Geezer's Long March Toward the Elite Sneaking Up On the Finish Line

[RobCor]

If you don't mind me piping in here -

The reset is a good idea. Your log shows nice improvements on your other lifts and you're having fun with the Oly stuff. Topping out at 157.5 was a good run. During the reset I'd really concentrate on form, as soon as the bar gets past your eyes GET UNDER the bar and lock it out. Be as tight as you can be on every rep including warm ups. Before you get to the next sticking point start micro loading in smaller increments and you'll march right on past 157.5.

Good info. For me, the issue hasn't been the top of each rep, but the bottom. I never fail at the top. I'm doing 2.5lb jumps back up, but maybe I'll put another pair of clips on the bar and do 1.25lb jumps.

[Mark E. Hurling]

RobCor, sorry for not answering your press question. I saw the post, but I must have been too otherwise preoccupied to get the sense of a question to me in it in spite a very clear question mark. I must have been drinking that night. Anyway, Bob's answer was better than mine would have been. I did single progression microloading for so long, it's only recently I even tried the rep and set scheme that Oldster with JM3's backup that I'm doing now. Glad you liked the vignettes. I need to figure out how not to vent my spleen so vigorously when I get responses that seem fatuous to me there and elsewhere.

So thanks for answering his question Bob. No problem with telling him here. Whadda ya think I'm gonna do? Yell, "Get off my log (lawn)!" like the geezer I am?

I got good and thoroughly pounded in jujitsu today. Another brown belt and a green belt showed up and we all got to work on our rank's techniques. Man do I hurt. Everywhere. I haven't had a chance at practicing and polishing my techniques in months so it was more than worth the physical toll it took. These techniques call for multi-part combination moves leading up to some really disabling joint locks or strikes that even when practiced with caution leave your brain case and body shaky where you got hit. Master Bellman mentioned that the draft of the self defense book looked good but was a little wordy for general public consumption. Easy enough to fix that. He's got some more reading to do, but he likes what he's seen so far, so yay!

[Oldster]

Overhead Press: 185 x 5 x 3. Got all my reps in all the sets, and while sets 2 and 3 got a little less hard, I had to dig in to lock out the last rep in sets 4 and 5. It wasn't too close to failure, but the bar went up slow but without stopping at any point, so yay! No 10 rep set at the end since I had already done this earlier in the week with the light day. I am so encouraged by this today I am thinking of trying for a new max single PR of 200 next Friday. Since I'm regrouping on the bench press this seems like a good moment to go for the gusto. My previous max single PR was 195 over 3 months ago. Any thoughts on this Oldster?
If you are pain free and are fairly sure it won't bother you, why not? However, if you even feel a twinge, I wouldn't.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Crrreeeaaak. That was me getting up this morning. My lower back was tweaked a little from a leg scoop to an ankle lock that hyperextended both on the way down to the mat yesterday. So much for trying a running GXP I figured. I wore my heart rate monitor just to get a spot check on the intensity and value of what I was doing cardio-wise.

5 minute warmup on the bike.

Bench Press: 190 x 5 x 3. No sweat on this restart and reprogramming of the 45 degree flair. Pec felt 99%. Probably actually 100% but my alertness and paranoia had me barely feeling something. Most likely nothing but my imagination. I feel the anterior deltoid with the new angle now. A novel experience there. Since all went so well with this, I'm going for the gusto with the overhead press on Friday.

Squats: 260 x 3. I repeated these from my failure last week when the back was really whacked out. Getting under the bar for squats scares me and I refuse to be mastered by it. Careful set up of foot spacing, setting the lower back, and positioning the bar on the traps came through for me though. Despite the underlying "I will make you pay for this" warnings from my back at parallel I did these reps with no lingering problems afterward. The good advice from all and sundry here is invaluable. Thanks guys and thanks Rip.

I did a shortened GXP in the cross-country elliptical. Shortened in the sense of a 1 minute ramp up to 85% MHR instead of the usual 5 minutes. After lifting, and especially squats my heart rate is galloping along pretty smartly and 1 minute is all it takes to get it there. Then foam rolling and stretching. When I break down the numbers I record at each workout segment, I averaged 66% of MHR through the whole 72 minutes with obvious spikes at the end of the squats as the weight ramped up and of course the GXP. This 66% figure represents a very brisk walking pace at 4 mph+ or a very slow jog when you compare it to Cooper's point value charts so it goes to show the hidden cardio value of strength training that seems to get ignored by so many.
Since I got into the fray regarding the debate between strength and and technique in a thread in Rip's Q&A, I've been paying closer attention to this on the mat. The brown belt I was working with yesterday is my age and is a strong little fireplug of a guy despite a liver transplant that kept him off the mat for nearly a year some time back. I am used to teaching and working with people maybe half my strength and he is close to meeting my own. He would resist just a little on wrist lock throws and it forced me to adjust my technique to be able to overcome his strength. This seems in keeping with my own observations on the debate, unless technique is significantly superior to the attacker's strength, his strength will carry the day. The seductive thing about strength is, reliance on strength alone can become a significant weakness in martial arts if development of technique is neglected too much.

[Mark E. Hurling]

5 minute warmup on the bike. Medium day.

Bench Press: 180 x 5 x 5. I dropped this back as well to restart. Went well, the pec feels fully recovered.

Hammer Row: 370 x 5 x 5.

Claw Grip: 167 x 2 x 5 PR!

It's definite now, I'm taking a run at 200 for a 1RM PR in the overhead press next.

[Oldster]

Good luck on the press PR attempt.

Sounds like your pec area seems to be fixed up well, thats good news.

Congrats on the grip PR. PR's are good. Mentally as well as physically!

[bob g]

...It's definite now, I'm taking a run at 200 for a 1RM PR in the overhead press next.

"Nobody can eat fifty eggs."

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thanks Oldster. Bob, I'll just add this. No one could stand near me and live let alone run the risk of an open flame if I ate 50 eggs. Dearly Beloved would divorce me.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Last night's Iddy Biddy jujitsu class (under 5) had the biggest bunch of appalling brats and clueless parents I have ever seen. Only one father tried to keep his son in line from the edge of the mat. I thanked him for his efforts. The kids class had me confronted with a kid with an attitude the likes of which I had never encountered before. He's got no disabilities, but would not make eye contact with me as I was trying to teach him how to fall, the first thing we teach newcomers. He refused to do anything at all after I got nose to nose with him so he couldn't avoid the eye contact. his mother was apologetic from the sidelines and said his perfectionism works against him. That kid can thank God he did not have my Dad as his parent. He finally left the class and room altogether and good riddance. His parents need to get him in hand.

The adult class was instructive in the facts about how people learn. Master Bellman has always said some people learn by watching the techniques demonstrated, some by listening to having it explained, and some can only learn by having it done to them. We were working on the principle of elliptical movement and how it misaligns the body more effectiely than linear movements. The blue belt I was working with, a large Asian guy, just couldn't get it. He said "Well do the technique on me a bunch of times so I can see how it feels." The first was using an outward ellipise to turn out the leg at the inner quad. It takes surprisingly little force and the leg folds under like a cheap card table and you collapse. Later we worked on variations of this by pulling the shoulders in an ellipse. He had to have it repeated on him about 5 times before he figured out the pull of the movement. I've never seen that particular bias toward learning displayed so strongly before.

I did a GXP at the gym today in spite of a flare-up of recurring inflammation in my right foot. It has happened in a while and it hurts like a broken bone. The doc has no idea what causes it and I am using a cane today. The hobbling walk has jacked up my back too. This will not stop me on Friday's quest for 200 however.

[Mark E. Hurling]

I hobbled off to jujitsu last night with Dearly Beloved clearly thinking, "He's lost his mind!" I fortified my self with lots of over the counter and prescription anti-inflammatories along with a heavy duty foot and ankle brace and was OK despite the foot and the back woes. The kids were outstanding last night and were a pleasure to work with. The adult class had me working with a white belt who has been with us several months now and is probably getting close to his promotion to blue belt. I was using another lifting analogy in teaching him about how to grip and strip and front choke properly with a false thumbless hook grip at the wrists and later about the inherent strength and leverage advantages of keeping his hands in close to his body and his center. This lead to a revelation that he knows Gordon Santee. Santee is a seniors (60+) powerlifting freak with some great numbers in the lighter weight classes. Happily for me I discovered considerably much lighter than mine. This is good news because the 60+ meets are lightly populated and strangely, the lifters seem to get relatively weaker in the heavier classes than the lighter ones.

I've been attending to bob g's advice to eat heavier for shattering my old overhead press PR but I haven't put on more weight curiously enough. Even more curiously, the Tanita scale shows another body fat drop to 11.5%, something really unprecendented for me.

[bob g]

...I've been attending to bob g's advice to eat heavier for shattering my old overhead press PR but I haven't put on more weight curiously enough. Even more curiously, the Tanita scale shows another body fat drop to 11.5%, something really unprecendented for me.

OK, you've fed your gains and you've fed your recovery. It's really dialed in as the number you mentioned show us. Now,

"You got ta get your mind right, (Mark)."

When it's time tomorrow, grab that mofo by the throat and push it through the lights.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Oh I have this all planned out. I'm going to have my fire up music blasting my eardrums with lots of Wagner, like Ride of the Valkyries and The Death of Siegfreid. Not to mention the 1812 Overture (shot from guns dude!) and the overture to Phantom of the Opera.

[Mark E. Hurling]

I prepared for this morning starting last night by consuming vast quantities of corned beef prepared by Dearly Beloved who was a little surprised at my appetite. I went to bed earlier than usual because, as is often the case, I had been up late the previous two nights decompressing from the buzz I get from jujitsu done into the evening. Up at the usual O-dark 30 and off to Starbucks for a huge hit of caffeine. Played Wagner along the way in the car with the volume up so loud the side mirrors were resonating. Take that rapperz! The foot felt a lot better and since I wasn't hobbling quite so badly, the back cleared up too.

5 minute warm up on the bike.

Overhead Press: The usual warm ups starting with an empty bar up to a 180 single. Wait 3 minutes and hit 200 x 1 PR! This was not hard and I thought, well Hell, let's get another leg up toward bodyweight. Waited 3 more minutes and hit 205 x 1 PR!. Also not hard so I decided to achieve a goal I had since I read about in in Hoffman's Strength and Health mag from the 60's. Waited 4 minutes and hit 210 x 1 PR! with bodyweight!. I actually believe I had a few more pounds of capacity, but you gotta know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em so I declared victory and resisted the strong temptation to whoop and do a Rocky style dance. Nope, not for me and many men of my generation. The kids can do that and show their own age and maturity. I didn't do it in high school football when I tipped and then caught a bad pass and took it for a TD and I didn't do when I won a judo matches in college. I just grounded the ball and then gave to the ref or bowed to my opponent and the judge on the mat and walked over to my team mates. You don't get 17 consecutive years of boot camp from Chuck Hurling's Marine Corp Central Depot in Illinois without learning some self discipline. So I'll celebrate here.

Bench Press: 155 x 8 x 3 + 15. (light) I did these at normal speed to lock in the elbow flair programming.

Front Squat: 135 x 3 x 6.

It was also a big temptation to just leave after the triumph, but no dammit, you stay and get all your work done.

Gentlemen, this would never have happened without your advice, encouragement, and support. Thanks to Rip, for providing this outstanding place, to Oldster and JM3 for getting me to try this type of routine, and to bob g for planting the idea that a decades old, nearly forgotten goal might be achieved at this late remove. Grimek's article astounded me when I read it in high school and Starr's old articles made it sound like a trip to moon. But hot damn, I did it! Given what felt like more capacity on my last single, I am thinking about trying for 215 next Friday. Maybe when the fumes clear from my currently addled brain I'll reconsider, but right now it sure seems doable.

[fiftyfit]

Congrats on the GREAT PRs, Mark! You certainly fired me up to go for my own present day PRs soon. I still plan to make my own assault on a bwt press this year. In the meantime, I'll be going for a RM bench press around the first week in April. I'm shooting for 235, which will be 20 lbs more than I've done in quite a few years. Once again, [B]GREAT JOB[B], and keep it up!

[RobCor]

Damn impressive, MEH. You're one of the strongest pressers here, of any age.

[bob g]

HOT DAMN, MARK!

I knew that you'd nail the 200# rep; your volume work had you pegged there. But a 205 and a 210?! Nice going.

(You know, at the end of that scene in the movie, Newman (Luke) finished all 50 eggs.)

[kittenSmash]

Outstanding performance

[Oldster]

Excellent, old fella! I knew you had it in you, no doubts, volume in pressing is where its at. I do believe that you may have more in you.

After you've milked it, onto a 315 bench!

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thank you all so much! Once I've made a run at 215 next week my next quest is for the ring of power at 315 in the bench. "What has it got in it's pocketses? Preciousssss."

[Mark E. Hurling]

Back to the lifting routine. (heavy) No jujitsu yesterday because it was black belts only class. Foot back to mostly normal and the back too.

5 minute warmup on the bike.

Bench Press: 215 x 5 x 3. All went well, and the pec felt good. The flair so far has not seemed to have dented much of my ability at this so far. Next week when I go back to a shot with 235 when I dinged myself will tell the tale though.

Sumo Deadlift: 355 x 1. This was supposed to be a triple, but when I barely locked out the first rep I was shaking all over. I set it down and thought, "Well maybe that was just a one off. Go for the next two." The bar flexed as I drove and the plates cleared the floor a little but it seems it was not meant to be. This is probably because this was my last high 1RM of the last 20 years. I think it spooked me a little and I just had to get past it to prove it to myself. Happily I didn't tweak my back on my second try and this alone convinces me that the fail was pre-programmed in my head. I also tried something from jujitsu during my set up during warmups sets and then on to the main event. It's called rooting the base and in doing it you get in the stance you want to be in and then rise up on the ball of one foot and let the heel drop smartly but without stamping it. Then the other foot. This gets you set on the ground like you were in concrete up past your ankles and it's much harder to move you. Master Bellman explains this effect by calling it aligning and setting the body. I don't think it falls into the chi category, more like the moderate shock wave from the heel plant aligns and sets the skeleton between the feet and the pelvis. Maybe higher. It made the earlier reps feel easier and stronger but ultimately my weak link this morning was almost certainly between my ears. tertius, if you happen to glance at this, did your experience in tai chi have a similar concept? Master Bellman has said that this comes from kempo and, well maybe there was some transfer from one Chinese art to the other.

[hbriem]

Congratulations Mark. That's a fantastic press.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thanks hbriem.

I didn't sleep at all last night. Dearly Beloved has complained about my snoring which I thought was over after losing the weight, but apparently not. I started with Snore Stop Monday night and that helped but I woke up and had trouble breathing through my nose which I am pretty sure causes the snoring. So I took some Mucinex DM with dextromethorphan. The eyes wanted to stay open all night with a lot of racing thoughts that I haven't had for years now and call brain gallop. This insomnia all night reaction happened once years ago with Coricidan. So I looked up both and there it was, dextromethorphan. I must have an anomolous reaction to it and now that I know this I'm staying away from it. Last time I was rippin' and runnin' for 48 straight hours. I haven't felt the crash start yet, but I have a feeling when it hits, I'll be going home to sleep the rest of the day. Still, why lose a workout? (medium)

5 minutes warmup on the bike.

Bench Press: 185 x 5 x 5. Pec still feels 100% now.

Hammer Row: 370 x 5 x 5.

Pinch Grip: 140 for 32 seconds. PR! Still working on the five finger death touch, just in case.

Foam roller and stretching.

[Oldster]

Looks good. Good to see that you feel 100% healed. Nice on the PR.

Five fingers of death? What exactly would that be? Perhaps using all 4 fingers on one hand for killing with addition of another finger from the other hand?

Sounds complicated and perhaps even a little awkward.....!

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thanks Oldster. I'm going to try for 215 Friday, and then settle in for some really concentrated effort on the bench. The death touch is me venting a little more spleen in response to this exchange on another thread. I should be old enough to know better than to engage in this, but then I get tired of listening to the neighbor's beagle barking all the time and yell at him too.


Originally Posted by Zach
Anyone can talk shit about how lethal their techniques are and how they are too badass to be used in competition, but when a BJJ guy grab a single leg, slams their ass on the ground, then mounts them and pummels the shit out of them with hammer fists (completely lacking technique), that five-finger death punch is gonna' seem a little useless. And, the BJJ guy can do this because he does it every day... adrenaline and all.


Originally Posted by Mark E. Hurling
All of which presupposes that everyone wants to compete in martial arts. If there was shit being talked by anyone else here it must been extraordinarily to subtle to have been picked up by anyone but yourself. As for chest thumping words like badass, who else here is using them or anything like them or talking about death touches? Just you.

Zach
You're funny... in a kind of ironic, unaware kind of way.


As for your selling of whoof tickets with the single leg take down, consider this. When your hero grabs for the leg what stops the grabbee from dropping a crude hammer fist on the back of hero's neck? Or clapping both hands over hero's ears ringing his bell and popping his eardrums? Nothing but the rules you are protecting yourself behind. That's just for openers. So your hero gets your straw man on the mat. Has it ever occurred to you that a hand is hard to see or stop from getting into a crotch and squeezing the contents until one or both of your boys ruptures? A real 5 finger death touch, right? There are plenty more very simple things like this that make the ground "game" far less attractive. Of course that's dirty fighting and Sr. Gracie would never countenance such vile practices would he? Live on in your world, but I'd recommend confining your bursts of testosterone to the gym or the dojo. A tittie bar or hony tonk might prove be a less controlled safe place for you to try to impose your will and superiority.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Not surprisingly, I was too far into the twilight zone from lack of sleep to do jujitsu last night. So early to bed. Up this morning to do a GXP with lots of foam rolling and stretching the shoulders for the next shot at an overhead press of 215. Gold's has a relatively new (the last 3 months) MMA crew, lessons, and training program on their premises and they have just started to leave 6'+ heavy bags hanging out for general use. I need to start taking advantage of this.

[Oldster]

The death touch is me venting a little more spleen in response to this exchange on another thread. I should be old enough to know better than to engage in this, but then I get tired of listening to the neighbor's beagle barking all the time and yell at him too.

Aha! Makes sense.

I once shot the neighbors dog. Don't underestimate the results on barking with a well placed 22 CB cap.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Aha! Makes sense.

I once shot the neighbors dog. Don't underestimate the results on barking with a well placed 22 CB cap.

Paintballs work well too. I did this once when Dearly Beloved wasn't around. Shhhh. Be vewy quiet. It's a secwet. I'm hunting for wabbit dogs, heh-heh-heh-heh. If she ever found out about this I would really be in the shit.

The kids at jujitsu last were pretty well in hand with the exception of one I was teaching who kept goofing around until I asked him what he was there for. He said, "karate" and the look on my face must have shocked him into realizing he had said the wrong thing. I corrected him as to which art we were doing here and suggested he pay better attention. At the bowing-out one recidivist kept talking and goofing around, and was immune to my snapping fingers and pointing at him to stop and shut up for Master Bellman's talk at the end of class. I gave the Master a glance for confirmation and walked over to him and picked him up by the collar an inch or so off the mat and let him settle back on his rear end with a muffled little thud. All the kids got very alert and quiet then. I checked for puddles after they left and happily found none to clean up.

Adult class was working with the autistic teen and another white belt. The teen is picking the techniques up better all the time. It's pretty encouraging to see him getting this stuff. He talks very quietly once or twice during the session and mentioned how he was wrestling at the local high school for a while. He apparently is mainstreamed and I can't imagine how that works very well given what high school students are like, but . . . He flinches when I correct him sometimes and I asked him if I was talking too loudly. He said no, but it reminded him of the wrestling coach who would yell a lot. Sounds pretty typical of too many high school coaches. That must have been a hellish environment for him. I got reminded how strong he is when during one of the escapes we teach I told him he had permission to really put an elbow into me. He did just that, and now I have a bruise on my left side. He thanked me again as he walked off the mat.

[Briks42]

That press is beastly. 210 at 210. Great stuff for any age, let alone for a geezer. What was it about the Press article by Grimek that so intrigued you in the first place???

[Mark E. Hurling]

Well it was a long time ago when I was in high school in the 60's. The earth's crust was still cooling then, but it just struck me that the idea you could even possibly press your bodyweight left me stunned at the time. Keep in mind, this was when the press was still THE lift in which to excel and was still part of the Olympics. The bench press was just beginning to displace it right about then and by college graduation in 72, it had pretty much eclipsed it. When the press was dropped, interest in it died entirely. Except with me. I never did bench all that well. I'll see if now I do any better with the good advice and support I get here. I'm still taking a run at 215 tomorrow. If last Friday was any indication it will be doable. Oh, and thank you for the compliment.

