F3 Knoxville

SSHhhh – Faithfulness is Quiet

THE SCENE: Coldest day in awhile. But just right for a beatdown (it wasn’t raining!)
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER – Administered
WARM-O-RAMA:

Overhead clap x 10 IC
Seal clap x 10 IC
Tempo squat x 10 IC
Seal clap squat x 10 IC
Tempo Merkins x 10 IC
Rainbow drop x 5 IC
Mountain climber x 10 IC
Forward lunge x 5 each leg
Side lunges x 5 each leg
Burpees x 7
Tennessee Rocking Chair x 10 IC

Name an exercise not SSH- Curveball named Jump Squats (after SSH’s & variants were named several times)

Falling Indian Run to the CMU pile

THA-THANG:
At the CMU pile

Exercise (modification in parentheses)
10 Blockees (10 burpees or 10 squats & 10 merkins)
15 Kettle bell swings (15 seal clap squats)
20 Goblet squats (20 squat jumps)
Run down the slope & back

We modified the second time through to the following:
10 Burpees
15 Kettle bell swings
20 Squats

Sparkles finished first and led us in 20 Flutter Kicks x IC. Put our CMUs up.

Falling Indian Run 1x and then back to the #ShovelFlag

Inspired by @Baby Boomer’s use of my 11’s we’ll be doing a modified hill version of 11’s:
BBS at bottom
Bear Crawl or Lunge up
Flutter kicks (4-ct)
Crawl Bear or crab walk down

MARY:
Dealer’s Choice (stopped after 4 PAX)
Big Finale: Pool Boy’s modification of Thunderstruck

Thunderstruck
Q plays “Thunderstruck” by ACDC. PAX complete 1 standard Merkin for every “thunder!” that is heard in the song. Plank during the rest of the song. Awesome way to end a workout and just make sure any juice that’s left is burned away. (modification listed below)
1:23
Thunder = 1 merkin, return to plank
Thunderstruck = 1 burpee and do core the Q calls
Core Exercises Flutter Kicks
BBS’s
LBC’s
Box Cutter and end with like 7 burpees

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA6 faithful men.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Proverbs 20:6Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?

Faithfulness is maybe the most underrated fruit of the Spirit. Staying your post when it seems all hell is breaking loose is hard, yet it also is commended in Ecclesiastes 10:4If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place, for calmness[a] will lay great offenses to rest.

We live in what seem to be crazy times. Can we even count on having liberty, food, a house, a marriage, you name it tomorrow? This is why Proverbs 20:6 asks the question:

Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?

We all see and I especially see in my own heart where it has gone astray and yet we’re called back time and again by God. We are the bride of Christ, to be presented without spot or blemish

But what does real faithfulness look like? It starts with doing what you’re supposed to do. With showing up at work and working diligently. With doing what you told your wife / kids / friends you would do.

It goes from there and works its way out to ministry opportunities. As a Christian, to quote Mack Stiles (who will be at my church’s Men’s Conference “Act Like Men” this weekend), “my life is forfeit.” We have been bought by Christ, how could we not be faithful and serve others? Then as we live out the Gospel (also summed up in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5) it will overflow. We’ll make disciples of all nations, starting with our families, then churches, then communities, and go on and on!

But remember, it starts with being a faithful man.

Some ways we can be faithful men in F3:
1. Show up to workouts regularly and consistently (make the HC!).
2. Intentionally get to know other PAX while working out.
3. Intentionally get to know other PAX outside of F3 (that’s the 2nd F ICYMI).
4. Sign up to Q! This not only will humble you (the Q is not about you but about serving the men who show up and trust your leadership) but also it serves the AO-Q. The best problem to have is that the AO-Q cannot get a Q in. This happened last summer at Shamrock. Let’s make it happen again!
5. Post a backblast!
6. Ask an AO-Q or the Nantan and other men how you can serve them.
7. Pray for your F3 brothers.
And so much more.

So ask yourself the question that Proverbs 20:6 asks:
Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?

MOLESKIN:
Some people tried to troll me with SSH’s as suggested exercises. I hate to have to qualify it but we can be SO MUCH MORE CREATIVE than that overused exercise! Prayed for Amber and Megan (doctors are unsure for both of them what is causing the physical pain and suffering they’re experiencing), Curveball’s mom, Boomer’s travels, and Mermaid’s upcoming family business purchase.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Men’s Conference at my church tonight. EH the guys who haven’t been out in a while too.

