F3 Knoxville

Soak It

THE SCENE:  Nice and cool.  Perfect for a beatdown.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Administered. 
WARM-O-RAMA:
 

Little of this and that.

THA THANG:

I have good news!  …and bad news.  The good news is we have a fresh pile of CMUs for our workouts!  The bad news is we need to bring them to our hidey hole (about a quarter mile away).  Grab two and come on!

Perform a “move” exercise with two CMUs for some arbitrary distance.  Pause and perform a series of stationary exercises.  Repeat until we arrive at our CMU stash spot.

Move exercises included;

  • Farmer Carry
  • Heavy bear
  • CMU stack carry
  • Split carry
  • Rifle carry
  • Murder bunny

Stationary exercises included;

  • 20 Back squats
  • 25 curls
  • 20 Overhead squats
  • 15 good mornings
  • 20 Sumo deadlifts
  • 20 Curl and press
  • 10 Stacked squat
  • 20 Tricep ext w/ calves raise
  • 10 BBS Press
  • 20 heel taps
  • 15 Thrusters
  • Heavy step-ups
  • Dips w/ CMU in lap
  • Plyo Derkins
  • CMU swings
  • Burpee jumpovers

MARY:

No time!

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Me and 7 of the best men I know

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Your mind will be like its habitual thoughts; for the soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.  Soak it then in (positive thoughts)”. – Marcus Aurelius

I love that term, “soak it”.  Soak your mind in goodness… Immerse your soul in truth… Drench yourself in nobleness… Dwell on that which is honorable…

Paul says in Philippians, Fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable.” 

On Tuesday, Erector spoke about a monthly challenge that is going on.  On Slack, it’s called “JUCO-Challenge”.  Each month, a new challenge is issued – one month is was diet-related, last month it was texting a friend each day…  This month, the challenge is, 1) to post an inspirational/motivational quote each day, and 2) to read the others which have been posted.  Right now, there are 9 of us in the challenge.

Just a few days in, I’m excited about it – and enjoying it!  Each day this month, I’m going to keeping my eye out for a nugget of wisdom that I can share with my friends.  That gets me in the habit of looking for inspiring messages around me and reading scripture with an expectation of impactThat daily objective of finding a shareable motivating quote – it orients my mindset toward the positive.  Proverbs 16:24 says,

Nothing is more appealing than speaking beautiful, life-giving words.  For they release sweetness to our souls and inner healing to our spirits.”

It doesn’t say, “nothing is more appealing that hearing life-giving words….” – but it is speaking life-giving words” that is so sweet to our spirits.  I hope the words I’m sharing are helpful to others – but I know that the act of finding them and sharing them is releasing sweetness for my heart and spirit.

This challenge also means that each day this month, I’m reading six, or seven, or eight other passages that some of the most important men in my life have shared because those notes are meaningful to them.  Each time something is shared, I see a notification on my phone.  So, throughout the day my mind is being soaked in these good thoughts – and over time, my soul is being colored by them.

Fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable.” 

MOLESKIN:

During the month of November, soak your mind in scripture and inspired thoughts.  Join the challenge group on Slack!  Send Spotter a DM to be added to JUCO-Challenge!

Great to see Rocket in the gloom!  Great to have Trolley and Biohack out for their first Project Heavy PT.

Prayers for Biohack’s parents – Trolley’s family, sanity, and job – Rocket’s friend, Tad.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Convergence this Saturday

Live by the Spirit

THE SCENE: Frosty and chilly
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

15 SSH, 15 Moroccan night club, 10 tempo Merkins, 10 tempo squats, 15 harry Rockettes
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the lot on the north side of the theater. Starting from the northeast corner, do 10 burpees and then run to the stairs and up them. Return to start and do 10 burpees and 20 Merkins. Repeat run. 10 burpees, 20 Merkins, and 30 squats. Repeat run. Hold Al Fore until the 6 gets in.

Mosey to highschool. Partner up and do Catch Me if You Can around the grassy area. Partner 1 does 5 burpees while Partner 2 starts to Bernie Sanders around. Partner 1 sprints to Partner 2 after burpees are complete and then they switch. Repeat twice.

