F3 Knoxville

I am not ashamed

THE SCENE: sticky and hot at Rampart
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

15 SSH, 15 Mountain climbers, 10 tempo merkins, 15 Moroccan night club, 15 Imperial walkers, 10 tempo squats
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the track for the burpee mile. 12 burpees followed by 1 lap times 4.

Mosey to the amphitheater. At the bottom, perform the first exercise. Jump to the second step and do the first two exercises. Jump to the third step and do the first three exercises. Continue until all exercises are performed.

  • Derkins
  • Box jumps
  • Dips
  • Lunges
  • Big boys

MARY:
No time.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Lucky 13 worked this morning at Rampart.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

“I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” – Romans 1:14‭-‬16 NASB1995

“I am not ashamed” stands out to me in this passage. I have found myself on several occasions shying away from opportunities to show my faith as if I don’t want people to know who I really am. It is hard for some, including myself, to stand-up for the truth. It is very possible that we may reach someone just by doing that very thing.

Building B.O.M.B.S and Assaulting the Fort

THE SCENE: A crisp and welcome 58 degrees with clear skies.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: Obsequiously delievered.

WARM-O-RAMA:

  • SSH x15
  • THE Knoxville Cherry Picker x5
  • Willie Mays Hayes x6
  • Tempo Merk x10
  • Tempo Squat x10
  • Mtn Climbers x10
  • FLBAC x10
  • RLBAC x10
  • Grady Corn x10
  • Moroccan Nigh Clubs x10
  • Your favorite and mine, ladies and gentlemen… The Chattanooga Cherry Picker x11

THA-THANG:
PAX flipped on headlamps and moseyed down the trail to the amphitheater to build B.O.M.B.S. PAX partnered up. One performed exercises while the other moseyed the perimeter of the amphitheater then flapjack. PAX took the cumulative amount of the follower exercises.

  • 50 Burbees
  • 100 OH Claps
  • 150 Merks
  • 200 BBS
  • 250 Squats

First team to complete called recover. PAX moseyed Creeper’s Charge to assault the fort and held Al Gore for 6. At Pastor’s Peak, PAX took a 10 count and moseyed to RTB for Marry.

MARY:

  • Flutter Kicks x10 (Bobbitt)
  • LBC x10 (Creeper)
  • 20 second plank (Airborne)
  • 20 MORE seconds plank (Skeletor)
  • Time was called.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

This past weekend, YHC participated in the Barbarian Challenge, and obstacle course race near Gadsden, AL. This was a 6+ mile course with 35 obstacles. YHC realized that this was more of a mental challenge than a physical challenge. There were obstacles that played on people’s fear of heights in particular which included walking across a log with a 20 foot drop into the creek and several others.

In particular, the final obstacle was meant to capitalize on the participant’s fear; a 30 foot tower (YHC is guessing) that consisted of a cargo net climb to the top, jumping a chasm to grab on to a bar to pull yourself across. The worst part was the announcer commentating on every person that came to the chasm and the crowd surrounding the tower. Many people froze in fear. YHC had to listen to one person stuck for the entire entry to the final obstacle. Just when YHC summitted the tower, the Beastie Boys came on, fear dissipated, all thinking ceased, and big leap was made.

Mark Divine, in his book, Staring Down the Wolf tells a Native American tale of a negative wolf that resides in the minds of humans. This wolf operates from fear, is hungry for drama, catastrophizes, and has incessant negative talk. It begs for your attention. But there is also a second wolf residing in the hearts of all humans. This one has an appetite for love and connection. It does not need the drama. It is optimistic and simply asks to be noticed. The one that controls you in the one you feed the most.

It’s our job to put ourselves in scenarios to create the conversation between our mind and heart, the whiner and the whisperer. The more we conquer our fear, the more we feed the positive wolf and the stronger it gets. The more we give into our fears, the more we feed the negative wolf and live from it.

YHC explained that his personal signs of fear are hesitation, procrastination, excuse making, and anxiety. It’s our job to recognize the voice of fear for what it is and push through.

