Keep it Simple

AO: the-knoll
Q: Wolfpack
PAX: Hair Band, El Capitan, Timber, Sooie, The Banker, FLO, Parka-Eh, Pitmaster, Pebbles, Papa Bear, Malibu, Half Lyfe, morning stār, Link, Bumblebee, Schmoltz, Goliath, Ace, Monkey, Dr.Kitty, Taz
FNGs: None
COUNT: 22
CONDITIONS: Little wet, but temp was right

WARMUP: Jog around the Knoll while the 2.0’s call out various movements to get those joints loose.

THE THANG:
Tabata: 30 seconds on 10 seconds rest. 4 exercises in a round. 4 rounds total:
– Merkins
– Mountain Climbers
– Squats
– High Knees

VCR
Split up into pairs. One PAX is the VHS and the other has the remote. If remote runs backwards, the VHS goes in slow motion. If remote runs forwards, the VHS goes fast. If the remote pauses, the VHS holds it’s current position in the exercise.

4 rounds of Squats
4 rounds of Merkins

5 minutes of Yoga then 10 minutes of Mary

MOLESKINE: Little bit of mumble chatter. Lots of 2.0’s today, which always makes it fun!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: morning stār on Q next week with so get ready for some cold cold ice plunges.

COT: In NoNoiseNovember I have reflected on some of the key writings I find important. I’ve found that these are broken out into three categories that really feed off of each other. So a reminder to PAX to make sure you have a FOUNDATION to build your ACTIONS off of so that you can push into the unknown and GROW. For me, I use the Tao Te Ching for my Foundation, The Four Agreements for Action and Emerson’s Self Reliance for Growth. Find what works for you and take the time to read and reflect

Sandbag Special

AO: the-knoll
Q: Timber
PAX: AAA, G-string, Lady Liberty, Pebbles, Stubs, The Banker, Timber, Wolfpack, Link (2.0), Sandlot (2.0)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 10
CONDITIONS: 35 degrees, lots of moonlight

WARMUP: 4 minute mosey, BACs, back BACs, Seal Claps, Shoulder Press

THE THANG: as many rounds as possible
-Thang 1 (12 minutes): 7 pull-ups, 7 hang clean to squat and press (w/ 60lb sandbag), 15 merkins, 100 yard run
-Thang 2 (10 minutes): 15 squats, 15 curls (w/ 60lb sandbag), 15 WWIIs, 100 yard run
-Thang 3 (2 minutes): sprint 100 yards (w/ 60lb sandbag), rotate with partner

MOLESKINE: finished with 2 minutes of stretching, Pebbles with a great post workout brew, happy birthday to Stubs twins (9 yrs old on Saturday), thanks to Pebbles G-string The Banker for bringing sandbags, Wolfpack caught everyone up on his crazy week stuck in the hurricane, good push by all this morning

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Chiliteria this Sunday!

COT: I have a lot of gratitude for the encouragement from my F3 brothers, and for working hard which motivates me to push harder. Special thanks to Pebbles who joined up on a tussle team with me and G-string, and expressed gratitude for his willingness to take over as AOQ on Thursdays at the-knoll!

Thanks for the push in the gloom!
-Timber

MOT CIRCUIT

AO: the-knoll
Q: El Capitan
PAX: Timber, Ex-Pat, The Banker, AAA, El Capitan, morning stār, Sooie, Stubs, Pitmaster, Pebbles, Papa Bear, The Merchant, Bumblebee (2.0), Schmoltz (2.0), Eagle (2.0), TheJudge (2.0), TopGun (2.0)
FNGs: 1 TopGun (2.0)
COUNT: 17
CONDITIONS: mid-60s & blustery

WARMUP:
– Stretches (down dog, cobra, sprinter stretch, BACs & BacBACs x10
– Motivators 5x, run to backstop & back to playground

THE THANG:
PART 1: MOT CIRCUIT
– count off into two teams

Round #1:
– team 1 BEAR CRAWLS around perimeter of playground
– team 2 SKY THRUSTS until team 1 returns, then SWITCH

Round #2:
– team 1 LIZARD CRAWLS around perimeter of playground
– Team 2 FREDDY MERCURY’S until team 1 returns, then SWITCH

Round #3:
– team 1 GORILLA HOPS around perimeter of playground
– Team 2 “REVERSE” BURPEE (WW2 to jump) until team 1 returns, then SWITCH

Round #4:
– team 1 CRAB WALK around perimeter of playground
– Team 2 IMPERIAL WALKERS until team 1 returns, then SWITCH

Part 2: MYSTERY MARY

Two sets of cardboard cards
One set has times (:45-2 min)
One set has CORE workouts
Lie cards face down in two groups, memory game style.
Pax circle up- 2.0s choose a time card + workout card.

