# MEMBERS EXPERIENCES > TRAINING/DIET/CYCLE ACCOUNTABILITY LOGS >  Cylon357's Super Cool Covid 2020 Weight loss comp log!

## Cylon357

I know what you are thinking: how awesome this is going to be with a title like that!

Ladies and gentlemen, I think we need to temper our expectations. That title is just click baity marketing speak.

This log could just have easily been called 'Cylon357s Cure for Insomnia' or 'Who the #*@!! is this guy and why is he boring me??' 

At any rate, I'm going to record my efforts, including training, nutrition, drug use, etc related to the weight loss competition here. Comments as always are welcome. 

*Training*
I'm going to do 5 days per week, 4 days weights one day dedicated cardio. It will look something like this:
Sun - Squat 
Mon - Bench 
Tue - Cardio
Wed - Off or easy LISS
Thu - Deadlift / Back 
Fri - Overhead Press / Assistance 
Sat - Off or easy LISS

Squat and Deadlift day will both have cardio finishers, I will detail those shortly.
Squats and Deadlifts will be done in a 3-5x5 short rest period style (think met-con).

*Nutrition*
This is going to be tough: Cylon likes FOOD! I have The Wife on board though so that will make things easier. I'm really just going to try to clean up my diet by avoiding unhealthy snacking (especially when I'm not REALLY hungry - Damn you, 2020!).

*Drugs*
Right this second, I'm doing my hrt (with clomid) and 50mcg per day Levothyroxine, both of which are prescribed. I also do 5mgx2 per day Cialis (5mg are prescribed) and am presently running 10mg per day of Tamoxifen , though I will cut that down to 5mg per day shortly. This is mostly in an effort to get my PSA under control. I've read good things about Tamoxifen and PSA.

I _may_ add a cycle of Ostarine at some point after my next bloodwork in a few weeks. I know: why not just use AAS? I will speak more on this later.


Lots more details coming whenever I get the chance.

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## SampsonandDelilah

Following brother!!

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## Cylon357

So this is what squat day (Sunday) will look like, roughly at least:

Half mile walk to warm up

Squat 3-5x5 Work sets (60 seconds rest between working sets)
One wide stance and one narrow stance set of squats (8-12 reps)

Calf work consisting of superset of
- Barbell raises off a 2x6
- Dumbell Raises off that same 2x6
- Single leg rep out without weight
3 sets of the calf work

Leg Curls 3-4 sets
Stiff leg deadlift 3-4 sets
Pullups 3 sets 6-10 as capable
Bicep curls 3 sets 8-12

Cardio Finisher
3 minutes jog on treadmill
3 minutes on climber
both with 15 to 20 second intervals
2-4 rounds

Half mile walk to cool down.
Hop in the pool
10-20 minutes yoga stretches (optional)

I did this Sunday and was gassed but a good gassed. Calves are actually still a little sore tonight (Thursday). In fact, Tuesday morning I woke up and thought 'hey my calves don't feel too bad' then put my feet on the floor and tried to start walking. Calves were like 'no, we are not doing that right now'. Took a minute but got them loosened up, then walked funny all day. First world problem for sure. Anyhow, I did 3 work sets of squats and will build up to 5. The work sets are the only ones I keep the rest periods short with, the others are just whatever feels right.

It's probably the wrong time to be doing it, but I'm working on bringing my left calf up to my right one. I took an injury as a young man to my left foot (actually, my left thigh, too) that kept me from really working calves properly for a long time. I have arthritis in the injury site (the ball of the foot) that limits range of motion of my toes, but some of the yoga stretches help with that.

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## Cylon357

Bench day looks like this for now:
1 mile walk to warm up

Bench 3x5 work sets
Dips 4x8-10 weighted as possible
Flyes 3x8-12
skull crushers
lateral raises
some other light shoulder work

1 mile walk to cool down

That's it, a pretty simple and RELATIVELY easy day. Unlike on squat and deadlift days, I do not intentionally limit the rest period between sets. I'm also probably going to cut back on weight and up the reps on the work sets for bench.

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## Cylon357

Tuesday Cardio is kind of in flux right now.

My goal for the next week or so is a two mile walk (either weighted or not, depending)

BUT

To really burn some calories, after a 1 mile walk to warm up, I'm planning on a circuit style routine like this:

3 minutes on treadmill (jog/run pace)
3 minutes working the heavy bag
3 minutes on the climber

Do that for 2 - 4 rounds

1 mile walk to cool down

I suspect that operating in a caloric deficit (even slight) may make some of this hard to accomplish. That will take some juggling but I can handle it for 12 weeks (I think anyhow). Anyway, I will implement this routine in the next week or two.

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## Cylon357

Ok so here is deadlift / back day. I know what you are thinking: at the rate you get your training posted, the comp will be over before we have time to critique.

Ok actually, you are probably thinking 'why the hell do i keep coming in here?? It is SO boring!' or 'the only thing that could make this thread interesting would be some porn!'

Sorry, no porn here. But for those dillweeds that search the forum for the term 'porn', remember this when you land here: you got what you deserved.

Anyway, here is the plan.

Half mile walk to warm up.

Deadlift 3-5x5 + 2 sets sumo or wide grip
Barbell rows
Front squat
Calf work (same as squat day)*
Low row or DB row
Bicep curls

Cardio finisher
Either
3 minutes on rowing machine
15 kettlebell swings 
15 - 20 second deadmill
60-90 seconds rest

or

Farmers walk 1 minute
Row 3 minutes
6 pullups
rest

2 to 4 rounds of whichever I decide on.

Half mile walk to cool down
Hop in pool
Yoga stretches (optional)


Ok, ok, I know what you are thinking: kettlebell swings? What's next kip-ups??? I get it, I really do. They seem like a douche baggy move because everywhere you look at the gym, there is some twit spazzing around with a kettlebell looking like he / she is about to backflip or is doing some oddball upright row thing.

Then I tried them. Holy crap! Do them right and they are tough.

Peep some vids on swing form. Then go do some, you can start with 10. Go lighter than you think you should. If you aren't huffing at the end, go ahead and add 5 more or up the weight on the next set. 

Basically, if you are doing them right, kettlebell swings will leave you huffing and puffing. 

It is also possible I'm doing them REALLY wrong, but if so, I don't want to be right. 

I chose the rowing machine and kettlebell option this week but left out the deadmills because my knee was giving me some static. I probably need to up the calories slightly and / or not jog and deadmill in the same week. I will evaluate this as I go.

It may also be the case that at my... seasoned vintage (aka as a Fart who is approaching Old Fart status), I may not be able to do deads and squats in the same week. Maybe I will modify deads to be power cleans or similar, or just not go heavy both days.

Calf work... I did some light single legged no weight stuff on deadlift day. The calves were still chatty come Thursday so I kept it easy on them. I may split the 3 exercises into 2 and do them over the course of 2 days for a while. So, like one day barbell raises and single leg raises, then the next dumbell raises and single leg raises. We will see about that too. I do want to build up to that triset I posted earlier, though maybe a cut isn't the time to do it. Or maybe I can reduce the weight some.

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## Cylon357

This is a dedicated overhead / military press day, and also a day to touch on anything I feel needs specific attention. In general, it looks like this:

1 mile walk to warm up

Overhead press
Dips
Shrugs
incline press
lateral + reverse laterals
pushups AMAP

1 mile walk to cool down

This is probably as close to a conventional body building day that I have done in years. This day is kind of up in the air on sets and reps - basically, what I feel like that day as long as I get the work in. 10 heavy singles? Sure! 3 x 15 instead? Hey, that's great too.

When I first started doing this day after deadlift day, I thought it might be too much to do shrugs. That did not turn out to be the case. In fact, I like the synergies there, though I do admit it seems counter intuitive.

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## Cylon357

Eff'ing kettle bell swings.

My knee is giving me a little grief, so I have opted to swap around some of the cardio finishers, at least for this week. I pulled the 3 minutes on the treadmill and replaced with....

MORE COWBELL!!!

No, of course not, my fellow primates. More kettle bell.

Damn, they make me huff and puff. Takes somewhere around 30 seconds to do 15 swings and I feel like I am going to pass out when I'm done. Literally light headed and let me lean on the rack for, you know, just a minute, man, just a <wheeze> minute.

I hate them.

I love the way they make me feel, though.

Now I know how those people in the country music songs feel. Like, why do I love this person so much when they poop on my head all the time? <-- That's me and KB swings right now.

frackin' kettle bell swings, man.

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## Cylon357

Missed my damn bench day yesterday. Work and dentist appointment got in the way.

I know most people would be losing their minds over missing chest day, bro! No gains on these swole pecs! It's all good, to each his own, but I don't sweat cause I'm a big picture type of guy.

So, where today would have normally been an off day, I did my treadmill, heavy bag, rowing machine thing, 3 minutes each, 2 rounds with intervals. Plus a 1 mile walk on the front end and a one mile walk on the back end.

Listen, any body that tells you working the heavy bag (in my case, 150 pounds) isn't a workout just ain't doing it right. Plus, who needs therapy when you can wail on a bag that just won't ever hit back. Well, unless you get it started swinging and get too close. Not that that has ever happened to me... 

Good workout tonight. Short and intense with appropriate and beneficial warm up and cool down. Oh yeah, I always sleep like a baby the nights I do this workout. I will probably work that up to 3 or maybe 4 rounds before things are all said and done.

That said, I am finding 5 days a week, 3 of which are particularly intense, to be a bit much. I may rework it into a 4 day a week thing with conditioning after weights on 3 of those days. Plus optional LISS of course on off days. I'll see how I feel going forward.

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## Cylon357

BTW, let me introduce you to a couple of my friends: Crusher and The Hammer. See how dainty they look? That's because I use 12oz gloves when working the bag. Don't be like me long ago and think 'dur, these leather lawn gloves will be ok to punch the bag with' because they will not. You get to make that mistake one time and I made it for you, so just don't. All that said, observant eyes might notice that The Hammer has a knuckle issue... I broke a bone in my right hand long ago and it didn't quite set right. Now, that ring finger knuckle on my right hand kind of disappears sometimes. And no, breaking that bone had nothing to do with working the bag in lawn gloves. 

BTW, yes, this IS what this thread has come to tonight. Don't worry, things will pick up. And by pick up, I mean: It's a damn log, man. It's just going to be boring and rando at times. :P

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## Cylon357

This has been a good week, workout wise, so far. I changed things up a bit because I think my original plan was too aggressive right out of the gate.

Basically, I did away with the dedicated HIIT cardio day and added brief HIIT at the end of 3 of the 4 weight training days.

So, like on squat day, I did 3 minutes on the treadmill, 15 kettle bell swings, then 10 hyper extensions. I did 2 or 3 rounds that day, I don't remember for sure, 1 minute rest between rounds. I think I must like that dizzy, about to pass out or throw up or both feeling. Maybe I ain't entirely right in the head, but before you get all snarky, remember: don't be throwin' stones if you live in a glass condo. Or something like that.

Tonight (bench), I did 3 minutes with the heavy bag, then 10 pushups, with one minute rest between rounds. The pushup time counts against the rest time, so it isn't pure rest time. 2 rounds was all I had in the tank tonight but man, it was good stuff. If you have never really laid into a heavy bag, you should. It is a great stress reliever.

Diet has been ok, not fabulous but better than pre-comp. What, you mean you can't out train a bad diet?? When was this decided?

Anyhow, we know the key is making the meals for a week ahead of time. We do have some turkey meatballs we made this weekend, so I will probably make some rice and have them with some broccoli a couple of times this week. My wife also made some turkey chili (Costco for the win), and man, that is some good stuff. I did well with my portions.

Feeling good overall. My last blood work showed my TSH out of whack. I have been taking 50mcg levothyroxine per day for about the last month and it seems to have helped. Also, I was waking up with blood shot eyes before getting on the levothyroxine but that has cleared up. I read where blood shot eyes could be an indicator of problems with the thyroid, so maybe there were clues that I just didn't know how to read. No bigs, we seem to be on the right path.

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## Cylon357

Great squat day Sunday. I got my set and rep goals, including 3 rounds of the treadmill + kettlebell routine.

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## Cylon357

How did my diet go over the holiday weekend, you ask?



No regerts! Well, except at weigh in time...

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## Cylon357

Ok so the past couple of weeks have been pure sh!t. Work has been a TOTAL PITA and I had a death in the family. We were not close, but I still had a lot of distractions going on.

Now, it's time to kick it back into gear.

I've decided that this particular exercise plan is more body recomp than cut. I noticed results yesterday while working in the yard, and caught my reflection in one of the doors. I was like 'ok, im starting to get some definition in my shoulders and arms and those calves are starting to pop... Cool!' Bear in mind that I was in sh!t shape to start with, so anything is an improvement. 

At any rate, I'm going to continue this workout plan. I like the workouts. I'm seeing results. Will I actually lose much weight? Probably not. But maybe I will continue this plan for another 60 days, then maybe switch to a proper cut.

I'm trying to get my blood work dialed in because I want to run low dose Ostarine for 6-8 weeks with my Clomid. I have read articles about people avoiding shutdown on Osta when they run Clomid with it. Since I run Clomid as HRT, it seems like a good fit. Rather than upping the clomid though, I might just add 5-10 mg nolvadex and see where that lands me. I have to get my blood work in order though, so it might be closer to 2 months out before I can think about running this.

Related to bloodwork, any thoughts on lowering DHT WITHOUT using fina or dutasteride? My recent DHT test came back at 128 with 64 being top of normal scale.

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## SampsonandDelilah

Checking in on you and getting caught up. Hang tough brother!

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## Cylon357

Remember up there when I said 'this is more of a recomp routine'? You don't? Maybe you ought to go read through the previous posts and find it. Or hey, you could just trust me on this.

Anyhow, here are my starting stats, with the ones from this morning. While this scale isn't the best one on the planet, the numbers do seem to track consistently.

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## Cylon357

Good damn workout tonight. Tonight was bench day, with a HIIT'ish 3 round finisher of:

Work the bag for 3 minutes
10 pushups (with the gloves on)
gulp down some water
on the 4th minute the next round starts.

That's a good damn finisher, man. Stress? That stuff is gone now. Probably going to feel this in the morning.

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## wango

> How did my diet go over the holiday weekend, you ask?
> 
> 
> 
> No regerts! Well, except at weigh in time...


I saw that title and said to myself, this is going to be interesting. Then I saw this pic and was hooked. I like your sense of humor and keeping things casual. Life is just too darn insane now to not take a step back and have some fun mixed in with the work. 

Going to be checking in and following. Good luck with everything.

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## Cylon357

> I saw that title and said to myself, this is going to be interesting. Then I saw this pic and was hooked. I like your sense of humor and keeping things casual. Life is just too darn insane now to not take a step back and have some fun mixed in with the work. 
> 
> Going to be checking in and following. Good luck with everything.


Welcome aboard, glad to have you here!

Damn, that WAS a good weekend. Pizza and beer... could there BE any more food groups?

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## Cylon357

Tonight was dead lift night.

I didn't dead lift. Wasn't feeling it.

Instead, I subbed seated good mornings and hyper extensions for the low back, and did pull ups and barbell rows for the upper. Plus calf work and biceps of course, those are back day staples right now.

No dead lifts, though. That doesn't happen a lot, but sometimes, I just need a break.

BUT...

I punished myself with a god awful hiit'ish finisher consisting of 3 rounds of 
Kettlebell swings
15 to 30 second deadmills
1 minute rest

Short. Intense. Tough. Fun.

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## Cylon357

BTW, MAYBE one more week of this recomp'ish routine. After that, I will probably switch to a little more cutting program. 

A lot of this hinges on my upcoming blood work. If all looks good and I don't have to go back to the doc a month later for more, I will add the ostarine and maybe up the clomid a bit. At that point, I will be better situated to make a decision on programming, etc.

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## KittyO1

Im here to follow along! Thanks for linking it!

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## wango

> Welcome aboard, glad to have you here!
> 
> Damn, that WAS a good weekend. Pizza and beer... could there BE any more food groups?


I think pizza is it’s own group, I’m a thin crust man myself.

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## Cylon357

I realized my program may not be clear. That's OK, it has sort of evolved over time. But, real simply:

*Sunday*
Squats
Leg curls
Stiff legged deadlifts
Calf work
Pullups
Biceps

_HIIT Finisher_
3 miinutes on treadmill, jogging / slow run pace with faster intervals (intervals optional)
15 kettlebell swings
1 minute rest

*Tuesday*
Bench Press
Dips
Skull crushers
Dumbbell flies
Shoulder work

_HIIT finisher_
3 minutes working the heavy bag
10 pushups
remainder of 1 minute rest after pushups

*Thursday*
Deadlifts
Barbell Rows
Chins 
Front squats
calf work
Biceps

_HIIT Finisher_
3 minutes on the rowing machine
15 kettlebell swings
1 minute rest

*Friday*
Overhead press
Dips
Shrugs
Pushups or Dumbbell bench press (incline or decline)
Triceps work
side and real lateral super set

No HIIT Finisher

Those days that have a HIIT finisher have a 1/2 mile walk to warm up and another to cool down. The day without a HIIT finisher, the warm up and cool down walks are 1 mile each. I try to do 2 to 4 rounds of the HIIT routines.

I SOMETIMES try to get some LISS cardio in on one of the off days, like maybe a 2 mile walk. That's optional.

So, really this is a 4 workout per week plan. If I can get to a point where I can work some Ostarine in, I may consider going back to the original plan. I don't have enough recovery for 5 days a week right now, though.

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## wango

Looking good. Oh, btw, _almost_ got pizza last night.

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## Cylon357

> Looking good. Oh, btw, _almost_ got pizza last night.


YOLO (that's something the kids used to say, right?). Kind of ironically, this is a refeed day so I'm having pizza tonight. Hey, it's vegatarian'ish toppings (The Wife had something to do with that) so the caloric load won't be _too_ bad.

Unless I eat like my appetite wants. I swear people that say things like 'I eat and eat and cannot put on any weight'.... I actually wish I had cycled at some point in my youth. I have zero problems with my appetite and imagine that I would have blowed up real good on cycle.

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## wango

> YOLO (that's something the kids used to say, right?). Kind of ironically, this is a refeed day so I'm having pizza tonight. Hey, it's vegatarian'ish toppings (The Wife had something to do with that) so the caloric load won't be _too_ bad.
> 
> Unless I eat like my appetite wants. I swear people that say things like 'I eat and eat and cannot put on any weight'.... I actually wish I had cycled at some point in my youth. I have zero problems with my appetite and imagine that I would have blowed up real good on cycle.


Man, when I was a kid, holy cow the amounts I could put down. 

We did Italian last night and instead of pasta had it over steamed vegetables. Enjoy your pizza!

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## Cylon357

Friday night's overhead press workout was good. Real good. Got all my numbers and then some. But, that tiredness I was feeling from Thursday and killing it Friday night left me wiped on Saturday, and that has bled over into Sunday. So, I'm just shifting my days by one. I'll do my squat workout tomorrow and push everything else out by a day. This is the start of my 3rd hard week before a deload week, so this should not be a problem.

Wife made turkey chili today so that is helping with recovery. Good stuff, low fat, high protein, reasonable amount of fiber. By tomorrow, I will be ready to nail this 3rd week hard.

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## Cylon357

I promise, not 30 minutes after I posted that previous message about being tired, I fell asleep on the dang couch. So yeah, good plan to push things out a day.

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## Cylon357

Pushing things out a day was a good plan, evidently. I still wasn't feeling it, but made my a** get in there and do the squat thing. 

Twas yet another good workout.

I hit my weight goals early, and then decided heck, let me see where I can go. This is the last week before a deload, so lets vary it up a little and try a heavy single or two. 

That's a good overall strength test, though I acknowledge not particularly useful in a recomp or hypertrophy. Still, it had been a while, and I kind of needed the mental challenge, so I did it. Glad I did, too. Not a new PR or anything but a good variance from the same old same old. I still got in the rest of the work, too, so I call it a win.

I did two rounds of the treadmill / kettlbell swing thing to finish. Good goobledy goop, Grady, man that makes me huff, puff and sweat like a pig. The weather down here has cooled down some so I wasn't ready to hop in the pool, but I damn sure could (maybe SHOULD) have.

This has been a good program for me. I seem to enjoy it, by and large, and am starting to see changes. Maybe no one else could, but I can. Not the best for weight loss because it encourages the wrong behaviors, I think, but it has been fun so far. And if it ain't fun, it isn't likely to be something we stick with. So, I guess what I'm saying is right now, I would rather be fat and happy instead of lean and grumpy. But that will change at some point, too, I'm sure.

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## Cylon357

Had another good workout (bench) tonight. I left the HIIT stuff off at the end because I REALLY want to deadlift this week (Friday for this week) and don't want to have any carry over that keeps me from it. I WILL however, work the bag at the end of deadlift night, probably with kettlebell swings, because evidently, there is something broken in my head.

This has been a good week for hitting my target weights and then some. Weight that I was struggling to get 3 reps with 8 weeks ago I just popped tonight for 7 solid reps. Then went up to my magic number... Oh wait, let me explain 'magic number'. You know the weight, the one where you think 'you know, if I can get a heavy single at this weight, I will be stoked'? That's what I mean by magic number in this case. You may also note that I don't talk about specific weights. That's because what I consider tough is someone else's warmup and the same weight might crush someone else. So, in this context, specific numbers don't mean shit. "Ooh I benched 10 pounds, I've never done that much before!" That's awesome for you! "I just hit 655 for a triple! I'm so stoked!" Good for you! BTW, no sarcasm here. I'm legit every bit as excited for that first person as I am the second. 

Wow, that was a hell of a side bar... Anyhow, I got my magic number for a couple of good singles, then went back down and still got another 5 out of my working weight. Then went to dips, got 15 unweighted then got out the weight belt and had some fun! Man, the pecs were chatting and hurting oh so damn good! Going to feel it Friday... Oh, snap, new catch phrase: Feel it Friday! Damn, I'm on fire tonight!

BTW, remember when I said, there is something broken in my head? I mean, it is literally just a few paragraphs up. This stream of consciousness jibber jabber is what I'm talking about. Well, OK, it is PART of what I'm talking about. I'm still stoked from my workout and enjoying the post work out feel goods, so things are just flowing in a somewhat random flood of blah blah blah.

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## Cylon357

I had my last dead lift workout (before the deload week) yesterday. It was good, though not as good as the Squat or Bench workouts this week. That's ok and kind of to be expected because I've been grinding for 3 weeks now. Keep in mind that I'm a uh... 'more mature' gent who is operating without the benefit of AAS or SARMs (at this time, at least). So, if you are thinking 'four workouts a week? what a wuss!', I encourage you to click this link for my well thought out, respectful reply.

At any rate, I got through the entirety of the weights, then did the rowing machine and kettle bell HIIT finisher, 3 rounds, 3 minutes on the rower followed by 15 swings, one minute rest. It's good, man.

My weight was up this morning because I mistimed my meals yesterday and over ate at dinner (post workout). That doesn't worry me too much because... well, it just is what it is at the moment. 

I'll do my overhead press workout today, and work the heavy bag with pushups as my HIIT finisher. After that, the deload starts! And you may be thinking 'gee, this sounds a lot like 531', you would be right. I take the basic routine and exercises of 531 and modify them for this current program. The main differences here being (generally speaking), that I have upped both the tempo and the reps on the Big 4. And if you are wondering why, I encourage you to click this entirely different link.

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## ShredBundy

How is your old injury and muscle symmetry coming along? In general my right (non-dominant side) of my body is less full and slightly underdeveloped compared to my left. I also suffered my minor pec tear on the right side last year. While it’s not very noticeable my right pec is less full and I’m trying to bring it up in development but it’s been difficult

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## Cylon357

> How is your old injury and muscle symmetry coming along? In general my right (non-dominant side) of my body is less full and slightly underdeveloped compared to my left. I also suffered my minor pec tear on the right side last year. While it’s not very noticeable my right pec is less full and I’m trying to bring it up in development but it’s been difficult


The knee is doing surprising well. Actually, very well, considering the routine I've been following. I have to use the diclofenac gel after squat or typically dead lift workouts, though I did not after yesterdays dead workout. I really am somewhat surprised to see this doing that well. I've recently added a round of Integrative Peptides BPC-157 (oral) for some GI issues. It has only been a few days on that, though, so I'm pretty sure it has had zero effect on the knee.

The calf imbalance is still there. I get a fair amount of pain when I try to fully extend or contract my ankle on that side when the ball of my foot is on a block. It may just have to be that way. Maybe I could get surgery at some point to fix it, but no one notices but me unless I point it out. If I ever thought about getting on stage, yeah, I would figure out some way to fix it.

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## Cylon357

Here are some shots of the calves. I couldn't get a good shot of the left one from the back... It is smaller than the right but not by as much as it looks like in the back comparison shots. They are cold here, for what its worth.

BTW and as a warning, no razor touches my legs. Ever. 

Oh and that last one, the one of that short, dumpy looking dude? Yeah, that's me. Believe it or not, that is progress.

PS - yes, yes, I rock the sissy mittens when I do dips. Only when I do dips, though, cause that is the only time my hands bother me. What's up with that?

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## Cylon357

And tonight finished the final workout before the deload. I really screwed up my meal timing this weekend, and actually volume, too, I think. I know that I really need to cut the volume some in the last week before deload, but didn't this time. Still, I got through barbell overhead press, which went really well, and dips, which... lets just say I got them done. That was all the gas I had tonight. No excuses, that's just how it was.

Normally, in the 3rd week I cut volume but up the intensity. It sort of balances things out. Not this week though, my donkey ass killed it the first 2 workouts, had a good third, then was just gassed for the fourth.

I did hit a 20 year or so PR on the over head press, so that's cool. And at the same time that I think 'geez, knuckle head, if you had cut volume earlier in the week, where would you have landed??', I also take solace in that PR thing.

Request for input here: my over head press sometime stalls out a little over halfway up, like when the barbell is near the top of my head. Any thoughts on how to eliminate that weakness? Maybe triceps work? More lat / trap work? Note that I keep my form _pretty_ good, no leg drive or anything like that. Anyhow, any help is appreciated.

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## Cylon357

I'm enjoying this deload week. Evidently, I REALLLLLLY needed it. This is my second day off in a row, but I start back tomorrow with a light weight workout, or maybe a weighted walk and a weight workout Thursday. Don't know yet.

On a side note, I did get some goodies from ExpressPCT today. 50mg Enclomiphene (aka Enclofert) and some 5mg cialis to supplement the 5mg I am prescribed for BPH. I ordered on September 12 and got them today, so about a month from India. Package was sent via DHL and went India-> Singapore-> Germany-> Jacksonville, Florida and then USPS delivered from there.

I THINK that right now, Express is the only place to get pharma Enclomiphene, but don't quote me on that. Or do, I couldn't stop you. How would I know? Why would I bother?? Whatever, man, here are some pics of some stuff. Enjoy. Or don't, also don't let me tell you what to do with your life. 
:P

----------


## Cylon357

And because this is a deload week, so there isn't a lot going on, and because, well, things just get kind of rando sometimes, one of the things you may not realize about Florida wildlife is that you can see this type of thing all the time. That is the next door neighbors yard, but they eventually weird walked their way through ours, too.

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## Cylon357

Man, I could get used to this deload thing. I walked Thursday, and hit the weights lightly yesterday. I will do something today, probably LISS before doing some work on my old 5.0 Explorer. Technically, it needs several things: alternator, radiator, AC compressor and condenser but I'm trying to do one thing at a time. I will likely do the alternator this weekend, but the radiator and AC will wait. I don't drive it much (actually, I'm not driving much AT ALL, effin' 2020) so it isn't an issue to let it sit up. I COULD do the radiator and the AC separate, but I bought a new AC condenser and to get to it, you have to take out the radiator. Still, I don't think there is any refrigerant left in the AC system, so it shouldn't be too bad.

Workouts will begin in earnest on Monday and I'm likely to follow this same routine for another 30 days. After that, I will have a decision to make re continue recomp or do a proper cut. I'm starting to get stronger with this routine and that makes me happy, so I'm reluctant to change it right now.

----------


## Cylon357

Goddangit, man! It's been another one of 'those weeks' so far. Everything went sideways on the job, and one of the feral cats we care for woke me up two nights in a row. But, that's all taken care of, so I slept good last night. I did miss workouts Monday and Tuesday, but that's ok. I know how to reprogram the week to get back on track next week. 

Tonight will be squat and bench, plus HIIT with treadmill and heavy bag. Saturday will be deadlift and overhead press, HIIT being rowing machine plus kettle bell swings. Work in a day or two of LISS and I'll be back on schedule come Monday. Or maybe, I will just decide that Wednesday is the new starting day for the next month and just pick up squat day tonight. We will see.

First world problems...

----------


## Cylon357

Man, this week has genuinely shat on my head. But it's over now.

I was feeling a bit over trained / burnt out this week, so i just continued the deload and will pick things back up tomorrow (Sunday). I did get in a Squat + Bench workout on Wednesday, but that was all I did - Squat and Bench. Similar to 531 "I ain't doing sh!t". I was just totally burned this week and wasn't feeling it. I did get a 2 mile weighted walk in Thursday, 40lb vest in about 34 minutes. I can do that faster, but had my thinking cap on.

Anyhow, tomorrow I start back with the 4 workout per week plan, plus one more day of LISS. Gotta clean up the diet to finish this Covid comp with any real progress. Now on THAT (the cleaning up the diet), you can wish me luck!

----------


## Cylon357

People often mistake being old and fat with being unhealthy. While I would rather be young and thin, I can take some comfort in the fact that my BP numbers look like this regularly.

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## Cylon357

It turns out, yard work was the word of the day yesterday (Sunday). That also involved getting up on the roof and blowing out the gutters. We have Oak trees in our neighborhood and October is one of their shedding months. Acorns and leaves oh my. And since this is Florida, it was hotter than hades on the roof. Did some work on the rack (see below) and then hit the shower. That's OK, I got to see the best NFL matchup of single win teams as my Chargers beat the Jaguars. Both teams inconsistent but made things exciting.

Anyhow, workouts begin in earnest and I DO mean in earnest tonight. Yesterday, in addition to the yard work I mentioned, I moved two of the weight hangers on my rack from their position higher up on the rack to down low like the other two. When they were higher, they interfered with my squats sometimes. Tonights workout will be squats super setted with pullups (among other things) so I'm looking forward to that.

Oh, The Wife and I also voted yesterday. If you are in the US and can vote, maybe you should. I don't care WHO you vote for, just that you do. It's your call, though, I can respect the right to abstain.

----------


## SampsonandDelilah

Chargers fan huh? I wont hold that against you, especially because my Broncos are abysmal.

I do LOVE Austen Eckler though. Hes a Northern Colorado boy and from my neck of the woods. Went from a D3 school to a starting RB in the NFL...whats not to love?!

Keep grinding brother!!

----------


## Cylon357

> Chargers fan huh? I won’t hold that against you, especially because my Broncos are abysmal.
> 
> I do LOVE Austen Eckler though. He’s a Northern Colorado boy and from my neck of the woods. Went from a D3 school to a starting RB in the NFL...what’s not to love?!
> 
> Keep grinding brother!!


I'm trying!

I have followed the Chargers since the days of Dan Fouts and Air Coryell. Been a lot of abysmal years for us Bolts fans, too. We have that rookie QB now, Herbert, that is doing well. Is he the next Manning Brady Brees Mahomes or Wilson? I can only hope. And we have Bosa and Ingram aka the Terrible Twosome on D.... Maybe not this year, but lets see what 2021 and 2022 bring.

----------


## KittyO1

> It turns out, yard work was the word of the day yesterday (Sunday). That also involved getting up on the roof and blowing out the gutters. We have Oak trees in our neighborhood and October is one of their shedding months. Acorns and leaves oh my. And since this is Florida, it was hotter than hades on the roof. Did some work on the rack (see below) and then hit the shower. That's OK, I got to see the best NFL matchup of single win teams as my Chargers beat the Jaguars. Both teams inconsistent but made things exciting.
> 
> Anyhow, workouts begin in earnest and I DO mean in earnest tonight. Yesterday, in addition to the yard work I mentioned, I moved two of the weight hangers on my rack from their position higher up on the rack to down low like the other two. When they were higher, they interfered with my squats sometimes. Tonights workout will be squats super setted with pullups (among other things) so I'm looking forward to that.
> 
> Oh, The Wife and I also voted yesterday. If you are in the US and can vote, maybe you should.  I don't care WHO you vote for, just that you do. It's your call, though, I can respect the right to abstain.


I feel ya...The acorns, leaves, and beach nuts have covered most of my neighborhood! Lol We have weather from the hurricane bringing in a lot of rain and wind so its only going to get worse!

----------


## Cylon357

'Roids, man. Goddang 'roids.

Mine have been giving me so much sh!t the last two weeks, I had to take it easy last week AGAIN.

What? Cylon, I thought you just did Clomid and maybe some peps here and there? Have you joined us??

Oh, no I don't mean _steroids_. I mean _hemorrhoids_. I've been cursed with these jokers for years. About the past month or so, they have been REAL BAD. Like, bad enough where I'm talking to the doc in a couple of weeks about surgery. And I HATE surgery.

Butt (see what I did there) with all that said, this week has started off good. I had a good squat day yesterday and this morning did fasted LISS cardio (1.5 to 2 mile walk). And 'Lefty and Dapper Dan' aren't giving me near as much grief as they had been, so that's good. I have some Ipamorelin/ModGRF blend and Frag both from Peptide Sciences that I want to run soon. I was hoping to start this week, but if I'm going to have surgery, I'm thinking about holding off until after that to help heal.

This getting old stuff is for the birds. I guess it beats the alternative though!  :Big Grin:

----------


## Cylon357

> Chargers fan huh? I won’t hold that against you, especially because my Broncos are abysmal.
> 
> I do LOVE Austen Eckler though. He’s a Northern Colorado boy and from my neck of the woods. Went from a D3 school to a starting RB in the NFL...what’s not to love?!
> 
> Keep grinding brother!!


Many thanks BTW for not bragging about how awesomely the Broncos came back on the Chargers. We couldn't watch the game, but I saw the score at the half and was like cool!

Then Monday I checked the final. And there was a great expletive spoken.

----------


## Cylon357

Good bench workout last night, made better by a couple of things.

First, I have discovered that for dips, If I lean the top part of my body forward, and bring my knees towards my chest (kind of like doing knee raises), my chest gets BLASTED. I like it. I like it a LOT. I'm going to hurt tomorrow, but dang, I like that feeling of getting good, clean work in on a muscle group.

Second, over the past several months, I have been accumulating bits and pieces of an on the cheap pulley system for my rack. I got to put it to use last night, for both one arm cable flyes and tricep pushdowns. Both exercis

♫ Don't tell my tri's, my achey breaky tri's ♫

What the hell was that!?!? Billy Ray Cyrus?? Where in the hell did that come from??

Anyhow, both exercises went well, and I have a slightly longer cable on order to do low rows, etc. I'm looking forward to really being able to get things done. It looks a little rigged up, but it works and was one HELL of a lot less expensive than any dedicated equipment right now.

----------


## wango

> Good bench workout last night, made better by a couple of things.
> 
> First, I have discovered that for dips, If I lean the top part of my body forward, and bring my knees towards my chest (kind of like doing knee raises), my chest gets BLASTED. I like it. I like it a LOT. I'm going to hurt tomorrow, but dang, I like that feeling of getting good, clean work in on a muscle group.
> 
> Second, over the past several months, I have been accumulating bits and pieces of an on the cheap pulley system for my rack. I got to put it to use last night, for both one arm cable flyes and tricep pushdowns. Both exercis
> 
> ♫ Don't tell my tri's, my achey breaky tri's ♫
> 
> What the hell was that!?!? Billy Ray Cyrus?? Where in the hell did that come from??
> ...


Nice set-up!

Im not a Chargers fan, but watch their games now to see that QB. Holy cow does that kid have potential.

Rookie of the year? Potentially, but if they were winning.

----------


## Cylon357

> Nice set-up!
> 
> *I’m not a Charger’s fan, but watch their games now to see that QB. Holy cow does that kid have potential.*
> 
> Rookie of the year? Potentially, but if they were winning.


He does look good. But the last time they were REALLY good they had a running back with the initials LT. If they can get their running game a little stronger, then we get to see what the kid can do in the pocket. Still, after many years with Rivers, it is nice to have a QB that can seriously scramble.

----------


## Cylon357

Last week started out good, but fizzled out. Those damn 'roids causing me issues.

This week, however, has been good so far. I've changed the program slightly to focus on more cutting, with a couple of days of weights, a day of dedicated LISS, and two days of non weight bearing HIIT.

I did the jog on treadmill, heavy bag, climber combo. Only two rounds of each for a total of 18 working minutes, but with intervals in all 3 exercises, I was beat. Plus I did a brisk mile to warm up and a slightly slower mile to cool down, so I got the work in.

It will be 3 rounds next week because, evidently, there is something broken in my head.  :Shrug:

----------


## Cylon357

Man, this week has been garbage. I'm just posting to say 'We will not let 2020 win'

Back at it tomorrow in earnest. I've been mixing up the program a little, kind of trying to decide where I want to go and what I want to do. Will post more later.

----------


## SampsonandDelilah

> 'Roids, man. Goddang 'roids.
> 
> Mine have been giving me so much sh!t the last two weeks, I had to take it easy last week AGAIN.
> 
> What? Cylon, I thought you just did Clomid and maybe some peps here and there? Have you joined us??
> 
> Oh, no I don't mean _steroids_. I mean _hemorrhoids_. I've been cursed with these jokers for years. About the past month or so, they have been REAL BAD. Like, bad enough where I'm talking to the doc in a couple of weeks about surgery. And I HATE surgery.
> 
> Butt (see what I did there) with all that said, this week has started off good. I had a good squat day yesterday and this morning did fasted LISS cardio (1.5 to 2 mile walk). And 'Lefty and Dapper Dan' aren't giving me near as much grief as they had been, so that's good. I have some Ipamorelin/ModGRF blend and Frag both from Peptide Sciences that I want to run soon. I was hoping to start this week, but if I'm going to have surgery, I'm thinking about holding off until after that to help heal.
> ...



If you haven’t, please get them looked at Cylon. Not being an alarmist at all, but that’s where I was in February and it turned out they weren’t roids, they were tumors. I’m sure yours are not, but in good conscience I need to say something. As I said, not being an alarmist, just sharing my stuff.

Keep up the awesome work

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## Cylon357

> If you haven’t, please get them looked at Cylon. Not being an alarmist at all, but that’s where I was in February and it turned out they weren’t roids, they were tumors. I’m sure yours are not, but in good conscience I need to say something. As I said, not being an alarmist, just sharing my stuff.
> 
> Keep up the awesome work


I do appreciate it, brother, especially knowing where you have been.

I have an appointment to get them checked by the gastroenterologist in early December, but I'm almost certain that it is a hemi thing. This same doc did my colonoscopy a couple of years ago and was like 'yeah, I saw you have some old hemorrhoids. We can take care of that whenever you want or just wait.' I could provide more graphic details about being relatively sure they are hemis, but this is a family friendly site (HAHA) and besides, nobody wants to hear about my ass. NOBODY. (It's ok, I've come to terms with it.) Well, I take that back. The gastroenterologist seems to enjoy discussing it, but I think that is because he sees 'new margarita machine', not because I have an overly noteworthy butthole.

Still, better safe than sorry, especially with 2020 being how it is.

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## SampsonandDelilah

Just happy you have something scheduled....

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## Cylon357

So, I've been in a funk over the past couple of weeks. I seem to be coming out of it now. The hemi pain was causing part of it, but I also started playing with my meds.

I recently got my hands on some Enclomiphene from ExpressPCT and from Peptides Warehouse (yes, I know). Doing the math, I worked my weekly dosage out to somewhere near 50mg to be roughly the same as my 75mg Clomid. I ran that for about 3 weeks.

Either that dose isn't right or Enclomiphene doesn't work for me. I put two and two together and a few days ago, upped the dose and switched back to Clomid. Feeling better now. Looking forward to workout tomorrow! 

Hemis are still a pain in the butt, literally, but I've added 2g of MSM per week to see if it helps. I've read a few accounts of people that have had relief with MSM and one guy that claims it totally resolved them. A bit of a stretch but if it can keep me out of surgery, I'm willing to give it a shot.

----------


## wango

> So, I've been in a funk over the past couple of weeks. I seem to be coming out of it now. The hemi pain was causing part of it, but I also started playing with my meds.
> 
> I recently got my hands on some Enclomiphene from ExpressPCT and from Peptides Warehouse (yes, I know). Doing the math, I worked my weekly dosage out to somewhere near 50mg to be roughly the same as my 75mg Clomid. I ran that for about 3 weeks.
> 
> Either that dose isn't right or Enclomiphene doesn't work for me. I put two and two together and a few days ago, upped the dose and switched back to Clomid. Feeling better now. Looking forward to workout tomorrow! 
> 
> Hemis are still a pain in the butt, literally, but I've added 2g of MSM per week to see if it helps. I've read a few accounts of people that have had relief with MSM and one guy that claims it totally resolved them. A bit of a stretch but if it can keep me out of surgery, I'm willing to give it a shot.


Best of luck with the pain. Amazing how some things can just crush you because of the discomfort.

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## Cylon357

Good squat workout tonight. Feeling much better after getting back on the proper dose of Clomid. I'll speak to that in more detail elsewhere.

Took it easy to get back to it and not anger the 'Evil Spirits of Planet Hema-Roid' but still got the work in. I'll ease back in and see how things go over the next several days, then kick it back into high (well, high-er) gear next week.

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## KittyO1

Glad youre feeling better!

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## Cylon357

> Best of luck with the pain. Amazing how some things can just crush you because of the discomfort.





> Glad you’re feeling better!


Thanks y'all! I'm dealing with it... Total first world problem, all in all. High fiber diet definitely helps.

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## Cylon357

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

I had a good squat workout Monday, and a good bench workout Tuesday. I had Wednesday off this week, but today it is back.

Note that I had 'back', not 'deadlift'. I'm taking deads out for a little while (well, at least for this week). They will be back at some point, cause I just can't help myself. Anyhow, I'm planning on focusing on lat width and overall density for the next little while. It should be 'fun'.

Definitely feeling better now that I got my doses back in line. Hemis are still an issue, but it is amazing what getting fiber in the diet can do for that. They are getting looked at in a couple of weeks, but I dang and I mean DANG sure don't want another surgery. But maybe, if that is what it needs.

Have a great day!

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## wango

Glad you’re having some improvement in pain; go fiber!

Happy Thanksgiving!

----------


## Cylon357

Good back workout yesterday. It was kind of weird not setting up for deadlifts but my body didn't seem to mind. They will be back in at some point, just probably not once a week with squats in the same week. Well, unless the day comes that I decide to ditch the Clomid as HRT and go on the needle. Not that the needle is magic, but at that point, HELLO OTHER COMPOUNDS!

Anyhow, I did close grip pull downs to warm up, then did some wide grip chins, adding 25 pounds for my middle set. I only got 5 reps on that but could feel and see the lats swelling. Moved on to single arm pulldowns, face pulls and seated rows. Added in some calf work and bicep curls to round out the weights. 1 mile walk to warm up and 1 more to cool down. I'm learning Italian right now and the walk is the perfect time to listen to the lessons. Yes, that does mean I walk around the neighborhood speaking broken Italian to no one, but the neighbors are used to it from when I was learning Spanish.

As a total side note (well ok as a even larger side note), when I first started learning Spanish, sometimes I sounded Italian. Not like good Italian but like Mario from Mario Cart Italian. I wonder if I will sound Spanish while learning Italian? Not good Spanish mind you, but like Speedy Gonzalez Spanish.

Yes, this is how my brain works. You think it's hard to read? Try living it. Or possibly even more... entertaining? worse?, try living WITH it. The Wife is a very patient lady. She HAS broken me, by and large, of the habit of randomly singing Slayer's 'Angel of Death' in my Kermit the Frog voice at full volume, but it still happens on occasion. 

Anyhow, lats are feeling a little achey this morning and I'm calling that a very good thing.

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## Cylon357

Good news, bad news.

First the bad: the hemis are still acting up some. Heavy lifting seems to aggravate them  :Cry:  but high fiber diet seems to be helping. Appointment coming up soon, lets see what the surgeon says.

C'mon man, who am I kidding?? The surgeon is gonna say "Let's cut 'em out! I got a kid going to college!" Well, he won't say that last part, but we know he is thinking it. A fish gotta swim, a surgeon gotta cut.

Good news is that my HIIT'ish routine with the treadmill, heavy bag and climber does NOT aggravate the hemis. In fact, even my knee is behaving. I did three rounds tonight (27 total work minutes, maybe took 33 to complete) and the knee is just saying "hey, how you doin', big guy? Me, I'm not too bad." 

In other words, my knee, which this time last year was hurting so bad I couldn't go up and down stairs without crazy pain, feels fine after a workout that put it through its paces. I did use the tight knee sleeves but did not use and don't feel the need to use diclofenac tonight. This is good.

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## KittyO1

Definitely have some positives! Thats good! Maybe youll get lucky enough the surgeon will say wait? Who knows. Haha

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## Cylon357

> Definitely have some positives! That’s good! Maybe you’ll get lucky enough the surgeon will say wait? Who knows. Haha


Some days, I would be like "come get 'em, doc!"

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## wango

I completely forgot about the straining with deads and squats. Those certainly don’t help.

----------


## Cylon357

Good overhead press workout for me yesterday, which was a good way to cap off a rather crappy but not horrible week.

BTW, this has ceased to be a Covid 2020 weight loss log, and has become just more of a general log. That is probably obvious...

Anyhow, I'm starting a dedicated program next week, similar to my original plan. I have an eval for possible surgery coming up and that may keep me from adding some of the peptides I have on hand, like Frag191 and Ipamorelin / ModGrf. If I'm going to need surgery, I would like to save AT LEAST the Ipamorelin / ModGRF until after that to help heal things. I may go ahead and start the Frag now or in the next week or so.

I also have on hand what may be the among the last of the injectable Thymosin Labs TB-500/BPC-157 7/3mg blend. I bought 4 vials about a month ago, and have 3 left over. They no longer seem to sell injectables. This makes me sad (well, OK disappointed) because they seemed like a legit vendor. They do still seem to sell oral products, but I've read that oral TB-500 is almost useless. Still, they have a good oral BPC-157 that I have used and an oral MK-677 / BPC-157 blend. I haven't used it, and probably won't because I get all Michelin Man from MK, though I would suspect it is a legit product.

----------


## Cylon357

Dang, meant to add, I also have some Ostarine on hand, both from Rat's Army and Umbrella Labs. I'm thinking about running it at 5 to 10 mg per day with my HRT Clomid. I've read a few accounts of people avoiding shutdown with that combo. I will likely either up the clomid slightly or add in low dose (5mg per day) Nolvadex if I do that. The nolvadex would serve two purposes: regular SERM duties and possible evaluation of effects on BPH. We will see how that works out.

----------


## Cylon357

So, I made a thing.

I had some leftover 2x8 sitting around (actually in the weight room) that I was using as a block for calf work. It seemed a little unstable, just a bit 'flippy', if you will. If I were on the edge doing weighted calf work, sometimes the other side would raise up and run the risk of flipping over. Bad news.

It turns out, I also had a 2x4 that 'came with the house'. Seriously, when we moved in 6 years ago or so, someone left a 2x4. Not a scrap piece mind you, but like a 12 foot 2x4. At least I _think_ it came with the house. I can't imagine why I would have had AND moved with us a 12 foot long 2x4.

At any rate, it is now 8 feet long. I took two 2 foot sections out of it and attached it to the 2x8 as seen below. This allows me to move the center of mass over the center of the 2x8 so it doesn't flip. This is a little tall for me, though, so I will probably take one of the 2x4s off. This gives me an OK stretch but adds stability so it's a net win.

----------


## Cylon357

Good squat workout tonight. Kept it simple with Squats, chinups, leg curls, calf work (see below) and both regular and reverse hyperextensions. Followed that up with two rounds of 3 minutes on the treadmill followed by 15 kettle bell swings. Yeah, there you are, you naughty kettle bells! You knew I couldn't stay away.

Anyhow, I used the calf block for the first time tonight. As expected, I had to remove one of the 2x4s to shorten the height a bit. It helped but was still a little awkward. Felt good, though and I'm sure I will get the hang of it. Still, when standing on the 2x4, with my heel resting on the 2x8 and the floor a little, it was stable as hell.

----------


## wango

> Good squat workout tonight. Kept it simple with Squats, chinups, leg curls, calf work (see below) and both regular and reverse hyperextensions. Followed that up with two rounds of 3 minutes on the treadmill followed by 15 kettle bell swings. Yeah, there you are, you naughty kettle bells! You knew I couldn't stay away.
> 
> Anyhow, I used the calf block for the first time tonight. As expected, I had to remove one of the 2x4s to shorten the height a bit. It helped but was still a little awkward. Felt good, though and I'm sure I will get the hang of it. Still, when standing on the 2x4, with my heel resting on the 2x8 and the floor a little, it was stable as hell.


I think that I hit my calves when I have to reach up to the top cabinets of the kitchen to get s*&%t for her.

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## Cylon357

Good bench workout today. Did bench press, dips, shoulder raise tri-set (front, side, rear), then skull crushers and db curls to round out the weights.

After that, I worked the bag for 3 minutes, followed by push ups (10 reps), then the remainder of a minute before working the bag again. I did two rounds of this today because I was pressed for time. 

Still, at the end of workout, my upper body was nicely swollen (though that is relative). It was a very good day.

----------


## Cylon357

I've skipped a few days of updates. Deal with it, peeps! :P
Just kidding. But also kind of not.

Anyhow, I had a good routine last night of treadmill jogging, working the heavy bag, and the rowing machine. 3 minutes each, 3 rounds total for 27 working minutes. Took more time off the clock, as I try to move as quickly as I can between exercises (less than 1 minute). Grab a drink of water, put on / take off the gloves and then good to go.

Oh snap, almost forgot. I took my first shot of Frag 176-191 from Peptide Sciences today (like 30 minutes ago). Since I have never used Frag before, I kept the first dose at 100mcg, then will titrate up from there as tolerated.

Quick question for those with experience with Frag: cloudy or clear? I've seen various sources that say one or the other, but wanted trusted input. I may also post this question in the appropriate sub.

----------


## Cylon357

Had a good squat workout tonight, but the hemis are acting up.

I did like 5 working sets of squats, two with a narrow stance. I think that shifts the focus to the outer quad.
Leg curls and calf work.
Hyper extensions and reverse hypers.

That was actually it for the weight part of the workout.

Then came the HIIT...

3 minutes on the treadmill
5 pullups
15 kettlebell swings
rest 1 minute, maybe 15 seconds between exercises for transition and water.

3 Rounds and I was like "♫In the time of chimpanzees, I was a monkey♫"
or at least that is kind of how it felt. Huffin', puffin' and sweatin', Jack! Whoooo!

Yoga stretches for 15 minutes or so to cool down and limber up.

Life is good!  :Big Grin:

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## Cylon357

BTW, the hemis are annoying but mostly under control with a higher fiber diet. I had to move my appointment (doc shifted it actually) to Jan 11, so I will find out there what the score really is. At this point, I'm likely going to be like 'doc, take these bitches out!'

We'll see how that goes.

Life is still good though!  :Big Grin:

----------


## wango

> BTW, the hemis are annoying but mostly under control with a higher fiber diet. I had to move my appointment (doc shifted it actually) to Jan 11, so I will find out there what the score really is. At this point, I'm likely going to be like 'doc, take these bitches out!'
> 
> We'll see how that goes.
> 
> Life is still good though!


Go fiber!

----------


## KittyO1

> Had a good squat workout tonight, but the hemis are acting up.
> 
> I did like 5 working sets of squats, two with a narrow stance. I think that shifts the focus to the outer quad.
> Leg curls and calf work.
> Hyper extensions and reverse hypers.
> 
> That was actually it for the weight part of the workout.
> 
> Then came the HIIT...
> ...


Looks like a fun and killer workout!!!




> At this point, I'm likely going to be like 'doc, take these bitches out!'


That made me LOL

----------


## Cylon357

Had a good bench workout last night.

The number of the week is 5, as in 5 work sets.
I did barbell bench, working up to two sets at my top weight, then coming back down doing a couple of wide grip sets, finishing with a regular grip rep out set.

Moved on to 3 sets of 10 pushups with raised handles, then one arm cable crossover with my rigged up pulley system. Granted, it isn't really a 'crossover' doing one arm at a time... Anyhow, then on to tricep pushdowns and that was it for the main weight workout.

Instead of going HIIT this time, I went for more of a giant set finisher. My goal was to do 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 with chinups, dips, and front raises. So something like:
7 reps chins
7 reps dips
7 reps raises
rest 30 seconds
6 reps chins
6 reps dips
etc

until the final round would have be just 1 rep of each.

I did not make it that far. The chinups where the limiting factor. I got like 7-5-3-1 on those and just did 7-6-5-4 on the other exercises, though I did add bicep curls (because I forgot to do them earlier). Anyhow, this was an interesting experience. I will likely drop the chins next time and see if I can't complete the full giant set.

----------


## wango

Really nice sounding workout Cylon!

Got to ask, are you busting out Kermit to sing any Christmas carols to sound like Slayer? If so, please record/tape!

----------


## Cylon357

> Really nice sounding workout Cylon!
> 
> Got to ask, are you busting out Kermit to sing any Christmas carols to sound like Slayer? If so, please record/tape!


LOL!

I like to use the juxtaposition of the typically serene with typically violent for 'humorous' effect. Like Kermit singing Angel of Death. On the other end, you might find Megadeth doing Jingle Bells. Or possibly my rendition of the theme to 'The Beverly Hillbillies', in the style of gangster rap / death metal. That is most definitely NSFW, unless you work in the gangster rap or death metal industries. Even then though, the lyrics might seem... interesting.

But more often than not, these things just come to me in the moment, and I can try to contain them (50 / 50 odds there) or just let them out and hope I can write them down or record it or something. Mind you, there is a lot and I mean a LOT of stuff that misses...

----------


## wango

> LOL!
> 
> I like to use the juxtaposition of the typically serene with typically violent for 'humorous' effect. Like Kermit singing Angel of Death. On the other end, you might find Megadeth doing Jingle Bells. Or possibly my rendition of the theme to 'The Beverly Hillbillies', in the style of gangster rap / death metal. That is most definitely NSFW, unless you work in the gangster rap or death metal industries. Even then though, the lyrics might seem... interesting.
> 
> But more often than not, these things just come to me in the moment, and I can try to contain them (50 / 50 odds there) or just let them out and hope I can write them down or record it or something. Mind you, there is a lot and I mean a LOT of stuff that misses...


Pleases disregard the band name. Seriously, not intended to shock or offend. With that said they actually do have some decent shockabilly songs. Thought youd dig this combo . . .

----------


## Cylon357

OMG didn't that come up in a Cheech and Chong movie? Like they played it on stage in their 'band'? Or maybe Michael Winslow (the voice effects guy from 'Police Academy') did it?

That's going to drive me batty.

----------


## wango

> OMG didn't that come up in a Cheech and Chong movie? Like they played it on stage in their 'band'? Or maybe Michael Winslow (the voice effects guy from 'Police Academy') did it?
> 
> That's going to drive me batty.


Not sure, but Elvis Hitler really is a band and I had their first C.D. They had some legit songs that I liked. I don’t know if they were racist & don’t believe any songs on that CD were. Shockabilly is a form of rockabilly and their are more than a few really good bands. I love actual rockabilly too.

----------


## Cylon357

Happy Boxing Day!

Today's workout was deadlifts. First time I have done them in about 3 weeks due to the angry spirits of Planet Ass-Pain (aka the home world of Hemi-Roid). They got aggravated some but were already being dicks because of yesterday's food fest. A bit more obnoxious than they have been this week, but not as bad as they were a couple of weeks back.

ANYWAY, I did deadlifts and followed them up with barbell rows. Man, I love that combo. Followed that up with chins, then curls with the ez-curl bar. I did goblet squats (a first for me, kind of neat) and one legged calf raises with the kettle bell. That was a fun combo.

And since it IS Boxing Day, my HIIT finisher was:
3 minute rounds with the heavy bag
15 kettle bell swings
3 rounds total

I took about a minute fifteen seconds between ending one round with the bag and starting the next. That included getting the gloves off, doing the kettle bell swings, getting some water and putting the gloves back on. I need to figure out a routine that DOESN'T involve taking the gloves on and off. But it was fun and a huffy puffy way to finish the workout, so it's all good.

----------


## Cylon357

Today was overhead press / shoulder day. I almost just did the OH presses, but decided to truck on. Glad I did.

I did dips, then shrugs tri-setted with laterals and rear laterals. Finished off with skull crushers for the weights.

No HIIT today - 4x a week is too much for me right now. I did however, do both a 1 mile walk to warm up and a 2 mile walk to finish. This is as close to an easy day as I have at the moment.

----------


## Cylon357

Holy crap, my brothers and sisters! I had an awesome lunch time workout today! Actually, I woke up feeling pretty damn good and the feeling has continued all day. I'll take it!

Started with a mile walk to warm up - it was about 76 and sunny here when I did that. Felt nice!

Started with front squats, then did stiff legged dead lifts, calf work and Bulgarian split squats. It seems like there was another exercise in there, but can't remember what right now.

Then it was time for HIIT.

3 rounds of the following:
5-7 chinups
3 minutes on the climber (1 15 to 30 second interval per minute)
15 kettlbell swings (went up from 40 to 50 pounds today)
10 reverse hypers
10 regular hypers
rest period of 30 to 45 seconds

Holy fack! I got through two rounds reasonably well, but man that third.... It was a beast! I had to slow down the transitions and actually did the kettlebells last for that round. I swear there were a couple of times when I was like "damn, I'm fixing to pass out." It was cool.

Followed that up with a 1/2 mile walk and some yoga stretches to cool down, shower and back to work. The Wife had made some homemade sourdough bread, and we have a ham for this weekend. She was kind enough to cut me enough ham for a sandwich with that bread. Holy shit, it was good. I included a pic for the foodies:



What, the "after" isn't good enough? Isn't the "after" pic the one we always look for?  :Big Grin: 

Sorry, no before pic. Damn, it was good though.

----------


## wango

Great workout & so happy that you’re feeling great - congrats! Nice way to end this year!!!

Oh heck yes to that sandwich. Love coincidences, my wife was just saying yesterday while I watched her prep dinner, that she’s trying to make bread as her next cooking goal! 

Still thinking of that nice ham on fresh sourdough.

----------


## Cylon357

> Great workout & so happy that you’re feeling great - congrats! Nice way to end this year!!!
> 
> Oh heck yes to that sandwich. Love coincidences, my wife was just saying yesterday while I watched her prep dinner, that she’s trying to make bread as her next cooking goal! 
> 
> *Still thinking of that nice ham on fresh sourdough*.


I guess I know what I'm having for dinner!

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## Cylon357

Good bench workout on New Years Eve.

I did dumbbell bench press, followed up with incline flyes, keeping the flyes super light. I'm almost certain there was another chest exercise in there, but damned if I can remember what now.

Went on to skull crushers, super setted with dumbbell curls. Then did front raises, side and rear laterals to toast the delts.

No HIIT this day, but I did open with a 1 mile walk outside and about 1.5 miles after to cool down and get in some LISS.

I do back tomorrow and will almost certainly work the bag as part of the HIIT finisher.

Happy 2021!

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## SampsonandDelilah

Just caught up, happy to see you still crushing it. Happy New Year Cylon!

----------


## Cylon357

> Just caught up, happy to see you still crushing it. Happy New Year Cylon!


Same to you, brother!

----------


## Cylon357

Oh my brothers and sisters, testify!

Had an awesome back workout today. You remember somewhere in all the madness that is this log, I talked about having cables and pulleys and loading pin, oh my!? You don't? It's OK. I have cables and pulleys and loading pin (oh my) and put them to good use today. Note that these are general purpose pulleys and cables, not dedicated workout equipment. That might make them better in a way as they may be heavier duty. They were damn sure and I mean DAMN sure less expensive than any specialized equipment for my rack, IF I could even find it in stock.

