F3 Knoxville

99th Day of the Year = 99 Problems

THE SCENE: Mid to upper 50s, no rain
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

The PAX was rambunctious this morning.  Chapter 11 emerged from his vehicle asking Doubtfire “you got those gloves” as if there was some kind of deal going down.  Then, the whole PAX disrespected the Q by talking over the intro.  So, we started with 5 burpees.

SSH x 20 (4 ct)

Tempo hokey pokeys x 10 (5 each leg)

Tempo squats

5 more burpees because Doubtfire asked about them

Little baby arm circles forward x 10 (4 ct)

Little baby arm circles backward x 10 (4 ct)

Some Michael Phelps

A little bit of this and a little bit of that

THA-THANG:

Mosey to the flag pole

99 Problems

Do 99 reps of the following exercises:

Merkins

Squats

Carolina Dry Docks

Dips

Big Boy Sit-ups

Decline Merkins

Froggy Squats

Carolina Dry Docks

Dips

Big Boy Sit-ups

In between each set of 99, run across the field to the bleachers, touch the bleachers, and run back.

MARY:
Hello Dollys x 20 (4 ct)

Boat/Canoes for about a minute

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
11 HIMs

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Talked about Jesus asking God to take his cup from him before his crucifixion.  Shows humanness and that, if it is okay for Jesus to struggle with God’s plan, then it’s okay for us to struggle as well.  But, the key is the rest of Jesus’ prayer that God’s will be done and not his own.  Keep in mind that your will may not be God’s will and that we should try to focus our prayers on God’s will, not our own.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Stripped’s wife, Ribbed, Ribbed’s wife, Lillydipper, Jinxy, Training Wheels, Lazy Boy, and the scout trip to the Virginia Creeper

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Collection for Safe Haven

With One Eye Squinted…

THE SCENE: Partly cloudy, very pretty clouds, low 70s, quite breezy.  Good kite-flying weather.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Check.

WARM-O-RAMA:

-Motivators (7-ct)

– 10 Cherry Pickers (4-ct), in cadence, maintain position…

– Hamstring stretches, sky reaches

– 20 Grady Corns (4-ct), in cadence

– Little of this and that

THA-THANG:

MOSEY to stop sign at northeast corner of circle drive.

  • ARM STATION: MUCHO CHESTO
    • 10x Merkin
    • 10x Wide Merkin
    • 10x Stagger Left Merkin
    • 10x Stagger Right Merkin
    • RINSE AND REPEAT

MOSEY to Center of Coliseum.

  • LEG STATION: AIKEN LEGS
    • 20 squats
    • 20 Box Jumps (on wall)
    • 20 Lunges (10 each leg… but we did 20 each leg for extra credit)
    • 20 Split Jacks (10 each leg forward… but we did 20 each leg forward for extra credit)
    • RINSE AND REPEAT

MOSEY to lower parking lot under Coliseum

  • 5/10/15s. Get a Battle Buddy.  Partner 1 runs up to stop sign and does 5x reps of two exercises, then comes down and switches with Partner 2, who is running in place or doing SSH.  R&R with 10x, then 15x exercises.  The exercises are:
    • Round 1: Mountain Climbers and Peter Parkers (both 2-ct)
    • Round 2: Smurf Jacks and Froggy Jumps

Mosey to stop sign at southern corner of circle drive.  20 American hammers (4-ct, IC), 10 BBS.

Bernie Sanders to no parking sign.  20 American hammers (4-ct, IC), 10 BBS.

MOSEY TO AO.

CMU Catch Me If You Can!

  • Partner 1 Lunges away, Partner 2 does 20x of an exercise, then runs with CMU (overhead carry) to catch Partner 1.   Keep going, changing the exercises.  Partners must agree on exercise.
    • OPTIONS: Overhead Press, Curls, CMU Press, Situps, Rows, Triceps, Squats

MARY:
LBCs until 6 caught up.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
19 strong!  Plus one doggy.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Those of us in the Christian faith have just emerged from a special part of year, the Easter season.  Part of what makes Easter so extraordinary is that it is about moving on, emerging from the darkness, and having faith that God will make all things new again.  As the seasons change, winter turns to spring, and the Easter season arrives, we move ahead slowly, deliberately, with great love, and great hope.  But the true meaning of Easter is not without some darker elements as well.  Before we reach the time of great renewal and hope there can be much fear, hesitation, and confusion, similar to what Mary Magdalene felt initially when she saw the empty tomb.