[Briks42]

Great stuff. Yeah, the bench press still rules the day today as well in 99% of the lifting world. But being able to press bodyweight is really impressive (especially at 200+). I am really hoping to Press bodyweight at some point, hopefully within a year or 2. ....No problem. I expect 215 out of you tomorrow.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Another shot at burnishing the ego this morning.

5 minute warmup on the bike.

Overhead Press: Warmed up to a 190 single, waited 3 minutes and went for 215. PR! This went up slow but it didn't tremble or hesitate just climbed like a hydraulic piston. It didn't have the all out feeling of finality as in this was the best I could hope for today though. So I attempted 220 after 4 minutes and made it halfway up. No shame there though. Now I am debating trying for 220 next week. I am discovering the addictive seductiveness of these kind of efforts and success because if I succeed with this of course, I would just need 5 more lbs. to do 2 big wheels on each side. See what I mean? This is the kind of madness that takes over the mind. Divers I know have described nitrogen narcosis in some of the same general terms of grandiosity taking over the higher judgement functions. I'll have to give a lot of thought to this one. Consolidate and lay the base for more later or push on now?

Bench Press: 155 x 8 x 3 + 15. I went for more reps in this today and had a few left in the tank. Pec still feels good.

Back Extension: 90 x 3 x 10.

Foam roller and lots of shoulder stretching. Went home and woke up Dearly Beloved to trumpet my latest triumph. Got a sleepy, "Oh that's nice dear." from her much like John McCallum described in the Keys to Progress. The article was Concentration - Part III and he wrote about the day he got a 500 in the squat having been stuck at 430 for a long time. He then proceeds home and got the same line I did from his Dearly Beloved and even less from his young daughter. (sigh) Our daughter returns home for Spring break from OSU tomorrow. If I decide to tell her about this I'll probably get no better than a that's nice from her too. They love me but are increasingly convinced I'm even more nuts than they had thought, doing this shit at my age. My two younger sisters are really horrified when they hear how I abuse myself.

[bob g]

...Warmed up to a 190 single, waited 3 minutes and went for 215. PR! ...
"
...Hurling, Hurling, Hurling, Hur... "
/chant

Daannng, Mark. Sweeeet. Nicely done.

I have no choice but to try to surpass you next Wednesday. Challenge!

(Many double cheezburgers are now on the next week's menu.)

[Oldster]

Another shot at burnishing the ego this morning.

5 minute warmup on the bike.

Overhead Press: Warmed up to a 190 single, waited 3 minutes and went for 215. PR! This went up slow but it didn't tremble or hesitate just climbed like a hydraulic piston. It didn't have the all out feeling of finality as in this was the best I could hope for today though. So I attempted 220 after 4 minutes and made it halfway up. No shame there though. Now I am debating trying for 220 next week. I am discovering the addictive seductiveness of these kind of efforts and success because if I succeed with this of course, I would just need 5 more lbs. to do 2 big wheels on each side. See what I mean?
EXCELLENT! I don't blame you for the 220 attempt. Attempt it next week. Then you are done. Save the 225 for the next cycle, unless next week is unparalleled strength.

I've never read 'Keys to Progress'. But I know what he is talking about the day he got 500 in the squat. It really makes a guy feel like a he-man woman hater.



My two younger sisters are really horrified when they hear how I abuse myself.
Uh.....is there something you aren't telling us? Self abuse perhaps?

[Mark E. Hurling]

Hmmm, I think my decision just got made thanks to you two, bob and Oldster. Between the challenge and the encouragement I'll give 220 a shot and hold my fire on 225 for another engagement. Unless things go really well next Friday. Self abuse you ask? Well the grip training does have some other uses. Especially the five finger death grip. My youngest sister (12 years) is really ill at ease about my jujitsu. It's possible she thinks she might be stuck with helping care for me when I take the wrong bounce some time and end up a quadriplegic.

[Oldster]

Self abuse you ask? Well the grip training does have some other uses. Especially the five finger death grip.
Just make sure with all that finger/grip strength you don't pull your 'unit' off accidently............

[Mark E. Hurling]

Jujitsu this morning. More work on brown belt techniques with another brown belt and re-teaching green belt techniques to a member of the dojo who hasn't been around in several years. This guy is nice enough but is OCD like Adrian Monk. He kept going back to the same things repeatedly and none of us got many different techniques done. On the up side, I got some subtleties of a green belt standing choke down that I discovered I hadn't understood as well as I thought. During the course of the session, some of the teens were risking damage to their faces trying to figure out how to do clap push ups. I told them to push up hard for some height, clap and then separate them quickly, and stick to a shoulder width distance between the hands rather than a wider one. Then I did 10 to demonstrate. Sad when a geezer can do this and the kids can't.

I spoke with the retired LAPD SIS Lt. who is the next highest black belt in our dojo about the draft of the book on self defense for women. He said it was good and well researched but needed some editing down to keep the interest of women. We discussed the techniques I covered and he said some illustrations or photos were essential, word descriptions alone wouldn't do it. He was pretty interested when I told him I was planning on using Poser to illustrate the book. Now I am clear on the next steps. Ruthless surgery and amputation of all those beloved words.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Woke up with the back feeling a little creaky from getting bounced by the re-learning green belt yesterday. This made me nervous over the squats planned for lifting this morning.

5 minutes warm up on the bike.

Bench Press: 230 5 x 3. Did a 3 second pause on the first rep of set #5. Piece of cake. I set this weeks load at 5 lbs. lower than the 235 I tweaked myself at some weeks back to sneak up and evaluate how the next run at 235 might go. I am brimming with confidence. Every set was a snap. This will also stand me in good stead for a run at 220 lbs. in the overhead press this coming Friday.

Squat: 275 x 3. I lucked out today because the full rack was open without some spandex cutie doing lunges in it. Too much hassle to ask to work in, and not worth the heavy but brief explosive sigh it elicits. I did do something I have never done before. I asked a morning regular who I have seen squatting himself to check my depth. I guessed right with this guy because it turned out he had competed in powerlifting himself and knew what depth meant. I've been using a bungee cord strung across the rack under my butt to make sure I wasn't cutting depth and could hardwire in the feeling of deep enough and he agreed I was well within a legal depth. So I got that nagging doubt dealt with. The back being a little wobbly had me pretty goosey by the time I got up to my top set of 275 but I dug in, set the pelvis and lower back and got it. It was a little shallower than my warmup sets and I may re-do them to earn the next weight increase, but I'll think that over until the next session of getting under the bar. The back feels OK, so no lingering problems there. If my estimated single maxes in the bench, squat, and deadlift are correct I'm almost at a 900 total.

Lots of foam rolling and stretching, especially the delts.

[Oldster]

No problems with your elbows staying at a 45 degree angle even with the heavier weight, Mark?

Looks to me as though you may be seeing some noticable upper arm growth over the next few months!

[Mark E. Hurling]

No, none at all. I find I have to think about it less and less now and with the narrow grip I use I can feel it in the triceps a lot. I've been accumulating some peripheral thoughts and observations in an off-line Word file regarding lessons learned during this cycle. One of those is growth in the arms. I'm at 17 3/4"+ inches right now and it was entirely unintentional, I wasn't even trying for this. Another one is the increased triceps strength is almost certainly the driving force for the results in the overhead press. I always felt in the past that was the triceps that gave out on all my pressing first. All without one skull crusher of cable press down. As for more growth in the arms? I can't afford to replace my polos and some of them are already getting uncomfortable in the sleeves. Who'd a thunk it at my age!? You should start a consulting business in this on the side.

[Oldster]

The added growth doesn't surprise me a bit. I'd say even though triceps and big gunz are all the rage with the young fellers, few have even the slightest clue as to how to add real meaningful size. Tricep kickbacks, skull crushers, french curls and the like. My arguement has always been "which do you think is going to make your arms grow, 50 reps with 95lbs for skull crushers, or a single with a close grip bench at 315?" Bring your grip in a bit to a safe distance, keep the elbows in and feel the stress beng applied to the tricep. THAT will grow some gunz.................

And it is surprising as to what a little added direct tricep strength does for our other lifts AND day to day living.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Medium day today at Gold's.

5 minute warmup on the bike.

Bench Press: 190 x 5 x 5. It all felt good and solid.

Hammer Row: 370 x 5 x 5.

Claw Grip: 170 5 x 2 PR! I'm going to stay at this weight for a while. I can detect some cheating going on to get the weight started. Can't have that.

Foam roller and stretching, then out. Oh, and I wished bob g good luck on his press challenge. Great to have a little friendly incentive to spur things on.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Woke up late this morning so it was a quick in/quick out GXP at the gym with a shortened session of foam rolling and stretching. Took just under 30 minutes.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Jujitsu last night with the kids on very good behavior. Four of them got promoted to blue belt and the first degree blue belts got a second stripe. A number of the orange belts got promoted a level as well. As is becoming the norm, they came slightly unglued at the lineup when we bow off the mat. Nothing serious though. The adult class had me teaching four blue belts and getting them to polish the finer points of technique. One of the teens insisted on speeding through some of the joint locks with reckless abandon putting his partner at risk for injury. So after about three cautions to move "old man in the park tai chi slow" I asked his partner to stand aside and that I'd work with him for a bit and they could watch. I started with corrections of sloppy hand positioning and footwork that results from trying to run before you can walk and giving him some strength in my resistance that he couldn't overcome without doing he techniques properly. He just wouldn't slow down, so I explained to him and his partner that getting this right at the beginning and learning it well were too important to gloss over. Then I added some distractions to my resistance like a foot sweep that dumped him on his ass on one round, and then an elbow lightly into his side in another. After those object lessons I pointed out to him that if he had been using the right foot position I wouldn't have been able to sweep him, and his hand positioning was right he could have blocked my elbow. The sneaky shit then tried to arm bar me in a completely different technique which only got him dumped by a hip throw counter that left him breathless on the mat. I pointed out to him that his breakfalls could use a little work too, or that fall would have been easier on him. The purple belts were promoted a stripe at the end of class. Good session despite some dings I picked up from teen boy and one of the other blue belts by accident. It's the lower ranks that almost always hurt you because they have poor control.

[Mark E. Hurling]

One last shot at glory in the overhead press this morning.

5 minute warmup on the bike.

Overhead Press: The warmups felt heavy right from the start, but when I got to the last one at 200 it seemed to ease up. Nonetheless, I only got halfway up with 220. So I'll stick with 215 for now which, all things considered (no thanks to NPR) is actually something of a blessing in disguise. If I had gotten 220 this morning I'd already be plotting to go for 225 to claim 2 big wheels a side. Down that road lies madness; at least for now. Time to resist the siren call of max singles and PR's and get back to regrouping for the next assault on some summit. I am well content with what I have achieved. For now.

Bench Press: (Light and for speed) 155 x 8 x 3 + 160 x 10. I decided to try speed sets for the last 4 sets of 3. I added 5 lbs. to the last pump set and stopped at 10 reps, although I felt good for more. Time to allow things to cool down a little after three Fridays in a row of hitting or trying for PR's in a pushing movement.

Front Squat: 135 3 x 6.

Foam roller and stretching to round out the morning.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Lessons Learned:
I went from 235 to 210 pounds as my first big goal, a loss of 25 lbs. My original goal was to just get to 220 or less. When I started my Tanita body fat scale measured me at 19% to and I dipped down to 11.5% a week or so ago. I’ll have to get a dunk test when money is less tight after our daughter graduates from OSU. So there, I discovered that even at my age the unexpected is possible. I learned that single progression and microloading, while effective are just some techniques available and not the only ones to try ever again. The same for doing just one top set for all exercises. These techniques took me a long way, I didn’t realize how far until I saw Kilgore’s age adjusted charts. I learned that low reps and a higher volume of work sets work wonderfully well. Better than the much beloved 6 reps I had been using for decades before. I think they have reprogrammed my central nervous system to produce better peak output in the form of max singles. I am also certain it has taught me what failure actually feels like. My triceps seem to be the driving force for the improved pressing, and I haven’t done anything specific for them like cable press downs or skull crushers. All of you taught me that advice and support can make a huge difference in motivation and improvement. Thank you all once again. The ability to give the same to others has proven to have its own rewards. The revelation that my creaky old back and precarious sleep would get better from weight loss was worth more than all the rest. I arrived here thinking that I might find the answers, rationale, and justification for settling back into a long, quiet, maintenance routine. Nothing doing, some of you and the contributing article writers here woke my ass up to a challenge of continuing to strive to excel and be better. That was the one drawback to seeing Kilgore’s charts; I almost seduced myself into complacency. Reading other people’s logs here provided me with some insights into how to juggle the workload and my own recovery ability to be able to improve or do well in the physical activities I so love; the jujitsu, the lifting, even the cardio and stretching.

What were the results of these lessons learned? When I started last year my chest was 49” and is now at 52”. My quads went from 26” to 28”, and my arms from 17” to 17 ¾+”. Even my wrists got bigger which is really surprising at my age, but this was probably from jujitsu and the unrelenting pressure it puts on my grip. Another surprise was no loss in size when I dropped still farther from my goal original goal weight of 220 down to 210. I shrunk slightly after that bout with the flu took its toll and dropped some more weight, but after some bodily reset and adjustment to being at that weight it came back after a month or so. I even did some PR attempts with singles. I had always told myself before I wasn’t ready for them. I hadn’t “earned the right” to attempt them. Well if not by 60 then, when for Christ’s sake? It’s now or not at all. My overhead press went from 190 to 215. Now this was astounding; yes, truly astounding for me.

So what’s next? I can’t imagine trying to get bigger. Dang, I wasn’t even trying to get this big, it just happened. This is definitely enough, though. Now I want to work on speed with things like box jumps, clap pushups, tossing the medicine ball, and getting some sprints on an 8% 75 yard ramp at the Esplanade’s beach bluffs rather than on a treadmill. There’s some new MMA stuff up at Gold’s now so I’ll hit the heavy bag more than in the past. I haven’t done speed work for over a year and I need to get back into it for the level of jujitsu expected of me as a brown belt. I’ll see if I can indulge in some more geriatric geezer vanity and lean out a little more. Just plug away at the task with attention and diligence in my eating. I’m thinking about the upper back routine and subbing either pull ups or dumbbell rowing. I like the latter better because I suck at the former. I’m also contemplating changing up my press routine. I’ve been plugging away for maybe 10 years at the overhead press. I think I may try one arm bent presses or push presses, a la Arthur Saxon from days of way older than me even. After all, he was a good German boy too. Just a little smaller and a whole lot stronger than me. This in spite of having some of the thunder of originality of this reference to Saxon pre-empted by a poster in Rip’s Q&A and another reference to bent pressing elsewhere. There must be some kind of Deutschen cosmic convergence going on here. “Mein Fuhrer, I kan valk again!” to paraphrase Dr. Strangelove. The question is in part, how strong do you have to be? I could settle and it’s damn tempting to do just that, but I have a goal of totaling 900 in an over 60 power lifting meet in my weight class. I have to get my deadlift and squat up 10+ pounds each to accomplish that. I have to balance that with the risk to my lower back through carelessness or ego.

[bob g]

...Overhead Press: The warmups felt heavy right from the start, but when I got to the last one at 200 it seemed to ease up. Nonetheless, I only got halfway up with 220. So I'll stick with 215 for now which, all things considered (no thanks to NPR) is actually something of a blessing in disguise. If I had gotten 220 this morning I'd already be plotting to go for 225 to claim 2 big wheels a side.

Yeah, it was probably too soon after hitting the 215 PR. Just keep on doing what you're doing and pick a date five or six weeks out for the 220 attempt. You'll get it.


Down that road lies madness; at least for now. Time to resist the siren call of max singles and PR's and get back to regrouping for the next assault on some summit. I am well content with what I have achieved. For now...

Well played, you can't argue with the results.

Say, I'm still sore after doing max press singles Wed night. Do you know where it hit me the hardest? My hamstrings. It's weird, I didn't realize how much you really lock it all down while mooseing the big weights overhead. Did you get the same?

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thanks for the review bob. No, my hamstrings feel fine. My low back? Well, that's another matter. The lockup just probably traveled a little higher in my case.

[Oldster]

Good work, old man! We should all be so healthy when we hit 60 (a couple years for me!)! I'm glad to see you backing off the OHP and reramping up. What I expected happened, though you can never tell.

Your muscular gains aren't surprising at your fitness level. For the average Joe, probably not.

Be careful with the planned "speed with things like box jumps, clap pushups, tossing the medicine ball, and getting some sprints". Its pretty hard on us old fellers recovery....!

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thanks so much for the advice and insights, and not to worry, Oldster. I've done speed work as a 15 minute GXP routine before. The high intensity phase is 5 minutes long consisting of 30-60 seconds of higher level stuff punctuated by low level "rest" phase. With the usual 5 minute ramp up and the 5 minute ramp down.

[Mark E. Hurling]

No jujitsu today, our daughter needed to get to LAX to fly back up to school in Oregon so that took precedence. Since it was rainy on and off I did a running GXP on the treadmill. Cooked my quads but then I'll be deadlifting tomorrow not squatting. Now I just have to hope my back is equal to the task since it feels a little out from the pressing attempt yesterday. You don't get something for nothing, and sometimes just the attempt at something costs you. It was all imminently worth it.

[ZKP]

Mark

I've read through you're thread. Good Stuff boss! I think you'll find the push presses a valuable addition to your training. After a few years of strict pressing only, I added push presses in and was able to greatly overload my overhead/supporting/triceps strength. You can really pile the weight on these. This alone brought gains to the strict press. Also, running sprints on the beach is heavenly and terrible all at once. An awesome choice. Good Luck!

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thanks ZKP, I was thinking the same and in any event I need a change up to keep things fresh. So one arm at a time dumbbell push presses it is. I have also decided to do pull ups instead of hammer rows as a special dos of inducing more humility in myself. My struggles with this should prove an amusing read.

5 minute warmup on the bike.

Bench Press: 235 x 5 x 3. This was a minor milestone for me, because some weeks back when I tried this weight I didn't get all the reps in on the last two sets. They all went up smooth as a piston though this time, even after the 3 second pause on the first rep of the last set. If my success in the overhead press can be any predictor of what this might translate to as a 1RM single, I'm thinking 275 is possible, but no more attempts at PR's for a while. Back into the trenches for some more foundational work.

Sumo Deadlift: 355 x 1 + 1/2 rep. I tried a few tricks again this time, like the heel tap to root my base. I also cut my last warmup set to 275 x 3 instead of going up to 315 as the last warmup. It helped a little I think, but I had the head thing working against me again. As triumphal as my other lifting has been, the lower back imposes a good deal of humility on me when I grab the bar for deadlifts or get under it for squats. The Reaper starts whispering in my ear, "What are you doing old man? Just what are you trying to prove, huh? I'm still waiting for you." The back felt better this morning but not quite ready for a real trial. I stiff legged the second pull and while the plates cleared the floor by more than last time, it just wasn't there. Or my fear held me back again. Like the late great U.S. Grant said though, "I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer." So I'll be back for the other two reps again, by God! I'll also be facing away from the mirror next time. My face was purple coming up with the first rep, and I looked like a stroke was imminent. That gave me momentary pause as I set the weight down too. But all is well with the back, so I'm laying the foundation for future success here as well.

[Oldster]

Th
Bench Press: 235 x 5 x 3. This was a minor milestone for me, because some weeks back when I tried this weight I didn't get all the reps in on the last two sets. They all went up smooth as a piston though this time, even after the 3 second pause on the first rep of the last set. If my success in the overhead press can be any predictor of what this might translate to as a 1RM single, I'm thinking 275 is possible, but no more attempts at PR's for a while. Back into the trenches for some more foundational work.

Good work. Does amazing things for ones mental attitude, doesn't it! I'm pretty sure that something over 275 is possible in this cycle Mark, maybe substantially more.

Foundational work is everything and people tend to drift away after hitting a milestone or two thinking that it is in the past. Nothing could be further from the truth and the more we cross milestones the more we need to pound our foundational work.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Yep, foundation. That's why Cheops' Great Pyramid has such a wide base before it tapers to the peak. I looked back over the Excel spreadsheet I keep to print out for reference in the gym and discovered why I hit the wall in deadlifts. As has happened a few times in the past, I got befuddled by the transition from February's worksheet to March's. By failing to refer to my last effort of 325 x 3 then, I for some reason, did a 30 lb. jump to 355 the last two deadlift sessions. Well stupid is as stupid does. No wonder I suddenly developed problems. So I'm going to back cycle to 335 for my next deadlift session, which I guessing will go swimmingly with the inadvertant dumb-ass overload work I have done.

[Mark E. Hurling]

5 minute warmup on the bike. Medium lifting day.

