F3 Knoxville

Lighting the Arsenal’s Cannons

THE SCENE: Low/Mid 30’s with some sunshine
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
This is F3, Stands for Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith
It is a FREE workout
I am not a professional
You are here on your own volition
I have no knowledge of any injuries or your fitness considerations
It is your individual responsibility to be safe and to modify exercises if you need to, we all do it
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • SSH – 15 (IC)
  • LBAC – F/B – 10 (IC)
  • Air Squat – 10 (IC)
  • Merkin – 10 (IC)
  • BBS – 10 (IC)

Active Warm-O-Rama – Ring of Fire:

  • While Pax are still in circle have everyone alternating between plank and Al-Gore. 1 Pax will run to the center of the circle and burnie back. Once they return to the plank position the next Pax member goes. Rinse and repeat until all Pax have run to the center and back.

** Have Pax number off by 1s and 2s. 1s will go with Drifter to the Baseball Field and 2s will go with Moses to the Football Field.

THA-THANG:

Baseball Field: Bleacher Work
5 Minute AMRAP:

  • Step-ups – 10 each leg
  • Incline Merkins – 10 (4ct)
  • Dips – 10 (4ct)
  • Step-ups – 10 each leg
  • Decline Merkins – 10 (4ct)
  • Dips – 10 (4ct)

Mosey to Outfield:

  • Suicides – 30 seconds
  • LBC – 20 (4ct)
  • Suicides – 30 Seconds
  • BBS – 10 (4ct)

Rinse & repeat until other group is done

Football Field Work

Place cones at 10, 20, 30, and 40 yards. Pax will run to first cone, complete the exercise and run back. Then run to the 2nd cone complete the exercise, run back. 3rd cone exercise, run back. 4th cone exercise, run back. Rinse and repeat.
5 Minute AMRAP

Circuit 1: Legs

  • 1st cone 10 lunges in place
  • 2nd cone 5 burpees
  • 3rd cone 10 squats
  • 4th cone 5 burpees

Circuit 2: Abs

  • 1st cone 10 BBS
  • 2nd cone 10 American Hammers (count only one side)
  • 3rd cone 10 Hello Dolly (single count)
  • 4th cone 30 LBC

Suicides on cones 1-4 until 15 minutes is up.

Q2 and Q1 Groups flap jack and repeat circuits.

Merge Groups and mosey to Shovel Flag and present the flag

The shovel flag is one of the classic symbols of F3. No matter where you are within F3 Nation, the Shovel Flag is the one true physical link that connects us all. Just like we leave no man where we find them, the Shovel Flag is portable so that it can be carried forward and shared with others.

This shovel flag represents Respect: respect for country, respect for those who hae served and currently serve to protect our freedoms, and respect for the other AO’s across F3 Nation where similar flags are planted ever week

It represents Hard Work: it bears witness to the blood, sweat, and tears of the men of F3 who gather together at some obscene early hour to get better physically while finding new mental limits. Men getting stronger, fit, and conditioned to handle life’s challenges – most of which are not physical at all – Hard Work

This flag also represents the lives of men being changed. Men are moving from being passive participants in life, to being present. Present in our families, present in our places of work and worship, and present in our communities.

Mosey to SP (Smuggler leading the way carrying the flag)

MARY:

We returned with a little extra time to spare so we decided to push through a few more variations of Merkins!

  • Regular Merkin 10(IC)
  • Wide Merkin 10(IC)
  • Dimond Merkin 5(IC)
  • 6” Crunch 10(IC)
  • Gas Pumps 15(OYO)
  • Ankle Touches 20(IC)
  • LBC for time!

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
48 Pax! Included (2) 2.0s and (1) FNG – Welcome ‘That Guy’
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

F3 has always been and will always be more than a workout.  We definitely want to push ourselves and each other physically, but we also want to grow relationally and spiritually.  The PAX is unique in many ways, But the one that is most important to remember is that we are not out here to compete against each other, but collaborate together to grow as husbands, fathers, sons, employees, employers, friends, and neighbors.  We are bound together under a high power for a greater purpose. And I pray that this group of men will continue to lead they way in setting the example for others.

MOLESKIN:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Running is Easy

THE SCENE: Perfect crisp morning. Dark and upper-30s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Moroccan Night Club IC x 10

Over Head Clap IC x 10

Harry Rockets IC x 10

SSH IC x 20
THA-THANG:

Mosey to Sophomore hill in two lines, back pax sprinting forward.

Four corners (3 laps):

10 knee-ups (jumps) then Bernie up

5 each side offset merkins then side shuffle

10 squat jacks then mosey

10 diamond merkins then side shuffle

Hello Dolly and Heels to Heaven until the six was back.