Wash, rinse, repeat

Ended with a 1:45 round of Ring of Fire.

MOLESKINE:
“Love is a long road.” Our culture tends to view love as a feeling, something you fall into, experience passionately, etc. But real love is indeed a long road – one that is often defined much more by commitment & faithfulness than feeling. I encouraged the PAX to consider this viewpoint & look around their circle of influence to see who God has placed in their lives to serve for the long haul.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Check Slack for October updates coming soon!

COT: Lifted up G-string & his family at the passing of his great-grandmother, friends of the The Banker dealing with a cancer diagnose, and The Merchant’s purchase of his first home.

A prayer was lifted & coffee + chocolate milk enjoyed.

So grateful for y’all!
:el-capitan:

Loose Caboose… Pain Train Style

AO: pain-train
Q: Wolfpack
PAX: FLO, Wolfpack, Cheeks, The Banker, Siri, G-string
FNGs: None
COUNT: 6
CONDITIONS: I love the rain.

WARMUP: SSH, BAC, BACBAC, WMH, Mosey to stage

THE THANG:
Loose caboose pain-train style…
10 cones were set in varying distances around the 1/5 mile track around the park.

PAX carried Coupons (1-54lbs, 2-25lbs, 2-35lbs, 2-35 lbs, 2-20lbs, caboose sprints to cone with no Coupon) from cone to cone, stopping at each cone to perform 1 Burpee and 10 reps of an exercises, switching exercises every 6 cones. In total we did:

– 3/5 miles of Coupon Carries (3 laps)
– 30 Burpees
– 60 Coupon Shoulder Presses
– 60 Merkins
– 60 Coupon Bent Over Rows
– 120 Coupon Goblet Squats

MARY:
10x Leg raises
10x Crunch frogs
10x American hammers

MOLESKINE: The little half 20lbs coupons were the worse… my fingers are feeling it.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 10th anniversary f3 Nashville tomorrow at Sever Park. Clowncar leaving from pain-train at 5:30am tomorrow morning.

COT: Led PAX on a 5 minute gratitude and meditation exercise. Namaste brothers :pray:

9.10 Mystery Workout

AO: the-knoll
Q: AAA
PAX: Sooie, El Capitan, Stubs, Sparrow, The Banker, Timber, G-string, morning stār, Malibu, Papa Bear, Bumblebee, Iowa, The Judge
FNGs: None
COUNT: 14
CONDITIONS: mid 50s, damp grass.

WARMUP: -5 motivators
-10 lunges
-Baby arm circles and back BACs
-10 slow squats
-10 slow push ups
-mosey down to tree line and back

THE THANG: 8 rounds of a 2 minute AMRAP start with a 20 yard sprint/run, and then do 11 reps of designated exercise and then run back 20 yards and do another 11 reps until 2 minutes are up.
Round 1- 11 burpees
Round 2- 11 pushups
Round 3 – 11 air squat
Round 4- 11 mountain climbers
Round 5- 11 jumping jacks
Round 6- 11 jumping lunges
Round 7 – 11 Carolina dry dock
Round 8 – 11 tuck jumps

Finished with some Ultimate Frisbee

MOLESKINE: John 15:13
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

In remembering 9/11 tomorrow, let’s take a moment to think about and remember the ultimate acts of love shown by many on 9/11, and the many years after 9/11.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 9/11 workout at capital steps 5:30 am, Brig workout at 5:30 am

COT:

Phat Cinderblock Workout

AO: pain-train
Q: Siri
PAX: The Banker, Timber, G-string, FLO, Pitmaster, Wolfpack, Sooie, Cheeks
FNGs: None
COUNT: 9
CONDITIONS:
Phat

WARMUP:
stretching + shouldermania + mosey to stage to pick cinderblocks

THE THANG:
EMOM UNTIL FAILURE
3 Burpees + 3 cinderblock Front Squats with Overhead Press*

*On the minute, perform 3 Burpees + 3 Front Squats with Overhead Press. Burpees stay at 3-Reps every minute. The Front Squats increase by 1-Rep every minute (ex: 3 Burpees +1 FS, 3+2, 3+3, 3+4…and so on). Continue climbing the ladder of Front Squats until you can not complete the reps in that minute.

