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

[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.