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

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thanks CP. I'm holding off on box jumps for now, just to be safe. That will be the acid test.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Speed/Deload/Dynamic effort

Deadlifts: 250 for 10 singles.

Dips: Bodyweight for 8 sets of 2.

Box Squats: 95 for 8 sets of 2.

Stretched.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Last day of the Speed/Deload/Dynamic effort cycle.

Seated Press: 105 for 10 sets of 3.

Lateral Raise: 10 for 10 sets of 3.

Cable Pulldowns: 50 for 10 sets of 3.

Calf Press: 190 for 10 sets of 3. I did these with some care, just to be safe on the ankle. So far, so good.

Foam rolling with hamstring and quad stretches.

[Mark E. Hurling]

A good 2020 kickoff of training Special Olympians. John and Val were there and we led off with a light break-in session. Val was a little nervous, having not lifted in a while and concerned how she would do. Which turned out to be just great. Both of them were well on focus for form, John's his usual practice and Val's deadlift form had actually improved (and considerably) since her last session training.

[Mark E. Hurling]

DB decided to start strength training, so I walked her through a break in routine. It went well and in the process I got some 77% cardio, walking hither, thither, and yon along with setting things up etc. It seems odd, but I've noticed the same general thing when I train the Special Olympians as well. But today I decided to press "play" on the Fitbit and get some hard metrics on it. Somewhat surprising that I got that much value and calorie burn out of it. The calorie burn was about 10 per minute for 38 minutes.

DB got some fair training out of it as well, which was the main point of it all. My outcome was a side benefit. Which was OK, since I woke up with left foot problems (again) along with a catch in my left knee.

[Mark E. Hurling]

I was supposed to lift today with the squat leading the charge. But my left foot was nagging again, something I could deal with in squatting. The real problems were my left lateral side knee and my lower back. This is my good uninjured knee, not the one with the complex lateral and medial tear of the meniscus I got in Judo practice at age 19. I'm sure that 4 hours of working concessions at the SIU basketball game (GO DAWGS!) for Special Olympics fundraising didn't help any of the above. Add to that the late arrival home amped up from a crushing defeat of Valpo, and my own sleep as well as DB's was less than restful.

I don't like major events near bed time, they disrupt my sleep. Something that my early evening Jujitsu sessions already play minor havoc with. I used to self medicate with a nightcap, but since I quit alcohol entirely last October, no more of that.

Plan B was a trial of empty bar squats to test the back and knee and if they felt like they could pass muster, than proceed with lifting. Alas, it was not to be. Both were profoundly unhappy with the prospect of folding in half. Let alone starting the next teaching session of Jujitsu.

The alternative was upper body only stuff: speed bag, row and SciFit (arms only), medicine ball toss, heavy bag flurries, hamstring stretches.

Hoping for a better tomorrow.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Ball Cap.jpg

No new folks for the beginner's class tonight, but Ken was there, so we worked on purple belt techniques. We got about half way through all 25+ techniques. He got introduced to more complex combination counters to attacks along with how to use a full body check to counter an attempt at a hammerlock. Some of the elements were hard for him to pick up, because the body positioning and angles of counterattack were different from previous techniques. This is how the techniques are grouped and taught to allow for learning evolutions of defense.

[Mark E. Hurling]

As I got home from the Rec Center DB asked how my lifting went. "Not bad considering how creaky I woke up."

Mr. Back and Mr. Left Foot were still groaning and complaining, but Mr. Knee seemed reasonably OK.

Squats: 260 for 7 singles.

Cable Hammer Curls: Sets of 12, 220-225-230.

Reverse Hyperextensions: Sets of 12, 75-80-85.

Foam rolled the back and hamstrings and then hamstring and quad stretches.

[Mark E. Hurling]

DB lifted again today and I did a Graded Exercise Protocol (GXP). I haven't done on of these in a while and it consists of a 5 minute ramp up to 85% of maximum heart rate (MHR), 5 minutes at 85% of MHR, and 5 minutes ramp back down.

[Mark E. Hurling]

A really good session of lifting this morning. Despite a lot of loud rain and thunder and flash flood warnings, I awoke refreshed.

Bench Press: 215 for 7 singles.

Swiss Bar Lockouts: Sets of 5, 175-180-180.

Hammer Row: Sets of 5, 345-350-360.

I also figgered out my foot problems. Cheap hiking boots from Walmart. Shoulda known better, so I got some pricey New Balance hiking boots and my feet having been improving ever since.