You Can Do Anything for 10 Minutes

AO: the-knoll
Q: SalPal
PAX: The Banker, Timber, Sparrow, matthew hayes, Sooie, Pebbles, morning stār, The Merchant, Ex-Pat, El Capitan, G-string, FLO, Rubics (sp?) and Birdman, very brave 2.0s
FNGs: None
COUNT: 15
CONDITIONS: Shoe-gonna-get wet

WARMUP: Non-existent

THE THANG:
“Life isn’t measured in moments, but in the moments that take our breath away. Now give me ten burpees.””
“”Black Lung”” “1. 10 minutes: 10 burpees, EMOM
2. 10 minutes: 2 minutes on, 30 seconds off plan
3. 10 minutes: interval sprints
4. 10 minutes to do ~50-75 yards of burpee broad jumps

MARY to close.

MOLESKINE: T-Claps to the 2.0s sprinting to give us the distance for our run, and to everyone for dragging their broken bodies through the 40 degree wet grass. Sooie brought some of that sweet sweet jet fuel to close.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Next week, big things happening at both atlantis and the-knoll, bring men out that need the fitness, fellowship and faith.

COT: All intentions spoken and unspoken; practice gratitude today fellas. 5 thank yous and praises for every 1 sh*tty thing you say. Show the world and your community you chose joy.

Green Sally Out

A Freight Knot

AO: pain-train
Q: Sooie
PAX: G-string, Siri, Sooie, Timber, Wolfpack
FNGs: None
COUNT: 5
CONDITIONS: 65 and humid. Not too shabby for Spring in Middle TN.

WARMUP:
Imperial walkers 10x
Good Morning’s OYO
Keep ’em Ups 10x of each
Shoulder taps
Side shoulder taps
Front shoulder taps
Horizontal scissors
Scissor chops
BAC
BBAC
Don Quixote’s 10x

THE THANG:
12 lbs weighted vest was worn by a PAX at all times throughout the workout. Handoff had to be initiated by one of the un-weighted PAX. Each PAX wore the weight once.

Exploratory Mosey to 9 square court. PAX were rewarded with 15 sets of 1 pull-ups EMOM. Squats in between sets.

Mosey back to the caboose.
Conductor/Cargo/Caboose around the inside track in which PAX carried a picnic table around the playground in a rotating fashion. 1 PAX was at the front (Conductor), 1 PAX held a plank on the table (Cargo) 1 PAX was at the back (Caboose). Other 2 PAX followed with lunges. Rotated every 30 seconds.

Mosey to the stage. Performed 10ish Wallkout Merkins. Feet low on the wall, merkin. Feet walk up the wall, merkin. Walk a little higher, merkin…and back down.

Mosey to the turf. 2:48 plank while reviewing F3 mission/core values/credo. Collapse.

MOLESKINE:
Starting out as young men, we learn to carry our own burdens. As we get older, we learn to look out for others who need help carrying their burdens. And sometimes we have to carry each other. Ultimately we have someone who is strong enough to carry all of our burdens.

“Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you”
Psalm 55:22

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Plankril continues
Knolliversary 5/2 BYOK
Pain train launch 5/10 spread the word!

COT:
Prayers offered.
Coffeeteria and mumblechatter at #pain-train is par excellence! Siri realized his life long dream of becoming a standup comedian. Rarely have I laughed so hard that I couldn’t laugh anymore…the humor was the Mary!

Vulnerability Line Dance

AO: the-knoll
Q: Ex-Pat
PAX: Pebbles, Siri, Lunch Lady, morning star, Timber, Sparrow, Ex-Pat, Wolfpack, Sooie, G-string, Link (2.0)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
CONDITIONS: wonderful, cool and breezy

WARMUP: Downward Dog to Plank to Upward Dog on Command, BACS, Back-BACS in Cadence, Willie Mays Hays on own, Motivators starting with 5

THE THANG:
There is a line of cones in the grass, each cone has 2 people. 5 minute exercise where one partner does the exercise and the other answers a question and has a conversation. 2.5 minutes for each and switch. After the 5 minutes you rotate to the next cone on your right to have a new parter. Q calls out the exercise and question for each round

Exercise 1 – Plankril – 2min 42 seconds or Side Plank to Plank to Other Side Plank 10 seconds each.
Question 1 – what are you most grateful for in your life? Why?

