F3 Knoxville

Tag: Swanson

Just Do It.

THE SCENE: 50’s – calm 

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

“Welcome to F3: Fitness – Fellowship – Faith. My name is Steam & I’ll be your Q this morning. I am not a professional and you are here on your own volition, so if you need to modify any of the exercises we do this morning feel free to do so! But push yourself and those around you.”


WARM-O-RAMA:
1. Cherry-Picker: 15 x 4 in cadence

2. SSH: 20 x 4 in cadence

3. High Knees: 20 x 4 in cadence

4. Plank Jack: 20 x 4 in cadence

5. Merkin: 10 x 4 in cadence
THA-THANG:
PAX put keys/wallets/etc in Steam’s ruck

Steam assigned flag carrying duty to different PAX members throughout the beatdown

  • Mosey to The Foundry
    • Mosey around the back (bottom lot)
    • 15s
      • Assemble battle buddy teams
      • Bottom lot = Battle Buddy situps
        • Fingers interlocked behind head – battle buddy hold feet
        • Start with 14 BBSs
      • Top (Front of The Foundry) = Merkins
        • Start with 1 merkin
      • Time Crunch —- PAX recovered at bottom lot
      • G-6 led PAX in 10 – 4 count merkins as the exit ticket
  • Mosey Right out of The Foundry
    • Mosey to bridge tunnel leading to under I-40
    • Peel
      • 2 columns facing the tunnel ahead
      • QIC gave the command “PEEL” & each battle buddy team sprinted to the middle of the tunnel – executed 5 merkins – and sprinted to the other side and held the squat position until all PAX recovered
      • All PAX waiting their turn to PEEL held squat position
  • Mosey to middle column in open parking lot under I-40
    • 8s
      • @ middle column – 7 smurf jacks
      • @ trailer across lot = 1 squat
    • QIC rallied PAX @ trailer with flag
    • Full out 100% sprint back to middle column
  • Mosey back to AO
    • F3 Cadence Call by QIC
  • Abs @ AO
    • Frank led PAX in American Hammers & Flutter kicks until 6 arrived

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

27 total – 2 FNG

Quarantine – Steam – Put-Putt – Swanson – Baby-Face – Hillary – Abort – Amazon – Rousey – Rascal – Butterfly – Bessie – G-6 – Frank – Creeper – Plunger – Cowbell – Careless – Crouton – Prom Night – Petey – Cheatsheet – Cliffhanger – Ringworm – Cougar – Dipper – Bareback

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
1 Chronicles 28:10 = Be careful now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it.

(MSG) “…..be brave and determined and do it.”

God is calling us as men to be strong – to be determined – to do it. He’s called us to build for him, not tear down. I don’t feel like I’ve been strong and have been doing it lately.

That’s where this circle doesn’t just stay here. Take this encouragement outside of 0530 – 0615.

 

Pray It Out

PRs: G-6’s friend who is battling cancer – for their family

Spring Practice

THE SCENE: 49 degrees, cloudy, great day for some practice.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Baby arm circles (4-count) x 12 forward, x 12 back

Cherry pickers x 12

SSH (4-count) x 20

5 burpees

THA-THANG:

  • Mosey to Emerald Youth Soccer Complex
  • Kick Coverage:  PAX splint into 2 equal groups.  Line up on goal line.  1 HIM kicks or punts the ball as far as possible, the rest of the group sprints to the ball, the HIM who recovers the ball has 5 reps of appointed exercise, everyone else 10 reps.  Second group goes while 1 group completes reps on opposite side of field.  Repeat until all PAX have kicked.  Exercises: Round 1 burpees, Round 2 Wide Merkins, Round 3 Ranger Merkins, Round 4 Diamond merkins, Round 5 Catalina wine press, repeat as necessary.
  • Tennessee Drill:  Circle up in middle of field.  Groups of 4 in center battle with appointed exercise to exhaustion while 1 HIM calls out cadence, last one standing is the winner.  While central group is battling, PAX in circle perform appointed exercise.  Round 1:  Center WWII sit-ups , circle squats.  Round 2:  Center Merkins, circle forward lunge.  Round 3:  Center Hello Dollys, circle Reverse lunge.  Round 4:  Center CDD, circle Bobby Hurleys.
  • Two Minute Drill:  Cross the field with appointed exercise as a group until goal line is crossed.  1:  Broad jum burpees x 5.  2: Bear crawls 4-count x5.  3:  Crab walks 4-count x 5.  4:  Merkins x 5 (we did not make forward progress, but it was well executed.  5:  Forward lunge x 5.  6:  Cross the goal line with high steps, finishing with your best Heisman pose.
  • Mosey back to AO

MARY:

  • Out of time

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
19 strong with 1 FNG.  Cougar and Bullseye  were also in attendance (could not find their tags).  Welcome FNG Jarrett Delozier ( Zacchaeus)
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

  • How do you handle or respond to constructive criticism?
  • “Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary.  It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body.  It call attention to an unhealthy state of things.”  Winston Churchill
  • “The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.”  Norman Vincent Peale
  • “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.  Fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  Proverbs 1:7

MOLESKIN:
Pray for Sam, friend of G-6, who is fighting cancer.

big ballin with Charles Bronson

THE SCENE:  37* and calm, great morning
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Tempo lunges x10 on 4 count
Baby arm circles reverse x10
Baby arm circles forward x10 (had to be different)
Tempo merkins x10
SSH x20

THA-THANG:
Mosey out past amphitheater and stop just past it, for another 10 SSHs as we had a few guys show up right as we finished warm up exercises.  Continue mosey across Cumberland Avenue to S7 parking lot behind Min Kao building.  Routine is Charles Bronson (which I don’t get the reference for and we need a new name for Knoxville).  Three cone set up: do exercises at cone 1, sprint to cone 2, bear crawl to cone 3, recover and return to cone 1 and move on to next exercise.  Rinse and repeat run and bear crawl after each exercise.

  • SSH x50 on 4 count
  • Merkins x50
  • Burpess x50
  • BBS x50
  • Jump squats x50

Recover and 10 count.  Mosey up painted stairs over to parking lot below Church Street United Methodist Church.  5 cones set up, moving uphill in parking lot about 8-10 yards apart.  PAX instructed to grab a (reasonable) sized rock from the rock pile.  Exercise as follows: line up at first cone, duck walk with rock tight to chest to second cone;  place rock on the ground and perform 5 leg thrusters;  pick rock up and duck walk with arms extended to third cone; place rock on the ground and perform 5 leg thrusters;  rock back up and duck walk rock tight to chest to fourth cone;  rock down and 5 leg thrusters; rock back up and duck walk arms extended to fifth cone;  rock down and another 5 leg thrusters.  Pick up rock and walk back to first cone, plank and wait for 6 to complete.  Recover and 10 count, rinse and repeat exercise second time.  Place rocks back, mosey across Cumberland Ave towards start point.

MARY:
Hurricane Hoedown! PAX on their 6’s, perform each with no break in between:
Hallelujah flutter kicks (arms above head) x7 on 4 count
Hands behind back flutter kicks x7 on 4 count
Slight recline flutter kicks x7 on 4 count
Regular flutter kicks x7 on 4 count
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Bowled a strike with 10 strong:  Swanson, Red Writer, Cowbell, Cheatsheet, Rousey, Amazon, Quarantine, Crawdad, Preacher, Abort
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
“If a person gave away your body to some passerby, you’d be furious. Yet you hand over your mind to anyone who comes along, so they may abuse you, leaving it disturbed and troubled – have you no shame in that” – Epictetus

Challenge to myself as much as anyone else – do not let your mind be taken from you. Guard it MORE than you would anything, because if you are in control of your mind, nothing can harm you.
MOLESKIN:
Special prayers for Tim, Polly, Jimmy, and Brant as they deal with some difficult times ahead with sickness.

