F3 Knoxville

Lose Yourself

AO: asylum-daybreak
Q: Lilydipper
PAX: Pusher, Brick, Backflow (Wesley Hunt), High Heels, Steam, Honeydew, Choir Boy, Drum Major, lebowski, Pele (Jon Lindberg)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
WARMUP: 25 Side-Straddle-Hops, 10 Tempo Merkins, Curly Stomps, 10 Tennessee Rocking Chairs, 8 Twistees, More Curly Stomps, 10 Tempo Jumps Squats, 8 Windmills, 10 Baby Arm Circles Forward and 10 Backward, Little of This and That.

THE THANG: Mosey to the Pavilion. We will start with a totem pole where we will do five exercises. We start with the first for 30 seconds. We then add the second exercise and do 30 seconds each. We then do three exercises for 30 seconds each, etc. until we have done five exercises for 30 seconds each. We then cut off the first exercise in the totem pole so that we do only four exercises for 30 seconds each. We continue this process until we only have the last exercise to do for 30 seconds. By the time we are done we will have performed each exercise five times. Here are the exercises:
Mountain Climbers

Picnic Table Pull-Ups

Decline Merkins

Iron Mikes

Bench Dips

Mosey to the Caribbean Parking Lot. From the East End of the parking lot we will run around the parking lot stopping at every other island to do one of the following exercises. After doing the exercise at the eighth island, rabbits will sweep other men back to the start. We will then do the next listed exercise and repeat the process. Note: We will do each of the exercises at the beginning before starting the running. Here are the exercises:
– 20 Merkins
– 20 Imperial Walkers (2 Count)
– 5 Hand Release Merkins

Mosey to the entryway near the AO. We will each pick up a CMU size rock by the entryway and bring it back to the pavilion. We will do the following exercises in sequence but run around the pavilion twice before doing the next exercise.
20 Overhead Press

20 Overhead Bench Press

20 Curls

20 Rows

20 Tricepts

20 Squats with CMU at chest

Mosey to the AO.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Forg 3 will be next Saturday. The Hot Toddy Quadruple Birthday Q (Snitch has joined Charmin, High-Heels and Lilydipper will be the following Saturday on February 1

COT:
Message: Lose Yourself

Some of you know that my mother-in-law, Ruby Grimes, who had coped with significant dementia for the past year, died on Tuesday, January 14. The week I spent in Kentucky after her death and my involvement in her visitation, funeral, and burial, was powerful for me.

When, in preparation for the funeral, we met with Reverend Bill Fort, who had been Ruby’s minister and known her for 25 years, he commented that in the days when he was a young man in seminary, he and many of his fellow students dreamed and talked about what they would like to achieve as ministers. One of Bill’s favorite professors didn’t admonish the students for desiring “big things” as ministers but also told them this: in true ministry, we don’t grow larger in serving God but actually grow smaller.” Bill Fort then told our family that Ruby Grimes exemplified that statement. And, Bill was correct. At Ruby’s visitation before her funeral we met an incredible number of people who told us about how much Ruby had impacted their lives. She did that in ways that didn’t make newspaper headlines – rather, Ruby’s ministry was about loving others in small but consistent ways that grew on those she was around and made them better for it.

My wife, Jan, spoke at her mother’s funeral and, in her reflections, informed us that we can all learn lessons from Ruby Grimes. One lesson is that as a servant of God we should Lose Ourselves. You see, Ruby was not about taking the limelight. She shined the spotlight on you. If you visited her house she made sure you were comfortable, that you felt special, that you deserved the best. And you felt her love and interest as genuine.

Ruby Grimes didn’t have a college degree. She went to college for one year and then gave up the college dream after marrying her husband, Dorlan Grimes, when he was training to serve in the military. She was not some high ranking official in a company. She was not the president of a social club. She was a mother of two children who later worked as a kindergarten teacher, a phone operator, and in administration for local schools.

