The Optimized Man: Full Churn

[Josefein421]

The title says it. AJ Sims and Team Cement. This is a big investment in myself. Mind, body and spirit. My goal is to optimize every asset of my life. If I can become the best man I can be outside the gym it will only make me more productive focused and driven in the gym. I have been on cruise control. A little complacent. Comfortable. I am talking in life and in training.

Phase One begins Monday. It is different than anything I have done. Far more in depth. Every nitty gritty detail covered. I will share bits along the way that show how different it is. Not just X's and O's, sets, reps and macros.

I have a very specific morning routine to ground my nervous system and prime my body for the day nutrition, training and mentally. We are utilizing a ton of peptides and supplements to eke out every bit of energy from the mitochondria. I have about 17 labs I am getting pulled first thing. Hormones, micronutrients, digestion, health all covered. Test not guess. One variable at a time.

It is a very basic diet that I will show. By that I mean it is a training day/off day. And the meals stay the exact same except a percentage reduction in carbs and dropping 1 full meal on off days. This is to limit the variables and see what foods digest best and hone it in while keeping micronutrients high and in a caloric deficit. Tons of nutritious things I havent eaten... papaya, dragon fruit, sourdough pancake mix, raw carrot salad. It isnt a chicken and rice only plan lol. TONS of supps to support health, cognition, digestion, energy production. And for those that are gonna want to know... PEDs were lowered from what I was on and after are talk today he is pulling the NPP so just Test @750 for now.

Put my home cold plunge together and filled it. Gonna get the sauna pod up next. I have a Lingo on the way for more data collection along with a Conneqt Pulse BP cuff. The Conneqt measure central BP in the chambers of the heart, arterial resistance and flow rate from the heart. Dont ask me how it does this non-invasively lol but they have phenomenal reviews. That is the kind of detail we are looking at. My Morning Routine has 8 steps between wake up and meal 1. Nothing crazy but to me routine is comfort in the predictability. And anything to keep my CNS chill.

I think that is it for now!

 

[bizzbtw]

Looking forward to following along! Really interested in the optimization of every aspect of your life

 

[Josefein421]

Here we go. Slept shitty. Was up from 12-130ish. Just wide awake. Sleep has been averaging 5hrs with a score in the 50's. HRV which I just started tracking was 28. Weighed. 208.8. Will get some good pictures in the posing room first thing tomorrow morning.

Off day today. Did my morning routine and then cardio outside w the puppy. Rainy and cold made it not so fun. But I am doing 35min LISS three times a week outside and doing nasal breathing the entire time. This is new and it made me work harder but also when I found myself working harder to control the breathing I also got caught up in the meditative/presence that they talk about. That like "in the zone" feeling you get for a few seconds right before you snap back to reality and realize you were in the zone.

Usually have church today but I think I am going to just read my Bible some and wait til my GF is up and take her to brunch. She's been under a lot of stress lately and working really hard. It hasn't been easy and I may have been guilty of letting it affect me more than I should. We wanted a nice date last night but our favorite spot was booked. Some quality time will do us good and I will just have an almond milk latte or something.

Here is the morning routine. I typed out things to give myself a clear list and order so there is little thinking when I wake up up and am groggy lol. Format got a little messed up when I copy/pasted. No sauna as I didnt set it up yet. So I did a contrast shower instead. Waiting on a few peptides but otherwise that is the plan. Doses/peptides/supps wise... some of this I was already doing and some is new. The specific routine is new. The idea is to keep CNS calm and in parasympathetic as much as possible and that routine provides comfort through predictability. Plus the order of some of the steps and supps is part of the phased "priming".

