Steam – Page 34 – F3 Knoxville

Leading Ultimate Frisburpee

June 6, 2022 Pool Boy

THE SCENE: April showers bring May flowers… and sweat. But what do Mayflowers bring?
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER – Not a Professional
WARM-O-RAMA:
The first exercise is… Mosey to the track. Partner up as we’re heading there. Extra person find a group with two good runners because today will include a lot of running in it.

Warmup in the End Zone aka “the 0-Yard” per Anchorman.
1. Lunges with a twist across
2. Finger walk – to walk (aka Inch Worm)
3. Over over under under (switch halfway)
4. High knees
5. Butt kickers
6. Side lunges with a skip (switch halfway)
7. Tennessee Rocking Chair

Final warmup lap around the track to the opposite end zone. Today we are going to be playing / doing a variant of a routine on the F3 Exicon known as “ultimate frisburpee”

THA-THANG:
We need to do a throwing warmup so everyone has a chance to get touches on the disc.

First we’ll be doing a game of hot potato – toss the disc to a fellow pax while everyone in the circle does squats. When the timer is up the person left with the disc (or who last was supposed to catch it) calls an exercise not named SSH or a SSH variant. Then we’ll do 15 reps of that exercise. Every time the disc is dropped or not caught, the PAX will do a decreasing number of burpees starting from 5, then 4, 3…

Find your partner and pick even or odd (group of 3 just figure this out).

Field size based on # of PAX (odd number rounding down to give a PAX “rest” as he will be doing alternating flutter kicks and pickle pointers in sets of 10 each with a 10 count rest after each set of two exercises)
4 (2v2) – A single 5 yard x 5 yard square for the goal aka Hot Box
6 (3v3) – A single 5 yard x 5 yard square for the goal aka Hot Box
8 (4v4) – 5 yard deep end zones, 40 yard long x 30 yard wide field
10 (5v5) – 10 yard deep end zones, 50 yard long x 30 yard wide field
12 (6v6) – 15 yard deep end zones, 60 yard long x 35 yard wide field
14 (7v7) – 20 yard deep end zones, 70 yard long x 40 yard wide field

The routine is simple: Similar to ultimate frisbee but with penalty burpees. On the 1st turnover, 5 burpees for all PAX. On the 2nd turnover, 4 burpees. On the 3rd, 3 burpees. On the 4th turnover, 2 burpess. On the 5th turnover, 1 burpee. If neither team has scored, the remainder of the point is played like regular ultimate frisbee. Burpee count resets after every point. You do not have to wait for all PAX to finish burpees to begin playing (i.e., it is advantageous to finish your burpees faster). Usually played for about 20 minutes. A PAX favorite in F3 Hampton Roads.

Our variant will be waiting for PAX to finish burpees (to give us a break and let everyone not run into each other since it was light-ish at first but eventually was fine to play). Also, after every point every PAX on the team that scores will do 5 squats and 5 merkins while the team that did not score walks to their end zone.

We ran out of time but it was super fun for everybody (& skins won).

MARY:
Ain’t nobody got time for that.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
12 men having too much fun for an F3 beatdown!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

The decision to lead (a Q or anything else)- what factors come down to it? What factors do you consider when making any decision? What should you consider? I think there are 3, but we’ll focus on the first one:

Qualifications
Ability
Desire

So I’m going to read verses on authority of those with the right qualifications. See where you fit in and see how you can properly exercise and submit to that authority in your life today:

“For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” –‭‭Romans‬ ‭13:3-4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly;”

–‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭5:1-2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,” –‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5:25‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” –‭‭John‬ ‭15:13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

So, today step into the role you’ve been given to lead – as an official of the government (which is established by God), as an elder in a church, as a husband and a father in your home, and as a friend to a brother who you’re walking with daily. God will be glorified and pleased.

MOLESKIN:
Ultimate used to be an idol in my life. I gave it up for almost 3 years and now I’m playing again. It’s still a lot of fun but with a lot more freedom than I used to. It held me captive and now it is really as the verse says:

¹⁷Now the Lord^[a] is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” –2 Corinthians 3:17

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Convergence July 2 at JUCO. See Slack for more info!

Speedway Launch

June 4, 2022 Rep Sleepy

THE SCENE: Upper 50s, a beautiful morning to launch

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH x 20; Windmill x10; Toe Merkins x10; Tie Fighter x10 (F/B); Tempo Squat x10; Dancing Bear x10

THA-THANG:

Bear Crawl Inch Worm: Partner up and form two lines holding plank, partners at end Bear Crawl to front of line, when both make it to the front the next pair starts.

Bear Brawl: 5 Burpees on each side of small soccer field. Partners take turns putting pressure on shoulders while the other Bear Crawls. Go back and forth 3 times.

Mosey to next field

Squat Totem: Lunge from cone to cone, increase reps by 5 at each cone, 6 total cones

Mosey to another field

Wheelbarrow with partner halfway then switch positions to go the other half. Partner carry halfway then switch for other half. Did this twice.

Mosey to hill at back of fields

11s with Merkins and Big Boys, Bear Crawl up the hill, Mosey down

Mosey to shovel flag

Afterburner:
Overhead Claps IC x50

Seal Claps IC x25

Grady Corn IC x25

MARY:
F3 is not about any one person so we did PAX Roulette

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
21 HIM

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Whenever I talk to someone about F3, I always say that it is so much more than a workout. It is truly about all three Fs, Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith.

That first F is the magnet. Every man standing here started coming because they had some fitness goal in mind. Some of us may be elite athletes but most are just men that want to be healthy for our families. My goal when I started was being able to do simple things, like walking up the stairs, without being winded.

That second F is the glue. I knew that I needed others to hold me accountable for me to actually work out. What I didn’t know or expect, is that I needed manly friendships. I thought I was good on friends, but those relationships, for the most part, were only surface deep. Now I have so many men that I can go to when I need help, a listening ear, or just someone to vent my frustration with. The value of the second F is immeasurable.

That third F is the dynamite. F3 defines faith as believing in something greater than yourself. Full disclosure, for me, that is my belief in Jesus Christ. I believe that He lived a sinless life, died on the cross to save us from sin, and rose from the grave to sit at the right hand of God. The thing is though, that those are just words if my actions don’t line up with them. My belief must change the way I treat others, it must influence my decisions, and it should guide my actions. So whatever your faith is make sure it is doing those same things for you because we all are meant to be putting others in front of ourselves.

MOLESKIN:
Excited to see where Speedway goes from here! Thank you to all those that came from other AOs to the launch!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Convergence on 7/2 at JUCO, there will be no beatdown at Speedway that day.

Tabata and Hills

June 3, 2022 Pele

THE SCENE: mid 70s, partly sunny, humid as heck after the storms
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:

-30 Split Jacks (4-ct), 15 each leg, in cadence

– 10 Windmills (4-ct), in cadence

– 10 Plank Jacks

– 20 Grady Corns (4-ct), in cadence

10 Steave Earles, (4-ct), in cadence
10 LBCs small and wide (4-ct), forward and backward in cadence

Run to tree down the road, 5 squat jumps, Bernie back

THA-THANG:

TABATA 1 (20 seconds exercise, 10 seconds rest, 4 rounds = 2 minutes per exercise x 5 exercises = 10 minutes per round)

Plank Jacks
Mountain Climbers
Catalina wine mixers
Bottle Openers

RUN DOWN STAIRS, OVER TO BASE OF SUMMIT, UP SUMMIT, BACK TO BAT HOUSE. At EACH “CORNER” DO 15 SMURF JACKS

TABATA 2

American Hammers
Gas Pumps
Wide Flutter Kicks

RUN LOOP, DO 15 BOBBY HURLEYS

TABATA 3

High Knees
Squats
Lunges

RUN LOOP, DO 15 DESONSTRUCTED BURPEES

MARY:
No time for Mary today.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
13 strong. Pop a top not tagged.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Fellows, it’s been a difficult past couple of weeks for our AO. We recently, had to part ways with a brother, and that’s just not something we ever want to do. I have to admit I lost a lot of sleep over it. And the situation made me consider the fine line between holding someone accountable versus judging someone. We try to do the former in F3, but stay away from the latter, but sometimes that’s a tough distinction.

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines accountability as an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions, while judgmental is defined as “characterized by a tendency to judge harshly”. After thinking about it a little more, I came up with sort of my own definition of these terms… accountability is holding someone responsible for norms, traditions, rules, etc. that are broadly accepted by a group, while being judgmental is passing judgment on whether someone measures up to your own PERSONAL ideas or notions.

As I’ve expressed in Slack, I feel it’s VERY important to refrain from publicly passing judgment on our fellow brothers, because when you do so it inevitably causes rifts. Disagreement is fine, but if you have something you object to, I think it’s always best to have a private discussion about it.

Before parting ways, the former member of our group first passed judgment on our AO in terms of how we uphold the Second F (Fellowship), then passed judgment on an individual in terms of his interpretation of the Bible and his message, and finally, in a parting message to me, passed judgment on me (and, more broadly, our entire group) in challenging our religious beliefs, patriotism, and leadership.

Although I’m not perfect about it, I try to refrain from passing judgment on others. I have my own belief system, and sure, I appreciate seeing qualities in others that follow a similar system, but I try not to denigrate or think ill of those who have other beliefs. But let’s face it… we all judge others, and on a pretty regular basis. It’s part of our DNA, as far I’m concerned. But there’s a difference in making that determination of judgment internally, and publically attempting to coerce others to conform to your perception of how things should be. The latter is something that I feel we need to avoid in F3, which was intentionally formed as a very inclusionary group of men. If you were here a few Saturday’s ago, we had a Guest Q from Chattanooga that emphasized F3s core mission: to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership. That’s it. There are certain components to every F3 workout, and one of those is the Word, followed by the Ball of Man. I can honestly say that I have personally disagreed with at least a small portion of just about every Word, but also that is OVERHELMED by the amount of wisdom and perspective that I have received.

In closing, I found a couple of statements that I thought really hit the nail on the head when it comes to being Judgmental :

Judgment is the basis for separation, which is the ego’s goal. When we judge a brother or sister, be it in thought or action, we create a sense of separation.

You will save yourself and others years of stress, anger, disappointment and resentment if you allow your brothers and sisters to follow their own hearts. If your brothers and sisters know that they can come to you for advice without criticism and judgment attached to it, you will forever be their sounding board. However, if you end up judging and criticizing their efforts and decisions they will put up walls every time you question or try to advise them.

– James Blanchard Cisneros, Author of You Have Chosen to Remember: A
Journey from Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy, p. 91-92

Born in Geneva, Switzerland. He grew up in Caracas, Venezuela and obtained his B.S. and MBA degrees in the United States. James states “My grandfather served in WWII as a colonel in the United States Marines, my father was a Vietnam Army veteran. After the Vietnam experience, my father wanted to break the cycle and protect us from a future draft. So he arranged for my brother and myself to be born in Geneva, Switzerland (a neutral nation), so that we could choose to refrain from the next conflict if that was our choice.”

James 4:11-12

Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

Romans 16:17

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.

MOLESKIN:
Great to see Sparkler out there, and Pop a Top killed it in his second workout.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Speedway launch Saturday at 6 am, Convergence July 2!

Cards Around Asylum

May 31, 2022 Rooney

THE SCENE: Hot (89F), sunny afternoon, a few clouds in the sky, slight breeze.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Side-straddle Hop (20 4 ct), 8 4 ct. windmills (slow, stretch), 10 4 ct. baby arm circles (forward & backwards each), Michael Phelps, & Merkins (10 4 ct.).

THA-THANG:

After a mosey down to the greenway, the group made their way around the park by drawing cards. Number cards indicated how many lights to run and and how many of the exercise we would do when we arrived at the light. If the card drawn is a face card, the PAX would immediately do 10 of an exercise as follows: King – Merkins, Queen – Squats, Jack – Big Boys. If the card drawn was a one eyed Jack or the Queen of Spades then everyone did 10 Burpees. Otherwise, the suit dictated what kind of exercise we would do as follows:

Spades – arm exercise
Hearts – leg exercise
Diamonds – Core exercise
Clubs – Cardio exercise

The card drawer chooses the specific exercise to do once we reached the designated light.

MARY:
Arrived to the AO with no time remaining.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Welcome to Pop-a-Top (Jeremy) who showed up looking for an evening workout!

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
You don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. F3 is continues because it is a great system. Let’s all (definitely including me in this) invest to make the system work well.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
New AO starts in Seymour this Saturday.

We Choose What We Think

May 28, 2022 Lillydipper

THE SCENE: Insert info about the weather, etc.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
25 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Mountain Climbers, 10 Windmills, 5 Baby Arm Circles Forward and 5 Wide Arm Circles Forward, 5 Baby Arm Circles and 5 Wide Arm Circles Backward, 10 Twisties.
THA-THANG:

Mosey to the Pavilion. We will do a Pyramid of Bench Pull Ups and Decline Merkins, starting with 10 of each, then 15 of each, then 20 of each, then back to 15 of each and finally 10 of each.

Mosey towards by the pitching cages near the ball fields and down to the start of the Cardiac. We will do 20 American Hammers. Next we will run to the second curve of Cardiac. There will be a cone farther up cardiac as the trail approaches the benches. We will go on the grass to that cone by alternating between 10 Count Bear Crawls and 10 Count Lunges until we reach the cone. Then we will do 25 Bench Dips at the benches.

Mosey on the trail towards Lyons Bend. We will stop on the trail as it turns towards Lyons Bend and do 20 Flutter Kicks and 20 Hello Dollies in the grass. We will then run on the trail as it approaches the entrance to the park on Lyons Bend. Before we get there we will see a cone in the grassy field. We will go to that.

Men will split into teams of two. We will do Doras. While one team member runs uphill toward the roadway and touches the tree by the roadway, the other team member will do exercises. When one partner comes back, the other does the exercises. Each team will do the following exercises:

100 Merkins
100 Squat Jumps
100 Big Boy Sit-ups
100 Iron Mikes (both feet forward = 1)
100 Raised Legs Toe Touches

Mosey back to trail and then go to the beginning of Roadshow Run. We will stop to do 25 Dead Bugs (four count) and 50 Baby Crunches. We will then run up Roadshow Run and stop at the bat cave. However, we will do 3 Burpees after climbing each set of steps to the bat cave (there are three sets). Those getting to the bat cave will do Baby Crunches until the six arrives.

Mosey to the front porch of the Admin Bldg. We will run around the sidewalk loop stopping at each quarter of the loop to do exercises. Here are the exercises at each quarter:

South quarter: 25 Carolina Dry Docks
Benches at Coliseum: 25 Bench Dips
North Quarter: 25 Bobby Hurleys
Steps of Admin Bldg.: 25 Calve Raises
Rinse and Repeat.

Mosey to Haslam Boulder. We will do 20 Squats.

Mosey to AO.

MARY:
We will line up along the curb of one end of the parking lot. We will Sprint to the other end and sprint back. We will then Bernie Sanders to the other end and back. We will then Skip to the other end and back. We will then Sprint there and back.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
13 Men, no FNGs.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
We Chose What We Think

Since this is the end of May, a time of graduations and commencement addresses, I thought I would examine a commencement address that might teach me some lessons about life. I had heard of a famous commencement address by the American writer David Foster Wallace that was given to the 2005 graduating class of Kenyon College. I listened to the speech, found it to be a very good one, and indeed learned some valuable life lessons. I then found out that David Foster Wallace committed suicide three years after he gave the commencement address. And, I thought, how much credence can my brothers and I give to life lessons taught by someone who has committed suicide? I talked to my wife, Jan, about it. She reminded me of a wonderful phrase by Bryan Stevenson in his book, Just Mercy: “A man is so much more than the worst thing he has ever done.” Another thing Jan said to me, and this is also very true: “People often write about what they aspire to be versus what they are”. With those proclamations in mind, here are some of the lessons I learned from David Foster Wallace’s commencement address to Kenyon College:

We have the freedom to think and what we chose to think about is of the utmost importance. How we interpret data is important. Two men can hear the same truth, yet have very different interpretations of it. Wallace, who I do not believe was a fan of any particular denomination of faith, used the example of a religious person and an atheist speaking to one another. In explaining his disbelief in God, the atheist commented that he put faith to the test one time in a snowstorm and what happened showed there is no God. It was such a bad snowstorm that he yelled out, “God, if you are truly there, save me from this snowstorm”. He said God did not come to him. The religious man replied, “now wait a minute, you lived through the snowstorm, your being here is proof. Doesn’t that show God exists?” The atheist said, “I lived but it was because of a man on a snow sled led by a pack of dogs that found me.” Brothers, we choose how to think. We chose how to interpret the truths before us.
What we choose to think about, what we choose to focus on applies to the mundane portions of everyday life. Wallace talked about the long drive home from work. You can get upset about the traffic jam, the noise, and the pollution. You can scream at the guy who just cut you off as you were trying to shift your car into a faster moving lane. You can be annoyed by the massive gas guzzling car in front of you, spitting out fumes and eating up precious fuel resources. Yet, you can also contemplate what you want to do for your family when you get home. You can think that maybe the guy who cut in front of you is just as anxious to get home to his family as you are to yours. You can think about the possibility that the guy in the massive car perhaps wanted to get a larger car to carry his kids around in and keep them safe. You can even see the roadway as a beautiful picture of fellow humans, making their way home after a hard day at work. You have the choice.
With our freedom to think we can choose what we worship. We can worship money and never have enough. We can worship power and continually drive to have more. We can worship the intellect and castigate those not as brilliant as we are while somehow wondering if we, with our college educations, are actually frauds. We chose what we worship.

David Foster Wallace, I don’t know the reasons for your suicide. Perhaps some of the life lessons you spoke of in your commencement speech were not embedded enough in your psyche. You aspired for what you wrote about but you were not yet there. But, this fellow here in Knoxville thanks you for those lessons. I have the freedom to think and I will choose to try to follow those lessons. I choose to think about good and purposeful things. I will try to remember to do so even during the mundane moments of life. And, I will choose what to worship . . . and what I choose to worship is God, the God of love, the God of mercy, the God of all existence.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for the families and people impacted by the school shootings in Buffalo, NY and Uvalde, TX. Prayers for those planting flags at the Veterans and for all Veterans who have served our country. Prayers for F6 in his search for a new job.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Flag planting this morning at the grave sites of all Veterans buried at the Veterans Cemetary across the street from the Asylum. Rampart Launch this Monday at 7 am. Some of us are meeting at the Starbucks at Northshore near Pellisippi Parkway at 6 am on Monday and will Clown Car to the Rampart AO shortly thereafter.