mattrag
Legend
nah cause I want some PH.....
Mattrag's Rubs to Riches with Need 2Build Muscle's Transaderm (Sponsored)
- Thread starter mattrag
- Start date
nah cause I want some PH.....
FL3X MAGNUM
Legend
mattrag said:
You are thinking inside the box Matthew San, you must think outside the box! Lol.
mattrag
Legend
There more PH OUTSIDE THE BOX TOO???!!!
RickRock13
Well-known member
FL3X MAGNUM
Legend
:icon_lol:
mattrag
Legend
I wish there was a 24hr sushi joint... that way when I train late I can get in my post workout sushi no matter what time "late" may be.
I remember just going to Jacks, or Zippys for my post workout meal.. at like 2am... haha .College life was so much easier...
I have been thinking about that... but to ship me a box from Hawaii is already around 80 bucks... and those boxes usually can't hold more than 2-3 protein bags... (maybe 1-2 bottles max).
Maybe for pills I can. But pills I just add in my protein order and the price goes up like... maybe 2$ a bottle? so not that bad lol. This is why I'm staring at a $600 order atm... I'm like look at all the pills i can add for almost free!!
mattrag
Legend
Workout Oly type (yesterdays)
Power cleans (no jerk/press)
135X6
135x5
145x3
155x3
165x3 (pr)
175x3 (pr)
185x2 (pr)
185x2
Okay... i have no clue how my cleans got so strong. I don't 'catch' them like a true oly lifter does. I consider this lift more of a modified high pull. I don't have the flexibility to catch the weight so I just whip it up, flip my arm under then hold it like i'm going to press it then drop it. I don't get "under" the bar like most would.
Sumo pulls
135x5
135x5
135x5
135x5
135x5
DE bench/Ledge pull ups
135x5/bwx8
135x5/bwx8
135x5/bwx8
135x5/bwx8
135x5/bwx8
Step ups/DB pull overs
barx5/65x5
barx5/65x5
wanted to do more but my flooring was really taking a hit from my stepping on my $30 bench I inherited from years ago... Also... the way my weight room is set up now doing pull overs... is not really doable due to space... sigh...
Did some full body work at night. Really low volume, just to get in some work with the dudes
bench
135x5
135x5
185x5
225x5
245x5 (priming my CNS for this movement in the morning helped out. I might try the 2 a day strength program by the Vertical jump coach once I finish all this damn extra curricular activities at school....)
Front sqauts
barx5
barx5
135x5
Bent over row
135x5
135x5
135x5
did a double workout today because i had the day off. Culture day or something. Made about 3lbs of minced chicken breast into chicken burgers... that'll last like 2 days... Then pretty much had to do some research for debate... research which I have left at home today and must go back home to get it before going to my other school to prep their debate team for tomorrow's competition... which I will have to sit through for 8 hours from 9-5.... oh god.../whining
Power cleans (no jerk/press)
135X6
135x5
145x3
155x3
165x3 (pr)
175x3 (pr)
185x2 (pr)
185x2
Okay... i have no clue how my cleans got so strong. I don't 'catch' them like a true oly lifter does. I consider this lift more of a modified high pull. I don't have the flexibility to catch the weight so I just whip it up, flip my arm under then hold it like i'm going to press it then drop it. I don't get "under" the bar like most would.
Sumo pulls
135x5
135x5
135x5
135x5
135x5
DE bench/Ledge pull ups
135x5/bwx8
135x5/bwx8
135x5/bwx8
135x5/bwx8
135x5/bwx8
Step ups/DB pull overs
barx5/65x5
barx5/65x5
wanted to do more but my flooring was really taking a hit from my stepping on my $30 bench I inherited from years ago... Also... the way my weight room is set up now doing pull overs... is not really doable due to space... sigh...
Did some full body work at night. Really low volume, just to get in some work with the dudes
bench
135x5
135x5
185x5
225x5
245x5 (priming my CNS for this movement in the morning helped out. I might try the 2 a day strength program by the Vertical jump coach once I finish all this damn extra curricular activities at school....)
Front sqauts
barx5
barx5
135x5
Bent over row
135x5
135x5
135x5
did a double workout today because i had the day off. Culture day or something. Made about 3lbs of minced chicken breast into chicken burgers... that'll last like 2 days... Then pretty much had to do some research for debate... research which I have left at home today and must go back home to get it before going to my other school to prep their debate team for tomorrow's competition... which I will have to sit through for 8 hours from 9-5.... oh god.../whining
RickRock13
Well-known member
Nice workout and PRs man!! That session looks like it was intense!
packers6211
Well-known member
Still killing it mang!! Your strength going up any or you in cutting stage? BTW They need to have a TV show called Pimp my home gym!!
RickRock13
Well-known member
mattrag
Legend
truthornothin
Well-known member
I jus' wanna look good fo' my bishStrength and size is what its all about!
