F3 Knoxville

Tag: Pool Boy

Project: Friendship

THE SCENE: 50% chance of rain. 100% chance of pain (well, at least 100% chance of D.O.M.S.)

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER – Administered + COVID (hopefully we don’t have to do this soon! 2021: ROPE (Return Of Partner Exercises)

WARM-O-RAMA:
Started cold, warmed up… Actual warmup:
Moroccan Night Club x 10 IC
Newton’s Cradle, OHC x 5 each IC
SLOW Dance Tempo Squats x 5 IC
Lunges x 5 each
Tempo Hand-release Merkins x 5 IC
Donkey Kicks x 5
Tennessee Rocking Chair x 7 IC

THA-THANG:
Mosey to Amphitheater

Mary 20-21’s – Do 20 reps of the first exercise, do 21 reps of the second exercises, run a lap around the Amphitheater. First one back calls a Mary exercise max 15 reps. Single Count unless otherwise noted:
Round 1 – BBS – Flutter Kicks (4ct IC) – (Lap + Mary Exercise) “Am I really that predictable?” called by Erector. I don’t remember the exercise but I thought it was the QOTD
Round 2 – Pickle pounders – pickle pointers – (Lap + Mary Exercise)
Round 3 – LBC’s – Heels to Heaven – (Lap + Mary Exercise)

30 seconds rest

DORA 20-21’s – same as Mary 20-21’s but your battle buddy does the exercise in parentheses until you complete 20 reps of the first exercise, flapjack (swap and do what he was doing), and then go to the 21’s doing the same alternate exercise in parentheses
Round 1 – Squats (Newton’s Cradle) – Merkins (Stationary Lunges) – (Lap + Mary Exercise)
Round 2 – Burpee (Reach for the Sky / Let it Hang) – OHC (Seal Clap Squat) – (Lap + Mary Exercise)

30 seconds rest

“The Wave” – in a circle but starting with the Q doing the following in a circle – 5 rounds of each exercise then take a lap around the Amphitheater

  • 1 x Burpee (start your Burpee when the previous PAX claps his hands – you should have plenty of rest between Burpees here)
  • 2 x Squats (start your Squat when the previous PAX has completed 1 of his)
  • 2 x Iron Mikes (IC so 4 total 2 each leg, start your Iron Mikes when the previous PAX has finished his first rep on each leg)
  • 5 x BBS (start your BBS when the previous PAX has completed 1 BBS. There should be a 1 BBS break before you start again)

Final Mary / Mary /  Hail Mary (Not sure what to call it)
American Hammer x 10 IC
Heels to Heaven x 10 IC
ABC’s (all 26 of them!)
Lap around Amphitheater
E2K(oblique crunch)

MARY:
Lots of Mary today. None at the #shovelflag so we’ll leave this blank. Aye!

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA – 7 PAX.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM: Today’s Project: Friendship

Prov 17:17 – A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
1 John 4:21 – And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Since I started F3 a year and a half a ago, the men at F3 have provided the right kind of friendship I didn’t really have before starting F3. I’ve developed this in other areas of my life, but F3 has been so good, challenging, and refining that I wanted to focus on aspects Friendship and 3 aspects / modes it can take for us to consider:

1. Seek to reconcile strained or former friendships (I am seeking to personally apply this right now so pray for me!)
Matthew 5:23-24 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

You and I are called to go to the brother we have wronged (if possible and wise, of course) and seek reconciliation (because God has reconciled us to Himself we can be reconciled to each other – 2 Cor 5:11-21). This is hard because the we may believe that we were more wronged personally but that is not what God calls us to here. See “Seven A’s of a Biblical Confession” by Ken Sande for specifics of how to walk this out. We must seek to be the mature ones. Jesus pursues us in reconciliation and while He is perfect and we are not, the steps Ken lays out are the hard path that did not revile when reviled, that sought us when we weren’t looking for Him. This is what a man of God does when he is wrong – he seeks confession and reconciliation!

2. Maintain solid friendships through peaceful unity, keeping the Gospel at the core.
Ephesians 4:1-3 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

F3 is a men’s leadership organization. When we come out here, we are saying we are going to challenge others and let others challenge us. It’s not easy, but the crucible is where hearts are tested say Proverbs 17:3 and 27:21. We walk in goodness with each other, seeking to help others watch their six, and working together toward common goals that we have first in Christ and then in F3 and other areas. ISI Proverbs 27:17.

