F3 Knoxville

Tag: Switchgrass

Young and Old

THE SCENE:  Cloudy, temps in low 50s.  This was actually a Co-Q by Steam and Lillydipper.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Steam got us warmed up with some 2fers for Tuesday.  We did 11 of each of the following but doubled it up with another 11:

  • Side Straddle Hops
  • Monkey Humpers
  • Merkins
  • Combo Rockettes/Windmills
    THA-THANG:

Steam continued with the following:  Mosey to AO pile.  Men split into teams of two each.  Partner 1 does squat while Partner 2 does 11 repetitions of exercise with CMU.  Then Partner 2 does squat while Partner 1 does repetitions.  Then the team sprints to the other side of the parking lot to do 11 repetitions (twice for 2fer Tuesday) of an exercise without CMUs.  The team will sprint back and forth across the parking lot to do the listed exercises.

With CMUs:

  • Overhead Presses
  • Rows
  • Burpees but pushing up on CMU
  • Pulls up to Chin
  • Incline Merkins on CMU

Without CMUs

  • Star Jumps
  • Merkins
  • Squats
  • Side Straddle Hops

Next, we will do Indian Walk across parking lot where man up front carries CMU, places it on ground after ten paces and walks to back of line.  After reaching each side of parking lot we will do 2fers of the following exercises:

  • 11 Smurf Jacks
  • 11 Side Straddle Hops
  • 11 Merkins
  • 11 Big Boy Situps

Next we will Grapevine Right to one side of parking lot and Grapevine Left back

Next we will Bernie Sanders to one side of parking lot and Bernie back.  Then, put CMUs back.

Next, Lillydipper moved us on with the following:  Mosey out of parking lot and onto roadway, going past the parking lot with the nice restrooms.  Turn right on the sidewalk and stay on sidewalk as it goes between the restrooms and parking lot.  Stop by light on sidewalk that is north of the parking lot.  We will do Route Sixty-Six up the Dragon Tail.  We will do this twice using the following exercises:

  • Smurf Jacks
  • Dive Bombers

Starting at the same point where we started Route 66, we will go up the Dragon Tail again but stop at each light and do 5 Hand Release Merkins and 10 Big Boy Sit-ups.  We will do this for six lights.

Mosey back to AO.  We will, next, sprint around the parking lot one time and Bernie Sanders around the parking lot one time.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
9 men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Steam:  It is an honor, as a man in his twenties, to be a part of a group of men where most are older than I.  There have been times when I surely haven’t had my life together and I have been able to look to these older warriors for leadership and guidance.  It is nice to know that I can seek them out and it also a great thing to be able to look up to them as role models.

Lillydipper: It is an honor for me to lock shields with the type of young men we have in F3.  The zest and enthusiasm of these younger HIMs inspires me.  I know the world is going to be ok when I see leaders like these grabbing the steering wheel.  To have their respect amazes me.  And to know that they will circle back to pick me up leads me to respect them the more.
MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Thunderstruck’s mother and Pinto, who are battling cancer.  Prayers for Abscess, Pele and Fob who are overcoming injuries.  Praise to Iceman’s brother and sister-in-law who recently had a baby.

PM Asylum — Surprise Birthday Q

THE SCENE: Perfect for a beatdown.  50 Degrees

WARM-O-RAMA:
47 4cnt SSH,  Cherry Pickers, Arm Circles, Seal Claps

Baseline:  Apolo OhNo’s, Snowboarders, Rocky Balboa’s, Karaoke, Skips, Bear Crawls

THA-THANG:
Battle Buddy Up, Slingshot up Cardiac.  1 partner does 100 yard dash, while other does Blockees.  Then, slingshot back.

Mosey to the do Pyramid Scheme

Battle Buddy, run opposite laps, and do exercises when you meet :  Merkins, Squats, Burpees, LBC’s

MARY:
Freddie Mercury’s, Superman’s, Planks

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Surprise 47 Birthday Q.  Read a study last week that figured out statistically 47 was the most unhappy year of someone’s life in the developed world.  You are most happy at 18.  The good news is that it is a Bell Curve and when you hit 67 you are once again as happy as you were at 18 years old.  I for one am going to give a middle finger to this idea and encourage all to make right now the best year of your life.  Love your kids more, Love your spouse more, Find Someone without friends and Love on them.  I have never heard of someone on their deathbed saying I should have loved less or volunteered less.  We all know that makes our heart full so encourage you to start now.
MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Pinto and his continued Fight.  Prayers for Tony Williams and his family who passed away last week.

Filling the void

THE SCENE: Partly cloudy skies, temp about 31 degrees.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Quick run around parking lot, 20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Burpees, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Windmills, Little of This and That, Michael Phelps.
THA-THANG:

Mosey to parking lot across the street that is by the entrance way to the Northern Ball Fields.  We will going around the parking lot four times, doing one per lap, the exercises listed in each corner.  In moving around the parking lot we will go from one corner to the next as directed by the sign.

