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

[Mark E. Hurling]

After DB's complaints about my snoring, and OTC nostrums being futile, I had a sleep study last night. This was coupled with reviewing the sleep records of my FitBit showing a LOT of red lines and loops at night and losing an hour or more of sleep to those interludes. Since I had a routine review of my meds with my (geriatric now) general practitioner, I showed him my exercise records on the FitBit and then the sleep records as an afterthought. He recommended a sleep study. OK then. Majority rules.

Not a bad experience actually, although sleeping under clinical conditions with 22 sensors and a nasal CPAP did make me a little self conscious about dropping off. The CPAP was silent. Unless, of course, I am getting deaf. Also, it was not uncomfortable. I got around 7 1/2 hours of rack time, 6 1/2 of actual sleep. The first half of the session was sans CPAP to determine it's need, and then it got put on. The technician can't diagnose, that is left to a doc, but he did tell me that my oxygen levels fell to 60 a few times before the CPAP was put on. Woof! You are supposed to be at 90. I feel very rested and great, even on relatively short sleep.

I have discovered that what I thought was my aging brain slowing down on processing time and retrieval was probably actually residual fatigue from poor sleep. Good to know.

[Mark E. Hurling]

I had a wrestling match with my lower back and my conscience, and the matter ended in a draw of sorts. The low back was stiff and grumbly, probably the result of too many motel beds in Missouri settling things up over there and the sleep study. Time for the bone cracker to set me right. My conscience won the first engagement, I went in to lift.

OHP: 135 4-3-3. I could feel the lower back objecting as I set up the layback for the reps. A jump of 5 lbs. was perhaps a bridge too far, but for now, I will persevere and increment up to 3 sets of 5 reps.

Deadlift: 260 for 5. This was the crux of the draw. I might have had 2 more sets of these in me, but I declared victory and stopped. I will own all three sets next time.

Stretched.

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Average HR was 123 bpm @ 80% of MHR.

[BrooklynJerry]

Smart move Mark.

[Frankie]

Great lifting M.E.H, keep it up!

[Mark E. Hurling]

As I close in on 68 years I do what I can.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Went to the bone cracker for an adjustment and feel much better. So the session ran to things that supported or did not tax my lower back while it settles in from the adjustment.

Speed bag, supine medicine ball tosses, SciFit (great back support on the seat), round bag flurries with uppercuts, ridge hand, dead hand, and palm heel strikes, stretched.

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Average HR was 125 bpm @ 81% of MHR.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Hip Belt Squats: 380 for 3 sets of 5.

Incline Press: 185, 4-4-3.

Hammer High Rows: Sets of 5, 310-315-320.

Weights.jpg

Average HR was 122 bpm @ 77% of MHR.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Mostly about the hands today and relatively brief given the beginner Jujitsu class I am teaching tonight. Weather permitting. Heavy rain and lightning this morning and I got caught in the torrential downpour on the way home.

Rounds of speedbag, handball, BoxingMaster, and long heavy bag with some low stomps, kicks, and knee wheels.

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Average HR was 125 bpm @ 81% of MHR.

[Mark E. Hurling]

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The new kid, I, came back. A little late, but I have a feeling G-ma just rolls that way. Nice lady but it's easy to tell she's got a lot on all the plates she has to keep spinning. He remembered things reasonably well. A smart kid, but it must be said, 8 years old has a lot of learning to do. G-ma informed me he had a terrible time in basketball camp last year. He's the youngest I have ever taught.

OK, do horse stance. Your feet need to be parallel. Which then occasions the need to explain parallel.

Likewise with some of the stepping required for the escapes from grabs. OK, step with your left foot and pivot on your right foot. Which needs to be broken to left, right, and what pivot means and that in this case it means pivot forward and to the side and not backwards.

At 8 years old, you can't expect much unless the kid is a natural athlete. Which just might turn out to be the case with I, once he gets some fundamentals sorted out.

At the end of class I asked him if he had any questions. "Yeah. Can we hit Dave some more?" Dave is the name the Karate folk gave the BoB I bought for both classes to use in training. That was a natural response and made me chuckle. Of course a boy wants to hit that thing. It's nearly as potent as sex becomes later, the free rein to hit something, especially something that looks and feels more or less human without getting in trouble for it. Ah, youth and it's enthusiasms.

Another Rubicon crossed as well. He had a small scab he picked open and bleeding from the playground on the first day of school here today. Very minor, but . . .

So I alerted the desk girl who sent a lifeguard from the pool down with a band aid. Good thing, because I made sure G-ma knew about it and how he got it. The boy has had enough in his life already, and G-ma struggle with being protective and wanting to toughen him up a little around the edges. She might not have reacted well if he had been found bleeding on the way home without an explanation.

Average HR was 120 bpm @ 78% of MHR.

[Mark E. Hurling]

A trip to Brostadt today.

Lateral Raise: 130 for 3 sets of 8.

Rope Handle Tricep Pressdown: 220 for 3 sets of 8.

Rope Handle Hammer: 190 for 3 sets of 8.

Stretched.

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Average HR was 109 bpm @ 71% of MHR.