F3 Knoxville

Philippine Independence Day

THE SCENE: Gloomy with a temp of high 70s. Anticipating the rain but fortunately did not drop. Instead of the usual meetup place, gents met up in the Lakeshore Shelter which is on top of the south parking lot near the Chapel.

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:

Warmup: 12reps on a 4ct

  1. Windmill
  2. Side straddle hops
  3. Baby arm circles
  4. Reverse baby arm circles
  5. Plank jacks
  6. Plank front reaches

THA-THANG:
Workout 1: 2 rounds 12s in cadence at the Lakeshore Shelter

  1. 12 pullups
  2. 12 merkins
  3. 12 rows
  4. 12 shoulder press
  5. 12 biceps curls
  6. 12 triceps extensions/dips
  7. 12 step ups

Workout 2: Basic suicides in the parking lot
4 stations: 4 burpees each x 12 squats at the baseline
Finish with 12 burpees at the other end of the parking lot

Workout 3: 4 rounds in cadence at the driveway going out the parking lot

1. Start: merkins 4ct
2. Stop sign: mountain climbers 4ct

Workout 4: Around the Chapel 12s 4ct

  1. 12 Side straddle hops
  2. 12 squat jumps
  3. 12 butt kicks
  4. 12 frog jumps
  5. 12 high knees
  6. 12 lbcs

Workout 5: Back to Lakeshore Shelter

  1. Merkin Jacks 12x
  2. Kick Squat Jumps 12x
  3. Flutter hammer pumps 12x 4ct

MARY:N/A

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
27 HIMs. No FNGs. Mickey not tagged.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Couple of days ago, I stumbled upon a viral video performance of Jane Marczweski, professionally known as “Nightbirde” from America’s Got Talent (video link here: https://youtu.be/bTJ3eeYrHI4). During the audition, however, Nightbirde shared some tough personal news — she had “some cancer” in her lungs, spine and liver. Nightbirde also later revealed that she was given a 2% chance of survival.

While singing her original song, “It’s Okay”, Nightbirde’s authenticity and ethereal vocals took center stage. The song is about getting lost, losing, or being down and it’s okay. Focusing on small wins in our daily lives makes us successful. Things may not turn out the way we want it to be, and it’s probably because God has better plans for us.

She ended her performance with a quote: “you can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy”. So gents, I hope you keep focusing on those small wins in your daily lives, keep your chin up and know that the man above has better plans for us when you’re feeling down and lost sometimes. Waking up and being there in an F3 beatdown,  smashing thru the workout is already a win for each and everyone of us and it means a lot just you being out there for your brothers.

“If you’re lost, we’re all a little lost and it’s alright. It’s okay.” – Nightbirde

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Jinxy and Lilydipper as they continue to heal. Praise for Dung Beetle who’s leading his first worship next week in their church.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Wesley House volunteers needed; CSAUP at Dog Pound end of July.

Big Shoes to Fill

THE SCENE: HOT! 90 degrees, mostly sunny, but a slightly coolish breeze kept it from being unbearable.  Pele is going to melt this summer…!
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Check!
WARM-O-RAMA:

– 20 SSH (4ct, IC)

– 20 Moroccan Nightclubs (4 ct, IC)

– 10 Windmills (4 ct, IC)

– Leg/hamstring stretches, left leg over right, then reverse.

– 10 Plank Jacks (4 ct, IC)

THA-THANG:

Warm up Mosey around Admin building.  Picked up Pusher on the way back.

  • EVEREST SUMMIT PYRAMID: Do the exercise, then run up Summit each time. Wait at the top, come down as a group.  Cheer on your fellow PAX!
  • Exercises will be the following (all single count, 15 sec count in between rounds)
    • 20 Iron Mikes
    • 20 Iron Mikes, 20 Jump Squats
    • 20 Iron Mikes, 20 Jump Squats, 20 Merkins
    • 20 Jump Squats, 20 Merkins
    • 20 Merkins
  • MOSEY to grassy area near Roadshow Run. Three cones will be laid out for a BEARMUDA TRIANGLE!
    • Bear crawl to first cone, 1 Burpee, second cone, 2 Burpees, third cone, 3 Burpees.
    • Rinse and repeat x2 (only one Burpee per cone on the second round).
  • MOSEY to Intersection of Trail and Road
    • 20 American Hammers
  • MOSEY to stop sign at northeast corner of Admin building drive.
  • DORAS: Partner 1 Bernie Sanders to end of Guard Rail, then runs to tree, 1 Burpee, then runs back. Partner does the following:
    • 100 Gas Pumps / 100 Pickle Pounders / 100 Froggy Jumps
  • AYG to AO.

