Yes, it IS a long road to maximum human potential. Why not take some short CUTs?

rambofireball

rambofireball

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Hello All,

This will be my first thread and first workout log, mostly for my own benefit, but feel free to follow along. I want to log it/work it right, so any critique is welcome.

My main goal at the moment is to cut some fat over the next 6 weeks (trying to look good for the new year), but obviously any muscle retention or growth is more than welcome.

Stats
Height: 5' 7.75"
Weight: 160 lbs.
BF%: 19.5 last time I saw the doc.

Staple Supplements, Etc.:
-Solaray Spectro Man Multi
-Kirkland Signature Vitamin D3 4,000-6,000 I.U./day
-NOW Beta-Carotene 25,000 I.U./day
-NOW Methyl B-12 5.0mg/day
-NOW Vitamin C 1.0g+/day
-NOW Thyroid Energy (L-Tyrosine 1.0g, Irish Moss, Guggulsterones, Ashwagandha)/day
-Twinlab DL-Phenylalanine 1.0g/day
-NOW N-Acetyl-Cysteine 600mg/day
-Country Life Phosphatidyl Choline Complex 1200mg (~55mg Choline)1-2x/day, double dose before Boxing/Panantukan Class
-NOW Acetyl-L-Carnitine 750mg 1-2x/day, double dose before Boxing/Panantukan Class
-Synthroid Levothyroxine 50mcg/day

Goal Specific Supplements:
-USP Labs Oxyelite Pro 3/day
-PES Alpha-T2 3-4/day
-E-Pharm Ursobolic 9-12/day
-Scivation Xtend BCAA's 3 scoops, ~17g
-MRM Veggie Protein (Pea Isolate, Hemp, Brown Rice Concentrate, Flax, Chia Seed, High ORAC blend) 25g, 3x/day

Possibly adding in the coming weeks:
-PES Anabeta
-A nootropic regimen, still working out the details.
-Testosterone Cypionate, depending on yesterday's blood test. (Due to Hypogonadism)
-Saizen Somatropin (GH), depending on yesterday's blood test. (Due to Growth Hormone Deficiency)
-Cabergoline, depending on yesterday's blood test. (Due to Prolactinaemia)
-An AI, depending on yesterday's blood test. (To control Test Cyp conversion to estradiol)

Diet:
I might get some hate on here for this, but I was raised vegetarian. I have experimented with adding meat to my diet, I'm no puritan and do not think it makes me better/worse than anyone else. For now am on a no animal product at all diet (vegan), due to a lost bet I have to honor. Daily Macros ~ 40/40/20 Carbs/Protein/Fat.

Daily diet usually looks like:
7:00am -Synthroid 50mcg, 1.0g+ Vitamin C.
8:00am -Oxyelite Pro, Alpha-T2, Ursobolic (starting at 1 OEP, 2 A-T2, 3 Urso, will end at 2 OEP, 2 AT2, 4 Urso)
8:30am -Scivation Xtend 3 scoops
9:00am -Bowl of cereal, almond milk
10:00am –Staple supps
10:30am -A couple handfuls of mixed nuts
12:00pm -1 or 2 pieces of fruit, usually banana, apple or orange.
2:00pm -MRM Veggie Protein 1 scoop ~25g
3:00pm -Mixed bean soup over Quinao or Brown rice.
5:00pm -Banana w/Almond Butter
6:00pm or 7:00pm -Last meal of day, another serving of mixed beans w/Quinao or rice.
8:00pm -3 Urso
8:30pm -Xtend 3 scoops

I don't have a certain workout time but, Pre/Postworkout:
-Precardio, 1 OEP, 2 AT2, 3 Urso
-Xtend, either intra or post
-Post, Veggie protein + Juice blend
-Preweight routine, some old N.O.Xplode (just gotta finish it) +Precardio

Weekly training routine:
Sunday:
-Push up regimen
-50 minutes on the stationary bike. HIIT/HRT, keeping heart rate in between 175-195 throughout entire duration, 185-195 at peak.
Monday:
-Same as Sunday
Tuesday:
-Same as Sunday
-Panantukan class
Wednesday:
-American Boxing class (totally killer, can’t do anything else that day)
Thursday:
-same as Sunday or rest
Friday:
-Weightlifting routine, variation of HIT and High volume, eccentric emphasis, usually heavy weight (heavy for me lol). Chest/Back compound movements +Leg Press (I like to train legs aerobically rather than anaerobically, going for that V look rather than the monster X look).
Saturday:
-Rest

May post pre/post pics if the turn out is good. :p

Updates weekly.

BOOM I think that's about it haha.
 
Santee

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So you're just cutting down? It seems like all you're doing is cardio, you should add some Pullups instead of pushups on one of those days as well as dips. Even though you don't want legs you should still train them a bit anaerobic and less aerobic to shape up some parts that some of you're workout don't hit the legs in.
 
swollen87

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you dont have any meat or eggs in your diet? am i missing something? theres no way you should eat no meat

you dont lift in a gym?

