Wafflestomped's Follidrex Log (sponsored)

[Wafflestomped]

I wanted to give a shout to Corbin at Nutraplanet for giving me this opportunity to log Follidrex. I plan to be as detailed as possible regarding macros, training, and comparison to my calorie tracker.

Stats:
Male, 26, 5'8'', 176.8lb as of this morning.

Background:
Currently just came off of a pretty successful cut with a fairly large deficit. I'll be slowly ramping up my calories over the course of this run, while adding in additional work volume as I feel more adapted. I hope to put on some lean mass with very little fat gain. At the end of the cut I was at 174.8, but I have been out of town last week for work and my nutrition hasn't been 100% spot on, I did my best given the fact I was away from my kitchen. I would eyeball my bf% around 10-11% and I think I'm just holding a bit of water from last week. In the past after a cut I would immediately go back to maintenance and I would notice a quick weight spike, so I hope to avoid that this time around. I have been wearing a calorie tracker to monitor my activity and try and track my calorie deficit. I'll continue to wear it for this log to have a good baseline of where I'm at regarding calories in vs out.

Training:
During the cut I was keeping all lifts within the 3-8 rep range, and I would add in a set of rest pauses just shy of failure to get some more volume in.

My current RM's from last week:
Squat 355x4 (all time best)
Deadlift 425x3
Bench Press 255x4

During my cut I haven't been really doing dead-lift of regular bench (mainly using db) so those numbers have definitely fallen off, plus I tested them near the end of my workout so take those with a grain of salt. My all time best for deadlift was 480x1 and bench was 300x1. My squat numbers are currently my best and I did 380x1 in the past, which I think I can beat now.

I'll be using an upper/lower body split routine, lifting 4 days per week. I may throw in a full-body day prior to a large carb meal once per week. I plan on keeping things relatively heavy, and adding in at least one higher rep set per body part followed by rest-pauses to obtain more volume. I'll shoot for something like an initial 10-12 rep set, followed by 5-7 rest pause sets of 3-5 reps.

Diet:
I track all of my calories, and try and space my meals out similar to how Layne Norton advises (eat every 4-6 hours, and occasionally I'll take a serving of BCAA in between to spike muscle protein synthesis). I was previously consuming roughly 2000cal a day, and I'll be adding in approximately 150-200 calories per day per week, so in 4 weeks I'll be back to 2600-2800 calories, which is right at my maintenance level. I typically keep my carbs lower on off days, and have more carbs around my workouts. Protein stays consistent every day (230g), and my fat and carbs alternate based on a rest or workout day. On lifting days, the majority of my carb consumption is pre and post workout.

Supplements:
I am not taking any sort of hormonal product, and the other supplements I'm taking are considered staples by many (BCAA, Beta alanine, Creatine mono, citrulline malate, fish oil, multivitamin, joint support, preworkout). I was using the EC stack all of last week and I will be reducing my dosage over the next week.

Dosing:
Since I'm under 200lb, I'll be doing 1 dose per day. I plan on taking this pre-workout on an empty stomach at least an hour after my previous meal. 30 minutes later I'll consume my preworkout followed by BCAA+carbs intra-workout. On off days I'll try and dose it around the same time I normally lift to keep a consistent dosing schedule.

 

[cumminslifter]

first

 

[Wafflestomped]

first

glad to have you here

So I'm a little delayed here but i've taken my Follidrex every day since Monday. The first thing I noticed when I started lifting was increased perspiration. I typically sweat a lot, but I was sweating profusely only after my first working set. Not sure if this is coincidence but i'll keep an eye out for it.

I hit Upper Body on Monday with the following routine:

Db Bench Press: 105x4,100x5,90x7
T-Bar Row: 180x7, 170x8, 160x9 drop set 90x12
Wide Grip Cable Upright Row: 90lbx8,8, 100x6 drop set 60x10+3,3,3
Hammer Strength Pulldown: 250x7,7,7 plus rest paused 3,3,3,3,3
Hammer Strength Iso-Press: 160x9,8,8 rest paused +3,3,3,3,3
Machine Row: 170x10+4,4,4,4,4,4
Machine Side Raises: 110x9, 120x8x8 rest paused +4,4,4,4,4

This routine I kind of winged since it was extremely busy and the things I wanted to use were all occupied. The Db press and T-bar were consistent with previous weeks, but the other exercises I subbed out.