What Ruby did best was smile at others, truly get to know them, and love them truly. She was the adoptive grandmother for all kinds of kids on her block in her neighborhood. I remember spending Christmases at Ruby’s and Dorlan’s home when, on Christmas day, there would be neighborhood children coming by to give a card or gift to Ruby because they loved her so much. At the visitation before Ruby’s funeral we met children from four different families (some of these children were now middle age) that informed us how much Ruby had meant to them as children and impacted them in their lives. By the way, Ruby’s refrigerator was always lined with pictures those “adoptive grandchildren” would send her throughout their lives.

So, the message for today is Lose Yourself. Guys, it’s not about us if we are to be true HIMs. It’s about others. Where is your focus? When we over-focus on ourselves we get in trouble. Of course, all of us tend to do that and we all get in trouble. But if we do over-focus on ourselves, Ruby’s message to you would be, “Oh, that’s ok. You are a good person and I see that goodness in you. You are going to be just fine. You just go on being you. Now, can I get you another slice of pie?”

Prayer Requests

Prayers for the brothers going to Forg 3 in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area and for Steam and Brick who have been so busy planning it. Prayers for Backflow with the upcoming birth of his fourth child. Prayers for his family as well. Prayers for three of our brothers coping with health issues: Sparkler, Jenner and Eliza. Prayers for Dorlan Grimes, husband of Ruby Grimes (discussed in message above).

The Twelve Beat Downs of Christmas

AO: asylum-daybreak
Q: Kodak (Charlotte Metro (S) Weasel Shaker)
PAX: F3 Pluto ( Hugh Nystrom), Unibráu (Nick Robinson), Pele (Jon Lindberg), High Heels, CRISPR, Steam, Choir Boy, Hands, SlideRule (Stephen Sloan), Brick, Pusher, Honeydew, Cart Girl (John Sadler) (Chatt, TN), Lilydipper, Suds, Backdraw, Protractor (Drew Sloan)
FNGs: 1 Protractor (Drew Sloan)
COUNT: 18
WARMUP: Run around the AO Parking Lot, Side Straddle Hops

THE THANG: Very quick warmup (side straddle hops, some quick stretching).

1. In COT parking lot – Day 1 – 1 Manmaker
Day 2 – 2 Burpees, 1 suicide (half way and back, all the way and back) w/ 5 squats

2. At Amplitheater
Day 3 – 3 Heels to Heaven, 2 Burpees, 1 short lap
Day 4 – 4 Jump Squats, 3 Heels to Heaven, 2 Burpees, 1 long lap

3. At nearby Playground
Day 5 – 5 ‘Mericans, 4 Jump Squats, 3 Heels to Heaven, 2 Burpees, 1 Manmaker
Day 6 – 6 Side Straddle Hops, 5 ‘Mericans, 4 Jump Squats, 3 Heels to Heaven, 2 Burpees, 1 minute hang on bar (or plank if prefer)

4. At soccer field
Day 7 – 7 LBCs, 6 Side Straddle Hops, 5 ‘Mericans, 4 Jump Squats, 3 Heels to Heaven, 2 Burpees, 1 Manmaker
Day 8 – 8 Imperial Walkers, 7 LBCs, 6 Side Straddle Hops, 5 ‘Mericans, 4 Jump Squats, 3 Heels to Heaven, 2 Burpees, 1 Suicide (just running)

5. At Pickett’s
Day 9 – 9 Down Dog Push Ups, 8 Imperial Walkers, 7 LBCs, 6 Side Straddle Hops, 5 ‘Mericans, 4 Jump Squats, 3 Heels to Heaven, 2 Burpees, 1 Manmaker
Day 10 – 10 Russian Twists, 9 Down Dog Push Ups, 8 Imperial Walkers, 7 LBCs, 6 Side Straddle Hops, 5 ‘Mericans, 4 Jump Squats, 3 Heels to Heaven, 2 Burpees, 1 Run and Bear Crawl up to the Overlook