5'8 165 and your considering test? and GH?

i dont understand wtf you are thinking....


oh and you eat cereal on a cut? ..... wtf is all this.... no wonder your 160... drop all that thyroid crap too (unless your prescribed...) i dont think taking synthroid and alphat2 is ok at all...
 
rambofireball

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@Santee,
I appreciate the feedback and will consider incorporating pull ups and dips on my bodyweight days, as well as more legs on my heavyweight training day. I tend to get a fair lat and tricep workout with the push ups, but will experiment. I know the legs are definitely necessary, and have always been a weak point, I guess I just gotta suck it up.

@Swollen87,
Like I said in my original post, any constructive criticism is more than appreciated, however, random and uninformed aggression is not. Yes, you are missing something, quite a few things in fact, apparently you did not read the original post. I originally explained that I was raised vegetarian (no meat but plenty of eggs and dairy), have experimented with adding meat to my diet, and that on a bet with a friend I am vegan (no meat, dairy or eggs) for the time being. The bet lasts about another two weeks, at which time I'll trade out the vegan protein for some whey, and reintroduce eggs to my diet. If I am not making progress at the desired weight I will reevaluate and consider adding meat to my diet as well as tweaking other factors.

Do to a recently removed pituitary tumor, I have suffered from hypogonadism, hypopituitarism, growth hormone deficiency and prolactinaemia for most of my life. Hence the Test Cyp, Synthroid, Saizen Somatropin and Cabergoline. It is a somewhat far chance that my endogenous lutienizing hormone and growth hormone will comeback, but I am currently awaiting the results of my last blood test to decide whether or not those exogenous hormones and medicine are necessary. I did not include this info in the original post but will edit and include it. So yes, they are all prescription and may indeed be quite necessary. Due to these hormonal deficits, I have a decreased healing/growth ability, which leads me to my next point.

I do lift in a gym, once a week, as I stated above by both myself and the poster before you. A non physique oriented goal of mine at the moment is to clean up my boxing, and with my decreased healing ability it is almost impossible to sufficiently train in both boxing and weightlifting without some healing time in between. Overtraining is a much finer line for myself than most, hence the days filled with lower impact cardio and bodyweight routines.

As far as the cereal is concerned, it is a blend of Whole oat flour, concentrated grape and/or pear juice, brown rice flour, whole millet, oat bran, barley malt extract, and sea salt doused in almond milk. Pretty low cal and virtually no sugar. It is just an ease way to get in some complex carbs to start off the day, similar to oatmeal, if you see a genuine problem with this please let me know.

Hopefully you now understand 'wtf' I am thinking.

I welcomely accept any science and knowledge anyone has to offer, please leave all else at the door.
 
Santee

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@Santee,
I appreciate the feedback and will consider incorporating pull ups and dips on my bodyweight days, as well as more legs on my heavyweight training day. I tend to get a fair lat and tricep workout with the push ups, but will experiment. I know the legs are definitely necessary, and have always been a weak point ...
Yeah if it's for boxing try incorporating dead lifts and if you're really into body weight training try learning pistol squats through progressions. Superset pull ups and dips!
 
swollen87

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Didn't know u had those issues.... I'd still recommend upping your healthy fats and cholesterol to see if test levels come up ..... also some squats and deadlifts would help you out a bit

I don't see any need for the OEP and alpha t2 if you have prescriptions for synthroid Nd cyp...


I apologize for my douchebaggery, but if your not eating right (imo eating meat and eggs) there's probably an explaination to your low test ..... are you opposed to eating meats/eggs?

I'm a wrestler and boxers and trainers routines are similar.... you need to squat....

I'd also recommend getting a full hormone panel and pming the matrix/starting a thread asking for the matrix to look at your results ... he would be able to help you out
 
rambofireball

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@Santee,
Ooph, pull up - dip superset, sounds like a great arm pump lol. The pistol squats look perfect for my current goals, I'll definitely add that to the bodyweight routine, much thanks.

@Swollen87,
No worries about the douchebaggery, the internet tends to bring out the worst in us all.

My hypogonadism is caused by the prolactinaemia, testosterone and prolactin have an inverse relationship, meaning they suppress one another. The prolactinaemia was caused by the tumor, which was surgically removed in September, and recent MRI's show no visible remainder, so my prolactin level should be falling in a linear fashion as time goes on which I will find out about on Dec. 5th when I go see the endo. If things are not normalizing like I would hope, then the Cabergoline for Prolactin/tumor suppression and Testosterone Cypionate will be a must.

The reason I originally experimented with adding meat to my diet was to see if my hormone panel changed at all, which it did not after several months of pretty heavy Turkey, Chicken, and Beef intake (at least eod). The level that the Synthroid is prescribed at will in fact not help with fatloss goals, the amount of levothyroxine necessary for that has a high probability of incurring heart complications etc. The OEP offers some nice appetite suppression, a possibly higher conversion rate of T4->T3 (active form of T4, T4 being thyroxine/Synthroid) and energy boost and may prevent total thyroid shutdown from the Synthroid, while the AT2 helps to up the calorie consumption of Brown Adipose Tissue (from the 3,3-T2) as well as providing some solid adrenergic receptor manipulation from Higenamine and a-Yohimbine. T2 has great therapeutic implication but cannot be made a pharmaceutical due to its heavy presence in meat, otherwise you wouldn't be able to eat meat without a prescription lol. That is why I've opted to include those in my regimen.

