Page 3 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
Results 81 to 120 of 122
Like Tree233Likes

Thread: balance motivation log

  1. #81
    GearHeaded is offline BANNED
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Bragging to someone
    Posts
    8,550
    Quote Originally Posted by balance View Post
    Quick update
    Not too much to report. Training going excellent, eating sleeping on track too. Quick pic of late night meal from last night. 9oz top sirloin and 1.5 servings of nuts.

    Attachment 175223
    you know its interesting, I just started working with a few new clients this week and have been going over possible diet protocols, and one of them has similar goals and schedule as does Balance so you'd figure their diets may look the same. BUT with this particular client we can NOT have a higher fat meal like this at night at the end of the day (where as balance has his fats backloaded and does). This is because of a certain lifestyle choice this client has that fats at night would be detrimental to his physique.
    so even though goals and everything on the surface may look the same, its small details and lifestyle choices that can really alter how your diet needs to be laid out for the most effective results .

    this is why I don't do 'cookie cutter' diets. every individual, circumstances, and situation are completely different even if they may appear very similar on the surface. as a diet coach, my accounting for all these little details can make a big difference in the results a client gets

  2. #82
    KennyJ's Avatar
    KennyJ is offline Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2018
    Posts
    726
    Quote Originally Posted by charger69 View Post
    GH- you are making this too complex... Just stop eating... LOL
    Sorry, I sensed too much serious going on.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    I seriously think GH can access twice as much of his brain than most people. It's like he's plugged into one of those supercomputers.
    GearHeaded likes this.

  3. #83
    charger69's Avatar
    charger69 is offline Knowledgeable Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    SoCal
    Posts
    8,155
    Quote Originally Posted by Obs View Post
    Your statement just changed my quad game.
    I employed the turn in until my knee was straight throughout, after a pyramid leg press session...
    I just hit the sweep of my leg like never in my life with no knee pain.

    I am gonna catch up to charger now.

    Thank you HMB

    I cant hardly get the pants on I wore here.
    You forgot..... I am doing the same thing. LOL
    My f’ing legs are goin to grow even if I die trying.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  4. #84
    charger69's Avatar
    charger69 is offline Knowledgeable Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    SoCal
    Posts
    8,155
    Quote Originally Posted by HoldMyBeer View Post
    I'm glad to be able to help you for a change

    Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk
    HMB- Fuck Obs- just keep the secrets between us . LOL


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    balance and HoldMyBeer like this.

  5. #85
    charger69's Avatar
    charger69 is offline Knowledgeable Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    SoCal
    Posts
    8,155
    Quote Originally Posted by KennyJ View Post
    I seriously think GH can access twice as much of his brain than most people. It's like he's plugged into one of those supercomputers.
    I hate to tell you .:::: GH is not a real person. He is the Alexa of AAS. LOL


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Old Duffer, HoldMyBeer and balance like this.

  6. #86
    charger69's Avatar
    charger69 is offline Knowledgeable Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    SoCal
    Posts
    8,155
    Quote Originally Posted by GearHeaded View Post
    you know its interesting, I just started working with a few new clients this week and have been going over possible diet protocols, and one of them has similar goals and schedule as does Balance so you'd figure their diets may look the same. BUT with this particular client we can NOT have a higher fat meal like this at night at the end of the day (where as balance has his fats backloaded and does). This is because of a certain lifestyle choice this client has that fats at night would be detrimental to his physique.
    so even though goals and everything on the surface may look the same, its small details and lifestyle choices that can really alter how your diet needs to be laid out for the most effective results .

    this is why I don't do 'cookie cutter' diets. every individual, circumstances, and situation are completely different even if they may appear very similar on the surface. as a diet coach, my accounting for all these little details can make a big difference in the results a client gets
    You sort of touched on it..... it’s like you read my mind.....
    Why does Balance have so many fats at night?
    I am like your other client... Intry to keep the fats lower in the evening.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    HoldMyBeer and balance like this.

  7. #87
    GearHeaded is offline BANNED
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Bragging to someone
    Posts
    8,550
    Quote Originally Posted by charger69 View Post
    You sort of touched on it..... it’s like you read my mind.....
    Why does Balance have so many fats at night?
    I am like your other client... Intry to keep the fats lower in the evening.
    He works out in the morning and we are putting a lot of his carbs in the first half of the day closer to the workout window when Glut 4 levels are going to be elevated. as the day progresses Glut 4 levels go down and we switch over to fat.
    (this is just the opposite with people who train in the evening) . Also, if you look at his last meal (the steak and nuts) you'll see this is going to be a good slow digesting protein source with the fats in there to slow digestion down even more. as he is sleeping/fasted for 8 hours this meal will slowly release amino acids into the blood stream and sustain him and limit catabolism. not the case with a chicken and white rice meal before bed
    balance, Obs, charger69 and 1 others like this.