6. Back at COT
Day 11 – 11 Squats, 10 Russian Twists, 9 Down Dog Push Ups, 8 Imperial Walkers, 7 LBCs, 6 Side Straddle Hops, 5 ‘Mericans, 4 Jump Squats, 3 Heels to Heaven, 2 Burpees, 1 Manmaker
Day 12 – 12 Big Boy Sit-ups, 11 Squats, 10 Russian Twists, 9 Down Dog Push Ups, 8 Imperial Walkers, 7 LBCs, 6 Side Straddle Hops, 5 ‘Mericans, 4 Jump Squats, 3 Heels to Heaven, 2 Burpees, 1 sprint up that damn hill.

MARY: We were done, baby!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Polar Bear Plunge on January 1, Smokies Convergence on January 4, Hot Toddy Triple Q on January 11

COT: We get caught up in “the things” of Christmas and focus on those things we want in our lives. Remember that “the thing” we really need to focus on is our relationship with God.

Prayers for all during this Holiday Season.

Rucksgiving ‘24

AO: asylum-daybreak
Q: Steam , Mermaid
PAX: Jumbo(Carter Dickens), Unibráu (Nick Robinson), Snitch (Cory Beilharz ), Lulu (Greg Huddy), Pusher, FixerUpper, Otis, Honeydew, Veggie (Rylen Huddy), The Situation, Spellcheck, Pele (Jon Lindberg), High Heels, F3 Pluto ( Hugh Nystrom), Crawdad (Robbi Dickens), Choir Boy, 1 downrange PAX from GA
FNGs: None
COUNT: 20
WARMUP
– SSH: 20×4
– Airplane Merkin: 10×4
– Rockette: 10×4
– Baby Arm Circles: 10×4 F
– Baby Arm Circles: 10×4 B
– Willie Mays Hayes: 6

THE THANG
Head to the BP

—BP (Big Pavilion) PT—
– 10×4 stair case incline merkins
– 1/2 — hands down to the lower level
– 3 — incline merkin down position
– 4 — incline merkin up position
– Next rep starts – going up instead
– 20×4 squat bench touches
– 20 step-ups

Head to the base of Cardiac Hill

—Man-Maker Pyramid—
– All together in cadence
– 2 man-makers at the base
– 4 man-makers at the 1st turn
– 6 man-makers at the 2nd turn
– 8 man-makers at the top

Mosey/walk back down to the base of Cardiac + come back up
– 10 merkins and LBCs

Turn it over to Mermaid at 7:30 at the top of Cardiac

Up/downs on Baby Cardiac
– Plank + Bear Crawl American Indian run style
– Al Gore + Lunge

Dora’s
– 100 squats
– 50 merkins
– 25 burpees
– Battle Buddy runs down Baby Cardiac and back

Ruck/Rock Xs in the Big Pavilion
– 12 curls + 1 burpee
– 12 chest presses + burpee
– 12 bent over rows + 1 burpee
– 12 chin-ups + 1 burpee

MARY
– Stretching w/Mermaid
– Race up Baby Cardiac
– Down + backs in the parking lot

ANNOUNCEMENTS
– Check the announcements channel for the weekly Send Me newsletter and all upcoming events

COT
Give It Away

One of the first things you see on the f3nation.com website right at the very top are the words “GIVE IT AWAY.”
– Clicking or tapping on it takes you to F3 Nation’s 2024 Year End Giving campaign, where you can see the F3 Cardinal video – which is incredibly moving.
– You’ll also see sections underneath it titled “The Why” and “The How”

“The Why”
– 66 million obese men in the USA
– 39,000 male suicides annually
– Infinite Sad Clowns

“The How”
– Numbers and info on current and new investments into F3 around the globe

And then it says this:

“F3 NATION’S MISSION AND IMPACT THROUGH GENEROSITY. WHEN YOU GIVE you are giving it away IN HONOR OF THE BROTHER who gave it to you and IN HONOR OF THE BROTHER who’ll you’ll likely never meet. DO IT FOR YOUR BROTHERS!!”
And that brings me to Rucksgiving
– This GORUCK challenge that, in my mind, incorporates all 3 Fs – Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith.
– We just worked hard – thanks for pushing yourself and the men around you
– We spent time in fellowship together, with people we care about and are part of our sphere of influence
– To whatever level of faith you may or may not have – when you were reading through the Rucksgiving event info I shared, something inside you clicked off and said subconsciously said “it’s not about me.” Faith and belief that you’re not just living for yourself and you felt led and guided to give it away.

