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

[Mark E. Hurling]

Another run at test singles.

Warmup on rower and stretching at knees and hips.

Squat: 45-5, 95-5, 135-5, 185-1, 215-0.

I tried using the knee wraps. What a royal pain in the rear. Hard to wrap correctly and get the ends tucked in securely. Not pleasant once on, I wanted to get them off immediately after a set. Then you have to start over and wrap up all over again. Hard to hit depth in the dang things. Everything felt so "off" I didn't want to try with 215. Between the belt and the wraps I felt like I was mummified in bandages. The knees feel OK so far, but I think I'll use the knee sleeves.

High Pulls: 95-5, 135-1, 155-1, 175-1, 185-1. The last single was one I hadn't done in a while.

Music: Darth Vader Death March, Highway to Hell, The Chain, Proud Mary, Phantom of the Opera, Wild Boys, Hold On Loosely, Whip It, Washington Post March, Hot Legs, Break On Through to the Other Side, William Tell Overture, Bohemian Rhapsody, Danger Zone.

37 minutes average HR 121 BPM @ 81% of MHR.

[Mark E. Hurling]

I decided to go back to Hepburn singles.

Seated Press: 160 for 1-1-1-1.

Hammer Row: 305 for 1-1-1-1.

Pin Press: 145 for 5-5-5.

Music: Also Sprach Zarathustra, Suicide Blond, Better Be Good to Me, Rescue Me, Ballroom Blitz, Living La Vida Loca, Sledgehammer, Who Do You Love, Who Let the Dogs Out, Hawaii 5-0, Shaman, Dueling Banjos, Miami Vice,

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

Made all the singles with no strain, a pleasant change lately.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Hepburn routine starting with 4 singles @ 90% of 1RM, working up to 10 singles and a backoff set of 5 @ 75% of 1RM.

Bench Press: 200, 1-1-1-1 and 165 for 5.

Hammer High Row: 260, 1-1-1-1 and 220 for 5.

Hammer Curls: Sets of 8, 100-120-150.

Music: Immigrant Song, White Rabbit, Requiem, Foggy Mountain Breakdown, Your Love is Lifting Me Higher, Tuff Enuff, Hot Rod Lincoln, Give Me That Old Marine Corps Spirit, Black Dog, Tarzan Boy, Rock Steady, Fire Your Guns, Feels Like the First Time, Get Outta My Dreams, Let It Ride, Hit Me With Your Best Shot.

60 minutes average HR 112 BPM @ 75% of MHR.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Working with the Special Olympians tonight. Sheridan's balance in the squat is improving and Jereth's squat seems ready to exceed his Summer Games best. Everyone is proceeding well in the bench press. Getting to the deadlift was everyone's favorite as usual. Kaydee made some real progress in keeping her knees from caving inward as she stands up with the bar. Lena is on the road to beat her Summer Games deadlift with her concentration and unrelenting dedication.

We announced the formation of a Special Olympics powerlifting only team, the Big Muddy Iron Crew. The lifters liked the logo which features the local legendary Big Muddy Monster deadlifting a bending bar.

[Mark E. Hurling]

It's good to be back in the gym regularly again. This morning was rounds of speed bag, SciFit, cable rotations, elliptical, heavy bag, plate halos, rowing followed by hip flexor and knee stretches.

34 minutes with an average HR of 148 bpm @100% of MHR.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Deadlift: 325, 1-1-1-1.

Hip Belt Squat: Sets of 5, 145-155-165.

Music: When the Bullet Hits the Bone, Up Around the Bend, Eye of the Tiger, We Are the Champions, Gloria, A Boy Named Sue, Great Gates of Kiev, Dirty Laundry, Runaway, I'll Be There, Everbody's Working for the Weekend, Conga, Pain (USMC Jody Call), Dies Irae, Better Be Good to Me.

64 minutes average HR 125 BPM @ 83% of MHR.

The deadlifts went well despite some nagging minor discomfort in my right lower back. I'm getting cracked later today to fix that.

I got lazy today and didn't put on my red deadlifting socks. I paid for it with a bloody shin scrape. This, guys and gals, is why knee high socks are required for competition and recommended for training. Mine are red so that any bloodstains incurred don't show easily. Although when between my 1st and 2nd attempt in the California state championships, a judge grabbed me for a bleeding shin through my sock. He advised a quick fix was to rub chalk on it to stop the bleed. He was right. Done and done. In this case today, I was using the best deadlift bar the SIU Rec Center has, an Eleiko with moderately sharp knurling. Competition bars at meets have even sharper knurling.

On the positive side, I got to use my new Pioneer adjustable lever buckle. I saw the SBD version at the IPL Worlds in November of 2021 and was wowed by it. Except they only sell the whole belt and Pioneer sells the buckle for way less. It adapted, with a little tinkering, to my existing lever belt. Pioneer Adjustable Lever V2 • Pioneer Fitness Products and Weight Belts

[BrooklynJerry]

The adjustable lever is nice. I had bought a Pioneer lever with that for my grandson a few months ago and it sure is a good feature.

[Mark E. Hurling]

The adjustable lever is nice. I had bought a Pioneer lever with that for my grandson a few months ago and it sure is a good feature.

Yeah, once I decided to start powerlifting competitively, I bought a lever belt. I recognized the adjustment limitations early on but adapted to a little too tight or not quite tight enough. But it was still better than wrestling with a standard buckle getting it on and off. All this despite the disdain expressed by SS generally for lever buckles. But this rascal overcomes all those objections, at least in my mind. For what that's worth.

Some taking out my spite on the speed bag and heavy bag this morning, along with the elliptical, some medicine ball tosses, crunch machine, plate halos, rowing followed by knee and hip flexor stretches, and shoulder dislocates.

32 minutes average HR 141 BPM @ 95% of MHR.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Terrible night's sleep with my right shoulder aching no matter what position I laid in. BUT: gotta try anyway.

Hepburn routine starting with 4 singles @ 90% of 1RM, working up to 10 singles and a backoff set of 5 @ 75% of 1RM.

Seated Press: 200, 1-1-1-1 and 135 for 5. The shoulder held up just fine.

Pin Press: Sets of 5, 145-155-165.

Hammer Row: 305, 1-1-1-1 and 250 for 5.

Music: Ride of the Valkyries, Gimme Shelter, Born to Be Wild, Ring of Fire, Discombobulate, Think, We're an American Band, Haka, Riding the Storm Out, When the Levee Breaks, Even It Up, Hungry Like the Wolf.

61 minutes average HR 128 BPM @ 86% of MHR.

[Mark E. Hurling]

How DB and I spent Saturday:

Working a Special Olympics fundraiser selling t-shirts at a girls softball tournament. There were some great team names, like the Dirt Dawgs, Aftershock, and Fuzion. I decided my favorite name was the Reapers.

There were some serious young athletes flaming the bases.

Which resulted in some serious lumbar discomfort from crummy folding chairs and being foolish about sitting in them too long. Besides the back pain, I got a massive left hamstring cramp that played havoc with my sleep and had me creaking around all morning. Not a good thing when I had committed to a self defense demonstration to the Girl Scout leaders today.

I managed to get through it without too much pain. We covered hair grabs, lapel and wrist grabs, and bear hugs along with defending yourself from the ground. The latter consisting of, keep your head up to observe your attacked, your feet facing the attacker, low kicks or sweeps to hurt him or fend him off, and get up and out of there.