Exercise 2 – Lunge & Squat – lunge left, lunge right, 5 second slow squat and repeat
Question 2 – what is something you are afraid of? Why?

Exercise 3 – Shoulder press & London Bridges – shoulder press x 20 then London Bridge x 10 and repeat
Question 3 – what do you value most in a friendship and why?

Exercise 4 – Butt Kicks x20 then High Knees x20 then Mountain Climbers x20 and repeat
Question 4 – what is something you would change about how you were raised? How did affect you as a kid and how does it affect you now?

Exercise 5 – Merkins – Either do merkins the entire 2.5 minutes, do side plank to merkin to other side plank repeat, or do 10 merkins then 5 burpees and repeat
Question 5 – what is something you need to or can do to deepen a friendship or your involvement in community?

Mary – 1 minute choose you own adventure – choose your own Mary

MOLESKINE:
I’ve been thinking about wealth lately. We tend to only think of monetary wealth. But what happens if that doesn’t exist? What if money was useless? What is going to be the most important resource? It is social wealth. Our species survived because it could think and the first thing we thought to do is to group together and work together. We need to get back to that and think about our social wealth and how we build that. And we need to think about how busy we are and does that add or subtract to our social wealth. We never do nothing – and we need to do more of nothing, and do nothing with others – so the challenge is to grab someone and go do nothing with them – go take a walk, sit and watch a sunset, etc.

Prayed a Scottish Celtic Blessing and took prayer requests

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Pain Train on Fridays
New locations are starting

COT: morning star brought the cold ginger tea and it was amazing! Thank you all again for honoring me by allowing me to lead you. Thank you for your vulnerability and having conversations that blessed me.

Running Through the Wet Grass

AO: the-knoll
Q: Sooie
PAX: Ex-Pat, G-string, Malibu, Pebbles, The Merchant, Sooie, Lunch Lady, Josh Stevenson (Sparrow)
FNGs: 1 Josh Stevenson (Sparrow)
COUNT: 8
CONDITIONS: Perfect temperature. A bit damp.

WARMUP:
Motivators from 5
Imperial Walkers
“Keep em Up!”:
Shoulder taps
Side shoulder taps
Front shoulder taps
Scissor chops
Horizontal scissors
BAC
BBAC
Don Quixotes
OYO stretch/shakeout

Might as well knock out today’s 2 minute plank

THE THANG:
5 cones between the road and the tree line across the knoll. Began at the road. Exercise and MOT to each cone was different.
Sprint to cone 1: 20 burpees
Crab crawl to cone 2: 20 Lt. Dans
Crawl crab to cone 3: 10 breakdancer merkins
Mosey to cone 4: 30 Spicolli’s
Bear crawl to cone 5: 10 plank rotations
Mosey to tree line: 2 minute active recovery.

COMPETE FOR CONES:
first PAX to pick up the cone got a point. Sprint to cone 1 then tree line, cone 2 then tree line, cone 3 then tree line…you get the idea.

Mosey to the playground. Split into 2 groups. Group 1 dead hangs. Group 2 lunges to the road and mosey’s back. Swap.

Close out with some recovery breath work. Pebbles contributed to the air quality during this phase. :dash:

MOLESKINE:
Proverbs 24:5-6
A wise man is full of strength,
and a man of knowledge enhances his might,
for by wise guidance you can wage your war,
and in abundance of counselors there is victory.

These verses have meant a lot to me and have grown more as I have spent more time in F3. Thank you men for the encouragement, support, and camaraderie!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Plankril continues
G-string will be conductor at pain-train tomorrow. Be sure to punch your ticket!
The knolliversary is coming up 5/2. More on that later

COT:
The Merchant was the 6 and shared what F3 meant to him.
Prayers requested and lifted.

Pain Train is back baby!!