Morning Routine
- 3:00am/6:00am Wake/Hydrate 12oz warm water Pinch Baja Gold 1/4 lemon juice
Bio E-Lyte 2 caps Georges Aloe Vera Juice 6oz
1 scoop Living Water

- AM Protocol Morning Stack Colostrum LD 5g Gut Revival 1/2 scoop MitoQ 2 caps

- Peptides Mitochondrial Prime Reta 5iu Mon-Fri Mots-C 5iu Mon-Fri
SS31 20iu Mon-Fri KLOW 10iu Mon-Fri Semax 5iu Mon-Fri SLUPP 1000mcg NAD 5iu Mon/Thurs
Glutathione 1ml Mon/Thurs

- Self Check In Data Collection Weight Steps Sleep duration Sleep score BP HR HRV Glucose

- Sunlight/Breathing Nervous System Prime 5-10min sunlight w dog Nasal box breathe 5 min

- AM Fasted Cardio LISS 35min Sun/Mon/Thurs Outside dog walk Nasal breathing only No phone Meditative

- Sauna/Red Light Cardiovascular Health/ 20-30min/10min w/DMSO
Prayer/Gratitude

- Cold Plunge Dopamine Release/ 3-5min full body Mental Resilience/
Muscle Recovery

- Before Meal 1 Mental Drive Stack L-Tyrosine 1g Uridine 250mg Alpha GPC 300mg
Saffron Extract 15mg

 

[Shogun]

Hows the training looking like now?

 

[Josefein421]

Hows the training looking like now?

So I was doing the DC advanced split. 5 days a week. Typical rest paused exercises and widowmakers, etc. We switched to bro split with 4-6 exercises per day. Activate, overload, pump, stretch methodology very similar to MountainDog but pushing the overload still too.

I got complacent in training. Comfortable. Dont get me wrong I was pushing hard but also doing the minimum amount of volume/work. I needed to step outside my comfort zone. But also not just do more work for the sake of more work. Junk volume type.

I tore my tricep 2 weeks ago today. So we altered some heavy stuff with pre-exhaust and modified tricep training obviously. Nothing fancy at this point just designed with intent.

 

[Josefein421]

Solid day yesterday. Drove up to our sister gym an hour away and got to train there. Looking forward to out Sewell,NJ location with Nick Walker in summer. I'll be going down there to help some. AMAZING sleep. Perhaps coincidence or maybe influenced in part by the evening protocol? I dont know and dont care. I felt amazing lol.

Food went down easy and I was satiated all day which I was surprised as the cals dropped and so did meals from 6 to 5. But the food choices/combos are nutrient dense and I think that is helping keep me satiated but also enjoying the food.

Not sure if I mentioned I tore my left distal tricep 2 weeks ago doing incline DB press. I think related to the ulnar nerve compression. Bruising but no deformity. More nerve pain than muscle pain. However started TB/BPC 3x a day. Got PT to massage and scrape. Started ulnar nerve flossing and gliding 3x a day and just like that the nerve pain has dropped significantly. I didnt push 100% but maybe 85% yesterday and ZERO nerve pain. Only had to watch the tricep muscle itself. Now to just not rush training because it is feeling good.

Seated calf raise 3x9-12
Hip press calf press 3x12-20
Ped deck fly 3x12-15
Hammer flat press 3x6-12
Hammer super incl 3x15-20
Multi flight fly 7x10 FST 7

Did 4 sets of pain free pressdowns going up 10lbs. Another set would've caused pain but that is SIGNIFICANT improvement very fast. The pre-exhaust really let me hit my chest with the presses even not at full strength. I definitely felt myself governing the press on the left arm. The caution.

Up at 3am today. Sauna, plunge and morning routine and left for work at 4am. Here til 2pm and then training Back/HIIT after.

 

[Shogun]

Solid day yesterday. Drove up to our sister gym an hour away and got to train there. Looking forward to out Sewell,NJ location with Nick Walker in summer. I'll be going down there to help some. AMAZING sleep. Perhaps coincidence or maybe influenced in part by the evening protocol? I dont know and dont care. I felt amazing lol.

Food went down easy and I was satiated all day which I was surprised as the cals dropped and so did meals from 6 to 5. But the food choices/combos are nutrient dense and I think that is helping keep me satiated but also enjoying the food.

Not sure if I mentioned I tore my left distal tricep 2 weeks ago doing incline DB press. I think related to the ulnar nerve compression. Bruising but no deformity. More nerve pain than muscle pain. However started TB/BPC 3x a day. Got PT to massage and scrape. Started ulnar nerve flossing and gliding 3x a day and just like that the nerve pain has dropped significantly. I didnt push 100% but maybe 85% yesterday and ZERO nerve pain. Only had to watch the tricep muscle itself. Now to just not rush training because it is feeling good.

Seated calf raise 3x9-12
Hip press calf press 3x12-20
Ped deck fly 3x12-15
Hammer flat press 3x6-12
Hammer super incl 3x15-20
Multi flight fly 7x10 FST 7

Did 4 sets of pain free pressdowns going up 10lbs. Another set would've caused pain but that is SIGNIFICANT improvement very fast. The pre-exhaust really let me hit my chest with the presses even not at full strength. I definitely felt myself governing the press on the left arm. The caution.

Up at 3am today. Sauna, plunge and morning routine and left for work at 4am. Here til 2pm and then training Back/HIIT after.

Nice, very good condition, are goint into offseason/bulk or are you guys still dieting?

 

[Josefein421]

Get even leaner. A few weeks out type. Want to set up the best possible launch but also dont want to do it yet until we dial in food choices, digestion, hormones, etc. And I got a partially torn tricep that could use a few weeks to get to 100% yet.

 

[Josefein421]

Crap day today. Up at 3am. Sauna was extra hot today wrapped in mylar. Sweat up a storm. It went down hill form there haha. Got to the gym at 430a and everything went wrong. It seemed every piece of technology wasnt working. Members passive aggressively asking if I "noticed" every 2 minutes while Im on the phone w like 3 tech support people. I just had other shit to get done and was just interrupted w one dumb thing after another. HOWEVER let's be real... as annoying as it was and how it got to me it was kinda silly lol. Definitely not ICU level stress. Idk how the fuck I did all the shit I did for so long lol.

Anyway, stayed late to help someone and then trained. Training was solid albeit nothing special. Best part was very very minimal tricep pain on straight arm pulldown which is a big improvement. I have started nerve flossing the ulnar nerve and doing some gliding along with stretching and theragun and I swear the nerve got put back into place because I feel zero nerve pain which is crazy because it was excruciating for months. The faintest tricep twinge and the fear of pressing full power is all I have. PT, floss, glide, stretch, peptides= miracle healing for second time I have partially torn a muscle.

Straight arm pulldown 3x12-20
Chest supported row (lat) 2x12-15
Chest supported row (upper back) 2x8-12
Neutral grip pulldown 3x10-15
Machine pullover 2x15-20
HIIT 15/45x12

Done. Home to sit on the couch w the puppy and go to bed early.

 

[Josefein421]

The more I am learning about the nervous system and how attempting to stay in parasympathetic state as much as possible outside the training window is so important the more interesting I find it. Just how switching to fight or flight even in very low levels shifts out of parasympathetic so you are losing that digestion priority and recovery. So all the nutrient dense foods consumed at all the right times in all the right amounts will be negated when your body isnt in the state to digest and utilize. We arent what we eat. We are what we digest and utilize. Wild how we stress ourselves daily and the very best thing we can do for our health is to reduce our stress. If only it was that easy!

Opened the gym today and trained after. I was going to do 35min cardio post shoulders but speaking of stress and recovery impediment I slept 7.5hrs the last 2 nights. I got training in and it was solid but I was spent and came home to eat and nap for 1.5hrs. Finishing a cup of coffee and gonna go knock it out with Josje.

Very surprising even with 1 less meal a day and less overall calories I feel satiated more without any change in Reta or anything like that.

