Jefferson County men who are making a resolution to focus on their health during the new year don’t have to pay for a gym membership.
Instead they can join F3 Jeffco, which schedules free early-morning workouts Monday through Saturday at various locations around the county.
The group is part of the F3 Nation national workout group. F3 stands for fitness, fellowship and faith.
There is no membership fee and no commitments to take part in the workouts. Those who join the group will receive plenty of encouragement while they complete their workouts, with each one lasting about 45 minutes.
Participants will walk away with more than just the benefits from their physical workouts.
“It is more than just fitness,” said Patrick Yeung, 49, of Festus, a member of F3 Jeffco. “Fitness is the magnet. Fellowship is the glue. And the faith part is the dynamite. We push each other and challenge each other to be 1 percent better every day. It is a great group of guys. We are all just trying to be better husbands, fathers and leaders. It is a leadership program.”
The movement started in 2011 in Charlotte, N.C., as a way for men to participate in peer-led workouts at no cost.
Groups have formed in every state, except Nevada, South Dakota, Iowa and Hawaii, with almost 3,000 workout sites set up in 224 regions, according to the F3 Nation website, f3nation.com.
F3 Jeffco started April 5 with a workout at the First Baptist Church of Arnold, said Mark Huelsing, 37, of Arnold.
“When it came to Arnold, about 20 of the guys from St. Louis came down to help launch the site,” Huelsing said.
Yeung, who recently moved to Jefferson County from St. Louis, said he previously participated in F3 workouts in the St. Louis area.
“The St. Louis region has been a flagship in the country,” he said. “It has been booming in this area for the last four years.”
Locally, workout sites include George Guffey Elementary School in unincorporated Fenton, Ridgewood Middle School just northwest of Arnold, St. Pius X High School in Crystal City, Northwest Valley Middle School in House Springs, the Meramec-Arnold Elks Lodge in Imperial and Pevely Park, according to the F3 Jeffco website.
All workouts are scheduled from 5:30-6:15 a.m. The group has active locations Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and locations that meet Tuesday and Thursday, along with one site on Saturdays.
Yeung said the weekday workouts, which F3 classes call beatdowns, typically attract eight to 10 participants, and the Saturday workouts can have more than 20 participants.
“The mission is to plant, grow and serve small workout groups of men for the invigoration of male community leadership,” he said.
What is F3?
At its base, F3 is a way to stay in shape.
The workouts are almost never the same because a different member of the group creates his own program for every meeting.
“It can be cardio-based, weight-based or a boot-camp-style thing,” Yeung said. “Everyone gets the chance to practice leadership by leading a group of men.”
The only things F3 participants are asked to bring to a workout are gloves, water and a cinder block, which the group refers to as a “coupon” and which can be incorporated into the workouts.
Huelsing said part of the appeal of the group is not knowing what the workout will be until he shows up.
“We can do everything from bear crawls to squats and curls to running. Sometimes there are themes,” he said. “We have done workouts with a baseball theme, where you are on a field and every spot on the field is a different movement. We then roll dice and based on the number, we would go to a spot on the field, like left field where there were different things we would do. That is part of the fun. The sky is the limit and up to the guy leading that day. Then after you come for a while, you pick up ideas, and you say I want to do that sometime.”
The group also has a unique language. In addition to calling workouts “beatdowns” and cinder blocks “coupons,” group members have nicknames. Participants refer to a newcomer as an FNG, or “friendly new guy.”
JP Prezzavento, 40, of Imperial said he joined F3 at its first Jefferson County workout in April.
“The great thing about F3 is the guys are not there to intimidate you or keep you from working out,” Prezzavento said. “They want you to feel like you are part of the group. If it is a partner workout and there are three new guys there, they will make sure the new guys are partnered with someone who knows what they are doing to make a connection. They want to see you come back. We want the men who show up to feel they are part of something. That way, they want to keep coming back, and more than that, so they want to invite others to join in and grow this.”
Members said fellowship is the heart of the movement.
“When we are showing up, we are not just showing up for ourselves,” Huelsing said. “We are showing up for every guy who is there. It is not always easy to wake up at 4:30 and get out of bed when it is 20 degrees, but knowing there are other guys here who want to connect with me and I want to connect with them, keeps me coming back.”
Yeung said while faith is part of F3, the group doesn’t focus on a particular religious denomination, and members don’t try to convert participants to a certain form of worship.
“The faith part is lifting up to a higher power, something outside of yourself,” he said.
Tight group
Brandon Rose, 29, of Barnhart said he started taking part in the workouts after he met some of the F3 group during the Arnold Gobble Gobble Run on Thanksgiving.
After he told them that he had weighed 400 pounds but has slimmed down by working out alone, the F3 members told him about the free workouts, and he tried it.
“I decided to come the day after Thanksgiving at Pevely Park and did a workout. Then I came again (Nov. 27 to a workout that was playing ultimate frisbee at St. Pius X),” Rose said.
“I think this is something I can stick with. The guys are nice and very welcoming. It is fun. I feel like I am part of the group.”
Prezzavento said while the workouts are strenuous, the F3 groups allow participants to modify the exercise according to their individual capabilities. The members also encourage everyone to complete each exercise.
He said during his first workout with the group, members were paired up and each pair was supposed to complete 150 burpees – a squat-thrust exercise. He said he and his partner were struggling to complete the burpees, so other members who had hit the mark came over and did the exercise with them.
“The F3 credo is leave no man behind, leave no man where you found him,” Prezzavento said.
“They made sure you got through the workout, even if someone else had to do some of your reps because it is a team effort.”
Yeung said once you make F3 part of your routine, the only thing you will regret is not being at a workout.
“You always regret the one you missed,” he said. “The whole day goes better when you come out, and the guys make you better by pushing you to be a better man, husband, father, leader. It is always better after.”
Jefferson County men who are making a resolution to focus on their health during the new year don’t have to pay for a gym membership.
Instead they can join F3 Jeffco, which schedules free early-morning workouts Monday through Saturday at various locations around the county.
The group is part of the F3 Nation national workout group. F3 stands for fitness, fellowship and faith.
There is no membership fee and no commitments to take part in the workouts. Those who join the group will receive plenty of encouragement while they complete their workouts, with each one lasting about 45 minutes.
Participants will walk away with more than just the benefits from their physical workouts.
“It is more than just fitness,” said Patrick Yeung, 49, of Festus, a member of F3 Jeffco. “Fitness is the magnet. Fellowship is the glue. And the faith part is the dynamite. We push each other and challenge each other to be 1 percent better every day. It is a great group of guys. We are all just trying to be better husbands, fathers and leaders. It is a leadership program.”
The movement started in 2011 in Charlotte, N.C., as a way for men to participate in peer-led workouts at no cost.
Groups have formed in every state, except Nevada, South Dakota, Iowa and Hawaii, with almost 3,000 workout sites set up in 224 regions, according to the F3 Nation website, f3nation.com.
F3 Jeffco started April 5 with a workout at the First Baptist Church of Arnold, said Mark Huelsing, 37, of Arnold.
“When it came to Arnold, about 20 of the guys from St. Louis came down to help launch the site,” Huelsing said.
Yeung, who recently moved to Jefferson County from St. Louis, said he previously participated in F3 workouts in the St. Louis area.
“The St. Louis region has been a flagship in the country,” he said. “It has been booming in this area for the last four years.”
Locally, workout sites include George Guffey Elementary School in unincorporated Fenton, Ridgewood Middle School just northwest of Arnold, St. Pius X High School in Crystal City, Northwest Valley Middle School in House Springs, the Meramec-Arnold Elks Lodge in Imperial and Pevely Park, according to the F3 Jeffco website.
All workouts are scheduled from 5:30-6:15 a.m. The group has active locations Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and locations that meet Tuesday and Thursday, along with one site on Saturdays.
Yeung said the weekday workouts, which F3 classes call beatdowns, typically attract eight to 10 participants, and the Saturday workouts can have more than 20 participants.
“The mission is to plant, grow and serve small workout groups of men for the invigoration of male community leadership,” he said.
What is F3?
At its base, F3 is a way to stay in shape.
The workouts are almost never the same because a different member of the group creates his own program for every meeting.
“It can be cardio-based, weight-based or a boot-camp-style thing,” Yeung said. “Everyone gets the chance to practice leadership by leading a group of men.”
The only things F3 participants are asked to bring to a workout are gloves, water and a cinder block, which the group refers to as a “” and which can be incorporated into the workouts.
Huelsing said part of the appeal of the group is not knowing what the workout will be until he shows up.
“We can do everything from bear crawls to squats and curls to running. Sometimes there are themes,” he said. “We have done workouts with a baseball theme, where you are on a field and every spot on the field is a different movement. We then roll dice and based on the number, we would go to a spot on the field, like left field where there were different things we would do. That is part of the fun. The sky is the limit and up to the guy leading that day. Then after you come for a while, you pick up ideas, and you say I want to do that sometime.”
The group also has a unique language. In addition to calling workouts “beatdowns” and cinder blocks “coupons,” group members have nicknames. Participants refer to a newcomer as an FNG, or “friendly new guy.”
JP Prezzavento, 40, of Imperial said he joined F3 at its first Jefferson County workout in April.
“The great thing about F3 is the guys are not there to intimidate you or keep you from working out,” Prezzavento said. “They want you to feel like you are part of the group. If it is a partner workout and there are three new guys there, they will make sure the new guys are partnered with someone who knows what they are doing to make a connection. They want to see you come back. We want the men who show up to feel they are part of something. That way, they want to keep coming back, and more than that, so they want to invite others to join in and grow this.”
Members said fellowship is the heart of the movement.
“When we are showing up, we are not just showing up for ourselves,” Huelsing said. “We are showing up for every guy who is there. It is not always easy to wake up at 4:30 and get out of bed when it is 20 degrees, but knowing there are other guys here who want to connect with me and I want to connect with them, keeps me coming back.”
Yeung said while faith is part of F3, the group doesn’t focus on a particular religious denomination, and members don’t try to convert participants to a certain form of worship.
“The faith part is lifting up to a higher power, something outside of yourself,” he said.
Tight group
Brandon Rose, 29, of Barnhart said he started taking part in the workouts after he met some of the F3 group during the Arnold Gobble Gobble Run on Thanksgiving.
After he told them that he had weighed 400 pounds but has slimmed down by working out alone, the F3 members told him about the free workouts, and he tried it.
“I decided to come the day after Thanksgiving at Pevely Park and did a workout. Then I came again (Nov. 27 to a workout that was playing ultimate frisbee at St. Pius X),” Rose said.
“I think this is something I can stick with. The guys are nice and very welcoming. It is fun. I feel like I am part of the group.”
Prezzavento said while the workouts are strenuous, the F3 groups allow participants to modify the exercise according to their individual capabilities. The members also encourage everyone to complete each exercise.
He said during his first workout with the group, members were paired up and each pair was supposed to complete 150 burpees – a squat-thrust exercise. He said he and his partner were struggling to complete the burpees, so other members who had hit the mark came over and did the exercise with them.
“The F3 credo is leave no man behind, leave no man where you found him,” Prezzavento said.
“They made sure you got through the workout, even if someone else had to do some of your reps because it is a team effort.”
Yeung said once you make F3 part of your routine, the only thing you will regret is not being at a workout.
“You always regret the one you missed,” he said. “The whole day goes better when you come out, and the guys make you better by pushing you to be a better man, husband, father, leader. It is always better after.”