F3 Knoxville

Philippine Independence Day

THE SCENE: Gloomy with a temp of high 70s. Anticipating the rain but fortunately did not drop. Instead of the usual meetup place, gents met up in the Lakeshore Shelter which is on top of the south parking lot near the Chapel.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Welcome to F3, Fitness, Fellowship and Faith. F3 is a free workout program designed to improve fitness, share some camaraderie, and foster male leadership in the community.  I’m Jetlag and I will be your Q today.  I am not a professional, and I do not know your fitness level or injury history.  Please push yourself, but modify the workout as necessary to avoid making any existing injuries worse.  The goal is to get better together!

WARM-O-RAMA:

Warmup: 12reps on a 4ct

  1. Windmill
  2. Side straddle hops
  3. Baby arm circles
  4. Reverse baby arm circles
  5. Plank jacks
  6. Plank front reaches

THA-THANG:
Workout 1: 2 rounds 12s in cadence at the Lakeshore Shelter

  1. 12 pullups
  2. 12 merkins
  3. 12 rows
  4. 12 shoulder press
  5. 12 biceps curls
  6. 12 triceps extensions/dips
  7. 12 step ups

Workout 2: Basic suicides in the parking lot
4 stations: 4 burpees each x 12 squats at the baseline
Finish with 12 burpees at the other end of the parking lot

Workout 3: 4 rounds in cadence at the driveway going out the parking lot

1. Start: merkins 4ct
2. Stop sign: mountain climbers 4ct

Workout 4: Around the Chapel 12s 4ct

  1. 12 Side straddle hops
  2. 12 squat jumps
  3. 12 butt kicks
  4. 12 frog jumps
  5. 12 high knees
  6. 12 lbcs

Workout 5: Back to Lakeshore Shelter

  1. Merkin Jacks 12x
  2. Kick Squat Jumps 12x
  3. Flutter hammer pumps 12x 4ct

MARY:N/A

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
27 HIMs. No FNGs. Mickey not tagged.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Couple of days ago, I stumbled upon a viral video performance of Jane Marczweski, professionally known as “Nightbirde” from America’s Got Talent (video link here: https://youtu.be/bTJ3eeYrHI4). During the audition, however, Nightbirde shared some tough personal news — she had “some cancer” in her lungs, spine and liver. Nightbirde also later revealed that she was given a 2% chance of survival.

While singing her original song, “It’s Okay”, Nightbirde’s authenticity and ethereal vocals took center stage. The song is about getting lost, losing, or being down and it’s okay. Focusing on small wins in our daily lives makes us successful. Things may not turn out the way we want it to be, and it’s probably because God has better plans for us.

She ended her performance with a quote: “you can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy”. So gents, I hope you keep focusing on those small wins in your daily lives, keep your chin up and know that the man above has better plans for us when you’re feeling down and lost sometimes. Waking up and being there in an F3 beatdown,  smashing thru the workout is already a win for each and everyone of us and it means a lot just you being out there for your brothers.

“If you’re lost, we’re all a little lost and it’s alright. It’s okay.” – Nightbirde

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Jinxy and Lilydipper as they continue to heal. Praise for Dung Beetle who’s leading his first worship next week in their church.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Wesley House volunteers needed; CSAUP at Dog Pound end of July.

Faithful to Us

THE SCENE: Sunny, temp in 30’s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Burpees, 10 Tempo Squats, 10 Windmills, 7 Baby Arm Circles Forward and Backward, 5 Wide Arm Circles Forward and Backward
THA-THANG:
Run to CMU pile.  Each man grabs CMU.  We will do the following exercises.  Between the listed exercises each man runs to the benches at the playground to do 10 bench jumps, then runs back.

  • 25 Overhead Presses
  • 25 Curls
  • 25 Rows

We then put CMUs back.

Mosey up cardiac and on trail to stop sign at intersection of park road and road to admin bldg.  We will do 20 American Hammers and 20 Hello Dollies.

Mosey to bottom of Mt. Everest.  We will do 10 Tempo Squats, 20 Bicycle Kicks and 30 Baby Crunches.  We then run up Everest to roadway by Admin Bldg.  We will do 20 Flutter Kicks.

Mosey to parking lot below stairs at Coliseum.  We will do Doras.  While one man does exercises the other runs upstairs, heads south at Coliseum, the comes back down the parking lot driveway.  Partners then switch.  Here are the exercises that each two man team performs:

  • 100 Plank Jacks
  • 100 Merkins
  • 100 Big Boy Sit-ups
  • 100 Squat Jumps
  • 100 Imperial Walkers

Mosey down Picket’s Charge and back to Playground.  More Flutter Kicks until everyone arrives.

Mosey to outfield by baseball field closest to CMU parking lot.  We will split into two teams.  We will play soccer/ball shoot.  In this game there will be two large boxes at each end of the field.  Teams will kick soccer ball toward opponents end.  The shot at the box, however, must be made by man throwing ball to go inside the box.  The man cannot move when he picks the ball up.  If a team scores, that team will run to second base at the ballfield and back while the team that is scored on must run all the way to home plate and back.  Then game resumes.

