in-law, Ruby Grimes, were to have a resume, it wouldn’t stack up very well with most people.  She had one job in her life, as a bookkeeper for a local school in Kentucky.  But, as David Brooks would say, her Eulogy Virtues will far outweigh her Resume Virtues.  And, I believe, there will be a great parade in heaven for her when she arrives there.  She is the type of person that you just feel good being around.  I truly love visiting her.  One problem though, is that when you go her church with Ruby it seems you can never get away after the service is over.  Everyone wants to talk to her and you find yourself standing around, waiting to get to the car and get home.  When we visit my wife’s parents for Christmas, you can count on people coming and knocking on the door on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.  Who are these people?  Relatives?  No, the relatives are probably already in the house.  The people who come by are just folks who Ruby has somehow touched in their lives.  Often it is former neighbors who knew Ruby when they were kids.  They probably got cookies from her, came on in the house when they were little, knowing the home was a place where they were always welcome.  They still want to see her as adults, just to let her know they still love her.  Ruby’s refrigerator door is constantly littered with cards from folks who she has known.  They may now live in other cities or states but they still want to keep in touch with her.  She has touched others with a love that is difficult to put into words.  But God surely sees it.

Each one of us may not be the top dogs in our jobs, the best on the sports teams we play for, the best known in our communities.  But we are important to God.  And, we can serve God’s purposes in ways that the world may not see as incredible but in which God surely sees as incredible.  The last shall be first and the first shall be last.  Remember that as you go out and live for God’s purposes.

Crawl bears anyone?

  • THE SCENE: 40’s clear…..crisp
    F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
    WARM-O-RAMA:
    7 cherry pickers IC
  • 20 SSH
  • 10  cobra merkins ea arm (a crowd favorite)
  • 10 wide grip merkins
  • THA-THANG:
    Mosey to the playground
  • 7’s pull ups at the bottom and 8ct BB up top
  • Mosey to little Everest (every time we stop at the bleachers for some decline wide merkins and diamond merkins IC)
  • start at the bottom and crawl bear to the top (everyone gave me a poopy face when they heard crawl bear) and complete 20 bobby hurleys, bear crawl down and 20 CDD. repeat decending by five reps every time.
  • Mosey to the bathrooms (more merkins on the way)
  • 7’s easy ups and burpees (about 50yrds away)
  • Mosey to upper field (yup more merkins)
  • 50yd sprints with 10 second rest in between (6 reps)
  • Mosey to AO

MARY:

20 box cutters IC

ATM’S

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Welcome FNG dig dug!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Intercede for your wives just as Christ intercedes on our behalf. When we pray we need to always include our wives in our prayers. As husbands we are called to present her as holy and blameless. Pray for her greatest need, (same as ours) for her to have a deeper relationship with Jesus in her life.

MOLESKIN:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
3rd F next Saturday after convergence at the asylum at 0700

ShamPain Toast at the Asylum

THE SCENE: Mid to upper 50s, sunny, beautiful
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER Check. 
WARM-O-RAMA:

-20 Side Straddle Hops (4-ct), in cadence

– 10 Cherry Pickers (4-ct), in cadence

– 20 Imperial Walkers (4-ct), in Cadence

– Bolt 45s

THA-THANG:

MOSEY to open, low-lying field near north entrance.

SHAMROCK of PAIN!! FOUR (THREE) CORNERS : There will be three sets of cones set up in diamond formations, somewhat reminiscent of a shamrock…  Hmm.  Imagine that.

We will split up and move through the Shamrock of Pain and do the exercises on each cone. Rinse and repeat each leaf.  We did 1/2 the number of reps about 3/4 of the way through to save time.

