F3 Knoxville

Seeing Beyond

THE SCENE: Partly cloudy, but lots o’ sunshine, hot, 92 degrees.
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 Pele 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:

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

– 10 Hillbilly Squats (4-ct), in cadence. (Q is a knucklehead, and screwed up the motion and cadence for this, resulting in a mulligan)

– 10  Windmills (4-ct), in cadence

– 10 LBCs forward and backward (4-ct), in cadence

Little of this and that

THA-THANG:

AMRAPS Galore! Mosey to Stop Sign to northeast of admin building.  Do 30 seconds of the following 4 exercises.  Rinse and Repeat.

  • Plank Jacks
  • Peter Parkers
  • Mountain Climbers
  • Merkins

Mosey to ROCK pile.  Get a ROCK.  Do 30 seconds of the following exercises.  Rinse and repeat.

  1. Overhead Press
  2. Curls
  3. Rows
  4. Squats

Mosey to Parking lot by Area 51.  Do 30 seconds of the following 4 exercises.  Rinse and Repeat.

  1. Froggie Jumps
  2. Lunges
  3. Bobby Hurleys
  4. Smurf Jacks
  5. We may have done one more leg exercise here?… Q was getting delirious from the heat

PAULA ABDULS in same parking lot.  Burpee Broad Jumps for 2 cones, then El Capitan back 1. I’m not sure High Heels ever figured this pattern out… :))

MOSEY to shaded tree by stop sign south of Admin building. Do 30 seconds of the following 4 exercises.  No Rinse and Repeat due to time.

  1. Big Boy Situps
  2. American Hammers
  3. E2K Left Side
  4. E2K Right Side

MOSEY to Stop Sign to the southwest of admin building.  Finish with CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (Partner 1: BERNIE SANDERS, Partner 2: 5 STAR JUMPS, then sprint to catch up) to AO.

MARY:
Didn’t have time for ol’ Mary.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
10 Strong!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

A few years ago there was a video going around the internet.  Viewers were shown a group of people on a basketball court.  Half are in black shirts, half in white shirts.  The viewers were asked to count how many times someone in a white shirt passes to another in a white shirt.  When the video is over, they threw out numbers as guesses.  Then they’re asked, “So… who saw the gorilla on the court?”  There was actually a gorilla in the video that walked into the circle, stood there for a few seconds twirled around, then walked away.  70-85% say they didn’t even see it.  We are trained to see what we are asked to see.  We are clouded by our preconceived notions, expectations, biases, etc.  We don’t see something that’s right in front of us because we aren’t EXPECTING it.  We explain it away.  This happens even more readily in today’s age of science, sophistication and knowledge we tend not to believe in magic, or miracles in the literal sense.  So how do we expand our vision, revisit and put our pre-conceived notions aside so that we can see the miracle of God?  The difference between Biblical Truth and Fact.  The Bible is the Truth.  Some people would argue that some of the FACTS described in it are a bit debatable, but in the end, the Truth is what matters.  For example, whether or not Jonah was swallowed by a great sea creature is immaterial.  But the story has TRUTH.  French have a word, BRECOLLAGE (sp?), which means seeing what is in front of you, but also seeing beyond it. We need to remind ourselves to see not only what is obvious, and also the “beyond”, the workings of God in our everyday lives.  The key to witnessing God in our daily lives is not to demand to see burning bushes or columns of fire, or water bodies dividing in two.  It is to see BEYOND the obvious.  The buddy that calls you right at the moment you need to hear a friendly voice.  The neighbor who brings you dinner when you or someone in your family is sick.  The brothers in F3 who pray for a favorable outcome, like the wonderful turnaround with Corona Weight’s brother.  Are these coincidences?  Are they just random happenings?  Look Beyond.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for those suffering from COVID, prayers for the Philippines and the people there
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP coming up a week from this Saturday, Snack Drive, Hardship Hill, Iron Pax… busy month for F3!

Lifetime Brotherhood

THE SCENE: Sunny with a weather of 85F and a little breeze.

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

  1. Brady corns
  2. Windmill
  3. Plank jacks 4ct
  4. Mountain climbers 4ct
  5. CMU – Increment: 5x squat – curl – overhead – tricep

THA-THANG:

Workout 1: CMU
Murder Bunny or bear crawl

Each cone: 10 merkins x 10 frog jumps
Then run to playground: 10 box jumps x 10 tricep dips

Workout 2: CMU 2x

Per corner:
Back: 20rows x 20deadlifts
Chest: 20merkins x 20shoulder taps
Shoulder: 20shoulder press x 20sumo squats (wide squats)
Arms: 20biceps x 20triceps

Mosey to Picketts Charge

Workout 3: 1st hill 4
1. Mountain climbers 4ct in cadence
2. Shoulder tapos 4ct on top

2nd hill 4x bearcrawl up
1. Prisoner getups 4ct
2. Toe taps 4ct

Workout 4: Colosseum 3 base

1st base: 10 side straddle hops – run around. 2nd base: 10 side straddle hops – run around 3rd base: 10 ssh – run around

Mosey back to AO.

