F3 Knoxville

4 Stations of the Barkley

THE SCENE: Cold. Damp.  Spitting snow at the end.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH, 4 ct, x 20 (IC); 2 burpees; CP, IC, x 5; 4 burpees; BAC, forward and back, IC, x 10 each way; 6 burpees
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the Overlook for a Barkley.  Grab a battle buddy, running the perimeter of the Asylum building, with 4 stations.  Each station has 3 exercises, 1 for each lap.

  • Station #1 (Overlook): Merkins x 25; CDD x 25; Dips x 25
  • Station #2 (Westside stop sign):  LBCs (4ct) x 25; American Hammers (4ct) x 25; Hello Dollys (4ct) x 25
  • Station #3 (Old rock pile): Squats (4ct) x 20; Smurf Jacks (4ct) x 20; Iron Mikes (4ct) x 20
  • Station #4 (Eastside stop sign): Burpees x 10; Man Makers x 10; Hand Release Burpees x 10

After finishing all 3 laps, wagon wheel for the 6 and mosey back to the AO
MARY:
Cat Gut leads the Pax in several minutes of Boat Canoe.  Finish strong with ATMs.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

From Matthew  26:52-53: “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.  Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”

In today’s world, gentleness is not really celebrated.  To show gentleness is to show weakness.  And yet, it is one of the Fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:23).

When we look at the Jesus, we see that gentleness is a chief trait.  As he was being betrayed, arrested, and (as he knew), led off to die, he could’ve called down destruction at any moment. But he humbled himself and died for us instead.

Gentleness is strength and power under control

MOLESKIN:
Prayers to lift up our community, our nation, for Charmin’s cousin’s family after a sudden death, for Cat Gut’s nephew and his family, as he has been seriously injured in a motorcycle wreck.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP Jan. 30!  Sign up!

Revealing Our Brokenness

THE SCENE: Cloudy, temp about 32 degrees
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Mountain Climbers, 10 Windmills, 15 Second Squat, 10 Rockettes, 30 Second Squat, 10 Baby Arm Circles Forward and Backward, 60 Second Squat

THA-THANG:
Mosey to CMU parking lot.  Instead of CMUs, each man grabs a pair of bricks which will be along east curb of parking lot.  We will Dora.  While partner one does exercises listed below with the bricks, the other man runs to other curb, does 10 Rocky Balboa, and runs back to replace partner with the exercises.  Here are the exercises with the bricks:

  • 100 Overhead Presses
  • 100 Curls
  • 100 Rows (brick at each side)
  • 100 Triceps (brick on either side of head)
  • 100 Punches (both hands = 1)
  • 100 Wings Up
  • 100 Wings Down
  • 100 Wings Out

Put bricks down.  Mosey to Mini Cardiac.  We will Bernie to Park Sign then sprint to crosswalk.

Mosey to Stop Sign at Northeast Corner of Admin Bldg.  We will stop to do 20 American Hammers.

Mosey to small parking lot below the Coliseum.  We will do Doras again.  This time, while one partner does exercises, the other runs up stairs, left on Coliseum sidewalk, and down to the driveway to small parking lot to reunite with partner who will then make the same run.  These are the exercises the partners will work on:

  • 100 Hello Dollies (4 ct)
  • 100 Squat Jumps
  • 100 Merkins (4 ct)
  • 100 Iron Mikes (both feet = 1)
  • 100 Flutter Kicks (4 ct)

Mosey to parking drive by apartments and soccer fields. We will do 20 Bicycle Kicks.

Mosey to parking lot that is south of playground.  20 Squats.

Mosey to Mini Cardiac.  We will, once again Bernie to Park Sign then sprint to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
26 men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
The Lord is close to all who call on Him, yes, to all who call on Him in truth.  Psalm 145:18

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

And it’s no, nay, never
No, nay never no more
Will I play the wild rover
No never no more.     —  Old Irish Folk Song

I used to belong to a Sunday School class in a church that I formerly went to that had nice, intelligent, and friendly people in it.  I found myself missing something in the class, however.  What it took me some time to realize was that people weren’t opening up in the class.  They freely talked about worshipping God, about helping others, about walking the right kind of life – but they weren’t revealing themselves in the process.  They talked about how “people” needed to apply the Bible’s lessons to their lives but not about how those lessons should be applied to their own lives. They weren’t talking about the true challenges they faced in their Christian journey. They weren’t talking about their BROKENNESS.  I remember wishing people would talk from their hearts.  I remember one woman in the class being more likely to do so.  I followed her example one time but no one else in the class did.  And, after a time, I figured, “heck, I’m not going to talk about my problems if no one else does.”  And so, I withdrew and finally just left the class.  Maybe I should have confronted the class.  Instead, I found a church where people do freely reveal themselves.

Men, it is important to REVEAL ourselves to God and to others we can trust.  We are broken creatures in so many ways.  As humans, we mess up!  We find ourselves making the same mistakes, sinning in the same ways, despite our promises to ourselves that we will not do the same thing again.  I certainly find myself making the same mistakes over and over.  It as if sin is inherent in my nature.  And, if we believe the Bible, SIN TRULY IS IN OUR INHERENT NATURE.  In the Old Irish Folk Song above, the singer proclaims “never no more will I play the wild rover” (i.e. drinking so much that one gets snockered).  Yet, the song is one that is sung with the comic knowledge that one absolutely will play the wild rover again, when the hangover is gone and the temptation arises. Despite our best claims to stop the sin within us, we sin again and again.  This could be in regards to many different things:  pornography, greed, animosity, overuse of power, coveting, prejudice, infidelity, or just plain worrying too much.  If we truly look at ourselves, consider every sinful part of ourselves – we are likely to feel great shame and may want to give up on ourselves.

But, we have a great and glorious God.  We have a God that actually wants us to reveal that sinful part of ourselves to Him.  He wants to know us fully.  And what happens to us when we truly reveal ourselves to Him?  LOVE happens.  Think about what happens here in F3 when a brother reveals his brokenness to the group. Do his brothers turn their backs on Him and run away?  Do they smite him?  Do they ignore him?  I think not.  They embrace him.  They let him know that they understand.  And, as his brother, they see themselves in him.  They know that they too have messed up, have been broken.  When God sees us revealing ourselves to one another, He Smiles from Above.  He celebrates.  He say, “Now that is what I want my children to do!”  Because through that revealing, we heal.  We get the feedback of love from our fellow man and from God.  And, it when we are strengthened by love, that is when we can experience True Change.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers to end racism and for our country to be more united.  Prayers for wife of Ribbed, praise for healing of Choir Boy’s wife, praise for Cap’n Crunch’s 25 wedding anniversary, prayers for Cheatsheet in the care of his mother and daughter, prayers for Veggie’s safe return back to college in the state of Michigan.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP from 6:30 am to 9 am at Asylum on Saturday, January 30.

Alphabet Soup

THE SCENE:
Frosty with increasing Gloom.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:
I am not a doctor.  Keep your brothers distant and your snot to yourself.

WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH x 21 IC.
BBQ Squats x10 IC
Mosey around the parking lot to collect Archie, and head down to the block paved lots

THA-THANG:
The Q presented a sheet of 26 exercises – 1 per letter.  With a battle buddy, for more mumblechatter and letters, PAX worked their way through each F3 name with a run to the top of Baby Everest between each letter.  At the top of B.E. do one more merkin than last time, then back down to the start.

e.g. K=10 x Windmills, ascend Baby Everest, 1 merkin
E=Bear Crawl to other side of the road, ascend Baby Everest, 2 merkins
N=10 Merkins (4ct), ascend Baby Everest, 3 merkins,
T= etc…

MARY:
If this is a Kentucky workout, we have to finish with the Bicycle Race.  Freddie Mercurys to the tune of Bicycle Race, with a Big Boy every time FM sings Bike, or Bicycle.
To the eternal shame of the Mall Walkers, they watched and didn’t join in.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
16 Strong, including 5 Mall Walkers, who couldn’t manage a single Freddie between them.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Eddie the Eagle was an Olympic Athlete and example to us all.  He was bad at ski jumping (relatively), but kept going to matter what.  As Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the Olympics said “The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle, the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”  Fight well my bothers, fight well!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP at the end of the month.  Order a new Asylum T-shirt to show off at the event!

Festivus

THE SCENE: 32 degrees clear skies cool and miraculous
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-Rama

arm circles 10x

reverse arm circles 10x

Cherry pickers 10x

Tempo squats 10x

Tempo Merkins 10x

imperial walkers 10x

side straddle hops 10x

high knees 1/2 cross lot butt kicks other half and jog back

THA-THANG:

Feats of Strength:

6 per side mountain climbers

Bear crawl to festivus pole

6 merkins

Crab walk to other side

6 lunges (6 per side)

Crab walk back to pole

6 dry docks

Bear crawl to curb

6 Big Boys

Bear crawl to pole

6 LBCs

Crab walk to curb

6 squats

Crab walk back to pole

6 shoulder taps (6 per side)

Bear crawl to curb

6 hello dolly

Bear crawl to pole

6 burpees

Crab walk to curb

6 overhead claps

Crab walk to pole

6 star jacks

Bear crawl to curb

Plank until everyone is done

Grab a CMU

1 min plank hold on CMU->1 min squat holding CMU->1 min overhead hold

Airing of grievances

1 man carries Santa’s bag up mini cardiac

PAX choice of exercise until man comes back

Next man up Rinse and repeat

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
15 pax including 1 from Chattanooga see tags below
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Festivus was created to battle the over-commercialization of Christmas. We are asked to remember the only gift worth celebrating and that’s the gift of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Hardship

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

20 Side-Straddle-Hops.  5 Burpees.  10 Windmills.  4 Burpees.  10 Rockettes.  3 Burpees.  10 Little Baby Arm Circles Forward.  2 Burpees.  10 Little Baby Arm Circles Backwards.  1 Burpee.  Little of This and That.
THA-THANG:
Mosey to Caribbean.  We will run around Caribbean stopping at cones to do the exercises listed.  We will then Bernie around and do the same exercises.  Next we will Butt Kick around with the exercises.  Next, we will High Knees around with the exercises.  Finally we will run around again with the exercises.  Here are the exercises:

  • 20 Merkins
  • 20 Jump Squats
  • 20 Big Boy Sit-ups
  • 20 Star Jumps
  • 20 Hello Dollies (4 ct).

Pickets Charge to Coliseum.

We will stop to do 20 American Hammers and 20 Flutter Kicks.  Next, we will do two loops around sidewalk that goes by admin bldg.  At Coliseum area we do 20 Bench Dips.  At steps of Admin Bldg we do 20 Calve Raises.

Gander from the Coliseum at Beautiful Water and Mountains in the distance.

Mosey to parking lot with CMUs.  Each man grabs a CMU.  We will do the following exercises:

  • 30 Overhead Presses
  • 30 Curls
  • 30 Rows

Next we will split into two teams.  There will be two CMUs set up at western end of parking lot.  Team members line up.  The first member of Team One and Team Two throw frisbees at their particular CMU on the other side of the parking lot.  Whoever has the frisbee farthest from their CMU must run with their team to end of parking lot and back, grabbing both frisbees.  Then the next team members do the same thing.  If Team One always wins they will always be watching while Team 2 is running and vice versa.  Hopefully, it will be a fairly even split.

Replace CMUs.  Sprint back to AO.

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

Seeing the Opportunity in Hardship

James 1:2-4

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

We read in Self-Help Books, learn from experts, and hear from the wise among us that hardships help us to grow.  And, if we look back on difficulties we have faced in our own lives when we were younger, we can see how life challenges have helped us to grow stronger.  If we can remember this principle, “that hardship helps us grow”, we may be able to face our current challenges in a more optimistic way and forego much of the anxiety and angst that can sometimes bewilder us.

So often in the midst of challenges, anxiety can get the best of us.  We face fear and may think things like:  Why is this happening to me?  I don’t have what it takes to do this.  I am not strong enough.  I wish this would just go away.

I have a patient who is a female in her senior year of high school.  She copes with social anxiety, a condition where she gets very anxious in public situations.  Yet, she got a job as a hostess at an Aubrey Restaurant.  She has liked the job and has found that she has been able to interact well with the customers who come in to eat at the restaurant.  I have been so proud of her.  Here is a young person who has social anxiety, yet is working in a very public setting where she is seeing new people constantly.

Although she likes the job, she is facing hardships there.  The job can be very stressful when the restaurant gets crowded and busy.  The waiters and waitresses, who are friendly to my client, can still get harried when too many customers are seated in their area.  Also, my patient must face the ire and wrath of customers who have been waiting for a table and get impatient.  Who is the frontline person that these impatient customers see?  The hostess.  So it is my patient who receives their angry comments and complaints.  That is difficult for a young teenager to take, especially when she has an anxiety disorder.

But think about what my patient is learning in the face of these challenges.  If she can handle these hardships now, think about how much better she will be prepared for challenges she will face in college and as an adult in a profession.  Life isn’t always going to be cozy.  If she can handle these early challenges then she will be better able to handle the disappointment of customers she serves at future jobs whatever jobs those might be. She will be able to tolerate negative comments of bosses or supervisors and handle the mistakes she will inevitably make as an employee or young professional in the future.  The hardship she is facing now, with the corresponding discomfort in the pit of her stomach, is actually building strength in her, making her a higher impact woman.  It certainly helped my patient to be able to see this – to think that what is leading to anxiety within her is also helping her to grow.

In the face of hardship, the lesson that the hardship is helping us to grow can be difficult to remember.  But, if we can remember that principal, it will help us to face the challenge better.  The next time you experience anxiety, think about that.  Maybe anxiety isn’t a totally bad thing.  Maybe it is a natural response to a challenge that we can learn from.  And maybe that anxiety in hardship that we are feeling now will be replaced by the growth we experience from it.  As our brother, Tank, would say:  Hardship Hill is a mighty fine thing!!

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for those coping with coronavirus; for those dealing with solitude or illness where they don’t have the opportunity to gather with friends like we do in F3; for our country do end racism; praise for Curveball’s wife doing well with her surgery; prayers for Ribbed and his wife as she has surgery this Monday to remove a tumor by her spine – we pray the surgery goes well and that the tumor is benign.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Birthday Triple Q on Saturday, December 26 where the three Q leaders will provide Hot Toddy drinks after the workout!