Tuesday was legs/arms:
Leg Press (I hate the angle on this particular machine): 680x4, 630x8,8 450x15 (i tried going for a 20rep widow maker but it wasn't happening lol)
Hammer Strength Calf Raise: 360x11, 410x7,7 drop set 360x5, drop set 270x5,5
Sumo Squat on V-Squat Machine: 370x7,7,7
BB Curl (slightly leaned forward): 95x6,6,6 + drop sets on machine preacher
DB overhead extension: 90x6,6,6
Leg Extensions: 160x10 drop 145x3,3,3,3,3,3,3
Leg Curls: 145x12 + 3,3,3,3,3,3,3
Tricep Rope Ext: bunch of rest pauses

Like monday, I swapped out a few exercises from what I typically do, but it was a nice change of pace. I'll dial in which exercises I want to use for the next few weeks and stick to those with similar rep ranges. Also like my upper body day there was increased perspiration over my typical baseline, i'll keep an eye out for it over the course of the log. Otherwise the routines felt good!

Note: workouts are going off memory, i'll check and edit with logbook when I get home

 

[Wafflestomped]

Wednesday was a rest day. I took my Follidrex in the afternoon and don't really have anything to report. I'll keep an eye out for any affects I notice on my off days.

Thursday was my 4th dose of Follidrex, and it seems like the increased sweating is definitely correlated to the pre-workout Follidrex dosing. My routine was:

Incline Bench: 215x4, 205x6, 185x8 drop set 135x8,5,5,5
Pullups: 45lb:8,7,7 drop set BWx5,4,4,4
Hammer Strength Shoulder Press: 260x8, 240x8, 7
Cable Row: 255x6, 240x7, 225x8, 185x12+4,4,4,4,4,4
Weighted Dips: 75x8,7 50x9 drop set BWx5,5,5,5,5
Cable Lat Pullover (done on individual cables inside the big dual pulley stack) 32.5x8,6 27.5x10,11+4,4,4,4,4,4
Cable Side Raise:45x5,40x7,7 30x10+4,4,4,4,4

I noticed that I had a lot left in the tank after the workout, but my workout partner (wifey) wanted to get out of there, otherwise I could have kept going. Especially with the additional rest pause sets, I just wouldn't tire out.

Weight is also down, I think a shed a bunch of that water from last week and I weighed in this morning at 175.2. I upped my calories by an average of 200/day this week and for the majority of the week my weight was constant at around 176-177 so it's interesting that I dropped a little weight.

I would love to lean out more, so I may keep the calories where i'm at right now and hit a high carb refeed sometime in the near future. I'll monitor progress/appearance and keep you guys posted.

 

[cumminslifter]

solid work man, i know them feels of the girl wanting to leave and you wanting to stay

 

[Wafflestomped]

Weekend update:

Hit arms/abs on Friday, then did legs on Saturday. I usually do arms with legs but I had some extra time so I decided to hit the gym both days

Calories have been averaging around 2400, and I've been consistently weighing myself. I was at a low of 175.2 this weekend, and this morning I was at 176.6. These fluctuations are part water manipulation but I believe I am still getting leaner. One of my lower abs is peaking out which wasn't there a week ago, and this is with increased calories and without the EC stack.

I'll post my workout routines when I get home tonight

 

[Wafflestomped]

Arms and other:

Close grip bench: 225×4 205×5, 185×8 135x 14 +4,4,4,4,4
Standing barbell 100×5, 90×7,6 70×10+3,3,3,3,3
Cable overhead extension 72.5×7, 65×9,9 drop 57.5x4,3,4,4,4
Spider curls on Incline bench 70×8,8,8 50×12+3,3,3,3,3

Weighted leg raises
Hammer strength crunch machine

Hammer strength shrugs 360×7,7,7
Face pulls 57.5x 11,11,10

Legs:
Front squats: 275×4,4 245×6
Glute ham raises: bwx8,6,6
Hammer strength calf press 450×5, 410×7, 360×9 drop 270× 6,5,5,5,5,5
Individual Leg extensions 110×8 100×8,8 70×12+5,4,4,4,3
Lying leg curls 140×8,7,8 100×14+5,5,4,4,4

Both sessions felt easy and I moved through the weights quickly. So far so good with Follidrex

 

[Wafflestomped]

More updates!

I've had a lot of social events for work (eating out :-/) so I like to hit the gym when I know I'm going to be consuming more than I can typically track. My weight has gone up a little and been hovering around the 177lb range. Despite eating out a lot this week I think i managed to track my macros pretty accurately (I keep the calories lower throughout the day to compensate for the restaurant). I'll keep my calories consistent and continue to monitor progress.

Monday was Upper. I worked out a gym I don't typically go to so I tried out some new equipment. I like to keep the big money lifts up front and try to really progress with those, and the other lifts I tend to add more volume, rest pauses, and try to work on activating the muscle.