AO: offthebooks
Q: Wolfpack
PAX: The Banker, Siri, Merchant, G-string (Eli Kresta), Three Stooges, Sooie
FNGs: None
COUNT: 7
CONDITIONS: Little chilly, but clear and comfortable.

WARMUP: Jumped on the train and moseyed to the incredibly well lit and large church parking lot across the street. SSH, BACs, BAC BACs, Overhead Claps, Imperial Walkers, WMHs

THE THANG: Run to a location, perform Tabata exercises (90 second work/45 second rest)

Red Caboose
– Merkins
– Spiccoli’s

Amphitheater
– Wall Sits
– Burpees (jump up onto stage at the top and back down)

Gazebo
– Dips
– Incline Merkins

Playground
– Skullcrushers
– Pull Ups
– Step Ups

Red Caboose Field
– LBCs
– Plank
– Merkin Ring of Fire

MOLESKINE: Incredible to see the desire and support for growth in the Bellevue area… next 7 weeks Q’s are scheduled! Three Stooges bounced quickly so didn’t make it in the pic, but can confirm he was there! Sooie christened the caboose by accidentally dropping smashing his Nalgene into the ground in a sheer demonstration of Bellevue strength and power.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Plankril Day 5. F3 Huntsville is converging on Franklin AO Armada tomorrow morning. Ping G-String for details if you’re able to head down and show some support for our Franklin brothers.

COT: Reminder to PAX to seek out ways to be inspired and in turn seek opportunities to inspire others. Loving kindness and good vibes for all prayers.

It takes movement … so, move!

AO: the-knoll
Q: morning star
PAX: Sooie, Wolfpack, Siri, morning star, Right Said, El Capitan, Merchant, Malibu, Ex-Pat, Pebbles, Big Red (2.0), Bumble Bee (2.0)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 12
CONDITIONS: low 40s and not too bad

5:30 – welcome to the knoll, where 2.”a are always welcome. Took a moment to appreciate the birds.

Mosey to the flood monument bench

WARMUP:
Circle up for Lazy imperial walkers, all arm movements balanced on one leg (alternate to other leg when you lose balance): LBCs, reverse LBCs, put your glasses on, take your glasses off, jimmy goes to Egypt, slow merkins, low slow squats

THE THANG:
30 rounds of 5 seconds of work, 25 seconds of active recovery, alternating between merkins and jump squats (or modification).
– roll after merkins, before getting up
– lots of variations of active recovery and silly interactions after squats

Mosey to the playground, find a bar and do a max habg, mosey back and plank to wait for six.

YHC remembered the disclaimer…

Repeat 30 rounds.

Mary:
– Alternate crab walk and cat/baby crawl back to playground.
– Baby rocking to wrap up

MOLESKINE: I’m a leadership and personal development geek. I love thinking about it and practicing it. I enjoyed sharing some thoughts on it today. Remember that to bless simply means to find good and call it out. Don’t forget to bless yourself as you practice blessing. It’s a skill. I also enjoyed all the laughter and horse play during our active recovery. Joy is also worth practicing.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– plankril today is 1min 16 seconds
– 5 mile Saturday run to support Richland creek, meets at Richland park, see Right Said for details

COT:
– Counts, names and announcements
– The founders of F3 thought they men functioned best when they were aware of and connected to something bigger than themselves
– Took a moment of silent reflection to connect with personal SkyQ … consider someone you’re close to, picture their face, what might be one thing you could do to deepen your connection? Commit to doing that today
– YHC blessed the PAX to go forth and practice bless today
– Poured ginger tea as YHC shared on leadership (see below)

Here is a framework for personal acceleration:
– draw a y and x axis … the y axis represents your motivation: who are you serving? Bottom is you, top is others … the x axis represents type of action. The left is responding (following or participating) the right is initiating (leading)
– bottom left quadrant is participating to serve yourself
– top left is participating to serve others
– Top right is leading to serve others
– bottom right is leading to serve yourself
– growth is recognizing what quadrant you tend to be comfortable in and then considering moving to another quadrant to practice something you may not be as comfortable in
– The key to maturity is to keep moving through the quadrants to be well practiced in all, there’s no “bad” expression here

Wolfpack encouraged the PAX to make their comfort spot with an x.

