F3 Knoxville

Tag: Mudpuppy

Share Your Burden

THE SCENE: 51 with a surprise shower during warm-o-rama.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH IC x20
LBAC IC x10 forward, x10 backward
Tempo Squat IC x10

Cherry Pickers x5, K-town cadence

THA-THANG:

To the coupon pile
Everyone pick a handheld pair you can do a lot of reps with.
Q grabs the biggest rock in the stack and “shares” it with the nearest guy.
The PAX sets out around the grounds
  1.  small rocks = perfect Curl-Press-Tri
  2.  BIG rock = overhead hold
When the big rock carrier needs to trade, everyone does:
10 Squat Jumps
20 Lunges
30 SSH
40 Rocky Balboas
Next PAX takes “The Burden” and off around the grounds again.
Continue until time for Mary

MARY:
Ran out of time.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

We just did an exercise called “Share the Burden.” How easy was the exercise overall? How easy did it feel to carry the big burden when everyone else was throwing up small rocks? What happened when you got tired? Some folks have a tendency to quit as soon as things get hard to avoid public failure. Did you give it up right away like those people? Those people don’t get up at 5am to work out in the cold!
No, your pride kicked in and you pushed as hard as you could. You tried to do more, some of us more than we should. You knew there was more work to do after, but you still pushed harder. If you knew you had more in the tank, and you were carrying the burden so the next man didn’t suffer, good for you.
But what about the rest of us? How much of your push was not wanting to be embarrassed? Not wanting to look weak? How many of us risked injury just to save face, or to not stand out?
Yesterday we lost a PAX. He was 36, a husband, father of two, a pastor in our community for 8+ years. He spent his ministry life actively reaching out to others to relieve them of some of their burden. We should all do the same.
But, I don’t need to tell most of you to help others, most of us are good at it. We often consider ourselves ready to share someone else’s burden. We volunteer to jump in and help when someone else needs it. We feel good about helping out a brother, or a neighbor, or a family…especially when the need is dire.
But what do we do when WE are the ones struggling, the one failing? Do we jump out and announce it? Do we volunteer for help? Do we look to share our own burden? Or do we hide, struggle on, and fake it?
When I last checked, the F3 GoFundMe for Cardinal’s family was over $33K…in 12 hours, basically just from F3. That shows tangibly what the PAX around us are ready and able to do. So do NOT rob them of the opportunity to serve. When you allow others to share your burden, you invite them into sharing blessing as well!
Don’t struggle in silence, don’t just try not to look like a screw up. Do not push harder when you are flailing and dragging yourself, your family or your business down. Ask for help. Ask the SkyQ, ask your pastor, and ask an F3 Brother, or two or three or four. You can’t lock shields with yourself, so look around, share your burden with the dude walking next to you, and work harder TOGETHER! Share the burden AND the blessing.

MOLESKIN:
It was a pleasure to consider just how blessed we are to have each other. #ISI

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Impromptu convergence, this Saturday, 1/14/23 in honor of Cardinal and support of Rampart.

Christmas in Philippines 2022 Asylum

One comment

THE SCENE: cloudy temp 49 degrees
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Motivator x 5, slow tempo squat x 10, baby arm circle x 10, overhead claps x 10 flutter kicks in cadence 4 count, mosey to pavillion and Piriformis stretch x 10 secs hold, butt touches squats

THA-THANG:
Merkins x 10 and mosey around Pavillion, heel raises x 10, mosey around pavilion, bigboy sit up x 10 and mosey, flutter kicks x 10
Mosey to the bottom of the Cardiac trail

2 turns and on top 1st exercise Merkins, down back to bottom, repeat with 2nd exercise flutter kicks eack turn, 3rd jump squat, 4th bobby hurleys

Mosey to the to the dragon trail and stop every 3 rd light pole bobby hurley, up to the 4 th pole stations

And Pick and charge all the way to Coliseum

All 4 stations  3 exercises Merkins, Dry docks wide merkins, 2nd lap Bigboy, flutter kicks and Hello Dolly 3 rd lap Squat Bobby hurley and Jump squat

Then Mosey back to Haslam rock and back to pavilion and Piriformis stretch and dip And back to AO

MARY
4 stations high knees side straddle and rocky balboa

Recove

MARY

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
16 Hims brave the workout
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Be thankful for health, finance and peace during this Christmas Season.
Christmas is to celebrate peace

The Stubborn Ounces Of My Weight

THE SCENE: REAL gloom in the Fake Gloom.  Misty, steamy, not too cold, not too warm.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Performed adequately.

