F3 Knoxville

CMU Trail of Fears (Being Conquered)

[ The Scene ]

  • It’s hot with a capital h o t
  • PAX circle up in the bat cave where some shade is afforded

[ Warm-o-Rama ]

  • Windmill: 10 x 4 IC
    • 1 burpee
  • Rockette: 10 x 4 IC
    • 2 burpee
  • Baby Arm Circles
    • F: 10 x 4 IC
    • B: 10 x 4 IC
    • 3 Burpee
  • Seal-Clap Squats: 5
    • Down —> 1 4-count seal clap
    • Up = 1
    • 4 burpees
  • SSH: 10 x 4 IC
    • 1 burpee

[ The Thang ]

—mosey to CMU pile by bat cave—

(1) CMU Warm-Up

  • 5 CMU Getups
    • Deadlift up CMU
    • Squat w/CMU
    • Up + chest-press CMU
    • Deadlift down CMU on ground
  • 10 Cross-Overs
    • CMU on ground
    • Burpee on 1 side
    • “Jump” on the burpee is over the CMU
    • Burpee on the other side
  • 15 CMU Curl Presses
    • Curl + press – back down
  • 20 CMU Flutter Kick Presses
    • Execute flutter kicks while doing 20 CMU presses above
  • 25 CMU Drags
    • Bear Crawl formation
    • Take 1 hand – pull CMU through your legs to your other hand
    • Bear crawl up until the CMU is in the same start position as before
    • R & R
    • Every CMU pull = 1

(10 count)

—walkdown the stairs from the bat cave—

—mosey with CMUs to the beginning of lighted path leading up to Saturday morning AO—

(2) CMU Trail of Reps

  • CMU Curls
  • CMU Presses
  • CMU Squats
  • Nickel – Dime – Quarter
  • Light 1 = 5 CMU Curls
  • Light 2 = 10 CMU Presses
  • Light 3 = 25 CMU squats
  • Rinse & Repeat until we get to the small parking lot right over there
  • However – switch the order of the Xs once you get done with the first 3 lights
    • 4th light = 5 CMU Presses
    • 5th light = 10 CMU squats
    • 6th light = 25 CMU Curls

***Disclaimer: this sucked***

There was a teaching moment in this evolution of the beatdown however

Teaching Moment/Q Tip #1: Sweep/Pickup the 6/Wagon-Wheel/No Man Left Behind

The command of “Sweep/Wagon Wheel” was given 3x by the QIC

Pele was the singular HIM that responded and came back initially – the rest of the PAX followed suit after some prompting.

Why do we circle back/wagon wheel/pickup the 6/sweep if the QIC gives the command? (1) Not because the Q is in charge or commands it, but because any one of us could be the 6 on any given day. All of at some point in time have been the 6, you know what it’s like. (2) Circling back/wagon wheel/pickup the 6/sweep isn’t just a physical thing – it’s also mental as well. Sometimes all people need is a little encouragement and if you’re the 6 I’m gonna go out on a limb and say you probably needed some encouragement. Think about what circling back/wagon wheeling/picking up the 6/sweeping does for the 6 – not only does it reaffirm physically “No man left behind” but it also affirms mentally for the 6 and the PAX “No man left behind.”

We circle back. We Wagon Wheel. We pickup the 6. We sweep. No man left behind. That is a non-negotiable of F3. Period.

(Teaching Moment/Q Tip #1 was sunk in with 5 burpees by all PAX – we grow and move together – no man left behind)

Teaching Moment/Q Tip #2: It’s just a piece of rock

We have this thing at Asylum PM – if you break a CMU, 100 burpees or something crazy (stupid) like that. I’ll tell ya, people are generally pretty safe with their CMUs then, right?

However, it happens.

Dewey broke his CMU. Two pieces, on the ground. Disclaimer: Dewey is a tough hombre. Dewey is also the youngest PAX out there and he’s holding his own with the rest of us. Dude is straight crushing it in arguable one of the hardest CMU workouts to hit Asylum PM in a while.

Sometimes all people need a little encouragement. So you broke your CMU? Guess what? It’s a piece of rock – it’s okay. You’re crushing it man, keep your head up.

The bigger of the 2 broken CMU pieces is then shared by the PAX all the way back to the CMU pile. That’s what we do. CMUs are gonna get broken. It’s okay.

However, Teaching Moment/Q Tip #2 was sunk in with 5 burpees as well by all PAX – we share each other’s burdens)

Ah, I digress. Back to the hellish workout.

(Recover by parking lot)

(10 count)

Time to deliver these from whence they came – if you get down to the CMU pile first – come help someone else out with theirs that might be struggling (20/80 success on this).