3. Know the Hill you’re willing to die on.
There are some things, while few and far between, that are more important than a “friendship”. I put it in quotes because these things should be so rare and understood to be as such that when they do pop up, it is a clear boundary crossed that a friendship cannot continue without major reconciliation (and usually lots of honesty, sincerity, and humility from someone over time before trust can be rebuilt). The Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) is one of these examples. If anyone adds to or takes away from Christ-crucified with the only work we do is faith by repenting and turning from our sins, this is a hill to die on because Jesus died on that hill (Calvary).

Another example of this is when a friend goes long in unrepentant sin, we have to love that friend enough to call him back (Galatians 6:1-2). We always look to restore the friendship, but it must be in truth. Our goal should always be reconciliation when we call someone to repentance, first with God (2 Corinthians 5:20-21) and then with each other. The book of James talks about this and how wonderful it is to bring a brother back from the second death:

James 5:19-20 – 19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Remember, there are not many hills to die on. You might even say the Gospel and a friend in unrepentance are one and the same hill to die on. But knowing these is a huge part of friendship because we uphold truth.

A #project of building rich, deep friendship doesn’t mean you jump off a cliff together the first time you meet a guy, but it does eventually get to taking that kind of risk. Talk about deep things along the way. Be intentional. Be men who walk steadfastly, build friendships with other men, and build those friendships on the deep, solid Rock of Jesus Christ.

MOLESKIN:
Thankful for friends, especially the PAX of JUCO and The Project (and that Ribbed guy who not only invited me to F3 but stuck with me when I didn’t deserve a chance).

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP at The Asylum 1/31/2021 0630 – 0900
You can order Asylum gear with their pre-order here (through January 18th, 2021)

Press On Toward The Goal

THE SCENE: 31 degrees
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
cherry picker, rocking chair, ‘merkins
THA-THANG:
Mohammed Ali, when asked how many reps he could do of an exercise, he said he had no idea – he doesn’t really count. He just goes until he is exhausted and then does an additional set. We didn’t do that…but we did a mini version!

  • Mosey to small rock pile.
  • Shoulder as many as possible your own for 1 min (front raises, lateral, overhead clap) followed by 5 reps together each time.
  • Mosey to coupon pile (with drop 2x burpee / 2 lines)
  • Coupon pile exercises (Each is max out for 1 minute and then do 5x together)
      • (merkins, coupon press, overhead and/or skull crushers)
      • Rows, bicep
      • Squats, calf raises
  • Between each major muscle group: Mosey to hill and Bear crawl up hill w/1 burpee @ top
  • Mosey to flag with 2x burpee drop off lines again

MARY: no time…finished @ 6:15

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
17 present: Guardrail, Erector, 5K, Booster, Wheelchair, Butter Knife, Dart Gun, Footsie, Wanderer, Sty, Gump, Commission, Pool Boy, sos, Mailbox, Spotter, hound dog
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Philippians 3:13-14, “Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Janus, the Roman God for which January was named, had two faces: one looked forward to the new year and one looked backward to the past year. This morning I related that I am not big on resolutions because most people give up on them by “ditch day,” January 17th. Nevertheless, I do believe in the power of goals. After all, if you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time!

Personal confession: even though I lost about 45 pounds over the last couple years, I put back 10 -15 this year off of a sweet tooth and lazy habits. I hit F3 3x week, but as they say, “you can’t outrun your fork.” How does the weight come back on like that? Slowly…1 pound at a time!

So we have to be diligent. And like physical weight, we might be carrying a few extra spiritual pounds into 2021 too. Ghandi said that the chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too strong to be broken. Bad habits come on slowly, day by day. We might have a secret sin or a burden we aren’t willing to unload. How do we overcome? Do what we can, give ourselves over completely, and hand more of our lives over to God each day.

They say that elephants are trained by securing their leg against something strong enough when they are young so that when they are old they remember that they cannot break free. Then, a mere rope and tiny tent peg in the ground is enough to keep them in place. We must break free of the thought that we can do ONLY 20 or 30 or 50 reps. By maxing out in a minute and then “adding 5,” we learned we are capable of more than we thought…or at least I did!

Thanks for letting me lead again…and hope you’re sore tomorrow…’cause I already can’t lift my arms 🙂

The Forgotten Q

This is a missing Q/Backblast from BEFORE Thanksgiving. Many apologies – the holidays came and turned over the applecart! But now these guys get the credit for showing up and getting better! Just in time to ring in the New Year!

