F3 Knoxville

CMUs, Cards, and Spicy Dragons

THE SCENE: 50 and clear…perfect weather for a beatdown
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: administered
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • 20 SSH
  • 10 Baby Arm Circles Forward
  • 10 Baby Arm Circles Backward
  • 10 Merkins
  • 15 Moutain Climbers
  • 5 Cherry Pickers
  • 30 Seconds OYO

THA-THANG:
Everyone grab a CMU and mosey towards the duck pond. Stop at road signs along the way.

  • Stop 1 – 20 OHP
  • Stop 2 – 20 Curls
  • Stop 3 – 20 Squats

Drop the CMUs at stop sign by the duck pond and take the big loop around campus. At every road sign, stop and pull a card from the F3 Workout Deck. Q choice on number of reps if not listed on card. Cards pulled were as follows:

  • Low, Slow Squat
  • Carolina Dry Dock
  • Calf Raises x100
  • WWII Situps
  • Wide-arm Merkins
  • Low Plank (60 seconds)
  • Backward Lunge
  • Merkin
  • Ranger Merkin
  • Bulgarian Split Squat
  • Squat
  • WOJO Squat
  • High Knees
  • Merkin
  • Squat Thrust
  • Sprint 400m

After the above exercises we made it back to the duck pond and did Spicy Dragons up the hill. Similar to Welsh Dragons but low plank instead of shoulder taps and increment by 1 up to 10 or until your arms fall off.

Grabbed our CMUs and moseyed back to the flag. Stopped at a sign along the way for 20 curls.

MARY:
No time

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
7 RUSHers and 8 Bootcampers

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Butterknife delivered the word today after leading RUSH:

Message:
The warrior ethos (AKA Jedi Training) consist of 13 pillars: commitment, honor, respect, prepared, faithful, fighter, hungry, humble, lover, teachable, firestarter, truthful, and generous.
Each one is tied to a Bible verse. Today I’m discussing the 13th pillar which is the final pillar:
Generous

The verse for this pillar is Proverbs 11:25“The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭11‬:‭25‬ ‭NLT‬‬You can’t out give God! I encourage you to be more generous… This is not just with money, but with time as well. We were put here to serve. Give blood, volunteer for something you’re passionate about, help someone without expecting or wanting anything in return. These acts not only help others, but they are so rewarding. You feel good!!Jesus shows us how it’s done
In 2 Corinthians‬ ‭8‬:‭9‬ it says

“You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭8‬:‭9

‬Keep giving and you will never be without!!

MOLESKIN:
Insert any personal comments, notes, devotion content, etc.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
No announcements today.

Looking Up

THE SCENE: Perfect.  64°, dry
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Windmills, Cherry Pickers, Tempo Merkins, Maracan Night club, Overhead claps, Mountain Climbers
THA-THANG:
Black snake to the CMU pile where did 11’s with Incline Merkins (CMU on the curb) and Pull ups up top.

The “game” was 8 stations, 4 per team where you earned points (balls) from the other team.  Swapped half way through to get the other work outs in.  Curls, Triceps, OHP, American Hammer, Lunge, Skull Crusher, Bench and Bent over rows.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Welcome FNG, Half Life
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Out here, with Cinderblocks we know that how we hold a weight changes how hard it is.
That’s true about your head too. Your posture matters. The more you look down, the more weight of your head presses on your spine.
It’s called “Text Neck” and your 12 pound head can put 60 lbs of force on your cervical spine if you are looking down at your cell phone hours on end.
The same is true spiritually. The weight of the the things we are trying to carry on our own gets heavier than if we would just look up.

Psalm 123:1
To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!

Would we give up the convenience of our cell phone. And Look up – see the people around us hungry for conversation or a friend?
But it’s not about the phone. Would you look up from work, from your own ambition to see the needs of your family?
Can I take it one step further – Can you look up from your own emotions and do what you know you need to do?
(for the record, I’m not saying I know what that is, but deep down, I bet you do)
Turn your gaze to Jesus and do what you know you need to do. Worship, serve, Get to Church, get connected.

