F3 Knoxville

Slippery Slippery Steps

THE SCENE: A Deceivingly cold Gloom

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

WARM-O-RAMA:

x15 Side straddle hops.

x15 Calf Raises

x10 Forward Lunges

x10 Overhead Arm Pull

x5 Cherry Pickers

THA-THANG:

After warmup, We headed down to the football field, I placed a cardboard piece with 3 sets of two exercises on it at the starting point. The workout continued like this.

  • We ran the track over to the bleachers
  • We ran up and down the bleachers until we got back on the track
  • Once back at starting point we did the first set of two exercises
  • We repeated those steps, progressing through the sets until Recover
  • Tried not to slip and die.

MARY MARY NICE AND HAIRY:
No Mary Needed.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
My biological father was never very affectionate, he was a good father, he took care of us, gave us nice things, but he never verbalized his love. I think, because God was often to remind us of his love for us, we as humans rely on being told we’re loved, and crave that affection, and not being given it does not lead to healthy mindsets, doubt can arise, and regret from both parties. When my parents passed away, I was lucky enough to be able to tell my Mom I love her before i went to bed, and I was able to hear it back, as well as a book I have with a voice recording. However with Dad, I wasnt as lucky, and I would give so much just to hear him say “I love you.” You’re never guaranteed tomorrow, and you’re never guaranteed another second. Tell your family you love them, it costs nothing, but it’ll pay huge dividends.

Celebrating 5 Decades

THE SCENE:

Perfect gloomy cold

WARM-O-RAMA:

Some Burpees, some SSHs, some Cherry Pickers, and some Tie Fighters… just right to knock the chill off

THA-THANG:

Commemorating 5 decades of life and a great way to gain some respect… 5 progressive rows of fun… Reps were 5 to start – special movement across – 10 reps on the other side – and special movement back… then we moved up the ladder:

Row 1 – 5 merkins… bear crawl over… 10 merkins… bear crawl back

Row 2 – 5 burpees… lunge over… 10 burpees… lunge back

Row 3 – 5 SSHs… sprint over… 10 SSHs… sprint back

Row 4 – 5 squat thrusters…. rifle carry over… 10 squat thrusters… rifle carry back

Row 5 – 5 curls + 5 overhead presses… farmer carry 2 cmus over… 10 curls and OVP… farmer carry back

Worked up and down the ladder as many times as possible

MARY:

Stopped on the way back to the CMU pile to do 25 Grady Corns

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

21 HIMs with no FNGs (all dressed in khaki cargo shorts, knee socks, and Hawaiian shirts)

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
“You do not know what will happen tomorrow.  For what is your life?  It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” James 4:14

Time is precious.  We are fragile.  Life is short. Eternity is long.

“Redeem the time” Ephesians 5:16

Life is a gift that can be over before we know it… Cardinal recently but other fallen friends remind us how abruptly it can end – by God’s perfect design and providence.  Embrace each day… be intentional… love those closest to you and work at being the best you.  Leave a legacy worthy of respect.

MJ Day

MJ Day @ Shamrock (2-3-23)

THE SCENE: A chilly 32° but DRY with a full moon in the backdrop.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

WARM-O-RAMA:
20 SSH, 30 sec of Iron Mike’s, 23 Bobby Hurley’s, & 15 4-count mtn. climbers w/ merkin & plank position hold after every 5 reps.

THA-THANG:

  • Mosey up to stadium turf
  • Line up across West goal line
  • Pyramid style Q (5,10,15, 20…etc.)
  • Red vs Blue …1v1 w/ each Pax calling out an exercise (get creative) before the roll off, high roll wins (red wins tie 🎲🎲), cumulative sum of 4 die determines reps to perform at goal line…23 burpees was not an ideal Craps roll today 😩
  • After Pax winners choice of exercise, lunge to 5 yd line, perform 2 burpees, mosey back to goal line
  • Make it, Take it (winner keeps red die and invites next challenger)
  • Repeat this cycle with incremental increase in lunge distance by 5 yds (10, 15, 20 etc…ending at the 50)
  • For the 2nd half (50, 45, 40 etc.), Butt kicks up, 3 burpees, mosey back to goal line
  • We called time half way through the 2nd half, Mercy rule enacted

MARY:
Random ab exercises led by Mermaid & Hooptie for a brief stint.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

20 STRONG with 2 FNG’s. Welcome Brimstone & Finish Him (revised from Old School during coffeeteria). Please come back to Shamrock soon, loved seeing you in the gloom!

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

MJ was known for putting his team on his back and willing his team to victory, yet…

How often do we shoulder the weight of the world and selfishly take on life in solitary confinement? Satan is crafty at alienating us in this thinking (man up, bear it ourselves). Yet worldly strength will always fail us at some point. Obtain our strength from above!  No matter what comes…physical ailments, relationship struggles, financial burdens. He’s with us and has given us the ultimate victory through His Son. Trust the strongest entity in the universe. He’s an amazing God and is ALWAYS there to assist. Don’t resist!

SCRIPTURE: Numbers 23:22 KJV & Psalms 37:23 NASB
PRAYER REQUESTS:
– Free Fall & family after the loss of their dog. Peace and comfort in this difficult time. Praying happy memories prevail in the long run.
– Venus for his days ahead and road to a more sound, godly lifestyle which reaps dividends in the future. We’re here for you brother, lean on us if needed.
Thank you for coming and enjoy your weekend gents!

