Dhuge's IGF-2 Log

[dhuge67]

Wrist and forearm wraps

I figured that I'd throw this plug out there, since these wraps I bought from EliteFts seem to be really helping to alleviate my elbow aches.

Check 'em out!

 

[nycste]

QUOTE=dhuge67;999650]Deads

Can you say 5 reps at 455 lbs? My hands look SCREWED UP. I was bleeding all over the bar, seriously. :aargh:[/QUOTE]

-sweet dude and ur hands are gross. mine dont look like yours but they sure looked similiar cept full red when i was on Crew in college

What would you like to know? I gave a bit of a summary a page back, I think, listing pros and cons.

ahh ill just look a page back. no biggie

 

[dhuge67]

Today I was flat-benching 120 lb dumbbells in each hand for 5 reps.

240 lbs of free weights for 5 reps. WTF is going on? I already benched earlier this week, wait, this would be my third time in a 6 day period and I'm getting stronger.....

 

[dhuge67]

West Side for Skinny Bastards III: 4 weeks and then I'll evaluate whether or not to continue with it.

Monday - Upper

1 Max Effort Exercise. Barbell Bench Press - work up to max set of 3-5 reps. I hit 250 lbs by 3 solid reps.

2 Supplemental Exercises

A) 2 sets of 15-20 reps with Incline DB Bench Press (there are many exercises to choose from) - I hit 15 or 16 reps (I forget) with 65 lb DBs (130 lbs)

Superset

A) Chest Supported Rows for 3-4 sets for 8-12 reps and B) Face Pulls for the same parameters

I hit 115 lbs x 4 sets x 8 reps with Chest Supported Rows and 110 lbs x 4 sets x 8 reps with Face Pulls.

---Modification---

I added in ---3 sets of 8 reps of Incline DB Bench (again)--- and used 150 x 8 and 170 x 2 x 8.

Pull Ups - Bodyweight - 10, 8, 7

BB Curls (85 lbs including bar) - 7, 6, 6, rep out with empty bar

FIN!

 

[TheNinja]

dhuge, maybe I missed it, but what does your diet look like? How many calories are you getting in a day? I'm just curious. Great log btw!

 

[dhuge67]

dhuge, maybe I missed it, but what does your diet look like? How many calories are you getting in a day? I'm just curious. Great log btw!

Diet is low to moderate in carb intake (30 grams a day up to 200 max - I cycle it). Protein is extremely high; maybe 200-300 grams a day. Fat is also pretty high at around 60-80 grams a day.

 

[dhuge67]

POWER TO THE PEOPLE BY PAVEL TSATSOULINE (spelling? lol)

An excellent book that just reinforces Alwyn Cosgrove's book The New Rules of Lifting.

I will be incorporating this into a program sometime soon. A hybrid between hypertrophy and strength training (based on what I want to hypertrophy).

For instance, deadlifts, bench, and squat (all the PLs) will be done in a Pavel way. Up to 10 total heavy reps for those exercises, with periodization. Weight will be heavier in the first set, then drop slightly for the remaining sets/reps.

The areas I want to hypertrophy (arms, shoulders, back) will be trained with sets of 4 reps, with anywhere between 10-20 sets, depending on how I feel. Weight will be high for the first and second set, then drop to around 80% for the remaining sets. Rest periods around 60 seconds max.

Workouts should take me 45 minutes. I will train 2x a day, usually, 5 days a week.

Time to grow, gain more residual tension, and look harder.

Time for some power.

*Why am I doing this?

-I feel burnt out with higher volume stuff on everything
-I want better results
-Supplements cant cure a bad program
-Periodization is proven
-I need to deload and starting a new program "fresh" will be breath new life into training
-I haven't exactly plateaued but I want to make more consistent progress

How are my supplements?

IGF-2 and RPM are working. They have me feeling harder and more intense in the weight room. I'm not in there to pump (remove ATP from muscles) as much as I am to get stronger. Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is worthless to me. I want functional, myofibril density/hypertrophy.

These supplements + this routine + a good diet and rest should help me achieve my desired end-result. To be strong AND huge.

 

[dhuge67]

Bench

240 x 3, 240 x 3, 225 x 3

Deadlift

365 x 3, 365 x 3, 335 x 3

Squat

250 x 3, 250 x 3, 225 x 3

Incline DB Bench (hypertrophy)

200 x 4, 190 x 3, then 170 x 10 sets of 3

Then some lighter, high-rep chest-supported rows for balance in pulling vs pushing.

 

[nycste]

nice digits

 

[dhuge67]

nice digits

Appreciate it! I'm working with a Wave periodization scheme and am obviously lifting well under my max, but such is the way to strength gains.