The labs I am waiting on are pretty extensive, I may follow your advice in contacting the matrix when I get them back and have discussed them with my endo.
 
rambofireball

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Alright, first update.

Workouts for the week:

Nov.22
A.M. fasted cardio on the stationary bike. 50 mins. 450+ cals. 16.66 miles.
Panantukan class.
Pushup routine.

Nov.23
Boxing Class.

Nov.24
A.M. fasted cardio on the stationary bike. 50 mins. 460 cals. 16.88 miles, about 4 buckets of sweat lol.

Nov.25
Lazy Thanksgiving recuperation day.

Nov.26
Weightlifting routine:
Flat bench, 3 sets
Wide grip lat pulldowns, 3 sets
Incline DB bench press superset with Hammerstrength decline press, 3 sets
Wide grip cable rows superset with straight arm pushdowns, 3 sets
Machine flyes, 2 sets
barbell upright row, 2 sets
Dips, 1 set
Close grip supinated pulldowns

Nov.27
Rest

Nov. 28
Non-fasted cardio on stationary bike. 45 mins. 380 cals. 14.08 miles. 5 mins on arm cardio machine, experimenting to see if it helps with upper body soreness.

Weigh in tomorrow to see which direction I'm headed.

Bodyfat % check and blood lab results at the Endo on Dec. 5th.
 
rambofireball

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Came in at 159.8 lol, I'm wondering if a little recomp is going on, we'll see at the doc's on the 5th. Although in the past it has taken anywhere up to 2 weeks to see any change in weight once a new diet/routine is started, so I'm not stressin' it too hard.

Nov. 29
A.M. fasted cardio on stationary bike. 50 mins. 435 cals. 15.80 miles.
Felt kinda sick half way through today, might stick with the non-fasted cardio.
Push up/pull up routine.
Panantukan.
 
Santee

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Are you taking BCAAs before your fasted cardio?
 
rambofireball

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I usually take bcaa's either halfway through or after a cardio session whether it's fasted or not. Why, you thinking that might have to do with the sick feeling?
 
Santee

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I usually take bcaa's either halfway through or after a cardio session whether it's fasted or not. Why, you thinking that might have to do with the sick feeling?
Yeah that and your glycogen stores may be depleted, make sure not to cut carbs too much, I mean if you're doing that cardio for conditioning towards your boxing, don't do it fasted.
 
rambofireball

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You know glycogen stores may be an issue, I thought I had myself covered with the cereal and fruit earlier in the day, but I could need more carbs post-cardio. I think I'll start mixing the post-cardio protein with the pineapple orange, peach, papaya and pear juice blend I take with protein post weightlifting.

I definitely do the cardio with improving boxing stamina in mind, do you have reason to believe the fasted cardio is detrimental to stamina?
 
Santee

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Well if you're fasted, you're basically doing it to lower ur adipose tissue, if you weren't fasted you'd be able to go harder on your cardio and get more of a workout of it rather than a sweat, it's hard to hit certain levels of cardio respiratory fitness while on a fasted state.
 
rambofireball

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Yeah true that, but the fat loss is more important at this point in time, so I think I'll keep playing with it to see if I can do it without getting sick. Then again, maybe making certain days fasted/non-fasted is the way to go.

Yo I checked out your log, pretty solid stuff, but I was wondering something about your weightlifting routine. What is the purpose of the sets of 20 following the standard strength sets? Is it a sarcoplasmic growth vs. myofibril growth thing?

Much thanks.
 
Santee

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Yeah true that, but the fat loss is more important at this point in time, so I think I'll keep playing with it to see if I can do it without getting sick. Then again, maybe making certain days fasted/non-fasted is the way to go.

Yo I checked out your log, pretty solid stuff, but I was wondering something about your weightlifting routine. What is the purpose of the sets of 20 following the standard strength sets? Is it a sarcoplasmic growth vs. myofibril growth thing?

Much thanks.
Yeah that's a good way to go with it, balance your routine to let your body keep up with it, I have trouble with this too XD

Haha for you question about my training, yeah that's exactly what I'm shooting for.
 
rambofireball

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Weekly Update:

Weight:

still floating around 160! Ridiculous! I'm doing more cardio than I've ever done consistently, I expected to have dropped at least 3 pounds of fat by now. I have noticed a lag in results in the past, so I'm trying to not get too impatient lol. I am going to the endo on the 8th, there I will be able to measure weight and bodyfat % very accurately, hopefully I'll find out that I have been recomping. My pants may be feeling a little looser, but, that is all really subjective.

Diet:
has been pretty clean, had dinner with friends one or two nights over the past couple weeks that may have put me over on cals for the day, but besides that I've been strict counting it all. As of Nov. 30th I've instituted a leangains style diet, feeding window from 12:00-7:00pm most days with one or two doses of bcaa's in the morning. We'll see whether this excellerates results or not.

Workouts:
Nov. 30
2 mile walk
American Boxing class

Dec. 1
Rest.

Dec. 2
Attempted Chest and Back routine in gym, shoulders were still sore from 5 immunizations the day before, decided it wasn't a good idea to work it half way through the routine, totally zapped of energy.