Hiding in the Bushes

THE SCENE: High 40s, drippy and drizzly but not pouring
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH x25 or something like that.  Q screwed up the cadence so reps uncertain
LBAC x20 each way IC
TN Rocking Chairs x15 IC
Al Gore Tuck Jumps x8
Hindurkins x15 IC

THA-THANG:
Mosey to the steps by the ball. Hop up first flight of stairs on right foot,
head south and down the steps, circle back around to hop up stairs on left foot.

Keep heading south and down the steps that some idiot decided should be painted with high-gloss paint. Successfully navigated without injury.
Pair up in groups of 3, each group picks up one large and two small coupons from the bank of the stream.

Cross the street to the safe, unpainted set of stairs.
One PAX at top, one PAX at bottom, one PAX in motion for each group
Small coupon exercises on the streetcorner at the bottom of the stairs until relieved:
-Man-Makers
-Side Raise
-Wax On/Wax Off
-Raise the Roof

Large coupon exercises at the top (hidden by the bushes to avoid indecency citation during Hip Thrust)
-Squrls
-Fwd Raise
-Hip Thrust
-Rows

2 rounds through the circuit and it’s time to head back.

MARY:
Squeaked in some Protractors and 3 rounds of Row your Boat
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
15 strong, no FNGs braved the drizzle. Good to see Acapella visiting the gloom from South GA
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Jeremiah 2:13 – “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water.”

Last week I had to replace my water heater. It was old, and had a good run, but it sprang a small leak. Fortunately I managed to get it out before a catastrophic failure. Pulling the old, leaking tank, partly full of sediment, out of the house made me think of Jeremiah 2:13. Be careful where you are looking for your water, your fulfillment. Anything but the source of Living Water is just a cracked and useless cistern.

MOLESKIN:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The Bomb Shelter Run (C.S.A.U.P. Event)

THE SCENE: Low Mid 60’s with some light rain
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Drifter Q:

start things off with the Disclaimer (He is NOT a professional, refers everyone to take notice of how he is dressed; clearly NOT a professional…1 PAX member commented that Drifter must have had a Blink182 concert to attend after the event…

SSH (IC) x10 slow / x10 fast
Boxer Jacks (IC) x10 slow / x10 fast
Mosey to Grinder:
Lunge forward then backwards
Inchworm Merkins w/hand release
Quad Stretch
Cherry Picker Stretch (fists on ground, walk legs out to the side and back in)
Merkin Ring of Fire, but as a Wave!
Mtn Climbers (IC) 10x slow / 10x fast

THA-THANG:
1st leg was approximately 3.2 miles of running until arriving to the Beatdown:

Mayberry Q:

21 Jump Street:

  • 21 Pull-ups (side of the Alcoa bridge)
  • 21 Burpees (middle of bridge)
  • 21 handstand push-ups (far side of bridge)
    Run back to start and drop 1 rep. (15 min time limit)

2nd leg was approximately 3.2 miles until arriving to the Beatdown:

Snorkel Q:

Split up into 2 groups and then partner up. Near side of Bicentennial Park bridge do:

  • 10 Plank Tri Ext & Derkins Then Wheel Barrel Half of Bridge Switch and come back
  • 8 Plank Tri Ext & Derkins Then Wheel Barrel Half of Bridge Switch and come back
  • 6 Plank Tri Ext & Derkins Then Wheel Barrel Half of Bridge Switch and come back
  • 4 Plank Tri Ext & Derkins Then Wheel Barrel Half of Bridge Switch and come back
  • 2 Plank Tri Ext & Derkins Then Wheel Barrel Half of Bridge Switch and come back

Far side of Bicentennial Park Bridge Partner 1 Wall Sits until Partner 2 completes 15 side to side Merkins.
Partner 2 then monster tire walks to replace Partner 1; Partner 1 bear crawls to area to complete side to side Merkins.

3rd leg….who cares how long, we were too far away to quit and had to get back to the car somehow…(another 3… something miles…felt like 10; here we go!).

Waxjob Q:

Split into 3 groups. 1st man plank, 2nd man bear crawl ahead and plank, 3rd slalom bear crawl to front. Remaining PAX continue to slalom bear crawl to the front until team reaches 50 yard line.
Reverse the process, planking person is now facing the sideline while the PAX in motion jump over the planking PAX.
Mosey to jungle gym:
15x Partner reverse-merkins/OHP on monkey bars
15x Squirkins
10x Over/Unders
15x Leg Throwdowns

4th and final leg was very short, no lies, really short…more like a mosey.

Cap’n Crunch Q:

Starting with 1 exercise, adding another exercise until all 5 exercises are completed in succession. then work back down until only the last exercise is left. 20 seconds per exercise:

  • Burpees (20 sec)
  • Burpees (20 sec) Dry Docks (20 sec)
  • Burpees (20 sec) Dry Docks (20 sec) Narrow Squats (20 sec)
  • Burpees (20 sec) Dry Docks (20 sec) Narrow Squats (20 sec) Diamond Merkins (20 sec)
  • Burpees (20 sec) Dry Docks (20 sec) Narrow Squats (20 sec) Diamond Merkins (20 sec) High Knees (20 sec)
  • High Knees (20 sec) Diamond Merkins (20 sec) Narrow Squats (20 sec) Dry Docks (20 sec) Burpees (20 sec)
  • High Knees (20 sec) Diamond Merkins (20 sec) Narrow Squats (20 sec) Dry Docks (20 sec)
  • High Knees (20 sec) Diamond Merkins (20 sec) Narrow Squats (20 sec)
  • High Knees (20 sec) Diamond Merkins (20 sec)
  • High Knees (20 sec)

MARY:
No PAX were interested in any ladies, specifically Mary by the end of this event!

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
38 PAX!!

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

BOM – CSAUP – Bomb Shelter Run (Cap’n Crunch)

I ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders.

I ask not for an easier path, but for stronger feet.

I ask not for weaker enemies, but for a stronger self.

Jewish Proverb

Congratulations brothers, you did it.  You embraced the challenge and are victorious.  Take and let it sink in…you’ve earned.

I’d like to share something I’ve been thinking about for a while now.  F3 has been a life-changing experience for me.  Every morning I leave a workout I truly leave better than when I arrived.  Lately I’ve been thinking about why that is the case.  Here are my observations.

I believe there are two simple truths that we have lost as men:

  1. The opposite of manhood isn’t womanhood, it’s boyhood
  2. Manhood isn’t a destination or a journey, it’s a mindset

When we lose the distinction between boyhood and manhood our worlds begin to spin off kilter.  We become self-focused, self-protective, self-indulgent and self-reliant.  In other words, it becomes all about us.  As we reject passivity and accept responsibility for our lives we grow as men in all areas: physically, mentally, relationally and spiritually.  We begin to be others-focused, self-sacrificing and interdependent.  We begin acting like men.

In this world, three things serve as resistance to our growth as men:

  • Comfort
  • Convenience
  • Certainty

Overcoming these boils down to our mindset.  We have to daily set aside a boyhood-mindset and embrace a manhood-mindset.  We combat comfort with challenge, we set aside convenience for consistency and we abandon certainty and embrace camaraderie.  I see it as two contrasting mindsets:

A Boyhood-mindset seeks… A Manhood-mindset seeks…
Comfort Challenge
Convenience Consistency
Certainty Camaraderie

Every time we gather, the COP becomes our arena to consistently embrace challenge in the company of like-minded men.

But it’s not enough for us to do this physically.  We MUST carry this mindset to all areas of our lives, especially our relationships with our loved ones and with God.  Never stop striving for more brothers.  Keep embracing new challenges and keep any eye on the six so you can help the man who has stumbled.  Together we will make a difference!