<insert witty title> - a recomp with AN/USP/RPN (unsponsored)

[strester]

just started my recomp today ... goal is to minimize bodyfat while keeping as much muscle and strength as possible ... I will be using the mirror as my main way of checking progress and will provide before and after pictures at the end of the log ... it's time to get ready for summer and I figure this log will 1) keep me motivated 2) possibly help other members who are wondering about these supplements 3) an easy way for me to get some feedback from knowledgeable members of the forum as I try to shed this stubborn tire around my waist

this is my first log on the AM.com forum and I'm going to try and keep it straight and to the point ... updates will consist of my workout/cardio for that day (Max-OT working sets only) and anything of interest regarding the supplements that I think should be mentioned.

Stats:
5'11"
208 lbs.
BF% is unknown
38" waist

Supplements:
Applied Nutriceuticals: RPM & Drive (used previously)
USPLabs: Anabolic-Pump (first try)
RPN: DCP (first try)

Dosing Schedule:
4:00am - (1 x RPM, 4 x Drive, 2 x DCP, 1 x AP)
4:30am - pre shake
5:00am - workout drink
6:30am - post shake
7:45am - meal 1 (breakfast)
10:00am - meal 2 (snack)
11:30am – (2 x DCP, 1 x AP)
12:00pm - meal 3 (lunch)
3:00pm – meal 4 (snack)
5:00pm – (2 x Drive, 2 x DCP)
5:30pm – cardio
6:00pm – (1 x AP)
6:45pm - meal 5 (dinner)
8:00pm – meal 6 (pre-bed shake)

Training:
Max-OT workouts 5-days a week with focus on one or two body parts early in the morning ... cardio later in the afternoon ... weekends are either off days if I feel I need some recovery time or fasted cardio in the mornings (HIIT for 20-30min) ... I've just started adding cardio back into my training after losing 13lbs (mostly fat) from just lifting and cleaning up my diet

Diet:
I try to eat clean and usually try to switch up my carb and protein sources with each meal for variety ... work towards one cheat meal a week on the weekends when my wife and I go out to eat ... my typical grocery list includes chicken, ground turkey, tuna, eggs, steaks, oats, brown rice, sweet potato, beans, lots of veggies, olive oil, natty pb, almonds, bananas, apples, granola bars, bagged salad ... water intake is usually 1.5 - 2 gallons a day

so here we go.....

[strester]

fasted cardio -30 min of HIIT ... used the Arc Trainer and I was dying ... I remember why I hate cardio now ... sipped on some BCAA's during the workout

only took 2 Drive this morning ... decided to start off at 4 a day for the first few days of the log and then taper up the dosage to 6

got a good sweat ... but nothing of notice today that can be attributed to the supplements

[Steveoph]

Fasted HIIT must be brutal. I keep meaning to read Lyle McDonald's articles about HIIT, but I know personally that my sprints are much more intense (and therefore I feel effective) when I have a shake 30 mins before to give me the energy, but unlike you I'm on a lean bulk.

You've got an awesome bunch of supplements there, you might be interested in some green tea to help you as well (and great health benefits!). Good luck on your recomp!

[strester]

Fasted HIIT must be brutal. I keep meaning to read Lyle McDonald's articles about HIIT, but I know personally that my sprints are much more intense (and therefore I feel effective) when I have a shake 30 mins before to give me the energy, but unlike you I'm on a lean bulk.

You've got an awesome bunch of supplements there, you might be interested in some green tea to help you as well (and great health benefits!). Good luck on your recomp!

we'll have to see how the HIIT goes ... if I don't see the changes in physique that I'm looking for, I might switch it up with sprints on the high school track a block from my home ... but time will tell

i'll look into the green tea as things progress ... i'm really trying to see what AP and DCP do so I don't want to add in too much additional stuff that I don't already supplement with or haven't tried before ...

thanks for checking in

[strester]

Yesterday was an off day ... not because I needed it, but didn't get to sleep until midnight the night before (remote access to the office can be a pain in the @ss) and I wasn't ready to hit the gym after 4 hours of sleep


