[ReaperX]

X-Factor @ 1.5g (6 gels) for 65 days

This is a repeat of my previous log however I decided to tweak it a bit: X-Reaper and X-Factor: no el sponsoro


I wound up buying 4 bottles of X-Factor so I decided to run it at 6 gels/ED which totals to 1.5g of Arachadonic Acid. Also too, despite the directions, I will not really limit my omega-3 fatty intake. I'm not going to go out of my way to take 'extra' but if I end up taking some fish oil gels or eating fish that day so be it. Bill Llewellyn touched upon this earlier, but I speculated awhile back that intaking omega-3 fatty acids would not impact the effect Arachadonic Acid would have.

I will however, NOT use any anti-inflammatories at all.

I originally was going to do a regular cycle of 2 bottles @ 4 gels, but honestly there isn't anything out on the market right now that is even worth buying, IMO so I just anted up and bought 2 more. I've also been following AA for awhile now and think that it is one of the more revolutionary supps to be discovered which has had me curious, (as opposed to the trillion different versions of creatine, nitric supps, etc).


Another speculation I have was that 4 gels (1g of Arachadonic Acid), is underdosed and that a higher amount would be needed to achieve better results. I decided upon 1.5g, and maybe after this whirl I'll make another judgement about it).


I am following the protocol on my previous thread from before. Regarding the pictures, my ex-gf broke her old camera and wanted the one I had back, as it was hers (ass.hole), so as of now I am stuck with nothing.

Also too, I am due for my annual physical that my employer provides for free which includes a blood test that will be conducted around early Feb, so it'll be a few weeks into the cycle.

I'll update this once in a great while, as it seems my workload has increased 100x since 2008 has started.

Couple of things that I am wondering about:

1. What is the actual uptake percent once the AA passes through digestion ? I'm not sure how much the oil protects the AA until it goes to the lymphatic system for uptake.

2. What is the conversion rate of the AA that has been uptaken into the system that eventually converts into protaglandins and all that other good stuff?

3. How much will it really help pumps/nitric oxide due to the various potential pathways of metabolism ?

(as far as I know) is:

1.Arachadonic Acid->Cyclooxygenase->Prostaglandins/Thromboxanes->cytokine IL-1 ?->NO (nitric oxide) ?

2.Arachadonic Acid->5-Lipoxygenase->Leucotrienes

3.Arachadonic Acid->Cytochrome P450 monooxygenase->epoxyeicosatrienoic acid



.....anyways, I've been on this for 1 week already and starting up the 2nd week as to not delay.


-No DOMS so far
-Slight fat loss
-Pumps have been so-so

...........With X-Factor it will probably be a month or so before I can really comment on what is going on. I'll update again in 1-2 weeks.

[jjohn]

These questions are beyond my knowledge, but I'll try to get someone on this for you

Also, very impressive. You started sceptic to convinced, and now you're doing it the Jjohn way

[ReaperX]

I think that the dosing needs to be higher, I am virtually sure of this. However, I think that the 50-60 day mark is spot on, b/c I think time thereafter the body is adjusting to the increase of AA. Not that it is not working, but the effectiveness goes down.

My guess is that the body adapts to the increase of AA rather quickly. Not that this means anything, but before I could only do 2-3 gels/ED without getting too bad of headaches. Actually right now with 6 gels/ED I don't have any headaches at all. This could possibly be due to already an adaption.

I would almost guess that a more effective way of dosing X-Factor would be:

3 days AA @ 1g, then 3 days AA @ 2g, then repeat.


It is interesting b/c I think it has a very similar effect to creatine.....works great at first and for awhile, but the gains/results diminish.


Another speculation that I have is that you can still make gains off of Arachadonic Acid, even if you are not 'sore' or DOMS. The only times I usually have increased soreness is when I change up my workouts to new exercises or have not trained for a significant amount of time.

The thing is, still I think the dosing needs to be upped. When you take fish oil, you don't just take 1g or so, usually you take between 2-4g if not higher when supplementing. Combined with the potential loss of the conversion within the body and absorption, this has lead me to speculate a higher dose needed to the 'results' to occur.

[3clipseGT]

I very much agree with ur conclusion to this as well. And reading the packet inside the Xfactor bottle really made sense to me ( duh right? lol) but we all have AA in our bodies, so when we do a new exercise that hits a new part of the muscle it releases AA which is why we get sore, so having more AA in the body will increase that because more is being released after we workout, which makes sense as to why the body would get used to the new AA.

Now my theory on this would be to start at about 1g for the first 3 or 4 weeks and then keep increasing. Especially if you are new to AA. Like maybe 750mgs for the first 2 weeks, then 1g for 2 weeks, then 1.25 for another week the finally at the end 1.5 or if you got more then 50-60 days then adjust accordingly.

[ReaperX]

I disagree with the muscular soreness being directly due to the release of the AA.

The arachadonic acid is release during muscular activity. The thing is why is it when I workout using the same exercises, week after week and I don't really get sore ? Does that mean that since I'm not sore I'm not releasing AA ? WRONG !

But..........when I do the same exercises with a mega amount of reps, (like 75 reps) or an insane amount of sets (like 10 sets) and high amount of exercises then I will get sore.