Why? That’s what High Impact Men do.

Just like on the F3 Nation website where it says “in honor of the brother who you’ll likely never meet,” — we will likely never meet the children who our generosity is going towards from this event.

But they will feel our generosity and willingness to live out of the “it’s not about me” mindset because we had the courage to act out in faith and believe that a fun and challenging ruck event on a ridiculously cold morning could potentially make a difference in their life.

God is a generous and good God, and any and all outpouring of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control from us is because of the work He is continually doing within us.

“Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭16‬:‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬
bible.com/bible/59/deu.16.17.ESV

Thank you for participating in this year’s Rucksgiving! Because of this, we will get to bless multiple kids on Christmas through Angel Tree this year.

Shorts Weather

AO: asylum-pm
Q: Steam
PAX: Switchhitter (Tony), MD Hammer, Pusher, Lilydipper, Tenderfoot, High Heels, Brick, Glamper, Drum Major, Rooney (Carl Whipple), Pele (Jon Lindberg), CRISPR, Crash Dummy, Hard Stop (Jake), Doubtfire (Nick Bond), Cheetah Boy, Whitey Titey
FNGs: None
COUNT: 18
WARMUP
– Merkin: 12×4
– Mountain Climber: 12×4
– Willie Mays Hayes: 6×4
– Rockette: 12×4
– Man-Maker: 10×4

THE THANG
(Mosey around to the NP)

New Pavilion
10s
– Benches: Dips
– Curb: Decline Merkins
– 1:1, 2:2. 3:3

(Mosey to Muscle Beach)

Muscle Beach
Quarter Pounder Pyramid
– 5 rounds
– 5 Xs each round
– Chin-up/pull-up
– Incline merkins
– Man-maker
– Bulgarian Split Squat
– Decline rows
– R1 = 1 rep / R2 = 2 reps

(Mosey to the amphitheater)

Amphitheater
Leg Day
– 5 box jumps
– After the 5th box jump: 10 squats
– Rinse and repeat until the top

(Mosey back to the parking lot – via way of the Bros Bowl)
– Around the right and down the left

ANNOUNCEMENTS
– Forg3 – Forg3 is a reinvigorating leadership weekend retreat that is purposefully focused on challenging and encouraging men in their fitness, fellowship, and faith.
– Kick off the year by investing in your leadership development as a HIM.
forg3-25.my.canva.site
– $100/person (covers all food and lodging)
– Gatlinburg, TN

COT
Get Right (Q1)
f3nation.com/get-right

Spur:
– A man must Get Right before he can do anything else
– An unfit man is a slave to his lack of self-control
– To be able to help others, a man must first help himself

Read more about Get Right (Q1) by clicking or tapping the link above. At Forg3 in January – we’re going to dive into the 4 foundational quadrants of leadership and preparedness as men: Get Right, Live Right, Lead Right, and Leave Right. Join us as we purposefully create space at the beginning of the year to grow in these areas together.

Gratitude

AO: asylum-daybreak
Q: Lilydipper
PAX: F3 Pluto ( Hugh Nystrom), Brick, High Heels, Veggie (Rylen Huddy), Proton, Swimmies (Nathan Chesney), Waffle House (Brady Greene), Dain Bramage (Will Olson), Cap’n Crunch (Ted Ancelet), Pele (Jon Lindberg), lebowski, Pusher, Lulu (Greg Huddy), Doubtfire (Nick Bond), Back Flow
FNGs: None
COUNT: 16
WARMUP: 20 Side Straddle Hops, 5 Burpees, 10 Imperial Walkers, 4 Burpees, 10 Windmills, 3 Burpees, 7 Twistees, 2 Burpees, 10 Tennessee Rocking Chairs, 1 Burpee, 5 Pterodactyls Forward and 5 Backward

THE THANG: Mosey to the Caribbean. We will do a Candy Cane run stopping at every other island to do 15 Merkins. Those finishing first sweep everyone back.
Mosey to the Bidet. We will run clockwise on the inner circle to the benches on top. We will stop to do 10 Incline Merkins and 10 Decline Merkins. Then we will run clockwise back to the bottom where men will do Baby Crunches until the six arrives.
Mosey to Muscle Beach. Each man will do 25 reps of two different exercise machines.
Mosey to parking lot above soccer fields. We will so suicides to crosswalks. Each time a man comes back he is to do 15 Baby Crunches then run to the next crosswalk.
Mosey on the walkway to the baseball fields and stop about halfway to the large pavilion by the baseball fields. We will do 20 Hello Dollies.
Mosey to the pavilion. We will stop by picnic tables in the pavilion. There, will break into teams of two men each for Doras. While one partner does exercises the other runs around the pavilion. Then team members switch places. This pattern continues until all exercises are completed by the team. Here are the exercises:
100 Bench Step Ups

100 Bench Dips

100 Picnic Table Pull-ups.

Next, we will mosey toward the road leading to the Admin Bldg. We will stop at the rounded garden at the fork where Admin Bldg road hits the Main Park road. We will do 15 Rocky Balboas.
Next, we will run past the lower parking area below the Admin Bldg and to the closest rock pile. Break into teams of two for Doras again. Each team grabs a CMU size rock. Go back to lower parking lot. While one partner runs upstairs, then south to the cul-de-sac and then back down to parking lot the other partner does exercises with rock. Then partners switch places. Here are the exercises each team will do with rocks:
100 Overhead Presses

100 Curls

100 Rows

Place rocks back and run up to Coliseum. We will take a 30 second gander at the Best Sunrise in America.
Mosey to Haslam’s Rock. We will do 15 Tempo Squats.
Mosey down to the dragon tail and back to the AO. We will line up on curb and Bernie Sanders to other curb in parking lot. We will then sprint back to the starting curb.
Gather in circle at AO.

MARY: Stretches.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Brolympics November 16 at Asylum

COT: Prayers
Prayers for all those impacted by the two recent hurricanes. Prayers for Ms. Jan who we often see at the Asylum. She has cancer and is most likely in her last year of living – she is a woman of faith who will be sitting by God in the future.
Message
My message is a reading of the following poem by Carrie Newcomer from her book entitled A Permeable Life: Poems and Essays. The poem speaks for itself and is my entire message.

Three Gratitudes

Every night before I go to sleep
I say out loud
Three things that I’m grateful for,
All the significant, insignificant
Extraordinary, ordinary stuff of my life.
It’s a small practice and humble,
And yet, I find I sleep better
Holding what lightens and softens my life
Ever so briefly at the end of the day.
Sunlight, and blueberries,
Good dogs and wool socks,
A fine rain,
A good friend,
Fresh basil and wild phlox,
My father’s good health,
My daughter’s new job,
The song that always makes me cry,
Always at the same part,
No matter how many times I hear it.
Decent coffee at the airport,
And your quiet breathing,
The stories you told me,
The frost patterns on the windows,
English horns and banjos,
Wood Thrush and June bugs,
The smooth glassy calm of the morning pond,
An old coat,
A new poem,
My library card,
And that my car keeps running
Despite all the miles.
And after three things,
More often than not,
I get on a roll and I just keep on going,
I keep naming and listing,
Until I lie grinning,
Blankets pulled up to my chin,
Awash with wonder
At the sweetness of it all.