F3 Knoxville

Looking Up

THE SCENE: Perfect.  64°, dry
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Windmills, Cherry Pickers, Tempo Merkins, Maracan Night club, Overhead claps, Mountain Climbers
THA-THANG:
Black snake to the CMU pile where did 11’s with Incline Merkins (CMU on the curb) and Pull ups up top.

The “game” was 8 stations, 4 per team where you earned points (balls) from the other team.  Swapped half way through to get the other work outs in.  Curls, Triceps, OHP, American Hammer, Lunge, Skull Crusher, Bench and Bent over rows.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Welcome FNG, Half Life
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Out here, with Cinderblocks we know that how we hold a weight changes how hard it is.
That’s true about your head too. Your posture matters. The more you look down, the more weight of your head presses on your spine.
It’s called “Text Neck” and your 12 pound head can put 60 lbs of force on your cervical spine if you are looking down at your cell phone hours on end.
The same is true spiritually. The weight of the the things we are trying to carry on our own gets heavier than if we would just look up.

Psalm 123:1
To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!

Would we give up the convenience of our cell phone. And Look up – see the people around us hungry for conversation or a friend?
But it’s not about the phone. Would you look up from work, from your own ambition to see the needs of your family?
Can I take it one step further – Can you look up from your own emotions and do what you know you need to do?
(for the record, I’m not saying I know what that is, but deep down, I bet you do)
Turn your gaze to Jesus and do what you know you need to do. Worship, serve, Get to Church, get connected.

Remember, if you don’t look up the weight of your current circumstances you will feel more than the full weight of those things.
If you are carrying heavy weights, know: The chapter of your life that you are in, is not the whole story.
What are your conversations about? What is on the pedestal? What you talk about is where your heart is.
If you have found your hope in God – in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, talk about Him. Increasingly.
Do that at home. Do that here. If you have not, assess the things in your life and figure out what is on the throne and what should be on that throne.

With that said, what can we lift up to God in prayer now?
I challenge you to look up during this prayer.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Escape from Haw Ridge is coming up!

College Graduation 2 – The Pukeless Sequel

THE SCENE: Mid 40’s, light/limited rain
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

In honor of my nearly four year anniversary, I decided to take on the second bootcamp I attended, which had me puking my brains out at during the BOM. I wanted to see where I stood in You vs. You fashion. Trolley’s words and workout are cut and pasted below:

WARM-O-RAMA:

  •  SSH x 20 (4 -count)
  • Cherry Pickers x 5 (4 -count)
  • Merkins x 10 (4 -count)
  • Squats x 10 (4 -count)

THA-THANG:

  • At the CMU (aka Freshman) wall,  harken back to when you were a freshman.  Just doing a pushup or finding a class was a challenge.  So for freshman we keep it simple.

    25 Merkins and run around wall.

    Recollect that when certain people would for the first time, spend a full year at the dorms, eating potatoes and carbs for three meals a day, their thighs ended up being a bit large..  So we did a larger (from bottom to top) hill and

    50 Squats + Sophomore Hill

    Then, as a junior you were more refined, you were getting the hang of classes, and getting through the “CORE” classes as well as some of your major classes.. so:

    Run the Junior Hill Stairs and do 75 (four count) Freddy Mercuries

    Then, in preparation for the real world your major courses were kicking your tail, it was and is a long grind, you did what you had to, to reach the graduation finish line.. so

    Run the Senior Stadium hill and follow it up with 100 Burpees.   Break-em up into sets of 15, then 10, and find a battle buddy to do whatever you can to graduate.

MARY:
In the spirit a of leave no man behind, we helped the 6 push through the last 25 burpees and made sure that everyone graduated. We still had some time so we did Imperial Walkers x 20 (4 count) and Tempo Squats x 10 (4 Count)

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Just shy of 4 years ago (29 March 2019), I attended my first boot camp after seeing Erector’s post about The Project. Having not seriously worked out in nearly 10 years, Booster’s birthday Q was tough but manageable and had me wanting to come back for more after taking a week’s rest. My second boot camp was led by Trolley and he absolutely murdered me with the above. I remember thinking when he said that we were to do 100 burpees that my goal was to get to 30. I ended up getting to 60 and feeling so proud of myself. Back then, on that day at least, modify as necessary was not a thing. Trolley went down the line confirming each HIM reached his 100. I announced my 60 and he told me to keep going and had everyone else go too. I made it to 80 before we headed back to the flag, feeling spent but prouder still. For the Mary, Trolley asked me what number I got to…so it was more burpees for all. I know we were well past 6:15 but 5K, BOOSTER, ERECTOR, GUANO, KENJO, ROCKET, SNAGGLETOOTH, SPOTTER, TROLLEY, and WAXJOB racked up 100+ burpees to bring me up as the 6. I have no idea what Trolley said because my head was spinning and when he called us in to prayer, I stumbled over to the median and merlot’d the water in my belly. I am pretty sure everyone was thinking, “Well, he’s not coming back!”

