Music: Kashmir, I'm So Excited, Smoke on the Water, Aida, Shaft, Roadhouse Blues, Purple Haze, Ghost Riders in the Sky, Takin' a Ride, Peter Gunn.
54 minutes average HR 126 BPM @ 84% of MHR.
My first session with the new Inzer knee sleeves. I'll know later if they help with my knees, but so far the knees feel OK. The real issue now is getting depth. I'm not sure I got deep enough on all my reps of all my sets.
Music: Also Sprach Zarathustra, Pines of Rome, Think, Ring of Fire, Runaway, Tarzan, Discombobulate, Dragonstone, Hit Me With Your Best Shot.
38 minutes average HR 121 BPM @ 81% of MHR.
The knee sleeves seem to be working, my knees aren't feeling wasted from the squats.
05-23-2022, 08:49 AM
Mark E. Hurling
Cycle 1, Week 2, Sets of 3 @ 90% of 1RM
Deadlifts: 225 lbs. @ 70%, 260 lbs. @ 80%, 290 lbs. 3 + 1 rep. @ 90%. That last set of 4 gave me some sparklies floating around my eyes like tweetie birds.
Music: Bohemian Rhapsody, Thunderer, Tusk, Stroke, Chain of Fools, Romeo and Juliet, Dirty Laundry, Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Rawhide, Patton, Fortunate Son, Run Like Hell, Her Strut, Beethoven's 5th.
60 minutes average HR 141 BPM @ 95% of MHR.
05-24-2022, 07:07 PM
Mark E. Hurling
Deload week for the Special Olympians tonight with sets of 5 for 40%, 50%, and 60%. Since the loads were light they buzzed through the sets fast with little rest in between. There was a little fooling around with the coach when some of the lifters decided to do more reps to see if I was paying close enough attention. As I also anticipated, there was a push to use more weight. I explained that their hard work last week needed a chance to set in and let them come back next week stronger than before.
It was a fun session for all of us with a little less intensity.
Music: We Will Rock YOu, Up Around the Bend, Won't Get Fooled Again, Heat Wave, Holding Out for a Hero, Cantina Band, Haka, When the Levee Breaks, King of Pain.
More work on Purple Belt 1st degree tonight with Ken. He's picked up the techniques well enough to remember them without much prompting although he does still need some fine tuning to get the placement of hands and fingers in the right places along with stepping. The hammer locks, wrist locks, and finger bars feel miserable when he applies them and there's just no way for him to learn without getting at least a little hurt and sometimes a lot. We moved smartly through things and got halfway through the entire course.
05-26-2022, 04:28 PM
Mark E. Hurling
Some conditioning today with rounds of rower, speed bag, air assault bike, medicine ball toss, and side bend.
I was wearing my hwæt t-shirt this morning. Another geezer who I am a nodding acquaintance with asked what was with the shirt. So I explained it was the opening line of Beowulf. With Beowulf being an old guy's superhero having finally died in his 70's of wounds having killed a dragon AFTER having slayed Grendel as a younger man. He loved it.
31 minutes average HR 145 BPM @ 95% of MHR.
05-27-2022, 09:15 AM
Mark E. Hurling
Cycle 1, Week 3, Sets of 5, then 3. then 1 or as many reps as possible @ 90% of 1RM
Music: Fanfare for the Common Man, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Cocaine Blues, Ride of the Rohirrim, Keep Your Hands to Yourself, Neutron Dance, Any Way You Want It, Pinball Wizard, O Fortuna, My Sharona, Fame, Conga, Hazy Shade of Winter.
60 minutes average HR 128 BPM @ 87% of MHR.
05-31-2022, 11:03 AM
Mark E. Hurling
Cycle 1, Week 3, Sets of 5, then 3. then 1 or as many reps as possible @ 90% of 1RM
Bench Press: 159 lbs. @ 75%, 170 lbs. @ 85%, 190 lbs. 1 rep. @ 95%. Then 210 to test for a 1 RM. Challenging, but not too hard. Next 225, barely got it a few inches off my chest.
Music: When the Bullet Hits the Bone, Crazy Train, Volga Boatmen, Ring of Fire, Living la Vida Loca, Hot Blooded, Respect, Tuff Enuff, Scotland the Brave.
44 minutes average HR 112 BPM @ 75% of MHR.
I struggled out of bed this morning feeling tired and out of it, despite my Fitbit saying my sleep was good. But even so, I've learned that subjective "feelings" like that don't always signal a bad session lifting. So I went for 225. Not getting it was discouraging, but then I'm still feeling a little of the overtraining malaise I subjected myself to with all those singles. Then again, I've been eating sparingly to get back under the 242 limit for my weight class. Or it could be just an off day.
05-31-2022, 06:08 PM
Mark E. Hurling
A phenomenal session with the Special Olympian lifters tonight. Everyone's form has improved and they require very little correction now. Also, this was a sets of 5 session and everyone exceeded the 5 reps for the last set by as much as 10 reps! I am so proud of them all. Just a few weeks ago none of them thought they could get even 5 reps on the last set and now they have far exceeded my expectations.