Iconic Formulations Sustain Alpha unsponsored log

Exellerro

New member
20240916_103551_4_20.jpg


Received Sustain Alpha on Saturday and started applying it on yesterday morning.
After reading the product label about recommended use I've decided to go with 5 pumps from the beginning.


This is my blood work lab result.
Lab used Roche ECLIA method for testing these hormones.
Selection_059.jpg


Translation of some Croatian words;
Rezultat - result
Jedinica - unit of measure
Referentni interval - reference interval
SHBG - sex hormone binding globulin
Kortizol - cortisol
Hormon rasta - human growth hormone (HGH)
Slobodni testosteron - free testosterone
Udio slobodnog testosterona - percentage of free testosterone

Supplement stack:
  • Whey protein (Me:First 1st Whey, after that batch I'll switch to Sci-Muscle Viper Black)
  • This week I'm taking a break from the creatine and next week starting with ProSupps CreaGEN
  • HMB (starting next week, to supplement creatine)
  • Pre-workout: All Out Sweat and Ultra Edition, Excelsior and Frenzy
  • Zinc Picolinate, Magnesium L-threonate, L-Theanine, Collagen Type I & III

I'll try to log as often as possible, at least 2-3 times per week after gym or boxing.
 
In on this for sure!
 
Quick log.

Monday had boxing, training went good.
I had one-on-one training with coach.

It was actually first boxing training since my back injury at the beginning of August.
It's worth mentioning that I had conditioning part of the training for shoulders, rear delts, upper back.

Excercise was simple; lateral raise followed with standing rear delts fly, goal was high repetitions with
lower weight.

Rest in between sets was about 1 minute.

lateral raise standing rear delts fly
SET 1: 4.4lbs x 30 followed by 4.4lbs x 20
SET 2: 4.4lbs x 20 followed by 4.4lbs x 20
SET 3: 4.4lbs x 20 followed by 4.4lbs x 20 NOTE: every 6th rep had to rest for 1-2 secs, then continue
SET 4: 4.4lbs x 20 followed by 4.4lbs x 20 NOTE: every 4th rep had to rest for 1-2 secs, then continue

This night (not yesterday or night after that training) I've got mother of all inflammations in the shoulders.
I've had some big muscle inflammations back during my swimming years, especially when had training in the gym an hour after the swimming training... but this "burn" is on another level, I can barely move arms.

When I woke about at 2am in the morning, pain was so intense I thought I've dislocated shoulders.
But, no pain no gain.

Regarding Sustain Alpha, today on the first tub pump mechanism stopped working after 4th application... 5th application was administered from the second tub.

@delsolrob Can pump be fixed or is there some trick to make it work again?
 
Hey bud, sorry for the frustration - this is generally a really easy fix and we have instructions in an FAQ on the site:
iconicformulations.com

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions: Q: The pump on my topical gel stopped dispensing, or isn't giving full pumps A: This is a fairly common issue with the airless pump bottles used. if an air pocket gets trapped in the pump assembly then the bottle stops pumping correctly. The remedy is commonly called...
iconicformulations.com iconicformulations.com

Please let me know if you have any questions or issues with the instructions
 
Looking forward to your progress here and glad to be part of the journey!
 
delsolrob said:
Hey bud, sorry for the frustration - this is generally a really easy fix and we have instructions in an FAQ on the site:
iconicformulations.com

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions: Q: The pump on my topical gel stopped dispensing, or isn't giving full pumps A: This is a fairly common issue with the airless pump bottles used. if an air pocket gets trapped in the pump assembly then the bottle stops pumping correctly. The remedy is commonly called...
iconicformulations.com iconicformulations.com

Please let me know if you have any questions or issues with the instructions
Click to expand...

It's fixed. Thank you.
 
Checking in - how's the progress going?
 
delsolrob said:
Checking in - how's the progress going?
Click to expand...

Thanks for checking in.

Since last Friday I've barely had free time, went to gym only two times.

On Saturday I've actually managed to increase the weight on bench by 5kg (11lbs), 5-6 repetitions, both close and wide grip.

Monday training was forced, felt tired but pushed through.
Since I was tired I've done only bike for 10 min, deadlift, bench/incline bench and bent-over barbell row to include all muscle groups with this compound exercises.

I'm steadily loosing weight each week

Regarding Sustain Alpha, I'm applying it every morning... 5 pumps per day.

I've noticed that when I wake up I have more energy and am not sleepy/groggy after waking up.

Since this is the only hormonal supplement that I'm using and still not started with new creatine and HMB it has to be effects of Sustain Alpha.

I'll keep you updated.
 
Friday, Sept. 27, training was around 07:30.

This was only 30 min training before work.

Bike
10 minutes, level 7, 8 and 9(last minute, pedal to the metal), around 75-80 rpm

Flat bench
SET 1: 30kg (66lbs) x 5 (warmup)
SET 2: 30kg (66lbs) x 5 (warmup)
SET 3: 35kg (77lbs) x 6
SET 4: 35kg (77lbs) x 6
SET 5: 35kg (77lbs) x 5
SET 6: 35kg (77lbs) x 5
SET 7: 35kg (77lbs) x 4
Rested for about 2 minutes than transitioned to wide grip
SET 8: 35kg (77lbs) x 4
SET 9: 35kg (77lbs) x 3

Bent-over dumbbell row
SET 1: 12kg (26.5lbs) x 10
SET 2: 12kg (26.5lbs) x 10
SET 3: 12kg (26.5lbs) x 10

Finished with shadowboxing; two rounds of 3 minutes with 2kg (4.4lbs) dumbbells, 1 min rest in-between.
 
What is your workout split per week? Looks like you did check/back on Friday. What's the whole week look like?
 
My week workout split is chest/back/legs.

Sometimes, when I'm tired, I'll do mixed split to cover more muscle groups since I don't have energy to go heavy on one split.

There is another problem that has been showing in the last week, my knees have started to hurt more when I do legs, shadowboxing and boxing training in general.

Yesterday I've had training around 11:30pm because I was at work all day and wanted to do legs.

By the time I've started on bike I was dead tired so I've decided to do bike, deadlift and shadowboxing.

Bike
17 minutes, level 5 and 6 around 70 -75 rpm

Deadlift
SET 1: 30kg (66lbs) x 4
SET 2: 30kg (66lbs) x 4 NOTE: started to feel pain in the knee joints
SET 3: 30kg (66lbs) x 4
SET 4: 30kg (66lbs) x 4

Finished with shadowboxing; 3 rounds of 3 minutes, 1 min rest in-between.
NOTE: focused more on moving, legwork and slips.

After shadowboxing pain in the knee joint was significant, even now I feel it.

Collagen helps with recovery but I will need something better for support because this will be a problem.
 
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LeanEngineer said:
Do you do shoulders/biceps/triceps on any of those or no?
Click to expand...

Normally I do if I can go heavy on that specific split.

On chest split I would target triceps and shoulders after bench, back split would be biceps after back exercises.

Basically, I would always first do compound exercises and then target specific muscle.

But in the last 2 weeks, because of the long working hours and being tired by the time I hit the gym, I rather go with compound exercises to cover all muscle groups in that split or sometimes I would combine two splits if I'm feeling weak... better to cover two splits with less intensity if I can't do one split with higher intensity.
 
Wednesday, Oct. 3, around 11:20pm

Bike
10 minutes, level 7, around 75-80 rpm

Flat bench
SET 1: 30kg (66lbs) x 3 (warmup)
SET 2: 30kg (66lbs) x 3 (warmup)
SET 3: 35kg (77lbs) x 6
SET 4: 35kg (77lbs) x 6
SET 5: 35kg (77lbs) x 6
SET 6: 35kg (77lbs) x 4
Rested for about 1 minute, transitioned to wide grip
SET 8: 35kg (77lbs) x 4
SET 9: 35kg (77lbs) x 4
SET 8: 30kg (66lbs) x 6
SET 9: 30kg (66lbs) x 6

Incline guillotine chest press
SET 1: 20kg (44lbs) x 4
SET 2: 20kg (44lbs) x 4
SET 3: 20kg (44lbs) x 4
SET 4: 20kg (44lbs) x 4

Single kettlebell skull crusher (seated)
SET 1: 16kg (35.3lbs) x 10
SET 2: 16kg (35.3lbs) x 10
SET 3: 16kg (35.3lbs) x 10
SET 4: 16kg (35.3lbs) x 8

Kettlebell standing back extension
To be honest, I don't know how to call this excercise... legs wide apart and fixed, kettlebell holding (hugging) on my chest and extending my back, similar to back extension machine but without machine and standing.
SET 1: 16kg (35.3lbs) x 12
SET 2: 16kg (35.3lbs) x 12
SET 3: 16kg (35.3lbs) x 12
 
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Quick update.

Since last Wednesday didn't have time for training and probably won't have time until Thursday.

Applying Sustain Alpha daily and on Sunday started with Cardarin (GW-501516) 8 week cycle.

I'm losing weight steadily, lost about 15kg (33lbs).
 
15kg is incredible - keep up the great work!
 
Losing 15kg must make you feel so much better! Also, there's nothing more motivating than progress!
 
It's big difference.
Moving, bending and squatting is much easier.
At boxing I've noticed, and coach told me, that I move much better, evasions and slips are more balanced and explosive.

Better sleep, clothes that I have are now better fit...
 
Last edited:
Since October 8th I haven't got the time to go to the gym or boxing training.

Still on point with Sustain Alpha, Cardarine and diet.

Regardles of this hiatus from training I've managed to loose about 3.5 pounds.
 
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Last week (Thursday 31.10) I've done blood work but couldn't find the time to post it.
Yesterday was the last day of the cycle.

These are lab results.
Selection_079.webp


Hormone levels old vs new
HormoneOld valuesNew valuesDifference
Estradiol (E2)102 pmol/L126 pmol/L+24 pmol/L (+29,17%)
SHBG16.8 nmol/L21.7 nmol/L+4.9 nmol/L (+29,7%)
Cortisol192 nmol/L487 nmol/L+295 nmol/L (+153,65%)
GH (somatropin)0.076 ng/mL0.035 ng/mL-0.041 ng/mL (-53,95%)
Testosterone8.15 nmol/L7.39 nmol/L-0.76 nmol/L (-9,33%)
Free Testosterone219.0 pmol/L176.5 pmol/L-42.5 pmol/L (-19.41%)
Percentage of Free Testosterone2.7 %2.4 %-0,3 %


Sustain Alpha had opposite effect on me.
It only increased SHBG (sex hormone).

Also my estrogen was increased where Sustain Alpha was supposed to decrease it.
Testosteron was decreased also.

Cortisol took the biggest hit, it went even above level before I've used EndoAmp Max (358 nmol/L).

Good thing it didn't have any adverse effect on me, weight is going down steadily and didn't lost energy/strength due to testosterone decrease.

Having more energy and not feeling sleepy after waking up could be because SHBG was increased.

All in all, this was disappointing cycle.
 
Exellerro said:
Last week (Thursday 31.10) I've done blood work but couldn't find the time to post it.
Yesterday was the last day of the cycle.

These are lab results. View attachment 246873

Hormone levels old vs new
HormoneOld valuesNew valuesDifference
Estradiol (E2)102 pmol/L126 pmol/L+24 pmol/L (+29,17%)
SHBG16.8 nmol/L21.7 nmol/L+4.9 nmol/L (+29,7%)
Cortisol192 nmol/L487 nmol/L+295 nmol/L (+153,65%)
GH (somatropin)0.076 ng/mL0.035 ng/mL-0.041 ng/mL (-53,95%)
Testosterone8.15 nmol/L7.39 nmol/L-0.76 nmol/L (-9,33%)
Free Testosterone219.0 pmol/L176.5 pmol/L-42.5 pmol/L (-19.41%)
Percentage of Free Testosterone2.7 %2.4 %-0,3 %


Sustain Alpha had opposite effect on me.
It only increased SHBG (sex hormone).

Also my estrogen was increased where Sustain Alpha was supposed to decrease it.
Testosteron was decreased also.

Cortisol took the biggest hit, it went even above level before I've used EndoAmp Max (358 nmol/L).

Good thing it didn't have any adverse effect on me, weight is going down steadily and didn't lost energy/strength due to testosterone decrease.

Having more energy and not feeling sleepy after waking up could be because SHBG was increased.

All in all, this was disappointing cycle.
Click to expand...
Wow was not expecting that. Hopefully other people comment on this.
Thanks for sharing your results
 
Wow this blood work is all the opposite of what the product suppose to do. How did you felt during the cycle? When did you start cardarine? Maybe it is not cardarine or maybe it his tainted?
 
Last edited:
alvin1 said:
Wow this blood work is all the opposite of what the product suppose to do. How did you felt during the cycle? When did you start cardarine? Maybe it is not cardarine or maybe it his tainted?
Click to expand...

I felt fine during cycle, there wasn't noticeable loss of energy or strength.
I was loosing weight steadily.

Cardarine was included into stack on October 6th (a month ago), that was 3rd week of the Sustain Alpha cycle.

I don't think it was Cardarine since it's not hormonal.

There was one thing about Sustain Alpha tubs that really pissed me off... I had to burp the bottle (applying the force to the piston in the center of the bottle to push it up, while also pumping the bottle) every time, which means that a considerable amount of air was in the bottle.

Maybe that air reduced it's effectiveness.
 
This is interesting feedback - to say the least.

We should take a moment to compare to the pre values of your endoamp run - as that's more like your baseline. Cortisol is obviously not your friend and using the effects of EndoAmp as your baseline results is a little misleading - as it gave you significant results across the board.

here's your results from the endoamp bloodwork - EndoAmp did a lot for you here.
Hormone levels old vs new
HormoneOld valuesNew valuesDifference
Estradiol (E2)134 pmol/L102 pmol/L-32 pmol/L (-23%)
Cortisol358 nmol/L192 nmol/L-166 nmol/L (-46.37%)
GH (somatropin)0.048 ng/mL0.076 ng/mL+0.028 ng/mL (+58,33%)
Testosterone7.28 nmol/L8.15 nmol/L+0.87 nmol/L (+11,95%)

here's your results after sustain alpha - I removed the fields that we don't have reference points in the old bloodwork
HormoneOld valuesNew valuesDifference
Estradiol (E2)102 pmol/L126 pmol/L+24 pmol/L (+29,17%)
Cortisol192 nmol/L487 nmol/L+295 nmol/L (+153,65%)
GH (somatropin)0.076 ng/mL0.035 ng/mL-0.041 ng/mL (-53,95%)
Testosterone8.15 nmol/L7.39 nmol/L-0.76 nmol/L (-9,33%)
Percentage of Free Testosterone2.7 %2.4 %-0,3 %

The old values should be your baseline before the EndoAmp run

hormonepre EndoAmppost SA
E2134126
Cortisol358487
GH.048.035
testosterone7.287.39

Cortisol is up significantly from your original results and up extremely significantly from your post endoamp run. This can be caused by a number of factors and can throw off all the other values, as we know cortisol can kill testosterone levels and can raise estrogen levels. Despite this jump in cortisol that is likely impacting the other levels, we do still see some improvements from baseline.

Estrogen is still down roughly 6% and testosterone is up 1.5% from your baseline. While I wouldn't call this much of a win, I'm wondering why cortisol is up so much and how that can be impacting the remainder of these values. especially when it's gone from well managed to HIGH. I'm also curious what other factors that caused the impact to cortisol are and how those could have also impacted your other results.

Link to the endoamp log:

Thread 'Iconic Formulations EndoAmp Max log - Unsponsored'

Invalid Link Removed

I've started using EndoAmp Max 11 days ago (Friday 16th).

I've done blood test on testosterone, corstisol, GH (Somatropin) and estrogen (Estradiol E2) after 4 days of using EndoAmp.
Reason for blood test is to compare my natural levels (after 4 days of using there were hardly some major changes) and levels of said hormones after 3 week cycle... that is the only "booster" I'm using, not stacked with anything.

I wanted empirical evidence if this product is good as advertised and how much difference is in hormones change.

Other supplements I use are whey...
  • Like
 
delsolrob said:
This is interesting feedback - to say the least.

We should take a moment to compare to the pre values of your endoamp run - as that's more like your baseline. Cortisol is obviously not your friend and using the effects of EndoAmp as your baseline results is a little misleading - as it gave you significant results across the board.

here's your results from the endoamp bloodwork - EndoAmp did a lot for you here.
Hormone levels old vs new

HormoneOld valuesNew valuesDifference
Estradiol (E2)134 pmol/L102 pmol/L-32 pmol/L (-23%)
Cortisol358 nmol/L192 nmol/L-166 nmol/L (-46.37%)
GH (somatropin)0.048 ng/mL0.076 ng/mL+0.028 ng/mL (+58,33%)
Testosterone7.28 nmol/L8.15 nmol/L+0.87 nmol/L (+11,95%)

here's your results after sustain alpha - I removed the fields that we don't have reference points in the old bloodwork
HormoneOld valuesNew valuesDifference
Estradiol (E2)102 pmol/L126 pmol/L+24 pmol/L (+29,17%)
Cortisol192 nmol/L487 nmol/L+295 nmol/L (+153,65%)
GH (somatropin)0.076 ng/mL0.035 ng/mL-0.041 ng/mL (-53,95%)
Testosterone8.15 nmol/L7.39 nmol/L-0.76 nmol/L (-9,33%)
Percentage of Free Testosterone2.7 %2.4 %-0,3 %

The old values should be your baseline before the EndoAmp run

hormonepre EndoAmppost SA
E2134126
Cortisol358487
GH.048.035
testosterone7.287.39

Cortisol is up significantly from your original results and up extremely significantly from your post endoamp run. This can be caused by a number of factors and can throw off all the other values, as we know cortisol can kill testosterone levels and can raise estrogen levels. Despite this jump in cortisol that is likely impacting the other levels, we do still see some improvements from baseline.

Estrogen is still down roughly 6% and testosterone is up 1.5% from your baseline. While I wouldn't call this much of a win, I'm wondering why cortisol is up so much and how that can be impacting the remainder of these values. especially when it's gone from well managed to HIGH. I'm also curious what other factors that caused the impact to cortisol are and how those could have also impacted your other results.

Link to the endoamp log:

Thread 'Iconic Formulations EndoAmp Max log - Unsponsored'

Invalid Link Removed

I've started using EndoAmp Max 11 days ago (Friday 16th).

I've done blood test on testosterone, corstisol, GH (Somatropin) and estrogen (Estradiol E2) after 4 days of using EndoAmp.
Reason for blood test is to compare my natural levels (after 4 days of using there were hardly some major changes) and levels of said hormones after 3 week cycle... that is the only "booster" I'm using, not stacked with anything.

I wanted empirical evidence if this product is good as advertised and how much difference is in hormones change.

Other supplements I use are whey...
  • Like
Click to expand...
I been running Sustain Alpha and its been outstanding. My e2 has been holding steady even though I am on
Enclomiphene 12.5mg almost 6 months which is known to raise it significantly. It has been a great add on, I am using 5 pumps daily. My wife even tried it and although not really advised for women she liked it at 3 pumps.

These results you posted have me curious about endoamp as statistically those results are amazing for a natural product.
 
delsolrob said:
While I wouldn't call this much of a win, I'm wondering why cortisol is up so much and how that can be impacting the remainder of these values. especially when it's gone from well managed to HIGH. I'm also curious what other factors that caused the impact to cortisol are and how those could have also impacted your other results.
Click to expand...
@delsolrob I don't know what to tell you.
My stress level in the past year is low, finally for a long time... at least past 15 years I had stressful life.
Now I got really good job, working from home, great company.

My biggest stress in the past two months, if you can call it stress, was buying a motorcycle.
That would be "sweet problems" but not stressful.
 
Yamaha XV 1900 Midnight Star, a better name would be the Midnight Train.

Beast of a bike, engine displacement is 1,854 cc (113.1 cu in).
I've been wanting to buy this bike since 2010, finally saved enough... this is 2016 model.
Yamaha stopped manufacturing them in 2017.


XV 1900.webp
 
Last edited:
Exellerro said:
Yamaha XV 1900 Midnight Star, a better name would be the Midnight Train.

Beast of a bike, engine displacement is 1,854 cc (113.1 cu in).
I've been wanting to buy this bike since 2010, finally saved enough... this is 2016 model.
Yamaha stopped manufacturing them in 2017.


View attachment 246951
Click to expand...
Looks like fun waiting to happen!
 
Exellerro said:
Fun is already happening, cold be damned...

When I drive this bike I probably look like Jack Nicholson as Joker under the helmet... it just draws out the smile.
Click to expand...
My wife doesn't want me to have a bike or I would already!
 
Tell her that you'll get the bike with a sidecar for her shopping bags!
Also, tell her that her hair will fly on the wind.... instant YES.
 
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