APPnut Drive and Fat free.....biatch! (w/articles of the day / pics!)

[TheHardOne]

Big thanks to APPnut for letting me log their Drive and Fat Free!

***Drive!? What is it?

"DRIVE™ by Applied Nutriceuticals™

Ask yourself the simple question: If you could create the ultimate sports supplement to boost your body and achieve higher performance, what would you want it to do?

If your answer includes:
• Increase muscle strength & speed
• Increase endurance
• Promote lean muscle growth
• Speed recovery time
• Enhance sexual performance
• Improve mood

…then we have your prescription for achieving these results!

DRIVE by Applied Nutriceuticals is simply the most versatile performance-enhancing sports supplement available. Whether it’s packing an inch of girth on your arms or shaving a second off your best time, DRIVE provides the goods to help you get there.

The synergistic compilation of constituents contained in this unique compound creates a very favorable muscle building environment through a variety of different mechanisms:
• Combines cGMP and cAMP synergism
• Increased thyroid activity
• Aromatase inhibiting effects
• SHBG inhibition
• Increased luteinizing hormone activity
• Improved testosterone:estrogen and testosterone:cortisol ratios."

*What am I expecting from it?
-My recovery to drastically speed up
-Increase my endurance
-Help continue my muscle building goals

*Am I skeptical about Drive?
-Yes I am!


***Fat Free?! What is it?

"Fat Free by Applied Nutriceuticals: Extreme Anti-Catabolic Thermogenic Fat Burner

Fat-Free is a one-of-a kind fat “Eliminator” that employs genetic research & technology to help you dissolve fat like never before, while preserving and even gaining sexy, lean muscle!

Decreases all “bad” fats (subcutaneous, visceral and retroperitoneal) FAST.
1.3 DMAA FREE
Employs Ursolic Acid as a powerful anti-catabolic that helps you preserve lean muscle when on restricted calorie diets.
Suppresses cravings that derail even the most motivated dieters.
Provides great energy and a pronounced “feel good” effect without an overreliance on heavy stimulants
Doesn’t stop “working” (or feeling like its working) within a matter of days or weeks.

What Makes Fat Free The Best Fat Burner on the Market?

Most fat burners are thinly-disguised energy pills - they pump you full of adrenaline, and then quit working correctly after a few weeks. This leads to a massive barrier in fat loss, and moreover, the loss of hard-gained lean body mass while dieting.
Fat Free™ stimulates a powerful muscle-sparing effect that stops the yo-yo effect cold, while throwing the thermogenic mechanisms of the body into high gear, blasting away body fat and eliminating it for good!
Decreases all “bad” fats (subcutaneous, visceral and retroperitoneal) FAST.
Helps you keep that lean sexy muscle you need for a sexy beach body!
Suppresses cravings that derail even the most motivated dieters.
Provides great energy and a pronounced “feel good” effect without an overreliance on heavy stimulants
Doesn’t stop “working” (or feeling like it’s working) within a matter of days or weeks.

Why Should I Buy Fat Free?

NO MORE YO-YO DIETING! The loss of lean body mass while using other fat burners is completely destructive to further fat loss- and creates what is commonly known as “Yo-Yo Dieting”. Strip away body fat, keep it away and preserve lean muscle with Fat Free™"

*What am I expecting from it?
-Euphoric mood
-Enhance Body Composition
-Not getting "stim dick"!
-Increase Neurotransmitter efficiency (focus, mood)

*Am I skeptical about Fat Free?
-Honestly with all the studies on the ingredients, im expecting this product to really deliver the results im looking for!

*My physical goals right now?
-To regain everything that I lost (had to put a hold on my hobby of bodybuilding a few weeks ago, dropped like 20 pounds, strength is way down)
-Shoot my strength up through the roof (ill start posting my numbers on here)
-Increase my overall size!
-Slightly lean down (get down to the single digits!)
-Enhance my mood / alpha male mentality so where ever I go, I feel like a motha-f'in-movie star, get the attention like im a motha-f'in-movie star!
-Basically me want Superhero Strength and that "Superhero Shape/cartoonish look", me will get this! But this is more so a long term specific I suppose!
-Okay im getting a little silly.....actually no! I just dream BIG!

