Eight's Caffeine Withdrawal & Cardar1ne (GW 501516) Log

Eight

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Since joining AM, I've really enjoyed reading all of your logs and learned a lot from them. Although I don't expect this to be particularly interesting for anyone, I thought I'd try and contribute and log my experiences with cardarine. Not expecting much from this - I'm just taking it for curiosity / fun because I can't take any anabolics etc. for another two months.

Hadn't planned to start this until next week at the earliest, but just had a burning desire to take something... so **** it.

Mini Bio

Male, 38 years old, no current medical conditions or history of problems. Have been neglecting cardio lately, but am decently lean and fit. Training schedule incorporates Bulgarian-style, daily training of the major Olympic and power lifts; Greyskull LP (GSLP) strength training (2-3 times per week); and coached, CrossFit (CF) sessions at an affiliate. Usually training twice a day for six days of the week, and one session on Sundays.

Day 0 - Decaffeinated

It turns out that my caffeine tolerance is now at a fairly absurd level. I’ve come to this realisation after a day when three doses of ECA, half a dozen cups of (strong) coffee, and a double serving of pre-workout, went completely unnoticed by my system. Facing a world without caffeine or pre-workout powder, I bought some Olympus Labs Cardar1ne.

I seriously neglected my cardio while on an ostarine and Elim1nate cycle - I was recovering so fast from lifting that it seemed a more productive use of time to simply lift as often as possible, instead of running. My cardiovascular system got a bit of a workout from CF, but nowhere near enough. So for the next 8 weeks, I’ll be taking the Olympus Labs recommended dose of Cardar1ne (two 7 mg capsules ED). In the mornings, I’ll continue my daily, Bulgarian-style lifting sessions, and my evening workouts will be either a Greyskull LP strength-training session, a CF WOD, or running.

Once per week I’ll run a timed 1-mile as a benchmark; and also once per week I’ll run a timed 2-mile. In theory, those run times should improve significantly... They couldn’t get much worse. In April, I ran the 1-mile benchmark in a depressing 6:36, and the 2-mile benchmark in a not-quite-so-pitiful 14:42. A month later, fully expecting to obliterate my previous time, I ran the 1-mile in 6:33. Not good. Made more progress on my 2-mile time though - 13:40.

For a short while, I'll also be taking a DAA, bulbine, Xtreme Joint support, and Elim1nate (and, later, exchanging the arimistane for SNS Reduce XT), as I use up remaining capsules from my previous cycle. None of these have any particularly powerful effects on my system, so should not affect finding out if the cardarine provides a significant benefit. I may also still run the occasional ECA dose, which helps me focus most of my calorie intake into the very early mornings and late evenings, without having to battle hunger during the day or eating outside of my planned meals.

Yes, I know I said no caffeine... but I figure it doesn't count if it's with ephedrine :)

First dosing was this morning, and I'll probably be posting on a 24-hour delay so that I have time to assemble my thoughts.
 

bosskardo

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How much caffeine do you drop?
I'd say if you go from that dose to too low, it's going to be painful.
 
Eight

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How much caffeine do you drop?
Hard to say, I've never really added it all up. But I'd guess that on an average day, I was taking in at least 1200 mg of caffeine - definitely more than that on some. I'm sure there are people on here taking in more than that, but the fact that I don't even feel it makes me think it's time for a stim-break. :)

And yes, I fully expect it to be difficult - and I fully expect to snap occasionally and have a cup of coffee (probably instant though, no super-strong espresso etc.) It's the lack of pre-workout drinks I'll miss the most.

Edit: Just checked, Caffeine Informer says that for my weight, my max safe limit of caffeine is 378 mg per day. Pffft.
 
Eight

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Oh, thanks to the mod for moving this. I wasn't sure whether it should go in Supplement Logs or Anabolic Cycle Logs.

Cheers.
 
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Day 1 - Gloomy Is Monday, With Shadows I Spend It All...

A grey, rainy, and miserable Monday here, but I slept better than usual the night before. The evening's CF workout was going to be a tough, little bodyweight WOD, so I decided to start my cycle of GW 501516 a week early. I (of course) wasn’t expecting it to take effect fast enough to help with that particular session, but it made me think about it all and realise that there was no need to wait.

7 mg at 6:00 am seemed to digest without issue, but blood pressure increased noticeably. Less of an increase than I get from ephedrine, but something I could feel. Despite only having a small protein bar for breakfast, by 9:00 am I noticed that I still wasn’t particularly hungry, which was odd. After the final quarter of my last cycle, and through post-cycle therapy, my appetite has been out of control and I’ve generally had a dose of EC by 8:00 am. Not sure if cardarine has some minor, appetite-suppressing properties... or whether I just ate too much the night before.

Second 7 mg capsule was taken at 4:15 pm - about forty-five minutes before my workout. Again, this seemed to dramatically reduce my hunger, and I wasn't actually hungry when I had my evening meal at 7 pm.

Started the CF session by setting a new 1RM back squat. This clearly had nothing to do with the Cardar1ne, and everything to do with the fact that I’ve spent the last month doing front squats every day and there was bound to be some carryover. As expected, the WOD was intense - lots of sweat and heavy breathing - but, at the end, I was genuinely surprised at how much energy I had left. Could have gone a lot harder.

Since I couldn’t do the daily lifts that morning (I had to be out of the house unusually early), I had to do them in the evening. They went fine - didn’t set any records, but trained at near max with no problems.

I find it incredibly difficult to believe that 14 mg could have any effect on the first day. But I cannot deny that I felt better (mentally more alert, and physically more capable) than I've done in weeks.
 
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Day 2 - Ali3n...

Up at 4:30 am - not deliberately. Any supplement intake seems to really mess with my sleep. Body weight is down about 1%, which isn’t at all significant (pretty much just a return to normal after a weekend with more carbs than I typically eat).

It's the start of a new training phase, and the one I've been putting off because it contains two of my least-favourite movements - power snatch and overhead squat. Would have liked to have been taking an anabolic for this, but that isn’t possible due to not being able to risk side-effects in mid-July.

Took the morning’s 7 mg of Cardar1ne about 20 minutes before starting the workout. It was a solid, but unspectacular, session - small, new PRs on maximum handstand push-ups and overhead squats, and a half-decent performance on the power snatches. After that, I felt pretty good all day... despite the lack of sleep.

Second dose at 4:00 pm, even though there's no training this evening. I've been promising the missus that I’d take her to see the new Alien film, and this was our last chance to go. She’s always incredibly easy-going when it comes to my busy, and selfish, schedule. So, on this occasion, skipping a training session was the only fair thing to do. Good film though; I enjoyed it.

I wish Olympus Labs would have used different capsule-colours for the Cardar1ne. By this point in the cycle, I’ve already mixed up the Cardar1ne caps with Elim1nate two or three times.
 
Godstrength

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Any caffeine withdrawal?
 
Eight

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In for this bro, cardarine is exciting stuff.
Thanks mate.

Any caffeine withdrawal?
Things have been ok - I've definitely felt good on cardarine so far, so I'm wondering if that's offset some of the caffeine withdrawal symptoms a bit. Mentally has been a bit more difficult - I think about coffee all day long and have a slight loss of confidence right before workouts because I know I don't have caffeine in my system. That passes though once I get started.

However... I broke today (well, yesterday - day 3). Just once, but still...
 
Eight

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Day 3 - Balls To The Wall

Body weight is down again - another ~1% lighter. Barely the mass of a good sandwich but it’s rare for my weight to drop two days in a row when I’m not cutting. And nothing particularly interesting to note about the morning’s lifting session - set a new overhead squat PR but, realistically, that's because I’ve avoided overhead squats for long enough that I'm only mentally working up to the weight that my body is already capable of doing.

Felt a bit lethargic by about 3 pm, but the 4:15 pm dosing of Cardar1ne and a weak, black coffee woke me up a bit. Stop judging me, it was weak! This was really the first time I've suffered from not drinking my usual level of caffeine.

Unrelated: my least favourite delivery company dropped off a tub of… er… “vitamins”... for August. Exciting!

This evening was the kind of cruel, torturous WOD that I’ll often skip (clearly not the only one thinking the same - fair few no-shows from regulars) but, in the interests of science, I resigned myself to doing it.

It was as tough as expected but, and I'm hesitant to say this, the cardarine is starting to make a believer out of me. Breaks were extremely short, despite the intensity and length of the workout, and I recovered well enough during each one. Muscle stamina was definitely the limiting factor in my overall time, not my cardio, and that doesn't happen too often. Did wonder if the cardarine is increasing the amount that I sweat significantly - I was absolutely bone dry at the end (wasn’t carrying a lot of water anyway, thanks to the arimistane) and in a bit of discomfort from that.

Pretty hungry by the time I got home. Should have gone shopping first - dinner was not exactly a great example of how to put together a well-balanced meal. Protein intake: good. Of course… a man’s got to have priorities.

Schedule is a bit ****ed up this week, but the aim is to hit that 1-mile benchmark run on Friday.
 
fitfreak_CP

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I must say 1200mg is a ton hahah. Also cardarine (GW) has worked wonders for me when it comes to my cardiovascular. It also lowers bad cholesterol so that's another benefit. I have been using cardarine and sr90009 and my clients love it as well.
 
fitfreak_CP

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If interested in SARM info on usage etc message me.
 

bosskardo

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I must say 1200mg is a ton hahah. Also cardarine (GW) has worked wonders for me when it comes to my cardiovascular. It also lowers bad cholesterol so that's another benefit. I have been using cardarine and sr90009 and my clients love it as well.
What sr9009? Thought that was useless. Is there some bioavailable version?
 
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Day 4 - Deception

Only slept for about five and a half hours but at least they were uninterrupted, so I felt good on waking… until I got out of bed and realised how sore I was. Odd. Although the yesterday's workout was painful, I didn't think it was so bad as to cause DOMS in my legs and shoulders. Haven’t had muscle soreness in quite a while. Perhaps the good feelings from the cardarine masked how deceptively tiring the WOD had really been? Or, as I’m told is a possibility, caffeine withdrawal symptoms can include increased muscle stiffness and cramping. Regardless, the day’s schedule (across both sessions) included snatches, overhead squats, handstand push-ups, and deadlifts… so my aching muscles just had to work through it.

After some whey protein, the 7 mg of Cardar1ne, and a bucket-load of water, I started the morning’s training. Snatches were down a couple of kilograms (it isn’t unusual for the lifts I do during daily training to vary), but I just about managed to get through an ugly, overhead squat PR.

Unrelated: another package of... er… “vitamins”... arrived. Some vitamin A(TD) and vitamin O(sta), for playing with a later date.

Generally feeling good, and not really very hungry at all, all the way until 1 pm. At which point, I started eating small, at regular intervals to fuel for the evening session. Struggled to concentrate mid-afternoon and felt a bit lethargic again. I guess it could have been lack of sleep, or maybe caffeine-withdrawal-induced lethargy... I'm not sure.

Second 7 mg of cardarine got me moving though, and it seems to have stopped raising my blood pressure so much now. Felt energetic and buoyant heading in for my evening workout. However, it soon became apparent that things were not going to go well. I had no strength - failing to hit my max deadlift (only a couple of kg short, but I was hoping to surpass it) and failing to lift even my rep weight on the bench press (about 10 kg under, in fact).

Hoping tomorrow will be better for a good attempt at a “fast” 1-mile run. Training over the weekend is going to be minimal so it'd be nice to end the week with something positive to say.
 
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Posting this now, because I'll likely be away all day tomorrow.

Day 5 - A Better Tomorrow…

Woke up once during the night, but other than that it was a half decent night’s sleep. Not much on the schedule today - a set of max reps handstand push-ups first thing, some more snatches and overhead squats, and a bit of running.

Feeling a little disappointed in my performance yesterday, but just have to crack on regardless. Had to work hard this morning, but eked out a 1.5 kg increase for the snatch and performed ok on the overhead squats. My set of handstand push-ups was also a new PR.

I'm eating more or less at maintenance levels (not trying to lose weight), but body weight seems to have stabilised (for the moment) at 0.5 kg less than when I started taking cardarine. In terms of claims that cardarine boosts weight loss, I’m not yet convinced that this is anything significant.

Heading into my evening session, I was feeling a little bit of pressure after promising I’d post my 1-mile time trial result. Having done no speed work, and barely even any jogging, for almost a month, I was thinking that my time might even be slower than when I last did the run… it was not. After running about 4k of intervals to warm up the muscles, I took 15s off my previous time of 6:33 and completed the mile in 6:18. I’ve been running long enough to know that, for me at least, that is a lot of progress (especially without specifically training to improve in this area). I'm not a speed guy. Recovery afterwards was extremely quick.

In theory, something that boosts endurance will show greater effects over longer distances, which is something that I will test eventually.
 
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Day 6 - Driven To Distraction

Had to make a long round-trip today, so no chance to train at all. Instead, I was forced out of bed at stupid o'clock, and into the car in really very poor weather with terrible visibility. Didn't seem like a good time to be dealing with a lack of caffeine so had a quick coffee before I set off. The cardarine was certainly a welcome boost - felt alert and content as I made the first half of the drive.

Unfortunately, my libido picked a very inconvenient time to make a triumphant return - obviously deciding it'd had enough time off after my last cycle - several hours trapped in a cage, day-dreaming of Anníe Þórisdóttir was less than comfortable and did little to make the hours pass any quicker.
 
JahCure

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Day 6 - Driven To Distraction

Had to make a long round-trip today, so no chance to train at all. Instead, I was forced out of bed at stupid o'clock, and into the car in really very poor weather with terrible visibility. Didn't seem like a good time to be dealing with a lack of caffeine so had a quick coffee before I set off. The cardarine was certainly a welcome boost - felt alert and content as I made the first half of the drive.

Unfortunately, my libido picked a very inconvenient time to make a triumphant return - obviously deciding it'd had enough time off after my last cycle - several hours trapped in a cage, day-dreaming of Anníe Þórisdóttir was less than comfortable and did little to make the hours pass any quicker.
Lol no not Annie!!!!
 
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Day 7 - Carb Overload

Another day when I really wasn’t going to get a lot of training done, due to other commitments. Managed a short lifting session this evening, but it probably wasn’t worth the effort – I’m definitely going through a bit of a weak phase. I don’t think this has anything at all to do with the cardarine, and it’s not something that I’m overly concerned about. I’m putting the work in and, in the long run, I’m sure it’ll all pay off.

The missus can be a bit creative in the kitchen sometimes, and tonight was a good example of that. I’ve never seen anyone manage to cook a meal that is almost 100% carbohydrate. I didn’t interfere… mostly from fear of getting nothing, but also because my macros have been pretty good lately.

With seven days gone, now seems like a half-decent time to think about some of the claims I’ve seen made about cardarine.

Endurance enhancement :
As with a lot of things supplement-related, it’s difficult to be sure about this but I am leaning towards agreeing. The reduction in my 1-mile benchmark time this week was significant, and I’ve definitely felt like it’s contributing during CF sessions.

Reduced recovery time :
Somewhat related to the previous point, I think the cardarine has made a noticeable difference in how quickly I recover immediately following a workout that stresses the cardiovascular system. It has not made any contribution to how quickly muscles recover after weight lifting.

Improved mood :
100% on this. In fact, Cardar1ne is almost worth the purchase price just for how much better I’ve felt while taking it.

Reduces fat :
Not convinced. Yes, I’ve experienced a very small amount of weight loss… but not enough, in my mind, to substantiate this claim. In fairness to Olympus Labs, I’m already light, with a low body-fat percentage, not on a cut, and I’m not carrying a lot of water weight, so I would not expect any pill to show dramatic effects here.
 

chaossentry

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im interested in it,the but cancer reports make me hesitant. Yes i know about the insane dosages they gave mice. just still.
 
Eight

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im interested in it,the but cancer reports make me hesitant. Yes i know about the insane dosages they gave mice. just still.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about that before ordering. It'd also be pointless for me to give the reasons why I did, in the end, decide to use it because there's no evidence or real science in my decision-making there.
 

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others have debunked it or claimed their is no real science to prove that its caused by it. but no real science disproving it either
 
Eight

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others have debunked it or claimed their is no real science to prove that its caused by it. but no real science disproving it either
Exactly. In the absence of trustworthy proof, you've just got to decide whether the "risk" is worth it to you, based on how serious you think that risk is. If there's a problem, I'll know I made a mistake but made it based on my best assessment at the time. And I've done a lot more risky things over the years. :)
 
jt75

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Because I also noticed cardarine working from the first dose I only take it on workout days, I mean you don't have to saturate your system with it for it to work so taking it on workout days gives me more bang for my buck!
Also not convinced about fat loss but endurance is great and also hopeful of great cholesterol levels when I next get checked.
 
Eight

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Because I also noticed cardarine working from the first dose I only take it on workout days, I mean you don't have to saturate your system with it for it to work so taking it on workout days gives me more bang for my buck!
I thought about doing that, and if I hadn't been logging then I probably would have. But I figured it was worth seeing what happened at 14 mg ED regardless - how it affected my mood, diet, interaction with other factors etc. etc.

Besides, I'm working out at least a little most days and am not too bothered about saving caps. Bought this just for fun and curiosity really.
 
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Day 8 - Sleeping Beauty...

For the first time in months, I've had two nights of proper sleep in a row… and feeling a lot worse for it. Had very little energy or strength for this morning’s lifts, and put in a poor performance as a result. Even the 7 mg of cardarine did not greatly help.

Lack of food intake during the day lead to me feeling nauseated and lethargic by mid-afternoon, but the second cardarine dose of the day made me feel a bit more like myself until I could make it home for something to eat. Caffeine withdrawal should not still be a factor at this stage but, due to my high intake previously, it is a possibility.

Despite the relative lack of training over the weekend, I felt a little demotivated and opted to train at home this evening, instead of going to the gym. However, I always forget that I’m a masochist… and whenever I program a workout, it’s tougher than expected. This was a long, gruelling WOD that consisted of high repetitions of power-cleans and body-weight exercises.

Lungs and muscles screaming, I powered through the workout quicker than expected. Once again, rest breaks were very short, and the cardarine appears to have been a contributing factor in this.
 
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Day 9 - Situation Normal, All ****ed Up…

Probably not even four hours of actual sleep, but felt great and ready to face the day... after taking all my pills. Started the morning’s training with a new max-reps handstand push-ups PR, then a 3.5 kg overhead squat PR, and a 1.5 kg power snatch PR to round out the triplet.

Once again though, the early start and lack of sleep caught up to me mid-afternoon, as I struggled with lethargy and concentration at work. It seems that I've replaced a caffeine dependency with an over-reliance on the boost from cardarine in order to train.

Evening's schedule was light - since my overpriced wireless headphones are broken, I wasn't going to spend too long at the gym - the main activity being a 2-mile timed run. I must have been on form the day I last did it (in 13:40) because it was tough to keep up my previous pace. Extremely sweaty, and breathing hard, I finished the run in 13:26 (14s faster). Despite recovering quickly, it took a very long time for my body temperature to return to normal. Felt good enough to hit a few weights afterwards though, and then called it a night.

Sadly, this was my final day taking Elim1nate for a while. It’s a product that I very much like - kills my joints if I'm not careful, but really helps to keep the body lean. If cardarine does have fat-loss benefits, I'm hoping it will fill the gap left by the arimistane.
 
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Day 10 - Max Snatch Fever...

Was very late getting started on this morning’s training, and this meant that I had to forgo a proper warm-up and rush through the session. That was a shame - I felt good and strong going into it, but couldn’t put in more than a token effort before heading off to work. Not my worst lifts, but a couple of kg shy of my best. Got a chance to make up for it later in the day though, as the WOD at CF featured a lot of power snatches.

Didn’t feel as lazy or sleepy in the afternoon as I have previous days, but was still grateful that the second 7 mg dose of cardarine kicked in and perked me up a little more before I headed over to CF with only 75 mg of caffeine in my system, courtesy of a supermarket energy drink that I bought more for the sugars than anything else. I miss Kraken.

The evening’s WOD was what I consider perfect for cardarine - a constant-effort, moderately-paced triplet. Blasted through it… though by this point, I'm certain that Cardar1ne is the cause of my sweating being heavier, with a quicker onset, than it used to be. Feeling great and full of fire, there was one thing left to do before the end of the workout - get that max power-snatch PR. Clock ticking, one shot at it… but confident that it would happen. I rushed to grab a pair of 5 kg plates… but there were none. Nevermind, I could make 10 kg plates work… none of those either. I looked around and saw people with piles of unused 5s next to them, but the time expired before I could steal some. ****!

And that, mes amis, is the underwhelming tale of how Eight was cheated out of a power-snatch PR twice in the same day.
 
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Day 11 - Ephedrine A Little Dream Of Me…

Still not sleeping well… not unusual. I was hoping I would get used to the cardarine enough for it to not cause problems but, after eleven days, it appears not. It has, however, stopped affecting my blood pressure noticeably.

Woke up extremely hungry, and my usual protein-heavy breakfast did nothing to ameliorate that. Situation got even worse after performing my morning weightlifting (which went… adequately), and even with 7 mg of cardarine in my system I was still suffering. By 7:30 am, when I got to work, I had to break out the EC to avoid eating my lunch.

Other than that, felt pretty good. I think I said it previously, but 7 mg of Cardar1ne is really helpful in the mornings - wakes me up, without any of the harshness of other stimulants.

Since I was left to my own devices in the evening, my workout was a bit of a mishmash and didn't include a lot that I'd cardarine to help with. Not much worth writing about except a new deadlift PR, which came at a good time as I've been concerned that my strength appears to have been dropping lately.

Dinner was fairly well-balanced and full of protein… but clearly too small because I was bloody starving half an hour later.
 
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Day 12 - Monster In My Pocket…

(Wondering how many of you are old enough to remember Monster In My Pocket...)

Body weight still holding steady, give or take 0.5%, on a reasonably consistent calorie intake at maintenance levels. So far, cardarine has definitely not proven to me that it's effective for weight loss if you are at a healthy, stable weight already and do not carry much water.

The deadlifts from yesterday took a lot more out of me than I realised and, although I felt decently alive, I had to work hard just to get close to my best during this morning’s lifting session. Mentally, I need a bit of a break and decided to reschedule the evening’s plans. With plenty of weeks left to try and measure cardio improvements, I opted to take on a longer run at a more casual pace. Since I used to run 5 or 10k every night after work, I'm well-placed to judge (granted, subjectively) whether the cardarine made any difference there.

Caffeine withdrawal isn't too much, it at all, of a factor by now. So as a rare treat, I made room in the calorie budget for a can of Monster before the run. Good times.

This 5k was one of easiest I’ve ever run - sweat immediately started pouring out, but I felt comfortable and controlled. Pushed the pace a little towards the end and it seemed that the harder I worked, the harder the cardarine worked so at no point did I think that the pace was too much. Despite aiming for a casual run, it was completed in within a minute of my best ever time. I'm going to repeat the distance at some time in the next week or so and go a little faster from the outset.
 
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Day 13 - The Return Of The King...

Strength has definitely picked up again, thankfully. I matched my power clean 1RM (which was set on-cycle a few months ago, and power cleans have not been included in training much since) in the morning session, closely followed by a new 1RM power snatch. Only 1 kg heavier than the previous PR, but progress is progress. Max reps handstand push-ups was slightly down though. However, this is likely due to the reordering of movements in the session meaning that shoulder muscles were already tiring before the HSPUs were even attempted.

No cardio today, not a lot of point in taking the Cardar1ne. But I did anyway - just because it makes me feel good.

The afternoon’s session was a strength-building routine (GSLP) with accessories for aesthetics. Testament blasting, all the lifts went extremely well. And so, muscles pumped and veins popped, I left to go for a quick drink (just the one) with the missus. The sun was shining, and I was looking pretty ****ing cool for an old geezer.

As Cube said, “Today was a good day”.
 
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Day 14 - Hot Damn...

(Just a reminder, I normally post the morning after the day I'm logging. Posting this one early because tomorrow is going to be busy.)

On Sundays, I normally only train in the evenings, due to having other (fairly active) things to do first. But today was unnaturally hot and, not being used to that, I was drained and probably a bit dehydrated by the time evening rolled around. Not a really a great combination for heavy lifting, so had the night off.

The week has flown by and the results have been decent: set some new lifting PRs; have had good endurance; and the all-important 2-mile TT benchmark went from 13:40 to 13:26, with exceptionally little running in between the two attempts.

Have not lost significant weight, nor am I looking any leaner than I already did. But I’ve not gained weight either, despite some slightly irregular eating at points.

Whilst the novelty of taking a new supplement has worn off (if anyone in the UK is reading this and wants to give me a nice discount on some Gaspari Nutrition Plasmajet, that’s definitely something else I’d like to try), the effects of Cardar1ne are still present. I'm confident in my assessment that it does provide a boost to cardiovascular endurance, but that it does extremely little in terms of actual benefits for weight loss. So far though, I'm glad that I bought it.
 
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Day 15 - Testing Times...

5:30 am and the morning’s sun had already created horrific temperatures indoors. Felt fairly energetic on waking and moreso with 7 mg cardarine intake. However, the heat destroyed this energy quickly, and I tapped out early from the morning lifting session - never quite got into it and stopped well short of my best weights.

Not embracing the idea of serious cardio in the heat, and having already adjusted the schedule to compensate for being away later in the week, the evening’s workout was changed to a reset Greyskull routine. However, mid-afternoon I was forced to cancel this too, after finding out that I had test answers that had to be submitted by Tuesday morning.

Once that was done, I managed to squeeze in a few lifts. Nowhere near a full session and, regrettably, I had absolutely no choice other than to skip legs. ;)
 
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Day 16 - Squats Going On...

Not a lot of sleep to be had - mostly just lying on top of the bed, slowly getting angrier. This was not a good start to the day. However, a nice latte protein shake and 7 mg of Cardar1ne later, and I was feeling fairly decent. The mood-enhancing properties of cardarine are, by far, its most appealing trait up to now.

The evening’s workout looked tough - lots of running and squatting - and conscious of keeping my legs relatively fresh for that, I took it easier in the morning’s lifting session. That said, I was close enough to my maxes to not feel overly ashamed.

I was slower in the WOD than I would have liked. But, overall, cardio held up well and I was able to use the running segments to catch my breath a little. It was certainly evident (again) how much more you sweat when taking cardarine - it’s something to watch out for and to make sure you have water on hand. My knee sleeves are now a public health hazard.

Next few days are going to be disrupted (again) but should be back chasing lung gains next week.
 
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Surprisingly, I've gotten through the lack of caffeine remarkably well. I think a lot of it has to do with the very real mood and clarity boost you can get from cardarine.

Today's update is delayed - because I'm on the road. But I had a training session, and a small amount of pre-workout with caffeine (first proper pre in a while) and the whole combo worked well to perk me up). Still going to keep the caffeine intake to a minimum for a while.
 
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Day 17 - A “Rest” Day

Body weight is up slightly - not visibly - which may just be a reaction to the missus’ cooking, but is something that has to be monitored.

No training in the evening due to having to rest for the next day, so I got up a little earlier to do a slightly longer session in the morning. Excessive heat resulted in sweaty hands and, since this made it difficult to keep a proper grip on the bar for snatches and overhead squats, I couldn’t reach my max and decided to throw some power cleans into the session as well. Set a 2.5 kg PR on those though - so not all bad.

Forgot my lunch... so it was either break into my hidden stash of ephedrine at work, or find time to walk through the rain and go get something. Ended up as a combination of both - hit the stash to delay things, and then made a break for it when the rain eased off. Very light lunch though.

Overall, a pretty non-eventful day really.
 
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Day 18 - Rival Turf...

Up early again, but no time for weight lifting as I had to jump into the car and travel. Today I was training with a different group of people, after a few hours drive. I took the morning’s 7 mg of cardarine, instead of a strong coffee, before heading off. Once again, it worked well and kept me sharp.

Usually, I would have had the second 7 mg later in the day, but this time I took it in the early afternoon before a tough workout. Didn't want to embarrass myself with new people, and so was grateful for the extra, even slight, boost.

Probably offset any health benefits gained today with a heavier than typical food and drink consumption during the evening though. I feel a cut coming on...
 
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(Still trying to catch up since I wasn't able to post on schedule.)

Day 19 - On The Road Again…

Regrettably, there was no way I could train at all today. Used one Cardar1ne cap to help with the long drive, but opted not to waste a second.
 
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Day 20 - Uncle Travelling Matt...

Another day, another early start and long trip; this time as a passenger, for sort-of-sport-related training. A few hours later, we arrived and I took 7 mg of Cardar1ne to help wake up. The training was very low intensity, neither stressing the CV system not the muscles, but I thought that the cardarine may help a little. No way to know.

Driving back the same day, and didn't have an opportunity for proper training, so I didn't end up taking the second 7 mg. I did, however, manage a short strength-building session - nothing interesting to note from that. Accidentally strung OHP into bench press, and wasn't exactly surprised to find a loss of performance while benching. :)
 
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Day 21 - The Student Becomes The Master...

Odd sort of day, as I was coaching and wasn't training much. Even so, took the first of the day’s 7 mg capsules at about 8:30 am before heading out. By the time I returned, I was so exhausted from the previous few days that I skipped my planned evening weightlifting session.

Body weight is up a little more today, and that's prompted a decision to go on a mini-cut for 3 weeks before I have to be looking my best.

I plan to reduce calorie intake down to cutting levels and increase the frequency of cardio for the next three weeks. Yeah, it's a bit of a crash diet but that usually works for me.

From day 28 onwards, 4-weeks since I started on cardarine, I'll introduce Fusion Supplements ATD and Olympus Labs Bloodshr3d RAW. The androstatrienedione isn't entirely necessary but is included to see if it helps cut water weight as well as arimistane... and because I have lots of it, so why not!?

This all could impact cardiovascular performance, but may also be a good test of the Cardar1ne - to see how well my cardio performance responds while on a reduced calorie intake. So far, it's been a help (although I didn't get the chance to make as many timed runs as I wanted, so don't have much to back up that claim with).
 
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I didn't realise how much endurance cardarine was giving me till I did my first cardio workout today since stopping it. Felt tired awfully quick and really struggled the last ten minutes, on gw I felt like I could go on forever.
 
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I didn't realise how much endurance cardarine was giving me till I did my first cardio workout today since stopping it. Felt tired awfully quick and really struggled the last ten minutes, on gw I felt like I could go on forever.
That'll be interesting to see. I haven't felt super-powered on cardarine, but have been very impressed that no matter how hard I've been breathing, or much I've been sweating, I've never been close to having to stop. I think I said it before, but it seems that the harder you push, the more it seems to kick in to keep you going.

I've done three weeks now, and I am convinced that it's a credible cardio booster and mood enhancer. Also fairly convinced that it does naff all for weight loss. :)
 
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That'll be interesting to see. I haven't felt super-powered on cardarine, but have been very impressed that no matter how hard I've been breathing, or much I've been sweating, I've never been close to having to stop. I think I said it before, but it seems that the harder you push, the more it seems to kick in to keep you going.

I've done three weeks now, and I am convinced that it's a credible cardio booster and mood enhancer. Also fairly convinced that it does naff all for weight loss. :)
I actually doubted it was doing that much but I felt the difference today. When I was taking it I'd a bad sinus infection and generally felt felt like crap so it amazed me how I was able to go on forever yet when I'm 100% I was close to collapsing 3/4 way through trying to do the same amount of cardio.

I felt it working the longer I went for, it was a bit of a mind **** cos I kept thinking I should be totally knackered here but I wasn't I just kept going and going. It started to get enjoyable in a weird way the longer I went for, very hard to stop.

I found it does nothing for fat loss as well, I actually plateaued for about 3 weeks on it when I came off S4 and ostarine. I found those really good for fat loss tho, I dropped about 10lbs in 3 weeks.
 
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I actually doubted it was doing that much but I felt the difference today. When I was taking it I'd a bad sinus infection and generally felt felt like crap so it amazed me how I was able to go on forever yet when I'm 100% I was close to collapsing 3/4 way through trying to do the same amount of cardio.
Do you think your cardio now is better than it was before you started the cardarine though? That's something I'm hoping to get enough numbers behind to see. I'd expect to lose some performance when I stop, but if I'm significantly better/faster than I was before I started this then I'll be happy.

Had a similar experience with ostarine - leaned out nicely on cycle. Pretty much maintained body weight nicely through PCT and into this experiment, but have strayed every so slightly above maintenance intake a bit lately and gained weight. We're talking a very small amount of weight, sure, but I'd have expected that if cardarine actually did anything significant for weight loss then I should have maintained. I'm very good at dieting and tracking calories (had a lot of practice), so I'm confident in my theory, unproven as it may be.
 
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Day 22 - Crash And Burn…

First day of my mini-cut got off to an ok start. Scheduled the day’s weight lifting session for the evening, after a 5k run during which I would attempt to keep the pace casual, burn calories, and also improve on my previous time.

7 mg of Cardar1ne in the early hours, as usual, and by mid-morning I still didn’t feel too hungry despite the very low-calorie breakfast.

The 5k went well, completed 22s faster than the last time I ran it, and it actually seemed even easier, despite operating on little food by this point in the day. Could definitely take a few more seconds off without trying too hard. The second 7 mg of cardarine no doubt helped, but I was probably also spurred on by blasting a Dropkick Murphys album while running.
 
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Do you think your cardio now is better than it was before you started the cardarine though? That's something I'm hoping to get enough numbers behind to see. I'd expect to lose some performance when I stop, but if I'm significantly better/faster than I was before I started this then I'll be happy.

Had a similar experience with ostarine - leaned out nicely on cycle. Pretty much maintained body weight nicely through PCT and into this experiment, but have strayed every so slightly above maintenance intake a bit lately and gained weight. We're talking a very small amount of weight, sure, but I'd have expected that if cardarine actually did anything significant for weight loss then I should have maintained. I'm very good at dieting and tracking calories (had a lot of practice), so I'm confident in my theory, unproven as it may be.
I'm sure the cardarine made a big difference I can feel a big drop in my performance now. I was doing 20 min hiit on the crosstrainer then 20 steady state after a 5 min break on the GW but yesterday only managed 14 min after the hiit and couldn't wait to stop. Last week i had to force myself to stop yesterday I couldn't wait to finish I was shattered.

Don't think it helped me with lifting I only noticed it when doing long, hard cardio sessions. Wouldn't bother with it while I'm bulking as I think you need to be hitting the cardio hard to get the benefit from it.
 
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Got to agree (again) on the lifting side. Aside from the fact that I train early in the morning and the cardarine perks me up, it doesn't seem to help at all with lifting.

Hopefully some of the cardio performance increases are keepable when stopping cardarine. Would be a shame to completely drop back to starting levels.
 
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I'm sure you would get fitter from the extra cardio, I've definitely more stamina now than before I started but no way to tell if I would have gotten there in a month without the GW.
 
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but no way to tell if I would have gotten there in a month without the GW.
I should be able to make a rough guess at that - used to run a lot more so am reasonably familiar with the rate of progress I'd typically find. Will see what happens.
 

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