Spooky Tabata Skeletons

THE SCENE: Wet but no rain; a perfect 50’s kind of fall morning; a few puddles to play in (at your own volition)
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH (IC) x 20; Frankenstein-in-place (OYO) x 10; Werewolves (OYO) x 10; Shoulder Smash = 4ct Seal, Overhead, BAC-F, and BAC-R without rest x 10 each; Michael Phelps
THA-THANG:

Mosey to lot by CMU pile; 11’s warmup between two parking spots; Merkins – Lunge to other side – Squats – Bear Crawl back

Grab a CMU and head to lower lot corner by chains for some Tabata-inspired pain loops; Perform selected exercise for 45 seconds, Run a lap, rest for 15 seconds, rinse and repeat; Exercises by round = 1) CMU Curls, 2) Modified Creapees on CMU or curb, 3) Frankenstein-in-place hold CMU like a Zombie, 4) Monkey Humpers, 5) Kraken Burpees, and 6) Mother Earth Merkins

Stash those CMU’s and fellowship mosey back to AO – talk to a HIM you don’t know as well, ask their hospital name, where they are from originally, and how many years in F3.

MARY:

Bloody Mary Circle of Fun: 10 of each – 4ct Box Cutters, Merkins, SSH (led by @pool boy), Howler Circle (Monkey Humpers for a bit), 4ct Hello Dollies

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
10 experienced HIMs

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
From Q Source:

“The Pursuit Of Proper Personal Alignment – A man must Get Right before he can do anything else

To understand the Get Right, picture a man vigorously rowing a boat across a fast moving stream. If it suddenly capsizes so that the keel is skyward, the man would have to right it–return it to its upright position–before he could continue rowing. Until he did that he could not make headway against the current and get his boat to the far bank. At best, he would be simply trying to survive, clinging to his capsized boat as it was pushed by the current to points unknown downstream.

Now apply this image to the life of a man. If he has become (or always was) un-Right, he cannot make headway in any aspect of his life. The fast moving current of his surrounding circumstances will sweep him yon while he clings desperately to the hull of his overturned boat. Worse, his Concentrica –the passengers that he is charged to bring safely to the far bank–will be right there in the water with him, helpless because their husband, father and boss can do little more than focus on his own survival. Before he can help them, or himself, he has to Right his boat.”

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. 1 Corinthians 6:12

  • A man must Get Right before he can do anything else
  • An unfit man is a slave to his lack of self-control
  • To be able to help others, a man must first help himself

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
2nd F Coffeteria after workout at Dunkin (every Friday)

Infinite Competition – Everybody Wins

THE SCENE: Perfect fall gloom; 45 degrees with fog
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH x 20 (IC); T-Merkins (aka Mother Earth) x 5 (OYO); Snow Angels x 5 (OYO); 4ct Starfish Crunches x 5 (OYO); 2 Cherry Pickers
THA-THANG:
Mosey over to lower baseball parking lot; divide into two teams; Q picks first exercise for infinite pain stations; six cones placed along 1/4 mile figure eight route; at “go” PAX sprints to first cone and performs 1 rep of the chosen exercise – at each additional cone an additional rep is added (total of 21 reps per round); first team member back to start picks the next round exercise (rotated through whole, upper, and lower body, and core); arriving PAX holds plank until 6 arrives; rinse and repeat for as many rounds as possible. Finished nine rounds.

MARY:
Plank to downward dog to cobra to child’s pose… slowly over 1 minute to cool down and stretch.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Psalm 34:8 “Taste and see that the Lord is good…”  After missing several weeks recovering from Covid, I was amazed how weak and undisciplined I became in just a few short weeks.  Thankfully many HIMs continued to encourage me and call me to come back out in the gloom.  Reminded of the Lord’s grace to continue to call us back to Him each day with new mercy in spite of our weakness or undisciplined lives.  Paul says in Philippians 1 that to “die is gain”, so he clearly understood the treasure that awaited him in Christ.  For those outside of faith in Christ, this broken world is as close to the Lord and His kingdom you will get.  It’s like the reality that William Shatner just experienced with a ten minute ride in “almost space”… paling in comparison to the many universes he saw on Star Trek.

