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

[Mark E. Hurling]

Interspersing some stuff I haven't done in a while. Funny how I tend to get stuck in a rut sometimes. Leading off with a dynamic warmup of shoulders, wrists, and back. Then into rounds of speed bag, medicine ball side throws, crunches, handball, clap pushups, plate haloes, heavy bag, rower and hip flexor and knee stretches.

I've been experimenting on the heavy bag with a hands up palms-out stance and practicing slipping punches, windshield wiper type blocks, open hand strikes to the neck and head, elbows up to obscure an incoming punch to a side head strike, and some hammer fist strikes to the liver. It's a new and different way of engaging and is taking some getting used to.

31 minutes average HR 139 BPM @ 93% of MHR. Average resting HR of 62 BPM and with a VO2 Max Very Good to Excellent @ range of 37-41.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Apparently the Iron Gods haven't finished exacting some tribute from as yet. Despite having what my FitBit rated the best night's sleep I've ever had, I struggled up from the side of the bed and concentrated on getting all my vertebrae lined up properly and if my right knee would support my weight. Yup, the knee started griping yesterday afternoon, and I hoped I could sleep my way over it. But no, and those squats seemed to have wreaked some havoc on my lumbars.

Sigh.

If I had any sense, I'd just declare a day of rest. But I decided to take another day of relatively easier conditioning, even though this was supposed to be deadlifts today.

Rounds of speed bag, cable woodchoppers, elliptical, wall ball, reumbent bike, heavy bag, and rower with hip flexor and knee stretches.

37 minutes average HR 139 BPM @ 89% of MHR. Average resting HR of 61 BPM and with a VO2 Max Very Good to Excellent @ range of 37-41.

Then on to see the chiropractor for a realignment later.

[Larry Zaks]

Mark
I hope you feel better. I use my cell phone camera to video my sets of squats and deadlifts. Sometimes, I can tell if I didn't reach depth in the squat or my form was off in the dead lift but not always after reviewing the video between sets. Is there some way you can use your cell phone camera?
Have a good weekend
Larry

[Mark E. Hurling]

A couple of days of letting the chiropractor's adjustment set me up well for today's attempt at test singles in the deadlift.

Deadlift: 95-5, 185-3, 255-1, 325-1, 360-1! It was a real grinder, with my legs shaking like crazy. Given the fact that the USPA powerlifting meets (like most federations) use kilograms my weight choices would have translated to either 358 or 363 pounds. I MIGHT have eked out 3 more pounds, but 358 is definitely in the bag. I was pleasantly surprised by this, given the distractions of a bad thunderstorm this morning as well as a lot of phone traffic before and during my lifting.

SO:

All around good news for making the cut at 809 pounds needed to qualify for the Drug Tested North Americans in October at Niagara Falls, NY. I got 257 in the squat, 220 in the bench press, and now 358+ in the deadlift for a total of 815 pounds. I think I can add another few pounds to my squat, given my seeming to have fixed my form problems by getting a lower rest of the bar on my traps. It seems to take a lot of the strain off my lumbars and right knee.

The meets scheduled for July in Tennessee seem to have vanished, but there is one in Indianapolis in August. That's a little close to the North American, and that meet may have filled up by then. Plus, it takes a while to recover from a max effort meet full of top singles. So, things may not come together for it this year. Just have to see. The fallback plan may be next year's North American given that qualifying in 2023 can be carried over into 2024.

Music: Gloria, Ride of the Rohirrim, Madman Across the Water, Dueling Banjos, Miami Vice, Tush, Runaway, Rock Steady, Hit Me With Your Best Shot.

43 minutes average HR 122 BPM @ 82% of MHR. Average resting HR of 59 BPM and with a VO2 Max Very Good to Excellent @ range of 37-41.

[Mark E. Hurling]

It's a countdown to the Special Olympics Summer Games and the lifters are doing their best to get ready. Sheridan requires fewer verbal cues for correction of her squat form each week. She ground out some extra reps on the last set. A sign of a better possible PR single this June. Kaydee and Lena were both committed to giving the bench press their all with every extra rep they could squeeze out on their last sets. Jacob blew his deadlifts away with a bunch of extra reps and Jereth's attention to perfecting his form on all of his lifts requires very little coaching from me at this point.

The Big Muddy Iron Crew is ready to make a splash in Bloomington!

[Mark E. Hurling]

Cycle 2, Week 4, Sets of 5-5-5. Deload/Speed Sets/Dynamic Effort. Done fast with minimal rest between sets to increase intensity and engage Type II fast twitch muscles.

Bench Press: 95@40%-5, 115@50%-5, 135@60%-5.

Hammer High Row: 115@40%-5, 145@50%-5, 175@ 60%-5.

Push Press: 50@40%-5, 65@50%-5, 80@ 60%-5.

Curl: 85 for 3 sets of 5.

