Raul87's slow journey to a better body

raul87

raul87

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Well this is gonna be my progress thread as I begin to make a strong push to get the muscular body I have been wanting. I'm currently 6' and 265lbs and maybe around mid to upper 20s body fat % wise. My goals are to get some muscle definition not interested in being super shredded as I've always been a big dude I think I'd look better with a bigger muscular physique. I'd love to retain all of the strength gainz I've had in the last 17 months of serious training but I'm prepared to lose some lbs to my lifts which are currently 365 bench, 365 squat, and a 460 dead. So I took some pics and tomorrow that I'm off work I'll take some measurements. I hate shirtless pics of me but oh well I'll use it as extra motivation to work hard and well we all start somewhere right??.

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Supplementation
Alphamax (started today)
Conqu3er
Creatine
Protein

Training
Beeneeds doing 5x5 compound lifts and 3x8-10 for accessory lifts but debating on doing more reps to promote more hypertrophy but we'll see.

Current lifts
https://youtu.be/X3DZvMoJHLk (hit 355 after that phone died though)
https://youtu.be/USZ14CmFa1o
https://youtu.be/G8N9c8yPKu4 (already hit 365)
 
cubsfan815

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Subbd.

I was hoping you were going to put a log up.

Can't wait to see how you like the OG Alphamax. Let us know if we can help with anything.
 
raul87

raul87

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Subbd.

I was hoping you were going to put a log up.

Can't wait to see how you like the OG Alphamax. Let us know if we can help with anything.
I am gonna make a log for Alphamax I'm at work right now I'll do it later tonight it's gonna be very slow so I got time. Obviously it doesn't have any acute effects for working out so didn't see the need to do it real quick. I do have some questions still on the dosing and I'll ring those up when I create the log later.
 
cubsfan815

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Oh, cool. I figured you were just making the one. I'll follow along on both.
 
john.patterson

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Sub'd. Great start brother. Stack and training look solid. How's your diet?
 
raul87

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Sub'd. Great start brother. Stack and training look solid. How's your diet?
It's not the best as I don't track exact calories and macros but I believe I get pretty close. What do you think my maintenance calories are from those pics? My guess is around 3k and I'm gonna try and stay around 2500 going to do high protein and moderate carbs not sure on fats yet
 
john.patterson

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It's not the best as I don't track exact calories and macros but I believe I get pretty close. What do you think my maintenance calories are from those pics? My guess is around 3k and I'm gonna try and stay around 2500 going to do high protein and moderate carbs not sure on fats yet
Very hard to tell from a picture. I would use a TDEE calculator online and estimate your maintenance, and then adjust from there. The only true way to determine maintenance cals is to track your calories for a few weeks and track your body weight. Everyone is different, so its impossible to know where your maintenance will be. If you google 'TDEE calculator' you'll get some sites that can help you get a good starting point though
 
AntM1564

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It's not the best as I don't track exact calories and macros but I believe I get pretty close. What do you think my maintenance calories are from those pics? My guess is around 3k and I'm gonna try and stay around 2500 going to do high protein and moderate carbs not sure on fats yet
I would suggest tracking cals and macros. Even people that have been measuring food for years have a hard time eyeballing portions. You'd be surprised what 1 serving, 2 tablespoons or 32 grams, of peanut butter looks like. Pasta and meats can be very tricky too.
 
raul87

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Just finished my 3 day off stretch and after not having a beer for about 50 days I let myself have these past few days to indulge in some drinking. I had already accounted for it since I wasn't able to hangout with family for Easter weekend due to work. Now back on the diet had some good amount of carbs this morning for some energy and loading up a bit for tonight's chest and shoulder workout.

I keep forgetting to create the Alphamax Log but I'll do it during lunch. Apparently it might have some acute effects as I experience some weird feelings a bit after taking it but nothing bad I just feel something I don't know.
 
john.patterson

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Just finished my 3 day off stretch and after not having a beer for about 50 days I let myself have these past few days to indulge in some drinking. I had already accounted for it since I wasn't able to hangout with family for Easter weekend due to work. Now back on the diet had some good amount of carbs this morning for some energy and loading up a bit for tonight's chest and shoulder workout.

I keep forgetting to create the Alphamax Log but I'll do it during lunch. Apparently it might have some acute effects as I experience some weird feelings a bit after taking it but nothing bad I just feel something I don't know.
Glad you're back on track. What type of feelings were you experiencing? I've never experienced any negative effects with Alphamax, other than dry joints from the Arimistane in the OG version. But that wasn't a problem until my 3-4 week in
 
raul87

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I'm not too sure but they aren't negative side effects it's just something I've felt but not always just a few times so maybe a placebo effect or something else I've taken. The closest thing I can relate it too is just like in a better mood but like I said it's only happened a couple of times so might be placebo.
 
cubsfan815

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Probably the big dose of L-Dopa it has. That always have me a nice calm feeling. Love it combined with the ZMA pre bed!
 
AntM1564

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Probably the big dose of L-Dopa it has. That always have me a nice calm feeling. Love it combined with the ZMA pre bed!
If L-Dopa does that for ya, I can't imagine what you'll notice with XT. I have not tried it yet, but I am running KSM-66 right now and it is the only new variable into my supplement regime and I feel very mellow/calm/steady energy.
 
john.patterson

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I'm not too sure but they aren't negative side effects it's just something I've felt but not always just a few times so maybe a placebo effect or something else I've taken. The closest thing I can relate it too is just like in a better mood but like I said it's only happened a couple of times so might be placebo.
Glad to hear it's helping your mood. I'm currently using XT and I notice an increase in mood and I feel that things don't bother me as quickly. I find that KSM-66 takes the edge off of my stress, especially when I'm stuck in traffic haha. Have you noticed an increase in recovery at all?
 
raul87

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Now that you mention i did feel I recovered faster especially that my diet was terrible for a few days and the drinking. I recently began doing rows (the ones when you only load up 1 side of the bar) and last week my back was dead the next day sore as balls. After my 2nd workout doing those I really wasn't sore at all and I did the same full back workout. My legs also felt like theyes recovered quicker from my heavy session and even doing pause reps for the first time ever
 
john.patterson

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Now that you mention i did feel I recovered faster especially that my diet was terrible for a few days and the drinking. I recently began doing rows (the ones when you only load up 1 side of the bar) and last week my back was dead the next day sore as balls. After my 2nd workout doing those I really wasn't sore at all and I did the same full back workout. My legs also felt like theyes recovered quicker from my heavy session and even doing pause reps for the first time ever
Awesome to hear your recovery is quicker. That's one of the components I enjoy most with Alphamax. I feel that the ZMA allows me to get better quality uninterrupted sleep, which has always translated to quicker recovery time for me. Enjoy your week and keep us updated!
 
raul87

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So for the past few days my shoulders have been hurting a bit moreso my right one. They also feel stiff when just doing every day things. I was wondering if this could be a compounded effect from my 3 weeks of ArA and now the Arimistane? Even with my right one feeling like that my shoulder workout was not hindered at all I was still dumbbell pressing the 90s like normal. This leads me to believen it's more of a joint pain than muscle. Thoughts?


On the side of losing fat my gym partner last night said he could that I'm getting smaller in the mid section are. He noticed it when I would come down on the bench that my body didn't "spread out" on the bench. We are very blunt with each other and tell each other the truth regarding our training and stuff. I'm trying to get him to join AM ****er can rep 365 on bench all day.
 
john.patterson

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So for the past few days my shoulders have been hurting a bit moreso my right one. They also feel stiff when just doing every day things. I was wondering if this could be a compounded effect from my 3 weeks of ArA and now the Arimistane? Even with my right one feeling like that my shoulder workout was not hindered at all I was still dumbbell pressing the 90s like normal. This leads me to believen it's more of a joint pain than muscle. Thoughts?


On the side of losing fat my gym partner last night said he could that I'm getting smaller in the mid section are. He noticed it when I would come down on the bench that my body didn't "spread out" on the bench. We are very blunt with each other and tell each other the truth regarding our training and stuff. I'm trying to get him to join AM ****er can rep 365 on bench all day.
Awesome update! Sounds like you are already benefiting from the effects of Alphamax. The shoulder pain could definitely be from the Arimistane. I notice that my shoulders and elbows always get achy when I use products containing Arimistane, so its definitely possible. Just make sure you're warming up properly and stretching before your heavy movements.

Excited to see how the rest of this cycle treats you brother - sounds like you're seeing great results already
 
raul87

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Well I hope it's nothing serious but my right shoulder just gave out while shoulder pressing the 100 and it hurt like hell trying to press the 40s to see what was going on. I decided to deadlifts after that to see how it felt and no problem at all went up to 460 and then repped 405, 365, and 315 no problem so it can hold the load. I'm gonna rest it for the rest of the night and see how it feels tomorrow
 
hairygrandpa

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raul87

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Well **** my shoulder hurts like a bit hard still whenever I lift my arm
 
john.patterson

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Well **** my shoulder hurts like a bit hard still whenever I lift my arm
What type of shoulder exercises are you doing? Does it hurt more during some exercises more than others?
 
raul87

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What type of shoulder exercises are you doing? Does it hurt more during some exercises more than others?
The regular like seated barbell press, db press, lateral raises, behind the back press. I'm at the gym right now testing movement and did a back workout and I was fine doing lat pull downs. Raising my arm to grab the bar was a bit painful but not too bad, I just went to the squat rack and was able to get under the bar fine minimal pain.
 
raul87

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So today was chest workout and with how my,shoulder is feeling I did a lot of stretching and then progressed slowly. I did a few sets of the bar, 95lbs, and thence 135 for warm ups and while it was stiff it was minor pain I had no problem pressing so decided to add more weight. I was being careful had my spotter for every set and he always followed me down on my first rep. Put up 185 and repped it shoulder felt stiff but still minor pain so I went up to 225lbs. I felt good my chest was feeling strong I had a nice pump going so I began doing sets of 10 with 225lbs which I stopped at 10 cause of my shoulder while I could have kept going the pain would increase after about 6-7 reps so I stopped at 10 didn't want to risk it did a total of about 5 sets. Incline benching was a bit more painful and I never went past 135 but still was able to rep it 15 times. Skullcrushers had no effect on my shoulder the only problem I had was that I couldn't lower myself on the bench with the bar on my chest my shoulder couldn't hold that load. So my buddy would just hand me the bar and I was able to go heavy no problem was doing the 45s plus whatever the curl bar weighs so about 100lbs. Tomorrow is leg day and we'll see how it does there
 
raul87

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Update
Shoulder is still hurting so took it easy today on chest day

I don't see much difference but I have lost a few lbs just got to keep at it. And yes I know I need to clean my mirror lol



 
raul87

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Damn ive been neglecting this thread since my Endur3 log went up I hope to bring a nice update come Monday. Considering adding Epitome and maybe Ammo to my stack.
 

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