Tyler's first Anabeta Elite log (sponsored)

Man I am feeling awesome today! I had a VERY intense cardio session today and followed it with stiff-legged deadlifts, regular deadlifts, and Bulgarian split squats. Stiff legged deads felt great. I couldn't get close to the ground on my first set (lack of flexibility), but by the end of my last set, I was getting the bar all the way down with no problems. Regular deads went even better. I went heavier than I have since my last AB log because my back felt so great! I got up to 225 lbs, which is way less than I used to do, but after hurting my back, I have always played it safe. Today I felt so good, I just had to kick it up a notch! Bulgarian split squats felt great, too! My left leg balance and strength is quickly catching up to my right, and both legs are feeling very stable! Energy is still great, and I am seeing my results whenever I look in the mirror!

Best,
Tyler
 
Solid update. I wouldn't worry too much about what weight you are pulling man, especially when you injured your back previously. As long as you are still getting in intense back workouts without it hurting, then hell ya :D. Good to hear strength is going up along with results being visable in the mirror :).
 
kbayne said:
Solid update. I wouldn't worry too much about what weight you are pulling man, especially when you injured your back previously. As long as you are still getting in intense back workouts without it hurting, then hell ya :D. Good to hear strength is going up along with results being visable in the mirror :).
Click to expand...

Thanks, dude. I think that is basically why I increased in weight. I didn't feel like I was getting a good workout from the weights I had been using previously, and after upping it, I really felt great. Not sure if I will see the need to increase weight again next Sat, but I will keep updating.
 
After Saturday's leg workout, I am walking around like an 80-year-old man haha! Standing is going to suck until at least Wednesday. Still worth it, though, because that workout was awesome! Today is a pushing day, and I will update later on. Still feeling really good. I found an extra bottle of fenugreek that I forgot I had, so I am thinking about adding that in this week. Fenugreek doesn't give me any crazy effects, but I do feel like I stay slightly leaner when I take it and I get a great sense of well-being so it might be great added in with the ABE. I will report if/when I add that in.

Best,
Tyler
 
What fenugreek product is it?
 
OK I am going to make this workout summary quick, because my wife is yelling at me to finish up so we can spend a few minutes together before I have to sleep.

I felt pretty sh**ty today because I let myself get dehydrated yesterday. Today, I could barely fit my wedding ring on my finger. I have to remind myself to keep drinking a lot on off days, too.

In the gym, there were way too many people, which was annoying, but I made due with what I had available. Cardio went well, but I only had time for 20 min today because I was looking for my knee pads for too long before leaving the house. Weights felt SUPER strong today, but I think I drained myself on Dumbbell bench, making shoulder press and skull crushers feel harder than they should have. The shoulder press bench was also a strange one. It was over-cushioned and wobbly, and it only had the option for being 90 degrees, whereas I like to do military at about 10 degrees shy of that to make my neck feel better. Anyway, here are the numbers:

Dumbbell flat bench: 80s x 7-3-2 (this was huge for me)
Smith machine military press: 200 (including the smith bar) x 4-2-2
Skull-crushers: 115 x 6-2-2
Dumbbell side raises: 30s x 9-5-4
Dumbbell front raise: 30s x 10-5-5

I added the side and front raises because I felt really nice and sore after doing them last week, and who wouldn't want their shoulders to bulge a little more?

I also found the paper that I left at the gym last week, so I can go back and edit my number from my last pulling workout on Friday.

BJJ went fine, nothing spectacular in either direction. Caught an accidental shin to the nose; luckily it just bled a bit so I could keep rolling. Overall, feeling great, super exhausted now and ready to eat some beef and sleep!

Best,
Tyler

P.S.- weight is still in the 85-86 range, but physique is changing.
 
Water, water, water :D. I like to add Mio or Crystal Light to water whenever I need some flavor.

Lateral and Front raises are always being incorporated in my shoulder routine. I like to alternate between DBs and cable machines. Also alternate between seated and standing for both lateral and front. Gotta get those shoulders looking like boulders.
 
Lol anabeta is telling you ... Divorce divorceeeeee . just kidding good log. I loved run my on ABE.
 
kbayne said:
Water, water, water :D. I like to add Mio or Crystal Light to water whenever I need some flavor.

Lateral and Front raises are always being incorporated in my shoulder routine. I like to alternate between DBs and cable machines. Also alternate between seated and standing for both lateral and front. Gotta get those shoulders looking like boulders.
Click to expand...

You are correct sir! It really is so important to drink as much as possible (especially here once it starts getting hotter). Teaching helps a lot; I always drink 500-1000ML per teaching period (about an hour). When I am home, though, I often neglect to drink enough, so I have to get on that.
 
After my last two workouts and all the BJJ I am feeling really beat up in a good way. My legs, shoulders, tris, chest, and traps are all super sore. I am really happy to get today as a rest day before I go kill it again tomorrow!

