Childish Play

AO: the-knoll
Q: Timber
PAX: The Banker, Malibu, morning stār, El Capitan, Pebbles, G-string, Timber, Smoltz (2.0), Mucchi (2.0), Iowa (2.0), Bumblebee (2.0), Butter
FNGs: 1 Butter
COUNT: 12
CONDITIONS: 73 degrees, light rain for the first 20 minutes

WARMUP: SSH, Squats, Overhead arm clap, variety of stretches for legs (covered F3 mission, principles, credo here)

THE THANG:
Station 1: Item Toss
-divided into 2 teams, each PAX selected an item to throw to a target 25 yards away (items: football, tennis ball, frisbee, dodgeball)
-total # of steps from the target that items landed = total # of reps of exercises
-exercises: pullups, burpees, merkins (Round 1); squat jumps, Apollo Ohnos, spicollis (Round 2)
Station 2: Obstacle Course Run
-1 PAX from each team ran the playground obstacle course while other PAX completed a dealer’s choice of shoulder/core exercise (2 rounds)
Station 3: Matching
-8 pairs of workout cards (16 cardboard cards total) placed face down; PAX took turns flipping the cards. If NO match, PAX completed both workouts; if match, PAX discarded the cards without having to complete the workout. Cards: Carolina Dry Docks, Burpees, Merkins, 4ct flutter kicks, WWIIs, LT Dans, Jump Squats, Pullups

MOLESKINE: for the item toss, # of reps ranged in the 20-28 reps range for teams. The rain added in some challenges (like making the obstacle course a tad slick) – good work by PAX to err on the side of going slower to stay safe. El Capitan proved his tremendous servant leadership by showing up at the end with Mtn Mojo for the group. We expressed gratitude for a successful court date for Sparrow in their adoption process.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: check slack channel!

COT: emphasis on the power of AFFIRMATION. When genuine, affirmation has the ability to install confidence and a feeling of security in our kids, and it has the ability to break down barriers with others we might have conflict with in our lives.

Great work this morning!
-Timber

Tabata to Johnny Cash

AO: the-knoll
Q: Timber
PAX: Pebbles, The Merchant, morning stār, The Banker, Sparrow, El Capitan, AAA, FLO, Timber, Eric Phillips Snapshot (Suncoast), Tea Party, Smoltz (2.0), Bumblebee (2.0)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 13
CONDITIONS: mid 70s, no dew on the grass

WARMUP: 3 sets of 50 yard jogs, SSH, merkins, squats, mountain climbers, lunge streches (covered F3 mission, principles, credo here)

THE THANG: played to the tunes of Johnny Cash hits
Station 1 (Tabata): 30 seconds on/15 sec recover, 6 exercises, 5 rounds; Exercises: merkins, squats, dips, burpees, split squats, LBCs
Station 2 (Pull-up challenge): 6 minutes (I said 5, but we ended doing 6 minutes), set of 10 pullups followed by ~100 yard run, 9 pullups/run, 8….Challenge was to see if you could finish before time was up.
Station 3 (Marys): American hammers, Big Boy SUs, flutter kicks, pickle something (Eric Phillips Snapshot (Suncoast) you’ll have to remind me of the name – we’ll do them again for sure!)

MOLESKINE: it was great to have our guest from Florida stop by (Eric Phillips Snapshot (Suncoast)), El Capitan came through again with some ever delicious Mtn Mojo, The Banker and Pebbles were closest to finishing the pullup challenge (I think they got to 2 pullups); Smoltz says he finished, but I’m not sure I can believe him.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: check F3 channel for details!

COT: Don’t be afraid to seek challenges. Putting ourselves in front of something we fear (even if small) can help us develop courage we’ll need in bigger moments. Also, a reminder to continue practicing gratitude – a pillar of happiness!

Thanks for coming together with me in the gloom boys!
-Timber

The Deck of Many Workout Things

AO: the-knoll
Q: SalPal
PAX: Sooie, Pebbles, G-string, The Merchant, El Capitan, Timber, Wolfpack, Sparrow, morning stār, Tea Party, Tebow, a number of 2.0s, please add in comments!
FNGs: None
COUNT: a lot
CONDITIONS: Feelin’ lucky

WARMUP: Quick mosey + burpees. Stretching is for the birds.

THE THANG: A modified deck of death. Merkins, squats, BB situps, and mountain Climbers were default routines, spiced things up by changing 2,3,4 to special rules.