Anyhow, I did some light pulldowns to warm up the back, then proceeded to like 8 sets of pullups (and chinups when I got tired), of various widths and hand positions. I did not add weight to any of them, maybe I should have but there it is. Moved on to a couple of sets of wide grip pulldowns, then single arm pulldowns to really nail the lats. I followed that up with seated low pulley rows. And by seated, I mean on the floor. But its all good. Three sets of one arm dumbbell rows with the 60s to wipe me out but in good way. I used the heavy bag as my bench for these, more on the bag shortly.

I was going to do biceps tomorrow with the triceps, but decided to be efficient. So, as I was putting up the weights and pulleys and such, I worked in bicep curls, really kind of like hammer curls. Since I had to put up my 45s, I just used one, gripped it on the side, did 8-12 curls, then racked the weight properly. Two birds, one stone and all. I finished off the weights with calf work, holding the kettlebells in either hand and just doing calf raises off a block. 

And now for HIIT....

I needed a break, so I took 5 then asked The Wife to help me hang the heavy bag. Got it going and dialed in the kettle bells, moved the Spotify playlist from 'Your Time Capsule' to 'Old School Metal' and went to town.

The plan was 3 rounds of the following:
3 minutes working the heavy bag
8-10 goblet squats
15 kettlebell swings
1 minute rest

I _almost_ made it. Believe it or don't, it was NOT the cardio vascular system that failed me. It was the low back. On the third and final set of swings, the low back started saying "yo, dog maybe you should NOT do kettlebell swings twice in one week, m'k?" It was a little sore and getting twitchy, so I stopped the final set at 5 reps. I was still gassed but could have made it. It's all good, though, cause I found a limit (at least for that day).

Mile and a half walk to cool down, some yoga stretches, protein and a shower, and now I'm hear talking with you animals. That's OK, we are all animals and y'all are my type of critters, so life is good.

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## Cylon357

And as a celebration of an excellent workout week, here is a totally decadent dinner. No regrets! I've been good all week and we needed to get rid of leftovers #rationalization

@Wango, The Wife is on a bread making tear. This is a sourdough made with half whole wheat and half white flours. Still dang tasty.



PS - one of my life mottos is: when in doubt, choose tater tots - you won't be disappointed.

----------


## SampsonandDelilah

“You gonna eat your tots?”-Napoleon

----------


## wango

> And as a celebration of an excellent workout week, here is a totally decadent dinner. No regrets! I've been good all week and we needed to get rid of leftovers #rationalization
> 
> @Wango, The Wife is on a bread making tear. This is a sourdough made with half whole wheat and half white flours. Still dang tasty.
> 
> 
> 
> PS - one of my life mottos is: when in doubt, choose tater tots - you won't be disappointed.


Damn fine meal. Fresh bread, awesome ham and the icing on the the cake . . . tater-tots! Your body had to have been carb depleted from this week, cant call that a cheat meal, that was utter necessity!

And my keen eye picked up the plate is sitting next to the television remote control - now we are talking!!!

Because of you (and your wife), I am now watching yet another cooking show with my wife. It is a baking cook-off show from the UK. 

Lets kill this hear buddy!

----------


## Cylon357

> “You gonna eat your tots?”-Napoleon


"Heck yeah!"

Man, that is a fun little, oddball movie!

----------


## Cylon357

> Damn fine meal. Fresh bread, awesome ham and the icing on the the cake . . . tater-tots! Your body had to have been carb depleted from this week, can’t call that a cheat meal, that was utter necessity!
> 
> And my keen eye picked up the plate is sitting next to the television remote control - now we are talking!!!
> 
> Because of you (and your wife), I am now watching yet another cooking show with my wife. It is a baking cook-off show from the UK. 
> 
> Let’s kill this hear buddy!


I'm trying lol!

I'm starting to think the switch from Clomid to Enclomiphene is already having an effect on my mood, workouts and general well being. I feel better... sharper, maybe a bit less patient, and I definitely seem to be getting better pumps in my workouts. And of course, when we get better pumps, we try a little harder to get that look. Chasin' the pump, man, it is a thing. I pull bloods in 6 weeks so we will see what that shows.

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## Cylon357

Good but short workout tonight. I think the great workouts I had this week had me gassed and just not enough left in the tank to do back one day, then shoulders the next.

I did get in barbell over head presses, dips, skull crushers and pushups with the handle. I was sore in enough places to know that sometimes you gotta go slow to go fast, life is a marathon, not a sprint, etc etc. Still was a good workout for what I did.

----------


## Cylon357

Had a good day off yesterday. I donated blood for the first time, not because I need to, but just to be a good citizen. Oh and also, I'm goddang 52 years old and don't know my blood type. I'm thinking that might be good to know....

Anyhow, I would normally be starting my weight workouts today, but I am finding that I really need an 8 day week, if I'm going to keep at the HIIT like I have been. Oh and if the Powers That Be are listening (hint: they are), that new week should be 5 days work, 3 days weekend. BTW, I don't want to offend anyone's beliefs so when I say "Powers That Be", just choose the one that fits your dogma. Your pick of either The Blue Cheese Committee or The Flying Spaghetti Monster, but I don't want to get pulled into that debate. 

So, today, I'm likely just going to go LISS with a 2 mile walk, then start the weight workouts tomorrow. Since I typcially do 3 weeks and then a 1 week deload, I can resync my workouts until we get this whole 8 day week resolved.

----------


## Cuz

> Had a good day off yesterday. I donated blood for the first time, not because I need to, but just to be a good citizen. Oh and also, I'm goddang 52 years old and don't know my blood type. I'm thinking that might be good to know....
> 
> Anyhow, I would normally be starting my weight workouts today, but I am finding that I really need an 8 day week, if I'm going to keep at the HIIT like I have been. Oh and if the Powers That Be are listening (hint: they are), that new week should be 5 days work, 3 days weekend. BTW, I don't want to offend anyone's beliefs so when I say "Powers That Be", just choose the one that fits your dogma. Your pick of either The Blue Cheese Committee or The Flying Spaghetti Monster, but I don't want to get pulled into that debate. 
> 
> So, today, I'm likely just going to go LISS with a 2 mile walk, then start the weight workouts tomorrow. Since I typcially do 3 weeks and then a 1 week deload, I can resync my workouts until we get this whole 8 day week resolved.


First time donating blood. Good stuff. Did they check your iron levels? im usually borderline when i donate.

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## Cylon357

> First time donating blood. Good stuff. Did they check your iron levels? im usually borderline when i donate.


They did, but I don't have the results (yet) and didn't even think to ask. I was in one of those buses with two attractive, well shaped, young ladies (the phlebotomists) and I might have started hearing "brown chicken brown cow" in my head.

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## wango

And for being such a caring citizen, heres your treat after you hydrate . . . .

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## Cylon357

> And for being such a caring citizen, here’s your treat after you hydrate . . . .


Me to her: "Baby, I don't care how hot you are, YOU ain't sticking ME"

And then I would likely need to use my hydration goodies to get the mace out of my eyes...

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## Cylon357

Got my blood donation results back. @Cuz, evidently I should have asked about iron levels though I'm assuming they were within range. Or maybe they weren't and they were just like "this is the first person we have seen all week so take. His. Blood!"

I'm not going to lie: there was a part of me that was hoping that I had already had Covid-19 and it just didn't affect me...

----------


## Cuz

> Got my blood donation results back. @Cuz, evidently I should have asked about iron levels though I'm assuming they were within range. Or maybe they weren't and they were just like "this is the first person we have seen all week so take. His. Blood!"
> 
> I'm not going to lie: there was a part of me that was hoping that I had already had Covid-19 and it just didn't affect me...


Its when they stick your finger and collect the sample, obviously yours was ok i normally always ask for my readings. Everything looks good, my cholesterol was 180 last time, but im blasting gear like a madman, its normally 140s lol

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## Cylon357

> Its when they stick your finger and collect the sample, obviously yours was ok i normally always ask for my readings. Everything looks good, my cholesterol was 180 last time, but im blasting gear like a madman, its normally 140s lol


They put a collar on my thumb to measure the iron. Kind of like the pulse oximeter they use to measure blood oxygen but where that is usually like a clamp, this was definitely like a collar or ring.

----------


## Cylon357

Good squat workout today. Actually, the squat portion was just OK. I did squats, leg curls and calf raises. I think I'm sort of not quite but almost burning out in the 2nd week of my 3 week cycles. This is week 3 and I am sensing the sweet bliss of deload time.

But then I did my finisher....

I did 3 rounds of the following:
3 minute jog / run on treadmill (10 minute mile pace)
3 minutes on the climber with intervals
6 pullups
about 45 seconds rest.

I'm hesitant to call this HIIT, though I did transition pretty much straight from one exercise to the next, taking just enough time to get some water. Finished in about 24 minutes, so kept it pretty short but intense. There were a couple of times when I was like "damn, I'm just ready to be done. I'm stopping now" but I just powered through.

And I have that sweet deload coming up, starting Tuesday.  :Big Grin:

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## wango

I love the HIIT circuits that you post! Great set up at home! 

Way to bring in 2021!

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## Cylon357

Man, I have NOT got this timing in the 3 weeks down quite right. I was exhausted today and still a bit sore from Thursday's squat workout. I decided to just liss today and did a two mile walk. I'll double up the workouts in the next couple of days to finish week 3 strong.

To be honest, I have a hard time working out on Saturday and Sundays. I frequently mis-time my meals and end up with less than stellar workouts. But I'll figure it out.

Today, other than the walk, has been mostly watching playoff football, though The Wife did put together an excellent, fairly easy meal. Because I know posts are always better with pics, here you go.

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## wango

Nice meal! Nice games today. 

Sat & Sun are hard to workout on, agreed.

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## Cylon357

So I have made this my deload week. Still had a good workout tonight, but kept it super simple with no HIIT.

I think my switch to Enclomiphene is driving down my estrogen. I'm switching back to Clomid for now (cause there is a conversation coming with the doc about the needle).

I did enjoy the football weekend though!

----------


## Cylon357

Good, easy deload back workout today. 

Going back to the Clomid seems to be helping. I'm thinking Enclomiphene has too much AI action going on. I'll talk to the doc when I go back about switching to the needle, though I MIGHT add HGH to my regimen for a few months before switching. Just rando thoughts this evening...

----------


## wango

HGH, yes!

----------


## Cylon357

Good workout tonight to kick off the first week after my deload. I think I'm basically doing 531 with HIIT finishers 3 of the 4 days. As usual, I started with a one mile walk to warm up and get an Italian lesson in.

Tonight was squats, followed by calf raises with the barbell, supersetted over to kettlebell to get the last reps out of them. Did some leg curls and _something_ else, I think, but maybe not. I'm still in the post workout feel goods.

The HIIT finisher tonight was
3 minutes on the treadmill
3 minutes on the climber
6 pullups
15 kettlebell swings
1 minute rest

I only did two rounds, but I did a bonus set of pullups. I like to work legs hard / back light and adding the pullups to the end of my squat workout fills the bill (at least for now). Finished with about a 1/3 mile walk, then some yoga stretches. 

Had a protein blend, and ate some homemade sourdough bread with some ham. Damn that was good. This is why I can't lose weight, but I kept the portions down. Life's a marathon, not a sprint and all that lot.

----------


## Cylon357

Good bench workout at lunch today. Did my 3x5 for bench, then on to cable flyes for some isolation work. I'll post up my rigged up cable setup sometime. After that, I did some front side and lateral super sets, then moved on to skull crushers super setted with push downs, then ez curl bar bicep curls super setted with super light isolation curls. The word of the day, ladies and gentlemen, seems to have been 'supersets'. I was hurting but damn it was a good hurting.

My HIIT had been planned to be

87654321 continuous sets of dips and pushups. That is:
8 dips
8 pushups
7 dips
7 pushups
6 pushups, etc
all the way down to 1 of each
No or very minimal rest between sets.

There is probably a name for that type of pyramid / drop set / something because those terms aren't right. 

I made it through 8 7 6 and on those last few reps of both dips and pushups I was shaking and the heart was thumping. I might could and maybe _should_ have taken a break and pushed on through, but damn that pump was painful and I was getting gassed. But now I have a baseline and something to shoot for next week. Because evidently my head is broken or something. Don't judge me, ain't none of y'all slacking in the weight room, either. :P

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## Cylon357

BTW, I shot this pic when I finished my workout today. The pics you normally see of home gyms are all well organized, this is The Real. Once again, don't judge me. I can put my hands on anything I need within seconds. Seconds, I say!! :crazy:

Though I do admit that when I saw this I was like 'damn, I guess I need to put the theme from "Sanford and Son" in my playlist'.

Oh and yeah, that's a "waist bag" aka fanny pack on the heavy bag. I walk with it put my phone in it and listen to language lessons during warm up / cool down walks. Don't judg... ah, you know what? Judge away, jack. #iamwhatiam

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## wango

Great set up! 

Lol, just bought a new “slim” fanny pack myself. There’s no gym lockers and don’t want to leave wallet/phone in the car. I still have my I-pod that is at least 15 years old and my earbuds are attached by a cord and not wireless. Yeah, I’m hip.

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## Cylon357

> Great set up! 
> 
> Lol, just bought a new “slim” fanny pack myself. There’s no gym lockers and don’t want to leave wallet/phone in the car. I still have my I-pod that is at least 15 years old and my earbuds are attached by a cord and not wireless. Yeah, I’m hip.


You know, some of us more... senior gentlemen get grief because of our 'fashion' choices. Listen, it's not that we (generally speaking) don't get it, it's just that we are SO over all the 'oh, I have to have X Brand shoes' or 'those super fancy earbuds from music guy' that it just ain't important to us. Nothing wrong with those things, but I have multiple pair of Sony corded earbuds that I use. I bought one set and was like 'damn, these are the best earbuds I have ever used', and bought a few more. The Wife's Apple ear buds (iBuds?) don't sound as good as these.

Really, I think for most of us older cats, we just don't care anymore about being hip or fashionable. No judging, just putting it out there.

I'm still a bit off from standing out on the porch and saying 'get off my lawn!' but I am starting to see the appeal  :LOL:

----------


## wango

Hey, its hip to be square. 

I have 3 outfits for the gym. 

Grey sweatpants with grey t-shirt. 
Grey sweatpants with navy t-shirt. 
Grey sweatpants with black t-shirt. 

For daily life, replace sweatpants with jeans. 

Simplicity.

----------


## Cylon357

Good deadlift workout today. Good, not great. Did deads, then barbell rows, followed by pulldowns of various varieties and calf work. Seems like that was it, except the mile walk to warm up and cool down. No HIIT today, mistimed my meals, I guess. Plus lunch was short today so I had to get in and get it done. HIIT tomorrow with overhead press day, though, probably the heavy bag if I had to guess.

Tonight was a cheat meal: ground sirloin burgers and tots! This is round 1 (round 2 was more of the same)  :Big Grin: 

PS - That's not a salad, just baby spinach with ketchup and mustard on the top part of the bun.

----------


## Cuz

> Good deadlift workout today. Good, not great. Did deads, then barbell rows, followed by pulldowns of various varieties and calf work. Seems like that was it, except the mile walk to warm up and cool down. No HIIT today, mistimed my meals, I guess. Plus lunch was short today so I had to get in and get it done. HIIT tomorrow with overhead press day, though, probably the heavy bag if I had to guess.
> 
> Tonight was a cheat meal: ground sirloin burgers and tots! This is round 1 (round 2 was more of the same) 
> 
> PS - That's not a salad, just baby spinach with ketchup and mustard on the top part of the bun.


Damn, now im hungry

----------


## Cylon357

> Damn, now im hungry


It was tasty! One cheat meal a week is all I'm allowing myself right now. The rest of my diet isn't as clean as it should be at the moment, but baby steps!

----------


## Cylon357

Good overhead press workout today. Man, I am SO glad I started buying equipment before the pandemic. Anyhow, I got my 3x5 on the OP weight... Actually, for the final set I went ahead and got 6. Anyhow, then did dips, final set with a 25 pounder. Worked in some high rep (25 - 30) sets of shrugs... that hurt so dang good. Moved on to pushdowns alternated with ez curl bar curls. Did lateral trifset (front raises, side raises and rear laterals supersetted). Then went on to HIIT that I missed yesterday. 

I worked the bag for 3 minute rounds, with 1 minute between rounds. But that 1 minute ain't completely sedentary, brothers and sisters! Have to knock out 10 pushups (in the gloves for the first two sets) and get water (again, with the gloves on.... I just know I'm going to lose it at some point). So the rest of the minute is rest time. Did 3 sets, and took the gloves off for the final set of pushups. 

Man, it is fun working the bag. I enjoy working out combos, though I still don't have a good way to do upppercuts. I've thought about buying a slam ball, 10 pounds or so, and hanging it as an upper cut bag. Multi purpose equipment is handy. But I have also just thought about hanging a heavy pillow or something. We'll see what I end up with.

BTW, here is the pic I promised up above about the cable fly setup. I had a few attachments from way back, and have assorted cable lengths to do pushdows and pulldowns, plus one to do low rows or any sort of work with a low pulley. Yes, it is kind of rigged up, but it works, jack! For cable flyes, you have to put your back to the loading pin and walk forward a few steps, but it gets the job done.

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## Cylon357

Nice squat workout tonight, but I kept it brief... not quite "I ain't doing sh!t" but close to it. 

Squats (got my 3x3 weights), then calf work followed by reverse hypers super setted with hyper extensions. 1 mile walk to warm up, 1.5 to cool down and it was in the books tonight. No HIIT, but I will do something... 'inventive' tomorrow in place of LISS.

Took 12.5 mg of MK-677 last night and ate pretty much all day. I'm guessing it has gotten to the point where I can't even trust myself with small doses. But, it's all good, brothers and sisters. Life is cool otherwise.

----------


## Cylon357

Got both my LISS and some HIIT in today (though the HIIT portion was somewhat brief).

Did a one mile walk at a good pace to warm up. Then did 2 rounds of the following:

3 minute run/jog on the treadmill - no intervals
3 minutes on the rower - with intervals
8 pullups

No dedicated rest between sets or exercises, only what was needed to transition (and get water as needed). Then a one mile walk to cool down, though still at a good clip.

----------


## Cylon357

NICE bench workout today. I got my 3 rep goal (because this is the 3 week of 5 3 1), might have had another in the tank, but I wanted to get some slightly lighter work in. Dropped down to my 5 rep goal from last week and got 6 or 7. Then dropped even more and did a nice wide grip set for 8 or 9 reps. 

BTW, these are what I call legit bench presses, not the arched back thing you see sometimes. Just do declines, man! Anyhow, these are probably not competition approved because I don't pause real long at the bottom, but there is no bounce or cheating.

Anyhow, moved on to dips. I REALLY like leaning my upper body forward and bring my knees towards my chest. That seems to hit the pecs HARD for me. 3 sets of 10 then moved on to shoulder lateral triset, followed by skull crushers alternated with dumbbell curls. Did my standard 1 mile walk to warm up and to cool down, but did not do HIIT today since I did it yesterday.

Oh, some stuff arrived today. Got my first HGH, will be running it at 1 to 2 iu per day for the long run. Will update here when results are clear.

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## Cylon357

You ever have one of those days where you don't feel like working out but go ahead and do it and end up with a GREAT workout?

Saturday was not one of those days for Cylon.

BUT I did force myself to get in there and do my deadlift workout. It was good, not great, but better than no workout at all. 

Since this is the second week of 5 3 1, I'm doing 3x3 for the work sets. I got my weight tonight, though I don't know how. I was really not feeling like it today, but once I got going, things moved along reasonably well. I did barbell rows after the deads. Oddly, I felt stronger on the rows than I did with deads. I did some calf work, then supersetted (not HIIT) goblet squats and kettlebell swings, 4 sets of squats with 3 of swings. It was enough this day. The standard one mile walk to warm up and a bit over a a mile to cool down and it was in the books.

Kind of an odd occurrence for me today. During deads, I noticed some soreness in my left triceps and in my right lat. No clue what that was about, but at times it made me wonder if it was an injury and I needed to back down. I didn't and the lat feels fine now, though the left tri is still sore. Not sure what is going on there, perhaps I'm just falling apart from age. /shrug

BTW, I did start the HGH yesterday. 1iu in the morning for now, but I will be moving that up to as much as 2iu in the next several days. Nothing much to report there. I also have some Ipamorelin from Peptide Sciences that I may run before bed. I've had good luck with it before but I kind of want to hold off for a bit and see what the HGH does by itself. 

Tonight's dinner was a healthy shrimp stir fry, damn tasty and all gone, though The Wife did help make it go bye bye  :Big Grin:

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## wango

Congrats on the perseverance of grinding out that workout! And, great looking stir fry!

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## Cylon357

Given that yesterday's workout was just sort of meh, I really wasn't expecting much from today.

Man, that was a mistake!

I started with one mile walk to warm up, then went to the rack.

Today was the final day, Overhead Press day, of week 2 (aka 3x3). I did my warm up sets, then got to my 5 rep weight from last week. I did it for 3, just sort of wanting to get that deep warm-up but not over do and have nothing left in the tank for the real work. It didn't feel as light as I thought it should. I went ahead and set up my 3x3 weight, and did my pre-lift ritual (clear the mind, focus, attack). I stepped up to the bar, brought it out of the rack and the first rep... got.... stuck about half way up. I soldiered though it but was kind of baffled. Maybe that was what I needed because I got my sh!t lined up and knocked out 3 more solid good reps. I felt like I had some more left in the tank, but I went ahead and racked it. So, I thought well hell, lets see where we land. So I loaded my weight for next week (3x1) and long story short, got 3 solid sets of 3 out of it. New PR on the horizon? Maybe. 

But I didn't push it this week. I will adjust next week's weight up appropriately and see where I land. No HIIT again today, because I don't typically after over head press work and that got me to thinking. Maybe scaling back the HIIT this week contributed to busting this plateau. I don't know, but it seems like a theory.

Went on to do dips, shrugs, push downs and curls, then did a two mile walk, in part to celebrate, in part to make up for the lack of HIIT. As I'm sitting here typing this up, I realize that I completely missed my lateral tri-set... No bigs, I will take a good solid workout and be happy!

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## Cylon357

> Congrats on the perseverance of grinding out that workout! And, great looking stir fry!


That's the joy of getting to the end of the week and realizing I didn't eat all the rice for the week. Throw it in there!  :Big Grin:

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## Cylon357

Good Squat Workout today. This is the start of 3x1 week. I did not do 3x1 with my target weight, but I did do 1 set of the target weight, then got froggy. I tried to add another 10% or so. That wasn't happening but I did do some heavy partials. Then back down to the 1 rep weight for another rep. Went down a bit more to get some reps in, then down more still to do a narrow stance set.

Moved on to leg curls alternated with standing calf raises. I know those aren't synergistic exercises, I just like to vary things up like that sometimes. Did some bridges from the ground, then on to HIIT.

I kept the HIIT brief but intense today. It looked like this:

2 minutes on the treadmill - jog / run with intervals
2 minutes on the climber - with intervals
pullups, as many as I could muster 

I did two rounds of that, then changed to
3 minutes treadmill - jog / run steady pace
3 minutes climber - steady pace
last set of pullups

It was good. The heart was thumping during the intervals on the treadmill... 85% or so of max heart rate, if the cheap a** monitor on the treadmill can be trusted. Plus, I don't think I overdid it and won't have a negative impact on my other weights this week.

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## Cylon357

Friday.... So, today's bench workout was good. I got my 1 rep weight, yay! I MIGHT have had an additional rep, but I felt like maybe I didn't either, so no reason risking it. Did drop down to my 5 rep week weight and got a good solid 8 reps out of it.

Did dips, 2x10 body weight, then added weight. I got 8 good reps with 25 pounds, and 5 ok ones with 50. My chest was somewhat pre-exhausted, so I took what I could get cleanly. After getting the bench weight, everything else was gravy.

Moved on to french presses super setted with dumbell curls, then called it a workout. 1 mile walk to warm up and 1 more mile to cool down, then shower and back to work. No HIIT, as I have deadllift workout on Sunday and overhead press on Monday. I took my own advice from last week and cut back on the HIIT this week, since it is the last of a 3 week cycle. After this, I have a deload week and then will decide what I want to do going forward. Probably need to work on cutting but we will see.

BTW, I recognize that what I am calling HIIT, may not always qualify in the strictest sense. It ain't LISS and it has HIIT aspects, while sometimes being outright HIIT, so... yeah, that's just how it is.

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## wango

Keep up the killer work!

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## Cylon357

Good Dead lifts yesterday (Sunday).

I didn't say 'dead lift workout' because I really only did deads and some pull downs. BUT I got my 1 rep weight + 10 lbs. Yay! I felt a little froggy and added 20 more pounds. It was a no go on this day, though I was able to persuade it to come off the ground an inch or two. No bigs, goal met plus some, all is good.

I did pulldowns and single arm pulldowns but for some odd reason, I was feeling it in my triceps, which almost never happens. It might have been the angle, but I didn't want to mess up my OP workout today, so I just stopped. Did a 1 mile walk to warm up, 1.5 to cool down and called it a day.

Enjoyed the Super Bowl with some ground turkey tacos!

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## Cylon357

Got a new PR in overhead press last night! Details to follow.

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## Cylon357

So, yeah, I got a new overhead press PR last night.

I should qualify that with I got a new _21st century_ PR last night. I'm not as strong as I was in my 20s, but never really tested overhead press as a youth. So, I was probably stronger then, but just can't say. I was also 165# with maybe 10% bodyfat at times, and now I'm 185 with 25'ish. It's ok, I am what I am. It's called getting old, people! We all do it (if we are lucky).

Starting to sound like a cranky old man there. Next I'll be yelling at kids to 'get off my lawn' in my underwear.

ANYHOW, I wasn't really feeling it yesterday, but made myself get in there and get it done. Week 3 of 5 3 1 wears me down. My first work set was my most recent PR. It went up easy for a single, and I thought about trying for a double, but I had my eyes set higher. Re-racked and went up 20 pounds. Psych psych psych, step in, un-rack, presssssss... DAMMIT! I ALMOST got it, missed it by 1-2 inches. But was super stoked because I knew 10# increase on the PR was likely, if I hadn't burned myself out on the 20 over. I did take another shot at the 20 over but it didn't even get to my chin before I decided to save it for the next, lighter, attempt.

Dropped 10#, then went for it again. I got it this time, but it looked a little catty wampus, just a little crooked - my form otherwise is good. This is an overhead press, not a squat thrust thing. Anyhow, went back at the same weight and got it again in a completely clean rep.

Did some other stuff but really was just happy to move the PR up. I didn't dance (because Cylon can only do the robot) but was pleased all the same.

And now begins the deload week. What is next? Pheh, who knows?

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## wango

Nice work on the shoulder press! Regrettably an ancient memory for me.

Catty-wampus? Yeah, no wonder I like exchanging posts with you. Just no monkey-shines while you are working out, could lead to injuries.

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## Cylon357

Hmm, what's this, now?

Cylon357 has blue balls??? Lord, I hope not. Besides that's just one big 12lb ball.

I bought this slam ball because I need something to use as an uppercut bag. Since I didn't like the options I was finding, I bought this off of Amazon hoping that it will do double duty as a slam / medicine ball and something I can strap up with the heavy bag to use to work on uppercuts. It might not be the right density but I will be trying it out for real next Wednesday. 

If my next post after that is talk to text, you will know that I broke both my hands. Sometimes life's lessons are hard. That said, I suspect the 12oz gloves I wear will do a good job of protecting my hands.

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## wango

It might be a little dense, but seems like a good idea/solution. I used to use bag gloves & hardly wrapped at all unless the instructor insisted. 12 oz. should be plenty I would think though.

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## Cylon357

> It might be a little dense, but seems like a good idea/solution. I used to use bag gloves & hardly wrapped at all unless the instructor insisted. 12 oz. should be plenty I would think though.


Yeah, that is my concern. The lower part of the heavy bag is denser, of course, and that is probably about the same density as this slam ball. It isn't _awful_ to hit, but I would probably move up to the 16oz gloves if the entire bag was that dense.

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## Cylon357

Good squat workout yesterday. I'm moving away from 5 3 1 but still keeping most of the exercises, just upping the reps. I will vary it up some, like I probably won't deadlift each week, but still going to include the HIIT'ish finishers.

I also did fasted LISS cardio this morning after dosing my HGH. 2 mile walk, always a little slower when I am doing language lessons, but two birds, one stone and all.

What I'm looking forward to is tomorrows bench / chest day. I am working the heavy bag as HIIT tomorrow, and that includes rigging up the slam ball mentioned above. I did try giving it some shots with the 12oz gloves on... It can be felt but it isn't too bad, probably about like I thought: similar to the denser parts of the heavy bag. Anyhow, we'll see how that goes.

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## KittyO1

Youre tough! Ive never done any boxing but from what Ive used those balls for, seems super dense! Haha What do I know though! What are you moving your rep goals towards now?

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## Cylon357

> You’re tough! I’ve never done any boxing but from what I’ve used those balls for, seems super dense! Haha What do I know though! What are you moving your rep goals towards now?


8 to 12 or so, depending on how I feel. If I can get 8 reps out of my 5 weight from the previous month, I'll be happy. I really need to focus on HIIT and LISS to start getting some weight off. But danggit, I DO like lifting.

BTW, the 12oz gloves take a lot of the sting out. I can't always REALLY hit as hard as I can, like if the bag is swinging towards me or on one of the denser spots, but that just means more energy to focus on technique and speed.

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## Cylon357

I slept like garbage last night. Not sure what is up with that. BUT it did leave me feeling bleah for my bench / boxing workout today and that is no good.

I still got 6 out of my targeted 8 reps on bench and with how I was feeling, I call it a victory. I didn't have it in me to do dips, but I did start feeling some better after I got started working out. I kept it simple and just did skull crushers super setted with curls and then hung the bag.

That is not a colorful euphemism, BTW. It's not like "yeah dude, I got SO wasted and hooked up with this hot chick. We hung the bag! All night long!!"

That's not it at all. But maybe it could be, if we want it hard enough!

Enough sarcasm, I get it. I think I am having those post workout feel goods, sometimes they bring out the snark.

Anyhow, I literally hung the heavy bag from the rack and sort of looped the aforementioned slam ball over the hanger. It didn't work great. As @Kitty01 speculated, it was just a bit too dense. Maybe I can wrap it in a towel or something.... Also, I'm pretty sure I know what at least some of you are thinking:


MAYBE YOU SHOULD JUST BUY A DAMN UPPER CUT BAG!!!

Yeah, there is that, too. Fine, OK, whatever, I will buy one.

But which one? 

:P

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## wango

Yeah, maybe. Don’t need a needless fracture!

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## KittyO1

> 8 to 12 or so, depending on how I feel. If I can get 8 reps out of my 5 weight from the previous month, I'll be happy. I really need to focus on HIIT and LISS to start getting some weight off. But danggit, I DO like lifting.
> 
> BTW, the 12oz gloves take a lot of the sting out. I can't always REALLY hit as hard as I can, like if the bag is swinging towards me or on one of the denser spots, but that just means more energy to focus on technique and speed.


Really enjoy HIIT but it can be hard to convince yourself to do it sometimes! 




> I slept like garbage last night. Not sure what is up with that. BUT it did leave me feeling bleah for my bench / boxing workout today and that is no good.
> 
> I still got 6 out of my targeted 8 reps on bench and with how I was feeling, I call it a victory. I didn't have it in me to do dips, but I did start feeling some better after I got started working out. I kept it simple and just did skull crushers super setted with curls and then hung the bag.
> 
> That is not a colorful euphemism, BTW. It's not like "yeah dude, I got SO wasted and hooked up with this hot chick. We hung the bag! All night long!!"
> 
> That's not it at all. But maybe it could be, if we want it hard enough!
> 
> Enough sarcasm, I get it. I think I am having those post workout feel goods, sometimes they bring out the snark.
> ...


Could you possibly buy a used one? 

My snarkiness gets me in trouble sometimes too but man, dont you wish those after workout feels would last all day!

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## Cylon357

So, I had a wonky sort of few days, but got back at it today with Squat day. New week, new dragons to slay!

Good workout. Got my squats in ,1x8 and 1x6 with my previous 5 rep weight, so I call that a win. Dropped weight for both a wide set and a narrow set, then moved on to calf work, followed by leg curls. Seems like there was some other little something in there but maybe not.

I'm dialing the HIIT back just a bit. The heavy bag workout last week left me gassed for the rest of the week. Actually, that may be the key: leave the bag alone. I can't seem to just 'take it easy' when I'm working the bag. 

Anyhow, I did some treadmill running, followed by 6-8 pullups and 15 kettle bell swings, then 45 seconds rest. First round on treadmill was 3 minutes with no intervals, second round was 2 minutes WITH intervals. Only two rounds today, but I will up it to 3 next week. Those damn intervals man, they get me every time. I'm trying not to burn out too early in the week, so I probably will not do the bag this week. I'll figure something else out after bench day.

Life is good, man, that's all that matters!

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## Cylon357

Oh man, I've got that 'you are going to walk like Fred Sanford tomorrow' feeling tonight (from Tuesday's squat workout). Yeah buddy!

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## Cylon357

Sooooo, yeah I've been remiss in updating here. Bad Cylon!

Anyhow, I have had an inner ear infection or something that has me feeling grrr at times but saw the doc on Friday, got some pred and an antibiotic. Feeling better, but that damn ringing is still there. NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY I CAN'T ANSWER IT!!!!

But with all that said, I have had some good workouts this week. I altered the plan a little, 3 days of weights and 2 LISS days, plus one or two HIIT sessions. Highlights include a HIIT day of 3 minutes jog / run on the treadmill, 3 minutes working the heavy bag, and 3 minutes on the rowing machine, all with intervals. 3 rounds of that and I was gassed. Listen, I was so tanked that I couldn't keep my hands up during the 3rd round with the bag. Fortunately, I am working the bag and not sparring with someone, so hands at my side didn't get my lights turned out.

Good weight workouts, too, including the one from tonight. Back day and I did some new to me stuff. Started with pulldowns to warm up, then did pullups, 2 sets weighted, probably 8 sets total. Moved on to landmine rows, because I finally got my new, cheap, landmine attachment. It was cool, but I seemed to be working my traps more than lats, so I did like 6 sets, then moved on to barbell rows, 3 sets. Did some 'blow my calves up, walk like a cat with tape on its feet' calf raises that I will. feel. tomorrow. Finished with reverse hypers and hypers, then some kettlebell swings.

So, I've been feeling sort of bleah, but keep getting the work in, baby!

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## Cylon357

I have been lazy about the log, but pretty active otherwise.

Sunday I was getting over the ear infection and had a good shoulder workout. Did some overhead presses, then dips. I did the dips without weights to see where I would land, that number turned out to be 15 reps. I was thinking I might go to 20 on my last one, but on the fourth set, the upper chest said 'no, 15 is all we have in the tank. Should have tried for 20 on the set before this' and that was all I had. 

I think I moved on to one hand landmine presses for four sets or so, then shrugs, first with the 45's and then with the mini farmer's walk handles with 90lbs on each. I got 2 sets of 15 - 20 with that weight and was pretty much convinced my traps were going to lock out on me. Moved on to skull crushers and bicep curls superset to finish the weights, then a two mile walk to get in some LISS and cool down.

Monday was an off day, but I got my new guitar amp in.... oh my, this is going to be fun. I haven't played with it much yet and probably won't get to tonight - this is The Holy Day aka Squat Day, so I will be otherwise occupied.  :Smilie:

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## Cylon357

I'm still getting at it, y'all, I've just been up to my rump in busy lately. Will update more shortly.

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## Cylon357

Once again, I return to update the most boring log on the planet. Well, it may not be the MOST boring log - I have seen logs before they become lumber. They really are more boring than this, unless you happen to have the Native American name 'Talks with Trees' or something.

At any rate, this was a deload week and I needed it. I had basically done 4 weeks on and 1 week deload (this being the one deload) and that was a bit too much. I have a nagging shoulder injury, and some stiffness in the triceps on the same side. They are improving but I'm thinking about running some more TB-500 and BPC-157 to help things along.

I took about a month off of the HGH. I had developed both some tinnitus and a sinus infection (not Covid) and wanted to rule the HGH out as a factor. Short course of prednisone and antibiotics knocked out the infection but some tinnitus remains. I will follow up with the Doc to schedule an MRI, just to rule out any pituitary / inner ear issues. I sometimes just get ringing in the ears, so this may just be a flare up. Been going on for two months, so better safe than sorry and thus the follow up with the doc.

I will probably also take this time to discuss switching to the needle with the doc. I REALLY do like not being shutdown, though. I don't mind doing injections (at least not sub-q, we will see about IM), it is just so damn conveinient to take a pill 3 to 5 times a week. That said, I think the zuclomiphene portion of Clomid brings most of the negatives, so maybe I will fall back to Enclomiphene first. We will see on that.

Speaking of doctor appointments, I meet with the GI specialist on Tuesday to discuss 'Lefty and Paco' aka the Hemorrhoids from Hell. He is probably going to say 'lets cut them b*tches out! I have a kid in college!'.... I SO do not want another surgery butt (hee hee) this one will be pretty minor, or so Dr Google would lead me to believe. Not putting the cart before the horse or anything, but since I'm thinking about BPC / TB for the shoulder, might order up some extra for post surgery, maybe even include some Ipamorelin and ModGrf, possibly GHKCu, but I sort of want to wait until after the MRI. If there is some issue with the pituitary, I don't want to go mucking with it.

Feeling great otherwise! I will shall return to update with more 'interesting stuff', though 'interesting' is highly subjective...

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## KittyO1

Your log is definitely not boring! I feel ya on the updates. Sometimes life just busy and taking the time to update online doesnt seem worth the effort! Ive been slack updating myself but still trucking along per usual...good luck everything health wise!!

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## wango

What ^^^ Kitty ^^^ said. Seriously, good luck with the health issues!

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## Cylon357

Good news from the butt doctor! I do NOT require surgery. Huzzah! We are going to try a drug regimen first, and if that doesn't work, we can "rubber band" this sucker off. That particular procedure is done with an office visit, which means no bowel prep, minimal pain, etc.

But that whole minimal pain thing.... Well, let me speak on that in a round about way. The way this rubber band procedure works is that they pull the hemi up and pop a rubber band around the base as low as it can go. The band eventually kills off the hemi from lack of blood flow, and then the hemi falls off. This is similar to how some farm animals are castrated.

That doesn't sound particularly like something I would call 'minimal pain' but it likely does beat surgery.

No update on the MRI of my head yet, I see the doc tomorrow to set that appointment up.

Life is good in general though!

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## Cylon357

Doctor does not think my current condition warrants an MRI at this time, instead opting to treat with another round of antibiotics and a referral to an ENT. I don't know if I will insist on an MRI, but do need the antibiotics for another bout of prostatitis. I'm wondering if the use of non-pharma peptides is triggering some sort of an immune response. Not sure about that, but will dig into it more.

This has been a week of nagging injuries, so I took it as a deload week as well. In fact, like, don't tell anybody, but I didn't touch the weights this week. Also, and this is a BIG secret. I'm trusting you because you seem cool... Anyhow: I jogged this week. TWICE! Once was a half mile, the other a full mile. I know, what the heck? Listen, that's just how I roll sometimes. Oh and calling it a jog might be a bit of a stretch. Around 11:15 pace for the mile, so yeah, maybe a SLOG is more appropriate.

That said, the injuries are no longer nagging, so lets see what sort of chicanery I can get into next week!

I hope everyone else is doing well!

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## Cylon357

Finally got back at the weights with a couple of interesting variations.

First, I did landmine squats. That was.... interesting. I kept the weight light, partly because this was the first time I would _really_ be doing them, and partly because I had a two week break from the weights. I'm not sure if holding the end of the bar is a help or a hindrance, but they do at least add a bit of variety and will be a good choice when I feel like I need a break from squats. Almost zero involvement of the lower back, but that may be because I kept it relatively light (2 45s and 2 25s on the bar for the "heavy" set).

Then it was on to stiff legged deadlifts with the kettlebells, standing on a step for a decent stretch. For me, there is only a relatively small range of motion where I feel it in my hamstrings without involving the low back, so I try to stay in that range. Did calf raises with the same kettlebells, then one finisher set of single leg calf raises. Jesus tapdancing Christ, that hurt so good!

Did some LISS'ish HIIT (or maybe HIIT'ish LISS) consisting of 3 minutes on the treadmill (10 minute mile pace), 6 pullups, then 15 kettlebell swings. I did three rounds, but I won't lie, at the end of the second I was thinking 'that is enough, I am just getting back at it' blah blah blah BULLSH!T!! So, I took an extra 30 seconds or so between round 2 and 3 and knocked out that third round. Well, let me be honest: it almost knocked me out, but I made it, so all's well that ends well.

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## Cylon357

I'm feeling a little residual soreness in my quads from the landmines the other day. Cool!

I did my bench workout last night, but really wasn't feeling it. I had my first Covid-19 vaccination shot yesterday morning and felt a little tired. It probably was NOT because of the shot itself, but because I had to get up early yesterday morning for the appointment. The only side effects I have had thus far are soreness at the site, maybe a little lethargy yesterday... that's it so far.

Anyhow, I kept last night's bench session short. Bench, skull crushers, and bicep curls, plus a two mile walk. Something is better than nothing, I guess. I did try dips, but the combination of the vaccine and a lingering bit of shoulder pain made me think one set was enough.

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## Cylon357

Some new purchases completed.... details forthcoming!

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## Cylon357

Ok, so I promised some details, and who delivers for you, baby? That's right: Nice Guy Cy aka Cylon357 aka the Master of Disaster!

Damn, over hype much?  :Big Grin: 

I made a couple of purchases recently. One was a piece of equipment, the other was... something else.

The equipment was a Viking press handle for the landmine setup, cheaper brand, but I don't need no BodySolid (though their stuff is NICE and I wouldn't say no). I bought it to do some hack squats, but I think I'm going to need pads for that and maybe some way of raising the barbell into the right position to get under it properly. I used it tonight on squat day to do forward facing squats. I did them explosively with lighter weight so they were kind of like hitting a tacking dummy, only much shorter duration per rep.

By the way, it might seem that I hate my legs. That isn't _exactly_ true, but I do seem to like to hurt them. Something wrong in my head, I reckon.

Second thing, and this I can not show a picture of but.... I bought some Test E and Masteron E, plus some Anavar , Nolvadex and what the hell some Viagra, too. The big news of course is all those suppressive compounds. Yes, Cylon has made the decision to dump the clomid and go to the needle. I'm going to work with the doc on this first (I have a physical at the end of the month) so these goodies are for a little further down the road. I ALMOST certainly won't be cycling, but maybe a little extra somethin' somethin' now and then for a few weeks... yeah, that will work.

And listen, I know the clomid hate is coming - I get it. The short of it is: Clomid as HRT is a GREAT idea that fails to live up to the potential for probably 90%+ of the men that try it. I gave it a long run and it just brings too many negatives for me to continue it. That's really all there is to say about it, though I can quote chapter and verse if it will make you happy. Not now though, I got the post workout feel goods and can't think 100% straight ATM.

Pic of Viking press handle below.

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## Booz

Looks a decent piece of kit mate,I’m after something like thst myself

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## Cylon357

> Looks a decent piece of kit mate,I’m after something like thst myself


That was an Amazon purchase, I want to say the brand was 'Yes 4 All' or something like that. It works, though I haven't pushed a lot of weight with it yet. If you go super heavy regularly, it might be better to have a solid main bar, rather than the bolt together this one has, but it was in stock and I want to say like $40 delivered. The likelihood of me shearing any of those bolts is pretty slim....

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## Booz

Gotta pick a few things up accessories wise so will pop onto Amazon n have a gander...

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## Cylon357

> Gotta pick a few things up accessories wise so will pop onto Amazon n have a gander...


This is the one:

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## Cylon357

I've had a decent few workouts since my last check in. Yesterday was back, started with pulldowns, then to pullups (no weight this day), barbell rows, followed by one arm rows. 

I did calf work to finish the weight portion proper. I did calf raises with the kettle bells, keeping the reps high, supersetted with single leg raises. For the single leg raises, I did left leg first for like 12-18, then right leg for the same # of reps, then immediately hit the left leg again for 7-10. Talk about skin splitting. I'm trying to bring the left calf up to closer to the size of my right one, maybe this will be the type of routine that finally gets it done. 

Then I did my HIIT'ish stuff. 3 rounds of:
Rowing machine, 3 minutes with intervals
10 goblet squats
15 kettlebell swings

I took about a minute between rounds. Geez, I thought I was done for a time or two, but made to the other side with no problems, so I guess it is all good.

When I got out of bed this morning, my calves were like 'WTF you doing?? We are NOT ready for this!' so I guess the calf work was a success.

----------


## Cylon357

Today's workout was overhead press, followed by dips. My left shoulder had been acting up, and I can still feel it a little, so I'm taking it a little easy. Not babying it, just not killing it. I do have some TB-500 / BPC-157 blend that I want to run, but I want to time it right after I get my hemorrhoid removed. BTW, holy shit, I spelled the h-word right without having to consult spell check. 

Anyhow, after dips I moved on to shrugs, relatively light but high rep (30). Traps were dialoging some about that. Then pushdowns, bicep curls, side laterals, rear delt and finished with cable flyes (such as they are, peep further back in the log for my rigged setup on that). Two mile walk to cap it off and life is good.

----------


## Cylon357

I talk to the doc tommorrow for a follow up on the tininitis. I will angle for switching to test at that time because I wonder if part of my issues right now are associated with long term clomid use.

Plus, to be honest, I think I gave clomid it's chance. It brings too much estrogen and raises SHBG too much to be effective solo, not to mention other potential sides like eye floaters and what not.

So, what I'm thinking for my ongoing TRT is something like this: 
100 to 125 mg Test C or E per week and
500-625iu HCG per week 

I really think this will bring more bang for the buck without having to use secondary drugs like Adex and Fina. To get my Test up, we use more Clomid. That brings more DHT conversion, even with high SHBG, this in turn drives the need for Fina which I have thus far avoided. Clomid also brings an additional Estrogen component by itself (not just from aromatization). So, just switching to the dose of Test I have mentioned should bring down Estrogen and SHBG, thus allowing me to keep a lower overall Total T while getting Free T up near top of range.

Note that I DO plan on keeping liquid Adex and Fina on hand, Fina at something like 100mcg per ml. If my DHT doesn't come down, I'm going to add microdose Fina (starting at like 25 to 50 mcg per week) to try to get it down. As much as I hate on finasteride, it is just doing what it says it is going to: drive down DHT. I don't think I had any reaction to the particular molecules, I'm just an over-responder, so microdosing it will be the course of action if DHT doesn't start to come down some after the switch.

Those are my thoughts anyhow.

----------


## Cylon357

Man, today was one of those days at work. Almost seething mad in the morning, then put on my big boy shoes and sucked it up for the afternoon.

Felt like skipping my workout tonight, and I _almost_ did.

But instead, I just changed it up.

Tonight was supposed to be squat day. I was still pretty pissed, truth be told, resigned to the situation at work but pissed all the same. So I worked the bag. 5 rounds of:

3 minutes on the treadmill with intervals
3 minutes working the heavy bag
15 kettlebell swings

5 rounds total, took maybe 40-42 minutes to complete all 5 rounds. 1 mile walk to warm up, about 1 mile to cool down. Kettlebells felt kind of light, but I wasn't facing the mirror because the bag was in the way. So I had to face away and trust that my form would be good. This might have helped because it made me focus more on my core, keep things right and tight, etc. That bag just takes what I throw at it. Combos? No problem. Elbow? Pheh, what else ya got? Haymaker? Bitch, please. That is so cool. Seriously, just let it all out, leave nothing in the tank.

Man, that is some good shit! I'm going to sleep well tonight and IDGAF about work so its all good.

----------


## Cylon357

Fun, but a little unusual workout for me last night.

I was feeling like 'bleah, maybe I will just walk tonight and weights on Saturday' but kind of decided, no, I will walk a mile then maybe jog a mile. got out to get started, made it maybe 1/8th mile out, then it started raining. So, jogged back and called an audible.

I sort of off the cuff decided on this:
- Landmine Squat
- Landmine Overhead Press
- Landmine Rows
- Dips
- 3 minutes on the heavy bag

I tried to keep the time between exercises to a minimum, but wasn't really running it circuit style. I did four rounds like this... It was actually kind of cool and an interesting change of pace.

I did a 1/2 mile jog to finish (because it had stopped raining outside) and then just stood there, sweating like a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs (thank you, Uncle Jed, for that saying). Thought about hopping in the pool, but the rain over the past couple of days has dropped the water temp. So, I did some stretching, hit the shower, then had some pizza to totally undo all the work I had done. And so it goes...

I have a CT scan today for the tinnitus. We will see what we see there.

Life is good all things considered, though!

----------


## wango

I am getting more and more enjoyment out of these make-shift circuits you have Nice Guy Cy. I mean, they really are cool. 

About the only thing my body would actually allow me to do from above is walk, sweat, shower & eat pizza. 

Keep it up man and good luck with the medical issues.

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## Cylon357

> I am getting more and more enjoyment out of these make-shift circuits you have Nice Guy Cy. I mean, *they really are cool*.


Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then lol! I figure something is better than nothing and variety does help prevent burnout, or at least it does for me.




> About the only thing my body would actually allow me to do from above is walk, sweat, shower & eat pizza.


There is nothing wrong with those options!




> Keep it up man and good luck with the medical issues.


Actually, I got done with the CT a little bit ago. It was surprisingly fast. I like this particular facility because a) it is about 15 minutes away and b) they are open on Saturdays. I have scheduled before for early Saturday afternoon and been the only patient in there, same thing today. I pulled into their parking lot at 12:50 for a 1pm appointment and looked at the clock when I got home: 1:22pm. So yeah, that was cool. Of course, a CT scan isn't like an MRI where you just have to 'lie still for a half hour' but still, good to get it over with. No results yet, but I will go over them with the doc on Tuesday.

----------


## wango

Now youre talking about blind squirrels and nuts? Your Uncle Jed dropped one hell of a lot of cool sayings on you!

I have that pituitary tumor thingy, so I get my big ole head MRIed every year or so to make sure the tumor is responding to the caber. That lasts a bit and it is some trippy shit, even with your ears plugged.

----------


## Cylon357

> Now you’re talking about blind squirrels and nuts? *Your Uncle Jed dropped one hell of a lot of cool sayings on you!*
> 
> I have that pituitary tumor thingy, so I get my big ole head MRIed every year or so to make sure the tumor is responding to the caber. That lasts a bit and it is some trippy shit, even with your ears plugged.


That's literally Uncle Jed from Beverly Hillbillies. Well, the "long tail cat" saying is, the "blind squirrel" I picked up somewhere in my youth. I AM from the TRUE American South originally.

BTW, you want to know how you are dealing with someone from the True American South? Watch them when Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird" starts playing. The True American Southerner should exhibit an involuntary reaction, an almost reverential awe. Something like a cross between scruffing a cat and an Italian meeting the Pope.

----------


## wango

> That's literally Uncle Jed from Beverly Hillbillies. Well, the "long tail cat" saying is, the "blind squirrel" I picked up somewhere in my youth. I AM from the TRUE American South originally.
> 
> BTW, you want to know how you are dealing with someone from the True American South? Watch them when Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird" starts playing. The True American Southerner should exhibit an involuntary reaction, an almost reverential awe. Something like a cross between scruffing a cat and an Italian meeting the Pope.


Oh, Jed _Clampett_! Yeah, I see them from time to time when I head over the hill to get my ink. Jethro thinks Im there to hammer moonshine and to eat Grannys stew, but I have a thing for Ellie Mae. She still looks hot in her jeans and although saggy, her rack is awesome (btw, shes had some work done on her and is still hot for being in her 80s!).

----------


## Cylon357

> Oh, Jed _Clampett_! Yeah, I see them from time to time when I head over the hill to get my ink. Jethro thinks I’m there to hammer moonshine and to eat Granny’s stew, but I have a thing for Ellie Mae. She still looks hot in her jeans and although saggy, her rack is awesome (btw, she’s had some work done on her and is still hot for being in her 80’s!).


Granny's moonshine was strictly for medicinal purposes, IIRC.

And oh yeah, in her day, Ellie Mae definitely turned some heads.

----------


## Cylon357

Mucoid Retention Cyst in the Left Maxillary Sinus, 2.6cm diameter. 

That is the result of the CT scan from Saturday.

So, there is a bit over an inch in diameter cyst literally plugging up things and likely causing the tinnitus. Minor surgery is in my very near future. Bleah.

This getting old shit is for the birds, man!

But, the treatment for this IS pretty straightforward as far as surgeries go: they either remove or drain the cyst, typically through the nose. That sounds kind of barbaric, and really surgery is a traumatic event, but this one normally is pretty minor. And likely very little if any down time is typically needed.

I'm probably going to wait until after the surgery to switch to Test for HRT. I don't want to change too many things all at once. I'm not going to lie though: those vials are calling to me!

And just as a teaser, here is most of my current stash. I don't want to show the brand, but what we have in this pic are:
Anavar , Nolvadex , Viagra, and Proviron on the left
3 Test E, 1 Mast E and some bac stat on the right
the tabs in the pouch are Enclomiphene from ExpressPCT. I likely won't be needing those soon.

----------


## wango

Sorry bout that sinus cyst buddy. 

Dude that is one fancy case for gear! Very good looking!

----------


## Cylon357

> Sorry bout that sinus cyst buddy. 
> *
> Dude that is one fancy case for gear! Very good looking!*


Ha, yeah that is an 'essential oils case'. Fits those 10ml vials perfectly. I have a smaller one I got from someplace else for 3 to 5 ml vials, too.

I might be a little wonky

 :LOL:

----------


## Cylon357

This week has been a deload week, so not a lot going on of note.

I have my second Covid vaccine next week (Wednesday), so I'm guessing I may miss a couple of days. I didn't think about that when I was timing my deloads, it would have been ideal to have those in the same week.

I have to schedule a follow up with an ENT regarding the cyst, plus I need to schedule the 'rubber band ligation' of my hemi, I will probably try to get those resolved before the end of May.

Once both those procedures are complete, I will likely run 3 to 4 weeks of BPC-157 and TB-500 to help the healing along.

Then after that, or maybe at the same time, I will be switching to Test. Kind of looking forward to giving it a go.

----------


## Cylon357

Nice deadlift workout today during a long lunch. I kept it simple and _kind of_ short.

I did deads, easing back into them since I hadn't done them in about a month, and last week was deload week on top of that. Then pullups, front squats, calf work and bicep curls. 1/2 mile walk to warm up, 1/2 mile jog at then end. Hopped in the pool to cool down. It was 69.5 degrees, but it always helps me cool down and I was pressed for time, so in I went.

That stuff was cold but did the trick. Hit the shower and finished the back half of the day. Had a meal this evening of salmon sandwich, broccoli and carrots and brown rice. Probably going to sleep well tonight!

I have a call in to the ENT to take a look at my cyst, etc. Surgery is likely, but it's all good.

Life is good, y'all!

----------


## Cylon357

Nice short bench workout today. I did flat barbell bench for 5 or 6 sets, then moved on to dips. Got 15 with no weight on the 2nd set, felt the reps in the outer pecs nicely. Skull crushers and front raises to finish, 1 mile walk to warm up and 1 more to cool down.

I have stopped doing my language lessons on my walks. I found that my time per mile goes from about 15 minutes when I am not doing the lessons to closer to 18 or 19 when I'm doing them. I knew it was slower, but did not realize it was that much slower. 3 minutes per mile makes a difference.

I get my second Covid-19 Moderna shot tomorrow, so I may be craving the flesh of the living and eating brains by sundown. Here is to hoping not, though!

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## wango

Happy to hear about the language lessons!

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## Cylon357

I got my second shot today around 11:15am. So far, so good. The staff at Winn Dixie has very good technique.

The Wife is starting to get some fever but I'm good right now. I just walked today, 2 miles in about 30 minutes. Tomorrow is a scheduled off day, so if it jumps on me, at least I won't have to miss a workout. Well, unless it lingers for a day or two. Too many variables but the short of it is that all is OK with Mr 357 ATM.

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## Cylon357

"♫ Well, I'm hot blooded
Check it and see!
I got a fever of a hundred and three! ♫"
Foreigner "Hot Blooded" circa late 70s, early 80s.

Also, Cylon357, earlier this morning.

The Covid-19 antibodies, which were kind yesterday, are kicking my ass today. More details later...

Oh and my temp isn't REALLY that high, but thems the lyrics  :Smilie:

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## Cylon357

So today has been shit, but I think I'm getting over the hump. I've been around 101.5 to 102.0 today, excepting when I take some tylenol to bring the fever down. Still, I don't feel as bad as I could, I guess, so there is that, right? RIGHT?!?!?  :Big Grin: 

So here is the timeline, loosely anyhow:
11:15am Wednesday - got my second Moderna dose
Felt fine all day Wednesday
4:00am or so Thursday morning - woke up on fire. Fever, body aches, whole nine yards
Off and on all day I have felt anywhere from 'like pure shit' to 'not TOO bad'. 
6:00pm Thursday I feel OK, not great, but I did take a tylenol around 4pm, so that may be what that is about.

I have been staying hydrated and eating pretty much everything to give my body the fuel it needs to fight the good fight. I also have been pretty much just laying around the house, napping here and there.

I hope that the sides are done or at least going away, but we will see.

Here is to hoping the cure isn't as bad as the condition! 

Life is still pretty damn good, y'all!

----------


## Cylon357

So, I woke up today with no fever or body aches. Yay! Looks like the sides are done and I can resume my normally scheduled programming.

What? You mean I have to go to work?? Dang! Well, I guess it is the lesser of the two evils. I GUESS.  :Big Grin: 

OK, so really, the second shot symptoms seem to have lasted about 24 hours for both me and The Wife, though she had earlier onset and departure. Was it sucky? Oh hell yeah. Fever spiked as high as 102.0 and I tried not to bring it down, but dang man, occasionally I just had to. I think I used one Tylenol twice during the day, then took a couple of Advil last night around 9:30pm before turning in. I guess the plus side is that we got a good immune response, so maybe if Covid does end up coming our way, we will at worst have an easier time dealing with it and at best be functionally immune.

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## Cylon357

OK, so the Covid-19 Vaccine reaction is done, apparently. I didn't have any issues today.

The smart money would have been on just taking it easy today, easing in, maybe getting a light pump.

Why is all my money so dang DUMB??? 
 :LOL: 

I did my planned squat workout, but I did dial it back a little. I did my 5 rep weight for a couple as my top set. I wasn't even planning on going that high but I was feeling good so what the heck? I probably had more in me, but really didn't want to roll the dice too much. Followed that up with leg extensions (first time in how long??) super setted with leg curls, then chin ups, calf work, bicep curls. My very easy HIIT finisher was:
3 minutes on the climber with intervals
15 kettle bell swings

I only did 2 rounds but on my last kettle bell set I did 20 reps. What can I tell you, I had AC/DC playing and 'Big Gun' was on. If you are lifting weights and that song comes on, I think you *have* to try harder  :Big Grin:  

So, it's all good. The Covid day sucked, but hopefully it was worth it.

----------


## Cylon357

Was tired as hell today, but I don't think it had anything to do with the vaccine. We have family visiting us, and our feral has been reluctant to come in with them here. Fortunately, they went to bed early last night, so just before going to bed, The Wife and I went outside to see if we could find her. Sure enough, there she was. Still a bit nervous because she knew someone was still here, but she came on in and I stayed up a bit with her to get her fed and some good safe rest. Went to bed about midnight and around 4:45 she started vocalizing - evidently, she had all of the strange people she could take, so I got up and let her out. Had a little trouble going back to sleep, but life is a marathon, not a sprint, so I will make it up.  :Big Grin: 

Today's workout was a little off because of all that, but I still got in overhead presses, dips, and shrugs, with a 1/2 mile walk to warm up and almost a mile to cool down. Came home after the cool down walk, had some protein powder and salmon, then hopped in the pool to cool down properly. 73 degrees in the pool, and about 90 overall temp, so it felt GOOD.

