natiels
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Some history. I started working out about 4 years ago. At that time I went on a 2 1/2 year streak where I worked out steady. For the first 8 months my training was horrible and gains sucked, but when college ended I moved and started lifting with a guy who had more experience then me and I made much bigger gains. After a while I stopped working with my partner cause our schedules changed and eventually I ended up getting married and basically quit lifting for about two years.
Last summer I tried to start up again but ended up getting west nile. I was bed ridden for two weeks and couldn’t eat anything and I really didn’t get my strength back for months.
Anyway, here and now...I started lifting again in January and now I am back in the full swing of things. The only supplement I have ever taken before is whey. Over my first 9 weeks of lifting I made good gains and went from 172lbs to 180lbs, but as can be expected things started to taper off a bit and gains became slower towards the end of 2 months. One thing I should mention is that I have never really been all that strong. When I lift I usually end up “looking� stronger than I am.
I researched ecdysterone a bit and read all the hyped up marketing stuff(which sounded great) and then I read all the poor user feedback, but in the feedback I kept coming across reviews here and there of people that had pretty decent success with the product and gained some nice mass. It seemed like the main difference between those that got nothing from it and those that made gains was the dosage. Most of the feedback I have found on it was from a couple of years ago when ecdysterone first came out and at that time most all the of the products came with a 30mg dosage 3x/day and it was pretty expensive. The people that experienced gains were all taking about a gram or more with high protein diets.
After reading up on it I decided I had to try it out for myself. I ordered a bottle of 25 grams ECD powder from BAC. Each 133mg serving contains 75mg of 20-beta-hydroxyecdysterone, 45mg of other ecdysterones and a few mg of filler powder. I always take a 1 ml scoop which is 200mg total and should contain about 112mg of 20 beta H-ECD. I usually fill the scoop a bit over the line so it ends up being slightly more.
So far I have taken 600-1000 mg a day since March 7th. I take 3-5 doses a day. I always follow my doses with a protein shake. ON whey 1 scoop with about 7oz of 2% milk so I figure it’s around 30 grams, except my post workout shake which has 2 scoops of whey. I take it in the morning at about 7:45am, then again between 11:30-Noon, again around 5:00pm, again post workout, and then again before bed. Some days I end up missing a dose here or there so I don’t always get a gram.
As you can see I have only been taking it for 10 days but the stuff really seems to be kicking in. I took it from the 7th to the 11th without experiencing much. On the second day of dosing (Tuesday) I felt a weird sort of stimulant feeling after my 5:00 dose and I stayed with the feeling up Wednesday but it was gone by Thursday and I have not felt it since. During the first week my lifts did not seem to change much at all. I was having a lot of doubts that it would do anything until I weighed myself on Saturday and I was up 3.5 lbs to 183.5. When I got home from the gym I was doing some major examining in the mirror and noticed that my quads seemed noticeably bigger. I felt a bit bigger all around but the quads were the place I really noticed. My next lift was on Tuesday and when I got to the gym I weighed in at 186. It was leg day and when I did my normal squats I noticed it was pretty easy and I ended 20 lbs higher than the week before. I then moved over to do hamstrings..machine where you sit down. Same thing…my normal weight was way too easy so I upped the weight by 20lbs and still managed to bust out 10x each set.
Today was my second workout for the week and it was chest. Last week I had just managed to move up to 65lb dumbbells for my main chest exercise and got 6x4x3x and on that third one I barely got it up. It had taken me a month to move from 60s to 65s. I did my first set and rocked out 6 reps and could have done more, but held off. Then I moved on to my next set and got 6 again and again I could have done more. On the 3rd set I managed to get 7!!! Needless to say I was and am still pretty excited. I have never seen a boost in strength like that before. After my leg day I was pleased but still a bit skeptical, but after today’s workout I am pretty sure this stuff is working.
Based on my mirror checks I have not really gained much if any fat. Today when I weighed in I was down a pound to 185 and before I went to the gym I felt like I looked a bit leaner…kinda like when you look in the mirror in the morning when you first get up. The only other effect I would say I feel is that normally when I get home from work I am ready to crash and usually nap for about an hour or so, but when I force myself to get up I am already in a deep sleep. This week though when I get home from work and go to nap I didn’t really feel like I needed it and never managed to fall completely asleep and waking up was much easier. I only notice this during my nap though. Waking up in the morning is still not any easier.
That was a long post but I wanted to give as much info as I could to provide info about other factors that might be involved. It was basically a full log/review of my first 10 days on ecdysterone and I figured some might be interested.
Last summer I tried to start up again but ended up getting west nile. I was bed ridden for two weeks and couldn’t eat anything and I really didn’t get my strength back for months.
Anyway, here and now...I started lifting again in January and now I am back in the full swing of things. The only supplement I have ever taken before is whey. Over my first 9 weeks of lifting I made good gains and went from 172lbs to 180lbs, but as can be expected things started to taper off a bit and gains became slower towards the end of 2 months. One thing I should mention is that I have never really been all that strong. When I lift I usually end up “looking� stronger than I am.
I researched ecdysterone a bit and read all the hyped up marketing stuff(which sounded great) and then I read all the poor user feedback, but in the feedback I kept coming across reviews here and there of people that had pretty decent success with the product and gained some nice mass. It seemed like the main difference between those that got nothing from it and those that made gains was the dosage. Most of the feedback I have found on it was from a couple of years ago when ecdysterone first came out and at that time most all the of the products came with a 30mg dosage 3x/day and it was pretty expensive. The people that experienced gains were all taking about a gram or more with high protein diets.
After reading up on it I decided I had to try it out for myself. I ordered a bottle of 25 grams ECD powder from BAC. Each 133mg serving contains 75mg of 20-beta-hydroxyecdysterone, 45mg of other ecdysterones and a few mg of filler powder. I always take a 1 ml scoop which is 200mg total and should contain about 112mg of 20 beta H-ECD. I usually fill the scoop a bit over the line so it ends up being slightly more.
So far I have taken 600-1000 mg a day since March 7th. I take 3-5 doses a day. I always follow my doses with a protein shake. ON whey 1 scoop with about 7oz of 2% milk so I figure it’s around 30 grams, except my post workout shake which has 2 scoops of whey. I take it in the morning at about 7:45am, then again between 11:30-Noon, again around 5:00pm, again post workout, and then again before bed. Some days I end up missing a dose here or there so I don’t always get a gram.
As you can see I have only been taking it for 10 days but the stuff really seems to be kicking in. I took it from the 7th to the 11th without experiencing much. On the second day of dosing (Tuesday) I felt a weird sort of stimulant feeling after my 5:00 dose and I stayed with the feeling up Wednesday but it was gone by Thursday and I have not felt it since. During the first week my lifts did not seem to change much at all. I was having a lot of doubts that it would do anything until I weighed myself on Saturday and I was up 3.5 lbs to 183.5. When I got home from the gym I was doing some major examining in the mirror and noticed that my quads seemed noticeably bigger. I felt a bit bigger all around but the quads were the place I really noticed. My next lift was on Tuesday and when I got to the gym I weighed in at 186. It was leg day and when I did my normal squats I noticed it was pretty easy and I ended 20 lbs higher than the week before. I then moved over to do hamstrings..machine where you sit down. Same thing…my normal weight was way too easy so I upped the weight by 20lbs and still managed to bust out 10x each set.
Today was my second workout for the week and it was chest. Last week I had just managed to move up to 65lb dumbbells for my main chest exercise and got 6x4x3x and on that third one I barely got it up. It had taken me a month to move from 60s to 65s. I did my first set and rocked out 6 reps and could have done more, but held off. Then I moved on to my next set and got 6 again and again I could have done more. On the 3rd set I managed to get 7!!! Needless to say I was and am still pretty excited. I have never seen a boost in strength like that before. After my leg day I was pleased but still a bit skeptical, but after today’s workout I am pretty sure this stuff is working.
Based on my mirror checks I have not really gained much if any fat. Today when I weighed in I was down a pound to 185 and before I went to the gym I felt like I looked a bit leaner…kinda like when you look in the mirror in the morning when you first get up. The only other effect I would say I feel is that normally when I get home from work I am ready to crash and usually nap for about an hour or so, but when I force myself to get up I am already in a deep sleep. This week though when I get home from work and go to nap I didn’t really feel like I needed it and never managed to fall completely asleep and waking up was much easier. I only notice this during my nap though. Waking up in the morning is still not any easier.
That was a long post but I wanted to give as much info as I could to provide info about other factors that might be involved. It was basically a full log/review of my first 10 days on ecdysterone and I figured some might be interested.