Music: Death of Siegfried, Kashmir, Amazing Grace, Gladiator Waltz, Foggy Mountain Breakdown, Shaft.

34 minutes average HR 131 BPM @ 88% of MHR. Average resting HR of 59 BPM and with a VO2 Max Very Good to Excellent @ range of 37-41.

After the last week or so of testing and finding my current 1RM's, this deload was absolutely essential. I'm a little sore in the back from the deadlifts yesterday, but nothing crippling. It gets tricky juggling intensity, load, and frequency. Not to mention my other activities like coaching last night, which burned 500 calories loading and unloading the bars during the session. Then there's Jujitsu coming up tonight. All of them require energy which I have to ration carefully at my age and recovery, both from effort and from the impacts I take from strikes, falls, and chokes in Jujitsu.

Getting old is not for sissies.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Ball Cap.jpg

Working on things with Ken tonight. Mostly chokes and strangles, but other things interspersed as well to take some of the strain and pressure off our necks. This was the first run through for Ken after a few months of getting introduced to the chokes and strangles at the Green Belt level and he remembered several of them pretty well. He needed just a little fine tuning on them. Sadly, the most effective of them, the rear naked strangle seemed to elude him. It's like some days in the gym. Sometimes you're golden, and sometimes you're just off. His strangle was more about activating the brachial nerve complex cluster around the neck. It hurts like Hell and it's effective in getting someone to give up, but the purpose is to put someone under quickly and painlessly. Not because it's more humane, but because it gets things over with sooner when someone's eye's roll up and they go out.

We also worked on 45 degree angle strikes to the torso. I picked this up from a Kenpo teacher demonstrating it. Mushin Ryu primarily talks about the 45 degree angle in terms of manipulating the attacker's arms and legs more effectively. Since force is typically projected linearly and at 90 degree angles, the 45 degree counters "confuse" their response and neutralizes their resistance.

A tough session for both of us.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Cycle 2, Week 4, Sets of 5-5-5. Deload/Speed Sets/Dynamic Effort. Done fast with minimal rest between sets to increase intensity and engage Type II fast twitch muscles.

Deadlift: 145@40%-5, 185@50%-5, 215@60%-5.

Hammer Leg Press: 270@40%-5, 325@50%-5, 390@ 60%-5.

Music: Steel Claw, William Tell Overture, Run Through the Jungle, Highway to Hell, Rescue Me, Unchain My Heart, Haka, Phantom of the Opera, Double Vision, Semper Fidelis, Big Bad John, Hair of the Dog.

50 minutes average HR 127 BPM @ 85% of MHR. Average resting HR of 61 BPM and with a VO2 Max Very Good to Excellent @ range of 37-41.

I was still feeling the deadlifts from Monday and I considered not lifting today and subbing in some conditioning. Then shrugged it off thinking, pfft it's only gonna be 215. So I belted up and got it done.

A young guy (which is pretty much everybody else in the gym these days) came up and said "Hi I'm John. Do you remember me?" Had to say I didn't, but it turns out he saw me deadlift 380 a couple of years ago and wanted a picture of me and the loaded bar to show his friends. He's since moved on to doing Strongman events. Kinda cool and sad at the same time recalling the 20 pounds I used to be able to lift not that long ago. Time moves on.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Cycle 2, Week 4, Sets of 5-5-5. Deload/Speed Sets/Dynamic Effort. Done fast with minimal rest between sets to increase intensity and engage Type II fast twitch muscles.

Seated Press: 70@40%-5, 90@50%-5, 110@60%-5.

Hammer Row: 140@40%-5, 170@50%-5, 205@ 60%-5.

Push Press: 50@40%-5, 65@50%-5, 80@ 60%-5.

Swiss Bar Pin Press: 135 for 3 sets of 5.

Music: Beethoven's 5th, We Are the Champions, Sharp Dressed Man, The Four Seasons, Ring of Fire, Keep Your Hands to Yourself, Here I Go Again.

35 minutes average HR 131 BPM @ 89% of MHR. Average resting HR of 60 BPM and with a VO2 Max Very Good to Excellent @ range of 37-41.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Cycle 2, Week 4, Sets of 5-5-5. Deload/Speed Sets/Dynamic Effort. Done fast with minimal rest between sets to increase intensity and engage Type II fast twitch muscles.

Squats: 95@40%-5, 125@50%-5, 145@60%-5.

High Pulls: 70@40%-5, 90@50%-5, 115@ 60%-5.

Push Press: 50@40%-5, 65@50%-5, 80@ 60%-5.

Music: Ride of the Valkyries, Hot Blooded, Eye of the Tiger, Peter Gunn. Folsom Prison Blues, Smoke on the Water, Spirit in the Sky, Fortunate Son, Thunderstruck, Draggin' the Line, Pinball Wizard, Chain of Fools.

51 minutes average HR 128 BPM @ 86% of MHR. Average resting HR of 60 BPM and with a VO2 Max Very Good to Excellent @ range of 37-41.