F3 Knoxville

Foxes, Skunks and CMUs

THE SCENE: Another beautiful morning, cool and clear
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSHs, plank pointers, squats
THA-THANG:
CMU carry to parking lot big island. Do some presses, OH carry and curls on the way.

Carry 1 CMU on a speed walk. At cone, Run back to previous cone and back w/o CMU then do exercise. Pick up CMU speed walk to next cone and repeat. Exercises are:

  • 15. Merkins
  • 20 OH presses w/CMU
  • 20 jump squats
  • 20 plank pointers
  • 20 dry docks
  • 20 curl/press
  • 20 plank over CMUs (each side is 1)
  • 20 SSH
  • 20 “bench presses” w/CMU
  • 20 tri presses

run a full lap around after completing each round

REPEAT till time ends

MARY:

Flutter Kicks and a creative circle of pain Merkins

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
9 PAX
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
“But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.””
‭‭Mark‬ ‭10:6-9‬ ‭

let your wife know you are one.
MOLESKIN:

great morning, great weather. Wax job came up with the topper for ring of fire merkins. The “real Superman” doing a merkin and on way up putting your arms and legs off the ground.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Goliath at the Gorge, Brolympics

Hidden Figures and a Farewell to 90!

THE SCENE: Hot as heck… again… temps in the mid-90s and a blazing sun overhead.  This is OCTOBER??!
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Check.

WARM-O-RAMA:

  • 10 SSH (4-ct, IC)
  • 10 Baby Arm Circles Forward/ Backward (4-ct, IC)
  • 10 Moroccan Nightclub (4-ct, IC)
  • 10 Tempo Squats (4-ct, IC)
  • 10 Cherry Pickers (4-ct, IC)
  • 10 sec high knees/ 10 sec butt kickers
  • 10 merkins (OYO)

THA-THANG:

  • Mosey to shady grass field by closest parking lot to Lyons View entrance.   Partner 1 Hops to first cone, Bear Crawl to second Cone, then Duck Walks to third cone and sprints back, and trades off with partner 2, who is working on the following exercises (cumulative reps):
    • 90 BBS
    • 90 LBCs
    • 90 American Hammers (2-ct)
  • Mosey to CMU pile
    • 30 Curls/30 Overhead Presses/30 Rows.  Try to complete in 90 seconds.  Rinse and Repeat x3.
  • Mosey to Cardiac:
    • MODIFIED DORAS:
      • Partner 1 run to first corner do 30 reps, Partner 2 do 30 reps, then run to catch up with Partner. Then do the last 30 together (15 each) “Patty-cake” style. Exercises:
        • 90 Merkins
        • 90 Shoulder Taps (each shoulder = 1)
        • 90 Bottle openers (?) (each arm = 1)

MOSEY TO grassy area at the road intersection: 30 BBS

MOSEY TO shady northeast corner of perimeter drive around admin building: 30 LBCs

MOSEY TO AO: 30 American Hammers (2-ct)

MARY:
90 squats

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
9 strong! 0 FNGs!

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM

I recently watched the movie Hidden Figures, which is about three young women who worked “behind the scenes” at NASA in the early 1960s and did the calculations that enabled John Glenn to launch into space.  It’s pretty obvious that we did a lot of exercises totaling 90 reps. This was to celebrate the last afternoon workout in the 90s. But did you realize:

    • We did 9 exercises and 10 reps per exercise in the Warmup?
    • We did 9 different exercises during Tha Thang?
    • I’ve spoken 90 words so far?

So we had some Hidden Figures in our Workout, and we also have Hidden Figures in our lives. These might be co-workers who do tasks that “keep everything moving”, which for me would be the data analysts that crunch the numbers so I can perform my modeling and write my reports. Maybe it’s a secretary, or dispatcher, or just someone who brings a positive and enthusiastic attitude to work every day. Maybe it’s someone at church who does a lot of unnoticed things that make events special… At my church up in Chicago there’s a woman, Fern, who washes and irons the tablecloths for special events and organizes cabinets, and there’s Anne, who stitches hats out of leftover yarn to pass out to homeless shelters.  Maybe it’s a Friend that you don’t see very often, but is always there when you need them, to offer words of encouragement, a shoulder to cry on, or a hand to help you up. And then there’s our relationship with God, who is Hidden from our earthly eyes, but is always with us in our time of need.

Seek out those Hidden Figures in your lives and thank them.

MOLESKIN:
Thankful that Jinxy’s heart procedure and diagnosis were favorable! Thanks to Sparkler for taking the lead on the Asylum PM obstacle construction for HH.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Healing The Wounded

THE SCENE: Humid, temp in low 70’s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Plank Jacks, Plank arm and leg raises, 10 Cherry Pickers, Michael Phelps, Little of This and That.

