F3 Knoxville

Tag: Abacus

Common Ground

THE SCENE: 60 degrees and perfect weather
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER done
WARM-O-RAMA:
Some SSH, imperial walks, cherry pickers, and this and that
THA-THANG:
Insert information about the workout.

  • Burpees up a hill, rabbits find the 6 and start from there, mosey
  • Battle buddy bench dips and then some more bench dips, mosey
  • Picnic table step ups, rabbits find the 6 and start from there, mosey
  • Suicide runs with Big Boys at home base, rabbits find the 6 and start from there, mosey
  • Battle buddy incline and then decline merkins, mosey to the AO

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Use the TAGS on right-side to record PAX (BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOURSELF) in attendance. Be sure to select the AO in CATEGORY above TAGS and then delete these notes!

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
It seems every day there are more topics people take a stance on and feel others are either entirely on their side or entirely not.  If someone doesn’t agree with them on a topic, the person makes sweeping judgement that everything about that other person is bad or wrong.  Most conversations start with the discussing those polar opposite opinions, which sets the conversation up for failure, and generally leads nowhere.  In Adam Grant’s book “Think Again” he talks about starting conversations by identifying the things the people agree on.  It often turns out there is a lot of common ground between the two individuals, and it creates a much better jumping and opens the door for a more productive conversation.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Party at Judge Judy’s on the 11th

Giving Thanks… and no Beaver Moon!

THE SCENE: Cold, low 40s, fairly calm and clear, but the hallowed Beaver Moon didn’t make an appearance, to everyone’s disappointment.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Check.


WARM-O-RAMA:

– Motivators 7 count decreasing

– 10 Cherry Pickers (4-ct), in cadence (aborted this exercise due to mumblechatter around 6 or so…)

– 10 Rockettes (4-ct), in cadence

– 10 Grady Corns  (4-ct), in cadence

– Calf stretches

THA-THANG:

Mosey to Caribbean Parking Lot

  • NO MERCY MILE (really more like a half mile)
    • Near end: Bear Crawl around turn
    • Run to ½ way point. 25 Merkins. Run to curve
    • Far End: Lunges around turn
    • Sprint to ½ way point. 25 Squats. Run to Curve.
    • Rinse and Repeat.

Mosey to open air Chapel

  • AMRAPS
    • 30 sec dips, rest 10 sec. R&R x4
    • 30 sec incline merkins, rest 10 sec R&R x4
    • 30 sec isometric squats (alternating), rest 10 sec R&R x4

Mosey to east down path towards the bottom of Cardiac.  At intersection, 20 American Hammers (4-ct)

Mosey to bottom of Cardiac.  20 Imperial Walkers (4-ct)

  • Cardiac Crusher
    • Run to first curve and back, 20 flutter kicks (2-ct)
    • Run to second curve and back, 20 flutter kicks (2-ct)
    • Run to top, stop at each turn to do 10 merkins, 10 squats, and 10 BBS

Mosey to AO

MARY:
Homer/Marge leg raises

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
16 strong
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Thanksgiving:

Back in 1620, 102 separatists Christians left Europe and came to America via a little boat called the Mayflower.  The first years in America were very hard, and about half the population died within the first several months.  They likely all would have died without the help of the Native Americans, who provided food and taught them how to grow crops.  They celebrated the harvest the following year, in 1621, with Thanksgiving. The celebration lasted 3 days. Thanksgiving was only sporadically celebrated until 1789 when George Washington called for it to be a recurring celebration.  Even then, it still didn’t totally catch on until 1941, when FDR and Congress declared it a national holiday.  Why is it so tough to celebrate Thanksgiving?  We seem to want to skip over it it and move right from Halloween to Christmas.  If you’re cynical, maybe it’s because there’s no money in Thanksgiving?  Not as many cards, gifts, and promotional events…Except for the Macy’s parade, and for that everyone is just waiting for Santa at the end.

But there is a human need to give Thanks.  One of the first things parents teach their children is to say Thank You (when handing a young child something…: “What do you say? What do you SAY??”).  Giving Thanks is important because it interrupts the Self, recognizes the Other in our life.  We value that other.  We have an imperative and a need to give Thanks to those we have relationships with.  And who or what is the primary relationship in our life?  It’s God, and we need to give Thanks to God.  Giving Thanks reminds us that we are recipients, not creators.  It allows us a moment to pause and count our blessings.  STEAM recently posted a message in Sticky Notes Channel: “GAS PRICES ARE HIGH, THIS SUCKS” VS “I WAS ABLE TO FILL UP MY CAR WITH GAS. THANK YOU JESUS.” What a great perspective for the week of Thanksgiving.