FL3X MAGNUM
Legend
RickRock13 said:
Bodyfat numbers goin up OH YEAH!!! Lol
FL3X MAGNUM
Legend
mattrag said:I need to see numbers man.. Lol.
I'm cutting now. And today's workout is probably the highest I can take my strength now. Lost some power on the shoulder presses so. I think I have to deload.
I bet you run a pretty killer cut
mattrag
Legend
well looking good for the ladies is good too
Im focusing on leaning out now so I guess im in that boat more now lol.
NO NO DOWN BODYFAT DOWN!!!!
I bet you run a pretty killer cut
Yea... but I burn myself out... see next post.
taman6886
Well-known member
I need to see numbers man.. Lol.
I'm cutting now. And today's workout is probably the highest I can take my strength now. Lost some power on the shoulder presses so. I think I have to deload.
For now my man, for now. There is always another plateau to break, more plates waiting to be tossed on a bar and more barriers to CRUSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
mattrag
Legend
workout
front squats
95x5
115x5
135x5
145x5
155x3 (PR)
135x8
Military
95x5
115x5
135x3
This exercise i died.... I dono but just had no strength. Could be low food, doubt it though... maybe just low carb mental fog, I hear food fatigue doesn't kick in till like 1-2 weeks of dieting down. (or so layne norton said)
Bent over row
135x5
185x5
225x5
255x5
285x4 (PR) Drop 255x5 185x8
Took it to the 4th rep. I know next week is deload so Im getting all I can from today.
bicep bb curl/shoulder front raise wide/mid/close
45x8/45x8/45x8/45x8
65x5/65x8/65x8/65x8
65x5/65x8/65x8/65x8
Meh, strengths bound to hit a wall. Transaderm was good helping me get stronger with food and keep the muscles full. Lets see what it can do when i cut..
Yesterday (day of wo) had to judge a speech contest. Unfortunately, I couldnt bring food... so post wo i had my BCAAs, then starved the whole day b4 going home at 930pm and passing out. Just woke up now and Im gonna shower, put on the transaderm then wait till lunch to eat something... hopefully I burned some fat yesterday... and not just the muscles lol.
front squats
95x5
115x5
135x5
145x5
155x3 (PR)
135x8
Military
95x5
115x5
135x3
This exercise i died.... I dono but just had no strength. Could be low food, doubt it though... maybe just low carb mental fog, I hear food fatigue doesn't kick in till like 1-2 weeks of dieting down. (or so layne norton said)
Bent over row
135x5
185x5
225x5
255x5
285x4 (PR) Drop 255x5 185x8
Took it to the 4th rep. I know next week is deload so Im getting all I can from today.
bicep bb curl/shoulder front raise wide/mid/close
45x8/45x8/45x8/45x8
65x5/65x8/65x8/65x8
65x5/65x8/65x8/65x8
Meh, strengths bound to hit a wall. Transaderm was good helping me get stronger with food and keep the muscles full. Lets see what it can do when i cut..
Yesterday (day of wo) had to judge a speech contest. Unfortunately, I couldnt bring food... so post wo i had my BCAAs, then starved the whole day b4 going home at 930pm and passing out. Just woke up now and Im gonna shower, put on the transaderm then wait till lunch to eat something... hopefully I burned some fat yesterday... and not just the muscles lol.
mattrag
Legend
YES!!! More to destroy!! Thanks, i needed that lol .
mattrag
Legend
Famine one workout
Dosed White Flood at 1.5 scoops... again... too strong... this stuff is amazing! I used to dose jack3d at 3 scoops and just feel wired. This stuff at one dose I feel it is "Enough" just the supp addict in me wants to dose it higher!! 6am dosed, 630 started workout
Back squats/1arm bent over row
135x10/35x10
135x10/55x10
185x5/90x5
225x5/90x5
225x5/90x5
225x5/90x5
I can do back squats.... I just have to use a REALLY wide grip.. and have my back more at an angle when decending... kinda sux, but form wise it still checks out.
Pull up/1 arm row
bwx5/90x5
bwx5/90x5
bwx5/90x5
bwx5/90x5
WTF... my pull up strength is GONE. I just set the bar at the top position and kept my knees tucked in on the rack and did them... Lost a lot of strength. I guess the ledge grip works different muscles and I need to do these too.
Biceps.
bar bell curl/hammer curl/reverse barbell curl
95x6/17.5kgsx6/95x6
Ended. Good workout today. Like I said earlier, deloading so weight used it less. Also... I think these exercises also went down in rep range... due to CNS over training. Felt really heavy for stuff I was repping out like nothing earlier.
Dosed White Flood at 1.5 scoops... again... too strong... this stuff is amazing! I used to dose jack3d at 3 scoops and just feel wired. This stuff at one dose I feel it is "Enough" just the supp addict in me wants to dose it higher!! 6am dosed, 630 started workout
Back squats/1arm bent over row
135x10/35x10
135x10/55x10
185x5/90x5
225x5/90x5
225x5/90x5
225x5/90x5
I can do back squats.... I just have to use a REALLY wide grip.. and have my back more at an angle when decending... kinda sux, but form wise it still checks out.
