F3 Knoxville

Tag: Drum Major

Asylum PM 06/09/22

THE SCENE: A beautiful sunny day, 80 degrees
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

15 side straddle hops in cadence

5 cherry pickers

10 baby arm circles each way

Little of this and that

10 rockettes

5 burpees

THA-THANG:

Mosey to street side of multipurpose field (battle buddy up)

Sorta Doras

One buddy does exercise while other travels to other end and back, each buddy does each exercise and swaps off

  1. Stay and do merkins, runner does right facing karaokes, 10 iron Mikes and runs back
  2. Stay and do skater leg sweeps, runner does bernie down, 10 iron Mikes at end and runs back
  3. Stay and do exercise like Peter Parkers but touch hand to foot each side, runner does left facing karaoke, 10 iron Mikes and run back.

 

All bear crawl to bottom of Pickett’s Charge

7s #1

Bottom 6 big boys

Top 1 prisoner getup

Go thru cycle to opposite numbers

 

All move together to 2nd tier

11s #2

Bottom 10 Major Merkins

Top 1 Bobby Hurleys

 

Mosey to the 3rd tier and everyone grab a rock

Pyramid – work up and then all the way up and down

10 storks– switch leg each time

20 shoulder press

30 curls

Mosey to bottom of Park office building stairs in the shade. On our 6 and knocked out 15 dead bugs and 20 flutter kicks all together.

Mosey back to AO and did some light stretching before time.

MARY:
Some stretches
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Facing Fears:

We all have them, and have had many the past few years whether it be a illness, violence, , professional concerns, crime or financial hardships. We are all here now and most likely gotten through similar or worse situations in our past, use those to have confidence we can face whatever the future holds.

“If you have fears, stop to realize that others have them too. Probably a fear is haunting you at this moment: the fear of what someone is going to say about you; what the boss is going to do; what the neighbors going to think. These all have to do with the future. You never fear the past, for you know what has happened and generally it wasn’t so bad after all. But the future! Fortunately there is a simple way of fighting fear. Analyze your fear and you will not be so terrified by it. You will say to yourself, Why, I can actually stand that’”

Dale Carnegie

MOLESKIN:
No prayer requests, did a general prayer. Beautiful day, better beatdown
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Convergence on 7/2 and upcoming Brolympics in August

Respond

THE SCENE: Blue skies, temp in low 80s.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Motivators, starting with seven.  10 twisties.  10 Cherry Pickers.  10 Windmills.  Michael Phelps and a Little of This and That.

THA-THANG:

Mosey to the southeastern corner of the Admin Bldg.  We will stop to do 20 Dead Bugs (4 count) and 20 Flutter Kicks (4 count).

Mosey to the parking lot that is east of the Utility Bldg.  We will do Doras.  While one partner runs to the other end of the parking lot and does 10 Merkins, the other partner works on the exercises.  Partners then switch.  Here are the exercise the partners do as a team:

  • 100 Iron Mikes (both legs = 1)
  • 100 Box Cutters
  • 100 Big Boy Sit-ups
  • 100 Bicycle Kicks (four count)

Mosey to the perimeter trail by the gate at Northshore and head north on the trail to the shady area past the Utility Bldg.  We will stop to do 20 Jump Squats and 40 Baby Crunches.

Next we will run north and then west on the perimeter trail.  We will run for 4 lights and lunge for one light, continuing that process until we reach the area where the trail splits.  We will stop there to do 20 Hello Dollies.

Next, we will run up Roadshow Run.  Men should do 10 calve raises at each set of steps and do 5 Burpees after each set of steps.  Those getting to the Bat Cave first should do Baby Crunches until the six arrives.

Slow Mosey and then Bernie to big tree that is northwest of Admin Bldg.  Then, sprint to parking lot.  Then slow mosey back to AO.

MARY:
10 Squats, 20 Leg Raises.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
15 men with an FNG whom we dubbed “Woodstop.”  His hospital name is Mac Whipple and he is the son of Rooney.

