F3 Knoxville

Be That Man

THE SCENE: 39 and a little drizzly.  Perfect!
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Administered
WARM-O-RAMA:
 

  • Moroccan nightclub
  • Squats
  • Finkle swings
  • Seal jacks
  • Mosey to the small lot
  • 10x Mountain climbers then suicide – line 1, 2, then 3
  • 20x BBS then suicide – line 1, 2, then 3

THA THANG:

Mosey to the big lot

Catch the RabbitEight lines spaced about 60’ from each other.  One PAX is the Rabbit – the rest of us are trying to catch him.  All PAX do an exercise then advance to the next line.  The Rabbit starts with a head start but has a disadvantage…  Any PAX that catch the rabbit advance at the same pace as the original rabbit….

Round 1:  PAX do 2 burpees then sprint.  Rabbit (starting at line 2) does 4 burpees then sprint.

Round 2:  PAX do 5 BBS then sprint.  Rabbit (starting at line 2) does 7 BBS then bernie.

Round 3: PAX do 8 bobby hurleys then sprint.  Rabbit (starting at line 3) bear crawls.

 

Racing Quarter PounderTwo Teams.  One team runs the QP forward – the other Team runs it backward.  Which team will finish first?

  • Sprint 25 yards, 25 Merkins, sprint back
  • Sprint 50 yards, 50 Squats, sprint back
  • Sprint 75 yards, 75 mountain climbers, sprint back
  • Sprint 100 yards, 100 SSH, sprint back

Mucho chesto

  • 10x diamond merkins
  • 10x merkins
  • 10x werkins
  • 10x staggered merkins L
  • 10x staggered merkins R

Railroad run back to the shovel flag

 

MARY:

Jelly legs:  30 sec Al Gore, 30 squats, sprint…  Repeat

Another Mucho Chesto

 

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

13 Strong!

 

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

In anticipation of the upcoming holiday on Monday, I want to give you all something to think about over the weekend.  That’s right – Monday is…World Hippo Day!  Do you know there’s only two places in the world to see hippopotamuses is in the wild? One is Africa. The other is Columbia, South America.

The former Columbian drug lord, Pablo Escobar (not a HIM!), was killed by police almost 30 years ago.  With a net worth of around $30 billion, he was believed to be the seventh richest person in the world.  He used that wealth to buy houses, cars, islands, TWO submarines… He also started his own personal zoo, with elephants, rhinos, lions….and hippos.

In 1991, Escobar surrendered to authorities and the Columbian government seized all his assets and wealth.  They turned over his exotic animals to the Colombian Zoo, but there were four hippopotamuses they didn’t know what to do with because the zoo had no infrastructure for them.  So, authorities decided to just release them into the Magdalena River.

In Columbia, hippos have no natural predators.  There are no seasonal droughts, like there are in Africa.  There is an abundance of food.  Today, the hippo population is exploding in Columbia.  The conditions have been described as a “Hippo Heaven” and estimates suggest that there will be thousands of hippos in Columbia within a few decades.

As the seventh richest man in the world, Pablo Escobar had tremendous potential to impact his family and his community.  He could have done so much good with his wealth and talent!  But just 30-years after his death the lasting legacy of this man, who once lived like a king, is that he inadvertently created a Hippo Heaven.  That’s it.  That’s it?!?  What a ridiculous legacy!

So, here’s the question that I want you to reflect on this weekend;

What will be said of your life 30 years after you are dead?

That day is coming.  What will your children and grandchildren say about your memory?  Will it be something inadvertent and ridiculous…because you just let life happen?  Will they say nothing at all – because you lived an unremarkable existence?  Will they remember you in a way that you wish they would not?  Or, during the short time you have on earth, will you live with intentionality and have a passion to leave a great legacy?

For generations after you are gone, will they tell stories of your greatness and of how your life and faith was such a blessing to the family?

If you want to know how to leave a meaningful legacy, start by reading Psalm 112.  It tells us “the generation of the upright will be blessed” and “the righteous…will be remembered forever”.

Psalm 112 describes the characteristics of a memorable man, a man who will leave a legacy of greatness.

Read through this list, and reflect on each trait.  Ask yourself how this characterizes your life – or what, if anything, you will change starting today

The man who will leave a legacy of greatness…

  • He lives a righteous and blameless life (Psalm 112:4)
  • When others disappoint him or don’t meet his expectations, that man…gives them grace (Psalm 112:4).
  • When others wrong him, that man….shows mercy (Psalm 112:4).
  • With his time and money, that man….is generous (Psalm 112:5 and 9)
  • That man…loves justice (Psalm 112:5)
  • That man…is not afraid of the future because he trusts in the Lord (Psalm 112:7-8)
  • To those who are less fortunate than him, that man…shows compassion (Psalm 112:4)
  • That man…fears the Lord (Psalm 112:1)

That’s a description of a man that I would certainly tell stories about long after he were gone.