I will have zero problem sleeping tonight. The house guests are good, willing and eager cooks... Halibut is on the menu tonight!

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## wango

A POOL!?!

Oh, check out Mr. Fancy Pants. And Halibut!?! Do they put that in fish-sticks?

Seriously; enjoy. Envious on all accounts. Good luck with the feral. Cant beat cats, they have really grown on me.

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## Cylon357

> *A POOL!?!*
> 
> Oh, check out Mr. Fancy Pants. And Halibut!?! Do they put that in fish-sticks?
> 
> Seriously; enjoy. Envious on all accounts. Good luck with the feral. Can’t beat cats, they have really grown on me.


We are in Central Florida. I think MOST houses have a pool here lol!

I was not in on the fish selection. Is halibut "the Good Stuff"? It was tasty, but the cooks did sautee in butter, and butter pretty much makes everything better! Also, HIIT Cardio is now DEFINITELY on the agenda tomorrow. BTW, I saw some talapia fishsticks at the grocery the other day, but The Wife shot that down. That's OK, she will go out of town again SOMETIME.

This is the same feral we have been caring for for about 2 years now. She is definitely warming up to us, but other people, not so much! We actually have a third cat that we are keeping an eye on as a potential TNVR (trap neuter vaccinate release), but clearly want to make sure it isn't someone's cat before castrating it! :O

----------


## Cylon357

This has been an unusual day thus far. I was going to do HIIT later in the day, but decided to do fasted LISS with a walk this morning. Then I audibled AGAIN and decided to walk 2 miles, then jog the remaining 1/2 mile home. Huffing and puffing basically right into the pool for a brisk and quick cool down. Woo Hoo!

And I thought my workout day was done.

But now....

The Wife has me ordering some stuff for same day delivery, and I'm getting the goods I need to fill a DIY upper cut bag. Maybe HIIT is back on the agenda? We'll see.

----------


## Cylon357

HIIT turns out was not on the agenda lol! Visiting with family and napping on the couch has been the order of the day. And @TheDeadliftingDog might be disappointed, as he and I share a... fondness for vodka, but I had a good whiskey and man, I am feeling zero pain.

Meant to mention that I talked with an ENT, he said the tinnitus and headaches are almost certainly NOT caused by the sinus cyst. That's a bummer, but good to know. Sounds like an MRI, is next on my agenda, but I have to check in with the primary care doc. I suspect this is all related to one term use of clomid as it stimulates the pituitary and can cause growth of that organ, but since I plan on switching, it should be okay.

Life is good y'all! Hope everything is good with y'all!

----------


## wango

> HIIT turns out was not on the agenda lol! Visiting with family and napping on the couch has been the order of the day. And @TheDeadliftingDog might be disappointed, as he and I share a... fondness for vodka, but I had a good whiskey and man, I am feeling zero pain.
> 
> Meant to mention that I talked with an ENT, he said the tinnitus and headaches are almost certainly NOT caused by the sinus cyst. That's a bummer, but good to know. Sounds like an MRI, is next on my agenda, but I have to check in with the primary care doc. I suspect this is all related to one term use of clomid as it stimulates the pituitary and can cause growth of that organ, but since I plan on switching, it should be okay.
> 
> Life is good y'all! Hope everything is good with y'all!


Please share your vodka preferences. Straight, on the rocks, ICEY cold?

----------


## Cylon357

> Please share your vodka preferences. Straight, on the rocks, ICEY cold?


Oh man, now we are talking!

Favorite brand for sipping is Belvedere, followed closely by Grey Goose and Stoli. I keep my liquor (or at least the ones we use often) in the freezer, and others in the deep freeze. I believe vodka, and liquor in general, is best almost painfully cold. If any of those are cold, I take them neat and sometimes will if they aren't, but usually add some ice if it is not chilled.

Favorite flavored brand for mixing is what I think is the store brand for Total Wine, a brand called Veil. Mid to lower price, but mid to upper quality for flavored vodka. I use the Citrus for The Wife's Cosmos*, but they also have a Cranberry Lime that is EXCELLENT for that purpose, too. The Green Apple is so smooth it is almost like sweet water... In fact, it might make a great alcoholic Icee. We keep Cherry, Citrus, Cran Lime, Green Apple on hand, with airplane bottles of other flavors for 'special occasions'.

I use Aristocrat to clean car parts.


* = you can get a lot and I mean a LOT of play from the ladies if you can make a good Cosmo. The secret is NO MIXES and fresh lime juice. Aww hell, I will help y'all out, maybe we can conduct an experiment. Here is the recipe I use, but you can tweak it for your tastes. So here goes:

*Cylon's Crazy Cosmo*
(not that I invented this recipe but it is the one I use)
3 ounces of Citrus or Cran Lime vodka
1.5 ounces Cointreau
Splash of Pomegranate juice
Double or triple splash of Cranberry juice
Two ounces of fresh lime juice

*Secrets to success*
Put crushed ice in the martini glass and let it chill. Pop the lime in the microwave for like 15 seconds and then roll it firmly. These steps help to get more juice. I mean, it is a ton more. You can either slice a piece of peel off, maybe 1/2 to 1 inch long, alternately, you can cut a thin slice of lime. These are going to be garnish and add nose to the drink. Add the liquids to a metal shaker, take the ice in the glass and dump it in the shaker. Grab a couple of pot holders to hold the shaker (one on the top, y'all) then shake that bitch like it is a gallon of paint at Home Depot. 30 seconds is good. You know you will be getting there when you can feel the cold from the shaker through the pot holders. Seriously, this thing will frost up on the outside. This is key. Strain into the chilled glass, either rim the glass with the slice or half the lime that has been squeezed. If you chose to cut a piece of the peel off instead, twist it right over the surface of the drink. That releases oils that add that nose, man. Garnish with whatever you chose (slice of lime or slice of peel). BTW, you should see ice crystals floating on the surface of the drink. Serve to your lady and enjoy the evening!

EDIT: damn, I'm sorry everybody! I'm assuming traditional gender roles, but whoever you are, make it for whoever you want.  :Big Grin:

----------


## Cylon357

Had a good workout today, though now, for some reason, I'm craving some liquor...

I did a modified version of one of the landmine routines I cooked up before. Today was:
Landmine squats
Landmine overhead press
Landmine rows
3 minutes on the heavy bag
15 kettlebell swings

4 rounds total, not for time but no half stepping between exercises.

I increased weight on each round and got 10, 10, 8 and 6 on squat and OP, 12, 12, 10 and 8 on the rows. 

Brothers and Sisters, I wasn't sure I was going to make it! It was intense, brutal and FUN. 1/2 mile walk to warmup, 1/2 mile to cool down, then a dip in the pool to REALLY cool down. I'm going to sleep well tonight, y'all.

I also rigged up an upper cut bag, I'll post pics of that in a bit. It worked well, but gives me some ideas on what might work better going forward.

----------


## Cylon357

Here is the upper cut bag. It is really just a duffel bag filled with a couple of old towels and a 10lb bag of the cheapest rice on the planet. I could probably add a 5 lb bag and it would be workable. Yes, there are other ways of filling bags, but this is probably the least stinky. And hey, I'm in Florida, so if a hurricane hits, boom hidden rations.

That dumpy dude cursing the bag is me, after the workout. See all that sweat? That's what I'm talking about, jack!

----------


## wango

> Oh man, now we are talking!
> 
> Favorite brand for sipping is Belvedere, followed closely by Grey Goose and Stoli. I keep my liquor (or at least the ones we use often) in the freezer, and others in the deep freeze. I believe vodka, and liquor in general, is best almost painfully cold. If any of those are cold, I take them neat and sometimes will if they aren't, but usually add some ice if it is not chilled.
> 
> Favorite flavored brand for mixing is what I think is the store brand for Total Wine, a brand called Veil. Mid to lower price, but mid to upper quality for flavored vodka. I use the Citrus for The Wife's Cosmos*, but they also have a Cranberry Lime that is EXCELLENT for that purpose, too. The Green Apple is so smooth it is almost like sweet water... In fact, it might make a great alcoholic Icee. We keep Cherry, Citrus, Cran Lime, Green Apple on hand, with airplane bottles of other flavors for 'special occasions'.
> 
> I use Aristocrat to clean car parts.
> 
> 
> ...


Oh, my wife loves them! Im trying to think if she got that from the tv series Sex in the City. We will give that a shot, thank you!

Ill have to try Belvedere. Love my Grey Goose and it is definitely in the freezer. Oh hell yeah, *fresh limes*.

My sister in law adopted 3 girls from Russia 20 years ago. About 10 years back she treated us all to an authentic Russian restaurant for one of the kids birthdays. They had horseradish infused vodka & I was in love. We infused some here and it rocks. Of course, you have to just love horseradish or its a definite no go.

Total Wine? LMAO - we are premier customers (uhh, yeah we buy a lot  :Icon Rolleyes: ). Actually they allow us privileged folk the ability to buy exclusive whiskey once per year that wont make it to the shelves. If we ever meet, Ill treat you to some Papi Van Winkle. It is SMOOOOOOOOTH.

----------


## Cylon357

> Oh, my wife loves them! I’m trying to think if she got that from the tv series “Sex in the City”. We will give that a shot, thank you!
> 
> I’ll have to try Belvedere. Love my Grey Goose and it is definitely in the freezer. Oh hell yeah, *fresh limes*.
> 
> My sister in law adopted 3 girls from Russia 20 years ago. About 10 years back she treated us all to an authentic Russian restaurant for one of the kid’s birthdays. They had horseradish infused vodka & I was in love. We infused some here and it rocks. Of course, you have to just love horseradish or it’s a definite no go.
> 
> Total Wine? LMAO - we are premier customers (uhh, yeah we buy a lot ). Actually they allow us privileged folk the ability to buy exclusive whiskey once per year that won’t make it to the shelves. *If we ever meet, I’ll treat you to some Papi Van Winkle.* It is SMOOOOOOOOTH.


And I will buy the Belvedere!

----------


## wango

> And I will buy the Belvedere!


Doing some whiskey tasting tonight with some buddies. God bless my wife who hardly drinks and will be doing the driving.

----------


## Cylon357

The word for the weekend has been: cleanup. We are cleaning up the patio, windows, screens, etc in anticipation of having people over for the first time in.... a long ass time. 

But I still got some time in for exercise.

I walked two miles and jogged a half mile Friday, walked and worked the heavy bag yesterday, then did fasted LISS cardio this morning. 

I will hit the weights Monday and Tuesday, then Wednesday I go to have 'Lefty' rubber banded. Listen, don't google 'rubber band ligation'. It ain't pretty. But, that is what is happening come Wednesday afternoon, and figure about a week after that, Lefty is just supposed to fall off. I think I'm supposed to avoid heavy lifting until it heals, so I'm guessing two weeks post procedure and I should be back at the weights in earnest.

I already have some TB-500 / BPC-157 that I'm going to run to help with this, plus some HGH that I'm going to get back on, pending the results of my MRI. Speaking of which, I'm expecting to hear back from the doc on that, but if the insurance company is being a peckerhead, I will just cash pay and give them nine kinds of hell about it.

----------


## Cylon357

> Doing some whiskey tasting tonight with some buddies. God bless my wife who hardly drinks and will be doing the driving.


How did the whiskey tasting go? I haven't seen you on today, so maybe TOO well?  :Big Grin:

----------


## wango

And you are correct sir, lol. We havent spent time as a group (3 couples) since Covid, so it was a nice gathering. A little wine, bbq and lot of whiskey. Fortunately we paced ourselves and kept our stomachs filled with food. Guilty today of not working out though  :Frown: .

Thank you for asking, hopefully you are having a great weekend!

----------


## Cylon357

Man, this getting old stuff is for the birds!

All the house and yard work I did yesterday had me wore out today. So, it is a rest day. I'll hit the weights tomorrow and maybe Wednesday morning before "Lefty gets a noose around his neck" on Wednesday afternoon.

----------


## Cylon357

Had a short time frame (well, relatively short) at lunch today. Kept it semi-circuit style with:

Landmine squats
Landmine Shoulder press
Landmine rows
3 minutes on the heavy bag
15 kettlebell swings

I only did 2 rounds, but it was enough this day. Did a one mile walk to warm up and cool down, then hit the shower and back to work.

I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon for the 'rubber band ligation' of my hemi. Maybe you shouldn't google that, BTW, it ain't pretty. Anyhow, I'm guessing in about 2 weeks everything should be good as new, right as rain, etc. I'm hoping this works, because it will be the first time in like 30 years that I haven't had to contend with hemis. 

No heavy weights until everything heals, but I have some TB-500, BPC-157, HGH and may put my hands on some GHK-Cu to help facilitate that process. We will see how it plays out.

Life is still good, y'all!

----------


## Cylon357

The appointment with the doc went relatively well, discounting the probing of my behind.

The whole procedure took maybe 5 minutes. They really do just sort of draw the hemi up, then snap a rubber band around it's base. Crude perhaps, but evidently effective.

I asked him explicitly about activities and he said basically, business as usual. I can run? Yep. Swim? Yep. Lift weights? Yep. I mean, HEAVY weights? Yep.

So maybe I won't be taking it _too_ easy over the next couple of weeks. He did say that I might not even notice it when Lefty falls off, there might be some blood, but nothing bad. I'm like doc, these things have bled so bad before it looked like someone slaughtered a hog in the toilet, so I think I can handle it.

Anyhow, I had planned on taking today off, so I will chill for the rest of the day and revisit tomorrow.

----------


## wango

*Buy a bidet!* I guarantee that youll ask yourself why the hell it took you you so long.

----------


## Cylon357

> *Buy a bidet!* I guarantee that you’ll ask yourself why the hell it took you you so long.


I use a squirt bottle right now, believe it or not. It's a dedicated deal, not something you would mistake for a water bottle. It does help. An official bidet is likely in our near future.

----------


## Cylon357

I've had an already busy day, and it gets a bit busier before I'm done. I couldn't get to the top panels (we are having some friends over for dinner tonight), but running the pressure washer for a couple of hours and some elbow grease got us to what you see below. 

Life ain't half bad, y'all!  :Big Grin:

----------


## Cuz

> I've had an already busy day, and it gets a bit busier before I'm done. I couldn't get to the top panels (we are having some friends over for dinner tonight), but running the pressure washer for a couple of hours and some elbow grease got us to what you see below. 
> 
> Life ain't half bad, y'all!


Damn that is nice brother. Thats what success looks like

----------


## Cylon357

> Damn that is nice brother. Thats what success looks like


You know, being in the Central Florida area, this really isn't that expensive, compared to the North East or Cali. I mean, starter homes in Sacramento go for 3 to 4 x the cost of homes like this in our area. Our neighborhood was right around $100 per square foot in 2014, sitting on a 1/2 acre in a nice neighborhood about a mile as the crow flies from a state park. So, if you want to be in town, this ain't it, but we aren't in the sticks, either.

But those hurricanes tho! :O

----------


## wango

> I've had an already busy day, and it gets a bit busier before I'm done. I couldn't get to the top panels (we are having some friends over for dinner tonight), but running the pressure washer for a couple of hours and some elbow grease got us to what you see below. 
> 
> Life ain't half bad, y'all!


Looks like the pressure washer & elbow grease did the job. Nice digs! Sparkling!

Dinner work out ok?

----------


## Cylon357

> Looks like the pressure washer & elbow grease did the job. Nice digs! Sparkling!
> 
> Dinner work out ok?


Dinner is yet to come. Firing up the grill around 5:30p, we will see what we get. The Wife did the shopping, I know we have 'fish', shrimp, mushrooms, some sort of salad, and since this is a cheat meal, you know what's coming: tots!

I'm taking a break ATM, because I just pressure washed the porch and front walk. I need to put some of my sh!t away in the house, and MAYBE get in my first weight workout since 'The Banding of Lefty', but it might be too much to do. Maybe if I get off my a**, I can get it done.

 :Big Grin:

----------


## Cylon357

Had a brief upper body workout today. Did overhead press, followed by dips, skull crushers, curls and finished with calf raises. Felt good, and Lefty didn't really give me any trouble, though he is acting up some now. Maybe they do that when they are about to fall off.

No dinner pics, sorry! Brothers and sisters, the word of the next few days is 'cardio'. I'll spare you the details except to say that Mexican Coca Cola and Bacoo rum make maybe the world's best Cuba Libre. TBH, I'm not even sure where the Bacoo came from. It was in the cabinet and man, it was perfect with the Mexican Coke. All that real sugar, I guess.

No regrets!  :Smilie:

----------


## wango

> Had a brief upper body workout today. Did overhead press, followed by dips, skull crushers, curls and finished with calf raises. Felt good, and Lefty didn't really give me any trouble, though he is acting up some now. Maybe they do that when they are about to fall off.
> 
> No dinner pics, sorry! Brothers and sisters, the word of the next few days is 'cardio'. I'll spare you the details except to say that Mexican Coca Cola and Bacoo rum make maybe the world's best Cuba Libre. TBH, I'm not even sure where the Bacoo came from. It was in the cabinet and man, it was perfect with the Mexican Coke. All that real sugar, I guess.
> 
> No regrets!


Cardio? Should I do that at my age, wont my heart beat too fast? 

I have heard that the coke from Mexico is something though. OK, Ill give it a shot upon your recommendation - YOLO!

----------


## Cylon357

> Cardio? Should I do that at my age, won’t my heart beat too fast? 
> 
> I have heard that the coke from Mexico is something though. OK, I’ll give it a shot upon your recommendation - YOLO!


Just to be clear, Coca-Cola is what we are talking about. Coke on it's own _could_ have a different meaning. That would be an ENTIRELY different experience!

----------


## Cylon357

I took an off day today. It was sort of scheduled anyhow.

Perhaps TMI forthcoming...

BTW, I think I _might_ have lost Lefty yesterday in the shower. Without being TOO graphic, I noticed some blood (minor amounts in my experience) in the toilet, then hopped in the shower. All planned, it wasn't like 'OMG there is blood I have to wash up!!' or anything. While in the shower and checking my nether regions, I found what could have been a scab. The doc did say that I might notice a scab fall off but since this thing had just come from my butt region, I didn't really want to study it TOO close, even being in the shower and all. 

I have a squat workout planned for tomorrow, this should help determine what is what.

----------


## wango

Thank you for the graphic descriptions. Perhaps a second pair of undies in case the bleeding is too bad with squats?

I have some friends that swear by Coca Cola from Mexico. There’s a couple of places here to buy it, it really is time for a taste test.

RIP lefty.

----------


## Cylon357

> Thank you for the graphic descriptions. Perhaps a second pair of undies in case the bleeding is too bad with squats?
> 
> I have some friends that swear by Coca Cola from Mexico. There’s a couple of places here to buy it, it really is time for a taste test.
> 
> RIP lefty.


Bleeding is / was almost always in the loo, so no danger in the weight room lol!

And I a) gave a TMI warning and b) edited my description from an NC-17 to a PG-13. Trust me, it could have been and almost was much more detailed! But hey, if you ever need a hemi banded, you know where to come for what to expect...  :Big Grin: 

PS - Should have lullabied Lefty long ago....

----------


## Cylon357

Interesting workout today.

Did my normal squat workout, maybe a little lighter because of Lefty's departure.

Then I tried something new....

You know how I got that landmine setup? You can trust me, or go peep the previous entries. I'll wait...

Anyhow, so I've done some cool stuff with it so far. Today, I wanted to try hack squats. I needed something to rest one end of the bar on, so I put one of the hooks on the squat rack facing out and set the high end of the bar on that. Loaded it up with only a single plate, put the viking press attachment on it, and sort of got myself underneath it. Squatted it up and side walked away from the hook, and things felt a little loosey goosey. No sooner than I was thinking 'oh snap, something bad is about to happen' but the viking press came off and the end of the barbell raked down my back, hit the floor and left me cussing. I wasn't hurt, just pissed lol! Like shit, dumbass, what the hell, man.

A smart man might been traumatized away from trying it again.

Of course I, being somewhat like Wile E Coyote, said nah, mf'er this shit is going to work. Rummaged around for a couple of things and the pic below is what I ended up with. Hey, it works. Also, it helps to tighten down that set screw, but now I have a redundant safety system.

Anyhow, did some hack squats, and that was kind of cool. Did some calf raises and pullups, then a 1/4 mile run to finish, with a 1/4 mile walk and a hop in the pool to cool down. 

So in short: hack squats - cool. Just be smart (or at least safer than me  :Big Grin:  )

Life is good!

PS - the chain wraps around the barbell through the weights, not connecting to them, so it really is safe!

----------


## Cylon357

I had a nice, short'ish bench workout yesterday at lunch. Bench press, flyes, skull crushers and bicep curls. No dips, because I wanted to sub in the flyes because I haven't done them in forever. Dips will show up again Monday on overhead press day. Anyway, nice brief but intense workout yesterday.

My date with the needle is feeling more and more like July 1. I'm trying to avoid changing too much right now, as I have a follow up MRI on Thursday to figure out this ringing in my ears. I suspect this is a pituitary issue as Clomid stimulates it, and long term use (or short term high dosage) can cause over stimulation of the gland. This would of course mean that my only real option going forward for HRT would be Test, but that's in the works anyhow, so its all good. In addition, I likely have two more hemi-bandings in the next month, and possible (though man, I hope unlikely) surgery for the sinus cyst and whatever the MRI finds. So yeah, just trying to maintain an even keel right now.

BUT, that doesn't mean I can't try some 'Old School' fertility / HRT stuff!

I'm doing the clomid right now at 12.5mg EOD, and just yesterday added Proviron at 25 to 50 mg per day. I started with a single 25mg tablet, and will monkey around with doses till I get to 50mg a day and maybe see how that makes me feel. Just lowering SHBG and helping with E control might make this a very interesting protocol. It is KIND OF moot, I suppose, since I'm somewhat looking forward to giving the needle a go, but damn, man, I just want to know. Call it 'scientific curiosity' or 'mad scientist labrat man' or whatever.

Finally, remember "The Hack Squat Incident" aka hey dumbass, tighten that set screw? Where the barbell escaped and raked my back? The pick below is what it looks like now. You can kind of see how it sort of skipped / bounced down my back.

No, I didn't post more of my my physique.... Listen, I don't want to turn any straight men gay, or give any of the ladies heart palpitations with my 'Soccer Dad' bod combined with that 'Ring of Remaining Hair' on my head aka the reverse mohawk. And no razor has touched my back since... 1990. That's fact. So just deal with it. Focus on the bruise, not the lusty feelings you may develop while wondering what the rest of "Big Poppa Three 5 Seven" might look like. I won't be responsible for turning you gay! Not that there is anything wrong with that.
 :LOL:

----------


## wango

> I had a nice, short'ish bench workout yesterday at lunch. Bench press, flyes, skull crushers and bicep curls. No dips, because I wanted to sub in the flyes because I haven't done them in forever. Dips will show up again Monday on overhead press day. Anyway, nice brief but intense workout yesterday.
> 
> My date with the needle is feeling more and more like July 1. I'm trying to avoid changing too much right now, as I have a follow up MRI on Thursday to figure out this ringing in my ears. I suspect this is a pituitary issue as Clomid stimulates it, and long term use (or short term high dosage) can cause over stimulation of the gland. This would of course mean that my only real option going forward for HRT would be Test, but that's in the works anyhow, so its all good. In addition, I likely have two more hemi-bandings in the next month, and possible (though man, I hope unlikely) surgery for the sinus cyst and whatever the MRI finds. So yeah, just trying to maintain an even keel right now.
> 
> BUT, that doesn't mean I can't try some 'Old School' fertility / HRT stuff!
> 
> I'm doing the clomid right now at 12.5mg EOD, and just yesterday added Proviron at 25 to 50 mg per day. I started with a single 25mg tablet, and will monkey around with doses till I get to 50mg a day and maybe see how that makes me feel. Just lowering SHBG and helping with E control might make this a very interesting protocol. It is KIND OF moot, I suppose, since I'm somewhat looking forward to giving the needle a go, but damn, man, I just want to know. Call it 'scientific curiosity' or 'mad scientist labrat man' or whatever.
> 
> Finally, remember "The Hack Squat Incident" aka hey dumbass, tighten that set screw? Where the barbell escaped and raked my back? The pick below is what it looks like now. You can kind of see how it sort of skipped / bounced down my back.
> ...


Sorry about the back. If its any consolation Ill buy you a hair trimmer for your birthday  :AaGreen22:

----------


## Cylon357

> Sorry about the back. If it’s any consolation I’ll buy you a hair trimmer for your birthday


Nah, that's ok lol! It has only been shaved quite literally in 1990 because a GF at the time wanted it to go. So I handed her an electric and said 'knock yourself out'.

----------


## Vasculardiscuss

> Interesting workout today.
> 
> Did my normal squat workout, maybe a little lighter because of Lefty's departure.
> 
> Then I tried something new....
> 
> You know how I got that landmine setup? You can trust me, or go peep the previous entries. I'll wait...
> 
> Anyhow, so I've done some cool stuff with it so far. Today, I wanted to try hack squats. I needed something to rest one end of the bar on, so I put one of the hooks on the squat rack facing out and set the high end of the bar on that. Loaded it up with only a single plate, put the viking press attachment on it, and sort of got myself underneath it. Squatted it up and side walked away from the hook, and things felt a little loosey goosey. No sooner than I was thinking 'oh snap, something bad is about to happen' but the viking press came off and the end of the barbell raked down my back, hit the floor and left me cussing. I wasn't hurt, just pissed lol! Like shit, dumbass, what the hell, man.
> ...


This made my day, lmfao!

----------


## Cylon357

> This made my day, lmfao!


I try to keep it both real and light hearted lol

Quads are still sore from Wednesday.... Might have overdid it a bit with the hack squats. I have back day in a bit, I guess deads are out. The word of the day, boys and girls, is 'pullups'!

----------


## Cylon357

Been a couple of off days, just a couple of 2.5 mile walks. For some reason, my knees have been sore as hell the past few days, plus Lefty's remaining friends gave me hell yesterday.

Back at it tomorrow in earnest.

----------


## Cylon357

I took last week off completely. My knees were giving me hell for some reason. Maybe the proviron was overpowering the clomid in my case and tanking E or something, or more likely something else entirely. I did drop the proviron though and things seem to be improving.

I DID start back lightly this week, though. Sunday I did squats and today I did bench. Good workouts, kept them light, planning to ramp up next week. 

In the 'Latest Wile E Coyote Adventures of Cylon', I'm trying to come up with a way to do leg presses with the landmine setup and viking press.

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

I'll keep you posted on that. Or maybe not, if things go really south on me.

----------


## wango

> I took last week off completely. My knees were giving me hell for some reason. Maybe the proviron was overpowering the clomid in my case and tanking E or something, or more likely something else entirely. I did drop the proviron though and things seem to be improving.
> 
> I DID start back lightly this week, though. Sunday I did squats and today I did bench. Good workouts, kept them light, planning to ramp up next week. 
> 
> In the 'Latest Wile E Coyote Adventures of Cylon', I'm trying to come up with a way to do leg presses with the landmine setup and viking press.
> 
> WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?
> 
> I'll keep you posted on that. Or maybe not, if things go really south on me.


Sometimes weight bearing joints just do that as we get older. 

Just when you think youre hitting your stride . . . . . BLAMMO! Thanks Father Time  :Frown:

----------


## Cylon357

I've had a couple of good workouts to get back into the swing of things. Nothing particularly heavy, but getting the foundation laid. I did deadlifts (keeping it light) on Thursday, and overhead press on Friday, both with a few accessory exercises.

On Thursday, I followed my conventional deads up with a set of sumo. I have to study my hand placement and form on that one. It never feels quite right to me, like I'm pressing my chest in from the sides or something. I also did a set of snatch grip deads, for these I needed the straps. That is an interesting variation that seems to focus some of the benefit into the traps. 

Friday's overhead press workout was nothing special. But it does lay the ground work for really getting back at it next week. Which, BTW, starts tomorrow with squat day.

No special HIIT'ish stuff cooked up yet, but those are sometimes spur of the moment things. I also have yet to try to leg press with the landmine and viking press, but it is coming!

----------


## Vasculardiscuss

Leg day is always a good start. I'm going to try some of those sketchy landmine hack squats on my next leg day.

----------


## Cylon357

Good squat workout tonight. Yes, I pushed it from yesterday to today but it was worth it.

Did squats, plus a couple of sets of those previously mention landmine hack squats (though they have become progressively less sketchy since that first time). Man, that is a cool variation. I turned around and did a couple of sets of forward facing squats with the landmine / viking press setup, just cause I'm not right in the head, evidently.

Did some lying leg curls, then supersetted barbell calf raises with calf raises with the kettlebells. Really, since the moves are kind of similar, it was like each set was sort of like one continuous set of about 40 reps. Man, I was walking like a cat with tape on it's feet for a bit and the calves are going to hurt tomorrow. YOLO, baby! Or whatever cool thing kids say these days.

Moved on to pull ups, sort of super setted with dumbbell curls. I say 'sort of' there because I'm really targeting different muscle groups, in this case, it was more an effort to move the workout along.

Finished with 2 rounds of:
3 minute jog on the treadmill
10 reverse hypers
10 regular hypers

1/2 mile walk to warm up and another to cool down, then when I got back from the cool down, hopped in the pool. Man, that was refreshing and much needed.

----------


## wango

> Good squat workout tonight. Yes, I pushed it from yesterday to today but it was worth it.
> 
> Did squats, plus a couple of sets of those previously mention landmine hack squats (though they have become progressively less sketchy since that first time). Man, that is a cool variation. I turned around and did a couple of sets of forward facing squats with the landmine / viking press setup, just cause I'm not right in the head, evidently.
> 
> Did some lying leg curls, then supersetted barbell calf raises with calf raises with the kettlebells. Really, since the moves are kind of similar, it was like each set was sort of like one continuous set of about 40 reps. Man, I was walking like a cat with tape on it's feet for a bit and the calves are going to hurt tomorrow. YOLO, baby! Or whatever cool thing kids say these days.
> 
> Moved on to pull ups, sort of super setted with dumbbell curls. I say 'sort of' there because I'm really targeting different muscle groups, in this case, it was more an effort to move the workout along.
> 
> Finished with 2 rounds of:
> ...


I learned YOLO from my kids, but holy smoke; they practically have an entire dictionary of slang. It changes regularly and it’s impossible to keep up. 

Great workout Cy!

----------


## Cylon357

Today was one of those something good, something bad days.

The something bad was the "Banding of Son of Lefty" aka the banding of the 2nd of 3 hemis. That sh!t just gets old, man. Irritating and sometimes painful - all the hemis must go! But, they can only band one at a time. Surgery could take them all out a once, but I'm against surgery, though I do have to admit, I'm starting to warm to the idea. Lets see how this banding (and the next one) goes. 

Oh you think THAT was way TMI? Oh my brothers and sisters, you don't know the half of it! I spared you many details - you're welcome.

The something good was I still got my bench workout in. Benching doesn't irritate the situation like squats or deadlifts, but I still was kind of miserable from the pain (literally, pain in the ass but I digress). Got my bench numbers in, then dropped to 2 sets of wide grip and two sets of close grip. Man, those close grip ones really ignite the tris, and the wide grip hits my outer chest well. Moved on to dumbbell flyes, then SORT of a super set of tricep pushdowns and dips. I did keep it kind of short, but this was one of those days where something is definitely better than nothing. Anyhow, 1/2 mile walk to warm up, 1/2 mile to cool down, then a soak in the pool. 

Even with the literal PITA, live is good, y'all!

----------


## Cylon357

Man, Son of Lefty is a real assh*le! The pain there kept me up most of the night. Called the doc, because there should be no pain, and he recommended a sitz bath. 

Soon, here I sit, typing this update, sitting with my a** soaking in warm water. They don't sell this aspect of 'getting old'... oh, the things I would have done if I would have known I was going to end up sitting with my ass in a bucket...

For real though, these hemis Got. To. Go. If the sitz bath, prep h and advil don't alivieate the issues, I will go see the doc tomorrow. I do have to admit, though, this sitz bath thing ain't all bad. Not only is it helping the hemi situation, it's keeping.... err 'Cylon Jr and his two pals' nice and warm, too. Find the positive in every situation, I say!

----------


## wango

> Man, Son of Lefty is a real assh*le! The pain there kept me up most of the night. Called the doc, because there should be no pain, and he recommended a sitz bath. 
> 
> Soon, here I sit, typing this update, sitting with my a** soaking in warm water. They don't sell this aspect of 'getting old'... oh, the things I would have done if I would have known I was going to end up sitting with my ass in a bucket...
> 
> For real though, these hemis Got. To. Go. If the sitz bath, prep h and advil don't alivieate the issues, I will go see the doc tomorrow. I do have to admit, though, this sitz bath thing ain't all bad. Not only is it helping the hemi situation, it's keeping.... err 'Cylon Jr and his two pals' nice and warm, too. Find the positive in every situation, I say!


My wife is one of the toughest mofos Ive met. Never missed a day of work nor complained about significant pain *except* a bout with roids. She never had kids, but has been told by other women, that the pain can be right up there with child-birth. 

Good luck man.

----------


## Cylon357

> My wife is one of the toughest mofos Ive met. Never missed a day of work nor complained about significant pain *except* a bout with roids. She never had kids, but has been told by other women, that the pain can be right up there with child-birth. 
> 
> Good luck man.


As I sit here, typing this response, yes, I DO in fact have my ass in another sitz bath. This one warmer and with Epsom salt. 

Sounds kind of wimpy? Man, anybody that lives through this will be like 'lemme at that butthole bucket thing!'

I know what y'all are thinking, I really do. You're thinking "how in the hell could this thread be any lamer? Man, the only way it could is if he started talking about soaking his butthole or something."

Well, there you go!  :Big Grin: 

Seriously (and 'seriously' shouldn't be interpreted literally), where you gonna go when you want to know how to tend to your hemis? Right here, baby! I got you covered.

Though having said all that, I'm already about 100x better than I was this morning. I don't know if I'll be doing my deadlift workout as planned tomorrow, but let's see where we land at that time.

----------


## Cylon357

I did not deadlift yesterday, too much risk of aggravating 'Son of Lefty'. I did get in a two mile walk followed by a half mile jog, so I wasn't totally sedentary.

Today, however, I am not doing sh!t. Trying to get SoL to chill out enough for squat day tomorrow, but that may be a pipe dream. We'll see. I'm just waiting for him to fall off like his daddy before him. If the past is any indicator, he ought to be leaving this plane sometime tomorrow, but I feel like he is going to linger. He is a real a**hole, but I guess living in that neighborhood, it was inevitable.

----------


## tarmyg

> Trying to get SoL to chill out enough for squat day tomorrow, but that may be a pipe dream.


Sunday tomorrow is squat day for me to

----------


## Cylon357

Sunday Squat Session went pretty good, all things considered. Son of Lefty didn't give me too much grief, but that little bastard is still hanging on. I guess the sequel is usually longer than the original. The initial pain from this second banding has me reconsidering surgery. It may not help that my GI doc is Dr Shrek Hands. Seriously, the first time I saw him I was like 'whoa, doc! you gotta take those baseball mitts off!' but no, that's just how it is.

Anyhow, the squat day was good. I basically did the previous squat workout, with a couple of minor variations. For calves, I did the barbell raises semi-super setted with kettlebell raises semi-super setted with single leg raises. I only did two sets but DAMN it was somewhere near 60 reps per set. They had that locked up feeling this morning but loosened up some pretty quick. I want to do a similar calf routine Thursday during dead lift day, so I backed off some yesterday. Still a good workout, though.

I added a rep to my working sets, trying to get the reps to 10 or 15, maybe 20... the comments in another thread inspired me there. Can't remember who made the recommend, will update and give credit where due shortly.

The final difference was in the cardio / hiit'ish finisher. I did 3 rounds of:
3 minutes on the treadmill, 10 minute mile pace
15 kettlebell swings
with a legit 1 minute between rounds.

Still got in my 1/2 mile walk to warm up and cool down, hopped in the pool (it is sitting at 78 right now - nice!) and then did some yoga stretches to finish. I think the stretches helped contribute to my lesser soreness today.

Feeling good, just waiting for SoL to leave the building.

Edit #1: it was @Chicagotarsier who made the suggestion in another thread, thanks for the inspiration.

----------


## Cylon357

Today's workout was just a 2.5 mile fasted LISS walk. Nothing special, but a good way to start the day.

A couple of other items of "interest".

I FINALLY follow up with the Ortho today regarding my knee. Will update with that later.

I have started adding microdosed finasteride at 30mcg, once per week. Took my second dose yesterday, and will use blood work and feel to adjust dose and / or frequency as it makes sense.

This is a home brew, basically 1 5mg finasteride tablet dissolved in 50 ml of a stout whiskey (107 proof). I use an oral syringe to draw to the 30 unit mark, then sublingual it for as long as I can stand at that alcohol concentration. I feel like there are some positive effects already, but blood work will tell the tale for sure.

Note that I have a history with fina. I'm a definite over responder and felt like the dog's dinner at 1.25mg every two weeks. So, yeah, it's a long and winding road, but Jack, I'm in it to win it, so it's all good.

----------


## Cylon357

The ortho had nothing particularly interesting to add. We can do surgery, if I want (ie if I'm not happy with what I can do with my knee as is atm). It really comes down to my preference.... If I want to be able to job more than a 1/2 mile at a time, gonna need surgery. If not, then it's cool as is.

They did take some additional x-rays of both knees. Fractured condyle has healed and all looks good except for some very minor arthritis. Not significant enough to benefit from shots, and shots don't do jack for a torn meniscus. Business as usual on this front.

Note that if I end up getting hemorrhoid surgery, I may opt for getting the meniscus done, too. After the first surgery, I will likely be at out of pocket maximum for the year, so it would be time to go crazy!

----------


## wango

> The ortho had nothing particularly interesting to add. We can do surgery, if I want (ie if I'm not happy with what I can do with my knee as is atm). It really comes down to my preference.... If I want to be able to job more than a 1/2 mile at a time, gonna need surgery. If not, then it's cool as is.
> 
> They did take some additional x-rays of both knees. Fractured condyle has healed and all looks good except for some very minor arthritis. Not significant enough to benefit from shots, and shots don't do jack for a torn meniscus. Business as usual on this front.
> 
> Note that if I end up getting hemorrhoid surgery, I may opt for getting the meniscus done, too. After the first surgery, I will likely be at out of pocket maximum for the year, so it would be time to go crazy!


Does your ortho want to remove the portion of the torn meniscus or try to repair it? Huge difference in recovery time.

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## Cylon357

> Does your ortho want to remove the portion of the torn meniscus or try to repair it? Huge difference in recovery time.


Remove.

----------


## wango

> Remove.


Piece of cake. In fact if it is bothering you, it’s ridiculous to not have it done.

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## Cylon357

> Piece of cake. In fact if it is bothering you, it’s ridiculous to not have it done.


Any cons to having it removed? I'm thinking that it likely serves a purpose...

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## wango

> Any cons to having it removed? I'm thinking that it likely serves a purpose...


It does serve as a type of cushion & support between the rounded ends of the femur and those flat ends of the tibia. Back in the day, they simply removed the whole thing, putting a lot of pressure on the ends of the bone. Now they remove just the torn part, so the effect is not as great. 

Yes, that can still lead to more wear and tear on the bones, but you have to consider your age. You already have knee issues, so the damage has started already. 

Its a good conversation to have with your surgeon just to be 110% sure of your decision. I personally would go with the removal at this age. If you/I were younger, more consideration should be placed on the repair. Also ask the surgeon if you were to have the repair, what the accepted failure rate is now as that still is a possibility. 

Personally, I miss running/jogging (I really shouldnt), but there are alternatives that are more knee friendly.

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## Cylon357

Good bench workout yesterday. Kept it short'ish but intense'ish, just bench press, dips, skull crushers, super light dumbbell over head presses and front raises. I did get in a 1/2 mile walk to warm up and did a two mile walk to get in some LISS after that fact, then hopped in the pool fora proper cool down.

Regarding the needle.... I have set a requirement for myself before switching. It's simple:

5 pounds or 5 percent

That is, I have to get serious enough about my diet to lose 5 pounds or 5 percent body fat before I switch to test. If I can't be disciplined enough to do that and keep it off, then I am not ready for the needle and the add ons that go with it. This is how I'm thinking at the moment anyhow.

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## Cylon357

Interesting deadlift workout today.

My goal was to do some conditioning and I did get it done, just not as much as I would have liked. I was gassed fast.

Started with a tri-set consisting of dead lifts, goblet squats, and hip thrusters. First tri-set had me huffing and puffing, took about a minute break and did another set. I needed a two minute break this time, but I did complete the third set.

My plan had been for 3 to 5 rounds, but man it was not happening today. Not sure what was up with that.

Anyhow, I moved on to barbell rows, then thought what the heck, I've got the dumbell loaded for relatively heavy one arm rows, and the heavy bag (which I did the hip thrusters off of) was the right height, so I knocked out some one arm dumbbell rows.

Moved on to calf work, then some dumbell curls. I did like 2 sets of seated curls, then two sets of standing, then two sets of standing hammer curls.

Those six sets of curls are the closest thing I have done to a bodybuilding workout in 30 years.  :Big Grin: 

Finished with three rounds of the following:
2 minutes on the rower
2 minutes on the climber

With some intervals here and there, it was enough. Walk, pool, stretching then shower and some awesome ground turkey tacos my wife made.

BTW, it is possible that I have lost Son of Lefty. I'm not experiencing pain anymore and things look different. We will see on the follow up visit with the doc what is what.

Life is good all in all, brothers and sisters!

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## NiceGuyResearcher

> Remember up there when I said 'this is more of a recomp routine'? You don't? Maybe you ought to go read through the previous posts and find it. Or hey, you could just trust me on this.
> 
> Anyhow, here are my starting stats, with the ones from this morning. While this scale isn't the best one on the planet, the numbers do seem to track consistently.
> 
> Attachment 179966 Attachment 179967 
> Attachment 179968 Attachment 179969


Hey Ceylon, what type of digital weight scale is this? it shows your bf bodyfat percentage too? wow. I'd like to buy something like this. the old school way is doing that pinch more than an inch caliper. please advise.

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## Cylon357

> Hey Ceylon, what type of digital weight scale is this? it shows your bf bodyfat percentage too? wow. I'd like to buy something like this. the old school way is doing that pinch more than an inch caliper. please advise.


Attached are the model details for the one I have. 

Some things to note... I am not sure how accurate the bf% really is. It seems close'ish but if it were a couple of points off, I would not be at all surprised. It does however read pretty consistently overall, so maybe 25 is really 26, but when I lean out the percentage goes down. Basically, it seems to read fairly well if possibly a bit off.

The other thing is that to get the best readings, you need your feet to be wet. It helps conduct electricity and evidently a mild pulse is sent through your body. Nothing you will notice.

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## Cylon357

Nice overhead press workout tonight. I wasn't sure I was going to have it in me after yesterday's dead lift session, but tonight went well.

Started with OP, 2x9, 1x8 for work set. Moved on to dips 8, 12, 10 no weight tonight. Followed up with shrugs 3x20, then close grip bench (really got the outside of the tris) and pushdowns (got the insides). Super light and controlled lateral raises and then a 2 mile walk. All is good in Cylon-ville this evening!

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## Cylon357

No workout today. I'm pushing it to tomorrow. 

The Wife and I celebrated our anniversary by going to our first concert in about 2 years. Classic Albums Live The Beatles "Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band". It was overe near the coast, so we drove over, got a hotel room on the beach, had a nice dinner then the late concert. It was good!

Except that I slept for sh*t. I woke up half a dozen times, noisy neighbors, too hot too cold, etc etc. Then the drive back today I was like 'push it to tomorrow'. So that's what I'm doing.

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## Cylon357

Nice squat workout tonight, so glad I pushed it to today.

I got my working sets of squats. I'm up to 8 reps of the add a rep a week scheme. Next week is my final before my deload week, I may shoot for 10 or stick with the program and just do 9.

Instead of hack squats, I did a couple of sets of narrow stance squats, followed by a couple of sets of front squats. I like to vary things up, not for 'muscle confusion', just to keep me interested. Anyhow, cool variations for sweep and tear drop.

Did calves next... man, I like hitting them. Something wrong in my head I reckon, cause I curse like a drunken sailor on leave and walk like a cat with tape on its feet when I hit them good.

Did some pull-ups, first set was good but I was getting gassed. Followed that with ez bar curls. Kind of forgot hamstrings, so I decided to do some super light stiff legged deadlifts. 

Wrapped up with three rounds of
3 minutes on tread mill at 10 minute mile pace
12 kettlebell swings (moved up to 50 from 40)

Pummeled, ladies and gents, that's how I felt. Some stretching and a hop in the pool to cool down, then the shower to wrap it for the night. I just had some rice, green beans, and turkey meatloaf as tonight's dinner. Awww, man, I'm feeling righteous now, Jack! Should sleep like a baby tonight.

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## Cylon357

Kind of a good but short bench workout tonight. I did not get to do my warmup or cool down walks because the bottom was falling out, but I will walk in the morning fasted to make up for missing the LISS today.

Anyhow, today was just bench, nothing particularly special there. I have noticed that my bench is suffering slightly lately. I came to two conclusions. First, this week is TECHNICALLY the 3rd week of my 3 weeks intense / 1 week deload. The removal of Son of Lefty cut the real first week short, after I had only completed my squat and bench days. So, squat and bench are third week, dead and overhead press are second week. I will probably just push the squat and dead into the 4th week for them, just to keep my deload week consistent. Anyhow, being in the third week might be part of the issue with the bench suffering. Second, I haven't been doing weighted dips lately. My bench seems to move in line with my dips.

Which lead me to the second exercise of the night: dips. I did 10 with no weight, 8 with 25 pounds, 8 with 50 pounds, then got rid of all the weight and did 15. Feeling it, brothers and sisters!

The last exercise of the night was skull crushers. Did my usual 3 sets, but during the last one, "Ace of Spades" turned up in the playlist, so I repped it out to like 15 or so.

That's really it for the night. Quads are still sore from Monday's squat workout. Not quite that Fred Sanford walk but bending down to pick up the cat dish is a challenge. Actually, my hamstrings and glutes have that warmed over feeling, too. I'm a little surprised by that, though I do really try to focus on hams when I do stiff legged dead lifts. Not sure about the glutes, but I will take it. This soreness might impact Friday's planned dead lift workout, but I will come up with something fun if it does.

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## Cylon357

I got up this morning and did my 2.5 mile LISS walk. It really wasn't that interesting. But, I did get it done, so I'm calling that a win and thinking about tomorrow's deadlift routine. I'm still not sure I will have recovered enough by then, but lets make it a game time decision and see where we land.

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## Cylon357

Dead lift workout today. It was good, though I varied it up some from last week.

I did 4x5 working sets of deads, kept it light'ish, but also kept the rest time, the REAL rest time, to 1 minute or less between rounds. I also did not use my straps.

Moved onto 3x8 bent rows, at this point, the forearms were starting to say 'hmmm, maybe you shouldnt expect much out of us from here on out'. That was OK, though. I made it through the rows without too much issue.

Moved onto a super set of goblet squats and hip thrusters 3x8 of each. I tried to do this sort of tri-setted with deads last week and it was too much. This time was challenging, sweaty and puffing, but I got it done. 

Wrapped up the weights with calf work and dumbbell curls. For the calves, I did 2 sets, 42 reps and 36 reps. Basically, I used the kettlebells (with straps because my grip was gone) and went from doing raises off my double block, to doing them off the single block, finally doing them off the plywood platform. The dumbbell curls were just that, nothing exciting, 2x12 with lighter weight.

No HIIT today, though some parts of the workout were already pretty intense. I did finish with a 1/2 mile run outside. The bottom fell out on me around the 1/10 mile mark, but I just said to heck with it and finished it out. Hopped in the pool to cool down, did some stretches, showered and back to work. 

It was a good workout and good day!

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## Cylon357

Good overhead press workout today (Saturday). Got my OP working sets in, then did dips. Normally, I would add shrugs, but my traps were feeling it from yesterday's deadlift workout, so I skipped them. Push downs with push-ups were next, then wrapped it up with 3 tri-sets of front raises, laterals and rear delt raises. Super light weight but super strict form. Nice!

Because it's been a while since I posted a pic, and I know how unwashed heathens like pics, here is tonight's dinner. I might have gone back for small seconds...

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## Cylon357

Turns out, this is the deload week. The knees and quads, plus upper back were just a bit too sore to push it. So, I listen to my body, it says 'deload now or pay the price'. I have learned to listen....

Just a walk so far this week, 2.5 miles at a good pace, but I was doing my language lesson so it slowed me some. I will hit the weights tomorrow, then maybe something aerobic, maybe work the bag in there for a bit. It is a deload week, not a completely off week  :Smilie:

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## wango

> Turns out, this is the deload week. The knees and quads, plus upper back were just a bit too sore to push it. So, I listen to my body, it says 'deload now or pay the price'. I have learned to listen....
> 
> Just a walk so far this week, 2.5 miles at a good pace, but I was doing my language lesson so it slowed me some. I will hit the weights tomorrow, then maybe something aerobic, maybe work the bag in there for a bit. It is a deload week, not a completely off week


Great job on learning to listen . . . . it sucks though because our bodies start to learn to never shut up  :Frown:

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## Cylon357

Deload does not mean not doing anything, apparently. 

This morning, I did a 2.5 mile walk, fasted.

Later this morning, I had a dermatologist appointment where they removed a couple of questionable skin tags. That was pretty trivial, all things considered. I DID compliment the nurse on her needle technique tho.

Tonight, I did a circuit style workout consisting of 3 rounds of:
Landmine squats
Landmine shoulder press
Landmine row
Dips
Chinups 

I wasn't trying to kill myself, but still got a decent sweat going. Finished up with curls, triceps press, reverse hypers and regular hypers. 

I did a 1/2 mile walk to warm up and about 1.25 to cool down. So I walked over 4 miles today! 

I'm off work tomorrow and Monday so my long weekend starts now!

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## Cylon357

It's been a minute since, but I'm back!

4th of July kind of got in the way. Consumed mass quantities of food and moderate amounts of alcohol. But, I got back to my semi-normal activities this week.

Walked on Monday and Tuesday, then did a Squat / Bench workout last night. Nothing special there, though I did end up running during my warm up walk. The weather had been off and on most of the day yesterday, but there appeared to be a break in the rain. So, being the optimist I am, I thought 'well, hell, I will just get this warm up in real quick. Let me take this tiny umbrella just in case.'

I got to the halfway point before the bottom fell the hell out. My shoes are still squishy.

So, came home, changed clothes again, and did my workout. I DID get the 1/2 mile cool down walk in without issue.

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## SampsonandDelilah

Still at it! Awesome work Cylon!

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## wango

> It's been a minute since, but I'm back!
> 
> 4th of July kind of got in the way. Consumed mass quantities of food and moderate amounts of alcohol. But, I got back to my semi-normal activities this week.
> 
> Walked on Monday and Tuesday, then did a Squat / Bench workout last night. Nothing special there, though I did end up running during my warm up walk. The weather had been off and on most of the day yesterday, but there appeared to be a break in the rain. So, being the optimist I am, I thought 'well, hell, I will just get this warm up in real quick. Let me take this tiny umbrella just in case.'
> 
> I got to the halfway point before the bottom fell the hell out. My shoes are still squishy.
> 
> So, came home, changed clothes again, and did my workout. I DID get the 1/2 mile cool down walk in without issue.


Nice dedication there. Send some of that rain our way please.

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## Cylon357

> Nice dedication there. Send some of that rain our way please.


You all need it. Evidently, something, possibly the weather, has sparked a migration of Californians to our neck of the woods. This has driven up home values (though that is both artificial and temporary), such that we are getting open door offers for almost twice what we paid. When it gets to twice our purchase price, we might take it. Rent for a year or two somewhere, then purchase again when this bubble pops.

That's an idea we have been kicking around anyhow, but man, moving is a PITA!

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## Cylon357

I got in a 2 mile weighted walk, with the 40lb vest tonight. Got done in about 36 to 38 minutes, so a slow walk, but definitely was sweating and breathing. It was not bad at all, and the rain let me get completely done before it even thought about starting up. Hopped in the pool to cool down and all is good.

I DID stay up a bit late last night. I watched the Lighting repeat as Stanley Cup champs, beating the Canadiens 1-0 to win the series 4 games to 1. I had it on delay, so was already up a bit late, then our feral showed up outside, so I let her in and fed her. I didn't really want to go right to sleep since I just let her in. We let her stay in the house overnight, but not in our room. As luck would have it, I found Kill Bill on HBO and ended up watching that.

I am flying solo this week and next as The Wife is visiting her mom. I have done reasonably well nutrionally, though the kitchen IS kind of a mess. I can almost certainly probably hopefully figure out how to clean that up before she returns.  :Smilie: 

Not much else to add. Life is good, y'all!

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## wango

> You all need it. Evidently, something, possibly the weather, has sparked a migration of Californians to our neck of the woods. This has driven up home values (though that is both artificial and temporary), such that we are getting open door offers for almost twice what we paid. When it gets to twice our purchase price, we might take it. Rent for a year or two somewhere, then purchase again when this bubble pops.
> 
> That's an idea we have been kicking around anyhow, but man, moving is a PITA!


I think its a lot of factors, but the drought and fires sure dont help. And we are definitely due for a major EQ. How our housing prices have managed to continually climb is beyond me & now that we are both retired it would be the _perfect_ time to relocate to another state. But honestly, we love it out here & are staying put. Are you out of hurricane danger, I dont know a lot about Florida geography?

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## Cylon357

> I think it’s a lot of factors, but the drought and fires sure don’t help. And we are definitely due for a major EQ. How our housing prices have managed to continually climb is beyond me & now that we are both retired it would be the _perfect_ time to relocate to another state. But honestly, we love it out here & are staying put. Are you out of hurricane danger, I don’t know a lot about Florida geography?


Pretty much nowhere in Florida is completely out of hurricane danger, but being located in Central Florida near Orlando is probably not TOO bad. Well, unless one cuts across going east west so it doesn't have time to die down.

When we first moved down here, hurricanes freaked us out. Now, it's just the ones category 2 or up that particularly worry us.

Mind you, cold weather - and by cold I mean 40 degrees or less - is very nearly fatal lol! Evidently there is a phenomenon known as "going tropical" that occurs when you move into a warm environment. Basically, you just can't handle the cold. Takes about 2 years and we have definitely gone that way!

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## Cylon357

Good squat workout tonight to get the week started! I kept it simple but intense.

Squats, back to my 8 reps of the 20 goal... I MIGHT have had more in me, but didn't want to do the Fred Sanford 
Thing so 9 will be the goal next week.

Calf work, barbell calf raises super setted with kettlebell calf raises. Man, that was fun.

Leg curls wrapped up the leg work.

Wrapped up with 3 rounds of 3 minutes on the treadmill super setted with chinups. Not HIIT per se, but intense and "fun".

1/2 mile walk to warmup, 1 mile walk to cool down, hopped in the pool and dis some yoga stretches to completely wrap the night. Fun stuff!

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## wango

> Pretty much nowhere in Florida is completely out of hurricane danger, but being located in Central Florida near Orlando is probably not TOO bad. Well, unless one cuts across going east west so it doesn't have time to die down.
> 
> When we first moved down here, hurricanes freaked us out. Now, it's just the ones category 2 or up that particularly worry us.
> 
> Mind you, cold weather - and by cold I mean 40 degrees or less - is very nearly fatal lol! Evidently there is a phenomenon known as "going tropical" that occurs when you move into a warm environment. Basically, you just can't handle the cold. Takes about 2 years and we have definitely gone that way!


Very happy to hear that you are somewhat safe. And, hear you about the cold tolerance thing, weird phenomenon. That said, I do not miss winter one bit. 

Nice workout up there. The wife is thinking about some cardio equipment. Shes thinking an elliptical, but Id like to add in a treadmill too. Bizarre, we live by this huge park, but Im such a homebody, Id prefer to walk here.

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## Cylon357

Couple of decent workouts the past couple of days.

Just a 2.5 mile walk yesterday, nothing overly special but trying to stay consistent.

Tonight's bench workout was OK. Not awesome, but pretty good all the same. Started with barbell bench and was struggling a bit with weight tonight. Not sure what was up with that. I did notice some swelling in the hands and put on the gloves as the weight got heavier. I did get 2 sets of 4 of my working weight, though I wanted 5 or 6. Not sure what is up there, maybe just tired.

Dips were next 10, 8, 8, 3, 8. The first and last sets were with no weight, the first 8 rep was +25lbs, and the second 8 rep and 3 rep sets were both +50lbs. That 3 rep set... man, I was just done there.

Moved on to skull crushers semi-super-setted with dumbell curls. Not a true super set, just more of alternating sets to keep it fresh. Did pushups with the handles, varying the spacing and grip. That was kind of cool. Finished with alternating sets for front raises and side laterals. 

Got my 2 mile walk in to wrap it up and keep the LISS going.

You see up there where I said "I don't want to walk like Fred Sanford" or something like that? Well, I may as well have gone for the extra reps cause I am Fred Sanford'ing all over the place.

All is good, y'all!

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## Cylon357

Was not feeling it today. Thought about taking the night off, but got my a** in there for deadlift day.

Hit my deadlift targets fairly easily. Note that I have tried to cut back on my heavy deadlifting right now, using them to warm up fully and as a bit of met-con. 

Ah, you know what? Lets just say I had a good workout, because the more "interesting" stuff is coming...

So, was totally not feeling it mid afternoon. Was thinking about laying down for a bit, or maybe taking the night off. Instead, I took 5mg of Ostarine and 25 mg of Viagra as a pre-workout, hoping that would get things going. It seemed to work, but wait, there's more!

I finally and I mean FINALLY made the switch from Clomid to Test. Did my first shot today, preworkout, sub-q in the belly. Right now, I'm using a test blend (50 prop, 100 E and 100 C). I did .30ml (75mg), and I will do that twice a week for the first two weeks, just to sort of front load, then switch to prescribed C or E at 100mg per week when I get the doc on board. HCG will follow, I have enough on hand to last 6 months or so.

It is unlikely I will cycle, but will definitely be adding in other compounds (var, provirion, mast, primo) at different times. Not all at once, mind you, but maybe 100 T with 100 mast now and then for a while, just as an example. This all depends on where 100mg of test puts me for HRT, if I need to adjust the cruise dose, then that's what I will do.

Everything is cool!

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## Cylon357

Good news and bad news.

The Good News is that I had a GREAT overhead press workout yesterday. I did OP (duh), followed by dips (3x8 with no weight, just to get things going). Moved on to shrugs (3x15) to feel the burn. I then alternated pushdowns with biceps curls and wrapped up the free weights with laterals. Nice shoulder punishment!

The Bad News is that my first injection caused an infection, went to the doc and he opted not to cut anything out (y'all probably knew that) but gave me an antibiotic and a lets check back in a couple of days thing. I don't really see a way this was caused by anything other than my carelessness, though maybe my body REALLY doesn't like the carrier oil (MCT). Anyhow, the site is red and was trying to spread, and you can definitely feel a lump in there. I figured better safe than sorry and will follow up as needed.

Still, that can't get Cylon down for long, Jack! This is a dedicated off day and I'm doing my best to enjoy it as such.

----------


## wango

> Good news and bad news.
> 
> The Good News is that I had a GREAT overhead press workout yesterday. I did OP (duh), followed by dips (3x8 with no weight, just to get things going). Moved on to shrugs (3x15) to feel the burn. I then alternated pushdowns with biceps curls and wrapped up the free weights with laterals. Nice shoulder punishment!
> 
> The Bad News is that my first injection caused an infection, went to the doc and he opted not to cut anything out (y'all probably knew that) but gave me an antibiotic and a lets check back in a couple of days thing. I don't really see a way this was caused by anything other than my carelessness, though maybe my body REALLY doesn't like the carrier oil (MCT). Anyhow, the site is red and was trying to spread, and you can definitely feel a lump in there. I figured better safe than sorry and will follow up as needed.
> 
> Still, that can't get Cylon down for long, Jack! This is a dedicated off day and I'm doing my best to enjoy it as such.


