Welcome to F3 Louisville!
You may have seen our F3 Logo or read an article about this early morning workout group. You also MAY have been “Headlocked” by a friend, family member, or co-worker that can’t stop talking about this group of guys who get up early, never call each other by their real name, and carry around a cinder block all around Louisville. Well… this should shed some light onto who we are and what we do.
First Off – What is F3?
F3 — our three Fs stand for Fitness, Fellowship and Faith — traces its roots to a free, participant-led boot camp workout held on Saturday mornings at a Charlotte, N.C., park since 2006. The leaders of F3 launched their first Saturday workout on 1/1/11, on the campus of A.G. Middle School in Charlotte.
“Our mission is to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership.“
Core Principles: F3 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 (COT)
Here in Louisville, you have a few Areas of Operation (AO) to attend a workout and join these men in “The Gloom.”
What to Expect Day 1?
- We DO NOT care what shape you are in, how old you are, or body shape. We just want you HERE… in the gloom… getting better. Everyone starts out as an “FNG” or “Friendly New Guy” and no man has ever been left behind as we always have someone to “pick up the six.”
- Try to arrive 5-10 minutes early and look for the flags. We will be sure to get you introduced to a couple of the guys and get you set up for the 45 minute workout. We start on time at 0530 and end right at 0615.
- Everything has a nickname or has been called something different than you are probably used to hearing. THAT’S OKAY! We will walk you through it. Only thing you need to know is that the “Q” is the guy leading the workout and that cinderblock we brought you is called a “coupon.” Everything else, we can explain.
- It will be a typical Bootcamp style workout, unless called something different by the Q, starting with a shortened disclaimer at the beginning, a warm up called the “Circle of Pain”, the MAIN THANG, and some type of finish with either a cool down, sprints, ab exercises, etc.
- We then will get in a circle, named Circle of Trust (COT),end the workout with:
- Saying our Hospital Name, Age, and F3 Name
- Share any annoucments or upcoming events
- Intensions and end in prayer
Thats it! We keep it simple so guys can get back to work or home and be better for those who need them and HOPEFULLY this workout is the hardest thing they have to do that day.
What to Bring
- 🧤 Gloves: You might want a pair of outdoor/mechanic gloves. Keep your hands safe from hitting the pavement
- 👕 Dress for the weather: We meet no matter the conditions. Rain, snow, heat, ice, wind, or whatever else Kentucky weather brings. Typically under 40 degrees, you might wear pants and long sleeves. Otherwise, shorts and a t-shirt is the typical fashion you see at 0530 in the morning. When in doubt, wear layers.
- 👟 Shoes: Gym shoes or running shoes are a good all-around choice. Boots could work, but are probably too heavy for what you need.
- 🔦 Gear: For most workouts, you won’t need special gear. If it’s winter and very dark, you might feel more comfortable with a headlamp or reflective gear. For strength and extra resistance, we have things like kettlebells and “coupons” or weights, but you are also welcome to bring your own, such as a weighted vest or ruck.
Lastly, like anything that is worth trying, TIME and COMMITMENT is key. At the beginning it is tough, but as it becomes a habit, I PROMISE you WILL see results. If not? Visit our complaints section and we will refund your membership.
The F3 FNG Timeline
The 3 F’s
Fitness
Our workouts are open to men of all fitness levels and are organized to keep the entire group together while ensuring a thorough beatdown for all participants. Our model, in which leadership of the workout varies from day to day and week to week, means that workout leaders — “Qs,” in F3 lingo — are constantly introducing new exercises and ways of doing them. Because participants are challenged and pushed in new ways every day, they achieve an all-around fitness that makes F3 guys supremely fit for endurance challenges, including mud runs, obstacle races, triathlons, marathons, long-distance relays and all manner of other adventure challenges.
While the classic F3 workout requires no equipment other than workout clothes, gravity and the great outdoors, our growth has allowed regional leaders to introduce specialized workouts, including bike rides, gear-focused workouts that include kettlebells and other heavy metal, track workouts for runners and trail runs.
F3 workouts take place at publicly accessible venues, including parks, school campuses, churches — even in parking lots!
And while the vast majority of F3 workouts launch before the sun is up — largely because that’s the time of day when F3 guys can be most certain of being able to control their schedules — some regions are experimenting with evening workouts.
Fellowship
It’s easy to get someone out for a free workout — we call it putting the “Emotional Headlock” on a guy. But for more than 90% of F3 guys, the reason they keep coming back, setting their alarm for 4:45 or 5 a.m. three, four or five days a week is the friendships that are built in what we call “the Gloom.”
There’s something special about pushing through a brutal smokefest with another guy. We encourage those bonds by closing every workout with what we call the “CoT” (Circle of Trust). Every guy gives his birth name, his F3 nickname and his age. Even if you’re brand-new (what we call an FNG, or Friendly New Guy), we’ll slap you with an F3 nickname — the stupider and more insulting, the better — so we can remember who you are the next time you post.
We reinforce the Second F through organized F3 participation in physical challenges like obstacle races, mud runs, distance relay races, GORUCK events and other adventures (we’ve found that, in general, the more Completely Stupid And Utterly Pointless — or “CSAUP” — an event is, the more enthusiastic F3 guys are about it). Many regions have regularly scheduled weekly happy hours, as well as other Second F events for couples and families.
Faith
“Faith, The Third F” and all official podcasts are also available on iTunes.
We close each CoT with a brief “shout-out” led by one of the participants. Men are free to pray to their god or to speak from a secular perspective — F3 is open to men of all faiths and no faith, and the closing shout-out is generally the only faith-specific component of a workout. We do it because we are thankful for the opportunity to come together and build ourselves into better men and because the vocal and corporate expression of that gratitude builds a stronger F3 community.
Outside of the workouts, we have found that many F3 participants, after getting in the best physical shape of their adult lives and meeting their social needs for the first time as adults, start taking a more serious approach to questions of meaning and purpose. Many F3 workouts have spawned Bible studies, attendance at speaker series and other Third F initiatives. We encourage those efforts as supplements to the workouts and an important way for F3 participants to exercise leadership in their families and communities.
F3 Louisville 