MARY:
Wagon wheel the six

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
26 HIMs in attendance. Mickey not tagged.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
As may not all of you know, Me and my family are only visiting the US, supposedly for a few weeks for the holiday last year until Philippines declared another hard lockdown in January. Ever since then, we thought of staying here for a bit longer until we get the vaccine, and until the covid cases subside – which did not up until now. The past 8 months has been nothing short of amazing not just for me, but for my family as well. I get to spend a lot of time with parents again, them spending time with their grandchild and it feels so great to be home again with them.

Back tracking, when we first got here, my wife and I were really paranoid because of the pandemic, because of how bad the situation is where we came from. We’re scared for our child of getting sick so we always had our guards up against the virus. I met a bunch of guys working out at 5:30am under a drizzling, 35F weather. It was dark, winter, cold and awfully at the peak of the pandemic. It was my second day here in Knoxville and rest assured still jet-lag from our 27-hour flight (thus, the name, Jetlag). We worked out and it felt horrible, I’m not going to lie. But it amazes me how everyone stays for a while after the workout to say a few words, to say a little prayer for the others and for the community. Every workout is different, and I get to learn more about the community, more about what F3 means and how they make their impact in the society. And of course, these men became my brothers. These men lift each other up; cheer and pray for each other when one is down.

I have never seen anything like it. They welcomed me, a visitor, from a foreign country, in the middle of the pandemic, like I’m one of their own.

I absolutely love them, my brothers for life. And I will be forever grateful to them, for making me a better man, better partner, better son, better father – a HIM. And I’m truly honored to be part of this lifetime brotherhood.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Drum Major’s daughter, Hunter, who tore her acl; for Lily’s recovery from the hip surgery; Doubtfire’s grandmother-in-law’s recovery, who recently suffered a heart attack;

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP at Dog Pound is moved to August 21.

Do It Anyway

THE SCENE: Not too bad, all things considered… low 80s, light breeze, mostly cloudy at first, switching over to mostly sunny which made it a bit toastier.

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 Pele 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:

-20 SSH, 4-ct, IC

-5 Burpees for Abscess, who has a mental derangement that causes him to actually LIKE Burpees

– 10 Windmills, 4-ct IC

– 15 Grady Corns , 4-ct IC

– Little of this, then that

– Hamstring stretches, right leg over left, touch toes, reverse

– 10 Tempo Merkins, 4-ct, IC

THA-THANG:

MOSEY to the soccer field below the Coliseum:

BATTLE BUDDY AB KRAKEN with 6 cones.  Do 20 REPS of the exercise (4-ct when applicable), then run around circle PLUS ONE cone, etc., until you reach the last cone.  When finished, go to the middle and alternate 10 merkins and 20 squats until 6 finishes.

  • EXERCISES: Flutter Dollies, LBCs, Big Boy Situps, Bicycle Kicks, American Hammers, Dead Bug

MOSEY to the little parking lot just above the soccer field.  Get a BATTLE BUDDY for THREE BY FIVES.  One partner will be in the “bullpen” slowly running back and forth, while the other partner runs to stop sign and does two exercises, then runs back.  Start with 5 reps of both exercises and increase by 5, i.e., first trip do 5x, then 10x, then 15x.  Three sets of exercises:

  1. Peter Parkers (2-ct) / Half-Burpees
  2. Star Jumps / Iron Mikes
  3. Decline Merkins / Dive Bombers

AYG back to AO, cresting at least 2 of the small hills in the amphitheater on the way back.

MARY:
Plank holds, 5 more burpees for Abscess. Uggh.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
10 HIMs, No FNGs, one doggy
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

One of the things I’ve been struggling with the past year or two is how to maintain my efforts to be a man of character and integrity when it seems like no one else is playing by the same rules, or setting the same standards for themselves.  There comes a point where it’s easy to shrug and say, “Why bother?” and a temptation to sacrifice your principles in any variety of situations.  I am by no means perfect, but I get frustrated when I see ignorance, or selfishness, or an acceptance and propagation of falsehoods that are passed along purely for self-gain.  I get furious when I see hypocrisy, prejudice, and self-righteousness masquerading as patriotism or religious zeal.  And sometimes when I feel like I’m at my breaking point, I remember one of favorite poems, Do It Anyway, by Mother Teresa.  It goes like this:

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Pusher’s co-worker’s family, the family of Jetlag’s friend in the Philippines who died of a heart attack, and other PAX members struggling with loss or are healing from injuries.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP date change, now 3rd Sat. in August; Saturday AM will likely move to parking lot where PM group meets during winter.

Monday AM @ The Equalizer – 7/19/21

THE SCENE: Gloom!  Low 70’s, High humidity, wet grass, firm ground
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

– Side to side twists back and forth

– Cherry pickers, nice and slow

– SSH

– Imperial Walkers

– Michael Phelps

– This at that / shoulders and arms nice and loose

– Rockettes
THA-THANG:
After warmup we moseyed past the Flagpole and to the Playground for a quick briefing.  Two lines of cones 30 yards apart in the field marked our start and finish lines for 1a of a 2 part circuit.  The playground was the location of 1b.