Bench Press: 195 x 5 x 5. Pec still solid. I think I can rest easy on this now as long as I maintain vigilance on my form.

Pull Ups: Bodyweight (210) 5 x 5. This was considerably better than I thought I might do although the last rep on sets 4 and 5 were ugly. Dropping 25 lbs. since the last time I did these made a significant difference. I've never done 5 sets of 5 successfully before. I'll stay at bodyweight on this until all my reps are solid before adding a little weight.

Pinch Grip: 142 for 35 seconds PR!

I tried adding one arm DB push presses after the pull ups but had no gas left for a pressing movement after even a medium session on the bench. That and the dumbbell rack was a little crowded and reluctant to give me enough space to do these safely. The reality is I should have just left this for Fridays when I bench light. It's tempting to not mention errors in judgement like this and the 30 lb. deadlift jump, but I'm sure I'm not the first and won't be the last to make these kind of mistakes. I record them for the benefit of any reading this to learn from my own mis-steps. Hopefully my ego won't get too big to admit and report my foibles.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Goddamn am I sore this morning! My whole upper body feels slightly bruised from the hips upward. I can understand why my lats and biceps would feel that way but my abs, shoulders, and triceps all hurt too. I can only surmise that the pull ups are the primary culprit here with a little added in from my failed attempt at the one arm DB push presses. I can remember the HIT crowd talking at such length about how pull ups weren't just a lat exercise and how it could affect your abs too, but this is unprecedented. I haven't been this sore there since I was doing high rep direct ab work. Those 5 sets of 5 really put some smoke on me.

Jujitsu last night saw the kids trying to ping pong around all over the mat. It took considerable patience and restraint to get them focused on the techniques. I worked with three blue belts in the adult class. One of them appears to have the worst ability to translate instruction into physical action I have ever seen. He's in his 40's and would take such a hard grip on his training partner in the erroneous belief that somehow that would make the arm bar, takedowns, and wrist lock techniques I was trying to teach him better. In addition, has the stiffest wrists and shoulders with limited range of motion I have ever seen. Less than mine even and that's saying quite a bit. I had to literally pry his fingers off a few times with some difficulty even after I had said loosen up a little so I could reposition them where they belonged. He's a good guy and wants to learn but it is becoming more clear that his difficulty with hand coordination and motor skills bothers him and he tries to compensate by using more force instead of trying to refine his technique. Time and repetition will hopefully wire brush some of that off him.

I normally hit the gym for cardio today, but my internal wake up subroutine failed, and I over slept. Tomorrow then.

[Oldster]

. I can remember the HIT crowd talking at such length about how pull ups weren't just a lat exercise and how it could affect your abs too, but this is unprecedented. I haven't been this sore there since I was doing high rep direct ab work.
Yep, chins have been underestimated by most. I've always considered them to be as big a movement as heavy weighted dips.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Yep dips and chins, about the only things Arthur Jones got right. The real upper body squats. When I think about the time and energy I wasted doing HIT routines I get massively pissed off.

[Oldster]

When I think about the time and energy I wasted doing HIT routines I get massively pissed off.
Thankfully I never learned about HIT until about 10 years ago. Never did get interested in it.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Lucky you. A major waste of time.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Went in to our jacuzzi when I got home last night to dull the soreness and dinged up feeling in the upper body and then a little in the lower back as the day progressed. Felt a good deal better afterward. Woke up this morning with some of it returned and an entirely new spot on the right rear side of the thoracic back. Right around where the lower traps probably meet the lower lat attachments. Or it could a rib or two got out of alignment. I've got a scheduled appointment with the chiro this afternoon, thank God, so she'll no doubt work her usual magic on me.

I was planning on doing a GXP this morning but my heart rate was high, in the upper 80's and lower 90's so I decided to check the VO2 max through a fitness test instead. I tested out at 36.6 just at the bottom end of excellent for 60+ geezers, but it still represented a 10-15% drop from the 40's and 42's I usually test at. I've been feeling tired this week and I think the PR's along with the stupid and accidental peak loading in the deadlift from the last several weeks has caught up with me. That and the unaccustomed pull ups with at 5 x 5. I had originally planned to ease in to those by starting with sets of 3 working into 5 x 5, but my dick got hard and diverted the necessary blood flow from my big head because of the success with the PR's. In spite of my best efforts to back down a little and retrench, my ego just found another outlet. Next week that is exactly what I'll do, 5 sets of 3.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Terrible night's sleep. Big time brain gallop over work related Bravo Sierra. The sub routine kicked in at O dark 30 and my brain started polling the extremities for a suituation report. All remote stations reported in OK but the brain was severely fogged from lack of sleep and and too many neurons firing all night. Sleeping in would not have helped so I figured I'd blow through the morning surfing the crest of an endorphin wave and hopefully things would go well. We'll see later.

5 minute warmup on the bike.

DB One Arm Push Press: 40 x 5 x 5. Fast and light. I've never done these before and I can see already that the stabilizing factor of one DB will be a major factor. Felt good though, despite a lot of odd looks from the usual morning suspects. I learned my lesson from pull ups so I didn't go for the gusto this morning. I'll build up to more challenging weight as I get the feel for this move.

Bench Press: 155 x 8 x 3 + 160 x 15. Again fast and lots of reps on the last set. Try for 20 next week.

Back Extension: 90 x 10 x 3.

Abbreviated foam rolling and stretching to get into work early and git 'er done.

[BillBrownley]

See? the maturity/ego checking thing can be useful. Just not everywhere.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Too true. The endorphins sttod me in good stead this morning and everything went waaay better than I expected.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Very hard inspiring myself to get out of bed and onto the mat this morning, I'm still recovering from erratic sleep and probable overtraining with the iron. But off to jujitsu guzzling coffee all the way. I drew the short straw again and got paired up with the OCD green belt. He is getting better about that but what a test of patience. We worked on a wide variety of stuff today starting with ground techniques. Several involved variations of reaching between the attacker's arms while they were in the mount and grabbing the chin and top of the head for a neck twist that extends the neck, jaw, and head in an upward and circular ellipse that opens the whole neck cavity for a nasty range of strikes. It felt like my molars got chipped and my eyes rattled like dice in a cup even though the green belt was not putting a lot of mustard behind the strike. It was head scrambling even though I outweighed him by 60 lbs. We did a whole range of standing strike deflections with back hand flag blocks that take the attacker of line and re-vector his linear strike into a downward circular arc that off balances them and sets them up for counterstrikes or takedowns of several varieties. We finished the session with counters from being trapped against a wall by an attacker. The first move is to form a perpendicular or T shaped angle to the attacker and then straight linear elbow shots into the torso or face. That and some knees into the front quads and groin. Just to keep the attacker wondering and off balance some low ridge hand strikes to the groin that are very hard to see coming from that low angle and body posture. I've never seen the wall techniques before or anything quite like that application of the counter attacks. Very interesting and informative session.

[Oldster]

I went out and did a little target shooting.

Much less painful than an attack to the knees or groin.

I shot very well.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Ooooo firearms! What'd you shoot and what kind of targets? When Dearly Beloved and I carried guns for a living we used to go to all kinds of matches and compete. Indoor and outdoor ranges with mainly B 27 silhouette targets but a few were the shoot/don't shoot friendly and foe targets. Now that could be nerve wracking and not just because you might lose points. I woke with nightmares a few times after those matches, except for the time I shot a news camera guy target. That lense on his camera looked just like the barrel of a shotgun. Dearly Beloved and I were neck and neck for shooting, she beat me at matches just as many times as I beat her. She was one hell of a shot. My favorite were bowling pin matches for time. You had to start from the holster and hit 5 pins on a table in 10 feet in front of you. You had to hit the pins dead center just below the narrow neck to make sure they would fly off the table or the shot didn't count. The pins represented a very realistic if narrow kill zone and the distance was the far end of the range where most engagements take place.

[Oldster]

I put a new 3.5-10X Leupold on my 35 Whelen CDL and resighted it back in. Too much scope but I ran into a great deal on the scope and couldn't pass it up and beats my 30 year old 2-7x Redfield all to heck. It will put 3 shots into anywhere from 5/8" to 1 1/4" at 100m just about any day. Recoil is somewhat stiff since it is a fairly light rifle.

Then I got into killing rocks with a Colt Anaconda in .44m. Rocks were lurking everywhere and believe me, they deserved to be taken down like so much vermin.

Surviving rocks that did not die instantly and tried to crawl off to heal were then smashed into oblivion with a Marlin .44 and its Ruger companion in .44 special.

The only competing I've ever done formally was in Trap and years ago I used to travel around quite a bit competing. Nothing major. It is so far to travel to compete and besides, I have a 200 yard range out behind the shop that used to be an old rock quarry where I can shoot until my hearts content. A neighboring town where I grew up is where I spent most of my time trap shooting and still do from time to time (every Thursday!).

My wife isn't much of a shooter but don't let that fool you. She is one of the best rifle shots I've ever seen and I see a LOT of shooters. 25 years ago I bought her a Colt Officers Model and she's never really like shooting it though she carries it and is a 'fair' shot. Hold your hat up at 25 yards and she'll put 6 rounds through it, but she ain't gonna shoot yer eye out! She can do a little better with her little Ruger .32 mag that she uses for her 'trailgun' when we are out hiking or camping. She won't look at a shotgun for some reason. For being over 50 years old she is a blood thirsty old coot and loves deer hunting almost as much as I do.

[Mark E. Hurling]

We never shot long guns much, just at the qualifications at the various places and agencies we worked at. Even then it was mainly Remington 870's and the occasional M-16 depending on who was the rangemaster. I did fire a lever action 45-70 once when I was out with some cop buddies just farting around at targets with the various and sundry guns we brought. What a recoil. Not a hard kick so much as a heavy push back at the shoulder. Never got into hunting. The Old Man didn't exactly actively encourage it because of some of his own experience in the Corps before heading out across the Pacific. He was stationed at Goleta Airfield (still there by Santa Barbara) and a big forest fire broke out. They sent his company out with Garands and a few hundred rounds of 30-06 each. Their orders were to shoot any animals that ran out of the forest burning. He would only say he killed a lot of deer that day. He never wanted to hunt after that. So neither did I.

5 minute warm up on the bike.

Bench Press: 240 x 5 x 3. This actually went 3-3-2-2-2. It felt heavy from the first set and I was sure I had 3 in me for the 3rd set but thank God for catch hooks, 'cause I couldn't rep it out. Even the last 2 sets were hard to get 2 out.

Squats: 280 x 2. If my hooded companion was whispering to me last week, he was right in my face this morning and talking in a slightly louder than conversational tone about what was supposed to be my top set of 3. "Your back, think of that you crazy old fuck. Isn't hurting? Can you get down far enough and not screw it up?" Well, I may have had a 3rd rep in me, but I decided to let that happen in the next shot at 280. The whole of last week took something out of me, especially Friday when I had a lot of stair climbing forced on me at work to clear up some problems. It's frustrating though, because I know the quads can handle this, just the low back gets fatigued and turns me into a coward sometimes.

I did a GXP consisting of Turkish Get Ups to get my heart rate up to 85% of MHR and then careened through some heavy bag striking intervals using every strike and block I could recall at short notice from mushin ryu. Palm heel, vertical fist, upper cuts, roundhouse, insanity blow, ridge hand high & low, knife hand and a bunch of knee kicks and roundhouses. Add to all that some clap push ups, box jumps, and some mat drills and I amped up to around 90% MHR as a result of pushing it a little more than I intended. I feel good, but hungry as hell after this workout. Foam roller and stretched to warm down.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Could not get out of bed and moving this morning (again). My left shoulder is nagging at me from who knows what, could be lifting, Saturday's festivities on the mat, the pull ups last week, or maybe slept wrong on it Sunday night. Add to that some minor tendonitis in both elbows around the brachioradialus, and a dicey left ankle and I'm just thoroughly grumpy and uncomfortable everywhere. But my lower back feels OK, in spite of the taxation I have put on it with squats and deadlifts in the last month or so. So at least some good news there. I just checked my Excel log and counted days and weeks and discovered that I have been at this current unbroken cycle since January 1 for a total of 14 weeks. Usually before now some minor disaster or Great West Coast Road Rally has caused me to miss a few days or a week. So what with my run to 215 in the press and repeated near max singles in the deadlift, my enthusiasm for pull ups last week, I need some down time. To include keeping out of the dojo. I may or may not hit some cardio later this week, I'll just see how the next couple of days go and then come back again on Sunday refreshed and ready to fill in those sets of 2 on the bench press with sets of 3. I'll be backing off from the 355 on the deadlift to 335 anyway so that should add to the R&R effect.

[Mark E. Hurling]

I just couldn't stay completely idle. My activity OCD kicked in (1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3) and I went to Gold's and did a GXP on the cross country ski type elliptical. I couldn't get up to better the 75% of MHR on the usual #12 setting so I had to boost it to #14 to get to the 85% target. This is in keeping with something I noticed this week while checking my resting heart rate. It has been hovering around 72 bpm for the last year or so and this week it dropped to 64 bpm. I'm not sure if this is an indication of recovery from chronic overtraining or what. Maybe one less GXP per week? Don't know at this point, but it's hard to lose the VO2 max numbers I've managed to retain and achieve. Experimentation may be in order. Hit the foam roller and stretched.

Ran into one of the younger engineers in the printer room at work this morning. He's a martial arts and lifting type too and we hadn't run into each other for a few weeks so were chatting. I was telling him about straightening out the teens at the dojo on how to do clap push ups. We got a chuckle out of it as a couple of other people drifted through the printer room who know both of us. One them expressed some teasing disbelief about my ability to do clap push-ups. To which I responded, "Don't ever challenge an old guy without the ass to back it up." So dropped and knocked out 10 which ended up drawing a small crowd of passers-by. Icing on the cake? I'm fortuitously wearing my Old Guys Rule polo shirt today. Priceless.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Back to lifting this morning. Low back felt a little dodgy and the shoulders keep waking me up when I lay on one side or the other too long.

5 minute warmup on the bike.

Bench Press: 240 x 3-3-3-3-2. Filled in two of the three sets for reps of 3. Last one to go. Once I own 240 with 5 sets of 3 I'll dig out my 2 1/2 lb. soft wrist weights to make smaller jumps. If I git 'er done next week it will have taken me 3 weeks to transition from 235 to 240. If I can do 2 1/2 lb. jumps every week I'll come out ahead. Time and experience will tell.

Sumo Deadlifts: 335 x 3. All 3 reps got slowly hauled up. It wasn't a walk in the park, but they were all accomplished without too much strain.

Did a GXP on the elliptical and finished off with the foam roller and stretching. The shoulders and back still feel a little worn but not hurting or too bad.

[Oldster]

Bench Press: 240 x 3-3-3-3-2. Filled in two of the three sets for reps of 3. Last one to go. Once I own 240 with 5 sets of 3 I'll dig out my 2 1/2 lb. soft wrist weights to make smaller jumps. If I git 'er done next week it will have taken me 3 weeks to transition from 235 to 240. If I can do 2 1/2 lb. jumps every week I'll come out ahead. Time and experience will tell.
I'm not a big fan of microloading, except for the absolute beginner whose strength can't handle much. Instead, stay with a weight for a few weeks after you initially 'own it' and then make your next jump. If you can keep that going on for a few extra months you gain quite a lot of strength, especially in the stabilizing muscles. Holding at a weight until you own it and not increasing in weight at all allows one to gain substantial strength. *I* believe it is because of the strengthening of the smaller stabilizers during that time.

That is just my theory...........!

[Mark E. Hurling]

OK then, and as usual thanks. I've gotten this far by breaking with my past go to practices and following your advice. I'll stay the course.

[Mark E. Hurling]

5 minute warm up on the bike. (medium day)

Bench Press: 205 5 x 5.

Pull Ups: Bodyweight (210) 5 x 3. Moving from 5 x 3 this week to 5 x 4, next week, to 5 x 5 gradually this time.

Pinch Grip: 145 for 10 seconds. I couldn't hang to this to save my life this morning, with 30 seconds as my goal. Even the chalk didn't help.

Foam roller and stretched.

I was at the doc's yesterday for my episodic review for my blood pressure meds and blood draw. All was well and the doc asked how I had been feeling. I told him about my 215 PR in the overhead press. He laughed and asked if the next time I did that I could get a photo for his waiting room. He has them of sports teams and athletes he has treated, which is why I go to him although he's only a block from my house which is convenient too. He wants to frame the photo and have me sign it, "Thanks for keeping me healthy and active, Doc!" Called me the 6 million dollar man. Now that's really funny because I worked with an engineer at Northrop who was the test pilot on the Northrop HL 10 which was the aircraft shown spinning out of control in the opening of the old TV show. That was real and boy it crash big time according to the engineer. He survived the crash (obviously) but lost an eye just like Steve Austin did in the TV show. This guy had a cool looking eye patch instead of a bionic eye, though.

[Mark E. Hurling]

I did a running GXP today and it felt just great. Finished out with the usual foam rolling and stretched.

[Oldster]

I told him about my 215 PR in the overhead press. He laughed and asked if the next time I did that I could get a photo for his waiting room. He has them of sports teams and athletes he has treated, which is why I go to him although he's only a block from my house which is convenient too. He wants to frame the photo and have me sign it,
That's cool!

[RobCor]

I think my arms would shear clean off my shoulders if I put 215lbs over my head.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Nah, the remnant shreds of your delts would hold both of the humeruses (humeri?) fairly close to your clavicles. Oldster, the Doc is pretty good at his stuff. Besides knowing what I won't stop trying to do, he has a far better grip on the whole strength training, exercise, and cardio thing than I hear so many others on this and other boards gripe about with their own saw bones.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Back to jujitsu last night after a week's respite to let all the vertebrae get settled into place for a while. The kids were back after the layoff and while a few seemed to have forgotten nearly everything after a week of not doing jujitsu, they all did well enough once we got them herded and headed more or less in the same direction. The adult class had me teaching two new hispanic guys in their mid to late 20's. These were a couple of good humored types with lots of questions that mostly centered around the all too typical "what if." I have to admit though, they had better questions than any others I usually hear getting posed and answering them and demonstrating made me realize the inherent strength and difficulty in countering even our basic entry level escape techniques. That's one of the great things about the teaching experience, it makes you think and then realize what is really happening when we do what we do out there. One of the guys, although he looked and moved athletically pretty well, was having a bad time getting his feet moving in concert with his hands. It struck me as odd, so I asked him if he danced as a way of conveying the foot thing. He said "Yeah, and I dance pretty good." So that opportunity for movement metaphor was a little foreclosed without insulting his self proclaimed danceability. I said that was unusual, because while it was common for beginners to have foot coordination problems, people who dance usually don't. I added that I had a terrible time with my feet myself when I started and couldn't and still can't dance worth a damn. They got a chuckle out of that and he seemed to get with things a little better after that, so humor works again. Good night overall. Nearly a great one.

[Oldster]

Oldster, the Doc is pretty good at his stuff. Besides knowing what I won't stop trying to do, he has a far better grip on the whole strength training, exercise, and cardio thing than I hear so many others on this and other boards gripe about with their own saw bones.
That's cool too.

I have 2 chiro's that I go to and the one massage therapist. One chiro is the one responsible for getting me into weight training after an accident I was in 25 years ago. The other chiro "I" actually got into weight training and have been helping him. Awesome guy. The 75 year old massage therapist has trouble understanding why anyone would go out of their way to lift anymore than HAD to be, but is in full support and takes me as something new to work on, I would guess. She's always stunned when I come in with a new 'niggle' bugging me.

[Mark E. Hurling]

I posted this on someone else's log here when he was having some chiro issues himself:


Some of the more unusual conversations I have ever had take place with my chiro. My woes are usually the result of graeco-roman (is that really a good term when talking about a Japanese art?) shocks and torques from jujitsu. She has me describe what might have happened and then listens with a look of fascination mingled with horror as I describe some of the pretzel-like contortions or slams that brought on my latest visit. I sometimes think it's almost like porn for her. Something she is attracted to and repulsed by at the same time.

[Mark E. Hurling]

5 minute warmup on the bike. (Light/speed day)

One Arm DB Push Press: 45 x 5 x 5. Still getting the hang of this new movement. Not at all taxing yet.

Bench Press: 155 x 8 x 3 + 165 x 15.

Back Extension: 90 x 3 x 10.

Foam roller and stretching. TGIF!

[Mark E. Hurling]

One of the best sessions ever at the dojo this morning. We worked on a wide variety of techniques most of which were reviews of stuff I already knew but hadn't had a chance to work on recently. I was working with a brown belt and a purple belt who is an active duty LAPD sergeant. We lead off with using finger bars. Someone reaches out to push or grab you and you side step, deflect, and encircle two of their fingers with your thumb and middle finger and bar them backward in a direction God didn't design fingers to go. It hurts like hell. You step back and draw them forward and downward and prone them out. With a little torque and wrist english you can stand someone right back up again, and if they draw back their other hand for a strike, a hard twist of the fingers makes them forget it fast.

