F3 Knoxville

Tag: Passport

Working(out) Through Genesis

THE SCENE: In the beginning, it was 45 degrees and slightly raining. And it was good.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH x 25, Baby Arm Circles x 20 forwards and 20 backwards, Shoulder Taps x 20, Cherry Pickers x 10, Mosey to Amphitheater
THA-THANG:
This whole workout revolved around the story of the book of Genesis

  • In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and everything in them. Then He made man in is own image. So we did 25 man makers
  • Then after Creation, the serpent deceived Adam and Eve, leading to the fall of man. So we did Cobra merkins in a Ring of Fire (each person did 5 reps while everyone else held a plank. we did 3 rounds around the circle)
  • After the Fall, mankind continued on its downward spiral of sin, eventually leading to God seeing that the intentions of their hearts were always evil and leading to the flood. God preserves life through Noah and his family and by gathering 2 of every animal to stay on the ark. We didn’t have an ark so we settled for Boat Canoes. Similar to the Cobras, we did this by going around the circle and each of us took a turn calling out Boat and Canoe
  • After the flood, several generations later, God calls Abraham and tells him that he will be father to a great nation that will bless all other nations. God also tells Abraham to go and leave his father’s homeland and go to the land He has promised for his descendants. So we moseyed to Ayres Hall aka the Promised Land
  • After much travel and even more waiting, Abraham finally has a son named Isaac. Years later, God calls Abraham to climb a mountain and sacrifice his only son Isaac at the top, but then provides a ram to take Isaac’s place. So at the bottom of The Hill we did 25 4-count Mountain Climbers and then sprinted up the stairs to the top of The Hill
  • After this Isaac has two sons, Esau and Jacob. Jacob tricks Isaac into giving him Esau’s blessing, leading to Esau threatening to kill Jacob and to Jacob fleeing into exile. While in exile, Jacob marries Leah and Rachel, and has a literal metric ton of children. So we did Pickle Pounders, also in a Ring of Fire. Each person did 10 reps while everyone else held a plank, we did 3 rounds total
  • After years in exile and building up his own family, God tells Jacob to return to his family and his father’s land, so we began to Mosey back to World’s Fair Park
  • Along the way back to Esau, Jacob has an encounter with God where the wrestle through the night and he is renamed to Israel, meaning “wrestles with God”. So we did Sumo Wrestler Squats in a Ring of Fire at the bottom of The Hill. Each person did 5 reps while everyone else held an Al Gore. We did 3 rounds
  • Esau and Jacob reconcile with one another, rebuilding the bridges Jacob burnt. Then years later his sons sell their brother Joseph into slavery in Egypt. Joseph ends up through circumstances as Pharoah’s right hand man after years in slavery and prison. Years later famine brings Jacob’s sons to Egypt to ask for aid from none other than Joseph. Joseph and his brothers are also reconciled, rebuilding the bridges they burnt years ago. So we did American Hammers and Bear Crawls on the bridge in front of the Hill. We partnered up, one partner Bear Crawled across the bridge and ran back while the other partner did American Hammers, then switched. We did 3 rounds of this
  • After reconciliation with his brothers, Joseph invites his family to live together in Egypt to endure the famine. Genesis then ends on a happy high note of encouragement with the eventual death of Jacob, Joseph and his brothers. So at the parking lot across from campus we did suicides. Each run had an exercise at the far end of the lot and at the beginning when we ran back, and each set was a shorter run and different exercises. Set 1: 10 merkins out and 10 Big Boy Sit ups back, Set 2: 10 Carolina Dry Docks out and 10 American Hammers back, Set 3: 15 Cobras out and 15 squats back, Set 4: 15 Wide Out merkins out and 15 Smurf Jacks back, Set 5: 15 Man Makers out and 15 BBS back
  • Then we moseyed back to the fountains

MARY:
Did some Ring of Fire with merkins and squats to kill some left over time
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
The reason I thought to revolve our workout around Genesis was for 2 things: 1. We just finished studying it in the ministry I work for and 2. Someone at my church while preaching about Advent said the Church Calendar was originally designed to help us orient our lives around the story of Scripture. I think we have a tendency to do just the opposite, we’d rather try to take Scripture and God and try to orient them around our story. So just as we oriented our workout around the story of Genesis, during this Advent season let’s think of ways in which we can place ourselves into the story of God rather than try to put Him into our own stories
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
None