Wow, ominous first injection  :Frown: . Good luck with that! Youll dig 100 - 150 for TRT with an occasional mild blast with other compounds. Do you have a cool doc & good rapport?

However, still getting in workouts is very impressive Cy, nice work. You cant keep a good man down.

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## Cylon357

> Wow, ominous first injection . Good luck with that! You’ll dig 100 - 150 for TRT with an occasional mild blast with other compounds. Do you have a cool doc & good rapport?
> 
> However, still getting in workouts is very impressive Cy, nice work. You can’t keep a good man down.


I didn't see my doc for this. I went ot one of the minor meds that was open on Sunday. Easy peasy. The antibiotics have started working fast. I woke up this morning with redness and swelling down significantly. Still, there is a bit of a lump that may have to be dealt with in some other fashion, though the doc thinks it may go away, maybe it is a pocket of infection. I think it is the injected oil itself and may have to be excised, but I'm out of my wheel house now. Wait and see.

As for my doc... I don't know how cool he would be if I told him about my plans to BnC. I can get Test and HCG prescribed though, and will just do that for the next 90 days or so. Then when I have a window of opportunity, I will add an oral or two and see how that goes. I'm not sure if the MCT oil triggered a reaction or if it was bad technique, but I have used the same technique with peptides with zero problems of this nature. Pheh, live and learn. Worst case scenario, I have to get this cut out and go on with life <-- lets hope that isn't the case tho!

----------


## wango

> I didn't see my doc for this. I went ot one of the minor meds that was open on Sunday. Easy peasy. The antibiotics have started working fast. I woke up this morning with redness and swelling down significantly. Still, there is a bit of a lump that may have to be dealt with in some other fashion, though the doc thinks it may go away, maybe it is a pocket of infection. I think it is the injected oil itself and may have to be excised, but I'm out of my wheel house now. Wait and see.
> 
> As for my doc... I don't know how cool he would be if I told him about my plans to BnC. I can get Test and HCG prescribed though, and will just do that for the next 90 days or so. Then when I have a window of opportunity, I will add an oral or two and see how that goes. I'm not sure if the MCT oil triggered a reaction or if it was bad technique, but I have used the same technique with peptides with zero problems of this nature. Pheh, live and learn. Worst case scenario, I have to get this cut out and go on with life <-- lets hope that isn't the case tho!


Regarding the doc, I had meant for the TRT only. I had to spill the beans once when he needed some unrelated blood work too close to ending a blast & he freaked out over my lipids, liver & PSA levels. Thank God we had developed solid rapport & he trusted my honest explanations. I still had to go and get my prostate checked though  :Frown: 

Where did you inject?

----------


## Cylon357

> Regarding the doc, I had meant for the TRT only. I had to spill the beans once when he needed some unrelated blood work too close to ending a blast & he freaked out over my lipids, liver & PSA levels. Thank God we had developed solid rapport & he trusted my honest explanations. I still had to go and get my prostate checked though 
> 
> Where did you inject?


I think he would be understanding though he isn't like Viking or places like that where they will write Nandralone, anavar , etc. Just test and hcg . But he would give me some flexibility in working out the dosing, I believe.

I injected subcutaneous in the abdomen. Thinking being that if there were a reaction, it would be easier to deal with after the fact if it were subq vs IM.

----------


## wango

Damn even my TRT place wouldnt prescribe anything more than test and Sermorelin. I had to complain (I had a legit reason) to get a test script from our healthcare provider. 

Good luck with that infection.

----------


## Cylon357

Squat day, yay! 

I got 10 reps on my target 20 weight, half way there. Quick ciphering figures September or so to get to 20, assuming I add one a week and follow my normal 3 weeks intense / 1 week deload pattern. 

Moved on to calf raises with the barbell. I did 30, 24 and 15 rep sets, with about a minute between sets. Leg curls rounded out the leg work. Moved on to varied grip pull ups and bicep curls finished the weights for the day.

I had intended to jog a half mile outside to finish, but the infection spot was a little tender for the run. No problems otherwise and it is healing up nicely. Hopefully, no cutting will be involved.

When I got home, the feral cat (Dottie) we care for was waiting at the back door. It's really not right to call her a feral at this point.... she won't let us pick her up, but does rub up on my legs when I'm prepping her food, and sometimes when I'm not. She sleeps in the house most of the nights, but insists upon going out during the day. That's fine. This is her, only mildly annoyed that I disturbed her for this pic.

----------


## Cylon357

Nice bench workout tonight. Brief but good.

Started as usual with barbell bench press, got my working weight for two sets of 5. Since my goal was one, I called it a win.

Moved to dips, 4x8, no weight tonight. Close grip bench press super setted with skull crushers pumped up the tris nicely. Lateral raises rounded out the night for the weights.

Did a brisk 2 mile walk to get in some LISS.

BTW, the infection is going away nicely. I have an appointment with my primary care doc to follow up just to be on the safe side. Also, apparently my prostatitis is acting up again, so another week of doxycycline probably isn't completely out of line.

Life is still good!

----------


## Cylon357

Had the follow up with my PCP today, actually a nurse practioner. She examined the injection site and could feel a lump but felt like that was just a knot that was going to linger for a couple of weeks. The redness of the skin is basically gone - I may only imagine that I can see anything there myself, and the lump has gone down considerably. It is getting harder and harder to find. We went ahead with another week of antibiotics, in very small part for the injection, largely for the prostatitis.

----------


## Cylon357

Good back oriented workout tonight. Started things off with deadlifts, done light'ish but with minimal rest between sets. Good sweat going to get things started. Moved on to barbell rows (I need to mix it up some, maybe with d-bell rows sometime). Calf work was next, and y'all know I'm a little "tetched in the head" so I'm probably going to walk like a cat with tape on its feet for a while. Did some goblet squats (left out the hip thrusters this time, more on why in a bit). Dumbell curls finished the weights, though I think I worked in a quick set or two of pullups.

The met-con (kinda), HIIT'ish (sorta) finisher for tonight was:

2:30 on the rowing machines (intense)
15 kettle bell swings
10 second deadmills

3 rounds, about a minute to a minute and a half between rounds. That was a great way to finish...

Man, there must be something wrong with me. I was huffing and puffing ready to be done and all I can think is "that sucked so bad! When can I do that again??!?"

Don't be judging me, 'cause y'all are right there with me  :Big Grin:

----------


## wango

Glad to hear that youre infection is clearing up!

Enviable mind-set when we can look forward to the pain/sacrifice. Wonderful focus & clarity of the goal, & you just *know* that success will be there waiting at the end.

----------


## Cylon357

Good overhead press workout last night.

Started with OP, was feeling a little strong but turned out not to be the case. I had spent the earlier part of the day on the roof, blowing out gutters and general leaf blowing. Plus a little tinkering with my car. I have an alternator going bad, but of course, it won't just die on me, it is faking death. That is, it will fail, then miraculously start working again. Friggin' electrical gremlins. Anyhow, the part is on order, but I had to move the car to get to the ladder, blah blah blah.

All that to say, I felt a little stronger yesterday, but it turned out to be false. Still got my weight in.

Moved to dips, focusing on tilting the upper body forward and raising the knees. For me, that really hammers the pecs. 12, 15, 8, no weight on any set, just focused on feeling it.

Moved on to shrugs next, I think. Not particularly heavy here, again focusing on feeling it. 60lb dumbellls, 3x20. Tricep pushdowns and side raises were next. I only recently incorporated side raises back in to my routine, and already I can feel a difference. Did some pushups with the handles to round things out.

I feel like I am forgetting something but can't place it. Anyhow, 2 mile fast walk to get my LISS in, then pool, shower, food.

Life is good!

----------


## Cylon357

Taking the day off, though really that just means I'm pushing things out a day. Because, you know....

NEVER SKIP LEG DAY!!!

I maintained the pool yesterday and did some other light yard work, but that combined with Saturdays work and workout says "take the day".

Still waiting on that 8 day week. I gotta talk to the powers that be aka the Flying Spaghetti Monster about that. I'm sure he / she / it will get right on it.

----------


## Cylon357

Squat day, pushed from yesterday. It kind of felt like I needed another day, but I got it done.

Hit 11 reps of my 20 rep goal weight. That is up 1 from the week before, but man, I wanted 12. I _probably_ could have got it, too, but it likely would have spent me for the rest of the workout.

Did the usual suspects after squats: calf raises and leg curls. Short and sweet, then on to the cardio finisher:
3 minutes on the treadmill (10min mile pace)
7 pullups with varying grip

3 sets and that last set on the treadmill, I did 2 legit 15 second intervals at 7.5 minute mile pace. Those were 'fun'.

Half mile walk to cool down, hop in the pool, some yoga stretches, and then a shower. Enjoying some turkey burger with brown rice and mixed veg as my dinner / reward.

Loving life right this second!

----------


## DinAZ

> Squat day, pushed from yesterday. It kind of felt like I needed another day, but I got it done.
> 
> Hit 11 reps of my 20 rep goal weight. That is up 1 from the week before, but man, I wanted 12. I _probably_ could have got it, too, but it likely would have spent me for the rest of the workout.
> 
> Did the usual suspects after squats: calf raises and leg curls. Short and sweet, then on to the cardio finisher:
> 3 minutes on the treadmill (10min mile pace)
> 7 pullups with varying grip
> 
> 3 sets and that last set on the treadmill, I did 2 legit 15 second intervals at 7.5 minute mile pace. Those were 'fun'.
> ...


Great work, I need to start adding some higher intensity cardio at some point. I’m sure the intervals are great for that!

----------


## Cylon357

> Great work, I need to start adding some higher intensity cardio at some point. I’m sure the intervals are great for that!


I know it isn't a universal opinion, but I like doing HIIT'ish stuff at the end of the weight session. Realistically, I'm just not likely to get it done separately, like on a different day.

And yeah, those damn intervals... huffing and puffing, man. Kettlebell swings are good for that too, IMO, you just have to do them right. Ignore all the numbskulls that look like they are having a seizure when they do them wrong.

----------


## DinAZ

> I know it isn't a universal opinion, but I like doing HIIT'ish stuff at the end of the weight session. Realistically, I'm just not likely to get it done separately, like on a different day.
> 
> And yeah, those damn intervals... huffing and puffing, man. Kettlebell swings are good for that too, IMO, you just have to do them right. Ignore all the numbskulls that look like they are having a seizure when they do them wrong.


Lol not a problem I think I’m in “auto ignore” mode when I go to the gym. I don’t go to the gym to judge others just to do my own work, but when I see 180lb dudes hip sledding 180 on my left and sumo deadlifting 135 on my right I have to tune them out before I get negative thought like WTF is that guy doing is he just here to try to meet ladies? I’ve come to the conclusion that more than half the gym doesn’t workout legs at all, and more than half the gym works out with near zero intensity. It’s kind of sad but is also a nice ego boost to be going hard while seeing others lift weights with the same intensity Id use to pick up a napkin at a restaurant. I can’t control everything about my body but I can control my work ethic.

Kettlebell work sounds good, I think I’ll have to buy some for home. my gym has more than enough dumbbells and free weights and a severe shortage of kettlebells. I’ve had to go from “I’m gonna do x lift with y weight” to “I’m gonna do x lift with whatever I can find available” when doing kettlebell routines.

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## Cylon357

Week 3 always kicks my ass! But, I still drug my butt in there and got something done.

It wasn't much, but it was something. 

Did barbell bench and got my weight. Then just did skull crushers and dumbbell curls.

Didn't even get in my LISS because of rain, but tomorrow morning, I will get that done, too.

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## DinAZ

Hey Cy quick question: what do you like to do for deload week? Are you working out less days like only 3 days or something? Or just taking half the week off? 

LMK if you don’t mind I’d like to get some ideas. During summer I wasn’t planning deload weeks cause I wasn’t working so I’d just rest extra whenever I needed but that option is gone so I need to start planning deload time.

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## Cylon357

> Hey Cy quick question: what do you like to do for deload week? Are you working out less days like only 3 days or something? Or just taking half the week off? 
> 
> LMK if you don’t mind I’d like to get some ideas. During summer I wasn’t planning deload weeks cause I wasn’t working so I’d just rest extra whenever I needed but that option is gone so I need to start planning deload time.


Man, that is a good question. Deload week is kind of open. If I'm being strict, then I will do the same basic plan, just reducing weight and eliminating or cutting way back on HIIT'ish stuff. If I'm being a little looser, then maybe I drop a day and roll that body part up into the other days, like maybe drop overhead press day, but move OP to deadlift day and some of the other stuff to bench day.

Sometimes I RADICALLY reduce both volume AND intensity, maybe only hitting the weights twice that week and doing LISS on a couple of others. It really comes down to how I'm feeling at the time. If I need a bit more recovery time, I will tend to do less. If I'm doing well, like the deload week is _almost_ a pre-emptive thing, then I will do a little more.

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## Cylon357

Ugh bad few days for Cylon. We had a death in the family and that has kept me out of the weight room for a couple of days. I may start the deload early, but I am going to try to do a combo back and shoulder day a little later. 

Everything else is good, just some distractions going on. This too shall pass.

----------


## wango

> Ugh bad few days for Cylon. We had a death in the family and that has kept me out of the weight room for a couple of days. I may start the deload early, but I am going to try to do a combo back and shoulder day a little later. 
> 
> Everything else is good, just some distractions going on. This too shall pass.


Very sorry Cylon.

----------


## Cylon357

Hadn't done jack for a few days, so... I guess the deload week started early. Kind of disappointed about missing back / shoulders but I can hit it this week light and be good to go for next week. 

Today, I did a little over a mile walk, followed by a 1 mile run! (GASP!!!) I know, running is bad for you, running causes injuries, running came from the Devil, etc. Pheh, I like to mix it up now and then. And, the way I run right now.... Well, it would be more accurate to call it a jog, a slow jog.. ah, a slog! But it is something, and I will do something else tomorrow.  :Smilie:

----------


## wango

> Hadn't done jack for a few days, so... I guess the deload week started early. Kind of disappointed about missing back / shoulders but I can hit it this week light and be good to go for next week. 
> 
> Today, I did a little over a mile walk, followed by a 1 mile run! (GASP!!!) I know, running is bad for you, running causes injuries, running came from the Devil, etc. Pheh, I like to mix it up now and then. And, the way I run right now.... Well, it would be more accurate to call it a jog, a slow jog.. ah, a slog! But it is something, and I will do something else tomorrow.


Nothing wrong with slogging!

----------


## Cylon357

I got an easy little workout in tonight to end the deload week. I did pushups, followed by unweighted dips. Moved on to some cable flyes, then tried sort of a reverse flye / rear delt thing. I felt that rear delt deal. It was fun and something I will work into my routine on occasion. Followed that with light tricep pushdowns and dumbbell laterals. 1.5 mile walk to cool down, then a hop in the pool. Just enjoyed some halibut with pasta and a pesto sauce. 

Not sure what sort of routine I will pickup next week, probably going to be a game time design. Life is good, though!

----------


## Cylon357

It's been a couple of days since my last update. I bet some of you were thinking 'well, I guess cylon is done'

Hell no!

Though truth be told, I almost took the night off. That's the tiredness talking. 

I put that sh!t down.

I got the first week back from deload going with squat day. Ah, squat day. Don't we all just love squat day?

I got 12 reps of my 20 goal, up a rep from the last heavy week, and frankly, more than I thought I had in me tonight. BTW, these are clean reps, none of this quarter rep, looks like a damn calf raise, just walked out and called it a rep, bull hockey! Nice steady descent, no bounce at the bottom, nice steady rise. I did do 4 reps, then 3 breaths, then 4 more followed by 3 breaths, then the final 4. Gee sus christie on a cracker, I was huffing and puffing after that one. I did do another set of 8, then two lighter sets with a narrow stance. I'm not feeling all Fred Sanford yet, but it will not surprise me if I do come Wednesday.

Did my calf work after that, just barbell raises tonight. I was going to do leg curls, but instead did stiff legged deadlifts with limited range to light up the hammies and for a little variety. I did pullups next, no weight tonight and alternated that with hip thrusters. Then onto the cardio finisher...

Tonight was simple, though not easy. 3 Rounds of the following:

2 minutes on the treadmill
15 kettlebell swings

Fudge it all man, when I came out of the weight room, I looked like I had been in a damn sauna. Sweaty and stinky, just the way I like my women! Wait, damn autocorrect. I meant... ah hell, that is a better line so I will leave it. Anyhow, 1 mile walk to cool down, then protein with a bagel + almond butter, and now I'm chilling, checking in on you heathens and letting you know what the heck is up in Cylon-ville tonight. BTW, not sh!t, really, is up in Cylon-ville tonight.  :Big Grin:

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## wango

Keep killing it Cylon! When you do the treadmill is it high intensity (speed? incline? run? walk?)?

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## Cylon357

> Keep killing it Cylon! When you do the treadmill is it high intensity (speed? incline? run? walk?)?


Generally speaking, the treadmill work is at a 10 minute mile pace. So a bit of a jog... far slower than my 25 year ago pace when I could clock a 5k in 23 minutes, plus or minus, but age takes its toll. Anyhow, I will sometimes incorporate 15 to 30 second intervals in the treadmill work, where I move to a 7.5 minute mile or even... ah crap, I cant do the math in my head. The treadmill has numbers that represent MPH, I choose 6 for most of my time, 8 or sometimes 9 for the intervals.

Funny enough, I almost NEVER use the treadmill to walk. My warmup and cool down walks plus my LISS walks are outdoors.

EDIT: I do not use the incline function.

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## Cylon357

Oh, the leg soreness has begun. My quads, hams and glutes are all having minor dialogue with me today. Probably going to be looking for Lamont tomorrow, but we'll see.

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## Cylon357

Well, shit.

I had a follow up with the dermatologist today, where they cut out a 'very interesting growth' and another less spectacular but still potentially problematic mole. The growth was on my face, so that's not a problem. 

The mf'ing mole was right on top of my left shoulder. That little bastard is the one that led the doc to 'no heavy lifting for two weeks'. Insert Yosemite Sam swearing here. No more than 40lbs. Dammit!

I'm working on figuring a way around this, but right this second the locals are wearing off and I'm starting to feel it. Gonna need a hydrocodone and a good whiskey to get through the night, but hey, that is a first world problem!

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## wango

Damn, that mole on your shoulder was deep Im guessing? Hope you made it through the night alright & the pain improves today.

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## Cylon357

I don't think it was particularly deep, but they did seem to want to get all the margins (whatever that means, exactly). The mole was about half the size of the eraser on your standard #2 pencil. It wasn't raised, just dark. It looks like there were 6 to 8 stitches when I glanced over at it.

BTW, made the mistake of looking over during the procedure. Yikes! It reminded me of the line from 'Shaun of the Dead': "You've got red on you"  :Cross-Eyed:

----------


## wango

> I don't think it was particularly deep, but they did seem to want to get all the margins (whatever that means, exactly). The mole was about half the size of the eraser on your standard #2 pencil. It wasn't raised, just dark. It looks like there were 6 to 8 stitches when I glanced over at it.
> 
> BTW, made the mistake of looking over during the procedure. Yikes! It reminded me of the line from 'Shaun of the Dead': "You've got red on you"


The margins just means they want to be sure to get everything in case it comes back as being cancerous. Theyll typically take a little extra heathy tissue around the growth just to be careful. 

Glad you managed to tough it out after looking, lol.

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## Cylon357

What's that, doc? No heavy lifting?? Da fuq?? 

<takes dressing off to change it>

Ohhhhhhh that's what you mean! Of course no heavy lifting with that!

Pic included, two days post procedure, from about 30 minutes ago.

----------


## Cylon357

Not a lot going on in Cylon-town tonight or for the past couple of days for that matter.

I got a walk in a walk today, 2.5 miles. Tomorrow, I may walk a mile / jog a mile, if I get up before it gets too hot. I may also try to work in some super light weight (maybe just body weight) work tomorrow as well, but I'm kind of restricted on what I can actually do with this dang shoulder thing. 

Speaking of the shoulder, the swelling has gone down and it is starting to look better, but man, it is subtle and probably going to need the full two weeks before the stitches can come out. I did start the TB-500 / BPC-157 blend from Thymosin Labs today to help that process along. BTW, sub-q with a 5/16" needle... too short? Seems to have absorbed well, but wanted to get some opinions. Injected in glute region, but obviously not anywhere near IM.

A couple of good things have happened, though neither is workout related.

First, one of the cats we care for had been missing for almost two weeks. She showed back up tonight! This is not the one we let indoors, rather a different one, one that likes The Wife better than she does me. So, The Wife is presently outside visiting with her.

Second, we paid our house off today... Hooray! That felt pretty AWESOME! 

Seems like there was one more thing, but it escapes me now. Pheh, it may come back to me later.

Even though having to take time off from the weights is annoying, life is still pretty damn good!

----------


## wango

Congrats on the good/great news in so many things! And if particular, hooray for the cat!

Love my 5/8 needle for sub-q in the mid-section. For IM it works great into my delt or pec as well (my wife takes fiendish pleasure at pinning me in the delt I cant get to myself, the little demon). 

I thought you were a Los Angeles Chargers fan? Was reading about the first night the fans were there last evening for the pre-season game. They *loved* it! But $60-80 for parking per game? Is that the going rate these days for the NFL?

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## Cylon357

> Congrats on the good/great news in so many things! And if particular, hooray for the cat!
> 
> Love my 5/8” needle for sub-q in the mid-section. For IM it works great into my delt or pec as well (my wife takes fiendish pleasure at pinning me in the delt I can’t get to myself, the little demon). 
> 
> I thought you were a Los Angeles Chargers fan? Was reading about the first night the fans were there last evening for the pre-season game. They *loved* it! But $60-80 for parking per game? Is that the going rate these days for the NFL?


I am a Chargers fan, since the days of Dan Fouts and Air Coryell. City is unimportant lol! They might be able to do something with that second year QB, Herbert. I was laughing last year as the kid still had acne, but looked very good with a lot of potential.

No clue on the parking costs, but that would not surprise me one bit. SOMEBODY has to pay for that new stadium!

----------


## Cylon357

So, lots of walking going on. I could probably do SOMETHING else, but man that is a wicked looking scar and I do NOT want to pull out a stitch. 2.5 miles yesterday, 2.5 miles today blah blah blah. At least the surgery site is healing and I _should_ have the stitches out next Monday. 

BPC-157 and TB-500 combo still going well. Man, where have these 6mm syringes been all this time?? Yeah, that is shallow but if you go straight in, you aren't much short of the depth you would get from a 1/2" needle at a 45 degree angle. Plus, you can always push until you get a little indentation in the surface of the skin for slightly more depth. Anyhow, I do not even feel them and have to check to make sure the dose isn't escaping. It isn't, BTW. Going to start adding low dose HGH into my protocol for a few weeks, maybe as low as 1 iu EOD, in the morning with the hope that won't impact natural production.

CANNOT WAIT TO HIT THE WEIGHTS! But, I am accumulating a few goodies for when I do hit them again. Looking at some ruck sacks / sand bag stuff, trying to find 60, 80 and 100 lb goods. I don't want to buy cheap, because I will just be buying again... I've also been keeping an eye out for used punching bags, because loop a couple of straps around them and you have the same thing.

----------


## Cylon357

2 more miles this morning, the last quarter mile was a jog. I did some single leg calf raises to finish it out today, well, so far at least.

----------


## wango

> I am a Chargers fan, since the days of Dan Fouts and Air Coryell. City is unimportant lol! They might be able to do something with that second year QB, Herbert. I was laughing last year as the kid still had acne, but looked very good with a lot of potential.
> 
> No clue on the parking costs, but that would not surprise me one bit. SOMEBODY has to pay for that new stadium!


Yes, the zits made me laugh as well, and I agree, they could have a really good year. He looked fantastic. It is one hell of a nice looking stadium!

Agree about not wanting to pull those stitches out, patience is a PITA sometimes.

----------


## Cylon357

> Yes, the zits made me laugh as well, and I agree, they could have a really good year. He looked fantastic. It is one hell of a nice looking stadium!
> 
> Agree about not wanting to pull those stitches out, patience is a PITA sometimes.


Patience IS a drag sometimes lol but better than the alternative, at least in this case.

BTW, it is early for you, isn't it? You know you are retired, right?  :Big Grin:

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## wango

> Patience IS a drag sometimes lol but better than the alternative, at least in this case.
> 
> BTW, it is early for you, isn't it? You know you are retired, right?


Lol, the wife and I agreed that maybe we’re catching up for lost sleep a little too much. But damn, it feels so good.

----------


## Cylon357

I'm getting sick of walking. Another 2.5 miles this morning, but at least I can do my Italian lessons on the walk. Mind you, the neighbors sometimes give me the side eye as I walk down the street having an apparently one sided Italian conversation. Yet, nobody seems to think anything about someone speaking English in that same situation. It COULD be that my Italian sounds so bad it's like Mario become a robot, but I can't rule out something more sinister. 
 :LOL: 

Shoulder seems to be healing well enough, if not as fast as I would like. It's coming along fine, I'm just (begin sarcasm) SO TOTALLY surprised I can't "heal my body like wolverine". Da fuq? I got ripped off! (end sarcasm)

All that said, it does look better. Swelling is gone, and the main incision is red, but it appears to be irritated, not infected, so all is good there.

But hey, don't take my word for it. Peep the pic below. Because posts are better with pics. And also, who is here for your entertainment? That's right! Your mom. Or your dad, or brother or sister or cousin or next door neighbor or just about anyone else on the planet besides me. I'm just some dork on the internet, waiting to get some stitches out.  :Big Grin: 

Have fun with it, y'all! We get one go round!

----------


## wango

Molto bene!

----------


## Cylon357

Yet another walk today. I did do some single leg calf work after the walk, and will probably do _something_ with the rower and maybe the treadmill tomorrow. Scar is red and angry, but I'm pretty sure not infected, just healing. The stitches come out Monday, just long enough for me to have to start back over with lower weights, but hey, life is a marathon, not a sprint, so I will get back to it ASAP.

What else? Hmmm, not a whole heck of a lot going on. Still, when you don't have to worry 'dur, are the lions going to eat me today?' then you know most other stuff is a first world problem.  :Big Grin:

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## Cylon357

Ok, I did my last 2.5 mile walk today. Monday. Monday morning, I get these effing stitches out and will almost certainly hit the weights Monday night. Giggity giggity!!

Today, I did the walk in the morning, then started a cleaning marathon at the house because we are having friends over this evening. Grilling burgers and chicken burgers, baking potatoes... there are some other things, but I'm frazzled atm as I have been going non stop today.

It is probably obvious, but tonight will almost certainly be a cheat night extraordinaire! We have boozes, too, man! Mexican Coke and Bacoo rum is on the agenda, plus whatever else you want, Jack! Well, almost. If you name a liquor, we have a pretty good chance of having. And if we don't, I'll fix you a drink to help your forget ol' whatsitsname. 

Maybe I will post food pics later. Dunno. We'll see. Enjoy the day!

----------


## wango

> Ok, I did my last 2.5 mile walk today. Monday. Monday morning, I get these effing stitches out and will almost certainly hit the weights Monday night. Giggity giggity!!
> 
> Today, I did the walk in the morning, then started a cleaning marathon at the house because we are having friends over this evening. Grilling burgers and chicken burgers, baking potatoes... there are some other things, but I'm frazzled atm as I have been going non stop today.
> 
> It is probably obvious, but tonight will almost certainly be a cheat night extraordinaire! We have boozes, too, man! Mexican Coke and Bacoo rum is on the agenda, plus whatever else you want, Jack! Well, almost. If you name a liquor, we have a pretty good chance of having. And if we don't, I'll fix you a drink to help your forget ol' whatsitsname. 
> 
> Maybe I will post food pics later. Dunno. We'll see. Enjoy the day!


By all means post food pics! BTW, Mexican Coke (cola, lol) is legit different and better tasting! Have fun tonight!

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## Cylon357

Oy, I guess I'm walking tomorrow after all. 

Leftovers...

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## wango

> Oy, I guess I'm walking tomorrow after all. 
> 
> Leftovers...
> 
> Attachment 181285 Attachment 181286 Attachment 181287


Cant go wrong with cheat meals with friends and better yet taking photos of it! I hope you and your guests had a fantastic time! Nice looking meal, thank you!

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## tarmyg

> Oy, I guess I'm walking tomorrow after all. 
> 
> Leftovers...
> 
> Attachment 181285 Attachment 181286 Attachment 181287


If you do not do this once and a while whats the point of all this shit we do? Hope you did not hold back Looks delicious.

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## Cylon357

So, I did YET ONE MORE 2.5 mile walk this morning. Felt like I needed it after over-indulging last night.

Stitches are scheduled to come out in the morning. I. Can't. Wait. The doc will probably say something lame like "don't overdo it for the next few days" blah blah blah horse hockey! We will see. I'm also getting something called 'red light therapy' for some suspicious looking areas of my scalp.

----------


## Cylon357

Also, forgot to mention: I ordered Peptide Sciences BPC-157 and TB-500. They have a blend that is 5 and 5, and I ordered another 5mg of TB-500 so that I can dose 1mg TB-500 and 500 mcg BPC-157 per day for ten days.

BTW, do NOT do the math on the cost! It is scary expensive from PS, and not much less from Thymosin Labs. Without discounts, those doses would cost $20 per day from PS and $17 per day from TL, though the dose from TL would be just a little short on the BPC-157. I totally understand why people scour the net for bargains and sometimes take chances. Heck, I have done it and had to toss bogus / underdosed / mis labeled product. Maybe I'll find that magic combo of PS quality, Peptide Warehouse cost, but I haven't found it yet.

Anyhow, this will be my first time running the combo from Peptide Sciences. I don't expect much difference compared to the Thymosin Labs product but we will see. I also ordered some ModGRF 1-29 and Ipamorelin that I will run for a month or so at a low 100mcg per night, 5x per week. Might modify the dose, but that is a game time decision.

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## Cylon357

Stitches are out, yay! But gotta ease back into it, boo!

2 to 3 weeks more for full healing and to get the green light. But I can "ease back into it" and lower body is a go. It might not be possible to do squats just yet, at least not with any significant weight, because of how I have to position my shoulders. THIS is a job for a belt squat setup! Unfortunately, I don't have a belt squat setup. But, I bet I can figure out some blocks, a dip belt and a few weight plates and be semi functional. 

Or, I could probably start with really low weights on everything. That is what I may do.

And I guess I can be happy that the results came back and they got EVERYTHING of concern. The one on the shoulder had "2 genes that indicate possible melanoma" but it was not cancerous, nor was the one on my face. That one was the one that the lab and the doc both were like "ooh, we've never seen THIS". But yeah, it's all good they got all the margins, etc, so I'm GTG.

----------


## wango

> And I guess I can be happy that the results came back and they got EVERYTHING of concern. The one on the shoulder had "2 genes that indicate possible melanoma" but it was not cancerous, nor was the one on my face. That one was the one that the lab and the doc both were like "ooh, we've never seen THIS". But yeah, it's all good they got all the margins, etc, so I'm GTG.


Now you have mystery growths on your body? Dude, things only keep getting better for you! Question, you werent possibly abducted by aliens were you?

----------


## Cylon357

> Now you have mystery growths on your body? Dude, things only keep getting better for you! Question, you weren’t possibly abducted by aliens were you?


I'm hoping not, but maybe it wouldn't be quite as bad as we think:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csUf0MAUIs4

----------


## Cylon357

2 mile walk and 1/2 mile jog tonight. I hit the weights for the first time in two weeks tomorrow, lets see how that goes. 

The last of the absorbable stitches on my face fell out, and that is cool.

Ah, hells bells man, I'm ready to hit the weights! Just gotta go easy to see how that shoulder scar holds up.

Still, all these things are first world problems, so I reckon it will be fine!

----------


## wango

> I'm hoping not, but maybe it wouldn't be quite as bad as we think:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csUf0MAUIs4


With Miss Honey Peach Bottom, hell no, not bad at all  :AaGreen22: . !

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## Cylon357

> With Miss Honey Peach Bottom, hell no, not bad at all . !


Sheri Moon Zombie is, despite that name, developing into a good actress. Peep Rob Zombie's theatrical cut of "Halloween" for some good work on her part. She has come a LOOONNNGGG way from "House of 1000 Corpses".

----------


## wango

> Sheri Moon Zombie is, despite that name, developing into a good actress. Peep Rob Zombie's theatrical cut of "Halloween" for some good work on her part. She has come a LOOONNNGGG way from "House of 1000 Corpses".


I _think_ the only Rob Zombie movie I have seen is Devils Rejects and I liked it a lot. Ill try to check out Halloween. I hope your shoulder is getting better, I bet you are hungry to get back to the iron!

----------


## Cylon357

> I _think_ the only Rob Zombie movie I have seen is “Devil’s Rejects” and I liked it a lot. I’ll try to check out Halloween. I hope your shoulder is getting better, I bet you are hungry to get back to the iron!


I personally like the theatrical cut of Halloween better than the director's cut. IMO, the director's cut is slightly less polished and just a little disjointed at times. Still, either is a good watch.

----------


## Cylon357

I got my Peptide Sciences order today. 2 of 2mg ModGrf 1-29, and 2 of 2mg Ipamorelin. I liked this combo from them when I have run it in the past. Good stuff.

I also got 1 5mg TB-500 and 1 BPC-157 and TB-500 5mg / 5mg combo. I want to transfer them into the same bottle so I can do one shot, but I just reconstituted everything so I will let that wait until tonight.

I'm lifting weights tonight, but man, I'm going to ease back into it. Life is a marathon, not a sprint and all that, but man, jonesing to get back under the bar. Patience is a thing, evidently. Pheh, I may do some light cable work, extensions, etc for a few days until it looks like my scar isn't going to open up. It's PROBABLY OK now, but they put some steri-strips on it Monday so I really can't see it right now. 

It should be healing nicely with the current run of TB-500 and BPC-157, plus I am doing about a half unit of hgh in the morning. I can't seem to do a full unit without messing with my tinnitus and giving me night time headaches. But maybe now I can conduct the "small dose hgh in the AM and peptides in the PM" experiment I've been thinking about.

----------


## Cylon357

Ah, man, it felt good to be back under the weights tonight!

SUPER light to test things out, like 95 pound squats and benching with the empty bar, but it felt good.

No dips yet, too much pressure on the shoulder. Some light curls and tricep work, plus I went ahead and did some light one arm rows with the 25 lb weight plates. Single legged cafe work until they were aching.

1/2 mile walk to warm up, one mile walk to cool down. You might think I would be SICK OF WALKING by now, but it IS a good way to get LISS and cool down.

I'm going to start the Peptide Sciences stuff tomorrow, probably with the TB-500 and BPC-157 in the morning along with a half unit of hgh, then the Mod/Ipa combo in the evening. Lets see where we land!

----------


## Cylon357

I had a busy Saturday. Spent several hours working on The Wife's car, most of the time was spent wondering 'how the hell do I get THAT off of THIS??' But in Florida, in August, it's kind of like a steam room - though to be honest the humidity wasn't quite that bad, and I was working in the garage with a fan blowing on me most of the time. Anyhow, turns out there is STILL some work to be done, because of course and I mean OF COURSE, while I was there, I discovered several other things that need fixing. Still, it is easy stuff. Just a radiator and fan switch, though I will do the hoses and thermostat while I am there.

When I got done with all that, I hit the weights again, Jack! Super easy stuff: light pulldowns, over head press with just the barbell, some super light curls, shrugs and one arm rows. I did move the one arm rows up to 40lb dumbbells from the 25lb plates on Wednesday. I know that is still ridiculously light, but the shoulder is healing and I do NOT want to tear that open. Anyhow, the standard 1/2 mile walk to warm up, 1.5 to cool down and then a hop in the pool. 

I did my first Ipamorelin / MogGRF 1-29 injection last night just before bed. 100mcg each, sub q in the glute region. Man, those 31g 6mm needles are cool. I do seem to have a bit of an issue drawing at times, like it takes a while to fill the syringe. No bigs, just something I have to watch out for.

Everything is groovy!

BTW, here is the shoulder. Progress, but not _quite_ there yet.

----------


## Cylon357

I got a decent workout in last night, considering that I am babying things due to the shoulder. 

Have to use light weight? Reps are the name of the game then! 

20 to 30 reps on lighter sets, though I did just do 10 to 15 on my last set of squats, since I was working up a bit more in weight and the bar sits dangerously close to the wound site.

I also did leg extensions for the first time in months. My bench sucks for them, though, and instead of "leg extensions", it feels like "knee exploders". Thus, why I haven't done them in months.

Got a nice level of hurts so good pain in the chest out of the high rep bench press. That was nice!

Keeping busy overall. I have a long weekend starting tonight, but plenty to do. That radiator I talked about earlier ain't gonna fix itself...

Enjoy the weekend, whenever yours may start!

----------


## Cylon357

Just a 2.5 mile walk yesterday, but today begins both my long weekend and 'Radiator Fest 2021'. Hunting down parts is the killer today, I have to drive to the dealership to pickup a thermostat (that I might not end up using) and driving = time not turning a wrench.

I did order some rucksack / sandbag equipment that should be here next week. Not in a hurry to use it, but it will be in the rotation by October 1. At that point, I should be GTG on the shoulder.

BTW, here is what it looks like this AM. Progress, but as I have said before and I'm sure we are all aware, this whole 'heal your body like Wolverine' bit is pure click bait BS.

----------


## Cylon357

Radiator Fest 2021 wrapped up yesterday. It was a complete success, though I really would have preferred to use the radiator I ordered from RockAuto instead of the one I bought at AutoZone. The one from RA was a Denso unit, and just looked higher quality than the one from AZ (Duralast brand). But, it is all good. Did the raidator, both fans, radiator cap and coolant flush and refill. 

Today's workout will be either weights or a jog, I haven't decided yet. I basically have until Tuesday to chill, so I'm going to take advantage of that!

----------


## wango

> Radiator Fest 2021 wrapped up yesterday. It was a complete success, though I really would have preferred to use the radiator I ordered from RockAuto instead of the one I bought at AutoZone. The one from RA was a Denso unit, and just looked higher quality than the one from AZ (Duralast brand). But, it is all good. Did the raidator, both fans, radiator cap and coolant flush and refill. 
> 
> Today's workout will be either weights or a jog, I haven't decided yet. I basically have until Tuesday to chill, so I'm going to take advantage of that!


I like my auto parts from this guy. However, for brakes I always use Callahan.

----------


## DinAZ

Shoulder looks like its healing up nice! Did you run peptides or anything to try to accelerate healing?

----------


## Cylon357

> Shoulder looks like it’s healing up nice! *Did you run peptides or anything to try to accelerate healing?*


Yes indeed. I am running 1mg TB-500 + 500 mg BPC-157 right now, along with one half IU HGH roughly 5 days a week in the morning. I would like that to be 7 days a week, at least for the TB/BPC, but I sometimes forget and timing is kind of important, so I skip a dose if I can't get that right. 

I'm going to add 100mcg/100mcg ModGRF 1-29 / Ipamorelin in the PM starting... well, maybe starting tonight, but definitely by tomorrow night. The trick with that is figuring out exact timing. It revved me up just a little the last time I took it a few days ago, but that was right at bedtime. About 30 minutes prior should be good.

BTW, I can't take even a full 1 iu of hgh daily, it causes tinitis to flare a bit at that level. But a half IU doesn't seem problematic and in the long run adds value... 2.5 IU per week for a year is 130 IU. Far from ideal, but since I take it in the AM, I'm speculating that it won't interfere with natural production. I have also only used UGL thus far, it might be that if I ever try true pharma hgh, I will be hooked and happy.

----------


## Cylon357

> I like my auto parts from this guy. However, for brakes I always use Callahan.


I'm not going to lie, I could not place the character lol! The actor was easy and I was like dammit, what is this from? Figured it out and no spoilers for anyone else!  :Big Grin:

----------


## DinAZ

> Yes indeed. I am running 1mg TB-500 + 500 mg BPC-157 right now, along with one half IU HGH roughly 5 days a week in the morning. I would like that to be 7 days a week, at least for the TB/BPC, but I sometimes forget and timing is kind of important, so I skip a dose if I can't get that right. 
> 
> I'm going to add 100mcg/100mcg ModGRF 1-29 / Ipamorelin in the PM starting... well, maybe starting tonight, but definitely by tomorrow night. The trick with that is figuring out exact timing. It revved me up just a little the last time I took it a few days ago, but that was right at bedtime. About 30 minutes prior should be good.
> 
> BTW, I can't take even a full 1 iu of hgh daily, it causes tinitis to flare a bit at that level. But a half IU doesn't seem problematic and in the long run adds value... 2.5 IU per week for a year is 130 IU. Far from ideal, but since I take it in the AM, I'm speculating that it won't interfere with natural production. I have also only used UGL thus far, it might be that if I ever try true pharma hgh, I will be hooked and happy.


The peptides seem to work it definitely seemed to heal quick, but since Im not living with It my perception of the time could be wrong. 

Peptides have had me curious a while and now that things are settling down I think Ill order the BPC & TB500 like we talked about before. 

I had a quack Dr that was giving me 3IU a day after my injury but he got fired. I think it helped healing but didnt really like it because I have minor neuropathy and the extra hand numbness made using tools or shooting a basketball rough. If 1iu or less per day is effective I may reconsider. HGH is one of the more costly compounds also so the lower dosages are easier on the wallet.

----------


## Cylon357

> The peptides seem to work it definitely seemed to heal quick, but since Im not living with It my perception of the time could be wrong. 
> 
> Peptides have had me curious a while and now that things are settling down I think Ill order the BPC & TB500 like we talked about before. 
> 
> I had a quack Dr that was giving me 3IU a day after my injury but he got fired. I think it helped healing but didnt really like it because I have minor neuropathy and the extra hand numbness made using tools or shooting a basketball rough. If 1iu or less per day is effective I may reconsider. HGH is one of the more costly compounds also so the lower dosages are easier on the wallet.


The docs seem pleased and a little surprised that it is healing so well, especially as I am 50+, but of course I am impatient as hell with it lol! Like, Wednesday. Wednesday is the day when I will be at 4 weeks and when I should be able to hit the weights properly (none of this babying things business).

I'm assuming that was 3 IU of pharma HGH. I would not mind having that quack doctor, especially if his quackery could get the HGH covered by insurance  :Big Grin:  Anyhow, I have tried two different UGL hghs, both have the same effect on my tinitits*. One seems a little 'dryer' and the other a little 'wetter' but that could be my imagination, or maybe one is really not hgh or something.


*= I don't think I spelled tinitis right, but I saw it and thought hey, that looks like 'tiny tits' and my inner Beavis could NOT stop laughing
 :LOL:

----------


## wango

> I'm not going to lie, I could not place the character lol! The actor was easy and I was like dammit, what is this from? Figured it out and no spoilers for anyone else!


Glad you figured it out  :AaGreen22:

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## Cylon357

Back to the normal routine tonight, if not just yet normal weights.

Did my squat routine, kept the weight lighter and the reps higher.

The calves were fun, 30 reps with barbell calf raises followed immediately by 15 single leg raises, unweighted, each leg. Achey breaky calves! I'm NOT sorry I went there :P

Some dumbbell rows, working the weight up a little more each week, followed by leg curls and super light but high rep bicep curls finished the weight portion. No HIIT tonight, but I did walk about 3/4 of a mile, then jog (slog) about a half mile to wrap up the workout. Hop in the pool, some yoga stretches and now I'm having protein and a bagel, waiting on the feral cat to show.

Life is not bad, ladies and gents! Thankful every day.

----------


## wango

> Back to the normal routine tonight, if not just yet normal weights.
> 
> Did my squat routine, kept the weight lighter and the reps higher.
> 
> The calves were fun, 30 reps with barbell calf raises followed immediately by 15 single leg raises, unweighted, each leg. Achey breaky calves! I'm NOT sorry I went there :P
> 
> Some dumbbell rows, working the weight up a little more each week, followed by leg curls and super light but high rep bicep curls finished the weight portion. No HIIT tonight, but I did walk about 3/4 of a mile, then jog (slog) about a half mile to wrap up the workout. Hop in the pool, some yoga stretches and now I'm having protein and a bagel, waiting on the feral cat to show.
> 
> Life is not bad, ladies and gents! Thankful every day.


Congrats on the return! Appreciate & focus on all of the things we have in life! Darn right Cy, life aint bad & *tons* to be thankful for!

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## Cylon357

Bench day today. No dips yet, but man that shoulder is close!

I did do some cable work, including sort of a modified rear delt fly. Thats going to be interesting when I can get at it without the scar raising concerns.

I wanted to do a 2 mile walk to wrap things up, but the rain conspired against me. Still, I got in a mile and will walk in the AM, so it will be fine.

----------


## Cylon357

Had a back day today. No deadlifts yet, but I may phase them out for a bit. I know: blasphemy! But my knees have not been hurting much at all since I reduced weights and haven't done deadlifts. 

Anyhow, today I figured out how to use the barbell to lock my body down so I can do pulldowns with a decent amount of weight. That was awesome and I took advantage of it. Like, I dunno, 10 sets, maybe, of pulldowns with various grips. Lats were chatty, Jack!

Moved on to barbell rows, about half my normal 6 to 8 rep weight. But hey, easing back into it and I call it progress.

Overhead press was next as I consolidated days. This was big, but the shoulder help up fine. Not quite normal weight, but close to 80% so that's a win in my book.

Shrugs, bicep curls, pushdowns and calf work rounded out the weights. 1 mile walk to warm up, 2 mile walk as LISS to finish and life is good. 

The Wife made some turkey chili and man, that is some good stuff. Gonna sleep well tonight!

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## Cylon357

Squat day today, yay! Still keeping it light but high huffing and puffing reps. I will keep that up until October as I have plans for the last quarter of the year, goals wise.

Started with squats. High reps really suck with squats if you are hitting parallel or just below. But it is a good kind of suck.

Did my calves. They were asking me 'what did we do wrong???' because I punished them tonight. Stiff legged deadlifts rounded out the weights for the legs. 

I was unsure about what to do for back, so I tried a short range, low rep set of pullups. Seemed to do OK, but I'm still babying that scar (though admittedly I think it is GTG - better safe than sorry). Did dumbbell rows followed by bicep curls to round out the weights tonight.

Jogged a little over a half mile, then walked it back to cool down. Did some yoga stretches, hit the shower, had some protein and a banana (that's what she said), and now, I'm hanging with you degenerates. That's ok, we are all degenerates now and then.

Life is good!

----------


## Cylon357

Last night had a decent bench workout. Still light and high reps which, by the way, I may carry forward for a bit. I kind of like the change of pace. I'm still not ready for dips yet with the shoulder.... ah, actually, the shoulder is almost certainly good to go, I'm just being super cautious. I have a 6 week checkup next week where they will almost certainly give me the green light, but I can do other stuff between now and then.

Barbell bench, pushups with the handles, a set or two with various grips for each exercise. Skull crushers, d-bell flyes and super light lateral raises rounded out the weights. I did a 1 mile walk to warm up plus a 2 miler for LISS. 3 miles is enough  :Smilie:  Today is an off day and I intend to enjoy it.

Still doing the TB-500 and BPC-157 combo, I have a few more days on that. I have been alternating .5 to 1 iu HGH in the morning with 100mcg each ModGRF 1-29 and Ipamorelin, just trying to see which I like best in the morning. Sometimes I will do the Mod/Ipa 30 minutes pre-workout, just as a variation to see how I like that. Not bad so far.

It DOES seem that with this run of Mod/Ipa, I get a little more revved up if I take it at night, more than in previous runs. This is the real reason I have been changing my injection schedule regarding these compounds. Same source, so maybe I am just reacting differently.

Enjoy the weekend!

----------


## DinAZ

Awesome progress, Im glad to hear the shoulder is doing well!

How long do you run the peptide combo total? Ive wondered if a month is sufficient, or if by the time spending that much is it better to try for longer. 

My recovery time is much worse now that Im not taking test. I could see low dose HGH & peptide combos being a great option for those off anabolics.

----------


## Cylon357

Rando information: our gaddang washing machine is on the fritz. It wouldn't run or drain, so I changed the drain pump. Now, ironically, it will run but still not drain. Since the cost of repair is approaching the half the cost of new, we are getting a new one delivered Monday. Apparently now, wifi enabled appliances are a thing. I'm not sure this is a good idea... it sounds like how the machines start talking to each other (about us) and eventually rise up. Who knew Skynet was really going to start with toasters, washers and fridges?

All that said, I'm starting to run out of clean workout clothes. This is a tragedy of Biblical proportion. I THINK I have enough to make it through Monday. Fingers crossed.  :Big Grin:

----------


## DinAZ

I read there is a shortage of some appliances because of the silicon shortage for microchips(same with cars, GPUs, etc). 

Why we need a smart fridge or smart dryer is beyond me. I even saw a vaporizer with bluetooth the other day. Some of this stuff seems totally unnecessary at best, and at worst it seems like a security risk.

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## Cylon357

> Awesome progress, Im glad to hear the shoulder is doing well!
> 
> How long do you run the peptide combo total? Ive wondered if a month is sufficient, or if by the time spending that much is it better to try for longer. 
> 
> My recovery time is much worse now that Im not taking test. I could see low dose HGH & peptide combos being a great option for those off anabolics.


I normally run TB-500 and BPC-157 together for four weeks, but I'm likely to add another week or two this time. This combo might be helping my knee pain... it could be the others (ModGrf 1-29, Ipamorelin or the low dose hgh) or some combo of those, but I'm liking it. 

Pic of the shoulder progress this morning.

----------


## wango

> Rando information: our gaddang washing machine is on the fritz. It wouldn't run or drain, so I changed the drain pump. Now, ironically, it will run but still not drain. Since the cost of repair is approaching the half the cost of new, we are getting a new one delivered Monday. Apparently now, wifi enabled appliances are a thing. I'm not sure this is a good idea... it sounds like how the machines start talking to each other (about us) and eventually rise up. Who knew Skynet was really going to start with toasters, washers and fridges?
> 
> All that said, I'm starting to run out of clean workout clothes. This is a tragedy of Biblical proportion. I THINK I have enough to make it through Monday. Fingers crossed.


We had to replace our washer a couple of years ago & I went to the laundromat out of absolute necessity. It was like a comedy sketch when I put in too much soap. Even the people working there were laughing. We go through so much laundry, its an every other day thing for us - no washer/dryer = misery.

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## Cylon357

Good back / upper body workout today.

Last week I combined back and shoulder workouts, did the same thing today. I could get used to not doing deadlifts!

Did more pulldowns to get started, various grips. Still keeping reps in the 10 to 12 range for working sets. Thought about doing some pullups, but eh, let me let that scar heal completely. So, I did one arm rows instead and was definitely feeling it in my lats. Not ready to glide away or anything but give me a while and lets see  :Big Grin: 

Overhead press was next. This is really the one that should worry me about the shoulder scar, but it isn't giving me grief. All good there. Moved on to shrugs to really make the back / shoulder groups say 'dammit man, leave us alone for a minute!!'

So I did. I moved on to push downs, alternated with super light bicep curls for sets of 20. 3 sets each of those but wait, there's more! I did 3 sets of lateral raises, just to let the delts know who the boss really is.

No walks today because of rain, though I did spend about an hour washing windows prior to working out, and maybe 30 minutes trying to help the next door neighbor with a pool problem they were having. Finished our "Mulligan's Stew" meal, pic below. That patty looking thing is a salmon burger from Costco's frozen food department. A bit dry, but we did grill it. I bet it would pop if it were skillet fried, like a salmon patty!

----------


## Cylon357

In a total BTW, rando observation, a couple of days ago, I finished off the last of my Peptide Sciences BPC-157 and TB-500, and yesterday, I finished off the last of my reconstituted Thymosin Labs blend. So, I was thinking 'well, I know I have some more TL blend, but I think that is about it'. Well, happy surprise! I had several things I had forgotten about... It's like Christmas in Cylon-ville! Some PS ModGRF 1-29 and Ipamorelin, 4 Prohealix, 2 Epitalon from Umbrella Labs, Some TL BPC-157, HCG from IDK where and finally some IGF-1 LR3 from Umbrella Labs. That last one is likely going to be tried out soon...

Attachment 181350

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## Cylon357

Squat day, baby!

Squats started it off. Man, I am digging this lighter weight and higher reps thing. My working set was 15, huffy and puffy at the end. Got to 12 and thought 'getting tough', hit 13 and was like 'there is NO WAY I am doing 13 reps!', got to 14 and was like 'wheeze might as wuh wuh well wheeze get 15'. OK, it wasn't that bad, but man my knees do seem to appreciate it. 

Did calf work next, just raises off the block. For some reason tonight, they were firey! Like if someone were watching me after the set and had no idea what was going on, they might think the floor was on fire. But good feeling all the same.

Did lat pulldowns... man, figuring out that technique of using the barbell to hold my body down was awesome. Did 4 sets in total, 2 sort of medium grip, 2 narrow, palms facing each other. I like to do legs heavy with back light, and back heavy with legs light. "Light" means one, maybe two easy exercises for that body part.

Anyhow, lying hamstring curls and bicep curls with the kettlebells (there they are, you knew I hadn't forgot them!) rounded out the weights. I did a full mile walk to warm up before the weights, and, get this: a full mile jog for my MISS (Imma call that 'medium intensity steady state') wrap up. Thought I might die, but what was important was that my knees aren't dialoging with me _too_ much. This is week 3 of my 3/1 week scheme, so deload is next week so I will have time to recover fully.

Two other items. 1 - the doc gave me the all clear today for full weight bearing exercises! Yay! But I kind of like this lower weight, higher rep thing, so I may keep it around for a while. 2 - I'm looking to finish 2021 out strong, so in 2 weeks, I'm getting after it. Lets see what I can get done in 90 days!  :Big Grin:

----------


## wango

Congrats on the clearance for the shoulder!

Im in a rhythm as well, lets end this year in grand style!

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## Cylon357

Good bench workout. Nothing really to report, except that I REALLY am I liking this higher rep scheme. 

Next week is deload week, so I may take the opportunity to rig up a low pulley system for my rigged up cable system. Mulling over some ideas, lets see if anything comes of it.

BTW, I kept insisting that "pulley" was spelled "pully" and could NOT figure out what was wrong. Spell check had it right  :Smilie:

----------


## Cylon357

Nice back workout yesterday. I am totally back into pulldowns now that I have the whole 'keep the body down' thing down pat. I did 7 or 8 sets, with varying grips and weight. Did them with narrow parallel grip and that lit up the tops of the lats, right under the pits. Man, that was hurtin' SO good.

I moved on to barbell rows... You know, one of the disadvantages to having deadlifts out of the rotation for now is that they were a fantastic whole body warm up movement. I could jump straight into my working weights on barbell rows. That's ok, it is just another set, just an observation here. I likely will bring deads back at some point, but more as a conditioning thing or just to get the blood pumping.

Man, it sure seems like there was another back exercise in there, but I"m drawing a blank right now. Anyhow, I setup the landmine attachment and did landmine squats, super setted with calf raises. My body was at sort of a forward leaning angle, so I don't feel like I really got the best calf work. I may not do those again, but it was an interesting variation.

Bicep curls and something else was in there, too. Drawing a complete blank. Anyhow, .5 mile to warm up, 1.5 to 2 miles for LISS at the end.

I did not work shoulders with back, instead opting to do my dedicated shoulder day today. I was a little concerned that getting the barbell in place for landmine squats might stress the shoulders some, I'll find out for sure in a few hours.

Went to a cookout last night. Over consumed. That's ok, I start trying to drop weight on 10/6 or so, we'll see how that goes when I get my diet right.

----------


## Cylon357

Got my dedicated overhead press / shoulder day in today, after that intense a** Chargers / Chiefs game. Man, I should have worked the heavy bag, too, as I'm still a little hyped from it lol

Anyhow, I did my overhead press thing without any issues. The last real test this scar has is dips... or should I say 'was' dips? I did those next, kept it simple and light, 3x6 with no weight and all felt good. The rest of the shoulder workout was pretty much stuff I've been doing recently. Shrugs, laterals, pushups, pushdowns are the 'usual suspects', then I did cable flyes with with my rigged up cables, and rear delt work with the same setup. That's a cool shoulder workout overall.

1 mile walk to warm up, 2 miles to LISS at the end. Finally starting to come down from the high of the victory... And listen, the Chargers have not won a lot the past few seasons, so I'm taking it when I can get it!

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## Cylon357

Been a good deload week so far. I had a 2.5 mile walk on both Tuesday and Wednesday, then did a little HIIT tonight (though I did dial it down some). I did one of my faves:

3 minute run on the treadmill
3 minutes working the heavy bag
3 minutes on the rower

3 rounds, dialed down the intensity some, but still huffy puffy and sweating like a long tail cat in a room full of rockin' chairs. #UncleJed

The dash to the end of the year starts Tuesday, more details on that as available.

Enjoying life!

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## Cylon357

Neat little full body workout today. This is the last weight day of the deload week, I will walk in the AM and have Monday off.

I did rig up a low pulley thing and tried it out today. Resourcefulness is not a bad quality to have BUT sometimes it just makes sense to save up for a properly engineered product. Still, it works as long as the weight is reasonable and you aren't pulling straight up. I did angle the screws in away from the center of the insert, just to give it a little more bite and resist pulling out (that's what she said). It is also completely counter sunk, not sure why it looks like it is sticking up.

----------


## wango

> Neat little full body workout today. This is the last weight day of the deload week, I will walk in the AM and have Monday off.
> 
> I did rig up a low pulley thing and tried it out today. Resourcefulness is not a bad quality to have BUT sometimes it just makes sense to save up for a properly engineered product. Still, it works as long as the weight is reasonable and you aren't pulling straight up. I did angle the screws in away from the center of the insert, just to give it a little more bite and resist pulling out (that's what she said). It is also completely counter sunk, not sure why it looks like it is sticking up.


Oddly, American Psycho was on Friday night. Patrick Bateman had something similar to this in his kitchen drawer.

----------


## Cylon357

> Oddly, “American Psycho” was on Friday night. Patrick Bateman had something similar to this in his kitchen drawer.


He did, right? Like, who the hell keeps that stuff in a kitchen drawer? And where did he get the chainsaw? Ooops sorry, spoiler alert! No more spoilers though  :Big Grin:

----------


## Cylon357

You ever have one of those workouts when after it is done, you find yourself just standing in the shower, kind of like Simple Jack, letting the water hit you, and generally looking dazed? No? Well, maybe it is just me, because I had one tonight and it was great!

Squat day, yay! Dig dig digging these high reps still. 15 makes me huff and puff, going to try for 20 at this weight in the next couple of weeks. Calf work consisted of barbell raises super setted with unweighted raises. Achey achey please dont break-y. Leg curls and single leg hip thrusters rounded out the leg work with weights. Did pulldowns with my rigged up pulley and really hit the lats good. Ez-curl bar curls and super light dumbell curls capped the main workout.

Guess what was next? You missed them, you hate them, hell I hate (to love) them: kettlebell swings! 3 sets of 15 danggit man I was winded. Where have you been, my frenemies?

I wanted to wrap with 1/2 mile jog and 1/2 mile walk, had to settle for everything a 1/4 mile at a time, like a drag racer in the world's slowest race. 1/4 mile jog, 1/4 mile walk x2. Stretches then the aforementioned shower with a meal afterwards.

If I don't sleep well tonight, something wrong with me!

----------


## wango

Great to hear ^^^!

----------


## Cylon357

Good bench workout tonight. Company here, details later.

----------


## Cylon357

Thursday's bench workout was pretty good. I did my barbell bench press, and while I HAVE been going high rep low weight, I did get in a heavy for me set of about 4 reps. Actually, that was a pretty good change up from the light stuff, and first time going heavy since the work on the shoulder. Felt good, and then went and a did the high rep set after that. Nice soreness brewing!

