F3 Knoxville

Tag: Mathlete

Now THAT’S Impressive

THE SCENE:  High 40s and clear.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Administered
WARM-O-RAMA:

OYO

THA THANG:

IPC Week 4!

  1. 100 Gas Pumpers
  2. 50 Jump Rope
  3. 1 mile run
  4. 25 Hello Dollies
  5. 25 Burpees
  6. 50 Jump Rope
  7. 400-meter run
  8. 25 Hand Release Merkins
  9. 25 V-Ups
  10. 50 Jump Rope
  11. 400-meter run
  12. 25 Leg Raises
  13. 25 Jungle Boi Squats
  14. 50 Jump Rope
  15. 400-meter run
  16. 25 4-count flutter kicks
  17. 25 Bonnie Blairs (hard way)
  18. 50 Jump Rope
  19. 400-meter run
  20. 100 Big Boy Sit-ups
  21. 50 Jump Rope
  22. 1 mile run

MARY:

Fagettabowtit.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Me and 13 of the best men I know

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

You finished Week 4 of the Iron PAX Challenge!  Impressive!  You ran 3 miles and completed 700 reps of exercises!  Very impressive!

You know what I find MORE impressive?

  • All 14 of you set an alarm to go off this morning. You got yourself out of bed and came out here knowing what we were planning to do.  Your determination is impressive. 
  • At one time, each one of you came out here in the dark, without knowing another man, and decided to give it a go. If you were like me, your first day kicked your butt – but you came back.  Your resolve is impressive.
  • Many of you have done this for months or years on end. Continually subjecting yourself to these trials to become an increasingly better version of yourself – and to challenge your brothers out here to do the same.  Your consistency is impressive. 
  • Many of you lead Qs. You lead five to ten other men in exercises, a thought, and a prayer.  It might be uncomfortable and intimidating, but you do it because you know that you get better at leading by practicing leading.  Your leadership is impressive.
  • When you lead, several of you have shared from the heart – your struggles, your challenges, your setbacks – you’ve been transparent in this ball of man. That takes real courage.  We may impress each other with our strengths, but we relate to each other through our weaknesses.  Your transparency is so impressive. 

Iron sharpens iron and that’s what we are doing out here.  Each and every one of you made a commitment to be here.  I watch you getting stronger and faster, building your endurance, building your toughness, growing your faith, growing as leaders, and challenging the rest of us to do the same.  That is so impressive and I’m grateful for you men.

Throughout scripture, Jesus was impressed by people on several occasions.  What was it that impressed Him?  Not material things…  Not power…

Jesus is impressed by humility.

  • He said, “Whoever humbles himself like child…is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Mathew 18:4).
  • The Canaanite woman who said “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table” impressed Jesus (Matthew 15:27).
  • About the sinful tax collector who beat his chest and prayed, “God, be merciful to me a sinner”, Jesus said he left justified (Luke 18:14).

Jesus is impressed by faith.

  • The centurion in Capernaum who pleaded, “just say the word, and my servant will be healed…” – impressed Jesus (Matthew 8:10)
  • About the blind beggar near Jericho, Jesus said, “Your faith has made you well.” (Luke 18:42).
  • All over Scripture we read about Jesus in heaven sitting at the right hand of God. In Mathew, Mark, Luke, John, Hebrews, Colossians, Revelation… And then there is a description in Acts 7.  Stephen, just before he is killed for his faith, looks to heaven and sees Jesus standing at the right hand of God.  You know what literally gets Jesus on His feet?  Persistent faith.

Maybe we could train ourselves to be impressed by the same – faith and humility. 

MOLESKIN:

I wish I could say it as elegantly as he did… Ocho mentioned after the BOM that faith and humility are hand-in-hand with each other.

I’m impressed by Ocho for coming out these last couple of months and showing real progress in his fitness.  You’ve showed grit, brother!

Likewise, I’m impressed by Papa Lock for making time in his crazy schedule to post several times a week – he too is making steady progress.  Stick with it – and you’ll be unrecognizable in a year!

I’m impressed by Skewer for leading Qs – each one better than the last – and for courageously sharing his struggles during some of his BOMs.

I’m impressed by Slappy for posting today – despite his injuries – and gutting it out through the entire IPC.  GRIT.

I’m impressed by Borg for being able to run circles around me at 59 years old – and for continuing to demonstrate that age is just a number.