Mosey to the coupon pile:

Inch worm and then Rifle Carry your coupons to Stadium hill.

Focus on form: Tempo merkins and Tempo squats 

Form punishment: Bear crawl stadium hill with a burpee at the top.

As we wait for the spilled merlot to settle: curls and overhead press with tricep extension with you coupon (20 each).

Mosey back to the guardrail and polish off 30 Derkins and Dips.

Thanks to Wheelchair; Suicides down every other parking spot.

MARY:
20 Imperial Walkers IC

BBS to time (about three)
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
13 HIMs, no FNGs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Have you guys ever fasted?  The act of withholding food (and sometimes water) for an intentional predetermined period of time?

I recently had someone provide some great insight about his experiences with fasting and I’ll be honest….I had never done it before.

The Purpose of Fasting

1. Natural reaction to grief over the loss of a loved one (David)

2. More often, fasting was done to purposely “afflict the soul (Leviticus 23:26-32)” or chasten the soul (Ps 69:10)”

3. The purpose of such affliction was to “humble” the soul (Ps 35:13), and not for any affect it might have on the body (i.e., dieting should not be the primary driver for a fast to the Lord).

4. Evidently, they felt that by so humbling themselves they would more likely incur God’s favor–Ezra 8:21-23 (Is 57:15; 66:1-2)

a. It seemed to work!  Think of Jonah, Ahab (1 Kings), Nehemiah

5. Because of the seeking of God’s favor, fasting would almost always be accompanied with prayer

The last one is where I decided to focus recently.  I took a day and decided to spend some time in prayer and focus about a couple of topics that have been hanging over me or pulling at my heart.

I want to encourage you guys to look at your heart or think about a topic that may be something you could benefit from spending some time in prayer or internal focus by fasting.

MOLESKIN:

Prayers lifted for those who have family members and friends who have passed or are sick along with words for everyone to reflect on “Susie” who is truly struggling to make ends meat and how we should be humbled and look for opportunities to help others.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
F3 Arsenal launch tomorrow at 7:00.

Check Your Hearing

THE SCENE:  35 and clear
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Administered
WARM-O-RAMA:

Moroccan Nightclub
Overhead Claps
Tempo Squats
Up/Down Dog
Black snake to the back lot
Bernie the length of the lot
Lunge/broad jump/lunge the length of the lot

THA THANG:

Five Lines spaced ~50’ apart. 

  • Bear crawl to 1st line.  40 merkins.  Sprint to the 5th line and back to start.
  • Bear crawl to 2nd line.  30 merkins.  Sprint to the 5th line and back to start.
  • Bear crawl to 3rd line.  20 merkins.  Sprint to the 5th line and back to start.
  • Bear crawl to 4th line.  10 merkins.  Sprint back to start.

Lunge walk/mosey to the coupons

Diego

P1:  Up the steps – touch the wall – come back
P2: Exercise

100 – Uneven Merkins
150 – Overhead press
200 – Heavy LBC
250 – Curls
300 – Coupon Squat

Mosey to the benches – Bulgarian split squats x 20 each

Mosey home.

MARY:

PAX Choice with some Dolly, American hammer, heels to heaven, plank

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

9 + 5 Rushians

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Today is International Ear Care Day.  Last year’s theme for IECD was “Check Your Hearing” – and that’s what we are going to talk about this morning…checking our hearing

What do you think about when we talk of “listening for the voice of God”?  What does that look like?  What does God’s voice sound like?  Should we expect an audible voice? A flash of lightning? A vision in the clouds?  I’d love to hear an audible voice – but I don’t expect it.  Instead, I think about hearing God’s voice when I “listen” with my heart and my spirit.

In the book of Jerimiah…starting in Chapter 7 the prophet is standing at the gate of a city and relaying God’s words to the occupants.  As he reminisces on the Israelites experience after they left Egypt, Jeremiah says (speaking from God’s perspective), “I have spoken to you time and again, but you wouldn’t listen and I have called you but you wouldn’t answer” (vs 13). Later (vs 24), “(I gave) them this command, ‘Obey me, and then I will be your God, and you will be my people. Follow every way I command you so that it may go well with you”.  Then, “but they harkened not, nor inclined their ear.”

The Hebrew word from this passage which we translate as “inclined” is natah.  Traced to its Semitic root, you find it is a musician’ term, used for the tightening of strings on an instrument to tune it.  The Hebrew word for “ear” is ‘azan, which means ear – but also in the Semitic, it is a term used for a musical instrument.  So, the idea of “inclining one’s ear” is really a word picture of tuning a musical instrument so that it is in harmony with other instruments.  “Hearing the voice of God” might be a matter of tuning the strings of your spirit or heart…so that you are in harmony with His mind and heart.

