5 sets for load of:

3 shoulder presses +2 push presses + 1 push jerks

No rest between movements.

Typically, after a carbohydrate-containing meal, glucose enters the bloodstream, insulin rises in response, and most of those carbs are taken up and stored in the muscle (~40-60%) and liver (~10-25%) in the form of glycogen. Most of the remainder is converted into fat in the liver (and the muscle to a lesser extent). It is also used for other physiological functions like antioxidant synthesis, contribution to the synthesis and structure of cell membranes, and biosynthetic processes. While this is going on, insulin also works to divert fat from the bloodstream into the fat cells to be stored (lipogenesis) and at the same time prevents stored fat from being broken down and leaving the cell (lipolysis). Fat is burned in larger proportions at rest and used as a primary fuel source when food isn’t available or when consuming a diet limited in carbohydrates. In general, insulin promotes fat storage and preferential carbohydrate oxidation over fat; when plasma glucose wanes, insulin levels decline and metabolism shifts to releasing and oxidizing fatty acids for fuel. This homeostatic system is controlled by feedback loops that effectively partition molecules toward energy production, storage, and biosynthesis.

If insulin is not signaling at normal physiological levels and the fat tissue is inappropriately sensitive to it, fuel becomes biased from oxidation (fat burning) to storage (fat accumulation). This reduces circulating fuel availability and oxidation while increasing fat mass and our energy needs. This results in increased hunger and decreased energy levels. An intrinsic imbalance where more fuel is partitioned to storage results in adipose tissue expansion. Our fat cells get fatter, and therefore we get fatter. The average American adult gains an average of 1-2 pounds per year over decades before obesity develops. From a short-term perspective, this internal starvation is imperceptibly tiny. This amounts to a miniscule 1-2 grams of excess fat accumulation per day. This has nothing to do with willpower or conscious control and virtually everything to do with what we eat.

This subtle difference in nutrient partitioning paves the way for full-blown metabolic dysfunction. Fat cells have a limited storage capacity, and as they grow bigger and approach their limit, they release more and more fatty acids into the bloodstream that cannot be constrained by insulin. After eating that same carbohydrate-based meal, more fatty acids enter the peripheral cells (the ones with more room) along with the glucose and now there’s excess input into the cells. Systemic insulin resistance develops: a physiological response of the body supplied with fatty acids when it shouldn’t be.

Over time, what began as something unnoticeable becomes something much more destructive. Fat begins accumulating in tissues where it shouldn’t: fatty liver (hepatic steatosis), fatty muscle (myosteatosis), fatty pancreas (pancreatic steatosis), and fatty heart (myocardial steatosis). Excess fat accumulation in these tissues results in organ and homeostatic dysfunction.

When we eat a diet that challenges the basic design of our systems, our bodies compensate as best as they can, until the system itself collapses and we die. The cycle of life is all in pursuit of balance.