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

[Mark E. Hurling]

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Jujitsu via Zoom today. The bulk of the class was some review and fine tuning of the cross hand strangle (Juji Shime). Getting slack in the collar to assure a deep grip around the neck, using the sharp ridge and edge of the thumb side of the hand to shut off the blood flow faster, how to rotate the wrists to apply that edge of the hand to make it more effective, and pulling in with the elbows to provide more strength and leverage after the hands get set.

Later, some new teaching techniques to keep the brains of kidlets better focused and engaged when teaching them the basics. It involves having them effect an escape and then perform some left/right stepping transition shifts and following up with some hand strikes. Apparently it keeps the kidlets from getting bored. Probably mainly the boys, who you can actually see drift off into their own inner worlds. I have always found the girls in class listen better. Unless they get chatty with each other.

The knees are finally back to what my 71 year old "normal" should maybe feel like.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Finally! Back to lifting again.

Cycle 1, Week 1, Sets of 5 @ 90% of 1RM

Squats: 140 lbs. @ 65%, 160 lbs. @ 75%, 185 lbs. @ 85%.

High Pulls: 120 lbs. @ 65%, 140 lbs. @ 75%, 155 lbs. @ 85%.

Music: Death of Siegfried, Purple Haze, Ascent, Her Strut, Gloria, Relax, Lunatic Fringe, My Sharona, Draggin' the Line, Tarzan, Hot Legs.

57 minutes average HR 134 BPM @ 89% of MHR.

It took a lot of warmups to get to and maintain depth. I kept hearing threads pop in my shorts. Afterward I discovered that the right seam had ripped up quite a bit. Ironic too, because these were new shorts from Walmart that I intentionally bought a little large so I could squat and deadlift in them easier. Apparently the good folks in China didn't account for the size my legs and rear end would take up when they sized their patterns. It felt like the fabric in the shorts was jamming and binding up my hips and I can see now that I was right. Gotta wear some other shorts for squats I guess.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Today actually started yesterday afternoon. First a call from a Jujitsu student who asked for a ride to pick up his car in the repair shop. Then Our Daughter texted me about lawnmower problems and could I come over and check it out.

So it was an earlier start than usual to the Rec Center for some conditioning to get my student where he needed to be on time. Rounds of speed bag, elliptical, medicine ball toss, heavy bag, and rower.

31 minutes average HR 141 BPM @ 91% of MHR.

Then taxi service.

Then small engine repair 15 miles away at OD's house.

Did I mention the paperwork for the upcoming Summer Games for Special Olympics? Yeah, we stopped by the regional office to work on that. DB is an expert paper wrangler and I just kept quiet and answered questions when spoken to about specific powerlifting things. The paperwork is pretty intricate and can be confusing, and I know my limitations. Getting everywhere we needed to be and doing so on time had me pretty stressed and that bacon egg and cheese biscuit needed some backup by the time we were engaged in this. I was getting woozy. That resolved, or at least on the road to resolution, it left us some down time before coaching powerlifting.

Another 30 minute drive to that gym and working with the Special Olympic athletes. It was sets of 3 reps this week and everyone gave their all for as many reps as they could manage on the last set. I came out of the gym with a sweat soaked ball cap and thoroughly spent. Coaching is almost as hard as lifting and keeping alert enough to shift gears between 4 lifters requires some real focus.

Resting now.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Cycle 1, Week 1, Sets of 5 @ 90% of 1RM

Bench Press: 135 lbs. @ 65%, 150 lbs. @ 75%, 170 lbs. @ 85%.

Push Press: 120 lbs. @ 65%, 80 lbs. @ 75%, 90 lbs. 105 lbs. @ 85%

Pulldown: 100 lbs. @ 65%, 115 lbs. @ 75%, 130 lbs. @ 105%.

Music: 1812 Overture, Hold On Loosely, Dancing in the Street, Dueling Banjos, Conga, Highway to Hell.

30 minutes average HR 109 BPM @ 73% of MHR. This was a fast workout with little rest needed between sets. It's early in the cycle and the intensity is moderate to low now. More rest will be needed as I progress.

