F3 Knoxville

Category: The Dog Pound

8-Block for 2022

THE SCENE: Rain has moved on. Ground wet. Chilly. Foggy.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: Done and Done. No, the phone won’t be used to order breakfast. It is for emergencies only. 

WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH IC x15 | LBCs EW IC x10 |Little of This, Little of That | Tempo Squat IC x5 | Cherry Pickers IC x5

THA-THANG:

Grab a CMU and line up for a “Colonizer Run” 

Colonizer Run: Opposite of an Indian Run. Men line up and walk while completing an exercise. The frontman drops off to the side and does CMU Merkins until the PAX passes by. Once the last man passes, the first man yells “Back” and rejoins the line as the new frontman drops off. First-round = curls while walking. Second-round = Rifle Carry. Repeat until getting to the bottom of Dwayne’s Hill 

Partner up. One partner runs up the hill and around Dwayne “The Rock.” The second partner starts on the exercise list. Reps are cumulative. 

  • 100 4 ct. Flutter Kicks 
  • 100 OH Press 
  • 100 Goblet Squats 
  • 150 V-Ups 
  • 150 Merkins
  • 150 Imperial Squat Walkers 

Returning to the AO: 

One partner Farmer carries both CMUs while the other does 5 4-ct. SSH, 5 2-ct. Shoulder Taps, & 1 Burpee then sprints to catch up to partner. Repeat until back to the CMU Pile/AO

 

MARY:

Stretching out those arms and shoulders! 

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

8 HIMs; 0 FNGs; Gus from Memphis (sort of) downrange. 

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

I have been struggling during this holiday season with my mental, emotional, and spiritual strength. I have struggled with routines, home life, etc. I have also been getting more and more into the F3Nation podcasts and all the information that the Nation puts out (blogs, books, etc.). I highly suggest getting onto Twitter and looking through all of the F3Nation Leadership and other regions’ leaders to get TONS of wisdom. 

I wanted to focus on the 8-Block. It is a practice of writing down and putting all of the important things in your life into a visual medium. 

The 8 Blocks are 1. Concentrica (who is most important in your life) 2. Third F (what are doing to help with your faith journey) 3. Second F (Who are you focusing on?) 4. First F (Tracking your fitness goals/journey) 5. Jester (What is holding you back?) 6. Mental Sharpness (What are you consuming to make you better? What movies/TV are you spending time with? What are you reading/listening to? etc.) 7. Date Night (How are you “dating” your M? How are you spending time with your 2.0s?) 8. ALR (Ask, Listen, Remember. Who can you reach out to in need? Who can you get as a mentor? Who can you Mentor?) Below are a couple of links. One to a pdf of the 8-Block and one to the F3Nation Podcast “Stuff Worth Trying” where the 8-Block is explained (much better than it is here). 

I used the 8-Block this week to refocus my life going into the new year. It has allowed me to put on paper (and pasted into my journal) my focus for 2022. I provided hard copies for the PAX in attendance, it’s hard not to be a teacher sometimes. 

MOLESKIN:

.pdf of 8-Block

Stuff Worth Trying F3Nation Podcast 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Truck Stop New Year’s Day workout at the normal time (6 am)

Asylum Sat AM workout at 8:30 am

Polar Plunge at noon New Year’s Day 

CHECK SLACK!

steadfastness at the Dogpound

THE SCENE:32 and cold
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
1 10x count squat

1 burpee

5 Cherry pickers

50 SSH
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the base of Matterhorn and partner up. We will do a DORA excursive at the base while the partner runs up to the top of Matterhorn and does 10 merkins

  • 100 Squats
  • 200 SSH 4x
  • 300 Man makers

we got about 15 minutes into man makers, and I audibled.

