F3 Knoxville

Tag: Mathlete

Soak It

THE SCENE:  Nice and cool.  Perfect for a beatdown.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Administered. 
WARM-O-RAMA: 

Little of this and that.

THA THANG:

I have good news!  …and bad news.  The good news is we have a fresh pile of CMUs for our workouts!  The bad news is we need to bring them to our hidey hole (about a quarter mile away).  Grab two and come on!

Perform a “move” exercise with two CMUs for some arbitrary distance.  Pause and perform a series of stationary exercises.  Repeat until we arrive at our CMU stash spot.

Move exercises included;

  • Farmer Carry
  • Heavy bear
  • CMU stack carry
  • Split carry
  • Rifle carry
  • Murder bunny

Stationary exercises included;

  • 20 Back squats
  • 25 curls
  • 20 Overhead squats
  • 15 good mornings
  • 20 Sumo deadlifts
  • 20 Curl and press
  • 10 Stacked squat
  • 20 Tricep ext w/ calves raise
  • 10 BBS Press
  • 20 heel taps
  • 15 Thrusters
  • Heavy step-ups
  • Dips w/ CMU in lap
  • Plyo Derkins
  • CMU swings
  • Burpee jumpovers

MARY:

No time!

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Me and 7 of the best men I know

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

“Your mind will be like its habitual thoughts; for the soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.  Soak it then in (positive thoughts)”. – Marcus Aurelius

I love that term, “soak it”.  Soak your mind in goodness… Immerse your soul in truth… Drench yourself in nobleness… Dwell on that which is honorable…

Paul says in Philippians, “Fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable.” 

On Tuesday, Erector spoke about a monthly challenge that is going on.  On Slack, it’s called “JUCO-Challenge”.  Each month, a new challenge is issued – one month is was diet-related, last month it was texting a friend each day…  This month, the challenge is, 1) to post an inspirational/motivational quote each day, and 2) to read the others which have been posted.  Right now, there are 9 of us in the challenge.

Just a few days in, I’m excited about it – and enjoying it!  Each day this month, I’m going to keeping my eye out for a nugget of wisdom that I can share with my friends.  That gets me in the habit of looking for inspiring messages around me and reading scripture with an expectation of impact.  That daily objective of finding a shareable motivating quote – it orients my mindset toward the positive.  Proverbs 16:24 says,

“Nothing is more appealing than speaking beautiful, life-giving words.  For they release sweetness to our souls and inner healing to our spirits.”

It doesn’t say, “nothing is more appealing that hearing life-giving words….” – but it is “speaking life-giving words” that is so sweet to our spirits.  I hope the words I’m sharing are helpful to others – but I know that the act of finding them and sharing them is releasing sweetness for my heart and spirit.

This challenge also means that each day this month, I’m reading six, or seven, or eight other passages that some of the most important men in my life have shared because those notes are meaningful to them.  Each time something is shared, I see a notification on my phone.  So, throughout the day my mind is being soaked in these good thoughts – and over time, my soul is being colored by them.

“Fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable.” 

MOLESKIN:

During the month of November, soak your mind in scripture and inspired thoughts.  Join the challenge group on Slack!  Send Spotter a DM to be added to JUCO-Challenge!

Great to see Rocket in the gloom!  Great to have Trolley and Biohack out for their first Project Heavy PT.

Prayers for Biohack’s parents – Trolley’s family, sanity, and job – Rocket’s friend, Tad.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Convergence this Saturday

Live by the Spirit

THE SCENE: Frosty and chilly
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
15 SSH, 15 Moroccan night club, 10 tempo Merkins, 10 tempo squats, 15 harry Rockettes
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the lot on the north side of the theater. Starting from the northeast corner, do 10 burpees and then run to the stairs and up them. Return to start and do 10 burpees and 20 Merkins. Repeat run. 10 burpees, 20 Merkins, and 30 squats. Repeat run. Hold Al Fore until the 6 gets in.

Mosey to highschool. Partner up and do Catch Me if You Can around the grassy area. Partner 1 does 5 burpees while Partner 2 starts to Bernie Sanders around. Partner 1 sprints to Partner 2 after burpees are complete and then they switch. Repeat twice.

Mosey to the peace bell and do Aiken Legs. 20 Squats, 20 Box Jumps, 20 Lunges (10 each leg), 20 Split Jacks (10 each leg forward). Then, do Mucho Chesto. 10 Merkins, 10 diamond merkins, 10 wide Merkins, 10 staggered right Merkins, 10 staggered left Merkins. Repeat both sets.