First “leaf” (Bear Crawl between posts)

    • 10 Burpees
    • 20 Merkins,
    • 20 Carolina Dry Docks

Second “leaf” (Hop between posts)

  • 20 Big Boy Situps
  • 20 American Hammers (4-ct)
  • 20 Hello dollies (4-ct)

Third “leaf” (Lunge between posts)

    • 20 Smurf Jacks
    • 20 Iron Mikes (each pair of legs = 1)
    • 20 Tempo Squats

MOSEY along path adjacent to Northshore to EVEREST

  • EVEREST PYRAMID :
    1. Run 3/4 way up Everest to big tree, at the bottom do the following:
      • 10 Tempo Squats
      • 10 Tempo Squats, 10 Mountain Climbers (each pair of legs = 1)
      • 10 Tempo Squats, 10 Mountain Climbers, 10 Diamond Merkins
      • 10 Mountain Climbers, 10 Diamond Merkins.
      • 10 Diamond Merkins

Go over Everest and Mosey to AO

MARY:

  • Flutter kicks
  • Boat/canoe
  • Ring of Fire Merkins (had to stop after 4 reps because we were out of time)

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
11 Men, including one FNG, Shane (forgot his last name, sorry!) who we named Shakespeare.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Leadership Shamrock .  I read an article in the Harvard Business Review recently about Leadership.  Creating Trust is a critical component of being a leader. The level of trust is the #1 factor for how people rate the effectiveness of a leader.  How can you follow or take direction from someone you can’t trust?  A huge study was performed that looked at data from 360 assessments of 87,000 leaders. The objective was to identify “clusters” of traits that are most often the foundation of trust.  The researchers performed correlations and factor analysis statistical tests on the data to “group” the characteristics that most strongly influence the level of trust in a leader.  There were three primary factors (kind of a “Leadership Shamrock” that can be used to reinforce trust principles similar to how St. Patrick used the shamrock to describe the Holy Trinity) that were commonly grouped as most important for engendering trust among others.

  1. POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS
  • Stays in touch on the issues and concerns of others.
  • Balances results with concern for others.
  • Generates cooperation between others.
  • Resolves conflict with others.
  • Gives honest feedback in a helpful way.
  1. GOOD JUDGMENT/EXPERTISE (how well informed and knowledgeable you are)
  • They use good judgement when making decisions.
  • Others trust their ideas and opinions.
  • Others seek after their opinions.
  • Their knowledge and expertise make an important contribution to achieving results.
  • Can anticipate and respond quickly to problems.
  1. CONSISTENCY (do they walk their talk and do what they say they will do)
  • Are a role model and set a good example.
  • Honor commitments and keep promises.
  • Follow through on commitments.
  • Are willing to go above and beyond what needs to be done.

Additional take-home messages of the study:

  • You don’t have to be outstanding at all these to be an effective leader, just strong/above average. Being below average in any can destroy trust.
  • RELATIONSHIPS the most important of the three.  Perhaps people understand that leaders can’t know EVERYTHING, and that some inconsistency is to be expected.  But once Positive Relationships are damaged, every other aspect of trust suffers.
  • Think about which of these three you are weakest at, and then work to improve that area.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Pusher’s mother, who is very ill.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
F3 Convergence is the last Saturday of the month.  Sign up on the Calendar!

Around We Go

THE SCENE: Clear and cold, around 34 degrees at circle up
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Hit the baseline 10 SSH on 4CT mosey to other end of lot repeat SSH and mosey back

baseline 8 windmill on 4ct mosey to other end of lot repeat windmill and mosey back

baseline 10 tempo merkin mosey to other end of lot repeat merkins, michael phelps and mosey to station 1

THA-THANG:

5 Station Loop

Station 1-CMU Corner (20 Curls and 20 Overhead Press)

Mosey to bottom of little hill, Bernie up, left on Dragon Tail half way down Station 2 (10 burpees)

Mosey to Station 3 at crosswalk (20 Squats/15 4ct Mtn Climbers)

Mosey to Playground for Station 4  (10 Step ups and 20 BB’s)

Mosey to Station 5 (20 rows/20 Dips)

Rinse and repeat. Goal was getting in 3 loops

 

 

