Each week, men across the community gather in local parks to begin their days with a workout. But unlike the gym or other fitness classes, these free workout sessions are designed to strengthen mind, body and spirit.
F3 Flower Mound is part of F3 Nation, an international network that includes 3,204 free, peer-led workouts for men in 242 regions with the mission to plant, grow and serve small groups and cultivate leadership.
F3 stands for fitness, fellowship and faith. F3 Flower Mound holds six weekly workouts and has served more than 200 men. Workouts are outdoors, rain or shine; always free; and open to men of all faiths
All participants, or PAX as they are called, are given a nickname at the first workout they attend. “Each name is representative of something about the man, but also gives him something to grow into,” says David Skelton, co-founder of F3 Flower Mound.
David is an F3 Regional Nantan, an Apache title meaning spokesperson or leader. He and
Drew Larson began the local chapter of F3 in 2019.
David was inspired to begin the Flower Mound chapter after attending F3 when he lived in Birmingham, Ala.
“At the time I was 32 or 33 years old and dealing with a lot of stress at work and at home,” he says. “While I had been athletic in college, I had fallen out of shape and put on a significant amount of weight. My doctor was close to putting me on cholesterol medicine and then a friend of mine invited me to attend a workout … In that first workout I couldn’t do 10 pushups or run a mile … After a couple of weeks, I started going three days a week. A couple of weeks later I was going six days a week. I started F3 in January and by that June I was doing over 400 push-ups a day.”
David says that F3 not only transformed his body, but it also gave him a sense of community.
“The biggest change was in the camaraderie I found with the other men in the group. I was not only getting better physically, but also mentally, emotionally and spiritually,” he says. “I’ve met some of my best friends in F3, and you couldn’t pay me to stop now.”
Like David, Drew was advised by a friend to join an F3 group. On his 40th birthday, he decided to make the trek to Dallas to his first F3 workout. He was inspired to begin a local chapter, but in order to do so he was required to attend three workouts.
“Luckily, the Dallas guys were aware of a local Flower Mound resident who had just moved from F3 Alabama and was interested in starting a region. And that’s when I was introduced to David “Rocket Man” Skelton,” Drew says. “With David’s experience and my connections, we were the perfect match.” Drew became recruitment leader of F3 Flower Mound. “Soon thereafter, other leaders started to arrive and help to build F3 Flower Mound to the thriving network it is today,” he says.
Those leaders include Fitness Captain David Matthews; Fellowship Lead Brandon Piner; Faith Lead Adam Tarplee; Communications Lead Josh Schult; and Workout Leads Ramon Santillan, Keegan McConnell, Tom Halter and Tony Bowen.
The 45-minute, bootcamp-style F3 workouts include jumping jacks, jogging, push-ups and burpees.
“Sometimes weights are incorporated by using cinder blocks or bricks, we affectionately refer to as ‘coupons,’” Drew says.
“One of our mottos is, ‘Leave no man behind; leave no man where you found him. As such, all of the workouts are designed so that all of the men can be together and perform at their own best,” he explains. “It’s you versus you out there, as that’s the only competition that matters.”
Each workout concludes with a Circle of Trust.
“This is a time for men to lay out anything that is on their hearts to their brothers in confidence,” David says. This element of trust and brotherhood sets F3 apart from other workouts and has made a lasting impact on all who participate.
“For some men, F3 is literally a life saver,” Drew says.
For more information on F3 Flower Mound, including the group’s current schedule and locations, visit facebook.com/groups/f3flomo.