Pull up/1 arm row
bwx5/90x5
bwx5/90x5
bwx5/90x5
bwx5/90x5
WTF... my pull up strength is GONE. I just set the bar at the top position and kept my knees tucked in on the rack and did them... Lost a lot of strength. I guess the ledge grip works different muscles and I need to do these too.
Biceps.
bar bell curl/hammer curl/reverse barbell curl
95x6/17.5kgsx6/95x6
Ended. Good workout today. Like I said earlier, deloading so weight used it less. Also... I think these exercises also went down in rep range... due to CNS over training. Felt really heavy for stuff I was repping out like nothing earlier.
mattrag
Legend
Tonight i'll post up more pics.
RS transaderm:
Strength: This is the main thing for me here. I have experienced pretty good strength gains in the past with some "natty" products, but as strength goes there is maximum that you can obtain. I thought I hit the wall with my genetics (as well as always being in a cut cause I just can't get my body composition to be what I want it to be). The transaderm so far has added around 20lbs to my bent over row, and should press. Also, though I don't know if it's because of the new training block, my power cleans (they were in the block before, just changed the positioning) has gone up 30lbs... granted 155-185 might be a very small number to most... my clean was stuck at 155 for a LONG time. I could barely hit this for a single...
Libido: I'm not sure if diet has more to play with this than anything, my thoughts (also, same with mood/aggression) on this is that it all depends if your diet is estrogen promoting or test promoting. Too much carbs (for me it comes in at a very low 120-180g a day), will make me very estrogenic, fluffy, and basically feeling like crap. In reverse, eating mostly meat, fats, and veggies gets my libido SOARING. Mood is great, and aggression is also strong, I'd like to think of it as confidence because I don't snap at ppl, I just am not afraid of confrontation or telling it like it is.
Mood: (see Libido)
Agression: (See libido)
Sides: In the beginning I was noticing some nipple sensitivity, but I think it was due to the shift in weather... it's getting cold... though today it's pretty warm. Water retention is crazy... as stated before a short change up in diet (well and a day where all I had was like 50gs of bcaas, and 6oz of salmon with 20g of white rice, with fermented veggies, but it was just ONE day) moving to more protein, coconut oil, and some veggies and I stripped off around 5kgs of water... I started this cycle at 87.4kgs I hit the top at 94kgs... Looked fluffy... had that one day of horrible planning, then went on a diet where I hit protein/fats for a day. Yesterday I got up at 90kgs (After eating that VERY SMALL amount of food), Today after eating what I should be eating and minimizing all carbs, I woke up at 87.8kgs. Which would reflect very well of a LBM increase of 1lb... seeing I am leaning out.
Overall: Well like I said in the Sides, I think this compound is more manipulable, making it very good, or very bad. If you don't eat right, or maybe start off with too much aromatase this could be problematic. I like it so far. 1lb of body weight gain is pretty good. I ate lean gains all the way and pretty much just ate 200g protein a day and 80-180g (non workout workout days) and ate fats when I was hungry. the only change in diet I had was cutting the calories down. I also went through around a week of bulk. And still left my weekends to fate (lol). Came out on the other end pretty good. I'm not sure if I'm going to end it here, or run another week. Yet. but I really liked this run. And this product. Good for someone looking for a solid product to help hormones. I think we will see more of this type of product hit anti aging and hormonal therapy. If I run it again I will try to use it as a base to some other hormone to ease PCT or solidify any gains I obtain.
RS transaderm:
Strength: This is the main thing for me here. I have experienced pretty good strength gains in the past with some "natty" products, but as strength goes there is maximum that you can obtain. I thought I hit the wall with my genetics (as well as always being in a cut cause I just can't get my body composition to be what I want it to be). The transaderm so far has added around 20lbs to my bent over row, and should press. Also, though I don't know if it's because of the new training block, my power cleans (they were in the block before, just changed the positioning) has gone up 30lbs... granted 155-185 might be a very small number to most... my clean was stuck at 155 for a LONG time. I could barely hit this for a single...
Libido: I'm not sure if diet has more to play with this than anything, my thoughts (also, same with mood/aggression) on this is that it all depends if your diet is estrogen promoting or test promoting. Too much carbs (for me it comes in at a very low 120-180g a day), will make me very estrogenic, fluffy, and basically feeling like crap. In reverse, eating mostly meat, fats, and veggies gets my libido SOARING. Mood is great, and aggression is also strong, I'd like to think of it as confidence because I don't snap at ppl, I just am not afraid of confrontation or telling it like it is.