Dec. 3
A.M. fasted cardio. 52 mins. 18.39 miles. 510+ calories.

Dec. 4
Chest n' Tri's in the gym
Barbell bench 5-8x2
Dumbbell bench 5-8x3
Incline dumbbell bench 5-8x3
Cable flyes 8-12x2
Seated dips 8-12x2
Stationary bike 30 mins. 12.69 miles. 350 cals.

Dec. 5
Back n' Bi's in the gym
Wide grip lat pulldowns 8-12x3
Seated wide grip cable rows 8x3
Barbell upright rows 8x2
Rope cable curls 8x2
Stationary bike 20 mins. 8.32 miles. 230 cals.

Changes:
Will probably stick with the push/pull split for the next couple weeks, the 'all in one' day was starting to bring me closer to overtraining, which I have to be very cautious of. Diet switched from regular interval to leangains.
 
Santee

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Any changes in the mirror? Usually if your body went thought a bit of recomp you can notice it by the mirror lol. Who knows maybe that extra weight is water weight? Watch out for that sodium intake.. Especially when going out to eat
 
rambofireball

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Well you know, the tummy is looking a little tighter, I noticed my favorite pants felt a little lose the other day, and Bi's seem to pop out of the fat a little more lol. I'm just real wary about psyching myself into thinking I'm being effective when I'm totally off track. Only 2 more days until I see the doc and figure out what's really going on. Excited to see where my blood labs are at, hopefully getting back on the Test/GH and upping my Thyroxine. Lifting stamina has been waayyy low lately which might be due to the calorie deficit, but also may have to due with a lack of hormonal balance. The weird thing is that my cardio stamina seems to be going up? lol, it just can't ever be simple.

Dec. 6
A.M. fasted cardio on the stationary bike. 65 minutes. 23.8 miles. 657 calories.

And I still had gas in the tank! But wanted to save some steam for Panantukan class.

New long-term goals:
1. Attempt the NW spartan sprint June 16, 2012. 3+ miles over 10 obstacles.
2. Attempt the Seattle to Portland Classic bicycle race July 14-15, 2012. 204 miles in two days.

I figure if I keep making cardio gains at this rate, I'll be in perfect shape for these events by the time they come around.
 
rambofireball

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I've decided to revive this abandoned log, for fun and personal tracking, feel free to follow the weekly updates!

Things have changed a bit since last time..

Current stats:
BW:190 (from 160)
BF: somewhere between 15-20%, last time I had it tested I was at 17.9%, but I've put on about 10 pounds since then. Not going to be seeing the doc any time soon so I might get it done at the gym one of these days for a ballpark #.

Staple Supplements, Etc.:
-Levothyroxine 75mcg/d
-Liothyronine 10mcg/d
-Testosterone Cypionate 100mg/w
-Anastrozole 1mg/d
-Cabergoline .5mg/d
-Multi eod
-Vitamin D3 4,000-8,000 I.U./d
-Beta-Carotene 25,000 I.U./eod
-B-12 5mg/d
-N-Acetyl-Cysteine 600mg/day
-SAMe 400mg/d
-Omega 3,6,9 2g/d
-Lion’s mane extract

Goal Specific Supplements:
-USP Labs Oxyelite Pro 2/pre-cardio
-Trueprotein.com egg white protein 25g, 3x/day
-preWO shake: piracetam 500mg, sulbutiamine, ALCAR 1g, Choline citrate 1g, beta-alanine 3g, creatine mono 1.5g, caffeine 100mg, DMAA 20mg, L-norvaline 500mg,
-poWO shake: egg white protein, whey hydrolysate, carb blend, protein/carb enzymes, l-leucine 5g, l-glutamine 5g, beta-alanine 3g, crea pure creatine monohydrate 5g, orange juice
-bath salts (pre-workout)

Diet:
Currently lacto-ovo vegetarian. Lots and lots of eggs. Love me some eggs, unborn fetus is way more fun to chomp than mature flesh. So are faces..

Daily diet usually looks like:
7:00am -levothyroxine 75mcg, liothyronine 5mcg
8:00am -Oxyelite Pro 2caps pre-cardio
OR
-Morning shake: Coffee, 10g’s egg white protein, 2 tbs. coconut oil.
-Staple supps
10:00am -Morning shake
11-12:00pm -Omelette: 3 eggs, half cup cheddar, 2 tbs. feta, half avocado, picante salsa.
1:00pm -Protein shake: 25g egg white protein, water.
2:00pm -Salad: lots of spinach, lettuce/greens, diced onion, diced tomato, sliced cucumber, diced ½ an avocado, ½ cup cheddar, ½ cup feta, ¼ cup almonds, Annie’s Goddess dressing
3-4:00pm -PreWO shake
5:00pm -PoWO shake
6:00pm -any combo of: vanilla yogurt peanut butter and cacao almonds, toast and omelette, cottage cheese and fruit, salad+carbs/protein
8:00pm -repeat 6:00pm if needed.

