F3 Knoxville

Tag: Filibilly

Baptized

THE SCENE:  Cloudy, temp in mid-forties.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Plank Jacks, 10 Jump Squats, 10 Rockettes, 10 Windmills, Michael Phelps, Little of This and That
THA-THANG:
Mosey to South Ball Fields Parking Lot.  We will start at southern curb.  There will be five cones places along parking lot toward northern curb.  We will run to each cone, hop backwards three parking spaces, then run to the next cone, hop backwards three parking spaces, and continue this pattern until we reach the northern curb.

We will do the same thing going back but instead of hopping back three spaces will bear crawl back three spaces.

Next, we will have a race to pick up the cones.  The idea is to get a cone and run back to southern curb or to the middle light pole with the cone.  However, anyone who is touched by another men must give that man his cone and allow him a second to run off.  Whoever ends up back at the southern curb or at the middle light pole with the most cones wins.

Mosey to stop sign at main drive.  10 Tempo Squats.

Mosey to parking lot with the nice restrooms.  We will do 20 American Hammers.  Then we will Bernie Across parking lot.  On the other side of the parking lot we will do 20 Hello Dollies.

Mosey to playground.  We will do the following in a counterclockwise triangle:

  • At Playground:  20 Bench Jumps and 20 Bench Dips
  • At Pavilion:  20 Picnic Table Pull-ups and 20 Decline Merkins
  • At Flagpole:  20 Sky Jumps and 20 Squats
  • Rinse and Repeat

Mosey to parking lot by the entry gate to the Northern Ball Fields.

We will do Sprints, Bernies, Karaoke’s, and Skips back and forth across parking lot.

Mosey to AO

MARY:
20 Flutter Kicks, 20 Pickle Pounders, 20 Bicycle Kicks, then stretches.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
15 men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
I have read from this song in the past in reference to topics but I thought I would read the whole thing today.  To me, it is a beautiful song about what it means to be baptized.  The name of the song is “Been Through the Water.”  It is written by Kyle Matthews.  It follows the life of a person baptized as a boy and talks about how his baptism follows him through marriage and as an old man before he dies.

Been Through The Water – Kyle Matthews

Preacher pulled the boy up from the water
Alleluias rose from the banks
There was a new suit of clothes from his Father
And a prayer of thanks

The boy walked barefooted all the way home for dinner
And when they laughed at his muddy feet…

He said I’ve been through the water and I’ve come out clean
Got new clothes to cover me
And you don’t wear your old shoes on your brand new feet
When you’ve been through the water
Ah been through the water

Preacher turned them around at the altar
Pronounced the boy and his girl “man and wife”
In two years they were Mother and Father
And they built them a life
And his old girlfriend saw a moment of weakness
And she said “If you’re lonely come see me sometime…”

He said I’ve been through the water and I’ve come out clean
Got new clothes to cover me
And you don’t wear your old shoes on your brand new feet
When you’ve been through the water
Ah been through the water

He baits a hook with his grandson of seven
And says “Soon, I’ll be free from these pains.”
The boy asked if he’s ever been to heaven
He says “No… but I think I know the way… ’cause I’ve been through the water…”

I’ve been through the water and I’ve come out clean
Got new clothes to cover me
And you don’t wear your old shoes on your brand new feet
When you’ve been through the water
Ah been through the water

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Pele’s cousin, Tom, who is in 80s and has Multiple Myeloma.  He, further, was recently diagnosed with Covid.  Prayers for Crawdad on a safe journey to Huntsville.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP on Saturday, January 30.  Arrive at 6:15 am at the Asylum to register.  We will start at 6:30 am and end at 9 am.  Breakfast will follow.  Blood drive at Asylum the day before.

The Light and the Dark

THE SCENE: Pleasant but cool, upper 40s, partly cloudy, persistent chilly breeze

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Check, with an extra emphasis on COVID

WARM-O-RAMA:

-20 SSH, (4-ct), in cadence

– 10 Rockettes (4-ct), in cadence

– 10 Windmills (4-ct), in cadence

– 5 baby/5 big arm circles forward, and backward (4-ct), in cadence

THA-THANG:

MOSEY to Bathrooms, DO PICKETTS CHARGE.

  • Do 25 MERKINS, 25 BBS, and 25 BURPEES on the way up, whenever you want and in whatever order you want.

MOSEY to stop sign on northwest side of Admin circle road.  Get a Battle Buddy.

  • Partner 1 will run up to big tree and back. Once he reaches the tree, Partner 2 will run up to join him, give him a COVID high 5 (no touching), and Partner 1 will return to the bottom. Rinse and repeat three times. The method of running will vary:
    • Lap 1: run
    • Lap 2: Bernie
    • Lap 3: Karaoke left/right (switch halfway)
  • When not running, do the following exercises for all three laps:
    • TOP: 20 APOLO OHNOS, 20 TEMPO SQUATS, R&R until partner arrives
    • BOTTOM: 20 CDDS, 20 MTN CLIMBERS R&R until partner arrives

MOSEY To little hill north of northern parking lots:

  • 7s with BOTTLE OPENERS (2-CT) and FROGGY JUMPS

MOSEY to CMU Parking Lot, grab a CMU, line up young to old (old closest to Pavilion)

  1. Slow LUNGE to far end.
  2. Run to Pavilion, do 10 bench pullups, 10 decline merkins, 10 Bench Dips
  3. Run back to CMU
  4. Rinse and Repeat so CMUs are back at start point. When done, put up the CMUs and go to the middle of parking lot and do Imperial Squat Walkers until 6 catches up.

MOSEY to AO Four corners Abs.  Sprint the long sides, Bear Crawl the short side.  At the four corners do 10 V-UPS, adding 10 more reps at each corner. (we only got to two corners before time was up.)

MARY:
No time.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
26 strong
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

New Year’s resolutions…  I’m not big on them myself; they are usually unrealistic and just set me up for feelings of failure or disappointment when I slack off of them after a few weeks.  But I do try to “recalibrate” at the start of a new year, and just focus on improving a few things that need tweaking in my life.  For me, one of those things involves improving my relationship with God.  As many of you have probably been doing, I’ve been watching streaming services on Sunday morning.  While I love the convenience of doing that, I’ve also found—stop me if this sounds familiar—that it’s easy to be distracted, to not be all “there”, to not be intentionally present.  In F3 workout terms, I wasn’t using GOOD FORM during my time in worship.  I was modifying.  During one recent service, I realized after the service had ended that I couldn’t remember anything in it.  I had been checking my phone for some “important” emails that I was waiting for, making (and then eating) breakfast, and even playing with my cats while the service played on my computer screen.  I realized right then that that just wasn’t good enough.  That’s just not respectful.  Can you imagine having a deep conversation with your friend, spouse, child, or colleague and having them act like that?  I sat back down, turned off my phone and the tv, and watched the service again.  By limiting distractions, putting my mind in a place where I’m more “present” and committed to spending that time with God, and focusing more on the messages of the church I can improve my relationship with God.

If you’re looking for a worthwhile goal for the new year, then I encourage you to do the same.  To tie in with a message that Pusher gave during his BOM recently, sometimes it’s a little difficult to figure out how best to communicate with God and to show him your love, voice your worries and concerns, and thank him for his Blessings. I loved Pusher’s suggestion to talk to God like you would talk to someone sitting next to you in a car. Just have a conversation with him.  And Pusher’s concern that he voiced to his pastor that he didn’t know how best to pray reminded me of these lyrics from a great Singer/Songwriter:

I went to see a preacher, to teach me how to pray. He looked at me and smiled, then that preacher turned away. He said if you want to tell Him something, you ain’t gotta fold your hands. Say it with your heart, your soul, and believe it, and I’d say Amen.

  • Jon Bon Jovi, “Bang a Drum”

So if you find yourself struggling with how best to pray, K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid).  Say it with your heart, your soul, and believe it.  God will hear you.

In closing, in honor of Martin Luther King Day, I would like to close with these words from the great man himself:

“Returning Hate for Hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.  Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” (hat tip to Title 9)

MOLESKIN:
Praying for some brothers who were assigned to protect national and state capitols; congrats to J-Lo for completing the Highway Patrol program.  Prayers for Lilydipper’s barber who passed away from COVID and his family.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP at the Asylum Jan 30, 6:30 am, show up at 6:15 to register.  Ends at 9 am sharp.  Sign up with a battle buddy or solo.  Breakfast included.

Success in Catastrophe

THE SCENE: Partly cloudy, temp in mid-forties.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side-Straddle-Hops, 10 Pinto Twists, 10 Tempo Squats, 10 Windmills, 10 Tempo Merkins, 6 Wide Arm Circles Forward and Backward
THA-THANG:
Mosey to Southern Ball Fields Parking Lot.  We will run suicides to cones, always doing 15 Baby Crunches each time we come back.  Rinse and Repeat.

Mosey to perimeter trail just south of the pavilion.  We will head east and then north on the trail, doing Nickel, Dime, Quarters with the following exercises:

  • Star Jumps
  • Merkins
  • Big Boy Sit-ups.
  • Squats

At the Serpentine Sidewalk we will mosey to the Caribbean Parking Lot.  We will do 20 American Hammers.

Next, we will mosey to the CMU pile.  Each man grabs a CMU and takes it to the corner of the parking lot close to the Northern Ball Fields Entry Gate.  We will divide into teams of two for Doras.  While one team member runs (without CMU) to the Pavilion and does 10 Picnic Table Pull-ups, then runs back, the other team member is working on the exercises listed below.  Then partners trade places.  Each team will do the following exercises with the CMUs:

  • 100 Overhead Presses
  • 100 Curls
  • 100 Rows
  • 100 Squats
  • 100 Bench Presses (back on ground)

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
14 present, no FNGs.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

John 16:33 ~ I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

I saw a short news blurb on television the other day about Sumner Redstone, who died on August 11 of this year. He was a very successful business man.  He was chairman and majority owner of the National Amusements Theatre Chain as well as Viacom/CBS.  The news segment had an interview of Mr. Redstone.  There was something that this billionaire said in the interview that stuck to me.  He said, “Success is built on catastrophe and what you do about it.”

I want to remember that phrase.  Here was an owner of many different businesses who became a billionaire.  Yet, he was a man who didn’t expect things to go smoothly in his ventures.  In fact, he expected disaster to occur.  It is how one acts when faced with inevitable disasters that determines how successful we are.

Gents, life is going to hand us some messes in our future.  That’s just the way it is.  The question is not whether we will face catastrophe – because we will – but how we respond to the crises.  And, knowing that fact, it is also nice to know we have loved ones and a group of brothers we can talk to when we face the difficult circumstances.  We don’t have to face tribulations alone.  Those loved ones and our brothers are a gift from God, in my opinion.  Jesus said, “Wherever two or more are gathered in my name, I am present.”

Life is not a smooth ride.  But can turn our catastrophes into success.  Remember, God is there for you in those moments.  And, so are your brothers and the people who love you.  God and your brothers are there to strengthen you and to help you rise to the challenge.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Ribbed’s wife, Sarah, after her spinal surgery. Prayers of Doubtfire’s father who was recently diagnosed with Covid and for Mr. Jinxy’s father who was diagnosed with Covid several weeks ago.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP at the Asylum on Saturday, January 30 from 6:30 am to 9 am.  Also, we can order new Asylum Shirts, designed by Kentucky, on the F3 Mudgear website.

No Measure

THE SCENE: Clear sky with temp at about 33 degrees.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Run around parking lot, 25 Side-Straddle Hops, 20 Plank Jacks, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Rockettes, 7 Twists, 7 Wide Arm Circles Forward and Backward
THA-THANG:
Mosey to start of Serpentine Sidewalk.  We will do 14’s on the sidewalk until it hits the perimeter trail.  We will Bear Crawl for one light, then run for four and continue this pattern until the perimeter trail.

Next, we will do 20 American Hammers.

Then we will head south on the Perimeter Tail doing nickel, dime, quarters with the following exercises until we get to the southern ball field pavilion:

  • Jump Squats
  • Merkins
  • Smurf Jacks

Mosey to large parking lot by the southern ball fields.  We will Bernie from one end of the parking lot to the other stopping at each large lamppost to do 20 Big Boys Sit-ups.  We will Skip back stopping at each light to do 10 Hand Release Merkins

Mosey to roadway that heads back to A0.  Stop to do 20 Squats.

Mosey to Caribbean.  We will alternate between Karaoke Right and Karaoke Left stopping at every fourth island to do 10 Iron Mikes (both legs = 1)

Mosey to AO.

MARY:
25 Baby Crunches (4 ct)
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
21 Men with no FNGs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

I was listening to a sermon by Shawn Slate, the pastor at my church, and he quoted a line from a book called When God Interrupts by M. Craig James.  The line, which really struck me, is: “There is no better way to lose your life than to constantly measure it.”

We get into trouble when we start measuring our life against the successes of others or against the “shoulds” that we create for ourselves.  I do not mean that goals are unimportant.  Goals give us something to strive for.  But, they can lead to the loss of a relationship with God.  They can keep us from truly seeing the virtue, the struggle, and the stories in other people.  If we are continually measuring our own lives we are probably ignoring the lives of others.  Our lives become one more item to mark off our checklist in our path to greatness.  And we end up playing the game the world wants us to play:  to have the nicest car, to get the best job, to move into the richest neighborhood.  We climb up the latter to success and ignore God’s world around us.

In God’s kingdom, our worldly measures of success don’t matter.  Jesus said, “The last shall be first and the first shall be last.”  And what did Jesus, the messiah, the king, do before his death?  What did he do to show the disciples what it is to be great in heaven?  He got on his knees and washed the feet of each one of them.  He served them.

In the same service that my pastor preached, our congregation sang a communion hymn called Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken.  One of the lines in the song is “With thy favor, loss is gain.”

Perhaps part of being a High Impact Man is giving up the ways I measure myself as successful and giving up the ways I compare myself to others.  Rather, I should focus more on serving others, on washing the feet of fellow sinners, be willing to sit at the end of the row versus the front of it.  It is there that I am apparently much more likely to find God’s favor.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Corona Weight’s brother, Jared, whose parole hearing was extended from November to March.  He remains in prison.  After having an amputated thumb replaced he must have it removed again and, hopefully, replaced later.  Prayers for Curve Ball’s wife who is having surgery in Florida; for Goober’s step-grandmother who was recently diagnosed with Covid-19; and for Ribbed’s wife who will have surgery to remove a tumor at her spine on December 14.  Prayers for the vaccines for the coronavirus, that they may be effective and that they reach the world’s population quickly.

[ The Scene ]

– Apparently this whole “board meeting” idea has caught on with “The Others” = people that don’t do F3. So tonight, The Others were having a board meeting (sort of – sitting around in camp chairs in a circle and talking with/without drinks in hand) – so PAX moved to the Asylum AM spot to circle up

[ Welcome/Disclaimer ]

  • Welcome to F3: Fitness/Fellowship/Faith
  • My name is Steam and I am not Thunderstruck unfortunately but he had a previous engagement so I will be your Q tonight!
  • Couple things:
    • I’m not a professional
    • You’re here on your own volition
    • If you need to modify anything that we do tonight – you know your body better than anyone – so feel free to do so.

[ Warm 0 Rama ]

  • SSH: 30 x 4 IC
  • Rockette: 25 x 4 IC
  • Squat: 20 x 4 IC
  • Merkin: 15 x 4 IC
  • Imperial Walker: 15 x 4 IC
  • Motivators: 4

[ The Thang ]

(mosey to the CMU pile)

25s

  • 5 rounds
    • Round 1: 5 CMU curls —> run to playground: 5 dips
    • Round 2: 5 CMU curls + 5 chest presses: run to playground: 10 dips
    • Round 3: 5 CMU curls + 5 CMU chest presses + 5 CMU rows: run to playground: 15 dips
    • Round 4: 5 CMU curls + 5 CMU chest presses + 5 CMU rows + 5 CMU sit-ups —> run to playground: 20 dips
    • Round 5: 5 CMU sit-ups + 5 CMU rows + 5 CMU chest presses + 5 CMU curls
  • 2 POCs (Points of Contact)
    • CMU pile
    • Playground down from AO
  • 5 Xs
    • @ CMU pile: curls, chest presses, rows, sit-ups
    • @ playground: 5 dips —> +5 —> +5 every round

(Return CMUs and mosey to Pavilion)

All My Benches

  • 4 sides of the bench
    • Short Sides: 25 pull-ups/chin-ups
    • Long Side 1: 25 Incline Merkins
    • Long Side 2: 25 Decline Merkins
  • Wall-Sit when done

(Mosey to playground)

The Final 15

  • 10 at the playground
    • 5 minutes of bench work
      • Alternate between box jumps/step ups + dips
    • 5 minutes of core work (these were some LONG minutes). Have you ever had 5 minutes last 3 hours? Because now we all have.
      • Alternate between flutter kicks and big boy sit-ups
  • 5 back at the AO
    • Mosey back to the AO
    • Light stretching with Steam (not Pusher approved OR denied. OR denied, that’s important)
      • Stretching back and lower legs
      • Borderline yoga stretching legs an chest

[ COT ]

  • # off
  • Name o Rama
  • BOM

”When I”

When I wandered, He led.

When I was thirsty, He supplied water.

When I hungered, He provided nourishment.

When I strayed, He called me back.

When I let my thoughts wander, He re-focused me.

When I was weary, He provided a place to sit and rest.

Think about your own “When I” statements from this year. In addition to the ones I’ve experienced above, some of mine have been “When I wondered if I was going to have a job” or “When I was isolated in my home for days on end during the original quarantine” or “When I didn’t know how this would end” or “When I questioned why all of this is happening” and so on and so forth. So what are your “When I(s)” ?

But the thing about a “When I”statement is just that, the but. But God. So if and when you find yourself wandering – let Him lead. If and when you find yourself thirsting for something (literal liquid or not) – let Him supply it. If and when you hunger (physical hunger or soulful hunger) – let him provide nourishment. If and when you feel yourself straying – let Him call you back gently (or strongly sometimes). If and when you feel your thoughts begin to wander and take control – let Him refocus you. And when and if you find yourself weary – let Him provide you a place to sit and find rest in Him.