My First Cycle Log (Havoc)

[bruthaf]

Hey Forum -

This is going to be my first log and first planned cycle. It's also my first experience with Havoc. I'm not a rookie when it comes to PH supp's and the like; I've tried 19-Nor 3-Andro, SuperDrol and Tropinol over the years. My other experiences were hit and miss due to poor planning. But with experience (and age) comes wisdom and this time I am trying to plan the cycle properly to maximize gains during the cycle and minimize losses during PCT.

My goal is definitely to put on some lean mass and experience some strength gains. I am a life-long gym rat with a little bit of amateur bodybuilding experience (even some regional wins) but I stopped taking nutrition seriously about 4 years ago. I have spent the last six months or so leaning out and have lost about 20 pounds. Currently I am 5'9 183 lbs and ~8% body fat at 43 years old. I train moderately heavy - but usually alone - so I don't really know my 1-rep max lifts. Here are some stats - based upon recent lifts:

Current Strength Levels

• Flat Bench: 300x2
• Free-weight Squat: 315x5
• Seated Military Press (Bar): 185x5
• Seated Overhead Triceps Extension (Single Dumbbell): 100x6
• Hammer Curl (Non-Alternating): 55x8
• Lateral Raise (Dumbbells): 40x8

Some of these lifts have suffered with my recent weight loss, but these are a pretty good indication of where I currently sit. I'm hoping to gain anywhere from 7 to 15 pounds while staying at 8-10% bodyfat and increase each of these lifts (same reps) by ~10-20%. Lofty goals but worth a shot.

My training split varies but a typical run looks like this:

Training Split

1. Chest/Biceps
2. HIIT Cardio (30 mins)/ Abs
3. Back/Triceps
4. HIIT Cardio (30 mins)/ Abs
5. Shoulders / Forearms
6. HIIT Cardio (30 mins)/ Abs
7. Legs / Calves
8. HIIT Cardio (30 mins)/ Abs

I usually get to the first 5-6 items in a typical week (usually 1 workout per day - 2 on an unusually active day when I can make the time) and take a 1-2 day rest before continuing on to the next item on the list. My strength workouts are high intensity with a minimal rest between sets. I usually super-set bodyparts and my workouts are usually 30-45 minutes - never more than an hour.

I just started pre-loading Cycle Assist yesterday and plan to start the Havoc in two weeks (August 10). My planned cycle looks like this:

Planned Cycle

Pre-Cycle
Week 1-2, CEL Cycle Assist

Cycle
Week 3-8, Havoc 30/40/40/40/50/50, CEL Cycle Assist

Post Cycle
Week 9-12, CEL PCT Assist, Nolvadex 20/20/10/10​

Diet
I eat around 2500-3000 calories a day taking in about 100-150 grams of carbs a day and 175-250 grams of protein. My weight loss has not completely staved off so I still panic too much - I'm embarrassed to admit - and I end up having a "cheat" meal about 3-4 times per week lately....WAY too many... Depending on how this cycle impacts my appetite and bodyfat, I may consider increasing my calories and carbohydrate intake as time passes while being a bit more disciplined about my overall diet.

I am open to advice. I definitely do not consider myself an expert. I decided to create a log this time so that I (and others) can learn from the collective expertise of the forum and my experiences.

I will update this log as much as possible once I start with the Havoc. Until then, fire away - and thanks for your input.

 

[bruthaf]

Wow - not a single comment? C'mon now... There's no way that I have everything right. :blink:

Anyway, I have been on the Cell Cycle Assist for almost two weeks and I'm ~3 days out from starting with Havoc. I just cannot wait.

Since I will be primarily focused upon strength gains, I tried to re-measure all of the lifts I mentioned originally and here's what I found:

Current Strength Levels

• Flat Bench: 300x2 (accurate)
• Free-weight Squat: 315x5 (accurate)
• Seated Military Press (Bar): 185x5 (inaccurate - more like 185x3)
• Seated Overhead Triceps Extension (Single Dumbbell): 100x6 (inaccurate - more like 100x8)
• Hammer Curl (Non-Alternating): 55x8 (accurate - more like 55x6)
• Lateral Raise (Dumbbells): 40x8 (accurate)

I'll post my weight on D1 of the Havoc cycle. Today I'm around 181 - early morning b4 eating. Will also try to get my bodyfat % tested.

 

[PIKEstrong]

I would add in a natty test booster and AI to your PCT.

 

[bruthaf]

I would add in a natty test booster and AI to your PCT.

I will take that into consideration. I will probably add Hard FX.

I am probably not going to start the Havoc until Monday or Tuesday. I live in Phoenix, and my A/C broke on Sunday. It's been hell (112-115 degrees this week) in my house and my body needs some recovery time before I start killing it again. I trained all week (except today), but with little sleep and sweating all night, I'm down to 178 pounds this morning and feeling completely drained. Taking some time off to rec0voer then I will be hitting it hard again.

One more thing - I benched yesterday. Got 300x2. Then tried 335x1. Epic fail. I will be keeping this in mind during the Havoc cycle. I hope to get up to 375x1.

 

[j05441]

Im in for the ride. Looking at an epi / havoc cycle soon. Were almost spot on in weights. Looking forward to see some good results to look forward too

 

[bruthaf]

So far so good. I started the cycle on Tuesday and immediately felt the pump. I made the mistake of thinking that small boost would help me get the 335 up that I failed to do days before. Unfortunately, I failed again, but I think I was a bit overzealous. I still hit 300x2 for bench. I also got alternating hammer curls for 60x6 which is a small increase. Not bad for Day 1. My weight was 180 and my bf was a healthy 9%.

