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Ivydude's Herbal Hypertrophic Log

ivydude

Board Supporter
Just received my stuff today...

Unfortunately I already worked out this morning, so the first time I lift after taking HH will be Friday.

Note: I’ll update this log every training day and most other days. I’ll weigh myself once per week.

About
23 y/o male, 183 lbs. and 5’ 9’’
-BF (using accu-measure calipers): 12-13%
-ecto-meso build

Current Training
Westside. I rotate volume weekly (high-medium-very high-low), ME exercises weekly, and assistance work every 3-4 workouts. I do grip training once per week with COC crushers and GPP/restoration approximately twice a week. After each workout I will post the routine, the sets, reps, etc.

Training History
I have been training for approximately 6 years now, and have done a variety of workout routines over the years, including HST and DC training.

Diet (example of present diet) (cals/carbs/protein/fats):
I should note that maintenance calories for me are high…approximately 4500-5000 depending on the macronutrient content, and this diet is slightly above that by a range of 500-1500 calories. Read on for details….


1. 2 Eggs & ham, 1.5 cups oatmeal, 2 scoops ON protein in FF milk and water (occasionally add in extra carbs here, i.e. wheat English muffin)…(990/106/97/24)à calc. not with extra carbs
2. FF cottage cheese and apple/cheerios…(570/94/50/12)à calc. w/cheerios as carb here
3. (No-Salt) Turkey Sandwich on wheat w/ provolone…(600/40/48/6)
4. 7 oz. chicken, wheat English muffin w/ PB…(520/32/65/17.5)
5. Pre-workout shake and cup of oats….(620/72/66/8)
6. Post-workout shake and 1.5 cups of oats…(770/99/71/11)
7. Chicken/Fish/Steak and broccoli/spinach (cooked in olive oil) or whole wheat pasta depending on carb consumption to that point….combo 1 w/ chicken calc. (620/15/88/63) now with the pasta and chickenà(1070/151/108/36)
8. Cottage cheese (160/16/24/0) or small ( 8 oz) steak (440/0/40/25)
9. Bedtime shake 1.5 scoops (micellar matrix) (183/6/38/1.5)

snacks: celery, almonds, non-salted cashews, liver tabs, protein bars

Total caloric consumption (not including snacks which I have several a day) varies between: 5033 (all “lower” calorie selections from above) to 5763.

Macronutrient extremes:
Low: (480/547/128)
High: (616/583/168)

-the almonds, cashews, fish oils, and protein bars all boost up the fat #s here…that’s why they’re relatively lower. I also generally snack later in the day, so the fats come later in the day while the carbs are decreasing at a time when the body is better adept at utilizing the fats. I also have turkey burgers (4 week) to boost up fat and protein #s often in place of the chicken in meal 4. This diet helps me keep relatively leaner while getting stronger at the same time.


Supplements:
-100% Whey Protein
-Micellar Matrix Protein
-Liver Tabs
-Fish Oils
-Multi-vitamin
-B-complex
-Vitamin C
-Celery Seed extract


Goals:
To increase my 3 main compound lifts while not getting fat as hell in the process. Ideally I would like to compete at 165, and I don’t anticipate having a problem weighing that much despite my weight now. However, it would be nice to decrease carb consumption somewhat as I believe in maintaining a healthy physique while powerlifting. Specifically I would like gains of +20 for deads, + 10 for bench, and +20 for squats over the course of the next few months.

Injury History
I should also note that I have tendonitis in my left elbow and shoulder, and am constantly battling though it, but lately my pre-hab work has been significantly helping my shoulder to the point where I have no pain there.


RAW Lifts, competition style form:

Dead: 505 (this is current)
Bench: 305 (although I got 345 off a 4 board on 2/17/06)
Squat: 425 (haven’t maxed out since August although in December I got 486 lbs. with chains off a box 1 inch below parallel).

I should also mention I just took a week off so my lifts are down a little bit.

Dosage
3 HH/day.

After I'm done testing the HH, I'll be using the retain and pct provided by AX.
 
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Check out Rage (So Cal)'s log, I posted a spreadsheet for tracking on this one if you want to use it for yourself as well.
 
CDB said:
Subscribe

Check out Rage (So Cal)'s log, I posted a spreadsheet for tracking on this one if you want to use it for yourself as well.
Click to expand...

I'll take a look at it and see if it will work with how I have things set up.
 
Current Westside Set-Up:

Day 1: ME Lower Body
Day 2: Off
Day 3: ME Bench
Day 4: Off
Day 5: DE LB
Day 6: Off
Day 7: Off (sometimes...pretty much every other week and it doesn't always fall between the dynamic days. Ideally it won't. That's just how things are this week.)
Day 8: DE Bench
Day 9: Off

Repeat..

Volume for this "week": High
 
Day 2

I've been taking the caps with a meal and my fish oil tabs. I can't wait to get in the gym tomorrow. It's a DE lower body day for those wondering.
 
Hey, I train westside as well and I was wondering how you take in 5000+ calories without bloating so much. I was doing 4500 a day from all clean food sources pretty much and I couldn't stand the bloat or stomach discomfort. I see the same improvements in my lifts at 3500 cals as I did at 4500. Do you reccomend increasing cals again once I start a 4 day a week program. I currently weight ~200 with 15% bf at 6 foot 2.
 
ktw said:
Hey, I train westside as well and I was wondering how you take in 5000+ calories without bloating so much. I was doing 4500 a day from all clean food sources pretty much and I couldn't stand the bloat or stomach discomfort. I see the same improvements in my lifts at 3500 cals as I did at 4500. Do you reccomend increasing cals again once I start a 4 day a week program. I currently weight ~200 with 15% bf at 6 foot 2.
Click to expand...

My stomach bloats a little as the day goes on (a mini GH gut with abs almost) and I am perpetually farting, but no I don't really mind. I am a hard-gainer and I need that many calories to add strength and muscle mass.

For me the difference in calories is essential; it sounds like your body is a bit different if you're making the same gains at 3500 and 4500 calories. That said, if you're looking for strength and mass gains I would definitely up the calories and see what happens. I'm not sure what your goals are-I could give a better assessment if I knew.
 
My goals is to gain whatever size I can while drastically increasing my strength. I do not want a disporportionate gut however. I'm 6 foot 2 and currently 200 lbs, and when I was barely cramming in 4500 cals a day I had extremely painful gas, and my gut bloated to stick out much further than my chest, which looks mighty akward on a skinny dude. At 3500 I follow a 40/40/20 which is about 350/350/80, but I'm going to up fat to 100 a day which will bump me up to 3700kcal. I try to eat really clean, but I just can't eat 3 cups of steel cut oats a day and feel good. My carb sources were mainly pasta, oats, grains, bran cereal, etc. and honestly I had to force myself to eat all day to hit 4500 and felt like absolute **** at the end of the day. I also had trouble sleeping. I'm deloading this week/have 2 ear infections and have been hitting about 3200kcal in the form of around 250/350/100 and have not dropped a single lb.
 
ktw said:
My goals is to gain whatever size I can while drastically increasing my strength. I do not want a disporportionate gut however. I'm 6 foot 2 and currently 200 lbs, and when I was barely cramming in 4500 cals a day I had extremely painful gas, and my gut bloated to stick out much further than my chest, which looks mighty akward on a skinny dude. At 3500 I follow a 40/40/20 which is about 350/350/80, but I'm going to up fat to 100 a day which will bump me up to 3700kcal. I try to eat really clean, but I just can't eat 3 cups of steel cut oats a day and feel good. My carb sources were mainly pasta, oats, grains, bran cereal, etc. and honestly I had to force myself to eat all day to hit 4500 and felt like absolute **** at the end of the day. I also had trouble sleeping. I'm deloading this week/have 2 ear infections and have been hitting about 3200kcal in the form of around 250/350/100 and have not dropped a single lb.
Click to expand...

Depending on your training experience, your caloric needs will vary (i.e. the more mass you have attained beyond the weight your body likes weighing requires more calories). If you want to gain muscle mass, while not getting fat in the process you may want to consider a temporal nutrition diet or some variation of (Invalid Link Removed). I know 2 PLers that have used variations of this to get stronger without gaining too much weight (i.e. straying from their weight class). You can also add in a little cardio if you are eating above maintainence cals and feel you're getting fat but in general I don't recommend cardio when bulking/adding strength. GPP alone may be fine.
 
I'm not necessarily dieting, just trying to avoid the bloat while bulking. Here is a sample of what I am eating right now during a given day to achieve my requirements:
Breakfast
2 whole eggs, 1 cup egg sub., 1 wheat bagel, 1 small piece wheat toast
72/53/17

Low fat ground beef burger w/ wheat bun+ 1 piece wheat toast
56/55/12

Preworkout
1 cup whole wheat pasta w/ 8 oz chicken breast
64/50/6
or
2 scoops whey, 1.5 cups rolled oats
~70/48/2

PWO
2 scoops whey. 1 cup malto, 1/2 cup rolled oats
~75/48/2

Post pwo
enough salmon, low fat ground beef, or flank steak to equal 50 grams protein, 1/2 cup steel cut oats
54/50/12

Bed time meal
1 piece wheat bread and the protein either comes from casein, a shake consisting of blended whey and 1/2 cup cottage cheese, ground beef +shake, or eggs+ shake. I don't have money for casein right now so I try to up the healthy fats. I eat almonds for the fats for this meal and throughout the day
end up with
350/350/~80 grams fat. I do not have time to consume any more whole meals than this, I can fit in shakes during the day as snacks at certain points and have been doing a serving of whey as soon as I get up. Would you reccomend just upping carbs a bit or what? When I was at 4500 calories, my ratio was 540/300/80, so I was consuming 90g carbs per meal, which was super super difficult eating completely clean and low gi. Maybe I should just say **** it and start going to Baja Fresh and Chipotle and chomping on a fatty burrito as my post pwo meal or something.
 
KTW,

I would like to continue this discussion, but not in this thread as it's begining to get off topic. Can you delete and repost (or a mod move) this last post in the nutrition forum? Thanks boss.
 
Jmart603 said:
how many weeks you taking it for? how long is the pct for this?
Click to expand...

I think there are 6 weeks worth of pills. Not 100% sure since there is no label on the bottle.

I'll be taking the retain and pct for 4 weeks after that-potentially with some powerfull.
 
You and me both. If the first bottle of powerfull goes well, I'll have to jump on another bottle. Maybe stack it with some ACT. :-D

How's it going so far Ivy? Anything yet?
 
Question for Ivy and Rage, are either of you going to get bloodwork done at the end of the cycle?

I like your workouts Ivy.
 
Rage (SoCal) said:
You and me both. If the first bottle of powerfull goes well, I'll have to jump on another bottle. Maybe stack it with some ACT. :-D

How's it going so far Ivy? Anything yet?
Click to expand...

Only been on it for about 36 hours now. About to go workout in a little bit. I'll report back after that. How about you, Rage?
 
Grassroots082 said:
Question for Ivy and Rage, are either of you going to get bloodwork done at the end of the cycle?

I like your workouts Ivy.
Click to expand...

Thanks man.

Maybe if I get a sponsor I could afford the blood test. ;) As of now though, I'm not planning on it.
 
Day 3

Note: I was very tired going into the workout, but managed to have a pretty decent workout nonetheless.

Weight: 186 lbs. +3 lbs. since Wed. (Day 1) This is probably water gain, but I don't look like I'm holding much.
I will weigh myself every Friday from here out; I just couldn't resist weighing myself today.

Dynamic Effort Squat Day

1. DE Squat
-55% of 1 RM week (I'm going 55/60/65 this rotation)
-Box 1'' below parallel
-245 lbs., 12 sets, 2 reps, 40 s. between sets

2. Pause Squats
-3 second hold below parallel
-245x5
-265x5
-275x4

3. SLDL
-warmup
-275x12
-335x10
-365x6
note: my grip is good for a 1 RM but sucks doing reps on something like this and it gave out on my last set

4. Lower Back Extensions
-warmup
-2 sets with 90 lbs.

5. Abs-Uneven Bar Bends
-2 sets

Overall, not bad considering how I felt going in. Next workout is DE Bench on Monday.
 
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I'm noticing some pumps, muscles are a little fuller but nothing out of the ordinary. Stregnth is starting to come back as wrists are getting better. Good luck, buddy. I'll be following.
 
Day 4 (off)

Nothing extremely noticeable yet. I will be stuffing my face all day with food and basically recovering from yesterday's workout.

I haven't experienced the same quality of sleep side effect that Rage has, but then again, I haven't been on HH as long as Rage.
 
Pill Count

For what it's worth, there was a total of 88 pills in the HH I was sent. At 3/day, this will last about 29 days.

I'm not sure if this is a mistake or not, but it would appear (and I'm purely speculating based on what I know about HH) that weeks 4-6 of this cycle would be prime time for gains.

C-Los or Big Smith--I thought this was supposed to be a 6 weeker?
 
Very interesting! I'm going to get a count very soon.


Bottle Count: 65 caps. 1 week in, 21 days left. :blink:
 
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Rage (SoCal) said:
Very interesting! I'm going to get a count very soon.


Bottle Count: 65 caps. 1 week in, 21 days left. :blink:
Click to expand...

Guess this is a month cycle. I thought it was 6 weeks (Invalid Link Removed see post 130), but whatever. Hopefully we'll still see gains in the month.
 
Day 5 (off)
Nothing to report yet, no sides of any sort. This week's schedule:
M: DE Bench
W: ME LB
F: ME Bench

Weigh in-Friday
 
Day 6

DE Bench
at 50% of 1 RM (going 50-55-60)
-first 4 sets close grip, next 4 sets medium grip
-35 seconds between sets
-155x 3 r. x 8 s.

Chest Supported Row
1. warmup
2. 3 plates x 12 reps
3. 4 plates x 10 reps
4. 4 plates and 2 tens x 8 reps
5. 4 plates x 10 reps

Close Grip Bench Press
1. 205 x 10
2. 225 x 8
3. 245 x 4

Hammer Strength Shoulder Press
1. Warmup
2. 230 x 10
3. 270 x 6

Notes:
1. My bad elbow was enfuego after this workout. My other elbow felt a little stiff as well. I think the HH may be drying me out a little bit. I'll have to keep an eye on this.

2. No strength gains yet. It's still very early.

3. I should also note that I don't train to failure on accessory exercises (very rarely).
 
Day 8
Finally feeling a bit stronger!

ME LB

ME Dead (no straps)
(was supposed to do good mornings, but glen talked me out of it)
225 x 12
315x 3
405 x 3
455 x 1
495 x 1 (smoked this but was losing my grip at the top. I need chalk!!)
-stopped here b/c I felt a little strain as my grip was giving out on the lockout. I really think I could have gotten 510, maybe 515 with some chalk

1 Legged Squats
135 x 12/leg
165 x 8/leg
185 x 8/leg

GHRs
3 x 10, 8, 6

Decline bench Abs with a plate
2 sets

I think the HH might be finally kicking in so I'm pretty excited. I felt stronger than usual today. The libido is still down a bit.

Friday is weigh-in day and ME Bench, however, due to the fact that I have to lift by myself I'm just going to do DB bench.
 
Day 9 (off)
Feels like I'm starting to come down with a little cold. Hopefully I can fight it off and feel good before tomorrow afternoon's workout.
 
Day 10

It was supposed to be ME bench, but without a spot I couldn't do a ME exercise today.

I felt like absolute crap today. I don't know if I'm getting sick or its just allergies, but I was up all night and am currently pretty sick and tired. Nonetheless, I battled through and went to the gym. Unless I can't walk without puking I usually try and go to the gym and hit my lifts.

Weight: 186 lbs. (no change from last Friday, still +3 since I started). I think this may have been a product of being sick. I took 3 monster dumps this morning before 11 AM. I wake up at 9 to give you an idea of how frequently I was sprinting to the can.

DB Bench
-warmup
100 lbs. x 10
115 lbs. x 6
120 lbs. x 5 (note: my gym only has DBs up to 120)

BB Rows (overhand grip)
-warmup
205 x 10
225 x 6
235 x 6

I wanted to throw in a little more horizontal rowing today, so I did 2 more sets on the hammer strength machine (underhand grip), one with 3 plates per side (8 reps), and the second with 3 plates and a 25 ( 6 reps).

Skulls on the Floor
-warmup
125 lbs. x 8
125 lbs. x 6
-shut it down, the elbow was enfuego

Standing DB Bicep Curls
-warmup
-50 x 8/arm
-55 x 8/arm

Rotator Cuff Pre-hab work
1.Lying Ls (2 sets)
2. Cubans (1 set)

Not a bad workout considering how poorly I was feeling today. I was disappointed that I didn't weigh anymore, but again I'm hoping it was just a result of being sick. I think the HH is leaning me out a bit, and I'm actually going to try and eat more (I honestly don't know if that's possible since I'm between 5000-6000 cals as is).

Feel free to post comments so I know I'm doing this for more than my own edification. Gracias amigos.
 
Day 11 (off)

Starting to feel better from my cold. By Monday I should be close to 100%.

As for the HH, I do have a little extra back acne, but its not too bad. I'm looking forward to some solid gains this week.
 
Day 12 (off)

Still getting better. I feel like my muscles are recovering quicker and the DOMS isn't lasting as long as it usually does. Tomorrow is DE Squats.

AX: Is more of this getting shipped out to me for a 6 week run? Thanks
 
A quick grip update...

Smoked the Captain of Crush #1 today for 6 reps (r) and 4 (l) and ordered some chalk. 515 DL should be going down easy in 2.5 weeks.
 
Day 13

DE LB

1. DE Box Squats at 60% of 1 RM (parallel box)
265 x 2 reps x 12 sets, 40 s. between sets

I've been working on sitting way back in my squat. Today was the first day I really felt like my hammies and hip flexors were getting used to this style.

2. Pause Squats (3 s. hold at bottom)
275 x 5
275 x 5
275 x 3 (being sick started kicking in here)

3. SLDL
warmup
275 x 12
335 x 8
called it a day on these...

4. LB Extensions
(for restoration/blood flow mainly)
2 sets with a plate, 10 reps, pause at top

Overall, being sick really affected my breathing ability on a bunch of the exercises. I almost threw up doing the pause squats.

I am beginning to think the sickness may be related to the HH. I noticed Rage experienced a similar effect in his log. This may mean that the HH is working, and soon hereafter my lifts should start going up.
 
Day 14
For what it's worth, I've been keeping cals at the higher end of the range that's listed in my initial post. We'll have to see if that has any impact on weight gain this week. I say that because I'm doing no real cardio, staying lean, and eating a ton.
 
Day 15
I've officially turned into a fat incerating machine. I weighed in down a pound and I've been cheating in my diet here and there. Unfortunately, I'm still not seeing strength gains.

DE Bench @ 55% of 1 RM
175 x 3 reps x 8 sets
4 CG, 4 medium grip

Chest Supported Rows
4 plates x 10
4 and a quarter x 7 (+5 lbs from last week)
4 pl. x 8

Close Grip Bench
225 x 8
245 x 5

Ancillary Shoulder Work
Side Raises from 3 different angles using higher reps (10-14) and 35s

I will not be working out on Friday as I am going away for the weekend.
 
Day 16

Mid Cycle Thoughts:
1. I have yet to gain any significant weight (up about 2.5 lbs). I do not look like I am retaining any water in my face, and little if any in my stomach.

2. Sides include: mild acne, and I believe this is drying me out a little. My elbow was extremely sore last night. Those that use this may want to consider stacking this with another compound to alleviate this problem.

3. My strength has not really gone up yet. There have some slight changes in lifts, both ways, and I don't think I can say at this point that I have gotten stronger. A thought here is that the joint soreness on exercises like bench is contributing to the slow gains. The reason I think this is because I do feel a little stronger on my DL (which I'll know for sure in 2 weeks) which doesn't stress some of my injuries as much. Hence, maybe I am getting stronger, it's just that the drying out factor is holding me back on bench. I'll also have to see on ME Squats how I do.

4. I really believe the HH is allowing me to eat a lot more without gaining weight.

I'll be away this weekend, so this log won't be updated for a few days. I apologize in advance.
 
Did I skip you posting pics? It's so awesome to see before and after pics on these journals/reviews.
 
No I don't have a camera, and to be honest you wouldn't be able to see any significant body composition changes yet. I do have before pics on my camera phone but I'm not paying Sprint's asinine charges to upload them. I am hoping to film a few of my ME lifts during the last few weeks or so of this and post the videos.
 
next ME squat and/or deads day i'll bring a camera to the gym with us and see what i can do about getting it online .. may take a while as i'll have no idea what i'm doing haha
 
Day 19
This seems like the make or break week for this product since I only have enough for 10 more days. So far my results have been minimal. Calories were still pretty high all weekend. Tomorrow is ME LB day. Hopefully, Glen, on the next ME LB day, we can film it. I'm doing good mornings tomorrow and watching that is about as exciting as watching paint dry.
 
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