(3) Pickett’s Charge to the Bat Cave

  • From the Asylum weekday morning AO car parking lot to the top of the overlook to the bat cave

Q lines up PAX in 2 lines – with Lilydipper and Pusher out front

The standard is as such —> run up Pickett’s Charge led by Lilydipper and Pusher —> no one passes them on the way up.

Teaching Moment/Q Tip #3: No one is above the standard, not even the Q.

Q stops PAX after first small hill on Picket’s Charge – reminds men of the standard set – PAX get in merkin plank position – 5 up/down merkins are executed.

Why? You are not above a standard – set by a Q or not. I am not above a standard – set by a Q or not. No one is above a standard – set by a Q or not. I don’t care how fast you are. No one cares how fast you are. There is a standard (set by the Q or not) for a reason. And a Q (and HIM) should expect and accept it to be followed. It’s not about you. It’s about the PAX. Challenge me on this. All feedback is encouraged and welcomed.

[ COT ]

  • # off
  • Name o Rama
  • FNGs
  • BOM

“Learn how to discern a win” – Jerry Flowers

    • Sometimes all people need is encouragement
    • When you can’t discern a win you’ll begin to mislabel victories
    • Identify a win – examples:
        • Lost something but gained something else
        • Lost something but gained a prayer life
        • Didn’t get the position or promotion but got character development and discipline along the way – that’s a win
        • I wanted to give you 5 examples of what I’ve identified as a few wins/victories for me so far this year:
          • Told to work from home indefinitely and feeling trapped inside all day —> freedom to be more intentional with my prayer life and pour more into things I love like F3 and walking outside – that’s a victory and a win.
          • A couple “failed” relationships —> intentional experiences and I’m being protected – given insight. That’s a victory and a win.
          • Started leading a small group of men – who are all married and in their 40s and up – I don’t say that to boast, I say that because for me this is a win for me because I didn’t see that modeled well a lot when I was growing up and now the Lord’s placed me there so I can actually see it modeled well while I learn how to lead – irrespective of my age or life experience – that’s a blessing and a win.
          • A few different opportunities have come and knocked on my door professionally and personally and instead of just flinging open the door – I’m learning to exercise judgement and wisdom in my decisions – for me that’s a victory and win.
          • We all have that one friend – and if you don’t that’s okay too – that has always been a little crazy right?
            • Well my dad has that one friend too. Great guy, snuck pre-21 years old Steam  a 6 pack at my dad’s wedding a while ago. We all get together for a guys weekend this weekend and play golf, shoot, wet our whistles probably a little more than we should, especially this particular guy and a bi-product of that led to him just opening up and saying “I remember having nowhere to turn, and just crying out to God for help.” Getting to recognize the weight of what was actually happening when he was verbally processing this was a huge win and victory. God’s on the move. 

So, what did we learn?

(1) No Man Left Behind. Period. Circling Back/Wagon Wheeling/Picking Up the 6/Sweeping is more than just a physical action.

(2) Stuff happens. Things break. There are consequences. But we share each other’s burdens. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Keep your head up.

(3) There’s a standard for a reason. No one is above the standard. Not even the Q.

(4) Learn how to discern a win so you don’t mislabel victories in your life.

(5) Sometimes all someone needs is just a little encouragement.

Iron. Sharpens. Iron.

-Steam

 

In His Mansion

THE SCENE: Insert info about the weather, etc.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side-Straddle-Hops, 10 Burpees, 10 Plank Jacks, 5 Burpees, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Imperial Walkers, 10 Windmills, Michael Phelps

THA-THANG:

Each man picks up a pair of bricks from my truck.  We then run to parking lot by entrance to Northern Ball Fields.  There will be exercises posted at each corner of the parking lot.  Do the exercise listed, run around the parking lot, then do the next exercise listed.  Always have bricks when running.  Once exercises at one cone are complete, go to the next cone and do those.  When a man is done he will have done 12 exercises (3 from each cone and run around the parking lot 12 times).  Here are the exercises from each cone:

  • Cone 1:  1. 50 Overhead Presses with Bricks  2. 20 Big Boys  3. 50 Curls with Bricks
  • Cone 2:  1. 50 Rows with Bricks  2. 20 Big Boys  3.  50 Wings Up with Bricks
  • Cone 3:  1. 50 Wings Out with Bricks  2. 10 Mini Man-makers 3. 50 Wings Down with Bricks
  • Cone 4.  1. 50 Punches with Bricks.  2. 10 Mini Man-makers  3. 50 Triceps with Bricks

Mosey with bricks back to the truck and replace them there.