MOLESKINE: El Capitan nearly got us to do 40 burpees, we modified as necessary. It got out of hand real fast.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Sooie Party, Hunger Games, Night Movez, GEODIS run, Gulliver’s Travels.

COT: Those affected by Beryl, Peace for families, busy season at work, unspoken intentions.

Once Upon a Time in 13 Rowdy Colonies

AO: greenmachine
Q: Hair Band , Black Lung
PAX: Dumpster Fire (F3 Naperville), Pebbles, moneyshot, Hipster, McAfee, The Merchant, Rocket Mortgage, Works for a Guy, Natural Ice, bluemule, DintyMoore, Dilbert, Good Morning America, Cowboy, El Capitan, Wolfpack, SalPal, Hair Band, Sparrow, Tim the Toolman, Black Lung, Esposa, Grape, Country Parkour, Under the Table, Haggis, Strutter, Chunks, Michelin Man, Focker, Fake Job, Late to The Party
FNGs: 2 Fake Job, Late to The Party
COUNT: 34
CONDITIONS: bright and swampy

WARMUP:
30 SSH, 5 Good Mornings, 10 Merkins, 10 Squats. 10 LBAC, 10 Reverse LBAC, 10 Imperial Walkers, 10 Hillbillies.
Thing 1: Burpee Apocalypse (10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1)

THE THANG:
A salute to the 13 colonies.
1. 10 New York Yurpee (Burpee Variation. Merkin at bottom of burpee is a clap-merkin and on up portion there are 2 tuck jumps per burpee).
2. 30 Virginia V-Ups
3. 50 South Carolina Side Straddle Hops
4. 30 Rhode Island Iron Mikes (2-count)
5. 30 New Hampshire Hand Release Merkins
6. 50 New Jersey Jump Squats
7. 50 Connecticut Crunches
8. 35 Maryland Merkins
9. 50 North Carolina Dry Docks
10. 50 Massachusetts Mountain Climbers (2-count)
11. 50 Georgia Gorilla Humpers
12. 50 Pennsylvania Plank Jacks (2-count)
13. 50 Delaware Dips

Run half lap around the track and start from the top. 3 rounds.

Total reps 1776.

MOLESKINE:
This workout was a beast sprung most from the tortured mind of Black Lung
We had 5/34 men completely finished the work out
We finished by reading the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence & saying the pledge of allegiance

Preamble: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

COT:
– SalPal requests prayers for his baby on the way and his baby they just pulled from daycare

Battle

AO: the-knoll
Q: Pebbles
PAX: El Capitan, Sparrow, SalPal, Sooie, morning stār, AAA, The Banker, FLO, Tebow, Tea Party, Malibu, voucher, Bookworm
FNGs: None
COUNT: 14
CONDITIONS: Perfect

WARMUP:
Bacs
Bac-Bacs
Don Quixotes
Slow Merkins
Slow Squats
Stretch On Your Own
Disclaimer Given
Mission Stated
Core Principles Recited

THE THANG:
Thang 1
DORA (modified) – partner up, one person runs 100M while the other performs reps of the following exercises. Repeat until all reps are done.
200 Dips
100 Burpees
50 Pull Ups (100 swing ups)

Thang 2
11s on the hill
Carolina Dry Docks
Lt. Dans

MOLESKINE: Our role as men is hard. For me it feels like the entire day is dealing with truckload after truckload of crap that comes my way. This is the battle, to not become discouraged or shirk my responsibilities in the face of daily struggles. Keep battling.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Welcome :party_parrot::party_parrot:Tea Party :party_parrot::party_parrot:
Brewsday TONIGHT
the-knoll will be closed on July 4th so everyone go to greenmachine for a convergence!
Gulliver’s Travel challenge all of July and August
Check slack

COT: Prayed for 2 children to find a home, 13-year wedding anniversary, and all present.

Killers are more than a one hit wonder

AO: pain-train
Q: Chunks
PAX: Siri, Cheeks, FLO, Timber, El Capitan, Cash Cab, Bar Fly
FNGs: None
COUNT: 8
CONDITIONS:

WARMUP:
41 SSH – Cause I’m 41 years old.
THE THANG:
Brough to you by chat GPT. Prompt “Create an F3 45 min workout where there are two teams and each team has 1 cinder block”

Round 1:
– Cinder Block Carry: One member carries the cinder block 50 yards and back.
– Bodyweight Exercise: Team does Jumping Jacks until the cinder block carrier returns.
– Switch and Repeat until each team member has carried the cinder block.
Round 2:
– Cinder Block Squats: One member performs 15 squats with the cinder block.
– Bodyweight Exercise: Team does Mountain Climbers until squats are done.
– Switch and Repeat until each team member has done squats.
Round 3:
– Cinder Block Overhead Press: One member performs 20 overhead presses with the cinder block.
– Bodyweight Exercise: Team does Plank Hold until presses are done.
– Switch and Repeat until each team member has done presses.
Round 4:
– Cinder Block Lunges: One member performs 20 lunges (10 each leg) with the cinder block.
– Bodyweight Exercise: Team does Burpees until lunges are done.
– Switch and Repeat until each team member has done lunges.
Round 5:
– Cinder Block Sit-Ups: One member rifle carriers a block down and back..
– Bodyweight Exercise: Team does Big Boy Situs until the block carrier returns.
– Switch and Repeat until each team member has carried the block.

Because Siri said he likes to run we did a lap around the school dropoff circle between each round.

Moseyed back to Startex for some P90X Yoga to end with.

MOLESKINE:

Always an honor to lead. Thanks and Strength and Honor

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Lots of stuff going on. Check Slack ask a friend.

Ring Around the Rosies

AO: the-knoll
Q: Sparrow
PAX: Pebbles, El Capitan, Timber, Sooie, Malibu, WordPress, FLO, Gabby Cat, Bookworm, Smoltz, Iowa, Tonks, Fishbiscuit, Foxy, Samwise
FNGs: None
COUNT: 16
CONDITIONS: 67 Degrees, Partly Cloudy

WARMUP: (5 mins) Inch Worm. Start from touching you toes, walk hands down to down dog. Pedal legs, walk back up to standing, do 15x calf raises. Repeat, except replace pedal with leg lifts. Repeat till time is out.

THE THANG:
(Ring Around the Rosies) – Group 1 that met criteria will run a lap, the group 2 will do an exercise till everyone finishes lap, those who finish early will join exercise. Cycled through Burpees, High Knees, Side Squats, Apollo Onohs, Lung Jumps). Q picked.
Core workout (15 mins): Pattern 45 sec hold, 15 sec rest:
Set 1: Plank Jacks, R Side Plank Crunch, Back Plank with Leg lifts, Left Side Plank Crunch, Plank Shoulder Touch
Set 2: Scissor Legs, Bicycles, ww2’s, Superman Alternating, Rest
Set 3: Repeat Set 1

Cooldown (10 mins): Freeze Tag. 2.0’s are freezers, but it takes 2 unfrozen players to simultaneously touch to unfreeze someone. 2.0’s WON two rounds

MOLESKINE:
As men we often have been conditioned to think in terms of left brain/right brain, reason vs feelings and put a wall between them. This has some merit but sometimes it leads to feeling a disjointed and anxious life. God created our hearts, our desires, and the deepest fundamental reality of who we are. When we see our feelings as flowing from our God given desires, and our thoughts/reasoning as flowing from our heart- it can lead to freedom and contentment, and fellowship with our creator.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Lots of stuff going on in F3 Nashville, Check the slack! No Knoll workout next Thursday as there will be a convergence at Green Machine.

FLO will be doing VQ This thursday. Go FLO!

COT:
Prayers offered and lifted.

The quiet return

AO: pain-train
Q: G-string
PAX: FLO, Timber, El Capitan, Pebbles
FNGs: None
COUNT: 5
CONDITIONS:
Beautiful summer morning ending with an epic sunrise.

WARMUP:
– inchworm walkouts to merkin
– runners stretch
– GOAT stretch
– High plank with five merkins following the mission and each core principle
– Mosey around the track, pick up coupons and burden carry to playground

THE THANG:
Thang 1: E2MO2M
every two minutes, complete the following
– 15 shoulder presses
– 10 floor-to-ceilings
– 5 burpees over the block
Completed seven rounds. After the fourth round, add two reps to each exercise if finish before the first minute.

Thang 2: MOT race
Split into two teams. One person on the team raced while the other did block curls.
Race down the cones doing three MOTs on the way out then sprint back to start.
– alligator crawl
– Bear crawl
– Gorilla run
Winning team does 10 block leg extensions per leg. Losing team does 15 goblet squats.
Ran four races

To close it out, we did two rounds of ten SADs (slow ass derkins)

MOLESKINE:
The media portrayal of dads is usually trash. Homer is a lazy idiot, the sultan in Aladdin is a doofus, Bluey’s dad is attentive but he “doesn’t remember the boring stuff” (sunscreen, floaties, essentials). Our kids need good, responsible men to look up to, and the stories we tell should reflect that. Right now, being the prince isn’t cool, and princesses have to do it all themselves.

We need to give our girls an image of good men, so they aren’t satisfied with bad men. And we need our sons to aspire to be heroes who can slay the dragon.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– TWO VQs next week at the Knoll!

COT:
– prayers were offered up

90s Summertime

AO: the-knoll
Q: El Capitan
PAX: morning stār, Pebbles, Sooie, The Banker, AAA, El Capitan, Ex-Pat, FLO, Sparrow, Timber, Malibu, @fishbiscuit (2.0), @tonks (2.0), @bumblebee (2.0), @icebox (2.0), @nitro (2.0), @cookie (2.0), @spike (2.0), @fern (2.0)
FNGs: 4 @nitro (2.0), @cookie (2.0), @spike (2.0), @fern (2.0)
COUNT: 19
CONDITIONS: Humid, upper 70s

TUNES: 90s jamzz

WARMUP:

My Climb Warm-up Routine
– downward dog / cobra
– power merkins (3x per side)
– deep calf stretch
– PE back stretch
– lower back stretches

– Mosey around back stop to center of field

THE THANG:

Part 1: Duck, Duck, Goose on the Plank!

– Duck PAX are all planking in a circle. Tagger chooses a “goose!” who will sprint around the circle to return to their spot. Instead of chasing, tagger does 10x Side Straddle Hops. Whoever is last to plank is “it”. (We had several close races!)

Part 2: Water Balloon Challenge

– 16x reusable water balloons contain laminated slips of paper with various workouts & are hidden around the playground.

– All PAX will hold a squat while one looks for a water balloon. He or she may pelt the PAX with the water balloon upon returning. All PAX will perform the exercise written within. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Cool down: Mosey’d a caboose-is-loose around the-knoll, then convened at playground for three minutes of Freddy Mercuries.

MOLESKINE:

– Count Off
– Name-O-Rama
– Welcomed aboard 4 FNG’s visiting Uncle Sooie’s family from Central Florida. All had excellent F3 name choices.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Black Lung & Hair Band to Co-Q a 4th of July convergence beatdown at greenmachine :flag:

COT:

“You are as important as you make another person feel.”
-Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

I am so grateful for the men who make the-knoll such a positive, encouraging place to get stronger. I encourage y’all to be aware of the “least of these”, to see each person as a unique individual made in God’s image who is worthy of respect. Rather than seek glory for ourselves, seek the good of others in quiet service, empathy, and kindness.

Closed in prayer.

It was an honor to lead y’all this morning! :el-capitan:

Trip to the Zoo – Animals on the loose!

AO: the-knoll
Q: Pebbles , Sooie
PAX: Sooie, Nubbins, Timber, AAA, Wolfpack, El Capitan, Pebbles, Sparrow, Malibu, Ex-Pat, Fish Biscuit, Tonks, Iowa, IceBox
FNGs: None
COUNT: 14
CONDITIONS: Warm and damp

WARMUP:
Mosey around the backstop
Disclaimer given
Bac’s – Bac-Bac’s
Don Quioxte’s
Slow Merkins
Slow Squats
Stretch on your own

THE THANG:
THANG 1
2.0s picked an animal then pretended to be that animal while running around distracting the PAX doing station work. 2min at each station.
1. Dips
2. Swing pull ups
3. Jump Squats
4. Pull ups
5. Lunges

THANG 2
6 cones set 50yds apart. Do 6 reps of an exercise then sprint to next cone. (Burpees, WWIIs, Merkins, Lt Dans, Partner Carry x2)
Bear capture the flag
Toilet Tag
Bear Tag

MOLESKINE:
Reflection on the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Good reminder that the things we struggle with, while not to minimize them, pale in comparison to what those men did to earn our freedom.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Welcome Nubbins to the-knoll! Looking forward to many more beatdowns together.

T-claps to the one and only morning stār for completing THE STRUGGLE last night. Congrats to all those men who did a very hard thing together.

COT:
Intentions given and Sooie prayed for all.