F3 Knoxville

Tag: Pusher

Whiskey, Soft Beds, and Buttermilk

THE SCENE: Perfect. Low 70s, nice breeze, sunny

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER Check


WARM-O-RAMA:

  • SSH, 20 IC
  • Bolt 45s (15 top ½ squats, 15 bottom ½ squats, 15 full squats)
  • 5 PCMBs OYO
  • 10 Plank Jacks (4-ct, IC)
  • 10 Windmills (4-ct, IC)
  • Baby Arm Circles Forward (x10, 4 Ct, IC) and backward (x10, 4 Ct, IC)

THA-THANG:

  • Mosey to grassy field below Admin building.
  • RECTANGLE OF DEATH!!!! (Q was not too original with the name…) Cones set up in rectangle.
    • Run suicides on long sides, but Bernie Sanders back to baseline instead of turning around. Run to ¼, ½, ¾, and full length.
    • Short sides, Burpee Broad Jumps (3 jumps then a Burpee)
    • Do exercise listed at the corner. Do 5 reps of each exercise the first lap, then 10, then 15
      • Corner 1: Mountain Climbers (2-ct), Tempo Squats, Iron Mikes (both legs =1) (5x/10x/15x)
      • Corner 2: Hand Release Merkins, Carolina Dry Docks, and Shoulder Taps (both shoulders = 1) (5x/10x/15x)
      • Corner 3: Star Jumps, Smurf Jacks, Bobby Hurleys (5x/10x/15x)
      • Corner 4: Big Boy Situps, American Hammers (2-ct), and box cutters (4-ct) (5x/10x/15x)

Only did two laps… too many other fun things to do.  Plus these were hard as heck and Q was out of breath.

  • Mosey to CMU pile.
    • CMU Farmer Carries!
      • Line up on Curb. Take turns lugging two CMUs around perimeter of parking lot.  Rest of PAX will be running back and forth across parking lot doing merkins at one end and squats at the other.  5x/10x/15x, rinse and repeat.  Keep repeating until everyone has carried the CMUs.  Tank, Lillydipper, and maybe one other PAX I’m forgetting volunteered to team up and do an extra lap to keep company with the last person to carry the CMUs, exmplifying the sacrifice and No Man Left Behind philosophy of F3.  Tank did it while battling calf cramps.  Beast.
      • Hat tip to Judge Judy!
  • Get a partner. One partner runs straight normal, the other Bernie Sanders up Baby Cardiac.  Switch half way up.  At top do 10 patty-cake merkins.
  • Mosey to AO.

MARY:
No time.  Barely made it back to the AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
13 strong! (J-Lo and Thunderstruck not tagged)

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

I recently revisited the book Lonesome Dove, which truly is a Great American Novel, and has countless memorable quotes and words of wisdom in it. It’s a tale of an ambitious (but tragic) cattle drive undertaken by two ex-Rangers-turned-cattle-ranchers, Gus and Call, from Texas to Montana.  During the drive, a woman companion on the trip, Lorie, a gentle soul who has led a difficult life surrounded by men who take advantage of her, is abducted by Comanches and is treated brutally while she is prisoner.  She survives and is rescued, but has many scars, both physically and psychologically.  She decides she needs to strike out on her own and finally realize a dream of hers to travel to California and start a new life.  In a letter that Gus writes to Lorie when she sets off, he says: “You see, life in San Francisco is still just life. If you want any one thing too badly, it’s likely to turn out to be a disappointment. The only healthy way to live life is to learn to like all the little everyday things – like a sip of good whiskey in the evening, a soft bed, a glass of buttermilk, or a feisty gentleman like myself.”

The message is pretty clear… The grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence. If you’re always looking ahead, you will miss the enjoyment of the present.  If you are always chasing a dream, you will not realize the simple pleasures of the present that are Gifts from God.

    • Take pleasure in the simple things.  Life is what you make of it.
    • The trap we often fall into is looking at someone else’s situation and thinking that I wish I had what they have.  The reality is what they have may not be as good as it appears as we stand in our field looking across at theirs.
    • Phillipians 4:11-12 And I am not saying this because I feel neglected, for I have learned to be satisfied with what I have. I know what it is to be in need and what it is to have more than enough. I have learned this secret, so that anywhere, at any time, I am content, whether I am full or hungry, whether I have too much or too little.

MOLESKIN:
Several members of the PAX have friends and family members battling serious illnesses.  We are thinking of them and keeping them in our prayers.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Nope.

No B.S. Assessment: Send It!

THE SCENE: 60s, cool, sunrise on the way.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:

Welcome to F3: Fitness-Fellowship-Faith! My name is Steam and I’ll be your Q this morning. I am not a professional and you are here on your own volition, with means you chose to be here this morning, just like the man on your left and right – so let’s make it count! If you need to modify any of the exercises we do this morning feel free to do so – but push yourselves and those around you. Lets keep the mumble-chatter and the morale at a high today!