THE SCENE: 34 and partly “cloudy with a chance of meatballs”
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: YES.
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • PROJECTIVATOR X8
  • SSH x10
  • Imperial Squawkers x8
  • Tempo Merkins x8
  • Carolina Drydock x8
  • Burpees x8 OYO
  • Mosey to Playground

THA-THANG:
Dora:

  • 50 Pull-ups (switch every 10)(plank until 6)
  • bear crawl to amphitheater
  • 100 boxjumps/squats (switch every 10)(Al Gore until 6)
  • Mosey to Memorial
  • 200 BBS (switch every 25)
  • Mosey to Recruiting Center

Recruiting Center: Concentration/Memory

  • flip 2 cards
  • if same, do exercise x1 – take a lap around parking lot
  • if different, do both exercises – take a lap around parking lot

MARY:
Pax Choice

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
5 Knuckleheads: Poolboy, Mathlete, Biohack, Slappy, and Snaggletooth

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Proverbs 24:3-6 (The Passion Translation)

Wise people are builders—
they build families, businesses, communities.
And through intelligence and insight
their enterprises are established and endure.
4 Because of their skilled leadership
the hearts of people are filled with the treasures of wisdom
and the pleasures of spiritual wealth.
5 Wisdom can make anyone into a mighty warrior,
and revelation-knowledge increases strength.
6 Wise strategy is necessary to wage war,
and with many astute advisers
you’ll see the path to victory more clearly.

MOLESKIN:
During these turbulent and trying times, we are inundated and burdened with information. The craziness of these times will foment a greater pandemic of longer impact: it will be a crisis of mental health – depression, addiction, emotional codependency. What we need is not more information or knowledge, but wisdom. Wisdom that is from above that is first of all peaceable. God’s word provides wisdom and peace during these times.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Coming up for air between Christmas and New Year!

A prayful world

THE SCENE: Around freezing and slippery in places
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:. 15 SSH, 15 Mountain climbers, 10 Abe Bogota, 10 tempo squats, 15 Moroccan night club

THA-THANG:

Mosey to the football field/track.

Perform 1st & 10:

100 yard field marked at 10 yard increments. Perform 10 Merkins, 1 Burpee (11’s) at the 10, sprint the remaining 90 yards. Recover jog back to the 20. Perform 9 Merkins, 2 Burpees, sprint the remaining 80 yards, recover jog to the 30. Repeat until all 100 yards and 11’s have been completed.

Mosey back to the parking lot around the shovel flag.

Perform 7 of Diamonds:

Performed on a large diamond (i.e. the parking lot). For the first round, do 7 reps of an exercise (burpees) at each of the 4 corners with a mosey (or sprint) in between corners. Each round, increase by 7 reps with a different exercise each round, for a total of 4 rounds. Round 2, 14 four count flutter kicks at each of the 4 corners. Round 3, 21 merkins at each of the 4 corners. Round 4, 28 squats at each of the 4 corners.

MARY:
10 Freddie Mercury, 10 LBCs, 10 6 inch LBCs
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
6 PAX today
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
YHC has spoken about prayer before. Honestly, it is one of the hardest things for me to remember to do. The Bible instructs us to “Pray without ceasing.”- 1 Thess. 5:17. This is like a constant prayerful state to be in throughout your day. Always seeking wisdom from God in prayer. I feel like I recognize the power of pray, but perhaps I am not fully aware. Challenge yourself in this coming year to be more prayerful. Find a way to make it a habit, make it a consistent part of your day. Encourage those around you to do the same.
MOLESKIN:
“Burpees make you better.” Quote of the day. Use it as you wish.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Continue to keep our nation and world in prayer in dealing with the pandemic. Prayers for humility and wisdom.

2020 Year in Review – A Blackbast from the Past!

THE SCENE: mid-30’s and sprinkling. Back-up Q in case of rain ready in hand (preparedness is key to leading!)
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER – Administered + COVID reminder

The following Q is a compilation of a part of the backblast of the first workout of each month we had this year (no Q’s at JUCO in April). Links included!
WARM-O-RAMA:
-New Year’s Day at JUCO by Mermaid
Karaoke (down to 2nd light pole & back)
Walking Lunges (2x down and back in parking space)

-What Does Frozen 2 & 100 Burpees Have in Common? by Booster
Baby Arm Circles Forward X 10 followed by Michael Phelps
Baby Arm Circles Backward X 10 followed by Michael Phelps
Hand Release Merkins – OYO X 10

-Do over with miles and burpees by Ribbed.
5 cherry pickers

Today after all of our exercises we will add a buffer of each PAX’s choice: (this is a buffer added to mesh all of the exercise pieces from various workouts together)
5 burpees / 10 squats / 25 LBC’s
When completed, plank for 30 seconds at the end of exercises.
If you finish the plank before the Q calls recover to move on to the next exercise location, repeat but don’t do the same exercise the twice in a row.

