F3 Knoxville

Forg3 2023 Registration is LIVE

 Forg3 2023

A weekend retreat created for F3 men, by F3 men. 

Men of F3 Knoxville! With a full heart I am pumped to announce that we are rolling out our first F3 Knoxville men’s retreat this fall – Forg3! Forg3 was created with F3 men in mind – to strengthen the bonds we have with each other and our Creator, over the course of a weekend retreat.

Please see below for all of the preliminary information about this year’s retreat, as registration goes LIVE today!


Forge (v.) – to shape and mold into a new condition, by heating in a fire / to move forward gradually and steadily.

Forg3 (n.) an invigorating 40-hour weekend retreat to challenge and encourage F3 men in their pursuit of high impact manhood. You can expect to engage with other men in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd F sessions, to better understand who you are, whose you are, and the High Impact Man God has called you to be. You’ll have opportunities throughout the weekend to seek adventure, to rest, and to sharpen iron with other F3 men physically, mentally, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually. 

If you love adventure of the heart, mind, body, and soul – Forg3 is for you. Forg3 was created for F3 men, by F3 men, as a way to engage together for a purposeful and relationally-driven weekend to step further into the men God has called us to be.

Here are the fast facts about Forg3 2023:
  • Dates: Friday, September 22nd (7pm) – Sunday, September 24th (11am)
  • Location: Doe River Gorge (Hampton, TN)
    • Situated in the F3 Northeast TN region up near Johnson City and Elizabethton, Doe River Gorge’s campus is tucked into the side of a mountain and offers incredible beauty, very clean and comfortable cabins by the river, and miles and miles of adventures to be had.
    • From Knoxville: only around 1.5 – 2 hour drive
  • Cost: $110 (Covers all of your lodging, meals, and retreat materials for the weekend)
    • Via Venmo or cash to Waxjob

How To Register/Get Connected

Our team has created a user-friendly and comprehensive registration process – all through Google Forms. Please see below for how to register, get connected, and where to send any questions you may have. We look forward to seeing you at Forg3 2023 this year!

How To Get Involved

Want to get involved or be a part of Forg3 2023? If you have any interest in serving on our planning team, in any capacity, we’d love to connect! Shoot an email over to [email protected], or DM Steam (Dan Henson) on the F3 Knoxville Slack workspace.


Iron Sharpens Iron!

-Steam

Murph Prep / 2 For Tuesday

F3 Q  – 5.2.23

  • Asylum PM 
  • 5:45pm – 6:30pm
    • Pre-ruck / Shield Lock at 5:10pm

[ The Scene ] 

  • 60s
  • Windy 
  • Sunny

[ Welcome/Disclaimer ]

  • Welcome to F3: Fitness – Fellowship – Faith 
  • My name is Steam and I’ll be your Q this morning 
  • A few things before we begin: 
    • I’m not a professional 
    • You’re here on your own volition
    • You know your injuries if you have any so if you need to modify anything we do today feel free to do so, but push yourselves and the men around you. They deserve it and so do you. 
  • FNGs?

The cool thing about today? It’s 2 For Tuesday ON May 2nd. So let’s roll. So let’s roll. 

[ Warm o Rama ] 

  • SSH: 5×4
    • 5 merkins 
  • SSH: 10×4
    • 5 merkins 
  • SSH: 15×4
    • 5 merkins 

(Rinse + Repeat — 2FT!)

[ The Thang ] 

— Mosey to the Coliseum — 

(1) Murph Practice — May’s Metric Workout

  • Murph 
    • 1 mile run 
    • 300 push-ups
    • 200 squats
    • 100 pull-ups
    • 1 mile run
    • All with a 20lb weighted vest
  • TOC (Top Of Coliseum)
    • 5, 10, 15 model — all on a 1-count
      • 5 shoulder presses (in place of pull-ups — hitting the lats)
      • 10 merkins 
      • 15 squats 
      • Sprint, not mosey, sprint around the circle as fast as you can 
      • Rinse and repeat once 
    • 10, 10, 10 model — all on a 1 count
      • 10 dry docks
      • 10 merkins 
      • 10 squats 
      • Sprint, not mosey, sprint around the circle as fast as you can 
      • Rinse and repeat once
    • 10, 20, 30 model — all on a 1-count
      • 10 shoulder presses 
      • 20 merkins 
      • 30 squats 
      • Sprint, not mosey, sprint around the circle as fast as you can
      • Rinse and repeat once 