YHC encouraged the PAX to consider a growth edge: challenge yourself to do something you don’t normally do. That may be initiating or participating. That maybe to shift your focus to yourself or to others. Honor to each man in his unique journey. We all bring a contribution that is valuable.

Games with Dad – Bring your kids to workout, part 2

AO: the-knoll
Q: Wolfpack , Sooie, Ex-Pat, Pebbles
PAX: Aflac, El Capitan, Siri, Sooie, Ex-Pat, Wolfpack, morning star, Merchant, Firefox, Bumble bee (2.0), Awesome Axolotl (2.0), Link (2.0), Birdman (2.0), White Pony (2.0), Rubiks (2.0)
FNGs: 2 White Pony (2.0), Rubiks (2.0)
COUNT: 16
CONDITIONS: warm, overcast and delightful

WARMUP: (Wolfpack and Link)
I Spy With My Little Eye – Various stretches while Link called out different parts of the playground he spies (Top of a slide, a pole, a ladder). PAX has to run and touch that spot on the playground.

THE THANG:
Part 1 – baseball practice (Pebbles)
Pax team up with a 2.0 for infield practice. 1 Pax does exercise while the other runs the bases. Switch between exercise and running for 2:30.
– First Base – Lunges
– Second Base – Carolina Dry Docks
– Short Stop – Burpees
– Third Base – Merkins
– Catcher – Squats

Part 2 (Ex-pat and Birdman)
2 min each circuit, 30 sec rest/explain and mosie to other area
1. London bridge – dad goes into bridge and kid army crawls under then dad comes down or not and kid continues to make circles
2. Leap Frog to next exercise
3. Slow hold tandem crunch – face each other feet together and hold hands, one moves to a low hold for 10 seconds and then switch. Keep going for all time
4. High skip to next exercise
5. Hold squat jumping jacks – dad holds a squat and kid does 15 jumping jacks and then switch
6. Bear crawl to next exercise
7. Stacked push ups – dad on ground, kids hands on back, dad does merkin then kid does one – go till fatigue
8. Ladder – take turns following each other through the ladder making up steps as you go

Mary (Sooie) – PAX choice

MOLESKINE: this was round 2 and we’ll continue this each month. Was great to see 2 new 2.0s!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– pre-hab continues at 5:15 before the workout
– Plankril is on!

COT: (Pebbles)
We have many roles as fathers. One of the most important is to teach our kids what’s right and wrong. However our delivery (tone, body language, etc) is just as important as our message. Sometimes we need to be firm and enforce consiwuiendes and other times our kids need complete mercy. May we consider this and have discernment.

Requests shared and prayers said.

#the-knoll’s 1st Annual (B)easter Egg Hunt!

AO: the-knoll
Q: El Capitan
PAX: Aflac, Wolfpack, morning star, El Capitan, Ex-Pat, Sooie, Link (2.0), Bumblebee (2.0)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 8
CONDITIONS: frosty & starlit

TUNES: Americana / Alt-country

WARMUP:

1. downward dog
2. Viper
3. 3x power push-ups (both sides)
4. Deep Calf stretch
5. Back twist
6. BACs & BackBACs 15x each
7. Motivators to 5

THE THANG:

All PAX circle up in grass beside picnic table.

One PAX will don headlamp & bring back one (B)easter egg – eggs are hidden around playground, underneath trees, etc.

Waiting PAX will perform a plank until seeker returns.

All PAX will perform whatever exercise is written on the slip of paper in the (B)easter eggs.

Rotate until all eggs have been opened (25 eggs total – we did 24!)

MOLESKINE:

I encouraged the PAX to find ways to include joy in the hum-drum and routine moments of life.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

– Plankril starts Monday!

– BYO2.0 workout on Tuesday, April 2nd.

COT:

– Countorama
– Nameorama
– Sooie on the 6
– Prayer requests shared & lifted up to the Lord
– Sooie Brewie

So thankful for y’all!

:mountain:

Endless Reps, Together

AO: the-knoll
Q: El Capitan
PAX: morning star, El Capitan, Wolfpack, Sooie, Malibu, Merchant, Right Said, Link (2.0), Bumblebee (2.0)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 9
CONDITIONS: Decent weather for ducks, but at least we had 70s Rock to listen to. :the_horns:

WARMUP: Caboose-is-loose run to the top of Harpeth Knoll hill. At top of hill, all PAX will do together:

-10x 3-count merkins
-10x 3-count squats

Turn around & return to playground. Split up into two teams & line up at playground.

THE THANG:

Phase 1:

Each PAX team will perform the following “endless” exercises …
– Lunges
– Leg Raises on back
– Carolina Dry Docks
– Freddy Mercuries

One PAX will long jump to opposite end zone lamp, high knees back. Rotate until all PAX have completed the mosey, then move on to the next exercise. Rinse, repeat.

Phase 2:

Mosey to flood table.

All PAX perform “endless” dips while one PAX runs to backstop & back. Exercise is complete when all PAX have completed backstop mosey.

Phase 3:

A Cool Down Stretch!

– Butterflies with deep breathing sequence
– Straight-leg stretch
– Child’s pose (my favorite)
– Downward dog / arch
– Viper
– Power Push-up Stretch
– Deep calf stretch
– Back twist

MOLESKINE:

I struggle with anxiety, especially when it comes to finances. Recently, we’ve had several (expensive) things hit my family at once which has caused me to reflect… do I trust that God will take care of us? As a Christian, do I believe Jesus’ words when He tells His disciples to “consider the birds of the air & the flowers of the field” and “does not Your Father provide for them”? I challenged the PAX to consider their personal anxieties, and to give them up to the Lord who knows & cares for them.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

– #PreHab will continue each morning at 5:15 unless otherwise notified by morning star
– That Mile :grimacing: is happening at greenmachine Thursday. I will be offering a slightly (but only just) less difficult workout at the-knoll.
– Plankril is less than a week away… One minute plank on April 1st (no fooling), add 6 seconds each day after that.

COT:

Prayer requests were shared amongst the PAX. We closed in a moment of silent reflection & prayer, followed by Sooie Brewie.

I’m so thankful for y’all.

:mountain:

Put your back into it!

AO: the-knoll
Q: G-string (Eli Kresta)
PAX: morning star, Pebbles, Siri, The Banker, Sooie, El Capitan, Wolfpack, Ex-Pat, @Link, @Bumblebee
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
CONDITIONS:
Warmer than Tuesday but still brisk.

WARMUP:
– windmills, imperial walkers, wmh, gm
– Indigenous People’s run with football around the field
– Shoulder warmup

THE THANG:
Two people per station. Three rounds.
– Station 1: sandbag swings
– Station 2: pull-ups jump up and 3-count down
– Station 3: log floor to ceilings
– Station 4: lunges to the street and back
– Station 5: plank hold

MOLESKINE:
On Tuesday we talked about the GK Chesterton quote. Today I wanted to talk about our specific role as fathers. Whenever God the Father called someone in the OT, it led to an adventure. Moses brought his people out of Egypt, Abraham left his country and his family, David went up against Goliath, etc.
Part of our role as fathers is to provide our children with adventure in the context of safety. Even if you don’t believe in God or the bible, this is a biological fact. The role of fathers in hormonal development of their children is different than that of mothers and cannot be easily replaced. Fathers who engage in rough and tumble play in a adventurous (but controlled) manner have children who are better able to stand up to challenges and face adversity. Fathers are more influential on early language development because we often use higher level language with our children. Fathers even have an epigenetic effect on protein synthesis and gene expression. What we do matters.
In light of that, I am looking for ways to provide adventure and new challenges for my family. Introducing my daughter to the world one experience at a time.

If you want to read a little more on the science behind the unique role of fathers, this is a good article to start with and its references.
www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-anthro-091908-164334

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– That mile is coming next week at Green Machine. The knoll will continue as regularly scheduled
– Plankril is coming. One minute plank on the first and add 6 seconds every day.

COT:
Intentions were offered and prayers were said.