Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger - Epi/Formex Cycle

[wearedbleedblue]

I finished my velocity diet the weekend of valentines day and now I'm shooting for a recomp/clean bulk cycle. My measurements are as follows:

Chest: 42
Shoulders: 47.5
Biceps: 14.5 L 14.5 R
Forearms: 12.25 L 12.25 R
Bellybutton:35.25
Glutes: 41.5
Thigh Mid: 25.25 L 25 R
Thigh Knee:20 L 20 R
Calf: 16 L 16 R

I'm weighing in around 207 right now but I'll update it on Monday morning when I start the Epistane. I'll be running Epi at 10 a day, 20 - two days, 30 - three days, 40 - twenty-two days for a total of 28 day cycle. I have already started the Formex at 50mg/day until I start the cycle where I'll lower it to 25mg/day, maybe even 25mg/EOD depending on how the joints feel among other things. I've also started loading my cycle support today so I'll have a full week when I start.

DIET

As far as diet goes, I'll be eating relatively clean. Right now and through the cycle I only eat oats, quinoa, ezekiel bread, barilla plus pasta and fresh fruit for carbs. I love pineapple and eat about two whole pineapples every 10 days. Protein sources will be chicken, lean beef, some turkey, tuna, and whey or casein shakes. A cheat day every Saturday will be thrown in.

WORKOUT

My workout routine will be following the Westside for Skinny Bastards part 3 from DeFranco. I'll also be doing tons of mobility drills, self-myofacial release and stretching. I've don't have any nagging injuries and I plan to keep it that way. I'm also going to try to keep up with the 100 day pullup challenge if I can handle the added volume.

SUPPORT

Along with the Formex/Epi I'll be running the following supplements:
Uni-Liver 6-12/day
Cycle Support - 2 scoops/day
Na-RALA - 400mg/3xday
Fish Oil - 2.8g DHA/4.1g EPA each day
ZMK - 4caps/day
MVP multi - 4caps/day
Cissus
Possibly bulk 1-carboxy 1.6g/day at bed

PCT

I'll be using the following:
SERM - Torem
AI - Formex
Cortisol - EndoAmp
Test Booster - Supersap & 50% Icariin
Neovar

WEIGHTS
My maxes are:
Squat - 365/5RM
Bench - 225/3RM
Deadlift - 330/6 reps - always been worried about bad form so never tested anything lower than 6 reps.

Comments, questions and suggestions are welcome.

[wearedbleedblue]

Reserved

[wearedbleedblue]

Workout 3/29 - Max effort Lower Body

I always start my workout with 10min active warmup/dynamic stretching before doing any weights.

Box Squat
Warmup Sets (3 reps each) - 135/185/225/255/280

300x3 reps - went up easy so on to...
305x3 reps - again, easy, go up quite a bit next time

Barbell Step Up
95x12 - 3 sets - This is tough. Burns pretty good and my workout partner and I don't take any rest between each others sets so its also a decent bit of conditioning.

RDL
110x12 - 3 sets - First time I've ever done these with a barbell. Wasn't tough, felt a good stretch. Trying to get the feeling for these before making it too difficult. Will go up considerably next time I do these.

Ab Circuit
Wheel Rollout - 12 reps
Stability Ball Crunch - 12 reps
Russian Twist - 12 reps/side
Sprinter Crunch - 16 reps

Went through the circuit 3x with 30sec rest between each circuit. Finished the circuit off with 90sec plank hold.

[wearedbleedblue]

Workout 3/30 - Repeated Upper Body

Incline DB
45x21 reps
45x15 reps
45x11 reps
*this was intended to be 3 sets of max reps.

Neutral Grip Pullups A1
8 - 7 - 6
Scarecrows A2
15x12 reps - 3 sets

Also, started 50mg of Formex today. Nothing to report from that yet. I took my 1-carboxy a little bit ago and will be passing out soon.

Military DB Press
40x10 reps - 3 sets
40x9 reps - 1 set
*Was starting to feel a little fatigued. And as you can probably tell by my measurements, my shoulders aren't my strong point.

Barbell Shrugs B1
225x10 reps - 3 sets
Tricep Pushdown B2
95x20 reps - 2 sets
95x16 reps - 1 set
*Triceps were supposed to be in a 15-25 range.

