Wimsicle takes on Booneman77's 5 day PHAT : 8-12 week CUT

[booneman77]

Yeah Idk what it is or maybe I'm not drinking enough water (electros are on point lol), but my friggen calves are always feeling owned. I spend more time in the day stretching / foam rolling them than I do eating I think haha. Deadlifts usually get them a bit too lol I try to jump off the floor

you really shouldn't be feeling them after deads... that would mean you're leaning wayyy too far forward. All the weight should be on the middle to heel of your foot, otherwise you're using too much back and not enough hams/glutes.

 

[Wimsicle]

you really shouldn't be feeling them after deads... that would mean you're leaning wayyy too far forward. All the weight should be on the middle to heel of your foot, otherwise you're using too much back and not enough hams/glutes.

Hmm I mean Its not where I mainly feel them. I make sure I engage my hams and glutes first prior to the lift. I have asked the trainers various times for form checks and they always say it's good. Haha honestly they get tight even when I'm sitting on a bench and doing upper body stuff

 

[Wimsicle]

I do play a lot of basketball too though

 

[booneman77]

Hmm I mean Its not where I mainly feel them. I make sure I engage my hams and glutes first prior to the lift. I have asked the trainers various times for form checks and they always say it's good. Haha honestly they get tight even when I'm sitting on a bench and doing upper body stuff

hmm thats interesting. Not a bad thing tho... can never ahve too much calf work (as I stand here at my standing desk doing calf raises now since you've made me self conscious haha)

 

[Wimsicle]

may as well post a leg pic for progress updates anyways lol. Not much striation anymore but they are getting stronger again haha

 

[Wimsicle]

hmm thats interesting. Not a bad thing tho... can never ahve too much calf work (as I stand here at my standing desk doing calf raises now since you've made me self conscious haha)

I'm am idiot and wasn't thinking lol but it hit me during my warm up why my calves are prob sore lol. I don't log my warm up but I do a mile walk at 4mph 12 inch Incline to start my workout haha

 

[Wimsicle]

Day 15:

Had one of those workouts today that is few and far between, but absolutely awesome. I didn't want to leave the gym and just kept busting out reps, extra sets, etc. Obviously can't do this every day, but I was just feeling it. Little story time on probably why...

I skipped workout yesterday because I took half the work day off to help my girlfriend move all of her heavy stuff from her apartment to a storage unit. Therefore I made up for it today. Anyways, last night an african-american friend of ours was graduating. The reason I specify is because last night I experienced my first true "african-american homestyle cooking". Holy frickin sh1t was it good lol. I was a wee bit drunk haha, hadn't eaten a ton thatr day, about 1k calories because I knew there was going to be food. Her grandma had been cooking for 7 hrs by the time I got there. Fried chicken, mac n cheese, collard greens, sweet cinnamon potatoes, cornbread, dinner rolls.. my goodness it was so delicious haha. I can't even remember how much I ate.. If i had Defuse and a GDA with me it would have been game over no ifs ands or butts about it. Regardless, woke up same weight on the scale today and head back home to knock out the workout. I'm attributing the awesome workout to the outstanding home cooking

Chest/Arms Hypertrophy:
DB Bench: 70 lbs (3 extra sets and an AMRAP)
Incline bench: 55lb (2 extra sets)
Hammer Press: 45lb
Machine Fly: 20lb each arm - through in tons of sets of these and dropped the weight to 15lb and did some more. They felt so good haha

Skull Crusher: 50lb
BB Curl: 50lb

DB overhead extension: 25lb
Inc Db curl: 25lb

Rope Pushdown: 50lb - extra sets extra long squeezes at the bottom
Cable curl: 20lb - extra sets, my arms felt awesome!

Forgot to take BMP today, but did take Meso. Also had some gatorate on my drive home so had some more carbs in my system... lol. Took ergonine intra and that was yummy. Nanaberry was super good. Kept adding water to dilute the strong flavor as the workout went on.

 

[Wimsicle]

Took yesterday off..my knee was killing me after going knee to knee with a guy in basketball late Sunday night.