-Active Rest b/t Sets-
– mosey one lap followed by alternating sets of 15 (2-count) imperial walkers and 15 (4-count) SSH. 3 sets of each.

MOLESKINE:
T-claps to G-string for making it to 28 reps with a 54 lb cinderblock, and to The Banker and Timber for getting to 31 reps with standard cinderblocks :clap: :clap:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
9/11 and 9/14 convergences. Some convo about the possibility of a Bellevue edition of Hunger Games Pitmaster Wolfpack :eyes:

COT:
Prayers lifted up. Thank you for letting me lead!

On the Books Anniversary

AO: the-knoll
Q: Sooie
PAX: The Banker, morning stār, Sooie, Sparrow, Tea Party, Papa Bear, Pit Master, Dr. Stogie, Stubs, Eagle (2.0), The Judge (2.0)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
CONDITIONS: cool, starry, perfect

WARMUP:
Stretch OYO
Yes/No/maybe
BAC
BBAC
Overhead claps
Seal claps
Don Quixotes
Motivators (from 5)

THE THANG:
Split into 2 teams. Had 6 cones set up 15 yards apart. Each cone had a different exercise on it. Each team had to complete 200 reps of the exercise. The first team to finish the 200 reps captured the cone and added 25 reps to the next exercises.
1. Squats
2. Merkins
3. WW2’s
4. Monkey humpers
5. apollo ohno’s
6. Burpees

Next up a friendly game of capture the flag. Be warned Tea Party has some speed!

MOLESKINE:
“Outdo one another in showing honor”
Romans 12:10

I’ve been incredibly blessed to witness the transformations in the lives of the men at the knoll. Took time to recognize and honor the men both present and absent.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
9/11 convergence at the Capitol Steps
9/14 F3 Nashville 10 year anniversary

COT:
Prayers spoken and offered.

Hearts are for leg days

AO: the-knoll
Q: Malibu
PAX: AAA, El Capitan, G-string, Malibu, morning stār, Pitmaster, Sparrow, Stu Cook, The Banker, Timber, Stubs, Sooie, The Judge, BumbleBee
FNGs: None
COUNT: 14
CONDITIONS: another spectacular 72*

WARMUP:
Malibu Special:
Mosey to the stop sign, circle up in the field, SSH, slow steady squats & Mericans, BAC+BBAC, stretching (dealers choice).

THE THANG:
Deck of cards:
:heart: Step Ups
:diamonds: North, South, or Sweet) Carolina Dry Dockers
:spades: Twists, 2=1
:clubs: Sit-up variation, dealers choice

The constant shuffling kept us guessing and played some mind games in the gloom.

MOLESKINE:
A quote board in my son’s classroom this year quotes an anonymous speaker: Everything is difficult, until it becomes easy.

Not because easy just happens, but through hard work. Facing difficulties head on and grinding through the hard work applies to faith as much it does fitness. In our fellowship at The Knoll, I experience how good and true this to come together, put in shared, hard work and leave a better man.

As we head into Labor Day, I reflect at the end of the day today on my gratitude for this group and the work we do together. Appreciate the chance to Q this week and see you all Tuesday. Have a great, holiday weekend!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Statistically impossible to get 80% of AO’s for Guliver’s travels. But you could try, it’s worth it.
9/11 convergence 0530 @ TN Capital steps.
Nashville F3 10th Anniversary coming up also.

El Cap needs help moving a couple of items. DM him for deets.

COT:
Prayers for the Judge’s brother, El Capitan in his move, and those intentions in the silence of our hearts.

It’s All in the Grind

AO: the-knoll
Q: Malibu
PAX: AAA, El Capitan, Ex-Pat, Malibu, morning stār, Papa Bear, Sooie, Stu Cook, The Banker, Timber, Wolfpack, BumbleBee, Smoltz, Samwise, Iowa
FNGs: None
COUNT: 15
CONDITIONS:
Spectacular morning- clear skies, full of hearts, can’t lose.