Shamrock Jungle Safari – Tabatta Style

  • welcome: all are welcome – the strong disciplined few show up – 70 degrees – felt like 90.
  • warmup:
    • Inchworms
    • bear crawl
    • lunge
    • spinning side squat
    • burpee broad jumps
    • reverse lunge
    • crab walk
    • spinning side squat
    • reverse inchworms
    • imperial lunge walker
    • reverse bear crawl
    • broad jumps
    • reverse crab walk.
  • workout:
    • in a single file line repeat the above warmup exercises tabatta style.  45 seconds of work, 15 seconds of rest.  1 exercise per tabatta set.  so 45 seconds of inchworms + 15 seconds of rest.  then bear crawl for 45 seconds + 15 rest.  repeat… etc.
    • We made it almost a mile around campus – going around trees, up hills, …
  • warm-down: mosey back to ao.
  • wrap-up: Struggle share time – go around circle , share what God is doing in each persons life.  What challenges you faced last week and what are looking at this week.  Close in prayer – we all have great challenges – challenges of purity, integrity, discomfort, deepening faith, stepping up to leadership, extending physical self discipline challenges, patience challenges, endurance & perseverance challenges, focus challenges.  We all in it the thick of it!  The hill is steep but our God is victorious over all.
  • announcements:
    • Hardship Hill,
    • IronPax,
    • Knoxville Pre-Order F3 t-shirt orders.
    • Q-sign up

Planting Shade Trees

THE SCENE: 68 but pretty humid…it was great!
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • Reach for the stars
  • Let it hang
  • Cherry Pickers (IC) 4 CT X 10
  • Baby Arm Circles Forward (IC) 4CT X 10 & Michael Phelps
  • Baby Arm Circles Backward (IC) 4CT X 10 & Michael Phelps
  • Tempo Squats (IC) 4 CT X 10
  • Tempo Merkins (IC) 4ct X 10
  • Mosey

THA-THANG:

DORAs – one works, one runs

  • Diamond Merkins X 100
  • Big Boy Situps X 100
  • Bobby Hurleys (aka Chris Loftons) X 100
  • Carolina Dry Docks X 150
  • American Hammers X 150
  • Lunges X 150
  • Merkins X 200
  • Hello Dollies X 200
  • Squats X 200
  • Calf Raises (Toe Merkins) X 250
  • Flutterkicks X 250
  • Wide Merkins X 250

MARY:

Part of the Q

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

!8 men w/ 1 big dog; Titan joined us as well

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Dennis Swanberg, The Swan as he is known across the country is a former preacher turned Christian comedian and motivational speaker.  He spoke to us and some donors at KARM not long ago.  He weaved in humor and scripture seamlessly.  He was truly amazing.

He spoke about his immigrant great-grandparents who had to make their way in this vast, new land called America by the sweat of their brow.  And, considering that they settled in Texas, they sweat A LOT.

One day, when his great-grandfather was still a very young man, a neighboring farmer saw him out in front of the family home, meticulously burying dozens of acorns.  The farmer approached the grandfather, laughing, and asked, “what in the WORLD are you doing?”

“I’m planting shade trees,” the grandfather quietly replied as he continued dropping seeds into the warm soil.

“Shade trees?” the farmer exclaimed, “Don’t you know it will take YEARS before these things are big enough to provide any shade? You’ll be long gone before then!” he stated smugly.  The grandfather continued planting–determined.

“I’m not planting them for me,” he said patiently, “I’m planting them for my grandchildren.”

The lesson was about how his grandfather planted shade trees for his property that he never got to sit under. Swan’s father and future generations got to get blessings from those shade trees.

Donors of KARM are planting shade trees for poor, homeless, addicted, mentally challenged.

Judge Judy is planting shade trees mentoring that kid whose father is in jail.  Others are volunteering at the Wesley House planting shade trees.

Volunteer soccer, baseball and softball coaches are planting shade trees by teaching the game, character, teamwork.

Preachers, Sunday School Teachers, youth sponsors all planted shade trees over us in hopes that someday we’d figure it out and live out what they taught us.

The best shade trees you’ll ever plant…Are the ones you’ll never sit under!
None of us are self-made. We’re all sitting under “shade trees” that were planted by our forefathers, by our families, and by our friends. Now, it’s your turn to leave a meaningful legacy by planting your own shade trees for others to sit under.

Not everyone can be a legend, but everyone can leave a legacy.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

  • Sign Up To Q/VQ
  • Saturday is Off The Chain CSAUP at the Dog Pound
  • Get ready for the Iron Pax Challenge