Mood: (see Libido)
Agression: (See libido)
Sides: In the beginning I was noticing some nipple sensitivity, but I think it was due to the shift in weather... it's getting cold... though today it's pretty warm. Water retention is crazy... as stated before a short change up in diet (well and a day where all I had was like 50gs of bcaas, and 6oz of salmon with 20g of white rice, with fermented veggies, but it was just ONE day) moving to more protein, coconut oil, and some veggies and I stripped off around 5kgs of water... I started this cycle at 87.4kgs I hit the top at 94kgs... Looked fluffy... had that one day of horrible planning, then went on a diet where I hit protein/fats for a day. Yesterday I got up at 90kgs (After eating that VERY SMALL amount of food), Today after eating what I should be eating and minimizing all carbs, I woke up at 87.8kgs. Which would reflect very well of a LBM increase of 1lb... seeing I am leaning out.
Overall: Well like I said in the Sides, I think this compound is more manipulable, making it very good, or very bad. If you don't eat right, or maybe start off with too much aromatase this could be problematic. I like it so far. 1lb of body weight gain is pretty good. I ate lean gains all the way and pretty much just ate 200g protein a day and 80-180g (non workout workout days) and ate fats when I was hungry. the only change in diet I had was cutting the calories down. I also went through around a week of bulk. And still left my weekends to fate (lol). Came out on the other end pretty good. I'm not sure if I'm going to end it here, or run another week. Yet. but I really liked this run. And this product. Good for someone looking for a solid product to help hormones. I think we will see more of this type of product hit anti aging and hormonal therapy. If I run it again I will try to use it as a base to some other hormone to ease PCT or solidify any gains I obtain.
FL3X MAGNUM
Legend
Nice update bro! Very impressive barbell rows by the way.
mattrag
Legend
Thanks working on getting those pics up lol.
FL3X MAGNUM
Legend
Nice work, looking fairly lean.
mattrag
Legend
Loads more to go... hehe. Cut cut cut.
steppinRazor
Well-known member
Lookin good my man..
About the pull ups..idunno seems weird, then again mine have never been consistent. Might have just been a bad day??
About the pull ups..idunno seems weird, then again mine have never been consistent. Might have just been a bad day??
Onlychevy6
Well-known member
Good job so far Matt. Considering you dont have a lot to choose from regarding meals. Man you will do some wonderful things when you get back to the islands. Better nutrition better body. Arms are looking good and looks like a little more size in the shoulders.
RickRock13
Well-known member
The lowered carbs have you looking much leaner for sure. Ripping it right up brotha!
LiveToLift
Legend
Just read through this thread and have to say amazing progress in the 7 years man! Glad to hear you have kept on going after all that time, especially being in a foreign place and all. Very inspiring story here bro, keep it up!
FL3X MAGNUM
Legend
mattrag said:
Judging from your update pics you don't have much more to go. That last 3% can be a pain in the ass though lol
mattrag
Legend
Yea, once I get to Hawaii I will be able to eat a little bit more to my liking. At least I will have access to more gluten free baking. I.E. I can make protein bars. Bake more than 2 chicken breasts at a time, and grill...
My body has a love hate relationship with carbs... I need um to be strong, but I look puffy...
Thanks for reading! My next post after this is my whole story. Thanks for the idea to post it up. Not FULLY detailed, but detailed enough lol.
Hell losing weight in general is a pain in the ass for me lol.
CountryLiftin
Well-known member
nice work man.
mattrag
Legend
My story (warning LONG POST)
I am writing this more for me, as I have gone from almost a year ago looking like this:
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Invalid Link Removed
To now looking like this:
Sadly, not much difference and my body comp is not much better. I’m up a little in weight about 5lbs, but that’s probably a fat/LBM ratio of 50:50. Not very impressive. Seeing all that I have done to enhance my physique over the last two years it seems as though my “young” years in bodybuilding have ended.
Lets start all the way back in elementary. Around the age of 11 I was diagnosed with some odd phenomenon where one of my testies just stopped growing. Just stopped. It didn’t die, it just ceased all functionality. So I didn’t have to get it removed, it would just never get any bigger, be of any use, etc. Now being 11 I had no idea what this meant other than my balls weren’t gonna be even. I had the choice to get surgery to take it out or to just let it be. I chose the later… being 11 and going into some surgery for my nuts was not going to happen. I didn’t want to miss out on summer fun lol.
Effect: Now I donno if this mattered really, as I still was able to mature and become a full fledged male. Read up online and found that this, while rare, has not hindered anyone from becoming a man has me wondering exactly HOW I was able to get all my hormones in order to become a man… With all the stuff I know now does this basically mean my leydig cells are halved and I am able to create a “balance” in my body hormonally through other pathways? Do I have better aromatase control? I doubt it I was overweight every since 1st grade…
Cause: I am pretty sure this has to do with my mom’s love for feeding me tasteless soy products, and white rice. My dinner when I was little was Tofu, natto, and some miso soup. All with rice. Also, once I was able to drink juice I was given juice whenever I wanted it. Estrogen promoting substances plus high fructose consumption = not a very healthy male. While I could have just been predisposed to this I will never know, and I doubt anyone will but I guess I am not upset about it, just kinda irritated that nothing was done or asked when I went to the doctor about the cause of this problem.