Gripwork
CoC gripper #1 6 reps supersetted with CoC G gripper at 15 reps.
The G was way too easy for this, should have used at least the T gripper.

Also started Formex at 50mg today. Nothing to report from that yet. Tomorrow is my much needed rest day. I'll be doing some foam rolling.

[UKStrength]

Good luck with the log mate, hope you enjoy the Epi, the workouts look intense! Maybe stick some creatine in the PCT to help maintain your strength, if you're a responder.

Any pre/post pics planned?

UK.

[wearedbleedblue]

Sorry, I do take and will take Neovar through PCT. Just taking the time off of it during the cycle. I'll have pics up Sunday or Monday when I start the cycle.

[wearedbleedblue]

3/31 - Off Day

Still ended up in the gym today training someone. Today would have been a conditioning day for me but instead I just watched as my friends did conditioning while I shouted out to switch and keep pushing them. I did end up doing 3 sets of hyperextensions and some pushups (pushup challenge of course) but nothing even close to a workout. Finished with 15 minutes of soft tissue work with a lacrosse ball (damn that kills) and some stretching.

Rough idea of my diet today was:

Meal 1:
30-35g micellar casein
60g steel cut oats

Meal 2:
2.5 eggs
2 light beef hotdogs
1/2 cup cheese
Small Hashbrown patty

Meal 3:
1/4 pineapple
5oz turkey
2 slices flax bread

Meal 4:
6oz chicken
40g barilla plus pasta
red sauce
2 TSP coconut oil

Meal 5:
3 cookies
20oz milk

Meal 6:
Micellar casein shake
2TSP coconut oil


Had to eat up some cookies before I start my cycle, mmmmm. Other than that, didn't look too bad. Need to stop being lazy and start eating some of the green veggies I have in the fridge before they go bad.

Tomorrow is repeated effort/dynamic legs. I did a little more foam rolling when I got home to loosen up the hamstrings a little bit more (my flexibility sucks). Off to take my ALA, 1-carboxy and ZMA and go night night.

[wearedbleedblue]

4/1 - Dynamic Legs

Today we started off with jumps. Was pretty good. Started at a box and then did some over a hurdle to get my confidence up. I get pretty intimidated about jumping 3.5feet in the air.

Warmup - Dynamic mobility

Jumps
Box:
3x30"
3x30"
3x30"
Hurdle:
3x36"
3x36"
Box:
3x36:
Hurdle"
3x40"
3x40"

Split Squats (both legs elevated)
20x12 reps - 3 sets
*These pump my quads like no other

Glute-Ham Raise - Partner assisted
12 reps - 3 sets

A1. Ab pulldowns
190x15 reps - 3 sets

A2. Band Twists
Monster Mini Band x 12 reps - 3 sets

Cooldown with band and passive stretching

I took the formex again today and still have no "feeling" from it. Libido is not up, its about the same as before. I did struggle to eat my meal after my workout though, which wasn't any larger than it usually is. The only thing different I did was take 350-400mg of Na-RALA about 20min into my workout.

Diet was clean today, made some enchiladas with healthy tortilla shells and lean beef among other things. I have a test tomorrow so I may or may not be doing conditioning tomorrow, depends on how late I'm up tonight studying.

[Steveoph]

Excellent supp lineup there. You probably don't even need that Torm for the Epi cycle and could get away with OTC, but good to be safe.

[wearedbleedblue]

Yeah, I may run Torem just for 10-14 days to get everything back on track.

[Iron Lungz]

Awesome!
I wish you would have PMed me the link, man!
No worries - I'm here to follow this great stack!

Maybe along the way, I can get some Special Samples out to you...

[Liftergym33]

I'll be following, curious to see how the formex and epi treats you..

Good Luck.

[wearedbleedblue]

Awesome!
I wish you would have PMed me the link, man!
No worries - I'm here to follow this great stack!

Maybe along the way, I can get some Special Samples out to you...

Just been posting it lately, knew people would catch it sooner or later. I'd be excited to run anything you think would go well with my lineup. I'm also going to try to update this as much as possible, at least EOD so be prepared for a long and detailed log.