Mosey to the peace bell and do Aiken Legs. 20 Squats, 20 Box Jumps, 20 Lunges (10 each leg), 20 Split Jacks (10 each leg forward). Then, do Mucho Chesto. 10 Merkins, 10 diamond merkins, 10 wide Merkins, 10 staggered right Merkins, 10 staggered left Merkins. Repeat both sets.

MARY:
No time
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
5 PAX today
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
“So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. ” Romans 8:12‭-‬17 NASB

It is difficult with all of our day-to-day responsibility, but we need to maintain our focus on living by the Spirit. You may have heard the phrase “live in this world and not of this world”. This means to live in the world but always have our focus on attaining a heavenly, permanent residence if we live by the Spirit.

MOLESKIN:
Kudos to Snaggletooth for bonus burpees during Catch-me-if-you-can. Maybe next time he will listen more closely to the instructions.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
F3 Knoxville Anniversary this weekend.

Breaking the Fall Break Rut

THE SCENE: Perfect for a post Fall Break beatdown
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

10xWindmills, 15xlbac fwd/bck, 10xTempo Merkins, 10xTempo Squats

THA-THANG:
Reverse Indian Run with front guy dropping off for 3 burpees before joining the back of the line.

At Freshman Hill, partner up with a battle buddy to knock out some DORA 123:

  • 100xMerkins
  • 200xMonkey Humpers
  • 300xLBCs

Once finished, mosey to the coupon pile. Each HIM grabs one coupon. At the bottom of the stairs complete 20xcurls, 20xTricep Presses, 20xCMU Swings then run to the top of the stairs to complete 5 pull-ups. Reapeato till time was called.

 

Mosey back to the shovel flag.

MARY:
Started with 20xFreddie Mercuries then went to Dealer’s Choice from the PAX including Hello Dollies, Scissor Kicks, Imperial Walkers, Plank.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
16 HIMs knocked off the rust from Fall Break with a good old fashioned beatdown.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
This world is becoming more confusing every day, especially for our children. We as men need to ensure that we are being definitive examples of Godly men to our children. To ensure that they see how a Godly man acts, thinks, and most importantly rejects worldly living to seek after Christ. If we don’t teach our children, then the world will. It’s quite evident that too many children today have been shaped by a corrupt world and not by Godly parents.

MOLESKIN:
Insert any personal comments, notes, devotion content, etc.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Convergence on November 7th

Sharing The Victory

THE SCENE: ~62 degrees.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Brief warm-up: Cherry Pickers, arm circles (up/down), overhead clap, tempo squats. Mosey to coupon area while doing drop-off burpees.
THA-THANG:
2 Man teams. See chart below.

Man 1 does 30 merkins, tricep ext, curls, Russian twists, thrusters, and 24 burpees, bent rows, back lunges, and shoulder taps.

Man 2 is holding exercises while his partner is pushing their team stone forward a parking space at each victory. His holds alternate: plank, Al Gore, and holding coupon Overhead.

Both men run to the wall/stairs while one runs up the stairs and does (we changed the bar hold to 3 pull-ups), the other is holding upside down against the wall.

Then both men run back to the coupons, change positions, and start round 2.

3 pull up Wall Invert
24 shoulder tap Overhead Hold
24 Back Lunges Al Gore
24 Bent Rows Plank
24 Burpees Overhead Hold
30 Thrusters Al Gore
30 Twists Plank
30 Curls Overhead Hold
30 Tricep Ext Al Gore
30 ‘merkins Plank

We got 2 rounds in and finished by running (the long/scenic route) with drop-off burpees again.

MARY:
finished right no time so no additional time.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
14 present: Butter Knife, 5K, Erector, Dart Gun, Wheelchair, Survivor, Ralph, Wanderer, Kenjo, Guardrail, Gump, Spotter, Judge Judy, Hound Dog,
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
We did groups of 30 and 24 in the exercise to work in a word from 1 Samuel 30:24.

