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

[Mark E. Hurling]

90% of 1RM.

Bench Press: 210-1-1-1-1-1-1-1. The first 4 singles were h-a-r-d. But the last 3 went better. This happens with singles at 90% often as not. It seems like the early singles set up the later ones by priming the neurological recruitment as well as oiling up the joints, ligaments, and tendons.

Push Press: 120-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.

Hammer Row: 335-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.

Music: Night on Bald Mountain, Steel Claw, Run Like Hell, Up Around the Bend, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Fanfare for the Common Man, Crazy Train, Kashmir, O Fortuna, Hot Blooded, Stars and Stripes Forever, Bohemian Rhapsody.

The feeling of having been worked over with a wire brush and rubber hose subsided faster than I expected. The lumbars are still a little shaky but my shoulders and quads were surprisingly well recovered from Monday. But my triceps are feeling hammered hard from the benching and push presses.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Ball Cap.jpg

I promoted Ken tonight from Purple Belt to Purple Belt 1st degree. He executed all 27 techniques in less than 45 minutes. Twelve of them were takedowns, which meant a bunch of falls for me, and nine joint locks, with a handful of assorted other defenses and counters to attacks. Tonight he showed me he could execute without resorting to muscling his way through. Every move was smooth without any of the hard jerking that accompanies someone trying to force the technique. A truly satisfying session.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Back in cortisol Hell again today. Those bunch of falls exacted their usual toll on me and getting out of bed this morning was . . . difficult. A consolation is that the next level of Jujitsu for Ken involves very few throws and takedowns. Lots of joint locks and combinations, but I have been habituated to the discomfort of those after 15+ years of practice and application.

So today was some very easy conditioning sparing my lumbars (again). SciFit, elliptical, speed bag, and crunches.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Between the falls and lingering effects of a failed attempt at a 305 squat and two failed attempts at a 375 deadlift Monday, I decided discretion was the better part of valor and put off more deadlifts until tomorrow.

Today consisted of plate halos, speed bag, recumbent bike, medicine ball tosses, and heavy bag.

[Mark E. Hurling]

90% of 1RM.

Deadlift: 345-1-1-1-1-1-1-0. No joy on the last single. They got progressively more difficult the 4th one on. This has never happened before, not being able to get in all my singles, but I might have needed more recovery time.

Hammer Leg Press: 630-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.

Music: Die Walkure, When the Bullet Hits the Bone, Locomotive Breath, Star Wars Theme, Run Through the Jungle, Beethoven's 5th, My Grand Daddy Was a Horse Marine, Old Time Rock and Roll, Dying Gull, Hot Rod Lincoln, Under Pressure, Tainted Love, Ain't No Mountain High Enough, Tush, Lunatic Fringe, Shaft Theme.

[Mark E. Hurling]

90% of 1RM.

Seated Press: 160-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.

Partial Bench Press from Pins: 190-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.

Hammer High Row: 290-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.

Music: Death of Siegfried, Purple Haze, Anvil Chorus, Fame, Amazing Grace, Gimme Shelter, Volga Boatmen, Devil Went Down to Georgia, Working in a Coal Mine, Ramble On, Talking About My Generation, Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Training and coaching Special Olympians tonight with DB. Lena and Jacob were highly motivated and it showed up big in the bench press. Jacob was recovered from tweaking his back last month and he worked up to doing 3 reps with 110, so I had him try 120, which he did with little strain. This effort inspired Lena into talking me into let her try 110 after I thought she had put all she had into locking out 105. The 110 was a grind for her, but she got it! The squat and deadlift went well for them too, and they fed off of each other's energy to do better than last session.

Once again, the technical aspects of coaching lifting are only part of the picture with people being trained. Keeping them motivated and engaged is difficult when training more than one person at a time. Attention has to shift from one trainee to another, keeping in mind the differences for each one. The trainee NOT being hands-on worked with when the bar is on their back or in their hands can feel neglected. But with DB on hand to assist, this has never been issue. She is the best at listening and advising during these spaces in the training session. Lucky to have her with me on this.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Rounds today of box jumps, speed bag, SciFit, Jacob's Ladder, heavy bag, medicine ball slams, and cable rotations.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Juggling a little today, I decided to move squats to tomorrow because of teaching Jujitsu tonight. So rounds of speed bag, elliptical, rower, heavy bag, crunches, and medicine ball tosses.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Ball Cap.jpg

Purple Belt 1st degree is partly a review and consolidation of several of the lower rank teachings. Some variations of them, along with refining the techniques still further. I started at the end, showing Ken striking techniques, some of which I was surprised he hadn't encountered in his practice of Karate. There are around 20 of them and most are fairly specific to some narrow target locations. Not all strikes work well for any or all parts of an attacker's body. It included a few pressure points that can light you up like you've gotten an electric charge.

Having completed those as an introduction, I moved on to some of the joint locks. The most significant so far was the Z bar and the finger control Z bar. The distinction seems unimportant but in fact, the two techniques have a shift in the fulcrum of the joint lock from the wrist to the fingers. Depending on the mobility of the wrist or fingers involved, the amount of torque applied ranges from a movement of less an inch to perhaps 2 inches at most to produce some real hurt. A really good session, and it's barely the tip of the iceberg of all the techniques involved.