20mg in the morning pre-workout followed. The other 10mg were taken at ~4pm. I definitely felt the boost. Now, let's see some results!

BTW - I also had a physical Tuesday morning. All lab results came back pretty good - even though I was dosing right before the appointment. My blood pressure was slightly elevated (130/83). Only issues noted with bloodwork "slightly elevated blood sugar - 104 when normal is between 65-99" and "slightly reduced renal test". The blood sugar was a little disconcerting but has to be unrelated to the supps. But the renal and bp issues are likely somewhat related. I took 20 mg of Havoc + 1 scoop of Maximize intense before my workout which was 3 hours before the labs. Talk about elevating blood pressure! And the renal test issue is likely from processing all the stims I take and the Havoc. The good part is that they ordered new labs in 2-3 weeks. Great! That will help me make sure I'm all good right when my cycle should be nearing it's peak.

 

[bruthaf]

Day 2 was just some HIIT treadmill. I felt a bit more fatigued than usual, but I have a lot going on and am not getting much sleep. Spend a lot of time in the heat at my kids' practices, too, so I only blame lack of rest. Still had a good session. I really like this Maximize Intense so far. Better than Maximize V2. On cardio days, I am taking the 30 mg of Havoc in 3 doses spread throughout the day.

Day 3 (today) - Still weighing in at ~180. Still busy days so I'm sure I need to get my calories up. My wife commented on how good my six pack looks this morning - something I rarely hear - so I'm going to experiment by upping calories by ~15% or so. Today, despite another night of only ~5 hours sleep (I really need around 7 to function), I had a good workout. Back/Triceps session that was intense and only lasted about 40 minutes. I could have gone another hour but duty called.... 20mg pre-w/o again and 10 later today.

Anyway, today my high points were:

Bent-Over DB rows: 105x7 - I've never gone above 100x6 on dumbbell rows so this was great.
Seated Overhead DB tricep extensions (single DB) - 110x5. I've never tried anything above 100.

This weekend, I will try to post a couple of pics - something I want to do weekly to track progress.

So far - I have noticed no side effects.

 

[j05441]

Hows the cardio on it? And what cardio are you doing specifically? Love the detail bud,

 

[j05441]

Also have you tested you bp again? Being that close to gym time i can imagine have some effect. Possibly that preworkout too.

 

[sunaddicted]

im in, will start a havoc cycle myself in about 2 months so im really curious about ur results.
Good luck on your ride!

 

[uvawahoowa]

So far so good. I started the cycle on Tuesday and immediately felt the pump. I made the mistake of thinking that small boost would help me get the 335 up that I failed to do days before. Unfortunately, I failed again, but I think I was a bit overzealous. I still hit 300x2 for bench. I also got alternating hammer curls for 60x6 which is a small increase. Not bad for Day 1. My weight was 180 and my bf was a healthy 9%.

20mg in the morning pre-workout followed. The other 10mg were taken at ~4pm. I definitely felt the boost. Now, let's see some results!

BTW - I also had a physical Tuesday morning. All lab results came back pretty good - even though I was dosing right before the appointment. My blood pressure was slightly elevated (130/83). Only issues noted with bloodwork "slightly elevated blood sugar - 104 when normal is between 65-99" and "slightly reduced renal test". The blood sugar was a little disconcerting but has to be unrelated to the supps. But the renal and bp issues are likely somewhat related. I took 20 mg of Havoc + 1 scoop of Maximize intense before my workout which was 3 hours before the labs. Talk about elevating blood pressure! And the renal test issue is likely from processing all the stims I take and the Havoc. The good part is that they ordered new labs in 2-3 weeks. Great! That will help me make sure I'm all good right when my cycle should be nearing it's peak.

Don't you have to be fasted for those blood tests?

 

[AaronJP1]

Hey Forum -

This is going to be my first log and first planned cycle. It's also my first experience with Havoc. I'm not a rookie when it comes to PH supp's and the like; I've tried 19-Nor 3-Andro, SuperDrol and Tropinol over the years. My other experiences were hit and miss due to poor planning. But with experience (and age) comes wisdom and this time I am trying to plan the cycle properly to maximize gains during the cycle and minimize losses during PCT.

My goal is definitely to put on some lean mass and experience some strength gains. I am a life-long gym rat with a little bit of amateur bodybuilding experience (even some regional wins) but I stopped taking nutrition seriously about 4 years ago. I have spent the last six months or so leaning out and have lost about 20 pounds. Currently I am 5'9 183 lbs and ~8% body fat at 43 years old. I train moderately heavy - but usually alone - so I don't really know my 1-rep max lifts. Here are some stats - based upon recent lifts:

Current Strength Levels


[*]Flat Bench: 300x2
[*] Free-weight Squat: 315x5
[*]Seated Military Press (Bar): 185x5
[*]Seated Overhead Triceps Extension (Single Dumbbell): 100x6
[*]Hammer Curl (Non-Alternating): 55x8
[*]Lateral Raise (Dumbbells): 40x8


Some of these lifts have suffered with my recent weight loss, but these are a pretty good indication of where I currently sit. I'm hoping to gain anywhere from 7 to 15 pounds while staying at 8-10% bodyfat and increase each of these lifts (same reps) by ~10-20%. Lofty goals but worth a shot.