How do we tune our hearts?

By doing many of the things that we talk about in this circle!

  • Through prayer and guided meditation (hat tip Spotter, Pool Boy, Erector, others…) we commune with His Spirit and, over time, become more in harmony.
  • Through reading and studying scripture (hat tip Guardrail, Wanderer, others…) we learn about His character.
  • Through living obediently (hat tip Archie, Hound Dog, others…).  Because disobedience is a sure sign of living out of tune.

Check your hearing!  Maybe the way you come to know God’s will is by tuning your heart to be in harmony with His heart.  Work at this by prayer, mediation, studying scripture, and living in obedience.

MOLESKIN:

Prayers for Wanderer’s family as they grieve a loss and make plans to travel.

Prayers for Butterknife’s wife as she courageously steps out to look for employment that she is passionate about.

Borrowed most of this from a Word that I did back in October – apologies to Snaggletooth, who heard it twice!

Hat tip to Chaim Bentorah for inspiring this Word.  Read more about natah ‘azan.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Shamrock – Faith in His story

THE SCENE: 59F light rain
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Tie Fighters x10 both directions

Side Straddle hop (IC) 4 CT x 20

Cherry Pickers 5

THA-THANG:

Mosey to Block Pile 

Rifle carry to the covered walkway 

Snow Angels x25 OYO

7’s: 1 Burpee – bear crawl toe taps forward – 6 Diamond Merkins -bear crawl toe taps back keep going until you hit 6 burpees & 1 Diamond Merkin 

10 – 4 count Twinkle Toes 

10 seesaw lunges right leg

10 – 4 count Twinkle Toes

10 seesaw lunges left leg

20 CMU Squats 

—————

Run a lap

50 Bench Press

25 Curls

Run a lap 5% increase

55 Bench Press

30 Curls

Run a lap 10% increase

60 Bench Press

35 Curls

Run a lap 15% increase

65 Bench Press

40 Curls

MARY:
Early Mary – Flutter Kicks with CMU & American Hammers

Return CMUs

Mosey / bear crawl back to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

14 including 1 FNG in-and-out
Slappy, Trolley, Betty, Honeydew, Mermaid, Waxjob, Hydro, Wanderer, Interpol, Cheatsheet, Baby Boomer, Jenner, in-and-out, Anchorman,
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.

It goes on to talk about the ancients: Noah, Abraham, Moses and so on. What they went through in life and how God challenged them with tough situations. 

13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.

So they trusted that God had everything in control and they were just a small part of His story. 

I mentor a small group of high school guys and last week we asked each other “Do you truly believe that God loves you?”  

I asked them what about when things are going wrong in your life. 

One of my guys said that when he goes through a hard time in his life he just simply has to give it up to God and practice faith. I was humbled by his statement, because I had to admit to him that my go-to reaction to hard times is to try to figure it out and fix it on my own. I end up wasting a lot of time until God smacks me in the head and reminds me that He is there. 

 

Escalator vs Stairs

THE SCENE: Warmish (relatively) and clear
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER   Check!
WARM-O-RAMA:
Abe Vigoda x 7, Cherry Picker x 8, SSH x 20, Tempo Merkin x 10
THA-THANG:
Mosey back to the new parking lot in front of Sophomore Hill.

Escalator workout with the following exercises:

  • 10xBurpees
  • 20xBBS
  • 30xHand Release Merkins
  • 40xSquats

Start with just the 10 then run one lap, then do 10 and 20 and run a lap, continue until you’ve completed all 4 exercsies and 4 laps. For the laps the PAX had the option to pick their own distance with the shortest of the three options being .1 mile and the longest ~.25 mile. The goal was for each man to pick the lap distance that would keep them even with the rest of the PAX. Erector was so far ahead even using the longest lap that nobody had a chance. Should’ve added a 1 mile lap option.

Mosey over to the coupon pile and grab your coupon. Surprise JAILBREAK! halfway there.

More escalators, but this time with stairs! Perform the following in the same fashion as above.

  • 10xPicture Hangers
  • 20xTricep Extensions
  • 30xCurls
  • 40xRows

Run up to the pull-up bars for max pull-ups in between sets.

Recover back to the shovel flag.

MARY:
Flutterkicks x 50
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
12 men riding the escalators at JUCO
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
March JUCO monthly challenge:

The challenge for March is to set aside a block of 10 minutes every day for prayer/meditation. If you would like to join the challenge, like the post in the JUCO slack page and I’ll add you to the JUCO monthly challenge channel.

MOLESKIN:
Insert any personal comments, notes, devotion content, etc.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Launch of the new AO “The Arsenal” is next Saturday at 7am in Maryville