Review of This Year’s Endurance Macro………….

The 2017 Endurance Macro actually ended with pretty good results. I’m at a fighting weight of 176 and an estimated body fat of 14%. Instead of running between exercises in mega super sets, the main shows were basic lifts, down the rack, finishing up with similar exercises that just plain dump a tremendous amount of lactic acid. Between the fat loss and the type of exercise, we definitely gained on that Last 10 Pounds.

 

Fish Oil and Beans………

It always great to hear that your advice paid off for another individual. A coworker, that was at least 5 years out from bariatric surgery (weight loss surgery), and I were comparing notes on diet and supplements and the subject of Fish Oil had come up. So, the discussion shifted to the Omega 3 content of your basic retail fish oil capsules; about 30%. Based on that conversation, my coworker buys a bottle of liquid fish oil with closer to 90% Omega 3 and loads up with a daily dose of at least 3 grams a day………she started losing weight. Go Figure! She has asked more question recently about insulin sensitivity and weight loss. The answer to that is strictly………..fasting and exercise. Do what you can to create that glucose deficit……insulin will follow.

My latest research and self-experimentation is beans. My wife makes me various crock pot bean dishes for my lunch box. Mostly ‘Cowboy Beans’, mixed beans with a chunk of bacon or pork….lots of fiber and lots of fat. Not only does this taste really, really good, they also make a great pre-workout meal……if you eat them 2 or 3 hours pre-workout. And I’m thinking they may have more to do with this weight loss mystery. Beans, specifically the common white bean (Phaseolus Vulgaris) is a natural amylase inhibitor. This means that it naturally blocks carbohydrate digestion, naturally lowering the glycemic index of any carb’s you ingest, naturally lowering the insulin spike you would get from the carb’s you ingest. As the old saying goes…….beans, beans the musical fruit, the more you eat the more you toot, the more you toot the better you’ll feel, so eat your beans at every meal…………insulin reduction makes me feel better and is a killer tactic for love handle reduction.

There is a supplement to replace all those beans you would need to eat, it’s called Phase 2 (white bean extract). I have not tried it yet but it’s on my iHerb.com wish list (lol). Personally, I like my beans (LOL).

 

2017 Endurance Macro KPI’s…………

And since this is the end of the 2017 Endurance Macro, the following KPI data needs to entered;

Skinfolds
Pec	5	Calculated BF = 9.7%  Realistic BF (+4) = 14%
Ab	8
Thigh	8
Body fat calc is from ExRx and is Age Corrected to 62.

 

Body weight has dropped from a 190 to 185 average to a 176 low. Like the Power Macro noted weight loss, weight loss in not the goal; it has always been fat loss and yes there was fat loss.

 

And finally the comparison between Casey Butt’s, Your Muscular Potential, and where we’re at, at the end of the 2017 Endurance Macro;

	5’9” Average Joe (15% BF)	5’9” Mark Jennings (17 Power)	5’9” Mark Jennings (17 Endurance)	5’9” Chiseled Athlete (10% BF)
Chest	38.7”	43	42	45.5”
Bicep	13.1”	14.5	14.5	16.7”
Forearm	12.1”	11.5	11.5	13.3”
Neck	15.3”	15.5	15.5	16.3“
Waist	33.5”	35	34	30.3”
Hips	41.0”	39	39	38.0”
Thigh	22.1”	23.5	23	24.8“
Calf	14.3”	15	15	16.4“
Torso Shape	Inverted V à	Rectangular à	Rectangular à	Positive V à

From the measurement standpoint, you can see there was an improvement in the waist and hips, these dimension dropped. However, a reduction in size has impacted all areas. Again, the focus of the Endurance Macro was not losing weight or girth, it was to increase time under tension, time under load.

It should be noted that right at the beginning of the 4^th month of the 2017 Endurance Macro, I made a trip to NY to visit my mom. There was a two-week period where I was virtually ‘out of the gym’. The only workouts were cleaning out 50 years of collected junk from my mother’s garage (another story for another time). The highlight of this trip however, driving a 1974 Porsche 914 from NY to Washington, 3200 miles in a 43-year-old car, WOW! It was a great trip…….and I practiced my fasting techniques. When I got back, I was down to 174, albeit a dehydrated state, still 174…….. Maybe I should do this more often………..

 

2017 Sculpting Macro…….

Since I have seen progress in the last two macro’s (Power and Endurance) I’m hoping to see some (hopefully better) success with this year’s Sculpting Macro. The basic plan is to incorporate Vince Gironda 8 X 8’s into a 6 day program and build on what I have learned over the last year. The specific body areas I will be concentrating on are glut’s and shoulders. I will also incorporate small muscle group workouts with the larger muscle workouts. For example; squat day will include shoulders, ham/glut day will include biceps and chest and back day will include calves.  

The reason for the odd combination; if you look at some of my past entries on Kaatsu (blood flow restriction) training, it has been shown that completing small muscle group workouts with large muscle groups, the metabolically ‘better’ or more acute response from the larger muscle workouts (the response that grows muscle), carries into the smaller muscles for a better response….more so than just working the smaller muscles by themselves.

I have read several studies that this technique is beneficial. Only a trial will allow me to satisfy my curiosity. Anyway, that’s the plan and I am sticking to it. 

 

Summary…………

This year’s Macros have been very, very successful in keeping me slim and trim. I am hoping that this new variation of the Sculpting Macro, the 8 X 8’s, will add a more defined shape to a pretty good base. Only time will tell………Splitting the year into 4-month intervals and changing styles and goals to go along with the overall goal of maintaining a high level of fitness and managing normal, you can’t help but to gain on that Last 10 Pounds.  

 

MMJennings