Remember, if you don’t look up the weight of your current circumstances you will feel more than the full weight of those things.
If you are carrying heavy weights, know: The chapter of your life that you are in, is not the whole story.
What are your conversations about? What is on the pedestal? What you talk about is where your heart is.
If you have found your hope in God – in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, talk about Him. Increasingly.
Do that at home. Do that here. If you have not, assess the things in your life and figure out what is on the throne and what should be on that throne.

With that said, what can we lift up to God in prayer now?
I challenge you to look up during this prayer.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Escape from Haw Ridge is coming up!

College Graduation 2 – The Pukeless Sequel

THE SCENE: Mid 40’s, light/limited rain
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

In honor of my nearly four year anniversary, I decided to take on the second bootcamp I attended, which had me puking my brains out at during the BOM. I wanted to see where I stood in You vs. You fashion. Trolley’s words and workout are cut and pasted below:

WARM-O-RAMA:

  •  SSH x 20 (4 -count)
  • Cherry Pickers x 5 (4 -count)
  • Merkins x 10 (4 -count)
  • Squats x 10 (4 -count)

THA-THANG:

  • At the CMU (aka Freshman) wall,  harken back to when you were a freshman.  Just doing a pushup or finding a class was a challenge.  So for freshman we keep it simple.

    25 Merkins and run around wall.

    Recollect that when certain people would for the first time, spend a full year at the dorms, eating potatoes and carbs for three meals a day, their thighs ended up being a bit large..  So we did a larger (from bottom to top) hill and

    50 Squats + Sophomore Hill

    Then, as a junior you were more refined, you were getting the hang of classes, and getting through the “CORE” classes as well as some of your major classes.. so:

    Run the Junior Hill Stairs and do 75 (four count) Freddy Mercuries

    Then, in preparation for the real world your major courses were kicking your tail, it was and is a long grind, you did what you had to, to reach the graduation finish line.. so

    Run the Senior Stadium hill and follow it up with 100 Burpees.   Break-em up into sets of 15, then 10, and find a battle buddy to do whatever you can to graduate.

MARY:
In the spirit a of leave no man behind, we helped the 6 push through the last 25 burpees and made sure that everyone graduated. We still had some time so we did Imperial Walkers x 20 (4 count) and Tempo Squats x 10 (4 Count)

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Just shy of 4 years ago (29 March 2019), I attended my first boot camp after seeing Erector’s post about The Project. Having not seriously worked out in nearly 10 years, Booster’s birthday Q was tough but manageable and had me wanting to come back for more after taking a week’s rest. My second boot camp was led by Trolley and he absolutely murdered me with the above. I remember thinking when he said that we were to do 100 burpees that my goal was to get to 30. I ended up getting to 60 and feeling so proud of myself. Back then, on that day at least, modify as necessary was not a thing. Trolley went down the line confirming each HIM reached his 100. I announced my 60 and he told me to keep going and had everyone else go too. I made it to 80 before we headed back to the flag, feeling spent but prouder still. For the Mary, Trolley asked me what number I got to…so it was more burpees for all. I know we were well past 6:15 but 5K, BOOSTER, ERECTOR, GUANO, KENJO, ROCKET, SNAGGLETOOTH, SPOTTER, TROLLEY, and WAXJOB racked up 100+ burpees to bring me up as the 6. I have no idea what Trolley said because my head was spinning and when he called us in to prayer, I stumbled over to the median and merlot’d the water in my belly. I am pretty sure everyone was thinking, “Well, he’s not coming back!”

Today was a different story. Four years later, I knocked out 100 burpees at the Stadium and another 21 bringing up the 6 and we still had time to do two Mary’s. We have seen a lot of HIMs come and go, including Trolley, but the men of F3, their talent, their character, their effort to be better continues to encourage me and it is the point I emphasize when I share what we do with sad clowns. You gentlemen make this quote easy to live out – “Every man I meet is my superior in some way, in that I learn from him.”

Today, I graduated college!

Our Association

THE SCENE: breezy in the 50s at JUCO
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

15 SSH, 15 Mountain climbers, 10 tempo merkins, 15 Moroccan night club, 10 tempo squats, 10 windmills, 10 Imperial walkers
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the center of campus for the Kraken! 8 cones are spread around the path. Perform the exercise at one cone and then run clockwise. Stop at the cone after the one you were just at. Perform that exercise and then continue the process until all exercises are completed.