Mosey to stop sign at Northeastern corner of admin bldg.  We will do 20 American Hammers.

Mosey down steps to small alleyway.  Pick teammate. We will do Doras.  Teammate runs up stairs, around to beginning of alleyway and back to teammate while teammate does exercises.  Teammates the switch off.  Here are the exercises:

  • 150 Squats
  • 150 Big Boy Situps
  • 100 Merkins

Mosey to Parking Lot that semi-circles by soccer fields.  We will Bernie for 20 fence stakes then lunge for 10 tent stakes and repeat that pattern to the end of the parking lot.

Mosey to beginning of mini-cardiac.  Bernie to park sign, then sprint the rest of the way back to the AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
13 Men, no FNGs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Thomas Merton:  “Creation isn’t something that just happened in the beginning and then God walked off and left us to our own devices.”

Imagine if that were true.  God created this universe and everything in it and then said, “Good luck everybody, I’m going to sleep.”  Would the creator do that?  I don’t think so.

Thomas Merton:  “Creation is going on all the time.  That creation is absolute and perpetual.”

That creation is a gift and a miracle.  It surrounds us and is within us.  Yet, we so often fail to see it.  Some of the great church hymns have God saying to us (or use to Him), “Abide in Me”, knowing that we so often fall short in doing so.

James Finley describes this failure to see God’s gift to us in this way:

What if all along you’ve been living in this incredible mansion all your life but through a tragic mental condition you think you’re living in a little tent behind the garage?  And every week your psychotherapist comes over for your weekly session, and your therapist says, “Look, I wouldn’t, honestly, I wouldn’t lie to you on this one.  You’re in a mansion.  You’ve been living in it all along.”  You say, No.  No.  I . . . as a matter of fact, I don’t even think I deserve to even try to get in there, actually.”  In God, we live and move and have our being.  We’re living our life in the vast interiority of God pouring Himself out and giving himself away as every breath and heartbeat, as every passing moment of our life.  This is confusion.  Jesus called it blindness.  Buddha called it ignorance.  We don’t see the God-given, Godly nature, the boundary-less generosity of every blessed moment in our life.”

To abide in God is to accept his gift, to recognize His beauty, to breath it in what John Eldredge calls “The Sacred Romance.”  Other spiritual writers call it the “Sacred Dance.”  To abide in God is to ask him to abide with us.

I will close with some lines from the song “Abide With Me”:

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies
Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers of praise for Lillydipper’s wife (done with double masectomy surgery) and Choir Boys’ wife (does not have lymphoma and is getting rehab for the pain she is experiencing); prayers for wife of Mr. Jinxy who will have surgery on September 17; prayers for Lulu and Doubtfire who both have lost their mothers this past month.

Chunked Topped Diced

THE SCENE: QVC emerged from a yearlong fartsack! Welcome back.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER 
WARM-O-RAMA:

I heard Preacher himself shouting all the way from the Arizonian desert that “burpees are not a warmup”

“Studies indicate” that none of us is likely to keel over dead in the next 10 years.

THA-THANG:
They took the caution tape off the Cloud, which I appreciate. Jack Webb never showed up today, which everybody appreciates! Box-Baby-Boxes x3. Some Merkins. Table row/squat 11s. Balls to the Wall.

A Merkin or two on the way to Cardiac, and Cardiac beat us like we owed it money.

MARY:
Normally I don’t like Mary, but Hands’ Evil Plank made an appearance. And Hands wasn’t even there to enjoy it!

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:
“A Good Man Is Hard To Find” by Flannery O’Connor. A favorite of mine.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
IronPax tomorrow. Much misery ahead.

Being Neighborly with a Jelly Legged Welsh Dragon

THE SCENE: It’s August.  In Knoxville.  So, you know, warm.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH x 15 (4ct IC); 2 burpees; Imperial Walkers x 15 (4ct IC); 4 burpees; Cherry Pickers x 10ish (IC); 6 burpees; Tie Fighters, forward and back x 12ish; 8 burpees.
THA-THANG:
Jelly Legs.  Line up on the baseline.

  • Round 1: 10 second squat hold; 10 squats, run to other side for 2 burpees, and then back;
  • Round 2:  20 second squat hold; 20 squats, run, 2 burpees.
  • Round 3, 30 second squat hold; 30 squats, run, 2 burpees (see the pattern?)
  • Rounds 4 and 5

Welsh Dragon

  • Bear crawl x 4; 1 4 ct shoulder tap (tapping each shoulder once); 1 merkin
  • Continue with 4 step bear crawl and add a 4 ct shoulder tap and additional merkin each time up to 10;
  • Turn around and work back to the beginning, going down in reps, starting from 10, back to 1.