Diet was kind of all over the place this weekend lol, been on the go a lot and didn't prepare well enough. Calories were kept in check though for the most part, and Protein was high still. Scale stayed the same all weekend, but wasn't in keto. Back in with a 2.3mmo/l measurement today.

Knee is feeling a little better today. Going to give Power legs a shot

 

[ECWHY]

Glad knee is feeling better! Got me hungry thinking of that fried chicken feast you had

 

[Wimsicle]

Glad knee is feeling better! Got me hungry thinking of that fried chicken feast you had

I think I could have eaten that every night, assuming I wasn't doing dishes haha

 

[Wimsicle]

Awesome workout today! Had a great day in general.. productive at work, productive in the gym. Knee is still bugging me, going to ice it the next few days and try and massage whatever is going on there out. When I was doing leg extension with weight it is clicking on the outside of the knee. Hopefully it heals up quick.

Legs Power:
Front Squat: 155 165 175 -- switched it up from back squat and went with front squat. Was really nice, and also nice hitting the abs a little differently
Deadlift: 275lb - felt heavier today, which stunk. My grip started to fail towards the end (double overhand) so I switched it up for the last 2 reps.
Leg Press: 455
Leg Extension: 135 125 115 - weird feeling in knee, powered through. Didn't hurt, just clicking.
Leg Curl: 130 110 90
Seated calf press (Hammer Strength): 130
Standing calf press: 10lb dumbell each hand

 

[Mowglisml]

^ not sure if u do or not but have you tried hook gripping? I do that when I feel my grip fading.

 

[Oconns28]

Awesome workout today! Had a great day in general.. productive at work, productive in the gym. Knee is still bugging me, going to ice it the next few days and try and massage whatever is going on there out. When I was doing leg extension with weight it is clicking on the outside of the knee. Hopefully it heals up quick.

Legs Power:
Front Squat: 155 165 175 -- switched it up from back squat and went with front squat. Was really nice, and also nice hitting the abs a little differently
Deadlift: 275lb - felt heavier today, which stunk. My grip started to fail towards the end (double overhand) so I switched it up for the last 2 reps.
Leg Press: 455
Leg Extension: 135 125 115 - weird feeling in knee, powered through. Didn't hurt, just clicking.
Leg Curl: 130 110 90
Seated calf press (Hammer Strength): 130
Standing calf press: 10lb dumbell each hand

Lol man sometimes I'd swear I'm reading my own numbers.
My last deadlifts the same happened. Then of course the same workout I went for the leg extensions but I had to reduce the weight because it was hurting my left knee. I was moving the seat around but couldn't find a spot that didn't hurt

 

[ECWHY]

I feel you on the grip. I use DOH, but on last 2 sets out of my 5, I could definitely not sustain it. Would use hook, but that **** hurts lol

 

[Wimsicle]

^ not sure if u do or not but have you tried hook gripping? I do that when I feel my grip fading.

I do not use hook usually both over hand and alternate when I struggle. Once I start putting 3 plates on each side I'll prob bring my straps. Lol

 

[Mowglisml]

I do not use hook usually both over hand and alternate when I struggle. Once I start putting 3 plates on each side I'll prob bring my straps. Lol

Oh ok.. yea i don't use straps for deads. I tried last week for the first time on deads cuz the weight felt real heavy towards the end of my sets and it just ruined my overall handling of the weight. I had to take them off. Just not use to them

 

[Wimsicle]

Oh ok.. yea i don't use straps for deads. I tried last week for the first time on deads cuz the weight felt real heavy towards the end of my sets and it just ruined my overall handling of the weight. I had to take them off. Just not use to them

For sure, I have a couple different sets of them. I does take some time getting used to but they feel good after!

 

[Wimsicle]

Day 17:

Another great workout yesterday. Mesomorph is really a wonderful preworkout. Always gets me itchin to get to the gym and bust the workout out. Really dialed in my macros yesterday and was down some lb's.

Adding Ergonine as an intra-workout has also helped I believe. At least, my lifts have been pretty stellar every since. Forgot to take my PWO dose of BMP though, just the morning dose. I do look more vascular during my lifts when I do have the BMP in my system pre it seems.

Power Upper:
BB B/O Row: 155lb - starting to get really nice squeezes
Pull up: 25lb assist
BB Press: 205lb
Dips: 10lb assist
Dumbell OH Press: 60lb each arm
Lateral Raise: 25lb each arm - kept form pretty good, constant tension at the bottom. Will try even heavier on my hypertrophy day
Skull Crusher: 50lb
BB Curl: 50lb

 

[BEAST73]

SUB!

 

[Wimsicle]

Welcome aboard Beast!

 

[BEAST73]

Welcome aboard Beast!

Thanks Brother!

 

[Wimsicle]

Back/Shoulder Hypertrophy:
T Bar Row: 275lb
Cable row: 120lb
Lat Pulldown: 120lb
Underhand Pulldown: 90lb
Neutral Row Machine: 85lb 70lb 55lb
OHP: 95lb
Lateral Raise: 30lb each arm - little trap work in there too
Zavickas Press: 70lb EZ Bar - going to go up next week
Shoulder press: 25 15 10lb

Awesome workout yesterday. Took a friggen while though lol. Really starting to feel my back get stronger. I'll post a few pics (I am terrible at flexing it let alone with a phone in my hand haha so don't dog me too bad )

 

[Wimsicle]

 

[Wimsicle]

As far as today's workout went..

I did 20 min on the treadmill fasted on 2x EC dose and 1x Y dose. The free weight side of the gym was under construction today so I did..

Leg Press: 4x25 345lb
Leg extension : 130lb
Leg curl: 130lb
Abductors: drop set from 180 down
Aductors: drop set from 180 down
Tons of core work: blanks, leg raises, side bends, etc..

Was a good workout despite not having the squat machines and barbells and stuff available

Edit: I am going to PSMF macros today since tomorrow I'm going to the gmas for mothers day stuff and I have a good feeling my discipline will wain. Lol

 

[Wimsicle]

No workout today. I am bringing my handy dandy Defuse and Slintensity to my grandma's for a big mother's day feast with the family we will see what's for food first prior to deciding to have a large cheat or not. I hate cheating on days that I don't workout

 

[Oconns28]

No workout today. I am bringing my handy dandy Defuse and Slintensity to my grandma's for a big mother's day feast with the family we will see what's for food first prior to deciding to have a large cheat or not. I hate cheating on days that I don't workout

Do a few push-ups and sit-ups, boom you're covered! Enjoy the food! Lol

 

[BEAST73]

Nice Back!!

 

[Wimsicle]

Nice Back!!

Appreciate it man! Needs lots of work but it's a start and finally feeling the connection with it feels great

 

[Wimsicle]

Another PSMF day for me. Macros were: 235g protein (chicken, protein powder), 10g fat (fish oil and a few jalepeno stuffs green olives), 8g carbs (broccoli and spinach).
I fasted until after my workout. Workout was around 5pm and finished up around 6:30pm. Felt great all day. My hunger is so minimal while on this cut and especially with the EC stack. I made sure I loaded up on electrolytes PWO, took half scoop of meso, and ergonine intra.

I have some Radiate on the way and will incorporate that as my pwo on days rather than meso. Not entirely sure what to expect, but I know it is a way different feeling. Hoping to sweat my arse off and have good sustained energy.

The stims have really been f'ing with my sleep. I have a hard time falling asleep before midnight right now and lay wide awake in bed and annoyed that I can't fall asleep. It's so weird, I will be yawning and body is tired, but my brain feels wired and wide awake. Not sure with my training schedule what I can change up other than not taking a pre workout or getting a non-stim pre-workout.. Or I just suck it up and sleep a little less. Regardless, progress is going well and my brothers were really noticing my progress.

I'm thinking another few weeks of cutting and I will be ready to try and put on a little size over the next several months. Going to take the slow approach of lean gains as to have minimal fat gain, but I just wanted to get the conversation started. I have never truly dieted while incorporating carbs.. always been a Keto cut guy, and a dirty bulk / flexible try and eat healthy / not track macros 'bulk' if you will.

I am interested in trying to incorporate carbs for the build, as I do believe it is the right way for building lean mass, but I know it is possible with keto as well. Not only have I seen it first hand with my old coach, but there are studies that prove it (bayesian bodybuilding, etc.) Looking for input there.

For the sake of convo as well, I won the PES stash deal, which is awesome and i'm getting a bottle of ABE. I will definitely be running ABE and BMP, and was thinking about X-gels as well for the trifecta. That is relatively expensive though. I was thinking about running ABE+BMP+X-gels for 1 month, and then ABE+X-gels for another month. Afterward, keep up on the forskolin-95, ergogenic, and the staples. I have 2 bottles of PES Genoflex as well on hand as I heard X-gels can be hard on the joints (I think it was X-gels)

Anywho, on to the workout..

Power Lower:
10 minutes walk 7inch incline
3x25 45lb dumbell swings (was waiting for squat rack lol)
Front Squat: 175lb
Deadlift: 225lb explosive reps, pausing at the bottom
Leg Press: 405
Leg Extension: machine was broken, so I replaced it with another machine that works the quads. Its a standing machine where you put 1 foot up and push backwards for full extension. It was a nice drop set for sure.
Leg Curl: 130 110 90
Seated calf press: 150
Standing calf press: BW

 

[Wimsicle]

April 18 to May 16 progress update (roughly 1 month) :

 

[Mowglisml]

Great progress man!

 

[booneman77]

Definitely looking much leaner, especially in the chest area!

 

[Wimsicle]

double post .. got the spinning wheel of death haha

 

[Wimsicle]

Great progress man!

Thanks man!

Definitely looking much leaner, especially in the chest area!

Thanks! I would love some input on my post above (#129) if you have some time to answer. If not, no worries

 

[Mowglisml]

Do you take any zma? This might help with winding down at night help u sleep.

 

[Wimsicle]

Do you take any zma? This might help with winding down at night help u sleep.

Hmm I do not. I do take magnesium citrate and that does help sometimes. I also have a product called snoozecontrol by another keto advocate that does help me get to sleep but the last time i took it I woke up in the middle of the night wide awake for a good half hour. Maybe it was just a weird coincidence though

 

[Mowglisml]

Try out some zma. Generally inexpensive. It might be what u need. The magnesium aspartame in zma might be diff? Not sure

 

[Wimsicle]

Try out some zma. Generally inexpensive. It might be what u need. The magnesium aspartame in zma might be diff? Not sure

Yeah it may be. I think I have some ON ZMA I can add in.

 

[booneman77]

Thanks man!


Thanks! I would love some input on my post above (#129) if you have some time to answer. If not, no worries

Sorry, I rushed through the post earlier and missed the question parts ha.

For the sleep issues, I've gotta say lowering the sims is almost certainly the best course. There's some really good lower stim pre's (not nec non stim) out including the new Quake (personal fav of mine) and focus xt (which has like 200mg caff in the ref but also non stim if you wanna control the caff even more).

For the stack, that looks great. The xgels can cause some joint pain but not everyone gets it. If you do get some, make sure to dose the anti inflamms as far away from the ara as possible since the inflammation is the MOA of ara and you'll blunt it.

Diet wise, it's all trial and error. For me, higher carbs def adds mass faster, but I add fat faster, get hungry more often, and generally have to eat less which sucks for me since I'm a huge volume eater and already have super low bulking cals as is. I love adding carbs but it's a giant game of give and take with them for me.

 

[Wimsicle]

Sorry, I rushed through the post earlier and missed the question parts ha.

For the sleep issues, I've gotta say lowering the sims is almost certainly the best course. There's some really good lower stim pre's (not nec non stim) out including the new Quake (personal fav of mine) and focus xt (which has like 200mg caff in the ref but also non stim if you wanna control the caff even more).

For the stack, that looks great. The xgels can cause some joint pain but not everyone gets it. If you do get some, make sure to dose the anti inflamms as far away from the ara as possible since the inflammation is the MOA of ara and you'll blunt it.

Diet wise, it's all trial and error. For me, higher carbs def adds mass faster, but I add fat faster, get hungry more often, and generally have to eat less which sucks for me since I'm a huge volume eater and already have super low bulking cals as is. I love adding carbs but it's a giant game of give and take with them for me.

No problem man, I realized it was a big wall of text lol and doesn't totally pertain to this log.. but since I got ya here I may as well ask

I was planning on incorporating my carbs around my workout (pre and post), but not doing carbs every day. I like how I feel more not on carbs. Or, save them for the cheat meals that seem to happen more than planned, haha.

I have been looking into the Quake 10.0 non-stim and it looks very promising. I just bought some Radiate though... so I'll see how that effects me first. My wallet only runs so deep

As far as the Xgels goes, i'm going to assume MOA means method of administration? Guessing there, but assuming the inflammation is important to the growth. I will read more on Xgels before using it. Would it be best to wait on Genoflex then and see if Xgels bugs my joints? The reason I wanted to start it is because my knees have been bugging me a lot lately and I wanted to see if this helped. I haven't read up on Xgels dosing yet anyways, still got some time for that.

Would you recommend running that stack that way? All 3 first month, then 2nd month just ABE and Xgels? I have seen people that do ABE weeks 1-4, then ABE+Xgels 4-12, etc. Just curious on your thoughts / experience

Thanks!

 

[booneman77]

No problem man, I realized it was a big wall of text lol and doesn't totally pertain to this log.. but since I got ya here I may as well ask

I was planning on incorporating my carbs around my workout (pre and post), but not doing carbs every day. I like how I feel more not on carbs. Or, save them for the cheat meals that seem to happen more than planned, haha.

I have been looking into the Quake 10.0 non-stim and it looks very promising. I just bought some Radiate though... so I'll see how that effects me first. My wallet only runs so deep

As far as the Xgels goes, i'm going to assume MOA means method of administration? Guessing there, but assuming the inflammation is important to the growth. I will read more on Xgels before using it. Would it be best to wait on Genoflex then and see if Xgels bugs my joints? The reason I wanted to start it is because my knees have been bugging me a lot lately and I wanted to see if this helped. I haven't read up on Xgels dosing yet anyways, still got some time for that.

Would you recommend running that stack that way? All 3 first month, then 2nd month just ABE and Xgels? I have seen people that do ABE weeks 1-4, then ABE+Xgels 4-12, etc. Just curious on your thoughts / experience

Thanks!

you could do your diet like I do and have 1 planned day heavy with carbs (I choose saturday cuz its the weekend, and between my two heaviest workouts - power pull and power legs). I personally enjoy that.

MOA = method of action/activity - ArA works by increasing the inflammation caused during a workout (when you lift, you actually create micro tears in the muscle which causes teh body to react by growing them to "make sure" that doesnt happen again ha) the increased damage during a workout should lead to an increased response by the body to build the damaged muscles. This is why they always say "you dont grow in the gym, you grow outside when you eat and rest". The inflammation can cause some joint pains for people though but as long as you're dosing your anti inflammatory as far away as you can (say firs thing AM for a late afternoon workout) its not a big deal. You just dont want to take them together as it could cause some hindrance to the ArA's effects since its a direct contradiction.

For the stack, x gels are suggested to be a 50 (workout) day run to reap the full benefits so that would pretty much take you the full 2 months of ABE. They have some synergy so running them both at the same time is the way to go for sure.

Check out "the arachidonic acid help guide" thread on here. Its like 208572458720475 pages, but the first post covers almost all the good stuff about ara.

 

[BEAST73]

Looking Good Brother!!

 

[Wimsicle]

Awesome dude, really appreciate the insight. I will definitely check that out!

 

[ECWHY]

Awesome progress, looking great

 

[Wimsicle]

Alright, huge update.. sorry for the lack of updates lately! No real excuse other than getting busy on the boards and an extended long weekend with the lady.

5/16 - Power Upper:
BB B/O Row: 135 warm up, 185lb sets
Pull Ups: 25lb assist
Incline BP: 185lb
Chest Dips: 25lb assist
OHP: 100lb
Lateral Raise: 25lb
Skull Crusher: 50lb
BB Curl: 50lb

5/17 - Back/Shoulders Hypertophy:
T bar Row: 275lb
Lat Pulldown: 120lb
Cable row: 120lb
Underhand Pulldown: 85lb 100lb
Neutral Row: 85 75 65
OHP: 100lb
Lateral Raise: 25lb
Z Press: 80lb
Hammer Shoulder Press: 25lb 15lb 10lb

5/18 - Lower Hypertrophy :
Squat: 225 5x5, 1x10 (feeling strong there lol, had to post reps)
RDL: 185lb
Leg Press: 405lb
Leg Curl: 130lb
Leg Extension: 130lb
Sit Calf: 150lb
Standing Calf: 10lb dumbells

5/19 - Chest/Arms Hypertrophy:
DB Bench: 75
Incline DB Bench: 60
Hammer Press: 40
Machine fly: 20s
Skull Crusher: 50
DB Overhead Ex: 25
Inc DB Curl: 25
Rope pushdown: 42.5
Cable curl: 20s

Saw Guardians of the Galaxy, awesome movie! Doing some camping/hiking this upcoming weekend for memorial day weekend. Should be a good week or training, diet, and a fun weekend!

 

[BEAST73]

Nice Workout Brother!!

 

[Wimsicle]

So I have decided to continue cutting until the weekend of June 17th/18th. I will be going to a country music festival that weekend, followed by a work vacation with my girlfriend in D.C. the following week. Upon getting back, I think I am going to start the ABE/X-Gels/BMP combo run, in which I will start a new log for. I will probably continue the same workout plan, and start getting that all dialed in and set up as time gets closer. We will see though, I want to be satisfied with my cut before I start that.

Going to be running my bottle of Evomuse Brite 3x per day up until its empty, continue to alternate EC and Radiate as my 'thermo', and keep training/dieting hard. I had a bad diet weekend, but I am back in the game today. Training hasn't fallen and lifts continue to go well. I am excited to push myself upcoming here!

Yesterdays workout:

Power Lower:
10 minutes walk @12in incline
Back Squat: 245lb
Deadlift: 275lb explosive reps, pausing at the bottom
Leg Press: 405
Leg Extension: 130 110 100
Leg Curl: 130 110 90
Seated calf press: 150
Standing calf press: BW

 

[BEAST73]

Awesome Workout and I like your plan!

 

[Wimsicle]

Big update for this weeks workouts once again. Sorry I haven't been posting them daily, but everything is going well! I am starting to plan out my future dieting and supplements which is about as much energy as I can give after work+workout, haha. Plus between browsing the boards on my phone throughout the day, sometimes I just forget

5/23 - Power Upper:
Bench Press - 185, 195, 225, 195 - 225 felt great and strong. Had a spotter so I said F it lets go for it. Got it pretty easy, last rep was a bit harder
Pull Ups: 25lb assist
Chest Dips: 25lb assist
BB B/O Row: 135 warm up, 185lb sets
OHP: 105lb
Lateral Raise: 30lb - goin UP!
Skull Crusher: 50lb
BB Curl: 50lb

5/24 - Back/Shoulders Hypertophy:
T bar Row: 275lb
Lat Pulldown: 120lb
Cable row: 120lb
Underhand Pulldown: 85lb 100lb
Neutral Row: 85 75 65
OHP: 105lb
Lateral Raise: 25lb
Z Press: 80lb
Hammer Shoulder Press: 25lb 15lb 10lb

5/25 - Lower Hypertrophy:
Front Squat: 155lb
RDL: 185lb
Leg Press: 465lb
Leg Curl: 130lb
Leg Extension: 130lb
Sit Calf: 170lb
Standing Calf: 10lb dumbells

Side notes:
Really excited about my progress. The scale hasn't moved a whole ton, I continue to yo-yo between 192 and 195 depending on sodium, carbs, etc the night before. But overall, I am pretty happy with my progress and I am not 'killin' myself so to speak tracking every single thing that goes in. But I am constantly keeping protein high, carbs lower, and calories in check.

Ironically, I used to not like doing back workouts as I had a really hard time making the connection with them. However, since starting this program... I am really loving it. It is probably my favorite day now!

 

[Mowglisml]

I agree with your back workout comment! The 6 day program also gives me this.