MARY:
Insert information about any additional post-THANG work (if applicable).
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
3 HIM’S in the gloom this morning Hands(Respect), Dinger, and Rainbow
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Patience and waiting on God to work.  We as a society have lost the capacity to wait for anything.  Challenge of allowing God to work in our lives and work his plan.  Letting his will for us be our desire and having the faith to let that work out on his time, not ours.
MOLESKIN:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Honor Over Status

THE SCENE: Clear, temps in 30’s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side-straddle Hops, 10 Rockettes, Right and Left Leg Stretch, 10 Windmills, 7 Baby Arm Circles forward and backward, 7 Wide Arm Circles forward and backward
THA-THANG:
Mosey to sidewalk trail that leads off of northernmost parking lot.  We will do 14’s all the way to where the trail intersects with the entry road near the northern gate of the park.  For the 14’s we will bear crawl on light, run four lights, then lunge one light and run four lights the entire trail to the roadway.

We will next do 20 Hello Dollies as a group.

Go across street and we will start Nickel, Dime Quarters on the trail, going past Mt. Everest and until the trail hits the road going out the western gate of the park.  For the Nickel, Dime, Quarters we run one light and stop to do 5 of an exercise.  We next run two lights and stop to do ten of the exercise.  We then run five lights and stop to do 25 of the exercise.  We repeat the pattern with the other listed exercises.  The exercises are as follows:

  • Squat jumps
  • Merkins
  • Big Boy Sit-ups

Mosey up roadway from west entrance, heading east.  Stop by hill near stop sign.  We will do sevens from the bottom of the hill up.  We will start with one Shoulder Tap (each shoulder) on bottom of the hill and six Burpees on top of the hill.

Mosey to grassy area across road from outdoor chapel.  As group we will do 20 American Hammers.

Mosey to ball field closest to entryway of the Northern Ballpark.  We will break into two teams and relay around the ball field, each man running once around the bases.

Mosey to CMUs at northern ball park parking lot.  We will do following exercises with CMUs then Bernie Sanders to other curb of parking lot and sprint back between each listed exercise.

  • 20 Overhead presses
  • 20 Curls
  • 20 Rows
  • 20 Bench Presses
  • 20 Curls while sitting
  • 20 Triceps while lying on back

Next, we will lunge with CMU’s across parking lot stopping at every other parking space to do 5 incline merkins with hands on CMU.  We will then mosey back, stopping at every other parking space to do 5 dips with hands on CMU.

Mosey back to AO

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Seven men, no FNG’s.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Jesus is speaking in the following verses from Matthew 23: 5-12.  He starts out talking about the Pharisses:

They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi[b] by others. 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.[c] 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

I thought of these verses in light of the recent news about the college admission scandals.  You have probably heard the news.  Investigators have been investigating and are planning on prosecuting many people across the nation, mainly parents of students, who have used all kinds of means to fraudulently get their children into elite universities.  The fraud has come in all kinds of forms such as:  paying off proctors to change the answers on ACT or SAT tests students took so that they would have higher scores or paying off coaches to have students admitted as a certain kind of athlete (e.g., volley ball player) when the student was not actually a ball player.  In many of the cases, the students weren’t even aware their parents were paying others off to get them into the school.

The reasons for the fraud varied but often seem to relate to status.  These students were usually not dumb people.  They could have made it into a large number of colleges.  But their parents wanted them to be in ELITE colleges.

We live in a society where status has become an Idol for too many people.  In the process, people forget what true dignity is all about.  Men in our nation need to understand, to become ensconced in, to be fed on honor, valor, respect, and dignity.  They need to be surrounded by men who reflect those virtues.  That is one of the things I love about F3.  I am surrounded by brothers who are working hard to become models of those concepts.  The F3 philosophy, the F3 lingo reflects those virtues and although we admit to falling short of being perfect, our brothers strive to achieve those virtues.  Let us keep striving.  Let us be role models and leaders in a society that needs, that aches to have those virtues lived out by its leaders.

MOLESKIN:
Insert any personal comments, notes, devotion content, etc.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Insert information about upcoming events, 2nd or 3rd F opportunities, and any other announcements.