Dips without weight followed, varied the grip on them and had fun. Light dumbbell flies followed, then skull crushers. Wrapped up with lateral raises to finish out. 1 mile walk to warm up, 1.5 to cool down and that was the night. 

Enjoyed Seattle vs Rams Thursday night. Loved that blocked punt that wasn't blocked after all!

----------


## Cylon357

NICE squat workout tonight! Family leaves tomorrow so expect more then.

----------


## Cylon357

Alright you hoo uhrs, I got the family out of the house. Don't know what "hoo uhrs" means? Google "Pauly Walnuts Sopranos" and you will probably figure it out  :Big Grin: 

Squat workout was good. I did do a heavy for me set, just to see how I felt. Felt good, man, it felt good. I dropped down to do my 15 repper, but only had 12 in me after the heavy set. Actually, I felt a little odd at the beginning of the workout, like I was tired or something. It went away, though.

Moved to calf work, and leg curls to wrap up the primary leg work. Did some bicep curls with the ez-curl bar to wrap up the weights.

Wait, that doesn't seem like much of a work out? You think? Even with the half mile warm up walk? Hmmm.... good thing I did something else!

3 rounds, limited rest between exercises, and 1 minute between rounds of:
3 minutes on the climber
6 pullups
15 kettlebell swings

Jimminy Christmas Christ on a cracker, that was "fun". Shirt was soaked. I did intervals within each of those 3 minutes on the climber, too, so I was huffin and puffin by the time it was all said and done. 1 mile walk in the dark (we have goddang bears out here!), then some protein, jibber jabber with the fam, shower and sleep. It was good.

I wanted to do 20 to 30 minutes on the bicycle rollers instead of the semi hiit thing, but the belt on the rollers disintegrated over time. No problem, I thought. I have a spare, it's all good. Found the spare, took it out of its packing, all looks good yay! Went to google 'how to replace belt' and when I came back, the spare had broken. Dammit, apparently it is an age thing, who knew rubber doesn't age so well. Maybe that is why they say "don't use that condom that you have had in your wallet since high school and you are know well north of 30".

More details on some "supplements" to follow, but I have to go talk football in another thread now.

----------


## Cylon357

I mentioned an update on some "supplements", here you go.

*Enclomiphene*
I have been trying to locate good Enclomiphene... Ok, let me stop you right there. I know the "test is best, bro" comments are coming, so let me head it off right here: we all end up on the needle permanently at some point, I'm trying to put it off a little longer.

Anyhow, I have tried Enclo from ExpressPCT, ReceptorChem, Peptides Warehouse(!) and now, from PureRawz. The others didn't do much for me, though that could just be me needing to figure out the dose. This stuff from PureRawz.... man, that is NOT just enclo, if there is even any enclo present. Insomnia, big time, on this product. Felt maybe a little heart racing too. And my dosing was lower than I used with the others. I typically used 12.5mg per day with the first 3 sources, but 10mg a day with PureRawz.

I did just have a doctor's appointment and they are going to follow up with a compounding pharmacy and a prescription, so I will have the opportunity to try as close to "real Enclompihene" as possible soon.

In short: I don't know what is in PureRawz's Enclo, but it ain't just Enclo. For now, I recommend avoiding it.

*HGH*
These are really just some observations. I have HGH from two different suppliers on hand. One is PSL's Eurotropin product, another is from a private source. The PSL product seems a bit 'wetter', like maybe I get a little bit of water retention from it. The private label is 'dryer', but man it seems to cause inflammation, especially in my remaining hemis. Even 1iu EOD of private label seems to go straight to my hemis, where I can (and am presently) running 2iu EOD of PSLs product without the same problem. So, I suppose I will just use the PSL product and maybe trade the remaining private label product to a buddy or something.

----------


## wango

> I mentioned an update on some "supplements", here you go.
> 
> *Enclomiphene*
> I have been trying to locate good Enclomiphene... Ok, let me stop you right there. I know the "test is best, bro" comments are coming, so let me head it off right here: we all end up on the needle permanently at some point, I'm trying to put it off a little longer.
> 
> Anyhow, I have tried Enclo from ExpressPCT, ReceptorChem, Peptides Warehouse(!) and now, from PureRawz. The others didn't do much for me, though that could just be me needing to figure out the dose. This stuff from PureRawz.... man, that is NOT just enclo, if there is even any enclo present. Insomnia, big time, on this product. Felt maybe a little heart racing too. And my dosing was lower than I used with the others. I typically used 12.5mg per day with the first 3 sources, but 10mg a day with PureRawz.
> 
> I did just have a doctor's appointment and they are going to follow up with a compounding pharmacy and a prescription, so I will have the opportunity to try as close to "real Enclompihene" as possible soon.
> 
> ...


When I first started with PSL HGH I had a little swelling in ankles, feet, wrist & fingers. That dissipated and stopped in about a month. Still dig the stuff at 1iu per day. My skull seems particularly stronger I believe, lol.

----------


## Cylon357

> When I first started with PSL HGH I had a little swelling in ankles, feet, wrist & fingers. That dissipated and stopped in about a month. Still dig the stuff at 1iu per day. My skull seems particularly stronger I believe, lol.


Yeah, I read where you had a noggin issue! Damn brother, I hope you are doing well. Maybe also don't stand up so fast after drinking lol! You are retired, man, and needn't be in a hurry to get anywhere  :Smilie: 

And yep, I have started to like PSL's Eurotropin. Seems like good stuff to me. I'm going to try to make the habit of doing 1iu 5 days a week in the AM, and 130/130 ModGrf 1-29 / Ipamorelin in the PM (or maybe post workout) for a while to see if that is a best of both worlds thing. #IamaLabRat

----------


## Cylon357

Had a good back workout yesterday. Note that while I DID do deadlifts, I did NOT make them the primary focus of the workout.

I did START with deadlifts, but just 3 sets to get the blood flowing and warm up properly. Man, I had forgot how taxing they can be. Anyhow, moved on to barbell rows from deads, I think 3 sets was the name of the game there, too.

Front squats and calf work followed. I then setup the lat pulldown rigging and did a few sets, followed by ez curl bar curls.

My plan had been to use the rollers and bike for about 20 minutes. I got the replacement belt in and was excited to get in some LISS, maybe with intervals.

Man, it has been too long since I used the rollers. I could not stay centered. I tried for about 10 minutes, having to stop probably 8 times, before I said the heck with it and just rode outside for about another 10 to 15 minutes.

Shoulder workout today forthcoming, but first, I get to see Chargers at Ravens.... This will be a huge test for the Bolts, lets see where we land!

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## Cylon357

Well, at least the shoulder work out was good. Damn, my Chargers looked horrible against Baltimore.

Shoulder workout, post Chargers / Ravens, started with overhead press, then dips followed by shrugs. I rigged up the cable system and did pushdowns alternated with dumbbell lateral raises. Yeah, I know there is on synergy there, I just wanted to be efficient. Swapped out the handles on the cable and then did chest flys and wrapped up with rear delt cable laterals.

1/2 mile walk to warm up, 1.5 to cool down, and life is all good!

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## Cylon357

You ever have one of those weeks where you just get sick of the same routine and say f it all? No? Huh, well maybe ots just me.

That's what last week was.

I touched the weights once, literally like one set and said nah, I'm burnt out.

So, I did other stuff. Rode my road bike a couple of times, walked and jogged, even road biked and then jogged. I think I need to vary my routine a little. We will see what I do tomorrow.

Life is good, y'all!

----------


## wango

> You ever have one of those weeks where you just get sick of the same routine and say f it all? No? Huh, well maybe ots just me.
> 
> That's what last week was.
> 
> I touched the weights once, literally like one set and said nah, I'm burnt out.
> 
> So, I did other stuff. Rode my road bike a couple of times, walked and jogged, even road biked and then jogged. I think I need to vary my routine a little. We will see what I do tomorrow.
> 
> Life is good, y'all!


Youre moving and doing something positive, dont beat yourself up  :Smilie:

----------


## Cylon357

> You’re moving and doing something positive, don’t beat yourself up


It's all good, sometimes I just need a break from the routine. Probably going to get in a bike ride here in a few for lunch. Maybe weights tomorrow, but that is for tomorrow to decide  :Smilie:

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## Cylon357

This week has so far just been LISS and MISS. About and 8 mile bike ride one day, then a couple of walks. This is technically my deload week, so it's probably OK. I think I am heading out of this burnout funk and will hit the weights easy tomorrow.

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## Cylon357

I hit the weights again FINALLY today at lunch, though I admit just barely.

Started with a half mile walk to warm up. Got home and did four sets each of:

Squats
Dips
Pull-ups 

Light weight on the squats, some weighted dips and no weight on Pull-ups.

Then I worked the heavy bag for 2 3 minute rounds, with push-ups in between rounds. 

Half mile to cool down, though it was alternating jog and walk so it's all good.

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## Cylon357

Oh my brothers and sisters, I got back under the weights tonight and it. was. good!!! Testify!

Started with squats, work sets were two high reppers with light weight. Moved on to calf work and was feeling it tonight... both started to ache and "blowed up real good!" #sctvreference

Did leg curls and some knee destroyers err, I mean leg extensions. I don't do extensions much, every time I do, I am reminded of why. To be honest, my bench is kind of crappy for extensions. I like them better with better equipment.

Did chin ups alternated with hip thrusters to finish out the weights tonight.

Then the finisher! 

3 rounds of:
3 minute "run" on the treadmill
10 each front and back kicks *
15 kettle bell swings
1 minute between rounds

I was spent but man it was good. 1 mile walk to cool down, some stretches then the shower. Life is good!

* = @NiceGuyResearcher posted about Bruce Lee in the Lounge. This of course made me think 'hey, I used to kick box the bag' and decided to work some kicks in as part of the finisher. Air kicks, not actually contacting anything. I pay a price for contact now.

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## Cylon357

Another good workout tonight. Maybe this two weeks away from the weights needs to be worked in a couple times a year, cause I am feeling good and killing it!

Bench night, though to be honest, right now this is more of a chest night. Did 2 work sets of 12 reps, looking to get 15 next week, of barbell bench. Dropped down and did one wide grip set and one lighter narrow grip set. Chest was on fire, baby!

Did dips, unweighted, 3 sets of 8 to 10. Just easing into that a little. Did lateral raises with the dumbbells next, to light up the delts that had already been warmed up by the benching and the dips. Felt good and was peeping the mirror. What's that I see? Maybe a little definition returning? Cool! It may also have been that my PWO (25mg Viagra) was kicking in good, too.

Skull crushers super setted with ez-curl bicep curls were next, then I finished the weights with super light weight but VERY concentrated dumbbell flyes.

Did 3 rounds of 3 minutes shadow boxing, with pushups between the rounds. They count against the minute rest between rounds, too, so no half stepping. I like shadow boxing on occassion as working the heavy bag, while it is VERY therapeutic, takes its toll on the wrists, elbows, and shoulders. I won't give it up or anything, just use it judiciously.

Life is good, y'all!

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## Cylon357

Got some stuff today. Took advantage of PSL's Halloween sale. This will be the first time I have tried the g-tropin, will give my thoughts on it after I give it a go.

Sorry for the crappy pic, it is what it is today.

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## wango

> Got some stuff today. Took advantage of PSL's Halloween sale. This will be the first time I have tried the g-tropin, will give my thoughts on it after I give it a go.
> 
> Sorry for the crappy pic, it is what it is today.


Pic is just fine, the packaging makes me laugh. Time to stock up myself. 

Nice TD and workouts!

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## Cylon357

Well, since this thread DOES have "Covid" in the title, I guess I can belly ache about getting the booster. The Wife and I got it yesterday around 4pm and feel rather like we have been run over by a couple of trucks. I'm sitting around 101.4 temp, she is slightly higher. I just ordered up a bunch of instatcart stuff so we can get calories in. We will be fine, just gotta get some food and liquids going.

Sometimes I wonder if it is worth it.... I know a lot of people are anti-vax, but for this one, because I have asthma, I am being very careful. I can totally understand how someone else might come up with different answer though, and decide they don't need or want it.

Feeling like poop, but that is temporary. And life is still pretty damn good!  :Big Grin:

----------


## Cylon357

Brothers and Sisters, that booster! Woo! Cylon was feeling like crapola yesterday, and had a little fever and body aches today, but by noon I was right, but tired. Not quite and I do mean QUITE as bad as the second Moderna shot, though the boosters ill effects seemed to last a little longer. I woke up last night shivering so bad it felt like my back was spasming. Pulled the blanket up a little higher and all settled down again.

I will get back at the weights tomorrow, with a shifted and compressed workout to make up for missing Saturday and Sunday's workouts. 

I damn well better be able to eat a Covid Sandwich and walk away with nothing more than some sniffles.

----------


## wango

How are you doing today? A Covid sandwich with cheese would be more tasty. Add some chips and a brew - there you go.

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## Cylon357

> How are you doing today? A Covid sandwich with cheese would be more tasty. Add some chips and a brew - there you go.


Much better, thanks for asking! I didn't sleep well last night and was still a little beat early in the day, but back to "normal" (whatever THAT is) now.

Did not workout today, I will just pick up tomorrow with the regularly scheduled shenanigans.

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## Cylon357

I walked Tuesday. Still was a little beat (damn that booster, man), but got in my 2.5 mile walk at a good clip.

Today, I squatted. Added a slight variation from last week, mostly because I was working out at lunch.

Did my squats, 12 rep work set, focusing on really feeling the quads. Did a narrow stance 8 repper, then on to calf work. Evidently, I have figured out the balance thing on my block because I was feeling it good in the calves. Did a couple of sets of hip thrusters semi-super setted with stiff leg deadlifts (though they might be more RDL as a bend my knee).

Moved on to 3 rounds of 
15 kettebell swings
5 pull ups
45 seconds rest.

Sweating, and then, just to be a glutton for punishment, I went outside and did a half mile jog plus a short cool down walk. Came back inside, did some stretches, hit the shower and back to work.

That's it for today!

----------


## Cylon357

Good bench workout Thursday night. Felt a little off because I mis-timed my meals, but it is what it is. I got it done, and that is what matters.

I'm really liking 25mg viagra about an hour or so pre-workout. Nice pump and vascularity.

No clue (yet) if it works for boners. That is how you know you are old: you take an ED drug and use it for workouts lol!

----------


## Cylon357

Nice little back workout tonight. 

Started with deadlifts, but haven't gone heavy in a couple of months. I'm REALLY starting to get to the point that I can not dead and squat in the same week. That's OK, I really am trying to focus on back width more right now. Anyhow, I only did 3 sets of deads, just to get the blood flowing. Moved to barbell rows, kept it reasonable. Set up for pulldowns, got a good pump going with those. Did some calf work and goblet squats next, just to check the boxes. Finished out the weight room with reverse hyper extensions and regular hypers.

Stepped outside for a very short (1/4 mile) jog and 1/4 mile walk back.

BTW, took a lady dose of tbol (10mg) as PWO. Didn't feel it. Some of you probably know already it's no good in that role, at least at that dose. I'm going to stick with my 25mg V as PWO. It adds the pump more than strength, but sometimes seeing results gets me fired up to do more and go a little harder.

All is good!

----------


## Cylon357

Overhead press workout today... actually it was tonight, after watching the Chargers waste another opportunity. Grrr

Nothing special otherwise, just keeping it going.

----------


## Cylon357

Alright, fart knockers, I'm back!

Had a good squat workout Wednesday. Yes, that is shifted a day, that's just how it had to be this week. This is week 3 of the 3 week heavy 1 week deload cycle, so yeah, it happens sometimes.

Did my squats, with a high rep light weight set as work set one, then a lower rep heavier weight set as work set 2. I think I must be at least a _little_ masochistic, because I like that sort of huffing and puffing set work. Something broken in my head, I guess.

Calf work... man, I have finally got my balance down to do calf raises off of my rigged up block. Holy hand grenade of Antioch, I feel it each time now.

Leg curls and hip thrusters finished the leg work proper.

MISS / HIIT finisher consisted of two rounds of:
3 minutes jog on treadmill
15 kettlebell swings
10 barbell rows (light weight)

Technically, I had planned on 3 round, but I was gassed. I did get a third 3 minute session in on the treadmill tho.

Today was a little over a 2 mile walk, the last 1/2 mile being a jog. Just had some avocado toast and some protein, then off to a beach wedding this evening... The bride and groom booked hotel rooms for their guests, so The Wife and I are staying on the beach tonight!

----------


## Cylon357

Hoo boy! That beach wedding was nice! We ate and drank way too much Thursday night, but we had a hotel room on the beach, so it was all good. Didn't sleep real well, partly because of the strange environment, partly because of the food and drink, BUT that didn't stop me from working out yesterday.

Though maybe I DID dial it back just a smidge.

Took nap in the afternoon when we got home, then eventually started chest day. I got my high rep set and a heavier middle rep set in on barbell bench, so I was pleased, all things considered. Got my dips in (unweighted), then moved on to a semi-tri set of skull crushers, ez curl bar curls, and kettle bell curls. Finished with light weight dumbell laterals, just to pump up the area pretty well. 1/2 mile walk to warm up, 1 mile walk to cool down, and life is good!

----------


## Cylon357

Deadlift day today.

Yeah, I said "deadlift". I vary my work outs _slightly_ to keep things fresh but on track.

It was a good workout.

Started with dead lifts, wanted to do 3x5 work sets, with a minute between reps as sort of a 'baby met-con' ended up doing 3x5 and 1x4 so I call it a win.

Barbell rows next, for these I broke out the straps. Did two sets overhand grip, and then a third underhand.

Did some front squats after that, 2x6 and 1x6. Followed that up with calf work.

Got out my cable / pulley rig, did 4x10 pulldowns. WAs going to do some HIIT, but did a 1/2 mile jog to wrap it up. And it was a jog tonight, not a slog. Decent pace. 1/2 mile walk to warm up, and a 1/2 mile cool down walk to get me back to the house after the jog, and this one is in the books.

Watching Steelers / Chargers right now. Hoping the Chargers can get their groove back. We will see.

See ya in the funny pages!

----------


## wango

Nice game & cool finish. Herbert looked great! Other than that, weird day in the nfl yesterday.

----------


## Cylon357

> Nice game & cool finish. Herbert looked great! Other than that, weird day in the nfl yesterday.


Man, I am NOT going to lie: that 4th quarter had me in knots! I was like 'nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo'

Somehow, they pulled that one out of the fire. Dammit guys, don't do my heart like that!

----------


## Cylon357

Overhead press workout tonight, to wrap up week 3 and start the deload week.

Overhead press to start, felt a little funny so I dialed the weight down and did some reps. Moved on to dips, no weight this day. Shrugs, then a sort of 4 exercise cycle of:
Front raises
Dumbell laterals
Rear delt flyes
High cable flyes

Felt good. 2 or 3 sets, I can't remember now.

2 mile walk to get my LISS in, and now about to have drink and some chicken chili!

----------


## Cylon357

As a quick heads up, evidently there are technical issues with my account. My posts are by and large gone, but I pinged Admin and it is being looked at. My log IS back, and new posts today should still be there, but everything else ATM is in cyber-la-la-land.

More updates on training, diet (aka Thanksgiving food), etc forthcoming!

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## Cylon357

Lots of food over the past several days. Not much exercise  :Frown:  BUT I did work on my car a bit and I'm counting that as SOMETHING  :Smilie: 

Got a 2 mile walk in Friday morning, then added right around one half mile jog at the end.

I think I mentioned that I put my hands on some G-tropin. I shot a vial of that... seems legit so far, but after only 10 iu, how can you tell for sure. I DID shoot 1iu a day for the first 4 days, then 1.5 for the next 4. I got hand swellling that has since gone down, so that is how I am getting to the 'seems legit so far' . I'm back to Eurotroping at 1iu / day for now, I just have to get through that batch first.

Life is good! Well, except for the fact that we are heading into the most depressing Monday of the work year so far....  :Smilie:

----------


## wango

> Lots of food over the past several days. Not much exercise  BUT I did work on my car a bit and I'm counting that as SOMETHING 
> 
> Got a 2 mile walk in Friday morning, then added right around one half mile jog at the end.
> 
> I think I mentioned that I put my hands on some G-tropin. I shot a vial of that... seems legit so far, but after only 10 iu, how can you tell for sure. I DID shoot 1iu a day for the first 4 days, then 1.5 for the next 4. I got hand swellling that has since gone down, so that is how I am getting to the 'seems legit so far' . I'm back to Eurotroping at 1iu / day for now, I just have to get through that batch first.
> 
> Life is good! Well, except for the fact that we are heading into the most depressing Monday of the work year so far....


Oh man, good food here too! The air fried turkey was the moist and juicy that Ive ever eaten (uh, that came off a bit erotic, sorry), but damn did that ever smoke up the kitchen.

The swelling was a temporary thing for me and passed after a few weeks, but have only done eurotropin. Glad your account is still good. Word of caution, try not to antagonize admin with all of your controversial & antagonizing posts as much, lol. I mean dude, you are HARSH sometimes. 

Oh BTW, WTF is going on with the Chargers (and the Rams)  :Frown:

----------


## Cylon357

> Oh man, good food here too! The air fried turkey was the moist and juicy that I’ve ever eaten (uh, that came off a bit erotic, sorry), but damn did that ever smoke up the kitchen.
> 
> The swelling was a temporary thing for me and passed after a few weeks, but have only done eurotropin. Glad your account is still good. Word of caution, try not to antagonize admin with *all of your controversial & antagonizing posts as much, lol. I mean dude, you are HARSH sometimes*. 
> 
> Oh BTW, WTF is going on with the Chargers (and the Rams)


Are you sure you weren't looking in the mirror there?

 :LOL:

----------


## Cylon357

Getting back at it tonight, Jack! Squat workout forthcoming...

----------


## Cylon357

Squat workout was tonight, actually today during a late lunch.

You ever have one of those days where you mis-time your meals, then you have... processing going on in your belly? Like that 'blork blork blork' noise when you walk? No? Just me then.

Anyhow, started with a 1/2 mile warm up walk, because the sun was out and feeling good.

Did my squats, went slightly heavier today than I have been. Just varying it up, nothing special there.
Was REALLLLLYYY feeling calf raises today. Not sure why, but I love / hate it.

Leg curls, followed by hip thrusters, followed by super light bent over rows wrapped the weights. 1 mile to finish it out, combination of jog and walk. Though to be honest, more walk than jog. That whole 'blork blork blork' thing was still an issue.

Hoping everyone had a great Thanksgiving and lets get ready for Christmas! 

Festivus for the rest of us  :Smilie:

----------


## Cylon357

Just some LISS today, 1.5 mile walk and 1/2 mile jog to round it out.

I got a cheap lat pulldown machine from Wally World, I will be assembling it and making space this weekend. 

Not much else going on at the moment. 

I will be starting an experiment with Mod-GRF 1-29, Ipamorelin and HGH soon. My plan is to dose 1iu HGH in the mornings, then 100mcg each Mod-GRF 1-29 and Ipamorelin in the PM, either right before bed or right after working out. More details on that to follow.

----------


## Cylon357

Sorry, meant to add: the HGH will be either Eurotropin or G-tropin, both from PSL. In fact, I may switch them out from time to time. As an observation, the G-tropin seems slightly thicker than the Eurotropin. It fills slower, but I do typically use 6mm 31g insulin pins, so EVERYTHING fills kind of slow. Seems like good stuff, though.

----------


## wango

> Sorry, meant to add: the HGH will be either Eurotropin or G-tropin, both from PSL. In fact, I may switch them out from time to time. As an observation, the G-tropin seems slightly thicker than the Eurotropin. It fills slower, but I do typically use 6mm 31g insulin pins, so EVERYTHING fills kind of slow. Seems like good stuff, though.


I dig PSL. The HGH packaging makes me laugh.

----------


## Cylon357

> I dig PSL. The HGH packaging makes me laugh.


Yeah, me too lol! The first time I got it from them, I was like 'WTF is this shizz??!!?' and then opened it up and was much relieved.

That said though, I'm a _little_ curious as to why the labels don't seem to be on the Eurotropin real well, like they kind of lift off on the edges. Have you experienced that?

----------


## wango

> Yeah, me too lol! The first time I got it from them, I was like 'WTF is this shizz??!!?' and then opened it up and was much relieved.
> 
> That said though, I'm a _little_ curious as to why the labels don't seem to be on the Eurotropin real well, like they kind of lift off on the edges. Have you experienced that?


Yeah, I freaked out initially when I got the first shipment, lol. Yeah, a lift off label would be clever.

----------


## Cylon357

Nice little bench workout today. Short but sweet.

Barbell bench press, a little heavier today just like I did the other night with squats.

Dips, skull crushers, bicep curls.... Wow, I forgot flyes and laterals. I guess I'm doing extra come shoulder day. It's just been one of those weeks.

But all good otherwise!

----------


## Cylon357

Dead lift day today. Went a little heavier than I have been but it worked.

Barbell rows were next, two sets with over hand grip, one set underhand grip. 

Front squats 2x8, 1x6 with a heavier weight.

Calf raises... man, I must have gotten the hang of the block cause the squats burn good.

Did a kind of odd finisher:
15 kettlebell swings
5 pull ups
1/4 mile run

Did 3 rounds of the first two, but turned what would have been my third run into a 1 mile walk.

Spent the better part of the day watching football. Doing that right now, really wanting Denver to beat KC.

----------


## Cylon357

BTW, I started my experiment with HGH, ModGrf, Ipamorelin and Enclomiphene. More details on that elsewhere, probably tomorrow though before I get to that.

----------


## Cylon357

Overhead press workout tonight. Strangely, my forearms were sore for some reason, and that kind of impacted my weight. I did get my 3x8 work sets in, but felt awkward doing it.

Shrugs, laterals, pushdowns and dumbbell curls rounded out the evening. 1 mile walk to warm up, 1.25 to cool down. I did 100/100 mcg of Mod-Grf 1-29 and Ipamorelin post workout. Felt the little bit of light headedness so I knew it was kicking in. I'm probably going to switch that to just before bed, that small of a dose shouldn't impact sleep.

That's all for the night!

----------


## Cylon357

Guess who is back, Jack! That's right: Big Daddy C!

GOOODDD squat workout tonight. Got me some reps and some (a little bit) of extra weight. 8 reps on my heavy set. One wide stance set, one narrow stance set, then a normal stance set for reps wrapped it.

Calf raises followed. They hurt man, they hurt. Good type of hurt.

Leg curls were next, 1x10 then 1x8 with a bit heavier weight. Got a little different and dropped the weight for a set of single leg curls alternate legs until I couldn't get another rep, then used both legs to finish out another 8 reps or so. 

I'm totally going to be walking like the good Mr. Sanford come Wednesday, but it's all good.

Moved on to pulldowns and hip thrusters to finish out the weights proper tonight. I still haven't assembled the pulldown equipment I got, so I just used the rack rigging. I have to make space in the weight room, that is going to be a weekend job.

HIIT / LISS consisted of alternating kettlebell swings and 3 minutes jog on the treadmill. 
Swings
Treadmill
Swings
Treadmill
Swings

That was all I had tonight. Half mile walk to warm up and another half to cool down, then some stretches, protein and shower. Watching some football right now. Cardnials just went for it on 4th and 1... turned out to be a bad call because they didn't get it.

Before I forget, I did 120/120mcg Ipamorelin and ModGRG 1-29 post workout. I'm also doing 1iu of HGH in the mornings. I really don't think the peptides bring that much compared to the hgh. MAYBE for elite athletes they would make sense together, but whatever I was going to say after "elite athlete" doesn't apply to me.  :Smilie:  #LouisCK

Life is fine, y'all!

----------


## Cylon357

Just got off the phone with the doc. I'm finally getting enclomiphene prescribed. Woo hoo!

----------


## Cylon357

Nice little chest / bench workout tonight. Started with barbell bench press, got my numbers. Went a little fancy (ish) next and did landmine shoulder presses, but _right now,_ my land mine attachment sits on the floor. Something on order to fix that  :Smilie:  

Dips, skull crushers, biceps curls wrapped up the weights. Oh wait, no they didn't. I did flyes and laterals, kept them both light and focused on feeling it. 

1/2 mile walk to warm up, 1 mile walk to cool down and get a _little_ LISS in, then food, shower and chilling.

----------


## Cylon357

Deadlift day today, yay! No straps on the deads, partly because I am just trying to use them as a warm up exercise. A major warm up, perhaps, but after doing deads, I really don't need to dilly dally with warm ups for barbell rows or pretty much any compound back movement. Barbell rows were next, though I did use straps for this. Mostly because my grip was worked from the deads.

Calf work followed by goblet squats wrapped the weights. Man, it sure seems like something else was in there, but I also remember that I was kind of running out of gas. Maybe a little too much dead lift.

1/2 mile walk to warm up, then a one mile jog to wrap up the night and get the LISS in. Really, this was a slog but I got the full mile in and didn't go fast enough to hurt the joints, so I'm taking it as a win.

Stretches, protein and a light dinner to call the evening done. I am not _too_ upset about the Chargers loss to the Chiefs Thursday, though man, I would have slept better last night if they had won!

----------


## Cylon357

Overhead press workout tonight. Started off with OHPs of course, but the right forearm is still acting up. I started some BPC-157 and TB-500 yesterday to address that. Got my weight in by and large so it's all good but need to get that healed up.

Dips 3x8, the last two sets with 25lbs. Not much this evening, but it was enough.

Did shrugs next, BUT I did them with a new attachment. I will provide details in my next post. 3x15 and was feeling it.

Incline dumbbell presses were next, just wanted to vary it up some. My forearm was keeping me from getting the d-bells into position without some discomfort, so I kept it light with higher reps.

Went on to tricep pushdowns super setted with super light (like 15lb) dumbbell curls. It was fun and got a nice pump going.

Did the high cable flye and rear delt cable laterals to wrap up the weights tonight. 

Did a 1 mile walk to warm up, and a 1 miler to get some liss and cool down.

The judging is tonight for our neighbor hood Christmas lights competition. I may try to get some pics.

----------


## Cylon357

I mentioned above a "fix" for the landmine attachment and separately that I did shrugs differently tonight. These pics show what that's about.

This is Titan's "Pin and Pipe" landmine attachment. Don't judge them _too_ harshly on the misprint on the label lol! Like most of Titan's stuff, it seems solid, functional but basic. Body Solid? No. But just plain solid? Yep.

Anyhow, one side slips over the safety on the rack, which consists of a "pin and pipe", hence the name. The other side is where the barbell goes. The whole thing pivots on the safety, which means that you can raise or lower the leverage point as you need. Note that I did have to put a weight on the fixed end and clamp it on, just to keep it from flopping around. This was not a problem, just prevented the attachment from clanging around on the pipe and kept the fixed end fixed. I thought I snapped a pic of that, but evidently not.

The pics show my 4 ft barbell, though the 7 footer works well and extends far enough from the rack to not be hampered by it. I used the 7 footer, the 4 ft one was just for trial run. Anyhow, I attached the viking press attachment to the business end of the barbell and did shrugs with it.

Attachment 181490 Attachment 181491

Attachment 181492 Attachment 181493

----------


## Cylon357

Oh also, oddly, they sent 2 of these things. I only paid for one, so I call it "customer loyalty bonus" and move on.

Nah, I will contact them and see if they want one back lol!

----------


## wango

> I mentioned above a "fix" for the landmine attachment and separately that I did shrugs differently tonight. These pics show what that's about.
> 
> This is Titan's "Pin and Pipe" landmine attachment. Don't judge them _too_ harshly on the misprint on the label lol! Like most of Titan's stuff, it seems solid, functional but basic. Body Solid? No. But just plain solid? Yep.
> 
> Anyhow, one side slips over the safety on the rack, which consists of a "pin and pipe", hence the name. The other side is where the barbell goes. The whole thing pivots on the safety, which means that you can raise or lower the leverage point as you need. Note that I did have to put a weight on the fixed end and clamp it on, just to keep it from flopping around. This was not a problem, just prevented the attachment from clanging around on the pipe and kept the fixed end fixed. I thought I snapped a pic of that, but evidently not.
> 
> The pics show my 4 ft barbell, though the 7 footer works well and extends far enough from the rack to not be hampered by it. I used the 7 footer, the 4 ft one was just for trial run. Anyhow, I attached the viking press attachment to the business end of the barbell and did shrugs with it.
> 
> Attachment 181490 Attachment 181491
> ...


Dude, the site wont let me see the pics. What did you do, pose naked like FK? 

If I did a landline now, literally there would be an explosion in that my shoulder will be self destructing. The sheer size of the explosion may initiate global warfare and a nuclear Holocaust. Man, if only to be young and in my 50s again.

----------


## Cylon357

> Dude, the site wont let me see the pics. What did you do, pose naked like FK? 
> 
> If I did a landline now, literally there would be an explosion in that my shoulder will be self destructing. The sheer size of the explosion may initiate global warfare and a nuclear Holocaust. Man, if only to be young and in my 50s again.


OMG no, no Cylon357 nudes. Not even Mrs 357 wants to see that 

Sometimes attachments act a little wonky. I will try again here though to see if it works now.

Oh and I guess age really is relative....  :Smilie:

----------


## Cylon357

Nice abbreviated squat workout tonight.

Did squats. Went for reps rather than heavy, got 16 on my first work set. That was a breathing set for sure. Did a couple of narrow stance sets, same weight but only 8 reps. Did a couple of sets of front squats with the same weight, 6 reps on first set, 3 on the second. My balance was getting iffy so I cut that one short.

Did barbell calf raises super setted with calf raises with the kettle bells. 3 rounds, lit up like a Christmas tree, baby!

Skipped hamstrings tonight. I wanted to make sure I had something for my finisher. Sort of winged it and ended up with:

3 minutes on the climber (with intervals)
6 pull ups
15 kettle bell swings

3 rounds of that. I didn't rush to get from one exercise to the next, but didn't dawdle either. Was huffy and puffy when done, shirt was soaked and stinky.

Walked to warm up, but only about 1/4 mile. It was rainy and getting chilly (for Florida) and so I didn't get the cool down walk either. I may ride the bike tomorrow or jog or something else.

----------


## Cylon357

Man, I had almost zero in the tank tonight, but I got in there and got something done anyhow.

Bench press, 3 working sets, 2x12 and 1x6. It was supposed to be 3x12, but just ran out.

Started doing dips but the body was like 'nah, mf'er, not tonight', so I just did some curls, triceps kickbacks (first time in 8 years or so) and over head dumbbell presses. Did some shadow boxing to get some HIIT'y LISS (or maybe LISS'y HIIT) in, and called it a night.

----------


## Cylon357

I compressed dead lift day, which was supposed to be yesterday, and over head press day, regularly scheduled for today, into one workout. Listen, I think I'm doing well to work out on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, this year it was Day.

Started with dead lifts. Went a little heavier than I have been, used the straps on my "heavy" set and got 2x5. This was good, but man, when I was dead lifting regularly, I could get 5x5 with the same weight. Use it or lose it I reckon. That's OK, I know it will come back when I train for it.

Did rows with yet another landmine attachment. This one is sort of a narrow grip deal, 3 sets of 12 to 15, with lighter weight BUT I put the handle on first so it was toward the inside of the barbell. Then, loaded the end of the barbell with 25s to really get that stretch. Anyhow, I need to work on my foot positioning because I really don't feel it in my lats as much as my low back. Well, at least not on the early reps, I do start to feel it in mid back on the later ones.

Over head presses were next, 4x8 with my working weight, nothing much to report there. I was having some nagging forearm pain that seems to have subsided some, the BPC-157 and TB-500 is likely helping with that.

Front squats, 2x8 lighter, 1x6 heavier. Moved the barbell inside the rack and then did calf raises, super setted with kettle bell calf raises. Pop corn and squash, my calves were on fire! Did 3x15 to 20 with the kettlebells, 60lbs each just to rep it out.

LISS wrapped it up with about a mile and a quarter, combo jog / walk. I did jog the full last half mile, so I'm counting it! 

Merry Christmas, you filthy animals!  :Smilie:

----------


## Cylon357

Yesterday was just a walk day, and I moved squat day to tomorrow. Remember how I talked about needing that 8 day week? Man, it really would be nice.

Today, I did donate blood, so I got my iron checked for free. 14.6 on the 13.5 to 17.5 scale, so I'm saying it was good. Got me some apple juice and a cookie, too!

Went to get new lenses for my sunglasses today, too, speaking of cookie. The lady that helped me was a real looker, and a bit flirty. Probably just looking to make commission before the end of year, but it was fun all the same. Cylon is an honest (ish) man, so he isn't going to step out on The Wife, but it's handy to keep your skills up, just in case. /joke

----------


## Cylon357

Squat day postponed again, but this is sort a stretch week as it is REALLY a fourth week that I wanted to try to tack on to finish out the year. Starting 2022 with a deload week would be groovy. Plus, today is The Wife's birthday, so we have been busy with that. If she is lucky, we will get a little busy later too!  :Smilie: 

That said, I did get in a walk and jog combo today, probably half and half each alternated, total of 2 miles. I will get back at it tomorrow with a combo squat / bench workout and some HIIT'y LISS or LISS'y HIIT because that's just how I roll, jack!

----------


## wango

> Squat day postponed again, but this is sort a stretch week as it is REALLY a fourth week that I wanted to try to tack on to finish out the year. Starting 2022 with a deload week would be groovy. Plus, today is The Wife's birthday, so we have been busy with that. If she is lucky, we will get a little busy later too! 
> 
> That said, I did get in a walk and jog combo today, probably half and half each alternated, total of 2 miles. I will get back at it tomorrow with a combo squat / bench workout and some HIIT'y LISS or LISS'y HIIT because that's just how I roll, jack!


Now I get it. Doing some celebrating last night, aint nothing wrong with that. If you would, please wish your wife a happy birthday. If shes married to you CY, shes got to be great! How many years (Im sure youve posted it, but Ive got old age dementia). 

You still got in the walk/jog - kudos to ya.

----------


## Cylon357

Got my combo squat and bench workout done today. Squats, bench press, leg curls, dips, and tricep pushdowns did the weights. I got all my numbers and then some, so I was happy.

Did a half a**ed HIIT thing involving kettle bell swings, modified burpees (no jumping), and shadow boxing.

1/2 mile walk to warm up, 1 mile to cool down, then shower and back to work.

Life is good, y'all!

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## Cylon357

> Now I get it. Doing some celebrating last night, ain’t nothing wrong with that. If you would, please wish your wife a happy birthday. If she’s married to you CY, she’s got to be great! How many years (I’m sure you’ve posted it, but I’ve got old age dementia). 
> 
> You still got in the walk/jog - kudos to ya.


Next June will be our 20th. We were planning a trip, now maybe so, maybe not. We will see!

----------


## Cylon357

Happy New Year, ya filthy animals! Yeah, I know it's early, that's just how I'm rolling today. 

Good workout today, almost unequivocally you would call this "HIIT", but whatever you call it, it was tough.

The pic will give you some idea of what's coming, but in detail:

1 mile walk to warm up
Rounds were:
3 minutes on the climber, with intervals
3 minutes punching the heavy bag
3 minutes on the treadmill, 10 minute mile pace
3 minutes punching the bag

I did 2 rounds, 24 work minutes total that got completed in about 29 minutes. So, there was some time between each exercise, but 45 seconds or so on average. Not too shabby. That gave me time to take the gloves on or off and get some water, setup the next exercise and try not to knock myself out with the my own stench, which got worse as the time went on.

1 mile walk to cool down, then some sushi, a shower, and we will be heading out soon to a concert.

Let's kick 2022 in the scrote!!

----------


## wango

Nice way to end the year!

----------


## Cylon357

This is deload week, yay! Just a couple of 2 mile walks so far.

Remember that concert I went to on New Years Eve? Well, everything seemed hunky dory until yesterday when I developed some cold like symptoms. No fever yet, but sinus drainage and a little nasal congestion. I'm going to be tested tomorrow to see what is what, will keep everyone posted.

If it is Covid-19, I expect that I should be bleah for a few days but otherwise GTG. I have had both initial vaccine shots and been boosted (all Moderna) so we will see what we see.

But even with that, life is good!

----------


## wango

> This is deload week, yay! Just a couple of 2 mile walks so far.
> 
> Remember that concert I went to on New Years Eve? Well, everything seemed hunky dory until yesterday when I developed some cold like symptoms. No fever yet, but sinus drainage and a little nasal congestion. I'm going to be tested tomorrow to see what is what, will keep everyone posted.
> 
> If it is Covid-19, I expect that I should be bleah for a few days but otherwise GTG. I have had both initial vaccine shots and been boosted (all Moderna) so we will see what we see.
> 
> But even with that, life is good!


Darn. Avoiding stuff like that for a while. It should be light and pass quickly if its Covid, then again it can also be a traditional flu & still kick your ass. 
Feel better. Soup is good food!

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## Cylon357

Feeling like poop at the moment. Fever has set in, seems consistent right now around 100.0. I may take some aspirin before bed, or may let it run its course, that's a bed time decision. 

They performed the test today, but it is the PCR, so it will be 24 to 72 hours before I have the results. 

Guess this was good timing for a deload week....

----------


## wango

Just checking on you Cy & hope youre not doing too badly and feeling better.

----------


## Cylon357

> Just checking on you Cy & hope you’re not doing too badly and feeling better.


I seem to be making it ok. I woke up night before last on fire with fever. I was like "damn, I have the sheets so hot I have to roll out of this spot". Now, I'm trending better, though medicated at the moment. Maybe another couple of days? Idk for sure.

Still no word on the test results. 

Thanks for checking in!

----------


## wango

> I seem to be making it ok. I woke up night before last on fire with fever. I was like "damn, I have the sheets so hot I have to roll out of this spot". Now, I'm trending better, though medicated at the moment. Maybe another couple of days? Idk for sure.
> 
> Still no word on the test results. 
> 
> Thanks for checking in!


Glad things are looking better. I think its going to be a rough few months for lots of folks. Hang in there.

----------


## Cylon357

> Glad things are looking better. I think it’s going to be a rough few months for lots of folks. Hang in there.


I'm making it brother! Feeling better, and the past two nights I have woken up in the middle of the night and thought "hmm, I might be over this", only to wake up feeling not quite right. Still, just a little congestion and a slight cough, but much better.

I did get my test results back today, and I was in fact positive for Covid. But, having been fully vaccinated and boosted, I think I've done relatively well. And with any luck, may have some additional immune system strength against the bugger.

----------


## Cylon357

Not a lot going on, trying to get my walks in until covid leaves me enough to let me get back at the weights properly. I'm tons better but not yet best, and will probably do a light weight workout this evening. 

On another note, we have two rescued cats now. One was a true feral that we have almost tamed, the other was an abandoned kitty that we have taken in. The feral, Dottie, will let me pet her most of the time and spends more and more time indoors. The abandoned kitty, Boots, was very reluctant to adopt us but now hasn't been out of the house in about 2 weeks.

That said, there are issues, most particularly them getting used to each other. They haven't resorted to violence to date, but there has been a lot of "name calling". That seems to be trending down, and last night we had a first! 

Dottie on the left, Boots on the right.

----------


## wango

> Not a lot going on, trying to get my walks in until covid leaves me enough to let me get back at the weights properly. I'm tons better but not yet best, and will probably do a light weight workout this evening. 
> 
> On another note, we have two rescued cats now. One was a true feral that we have almost tamed, the other was an abandoned kitty that we have taken in. The feral, Dottie, will let me pet her most of the time and spends more and more time indoors. The abandoned kitty, Boots, was very reluctant to adopt us but now hasn't been out of the house in about 2 weeks.
> 
> That said, there are issues, most particularly them getting used to each other. They haven't resorted to violence to date, but there has been a lot of "name calling". That seems to be trending down, and last night we had a first! 
> 
> Dottie on the left, Boots on the right.


Beautiful pic, great story! My wife is ready for 1-2 rescues, but my heart isnt ready. Happy to hear that you are on the mend.

----------


## Cylon357

Ok, so the Omicron seems to be mostly done with me now. Some drainage, a mild cough from the drainage sometimes, but tons better. I will hit the weights tomorrow or maybe later tonight.

I have been getting in walks though, so I haven't been entirely sedentary for the past 2 weeks. 

You know, chances are good I will barely get off the couch today as there are football playoffs all day and part of the night, so chances are, tomorrow is when I get back at the weights.

----------


## wango

> Ok, so the Omicron seems to be mostly done with me now. Some drainage, a mild cough from the drainage sometimes, but tons better. I will hit the weights tomorrow or maybe later tonight.
> 
> I have been getting in walks though, so I haven't been entirely sedentary for the past 2 weeks. 
> 
> You know, chances are good I will barely get off the couch today as there are football playoffs all day and part of the night, so chances are, tomorrow is when I get back at the weights.


Further improvement, congrats!

I know it was tough to slip in a workout during the Philly - Tampa Bay game. I couldnt step away from that tv, it was one heck of a nail biter. Same with the ever so suspenseful KC - Pittsburg game  :Wink/Grin:  . 

I know for me personally, I am going to take all of that intrigue and funnel that energy into this mornings workout.

----------


## Cylon357

So I feel basically over the Covid-19 infection now. Yay! Of course and I mean OF COURSE, I picked up a secondary infection, including an ear ache from hell. That's OK, I started treatment for that yesterday and it won't keep me out of the weight room tonight.

What's that? Didn't I say I was going to work out LAST night? Well, yes I did, but I got busy with other stuff, including finally assembling my lat pulldown machine. The brand is "El Cheapo - a Walmart Exclusive" but it seems to be functional and I will put it through its paces tonight. Bad pic attached.

----------


## Cylon357

Had my first weight workout in about 2 weeks today, yay! Kept it simple and light'ish, and put the new piece of equipment to use. The verdict: as it stands right now, it's fine for pulldowns, OK for low rows, but not usable for heavy curls from the low pulley. I may need to bolt / strap it down. It is lightweight, and for a hair less than $200 delivered, it will do. It is probably fine for pushdowns, though I haven't tried that yet.

Workout consisted of a 1 mile walk to warm up, then "Pulldown Fest 2022". I did a total of about 10 sets, keeping the reps in the 9 to 12 range. I varied the grip with the assorted attachments I have and it did fine as a pulldown machine. I switched to low rows next, did maybe 8 sets in total, same rep range. It did OK at this, but I may just need to get things setup better in my weight room.

2 sets of ez curl bar curls, 2 sets of light dumbell curls, alternated with calf raises with the kettle bells wrapped the weights. 3/4 mile walk to cool down, then shower, food and chilling now.

BTW, I got a Fitbit around Christmas. It seems to misinterpret calf raises as going up stairs  :LOL:

----------


## Cylon357

Second weight day post Covid in the books. Kept it short and simple.

Chest day was barbell bench press, 8 sets or so. I did do one set close grip and that kind of pre-exhausted the triceps a bit. Not what I was planning but that's how it went down. Moved on to dips, 3x8 no weight. Finished out with pushrods, 4x10.

Told you I kept it short and simple  :Smilie: 

One mile walk to warm up, one mile to cool down and life is good!

----------


## Cylon357

Alright so it has been a minute since I updated, but welcome back to the thread that never mf'ing ends.

Football had me occupied, then depressed yesterday, so no weights. But today, I squat. Not yet, but soon.

BTW, remember back a few months ago when Express PCT went out of business? I made a big order then, and just got it in. Stockpiling? 
♫ Oh my my!
Oh hell yes! ♫ 
#TomPetty

But right now, I'm betting there are some folks a bit jelly of that 30,000iu (yeah baby, that's thirty thousand units) of HCG that we are looking at in the pic below! The rest of the haul is generic cialis at 5mg, generic viagra at 25mg, tamoxifen and raloxifene for the "just to have on hand if someday I need it". I know for an absolute FACT that their cialis is legit, and believe the viagra to be as well. Though to be honest, I still haven't used either for the boinking. I use the viagra as PWO sometimes and I added 5mg of C to my prescribed 5mg for a total of 10mg a day (5 am and 5 pm) and after 3 days was a walking boner. As exciting as that might sound, it was more of a hassle, and I dropped back to the 5mg a day and just having some extra on hand. At any rate, I suspect their cialis is legit.

----------


## Cylon357

Got my squat workout in but man, it barely qualifies as a workout. Still, I'm calling it a win, due to both a) still easing back into things post Covid and b) trying not to miss any football.

I did like 5 sets of squats, 3 sets calf raises, and 3 sets of pulldowns. Did "they" decide pulldowns behind the neck are a bad idea? I did some, felt like a good variation, but hadn't done them in years prior to tonight.

Also of note (maybe??), I'll be changing up the workouts after next week. I want one more week of easing back, then Hell starts. More details on that soon.

----------


## Cylon357

Good, but easy'ish back workout tonight. Well, it wasn't easy, exactly but rather simple. Similar to the one I did a few days ago for back.

Lat pull downs, various grips and attachments, probably 9x10-15. Did one arm dumbbell rows, 2 sets each arm. Moved on to low cable pulls for 3x10. Bicep curls with light dumbbells, 2x12 and then 1x8 ezcurl bar curls a bit heavier. Finished with kettle bell swings alternated with calf raises, not because there is synergy, just because it was convenient. 

No walks tonight, it's rainy and cold (well, cool to the rest of the US) in our part of Central Florida. Protein, bagel with some sliced turkey and home made mayo and life is good, bothers and sisters!  :Smilie:

----------


## Cylon357

Just a two mile, lightly weighted (20 lb vest), walk yesterday for some good LISS.

I started enclomiphene from Tailor Made at the beginning of the year. I think it is causing inflammation, particularly in my remaining hemi. I suspect it is caused by something in one of their fillers - their enclomiphene has an orange tint to it and kind of looks like it has baby aspirin mixed in with it. Anyhow, I suspect whatever they are filling it with seems to be inflammatory for me. I am going to stop it for a week or so to see if the inflammation goes away. I've got other SERMS on hand to take its place in that time, but my guess is that I will be seeing about getting enclo from another place like Empower.

I will add that at the beginning of the end of last year, I had about a week off, too. My numbers came down, but man, I could pee like a race horse! BPH is one of the things that I did not fully anticipate when I began my HRT journey / lab rat life.

I have a "neat" HIIT workout planned for today if the weather holds. More details on that shortly...

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## Cylon357

Got my HIIT routine done today. It was kind of cool. The bulk of the time was spent in the warm up (half mile) and cool down (one mile) walks, but in between, it got intense. Remember when I talked about buying those big a** tires? They got used today, Jack!

2, almost 3 rounds of the following:
30 body weight squats
30 small hammer swings (15 each, alternating with a hammer in each hand)
15 sledge hammer swings
30 mountain climbers (the calisthenic exercise)
quarter mile run

Doesn't seem like much, but it was intense. I did 2 full rounds, but in the third round, I dropped the run - I didn't really have the time or the gas left in the tank. My Fitbit was letting me know I was hitting all the goals, I was kind of like 'yeah, no sh!t, Sherlock. My racing heart, huffing breath and sweaty buttocks told the tale there' but it's all good. I kept the round count low because this is the last 'ease back into it' week post-Covid. Anyhow, short and sweet, I will up the rounds and do this as it's own workout, or keep the round count low and do it after squat or deadlift day (because evidently something ain't right in my head). 

Life is good, sisters and brothers!

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## Cylon357

Remember those tires I mentioned? I bought 2 for 20 bucks ($10 each) from FB marketplace, just had to pick them up. They aren't big enough for flipping, unless maybe speed and reps are your thing, but do make for a fine hammer workout. This is one of them, plus the hammers I already had. The long handle is an 8 pounder, the two short handles are 4 pounders.

BTW, you should try swinging a hammer with your non dominant hand. Call it a bonus if you don't look like Pee Wee Herman trying to throw a football...

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## Cylon357

Come to think of it, if I strap both those tires together, to form one "Mega Go Go Ultra Tire", maybe they would be fine for flipping. Wouldn't want to tear up the yard, just to have The Wife flip ME :O

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## wango

> Remember those tires I mentioned? I bought 2 for 20 bucks ($10 each) from FB marketplace, just had to pick them up. They aren't big enough for flipping, unless maybe speed and reps are your thing, but do make for a fine hammer workout. This is one of them, plus the hammers I already had. The long handle is an 8 pounder, the two short handles are 4 pounders.
> 
> BTW, you should try swinging a hammer with your non dominant hand. Call it a bonus if you don't look like Pee Wee Herman trying to throw a football...


Never thought of individual hammer motions. Truly *BRILLIANT* rotator cuff strengthening! Seriously, it was like a hundred light bulbs going off in my head, the second I read your words *SMART, SMART, Fn SMART*  !!!

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## Cylon357

Good little workout today to in the next to last day of the easing back into it week. I tried things, man, some with more success than others.

I tried doing vertical leg presses with the landmine attachment. In short, not good. Too unstable with just one lever arm and having to maintain side to side balance. I'm thinking about something there, though...

Rest of it was front squats, dips, overhead press and some push downs, just to make sure I'm not all Fred Sanford when the real deal starts Tuesday.

Had pizza tonight, no beer but we had Screwdrivers made from fresh squeezed orange juice, with oranges from the neighbors trees. Man, that was tasty, and I had been pretty good nutritionally through the week.

Football conference championships tomorrow! Gotta finish the week before they start though. Once the games start, I will only leave the couch to grab food and go to the loo. TMI? Ain't nobody holding a gun to your head, people! Oh snap, actually, I guess it IS possible that they are... blink twice if you need help!

 :LOL:

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## Cylon357

Just a bit over two and a half mile walk today. Headed into "watching football" mode, see y'all later  :Smilie:

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## Cylon357

> Never thought of individual hammer motions. Truly *BRILLIANT* rotator cuff strengthening! Seriously, it was like a hundred light bulbs going off in my head, the second I read your words *SMART, SMART, F’n SMART*  !!!


Glad to be of service! You really don't need a tire that big, especially if you are swinging the smaller hammers. Just strike closer to the center of the tire where there is more give. A trip to Home Depot, then a quick stop at a used tire shop (or a regular installer that leaves their old ones unguarded) and you are in business.

Video yourself on those non-dominant hand swings. See if you don't look a little "Waterboy" on that side lol!

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## wango

> Glad to be of service! You really don't need a tire that big, especially if you are swinging the smaller hammers. Just strike closer to the center of the tire where there is more give. A trip to Home Depot, then a quick stop at a used tire shop (or a regular installer that leaves their old ones unguarded) and you are in business.
> 
> Video yourself on those non-dominant hand swings. See if you don't look a little "Waterboy" on that side lol!


Oh my, lol. No, I had meant for younger, functioning & healthy shoulders. On my non-dominant side I cant cock or lift my arm like that above my shoulder, even if it were an empty soup can. On my dominant and good shoulder, a soup can, but only 1/2 way back. 

Actually, having a rubber pad behind and at head height attached to a wall would be ideal. Its the cocking/striking backwards that really activates the RC. Then when the hammer bounces off the pad and shoots forward, slowing/controlling the hammer eccentrically is even more beneficial. Damn, plus the rhomboids, mid traps and spinal erectors are involved - an absurdly brilliant exercise. Glory days  :Frown: .

----------


## wango

> Oh my, lol. No, I had meant for younger, functioning & healthy shoulders. On my non-dominant side I cant cock or lift my arm like that above my shoulder, even if it were an empty soup can. On my dominant and good shoulder, a soup can, but only 1/2 way back. 
> 
> Actually, having a rubber pad behind and at head height attached to a wall would be ideal. Its the cocking/striking backwards that really activates the RC. Then when the hammer bounces off the pad and shoots forward, slowing/controlling the hammer eccentrically is even more beneficial. Damn, plus the rhomboids, mid traps and spinal erectors are involved - an absurdly brilliant exercise. Glory days .


Did I say soup can? I meant beer cans  :Haha:

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## Cylon357

Super simple squat day to kick this first official week off, back from Covid!

It really was simple.

Squats, calf raises, leg curls. Then a tri set sort of circuit of 
15 kettle bell swings
5 pullups
8 dumbbell curls

No rhyme or reason to the circuit, except maybe the pullups followed by the curls.

1/2 mile to warm up, 1.2 miles to cool down. Protein, food, shower and now chilling!

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## Cylon357

Just a two mile walk today, with the 20lb vest. Tomorrow will be some form of HIIT, either the hammer thing or working the heavy bag. Who knows which?? We will see!  :Smilie:

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## Cylon357

Got my HIIT done at lunch. Man, I thought I was gonna yak. Over hydrated and began thinking "hmm, am I about to resemble a 'water feature' here?" Worked out OK but it was touch and go for a minute.

1 minute of air squats
1 minute of alternate small hammer swings
1 minute of big hammer swings
1 minute of mountain clumbers
3 minute jog
90 seconds rest

4 rounds. The first started with no rest between exercises, but that slowly changes in the later rounds, like I would swing the hammer for 45 seconds, and try not to die for 15. I also just walked in the 4th round, but at that point, I was risking a "there he blows!" moment so I'm calling it a win. Half mile walk to warm up, 1 mile to cool down.

If I don't sleep well tonight, something wrong (well, wronger) with me...

Everything is good, y'all!

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## wango

Glad to see you are working out again, congrats!

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## Cylon357

> Glad to see you are working out again, congrats!


Yeah the Covid-19 thing seems to have come and gone. Must have been omicron to be so RELATIVELY mild, but that is OK with me.

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## Cylon357

Just an easy walk yesterday in the "cold".

Today I did a nice little bench workout. Kept it simple: barbell bench, dips, dumbbell flyes, skull crushers - a lot of the usual suspects. I did do Arnold Presses for the shoulders and as a variation. It was fun.

1 mile walk to start, 1 mile walk to end and everything is good!

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## Cylon357

Quick update on the enclomiphene. 

It seems to cause some inflammation, though that could be unrelated. Note that it is not likely enclo itself at fault here, if it is related to enclo at all, rather to some filler TMC uses. Working through that, more details as available. 

That said, when I take enclo in the morning, that night, I'm going to be waking up with wood like I was 18. Like seriously, I could cut diamonds and also maybe "is this a problem?" type of wood. So it seems to at least have that going for it.

No bloodwork yet, and I need to resolve the inflammation thing. Not 100% saying the fillers are at fault, but it did seem to flare up when I started Tailor's enclomiphene. 

That is all for now, today is an off day!

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## Cylon357

Back / deadlift workout today. 

Started with pull downs to warm up some. Moved on to deads after that, just a few working sets, relatively light. Barbell rows followed, then moved to a couple of sets of front squats. Kept those light, then wrapped with calf raises and barbell curls.

Half mile walk to warm up, but it was cold and rainy, so no follow up to wrap.

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## Cylon357

Just a 2.5 mile walk today, finished in about 37 or 38 minutes, unweighted. This is good time for me, as I'm _almost_ 5'7" tall. Good lunch time LISS.

I have HIIT on the agenda tomorrow, could be the tire / hammer thing, could be the punching bag, treadmill, climber thing. Only time will tell!

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## wango

> Just a 2.5 mile walk today, finished in about 37 or 38 minutes, unweighted. This is good time for me, as I'm _almost_ 5'7" tall. Good lunch time LISS.
> 
> I have HIIT on the agenda tomorrow, could be the tire / hammer thing, could be the punching bag, treadmill, climber thing. Only time will tell!


Thats a nice pace! Plus I really like how you have such a variety of options of workouts, keeps things fresh.

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## Cylon357

> That’s a nice pace! Plus I really like how you have such a variety of options of workouts, *keeps things fresh*.


I was kind of getting grind-y with the same old for a bit, and not really making progress. This current scheme AT LEAST provides variation. Variety being the spice of life and all  :Smilie:

----------


## wango

> I was kind of getting grind-y with the same old for a bit, and not really making progress. This current scheme AT LEAST provides variation. Variety being the spice of life and all


Hey, its got to be *fun*. Planet Fitness really saved me, perfect gym at the perfect time because on many days I really am looking for excuses to not work out. And its getting too easy to rationalize passing on workouts  :Icon Rolleyes: .