My training split varies but a typical run looks like this:

Training Split


[*]Chest/Biceps
[*]HIIT Cardio (30 mins)/ Abs
[*]Back/Triceps
[*]HIIT Cardio (30 mins)/ Abs
[*]Shoulders / Forearms
[*]HIIT Cardio (30 mins)/ Abs
[*]Legs / Calves
[*]HIIT Cardio (30 mins)/ Abs


I usually get to the first 5-6 items in a typical week (usually 1 workout per day - 2 on an unusually active day when I can make the time) and take a 1-2 day rest before continuing on to the next item on the list. My strength workouts are high intensity with a minimal rest between sets. I usually super-set bodyparts and my workouts are usually 30-45 minutes - never more than an hour.

I just started pre-loading Cycle Assist yesterday and plan to start the Havoc in two weeks (August 10). My planned cycle looks like this:

Planned Cycle
Pre-Cycle
Week 1-2, CEL Cycle Assist

Cycle
Week 3-8, Havoc 30/40/40/40/50/50, CEL Cycle Assist

Post Cycle
Week 9-12, CEL PCT Assist, Nolvadex 20/20/10/10

Diet
I eat around 2500-3000 calories a day taking in about 100-150 grams of carbs a day and 175-250 grams of protein. My weight loss has not completely staved off so I still panic too much - I'm embarrassed to admit - and I end up having a "cheat" meal about 3-4 times per week lately....WAY too many... Depending on how this cycle impacts my appetite and bodyfat, I may consider increasing my calories and carbohydrate intake as time passes while being a bit more disciplined about my overall diet.

I am open to advice. I definitely do not consider myself an expert. I decided to create a log this time so that I (and others) can learn from the collective expertise of the forum and my experiences.

I will update this log as much as possible once I start with the Havoc. Until then, fire away - and thanks for your input.

Still solid stats either way... Diet doesn't sound like it made too bad of a difference.

 

[bruthaf]

Also have you tested you bp again? Being that close to gym time i can imagine have some effect. Possibly that preworkout too.

I have not been back to Dr. I'm not too concerned with bp. The pre-workout almost definitely did me in. But I go back in about 2 weeks so we will see.

 

[bruthaf]

Don't you have to be fasted for those blood tests?

That's a good point. I did not consider this. I will make sure to be fasted next time I go in (~2 weeks from now).

 

[bruthaf]

Day 4 - Shoulder routine in the morning. Also hit forearms/traps really ood. Pretty good workout using the same supp breakdown I have been using all week. My weight is still unchanged (~179 pounds). Felt stronger but very crowded gym so nothing substantial to post here. My forearm curls went up a bit (dumbell curls at 8x60 which is 5 more lbs than usual). I also dropped my iPhone in water and won't be able to replace it until Monday so no pics until then. Other than that, still no side effects and loving the supps.

I am going to do something unusual and not workout on Saturday and Sunday. I have a lot of family stuff going on and I could frankly use the rest. I feel like I am overtraining a bit and that's why my weight is stuck where it is. Going to take food shopping seriously this w/e so I can start upping my protein and carbs starting Monday. See you then.

Day 5 - rest. Spread Havoc throughout day. No pre-workout stims so I was substituting energy drinks. Maybe I need to chill out on the caffeine....
Day 6 - rest. Same Havoc. Same energy drinks. Usually have 2. At least today I only had 1. Not bad....

 

[sunaddicted]

too bad what happened to your iphone! i really feel wid you man!!
glad to hear youve experienced no sides set.. good luck bro

 

[bruthaf]

]Before I continue the daily log, I do want to point out that I had some drinks over the weekend. I know I shouldn't while I am dosing, but it's hard for me to pass up a good social event and there were a couple over the weekend. I usually drink around 1-1.5 gallons of water per day. Knowing that I was going to drink, I upped it to ~2 gallons over the weekend. No working out and plenty of recovery.

Day 7 - HIIT Treadmill Cardio session for 35 minutes with a 15 minute ab session at the end.

Day 8 - I continue to use 20 mg of Havoc pre-workout (at like 5:15 AM) and the remaining 10 mg mid-afternoon around 4 PM or so). I definitely feel the boost of the Havoc and Maximize Intense pre-workout. Did a leg workout. I have been trying to man up and squat on most leg days. I didn't have it in me today so I stuck with the leg press and threw in some leg curls, standing leg extensions, and, of course, different types of calf raises. High point today - I stacked 8x45 and 1x25 on each side of the leg press and knocked out 6 reps at the peak of my workout. That's a first. Next week we will see if my weak squats have gotten any better.

I am starting to feel fatigued around 2 or 3:00 on workout days, but I think that's because my body got used to 3 doses of Havoc spread equally throughout the day on non-workout days like this weekend. Going back down to 2 on workout days makes a slight difference. Nothing substantial and no other sides so far.

I got a replacement phone so here's a couple of pics. Not proud of them. My diet sucked this weekend. Had too much alcohol and not enough food. And when I did eat, I made a lot of bad choices. But, it's good to have a baseline to measure over the next few weeks.

