F3 Knoxville

A lamp to our feet

THE SCENE: Insert info about the weather, etc.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Insert information about the warmup.
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the K2/5 hill. Perform a pyramid with merkins at the bottom and squats at the top:  10, 20, 30, 20, 10 reps.

Covering some ground this morning we moseyed over to the track at the high school.  We got the whole body covered at the track.  We performed the following exercises at the 100 meter marks and added a station up the steps on the west side of the school.

  • 20 diamond merkins
  • 20 jump squats
  • 20, 2-ct Freddie Mercury

We did one full round and then dropped the merkins for another couple of sets. Back to the shovel flag.

MARY:
No time
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

8 at the Project today

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
“Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”-Psalms 119:105 NASB1995

This verse was used on Sunday in a sermon. Sometimes when we read or hear scripture, we recognize something that we missed before. God’s word is amazing like that! What stuck with me this time was how the word of God truly is the guide that we need to navigate through this dark world. Here is another one about the opposite of the evil, darkness of the world.

“This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

1 John 1:5‭-‬7 NASB1995

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

Failing the Test

THE SCENE: Drippy, cool 30s. Perfect morning for the back porch
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH, Moroccan nightclubs, Overhead claps, Tempo squats, Tempo merkins
THA-THANG:
Grabbed a block and headed around to the back porch of the senior center for some Dora, Dora, Dora!

  • 300 curls, 300 squats, 5 burpees
  • Mosey on over to the playground to get in some pull ups for the day
  • 200 OHP, 150 CMU swings, 5 burpees
  • Gather the 6 in plank, then do 30 seconds more
  • 100 rows (each side), then Heavy Freddies until time
  • Baby Mucho Chesto – 10 Merkins, 10 Wide Merkins, 10 Diamond Merkins, 10 Stagger Merkins (each side)

MARY:
About 60 seconds in Al Gore just to finish out.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

This is a challenging passage because it says outright that every time I have succumbed to temptation, it is my fault. I have never been so overwhelmed that I could not resist, though I have often believed otherwise.

Temptation and testing are ideas often used together in the bible. When I think about a test, I naturally default to the kind of testing used in school. Its purpose is simply to determine if I have the knowledge I am supposed to, and the results will inevitably be either a gold star for achievement or a black dot demerit. However, this is not the model that the biblical authors had in mind.

The word for test often used by the bible’s authors is connected with the process used to test gold, and this analogy is also often employed. The key difference here is that when gold is placed in the crucible and tested, it is not intended to leave the gold unchanged. While the process does reveal the amount of impurity, that very same process of testing gold also purifies it. This is vital to understanding the way God tests us.

God’s tests are not disinterested measurements intended to inform his judgements about us. Rather the test is the very process by which God intends to purify us. Through repeated testing, He can strip away the impurities that reside within our hearts, preparing us to one day endure his presence. For though Christ has won the victory over death and opened the way for us to access the presence of the Father, His presence is dangerous to the impure and unholy. Christ has justified us, but still we must be sanctified that we might enter into new creation and reside in the very presence of the Father, free from all fear and knowing only his boundless Love.
MOLESKIN:
Great to see Guardrail out to spend some quality time out back. This was a fall back plan for the weather, so another day I will have to reveal my planned Dora the Explora Q…
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Weekly challenge is up to 30 pushups, 3 pull ups, and 30 second plank – this Q met standard for today. Check in on Slack to mark your progress. While you are there, read about Lizards, Bullfrogs, and Leeches.

Family Q is coming up February 5th.

Maturity

THE SCENE: mid 20s and clear at the Project.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

15 SSH, 15 Mountain climbers, 10 tempo merkins, 15 Imperial walkers, 10 tempo squats 15 Moroccan night club
THA-THANG:

Mosey to amphitheatre for:

Pyramid- perform first exercise and make a lap around the creek. Each round add an exercise until all exercises are performed. Start dropping the first exercise each round beginning on round 5 and continue to descend each round.

  • 20 Merkins
  • 20 squats
  • 20 burpees
  • 20 Freddie Mercury (4-ct)

Mosey to the playground for a few pullups and then head back to the flag.

MARY:
Variations of planks.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
8 PAX today.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
The message for today is about maturity. Burpees are not for the physically immature. A couch potato can’t just bust out 20 burpees without some work. The Bible has a message on spiritual maturity. Heb. 5:12-6:2

12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. 6:1Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.

I believe that everyone would agree that a parent trying to sustain their children with milk only would be detrimental to their health. They need more nutrition to continue to grow and mature. The Bible uses this analogy to stress the importance of spiritual maturity. If we try to continue to live on the immature “milk” of the Word only, we are putting ourselves in a susceptible position of spiritual malnourishment. If we are spiritually malnourished, we are more susceptible to falling away as the author of Hebrews states in verses 4-6.

It seems to be pretty easy to become spiritually lazy. Do we just show-up on Sunday and check that box? Is that all of our spiritual “work” for God? Or do we seek opportunities to serve Him by serving those around us? Do we just sit back and listen during worship or do we participate? Are we seeking to help lead in worship to God? Hopefully, this is thought provoking. I encourage everyone to assess their spiritual maturity and see how we can do better.
MOLESKIN:
It was nice to keep our feet mostly dry due to the melted snow on the paths and YHCs choice of route.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Spread the word about F3 to your friends and colleagues!