**Supplementation

-Multivitamin (ran out a while ago, anyone have any good recommendations? Ive always used the NOW brand)
-Fish Oil (just ran out, going to the store soon to stock up!)
-Nutrient rePartioner (SLINshot)
-Hormonal Agent (Recycle)
-Pre-Workout Endurance/Lactic Acid Buffer/Mass building agent (Drive)
-Pre-Workout Focus/Mood/Fat burning/Anti-Catabolic agent (Fat Free)
-Pre-Workout Cell Volumizer/Hormone control (Anadraulic GT)
-Anti-Catabolic / Thermogenic (Fat Free)
-Agmatine (500mg-1g pre workout)

**Food intake

-Carbs will vary on exercise duration / intensity / volume, and what my body is telling me as far as muscle fullness, if im flat, libido, sleep, vascularity, if im losing bodyfat, if im not losing bodyfat, insulin sensitivity levels change as time goes by, so ill be very specific with my calories. So carb cycling will be key here, ill post up the carb intakes every day. (keep in mind some days will be really high, but remember I monitor it!)
-What are my carb sources? Red/white Potatoes, gluten free pasta, white rice....why higher GI carbohydrates!? Because those do not cause any kind of gastrointestinal problems for me, they keep my muscles full (low gi carbs literally flats me out). Plus my supplementation / training protocol will ensure insulin is my best friend!

-Protein Intake, more so 1x my LBM on higher carb days and 1.2-5x my LBM on lower carb days. Sources? Im on a budget so whole eggs, milk, beef, cottage cheese, chicken, and fish!

-Fat Intake, higher on lower carb days, lower on higher carb days. Sources? The sources im not alergic to is Peanut Butter, avocado's, fish oils, walnuts! Typically with each meal ill have a good amount of fat with it, yes I combine carbs and fats in the same meal!(Charles Poliquin would hate me! But ive noticed a huge increase in mood, less fat gain, size when doing this!)

**Training

-Everything is logical, nothing is "self made theory" like most guys do, I can't stick to a program, my training will be dictated on the following...(below)
*Libido
*Muscle fullness
*Sleep
*Grip strength

-Pretty much my training will be structured on both forms of hypertrophy(myofibrillar / sarcoplasmic), and stimulating both fast and slow twitch fibers. Ill be going through phases, most of the time im pounding my fast twitch fibers, so my tempo/volume/exercise selection/rest intervals will be geared towards that.

-High motor exercises (compound movements) will be the prime movements

Ive been outa action for almost 3 weeks now! I don't want to sound like a poor depressed human but in short....my family has been going through some economic troubles, where I live opportunity is very slim, and my father has some bad blood circulation problems, a few weeks ago it looked like I had to quit my hobby of bodybuilding, looks like im going to keep going strong!

So here are some current numbers

Weight (was at 227 4 weeks go....since I stopped the whole bodybuilding scene momentarily im back down to 205ish)

BODYFAT (it seems like this is too f'ing controversial to even list, everyone thinks they "know" everything nowa days, so im keeping this to myself to prevent any kind "trolling" "discrimination" etc.... (pm me if your interested in know my bf levels, and I warn you, it will surprise you (The pic below is obviously a poor quality cam, I don't have a cell phone that has text so im stuck with this 20 dollar mp3 thing to take my pics now, yes that was a excuse to hide how bad I look) I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR ANY GUESSING ON WHAT MY BODYFAT IS, thank you and enjoy the rest of the log (just msg if you must know, and yes ill post what my bodyfat before and after at the end of this cycle!)

*Track my gains?
-Through performance/progression in the gym
-Measurements (arms and calves, all the bigger muscles will be easier to track by looking in the mirror, comparing pics)

-Arms are at 16.5 inches
-Calves 16.5

-Main Lifts-

Incline Wide Grip Bench Press 275x4 (ive flat benched 4 plates for a 1 rep max before, but ever since changing my execution I had to use lighter weights, now im finally starting to move some heavy weight again! Moving heavy weight with a 3-5 second negative that is! Controlled, nothing sloppy, ever. (wish I had a chain to equip to my weight belt! if anyone knows where I can get one for extremely cheap tell me!)

Deadlifts 405x15 (stopping at shins) (I use to go all the way down to the ground, got brute strong, but my lack of muscularity made me switch to using a more "specific" execution / range of motion for building my lowerback / erectors / traps. My best off the floor deadlift is 585 when I was 18.

Barbell Squats 365x7 (with a 2.5 plate under my heel for better range of motion via better body curvature for quad recruitment) (best squat was 585 aswell using a wide stance a little below par) (I use more of a slightly outside shoulder width, much more natural for me)

Once I get a chain to add to my belt, I can start going heavy on dips / chins!