I love the line from the song Signs that was sung by Tesla and written by Five Man Electrical Band… “Thank you Lord, for thinking about me, I’m alive and doing fine.”

Here’s what I think.  I think we need to build a world that strips out the biases and fear of other religions, other cultures, other world views and focuses on the basics.  Love God, Love your Neighbor.  Easy Peasy.  Right?  Wrong.  It’s simple, but it’s not easy.  How do we do that? Giving Thanks can be a great place to start and get beyond the differences.  Seek first the Kingdom of God.  The Kingdom of God is love, generosity, thankfulness, and justice.  That is how we live in that Kingdom.  This is what was in the heart of the Pilgrim’s journey. To be a loving, generous, and thankful community.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Steam’s mom who has COVID, for other friends and family members going through illness or trials.  Prayers for the victims of the Waukesha driving calamity.  Prayers for our nation as tensions rise and the Enemy tries to divide and discourage us.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Christmas party Dec. 11!

Lifetime Brotherhood

THE SCENE: Sunny with a weather of 85F and a little breeze.

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 Jetlag 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

  1. Brady corns
  2. Windmill
  3. Plank jacks 4ct
  4. Mountain climbers 4ct
  5. CMU – Increment: 5x squat – curl – overhead – tricep

THA-THANG:

Workout 1: CMU
Murder Bunny or bear crawl

Each cone: 10 merkins x 10 frog jumps
Then run to playground: 10 box jumps x 10 tricep dips

Workout 2: CMU 2x

Per corner:
Back: 20rows x 20deadlifts
Chest: 20merkins x 20shoulder taps
Shoulder: 20shoulder press x 20sumo squats (wide squats)
Arms: 20biceps x 20triceps

Mosey to Picketts Charge

Workout 3: 1st hill 4
1. Mountain climbers 4ct in cadence
2. Shoulder tapos 4ct on top

2nd hill 4x bearcrawl up
1. Prisoner getups 4ct
2. Toe taps 4ct

Workout 4: Colosseum 3 base

1st base: 10 side straddle hops – run around. 2nd base: 10 side straddle hops – run around 3rd base: 10 ssh – run around

Mosey back to AO.

MARY:
Wagon wheel the six

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
26 HIMs in attendance. Mickey not tagged.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
As may not all of you know, Me and my family are only visiting the US, supposedly for a few weeks for the holiday last year until Philippines declared another hard lockdown in January. Ever since then, we thought of staying here for a bit longer until we get the vaccine, and until the covid cases subside – which did not up until now. The past 8 months has been nothing short of amazing not just for me, but for my family as well. I get to spend a lot of time with parents again, them spending time with their grandchild and it feels so great to be home again with them.

Back tracking, when we first got here, my wife and I were really paranoid because of the pandemic, because of how bad the situation is where we came from. We’re scared for our child of getting sick so we always had our guards up against the virus. I met a bunch of guys working out at 5:30am under a drizzling, 35F weather. It was dark, winter, cold and awfully at the peak of the pandemic. It was my second day here in Knoxville and rest assured still jet-lag from our 27-hour flight (thus, the name, Jetlag). We worked out and it felt horrible, I’m not going to lie. But it amazes me how everyone stays for a while after the workout to say a few words, to say a little prayer for the others and for the community. Every workout is different, and I get to learn more about the community, more about what F3 means and how they make their impact in the society. And of course, these men became my brothers. These men lift each other up; cheer and pray for each other when one is down.

I have never seen anything like it. They welcomed me, a visitor, from a foreign country, in the middle of the pandemic, like I’m one of their own.

I absolutely love them, my brothers for life. And I will be forever grateful to them, for making me a better man, better partner, better son, better father – a HIM. And I’m truly honored to be part of this lifetime brotherhood.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Drum Major’s daughter, Hunter, who tore her acl; for Lily’s recovery from the hip surgery; Doubtfire’s grandmother-in-law’s recovery, who recently suffered a heart attack;

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP at Dog Pound is moved to August 21.

SteamRolled

[ The Scene ]

– Hot, sunny, minimal clouds or cloud coverage

[ Welcome/Disclaimer ]

1 – Welcome to F3: Fitness, Fellowship, Faith

    • Name is Steam and I’m pumped to be your Q tonight

2 – Couple of things before we begin

    • I am not a professional
    • You are here on your own volition
    • If you need to modify anything we do this evening feel free to do so but push yourself and the men around you!

3 – FNGs? — No

Theme of the day: “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones”

Whatever got you to this point today, whatever your experience was at work, in your spheres of influence, your relationships, your family, let that pass. You’re here now. Lock in with me for the next 45 and everything that you’ve walked through today fade away.

[ Warm o Rama ]

  • This will be a true warm O (circle) Rama
  • SSH: 20×4 IC
    • Run down to the R tree = 1 burpee
    • Run back
  • Baby Arm Circle: 10×4 F + 10×4 B IC
    • Run down to the L tree = 1 burpee
    • Run back
  • Imperial Walker: 10×4 IC
    • Run down to the R tree = 2 burpees
    • Run back
  • Cherry-Pickers: 10×4 IC
  • Windmill: 10×4 IC
    • Run down to the L tree = 2 burpees
    • Run back
  • SSH: 24×4 IC

[ The Thang ]

(Mosey down to The Bowl)

(1) 90 Degree Pyramid of Strength

POCs: Point – Sign on the other side of the street // Top Corners – 2 benches

  • Point: 10 SSH (1 count)
  • Top Corners: 10 Dips/10 Incline Merkins (1 count)
  • R+R 2x for a total of 90 reps
  • All end up back at the sign
  • Done? Pickup the 6

-10 count-

(Mosey to the next shaded tree — curb)

  • Rocky Balboas: 15×4 IC
    • Back peddle across the street
  • 15 down/up squats
  • Walk up to the curb — Rocky Balboas: 10×4 IC
    • Back peddle across the street
  • 10 down/up squats
  • Walk up to the curb — Rocky Balboas: 5×4 IC
    • Back peddle across the street
  • 5 down/up squats

(Mosey to below the coliseum rock pile)

(2) Rock It

  • grab a rock
  • 1: mosey to 2nd rock pile with it overhead
  • Execute 10 curls on a 4 count IC + drop
  • 2: Get another rock from rock pile 2 + walk back to rock pile 1 bear hug style
  • Execute 10×4 chest presses IC + drop

-10 count-

(Mosey over to Haslam Rock)

  • Wagon wheel if necessary 
  • end up at sidewalk across the street in the middle of tree coverage

-10 count-

(3) Lunge Plunge

  • Lunge to the tree (pine on ground)
  • 10 squats (1 count)
  • Side shuffle back
  • R&R 1x — shuffle with opposite leading foot coming back

(Battle buddy up)

(4) FP

  • BTTW to the bat cave (get flag on the way

[ Mary ]

  • Core 4
    • American Hammers: 10×4 IC
    • Flutter Kicks: 10×4 IC
    • LLBCs: 10×4 IC
    • Cockroaches: 10×4 IC
  • Stretching With Steam
    • breathing stretches (lower body/back/neck/shoulders)
    • flexibility stretches (core/chest/legs)

[ COT ]

  • # off
  • Name o Rama
  • FNGs
  • BOM

 Discernment + Humility

If we have no desire to be discerning, we won’t be discerning. Proverbs 2:3-6 says,

If you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding; if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

If we are driven by a yearning to be happy, healthy, affluent, prosperous, comfortable, and self-satisfied, we will never be discerning people. If our feelings determine what we believe, we cannot be discerning. If we subjugate our minds to some earthly ecclesiastical authority and blindly believe what we are told, we undermine discernment. Unless we are willing to examine all things carefully, we cannot hope to have any defense against reckless wandering faith.

The desire for discernment is a desire born out of humility. It is a humility that acknowledges our own potential for self-deception—“the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it” (Jeremiah 17:9). It is a humility that distrusts personal feelings and casts scorn on self-sufficiency—“on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:5). It is a humility that turns to the Word of God as the final arbiter of all things—“examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).

No one has a monopoly on truth. I certainly do not. I don’t have reliable answers within myself. My heart is as susceptible to self-deception as anyone’s. My feelings are as undependable as everyone else’s. I am not immune to Satan’s deception. That is true for all of us. Our only defense against false doctrine is to be discerning, to distrust our own emotions, to hold our own senses suspect, to examine all things, to test every truth-claim with the yardstick of Scripture, and to handle the Word of God with great care.

The desire to be discerning therefore entails a high view of Scripture linked with an enthusiasm for understanding it correctly. God requires that very attitude (2 Timothy 2:15). So the heart that truly loves Him will naturally burn with a passion for discernment.

  • As I was reading and reflecting on this article, I noticed there were guidelines for the comments on this post, and that they tied in exceptionally well to the message. In the link above you can see this. 
  • “Blog Guidelines”
    • Respectful
    • Helpful
    • Responsible
  • And as I was thinking about the message in this post and how I have failed tremendously at discernment and how I have also improved on leaning more into God’s will for my life and using discernment and wisdom from Him, these three things are great to keep in mind as we, as HIM, work on our discernment and wisdom and choices daily.
    • (1) Is it respectful?
    • (2) Is it helpful?
    • (3) Is it responsible?
  • As HIM, we have the unique opportunity to live out this. We have the unique opportunity to exemplify Christ by making sure our choices are respectful, helpful, and responsible.

 

  • Lastly, I am thankful. I have seen these traits played out in real time in you men, you High Impact Men of F3 Knoxville. As I am still young(ish) in my journey, I am incredibly grateful to you men for showing me what responsible decision making and discernment looks like. For showing me what helpful and considerate discernment looks like. For exemplifying what responsible discernment and decision making looks like. Thank you for living this out and setting the example for me.

DORAS Galore!

THE SCENE: Rare gem of a day! 80 degrees, sunny, low humidity.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Done and Done!
WARM-O-RAMA:

– 20 SSH (4-ct), in cadence

– 10 Windmills (4-ct), in cadence (We came close to starting over because PAX lost count, except for Jetlag, who bailed everyone out.  Then the smart-alecks started exaggerating the count, shouting it out excessively loudly, which was actually kind of hilarious)

– 10 Steve Earles, (4-ct), in cadence

– 20 Grady Corns (4-ct), in Cadence

THA-THANG:

MOSEY to rock pile below Coliseum. BATTLE BUDDY UP!  Each set of partners pick up a pair of equally sized rocks. Alternate carrying the rocks between the partners as we run around.  High Heels picks up a pebble so small that a toddler could easily lift it. 🙂

MOSEY to parking lot below Coliseum. DORAS! WINGS UP x 100

  • Partner 1, RUN up to end of roundabout, 10 ROCKY BALBOAS (2-ct), run back
  • Partner 2: Do exercise, until cumulative total = 100

MOSEY to stop sign at southern corner of circle drive. DORAS! WINGS DOWN x 100

  • Partner 1, BERNIE to tree about 50 yards away, 10 SSH, run back
  • Partner 2: Do exercise, until cumulative total = 100.

MOSEY to Amphitheater. DORAS! WINGS OUT x 100

  • Partner 1, Run up hill, 10 JUMP SQUATS, run back
  • Partner 2: Do exercise, until cumulative total = 100.

MOSEY to BAT HOUSE. DORAS! SHOULDER PRESSES x 100

  • Partner 1, Run down stairs, 10 HAND RELEASE MERKINS, run back
  • Partner 2: Do exercise, until cumulative total = 100.

MOSEY to Stop sign at northern corner of circle drive. DORAS! CURLS x 100

  • Partner 1, BEAR CRAWL to edge of guard rail, 10 Diamond Merkins, run back
  • Partner 2: Do exercise, until cumulative total = 100.

MOSEY to grassy area on north side of Pickett’s Charge. DORAS! ROWS x 200 (since these are easy…)

  • Partner 1, EL CAPITAN to tree about 10 yards away up the hill, 10 IMPERIAL SQUAT WALKERS , run back
  • Partner 2: Do exercise, until cumulative total = 100.

MOSEY to Rock Pile. DORAS! PUNCHES x 100

  • Partner 1, REVERSE LUNGE up hill, 10 MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS, run back.  (These didn’t work too well.  Really tough to actually reverse lunge uphill, although Abscess gave it his absolute best.  This was actually hilarious, as he was trying to go backwards, but really not going anywhere.  TClaps for trying, though). Modified to forward lunges or Bernie up the hill instead.
  • Partner 2: Do exercise, until cumulative total = 100.

AYG MOSEY to AO.

MARY:
Leg Stretches
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
18 strong! No FNGs. Grid Iron not tagged.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

The Screwtape Letters were written by CS Lewis to his good friend, JRR Tolkien. The character Screwtape is a senior demon in hell who counsels his nephew, Wormwood, how to corrupt a human (called “The Patient” in the letters).  Wormwood is rather incompetent, and wants to try all sorts of extravagant tricks on the Patient, but Wormwood counsels him to take a more nuanced approach, such as the one depicted in this letter.  As he says to Wormwood in another letter, “… the safest road to hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts“.  The take home message of the letter that Judge Judy posted in the 3rd F channel is that disagreements on things such as politics can distract us from our internal (i.e., religious) growth and development.  So next time you feel your blood pressure rising after watching cable news, or see you that one post on Facebook that you are just dying to respond to, maybe try to take a deep breath, disconnect, and focus on something you can do to serve your community, your family, your God

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for several PAX going through difficult challenges, particularly with health issues to them or their families.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Wesley House work day this Saturday! Off the Chain CSAUP coming up.  Start thinking about Hardship Hill teams!