Dr., Dr., Give Me The News……………….

My pill pusher actually raised his voice at me. He was physically upset over the fact that I am not taking his prescribed statins. He uses the heart attack model as a discussion point (scare tactic). My total cholesterol was 217, down from 240…….using diet, exercise, Omega 3’s and fiber to control the cholesterol……...and to reach my personal goal of 200 mg/dl total cholesterol. He finally wrote a prescription for niacin, suggesting I take 1000 mg/day. As I stated last month, I will go back on the niacin but only at 50% of his recommended dose. Like I have said in previous blogs, I think 200 mg/dl is the right answer, I think 160 to 150 is way, way, way too low. I think you need to be in the upper ranges of healthy cholesterol levels to maintain energy, strength and……….those masculine feelings…..…so you can attack and conquer that Last 10 Pounds.

 

What Were The Other Numbers………

Actually bringing down total cholesterol wasn’t the big news. The biggest change was the Triglyceride level; it was half of what we saw last year. From 138 to 78. LDL was also down, from 144 to 131. HDL remained at 70. There were no other abnormal numbers, not like last year. So the work ahead is to equalize HDL and LDL. I’m hoping that getting back on Niacin will pull the total cholesterol into a high normal range; my 200 mg/dl goal with a HDL/LDL ratio closer to 1. That’s the goal anyway; maybe. My pill pusher has set me up for another set of labs (blood work) in January. We’ll see what effects Niacin (B3) will have in the next few blogs. What my pill pusher didn’t order was an HbA1c or a PSA as part of the lab work. If he really believes I’m a diabetic, then why doesn’t he check HbA1c? If I’m an older coot, why isn’t he checking PSA to ensure my man parts are functioning correctly? I’m beginning to wonder about that man????

 

Squats…………….

I was reading an article from T-Nation on squats and the simple fact that squats are hard, are demanding and besides skill and strength, require a tremendous level of mental discipline to just get under a bar loaded with heavy weight. The article link is; www.t-nation.com/training/master-the-squat and was authored by Dave Tate in 2013. This article had me in tears, I was laughing so hard. If you read this article it basically says that most guys will..…….to take a dump…….fill their guts with air and strain, and push with all their might, turning purple with veins popping from their neck and forehead yet wimp out when it comes to moving a heavy load on their shoulders. Go figure……put more energy into pooping than lifting a heavy weight (LOL). Personally, I have never been under anything much greater than 300 pounds with ass to grass back squats; my general working sets are 135 to 225, but I also do a lot of reps, generally in the 80 to 100 rep range per session (3 to 4 sets). And after my sets I am toast for the rest of the day. This is how squats should be, you are working the body’s largest muscle group (quads, glutes, hams) and you are heavily taxing the CNS and the cardio/respiratory systems in proportion. If you are doing squats and don’t feel like you’ve had the crap knocked out of you (pun intended) after a session, then you’re not working hard enough.

 

Monthly KPI’s…………….

So for this year’s Sculpting Macro, instead of a random selection (more like confusing array) of exercises like we completed during the 2015 macro, I decided to stick with a basic squat and back sequence. I am still attacking arms and chest, just not as a priority.

 

November Best
Exercise	Sets	Reps	Total Weight Moved
Squat Pyramid	2	32	8040
	1	16	2060 (10100 Total)
Press Combo	4	16	9440
Bench Row	4	8	4000
Masculine Feelings (Scale 1 to 10) = 9
Cardio; Daily Job Site Walks
Notes; Lower; Squat Pyramids. 6 front light, 4 front heavy, 4 back light, 4 back heavy, 4 back light, 4 front heavy, 6 front light. This is one set (32 reps) with no rest. 2 to 3 sets with 4-minute rest between sets. The Challenge……3 full sets. This month the 3rd set is a Half Set.   Upper; Press Combo. 8 reps Wide Grip Guillotine press, followed by 8 reps Narrow Grip press and 4/5 Neutral Grip pullups with L-Sit.   Back; I will be using the Bench Row as an indicator as far as back work. Just note that I am also completing pullups, lat pulls, face pulls, etc… to supplement.

 

And this month, during my ‘week-o-rest’ I hit a new PR. I got 2 sets of 2 at 185 lbs….…ass ‘kissing’ the grass…….Front Squats; WOW!!!. And to think during the 2016 Power Macro (10 months ago), my max’s for any kind of free weight squat was 4 sets of 8, 205 lbs box squats. Oh Yes, a year of front squat training does pay off……….The next challenge, overhead squats; maybe. The next PR goal, 200 lbs plus, ass to grass front squat………..

 

Training Shorts……….

In line with my glove report(s), you now get to sit through my ramblings in search of a better pair of workout underwear. For several years (close to 10 I suspect), I had been wearing the same 4 pairs of medium sized Under-Armor compression shorts. These were a popular sporting goods commodity (and expensive from I can remember) in the 2005, 2006 time frame; when I bought mine. These original Under-Armor’s only came in black and white. Prior to the Under-Armor’s, it was cotton briefs or commando and both of those sucked on a hot sweaty runs. Anyway, the Under-Armor’s, I had run in these, lifted in these, stretched in these and for the most part……ZERO complaints. In fact I still have at least 2 out of the original 4. And as good as these undergarments are/were they eventually wear out. In the last 2 years I have bought several newer pairs of Under-Armor shorts and have NOT been satisfied with fit as compared to the originals. The newer ones have a different waste band that tends to roll over (down) and the legs have a tendency to ride up. I have also tried different brands with the latest being ‘Take Five’ compression shorts. The Take Five’s are comfortable, provide the slight compression I was looking for, do not ride up in the legs and wick sweat with the best of them. On the negative; they have a fairly high raise (high waist line) with the waist band coming in just at the naval. I thought the higher waist would help with the rolling but…….no joy. If I roll the waist band down it helps some but after a couple of squat sets, they begin to sag in the crotch area. If you’re having the same issue then keep looking, the Take-Five’s are no better than the newest iteration of Under-Armor.

 

Summary………..

The Second month of the Sculpting Macro has seen some pretty good results; all lifts are up, set a new PR, all biomarkers are better than last year and the mirror check still looks pretty darn good. At 61, I can tell you that I am in the 90 percentile as far as health and fitness factors. We won’t know if we’re gaining on any of the Casey Butts criteria for another couple of months. Although, if I keep feeling strong for the remainder of this macro, I’m bound to gain on that Last 10 Pounds.

 

MMJennings