F3 Knoxville

Tag: Guppy

Control the Controllables

THE SCENE: The fakest fake gloom possible
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER DONE
WARM-O-RAMA:
32 SSH to celebrate the Vols win, cherry pickers, this and that, rockettes, and stretch to get ready to run.
THA-THANG:

  • BB with crouching tiger merkins and inchworm-merkin-squat
  • BB with Apollo Onos and American Hammers / V-sit OH claps
  • Bear Crawl fun!
  • BB with Criss-Cross Squats and Lunges
  • BB with Butterfly Big Boys and Sprints
  • BB up with some Burpee action

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
A dozen HIMs getting better
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Things at work have gotten chippy.  My office works with 100+ units and we’re always the end of the line, so when others upstream don’t do their part, it’s our problem to fix.  When other’s don’t pull their weight, we have to make up the slack.  With that, resentment can build and things that shouldn’t be said get said.  It’s helpful to remember the wisdom to “control the controllables”.  Attitude.  Action.  Effort.  I can choose to let things upset me, or choose to keep a positive outlook.  I can choose to participate in the negativity, or choose more positive actions.  I can choose to lower my quality of work, or I can choose to perform at my highest level.

You can’t control much of anything that goes on around you.  But, you can control your Attitude, Action, and Effort.

Parents These Days

THE SCENE: Gloom in the Fake Gloom.  A nasty, rainy, awesome evening.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER  Did it
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH, motivator, cherry pickers, twisties, rockettes
THA-THANG:
Insert information about the workout.

  • Triple battle buddies in the Caribbean
    • Jump squats and big boys
    • Merkins and big boys
    • Mountain Climbers and flutter kicks
  • Feel the burn
    • Wall sit
    • Ring of Fire push up
    • Ring of Fire squats
  • Alternating 10x flutter kicks and hello dolly
  • Star gazer in the rain

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
11 soaking wet PAX

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
In recently reading a book called “10 Rules for Resilience” by Joe DeSena (founder of Spartan Race), he said something obvious, but in a way that punched me in the gut.  He said he was tired of hearing people say “kids these days”.  Kids are born today the same way they’ve been born forever.  He argues we should really be saying “parents these days” because we – as the parents – are the difference in how kids are growing up now compared to in the past.  In large part, kids today are how kids are today because parents today raise kids the way we raise them today.  I know it’s not that simple in every situation, but the point is we as fathers have a lot of responsibility for who our kids are, their values, etc. We have to take ownership of that and we cannot hide behind “kids these days” as an excuse.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP Feb 26

Giving Thanks… and no Beaver Moon!

THE SCENE: Cold, low 40s, fairly calm and clear, but the hallowed Beaver Moon didn’t make an appearance, to everyone’s disappointment.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Check.


WARM-O-RAMA:

– Motivators 7 count decreasing

– 10 Cherry Pickers (4-ct), in cadence (aborted this exercise due to mumblechatter around 6 or so…)

– 10 Rockettes (4-ct), in cadence

– 10 Grady Corns  (4-ct), in cadence

– Calf stretches

THA-THANG:

Mosey to Caribbean Parking Lot

  • NO MERCY MILE (really more like a half mile)
    • Near end: Bear Crawl around turn
    • Run to ½ way point. 25 Merkins. Run to curve
    • Far End: Lunges around turn
    • Sprint to ½ way point. 25 Squats. Run to Curve.
    • Rinse and Repeat.

Mosey to open air Chapel

  • AMRAPS
    • 30 sec dips, rest 10 sec. R&R x4
    • 30 sec incline merkins, rest 10 sec R&R x4
    • 30 sec isometric squats (alternating), rest 10 sec R&R x4

Mosey to east down path towards the bottom of Cardiac.  At intersection, 20 American Hammers (4-ct)

Mosey to bottom of Cardiac.  20 Imperial Walkers (4-ct)

  • Cardiac Crusher
    • Run to first curve and back, 20 flutter kicks (2-ct)
    • Run to second curve and back, 20 flutter kicks (2-ct)
    • Run to top, stop at each turn to do 10 merkins, 10 squats, and 10 BBS

Mosey to AO

MARY:
Homer/Marge leg raises

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

Thanksgiving:

Back in 1620, 102 separatists Christians left Europe and came to America via a little boat called the Mayflower.  The first years in America were very hard, and about half the population died within the first several months.  They likely all would have died without the help of the Native Americans, who provided food and taught them how to grow crops.  They celebrated the harvest the following year, in 1621, with Thanksgiving. The celebration lasted 3 days. Thanksgiving was only sporadically celebrated until 1789 when George Washington called for it to be a recurring celebration.  Even then, it still didn’t totally catch on until 1941, when FDR and Congress declared it a national holiday.  Why is it so tough to celebrate Thanksgiving?  We seem to want to skip over it it and move right from Halloween to Christmas.  If you’re cynical, maybe it’s because there’s no money in Thanksgiving?  Not as many cards, gifts, and promotional events…Except for the Macy’s parade, and for that everyone is just waiting for Santa at the end.

But there is a human need to give Thanks.  One of the first things parents teach their children is to say Thank You (when handing a young child something…: “What do you say? What do you SAY??”).  Giving Thanks is important because it interrupts the Self, recognizes the Other in our life.  We value that other.  We have an imperative and a need to give Thanks to those we have relationships with.  And who or what is the primary relationship in our life?  It’s God, and we need to give Thanks to God.  Giving Thanks reminds us that we are recipients, not creators.  It allows us a moment to pause and count our blessings.  STEAM recently posted a message in Sticky Notes Channel: “GAS PRICES ARE HIGH, THIS SUCKS” VS “I WAS ABLE TO FILL UP MY CAR WITH GAS. THANK YOU JESUS.” What a great perspective for the week of Thanksgiving.