Today was a different story. Four years later, I knocked out 100 burpees at the Stadium and another 21 bringing up the 6 and we still had time to do two Mary’s. We have seen a lot of HIMs come and go, including Trolley, but the men of F3, their talent, their character, their effort to be better continues to encourage me and it is the point I emphasize when I share what we do with sad clowns. You gentlemen make this quote easy to live out – “Every man I meet is my superior in some way, in that I learn from him.”

Today, I graduated college!

Frozen Four

THE SCENE: Pretty Chilly, 22 degrees and clear at the start, got colder…

WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH
Tempo Squats
Diamond Merkins
Freddy Mercuries
Iron Mikes
Hairy Rockettes

THA-THANG:

Mosey to large parking lot
25 Merkins
25 Squats
Run to the other side and repeat x4
Mosey to Prestige Cleaners for Core (45 count of Heels to Heaven, Flutter Kicks, etc)
Mosey to Tome Poke for upper body (Dips, Dirkins, Irkins)
Mosey up the hill about 400 feet for Burpees
Mosey to the bank for Hello Dolly (40)
Mosey to Maple St parking lot
Lunge to each parking line and do some core
Mosey back to flag for Mary

MARY:
Rocky Balboas, LBCs, Pickle Pointers, etc

MOLESKIN:
Make the most of every opportunity – witness to that loved one — our time is short

Forgiveness

THE SCENE: cool spring rainy morning at JUCO.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

15 SSH, 15 Mountain climbers, 10 tempo merkins, 15 Moroccan night club, 10 tempo squats, 10 harry Rockettes, 5 cherry pickers
THA-THANG:
This workout is inspired by the burpee mile. The first set is the burpee mile. 12 burpees followed by 1, 1/4 mile lap. Repeat 4 times. Next mile challenge is squats followed by merkins.

  • 25 squats each lap
  • 25 Merkins each lap

MARY:
No time!
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
6 PAX got it done!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
“Then summoning him, his Lord *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ And his Lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

Matthew 18:32‭-‬35 NASB1995

If we fail to forgive those who sin against us, the Father will also not forgive us. We are to forgive in the same way that God does: continually.

Peter thought he was being generous.

“Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

Matthew 18:21‭-‬22 NASB1995

However, this wasn’t acceptable either. No matter how many times we sin, if we repent (1 John 1:9), God will forgive us. We must give our fellow mankind the same forgiveness.

MOLESKIN:
YHC knew that this was an ambitious plan, but everyone put in a lot of work and got through as much as possible. Way to push!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Painting this weekend at Cardinal’s widow’s place.

The Climb

THE SCENE: Crisp and clear… 29 degrees with great views on JUCOmanjaro
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Side straddle hop in cadence 20
Tempo squats
Arm rotations thumbs up in cadence
Reverse thumbs down in cadence
Cherry Pickers
5 fighter merkins
Motivators 8x
10 Hairy Rockets
10 Windmills in cadence

THA-THANG:
Mosey to JUCOManjaro.

Run to hash mark

  • Do 20 Flutterkicks and 10 Merkins
  • Rinse and repeat.

Run two hash marks

  • Do 20 Flutterkicks and 10 Merkins
  • Rinse and repeat.

Run two hash marks

  • Do 20 Squats and 20 excercises
  • Rinse and repeat.

Mosey back to the Flag and grab a CMU.

  • 10 KB shoulder swings
  • 20 curls
  • Rifle carry to light post
  • 20 shoulder thrust
  • Murder Bunny home

MARY:
10 Fighter Merkins and some Flutter Kicks

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Use the TAGS on right-side to record PAX (BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOURSELF) in attendance. Be sure to select the AO in CATEGORY above TAGS and then delete these notes!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
The warrior ethos (AKA Jedi Training) consist of 13 pillars: commitment, honor, respect, prepared, faithful, fighter, hungry, humble, lover, teachable, firestarter, truthful, and generous.
Each one is tied to a Bible verse.

Today I’m discussing the 10th pillar: Teachable
The verse for this pillar is John 14:26

“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.”
John 14:26 NLT

Always be open!! We need to have a passion to learn and intention to learn daily.
Let’s reflect on what we learn and most importantly apply it!
If it doesn’t work out, cause sometimes it won’t… What did we learn from it?

Gentlemen I encourage you to have a growth mindset.
MOLESKIN:
Insert any personal comments, notes, devotion content, etc.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Sign up to paint Cardinal’s widow’s home. Sign up for Escape Haw Ridge.