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## Cylon357

So I sort of audibled on today's workout.

I actually slept pretty well and woke up initially around 7:15am, when I don't have to be on the job until 9:30. I work from home, so this literally means as long as I am wrapped up and ready for my work day by 9:25, I'm good to go.

Saying all that to say, I saw the clock said 7:15 and thought 'hey, I will get up and do my HIIT first thing! Cool!'

Then I looked at the temp: 41 degrees. Here in Florida, we consider that 'almost fatally cold'.

So I slept in a bit.

Around 12:15 it was in the mid to upper 60's. Lunch time HIIT it is! But what? What?!?!


I decided to move things around, so I did something like this:

1 mile to warm up (last half was alternating jog and walk for an eighth mile at a time)

Then 4 rounds of this:
Air squats 45 seconds
Small hammer swings 45 seconds
Big hammer swings 45 seconds
Mountain climbers 45 seconds
1 minute rest

So, total work time was 12 minutes, with 4 minutes rest. I mile walk to cool down and get in some LISS and I was done.

I got a Fitbit recently and it is handy for keeping track of heart rate, steps, etc. Since it is new to me, I'm in the 'golly gee wow' phase, but it serves as motivation so it's all good.

Friday is an off day, then I have Overhead press on Saturday, and LISS or MISS on Sunday, before the Super Bowl of course!

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## Cylon357

Good if kind of short, overhead press workout tonight. I had worked in the yard some, well, actually washing windows and mistimed my meals. But, I got in there and got it done.

Started with a 1 mile brisk walk to warm up.

Then did overhead press, dips, shrugs, pushdowns and calf raises.

1 mile brisk walk to get some more LISS.

And boom, that was it. I did take an injection of ModGRF 1-29 and Ipamorelin @ 100mcg each post workout, just trying to spike that post workout GH spike. I really think this combo is better at night, will try some tomorrow maybe and see how that sits with me now.

I'm also going to start another run of TB-500 and BPC-157, partly to help with some inflammation and party to help with a few nagging spots. That will begin tomorrow and right now, I have enough on hand for 2 weeks, I think. I will be ordering some more soon, I guess.

Pizza to wrap the day, and now chilling with The Wife. Life is good!  :Smilie:

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## wango

> good if kind of short, overhead press workout tonight. I had worked in the yard some, well, actually washing windows and mistimed my meals. But, i got in there and got it done.
> 
> Started with a 1 mile brisk walk to warm up.
> 
> Then did overhead press, dips, shrugs, pushdowns and calf raises.
> 
> 1 mile brisk walk to get some more liss.
> 
> And boom, that was it. I did take an injection of modgrf 1-29 and ipamorelin @ 100mcg each post workout, just trying to spike that post workout gh spike. I really think this combo is better at night, will try some tomorrow maybe and see how that sits with me now.
> ...


*pizza*!

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## Cylon357

Squat workout today, yay!

Started with squats, kept it _relatively_ light still, but a little heavier than I had been doing. 2x6 for work sets, then a lighter set with a narrow stance.

Calf raises which, btw, I'm pretty sure the fitbit interprets as going up stairs. I show as climbing 100 flights of stairs today. I have climbed no stairs. But, whatever I will take it. 3x20-25.

Leg curls, again, just to make sure I don't neglect the hammies, 3x10 and then 2x8 hip thrusters. Yeah, yeah, it looks like I'm humpin' the air with a barbell on my lap, but all other things equal, the one with the biggest glutes wins. I'm in no danger of winning anything, but hey, whatever motivates you, man. Also, perhaps if I had a "bar belle" on my lap, I would get more cardio. I would probably also get more murdered by The Wife, so there is that....

Did some chinups to warm the back, 3x6 and it was good for the weight-y portion of the workout.

Did sort of a brief HIIT finisher consisting of 3 rounds of 
2 minutes on the treadmill at a 10 minute mile pace
15 kettlebell swings
1 minute rest

The Fitbit lets me set work and rest intervals but not multiple of each. In other words, I had to say the work interval was 2:30 and the rest interval was 1:00. That might I could not dawdle going from treadmilll to kettlebell swings... The rule was: I have to get the 15 swings, THEN the rest period starts. Cut into by a couple of seconds each time, just more incentive to move right along.

1/2 mile walk to warm up, 1/2 mile+ to cool down, now eating some turkey wraps with spinach, whole kernel corn, black beans and salsa. Nice healthy'ish meal. Well, more healthy than a ground beef cheeseburger, with two patties of 1/4 pound meat, 3 cheeses and home made mayonaise.... dammit, WTF is wrong with me??!!? Hide the hamburger!

 :Smilie:

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## wango

Great workout! That burger sounds damn tasty, however (though sad to say) the turkey wrap w/spinach was more healthy. Wise choice, grasshopper.

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## Cylon357

Bench press workout. I was not feeling it, but went in there and got something did.

Barbell bench press, dips, flyes and push downs was all there was tonight. But I felt each exercise so that's a plus. 1 mile walk to warm up and a half mile to cool down.

Th-th-th-that's all, folks!

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## Cylon357

Back work out today, hooray! Back, not dead lift. Just didn't do them today. 

The word of the day was three. 3 sets of all the things:
Pulldowns
Pull ups
Barbell rows
Dumbbell curls
Calf raises

So only like 15 sets total, but it was sufficient today. This is week 3 of the 3 week phase, and the next to last day at that. I did one mile to warm up, I mile to cool down, then got on the roof and blew out the gutters, some other minor stuff. About to shower and chill for the night.

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## Cylon357

Man, I got started on my final workout of week 3, and was not and I mean N O T feeling it. I almost called it quits after overhead presses, the first exercise of the workout. I got through it OK, but was having some nagging pain in my right forearm again.

I moved on to dips and did 5 or 6 reps on my first set, unweighted. I was like, man, f*ck it, I'm done. But I persevered. 

And the second set was better. And then the third. And then sh!t just turned around like that. I got 10 on the next two sets, and then 15 on the last one.

Moved on to shrugs and finished with skull crushers. I'm almost sure there was another exercise in there, but can't remember what. Bottom line, it turned into a great workout. And I will take it to finish week 3!

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## wango

> Man, I got started on my final workout of week 3, and was not and I mean N O T feeling it. I almost called it quits after overhead presses, the first exercise of the workout. I got through it OK, but was having some nagging pain in my right forearm again.
> 
> I moved on to dips and did 5 or 6 reps on my first set, unweighted. I was like, man, f*ck it, I'm done. But I persevered. 
> 
> And the second set was better. And then the third. And then sh!t just turned around like that. I got 10 on the next two sets, and then 15 on the last one.
> 
> Moved on to shrugs and finished with skull crushers. I'm almost sure there was another exercise in there, but can't remember what. Bottom line, it turned into a great workout. And I will take it to finish week 3!


It never ceases to amaze me that after the first few sets, my mood always improves & I dont regret making the effort. When you get a resurgence like that though, its always special. Congrats.

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## Cylon357

Deload week, and evidently needed, ahhh!

I did do a walk / run combo thing yesterday. Walked a half mile, jogged a half, walked a half jogged a half, walked a half. Total of 2.5 miles. Tomorrow I will do weights and something LISS'y. All is good otherwise!

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## Cylon357

Nice little combo squat / bench workout today. This is the deload week, so I scaled back both intensity and volume. Still a good hour in the weight room, with my almost mandatory walks to warm up and cool down. 

Enjoying some chicken soup with The Wife right now. Will I have an alcoholic beverage tonight? Nah, probably not. We have friends coming over on Sunday, booze will be involved, so I will save up my allotment!

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## Cylon357

Back day today. Rolled shoulders into it to, because this is the last day of deload week.

I made a thing for pulldowns, push downs and eventually low rows. I'll post pics later of that. But I made it then put it right to use, so it's a win so far.

Pull downs, barbell rows, over head press and Shrugs were the main events. Added bicep curls and calf raises to finish the weights, then did a 1 mile walk. Worked on the thing right before lifting, then worked lightly in the yard after workout. 

Had friends over, had a great stir fry and some beverages... feeling no pain, but the next 3 weeks starts tomorrow so time to kick it into gear!

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## Cylon357

Gooood squat workout tonight. Oh yeah!

Squats of course kicked off the festivities. Went a little heavier than I have been, but kept it at a moderate 2x6 for the work sets. Dropped weight and did one wide stance set, one narrow stance set, 6 reps each.

Leg curls... I made sure to FEEL them tonight. 3x10-12. Same with the calf raises. Did 3x25 and really focused on feeling them. I REALLY like the Smith machine for calf raises, but I'm not spending the $$$ on one just for that. Still, I might get inventive at some point and try to rig something up.

Did hip thrusters 3x10-12 and pullups 3x6 to round out the weights.

Then I had a date with that HIIT b!tch.

5 rounds of the following:
2 minutes on the treadmill (minimum 10:00 mile pace)
15 kettle bell swings
1 minute rest

I did a couple of intervals on the treadmill but mostly that 10 minute mile pace. In rounds 2 and 5, I did a single 30 second interval at 7:30 pace. I put 2:40 on the rounds on my tracker... That gave me 2 minutes to do the treadmill, then 10 seconds or so to get to the kettlebell and start swinging. I got them all done on time EXCEPT that last round. I gave out and almost gave up at 10 swings, but then said hell naw mf'er, you are finishing this! I did the last 5 and finished the last one about 1 second over time, but I'm counting it, Jack!

Life is good!

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## Cylon357

Nice little HIIT workout at lunch today. Looked something like this:

Half mile walk to warm up 

Then 6 rounds of the following:
90 seconds shadow boxing and / or climbers and / or modified burpees
90 seconds hammer swings
1 minute rest

Wrapped with half mile walk to cool down.

The first 90 seconds was some combination of the listed exercises. The second 90 seconds, I would do heavy hammer swings followed by double hammer swings or vice versa. 

Fitbit was buzzing like crazy!

Feeling good, back on the job after a nice lunch!

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## Cylon357

Good bench workout Saturday. I am working on at least two more things for the rack. One will enable low rows and actually sort of an adjustable height pulley, the other a leg press diy. More details as available...

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## wango

> Good bench workout Saturday. I am working on at least two more things for the rack. One will enable low rows and actually sort of an adjustable height pulley, the other a leg press diy. More details as available...



I hung a picture the other day and the placement was _perfect on the very first try_!

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## Cylon357

Work got crazy this week, and I have to prep for an interview with one of the FAANG companies next week, so this week got a little hectic. I missed Wednesday and Thursday workouts, but made up for it, at least in part with a 2 workout day today.

I walked / jogged this morning (mostly walked), 2 miles total. Then I did a back workout consisting of deadlifts, pull downs, calf raises and biceps curls. 1/2 mile walk on the front end, about a mile on the back end and my Fitbit is happy. Over 10k steps today, that's a first. I sit at a desk all day so I'm calling 10k a win!

Life is good otherwise and things have slowed down now, so time to enjoy the weekend.

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## Cylon357

Overhead press workout today. Did my overhead barbell presses of course. Dips and shrugs followed. Did pushdowns and laterals, semi-super setted but not really, just variation. Then I did cable flyes semi-super setted with reverse delt flyes. 1 mile walk to warm up, 1 mile at the end for LISS. 

After that, I got busy. 

I had to get on the roof to blow out the gutters and then run the leaf blower on the driveway, walk, front porch to get all these goddang pollen / seeds out of here. Seriously, it was like a carpet. Also maintained the pool (though that sounds more impressive than it really is)

I got in 11k steps today with all that craziness.

Life is good, y'all!

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## Cylon357

GOOOOOOODDD squat workout tonight!

1/2 mile walk to warm up.

3x5 working sets, 60 seconds between sets, with 8 rep max. I use this as a conditioning program, and will eventually move it up to 5 sets x 5 reps, same scheme. Did a wide stance set, then a narrow stance set both 6 reps.

Moved to calf work. For some reason, I was getting them good tonight. I'll take it! Leg curls followed, then pull ups and dumbbell curls to wrap the weights.

Ooof, and then the HIIT thing.

I did a similar routine as from a couple of weeks ago:

2 minutes on the treadmill 10:00 mile pace
15 kettle bell swings
1 minute rest

I tried to get the fitbit set to 4 rounds, but it kept it as 5... I guess I will take that as a sign I need to do 5. So, I did 5 but kept the jogging steady state. Still, made it into the cardio zone and pretty much stayed there.

1/2 mile walk to cool down, then protein, food and chilling. Oh, and a shower. Man, I was stinky and sweaty  :Smilie:

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## wango

Nice work! Howd the interviews go?

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## Cylon357

> Nice work! How’d the interviews go?


It got pushed and the other one is up in the air atm. No bigs, just gives me more time to prep.

BTW, you should peep an adjustable kettlebell. When I do swings, I work from the hips and the arms / shoulders are just along for the ride. I stop at shoulder height or just below... I mention this because it is a "fun" way to get in some intensity without impacting the shoulders. Could be "fun" for you too!

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## wango

> It got pushed and the other one is up in the air atm. No bigs, just gives me more time to prep.
> 
> BTW, you should peep an adjustable kettlebell. When I do swings, I work from the hips and the arms / shoulders are just along for the ride. I stop at shoulder height or just below... I mention this because it is a "fun" way to get in some intensity without impacting the shoulders. Could be "fun" for you too!


Good luck with the extra prep. I sincerely hope you dont get to this stage, but even _that_ with a light kettlebell could cause pain. I _love_ front raises, but every damn time I thought I could or was handling them well, it backfired. That said, I can try the motion with a light dumbbell at home, because as you said, you got to make it fun sometimes. BTW, the wife reminded me, aint no way can I get on & off the low seat of a recumbent trike.

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## JaneDoe

Good luck Cylon!

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## Cylon357

Decent but short bench workout yesterday. Bench press, dips and Arnold presses were all I had in me, though I did get the intensity up and did my semi-usual 1 mile walk on the front and back ends to get in some LISS and steps.

Today is basically an off day, though I may work in a walk in a little bit. I have some study to do for the whole interview thing, now roughly 10 days away. That gives me two full weekends to prep! Well, minus workout time and what not.

BTW, I have drawn up some sketches for a DIY leg press to attach to the rack. It actually isn't that impressive, but I had been thinking about it for a while, then peeped some youtube to get ideas. It is really sort of a lever arm sort of deal, that would allow for vertical presses if you lay on the ground or a low bench. Also, with the addition of handles, it could be used as a hack squat / calf raise device, but that may be for a later stage. The device would pivot on the far side of the rack, attached via pins or bolts through existing holes in the rack. The business end will extend past the front of the rack and allow positioning a barbell to serve as a bottom safety stop. One issue is having to install and remove it, but first world problems, right?

Anyhow, there are some details to work out, but I plan on building the prototype next weekend. We will see how it goes.

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## Cylon357

Back workout today. This is the next to last day of week 3, so I'm feeling a bit fried. Still, I adopted the model from bench day and got some things done.

Started with pulldowns with my rigged up pulley device. That reminds me, I still haven't posted up pictures of that. Soon, brothers and sisters! 4 sets of 10-12.

Chins were next, no weight and I busted out the lifting straps for these. 3 x 6 was what was in the tank today.

Front squat, relatively light but focused on feeling it, 3x6.

Calf raises wrapped the weights, 3x20 or so.

Then the HIIT

6 rounds of 
2 minutes work
1 minute rest

The 2 minutes work consisted of 5 modified burpees. After kicking the feet back into the plank / push up position, I do climbers. 2 with the knees to the inside of the body, 2 straight. Then hop up like a conventional burpee, though "hop" is a bit strong. I did leave my feet for a rep or two each round, but I'm really trying not to bother the meniscus.
Anyhow, those took maybe 30 seconds of the 2 minutes.

After that straight to sledge hammer swings on the tire. Mixed it up with small double hammer and a single large sledge. Knock the sh!t out of it, it don't matter! 

1 mile walk to warm up, 1 mile for LISS and cool down at the end. Shower, food, etc and everything is copacetic, jack!

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## Cylon357

♫ It's deload week, deload week, muther eff'ing deload week! ♫

And I needed it (as might be obvious)

But I did do a squat and overhead press workout tonight, super light weights and short. 

And the timing of the deload week is good with my plans to construct "Cylon's Leg Press o' Death" aka the "Guillotine". Actually, I don't expect it to be THAT bad, but one too many "Hey Bubba, watch this" moments to rule out the possibility. 

I may post up preliminary drawings before I start on it to get some feedback, but eh, probably not.

Life is good, y'all!

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## Cylon357

Just a couple of 2 mile walks Thursday and Friday, but I got in some weight action today.

Barbell rows to start 4x10
Dips 4x 8-10
Pushdowns 4x12-16
Rear delt cable flyes super setted with facepulls 4x10-15

1 mile walk to warm up, one to cool down with some LISS, then off to the shower. This is the last weight day of deload week... The next week is supposed to start on Tuesday, but I may take a second deload. Not sure yet.

On another note, I believe that the Enclomiphene from TMC is causing inflammation, particularly in my remaining hemi from hell and my knuckles. I have stopped theirs and will take with the doc next week. He will likely push for testosterone cream, I'm good with that because I can supplement with other neat stuff!  :Smilie:

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## Cylon357

Opted for a second deload week. Eh, at my age, it is sometimes a necessary thing.

Then work tried to poop on my head. Had a long day Tuesday, and a longer day Wednesday, but things got back under control today. 

Still, I got in a 2.5 mile walk Tuesday morning, then a 2 mile combo of jog and walk yesterday evening. Hit the weights lightly today, mostly just to keep the muscles from being shocked when I get back to it Sunday or Monday.

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## Cylon357

Oh, BTW, the interview is in the books. I wasn't really jonesing for the job, just wanted to see what this particular FANG company was like to interview for, get a glimpse at the people that work there, etc etc. If an offer came from it, I _might_ pursue it, but it was unlikely. Anyhow, they thought about it for a couple of days and decided to continue looking. Like I said, this is cool with me, even better after talking to the hiring manager, who I really didn't like and didn't impress me.

Moral of the story: the people at those companies are just like me and you. Don't be afraid to pursue a job with them if you want. Do your prep work, don't sweat it, and you will do well. And DO NOT let the name of a company impress you.

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## wango

> Oh, BTW, the interview is in the books. I wasn't really jonesing for the job, just wanted to see what this particular FANG company was like to interview for, get a glimpse at the people that work there, etc etc. If an offer came from it, I _might_ pursue it, but it was unlikely. Anyhow, they thought about it for a couple of days and decided to continue looking. Like I said, this is cool with me, even better after talking to the hiring manager, who I really didn't like and didn't impress me.
> 
> Moral of the story: the people at those companies are just like me and you. Don't be afraid to pursue a job with them if you want. Do your prep work, don't sweat it, and you will do well. And DO NOT let the name of a company impress you.


Still sorry Cy. Glad you aint sweatin it. Im sure the body appreciates the time off as well.

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## Cylon357

> *Still sorry Cy*. Glad you ain’t sweatin it. I’m sure the body appreciates the time off as well.


Oh no, truly don't be. I really did just want to see what all the fuss was about and educate myself. Mission accomplished in this regard!

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## Cylon357

Friday was an off day, and while The Wife and I worked in the house yesterday, I did get in a brisk 2 mile walk.

Today I did an chest and shoulder workout to wrap up the second deload week. Y'all jelly, I can tell: two deload weeks?? Eh, don't be. It is a neccessity at my err... "seasoned vintage".

Tuesday will be the beginning of the next 3 week cycle. I may focus this more on tightening up, especially diet and trying to shed some of this damnable Covid weight FOR REAL. What's that? The title of this thread is something about a covid weight loss thing? Yeah, so optimistic we were in the early days of the pandemic...

Tomorrow I have blood work, regularly scheduled, and then will meet with the doc in 2 weeks to review. This marks the end of my trial with enclomiphene. Short version: it causes inflammation everywhere. I did want to stick it out, but I'm done with it. I will start the testosterone cream tomorrow, maybe some var (25mg per day) and HCG later in the week. Yes, I know that is baby dose var - I'm not looking to blast at this point, just run it for a bit to test its effects on my system.

The testosterone cream is the compounded 200mg / ml stuff my doc prescribed about 6 months ago... I dropped it for the enclo, but now that the enclo is done, and it isn't the magic pill (at least for me), I will FINALLY move on to the suppressive stuff.

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## wango

> Friday was an off day, and while The Wife and I worked in the house yesterday, I did get in a brisk 2 mile walk.
> 
> Today I did an chest and shoulder workout to wrap up the second deload week. Y'all jelly, I can tell: two deload weeks?? Eh, don't be. It is a neccessity at my err... "seasoned vintage".
> 
> Tuesday will be the beginning of the next 3 week cycle. I may focus this more on tightening up, especially diet and trying to shed some of this damnable Covid weight FOR REAL. What's that? The title of this thread is something about a covid weight loss thing? Yeah, so optimistic we were in the early days of the pandemic...
> 
> Tomorrow I have blood work, regularly scheduled, and then will meet with the doc in 2 weeks to review. This marks the end of my trial with enclomiphene. Short version: it causes inflammation everywhere. I did want to stick it out, but I'm done with it. I will start the testosterone cream tomorrow, maybe some var (25mg per day) and HCG later in the week. Yes, I know that is baby dose var - I'm not looking to blast at this point, just run it for a bit to test its effects on my system.
> 
> The testosterone cream is the compounded 200mg / ml stuff my doc prescribed about 6 months ago... I dropped it for the enclo, but now that the enclo is done, and it isn't the magic pill (at least for me), I will FINALLY move on to the suppressive stuff.


Covid weight? Never heard of that as I thought everyone just naturally ate healthier and worked out more with all of their extra time  :Icon Rolleyes: .

Can you fill me in, so test cream and no injections? I recall you had an infection from an injection, is that the reasoning to go with the cream?

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## Cylon357

> Covid weight? Never heard of that as I thought everyone just naturally ate healthier and worked out more with all of their extra time .
> 
> Can you fill me in, so test cream and no injections? I recall you had an infection from an injection, is that the reasoning to go with the cream?


Going with the cream for now to get the doc on board. Compounded creams tend to kick gels a**, due largely to the higher concentration. There is a lot of chatter about success with creams eight now, so let's give it a go! #LabRatLife

You remember correctly: I did get an infection from my first shot of ugl gear (test C and p blend), kept it subq and glad I did. Made treatment easier. I have some pharmacom stuff on hand, which is in fact ugl, but much better thought of in the wild. It is also in GSO not mct like the other stuff, and I will almost certainly filter my first shots when I get to that point.

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## Cylon357

Rage building... blood pressure rising.... anger AAARGHH!!! CYLON SMASH!!!

What? Oh, you don't get "roid rage " from 1 day of 10mg Test and 25mg Anavar ? "Roid rage" isn't even a thing*? Huh, well who would have thought it...

I know what you are thinking: da fuq Cylon on about?

Lots and I mean LOTS of people have asked that question. But you call seem cool, so I will let you in on the secret.

I started my test cream and anavar (as discussed above) today. 2 clicks of the cream (one am, one pm) and 12.5 mg anavar in the morning and then another 12.5mg pre workout.

Some deets on the cream... It is compound at 200mg per... well hell, I don't know what. Every 4 clicks = 200mg test. The absorption rate for most parts of the body is about 10%, so for a single click (50mg) you actually absorb about 5mg. Doing 2 of those a day gets you 10mg per day, 7 days a week arrives at roughly the equivalent of 70mg injection. So, that is a mild'ish or right on the money TRT dose, depending on who you talk to. Good to start, and I will be adding 250iu HCG EOD starting tomorrow.

So, you happy now??? I'm a roid freak!!

Geez that anger thing. Gotta chill. Anyhow, I do have some injectables on hand (some test, some mast, some primo, maybe some this and that) and a handful of orals (anavar, proviron , something else, maybe). I won't be using those until I get squared away with the doc but giggity giggity when I do, jack!


* = excepting maybe with enough tren or halo  :Smilie:

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## Cylon357

Oh and also when I say "most parts of the body", I mean everything except the scrote. Apparently, absorption is 80% better when applied to the scrotum, but conversion to DHT increases, too.

2 Things
1 - I don't really know what 80% better actually means.
2 - I don't need help with converting to dht
Bonus - damn, I just don't know about applying sh!t to my scrote

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## Cylon357

Dammit, also had a good workout today in week 1 of 3.

Squats were the name of the game. Did 3 working sets of 5 and kept it up tempo. Picked a weight I could do for 8, then just did five but less than one minute between sets. This is based on a conditioning program I read from Ed Coan (the GOAT) in 90s, the 1990's to some of you. Anyhow, I will add a set a week until I get to 5x5 (not that Stronglifts basic thing).

Did one set of narrow squats, then moved on to pull ups. 3 sets of 6, no added weight tonight.

Calf raises were next. I super setted barbell raises with kettle bell raises off a block. Kept it at 2 super sets because I don't want to Fred Sanford from the knees down.

Leg curls, weight felt good and I concentrated on feeling it in the muscle. 3 x 8 to 10. Finished off weights with 3x8-10 hip thrusters / bridge off the weighted bag laying on its side.


HIIT(ish) tonight was four rounds of:
2 minutes on the treadmill (10:00 minute mile pace)
15 kettlebell swings

That last set of kb swings almost got me but I was like "no, I'm a big boy now!" and got through it.

Walk to warm up and cool down, then some yoga stretches, shower and food. Life is good, y'all!

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## wango

Congrats on this new endeavor Cy; looks like your personal pharmaceutical warehouse is well stocked for future detours as well. Heres to a successful blast and several more in the future  :AaGreen22: . !

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## Cylon357

Just a 2.5 mile walk this morning for fasted LISS, but I had to maintain the pool tonight. That wasn't particularly physically demanding, just lugging some salt around, but it's that 90 day cycle thing... time to clean the salt cell. This involves handling muriatic acid. Listen, I get that this is NOT hydrochloric acid or anything but still, that sh!t is nothing nice. The pool needed a gallon as well, so at least I don't have to deal with it again anytime soon.

Took my first HCG today, getting ahead of the game, 250iu as previously mentioned. Ovidac (Bayer) from Express PCT before they closed, I think I posted my haul somewhere earlier on in the thread.

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## Cylon357

Bench workout tonight. Kept it simple. Really was not feeling it, but once I got started, I got going.

Barbell bench started the night. 3 working sets and a narrow grip set. Dips, 3x10-12, no weight, but it is coming next week. Skull crushers, bicep curls, and dumbbell flyes finished the weights. I swear there was something else in there, but can't remember what it was now.

1/2 mile walk to warm up, 1 mile at the end for some LISS. Life is good!

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## Cylon357

Had sort of a blah back workout today, but I did get in there and get it done. No hiit, but I will do it tomorrow after shoulders.

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## Cylon357

Had a most excellent overhead press workout today! Made up for that marginal back workout yesterday.

Started with barbell overhead press, 2x6 work sets. Dips followed 3x8-10 but really focused on the chest. Loaded up the mini farmer's walk handles and did some shrugs that I am going to feel in the morning. Push downs 3x12-15 super settted with barbell curls 3x10-15. Left the push down setup in place, dropped some weight and did cable flyes super setted with rear delt flyes.

HIIT followed like so/:
2 minutes of beating the tire with various sledge hammers, various speeds and force
2 minutes shadow boxing 
2 minutes tire
2 minutes shadow boxing
2 minutes tire

And that was it. 1 mile walk to warm up, 1 mile to cool down.

We are getting our AC replaced, including full duct work. Spent a good part of the day prepping for that, then another part working on the car, etc.

If I don't sleep well, there has to be something wrong with me.

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## Cylon357

Good squat workout tonight!

Worked up to 4x5 on squats, sub 60 second rest between those sets. One lighter set with 5 wide stance reps then moved to a narrow stance and did 5 more.

Was feeling a pump in the low back, could 12.5mg var be responsible?

Moved to barbell calf raises, was really feeling those tonight, too. On to hip thrusters off the heavy bag, leg curls, then pull ups 3x6 to finish the weight room.

1 mile jog for MISS / Cardio, 1/2 mile walk to cool down. Yoga stretches, protein and a shower, now I'm talking with you critters. But that is OK, y'all are my kind of critters.  :Smilie:

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## wango

> Good squat workout tonight!
> 
> Worked up to 4x5 on squats, sub 60 second rest between those sets. One lighter set with 5 wide stance reps then moved to a narrow stance and did 5 more.
> 
> Was feeling a pump in the low back, could 12.5mg var be responsible?
> 
> Moved to barbell calf raises, was really feeling those tonight, too. On to hip thrusters off the heavy bag, leg curls, then pull ups 3x6 to finish the weight room.
> 
> 1 mile jog for MISS / Cardio, 1/2 mile walk to cool down. Yoga stretches, protein and a shower, now I'm talking with you critters. But that is OK, y'all are my kind of critters.


Var was a great pre workout for me. NICE energy/strength boost! I kept it low dose like yourself.

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## Cylon357

Just a 2.5 mile walk for fasted LISS yesterday morning, but today I had a most excellent chest work out, though it was somewhat disrupted by the AC techs.

Started with barbell bench (going to switch that up to dumbbells soon), good sets, but felt a little off. It improved as the workout went on. Did dips next 3x8 and really blasting out of the hole on some of the reps, slow up on others. Moved to skull crushers supersetted with bicep curls, got two super sets done then

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK hey we need to come in and do AC stuff

Which meant I had to watch the cats and make sure they didn't make a break for it. All good, I did some pushups in the living room while waiting on the AC guys 1x15, 1x12, 1x10. By that time, they had moved away from the doors and were in other parts of the house, so I went back and did the last super set of crushers and curls.

Did some Arnold presses, 3 sets, though was interrupted again by the AC guys. That turned out to be OK, because it was between my 2nd and 3rd sets, the extra rest time worked to my advantage as I got a few more reps in on that final set.

Dumbell flyes, super setted with front raises 3 sets each wrapped the weights. No LISS to finish tonight, though I did do a half mile walk to warm up. I will get up in the morning for an easy walk, then maintain the vehicles (oil changes, nothing big).

OH and they DID fix the AC! YAY! If you are in the Central Florida area (and lets be honest, who isn't?), drop me a DM for the best service on the planet. The owner came out initially and this guy is an AC engineer. Pointed out problems no one else saw, designed a system for our needs, etc etc. His prices were actually better than the other people we talked to, though we did end up spending more for the services the other vendors just didn't even think about.

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## Cylon357

Deadlifts on Saturday. The var joy continues!

Did deadlifts, though more as a conditioning thing and to get the body fully warmed up than as a end in itself. 3x5 working sets, less than 60 seconds between sets, just like the squats. Moved to pull ups with a parallel grip, 3x6, but good, clean reps. I like the parallel grip, slightly wider than shoulder width, because it keeps stress off the forearms.

Barbell rows followed, 3x8, then on to front squats alternated with calf raises. Not super sets, just alternated to keep it fresh. I kept the front squats light, and had intended to just do 3x6, but did 1x6 and felt stronger on the next two so I did 2x8. 

1 mile jog to get some L/MISS in, though I did get into the "Peak Performance" zone a time or two, so maybe that is more than MISS? I did 1/4 mile at a time, with 20 to 50 walking steps after each quarter. I had to have the break. But I tracked the mileage carefully and made sure to account for the steps. In other words, a full mile of jogging, with a bit more of steps between the quarters.

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## Cylon357

Sunday, had a nice workout.

Overhead press day, yay! I really wasn't feeling it, but got in there and got started. As is frequently the case, once I got going, all turned out OK.

Did my OP work, nothing particularly special to report there. Moved on to dips, 3x8, which felt good. Shrugs with the kettle bells followed, 3x15, though I was still feeling it a bit from Saturday's dead lift session.

Since I was feeling a bit eh, though much better now that I got started, I decided to do some isolation work for the rest of the workout, by and large. Standing cable curls with my rigged up pulley system were next. I need to align the pulleys properly, particularly for this exercise, though I did get them done. Switched out cables and handle and did pushdowns, then switched out the handles and did cable flyes and rear delt flyes. Finished the weights with push ups off the handles, just for the heck of it.

Did one mile to warm up, 2 miles at the end for LISS, and that was it.

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## Cylon357

Interesting conversation with the doc yesterday. 

They seem to think the absorption rate of the cream can be as high as 60%, even more at the scrote. Individual response varies, and I don't know what that means for bioavailability, but stayed tuned!

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## Cylon357

Alright, great squat workout to kick off week 3!

Squats, got my 5x5 weight (not the Stronglifts beginner stuff, the conditioning program I mentioned elsewhere). The var really does seem to be helping. Did pull ups next, 3x6, nothing special there. Calf raises 3x20 to 30, depending on how they were feeling. Leg curls 3x10 to 12. I feel like I am missing something. I did not do the hip thrusters this week, I'm going to do cable pull throughs on Saturday's back day. I have to be missing something, because that doesn't seem to account for the 58 minutes the fitbit said I was working out. Eh, it will come to me, or not (probably not).

Had planned to do HIIT, but instead just went for the 1 mile slog. At an 11 minute time (11 minute mile), it really was a slog but I did not have to stop, so I'm calling it a victory! HIIT may find it's way after tomorrow's chest workout (the heavy bag), Saturday's dead lift (1 minute farmer's walk, 2 minutes on the rower) or some combination of things. 

Had some protein smoothie I made yesterday, with a couple of scrambled eggs and a home made mini-bagel. Man, that was some good stuff!

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## Cylon357

Dang it, how rude of me! Let me share my scrambled egg recipe real quick, you can thank me later.

Eggs (how many you eat? That is how many you need)
"Mexican" style cheese (find it in the dairy department at your local Mega-Lo-Mart)
Milk (just a dash, makes them more fluffy)
Trappey's Louisiana Hot Sauce (the secret ingredient, you will know you have it when you see the bull on the side of the bottle)

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, easy on the cheese and milk. They should look more like eggs with a little stuff in them, not a bunch of stuff with some small amount of egg. Cook them. Eat them. Enjoy!

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## Cylon357

Nice bench workout tonight. Got my goal weight for 2x6, had a goal of 2x5 so I call it a win. Dips were next, 1x10, 1x8 with 25 pounds, 1x8 with 45 pounds, then 1x14 with no weight. The 45 pound set was a little wonky. I set the bars high enough for the 25 pounder, but the 45 pounder would just tap the floor at the lowest point. I probably should have gone up an inch but I'm calling it a win, tap and go and all.

Also, that last set of dips... I had more than 12 but when I got to 13, which felt like it, I was like nah, mf'er we do NOT do 13 rep sets! and got that last one. Paranoid? Gym superstitions are a thing, man.  :Smilie: 

Super set of skull crushers and ez bar curls were next, then dumbbell flyes to wrap it up. 1 mile walk to warm up, 1 mile to cool down and for LISS, and life is good!

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## Cylon357

Dead lift workout today. Went a little heavier than I have been, just to see how it would feel. Not bad as it turns out.

Would normally have done barbell rows next, but wanted to give landmine rows a shot. Low back did NOT like them at all. But I'm sure that is a form thing, maybe I will video myself to see. Got 3 or 4 sets.

Rigged up the pulldown apparatus, did two sets with wide grip, two sets with narrow grip. Good lat pump. 

Front squats to hit the quads, 3x6-8. Calf raises off the block, 3x30.

Did some hyper extensions and reverse hypers to loosen up the low back from the landmine rows. Did a couple of sets of kettlebell swings to wrap it.

Not bad for the next to last workout of week 3. Hiit tomorrow after shoulder presses, let's see what the lowback has to say about that.

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## Cylon357

Overhead press day, the last workout before the deload week, yay!

Started with overhead press, but my entire upper body was a little sore from the deadlift day before. Thought I might take it a bit easy, and I did, just a little. Not quite as much weight as I had planned, though that isn't uncommon towards the end of week 3. Got my work in there.

Dips would have been next, but I did some varied spaced pushups instead 3x12. Felt those from the handles.

Shrugs, light because of the DL workout the day before, but still got them in, 3x30.

Then things got interesting, though I do acknowledge that is EXTREMELY subjective.

I have mentioned my rigged up pull down / push down apparatus. I made a thing to enable low rows, curls etc. Hooked it up and did bicep curls, 3x12 and sort of one armed cable lateral thing, 3x8 each arm. Switched out handles and did cable flyes from a low pulley, 3x10. Those were more difficult than the high pulley flyes, probably because I can't really pull down on them to get started, but I did feel them pretty well.

Y'all gonna turn me into a body builder before all is said and done

Switched out the cables and did pushdowns and some reverse flyes / rear delt work, 3x10 of each. 

That was it for the weights.

Then HIIT, yay!! And by yay, in this case I mean: "da fuq?? do I have to?"

Yes, numbnuts, you have to.

Did 5 rounds of 2 minutes each, 1 minute rest between rounds. Each round consisted of:
20 heavy hammer swings, 10 to the left, 10 to the right.
20 double small hammer swings, alternating left and right.
Remaining round time (about a minute), spent shadow boxing with a hop / slide to the left and right, varying my combos.

Shimminy Cricket, man, that was "fun".

Finished with a 1/2 mile or so walk to cool down, same distance to warm up.

I should sleep the sleep of the exhausted tonight  :Smilie:

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## Cylon357

And finally, I'm going to show y'all my rigged up, _almost_ perfectly safe pulldown setup. Keep in mind that this is a prototype, a functioning prototype, but still a work in progress. I do have to switch out cables for different heights, and the vertical pulley bar you see at about waist high is the newest add on. I can move it as high or low as I want to vary the angles, or just work from the top pulley.

This is it in all it's wonkiness, functional but admittedly wonky.

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## Cylon357

Ahh, deload week! Just a two mile walk yesterday, and a light squat / dip workout tonight. I did do a one mile walk to warm up and a one mile walk for time to get some small amount of LISS in, but so far this a good week. 

I have switched to just doing proviron for this week, 12.5 2x day, along with the two blobs of test cream and of course about 750 hcg weekly (3x 250). I'm not 100% sure if I'm aromatizing too much (possible) or if my var is actually d-bol, but I'm holding some water right now. I have some var on order from EP and I hope to start it next week. I feel like they are a trustworthy lab, and what I get should be legit.

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## Cylon357

Just an easy deload week workout, back and shoulders.

Starting next week, aka Tuesday, I think I am going to run a _small_ amount of tbol with my trt. Maybe 20 a day, 2x 10mg, for 4 weeks. I have blood work in 8, so maybe I can get my numbers back in line with that 4 week break.

Well, either var or tbol, haven't decided which yet. Choices!

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## Cylon357

AARGH! Was going to start my next 3 week workout cycle tonight but I had the last and I mean the LAST of my hemis banded today and it is putting me down HARD. Like, goddangit, just fall off already! But hey, in the long run, it will be worth it.

From a more clinical (ie less b!tching, more info) perspective, this is the fourth banding I have had in the past 6 months to a year or so. Two were painless, one was very painful and this one is somewhere between the two. It's not as bad as the worst, but still unpleasant enough to keep me sitting (yes, that is somewhat ironic). I share this just so you have more information if you or a loved one are thinking about having a hemi banded. Basically, when you have a pain in your a**, I want you to think of me.

 :LOL:

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## Cylon357

Got my squat workout in tonight, though I did limit the sets a bit (just waiting on you to die down there, Son of Lefty aka Lefty the Fourth aka the Hemi from Hades). Did my 2x5 work sets... damn, did I do 2x6? Sheesh, I can't remember now, not for sure. It was supposed to be 2x5 with 1 minute rest, but maybe I did do six reps each.

Moved on to calf raises, was feeling them NOICE!

Leg curls and... wait for it... leg EXTENSIONS were next. I got a new bench (still an inexpensive Marcy, but an upgrade from what I had) with "leg developer" and wanted to give it a go. Approved. Both extensions and curls felt good, and I haven't said that about extensions in a long time. 

HIIT to beat me up and make sure I get cardio.

5 3 minute work rounds of:
2 minutes (treadmill on rounds 1, 3 and 5, climber on rounds 2 and 4)
6 pullups (there is my back work!)
15 kettlebell swings

1 minute rest between rounds. So for a total of 20 minutes, I thought I might die.

Seriously, that last set of kb swings, I went like 5 seconds over the 3 minute limit. I wasn't going to quit, but damn, I sure could have. Nobody would have known either, except for me and my big mouth. AARGH!

Good stuff!

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## Cylon357

Nice abbreviated chest workout tonight. The Last of the Mo-Hemis is being a true PITA, which I guess is appropriate. 

Still, got in barbell bench with the new bench. No uprights makes using the rack easier for sure. 

Skipped dips tonight, part of a strategy to get 4 weeks in before the next deload week. And of course mitigating the pain from the hemi.

Still, I got in skull crushers, bicep curls as a semi super set. Then did dumbbell flyes, wrapping with dumbbell laterals.

No hiit tonight, but some small LISS before and after, and fasted LISS tomorrow morning, so I'm calling it good.

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## Cylon357

Easy back workout tonight. Well, easy ish. The hemi is hanging tough, and giving me pain before it goes, though it knows it's time is short. Also, I kind of had to compress the schedule this week due to the aforementioned hemi... truly a PITA. 

Anyhow, started with parallel grip pull ups, 2x 8 with no weight, then 2x6 with 25lbs, then 1x8.

Did some rows next, first barbell rows 3x10 then one arm dumbbell rows 2x8 each side. Did some light front squats and something else I don't remember right off.

1.5 mile walk for LISS, that was it for today.

BTW, I think the tbol is messing with my gi tract and screwing up my sleep. I will swap in low dose var from EP and see what I think about it.

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## Cylon357

Over head press workout today, though it kind of turned into "cable isolation movement day" after the OP.

Did my overhead presses, got my weights, but goddangit this eff'ing hemi is STILL somehow giving me fits. Makes me think it may have slipped its band or something. Anyhow, I was feeling kind of bleah to start, but once I got my presses going, things started rolling.

Skipped dips again today and did 3x10-12 pushups from the raised handles. Isolates the middle of the chest well for me. Shrugs with the kettlebells were next, nice contraction at the top, 3x15-20.

Then the cables started.

Began with low bicep curls, first with heavier weight and both hands, then with lighter weight and one handed. 2x10-15 then 2x10-15. Also did side cable laterals while the pulley was in the low spot, 2x8-10 each side.

Switched cables out and worked from the top. Pushdowns to start 3x10-15, then cable flyes and reverse flyes, alternated just for the heck of it.

2 Mile walk for LISS at the end. All is good, except that a**hole hemi. Eh, life goes on.

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## Cylon357

Good squat workout to kick off the weights this week.

Got my 5x5 weight, plus two of those sets I added about 10%, nice huffy puffy work. Went straight from there to barbell calf raises, 3x15-20.

Leg curls and leg extensions were next. 1x15 of each to warm up 3x10-12 of each for work sets. This bench really does seem to all the pads to be at the right spot for me to do extensions. I probably won't do them every week, just to avoid temptation to overdo it, but we will see.

Lat pulldowns came up in the rotation, I did 1x15, then added some weight and did 2x10. Good stuff.

Hip thrusters with my back on the heavy bag (laying on its side), 3x10. 

No HIIT per se tonight, though I did do 5x15 kettlebell swings to wrap the weights. Kept the rest time down to 30 to 45 seconds between sets.

1/2 mile walk to warm up, 1 mile to cool down and for LISS. I kept my heart rate in the "fat burning zone" during the last walk, so I count it as LISS.

Life is good!

----------


## Cylon357

BTW, my hemi was not acting up TOO bad today. I don't think it has let go, but rather just was behaving. I can't imagine that it slipped the banding, but it sure seems like it. Though, maybe, MAYBE it is actually gone. I'm not counting on that tho. Fingers crossed.

----------


## Cylon357

Neat little bench / chest workout today, though it started off a little... well, off.

Started with barbell bench, as has been the usual for a bit. But, on my first real work set, I noticed some pain in my palm... goddangit, I just started HGH back up and when I do, I get hand swelling. No bigs, put on the gloves (aka sissy mittens) and get the next set... Oh, no dice here either. Hmmm, what to do, what to do? 

Dumbbell bench press to the rescue!

Finished out my bench with 2 or 3 sets of flat dbell bench, then moved to incline and did two more sets. All's well that ends well.

But we are far from done

Dips, 4 sets of 8, no weight
Skull crushers, super setted with barbell curls, 4x10-15
Dumbell flyes, super light weight to feel it 3x10

Somehow, that took an hour. 

I was on the fence about HIIT, but feeling pretty good with my current protocol, so I did 5 rounds of the following:
Heavy hammer strikes, 10 to 15 per side
Double hammer strikes, 10 to 15 per arm
Shadow boxing
1 minute rest

The hammer work took about 90 seconds and the shadow boxing filled in the remaining 90 seconds per round. Thereabouts at least, it isn't particularly precise.

Something around 1/2 mile walk to warm up, 3/4 mile to cool down and then the shower, protein, chill with you animals bit.

----------


## Cylon357

Back work out most excellent today!! Schwing!

Deadlifts started things, though I kept it fairly easy. Hemi is back to being a pain in the ass, so didn't want to make that worse.

Barbell rows followed, 3x10. Man, I do like that 1-2 combo.

Pull-ups, parallel grip 3x 6, no weight.

Front squats, 3x6, followed by calf raises off a 3 inch block 3x 15-20. 

Low pulley rows finished the weights, 4x10. 2 sets were with a two handed grip, then dropped weight and did 2 sets one handed.

That's a sweet little back workout. 

1+ mile LISS to wrap it, no HIIT today. I think I'm limiting it to once a week, with the intensity of the workouts and all.

BTW, current drug regimen is 2 "single click" doses of the test cream daily, one am, one pm. I think I like it so far. HCG 250 to 300iu with 1 iu HGH 3 times a week, MWF, AM dosing. 12.5mg proviron 2x daily.

I may drop the proviron for a month starting in June as I have bloods in early July and would really like to see what the cream and hcg combo does for me. I'm feeling good on it, and workouts are good, though I do have some other things in the mix here and there. It will be good to see what the numbers really are.

----------


## wango

Glad youre digging the test. TRT was a life changer for me.

----------


## Cylon357

Nice over head press workout tonight. Details later, just wanted to get something recorded before I forget it.

----------


## Cylon357

Let's see, Sunday's over head press workout... what all did I do?

Lots of cable stuff this time, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Over head press, got my weights and reps so that was cool.

Tried to do dips next, but my delts were having none of it. That's OK, I did push-ups instead, and really felt it better across the middle part of my chest.

Now things start to get a little fuzzy on when I did what. I think it went kind of like this. 

Low pulley setup for low flies and low rear delt work, plus some bicep curls. Seems like I only did one set of each of those before deciding I didn't like the particular feel I was getting. Switched to dumbbell curls and shrugs, while I noodled on what to do next.

Switched cables for the high pulley setup and did push downs, then dropped weight for cable flyes and rear delt flyes. Much better feel from this position. I included dumbell lateral raises for a nice toasty tri set. That was noice! 

I feel like I'm missing something but can't remember what. No bigs, it was a good workout.

----------


## Cylon357

10
9
8

Oh what's that? Excellent squat workout tonight! 

I started with barbell squats, but instead of 5x5 with one minute between sets, I chose to do the same weight, 3 sets of 10, 9, and 8 reps, with about 90 seconds between sets. 

I don't know which has me breathing harder, but this was a huffer and a puffer.

Did one set of narrow stance, then moved on to extensions and curls, kept the extensions light 3x20, and the curls heavier 3x15.

Hip thrusters off the heavy bag, 3x10-12.

Decision time: hiit or liss?

Well, it was a combo, sort of.

I did chinups, 3x6-7, combined with kettlebell swings 3x15. Not for time, but no half stepping.

For MISS (see what I did there? Yeah, you do  :Smilie:  ), I did 1/4 mile jog, 1 minute walk 4x. So, I jogged a full mile in spurts, and totaled a bit over that. The jog was interval-ish, not quite a run and definitely not a sprint, but definitely varied and challenging. I hit the peak heart rate zone a time or two, so yeah.

----------


## wango

> 10
> 9
> 8
> 
> Oh what's that? Excellent squat workout tonight! 
> 
> I started with barbell squats, but instead of 5x5 with one minute between sets, I chose to do the same weight, 3 sets of 10, 9, and 8 reps, with about 90 seconds between sets. 
> 
> I don't know which has me breathing harder, but this was a huffer and a puffer.
> ...


Thanks for the continued motivation buddy!

----------


## Cylon357

Bench day yay! I actually started with dumbbell bench this time, working up to my work sets of 2x8 and 1x6. It was _supposed_ to be 3x8, but eh, things happen.

Did 3 sets of barbell incline press 10, 8, and 6 reps.

Dips actually got done this week 3x10, no weight added.

Skull crushers super setted with dumbbell curls 3x10-15 on skull crushers 3x10-12 on the curls.

Dumbbell flyes super'ed with dumbbell laterals wrapped the weights proper 2x10 of each.

One set of pushups for the frack of it, 10 reps.

1/2 mile walk to warm up, 2 miles for LISS at the end. I think davi motivated me, because tonight I said "I'm getting my 15 minute mile pace!" and completed 2 miles in 29:20 for a split time of 14:40. So yeah, I might have looked like the ending scene of "Benny Hill" but I got it done.  :Smilie: 

Life is good!

----------


## Cylon357

And this is technically week 3 of my 3 week routine, but I think I'm going to do 4 weeks before taking the deload. This way, the deload is Memorial day and that will be sweet! Plus, I can stop any of my add ons at the end of week 4 and have a full month before pulling bloods for the doc.

----------


## Cylon357

> Thanks for the continued motivation buddy!


We gotta keep moving, man! Whether it is itsy bitsy or biggy wiggy, we got to do SOMETHING!

----------


## Cylon357

Deadlift / back day.

Started with deadlifts, but kept them light(er) and only 4 sets.

Barbell rows 3x10, really tried to focus on pulling the elbows back and triggering the lats. Alternated those with 3x6 Pull-ups.

Moved to front squats 3x5, slightly more weight this time, then 3x15 calf raises off a 3 inch block.

Wrapped up with alternating reverse hypers with regular hypers, 3x10 of each. Felt good on the low back. 

2 mile walk for LISS to finish, fitbit says I finished in 28:14 for a 14:07 split. Man, I gotta say, my short a** legs must have been a blur.

Just had some salmon, steamed vegetables, and frekeh for a nice meal.

----------


## Cylon357

Overhead press day to wrap week 3.

I did seated barbell presses to start today. Why? Variety, Jack! Got 5 sets total there.

No dips, but I did do push-ups off the handles, 3x10-15. Varied my hand placement to vary the impact and that was cool. Quasi super setted those with shrugs, 3x10-12.

Got the jury rigged cable system out and did pushdowns super settled with kettle bell curls, 3x10 to 15 of each.

Switched cables and added the board pictured and did 2x10to12 cable flyes and reverse delt flyes. Two sets of kettlebell laterals wrapped the weights. I just finished so not sure if I'm going to walk jog or call it quits. It's a surprise!!

----------


## Cylon357

HIIT. It was HIIT. 

4 rounds of 2 minutes just swinging one or more hammers hitting a tire. 1 minute rest between rounds.

IDK if I'm going into deload or going to try to get a fourth week. I have until Tuesday to decide...

----------


## Cylon357

Punted on the decision for a fourth work week until tomorrow. Just an easy 30 minute bike ride today, followed about a half mile walk. 


Right now, it feels like "fourth work week", but my knees don't like the bike like they used to. Guess I need to be like Wango and think about getting 'bent.

----------


## wango

> Punted on the decision for a fourth work week until tomorrow. Just an easy 30 minute bike ride today, followed about a half mile walk. 
> 
> 
> Right now, it feels like "fourth work week", but my knees don't like the bike like they used to. Guess I need to be like Wango and think about getting 'bent.


Kel has had good fortune with some injections he gets on his knees. My impression though, was that it wasnt inexpensive. By bent are you referring to THC or a different bike? I got confused as my recumbent bike store actually is called Bent Cycles. Damn, I wish the logistics worked on that for me.

----------


## Cylon357

> Kel has had good fortune with some injections he gets on his knees. My impression though, was that it wasn’t inexpensive. By bent are you referring to THC or a different bike? I got confused as my recumbent bike store actually is called Bent Cycles. Damn, I wish the logistics worked on that for me.


Sorry, I should have been more clear lol! "Getting 'bent" referred specifically to recumbent biking, though maybe if the other helped with knee pain, it could be an option, too...  :Smilie:

----------


## wango

> Sorry, I should have been more clear lol! "Getting 'bent" referred specifically to recumbent biking, though maybe if the other helped with knee pain, it could be an option, too...


You kids and your new jargon, I just cant keep up.

----------


## Cylon357

Squat workout tonight. Abbreviated but intense to get a 4th week kicked off.

Just squats, leg curls, and calf raises for the weights. I did do a breathing set of 12 and then 8 reps on squats, with my previous weight. Light headed? Oh yeah.

HIIT'ish finisher consisted of 4 rounds of:

2 minutes treadmill or climber
6 pullups
15 kettlebell swings
1 minute rest

That was a huffer and a puffer, too. But all's well that ends well!

----------


## Cylon357

I was off work on Friday, the start of a four day weekend! Did bench / chest and it was good.

Started with barbell bench, and got some good reps in on my work sets. Dropped weight to do a wide set, then thought "hmm, let me see if I can do decline with this bench". The answer is no, too steep  :Frown:  But that's OK, I can do incline, which I did 2 or 3 sets of. If I really want to do some decline, MAYBE I can put a small block under the front of the bench.

Moved to dips, 3x10 with no weight this day. Skull crusher / curl bar super set was next, added some weight to that final set to put in some extra work. I remember doing dumbbell laterals as a wrap, but man, I am ALMOST sure there was another exercise in there somewhere. This is the 4th week (bonus work week), so I am trying to watch volume, but the workout took an hour, and it seems like more than 5 exercises were involved. Bench did take up probably 20 minutes though, so maybe it isn't too far out of line.

HIIT on this days was "fun":
2 minutes hammer swings
2 minutes shadow boxing
2 minutes hammer swings
2 minutes shadow boxing
2 minutes hammer swings

1 minute rest between rounds, and each round of shadow boxing included 1x10 pushups at the 1 minute mark and just before the end. I hit "peak" heart rate zone swinging the hammer. 

1 mile walk to warm up and 1 mile to cool down. That was it.

Oh, except for the fact that we had dinner and a concert to go to, the concert being at Universal's City Walk.... Note that last word there "Walk", we did a lot of it. About 5k steps to be precise going to and from the concert alone. I finished with 14k steps on the day. In other news, I slept till 11am this morning, but I'm sure it is unrelated /sarcasm

Life is good!

----------


## Cylon357

And despite the fact that you may be thinking "geez, who is this dumpy old fat a**?", this is actually progress. One day at a time...

----------


## wango

> And despite the fact that you may be thinking "geez, who is this dumpy old fat a**?", this is actually progress. One day at a time...


Looking good Cy!

----------


## Cylon357

Back day today, yay!

BTW, 3 weeks really should be my standard, even on trt without other stuff. I made it through half of the 4th week of workouts OK, but today kind of hit the wall.

I still got 'er done, tho.

Deadlifts to start, though kept them light and only like 4 sets.

Barbell rows were next, 3x7-9, REALLY focusing on pulling back and engaging the lats. Semi super setted those with pullups / chin ups 3x7 on those.

Front squats 2x6, then calf work 3x20.

Wrapped with 2x15 kettle bell swings, and a half mile walk. 

From here on out, 3 weeks load, 1 week deload. 

Until I add something really special to my TRT. We will see what that will be...

----------


## tarmyg

One of the best things I ever did was replacing barbell rows with this. 

https://youtu.be/B_EKdWyOj7M 

Might not feel the same for you but the muscles felt way more engaged for me.

----------


## Cylon357

> One of the best things I ever did was replacing barbell rows with this. 
> 
> https://youtu.be/B_EKdWyOj7M 
> 
> Might not feel the same for you but the muscles felt way more engaged for me.


I can setup for the one arm version, I will give it a shot, thanks!

----------


## Cylon357

Over head press day to wrap up the bonus work week. I wasn't feeling it initially, because I tweaked my low back on deadlift day, I think. I thought OP was going to be a problem but it wasn't at all. In fact, I went a little heavier than I had been and it felt good.

Instead of dips, I did pushups with a varied grip and angle. 3x10-15 depending on how it felt.

Rigged up the cables and did pushdowns super setted with light dumbbell curls. Then added the two extension cables (to make a Y cable setup) and did reverse laterals and cable flyes. Seems like there was one other exercise in there, but I can't remember what now. It also seems like I say that a lot, so maybe I ought to start journaling again...

1 mile to warm up, 1 mile for LISS, and life is grand. I need to stretch out that low back, and hit it with the back massager, but I am starting the deload week, so this is good timing.

----------


## Cylon357

Hey - o! Did you see the size of that chicken?? #YoungGuns

Sorry, just having the post workout feel goods and having some fun  :Smilie: 

Yesterday was a 2.5 mile walk, nothing special about it. It is deload week, so while I did try to keep my heart rate in the fat burning zone, true LISS was the order of the day.

Today, I did super light leg / back workout, very brief and very easy. My low back is still acting up just a hair, so no squats or deads this week. That's OK, it is deload week and the back is already a bit better. Let this be the lesson for me: respect the 3 week work block! I did do a 1 mile walk to warm up, then 2+ for cool down, so LISS LISS and more LISS...

All is good otherwise, hope everyone is doing well!

----------


## wango

> Hey - o! Did you see the size of that chicken?? #YoungGuns
> 
> Sorry, just having the post workout feel goods and having some fun 
> 
> Yesterday was a 2.5 mile walk, nothing special about it. It is deload week, so while I did try to keep my heart rate in the fat burning zone, true LISS was the order of the day.
> 
> Today, I did super light leg / back workout, very brief and very easy. My low back is still acting up just a hair, so no squats or deads this week. That's OK, it is deload week and the back is already a bit better. Let this be the lesson for me: respect the 3 week work block! I did do a 1 mile walk to warm up, then 2+ for cool down, so LISS LISS and more LISS...
> 
> All is good otherwise, hope everyone is doing well!


Young Guns? Was that before or after the classic masterpiece “Red Dawn”?

----------


## wango

> Hey - o! Did you see the size of that chicken?? #YoungGuns
> 
> Sorry, just having the post workout feel goods and having some fun 
> 
> Yesterday was a 2.5 mile walk, nothing special about it. It is deload week, so while I did try to keep my heart rate in the fat burning zone, true LISS was the order of the day.
> 
> Today, I did super light leg / back workout, very brief and very easy. My low back is still acting up just a hair, so no squats or deads this week. That's OK, it is deload week and the back is already a bit better. Let this be the lesson for me: respect the 3 week work block! I did do a 1 mile walk to warm up, then 2+ for cool down, so LISS LISS and more LISS...
> 
> All is good otherwise, hope everyone is doing well!


Young Guns? Was that before or after the classic masterpiece Red Dawn?

----------


## Cylon357

> Young Guns? Was that before or after the classic masterpiece “Red Dawn”?


Oh man, I can't say for sure. I want to go with AFTER, but don't quote me on that. Bon Jovi "Wanted Dead or Alive" was played almost non-stop when that movie came out, if that helps. I totally recognize it may not lol

----------


## wango

> Oh man, I can't say for sure. I want to go with AFTER, but don't quote me on that. Bon Jovi "Wanted Dead or Alive" was played almost non-stop when that movie came out, if that helps. I totally recognize it may not lol


LOL, those were the days.

----------


## Cylon357

Nice combo chest and shoulder workout today. 

Since this is deload week, I played around with the cable setup more than I would normally. This included one arm cable flyes. Basically, standing sideways to the high pulley and really working that pec. That's the spirit!

Next work week starts on Tuesday, let's see what it has in store. I'm going to try to get two HIIT workouts a week, but that might be pushing it some. We will see how that goes. I will NOT be pushing for a fourth work week going forward, at least not until I add some more interesting items to my TRT. Low back is basically healed, but I may baby it for another week. We'll see about that too.

----------


## Cylon357

Nice little squat workout tonight to kick off the next work week.