CIRCLE OF TRUTH:

RESPOND

In F3 we talk about having each other’s back. We talk about connecting with our brothers in time of need.  To me, that is one of the beautiful things about F3.  I consider you guys my brothers and I know that if I am down, I could call on you and you would respond. I hope each of you know that you can call on us if you are in trouble and we will try to figure out a way to help.  I want to say something about this, however, as I don’t want anyone to have false expectations about what your brothers can give.

As a therapist, I have seen clients of mine make the mistake of making faulty presumptions about what good people can give them.  I have seen patients get injured, lose jobs that they were at for years, have life changes that put them in a bad place.  Certainly, after life altering injuries, these folks can use friends.  Some of these patients get mighty depressed . . . in their depression they may get hopeless . . . and, in their hopelessness they may get cynical.  I hear some of them say that they thought they had friends, but after their lives took a spiral downward, they found they had no friends.  They complain of no longer getting phone calls or visits from others.  They start thinking of people as selfish and cold.

While I believe that there are some self-interested and cold people out there, I also believe that those who say they have no friends, those who say people are disinterested, are themselves a major part of the problem.  They themselves are not responding to the people reaching out to them.  I have seen this difficulty occur not only with some patients in my practice but amongst a few brothers in F3.  When I reach out to brothers in a time of crisis or pain, how AM I RESPONDING to them?  That becomes critical if my brothers are going to help me.

First, when in need we should realize that our friends have lives of their own.  They are managing their jobs, their families, and lives that may be just as difficult as our own.  They cannot be there for us 24/7.  Respect that. Set up a time to meet with your friend.  Respect that he or she may be busy and may only have an hour or two for you.  Don’t always expect them to call on you.  They have other people to think about.  Call on them.  I remember living in Dallas and calling on my pastor at a time of great difficulty. He was a very fine man, someone I truly admired.  But, I also realized his time was limited.  We set up some time on a Tuesday night to speak to each other at a place of his convenience.  That hour I spent with him has stuck to my ribs to this very day.  I am so thankful for it.

Second, we need to realize how we are coming across to the people we call on.  Are we listening to what they have to say to us or are we just moving on with our own agenda?  Those we call on need to know that they are being responded to.  Why should they give their time to someone who shuns their advice, their coming to see us, their friendship?  If you’re depressed, you don’t need to be jumping for joy when they speak to you.  But, thank them for their time with us.  And, if you want them to continue to be there for you, listen to what they say.

Finally, show an interest in them.  I ask some of those complaining patients how their “friends” are doing.  They often don’t know.  When in need, it is natural to focus on ourselves, but don’t exclude others by taking no interest in them.  No matter how wounded we are, we can still care for others.  Heck, our pets DEMAND that we show interest in them.  I remember times when I was so sad or mad that I didn’t want to be bothered by anyone or anything.  Along would come Ol Jasper Dog, placing his paw on my knee and demanding to be petted.  I would think, you should be rubbing my head fella.  But, scratching his head or belly for a few minutes, I was usually feeling better.  The act of reaching out itself helps to cure us.

Finally, remember that while your friends have their own lives and cannot be in two places at once, God can be everywhere at once.  Call on your friends but also call on God.  He is Ever Present in our time of need.
MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Pop A Top’s friend whose wife recently passed away; for the future mother-in-law of Steam whose cancer is now in remission but who is having a difficult time with radiation; for Pusher in his travels to the Philippines where he will visit for his father’s 85th birthday; and prayers of praise that Mr. Jinxy’s automobile accident related lawsuit settled.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Convergence on July 2 at JUCO.

No Flame Blower Outers Here

THE SCENE: ‘Bout 88 and breezy
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER done
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH, rockettes, this and that, runners stretch, and cherry pickers
THA-THANG:
Insert information about the workout.