Today was Back & Traps

Workout:
Deads: 330x6, 330x6, 330x3
BB Shrugs: 225x12, 225x12
Weighted Pull-ups: +25x6, +25x4, +25x3
T-bar Rows: 150x6, 150x6, 150x6
Seated DB Shrugs: 85x12, 90x12
Lat Stretch: 110 counterweight on pulldown machine x 90seconds

Notes:
Dropped weight on barbell shrugs and increased the rep range ... last week I was doing 315x6 ... Nothing special to report today ... I did sweat a lot more during my workout than usual ... I have noticed that if I don't eat about 20min after taking AP I get a raging hunger ... other than that, it's business as usual ... tomorrow I'll start upping my dose of Drive to 4/2 - currently 2/2

if anyone is following this and I'm leaving something out that you'd like me to comment on, just let me know

[strester]

Calves & Chest

Workout:
Standing Calf Raise: 220x6, 220x6, 220x5
Seated Calf Raise: 145x8, 145x7, 145x7
Incline BB Bench: 190x5, 190x4, 190x4
Flat DB Bench: 100sx6, 100sx6, 100sx5
Weighted Dips: +45x6, +45x6, +45x5
Chest Stretch: 45s x 90seconds

Notes:
Another good workout this morning ... calf exercises were a full stretch at the bottom, hold, full extension, hold at the top for each rep ... they were burnin' ... I've been stuck at 190 on inclines and 100s on flat db for a couple of workouts so I plan on switching exercises next week with flat BB then incline DB ... weather was finally nice in VA so I got home and fired up the lawn mower ... ended up spending 2 hours on the lawn and got a pretty good sweat going on

it's still too early to tell what is working and what isn't ... there are no visual changes in the mirror, but I am feeling better mentally ... I had a sense of well-being throughout the entire day

[dsade]

if anyone is following this and I'm leaving something out that you'd like me to comment on, just let me know

I'd like comments on endurance enhancement.

[strester]

I'd like comments on endurance enhancement.

sure thing ... I'll compare next week's workouts to this week's to gauge endurance

[strester]

Shoulders & Abs

Workout:
Seated Military Press: 115x6, 115x6, 115x6
Side Lateral Raises: 30sx6, 30sx6, 30sx5
Weighted Decline Sit-ups: +30x12, +30x10, +30x10
Machine Reverse Fly: 175x6, 175x6, 175x6
Face Pulls: 80x8, 80x8, 80x8
Leg Raises: x20, x20

Notes:
Workout sucked, intensity was low, no focus ... got to bed early but was groggy for no apparent reason the entire workout ... just wasn't into it ... finally felt normal later in the day ... chalking up today's workout as a waste ... but at least I made it in

[strester]

Arms

Workout:
CGBP: 230x5, 230x4, 230x3
Standing BB Curl: 95x6, 95x6, 95x6
Decline Skulls: 75x6, 85x6, 95x5
Standing DB Curl: 50sx6, 50sx6, 50sx5
Overhead DB Press: 85x6, 85x6

Notes:
I'm starting to notice some positive effects from the stack ... really noticing a pump around the time I eat after dosing AP ... took a few days, but it's definitely working ... I was really fired up during my workout ... replaced Flat DB Skulls w/ Decline Skulls to overload the triceps more, so today's workout was more for weight acclimation ... next week will start off with 95 as the first working set ... missed a last set on the OH DB Press ... got a sharp pain in my elbow when I was bringing the weight down, but it went away within 5min ... overall I felt good ... can't wait for legs tomorrow

side note ... the weather has been good this week so I've been skipping out on cardio at the gym and doing about 2 hours of yard work ... I know it doesn't compare, but it's better than what I was doing in the past - which was nothing

[strester]

for anyone following, I apologize for the lack of updates ... personal life is getting busy and just having trouble finding time to sit down and update this every night ... one way or another every update will make it into the log