Squats, went a little heavier but not as intense as previous weeks to gauge how the low back is doing. Seems good but I will be careful this week until I feel like all systems are go.

Leg extensions and curls followed, with some single leg isolation work. Followed that up with Pull-ups and calf work, then finished out with 2x15 kettle bell swings.

1 mile jog, 11 minute mile pace, which I guess is both horrible and better than a 12 minute mile pace, so I will take it. Between the jog, warm up and cool down runs, and assorted other movement, I got in 10k+ steps today, which ain't bad for a desk jockey.

----------


## wango

> Nice little squat workout tonight to kick off the next work week.
> 
> Squats, went a little heavier but not as intense as previous weeks to gauge how the low back is doing. Seems good but I will be careful this week until I feel like all systems are go.
> 
> Leg extensions and curls followed, with some single leg isolation work. Followed that up with Pull-ups and calf work, then finished out with 2x15 kettle bell swings.
> 
> 1 mile jog, 11 minute mile pace, which I guess is both horrible and better than a 12 minute mile pace, so I will take it. Between the jog, warm up and cool down runs, and assorted other movement, I got in 10k+ steps today, which ain't bad for a desk jockey.


Continued congratulations on the sustained hard work!

Hows the knee(s) treating you?

----------


## Cylon357

> Continued congratulations on the sustained hard work!
> 
> How’s the knee(s) treating you?


The knees are both pretty good, all things considered. No pain, though I'm not kickboxing and any jog over a mile is on the treadmill. All good for thinking I might need surgery just a few months ago!

----------


## Cylon357

Nice little bench workout Thursday evening. Mistimed meals and thought it was going to be a problem, but it turned out OK.

Barbell bench to start, my semi usual there.

Skipped dips and incline presses, and went to super sets of skull crushers and close grip bench press. Fire for the triceps!

Did ezcurl bar curls for the biceps, then a light weight shoulder trifecta consisting of front raises, laterals, and rear delt laterals.

1 mile walk to warm up, one mile+ to cool down and that one was in the books.

Totally off day today and a refeed tonight, but I did weigh in at 178.8 this morning, so I'm probably going easy on the food tonight. Well, at least easy for a refeed...

----------


## wango

> Totally off day today and a refeed tonight, but I did weigh in at 178.8 this morning, so I'm probably going easy on the food tonight. Well, at least easy for a refeed...


Incredible how that scale reading can impact your psyche. Im exactly 30 pounds heavier. Breaking the 210 barrier and staying stable below it was a big one for me. I recall you saying breaking 180 was for yourself? Shooting for at least another 10 myself. 

Congrats on the hard work paying off!

----------


## Cylon357

> Incredible how that scale reading can impact your psyche. I’m exactly 30 pounds heavier. Breaking the 210 barrier and staying stable below it was a big one for me. I recall you saying breaking 180 was for yourself? Shooting for at least another 10 myself. 
> 
> Congrats on the hard work paying off!


I tend to look "pretty good" at 170-174, and "real good" around 165. I have been as low as 158, but that was when I was in triathlon training mode about 10 years ago. At 5'7", those are the weights that just look good for me. I was giving up too much weight at 158, but I did feel pretty good. I just LIKE lifting weights. Eh, I will be happy to see 175, at least for a bit, then make a decision to go down from there or ?

----------


## Cylon357

To add, my diet has gone to sh!t as I have gotten older. That's just how it is. I only have so many f*cks to give on a given day, and sometimes diet takes the hit!

----------


## wango

> I tend to look "pretty good" at 170-174, and "real good" around 165. I have been as low as 158, but that was when I was in triathlon training mode about 10 years ago. At 5'7", those are the weights that just look good for me. I was giving up too much weight at 158, but I did feel pretty good. I just LIKE lifting weights. Eh, I will be happy to see 175, at least for a bit, then make a decision to go down from there or ?


When I see MMA fighters at my height and my frame and they are around 175-180 - that seems perfect for me. Jiminy Cricket, 40 more pounds?!?

That said, lets keep pushing.

----------


## Cylon357

Saturday's back workout did not turn out like I thought it was going to.

I THOUGHT "maybe I will start with some light deads, then go into barbell rows"

My low back said "you know, maybe not the best choice right now"

So, I listened to the low back and free styled some.

I started with pullups, various widths and grips, no weight. Started with 4x8, but then started getting a little lat tired and went to 3x5.

Busted out the pulley next, and then did various rowing from various heights. Single arm pull downs, low pulley rows (both standing and seated), mid-level pulley rows, all with assorted handles, grips and weights. Probably 15 sets total there.

I did light front squats 3x8, and then barbell calf raises of the 3" block, 3x15-20.

Did a 3/4 mile walk to warm up, and ending LISS consisted of "getting on the roof and blowing out the gutters", so, probably not as effective as straight exercise, but two birds, one stone and all. 

Today will be over head press, haven't got to it yet.

----------


## Cylon357

Over head press day was interesting and good.

Over head press to start, then a variety of cable and other exercises. Pushdowns super setted with barbell curls. Push-ups supper setted with single arm cable chest flyes. Single arm pushdowns. Shrugs with plates. Maybe some more stuff too.

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

Life is good!

----------


## Cylon357

Dupe

----------


## Cylon357

Noice little squat workout tonight!

Squats, 1x8, 1x6, 1x8 for work sets, then dropped weight to do one narrow set.

Barbell calf raises, 3x15 to 20.

Leg curls and extensions followed, 3x15 each.

Pullups, 4x6-8

No HIIT per se, but I did do some runs after the workout. I was GOING to do 1 mile jog, but did 1/4, then walked a minute, another 1/4 and walked a minute. Then I started doing faster but shorter runs. 5x, 20 to 60 seconds each. That last 20 second "sprint" (totally not a sprint, but 90% effort or so) nearly did me in.

Everything is cool, daddy-o!

----------


## Cylon357

Bench day today.

Barbell flat bench, followed by barbell incline.

Did 3x10 dips. Skull crushers, ezcurl bar curls super setted 3x10 to 12 each. Dumbell flyes to wrap it up.

1 mile walk to warm up, 1/2 mile to cool down. Taking it easy on LISS today because tomorrow The Wife and I are headed to the parks. Much walking will happen!

----------


## Cylon357

Over 11k steps at Animal Kingdom today...

----------


## Mooseman33

animal kingdom is fucking huge, all u do is walk there

----------


## wango

> Over 11k steps at Animal Kingdom today...


Did you have good weather for it?

----------


## Cylon357

> Did you have good weather for it?


We had the perfect storm of weather conditions!

The day started out hot and sunny: 90+ degrees without a cloud in the sky. That's for suckers and tourists 😆 

As we were driving down in the early afternoon, the bottom fell out. The standard Central Florida mid afternoon summer shower. That sent the majority of people running for the parking lot and back to the hotel. That's OK, they had likely been there since park open. 

When we got to the parking lot, there was a tiny amount of mist falling. People still fleeing the park while we are walking in.

Perfect timing!

It remained mostly overcast, which did two things. First, it convinced all the tourists that it might rain again and second, it kept the temp down. We walked around the park and it was about 74 degrees with no brutal sun. I didn't even apply sun screen.

By the time the sun came out in earnest, it was around 7pm and the park closed at 8p. Nobody came back and we got through the Avatar ride line and actual ride in under 45 minutes. 

I might have given away some Florida resident secrets, but y'all seem cool so I thought I would share  :Smilie:

----------


## Cylon357

Oh and we have friends that work for Disney that got us in on guest passes, so a free park trip!

----------


## wango

> We had the perfect storm of weather conditions!
> 
> The day started out hot and sunny: 90+ degrees without a cloud in the sky. That's for suckers and tourists 😆 
> 
> As we were driving down in the early afternoon, the bottom fell out. The standard Central Florida mid afternoon summer shower. That sent the majority of people running for the parking lot and back to the hotel. That's OK, they had likely been there since park open. 
> 
> When we got to the parking lot, there was a tiny amount of mist falling. People still fleeing the park while we are walking in.
> 
> Perfect timing!
> ...


Darn right that was a perfect situation! Man, that worked out amazing. Oh man, Disney prices?!? I simply cant see how families can pull that off, ridiculous!

----------


## Cylon357

> Darn right that was a perfect situation! Man, that worked out amazing. Oh man, Disney prices?!? I simply can’t see how families can pull that off, ridiculous!


For some people, the trips to the parks are once in a lifetime experiences. Airfare, hotel, park admission, meals... man, that would add up!

And here in Florida, and probably California as well, we are like "eh, I GUESS we could go to the parks AGAIN" lol

----------


## Cylon357

All the weekend chicanery messed up my workouts. I hate it when that happens, but have learned to deal with it.

But I did shift things around to make up for it this week, sort of.

I normally do a four day a week thing, this week I'm doing 5 days a week.

Legs - Mon
Bench - Tues
Arms - Wed
Off - Thur
Back - Fri
Shoulders - Sat
Off - Sun

Then into the deload week.

So I did squat workout today.

Barbell squats, 2x8 as work set. Calf raises, 3x 15-20. Leg curls and extensions, 3x10-15 with both legs, then drop weight and 1x10 each exercise, each leg. Hip thrusters off the heavy bag wrapped the weights proper, 3x10.

Short HIIT'y finisher was 3 rounds of:
2 minutes on treadmill
6 pullups
15 kettlebell swings
one minute rest between rounds.

Not extreme HIIT, but I got my heart rate up in the "cardio" zone pretty consistently. I don't think I hit peak, but maybe briefly.

1+ mile to wrap as LISS, then a hop in the pool to cool down, yoga stretches and a shower.

Everything is cool in Cylon Town tonight!

----------


## Cylon357

Bench day yay!

Barbell bench to start off, though I'm still having pain in my right palm and outer hand that can interfere with effort when the going gets a little heavier. Still, I got my work sets in and all was good. 

Did dumbbell incline for some variation. 3x6-8.

Dips were next, and I did 1x8, no weight, 1x7 w/25lbs, 1x6 w/50lbs and then 1x8 w/no weight.

Went to cable flyes and reverse delt cable laterals, 2x12 each.

That wrapped the weights.


HIIT'y AGAIN tonight

2 minutes hammer swings
1 minute rest
2 minutes hammer swings
1 minute rest
2 minutes shadow boxing
1 minute rest
2 minutes hammer swings
1 minute rest
2 minutes hammer swings
1 minute rest
2 minutes shadow boxing
DONE

Shadow boxing consisted of 45 seconds shadow boxing then 10 to 12 pushups.

3/4 mile walk to cool down, 1 mile walk to warm up and I should sleep like a baby tonight.

----------


## Cylon357

Arms and abs.

That was my workout for the day.

You know how long it has been since I had a dedicated arm day?? Probably hasn't happened this century.

Anyhow...

3 sets of tricep pushdowns, super setted with ez curl bar curls, 3 sets each.

Skull crushers super setted with dumbbell hammer curls, 3 sets each.

3 sets of ab wheel rollouts 8 to 10 reps. That was a first and kind of odd.

Alternated reverse hypers with regular hypers, 3x10 each.

1 mile walk to warm up, 1.5 to cool down.

----------


## Cylon357

:Music Note: 
B-b-b-back
B-b-b-back
B-b-b-back
Woo back day today!
 :Music Note: 

I make no apologies, except perhaps to George Thorogood

Back day today (Friday) started with deadlifts, kept them brief and a little lighter. 2 warm up sets, 2 work sets, 2x8 for warm up, 2x5 for work.

Barbell rows super setted with pullups, 3x8 on the rows, 3x6-7 on the pullups

Goblet squats, 2x10 light weight. Knees were dialoging with me, so I kept it easy.

Calf work consisted of raises off the platform, holding a 45 pound plate in each hand, 3x20, super setted with single leg raises, 3x15-18. 

Those calves were  :Bbflame: 

Just a 1/2 mile walk as LISS warm up, with a 1/2 mile walk as a LISS cool down.

Tomorrow is the last day of week 3, yay! And we are headed to Epcot on free passes again, so yeah, that should be cool. And I should get a sh!t ton of steps in tomorrow.

----------


## wango

> B-b-b-back
> B-b-b-back
> B-b-b-back
> Woo back day today!
> 
> 
> I make no apologies, except perhaps to George Thorogood
> 
> Back day today (Friday) started with deadlifts, kept them brief and a little lighter. 2 warm up sets, 2 work sets, 2x8 for warm up, 2x5 for work.
> ...


Have a great time, but damn, you torched your calves last night in preparation for today? Yikes! 

Say hi to the Disney crew for me!

----------


## Cylon357

> Have a great time, but damn, you torched your calves last night in preparation for today? Yikes! 
> 
> Say hi to the Disney crew for me!


Actually woke up with calves saying 'ooh, we felt that last night' but they seem to be OK atm.

And we didn't have plans for Epcot until after my workout, which all in all, is probably good. I might have gone easy otherwise lol

----------


## Cylon357

Shoulder workout in the books to wrap week 3 and head into Delgado week.

Overhead press started things off. I was feeling a bit tired from dead lifts / back about 19 hours before so things were just a tad off. That isnt uncommon for the end of weer 3, tho.

Freestyled into push-ups supered with shrugs. No real synergies there, that's just how it was today.

Moved on to skull crushers supered with ez curl bar curls.

Wrapped with a couple of sets of dumbbell flyes.

1/4 mile walk to warm up, no cool down because of Epcot. I am at .9 miles and 2100 steps on the fitbit, let's see where we land tonight!

----------


## Cylon357

13,600 steps. So, about 11,500 at Epcot.

----------


## wango

> 13,600 steps. So, about 11,500 at Epcot.


13,600, wow! I only had 10,800 yesterday. 

Good time at Epcot?

----------


## Cylon357

> 13,600, wow! I only had 10,800 yesterday. 
> 
> Good time at Epcot?


At almost 5'7" tall, my guess is I need more steps for the same distance as you lol!

Epcot was good. Capped the evening off with dinner at the German buffet and then the fireworks show at 9pm.

----------


## Cylon357

Just some easy cardio this week so far. 2 mile walk on Tuesday, 2.5 mile walk / jog today (about 1/2 mile was jog, so mostly walk).

Weights tomorrow, then I'm thinking the next work week may start on Sunday or Monday, but that's a game time decision.

----------


## Cylon357

I had the world's easiest full body workout. I didn't touch a barbell. Super easy, but the work starts again Monday...

----------


## Cylon357

Happy Independence Day, my fellow Americans!

What better way to celebrate than with Squat Day?  :Smilie: 

Started with squats, but I think I mistimed my meals. I seem to do that a lot. Gotta work on it. Anyhow, got my warm up sets in, and started feeling a little weak, but still got in the work sets. Just short a few reps here and there. No bigs, intensity was there, so it just is what it is today.

Did calf work next. Started with barbell raises off the block, then super setted with raises off the platform, holding on to two dumbbells.

Leg extensions and curls were next. 3x8-15. Started light and worked up to a little heavier than usual.

Was on the fence about what to do next, and somehow decided on single leg split squats with the rear foot elevated. 3x8, light weight but I will work on getting those figured out with my home equipment.

That wrapped the weights. HIIT was on tap, though it turned into more like intense cardio.

3 rounds of:
3 minutes on the climber with intervals
5 to 6 pull ups
15 kettlebell swings
1 minute rest

I had 4 rounds on tap, but after the second, I was way dizzy and had to take a longer rest. Still, I finished up that third round eventually, and thought about the fourth, but not today, Mr HIIT, not today.

About a half mile walk to cool down, then hopped in the pool. That was refreshing! Yoga stretches to wrap, then shower and food.

Life is groovy, baby! #AustinPowers

----------


## wango

I like leg day!

----------


## Ghostman_SW

That was one hell of a workout. A lot people stomach's would have turned green after all that leg work: weights, bodyweight and high intensity cardio.

----------


## Cylon357

Bench day, but it turned short. Work got in the way, so that through off my timing a bit.

BUT, I still got it done.

Started with barbell bench, and got my target weight and then some.

Skipped dips, went straight to skull crushers super setted with dumbbell hammer curls.

Finished with dumbbell flyes super setted with side raises.

1 mile walk to warm up, 1+ mile to cool down and for some extra LISS, and all is good, Jack!

----------


## Cylon357

> That was one hell of a workout. A lot people stomach's would have turned green after all that leg work: weights, bodyweight and high intensity cardio.


It was close for a minute!

----------


## Ghostman_SW

Do you use a fitness tracker or a smartwatch?

----------


## Cylon357

> Do you use a fitness tracker or a smartwatch?


I use a Fitbit.

----------


## Cylon357

Deadlift day today, giggity giggity!

Worked up to 3x5 for working sets, and then a fourth single at the same weight because I was just out of gas. These were legit raw lifts by the way, no wraps, no strap, no belt, nada.

Moved to barbell rows, 3x8.

And just like that, I was 30 minutes into my work out.

Did some front squats, light 1x8, then heavier 2x6.

Barbell calf raises 3x15, with calf raises with the farmers walk handles, 2x15 mixed in. 

That was it for the weights, but on this day, it was enough.

HIIT was going to be something different, but I ended up doing interval runs / sprints, 7 or 8 total intervals, anywhere from 2 minutes to 20 seconds work, 90 seconds to 2 minutes rest. Now, you might have watched me doing this and said "he looks like he is working hard but barely moving." To which I would respond a) you are not wrong, I'm no Usain Bolt and b) go have sex with a goat.  :Smilie:  Fast is relative, brothers and sisters, and my heart rate hit nearly 160 a time or two, so I'm going to say its all good!

Hopped in the pool to cool down, then grilled some burgers The Wife and I just finished enjoying. Life is good!

----------


## Ghostman_SW

> I use a Fitbit.


Fitbit Charge 5 and Sense here. The sleep tracking has really helped me focus on getting more and better quality sleep.

----------


## Cylon357

> Fitbit Charge 5 and Sense here. The sleep tracking has really helped me focus on getting more and better quality sleep.


I have the Charge 5, too. Definitely a neat little product. No need for the chest belt heart rate monitor, so yay!

----------


## Livingabetterlife

Super noobie question, but why clomid instead of trt?

----------


## Cylon357

> Super noobie question, but why clomid instead of trt?


Thats what the doc started me on. I wanted to give it a try, and did, I just couldn't get it or enclomiphene to live up to the hype. 

I'm on 20% compounded test cream now, with hcg . Just waiting on bloodwork to come back to see how that is treating me.

----------


## Livingabetterlife

> Thats what the doc started me on. I wanted to give it a try, and did, I just couldn't get it or enclomiphene to live up to the hype. 
> 
> I'm on 20% compounded test cream now, with hcg. Just waiting on bloodwork to come back to see how that is treating me.


Ok, cool. Thank you for explaining. I did read today a bunch of stories of Drs prescribing trt AND clomid, and that seemed to cause some negative side effects emotions wise. People feeling worst on trt and clomid vs just on trt

----------


## Cylon357

> Ok, cool. Thank you for explaining. I did read today a bunch of stories of Drs prescribing trt AND clomid, and that seemed to cause some negative side effects emotions wise. People feeling worst on trt and clomid vs just on trt


I have a write up on Enclomiphene (which is part of Clomid) that goes into a little detail on why clomid does what it does. I will include the link below.

TRT with Clomid (that is, both presribed testosterone and clomid) is a thing now and then, though I believe that is largely because a lot of docs are concerned about the availability of HCG since recent rulings in the US mean it isn't as readily available as it was. You can still get it, though. Anyhow, it is generally thought in the Iron Game that clomid will simply be overpowered by exogenous test and will only bring the negatives. I've not done bloodwork on that, though.

Link:
https://forums.steroid.com/hormone-r...formation.html

----------


## Cylon357

Overhead press day today. Got my 3x8 work sets and was feeling eh but also good, though I recognize that makes no sense. I did take about 3 mg Rad 140 as pre-workout so maybe that was helping.

Anyhow, moved on to dips, 3x8 no weight today. Did shrugs with the farmers walk handles, 90 lbs on each. I was going to do actual walks with them last night and did do calf raises with them yesterday, so they were already loaded up. 3x 12 to 15 on shrugs.

Tricep pushdowns super setted with ez curl bar curls, 3x10-15 each. Since I had the cables setup already, I did single arm cable flyes, 2x8 each side.

1 mile walk to warm up, 1+ to cool down and for LISS. 

I did a new to me peptide, post workout. I did 100mcg of PEG-MGF. That seemed to make me a little uncomfortable, though it could have just been low blood sugar from the workout. Still, not sure I will try it again. Maybe though, let see.

----------


## Ghostman_SW

Just read up on that peptide. Article recommended higher doses on off days and a four week run.

Hypoglycemia in animal testing. Perhaps a glucometer would help.

----------


## Cylon357

Brothers and Sisters, I have my first blood work on HCG and Test cream coming in. I will post up in the HRT section in detail but it looks good EXCEPT DHT is 3 times the normal range. Details forthcoming in the HRT section...

----------


## Cylon357

Here is the link to the bloods:

Also, my 5-alpha reductase can beat up your 5-alpha reductase 

 :LOL: 

https://forums.steroid.com/hormone-r...cream-hcg.html

----------


## Cylon357

Well, I'm feeling burned out, so I'm taking this week easy. I should have done two deloads back to back, but tried to muscle through and now the body is like "dammit, man, it's time to chill!"

And that is what I'm doing. A couple of walks so far this week, probably will hit some weights tomorrow.

I'm also debating the way forward on my trt. Can't continue with the cream without finasteride, and finasteride long term scares me. Decisions decisions...

Still, life is good!

----------


## wango

> Well, I'm feeling burned out, so I'm taking this week easy. I should have done two deloads back to back, but tried to muscle through and now the body is like "dammit, man, it's time to chill!"
> 
> And that is what I'm doing. A couple of walks so far this week, probably will hit some weights tomorrow.
> 
> I'm also debating the way forward on my trt. Can't continue with the cream without finasteride, and finasteride long term scares me. Decisions decisions...
> 
> Still, life is good!


You got to read your body & listen. 

Myself, have been on finasteride for 20+ years, it helped my hair and that trumps the fact that Ive grown a small tail from my lower back. Hey, priorities, you know? 

Give me pharmaceutical test and the sub-q is a piece of cake, not so with any other UGLs Ive used.

----------


## Cylon357

> You got to read your body & listen. 
> 
> Myself, have been on finasteride for 20+ years, it helped my hair and that trumps the fact that I’ve grown a small tail from my lower back. Hey, priorities, you know? 
> 
> Give me pharmaceutical test and the sub-q is a piece of cake, not so with any other UGLs I’ve used.


I actually seem to do better with over range DHT than I do with under range. Fina hammered my dht into the dirt in my first dance with it, but that was trying to nudge it down from 65 or so to 40'ish. It went to 12 and I felt horrible. 

That said, 215 is WAAAAAAYYYYYY out of range, so let's hammer that down by 75%! That would bring me into the 50s, which would be just fine.

You can take care of the tail with some toenail clippers, rubbing alcohol and a soldering iron. Who needs anesthesia, right?

Rock salt might work if you don't have rubbing alcohol.

 :Smilie:

----------


## Cylon357

Allright you hoo-uhrs, I'm back at it!!

Well, almost.

Took most of the last week off. Had a run / walk Friday morning, then worked around the house Saturday. 

Did a fasted 2 mile walk this morning, some grocery shopping, then some more work around the house and, da fuq is dis?? A second workout?? Hellz yeah! Another run / walk, heart rate got to 172 at one point. 

Some MORE house work, shower, and then the energy was gone. Almost a nap, but I futzed around for a bit, had some dinner (filet, sweet potatoes and sautéed mushrooms) that The Wife put together, and everything is chill, Jack!

Weight workouts start back in earnest tomorrow with everybody's favorite: squat day! Yay!

I also have my annual physical tomorrow, where I will ask the doc "the fudge you doing putting me on cream with all that 5-alpha reductase??" And we will talk about path forward.

That said, I do actually like the cream. It is easy and convenient, but man, I read that it converts to DHT at some thing like 2.5x more than injections. It might be something good to keep handy for travel, but probably not all the time. I will say that it works, anyone who says it doesn't hasn't seen the numbers. This is the 20% compounded cream, not the 1% gel. That gel couldn't do shit at 1%.

Life is good!

----------


## Cylon357

Squat day, huzzah! Yes, it is a day later than I planned, but that crazy funtime run walk go go Gadget Cylon thing on Sunday had me sore and tired Monday and I took the day.

But it was good to be back, Jack!

Squats started off, you know, with that "barbell" thing that is all the rage now. Was planning on keeping it light since I've sort of been off for two weeks. And I did keep it light, kind of. I did my normal work weight but for sets of 4, 4, 5 instead of 8 to 10. So, I count it as good return that won't have me cussin' out Lamont come Thursday.

Pullups were next, and I focused on keeping the rocking to a minimum. Did a little toe tap on the ground at the bottom to steady myself. Something like 4 sets of 6 to 8 with varying grips.

Calf work, again with that new age barbell thing. 3x20 with more weight than normal, so maybe I won't walk like Fred Sanford, but maybe more like Cotten Hill. You youngun's might not get those references, but hey, evidently "google" is a "thing", whatever all that noise means.

Lying leg curls, ohhhh, those felt good. 3x8-12.

That was it for the first day back. No HIIT, but like I said I did the go go Gadget... ah, you know what I did, on Sunday that involved a bit of _almost_ sprints, so I count it. Hey, this is my world, and I can do what I want.

About 3/4s of a mile to warm up, about a mile and half for LISS at the end. Then that hop in the pool, 78 degrees, BTW, so cool but not _too_ cool. Shower and now feeling the post workout feels and jabbering with you all, my fellow and favorite primates. Well, some of you are "favorite" primates, others just "fellow" primates. You know who you are.

The snark is strong with the post work out feels, but it's all in fun, y'all! If you read this far, you know this already!

----------


## Cylon357

BTW, stuffed peppers with ground turkey and rice, topped with some sort of cheese, was the protein source last night. Forgot to post this for you animals. 

Attachment 181941

----------


## Cylon357

Nice little bench workout at lunch today, quick but good.

Barbell bench started, got my work weight on that.

Did one set of dips 10 reps, then had an idea for a super set thing.

I super setted dips with pushups from the raised handles, with sets of 8, 7, 6 of each, about 90 seconds rest between sets. That was fire!

Skull crushers and dumbbell curls were next 3x10-12 of each.

2 sets of dbell flyes followed, one conventional for 10 reps. The second set was partials, sort of. Starting from the bottom position, I went to about 20 degrees, then back down, then to 45 degrees, back down and then finally all the way up (90 degrees). That was a rep. I did 4 of those for my second set. This, too, was fire. 

Half mile walk to warm up, very brief walk to cool down, then shower and back to work.

----------


## Cylon357

Oh my brothers and sisters, test test TESTIFY!

Good back workout today. The weight portion was so so, but I did HIIT too and it Was All Good.

Started with hyperextensions and reverse hypers. I've made the decision to cut back on deadlifting (officially) to maybe every other week or possibly every third week. We will see about that, but I did the hypers to warm the low back and get some reps.

Moved on to chinups, 3 sets wide parallel grip, 2 sets 45 degree underhand grip, 1 set narrow parallel grip. All sets were reps each, no weight.

Single arm dumbbell rows, 60s today 2 sets each side, 8 reps each. 

8 was not the number of the counting by design, but it does seem to be where I landed.

Moved on to barbell rows, cause I wasn't sure what else I wanted to do. 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps there.

Hip thrusters were last on the weight plate for today, 3 sets of 8 to 10.

HIIT was freestyled today and looked like this:
2 minutes hammer swings (that poor tire!)
1 minute rest
2 minutes consisting of:
- 10 kettle bell swings (THERE you are, snookums!)
- 10 kettle bell squats
- shadow boxing for the remaining time on each minute
1 minute rest

3 round (12 work minutes) total of those.

The kettle bell round was 10 swings, 10 squats, then shadow boxing for the remainder of the minute, so I did 2x swings, 2x squats, 2x boxing for each round.

For the hammer swings, I did do shadow boxing when I was feeling winded, so like 16 swings with the big hammer, 8 swings each hand with the little hammers, then if I was 'hitting peak heart rate', I would shadow box some to get my wind back. No half stepping allowed, but dang, man I thought I was going to yak a time or two.

BTW, swinging the little hammers actually seems to be helping me with my off hand coordination. Just an unexpected perk.

Grilling some chicken on the new grill... Friggin' grills, man, you can spend as much as you want. Ours is 'smart grill enabled', and of course, OF COURSE, I was like 'hey-oh, can we get the smart A** enabled grill?'

IDK, man. I'm chilling now for sure.  :Smilie:

----------


## wango

> Oh my brothers and sisters, test test TESTIFY!
> 
> Good back workout today. The weight portion was so so, but I did HIIT too and it Was All Good.
> 
> Started with hyperextensions and reverse hypers. I've made the decision to cut back on deadlifting (officially) to maybe every other week or possibly every third week. We will see about that, but I did the hypers to warm the low back and get some reps.
> 
> Moved on to chinups, 3 sets wide parallel grip, 2 sets 45 degree underhand grip, 1 set narrow parallel grip. All sets were reps each, no weight.
> 
> Single arm dumbbell rows, 60s today 2 sets each side, 8 reps each. 
> ...


Keep killing those workouts & grilling that chicken. NICE!

----------


## Cylon357

Shoulders today.

Started with barbell overhead press, 3x9 as work sets.

Wen to dips, 3x8, no weight today.

Super setted dumbbell bicep curls with narrow hand spacing push-ups, 3x12 each.

Wrapped with dumbbell laterals super setted with reverse laterals. 3x8 for each of those.

Half mile walk to warm up, 1.5 miles for cool down and liss and now I am done for the day!

----------


## Cylon357

OOGA BOOGA, JACK AND JILL, OOGA BOOGA BABY!!!

Squat day today, WHOOO!

Got the post workout feels, OH YEAH #MachoMan

Squats, with that whacky barbell thing (I think it is going to stay around), did like 6 total work sets, the middle 3 being 3x5 with minimal rest between sets. Didn't have 4x5 in me at that pace today, but getting back to it.

Barbell (there it is AGAIN!) calf raises followed, 3x15 to 20.

Leg curls with the BARBELL! No, I'm kidding, leg curls with the bench attachment, 3x10 but concentrated on feeling it.

Pull / chinups various grips 4x6

For cardio: 1/2 mile run, 1/4 mile walk, 1/8 mile fast run (7:30 pace, I had no clue I had it in me), followed by the rest of a mile and half walk to wrap the night.

#NoFredSanfordWalk #WellMaybe

----------


## Cylon357

Chest day today.

Walking like Fred Sanford, BTW. 

Barbell bench to start, got my work reps so I call that good.

I did incline bench next, 3x6.

Skull crushers and bicep curls followed, 3 sets each, 8 to 12 reps.

Dumbbell fyes to wrap it 3x8-10.

I actually did a little over 2 miles fasted LISS this morning, so I was expecting my strength to be down a little. It was, but not a lot. Anyhow, I did about 2 more miles between warm up and post workout LISS, then worked in the yard for just a few minutes. Knocked out 2x20 push-ups while waiting on one thing or another.

Should sleep well tonight!

----------


## Cylon357

Dupe

----------


## Cylon357

Had a little hiccup, scheduling wise and decided to resync my workout week. So, what better way to end Monday than with Squat Day!!

And there was little more than that today.

I did do barbell squats, 2x8, 1x12 work sets, then did barbell calf raises from a block, 3x15 to 20.

Leg extensions super setted with leg curls, 3x10-15 each.

That was it for the weights.

But then that HIIT'ish thing. Listen, I get that what I do is sometimes not true HIIT... tell you what, wankers that have a problem with it, give me a better term and I will use it. Kidding, but also kind of not, you know?  :Smilie: 

Anyhow 4 rounds today of:
2 minutes aerobic machine
6-8 pullups
15 kettlebell swings
1 minute rest

Each work portion of the rounds took 3 minutes on the dot.

The "aerobic machine" alternated between the treadmill and the climber in alternate rounds. 

I did a 5th bonus round consisting of 90 seconds treadmill, then 90 seconds climber. Dem kettle bell swings get me, man.

That's 15 total work minutes. That's not bad for after a fairly intense workout.

1/2 mile walk to warm up, about a mile as cool down, then hopped in the pool to cool down. Shower, protein and now logging this thing.

Life is good!

----------


## Ghostman_SW

I remember you mentioning doing a deload for a couple weeks. Do you eliminate all weights or just lighten up intensity and volume?

----------


## Cylon357

> I remember you mentioning doing a deload for a couple weeks. Do you eliminate all weights or just lighten up intensity and volume?


It depends. Sometimes, just lower volume and intensity, sometimes (2 times a year, maybe?) I just walk away. I'm 54 so even with some assistance, the body just needs the rest it needs.

----------


## Cylon357

BTW, I asked @Wango this question, so it only seems fair I should answer as well. My current protocol is pretty mild:

3 clicks of testosterone cream (2 am, 1 pm)
250-300iu HCG MWF
5mg anavar 
12.5 to 25mg proviron 

I am just conducting an experiment with the var. My sleep gets messed up with as little as 10mg per day, trying 5mg to see if it provides anything of benefit without messing up my sleep too much. Yes, I know that is a tiny dose, but even it seems to provide an extra kick in energy that messes with sleep just a hair. This will likely just be a 2 week experiment, unless I pull the plug before then.

The proviron I like as part of hrt, BUT I think it was acting as a bit of an AI before my last bloods. I may drop it and retest in 6 weeks or so. I don't seem to get the kick from it that a lot of people report, but if it were moving estrogen down some, that might explain it.

----------


## Ghostman_SW

> It depends. Sometimes, just lower volume and intensity, sometimes (2 times a year, maybe?) I just walk away. I'm 54 so even with some assistance, the body just needs the rest it needs.


I have an addictive personality so I usually have a hard time walking away completely and usually end up decreasing the intensity. Once my mid-40's went by, my body let me know to take a week or two at max off completely sometimes...hard for me to do but feel much better after actually doing it (mentally and physically).

----------


## Ghostman_SW

Your Fitbit should give you some good sleep feedback on Anavar 's (lowered dose) effect on your sleep. Good luck.

----------


## Cylon357

> Your Fitbit should give you some good sleep feedback on Anavar's (lowered dose) effect on your sleep. Good luck.


It does. The impact is slight but noticeable, even at 5mg. I'm going to run that for a bit to see if I adapt.

----------


## Cylon357

The FitBit thing is pretty handy. I'm not paying for "premium access" but still get some pretty good data on my workouts, this is from the HIIT from Monday night (Squat day).

----------


## Cylon357

Bench day, hurrah!

Pretty tame but a little intense workout.

Barbell bench, 2x6 for main work, then a drop weight wide grip set for 8.

Dips, 1x8 no weight, 1x8 with 25#, 1x12 with no weight. 

Super sets were next, yay!

Super setted skull crushers and close grip bench. Man, that one blows the triceps up, 2x10 on the skull crushers, 2x8 on the bench.

Super setted ez-curl bar bicep curls with dumbbell hammer curls, 2x10 each.

Super easy but stretchy set of flyes, 2x10.

1/2 mile walk to warm up, 2+ mile walk for LISS at the end. I'm sitting at 11k steps right now... Not quite @Wango territory today, but close! Hopped in the pool, got some protein and a shower, and now all is right in Cylon Town tonight!

----------


## Ghostman_SW

> The FitBit thing is pretty handy. I'm not paying for "premium access" but still get some pretty good data on my workouts, this is from the HIIT from Monday night (Squat day).
> 
> Attachment 181968


The only time I have premium is when I buy a new device and they give you 5 free months or something like that. The data is excellent but not for $10 or more a month. 

Sleep premium will break down your sleep score further into Time Asleep, Deep & REM, and Restoration.

----------


## Ghostman_SW

Do you have Mobile Track active on your Fitbit? Helps put some extra steps on when pushing a grocery cart, etc.

----------


## Cylon357

> The only time I have premium is when I buy a new device and they give you 5 free months or something like that. The data is excellent but not for $10 or more a month. 
> 
> Sleep premium will break down your sleep score further into Time Asleep, Deep & REM, and Restoration.


Mine does the breakdown without the premium. One of the views looks like this from last night. I normally get 7 and a half or 8, that little bit of var seems to throw it off just a bit.

----------


## Cylon357

> Do you have Mobile Track active on your Fitbit? Helps put some extra steps on when pushing a grocery cart, etc.


Oh my yes  I want ALL the steps! It doesn't do a great job in the house, but outside it is pretty spot on. In the grocery seems to work well, too, must be something about the concrete block walls they build houses with here.

----------


## Cylon357

Neat little back workout tonight.

No deadlifts, maybe next week.

Started with pullups, 3x6-8 wide parallel grip, 2x6 closer 45 degree underhand grip, 1x6 wide grip.

Then setup the landmine setup for some rows. 3x10 close grip, 2x8 wide grip, 2x8 with alternating grip on the barbell itself, first the right hand on top, second set left hand on top.

Front squats, 1x6, 1x8 then 1x6 with more weight. Calf raises followed, 3x25.

Setup the cable rig and did one arm rows at about ribcage height, trying to really focus on pulling with the lats. 2x10 each side.

30 minute walk for LISS. Protein, shower and done.

----------


## Cylon357

Shoulders today. Had to keep it short... weekends go to fast (not that @Wango has that problem...)

Started with overhead presses got my 3x8 work sets in.

Moved to shrugs super setted with push-ups.

Triceps pushdowns super setted with ez curl bar curls, 3x10-12 each.

Cable flyes and reverse cable flyes, 2x10 each. Wrapped with dumbbell laterals, 2x10.

Upper body was looking pumped... well, pumped for me. I'll take it!

----------


## wango

> Shoulders today. Had to keep it short... weekends go to fast (not that @Wango has that problem...)
> 
> Started with overhead presses got my 3x8 work sets in.
> 
> Moved to shrugs super setted with push-ups.
> 
> Triceps pushdowns super setted with ez curl bar curls, 3x10-12 each.
> 
> Cable flyes and reverse cable flyes, 2x10 each. Wrapped with dumbbell laterals, 2x10.
> ...


Smiling ear to ear brother  :AaGreen22:  The wife and I practically pinch ourselves everyday to make sure; trust me, we dont take it for granted and truly count our blessings. 

Man, a pump is a pump sometimes. After scrubbing the shower, Ill peak in the bathroom mirror & check. Once, I was so proud, I went out to where my wife was sitting and showed her; she rolled her eyes, told me to not bother her and poof, pump was deflated.

----------


## Cylon357

> Smiling ear to ear brother  The wife and I practically pinch ourselves everyday to make sure; trust me, we don’t take it for granted and truly count our blessings. 
> 
> Man, a pump is a pump sometimes. After scrubbing the shower, I’ll peak in the bathroom mirror & check. Once, I was so proud, I went out to where my wife was sitting and showed her; *she rolled her eyes*, told me to not bother her and poof, pump was deflated.


Our wives must be related!

----------


## Cylon357

Squat workout yay!

I wanted to mix it up some today, so I started with barbell squats. Hey I said SOME, not a whole lot. Got my work sets there.

Set up the landmine and did some squats with that, facing the landmine attachment. Sort of like a front / hack squat blend, or maybe the same angle that you would hit a tackling dummy at. Well, that YOU might hit a tackling dummy at, I'm not hitting that sucker. 3x10

Since I had the landmine setup, I decided to do rows instead of pull-ups, and I think I got my form and grip right this time. Felt it GOOD in the lats and not at all in the low back. 3x10 

Calf raises, 3x20 followed. Then 2 sets each of leg extensions supered with leg curls, 10 to 15 reps each set.

LISS / MISS consisted of about of a mile jog a minute, walk a minute.

This grip turned upside worked well to get the lats. Very cool feel.

----------


## wango

> Squat workout yay!
> 
> I wanted to mix it up some today, so I started with barbell squats. Hey I said SOME, not a whole lot. Got my work sets there.
> 
> Set up the landmine and did some squats with that, facing the landmine attachment. Sort of like a front / hack squat blend, or maybe the same angle that you would hit a tackling dummy at. Well, that YOU might hit a tackling dummy at, I'm not hitting that sucker. 3x10
> 
> Since I had the landmine setup, I decided to do rows instead of pull-ups, and I think I got my form and grip right this time. Felt it GOOD in the lats and not at all in the low back. 3x10 
> 
> Calf raises, 3x20 followed. Then 2 sets each of leg extensions supered with leg curls, 10 to 15 reps each set.
> ...


The equipment keeps expanding. Do you have room for more, whats on the wishlist?

----------


## Cylon357

> The equipment keeps expanding. Do you have room for more, what’s on the wishlist?


I generally try to snap things up if a bargain becomes available. 

Not enough more room (yet) because The Wife wants us to have not 1 but 2 guest rooms. But, I think I can convince her that we could just use a Murphy bed in one of them, and move the aerobic equipment in there. Treadmill, climber and rowing machine. 

As far as what I would like, some sort of leg press attachment for my rack would do. I was designing one of my own and planning on building it from wood, with some config options for doing shrugs, hack squats, vertical leg presses, MAYBE some horizontal push pull stuff. It sounds way more advanced than it is lol! 

But then I decided to mock up the plans in metal and have a welder or machine shop take a look. That is still pending...

----------


## Cylon357

Bench day boogie time!

Note that this is a "bonus week", ie the fourth work week, so I'm rolling the dice on overdoing it, but cutting back on volume to get through it.

Anyhow, started with dumbbell bench press, 2x8, 1x6 work sets. Moved on to dips, 3x8, no weight.

Push-ups off the handles 3x12, followed by super sets of skull crushers and ezcurl bar curls, 2x10 each.

About a two mile walk for LISS, then chill time. HIIT will probably be on Saturday.

----------


## Cylon357

Back day, baby!

Reduced the volume but kept the intensity up. Week 4 almost done!

Started with pulldowns, 6x8-12, various grips, widths and weights. I had originally just wanted to do a few to warm the lats for chinups, but it was feeling fine so I went with it.

2 sets of chins followed, though not much in the tank, 2x6.

Set up that landmine thing and did rows. 6x8-12. The first two were testing out other grips, but I ended up using the same grip I did on Squat day. Oh actually I did so one extra set of both hands holding the barbell, 6 reps, 3 with right hand on top, 3 with left hand on top.

Believe it or not, that was it. My lats and uper back were fired up, and if this were week 1 or maybe even 3, I would have done some light leg work. But I knew I had yard work to do, and will be doing HIIT after shoulders tomorrow. 

I did get in 10k+ steps with the yard work BTW, so I'm calling that good enough for LISS.

----------


## wango

> Back day, baby!
> 
> Reduced the volume but kept the intensity up. Week 4 almost done!
> 
> Started with pulldowns, 6x8-12, various grips, widths and weights. I had originally just wanted to do a few to warm the lats for chinups, but it was feeling fine so I went with it.
> 
> 2 sets of chins followed, though not much in the tank, 2x6.
> 
> Set up that landmine thing and did rows. 6x8-12. The first two were testing out other grips, but I ended up using the same grip I did on Squat day. Oh actually I did so one extra set of both hands holding the barbell, 6 reps, 3 with right hand on top, 3 with left hand on top.
> ...


Darn tooting, yard work counts! What truly kicks my old ass is getting our shower perfectly clean. Thats almost an hour job there & way too much bending and shoulder work at awkward angles.

----------


## Cylon357

Shoulder workout today! Last day of week four!

Barbell overhead press to start, 3x7 work sets. 

Decided to keep it relatively easy with regard to the weights, so went to tricep pushdowns super setted with ezcurl bar curls, 3x10 to 12.

Cable flyes and cable reverse flyes followed, 3x8-12. Dumbbell laterals finished it, 2x8.

Then, the HIIT. 
2 minutes hammer work
1 minute rest
2 minutes shadow boxing
1 minute rest 

3 rounds of that, 12 work minutes.

The hammer tire work involved both the big and little hammers, and a new 40 pound slam ball. So 45 seconds with the big hammer, 45 seconds with the small ones, then 30 seconds with the ball.

Shadow boxing involved 50 seconds of shadow boxing, 15 push-ups then the remainder of the round in more shadow boxing.

Thought I was gonna die, but I didn't this time. And that was the end of week 4, woo hoo!

----------


## spywizard

have you tried static lifts for the overhead??? In a smith machine, load about 25% more than your PR... then get an assisted lift, (don't hold in lock out) then lower it counting to 12... if you can get to 12 you don't have enough weight on.. and for safety, obviously is why we use a machine... only do this 1x per week for 6 weeks, will push you through any sticking points..

----------


## Cylon357

> have you tried static lifts for the overhead??? In a smith machine, load about 25% more than your PR... then get an assisted lift, (don't hold in lock out) then lower it counting to 12... if you can get to 12 you don't have enough weight on.. and for safety, obviously is why we use a machine... only do this 1x per week for 6 weeks, will push you through any sticking points..


I have not tried that, at least not yet. I started moving more into isolation movements and focusing more on feel and "pump" than on the weights themselves. Old(er) joints just don't dig the poundage as much as younger. Plus, I work out almost exclusively at home and don't have a smith machine add on.... yet!  :Smilie:

----------


## spywizard

I hear you on the joints... I don't do heavy anymore either, still get the results i want, more lean and striated... healthier for me too..

----------


## Cylon357

So this has been an easy deload week so far.

I did about a 3 mile walk yesterday, and rode a bike for about 30 minutes today. Easy ride, no real intervals or anything. Then my crazy, supposed to be deloading a** went and said "dur, why me no jog half mile?" so I did that, too. Left calf kept cramping up,and that encouraged breaks, but there was only 3 and I kept them under 10 seconds each.

Weights tomorrow, maybe.

----------


## Cylon357

BTW, I had moved the cream dosage up to 3x a day,but I think I got too much PSA from that. Dropped it back down to 2x a day, and things improved in like 3 days. The cream does have a short half life (like 3 hours) but I would not have guessed DHT and PSA would come down that fast. It COULD have been a bout of prostatitis, though I usually have to hit that with antibiotics. 

I felt that extra bump of test though, especially in the libido department. From what I can tell, the cream brings more dht, less estrogen, at least as compared to injections. I've got some pharmacom test cyp I may experiment with shortly, either replacing the cream entirely or finding some best of both worlds approach. I suspect the former, but that cream is handy for traveling and what not.

----------


## Cylon357

Week 4 starts tomorrow, so I've been taking it somewhat easy. We did go look at some new cars for The Wife today, didn't buy anything yet.

But on the more interesting front, what the heck is Cylon up to tonight??



Details later....  :Smilie:

----------


## wango

> Week 4 starts tomorrow, so I've been taking it somewhat easy. We did go look at some new cars for The Wife today, didn't buy anything yet.
> 
> But on the more interesting front, what the heck is Cylon up to tonight??
> 
> 
> 
> Details later....


Nice gear! What ride are you buying for your queen?

----------


## Ghostman_SW

> Week 4 starts tomorrow, so I've been taking it somewhat easy. We did go look at some new cars for The Wife today, didn't buy anything yet.
> 
> But on the more interesting front, what the heck is Cylon up to tonight??
> 
> 
> 
> Details later....


Eager to see what you think about Pharmacom. Tried ordering over a week ago but their customer service is nonexistent right now.

----------


## Cylon357

> Nice gear! What ride are you buying for your queen?


She is looking at both the Acura TLX and the Audi A4. I personally wasn't blown away by either. She has a 20 year old Acura TL that still rides like a dream with a quarter of a million miles on it, but even for Honda / Acura, that mileage is starting to push it.

I gotta stop before I start saying things like "what's this 'hold the brake' thing?? In my day, if you took your foot off the brake, you went forward grumble grumble"

----------


## Cylon357

> Eager to see what you think about Pharmacom. Tried ordering over a week ago but their customer service is nonexistent right now.


If you got it from their store, then yeah, their comms are spotty, IIRC. Still, it did arrive. In fact, in my (limited) experience, it seems that most vendors comms are at best so-so.

----------


## Cylon357

> Nice gear! What ride are you buying for your queen?


And to expand on the gear part, I'm a bit paranoid after my first test injection left me with an infection. So, I'm filtering some into the sterile vial and going to draw from that for my first injection.

BTW, if you hear that GSO is easy to draw, eh, that depends. This doesnt seem like it to me, but I am used to water based goods. It took about 3 minutes to push 1.5 ml through a .1 micron sterile filter. Yeah, a bit overkill, but like I said, paranoid. That was with a 25g needle, though drawing didn't take nearly that long (but still a little bit)

#noob

----------


## Cylon357

> Eager to see what you think about Pharmacom. Tried ordering over a week ago but their customer service is nonexistent right now.


Just did my first low volume subq injection, just to test tolerance to the carrier and to see how well it does subq. .10 ml (25mg C) with a 1/2 ml 1/2" 27g insulin pin in the fat of the glute. We will see what we see...

Edit to add: drawing into the the insulin pin did seem easier than drawing into the 3ml syringe. Volume is a factor...

----------


## Ghostman_SW

> If you got it from their store, then yeah, their comms are spotty, IIRC. Still, it did arrive. In fact, in my (limited) experience, it seems that most vendors comms are at best so-so.


It took them 12 days just to respond but they finally have. That is a relief. Order is processing.

----------


## Ghostman_SW

> Just did my first low volume subq injection, just to test tolerance to the carrier and to see how well it does subq. .10 ml (25mg C) with a 1/2 ml 1/2" 27g insulin pin in the fat of the glute. We will see what we see...
> 
> Edit to add: drawing into the the insulin pin did seem easier than drawing into the 3ml syringe. Volume is a factor...


I based my purchase off your comments about using grape seed oil as the carrier.

----------


## Cylon357

> I based my purchase off your comments about using grape seed oil as the carrier.


MCT and GSO are supposed to be among the best tolerated. I THINK MCT may flow better than GSOin general,but I would bet that varies by vendor.

I'm going to see what the injection site looks like in the morning. That will be a good test. If no problems, then I will probably cut back on the cream and use 50 to 75 mg Test C per week with it. Work in progress though so if I need to pivot, that's what I will do.

----------


## wango

> And to expand on the gear part, I'm a bit paranoid after my first test injection left me with an infection. So, I'm filtering some into the sterile vial and going to draw from that for my first injection.
> 
> BTW, if you hear that GSO is easy to draw, eh, that depends. This doesnt seem like it to me, but I am used to water based goods. It took about 3 minutes to push 1.5 ml through a .1 micron sterile filter. Yeah, a bit overkill, but like I said, paranoid. That was with a 25g needle, though drawing didn't take nearly that long (but still a little bit)
> 
> #noob


Actually I got a new batch (new brand) of syringes & needles, that I swear Im having a hell of a time drawing just my test into, wtf. 

BTW, never liked the 3ml syringes myself, even when I was combining 3 compounds. Im a fan of 1 ml. With a 3/4 inch needle. For IM, its a breeze with pecs and delts & I still use it for Sub-Q.

----------


## Cylon357

Squat day, woo hoo!

First day back, and thus first day of week 1 of 3.

Squats, kept it easy'ish because I didn't work out last week much and don't want to be hobbled for several days. Anyhow, got my target with barbell squats.

Kept it in the rack and did calf raises, 3x20. They were firing tonight!

Leg extensions and leg curls, 2 sets each, 10 to 15 each set.

Then things got "interesting". By interesting, I mean "nobody gives a rats red rump about this".

Set up the land mine and did forward facing squats with the barbell first on one shoulder, then the other, 2x10. Left the setup and did rows with the narrow grip pulldown attachment under the barbell with a pad between it and the bar. 3x10. I did 2x6 pull-ups as well, lats were jabbering with me pretty good too.

Went out and slogged a mile in 11 minutes flat. I call it a victory today. Edit: my mile time was actually 10:23

Pool, shower and now enjoying some ground turkey tacos with The Wife.

And I will probably be Fred Sanford'ing around by Wednesday.

----------


## Cylon357

No reaction at the injection site this morning, BTW. No redness, no swelling, no lump. It was only .10 ml, but I will up that on Thursday to .15 or maybe .20 ml and see how that goes. It is Test C, so I can't say that I'm feeling anything from it yet, but lets see where we land in 4 to 6 weeks, should all go well. 

BTW, regarding my previous infection... I used a different lab that uses MCT oil. It was also a test prop / cyp blend and .30 ml, IIRC. I injected on Friday evening and by Saturday morning when I woke up, it had lumped up and gone red. By Sunday morning, the red sort of took on a checker board look, spread some and was warm / hot to the touch. I went to the minor med Sunday afternoon, and got some meds for a "b-12 shot gone wrong". Anyhow, antibiotics knocked it out in a couple of weeks. 

And that is the source of my paranoia lol!

It could be that had I taken the same precautions with the previous lab (filtering, starting with a smaller dose, just one ester, etc) that it would have been fine. But I don't want to have to filter the products I'm using. I bet that PharmaCom will be GTG without all the extra steps, like I said, just a bit paranoid right now.

----------


## Ghostman_SW

By starting with the lower dose, how would have it helped with the infection?

----------


## Cylon357

> By starting with the lower dose, how would have it helped with the infection?


I don't know that it would have, just speculation. Maybe lower volume would equal lower bacteria count and maybe that level, the body could have handled on its own?

I'm neither a doctor nor do I have a background in natural science, so it is possible I have no clue what I am talking about...

----------


## Cylon357

Bench day yay!

I have had a hard time getting a good start on week 1. First, I shifted from Sunday to Monday, not a crime in and of itself. Then yesterday I felt blah and moved Bench day to day. Still no crime, and I got back on track. I just felt like crap yesterday, who knows why.

Dumbbell bench to start. 3 work sets, 8, 5, 6 then 2x6 45 degree incline presses with my 8 flat weight.

Dips, 1x8, then 2x10. No weight and really got the outside of my upper pecs with these and the incline presses.

Skull crushers super setted with barbell curls, 3x10 each.

2 mile walk for LISS, then in the pool, shower, protein and chilling with you animals.

Life is groovy, baby!

----------


## Cylon357

To add, I will up my dose of the PharmaCom Test C to a .20ml (50mg) subq injection tomorrow morning. Again, I'm testing volume and reaction, likely to punt the cream for anything except travel. Cream just brings too much DHT.

BTW, I guess I am a "roided up freak" now. Test, proviron , anavar , hgh are all in my system at one time or another. I'm just doing two types of test (cream and C) right now with hcg , but once I get the protocol solidified a little more, I will add in some hgh again and maybe proviron on the regular.

----------


## Cylon357

I did my second subq shot of PharmCom's Test C this morning, no issues to report yet. This was .20ml which is 50mg. This volume seemed to sit in the body without issue - I couldn't even tell where it was after the injection. This carrier (GSO) seems to sit with me much better than the MCT I mentioned previously, though I recognize not all MCT (or GSO for that matter) is created equal.

Still doing two a day with the cream but over the next week or two I'm going to taper that down to first one a day, then probably just cut it off IF I decide I want to run the 2x week injections as my HRT instead of the cream. I will save the cream for when I travel, though, I think it makes a lot of sense. I may just stick with the cream and add low dose dutasteride (.1mg per week). What I have prescribed from the doc is actually in a gel cap form, so it should be relatively easy to blend with everclear. 

Eh, we will see where we land. Life is a journey, Jack, not a destination!

----------


## Cylon357

I thought I had added this already, but evidently not. I drew and injected the second injection with a 29g insulin pin. This was S L O W. The 27g I used for the first injection will likely be what I use going forward, but man, I did NOT feel that 29g needle. The logical thing to do is to find a 28g and give that a go, but I have something of a pin surplus right now, so I really should just use what I have.

Mild soreness this morning in the injection area, but no redness or swelling. I can't even feel a lump, which obviously is good. I might not notice the soreness if I didn't know I had done an injection in that spot. I'm calling the GSO good to go, at least after filtering. The next batch I filter, I will use a .22 micron pvdf or nylon filter and see how that works.

----------


## Cylon357

Quick back day today. By quick, I mean like 40 minutes, so there was no half stepping.

Started with pullups, various grips. 5x6, no weight.

Setup the land mine deal and did rows, 1x12, 2x10, 2x8, 2x5. Increasing weight and various grips here too.

Goblet squats super setted with kettlebell swings, 2x10 each. Calf raises with dumbbells, 2x20.

That was it today, just was time crunched. But, a good workout, even if quick, is better than nothing!

----------


## Cylon357

Shoulder workout today. Fun HIIT. Details follow...

Barbell overhead press starts it, 3 work sets after warm up sets. 9, 6, 6. Dips (unweighted) were next, sort of super setted with dumbbell shrugs 4 sets each, 8 - 10 for the dips, 15 for the shrugs.

Tricep pushdowns super setted with dumbbell curls, 3x15 on pushdowns, 3x12 for the curls.

Single arm cable flyes, 2x10 per side. Reverse cable laterals (for rear delts), 2x10, supered with dumbbell laterals 2x8.

That was it for the weights.

But that HIIT....

2 minutes hammering the tire
1 minute rest
2 minutes shadow boxing
1 minute rest

3 rounds, 12 work minutes. For the tire hammering, I did big hammer, little hammers, 40lb slam ball. The shadow boxing included a set of 15 pushups in the middle. 

Heart thumping, Jack!

Fun times, whooooooooooo!

----------


## Cylon357

BTW, did my 2nd injection of .20ml (50mg) of the Pharmacom Test C. Since I haven't cut back on the cream yet, that means I'm running REAL roughly about 170mg per week right now, though the C hasn't kicked in yet. Maybe I will just sort of blast like that, then cut the C out 4 weeks or so before next bloods. Or just tell the doc I want to swap to the needle. I back filled my pins (27g 1/2 inch) this morning and man, that fresh needle is some good sh!t, brothers!

I know what you are thinking: Damn, Cylon just figure your sh!t out, man! I hear you lol! But this is a good problem to have, man! In fact, of all the problems we can have, this is maybe the least like a problem. Like, oh, damn I don't know if I want to feel good from test cream or feel good from test injections or DO BOTH and feel boogie boogie boobie bopping awesome!

 :LOL:

----------


## Cylon357

Squat day, hooray!

Went a little heavier today than I have been. I was feeling a little burned out and rolled the dice on it being the same 3x8-10 scheme that I have been _sort of_ following for the past several months. Anyhow, work sets were 1x6, 1x3, 1x5 (with the same 1x3 weight), then 1x8 with the previous 1x6 weight. Took a little more weight off and did a couple of sets of front squats, 3x6, and wrapped with the same weight narrow stance set 1x8.

Moved to barbell calf raises, 3x15-20. I need a better way to do these. This is one of the 2, maybe 3, good uses of a smith machine. The Y that I used to go to had one and I could light these calves up with it. I was revisiting my wooden leg press plans, maybe I just need to get 'er done and use that for calf raises, too.

Anyhow, leg extensions and leg curls were next. I REALLY focused on the leg extensions - I wanted to feel it, Jack! Focused on curls too, it kind of helps when you can feel the hams sort of popping when you bring your legs up. 4x10-15 each.

Did hip thrusters / weighted bridges / whatever you want to call them off of the heavy bag, 2x10, 1x12 cause I was getting it on that last one!


My HIIT was a trusted stand by.

2 minutes treadmill jog / run
6 chin-ups
15 kettle bell swings
1 minute rest between rounds

4 total rounds. Which gives 12 work minutes, same as my hammer / shadow box routine. I need to get that up to 15 to 18 work minutes, I think, maybe by the end of the year. It can be challenging after a weight session.

Walked about a mile for LISS and to cool down. About a half mile to warm up before the weights, because I felt rain and was like 'awww hell, florida fixin' to storm on my head!' and cut it early.

Life really is good, y'all!

----------


## Cylon357

I am having zero issues with the Pharmacom Test, BTW, even sub-q. I have only done .20 ml and I did think I could feel it one day in one cheek, like a day after the injection, but then lost it. I haven't had any issues, so I'm calling it good.

I did filter some more test (this time with a .22 filter) and will see how it sits with that larger filter. Yeah, I know: paranoid much?? Didn't you see the part earlier where I said "yeah, I'm a bit paranoid"? No? Trust me, I did.  :Smilie: 

I also filtered some PC Masterone E. It looks a little less clear than the T, though I could be imagining it. I used the same .22 filter on it that I did on the test, I may re-filter with the .1 filter and see what is what.

