Jswains run with XGELS (unsponsered)

[jswain34]

Todays nutrition: <img src="http://anabolicminds.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=92722"/> <img src="http://anabolicminds.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=92723"/> <img src="http://anabolicminds.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=92724"/> I weighed in today pre workout at 214.5, which is exactly what i weighed in at last friday (day 8) and i started at 215.5 in day 1. Im going to increase kcals by 100 from what i have them at currently. That'd put me at +405 today. Gonna hit the gym tomorrow for dome pendlays, chinups, face pulls, and chest supported rows for back then a set or 2 of bis and some forearms & calves.

That smiley face is supposed to be a number eight so yea i dont know whats goin on there.

 

[heavylifter33]

Man, that workout on 11-22 is freaking ridiculous. I can only imagine how sore I would be after something like that lol. Nice work there, and great to hear the PRs are coming in hot. I am a huge fan of pendlay rows, or any barbell row for that matter. #1 back exercise for me not including deadlift or things of that nature. Increasing cals by a bit is probably a good idea, nutrients are always a good thing .

 

[jswain34]

Man, that workout on 11-22 is freaking ridiculous. I can only imagine how sore I would be after something like that lol. Nice work there, and great to hear the PRs are coming in hot. I am a huge fan of pendlay rows, or any barbell row for that matter. #1 back exercise for me not including deadlift or things of that nature. Increasing cals by a bit is probably a good idea, nutrients are always a good thing .

Haha thats kinda funny cuz i honestly thought i was going to be sore too, especially from the front squats. But it turns out the only thing that was even a little sore was my back. I did get a workout in yesterday and nutrition is still good to go. Ill update yesterday and today tonight at some point.

Going to be relatively low carb this week leading up to thanksgiving. Got some mct oil today so when you see my macros for the day they will reflect 22g of sat fat from 1.5tbsp of the mct oil.

 

[jswain34]

I know i said id update saturday 11/23 and yesterday but ive been completely swamped woth homework. I took an off day today because i had a test today and a final presentation tomorrow and im working on another group presentation right now. Its gonna be a long night and early morning but ill update all missing information tomorrow after my workout. Squat day tomorrow.

 

[jswain34]

Alright. Finally going to get caught up. Here come the updates.

 

[jswain34]

Day 16 workout 10

Back/forearms/calves


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Nutrition:

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Cant really comment on any strength grains from this workout because it was the first time I've based my entire workout around pendlays and weighted chinups in a while.

 

[jswain34]

Day 17 (sunday the 24th)

Off day from lifting but played pick up basketball for a while and got a couple sets of weighted sit ups, russian twists, and planks in.

Nutrition:



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Saturated fats were high because i used about 30 g of mct oil throughout the day. Some 85/15 ground beef contributed to that as well.

 

[jswain34]

Day 18 (monday the 25th)

Complete off day. Swamped with schoolwork before leaving for thanksgiving break.

I do remember my calves were still sore from saturdays workout on monday (to be honest they are still a little sore and its thursday).

Nutrition:



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[jswain34]

Day 19 workout 11 (tuesday the 26th)

I gave my final presentation in my 8am class then went straight to the gym to squat. After the squats it was crazy how much stress you can get rid of after presenting your final presentation then taking the rest of the stress out on the gym.



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*the 285x10 was a rep pr for that weight. Previous was x9.
Nutrition:

All i ate was around 35oz of chicken, a pint of ben and jerrys, some mct oil, some homemade minestrone soup, a pickle and some mozzarella cheese. #s were:



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[jswain34]

Day 20 workout 12


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Was one rep short of tying a pr. I didn't have a spotter or i would've kept going for it.

I tracked nutrition up til 3300 calories but then i had a pretty big bowl of cereal with 2% milk and didn't even track it. So...im guessing i was somewhere around +800.

 

[jswain34]

Phew. All caught up! Well now im going to go wake my little brother up and take him to the gym. And get in some deadlifts and hang cleans pre thanksgiving feasting. Im also going to get about 20 minutes in on the stationary bike. But i wont be logging nutrition for the day, i will keep it as on track as i can but this holiday only comes once a year and i am just going to enjoy my time with my family. Hope you all do the same, Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

 

[jswain34]

Yesterdays Thanksgiving workout:

Deadlifts 5x185 5x225 3x275 3x315 3x355 8x395 1x415 1x455 (attempt, couldn't lock it out)
Hang Cleans 5x75 5x115 3x135 3x155 3x175 5x195 1x205 1x225
A1. Single leg leg press (5x12-15)
A2. Romanian deadlift (5x10-12)

Leg press finisher: 4x1 plate 4x2 plates 4x3 plates 4x4 plates then back down. After the bilateral 4x1 plate i went to 8x1 plate single legged to finish.