Weekly training routine:
-Weights 3 days/week
-Cardio at least 3 days/week
Sunday:
AM maybe fasted HIIT, ~18 mins on stationary bike, 20s/40s intervals with 2 min warm up and 3 min cool down.
PM Back/shoulders/bi’s
Monday:
AM maybe fasted HIIT
PM recover
Tuesday:
AM maybe fasted HIIT
PM Bi’s/tri’s
Wednesday:
AM maybe fasted HIIT
PM recover
Thursday:
AM maybe fasted HIIT
PM recover
Friday:
AM maybe fasted HIIT
PM Chest/tri’s
Saturday:
AM maybe fasted HIIT
PM recover

Current goals:
I’ve put on quite a bit of mass and strength since getting my hormones in order, but some of it is fat, and that stuff has got to go! I love bulking, I’m never happier than when I’m on a bulking phase, but the clean up is so tiresome. Time to cut, again. Didn't end up getting to those long term goals I'd hoped for in December, but, there's always next year!
 
votum

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You arent the only one who loves bulking :)

I always inadvertantly cut when I stop working out for awhile, just decided to put that to a stop, hope all is going well!
 
rambofireball

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Haha, yeah I figure most gym goers feel the same.

Thanks for the support, I'll try to make it a worth while and entertaining journal!
 
rambofireball

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here's some current pics. Nothing too amazing, but It'll be good to see in the future.
BW:186
1340305496314.jpg
1340305555608.jpg
1340305687558.jpg

And a quick update:
06.19
-Nada
06.20
-PM quick BW routine because I was bored at home, best sets were:
wide pronated pull-ups - 9, chin-ups - 10, and push-ups (hands under shoulders, full extension/chest brushing floor, perfect form) - 39
06.21
-AM fasted cardio with a .5 mile jog warm up and 20 mins HIIT on the stationary bike, 20 seconds blast (usually lvl 18) by 40 seconds cruise (lvl 9) with a 3 minute cool down. This was absolutely killer. Started post-cardio stretching today, my legs have been super crampy and I'm trying to figure out what's going on, also started a potassium sup to see if that helps.
-AM pull-up variation, just for fun. "Chancho. When you are a man, sometimes you wear stretchy pants in your room. It's for fun." -cheesy Jack Black voice.
06.22
-AM bike out to a diner for some early breakfast (eggs and coffee, protein and stimulants.. mmm.). 16 miles round trip in under 60 mins, with a 30 min break.
-forgot to stretch, I'll do that now.
-PM Chest tonight! super excited to hit the 90's on the DB bench press. Maybe I'll stick with the 85's since I'm on a cut and not gaining strength as fast as I used to... We'll see how it all goes down.
 
rambofireball

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Chest went amazingly tonight, probably the best/most upbeat workout I've had in a while.
"Bold" is a PR. "Red" is a set to failure. "*" is a new exercise or method.
DB flat bench: 40x12, 50x10, 90x6
DB incline bench: 75x10
Hammer smith machine decline chest press: 230x8
Machine fly: 105x8, 180x7, *210x6x2x1x1 (under-estimated my 95% 1RM for this 'rest-pause' set)
Seated dips: 100x12, 140x10, 240x7
*Skullcrusher's: 60x10, 90x4

The skullcrusher's are something I haven't done in a very long time, and I think I over-estimated my strength on that last set, but at least now I have a starting point to build from. I was feeling really good going into the gym today and was able to maintain it throughout the entire session, maybe it was the bike ride this morning? I don't know, but I'm hoping it's a regular thing.
 
rambofireball

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Forgot to add, had my arms measured about an hour after the gym last night, after my poWO meal. So, not totally cold but most of the pump had dissipated, anyways, measured in at 16"'s (flexed)! That's the best measurement I've had yet. Pretty stoked.
 
rambofireball

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Cardio score for the last week: 2/7... Pretty pathetic. Will improve this week.

"Bold" is a PR. "Red" is a set to failure. "*" is a new exercise or method.

06.23
BW: 184.2
AM: did a light BW routine just to help prevent DOMS and assess where I'm at with my functional strength. At the moment I'm at 10 reps with the wide pronated pull-ups, 10 chin-ups, 39 push-ups. I played with wide-grip chin-ups today which I haven't ever thought to do before, they were pretty fun and gave me a gnarly bicep pump.
06.24
BW:184.2
PM: Did a Back/Shoulder routine which I love.
Wide-grip pronated pulldown: 105x12, 120x10, 195x7
Close-grip seated cable rows: 180x6
DB seated shoulder press: 40x10, 70x5
DB shrug 5's down the rack: 80x7, 75x5, 70x5, 65x5, 60x5, 60x10
(I really need to find a trap exercise that doesn't wreck the grip so I can go higher in weight, or just drop some cash on some hooks... We'll see, I'm going to substitute this for seated overhead BB shrugs next week and see if it makes a difference.)
Rear delt flyes(machine): 90x10, 150x6
DB Standing hammer curl: 40x7
BB curl: 70x6
06.25
BW:185.2
Nada
06.26
PM: Decided I might be switching up the routine to a 1) Chest/tri with chest emphasis 2)Back/sho/bi with Back emphasis 3)rest 4) repeat with day 1 as tri emphasis and day 2 as bi emphasis. Today was Chest/tri tri emphasis.
BB flat bench: 135x12, 205x6
Seated dips: 140x10, 240x9
Machine fly: 105x10, 180x9
BW dips superset push-ups: 16/4, 6/3, 7/5

So, all in all it's not been a bad week, definitely need to get on that cardio more often, but since my big bike ride I have been sleeping ~3 hours a night! I don't know what the h*ll is going on, this is very unusual, but I'm going to hit the melatonin tonight and finally get a good nights rest! I'm surprised to be making so many PR's in such a serious calorie deficit... I'm thinking that it might be the carb backloading characteristic of my current diet (which I haven't stuck to religiously, but every workout day is definitely a backloading day), whatever it is, hopefully the trend continues!

