F3 Knoxville

Category: Big Ball

The Long Lap

THE SCENE: 0530, 30s, not quite character building weather, but not hot either

“Is it going to be warm?” —- “No. But it will be good.”

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER : 

“Welcome to F3: Fitness-Fellowship-Faith. My name is Steam and I’ll be your QIC for the next 45 minutes. I am not a professional, and you are here on your own volition, which means if you need to modify any of the exercises we do this morning – feel free to do so but push yourselves and the men around you. You came here to work and get better so let’s get after it.”

WARM-O-RAMA:
1. Side-Straddle Hop (SSH): 25 x 4 (in cadence)

2. Rockette: 15 x 1

3. Cherry Picker: 10 x 4 (in cadence)

4. Slow Baby Arm Circles: 10 x 4 Forward || 10 x 4 Backward (all in cadence)

5. Backwards Lunge: 2x for each leg –> hold for 5 seconds each rep
THA-THANG:

  • Mosey to Big Ball Amphitheater
    • Flag out front, carried by FNG Daniel Anders (Now “Soot”)
  • PT
    • Assemble battle buddy teams
    • Que hype workout music via bluetooth speaker
    • (1) Each BB team sprints to the top of Big Ball amphitheater
    • (2) Each person executes 8 pull-ups (overhand/underhand)
    • (3) Each BB team sprints around the perimeter of the Big Ball pond = The Long Lap
      • 75% speed of higher
    • (4) Upon return to Big Ball amphitheater stage –> 25 x 4 LBC (Little Baby Crunches)
    • (5) Hold plank position until QIC says “Recover”
    • Rinse & Repeat 5x
    • Mosey American Indian Style to parking lot adjacent to UT’s The Hill
      • Sporadic squats 3x en route
    • Mosey Back to AO
      • Take the Field: Sprint the field separating PAX from Big Ball AO startpoint

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
11 PAX + 2 FNG = 13 total

PAX: Abort, Cowbell, G-6, Petey, Pfeiffer, Plunger, Quarantine, Rascal, Rousey, Swanson, Steam

FNGs: Daniel Anders – 22 – Soot & Eric – 21 – Stagehand
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Hijacking the song “Pray For Me” by Kendrick Lamar & The Weeknd

Hijacking a song = taking a song’s lyrics and “hijacking” them to fit for your own life or have deeper meaning

“I’m always ready for a war again, go down that road again, it’s all the same.” “Tell me who’s gon’ save me from myself, when this life is all I know.” “Tell me who’s gon’ save me from myself, when this life is all I know.” “Tell me who’s gon’ save me from this hell, without you, I’m all alone.”

“Who’s gon’ pray for me? Take my pain for me? Save my soul for me?”

This song spoke on many levels to me. We as men all go face wars every single day that are unique to each one of us. I don’t know what war(s) you’re facing as a man right now, whether tit’s at home, at work, in your relationships or marriage, or wherever that may be for you. Sometimes the wars that we are in the midst of feel like hell, or like we’ve been down this road before, or that we’re all alone.

So when you’re in the midst of whatever war you find yourself in – sometimes you’re fighting yourself – only one thing can save you and make you a better man because of it – God’s grace and love.

Another level this spoke spoke to me through was how much pain Knoxville is in right now. There are so many people hurting because of sickness or whatever else is going on in their lives. High Impact Men make a difference. As High Impact men – let’s continue to pray for our city and share the load and burden that some of our brothers are carrying right now.

Fight the Good Fight & Keep the Faith!

A Love-Hate Relationship

THE SCENE: Perfect. 33 degrees, very little wind. Dark and crisp, time to work.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH x 30 IC 4 CT
Cherry Picker x 10 IC 4CT
Merkins x 15 IC 4 CT

THA-THANG:
Mosey to the amphitheater for 11s
Derkins on the stage and Rows at the top

Mosey to Walnut Street (with a hill sprint en route) for a little Love-Hate Relationship building
Starting at the bottom of Walnut we worked our way up to a full sprint all the way up

  • Sprint up to the parking garage entrance, 30 LBCs, mosey to the bottom, regroup
  • Sprint to Hill Ave, 30 LBCs, 20 merkins, mosey to the bottom, regroup
  • Sprint all the way to the church, 30 LBCs, 20 merkins, and 10 burpees, regroup

Slow mosey back towards the AO with Plunger lunges across the catwalk over Henley
Stop under the Clinch overpass in the park, take a seat on the wall
2 sets of wall sits, the first one longer than the last while I regale the men with stories of foolish youth (that got me a name like Frenchie).