Then i came home and smashed thanksgiving dinner. I actually kept it relatively clean, i really dont feel like i blew it yesterday at all so overall i was happy with my food intake. I did have a piece of no sugar added apple pie and a scoop of moose tracks ice cream at night with my family, but, whatever.

Was pretty pissed about not pulling 455 on deads, i dont really know what the hell happened. Just one of those days where i didn't have it i guess. I know i can pull it but i guess it just wasnt in the cards yesterday.

Today was an off day and im still trying to stay on track nutritionally. Ill post up my tracked kcals today. Should be right around maintenance.

 

[jswain34]

On another note, i know that fish oil should be taken around 6-12 hours after ArA. Does the same apply for cissus? I just picked up some bulk powder with my black friday order.

 

[Jiigzz]

On another note, i know that fish oil should be taken around 6-12 hours after ArA. Does the same apply for cissus? I just picked up some bulk powder with my black friday order.

Yep definitely. Same applies for Cissus due to its anti-inflammatory properties. General recommendation is 4+ hours

 

[jswain34]

Yep definitely. Same applies for Cissus due to its anti-inflammatory properties. General recommendation is 4+ hours

Cool thanks for the reply. Sounds good. Ive been just keeping it as far away as possible and will continue to do so.

 

[jswain34]

Day 22 workout 14



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*as i said above i was really happy with my press reps. I was expecting my rep max to decrease by a rep or 2 not go up.

*since this was yesterdays workout i can comment that my triceps and middle back is a little sore, still nothing bad. By the way, i just bought another bottle of xgels and will continue to run another bottle.

Nutrition:

*im back at school so it will be back on track.



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Will update tonight with todays stuff.

As a side note, i realize that there have been quite a few variables going into this (programs changing) but it really is out of my control and im hoping that with that second bottle ill hopefully be able to show you guys some more of the strength gains when just sticking with Wendler.

 

[jswain34]

Day 24 (i realize i said yesterday was day 22 but i just went back and counted and today is actually day 24, ill try and go back and figure out where i made the mistake)

I just played basketball again today. Todays nutrition/activity log:



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Had a pint of Ben and Jerry's tonight. We have post testing for the weight program that our strength coach had us on this week. So 5/3/1 is back on hold for the week. This inconsistency sucks.

 

[Jiigzz]

No problem

Awesome DL numbers! good job

 

[jswain34]

Well we had testing today so i have established some new prs!

Pretty simple

Hang cleaned 245x1 (PR), went for 255 but caught it too far put in front so i just bailed on it. I think i could've gotten it but we needed to start warming up for squats.

Squat: 375x1 (1 rep PR since high school). I failed at 385, i came up after hitting parallel but i lost it about 2 inches above on my way back up. Everyone was telling me i could get it but i just went for 375 and called it a day (felt like i got it fairly easily too, but whatever).

We also did a 20 lb chest level med ball toss from our knees that i threw 21.5ft. Afik it was the furthest of anyone on the team. So pretty happy with that too.

So at the end of the day i hit 1 all time PR in hang clean and 1 PR since i started working out again after freshman year of college (too much drinking and lost a lot of strength and gained a lot of fat lol).

We had to weigh in today too and i weighed 211.5 which puts me +2 lbs from the start of the 12 week program on the same scale. The other scale in the weight room had me at 215 so i dont know what to believe. Either way, im upping maintenance calories by another 50.

More PRs to come wednesday hopefully, i know were deadlifting, testing our vertical, and doing an agility thing. Im going to try and max out in deadlifts early so i can get some accessory work in and make it a full leg day.

Will update nutrition tonight. (Fyi: ive been following a carb backloading + IF diet this entire log).

 

[jswain34]

Yesterdays nutrition:

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So ive had a fee people that see me pretty often tell me im looking bigger. Which ive also noticed that i do look much fuller than usual. Which im guessing that this is giving off the "bigger" appearance. The first comment i got was last thursday before thanksgiving (day 22) and the next one was last sunday (2 days ago = day 24). So id say muscle fullness kicked in for me around day 20-21.

 

[jswain34]

Todays workout (day 26 - workout 16)

Bench 5/3/1 3x5 week

Warmups
5x165lb 5x185lb 10x215lb (was shooting for 11 but i didn't have a spotter so i didnt wanna push it and be "THAT GUY".)
BBB Db flat bench: 70x10x2 70x8x3 (next time ill go down to 65s and try and do the prescribed 5x10)
Db row 70lbx10repx5sets
Face pulls (5x12-15)
Tricep rope extensions (5x8-12)

Wish i had a spotter on the bench sets but i still feel comfortable that ill be able to hit a pr next week during my 5/3/1 week. I do a rearranged schedule where week 1 is 3x3 week 2 is 3x5 and week 3 is 5/3/1.

Hopefully friday i can pull myself a 1 rep dead lift pr. I only have 3 xgels left, my order from nutra is taking a while to get moving so hopefully itll be shipped tomorrow. Id like to take the xgels friday but if nutra doesn't ship my stuff soon im probably just going to hold off until saturday to take the last 3 from bottle #1.


Todays nutrition:


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Really enjoying this carb backload/biorythym diet I've been following recently. Easy to follow for me. Ground beef, eggs, cheese, bacon, and veges early in the day then rice, chicken, veges, barbecue sauce, pretty much any low fat foods at night. The best of both worlds IMO.

Tomorrow I'm going to a part of the state that was recently destroyed by a tornado to volunteer with my baseball team so i dont really know what there will be to eat. Ill probably try and just snack to keep myself sane during the day and then feast when i get home tomorrow night. Thats the game plan at least.

 

[jswain34]

Alright guys! Wednesdays nutrition couldve been much better. I made due with what i had and it was more of an iifym type of day. Yesterday was good, went to the gym and rode the stationary bike for 20 minutes and did some planks which i feel like helped my back out quite a bit.

Today we tested for vertical, bomb throw, pro agility, and deadlift.

Vertical was 29.5 and deadlift max was 445. I think its pretty safe to say thats my 1rm because i tried 455 again and couldnt get it past mid shin. I didnt take my xgel stack because i still dont have my nutra order yet so im saving the last 3 for tomorrows overhead & squat day. Im trying to just make sure i get some lower body training in this week too other than just maxing. Might be a bit longer of a workout.

 

[jswain34]

I think its safe to say i lost this log during the week of finals week lol. Just as a final update: strength is still goin up. Prd in squats monday and bench today. Not a 1rm pr but a rep pr in the AMRAP final set of 5/3/1. Got 235x9 on bench today when my previous record was 225x10 so i think the max calculates to about a 3-5 lb increase. I might have been able to gruel through 1 more but i once again didn't have a spotter so i just took it while i was ahead. Squat i did 305x10 which came out to 405. I dont think i could do 405 1RM right now but it is nevertheless a Wendler PR on the AMRAP set.

Overall: i really enjoyed the ArA/GMS/aspirin stack. Felt like it did definitely help in the strength department and im really excited to finish this second bottle and hopefully get a 3rd. Also feel like it helped with muscle fullness, i dont know if this is common or not but i definitely have felt and looked fuller/bigger these last few weeks. Fullness started about 2 weeks into ArA so thats why im partially attributing it to that. I have recently decided to not spend as much $ on supps, but ArA is still something ill purchase if i have the cash. It will be on the tier below my staples as one of the few supps ill continue to consider when theres some spare change i can spend on supps.

Thanks to jiggz, rhadam and the couple other guys that stopped in here while i had this thing running properly. Much love for SNS, good products (especially focus-xt, looove that sh?t) and good reps. My bad for letting the log go during finals, at least i got a 4.0 lol.

 

[Jiigzz]

I think its safe to say i lost this log during the week of finals week lol. Just as a final update: strength is still goin up. Prd in squats monday and bench today. Not a 1rm pr but a rep pr in the AMRAP final set of 5/3/1. Got 235x9 on bench today when my previous record was 225x10 so i think the max calculates to about a 3-5 lb increase. I might have been able to gruel through 1 more but i once again didn't have a spotter so i just took it while i was ahead. Squat i did 305x10 which came out to 405. I dont think i could do 405 1RM right now but it is nevertheless a Wendler PR on the AMRAP set.

Overall: i really enjoyed the ArA/GMS/aspirin stack. Felt like it did definitely help in the strength department and im really excited to finish this second bottle and hopefully get a 3rd. Also feel like it helped with muscle fullness, i dont know if this is common or not but i definitely have felt and looked fuller/bigger these last few weeks. Fullness started about 2 weeks into ArA so thats why im partially attributing it to that. I have recently decided to not spend as much $ on supps, but ArA is still something ill purchase if i have the cash. It will be on the tier below my staples as one of the few supps ill continue to consider when theres some spare change i can spend on supps.

Thanks to jiggz, rhadam and the couple other guys that stopped in here while i had this thing running properly. Much love for SNS, good products (especially focus-xt, looove that sh?t) and good reps. My bad for letting the log go during finals, at least i got a 4.0 lol.

Thank you for the kind words my man; awesome log and congrats on the final scores (I think? I have no idea what a 4.0 means.. LOL). Glad to hear you enjoyed your X-gel cycle!

Ara is joining a small list of supplements that is proven in human clinical trials to enhance performance and increase LBM so it is a great product. Thanks for taking the time to create such a detailed log!

 

[mw1]

I'm glad it worked out for you and Thank You for the detailed log

 

[aaronuconn]

Just reading through some of this log and looks like some solid progress was made throughout - And congrats on a 4.0! Not an easy task at all.

As you noted, ArA may well be worth the money even for those looking to spend less on supplements. Sometime you try replacing the aspirin part with just ALCAR.

 

[jswain34]

Just reading through some of this log and looks like some solid progress was made throughout - And congrats on a 4.0! Not an easy task at all. As you noted, ArA may well be worth the money even for those looking to spend less on supplements. Sometime you try replacing the aspirin part with just ALCAR.

I was using alcar+aspirin during the first bottle. For the sake of future runs, is that unnecessary? Also, for my current bottle i have switched over to LCLT as my carnitine source, is the aspirin unnecessary here too?

 

[aaronuconn]

I was using alcar+aspirin during the first bottle. For the sake of future runs, is that unnecessary? Also, for my current bottle i have switched over to LCLT as my carnitine source, is the aspirin unnecessary here too?

I believe the Carnitine salt and aspirin are interchangeable. Take one or the other.

 

[jswain34]

I'm glad it worked out for you and Thank You for the detailed log

Thank you for the kind words my man; awesome log and congrats on the final scores (I think? I have no idea what a 4.0 means.. LOL). Glad to hear you enjoyed your X-gel cycle! Ara is joining a small list of supplements that is proven in human clinical trials to enhance performance and increase LBM so it is a great product. Thanks for taking the time to create such a detailed log!

No problem guys. Wish i could've carried it through the entire run.

Maybe once i finish up completely ill post up the final before and after #s from the 3 cycles of Wendler i will have gone through at the end of 50 workouts, just as one last contribution. Ill also take some after pictures and compare them to the befores i took and if i feel that there is a difference worth noting (maybe i could pm them to a rep for a second opinion first?) then ill post them up. I honestly feel bad for losing the log lol, usually when i say im going to do something i follow through with it.

Thanks again for following along while it lasted tho fellas.

 

[jswain34]

I believe the Carnitine salt and aspirin are interchangeable. Take one or the other.

Cool thanks man. Wasn't aware of that. I thought i had read through the ArA threads enough to have seen that, guess not. Anyways, thanks again.

 

[Jiigzz]

No problem guys. Wish i could've carried it through the entire run.

Maybe once i finish up completely ill post up the final before and after #s from the 3 cycles of Wendler i will have gone through at the end of 50 workouts, just as one last contribution. Ill also take some after pictures and compare them to the befores i took and if i feel that there is a difference worth noting (maybe i could pm them to a rep for a second opinion first?) then ill post them up. I honestly feel bad for losing the log lol, usually when i say im going to do something i follow through with it.

Thanks again for following along while it lasted tho fellas.

You post up pics if you want; don't worry about our opinion for them

This log was unsponsored so there was no obligation to us in how you carried it out so don't feel bad if you let it get away from you; life is like that. Studies, exams and other things are far more important

Make sure its the <81mg aspirin but yes, that and LCLT are interchangeable although I prefer Cartinine because it has other benefits whereas a small dose of aspirin won't do much of anything.

 

[jswain34]

You post up pics if you want; don't worry about our opinion for them This log was unsponsored so there was no obligation to us in how you carried it out so don't feel bad if you let it get away from you; life is like that. Studies, exams and other things are far more important Make sure its the <81mg aspirin but yes, that and LCLT are interchangeable although I prefer Cartinine because it has other benefits whereas a small dose of aspirin won't do much of anything.

Haha alright well see what happens with the pics, in the middle of a pint of ice cream right now lol.

And yea, i realize life is more important but i said i wanted to do a log so i just feel kinda bad about not finishing it. I feel the beginning effects were noticed and hopefully the final #s will help with showing it even more.

Ive been using the baby aspirin as well so no worries there, but i will drop it since i only need the LCLT.

Thanks again for all the input/replies fellas.