It’s a New Dawn..………….

My new job is just four days a week. However, to get 40 hours in that week, I’m working 10 hour days. Throw in a 35 mile one-way commute and you’re talking 12 hours. Now add a 1 ½ to 2 hour daily workout and we’re at 14. Generally, I get to the house just in time to eat a small meal and get 8 hours of sleep before the next round. My personal priorities outside of the job; sleep and me time (my workouts). Sometimes my priorities get in the way of family fun and social activities; that’s just a fact of my life. If you’re serious and disciplined, you work to your priorities. You take seriously the challenge of gaining on that Last 10 Pounds.

What I don’t see is the same commitment from my coworkers, and I think this is generic throughout the entire U.S. workforce, where I see 4 out of 5 workers visually overweight, visually obese. Remember we’re not talking about being athletic of super fit, we’re talking simply “outside of normal”. You don’t have to be a fitness freak, you just need the right combination of diet and exercise to get dramatic results. I’ve got a feeling there’s a new dawn coming and if you are not fit for service, you’ll be left behind.

Water Weight…………

So finally, after all these years of guessing that water is a major factor in overall weight, I finally did an informal experiment. For several days, I drank copious amounts of water and ate lots of salty snacks; salted nuts, potato chips, etc.…, until it was impossible not to have to pee every hour on the hour. Then I abruptly stopped…….and still peed every hour after hour for two more days. My weight went up to 197, my weight went down to 190, a seven pound delta……WOW!!!! That’s amazing since 1 gallon weighs in at just over 8 pounds. So I had a close to a gallon of water sloshing around inside of me and most of it seemed to accumulate in my man pouch and my love handles. I wonder how common this is. I need to repeat this experiment and document what I drink and what I pee and what I weigh morning and night. A gallon of water…….WOW!!!!

Monthly KPI’s…………….

For the 2016 Sculpting Macro, I am attacking legs and back as a priority, considering arms and chest as ancillary.

December Best
Exercise	Sets	Reps	Total Weight Moved
Squat Pyramid	2	32	8080
	1	28	3400 (11480 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 3/4 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.

I have been making constant improvement in the squat sequence. This month I went from a ½ set to a ¾ set for the third bout. This squat routine is very, very metabolic and I force myself into a 4 minute rest between bouts. It always makes me anxious to crawl under the bar going into the 2^nd and 3^rd bouts. And I have also set a new PR, a single 205 pound, ass to grass, front squat mixed with 4 reps at 185 pounds; talk about anxiety (LOL). As far as back progress, there is an improvement in the mirror check, a heck of a lot more definition, and believe it or not, there is an improvement in the man pooch area. I’m thinking that all of the front squats are really working the lower ab’s. And I can tell you from the fit of my jeans, there is improvement in size and shape of the ass, there is more bulk in the area of the gluteus medius and the gluteus maximus peaks closer to the top of the pelvis……….instead of sagging down over the hammies.

Supplements………….

During the month December, I have quit taking all supplements except vitamin C, psyllium fiber and niacin. For the majority of the year I have been taking;

Calcium, Mag, Zinc (1000/400/25 mg)	Omega-3 (3000 mg) from Fish Oil
Multi (One A Day Men)	Vitamin C (2000 mg)
B6 (100 mg)	Psyllium (1 tbs) (breakfast and dinner)
B3 (500 mg)	BCAA (6 g) (2X per day post workout)
Vitamin A (10,000 iu)	Zink (50 mg)
Vitamin D (1000 iu)	Biotin (5000 mcg)

I have also been on and off 2 mg nicotine, the mini-mint lozenges. Nicotine makes a great nootropic. And stacked with a couple of cups of coffee (maybe 120 mg of caffeine) it will definitely perk you up. It really helps on the 4^th 14 hour day………..when you’re dying for a nap at 2 pm (LOL). I have also used this stack to get through this macro’s 100 rep squat routine, it knocks the edge off the total brutality of the routine.

About a week into dropping the supplements I drifted into a mental fog that lasted for several days (more like a week). I’ve been through this before and have documented the effects of this type of supplement layoff way back in 2011. The reason; dropping the fish oil and the BCAA. If you research these 2 supplements (examine.com for example), both impact the electrical circuitry in the brain and CNS. Both are fatigue fighters, both are mood lifters and both have nootropic effects. When you just stop, your brain and CNS need to reestablish homeostasis, need to reestablish normal.

I will wait until my next blood drawing before I start taking the supplements again. Without the fish oil, I’m curious to see what my triglyceride are like. I’m banking on niacin and fiber to control the cholesterol……..maybe. Once I get the blood work done I’ll also start a creatin cycle……..gotta’ be ready for that 2017 Power Macro.

 

Planning the New Year…………

For the upcoming Power Macro, I want to continue squatting progress. However, instead of my standard superset, 100 rep routines, I’m going to go for lower rep ranges and heavier weight………maybe a 5X5 series, at least once a week. Since I will be working 3 day splits, some weeks will see 2 squat session and some weeks we’ll see 1. During the weeks that have 2 sessions, I plan on keeping the routine I am working now, the 32 rep pyramids, two to three rounds.  

For the chest, I’ll go back to heavy/light drop sets, neutral grip benches and a lateral lift ‘land mine’. For the back, I’ll throw in pullups and bent over rows………3 days a week.  

And it’s time to start a cardio routine again, only this year it’ll be the elliptical. Ever notice the calves on people that are always on the elliptical. Even the overweight seem have over developed gastrocnemius (beautiful calves). Anyway, I will do the ‘zone heart rate’ thing for 45 minutes a session 2 or 3 days per week, pretty boring.

That’s About It………

I am pretty stoked that my 2016 Sculpting Macro has been more successful than last years plus I am looking forward to next year’s (2017) Power Macro. Keeping up and progression to a new level is the only sure way to gain on that Last 10 Pounds.

Bee Good.

MMJennings