F3 Knoxville

35th Birthday Tour of Mount Rushmore

THE SCENE: 50’s. Perfect weather. Even got a Happy Birthday wish and surprise visit from Ribbed before the Q started and knew it was going to be a fun, successful workout for all PAX.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER – Administered + Cell Phone + COVID distancing
WARM-O-RAMA:

Today I turn 35 and that means I can now be POTUS (that’s President Of The United States for those of you who don’t speak acronym. We’re going to do some themed routines and bring it all together in the BOM. So without further ado…
IC 10 x Tennessee Rocking Chair
IC 10 x Moroccan Night Club
IC 10 x El Capitan
OYO 10 x Tempo Merkin
IC 10 x Seal Clap Squat
IC 10 x Dancing Bear
IC 5 x Pickle Pounder
IC 5 x Glute Bridge (aka Pickle Pointer)
4 rounds of 10 Calf raises followed by the following sprints:
50%, 70%, 90%, 100%
THA-THANG:
Mosey to F3 parking near portable classrooms. Double check for skunk that was seen during making Weinke‘s (named for Tennessee’s current QB’s coach Chris Weinke due to his inability to remember plays) and pointed out by Dart Gun.

The first POTUS was George Washington, so we’ll do a partner routine that spells out his name:
W.A.S.H.
Find a partner. All exercises are single count. Each exercise is done only 10 at a time while your partner is doing their reps you do the iso(metric) hold for a total of the number at the end.
Werkins / Plank – 50
American Hammers / Boat or Canoe – 100
Step-ups / Al Gore – 150
Hip Thrusts (aka Pickle Pounders) / Glute Bridge Hold – 200

Call recover, get a 15 count. Mosey to Iron Pax Week 3 location (aka big parking lot – nice write-up Wanderer!).

Thomas Jefferson was the 2nd POTUS. We’ll be doing 2 minutes of the following for 3 rounds
10 Squats – 1 Burpee – 10 Merkins – 1 Burpee (okay so this is basically IPC Week 3 but only for 2 minutes) – Repeat
15-30 seconds rest, Q explain next round
10 Lunges (single count) – 1 Burpee – 10 Seal Clap Squats – 1 Burpee – Repeat
15-30 seconds rest, Q explain next round
10 Pickle Pounders – 1 Burpee – 10 Pickle Pointers – 1 Burpee – Repeat
15-30 seconds rest, mosey to next POTUS location

Call recover, get a 15 count. Q next asked: Who was the 26th President of the United States
A from Sty: Theodore Roosevelt (I was not expecting a correct answer so major points to Sty and also for making the HC to come today by taking the flag home with him and bringing it back!)

So next we’ll be doing T.E.D.D.Y. for a set time (until 6:07am so we can get back to the AO in time for our last POTUS of the day) – do 5 reps of each exercise and then do 1 extra rep on one exercise you choose for a total of 26 reps each round!
Tempo Merkin
El Capitan
Derkin
Dancing Bear
Yurpee

Call recover, get a 10 count. Last but not least mosey back to the AO and the Q asked – “who was the 5th President of the United States?” No quick answers came but that was okay because the Q messed up the question thinking about the $5 bill. The Q asked again “who was the 16th POTUS?” Several “Abraham Lincoln”‘s were stated. While moseying back to the Shovel Flag the Q then stated the following: “Abraham Lincoln once said ‘the trouble with quotes on the internet is that it’s hard to verify their authenticity'”. And since Honest Abe was the 16th POTUS, this was meant to be a funny segue on to our final routine of the day: a 5-minute song: Thunderstruck! The F3 Exicon has it slightly different but below is what we did (just like in February!)

BOLD & JUICY “Thunderstruck” modification:
Start the song with pickle pounders.
When they start saying “thunder” go into plank and do 1 merkin every time it’s said.
Hold plank until at the end of the first verse when he says “thunderstruck.”
For the rest of the song when he says “thunderstruck” do 1 burpee.
After the first thunderstruck, the Q led the following changes to exercises at certain points in the song:
BBS until the first “shaking at the knees”, doing burpees as they say “thunderstruck”
Flutter kicks until the second “shaking at the knees”, doing burpees as they say “thunderstruck”
BBS until the last round of “thunderstruck” starts and do burpees until the end of the song.

MARY:
“Does Thunderstruck Count?”
-Abraham Lincoln
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
20 PAX strong (Judge Judy not pictured – he had to bow out for work before Honest Abe’s rendition of AC/DC)
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
What do the presidents we covered this morning have in common? They’re all on Mount Rushmore which is located in the Black Hills in Keystone , SD. Fun fact about Mount Rushmore: Each president was originally to be depicted from head to waist, but lack of funding forced construction to end on October 31, 1941.
So back to the Q and how this is relevant: Today I turn 35 – something I actually got wrong in the name-o-rama because I’ve said 34 for the past 100+ posts at F3 it’s second-nature. 35 means I’m “old enough” to be President of the United States. But there’s a deeper question at hand here: at its root, what is the POTUS to do? He’s a ruler and as Romans 13:3-4 tells us:
3 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, 4 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.

Rules, including the POTUS, under God’s authority. We are under God’s authority. We are under the authority of our local church. We’re all under authority and have to submit to authority. More on that later.

Next let’s read about what Jesus says about how the world views when it has authority and how we as followers of Christ should view authority when we’re the ones “in charge”.

Matthew 20:20-28
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21 And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 22 Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23 He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” 24 And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,[c] 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,[d] 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

As usual, 3 questions for us remain to ask
1. Everyone is under authority – do you recognize it? Or do you rage against it?
2. When you ask Jesus for things, are you cognizant of the cost he’s going to ask you to pay?
James paid with his life as a martyr.
John was exiled and died alone on the isle of Patmos.
And the question to ask most of all…
3. When you are in leadership, instead of like this world “lording it over others”, are you
the slave, the bondservant, of those around you?
MOLESKIN:
Q’ing on my birthday was pretty great fun. Felt great to start the week with the JUCOnian HIMs. I encourage every man to Q on or the day before/after his birthday. It’s a way to seek to serve when the day can feel all about you but Christ really does shine through when we put others first on the “day that’s supposed to be all about me”.

PS – Teddy Roosevelt was the youngest president to date at 42 due to William McKinley’s assassination.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Kenjo Q Wednesday. IPC Week 3 Friday (Open Q at the moment – SIGN UP!)

JUCO Shuffle

THE SCENE: 70 degree and not quite as humid
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional… 

WARM-O-RAMA:
Side straddle hop in cadence 20
Cherry Pickers
10 merkins In cadence
Arm rotations thumbs up in cadence
Reverse thumbs down in cadence
10 Windmills in cadence
5 burpees on your own
Side straddle hop in cadence 20
THA-THANG:
Mosied to the Hard Knox parking lot for our first set of drills.

  • Merkin Leapfrogs (not the F3 name) across the lot.
  • Held plank while waiting on the 6.
  • Bernie back to the start
  • Mosey to the JUCO entrance
  • Squats while waiting on the 6
  • 8 count push-ups  x10
  • tricep dips on guardrail x10
  • two single filed lines running back to front sprints (indian runs)
  • flutter kicks x20
  • Mosey to coupon pile with a Crab Walk to the 6
  • Curls w/ coupon x25
  • Squat Thrusts w/ coupon x20
  • Triceps w/ coupon x25
  • Mosey to the rec center
  • Spring up the hill
  • Karaoke through cones
  • Bear crawl down the hill on the other side
  • Repeat (sans bear crawl) x1
  • Mosey back to the flag.

MARY:
Feddie Mercuries x20
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Use the TAGS on right-side to record PAX (BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOURSELF) in attendance. Be sure to select the AO in CATEGORY above TAGS and then delete these notes!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
You guys inspire me both on and off the court. You push me to do more, be more, and I’m truly thankful for it.

Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight
MOLESKIN:
Prayer request: Guardrail’s coworker and his family also his FIL. West Coast Fires
ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Protect Your Critical Infrastructure

THE SCENE:  72 and clear.  Perfect for an IPC beatdown.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Skipped. 
WARM-O-RAMA:
 Warmup OYO while we talk through the workout.
THA THANG:  IPC Week 2
MARY:  None
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA:  23 of the best men I know

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

We remembered this morning, the 2,977 lives which were taken 19 years ago in New York City, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania.  That number incudes 343 firefighters and 60 police officers who worked desperately to evacuate 25,000 people from the World Trade Center buildings before they collapsed.  Those lost were not just our countrymen – citizens of 78 different nations died in those tragedies.  It was a solemn day for the world.

After we mourned our dead, our challenge was to learn and apply lessons from that tragic day.  The events of Sept 11 exposed vulnerabilities in the national systems which protect us.  The Department of Homeland Security was created and charged with preventing future terror attacks – and the FBI has cataloged at least 42 major domestic terrorist attacks which were prevented in the nineteen years since 9/11.  In February 2003, a year and a half after the Sept 11 attacks, the White House released a report titled, “The National Strategy for the Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructure and Key Assets”.  Airports, interstates, powerplants, bridges – can you imagine a nation without them?  No, they are critical infrastructure – and they are vulnerable.  After the crisis that we went through, federal leadership recognized that we must dramatically improve how we protect these important assets from disaster and sabotage.

Let’s talk an application to your life, a specific challenge to think about, and a plea…

  • The Application:  Think about your personal “critical infrastructure”.  I’m not talking about your house…  I’m talking about your mind, your heart, your eyes, and your mouth.  These are essential to your vitality.  Can you imagine your life without them?  No – and they are vulnerableWe must dramatically improve how we protect these important assets from disaster and sabotage.
  • The Challenge:  What do you need to do to better protect your critical infrastructure?  Which one of these resonates with you?  Maybe you’re like me and they ALL hit home…
    • Your Mind: Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things”.  What are you filling your mind with?  What do you think about day in and day out?  How do you allow your thoughts to persist – constructive or destructive?  What changes are needed for you to better protect your mind?   
    • Your Heart:  Proverbs 4:23 “Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.”  What do you spend your energy, time, and treasure on?  What are you devoting yourself to?  Is that thing or cause worthy of your heart?    What changes are needed for you to better protect your heart?   
    • Your Eyes: Matthew 6:22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light”.  Do you feel full of light? What do you watch for leisure? Murder, adultery, pride – these are things that our God hates.  Are you consuming them as entertainment?  Do you gulp through your eyes fake pictures of fake naked women and fill your body with that counterfeit romance?  What changes are needed for you to better protect your eyes?   
    • Your Mouth: Proverbs 13:3 “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin”.  Proverbs 15:4, “Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.”  Do the words that come out of your mouth bring life and sweetness to a conversation?  Are you careful with your tongue – or do you wield that powerful weapon like a fool?  What changes are needed for you to better protect your mouth?   
  • The PleaDON’T WAIT UNTIL DISASTER HITS BEFORE YOU EVALUATE YOUR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND MAKE THE NEEDED IMPROVEMENTS.  Don’t wait until you’ve been gut punched before you protect your mind, heart, eyes, and mouth.  Don’t wait until your marriage is falling apart before you finally admit that consuming pornography is mental adultery – and it has a very real and terrible impact on your relationship with the most important woman in your life.  Don’t wait until your kids are grown, gone, and want nothing to do with you before you realize that you were foolish with your tongue and that the destructive words you spoke over them brought death to that relationship. Don’t wait until you are laying on a bed one day breathing your last, to look back with regret and realize that you spent your thoughts and gave your heart to things which have no significance in eternity.

Evaluate your critical infrastructure and make the needed changes.  Break habits and start habits today.

MOLESKIN:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Valley Church is launching this Sunday – 5:00 pm at HVA.  See Booster for details.

JUCO: Iron PAX Week 1

THE SCENE: 70ish and muggier than a dark alley in NYC
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

6x Cherry Pickers, Sample of challenge exercises: Hand Release Release Merkins, Leg Raises, Jungle Boi Squats, BBS, Lunges, and Burpees

THA-THANG:
Iron PAX Week 1 Challenge

EMOM (Every minute on the minute) do 3xburpees. After burpees are complete work through the following:

  • 50 x Hand Release Release Merkins
  • 100 x Leg Raises
  • 150 x Jungle Boi Squats (2 Scoopz Style)
  • 200 x Big Boy Situps
  • 250 x Lunges (Forward)

MARY:
Definitely not, some PAX sat on the curb
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
20 HIMS with one FNG. Welcome Skybox! You picked an awesome day to start F3!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Be accountable. Told the story of PGA player Brian Davis in a playoff against Jim Furyk at Harbour Town. Brian hit his approach shot onto the beach (a hazard area). In a hazard area, your club cannot move anything out of the way on the backswing. Brian hit a great recovery shot onto the green, but was 99% sure that he had brushed one single reed out of the way during his backwing. Without hesitation he called over a rules official and notified them that he would be taking the penalty. As a result he lost the tournament. Brian was the only person in the world that knew about the infraction, but he had no second thoughts about calling it on himself. We need to hold ourselves accountable even when no one else knows about our failures. Strive to be more accountable to yourself, seek God’s help and forgiveness in those times that you have failed in private.

MOLESKIN:
The Iron PAX is a great challenge to push ourselves as hard as we can physically, but I view it more as a test of personal standards. F3 Greenwood continuously pushes for every PAX to strive for perfect form, which is a tough test in and of itself. My goal during the Iron PAX is to hold myself accountable on my form, I’m not perfect, but I’m gonna do my best to be. Understandably, some PAX will need to modify the workouts due to injuries or time constraints, but if you are able to complete it with perfect form, then do it!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Hardship Hill is October 3rd, we’ll need to schedule a date to build the obstacles that JUCO is responsible for.

Median’s VQ

THE SCENE: 70° and breezy
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: VQ by @Median (guardrail’s 2.0)
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • Cherry pickers & Reach for the stars
  • 10 High knees
  • 10 Side straddle hops 
  • 10 Jungle Boi squats 
  • Baby Arm Circles (forward and back) w Michael Phelps
  • 10 Donkey Kicks On your own
    THA-THANG:
    Black snake Mosey through the courtyard to the parking lot

10 of each of the following at the stations, looping, 12 for the second lap

  • Merkin –>Burpee –> Bernie
  • Ranger Merkin –>Burpee –> Bernie
  • Wide Merkin –> Burpee –> Bernie
  • Diamond Merkin –> Burpee – Coupon Pile (no grass)
  • CPR “Curl Press tRIcep”
  • Bent over row
  • Pull ups
  • Flutter Kicks
  • Leg Raises
  • Box cutters
  • Hello Dolly
  • Jungle Boi Squats
  • Calf Raises

MARY:
Dealers choice: plank, Merkins, American Hammers, box cutters
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. Colossians  1:15 

We need to keep God in the center of our life. That’s hard to do because God is an invisible God. The things we can see are much easier to put our attention on.  But if you always keep God in the center of your mind you will see God moving in so many ways. But how do you know that God is the center of your life?  If you think about a thing more than God you have that in the center of your life instead of God. 

I challenge you to look at how you are spending your free time, does it reflect God?  If your thoughts are always on

  • School (for some of us) 
  • work (most of you ) 
  • or a hobby, 
  • or worrying about COVID 
  • or even your next F3 workout 

–that may be a sign that Christ isn’t the center of your life.  

Instead if your thoughts are on Jesus and His Kingdom and loving others well, you have Christ as the center of your life.  Thank you for being men in my life who help me put Christ as the center.

MOLESKIN:
@Median, Luke Brown, at 12yrs old felt the call to lead and bring a tough word to a tough and awesome group of HIM’s.  Very proud to call him my 2.0.  – Guardrail
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Welcome FNG “Jolly GG”

Iron Pax challenge week 1 Friday. Come early 5:15.