Fast forward to HS.
In HS, if I have a pic I’ll post it. Everyday of my high school life I remember popping two Extra Strength Tylenols because my mom said it was good for my headaches. I’d cycle in Aspirin whenever the headache would become “sharp”. Then I’d eat something for breakfast, usually some cereal in water, many days I wouldn’t eat anything at all. Get to school, buy a coke from the vending machine and start my day. I was gifted with brains so being the last picked for sports was excusable. My mom always told me I was smart so I couldn’t be athletic too. That’s just how it was. Lunch would either be nachos, or whatever they had in the café. In Hawaii the cafeteria is a little different than what I’ve seen on TV of High Schools so I will elaborate on what lunch was. It cost a dollar and was pretty much standard; one main dish, fruit, veggie, bread, milk. Very small portioned. After that my next meal would be dinner. Usually 1-2 cups of rice with some kind of meat and 1-3 cups of juice, depending on how thirsty I was. Oh and some days I would skip lunch and just get some coke. Now you can imagine how screwed up I must have been knowing all I know now. Meh. I am saddened by all the gains I could have had if I knew what I know now and just started to train… haha.
Effect: Well I imagine my liver must have been SHOT from non stop use of Tylenol, and aspirin. Plus the extra crap of pretty much processed sugar/fructose, and the horrible nutrition. Oh, and snacks.. I would eat snacks all the time. This seriously hurt my already hurting physique due to only having one testi working. Though I still somehow made it out a man on the other end. No gyno, no estrogenic sides etc. Lucky, as one of my friends who was a little overweight during HS has gyno he cant get rid of. I seriously think this is where my natural limit is set. I don’t think I can get much more LBM than I was at my max weight of 260lbs. Even if I was 40% bf I would have still had 156lbs of LBM… Which is not far off what my estimated LBM is now… maybe 8lbs more?
Cause: No info, no one to guide me, excuses.
Picture:
Lastly, lets go to college. College was a long experience for me. Lived at home mostly and didn’t do too much of the college lifestyle stuff. I worked, had family stuff (My parents got divorced when I was a Junior in HS so I had to help my mom out a lot). Worked out 3-4 times a week, got into basketball, tennis. Still while I was above average at the gym I was never anything of awe. While trying a variety of diets, workouts, etc. Nothing worked once I hit the sticking point of around 210. I got down to 200 following some rapid fat loss diet or something, but I also felt like crap and didn’t have any energy to play tennis, or even live…. Still no abs (now I got some as you can see in the pics… nothing special though). During this time I probably created so much cortisol and blasted. I’d workout fasted, then go straight to tennis. Have a protein shake, hit class, workout again, then hit tennis again, eat some dinner. Pass out. Pretty much that was my college life. Sadly… No improvement in body comp. But during this time I was still not paying attn to anything online. Didn’t ask anyone for advice or anything on training/diet, I just went with what was going on. It worked, or so I thought.
Then about in around 2008 I started bleeding from my belly button…. I found I had an umbilical hernia… crap… BUT, instead of doing anything about it… I just played on it. I didn’t want to get fat! So I went on an even lower cal diet because I obviously couldn’t workout as hard. Healed up my hernia after about 6 months or so, though I assume it was because during this time I completely eliminated wheat. Basically, I told myself “If Imma eat carbs it’s either a Jamba Juice or a some brown rice with my meat meal”. Physique goals not met, still barely above average in the gym… meh.
Effect: Well I got from 260 in HS to around a solid 230 when I graduated. Then hit around 210 or so in college and got stuck there. Over all I guess better insulin sensitivity and better body comp.
Cause: Gym, wanted to be athletic, didn’t want to have to shop in the big and tall section and pay more for clothes lol.
Now the year is 2009. Going to Japan in August. When getting to Japan I was able to make friends relatively quickly with another Teacher who was from Hawaii but had been up in Japan for over 5 years. Training BJJ, and lifting. Fortunately, he had some exp with AAS and advised I run a cycle. Unfortunately, no bashing him, I doubt he let me get to my true potential due to his competitive nature, or perhaps he was telling me stuff but I was too stubborn to listen. Now thinking back on it, I was probably too stubborn to take his advice. He always told me “Matt, cortisol is your #1 enemy. That’s all.” My hdrol cycle was amazing. Like I said before I went from a bench of 225X3-5 to 335X4 in 6 weeks. I took my squat from 225X5 to 395X5. Deadlift from 135X10, to 315X5. All in 6 weeks. I was shocked. Happy, wasn’t “Cut” but I noticed some recomp while just focusing on keeping my over all cals high and drinking a couple protein shakes a day. I could eat, no problem with eating. Then… I did the dumbest thing ever for PCT…. I cut… And not only did I cut, I upped the volume of my workouts. While I don’t remember my exact numbers my cut probably brought me back down to pre cycle weights. Which IMO is weaker because I didn’t have proper programming prior to coming to Japan, hell I didn’t even know what that meant until this year.