  8. #88
    KennyJ's Avatar
    KennyJ is offline Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2018
    Posts
    726
    Quote Originally Posted by GearHeaded View Post
    the AAS protocol was modified a couple times. After some discussion and time to think about things we decided to 'pull back' some on the AAS, as we have some existing health conditions and blood work out of range that we don't want to make worse (blood pressure and lipids).
    So we decided on going with the most "healthy" stack we can at this point in time.

    so we are planning
    week 1-6
    400mg test
    525mg primo
    week 7-12 (this will depend on how things are going)
    400mg test
    700mg mast

    we had planned on running some orals, but again decided to pull them as they generally have the most negative effects on blood work.

    the goal here is to get extremely clean and keepable gains. we have no need to 'blow up' on anything and elevating blood pressure. . we want to keep the gains as quality as possible.
    starting the cycle off with Primo will give us our anabolic phase. then the second half with the Masteron will give some androgenic effects as well.


    just an fyi - for some of you guys that have been cycling for awhile, here is a bit more advanced version of an Anabolic to androgenic phase cycle

    Weeks 1-6
    400mg test
    800mg primo
    50mg Var per day
    Clen 60mcg per day

    weeks 7-8
    400mg test
    250mg Mast EOD

    weeks 9-12
    400mg test
    200mg Mast EOD
    50mg Winstol per day
    25mg Tren A per day
    Clen 80 mcg
    GH, is it your preference to always have an anabolic phase first and then move to an androgenic phase or is this just a plan to fulfill his current goals?
    balance and GearHeaded like this.

  9. #89
    GearHeaded is offline BANNED
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Bragging to someone
    Posts
    8,550
    Quote Originally Posted by KennyJ View Post
    GH, is it your preference to always have an anabolic phase first and then move to an androgenic phase or is this just a plan to fulfill his current goals?
    I often times start with an Estrogen phase, then an Androgen phase and finish off with an Anabolic phase (with an anti cortisol phase with that as well). It all depends on the person , the diet and the training protocols and what we are trying to accomplish and what we have to work with.

    With Balance we are being very conservative with the drugs, so we can't really throw all these 'phases' at him right now.
    we are not doing an estrogen phase at all. just the anabolic phase to start the growth of new tissue and the androgenic phase to harden up and fill out.
    so yeah its totally dependent on the situation, context, and person what phases are implemented
    KennyJ, balance and Obs like this.

  10. #90
    KennyJ's Avatar
    KennyJ is offline Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2018
    Posts
    726
    Quote Originally Posted by GearHeaded View Post
    I often times start with an Estrogen phase, then an Androgen phase and finish off with an Anabolic phase (with an anti cortisol phase with that as well). It all depends on the person , the diet and the training protocols and what we are trying to accomplish and what we have to work with.

    With Balance we are being very conservative with the drugs, so we can't really throw all these 'phases' at him right now.
    we are not doing an estrogen phase at all. just the anabolic phase to start the growth of new tissue and the androgenic phase to harden up and fill out.
    so yeah its totally dependent on the situation, context, and person what phases are implemented
    Thanks, a perfectly explained answer as always.
    GearHeaded and balance like this.

  11. #91
    GearHeaded is offline BANNED
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Bragging to someone
    Posts
    8,550
    Quote Originally Posted by KennyJ View Post
    Thanks, a perfectly explained answer as always.
    well there is a specific "rhyme and reason" to the things I do and promote..

    example . why would I have an Estrogen phase at the beginning of a cycle before an androgen/anabolic phase ?

    well perhaps the cycle is a bulk. starting off with an estrogen phase will help promote water retention (which ultimately helps you grow) and will increase IGF (which helps stimulate new tissue) AND estrogen sensitizes androgen receptors (which ultimately will make the rest of your cycle and androgen phases more productive)
    Family_guy, balance, Obs and 2 others like this.

  12. #92
    HoldMyBeer is offline Productive Member
    Join Date
    May 2018
    Posts
    1,886
    OP
    How's your training any everything going?

    Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk
    balance likes this.

  13. #93
    charger69's Avatar
    charger69 is offline Knowledgeable Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    SoCal
    Posts
    8,155
    I have a silly question... if Balance has high BP, then why not use atenolol. I know that you are not a Dr., but I think that it would be better to use something than nothing at all. I am making the assumption that he is not under Dr’s care for BP.

    Also, I am impressed at your ability to handle all of the curve balls thrown at you.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    balance likes this.

  14. #94
    charger69's Avatar
    charger69 is offline Knowledgeable Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    SoCal
    Posts
    8,155
    How does water retention caused from the estrogen phase promote growth?
    I realize that glycogen needs tos bind with water to get to the muscle, but the estrogen phase would be excess water wouldn’t it?
    My thought process is that you have the right amount of water for the glycogen to begin with and the estrogen phase would bring excess that would smooth you out.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    balance likes this.

  15. #95
    balance is offline Associate Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Posts
    376
    Quote Originally Posted by HoldMyBeer View Post
    OP
    How's your training any everything going?

    Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk
    Sorry was out of town for holidays. Managed to get some lifting in while gone but not my usual amount. Food wise for me (like most people) can be a challenge over the holiday season. I chose to restrict my food consumption while traveling as I was not lifting daily. I did manage to eat very clean but kept total calories low around 2200 calories daily.

    Lifting wise I haven’t seen any jumps in strength yet but pumps are definitely good. Also interesting it seams like my body hair is growing faster than usual, maybe the primo?




    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    HoldMyBeer likes this.

  16. #96
    balance is offline Associate Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Posts
    376
    Quote Originally Posted by charger69 View Post
    I have a silly question... if Balance has high BP, then why not use atenolol. I know that you are not a Dr., but I think that it would be better to use something than nothing at all. I am making the assumption that he is not under Dr’s care for BP.

    Also, I am impressed at your ability to handle all of the curve balls thrown at you.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    I have appt with dr this coming week specifically for this. I have been borderline elevated bp for last couple years and between trt and gaining weight this is something would like to get addressed. As far as atenolol I don’t think that would be ideal for me as I have a low resting heart rate.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  17. #97
    GearHeaded is offline BANNED
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Bragging to someone
    Posts
    8,550
    Quote Originally Posted by charger69 View Post
    How does water retention caused from the estrogen phase promote growth?
    I realize that glycogen needs tos bind with water to get to the muscle, but the estrogen phase would be excess water wouldn’t it?
    My thought process is that you have the right amount of water for the glycogen to begin with and the estrogen phase would bring excess that would smooth you out.
    regarding water retention promoting growth (ie, osmostic super compensation) . see some of my thoughts here.
    https://forums.steroid.com/anabolic-...pensation.html

    estrogen can cause extra cellular water retention for sure, but it also helps promote inter cellular water retention as well (inside the muscle).. this is why guys during contest prep who take estrogen blockers to 'get dry' and end up taking too much and crashing their E end up struggling to fill back up and get full on show day (no estrogen and they are flat).

    and in regards to excess water 'smoothing you out' , thats not really a problem if your trying to bulk and add on size, unless your an instagram model

  18. #98
    GearHeaded is offline BANNED
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Bragging to someone
    Posts
    8,550
    Quote Originally Posted by charger69 View Post
    I have a silly question... if Balance has high BP, then why not use atenolol. I know that you are not a Dr., but I think that it would be better to use something than nothing at all. I am making the assumption that he is not under Dr’s care for BP.

    Also, I am impressed at your ability to handle all of the curve balls thrown at you.
    yeah we had discussed this over a phone conversation. as he mentioned above, his resting heart rate is on the low end and Atenolol may end up lowering that too far to where it could possibly cause issues.
    I like Atenolol for guys that have BP issues AND higher resting heart rates (works great on Tren ).

    well from Soccer mom clients to juice heads, I've gotta deal with lots of curve balls
    Last edited by GearHeaded; 12-28-2018 at 07:35 PM.
    charger69 likes this.

  19. #99
    Proximal is offline Banned
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Not here.
    Posts
    5,498
    Quote Originally Posted by balance View Post
    I have appt with dr this coming week specifically for this. I have been borderline elevated bp for last couple years and between trt and gaining weight this is something would like to get addressed. As far as atenolol I don’t think that would be ideal for me as I have a low resting heart rate.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    You could try a low dosage. Didn’t see too much drop in my HR. What’s your BP numbers if I may ask?

    And, IF I may, could the jump be attributed to anxiety?
    Last edited by Proximal; 12-28-2018 at 07:25 PM.

  20. #100
    balance is offline Associate Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Posts
    376
    Quote Originally Posted by Proximal View Post
    You could try a low dosage. Didn’t see too much drop in my HR. What’s your BP numbers if I may ask?
    I need to get a home monitor as when I’m out and about at grocery store or other places I see large fluctuations on those machines taking back to back readings. Generally though it’s around 135/88 but can fluctuate. My resting hr though is generally low 50s but can be a little higher or lower at times.

    It’s interesting though as GH has me doing light cardio (15-20 minutes) after lifting. I never was one to track HR on cardio as I don’t do much of it anyway. What’s interesting though is gh said to shoot around 120 bpm, at that rate I don’t feel like I’m hardly doing anything. I usually shoot for more like 140 hr and that still has me barely break a sweat after 20 minutes, interesting thing is while lifting I sweat quite a bit but don’t know where my hr is but I’m pretty sure is in the 140 zone.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  21. #101
    GearHeaded is offline BANNED
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Bragging to someone
    Posts
    8,550
    Quote Originally Posted by balance View Post
    Lifting wise I haven’t seen any jumps in strength yet but pumps are definitely good. Also interesting it seams like my body hair is growing faster than usual, maybe the primo?
    possibly your natty levels of HGH and IGF (which you confirmed is elevated on blood work) being elevated from dropping your AI . more growth potential, even body hair eh
    balance likes this.

  22. #102
    Proximal is offline Banned
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Not here.
    Posts
    5,498
    50’s. You’re right, the Atenolol will likely not be an option.
    GearHeaded likes this.

  23. #103
    GearHeaded is offline BANNED
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Bragging to someone
    Posts
    8,550
    just for guys reading this thread.. Charger was right, that if you have BP issues and your not under a doctor supervision for it then taking something (self prescribing) like Atenolol is well worth it.

    I've been on it for quite some time and it has helped me tremendously. AND 'bonus' its very cheap and easy to get. I just ordered nearly a year supply of it for 35$ (shipping included) . <-- you can't beat that, thats for a prescription medication. thats cheaper then a co pay at a doc office or even a basic OTC supplement.
    its definitely worth considering if you suffer from high BP and elevated heart rate. or even just to take when your on a cycle that causes these things.

    but just do your research and make sure its going to work for your situation. like Balance with his super low resting heart rate, it just wasn't really ideal for him
    Last edited by GearHeaded; 12-28-2018 at 08:05 PM.
    Proximal likes this.

  24. #104
    balance is offline Associate Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Posts
    376
    Little New Year’s Eve update. Lifting going really good. Had really good arm day yesterday with amazing pump. Went to pcp today and was prescribed bp med. hopefully this gets me in a better range, also picked up a home bp monitor to better track things. And of course an evening meal.

    Wishing you all a Happy New Year!




    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  25. #105
    balance is offline Associate Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Posts
    376
    Hope everyone is doing great now that the holidays have passed. Unfortunately I haven’t been on top of updating this thread as of late but hope to get a bit more active in here.

    Holidays were excellent as I spent time with my family down in FL. I stayed on top of my eating really well through the holidays with regards to not eating crap or overeating. On the downside I likely was eating in a bit of deficit most of the days. I’m wired a little weird in that if I don’t have fairly good food choices I just tend to not eat until I can have better foods available. No big deal though as I’m not really not looking to gain much more overall weight at this point as I’m really happy at the 200lb mark, but yes I would like to lose 10 more lbs of fat and gain 10 lbs of muscle. That’s long term lofty goals but chip away at it daily. Figure I’m 200 lbs maybe 15-17% BF now and would like to be 10-12% BF at similar weight.

    Planning on a little trip where I hopefully get to wear flip flops and surf shorts in a bit. So right now I’m kind of trying to trim down just a little. After speaking with GH about this I have upped the cardio and dropped a meal out each day. Hopefully this gets me where I want to be. Cutting the meal out has been easy. Actually a lot easier than having the meal in place. Eating around 3K calories really cleanly for me i find a little challenging but doable, so taking out one meal actually feels pretty natural to my homeostasis.

    Upping the cardio however has been a challenge to say the least. I tried doing 20-30 minutes prior to lifting but did not like that at all. I felt as though the cardio (treadmill) was robbing my lifting pump. So I have been trying to do it after lifting or at other times of the day. Hopefully I can get a good regiment going that works for me.