  • Take all CMUs down 2 flights of stairs, 20 8 ct Spiders, CMU curls until the 6.
  • Bring CMUs up one flight, Run to road; 50 V Sit OH Claps, Run to trees; 50 kneel ups, Return to center, CMU curls until the 6.
  • Bring CMUs to the top and take them to the Bowl
  • Battle Buddy: one runs around the bench; the other Rows, OH Press, squats
  • Change Battle Buddy: one walks the CMU, the other does 20 Squats, run, catch, switch, repeat
  • In the Pit, 360 Merkins (L and R) return CMUs to Flag

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
12 Fake Gloomers
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Adapted from Brene Brown’s “Atlas of the Heart” Chapter 2.

Schadenfreude is a compound of the German words “schaden” meaning harm and “freude” meaning joy.  Schadenfreude simply means, “pleasure or joy derived from someone else’s suffering or misfortune”.  And the world is full of it these days.

Schadenfreude is an emotion typically born out of inferiority rather than superiority.  It is also born out of fear, powerlessness, and a sense of deservedness.  Schadenfreude involves counter empathy, where our emotional reaction is incongruent with another person’s emotional experience.

While schadenfreude may be fun to say, it’s a tough emotion.  There’s a cruelty and insecurity about it.  Taking pleasure in someone else’s failings, even if that person is someone we really dislike, can violate our values and lead to feelings of guilt and shame.

When we feel schadenfreude, it shuts down the area of our brain we use when feeling empathy and lights up areas of the brain that make us feel good and entices us to engage in similar behaviors in the future.  Schadenfreude is especially seductive when we are sucked into groupthink.

It’s easy to build counterfeit connection with collective schadenfreude.  When we see someone who we don’t like, disagree with, or is outside of our group stumble, fall, or fail, it’s tempting to celebrate that suffering together and to stir up collective emotion.  That kind of bonding might feel good for a moment, but nothing that celebrates the humiliation or pain of another person builds lasting connection.

We often don’t talk about our schadenfreude because it can make us feel shame or guilt.  This came up a lot during the pandemic when vaccinated people struggled with feelings of schadenfreude towards anti-VAX folks who were diagnosed with COVID.

From the book:  I remember thinking one day, “It this who I want to be?  Someone who celebrates people getting sick or dying?”  I would justify it by saying they were threatening my health and the health of the people I love. In the end I couldn’t make it work with my values.  I mean, I’m still angry, but without a viable accountability strategy, it’s hard not to let schadenfreude take over.

Freuden-freude is the opposite of schadenfreude.  It’s the enjoyment of another’s success.  When others report success to us, they generally hope for an empathic response of shared joy.  Which is freuden-freude.

If instead they get a negative, competitive reaction, they may respond with confusion, disappointment, irritation, or all three.  Ongoing lack of freuden-freude can eventually pose a fatal challenge to a relationship, and in turn, repeated relationship failures often produce depression.  We suspect that depressed folks might exhibit deficiencies in freuden-freude.

Brown concludes with…In teaching our kids how to cultivate meaningful connection with the people in their lives, we’ve always told them that good friends are not afraid of your light and never blow out your flame.  And you don’t blow out their flame.  Even when their flame is really bright and it makes you worry about your own flame.

When something good happens to you, they celebrate your flame.  When something good happens to them, you celebrate their flame.

We always have our kids hold out there hands, palms flat, and say “If this is your flame and the wind picks up, good friends cups their hands around your flame to keep it from going out.  And you do the same for them.”

We have always said, “No flame blower outers” and that’s our way of saying less schadenfreude and more freuden-freude.

What does this mean for the men of F3?

  • Look anywhere in the world right now and you will see people deriving joy from other’s failures or misfortune.
  • Schadenfreude can make you feel good and really get stirred up in groups of like-minded individuals…and we are a group…so we have to watch ourselves.
  • Because it’s an emotion that rewards the brain, we need an accountability strategy to be sure it doesn’t take over. We need to be that accountability for one another.
  • As leaders in our community, we need to ensure we are protecting and celebrating everyone’s flame. Remember, “no flame blower outers here”.
  • And if we are being good leaders, we will take joy in seeing other’s flames shine even brighter.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
We have Goober in our thoughts and prayers.

