Small update, if I decide to push towards some maxes in the next month I’ll come back and update, otherwise current progressions from June through August below.
Started 6 caps per day and currently running 9 per day.
4.5lbs gained. Goal was originally more maintenance first month, but I rebounded a bit hard and then settled in a bit more after 6 weeks.
Strength progressions generally went “test” which usually was build to X number of reps in same sets of X until reaching set with 3 rir. Then I’d perform the next several weeks at that weight in a range of reps similar to X for 3 sets keeping sets 3+ rir until I either hit all sets at top of rep range (move up weight next week) or progress stalled. Once progress stalled I’d either “re-test” same as initially test probably building up higher or deload then “re-test”.
Example:
Build to x5 3rir. Following week 3 sets x4-6 at top weight 3+rir. Week 1: 5-4-4, week 2: 6-5-4, etc
I only bring all this up because I wanted a baseline of expectations, but honestly I never hit a point where I didn't end up progressing and reaching a wall. I pretty much always progressed and took one deload during the entire 3 months (which felt more like a cumulative mental fatigue than physical).
Improvements (pretty much everything did these below were notable tho):
Deadlift +30lbs
Squat +40lbs
Weighted Pull ups +30lbs (last week bwt +100 x6-6-6)
Rows +35lbs
Important caveats:
-Pull ups probably an all time PR, but otherwise the others are all better than anything lately, but not all time PRs (though might be close if I take rir and weight into account).
-This is also from the second or third “exposure” to these lifts in this cycle too, if I took the literal first day on each I could have padded these results another 20-30lbs (this way the progress is hopefully less of just getting used to the exercise again).
-This is actually during a bit more of a running training cycle. I was doing lots of 200, 400, and 600m intervals with weekly mileage 10-12 miles and an additional 60-90 minutes of echo biking or rowing each week. So I made a ton of progress while not focusing on solely building strength.
Subjective notes:
-Ran carnitine gel, Peptiplex (at 6 caps on hard or split training days), Anabolic Effect (after 6 weeks or so), Tart Cherry and Curcumin, plus more normal staples like creatine, beta alanine, citrulline, tmg and a ton of electrolytes during all this heat.
-I felt like Prime XT increased my fullness or even glycogen storage a bit. I’ve felt extremely “full” and almost “dense” lately.
-Despite that I never had any pump issues with my cardio.
-I did end up feeling a bit ravenous. The combination of coming off a cut, adding this, increasing training volume, and adding the running had me switch off maintenance and more into a bulk and at a little faster rate than planned.
-Recovery has been really good, some days the DOMS hits, but always ready for following workouts.
Just felt this would be a good place to toss in a review since I’ll be switching some things up slightly with allowing potential for some testing (deadlift max, weighted pull up max) if things line up right before my trip. Running will increase and then major changes when I return and onto a new stack.
TLDR: successful bulk, seemingly pretty lean gains, tons of pumps and great strength progression, even in presence of running training emphasis.
Probably slots between AE and AXT for me in terms of performance to “feels” ratio. I feel more “test boosting” things people note, but nothing crazy and not as strong as AXT, but also lots of the performance things I enjoy with AE.