DB Bench press: 100x6,6 95x5, 65x9 (slow contractions/negatives on last set)
Bent Over Row (Pendlay style): 225x5,5, 205x6, 155x? (I just repped it out as much as I could, maybe 11?)
Seated Shoulder Press: 155x6,145x7,135x8
Machine High Pull: 230x7,7,7 dropset to rest-paused 180x6,5,5,5,5,4,4
Machine Row: 140x7,7, 120x11 (this machine targeted a unique area of my back)
Hammer strength incline: 160x8,9,8
Cable Upright Row: 70x9, 90x6, 80x6


Tuesday was lower/arms. I was really dragging early on in the routine and i felt like my squat suffered. I eventually got into it and had a great workout towards the end.
Squats: 355x4,3, 335x4 then quickly over to 225x10
Ham Pull thru's: 100x8,110x8,8 dropset 80x10
Underhand Pullups (targeting biceps) : 45x6, 25x7,7 dropset to restpause bodyweightx3,3,3,3,3,3
Hammer Strength dip machine (seated abckwards, focusing on triceps): 180x10,230x6,7,8 dropset to restpause 180x5,4,4,4,4

the next exercises were done on different machines so I basically just did higher rep work with some mini-rest pause sets
Leg Ext
Leg Curl
Calf Raises
Cable Preacher Curl
Tricep Rope ext

Couple things I have noticed with the Follidrex: I feel like the best dosing time for my is about 30minutes pre workout. When I've done this I've noticed increased vascularity throughout my workouts opposed to when I take it within 5minutes of starting. I actually ran out of agmatine and citrulline malate so this entire week has been nearly without my "pump" supplements. Despite this I'm definitely having major pumps and vascularity, I'm seeing veins in my delts and chest I have never seen!

 

[Wafflestomped]

Weekend workouts were both short. I split up my upper day into back/chest and shoulders/ arms.

I got a copy of Ben pakulski M140 program k and watched a lot of the videos. There was a lot pf insightful information that I tried to use this weekend to see how I liked it.

Every exercise was done with a 4 second negative and with lots of concentration on utilizing the working muscle? As a result the weights were dramatically less. I'll edit and post the routines when I have my log book


Follidrex has been good so far. It's been 2 weeks today and my weight has been consistent. I'm about the same weight as last week and up 1 lb overall. I'm going to increase my calories to 2500-2600. I started 2 weeks ago around 2100, and im currently taking in around 2400. I definitely look fuller both inside and outside of the gym and endurance has improved.

 

[Wafflestomped]

Weekend workouts:

Friday, chest/back:

Flat bench press: 255x3, 225x5, 185x 8,8 drop 135x 5,5,5
Incline dumbbell presses: 65x8,8,8,8 + drop set 50x5,40×5,30x5
Hammer strength decline press 150x8 , 8,8,8 + drop set 120x4, 100x4, 80x 4
Assisted Pullups x8,8,8,8 plus 3 drop sets
Bent over rows 135x 8,8,8, 8 + drop set 115x4, 95x4
Cable pullovers ? ×8,8,8,8 plus drop set
Hammer strength row 160x8,8,8,8 plus 3 drop sets

Sunday, shoulders and arms:
Db press on a slight Incline: 80x8,8,8,8 + 65x3, 55×4, 40x5, 30×6
Hammer strength dip (triceps): 230x8,8,8,8 + 180x4, 135x4
Hammer strength Preacher curl: 90×7,85×8,8,8 + 75×4, 65×4, 55×5, 45×5
Cable upright row: 65x8,8,8,8 + 52×5, 45×5, 37.5×5
Cable overhead extension: 62.5x8,8,8,8 + drop set
Close grip lat pulldowns (biceps focus) 115×8,8,8,8 + drop set



All the sets were done with sub max loads and only 40 seconds rest. I was really focusing on the negative portion with a 4 second eccentric on all lifts. This was brutally difficult even with lighter weights. I think I'm going to run this training style for a few weeks on an upper/ lower split. I got this training from Ben pakulski M140 program. I really like the extended time under tension compared to just blasting through heavy reps.

 

[Wafflestomped]

This past week has been pretty hectic between work and family coming to visit. I managed to squeeze in a few quick sessions and keep my diet in check.


I'm up to 178 right now, I feel fuller and look just as lean. My training has been similar to Ben Paulskis MI40 program... i'm not following it to a T but mainly taking some aspects from it and applying it to a split that works in my situation, I may run the full program in the future just not right now.

I'm pretty confident that Follidrex has been helping both in and out of the gym, weight has been moving up with no fat gain, endurance has improved, but nothing really in the department of strength gains. Granted I haven't been focusing on strength based program, but for the most part my lifts have been consistent.

I added a few reps to my leg press and squat (355x4,4,4 last session), but I think the Follidrex may help more with the higher rep endurance which I have noticed more during my rest-pause and drop-sets.

I would argue that it may be beneficial to run this longer than 4 weeks, my bottle is almost out and I feel the benefits more this week then the last 2.