In 2010, I got on the scivation diet, followed it to the T. In 3 months I got in the best shape of my life, but still I could not get leaner… The pic up there is of me at the end of my cut. I was nearing 80kgs.. .and my muscle to fat ratio was getting worse…someplace I didn’t want to be. That pic was of me @ 85kgs or so and when I was at 80kgs I looked worse…. Hell I workout so I can look good naked AND be able to eat something once in a while. I don’t want to starve myself all the time. So in fear of losing all my muscle, and not being able to enjoy food I tried to turn the tables around and bulk. I thought, this time I’ll do it right, good food, good timing, and volume training. Sadly… when I say volume I meant volume. I read Arnolds 2 a day rotation of 3 days on 1 day off… Legs every morning… Well I’ll tell you one thing.. I don’t recover THAT fast… worked till my hernia exploded again. That was March. Took a break and did wendler 531 just to keep strength up… but man… My numbers were so sad. Got married in July, so during that time had my mom and uncle up and took a week off the gym. The day I got back I decided to ME dead lifts…. Pulled my back. My numbers on deadlift are just coming around now… 4 months later… as you can see this is a very badly planned training and diet cycle. While I’m pretty sure I’ve dieted off all my PH gains from Hdrol I am almost certain I am going to need another cycle to get to where I wanna be. Why? Because mentally… I’m weak lol. Also, I tend to over do it when I diet. I’ve done 2days off one day on with FOOD. While a full hormonal panel is probably in order, along with a visit to the therapist about my body image issues, in Japan this is just not going to happen.
Now why am I doing all this?
Well after being training/diet ADD for around 2 years I figure I need to write everything down. Keep tabs on myself because I tend to get lost in the moment, in the article, in the training programs, in all the information out there.
This is not only a reminder to me to show me that I can’t be doing dumb stuff like this (hell ups and downs throughout this whole time amounted to … almost nothing??? A learning experience basically, a good one, but I can’t be making these mistakes again! Haha). I hope I can help anyone else, not by providing data on health, nutrition, or training as I’m not someone you should be looking to for advice, but as someone who is not a genetic freak getting it done, doing what needs to be done and sticking to something to reach his goals.
Good luck to us all, and if you read this all then reps to you. I’m typing this in word and I am on page 3 lol.
-Matt
I am writing this more for me, as I have gone from almost a year ago looking like this:
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To now looking like this:
Sadly, not much difference and my body comp is not much better. I’m up a little in weight about 5lbs, but that’s probably a fat/LBM ratio of 50:50. Not very impressive. Seeing all that I have done to enhance my physique over the last two years it seems as though my “young” years in bodybuilding have ended.
Lets start all the way back in elementary. Around the age of 11 I was diagnosed with some odd phenomenon where one of my testies just stopped growing. Just stopped. It didn’t die, it just ceased all functionality. So I didn’t have to get it removed, it would just never get any bigger, be of any use, etc. Now being 11 I had no idea what this meant other than my balls weren’t gonna be even. I had the choice to get surgery to take it out or to just let it be. I chose the later… being 11 and going into some surgery for my nuts was not going to happen. I didn’t want to miss out on summer fun lol.
Effect: Now I donno if this mattered really, as I still was able to mature and become a full fledged male. Read up online and found that this, while rare, has not hindered anyone from becoming a man has me wondering exactly HOW I was able to get all my hormones in order to become a man… With all the stuff I know now does this basically mean my leydig cells are halved and I am able to create a “balance” in my body hormonally through other pathways? Do I have better aromatase control? I doubt it I was overweight every since 1st grade…
Cause: I am pretty sure this has to do with my mom’s love for feeding me tasteless soy products, and white rice. My dinner when I was little was Tofu, natto, and some miso soup. All with rice. Also, once I was able to drink juice I was given juice whenever I wanted it. Estrogen promoting substances plus high fructose consumption = not a very healthy male. While I could have just been predisposed to this I will never know, and I doubt anyone will but I guess I am not upset about it, just kinda irritated that nothing was done or asked when I went to the doctor about the cause of this problem.
Fast forward to HS.
In HS, if I have a pic I’ll post it. Everyday of my high school life I remember popping two Extra Strength Tylenols because my mom said it was good for my headaches. I’d cycle in Aspirin whenever the headache would become “sharp”. Then I’d eat something for breakfast, usually some cereal in water, many days I wouldn’t eat anything at all. Get to school, buy a coke from the vending machine and start my day. I was gifted with brains so being the last picked for sports was excusable. My mom always told me I was smart so I couldn’t be athletic too. That’s just how it was. Lunch would either be nachos, or whatever they had in the café. In Hawaii the cafeteria is a little different than what I’ve seen on TV of High Schools so I will elaborate on what lunch was. It cost a dollar and was pretty much standard; one main dish, fruit, veggie, bread, milk. Very small portioned. After that my next meal would be dinner. Usually 1-2 cups of rice with some kind of meat and 1-3 cups of juice, depending on how thirsty I was. Oh and some days I would skip lunch and just get some coke. Now you can imagine how screwed up I must have been knowing all I know now. Meh. I am saddened by all the gains I could have had if I knew what I know now and just started to train… haha.
Effect: Well I imagine my liver must have been SHOT from non stop use of Tylenol, and aspirin. Plus the extra crap of pretty much processed sugar/fructose, and the horrible nutrition. Oh, and snacks.. I would eat snacks all the time. This seriously hurt my already hurting physique due to only having one testi working. Though I still somehow made it out a man on the other end. No gyno, no estrogenic sides etc. Lucky, as one of my friends who was a little overweight during HS has gyno he cant get rid of. I seriously think this is where my natural limit is set. I don’t think I can get much more LBM than I was at my max weight of 260lbs. Even if I was 40% bf I would have still had 156lbs of LBM… Which is not far off what my estimated LBM is now… maybe 8lbs more?
Cause: No info, no one to guide me, excuses.
Picture:
Lastly, lets go to college. College was a long experience for me. Lived at home mostly and didn’t do too much of the college lifestyle stuff. I worked, had family stuff (My parents got divorced when I was a Junior in HS so I had to help my mom out a lot). Worked out 3-4 times a week, got into basketball, tennis. Still while I was above average at the gym I was never anything of awe. While trying a variety of diets, workouts, etc. Nothing worked once I hit the sticking point of around 210. I got down to 200 following some rapid fat loss diet or something, but I also felt like crap and didn’t have any energy to play tennis, or even live…. Still no abs (now I got some as you can see in the pics… nothing special though). During this time I probably created so much cortisol and blasted. I’d workout fasted, then go straight to tennis. Have a protein shake, hit class, workout again, then hit tennis again, eat some dinner. Pass out. Pretty much that was my college life. Sadly… No improvement in body comp. But during this time I was still not paying attn to anything online. Didn’t ask anyone for advice or anything on training/diet, I just went with what was going on. It worked, or so I thought.
Then about in around 2008 I started bleeding from my belly button…. I found I had an umbilical hernia… crap… BUT, instead of doing anything about it… I just played on it. I didn’t want to get fat! So I went on an even lower cal diet because I obviously couldn’t workout as hard. Healed up my hernia after about 6 months or so, though I assume it was because during this time I completely eliminated wheat. Basically, I told myself “If Imma eat carbs it’s either a Jamba Juice or a some brown rice with my meat meal”. Physique goals not met, still barely above average in the gym… meh.
Effect: Well I got from 260 in HS to around a solid 230 when I graduated. Then hit around 210 or so in college and got stuck there. Over all I guess better insulin sensitivity and better body comp.
Cause: Gym, wanted to be athletic, didn’t want to have to shop in the big and tall section and pay more for clothes lol.
Now the year is 2009. Going to Japan in August. When getting to Japan I was able to make friends relatively quickly with another Teacher who was from Hawaii but had been up in Japan for over 5 years. Training BJJ, and lifting. Fortunately, he had some exp with AAS and advised I run a cycle. Unfortunately, no bashing him, I doubt he let me get to my true potential due to his competitive nature, or perhaps he was telling me stuff but I was too stubborn to listen. Now thinking back on it, I was probably too stubborn to take his advice. He always told me “Matt, cortisol is your #1 enemy. That’s all.” My hdrol cycle was amazing. Like I said before I went from a bench of 225X3-5 to 335X4 in 6 weeks. I took my squat from 225X5 to 395X5. Deadlift from 135X10, to 315X5. All in 6 weeks. I was shocked. Happy, wasn’t “Cut” but I noticed some recomp while just focusing on keeping my over all cals high and drinking a couple protein shakes a day. I could eat, no problem with eating. Then… I did the dumbest thing ever for PCT…. I cut… And not only did I cut, I upped the volume of my workouts. While I don’t remember my exact numbers my cut probably brought me back down to pre cycle weights. Which IMO is weaker because I didn’t have proper programming prior to coming to Japan, hell I didn’t even know what that meant until this year.
In 2010, I got on the scivation diet, followed it to the T. In 3 months I got in the best shape of my life, but still I could not get leaner… The pic up there is of me at the end of my cut. I was nearing 80kgs.. .and my muscle to fat ratio was getting worse…someplace I didn’t want to be. That pic was of me @ 85kgs or so and when I was at 80kgs I looked worse…. Hell I workout so I can look good naked AND be able to eat something once in a while. I don’t want to starve myself all the time. So in fear of losing all my muscle, and not being able to enjoy food I tried to turn the tables around and bulk. I thought, this time I’ll do it right, good food, good timing, and volume training. Sadly… when I say volume I meant volume. I read Arnolds 2 a day rotation of 3 days on 1 day off… Legs every morning… Well I’ll tell you one thing.. I don’t recover THAT fast… worked till my hernia exploded again. That was March. Took a break and did wendler 531 just to keep strength up… but man… My numbers were so sad. Got married in July, so during that time had my mom and uncle up and took a week off the gym. The day I got back I decided to ME dead lifts…. Pulled my back. My numbers on deadlift are just coming around now… 4 months later… as you can see this is a very badly planned training and diet cycle. While I’m pretty sure I’ve dieted off all my PH gains from Hdrol I am almost certain I am going to need another cycle to get to where I wanna be. Why? Because mentally… I’m weak lol. Also, I tend to over do it when I diet. I’ve done 2days off one day on with FOOD. While a full hormonal panel is probably in order, along with a visit to the therapist about my body image issues, in Japan this is just not going to happen.