Be that man!  Be a little more like him today than you were yesterday!  Be that man!

 

MOLESKIN:

Psalm 112 (ESV)

1  Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments!

2  His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.

3  Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.

4  Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.

5  It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice.

6  For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever.

7  He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.

8  His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.

9  He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor.

10  The wicked man sees it and is angry; he gnashes his teeth and melts away; the desire of the wicked will perish!

 

Read more in the F3 QSource, Q4 Leave Right

Hat tip to Levi Lusko for turning me onto the crazy story about Pablo Escobar’s hippos.

Read more about Pablo Escobar’s Hippos; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Escobar%27s_hippos or check out the National Geographic documentary, Cocaine Hippos.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Set your alarms Monday morning.  The Judge will be on Q!

50 Days Until 50 – Do I Deserve HIS Respect?

THE SCENE: 23 and a bit chilly in the gloom
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • Jog in Place
  • Side Straddle Hops (IC) 15
  • Cherry Pickers (IC) 4 CT X 10
  • Baby Arm Circles Forward X 10 (IC) w/ Michael Phelps
  • Baby Arm Circles Backward X 10 (IC) w/ Michael Phelps
  • Tempo Squats (IC) 4 CT X 10
  • Merkins (OYO) X 20
  • Tennessee Rocking Horse X 10
  • Mosey across the street to JUCOLeConte

THA-THANG:

JUCO LeConte

  • 20 merkins at the bottom, run, 20 merkins in the middle, run & 20 merkins at the top
  • 20 squats at the top, 20 squats in the middle & 20 at the bottom
  • Rinse & Repeat X 3-4 laps (most did 3, some did 4)
  • Mosey in front of Valley Church property

Sidewalk in front of Valley Church Property

  • 20 monkey humpers facing Hardin Valley Road
  • 20 merkins
  • 20 Big Boy Situps
  • Mosey to Maple Street Lot

Maple Street Lot

  • Grab a large stone
  • 20 curls
  • 20 bent over rows
  • mosey to AO

MARY:

  • 50 calf raises
  • 20 Hello Dollies – 4 CT
  • 20 Pickle Pounders – 4 CT
  • 20 Heals to Heaven – 4 CT
  • 20 Pickle Pointers – 4 CT
  • Planks (one arm/one leg & switch)

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

14 Men

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Francis Chan is an American Protestant author, teacher, and preacher. He is the former teaching pastor of Cornerstone Community Church, an Evangelical church in California, founded by Chan in 1994. He also founded Eternity Bible College in 2004.  Lots of the following words come from his devotionals F3 is going through right now.  Good stuff and I plan to read his book Crazy Love.

Our hope is that you will see that the only sane response to God’s love is wholehearted devotion to Jesus. And that the crazy people in this world are those who experience God’s love and remain complacent, not those who let go of all they have and follow Him completely.

Even though I glimpse God’s holiness, I am still dumb enough to forget that life is all about God and not about me at all.

Would you describe yourself as totally in love with Jesus Christ?  Or do the words halfhearted, lukewarm, and partially committed fit better?  Unfortunately, those words fit me on most days.  I want to become on fire for God, every second of every day.

I go to church, I volunteer and give to charity, I am moved by stories of faith but don’t change.

I turn 50 in 50 days so I’m going to go through a physical, mental and spiritual journey.  I’m going to ruck at least 150 miles with this 50 pound rucksack and I’m going to do at least 15,000 push-ups during that time.  I’m going to be raising money for Valley Church’s new campus construction.  While I’d love your financial support, I want you to pray for me and our church.

I’m going to use that hour or so a day to pray, think, and create a plan to move forward in my life with God being the focus.

Chan encourages us to make a faith action plan, do something that scares you, step out into a holy adventure that we can’t control. See all others as Christ.

MOLESKIN:

  • Reach out to ExciteBike and sign up for the daily devotionals…they are powerful!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

  • Sign Up To Q

Echo

THE SCENE: 25* and a tad bit nippy
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

10xAbe Vigoda, 10xHairy Rockettes, 6xCherry Pickers, 20xLBAC fwd/bck, 10xTempo Squats, 10xTempo Merkins
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the hill above the big East parking lot for some 11’s.

  • At the bottom of the hill: Heels-to-Heaven
  • At the top of the hill: Jump Squats

Mosey down to the main road to the welcome center and use Judge Judy’s Light Poles for the following:

  • Move forward two light poles with a Jailbreak, once there perform 10xHR Merkins & 10xBBS
  • Bernie back one light pole and perform 10xBobby Hurleys & 10×4-count Mtn Climbers

Once we made it to the Welcome Center the Q called Recover to move on to the next exercise.