I'll be flying to Cali to see some family for the first week of July, so I won't be able to update for a while, and will probably just go hard with the BW workouts (I have a portable pull-up bar, thing is a god-send). But I'll clue you all in when I get back.

Happy summer everyone!
 
rambofireball

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Been on a vacation to visit some family in SoCal for the last week, man the sun is amazing down here, but it's averaging 104*F... Killing my pasty NW skin lol. I'm on vitamin D overload.

Needless to say It's been an involuntary but truly needed break from the gym. I've been pumpin out the pushups here and there just for fun, and doing quite a bit of walking. Today I squeezed out 210 throughout the day, perfect form and full range of motion. Felt good but shoulders are dyin'.

Well, I'm home bound tomorrow, so I'll update everything from lastweek once I have access to an actual computer, and spell out my new diet plan I've been cooking up.

"Hang loose brah's"
(^actually heard someone say that today LOL)
 
rambofireball

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Cardio score: 6/13​ with 6 days on vacation, not bad at all!
06.27
AM: Fasted HIIT 15 min stationary bike
PM: Back/sho/bi
noteworthy PR's: Wide lat pulldown 195x9

06.28
AM: Fasted HIIT 15 min stationary bike

06.29
AM: Fasted HIIT 15 min stationary bike
PM: Chest/tri
noteworthy PR's: DB flat bench 90'sx7,
DB incline 80'sx6,
Decline HS machine 125x7

06.30
AM: Fasted HIIT 15 min stationary bike
PM: BW workout

07.01
Vacation begins

07.02
Nada

07.03
lots of walking...

07.04
100 push ups

07.05
100 push ups, lots of walking

07.06
210 push ups
-Fly home!

07.07
AM: Fasted HIIT 15 min stationary bike
-feel bad about vacation food choices, start crazy cutting diet. I call it the CPG diet lol. Coffee from waking until ~12:00, then alternating green smoothies (spinach,kale,parsley,celery,avocado,apple) and whey protein isolate/water shakes until 6-9:00pm. So, 6-9 hour feeding window of 90% calories from protein, making up to an 18 hr fast. It's a liquid diet, it's an intermittent fasting diet, it's a low carb diet... it's crazy I know. I plan to drop some serious water weight and fat, hopefully retaining a good amount of muscle, we'll see what happens. It's an experiment.

07.08
BW:
187...
AM: Fasted HIIT 15 min stationary bike
PM: Back/sho/bi
noteworthy PR's: Wide lat pulldown 210x5
Close-grip cable row 180x9
HS machine shoulder press 80'sx5

07.09
nada, except several hours of helping a friend paint the inside of an office building. I never realized the kinda sweat you could work up doing that. The CPG diet is getting to be quite killer, already feeling leaner though, probably excess water and fecal matter that's dropping off at this point. Got a couple compliments on the physique today, always feels good. Might do it 1 week on 1 week off and see how that treats me, been thinking about mexican food all day lol.
 
rambofireball

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07.10
BW: 182.6 this morning
PM: 1hr Panantukan and more painting tonight
 
rambofireball

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07.10 - 07.24

Cardio Score: 7/15

Not bad, a lot of what I've recorded as cardio hasn't necessarily been a strict cardio activity, but something where I ended up getting a good cardiovascular challenge without that being the point of the activity. I should probably start doing stationary bike again, but I'm going on vacation with the fam again to see the grandparents for two weeks in Turkey. I'll get lots of swimming and walking in, but probably no access to a gym, meaning it will be nothing but push-ups and pull-ups on the portable pull-up bar. Because of this I haven't been strictly sticking to workout days like a usually do, just having fun with it while I can, like doing chest twice in a row... I know, it's bad.

07.10
BW: 182.6 (-4.4 lbs since start of CPG, Day 4)
PM:1hr Panantukan class, more painting.

07.11
BW:181 (-6 lbs since start of CPG, Day 5)
PM: 1hr Boxing class

07.12
BW:181
PM: Back/Shoulders

Broke down, end CPG diet.

07.13
PM:Tri/Chest
Start IF diet, window of 12:00-6:00 or 9:00pm

07.14
1.5 hr walk (LISS)

07.15
PM: Back/Shoulders

07.16
PM: Help a friend move, lots of picking up heavy stuff and carefully walking it up and down stairs etc. (cardio? I was sweating lol)

07.17
PM:1hr Panantukan class

07.18
BW: 183.4
PM: Chest/Tri

07.19
Nada, sick

07.20
Nada, sick

07.21
BW:183.8
PM: Chest/Tri
Late PM:Clubbing (not my usual steez) with a buddy and this girl I met... pretty intense cardio for 2+hrs. No wonder all those 'guidos' stay so lean lol.