  • 25 merkins
  • 25 dry docks
  • 25 squats
  • 25 box jumps
  • 25, 2-ct flutter kicks
  • 25 heels to Heaven
  • 25, 2-ct mountain climbers
  • 15 burpees

MARY:
Freddie Mercury, LBCs, burpees, and merkins.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
7 for the boot camp plus 4 more putting in the work around campus.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
“I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one.”

1 Corinthians 5:9‭-‬11 NASB1995

Can we sometimes be naive to think that associating with sinful behavior will not impact us? Paul states earlier in this chapter that a little leaven will leaven the whole lump of dow. It doesn’t matter about intentions, the “leaven” will impact us too.

MOLESKIN:
Don’t let injuries get you down. We had a couple PAX modifying by walking and biking this morning. Nice job!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Several upcoming opportunities! Keep an eye on the newsletter.

Take Stock and Block

THE SCENE:

Clear, 58 Degrees, Perfect

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

WARM-O-RAMA:
1. SSH (x20) 2. Willie Mays Hayes (x10) 3. Morrocan Nightclubs (x10) 4. BACF (x10) 5. BACB (x10), 6. Shoulder Taps (x20) 7. Tempo Squats – (x10),

THA-THANG:

Tennis Ball Mosey (hat tip to KickFlip) – Run and Pass duos with drops to do 2 Burpees, around Career Path Way to CMU pile. Partner up and Grab CMU or coupon.

Dora Style with one partner beginning the exercise and the other taking the short loop in the back right corner lot. After 100 collective reps, move on to the next exercise.

1. OHP

2. Curls

3. Tricep Press

4. Heavy Squats

5. Bench Press

6. Upright Rows

7. Skull Crushers

Mosey back to COT with 2 stops for Mary (Freddie Mercuries & Flutter Kicks)

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

18 HIMS (1 2.0 – Stiff Arm) including 10 RUSH

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

I get a weekly email from a site called Parent Cue. It’s a online resource for parents, with tools and tips on helping you raise your kids, whatever their age. Anyway, I rarely look at the emails, usually deleting them, but this week I took a closer look.

The short article was titled 3 Steps for Better Relationships (Even When You’re Busy). Again, I started to delete it and then I thought…Relationships! That’s the single most important thing in our lives…
They are why we exist.
They shape everything about who we are.
They give us joy, and heartache.
They are a source of our happiness, and our pain.
They drive us to succeed and sometimes to fail.
Our memories are filled by them.
They give us purpose.
They give us meaning.
We have access to our Creator because we have a relationship with his son, Jesus.

So I looked at the 3 steps and the first was to make a list of your key relationships. Your spouse, your girlfriend, your parents, your kids, your in-laws, your close friends, and Yourself! I don’t think I’ve ever done that, but I think it’s a great idea!

Number 2 was that we are to assess our relationships…Overall and then Individually… Things like…
How do we connect in our relationships?
What keeps me from being fully present with family and friends?

How well do we truly know each other?
What energizes or drains me about this relationship?
Am I the real me around this person?

Just inventory your close relationships and what they mean to you.

#3 was to Make a New Commitment for your relationships. Like putting into action things you can do to build and restore some key relationships.

The Bible has so many things to say about our relationships. You can start with Jesus. He was asked about the greatest commandment in the Law and he said to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Then he said love your neighbor as yourself.

Think about our group here and we know that Proverbs 27:17 says “Iron sharpens iron and one man sharpens another”. In Hebrews 10 says “let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, but encouraging one another.” That’s what we do!

If you’re married it says in Ephesians 5:28 that husbands should love their wives as their own bodies and that He who loves his wife loves himself.

Think about those challenging relationships! The joke insert here would be “the in-laws”! Ephesians 4 says “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up…that it may give grace to those who hear”.

1 Peter 4:8 “Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

Relationships are important! We have God given instructions to bring life and be a reflection of his light to those closest to us.
That won’t be easy, but that’s the point of the article…
Make a list of your key relationships, assess those relationships, and put into action a plan to build and/or restore these key relationships.