We then went into some ground technique. If someone leans over too close in a mount while trying to ground and pound, pull them right in and put a spear hand into the throat with your other hand pulling the back of the head into it. The attacker in mount can't breathe well if at all and may even have his larynx collapsed. In another scenario, just shark bite the attacker's leg. A shark bite is nothing more than a very forceful pinch, but it feels like getting touched with a cattle prod. Even when you are expecting it. The purple belt knew it was coming as he moved in on me and when I grabbed some skin on his left hamstring and pinched, he rocketed upward and off me nearly a foot. The hurt, as insignificant as it might seem, is shocking and makes you do things that don't help you on the attack.

We then did gun disarms. From the front and from the side. Both are premised on the bad guy being stupid enough to get within arm's reach, so of course if they don't, well better to run. Your chances of getting hit, let alone killed are less than 15%. In any event, as the bad guy moves in you raise your hands and turn slightly to the side, taking your body off line from the weapon.

So after all these festivities I have what feels like a right medial deltoid tweak. Probably from another technique that involved what we call a shoulder whip that rotates the arm on it's axis and twists it in a 360 degree circle. This winds up everything like a rubber band between the wrist and the shoulder and sometimes parts of the rubber band fray. Just like a few muscle fibers in my delt.

[Bean1871]

Oh, the price we are willing to pay for our fun...

[Mark E. Hurling]

Ya' know at our age we should know better. Screw it, I'd rather hurt from this than use a fucking walker.

[Bean1871]

Ya' know at our age we should know better. Screw it, I'd rather hurt from this than use a fucking walker.

I like to think of it as giving the finger to mortality. I'd rather be carried off the field, or peeled out from under a pile of 45's than to grow old and decrepit. Screw you, old age!

[Mark E. Hurling]

My objective is to bench press the lid of my coffin at my wake.

[Bean1871]

Ya' know at our age we should know better. Screw it, I'd rather hurt from this than use a fucking walker.

"Accumulating injuries are the price we pay for the thrill of not having sat around on our asses"
-Rip

[Mark E. Hurling]

So after nursing my shoulder last night and self medicating with some cheap wodka (Dearly Beloved is half Polish, I talk this way for her benefit) and an ice pack I look up and see that She Who Must Be Obeyed has selected Rising Sun to watch on TV. Very appropriate after the Asian drubbing I got that morning. Sean Connery as the lead (Sempai) and Wesley Snipes as his subordinate sidekick (kohai). The whole generational disconnect and passing on of wisdom along with a huge cultural gap. Then, She Who Controls the Remote picked Space Cowboys as the next selection. Geezers in space, and the best sequel to another great movie, The Right Stuff, ever. Watching Clint, Tommie Lee, and the boys put the young 'uns in their place was heartwarming. Especially when they start calling the lead young astronaut Johhny Quest. It set the stage well for today's efforts at Gold's.

5 minute warmup on the Bike. (Heavy day)

Bench Press: 240 x 5 x 3. I got all my reps this time although the last rep of set #5 was not pretty. It lacked the smooth piston like rise of the rest and got a little wobbly just past the sticking point, but I locked it out. Not that it did the delt a lot of good, but on the other hand no real harm either, praise be. I've been resting 3 minutes between work sets and I am wondering now if a little more time might be appropriate. Got a week to think about it, so that's what I'll do. Also, since that last rep was a little ugly, I am considering holding the weight at 240 so as to better "own" that sucker. Lots to consider with care here.

Squats: 280 x 3. My hooded friend, who has been making his presence known the last several weeks, chose to absent himself from this morning's proceedings. I think it was because of last night's movies and sheer cussedness on my part. It helped that the low back felt OK too. I took care this time to make certain that I set the bar just a little lower on my traps under the first hump of the rhomboids. That and check my foot spacing and toe out along with setting the pelvis slightly back. Worked like a charm. No cutting the depth, no strain on the lumbars, no evil voices whispering in my ears. Done, done, and done. I have all the confidence I need now for the steady march to three plates a side, the true minimum manly poundage in the squat.

I did a GXP on the elliptical although my earlier intention was to use the heavy bag for some strike flurry intervals, box jumps, and clap push ups, but I figured that the right delt would be better served with a little pampering. Finished off with that hard ass foam roller and lots shoulder stretching. On the way out, a guy about my age asked if I had the time. There are clocks all over the gym and my expression must have kind of conveyed that, so he added, "I can't read them without my glasses." I don't wear mine in the gym because sweat runs off me in rivers and it's a pain to keep them clean. I laughed and said as I looked at my watch, "That's why I get these cheap Timex digital watches with the big numerals on them. Easier to read up close." Then I showed him my log that I keep on an excel spreadsheet. "I also have to use an 18 point Arial font, to be able to read it too. Just some of the adaptations we have to make." He seemed confused, so I grinned and waved as I walked out to my car.

[Mark E. Hurling]

5 minute warmup on the bike. (Medium day)

Bench Press: 205 x 5 x 5.

Chin Up: bodyweight (holding steady at 210) 5 x 4.

Claw Grip: 170 x 2 x 5.

Foam roller and stretching.

So today I get into my office and discover that the incredibly whiny and annoying computer security puke I am compelled to share an office with turned 60. The whole office was decorated with black crepe paper streamers. The little weasel dick looks like an escapee from an attempt at badly done mummification. There are over half a dozen people who do computer security at the site I work at and for the most part they are a great cadre to work with. Except for Droopy Dog at my elbow. He's one of the main reasons I spend time out of the office like here where there is a workstation to the outside world to work on and talk shit here at. The office we share has now been designated Geezer Island. Thank God for a permanent addiction to the iron! The alternative would be looking and probably acting like Little Mark. Yup, his name is Mark also. When they moved him in with me the other security staff asked how they could keep us straight when they would sing out for one of us. My original suggestion was since he just arrived he could be Mark 2 and I would be Mark 1 since I had squatter's rights. He didn't like being Mark 2 so I said fine, you like Little Mark better? He didn't, but everyone else did, so it stuck. One of my great joys at work is telling people how to differentiate us. Like I just have here. Life is good.

[Mark E. Hurling]

I woke up late this morning so I hustled into the gym and knocked a GXP on the cross-country elliptical. Finished off with the foam roller and stretched and hustled home and to what will be a busy day at work.

[Mark E. Hurling]

That busy day at work yesterday turned out to be one of the most unique days at work I can recall in a long time, if ever. There are three people who are fortunate to have not suffered some form of blunt force trauma from a result of their stupidity, arrogance, and absentmindedness. I was so angry by midafternoon I'm sure my blood pressure meds were doing no good at all from the pulse pounding drumming I could feel in my head and neck. I got home and found Dearly Beloved, who has been under the weather the last few days, down for the count croaking a "hello" at me from the sofa as I came in the front door. So no jujitsu last night, as I stayed home to care for her and get a leg up on some stuff around the house she's been too sick to do. That and the bubbling anger made it better for me to limit my contacts with other people. Someone might have gotten hurt. The kids class didn't need me raging away, taking my pissoffedness out on them, and I could easily have done worse than that in the adult class. The ironic thing is I can channel this kind of anger into the iron much better at the gym. The iron is inanimate and hardly subject to injury from me no matter what my state of mind is. I have never had to refrain from a session at the dojo as a result of this level of anger before but then again I've never gotten quite this mad before when it was time for a session. Of course the overriding factor was caring for a loved one, but still . . .

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

So I went back to judo last night for the first time in a little over a year. There is a white belt that is almost my size (a few pounds off) but not as strong. TOok 1.5 years of BJJ and is almost a blue belt. Beat having to fit with 120lb 17 year olds (THis one kid looks like he lives in a concentration camp).

However, doing judo after goodmornings, GHR and hypers is not a good idea.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Hey, great Jamie! Feels good to be back on the tatami, huh? So the back felt a little taxed by the total experience? Did you have to do a lot of breakfalls? The backfalls are what sap me the worst.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

It's not the break falls, it trying not to be strong all the time. I'm pretty relaxed during practice then we do randori. Have I mentioned I get very competitive?

Also, the bowing always screws me up. 2 years in a BJJ school will do that to you.

[Mark E. Hurling]

It's not the break falls, it trying not to be strong all the time. I'm pretty relaxed during practice then we do randori. Have I mentioned I get very competitive?

Also, the bowing always screws me up. 2 years in a BJJ school will do that to you.

You have described perfectly the problem it took me nearly 4 years to get over in mushin ryu. Master Bellman and the other black belts were constantly telling me "relax!" '"Loosen up, your arms are locked out like you think you're Frankenstein." Competing does that, it's a powerful drug and the withdrawal symptoms are a bastard to get past. As for the bowing, do you mean the formal za zen bows in and out at the start and end of the session, or the standing bows between partners and senior ranks during the session? Like I said to tertius in the grappling thread and you are getting reminded of, the Nipponese are punctilious in their expectations and enforcement of formality. Just remember, they expect you to be a humble rice farmer with proper respect for the samurai.

[RobCor]

Just caught up on the last few entries. Good stuff as always, Mark. Good luck getting to three plate squats.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

" or the standing bows between partners and senior ranks during the session?"

That. In BJJ and GJJ (there is a difference), it was just a hand slap. Just so your opponent or partner had to do something to acknowledge you were both ready and you had to have your hand free. I asked a black belt about a problem I was having with a pulling step to set up inside major reap. I went from my partner to him and he made me bow to my partner and then to him and then again to him when I was done and then again to my partner when I started again. I thought "Fuck me dude, I just want to get some practice in, all this bowing took 1-2 fits worth of time".

John, my buddy that runs the class is less hung up on the tradition; he also taught hand to hand in the military. I do like the instructor that enforced the bowing and emphasized it's importance, it just all strikes me as "I'm more judo than you" kind of thing to do (the bowing, not the pointing the lack of bowing).

There are two older instructors I really like. One was a power lifter and the other is this old guy with forearms like steel cables. Both are really friendly, great at technique, understand anthropomorphy enough to show you how to adjust techniques and generally pretty cool.

There is one instructor I can't fucking stand. He's fat, a black belt and I can beat him 2 out of three times. He doesn't do competition, only Kata. He talked about how hard he trained with the powerlifter mentioned above and power lifter said he came one time and quit halfway through. He's one a member of the mystical ninja school of thought. And he's fat.

The guy I took BJJ from in West Virginia had no bowing (we did the hand slap) and he was idolized by his students in much the same way Mark is around here.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thanks for the encouragment Rob, I'm confident I'll get there in the next few months since I seem to have figured out the whols form and set up groove that protects and actually seems to be strengthening my lower back. I haven't had that numbing fatigue for a few weeks, and it is wonderful to not experience that feeling. I'm wondering if the squatting and deadlifting in good form might have actually improved things.

Jamie, I see what you mean about the bowing. As old school Home Island as I am about the formalities myself I have never encountered a dojo or black belt that hidebound on bowing before. The only time I've ever seen it was during kata demonstrations. Yeah, that's a little too much. At the dojo I go to now, we just bow when we are called up as the crash dummy to demonstrate the technique on for the class and then when the black belt is done with us. Also if we ask one over for a question when we aren't sure we got something right. Then just the formal kneeling bow at the start and end of class.

Thanks to the both of you; Jamie and RobCor for this exchange. I'm almost fit for human company amongst my co-workers just now as a result of the calming influence you two provided thinking about something other than choking some other someones out as painfully as I could.

[Mark E. Hurling]

5 minute warmup on the bike. (Light and speed day)

One Arm DB Push Press: 50 x 5 x 5. This is just starting to get more than routine and slightly challenging.

Bench Press: 155 x 8 x 3 + 170 x 12.

Front Squat: 135 x 3 x 6.

Foam roller and stretching. Ah Friday, sweet Friday.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

Mark,

Hav eyou ever tried doing two hand anyhows? I like them for grappling, especially judo.

[Mark E. Hurling]

You mean like Saxon using a barbell in one hand and a dumbell in the other? Man oh man, you're even more old school than I am with that lift. I'm thinking you might mean something else though.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

I like db in both hands, that way you can just alternate side. KBs work too, but I prefer dbs so I can get more of a stretch at the bottom.

SO it one hand at the top of the press, one hand down a the bottom of a curl. Bend sideways till the bottom hand touches the ground, curl the down weight, stand up, press the down weight, lower the the hand the was up from the top of the press to the bottom of the curl, repeat on other side.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Wow! Now that sounds interesting. I'll have to give those a try. Sounds a little like Turkish Get Ups. Without the turkey though. Thanks, I'll see how these go.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

30-35 lb dbs should do you. I like sets up 5 or less per side. DOn't face a mirror, look at the up weight as you go down.

[Oldster]

Bench Press: 240 x 5 x 3. I got all my reps this time although the last rep of set #5 was not pretty. It lacked the smooth piston like rise of the rest and got a little wobbly just past the sticking point, but I locked it out. Not that it did the delt a lot of good, but on the other hand no real harm either, praise be. I've been resting 3 minutes between work sets and I am wondering now if a little more time might be appropriate. Got a week to think about it, so that's what I'll do. Also, since that last rep was a little ugly, I am considering holding the weight at 240 so as to better "own" that sucker. Lots to consider with care here.
At this point Mark, you need to take more time. More weight is what we are about at this point, not conditioning. Taking 30 to 60 seconds more time will make a huge difference in those last 2 sets. I generally take 4 to 5 minutes between sets on a heavy day and as long as 6 minutes between my 5th and 6th sets.

When the weight gets heavy enough at some point the weight you are handling now will be on your medium day and THEN you can use less time!

Oh, and consider doing the same weight over again with the longer rest periods and see what happens.

[bob g]

At this point Mark, you need to take more time. More weight is what we are about at this point, not conditioning. Taking 30 to 60 seconds more time will make a huge difference in those last 2 sets. I generally take 4 to 5 minutes between sets on a heavy day and as long as 6 minutes between my 5th and 6th sets.

When the weight gets heavy enough at some point the weight you are handling now will be on your medium day and THEN you can use less time!

Oh, and consider doing the same weight over again with the longer rest periods and see what happens.

What Oldster said. I take a good five minutes between sets on volume and heavy days. It's been working and I have no qualms about taking longer. My goal is to reach the lights with the bar, jack rabbitting between sets would hold me back.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thank you Oldster and bob for the advice. I'll follow it faithfully. We geezers have to look out for each other. I'd be proud to stand between you both locked in a shield wall any time. Bring your scramsaxe and long spear. God (or should I say Thor?) sometimes I take this shit too seriously.

OK now to take a trip back from the red litten northern climes of Hyperborea and back to the secret arts of Asia that cloud men's minds. Only The Shadow knows. Mwahahahaha!

Since this is about geezer life and what we contend with, I got reminded of mortality in a big way when I got the the dojo this morning. One of our senior black belts Tom Reichenbach died this week at 68 of congestive heart failure. He was a 7th degree black belt in mushin ryu and I am not sure what Dan he was in Iaido and Shotokan but he was senior in those as well. He taught the katana (sword) to the black belts. He had an unerring sense of exactly where the nerve centers were all over the body. He inadvertantly demonstrated this a few times like when he collapsed my right leg as he was showing me where the spot was on the outside of my quad. He tapped it lightly, my quad spasmed and then buckled like a cheap card table under a heavy load. I wish I had better words to remember this really great guy with, but it's the best I can do. Requiescat in pace Tom.

I suppose it gets tiresome hearing about head displacement and spinal misalignment, but the experience of it is really more significant than it might appear and it has broader implications than merely beating people over the head with finesse. Earlier this week I saw the photos of Rip's seminar in NYC. I have read the accounts and seen the photos and illustrations about setting the neck and looking down at an angle in front of yourself when squatting. The eye line gaze downward came through loud and clear with guys squatting under load. With that came closer scrutiny of the angle of the neck which was the real and revealing key to it all. The whole look up at the ceiling thing is hard to break yourself of and I had in part, but it really hit me square between the eyes this morning with a backward neck crank during an escape from a mount attack. The purpose of the crank is to weaken the attacker, and of course if you look up when you squat, your neck bends backward and it weakens the ability of the back to come up from the hole in a squat. As I have mentioned here there are more moves based on the strength curve of how the body is positioned and the joints are bent when exerting force. Not surprisingly the same things that make you more or less strong when lifting something function in the same way when trying to make someone else's body or joints move when they don't want them to. We have an escape from a front bear hug with the arms free that screws the neck up no end. It's called spinal compression and collapse. The left forearm loops around behind the attacker's neck and the right hand's little finger edge gets placed under his nose. You pull inward and slightly upward with the left forearm and slightly backward and upward with the blade of your right hand. The attacker's neck gets compressed at an extreme backward angle and he telescopes into the ground. He can't resist no matter how strong he is. This neck position is exactly the same one that happens when you look upward at the ceiling when you squat. No damn wonder I hurt myself squatting so much in the past. I have to post this to one of the NYC seminar threads. If Rip thinks it is worthwhile enough to pass muster as an observation. Not everyone is as old and slow and set in their ways as I am. It was probably obvious to almost everyone else who bothered to study what he wrote.

We did a lot of other stuff that was also interesting, but in terms of importance, the neck alignment a-ha! moment has so much significance the rest pales in comparison.

[Mark E. Hurling]

5 minute warmup on the bike. (Heavy day)

Bench Press: 240 x 5 x 3. Followed the advice and waited 4 minutes between sets. The last rep in the last set went up fine. Not necessarily easy, but with stalls or wobbling. I'm going to do this just one more week with a pause rep on the last set before I move on up to 245. Thanks guys.

Sumo Deadlift: 345 x 3. My Hooded Friend didn't show himself today either but I could hear his half sisters the Norns busily at work behind me spinning, weaving the thread, and practicing with the scissors on figuring out just where to cut. But no cutting happened today. I'm debating to move up 5 vs. 10 lbs. for my next shot at this week after next. I'll probably stick with 5 lbs. since slow and steady will win this progression. As opposed to race.

I fooled around with the Two Hands Anyhow you suggested Jamie. Wow! It has quite an unexpected effect on the deltoids. I (foolishly) tried 35 lbs. and soon discovered that starting much lighter on an unfamiliar movement is a better idea. My outer delts are grumping at me as I type this. Where's that damn cold pack?

Hit the foam roller and stretched. I woke up with a slightly sore low back from some of the stuff I did yesterday, along with a head ache and a sore lip where a momentary loss of concentration from the brown belt I was working with had him clocking me in the mouth instead of a palm heel strike/shove of the jaw in an unbalancing arc over my shoulder. My head hurts enough to kill a moose. Where's Sarah Palin when you need her? But grumpy back and other ailments notwithstanding I can count this session as a success.

[Callador]

I was looking through your log, nice lifts!

What kind of Jiu-Jitsu do you practice?

I also had a question that is sort of related, but what do you think of Krav Maga? I only ask, since you have a lot of marital arts experience. I was thinking about taking it mainly for self defense reasons. I don't want to get into "fighting condition" like I am going to compete in MMA. Years ago I had my red belt in Tae Kwon Do, but I haven't done anything since that time. Even if I don't end up going, I do have a little sister (16) that is interested in self defense as well. She is TINY. I think she is 5'6 and around 97 pounds. My arm is bigger than her leg, if you can picture that. For someone that small, what is the best marital art to take to help eliminate a size disadvantage? I know Tae Kwon Do isn't the best, since I could outspar smaller black belts, especially the smaller women, just on size alone. I was never that good at it, I was just long and had big legs.

Thanks in advance!

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thanks for the compliment Callador.

I practice mushin ryu jujitsu which a spin off from danzan ryu with some Chinese kempo reintegrated into it. It's mainly stand up technique, but with the growing popularity of ground fighting Master Bellman has begun teaching some techniques to counter typical ground fighter takedowns and failing that what to do to end the ground attack expeditously. This of course involves some really unpleasant things that lie well off the MMA rule book.