I am a complete disbeliever in this overtraining hype. I never feel run down, depressed, or mentally foggy due to training - maybe due to lack of sleep, but not due to heavy weight.

I will be training up to 12 times a week, increasing weight at each session, or keeping it the same for a period of workouts (step periodization) depending on how I (and my joints) feel.

Elite level powerlifters were known to train with up to 20-25 sessions a week, sometimes more. But keep in mind, 3 sets of 3 is not obliterating, unless you are overreaching on your intensity (as a % of your 1RM).

I will be back in tonight for a repeat of the bench workout and the squat workout, and will handle 405 in the dead for 5 singles. My hands look retarded, but my body is looking harder.

 

[nycste]

ur hands do look retarded haha. they look like my hands when i was on Crew in college cept mine were covered in bandages 24-7 to increase healing and preventing more rips it was like i was a mummy i had no skin on my hands so painfull to jerk it and wash my face or touch soap or anything ahhh

 

[dhuge67]

ur hands do look retarded haha. they look like my hands when i was on Crew in college cept mine were covered in bandages 24-7 to increase healing and preventing more rips it was like i was a mummy i had no skin on my hands so painfull to jerk it and wash my face or touch soap or anything ahhh

LOL

I've had some girls ask me what "that is all about." hahaha

I just say, "well, you should see my ****!"
:duel:

 

[dhuge67]

Hit 275 for an easy set of 1 and an easy set of 3 reps in the squat. Bench was 240x3 for 2 sets - felt easy.

Didn't dead due to hands. Better rest a little now.

 

[dhuge67]

One of the best lifting days of my life

It was simple but good and intense.

Deadlifted up to 455 and hit that for 5 solid singles. Felt fantastic, bar went up almost effortlessly. No hitching or poor form. Crisp and mechanical.

Bench was decent. Did 225 x 5, then 245 x 2, 245 x 2 and then repeated that wave once more. So 18 total reps. Nothing insane, but it wasn't "hard."

Dips - I set the dumbbells on the platform where you do dips, so I did 4 reps with bodyweight, grabbed a dumbbell between my feet (50 lb db) and did 6 reps, dropped that weight and did bodyweight to failure.

Did that with the 50 lb DB for 3 sets and with a 75 lb DB for 3 sets. That exhausted me.

Then I did 5 sets of 6 bodyweight pull ups, which were followed by empty-bar single-arm curls.

 

[matthew76]

Log's looking great bro! Keep up the great job!

 

[dhuge67]

Pulling work for balance

I do a lot of pressing in my routine and am going to go in today and do 1 pressing movement and 3 pulling movements and will then leave the gym. Should be a 30-45 minute workout. I want to be in and out before the ****ing 6:00 Jazzercise class hits the gym...gotta go!

IGF-2 was dosed at 3 in the morning, and 3 before training, and I will take 3 more at about 8:30.

Later dudes.

 

[dhuge67]

Some quotes to think about and good motivation for training.

"The difference between my methodics and others is great. What is mainly different is that I train more often and I lift more weights than others. I never know when I will train. Sometimes deep in the night, sometimes in the morning. Sometimes several times a day, sometimes not at all. I never repeat myself. Only I understand what is right for me. I have never had a coach. I know my own possibilities bestly. No coach knows them. Coaches grow old and they have old ideas." - Vasili Alexeyev

"You see, the question is not one of strength, not one of talent. It's a matter of what's in the head. In the physical sense you should, you need to work very hard, but with the nerves-- less . . ." - Vasili Alexeyev

"There is no point in denying that for the athlete, as for the artist, recognition is a necessity. A good artist controls his public. The athlete first causes his public to be amazed, then to worry about their idol, and finally to love him for his skill, his strength, and his courage. One wants to startle the world with something incredible. Then they recognize you. For this it is worth working like a dog. Especially since in our time, it becomes more and more difficult to surprise anybody..." -Vasili Alexeyev

 

[dhuge67]

So I tried to pull a 2-a-day training session today and had a nice first session but my second one revealed an "issue." I was incline pressing and my head started to hurt on the last rep. It was a tough rep and for whatever reason my head/brain just started to pound. It felt like a headache or a bruise or an aneurysm or something scary. So obviously I did the smart thing and said, "I'm done," and just walked out of the gym.

I'm going to take 3 days off and see how I am on Tuesday.

I'll probably post about how my workout goes on Sunday.

But seriously, I'm going to take it easy for a while.