MARY:
No time
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
5 PAX today
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
“So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. ” Romans 8:12‭-‬17 NASB

It is difficult with all of our day-to-day responsibility, but we need to maintain our focus on living by the Spirit. You may have heard the phrase “live in this world and not of this world”. This means to live in the world but always have our focus on attaining a heavenly, permanent residence if we live by the Spirit.

MOLESKIN:
Kudos to Snaggletooth for bonus burpees during Catch-me-if-you-can. Maybe next time he will listen more closely to the instructions.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
F3 Knoxville Anniversary this weekend.

Tune My Heart

THE SCENE:  64 and rainy.  Perfect for a heavy beatdown.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Uh…skipped? 
WARM-O-RAMA: 

Little of this and that.

THA THANG:

Grab two CMUs and head around to the back of the Senior Center.  We will work under the portico while it pours rain.

Tabata cycles with CMU exercises.  4 rounds each exercise.  20 seconds work / 10 seconds rest.  Four exercises (16 work rounds) was one Cycle.  After Cycle 1, farmer carry to the end of the building and back.  After Cycle 2, farmer carry to the end of the building and back, then rifle carry to the end of the building and back.  After Cycle 3, farmer carry to the end of the building and back, rifle carry to the end of the building and back, then heavy lunge walk to the end and back.

MARY:

No time!

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Me and 3 of the best men I know

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

In our living room, we have a decorative sign which reads, “tune my heart to sing thy grace” – a line from the old hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” by Robert Robinson.

For more than a year, Emily and I have been praying a specific prayer – that God would make His will known to us in one area of our lives: children.  Should our family grow?  If so, through biological children? Adopt? Foster? We are asking and trying to patiently wait for that direction to be made clear to us.

But what does God’s voice sound like? Should we expect an audible voice? A flash of lightning? A vision in the clouds?

In the book of Jerimiah…starting in Chapter 7 the prophet is standing at the gate of a city and relaying God’s words to the the occupants.  Part of the message is this, (speaking from God’s perspective), “I have spoken to you time and again, but you wouldn’t listen and I have called you but you wouldn’t answer” (vs 13). Later (vs 24), “(I gave) them this command, ‘Obey me, and then I will be your God, and you will be my people. Follow every way I command you so that it may go well with you”.  Then, “Yet they didn’t listen or pay attention, but followed their own advice and their own stubborn, evil heart”.  Another translation says, “but they harkened not, nor inclined their ear.”

I’ve recently enjoyed reading some meditations by a Hebrew scholar named Chaim Bentorah.  He offers context for some words or phrases which, in the original language, may have a deeper/different meaning than what the word implies when translated into English.  The Hebrew word from this passage which we translate as “inclined” is natah.  Traced to its Semitic root, you find it is a musician’ term, used for the tightening of strings on an instrument to tune it.  The Hebrew word for “ear” is ‘azan, which means ear – but also in the Semitic, it is a term used for a musical instrument.  So, the idea of “inclining one’s ear” is really a word picture of tuning a musical instrument so that it is in harmony with other instruments.

“Hearing the voice of God” might be a matter of tuning the strings of your spirit or heart…so that you are in harmony with His mind and heart.

How do we tune our hearts?

Lynette Kittle offers these three strategies:

  1. By talking with God. Prayer helps to align our hearts with His.  We can ask Him to create a pure heart within us and renew a steadfast spirit within us.  Psalm 51:10
  2. By watching what we say – since our heart is where the words on your lips originate. Luke 6:45, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”
  3. By choosing God’s ways over your ways. Disobedience is a sure sign of a hard heart that is not in harmony with His.  Zechariah 7:12, “The Lord of Armies says this: ‘Make fair decisions. Show faithful love and compassion to one another. 10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the resident alien or the poor, and do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’ 11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they closed their ears so they could not hear. 12 They made their hearts like a rock so as not to obey the law or the words that the Lord of Armies had sent by his Spirit”

Maybe the way you come to know God’s will is by tuning your heart to be in harmony with His.  Work at this by prayer, controlling your tongue, and living in obedience.

MOLESKIN:

Hat tips to Chaim Bentorah and Lynette Kittle

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Convergence Nov 7

Proverbs 18:24

THE SCENE: 56 and dark
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: CHECK!
WARM-O-RAMA:
Projectivator 5x, Imperial Squawkers 5x, tempo squats 5x, cherry pickers 5x, tempo merkins 5x, mountain climbers 5x.