2 Tim 1:7 says, “For God has not given you a spirit of fear but one of power, and of love, and of sound judgement.”

MOLESKIN:
All PAX pushed through a grinder today. Well done! It’s an honor to be in the gloom with you fellas! Don’t forget our Rampart Motto! There will be a test Wednesday.

1 Cor 16:13-14, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Do everything in love.”

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Convergence July 2 at JUCO!
Olive Oil on Q Wednesday!
Airborne VQ next Wednesday!

Speedway Launch

THE SCENE: Upper 50s, a beautiful morning to launch

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER


WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH x 20; Windmill x10; Toe Merkins x10; Tie Fighter x10 (F/B); Tempo Squat x10; Dancing Bear x10

THA-THANG:

Bear Crawl Inch Worm: Partner up and form two lines holding plank, partners at end Bear Crawl to front of line, when both make it to the front the next pair starts.

Bear Brawl: 5 Burpees on each side of small soccer field. Partners take turns putting pressure on shoulders while the other Bear Crawls. Go back and forth 3 times.

Mosey to next field

Squat Totem: Lunge from cone to cone, increase reps by 5 at each cone, 6 total cones

Mosey to another field

Wheelbarrow with partner halfway then switch positions to go the other half. Partner carry halfway then switch for other half. Did this twice.

Mosey to hill at back of fields

11s with Merkins and Big Boys, Bear Crawl up the hill, Mosey down

Mosey to shovel flag

Afterburner:
Overhead Claps IC x50

Seal Claps IC x25

Grady Corn IC x25

MARY:
F3 is not about any one person so we did PAX Roulette

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
21 HIM

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Whenever I talk to someone about F3, I always say that it is so much more than a workout. It is truly about all three Fs, Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith.

That first F is the magnet. Every man standing here started coming because they had some fitness goal in mind. Some of us may be elite athletes but most are just men that want to be healthy for our families. My goal when I started was being able to do simple things, like walking up the stairs, without being winded.

That second F is the glue. I knew that I needed others to hold me accountable for me to actually work out. What I didn’t know or expect, is that I needed manly friendships. I thought I was good on friends, but those relationships, for the most part, were only surface deep. Now I have so many men that I can go to when I need help, a listening ear, or just someone to vent my frustration with. The value of the second F is immeasurable.

That third F is the dynamite. F3 defines faith as believing in something greater than yourself. Full disclosure, for me, that is my belief in Jesus Christ. I believe that He lived a sinless life, died on the cross to save us from sin, and rose from the grave to sit at the right hand of God. The thing is though, that those are just words if my actions don’t line up with them. My belief must change the way I treat others, it must influence my decisions, and it should guide my actions. So whatever your faith is make sure it is doing those same things for you because we all are meant to be putting others in front of ourselves.

MOLESKIN:
Excited to see where Speedway goes from here! Thank you to all those that came from other AOs to the launch!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Convergence on 7/2 at JUCO, there will be no beatdown at Speedway that day.

RAMPART: Stations and Laps

THE SCENE: Humid, with some lake mist for mood
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Side Straddle Hops – 15 in cadence

LBAC – forward and reverse, 10 each in cadence

Moroccan Night Clubs – 10 in cadence

Tempo Merkin – 7 in cadence

Tempo Squats – 7 in cadence

  • THA-THANG:
    Short mosey to track
  • Station 1 – partner up each take turns for: 10 CMU Blockees, 20 Jump Squats, 15 CMU Shoulder Press, 25 Monkey Humpers, 15 CMU Curls, and 15 CMU Rows – Run one full lap +100M to next station
  • Station 2 – 15 Shoulder Tap Merkins, 30 LBCs, Run full lap +100M to next station
  • Station 3 – 25 Merkins, 25 Mountain Climbers, Run full lap +100M to next station
  • Station 4 – 20 Carolina Dry Docks, 20 Flutter Kicks, Run full lap +100M back to start
  • RTB

MARY:
Flutter Kicks, Box Cutters, LBCs 1:30 total
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Shared Q-Source article talking Sad Clowns, Mascots, and the High Impact Man
MOLESKIN:
Good effort, much sweat from all PAX
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Skeletor on Q next Wed, Rampart Motto: 1 Cor 16:13-14

Top Gun Exercises at Rampart

THE SCENE: The gloomiest of glooms…just the way we like it.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: Dutifully executed.
WARM-O-RAMA:

We started with some Projectivators (x11) to get the Pax good and disoriented to start things off.
Tempo Squats x7
Tempo Merkins x10
Mtn Climbers x10 two count
FLBAC x10
RLBAC x10
Grady Corn x10
Moroccan Night Clubs x10
Chattanooga Cherry Pickers ® x10
SSH x16 or 17 …QIC got distracted thinking about the amazing playlist he made.