I’m impressed by Rocket for his long-term steadiness and tenacity to work through obstacles and keep getting stronger

I’m impressed by Boy George for nearly completing his insane race last weekend

I’m impressed by Erector for conceiving this merry band of misfits – and for being a machine out there today.

I’m impressed by Bobbitt, who has been with us for a little over a year and has totally transformed his fitness level – and emerged as one of the region’s best AOQs.

I’m impressed by Tuba for the steadfastness he demonstrates in his life and his parenting – and for wearing shorts even in the dead of winter

I’m impressed by 3-Peat for his resolve to show up over and over again – not listening to the devil on his shoulder telling him to sleep in today

I’m impressed by Oh Brother for posting with us just days after moving to town – and coming back out two days in a row now

I’m impressed by Mathlete for leading this group well and challenging us all to accelerate our fitness, fellowship, and faith.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

  • Today – Shovel flag handoff at the Asylum PM
  • Oct 8 – 2.0 Workout
  • Oct 27: Halloween event in Oak Ridge
  • Nov 5: Brolympics at the Asylum
  • Dec 10: Oak Ridge Christmas parade

A little leg and sumpin’ else

THE SCENE: Warm and clear at 70 degrees.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER. Welcome to Fitness Fellowship and Faith, Voluntary, Free, Peer led, not a pro, no knowledge of injuries or fitness considerations, it is each person’s responsibility to be safe and to modify as necessary. Most important, don’t get hurt.

WARM-O-RAMA:  

SSH
Arm circles – small
Imperial walkers
Knox Cherry pickers
Plank
Upward Dog
Downward dog
Indian Run to the coupons – last man does 1 burpee then sprints to the front

THA-THANG:

Carry your coupon through the entire workout. Or use it on the ground to complete exercises like Merkins.

20 Thrusters 20
Lunges (uphill to cones, mosey back)
10 Bonnie Blairs (jumping lunge) (10 Each leg)
Bernies
40 Curls
High knees
20V-ups or modify with 20 LBCs
Lunges
20 Alternating Side Squats
Bernies
20 Grave Diggers (20 each side) (4 count carefully, use your legs)
Butt kicks
10 American Hammers (10 each side)
30 Merkins
20 Flutter kicks with block held high (4 count)

Repeat from the top until the alarm goes off

MARY:

15 minutes of PAX choice, everyone got to choose one, including both FNGs

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

What does “Know your limits” mean?
I told a story about playing soccer in a tournament of several games a few weeks ago and the next day mentioned to a Bible Study group that my feet and ankles were very sore from it. Another man in the group said, (somewhat scoldingly) “You gotta know your limits.” His response stuck with me, because he has no clue about me or my “limits”.

So I posed the question at this morning’s COT – What does “Know your limits” mean? The responses from several PAX helped clarify the situation for me. Here are a few insights from the group.
• As a part of living, we are always traversing what appear to be limits as we learn and adjust.
• In order to know your limits, you must explore them and keep them up to date by going and touching them from time to time, because of course they change.
• Consider the source, someone may be giving you advice based on their own limits which could be very bad advice for you.
• Consider the source, and listen, if it is someone who knows you well and they are giving you solid advice from a friend.

The depth of the responses was much greater than I can post here, and I am very grateful that I learn so much from other PAX.

The HIMs at The Project have been a driving force to help me push my limits, shoulder to shoulder. A few months ago, I asked for agreement in prayer to get rid of the nagging fear that I was pushing too much, so that I could enjoy the journey. My fear is gone and I am no longer training “to get slower, slower”, but I am gaining ground. Most encouraging is that I am watching the men around me grow as husbands and HIMs, as well as athletes because they are pushing and evaluating their limits as a natural part of who they are.

My conclusion is that there is no way to “know your limits”, because they are invisible and always changing, so put your confidence in God and your hope in His promises. Maybe it would be better to say, “Know His promises”!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Welcome “Breadbowl” and “Wipeout”, previously known as FNGs.

Discipline v Motivation

THE SCENE: Beautiful fall morning, clear sky for star gazing
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • Projectivators
  • LBACs
  • Grady Corn
  • Morocan Night Clubs
  • Chatty Pickers
  • Tempo squats
  • Cherry Pickers
  • Tempo Merkins
  • Mountain Climbers

THA-THANG:

  • Mosey to the stadium seats
  • Dora – One works while the other goes down the seats and back up
    • 200 Merkins
    • 200 LBCs
  • Mosey to the playground and rotate through pull ups while working on 150 squats OYO
  • Mosey to upper parking lot and line up on first spaces
  • Mosey to each line do squats, then merkins, then imperial walkers then bernie back. Start with 10 each, then 20, 30, 40.
  • Same idea, except broad jump between, do lunges, dry docks, and freddie mercuries. Start with 10 and add 5 each time.

RTF (with a JB)

MARY:
No time
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

I heard this idea from Jocko Willink, who is a former Navy SEAL officer and author of a book called Extreme Ownership. He articulates the difference between motivation and discipline. Motivation is the opposite of discipline. Motivation is the spontaneous urge or desire to do something, and often leads us to start something new. But motivation is a feeling, transient and fleeting. It may support you for a while, when you are well rested, healthy, and relaxed. But like all feelings, it has a tendency to abandon us when we are tired, or sick, or stressed. Discipline is, by contrast, the learned behavior of perseverance in spite of obstacle. Discipline receives the conclusion of mental activity, in which we identify what we ought to do, and holds us to the doing. Motivation is like the impassioned “falling in love” which often propels us into a romance, but discipline is the agape/caritas/charity love that stands against the flux of time.

Motivation feels good, but discipline bears fruit. Discipline reminds you what you know to be true in spite of what you feel right now. I often desire motivation so that I need not exercise discipline, but my experience is that it usually cuts the other way: When I exert discipline and do what I know I should but don’t want to, I find that motivation often follows. The key is to enjoy it while you have it without becoming dependent on it, for as soon as you start seeking motivation, it will abandon you.

In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis discusses this idea in his chapter about faith:

Now Faith, in the sense in which I am here using the word, is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods. For moods will change, whatever view your reason takes. I know that by experience. Now that I am a Christian, I do have moods in which the whole thing looks very improbable: but when I was an atheist I had moods in which Christianity looked terribly probable.

So when we see this common thread running through love and faith and discipline, I suppose it comes as no surprise that Jesus followers were first called Disciples, functionally “those under discipline.” So, I exhort you to abandon efforts to “get motivated” and instead “get discipline”.

MOLESKIN:
Always a pleasure to visit the Men of the Fort. I’m even buyin’ the t-shirt…
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
2nd F on Saturday Oct. 1. 2.0 Q at The Project Oct. 8. Brolympics Nov. 5.

IPC week 3-the Project

THE SCENE: a little warmer than it has been lately (upper 60s)
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
15 SSH, 10 tempo squats, 15 Moroccan night club
THA-THANG:

5 ROUNDS OF:

  • 20 Coupon Presses
  • 20 Burpees
  • 20 Curls
  • 20 V-Ups
  • 20 Goblet Squats
  • 13 Man-Makers
  • 400M Run

One extra 400M run at the end
MARY:
IPC…enough said
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
10 at the Project this morning
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” – Matthew 23:27‭-‬28 NASB1995

This is just one of many things that the Pharisees were doing that Jesus teaches against. How often do we do the same things? We are to always be true and never try to act righteous just when we are seen by men. God is always watching! It is He who we should be pleasing. We are to be the same person in all aspects of our lives. We can’t be a truly godly man and be ungodly every where but Church at the same time.

MOLESKIN:
It was nice to share in the misery that is Iron PAX with my brothers!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:

12 Pains of Christmas

THE SCENE: Cool, humid and Gloomy
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

  1. Projectavator
  2. Cherry Pickers
  3. Tempo merkins
  4. Tempo squats
  5. Mosey to the sign and back

THA-THANG:

  1. Burpee
  2. Imperial Squalkers
  3. Basilisks
  4. Merkins
  5. Big Boys
  6. Lunges
  7. Side straddle hops
  8. Prone rows
  9. Diamond merkins
  10. Heels to heaven
  11. Squats
  12. Burpees

MARY:

  1. Circle of abs; each PAX got a chance to lead
  2. Ring of Fire merkins up to 5 and back down
  3. Mosey to the sign and back

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Just like Christmas, don’t let the world take something God meant for good and make it a pain.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
2nd F day at Rampart on October 1st. Iron Pax Challenge at The Project tomorrow.