F3 Knoxville

Tag: Mermaid

A Properly Motivated JUCO Posse

THE SCENE: Cloudy and cool, with temps around 32, and a wind chill in the high 20’s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: This is F3, Fitness Fellowship, & Faith.  Q has a cell phone in case of Emergency.  He is not a professional, and does not know your injuries.  You will need to modify accordingly.  You are here on your own volition, the only thing that brought you here was an EH (Emotional Headlock), and a desire to check out why these guys get up so early to roll around in parking lots. 
WARM-O-RAMA:
Cherry Pickers to 5
Baby Arm Circles forward & Backward 10 ea
The Motivator from 12 (312 total reps)  This exercise reduced the mumble chatter to zero and left only groaning and complaining.

THA-THANG:

This is a 2 station workout.  At station 1 located near the coupon pile, you will perform 20 reps of each of the following 6 exercises with a coupon: Rows, Curls, Squat Thrusters, Tricep Extensions, Calf Raises, BBS aka “Louganis” holding coupon over head.  After you complete the 6 exercises, run to the top of sophomore hill.  At the top you will perform 6 more exercises, again with 20 reps each.  The exercises are as follows: Wide Merkins, Squat Jumps, Curb Dips, Diamond Merkins, El Capitan to the crosswalk, and handrail pull ups.  Once you finish run back to station 1, where you will rinse and repeat.  This is an AMRAP routine.  Most PAX made it to the third round, some beast studs began their fourth.  Butter Knife was out font leading the charge with Frenchie and Erector hot on his trail.  There may have been others in the lead group, but I was not.

MARY:
Very little time for mary, the PAX held plank on their elbows for a short time (15-20) seconds.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
29 HIM’s, no FNG’s.  My video failed, and I am proud of recalling 29 names from memory.  I will admit I struggled to complete the list as my picture was very grainy.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

  • “I still have a dream, a dream deeply rooted in the American dream – one day this nation will rise up and live up to its creed, ‘We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal.’”
    Quoting the declaration of Independence.
  • “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
    MLK’s Actions required Faith.  He was a champion for the civil rights movement, and so powerful a figure, with such a strong message, that those threatened by him eventually assassinated him.
  • “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”
    Matthew 22:39 Love your neighbor as yourself.
  • “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
    John 13:34  “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
  • “A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”
    HIM-High Impact Man

MOLESKIN:
Praise from Butter Knife for the Men of JUCO.
Mermaid, 16th Wedding Anniversary today. His M is a patient woman for putting up with him for that amount of time.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Hardship Hill, can we create 2 Juco Teams?
OTB RUCK workout similar to the rush concept on Monday morning.  0500

Lasting Invigoration

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THE SCENE:  WHAT?  I thought there was supposed to be a THUNDERSTORM!?!?!  It’s super nice!  60 and no rain!
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Administered
WARM-O-RAMA:

Abe Vigoda x 8 IC
Moroccan Nightclub x 8 IC
Mosey to the ducks, Carolina Dry Dock x 10 OYO
Mosey to the flag, Heels 2 Heaven x 15 IC
Fast mosey to the ducks (75%), Merkin x 10 OYO
Fast mosey to the flag (75%), Flutter Kick x 15 IC
Sprint to the ducks, Burpees x 5 OYO

THA THANG:

Mosey to the big parking lot.  Partner up

(Hat tip, Archie!)  Pairs spread out across 6 stations.  At each station there is a “stationary” exercise and a “move” exercise.  First partner does the “stationary” exercise until the second partner does the “move” exercise to the cone and back.

Two minutes each station.  30-second recovery and rotate.

Exercises were;

Station 1:  Bear crawl / Flutter kick
Station 2:  Sprint / Carolina Dry Dock
Station 3:  Broad Jump / Heels 2 Heaven
Station 4:  Sprint / Burpee
Station 5:  Lunge / Merkin
Station 6:  Sprint / Mountain Climber

Performed 9 sets.

Mosey back

MARY:

(Hat tip, Spotter!)  Each person names an exercise and leads 10 reps.  Rotate around x 5 exercises.

Hold plank.  I passed out 12 pieces of paper – each containing a quote from a previous Q at JUCO.  One quote is read aloud.  3 merkins.  Next quote is read…3 Merkins.  Repeat until finished.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

17 strong (+6 Rushers for the CoT)

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

During Mary, I passed out pieces of paper and asked for them to be read aloud (while we plank and Merkin).  On each paper was a quote from a previous Q at JUCO.

      • “When you do wrong by someone, you HAVE TO MAKE IT RIGHT”. – Commission
      • “The process of calling people out by name is BOLD, and it’s powerful to encourage.  We have been called to boldly pray for one another”. – Guardrail
      • “Being thankful is about the mindset of being conscious of what we have and what surrounds us and giving thanks for that as opposed to comparing our lives to others and striving to acquire more and more material objects”. – Mandolin
      • “Let’s strive to be passionate about all that we do. To push ourselves to the next level physically, spiritually, and mentally”.  – Spotter
      • “I come here for the fist bumps”. – Finger Food
      • “What kind of leader are you? Do you go home after a long day and expect to be served? Or are you serving? – Judge Judy
      • “We commit time and discipline to strengthening our physical bodies. How are we strengthening our spirits for the battles we are in?” – Snaggletooth
      • “Put others before yourself and be part of the solution”. – Erector
      • “We should strive to love others like God loves us”. – Booster
      • “To be fighters, we not only have to be physically ready, but mentally as well”. – Sargent Slaughter
      • “I need to set my mind on staying faithful to God’s will and not on my own comfort”. – Archie
      • “You’re here to bear your own load and carry other HIM’s burdens when they can’t, and you let them when you can’t”. – Pool Boy

T-claps for my good friend, Archie, who nagged me about F3 until I finally showed up 8 months ago!  I loved it from Day 1 and have been to almost 100 workouts since!  I love it because it is so much more than a workout (Hat tip, Finger Food).

A few days ago, Waxjob reminded us that F3 has a mission – “to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership”.  Men, this is not just about doing merkins and burpees in the dark – it is about the invigoration of men in our area.  The pump you get from a workout doesn’t last more than a few hours.  Real, life-changing, long-lasting invigoration grows out of these last 5 minutes of our time together (CoT) – when we share wisdom and pray for one-another.

This group is about energizing and revitalizing the man to your left and right (not us, but Christ working in us).  We are about challenging each other and holding each other accountable to a very high standard.  We are about being vulnerable with our own faults and failures, in order to promote growth in others.  We are about pouring into each other’s lives – encouraging one another and allowing yourself to be encouraged, so that we all get better together.  We are about sharing wisdom, a treasure far more precious than rubies (Proverbs 3:15), with each other.

 

Two thoughts about sharing wisdom during the CoT

#1:  Scripture says if you prize wisdom, she will make you great, she will honor you (Proverbs 4:8), add years to your life (Proverbs 9:11) and will bring you strength (Ecclesiastes 7:19) and success (Ecclesiastes 10:10). I think you can expect those returns, only IF YOU ARE APPLYING WHAT YOU HEAR (James 1:22).

Men, what if you were applying the wisdom that we read during our Mary (words that YOU have spoken to this group over the past few weeks)?  What if you selflessly served your loved ones (Judge’s Word), cultivated contentment in your life (Mandolin’s Word), sincerely apologized when you wronged others (Commission’s Word), subjugated your comfort to God’s will (Archie’s Word), prayed for your F3 brothers (Guardrail’s Word), loved others like God loves us (Booster’s Word)…  OH, WHAT A MAN YOU WOULD BE!!!  You would certainly be a High-Impact Man, if you APPLIED what you hear.

#2:  If wisdom will make you great, honored, strong, successful – that sounds like the antidote to a meaningless life.  If you have wisdom to share but you’re keeping it to yourself – man, what’s up with that?  Do you have a word of encouragement for us?  SHARE IT, because we struggle against discouragement every day.  Do you have a word that will cut us deeply and expose the innermost thoughts and intentions of our hearts (Hebrews 4:12)?  If you lack the courage to speak that word of rebuke, you have stolen peace and joy from us.  If, however, you hearten yourself to speak those uncomfortable words with truth and love, Christ may just use you to rescue your brother from his life of self-centeredness and meaninglessness.  OH, WHAT A MAN YOU WOULD BE!!!

Wisdom – APPLY it, SHARE it.

MOLESKIN:

This Q was a tribute to some of my favorite men on earth.

Hat tips to Archie and Spotter for the workout ideas.

Hat tips galore to those who provided inspiration for the Word; Waxjob, 5K, Archie, Spotter, Mandolin, Finger Food, Commission, Pool Boy, Erector, Snaggletooth, Sargent Slaughter, Guardrail, Booster, Judge Judy.

A note about wisdom… Not every sweet platitude written in script on a shabby chic board in Hobby Lobby is wisdom.  Not every word spoken by someone famous is worth repeating.  “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him” (Proverbs 26:12).  If you bring “wisdom” that you heard from Oprah to a BOM and it falls flat, don’t be surprised.  It is the Word of God which will cut like a sword (Hebrews 4:12) and which never returns void (Isaiah 55:11).  No such promises if your inspiration is another source. 

Music credits;
Rotate (Finger Food’s new favorite song), Rak-Su
Smack Down, Thousand Foot Crutch
Can’t Be Moved, Jeremy Camp
Fire it Up, Thousand Foot Crutch
Purpose for Pain, Scott Stapp
Lifeline, Thousand Foot Crutch
Feel Invincible, Skillet
Move, Thousand Foot Crutch
Move, Toby Mac
The Resistance, Skillet
Final Countdown, Europe
Freedom yell, Mel Gibson

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Prayers for Mailbox’s wife’s health, Mandolin’s wife’s job, Pool-Boy’s divorce hearing tomorrow, Fast-N-Easy’s family, Judge’s mentoring opportunity, WaxJob’s family

A JUCO Invasion at The Equalizer

THE SCENE: An unseasonably warm January day with temps in the high 40’s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
I failed to announce that I had a cell phone with me in case of emergency.  This is a new precaution that Q’s have been tasked with when leading the group.
WARM-O-RAMA:
-The Motivator from 11
-Tempo Squats
-Cherry Pickers