  • Corner 1:  20 Hello Dollies, 20 Flutter Kicks, 20 Bicycle Kicks, 20 Box Cutters (four count each exercise).  Sprint to Corner 2.
  • Corner 2:  20 Squat Jumps, 20 Star Jumps, 20 Iron Mikes (both legs = 1), 20 Mountain Climbers (both legs = 1).  Lunge to Corner 3.
  • Corner 3:  With CMUs – 25 Overhead Presses, 25 Curls, 25 Rows, 25 Squats.  Bernie Sanders to Corner 4.
  • Corner 4:  20 Merkins, 20 Bottle Openers (both hands = 1), 20 Carolina Dry Docks, 20 Shoulder Taps (both shoulders = 1).  Hop to Corner 1.

Mosey to Flag Pole at Entrance Way to Northern Ball Fields.  We will run to following areas and do the following exercises:

  • Flag Pole:  20 American Hammers (4 count)
  • Benches at playground:  20 Bench Jumps
  • Dug out at ball field:  20 Seconds of Pull ups
  • Pavilion:  20 picnic table pull ups.
  • Rinse and repeat.

Mosey past batting cages to beginning of Cardiac.  We will go up Cardiac doing the following exercises at each of the following areas:

  • Curve 1:  10 Hand Release Merkins
  • Curve 2: 20 Dive Bombers
  • Curve 3:  20 Decline Merkins
  • Benches:  20 Bench Dips

Mosey back to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Twelve men, no FNGs.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
God created us in His image.  He also created us for relationship with Him.  If we are without God, there is a void within us.  We as humans try to fill that void with other things besides God:  riches, power, success, or finding that perfect person who can take care of our needs.  But those things don’t work.  Only God can fill the void.

I used a song by John Mellancamp in a former message I gave and I want to use it again.  It describes the narrator’s attempt to fill the “void in his heart” with things that just don’t work.  He claims, “I did everything like they said so that I could find happiness.”  The problem is that he “is running from eternity” and trying to fill the void with worldly versus Godly things.  Toward the end of the song, the narrator, frustrated and questioning why the void in his heart remains, exclaims “Hey, Lord, well you made me like I am.”  In other words, if you made me like I am why does this void remain?  The narrator is correct about the Lord making him like he is.  The Lord made each of us with a “void in our heart”.  And, He can heal the “restlessness” that the narrator suffers with.  We will all be unsatisfied until we fill the void with God.  We must look to God, fill our lives with what He gives us, to fill the void.  Listen to God.  What does God want for you?  What is He telling you.  What direction does He want you to go in with your life?  Focus on Him, read about Him, take His message in – there you will find the true stuff that fills the void in your heart.

John Cougar Mellencamp Lyrics
“Void In My Heart”
There’s a void in my heart
I can’t seem to fill.
Been a parent, had three children
And a big house on the hill.
Hundred dollar in my pocket
And it didn’t buy a thing.
Now there’s a void in my heart
And a hole in my dreams.
Well I poured miles of concrete
And strung wire for telephones,
Dug ditches when I was a young boy
When I first left my parents’ home.
Sang my songs for millions of people,
Sang good and bad news,
Now there’s a void in my heart
And a fire at my fuse.
Well I did everything just like they said
So I could find happiness.
Went to school and got a college degree
And at my job I did my best.
As I sit here alone tonight
I see a billion just like me
With a void in their hearts and running from eternity.
There’s a void in my heart I can’t seem to fill.
I do charity work when I believe in the cause
But in my soul it bothers me still.
Hey, Lord, well you made me like I am.
Can You heal this restlessness?
Will there be a void in my heart
When they carry me out to rest?

God, my prayer to you is that each of us will see the voids in our heart and turn to you to fill them.  If we seek you, we will find the strength, comfort and love that can fill the void.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for our brother, Pinto, who finished a recent bout of radiation treatment for cancer and will be also getting stem cell treatment along with chemotherapy.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
We will be launching in Morristown on April 4.  We have received enough donations for the pull up bars and will be putting them up in the future.

Tractor Clause’s Christmas Eve Elf Training

THE SCENE: Warm (40) for December and dry
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
10 LBAC IC front and back

15 Windmills IC

20 Imperial Walkers IC

5 Man-makes IC

21s, count out to 5 and then silent to 21.  Everyone did it perfect and avoided the penalty and do over.

THA-THANG:
This was a CMU workout to get Santa and his elves ready to deliver heavy packages.

  1. 50 OH Press, then Overhead CMU Carry (OHCC) to other end of parking lot
  2. 50 CMU Curls, then OHCC back
  3. 50 CMU block squats, OHCC to other end of parking lot
  4. 50 CMU BBS, OHCC back
  5. 50 CMU Ground to Overhead, OHCC to other end of parking lot
  6. 50 CMU Squat Thrusts, OHCC back
  7. 50 CMU block swings, OHCC to other end of parking lot
  8. 50 CMU Swith Arm merkins, OHCC back

Mosey to the planters:

11s on the planter boxes of Step-ups and Little Baby Crunches

Mosey over to AO and circle up for Mary.

