Soar...

Squats...

Squats build strong legs which help support the entire body. But they also promote body wide muscle building. If you’re squatting correctly, you’ll be causing your body to release testosterone and the human growth hormone, both of which are imperative for building muscle and increasing muscle mass.

These muscles help regulate glucose and lipid metabolism and insulin sensitivity, playing a role in preventing obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

You don’t even need to squat with heavy weights to achieve these effects, deep squats with a lighter weight are more effective at improving bodily strength than are parallel squats with heavy weights.

But squats may be a more efficient way of burning fat – as this process occurs even after you’ve stopped exercising…something that doesn’t happen with cardiovascular activity.

After all, one of the most time efficient ways to burn more calories is to gain more muscle! It’s said that, for every pound of muscle you gain, your body burns around 35-50 calories per day. So, if you gain 10 pounds of muscle, you can burn up to 500 more calories per day.

ABS...

‘Abs are made in the kitchen,’ which refers to the fact diet trumps workouts when it comes to having visibly defined core muscles. 

While carbohydrates are a vital part of the diet, the body also stores extra water with extra carbohydrates. This can lead to a puffy appearance that hides muscle definition.

Skip the simple carbs (added sugar, refined grains) and opt for small portions of complex carbs (fruits, vegetables, whole grains.) 

Quality of protein matters; aim at grass-fed, wild and pasture-raised animal proteins and unprocessed plant proteins for the best results.

Adding healthful fats helps increase protein concentration in muscles. A 2007 study also showed consuming omega-3 fatty acids can decrease waist circumference. 

To benefit from adding fats to your diet, aim at monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids found in foods such as fish, avocados, nuts, seeds and olive oil.

Price...

Senators challenged top executives of seven pharmaceutical companies on the spiraling costs of prescription drugs.

The CEOs of Pfizer, Merck, AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi defended their pricing and business practices before the Senate Finance Committee.

The executives agreed that drugs should be more affordable for Americans. But they were reluctant to promise to cut list prices without other reforms.

They argued that other factors, such as pharmacy benefit managers that negotiate discounts and insurance coverage, have greater influence on the price consumers pay at the pharmacy counter. They spoke of drug rebates that don't always reach consumers, payments tied to the value of a drug and more transparency.

Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier called pricing "complex and interdependent," and said addressing cost, access and affordability would require bringing "all the parties around the table."

Senators were skeptical of the industry's price-setting practices and heavy spending on marketing and sales spending. 

Patents give drug companies exclusive rights to sell a drug for several years before generic companies can make competing versions of the drug.

Other senators questioned whether Americans are subsidizing the cost of developing new drugs for the rest of the world.

The senators do that Sound Byte every two years with no results whatsoever. Just a thought.

Exhausted*...

A young Swedish woman who sued her former Wall Street executive boss over lurid allegations of sexual conquest, betrayal and stalking was awarded $18 million by a federal jury.

Hanna Bouveng, 25, accused Benjamin Wey, a Chinese-born American Wall Street financier, and CEO of New York Global Group, in an $850 million lawsuit of using his power as owner of the Group to coerce her into four sexual encounters before firing her after discovering she had a boyfriend.

Bouveng, who was raised in Sweden, testified that soon after Wey hired her, the CEO began a relentless quest to have sex with her. She says he fired her six months later after she refused any more sexual contact and he found a man in her bed in the apartment he helped finance.

Wey, 43, also sought to defame Bouveng by posting articles on his blog accusing her of being a "street walker," a "loose woman" and an extortionist, her lawyers say.

Wey walked into a Stockholm cafe in April 2014 where she was working a few months after she was fired from Global Group, her attorney told jurors. "The message was: 'Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, I am going to find you and I am going to get you," Ratner said.

The married financier denied ever having sex with Bouveng. He portrayed her as an opportunist. Wey testified that Bouveng knew nothing about finance before he hired and began mentoring her. She betrayed his generosity by embracing a party-girl lifestyle that left her too exhausted to succeed.  Apparently she did... Just a thought.

Members Only...

Dream...

Tacos*...

Two masked robbers entered a Taco restaurant and ordered three employees to lie on the floor. Police say three other employees pulled out handguns and opened fire, shooting one of the suspects six times. The other suspect ran off.

The Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH'-guh) County Medical Examiner's Office said the man killed was 24-year-old De'Carlo Jackson.  Investigators say Jackson was found with a loaded gun in his hand. He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.

No one has been arrested. The employees who opened fire are said to be two 19-year-old men and a 23-year-old man. A Taco Bell spokeswoman told Cleveland.com the company is "shocked" by the shooting and is offering counseling to employees.

Anger...

Andrew “Amazon” Cuomo appears to have fully embraced the anger phase of his process of grieving the loss of Amazon’s would-be HQ2 headquarters in Queens.

Speaking with WAMC’s  on The Roundtable, the New York governor called the incident “the greatest tragedy that I have seen since I have been in government,” a comment that did not exactly resonate well with New Yorkers given Cuomo’s been in government for decades. (The Democrat and Chronicle reported that Cuomo’s “office later clarified he was referring to government failure, not human tragedies.”)

The mayor slammed the company’s move as “the 1 percent dictating to everyone else even though we gave them a fair deal,” an eyebrow-raising response that, as the New York Times noted, comes as de Blasio may be considering a run for president.

*When did these two politicians agreed on any thing? These two allowed the deterioration and neglect of the large projects that touches people's lives, NYSHA, MTA, Subway System, Congestion Pricing, Overbuilding of towers, Nightmare traffic when snowing 6 inches and up?

Empire...

I am a victim, I am a victim.....