F3 Knoxville

Tag: Cross-Check

Contentment

THE SCENE: nice 50 degrees!
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
15 SSH, 15 Imperial walkers, 10 tempo merkins, 15 Mountain climbers, 15 Moroccan night club, 10 Grady corns
THA-THANG:
Mosey to playground

  • 5 pull-ups and 5 burpees
  • Run to the pool wall
  • 5 wall-ups
  • 3 rounds

Mosey to K2-5 hill. Stop twice along the way for 20 derkins and then 10 squats. 11s at the hill. Start with 10 squats and the bottom and 1 Merkin at the top.

  • Take the scenic route around the trail
  • Do 2 Prison Cell Merkin Burpees
  • Increase by 2 at every intersection
  • Add in 2 count flutter kicks (double quantity of the burpees) and SSH (double the quantity of the flutter kicks)

MARY:
Out of time
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
8 crushed this workout!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
“Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.” ’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”-Luke 12:15‭-‬21 NASB1995

This man had his priorities out of line. He was more concerned about accumulating wealth on earth instead of putting up his treasures in heaven. We need to be reminded to be content and focus on serving God first, spending time with our families, and serving others over working so hard to accumulate wealth that we miss the opportunity to reap the benefit.

MOLESKIN:
YHC again had to add work on the fly. Everyone worked really hard this morning.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Upcoming OTBs for Rampart in Kingston. CSAUP May 6th.

Danger Zone at the Project

THE SCENE: A blisteringly hot day with scorching sand, glistening tans, and government issued Ray-Bans…perfect for beach volleyball “with the boys”! …or it was just dark and 42 degrees. You pick.

F3 WELCOME & DISLCLAIMER: Roger that, Ghost Rider.

WARM-O-RAMA:
An assortment of Project classics that included the following:

  • SSH x 15
  • Willy Mays Hays x10
  • Tempo Squat x5
  • Knoxville Cherry Pickers x5
  • Forward LBACs x10
  • Reverse LBACs x10
  • Moroccan Night Clubs to the beat of 10
  • Chattanooga Cherry Pickers® x10
  • Up-tempo SSH x15
  • 25 Merkins OYO (for KickFlip Stuff™)
  • Mosey for touch and go at the fountain for 25 more Merkins – OYO
  • Mosey to the Thang!

“Let’s turn and burn!”

THA-THANG:
Pax formed a circle with CMUs around the speaker blaring the Top Gun Soundtrack.

Pax performed a slightly modified “Top Gun” routine – 10 reps each of 5 coupon exercises for 10 minutes. The 5 coupon exercises are repeated for the entire 10 minutes. The Danger Zone happens every 2 minutes when PAX drops coupon and perform 3 Burpees, then pick up where they left off on the coupon exercises. The “Top Gun Motion Picture Soundtrack” only moderately numbed the pain.

    • Round One: Curls, Rows, CMU Swings, OH Press, Squats, rinse and repeat for 10 minutes with 3 burpees every 2 minutes
      • Mosey a lap around the lot
    • Heavy Hammers, Heavy Freddies, Heavy Crunches, Heavy Dollies, Heavy Flutters, rinse and repeat for another 10 minutes with 3 burpees every 2 minutes
      • Mosey a lap around the lot

Pax then performed 25 more merkins and a 2 minute plank

RTB
KickFlip had “a need….for speed!” and called jailbreak when “Danger Zone” played. No one could resist.

Total for Push, Pull, Plank Challange:

  • 75 merkins + 30 burpees = 105
  • 2 minute plank complete
  • 0 pullups

MARY:
Pax arrived at base at exactly 06:15. We fly by the seat of our pants. No time for Mary.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

The Real Danger Zone is not getting enough rest.

YHC recently took a test for a couaching group and found out he is high on “restlessness.” I realized how much I struggled on vacation; always looking to the next thing, irritable when we’re not accomplishing something. I have a hard time actually resting.

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, in his book Rest says, “I argue that we misunderstand the relationship between work and rest. Work and rest are not polar opposites. Rest is not work’s adversary. Rest is work’s partner. They complement and complete each other.”

When we work out, we’re not building muscle. It’s the rest and sleep that are VERY important to the process. This is where the building of muscle actually happens. 

Pang continues, “Further, you cannot work well without resting well. Some of history’s most creative people, people whose achievements in art and science and literature are legendary, took rest very seriously. They found that in order to realize their ambitions, to do the kind of work they wanted to, they needed rest. The right kinds of rest would restore their energy while allowing their muse, that mysterious part of their minds that helps drive the creative process, to keep going.”