The Inzer knee sleeves have arrived. Really tight and a struggle to put on, but my knees feel armored up. I resisted this for a long time, but I'll see if this helps keep the knees warmed up well and the ligaments from being too bothersome later. In that vein, a big part of my stress, malaise, and general fatigue was delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) from squats Monday.
It's the bane of anyone who exerts themselves in the gym, at work, or in the yard taking care of necessary business.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Ball Cap.jpg

Jujitsu tonight. I drove Ken through about half of the Purple Belt 1st degree techniques before we ran out of time. I find myself slightly surprised at some of the nuance in technique that helps a hammerlock come on effectively and hard. I discovered that something I have been doing reflexively and unconsciously was a key to making it work. It was rotating the elbow upward and outward as the hand and wrist is pulled behind their back. We proceeded through other techniques, including nerve center attacks, and some of the basic along with some of the more exotic strikes Mushin Ryu teaches.

It was a taxing session once again. Some of the techniques involved me being taken down in hard falls and then locked up in joint control holds. Not to mention some of the fingers that get bent in odd directions to effect controls and takedowns. Ken is beginning to worry if I can keep teaching long enough to withstand the punishment. So am I.

I have to consider carefully what the path forward is going to be. I'm not sure how or if I can keep up hard core competition powerlifting along with teaching Jujitsu and coaching and other volunteering we do for Special Olympics. I only started competing again to promote Special Olympics and I need to weigh that against the toll it is taking on me along with other stressors involved with that I'm getting are dragging me down.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Terrible night's sleep. The early heat wave is debilitating me from the sudden temperature change that so far the A/C in the house hasn't overcome adequately for my own nightly comfort. Add in some brain gallop from other turmoil has me shuffling along like one of the living dead today.

BUT!

I'm done with enforced down time and had to satisfy my gym jones. Rounds of speed bag, SciFit, cable rotations, rower, heavy bag, and plate halos revived me a little, although still feeling woozy. The speed bag and heavy bag really got punished this morning to pound out my frustrations.

30 minutes average HR 132 BPM @ 88% of MHR

[Mark E. Hurling]

Cycle 1, Week 1, Sets of 5 @ 90% of 1RM

Deadlift: 210 lbs. @ 65%, 2405 lbs. @ 75%, 275 lbs. @ 85%.

Hammer Leg Press: 374 lbs. @ 65%, 430 lbs. @ 75%, 490 lbs. @ 85%

Music: Fire Down Below, Folsom Prison Blues, My Granddaddy Was a Horse Marine, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Respect, Tush, Dirty Laundry, Living in America, King of Pain, Sledgehammer, 16 Tons.

54 minutes average HR 134 BPM @ 89% of MHR. Tough one to get through. The heat is still like a monkey on my back and I got a full dose of it before a late start in the gym today.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Cycle 1, Week 1, Sets of 5 @ 90% of 1RM

Seated Press: 105 lbs. @ 65%, 120 lbs. @ 75%, 140 lbs. @ 85%.

Floor Press: 75 lbs. @ 65%, 90 lbs. @ 75%, 105 lbs. @ 85%

Hammer Row: 200 lbs. @ 65%, 230 lbs. @ 75%, 260 lbs. @ 85%.

Music: Semper Fidelis, we Will Rock You, Amazing Grace, The Four Seasons, A Boy Named Sue, Chariots of Fire, Everybody Wants You, Gimme That Old marine Corps Spirit, Barracuda, Who Let the Dogs Out.

43 minutes average HR 122 BPM @ 81% of MHR.

[Mark E. Hurling]

In and out again at the Rec Center for some conditioning. Rounds of SciFit, speed bag, rower, medicine ball slam, and heavy bag.

32 minutes average HR 127 BPM @ 85% of MHR.

[Mark E. Hurling]

DB and I worked with the Special Olympians tonight. The template for this session was the 5-3-1 week that loads everyone to 95% of their 1RM on the last set of 1, or as many as the lifter can manage to grit out. A few of them knocked out 3 reps on that set, and all of the lifters dug deep and showed good form in their reps. Lotta good work before the upcoming Summer Games next month.