  • 1a – 30 yards in the field (all moves are “there and back”)
    • sprints
    • lunges
    • imperial walkers / high knees
    • bear crawls
  • 1b – short jog to playground to complete the following
    • 5 pullups
    • 10 dips
    • 15 merkins
    • (back to the field to repeat 1a)

*Complete as many circuits as possible in ~25 minutes*

  • Mosey to the flag pole for old-school 8-minute abs (9 exercises, 25 reps apiece in cadence)
  • Recover and jog from Flagpole, past the Pavilon, around the rock garden, and back to the AO

MARY:
Finished on time
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
11 HIMs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Word on perseverance as it relates to fitness and faith.  In both cases it’s a decision.

Once upon a time I embraced a limiting belief that some people could run for distance, and others could not.  I placed myself in the latter category without ever actually attempting to train and better myself in that department.  Finally, with some motivation from a friend, I made the decision to train for a 5k.  I committed to seeing it through, and I knew that other people can run 3.1 miles (and many many more), so I was able to DECIDE to keep moving even when my legs, lungs, and the deceiver tried to tell me to stop.  Speed didn’t matter.  All that mattered was reaching the finish line and being able to celebrate the accomplishment of not stopping along the way.

In Hebrews 11, the author outlines the Faith Hall of Fame.  From Creation, to Noah, to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Rahab, Samson, David, and on and on to illustrate that we are not the first to encounter hardship and/or have a need to draw on faith – that it’s taken great acts of faith by those who have come before us to bring God’s word to where it is today – and then he follows up with an absolute heater of a verse that’s one of my favorites:

Hebrews 12:1-2 – Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the fight hand of the throne of God.

The word I love the most in that passage is “perseverance” because just like in running, perseverance in our daily lives and our spiritual walks is a decision that doesn’t require any physical ability, and when things get tough, when obstacles arise, when the path isn’t clear, when temptation keeps calling – we can make a decision to stay on course, focus on Christ, and draw inspiration from the community of those around us and those who’ve come before.

MOLESKIN:
Hebrews 11-12

C25K 5K Trainer is a great app for anyone who might have some limiting beliefs about their ability to run for distance.  Just keep moving forward.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Dad Camp Aug 12-14 – Camp Ocoee (sons and daughters welcome)

CSAUP @ Dogpound Aug 21

Hardship Hill coming up this Fall

Saturday AM @ Asylum – 7/17/21

THE SCENE: Mid-70s but humid
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Open circle, disclaimer, etc:

Single count 15 – side straddle hops

Cherry pickers

Baby arm circles

Rockettes

Little of this and that

5 Burpees and go…

THA-THANG:

Mosey to Caribbean

Caribbean Suicides (Or Old Rotary Phones, thanks Matlock)– go to island do exercise, run back to beginning and do 10 rocky balboas (each time) and then run to next island and do that exercise…etc, all the way until you complete the full loop.

1st island – 15 bobby hurleys

2nd – 15 no touch merkins

3rd – 15 flutter kicks – 2 count

4th – 15 big boys

5th – 15 wide merkins

6th – 15 lunges each leg

7th – 15 box cutters

(some covered around 2 miles total just on this section alone)

 

Route 66 from Caribbean to near Picketts

Exercise is merkins – start with one and every light pole add one up to 11

Mosey to Pickett’s rock pile

Battle buddies grab rocks to share or 2 rocks

One end, one buddy will start the following while other karaokes to other curb, does 10 side straddle hops and Bernies back

Shared exercises:

100 Curls

100 Overhead presses

100 Rows

100 Squats

Mosey to base of Pickett’s to do Pickett’s Charge Suicide

Each bottom – 5 burpees

Top of first tier – 10 imperial walkers 2 count

2nd tier – 10 prisoner getups

Run up to Coliseum, stay and do LBCs until 6 gets in

Mosey to AO

MARY:
Finished on time

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

19 men total, 1 FNG

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Word on the show Ted Lasso, explain new season coming out Friday

The show was initially thought of to be silly. I mean it was based off a commercial. Nobody saw critical praise as a possibility and so many people ended up loving the show.

Why was it so liked? Could have something to do with the characters, I will try to explain without major spoilers.

Main character overwhelmingly positive thinker, but is flawed. He is dealing with some life failings to the point of affecting him mentally and physically

A main female character starts out seeming to be negative, but you find out she has been emotionally abused by her ex-husband and ends up likeable.

A player on the team is a narcissist and disruptive, but you come to find out he has an abusive father and is not all bad either.

The greater point other than saying it is a good show and pumping up subscriptions for Apple TV is just that like the show itself and the characters on the show don’t be quick to judge people on first impressions, rumors, etc. Get to know a person before making that judgement.

MOLESKIN:
Welcome to FNG – Chiclets (Ryan McElveen)
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Dad camp Aug 12-14 – CSAUP @ Dogpound Aug 21