— Mosey to the picnic tables beside the Coliseum —

(2) There And Back Again

  • Points of contact: picnic table + far bench on the hill
  • Ping Pong Model
    • 5 pull-ups on the table / 5 merkins on the bench
    • 10 pull-ups on the table / 10 merkins on the bench
    • 15 pull-ups on the table / 15 merkins on the bench
    • 20 pull-ups on the table / 20 merkins on the bench

(3) Enough Upper, Focus on Lower

  • Points of Contact: picnic table + wall at the Coliseum
  • Ping Pong Model
    • 10 squats / 10 squats
    • 20 squats / 20 squats
    • 30 squats / 30 squats

— Mosey back to the AO — 

[ Mary ] 

Breathe

[ COT ]

  • # off — 9 
  • Name o Rama 
  • FNGs
  • Word — Tear Up The Planks – God Wants What’s Underneath

No doubt I now grew very pale; — but I talked more fluently, and with a heightened voice. Yet the sound increased — and what could I do? It was a low, dull, quick sound — much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I gasped for breath — and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly — more vehemently; but the noise steadily increased. I arose and argued about trifles, in a high key and with violent gesticulations; but the noise steadily increased. Why would they not be gone? I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excited to fury by the observations of the men — but the noise steadily increased. Oh God! what could I do? I foamed — I raved — I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder — louder — louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly, and smiled. Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God! — no, no! They heard! — they suspected! — they knew! — they were making a mockery of my horror! — this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this derision! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die! — and now — again! — hark! louder! louder! louder! louder! —

“Villains!” I shrieked, “dissemble no more! I admit the deed! — tear up the planks! — here, here! — it is the beating of his hideous heart!”

  • The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe

— RD’s talk at the Fellowship men’s retreat – he spoke on this idea of “tearing up the planks.”

— More recently, I’m learning a lot about flooring. We’re going to have to replace our wood floors at some point this year, and unfortunately, due to some water damage from the dishwasher and fridge, the subfloor is now damaged in some places too, which means we’ll have to replace that. Ah, the joys of home ownership. 

— All that being said, when we first realized some of the planks were warped and twisting up, and probably needed to just be taken off and covered, we tried to get them to lay flat again, or covered them with a rug.

— If you think about your life like a floor, you have a couple of components

    • Planks (floor) top level
    • Subfloor is underneath
    • Whatever is under the subfloor 

— My journey in vulnerability over the past year or so has increased tremendously, and to be honest, more rapidly than I am comfortable with — but I don’t think we’re called to be comfortable in this life. It’s in the uncomfortable places that growth happens. 

— Maybe this is true for you – it definitely it for me. Here’s what happens a lot of times: something really tough or hard happens in our life, maybe that we’ve done or caused, or maybe that someone else has, and we want to stow it underneath the surface so no one can see it. And we nail that plank down super hard – with self-denial, disassociation, coping mechanisms, distractions – these are some of the nails we use to do this. 

— This is a good fix – it’s safe for the time being, it’s underneath the surface where no one can see it. But up top on the surface, man! That floor looks good. Polished, put together, everything’s cool! 

— But unfortunately like in my case with my house — what’s not addressed and brought out of the darkness and into the light, can damage the subfloor over time. It can be maddening – just like in The Tell-Tale Heart. How does everyone not see this?! Surely they’re on to me and know what I’m struggling with! But unfortunately, our culture have become masters in the art and tactics of camouflage. 

— Over time, that plank needs to be ripped up and dealt with, and addressed — but what’s true in my life is that anytime I get the sense that the plank I don’t want to come up starts to come up, I grab some of those nails (self-denial, disassociation, coping mechanisms, distractions) and nail that sucker back harder than the first time, or the most recent time that is. 

— “I’m not ready to tear that plank up yet! I don’t want to go there. It’s too painful. I’m the only one that deals with this. No one would understand or be empathetic.” These are all lies. 

— But God is not just interested in how you look from the outside, he wants what’s underneath.

