F3 Knoxville

Tag: Erector

Project: Friendship

THE SCENE: 50% chance of rain. 100% chance of pain (well, at least 100% chance of D.O.M.S.)

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER – Administered + COVID (hopefully we don’t have to do this soon! 2021: ROPE (Return Of Partner Exercises)

WARM-O-RAMA:
Started cold, warmed up… Actual warmup:
Moroccan Night Club x 10 IC
Newton’s Cradle, OHC x 5 each IC
SLOW Dance Tempo Squats x 5 IC
Lunges x 5 each
Tempo Hand-release Merkins x 5 IC
Donkey Kicks x 5
Tennessee Rocking Chair x 7 IC

THA-THANG:
Mosey to Amphitheater

Mary 20-21’s – Do 20 reps of the first exercise, do 21 reps of the second exercises, run a lap around the Amphitheater. First one back calls a Mary exercise max 15 reps. Single Count unless otherwise noted:
Round 1 – BBS – Flutter Kicks (4ct IC) – (Lap + Mary Exercise) “Am I really that predictable?” called by Erector. I don’t remember the exercise but I thought it was the QOTD
Round 2 – Pickle pounders – pickle pointers – (Lap + Mary Exercise)
Round 3 – LBC’s – Heels to Heaven – (Lap + Mary Exercise)

30 seconds rest

DORA 20-21’s – same as Mary 20-21’s but your battle buddy does the exercise in parentheses until you complete 20 reps of the first exercise, flapjack (swap and do what he was doing), and then go to the 21’s doing the same alternate exercise in parentheses
Round 1 – Squats (Newton’s Cradle) – Merkins (Stationary Lunges) – (Lap + Mary Exercise)
Round 2 – Burpee (Reach for the Sky / Let it Hang) – OHC (Seal Clap Squat) – (Lap + Mary Exercise)

30 seconds rest

“The Wave” – in a circle but starting with the Q doing the following in a circle – 5 rounds of each exercise then take a lap around the Amphitheater

  • 1 x Burpee (start your Burpee when the previous PAX claps his hands – you should have plenty of rest between Burpees here)
  • 2 x Squats (start your Squat when the previous PAX has completed 1 of his)
  • 2 x Iron Mikes (IC so 4 total 2 each leg, start your Iron Mikes when the previous PAX has finished his first rep on each leg)
  • 5 x BBS (start your BBS when the previous PAX has completed 1 BBS. There should be a 1 BBS break before you start again)

Final Mary / Mary /  Hail Mary (Not sure what to call it)
American Hammer x 10 IC
Heels to Heaven x 10 IC
ABC’s (all 26 of them!)
Lap around Amphitheater
E2K(oblique crunch)

MARY:
Lots of Mary today. None at the #shovelflag so we’ll leave this blank. Aye!

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA – 7 PAX.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM: Today’s Project: Friendship

Prov 17:17 – A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
1 John 4:21 – And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Since I started F3 a year and a half a ago, the men at F3 have provided the right kind of friendship I didn’t really have before starting F3. I’ve developed this in other areas of my life, but F3 has been so good, challenging, and refining that I wanted to focus on aspects Friendship and 3 aspects / modes it can take for us to consider:

1. Seek to reconcile strained or former friendships (I am seeking to personally apply this right now so pray for me!)
Matthew 5:23-24 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

You and I are called to go to the brother we have wronged (if possible and wise, of course) and seek reconciliation (because God has reconciled us to Himself we can be reconciled to each other – 2 Cor 5:11-21). This is hard because the we may believe that we were more wronged personally but that is not what God calls us to here. See “Seven A’s of a Biblical Confession” by Ken Sande for specifics of how to walk this out. We must seek to be the mature ones. Jesus pursues us in reconciliation and while He is perfect and we are not, the steps Ken lays out are the hard path that did not revile when reviled, that sought us when we weren’t looking for Him. This is what a man of God does when he is wrong – he seeks confession and reconciliation!