MARY:
Random assorted mix of core exercises.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
10 men, no FNGs. Lilydipper and Jinxy met us for the Board Meeting

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

As many of you know, Lilydipper stepped down as our AOQ last week.  He’ll be out for a while because of his hip, and there needs to be someone who’s here at the AO on a pretty regular basis, so he and the leadership team asked me if I’d take on the role.  At first, I was reluctant. As I told them, Lilydipper is the one who first introduced me to F3 and the Fake Gloom PAX, and is one of my closest friends and mentors in the world, and I he’s our AOQ, simple as that.  But, as with the Nan’taan position, it’s a good thing to transition in fresh blood on a regular basis and give more people a chance to take on leadership roles. So I accepted.  But the first thing I want to do is for us all to convey our deep appreciation to Lilydipper.  I wouldn’t have come to my first F3 without his introduction to what it was all about, and after that horror show, I damn sure wouldn’t have come to my second one without his encouragement.

So you Fake Gloomers are stuck with me for a bit.  It’s a pretty hands-off position.  I’ll make sure the Q calendar gets filled up, let everyone know about general stuff going on, but I do want to re-emphasize a few things that I would like us to focus on a bit more going forward.

  1. Community Service: We are here not only to work out, but to become better leaders, and to be a leader you first have to be a servant.  I ask each of you to evaluate how you can better serve your community, families, and churches.  Leaders must lead by example, and by actively participating in helping others, you take that first huge step.
  2. Cheerleaders for each other: We need to be cheerleaders for each other, as well. One of our biggest resources and source of strength and encouragement is each other.  Let’s continue to verbally encourage the man to your left and right during workouts. I know if I hear a “Way to go, Pele!”, or a “Finish it off, don’t quit!” from one of you Bozos it really encourages me, gives me a second wind.  Fist bumps and high fives, are back on the menu, too, now that COVID is relaxing its grip.  Help each other get through the workouts, especially now that the summer heat is upon us.  And this goes for stuff going on OUTSIDE the AO, too.  Personal issues, just a simple question about well-being, etc. can go a long way.
  3. Re-commitment to the values of F3. For some of us that have been in this awhile, there’s a tendency to take it for granted.  To just show up, get in a little exercise, maybe have a cold beverage at the Board Meeting.  But I’m going to try to re-commit myself to the basics again, and I hope you join me.
    1. Form. Not cutting corners. Especially when we’re tired.
    2. Positivity. Open to all men, all religions. F3 is apolitical.  We hear enough of that stuff on the news or in other facets of our lives.  Let’s keep that out of our community.
    3. As Crawdad says, show up, but SHOW UP ON TIME! Let’s recommit to being here by 5:45 pm. We often seem to double our numbers from the time the disclaimer begins to when we mosey, with a few stragglers arriving even later. Being on time shows a commitment and respect for the PAX.

In short, I want us to be the leaders in Knoxville in the way we work out, the way we support our communities, and the way we commit to a common cause of self-betterment through service. I’ve been proud as heck of our contributions to service drives, F3 Knoxville events, and our commitment to embracing the Suck.  But we can always be better.  There is more work to be done.  Let’s GO.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Lily’s wife, who is undergoing a heart test on Thursday.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Big Ball convergence cancelled, sign up for Dog Pound CSAUP ASAP!

