I know I'm late but I just want to share my complete experience in case someone is searching and comes across this blog entry.
I would like to start off by saying that I recommend this stack to anyone like me who is an experienced lifter and needs a little boost to really get you going. I say I'm an experienced lifter in the sense that I have been lifting since high school, have had multiple "stints" of steady and dedicated lifting phases, but fallen in and out due to school, job demands, life demands, and just plane lack of motivation at times. I've always been pretty strong, but my physique just never matched what I throw around in the gym. And it just got to the point where the work in the gym didn't reflect my physical appearance and I was becoming mentally discouraged. I’ve even been conscientious at times to take my shirt off at the beach because of the way I look and aggravated by my friends and others who do not work as hard as I do but look better. I’ve always been one of the strongest guys at any particular gym, but looked like one of the worst. I envied guys that were cut up and had the dry cuts even though I could lift substantially more than them. I have also tried a lot of low level supplements and over the counter commercial products, but nothing ever seemed to do the trick. I did a lot of research about this and was very smart and overcautious when going about it. So please do diligence before you attempt anything and make sure it is right for you and you have hit a point where you think you're ready.
This stack seemed like it took extra long, for me personally, to kick in, but it finally did around week 5 and I surely began to see a difference. So did others (sorry I can't supply pics). I got lots of comments about having a bigger yoke and appearing more "broad" in the shoulders and posture. This is probably the case with me because my training is very strength based, rather than bodybuilding and muscle isolation. So lots of core workouts, dead lifts, and compound advanced lifts. I definitely broadened out and got bigger in my traps, as well as started to square up in the top pectoral area. My arms are larger than ever and I have started to cut up between my triceps/biceps and shoulders. I noticed a clear cut between my neck and traps which I've never really had before, and my upper body triangle has really started to take shape. My mid section is still lacking much improvement, but my legs are solid and strong and overall my skin has really tightened up and I look pretty darn good in the right light.
My fiance has also been very vocal about the way I look and feel and is very happy with the changes that I am making to my body. Her friends have mentioned a difference and even my father made a couple of comments. All this was nice attention that I have just never really received in my life so it was all new and encouraging.
My strength gains were steady and noticeable, and my endurance was endless. I felt like I could stay in the gym as long as they were open and I reached weights that I had never reached before. I've been a part of intense strength training camps and programs before for months at a time and I still didn't reach the numbers that I did in the past couple of weeks.
There was somewhat of a price to pay for all of this. I had some intermittent pains while lifting and outside of the gym. While lifting, I often experienced some pretty substantial pains in my shoulders and forearms. Not so much a tare or stabbing pain, but more of a real bad ache. Almost like a growing pain when you were a kid but much worse. I was able to work through it most of the time but sometimes I had to take a break for it to go away, only for it to come back when I started lifting again. The pain in my shoulders came usually during arm based workouts and the pain in my forearms came during chest and upper body workouts. Especially on the inside of my elbow area. That hurt the most and sometimes it prohibited me from lifting as much as I knew I was capable of, so it was really annoying sometimes. I noticed that when I went real heavy on dead lifts it was cause a lot of strain on my forearms and they would be like slingshots for the rest of the week. Especially when I would go to grip the bar to bench, or do a pull up, when I would let go my arms would shoot up with pain. So I started to space out my workouts a little better and was conscious of dead lifting too close to an upper body day. I also got a few back pumps here and there but those I was familiar with from doing so many dead lifts and squats over the years so I worked through that too.
In the first couple of weeks I was playing in an advanced organized basketball league, as I do every winter, and had a few games where I had some of the most unbearable shin splints I've ever had (in fact I've never really had them otherwise). I usually played through it but on one occasion I had to sit down. I am noticing lately as softball season begins, I get some extra pains in my forearms and shoulders when I throw too much and grip the bat too tight. I also experienced some pain in the arches of my feet just walking around and getting up in the morning. Sometimes the back pumps would come back when I was sitting at my desk or laying in bed but nothing crippling.
These are all aches and pains that I had never really experienced before and I don't even know if I can attribute them to the stack, the fact that I was in the gym more often and longer, and/or I was able to lift more weight than I ever have. Perhaps a combination of all of new stress and gains to my body could factor in.
Additionally, I had an interesting experience when I went to donate blood. I have donated blood every month for years and this was the first time ever that I was almost unable to give because my hemoglobin was too low, and my blood pressure too high. The nurse let me sit for a few minutes and retake the pre-tests and I ended up passing in order to donate. She said the tests were not at levels to be worried about, they just have certain standards that people must be at in order to give. But it was still interesting to me. Not alarming by any means, but interesting. I ended up adding a little iron to my vitamins but haven’t been back to give blood since.
I noticed a little difficulty sleeping during the week. Sometimes this was due to soreness. Sometimes I was just still worked up from being at the gym. Yes, all of these things were new, and most of the symptoms were scarce and bearable. Nothing to hold me back from doing it again. I didn’t see a difference in my libido. No hair loss. No extra acne. And no gyno (so far).
The pros absolutely weighed out the cons for me personally, and I hope I am able to sustain the gains that I've made physically and performance wise. I think the biggest difficulty for me was actually ending it. It really felt like I was doing something good for myself. I was eating right, taking extra vitamins, protein, and just overall very conscious and motivated about my health. The gains were so noticeable that I just had an extra confidence about myself that I’ve never had. I also really appreciated the acknowledgment from others because I had never gotten attention like that before.
That all said, it is going to be extremely difficult to stay motivated, especially because I have been lifting for a long time and never seen gains in myself like this, so I know it will inevitably come to an end. I can really see where people can become addicted to this stuff and want to go for the next best thing every time. For me, I have the self-control and motivation to continue on, learn from my experience, and probably never do anything stronger. If anything, I would probably do this again and up the dosage a little bit, but that's about it. I felt great and for the most part it agreed with my body, so I feel if I am smart about it in the future like I was this time around, it would be acceptable to try again.
I hope this helps. If the pct shows any other results, I will let everyone know, but all is well so far.