MARY:
Time for some Jose Felicianos.  While “Feliz Navidad” is playing, circle up in plank position.  When Mr. F sings “Feliz Navidad”, do a merkin.  When he sings “I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas”, do a plank jack.  Merkin count: 21.  Plank jack count: 18.  Plank duration: 3:06.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Despite all the hustle and bustle, always remember that it’s really all about Jesus during the Christmas season.
MOLESKIN:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Hope, Peace, Joy, Love

THE SCENE: Cool but nice, clear, upper 40s.  Beautiful evening sky observed and appreciated at the top of Cardiac…

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER Check, but with egregious Q errors. F3: Fitness. Fellowship.  AND FAITH!

WARM-O-RAMA:

-34 Side Straddle Hops (4-ct), in cadence (#34, WALTER PAYTON) (big Bears/Dallas game tonight, so the rep numbers honored the ’85-’86 Bears, perhaps the GREATEST TEAM IN THE HISTORY OF SPORTS!)

– 9 Cherry Pickers (4-ct), in cadence (#9, JIM MCMAHON)

– 22 Tempo Squats (4-ct), in Cadence (#22 DALE DUERSON)

– 21 Moroccan Nightclub (4-Ct) in cadence (#21 LESLIE FRAZIER, but Q and PAX messed up the count and we went to #23)

THA-THANG:

  • Mosey to Serpentine sidewalk.  LIGHT POLE ESCALATORS
    • Start at first light pole. Do exercise then run to second light pole, do exercise, run back, etc.  Go to 8 light poles. Exercises are:
      • Light Pole 1: 5 Burpees
      • Light Pole 2: 10 Bobby Hurleys
      • Light Pole 3: 15 Carolina Dry Docks
      • Light Pole 4: 20 BBSs
      • Light Pole 5: 25 LBCs
      • Light Pole 6: 30 iron mikes (single count)
      • Light Pole 7: 35 Hello dollies (single count)
      • Light Pole 8 : 40 Imperial Walkers (single count).
  • Mosey to Cardiac Hill.  Do the following exercises at the bottom then run up to first turn and back. Do 5x reps the first time, then 10x, then 15x.
    • Smurf Jacks
    • Mountain Climbers (2-ct)
    • Froggie Jumps
    • Run back up the entire hill, doing 10 merkins at each turn.
  • Mosey to Parking Lot next to ball fields in a representation of what is sure to come in an incredible victory of the Bears over the Cowboys.
    • At the near end we will be the BEARS, so we will BEAR CRAWL 10 parking lines, do one Burpee to celebrate a First Down, and continue marching down the field (parking lot) at every line until the end. TOUCHDOWN! Do 7 Merkins.
    • Now we’re the COWBOYS!  BOO! HISS!!!!  Turn around and do the COWBOY WAHOO dance just less than 1 parking line. But the fearsome Bears D is TOO STRONG! NO FIRST DOWN! PUNT! Sprint to the end of the parking lot and we’re the BEARS again, marching down the field.  Rinse and Repeat from there.

MARY:
– Box Cutters (20, IC), E2K (20 each side, OYO), American Hammers (20, IC), X’s and O’s, BBSs (20, OYO… these are surprisingly hard after the X’s and O’s!!), Ring of Fire

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
9 strong, with Hooker also joining us at the end for a much-appreciated summary and update of Pinto’s condition.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

“Advent” is Latin for “coming”, and this is a special time of year when we wait in anticipation to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  I always looked forward to the Advent Wreath tradition at church when I was growing up.  Our family would always volunteer to light one of the four candles at church, and each week, as we lit one more candle, the anticipation of the birth of Christ would increase, until Christmas Eve, when the Christmas candle would be lit in the middle, representing the light of God coming into the world.  The four candles represented:

  1. HOPE
  2. PEACE
  3. JOY
  4. LOVE

I feel we individually and as a Nation need these in our hearts now more than ever.  Hope. Peace. Joy. Love.

HOPE: Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the Darkness.

PEACE: Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.

JOY: It is the experiences, the great Triumphant joy of living to the fullest extent in which the real meaning of being alive is found.  And it is great to be alive!

LOVE: I fell in love with you because you loved me when I couldn’t love myself.

Finally, the Christ Candle.  Candles cast no shadow.   “God is Light.  In Him there is no Darkness at all.” John 1:5

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Sparkler and his family as they approach the anniversary of their son’s passing.  In his honor, the Fake Gloom brothers submitted a new exercise, “Grady Corn”, to the nation F3, which was accepted.  Grady Corn is the “Candy Corn” exercise that Grady Pitstick, aka “Quikrete” brought to our workouts.

Prayers to Pinto for healing and comfort as he continues to courageously battle health issues. It’s been a tough year for our brother.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
3rd F, 7 am this Saturday at the Truck Stop, with Fellowship and Faith gathering immediately after.  Please bring donations for the Veteran’s Wish List (see Mayberry’s post in Group Me) and a nominal monetary donation ($10 recommended) to cover the cost of breakfast, which will be provided.