As a side note, how many days off should I take from the L-dopa each week. Is just one ok, or should I take two? I am taking it to help me get to sleep and stay asleep and I know those effects fade if taken daily. What do you all think? Thanks!

Best,
Tyler
 
FUBARMD said:
Everything in moderation is not a bad thing to go off of. With caffeine I used to do 2 days on 1 off.
Click to expand...

Always good advice, and thank you very much for following/posting! I am hoping someone has info specific to L-dopa (Dopadex, Powerfull, HGH Pro, etc...) about the best dosing protocol for sleep enhancement. Either way, that is good advice for life!
 
I felt SOOOOOOOOOO good at the gym today. I blasted through cardio like a monster and then hit the weights. I was telling my friend about rack deads yesterday, and it made me really miss doing them. I haven't done a rack dead since I hurt my back over two years ago, but tonight I just had to. I planned on starting light and seeing what I could do. I ended up comfortably going much higher than expected and felt great doing it. I pulled about 315 x 6 and then got about 355 x 4. I say "about" because a lot of the weights here are in KG and some are in pounds. A plate might be 45 pounds or 20kg, which is 44.3 or something like that. In addition, most of the middle weights are 10kg instead of 25 pounds which is significant. I pulled 160KG to be exact, but I try to report in pounds because I know the KG-lb converting is a pain. Anyway I felt freaking awesome doing the rack pulls, and I don't think I got that weight for more reps than that when I did them a few years ago, so I am really getting stronger. My total numbers were:

Rack pulls: 315 x 6, 355 x 4
Normal-grip pulldowns on a plate loaded machine: 265 x 12-5-3
Free Motion Row (by a company called Ground Zero)*: 200 x 6-4-4
cable curls (from the cable cross position...where you stand in the middle and pull from both sides): 7 plates per side x 9-5-4
4-finger reverse barbell curls on an extra fat bar (no thumb): 100 x 7-5-3


*The free motion row was an interesting machine. It reminded me of a pulldown mixed with a seated row...seemed like a very similar movement to a face pull. Here is a link to a pic so you know what I am talking about: Invalid Link Removed

My back never hurt at all throughout the rack deads. I will have to wait and see how I feel tomorrow, but so far it looks like I will be great! My form was very good, so that helped I'm sure. My grip wasn't the strongest I've felt, but it is getting stronger by the day.

BJJ also felt awesome, and I had some really good, really competitive rolls. The only bad part was after class, I was trading techniques with a visitor from LA. He showed me a couple of decent things to use when getting out of triangle setups, which was cool, but when showing me, he stacked me completely over my neck (so I was bent completely back over my neck with all of his weight on top of me). I was a really stupid thing for him to do, because in live rolling, I would never let someone stack me like that, but I didn't even expect him to do something so reckless when just showing a technique (the right thing would have been to gently put pressure on and then explain how far to go with it, or at least warn me about what he was doing...). He was a four-stripe blue belt, too, so he really should have known better. Either way, I was nice about it. I showed him a few techniques that I like to do, and a few things I caught him with when we were rolling, and then called it a day. My neck has hurt since then. I have a dull ache in my thoracic spine that I can't get out. I took some advil and my wife massaged it, but I will still need some work with my homemade contraption (two tennis balls taped together with athletic tape...REALLY gets into the spine when rolling on it). I hope it is ok when I wake up tomorrow.

On a side note, I just went completely hypo for no reason. I took 2 ABE at 430 and ate my PWO meal at 5. I felt great, but I guess I needed more carbs, because I started losing vision and getting dizzy. I was afraid that dude screwed me up worse than I thought, but I remembered feeling the same way the first time I took Pslin (only ate half a bagel with it...went hypo almost immediately). I ate a half a wheat tortilla, my wife made me eat some pudding, and I drank a protein shake. Now I feel good again. I guess ABE is just THAT strong. Make me feel bad for ppl who spend more money on a month's worth of nutrient repartitioners, when I get the same effect for LESS money from Anabeta PLUS giant strength gains. Anyway, it has been an interesting day to say the least. I will update again tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

Best,
Tyler
 
I like that free motion machine and use it from time to time when I actually use machines. Solid update with lots of great info. Nice to see things are really starting to kick off as far as full blown effects here.
 
bolt10 said:
I like that free motion machine and use it from time to time when I actually use machines. Solid update with lots of great info. Nice to see things are really starting to kick off as far as full blown effects here.
Click to expand...

Yeah it felt like a cool exercise...normally wouldn't use it as my main back exercise, but it is definitely a nice addition and felt like it hit my back at a different angle. The only problem with it (ironically, being called "Free Motion" and noting on the machine that it provided a better range of motion than other machines) is that the cables were not far enough from the bench to allow full extension, so it was only about 80-85% of a full rep range. Aside from that, it was a cool machine and felt like it is a good thing to add at least once a month or so.
 
Back feels great today. DOMS hasn't set in much in my upper back, and my lower back feels better than it usually feels after a night of working out and doing jiu jitsu. I guess the rack pulls were a safe exercise, and I can't wait to add them in again!

My neck, after a lot of rolling, stretching, massaging, advil, and a warm bath, feels pretty sore today, but nothing too serious. I believe it will be fine by tomorrow's BJJ class. Still not a great thing to happen, but glad I took extra time to manage it last night.

The Dopadex REALLY helps me stay asleep through the night. The difference is pretty astounding, and it helps me get by on less sleep than I would normally need. Also, this could just be me being 29 with a beautiful wife, but I feel like I get an almost instant libido boost from the Dopadex as well. It's not a 24/7 thing; it's more like, I take it, I get tired, I get into bed...and then boom. That is also resulting in getting less sleep than I try to get, but I am feeling great throughout the day anyway. Speaking of less sleep than I would normally need...

I am feeling the energy from the ABE full force. I have been sleeping 6-6.5 hours per night every night this week, but I feel great. Normally I need 7.5-8 hours to feel good. I still try to sleep at least 8 hours on Friday and Saturday nights, but recently I have been waking up before my alarm. The energy and sense of well-being seems about the same as regular AB, which makes sense, as I don't think either of the extra ingredients are supposed to have effects on energy. Well-being is pretty hard to compare, because I am inexplicably looking much leaner than I was at this point in my last AB run. I say "inexplicably" because I am eating for bulk right now, whereas I was recomping last time. I am also heavier than I was at this point in my last log (still in the 85-86 range), but I am looking very ripped. The only conclusions that I can draw are:

A: the extra ingredients are helping to both burn more fat and add more muscle
B: the extra ingredients are helping to keep my muscles more pumped and full, so that I appear leaner and more muscular
C: both A and B are true to some extent

It is pretty early to say which one of those is true, but I do feel incredibly strong this week, even compared to last week. The scary part is that, in general, I believe that forskolin really hits its stride around the 4-week mark, which means that the effects have not peaked yet. This is just from reading user reports on the Internet, as I have never tried forskolin before, but this is generally accepted to be correct, right?

Anyway, still feeling great, and I can't believe that I am not even halfway through this run! Switching to recomp will be interesting, but I might have to keep my carbs higher than I did on my last log, because the nutrient repartitioning effects seem to be stronger this time. I don't know if that is the extra ingredients, or just my body responding better to the original extract. Do forskolin or 7OH have nutrient repartitioning properties? That's all for now.

Again the two questions I am looking for answers to if possible:
1. Is it correct that forskolin generally peaks in effects around week 4?
2. Do forskolin or 7OH have nutrient repartitioning properties, or are those effects likely just my body responding better to the Anacyclus pyrethrum?

As always, thanks for following!

Best,
Tyler
 
Forskolin offers more gradual results so the effects are best seen over a longer duration, I wouldn't say it necessarily starts to peak, but the results will start to be noticed around then.

They may not have direct nutrient repartitioning effects, but they are putting the body in a more favorable hormonal position to avoid increases in fat and possibly decreases in it (depending on other factors).
 
bolt10 said:
Forskolin offers more gradual results so the effects are best seen over a longer duration, I wouldn't say it necessarily starts to peak, but the results will start to be noticed around then.

They may not have direct nutrient repartitioning effects, but they are putting the body in a more favorable hormonal position to avoid increases in fat and possibly decreases in it (depending on other factors).
Click to expand...

OK sweet, thanks! So it seems like the hypoglycemic reaction was likely just the original extract's effects. Pretty amazing that that is just one of many effects it has; it's a great compound!
 
Well, my diet the past two days has been horrible. I don't know what the hell has been wrong with me, but I have been pigging out big time, all in the evenings, and mostly with high-carb, bleached carb foods. I am talking at least 600-1000 calories of extra food each day, and most of it has been crap. Amazingly, I am not showing the effects of it very much (I normally have a food-baby thing going on the day after I eat like that), which is really shedding light onto how effective the ABE is, but I have to get my act together. Even when bulking, there is no excuse for eating like that. I will clean it up, and I apologize to the PES team for neglecting to keep my diet where it should be. Recomp starts soon (a week or so from now), so I still have a long way to go!

Best,
Tyler

P.S.- my back hasn't been sore like this in years. Awesome workout on Wed!
 
Update for tonight's pushing workout: my neck is still very sore from that idiotic stuff that happened on Wed, plus my back and traps are very sore as well, so I decided to skip BJJ tonight. I also kept tonight's workout load a bit lighter at only 3 exercises. My shoulders were really sore from the rack deads on Wednesday, which surprised me, but still, a great workout is a great workout. Despite how sore I was (am), I still had a great workout and moved up in my lifts. Here are the numbers:

Flat bench: ~200lbs (90 kg) x 5-2-2
Dumbbell shoulder press (shoulders felt very sore during warm-ups, but I decided to still push it hard): 60s x 6-2-1
Triceps cable press down: 140 (the machine here doesn't go higher, unfortunately) x 16-5-4

My weight is still in range (85-86kg) despite my horrible diet the past two days, but I don't look quite as ripped as I did on Wednesday. I won't be making that mistake again. My wife brings stuff home a lot. I have to tell her to stop, because I can't have good food in the house. Last night I think I woke up in the middle of the night and ate some stuff. I don't remember doing it, but I saw the wrappers this morning. I know I am bulking and AB increases hunger, but I ate the wrong things. Aside from feeling guilty, all of the bleached carbs and refined sugars left me feeling sluggish during tonight's cardio. I still managed to push it hard, but it was an uphill battle. Bottom line: I could feel a difference from eating poorly and I can't make that mistake again. That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Best,
Tyler
 
Not a big deal that your diet has been terrible. The key is to acknowledge the fact and change what you are doing to get back to where you were. This is just a speed bump. Just stay driven and killin it and you will get back to seeing the positive aspects of this run. Dust yourself off bro you got this!
 
Had another intense leg workout yesterday. My back and traps are still sore from Wednesday's pulling day, so I went with a very basic lifting plan. Stiff-legged deads and Bulgarian split squats. 5 sets of each, with a set of leg raises (abs) between each one. Went progressively wider-gripped with the deads in efforts to improve both my hamstring strength and flexibility. I managed to go heavier than ever before with the split squats: 2 sets with 40s, 2 with 50s, and the last one with 60s. I know that's not huge weight, but it sure is for me, as my first time doing this exercise was a month ago and I am already feeling A LOT more balanced with my leg stability and strength. I am loving both of these exercises, although I hate the way I feel for about 3 or 4 days afterward. I tell myself that it is the feeling of getting bigger, stronger, and tougher...but still.

Diet is back on track. As I speak, my wife is finishing a giant dinner of chicken breast with red and green peppers, ginger squid, and fried garlic and ginger pea pods. In other words, I am ending this post right now so I can go eat that! Next workout is tomorrow. I will update afterwards.

Best,
Tyler
 
DOMS can be really stinkers sometime haha. I am like you though, 2 or 3 days post legs, my legs and ass are so sore it is ridiculous.

That dinner sounds amazing. I am still fasting :( and just the sound of it makes me want to start cooking haha.
 
kbayne said:
DOMS can be really stinkers sometime haha. I am like you though, 2 or 3 days post legs, my legs and ass are so sore it is ridiculous.

That dinner sounds amazing. I am still fasting :( and just the sound of it makes me want to start cooking haha.
Click to expand...


Sorry to start the cravings, dude! The squid was by far the best part. I'll try to get the recipe and post it here if I get a chance. It would fit any diet style and it's awesome!
 
OK guys tonight I wanted to make sure I went nice and heavy with the weights. It seemed to make sense since I am bulking (few more days left before recomp) and I am looking/feeling super strong. My numbers did not disappoint! I set a new personal record on chainsaws and super wide grip pull downs, as well as getting in great sets on biceps and forearms.

Chainsaws: 100lb dumbbell x 12-6-5*
Super-wide grip hammer grip plate loaded pull downs (there has to be a shorter name for this): 110kg (~245 lbs) x 4-2-2
barbell curls (on the preacher bar): ~80lbs (30kg plus the bar) x 6-2-2
Hammer curls: 40 lb dumbbells x 4-2-2

*Chainsaws were lighter and higher-rep because my gym doesn't have anything heavier than 100lb dumbbells.

Cardio was nice and intense. BJJ was really good as well. I spent most of my time rolling with my training partner of several years. We both know each others' games really well, and we spent about 2 hours working on our biggest weaknesses. I am trying to get him to recognize and capitalize on opportunities to use triangle chokes that come up within the game he likes, and he is working with me to get my hips more explosive and better timed for escapes. That probably sounds extremely boring, but I am really happy to get to work on anything that needs work, especially since people here are improving so fast that I need to make sure I keep up.

Back to gym performance, I have never gotten close to that weight on super-wide hammer pulldowns before. I needed a spot just to get myself locked down into the seat, since the weight was so much heavier than me. I am really starting to see several benefits here.

1. I am seeing the benefit of bulking as I seem to be gaining strength faster and in wider margins than I was when recomping on regular AB.
2. I am seeing the benefit of ABE over regular AB. I am looking leaner than I could possibly have imagined given that my weight hasn't decreased and I am eating for bulk.
3. I am seeing the benefit of starting the log a bit stronger than I started my last one. I lost a lot of my gains from my last AB log due to laziness and poor dieting, but I still kept enough to be a bit stronger at the start. I also tried to get a good few weeks of good workouts and decent diet in before starting the log. I didn't look great, as I was much fatter before all of that than I normally am (from my honeymoon), but I do feel like I was better primed mentally if nothing else.

I can't believe how much bigger I look in the mirror compared to a mere 3 weeks ago, all while keeping the same weight and losing fat! ABE and hard work seem to compliment each other extremely well.

OK it is time to eat a bunch of pork tenderloin and sweet potato leaves with garlic, salt and maybe some ginger. Goodnight (or, for most of you, good morning)!

Best,
Tyler
 
Awesome update! Congrats on the PR and feeling/looking stronger :D

That is really awesome news about all of your gains so far. That is what I love about AB/ABE, it helps in so many areas and getting in those extra calories while taking ABE is for sure helping with the gains. The added Forskolin in ABE really was a fantastic addition for body composition effects.
 
Solid work man...nice to see you getting some very good effects. This is the point where things start to just continue to build and improve and I love it. I only have about a week left of my ABE and it is going to be sad times when I run out (for now). :lol:
 
bolt10 said:
Solid work man...nice to see you getting some very good effects. This is the point where things start to just continue to build and improve and I love it. I only have about a week left of my ABE and it is going to be sad times when I run out (for now). :lol:
Click to expand...

Dang, super sad like me and my Alphamine. I have a bottle of ABE sitting on my porch as we speak though. Super excited
 
kbayne said:
Awesome update! Congrats on the PR and feeling/looking stronger :D

That is really awesome news about all of your gains so far. That is what I love about AB/ABE, it helps in so many areas and getting in those extra calories while taking ABE is for sure helping with the gains. The added Forskolin in ABE really was a fantastic addition for body composition effects.
Click to expand...

Thanks, dude! Yeah I really cannot believe the difference between this and the old formula. The old formula was just so potent; I never thought I would respond so well to the extra ingredients, too! I have never had great results from strength-building or fat burning supps before, then I tried the original AB and couldn't believe how well it worked. Now ABE is just a whole extra bunch of awesome on top of the already-awesome original extract. The best part is that I am only about halfway done!
 
bolt10 said:
Solid work man...nice to see you getting some very good effects. This is the point where things start to just continue to build and improve and I love it. I only have about a week left of my ABE and it is going to be sad times when I run out (for now). :lol:
Click to expand...

Yeah I am not going to lie; I will be legitimately depressed when I run out. I wish I could run this forever. I honestly feel that any money I have ever spent on supplements aside from AB, ABE, and the essentials (protein, BCAA, PWO) has been wasted. This is pretty much the only thing I think I will ever need. Now I just have to hope PES doesn't stop making it for any reason!
 
I finished off my ABE and EPRO yesterday. I completely feel your pain man!
 
You guys are selling me on trying Anabeta. Is this something that could be run during PCT for a mild PH cycle ( Finaflex 1Alpha).
 
kenpoengineer said:
You guys are selling me on trying Anabeta. Is this something that could be run during PCT for a mild PH cycle ( Finaflex 1Alpha).
Click to expand...

I don't believe there is any reason why it couldn't, but you would also need your standard PCT stuff in addition (an AI such as Erase or Formestane would probably be enough for a mild PH). I think people have had good results using it as part of a PCT, but I have no experience with using it that way. PES guys, please chime in with more info!
 
ABE or AB is an amazing addition to a pct.

I typically run serm/daa/Abe/EPRO for pct.
 
Sorry I didn't have time last night to post my workout numbers. I will get to that in a few hours when I am off work. Had a great workout though, tried some thing I don't normally do, and am still seeing rapid strength gains. Craziest part is the fact that I am looking so shredded even though I am eating for bulk. I will still switch to a recomp diet this weekend, but it seems like I can enjoy more carbs throughout the early part of the day. I will try to replace carbs in my evening meal with coconut oil or other good fats (just got some organic virgin coconut oil...not easy to find here), and reduce my daily caloric intake while keeping protein high. I am looking amazing for my weight; now it's time to see just how ripped I can get by the end of this!

Best,
Tyler
 
I love how efficiently ABE helps me with keeping my workouts incredible while allowing me to lean out. The muscle fullness and strength/endurance during workouts even in a deficit is a great feeling.
 
OK everyone sorry I didn't get to post this yesterday; here is my workout summary.

Overall, I am feeling great. It randomly became summer here (20 degree shift in 24 hours), so that's cool, but I forgot how much more I sweat while working out in the summer. My gym has AC...they just don't want to risk looking too flashy by showing it off. All joke aside though, too hot is better than too cold, as nothing is worse than building up a massive sweat and then trying to keep yourself warm while lifting in a freezing room.

Cardio was as expected. No major issues. Felt great, performed well, etc etc...

Weights are up again. I am still trying to go very heavy. I did a bunch of exercises, as my endurance seems to be increasing, and I tried doing barbell presses at a ~70 degree incline for shoulders. I never felt right doing 90 degree military presses; they always hurt my neck. The 70 degree presses did feel pretty awkward, but surprisingly still felt like it was all shoulders. I am not sure if I got as targeted a shoulder workout as I would have with dumbbells, but mixing it up sometimes is a good idea. Here are the numbers:

Dumbbell flat bench: 85s x 4-2-2
~70-dregree barbell shoulder press: 135 x 6-4-3
Upright row: 120 x 6-3-3 ***
Close-grip flat bench: 155 x 5-3-2
Dumbbell side raise: 35s x 5-4-4, immediate burnout with 15s x 16
Dumbbell front raise: 40s x 6-4-4, immediate burnout with 20s x 18

***It turns out that I have miscalculated every lift I have ever done here with the preacher bar. I thought preacher bars weighed 15lbs, and I calculated my lifts with that assumption. I knew that the bars here felt heavier, so I weighed one and it was 9.5KG (21 lbs). Not a big deal, but I was surprised. I guess normal preacher bars weigh 20lbs?

I added the burnouts to the front and side raises because I am not sure if the heavier weight is targeting the muscle in the same way as lighter-weight raises done with perfect form. My form on the heavy raises wasn't harmful, but it was not as isolated as I am with lighter-weight raises. For example, on front raises with 40s, I could feel myself using a bit of hip momentum to get started. The burnout sets were great because by the end of them, my shoulders felt thoroughly exhausted.

I am feeling great on flat bench. Last week I did 80s x 5-2-2 if I remember correctly. I am already up to 85s at almost the same reps. By the end of this log, I will be at 90s at least. My current PR for flat bench is 95s x 2, when I was specifically trying to get to that goal. Now it looks like I might surpass that during my normal training here.

The only negative I have this week is that I have been sleeping very poorly for the past few days. Even the Dopadex has not saved me. I don't know if it has been a result of the ABE, as I have been cutting my doses off early to avoid that. If it continues, then...well it would suck, haha. But I suspect that it was just a coincidental bout of insomnia, as this happens to me fairly frequently anyway. Aside from that, I am feeling really good. There is one thing that I could swear I am feeling (but may just be a placebo) that is a bit different than the original AB. I feel like I am staying more relaxed in general during times that would normally get me fired up in a bad way (fighting with the wife, dealing with misbehaving students, etc...). On my last AB run, I found myself getting pissed pretty easily, which wasn't bad, but on this run I feel much more able to keep my composure. It could just be me enjoying the extra carbs of this bulking diet compared to what I was eating last time, but I do feel great throughout the day. I have the regular AB sense of well-being, plus I feel nice and relaxed under pressure, AND I and a freaking ANIMAL in the gym (to the point where I get a lot of concerned looks, haha). That's about it for now. I will update after my workout tomorrow!

Best,
Tyler
 
Sorry this is posted late, everyone. This is a summary of my Friday workout. Still feeling great and looking great. No big difference in effects. Just more of the same awesomeness. I am trying to keep my weights high and reps lower than normal (trying to keep my 3 stage rest-pause numbers in the 8-14 range). I will make another post after this one detailing my dietary changes, as I will be transition from bulking to recomping in the following week. My gym added a new pulldown machine. It looked quite odd. There are two weight stacks hooked up to two separate pulley systems. The bar hooks into both pulley systems. The system looks like something that is designed to make the machine look cooler and take up more space (more expensive), but not really add much functionality (you could put two separate handles on to do an arcing range of motion I guess). I like the old plate-loaded machine which they took away. The gym manager said he would try to find a place for it next week. The new machine does have a nice feel though; it feels smooth and gets slightly more difficult at the end of the ROM, giving it a feeling almost like it is connected to bands. They also added another smith machine. So now there are 4 smith machines in my gym, yet only 1 squat rack (squat, bent-over row, rack pulls...only place to do any of those), and 1 flat barbell bench. No incline bench, decline bench, and only a small free weight area ...it's ridiculous. Oh well, Here are Friday's numbers:


-Bent-over row: 220 x 4-2-2 (my grip started giving out on me, so I had to switch to an over-under grip on the last RP section of the set...not sure if I will stay at this weight or decrease for next time)
-Wide-grip pulldown: 96KG (~210 lbs) x 8-3-3
-Free Motion row (figured out I can anchor myself further back to get the full ROM): 200lbs x 7-3-4
-Cable curls: 140 x 6-2-2
-Reverse-grip barbell curl (four-finger grip; no thumb): 65 x 8-4-4 (the last rep was not great form)

Solid numbers overall, and I am going to keep on killing it! Cardio and BJJ were both VERY intense on Friday as well, and I made sure to exhaust myself over and over again!

I did not lift yesterday (Sat) because I had to wake up early to teach BJJ. I never taught before, but Ciao Terra is in TW (multi-time BJJ world champ and super famous) and the regular teacher wanted to have a private lesson with him, so I said I would teach. Class ended up being 1 12-year-old kid and that was it. I slept HORRIBLY on Friday, and got a decent workout in while teaching/conditioning, so I decided it would be better to postpone my Saturday workout until today. I will go now. So that's about it for me. I will post my dietary stuff in a separate post now, and then post my workout report from today later on. Hope you are all having nicer weather than we are here!

Best,
Tyler
 
Diet Stuff:

I am officially in the second half of this log now, and will be trying extra hard to push it like never before. I will be switching to a recomp diet starting tomorrow, BUT I will be paying very close attention to how I feel and look to make sure that I am not under-dosing carbs (a concern due to AB and ABE's insulin mimicking properties). For now, my plan is to basically keep carbs about the same at breakfast and the same or similar in my PWO meal, but cut them off entirely post-workout until bedtime. Since I usually workout pretty late, I will usually have one or two other meals before my PWO meal. I will still include some carbs, but will be keeping it light. If I feel that I am going hypo, or under-performing at the gym, I will readjust accordingly. This will be a very important week because I will be making dietary adjustments, so I will have to watch everything like a hawk in order to maximize my results. I am still around 86KG but my plan is to drop something in the ballpark of 1KG or fat per week for the next three weeks, however, from the way I look now, I have probably done at least that on the bulking phase, while adding that much muscle (thus staying at about the same total weight). It's hard to have an expectation for where I will end up in three weeks, but if I had to guess, I would say somewhere around 83-85KG and 2-3% lower body fat than I am now if I play my cards right. Right now, I look similar to my "after" pictures from my last log but I am about 4KG heavier (great progress for three weeks). I already feel stronger than I felt at the end of that run, and I still have three more weeks to add to that progress. My body fat is about as low as it's been except when I had to cut down to 80KG (176lbs), when I might have been slightly lower (obviously not nearly as strong, though). However, I still have body fat that I think I can lose with hard work. My stomach and waistline area have the biggest fat deposits, as that is always the last place I lose it. I have visible abs and obliques when flexing, but when resting it is very obvious that there is still a bit to lose. Hopefully the ABE makes losing that easier than it has been in the past (my body LOVES holding on to fat in that area). So far, I have faith that it will.

Best,
Tyler
 
OK just did my leg workout. It was a good one, as they all have been on this log. My back and neck were both really hurting yesterday, so I made sure to go through my rep range slowly and steadily. I again did 30 min of fast-paced cardio and then 5 sets each of stiff-legged dead lift and Bulgarian split squats. I became a bit concerned about my BSS form over the past week, so I decided to take it down a notch with weight, slow it down a bit, and carefully monitor myself for any correctable errors. I did notice that I should be focusing more on the foot of my working leg, and using the whole foot to push downward in a controlled fashion. Keeping this in mind and doing the sets more slowly and in a more controlled fashion seemed to keep me more stable and keep the workload focused in the right place. I did not bother going up to 60 lb dumbbells today, as I wanted to monitor myself, so I kept it to 50s. I am happy about that decision; I feel that the adjustments I am making will help me build better muscle, and correct imbalances between my left and right legs in a better way. My legs feel very sore already, and I can feel that I got a great workout. I am not looking forward to the soreness I will feel on Tuesday, though haha.

Best,
Tyler
 
Nice updates..good luck on the transition to recomp style dieting. :cool:
 
Hi everyone,

So far the recomp diet is about what I expected. Not too bad in the early part of the day, and much less fun in the later part. I will still have to monitor everything closely to see if I have to make any adjustments.

I think my lack of sleep recently is starting to affect me a bit. Last night's workout was the first time in weeks where I didn't feel particularly stronger than the previous workout. I also lagged noticeably on the latter parts of my rest-pause sets. I hope it is just a sleep issue. I know everyone has off days, but I was a bit concerned at my sudden lack of endurance. It was not a bad workout, but I didn't make the progress that I wanted to. Here are the numbers:

Flat bench: 200 x 6-1-1
Dumbbell shoulder press: 60s x 8-2-1
Triceps cable press down: 180 x 4-2-3
Side raise: 40s x 5-4-3, burnout with 20 x 12
Front raise: 40s x 8-5-4, burnout with 20 x 17

Cardio felt ok (not great, but not bad), and BJJ was fine.