Im still deciding what my main shoulder movement will be, our dumbbells only go up to 120, and ive done those for 12 before, I just dislike the whole process of getting the dumbbells into the starting position! I don't like the military front press because the range of motion isn't the greatest for overall delt recruitment, but I may just do it anyways just to overload my front delts, and do another exercise for my medial delts. Best Seated military press is 245 for freakin 3 reps lol, weak I know!

*Training techniques (these will be used instinctively based on my sleep, libido, appetite, muscle fullness)
-Cluster sets
-Rest Pause (pretty much a cluster set)
-Forced Negatives
-Extreme DC stretches at the end of my workouts (most likely will be doing this every workout)
-Blood Starving sets

*Train to failure or no? Depends on my big 4 (sleep, libido, appetite, muscle fullness)
-All im looking for is progress overload every workout.
-Im looking to fire up my CNS not kill it

 

[TheHardOne]

5/29/12 Arms

-CNS warm up (mixture up high threshold exercises)

-Maximize Pump / Growth Factors (20-40 second rest period between sets) (3021 tempo) (about 2-3 sets each exercise, pyramiding up, nothing to complete failure)
V-Bar Pushdowns superset Incline DB Curls
Upright Dips superset Supine Grip Chins
One Arm Overhead Extension superset Preacher Curl
Incline Hammer Curls

-Stretch Fascia
Put biceps in a fully stretched position for 30+ seconds (incline db curl position with internally rotated)
Put triceps in a fully stretched position for 30+ seconds (overhead one arm db extension bottom position)

***Notes***
-Not much sleep last night, felt tired as hell during my workout, but my intensity was there! Actually starting to get that "in the zone" feeling again, yay!
-4 recycle caps 30 mins pre
-agmatine 60 mins pre
-drive 3 caps 40 mins pre
-1 scoop asgt 20 mins pre
-1 fat free cap 10 mins pre
-Pump came quick during my workout, which is unusual, but I noticed intensity started to fall down slightly(which is when you want to stop the workout completely), so I kept on going, ended up losing my pump, face started getting very puffy/bloated....ughhh cortisol...can't I have a little bit more fun in the gym? Whatever, lesson learned.
-Not sure if I will keep doing the low rep high threshold work, I honestly hate training with low reps, I love the high paced, intense style of training.
-Gota keep reminding myself to NOT look in the mirror and worry too much how I look for the first week, same with my performance, can't expect too much from the first week.
-Good workout though, looks like quads is next in line to get thrashed!
-First workout using Fat Free! Love the euphoric mood!

 

[TheHardOne]

Article of the day! 5/27/12

This is a really awesome read if your on a budget! This is from Universal Nutrition's site!



"Bodybuilding is about the basics – basic compound movements done regularly and with effort. This idea applies to eating as well. Many newcomers make the mistake of overcomplicating things. They get caught up with the latest fad diets they read about in popular magazines. They spend more time reading and creating elaborate meal plans, instead of actually trying out tried and true ones. Once again, these wannabe bodybuilders fall victim to “listening” (or in this case, reading), without enough “doing”.

Thus, the typical training tenderfoot is restrained by his own limited desire, his curbed appetite for reaching his physique goals. Instead of just stepping up to the plate and eating more, he thinks too much – he relies on the advice of so-called gurus everywhere and tries on one fad diet after another like so many hats. So what’s the answer? Very simple – the answer consists of two words: Dedication and simplicity. Armed with motivation and desire, you can make your dreams come true. Equipped with a basic, easy to follow diet program, you’ll be quickly on your way.

Just how basic can an effective bulking diet be? How about three items? We will use three of the most common breakfast foods around. These foods are can be found on any farm and end up in kitchens all over the country: whole milk, farm fresh eggs, and a loaf of bread. These three inexpensive staples can fuel the young bodybuilder’s growth when used wisely throughout the day. At this point, you might be scratching your head, wondering if we’re crazy – just a loaf of bread, a gallon of milk, and a dozen eggs? Yes. We call it the Farmer’s Diet.

But before we check out each of these foods in more detail, a few caveats are in order. Though these foods can provide the foundation for a bulking diet, your daily intake of foods should not solely consist of bread, eggs and milk while on that diet. Variety is the spice of life and this is just as true in bodybuilding as with anything else. So eat your veggies, including sweet potatoes, along with brown rice, yams, pasta, poultry, beef, fish and pork.