I love the line from the song Signs that was sung by Tesla and written by Five Man Electrical Band… “Thank you Lord, for thinking about me, I’m alive and doing fine.”

Here’s what I think.  I think we need to build a world that strips out the biases and fear of other religions, other cultures, other world views and focuses on the basics.  Love God, Love your Neighbor.  Easy Peasy.  Right?  Wrong.  It’s simple, but it’s not easy.  How do we do that? Giving Thanks can be a great place to start and get beyond the differences.  Seek first the Kingdom of God.  The Kingdom of God is love, generosity, thankfulness, and justice.  That is how we live in that Kingdom.  This is what was in the heart of the Pilgrim’s journey. To be a loving, generous, and thankful community.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Steam’s mom who has COVID, for other friends and family members going through illness or trials.  Prayers for the victims of the Waukesha driving calamity.  Prayers for our nation as tensions rise and the Enemy tries to divide and discourage us.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Christmas party Dec. 11!

The Pumpkin Says…

THE SCENE: Sunny, a bit warm, low 80s.  Maybe the last 80 degree day of the year?…

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Check.
WARM-O-RAMA:

-20 Side Straddle Hops (4-ct), in cadence

– Air Squared (Squat chair while forward extended arm claps) 10 Overhead, then 10 sideways (seal claps)

– 10 Cherry Pickers (4-ct, in cadence)

-LBCs, forward/backward

-Leg Stretches

THA-THANG:

Mosey to Big Tree next to circle drive, south of the Admin bldg.  What’s that?? A bag?? A bag with a PUMPKIN IN IT??!! Let’s get it.

Get Pumpkin.  Indian Run to oval parking lot down by Field of Dreams.  Pass the Pumpkin to the back of the line.  When it gets there, that person runs to front, carrying it over his head, then passes it backwards.

  • The Pumpkin Says What You’re Going to Be! This was my favorite Halloween song from grade school.  I can’t remember the exact lyrics, but it talks about how the pumpkin will select what your get-up is for Trick or Treating that year.  So… Pick a card from the Trick or Treat container.  This is the “disguise” we will have for Halloween, and an associated exercise..
    • A DRAGON!
      • Do a 5-count Welsh Dragon. RUN A LAP
    • AN INMATE!
      • Do 10 Prisoner Get Ups. RUN A LAP
    • A FAMOUS ATHLETE!
      • Do 20 Bobby Hurleys, RUN A LAP
    • A STAR WARS VILLAIN!
      • Do 20 Imperial Squat Walkers, RUN A LAP
    • AN ANNOYING CARTOON CHARACTER!
      • Do 20 Smurf Jacks, RUN A LAP
    • DOLLY PARTON!
      • Do 20 Hello Dollies (4-ct), RUN A LAP
    • A ZOMBIE!
      • 20 Walking ROCKETTES (feet straight out) (4-ct), RUN A LAP
    • A PIMP!
      • 20 Pickle Pounders, RUN A LAP
    • THOR!
      • Do a round of CAPTAIN THORS (up to 5 reps), RUN A LAP
    • SPIDER MAN!
      • 20 Peter Parkers (4-ct), RUN A LAP
    • A ZOMBIE!
      • 20 Zombie Crunches each side (LBC with both legs laid to the side like a dead zombie), RUN A LAP

REVERSE INDIAN RUN UP PICKET’S CHARGE.  Person in front runs with the Pumpkin over their head as long as they can, then hands it off and goes to back of line.

Mid-way up Pickett’s… Pumpkin Line Dance.  Get in a line.  Do the following exercises, doing a special Pumpkin exercise when it gets to you (in parentheses).

  • Big Boy Situps (5 American Hammers w/ pumpkin)
  • Hold Plank (5 Pumpkin Press Burpees)
  • Tempo Squats (5 Squat Thrusts with Pumpkin)

MARY:
The PAX did some ab work while the 6 caught up.  Then some stretching to wrap it up.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Nine little ghouls! And a pumpkin.  Which we smashed at the end.  It was a good pumpkin.  It deserved better.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Scrapped my original Word, and talked about how grateful I am to have to of our Double-Respect HIMs, Lilydipper and Jinxy, back from their hip surgeries and working out with us again.  We are a better PAX for it, and their dedication and effort to recover and get back into our workout group is nothing short of inspiring.
MOLESKIN:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Christmas Party!

Making Biscuits With Aunt Ida

THE SCENE: Fluctuating rain with high humidity.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

WARM-O-RAMA:
15x Little Baby Arm Circles, 25x SSH, Little Bit This/ Little Bit That, Free leg stretch

THA-THANG:

  • Burpee Shuttle Run- run to light poles and curb doing 1x up to 5x burpees and back each time
  • Captain America- 4x lateral jumps to 1x burpee, all the way to doing 5x burpees and 20x lateral jumps
  • 11x’s- Decreasing 10x incline merkins by increasing one Bruce Lee leg lift to 10x
  • Biscuits and Gravy-10x merkin, 10x BBS, 10x Squat, on each round of laps all the way to 4 laps around parking lot

MARY:
Jane Fonda- 20x 4ct each leg

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
8 HIMS

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Why we keep coming back?  Because things difficult to obtain and make men work allow us to covet things in a healthy way.  It can be the difference between work and play for men.  Easy workouts allow F3ers to see it as work, but harder workouts can be problematic not allowing us to grow. At that point the workout is pure drudgery. It requires a balance of searching for hard things to challenge us to be stronger, if it is easy it is just busy work to pass the time.  This makes for soft dull men, making them inert thus making them Sad Clowns.  When your a Sad Clown you are not at your best for the people in your sphere of influence.

From Freed to Lead,  by Dredd and OBT

MOLESKIN:
PMers kicked butt in the rain.