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Segansational's Motivation Log

Mowglisml said:
woah.. do you really need that many sups for a mini cut? I feel like just cutting your calories would work! let us know how that stack feels though
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Need? No, but again any help to supplement calorie cutting and cardio (obviously the focus point) I like to add in, and preserve muscle on a cut. I've used most of this stack already, what's new really for the cut is:

Superhuman Burn substituted for my pre-WO - So far I've been very happy with this with the BAIBA inclusion, and a nice, but not overly stimmed combo that gets me through most of the day without any crash.
Gain Green, T2/forskolin for cutting (this I have used before on a cut)
VII-KT - I've used 7-keto-DHEA in oral form, but never as a TD

I've been cutting roughly 400 cals under maintenance per day, and combined with the above so far I've made significant progress. Already down to 172.9#, in fact this week I've upped cals a bit and loosened restrictions since I lost a lot quicker than I had anticipated. Update pic below, starting to see abs which I've probably never seen before - certainly not at this weight., while staying seemingly full muscle-wise.

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Check in, down to 170.0# so another almost 3# drop.

Weight is coming off really quick, seems like almost daily changes. At this rate I might hit mid-160s by the time this cut is done, which would be crazy. Haven't been that light in forever. Might even let myself have a beer to end the week.
 
Quick update. My caloric intake over the weekend tends to get a bit higher than my average during the week mostly due to the fact that's the one day during the week we do take out. Still keeping my weekly total in relatively good shape, so looking at it a bit as a refeed. Will look to tighten things up again this week. This cut though is starting to drain on me a bit. Mon and Tues workouts just didn't have that same intensity and it's a bit disheartening to see strength decline with my weight going down. Honestly can't imagine how people who do contest prep can do it...
 
Weighed in on Friday at 169.8#, with body fat down to 15.8%. So far that's been -11.6# and -1.4% BF drop since the start of this cut - probably my most successful to date and I've still got one week left.

Here's a current progress photo. Mid-section starting to tighten up, but still visible spare tire around the lower abdomen. No real vasculature showing up yet, but would expect to need to be sub 14% probably to start to get those veins.

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How’s your strength and endurance holding up? And are you keeping your training the same as before the cut or have you made adjustments?
 
Mowglisml said:
How’s your strength and endurance holding up? And are you keeping your training the same as before the cut or have you made adjustments?
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Strength has gone down a bit, not unexpected given my weight has dropped. The exercises have largely stayed the same, but I've incorporated cardio on the front end of each weight session (4x/wk). General energy levels are a bit down by mid-afternoon, so I have been needing some extra caffeine mid-day more often than prior. But nothing crazy, like half a can of an energy drink or so (~100-150 mgs caffeine).
 
Segansational said:
Strength has gone down a bit, not unexpected given my weight has dropped. The exercises have largely stayed the same, but I've incorporated cardio on the front end of each weight session (4x/wk). General energy levels are a bit down by mid-afternoon, so I have been needing some extra caffeine mid-day more often than prior. But nothing crazy, like half a can of an energy drink or so (~100-150 mgs caffeine).
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oh okay. Have you tried doing cardio post your weight sessions? maybe that will help in having some extra strength reserved for the weights.
 
Mowglisml said:
oh okay. Have you tried doing cardio post your weight sessions? maybe that will help in having some extra strength reserved for the weights.
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Agree 100%. Makes 0 sense to do it pre-workout. You are just tapping glycogen stores which are already depleted from a deficit and resistance exercise. Save your energy for what matters most to preserve strength. If you were an endurance athlete then doing cardio as a priority makes sense, but that is far from the truth here.
 
Mowglisml said:
oh okay. Have you tried doing cardio post your weight sessions? maybe that will help in having some extra strength reserved for the weights.
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The Solution said:
Agree 100%. Makes 0 sense to do it pre-workout. You are just tapping glycogen stores which are already depleted from a deficit and resistance exercise. Save your energy for what matters most to preserve strength. If you were an endurance athlete then doing cardio as a priority makes sense, but that is far from the truth here.
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Ok, will switch the order up for the rest of this week. Was prioritizing cardio first as fat loss was the primary goal, plus it allows me time to down my pre-WO.

Of course this AM my daughter got up early as soon as I was starting my WO, so didn't get much of a session in.
 
Segansational said:
Ok, will switch the order up for the rest of this week. Was prioritizing cardio first as fat loss was the primary goal, plus it allows me time to down my pre-WO.

Of course this AM my daughter got up early as soon as I was starting my WO, so didn't get much of a session in.
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If you want to expend more calories and then tap your glycogen stores this is why strength drops quickly for you in a cutting phase. You are not setting your body up in an optimal environment to train because you are focusing on cardio over weights which are essential to maintain muscle mass and strength when dieting.

Your goal is to lose weight, maintain muscle, and be able to show off your hard-earned consistency in the gym.
If you were a marathon athlete or cardio-based athlete then yes cardio first makes sense, but that is not the goal here, nor is it your intention.

The focus should always be progressing off your compounds and judging your strength off your core movements. Logging your workouts to ensure you can match those numbers or surpass them.
 
some great advice here! hopefully you can see a different by switching it up. any real benefits you are seeing from the sups you are taking?
 
Mowglisml said:
some great advice here! hopefully you can see a different by switching it up. any real benefits you are seeing from the sups you are taking?
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Well, the weight has honestly come off faster and easier than any other cut I've attempted. Every week has been a drop. So I'd say the combo (Superhuman Burn, Gain Green, VII-KT) is definitely beneficial. Also, follidrone loves carbs! Forgot to mention this, but early on felt slightly hypo with my workouts, but also had some really great pumps and muscle fullness in my early workout sessions. Effects of that have diminished over time, but I think that has helped maintain muscle definition while on this cut.
 
Been doing weights first this week, which has been good for strength on certain lifts. But haven't been able to get my full cardio sessions in. Finished up Rebirth, M-test and VII-KT early this week.

Started bottle #2 of follidrone, honestly forgot I had a second one. Bonus! Gain Green and Superhuman Burn will get me to mid-next week. Wed AM will officially be the end of this cut when I go on vacation and will be taking an entire week off.

But weighed in yesterday at 166.8#, so if I tighten up this weekend I'm hoping I can hit just shy of 166.
 
Here's a shot of my legs taken from a video, so quality is not great. But think I've made improvements in my quads and getting leaner is starting to bring out some separation. Sorry for the blinding whiteness of my legs though. Need to do some calf work.Invalid Link Removed
 
Well, calling and end (at least temporarily) to this 1 month mini-cut. Went a little overboard this weekend with eating, so I'll call that a bit of a "refeed". Weight was up 0.8# so felt a little soft. To close out on Mon hit chest and this AM hit back. Energy and strength just wasn't there this morning. Everything felt heavy, but did feel I was getting a good mind-muscle connection. Finished up Gain Green and Superhuman Burn today.

Will be taking next week off for vacation. Then I may decide to hop back on the cut train, we'll see. Was happy with the progress I was making with my physique. Considering also getting some lifestyle coaching to assist with my goals, but need to first get into a fall routine with family.

So to sum it up, started at 181.4# ---> ended at 167.4#, so a 14# weight loss. Pretty successful in my opinion! Will post current photos later this evening.
 
Your biggest issue is consistency and adherence.
Hiring a coach won't fix those. If you can mentally stick to your own diet and training and be consistent with it your possibilities are endless for progress. That would be the first thing I would fix before making an investment towards a coach IMO.

You are well driven, and you are a hard ass worker.
The setbacks to snacking, missing workouts, meals etc is what does you in from time to time.
Once you can mentally fix those and keep that a consistent factor your progress will skyrocket.
 
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Glad you kept an honest log. I don’t see much difference. Hopefully you can see it on your end in person with the mirror. I would honestly say all those supps were most likely not worth it. It be great to see what you can do taking advice from solution and beast and reduce cardio and nail your diet every time, to compare for yourself.
 
The Solution said:
Your biggest issue is consistency and adherence.
Hiring a coach won't fix those. If you can mentally stick to your own diet and training and be consistent with it your possibilities are endless for progress. That would be the first thing I would fix before making an investment towards a coach IMO.

You are well driven, and you are a hard ass worker.
The setbacks to snacking, missing workouts, meals etc is what does you in from time to time.
Once you can mentally fix those and keep that a consistent factor your progress will skyrocket.
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Appreciate the feedback and the positive comments. I'm in this for the long haul!
BEAST73 said:
Looking Good, Bro! At this point, I would focus on my weightlifting, eating, and cut back on the cardio.
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Thanks brother! Good to see you posting in here again!
Mowglisml said:
Glad you kept an honest log. I don’t see much difference. Hopefully you can see it on your end in person with the mirror. I would honestly say all those supps were most likely not worth it. It be great to see what you can do taking advice from solution and beast and reduce cardio and nail your diet every time, to compare for yourself.
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Well, I appreciate an outsider's objective feedback. Maybe photos don't show it, but I did lose 14 lbs (maybe not as much around the midsection?), went down a belt notch and my watch even got looser. I see ab definition on my end, but just means I have to work harder if I really want to make them pop.

In any case, I had a great vacation week off, spent with family fishing and boating out on the lake. No work, no working out, just enjoying what life has to offer! Hope everyone had a great Labor Day Weekend as well!

Here's a photo from this weekend:

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Back in the gym this morning and focused solely on getting a good chest workout in. No supersets, no cardio. Rotator cuff warm ups, bench press, incline DB press, decline DB press, TRX chest press, flat bench DB flys.

44:31, 225 cals
 
Back session. Nothing fancy, just working on isolating the lats and keeping my shoulder happy. TRX rows, BB rows, bent over close grip DB row, pull ups.

37:42, 194 cals
 
Legs. Back to basics. TRX alt lunges to warm up, progressively increasing weights on squats and SLDLs. TRX calf raises to finish it off.

47:02, 278 cals
 
Shoulder session. Not my favorite body part to workout. Rotator cuff band exercises, DB laterals, DB bent over laterals, Seated DB shoulder press, BB shrugs.

39:06, 215 cals
 
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Had a really good chest workout this morning, despite being a little off my mental game coming into it.

Steel Charged-AF pre, Amino Rev + 10g palatinose intra. Rotator cuff exercises, DB incline press, Bench press, Flat bench DB flys, and finished it off with TRX chest press.

43:11, 281 cals

Also, interestingly I weighed in this morning at 166.0#, so have actually dropped weight since stopping counting calories and cutting out cardio. Now, I have also added in forskolin 60% for the past two weeks, so that could be a contributing factor, but I've also been reading a little on reverse dieting. Perhaps some of that is coming into play after having been calorie restricted.
 
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Sleep has been off lately due to the little ones waking up at night a lot. Workout schedule a bit off, but got in today.

Pre: Charged-AF, intra: Amino Rev + 10g palatinose
TRX rows, BB rows, DB pullovers, pull ups, rack deadlifts

My right shoulder wasn't having pull ups this morning. Had to stop and do only partials on set 2. Switched to neutral grip on last set with no issues.

42:28, 246 cals
 
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Segansational said:
Sleep has been off lately due to the little ones waking up at night a lot. Workout schedule a bit off, but got in today.

Pre: Charged-AF, intra: Amino Rev + 10g palatinose
TRX rows, BB rows, DB pullovers, pull ups, rack deadlifts

My right shoulder wasn't having pull ups this morning. Had to stop and do only partials on set 2. Switched to neutral grip on last set with no issues.

42:28, 246 cals
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Ugh! Shoulders are the worst. It took me over 2 years to fully heal and even though it’s been years, I still baby it. Hopefully, it doesn’t take forever to get better.
 
Well, in what has to be one of the coolest gifts my wife has gotten me, I got a testosterone kit to check my DHEA-S, free testosterone, estradiol, and cortisol levels. Straight-forward, at home, fasting process consisting of a pin prick and saliva sample. Results came back tonight! Interesting and perhaps not all that surprising for results:

DHEA-S: 2.82 NORMAL, ref range: 0.35 - 8.47 ng/mL
Free Testosterone: 47.1 LOW, ref range: 49.0 - 185.0 pg/mL
Estradiol: < 11.80 NORMAL, ref range: <39.0 pg/mL
Cortisol: 5.06 HIGH, ref range: 0.31 - 5.05 ng/mL

Next follow up will be with my PCP to discuss, but interested in people's thoughts here. I feel like I am borderline low for free test and borderline high for cortisol, so not sure what if anything will be recommended to me. Cortisol does not come as a shock given that work is currently in the busy season, working from home due to COVID with balancing two kids, and sleepless nights.
 
Get your thyroid
A1c
Fasted insulin
Lipids
Total testosterone checked

I bet some of these are off too
Like we have been telling ya for
Quite some time you have to take care of yourself

sleep
Stress control
Finding proper foods that digest and make sure your GI tract is in check

macros and training is great and all but if you can’t take care of home base. Have your body firing on all cylinders it’s going to be a reason why you have such a yo yo effect with your progress. The underlying things paint the big picture over hitting X macros or doing Y training program

money is well spent towards your health and correcting it IMO
 
Was able to get a full night's sleep relatively uninterrupted finally! Arm workout fueled by Olympus. Tried out a packet of Miss Tease Levels, was a pretty straight forward blue raspberry flavor. Decent pump and sweat, aesthetics on point today.

Resistance bands: Biceps curls, triceps press downs
BB curls
Close grip BP
Supersets: DB hammer curls x DB kickbacks
Reverse grip BB curls

48:07, 295 cals
 
puccah8808 said:
Ugh! Shoulders are the worst. It took me over 2 years to fully heal and even though it’s been years, I still baby it. Hopefully, it doesn’t take forever to get better.
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Yeah, it's been 5 months since my injury and I still need to be careful. This past month I've started to notice overall joint creaking, so I may need to pick up some more cissus.
BOSSMAN said:
Good job staying at it!!
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Thanks brother! Saw a post the other day about discipline over motivation. That's what I'm rolling with right now. Got up this AM for a shoulder session even though I contemplated sleeping in.

Pre: Superhuman Supreme Hulk Juice, Intra: Amino Rev + 10g palatinose (may up this to 2 scoops/20g next time)

If anyone likes Alpha Lion, they are running a pretty good deal right now on their pre/post/sleep stack. Just picked it up along with some Caloriburn (grains of paradise) and a free Body Armor (immune support).

Rotator cuff ex resistance bands, BB front raises, DB laterals, TRX facepulls, upright rows, seated DB shoulder press.

48:49, 310 Cals
 
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Next time try regular coffee with some honey as a preworkout. Been loving that lately. You can even brew it night before and have it cold with a splash of almond or regular milk in morning.
 
Segansational said:
Coffee is my post-WO ritual, haha. I like my stims!
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And you wonder why your cortisol is so high.........Not always the best to keep blasting stims if you do have high cortisol, or else those levels may never get normal. Caffeine does raise Cortisol levels.

Exactly why I stated -
Get your thyroid (T3/T4)
A1c, Fasted insulin
Lipids
Total testosterone

I think it will open your eyes when you see other things that are failing you and your own health. The answer isn't taking more KSM66 to calm you down or improve cortisol (Example). The answer is taking the necessary steps to improve your health and get your levels in range. Adding in more pills and powder is not the answer here. If you can I would get Labs done (PrivateMDLabs) is a great resource and you can use code: RHINO to get 15% OFF your labs. That is unless your PCP and insurance can cover a full spectrum test for your bloodwork.

Just some food for thought. The best course of action is finding the root causes of your low levels and improving your health so you can optimize your training, stress, sleep, and overall mood to live a better life.
 
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The Solution said:
And you wonder why your cortisol is so high.........Not always the best to keep blasting stims if you do have high cortisol, or else those levels may never get normal. Caffeine does raise Cortisol levels.
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You know what else raises cortisol levels? Having two kids both under the age of 4, lol.

Mowglisml said:
Whoa.. crazy!
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Nah, only 95mg per cup.

Here's a little mixing of old school with new school @Olympus Labs @GNO

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Yesterday's WO. 47:45, 312 cals. Chest. Can't remember all I did, but focused on bench, incline DB and DB flys if I recall. Prob TRX press somewhere in there.

Tested out 20g palatinose vs my normal 10g intra and didn't notice any difference. So will be sticking with 10g.

Back at it this AM for the 4th day in a row. Not too much volume today, but focusing on key movements. BB rows, neutral grip pull ups (slow and controlled), rack deadlifts, DB rows.

41:01, 294 cals

Weekend off to give my body a break. Have a great one!
 
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Segansational said:
Yesterday's WO. 47:45, 312 cals. Chest. Can't remember all I did, but focused on bench, incline DB and DB flys if I recall. Prob TRX press somewhere in there.

Tested out 20g palatinose vs my normal 10g intra and didn't notice any difference. So will be sticking with 10g.

Back at it this AM for the 4th day in a row. Not too much volume today, but focusing on key movements. BB rows, neutral grip pull ups (slow and controlled), rack deadlifts, DB rows.

41:01, 294 cals

Weekend off to give my body a break. Have a great one!
Great Job!
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Leg session this morning. TRX squats x TRX alt lunges. Front squats to target my quads, will probably focus on these for growth over the next several weeks. SLDLs. Finished things off with some cardio on the bike.

Weight this morning was 165.2#.
 
What are you doing about your bloodwork?
Did you speak to your PCP or seek out a clinic for your test levels?
What was your total test? 300-400 ng/dl?
 
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The Solution said:
What are you doing about your bloodwork?
Did you speak to your PCP or seek out a clinic for your test levels?
What was your total test? 300-400 ng/dl?
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Nothing yet. No plans to get back in until after this pandemic is a bit more under control. No sense risking exposure when I'm relatively healthy. But I have kids and an immunocompromised MIL to worry about.

Anyways, back to our regularly scheduled program!

Been a bit off my schedule due to the kids inconsistency sleeping through the night. Probably only making it in for a WO every 2 or 3 days. But got myself up this AM for an arm session.

Pre:
1 scoop (sample packet) of Juice Daddy
1 cap Special Forces

This combo worked wonders for waking me up quickly! Found this combo from @ZOO

Supersets:
Resistance band curls x resistance band triceps pressdowns
BB curls x TRX triceps
Close grip BP x DB hammer curls
Reverse grip BB curls

Time 42:39, 302 cals

Have to reup on some greens powder soon as I just ran out.
 
So your health is not in the proper range, but you want to wait.
I would advise going to a clinic. I know you have a family and everything to take care of, but this is your health. It would be best to take care of home base first and foremost, so you can start to function better, feel better, improved mood/sleep/energy, and most of all your testosterone levels. They may only lower as time goes on, and if action isnt taken it won't actually get better.

Just my 2 cents. You can't put a price tag on your health. Once you improve that, your training and daily life will improve 10 fold.

I would still get a test with Free/Total Test, Thyroid, A1C/Fasted insulin, and your lipids this would only be beneficial.
 
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