F3 Knoxville

Tag: Rooney (Carl Whipple)

The Long and Winding Road

AO: asylum-pm
Q: Lilydipper
PAX: Lizzy, Brick, Rooney (Carl Whipple), Pusher, Curveball, Crash Dummy
FNGs: None
COUNT: 7
WARMUP: 20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Burpees, 10 Windmills, 5 Burpees, 10 Cherry Pickers, 3 Burpees, 7 Twistees, 2 Burpees, 10 Tempo Merkins, 1 Burpee, 6 Pterodactyls Forward, 6 Pterodactyls Backwards.

THE THANG: Mosey to Front Steps of Admin Bldg. We will do 20 Regular Calves Raises, 20 Calves Raises with right foot on higher step, and 20 Calves Raises with left foot on higher step.
Mosey past Cul-de-sac at southeast side of Admin Bldg and run to raised garden at intersection of roads. We will do 15 Rocky Balboas off garden curb.
Mosey to West Side of New Pavilion by ball fields. We will do 15 Merkins.
Mosey to the trails behind the Ball Fields area. We will then mosey to the pier area by Lake Inlet. We will break into groups of three. Each group will start at a different cone to do first exercise, then rotate clockwise to do first at next cone, then go to 3rd cone for first exercise, then back to cone the group started at. They will go through the same sequence with the second and third exercises. Here are the exercises at each cone:
Cone 1 at benches near pier: 20 Bench Dips, 20 Incline Merkins, 20 Decline Merkins
–
Cone 2 back on trail near ball field parking lot: 20 Star Jumps, 20 Smurf Jacks, 20 Squat Jumps
–
Cone 3 at Rocks Pile: with rocks 20 Overhead Presses, 20 Curls, 20 Rows
–
Mosey back to Ball Fields area and street. We will do sevens from outfield in small ball field area to street up the hill. Start with six plank jacks on field and one squat on street.
Mosey back to intersection with raised garden. We will do ten more Rocky Balboas off curb of garden
Mosey to Coliseum. We will do 10 Bench Jumps on steps.
Mosey to Stop Sign at Northeast Corner of Admin Bldg. We will stop to do 20 American Hammers.
Next, we will Bernie race toward first no parking sign toward the AO. Next, we will sprint race to the AO.

MARY: Stretches

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Brolympics November 16 at Asylum

COT:
Prayers
Prayers for all those impacted by Hurricane Helene.
Message
These words come from Wendell Berry in his book, Jayber Crow:
If I could do it, I suppose, it would be a good idea to live your life in a straight line – starting, say, in the Dark Wood of Error, and proceeding by logical steps through Hell and Purgatory and into Heaven . . . But that is not the way I have done it, so far. I am a pilgrim, but my pilgrimage has been wandering and unmarked. Often what has looked like a straight line to me has been a circle or doubling back. . . I have had my share of desires and goals, but my life has come to me or I have gone to it mainly by ways of mistakes and surprises. . . I am an ignorant pilgrim, crossing a dark valley And yet for a long time, looking back, I have been unable to shake off the feeling that I have been led – make of that what you will.

Guys, do you feel like Wendell Berry, like your life is anything but a straight path forward? So any of you feel like you are somehow being led?

These words come from Paul Tournier in his book, Reflections:
He leads us step by step, from event to event. Only afterwards, as we look back over the way we have come and reconsider certain important moments in our lives in the light of all that has followed them, or when we survey the whole progress of our lives, do we experience the feeling of having been led without knowing it, the feeling that God has mysteriously guided us.

Guys, I am 67-years-old. I am a psychologist and people often look to me for answers. I can tell you that when it comes to the difficult dips and turns in life – the conflicts where we just don’t know the way to turn – I generally don’t have “The Answer” whether that be for me or you. So I pray. I pray for guidance. And, that guidance often doesn’t come to me in crystal clear messages cut in stone. But, at age 67, I look back at me life and I see that God has been guiding me. He has provided beautiful answers for me without my recognizing it at the time, blessings that I am so thankful for. Those blessings often came after significant hardships.

Each one of you is on your own journey. Sometimes the path will seem clear. You know exactly what to pray to God for. At other times, the path will be unclear and arduous. You may not know what to pray for other than HELP. So, pray for help. Pray that God will direct you. God is mysterious, but he is powerful. And, although your prayers may seem unanswered, he is listening and he is guiding you.