THA-THANG:
-Mosey toward CMU Pile. Along the way we’ll make some stops:
-4-way stop #1: JUCO RECON MISSION (the post says IC but we did these OYO to allow for more work for those who wanted it)
15 Merkins
15 Squats
15 Plank Jacks
15 Cherry Pickers

-4-way stop #2: JUCOnapolis 500 by Mailbox
20 merkins

-4-way stop #3: Better late than Bernie by Stye
10 Burpees
20 BBS
30 Lunges

-Mosey the rest of the way to the CMU pile: A New Beginning by Booster. 10 x each of the following:
Curls
Kettle Bell (CMU) Swings
Goblet (CMU) Squats
OHP
Tricep Extensions

-Median’s VQ – by Median (aka Guardrail’s 2.0). Another 10 x each of the following:
(Hello) Dolly
Jungle Boi Squats
Calf Raises

-JUCO circuit by Erector:
5 pull-ups
20 OHP

Mosey to the big parking lot between the Shovel Flag and the CMU pile. IMPACT by Judge Judy:
Pole to Pole: 10-20-30

  • 10 Merkins, Mosey
  • 20 Merkins, Mosey
  • 30 Merkins, Mosey to curb
  • Repeat w/Squats
  • PAX were given the choice to do a mystery exercise or to repeat with Lunges. They chose the lunges so I’ll save this for next

MARY:
Cold and Difficult Things by Guardrail
Dealers choice – LBC’s, Flutter Kicks, Hello Dolly, & Hillbilly Walkers were done x 10 ea IC and then time ran out!

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
7 PAX in sprinkling weather

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
I have a friend who likes to say the following response when someone says “that was unexpected” – like the Spanish Inquisition! (sketch is from Monty Python – it’s clean so you can watch if you like – Spanish Inquisition Part 1 – Spanish Inquisition Part 2).

PAX were asked to name something unexpected: many difficult things were named. Obviously, 2020 and COVID-19 were unexpected. At least to us. But God has His sovereign hand in it all. He is sovereign over salvation. He is sovereign over sanctification. He is sovereign over everything – including the workout we just did.

The workout we did today was a compilation of pieces from the first backblast of each of 11 months (no F3 in April) of this year. These Q’s are from Mermaid, Booster, Ribbed, Judge Judy, Mailbox, Stye, Booster (again), Median (Guardrail’s 2.0), Erector, Judge Judy (again), & Guardrail. These are posted in the Backblast above. And let me also say that backblasts are very important, and here are the reasons (with full explanation in this link) – So why do we write BB’s in the first place? (and here’s a link for how to post a backblast on the F3 Knoxville website)

1. It documents the actual workout itself.
2. Along these lines, it gives FNG encouragement.
3. It builds community amongst the PAX who posted there that day, and also amongst PAX who posted.
elsewhere so they can see what they missed. Maybe most importantly, it builds community amongst PAX who didn’t post for whatever reason.
4. It gives Q’s (especially new ones) great ideas for their weinke by reading about what other Qs have done.
5. Accountability, which is one of the major factors that makes F3 work, is found in the BB’s in 2 ways (see link for explanation): First – it makes you do what you said you’d do. Second, it shows who posted and keeps a record of it, making others more likely to post.
6. Gives our data people information and stats about workouts and helps us guide decisions on if/how/where/when to add new AO’s.

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, God has the future in His hands. I will be thinking about and setting yearly personal goals this week. Last year, I set a few & completed some as well Many of you know my story how God exposed my sin to save me. I am so thankful that He disciplined me as a son (Hebrews 12:1-17). But He also gve me exactly what I needed in 2019 and He has done the same in 2020. Our trust in His sovereignty means that 2020 has gone exactly has God has intended, no matter the “regrets”, “wants”, or “hopes” we had, have, or will have. I read the following quote 2x yesterday. 1x from a pastor at my church and another time from Ribbed’s M’s CaringBridge and I want to leave you with this so that you can get perspective and trust on God’s call for you today

“I compare the troubles which we have to undergo in the course of the year to a great bundle of sticks, far too large for us to lift. But God does not require us to carry the whole at once. He mercifully unties the bundle and gives us first one stick, which we are to carry today, and then another, which we are to carry tomorrow, and so on. This we might easily manage, if we would only take the burden appointed for us each day; but we choose to increase our troubles by carrying yesterday’s stick over again today, and adding tomorrow’s burden to our load, before we are required to bear it.” -John Newton.

MOLESKIN:
I sincerely appreciate every PAX who posts a BB. It doesn’t have to be complex or take a lot of time, but I encourage you to be diligent and carry the stick today when you Q- post a BB, add a little more flavor if you’re already posting, and encourage other to do so going into 2021.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
The 2021 F3 Q Calendar is now open! #ThanksRatchet #StepUpPAX