 

[bruthaf]

Day 9 - Got through my first week. I have added more carbs and protein to my diet, and my weight is up slightly. I am at 182 this morning. Also time to up Havoc dose to 40mg. Took 20 mg pre-workout (5am) with 3/4 scoop of Intense. Second will be at ~11:30 am with the third at ~4pm. (After the fact, I realized today is actually Day 9 when I thought it was Day 8 so I upped my dosage a day later than I was supposed to)

Chest and biceps day. I have already failed to get 335 twice so it's been messing with my mind. I had no spotter today so I lowered my expectations before I left for gym and set my sights on 330. I was still scared to try it with no spotter. But I did anyway. So, my planned bench workout looked like this:
Bench Press

• 45x15 (Warm up)
• 95x12 (Warm up)
• 165x10
• 230x6
• 265x4
• 295x2
• 330x1

Thankfully, I was successful this time. I am going to try the 'Add 50 pounds to your bench press in 10 weeks' process to see if I can add 5 pounds per week to my 1 RM. It will be tough because I will be done with Havoc at week 6, but time will tell. Anyway, damn good workout after that. I even hit alternating hammer curls (with a slight variation where one arm is always in the up or flexed position while I am curling the other dumbell) for 55x6. And believe it or not, I was supersetting this with my flat bench press sets. I just can't sit still and rest between sets. I always superset, and I am sure it hurts my bench. That's just my way. Anyway, I know that the hammer curls would have been much easier without the constantly flexed arm so I was really happy with today's workout. I was doing single arm concentration curls for 35x12 at the end of the workout. Can't wait to see what happens when I have 40-50 mg of Havoc in my system each day every day.

 

[AaronJP1]

Is that you I'm your avi?

I seen the pix u posted... Solid man for sure. Been reading the log...

What's a break down of your routine if you don't mind me asking?

 

[bruthaf]

Is that you I'm your avi?

I seen the pix u posted... Solid man for sure. Been reading the log...

What's a break down of your routine if you don't mind me asking?

Yes - the avatar is me. It's a contest pic from a couple of years ago.

I am definitely not proud of the pics I just posted, but it's good to embarrass myself into submission.

As far as my routine, it is constantly evolving. Here is the baseline for it:

Training Split

1. Chest/Biceps
2. HIIT Cardio (30 mins)/ Abs
3. Back/Triceps
4. HIIT Cardio (30 mins)/ Abs
5. Shoulders / Forearms
6. HIIT Cardio (30 mins)/ Abs
7. Legs / Calves
8. HIIT Cardio (30 mins)/ Abs

I usually get to the first 5-6 items in a typical week (usually 1 workout per day - 2 on an unusually active day when I can make the time) and take a 1-2 day rest before continuing on to the next item on the list. My strength workouts are high intensity with a minimal rest between sets. I usually super-set bodyparts and my workouts are usually 30-45 minutes - never more than an hour.

Like I said, if I rest more than 1-2 minutes between supersets, that's a long rest. Usually I just go from set to set to set....etc. only resting the amount of time it takes to either change the weight or make it over to the other area for the next exercise. But here is what I did this morning in the order that each set was performed (today was Chest/Biceps Day; I did legs yesterday. Today was supposed to cardio, but I felt like lifting. But I just realized that this is really day 9 so my log is off. I did cardio on day 7 then legs then chest biceps. I am going to edit my posts....). This is all based from memory but it was only a few hours ago so it should be pretty damn close:

Superset - BPb / AHCh

• BPb: 45x15 (Warm up)
• BPb: 95x12 (Warm up)
• BPb: 165x10
• AHCh: 25x15
• BPb: 230x6
• AHCh: 35x12
• BPb: 265x4
• AHCh: 45x10
• BPb: 295x2
• AHCh: 50x8
• BPb: 330x1
• AHCh: 55x6

Superset - IBPm / SACm / CCdb

• IBPm: 120x15
• SACm: 50x12
• IBPm: 135x12
• PCm: 60x10
• IBPm: 150x10
• PCm: 70x8
• IBPm: 150x8
• CCdb: 12x35 / CCdb: 10x35 / CCdb: 8x35 / CCdb: 5x35

Superset - PDF / PCm

• PDF: 120x15
• PCm: 100x10
• PDF: 135x12
• PCm: 110x8
• PDF: 150x10
• PCm: 110x7
• PDF: 150x8
• PCm: 110x6

Legend

• BPb = Flat Bench Press (Bar)
• AHCh = Alternating Hammer Curls (Held at Top Position while other arm is curling)
• IBPm = Incline Bench Press (Machine - this is one of those cable "free motion" machines and I actually start with 7-8 reps of incline and finish the set with a decline motion)
• SACm = Seated Alternating Curls (Machine - Another of those freee motion cable machines. I pronate my wrist as I bring up each cable and flex hard/pause at the top)
• PCm = Preacher Curls (Machine)
• CCdb = Concentration Curls (Dumbell Single Arm)
• PDF = Pec Dec Fly

The good part about this method is it burns fat as well (keeps my heart rate high) and gets me in and out of the gym fast. The bad part is I am sure I am sacrificing strength gains by shifting blood around my system constantly.

 

[AaronJP1]

You're a fan of hammer strength? Are those the machines u r using?

 

[sunaddicted]

ure still looking pretty good bro - glad to see u include pictures in this, i find this to be the missing part in most peoples logs.. (gained 20lbs are useless if u cant see those 20lbs urself)
good luck that the epi shows its power very fast

 

[Soulpatch]

Damn man I think you look amazing.

 

[bruthaf]

You're a fan of hammer strength? Are those the machines u r using?

Yeah - I think they are HammerStrength. The ones I prefer are called "Signature Series Cable Modem" I think

 

[FirstPlace]

You look great and I am Running the same cycle as I speak. Hovoc with cycle assist. This is my first cycle and Im skeptical of this stuff. Hoping it works tho. Have you added anything to your original plan for the cycle? and have you gained any weight or strength so far? Ohh and what week are you on? Thanks for the info and once again your looking like a beast!