Mosey a lap around the lot.

THA-THANG:
Pax performed a modified version of the “Danger Zone” routine. 10 minute exercise cycling through 10 reps of the following exercises (Merkins, Freddy Mercury, Big Boys, Bobby Hurley, Monkey Humpers, repeat). Every 2 minutes, the timer goes of to perform 4 burpees (hence, the Danger Zone). All performed to the glorious sweaty passion of of Kenny Loggins.

As “Playing with the Boys” played, PAX moseyed a lap then went to the “volleyball court”. There they split into teams of 3. Each team had notecards with the following exercises: Carolina Dry Docks (which apparently, can be modified into Pickle Pounders merely by preference), Monkey Humpers, Big Boys, Toe Merkins, and Mtn Climbers. Teams will flip a card, perform 20 reps of the exercise and either flip a cone up or down depending on their team. At the end, the team with the most cones facing in their direction wins. PAX played two rounds. It was almost as dazzling as the movie. Next time Creeper promises to bring the baby oil (although we had plenty of Olive Oil).

PAX then moseyed to the end of the parking lot for Dog Fight exercises (or basically that rabbit hunt thing Kickflip did reinterpreted for our purposes). A single PAX would volunteer to be the hunted rabbit while the rest were the wolves. The rabbit got extra reps and a head start. Wolves worked to catch up to the rabbit. Exercises were Burpees (Olive Oil), Bobby Hurleys (Wing Man), Merkins (Piston), aaaaaaand those delightfully memorable Pickle Pounders (QIC – thanks Skeletor!).

PAX moseyed for Mary.

MARY:
Flutter Kicks (x10)
Box Cutters (x10)
Freddy Mercury (x10)
LBC (The little boys!) (x10)
Hello Dollies (x10)
10 Second Hold (x10)

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Casting Your Shadow
Acts 5:5-16 says “People brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.”

Psalm 17:8 – “Hide me in the shadow of your wings.”

In Jewish culture, Your shadow is your realm of influence. The idea was that, we can no more detach ourselves from our influence on others than our bodies can get rid of their own shadows. Peter, through the work of the Holy Spirit after Pentecost, had gone from being a brash loudmouth with little action to back it up into a bold and influential man of God. While healing might have occurred through his shadow (hard to tell in the text), it is clear that his influence was widely known.

Are we casting a shadow of influence or “throwing shade” as the kids used to say?
A HIM understands the influence he has on other people.
A HIM uses influence intentionally to make an impact.
A HIM’s focus is always for the sake of others, not himself.

Are you intentionally using your influence FOR people?
I used to work in a grocery store at a meaningless job. The more the Lord began to change my life, the more I began to be available for people that I worked with. Eventually, I noticed that people would come to me saying something like, “I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but…”. I was slowly becoming someone known for helping people and giving wisdom.

In How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie says “The world is full of people who are grabbing and self-seeking. So the rare individual who unselfishly tries to serve others has an enormous advantage. He has little competition.”

What are those areas you could be intentionally casting your shadow to influence people?
Why aren’t you?
Lack of Energy?
Lack of attention?
Lack of confidence?

How do you cast a shadow? You stand in the light.

MOLESKIN:
YHC apologizes for reliving the volleyball scene three times with “Playing with the Boys”. There were many, MANY more great songs to the soundtrack though we only heard 3 on repeat. We’ll do this again in three months with the whole soundtrack, aviators, and Creeper will remember the baby oil.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

RAMPART OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES MONDAY! 7am hour-long beatdown. Bring those FNGs!
July 2nd Convergence at JUCO!