Cable lateral raise 3x15-25
NewTech shoulder press 3x7-12
Chest supported db lateral w mech drop set 2x20-25+partials, drop weight, stand straight w no support, full range to failure, partials
NewTech bent lateral 3x12-20

I am continuing with ulnar nerve flossing and gliding and some stretch of the forearm extensor/flexor. I have had zero nerve pain since. It is incredible. Just moving my arm a certain pattern and tilting my head gently massages the nerve by my elbow until it is free. Such a simple fix for such a bad pain that lead to the triceps tear. Lesson learned for sure. Speaking of tricep still afraid to fire full blast on things like the shoulder press but I was about 80-85% and I felt it ever so slightly but I wouldnt even call it pain. Just have to stay the course.

 

[medlinmaddox12]

Following along, you're gonna kill this brother

 

[megroo]

You mentioned in one of your posts above about your evening routine-
Care to share any details on that?

 

[Josefein421]

Following along, you're gonna kill this brother

I appreciate it man! Looking forward to the process and learning and having fun along the way!

 

[Josefein421]

You mentioned in one of your posts above about your evening routine-
Care to share any details on that?

Sure I can. Thanks for asking. The meals and macros, supps and stuff... it is gonna work the way it works. But I feel I can really shift progress and performance by getting better habits, perspective and recovery and the morning and evening routines are key for me.

That said the goal of the morning routine is to prime energy, cognition, digestion for to fire at full capacity while trying to keep oxidative stress and fight or flight to a minimum to set up the day. Think about it, if youre stressed and anxious about the day while brushing your teeth chances are youre gonna feel that aroused state all day. And when we do that we are not in rest and digest so all the perfectly planned meals are worthless when not digested.

Now talking about evening routine it is designed to shut down fight or flight and any excess stimulation to really get into PNS and set up the best chance possible for REM and deep sleep. We can take all the mito peps in the world but nothing is gonna help us recover or perform like quality sleep. That said, here we go...


7:30pm/9:30pm Evening Stack w/meal 5
Citrus Bergamot 2,000mg
Astragalus 3,000mg
Carditone 1 tab
Tauro-Mag 2 caps
Blue light glasses on

8:30pm/9:30pm Evening Recovery
Phosphatidylserine 600mg
Taurine 3g Glycine 3g
Magtein 200mg
Tauro Mag 200mg
Apigenin 50mg
Liposomal Vit C
CBD gummy x2 servings
Selank 5iu
GH 6iu
No screens/Do Not Disturb

9:30pm/10:30pm Parasympathetic Close
Shakti mat 15min w/box breathing
Oxytocin 2 sprays
Sleep mask

As you can see some is super standard and common. Some like the magnesium variations and amount, specific CBD strains, Selank, Oxytocin are all designed to drive into PNS without actual sedation aside from a little from the CBD. I have MMJ on hand and I can rip some indica and be out but that doesnt mean I will be in that restful PNS recovery state. I have started to micro dose hybrid strains PRN during the day at any sign of SNS activation.

For reference I have PTSD/TBI from Iraq. But it isnt like that. I dont regret what I did or have trauma from it. I have trauma from not doing it anymore! I have chased who I was 22yrs ago since my boots hit CONUS. It drove me to lots of good things professionally... I built a great resume, got a graduate degree, made money. But all the years of the trauma bay and ICU, the overdoses on medical calls... or even the grind of 60hr weeks working, teaching and finishing grad school. Healthcare will burn you out and not give a fuck and it did me. And it got into my personal life and fucked with that too. I am beyond burned out. I am far more emotionally labile and reactive than I used to be. To me it feels like weakness. But AJ preaches we dont need to strive or earn our place at the table. It is our God given love we simply need to accept that we are worth being loved... by self, God and others. We are worth it and dont need to prove it. I tried to prove myself to the world and all it did was make me feel more worthless.

So that is where the focus on routine and PNS for me comes in. Stay in rest and digest and a positive mental space so that my body can perform at its best and not distracted doing 2 things at once.

 

[Josefein421]

Dude, what a difference good sleep makes. Slept solid last night. Albeit for 4.5hrs. But I have another 3.5hrs left at work before some cardio and home for my nap. I swear naps are my best sleep. 1-1.5hrs. About 1:30p-3:00p after a good walk with Josje and I feel great. Longer and I get groggy.