Sprintalicious & Pillars of Redemption

  • Welcome one and all: 70ish degrees with a dash of humidity – Summer is here and Covid is over.
  • Warm-up: 
    • SSH, High Knees, Burpees, Windmills, Cherry Pickers, TN Rockin Chairs.
  • Workout:
    • Catch Up Mosey: Around campus Perimeter , stop and do some exercises until the 6 catches up and then immediately continue the mosey when they arrive.  Arrive at Church Pillars
    • Pillars of Redemption:
      • Each him grabs(goto) a brick pillar and bear crawls to the pillar that is adjacent or diagonal to their current pillar after they have done the exercise called out by Q.
      • At each pillar do one exercise.
        • 1 Dirty Getup
        • 1 Walle
        • 1 Balls to the Wall (Dirken ascention)
      • We did these all together – so sort of in cadence.
      • We did an exercise for each pillar in the courtyard – which is about 36 pillars.  Ended up being quite the shoulder workout.
    • Catch up Mosey to Football Track
    • Sprint-a-licious
      • Each HIM goes to their own 5 yard line.
      • Sprint across the field
      • The first two winners do not have to do 5 burpees.  The rest of us do 5 burpees before next round.
      • Side Lunge to the next 5 yard line down field.
      • We started the HIMs at alternating sides so we were sprinting towards each other and each side had their own group of winners and losers.
      • We did this sequence (Sprint, Burpees, Lunges) about six or seven times.
      • Finish off by grouping back together and as one group sprint the 100 yards of the full field. This time with the top 4 fastest HIMs not having to do 10 burpees – while the rest of us did 10 burpees.  We did this twice.
  • Warmdown – Mary
    • We did the thing where you face out in a circle and hold a leg lift as succeeding HIMs run around the circle throwing each others legs to the ground.  I know it’s in the lexicon but I couldn’t find it.
  • Words of Encouragement 
    • John the baptist in John 3: 31 “He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. 33 He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; [i]for He gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. 36 He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not [j]obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”  — Our prayer is that we not get distracted today but that we remember that the gospel is simple – “He who believes in the Son has eternal life.” – Spread that simple gospel.  You can talk the rest of your life about a million different aspects of it – but also remember how simple it is to share just that one sentence “He who believes in the Son has eternal life.”

Thanks F3 Dortmund

THE SCENE:

Clear Temperature Humidity Feels like Wind Speed Wind Direction
60 ℉ 93% 60 ℉ 3.1 mi/h ENE

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER.
I am not a professional.  The following workout created using a sampling of Thangs recently done at F3 Dortmund.

WARM-O-RAMA:

20 – SSH
10 – Tie Fighters 10 forward 10 backward.
10 – Tempo Merkins
3 – Cherry Pickers

THA-THANG:
Mosey to football field.
11’s. Start at goal line. To the 30 yard line. Burpees at both stations. So, 110 burpees.  (Murphy’s Law @F3Dortmund offered this up.)

I felt like many of the BB from Dortmund included Ring of Fire.
7 points. 1 minute at each. 15 seconds rest in between.
#1 – Shuttle run.
#2 – LBCs
#3 – Merkins
#4 – Bleachers/Stair Loops
#5 – Dips
#6 – Jump Squats
#7 – Plank

Two circuits.

MARY:
6 Minutes of Ab work. Including BBS, Heal Taps, LBCs, and Flutter Kicks.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
14 men.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

God has given us the Holy Spirit to help us along our paths. So long as what we are doing, or the path we are trying to explore is not in violation of the small still interior voice, we are probably alright. If the action or considered action causes us any sort of distress, it is most likely not in accordance with God’s plans for us.

 

MOLESKIN:
For the sick and elderly.  For our brothers battling illness and their wives.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

I Wanna Rock

THE SCENE:  Nice and 62 degrees at circle up
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Start with 25 SSH on 4ct, To sidewalk for bb circles forward x10, jog to other end for bb circles reverse x10, jog back down for tempo merkin x10, mtn climbers x10, then Rockettes x10 on 4ct.

THA-THANG:
Mosey to get a rock. Once everyone had one we performed circuit of 1 min of exercise with rock, 1 min of SSH or High Knees, and 10 second recovery.  Did 5 rounds of

  • 1 Min Curls
  • 1 Min SSH
  • 1 Min OH Press
  • 1 Min High Knees
  • 1 Min Front Raise
  • 1 Min SSH
  • 1 Min Kettle Bell Swings
  • 1 Min High Knees
  • 1 Min Tricep Extensions
  • 1 Min SSH

Mosey to lower parking lot to rinse and repeat.

When done, left 3 rocks at drainage pile and carried the rest to baby everest.  Up baby everest 3 times with 2 burpees at the top.  Take Rocks back and time to circle up…

MARY:

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Took a bit from Warren Buffet about how he asks his managers to judge their actions: By thinking about every decision or action they made appear in the newspaper for your family, friends, and neighbors to see.  Related it to the small things we do every day.  Not just the big things.  It’s the words that come out of our mouths.  The things we look at or click on.

Psalm 19:14

Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.