Battle Buddy up. One partner performs exercises in front of the Welcome Center while the other runs a loop around it. Exercises were:

  1. 100x Little Baby Merkins? (Not sure there’s a name for these. From a squat position place your hands on the ground and do limited range of motion merkins. Works the triceps more than chest.)
  2. 200x Squats – Called time shortly into these

Mosey back to the shovel flag. On the way the PAX completed one round of Reverse Indian run with 5 burpees each.

MARY:
No time!

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
11 Men braved the subzero temps this morning.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Make sure you are not living in an “Echo Chamber”. Constantly being fed the same information and ideas that you already believe without testing that truth. We live in a world that is designed to act as an Echo Chamber. Social media, advertisements, news articles are all tailored to you based on your interests and beliefs. It’s our duty to hold our truths and beliefs to the ultimate Truth, God’s Word. Nothing else in this world can prevail. 

MOLESKIN:
Kudos to Booster for coming out to ruck around us since he’s on the IR at the moment. Appreciate his support of the JUCO PAX.

Also, the PAX is requesting proof from Butterknife that he actually had COVID. His first workout back out and he ran laps around everyone. Hmmm…

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Blood Drive today! CSAUP tomorrow!

Let There Be Light

THE SCENE: Mostly moony, 40 degrees F
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Welcome to F3: Fitness/Fellowship/Faith

I am Survivor and will be on Q today.

  • This is a free workout.
  • I’m not a professional.
  • You’re here on your own volition.
  • Modify as needed.
  • I have a phone.

WARM-O-RAMA:

  • Reach for the Sky
  • Let it Hang
  • Roll Necks
  • Arm Circles Forward/Backward
  • Hip Circles (in cadence)
  • Cherry Pickers
  • Tempo Merkins
  • Side Straddle Hops

THA-THANG:
Let’s Rock – Shopping Mall West End:

  • Small Rocks – Arm Raises Forward, 45, Side, OH Clap x 25 each
  • Medium Rocks – Curls, Tricep Extensions x 25 each
  • Large Rocks – Shrugs/Calf Raises x 50

New Toboggan with LED (unsolicited Christmas present) must be used to Light the way up JUCOmanjaro:

  • Run to first white line, face right shuffle to next white line, burnie to next white line, face left shuffle to next white line, run to next white line and repeat to the top.
  • Stop 1/2 way for 25 LBCs in cadence
  • Resume run, shuffle, burnie, shuffle, run to top.
  • (No recollection of exercise at top of JUCOmanjaro)
  • Mosey back to 1/2 way for 10 Burpees
  • Mosey to bottom of the hill for 25 merkins and 25 mountain climbers (each leg)

Back to Let’s Rock – Shopping Mall West End:

  • Large Rocks – 30 Squats, 20 Shrugs/Calf Raises
  • Medium Rocks – Curls, Tricep Extensions x 25 each
  • Small Rocks – Arm Raises Forward, 45, Side, OH Clap x 15 each

MARY:
Partner up in Parking Lot – Pro-agility Shuttle while partner alternates Plank / Al Gore, then continue to switch for 3 minutes.

  • 25 Big Boys
  • 25 Supermans
  • 20 Heels to Heaven
  • 15 Pickle Pounders
  • 10 sec stargazers
  • 25 merkins

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Salvation spreads by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony.  I just came out of a spiritual fog last week where I experienced no clarity, nothing going right, and God feeling distant, which had lasted a few weeks.  I am proud (through Christ in me) to proclaim that during that time I made no agreements with the enemy, with those feelings of despair, no agreements about losing God’s favor and no giving in to old sins.  There are things I no longer struggle with through freedom granted by healing, truth, warfare and union with God.  I’ve shared my cancer survival story and about having a baby post cancer, and I decided to share my testimony of salvation today.  (Note that was not said today – I have not shared this story to more than a few friends outside of family.)

I was saved at age 6 when my grandfather took me to the front of a Billy Graham crusade.  I was baptized and believed, trusted and worshipped God, but over time, my sin, hate for my step-dad, and agreeing with the lies of the world choked out any evidence of salvation.  At age 23, I found myself in a one-bedroom apartment in St. Petersburg, Florida with my nearest friend 100 miles away and knew it was time to seek Jesus.  One night, I was given a picture of all the layers of sin, evil and hate that had crusted over my heart all those years, suddenly being pierced by streams of light that kept growing and breaking away chunks until all the layers of my hardened heart were blown away by a light too bright to view.  I opened my eyes, stunned by the image, and to this day wish I could have kept my eyes closed.  I had never experienced anything like it before.  I also knew that the hate was still present for my step-dad, and Jesus was asking me to forgive him, as well as, ask for forgiveness for my part in it.  Years later after on this new path, I read 2 Corinthians 4:6 and I was blown away that I got to experience this firsthand.  “For God, who said, ‘Let there be light out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”  (Proceeded to read much of 2 Corinthians 4.  Read 2 Corinthians 3 while you are at it.)

