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

  1. #4781
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    • starting strength seminar april 2024
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark E. Hurling View Post
    I can't get cycled up in time for Limerick this year. But next year, wherever the Worlds are held, probably so.

    Despite the fact that that I share a surname with the sport of Irish field hockey, and my name has been mangled to transmogrify me into the Irishman Mike Hurley, I remain German. So much so, that when cut I bleed black and yellow along with red.
    Reminds me of a teacher I had in HS who had the most Polish name in the history of the world, but was 15/16ths German. But, his father's father's father's father was Polish, and the name was carried down LOL

  2. #4782
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    It's worth keeping in mind that Poland lost it's national sovereignty more than once over the centuries. At one point a significant portion of the Western part of it was absorbed by the Prussians. Hence the German ethnicity of which you speak.

  3. #4783
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    First run at the singles.

    Bench Press: 205 for 6 singles @ 90% of 1RM of 230. Backoff set of 185 @ 80% of 1RM.

    Hammer High Row: 300 for 3 sets of 5.

    Stretched.

  4. #4784
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    Jacob and Ken showed tonight. No Zach, which was something of a relief. Part of Jacob's development as a martial artist is learning how to teach, so for the first time I had him lead warm ups. He started off strong, but as expected for his first time, his memory got wobbly 1/3 of the way through. Not a bad beginning though.

    He is overcoming his tendency to lean into the techniques nicely. Not perfect yet, but significantly improved over even last week. I had he and Ken alternate white belt with blue belt 2nd degree techniques. Jacob has some issues with some kinds of touch, so I subbed in as crash dummy for Ken instead of him in a few techniques.

    Both of them said they enjoyed the change of pace. This was an experiment for me, since I had never attempted this form of teaching before. I am pleased with the result.

  5. #4785
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    Some conditioning this morning. Alas, the speed bag platform's swivel has yet to be replaced. So, I resorted to rounds of SciFit, rower, prowler, crunch, and stretching.

    The local Barnes and Noble evidently has someone who orders books who has an eye for martial arts. I've bought several excellent books there, the latest is "Timing in the Fighting Arts" by a retired cop Loren Christiansen. He is a black belt in several striking and other martial arts and had a very good explication of mushin of several pages. I copied them for my intermediate students for class on Friday.

  6. #4786
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark E. Hurling View Post
    It's worth keeping in mind that Poland lost it's national sovereignty more than once over the centuries. At one point a significant portion of the Western part of it was absorbed by the Prussians. Hence the German ethnicity of which you speak.

    While true, I don't know if his ancestry for the previous several generations was in Europe, or here in the states. The way he explained it was, his ancestors were all 100% German, except the (father)^4, who was 100% Polish.

    But, in the end, we're all mutts, anyway. My mom's family, whose surname traces back to the name of their province in ancient Rome (southern Italy, Bruttium then, Calabria now) where they come from, was from a people known to have emigrated from Macedonia during the Greek heyday. Her recent DNA test confirms that, along with "middle eastern" heritage, from who-knows-where.

    As I like to say, if you go back far enough, we're all cousins

    To add one more fun piece of useless trivia, some statisticians published an article stating that the odds were very good that there may have been a handful of people from the dark ages/middle ages in Europe who are likely ancestors of pretty much everyone today of European decent!

  7. #4787
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    Deadlifts: 305 for 4 singles.

    EZ Curl Bar Floor Press: 125 for 3 sets of 5.

    Stretching.

    I prepared for deadlifts by poring over Starting Strength's 3rd Edition. It seems my form had drifted off in several ways. My eyeline was too shallow, more like 5 feet out instead of 12 to 15 feet. Also, my foot spacing was almost certainly in excess of 12" apart. Finally, I paid more careful attention to keeping my hips up and initiating the pull from the floor with my knees.
    The New Balance hiking boots were taken off and I donned some Walmart water shoes to lower my heels from 2" to less than 1/2" for a shorter range of motion in the pull.

    Keeping all those long neglected points in mind, I set up for each warmup set and single like I was performing a tea ceremony. Very Zen, glasshoppah.

    Then there was my unforced error of starting off with a chromed bar that made for some shallow and slick knurling making my double overhand grip a little trying. So after struggling through the first two singles, I swapped out bars for one with better knurling. Did I mention how many fingers I have boogered up on my right hand? I have a rare talent for self damage. Yesterday I sliced my index fingertip opening a suet block package. So I had 3 of 5 fingers with some discomfort in THE grip intensive lift. The little finger that I smashed in the gate was the biggest issue. It really yelped with each single. The other two (arthritis ridden middle finger not to be left out) simply muttered along in sympathy with that one.

    Altogether, between all that concentration on form and self pity over my fingers and my relative ease in the singles, I got so enthralled that I forgot my backoff set of 5 reps with 275. Ah well.

  8. #4788
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    Ken showed for intermediate Jujitsu class tonight. Ethan was visiting family in Chicago.

    He has taken up Kali, and we discussed the differences as he explained them to me. Since I have a few techniques with sticks we improvised through a few attacks, counters, and defenses. Several of mine involved joint locks and controls at the end of the sequence.

    We moved on to working him through the blue belt 2nd degree techniques, including the takedowns. He has some way to go yet, but is getting the drift.

  9. #4789
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    Improvise, adapt, overcome! Attributed to Tom "Gunny" Highway, USMC-RET.

    Such is life. A last minute call from the head coach of the Lightning Bolts had DB and I gearing up for assisting in a Special Olympics softball tourney 60 miles away in Mount Vernon. Also, John the powerlifter got an invitation to compete in a USAPL meet in Paducah, KY June 29. I have my reservations about him going for max singles again so soon, but was assured that he was eager to hit it again. I dunno though.

    So while collecting stuff for the sprint Northward, I got a call that the tourney had been cancelled due to overnight rain. BUT! A game was scraped together locally in Evergreen Park. Alrighty then.

  10. #4790
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    starting strength coach development program
    What better way to spend dad's day than gripping a knurled bar and grunting?

    Seated Press: 135 for 4 singles, backoff set with 125 for 5 reps.

    Shrugs. Sets of 5, 135-225-275-295.

    Stretched.

    The upcoming meet is limited to 43 lifters. I asked John, when I got him alone and free from his father's influence, if he felt recovered and good to go after the meet at the Summer Games. Also how his right hip was. He is stoked for the meet and said he was ready. So, I'll resume his training tomorrow. Now that I have solid 1RM data to go on, I have already programmed out his next few weeks on a 5-3-1 routine.

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