 

[nycste]

i get headaches sometimes too and only semi recently i think my left side of my skull hurt alittle? soo humm im scared too haha

 

[dhuge67]

i get headaches sometimes too and only semi recently i think my left side of my skull hurt alittle? soo humm im scared too haha

Same here, left side, sort of in the top-middle but skewed to the side a bit.

Hence my 3 days off, followed by some de-loading weeks and then building back up. Better safe than dead.

Plus, I think it's best to give my joints a break from this 1-3 rep range stuff.

 

[dhuge67]

A rant to consider

Feeling fine now. Feel pretty well recovered. Living every day is great these days, because I'm into something that I enjoy learning about; any new bit of information that makes me think, consider, and try just really gets me up in the morning. While I hate school like nothing else, it's just like Mark Twain said, "the only time I stopped learning was when I was in school." It's a necessary evil, to get the degree, but my true learning happens in the gym in the library and online.

There is a science to weight training. Instinctive training is great, and I use it, but there wouldn't be a such thing as exercise science if it weren't complicated. Adding a layer of "simplexity" really helps things. Taking something complicated and reducing it to simple terms can help tremendously.

Basically, all of this ranting leads me to this: the one true way to train is to train in many different ways. Non-linear periodization does indeed seem to be the holy grail of weight training for strength endurance, hypertrophy, or absolute strength.

It's science, even if it feels chaotic and unorganized.

 

[dhuge67]

IGF-2 Impressions 2.0

-Muscles are a bit harder

-Muscles contract better during workout

-When combined with RPM, the "zone" is more achievable

-Whether or not it has to do with RPM or IGF-2, I have gotten considerably stronger since using it. From 250 to 270 in the bench press. From 405 to 465 in the deadlift and from 285 to 330 in the squat.

While those numbers seem impressive (relative to what they were...my squat and bench blow), mind you, I have been training specifically for increases in those lifts.

Beginning this week, I am starting to take some time away from 90% + work sets and will focus more on hypertrophy to specific muscles groups in support of the big lifts and in support of aesthetics.

*To rate IGF-2 on its own, I'd give it a solid 6.5 out of 10. When combined with RPM, that stack is more like an 8.5. To be completely honest with my feedback here, I will say that I don't think the price is worth the results with IGF-2.

*Maybe if it were $19.99 like the AN fat burners are, then it'd be a staple, but at ~$45 it's just too much for me.

*RPM will remain a staple, with or without IGF-2. And if nothing else, it makes sense to change your test-booster every now and then (and to take time away from them). So if I'd go with Alpha Male for a cycle, I might go back to this later.

*Bottom line, the product delivers results that aren't earth shattering but aren't anything to sneeze at, however the price remains too steep for me to maintain it in my supplement arsenal from month to month.

 

[nycste]

thanks for a pretty honest writeup

 

[dhuge67]

thanks for a pretty honest writeup

No problem. Not trying to make anyone at AN mad, but I am just stating my personal beliefs based on a good 2 months or so of use.

 

[dhuge67]

BTW, this log is over. I'm stopping IGF-2 right now, to take a break from test boosters of any kind. I will be using RPM on workout days but I need a break from other stuff right now.

Hopefully this log was helpful to others and I sincerely thank Applied Nutriceuticals for their generosity.

Again, thank you,

Chris

 

[dhuge67]

Thanks IGF-2

 

[nycste]

NICE u got straps on i cant tell

hopefully see 485 sometime soon myself

 

[dhuge67]

NICE u got straps on i cant tell

hopefully see 485 sometime soon myself

They aren't straps but they are wrist wraps. I've had some tendon issues in my wrists so I use those to keep it tight and locked.

No straps! Ever!

http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/triple-line-wrist.jpg

 

[Vitruvian]

Nice review bro. Honesty is required, not just appreciated.

I will say that If I saw those gains however in a 2 month period, personally I'd be buying up all I could, at whatever price! lol

Thanks again, you ran a great log!

 

[Vitruvian]

Bump for props to Dhuge... just noticed you said you WERE NOT wearing straps. That is amazing!

 

[dhuge67]

Bump for props to Dhuge... just noticed you said you WERE NOT wearing straps. That is amazing!

Thanks man!

I was humbled today though, when a guy about 20 lbs lighter than me low-rack pulled over 500 lbs without straps. Just chalk. He wasn't even using a very grooved bar, it was one of those olympic smooth bars. The dude is strong as hell with insane grip strength.

 

[dhuge67]

This log is going to continue, though with Drive and RPM. I'll begin logging it in about 3 weeks.

 

[dhuge67]

Could a Mod change the thread title to "Dhuge's IGF-2/RPM/Drive Log"?

Thank you