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

[Mark E. Hurling]

Working with the Special Olympians again tonight at Legacy Gym. Everyone is cycling back up to some good poundages after just one previous training session. In spite of believing going easy was required, after getting started the athletes got fired up and lifted more than I or perhaps even they expected. This is the kind of spirit that makes for success in powerlifting and many other things in life. A few new things got tried to fix individual issues in the lifts. One of them was trying a mixed grip deadlifting with one hand using an underhanded grip and the other hand using an overhanded grip. Everyone either met or exceeded what I had planned for them in the bench press.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Bench Press: 200, 1-1-1-1-1. 170-5 for a backoff set.

Push Press: 110, 1-1-1-1-1. 90-5 for a backoff set.

Hammer High Row: 250, 1-1-1-1-1. 210-5 for a backoff set.

Music: Fire Dance, A Boy Named Sue, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Won't Get Fooled Again, Urgent, The Battle (Gladiator), Smoke on the Water, Sharp Dressed Man, Madman Across the Water, Romeo and Juliet, Working in a Coal Mine, Discombobulate.

Average HR of 120 bpm @ 80% of MHR for 58 minutes.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Deadlift: 315, 1-1-1-1-1. 172650-5 for a backoff set.

Music: Highway to Hell, Final Countdown, Last of the Mohicans, Fire Down Below, Rawhide, Bolero, Life in the Fast Lane, Whole Lotta Love, Aida, Dueling Banjos, Rocky Theme, Ghost Riders in the Sky, Relax, Ramble On.

Average HR of 124 bpm @ 83% of MHR for 67 minutes.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Seated Press: 160, 1-1-1-1-1. 135-5 for a backoff set.

Pin Press: 190, 1-1-1-1-1. 155-5 for a backoff set.

Hammer Low Row: 250, 1-1-1-1-1. 215-5 for a backoff set.

Music: Rock Island Line, March of the Toreadors, Back in Black, Barracuda, Start Me Up, Heard It Throught Grapevine, Dies Irae, Star Wars Throne Room, Old Time Rock and Roll, Here I GO Again, Up Around the Bend, Scotland the Brave, We Are the Champions.

Average HR of 115 bpm @ 77% of MHR for 48 minutes.

[Mark E. Hurling]

90% 1RM for singles and 75% for backoff set.

Squat: 220, 1-1-1-1-1. 180-5 for a backoff set. Really creaky this morning and had trouble hitting depth.

Reverse Hyperextension: 80, 8-8-8.

Music: Immigrant Song, We Will Rock You, Eye of the Tiger, Danger Zone, Marseillaise, Shipping Up to Boston, Tuck, White Rabbit, Bacchanale, All Along the Watchtower, Stroke, Radetzky March, War, Everybody Wants You, Finlandia.

Average HR of 113 bpm @ 75% of MHR for 61 minutes.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Bench Press: 200, 1-1-1-1-1. 170-5 for a backoff set.

Push Press: 110, 1-1-1-1-1. 90-5 for a backoff set.

Hammer High Row: 250, 1-1-1-1-1. 210-5 for a backoff set.

Music: Also Sprach Zarathustra, Crazy Train, Heavy Metal, Highway to Hell, Star Spangled Banner, Bohemian Rhapsody, Fame, I'm So Excited, Fire On High, Back in Black, Damnation of Faust, Cocaine Blues, Kickstart My Heart.

Average HR of 118 bpm @ 79% of MHR for 71 minutes.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Conditioning today consisted of rounds of speed bag, handball, box jumps, plate halos, medicine ball tosses, crunches, and heavy bag.

Average HR of 149 bpm @ 100% of MHR for 32 minutes.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Ball Cap.jpg

Been a drought of martial arts the last few weeks. More important life events got in the way.

But back to teaching Jujitsu tonight. The work focused on a range of counters and controls, from wrist locks, to arm and shoulder bars, to profoundly and shockingly painful finger bars that would drive all but the most hypermobile to their knees in tears. Add in a little variety with a knee bar and takedown from a bear hug along with several controls to turning an attacker over on the ground after a takedown. A takedown that would have most likely left them addled from a sudden kinetic impact with the planet.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Deadlift: 317*, 1-1-1-1-1. 267*-5 for a backoff set.

Hammer Leg Press: 620, 1-1-1-1-1. 520-5 for a backoff set.

Music: 1812 Overture, When the Bullet Hits the Bone, Locomotive Breath, Run Like Hell, Death of Siegfried, Up Around the Bend, Purple Haze, Hot Blooded, Smuggler's Blues.

Average HR of 131 bpm @ 87% of MHR for 61 minutes.

* I broke out the fractional plates and intend to increase poundage 1-2 lbs. a week as long as it is practical.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Seated Press: 160, 1-1-1-1-1. 135-5 for a backoff set.

Pin Press: 190, 1-1-1-1-1. 155-5 for a backoff set.

Hammer Low Row: 250, 1-1-1-1-1. 215-5 for a backoff set.

First day back at The Den since the SIU Rec Center is closed. The place had a LOT of people working out, normally only 2-3 others that time of the morning. Evidently they were doing penance for the upcoming feasting in advance. I was decked out in a red Den ball cap and one of my powerlifting meet t-shirts, green of course, in a little festive cheer for the season. Totally unlike me normally.

The owner got me up to speed on the upcoming local meet on February 5 in Marion. I looked it up and the meet is sanctioned by the Southern Powerlifting Federation. Their reputation for high squats was so bad that Powerlifting Watch suspended coverage of their meets in 2016. I'm researching to see if the SPF has been reinstated. If not, I won't compete under their auspices.