Let’s start by looking in the cupboards for a simple loaf of bread. For $3.39, you can find a carbohydrate-rich source of food that won’t cost you a lot of dough. You’ll get a total of about 20 super-soft slices you can snack on throughout the day, and each slice will deliver about a gram of fat, approximately double that in protein, and roughly 12 grams of carbohydrates. Best of all, for even more calories, you can use spreads to your advantage. Peanut butter and jams are all great options.

Next, open the icebox and take out a gallon of ice-cold milk. You’ll need something to wash down that bread with. This item will check in at $3.89 a gallon. You get 128 ounces of a wholesome beverage that packs quite a caloric punch and is also chock full of vitamins and minerals. If you were to divide that up, you’d get 8 servings at 16 ounces, and costing around forty cents per serving. For a quarter, dime and a nickel, you get plenty of calories and a nice balance of protein, carbohydrates and fats. All three are important for the athlete looking to add size and weight.

Last but not least, the incredible edible egg. Some call the egg the bodybuilder’s perfect food. Each egg gives you 6g of protein, no carbohydrates and some good, unsaturated fats. Now some worry that eating too many eggs will lead to high cholesterol levels. It’s not dietary cholesterol you need to worry about. It’s saturated fat. And remember, testosterone is made from cholesterol! Some elite bodybuilders will eat half a dozen eggs at breakfast alone, so start cracking!

Taken together, the Farmer’s Diet consisting of a loaf of bread, a dozen eggs, and a gallon of milk will only cost you $9.97 per day. That’s a little over ten bucks a day for a solid bulking foundation! The Farmer’s Diet will add close to 4500 quality calories per day, more than enough for any serious athlete when taking his entire diet into account. Here’s the macronutrient breakdown:

• Milk (whole, gallon, $3.89): 2344 calories, 124g protein, 204g carbohydrates,128g fat

• Eggs (large, dozen, $2.69): 852 calories, 72g protein, 0g carbohydrates, 60g fat

• Bread (white, loaf, $3.39): 1300 calories, 40g protein, 230g carbohydrates, 25g fat

Daily Totals: $9.97, 4496 calories, 236g protein, 434g carbohydrates, 213g fat

Let’s break down the Farmer’s Diet into more detail. Assuming you eat six meals throughout the day. Each meal would then consist of the following:

• 21 oz. glass of milk

• 3 slices of bread

• 2 boiled eggs

That’s it. Could you really pack on weight just by eating this simple meal, six times a day? Absolutely. While the Farmer’s Diet is simple, it will work because it will provide plenty of calories to sustain growth. That’s the real key. What matters most are calories and which foods you choose to eat.

The Farmer’s Diet is illustrative; it provides an example. Your own diet doesn’t have to include milk, bread and eggs. You could replace these three with other staple foods like yams, potatoes, rice, veggies, poultry, fish, and beef. At the end of the day, you need to make sure you’ve eaten enough. Theories and fads may be food for thought, but all the fancy ideas in the world won’t pack on weight. For that, you have to eat real food – and eating is what separates men from the boys.

SHAKE THINGS UP

When you’re eating four, six or eight square meals, the day can get really long, fast. Foods rich in fiber and fats can sit in your gut for a long time and digest slowly. With all those meals, you might end up feeling full and sluggish and tired. So while the day starts strong, it might go out with a whimper. Here’s where a simple strategy can help, one that will help you add even more calories. When times get tough, shake things up!

A delicious and nutritious shake can help you quickly obtain calories. Why shakes? For starters, shakes are tasty and very convenient. All you need is a blender or a shaker cup and you’re good to go. As shakes are a liquid source of calories, they will be digested quickly and efficiently. In other words, a shake won’t sit in your stomach for hours. This is especially important when you are eating a whole food meal every few hours. Calories that don’t keep you feeling full are vital.

So should you stock up on shakes all day long? The answer is a resounding no! Shakes are not meant to replace whole foods. They aren’t miracle supplements that will magically help you gain weight in a shorter period of time. Good, quality weight gain takes time. You can, of course, replace a meal with a shake. You can add a shake between a meal or two. Finally, you can top off a whole food meal with some liquid calories. There are many strategic ways to use a shake effectively and efficiently. Remember, a shake should be used to supplement your weight gaining goals.