Mosey to AO.

MARY:
20 Flutter Kicks
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
22 men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
God is Faithful

The phrase “you gotta have faith” is one you have probably heard before.  I think that phrase often applies to having faith in ourselves, or having faith that things will work out, versus having faith in God.  Still, most of us have certainly heard of our need to have faith in God to get by in this world.  And, we do need to have faith in God.  Yet, we often fall short of being faithful:  in our trust of God, in our commitment to his desire for obedience, in living the loving and virtuous lifestyle that God expects from us.  Fortunately, we have a God who is faithful to us.  So much so that he was willing to, from the Christian standpoint, send his only Son to die for us on the cross.  It is nice to know that we have a God who is faithful to us, who is there for us.

That knowledge of his faithfulness keeps us strong.  I may have told some of you this story of my childhood.  I was about age 5 or 6 and I had acted rather poorly toward my mother earlier that day. It was getting towards evening and I came home to find the door locked.  No big deal, it was a policy to lock the door.  I rang the door bell.  No answer.  I knocked on the door.  No answer.  I ran around to the back of the house.  Door locked and no answer when I knocked.  I ran back up front and after ringing and knocking, I went to our large front window and peered in.  My mother was sitting on a chair in the living room.  How could she not come to me when I was ringing the doorbell and knocking so loud?  Had my mom stopped loving me because I had acted poorly that day?  I called out and she didn’t come.  I ran into the backyard and threw myself to the ground in tears.  Imagine Little Lilydipper, crying until the snot was draining in fissures from his nose.  I later heard my mom calling.  I took a while to get up.  She came to the backyard and found me in tears.  She asked me what was wrong and I told her the story of my persistent knocking and her failure to come to me.  She had been sitting at a chair sound asleep and had not heard me.  She thought she heard a child crying and that was what woke her up.

My mother took pity on me as I was obviously distraught.  So she sat with me, assured me that she would never leave me, would always have faith in me, that I would always be her special child, that I could count on her loving me forever.  She and I went to get a hamburger and ice cream at Goff’s Burgers that evening.  I loved that place because they had the best chili hamburgers in the world and amazing ice cream cones.  I sat there at Goff’s with a special feeling in my heart.  My mother would always be faithful to me.

Gents, we aren’t kids but it sure is good to know that God will always be faithful to us.  We can count on Him.  We may act poorly sometimes, we may upset him with our behavior. . . but we will always be His, we will always be special to Him.   You are His precious child.  Let that truth sink into you and give you that special feeling in your heart like I had that evening at good old Goff’s Hamburgers.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for those of Asian decent in our country because of the hatred that some have showed toward them; for the disenfranchised and folks who are not well and having to stay home; for Mr. Jinxy, Sarah, the wife of Ribbed, and Jan, the wife of Lillydipper; for Dung-Beetle who, as a minister, is working with so many in need, for those with Covid including the father of one of Mickey’s schoolmates, for those struggling with addiction, and that we may have discernment when watching the news as the news can be biased.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Beer ruck tonight at 6:00 pm!

No Measure

THE SCENE: Clear sky with temp at about 33 degrees.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Run around parking lot, 25 Side-Straddle Hops, 20 Plank Jacks, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Rockettes, 7 Twists, 7 Wide Arm Circles Forward and Backward
THA-THANG:
Mosey to start of Serpentine Sidewalk.  We will do 14’s on the sidewalk until it hits the perimeter trail.  We will Bear Crawl for one light, then run for four and continue this pattern until the perimeter trail.

Next, we will do 20 American Hammers.

Then we will head south on the Perimeter Tail doing nickel, dime, quarters with the following exercises until we get to the southern ball field pavilion:

  • Jump Squats
  • Merkins
  • Smurf Jacks

Mosey to large parking lot by the southern ball fields.  We will Bernie from one end of the parking lot to the other stopping at each large lamppost to do 20 Big Boys Sit-ups.  We will Skip back stopping at each light to do 10 Hand Release Merkins

Mosey to roadway that heads back to A0.  Stop to do 20 Squats.

Mosey to Caribbean.  We will alternate between Karaoke Right and Karaoke Left stopping at every fourth island to do 10 Iron Mikes (both legs = 1)

Mosey to AO.

MARY:
25 Baby Crunches (4 ct)
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
21 Men with no FNGs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

I was listening to a sermon by Shawn Slate, the pastor at my church, and he quoted a line from a book called When God Interrupts by M. Craig James.  The line, which really struck me, is: “There is no better way to lose your life than to constantly measure it.”

We get into trouble when we start measuring our life against the successes of others or against the “shoulds” that we create for ourselves.  I do not mean that goals are unimportant.  Goals give us something to strive for.  But, they can lead to the loss of a relationship with God.  They can keep us from truly seeing the virtue, the struggle, and the stories in other people.  If we are continually measuring our own lives we are probably ignoring the lives of others.  Our lives become one more item to mark off our checklist in our path to greatness.  And we end up playing the game the world wants us to play:  to have the nicest car, to get the best job, to move into the richest neighborhood.  We climb up the latter to success and ignore God’s world around us.