  • Albert Einstein’s day dreaming and mind experiments led to the Theory of Relativity. They came when he stopped overworking the math.
  • Winston Churchill took naps every day – pajamas and all.
  • In seminary, I would work hard on gathering information and forming the structure of my paper. I would then take a nap and wake up with how it all ties togetyer. This is very often true for my sermons each week as well.

Psalm 127:1-2
Unless the Lord builds the house,
    those who build it labor in vain.
the Lord guards the city,
    the guard keeps watch in vain.

It is in vain that you rise up early
    and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
    for he gives sleep to his beloved.

It takes a certain amount of FAITH to REST.
Are you trusting the Lord enough to rest?
Are you caring for your work and family with rest?
Are you caring for your mind, body, spirit with rest?

MOLESKIN:

  • YHC: “If you’re going to watch Top Gun, you have to endure the volleyball scene.” Mathlete: “What do you mean ‘ENDURE’?!”
  • Three-Peet momentarily saw his spirit leaving him during heavy crunches and “Memories”. (Goooose!)
  • Extra Top Gun points to Tuba for pulling out the aviators for COT

Workout Soundtrack:

  • “Top Gun Anthem” by Harold Faltermeyer
  • “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins
  • “Playing with the Boys” by Kenny Loggins (sufficiently endured)
  • “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” by The Righteous Brothers
  • “Great Balls of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis (“Hey Goose, you big stuuuud!”)
  • “Mighty Wings” by Cheap Trick
  • “Memories” by Harold Faltermeyer (Goooooooose!!!)
  • “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding
  • “Lead Me On” by Teena Marie (I admit… this was a bad choice. My bad, guys.)
  • “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

  1. New AO “Rampart” (Kingston) OTBs THIS Saturday as well as 4/9 & 4/23 at 7AM
  2. No Family Workout Sat Apr 2
  3. Check Slack channel @TheProject for details on Family Camping April 1-3 (1 more camp site available – BEST ONE!) OR hiking Devil’s Racetrack on Sat, Apr 2
  4. Planning for 1st Project CSAUP May 6 – see Slack channel for signup and details on Google Doc

Identidem Essentitas

THE SCENE:   39 and clear
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Administered
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH
Seal squats
Phelps
Cherry pickers

THA THANG:

  • Mosey to the tennis courts.  Partner up.  P1 does split squats while P2 does a lap around the three courts, sprint, side shuffle, bernie, side shuffle.  Switchero.  Repeat, with P1 doing a decline plank.
  • Sprints across the parking lot.  First pole, second pole, all the way.
  • Mosey to the chamber of commerce.  Partner up.  100 hanging leg lifts between the pair. P2 runs to the sidewalk, 2 burpees, back.
  • North side of the COC – 3 jump squat 180s, crawl bear 2 parking spaces, 6 imperial walkers, repeat to the end of the parking lot.
  • Tricep extensions on the bridge, bob and weave, wall sit for time.
  • High school entrance.  25 LBCs, broad jump up the steps, 15 dips.  Repeat x 3
  • 10 No Chance, Bobbitts (NCBs)*
  • Mosey to the wall – 15 wall-ups
  • Race around 4 light poles – 15 squats at each.
  • 100 merkins scattered throughout

MARY:

100 seconds of plank
Dolly until time

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Me and 6 of the best men that I know

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Last Thursday, Mathlete talked about decision making and the concept of bricklaying.  “Find one thing at a time, make a decision, and then start living that decision out. This will train you to make that decision regularly.”  This morning, I tagged on to that and talked about habits.

The more you repeat a behavior, the more you reinforce the identify associated with that behavior.  In fact, the word “identity” is derived from the Latin identidem, which means repeatedly, and essentitas, which means “being”.  Your identity is quite literally your “repeated beingness”.  William James said, “All our life…is but a mass of habits”.  You are what you repeatedly do.

It is, therefore, so important to establish and cultivate healthy habits, and to starve unhealthy habits.

How?  Author James Clear agrees with Mathlete – you do it by one little piece at a time.  He wrote in his book Atomic Habits, “it is so easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the value of making small improvements on a daily basis.”  We convince ourselves that success requires some massive dramatic action – but Clear says that small increments is the way to go.  If you established a tiny habit that improves you just 1% improvement per week – you would be 166% better in a year.  You’d be 276% better in 2 years.  There was a study performed in 2009 that determined on average it takes 66 days for a habit to form.  Tiny changes consistently applied over the course of 2 months – bam! – you’ve got a new habit.