When using a shake, feel free to use your imagination and add ingredients to really powerize that drink. Here’s a quick recipe that’s sure to taste good and help you add weight. Start by using a quality high protein, low sugar weight gainer in a basic flavor like vanilla. For our recipe, we prefer Vanilla Ice Cream flavored Real Gains because it contains superior sources of protein, important fats and fiber. Some old time bodybuilders used to use heavy cream for their shakes, but for our recipe, we’ll stick to whole milk.

• 3.5 scoops of vanilla Real Gains (605 cal, 5g fat, 88g carbs, 52g protein)

• 10 oz whole milk, cold (170 cal, 10g fat, 10g carbs, 10g protein)

• 1 medium-sized banana (105 cal, 27g carbs, 1g protein)

• 2 tablespoons of peanut butter (188 cal, 16g fat, 6g carbs, 8g protein)

• Ice

Place all the ingredients in a blender and mix for 10-15 seconds. Pour the shake into a tall glass and you’re all set. With this delicious shake, you get a whopping 1068 calories from 71g of protein, 131g of carbohydrates, and 31g of fat. Now add those 1068 calories to the Farmer’s Diet and your grand total is 5564 calories per day.

Without a doubt, a nutrient-dense shake can really help you out of a tight spot when looking to get big. Use one smartly and only as needed and a shake could mean the difference between meeting your daily intake of calories and missing it day after day, week after week, and month after month.

TOP 10 TIPS FOR GETTING BIG

OK, let’s summarize everything and list the most important things to do and avoid when trying to pack on weight:

1-Simplify your diet: Don’t overcomplicate things and fall for fancy, complex diet plans.
2- Eat big: When it comes to eating, go big or go home; at home, eat some more.
3- Lift heavy: Train big and be consistent; as with eating focus on the basics like compound movements.
4- Add in increments: Whenever you can, add an extra serving to meal; add an extra meal to the day; add extra calories using a small shake at the end of a meal.
5- Shake it up: When you’re full, add a shake; also add foods to that shake (such as peanut butter, fruit, ice cream).
6- The right meat: Instead of white meat, focus on red meat.
7- Carbs are your friend: When it comes to gaining weight, don’t neglect carbohydrates.
8- Move up: Instead of water, use skim milk; if that doesn’t work, move up to whole milk or even cream.
9- Avoid cardio: If you can run, jog. If you can jog, walk.

10- It’s a marathon: When it comes to bulking, it’s a marathon not a sprint so take your time and do it right.

As any muscle head will tell you, meals are an important part of the bodybuilding equation. When you bomb your muscles with one intense workout after another, you can’t afford to let a weak, inadequate diet hold you back from making explosive gains and obtaining an unreal body. Plan a simple, basic, effective diet and then stick to it. When you do, you’ll soon find more meat sticking to your ribs."

 

[TheHardOne]

**Update**
-I think stacking the Fat Free(which doesn't have much of a stim effect?) and ASGT was a bad idea, when I took them I started to feel very sleepy, and ended up getting flu like symptoms, most likely it was too harsh on my adrenal glands and slapped my immune system, now im sick. lol Lesson learned. And yes I staggered them like 30 mins apart? Ill stagger them 4 hours apart now.
-Day off today
-Trying not to look in the mirror, but took a glimpse first thing in the morning....damn im actually noticing some changes already!
-Drive is 3 caps in the am then 3 caps a few hour later (empty stomach)

 

[TheHardOne]

Here was 5/25/12's workout, the first workout back after a month break...

5/25/12 Chest (I will now structure my workouts to one of Christian T's latest articles, I love it!)

*Neural Charge Complex (3 cycles of jump deadlifts / military press / lunges) (3-6 reps each exercise, lightweight, 4021 tempo)
-This is to fire up my CNS to enhance my focus / intensity / strengthen joints for my workout today

*Pre-Pump (without fatiguing the muscle, no where near failure) (2 sets of cable flys superset narrow chins 2-8 reps each)
-Enhance my mind to muscle connection
-Bring in nutrients into the muscle / stimulate protein synthesis

*High threshold / Overload work (multi-joint movements, 4021 tempo, nothing to true failure) (im going for performance, so rest periods are instinctive, basically when I feel im ready, most likely around 90 seconds)
-Pound the fast twitch muscle fibers!
-Incline Barbell Press
135x3 (why is this so heavy rofl!!)
185x3
225x1 (what in the world....my usual warm up weight that I usually warm up for 15-20 feels like 4 plates!)
185x7
205x4
-Wide Grip Chest Dips
BW x 7
BW x 5

*Maximize Pump to targeted muscle
-To stimulate growth factors (igf-1/vegf/gh) to enhance sarcoplasm hypertrophy
-Aids in recovery
-Pec Deck (seat high and seat low variations were used, 30 second rest periods)
110x8-12 on each set (6 sets overall)

*Stretch Fascia
-To enhance longterm hypertrophy
-Enhance anabolic growth factors to enhance recovery
-DB Fly stretch 2 sets of 20-30 seconds (brutal!)