— You know what a good homeowner does? They don’t just pay attention to what’s on the surface in their home, they deeply care about what’s going on underneath. God is the best homeowner – because in reality He does own the home (our lives). And over the course of our lives there is a sometimes gentle and sometimes more urgent invitation to tear up the planks. He wants what’s underneath. Those places that are really hard to go sometimes. And His deep care and love for us wasn’t enough, he puts people and things in our life, just like F3 and our community of men, to help in this process.

The journey of vulnerability and tearing up the planks is not easy nor is it comfortable, but it is good, very good. 

 

April Metric Q – Asylum PM

Asylum PM Q — April Metric Workout

5:45pm – 6:30pm

  • Pre-ruck at 5pm

[ The Scene ] 

  • 72
  • Sunny 

[ Welcome/Disclaimer ]

  • Welcome to F3: Fitness – Fellowship – Faith 
  • My name is Steam and I’ll be your Q this morning 
  • A few things before we begin: 
    • I’m not a professional 
    • You’re here on your own volition
    • You know your injuries if you have any so if you need to modify anything we do today feel free to do so, but push yourselves and the men around you. They deserve it and so do you. 
  • FNGs?

[ Warm o Rama ] 

  • OYO as the April Metric Workout is introduced 

[ The Thang ] 

Scene

  • 4 evenly spaced cones or lines ~10 yards/30 feet apart

The Workout

Part 1: RUN

  • 10 minute timer
  • Start the timer, then…
  • Run from Line 1 to Line 2 (~10 yards) and back to Line 1
  • Run from Line 1 to Line 3 (~20 yards) and back to Line 1
  • Run from Line 1 to Line 4 (~30 yards) and back to Line 1
  • That is 1 rep
  • Rinse and repeat as many times as you can in the 10 minutes.

— 1 minute rest —

Part 2: AMRAP

  • 3×2 minutes timer
  • Count the total number of reps (cumulative, not individual)
  • Start the timer, then…
  • 2 minutes AMRAP SSH
    • (no rest)
  • 2 minutes AMRAP High Knees (count 1 leg)
    • (no rest)
  • 2 minutes AMRAP mountain climbers (count 1 leg)

— 3 MINUTES REST AND RECORD 1st ROUND # OF REPS —

— Now…REPEAT the full routine – starting over with your rep count —

— Submit four scores —

  • Round 1 run reps
  • Round 1 AMRAP reps
  • Round 2 run reps
  • Round 2 AMRAP reps

— Enter your times and reps on the Google form (link in the 1st F channel) —
— Total time to complete: 45 minutes (the full time: 5:45pm – 6:30pm)

  • 5 minutes of instruction/intro
  • 40 minutes to complete the workout

[ Mary ] 

OYO stretching

[ COT ]

  • # off – 14
  • Name o Rama 
  • FNGs
  • Word

Spoiler in Slack: You drown not by falling into the river, but by staying submerged in it. — Paulo Coelho

  • Heard this in the movie Extraction on Netflix

An F3 mantra we use a lot: No man left behind, but no man left the same.

I’ve been submerged before — I’m willing to bet many of us have felt that same way before. 

The reality is this – at some point in time, we’re all going to “fall in the river.” It’s just part of life. We all have stuff that is in our lives. But God has more for you. 

It’s okay to fall into the river, but it’s not okay to stay submerged in it. 

And if we believe that God has more for us than our current circumstance in life, we should believe this about others as well, which brings me to “No man left behind, no man left the same.” That if we believe God has more for them – we must truly live out not leaving a man behind, and refusing to leave men in the condition in which we first found them. Or, the condition they are in when they show up to F3. 

This is what Jesus did – he didn’t want to leave anyone behind, and refused to leave someone in the same condition he found them in. Just look at all of his miracles in the gospels. And even in his final moments of life, when he finds one of the other criminals on a cross next to him, who rightfully should be there by the way, he refuses to leave him in the same condition. 