 

Fellowship mosey back to the AO

MARY:

  • 32 hello dollys
  • 13 box cutters
  • 5 cobra-kis
  • 5 burpees
  • 20 V-ups

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Insert the WORD here.
MOLESKIN:
remember when we don’t want to keep on being steadfast remember our savior was steadfast in our place all the way to death.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Christmas party tomorrow is the deadline

Haircut 100

THE SCENE: First REAL cold day. Dry
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Warm up stuff, literally warm up stuff. Nothing special,
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the steps, stopping for some incline Merkins and SSHs.
start with 5 burpees, run up steps and hill to Dwayne Johnson and back, 4 burpees run up, 3 burpees run up etc Repeat till all finish.

Walkers walked to marina sign. Runners ran long way around doing a lap around the big island.
At sign start “Love plus One” Haircut 100s only hit in the 1980s.
start with 1 of the exercise and add one rep at each cone. Alternate run and Bear crawls each time. Exercises are:

  • Merkins
  • Squats
  • Dry docks
  • Lunges x2

once done mosey back to AO. Runners go up to Dwayne Johnson twice and walkers walk to the AO.

MARY:
No time
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
15 including one FNG
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Remember to Thank God on Thanksgiving. Don’t forget the reason of Thanksgiving.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Christmas party rsvp

The DogPound Becomes the Real ‘Man Park’

THE SCENE: Cool, but nice. INCREDIBLE moon set over the trees during the PreRuck. Probably the last not-super-cold day for a while. 

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER Did this. Everyone welcomed and disclaimed. 

WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH IC x20 — 1 Burpee — Tie Fighters IC x10 each way — 2 Burpees — Cherry Pickers I(DogPound)C x4 — 3 Burpees 

THA-THANG:

Blindside’s Fellowship SeaBiscuit w/ CMU: 

4 Rounds; Subject 5 reps from each exercise each round; Add a lap to each round. Selected ab work OYO until the 6 arrives. Finish with 10 reps IC and start the next round together 

  • 10 Blockees
  • 15 OH Press 
  • 20 Curls
  • 25 Rows 
  • 30 Up & Over Merkins (each Merkin counts as “1”)

Ab Work: 

  • Round 1: Hello Dolly
  • Round 2: Flutter Kicks 
  • Round 3: Freddie Mercury
  • Round 4: Box Cutters 

Return to AO for a Ring of Fire of Merkins starting with 5. 

 

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

13 HIMs including 1 FNG. Welcome Salad Spinner! 

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

I am reading a book called Behold the Man which is a deep dive into the spirituality and faithfulness of Catholic men in today’s culture. The author references Pope St. John Paul II when he wrote that we are currently living in a “Culture of Death.” We are in spiritual warfare. Saying that Satan and evil don’t exist is foolish. The Evil One may not walk around as a red-horned devil, but he absolutely is present. Over the past few decades, men have become marginalized in society. Our culture puts such low expectations on men that it has left many men wondering how to navigate our world. 

In last weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live, there was a fake commercial for “Man Park.” This was a park similar to a Dog Park where men can meet and make friends, alleviating their wives and girlfriends from being the only person their husbands and boyfriends talk to. While many aspects of the skit were funny if you really look at what the writers had the men and women saying, it was incredibly sad and should be a big eye-opener for our society. A 2019 Harper’s Bazaar article wrote about how men no longer know how to form emotional bonds with each other. The tagline from the skit said, “It’s not their fault masculinity makes intimacy so hard.” F3 is the real ‘Man Park,’ and I am thankful that we are able to grow physically, mentally, spiritual, and with meaningful male friendships. 

This was so sad for me because it shows just how real male loneliness is, I absolutely experienced it before starting in the Gloom. 

I think it is that our masculinity is just what CAN make emotional intimacy possible, both here in the Gloom as well as the spiritual heads of our households. We must continue to lead, throw off spiritual laziness & timidness and become a strong witness to the Truth of our Faith with passion and conviction. When enough of us do this in our society, the stereotype of the lazy, buffoon of a father in our culture/society will change. 

MOLESKIN:

Behold the Man 

Man Park SNL skit

Men’s Health Article on ‘Man Park’

F3 Twitter mentions of ‘Man Park’

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Christmas Party. RSVP by December 1st. #annual-christmas-party channel on Slack 

Brovember: With the introduction of Weekly Winners, there is still time to compete! #brovember2021 on Slack! 

Lock Shields with Minivan Centurions

THE SCENE: Warmer than anticipated. Less Wind. Wonderful pre-ruck.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER Done. Q took about 15 mins for questions. 

WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH IC x15; LBAC each way IC x10; Little of This, Little of that; Tempo Squats IC x10; Cherry Pickers IC x5 … Grab a CMU and mosey to Thunderdome

THA-THANG:

Tabata+ workout: eight 25-second rounds of an exercise with a 10-second rest between rounds. Field Trip in between rounds.

Exercises:

  • OH Press
    • Field Trip to SkateTown, up & over the wall and back
  • Goblet Squats
    • Field Trip to the entrance to track Burpees x5  
  • Curls
    • Field Trip to SkateTown, up & over the wall and back 
  • Up & Over Merkins
    • Field Trip to the entrance to track Imperial Squat Walkers x5
  • Flutters x2; Hello Dolly x2; Freddie Mercury x2; Georgia Cheerleaders x2
    • Field Trip to SkateTown, up & over the wall and back

MARY:

Mosey back to AO and put up CMUs 

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

11 HIMs; 0 FNGs; Welcome Backfire from F3 Chattanooga!

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

When making my Birthday/Christmas list recently for my family, I was browsing the F3 Gear site and noticed a patch with a minivan that said “Minivan Centurion” on it. I thought this was a funny thing that connected that a lot of F3 guys are dads who have to haul their kids around and added it to my list. I also have been getting into the F3 Nation podcasts recently (start listening if you can!). One of the shows mentioned the “Minivan Centurions” and I actually understood where it came from and what it actually means. 

Excerpt from “The Locked Shields of the Minivan Centurions” on the F3Nation website

“I have had the opportunity to workout at a lot of great parks and schools in F3Nation, but I have to admit to being partial to Freedom Park in Charlotte because that is where it all started. Not only is it a great workout location, but it serves the community in a thousand different ways. I probably spend an average of 7 hours a week there in one capacity or another. Go there on a Saturday morning in the Spring or Fall and you will see the parking lots stuffed full of minivans and the fields overrun with kids playing soccer and baseball.

There is so much sweet America there it will make your teeth hurt. When the World is running particularly amuck, a day in Freedom is all I need to keep focused on what we have here, what is worth protecting. The World may be afire, but we have Freedom Brothers. We have Freedom. Is it likewise in every park that is part of F3Nation? I imagine so. That is really why we do this, isn’t it?

One day after soccer, I walked towards the minivan with my daughters when the youngest one asked me why there were never any police officers at Freedom Park. I had never thought about it until that moment, but she was right. I had never seen a police officer patrolling the park. So I answered, “they are probably at other places in Charlotte where they are needed.”

Which prompted her older sister to say, “yeah Sarah, we don’t need them here because we have the daddies.”

Little Sister: “rigggght, we have the daddies to keep us safe at Freedom. The police are at the parks without the daddies.” At that, I kind of looked away so my daughters wouldn’t see the tears in my eyes, and I noticed that I could see about five other F3 guys within nine-iron distance, coaching soccer or cheering their kids on. And I knew there were another 20 F3 men that I couldn’t see from where I was standing. But they were there. It occurred to me that if the bad guys came to Freedom they might have thought it easy pickings because they would see no police on duty. But they would be mistaken. If Evil comes to Freedom it will have the daddies to contend with, and it will not stand a chance. While we might be outnumbered Brothers, we have locked our shields and will keep them locked in the heat of battle.”

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Coats for the Cold, donate to AOs now through Nov. 13th

Brovember Challenge. Link to track your progress in the #brovember2021 Slack channel.