BlackJack BeatDown

THE SCENE: A cold invigorating gloom
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

15 side straddle hops, 15 mountain climbers 10 squats,15 American hammers, 8 count motivators,10 BBS, 7 merkins
THA-THANG:
We gathered around a deck of playing cards, cardboard cards, and a speaker as the rules were explained

Each suite had an exercise associated to it, there were four separate exercises a suite could use, however only one at a time on the cardboard card, each suite usually followed a body part theme. The amount of reps would be determined by the number on the card. Face cards followed suite however numbering followed J-11, Q-12, K-13. Aces and Jokers were laps, 1 and 2 laps respectively. 5-6 minutes for each set of exercises before cardboard was cycled. Each member of PAX drew a card for involvement and motivation. Due to nature of AO and day, CMU’s were used, however were not integral to exercise. Rapid luck of the draw fun, with great music accompanying.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
I was ignorant to Gods word for most of my life, passing it off as nothing I could use, having not been raised to value it like I should have, I never read the bible, I never went to church, and I never prayed. When my mom passed away, I was told that this was part of God’s plan, and that’s not what I needed to hear at the time, and it ended up turning me away from Him entirely. When my Dad passed away, and I went to live with Waxjob (Joshua Brady) and his family, I saw how they were able to find comfort through Christ, and it opened me up more and more to the idea of God, and I started seeing God in my life more and more, I noticed Godly people and Godly things. Eventually I was able to conclude that God is real, Jesus died on the cross for us, and being able to look at things through eyes of benevolence instead of random chaos, it made dealing with my past traumas so much easier, and I felt myself become a better person because of it. Most recently Cardinal passed away, and when I heard the news I had to sit down and cry, especially when I learned that he had two children, and feeling what they felt, it broke me, seeing Cardinal Jr at the Rampart convergence, and seeing him cry because he missed his dad, he missed those memories he’d never have, he missed his voice and his love, I cried because I missed those too, and that hug I gave Cardinal Jr I hope was what he needed, because it’s what I needed. He’s got this, his sister’s got this, I pray they can find comfort in Christ the way I did.
MOLESKIN:
This was my VQ, and it was certainly a special one, I find it went well and the PAX enjoyed it, thank you to everyone who came out and showed their support and worked out with me, I hope to lead more in the future, and I’m excited for what that future holds. Take care, stay safe, stay hydrated.

Share Your Burden

THE SCENE: 51 with a surprise shower during warm-o-rama.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH IC x20
LBAC IC x10 forward, x10 backward
Tempo Squat IC x10

Cherry Pickers x5, K-town cadence

THA-THANG:

To the coupon pile
Everyone pick a handheld pair you can do a lot of reps with.
Q grabs the biggest rock in the stack and “shares” it with the nearest guy.
The PAX sets out around the grounds
  1.  small rocks = perfect Curl-Press-Tri
  2.  BIG rock = overhead hold
When the big rock carrier needs to trade, everyone does:
10 Squat Jumps
20 Lunges
30 SSH
40 Rocky Balboas
Next PAX takes “The Burden” and off around the grounds again.
Continue until time for Mary

MARY:
Ran out of time.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

We just did an exercise called “Share the Burden.” How easy was the exercise overall? How easy did it feel to carry the big burden when everyone else was throwing up small rocks? What happened when you got tired? Some folks have a tendency to quit as soon as things get hard to avoid public failure. Did you give it up right away like those people? Those people don’t get up at 5am to work out in the cold!
No, your pride kicked in and you pushed as hard as you could. You tried to do more, some of us more than we should. You knew there was more work to do after, but you still pushed harder. If you knew you had more in the tank, and you were carrying the burden so the next man didn’t suffer, good for you.
But what about the rest of us? How much of your push was not wanting to be embarrassed? Not wanting to look weak? How many of us risked injury just to save face, or to not stand out?
Yesterday we lost a PAX. He was 36, a husband, father of two, a pastor in our community for 8+ years. He spent his ministry life actively reaching out to others to relieve them of some of their burden. We should all do the same.
But, I don’t need to tell most of you to help others, most of us are good at it. We often consider ourselves ready to share someone else’s burden. We volunteer to jump in and help when someone else needs it. We feel good about helping out a brother, or a neighbor, or a family…especially when the need is dire.
But what do we do when WE are the ones struggling, the one failing? Do we jump out and announce it? Do we volunteer for help? Do we look to share our own burden? Or do we hide, struggle on, and fake it?
When I last checked, the F3 GoFundMe for Cardinal’s family was over $33K…in 12 hours, basically just from F3. That shows tangibly what the PAX around us are ready and able to do. So do NOT rob them of the opportunity to serve. When you allow others to share your burden, you invite them into sharing blessing as well!
Don’t struggle in silence, don’t just try not to look like a screw up. Do not push harder when you are flailing and dragging yourself, your family or your business down. Ask for help. Ask the SkyQ, ask your pastor, and ask an F3 Brother, or two or three or four. You can’t lock shields with yourself, so look around, share your burden with the dude walking next to you, and work harder TOGETHER! Share the burden AND the blessing.

MOLESKIN:
It was a pleasure to consider just how blessed we are to have each other. #ISI

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Impromptu convergence, this Saturday, 1/14/23 in honor of Cardinal and support of Rampart.