In 1 Samuel 30, David and his men come back to Ziklag only to find that the Amalekites have destroyed everything, taken their families and possessions, and run off. David and his men wept and then asked the Lord, if they should follow and if they would catch them. The Lord says “yes” to both questions. So they take off to save their families.
Along the way, they go down from 600 to 400 because 200 of the men are too exhausted to keep up. They are running for days without food or water. They finally catch up with the Amalekites, who are partying and thinking they escaped. David and his men slaughter the enemy, retrieve their families and possessions, and go home.
As they are returning, men who are called “wicked and worthless,” who were among those who went into battle, said that the two hundred who stayed with the baggage should get nothing because they did not go to battle.
David corrects this, saying, “You must not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us” (23). He continues, “For as his share is who goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike” (24).

So…the message:

I see a number of lessons we can draw from this as men:

  1. Are there people in your life who are in the “background” or “behind the scenes” of your victories. Because you know the stuff is protected and well maintained, you have the confidence to run off to battle. As men, we tend to have a “to the victor goes the spoils” mentality. Be sure to reflect on, and honor, and share with others.
  2. Our victories come from the Lord. It is written down that the men were “wicked and worthless” who thought otherwise. They concentrated on their own strength and victory. Rather, look to the Lord who strengthens us.
  3. Is there someone today, who you can encourage? Support staff? Mentor/teacher? Spouse? We can all “share the spoils” by letting someone know that we appreciate how they “watch over the baggage” so we can do our jobs.
  4. We should be sure to recognize that all good things come from the Lord, and we all benefit from Jesus sharing with us in His victory. We are to have this same attitude in us and share with others as He gave so freely to us.

MOLESKIN:
It wasn’t a perfect example by any means, but as one man seemed to be doing the work of hard exercise and moving the stones, while the other stayed “at base,” doing the easier exercise, there was a potential for resentment. But when we swapped, we saw that the “base” work was hard too!

Thanks for helping me have a great VQ! 🙂

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
not sure of any announcements and there were no FNG’s

 

Repeating the Word

THE SCENE: About 60 or so and clear. Not a pool in sight.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: I’m not a professional. COVID distancing. Cell Phone ICE. Repeat of my VQ (small modifications)

WARM-O-RAMA:
All of these are OYO but started by the Q:

3 x Inchworms forward (moving arms only)
3 x Inchworms backward (moving legs)
3 x Toe Touch Squat and Reach (3 each arm)
3 x Werewolf (downward dog to upward dog back to downward dog = 1 rep)
3 x Stationary lunges forward (3 each leg)
3 x Stationary lunges left
3 x Stationary lunges right
3 x Stationary lunges backward (3 each leg)
3 x Merkins (hold plank)
3 x Diamond Merkins (hold plank)
3 x Wide Merkins (hold plank)
5 x Tempo Merkins (recover)

THA-THANG:
From the AO to Freshman Hill past the coupon pile, Double Applesauce (aka 2-column) Falling Indian Run doing Burpees until you reach the back of your line and fall in.

Individual Competition: Exercise then Mary
33 of each of the following and once done do the corresponding Mary exercise until the Q calls recover:

Exercise F3 Name Mary until Q calls done
Lunges touch ground w/hands El Capitan Pickle Pounders
Down dog to up dog Werewolf Freddie Mercuries
Burpees Burpees BBS
Starters (like Monkey Humper but the toe of one foot is directly behind the heel of the other). Do 33 each leg forward N/A LBC

Team DORA Competition: (teams of 3 were did not turn out as well as it did last year)
1 person running or at Station 1 / 2. Rotation is as follows:
Station 1, run up the stairs and back down to Station 2, Station 2, run to Station 1

Variations
Station # Base Exercise 1st Rd 2nd 3rd 4th
1 Squats Parallel Below Parallel Pistol Quarter
1 Stationary Lunge Forward Left Right Backward
2 Merkins Normal Diamond Tempo Wide
2 CMU’s Colt ’33’s OHP Tricep Extensions (Bent Over) Rows

I said this last time but I really mean it for Team Dora – next time we do Team DORA I’ll probably still have 2 stations but more reps per exercise and maybe fewer exercises at the station and/or variations, writing it out linearly what each team should do. All feedback is still welcome!

Repeat Double Applesauce Falling Indian Run(Do-ah-diddy variation)  but you can fall off and just get in at the back of the line. S/O to Erector for pushing it and doing burpees the whole way back which encouraged me to do some too!

MARY:
One dealer’s choice – Dart Gun led about a million (okay actually 30) hello dolly’s and the Q led 18 LBC’s (both IC) until the 6:15 alarm sounded on my watch.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

19 PAX. No FNG’s but welcome Dumpster Dive from Shamrock!

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
I cannot believe it has been a year since my VQ! Over this past year so much has changed. God saw 2020 coming but I can tell you He has been faithful every step of the way. From physical distancing (I’m not being antisocial with anyone in these trying times!) to the coming election to Zoom calls ad nauseum to being so thankful for what God is doing in and through all the chaos and confusion it has truly been good in spite of all the trials that have come.

God and His Word never change. Just as last year, how important it the Bible is hasn’t changed and seems to only increase when it seems the earth beneath us might move any moment now. As we know, God’s Word NEVER returns void. So again, to emphasize the importance of putting the Word in our hearts and our minds and letting it fill us, I recited from memory Colossians 3:1-17 (this is why we did 3 and 33 of everything today ICYMI):

If, then, you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, you also will appear with Him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, & covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked when you were living in them, but now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its desires, and have put on the new self which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator. Here there is not Greek & Jew, circumcised & uncircumcised, Barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all and in all.

Put on then as God’s chosen ones, holy & beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing songs and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the Name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

God’s Word is so important to us we should prioritize it over everything. We should take it in slowly, daily, and consistently. It should be more precious to use than anything and we should fight to put it before us so we are changed by it and have it ready at all times when we are under spiritual attack or temptation from anywhere. It does so much for us (2 Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 4:12, Psalm 119:9-11, and many more).

One additional note I want to personally reiterate from 5k’s “Window Shopping on Hardin Valley” Q on  Wednesday: “Log Speck” applies here. I haven’t been intentionally churning over and over and memorizing the Bible like I was at this time last year.

3 questions to consider about God’s Word:

1. Are you prioritizing time in the Word and with Christ above all else?
This means over breakfast, lunch, sleep, Netflix, even F3 and working out. Nothing is more important than Christ’s Word.

2. Are you memorizing Christ’s Word so it is always with you, dwelling in you richly?
-Next up on my list to memorize is Ephesians 1:15-23 and James 1 (all 27 verses). These have been on the list for some time but just as I would say I’m not going to let it discourage me, don’t let something you haven’t done that you should do discourage you!
-There are many tips and tricks to memorization I’d be glad to discuss with you (just ask!), but the main thing is just like F3: show up and do it! You’ll get better faster from just reading and trying to memorize while asking God to bring your heart into alignment with not only loving His Word but a passion for the verses He puts on your heart to memorize – and if you don’t feel a zeal for God’s word then start with verses about treasuring God’s Word like Psalm 119:11, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, and Romans 10:17 to chew on them over and over and get the flavor so that you crave His Word like your favorite food!
-Fast from other things and devote time to the Bible. This is huge when we feel like home and work and life all blur together in 2020. Take intentional time to just be along with the Bible. 5 minutes, a half day off work, even a yearly weekend retreat to spend time with God’s Word are possible if you plan them.

3. Are you talking about God’s Word with people in your life?
With your wife, your kids, your small group, other F3 HIMs, friends, & coworkers. Unsaved and nominal. And of course and most importantly with God Himself through praying His Word back to him!

MOLESKIN:
Praise for my friend Sam’s 5th surgery post-accident going well. Prayed for Brenda, Chris, and Steve. S/O to Booster for sending us a message from the airport about reading backblasts while he was heading back to Ktown.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
-F3 JUCO Pre-order shirt deadline is October 24th, 2020 (that’s tomorrow if you’re reading this the on the day this workout was done!)
-In lieu of the F3 Brolympics this year we’re having a Convergence at #the-asylum and ICYMI F3 Knoxville will have a new Nantan. Come and see who our new Knoxville PAX leader of VAPE will be!