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

[hamburgerfan]

Hey Knurling, do you still listen to classical music when you train?

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 246.5

My left leg problems did not clear up since they first showed up on Thursday, and the limping has now made my lower back and right ankle start acting up. So no jujitsu what with that accumulation of miseries. It didn't help yesterday that I was doing a lot of moving around and up an down ladders taking care of some ill-advised actions by a well meaning government guy. So I went to Gold's and hit the stationary bike since that didn't hurt anything. Then stretched as comfortably as I could. The way the inner thigh (the gracilis I think) hurts when sit down or get up again does bode well for squats tomorrow but I'll see when I get there.

Yes I do still listen to classical hamburgerfan. Rimsky-Korsakov, Wagner, Strauss, Respighi, Tchaikovsky are all great for getting my blood up. Mostly I reserve them for when I for for planned max singles. Nothing like Also Sprach Zarathustra followed by The Death of Seigfreid followed by The 1812 Overture to take me through the warmup sets and right to main event.

[hamburgerfan]

I like to listen to it on occasion too. Nothing better than Prokofiev in my opinion.

[Carlos Daniel]

Yes I do still listen to classical hamburgerfan. Rimsky-Korsakov, Wagner, Strauss, Respighi, Tchaikovsky are all great for getting my blood up. Mostly I reserve them for when I for for planned max singles. Nothing like Also Sprach Zarathustra followed by The Death of Seigfreid followed by The 1812 Overture to take me through the warmup sets and right to main event.

You're the best, Knurling. Thanks to you, I'll light up a cigar and listen to Bruckner or Chopin. I'll be a little race to see which finishes first (if it's Bruckner, the cigar will be gone by the end of the first movement).

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 248

I woke up with the leg, back, and ankle a little better after a big honking fistful of Advil as I went to bed last night. I decided to let the gracilis heal a little longer, although the lower back and ankle would probably have stood the strain of a 310 set of squats. In addition, since it was cooold (as such things are reckoned here in SoCal) I decided to start off with a fit test on the elliptical to gauge my cardiovascular fitness. This took a little over 12 minutes and warmed me up pretty well. I tested out at 38.8 VO2 max, a few points over the Excellent threshold for 60+ geezers so I was happily honking along.

Overhead Press: 200 x 1 x 14. Failed on single #15. Rest between sets was 2 minutes and I could feel the failure on lockout reeeaaallly start to whisper in my left ear about single # 12. I should have spanned out the rest periods to 3-4 minutes between sets then, but old fucks can be arrogant and stupid just like the young can and getting older doesn't always get you over this tendency. I barely got single #14. It was the battle of Stalingrad all the way up, and I was flexing and locking out my quads so hard it felt like my right vastus medialus was going to cramp up and explode. But I got it. I waited 4 minutes for single #15 but it was clear the old CNS and upper body had had all it was going to take from the last one. I barely got it off my clavicles and the triceps said "Not in this lifetime bucko." Hit the safety catch bars with a resounding crash that silenced even the geezer dudebros who were engaged in their usual primate verbal grooming behavior.

I tried a couple of air squats just to tempt fate a little further, but my quads etc. were cooked from single #14 and the gracilis announced in a calm voice, "Just how long do want this recovery to stretch out for?" So I bailed on them.

To each their own Carlos. I don't think I've ever heard any Bruckner, and Chopin always seemed to have a pleasantly soporific effect on me. Like warm milk before beddy bye. Nah, give me that dodgy wanderer Wagner, or that deaf cad Beethoven, or one of those frequently drunk Rooskies for some real loud thunder and lightning. Something about moving to Vienna took the testosterone out of too many good German boys. Not all of them, but too many. Goddam Hochdeutsche panty waists made their influence too overwhelming.

[Gunnhild Bruno]

I don't know that I would characterize Bruckner as emasculated in any way. I think you'd rather like his oeuvre, MEH. He's a good fit for someone who appreciates later Beethoven, IMO. And he dedicated a symphony to Wagner, with Wagner's explicit approval.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 249

5 minute warmup on the bike. (Heavy Day)

Bench Press: 215 x 5 x 3. Felt good, no shoulder problems but the lingering effects of all those singles Sunday has my upper body pushing structures feeling the heat. But in a good way. I even managed a 3 second pause on the last rep of the last set with no sweat.

Hammer High Row: 320 x 5 x 3.

Claw Grip: 192 x 2 x 5. I had intended to stay at 190 for a month or so, but gave another increment a try. Piece of cake.

Foam roller and stretching. The gracilis felt OK I thought until I went through my series of hip flexor and illiopsoas stretches and started to feel it again. But! It's definitely on the mend and jujitsu tomorrow is looking good. I just discovered that one of the engineers I work with (also named Mark) does Kempo. Very cool, since mushin ryu had a bunch of Kempo moves added back into it by Master Bellman. We had a brief but interesting chat about it. More to come no doubt. The time change has worked wonders on my attitude. I think I was getting a touch of seasonal affective disorder with long of hours of morning darkness. The fall behind extra sleep and the overnight temps falling to 40's makes this Illinois boy sleep like nothing else.

You and Carlos have convinced me about Bruckner spar. I'll have to give his music a listen.

[Carlos Daniel]

Bruckner is... long. But spar isn't far off by saying it has some resemblance to late Beethoven.
Try his 7th symphony.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Y'all have been up to no good while I've been gone.

I'm afraid I don't know Bruckner. Will have to check it out.

[Gunnhild Bruno]

Bruckner is... long.

I heard he was just average. But people love to spread rumors about that kind of thing.