F3 – Fitness Fellowship and Faith
Mission Statement
To plant, grow and serve men’s small workout groups for the invigoration of male community leadership.
Disclaimer
I am not a professional – all exercises are merely a suggestion, please modify as needed. From this point on there is a real risk of injury so please be safe.
5 Core Principles
Free
Open to all men
Peer led
Always outside
End with COT (Circle of Trust)
The F3 Credo
Leave no man behind, but leave no man where you find him.
Your VQ-COT should be about what brought you out and why are you still here….it’s that simple the PAX wants to know your story why are you here.
About F3
F3 is a national network of free, peer-led workouts for men. Our mission is to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership.
Started in 2011 in Charlotte, North Carolina, F3 has grown to more than 30 states and 2,000 scheduled workouts a week through the volunteer efforts of men whose lives have been changed by their involvement with the group.
The three Fs in our name stand for Fitness, Fellowship and Faith — the last of which we define as not one specific religion or faith system, but simply a belief in something outside oneself.
F3 participants range in age from the 4-, 5- and 6-year-olds who participate in F3 Dads workouts each summer to men in their 60s and 70s — and even one in his 80s!
What makes us unique, what makes us special?
Our workouts …
- Are free of charge
- Are open to all men
- Are held outdoors, rain or shine, heat or cold
- Are led by men who participate in the workout in a rotating fashion, with no training or certification necessary
- End with a Circle of Trust
We welcome men of all fitness levels to our workouts and have no requirement for membership other than that you show up at the appointed time and place and follow what the workout leader (the “Q” in F3 lingo) does.
The F3 Credo is: Leave no man behind, but leave no man where you find him.
General Tips for Your First Q
Everyone leads differently, and you are encouraged to bring your own style and workout/exercises to the PAX.
Start and Finish On-Time 5:30 AM Start 6:15 Finish – wear a watch and or set a timer.
- Wear or carry a Weinke – Put your workout in writing – it is OK to use notes
- If you can’t do it don’t Q it – KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)
- Do what you know – know what you do – Keep it moving
- Being Prepared = You Care (practice – do a dry run)
- If you need help – JUST ASK – Your F3 Brothers are there to help Don’t be afraid to Co-Q with a more seasoned PAX member
- As Q you are responsible that the SIX is never alone (especially if he is an FNG – A true leader leaves no man behind
- Your first chance to lead will not be when you Q a workout –rather when you are asked to lead an exercise – BE READY
- How to announce the next exercise
- Next Exercise (Side Straddle Hop) Echoed by the PAX
- Starting position Move – In Cadence or Down – Exercise
- (“1,2,3” ONE – “1,2,3” Two “1,2,3” Three “1,2,3” Four) – YOUR infection indicates last rep
- Practice your cadence
Start and Finish On-Time 5:30 AM Start 6:15 Finish – wear a watch and or set a timer.
Welcome to F3 – Fitness Fellowship Faith
5 Core Principles
Mission Statement
Disclaimer
Credo
Ask if and FNGs
Warmarama
The Thang
6 MoM
CoT (Count off, Name-o-Rama, FNGs Announcements, Prayer Requests, and Ball of Man – Final Prayer)
Key Lexicon
CSAUP
AO
PAX
HIM
T-Claps
EH
Sky Q
Six
NANTAN
FNG
Shield Lock
SYITG
Respect / Hate
Fartsack
Starfish
Mumble Chatter
Pre-Blast / Back-Blast
Shovel Flags
Freed to Lead
F3 Foundation/History Lesson:
What is F3?
F3 Mission Statement: To plant, grow and serve men’s small workout groups for the invigoration of male community leadership.
F3 Origins: How F3 started – broke off from Campos (Freedom Park group) who wanted to stay a small group and not expand. OBT/Dredd with permission broke off to share with others because they discovered that men in their “third phase” of life needed this the most. They used the Starfish/Spider book to help establish an internal structure, and mobilize men to strengthen themselves in the community, fitness and faith. F3 started on Jan 1, 2011 at AG Middle School in Charlotte NC with 35 men. They broke up that group at AG to grow in August 2011.
F3 Greensboro: Winston-Salem (F3Dash) planted F3Greensboro on October 11, 2014. It now has more than 35 workouts per week and 1000+ on the roster.
F3Omaha: In May 2016, Wait Time relocated from Greensboro to Omaha. Over the next 18 months, Wait Time urged F3Nation to plant a new region in Nebraska. In April 2018, F3Greensboro planted the first workout in Omaha. Several GSO PAX – Sacked, Tommy Boy and Houlihan led the first workouts in Omaha. On April 21, 2018, 26 men (#REDWOODS) posted at the first F3Omaha workout. In the first four months, over 100 men have posted at workouts.
THE F3 WORKOUT:
The Five Core Principles of an F3 Workout:
- Free of charge
- Open to All Men
- Always held Outdoors
- Led by Participants in a rotating fashion
- End with a COT
The Do’s and Don’ts for Starting an F3 Workout:
Do…
- Invite Everyone (don’t judge whether or not he will be a good fit)
- Nickname at first post (claim him as one of us)
- Do CSAUP Events
- Experiment (we have never done this before, but…)
- YouTube, P90X, drills from sports you have played.
- Read the Disclaimer – must be a part of every workout opening.
- Cover your 6. NO MAN LEFT BEHIND.
- Good practice on longer runs are to count off and keep counting off, or assign battle buddies.
- Good practice is to have two folks covering your 6.
Don’t…
- Do it alone.
- Don’t be satisfied with size of the workout (if you’re not growing, you’re dying)
- Don’t hesitate to break it up (addition by division)
- Don’t violate the core principles
CADENCE MATTERS!. We will practice. It sounds easy and it is (once you get the hang of it).
Four Part Command:
The next exercise is_________________.
Starting Position….Move (let the pax get in position).
In Cadence
Exercise
Count the cadence. PAX counts reps…Inflection of Voice during Count on last rep….”Halt” from PAX
RECOVER: recover is used to break an exercise or position. If you don’t want the PAX to stand up after doing LBC, don’t call recover. Just call next exercise.
Watch the pace of the cadence. Typically it is done too fast. Make the count match the movement.
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE Q:
Before the workout:
- Pre-blast on Twitter.
- Short reminder about the upcoming workout
- Can be a simple tweet, but should be fun (create excitement)
- Make your workout plan – timing and exercises
- Plan to keep the six engaged and the Sugar Rays moving.
- If workout plan is too long, call OMAHA and remain on time
- If workout plan is too short, RINSE AND REPEAT
- Develop a workout that focuses on a full body workout
- Phases of workout:
- Welcome and disclaimer
- Warm-O-Rama. Prep the muscle groups for the THANG
- The THANG
- Six Minutes of Mary (Core Workout ending)
- 6MOM provides a buffer for timing. If workout runs short, then do longer 6MOM.
- 6MOM occurs at Shovel Flag
- COT
- Count Off
- Name-A-Rama (Hospital Name, Age, F3 Name)
- Name FNG
- Announcements
- Prayer/Moment of Inspiration (if not comfortable ending with prayer, call on another member of PAX to close it out)
- HELPFUL HINTS:
- If you can’t do it, don’t Q it.
- NEVER wing it.
- Set an example for PAX
- Leaders are confident, competent, courageous and committed
- A poor plan executed with confidence and enthusiasm is worth more than a great plan executed poorly. If the PAX wanted an expert trainer they would go to the gym. Don’t aim for perfection.
- If you need to practice your cadence or walk your AO do it. Practice cadence if needed – kiddos are great for practicing.
- Don’t demonstrate every exercise unless it is new to PAX. The PAX can demonstrate exercises for the FNGs.
- Always keep the PAX in motion. Minimize downtime and standing around.
- Bring a Weinke. It is okay to have notes. Be aware of darkness of the gloom and ability to read the notes.
- Bring a phone. Phone is first and foremost about safety. Secondly, phone is needed for name-a-rama.
During the workout:
- Greet the PAX and meet new/unfamiliar guys. Guys looking to discover the Q for the day.
- Start and end on time. Manage clock and wear a watch.
- Start with Welcome. Ask for FNGs. Tell them they are an FNG (until named at end of workout)
- Disclaimer:
- Focus on exercise form. Encourage good form and modification.
- Cover your six. No man left behind.
- Get contact information from FNGs at end of the workout.
After the workout:
- Write the backblast and send to Site Q. Ensure that FNG contact info included in backblast. Backblast should be creative, witty. List all men who joined.
- Tweet number that posted at workout within two hours of workout.