Performax Beta Testing...What Is This?!?!

[AntM1564]

July 6, 2016
Push Power

Had to hit this today since I'll be in the hospital most of the day tomorrow and then need to take it easy after.

I decided to go with flat bench today because I am going to switch to it, including next week for my max out week. I also did these paused. I haven't done flat in a while, so I went with something that wouldn't seem heavy since this is a deload week.

Also, I did not do behind the neck presses for my second shoulder movement. I've noticed the past two and a half or three weeks now, my left shoulder feels a little tight on push days. Both heavy and hypertrophy. I did add that exercise around the time my shoulder started feeling tight so maybe that is it. It felt fine on the exercise I swapped it out with, but felt the tightness on bench and military presses.

Training

Paused Flat Bench Press

155x5
155x5
155x5
155x5
155x5

Military Press

115x5,5,5

Weighted DIps

60x8,6,6

Incline Bench Press

135x7,7,6

Seated Hammerstrength Shoulder Press

150x6,6,6

Close Grip Bench Press

125x8
130x6,6

Nutrition

Moderate Carb

Cals - 2,450
Carbs - 280g

• Fiber - 49g

Protein - 210g
Fat - 63g

• Sat. - 13g
• Poly. - 11g
• Mono. - 10g

 

[AntM1564]

July 8, 2016
Pull Hypertrophy

Sorry for the longish post, but this log is about my life. If you're not interested in personal stuff, just skip this for today.

Yesterday, they decided to go through my wrist versus my groin for the biopsy. The wrist is good because recovery time is a lot less, but it hurts so much more after. Surprisingly, I was not too sore this morning and got my pull workout in. I just didn't wear my Versa Grips since it would have been on the incision.

I got a call from the nurse practitioner just a little while ago. All of the pre workup stuff looked great, the pressures of the heart looked great, but on the biopsy, they saw some signs of early acute rejection. I am going to go on a steroid, predisone, blast of 100 mg for the next three days. Thy think this should do the trick.

I have a follow up on the 19th. They will more than likely do a biopsy, but just go through my neck which is an hour thing. In and out with no recovery time since they go through a vein and not an artery, like yesterday.

Workout today was really good. I felt unusually strong. I usually train Thursday's maybe since I had yesterday off, it helped. But carbs were lower than they normally are on Thursday, so who knows. No complaints from me. Last deload day tomorrow. I also think I am going to go stim free on hypertrophy days unless I am really dragging. My five week stim break ends tomorrow and I can have stims for Sunday's training session, but I may skip out on them.

Training

Lat Pulldowns

112.5x10,10,10,10,10,10

Seated Cable Rows

95x10
100x10,10
102.5x10

Close Grip Pulldown

127.5x10
122.5x10,10,10

Done with the close grip attachment with the gap for extra ROM

Chest Supported Row

95x10,10,10,10

Hammerstrength High Row

100x11,10,10,10

Reverse Pec Deck

115x12,11,10,10

Nutrition

High Carb

Cals - 2,700
Carbs - 348g

• Fiber - 50g

Protein - 211g
Fat - 53g

• Sat. - 19g
• Poly. - 5g
• Mono. - 10g

 

[AntM1564]

I'm curious to see what my weight is on Sunday. I am looking very lean. Hunger is still up. Endurance is still up. Recovery hasn't changed much. Vascualirty is great. When I went to the hospital yesterday, the nurse was so excited to put an IV in me lol

 

[AntM1564]

July 9, 2016
Lower Power

Last deload day. Squats, despite being light, were more difficult than anticipated. My lower back was just weaker for some reason, my core in general was. I did some ab work yesterday, that is probably the culprit. I did abs last Friday as well, but I wore my belt for all my working sets last week. Since it was just a 5x5 in the range of 60-70%, I wan't going to wear a belt. Everything else seemed fine, so I think the difficulty in squatting was my weakened core.

My stim break is over I am going to bring what I have been using pre workout tomorrow and consume it at work like I have been. I also have a packet of the new Alphamine, which is 125 mg of caffeine. It is lower stim, which I would consume on my hypertrophy days. I am going to being it with me, just in case, but I want to try and only consume stims on heavy days.

Training

Back Squat 60%-70% 1 Rep Max (195-227 lbs)

195x5
205x5
215x5
215x5
225x5

Front Squats

145x5,5,5

Hip Thrust

235x8,7,7

Leg Press

320x7,6,6

Lying Leg Curls

130x7,6,6

Seated Calf Machine

155x8,7,7,7,7

Standing Calf Machine

250x7,7,6,6,6

Nutrition

Low Carb

Cals - 2,200
Carbs - 205g

• Fiber - 49g

Protein - 211g
Fat - 70g

• Sat. - 12g
• Poly. - 12g
• Mono. - 13g

 

[AntM1564]

July 10, 2016
Push Hypertrophy

Weight - 160.8

Weight is the same from last week. I am going to post some thoughts in this section, followed by some training thoughts.

I did not use any stims today. I felt very good. For my heavy days, this is what I'm going to do. I do not want to jump right into higher stims, I consider this 300mg or more for a product. Instead, I have a product called Amino Shooter Edge by Champion Nutrition. It is an amino product, with caffeine in a prop blend. One of the reps told me there is only about 98 mg of caffeine per scoop. I will use one scoop of this with a fat burner I have lying around. I have so many fat burner samples from recent orders, I will go with something that is no more than 150 mg in conjunction. Using Amino Shooter Edge workouts out too since I train fasted and like to get aminos in pre workout when I do.

Training today was great. Last time I had a 7x8, I used 55 pound dumbbells for 6 sets and then the last I used 60. Today, I used the 60's for the first six sets followed by 55's for the final set. I did not want to go down in weight, but form over everything. Both smith machines were being used. I went with seated dumbbell shoulder press which I have not done in a very long time. I went lighter since I haven't done them in a while and because of my shoulder discomfort the past three weeks. Form on these were VERY good. Also, and more importantly, no shoulder discomfort at all today.

One last training note. The 80 pound pre set barbell was being used when it was time for skull crushers. I went with the 70 pound one. I also implemented something I saw on Marc Lobliner's YouTube channel yesterday. I saw up high on the bench pad so that my head was at the VERY top. I went behind my head, for an extra extension, did not lock out at the top of the reps and the negative was a lot slower. I felt it so much more in my triceps. I will be doing this more often. If I was not forced to go lighter, I would not have done this. Sometimes, going lighter is better.

Training

Incline DB Press

60x8,8,8,8,8,8
55x8

Seated DB Shoulder Press

35x8
40x8,8

Weight does not include bar.

Incline Hammerstrength Chest Press

120x12,11,10

Incline Skull Crushers

70x11,10,10

Behind the Back Cable Side Laterals

40x14,13,13

Cable Rope Pressdown

22.5x12
24x10,10

Nutrition

High Carb Day

Cals - 2,700
Carbs - 348g

• Fiber - 50g

Protein - 211g
Fat - 54g

• Sat. - 21g
• Poly. - 4g
• Mono. - 11g

 

[AntM1564]

Despite no change in body weight this week, I feel tighter and think I look a little leaner and even fuller. Vasculairty is still up there. Hunger is very high in the morning. I follow an IF based diet but the hunger in the monring makes that very difficult. Hunger is a little higher throughout the entire day, but that is when it is most noticeable.

 

[AntM1564]

July 11, 2016
Pull Power

Before getting into lifting notes, I will be going for a follow up biopsy next Tuesday to see how the blast of prednisone went.

I had just under 200 mg of caffeine pre workout today, in conjunction with the nootropic stack I constructed and was using during my stim break. I don't know if it was the caffeine, but I got light headed after some sets of deadlifts today. On heavy days, I feel like I need high amounts of caffeine to have an effective workout, this was just fine. I will not use any caffeine tomorrow.

I do not want to say I was disappointed with my max out attempt today, but I am not thrilled either. My last max out, 5 or 6 weeks ago, I hit 425 and it was difficult. I went for 430 today. Surprisingly, it came off the ground really quick. I got it right above my knees, I tried pulling, but put it down. I would have hurt myself or hitched it up. That is why I am disappointed. However, I realistically cannot expect to hit a 5 lb PR every 5 or 6 weeks. Yes, I pretty much did so my first year on this program, but that was also me getting back into the big lifts.

Next time, I may go for 435 instead of 430 since it was almost half way there. But that is a long time away, so we will see. I also may do my ramp up sets a little differently next time, not doing 395 before the max. I followed the same ramp up sets as my 425 though.

Training

Deadlift

135x8
185x5
225x3
275x1
315x1
365x1
395x1
430x0
365x1
315x3
275x7
225x15

Wide Grip Weighted Pullups

5x3,3,3,3,4

Overhand Cable Rows

90x7,7,7

Neutral Grip TBar Row

115x7,6,6

Close Grip Neutral Pulldowns

142.5x7,7,7

Reverse Pec Deck

135x8,7,7,6

Nutrition

Low Carb

Cals - 2,200
Carbs - 205g

• Fiber - 50g

Protein - 213g
Fat - 71g

• Sat. - 13g
• Poly. - 12g
• Mono. - 13g

 

[AntM1564]

I'm really surprised with my level of vascularity today, especially given the low reps AND low carbs/calories. I am also very hungry today. My weight lifting belt is worth noting too. For the past one to two months, I have not been able to use the last notch while deadlifting. If I have, I felt like I was going to puke due to too much pressure. For my heavy sets today, I was able to use that last notch without any bad feelings. Shows me body comp is improving, which I figured by the mirror anyways.

 

[AntM1564]

July 12, 2016
Legs Hypertrophy

I was surprised how awesome today's session was. I woke up around 1 in the morning to use the bathroom. I don't know if it is because I went on my phone, but I could not fall back to sleep for the next two and a half hours.

I still woke up feeling great though. I could tell by my pace walking to the gym it was going to be a good workout and this was on bad sleep without stims. I had an epic pump and everything felt pretty light. My legs are now sore as all hell. Tomorrow is going to be bad.

At the end of my workout, I wanted to try something new. When my gym re-opened six weeks ago, they added a real glute ham raise. I did a "set" at the end of everything and only got four reps. It was tough as hell, probably because I was running on empty, but they felt great. I felt them entirely in my hamstrings and in my glutes. I may do these on my heavy days until I get good enough for high reps.

Training.

Leg Press

300x10,10,10
320x10,10
370x10

RDL

235x8,8,8

V Squat

200x11,11,11

Seated Hamstring Curl

140x17
160x10,10

Leg Extensions

115x15,13,13,12,12

Seated Calf Raises

130x12,11,11,11,11

Standing Calf Raises

210x12,11,11,10,10

Nutrition

Moderate Carb

Cals - 2,450
Carbs - 280g

• Fiber - 50g

Protein - 211g
Fat - 62g

• Sat. - 13g
• Poly. - 11g
• Mono. - 10g

 

[AntM1564]

I woke up incredibly hungry and flat this morning. I could not believe how well the fasted training session this morning went despite being so flat. Hunger is up all of the time now, it is killing me! I ended up going to Target today since I was in the area and had a coupon for a free two liter coke. I got a caffeine free diet coke to help put some bubbles in my stomach to help the hunger.

 

[AntM1564]

July 13, 2016
Push Power

Wow, I was beyond impressed with the training session today. I was very lethargic yesterday, but that did not translate to today. Also, my right wrist has been bothering me, it is pretty bruised and sore still. It is the wrist that they went in for the biopsy last week. I called my doctor today, I was concerned about a blodd clot since they go through the radial artery, but she assured me it was just being used too much.

Last week, the deload week, was the first time I flat benched in a long time. I had no clue what to expect today. My one rep max for my incline is 205. Since I was doing pause reps on the flat bench, I was hoping to hit 205 as well. I hit 210. It wasn't too hard, so I tried 215. 215 was slower, but I went to 220 after. I paused it, got it off my chest to my surprise, but got stuck. My spotter helped me out. Needless to say, I was not expecting to hit 215, paused.

I also moved close grip bench and dips around. I would rather for heavier on the close grip bench than dips.

Finally, 200 mg of caffeine is strong as hell when you take 5 weeks off caffeine. I am going to continue to only use stims on heavy days. No stims tomorrow.

Training

Paused Flat Bench Press

45x8
75x5
105x3
135x1
160x1
185x1
210x1
215x1
220x0
185x3
185x2
160x5
160x4
135x11 (only the last rep was paused)

Military Press

125x3,3
120x3,3,3

Close Grip Bench Press

135x8
140x6,6

Incline Bench Press

140x6,6,6

Seated Hammerstrength Shoulder Press

150x8
160x6,6

Weighted DIps

50x6,6,6

Nutrition

Moderate Carb

Cals - 2,450
Carbs - 280g

• Fiber - 50g

Protein - 211g
Fat - 63g

• Sat. - 13g
• Poly. - 11g
• Mono. - 10g

 

[Adizzle1]

Looks like strength is starting to increase well, others seem to be noticing this right around this time as well! Awesome workout!

 

[cubsfan815]

5 weeks off caffeine? I go 5 hours and I have headache.

Cool to see strength going up, I'd like to see what 8 weeks plus could do.

 

[Adizzle1]

Hows your body weight?

 

[AntM1564]

Hows your body weight?

I will have a weigh in on Sunday, but it is down a touch since the start. I will have full thoughts posted on Sunday. I think tomorrow or Sunday is my last day. When I went in the bottle today, I didn't feel too many capsules left.

 

[AntM1564]

5 weeks off caffeine? I go 5 hours and I have headache.

Cool to see strength going up, I'd like to see what 8 weeks plus could do.

The first two weeks was so hard. Now, it is easy and a little caffeine has me dancing between sets! I think that this product has helped with stress control too possibly and that is why not having caffeine has been easy during this log as well. I discontinued use of Ashwagandha, so I know not needing caffeine has nothing to do with that

 

[AntM1564]

July 15, 2016
Pull Hypertrophy

Another solid session today. Weight used increased or reps increased on the same weight. Pretty pumped for tomorrow's squat max out day. My front delts are super sore today as well. I'm guessing from the heavy paused bench.

Training

Lat Pulldowns

120x8,8,8,8,8,8,8

Seated Cable Rows

110x8,8
112.5x8,9

Close Grip Pulldown

120x10,10,10,10

Done with the close grip attachment with the gap for extra ROM

Chest Supported Row

95x12,11,10,10

Hammerstrength High Row

110x11,10,10,10

Reverse Pec Deck

115x12,12,11,10

Nutrition

High Carb

Cals - 2,700
Carbs - 348g

• Fiber - 50g

Protein - 211g
Fat - 54g

• Sat. - 20g
• Poly. - 5g
• Mono. - 10g

 

[AntM1564]

July 16, 2016
Lower Power

I potentially have bad news to report. I was doing my warm up sets and felt good. My core felt strong, which it did not last week during the deload week or squats. I put 300 pounds on the bar for my last set before my max test. I got it, but once I racked the weight, my lower back felt funny. I rested some, went for 335, but missed it. I went down super slow and I was nervous.

I did some back down sets and my lower back was still in some discomfort. It was only in discomfort when I was unracking the weight and getting into position. After that, no discomfort. None during the squatting motion either. I did paused squats instead of front squats and felt fine, minus the unracking. I went to do hip thrusts, but supporting that weight on my core was not a good idea. I moved onto leg press no problems.

I then went to do lying leg curls, the lower back was a tad tight, so I just did 6 sets of seated leg curls, 3 for the hip thrusts and 3 for the lying leg curls. The other exercise I swapped out was standing calf raises because I did not want to support the weight on my shoulders.

Fast forward to now, almost 5 hours after and the tightness is a little greater and so is the discomfort, but I would not call it pain. I can do everything fine, the only thing that brings a lot of discomfort is over arching my back. Basically, pushing my hips way too forward.

I don't know what I did. I know I was going deeper on squats today. I may have lost tightness on that 300 set and my lower back just caved in. The fact that I'm not in pain is a good thing. I can still move, almost discomfort free, as of now, which is also somewhat positive. I will monitor this and keep you all updated.

Training

Back Squat Max Out

45x8
95x5
135x3
185x1
225x1
265x1
300x1
335x0
315x1
275x2
275x2
225x4
225x4

Pasue Squats

185x3
190x3
195x3
200x3
205x3

Leg Press

340x7,6,7

Lying Leg Curls

180x8,7,7,7,6,6

Seated Calf Machine

160x7,7,6,7,6

Horizontal Calf Machine

90x7,7,7,7,7

Nutrition

Low Carb

Cals - 2,200
Carbs - 205g

• Fiber - 49g

Protein - 211g
Fat - 71g

• Sat. - 13g
• Poly. - 12g
• Mono. - 13g

 

[AntM1564]

Final dosing is tomorrow. I will have closing thoughts and a final weigh in tomorrow evening.

 

[AntM1564]

July 17, 2016
Push Hypertrophy

Weight - 156.8

I will save you from reading about my "injury" I will post about it after this if you want to read about it.

Weight is down 4 pounds this week. Can't say I'm surprised since the waist of my pants and lifting belt are looser. Strength is still up though, so no complaints. Last time I hit eight sets of six reps on dumbbell incline press, I used 60 pounds for the first four sets and 65 for the last four. I was heavier too. I was able to hit 65 for all 8 sets despite the weight decrease.

Training

Incline DB Press

65x6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6

Seated DB Shoulder Press

45x6,6,7

Incline Hammerstrength Chest Press

130x10,10,10

Incline Skull Crushers

70x11,10,10

Behind the Back Cable Side Laterals

40x15,13,13

Cable Rope Pressdown

24x12,10,10

Nutrition

High Carb Day

Cals - 2,700
Carbs - 348g

• Fiber - 49g

Protein - 211g
Fat - 55g

• Sat. - 15g
• Poly. - 6g
• Mono. - 13g

 

[ELROCK]

What are they going to most likely biopsy?

 

[AntM1564]

Final Thoughts

Starting Weight - 162.4
Ending Weight - 156.8

First, I want to say yes, I am affiliated with Performax, but I am going to note everything I noticed and be completely unbiased.

The loss in weight was not on purpose. The past few weeks I have been a little more active than normal. Despite almost a six pound decrease in weight, my strength went up. Now, I do want to point out that strength increases were not abnormal. I would say they were on par with what would have occurred if I was in a small surplus. Any time body weight decreases and weight used increases, that is a win in my book.

Next thing I noticed was an increase in endurance. This was seen dramatically when I dosed pre workout with food. Most days throughout the log I trained first thing fasted, but the days I had a meal in me, my endurance was better. Better than those days when I ate pre cycle.

Vascularity increased greatly. Overall, I would not compare it to an AI, but still up there. vasculairty was not jut increased during workouts, but I had an all day vascular look. I am normally vascular, but throughout the log, I become even more vascular with continued use. Yes, this is probably due to weight loss too, but I noticed this prior to losing weight.

Body composition definitely improved. Actually, before going to bed last night, my legs were looking great. All three portions of the quad could clearly been seen. My roommate even complimented me on my abs and said they were coming through a little more. My muscles looked fuller as well.

Around the three week mark is when hunger got pretty high. I would feel a little more hungry in the second week, bu from week three and on, I could eat and still be hungry. I would wake up extremely hungry.

I did not notice much in terms of recovery. Recovery between sets, a little but when I dosed pre workout. But in terms of overall recovery and DOMS, I would say that remained unchanged.

 

[AntM1564]

What are they going to most likely biopsy?

They just take a couple of clippings of the heart's tissue.

 

[ELROCK]

They just take a couple of clippings of the heart's tissue.

Why are they doing a heart tissue biopsy?

 

[AntM1564]

Why are they doing a heart tissue biopsy?

I had a heart transplant four years ago. I went for my annual biopsy two weeks ago and they saw some small scute rejection. They put me on a blast of prednisone and they want to see if they helped.

 

[ELROCK]

I had a heart transplant four years ago. I went for my annual biopsy two weeks ago and they saw some small scute rejection. They put me on a blast of prednisone and they want to see if they helped.

Wow dude....wish you the best of luck with everything!

Probably best to not beta test unknown ingredients with your condition and stay far away from some of the less studies stims out there. Just my 2 cents.