For example:

If I did my biceps like:

Dumbbell curls: 75 reps, 10 sets
Barbell curls: 75 reps, 10 sets
Preacher curls: 75 reps,10 sets.

....besides the fact that I think something like this is impossible to physically do, even if I were using the same exercises for several weeks prior, my muscles would get sore as a result of this.


Reaper's opinion: Muscular soreness is inflammation that is achieved because:

-The muscle fibers you are using are being stimulated past a 'normal' threshold thus creating a new re-calibrated response and the result is muscular trauma and localized inflammation. This situation is achieved anytime the normal muscular contractions are increased beyond the normal capacity that they are accustomed to.

This would hold true in doing new exercises (stimulation of NEW muscle fibers) and mega amounts of sets, reps, whatever (overload of muscular contraction threshold currently established).

[saludable24]

Originally Posted by ReaperX

I disagree with the muscular soreness being directly due to the release of the AA.

The arachadonic acid is release during muscular activity. The thing is why is it when I workout using the same exercises, week after week and I don't really get sore ? Does that mean that since I'm not sore I'm not releasing AA ? WRONG !

But..........when I do the same exercises with a mega amount of reps, (like 75 reps) or an insane amount of sets (like 10 sets) and high amount of exercises then I will get sore.

For example:

If I did my biceps like:

Dumbbell curls: 75 reps, 10 sets
Barbell curls: 75 reps, 10 sets
Preacher curls: 75 reps,10 sets.

....besides the fact that I think something like this is impossible to physically do, even if I were using the same exercises for several weeks prior, my muscles would get sore as a result of this.


Reaper's opinion: Muscular soreness is inflammation that is achieved because:

1. The muscle fibers you are using are being stimulated past a 'normal' threshold thus creating a new re-calibrated response and the result is muscular trauma and localized inflammation. This situation is achieved anytime the normal muscular contractions are increased beyond the normal capacity that they are accustomed to.

This would hold true in doing new exercises (stimulation of NEW muscle fibers) and mega amounts of sets, reps, whatever (overload of muscular contraction threshold currently established).

Ok, assuming this is true... What does the AA do if it has no adaptation response to amplify that would have been caused by the overloading of the muscle through a workout beyond it's normal capacity?

[ReaperX]

Using Bill Llewellyn's terms, AA is a hypertrophic catalyst.

While inflammation is an aspect of AA, I don't believe it to be its sole purpose only in the 'aiding' of muscle building. I don't know everything about AA. Not to 'smackdown' Bill either, but I think there is still a lot that needs to be discovered about AA in order to truely harness its potential.

[whitedevil74]

I like the way you think, will follow for results.

[saludable24]

I will deffinately stay tuned as well.

[ReaperX]

This is just for clarification:

-Diet: 40/40/20: c/p/f

-Training: 4 exercises per muscle group, 12 reps range, each muscle group gets hit once a week

-Supps: Multi-vitamin, ZMA, Fish Oil, caffeine, that's it. Nothing else.

-Taking X-Factor always with food. I think this is imperative for optimal absorption.



-I'm pretty much using bare minimum on supps, and dropped creatine/no supps.

-Instead of cutting like I wanted to, I'm running a maintenance diet, so my composition will be in terms of muscle gain, in conjunction with my current physique.

-I got one of those scales for Christmas that measures bodyfat, water, weight, etc, etc and took intial measurements and will again at the end.




My sole purpose is to see how much AA really exaggerates my muscle gains, off of not changing anything else. IRO, if you stack a trillion supps, and eat to bulk, etc, etc, you never really know if a product is working.......which is ok for some people, however, this is not the case for myself.

[ReaperX]

One last thing:


From the data I have looked over, AA's release ISN'T dose dependent upon strength (i.e. lifting heavy weights), but from muscular contraction alone. This is the reason why I chose high volume over strength.

The idea is to get optimal release as well. Which should, theoretically, result in optimal gains.

ok that's it.


........over and out.

[whitedevil74]

Originally Posted by ReaperX

One last thing:


From the data I have looked over, AA's release ISN'T dose dependent upon strength (i.e. lifting heavy weights), but from muscular contraction alone. This is the reason why I chose high volume over strength.

The idea is to get optimal release as well. Which should, theoretically, result in optimal gains.

ok that's it.


........over and out.

That is about the most interesting idea I have ever heard regarding AA supplementation. So a volume/hypertrophy program, in your opinion, is better than a strength program when consuming AA.

[ImJ2x]

I'll be watching, Reaper. I remain somewhat skeptical of AA's effectiveness. (I think JJohn's gains may be attributable to the many months he spent in the gym, and diet. AA may have been just "along for the ride.") That said, I do have 5 bottles of a competitor's AA that I got for $10 each on the clearance table at a local supp store. So if you discover a truly effective way of using this stuff, I'm all ears. (In the meantime, I'm all Superdrol, lol.)

[rustlerracer]

Originally Posted by ImJ2x

I'll be watching, Reaper. I remain somewhat skeptical of AA's effectiveness. (I think JJohn's gains may be attributable to the many months he spent in the gym, and diet. AA may have been just "along for the ride.") That said, I do have 5 bottles of a competitor's AA that I got for $10 each on the clearance table at a local supp store. So if you discover a truly effective way of using this stuff, I'm all ears. (In the meantime, I'm all Superdrol, lol.)

$10 a bottle? how