***Notes***
-Can't expect much from my first day back in the gym, super weak! Wow!
-How do I feel? Like a loser! lol Don't worry recycle will change that within week 2!
-Pump? 5/10 Ok pump I suppose, within week 2-3 ill be getting those nasty full pumps! (like i said ive been outa action for almost a month!)
-Took my 2 SLINshot's 10 mins to my first meal, didn't notice much, will try Aaron's recommendation, 20 mins pre meal next time!
-Recycle 4 caps 45 mins pre workout (40 mins after my first meal, opened up the caps to enhance better absorption)
-Agmatine 1g 15 mins pre
-ASGT 10 mins pre (1 scoop)
-Drive 25 mins pre, 3 caps, opened up
-Today will be a high carb day!
-Training frequency will be monitored!

 

[TheHardOne]

5/26/12's workout

Post Chain 5/27/12

-Neural Charge Warm Up
-Pre Pump work (light deadlifts)
-High Threshold Work -Deadlifts from the knee- (deadstop everytime, no bouncing) 4021 tempo
135x5
225x3
315x3
405x2
455x2
505x3
525x3 (ughhh this lightweight feels so heavy for me...expect to see 600-740+ pounds soon)

-Single leg Romanian Deadlift- 4021 tempo
60x4
75x4
95x4

*Maximum Pump work*
-Glute Ham Raises-
BW 3 sets of 8-12 reps with 30-45 second rest periods

*Stretch Fascia*
-Hamstring stretch 60 seconds

***Notes***
-Took 1.5 scoops of asgt today....a little too much stimulants for me...will stick with 1 scoop
-Still feeling like a loser...lol.....
-Libido is surprisingly noticeably improved just from one day of Recycle!
-Aggression and that "in the zone" feeling in the gym just isn't there yet....
-Succesful workout though! I actually had the most intense hamstring pump ive ever witnessed in my life! Wow!
-Just had a scoop of protein / carb powder for my first meal, woke up late, today is just one of those messed up days, ill still get in my macro's!
-525 on my deadlifts from the knee(deadstop) was surprisingly very heavy for me....like I said....can't expect too much from the first week...

 

[TheHardOne]

5/31/12 Quads (fever workout)

-Maximize Pump / Stimulate local growth factors / 3021 tempo / 30-60 second rest periods (nothing to real failure) (8-12 reps per set)
*Leg Extensions (body erect for the hip joint to allow my quads to be in its "fully contracted" angle)
*Dumbbell Lunges (feet pointing foward, press through the heels, rotated between utilizing a "intention" with shoving legs outward and inward to emphasize the upper/outer quads more)
*Hack Squats (slightly outside of shoulder width, feet pointing out)
*Leg Extensions (body leaned back for the hip joint to allow my quads to be in its fully stretched position)

**Notes**
-1 scoop ASGT pre
-3 drive caps first thing in the morning
-500mg Agmatine pre
-Insulin Spiked pre/during/post
-Good pump
-I have a fever, still had a intense workout, im a motha' f***** champ!
-Having a fever sucks, but my mood is great!
-No crazy weights today, this first week is more so a preview of whats to come, just making my body receptive to nutrients again.

 

[TheHardOne]

5/25/12 Article of the day! (instead of just using mine, ill be using articles made by various coaches aswell! This just ensures I have fresh content for you guys daily! Ill make sure its not "generic" either, info that general public doesn't know or doesn't realize!)

3 Things You're Supposed to Do... But Most Big Guys Don't!
Time Your Rest Periods
by Christian Thibaudeau


"When a client asks me how long they should rest between sets, I always answer them with one of the following:

1) I select my rest periods based on the rotation of the earth, wind factor, and moon phase.
2) If I ever see you look at the clock or a stopwatch to calculate rest periods, I will hit you with a baseball bat.


Precisely timing rest intervals is another thing that most coaches and personal trainers do, but that nobody who actually built a ton of muscle mass and strength ever does.