In God’s kingdom, our worldly measures of success don’t matter.  Jesus said, “The last shall be first and the first shall be last.”  And what did Jesus, the messiah, the king, do before his death?  What did he do to show the disciples what it is to be great in heaven?  He got on his knees and washed the feet of each one of them.  He served them.

In the same service that my pastor preached, our congregation sang a communion hymn called Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken.  One of the lines in the song is “With thy favor, loss is gain.”

Perhaps part of being a High Impact Man is giving up the ways I measure myself as successful and giving up the ways I compare myself to others.  Rather, I should focus more on serving others, on washing the feet of fellow sinners, be willing to sit at the end of the row versus the front of it.  It is there that I am apparently much more likely to find God’s favor.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Corona Weight’s brother, Jared, whose parole hearing was extended from November to March.  He remains in prison.  After having an amputated thumb replaced he must have it removed again and, hopefully, replaced later.  Prayers for Curve Ball’s wife who is having surgery in Florida; for Goober’s step-grandmother who was recently diagnosed with Covid-19; and for Ribbed’s wife who will have surgery to remove a tumor at her spine on December 14.  Prayers for the vaccines for the coronavirus, that they may be effective and that they reach the world’s population quickly.

Stay Off The Grass

[ Welcome/Disclaimer ]

  • Welcome to F3: Fitness – Fellowship – Faith
  • My name is Steam and I am honored to be your Q this evening
  • FNGs?
  • Couple of things before we begin:
    • I’m not a professional
    • You’re here on your own volition = you’re here on purpose – I truly believe that and I hope you do too
    • I don’t know any injuries you may or may not have so if you do need to modify anything we do this evening feel free to do so but push yourselves and the men around you
  • COVID Precautions

[ Warm-Up Xs ]

  • Cherry-Picker: 10 x 4
  • Gate-Opener: 10 x 4
  • Rockette: 10 x 4
  • Motivator: 5
    • SSH
    • Straight out
    • Just legs
    • Hops

[ PT ]

(Mosey to the back of the admin building)

  1. Cash-In with 100
    • 20 SSHs – 5x
    • 12 – 3 – 6 – 9
    • 1 group goes counter clockwise + 1 group goes clockwise around the grassy area
    • When you’re done back here at 12 (the top) – hold the Al Gore 

(10 count)

(Mosey to Cardiac Hill)

– Every stop sign = 10 merkins (down/up)

  1. Quarter Pounder
    • 4 points of contact
      • Top
      • Turn 1
      • Turn 2
      • Bottom (light)
    • Every point of contact: 25 merkins
      • Straight-up
      • Incline
      • Decline
      • Your call
    • When you get to the bottom: knock out some squats and work on your breathing until the 6 is up

(10 count)

    • What goes up must come down, right? Let’s flip that on it’s head and consider the idea that what comes down will rise up again, but in a different way.
    • So – going back up to the top – same concept
    • Same 4 points of contact EXCEPT
      • 1 Man-Maker at each POC
    • Hold Al Gore

(10 count)

(Mosey to small Pav single file)

Detour at CMU pile – 5 points for the Q (LOL)

  1. High 5
    • Every pillar = 5 SSHs — lunge to the next pillar
    • To the end

(Mosey to Chapel)

  1. Curb Appeal 
    • 10×4 Rocky Balboas on the curb
    • run across the street to the opposite curb
    • execute 10 down/up incline merkins on the curb

(10 count)

(Mosey back to AO straight up the hill to the flag)

[ COT ]

  • # off: 21 PAX + 1 FNG
  • Name o Rama
  • FNGs
    • 1 —> FirePower (originally named PoleDancer………found out there was a duplicate in the system so FirePower it is)
  • BOM

“Any creative work Is in some sense indebted to every person that has had an impact on one’s life, for good or bad”

  • Brent Curtis, “The Sacred Romance” with John Eldridge
  • Let’s take this a little deeper:
    • As men we create. We plant, grow, and serve. We build. We are intrinsically wired to do this by our creator.
    • Now I want you to think about what you like to create, whether you’ve actually done so recently or not.
      • Maybe it’s physically creating something such art or woodwork, or literature
      • Or Maybe it’s creating things that are not necessarily physical, such as an atmosphere, environment, or content.
    • But whatever that is for you – there are people in your life that have impacted this creation, how you create, what you create, and why you create – for both good and bad.
    • And both of these parties/experiences deserve credit
      • The good: think about those things/people/experiences that have had a positive impact on your life and influence the things you create and why
      • The bad: think about those things/people/experiences that have had a negative impact on your life and influence the things you create and why
    • So we know a couple things now:
      • As men we’re wired to create, plant, grow, and serve
      • The way in which we do this can be attributed to every person who has had an impact on our life, good or bad
      • And as High Impact Men – we’re called to set the standard and set the example – we lead by example
      • So it boils down to this: just like you have had people in your life that have impacted you (good and bad) that inspire you to create and inspires how you create – you have an opportunity every day as a High Impact man to fulfill one of those two roles in someone else’s life.