WARMUP:
Mosey to stop sign, circle up in field.
SSHx 20 with one amazing silent count of unified side straddle hopping in silent cadence.
Slow squat and push-ups, BAC and BBAC.
Mental prep for the Thang.

THE THANG:
An old coach taught me that professionals grind out the work. For today’s grinds, work steadily but not frantically:
(1) 20 minute grind: 6x hand release push ups, 1 or 2 pull ups/reverse pull ups, 6x Lt. Dans
(2) 15 minute grind: 30 seconds of WWI/WWII (user choice), 30 seconds of twists, 30 seconds of standing founders up and down.
(3) Final Grind: SooieBrew

MOLESKINE:
We need our bodies for life, work, and our vocations and men and fathers. Drawing from knowledge and training from a S&C coach Rob Shaul, that means we are professional athletes with particular, specific fitness demands. Our demands as- in my case a suburban dad- are perhaps different than other professional athletes but still there. We can best fulfill our individual callings in life when our bodies are capable of the mission before us.
Professionals are also willing to do the work when the tough gets going and relish the grind when it comes. Today’s workout gave us a time to set about our hard work steadily, not frantically but working through a long 20minutes and another 15minutes.
Being a professional athlete also demands a burden of constant fitnes. In my F3 journey I have found that this burden is best carried in the encouragement and presence of others, especially in The Gloom. Some days feel great, other days feel like a grind. Relish the grind! Put one foot in front of the other, and Just Keep Swimming! Cheers,

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Gallivants Travels ends this week.
September 11 Convergence at 0530 at TN Capitol Steps, plan for an hour.
F3 Nash decade anniversary coming up too.

COT
Prayers for presence, and peace amidst returning to school and work routines.

ThunderBunny Beatdown (aka LrThe’s Awakening)

AO: pain-train
Q: El Capitan
PAX: Wolfpack, The Banker, G-string, Sooie, Bean Burger (Fairview, TN), Cheeks, Timber, Siri, Pitmaster, FLO, El Capitan
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
CONDITIONS:
clear skies, low 60s, almost Yosemite

WARMUP:
– Downward dog + cobra + sprinter-stretch merkins 3x both sides, PE stretch
– BAC + BacBACs + Turkish Moroccan Night Clubs: 12x
– Willie Mays Hays OYO
– PAX collected coupons (one each) and returned to sidewalk

THE THANG:

Part 1: ThunderBurpees

– All PAX circle up, play song “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC.
– SSH throughout – burpee every time you hear the word “Thunder”. :skull_and_crossbones:

Part 2: Sudoku Murder Bunny Special

SOUNDTRACK: Weezer Blue Album

Downloaded two easy sudoku puzzles from internet, printed on 11×14″ sheets, laminated, supplied dry erase markers + paper towels

Split up into two teams.

Six stations. One PAX from each team per station, lined up along sidewalk.

Station #1: Plank, work on a sudoku puzzle

Station #2: Murder bunny to cone with coupon, carry on shoulder back. (All PAX rotate to next station when he returns.)

Station #3: floor-to-ceilings with coupon

Station #4: straight-arm squats with coupon

Station #5: sky thrusters on back with coupon

Station #6*: wild card! options include…

1. 6x hops + elevated elbow-to-knees over coupon (3x per side)
2. bench press on back with coupon
3. American hammers with coupon
4. Speed step-ups on coupon
5. Curls with coupon

Rotated until PAX (almost?) solved the puzzles.

Bonus Round at 6:10 AM: in lieu of sudoku, each team tried to name all 25 AO’s in F3 Nashville while rotating through the reps.

MOLESKINE:

Shared how grateful I am for the fellowship of the PAX and encouraged those who may be nervous about Q’ing to reach out for help/advice – it is worth it. Such a joy to lead y’all this morning!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Check Slack for September updates (including 9/11 and 9/14 anniversary convergences) coming soon!

COT:

Countorama, Nameorama, shared requests, and closed in prayer.

Special shout-out to Wolfpack for the delicious & courageous LupusBrewpus rebound this morning!

We are grateful for you & hope that your kitchen counters recover from any & all coffee-related trauma.

:el-capitan: