Tag: Papa Bear

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No Shenanigans Means a Little Shenanigans

AO: bomber
Q: Freakonomics
PAX: CubCadet, Vector, Papa Bear, Crawlspace, Sherlock, Pep, Hedwig
FNGs: None
COUNT: 8
CONDITIONS: damp but not cold

WARMUP: the usual

THE THANG: Rounds of 5 exercises – Merkins, Squats, Carolina Dry Docks, Lunges, Rows (at the playground). Do 12 sets of each, run around the rec center and repeat with 11. Run around, do 10… I got down to reps of 5.

3 minute wall sit.

Superman Y.

6 minutes of mary

MOLESKINE: Can you show up at the end and still be counted. Just ask Crawlspace.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: none

COT: Pep’s Work, praise for Vector’s daughter honoring at graduation, those in Ukraine, and Natural Ice’s finding a new job.

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Shakedown

AO: titan
Q: Spinal Tap
PAX: Firefox, Tim the Toolman, Old Maid, Pep, Papa Bear, CubCadet, Cocktail
FNGs: None
COUNT: 8
CONDITIONS: perfect

WARMUP: the usual side straddle hops baby arm circles Willie mays hats and good mornings

THE THANG:
Mosey to the bottom of the hill and did 11’s with deconstructed burpees of merkins and squats thanks to CubCadet suggestion alternating with fire hydrants (a Pep special) but suggested by Papa Bear.

Then DORA with 50 pull ups, 100 shoulder tap plank jacks (thx Firefox) and 150 American hammers.

Finished with 20 incline merkins, 20 dips, 20 each leg (j)Bulgarian split squats.

Heard some :boom: :boom: :boom: during the Dora and found out later it was this…
www.wsmv.com/2025/04/16/suspect-shot-killed-by-dea-agent-midtown-nashville/#

ANNOUNCEMENTS: None

COT: Pep with his consulting

Next on deck: Natural Ice – CBO. He has been self admittedly been slacking due to lack of accountability. Expect lots of HC to make sure he shows up next week!

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(B)Easter Egg Hunt 2025

AO: the-knoll
Q: El Capitan
PAX: Wolfpack, Derby, Papa Bear, AAA, Sooie, El Capitan, Ex-Pat, morning stār, Pebbles, Timber, Half Lyfe, G-string, Pitmaster, Étouffée, @GoldDigger, @Rubix (2.0), @Schmaltz (2.0), @Bumblebee (2.0), @Grizzly (TBD)
FNGs: 1 @Grizzly (TBD)
COUNT: 19
CONDITIONS:

Mid-50s, lovely sunlit clouds at 6:15

TUNES:

Young & Heavy

WARMUP:

Climb routine
Back stretches
Willie mays hays
Good mornings!

THE THANG:

– Circle up around the lamp in field
– 22 eggs to find in playground, each with an exercise & follow-up hold exercise
– Each PAX will search for an egg with the lamp, all PAX will perform the exercise upon opening & perform hold exercise while next PAX searches.
– Wash, rinse, repeat

Ended with MARY: a 3-round Ring of Fire & American Hammers

MOLESKINE:

Life is constantly changing & you change and grow as a man each passing year. I asked the PAX to take some time to reflect, with a moment of silence, on one aspect of change in their lives and one aspect that has stayed constant. I then asked everyone to think of one person (spouse, mentor, friend) who has been a source of strength & stability in their lives. Ended with a prayer of thanksgiving for these individuals.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

– Tax Day got moved to November 3rd(?!)
– Check slack for upcoming Night Moves & extra free workouts!

COT:

Countorama, Nameorama, coffeteria.

It was a pleasure leading y’all this morning, men!

I’m ready for a nap. :yawning_face: :el-capitan:

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Gametron

AO: bomber
Q: Wolfpack , Firefox
PAX: Crawlspace, Chunks, Right Said, CubCadet, Papa Bear, Pep, Hedwig, Puzzlah, Vector, Sherlock, DintyMoore
FNGs: None
COUNT: 13
CONDITIONS: Good enough

WARMUP: Wolfpack led with
– SSH
– Imperial walkers
– Low and slow Squats
– Low and slow Merkins

THE THANG: With YHC and Wolfpack on Q, the only sensible outcome was some sort of gamified beatdown.

Part 1: Castle (led by Wolfpack)
PAX split into two teams. Field split in half with each team having a castle (aka, a base) at opposite ends, with a line of short cones, tall cones, and a 25lb sandbag at midfield, plus 3 or 4 short cones on each side of the field along the midline.

PAX had to travel to a cone, do an exercise based on the object, and then return it to their castle (or deliver it to the opposing team’s castle, if they chose to do so). Objects could be stolen from the opposing team’s castle using the same exercise.

Teams had 60s (sometimes 90s) rounds to score as much as they could. Short cones were worth +1 pt, tall cones were worth +2pts, the sandbag (always requiring 5 burpees) was worth -2pts (later amended to -4pts).

1st set of three rounds:
Travel = running
Short cone = 5 squats
Tall cone = 5 merkins

2nd set of three rounds:
Travel = side shuffle
Short cone = 5 wide merkins
Tall cone = 5 diamond merkins

3rd set of three rounds:
Travel = broad jumps
Short cone = 2 iron Lt. Dan’s
Tall cone = 2 burpees

Team 1 (Vector Sherlock Puzzlah DintyMoore YHC) took an early lead against Team 2 (Wolfpack Papa Bear CubCadet Pep Hedwig), but gameplay evolved with PAX realizing that there was enough time for the sandbag to travel to both castles. That led to some interesting waiting games over sandbag delivery plus some blocking maneuvers. Ultimately, it came down to a final round to break a 4-4 tie, which Team 1 came away with. That was not without some impressive sandbagged broad-jump heroics from Wolfpack. Also, Vector and CubCadet may never speak to each other again.

Also? So. Freakin’. Exhausting.

Part 2: Flip the Cone
Keeping the same team and same general field structure, a couple dozen short cones were scattered on both sides of the field, with cones on Team 1’s side right side up and cones on Team 2’s side upside down. Team 1’s goal was to end a 90s round with as many cones as possible right side up, with Team 2 aiming to end the round with more cones upside down. Except only mode of travel was a bear crawl in rounds 1 and 2 and murder bunnies in round 3. Teams instinctively split up into offensive and defensive squads with YHC, Sherlock and DintyMoore facing off against the defensive line of Papa Bear and Pep while CubCadet Wolfpack and Hedwig crossed the field to battle with Vector and Puzzlah. By the end, Team 1 came away with a 3-0 sweep but all PAX’s shoulders and legs simultaneously won and lost.

Finally, a 50s Hollow Body Hold.

MOLESKINE:
– Big thanks to Wolfpack for venturing to our neck of the woods and delivering the fun and the “fun”.
– Yes, this is what we do at all Game Nights
– Loved watching strategies evolve
– If you want to do a Q-collaboration in June or July, let me know! Sneak preview for next month: the most sought-after immune-system-themed combination we didn’t know we wanted – Vector + t-cell!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– Spring Fling

COT:
– Everyone shared a word/phrase of gratitude

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Good Grief

AO: the-knoll
Q: morning stār
PAX: Pebbles, Sooie, Stubs, AAA, Pitmaster, Half Lyfe, El Capitan, morning stār, Papa Bear, Derby, Malibu, clay hoover, Phillip Lee, Gold Digger, She told me, Sardine
FNGs: 2 She told me, Sardine
COUNT: 16
CONDITIONS: Chilly yet spring-like.

WARMUP: Mosey to tree line and back. Ground movements on the way. Avoid the puddle (YHC wasn’t in the mood to get wet this am), avoid posts. Circle up for low slow squats and SSH.

Mosey to 2010 flood memorial bench.

THE THANG:
31 rounds of 15 seconds of work, 45 seconds of active recovery.
Exercise one: 3-2-1 ladder of power erkins and dips
Exercise two: 3-2-1 ladder of jump squats and squats

Modify up option: finish the ladder instead of stopping at the timer.

Each PAX took turns walking around the back stop with a 30# ruck and 30# kettle bell while considering a loss they have not grieved.

Mosey back to the startex for an extended COT.

MOLESKINE:
If we keep the momentum up we the knoll may be ready to spin off another AO … which on one hand, I don’t look forward to because of the great connections we have growing here. And yet, this is how we grow and provide more opportunities for men to accelerate.

Welcome to She told me (formerly “My wife told me”) and Sardine!

Well done welcoming the new men, PAX! Hospitality is one of my favorite things about F3 and we excel at it.

I used to try to come up with a new, creative BD every time I Q’ed. I’m enjoying not having to think much about it and intending to run the “power rounds” for the rest of my days. Let’s see how long that lasts.

Here’s a quote on the danger of not facing our sadness that I didn’t share:
“”Sadness does not sink a person; it is the energy a person spends trying to avoid sadness that does that.” “- Barbara Brown Taylor, From theplacewefindourselves.libsyn.com/17-what-it-looks-like-to-actually-grieve-your-wounds of Adam Young’s “The Place We Find Ourselves” Podcast: “What it looks like to actually grieve your wounds”.

I pray we all find the courage and space to face the losses of our past and present.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: skipped them; check slack or come back Thursday.

COT:
YHC shared that learning to grieve what is, what was not (or what has not come to be) has been the most effective way to grow as a man.

Shared about the 4 achetypes of masculinity: Warrior, Lover, King and Sage. Each has an entry emotion … anger for warrior, sadness for lover, joy for king and fear for sage. In YHC’s experience growing as a lover has helped mature as a King.

YHC read the an account of the passing of Eric Liddel’s life from For the Glory (by Duncan Hamilton). This is a gut wrenching account as Lidell died withough meeting his youngest child.

When I was growing up, I chased after many things. Now, at 41, I am to live in the moment and pour out as much delight on my family and those close to me as I can.

Stay curious my brothers,
-m*

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Month of the FNG Prep!

AO: bomber
Q: Toothless
PAX: Grape, Pep, Firefox, Vector, Tim the Toolman, Right Said, Sherlock, CubCadet, Papa Bear, Crawlspace, Supernova, DintyMoore, Toothless, Chunks
FNGs: None
COUNT: 14
CONDITIONS: Quite fair, a bit muggy but no complaints for being solidly back in T shirt weather!

PLAYLIST: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/459qwYOyQ4j1hCmtMHFZsC?si=a23bad9eb37c4a0b

WARMUP:

Mosey to high ground, circle up

WAR
– SSH x 30
– Air presses x 10
– Windmills x 10
– Michael Phelps x 10
– Willy Mays Hays x 10
– Carrot pullers x 10
– Scorpions x 10 oyo

THE THANG: Month of the FNG Prep! :fng:

PAX count off forming three groups, 1, 2, 3…

– Group 1 does a patrol run down to end of lot and back up
– Group 2 does a ground exercise
– Group 3 does a standing exercise

All shuffle when G1 returns. Runners to the ground, ground stands up, and standing group runs.

Do four rounds (~2 mins AMRAP in each station based on runners):
1. G: Peter Parkers, S: Prisoner squats
2. G: American Hammers, S: Burpees
3. G: Carolina Dry Docks, S: Lt. Dans
4. G: Big Boy Sit Ups, S: SSHs (cut for time)

All answer a question within their group each round:
1. How did you get your F3 name?
2. What do you remember about your first workout?
3. Who invited you and why did you come to that first workout?
4. Why did you keep coming back? (cut for time)

Circle up for…

Rings of Fire :fire:

Thunderstruck
– High and low plank, up or down on “Thunder”
Roxanne
– SSH / Burpees on “Roxanne”
Flower (Bring Sally Up)
– Squat holds on “up” or “down”

MOLESKINE: Welp, the Respects may have HC’d, but the Un-Respectables recovered and showed out in force. Double Pickney action and the return of not 1 but 2 previous AOQ’s in Dinty Moore and Supernova walking into the warmup out of the Gloom made the comeback a statement victory. Will it start a streak??

Many people are saying the Rings of Fire section was their favorite part. That section was closely followed in the rankings by YHC calling out a penalty of 10 eight count body builders for the stalling of movement upon returning from a running segment, as Pep owned up to above, but there were others….

Hottest personal take of the day….Star Bagel has earned it’s place. After long dissent, taking over the porch with 10 dudes cracking wise ones and sharing about life has won me over (but just for bomber! don’t read this men of westeros)

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– Spring Fling! This Sunday from 12-3p! Edwin Warner Park Shelter #5 off of Vaughn Rd!
– It’s MONTH OF THE FNG! Let’s get new men out with us in the Gloom and give this thing away!
– The Merchant has a hot wing eating 2ndf opportunity the weekend after Easter, 4/26
– End of April will feature the Impossible Mile CSAUP @ greenmachine, Focker for details

COT:
– Toothless shared
– Grape shared

COT featured a message from YHC about Month of the FNG – F3 has been tremendously impactful to me over the last 6 years. This group has been there with me through job changes, kids, and all sorts of ups and downs. I want other men to have that same kind of connection and community, and I know you do too. Let’s give this thing away and invite the men in our lives who need F3!

As always, it was an honor to lead. Thanks to Firefox for the invite! It was a pleasure.

SYITG,
— Toothless :tooth:

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I Can Drive 55 with a Few Friends

AO: bomber
Q: Vector
PAX: Pep, Firefox, Papa Bear, Strutter, DintyMoore, Chunks, CubCadet, SalPal, Cream Cheese, Wet Wipes, Tim the Toolman, Sherlock
FNGs: None
COUNT: 13
Today’s Q was to acknowledge YHC’s 55th birthday a few weeks back. The theme? What’s the best part about birthday parties? No, not the gift bags. The friends. So today (after a Strutter request for a Hagar classic), we celebrated friends.

CONDITIONS: Balmy

WARMUP:
Standard Vector Birthday SSH set — 55 (set to I Can’t Drive 55 – Sammy Hagar. You’re welcome, Strutter)
LBAC x 20
RLBAC x 20
Overhead Press x 20

THE THANG:
Count off and get a partner. Your homework – find out an unknown fact about your friend t reveal at COT.

Mosey to Rec Center.
Pair of friends run around the Rec Center (fun fact finding time) while the rest of PAX work on 55 reps of the following:
Freddy Mercs
Regular Pull-Ups
Iron Mikes
Excellent Form Squats
Normal Merkins
Dips
SSH

Rinse and repeat x 3.

Mosey back to flag for Mary with Hello Dollys, Flutter Kicks, and Box Cutters.

PLAYLIST:
Why Can’t We be Friends? – War
Friends in Low Places – Garth Brooks
Friends – Jody Watley with Eric B. & Rakim
With a Little Help from My Friends – Beatles
You’re My Best Friend – Queen
Thank You for Being a Friend – Andrew Gold
Just a Friend – Biz Markie
You’ve Got a Friend in Me – Randy Newman
All My Rowdy Friends are Coming Over Tonight – Hank Jr.
Best Friends – English Beat
My Best Friend’s Girl – The Cars
All the Right Friends – R.E.M.

COT:
Prayers for those affected by cuts in public health and research.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Spring Fling this Saturday April 6th — check Slack for deets (right Cream Cheese?)

A Few Select Random Facts:
Wet Wipes posing nude in print
CubCadet doing black ops security for Yo-Yo Ma’s son
DintyMoore’s old bottle collection (which he puts highlighters inside off with black light backlighting?)

Thanks HIM for pushing me into year 55!
SYITG,
Vector :microbe:

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Another Round of Merkins

AO: the-knoll
Q: The Merchant
PAX: AAA, El Capitan, Sparrow, Sooie, Stubs, Pebbles, Wolfpack, Étouffée, Parka-Eh, morning stār, G-string, Half Lyfe, Timber, Papa Bear, Ex-Pat, Bumblebee, Rubiks, Gold Digger
FNGs: 1 Gold Digger
COUNT: 19
Warm-up:
SSH, BACs, WMHs, Motivators

The Thang:
HIIT Workout
20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest
6 exercises in a round, 75 seconds between rounds

Exercises:
Merkins
Sit Ups
Imperial Walkers
Merkins
Crunches
Squats

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11 is a really big number when you’re holding a cinderblock

AO: titan
Q: SalPal
PAX: Pep, Goose, Black Lung, Half Lyfe, Wolfpack, Young and Restless, Tim the Toolman, CubCadet, Papa Bear, Sherlock, Crawlspace, Slim Jim, Wonderpickle
FNGs: None
COUNT: 14
CONDITIONS: Acceptable

WARMUP: Mosey around the Parthenon + coupon pickup.

THE THANG: 11’s at the hill. Start with 10 squat thrusters at the bottom, 1 offset block merkin (each side 1/2) at the top. Mosey back and forth until you were at 10 on the top. Those without blocks did screamin’ eagles + bodybuilders + backwards mosey.

Returned the coupons, SSH and burpees to finish.

MOLESKINE: Hey PepGPT, come up with a meaningful insight into the nature of masculinity summarized from the conversations we had this morning during our workout.

Sure! I’d be happy to summarize some of the conversations that you had while working out this morning!

Everyone seemed to find the work challenging, and people decided to partner up to carry the load while making authentic human connections. The takeaway is that men can meaningfully accomplish more working together than alone.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– Night Moves tomorrow
– Spring Fling April 6th

COT:
– Prayers for healing and perseverence in sickness.

Always an honor to lead. Stay Salty Nashville.

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Wake up early and work hard

AO: the-knoll
Q: Malibu
PAX: Pebbles, El Capitan, Wolfpack, AAA, Malibu, Papa Bear, Étouffée, Siri
FNGs: None
COUNT: 8
CONDITIONS: but nippy at the start but closed with some cosmic ray goodness and warmth at the end.

WARMUP:
Mosey to Peppbles’ place. Move 2k lbs of lumber, mosey back to playground and stretch (dealer’s choice). Prep for Thang 1 and Thang 2.

THE THANG:
(1) 15’ amrap: 7x squats + 7x Mericans.
Extra sauce for jumping squats, burpees, and variations galore.

(2) 13’ amrap: 5x plank walk outs, 10x sit-ups, 10x American Twists (variations encouraged).

MOLESKINE:
I‘ve been recalling recently the fact that I will one day pass away from this life. This reality focuses me more on living well, loving more, and giving of myself for others instead of the self-centered temptations I so often and so easily choose.
I also believe that at the end of my life I will be judged on how much I loved, and recently a friend encouraged me to try to live out and up this notion: how proud can I make my Heavenly Father when he has to judge my choices? A somber thought for sure, but a hopeful one when I know I am surrounded and encouraged by other men such as The Knoll is made.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Merican March Challenge. 4/6 BBQ meetup at Warner Parks.

COT:
Prayers for Étouffée’s friend Josh, El Capitan‘s dad, for good meetings for both Sooie and Papa Bear, and health of all our families.