The Asylum PM’rs Take On The Compound

[ The Scene ]

  • 70s
  • Hot
  • Character building
  • Pre-Ruck with Guppy

[ Welcome/Disclaimer ]

  • Welcome to F3: Fitness – Fellowship – Faith
  • My name is Steam and I’ll be your Q this morning
  • A few things before we begin:
    • I’m not a professional
    • You’re here on your own belief
    • You know your injuries if you have any so if you need to modify anything we do today feel free to do so, but push yourselves and the men around you. They deserve it and so do you.
  • FNGs?

[ Warm o Rama ]

  • 10×4 Around the Clock Lunges (12, 3, 6, 9)
  • 10×4 Cherry Pickers
  • 10×4 Windmill
  • 10×4 merkins 
  • 10×4 SSH

Cash-In with some ATMs

[ The Thang ]

(Mosey to The Compound)

(1) The Timeless Classic: 11s

  • but since today is the 10th, we’ll just do 10s
  • Here: Merkins
  • There: Star jacks
    • (9 + 1, 8 + 2, etc)

(2) Battle Buddy Bays

  • 3 POCs or “bays”
  • 1 BB will wall sit up here + execute raise the roofs until recovered
  • 1 BB will run to the bay and execute 25 reps of an exercise at each of the 3 bays.
    • Bay 1: Merkins
    • Bay 2: Bobby Hurleys
    • Bay 3: LBCs
  • So you and your BB team will graduate from 1 bay to the next. Each BB will complete the X for each bay
  • The wall sits remain the same throughout

(3) There And Back Again

  • 2 POCs: The Compound + The Dock
  • Compound: triad merkins and run to The Dock
    • 1 reg, 1 wide, 1 diamond
    • Run up tue platform and back down, and then up to The Dock
  • The Dock: triad of squats
    • 1 reg, 1 sumo, 1 together and then run back to The Compound
  • Rinse and Repeat, adding 1 rep to each station (round 2: 2 reg, 2 wide, 2 diamond + 2 reg, 2 sumo, 2 together) until you complete 5 reps of each triad.
  • Recover at The Compound

[ Mary ]

American Indian run back up to the AO

BTTW (Balls To The Wall) to the AO about 50 yards out

[ COT ]

  • # off — 9
  • Name o Rama
    • Guppy, Brick, Drum Major, Crispr, High-Heels, F6, Mr. Jinxy, Rooney, Steam
  • FNGs — 0
  • BOM

For my BOM tonight, I’m going to try and listen to myself as I talk, because I really need to hear this, and I feel like this was  put on my heart to share as well, and just maybe, you’ll find some things that will apply to your life as well.

I’d like to start off by sharing a story.

Last night, I was asked to play goalie in my fiancé’s soccer game with her brother and some of the women she coaches at Johnson University. Now I played soccer growing up, and while I did play church league soccer, I also played competitively, but I was always a midfielder or forward. I ran and kicked, I didn’t block. So after some prompting from both my fiancé and future brother in law to play goalie, I said okay, knowing that this was about to be way better than I expected, or way worse than I expected. So we took the field and I was pretty pumped up.

Now I didn’t get too upset when the first 2 goals were scored on me, but man, the last 5 were brutal. One of the 5 was between my legs, another one out of the 5 I mis-timed and tipped it back into the goal for an own goal, and yet another one out of the 5 was shot from midfield and sailed past my head. I was furious. I was ashamed. I was humiliated. I was disappointed. I was upset. I used an expletive or 3 both in my head and out loud. I had failed. I had let the team down. I wasn’t good enough. I was furious with myself for my performance. Even in the midst of my fiancé, future brother in law, and some of the other collegiate women who were on the team’s “Hey you did great” and “We’re just out here to have fun” and “You did way better than I would have done” my internal programming and messaging screamed LIAR. FALSE. INCORRECT. NOT TRUE. I don’t want to be consoled, or comforted or your pity, I know how badly I did out there. After a hasty and very unloving hug and “I love you” I have my fiancé, I sped out of that parking lot in rage for how poorly I had performed.