2. Maintain solid friendships through peaceful unity, keeping the Gospel at the core.
Ephesians 4:1-3 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

F3 is a men’s leadership organization. When we come out here, we are saying we are going to challenge others and let others challenge us. It’s not easy, but the crucible is where hearts are tested say Proverbs 17:3 and 27:21. We walk in goodness with each other, seeking to help others watch their six, and working together toward common goals that we have first in Christ and then in F3 and other areas. ISI Proverbs 27:17.

3. Know the Hill you’re willing to die on.
There are some things, while few and far between, that are more important than a “friendship”. I put it in quotes because these things should be so rare and understood to be as such that when they do pop up, it is a clear boundary crossed that a friendship cannot continue without major reconciliation (and usually lots of honesty, sincerity, and humility from someone over time before trust can be rebuilt). The Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) is one of these examples. If anyone adds to or takes away from Christ-crucified with the only work we do is faith by repenting and turning from our sins, this is a hill to die on because Jesus died on that hill (Calvary).

Another example of this is when a friend goes long in unrepentant sin, we have to love that friend enough to call him back (Galatians 6:1-2). We always look to restore the friendship, but it must be in truth. Our goal should always be reconciliation when we call someone to repentance, first with God (2 Corinthians 5:20-21) and then with each other. The book of James talks about this and how wonderful it is to bring a brother back from the second death:

James 5:19-20 – 19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Remember, there are not many hills to die on. You might even say the Gospel and a friend in unrepentance are one and the same hill to die on. But knowing these is a huge part of friendship because we uphold truth.

A #project of building rich, deep friendship doesn’t mean you jump off a cliff together the first time you meet a guy, but it does eventually get to taking that kind of risk. Talk about deep things along the way. Be intentional. Be men who walk steadfastly, build friendships with other men, and build those friendships on the deep, solid Rock of Jesus Christ.

MOLESKIN:
Thankful for friends, especially the PAX of JUCO and The Project (and that Ribbed guy who not only invited me to F3 but stuck with me when I didn’t deserve a chance).

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP at The Asylum 1/31/2021 0630 – 0900
You can order Asylum gear with their pre-order here (through January 18th, 2021)

Press On Toward The Goal

THE SCENE: 31 degrees
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
cherry picker, rocking chair, ‘merkins
THA-THANG:
Mohammed Ali, when asked how many reps he could do of an exercise, he said he had no idea – he doesn’t really count. He just goes until he is exhausted and then does an additional set. We didn’t do that…but we did a mini version!

  • Mosey to small rock pile.
  • Shoulder as many as possible your own for 1 min (front raises, lateral, overhead clap) followed by 5 reps together each time.
  • Mosey to coupon pile (with drop 2x burpee / 2 lines)
  • Coupon pile exercises (Each is max out for 1 minute and then do 5x together)
      • (merkins, coupon press, overhead and/or skull crushers)
      • Rows, bicep
      • Squats, calf raises
  • Between each major muscle group: Mosey to hill and Bear crawl up hill w/1 burpee @ top
  • Mosey to flag with 2x burpee drop off lines again

MARY: no time…finished @ 6:15

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
17 present: Guardrail, Erector, 5K, Booster, Wheelchair, Butter Knife, Dart Gun, Footsie, Wanderer, Sty, Gump, Commission, Pool Boy, sos, Mailbox, Spotter, hound dog
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Philippians 3:13-14, “Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Janus, the Roman God for which January was named, had two faces: one looked forward to the new year and one looked backward to the past year. This morning I related that I am not big on resolutions because most people give up on them by “ditch day,” January 17th. Nevertheless, I do believe in the power of goals. After all, if you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time!

Personal confession: even though I lost about 45 pounds over the last couple years, I put back 10 -15 this year off of a sweet tooth and lazy habits. I hit F3 3x week, but as they say, “you can’t outrun your fork.” How does the weight come back on like that? Slowly…1 pound at a time!