WARM-O-RAMA:

-20 Side Straddle Hops (4-ct), in cadence

– 10 Cherry Pickers (4-ct), in cadence

  • 10 Temp Merkins (4-ct IC)

– 10 Tempo Squats (4-ct), in Cadence

– 10 Moroccan Nightclub (4-Ct) in cadence

– 10 Overhead claps (4-Ct) in cadence

THA-THANG:

MOSEY to Caribbean

CANDY CANE ESCALATORS (addressed questions from Swimmies)

  • Run to first cone. Do exercise then run to second cone, do exercise, run back, etc.  Go to 8 Cones. Exercises are:
    • Cone 1: 5 Burpees
    • Cone 2: 10 Bobby Hurleys
    • Cone 3: 15 Carolina Dry Docks
    • Cone 4: 20 BBSs
    • Cone 5: 25 LBCs
    • Cone 6: 30 iron mikes (single count)
    • Cone 7: 35 Hello dollies (single count)
    • Cone 8 : 40 Imperial Walkers (single count).

MOSEY to bottom of Cardiac (addressed more questions from Swimmies), stopping at Intersection to do some maintenance exercises.  Where’s Switchgrass??

Steam goes back to check, he had a ruck so will meet us later… but where? The plot thickens…

  • CARDIAC WORKOUT PYRAMID (addressed more questions from Swimmies):
    • Do the following exercises at the bottom then Bernie up to first turn and back. Do 5x reps the first time, then 10x, then 15x.
      • Star Jumps
      • Mountain Climbers (2-ct)
      • Froggie Jumps
    • Run back up the entire hill, doing 15 merkins at each turn

Where’s Switchgrass??

  • Mosey to Parking Lot  THERE’S Switchgrass!!!!
    • PARTNER UP. Partner 1 does exercise, Partner 2 goes to far end of parking lot by method indicated, does 5 SSH, and returns the same way.  Partners switch. The exercises and traveling method are as follows ((addressed more questions from Swimmies):
      • CURLS / KARAOKE LEFT
      • AROUND THE WORLDS / KARAOKE RIGHT
      • What did we do here??? / SPRINT

MARY:
About 20 seconds of STS (Stretching with Steam) before time
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
11 Studs!!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

The holiday season can be awfully exciting… but there can be a weariness that sets in too.  Weariness of parties, shopping, commercials, food/clothing/toy drives, parades and then you can add to that non-holiday related stuff… election cycles, home repairs, what have you.  And there’s also a more general sense of weariness, that despite all of our efforts to do good, sometimes it seems like we’re not making a difference.

Take a deep breath, the long view, and the celebrate the small wins.  We don’t have to save the world.  Small wins sometimes add up to God’s miracles. St. Augustine lived in N. African town of Hyppa.  (Algeria) “Architect of the church”.  Wrote incredible works and classics that have defined Christian faith for generations in a time when the Roman empire was collapsing around him. At the end of his life he was watching barbarians storming his town, knew it would burn to the ground.  Went up to the battlements, and prayed.  One of his prayers, one of his last, was this one: “Lord, my one hope, hear me that weariness may not lesson my will to seek you.” He passed away never giving up to despair.

