Addicted…………………

Yes, addicted…….….addicted to the lifestyle of being in great shape. I don’t think I could tell you how disappointed I would be if I were to let myself go, to fade into the general population of overweigh, metabolically challenged white American middle age. WOW!!! I just hope I can keep it up, challenging myself and conquering that Last 10 Pounds.

 

Month One of the Power Macro…………

After the first three weeks of this year’s Power Macro I decided to take a few days off. Not a whole week like we did with the Endurance and Sculpting Macros but extending my Sunday rest day through……..Tuesday…….and maybe skipping one or two of those morning runs. The schedule and the workouts that I set for myself are working out pretty well; my social life isn’t suffering at the expense of my interest in staying in shape. However, based on what I had learned from last year’s cycle, exceeding three days per week in the gym plus the additional morning cardio sessions, it’s better to take a scheduled break than it is to get injured and have to work around that injury. Remember, I like to overreach……..but I don’t enjoy injury. And overtraining, it still is not part of my vocabulary.

Before I get too far ahead of myself, I would like to say that several weeks of full week workouts is an accumulative process, not only do you accumulate time under tension (increased capacity, the good) you also accumulate fatigue (the bad). I am hoping that keeping the workouts relatively short also shortens the recovery. If you are up to it, I would recommend this Power Macro schedule and associated workouts to anyone interested in taking your body to the next level. The workload is intense but by splitting the work load into smaller chunks, allowing for short 12 hour recoveries between sessions, this should allow for better form and concentration during the round of auxiliary exercise (the next morning exercise), plus you’re not worried about the time constraints during any given workout.

Since I’m in the gym twice a day 5 days per week plus a Saturday morning kicker, if something comes up that I need to miss a workout, it’s O.K., your only missing half of what a regular 3 day per week schedule gives you. And plus you’re sweating often enough to make up for any loss, as long as you don’t make it a habit. Following the 5 day schedule, you will be making progress.

And yes, I am making progress. The lifts are getting heavier, general endurance has improved and the mirror checks are really a positive motivator. Even my trouble areas are beginning to surrender, my love handles and the man pooch.

The other area of improvement is diet. I am still not completely free of the sugar demon but I am beating him back. I am a victim of my wife’s cooking. My wife and my daughter like to make sugar laced goodies and I am obliged to eat them; maybe she’s the demon (LOL). However, my sweet tooth aside, I have been sticking to one cup of leftovers per day for lunch with lots of apples, oranges, nuts and raw veggies for snacks. I have been indulging in two eggs and an English muffin for breakfast. And my dinners are at 60% of what I would normally stuff down my gullet. It’s the weekends where I have trouble managing my food intake. It’s the weekends where I may overeat or sometimes I may under eat. I have not found a happy medium there…….yet. But I’m working on it.

 

Supplements……………. 

As I stated a few entries back, I have been diligent in sticking to a prescribed regiment of supplements for this Macro. The two that I think are helping the most are 1) fiber and 2) omega 3’s. The fiber has really provided relief with the constipation issue that I have dealt with for the last several years and I think the increase in omega 3’s is keeping me mobile, keeping my joints lubed up.

I am also into the fourth week of BCAAs and Creatine supplements. And these supplements are working out as expected and as previously experienced. The BCAAs raise the bar as far as overall fatigue and the Creatine helps with acute fatigue when completing each exercise.

And the one item I am really, really restricting is the Lipitor. Lipitor should hardly be considered a positive supplement but I do take it on a consistent basis. And as planned, I am dosing at 5 mg every other day (2.5 mg daily). Between the Lipitor, the niacin and the fiber I am hoping that my next cholesterol check will be in the 200 ball park. My pill pusher will whine but my conscience will be clear. And if my cholesterol drops below the 200 mark, Lipitor will be the first supplement I drop.

Old Guy Supplements during the Power Macro; 

Calcium, Mag, Zinc (1000/400/25 mg)	Fish Oil, Omega-3 (2000 mg)
Multi (One A Day Men)	Kelp, Iodine (600 mcg Iodine)
B6 (100 mg)	Vitamin C (1000mg)
B3 (600 mg)	Psyllium (1 tbs) (lunch and dinner)
Creatine (5 g)	BCAA (6 g) (2X per day post workout)

 

Those Masculine Feelings………….

Over the course of this blog series, I have discussed those……...masculine feelings………..from time to time. I have been keeping track of them as a basic gage of performance, as a basic measure of the big ‘T’. Example; excessive cardio and they all but disappear, heavy lifts and they can be painful……..in a pleasant sort of way. This year’s Power Macro so far has not brought the intensity I have felt in the past. To be quite honest, those……...masculine feelings………. are really no better than they were when working through the Sculpting Macro. I’m hoping this will change as I push the weight upwards, especially when working the squat routine. During last year’s Power Macro, we had super intense……...masculine feelings………several days after that workout. I haven’t seen that yet, although I’m not at the weight I want to be working yet either. I’m about 25 pounds shy of where I was last year completing the same squat routine. To keep better track of my monthly squats, my monthly cardio and how they affect those……...masculine feelings………..you will see the following table in the next few entries. This is my latest iteration of the mighty Key Performance Indicators, my KPI’s.

For February;

February Best
Exercise	Sets	Reps	Total Weight Moved
Heavy Squat	4	8	6,400    (200*32)
Drop Set Squat	4	12	6,480    (135*48)   12,880 Total
Pull Up	4	8	----------
Heavy Bench	4	8	5,920    (185*32)
Drop Set Bench	4	12	6,480    (135*48)   12,400 Total
Row	4	8	3,200    (100*32)
Masculine Feelings (Scale 1 to 10) = 6
Cardio; SLOGs, 5 bouts, 4 minute jogs 2 minute walks 3X per week.
Notes; Lower 3 exercises completed as a superset; Squat, Drop Set Squat and Pull Up. There is 3 minute rest between sets to allow heart rate to settle out. This set is like an extended Sprint; very, very whole body. All squats are Box Squats using standard bench (18”) as a squat limit. Calculated Squat 1RM – 248.   Upper 3 exercises completed as a superset; Bench, Drop Set Bench and Rows. There is a 3 minute rest between sets to allow heart rate to settle out. All are neutral grip Bench Presses. Calculated Bench 1RM – 230.

  

The Apprentice………..

So in the several weeks since my apprentice has been working with me, she really hasn’t shown all that much progress. She has stated that she feels better but as far as getting deeper into a squat or pushing a bit more on the bench you can see this will be a long, long process. And for the most part I think she’ll get bored with it before any real progress is seen. I can only hope for the best here.

As noted in last month’s entry we started her out on a whole body routine; squat, bench, press, upright row, bent over row. I think we’ll swap out one of the rows for additional leg work; maybe hip thrusters, maybe straight leg dead lifts, maybe both. However with a 40 minute time constraint on her part it will be difficult to make any meaningful progress.

 

Summary……….

Splitting up my routines to accommodate progress is a new experience for me and it seems to be working. Including a mini-full body weight session on cardio days seems to working for me. Squatting pretty much every day (sometimes twice a day) seems to be working for me. Maybe reaching for that Last 10 Pounds will work for me.

Bee Good

MMJennings