In honesty I don't know a great deal about krav maga. I have read some it's books including one from the IDF in Hebrew. This was provided by a guy about my age in our dojo who was in the IDF and now seems to disappear for months at a time on travel, so we all have a feeling Avi hasn't quite retired from "work" for Israel of one kind or another. From what I do know krav maga and what you learn is very instructor dependant so it can be hard to make generalizations. In general, the techniques are short, brief, and simple. Not a lot of fancy stuff like weaving hands and elaborate stances. I will say this however, if the school spends a lot of time talking or teaching ground technique I'd look elsewhere. That to me indicates a competitive MMA orientation rather than a self defense orientation. In the latter you never want to end up on the ground and if you do you want to disengage and get up again ASAP. As for fighting condition, well unless you intend to fight in 3-5 minute rounds you don't need that finely honed level of conditioning. My own anecdotal experiences as a cop and discussions I've had with active cops in our dojo indicate that the engagement is over one way or another in less than a minute. Usually less that 30 seconds. Which is not an excust to neglect some level of conditioning for overall health and fitness. Like running away if the attacker has a weapon or several friends. No mushin ryu schools in your neck of the woods, we're not a well known or popular style. Given the right krav maga school with the right emphasis, she could be well served. Of course I'm hardly unbiased about the art I practice now, and I do happen to think it is superior for the smaller and less strong to get themselves free and counterattack when necessary to achieve that. Some of the krav maga techniques I have seen will do that just fine too. If you have a link or info about some places you are contemplating, send 'em along to me. I'll take a look and let you know. Hope my observations were useful for you.

My outer medial delts and A/C joints are killing me today. I think it is the DB push presses that are doing it. The week before last when I was grousing about my delt I think was less about what happened in jujitsu and more about the push press now. As I review it in my mind both delts hurt back, just like now, and they started hurting even before I went in for my Saturday tenderizing. Nothing happened this past Saturday to bring this on so I'm going to drop these for some other more controlled overhead pressing variant.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

I always wondered about hwo you practice krav maga. If it is pressure points, strikes and so on, how do you practice near 100% without hospitalizing your opponent?

[Mark E. Hurling]

I have to guess pretty much the same way we do in mushin ryu. You pull your strike. As for pressure points, I could be wrong here, but I don't recall that krav maga is that big on them other than the better known obvious ones like the solar plexus, eyes, groin, and maybe the ear drums. The reality is you can't do that at even half strength without some significant "down time" for the partner getting struck. I don't suppose I need to go on at any length that neither partner can sustain repeated strikes with any kind of forces over the course of a session. You have to be able to learn how to do the technique and one hard shot and a collapse of your partner will not help either of you learn anything but how to recover and battle on through pain and injury. Perfecting the technique? Not so much. Although Avi told us the IDF methods of teaching would leave trainees laid out for a while. I guess when you're outnumbered like they are, that's important to perform that way. Then again, how many of us here can expect to have to perform under conditions of an unarmed battle field engagement?

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

Pressure point may not be the most accurate term. Precision striking. Not "hook to the head" but "hook to the temple" sort of thing.

I tell ya, I think no gi judo would be alot of fun.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Ah, got it. Even so, pull the strike or make light contact. I've heard and read all manner of counter-arguments about this such as but-but-but you'll pull your strike under the stress of a real engagement! I see where that concern comes from, because I've had some dreams where I did just that. I didn't bother to ask if they had similar experiences. Then on the other hand, I've had dreams where my SIG .45 misfired or I missed with all 8 rounds at close range. Sure it can happen, but as hopped up as I've always been when things got real, I never pulled a strike. I didn't always get one right, or I missed a perfect grip and encirclement in a choke, but I always went in at full bore. Of course the guys who make this case are always on the internet or are the 30 year old black belt who has never been in a real fight and is a financial planner. At one point in an exchange on the mat where he kept increasing in volume and registration in the upper octave range, I asked him if he had ever been hit in the head in a fight. He shut up. Thank God I've kept most of my hair, because I've had stitches on several parts of my scalp, along with 12 over my right eyebrow when some mope snuck up behind me and roundhouse looped his cast-covered forearm over my shoulder and into my face. He got to see God a few times in the back seat of the squad on the way to the lockup.

[Callador]

Thanks for the thoughtful response. I figured you would have some good advice since you were a police officer and have been involved in martial arts for a long time. Not everything in the dojo works in real life so to speak, so you have a unique perspective.

This is one of the schools we were looking at in Milwaukee. http://www.fit2fightmke.com/

They have some bad youtube vids too, the kind that are staged for demonstrations. It almost reminded me of some aikido stuff. They do teach you how to use the "spikey" tool as well, which I thought was interesting. Hopefully our new Governor will allow concealed weapons permits in the future, but until then, we are pretty limited on what we can carry. I have a couple of handguns and rifles, but I really only target shoot with them.

Let me know what you think? I will search the internet for a few other schools in the area as well.

Thanks in advance,

Lester

[Mark E. Hurling]

The videos at the opening on their home page look a lot like some of the things we do. The aikido stuff you refer to is a fair description, with the qualifier that the big drawback of aikido is the large circles they move in. Smaller, tighter, faster circles work better, are harder to resist or overcome and hurt the bad guy more. These people seem to use the smaller ones from what I could see. It looks like they have a good approach, and importantly for your little sister, they have woman instructors and advocates. This is hugely important for many girls and women. One of the most difficult things I encounter in teaching women and girls especially is to get them to overcome the good girl conditioning that has been hammered into them from the get go. It can be very difficult to awaken the kind of powerful and sometimes savage response they have to be able to summon up and channel to overcome, deflect, escape from, and the initial attack. The higher ranking women in our dojo can often get that message across better than I and many of the other males.

As for that Spikey tool, I could be wrong but I'd be surprised if that will pass muster as a legally concealable weapon. Those spikes make it unlikely in my opinion, as effective as they look. I carry a S&W thumb opening tanto bladed clip knife with a serrated edge for seat belt cutting in case of an accident and a jammed retractor. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. If I were to have to use it for escape purposes, I know I'll have to justify even possession to Hell and back again. Hence the serrated blade for seat belts and having that explanation ready. The Spikey has only one purpose, and even short piercing barbs like that are a tough sell to legislators' cops, and a jury. On the other hand, I also carry a Gerber Cornea AA two cell flashlight in my other pocket. I picked that one for several reasons.


It is long enough to protrude from both ends of my fist when I clench it tightly.
The AA diameter is just right to inflict some very concentrated narrow focus blunt trauma on the body. Like the back of a grasping hand, the boys hanging around below your belt line, or the head. In fact anywhere on the body where the bone is close the surface of the skin. It just hurts like Hell when it is used to strike or even grind into that bony area.
The light is extremely bright and is at the least distracting even in daylight when it will leave a dot obscuring the vision for some seconds when put right in someone's eyes. At night, it thoroughly frizzles the red cones in the eyes and the bad guy is effectively blinded for at least 15-20 seconds. Long enough to give your sister a chance to run about 100 yards or so to safety or help. I learned these lessons as a cop years ago with Mag Lites. Of course we'd use those as much larger inflictors of blunt force trauma when necessary. A two cell AA is easy to carry for anyone.
The price. I also have a Pelican and a Sure Fire flashlight. They are brighter but were very expensive and require special batteries that are also expensive.


So those are my thoughts. I'll be happy to look over anything else you send my way.

[Callador]

Thanks for the information.

I will see what else I can find.

[Oldster]

Bench Press: 240 x 5 x 3. Followed the advice and waited 4 minutes between sets. The last rep in the last set went up fine. Not necessarily easy, but with stalls or wobbling. I'm going to do this just one more week with a pause rep on the last set before I move on up to 245. Thanks guys.
Good job. I think you are on the right track.



My head hurts enough to kill a moose. Where's Sarah Palin when you need her? But grumpy back and other ailments notwithstanding I can count this session as a success.
Sounds like you need a massage therapist (know any?!), not Sarah. Besides, me'n Sarah are planning a moose hunting trip so she's busy. At least, I'm planning, she doesn't know anything about it.....or me....!

[Mark E. Hurling]

5 minute warmup on the bike. (Medium day)

Bench Press: 205 5-5-5-3. My right delt started to gripe out of nowhere during set #3 and I figured discretion was the better part of valor during set #4 and stopped as it got worse and worse through the reps. Ditched set #5 entirely rather than risk something worse than a nagging ouchie. This delt thing has got me flummoxed. It only hurts out of the hole, up to sticking point, and then slacks off at the lock out. It's fine on the eccentric part of the press. I have been careful to keep the grip narrow and the elbow flair correct but those DB push presses must have started something that finally spilled over into affecting my bench press. It starts at the top of the outer delt right where it originates at the collar bone and travels all the way down to where it attaches in the humerus about an inch wide. I have been popping ibuprofen 4 at a time, along with some prescription anti-inflammatories like the topical ointment Voltaren and relafen capsules. Then there's the ice pack I keep at work and the three I have at home.

Chin Up: bodyweight (214 this morning?!) 5 x 5. I've noticed this pattern before. When I use lots of anti-inflammatories I pick up a few pounds. I think one the actions of the drugs is water retention to assure better lubrication of the joints and connective tissues.

Pinch Grip: 145 for 32 Seconds PR! At least I have a minor triumph to crow about.

Foam roller and some very cautious shoulder and upper body stretches.

[Oldster]

5 minute warmup on the bike. (Medium day)

Bench Press: 205 5-5-5-3. My right delt started to gripe out of nowhere during set #3 and I figured discretion was the better part of valor during set #4 and stopped as it got worse and worse through the reps. Ditched set #5 entirely rather than risk something worse than a nagging ouchie. This delt thing has got me flummoxed. It only hurts out of the hole, up to sticking point, and then slacks off at the lock out. It's fine on the eccentric part of the press. I have been careful to keep the grip narrow and the elbow flair correct but those DB push presses must have started something that finally spilled over into affecting my bench press.
Interesting. That is the same thing that one of my partners was talking about. DB OH work hurts his shoulders something terrible. The guy can push press 300+ yet a 35lb DB overhead will trash his shoulders to the point where he has to stop all pressing movements. It sounds as if the DB PP sticks out in your mind as the precurser for this pain. Sounds like you've got 1st and 2nd ribs out on your right side!


Pinch Grip: 145 for 32 Seconds PR! At least I have a minor triumph to crow about.
Congradulations! But I'm tellin' ya, one of these days you are going to be in a hurry in the restroom and rrrrrrrip!

[bob g]

Interesting. That is the same thing that one of my partners was talking about... The guy can push press 300+ ...


As Butch asked Sundance, "Who are those guys?"

Shit, Oldster, who are you guys?

[Oldster]

Just a bunch of guys who are mostly logging and dump truck drivers, mechanic, welder and a teacher who are all usually too tired to lift after work, Bob. A buncha guys who if given too much time when lifting time comes, somebody might bring out the beer and someone else puts some steaks on the homemade BBQ in the shop and lifting is forgotten!

Just some old nobodies that are usually more interested in local baseball and football games that have no trouble missing a squat workout because its deer season!

[bob g]

Cool, sounds like a great bunch. Next time you're burning some meat together knock back a brewski for me.

[Mark E. Hurling]

I did a GXP on the crosscountry elliptical. The delts are feeling better; the left one 100%, the right one tender on the wrong kind of move but not as much as yesterday. I tested it during my stretching with some push ups and it didn't twinge at all. I'll have to mind my P's and Q's during jujitsu tonight to make sure some zealous white, blue, or purple belt doesn't compromise it. Low back continues to do well. I'm growing more convinced that it is due to a strengthened back from returning to squats and deadlifts. I was in a meeting yesterday with (among others) a deadbeat facilities guy. Our paths hadn't crossed in about 6 months and he said "Damn! You on 'roids or somethin'? You start working out?" To which I responded, "I never stopped working out Harold, I just got some help in doing it smarter; and no I'm not using Vitamin S."

[Mark E. Hurling]

Master Bellman was wearing his nearly 40 year old black belt, the first one he was awarded. It's so old and worn the black has faded to a light gray. The kid's class in jujitsu was apalling. The class went fine until the end when I spotted what looked like a minor dust up between one of the senior blue belts and a little orange belt we adults have titled the gargoyle. I found out later that he had spit on the blue belt, and Master Bellman had an extended talk with him and his parents after that class. He's in for a really bad time on the next occasion he steps on our mat, if ever.

The adult class had us doing some techniques and demonstrating a key principle in mushin ryu called stretching the rope. The further out your arm, or back is extended horizontally, or legs are spread apart, the relatively weaker the attack and the attacker is rendered. This can be achieved by either stepping back and drawing them toward you, or if they step in toward you by blocking them and moving them backward. This is done in practice by a spear hand push into the throat or perhaps a palm heel shove of the hip backward at the point where the leg joins the pelvis. You really want to step back from the throat approach. As for the palm heel shove, as strong as the legs and hips are, they are not well designed to be able to resist force being brought to bear right at the juncture of that joint. We also worked on rooting the base with a light foot stamp to render yourself nearly immovable from an attempt to push you off balance. One other interesting technique that is fairly intuitive but I had not seen before was a counter to a front clothing grab. You bring your right hand up to his face in a tiger claw and cover his mouth, nose, and eyes. This actually done with some force and authority to injure the eyes and break the nose in a real attack. The left hand loops low into a ridge hand strike to his boys. Follow up as required.

My right shoulder held up well until the last half hour, and then it started to hurt slightly. After decompression and oxidation of the exercise endorphins I went to bed but woke up on and off after a few hours with the right shoulder giving me Hell. I think sleeping on my side is contributing to this problem. After Oldster's thoughts about ribs possibly being a root cause, I'm going to try to get an appointment with my ever faithful chiro.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

No big guys showed up to practice last night and the black belt had a stiff shoulder. I did fits on the Black belt but no throws and then did randori and ground work with the kids. Non of them weighted over 150 and that includes a 17 year old that needs more milk and sandwiches.

The 17 year old is a brown belt and got saucy with me so I picked him up, almost straight armed over head.

[Mark E. Hurling]

That'll teach the whippersnapper! You're a green belt if I recall correctly, that must have really humiliated him. Sounds a lot like what I've done to some hyperactive blue belts a time or two. Oh, and the time I put a black belt into a wall after he intentionally fucked up my wrist. This was the guy I talked about earlier on this page who has never been in a fight. He lurked for me as a partner for a month or so and then got me. His hip and shoulder also made 1' symmetrical dents in the gyp board wall I shoulder dropped him into. Master Bellman smirked a little as he scolded me for lack of control. I haven't had a problem with that particular black belt since then.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

I'm a white belt.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Oh that's even better.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

Yeah, I've thrown brown belts my size, like 1 throw to his 2. I was kind of gassed after 3 rounds and he said I need to condition. I said "I threw you 4 times, you need to get stronger". He didn't like that, I didn't care.

[Mark E. Hurling]

You should have choked his wise-ass pencil neck out. He'll know the difference between gassed and conditioned then without a doubt. After all, picking up his bodyweight multiple times and hurling (you forgive the term) it to the tatami just might have a tendency to lay a little smoke on one. Of course he entirely overlooked that even one throw and for certain two, would have eliminated him from an ippon or a couple of waza ari's. Weasel dick.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

Yeah, there is that "Kano never strength trained and he beat everyone" attitude. FIrst off, you ain't Kano and second, look at Japan's record in Olympic judo. There are Japanese judo coaches (that wrote the book "Best Judo" sold at my dojo) that complained about the lack of conditioning of Japanesse players. They even added a workout section that includes deadlifts, clean and press and squats.

I got called for an ankle pic and guillotine in randori. The instructor then spent 10 minutes after class telling me how rule changes that those were killing the sport. I like him.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Never strength trained, oh brother. I'll give you two names from days of old when I was still competing. Toshiro Daigo and Anton Geesink. Geesink went to the big dojo on Mt. Fuji a few years ago and I've seen the pictures of him strength training. Little credit he got for it from the Kodokan, especially after he cleaned the tatami with most of their best judokas in the 60's. Daigo looks like he's still around in his 80's and a 10th Dan. He strength trained too, but he followed some of the more traditional practices in doing it instead of those ungodly gaijin barbells. I know I've mentioned this guy and his book more than once here, but I'm not sure if you ever saw the posts. Judo Training Methods : A Sourcebook by Donn Draeger, 1961 has a section on weight training.

Some of the exchanges I had with Gant Grimes in that grappling thread indicate that there are some significant changes in how rules are interpreted and matches refereed these days. I'm not sure if it's good or bad. I guess it should be immaterial to me since I don't compete any more and only now and again work out with those guys at the club at work.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Another crappy night's sleep with the delt, and I'm coming down with the upper respiratory crud Dearly Beloved was suffering with last week. So far just a lot of hawking and twilight zone inducing congestion.

5 minute warmup on the bike. (Light day)

Bench Press: 155 x 8 x 3. The delt hurt a little at the bottom end of the eccentric part of the press, so I took it slow and skipped the last pump set.

Back Extension: 90 x 3 x 10.

Overhead Press: 135 x 5 x 5. This wasn't bothersome to the delt at all.

So once again, I think I've dinged myself but a little worse than last time. This is not going away as quickly, although it is gradually getting better. I'll just skip benching for a week and recycle like I did a few months ago and focus on the barbell overhead press. I'll see if I can put the last nail in the coffin with 225 if possible and put that particular lift to bed once and for all. Weight is still up around 213 and the Tanita body fat scale is showing 10% body fat. As Greg C has pointed out, hydration is a big factor in such readings and it only further confirms for me anyway that this is due to the anti-imflammatories I have been gulping for the delt.

Foam roller and lots of shoulder mobility stretches.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Good to be back after another round with upper respiratory plague. I am still hawking and coughing up things, and am beginning to better understand how Doc Holliday spent his declining years in the movie Tombstone. At least I haven't spit up blood and passed out in the saddle yet. "Why, Johnnie Ringo! You look like someone just walked over your grave!" Today's lifting was a composite of what supposed to be Sunday's session and no benching until this nagging shoulder ding clears up. The plague also effectively kept me home from jujitsu this past weekend.

5 minute warmup on the bike.

Squat: 290 x 3. This went very well and did not tax the back in the slightest. Using the bungee cord I am making sure I maintain depth in squatting, but once I hit 315 I'm going to lay down some insurance and stick at that for a few sessions and drop a little further. This was no small feat for me considering I am still coming out of a mucus coma. Attention to details like setting the pelvis and maintaining the correct neck position are really vastly more significant than I could ever have imagined.

Pull Ups: bodyweight (206 lost a bunch while sick) 5 x 5.

Claw Grip: 170 x 2 x 5. Staying the course at this weight for a few more sessions to make sure I own this and am not employing some body english to make my reps.

Foam roller and stretching.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

I'm intrigued by this bungee cord idea. I will have to try that. Strong work, Mark.

[Oldster]

I wondered why you were so quiet. You were making the transition to near cadaver-like it sounds.

Have you had your chiropractor look at your shoulder yet? I've had my upper arm need to be set backward in the joint when I was having a pain like you are explaining about. More than once.

Just a thought.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thank you Sully, and let me know if you have questions about bungee deployment. No Oldster, the chiro was off last week, and since the delt is a little better, as in it doesn't wake me up at night now, I figured I'd wait until my normally scheduled appointment tomorrow afternoon. I can still feel it ain't right and so will take what time I need to let it get better. Whatever caused this seems more serious and slow healing than the other thing, and if I have to dispense with benching I still have overhead presses and dips. At least probably on the dips, I haven't tested them since the tweak. The worst it might mean is not hitting a raw PL match. I'm having surprisingly little luck in locating one here in SoCal anyway, so it may all be moot.

Did a GXP on the elliptical today along with foam roller and stretching. The back is coming along swimmingly with the weight loss no doubt taking off some strain, the added strength from Squats and deadlifts, and finally scrupulous attention to set up and form.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Thank you Sully, and let me know if you have questions about bungee deployment.

Thank you, Mark, I do. I lift at home with a Sumo rack. I had visualized the cord being stretched out from the pins (or pin-holes) at the level where the glutes would just come into contact with it as the thighs broke parallel. The only real issue I see--a minor one, I think--is that you have to calibrate your foot position to the bungee cord. The cord would be behind you as you unracked the bar, and you would have to step back to a position that would reproducibly allow your butt to touch the cord in the right place at the right depth. If you were standing too far forward or back, you could either miss the cord entirely or intersect it way down in the gluteal fold or the upper thighs, at which point you'd be low...not necessarily bad, but deeper in the hole than you absolutely have to be.

Seems like a couple of pieces of tape slapped on the floor during the calibration set would do nicely ("toes here").

(I'm not too worried about falling backwards over the cord, although of course one always has to be alert when lifting, and the image is not a pretty one.)

Am I on the same page here, or are you doing something different? I definitely want to try something like this. When I look at my workout video, I find that my training partners (my wife and neighbor) are too forgiving in their real-time feedback on my squat depth, although my repeated temper-tantrums are slowly bringing them into line. The real culprit is my own kinesthetic perception--I always feel like I'm deeper than I really am.

