Justlooking5
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I got some Ca-HMB Monday from a reputable bulk powder supplier and decided to give it a try to help with my current 5 week cutting phase where I'm eating reduced calories (~2,000) with a high protein, mod carb/mod fat diet.
I've been training for about 16 years (age 33) though resumed bodybuilding about 1 year ago. I'm pretty familiar with supps as well as gear, though I haven't done gear since 2006. I weigh about 221 lbs. right now with arms at touch over 17" pumped during this low glycogen phase.
Anyway, I started Ca-HMB at 3g/day Monday and increased to 8g/day with my first workout today (Sunday). After initially starting Monday I noticed increased muscle fullness and a better pump, and after 2-3 days I began to see increased midsection definition, including more serratus definition which has been difficult for me to achieve. It was pretty evident that I was losing midsection bodyfat (or at least water).
Today was my first day weight training since starting Monday, and I noticed some pretty impressive results:
One week ago (Sunday 2/14) I did flat bench with 210 x 6 reps, and felt the effects of lower glycogen.
Today (after a week on Ca-HMB) I noticed the weights were moving easier, and I was able to fairly easily do on incline bench 210 x 8. Which is an addition of 5 lbs. and 2 reps simultaenously compared to my prior incline bench workout.
I continued to have solid strength on all my other exercises, maintaining dumbbell shoulder presses 70s x 5, and feeling strong on several new exercises I switched to this week (so no comparison point).
The bench press results however are pretty impressive to me. It has been kind of difficult for me to move from 205 to 225 for solid reps on the incline, yet today, despite being on low carbs/calories and clearly leaner, I was able to complete 8 smooth reps with 210.
I also clearly looked quite a bit leaner in the chest/shoulder area with increased vascularity.
Additionally, I weighed myself today and was 228 (which includes water weight b/c I drink a lot of water during training) but that suggests I have not lost much weight as when I weighed myself last week I was about 224. Arms pumped were a bit over 17", last week they were about 17" even.
Anyway tldr:
Cutting on low carbs/cals.
Taking HMB at 4x 1-2g/day (3-8g) for one week.
Increased incline bench from previous workout +5 lbs. and +2 reps (which would be decent when bulking let alone cutting)
Very noticeable fat loss in midsection, chest, shoulders, and increased vascularity
Weight increase (measured post-workout) from ~224 last week to 228 this week suggesting minimal LBM loss or even gain, though weight is confounded b/c I drink a lot of water during training.
So far I am pretty impressed with HMB. I'm going to try it at 8g/day based on some articles I read and it's cheap enough so why not. I wouldn't go so far as to say it feels like deca, but it does feel reasonably "drug like," although not as pronounced as gear. Additionally, I am more on the ecto side of things (probably 70/30 ecto/meso) and was thinking perhaps anti-catabolic agents work better for people who tend towards catabolism.
I've been training for about 16 years (age 33) though resumed bodybuilding about 1 year ago. I'm pretty familiar with supps as well as gear, though I haven't done gear since 2006. I weigh about 221 lbs. right now with arms at touch over 17" pumped during this low glycogen phase.
Anyway, I started Ca-HMB at 3g/day Monday and increased to 8g/day with my first workout today (Sunday). After initially starting Monday I noticed increased muscle fullness and a better pump, and after 2-3 days I began to see increased midsection definition, including more serratus definition which has been difficult for me to achieve. It was pretty evident that I was losing midsection bodyfat (or at least water).
Today was my first day weight training since starting Monday, and I noticed some pretty impressive results:
One week ago (Sunday 2/14) I did flat bench with 210 x 6 reps, and felt the effects of lower glycogen.
Today (after a week on Ca-HMB) I noticed the weights were moving easier, and I was able to fairly easily do on incline bench 210 x 8. Which is an addition of 5 lbs. and 2 reps simultaenously compared to my prior incline bench workout.
I continued to have solid strength on all my other exercises, maintaining dumbbell shoulder presses 70s x 5, and feeling strong on several new exercises I switched to this week (so no comparison point).
The bench press results however are pretty impressive to me. It has been kind of difficult for me to move from 205 to 225 for solid reps on the incline, yet today, despite being on low carbs/calories and clearly leaner, I was able to complete 8 smooth reps with 210.
I also clearly looked quite a bit leaner in the chest/shoulder area with increased vascularity.
Additionally, I weighed myself today and was 228 (which includes water weight b/c I drink a lot of water during training) but that suggests I have not lost much weight as when I weighed myself last week I was about 224. Arms pumped were a bit over 17", last week they were about 17" even.
Anyway tldr:
Cutting on low carbs/cals.
Taking HMB at 4x 1-2g/day (3-8g) for one week.
Increased incline bench from previous workout +5 lbs. and +2 reps (which would be decent when bulking let alone cutting)
Very noticeable fat loss in midsection, chest, shoulders, and increased vascularity
Weight increase (measured post-workout) from ~224 last week to 228 this week suggesting minimal LBM loss or even gain, though weight is confounded b/c I drink a lot of water during training.
So far I am pretty impressed with HMB. I'm going to try it at 8g/day based on some articles I read and it's cheap enough so why not. I wouldn't go so far as to say it feels like deca, but it does feel reasonably "drug like," although not as pronounced as gear. Additionally, I am more on the ecto side of things (probably 70/30 ecto/meso) and was thinking perhaps anti-catabolic agents work better for people who tend towards catabolism.