Cardiac

  • Mosey from AO up Baby Everest, to Cardiac, down to Cardiac, wagon wheeling for the 6;
  • 10 burpees at the bottom; Bernie to the first turn for 10 burpees; mosey to the next turn for 10 burpees, sprint to the top as hard as you can.
  • 25 dips

Some flutters waiting on the 6.  Mosey back to the AO

MARY:
High Heels led something (flutters? Hello Dollies?); then 25 tempo LBCs.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
 

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Here’s the full post of my friend, which I stole for the BOM:  “In the gospel of Luke, a dude skilled in the day’s cultural/religious law approached Jesus to “test him” asking, basically, ‘What do I need to do to be considered right before God?” And Jesus turns it around and asks, ‘Well, what’s written in the law about this topic?’ Dude repeats the Golden Rule, which says, in part: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

Jesus says, ‘Looks like you got it. Do that and you’re cool’  But dude pushes for clarification: ‘Okay, but who exactly is my neighbor?’  Then, Jesus answers the very precise question by telling a story that most everyone on the planet now knows well – the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Story goes, in a nutshell: “Guy traveling was jumped by robbers who stripped and beat him and left him to die. Two dudes who were socially privileged (a priest and Levite) came along, noticed the guy, but peaced-out.  Then, a Samaritan (not considered to fully belong to the dominant culture), noticed the guy lying there and decided to stop and interrupt what he was doing. The Samaritan then spent his time and his money making sure the guy was going to be alright.”

Then, this is the epiphany moment: Jesus didn’t ask, “Which of these three would you consider to be your neighbor?” Instead, he asked: “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the guy who nearly got waxed?” Dude responds: “The one who showed mercy.” (i.e., the Samaritan).  Jesus: “Go and do likewise.”

In other words, Jesus was saying: “You’re asking the wrong question – ‘who is my neighbor?’ The question itself  isses the point and implies a primary concern with exclusivity and tribalism. – instead, you should be asking, ‘What should I do to be a neighbor?’” So, instead of asking, “Whose life in particular should matter to me?”

Go and observe who is truly in need and show those persons mercy. A human in need.

 

A human who has been treated unjustly.

 

In order to be a neighbor, you should concern yourself with *that individual* or *those individuals* regardless of attributes such as color, beliefs, religion, political affiliation, occupation, or social standing.

 

Indeed, Jesus assigned no other attribute to the person other than that he was in need.

 

Look for needs and heal them – even and especially if you’re a Samaritan.

 

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Doubtfire and his family with his mom’s passing.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:

When Dan Met Amy: The Reunion

THE SCENE: It was almost not unbearably humid.  Almost.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSHx20, 4ct, IC; Imperial Squat Walkers x15, 4ct, IC; Tie Fighters, forward and back; 4ct, IC x 10 each; CP x 5, IC; Run two laps around the AO parking lot
THA-THANG:
Burpee Dan

  • Lunge 4 times then 4 burpees, then lunge, burpees, etc. across the parking lot, run back;
  • Repeat with 4 lunges, 3 burpees across; run back
  • 4 lunges, 2 burpees across
  • Finally, 4 lunges, 1 burpee across.
  • Mosey to bottom of Baby Everest

Fat Amy:  4 rounds, each ending with a run or Bernie up Baby Everest and back down.

  • Round 1; 10 burpees; 50 squats; 40 BBS; 10 burpees; run up Baby Everest;
  • Round 2:  10 burpees; 20 star jacks; 10 burpees; Bernie up BE;
  • Round 3: 10 burpees; 20 star jacks; 10 burpees; run up BE;
  • Round 4: 10 burpees; 50 squats; 40 BBS; 10 burpees; Bernie up BE
    Early finishers mosey to the Cloud for 11s (Derkins and Bulgarian Squats)
  • MARY:
    Hands of Time; Hello Dollies and ATMs.
    COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMACIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
    The Lord tells us “a friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” – Proverbs 17:17.  Are there times in your life that God maybe puts someone in our path that needs encouragement, a brother born for adversity and you’ve side stepped it?  I know I have.  My prayer is that I can find the strength to accept the challenge of stepping into the breach with my brother who is going through a rough time and help them through it, even if it is simply a word of encouragement.
    MOLESKIN:
    A couple of notes:  I stole this Q from one that Proton did a few years ago.  We miss Proton.  Also, Veggie and Jumbo posted as well, but don’t appear to have tags.
    ANNOUNCEMENTS:
    Swanson is heading up a work day at Moreland Heights Elementary School on Aug. 8.