[Mark E. Hurling]

You're right on track. The only difference between what you plan on doing is that I don't have a specific mark for my foot placement. I like that idea, though. What I do is set the cord like you talked about and then step backwards while looking down to get my foot spacing and toe flair out set where they should be. While that is happening I have some sort of GPS thing going on in my peripheral vision (which by the way expands outward significantly when looking downward) that gets my feet and hence my butt positioned right in relation to the cord. Your proposed method is probably better. I had the good luck of getting a spot on depth from a guy in his 50's at Gold's who had competed, so his feedback was invaluable. Then once you get your feet set, set your pelvis, and remember to keep your neck neutral and look down to near where the wall meets the floor.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Excellent, thanks. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Oldster]

if I have to dispense with benching I still have overhead presses and dips. At least probably on the dips, I haven't tested them since the tweak. The worst it might mean is not hitting a raw PL match.
Have you considered a close grip? You may be pleasantly surprised at them. 16" between thumbs. Plus, you can use a CG in a PL comp.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Oh I've been using a 16" grip ever since you recommended months back. I just think the push press started this rock rolling downhill and then the bent press I tried with too heavy of a DB may have had some effect too. By the way, when you sleep on your side (if you do) does it cause shoulder problems for you? I got minor variations of the current problem starting about 4 years ago and long after I had dispensed with benching. I noticed it right about the time I had to start wearing a size 50 suit coat and I'm now at 52". I also have to use three pillows under my head to relieve some of the pressure on my neck and shoulders. I'm wondering if there's some tie in with upper torso size anthropometry and sleeping on the side.

Jujitsu last night, and I was feeling a little out of it from some lingering effects of the plague. I still talk like the first mate on the Black Pearl and crack everyone up at work with my croaking basso profundo "Arrh, matey!" But I had a powerful incentive to be there last night to settle the hash of the junior gargoyle that spit on one of our senior kids blue belts last week. I broke out into malarial sweats right as was putting on my gi in the dojo but decided to lurk in wait for him when he came in. During the warmups I cleared a space in the front row where I was leading the class and when he came in late as always, I took his gi by the shoulder and frog marched him over to the space right in front of me. He got the message. Afterward Master Bellman paired me up with him to further hammer the point home. It took about 20 minutes of merciless correction but then he smoothed out and started doing really well. I even had occasion to praise his efforts in spite of still wanting to drop him on his head. The facts are though, if you don't reward the desired behavior they never get better. We'll see with this one. I took him over to Master Bellman and told him that he had done well. Master Bellman then made him go over to the blue belt he had spit on and apologize in front of the rest of the class. We had some lesser problems with his older sister a year or so back and she turned out OK after some milder version of what he had tonight.

Adult class had me teaching two 16 year old girls who were new and very giggly. I was still bathed in sweat all night, but got them focused and although one of them is hopelessly klutzy, she tried very hard and stood up well to the form corrections without getting sulky about it. Teens, both male and female, tend to get that way if they get frustrated from not getting it right as quickly as they want to.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

MArk,

when you bench, where does the bar touch at the bottom?

[Mark E. Hurling]

At the sternum, in line with the nipples.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

Lower it to the solar plexus while keeping the forearms perpindicular to the ground from the side view.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Hmm, I'll try that on light day tomorrow. I'm pretty sure I have the perpendicular thing down pretty well, but the slightly lower contact point sounds like it might be a worthwhile path to pursue. Thanks, Jamie.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

I bring up the vertical forearms because people can get a lower bar position by rotating at the elbow instead of changing the angle at the shoulder. Both of these things are bad.

[Oldster]

but the slightly lower contact point sounds like it might be a worthwhile path to pursue.
Yes, with a close grip you really should be touching at the very bottom of your pecs. You still need to concentrate on pushing straight up.

I sleep on my side and have no shoulder problems. I should caveat that by saying I rarely have shoulder problems that bother me when I sleep. An injury will cause me a bit of sleeplessness. In which case I have an extra pillow that is by Tempur-Pedic that is very VERY firm and lifts my head way up taking any pressure off the shoulder in question.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Got that, and I'll try that maybe next week when the delt is really better Oldster. Thanks. Man, my entire right upper quadrant was off kilter, so said she of the magic hands, my chiro. As you thought Oldster, the 1st and 2nd ribs were out but then so was my T2 and several other cervical vertebrae. Oh, and my right collar bone along with my right scapula. It felt a good deal better today.

5 minute warmup on the bike.

Overhead Press: 150 x 5 x 3 + 130 x 10. This seemed a little more difficult than it should after recent triumphs, but no problems or stalls, so nothing to complain about.

Bench Press: I started with the empty bar and the new tips from Oldster and Jamie and the delt, while much better, still felt a little kinked at the bottom end of the movement on the solar plexus. So I did 3 reps and decided to let some more resettlement of the skeletal frame and some more recovery happen to any offended ligaments or tendons. As such I didn't even attempt my scheduled cross armed front squat for today so as not to play fast and loose with the shoulder structure in some other unforeseen way.

I did a GXP and really spiked up my heart rate (unintentionally) to 146 bpm which is 91% of MHR. I think this happened because of the lingering congestion in my lungs. I have a huge wheezing issue when I exhale with some high pitched whistles that would set dogs to barking if we had any near our house. Still hacking up incredible loads of stuff. Foam rolling and stretching and then off to work for some more desk-to desk-combat to round out the week.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Jujitsu today with me teaching the OCD green belt chokes and such. He starts off well, but as the number of things he has to keep straight start accumulate his processing speed goes down fast. I'm starting to actually like the guy because he tries so hard. Things went pretty well until we got to what I think is the dangerous technique we teach that I have encountered so far, the rice bail throw and choke. It's similar to tomoe nage or stomach throw in judo but no feet or legs are used to propel the attacker over the shoulder. He comes at you in a low tackle and you side step and headlock him in a choke as you roll backward. His feet leave the ground in a forward roll and he lands on his back with your arm still wrapped around his neck and you are lying head to head in opposite directions. Anything less than a smooth execution by the person doing the throwing can get very bad for the attacker. Stopping partway at any point can leave the attacker hanging near vertical and floating while still held around he neck. Death or quadriplegia if the worst occurs. And of course this guy is constantly stopping on all his techniques to get them just right. I was nervous as hell through the entire teaching segment. He got halfway and stopped to shift his feet, and I tapped him to release. He didn't release right away so since his legs were out of position, I grabbed one and picked him up off the ground. The he figured out he should let go. After some brief and intense conversation he tried it again, and while a long way from perfect, he managed to get the throw and choke mostly right. His main problem on this throw is wanting to throw at a 45 degree angle rather than straight backward, and the way he moves his feet is the root cause.

[tertius]

I do not envy you teaching that technique.

[Mark E. Hurling]

The upper arms felt like they had been beaten with a shinai yesterday. This is a split bamboo stick that one of my shotokan teachers would use on us if we dropped our hands during stroking and blocking drills. Strange too because nothing I did yesterday should have had that effect.

5 minute warmup on the bike.

Bench Press: The first warmup with the bar was making my right delt unhappy at the bottom so I bailed. I figured I'd try dips to see how those were, and they were even worse. Hurt bad. So I went on to a light session with the overhead press. 130 x 8 x 3 + 95 x 10. That at least felt OK. Frustrating, but you have to accept the cards you're dealt at any particular point in time. So, rest the shoulder by avoiding benching for a while.

Sumo Deadlift: 355 x 3. A minor victory here. I'd failed at getting 3 a few times with this when I screwed up my progression a few months ago, but 3 was easy and I had at least one more in the tank.

Foam roller and stretched. The delt was tweaked enough from the dips so even the shoulder stretches didn't feel so good.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Good for you for having the sense to bail and bench another day.

[Mark E. Hurling]

5 minute warmup on the bike. (Medium Day)

Overhead Press: 150 x 5 x 5.

Pull Ups: bodyweight 5 x 5.

Pinch Grip: 145 for 26 seconds.

Foam roller and stretching. I'm dispensing with bench presses for as long as it takes to get this right delt healed. That ill-considered attempt at dips Sunday really hurt and set me back at least a few days of not a week or more. So this is my penance. All overhead pressing all the time for now.

[Oldster]

Sorry to hear it. Have you tried deep tissue massage yet? I know that my massage therapist has done things for my shoulders that I would have never dreamed a year ago. I am as pain free in my shoulders as I've been since a teenager. Last 2 sessions she has concentrated on my triceps up to my rear delts. Before that was my entire shoulders, before that was my chest to my chin which will be the next time too. Can't believe what a difference that finding out much of my pain stemmed from the medial head of my triceps and then working upward has made. Unbelievable.

[Mark E. Hurling]

The delt is feeling much better so far this morning thanks to resting it from benching and returning to a full scale blitz of anti-inflammatories and diligent application of the ice pack at work and home. I'm beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel, perhaps. I think this is really more about inflammation from my own stupidity and less about a binding up of fascia that some deep tissue work might break up Oldster. If this lingers on a few weeks, then I'll give that a shot.

I did a running GXP this morning, and finished off with the usual foam roller and stretching. The shoulder mobility swings did not twinge the right delt so that too is another indication of progress.

[Mark E. Hurling]

No jujitsu last night, a pipe broke and flooded the place. The delt continues to heal and the twinge at all angles and vectors of movement is nearly undetectable.

5 minute warmup on the bike. (Light Day)

I tried a set with the empty bar for bench presses to see if the delt was actually as good as it feels. Almost nothing to fear even at the bottom of the movement which is where the problem has been worst. But still, not quite zero issue so, a little more rest and recovery.

Overhead Press: 130 x 8 x 3 + 10.

Back Extension: 90 x 3 x 10

Foam roller and stretching.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Big session today at the dojo. O-sensei, Master Bellman's teacher who promoted him to 10th Dan, was conducting a clinic. It started off with a simultaneously touching and unsettling greeting from the OCD green belt. He called me Sempai which is acknowledging subordination to me and a relationship of mentor. I didn't know he was that deep into the Japanese cultural thing.

O-sensei asked for some attacks to defend against and I asked about some of the groping attacks I used as examples in self defense for women. They were gropes of the buttocks and a hand on the thigh. As expected, he had a unique take on what to do. I'll give it some consideration. He is really big on the small elements that are often entirely overlooked. One such was energy loss from crossing the center line of the body. I know that the arm loses strength once it crosses over the sternum but he demonstrated how even if you cross the opposite hand over the center line it affects the other hand's strength. Likewise if you are holding something like a weapon in the other hand. Your concentration on that weapon holding hand weakens the opposite hand. Another one of the subtleties are is distraction. Movements in the peripheral vision cause a momentary hesitation or weakness to exploit.

He talked about how some movements involve the biceps and some the triceps, the latter of course are stronger muscle group. I have been to one of his clinics a few years back and I now wonder if my own inclination to use examples of strength and strength curves are a result of his earlier seminar. Later I asked about some club attacks that are adaptations of some baton techniques I used as a cop that I learned from Tak Kubota's techniques. All together a great session.

[tertius]

Big session today at the dojo. O-sensei, Master Bellman's teacher who promoted him to 10th Dan, was conducting a clinic. It started off with a simultaneously touching and unsettling greeting from the OCD green belt. He called me Sempai which is acknowledging subordination to me and a relationship of mentor. I didn't know he was that deep into the Japanese cultural thing.

O-sensei asked for some attacks to defend against and I asked about some of the groping attacks I used as examples in self defense for women. They were gropes of the buttocks and a hand on the thigh. As expected, he had a unique take on what to do. I'll give it some consideration. He is really big on the small elements that are often entirely overlooked. One such was energy loss from crossing the center line of the body. I know that the arm loses strength once it crosses over the sternum but he demonstrated how even if you cross the opposite hand over the center line it affects the other hand's strength. Likewise if you are holding something like a weapon in the other hand. Your concentration on that weapon holding hand weakens the opposite hand. Another one of the subtleties are is distraction. Movements in the peripheral vision cause a momentary hesitation or weakness to exploit.

He talked about how some movements involve the biceps and some the triceps, the latter of course are stronger muscle group. I have been to one of his clinics a few years back and I now wonder if my own inclination to use examples of strength and strength curves are a result of his earlier seminar. Later I asked about some club attacks that are adaptations of some baton techniques I used as a cop that I learned from Tak Kubota's techniques. All together a great session.

It's amazing, isn't it, how the musculature works, and the shortcomings of the brain? One of the most fascinating I learned was a somewhat goofy, but remarkably effective escape from a two-handed choke (an unsophisticated attack, but common, particularly if you're a woman). You might be familiar with it. All that you need to do is grab the attackers arms (near the wrist) and jiggle them up and down, in opposite directions. Their grip will completely turn to mush! It's the weirdest damn thing, but very effective.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Very cool.

[Mark E. Hurling]

It's amazing, isn't it, how the musculature works, and the shortcomings of the brain? One of the most fascinating I learned was a somewhat goofy, but remarkably effective escape from a two-handed choke (an unsophisticated attack, but common, particularly if you're a woman). You might be familiar with it. All that you need to do is grab the attackers arms (near the wrist) and jiggle them up and down, in opposite directions. Their grip will completely turn to mush! It's the weirdest damn thing, but very effective.

Very similar to one of the three basic ones we teach our white belts. Hook (not grip) the wrists, pull them outward and downward to the rear as you step back. This draws the attacker forward and head down. Then step back in, hook the back of the neck with both hands, and bring a knee up and into his boys as he lurches forward. Also a common attack from a drunk to another man. Ah, I can smell the stale beer and sawdust on the floor in some divey watering hole now as describe this. Also it's less about how the muscalature works, than it is about how the brain controls and reacts to things. It stutters and then frequently goes into overload with too much conflicting information to process.

[Mark E. Hurling]

5 minute warmup on the bike (Heavy Day)

Did a couple of sets with the empty bar for bench presses and the shoulder, while better still lets me know it's not quite right. More healing seems indicated.

Overhead Press: 165 x 5 x 3.

Squats: 300 x 3. I was a little nervous about this just because of the symbolic aspect of the number and my resolution from my last session of squats where I vowed to drop a little lower just for legal depth insurance. So set myself with even more attention to detail than usual. All went fine although fine did not equal easy. I dropped a little lower as I had intended and my back still feels solid. Three big wheels here I come!

Foam roller and stretching.

[tertius]

Nicely done.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Indeed. Strong work.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thank you gentlemen.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Slept like hammered crap last night. Kept waking up with heartburn and chewing up the Tums I keep by my side of the bed. I was thinking of blowing off the lifting but the hardwired software kicked in at the usual O-dark 30 and I drug my tired ass up and into Golds.

5 minute warmup on the bike (Medium Day)

Overhead Press: 155 x 5 x 5.

Pull-Ups: Bodyweight 5 x 5.

Claw Grip: 170 2 x 5. I've held this a few sessions to clean up any possible cheating I might have let creep into the movement. Onward and upward henceforth.

I tried a set of bench presses with the empty bar again, and while the right delt keeps improving it's not ready yet. That and while it doesn't bother me at all on overhaed presses and only slightly when benching, I have an ice pack on it now because it does have a slight ache. Very odd why this is hanging in like it is.

Foam roller and stretching. An uncharacteristic event occurred at Gold's this morning. They have a stretching station there kind of like monkey bars that I use. There was a sweatshirt rolled up on the platform inside but no one apparently around using the station, so I started in. I finished up and another regular who uses that station was using some chin-up bars to do his stretching. I know he uses this same station so call over to him I was done with it. He thanks me as he comes over and asks about the sweatshirt. I said "I dunno, maybe we should sniff it to see who might have laying down a territorial marker." A few seconds later a shaven headed 6'3" guy about 240 stalks over and ostentatiously picks up the sweatshirt giving the full glare. There are a few ways to respond to that, but backing down by looking away is not in my DNA. So I return the direct eye contact with a half step back on my right foot. He swaggers off to put away the sweatshirt. I swear, primate dominance rituals are a trip. Just like in a band of chimps or gorillas. I guess that doesn't speak to highly of this old silverback for letting himself get drawn like that but . . . This was the same guy who had put is towel down on the bench press station earlier in my session and ignored the thing for the next 20 minutes even though he never benched.

[JM3]

congrats on the squat!

[fiftyfit]

Mark, this is just one of numerous reasons I don't miss training in commercial gyms. One instance that comes to mind for me was when I was waiting(much too patiently) for a young guy to finish on a leg extension machine. Between his sets, he wouldn't budge, just sat there for probably 6 to 8 minutes. A half hour later, when I had moved on, he was still there. Another time I was doing squats in a YMCA with about 300 lbs. A newbie I hadn't seen before came up to me following my set, and said "You're going to hurt yourself squatting like that." He told me to keep my back upright. At the time, I had been squatting, very successfully, for over thirty years. Needless to say, I let his advice slide. One last thing Mark, could you explain how you do your claw grip. I've always been into grip work, and have a full set of grippers going up to 350 lbs resistance. If you've detailed the technique in the past, I apologize for missing it.
An uncharacteristic event occurred at Gold's this morning. They have a stretching station there kind of like monkey bars that I use. There was a sweatshirt rolled up on the platform inside but no one apparently around using the station, so I started in. I finished up and another regular who uses that station was using some chin-up bars to do his stretching. I know he uses this same station so call over to him I was done with it. He thanks me as he comes over and asks about the sweatshirt. I said "I dunno, maybe we should sniff it to see who might have laying down a territorial marker." A few seconds later a shaven headed 6'3" guy about 240 stalks over and ostentatiously picks up the sweatshirt giving the full glare. There are a few ways to respond to that, but backing down by looking away is not in my DNA. So I return the direct eye contact with a half step back on my right foot. He swaggers off to put away the sweatshirt. I swear, primate dominance rituals are a trip. Just like in a band of chimps or gorillas. I guess that doesn't speak to highly of this old silverback for letting himself get drawn like that but . . . This was the same guy who had put is towel down on the bench press station earlier in my session and ignored the thing for the next 20 minutes even though he never benched.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thanks JM3.

The claw grip: http://ironmind-store.com/Claw-Curl153-pair/productinfo/1378/

It's used for the open hand grip. Lot's of rock climbers use these to improve their handhold grip on rock faces. You fit the fingers into the loops and attach the claw curl to a cable stack and draw your fingers in toward your palms. You can also attach some plates to the end but I've always found it easier to use a cable stack.

In my case, I use it as an adjunct to my jujitsu training. Since our style and dojo are focused on self defense and not competition with rules and no-touch areas or techniques I find it useful. We have two kinds of grip based attacks one is called a shark bite which is really no more than a very hard and forceful pinch to sensitive areas on the body where there is loose skin and nerve centers. Under or inside the arms, along the torso or love handles, or inside the thighs right next to where the boys live and hang around. Hurts like getting hit with a cattle prod. The other is called a horse bite using all four fingers to grab larger segments of the body even more forcefully. Like the boys and crushing them along with those other areas I described. Puts a whole new major disincentive to going to the ground in a fight huh?

[The Emancipated Freak]

Great job on the squat, Knurling! Keep 'em coming.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Puts a whole new major disincentive to going to the ground in a fight huh?

As if we needed any more. The more time I spend studying groundfighting (until recently a long-neglected component of my martial arts education), the more I realize I don't want to spend any time on the ground in a fight, which motivates me to spend more time studying groundfighting. It's a vicious circle.

Two weeks ago, we were practicing side headlock escapes, and my opponent, who was much bigger and more experienced than I, had me pretty much nailed down. From the corner of my eye, I could see the instructor standing over me. "You're doing the technique right, Sully, but it's not working. He's too strong and too smart. You don't know another escape. Now what?"

"I bite off his nipple?"

"That's what I would do."

[Mark E. Hurling]

Once again thanks to all for the kudos on the squat, you too Freak.

I did a fit test today and got a VO2 max of 38.7. Still in the excellent category for 60 year old geezers, so God is good. I then did some facepulls with 90 lbs. for 3 sets of 15. I got this from asking a question of Jamie on his log and got a bunch of great feedback from Jay Ashman and others on the usefulness of this for shoulder stability and balance. Reverse engineering my current right delt discomfort, the problem manifested itself after starting bench presses and then a max overhead press of of 215. Then I did a change up of my program that dropped hammer rows for pull-ups and DB push presses. I now think maybe my frontal delts strength got too far out in front of my rear delt and upper back strength. For some years prior to coming here I followed a program organization template of a vertical push, balanced by a horizontal push, a vertical pull, balanced by a horizontal pull, then a lower body exercise. Rip doesn't seem quite so doctrinaire about the planes of movement template and so I kind of started paying no attention to it. We'll see if the face pulls help. The right delt feels a little better so far, but that rascal has fooled me before.

So Sully, was the side headlock done on the ground or standing. I've got a couple of quick and effective escapes we teach our blue belt 1st degrees if it's standing. If it's on the ground, I migh thave to think for a while but I'm pretty sure the standing techniques can adapt to it. How about a little more detail?