MARY:
Modified Gas Pumpers x 15 IC 4CT
Leg lift hold and some Hello Dollies
Boat Canoe

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
16 PAX this morning got some good work done, including 1 FNG, welcome Old Spice! (Ben Cox)

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Romans 8:18-30 makes clear:
The world is broken, humanity is broken. We should not be dumbfounded by suffering in this world.
We also need to be careful not to minimize the suffering of others. The encouragement we should give to others is that there is a day coming when their suffering will end! NOT that their suffering is illegitimate or self-inflicted.
Rather we must remember that this PRESENT and REAL suffering pales in comparison to the future glory we will experience with Christ.
But what about today? Here, now?
There are times when I don’t know what to pray. I don’t know what to say. In those moments, when I don’t know what to pray, when I’m heart broken and don’t understand. When I don’t know what to say to God, the SPIRIT himself intercedes for me.
God does not want to minimize our struggles. He’s reminding us that He draws near to us, that His Spirit is with us and comforts us at all times.

MOLESKIN:
My first time leading at Big Ball, what a place!

Pfeiffer and Abort, a couple of inspiring HIMs there. Rucking beforehand, and chewing up and spitting out everything a Q can dish out. Good work men.

As always, it’s an honor and a privilege to lead a workout.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
The Maryville CSAUP event is coming up on the 24th, and the re-scheduled event at Wesley House is this Sunday, February 11th, from 2-3pm.

Stairs of Doom

THE SCENE:

A warm 40 and crystal clear sky
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Cherry Pickers x10 IC, Baby Arm Circles (Forward/Reverse) x10 IC, Side Straddle Hops x25 IC
THA-THANG:

PAX formed two lines of 7 and we moseyed to the backside of The Hill on UT campus for some work on a beautiful and brutal staircase.  The PAX picked a battle buddy to complete the following:

Partner A sprint to the top of the stairs and do 2 burpees while Partner B does 25 merkins and jump rope at the base of the hill.  Partners A & B interchange and this will be completed 4 times for both partners.

As a PAX we moseyed up the stairs and reformed our two lines.  We kept a tightly formed two lines and moseyed to the Humanities building outdoor Amphitheater and performed the following:

  • 11’s with Prisoner Box Jumps (Hands locked behind head) and Dips

The PAX then did a two line indian run around the backside of campus and headed back to the AO.  Along the way we performed 40 Flutter Kicks IC  on a 4 count and moseyed to the AO.  As we came to the infield across from AO the PAX did a jailbreak sprint and we circled up. 

MARY:
40 Flutter Kicks IC on a 4 count along the mosey back to the AO.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
15 PAX (3 FNG’s)
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
“Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. (NLT)” -Phillipians 2:4

We all as human nature would have it worry about ourselves.  I know that I do the same at home with my wife in regards to helping at the house or with the dog, etc. after a long road game or a stressful day but she needs my help as a teammate and spouse.  This is true for all of us in lots of areas, the challenge today is to see how we can be sensitive to other’s needs and adhere to them today.

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

Potato salad

THE SCENE: 33* or so and spitting snow every now and then
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH x25 IC
Imperial Walkers x10 IC
Merkins on 4 ct, x13 IC
THA-THANG: Form two lines, begin mosey toward amphitheater.  Just past it at the first pedestrian bridge, stop and Al Gore waiting on the 6.  Once all in, PAX perform 5 burpees OYO.  Form back up into two lines, each line does Indian Run on mosey toward C15 parking lot behind Neyland Stadium.  C15 parking lot has eight cones prepared in an octagon, each with an exercise at the cone. Exercises as follows:

  • Hello Dolly
  • Burpees
  • Decline merkins
  • Lunges (count for each leg)
  • WWII Sit ups
  • Lion kings (with rocks)
  • Jump squats
  • Catalina wine mixers

PAX partner up and pick a cone to start at. Perform 8 reps of exercise, bear crawl to next cone. Make your way around the Octagon and back to the cone you started at. Meet in the middle of the Octagon (PAX finished about the same time). Once in the middle, Q leads 10 wide merkins, immediately followed by 10 regular merkins, immediately followed by 10 diamond merkins. Recover.