I didn't decrease in anything, but I didn't make any significant leaps either, and my endurance just didn't feel it was tuned in. Hopefully some sleep and focus will turn it all around for Wednesday's workout. I will update then. Thanks for reading!

Best,
Tyler
 
After thinking about it, I think that the main reasons why I felt fatigued yesterday are:

-I have a less-than-restful weekend, whereas the weekend is usually my time to catch up on sleep.
-I did my leg workout on Sunday instead of Saturday, which could have made Monday's workout take a greater toll than usual.
-I have not had a rest day since Thursday. That is 4 days in a row of exercising (and as you know, my exercise regimen is, in a word, taxing). Even though Saturday was only BJJ, that is probably enough to keep my CNS from recovering fully.

I don't know if it was one, two, three, or none of those things, but those are the factors I thought of. I will have to do my leg day on Sunday again this week, but Saturday will be a rest day, so we will see how that goes.

Best,
Tyler
 
It is now Wednesday, and I am about an hour away from my pulling workout. I am feeling ok, but I am starting to get sick. I think that my lack of sleep this past weekend is the culprit. Even worse, I have to wake up stupid early on Saturday this week to go to a family reunion on my wife's side. That means I do not get much time to rest this weekend, either. I also normally don't start work until 11 on Thursday, but I have to be in a bit early tomorrow, so I will have to race home from BJJ (Dopadex in hand) tonight and try to score at least 8 hours of sleep.

On the plus side, I still can't get over how vascular and pumped I look all the time! I am seeing hints of new veins popping out that I have never seen before, my chest feels fuller and harder, and my shoulders are fuller and more striated. My mid-section is responding well to the recomp diet so far, but getting a little sick and losing sleep is making it hard to judge how effective it is (and thus whether I have to change anything). However, I think I have a good thing going so far. I will update with my numbers later on.

Best,
Tyler
 
Well, after realizing that I am definitely feeling slightly sick, I realized that I couldn't go to BJJ tonight. It sucks, but I always freakin hate it when people come to practice when they are clearly sick. They always have horrible excuses. "I am not sick, I just have a cough," "I was sick but I am getting better now (as they hack up a lung)," etc. etc. Bottom line, BJJ involves breathing on, touching, and sweating all over other people; if you are sick or even think you might be sick, you don't go (...is the rule that I wish everyone followed). Not too sick for the gym though! I really wanted to do more rack deads, but I decided against it because I am a little sick and my back was sore until yesterday, so it seemed like it will be better to wait. Unfortunately, that means I can't do them until NEXT friday, but I can handle that. I did a standard pulling workout with some added abs. I posted another PR on chainsaws! My numbers:

Chainsaws: 100lb x 15-6-4
Shoulder-width pull down: 200 x 7-4-3*
Barbell curl: 92 (35kg weights + 15lb bar...so I guess the bars here vary a bit in weight): 4-1-1*
Reverse-grip cable curl (with thumb this time): 90 x 5-3-2*

*these might e PRs but I don't keep careful track of these exercises, so it is possible that I lifted the same or more at one time; however, as far as I can remember, they are all PRs.

I am feeling strong as an ox and looking nice and lean still. Heartbreaking weigh-in today though. I was 85.5 on my last day of bulking. I am now on day 3 of recomp and I weighed 86.7. I know it is just water weight and I shouldn't be discouraged, but I would be lying if I said it wasn't discouraging to see. Oh well, it happens to all of us (or maybe just me, but I have huge fluctuations in weight because of water retention...I knew I might be bad today because I couldn't get my wedding ring off). I also tend to load up on salt in my PWO meal to help stay hydrated through a 3-4 hour exercise session, so a little bloat is expected.

I tried switching up my cardio tonight. I did 10-15 min before weights to warm up. After weights were finished, I tried some HIIT cardio. It was freaking difficult haha. I did it on the elliptical using high resistance. I did a 30 second warm-up, and then did 6 cycles of 1 min at 100%, then 30 seconds to rest. For the 1 min 100% periods, I cranked the resistance incredibly high, and then put it back to baseline for my rest periods. My speed didn't change much because of the resistance changes, but I couldn't believe how tired I was after two cycles. I almost had to stop to throw up (and I have no prob with long periods of steady state cardio and long periods of BJJ rolling). after 4 cycles, I had to change my rest periods to 1 minute. I felt like such a pus*y; I loved it! I have never tried that style of cardio before successfully (tried it on a treadmill once, but it took so long to change speeds that it didn't really work). After that was all done, I cooled down until I hit the 15-min mark. Now I am coughing a bit and my throat still hurts, so I am loading up on vitamin C and echinacea, drinking an extra green shake in the evening, and drinking plenty of water (as always). I hope to wake up tomorrow feeling all better, or at least on Friday for my next workout. Not sure if anyone is still following, but if anyone is out there, thanks for reading!

Best,
Tyler
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top