One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a culture where your desired behavior is the normal behavior (welcome to F3!).  If you are working to remove an unhealthy habit – you need accountability (Shield Locks).  Join a culture where your desired behavior is the normal behavior.

Why do we quit?

  • Boredom? “The greatest threat to success is not failure, but boredom” (Clear).
  • Short-term perspective?  “It is only when looking back two, five, or ten years later that the value of good habits and the cost of bad ones becomes strikingly apparent” (Clear).  When we don’t see progress fast enough, we draw wrong conclusions.  We wrongly conclude that small wise decisions do not matter that much.  They DO.  We’re trying to stop something that is unhealthy – we don’t see results quickly – we wrongly conclude that small unwise decisions do not matter that much.  They DO.  (Hat tip, Craig Groeschel)

Identidem essentitas, your “repeated beingness”.  Every action you take is a vote for the type of man you want to become.  With that in mind…

  • What good habit do you need to start?
  • What unhealthy habit do you need to stop?

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

MOLESKIN:

Man…I LOVE running around in the dark with this band of crazies!

Prayers for Guardrail and his family

Prayers for Bambi’s daughter

* No Chance, Bobbitt (NCB) – An ab tuck while balancing your six on the edge of a bench.  Hold the bench right by your butt and it’ll be no problemo.  Apparently balancing on his rear is Bobbitt’s Achilles heel.  Who knew?

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Join a Shield Lock!  Two groups have formed at The Proj. – see Mathlete to jump into one or to start a third!

Agility training to unify the body

THE SCENE: Perfect spring weather, high 40s, clear, no moon
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • Projectivators
  • Tempo Squats
  • Lunges
  • LBACs
  • Tempo Merkins
  • Mountain Climbers

THA-THANG:

  • Mosey to recruiting center with agility warm up on the way
    • Borg-style lunge stretch
    • High knees
    • Butt kicks
    • Lateral
    • Karaoke
  • At the recruiting center, everybody get a block.
  • Remember, the goal is to feel soft and light. If it isn’t soft and light, slow down, ease up.
  • Dora – 300 heavy LBCs while your partner does toe taps, swap every 25 LBCs, at 150 swap to side taps
  • Dora – 200 heavy squats while your partner practices silent box jumps, swap every 25
  • Dora – 300 heavy freddies while partner does a cycle of ladder agility, swap each ladder cycle
    • High knees forward
    • One foot forward, each side
    • High knees lateral
    • One foot lateral, each side
  • Dora – 100 rows each arm while partner does a sprint from the belly, swap once he moseys back
  • One round of max pull ups
  • High tail it back

MARY:
No time
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Speed is the lack of hesitation

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast

Decision making is an enormous mental burden. Just watch someone who is doing it. They look into the distance or close their eyes. They can’t focus on other things, they seem distracted. Mentally evaluating possibilities and variations in outcomes occupies the entirety of cognitive processes.

Thus, if you want to be fast, if you want to be efficient, you need to eliminate all unnecessary decision making that you can. This is a major value of training, in general. It is the deliberate effort of pre-deciding on the details of action, then working to upload them into your routine memory so that you can respond quickly to a situation without the hesitation and burden of thought. This doesn’t mean you are thoughtless, on the contrary it effectively increases the volume of thought per time available to you by desynchronizing the process. By eliminating the need to think about the basics of your action, you can be freed to consider the situation from a tactical and strategic perspective. Our individual bodies are stunningly capable when executing a rehearsed action. What is more, our communal bodies are downright incomprehensible to watch when operating in coordination.

All this power rests essentially on layers of pre-decision. Today, when you are calm, thoughtful, patient, make some decisions. Decide what your priorities are, what you value, and what you would sacrifice for them. Take those values and start meticulously applying them to the real things that you do. Don’t do it in one day or one week. This is the process of bricklaying. Find one thing at a time, make a decision, and then start living that decision out. This will train you to make that decision regularly. Once that decision is trained, pick another. Don’t get high level, bring it down to discreet, actionable things.
MOLESKIN:
Steam punk candy canes
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Family workout Saturday at 9 am. Bobbit is working on planting an AO at Fort Southwest Point in Kingston. OTB workouts during April, join the slack channel #Rampart for info. Family camping trip April 1-3 at Cove Lake State Park, Family hike at 1pm April 2, meet at the Cove Lake parking lot. Contact Kickflip for details and to see if you can get one of his extra campsite reservations.