[Jonathon Sullivan]

This was a ground technique, headlock from the side. (Headlock in the mount is actually a fairly easy escape for me.) There are two Krav variants of headlock from the side on the ground; one with the attacker's weight back, one with weight forward. Obviously, he's in front of you on the floor, on his side, and your head is locked under his lower shoulder. If his weight is forward (away from you), you hook his top leg with your top leg, drive the hips forward explosively (power cleans!) to extend him into a weak position and minimize space, then drive your upper arm into the back of his neck to drive his face into the floor. You should end up on his dead side, over his back, with him prone, elbows and knees tight against his torso, weight solidly on him through your hips. It's your basic side mount, really, except he's prone. We finish with knee strikes, elbows, etc. I've used this one several times with some of the bigger guys in the class (who give no quarter, btw), and it's working well for me.

With attacker's weight back (on you), there's a violent pull on his top shoulder to try and pull him over into a reversal. This puts you in a good position for a cross face and an escape. This is the one that's giving me fits. With a big guy it's tough to pull him over, and I can only make it work about half the time. OTOH, I always seem to end up within biting range of a titty, so on the street there's that. (We, um, don't bite nipples on the practice floor, even if our training partner is of the opposite sex and very attractive. It's frowned on.)

The standing headlocks I've learned so far come in two flavors: forward and reverse (guillotine). The forward counter involves a 45 deg lunge to the live side, a very nasty strike to the groin, and simultaneous pressure across the philtrum to drive his head back into cervical extension, opening him up to all sorts of counterstrikes. I find it effective, although it has to be executed smartly and quickly to work. The guillotine hold is a new one for me, and involves an explosive pluck at the attacker's hands and turning the head into his chest to relieve the choke. Then drive the inner shoulder into his torso and up, to create space and rotate out. Knees, groin kicks, punches, etc.

Krav emphasizes simplicity. It's street fu for dummies. Very different from the Tang Soo I've been doing for 30 years. Less beautiful, more practical.

[Mark E. Hurling]

The ground technique you describe sounds a lot like what we and judo call a scarf hold. Your escapes are pretty similar too. One of the objectives in such a situation is to create space between you and the guy holding you. Hooking an arm around or under a leg with the hand reaching up to grab the boys will at least create some space or the desire to get some space away from you on the part of the attacker. Even a hard grip of the hamstring, outer buttock, or inner thigh will too, but you have to grab and grip like you're trying to tear the skin right off and be ready to exploit the opening space immediately. Snaking the hand up around to the trachea, eyes, or ears will do this on the upper body pretty well too. This all presumes I am envisioning the hold and entry correctly, and I could be dead-ass wrong on that score. So if I'm full of it, I'll regroup and re-think.

Your standing escapes are very similar to what we do. I've used the term philtrum at the dojo and everyone looks at me like I was nuts. I keep trying to convince them it's a real word used to describe that part of the body.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

This all presumes I am envisioning the hold and entry correctly, and I could be dead-ass wrong on that score.

Not at all, sounds like we're on the same page, except you have vastly more experience at this sort of thing than I. I spent a lot of time learning pretty Korean kicks and forms and stand-up sparring; grappling not so much. So I'm in remedial learning right now. Groundfighting has highlighted deficiencies in my strength and power, and has made my recent gains equally apparent--I think SS is already paying dividends on the training floor for me. Starting over in Krav as a beginner about three years ago was the best thing ever for my martial arts practice, forcing me to look at fighting in an entirely new way. It's made my classical practice better, too. "Emptying the cup," as Bruce would have said.


Your standing escapes are very similar to what we do.

Very interesting, but not surprising, I guess. What works, works. What doesn't...ends up in an action movie.

[Mark E. Hurling]

The ability to generate power from the lower body and hip drive in overcoming a ground attack and getting back up to stomp a mudhole in the attacker's proned out ass can be overlooked. Likewise with the "core" (God am I tired of that term) and being able to twist, arch, and turn with power and authority. I can't think of any technique on the ground that is an effective escape or attack that doesn't begin with a solid foot plant and a drive that initiates in the heels, up the femurs, through the pelvis, and then maybe elsewhere for the final portions. Squats and deadlifts fit that power and strength developmental bill quite nicely. Probably power cleans too, but I'm gonna need some hands on coaching to overcome some teen hardwiring from tossing hay bales to get my form down properly.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

SO how is the shoulder coming along? Mine gave out on me during Jerks. Nothing too bad, just annoying.

[Mark E. Hurling]

It feels better incrementally each time I test it with an empty bar in the bench press. But I did the face pulls this morning and they seemed to help a little more. I'll have a better handle on how much by my Friday session. It's just so slow, and I haven't experienced this before.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

Have you checked this out?

http://www.dieselcrew.com/how-to-shoulder-rehab

[Mark E. Hurling]

Looks interesting. I'll have to look at the youtube stuff at home. They don't let it on the PC's at work. Thanks.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

I'm gonna need some hands on coaching to overcome some teen hardwiring from tossing hay bales to get my form down properly.

My form is the pits, too. Never did upright rows in my life, but damn if I don't try to muscle it on the heavy weights. Still.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Sully, you're not contemplating doing upright row are you? Those things can be death on shoulder impingement syndrome. By the way, are you going to give the kids a campfire story about the effect of the full moon? They created a thread just for us on it which is now on page 2 of Ends and Pieces.

Jujitsu last night with the kids all doing pretty well, even the gargoyle. His older sister, the one we call Devil Girl, had been doing well too until the last 20 minutes when she completely unraveled and started screwing around. Other than that they were very attentive.

Adult class had us working on guess what? Standing side headlock escapes! Of all things, Sully you must have sent some mucho mysterioso message to Master Bellman yesterday. He introduced a slight variation that makes perfect sense but I hadn't done before. It starts with you bulldogged in at the side of the attacker. You step so you are perpendicular to him and deliver palm heel strikes to the groin from the front and rear simulataneously with both hands in a clapping like implosion. No where for the boys to hide in that scenario. The grab his wrist with your outside arm and twist it outward. The new variant was to place the inside hand his shoulder and press or shove it forward over your head while using that as a platform for a fast backing up. At the same time pulling his arm outward and upward at the wrist. The important part is to place the inside hand as close to the delt as possible, rather than inward by the scapula. The leverage and strength curve is better at the delt. We also did some manipulation of the arms across the center line like I described on the Saturday seminar. The blue belts were utterly amazed how grabbing the other arm and crossing it over the center line weakens the arm they are using for an attack. Then again lest I sound too blase and jaded here, it amazes me too. I've just been exposed to elements of that principle before, this too is a new variant for me as well.

I slept better last night than I have in quite a while. The delts didn't start aching causing me to semi wake up and roll over a bunch like has been the case lately. The right delt feels a little better too. I printed off that link, Jamie but didn't have the time last night to look at the youtube links at home. I'll do it tonight while Dearly Beloved looks over at me and rolls her eyes then shakes her head at my OCDness.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Sully, you're not contemplating doing upright row are you?

No, no, I have no use for those. I need to master the power clean, but I'm making the classic rookie mistake of bending my elbows before the jump on the heavy weight. I'm going to deload a bit for form and try two things: 1. Turning my elbows out more laterally, which is supposed to help break the habit, and 2. consciously try to incorporate the "scoop" so that I'm jumping higher on the thigh. I'll get it.


Adult class had us working on guess what? Standing side headlock escapes! Of all things, Sully you must have sent some mucho mysterioso message


Too funny. The technique sounds neat. Interestingly, my Sabum Nim (for Tang Soo) is here to visit me right now, to promote me to Third Dan, and then for a trip to Toronto with my wife and I. I'll try this out on him.


By the way, are you going to give the kids a campfire story about the effect of the full moon? They created a thread just for us on it which is now on page 2 of Ends and Pieces.

(Looks.) Oh, wow. I had no idea. I will post this afternoon! Maybe I'll tell the story of the Security Guard With a Pulse of Twenty, or the Day of the Tall Ships.

It'll be easy.

I've kept a diary.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Congratulations on the upcoming promotion. A diary huh? I have pretty good long term memory and recall, (near term is getting a little shaky) and while I didn't keep a diary I can summon up an entire anecdote from an incomplete sentence as an aid to jogging my memory. I have a 14 page list of such notes, and I find as I write to flesh them out it hauls up more from the graveyard of dreams. I'm working on another book that I got permission from Michael Connelly to title Tales of the Blue Religion. He used the term in several of his Harry Bosch crime novels, and since I like and respect him and his work I asked permission. Just your anecdote titles sound great. I can hardly wait to see.

[tertius]

Nice description of the techniques. I'll have to remember those. The last time I did a standing headlock escape drill, I got a thumb in the eye (I was the one doing the headlocking). Not on purpose, but it's effective, I'll tell you that.

[Mark E. Hurling]

If you're interested, I have rendered a bunch of our techniques into a narrative list of 4-5 one sentence steps that make sense to me that I can send you. I'll even translate them into something more intelligible than standard Knurling-speak if need be.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Count me in. sullivandotjonathonatgmaildotcom. Thanks.

[BillBrownley]

Mark--thanks for checking in on my log. Congratulations on your Squats. I find 300 is a significant mental barrier as well. It goes better if I don't think about it. I am about ready to go to a leaning out stage. At 6'1" 270 it is time to drop some weight.

Thinking of this for working out: 1 day a week heavy--Squat, press, dead lift. Two days barbell complexes--a string of exercises that work together, all reps done consecutively, example--deadlifts, power cleans, snatches, back squats, shoulder presses, front squats, done. Each for eight, never put the bar down. You can play with reps and weights. One day LSD (walking the dogs--two boxers and an American bulldog). The bulldog kind of looks like Rip. Two days tabata intervals--work/rest ratio of 2/1, you can vary length and exercise--but you must go as hard as you can for the 2. Would like to work bench in--not sure where.

Diet--who knows--done Atkins, Primal, Paleo--nothing seems to stick, never going to be able to do zone--way too much measuring and so on.

Any suggestions welcome.

Your press numbers are very impressive. I feel weak whenever I look at them.

Thanks, Bill

[BillBrownley]

Mark--thanks for checking in on my log. Congratulations on your Squats. I find 300 is a significant mental barrier as well. It goes better if I don't think about it. I am about ready to go to a leaning out stage. At 6'1" 270 it is time to drop some weight.

Thinking of this for working out: 1 day a week heavy--Squat, press, dead lift. Two days barbell complexes--a string of exercises that work together, all reps done consecutively, example--deadlifts, power cleans, snatches, back squats, shoulder presses, front squats, done. Each for eight, never put the bar down. You can play with reps and weights. One day LSD (walking the dogs--two boxers and an American bulldog). The bulldog kind of looks like Rip. Two days tabata intervals--work/rest ratio of 2/1, you can vary length and exercise--but you must go as hard as you can for the 2. Would like to work bench in--not sure where.

Diet--who knows--done Atkins, Primal, Paleo--nothing seems to stick, never going to be able to do zone--way too much measuring and so on.

Any suggestions welcome.

Your press numbers are very impressive. I feel weak whenever I look at them.

Thanks, Bill

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thank you for your kind words Bill. I'm contemplating pushing the edge of my envelope on my next session of squats to 315, even if just for a single, just to get past the next mental barrier of three big wheels. I'll probably decide the morning I get to Gold's depending on my physical and mental state. As for your description of the work out is that a question regarding what I think of it, or a suggestion? Either way a little explanation of some of the things I only allude to in my lifting sessions might be in order. On my heavy days, I take 3-4 minutes between sets to recover. As a result, my heart rate (HR) stays around 65% of my Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) through out my lifting and even during my foam rolling and stretching. On my light and medium days, I cut the rest to 1 minute and sometimes less. I also superset my pull ups and presses on medium days, and superset the front squats with presses on the light day. I periodically wear a heart rate monitor just to spot check the aerobic value of any given session of lifting. Today for instance, I wore the monitor for my light session. My average HR was 133 which comes in at 83% of MHR and my entire session with warm ups, lifting, some delt rehab, and stretching ran 43 minutes. Oh, I am so OCD about some of this shit, and I don't want to make a mockery of myself by talking about it or recording it too much, but that's some of the stuff I note in the background.

5 minute warm up on the bike (Light day)

Tested the delt with a set of 10 with an empty bar on the bench press. Delt felt almost completely better, but my awareness of the potential for greater owieness urges me to be cautious until this little fucking demon in my right front delt gets exorcised well and properly.

Overhead Press: 130 x 8 x 3 + 11. This doesn't bother the delt at all, thank heavens.

Front Squat: 135 x 3 x 6. This didn't hurt the delt exactly, but the pressure on it is apparent.

Delt Rehab: I forgot the paper with the rehab protocols I got from Jamie so I kluged together some of the exercises I could remember. All were done for 2 sets of 15 reps.
Face Pulls, Cuban Rotations, External Rotation, Internal Rotations. The external rotations were very tender. This alone tells me I neglected pre-hab and maintenance of delt muscle group balance for too long, and was almost certainly the prime mover behind my current problem.

Foam roller and stretching. The right delt now feels a little tender. Maybe from the rehab stuff. Time to get the cold pack out of the freezer at work.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

I do what I can. Bad shoulders suck.

[BillBrownley]

It was more a question about what I was going to do, since the reality is I am remarkably self centered. However--I like hearing about your workouts. Press doesn't hurt--but bench does? I know that story. Plus--I get stuck at 115 with presses. Very strange--last time out was real solid with 3x5 115. I would expect to go up--but the usual pattern is--I micro load (total of 3 pounds, for some reason can't get it. Then the next time I back down to 115, I can't get all three sets, then after that I can and it feels solid--then the cycle repeats.

Bench--since going to the narrow grip--progression has been good, very little pain, just not as much weight as I used to do.

Squats and deads are seemingly "strong" exercises for me. Upper body exercises are not. I am not sure why there is such a difference between my upper and lower body weights. If you saw me--you would think my upper body was dominant. 325 for 3 sets of 5 was not too hard, 362 for 5 with deads was not hard, and I have very recently been at 379. I know I can double 409.

When I am going heavy I take 3-4 minutes. The purpose of the complexes is to get HR up, lean out, still work on weights/strength, but obviously more oriented to muscular endurance/hypertrophy. Yet--I don't want to lose strength gains, and would like to still improve that way--at least a little.

Though I may be hoping for too much.

Re: Shoulders--Rip always talks about doing nothing but chins and presses with lots of warm up on the press.

Thanks, Bill

[Mark E. Hurling]

OK, I got it now, and thought that was the case, but my aging brain doesn't always process the message correctly via the internet as I've discovered a few times by flashing over in Ends and Pieces. I'm trying to hold firm to my resolve of making sure I understand before reacting lately. My own experiences with Tabatas and things like that is that as the reps increase for me my form goes to shit, even with lighter weights. Thats one reason why I talk some of the shit that I do about Crossfit. Intervals of things like on a cross country ski machine type elliptical (to get the upper body engaged) seem to do well for me as does running on a treadmill. I keep stalling on the 8% ramp down the 30 foot bluff at the beach near my house for some reason, I just have to get my ass down there and do it. Before I hurt my delt I returned to some heavy bag striking intervals too. More of those are on hold until I get this delt back up to speed. My focus is on likely real world engagements, but the reality is 30-60 intervals of anything with commensurate rest or lower intensity intervals between, burn fat just fine. In reality what I do is a variant of HIIT and that includes the lifting on medium and light days. As for as the upper/lower body bias, at one point some years back my upper body was way behind my lower body size and capacity. Hanging in with the pick and shovel in the trenches got me where I am now. I think for most it really is a matter of time and patience.

[Mark E. Hurling]

No jujitsu today, the black belts were at Tom Reichenbach's memorial service. I didn't feel I knew him well enough to attend in spite of my deep respect for him during the limited contacts we had at the dojo. So I decided to get off the pot and try out some sprint intervals. I headed on down to Esplenade Ave. where there is a 30' bluff overlooking the Pacific. I paced off the ramp with my pedometer and it came in at 80 yards with an 8% grade. After a few gradually faster walks and trots up and down I took off. A couple of dads and their 4-5 sons were waling up the ramp at one point and I started up and halfway to the top heard the sounds of other feet behind me and a "You're catching him!" The boys decided to follow me. I apologized to the dads for riling them up and they just laughed and said, No it's OK, you inspired them sir." Sir. These guys were in their mid 30's. This is the equivalent of women in despair when they get called ma'am and it makes them feel old. Well screw it, I was wearing my Old Guys Rule t-shirt.

Later I went to Gold's with Dearly Beloved and worked on delt rehab a la the Diesel Crew link from Jamie. I think I'll concentrate on retractions and external rotations because protractions and internal rotations seem to aggravate the delt where the pulls do not. In any event, if I'm correct, this is the result of neglecting rear pulling movements that brought this on. I also tried out floor presses with an EZ-curl bar to see how that treated the delt. Not much better than bench presses, so that's out. I also tried cable tricep pushdowns because if this keeps up, I may drop all pressing movements for a while. I've noticed that after even overhead pressing the delt doesn't feel happy even though it doesn't hurt when I'm doing it. The pressdowns felt fine so I know I have them to keep up some pushing strength if I need it.

[tertius]

If you're interested, I have rendered a bunch of our techniques into a narrative list of 4-5 one sentence steps that make sense to me that I can send you. I'll even translate them into something more intelligible than standard Knurling-speak if need be.

I totally missed this, until I was over is Skibicki's log and saw you mentioned it. Sure thing. hit me up. (mailto:tertiarymatt@gmail.com)

[Mark E. Hurling]

tertius, I'm always happy to send things along to my friends. I have this stuff on my PC at work. I'll send a sample along Monday, and if it makes sense to you, I have some more.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Dearly Beloved and I are both having a slight relapse of the plague from a few weeks back. More hawking, coughing, and feeling like your head is in a fog from the congestion. But onward to Gold's!

5 minute warm up on the bike (Heavy Day)

Overhead Press: 180 x 5 x 3. Delt felt OK and the reps were solid and smooth. I'm not going to test the delt with a bench press until it feels good all the time. The ache some hours or a day after overhead pressing will be my barometer for this. As a proactive measure I've been using the cold pack on it since I got home.

Sumo Deadlift: 365 x 1. A little frustrating because I was going for 3. On the first shot at it, my weight shifted forward or the bar moved forward or both and of course things got bad fast. I fought it halfway up and said screw it, not worth the potential injury so I set it down. After a few deep breaths and a careful reset I tried again and up it went, but slow and hard. I tried for rep #2 and flexed the bar but I left behind too much of myself in that first failed attempt so I decided next time. This also could have been the result of a significant discovery (for me anyway) I made yesterday. Master Bellman is always talking about the importance of bending the knees in jujitsu but beyond lowering the center of gravity has never explained more thoroughly. I found that shifting from standing with locked knees to bent knees shifts your bodyweight forward from heel dominant balance toward the ball of the foot. I've been thinking about the implications of that ever since, and it may have resulted in a break in form for this. On the plus side, I just about ran out of room on the loading sleeves of the bar with three big red bumper plates and a yellow 25 pounder. They made a very impressive "whump" when set back down, even on the failed attempt. Maybe even more impressively on the failed attempt. It also looked pretty cool too. I know, I'm an old sillyhead.

I then did 10 minutes of delt rehab and finished off with my old friends the foam roller and stretched. Getting ready for a nap now to try to out sleep the plague. Rip Van Knurling.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Didn't wake up in time to lift yesterday for one of those unaccountable nights that have 2-3 serial loops of strange dreams waking me up and thoroughly disrupting my sleep. So it got shifted to today.

5 minute warmup on the bike. (Medium Day)

Overhead Press: 180 x 5 x 5. 190 next week and then a shot at 225 for a single.

Dumbbell Row: 120 x 5 x 5. I added this to get some horizontal pulling back in my routine to balance a too pronounced bias toward pressing that I think hurt the delt.

Pinch Grip: 145 for 30 seconds PR! This has stalled for a while, but I'll see if this is the onset of another sustained run of progress.

Delt rehab followed by foam rolling and concluded by stretching.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Jujitsu last night had me leading the blue belt kids in a rear leg sweep that judo calls osoto gari. It's a very hard fall, so I told them to be sure to relax into it and tuck their chins on their chests. We teach this as a counter-attack from a roundhouse punch. You do an outer block, grab the arm and the shoulder and then step in behind them and take out their leg with something like a back kick, except the point of contact is hamstring to hamstring rather than foot to hamstring. They were having a hard time not bouncing their foot off the mat which cuts the effectiveness in half.

