F3 Knoxville

Steam Can’t Count Because He’s Not A Professional, But It Was Still A Pretty Good Q

[ The Scene ]

TBSIA (The Best Sunrise In America) was slowly beginning to arrive on the scene.

[ Welcome/Disclaimer ]

  • Welcome to F3: Fitness, Fellowship, Faith
  • My name is Steam and I’ll be your Q this morning
  • A few things before we begin however:
    • I’m not a professional
    • You’re here on your own volition
    • If you need to modify anything we do this morning feel free to do so. But in that moment of potential modification ask yourself this question: CAN I DO BETTER? Then ask the HIM on your left and right if they can as well.

[ Warm o Rama ]

  • Motivator: 5 (Steam can’t count to 5 for Motivators so he will need a Q101 soon)
  • Baby Arm Circles: 10×4 F / 10×4 B
  • Mountain Climber: 10×4
  • Merkin: 10×4

[ The Thang ]

(Mosey to the flagpole)

(1) Flagpole — 5s

  • 5 Xs: 25 reps on a 1 count
    • SSH
    • Merkin
    • Squat
    • LBC
    • American Hammers
  • 5 stations
    • Flagpole: 25 SSH
    • Corner 1 of parking lot: 25 merkins
    • Corner 2 of parking lot: 25 squats
    • Corner 3 of parking lot: 25 LBCs
    • Corner 4 of parking lot: 25 AHs
  • The movements
    • 5 rounds
    • Doing your SSHs here, running to corner 1 and doing that exercise, running back here, and rinse and repeat what you just did, but adding the next corner into the mix
    • For example: SSH, merkins, squats — back to the flagpole
    • Adding a corner each time until you’ve done all 4 corners in one round
  • Recover back here when you’re done

(Mosey to The 3 Strands)

(2) The 3 Strands

  • Strand 1 (Far Left) — run to the other side + execute 5 man-makers + run back on strand 1
  • Strand 2 (Middle) — run to the other side + execute 10 man-makers + run back to the other side
  • Strand 3 (Far Right) — run to turn other side + execute 15 man makers + run back to the other side
  • You’re always starting on this side, and running back to this side after the man-makers

(Mosey to The Dock)

(3) The Dock

  • Core 4 25×4
    • LBCs
    • Cockroaches
    • Flutter kicks
    • Reverse BBS

(Mosey back to the Pavilion)

  • 10 step ups
  • Run to the parking lot (AO)
  • Execute 50 SSH (1 count)
  • Rinse and Repeat

[ Mary ]

Down + Back sprints and squats and merkins across the parking lot

Cash-Out: ATMs

[ COT ]

  • # off
  • Name o Rama
  • FNGs
  • BOM

[ The Zelensky Leadership Model ]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s response to a potential airlift from the U.S., in light of Russia invading Ukraine, has gotten a lot of attention and spotlight over the past week or so. Here was Zelensky’s response: “I need ammunition, not a ride.”

Take the politics, the names, positions, locations out of this and what do you have? You have an incredible leadership principle +  model. In this specific situation, you have a leader asking for the tools to stay in the fight, rather than taking the first chance to get out. And don’t we do the opposite of this in our lives sometimes?

If you subscribe to the Christian faith, here’s what this can sound like, at least for me sometimes:

“God if you would just airlift me out of this situation.”

“God please get me out of this.”

If you don’t, and more culturally speaking, the soundtrack of this goes something like this:

“That’s not my job/problem.”

“This is a sign that this isn’t what the universe has for me.”

—versus—

“God supply me what I need to stay in the fight.”

“God – you have me here for a reason. Please supply me with the tools to do your will.”

—Or—

“What tools do I have at my disposal to attempt to make this situation better?”

So what is the “ammunition” that helps us keep the faith + fight the good fight, even when the fight we’re in seems insurmountable? If you’re a follower of Jesus is the Bible or the word of God. So then we take this leadership principle from Zelensky and ask ourselves “Am I asking for ammunition to fight the enemy or simply looking and waiting for a way out?” 

Takeaway: The world needs more High Impact Men that are willing to stay in the fight and ask for the ammo/tools to battle, than jump ship after the first shot is fired. Because here’s what HIM do: 3 things

  • They don’t flee from the fight, they stay rooted in the darkest of night
  • They don’t look for an extraction point, they find and create rallying points
  • They don’t escape, they elevate

Quit looking for rides out and start asking for ammunition to stay rooted where you are.

Drum Major 51

THE SCENE: A beautiful sunny evening at about 70 degrees.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

51 single count side straddle hops

10 windmills

5 merkins/1 burpee

10 baby arm circles each way

Little of this and that

10 rockettes

5 big boys/1 burpee

THA-THANG:

Mosey to hill by wall just up mini-cardiac

5/1’s

5 box jumps/step ups up top

1 big boy at bottom

Until get to 1 at top and 5 at bottom

 

Mosey to rock pile along path on park’s east side

15 curls

15 overhead press

21 rows

(2nd 51)

15 triceps

15 front lifts

21 squats

 

(rinse and repeat everything)

 

Mosey to the Bermuda Triangle

Battle buddy up

1 buddy runs to hill and back while other stays and knocks out

51 squats

51 imperial walkers

51 merkins

51 LBCs

 

Mosey to base of Everest

15 flutter kicks

5 burpees/1 big boys

5 burpees/1 merkin

Then released everyone to run the summit of Everest and then all the way to the AO. Have to do 51 hand release merkins split up as each sees fit by the time or at the AO meetup.

MARY:
15 box cutters and some post workout stretches to finish us off
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:
Discussed how leadership involves letting go and trusting those you lead to be be good leaders, people and citizens in your absence. I then read the following quotes on the subject:

No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it. —Andrew Carnegie

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. —Lao Tzu

The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it. —Theodore Roosevelt

A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit. —John Maxwell

MOLESKIN:
Insert any personal comments, notes, devotion content, etc.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Insert information about upcoming events, 2nd or 3rd F opportunities, and any other announcements.

President’s Day Trivia at the Equalizer

THE SCENE: Above freezing, clear morning… how long until coffee?!?

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: Done and Done

WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH IC x23 | LBAC IC each way x10 | Little bit of This/Little bit of That | Tempo Squats IC x10 | Rockettes IC x10 

THA-THANG:

Mosey to the Flagpole for 23 Derkins 

Mosey to Playground for 23 Rocky Balboas IC 

Mosey to Splash Pad for Presidential Trivia! 

Correct Answer = Do the exercise and reps on the cardboard

Incorrect Answer = Do double the exercise and reps 

  • 5 Burpees
  • 20 LBCs 
  • 10 Diamond Merkins
  • 30 Flutter Kicks
  • 20 Squats
  • 30 Mountain Climbers (2ct.)

3 Rounds; After each round Mosey to Dock for 25 CDD and Mosey to Rockpile for 21s Curls and 21s OHPress; Tricep Ext.; Rows 

Questions: ((Bolded questions were answered correctly))

Q: What does the “S” in Harry S. Truman’s name stand for?

A: Nothing 

Q: Which president made Christmas a national holiday?

A: Ulysses Grant 

Q: Who was the first and only U.S. president to serve non-consecutive terms?

A: Grover Cleveland

Q: Which president had turned down offers to play professional football?

A: Gerald Ford

Q: Which president was often mocked in the press for his unkempt appearance?

A: Abraham Lincoln

Q: Though three presidents (Adams, Jefferson, and Monroe) died on the 4th of July, which president was the only president to have been born on that date?

A: Calvin Coolidge

Q: Which president hated his painted portrait so much that he eventually burned it?

A: Theodore Roosevelt

Q: Which president and his wife hold the record for the longest-married first couple?

A: Jimmy Carter

Q: Who were the four presidents that were assassinated?

A: Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy

Q: What state produced the most U.S. presidents?

A: Virginia (8)

Q: Who was the first American-born president?

A: Martin Van Buren 

Q: Which president and his wife attended Napoleon‘s coronation at Notre Dame Cathedral?

A: James Monroe

Q: Who was the first president to have written a biography of another president?

A: After he left office, Herbert Hoover wrote a biography on Woodrow Wilson

Q: Which president donated all of his presidential salary (and his congressional salary before that) to charity?

A: John F. Kennedy

Q: Which president put up the first Christmas tree in the White House?

A: Benjamin Harrison

Q: Which presidents also served as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court? 

A: William Howard Taft 

Q: Which president served as both President and Vice President without being elected to either office? 

A: Gerald Ford 

Q: Who was the youngest person to become president? 

A: Theodore Roosevelt; 42 at the time of inauguration. JFK was the youngest *elected* at 44. TR assumed office after the assassination of William McKinley in 1901 

Of the questions answered correctly (and it wasn’t many), High Heels was the HIM who answered the questions; Choir Boy answered 1 right. 

MARY:

Fellowship Mosey part of the way back 

Ring of Fire (Down from 3)

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

12 HIMs; 0 FNGs; 1 DownRange (Shoota from F3Franklin)

Stripped, Ribbed, Choir Boy, High-Heels, Trunk, Aladdin, Snitch, Head Gear, Mouthwash, Inspector Gadget, Shoota, Blindside

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

As I am coming up on my 1 year F3 anniversary, I have been reading through Freed to Lead for the first time and am really gaining a lot of knowledge about the initial creation of F3 and what it has done for men across the country. I am so completely thankful for this group and what it has done in my life this past year. If you are iffy about this whole F3 thing, please read Freed to Lead

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

CSAUP this Saturday 2/26 at the Asylum at 6:30 am start HARD OUT at 9:00 am

Bring donations for the food and for The Wesley House

F3Knoxville Podcast is BACK! Subscribe, Download, and Listen on any of your podcast apps!!

Flying in Stormy Conditions

THE SCENE: Sunny, temp in low 20s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Mountain Climbers, 10 Windmills, 10 Twisties, 10 Tempo Merkins, 7 Wide Arm Circles Forward and 7 Backward, Little of This and That
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the stop sign by the road that head to the Coliseum.  We will do 20 Hello Dollies.

Mosey on the perimeter trail to where it curves left by Lyons Bend Road.  We will do 10 Tempo Squats.

Next, we will run up Roadshow Run to the roadway that semi-circles around the Admin Bldg.  Each man shall stop to do 5 burpees at the top of each of the three sets of stairs on Roadshow Run.  At the roadway, men should alternate between Merkins and Big Boy Sit-ups until the six arrives.

Mosey to the stairs at the front of the Admin Bldg.  We will run counterclockwise around the loop that goes between the Admin Bldg and the Coliseum.  We will stop at the following locations to do these exercises:

  • Stairs to Admin Bldg:  20 Calve Raises
  • Southern Curve of Loop:  20 Carolina Dry Docks
  • Benches at Coliseum:  20 Bench Dips
  • Northern Curve of Loop:  20 Star Jumps
  • Rinse and Repeat two more times.

Mosey south to roadway and then to old apartments.  We will do 20 Box Cutters.

Mosey to southern parking lot.  We will run to the cones set out in parking lot. At each cone, men should turn around and bear crawl for three parking spaces.  Then turn back around and run to next cone.  Do this until last cone where, once again, men should turn around and bear crawl three parking spaces.  The rabbits who finish shall run back to starting spot, sweeping men with them.  Rinse and repeat.

Do again but hop the three parking spaces.  Then, do again but lunge the three parking spaces.

Mosey to entrance to the Caribbean parking lot.  We will stop to do 20 American Hammers.

Mosey to parking lot near playground.  We will do 10 Rocky Balboa (4 ct).

Mosey to AO.  At the AO we will split into two teams.  The first man of each team will throw a frisbee toward the cone near the opposite curb.  Whoever is closest wins.  His team gets to watch while all members of the other team must sprint to the opposite curb and back, retrieving the frisbees.  Then the second man of each team compete and the procedure starts again.

Run around parking lot two times.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
19 men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Flying In Cloudy Conditions

An instrument rating is an advanced type of aviation certification enabling pilots to fly rather than be grounded even during cloudy weather and other weather conditions that cause low visibility. The Instrument Flight Rules Rating (IFR) training requirements include 30 hours of pre and post flight ground school, 40 hours of instrument flight training, 50 hours of PIC Cross-Country, and the successful completion of an instrument written exam. It is an excellent addition to a private pilot’s certificate, which by itself leaves the pilot limited to flying only during Visual Flight Rules (VFR) conditions.

Pilots go through a great amount of training in order to get their private pilot’s certificate to fly.  Despite all the training, that certificate limits the pilot to flying only during conditions where there is nice weather with clear skies.  Clouds, heavy precipitation, low visibility and otherwise adverse conditions are to be avoided.

In order for a pilot to be able to fly during cloudy weather and conditions that cause low visibility the pilot is required to obtain an Instrument Flight Rules Rating.  This requires many more hours of training.  Basically, the pilot must learn the instruments on a plane well enough to fly in conditions where one can’t see out the plane.  That training takes more than just learning what the instruments are.  The pilot must learn to fly while relying on the instruments in flight.  The pilot must not only read the book but put the book to use!

In life, our personal skies are sometimes clear and we can fly full speed ahead.  We can make decisions based on good old logic and we understand well what we are doing.  In life, however, the skies are not always clear.  Sometimes vision gets difficult and sometimes it is hard to see altogether.

Like pilots, we need to rely on something more to get us through difficult times – otherwise, we crash.