Borrowed Q from Mouthwash

THE SCENE: 35* – good incentive to keep moving
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Windmills
Tempo squats
Patty cake merkins
OH Claps
BAC forward and reverse
Standing shoulder taps
THA-THANG:
Short mosey over to the base of the Big Ball, which is where my first theft of Mouthwash’s recent Q comes into play.  First routine is 5 body blasters (Burpee -> Pull up -> Knees to elbows) and try to keep good form (keep from swinging about).
Then we stepped over to the stairs and go 1:10 with jump squats at the bottom, run to the middle landing and do WWII sit ups.  Start with one rep of each exercise, then two, all the way up to 10 reps of each.
Finish off with another round of body blasters.

Recover and mosey back to the lawn at World’s Fair Park.  This is the other part of his Q I stole.  Set up cones down the sidewalk for various suicide drills with exercises thrown in.  Every time you were at the start point, you did two burpees.  This remained constant regardless of the round or which cone you were on.  Variations as follows:

  • Sprint suicide; 15 merkins at each cone
  • Lunge suicide; 15 squats at each cone
  • Bear crawl suicide; 15 LBCs at each cone

Quick mosey back over to the base of the Big Ball.  Told everyone to do 5 body blasters and meet back out front to head back to the start point.  As soon as everyone was in front, I sent them back for 5 more body blasters, then we jogged it back home.

MARY:
V-Ups
Flutter kicks
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Fantastic Four: Amazon, Passport, Swanson, Abort
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
I’ve lived in Knoxville about 3 years now, but being from Maryville I grew up only 30-40 minutes away.  If you’d told me five years ago I’d be walking around downtown Knoxville at 4:30AM multiple times a week, I’d probably think I made a huge mistake and wound up without a place to live.  When I first started F3 about 2.5 years ago, I only posted Saturdays because I “didn’t have time” to post during the weekday mornings.  If I’m not lazy, now I’m trying to post four weekdays plus Saturdays.It’s funny how things that once seemed either highly unlikely or maybe even unfathomable slowly become not just possible but completely routine.  While the two instances I just mentioned are positive, the unfortunate thing is that it happens for negative things as well.  Neglecting a relationship with a parent/child/spouse or friend usually isn’t an acute issue.  Neither is half-assing things at your job.  You allow yourself wiggle room to become complacent in these things, and five years fly by and you are doing things you’d never have imagined yourself doing.  Only this time when you realize the routine you are not proud, but ashamed.  Look at your day, both what you’re doing and how you treat people, and ask yourself how that compares to five years ago.  And take the steps today to make sure five years from now you hold your head high.  Leave no doubt.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:Can drive finishing up and the Brolympics this weekend.

create a new story

THE SCENE: Low 60s, great weather to get a sweat going
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Static stretches – left, right, middle
High Knees
Monkey Humpers
Merkin variations – diamond, ranger, wide
SSH
THA-THANG:
Barely any mosey, just to the side of the fountains.  Run the sidewalk down to the stage, 10 burpees, come back.  Climb down the ladder, decreasing burpees by 1 rep each iteration.  Burpees are done 10-6, then switch to merkins for 5-1.
Everyone does flutter kicks waiting for the six to finish up.  Recover and 10 count.  I played a dirty trick, picked the key ruck up and acted like we were moving on.  Then sat it back down and told everyone we were finishing the set, this time in reverse.  Same routine, but 10-6 is merkins and 5-1 is burpees running to the stage and back.  If you haven’t noticed, the number of the day was 10.  Today is 10/10 and my Braves gave up a soul crushing 10 runs in the first inning of the NLDS last night.

Recover and mosey over to the big ball.  Chalk on the ground for exercises:

  • Pull ups
  • Hanging leg lifts
  • Burps
  • Reverse crunches

Following the number of the day, 10 reps of each OYO and plank up out front.  Pull ups followed by hanging leg lifts is a fun 1-2 gut punch.  So I let the guys pick one exercise to cut in half.  They chose leg lifts, so I added those reps to reverse crunches as we went back through the routine.

Finishing with legs on the stairs at the Big Ball.  10 lunges, 10 squats, 10 calf raises followed by a sprint up to the top of the stairs and back down.  Repeato x2.

Mosey back to start point.