Leading the warmups in the adult class I mentioned that some of them were toppling like redwoods doing the front falls instead of letting their knees bend and moving laterally forward. This prompted some questions about how the hands are supposed to hit the mat from a purple belt and how the knees are kept off the mat by a blue belt. Pretty surprising that they needed some correction on this but better that than they should get hurt. I was being used as crash dummy for demonstrating basic escape techniques with some variations. Normally we teach these to white belts with a step in toward the person grabbing them to increase the leverage and a wrist turn into an elbow pry/strike to effect a release. Followed up by a back fist or elbow strike. In the variations he demonstrated last night the lead in was with a strike. I got tagged in the balls several times. Not too hard but enough to be unpleasant. This of course always makes for lots of groans of sympathy and a few snickers of amusement. One of the other techniques he used me to show was a foward roll to escape from an arm bar. Given the precarious state of my right delt, I was a little slow in the execution just to be on the safe side.

I did a GXP this morning on the cross country ski elliptical followed by some delt rehab and foam rolling and stretches.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

I got tagged in the balls several times.

Even with a cup, a kick to the nuts is a wake-up call. You guys do wear a cup. Right?

Many, many years ago, at the end of my red belt test, the Grand Master called our instructor onto the floor for some sparring to finish off the day's festivities. The younger man was quicker and more agile, his kicks much prettier, but Kwang Jang Nim was experienced and wily, and let the instructor wear himself out trying to catch him. Finally, the instructor threw an outside-inside crescent kick, followed by a spinning crescent. Very beautiful. Or it would have been, if the Grand Master hadn't ducked the first kick and, on the second, executed a sudden back breakfall, drove his foot straight up, caught the instructor in the groin, lifted him up by his balls and tossed him to one side. It was one of the most extraordinary things I have ever seen.

"Hope you were wearing a cup, sir!" somebody said. Our instructor nodded sheepishly.

"Oh, yes, he's wearing a cup," the Grand Master said, rising to his feet, grinning like the demon he is. "I felt it."

[Mark E. Hurling]

I've learned that it doesn't help all that much to wear a cup. Knee kicks, ridge hand strikes and hammer fist downstrikes still drive the plastic back and into the pelvis so damn hard it just compresses them together like Moe clunking Larry and Curly's heads. I still get the same sickening sensation south of the border with or without the cup.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

I still get the same sickening sensation south of the border with or without the cup.

Now I'm wondering if you're the kind of cop who doesn't like to wear his vest. My blessing is upon you, my friend: may all your parries be timely, and may you never suffer a ruptured testicle.

[Oldster]

Overhead Press: 180 x 5 x 5. 190 next week and then a shot at 225 for a single.

I can't wait!

[Greg C]

I've learned that it doesn't help all that much to wear a cup. Knee kicks, ridge hand strikes and hammer fist downstrikes still drive the plastic back and into the pelvis so damn hard it just compresses them together like Moe clunking Larry and Curly's heads. I still get the same sickening sensation south of the border with or without the cup.

Right. But, if you took a shot like Sully described you'd have to wear loose sweats for a day and ice to recover (and maybe deal with a rupture, now I consider it further). With a cup, a shot like that is maybe a little gagging and some sweat, and then it's over. No lasting ill effects. And for the younger folk considering future use of those ornaments, that's a fair price of admission.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Those are good points from both of you. I do believe I'll get on the ball with this. Even though I'm probably firing blanks these days.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

I do believe I'll get on the ball with this.

This pleases me, sir.

[tertius]

Those are good points from both of you. I do believe I'll get on the ball with this. Even though I'm probably firing blanks these days.

As it were.

My only regrets about doing mostly Taiji and related arts is that I never learned to roll out and do breakfalls properly.

[Greg C]

You know, there's enough non-log content here that perhaps we should have MEH's log moved to E&P. It's more like a running story and BS session now, isn't it?

Not that that's bad, but I have to remind myself to go looking for it if I don't remember to glance around when I am updating my pitiful (99% workout content) log.

[Mark E. Hurling]

OK, as sometimes happens and as I described in how The Old Man got himself in the shit with my mother in the whorehouse story in the around the campfire thread, the old Hurling DNA kicked in last night when I told Dearly Beloved about our discussions about not wearing a cup. The Minister of Finance and UnderSecretary of Defense was displeased to learn I had neglected this important bit of kit (homage to our British Cousins for this term) and body armor. I got blistered with a lecture about common sense and having more unprotected balls than brains. As for my oh so amusing remark about shooting blanks yesterday, she reminded me that without an adequately functioning firing pin even the possible blanks might not get shot off. God I love this woman. So it's definitely off to the nearby Dick's Sporting Goods store less than a mile from the building I work in, and yes there really is a Dick's. I could have said Big Five, which is also nearby, but Dick's is just perfect for this particular post.

5 minute warmup on the bike. (Light day)

Overhead Press: 130 x 8 x 3 + 12.

Back Extension: 90 x 3 x 10.

Delt rehab followed by foam rolling and stretching. I tested the delt with an empty bar bench press and it's coming along, but not perfect yet. I also have been experimenting with using the pins on the power rack to see if I can do those without taxing the delt. It so happens that 3-4 inches above the chest seems just fine with an empty bar.

I don't know if this will help tertius, but I have a narrative section in the draft of self defense for women in how we teach people to do the falls. I'll send it along to you.

[RobCor]

Well, it seems I missed Geezer Testicle Day yesterday, but I have a related story that resulted in an important lesson and a re-learning of a specific routine movement.

I was getting ready to squat, so I put some liquid chalk on my hands, toweled off my dripping forehead, and grabbed my belt. With my right hand gripping the belt, I flipped it around my back so that I could catch it with my left hand. But I missed. Instead of meeting my hand, the top pointy edge of my brand new inzer 10mm leather belt smacked directly in to my left nut.

It took me a much longer time to get ready for that set than I would have anticipated. Even worse, before my next set I almost hit the same nut again.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Made it through jujitsu with no damage to my wedding tackle so that was a net gain. Attendance was light because of the holiday weekend but the OCD green belt showed and I am increasingly convinced I was paired up with him to test my teaching abilities and patience. He works so damn hard, but the level of detail and breakdown required to get him on track can be agonizing. On the other hand it does demand that I think about the technique very hard and that does improve my own grasp and understanding of it. We worked on chokes and I'm still dizzy from blood flow disruption. Add to that Sandra, one of the women black belts, was not satisfied with his blocking technique of a roundhouse punch. She delivered a block to my right forearm and shoulder that stopped me dead halfway to contact. The shoulder strike was with the palm heel and it popped to hard and loud the shock wave made my right ear ring. We finished off with demonstrations and practice of energy direction. In this we learned the difference between the strength flows possible from pointing a finger on the hand being grabbed. If you make a fist it cut the effectiveness of the escape in half and also impossible to free yourself. Very interesting stuff. Direction of energy flow or ki.

The back feels good although the right delt's a little dodgy from the strikes it got from Sandra, but I feel well set up to try for 315 in the squat tomorrow and 190 for 5 sets of 3 in the overhead press. We'll see about that squat.

[tertius]

I love that finger pointing stuff. Really illuminating about the way the hands are wired to/in the brain.

Thanks for the email. Haven't had a chance to read it yet, what with the no internet at home, and tree removal.

[Mark E. Hurling]

You're welcome tertius. Always glad to do what I can. Yeah, I've known about the direction of energy (ki or chi or the force) or whatever term you want to put to it shortly after taking up mushin ryu and it just never ceases to amaze me. I gather it's the same with the tai ji and other internal arts you did?

5 minute warmup on the bike. (Heavy Day)

Overhead Press: 190 x 5 x 3. First time for this weight and while it got more challenging by the last set, I didn't feel like failure was imminent. A 225 single next week seems within reach.

Hammer High Row: 270 2 x 3, 290 x 3, 300 x 3, 310 x 3. This was planned for 270 x 5 x 3, but it was too easy so I tested what heavy really meant. I'm not completely certain it's 310 even. I added this vertical pull in to balance off the bias toward pressing and get my delts back in some semblance of good order. Machines are not thought of highly by Rip and others, but Hammer pulling apparatus always seemed the best designed to me so I'll hammer away at it.

Squat: 315 x 1 PR! I know, I've said more places than here that I squatted 315 in my 30's and even did a few months of 20 rep squats. But this one was to legal depth. The others in those days? Maybe, maybe not. I wasn't terribly scrupulous back then. I had intended to try for 3 if it seemed possible, but I got a little spooked with those 3 a side big plates and stopped at one although I'm confident I had more reps in me. Mainly it getting over the mental thing, and I did. So hot fucking damn! Even better, the back still feels solid.

Delt rehab followed by a GXP.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Squat: 315 x 1 PR!

Outstanding, Mark! Felicitations.

[bob g]

Awesome, Mark, awesome.

[hbriem]

Congratulations Mark!

[Oldster]

Aren't PR's COOL!!

Congradulations! I bet you are still trodding around on cloud nine.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thanks guys. Your support is greatly appreciated.

[tertius]

Excellent work, sir.

[The Emancipated Freak]

Knurling I commend thee on the new PR, keep 'em coming.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thanks to you guys too, tertius and Freak.

5 minute warm up on the bike. (Medium Day)

Overhead Press: 165 x 5 x 5. I've been following bob g's advice and loading up on red meat to prime the pump for my next PR shot Sunday for 225 in the overhead press. I feel pretty confident so far.

One Arm Dumbbell Row: 120 5 x 5.

Delt rehab, foam roller torture, and stretched.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Jujitsu last night saw the kids on pretty good behavior again. Fear and pain are always good short term motivators. The adult class had me paired up with a 63 year old Japanese lady who kept calling herself old and I kept telling her, "You're only 3 years older than me. You're not old yet." She used to do judo and had a bum knee and wasn't certain she was up to trying falls. Very impatient with herself and I told her to put into perspective how different what she was learning from judo. This is comprised of a lot what I call "small technique." Judo, karate, and other martial arts in my experience are oriented around teaching "big technique." The difference is mobilization of large body movements and muscle groups for hip throws, punches, kicks, and other such major moves. Mushin ryu has a few things like that but much if not most is the assembly of multiple small body postures, hand positions, and foot movements that collectively disarray the attacker's own body or mode of attack. This can be very hard to adjust to coming from a judo background. It sure was for me anyway, and her as well. Fortunately for her having undergone this (and still having some trouble with it) myself I could explain to her why she was having problems. It was fun in an unusual kind of way.

I did a GXP on the cross-country ski elliptical this morning with a lot of foam rolling and stretching for the back. It's a little out of sorts today for some reason. The chiro will get me squared away this afternoon though for a scheduled chassis realignment.

[Mark E. Hurling]

5 minute warmup on the bike. (Light Day)

Overhead Press: 130 x 8 x 3 + 14. Pushed out that last set a little because it's bad luck to end on 13. So I hauled one last one out my ass to avoid the jinx.

Front Squat: 135 x 3 x 6.

Claw Grip: 170 x 2 x 5. I couldn't get these in earlier in the week because the cable machines I hook up to were all in use for the whole time. Too many people doing the cable crossovers.

I dinked around testing the right delt with empty bar sets of bench press. It felt OK, and with one more week's rest I think will stand me in good stead. Once I make the run at 225 Sunday I'm taking a week off. It will coincide with the last Great West Coast Road Rally when we pick up our daughter from OSU and bring her home having graduated from college.

[bob g]

... I've been following bob g's advice and loading up on red meat to prime the pump for my next PR shot Sunday for 225 in the overhead press. I feel pretty confident so far.

Steak, ground beef, bacon, chicken thighs Italian style, ribeye, bacon, ribs, pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon, more bacon...

How can you not put two wheels into the lights when you prepare this way. I know you'll nail it, Mark.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Some odd things have been happening with my weight. I weighed in at 205 this morning in spite of some heavier meat consumption as bob has recommended. I can't figure out why, but I'll just keep on with the food.

Jujitsu had me working with a teen blue belt. We did a lot of techniques that are easy to see where Kano pulled out things to synthesize judo as it exists today minus the strikes. A number of them used blocks into closing in tight and executing a foot sweep. After putting a knee in the groin to cause a forward drop of the balance. Some of the others involved stepping backward into an attack from the rear and displacing one of the attacker's legs outward and back spreading their base. Kind of like an uchi mata or harai goshi in judo but with out getting them up on the hip for a throw. Instead the attacker ends up like an off balance isosceles triangle who only needs a slight push of the head forward and down to cause them to topple and face plant. I told the teen to go easy on my right shoulder because of plans for lifting tomorrow. One of the black belts circulating to oversee finer points of technique asked what I was planning and I told him a 225 overhead press. He's about 10 years younger than me and in good shape himself. His lifting consists of 3 sets of 20 and he's fine with it so I held my peace. Not everyone's strength and fitness goals are the same. There's a fine line between offering advice when it's asked and being a pain in the ass evangelist.

After several joking remarks about coots, geezers, Statler, and Waldorf as well as Walt Kowalski, what should be on last night but Grand Torino. God was he a curmudgeon! I also was informed that the jujitsu great Wally Jay passed away this week. He probably had more to do with bringing the art to the US mainland from Hawaii where Okazaki developed Dan Zan Ryu, the art on which ours is based in part. The great move on.

[tertius]

Aw, Wally Jay? That's sad. A lot of the older guys I trained with back in the day had spent time learning stuff from him, or his students. Hadn't thought about him in years.

[Mark E. Hurling]

What's really ironic is that just yesterday I was talking to a guy at work who does jujitsu who had never heard of Jay. I lead off my explanation by saying "I'm not even sure if he's even still alive." Eerie week all around.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

I also was informed that the jujitsu great Wally Jay passed away this week.

Sorry to hear that.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Well this morning did not get off to an auspicious start. I stubbed a toe last night and am pretty sure it's broken. Except for the big toes I've broken all of them at least once in judo in college and this particular one is probably on it's fourth time. Hurts to walk, and my lower back has been acting up. BUT, today was the day for the shot at 225. I needed a lot of coffee along with Thus Sprach Zarathustra, Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, and Night on Bald Mountain to get awake and fired up. Also body weight is still holding low at 205.

5 minute warmup on the bike.

Overhead Press: Last warmup set at 200 felt heavy. I got 225 past the sticking point but couldn't lock it out. Damn! I'm considering taking a light to moderate session of pressing only this week and trying it again next week. It was soooo close. But then of course close only counts in hand grenades and horse shoes. Or as Greg C might note, thermonuclear devices. Do-you-want-to-play-a-game? How-about-thermonuclear-warfare?

Hammer High Row: 320 x 5 x 3. I added 10 lbs. from last week and am still not sure this is the top weight for now.

Sumo Deadlift. 365 x 1+. I was going to skip deadlifts as a celebration of my OHP PR but since I didn't accomplish that I decided my penance was to punish my lower back some more with these. I broke it off the floor for a few inches on rep attempt #2 but that was all I had. I think maybe 10 lb. jumps from session to session may be a thing of the past for me at this point and will stick with a slower and steady 5 lb. jump.

Delt rehab with foam rolling and stretching. More geezers than I've ever seen at Gold's at one time this morning.

[Oldster]

Overhead Press: Last warmup set at 200 felt heavy. I got 225 past the sticking point but couldn't lock it out. Damn! I'm considering taking a light to moderate session of pressing only this week and trying it again next week. It was soooo close.

Yep, now is the time to do exactly as you are thinking. THIS TIME, my money is on you getting it.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thanks, this is exactly the kind of counsel I needed. I'll do just that on Wednesday.

[tertius]

That's a nice press, MEH. I'm sure you'll hit it Wednesday.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Just to clarify, I'm planning on a moderate 5 x 5 session on Wednesday and maybe a light session on Friday in Corvallis, OR, then going for the horn of Odin's mead (225) on Monday of next week. Dearly Beloved and I will be driving up I-5 (950 miles and 14 hours) on Thursday. Loading our daughter's worldly goods on Friday, attending graduation on Saturday, and then all of us wending our way homeward on Sunday. Thank you for the encouragement as well tertius.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Safe journey, my friend.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thanks for your good wishes Sully.

Now for the latest lessons learned as I prepare for the next shot at glory and a little recovery thereafter.

The big one for me is planes of movement. I need to balance my pressing with an equal amount of pulling and just deadlifts with one other pull is clearly not enough and almost certainly contributed to my shoulder problems. I guess I’ll just have a slight variance of opinion with Rip on this but hey, we don’t all agree on everything all the time. I managed to get my total up to 930 pounds, assuming I can get the delt back in sufficient commission to equal and perhaps exceed the 255 bench press I did months back. Now I just have to find a raw meet with an over 60 class in CA. I learned that I can strive for still other goals and I want that 225 in the overhead press, and I will lock it out. I’m going for a second bite at the apple. I did manage to lose some more weight and am now 4 – 5 pounds lighter at 205 - 206. I think this weight loss, which I didn’t intend or try for in the last couple of weeks was the result of a protein heavy shift in eating that may have slightly dehydrated me. This along with peaking at 315 in the squat and 365 in the deadlift the last two weeks may in part account for a tap on the central nervous system that needs a slight recovery interval to get that 225 next week. One thing is certain, as much as we may deplore failure, the contrast it provides to the triumphs of achieving PR’s rekindles the drive to excel all the more. Too many serial successes can cheapen the appreciation of those successes for what they are. Being humbled along the way is a good scouring of the soul and a wire brushing for any developing hubris.

I have found that the GXP now requires a couple ticks up of intensity in the last weeks because the previous levels do not drive up the heart rate to 85% like before. I think this too is a function of the 4-5 pounds I have lost. I have a growing suspicion that some of the weight loss can be attributed to increased lean body mass burning more calories each day than I am used to eating. As for the conditioning, I only got one ramp run in so far, and one session of heavy bag drills and clap push up sessions. I didn’t want to tempt further abuse to the delt with those so I held back. For now. The lower back continues to be solid for the most part, some minor recent blips, but overall very good.

I am really happy to see a gaggle of geezers gathering and making their presence increasingly known here. You guys are good company and I appreciate your support and encouragement as well as what I get from the younger folks here as well. I also want to thank all of you for helping me clarify my thinking about lifting and all that other extraneous BS we get into on Ends and Pieces. Once I get 225, I am coasting on the overhead pressing for the foreseeable future and concentrating on the bench press, always assuming I can handle it properly going forward.

[Oldster]

I am really happy to see a gaggle of geezers gathering and making their presence increasingly known here. You guys are good company and I appreciate your support and encouragement as well as what I get from the younger folks here as well.
Gaggle of geezers.

I/we resemble that statement......!

Good luck with the 225. My money is still on you.

[Mark E. Hurling]

5 minute warm up on the bike. (Medium Day)

Overhead Press: 160 x 5 x 5. This was it, just a prep and feeder for the next run at 225 next week. I'm letting everything else recover. I'll just have to see if I can get anything in as a light day on the road.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

prep and feeder for the next run at 225 next week. I'm letting everything else recover.

Wise man. You're gonna hit it.

[Mark E. Hurling]

I'll hit it on the next try or turn into Ahab in pursuit of the white whale.

[bob g]

2-2-5

2-2-5

2-2-5

[Jonathon Sullivan]

You.
Da.
Man.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Actually, this is going to be embarrassing.

You're going to press a little more than I squat.

But I'm rooting for you anyway.

[tertius]

Actually, this is going to be embarrassing.

You're going to press a little more than I squat.

But I'm rooting for you anyway.

I'm deeply familiar with that feeling. Fortunately, I find it sort of amusing that Mark could fold me up and put me in his back pocket, rather than depressing.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Damn you guys are one hell of a support group! I am recovering from a 16 hour drive yesterday so tomorrow morning is the day. Two things:

1. Don't drive the Grapevine in the dark. I was never so scared in my life.

2. Stay off I-5 unless you are North of Kern County. CaltTrans has the road so torn up that traffic is backed up for miles.

[Oldster]

1. Don't drive the Grapevine in the dark. I was never so scared in my life.
Now imagine taking an 80,000lb or a 105,000lb loaded truck over the Grapevine in the dark in the middle of the Winter. Your asshole will work as a sucker and you will have to be pried loose with a shoehorn.


2. Stay off I-5 unless you are North of Kern County.
I am. WAY North.

Good luck in the morning.

Get tight.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Sleep well, and dream of two big wheels hovering overhead.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Now imagine taking an 80,000lb or a 105,000lb loaded truck over the Grapevine in the dark in the middle of the Winter. Your asshole will work as a sucker and you will have to be pried loose with a shoehorn.


I am. WAY North.

Good luck in the morning.

Get tight.

Thanks Oldster and I am looking for ammonia caps as I type. Hey, does the name Pitts ring a bell? The Grapevine in a semi in the dark? Holy shit! Kalifornia drivers have a sense of immortality that has to be seen to be believed at 70+ mph on that stretch of road in the dark. I gotta get my ass out of here.

Sully, two big wheels. Great image, the wheels in the sky keep on turning. I'll consider it one more part of my journey.