March Metric Workout – Asylum PM’d

F3 Q – 3.28.23

  • Asylum PM AO
  • 5:45pm – 6:30pm
  • Steam on Q
  • Accelerate You vs. You – March Metric Workout 

[ Warm o Rama ]

  • 3-5 minutes

[ The Thang ] 

March Metric Workout

  • Start the timer
  • All PAX perform each exercise for 1 full minute (no rest interval between sets)
  • Immediately following the 10th exercise (CMU deadlifts) (no rest), perform 5 minutes of CMU Thrusters (keep counting toward your total # of reps)
  • You will keep track of the TOTAL number of reps (cumulative) for each exercise below
  • Duration: 15 minutes
  •  Exercises
    • 1-minute of CMU OHP
    • 1-minute of CMU Goblet Squats
    • 1-minute of CMU Bent Over Rows
    • 1-minute of CMU BBS
    • 1-minute of CMU Biceps curls
    • 1-minute of CMU Lunges
    • 1-minute of Derkins (feet elevated on CMU)
    • 1-minute of CMU LBCs
    • 1-minute of CMU Triceps extension
    • 1-minute of CMU Deadlifts
    • 5-minutes of CMU Thrusters

Crispr recorded 1st Round # of reps

Rest 3 minutes.

Repeat the full routine – starting over with your rep count. Total duration: 30 minutes.

Submit BOTH scores – Round 1 reps and Round 2 reps (scored individually, not cumulatively).

Enter your times and reps on THIS FORM. 

[ Mary ]

Stretched for the last 60 seconds

[ COT ]

  • # off – 16
  • FNGs? – 0
  • Name o Rama
    • Pusher, Pluto, Rooney, Sparkler, Z-Bone, Lillydipper, Onstar, Crispr, Cheetah Boy, Steam, Flashback, Red Card, Abacus, Switchgrass, Down Under, Swimmies
  • Word

Pray for Nashville’s shooting victims. This morning at a small group I’m a part of one of the older guys said that you were going to see a lot of blame start to happen because of this weather it is gun control or stuff about the shooter, being transgender or the lack of security, and all this stuff. But really what it is, is that we live in a fallen world and its sin.

Do we need better precautions and things in place to protect our kids and be more responsible as citizens of this earth? Absolutely but we need Jesus even more. 

Check out these powerful lyrics, from the song “Never Let Go” by Seventh Day Slumber. I was listening to this on the way to the workout tonight and these lyrics hit really hard:

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of deathYour perfect love is casting out fearAnd even when I’m caught in the middle of the storms of this lifeI won’t turn backI know You are near
And I will fear no evilFor my God is with meAnd if my God is with meWhom then shall I fear?Whom then shall I fear?
Oh no, You never let goThrough the calm and through the stormOh no, You never let goIn every high and every lowOh no, You never let goLord, You never let go of me
And I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds onA glorious light beyond all compareAnd there will be an end to these troublesBut until that day comesWe’ll live to know You here on the earth

Listen to “Never Let Go” on Spotify

Your Gifts

THE SCENE: A perfect morning, just minutes before the rain
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER – Steam did it
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH, merkins, rockettes, imperial walkers
THA-THANG:
Insert information about the workout.

  • Hands had us “playing catch me if you can”
  • Then a bear crawl, lunge, run sequence of pain
  • Dora time with dive bombers, mountain climbers, and pike ups
  • CRISPR then doing more Dora with merkins, squats, and butterfly situps
  • William Wallace relays with planks/burpees, then squat/sprints
  • 7’s with incline merkins and step ups

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
19 HIMs for the launch of Asylum Daybreak
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

I often talk about quotes and they always get me thinking about stuff. As I take on this new leadership role, I think about a quote from Pablo Pisccao that says “The meaning of life is to find your gift”.

I’ve been through several leadership development programs over the years and had 360 reviews, etc and gift that always comes up for me is I’m dependable. When I take something on, I do what I say I’m going to do, and I do it 100%. Don’t have to check in and follow up because it’ll be done.

Going back to Picasso, the second half of the quote is, “The purpose of life is to give your gift away”. So as I assume this new role I hope that I can give my gifts to Asylum Daybreak.

So, the quote is “The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give your gift away”. So I ask each of you to think about that. What are your gifts and who are you giving them to?  Is there an aspect of your life that could really benefit from your unique gift? And if so, are you willing to give it to them?

ANNOUNCEMENTS: A lot going on in F3 Knoxville.  Painting Cardinal’s widow’s house March 18, Wild at Heart Retreat March 24, F3 Open House by Fixer Upper first week of April, Escape from Haw Ridge April 14, Hardship Hill on Memorial Day.