MARY:
Ran short on time, just had time for:
Crunches with feet elevated 6″ like starting position for flutters
Flutter kicks
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
6 Strong: G6, Passport, Reverb, Wings, Acapella, Abort
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
I have a buddy who has a tendency to tell the same stories over and over.  And while there is nothing wrong with high school stories (or college, or whenever), especially if those stories have lessons to be learned. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with reliving accomplishments, funny memories or anything like that.  However, don’t just tell those old stories.  Always be looking for new stories to create, and live with the mentality that what you do today is what you’ll remember in 10 years, make sure its a good memory that you want to tell.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Can drive for Second Harvest going on, Brolympics II on November 9th.

Walter and Abraham

THE SCENE: 73* (I really can’t remember that is a guess, warm and humid and perfect)
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
I started the warm up by telling the story from this past weekend at the 9/11 Memorial in NYC.  I walked up to the north memorial and placed my hand on a name: Abraham Zelmanowitz.  I remembered the name just because of how unusual it is.  Later in the museum, as fate would have it I saw his name again, along with his story.  He refused to evacuate his building because his friend and coworker, Ed Beyea, was a quadriplegic and could not evacuate in the stairs.  He waited with his friend along with an FDNY firefighter for help and perished when the tower collapsed.  This man died before he’d leave a friend behind.

  • SSH
  • Three point squat
  • Shoulder taps from plank
  • Moroccan night clubs

THA-THANG:
Mosey to the Big Ball stairs for 9/11 WOD: Perform 9 reps at bottom, at first landing, and at top for 11 rounds: 9 merkins at bottom, 9 squats at first landing, 9 BBSUs at top.  Repeato x11.  Stop random person from walking away with the key bag and all our stuff.

On the ground, I had written the fallen first responders broken down into their jobs:

  • 8 EMTs
  • 23 NYPD
  • 37 Port Authority
  • 343 FDNY

These people charged into fire and unknown to provide aid to people they’d never met before.  So we are going to honor them with exercises.
EMTs – Eight, 8-count bodybuilders
NYPD – 23 plank jacks
Port Authority – pull ups
FDNY – 343 flutter kicks as a group

Return to SP

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
10 Strong: Operation, Casper, Wings, Swanson, Alter Boy (LexSC), Passport, Carrot, Quarantine, Ripper, Abort
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
My second person I wanted to honor did not perish on 9/11.  Though that was the day that ultimately determined his fate.  Walter Greene Jr, who was a Connecticut state trooper and Marine Corps veteran, passed away on May 31, 2018 from cancer caused from his involvement in the recovery efforts directly following the 9/11 attacks.  Trooper Greene was a canine handler, and was part of the search and rescue effort.  The search and recovery effort was a 24 hour a day operation that lasted 8 months.
We are losing first responders every day, STILL.  People who disregarded everything in an attempt to save just one person.  We cannot let the heroes of that day fade away.  We must tell their stories and learn of more, and repeat them to people who may not know.

F3 500

THE SCENE: Misty wet morning, perfect for early morning beatdown
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side Straddle Hops on a 3 count, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 mountain climbers on a 3 count, 10 Manly Arm Rotations forward, 10 Manly Arm Rotations backwards

THA-THANG:
Mosey over to the Amphitheater for the F3 500. Battle buddy up. Battle buddies collectively do 100 Incline Merkins, 100 Big Boy Situps, 100 Pull Ups, 100 Flutter Kicks on a 3 count, 100 Overhead Claps on a 3 count. While one buddy is doing exercise the other is running a lap around the amphitheater. Once completed we moseyed over to Big Ball stairs. Bear Crawl to the top, 10 mountain climbers at the top and run back down. Mosey back over to the under the bridge. Lunge from one side to the other. 1 minute wall sit into lunge back across to 10 air squats. 20 flutters on a 3 count. 15 Cobra’s. Mosey back to the amphitheater for some mary. Then reconvene at AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Building off Abort’s COT talk about inertia I came across this quote about quitting. “If you quit now… you’ll end up right back where you first began, and where you first began, you were desparate to be where you are right now. Keep going.” Whether it be F3, work or life goals, don’t give up. My M compares me to a boulder on a hill. Super hard to get going but once you give it that push and it comes to the point where the slight bit of momentum catches it going forward it’ll be hard to stop. Let’s be the boulder, be tenacious in going after our goals.

MOLESKIN:
Grossly underestimated the time it would take to finish the 500. Need to plan more exercises to have in the back pocket just in case.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
TTTP