07.22
BW:181.3
Nada, recover from night before.

07.23
BW:181.3
AM: ridiculous 1.5 hr session of ping pong with my old roommate from college. We get pretty competitive with it, lots of yelling and smashing things, it's some of the more intense cardio I've had in a while lol, was lightheaded and drenched in sweat by the end.

07.24
PM: Back/Shoulders/Bi's

Recent Noteworthy PR's:

DB flat bench: 95'sx4 (could have done at least 1-2 more if I'd had a spotter)
DB incline bench: 80'sx9
Decline HS machine press: 270x4
Wide lat pulldown: 210x6
Close grip cable row: 195x6
DB overhead press: 80'sx7
Machine chest press: 225x7 (I'm not doing this on the BB because I currently have no spotter and I don't want to push this weight without a safety net)

Diet:

As of now I am doing a basic IF model type diet, just trying to stay under/at maintenance calories, hit my goal protein of ~200g's, and eat within a window of noon - 6 or 9pm depending on that days schedule.

So, the CPG diet (Coffee, Protein, and Greens) lasted a total of 5.5 days, I developed this blinding headache the last 36 hours. No matter what I did it wouldn't go away, no amount of water or tylenol or blood pressure supplements would do anything so I convinced myself I needed to eat some real food and broke down and made some beans/cheese nachos. In retrospect that was probably the worst food to break an extended protein-sparing fast like that, but, live and learn. I felt terribly bloated and lethargic the rest of the day, in contrast to the manic energy I had before from the excessive amounts of coffee and calorie deficit. On the up side I lost 6 lbs in 6 days and have kept most of it off. By day six I had become noticeably leaner, to the point that a lot of people were commenting on it, and I didn't lose any strength. This is perplexing to me, because I've always read that it is impossible to burn more than 2 lbs of adipose a week... Oh well, the end result was positive. When I'm done with all my traveling for the summer I'm going to play with this again. I've been thinking about doing a similar routine on a rotating schedule where every 6th and 7th day I have heavy amounts of carbs strictly from fruit, so as to replenish glycogen and stay sane. We'll see how that goes this September.

All in all, I'm feeling ok about the progress, I think my recent pics show significant evidence of recomp, I'll try to post those before I head out to Turkey tomorrow.
 
JudoJosh

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Dont take this the wrong way, but you seem too smart to be a vegetarian. The only thing stopping meat consumption is simply just because you were raised vegetarian?
 
rambofireball

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Haha, I didn't know anyone was following this, I was kinda starting to feel like that weird kid who sits in the corner and talks to himself.

Well, thanks for the complement :). Truth be told, I have experimented with adding meat to my diet for prolonged amounts of time and have felt no benefit. In fact, I had quite a number of negative effects from adding the meat, and none of the benefits I had hoped for. Maybe it is simply that my body deals with it differently than most because of how I was raised. To clarify, a naturopath I had some respect for at the time told me that my testosterone levels might benefit from adding meat to my diet, so I gave it a try for two months. I quickly worked up to eating meat at least every other day for the two months and saw no hormonal improvements, and developed excessively oily skin, became overwhelmingly lethargic, experienced some constipation and significant fat gain (not muscle gain). The oily skin, lethargy, and constipation all normalized about two weeks after cutting the meat out again. I'm not saying that's how you would react, of course it is possible, but I think it is safe to say that the addition of meat was not positive for me.

I've considered playing with it again, simply as a means for easily attaining a better protein:carb ratio, maybe some day in the future.

Thanks for asking the question rather than just stating that you think vegetarianism is stupid, those kinds of comments are annoying, pointless, and far too abundant.
 
rambofireball

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IMAG1391small.JPG


Summer Synopsis:

So, Summer was rough on the road towards maximum human potential, mostly because of all the sick family I had to visit, I ended up being out of town for an accumulative 5 weeks between July and August. This month has been mostly about getting my strength back, which has rebounded nicely, my dumbbell bench press is up to 95'sx7, thats 3 more reps than I PR'ed with before I started the month of traveling in August. My back however, is quite weak. I'm not sure what that's about, my pulldown and row form is impecable, but I dropped from 200+ lbs on the wide lat pulldown to 150x8 and have in the last month recovered to 175x7. It's coming back, just frustrating to think of where I could be had I not had the familial obligations.

The above pic was taken in late July, in the middle of a recomp that was going wonderfully. Since then I've gained about 10 lbs, 185 -> 195, and the only additional strength is on the bench press and a 500 lb x 16 reps leg press I pulled today as part of a fun full body routine with a friend. Looking quite soft and ready to get back in the groove. This will be the year of recomp, no bulking this winter (sigh), gotta get that bf% and knock that sucker out!

Long term goals:

Moved up from 32-34" waist to 36 over summer, will drop that back down to 32.

Condition for a mud race this Spring.

Hit 275 lbs. on BB bench for reps before the end of Spring.

Reach 16.5+" on arms.

Let's get it!
 
rambofireball

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Ephedrine stacking experiment

Goal:

1.) Define personal safety limits via blood pressure and pulse for ephedrine dosing and escalation, as well as safety and efficacy in stackability with relevant compounds in it’s use as a fat loss aid.

2.) Significant drop in adipose tissue while sparing muscle. Current body weight: 193 lbs.

Stack to work up to, single dose:
Ephedrine 25 mg
Alphamine 1-2 sc
Slintensity 1-3 cap
DopaBean 1-2 cap
Vanillean 1-2 cap
Versa-1 1 cap
HB/CS 2 cap, if needed
^Hawthorne Berry and Celery Seed combo (Blood Pressure Health by NOW Foods)
-The above are things I have in my stash from the recent sales etc. that I think will be fun to include, none have been bought for this purpose.

Journal:

1.23.13
-bought 1 pack walgreen’s primatene 12.5mg ephedrine 60 count
-2:28pm 137/86 / 87

-2:30pm dose: 12.5mg E, 1 scoop Alphamine
sys: 131 / dia: 82 / BP: 87
-3:16pm 156/83 / 80
-4:00pm dose: 2 cap HB/CS
-5:10pm 129/96 / 113

As my first encounter with ephedrine, this was one of the most intense stimulatory experiences I've had. The addition of Alphamine was only because I could not find any pure caffeine pills at the walgreen's or super supplement store, but I think it was not wise for a first dose. I may try to work it in as the run progresses, as I think many of it's ingredients should work wonderfully with ephedrine, but for a first encounter this was just too much -more than a bit scary. Aside from that, the level of focus, energy, and reaction time was phenomenal, and if I hadn't been so paranoid about my health I would have had a great time.

1.24.13
-3:30pm Blood pressure / pulse: 150/86 / 89
-3:32pm 155/101 / 93
-3:35 dose: 12.5mg E, 1 cap Vanillean, 2 cap HB/CS
- about 1 hour after tortilla chips, guacamole, and peanut butter (bad, I know, not a regular.)
-3:39pm 144/82 / 92
-3:46pm 120/80 / 80
-3:57pm 127/79 / 80
-4:25pm 136/78 / 86
-4:45pm 138/82 / 80
-5:00pm dose: 1 scoop Alphamine, 1 cap slintensity, 1 cap DopaBean, 1 cap Versa-1
-5:23pm 137/81 / 80


It is interesting that my BP was so high before the initial dose, traditionally I have quite low readings. I am glad that the 2 caps of HB/CS are enough to control the BP effects of 12.5 mg. I will probably stay here for a couple days and then up to 12.5mg 2x/day, 3x/day, and so forth until I'm between 50-75mg/day + additions.

I will go on a search for caffeine pills today or tomorrow, so that I can at least have the EC synergy.

This entire thing should last about a month. I may end up subbing ephedrine for albuterol at some point, possibly cycling the two.
 
rambofireball

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Great focus, energy and recovery time at the gym today. I especially noticed an improvement in recovery time, which was AWESOME, this is usually something I struggle with.

Did a quick back session, pulled a PR on the BB upright row with 45* bend at waist and lower-trap emphasis, 135x10. A PR by one rep, but felt good.
 
rambofireball

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1.25.13

-7:00am 137/80 / 82

-7:05am dose:
12.5mg ephedrine,
1/2scp Alphamine,
1cp Vanillean,
1cp DopaBean,
1cp Slintensity,
2cp HB/CS

-7:35am 141/85 / 89

-1:50pm 142/75 / 91

-1:51pm dose:
12.5mg ephedrine,
1scp Alphamine,
1cp Vanillean,
1cp DopaBean,
1cp Slintensity,
1cp HB/CS

-2:15pm 119/80 / 80 <-??

-4:12pm 141/79 / 87

-4:17pm dose:
12.5mg ephedrine,
200mg caffeine, <--finally picked some up.
1cp Vanillean,
1cp DopaBean,
1cp Slintensity,
1cp HB/CS

-4:45pm 119/80 / 80

Did a morning deadlift workout that I was supposed to do wednesday night but missed for a buddy's birthday party. Always love deadlift days. Pulled a PR, I'm relatively new to dead-lifting so it's nothing special, 245x3 with at least 2-3 left to failure, just got scared lol.

I got my little sister to lift with me today, she pulled 105 on the DL, not bad for her first time and weighing 120 lbs. Gotta make sure she gets strong before going to college, so she can knockout all the d-bags that will be trying to get at her.

Back to topic, the HB/CS is doing a great job of controlling BP sides, I think I'm going to try dosing without it later today or tomorrow, and hopefully will get a 25mg dose in tomorrow or the day after.
 
rambofireball

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1.26.13

total ephedrine @ 37.5

1.27.13

total ephedrine @ 62.5

tomorrow 75mg!

The blood pressure sides have completely vanished, I'm hovering around low 130's/80, and have taken a few doses without the HB/CS.

I have begun dosing 25mg at a time and have no problem with it, a couple days ago I would have been terrified of the idea.

The incredibly intense buzzing/rushing/manic sensation has diminished to maybe 10% of what it was for the 1st dose, which kinda sucks lol.
 

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