Schedule Your Priorities

THE SCENE:   56 and drizzly
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Administered
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • Seal claps
  • Burger Squat Jumps *
  • Angel crunches
  • Gas pumps
  • Plank jacks
  • Catalina wine mixer

THA THANG:

Mosey to the library quad.  Four corners.  Complete exercises as written – EMOM run a lap around the fountain.  Move quadrants as a group – at the pace of the fastest man.

  • 20 Squat + Box Jump
  • 40 BBS
  • 60 Lunge pulses
  • 80 Merkins

Mosey to the playground – max pull-ups.

Mosey to the amphitheater.  Pyramid.  30 seconds each.  Round 1 do exercise 1, Round 2 do exercises 1 and 2, Round 3, do 1, 2, and 3…etc.

  1. Stretch OYO
  2. Boggart Circle **
  3. SSH
  4. Mountain climbers
  5. Burger Jump Squats *
  6. Gas pumps
  7. Catalina wine mixer
  8. Angel crunches
  9. Plank hip dips
  10. Body builders

MARY:

Only had time for this week’s plank challenge – 80 seconds

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Me and 8 of the best men that I know

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

The Word this morning starts in Mathew 8… It’s soon after Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount.  He and his follows were in Capernaum, getting ready to leave.  A disciple comes and says, “first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus responded, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”  That seems kind of harsh, Jesus.

I was reading in a couple of commentaries – Ellicott’s and Barnes’ – that the word “dead” is used in this passage in two different senses.  The Greek term, nekrous, can mean “dead; corpse” – but it can also be used to express indifference toward a thing; or, rather, to show that a thing has no influence over us.  Roman 7, “dead to the world…”, “dead to the law…” – Romans 6 “dead to sin…” – those all use the term nekrous – to mean “not influenced by”.

So, perhaps, Jesus is using a play on words to say, “Let people who are uninterested in my work – people who are indifferent to spiritual things – let THEM perform routine duties.”  The statement implies… “so that you can spend your time living a higher calling.” Jesus and his band of misfits were healing the sick (!), raising the dead (!), casting out demons (!)…let someone who is not interested in those things do the lower conventional duties (or leave them undone).

Everyone has a finite amount of focus, time, and energy.  We need to prioritize the higher things over the lower things. 

I’m reminded of a Stephen Covey principle, “put first things first”.  He talks about the 4 quadrants that we can use our time – and implores us to convert our Q3 time (where most of us spend the majority of our time) into Q2 time.  In a nutshell…don’t spend all of your time doing unimportant urgent things.  Sacrifice those things so that you can focus on important non-urgent things. 

Here are a couple of Covey quotes;

“Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.”

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”

What are the Q2 things?  Not urgent – but important?  Things like;

  • Spending time reading and praying, because that brings me life and then I can offer my best to others…
  • Spending time playing with my kids, because I know that I’ll blink and they’ll be grown…
  • Making time to make love with my wife (hard with a baby in the house), because otherwise we feel a lack of connection to each other…
  • Going to bed early so you can make the F3 workouts and spend time with your F3 brothers

Challenge:  Sometime this week, sacrifice (or delegate) a routine responsibility so that you can do something that is not urgent – but is important.  I’d love to see you respond to the BB thread and let us know what it is you did.  Something like,

  • “I left the clothes in the dryer for a few hours so that I could play with my kids before they went to bed.”
  • “I wanted to spend more time with my pillow, but I rolled out of bed to make the F3 workout”
  • “I paid a guy to come replace my water heater so that I could spend my Saturday catching up with friends who I haven’t seen in a year.”

Colossians 3:2, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

MOLESKIN:

* Burger Squat Jump:  T-Claps to Guardrail for naming this exercise!  A “Burger Squat Jump” is a wide squat, jump and bring your feet narrow, narrow squat, jump and put your feet back wide.  That’s one.  In-N-Out…

** Boggart Circle:  T-Claps to Cross-check for naming this!  It started out as us doing 30 seconds of SSH in a circle…  Impromptu and out of boredom, we started a thing…  One man would call the name of a man across from him, then they would do traveling SSH to switch sides with each other.  Since we did this 8 times total, later versions got crazy with rotating SSH, dosey-doe movements…it was totally riddikulus – which is how it got the name. (Sidebar: Pool Boy likes Harry Potter but hates SSH…I wonder what he’ll think of the Boggart Circle?).

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

CSAUP this Saturday!