THA-THANG:
Mosey to Southern Ball Fields Parking Lot.  Do 20 Hello Dollies, four count.

Mosey to perimeter trail near the Pavilion of the south ball fields.  We will do Nickel, Dime, Quarters (run one light do five of exercise, run two lights do ten, run five lights and do 25 of exercise) all the way to the beginning of Cardiac Hill.  These will be the exercises we will go through:

  • Star Jumps
  • Merkins
  • Big Boy Sit-ups
  • Squat Jumps
  • Dive Bombers
  • Imperial Walkers (four count)

At Cardiac Hill we will run up the hill, stopping at each of the turns and finally at the benches to do the following exercises:

  • Turn 1:  20 American Hammers
  • Turn 2:  20 Flutter Kicks
  • Turn 3:  20 Decline Merkins
  • Benches:  Bench Dips
  • Rinse and Repeat

Mosey to parking lot where we keep CMUs.

We will go around the parking lot, stopping at each corner to do exercises.  We go around the parking lot four times, doing the following exercises at each corner:

  • Corner 1:  20 Carolina Dry Docks, 20 Shoulder Taps (both shoulders = 1), 20 Squats, 20 Diamond Merkins  (sprint to Corner 2)
  • Corner 2:  20 Mountain Climbers (four count), 20 Smurf Jacks, 20 Iron Mikes (four count) 10 Burpees (bear crawl to Corner 3)
  • Corner 3: (with CMUs) 20 Overhead Presses, 20 Curls, 20 Rows, 20 Coupon Swings (Bernie Sanders to Corner 4)
  • Corner 4:  20 Bicycle Kicks (four count), 20 Box Cutters, 30 Baby Crunches, 40 “Mississippi second count” Boat Canoe  (Lunge to Corner 1)

Mosey back to AO.

MARY:
30 Baby Crunches
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Ten Men, No FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
As HIMs, we desire to help others.  But how to we handle people that are difficult to help?  Who resist or slap down our offers of assistance with “yes buts”, turning their backs to you, snide remarks, or an attitude that says either that “people aren’t no damn good” or “to hell with you and your advice.”  In my last message I talked about the need to resist the urge to strike back with caustic words; the need to be patient with such people; and, the need to stay Strong with them hanging in there with them.

One thing that can help you is to try to understand where the person is coming from.  These are often folks who have been hurt in their pasts.  Because of that, they lack trust in others and also lack trust in themselves to overcome difficulties.  There is a song by Nick Cave that, I believe, captures well how past painful experience can lead to a tragic attitude of “people ain’t no damn good.”  Ironically, the name of the song is “People Ain’t No Good.”  I don’t think this is Nick Cave’s stance on life although I am sure that, like all of us, he has certainly felt this way.  Rather, it is the stance of the narrator of the song.

Throughout the song, the refrain is “people they ain’t no good.”  Then we find out more about the narrator.  We find out how he married his love under cherry trees and under blossoms they made their vows.  We hear how the sun would stream on the sheets of their bed, how they were awoken by the morning bird, how they would buy Sunday newspapers but never read a single word due to their love for one another.

But, then we hear about how the winter stripped the blossoms of their love.  How like a fist, the difficulties hit them.  How his wife drew the curtains, made of wedding veils, on the narrator.  And, so the narrator cries, “to our love send a coffin of wood. . . to our love a valentine of blood. . . to our love let all the jilted lovers cry “that people just ain’t no good.”

Then, we hear how others may have tried to help this narrator but how he (and, this is the gut-wrenching tragedy of the story) bitterly turned down their help.  Here are the tragic lines about the people who tried to help him:

It ain’t that in their hearts they’re bad
They can comfort you, some even try
They nurse you when you’re ill of health
They bury you when you go and die
It ain’t that in their hearts they’re bad
They’d stick by you if they could
But that’s just bullshit baby
People just ain’t no good
Through the song, we come to understand the stance of the narrator.  It is a tragic stance but we have empathy for him because we can understand the reason for his pain.  Let us, as HIMs, be patient, be loving, be kind, be strong.  Work to understand those who turn away our attempts at love.  Help those who are bitter to learn that, although all of us screw up, some people are pretty damned good.

MOLESKIN:
Prayer of thanks that Mr. Jinxy received good news from the cardiologist.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
The REWARD at Panera!

Helping those who resist help

THE SCENE: Almost 90, rain and then humid

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

THA-THANG:
F3 Iron Pax Challenge, Week 4

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
8 men, no FNGs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Romans 14:13  Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.