THA-THANG:
2 stations, at one station we did upper body work, then ran to the 2nd station to focus on the lower body.  We ran about .2 miles in between the tennis courts and the pavilion at the top of the hill.  We did one exercise, ran to the next station, and alternated until we ran out of time.  At the top we did 4 sets of 20, these were the exercises.  Merkins, Picnic table pull ups, and dips.  On the tennis courts we did 4 sets of 20 squats, calf raises, and then El Capitan’s across the width of the tennis courts.  We had the lights on at the tennis courts, and it made me realize how ugly the men of F3 really are.  No wonder we workout in the Gloom!  That is a joke, we are all amazing looking specimen.

MARY:
We began with a 10 count of Carolina Dry Docks, then the PAX got mouthy and it was recommended that we also do 4 sets of 20 of that exercise.  After our arms fell off at the shoulders, we did 20 flutter kicks in cadence, and 20 BBS as we ran out of time.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
We had a record of 15 in attendance at the Equalizer, the previous record was 13.  We had one FNG, who we named Gotcha. (Josh McMullen?, Age 28)
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
The Great commission, Matthew 28:16-20  The challenge was to go out and make disciples as Jesus commanded in the Great Commission.
MOLESKIN:
Prayer Requests:
Tank- Praise that his wife has some relief from the kidney stone that has been ailing her.
Wax Job – Pray for discernment about his Mother in Law that is suffering from Alzheimer’s.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Doubtfire on Q Wednesday, and Bartman on Friday.

Slaughter tours the Asylum

THE SCENE: A crisp 65 degrees, beautiful weather for my tour of the AO
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH x 10; Cherry Pickers (slow) x 7; Overhead Clap x 25; Moroccan Nightclub x 25.

THA-THANG:
Inaugural “Flight of the Blue Falcon”

  • Given two 8x12x16 (XL) CMUs, two PAX held the CMUs overhead while the rest of the group ran away for a 10-count.  At the end of the counting, “drop” was called and the herd executed AMRAP of an exercise designated by a block-holder (burpees, merkins, squats, pickle pounders, smurf jacks, etc) until the blocks caught up and were passed off.  Upon exchange, the new CMU holders designated the next exercise and began 10-count while everyone else ran away.  Rinse and repeat, with a goal of showing the Q the ins and outs of the AO (Everest, Cardiac Hill, etc) until time was up.

MARY:
Arrived back at the AO with about 5 minutes to spare, completed flutter kicks x 25, tempo squats x 20, then overhead claps/moroccan nightclubs until time was up (lost count in the midst of the mumble-chatter).

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
1 Peter 5 v. 6&7 say “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”  Talked about what it means to cast anxieties on Him, and that it means to cut the cord and leave it there, not reel it back in like a crank-bait.  Shared a story about a flight with my M, when she got very nervous during a turbulent flight.  Being the “good husband” that I thought I was being, I told her not to worry, that it would be ok.  Of course, that didn’t help, and she looked at me, panicked, and said “how do you know?”.  My too-quick and too-honest response was “I don’t, but I can’t fly the damn plane, so there’s nothing I can do about it…”  This is a good reminder that as men, we need to be honest, but we need to do so with love.
MOLESKIN:
The Asylum bunch was fun, but way too courteous.  I should have explained the “blue falcon” concept better at the beginning, because they were asking “who wants the block?” instead of just handing it off to the next vict.. er, uh, participant.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Keep an eye on the Q calendar, me and “my friends” as Mermaid called them, will be making appearances at more AOs to spread the love.

JUCO AMRAP

THE SCENE: Insert info about the weather, etc.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
15 SSH, 15 mountain climbers, 10 tempo merkins, 10 tempo squats, 10 windmills
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the back parking lot. AMRAP workout starts at northeast corner.

  • 10 burpees
  • Run to Southeast corner
  • 20 merkins
  • Bear crawl to Southwest corner
  • 20 heels to heaven
  • Run to northwest corner
  • 20 squats
  • Run up the hill and then to the coupon pile
  • Grab a coupon and do 20 curls and 20 overhead presses
  • Run up the stairs and tag the building
  • Run back to start
  • AMRAP

MARY:

Ring of fire with two merkins while all other PAX hold a plank.  Then, we made an attempt to do a 6″ plank while the PAX did a merkin around the ring, but it didn’t work all that well (poor instructions given by the YHC).  We finished up with 10 flutter kicks.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
33 HIMs at JUCO.  Welcome FNG, Hound Dog!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Proverbs 28:23 – “He who rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with the tongue.”  Confrontation is sometimes a difficult thing to overcome, but sugar-coating the truth may be worse.  Correcting a brother, may help him to direct him back to the right path and may help save their soul.  As a result, a stronger, more meaningful relationship may flourish.
MOLESKIN:
It was great to get to Q once again at JUCO.  It is amazing what a year has brought to this AO!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Sign-up for Hardship Hill.  Judge Judy has your Brolympic shirts if you ordered one.