One thing my fiancé said to me before I left was “You have to stop beating yourself up about this. You need to quit being so hard on yourself.” To which I replied a measly “yeah.” My internal response to this in that moment and all the way home and as I went to bed last night and woke up this morning was “NO I DON’T HAVE TO. I CAN’T STOP. I FAILED AND I AM GOING TO LET MYSELF KNOW IT. IF I STOP BEING HARD ON MYSELF AND BEATING MYSELF UP I WON’T BE GOOD ENOUGH. Whoah…..there’s something deeper there. My fiancé has not heard me communicate any of this to her yet, but she knows me well enough to know what type of humiliating and self-deprecating dialogue was going on internally for me.

Maybe you’ve heard these things before:

  • I’m my own harshest critic
  • I’m so hard on myself
  • I just beat myself up about this or that

As those goals continued to pummel me throughout the game, I kept thinking “Cmon Dan you’re better than this. You should be doing better than this. You’re failing. Goal after goal after goal, the same mental assault crashed like waves on a beach, louder and louder.

Until I realized this – and honestly the Holy Spirit loved me so well in this moment and helped me realize: You’ve never played goalie before Dan. Why did you think that? Why did you think you would be so much better than this? Why did you allow yourself to set standards of near perfection that you were never going to achieve? You’re destroying yourself mentally. I’ve never played goalie before guys. But it didn’t matter, I showed up and gave it my all, shouldn’t I have been better than this?! I MEAN CMON.

And maybe you’ve found yourself on the wrong side of a mental fuse the enemy has lit. And all he has to do is sit back and watch you start to believe that lie a little bit more and a little bit more until you’re furious. And humiliated. And have talked yourself out of grace, mercy, gratitude, and love.

As men we can be so hard on ourselves and beat ourselves up until we are mentally and emotionally and spiritually black and blue. STOP IT. Go easy on yourself. If you’re too hard on yourself like I typically am, here is something I found today, or that found me today, that helped take back some lost ground, mentally.

Three Warning Signs That You’re Too Hard On Yourself

https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/am-i-too-hard-on-myself

            1. First, you’re being too hard on yourself if your failures to meet your standards result in a depressed loss of joy in the Lord.

“Christ has made you his own. That changes everything about how you run your race.”

            1. Second, it’s evidence of a person’s being too hard on himself if his failures result in hurtful anger: hurtful toward himself, inclining him toward habits that are self-destructive, or hurtful toward others.
            1. Third, it’s evidence that he’s being too hard on himself if his failures produce paralyzing fear or anxiety about approaching the tasks of his life. If he feels like he’s fallen short so often that he loses the capacity to attempt anything of significance, it’s evidence that he’s being too hard on himself in the sense that he’s not trusting Christ for the ability to keep him going.

So maybe we change the mental conversation and quit being so hard on ourselves as men. And maybe it sounds something like this:

“I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3:12-14‬ ‭MSG‬‬ (https://bible.com/bible/97/php.3.12-14.MSG)

 

Wondering Where The Lions Are

THE SCENE: Sunny and warm, temp in low eighties.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

THA-THANG:
20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Burpees, 10 Twisties, 10 Rockettes, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Little Baby to Big Wide Arm Circles Forward and 10 Backward

We will mosey past the stop sign at the northeast corner of the Admin Bldg and go to the grassy area by the perimeter trail.  We will do 20 Flutter Kicks in the grass.  Next, will run west on the perimeter trail, stopping every ten lights to do ten of each of the following exercises.  Those arriving to the tenth light first will rinse and repeat until the six has done ten of each exercise.  Here are the exercises for each tenth light:

  • Merkins, Big Boys
  • Squat Jumps, Lunges (each leg = 1)
  • Carolina Dry Docks, Hello Dollies

Next, we will run to Area 51.  Stop at the area by the parking lot on the right.  We will split into teams of two.  While one team member does an exercise, the other runs to the curb at the end of area 51, does 10 jump squats, and runs back.  The partners then switch.  When each partner had done an exercise twice, they shift to the next exercise.  Here are the exercises:

  • Gas pumps
  • Rocky Balboas
  • Diamond Merkins
  • Iron Mikes

Next, we will run up the hill above Area 51 to roadway above the big tree.  Those getting there first will do bench dips until the six arrives.