We all recover at different rates. So how can a specific rest period be adequate for everybody doing a program? If I recover slowly, resting 90 seconds between two hard sets might not be enough and my performance could suffer. If someone else recovers super fast and has a short attention span, forcing himself to wait 90 seconds might throw him out of the zone.

Furthermore, even individual recovery rate can vary. For example, your recovery time will be slower if:

1) You're tired
2) You're on a low-carb diet or didn't ingest enough nutrients that day
3) The training environment is really hot and humid
4) You had a huge cheat meal/day and are bloated and holding water
5) You suffer from brain fog or lack motivation


The goal of a training program is NOT to do a list of chores. It's to stimulate a physiological response. So I prefer to give general recovery recommendations based on what I want to accomplish with an exercise.

For example:

A. If your goal is to maximize performance on a lift, you want to use the amount of rest necessary for you to perform optimally. You don't want fatigue to hurt your capacity to lift, but you don't want to rest so much that you get out of the zone either.

B. If your goal is to accumulate waste products and get a maximum pump, you want incomplete rest, to be able to pile on blood and waste products in the muscle. Don't rest so long that you start to lose a bit of a pump. In that case, you accept a drop in performance to be able to magnify the pump on every set.

C. If your goal is conditioning, you want to rest enough to be able to do another bout, but not so much that your heart rate drops down significantly. You want to keep the heart rate elevated during the whole time you're performing the conditioning section.

No truly muscular/strong guy times his rest periods. He instinctively knows how long to rest based on how his body is feeling and what he's trying to accomplish.

Tomorrow I'll discuss another thing you're supposed to do that most muscular dudes never actually do: follow a specific workout as written. -- Christian Thibaudeau"

 

[TheHardOne]

Love this article! 5/26/12 2nd Article of the day!

3 Things You're Supposed to Do... But Most Big Guys Don't!
Use a Specific Workout
by Christian Thibaudeau


"I personally never use a "workout." By that I mean use something written on a piece of paper that tells me exactly what to do. Instead:

I have a target area (either muscle group or lift to work on.)

I know what type of training effect I want to get.

I have a strategy to get that training effect.

I have a general plan/approach based on the strategy.

But the actual workout evolves during the session. I make decisions based on how my body is reacting.

I could never follow a specific program as planned. There's always an exercise that I don't feel properly and that throws me out of the zone. I always feel like I'm missing something. Sometimes I want to do more of something and sometimes it feels like I'm doing too much of something else.


Freedom Within Structure

The bottom line is that when I force myself to follow a specific workout I almost never have a totally positive experience and it kills my motivation. I believe in freedom within a structure.

The general structure/layering tells me how to orient my workout to get the effect I want, but I have freedom regarding exercise choices and the actual loading scheme and training methods I'll use to get the effects desired.

Here's an example of a structure that I use:

1.Get a pre-pump in the main target muscle without causing fatigue.

This loads the muscle with nutrients before doing the hard work, and it enhances the feeling of the muscle so you can better contract it during the high-threshold work.

2.When the pre-pump is established, I move on to high-threshold work.

The goal is to fully stimulate the fast-twitch fibers, maximizing muscle performance.

3. When the high-threshold work is done, I do maximum pump work for the main target muscle.

The purpose is to fill the muscle with as much blood and metabolites as possible to bring as many nutrients to the muscle as possible, as well as stimulate the release of a high amount of local growth factors.

4.When I reach maximum pump, I want to use an exercise that will load the muscle while reaching a stretched position.

This will stretch the fascia, giving more room for growth as well as sensitize the IGF-1 receptors in the muscle.

I have four things to accomplish in a certain order to get the most out of my workout. I do not move on to the next step unless I achieve the goal of the currect step. I'll select the exercises, methods, and loading scheme that will help me achieve each step with the least wasted effort.

Most really muscular or strong guys work like this instinctively. While some do use a specific program, they'll modify it on the fly to get the most out of their workout. The basic workout plan gives them a structure, but they allow themselves enough freedom to make adjustments to maximize their gym time." -- Christian Thibaudeau

 

[TheHardOne]

So im about 6 days into Drive, haven't noticed anything the ingredients are suppose to do yet.

About 3 days into Fat Free, here is what I have noticed
-Euphoric mood!
-Enhanced focus
-No Stim dick!
-Im still able to feel sleepy at night!

 

[TheHardOne]

6/2/12 Chest

-Neural Charge Complex (jump deadlifts, military presses, clean and press complex)

-High Threshold Work 3021 tempo
Flat Bench Press
135x15
185x3
235x3 (oh thank god, last week only could do 225 for 1 rep)
255x2
275x1
295x1
305x1 (I know im trying to to regain my muscle/strength, but this is a incredible jump in strength in a week.... )

-Maximum Pump Work (8-12 reps per exercise)
Pec Deck, rest 10-20 seconds, Wide Grip Pushups(5 reps in stretch position, then 5 full reps) (repeated this sequence 4 times)
Incline Wide Grip Barbell Press 5 reps in the stretch position, proceeded with 5 full reps, rest 30 seconds, repeat 2 more times
Flat Dumbbell Press 1 drop set

-Stretch Fascia
DB Fly stretch 2x30 seconds

**Notes**
-This workout kicked my ass
-GREAT improvements in only 1 week!
-Pumps much better than last week!
-2 scoops ASGT pre
-Trained after 1 meal (3 drive caps with that meal)
-2 SLINshot caps 15 mins before 1st meal
-Alpha mentality is here. Heck yes. PLACEBO!!! YOUR 19 ITS A PLACEBO!!!!........haha! Beast mode pimp.
-1 cap of Fat Free will come in about 4 hours or so

 

[TheHardOne]

6/2/12 PM workout

-30-40 mins of cardio (basketball, so a mixture of various intensity)
-1 Fat Free cap before cardio session, man...I thought I was going to be super out of shape, I actually did pretty good!
-Horrible digestion day....gonna put down 1-2 cups of Green Tea so I can shyt my brains out lol.
-Cheat Meal later tonight, gonna take like 4 SLINshot caps for this one!
-Ughh that "flat" appearance from doing cardio gets in my head too much, I need to man the F up and stop whinning! Im only a week into it, Grow time!

 

[TheHardOne]

6/3/12 Post Chain

-High Threshold Work (deadlifts from the knees)
135x5
225x3
315x3
405x2
500x1
550x1 (straps can barely hold this)

-Maximum Pump Work
Glute Ham Raises 4x8-12 (30 sec rest periods)

**Notes**
-Looks like im going to stop the lower rep high threshold work, I was thinking ahead of time, im going to be using some heavy ass weights in the near future, honestly this kind of training just isn't my taste. The mindset you have to have once you get to pressing 350-400+, deadlifting and squatting 500-600+ is completely different than using a weight that is 200-300 pounds lighter, and most days, I just don't have that mindset. Plus I never have a trusty spotter, my straps can barely hold 500 pounds, and I love squats, but with higher reps, Low Intensity, Heavy weights just isn't for me. This will be a good decision long term aswell for spinal health. I can still overload my muscles with higher reps, using alot of intensity techniques such as rest pausing, drop sets, forced negatives, which is the style I love training! Fill the muscle up with as much blood, stimulate various growth factors. I mean using heavy weight low reps, is technically the most "optimal" way for myofibrillar hypertrophy, but if using more of a sarcoplasmic hypertrophy wasn't the way to go, then all your bodybuilders would be tiny / not impressive, the guys who use more of a myo hypertrophy protocol don't have that "wow" factor. (yes I know drug use plays a huge role)
-Im looking to not only get bigger, but also make sure every muscle is developed to its potential shape wise.
-2 scoops asgt pre
-3 drive caps pre
-4 recycle caps pre
-Everything staggered 15-20 mins apart for my pre workout protocol
-Pump was not there, another downfall of training heavy / low reps, your training frequency has to be lowered to ensure your CNS stays fired up instead of burned out. When your CNS is starting to reach that fatigued state, overall performance will decrease, your pumps will suffer, your body will basically be in a more catabolic state.
-I love intensity, im sorry but yes, Science rules, but alot of the things that "are not" suppose to work, end up working better than what is "scientifically" proven, experts hate to hear that, but belief / reality are strong weapons. I have honestly lacked "belief" ever since I started getting back in the gym, get ready folks, Super Growth Time!

 

[TheHardOne]

Not noticing the endurance, "lactic acid buffering" effects yet, Drive literally makes my stomach bloated no matter if I take my caps with or without food. Still skeptical at this point.

Fat Free on the other hand, my favorite "Fat Burning Energy" marketed product so far! Mainly because of the euphoric mood, no high stims, and the ingredients support blood flow, hormone levels, neurotransmitter efficiency, and fat loss.