(Mary) Flannery O’Connor is a well-known southern author who wrote strange and often violent short stories.  She was diagnosed with Lupus at a relatively young age.  Her stories were often influenced by her struggles with her disease, and were often sardonic and dark, but she was a devout Christian that also incorporated messages of faith in her writings.  Her faith-based outlook on life are on full display in a book called THE HABIT OF BEING, which is a collection of letters she wrote in the latter half of her life. And she writes that being a person of faith is not all sunshine and rainbows….

She writes, “All Human Nature rigorously resists grace. Grace changes us, and change is painful.  We don’t run towards Grace, sometimes we are dragged fighting it all the way.”  Faith calls us out of complacency, and into places of uncertainty. It’s risky. Uncomfortable.  It’s transformative.  She writes, “What people don’t realize is how much religion costs…” “It seems to be a fact that you have to suffer as much from the Church as for it, but if you believe in the divinity of Christ, you have to cherish the world at the same time that you struggle to endure it.”  Fear. Uncertainty. Transformation. And only then, Exultation! That’s Easter in a nutshell.

Flannery O’Connor died of her illness at age 39.  Despite the struggles and challenges, she wrote of her life, “I can, with one eye squinted, take it all as a blessing.”  As we move through the darkness of the past year, hopefully we can acknowledge our blessings and faith in the journey, and, with one eye squinted, find some grace, some miracles in the year behind us, and recognize and act on the ways we were all called to be changed.
MOLESKIN:
Prayers for the return home of Corona Weight’s brother, prayers for Ribbed, Jinxy, La-Z-Boy and Lillydipper, as they recover from injury and illness, prayers for Steam’s friend Shawn.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
April service challenge! Details TBA.

Monkeys & Bears, Oh My

THE SCENE: 40°. Clear. Great moonrise.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

WARM-O-RAMA:

  • Cherry Pickers IC | SSH IC

THA-THANG:

Pain stations at the tennis court. 40sec at each station. 20sec to move to next station. Take a lap & flip stations after each round. Stations included:

  • BBS/LBC
  • Diamond Merkins/Boat
  • American Hammer/Flutter
  • Shoulder Taps/Bear Crawl
  • Power Skips/Burpees
  • Inch Worm/Hand Release Merks
  • Imperial Walkers/Calf Raises
  • Monkey Humpers/CDD
  • Burpees/Shoulder Taps
  • Mtn Climbers/SSH

MARY: 

  • LBCs IC X44 in honor of Tweet-E’s birthday

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

We’re out here to get better: as men & as leaders—in all areas of our lives. Certainly that starts with fitness, but I think it’s inevitable that that mindset, the goal of relentless forward progress will bleed over into each area of our lives. If we’re going to get better at anything, we’re going to need to be teachable.

I found a list of five ways to know if you’re teachable. 

  1. People give you input—if you’ve proven yourself to not be teachable, people probably gave up on giving you input long ago
  2. You experience growth—if other people’s input leads to results, you must be teachable
  3. you don’t have to defend yourself against criticism—you don’t put walls up, you take criticism, knowing that if there’s any truth to it, it’s an opportunity to get better
  4. Not only do you take criticism, you do it without firing back; without returning the favor
  5. you’re hearing different input than you used to—progress is having new areas to work on than you did a few years ago

Run back through them. Think about an area you’re trying to improve in and If one of these hits home with you; take the time to work on it, to cultivate it this week. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Fill that Q Calendar.

Also, in April, we’ll be collecting individually wrapped snacks & drinks, as well as paper towels for Safe Haven. It’s a ministry in the Austin-East area giving teens a safe spot to land to get off the street and avoid gang violence. I’ll post a full list in slack; if you’ll tack a couple of those things on to your family’s shopping list, it’s an easy way to make an impact on a part of our community that has experienced a lot of pain the last few months.

Passing the Torch!

THE SCENE:  A couple of degrees below freezing…

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:

Forgot to mention that I am not a professional…  However I am sure the PAX is aware of that by now!

WARM-O-RAMA:
30 SSH

10 Tempo Merkins

10 Tempo Squats

Baby Arm Circles Forward/Reverse

THA-THANG:

Drawed the number 2 with GPS with 3 stations located in the park.

Station 1 – Bear Crawl around the tennis court with 5 Burpees at each corner.  Run and touch gate then proceed to Station 2.

Station 2 – at the back parking lot I placed some modified CMU’s in the grass next to the trail entrance.  We used these CMU’s for 20 Curls and 20 Overhead Presses.  Then run over to the boat ramp.

Station 3 –  We did 20 Dry Docks facing downhill on the ramp.  Then starting at the water, 20 Squat Jumps up the ramp.  Then we ran back to the Tennis Court.

Rinse and Repeat as many times as you could.

MARY:
ATM closeout led by Cap’n Crunch

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Passed the Flag over to Stripped, he is a wonderful asset to the Equalizer.  Not only is he accountable at the workouts, he is also accountable to reach out to brothers that are needing help outside of the workouts.  I am grateful that the Equalizer is in good hands!

“Leadership is not about a title or a designation.  It’s about impact, influence,  and inspiration.”

MOLESKIN:
Was one of the most boring workouts I have put together but drawing the 2 for our 2 year anniversary was very important for me.  However it did turn into a pretty good beatdown, so I plan to use it again soon!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Hardship Hill 10/2!!!

Back in the Saddle

THE SCENE
28 and Clear

COP
Run to lower front parking lot
SSH x35 IC
Merkins (4ct) x10 IC
Imperial Squat Walkers x10 IC
Baby Arm Circles Fwd x12 IC
Baby Arm Circles Bkwd x12 IC
Run to HGTV Area

THA-THANG
Tree Trunks
– Squats x10
– Fwd & Bkwd lunges (same leg then switch) x10 each leg
– Side Lunges x10 each leg
– Jump Squats x10

Rinse and repeat

Run to parking area under the HGTV Area

Countdown
Partner up. One person performs the routine while the other jump ropes.

Routine:
One man runs to far cone perform x20 reps, run back to first cone perform x15 reps, run to the second farthest cone and perform x10 reps, run back to first cone perform x5 reps. Partners does jump rope while waiting.

Exercises:
1. Diamond Merkins
2. Dry Docks
3. BBS
4. Squats
5. Wide Merkins

Mosey to playground (The Cloud)
* Stop on the way at the parking lot, do 5 Wolverines

Bench 11’s
11’s on benches: Bench Squats and Dips

Run to end of parking lot, do 5 Wolverines, run back to the playground and do LBCs while waiting in the six.

Run to lower parking lot at far entrance to the trail. Take the trail to the SP, do Route 66 along the way.

Route 66
Run the trail stopping at each light pole to do merkins. Start with one rep and add step at each light pole until you get to the end.

At the SP, circle up for MARY

MARY
American Hammers (4ct) – x20 IC
Superman Swims (4ct) – x12 IC
Box Cutters (4ct) – x15IC
Superman Swims (4ct) – x12 IC
Flutter Kicks (4ct) – x15 IC

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
23 PAX

COT/BOM

“For this is the will of God,
that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.
Live as people who are free,
not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil,
but living as servants of God.”

1 Peter‬ ‭2:15-16 ESV

Honor – Adherence to what is right or to a conventional standard of conduct

“Honorable men refuse to wallow in the small and the bitter.
Honorable men refuse to hate life because something once went wrong.
Honorable men don’t build monuments to their disappointments, nor do they let others brand them and curse them to their destruction.
Honorable men seek out the highest definition of their lives, the nobler meaning granted by heritage, by their ancestors’ dreams and their parents’ hopes.
Honorable men cry out to God until curses are broken and a grander purpose is achieved.
Honorable men don’t settle for lives of regret.”

Stephen Mansfield, Mansfield’s Book of Manly Men

As we push ourselves physically each week it is important to remember that we must also be pushing ourselves mentally, emotionally and spiritually…to grow as HIMs. Physical fitness is important, but character, virtue, integrity and leadership are paramount. Our world is starving for men with these characteristics. Men of honor who live beyond themselves. Men who are life-givers, not life-takers. I believe there is a direct correlation between strenuous physical exercise and the strenuous pursuit to live a life of honor, integrity and impact. Both take effort and focus. Both take intentionality, consistency and daily commitment. Both are met with resistance from the status quo and our own passivity. Both can’t be pursued alone and require me to surround myself with like-minded men who inspire, encourage and challenge me along the
journey.

Each morning in the gloom we have an opportunity to experience AND be these things for the men on our left and right. Iron sharpen iron. This is what it means to wear the “F3”.