 

[bruthaf]

Day 10 - Cardio. Still at 40mg. No side effects. HIIT Treadmill was a bit difficult. My joints feel a little more sensitive than usual. But got though a 30 minute session. No abs today.

Day 11 - Shoulder/Traps today. Another 40mg spread throughout day (20 Pre-Workout - 5:20 AM/10@11AM/10@4:30PM). I did seated bar military press first and ended with 185x5. It was a distracted workout. A couple of guys kept bugging me to talk that I hadn't seen in a while. People don't get it. I go to the gym to train....not to chat. So if you see me with my headphones on and I talk to you for a minute and end the convo with "Good to see you, man"...that means don't bug me again. But people did and I had a sh*tty workout as a result. I am weighing in at 184 today so I'm happy. Anyway, by the end of today I started feeling sick.

Day 12 - Totally sick. Can barely move. Still took 10mg x 4 spread throughout the day but hardly eating anything. F*CK!!!!

 

[bruthaf]

You look great and I am Running the same cycle as I speak. Hovoc with cycle assist. This is my first cycle and Im skeptical of this stuff. Hoping it works tho. Have you added anything to your original plan for the cycle? and have you gained any weight or strength so far? Ohh and what week are you on? Thanks for the info and once again your looking like a beast!

I haven't added anything new. I'm sticking with the plan. Other than being sick, I am really happy about the cycle so far. Thanks for the complement. I don't see it, but I appreciate it.

 

[uvawahoowa]

Day 10 - Cardio. Still at 40mg. No side effects. HIIT Treadmill was a bit difficult. My joints feel a little more sensitive than usual. But got though a 30 minute session. No abs today.

Day 11 - Shoulder/Traps today. Another 40mg spread throughout day (20 Pre-Workout - 5:20 AM/10@11AM/10@4:30PM). I did seated bar military press first and ended with 185x5. It was a distracted workout. A couple of guys kept bugging me to talk that I hadn't seen in a while. People don't get it. I go to the gym to train....not to chat. So if you see me with my headphones on and I talk to you for a minute and end the convo with "Good to see you, man"...that means don't bug me again. But people did and I had a sh*tty workout as a result. I am weighing in at 184 today so I'm happy. Anyway, by the end of today I started feeling sick.

Day 12 - Totally sick. Can barely move. Still took 10mg x 4 spread throughout the day but hardly eating anything. F*CK!!!!

**** bro, hope you bounce back soon. Enjoying the log so far

 

[epstaneman]

Nice log. Your messing the with dose I'll be running my whole cycle starting tomorrow. You have a great physique already bro...-no homo- ....Should be getting some pretty da*n good results with the epi.


Good luck on your cycle!

 

[bruthaf]

I'm back! I was completely out of it for the last few days. I spent most of my time in bed with a crappy diet. The only thing I got right is that I continued to take my supps as if I was working out. I considered dropping all supps until I got better, but I figured it was best to keep the epi in my system while I recovered. And I think it paid off. First, here's the bad post - the being sick as hell could barely move laying around like a log bs post...

Day 13 - Spent the entire day in bed. Only got up to piss, take supps and eat and that was rare. Stuck to my 4 doses of Havoc 10mg/4x over the course of the day.

Day 14 - More of the same. I was really getting pissed off at this point. I felt like I was wasting my cycle. But I knew I could not work out. I was out of it and spent all day in bed like a complete p*ssy....

Day 15 - I totally considered going to the gym today. But when I got out of bed, I knew it was a mistake. I managed to make it to work - only to leave halfway through the day. Weighed myself today and my some miracle, I have actually gained weight. I'm at 185. Wow. My diet hasn't been great but it hasn't been completely terrible. So gains have been made - between 5-7 pounds overall so I would say 4-5 pounds of muscle. Not bad for two weeks...

 

[bruthaf]

Day 16 - Still sick but f*ck it. I cannot lay around anymore. I forced myself into the gym and I am so glad I did. I'm still at 185 today. I took 20mg pre-workout with some Havoc and boy did it feel good to have the stims in my system again. I did back/triceps today and threw in some calves. I even warmed up with a mini 10 minute HIIT stairclimber session to burn off some excess fat from laying around all this time. I was a little apprehensive to lift too heavy since I've been laid up for a while. I focused more on technique and form and holding the lifts at the top than usual and gradual added weight as my workout progressed. But to my surprise, it seems like I actually got stronger. The rest must have been a blessing in disguise. I hit all machines (some cable and some plated) so it's hard to quantify the difference, but it was a great workout.

I even took my pale ass (haven't tanned in ~4 weeks) to the tanning bed and took a couple of pics to keep having something to see as a measure of my progress. Still not great, but hey - I was sick - cut me some slack.

 

[bruthaf]

Day 17 - Feeling much better but not 100%. I had a choice to make today. Cardio or Chest/Biceps. It was actually a tough choice. I wanted one more day of rest before I hit chest again. I want to increase my max bench and I didn't think today would be a good day to continue that journey. By that same token, I didn't want to do cardio since I'm still getting over my chest cold. So, I compromised. I did chest/biceps/forearms with a brief 10 minute mini HIIT treadmill session at the end.

According to my w/o plan, I was supposed to go for 335x1 today on flat bench at the end of the bench session. It was supposed to be like this:

• Warmup

1. 170x10
2. 235x6
3. 270x4
4. 300x2
5. 335x1

I got through the first four sets pretty comfortably (with my usual craziness of supersetting preacher curls and even some leg raises in the mix). But when it came time to try 335, the fact that I was sick was in my head, and I didn't want to try it without a spotter. But I hate getting a spot and only trust a very few people to do so - like my wife - because people jump in too damn quickly. I don't want you to touch the bar unless I ask for help. Most people jump in as soon as they see any indication of a struggle. And there was no one around that looked like I could trust them to spot me right. So I just kept 300 on the bar for my fifth set but I was very happy to see that I actually hit it for 3 reps for my 5th set. I was overjoyed at that. I mean, I know a lot of guys can do better, but I am competing with myself and I haven't done that in quite a few years. AND, I even had 3 plates and a 10 on the Hammer Curl preacher machine by my last set for 5 reps and I have NEVER gone above 2 plates and a 25. So I am really pleased with my progress. Weighing in at 186 today but I am going to go with low carbs today and probably tomorrow with additional protein to see how that impacts my weight. I anticipate going back down to 184 or 185 but we will see.

No side effects and happy to be back in the game.

 

[bruthaf]

Nice log. Your messing the with dose I'll be running my whole cycle starting tomorrow. You have a great physique already bro...-no homo- ....Should be getting some pretty da*n good results with the epi.


Good luck on your cycle!

Good luck to you bro! Have a log going?

 

[sunaddicted]

man sh*t sounds awesome - glad to hear that your getting better and your cycle is kicking that nicely!
pics are looking badass for a firsttime user and I also like the way you log - keep it up and good luck
really curious bout your results. hopefully my cycle will kick in that fast and nicely aswell

 

[bruthaf]

Day 18

Today was a cardio day. I did a 30 minute HIIT treadmill session and it was more difficult than usual. I can't tell if it was because I was exhausted (I'm sure I tend to overtrain) or because I am still getting over my cold or because of the cycle. Maybe a little of each. All I know is my joints are more sensitive than usual and it's harder for me to regain my composure after one of the sprints. I still hit it hard - but it was harder than it used to be...pre-cycle. Now that I analyze it more carefully, though, I did step up the intensity a bit by raising the incline earler than usual. Maybe that's it. But it still felt much harder than it should have. Here is what I was aiming for with my actuals in red:


5 Minute warm-up (2% incline - ramping up from 3.0 mph to 6.5 mph)

HIIT Treadmill Workout:

• 2 minute run (2% incline; 7.5 mph)
• 1 minute rest/walk (2% incline; 4 mph)
• 1 minute run (2% incline; 8.5 mph)
• 1 minute rest/walk (2% incline; 4 mph)
• 1 minute run (2% incline; 9.5 mph) 3% incline/9.2 mph
• 1 minute rest/walk (2% incline; 4 mph)
• 1 minute run (2% incline; 10.0 mph) 3.5% incline/9.8 mph
• 1.5 minute rest/walk (2% incline; 4 mph)
• 1 minute run (3% incline; 10.5 mph) 4.0% incline/10.2 mph
• 1.5 minute rest/walk (2% incline; 4 mph)
• 1 minute run (3.5% incline; 10.8 mph) 4.5% incline
• 2 minute rest/walk (2% incline; 4 mph)
• 1 minute run (4% incline; 11.0 mph) 5.0% incline / 11.2 mph
• 2 minute rest/walk (2% incline; 4 mph)
• 1 minute run (4.5% incline; 11.2 mph) SKIPPED
• 2 minute rest/walk (2% incline; 4 mph) SKIPPED
• 5 minute run (2% incline; 7.5 mph) 2.5 minute run
• 4 minute cooldown jog/walk (0% incline; 3-4.5 mph) SKIPPED

I followed this up with a quick 3 sets of a superset of side raises x 25 / machine crunches-leg raises x 25. Even my abs are much stronger than usual. On the ab machine (it's a unique one where you are seated and use your upper core to move the weight which also forces your legs up towards your core) I usually put the weight at 110 or 120 for 15 reps. Today I got 140 for 25. That's unheard of.

There is one thing that is impeding my progress overall. Definitely not getting enough sleep

:yawn: ​

but I have 2 kids in football (one Pee Wee and 1 in HS Varsity) and 1 in HS swimming so by the time I can crash, I'm lucky to get 6 hours of sleep. Usually it's more like 4-4.5. And I need at least 7. Once we hit September, practices lessen so I hope to start really gaining bigger muscle and strength gains then with the added rest.

Other than that, I am just hungry all the damn time - especially at night. After I get through another low carb today, I am going to check my weight and then raise up my carb intake during the day drastically and raise my overall caloric intake to ~3700 or so.

 

[epstaneman]

You increasing your fish oils or any type of joint supports? So now that your a good ways into it....when would you say you TRULY noticed it starting to 'kick in' ? Course it kicks in fully after 3 weeks....just curious as I'm doing the same compound....

 

[threeFs]

subbed. I'm running a Havoc log as well. I'm on day 14

good stuff man

 

[bruthaf]

You increasing your fish oils or any type of joint supports? So now that your a good ways into it....when would you say you TRULY noticed it starting to 'kick in' ? Course it kicks in fully after 3 weeks....just curious as I'm doing the same compound....

I do not take any fish oils and and am just using Glucossamine in the standard amounts. Maybe I'll kick that up a notch. I really do feel like it's 'kicked-in' but I absolutely cannot wait to see what happens next week. I still feel very slightly sick and can't wait to see how my body reacts when I'm back to full speed.

 

[epstaneman]

I do not take any fish oils and and am just using Glucossamine in the standard amounts. Maybe I'll kick that up a notch. I really do feel like it's 'kicked-in' but I absolutely cannot wait to see what happens next week. I still feel very slightly sick and can't wait to see how my body reacts when I'm back to full speed.

Make sure to get your rest in bro. Even if you have to skip a gym session. Training too much while your body isn't recovered from an illness will not make it grow muscle. It's hard not to train, but you can actually benefit in terms of gains simply by letting the body rest and recover.



And damn....EVERYONE seems to be running epistane right now. Crazy.....

 

[bruthaf]

Make sure to get your rest in bro. Even if you have to skip a gym session. Training too much while your body isn't recovered from an illness will not make it grow muscle. It's hard not to train, but you can actually benefit in terms of gains simply by letting the body rest and recover.



And damn....EVERYONE seems to be running epistane right now. Crazy.....

Sigh.... Oh to be 25 again....

But alas....once you're in your 40s like me, sleep time is rare and precious. It just don't happen bro. Especially with a bunch of kids in the house. So the gym is my refuge. And I am sure I overtrain and don't rest enough. I've been hearing that for years. But my workouts are short and targeted. And I eat plenty to make up for it. But thanks for the advice. If I only had a dollar for every time that I heard that I need rest to grow muscle.... :fing02:

 

[epstaneman]

Sigh.... Oh to be 25 again....

But alas....once you're in your 40s like me, sleep time is rare and precious. It just don't happen bro. Especially with a bunch of kids in the house. So the gym is my refuge. And I am sure I overtrain and don't rest enough. I've been hearing that for years. But my workouts are short and targeted. And I eat plenty to make up for it. But thanks for the advice. If I only had a dollar for every time that I heard that I need rest to grow muscle.... :fing02:

lol Hey....whatever your doing is working so keep doing it. I'm 25......I still think I know everything.



J/K.....to be honest, I have to type some correct peace of information in every post to make up for my insecurities I developed from having a small penis and not going past one nut in the bed.






....................But that's neither here nor there. :boobies:

 

[bruthaf]

lol Hey....whatever your doing is working so keep doing it. I'm 25......I still think I know everything.



J/K.....to be honest, I have to type some correct peace of information in every post to make up for my insecurities I developed from having a small penis and not going past one nut in the bed.






....................But that's neither here nor there. :boobies:

Too funny man. But your advice is good. Just wish there were more hours in the day.

 

[bruthaf]

Day 19

LEG DAY!

I know it's more a cliche to say this than anything but... I hate leg day. I mean I really just despise it. Training legs is such a tiring and difficult endeavor. And when I went to bed last night (knowing full well that I would only get 5 hours of sleep if I went to the gym this morning) I was dreading it. But I dragged my sorry ass in the gym anyway. :tired:

4:40AM - 10 mg Havoc. Within 20 minutes I could feel myself waking up.
5:00 AM - 1 scoop of Opt. Nutr. 100% Whey Gold Standard in water
5:10 AM - 10 mg Havoc / three-quarter scoop Max Intense
5:30 AM - LET'S DO THIS!!! :angryfire:

What would I do w/o pre-workout?!? It is the only way I keep getting to the gym routinely. F*ck rest...

Even so, I still was not looking forward to squats. I have always had problems w/my hip joints whenever I do squats. It's been a constant struggle trying to move heavy weight because of it. And I've been to plenty of "sports medicine" doctors who have been useless in helping solve the problem. And as sensitive as my joints have been (upped my Glucossmaine a bit starting yesterday) I was worried as hell. BUT.... Even though I still felt the pain, I did manage to get up 325x8 in my last set. I had to kind of rush my workout so it was not a spectacular leg routine. But that was quite a gain for me in squats (last time I did squats I only got up to 315x5) so I am still so happy. Now - they were not ass to the floor squats. My hips just won't let that happen - even when I drop down to just the bar. But they also weren't those bs two inch "well I bent my knees didn't I" crap you see all of the newbies doing either. It was respectable thighs parallel exercise.

Good news - Still getting stronger. No huge side effects besides joint sensitivity (and maybe some back pumps in tanning bed yesterday).

Bad news - I weighed myself last night and I was back down to 181.5. I have definitely been eating more so it was kind of unbelievable. And frustrating....

But I also definitely cleaned up my diet quite a bit since being sick. So who knows? All I know is I am going to up my calories and carbs again today (my protein is already off the charts at anywhere from 320-390g per day) and see how this ride goes. I didn't weigh myself this morning. I think I will wait a few days. I tend to obsess about weight - which you shouldn't do. With strength gains, the weight will come.... ("If you build it, he will come")

There probably won't be any working out for the next couple of days. Got some kids' sh*t to do so see you on the other side. And Happy Labor Day weekend.

 

[epstaneman]

LEG DAY!

I know it's more a cliche to say this than anything but... I hate leg day. I mean I really just despise it. Training legs is such a tiring and difficult endeavor. And when I went to bed last night (knowing full well that I would only get 5 hours of sleep if I went to the gym this morning) I was dreading it. But I dragged my sorry ass in the gym anyway. :tired:

4:40AM - 10 mg Havoc. Within 20 minutes I could feel myself waking up.
5:00 AM - 1 scoop of Opt. Nutr. 100% Whey Gold Standard in water
5:10 AM - 10 mg Havoc / three-quarter scoop Max Intense
5:30 AM - LET'S DO THIS!!! :angryfire:

What would I do w/o pre-workout?!? It is the only way I keep getting to the gym routinely. F*ck rest...