THA-THANG: (COURTESY OF MAILBOX)

1. Bear Crawl 1 space then did 1 merkin, Bear crawl 2 spaces then 2 merkins, working up to 5 spaces and 5 merkins, ETC.

Then Lunge back 1 space / 1 Bobby Hurley / Lunge 2 space / 2 Bobby Hurley, etc till back at the start.

Mosey to Friendship Bell

2. Lazy Dora – Battle Buddy Up

· 100s – Partner 1 does Shoulder taps while Partner 2 holds plank – alternate at 25 reps; run a lap around track surrounding Friendship Bell at 100 reps

· 200s – Partner 1 does LBCs while Partner 2 does a 6in leg hold – alternate at 25 reps – lap at 100 and 200 reps

· 300s – Partner 1 does Squats while Partner 2 holds Al Gore – alternate at 25 – lap at 100 and 200 and 300 reps

Mosey Parallel Bars

3. Travelling: monkey bars (hanging between both bars, L-legs), traveling dips (jumping), bicycle walk, lateral monkey bars (L-legs hanging on 1 side). 1 pax at a time, rest hold Al Gore

MARY:
NO TIME

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
4 HORSEMEN OF THE PROJECT GLOOM: KICKFLIP, MATHLETE, BIOHACK & SNAGGLETOOTH

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

9 Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. 10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. 11 Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? 12 A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

17 As iron sharpens iron,
so a friend sharpens a friend. (Proverbs 27:17)

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24)

True Friendship is rare and valuable – and it’s what we’re made for. Cherish it and seek it out.

MOLESKIN:
Thanks to Mailbox for the great work out!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Anniversary Convergence, Sat Nov 7 at Asylum.

Keep Your Head

THE SCENE:  59 and foggy.  Perfect for a beatdown.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: Administered. 
WARM-O-RAMA: 

Little of this and that.

Mosey to wall.  10 wall-ups + 20 squats.

Mosey to the amphitheater.  20 merkins, bear crawl the length of the stage, 10 box jumps.  Mosey to through the parking lot, stopping for 3 burpees at each light pole.

THA THANG:

Mosey to the cinema – grab a block.

  • 10 Single arm squats – Left
  • 10 Sumo deadlifts
  • 10 Tricep ext w/ calves raise
  • 10 Curl and press
  • 10 heel taps
  • 10 BBS Press
  • 10 Good mornings
  • 10 Single arm squats – Right

Next… 5 stations laid out in the parking lot.  Perform exercise at a station, rifle carry block to the bottom of the steps, carry to the top of the steps and back down, rifle carry to the next station.  Repeat until all stations are completed.

Exercises were;

Station 1: 30 Single-arm squats + 20 Curl and press + 10 Blockee

Station 2: 30 tricep ext + calves raise + 20 CMU swings + 10 Burpee Jumpover

Station 3: 30 sumo deadlifts + 20 heel taps + 10 BBS Press

Station 4:  30 heavy freddy (4-ct) + 20 Thrusters + 10 Good mornings

Station 5:  50 CMU benchpress + 25 Derkins

MARY:

Mosey to the amphitheater.  Flutter kick for the 6.

At 6:14, jailbreak!  Get 60 seconds worth of distance run.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Me and 5 of the best men I know

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

The day after Hardship Hill, our weekly email’s “Say What” featurette included a long quote from the Q-Source.  It was borrowed from Q3.12, Courage – which was appropriate given our race the day before.  What does it take to face hardship virtuously?  It takes…courage.

The chapter has a long quote from Rudyard Kipling’s poem, If.

“If you can keep your head when all about you  

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,  

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;  

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;  

    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;  

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

    And treat those two impostors just the same;  

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

    And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,  

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,  

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

    If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,  

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,  

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!”

 

“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs…”  The Q Source calls this a pretty good definition of what it means to gracefully handle hardship.  Where does this courageous gracefulness emerge from?  It comes from living in peace.

And how do we grow this depth of peace in our lives?

  • Through PRAYER… (Philippians 4:6-7), “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
  • By LIVING VIRTUOUSLY…(Psalm 119:165), “Abundant peace belongs to those who love your instruction; nothing makes them stumble.”
  • By TRUSTING IN OUR GOD…(Isaiah 26:3), “You will keep the mind that is dependent on you in perfect peace, for it is trusting in you.”

Use prayer, virtue, and trust to cultivate the peace of God in your heart – so that when you are confronted with hardship, you are able to keep you head…and respond to that hardship with courageous grace.