Mosey to AO by running to gravel parking lot area, walking along the parking lot area, then running to AO.

Next we will do sprints to sign by parking lot and slow job back to where we started.  Repeat sprints three more times.  Then slow jog back to AO.

MARY:

35 Baby Crunches
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
15 showing, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Wondering Where The Lions Are

Have you heard or do you remember the story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den from the Bible?  Daniel was a Jew who was serving Darius, the King of Babylon or Prussia.  Daniel was an excellent administrator and King Darius liked him.  The other administrators and officials of King Darius were jealous of him.  They did know how strongly he worshipped his God.  They planned a scheme where , supposedly to celebrate the king, they convinced King Darius to issue a decree that any person in the kingdom who prayed to or worshipped any God or human for the next 30 days, other than King Darius, should be thrown in a Lion’s Den.  Daniel worshipped his God daily and continued to do so after the decree.  Caught, he was thrown in the Lions Den.  The next morning King Darius rushed to the den to find Darius alive, the ferocious lions acting tamely beside him.  King Darius, who cared for and admired Daniel then proclaimed:

“I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. For he is the living God and he endures forever”.

As a psychologist, I see many people who suffer from anxiety.  I recently had my first session with a mid-thirties woman who suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (anxiety that occurs after one suffers from a trauma), Social Anxiety (anxiety about being in social situations), and Agoraphobia (condition where a person panics if they leave their household). Ten years ago, she could hardly leave her home without breaking down. She even had difficulty answering phone calls, too anxious to talk to strangers.  Fortunately, she met a therapist who helped her out. He talked to her about how anxiety can be incredibly crippling but that some anxiety can be gradually overcome through something called exposure therapy.  If people, who have been frightened in the past, can expose themselves to the situation they fear and see that nothing disastrous happens, the anxiety can, over time, decrease.  He used a metaphor with my patient.  He said if we were to open a door and have a ferocious lion attack us, we would be very frightened of ever opening that door again, even if the lion was taken away and people tried to rationally convince us there was no lion there anymore.  We may panic trying to open the door and our hearts might pound like crazy.  But, each day, if we continued to open the door and see that no lion was there, we would gradually be less anxious about doing it.  We might not ever fully wipe out the anxiety but we would be better off.  That is what has happened to this lady.  She still gets nervous when going into public settings but can now do so.  And she wants to continue that process so that in the future, she will be even better at it.

In life, we face difficult and challenging situations.  We get burned sometimes in these situations or we fail at them.  We then fear trying similar situations.  We worry about the consequences.  We worry that we can’t face up to the situation.  But, if we can expose ourselves to the challenging situations and learn from them, we grow.  If we can trust that God is on our side, we can tame the lions we fear.

One of my favorite songwriters, Bruce Cockburn, wrote a song that talks about the ecstasy that comes with belief in God and His eternity.  He also talks about about how fear is diminished with the knowledge of this belief.  I will finish my message with some lines from that song which is entitled, “Wondering Where the Lions Are”:

Sun’s up . . . looks okay
The world survives into another day
And I’m thinking ’bout eternity
Some kinda ecstasy got a hold on me

I had another dream about lions at the door
They weren’t half as frightening as they were before
But I’m thinking ’bout eternity
Some kinda ecstasy got a hold on me.

And I’m wondering where the lions are
I’m wondering where the lions are
I’m wondering where the lions are.

MOLESKIN:

Prayers for safe travels for Pusher and Rusty on their vacation.  Prayers for Thunderstruck and his family after the death of his mother.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP tomorrow night at Haw Ridge, 9 pm.