    Gear wise has been going good. I have upped test to around 800mg a week and feeling pretty good. Interestingly my elbows have been feeling a bit better since this, I wonder if the lelevated e2 could be helping here? Strength has definitely been improving also. The 100lb dumbbells at the end of the rack have been taunting me, “come on just try us” lol. Hoping to reach them in few more weeks.

    balance
    Proximal, Family_guy and Obs like this.

  26. #106
    Proximal is offline Banned
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Not here.
    Posts
    5,498
    Happy New Year, glad all is well.
    balance likes this.

  27. #107
    balance is offline Associate Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Posts
    376
    Things have been going really good here past week. I have been back to my more normal training routine of 3 - 5 days on 1 day off, I just go by feel and if I collectively have to much soreness I tend to take a day to recover. Cardio wise I’m still slacking but eating remains on point. I have dropped white rice out for now and have replaced it with white potatoes. I bake them in the oven and eat them plain (no butter) just add salt. I have also increased my whole egg intake to 6-8 whole eggs, and thereby reduced my egg white consiumption. Being that I’m in a caloric deficit and limiting my carbs more too I really like eating the whole eggs as they are more satiating to me. Here’s a current pic after lifting today. It’s not a huge difference from where I started yet but I am a couple lbs (only 2) lighter but definitely stronger. In the past my strength increases have pretty much always shown up somewhat delayed on my physique hopefully this is will translate similarly in time.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	CAC3D13D-454D-4618-BE9A-5314118E00E1.jpg 
Views:	106 
Size:	180.9 KB 
ID:	175597
    Last edited by balance; 01-24-2019 at 01:42 PM.

  28. #108
    GearHeaded is offline BANNED
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Bragging to someone
    Posts
    8,550
    Quote Originally Posted by balance View Post
    Things have been going really good here past week. I have been back to my more normal training routine of 3 - 5 days on 1 day off, I just go by feel and if I collectively have to much soreness I tend to take a day to recover.
    just to explain how my training programming is generally set up, and why its easy for Balance to make on the fly adjustments like this..

    I don't have traditional weekly splits (for most clients anyways). I set up phases (2-4) and you'll have a series of different workouts to complete for each phase, and then a total (in Balances case he has 7 total workouts).

    so all he has to do is complete all 7 workouts I programmed, and then repeat the phases.. so if he gets through say 4 of these workouts and he feels he needs a day off , then he can just make the call and take a rest day. that way nothing is messed up in any sort of set split or weekly schedule.
    Old Duffer and KennyJ like this.

  29. #109
    Proximal is offline Banned
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Not here.
    Posts
    5,498
    Quote Originally Posted by balance View Post
    Things have been going really good here past week. I have been back to my more normal training routine of 3 - 5 days on 1 day off, I just go by feel and if I collectively have to much soreness I tend to take a day to recover. Cardio wise I’m still slacking but eating remains on point. I have dropped white rice out for now and have replaced it with white potatoes. I bake them in the oven and eat them plain (no butter) just add salt. I have also increased my whole egg intake to 6-8 whole eggs, and thereby reduced my egg white consiumption. Being that I’m in a caloric deficit and limiting my carbs more too I really like eating the whole eggs as they are more satiating to me. Here’s a current pic after lifting today. It’s not a huge difference from where I started yet but I am a couple lbs (only 2) lighter but definitely stronger. In the past my strength increases have pretty much always shown up somewhat delayed on my physique hopefully this is will translate similarly in time.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	CAC3D13D-454D-4618-BE9A-5314118E00E1.jpg 
Views:	106 
Size:	180.9 KB 
ID:	175597
    JC, you're Julian Edelman from the NE Patriots! Shouldn't you be more concerned about the Super Bowl?

    Looking great Balance.
    Family_guy and KennyJ like this.

  30. #110
    balance is offline Associate Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Posts
    376

    balance motivation log

    Things have been going really good here. I went on a cruise/vacation to Mexico with family for some much needed fun in the sun. Weather was crazy nice 80 degrees sunny. The boat had a decent gym with dumbbells up to 80 lbs (not too bad for a little gym) and other various machines that were decent. So I basically was training daily but eating a lot more, plus having a few adult beverages daily (I rarely drink normally). Came home from cruise with 9lbs gained. A lot of that was obviously water/bloat from different consuming different fuel sources. Which I’m totally cool with as the water dropped out after I have been home for nearly a week and my weight is holding around 202lbs.