Ted Loder was a retired Methodist minister who was known for his artistic political activism and passion for social justice.  He was named at one time One of America’s Outstanding Creative Preachers

He wrote about an older woman in one of his congregations. She was nearly blind, bad arthritis, home bound.  Lived on a small teacher’s pension that she mostly gave away to causes she believed in.  She gave to Loder a poem.  “You say the little efforts that I make will do no good. They will never prevail to tip the hovering scale where justice hangs in the balance.  I never thought they would.  But I am prejudiced beyond debate in favor of my right to choose which side shall feel the stubborn ounces of my weight.”  Even on days when it doesn’t seem to matter, where will you put the stubborn ounces of your weight?  Let us not be weary of doing good.

As Paul wrote in Galations 6:9-10 “And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith”.  Don’t give in to weariness this holiday season.  Learn to Rest, Not Quit.

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

12 Growing together through the Journey

THE SCENE:  In the low 40s with rain waining off. heavy clouds
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

standard disclaimer. no FNGS
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH 21 IC
Baby Arm Circles 10 IC thumbs up
Baby Arm Circles 10 IC thumbs down
Windmills – 10 IC
Merkins – 5 OYO

THA-THANG:
Indian Run Mosey up hill to drainage entrance with large rocks
Grab a rock
Curls – 20 IC
Rows – 31 IC
Presses – 42 IC
5 Merkins

Indian Run Mosey back to lot across from AO

4 cones are set up around the parking lot and one in the covered area by the concession stand (adjacent to new playground)

There is one exercise at each station.

  1. Squats, Bernie to 2. Merkins, run to 3, Hello Dollys, run to 4 , bench dips

Complete the exercise at each station – first round is 5 reps, second round is 10 reps, third round is 20, fourth is 10 and fifth is 5

Repeat with second exercise posted at each cone

  1. Lunge, Bernie to 2, 2. Plank Jacks (1ct), run to 3, 3. American Hammers, (2 CT), run to 4, 4. Bench pull ups,

Mosey back to AO after completed

MARY:
na
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Use the TAGS on right-side to record PAX (BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOURSELF) in attendance. Be sure to select the AO in CATEGORY above TAGS and then delete these notes!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
In October, I was in the Phoenix area and was fortunate enough to be able to post at the F3 AO Dog House in Gilbert, so I was added to their slack channel. It was an awesome workout with a great group of HIMs. On the subsequent slack postings, I saw this post from F3 brother @Thrall:

@channel Hey all, just wanted to pop in here and say how grateful I am for this group. I joined the Monday after my wife announced that she wanted to leave me after 7 years of marriage. I think God brought me F3 right when I needed it and he has used the men I have met here to really be an encouragement to me in probably the biggest and toughest season in my life so far. I think it’s why I’m insane enough to get up at 3 and make it time for a great BD or Camelback, every week. It’s because I NEED it. I need the comradery, I need the challenge, I need battle brothers in my corner. It is necessary that I wake up at 3 and drive an hour and a half, and post. It is essentially for my spiritual, physical and mental growth. So thank you to those I’ve met, and thank you for suiting up and showing up. And to all the F3 brothers in this chat, some I’ve met, many I haven’t, and a lot I may never meet… when its hard to drag yourself out of bed, remember that there might be an FNG that’s hurting for community and needs an army to help fight his battles. I know that I did. So again thank you to those I see out there, thank you for the conversations, the care you take to know who I am, the wisdom and for the brotherhood. See you out there in the gloom!
This inspired me. While preparing for my Q this week, I came across the standard F3 website material and it really made me think. So here it is ( I know you have all seen and read this many times)

If the 1st F is what brings a guy to F3, it is the 2nd F that is the “glue” that causes them to stay and stick with it.  It’s easy to get someone out for a free workout. But for most of the F3 guys, the reason they keep coming back — setting their alarm for 5:00 AM three, four or five days a week — is the friendships that are built.

It’s not just about getting better. It’s about getting better together.
…
At the heart of F3 is a passion to see men grow physically, mentally, relationally and spiritually.
Growth = Challenge + Consistency + Camaraderie
To experience long-term growth, we need to push ourselves intentionally and routinely with the encouragement and support of others on the same journey.

I think the keywords there are Push and Intentional

We all are at different points on that journey, but we are all on the journey. At some points you yourself may not need much support and encouragement, but others might. So its important to be there, to show up and be part of the routine.

MOLESKIN:

na
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
none

The November Guest

THE SCENE: Clear and chilly, around 40 degrees.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Completed adequately.
WARM-O-RAMA:

-Motivators (5 reps/level)

– Yoga stretches: legs spread, hang straight down, reach to right and left ankle, touch the ground and reach one arm up twisting torso, reverse hands.

– 10 Mountain Climbers (4-ct, IC)

– 10 Moroccan Night Clubs (4-ct, IC)

– 10 Calf raises

– 10 Steve Earles (4-ct, IC)

THA-THANG:

Mosey to LILY PAD where cones will be laid out in a rectangle, short/medium/long distance on each side. Pair up.  One partner will get to the cone using various means, does 3 PELE BURPEES, and returns while partner performs maintenance exercises. Switch.  Do each cone for two minutes. Cones are, counter-clockwise order:

    • Cone 1 (Long): Bear Crawl, partner does Bobby Hurleys
    • Cone 2 (Medium): Broad Jumps, partner does Iron Mikes
    • Cone 3 (Short): Inch Worm, partner does Hurpees
    • Cone 4 (Long): Bear Crawl, partner does BBS
    • Cone 5 (Medium): Broad Jump, partner does American Hammers
    • Cone 6 (Short): Inch Worm, partner does Gas Pumps

 

  • Mosey to perimeter path, heading east then north then west to Caribbean parking lot:
    • Nickel/Dime/Quarters (run 1 light, do 5x first exercise, then 2 lights 10 reps, then 5 lights 25 reps)
      • Squats
      • SSH
      • Imperial Walkers
      • CDDs
  • Merkins at the parking lot until 6 gets up.

Mosey to the Pav-a-lon

  • 7s on benches (Incline merkins/Dips)

AYG MOSEY TO AO

MARY:
Dead Bugs, Homer/Marge until time
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Nine strong
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

My November Guest, by Robert Frost

My Sorrow, when she’s here with me,
Thinks these dark days of autumn rain
Are beautiful as days can be;
She loves the bare, the withered tree;
She walks the sodden pasture lane.

Her pleasure will not let me stay.
She talks and I am fain to list:
She’s glad the birds are gone away,
She’s glad her simple worsted grey
Is silver now with clinging mist.

The desolate, deserted trees,
The faded earth, the heavy sky,
The beauties she so truly sees,
She thinks I have no eye for these,
And vexes me for reason why.

Not yesterday I learned to know
The love of bare November days
Before the coming of the snow,
But it were vain to tell her so,
And they are better for her praise.

– Describes a person embracing the sadness that comes with the passing of summer and the beginning of the long winter, with “Sorrow” personified as a woman.

-Winter can be ominous and unsettling, and for some there can be some depression associated with it

–  But there is more to this poem… the dreariness of winter has its own kind of beauty, and the author ultimately embraces it.

– Same for “Sorrow”.  No one likes being sad, but it is an enriching facet of the human condition.

– Many times, we feel ashamed of our grief and sadness, we try to bury it, and pretend it doesn’t exist. The author is encouraging us to look at that part of us not with shame or trepidation, but to embrace it as part of our humanity.  I think about my parents, who both passed during the early part of the winter season.  I read this poem and it encourages me to use this time as a period of reflecting on her love and the wonderful times we had while she was on this earth.  “Not yesterday I learned to know the love of bare November days”. Try to learn the value of your own sources of sadness and grief.  And know that there’s a God in your life that will never be far from your heart, and seek comfort and refuge in the love of our Almighty Father.  PSALM 34:18: The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers of thanks for Title 9 making it back from his west Coast trip. Prayers for Brick and his dad.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Asylum PM will host a 9 am workout on Thanksgiving.  A 7 am workout will also be happening.