Now why am I doing all this?
Well after being training/diet ADD for around 2 years I figure I need to write everything down. Keep tabs on myself because I tend to get lost in the moment, in the article, in the training programs, in all the information out there.
This is not only a reminder to me to show me that I can’t be doing dumb stuff like this (hell ups and downs throughout this whole time amounted to … almost nothing??? A learning experience basically, a good one, but I can’t be making these mistakes again! Haha). I hope I can help anyone else, not by providing data on health, nutrition, or training as I’m not someone you should be looking to for advice, but as someone who is not a genetic freak getting it done, doing what needs to be done and sticking to something to reach his goals.
Good luck to us all, and if you read this all then reps to you. I’m typing this in word and I am on page 3 lol.
-Matt
FL3X MAGNUM
Legend
Inspiring story bud!
mattrag
Legend
Thanks I am trying to improve
thanks man... I hope to make MUCH more progress.
taman6886
Well-known member
Thanks I am trying to improve
thanks man... I hope to make MUCH more progress.
Dude, I can see a hell of a difference between your start and finish. Not to mention, you are a consistent source of encouragement. You add value to this community broseph, keep plugging!
mattrag
Legend
Thanks man, slow and steady I guess. I just need a goal and just keep going. I honestly think not having a "show" to prep for is hard. Or a set "date". This xmas thing is really good. Gives me a time to shoot for to re access. Make sure my lifts are good. I think one thing I lack is proper programming still do. I really over do it lol. When I read wendler 5-3-1 I was working out 5 days a week with weights. I think he added in there that you could do 2 days of Oly lifts? Like as a form of HIIT. So I did. I also, did EVERY accessory exercise he listed...
truthornothin
Well-known member
Dude we have so much in common it isn't funny. I did not have the testicle issues, but I was your typical fat bookworm and always picked last. I wandered in the bb wasteland of misinformation and supps that work about as well as sand. I came into my own in my 30's and at 46 am in the best condition of my life. I am prone to doing too much volume though I preach against it and that is where I feel my current injury is from that and an inexplicable sudden increase in strength (Ursobolic??). Anyway keep pushing man its not for naught. I did it ..well somewhat ...I'm not a pro level BB by any stretch of the imagination but I am big and ripped if not huge and ripped and my body isn't full of exogenous hormones. You can do it too. Just keep pushing. Altitude is ultimately determined by attitude. You are an inspiration bro' keep it upThanks I am trying to improve
thanks man... I hope to make MUCH more progress.
taman6886
Well-known member
Damn bro, half the game (if not more) is recovery. Never forget that. (Think maybe we have had this exchange before LOL)
FL3X MAGNUM
Legend
You look lean enough right now Matt have you considered after this next planned cut to maybe just "lean bulk" for a year or so?
mattrag
Legend
Yea it's true. We need to keep pushing it. Even if it means resting a bit. Good man for reading my whole post lol. I am sure I can do this. Just that I might have to sacrifice a lot more than I wanted to. (Might have to stop doing the judo so often). Glad I found someone who understands and experienced the whole thing lol.
Yea... I'm sure we have lol. Gotta rest.... sigh...haha
truthornothin
Well-known member
You think I am kidding about looking you up in Hawaii, I've already talked to my girl about it neither of us have ever been. When we go, I am definitely looking you up bruddah. We will eat poke and drink beer and train :fing02:
mattrag
Legend
I wanna try get under 10% before I start adding more mass. I need to get better nutrient partitioning power
FL3X MAGNUM
Legend
Sigh...I should probably do something similar one day lol. Every part of my body says I'm around 8% bodyfat by the mirror, except my lower two sets of abs, which according to my calipers are 10% and 11.5%. And when I sit down and hunch over a little it screams 16% lol. I absolutely hate cardio though...
Nothing is more frustrating than being able to grab a handful of skin on your abs while sitting down when a year ago you could hardly grab a pinch.
Nothing is more frustrating than being able to grab a handful of skin on your abs while sitting down when a year ago you could hardly grab a pinch.
mattrag
Legend
hey man I'm all for it! I should be somewhat of an expert by then, seeing I have to give my inlaws the tour of the island in February!
mattrag
Legend
Haha. nah though, you getting SWOLE!