    Now for the cool part for the past 3 weeks or so I have been lifting with a lot more frequency. It’s funny that a small part of my daily motivation to lift is that I feel a lot more comfortable taking in more carbs to fuel all the lifting. That and the fact like many lifters here the joy of daily lifting is a huge stress relief and just feels awesome. Also my lifts are definitely continuing to progress. I mentioned a few weeks back that I was excited about possibly moving up to 100lb db for flat bench working sets. Well I actually did working sets with 105s a few days ago and it felt awesome. While the reps are fairly low (shooting for minimum 6 reps per set) the pump still fills in pretty well. Often times when I go heavy on flat bench I mix it up by going lighter than usual on incline bench to really get a good flow. So that’s where I’m at for now. Hope all you folks are moving good.

    Ps here’s a pic I had to take after having one of my kale shakes. These things are a challenge to drink without a huge mess. The green stains like permanent grass stains on clothes I’m hoping it doesn’t do the same elsewhere


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Last edited by balance; 02-17-2019 at 10:22 AM.
    KennyJ, Obs, Proximal and 2 others like this.

  31. #111
    GearHeaded is offline BANNED
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Bragging to someone
    Posts
    8,550
    I just want to clarify guys, my diet programs do have micro nutrients covered and have 1-2 servings of veggies per day. but I do NOT mandate Kale shakes
    Proximal, Obs, KennyJ and 2 others like this.

  32. #112
    balance is offline Associate Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Posts
    376
    Ok folks I want to apologize for not updating this log as often as I originally intended to. On a good note I have remained extremely consistent lifting about 5 - 6 days a week. I had sort of an exit interview Q and A with GH two weeks ago to conclude his coaching work with me. GH was beyond generous with his time spent with me (as always) explaining many complex concepts in simple terms so I could really grasp what he was communicating. I will be doing a full write up here this week summarizing this run with details and information on aspects to reaching my goals that GH has helped me with.

    This has been beyond an amazing experience working with GH and am extremely great full for the opportunity he provided. To say I have learned somethings would be a monumental understatement. I look forward to going into more detail in this coming week.

    Thank you
    b


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  33. #113
    balance is offline Associate Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Posts
    376
    Alright folks I want to do a little summary here to share some of the things I learned and experienced on this past 3 months journey. If you have any questions please post up or pm me.

    First and foremost I want to thank GH for his most generous training, dieting, and compound knowledge sharing with this training giveaway. I can not begin to describe how helpful and reassuring it is to know you have someone with his wealth of knowledge and application behind you. There are beyond numerous reasons that having someone truly skilled in the art of bodybuilding behind you but the two that meant the most to me were as follows. First knowing that you are not just spinning your wheels. I know it goes without saying but no matter how hard you train, perfect you eat, compounds you run you won’t see positive effects on you physique overnight. Having someone laying things out for you and taking the time to explain the why behind diet, trying, and compound selection is where a great trainer (GH) will shine. The really cool thing about working with GH is you can feel his passion for this endeavor from the very first few minutes spent speaking with him. GH is also an excellent communicator. He has the ability to take extremely complicated topics and relay them in simple terms and analogies that anyone can relate to and understand. Old adage if you can’t explain it to a 2nd grader you likely don’t know it applies in instances like this. Also in reference to communicating with GH rest assured the lines are always open. I was able to basically have his input or advise at my finger tips with a simple phone call or text at anytime. GH also kept tabs of my entire run with weekly pictures to asses how his regimen is working, and suggesting any manipulations that may be needed to reach goals. Without going on and on (and I could) about the details of how GH helped me, to put it simply I don’t care how much you think you know or have read there is always something to be learned and finding that right someone to relay this and setup a quality individualized program is not easy. I can say if you are at all contemplating getting a trainer no matter your level GH is your man.

    So the title of this thread most aptly should have been I don’t know what I don’t know. So as previously mentioned this run is laid out entirely by GH covering protocols for training, diet, and compounds. This was not laid out until after filling out a very extensive client survey interview form and a lengthy phone discussion so GH could get an idea of who I am and likely what my needs were to reach my goals.