4/12/08 - Legs

Workout:
Squats: 230x6, 230x6, 230x5
Leg Press: 500x6, 500x6
BB Lunges: 100x6, 100x6
SLDL: 195x6, 195x6
Quad & Ham Stretches

4/15/08 - Traps & Back

Workout:
Deads: 335x6, 335x5, 335x3
BB Shrugs: 245x12, 245x12
Weighted Pull-ups: +25x6, x5, x3
T-bar Rows: 175x6, 175x6, 175x6
Seated DB Shrugs: 90sx12, 90sx12
Back Stretch

4/16/08 - Calves & Chest

Workout:
Standing Calf Raise: 220x6, 220x6, 220x6
Seated Calf Raise: 150x6, 150x6, 150x6
Bench Press: 225x6, 225x6, 225x6
Incline DB Press: 75x6, 80x6, 80x5
Dips +45x6, x6
Chest Stretch


Notes:
good news - I can see myself starting to lean out a little bit in the mirror ... this is happening while I'm still steadily progressing on lifts in either weight or reps ... I haven't been getting in as much cardio as I intended, but with the weather getting warmer I've been spending a good amount of time working on the yard and getting a good sweat ... intensity and endurance in the gym is still up after running out of Purple Wraath and Poseidon a few days ago ... last three workouts my intra-workout drink has been 3 scoops of Xtend with nothing else ... not sure if the AP or the DCP is causing this, but I've had some pretty big craps the past week ... just something I've noticed and sorry if anyone was eating when they read that ... overall I'm feeling good about this stack and where I'm headed with it, but it's still early

[strester]

forgot to mention one other thing ... I'm about to run out of Abyss to help me sleep at night and after doing some research I will be adding Somnidren GH to the mix ... I'll make sure to note when it gets added

[dsade]

AP has been reported to cause some GI distress in some inviduals. Some of these then report that they go away with time.

[strester]

AP has been reported to cause some GI distress in some inviduals. Some of these then report that they go away with time.

thanks, dsade ... good to know

[strester]

I'm terminating this log and will be starting a new one .... ran into some problems that kept me out of the gym for a few weeks and I'm finally starting to get better. Long story short - office IT guy leaves a cart of computers right outside of my cubicle, I come around the corner being late for a meeting, knee smashes into the corner of the metal cart - the sweet spot just to the outside of the kneecap. I had ligament damage in both of my knees playing football as a freshman in high school (about 15 years ago) and it felt like I aggravated something. Knee was very stiff and it was difficult getting up and down the stairs. On top of that, my wife lost our digital camera at a bar and with it went my before pic (didn't back up the disk yet) and we have yet to replace it.

I've been mega-dosing some bulk super cissus and nursing my leg back to health since then. During the time I was out of the gym, I continued to take DCP and AP. My wife doesn't cook clean meals the way I do so I was trying to manage the amount of damage/fat that would be taking place while laid up. To be honest I've seen little - if any - fat gain during this time. Based on what I can see in the mirror I would have to say that these products worked for me, although I did not get a chance to achieve the full potential of this stack. No negative sides to report either, which is always a good thing when a product appears to be working for you.

I recently ordered 3 more bottles of DCP (finally the drought is over) to compliment the bottles of AP I have on hand and will be taking another stab at the recomp in about another week or so.

[dsade]

that sucks about your knee, man...sorry to hear it

NERDS NERDS NERDS

Hope you gave the IT guy a massive wedgie.

Glad to hear the damage control functioned well - looking forward to the new log.

[strester]

haha .... only semi-massive since it was partially my fault for not looking where I was going

yeah, it does suck ... did some light sumo squats today with a sleeve on the knee and it seemed to help it a bit ... was a little sore trying conventional ATG's, but started feeling pretty good around my third set when I switched to sumo stance and dropped as deep as possible

I'm in the process of revamping my entire regimen to maximize fat loss for this recomp - morning cardio and evening weights when before I was doing morning weights and evening cardio ... once I figure out a new meal plan to go with the regimen, I'll be getting the log started