PAX go back to their original starting cone, repeating the routine this time performing 16 of each exercise. No bear crawls, once exercise is completed, PAX run on the outside of the Octagon making a loop and going to the next cone. Continue again until original cone is reached.  PAX again meet in the middle for Mary.  Q leads flutter kicks 20x IC.  Savannah then leads PAX in hello Dolly’s x20 IC.

Recover and 10 count.  PAX again form two lines and begin Indian Run back towards AO.  Stop again at pedestrian bridge where we did burpees heading out.  Q leads PAX in 8 ct body builders, 10x IC.  Form two lines again and Indian Run back to AO for Mary.

MARY:
Captain Thor (reach 16:4) IC
Box Cutters x20 IC
Iron Cross Flutter Kicks (led by Pfeiffer) x20 IC (we were all dead except him)
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
18 PAX: Quarantine, Butterfly, El Presidente, Plunger, Pfeiffer, Frank, Rousey, Ponder, Savannah, Amazon, Swanson, Gretzky, G6, Sugar Daddy, Petey, Bessie, Rascal, Abort
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Q brought potato salad ingredients as props.  The same boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg.  Life isn’t about your circumstances, it’s about what you’re made of.  Challenge us all to view our obstacles and hardships as opportunities to better ourselves.
MOLESKIN:
Pray for Petey as he begins interview process, that interviews go well and that he is able to stay in Knoxville.

Part of your balanced breakfast

THE SCENE: Like 26 or something.  Dry and comfy… good grief, I don’t think I even feel the daggum air anymore.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH x15 IC, then x15 more I-Faster-C
Burpees x5 OYO
Plank Twist and Reach Through x10 IC each side
LBAC x15 each way IC
Hindurkins x10 IC
Burpees x5
Al Gore Tuck x10 IC
Bear Crawl around the outside of the circle!
Dang, that feels farther than it looks.

THA-THANG:
Insert information about the workout.
Mosey over to the amphitheater… Balance set up at the top.
14 PAX, so load one side with 2 handfuls of gems (about 60)
PAX gather at the bottom of the stairs
Everyone does sets of 15 merkins OYO, taking a gem up the stairs to the balance and moseying back around the path.
Once the balance tips, dump one side and everyone switches to sets of 15 BBS.
One more tip, switch to sets of 10 Box Jumps on the stage.

After about 3 sets of Box Jumps we’re running out of time. Gather at the top and Indian Run back to the AO

MARY:
Circle up on your six:
Flutter Kicks x15 IC
Slutter Kicks x15 IC
Side Crunch x15 IC each side
Superman Swims x15 IC
Protractors
AMRAP Merkins until time called!

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
14 today – 2x the number of completeness. Perfectly balanced!  Sorry Petey, couldn’t find you on the site to tag you…
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

We are all out here this morning exercising physical discipline in training our bodies. I probably wouldn’t exactly call F3 strict training, but it does take a good amount of self-discipline to pull your socks on at 5am and get out in the cold. And, as anyone who’s been away from the gloom for a while can tell you, the “crown” we gain out here of a modicum of physical fitness certainly doesn’t last.

So I want to encourage you throughout the day to exercise in your spiritual life that same level and more of self-discipline and the intentionality of action, looking forward to the prize that your Lord has for you.

MOLESKIN:
It was great sharing the gloom with you HIMs this morning! Sorry to Peach Fuzz for getting the “same Q second verse” treatment, having experienced the balance at JUCO on Monday…
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Pray for Popeye and a group from Celebrate Recovery heading down to St Kitts to minister to people whose lives are gripped by destructive addictions!