    Diet wise in hind sight this run is quite interesting. Prior to this run for the past 3 years I have been weighing and logging everything I ate. Crazy right, but yes that’s the truth. Doing this not only allowed me to eyeball a piece meat and tell you within .5 oz the weight but I was also very in tune with my caloric needs to lose, gain, or maintain my current weight. I also had a very good grasp on how I respond to different macros given equivalent daily calories. An example here is at 3000 calories I tend to maintain provided carbs are kept close to 250-300grams a day. However if I keep calories at 3000 but lower carbs to 150 grams daily (while upping protein and fats) I will lose weight. Having this knowledge and a good background in clean eating I thought I knew it all lol. Enter GH, so while I had this decent foundation of what to eat I was lacking what in my opinion was a huge key to reaching my goals. That missing key was how (really when to eat what) to eat.
    GH laid out my diet plan so that not only macros and my total calories are taken into account but when they are consumed. As GH explained every meal is an opportunity to further my progress towards my goals. Each meal is setup basically to be either replenishing glycogen stores for growth (example post workout meals) or burning fat. So instead of having say 400 grams of carbs spread out evenly through 6 daily meals you are only eating maybe 3 meals with all the carbs jammed in those three meals. This concept I genuinely believe is a very valuable tool for reaching my goals that I had no awareness of prior to this run. Please note above I have overly simplified the diet/eating structure to keep this somewhat as an overview.

    Moving onto training GH laid out a very detailed workout regiment that made a lot of sense that not only focused growth through moving weight but also pumping the muscles full to allow for further growth and recovery. I was very concerned about starting this whole thing in the beginning as I have been dealing with golfers elbow in both elbows for a bit over 7 months going into this. GH looked at what I was doing lifting wise and pointed out the likely culprit of my nagging injuries and suggested some changes to make to help alleviate my issues. The good news is my elbows are improved but the issues are still there somewhat, however I believe long term provided I train smart with what GH has taught me I will continue to improve. Also hugely worth noting dropping the ai usage significantly played a role in helping my elbows! Now for a dose of honest. GH programs ALOT of volume! Easily double what I am used to. While I g ave this a genuine effort for nearly a month I ultimately resorted back to my lower volume routines. Also I was far from consistent with the cardio prescribed by GH. He only had me setup for 20 minutes a day but I didn’t manage to maintain this much past the one month mark. I have always been better with maintaining a strict diet vs cardio regimen. I will say though that with no cardio and lower volume I was having many weeks of training with no days off (normal lifting for me is minimum 1 hour daily). I genuinely love lifting and when everything is moving good I find it extremely hard to take a day off.

    Last but not least compounds. Let me start this out by saying this forum is fantastic and the wealth of knowledge shared by many excellent contributing members is awesome. Here’s the thing, there are many ways to do something, and definitely somethings that will work better for some people. Case in point the sticky here for first time cycles. While it is a good fairly thorough write up I don’t feel it to be very appropriate for someone such as myself. Coming into this I had been on trt for about 7 months, with 0 previous cycle history. My body has seen exogenous test for 7 months at 200mgs a week and running a prescribed ai to keep E2 in the normal range. Had I followed the first time cycle I really don’t believe my body would have responded much at all to the modest test dose increase. I explained to GH that I was hesitant to run some compounds (mostly I didn’t want to run any orals) due to certain health concerns he assured me I could reach my my goals even with some of these compound limitations. Also GH setup things so I was never introducing more than one new compound at a time to see how I react to that specific compound and make any changes that might be necessary. I am not in any huge hurry when it comes to this so I really liked this approach and it made me feel much more comfortable.

    So without going into exact details here I’m just going to go over each compound I used and my brief opinion of it.

    Test c/e well I was already using this with trt so there’s not much to say here but a few things. One I dropped all ai and ran over a gram per week at times with no ill effects. Also worth noting I began using and relying heavily on test P for this gram plus foundation of test. I basically keep my trt dose of 200mg a week and filled the rest in with daily pins of test P. I will say while most gurus state test is test I am beginning to believe I hold a little less water on test P. One other item worth mentioning I have always had borderline high BP, usually 135/85. Upon discussing this at the begging of this run with GH he strongly recommended I look into this with my healthcare provider as this could be an issue down the line. I followed his advice and was prescribed a bp med that has brought me down around 120/80 even on cycle.

    Primobolan
    This basically felt like test to me but felt as though my muscles took on a bit more of a rounded appearance. Seems like excellent compound but pricey.