So we have to be diligent. And like physical weight, we might be carrying a few extra spiritual pounds into 2021 too. Ghandi said that the chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too strong to be broken. Bad habits come on slowly, day by day. We might have a secret sin or a burden we aren’t willing to unload. How do we overcome? Do what we can, give ourselves over completely, and hand more of our lives over to God each day.

They say that elephants are trained by securing their leg against something strong enough when they are young so that when they are old they remember that they cannot break free. Then, a mere rope and tiny tent peg in the ground is enough to keep them in place. We must break free of the thought that we can do ONLY 20 or 30 or 50 reps. By maxing out in a minute and then “adding 5,” we learned we are capable of more than we thought…or at least I did!

Thanks for letting me lead again…and hope you’re sore tomorrow…’cause I already can’t lift my arms 🙂

Don’t Skip

One comment

THE SCENE:  34 and clear
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: 
WARM-O-RAMA: 

  • Reach for the sky
  • LBAC F&B OYO
  • Let it hang
  • Monkey humpers IC x 10
  • Mountain climbers IC x 10
  • Tempo merkins IC x 8
  • Down dog / Up dog
  • Projectivator from 10

Mosey to the long guardrail and line up.

  • 5 merkins, jump over the rail, 5 bobby hurleys, jump back over and repeat until time is called

THA THANG:

Mosey to King College parking lot – grab a CMU and line up.

Do 1 blockee.  Rifle carry 2 parking lines and do 1 blockee.  Repeat to the end of the lot. (~15 blockees).

Line up at the bottom of the Award Winning Hill.

Carry your block to the first tree.  Do 10 curl/presses and 10 CMU swings.  Set your block down.  Run to the bottom of the hill and back to your block.  Carry it to the next tree and repeat to the top (7 trees).

Recover to the top of the hill.  Heavy BBS x 10 OYO. Heavy freddys IC.

Same deal as before, only this time from the top down…15 squats each tree.

Recover to the bottom of the hill.

Rifle carry 5 parking lines and do 2 burpee jumpovers.  Repeat to the end of the lot.

MARY:

Around the circle, each PAX led a Mary exercise.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Five Juconians and 2 Rushens.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

I tagged on to Pool Boy’s Q from Monday.  He quoted the 18th century minister, John Newton.  The essence of the quote was…your life will have challenges and burdens, visualized as a huge bundle of sticks.  You don’t need to try to carry the whole bundle every day.  Rather, carry today’s stick today and tomorrow’s stick tomorrow.  Every day you carry one stick.

I turned that quote around backwards to make another point.  You carry one stick every day.  This morning’s challenge was about consistency.

Do you know what happened 9 years ago today on the tiny island nation of Samoa?  Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  Nothing significant or insignificant.  Nothing happened at all because nine years ago, December 30th did not occur in Samoa.  In 2011, the nation voted to change where the International Date Line falls relative to their island.  They actually curved the IDL around their island (doing so improved business relations with some of their biggest trading partners, Australia and New Zealand…).  So, at midnight on December 29th, the IDL changed and Samoa went from being the westernmost nation on earth – to being the easternmost nation on earth.  They moved the line that divides our days and in doing so, they went from December 29th to December 31st – and skipped an entire day.

What’s my point?

As you are accelerating your fitness, your fellowship, and your faith – don’t skip a day.  Keep your routine.  Complete one small challenge each day and, over time, you move yourself closer and closer to being a true HIM.

A famous Samoan scholar, Dwayne Johnson, has said, “Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.”

What do you wish you could be successful at?  The good news is that you don’t have to be great at it today.  You just have to be consistent in your pursuit of it. 

Fitness?  You’ve all proven that you have what it takes to get out of bed and be here at 5:30 – great!  Now, do it again Friday.  Then again Monday, Wednesday, and Friday next week.  Consistent hard work leads to success.

Fellowship?  You want to have great relationships and deep fellowship with other HIMs?  Stick around and chat for a minute after the picture.  DM these guys on Slack and catch up on their lives.  With consistent investment in your relationships, over time, greatness will come.

Faith?  Me too.  There is one particular element of my faith that I want to be successful in – leading my family.  For many years of my marriage and many years of my time as a father, I have struggled to be a successful spiritual leader for my family.  I could start leading with enthusiasm but would soon get discouraged and stop.  About two years ago, I finally started to hit my stride.  You know what had changed?  A realization that I didn’t have to be great – just consistent.  I couldn’t pray elegant prayers over my wife every night.  I couldn’t prepare a mind-blowing devotion every night.  I wasn’t – and am still not – great.  But can I pray a simple prayer over my wife today?  Sure.  Can I read a short passage to my kids after dinner?  Yeah.  Now – can I do it again tomorrow?  Absolutely.  Rinse and repeat.

Success in the areas of fitness, fellowship, and faith is achievable for you.  Do the do-able thing today.  Do it again tomorrow….and the day after….and they day after.  

MOLESKIN:

If he were here, I bet Snaggletooth would have known about Samoa…

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

A prayful world

THE SCENE: Around freezing and slippery in places
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:. 15 SSH, 15 Mountain climbers, 10 Abe Bogota, 10 tempo squats, 15 Moroccan night club

THA-THANG:

Mosey to the football field/track.

Perform 1st & 10:

100 yard field marked at 10 yard increments. Perform 10 Merkins, 1 Burpee (11’s) at the 10, sprint the remaining 90 yards. Recover jog back to the 20. Perform 9 Merkins, 2 Burpees, sprint the remaining 80 yards, recover jog to the 30. Repeat until all 100 yards and 11’s have been completed.

Mosey back to the parking lot around the shovel flag.

Perform 7 of Diamonds:

Performed on a large diamond (i.e. the parking lot). For the first round, do 7 reps of an exercise (burpees) at each of the 4 corners with a mosey (or sprint) in between corners. Each round, increase by 7 reps with a different exercise each round, for a total of 4 rounds. Round 2, 14 four count flutter kicks at each of the 4 corners. Round 3, 21 merkins at each of the 4 corners. Round 4, 28 squats at each of the 4 corners.

MARY:
10 Freddie Mercury, 10 LBCs, 10 6 inch LBCs
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
6 PAX today
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
YHC has spoken about prayer before. Honestly, it is one of the hardest things for me to remember to do. The Bible instructs us to “Pray without ceasing.”- 1 Thess. 5:17. This is like a constant prayerful state to be in throughout your day. Always seeking wisdom from God in prayer. I feel like I recognize the power of pray, but perhaps I am not fully aware. Challenge yourself in this coming year to be more prayerful. Find a way to make it a habit, make it a consistent part of your day. Encourage those around you to do the same.
MOLESKIN:
“Burpees make you better.” Quote of the day. Use it as you wish.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Continue to keep our nation and world in prayer in dealing with the pandemic. Prayers for humility and wisdom.

We Are The Body

THE SCENE: Clear, Dark, High 30s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Side Straddle Hops, Tempo Merkins, Cherry Pickers, Run a lap around the parking lot

THA-THANG:
The workout consisted of 6 stations we ran between and conducted 30 second of various exercises at each station.  Participants chose a body system (Arms, Abs, Back, and Legs) to exercise at the station and together, we worked the whole body.  Each participant got a chance to lead a station by using cards prepared by the Q, thus working the “head” of the body. After the 30 seconds of exercise, all participants would do 1 “burbie for the body” and the “head” would read a bible verse from the card to exercise the “heart.”

MARY:

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
The theme verse today was Luke 6:45b “… for out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”  This is why we read scripture at each workout station – to fill our hearts with something good.  It is so easy to fill our hearts with crap from the world, that we need encouragement and reminders to dwell in and on the Word of God.
MOLESKIN:

ANNOUNCEMENTS: