[jtt]

Day 1

Background: I'm coming off a lengthy (8 month) cut going from 179 lbs to 152.5 lbs. Cut accomplished via carb cycling and morning fasted cardio and a few cardio sessions immediately after weight sessions - prior to pwo shakes.

Reason for MP inclusion: I want this to be a very lean bulk and due to low calorie and carb consumption over the past 8 months, my body's propensity to gain fat quickly will be high. Including MP at full dose during the bulk is expected to help keep fat gains at bay as I gradually raise/adjust calories and carbs levels throughout the cycle.


Stats: will measure once/week - Fridays am on empty stomach

8/4
Age: 43
Height: 6.0 feet
Wt: 152.5 lbs
Wst: 28 inches
Body Fat: 5.5%
Abdomen - 6mm
Suprailiac - 4mm
Thigh - 6mm
Chest - 3mm
Tricep - 3mm
Midaxillary - 3mm
Subscapular - 6mm
Measurements:
R. arm - 14.375"
R. Thigh - 20.75"
Chest - 41.75"


Dosing Scheme:

MP 2x3:
dose 1 - Morning pre-cardio with 500mg Alcar, 1 multi-vitamin, coffee.
dose 2 - Mid-day with meal
dose 3 - Last meal

AA:
5 on workout days:
dose 1 1X morning meal after cardio
dose 2 2X pre workout meal (4-5 pm)
dose 3 2X post workout meal (7-8 pm)
4 on non-workout days evenly spaced between 6am - 8pm

Other supplements:
500 mg Alcar - pre-morning fasted cardio
24 LEF mix caps/day (contain roughly 1200 mg NAC and 200 mg milk thistle)

Calories: Coming off cut I was consuming 1800 (non-workout days) - 2100 cals (workout days). I will start bulk at 2400 - 2700 cals wk 1 with 200 gms carbs (50 morn - after cardio, 50 pre workout and 75 post workout & 50 during other 4 meals (from vegs, ff cottage cheese, almonds, etc.). I will then adjust cals based on Friday measurements.

Goals: 175 lbs EOC (end of cycle). I expect an immediate 7 lbs of water weight gain due to re-introducing carbs in my diet. This happened like clockwork when I introduced carbs during weekend refeeds. Monday morning weigh-in was up 7 lbs from Friday's that quickly dissipated during the carb restricted portion of my diet week. So I'm looking for 15.0 lbs of LBM over the 9 wk cycle. Yes, if progression is good, it will mean I need to buy another (third) bottle of X-Factor and MP. However, if the cycle has value, maybe our friends Molecular Nutrition and Designer Supplements will help with the third bottles.

Report: Nothing but extreme hunger all day! Body does this when it gets a taste of carbs. However, I feel there might be something else going on as the level of hunger is greater than I ever felt the past 8 months. Discipline will be a major focus during the cycle.

[TimoteoS]

X Factor and MP will each increase hunger. I would not take a full dose MP during a bulk as it will be impossible to gain, I would take 2-3 caps max. Keep eating man, your metabolism will be up from the MP and X so keep it clean and you will be lean!

[jjohn]

Good luck with it. Should be a good one

[jtt]

Originally Posted by TimoteoS

X Factor and MP will each increase hunger. I would not take a full dose MP during a bulk as it will be impossible to gain, I would take 2-3 caps max. Keep eating man, your metabolism will be up from the MP and X so keep it clean and you will be lean!

I agree Timoteos. Thanks for the input. Initially I was going to 1/2 dose MP (3/day) but I decided to keep at full dose at least for the first 2 weeks for 3 reasons:

1) The body is primed to gain fat coming out of a cutting cycle - especially a cycle as long as mine.

2) X-Factor is "loading" or something during the first 2 weeks as most don't feel its effects until week 3 or later. Once I "feel" X-Factor is working and if my fat gains have been minimal, I will slowly back off the MP from 6 to 4 and then 1 at a time as I gauge the effectiveness.

3) I'm backing off the weekly cardio as well - from 7 fasted morning sessions to 4-5 and very few if any after weight sessions.

In two weeks I'll re-evaluate.

JTT

[TimoteoS]

My apologies, you def know what your doing and Im actually doing the same thing as you.. I begin bulking in two weeks w/ Jungle Warfare and I will be using TTA w/ it which I will begin a week before I start the JW for the reasons you mentioned.. Good luck man!! I got some X Factor today as well and Ill be running it with TTA as well so Ill be watching you!!!!

[jtt]

Day 3- 6/7/06

jjohn, thanks for chiming in - looking forward to your experienced input as I make my way through this 9 week journey of progress.

Yesterday (day 2) only thing to report was continued ravenous hunger. Really concentrated on not over eating. This morning (now) I am still hungry. Chest and back are sore from the weekend weight sessions. Today is an off day so I will concentrate on 7 meals of good quality protein and fats with a few less carbs. Weight this morning was 157.5 so up 5 lbs (water) as expected. By Friday, unless I lose some fat along the way, I should be 159 -160 due solely to increased water via reintroduction of mid-week carbs.

Sleep was great last night - head down at 10:00pm and I slept straight through until 5:15am alarm clock. Usually I wake early morning to urinate but not this morning and at 5:15 by bladder was screaming. Off for 25-30 minutes of fasted cardio.

[jjohn]

Keep it up I think the hardest part is really resisting the unstopping hunger during the cycle. Get through it, and you will be impressed on what this can do for you

[jtt]

Day 4 6-8-06

Nothing new to report. Just more of the same: always hungry, water weight has had a minor effect on definition of abs, sleep was excellent. Yesterday was an off day. Tonight's workout is legs so I'm sure come Thursday I'll be limping around. I do find myself a little more sore than usual but that could be due to having more carbs present during workouts resulting in more enegry, better quality reps and in general more overall work (sets and reps). Out the door for a nice brisk walk (fasted) to start the day.

[jtt]

Day 5 6-9-06

Only thing to report is I tweaked my right knee doing squats last night. The first four sets felt very nice so I upped the weight 30 lbs for the 5th set (6 targeted reps) and felt a slight pain under the right patella on the 1st rep tried a second rep and same pain so I called it quits. Worked on abs the remainder of the session. This morning the knee is still sore so we will see how it behaves during my cardio walk in a few minutes. This Sunday (next leg day as well as the one after), I think I'll go to the local gym pay the $8 walk in fee and hang out on the leg press machine. In a couple of weeks I'll add back a few light sets of squats to guage how the knee feels. I hope the leg press results in no knee pain or I'm screwed during this cycle. It is hard for me to gain without relatively heavy leg work being a staple of my routine.

As mentioned yesterday, definition is definitely down. My son likes to show off his 8 pack (the little bugger) and then asked to see my "6" pack on which he commented "now it looks more like a 4 pack". Not sure of the cause as I don't feel any heavier. Other than that and the constant hunger, nothing else to report in terms of gains, sides, etc.

[tsc]

Originally Posted by jtt

As mentioned yesterday, definition is definitely down. My son likes to show off his 8 pack (the little bugger) and then asked to see my "6" pack on which he commented "now it looks more like a 4 pack". Not sure of the cause as I don't feel any heavier. Other than that and the constant hunger, nothing else to report in terms of gains, sides, etc.

MP causes some water retention, that unfortunately hides its effects while on. Once you stop using it, you will start seeing all that definition again. Within two weeks of stopping you should have the same if not better definition (assuming you are cutting.. and sticking to the diet :-) ). For some people, the water retention stops much sooner. Even on a bulk, you'll appear to have gained more fat than you actually have. Its more frustrating on a cut as you think you aren't doing enough when you really are.

TSC

[jtt]

Originally Posted by tsc

MP causes some water retention, that unfortunately hides its effects while on. Once you stop using it, you will start seeing all that definition again. Within two weeks of stopping you should have the same if not better definition (assuming you are cutting.. and sticking to the diet :-) ). For some people, the water retention stops much sooner. Even on a bulk, you'll appear to have gained more fat than you actually have. Its more frustrating on a cut as you think you aren't doing enough when you really are.

TSC

TSC, one question: I believe I feel a temperature increase when I take MP on an empty stomach vs. when I take it with food. I'm taking 2 caps 3 times/day. Was I hindering MPs effect by taking it with food?

Thanks in advance.

[jtt]

Day 6 6-10-06

More of the same. The knee feels great today - no pain at all. The pain disappeared 5 minutes into yesterday morning's cardio. Yesterday was also an off day for the weights. Us older guys don't recover as quick as we used to. This evening is chest, shoulders and triceps. Tomorrow morning is measurement day. Interested in my weight. I've been fighting the urge to peak since Monday. I'll try and include the data on the 1st post as well so one can more easily track the changes. There's a lot of thunder outside so it's off to the trusty treadmill and CNBC for 30 minutes of boredom. Maybe MTV will actually show a music video of which I can relate.

[tsc]

Originally Posted by jtt

Day 6 6-10-06

More of the same. The knee feels great today - no pain at all. The pain disappeared 5 minutes into yesterday morning's cardio. Yesterday was also an off day for the weights. Us older guys don't recover as quick as we used to. This evening is chest, shoulders and triceps. Tomorrow morning is measurement day. Interested in my weight. I've been fighting the urge to peak since Monday. I'll try and include the data on the 1st post as well so one can more easily track the changes. There's a lot of thunder outside so it's off to the trusty treadmill and CNBC for 30 minutes of boredom. Maybe MTV will actually show a music video of which I can relate.

MTV plays music videos? When did this began?

also, as to your earlier post MP can be taken with or without food. I tend to notice more of a heat kick when taking it with food though, not that that is significant.

MP+Xfactor should be a great lean bulk or recomp stack. I am almost done with Xfactor and our NHA stack and am still quite impressed with the combo.

TSC

[jtt]

Days 7&8 6/11/06 & 6/12/06

X-Factor has "kicked in". First, my weekly measurement update (taken cold, first thing in the morning):

weight 160 + 7.5 lbs of which 5-7 is ceratinly water weight due to reintroduction of carbs.
wst 28.375 + 0.375 - I do look a little less defined in the abdominal region.
Body fat 5.5% no change and no change to any of the caliper meaurements.
R. arm 14.5 up 0.125
R. Thigh 21.0 up 0.25
Chest 42.5 up 0.75


Now for the side effects:

The good:
Unbelievable vascularity especially during workouts. This is the most vascular I have ever been (including past cycles with prohormones).
Pumps are the best I have felt in the past year.
Significant (more weight for more reps) strength increases during my last two workouts. However, this is not the strongest (by far) I have been so there is some muscle memory at work here. So far, the speed of the strength increase is impressive.

The bad:
Oily skin and a few pimples at my hairline.
Mild dandruff has appeared - I'm concerned about my hair as my scalp now occassionally itches. I have not had dandruff before. My hair is already thinning so hard to tell if I'm losing more hair than normal.
Now, I do not get headaches. I don't think I have ever had a headache. I'm not sure I could describe one correctly. However, I can feel something going on here. More pressure at times throughout the day. I wouldn't call it an ache, just some pressure. Feels like it is behind my eyes but it is not a pinpoint pressure and it does not hurt as in pain - just noticeable. It's hard to describe and I felt it 2-3 times during the past two days. If I get the same feeling this weekend, I'm going to measure my BP as I have always been 120 - 125/60 - 65.

I did not expect sides this soon. I am excited as it indicates to me that I am responding well and quickly to X-Factor. In reading the numerous X-Factor logs on the net, I noticed those people with relatively low levels of body fat appear to be responding the best. Maybe it is due to the strict dieting of those with low body fat levels resulting in lower (maybe even very low) levels of AA prior to using X-Factor. I wonder if it is possible to measure AA levels in the body prior to a cycle to see if there is some sort of correlation. I'm looking forward to the next 8 weeks - remember my dosage scheme (5 on workout days and 4 on non-workout days) results in needing 3 bottles and the "extra caps" will extend my cycle to 67 days (a little past 9 weeks). Hey Molecular Nutrition, would you be so kind as to donate the third bottle. I promise to keep this detailed log updated.

One other thing to note, I have changed the dosing times/quantities as follows: On workout days: I take one cap with my morning breakfast, 3 caps with my pre-work out meal (1 hr prior to work out) and 1 cap with my post work out meal. On non-work out days I dose X-Factor evenly spaced out throughout the day but I never take X-Factor with MP. For MP, I am now taking 3 caps 2 times/day (between meals and X-Factor dosages) at around 9:00 am with a strong cup of coffee and again at 4:00 pm with a large cup of green tea. I find taking MP alone with caffine slightly raises my body temp.

[jjohn]

Wow. Keep up the intensive work. Now watch yourself transform

[jtt]

Day 9 6-13-06

Yesterday was an off day. I ate fairly clean but did have a cheat with the family (Red Robin) where I ordered two chicken breasts (small, skinny and tasteless) and fries (about a dozen - but they are the large size) with a little ketchup. Oh well, that's what this morning's cardio is for. Each of my last two meals yesterday were 1 cup of FF cottage cheese, FF chicken breast and 5 almonds and a cap of X-Factor. My ravenous hunger has somewhat subsided the past few days. For this week, I will still target 2400 cals on off-days and 2700 on workout days. I'm going to monitor my weight daily and if I'm not on course for +2 lbs by this Friday morning (162 lbs), I will begin bumping up the cals of my pwo shake and the following meal by 150 cals each.

Just took my ALCAR, Multi, 1 gram of CLA and finishing my second cup of Coffee. Out the door for some cardio and then later today head out to a local gym as a walk-in customer for a date with their leg press, Abs and Tricep extension (really tears up my triceps like no other exercise) machines. Need to make the most out of my $8. Tomorrow will be another off-day. After today, I will certainly need the rest.