    Masteron
    The good the bad. Okay so I will start with the bad. For whatever reason I consistently slept 1 hour less running this compound, however I did not feel tired! The lack of sleep though had me pissy and a bit grouchy for the first 7-10 days. The good, where to begin that’s easy. The sex drive went through the roof! While beginning trt many months prior played a positive role in increasing my sex drive it was seriously not half what masteron did. Another benefit for me was strength gains I had a noticeable strength increase not long after beginning mast P. Everyone talks about hardening effect but I didn’t notice that to any extreme degree, likely this is where the whole interwebs you don’t run mast unless your below 10% bf. I’m not anywhere near 10% bf but there were definite benefits to mast for me. Enough such that I might consider to low dose it during cruises possibly.

    Tren A
    The bad I lost another hour of sleep on top of the hour lost from mast (running mast concurrent to mitigate potential prolactin issues). So that had me sleeping 6 hours a night. I didn’t feel tired that much but I was again a bit more grouchy than my usual self, provided I maintained self awareness this was most often not much of an issue. The good, strength gains very evident and instant feel as though the muscles are in constant state of pump, especially shoulders.

    So that’s kind of it in a big nutshell. If you have any questions just let me know. I will likely continue a log of my progress but am undecided as to wether I will continue this thread or start a new one.

    Lastly I want to thank GH for this amazing opportunity at this learning experience. If anyone reading this is considering a trainer I can honestly tell you GH is amazing in the many aspects covered here and many more I have likely forgot to cover.

    Here’s a recent pic from the last week working with GH. Hovering around 208 lbs at 6’ I’m not sure on bf but I’m happy with my work and looking forward to the future.

    Thank you
    b




    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  34. #114
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    dont ask for a source thx
    Posts
    9,058
    Blog Entries
    3
    you look great brother, nice job...
    balance and KennyJ like this.

  35. #115
    Proximal is offline Banned
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Not here.
    Posts
    5,498
    Amazing transformation!

    Yes, GH is INCREDIBLE!

    TY for the pluses & minuses of your compounds!

    What's next?
    KennyJ and balance like this.

  36. #116
    balance is offline Associate Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Posts
    376
    Quote Originally Posted by ghettoboyd View Post
    you look great brother, nice job...
    Thanks brother means a lot coming from guys like you. Your contest end pics looked awesome.




    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    KennyJ and ghettoboyd like this.

  37. #117
    balance is offline Associate Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Posts
    376
    Quote Originally Posted by Proximal View Post
    Amazing transformation!

    Yes, GH is INCREDIBLE!

    TY for the pluses & minuses of your compounds!

    What's next?
    Big thanks to you too buddy! I have been closely following along with your experiments too, your progress looks fantastic too especially as of late.

    Well I dropped out tren last week. But before I return to trt dose cruise I’m going to try 3 weeks of test at 1200-1400 and drop mast down to 300mg. Basically I’m just running this at the end to see if my growth is tapped out for this run.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    KennyJ likes this.

  38. #118
    Proximal is offline Banned
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Not here.
    Posts
    5,498
    Quote Originally Posted by balance View Post
    Big thanks to you too buddy! I have been closely following along with your experiments too, your progress looks fantastic too especially as of late.

    Well I dropped out tren last week. But before I return to trt dose cruise I’m going to try 3 weeks of test at 1200-1400 and drop mast down to 300mg. Basically I’m just running this at the end to see if my growth is tapped out for this run.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    TY, but looking at you and the contestants, I know I am not even at a starting point yet.

    GH (per my request) is being super conservative with me right now. I just added only 25 mg. of tren 3x/wk. As a teacher, I just can't risk any personality or mood changes. This Summer though will be a different story
    KennyJ and balance like this.

  39. #119
    charger69's Avatar
    charger69 is offline Knowledgeable Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    SoCal
    Posts
    8,155
    Balance- you summed it up excellent!!

    It’s funny you mention mast and an AI. I was just thinking the other day how I used to preach an AI was like a seatbelt. Why wouldn’t you put it on? I also used to preach mast was no good over 10%. GH taught me differently.
    I just did my first ever real recomp. I lost bf and maintained weight and mast played a key role. I started around 16% bf.

    BTW- you look great!!!!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    KennyJ, balance and Family_guy like this.

  40. #120
    balance is offline Associate Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Posts
    376
    Thanks charger!
    That’s interesting and excellent to hear that mast seams to be helping retain more muscle through your cut. I been following along your log and you are looking contest ready for sure.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    KennyJ likes this.

Page 3 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •