Cylon357's Super Cool Covid 2020 Weight loss comp log!

[Cylon357]

Squat day to start week 5 of 5!

But man, it wasn't much more than squats.

Barbell squats, 2x10 breathing rep sets. Little pig, little pig, let me in!

Because I was huffin' and puffin' like the Big Bad Wolf himself when he came to that brick house.

♫ She's a brick.... howwwwse ♫

Anyhow...

I set up the land mine attachment and did land mine rows, 4x8-10, really focusing on the lats and middle back.

3x20 calf raises off the block.

3x8-12 leg curls.

1 mile walk to warm up, about 2 at the end for LISS and all is good!

[Cylon357]

Bench day of week 5.

It was low volume but medium high intensity

Barbell bench, 10, 6, 6 work sets. The 10 was a stretch goal, the 2 6s were too.

Ez curl bar curls super setted with over head tricep presses, 3x10-15 of each.

That was it.

1 mile walk to warm up, about 1.5 at the end for LISS.

Life is good!

[Cylon357]

Week 5 is almost in the books! I have a MetCon tomorrow, but today was combo deadlift / back / shoulders.

Deadlift 4 work sets, all 6's.

BTW, I think I said it before, but maaaaaannnnnn, those figure 8 straps, they just take the grip right out of the equation on pulling movements. I don't use them until I get to my top sets, but they definitely work.

Barbell row, 4x10 with the parallel handles. That makes the grip easier, avoids too much aggravation of the golfer's elbow, and increases range of motion just enough to really get the middle back that little extra.

Over head press, 4 work sets, all 8s there.

Shrugs, 3x10 with light weight.

That was all in the tank today.

1 mile walk to warm up, about 1.5 for LISS at the end.

Everything is groovy, Jack (and Jill)!

[Cylon357]

Nobody: how does your day look, Cylon?

Me: let me get back to you in a little bit.

[Cylon357]

Nobody: how does your day look, Cylon?

Me: let me get back to you in a little bit.

I ended up doing some work on my last day before deload.

1 mile walk

6 90 second rounds, divided into 30 seconds each of:
16 lb hammer strikes
8 lb hammer strikes
40 lb ball slams

30 seconds of rest between rounds.

Then a mile walk to cool down, and by "cool down" I mean "try not to puke or pass out in front of the neighbors". Mission accomplished in that regard.

I did another 1.25 miles later in the evening, to end up with a total of like 11k steps on the day.

Below is my heart rate from the device during the metcon. Note that valley early on is likely where the fitbit lost signal or something.

Now, on to active recovery!

[Cylon357]

Just a couple of long walks so far this week. 2.5 miles each. Today I will do a light weight workout, maybe one tomorrow or Saturday.

At 55, I like these deload weeks.

[Cylon357]

I actually DID get a couple of workouts in this week. One on Thursday which was light legs and back. Then one on Saturday, which was basically a vanity workout of shoulders, bis and tris. Nice pump!

Today is off, except I am waiting to donate blood.

Next work cycle starts tomorrow!

[stocky121]

I actually DID get a couple of workouts in this week. One on Thursday which was light legs and back. Then one on Saturday, which was basically a vanity workout of shoulders, bis and tris. Nice pump!

Today is off, except I am waiting to donate blood.

Next work cycle starts tomorrow!

You get paid for donating in the states?

[Cylon357]

You get paid for donating in the states?

Not exactly, but it does depend on where you are and probably blood type and type of donation. I got a t-shirt and a 20 dollar gift card for my whole blood donation today, oh and a cookie and Gatorade lol. But, I get something out of it too, like lowering rbc and hematocrit a bit, so, as long as I get a good phlebotomist, it's all good.

[stocky121]

Not exactly, but it does depend on where you are and probably blood type and type of donation. I got a t-shirt and a 20 dollar gift card for my whole blood donation today, oh and a cookie and Gatorade lol. But, I get something out of it too, like lowering rbc and hematocrit a bit, so, as long as I get a good phlebotomist, it's all good.

20 dollars is nice. I donate and we don’t get anything but we do get a tea or coffee and a biscuit after.

[Cylon357]

Week 1, Day one. Squat day.

Barbell squats, 1x15 breathing set, then 2x8 narrow stance, 2x8 wide stance. 8 sets total.

Set up the land mine attachment and did land mine rows, 1x12, 3x10.

Set up a different land mine attachment and did calf raises off the 3" block, 2x25, 1x20 (cause they were feeling it on the last set).

4x8-12 Leg curls, sandwiching 3x10-15 leg extensions.

That doesn't seem lot a lot of work, but after that breathing set, man, I was sweating like a <favorite euphemism here>

I was going to do some MetCon, but after the squats my low back was a bit chatty, so I just did a 2 mile walk for LISS.

There is a good chance I will be walking like Fred Sanford come Wednesday, let's see where that lands.

Everything is awesome!

[Booz]

Nice log Cy keep it up!

[Cylon357]

Nice log Cy keep it up!

Thanks! I think I'm too old and set in my ways to stop now!

[Cylon357]

2.5 mile walk today at lunch.

As an aside, I'm giving cardarine a little bit of a go. I'll keep us posted on that.

Running 150mg / 150mg test c and mast e at the moment, 2iu hgh PM x 5days, my regular 750iu hcg. I will switch out the mast e for p in a couple of weeks, and drop down to like 75 or so for October. Test still the same, 150mg per week is basically my trt dose.

[Cylon357]

Had a rough night of sleep Tuesday night, so Wednesdays bench workout suffered. But, as usual, I still got SOMETHING done.

Just not as much as I would have liked.

Lots of barbell benching was the word of the day.

Work sets of 6, 2, 8, 8. The 6 and 8s were with the same weight, the 2 was a stretch goal. I wanted like 5 on it, but knew that was pushing it. Eh, I will sleep better and attack it again next time.

I do take some consolation in the knowledge that even 2 years ago, that same weight was not doable, except MAYBE on the best of days, for maybe a single. So, I call getting a solid double on a bad day progress overall.

Bis and tris were next, 2x12 dumbbell curls, 2x8 close grip bench. So if I could have worked bis in the bench somehow, it would have been all bench press lol

2 mile walk for LISS at the end.

Something is better than nothing, I reckon.

[Cylon357]

Friday deadlift / back workout was GOOD!

Is cardarine for real? Let's discuss!

But not right now, I got stuff to do and things to eat. Details later...

[Cylon357]

Deadlifts on Friday. Man, I felt strong and like I had additional reps (more on that in a bit)

Deadlifts to start, 4 sets only, all 6s, progressively heavier. I really just use deadlifts to warm up the CNS and muscles most of the time now, though it has been the bulk of my workouts in the past. That might happen occasionally going forward, but I also like having gas in the tank after them for the rest of the workout.

Barbell rows, 4x8-10. First set was ten with a regular grip, next 3 were with parallel handles, last two with straps 8, 8, 10.

Hip thrusters, using the heavy bag as back support. (No, I'm NOT using the heavy bag to punch right now, the golfers elbow prevents it right now). 3x10-12, progressively heavier.

Calf raises, 3x28, alternated with 4x6-8 pullups. The pull-ups were where I really felt the extra gas in the tank. Could it have been just being in week 1 and thus not tired? Could it have been just a good day or maybe the cardarine at play? IDK, we will discuss more shortly.

1 mile walk to warm up, about that to cool down. Plus, I did about a mile and a half upon waking yesterday, more on that shortly too.

[Cylon357]

Saturday was over head press day.

I'm going to try 4 days a week rather than the rolling 3 days I was doing, at least for a bit.

Barbell over head press, 8, 6, 8, 8 were the work sets.

Barbell shrugs, with the parallel handles 4x 10-12.

Dumbbell curls, 3x 10, super setted with pushdowns, 3x12-15.

Reverse cable flyes, 3x12, cable flyes, 3x10 and dumbbell laterals, 3x10. SORT OF a tri set, but not really, if you know you know.

1 mile walk to warm up, 1.5 at the end for LISS.

No cardarine today, more details tomorrow.

Life is good!

[Cylon357]

Okay, so about that cardarine...

First off, I know what that the studies imply: cardarine can increase the risk of cancer. Those studies involved the equivalent of human dosing at 60 to 100mg per day for 3 years. So, yeah, lets just put that aside for a moment. You do you, I'm going to do me.

I have tried doses of 6mg and 3mg per day. Both doses seem to increase exercise capacity and bring a little bit of insomnia. That last part shouldn't be too surprising: a cricket can fart in the wind and it will disrupt my sleep.

I have only done maybe 4 or 5 doses. The lower dose seems to impact my sleep less. I mention the number of doses for completeness and to acknowledge the possibility of placebo.

There are 2 days where I feel like it may have helped my exercise, both from this week. One was squat day, the other deadlift day. Those were both 3mg doses, in the AM, about 10 hours before workout. Both days I felt like I had plenty of gas in the tank, though it wasn't until deadlift day that I started to think that maybe it was REALLY working. I tried 6mg on Tuesday (a non workout day) and slept like garbage that night. So, I didn't use it Wednesday (bench day) or Thursday (off day).

A slight wrinkle is that this is my first week back after a deload, and I'm always stronger and ready to go that first week. Could that explain the extra reps? Yeah, maybe.

I started taking the cardarine because of the "extra rep" effect and the fact that some studies indicate it can positively impact cholesterol numbers. The plan had been to use it through the end of masteron usage, which will be through October.

A little early to tell if it really works, but it seems positive right now. Next week will give a little better info. I plan on trying the 3mg dose on workout days.

More details later...

[Cylon357]

Squat day yesterday yay!

It wasn't as strong as last week's squat workout, BUT, still not bad. I was feeling tired and also did not use any cardarine. I also was excited about jury duty on Tues /sarcasm

Barbell squats, 2x10 with last week's 1x15 weight.

Calf raises, 3x25.

Lat pulldowns, 3x10, really focused on feeling it.

I think that was it.

[tarmyg]

Cardarine, this is when I love the new
LLMs like ChatGPT. A few questions later and information is provided. Sometimes more and less accurately [emoji23]

—-
Certainly, I understand your inquiry is for research purposes.

Regarding human trials with Cardarine (GW501516):

1. **Lipid Profile & Insulin Sensitivity**: A study published in 2008 in "The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism" found that Cardarine improved the lipid profile and insulin sensitivity in healthy individuals. In the study, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and APOB levels decreased, while HDL cholesterol increased. Insulin sensitivity also showed improvement.

2. **Obesity**: Cardarine was shown to potentially help reverse diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance in humans, suggesting potential therapeutic benefits for metabolic disorders.

3. **Cardiovascular Health**: Some human trials have suggested that Cardarine may have benefits for cardiovascular health, particularly in improving endothelial function, but more robust data is needed.

4. **Fat Oxidation**: Another study indicated that Cardarine can increase fat oxidation in men with pre-diabetes, suggesting it might help with fat loss or metabolic flexibility.

While these initial human trials indicated potential benefits in metabolic and cardiovascular health, the long-term safety concerns, especially the potential for cancer risk observed in rodent models, outweighed the perceived benefits for many researchers and regulatory agencies.

Remember, the number of human studies on Cardarine is limited, and further research would be needed to comprehensively understand its effects on humans, both beneficial and adverse.

In the clinical trials conducted on humans, the dosages of Cardarine (GW501516) varied based on the objectives of the study and the duration of the trial. Here are some specifics:

1. **Lipid Profile & Insulin Sensitivity**: In the study published in "The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism" in 2008 that I previously mentioned, participants were given 2.5 mg, 5 mg, or 10 mg of Cardarine per day for a period of 2-6 weeks.

2. **Fat Oxidation**: In a study that looked into the effects of Cardarine on fat oxidation in pre-diabetic men, the dosage was 10 mg per day.

3. **Endurance**: In some studies examining the endurance-enhancing effects of Cardarine, dosages ranged from 5 mg to 20 mg per day.

It's important to note that while these dosages were used in clinical studies, they may not necessarily be indicative of dosages used by individuals outside of a research setting. Furthermore, the duration of these trials was relatively short, and longer-term effects at these dosages are not well-known.

[Cylon357]

This month is trying to be "Shit on Cy's Head September" before it ends. It got me, at least a little, in this last week.

I got called for jury duty and had to report Tuesday. I made it through 3 rounds of call outs before getting called. They took 48 of us up to the court room, and the process began.

This is going to be boring, BTW, kind of like the normal update.

They seat us all in the courtroom. As you walk in, there are pews near the door, maybe 5 rows on either side of the walking aisle. There is a maybe 30" tall wall between the first row and the court floor, I guess you call it, with a small swinging gate in the middle. On the other side of that wall, are the attorneys desks and attorneys. To our right is the defense team, on the left the prosecution. There is an open area maybe 10'x10' roughly with a podium in it where the attorneys will ask their questions. In the left corner is the judges desk area, where he sits. Towards the right corner are the jury box, witness stand, and another door. We eventually learn that the other door leads to the deliberation chambers.

They get us seated and the judge starts explaining things, law vs feeling, reasonable doubt, etc. He then asks if anyone has doctors appointments, travel plans, etc. A few people speak up and he considers what they say. After about an hour, he gives us a break, and asks 3 people to remain behind. We later find out that those 3 people have been excused.

They bring us back in, and the prosecution begins their questioning, trying to find the "right" jurors, whatever that means. And of course they start their questioning with yours truly. I was like dammit, man, what, do I have like a big on "I'm a good juror" sign on? Something about do I understand the difference between "evidence" and "testimony", then before I answer she explains it. I guess that helped, because then she asked "what is evidence?" I said "things". "What is testimony?" was met with "words". I wasn't even trying to be snarky at all. Don't do that in court, it does NOT help. Anyhow, it was good enough.

Another 45 minutes of questioning and we get our lunch break.

When they bring us back, the defense gets their go at us. Once again, he starts with yours truly. I was like "mutha fucka". Anyhow, he asked something about burden of proof and the assumption of innocence, I said something to the extent of "The prosecution is unequivocally and absolutely required to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt" and almost immediately regretted it, because he was like "ok good" and moved on to the next person.

Another hour of that, they give us a break of about 20 minutes while they select the jury, 6 primary and 1 alternate.

They call us back in, and make their selections. I was the sixth name they called, so I felt like I had a chance of escaping, then nope, you doing this.

More details in a moment, this is a fricking novel.

[Cylon357]

After they made their selections, they start explaining the case to us. It is basically a domestic violence thing, the defendant will not be testifying, and there are only 3 witnesses and 2 pieces of evidence. This takes us to about 5:15p the first day, so they dismiss us and send us home, to report back at 8:45 the next morning.

Thursday, we all report back and eventually start hearing the case. Without too many details, basically some dude got drunk and was threatening his wife, so she called 911. The police show up and he won't let them in, and won't let his wife come out to them. There are two officers on the scene and after one of them asks "maam, do you need help?" and she responds with "yes I do", it's game on. The officers kick in the door, handcuff the defendant and throw him on the floor. We got to see most of that from one of the officers' body cam.

This is way too long a story so far lol, the short of it is that we could only find the defendant guilty of failing to comply with an officers orders. He was probably drunk, they had been married for 30 years, and this was almost certainly not the first time this type of thing had happened. That is the WAYYYY shortened version of the story BTW, and deliberation was tense, like nerves shot, shaky hands tense. We weren't ugly with each other, just very focused on doing the right thing. Note that "the right thing" means what is legal, not what seems morally just. That's the type of shit that weakened my immune system just enough, so that combined with being around about 1000 unwashed heathens in the waiting area the day before, contributed to me picking up this sinus infection.

So, this week was kind of shot after Monday, but hopefully this head cold will go away and I can pick back up in earnest on Monday. I COULD try to train through it, but that almost never works out well for me, and it really is helpful to be able to breathe without obstruction, so there is that.

Life is good overall, tho!

[stocky121]

Never been called up for jury duty. Don’t think I’d want to.

[Cylon357]

Almost certainly going to be back at it tomorrow.

Dropping the cardarine, it seems to mess with my heart rate while sleeping.

Dropping back to a near TRT dose of 100mg test c and 50mg primobolan. I normally run just 150mg test c as my trt, but with the finasteride in place, my estrogen gets a little too high. I don't want to incorporate an AI, hopefully primo at 1 part primo to 2 parts test will do the job and not muck up my bloodwork.

Yes, I KNOW that is barely any primo, but it's (hopefully) better than a dedicated AI.

[Cylon357]

It's Monday Night Raw / WAR ZONE, b!tches!

Not really, but Cylon is back in the game.

I'm treating this as sort of a deload week to get back into it after being sick. I don't rush things, I'm too old for that shizzle.

Squat day.

Barbell squat. Really, I just scaled back a bit, not quite a deload, but not a full week either. Instead of doing 3x10 with my work weight, I did 1x10. Instead of 1x wide stance and 1x narrow stance, I did a set of 10, half of which was wide, half of which was narrow.

You get it, right? Just STFU, Cylon, we get it!

Barbell calf raises, 3x20. Balance was an issue tonight, but I also noticed slight cramping in one of my calves. I didn't think much of it, but foreshadowing is a thing...

Started doing shoulder width pull downs, got 1x12. On the second set, on the first rep, my right forearm cramped up big time. I tried to work through it, but basically when the forearms and biceps really met, that was the point of "holy shit cramp me up, mo fo!"

I tried doing a couple of different variations, and eventually settled on wide parallel grip pull ups, 3x6-8.

Leg curls and leg extensions, sort of super sets, 3x12-18 on the curls, 3x15-20 on the extensions.

1 mile walk to warm up, legit 2 miles for LISS at the end, and all is good!

[Cylon357]

2.5 mile walk today at lunch, semi fasted,in a scooch under 40 minutes.

[wango]

2.5 mile walk today at lunch, semi fasted, and a scotch under 40 minutes.

All fixed!

[Cylon357]

Nice little bench workout yesterday. This deload thing could catch on...

Barbell bench, idk maybe 3 work sets, same weight just fewer reps.

Tried to do skull crushers for the first time in 3 months, got almost 1 set done before the tendinitis kicked in. Changed to pushdowns super setted with bicep curls, 3x12 each.

Cable flyes and cable reverse flyes, 2x10to12 each.

That was it.

1 mile walk to warm up, 2 at the end for LISS.

Today is an official off day, maybe I will make 3k steps? Idk, let see...

[Cylon357]

Dead lift / back day, super easy. Low intensity and low volume.

Deadlifts, 4x6 total.

Rows with the 45 degree handle grips, 3x8, sort of super setted with 3x5 chin ups.

2x 20 calf raises.

I got in a 2 mile walk early this morning and usually my strength is down when I do any form of LISS in the AM. That was probably the case today, but it was ok, dealoading and all.

Almost 12k steps today!

[Cylon357]

Saturday night is alright!

For that deload overhead press workout, that is.

Kept intensity low, started with barbell overhead press, maybe 4 sets total.

Barbell shrugs, 4x12

Overhead tricep cable presses, 3x12-18, super setted with dumbbell curls, 3x12.

Tried to do single hand cross body, high to low cable flyes, but that was daft. It's OK, sometimes you just gotta try things.

I did do a couple of sets of single arm reverse cable laterals,, 2x10, super setted with dumbbell laterals, 2x10.

About a mile walk to warm up, and same to cool down.

Life is good!

[Cylon357]

As an aside, I'm having some extra trouble sleeping, especially this past week. I'm going to drop to 100 test and 50 NPP for a bit to see if that helps or hurts. It seems like some of the DHTs mess with my sleep, maybe primo was doing that. Some, not all, though. Anavar, yes. Proviron, no. Masteron, no. Primo, maybe.

I'm also going to drop the finasteride while on that trt level dose... I'm hoping that replacing some of the test with NPP will eliminate the crazy amounts of DHT that I seem to convert.

[Cylon357]

Monday night squat workout!

Barbell squat, work sets were 3x10 with 60 to 90 seconds between sets, with my 15 rep breathing weight. Nice sweat and huffing and puffing!

Dropped weight and did 2x10 narrow stance squats.

Barbell calf raises 3x30

Chin ups, various widths, 3x6. I probably had 8s, but kept it conservative tonight.

Leg curls and leg extensions super sets, 3x10-15 each.

MISS consisted of:
2 minutes tread mill run
30 seconds rest
2 minutes climber
30 seconds rest

3 sets of that, so 12 work minutes. Some intervals in there, but not as much as maybe next week will have

[Cylon357]

2.5 mile walk in right at 37:30 for that magical 15 minute mile I think a lot of us... "height challenged" individuals shoot for. Fasted, 2iu hgh before walking, now breakfast and a shower before my work day starts...

[stocky121]

2.5 mile walk in right at 37:30 for that magical 15 minute mile I think a lot of us... "height challenged" individuals shoot for. Fasted, 2iu hgh before walking, now breakfast and a shower before my work day starts...

Shit cy are you vertically challenged to? I feel your pain man

[Cylon357]

Shit cy are you vertically challenged to? I feel your pain man

I'm 5'7" on a good day lol

[stocky121]

I'm 5'7" on a good day lol

You beat me I can only dream about 5’7

[Cylon357]

Bench press night.

Barbell bench, 8 6 7 as work sets. It wasn't planned like that just how it turned out.

The next rep counts were not 5 3 0 9, in case you were wondering.

Setup for landmine presses, 1x12, 2x8

Pushdowns, supered with dumbbell curls, 3x15 and 3x12, respectively.

Lateral raises, 3x8, supered with dumbbell flyes, 3x10.

1 mile walk to warm up, 1.25 to cool down and all done now.

[Cylon357]

Deadlift workout on Friday. It was good, not great, maybe,but pretty dang good.

Details later.

[Cylon357]

You beat me I can only dream about 5’7

If you are 5'6.25" I don't have you beat by much, if at all lol! I'm right at 5'7" in the morning, but after things settle, probably a nudge shorter.

Funny thing is, I am the tallest of my parents 5 kids. I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters, all of which are shorter and lighter than me. Midget Arkansas farmers? Not quite, man, but maybe not far off lol