Colassians 4:6  Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

 

As HIMs we desire to greet the day with energy, do good for our community, and help or brothers and sisters.  What happens, however, when the people we try to help are not receptive to the assistance we are trying to provide.  What do we do when we put in a great deal of effort to help another and we find them taking no real steps to help themselves.  When they turn down our advice with “yes buts”?  When they answer your attempts at optimism with pessimism”  When their basis stance toward your attempt at community with them is “People ain’t no damn good”?

We as HIMs must learn to have patience with individuals who are so difficult to help – and, frankly, sometimes difficult to like.  Jesus said this:  “Do not resist the one who is evil.  But if anyone slaps you on the right side of the cheek, turn to him the other also”  (Matthew 5:  39).  I don’t think that what Jesus was talking about here was to allow those who assault us to merely do so.  I believe that in this statement Jesus was talking about the approach we must take to people who resist our attempts to love them.  Sometimes we feel we are being slapped when we try to assist others.  Their resistance, their poor attitudes, their chide remarks can make us angry.  Our automatic response, which is certainly understandable, may be “To hell with you!”

But we must stand strong in the storm that hurting people throw at us.  It is the work of the devil in them that leads them to such behavior.  We must learn to keep loving.  That takes the fruits of the spirit:  Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.  We must allow the onslaught and try to understand what, in the individual’s past, leads to their negative stance.  And, we can certainly go to our kinder brothers and sisters for advice and encouragement on how to hang in there with such people.

MOLESKIN:
Prayer for Mr. Jinxy who goes tomorrow for heart catheter.

Supporting Our Bros

THE SCENE: Sunny and hot, temps in low 90’s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side-Straddle Hops, 10 Plank Position Sky Reaches, 10 Rockettes, 10 Baby to Wide Arm Circles Forward, 10 Baby to Wide Arm Circles Backward, 10 Cherry Pickers.

THA-THANG:

Mosey to Stop Sign at Southeast Corner of Admin Bldg.  Go to road and down hill on east side of road.  We will do elevens starting with 1 Big Boy Sit-up on bottom of hill and 10 Squat Jumps on top.

Mosey to grassy area across street from water plant bldg.  There will be four cones set up.  We will do the following exercises at each cone in sequence and move between cones as listed:

  • Cone 1:  1.  20 Smurf Jacks.  2.  20 Plank Jacks  3.  20 Sky Jacks (Bernie Sanders to Cone 2)
  • Cone 2:  1.  20 Hand Release Merkins.  2. 20 Carolina Dry Docks.  3. 20 Diamond Merkins.  (Bear Crawl to Cone 3)
  • Cone 3:  1.  20 American Hammers 4 count.  2.  20 Hello Dollies 4 Count.  3. 20 Flutter Kicks 4 Count.  (Sprint to Cone 4)
  • Cone 4:  1. 10 Shoulder Taps each shoulder.  2.  10 Mountain Climbers 4 count.  3. 10 Iron Mikes 4 count  (Bear Crawl to Cone 1)

Mosey to Area 51.  We will run up hill, stopping to do 5 Burpees at each of four landmarks, the last being the tree by the road that goes back to the Admin Bldg. Parking Lot.  We will then do 20 Bicycle Kicks at the top of the road.

Mosey to Bat House.  We will go down stairs and do 15 Baby Crunches at bottom of stairs.  We then run to piney area near top of Mt. Everest and do 15 more Baby Crunches.  We then run up to the Summit of Mt. Everest and do 15 more Baby Crunches.  Finally, we run back to Bat House and do 15 Baby Crunches.

Mosey to AO.

MARY:

20 Right side crunches and 20 Left side crunches

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Nine men, no FNG’s.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
A friend of mine who lives near Chattanooga sent me an awesome article from the Labor Day edition of the Times Free Press of Chattanooga.  The article talked about our F3 brothers in that community.  The link to the article is attached below.  The article meant a great deal to me for several reasons:

  • Us Knoxville guys helped start the first AO in Chattanooga.
  • Our brothers are doing great things in that community.  They now have eight workout groups there.
  • The article discusses how across the United States feelings of social isolation and loneliness are increasing according to the American Psychological Association.
  • The article discussed how one study, published in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science found social isolation to have the same risk factors for death as obesity.
  • The article talks about how F3 helps men to be more fit but also breaks up the patterns among men of isolation and loneliness.
  • The article talks about how the Faith component of F3 gets men to think about things greater than the individual and think of ways to improve the community.

Here it the link to the article:  https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2019/sep/02/inside-mens-groabout-more-just-exercise/502599/.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Jinxy who has been found to have some matter around his heart, for Simba’s wife who has heart surgery tomorrow, and for Mr. Roger’s and his family who lost their son, Garrett.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Funeral for Garrett this Sunday.