Even so, I still was not looking forward to squats. I have always had problems w/my hip joints whenever I do squats. It's been a constant struggle trying to move heavy weight because of it. And I've been to plenty of "sports medicine" doctors who have been useless in helping solve the problem. And as sensitive as my joints have been (upped my Glucossmaine a bit starting yesterday) I was worried as hell. BUT.... Even though I still felt the pain, I did manage to get up 325x8 in my last set. I had to kind of rush my workout so it was not a spectacular leg routine. But that was quite a gain for me in squats (last time I did squats I only got up to 315x5) so I am still so happy. Now - they were not ass to the floor squats. My hips just won't let that happen - even when I drop down to just the bar. But they also weren't those bs two inch "well I bent my knees didn't I" crap you see all of the newbies doing either. It was respectable thighs parallel exercise.

Good news - Still getting stronger. No huge side effects besides joint sensitivity (and maybe some back pumps in tanning bed yesterday).

Bad news - I weighed myself last night and I was back down to 181.5. I have definitely been eating more so it was kind of unbelievable. And frustrating....

But I also definitely cleaned up my diet quite a bit since being sick. So who knows? All I know is I am going to up my calories and carbs again today (my protein is already off the charts at anywhere from 320-390g per day) and see how this ride goes. I didn't weigh myself this morning. I think I will wait a few days. I tend to obsess about weight - which you shouldn't do. With strength gains, the weight will come.... ("If you build it, he will come")

There probably won't be any working out for the next couple of days. Got some kids' sh*t to do so see you on the other side. And Happy Labor Day weekend.

I've held on upwards of 8lbs water weight before so cleaning up the diet always warrants a drop on the scale
....don't let the scale weight get to you bro. If your burning fat and building muscle (which is f*cking sweet) the scale is a enemy. I'm using a fat caliper myself and basically telling the scale to f*ck off. They're like 20 bucks for an electronic one at the local vitamin shop.


I can't go heavy on squats either but because of my back. I just do what I can and finish killing the legs off with the leg press machine. That's where I make sure they get murdered.


Keep killing it!

 

[threeFs]

Most squats I see people do are way too heavy for way too little range of motion. Even the arrogant personal training director at my corporate ass gym, with his drive thru headset on, squats 365 for 4 inches. So...at east you're not that guy.

You sound like you know proper form and just have a physical limitation. Your squat sounds pretty respectable as it is. No shame bro.

But there's this super douchebag with his hat that he switches from forward to backwards every couple minutes. He also has a pronounced forward head from his chest dominant workout. Anyhow, he will put 315 on the rack and bounce from 2 inches to locked knees about 6 times. Then he will switch his hat direction, leave a towel on the bar and go do chest again. He will take the rack for like 15 minutes but use it for about 2.
So.... At least you're not that guy either.

 

[bruthaf]

Day 21

Rest. Nothing new to report

 

[bruthaf]

Day 22

Another rest day.

 

[bruthaf]

Day 23

HIIT Treadmill and abs session today - 30 minutes. I'll tell you what. Sh*t was hard as hell today. I did manage to increase my top speed to 11.3 mph. But it was damn difficult. I can probably blame most of that on my weekend. I drank vodka like a fish Saturday night and spent the rest of the weekend paying for it. But I was religious about my supps and drank water like it was going out of style. I weighed myself Monday night after the cardio and came in at 184. After this weekend, I have no idea where my weight really is so I need a few days to stabilize again.

No real side effects to speak of.

 

[bruthaf]

Day 24

Today I woke up feeling like an absolute beast. I only got ~5.5 hours of sleep but I was restless as hell thinking about the gym. And once I got the 20mg of epi and Max. Intense in my system, I was totally ready to go. And it showed in my workout.

Today was shoulders/traps/forearms and it was one of the best training sessions I ever had. I felt like I could lift anything today. Here a couple of the high points:

- Seated dumbbell presses for 65x12, 75x10, 85x8
- Reverse (held behind me) dumbbell forearm curls for 50x15, 55x12, 60x10, 65x8
- Lateral dumbbell raises for 35x12, 40x10, 45x8
- Threw in some Pec Dec Flies (have a middle chest weakness - too much seperation between middle pectorals) and got 165x15, 180x12, 195x10

All of those lifts are new personal bests. And, as always, those were performed while supersetting with other exercises.

The only downside was my grip strength was lacking today. I try not to use wrist wraps but I could barely hold 120 lbs for shrugs for 6-7 reps before I felt like I was going to drop the weight. I had to drop down to 100-105 to get a good 10 reps. That's a slide backwards for me. Weird...

But I felt better than I have felt in a long damn time. I must be hitting the peak of the cycle. Got home at 7:00AM and weighed in at 187.5. That's a little unbelievable and I must be retaining tons of water. But I am so used to drinking water now (thanks to the concern about drinking on cycle then nursing a stinging hangover) that I am drinking close to 2 gallons a day. So who knows? You would think all that fluid intake would be flushing water out of my system faster... Time will tell.

No time to get any pics posted today. Busy as hell at work. I will try to hit tanning bed tomorrow to post pics.

 

[sunaddicted]

sh*t sounds awesome! good luck and have fun the following weeks bro!