[ Q introduces FNG Eric ]

WARM-O-RAMA:

Side-Straddle Hop (SSH): 11×4 in cadence

Windmill: 11×4 in cadence

Hillbilly: 11×4 in cadence

Baby-Arm Circles: Forwards 11×4 in cadence & Backwards 11×4 in cadence

3 burpees on your own

THA-THANG:
PAX formed up 2 lines in front of the AO – mosey’d to Asylum playground

  • 1 For 1 (and so on)
    • Get in battle buddy teams
    • 1 box jump on the bench
    • run down to end of playground parking lot
    • do 1 merkin
    • Rinse & Repeat – adding 1 rep each time
      • 2 box jumps & 2 merkins, etc

About halfway through, Q calls for recover at the playground

Does a morale check with PAX – asks some of PAX for a morale status report: All’s well.

PAX forms 2 lines and mosey’s back to car parking lot/AO area

Q leads PAX in F3 cadence call – Q calls something out – PAX repeats

    • “F3!”
    • “Good For You!”
    • “Good For Me”
    • “HUH!”
    • “HA-HA!”
    • “1, 2, 3!”
    • “I love F3!”
    • “4, 5, 6!”
    • “Pickin Up Sticks!”
    • “7 and 8”
    • “F3 is great!”
    • “9 and 10!”
    • “Let’s Do It All Again!”
    • “HUH!”
    • “HA-HA!”

 

  • Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
    • PAX get’s in new battle buddy teams
    • Bottom of hill by AO: 5 battle buddy sit-ups(BBSs) each
      • BBSs = one battle buddy hold the other’s feet, while they execute sit-ups with fingers interlocked behind their head
    • Top of hill by AO: 5 side straddle hops (SSHs)
    • Rinse & Repeat- adding 5 reps each time until each battle buddy does 25 BBSs at the bottom and 25 SSHs at the top

 

  • Recover at the AO
    • Q leads PAX in 15×4 cherry-pickers in cadence
    • Asks for a 10-count from PAX
    • Q describes what a “No B.S. Assessment” is (See Moleskin at the bottom of this back-blast) and asks various PAX to give one
    • Pusher & Fabio & Umbro give solid No B.S. Assessments
  • Q leads PAX towards the pavilion with picnic tables towards the back of the AO

 

  • The Final Countdown (7 minutes left)
    • PAX gets in new battle buddy teams
    • 1 battle buddy does 5 incline merkins + 1 Man-Maker (8-count merkin) under the pavilion while the other battle buddy runs to a dugout and executes 1 good pull-up/chin-up.
    • Rinse & Repeat – adding only an extra Man-Maker each time
    • Q calls for a 15 count and leads PAX back into the AO

 

  • PAX Circle Up inside AO
    • 15 Side-straddle hops (SSHs)
  • And boom goes the dynamite – that’s it!

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
22 PAX (1 FNG – Eric Alley/Globetrotter)

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Talked about an F3 Knoxville HIM, Brandon Rabun/Cupcake, being deployed to Afghanistan this morning, and the Latin phrase “Nil desperandum” = do not despair. If I’m being honest with myself, I don’t always live out of a nil desperandum attitude. And I’m not even being shipped overseas or risking my life day to day.

A verse that came to mind that Cupcake and I have talked about before is Isaiah 6:8 = “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”” Now, not all of us are called to serve in the military, or overseas like Cupcake, but where is the Lord asking you to serve dutifully this week in your own life? I wished I lived more like Isaiah 6:8, being all in. As we try to live life as High Impact Men and humble servants of the most high king, I invite and encourage and challenge firstly myself, I need to hear this more than anyone (funny how that works when you’re delivering a BOM sometimes huh?), and all of us to be all in for the God we serve and live out of a place of “Here I am Lord! Send me where you will have me this week. Send me to those hard conversations, send me to be a better husband, brother, father, boyfriend, send me to be your messenger, help remind of the cross so that I may never forget who it is that sends me into the day.” Men, I pray that each one of us puts the full armor of God on this day and this week as we prepare to be sent where he will have us. I pray for eyes to see His beauty, ears to hear His truth, lips to speak His love, and hands and feet to go and serve Him.

Keep the Faith & Fight the Good Fight!

MOLESKIN:
No B.S. Assessment = Asking someone to give a real, non-sugar coated check-in/assessment about how they really are doing where they are physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, etc. There is a certain intentionality behind a No B.S. Assessment – to not just go through the motions of checking in with other High Impact Men/people in our spheres of influence, but to really ask for a check-in/assessment without the B.S.

Example: “Hey, how are you? –> “I’m good I guess.”

Example of a No B.S. Assessment: “Hey Mac, I notice you haven’t been around in a while man, give me a no B.S. Assessment.” –> “Wow, thanks for asking. I guess I’ve got a lot going on with the family, kids, you know how it is.”

Sometime’s it’s hard to ask for a No B.S. Assessment and maybe even harder to be asked for one. The purpose of No B.S. Assessment is to go beyond the question or even the formality of the question of “How are you” for example – but to intentionally ask and care for the deeper part of the individual and their heart.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Several open Q’s for this week on the website – let’s encourage each other to step up and lead!

It’s High Heels in the End Zone

THE SCENE: If there was a nicer Saturday morning to work out in, I don’t want to know about it
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER Cap’n was there, so I think that covers us
WARM-O-RAMA:
Archie and Cap’n were in cooldown mode after 3 rucking miles…Pusher and Crawdad were pulling in…

10 Windmills IC while waiting for Crawdad and Pusher

25 SSH, but only 5 IC. The other 20 we were supposed to do in our heads. We did not all end at the same time. Could’ve been Q’s fault. 10 Burpees OYO.

BAC forward and reverse, OHCs in between

THA-THANG:

Little Mosey over to the base of Spaceship Hill. Catch Me If You Can with 10 LBCs to the stop sign on the far side.

Another mosey down to Area 51, which has missed us, and which also had an unidentified structure. We took it apart and did some CMU Doras. Pusher found a hole that was hiding, but recovered on the mosey like the badass that he is. 

Indian run over to the FiA parking lot, where Abcess had already delivered baloons. We presented them with a birthday present, candle, and we sang Happy Birthday. Q started us off about two octaves too high but he is not paid for his beautiful singing voice.

Down to the soccer fields to meet Jack Webb! Back in college we used to play Ultimate Frisbee, so we played in Jack’s honor. 2 burpees for everyone if the frisbee touches the ground, 5 merkins for a team that gets scored on. High Heels got the Golden Glove Award.

MARY:
Mary Schmary

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy.”
― Wendell Berry

MOLESKIN:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

That Skunk Was Ready For Us

THE SCENE: Kinda humid
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH x 45. You can’t get anything past Catgut; he knew what was up.

15 Baby Arm Circles + 15 Overhead Claps + 15 Reverse Arm Circles

Windmills

A lap and a half

THA-THANG:
CMUs felt abandoned after Tuesday’s CMU-free workout, so we gave them some love.

45 reps of anything Q could think of, followed by a little run, 2 burpees, and a Bernie back. Lots of sweating.

Mini-mosey to The Cloud, where we did 3 rounds of Box Baby Boxes, 15 reps each. Once again, Catgut knew what it all added up to.

Our unwelcome guest Jack Webb showed up again today.

3 rounds of 45 second wall sits. 15 PAX, 3 rounds…it all just kind of fell into place today. Must’ve been destiny.

We were headed to Cardiac when Eagle Eye Hands spotted our little striped friend waiting to ruin our week. Skunks do not keep us from Cardiac. We took a more scenic route. Up Cardiac just one time, and back to the AO.

MARY:
Who has time for Mary when Jack Webb visits?
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
15 men and one uppity skunk.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
For a man turning a year older, an excerpt from Wendell Berry: “Every day you have less reason not to give yourself away.”
MOLESKIN:
Deep thanks to all the men of F3 for Qing us and for showing up every morning. What a great gift.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Maybe only young guys should take birthday Qs.

Introducing the Iron Cheatsheet

THE SCENE: Upper 60s and muggy
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH x 25; This n That; Cherry Pickers x10; Imperial Squat Walkers x 25

Go to the baseline: karaoke to the other side; karaoke back; high skip, jog back; butt kickers.
THA-THANG:
1.  Grab a CMU from the pile and carry to bottom of the hill;

2.  25s:  20 Iron Cheatsheets (Iron Mikes and moving CMU in time back and forth off chest), run hill, 5 squat jumps.  Back down hill for 15 ICs, up hill for 10 SJs, etc. until done

3.  Mosey to back parking lot.  10 merkins transitioning immediately into a sprint for the distance of the parking lot, transitioning immediately to 10 burpees.  Recovery mosey back to the start.  Repeat 2 more times.

4.  Mosey to Pavalon for 25s:  Table rows and calf raises (4ct)

Mosey back to AO for:

MARY:
Grab your CMU and on your 6.  Modified Ring of Fire.  PAX takes turn doing 5 Am. Hammers with CMU (4ct) around the circle.  When not doing AHs, PAX to assume “boat” position, holding CMU so it doesn’t touch body.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Jesus teaches us that we are to love even our enemies. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” Matthew 5:43-45.  This is as much for us as it is for those who do us harm.  Hate is a poison.  But it’s not easy.  God knows that.  We just have to keep trying to be better so we can bring glory to Him.
MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Rusty and his wife, Cheatsheet’s family, especially his Mom, and Pusher’s family and Mom.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Forgot to mention this, but in case you read it before Memorial Day, don’t forget about the convergence at 5:30 for an hour, with a focus on remembering our fallen soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice so we could have F3.