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

[Mark E. Hurling]

Back to conditioning today. Rounds of speed bag, SciFit, plate halos, crunches, supine medicine ball tosses. Finished off with a little rowing, stationary lunge stretch, low squats holding an upright to get some better hip and knee mobility and range of motion. The knee hasn't raised any objections so far and it seemed to improve getting depth in the squat.

Getting old is a drag. Just a couple of years ago afternoon naps were a luxury. Now they are becoming a necessity. Coupled with the sudden drop-off in my strength, I can't say I like it. It seems to have been associated with the pandemic. Was it the two bouts of covid or the two Pfizer shots, the latter of which didn't prevent me from getting the 2nd round of covid? Or both? Then again, just getting older? I just have trouble reconciling how I lost 15 pounds off my bench press in a year and a half and more than that on my deadlift.

[Mark E. Hurling]

A little juggling was necessary today. Should have been squats, but my knee kept me awake last night. It was OK by morning, but with Jujitsu tonight I didn't want to chance having to cancel again. So some more conditioning.

Rounds of speed bag, elliptical, cable rotation, supine medicine ball toss, heavy bag, and plate halos.

30 minutes average HR 140 BPM @ 94% of MHR.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Ball Cap.jpg

I erred on the side of caution in Jujitsu tonight to save my knee. So I worked with Ken on defenses against knives and the use of the yawara short stick along with the 18"-24" club.

The knife portion was in general; just run away, if you can, from an attacker with a knife. I paced off 21 feet and gave him a plastic knife with instructions to run at me. Then I simulated drawing a gun as he started. By the time I had "fired" at him he was 3 feet away and could have fallen into me dead and cut me fatally with his plastic knife. My point being that even a gun would not necessarily stop a knife. Then I held a club and blocked the blade and counterstruck, disarming him. I also covered where the vital areas were to protect from a bleed out too fast to survive.

The yawara was for targets to strike (bony surfaces and a few pressure points) and the strikes to use for the best effect. He was cautioned that strikes to the temple and trachea could be fatal and to use care before resorting to them.

Finally, we worked with the club. I showed him the obscured carry/hold behind the arm that would surprise an attacker with a sudden long roundhouse strike to the head area, the knee, or the groin. Then I showed him how to break an attacker's grip if they grabbed his wrist when holding the club. A couple of variations were involved and all of them were painful and a huge strain on the wrist and fingers.

[Larry Zaks]

Mark
I wrote a long letter addressed to you that for a number of reasons I don't want to post in the forum. I sent you a friendship request. If you want to read it, please reply to the friendship request.
All the best
Larry

[Mark E. Hurling]

I'll make it simpler even then that. My email is themasterpowerlifter@yahoo.com.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Proceeding with great caution on squats today.

First a warmup of some rowing, then lunge stretches, and finally grabbing an upright and squatting low.

Sets of 3.

Squats: 45-95-135-165.

High Pulls: 125-140-165.

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

So far the knee feels good. The next 48 hours will tell the tale.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Cycle 5, Week 1, Sets of 3-3-3 @ 90% of 1RM.

Bench Press: 155 lbs. @ 70%, 175 lbs. @ 80%, 165 lbs. @ 90%.

Swiss Press: 65 lbs. @ 70%, 70 lbs. @ 80%, 80 lbs. @ 90%. 8 reps in that last set.

Pulldown: 140 lbs. @ 70%, 165 lbs. @ 80%, 185 lbs. @ 90%. 5 reps in that last set.

Cable Curls: 130 for 3 sets of 8.

Music: Highway to Hell, O Fortuna, Takin' a Ride, San Quentin Blues, Star Wars Throne Room, Tainted Love, Think, Washington Post March, Hard Work Jody Call, Slow Ride, Haka, Hazy Shade of Winter, Crazy on You.

41 minutes average HR 122 BPM @ 82% of MHR.

My knee is a touch tender on the outside, right around where the fibula attaches to the femur. Not the greatest, but it didn't keep me awake last night and while it's a little wobbly, it didn't feel in danger of giving out either. Small blessings.

[BrooklynJerry]

Hi Mark, are you using any knee sleeves or tried wraps?

[Mark E. Hurling]

I bought some Inzer knee sleeves earlier this year. They do help a little. I should add that the warmup routine I adopted made hitting depth a breeze and maybe prevented some of the worst pain in my knee.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Cycle 5, Week 2, Sets of 3-3-3 @ 90% of 1RM.

Deadlift: 245 lbs. @ 70%, 280 lbs. @ 80%, 310 lbs. @ 90% for 4 reps. A welcome improvement over my last deadlift session when I couldn't make all 5 reps.

Hip Belt Squat: Sets of 8: 145-195.

Reverse Hyperextensions: Sets of 8: 45-60.

64 minutes average HR 132 BPM @ 89% of MHR.

The knee was a little dodgy over the weekend after the squats last week. So far everything feels OK after this session though.