Got my Lingo on. Super easy to set up and put on... but I still fucked up the first one LOL. My A1C has always been good but I am running quite high in the mornings... 90s. GH is 6iu pre bed. But I just spiked from 91>128 following 20g carbs from COR. I am already thinking there may be some metformin/GDA or insulin coming in the future. Otherwise all the insulin sensitivity moves are in place... cardio, post prandial walks, MOTS, body fat reduction. Id much rather be sitting 70s and bumping to 80s-90s.

Most all my labs are back. I will post them up when the last few are in. Long story short... Aside from glucose (which was 90 on the serum) I am internally healthier than ever with the exception of an elevated rev T3. Which is crazy because I dont think I am having difficult with body fat. However cold sensitivity and maybe some lethargy but I thought that was the other stuff I just mentioned. I check in with AJ 5/5 with the labs and we will see. I wont pretend to be well versed enough in rev T3 outside of some basic research. Still waiting on T3/T4/TSH. Would be wild to see the composition change adding thyroid support to get to normal ranges let alone supra therapeutic lol.

Have a great day everyone.

 

[megroo]

That’s quite a routine. Thanks for sharing!
It’s one thing I need to get nailed down really.
All the supps don’t seem to make a difference.
I have the blue light glasses but unsure if they really make a difference.
Gh before bed seems to wake my up more often.
I’m a sucker for sitting down and just getting an hour of tv though before bed.
It’s the only time I get to sit and relax all day, and once the kids are asleep, you just want to flake out.
Maybe I should read a book instead!

All the best
Keep it up mate

 

[BigBaldBeardGuy]

Following along. I appreciate the level of detail you’re providing. This is really interesting. Thanks for posting.

 

[Mike_S]

Following. This should be fun

What are you using for monitoring hrv/sleep?

Has it been pretty seamless adopting all these changes so far?

 

[Josefein421]

Following. This should be fun

What are you using for monitoring hrv/sleep?

Has it been pretty seamless adopting all these changes so far?

I am using my Apple Watch. I had used it for sleep but just started watching HRV.

It's been pretty easy. I mean it is kind of things we all already do just doing them a certain way or certain things. And I am not killing myself to get every single thing done. Some things... like the sauna and cold plunge I have already felt benefit if only better energy and vigor in the morning. But am I stressing if I dont get 15min of acupressure done before bed? Definitely not lol.

 

[Josefein421]

Went to bed early, slept in a bit instead of sauna and plunge and felt good from the extra rest. I am going to write a post about my experience with the mito peptides because I am finally starting to hone in on what is working and what dosages.

Nice day at work today and got to chat with some friends. Nothing eventful. Trained arms after and did some HIIT.

Rope pressdown 5x15-25 triple drop last set
Single arm rev pressdown 4x15-25 alternating arms no rest
Strap overhead extension 3x15-25 triple drop last set
Bayesian curl 4x12-20
Machine preacher curl 3x12-15
Dual cable EZ curl 2x15-20 triple drop last set
Standing calf raise 3x12-20
Seated calf raise 3x10-15
Plank saws 3x10
Kneeling wood chopper 2x10
HIIT 15/45 x12

Wow actually more work than I realized. However it is skewed some with not being able to train tris at 100%. That said I had zero nerve pain again and was able to push heavier and closer to failure at the higher rep ranges. Failure as in what I am capable of now. I know right arm is being governed a bit but still got a good pump. Just have to be patient and not rush especially because I am already ahead of schedule with where it thought I would be.

Bicep pump was sick. I love both the Bayesian curls and the dual cable EZ curl that I saw Jordan Hutchinson do.

Nothing on the schedule tonight. Gonna open the gym up again tomorrow and we have a posing clinic going. Big leg day after. Legs have been switched to Saturday as I usually will not work and it is my hardest and longest day of the week by far. Plus I always enjoyed a Saturday morning session. The vibe.