Burpin’ Bernie turns 3 y/o

THE SCENE: Cold, dark
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • 10-Cherry Pickers
  • 10 – Hairy Rockettes
  • 15 – lbac forward/backward
  • 15 – Tempo Merkins
  • 20 – Tempo Squats

THA-THANG:
Mosey to the large parking lot on East side of campus.

Burpin’ Bernies

The large parking lot has 10 parking rows. Starting on the West side of the parking lot, run to the first row (Level 1) and perform 1 burpee, Bernie back to the start and perform the level 1 exercise, run to the second row (Level 2) and perform 2 burpees, Bernie back to the start and perform the level 2 exercise. Complete until finished with level 10.

  1. 10 – Carolina Dry Docks
  2. 20 – Monkey Humpers
  3. 30 – Plank Dips
  4. 40 – Merkins
  5. 50 – Smurf Jacks
  6. 60 – Flutter Kicks
  7. 70 – Shoulder Taps
  8. 80 – Air Squats
  9. 90 – Freddie Mercuries
  10. 100 – Side Straddle Hops

In total there were 550 reps of the level exercises and 55 burpees. We ran 3/4 mile forwards and 3/4 mile backwards.

MARY:
No time. Arrived at AO with 15 seconds to spare.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
14 HIMs came out on the third anniversary of my first VQ! Love the JUCO PAX and their enthusiasm.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Don’t allow yourself to become complacent. It’s obvious that no one here is complacent with their physical self as we are all here to grow and push ourselves to the next level. It’s important that we apply that same desire to grow in all areas of our lives. Remember that the goal of F3 is not to workout, but to invigorate male leadership within the community. I hope that JUCO has done that for more men than just myself. Today marked three years to the date from my VQ. I was hesitant to step up and take the lead in a workout, but the constant encouragement (and badgering) from Judge Judy got me over the hump. Taking the lead of a group of men like those at JUCO has given me greater confidence in my ability to lead. I’ve been able to take that confidence and use it to take leadership in other areas of my life. These last three years have really pushed me to step up into more leadership positions and I’m grateful to the PAX at JUCO for that.

MOLESKIN:

Love the PAX at JUCO. These men have pushed me to hold myself to a higher standard.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

nada

Heavy PT Baseline

THE SCENE:  35 and clear.  Perfect for a beatdown
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Nah  
WARM-O-RAMA:
 

  • Chattanooga cherry pickers
  • OHC
  • Hangin’ w/ Michael Phelps
  • Real cherry pickers
  • Inch worms
  • Cobra
  • What’s up, dogg?
  • Pigeon
  • Stretch OYO while I explain the workout…

THA THANG:

30 minutes to get as many cumulative reps as you can. The following list of exercises are performed in sets of 25 reps. After completing each set of 25 reps, run 25 yards (6 parking spaces), do 2 burpees, and return for the next set. Here are the exercises:

  • 150 curls
  • 125 heavy squats
  • 100 OHP
  • 75 CMU swings
  • 50 Thrusters
  • 25 Blockees

When you finish the blockees, start over and push until the timer is up.

Once through the circuit is 525 reps.  How many cumulative reps?

MARY:

Heavy LBC
H2H
Prone row
Heavy flutters

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

7 of the best men I know

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

I started by saying how grateful I am for the leadership of Erector and to the other Project Pioneers (Snaggletooth, Rocket, Chaco) – who started this from scratch 3 years ago.  Likewise, I’m grateful for Snaggletooth shepherding it along – growing our group in numbers, depth, and diversity.  I’m grateful that this group has challenged me to grow athletically, relationally, and spiritually over the past 2.5 years.  ISI!

We talked as a group about some of the ways that we’d like to see The Project move forward.  Some ideas were;

  • We now have a few metric workouts to measure performance (military fitness PT, and today’s heavy PT baseline).  Let’s re-do those occasionally to see how our performance is trending.  Weekly Push/Pull/Plank challenge on Slack.
  • Consistency in the gloom and chatter on Slack.  Outside of the gloom – Hiking daytrips…  Dinners…  Bonfires…  Spring camping trip…
  • More deliberate discipleship.  Developing smaller shield lock groups within the larger Project group.  Meditating on and committing scripture to memory.  Leading our families in study, prayer, and faith.
  • More men in attendance. More Sad Clowns who need something like F3.  Specifically, more newly married men and new fathers – those are critical points in a man’s life and full of anxiety.  We have a wealth of experiences to share with those men – let’s find ‘em!
  • Family Workout! It’ll be great to get the families together monthly. It’s also a service to the community to we are uniquely gifted to provide.  I think this will largely define The Project’s evolution in 2022.

MOLESKIN:

Let’s do this again in a few months and measure progress.  Is our fitness accelerating?  Here are our baseline scores;

  • Rocket 515
  • Snaggletooth 525
  • Erector 550
  • Mathlete 525
  • Tuba 510
  • Bobbitt 516
  • Kickflip 510

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

AOQ change at JUCO tomorrow!

Family Workouts – first Saturday of each month

Family Camping Trip – tentatively April 1-3