The Irony

AO: asylum-pm
Q: Lilydipper
PAX: Lizzy, Brick, High Heels (Henry Ritchie), Curveball, Rooney (Carl Whipple), MD Hammer, Crash Dummy, Doubtfire (Nick Bond)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 9
WARMUP: 20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Mountain Climbers, 10 Tennessee Rocking Chairs, 10 Rockettes, 7 Twistees, Little of This and That

THE THANG: Mosey to cones. We will do 15 Yard Bear Crawl from one cone to other, then Three Burpees and Three Broad Jumps until back to other cone
Next, each man goes to CMU. Do following exercises:
20 Sideways Jumps over CMU (ten to left and ten to right).
–
20 Overhead Squat Thrusts with CMU
–
20 Bonnie Blairs (ten each leg)
–
20 Hand Release Merkins
–
20 Big Boy Sit-ups
–
Next, do 360 meter run and then repeat the 15 yard Bear Crawl and Burpees then Broad Jumps routine. Then repeat exercises at CMUs but do 15 of each exercise.
Next, do 360 meter run and then repeat the 15 yard Bear Crawl and Burpees/Broad Jump routine. Then repeat exercises at CMUs with 10 of each exercise.
Next, do 360 meter run and then repeat the 15 yard Bear Crawl and Burpees/Broad Jump routine. Then repeat exercises at CMUs with 5 of each exercise.
Those finishing above work way back up ladder with the run, Bear Crawl and Burpees/Broad Jump routine and 10 of each exercise, etc.

MARY: 15 Side Straddle Hops, 15 Hello Dollies, Stretches.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Brolympics on November16 at Asylum.

COT: Prayers
Prayers for sister and sister-in-law of Lizzy who are in Florida and will face storms from hurricane. Prayers for all those who will cope with hurricane and storms from hurricane. Prayers for safe travels for Pele who is on a ten day trip in Midwestern United States.
Message
This is a quote from the theologian, Rebecca Manley Pippert, about Jesus Christ:

“What do you do with a man who is supposed to be the holiest man who has ever lived and yet goes around talking with prostitutes and hugging lepers? What do you do with a man who not only mingles with the most unsavory people but actually seems to enjoy them? The religious accused him of being a drunkard, a glutton and having tacky taste in friends. It is a profound irony that the Son of God visited this planet and one of the chief complaints against him was that he was not religious enough.”

Gents, think about that the next time you judge someone else. Also, think about that the next time you feel like you are not good enough for God. God is here for us, even in the Fake Gloom, even through our mumble chatter, even at our Board Meetings. And you know what? He probably enjoys us. This holiest of holies is on our side. So, let’s feel good about that and let it give us the energy to go about our days working to be true HIMs.

Let’s Go To The Beach

AO: asylum-pm
Q: Steam
PAX: Doubtfire (Nick Bond), Lizzy, Pusher, MD Hammer, High Heels, Brick, Rooney (Carl Whipple), Switchhitter (Tony), Colonel (Alex Wallace), Pele (Jon Lindberg)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
WARMUP
– The Mosey: to the Coliseum overlook
– Squat: 12×4
– The Mosey: down to the rock pile
– Curl: 25 up/down
– Chest presses: 25 up/down
– The Mosey: to the big tree
– Baby arm circles (F + B): 12×4
– The Mosey: to the road
– The SSH: 12×4
– The Mosey: to Muscle Beach

THE THANG
Muscle Beach Mania
(1) 10s
– POC: Muscle Beach + Pavilion
– Xs: Inverted Rows + Dips

(2) BB Pyramid
– Get a BB
– POC: Muscle Beach + Pavilion
– Pyramid: 3 levels (all reps as a team)
– L1: 400 LBCs
– L2: 200 knee-ups (Modification: Imperial Walkers)
– L3: 100 flutter kicks (2 count)
– While one BB is cranking out reps here, the other is running around to the other end of Muscle Beach and then knocking out 10 reps on one of the machines + coming back
– If you get done – help another BB team finish their reps

Time crunch — left Muscle Beach NLT than 6:18pm to account for the travel time back to the AO.
– Get a new BB
– Somewhere between here and the flag — share 1 thing that was good in your week and 1 thing that was challenging.
– Stopped 2x and asked different guys to share what they learned.

MARY
– ATMs
– Light stretching

ANNOUNCEMENTS
– The 2024 F3 Knoxville Leadership Survey is LIVE and the RDT (Regional Direction Team) wants to hear from YOU. Head over to the announcements channel or check your email to learn more about “the why” behind it and complete this year’s survey. Reach out to me with any questions/issues.
– 9 Year Anniversary Convergence: Saturday, November 16th @ The Asylum. More details to come. If you want to be on the planning team to help with this – let me know.

COT
>From The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis
Check out the passage I read from the book in this message thread for context.

Mini-Word built inside the Word — from the last line that I read: “The Enemy (God) wants a world full of beings united to Him but still distinct.”
– It’s an election year — tensions are high and you don’t have to look far to see how deep the division and emotionally charged rhetoric goes.
– Even though we are united in Christ (if you are a Christian) or united under the banner of F3, we are still distinct beings with unique thoughts, opinions, and world-views. This is good, btw.
– That being said — F3 is not the place to blast your political views out there in a way that isolates or excludes others. That’s anti-F3 mission. Respectful conversations? 100%. During the workout, let’s be about the workout and be about challenging and encouraging each other – not our political views. After all, F3 Core Principle #2 is that F3 is open to all men.
– Dark Helmet said it best when asked the question “What is F3’s position on this?” Relating to something political, viewpoint, etc.
– We don’t have a position as F3. The mission of F3 is to plant, grow, and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership.
– If I can find this video/audio clip or message from him I will share it.

The part in there that really stands out for me is the line “He wants servants who can finally become sons.”

– John 10:10 — A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

– Galatians 5:1 — For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
– The word “again” stands out to me and causes my focus to shift to the last part of Romans 7 and beginning of Romans 8

– MSG (22) Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better me every time. (23) It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I lease expect it, they take charge. (24) I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope, Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question? (25) The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

– Romans 8:1 — Therefore, (meaning because of everything I just stated) there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.

– Why? Romans 8:2 (MSG) — Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.

We are men are continuously learning what it means how to be a true son. And as He invites us further into redemptive sonship, we step further up and further into the men we were always called to be.

Don’t Be a Bystander!

AO: asylum-pm
Q: Pele (Jon Lindberg)
PAX: Steam, Brick, Lilydipper, Lizzy, Pusher, Drum Major, Tenderfoot, Pele (Jon Lindberg), Switchhitter (Tony), MD Hammer, Welches (Leland Murphy), Rooney (Carl Whipple), High Heels (Henry Ritchie), Title IX (Christian Prescott), Colonel (Alex Wallace), Fist Bump (2.0
FNGs: None
COUNT: 15
WARMUP: – 20 SSH (4ct, IC), 20 Moroccan Nightclubs (4 ct, IC), 10 Tennessee Rocking Chairs, 10 Windmills (4 ct, IC), and some Twisties thrown in for good measure.

THE THANG: MOSEY to the rock pile in front of the Colosseum. MOSEY to STATIONS at Base of Everest Summit. GRAB ~5 COUPONS (rocks) and MOSEY to STATION 1.
FOUR STATIONS, THREE ROUNDS: Start at any station, finish it, RUN A LAP PLUS ONE STATION and do the next one.
STATION 1 (IRON PAX):
ROUND 1: 7s WITH THRUSTERS AND HAND RELEASE MERKINS. MODE of TRANSPORTATION: BURPEE BROAD JUMP
ROUND 2: 7s (SAME). MODE of TRANSPORTATION: EL CAPITAN
ROUND 3: 7s (SAME). MODE of TRANSPORTATION: GORILLA RUN

STATION 2:
ROUND 1: Ab Blaster! 20x each of the following (all 4-count): American Hammers, LBCs, Flutter Kicks
ROUND 2: Arm Blaster! 20x each of the following: Hand-release Merkins, Carolina Dry Docks, Shoulder taps (2-count)
ROUND 3: Leg Blaster! AIKEN LEGS: 20 Squats,20 Lunges (2-count), 20 Squat Jumps, 20 Side-Straddle hops, left foot forward,20 Side-Straddle hops, right foot forward

STATION 3:
ROUND 1: BEARMUDA TRIANGLE! Bear crawl to first cone, 1 Burpee, second cone, 2 Burpees, third cone, 3 Burpees. Rinse and repeat
ROUND 2: Bearmuda Triangle, but…LUNGE to each cone and do 5, 10, and 15 Jump Squats at the three cones. Rinse and repeat
ROUND 3: Bearmuda Triangle, but… HOP to each cone and do 5, 10, and 15 Iron Mikes (2-ct) at the three cones. Rinse and repeat

STATION 4 (Benches)
ROUND 1: 20 Bench Dips, 20 INCLINE Merkins
ROUND 2: 20 Bench Dips, 20 Carolina Dry Docks
ROUND 3: 20 Bench Dips, 20 Shoulder Taps (2-ct)

(We got about 1/2 way through this beast before time)
MARY: Homer/Marge

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

COT: This week, on the anniversary of 9/11, I’ve been thinking about sacrifice. How does one prepare oneself to act selflessly to save others? Is that even possible?

Sully Sullenberger, the pilot of the plane that crashed in the Hudson in 2009, wrote about an experience he had when he was 13 in his book HIGHEST DUTY; he was at home watching tv and saw a report of a woman who was sexually assaulted and beaten just outside her house. She ended up dying from the attack. During the investigation, it was discovered that over 30 people heard her screams, but no one called the police because they thought someone else would, or they didn’t want to get involved. They chose to be bystanders.

People that choose NOT to be bystanders, and who choose under very stressful situations to put others’ welfare above their own, like all those who sacrificed their lives on 9/11, have a very different mindset. But why? How? Sullenberger writes in his book: “I believe many people in those situations actually have made decisions years before. Somewhere along the line they came to define the sort of person they wanted to be, and then they conducted their lives accordingly. They told themselves they would not be passive observers. If called upon to respond in some courageous or selfless way, they would do so.”

That is a DEEP COMMITMENT one makes with oneself. But he swore as that 13-year-old that he would never be a bystander, never let someone in need go without help. And he says that promise to himself ultimately helped him act instinctively to save 155 people that were in his plane the day it went into the Hudson River. I would wager that nearly all those First Responders who lost their lives at the Twin Towers on 9/11 had gone through a similar mental process at some point in their lives.

HIMs are not passive observers! My coach used to say before our soccer games, if you visualize it, you will do it. Take a moment and visualize how you would react in an emergency, what you would do if someone needed help in a life or death situation? Will you be a bystander? Or will you act.

Aluminum PAX

AO: asylum-pm
Q: Drum Major
PAX: Lizzy, Pele (Jon Lindberg), Lilydipper, Switchhitter (Tony), Brick, Steam, Rooney (Carl Whipple), Welch’s, Pusher, MD Hammer, Dain Bramage (Will Olson), Curveball, Abacus
FNGs: None
COUNT: 14
WARMUP:

10 Side Straddle Hops

10 rockettes

10 baby arm circles each way + overhead claps

10 cherry pickers

THE THANG:

Mosey to traffic circle – 20 flutter kicks together

Mosey to new parking lot by new baseball fields

Aluminum PAX modified workout

Set Tabata timer for 1 minute, rotating

When 1 minute timer sounds every time do 5 burpees. Then start in on the rotation of exercises.

100 squats

100 LBCs

100 SSHs

When you complete 100 of your exercise run loop mapped out around full outside of parking lot.

If you get through all 3, rinse and repeat.

 

Mosey to small turf baseball field and lineup up at home plate.

“Diamond of Fire”

1 man goes around bases forward. When he hits 1st base the next man goes. Everyone else does merkins until their turn comes.

After home lineup on other side as you come in and start doing box cutters until last man comes in then do the same thing going backwards (3rd, 2nd 1st, home).

 

Mosey back to flag, via Pickett’s Charge

MARY:

Ended with some stretching at the flag

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

COT:

Loneliness Epidemic article

Between 1990 and 2024, the percentage of college graduates who reported having zero close friends rose to 10 percent from 2 percent, which is upsetting enough. Among high school graduates, the percentage rose to a heartbreaking 24 percent from 3 percent.

For context about 55% in America are college graduates, so that leaves 45% who have a high school diploma or less.

In 1990, an impressive 49 percent of high school graduates reported having at least six close friends. By 2024, that percentage had been cut by more than half — to 17 percent. The percentage of college graduates with that many friends declined also, but only to 33 percent from 45 percent.

Causes? You may think politics, but I would say that may be more a symptom than a cause. Surely COVID and everything being online and the ease it is to isolate yourself, surely cannot help. We as a collective group need to worry less about the cause…

 

Article in NYT is quoted:

 

What is the most important single thing that you can do to heal our national divides and to improve the social and economic mobility of your struggling neighbors?

I’d submit that it’s not voting for the right candidate (though you should certainly do that), nor is it engaging in activism to raise visibility for a worthy cause (though I endorse that as well). Instead, it’s something that is at once much simpler but also much more difficult.

Make a new friend.

 

Maybe you could even make a new friend outdoors, away from your phone, spending zero dollars, while getting some exercise and hanging out with other guys where politics, education and economic levels are not a factor? If only such a thing existed, wow what a cool thing that could be. I reiterate Crash Dummies challenge from Tuesday. In the next month try and convince a FNG to come out, you may be helping them more than you realize.