At age 65, I have learned to rely on a number of valuable tools to get me through the darkest of times.  First, I rely on the Bible.  It is my “life manual.”  The lessons in it are priceless, give me direction, and teach me who God is.  Second, I rely on teachings from others about the Bible, whether from my attending church, going to Sunday school and bible studies, reading bible commentaries, or discussing the bible with others.  The Bible is a large and complex read.  I can’t rely on my own reading of it alone to fully comprehend its meaning and direct me through the challenges of life.  Third, I rely on practicing the principals I have learned.  Pilots need many hours of training before they get their Instrument Rating and I need many hours of practice myself to manage life’s difficult time.  Living like Jesus isn’t something that you just “do.”  It takes a lifetime of practice to get it right and I am still working on “getting it right.”  It also takes talking to God, through prayer.  Finally, I rely on other people to help me out.  Pilots need to have instructors with them as they are learning to master flying and the use of instruments in cloudy weather.  Commercial pilots need co-pilots sitting beside them.  I rely on others to negotiate my foggy skies and you brothers are some of those I rely on.  I try to gain wisdom from the words of the Q of each BOM I attend.  You guys teach incredible life lessons.  I also know that, when I am in a pinch or feeling lost, I can call on my brothers to help me out.  I have done just that with some of you.

In summary, we need more than our senses to get through the cloudy and dark skies of life.  For me, the Bible, teachings about God’s word, application of God’s word and using the help of Godly people are what I have found necessary to get through the most challenging of times.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Drum Major’s wife and family as his wife’s mother died this last week; prayers for two missionary friends of Crawdad who are serving in Ukraine; prayers for the Special Olympics – Cheatsheet and Lilydipper will be at an event today, the Polar Plunge at the West Town YMCA – registration fees and donations serve the Special Olympics in East Tennessee; prayers for fathers and for the underprivileged who are facing troubles at this time.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP on February 26 at 6:30 am, the Asylum.  Also, when registering for the event on Slack, please consider making a donation to the Wesley House.  The link for doing that will be with the CSAUP registration notice.

Tuesday Evening Big Circle

THE SCENE: Beautiful afternoon over 60 degrees at the start. Clear and a lot of people in the Asylum enjoying a pretty day.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • Side straddle hops
  • Rockettes
  • Baby arm circles
  • Little of this and that
  • Imperial Squat walkers
  • 5 Burpees

THA-THANG:

Mosey to base of Pickett’s Charge

 

Picketts charge suicide

1st –  5 prisoner getups

2nd – 10 imperial walkers

 

10 merkins at bottom before and after each time down

 

LBCs up top until 6 comes in

 

Big circle stations

 

Start at coliseum and go all the way up to top of Everest/office parking lot and back around to coliseum start

 

Stop at each cone do exercise listed and follow instruction of where to go next and how

 

Coliseum start

  • 15 dips
  • Lunges to next cone

 

Cone 1 – halfway down walk

  • 15 big boys
  • Bear crawl to next

 

Cone 2 – little ways down

  • 20 squats
  • Karaoke to next cone

 

Cone 3 – halfway to stop sign

  • 10 no touch merkins
  • Sprint to next cone

 

Cone 4 – stop sign

  • 15 2 count flutter kicks
  • Bernie to next cone

 

Cone 5 – end of guardrail

  • 15 bobby hurleys
  • Run to next cone

 

Cone 6 – top of hill by parking lot

  • 15 merkins
  • Skip to next cone

 

Cone 7 – little ways down back of the hill

  • 15 2 count rocky balboas
  • Go all the way backwards to the 6 and repeat all cones you go back past
  • After coming back the 2nd time and doing Rocky Balboas again karaoke to the next cone

 

Cone 8 – stop sign area

  • 15 2 count hello dollys
  • Run to next cone

 

Cone 9 – up by pathway to Coliseum

  • 5 burpees
  • Lunges to next cone

 

Cone 10 – little ways down path

  • 10 star jumps
  • Bernie to starting spot of Coliseum and do LBCs until the 6 comes in

5 Motivators before running back to the AO for the word.

MARY:
n/a
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:
Discussed the following:

Kurt Vonnegot story about Joseph Heller:

I said, “Joe, how does it make you feel
to know that our host only yesterday
may have made more money
than your novel ‘Catch-22’
has earned in its entire history?”
And Joe said, “I’ve got something he can never have.”
And I said, “What on earth could that be, Joe?”
And Joe said, “The knowledge that I’ve got enough.”

“Don’t make stuff because you want to make money — it will never make you enough money. And don’t make stuff because you want to get famous — because you will never feel famous enough,” John Green

MOLESKIN:
Q was followed by a well attended and lively Board Meeting at the Asylum to cap off a great evening.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP end of February