[wearedbleedblue]

4/2 - active recovery

Training

Nothing special today, just a ton of soft tissue work. My upper back near my scapula is pretty tight and sore, I need a nice deep tissue or ART massage. Also hit the heavy bag for two 5min rounds and got a little bit of a sweat going. I'm heading back to the gym to train my friend and I may throw a little bit more conditioning in.

Formex

Took one cap at 830am and another cap at 5pm, both on an empty stomach. Should this be dosed on an empty stomach or would food help/hinder absorption? So far I'm not feeling anything on it. Maybe slight positive effects on concentration. Had an exercise phys test today and I seemed to recall a lot of stuff without really studying. Could have just gotten lucky, I'll keep an eye on that though. Also, I've been tired the past two days but I think its from school work, not from the formex.

As far as vascularity, pump, strength, etc., haven't really had a chance to notice it yet. I'm thinking that if my strength starts to go up rapidly during the first week of Epi, some would probably be due to the formex as I've heard most people don't kick in on Epi until day 10-14.

One last comment to make. My recovery time seems to have gotten markedly better. Either I didn't work my legs hard enough on Wednesday or I recovered completely faster. I'm not really sore at all while I had sore hamstrings before even starting the workout yesterday.

If there is anything else someone wants me to take note of, let me know.

[Iron Lungz]

Just been posting it lately, knew people would catch it sooner or later. I'd be excited to run anything you think would go well with my lineup. I'm also going to try to update this as much as possible, at least EOD so be prepared for a long and detailed log.

Hell Yeah!
I think I may just have something in mind...

[thebigt]

interesting stack. i ran epi/fura about a year ago, added e-form on about day 10. results skyrocketed. beware of dry joints though, incarnate helped alot. oh yeah drink a ton of water.

[wearedbleedblue]

Side note, I have felt a lot warmer since starting this, today I was sweating like crazy.

[wearedbleedblue]

4/3 - Max Effort Upper Body

Bench is absolutely my weak point. I'm trying to work on my form at the same time. So far no injuries or anything bothering me.

Bench
Warmup:
135x6 reps
175x5 reps
195x3 reps
210x3 reps

Max Effort:
225x3 reps
*all three felt strong and got a good lockout on each. Might have been able to hit 230x3.

Db Floor Press - 2 sets of max reps
50x22 reps
50x18 reps
*3 minutes rest between sets. Was shooting for at least 15 reps each set and it went easily.

Seated Cable Row - A1
130x10 reps - 4 sets
Band Pulls - A2
Mini Band x 12 reps - 4 sets
*Took the weight down from 150 and used two handles attached by chains instead of the fixed handle. Nice burn on the pull aparts.

Db Shrugs
80x15 reps - 2 sets (too easy)
90x15 reps - 2 sets (better but could still go up)

Barbell Curls
55x10 reps - 4 sets
*stood against a pole to keep my back straight and keep the cheating to a minimum. My forearms were so pumped it killed.

Grip work:
Various holds with finger spreads, pinch grip and CoC grippers.

Formex

Took my first cap at 10am on an empty stomach and my second one at 5pm. I'm seeing a few more pimples than usual. I seemed to push out more reps than usual so thats always good.

Libido - no change

Aggression - no change

Strength/Endurance - seems up a little bit

Body Temp - up considerably. I'm sweaty more often and warm pretty much constantly.

Mood/Energy - feeling a little more lethargic lately. Had 8+ hours of sleep last night so that shouldn't be a factor. In the gym I felt mentally out of it despite taking a scoop of JP8.

Tonight I'm going to do a little bit of drinking because I'll have at least 8 weeks of sobriety so I have to take advantage of it when I can I'll get pics up on probably Sunday night and retake my measurements to note any changes if there are any.

[Liftergym33]

Nice work out, Be looking foward to monday when you throw the Epi into the mix..

[wearedbleedblue]

4/4 - Off day

Recovered from drinking way too much the night before. Had to go out with a bang. Ate like an animal all day. Didn't do any training whatsoever.

Formex

Dosed with fats this time to see if I could make any comparisons. Dosed at 10am and 8pm. Nothing to note still.