F3 Knoxville

Tag: Sparkler

Overcoming Hard Times

THE SCENE: Cloudy, temps in 40’s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Burpees, 10 Rockettes, Plank Stretches, 10 Cherry Pickers
THA-THANG:
Mosey to trail that extends from upper parking lot that goes near entryway at Lyons Bend.  We will do 14’s by bear crawling for one light, running for four, and repeating that pattern until we get to entry roadway.  At roadway we will do 20 Hello Dollies.

We will cross street and continue on trail, doing nickel, dime, quarters (run one light then do 5 of exercise, run two lights then do 10 of exercise, run five lights and do 25 of exercise) all the way to roadway that enters from Northshore gate.  These will be the exercises

  • Squat jumps
  • Merkins
  • Big-boy sit-ups
  • Run remaining distance to roadway.

At corner of trail and roadway we will do 20 American Hammers.

Mosey to Outdoor Chapel.  We will do elevens, starting with 1 Decline Merkin at stage and 10 Mountain Climbers (four count) at other end of chapel.

Mosey to Playground.  We will do elevens at benches, starting with one bench dip and 10 bench jumps.

Mosey to AO.

MARY:

Leg lifts (various heights)

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Fourteen men and one mighty dog named “Tank” who belongs to Abscess.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

A number of us have been going through some difficult times right now.  We need to know that God is there for us during hard times.  We can turn to him for rest and strength.  It may not end our suffering immediately but it is good to know that God cares for us and God, through Jesus Christ, has suffered too, even dying on the cross for us.  I have listed a few bible verses that might be good to think of during difficult times.

Isaiah 41:10 ESV

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

John 16:33 ESV

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Psalm 9:9-10 ESV

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

Romans 5:3-5 ESV

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Philippians 4:13 ESV

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Brother, if you are going through trials at this time, may the Lord strengthen you.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Bring snacks for Wesley House this Thursday at Asylum PM.  Abscess will collect.  If anyone is interested in going on a ski trip to Snowshoe on March 10 through 12, contact Lillydipper.  We will ski on March 11 and 12.

The Power of Friends

THE SCENE: Temps in high 50’s, clear, breezy
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
10 Pinto About-Face Twists each way, 20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Plank Jacks, 5 Baby Arm Circles forward and backward, 5 Wide Arm Circles forward and backward, 10 Cherry Pickers
THA-THANG:
Mosey to northern parking lot of park.  We will do Route 66 along the sidewalk that heads to park entrance at Lyon’s Bend.  We will run back to the start after each exercise.  These will be the exercises:

  • Plank Jacks
  • Dive Bombers
  • Jump Squats

After these exercises we will alternate between Bernies, Lunges and Sprints along each light until we get to street that extends from entrance gate.

Mosey up street towards AO but stop at stop sign at intersection of road coming from Admin Bldg.  On grassy area near stop sign we will do 20 Hello Dollies and 20 American Hammers.

Mosey to Northern Ball Field Entrance Parking Lot.  We will do the following from one end of parking lot to other and then do ten merkins after each run there and back:

  • Sideways runs with feet crossing.
  • Hops for four parking spaces then sprint to curb and back.
  • Bernies to curb and back.
  • Bear crawl for four parking space then sprint to curb and back.
  • Lunge for four parking spaces then sprint to curb and back.
  • Sprint to curb and back.

Mosey to AO.

MARY:
Box cutters and planks.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
16 men, no FNG’s.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Proverbs 18: 24.  A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Sometimes our self-doubts, our shame, our anxiety, or even our pride can keep us from turning to friends when we are hurt or in trouble.  As a psychologist, I often see individuals coping with hurtful issues that they are too embarrassed to speak to their friends about.  A young man in his twenties recently lost a job that he had out of state.  He has friends who are smart, energetic, and growth-pursuing and who appear to be going places with their lives.  He has come back to his home town and has a few of those “successful” friends who still live here in Knoxville.  He hasn’t even contacted them, too embarrassed to tell them about his loss of job.

If these guys are true friends, they are the very ones he should turn to at this difficult time.  If they are true friends, they will care for him and hold him up.  His true friends won’t begrudge him for losing a job. They like him for who he is, not the type of job he has.  Yes, back when he got the job they may have praised, pat him on the back, wished him well, told him he was going to “kick ass” at it.  They were saying that because they care for him and want the best for him.  They won’t turn their backs on him because he has stumbled.  They are going to want to pick him up, carry him.  If they don’t do that, what kind of friends are they?

I remember a troubled time I had in my early 20’s.  I was lost in terms of what I wanted to do with my life.  I had fumbled around in a few jobs and was working as a forklift driver at a warehouse just to earn enough money to buy groceries while I lived with my uncle who put me up.  I was depressed and certainly not my usual self.  I remember my friends hanging in there with me at that difficult time.  They would take me to rec centers to play basketball, take me out for meals, call me to shoot the breeze, – not necessarily ask about my job search or career struggles but just be there for me and certainly lend an ear if I needed to talk.  They didn’t have the “sage” advice that I needed from older men, sometimes even offered stupid advice to me.  But they cared and I knew it.  They were going to be my friend through thick and thin.  They were there for me at a most important time and I made it through that time because of them.

We need our friends.  Don’t shy away from telling them about your troubles when you hit a low spot.  Turn to them for strength.  It may not be their words of wisdom that push you through – leave that to the shrinks, philosophers, and preachers.  But your friends will give you that powerful something that is hard to put into words – unless you call it love and that love will raise you up.

 

Burpee Beatdown

 

THE SCENE: Gloomy 45 degrees 19 HIM’s got after it Today

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

5:30 COT

  • Side Straddle Hop x 20
  • 2 Burpee
  • Arm Circles x 15 each way
  • 4 Burpee
  • Imperial Squat Walkers x 20
  • 6 Burpee
  • Cherry Picker
  • 8 Burpee

Escalator on the mosey(String of pearls style) – 10 burpees, 20, Squat Jumps, 30 merkins, 40 squats

  • 10 reps, run 50 yards
  • 10 reps+20 reps next exercise, run 50 yards
  • 10, 20, 30 reps, run, 50 yards
  • 10, 20, 30, 40 reps, run to start
  • Can go back down escalator: 40, 30, 20, 10, run, 30, 20, 10, run, 20, 10, run, 10.

SheHateMe –5 Sets Run50 yards between sets.
-10 Lunges (20 movements)
-10 Burps (Burpees without the pushup and the standing)
-10 Pushups

Rows and Box Jumps – Partner up

  • 10 rows
  • 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 Box Jumps.

Cloud

  • 10 Colombian neck ties
  • 20 Flutter Kicks

Mary

  • Proton Parker x 10

Justice for All

THE SCENE: Temps in 50’s, cloudy, we finished right before the rainstorm.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side-straddle Hops, 10 Plank Jacks, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Windmills, Michael Phelps, Little of This and That

THA-THANG:
Mosey to Dragon Tail.  We will do Route 66 up the Dragon Tail with the following exercises:

  • Burpees
  • Box Cutters
  • Bobby Hurleys

Mosey to parking lot that is south of northern ball fields.  We will have cones set up in the parking lot with exercises listed at each cone:

  • Cone 1:  20 Merkins.  Bear Crawl to Cone 2.
  • Cone 2:  20 Squat Jumps.  Bernie Sanders to Cone3.
  • Cone 3:  20 Imperial Walkers (each leg).  Sprint to Cone 4.
  • Cone 4.  20 Big Boy Sit Ups.  Bear Crawl to Cone 5.
  • Cone 5.  20 Carolina Drydocks.  Lunge to Cone 6.
  • Cone 6.  20 Hello Dollies.  Sprint to Cone 1.  Rinse and Repeat.

Mosey to pavilion at northern baseball fields.  We will do following exercises:

  • 20 Bench jumps.
  • 20 Bench raises.
  • 20 Picnic table pull-ups.
  • 20 Decline merkins.
  • One minute squat at wall.

Mosey to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Seven men, no FNG’s.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
My ideas for today’s message come from an article by Stephen Cave, Chief Ministry Officer with Biblica, a website of the International Bible Society.  He quotes from Psalms 33:5  “The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.”  In his article Cave comments that our human definition of justice is often narrow.  We may think of 1) someone committing a crime getting their proper punishment, or, at a little less narrow level, 2) justice for those being treated unfairly by those in positions of power.  Cave points out that the bible’s definition goes much deeper.  In the bible, God equates justice with righteousness.  This justice, this righteousness, is a Godly foundation by which all other things should be measured.  As HIM’s, we can measure ourselves by this standard.  Are we living up to God’s standard of justice, God’s standard of what he wants for us and our world?  This is a standard of compassion that calls for us to put things right in our relationship with others.  Are we being fair and loving in our relationships?  Are we hearing the cries of our brothers and sisters and helping them when they are in need?  Are we taking interest in those around us and not getting too caught up with our own issues?  Are we joining in on God’s compassionate fight to end poverty, corruption, disease, racism, and emotional, physical and sexual abuse?  I myself find it easy to point the finger and say “HE, SHE, or THEY are being unjust.”  I think I can do more good if I spend more time doing what Jesus did:  living the Word, being loving, being just.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Quickcrete Memorial Workouts this Saturday.  Polar Bear Plunge on January 1.

Brolympics Redux

THE SCENE: Cloudy, mild breeze that would ruffle my hair if I had more of it, mid 40s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Done

WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH x 20 IC, Cherry Pickers x 10 IC, Ankle Grabbers/hammie stretch, Baby Arm Circles Forward (x10) and Backward (x10) IC, Shoulder Tap Merkins x 10 IC

THA-THANG:
Today we revisited the events of the Brolympics that we enjoyed at the F3 anniversary a few weeks ago.  We started with the long distance run first, carrying a softball bat high as the Olympic torch.  Indian run from AO up Baby Everest and around running trail to parking lot, then back close to the AO, passing “torch” off as PAX gets to front.

Brolympic Redux:

Parking lot will have 6 different stations that imitate the F3 Brolympics events.  We will do each station for 2 minutes, AMRAP.  The stations are:

  • Merkins
  • BBS
  • Shuttle Run / Suicides
  • Burpee Broad Jumps
  • 40-yd dash
  • Bear Crawl around cones

This was followed by a mini Pickett’s Charge up Baby Everest.  Not enough time to rinse and repeat as planned, so we each PAX member chose whatever exercise they wanted to revisit, rotating as desired, until it was time to head back to the AO.

MARY:
Flutter kicks x 25, 4-ct IC, Box Cutters x 20, 4-ct, IC

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
6 Strong!

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Doing Christianity – Reverend Gretchen Sylwester at Bethel Church, Elmhurst IL

‘Author and activist Shane Claiborne writes in The Irresistible Revolution: “If you ask most people what Christians believe, they can tell you, ‘Christians believe that Jesus is God’s Son and that Jesus rose from the dead.’ But if you ask the average person how Christians live, they are struck silent. They usually say something like “Christians live pretty much like everybody else, they just sprinkle in a little Jesus along the way.”

One of the speakers at an interfaith community event at the Villa Park Islamic Center said that in her tradition, religious action is far more important than religious belief. From her perspective, how we live is far more important than what we say we believe. More recently, the tragedy in Pittsburgh at the Tree of Life Synagogue might make one question about what a “Christian response” to this tragedy might be.

What is essential to a Christian way of life? What are the things that we do that set us apart? If you were to describe the Christian way of life to a non-believer, what would you say? If it is not just Jesus’ sprinkles, what is it?

One place to start is by talking about generosity and grace. We share. Christians use our power and privilege to change things for others who have less. We are slow to judge and quick to forgive. We are diligent in setting aside time for prayer and meditation. We worship with others as an essential practice, something that we make room for in our lives as a “must” rather than a “maybe.” And most of all, Christians look to the future with hope, not fear.

I encourage you to consider your own action plan for being a Christian. Forget about the word “think.”  Forget the word “believe.” Consider what it is that we do that makes us unique. For as the old hymn goes, in the end, “They will know that we are Christians by our love, by our love. They will know we are Christians by our love.” ‘

MOLESKIN:
The PAX shared some words of support for one of our members who is going through a difficult stretch.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
3rd F coming up this Saturday at the Outlook, 8:30 a.m.  Breakfast provided, $10 donation recommended.