So here it goes, time for my final review.. Just so everyone knows, I had my blood work done a few hours ago, so I should have the results within the next 3 days; I will post the results immediately. Also, I will have follow up blood work done a month after completing PCT. Today was my first day on PCT, I will keep the log updated with results (gains, sides, losses, weight, etc).. Now, onto the review..
P.S. Thanks Jawhawkk for the review layout
‘The One’ Review
by CrownRoyal
Starting dry weight: 170lbs
Ending dry weight: 181lbs (FINALLY broke an almost yr long plateau)
Muscle Hardness
Honestly, being my first (and probably only PH), I have nothing else to compare this to but.. my muscles have NEVER felt harder. It was truly ridiculous how hard my muscles felt to the touch, it was absolutely incredible. I really hope my muscles continue to stay this hard, I have faith in myself, I will keep up my training/diet/pct to the T.
Muscle Gain
As you can see in the pictures, I definitely gained muscle mass. Unfortunately I took those pictures a short time after eating, but I can assure you that I had more abs AFTER running the one, than I did before starting the one. Also, I don’t do any ab work, haha, I let compound lifts work them, I just don’t care about ‘em that much. In other words, I believe the one cut down my body fat, and promoted lean muscle mass development. As of today, I’ve gained 11lbs of dry muscle mass from the one which I am definitely thrilled about; my lean mass gains have been noticed by my family and friends.
Pumps
The pumps while on the one were SUPERB. I really had some skin breaking pumps going on; I never left the gym without a pump in whatever muscle(s) I was working. The only downside to the pump was a few times when I got it REAL hard in the lower back… already having a history of minor lower back issues, I believe it was easily irritated by the pump the one provided. Fortunately, it got a bit better as time went on, I just had to warm up a little longer, stretch a bit more and take a bit longer of a rest period in between sets. But, overall, the pump on the one was awesome no doubt.
Strength
Not lifting very hard/consistently for a few months before starting the one, I was really surprised how fast my strength shot up. A few of my lifts weren’t as heavy as they were last ‘season,’ but many of them surpassed previous numbers, and I felt SOLID on every rep. That’s one of the thing I really enjoyed about the one.. even on days where I felt like I was ‘tired,’ and really had no desire to lift, I was blown away by how easy it was to rep out the weight that I was focused SO hard on pushing the week before. I made some good strong gains while on the one. Since I was doing more of a volume training routine, I could only imagine how much stronger someone could get using the one while strength training. Awesome!
Endurance
Since I don’t partake in cardio anymore (just 3 years ago I was running 90 miles a week, weighing only 120-125lbs; my metabolism is still a racecar), I really couldn’t test the one in terms of cardio from running, swimming, biking, etc. But I can tell you this much, I have been off of pre-workout stimulates for over a year now, and working out on the one kept me in the zone, in the gym, just as long as when I would be ‘wired’ on a pre-workout stim, except this time I was focused and not feeling cracked out, racing heart rate, etc. So I would say that my ‘muscle endurance’ while on the one was definitely stimulated in a positive way.
Motivation/Focus
The first few days I really noticed a GREAT increase in motivation and focus. As time went on, it became less apparent, but I am assuming it’s because I just got used to the effects. In the gym, my focus was through the roof. While listening to my IPOD, I could EASILY get myself pissed off and REALLY focus on my lifts, I felt REALLY strong, and VERY motivated. Thinking about it now gets me way stoked, I wanna smash some weights!
Mood
This was one of my FAVORITE changes. Prior to the one, I was feeling kinda ‘down and out,’ I was literally taking blow after blow and life pretty much seemed like it was really going down in the dumps, until.. I started the one. Honestly, I haven’t had ONE mood swing, or felt horrible AT ALL since starting the one. I’d say I’ve been more ‘on the ball,’ ready to take on the world. I don’t know if perhaps my feelings before could be in correlation with my ‘lower’ total test levels reported on my pre-cycle blood work? Perhaps. If so, I really hope my PCT helps to kick test production in big time and keep me up in the zone. It sucks feeling like a zombie! And really, I could say that I have a better overall feeling of myself now, almost like a new level of acceptance, a new level of freedom, a new level of confidence. Thank you AN!
Appetite
In the first 2 weeks, my appetite was THROUGH the ROOF. It felt a easier to put away more food down the hatch most definitely. As the days went on, it seemed to level off, but every few days or so, I would be craving large amounts of food once again. The problem with me is, sometimes I don’t have time to spread my meals out, so I have to force a few LARGE meals in, instead of spreading it out into multiple meals throughout the day. Thus, I would get to the point where I would almost gag because there was so much food inside me.. talk about appetite killer! Not to mention, the more food in my stomach, the longer it takes to breakdown, so it takes longer for me to be able to recover and eat more. As far as intake, I stayed around 4000-4500 calories daily; before I was taking in around 3000-3500 daily. My average daily caloric intake I’d say was around 1k over how much I was previously taking in.
Health related/Side effects
Really, I didn’t notice anything. I had a few paranoid episodes of gyno (never had gyno before), hair loss, etc. but really, I didn’t experience any of the above (besides some minor facial acne from increased oil production). Hopefully during PCT I won’t experience any of the above (besides expected minor acne). As soon as my blood work comes back, I will compare my pre-cycle values with my post-cycle values, as well as my final values (which will be taken a month after PCT completion). Also, I noticed a few people talking about how their ‘core’ felt like it was heating up big time. I actually didn’t notice this even once while on the one, maybe mine is always heated up? Or maybe it just didn’t affect me. Other than that, I experienced some minor joint discomfort, which was taken care of by increasing my fish oil intake (along with taking joint support). Therefore, as previously stated.. Side effects were virtually non-existent.
Sleep
I really didn’t have any sleep issues; I usually toss and turn for 30min to an hr before I fall asleep in bed. Once I was out, I was out for the count hah. The one didn’t seem to really interfere with my sleep at all. As far as lethargy from the one, I usually become tired in the afternoon after eating a big lunch, in which this never changed while on cycle. Therefore, I didn’t really notice any change in sleeping while on the one.
Summary
In conclusion, I am very happy with my experience using ‘the one.’ Again, this was my first prohormone (possibly the only PH I will ever run) and I was extremely satisfied with not only the science behind the product, but AN as a corporation and as a ‘supportive family.’ Being able to receive help/information from AN reps regarding the cycle really made this whole experience that much more ‘personal.’. I honestly thought I would never run a prohormone.. that is, until I found out about ‘the one.’ I’d like to send out a special thanks to Jeff from AN for talking with me about ‘the one’ at this past body fit expo for probably over an hr; Jeff is a very nice knowledgeable dude, thanks a lot man. I’d also like to send out thanks to all the rest of the AN reps/staff that helped me out (EasyEJL, Guejsn and others) and a special thanks to Dirk (rms80) for answering my seemingly never ending questions regarding the one starting back in January.
So would I recommend ‘the one’ to others? Absolutely. But do it right, prepare yourself for the cycle, make a game plan, make sure you have everything laid out and ready to go. As Dirk initially told me, once you get into the game, it’s hard to get out. In other words, be smart about it, separate yourself from the crowd and do it right. Don’t be a tool bag! Anyway, looks like I’ve come to the end of my review. PLEASE, if you have any questions, comments, concerns, please feel free to ask. I love to help out others, just as others have helped me out. Also, keep an eye out for upcoming blood results, updates, etc. Thanks!
so its not bad at all.