Psalm 91:1 on fridge before I left the house, “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”

MOLESKIN:
I have not shared my testimony in the past because of fear of opening up too many unknowns and questions, but I know I need to because of 2 Corinthians 4:13, “Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, ‘I believed, and so I spoke,’ we also believe, and so we speak.”  Therefore, you do not need a vision to know without a doubt that if you believe, trust, worship and seek oneness with God thru Jesus Christ, you will “have this treasure in earthen vessels (body)” 2 Cor 4:7 which is the light in your hearts of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4:6)!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Prayers for 5K and Guardrail’s family friend’s marriage.  Guardrail announced needing help to move a friend in need at 1pm today.

Anchors Aweigh My Boys!

THE SCENE: Haze gray with heavy fog
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

25 SSH, 5 cherry pickers, 10 tempo merkins, 10 tempo squats, 30 sec dying cockroach
THA-THANG:
Mosey from the AO to the coupon pile

  • All reps using coupons
    20 Upright rows

    20 Straight leg dead lift

    20 Squats

    20 Curls

    20 Steering Wheels

  • 2nd Round with 19 reps
  • 11’s on the stairs to the athletic center carrying the coupon up and down
    • Pushpress down, tricep extension up
  • All reps using coupons20 Step over merkins 

    20 American Hammer release 

    20 trap raises

    20 Raisers 

    20 sec hold

  • Mosey back to the AO with a jailbreak
  • With arms extended (no breaks), we did 5 minutes of Gorillas (one arm touches the chest while the other is extended), little bird (9 inch up and down movement with arms extended to the sides), big bird (2 feet up and down movement with arms extended to the sides), wax on (small circles inward with arms extended to the front), wax off (small circles outward with arms extended to the front), overhead claps, seal claps, and a hold with arms extended in the front.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
16 HIMs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
So I spent 4 years, 1 month, 21 days in the United States Navy. I was the 1st LT, in charge of small boat ops, helicopter takeoffs and landings, RAS, topside preservation, docking/setting sail and anchoring at sea. 

An Arleigh Burke Destroyer is 509 ½ feet long and it has two anchors, a 9,000lbs (12 shots) centerline anchor and a 4,000 lbs. (8 shots) port side anchor. A shot of chain equals 15 fathoms, or 90 feet. The chain is color coded so you have an idea of how much chain has come released or brought up. One of my department’s responsibilities was to keep the chain painted black with a section of white links to mark 1 shot or 90 ft. If you do things right, you shouldn’t ever have to repaint the last two shots of chain which come from the shipyard painted yellow, then red. The saying goes, if you see yellow, start running…if you see red, you’re dead. The chain isn’t attached to the ship because it would rip a huge hole in the ship if the anchor were in a freefall. So when that red shot of chain comes up, it is like a firefighter’s hose or piece of spaghetti snaking all over the deck destroying whatever it touches. 

Dropping anchor is a violent scene…you can’t see that 9,000lbs anchor because it sits over the side but as it goes barreling toward the sea floor, it starts pulling all that chain out of the locker up on to the deck, down through the hole and into the water…rust and paint chips are flying everywhere. Initially, you pay out 3 times the depth of the water in anchor chain. The ship will then start back down to set the anchor into the sea bottom and keep the chain from piling up and kinking . 

What most people don’t know is that with big ships, it isn’t the anchor hooking into the ground that keeps you from drifting, it is the weight of the chain. Not only must it be strong and not break, but it has to be heavy, it has to have substance to it in order to keep the ship from drifting. 

Every 15 minutes, a quartermaster will triangulate the ship’s position based on three landmarks. The shape has a radius that it can swing in based on the amount of chain paid out already. If the ship is outside of the swing circle, you know that you are drifting and in danger of running aground on the land or rocks and eventually shipwrecking. 

We spent our morning getting heavy, working and building those big muscles. I hope it makes you tired throughout the day and sore tomorrow so that it reminds of the need to be heavy. You men are part of my anchor chain and I offer myself to be part of your’s. I rely on you to keep me from drifting because you are men of substance. 

As far as my three landmarks, I’ve got the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit to tell me if I get outside of the swing circle, to tell me if I am drifting. I may not read my Bible every 15 minutes, but I do read it every day to keep from running aground, to keep from shipwrecking. 

Hebrews 6:16-19

16 For people swear an oath by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath serving as confirmation is an end of every dispute. 17]In the same way God, desiring even more to demonstrate to the heirs of the promise the fact that His purpose is unchangeable, confirmed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to hold firmly to the hope set before us. 19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and reliable and one which enters within the veil, 20 where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.