----------


## Cylon357

Ok so I swear I checked this yesterday but maybe not. This is how it went:

Me: hmm, looks like some cloudy masteron 
The Vial: no, I just have some smudges on the outside.
Me: the mast isn't as clear as the test, what's up with that
The Vial: listen man, wipe down the outside
Me: shit, that sucks. I'm going to have to re filter
The Vial: Hey numb nuts! Wipe me off! Your clumsy fingerprints!
Me: well, I'll sleep on it
The Vial: goddammit why don't you do that?!?

This morning
Me: Hey, fingerprints! After I wipe them off, everything looks good.
The Vial: ...

So yeah looks ok now. They really were persistent prints,a casual wipe on the pants leg didn't get rid of them. Had to hold the vial in one hand and use an alcohol wipe then a paper towel. Looks good now.

So, who admits his dumbassery so you don't have to live through it yourself? That's right, this guy! The more you know....

 :Smilie:

----------


## wango

Its nice to know that Im not the only one that has conversations with himself and/or inanimate objects.

----------


## Cylon357

> It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one that has conversations with himself and/or inanimate objects.


I actually do that quite often. Makes The Wife nuts.

I acknowledge inspiration from your Pulp Fiction post for the screen play format  :Smilie:

----------


## wango

> I actually do that quite often. Makes The Wife nuts.
> 
> I acknowledge inspiration from your Pulp Fiction post for the screen play format


I provide the voices for all of our regular backyard residents. When Im hammered we have quite the conversations.

----------


## Cylon357

> I provide the voices for all of our regular backyard residents. When I’m hammered we have quite the conversations.


I can't say that I have never done this, or provided voices for our (at least semi) domesticated pets lol!

----------


## Cylon357

Got off work early for the long weekend, YAY! Bench workout came early!

Started with barbell bench, following the same technique today that I did with squats (going a little heavier than I have been). I think I got 3, 2 and 6 on my work sets. 

I tried to do decline presses, but my bench really doesn't work for that. I slide down the bench when I try to get the barbell out. Oh well...

Dips were next, and to be honest, I felt kind of out of gas at this point. I persevered and am glad I did. I did 3x12 with no weight, then 1x14 to really lay into the pecs / delts / tris. 

I thought about stopping, but started feeling it at this point and said 'lemme see what I got'. I ended up doing a tri set of sorts of dumbbell flyes, ez-curl bar curls, and skull crushers, 2x10 on the flyes, 2x10 on the curls, and 2x12-14 on the skull crushers.

1 mile walk to warm up, 1 mile to cool down.

All is well!

Enjoy the long weekend!

----------


## Cylon357

Deadlift day today, Action Jackson!

Yeahhhhhh, I said "deadlift". It's been a month, and that might be about right for how often I should do them right now.

Felt good to do some pulls. 4 work sets, normal weight for me.

Did barbell rows after, 3x10, semi super-setted with pull-ups. I say "semi" because I wasn't moving right from one to the other and also because I ran out of gas on the last pull up set. Like, nope, these lats are toast. I probably should have done them completely separately, but eh, live and learn.

3 sets of front squats, 6 reps each. 3 sets of barbell calf raises, 20 reps each.

HIIT consisted of "fast running" for one minute, then a walk for 1 minute. I say fast running because it isn't _really_ sprinting, but a good run clip, like maybe 8 minute mile. Well, at least the first 2 to 3 were. After that, the next 2 were slightly slower, and then the last two were 30 seconds each with 90 seconds rest. 8 total reps, I call it a win, my heart rate hit "peak" a few times but whatever man, the pool called my name and in I went pretty much straight from the cool down walk.

Had some leftover chicken and steak with rice and a bit of baked potato, plus about 1/4 slice of bacon. We had bacon wrapped filet Friday night, and the bacon didn't get quite done, so into the air fryer it went!

Brothers and sisters, life is good!

----------


## Cylon357

Hey, psst, y'all seem cool so listen up. I did a sub-q injection of PharmaCom's Masteron E Saturday morning. Small dose to start, like .10 ml (20mg). I'm thinking I may use it for estrogen control, or just test tolerance and maybe blast with it once I get everything really sorted out. I'm not getting the wood like I was, so maybe the injections are bringing my E up too much. Just something to keep an eye on.

Moved up to 50mg (25mg x 2) per day on Proviron for this week. That might be enough to get my E where I want it, but I am still doing both cream and 100mg test injection per week. BTW, I know this is what, week 3, maybe, of including the Test C, but I _think_ I can feel the effects of the roughly 170mg total test per week kicking in. I went after the weights today and felt good and strong.

Adding, I MAY do IM injections at some point, but due to "Infection Paranoia", I'm being super cautious. If I catch an infection in fatty tissue, eh, that sucks but in the muscle, that could suck worse. I'm becoming confident in PCs product, and suspect it would be fine right out of the bottle, just overly cautious due to an issue with another UGL.

Way too damn much info there, right? Like who cares? You do, baby! You must, if you read it all  :Smilie:

----------


## Ghostman_SW

> Hey, psst, y'all seem cool so listen up. I did a sub-q injection of PharmaCom's Masteron E Saturday morning. Small dose to start, like .10 ml (20mg). I'm thinking I may use it for estrogen control, or just test tolerance and maybe blast with it once I get everything really sorted out. I'm not getting the wood like I was, so maybe the injections are bringing my E up too much. Just something to keep an eye on.
> 
> Moved up to 50mg (25mg x 2) per day on Proviron for this week. That might be enough to get my E where I want it, but I am still doing both cream and 100mg test injection per week. BTW, I know this is what, week 3, maybe, of including the Test C, but I _think_ I can feel the effects of the roughly 170mg total test per week kicking in. I went after the weights today and felt good and strong.
> 
> Adding, I MAY do IM injections at some point, but due to "Infection Paranoia", I'm being super cautious. If I catch an infection in fatty tissue, eh, that sucks but in the muscle, that could suck worse. I'm becoming confident in PCs product, and suspect it would be fine right out of the bottle, just overly cautious due to an issue with another UGL.
> 
> Way too damn much info there, right? Like who cares? You do, baby! You must, if you read it all


Glad you mentioned about your current injection choice. I didn't want to derail your thread so was waiting for my opportunity to jump in. Interesting. 

The subq injections have to be less painful and easier to self administer. Why switch to back to IM?

Had a family member give me my first PC test e injection and no infection thankfully. Thank you for all the experiences you have shared.

----------


## Cylon357

> Glad you mentioned about your current injection choice. I didn't want to derail your thread so was waiting for my opportunity to jump in. Interesting. 
> 
> The subq injections have to be less painful and easier to self administer. Why switch to back to IM?
> 
> Had a family member give me my first PC test e injection and no infection thankfully. Thank you for all the experiences you have shared.


Never hesitate to jump right in with a question or comment in here, as long as it is even REMOTELY related to something discussed at some point, even all the way back to the beginning. This is more a running dialog than a strict log, per se.

Sub-q is virtually painless, especially with a fresh needle. I've never done IM, but leave it on the table as a possibility if I get to a point where volume is an issue.

Did .15ml (30mg) Mast E this morning, still assessing tolerance. I'll know more about that in the morning, though PC seems GTG. Also did a .22ml (55mg) test C injection yesterday, with a back filled 1cc 28g 8mm syringe. That's probably about as high a volume as I would go with an oil based compound with that short a needle. Still, it did work, so that's another of the "good to know" things.

----------


## Cylon357

Over head press day, you animal like people!

Started with barbell OHP, worked up a little heavier than I have been 2x6, 2x3, then 1x10 with my previous 6 rep weight.

Went to dips, unweighted, 3 sets, 12, 10, 10. Did push downs super setted with dumbbell curls, 3x10 to 15 on the pushdowns, 3x10 to 12 on the curls.

Cable flyes, alternated with cable rear delt laterals, 2x10 of each.

The "fun" thing of the night was the HIIT.

2 minutes hammer tire
1 minute rest
2 minutes hammer tire
1 minute rest
2 minutes shadow boxing
1 minute rest

2 rounds of that, so 4 rounds of tire hammering, 2 rounds of shadow boxing. Hammer swings were 10 each side with the big sledge, 10 each arm with the little hammers (though 4lb hammers aren't _exactly_ little) then the remaining round time with slams on the tire with a 40lb ball.

Shadow boxing was 1 minute shadow boxing, then 15 push ups, then the remaining round time shadow boxing.

I'll post up my heart rate chart in a few, though I got the "You're in Peak, slow your roll!" warning a couple of times.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, same to cool down, now I am chilling and should have no issues sleeping tonight!

----------


## Cylon357

Sometimes, the fitbit loses my heart rate signal. I'm guessing that is what happened with that valley in the middle. Still, I'll take the win, ie I will accept that I got through it without passing out, throwing up or falling down.

----------


## Ghostman_SW

> Never hesitate to jump right in with a question or comment in here, as long as it is even REMOTELY related to something discussed at some point, even all the way back to the beginning. This is more a running dialog than a strict log, per se.
> 
> Sub-q is virtually painless, especially with a fresh needle. I've never done IM, but leave it on the table as a possibility if I get to a point where volume is an issue.
> 
> Did .15ml (30mg) Mast E this morning, still assessing tolerance. I'll know more about that in the morning, though PC seems GTG. Also did a .22ml (55mg) test C injection yesterday, with a back filled 1cc 28g 8mm syringe. That's probably about as high a volume as I would go with an oil based compound with that short a needle. Still, it did work, so that's another of the "good to know" things.


Thank you. 
What sites do you use for the sub-q? Just the lower part of the abs?

For 1/2 ml of test, what g and length would you recommend?

----------


## Cylon357

> Thank you. 
> What sites (lower abdominal region) do you use for the sub-q?


I inject oil based in the glute region, water based in the abdomen, sometimes other spots. Water based stuff seems to go well anywhere for me.

----------


## Cylon357

> Thank you. 
> What sites do you use for the sub-q? Just the lower part of the abs?
> 
> For 1/2 ml of test, what g and length would you recommend?


Hey sorry missed the 1/2 ml test question. That volume may be a bit much for oil based compounds subq. I would split it up into 2 injections and do like .25 each spot. I got away with 8mm with .22ml, going straight in. 28g is about as small as I go with oils, 1/2" 27g back filled insulin pin works really well for me.

You could also just go IM in the delts with 1/2" to 5/8" depending on body fat levels. Fresh needles are key, back fill away!

How often are you injecting? That seems like a hefty TRT dose if more than once per week.

----------


## Cylon357

Took the day off today, just because I am stressed out about a pending interview. I made it to the final round of interviews with one of the FAANGs and have GOT to get my study game going.

Mind you, that isn't why I took the day off. I took the day off because I slept like crap last night worrying about the interview process. Today, The Wife and I made some decisions and my road is clear in that regard. And I will pick up with the start of week 3 tomorrow and get back in sync. I'll explain how week three could start on a Thursday or Friday later, too!  :Smilie:

----------


## Cylon357

And just as a BTW, nicked a blood vessel in my glute doing sub-q with the Test C. No big deal, I have a nice bruise that may spread over the next couple of days, but I massaged the area and applied pressure to move the oil around (to prevent lumping) and prevent more bruising / bleeding.

No @Wango, I will NOT be providing a pic of the area! For that, you have to go to https//www.onlyfans.com/Cylon357/LookAtThatBruisedAss #NotGayButSubscribersAre$$

JK, of course! It's all fun here!

 :LOL:

----------


## wango

LoL. Damn, I so much enjoy pics of festering wounds. Seriously though, good luck with your bruised and potentially lumpy butt.

----------


## Cylon357

> LoL. Damn, I so much enjoy pics of festering wounds. Seriously though, good luck with your bruised and potentially lumpy butt.


Oh I don't have jack on that lol! That's some bad ju-ju right there. MY bruise didn't even really spread, still about the size of a quarter.

I could kind of tell I met a little resistance when I was doing the shot and was like "Should I move around that vessel? Nah, fudge it, it just beeze that way sometimes!". A tiny bit sore but nothing to note other than the bruise.

----------


## Cylon357

Squat day, woo hoo!

What's that? Squat day on a Friday?? Yeah I switched to an EOD regimen instead of the 4 days a week. So far, it has improved how I feel, but I did just start week 3, so we will know more in about 8 6 days....


Anyhow, barbell squats to start with, got 1x6 with my goal weight. That was my goal, so went ahead and dropped down to get some reps, then some more to do a narrow stance set.

Calf raises with the barbell followed, 3 x 28 to 30. Pull-ups were next, 3x6 but focused on the motion and feeling it.

Leg curls and extensions followed, 3x10to15 each.

1 mile and change as LISS at the end. Shower food rest all good.

----------


## Cylon357

GOOD bench day today.

Barbell bench to start, big news there is that I got 1x8 with a weight I had been struggling to get 1x5 with. 

Maybe that Test C is starting to kick in?

Did 3x8 dumbbell incline press next, nothing special there.

Skull crushers semi super setted with barbell curls, 3x10-15 each. BTW, when I say "semi super setted", I really just mean that I alternated them, rather than a "pure" super set.

Did front raises with a short barbell, semi super setted (there it is again. Aren't you glad I explained it?) with dumbbell laterals, 3x10 of each.

3x10 light dumbbell flyes finished off the weights.

HIIT consisted of 5 rounds of hammer swings against the tire, with one round of shadow boxing for a total of six two minute rounds. The shadow boxing was at the 4th round, I sort of needed to "slow my roll".

About 3/4 of a mile to warm up, the same to cool down (though my heart rate was easily in the "fat burning" zone for the cool down) and then back to studying. Yeah, it's a drag. But, I'm getting a good review out of it and it WILL help with the interview with the FAANG, so there is that.

I just have about 3 weeks before the interview and about 50 hours of material. Gonna be busy, but I will get the workouts in!

----------


## Cylon357

Deadlift today, though maybe should have just made it a back day. I got 'er done, but felt like I could have been more efficient.

Deadlifts to start, worked up to 2x3 totally raw - no belt, wraps, straps, suits nothing.

Barbell rows were next, 3x8 and really focused on feeling it in the lats.

Chinups, my pretty damn vanilla 3x6. Grip was starting to go, so I did use the straps for the last set.

Front squats, light weight, 3x6-8, and barbell calf raises, 3x25-30 wrapped the weights.

.75 mile warm up walk, same to cool down then off to other business. I have ONE day left in week 3 and I'm still feeling pretty good!

----------


## Cylon357

BTW, I combined my .2ml Test C and .1ml Mast E in a single syringe and injected sub-q Monday morning. That is the largest oil based quantity I have injected to date and had ZERO problems with it: no lumping, no knots, no redness. This GSO from PharmaCom is SMOOTH. That's still the 50 mg Test C / 20 mg Mast E amounts... I know that amount of Mast isn't likely to do much, but I'm planning on upping it at some point in the near future. I'm just testing tolerance at this point.

In short, no issues with injecting .30 ml GSO (MAYBE a unit or two over) sub-q for me.

----------


## wango

> BTW, I combined my .2ml Test C and .1ml Mast E in a single syringe and injected sub-q Monday morning. That is the largest oil based quantity I have injected to date and had ZERO problems with it: no lumping, no knots, no redness. This GSO from PharmaCom is SMOOTH. That's still the 50 mg Test C / 20 mg Mast E amounts... I know that amount of Mast isn't likely to do much, but I'm planning on upping it at some point in the near future. I'm just testing tolerance at this point.
> 
> In short, no issues with injecting .30 ml GSO (MAYBE a unit or two over) sub-q for me.


Im an idiot apparently. I didnt know you could pin other compounds (other than test, HGH, HCG ) sub-Q?
 :Hmmmm:

----------


## Cylon357

> I’m an idiot apparently. I didn’t know you could pin other compounds (other than test, HGH, HCG ) sub-Q?


You are not an idiot. You CAN pin anything you want, any way you want. Some DO make for better routes, though individual response does vary. 

If it is in your body, it will either get absorbed or rejected. I know that you know this, so I'm kind of stating the obvious. Some compounds likely do absorb better IM vs subq, but I am far from the first to try masteron subq. No real reason for it, really, other than the my lab rattyness and the whole no scar tissue build up.

I will likely give IM a go when I get to larger volumes, or maybe prop estered compounds. Cause yo, at the end of the day, I'm all about dat lab rat life!

 :LOL:

----------


## Cylon357

To add, GSO does seem to be the most popular and well tolerated carrier oil for subq, followed by mct oil. Just putting that out there before I forget.

----------


## Cylon357

Overhead press day to wrap week 3.

Barbell overhead press to start, got my 3x6 work sets.

Shrugs and push-ups, 3x20 on shrugs 3x14 on push-ups. 

Pushdowns and dumbbell curls, 3x12 to 15 each.

I started the morning with fasted LISS, about 2 miles right after getting up, then maybe a total of 2 more bookending the weights. Sitting at 11k steps on the day, and watching football now!

----------


## Ghostman_SW

> Hey sorry missed the 1/2 ml test question. That volume may be a bit much for oil based compounds subq. I would split it up into 2 injections and do like .25 each spot. I got away with 8mm with .22ml, going straight in. 28g is about as small as I go with oils, 1/2" 27g back filled insulin pin works really well for me.
> 
> You could also just go IM in the delts with 1/2" to 5/8" depending on body fat levels. Fresh needles are key, back fill away!
> 
> How often are you injecting? That seems like a hefty TRT dose if more than once per week.


Just once per week.

----------


## Cylon357

> Just once per week.


Hmm, have you ever tried sub-q or more than one injection per week? .25 2x per week wouldn't be bad at all sub-q, or at least it hasn't for me.

----------


## Cylon357

I did say that Thursday was the end of week 3, but I did a little extra because my brain don't work right, I reckon.

I did a total of 2.5 miles yesterday, combo jog and walk.

Today I did just the hammer based heights, no weights.

8 total 2 minute rounds, 1 minute between rounds. Every third round was shadow boxing, so that meant I got 6 total hammer rounds, 2 total shadow boxing rounds.

NOW for real, the deload starts. I'm traveling this week, so it was good timing.

See ya in the funny papers!

----------


## Ghostman_SW

> Hmm, have you ever tried sub-q or more than one injection per week? .25 2x per week wouldn't be bad at all sub-q, or at least it hasn't for me.


I have not tried either yet. One IM injection at 150mg (1/2ml) per week for three weeks is all of my experience so far. 

The only sub-q injection I have given a family member is with a Victoza (pretty sure that is the name of the medicine) pen.

----------


## Cylon357

> I have not tried either yet. One IM injection at 150mg (1/2ml) per week for three weeks is all of my experience so far. 
> 
> The only sub-q injection I have given a family member is with a Victoza (pretty sure that is the name of the medicine) pen.


If you have done IM, you have done the hard part lol!

If you decide to try subq, check the carrier oil. GSO is good, mct oil is reported to be ok, cottonseed oil not so good a choice. PharmaCom is well tolerated by my body sub-q, and it is in GSO.

You also could try two IM injections per week. I'm just not a fan of once a week injections.

----------


## Ghostman_SW

> If you have done IM, you have done the hard part lol!
> 
> If you decide to try subq, check the carrier oil. GSO is good, mct oil is reported to be ok, cottonseed oil not so good a choice. PharmaCom is well tolerated by my body sub-q, and it is in GSO.
> 
> You also could try two IM injections per week. I'm just not a fan of once a week injections.


Twice a week for lessening possible side effects?

----------


## Cylon357

> Twice a week for lessening possible side effects?


Yes, exactly and as a bonus, you could try sub-q if you are of a mind to. More frequent injections leads to more stable levels (less peaks and valleys) and thus the potential for fewer sides.

----------


## Cylon357

Whoo, baby, the Boss is back!

Out of town for work all last week, so I got to use the treadmill and elliptical machines at the hotel, first thing in the mornings. Bleah, but it was a deload week so all good.

Also, fnck that Atlanta traffic.

But today, Jack, today started week 1. Ohhhhhhhh yeah! #MachoMan

Squat day, giggity giggity!

Started with barbell squats, 3x6 for work sets, then 1 wide set with lighter weight, 1 narrow set with the same weight, both 6 reps.

Leg extensions and Leg curls followed, 3x10 to 15 each.

Barbell calf raises, 3x20-25, good stuff.

A little light back work, pullups, 2x6, semi supersetted with one arm dumbbell rows, 2x8.

A combo jog and walk for a mile and a half for LISS.

All is good!

----------


## Cylon357

I upped my masteron EVER SO SLIGHTLY. Friday when I got home, I injected .15ml Test C with .15ml Mast E. I had been doing .20 and .10. The new dose is 37.5mg Test C with 30mg Mast E, plus the testosterone cream and HCG .

Maybe the Mast just needed bit to kick in, but man, Friday night / Saturday morning I had the "madera de la manana" ie morning wood. Like damn, brother what are you so riled up about? But I call it a good sign.

I get that it COULD be coincidence but also maybe not.

So that puts my weekly doses at something like 70mg Test from the cream, 75mg Test C from the PharmaCom, and 60mg Mast E, also from PharmaCom. Oh and also about 750iu hcg per week (3x250).

Just playing lab rat and trying to decide where I'm going to land. I'm pulling bloods in a week and change, we will see what it looks like.

----------


## Cylon357

Well, today was supposed to be bench / chest day.

But fucking Ian, man, fucking Ian.

Not causing any problems right now, but today was prep day. That means pulling all the outdoor stuff indoors and then helping some neighbors do the same thing. It was only 4 hours of work, but damn it wore me the hell out.

Tomorrow evening I think is when it supposed to start getting bad for us here in Orange county.

But, we did get through Irma with minimal problems so lets see what we see.

----------


## wango

> Well, today was supposed to be bench / chest day.
> 
> But fucking Ian, man, fucking Ian.
> 
> Not causing any problems right now, but today was prep day. That means pulling all the outdoor stuff indoors and then helping some neighbors do the same thing. It was only 4 hours of work, but damn it wore me the hell out.
> 
> Tomorrow evening I think is when it supposed to start getting bad for us here in Orange county.
> 
> But, we did get through Irma with minimal problems so lets see what we see.


Been thinking about you buddy. The wife & I wish you and yours the best.

----------


## Cylon357

Bench day today, huzzah!

Barbell bench to start, got my sets and reps. Going to up one of those soon.

Dips 3x10 with a slightly forward lean.

Skull crushers super setted with curl bar curls, 3x15 on crushers, 3x10 on curls.

Dumbbell flyes supered with laterals, 3x10 each.

No walking today, but off and on did work outside, in the rain. Some fun, but I wasn't outside long.

Still no huge impact, but sometime in the over night is when it is expected to be worse. We will see what see!

----------


## Cylon357

> Been thinking about you buddy. The wife & I wish you and yours the best.


We will almost certainly be ok. Maybe some light damage, but we will see. Right now, its windy and rainy, but nothing too bad just yet.

----------


## Cylon357

Made it through Ian! I think we had a couple of hours of Category 1 here, then it was downgraded to a TS around 5am, I think. Don't quote me on any of that.

And now it looks like the sun is trying to peek out. Friggin' Florida!  :Smilie:

----------


## wango

> Made it through Ian! I think we had a couple of hours of Category 1 here, then it was downgraded to a TS around 5am, I think. Don't quote me on any of that.
> 
> And now it looks like the sun is trying to peek out. Friggin' Florida!


Hell to the yeah  :AaGreen22:

----------


## spywizard

dude... snacking is the worst.. try avocado and chicken breast as a snack.. mmmmmm

iff you are cutting

----------


## Cylon357

> dude... *snacking is the worst*.. try avocado and chicken breast as a snack.. mmmmmm
> 
> iff you are cutting


True words right there, man! Especially working from home, it's like every damn food in the kitchen is calling to me sometimes lol

Avocado and chicken breast does sound good tho...

----------


## Cylon357

Back day baby!

Before I get into that tho, man I slept GOOD last night. It's funny what NOT having a hurricane raging outside will do for your sleep. Plus, our lawn guys handled the bulk of our clean up so they get a little something extra this month!

On to the workout...

Pulldowns started as warm up, 1x15, then 3x10. Moved on to pull ups, 4x8.

Did the landmine row thing, 3x10 with the handles pictured previously, and 2x8 with close grip handle.

Kettlebell squats 2x10, then 2x30 unweighted calf raises off the block, followed by one legged calf raises 1x15.

.75 mile walk to warm up, same to cool down, then out to dinner with some friends from across the pond!

----------


## Cylon357

Shoulder day today.

I had worked outside around the house earlier... Spent maybe 30 minutes on the roof blowing out the gutters and blowing the rest of the leaves off the roof. It was not that hot today, but man up on that dark shingle roof, it was toasty!

Anyhow, I was concerned I wouldn't be able to get a good workout in, because I felt a little dehydrated, but I did get in there and got something done.

Overhead press started us off. I got my work sets so I called that a win. 3x6 for the work sets, 2 warm up sets and one set for reps at the end.

Moved on to pushups from the handles, 3x15 with my feet slightly below horizontal. I'm trying to target the lower pecs and to that end, I tried a variation of an exercise AthleanX posted about. It is supposed to be a dip from a horizontal bar in front of you, but I couldn't get my balance right. So, I lowered the bar and kept my feet on the ground for stability. Imagine a REALLY front elevated pushup and you got it. 2x10 and could feel it.

Did some tricep pushdowns super setted with dumbbell curls, 2x12-15 for each. Switched out cable ends and did cable flyes 2x12, super setted with reverse delt flyes, 2x10.

Somewhere between a half and three quarter mile walk to warm up, then about 1.75 miles for LISS at the end. I was feeling a bit dehydrated on the second walk, but got home and had some protein, water, and just finished a turkey and roast beef wrap with spinach and homemade mayo. Good stuff!

----------


## Cylon357

Danggit, I forgot to mention: I found no damage when I walked the roof today. We got lucky with hurricane Ian, man, but I will take it!

----------


## Cylon357

Holy crap, brothers and sisters!

No workout today, but I finished up cleanup today. And I maintained the pool today, including cleaning the salt cell. That always makes me nervous because it involves about 4 cups of muriatic acid  :EEK!: 

Anyhow, I got in over 8800 steps on the lanai and roof alone. But this baby is clean now!

----------


## wango

> Holy crap, brothers and sisters!
> 
> No workout today, but I finished up cleanup today. And I maintained the pool today, including cleaning the salt cell. That always makes me nervous because it involves about 4 cups of muriatic acid 
> 
> Anyhow, I got in over 8800 steps on the lanai and roof alone. But this baby is clean now!


Sweet looking pool - congrats on the roof and surviving Ian!

----------


## Cylon357

> Sweet looking pool - congrats on the roof and surviving Ian!


Man, my thoughts and prayers really go out to the people that did not fare as well as we did. LOTS of people still without power and / or flooded out of their homes. It's enough to make us consider a different retirement friendly state! We are both still working, but can both work remotely, so warm climate, near the beach, no hurricanes and no income tax are our requirements. Let's see, that leaves.... sh!t, no states match. 

 :LOL:

----------


## Cylon357

Squat day to start week 2 yay!

I switched to an EOD workout scheme because 4 times a week was a _little_ much for me, when you factor in HIIT. But, I feel like the Test C and Mast have kicked in now, and that, combined with the test cream, has me feeling pretty damn good and recovering well.

Anyhow....

Squats to start, 3 work sets 9, 8, 7 with my last weeks 8 rep weight, I think. Strength is really starting to kick in well from the "blast", if you can call it that.

Leg extensions and leg curls 3x10 to 15 on the extensions, 3x8-12 on the curls, each with more weight than last week.

Hip thrusters off the heavy bag, 2 or 3 x 10, I can't remember set count on that.

Semi HIIT followed with 
2 minutes run on treadmill
6 pullups
15 kettle bell swings
1 minute rest

4 rounds tonight.... I MIGHT could have done 5 but I was a bit gassed and didn't want to over do it.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, 3/4 mile to cool down. I walked at night tonight and it was in the low 70s / upper 60s with a real mild breeze. That was very welcome. 

Yoga stretches, protein, 1/2 bagel with almond butter and a shower, now I am here with you crazy critters thinking about fritters! Not really thinking about fritters, just rando thought of a old horror movie called "Motel Hell" and the tagline goes something like "it takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent's Fritters!"

The sh!t that occupies space in my brain, man...  :Smilie:

----------


## Cylon357

Hey oooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Cylon back with bench day, whoo!

Barbell bench to start off, work sets were 8,5, 3. I shot my shot on the first set but it was good. I'm getting solid reps at the weight that just 3 months ago was 3 to 5 reps at best. I _almost_ went for 9 on that first one, and if I had realized 8 was going to gas me, I probably would have.

Dips followed, 4 sets 8 reps each, the middle two I added 25 lbs on.

I actually did 2x6 seated overhead press, but couldn't get it quite right. It was kind of a 'hey, why don't I do this?' thing, so IIWII.

Close grip bench, 2x8, then 2x12 skull crushers.

Dumbbell curls, 2x12, followed by barbell curls, 2x10.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, then a dedicated 2.25 for LISS. Kept my heart rate in the fat burning zone for that.

Shower, smoothie, chilling with you beasts. Life is good!

----------


## Cylon357

To add, I have bloodwork Friday morning. I'm presently doing:
1 click test cream 2x per day
75mg Test C per week
60mg Masteron E per week
12.5 mg proviron 2x per day
750 hcg per week (3x250iu)
10mg Nolvadex pre-emptively (though I did drop that about a week ago)

Test and Mast are from PharmaCom, and actually, so is the proviron. I have used Euro Pharmacies proviron, and have some of that on order. I like EPs better because it is 25mg where PCs is 50. Since I want to do 12.5mg at a time, and PCs tablets are small, it makes cutting them a PITA.

No AI. I will be interested in seeing where my E is. Part of the reason for doing the nolvadex is so that even at my higher bodyfat, I can let E run a little high. I don't really feel like it is - both proviron and masteron have some anti e properties, but it is good to know just in case.

BTW, Test and Mast are both injected sub-q twice a week, Monday night and Friday morning. .30ml total volume has not been a problem. Since I inject Friday mornings, this means I will be at a trough when I get blood drawn. Lets see what we see there!

----------


## Cylon357

Easy back day yesterday. 

I hadn't intended for it to be easy, I just ran out of gas. We had some friends drop by unexpectedly and that sort of threw a wrench in the works, but its all good.

Got in 4 sets of pullups, 8 sets of variations of the landmine row, and a couple of sets of calf raises.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, 3/4 for LISS at the end, and that is how it was that day.


BTW, bloodwork is starting to trickle in. I will post up numbers later, but the only thing of interest right now is PSA which is at 3.76 and range is < 4.00. Creeping up there, but I am cutting back on the cream effective yesterday to once a day, then eventually to none.

Oh, and my thyroid numbers look damn near perfect. More details once all the tests are in.

----------


## Cylon357

Overhead press day today. Still feeling a bit bleah, so I may up the test C and carry the cream for another week or 2 before I cut it back. The cream in in fast and out fast, like gone in less than 24 hours, depending on which research you trust. I suppose I could add some Prop to my protocol and drop the cream... I'll think about that. I just need a bridge, so no big deal.

Anyhow, got my barbell OP work in. Moved on to front elevated pushups 20, 15, 15. Varied my hand placement on that to really get the lower and outer pecs. Tricep pushdowns and barbell curls wrapped, 3x10-15 each.

Yeah, I know it was supposed to be EOD, but I was trying to get caught up. I will have a legit off day tomorrow, so it's all good.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, 3/4 mile to cool down, though I did do 6 rounds of hammer swings against the tire as HIIT'y wrapper before the cool down walk. Still kept my heart rate in the fat burning zone on the walk, so I'm calling that more LISS, not cool down. Hey, it's my rules :P

----------


## NiceGuyResearcher

> Overhead press day today. Still feeling a bit bleah, so I may up the test C and carry the cream for another week or 2 before I cut it back. The cream in in fast and out fast, like gone in less than 24 hours, depending on which research you trust. I suppose I could add some Prop to my protocol and drop the cream... I'll think about that. I just need a bridge, so no big deal.
> 
> Anyhow, got my barbell OP work in. Moved on to front elevated pushups 20, 15, 15. Varied my hand placement on that to really get the lower and outer pecs. Tricep pushdowns and barbell curls wrapped, 3x10-15 each.
> 
> Yeah, I know it was supposed to be EOD, but I was trying to get caught up. I will have a legit off day tomorrow, so it's all good.
> 
> 3/4 mile walk to warm up, 3/4 mile to cool down, though I did do 6 rounds of hammer swings against the tire as HIIT'y wrapper before the cool down walk. Still kept my heart rate in the fat burning zone on the walk, so I'm calling that more LISS, not cool down. Hey, it's my rules :P


I'm guessing you use Testim cream? Back in the day, I was told barry bonds used it to avoid a.a.s. test detection by MLB

----------


## Cylon357

> I'm guessing you use Testim cream? Back in the day, I was told barry bonds used it to avoid a.a.s. test detection by MLB


No, I believe that testim is a *gel*, not a cream, and also at best a 2% strength product. What I am using is a 20% *cream*, from a compounding pharmacy.

----------


## Cylon357

Squat day, my brethren and sisteren (??) to start week 3!

Barbell squats - short of it, I got 11 reps with my previous 9, 8, 7 rep weight. Was shooting for between 10 and 12, so I will take the split. I only had 2x6 left in me after that at the same weight, as I got gassed on that 11 repper. Weight wasn't as big a problem as huffing and puffing was. Breathing squats, anyone?

Calf work with the barbell, from the floor, 3x30 or more. I did not use a block, just focused on the upper part of the movement this time.

Barbell rows, 3x10. I would swear there was another exercise in there, but it escapes me now. It was intentionally low volume but intense as fudge all, I completed everything in about 45 minutes. 

LISS / MISS, not HIIT today, though I did do some interval work on the climber. It looked like:
5 minutes on the climber
1 minute rest
5 minutes on the treadmill
1 minute rest
5 minutes climber
1 minute rest
5 minutes treadmill
walking dead

20 total work minutes, and I did intervals on the climber. Man, talk about low impact! That is a sweet sweat machine. I hit peak a couple of times on the treadmill, though I was steady stating it.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, same to cool and for legit LISS, and now chillin' like a villain taking some penicillin. Or something like that. I don't know what kids say these days.

----------


## Obs

Damn I missed a lotta stuff

----------


## Cylon357

> Damn I missed a lotta stuff


Did you though lol?

Let me recap: 
"I picked up some weights and then set them down again"
"I did some other things as exercise"
"Sometimes, I thought I might puke, but (so far) haven't"
"I did some drugs, most of which were legal(ish)"
Some encouraging words from other members

That's it. In the immortal words of Peter Griffin:
"I just saved you two long, boobless hours"

 :LOL:

----------


## Cylon357

Bench day, baby!

I wasn't really feeling it, but man, once I got started I was on fire.

Barbell bench, got my previous 6 rep weight for 10 good reps. I was like "da fuq did that just happen?" And yeah, it did!

I super setted close grip bench 2x10 with ezcurl bar curls, 2x10. Then moved on to skull crushers supered with dumbbell curls, same sets and reps.

2x10 super light dumbbell flyes, 2x10. 

And that wrapped the with portion in this bench day of week 3. I was stoked!

3/4 mile walk to warm up, 2 miler for LISS at the end, then protein, shower and some football!

What's that? The Washington Commanders and the Chicago Bears? Yeesh! Eh, maybe they will be evenly matched...

----------


## Obs

> Did you though lol?
> 
> Let me recap: 
> "I picked up some weights and then set them down again"
> "I did some other things as exercise"
> "Sometimes, I thought I might puke, but (so far) haven't"
> "I did some drugs, most of which were legal(ish)"
> Some encouraging words from other members
> 
> ...


Lol!

----------


## Cylon357

BTW, the blood work I had drawn is mostly in. I'm just waiting on the E2 sensitive test to come in before I post up in the HRT section. Spoiler: everything looks pretty damn good, except DHT and AST. The AST is only 2 points over range, but that DHT is still up over 200. I know that is from the testosterone cream, but ... you know what? I'll babble all about that when I post up after the bloods are in.

I would be willing to bet that my E2 is low. I kind of feel a little less libido, and maybe my knees are a bit creaky. Low dose Mast and proviron both working on the E? We will see when that last blood test comes in!

----------


## Cylon357

> BTW, the blood work I had drawn is mostly in. I'm just waiting on the E2 sensitive test to come in before I post up in the HRT section. Spoiler: everything looks pretty damn good, except DHT and AST. The AST is only 2 points over range, but that DHT is still up over 200. I know that is from the testosterone cream, but ... you know what? I'll babble all about that when I post up after the bloods are in.
> 
> I would be willing to bet that my E2 is low. I kind of feel a little less libido, and maybe my knees are a bit creaky. Low dose Mast and proviron both working on the E? We will see when that last blood test comes in!


Holy guacamole, Mexican restaurant Batman! My E2 came in at 3. That's not a typo, it came in at three. More details when I post bloodwork up later...

----------


## wango

> Holy guacamole, Mexican restaurant Batman! My E2 came in at 3. That's not a typo, it came in at three. More details when I post bloodwork up later...


I swear, the first time I glanced at this I honestly thought, damn Im jealous; I really crave a good Mexican restaurant & guacamole right now - all I had was chicken and raw vegetables yesterday! 

Check out Mr. Anti-Estrogen man! Is that going to be a new Marvel superhero?

----------


## Cylon357

> I swear, the first time I glanced at this I honestly thought, damn I’m jealous; I really crave a good Mexican restaurant & guacamole right now - all I had was chicken and raw vegetables yesterday! 
> 
> Check out Mr. Anti-Estrogen man! Is that going to be a new Marvel superhero?


Ha, no, that actually was not on purpose. I'm guessing the combination of the proviron and masteron beat my estrogen into the dirt. 

But also, now I want a good taco or 14...

----------


## Cylon357

Blood work posted up here

----------


## Obs

> Blood work posted up here


Damn you're all healthy and shit. 
Doctors won't even tell me what's wrong with me they just say "bunch of stuff".

----------


## Cylon357

> Damn *you're all healthy* and shit.


You know, I'm pretty close. That DHT has to come down, so I'm dropping the cream in favor of the needle. That ought to trend PSA down some too.

Dropping the Mast and the proviron should bring my estrogen back up.

I'm modifying diet slightly for the AST, and adding tudca, though that minor blip was likely because of a week of eating and drinking too damn much. Dropping the proviron might help here, too.




> Doctors won't even tell me what's wrong with me they just say* "bunch of stuff"*.


Just tell them, start alphabetically, doc, I can take it! They charge by the visit, not by the hour, so you will get your money's worth out of that one!  :Smilie:

----------


## Cylon357

Deadlift / back day today. 

Would have been just back day, but I realized I hadn't done deadlifts in about a month. Did 4 sets conventional, and 1 lighter set sumo. Hell, all my sets were light, relatively speaking. 

On to barbell rows 2x10, super setted with chin ups, 2x6. No real rhyme or reason the the super setting, just looking to get through it.

Did front squats, 2x8, but had to force it, even with light weight. On to a sort of non stop triset for calfs: barbell raises, 2x30, raises, no weight off a block, 2x20, then single leg raises off the rack arm 2x15.

2x15 kettlebell swings wrapped the weights.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, 1.5 miles for LISS, shower, protein and now grilling some steaks!

----------


## Cylon357

Steaks just finished

----------


## Obs

> You know, I'm pretty close. That DHT has to come down, so I'm dropping the cream in favor of the needle. That ought to trend PSA down some too.
> 
> Dropping the Mast and the proviron should bring my estrogen back up.
> 
> I'm modifying diet slightly for the AST, and adding tudca, though that minor blip was likely because of a week of eating and drinking too damn much. Dropping the proviron might help here, too.
> 
> 
> 
> Just tell them, start alphabetically, doc, I can take it! They charge by the visit, not by the hour, so you will get your money's worth out of that one!


My doctor came in last time reading a clipboard and said it was "time for a prostate exam". 

Before he could look up I had my finger in his ass.

He said "WTF IM THE DOCTOR!"

I said yep you are important! I'm glad you weren't afraid to ask.

----------


## Cylon357

> My doctor came in last time reading a clipboard and said it was "time for a prostate exam". 
> 
> Before he could look up I had my finger in his ass.
> 
> He said "WTF IM THE DOCTOR!"
> 
> I said yep you are important! I'm glad you weren't afraid to ask.


I'm using this the next time my doc is like "time to take a look at the prostate"!

----------


## Cylon357

Yesterday had an over head press day to wrap week 3.

Barbell overhead press to start, duh! Got my work sets, then went for a little extra and it was not to be that day. It's ok, I got my numbers.

Dips were next, like 4x10 un weighted.

Did overhead tricep cable extensions, kind of like standing skull crushers. 1x10 with both hands, then 2x10 single arm. Super setted that with alternating dumbbell curls, 3x12 to 15.

Moved on to super sets of dumbbell laterals 2x10, with rear cable laterals, 2x10.

That wrapped the weights.

Moved outside and did...
2 minutes hammer swings on the tire
1 minute rest

6 rounds, and the progression typically looked like this:
8lb sledge 8 to 10 swings left, then the same to the right
Double 4lb hammers, one in each hand, 8 to 10 alternating swings
40lb slam ball over head slams on the tire to finish the round, anywhere from 5 to 8

I hit peak heart rate more than once. See, this is one of those instances where I was like "bleck ull garble must not puke or pass out!" And so far, so good.

3/4 mile walk to warm up and the same to cool down. Shower, football (Buffalo at KC) and The Wife made some chicken pesto penne pasta that was most excellent!

----------


## wango

Thanks for burning some energy for me as well. KC vs. Buffalo AND tasty chicken pesto is indeed most excellent!

----------


## Cylon357

Easy full body workout in this deload week. I took the opportunity to workout with The Wife. She has been doing well getting in cardio 4 mornings a week, and wanted to do something weight bearing. So, I just had her do what I do by and large, just with lots less weight.

BTW, she despises exercise, but does it anyhow. I am the other way: I like it and I do it because I like it. She was like "am I done yet?" about a half dozen times before we got through lol! It's all good though!

----------


## wango

> I'm using this the next time my doc is like "time to take a look at the prostate"!


Thankfully our docs dont do the finger thing routinely anymore  :AaGreen22:

----------


## Cylon357

Another super easy full body workout to wrap up deload week.

Nothing of interest to report there.

BUT I did order some stuff for the rack.

6 ft of 1.5 inch ID black plumbing pipe
Landmine attachment that connects to the rack upright
Linebacker landmine attachment

The last two are self explanatory, but the first one might need a bit of 'splaining.

My goal is to use the pipe as a pivot point for landmine work when I want it to be higher, like if I want to do calf raises or overhead presses. 

Eh, you know what? I will take some pics over the weekend. That will be a lot easier for all of us!  :Smilie: 

Oh yeah, had ground turkey tacos tonight. DAAAAMMMMNNNNN that is some good stuff!

----------


## Cylon357

I will post up action pics later, but for now, here is the pic of the iron pipe in place as a pivot for landmine work, with the idea that the barbell coming out of it can rest on a barbell laid across the front uprights of the rack. Well, actually, I will probably use the front barbell as a fail safe position and use jhooks as the starting point. 

Eh, better pics will make it more clear. I did paint all but the last foot of each end with rustoleum primer, then with plastidip. I MIGHT use this as a fat barbell, but we will see.

----------


## Cylon357

Squat day, Jack, to kick off the next 3 week cycle!

Jack and Jill went up the hill...

Ah dammit, sorry! My mind wandered for a minute. Where was I?

Oh yeah, squat day!

Barbell squats to start it off. I eventually worked up a little heavier than I have been going, just a little heavier, and kept it at 5 reps. I moved down to my previous 11 rep weight and hit that for 10... that was all in the tank for today. 6 total sets, maybe 50 total reps.

Barbell rows for the back. I really like doing those after either dead lifts or squats as the low back is already ready to go. 3x10 for the win.

Then I tried to setup the thing-a-ma-bob with the pipe pictured above. Short story: gonna need to monkey with it a bit. Did not use today, but it is coming.

Did calf raises, just grabbed a couple of 60s and did calf raises off the block. 3x20'ish or so.

Leg extensions semi-super setted with leg curls 4 sets of each, progressively heavier 8 to 15 reps.

Hip thrusters off the bag, 3x10 with a _little_ heavier weight.

No HIIT, but I did jog a half mile, walk 2 minutes, then jog another half for something resembling LISS (though I did hit peak heart rate towards the end, so maybe not entirely LISSy either).

Now, chilling and The Wife is making some shrimp penne pasta, very much like the chicken version she made last week. 

I WOULD watch football, but I think tonight's game will be... not good.

But life IS good, y'all!

----------


## Cylon357

Bench day today!

Barbell bench is my jam right now, went a little heavier than last week. Did my 10 rep weight for 5 as a warmup, then went up some more and hit a triple. A nice, solid triple, none of that "oh, damn I arched my back so far I'm doing decline bench press on a flat bench!!" stuff. Then dropped to my previous 5 weight and got a good 8.

Dips, no weight, but a variety of grips. 5x8-10

Dumbbell overhead press, 3x8. My shoulders were a bit fatigued from the bench and dips, though they weren't the primary targets.

Skull crushers super setted with bicep curls, 3x12-15 on the skull crushers, 3x10-12 on the curls.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, same to cool down. I did LISS yesterday (2mile fasted walk).

Tomorrow is an off day, but I may sneak in some LISS. I have deadlift / back day Thursday, and probably HIIT after that, so maybe tomorrow should be just a complete off day.

----------


## Cylon357

Back day, girls and boys!

Was not feeling it. I mistimed my meals but eh, I got in there and got some stuff done.

Deadlifts, just 3 sets to warm things up.

Then I set up the landmine thing and did like a total of ten sets of rows. That was "fun".

Moved to front squats, 3x6 with light weight. Also did 3x6 pullups.

3x15 kettlebell swings just to get the heart rate up.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, same for LISS and cool down.

Food, shower, football now.

----------


## Cylon357

BTW, this is one of the new landmine setup dealies I got. This one bolts to the rack and was on sale, so I struck. There is a knob on the bottom to hold the barbell in place. I will probably remount it so that the knob is on top, because I always get "righty tighty, lefty loosey" messed up unless I'm looking straight at the nut / knob in question.

----------


## Cylon357

Overhead press day yesterday, boo-ya!

Barbell over head press started things off, after warm ups, did 8, 6, 4 on my work weight. TBH, I was really just looking to get 1x8 out of it, so the 6 and 4 rep sets were bonuses. Dropped weight and did another 8 to 10 reps with that.

Dips were next, ended up doing no weight, but 5x8 to 10 with various grips. Worked in a couple of sets of pushups off the handles during those dips, 15 reps each set.

Shrugs were next, 3x15. Nothing special there.

Tricep pushdowns 3x15, super setted with dumbbell curls, 3x10.

Kept the cable setup and did 3x10 reverse delt flyes, super setted with dumbbell lateral raises, 3x10 as well.

2 sets of cable flyes finished out the weights, 10 reps each.

HIIT (and yeah, I'm going to go ahead and call it HIIT today) consisted of:
2 minutes hammer swings on the tire
1 minute rest
2 minutes shadow boxing
1 minute rest
2 minutes hammer swings
1 minute rest
2 minute run
1 minute rest

2 rounds of that, so a total of 8 work rounds (16 minutes). 16 minutes doesn't sound like much, but damn, my heart rate was peaking a time or two.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, 3/4 mile to cool down and life was good.

Had a party last night (not a Halloween party), had some good steaks, pasta, salads and a bunch of stuff. Slept until 11am and feeling fine now.

F*cked that diet up, but it's all good, Jack! Life is a marathon, not a sprint, despite our aversion to cardio.  :Smilie:

----------


## wango

Slept till 11 ?!? Damn, one hell of a party!

Hell yeah its a marathon, YOLO!

----------


## Cylon357

Squat day tonight, on Halloween. Oooh Scarey BOO!  :AaDracula Anim: 

Barbell squat, kept it moderate, 10, 8, 6 for my work sets. 

3! 3 work sets of squats ha ha ha! #TheCount

Damn, that's the wrong vampire. Or maybe the right one, IDK.

Anyhow...

Then I set up the bad mamma jamma you see below.

I did 3 sets of front facing squats, then a couple of rear facing hack squats, then like 3 sets of calf raises. The calf raises were fire, ladies and germs!

Pulled off the linebacker squat thing and did land mine rows, 3x10 with a narrow grip, then added an attachment on the end and did one arm rows, 1x10 each side.

Leg curls, 2x10, then leg extensions, 1x12. Did that twice, so 4 sets of curls, 2 sets of extensions. Rationale being that the quads are probably beat up pretty good, while the hammies could use the extra attention.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, no cool down or HIIT today. I was wiped.

This is the thing that will cause me (that sweet) pain. I just need to get used to it, and figure out how to secure it well.

----------


## Cylon357

> Slept till 11 ?!? Damn, one hell of a party!
> 
> Hell yeah it’s a marathon, YOLO!


I turned the light out a 1am and had consumed... not a large quantity of alcohol, but not a small amount, either. Maybe the equivalent of 3 mixed drinks, so my sleep wasn't perfect, but it seemed to really get good around 4am and I slept like a log.

According the the fitbit, I burned a little over 3k calories on Saturday, what with the HIIT, walking, weights etc. I normally burn about 2800 on days that I do weights and HIIT together, so that was a particularly strenuous day!

----------


## wango

> I turned the light out a 1am and had consumed... not a large quantity of alcohol, but not a small amount, either. Maybe the equivalent of 3 mixed drinks, so my sleep wasn't perfect, but it seemed to really get good around 4am and I slept like a log.
> 
> According the the fitbit, I burned a little over 3k calories on Saturday, what with the HIIT, walking, weights etc. I normally burn about 2800 on days that I do weights and HIIT together, so that was a particularly strenuous day!


That’s some righteous expenditures there!

----------


## Cylon357

Bench day, Jack-a-lopes!

And Jill-a-lopes, too, I suppose. Though lets be real: the Jill-a-lope is even more elusive than the Jack-a-lope. Still, better safe than sorry...

Work sets were 2x8 with my previous 10 rep weight. That's ok, I probably could have got 10 and then been done. I'll take the extra reps.

Did some close grip bench presses super setted with tricep kickbacks, 2 sets each, 2x8 on the close grip, 2x10 (each arm) on the kickbacks. Eh, I gave them a shot.

Setup the cable for sort of a chest high pull to do reverse delt flyes and calbe flyes. 3x10 of each I think.

Moved to the landmine setup and did one arm shoulder presses, 2x8 each arm.

Can't remember what else there was. 3/4 mile walk to warm up, 3/4 mile to cool down and as LISS.

----------


## Cylon357

I took yesterday off, just because I was feeling bleah, but made up for it today with the postponed back day.

Deadlifts started us off, _really_ just to warm things up. 4 total sets, kept it light, 6, 6, 5, 5. I've never been a fan of high rep deadlifts, the sloppy form that comes as you get tired has some potentially dire consequences, IMO.

Moved to barbell rows, 10, 6, 6, 8. The 6 rep sets were with a bit heavier weight than I normally use. And I have said many times that I love deadlifts followed by barbell rows, so I was a happy camper.

Setup the cable deal and did lat pull downs, 4x12. Two sets with a wide handle, 2 sets with a narrow handle. I was really feeling it in the lats, with the rows and the pull downs. I WANT TO BE SORE!!!

Did 3x6 front squats, then 3x30 calf raises. That was it for the weights.

LISS/MISS consisted of 2 minute runs, 1 minute rest for 8 rounds. I got to run outside, so that was cool. About 3/4 mile walk to cool down.

Now fixing to cook some salmon and other stuff. Should be tasty!

----------


## Cylon357

Overhead press day. I have gotten to where I do not like doing back to back weight workouts, but this let me get back on track, schedule wise.

Over head press to start, 3x8 work sets.

Skull crushers super setted with ez curl bar curs, 3x12 on crushers, 3x10-12 on the curls.

Trifecta of lateral raisers, rear delt raises, and dumbbell flyes. 3x10 of each.

3 sets of hammer swings to be something like HIIT, but I was beat from yesterday, so that was all I had today.

About 2 mile walk for LISS to wrap things.

----------


## Cylon357

Squat day to kick off week 3, by your command.

The F? By MY COMMAND, mf'er!

Anyhow...

Work sets were 12, 9, 6 with the same weight that I did 10, 8, 6 with the week before. I call it progress.

And holy guacamole, man-bat, the word for those sets, with the weight I chose is "breathing squats". Yeah, that's two words but you get the point. MAAAANNNNNNNNN, huffing and puffing don't describe it. It was a toss up if my CV system would give up before the muscle did, and it was too close to call.

So, of course, I'm shooting for 1x20 with that weight by the end of January, MAYBE end of December, but we will see. Somethin' broke in my head, I reckon.

Did some various grip pull ups and chin ups 5x6 total. Between sets, I worked on setting up the linebacker squat dilly-o and kept slack time to a minimum.

Did 3x6 linebacker squats facing forward, followed by 3x30 calf raises off the block with the same setup. I imagine that I would have more in me IF I didn't kill myself with squats before hand, but eh, that's how I roll, Jaques!

Setup the bench and did 4x10-12 on leg extensions, super setted with 4x10-12 leg curls. REALLY focused on feeling the curls. Probably going to be all locked up by Wednesday, but that is part of This Thing We Do.

Because apparently my brain REALLY don't work right, I did 2x20 kettle bell swings. At this point, I was well past concern about puking, so I decided to just do it. "Just Do It"... hey, that's pretty cool. Someone should make that a catch phrase or ad slogan or something.

I got in almost a mile walk to warm up, but did not get my cool down walk because of Nicole bringing the rain. That bitch, you know she is just a real unt-kay. Like Ian wasn't bad enough, that uck-fay ut-nay. Anyhow, it's just as well, I guess. I did not need the LISS as I was huffing and puffing during the workout, and my shirt was soaked.

I did get my yoga stretches in, though, so that my reduce some of the Fred Sanford'ing that is surely coming my way. I mean, I can dream, right? I know I'm probably going be all stiff legged, gotta sort of slide onto the toilet to poop, type of sore, but goals, amiright??

Th th th th th that's all, folks!

----------


## Cylon357

Bench day, dudes and dudettes!

Started with barbell bench, worked up to 3, 2, 9, 6. 3, 9 and 6 rep sets were with the same weight, the 3 repper being a warm up. 2 repper was a bit more weight than I have been doing and even a year ago was my 1 rep max. So, progress!

Dips were next. 8, 8, 5, 10. No weight on sets 1 and 4, 25 on set 2, and 50 on set 3. I really wanted 6 on that set, but got to the bottom on 5 and was like nope. I'll take it all the same!

Skull crushers, super setted with ezcurl bar curls, 3x8-10 each. I did add some weight on sets 2 and 3 for some variety and additional stimuli, it seemed to work well.

Dumbbell laterals to finish, 2x10.

MISSy HIIT or HIITy MISS or just plain MISS was 8 rounds of 2 minutes shadow boxing, with footwork, 1 minute rest between rounds. I did not hit peak heart rate, but stayed about equally in fat burn and cardio zones.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, same to cool down and for LISS.

BTW, Nicole has taken her a** on down the road. Good riddance to that itch-bay!  :Smilie:

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## Cylon357

Back day today woo hoo!

Did pullups and chinups to start, 2x8 with palms facing at 45 degrees, medium width, 2x6 narrow parallel grip, then at the end of the work out 2x6 wide parallel grip. No weight, but I'm trying to get back to doing 10 easy before adding weight in again.

Did reverse hypers and hypers with no weight, 3x10 each. This was to warm the low back for....

Barbell rows! 2x10 light to warm up, 2x10 medium weight work sets. I really focused on pulling the arms back and getting full muscle involvement.

Shifted gears to 3x6 light front squats, then rigged up the line backer setup to do calf raises, 3 sets, 30, 25, 20 because the calves were fired up!

Tried something a little new to me: standing single arm cable pull downs. I was feeling it, oddly, like in the middle part of the back, towards the spine. Anyhow, 2x10 each side. Did face pulls, 2x10 and that wrapped the weights (except for those last two sets of chins mentioned previously).

3/4 mile walk to warm up, a good fast paced 2 mile walk for LISS at the end.

Tomorrow brings HIIT after over head press day to wrap week 3. Will I survive? Stay tuned to find out!

----------


## Cylon357

Over head press day, amigos!

Barbell OP started things out. I got sets of 4 and 3 with my previous 2 to 3 rep max. 

Went straight to dumbbell curls, 4x10, supered with pushdowns, 4x12.

Dumbbell laterals with the 20s, 3x10, focusing on feel.

Cable reverse delt work, 2x10, supered with cable flyes, 2x10. Wrapped with dumbbell flyes, 2x10.

About to walk a bit for LISS. No HIIT today, but maybe I will sneak in a session in the deload week, which starts now!

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## Cylon357

Aww, yeah! It's Saturday night and Cylon is BACK!!!

Squat day to kick off week 1 of the new 3 week cycle.

I got 14, 10, and 6 for my work sets with my previous 12 rep weight. Will I get 20 by the end of the year? IDK, probably not but maybe. Not being negative, just looking at the data. Anything after the 14 rep set was gravy, anyhow, but I'm counting it all.

Chin-ups medium / narrow grip palms facing me at a 45 degree angle, 2x8, then wide grip neutral hand position, 2x6.

Barbell calf raises, 30, 25, 25 off a block. 

Leg extensions and leg curls, 3x10-15 on the extensions, 3x10-12 on the curls. I went heavier on the curls to keep the hamstrings awake and so they wouldn't feel so neglected.

Seems like I am missing an exercise, because I had right at an hour in the workout. No dawdling between sets either, so maybe I am forgetting something, or maybe time flies when you are inflicting self pain.

MISS with intervals
3 minutes run on treadmill
1 minute rest
3 minutes on the climber
1 minute rest

3 rounds so 18 total work minutes. I did intervals on all but the first set. My normal jog / run speed is 6 miles an hour (10:00 pace) but my intervals were at 8 miles an hour (7:30 pace) and 9 miles an hour (6:40 pace), maybe a total of six intervals, only one at the fastest pace. I did interval work on the climber, but it doesn't really tell me much. I can tell by my effort, breathing and sweat. Anyhow, I didn't die in any of this, though I did hit peak heart rate a time or two during the intervals. 

3/4 mile walk to warm up, 1/2 mile to cool down. The Wife put together some turkey burgers (yeah, we like that Costco ground turkey) and I cooked them on the grill. Man, good damn stuff!

----------


## Cylon357

I also had blood work done on Friday. This would be about 6 weeks on just 125mg Test C from Pharmacom and 750-800iu hcg per week. No creams, no orals, just those two things. About 3 weeks ago, the libido was kicking, but kind of tamed down a bit lately. Still good, just not "I'm gonna f*ck a hole in the wall!" type. I suspected the E has come up a bit much, BUT today got partial results. Hematocrit and hemoglobin both are slightly over range, so blood donation is in my near future. I will post up more in the HRT when I get the blood work in completely.

----------


## Cylon357

Bench day.

Barbell bench. Worked up to 3 work sets of 8, 6 and 4 with my current working weight. I got 9 reps the week before, maybe I had it in me again, but I did do the additional 2 sets, so I more than made up the volume. Dropped weight and did 2 wide grip sets, 8 reps each.

Kept the weight the same and did 2x8 narrow grip, super setted with dumbbell curls, 2x12. Then did skull crushers, 2x10, super setted with ezcurl bar curls, 2x8.

Did 3 sets of light overhead presses with the dumbbells, 12 reps each. Side laterals with the same weight, 2x10, then finally dumbbell flyes, 2x10.

About 3/4 mile walk to warm up, almost 2 miles at the end for LISS. No HIIT tonight, but I am playing some LISS followed by some shadow boxing tomorrow, lets see how it plays out.

----------


## Cylon357

Got in some LISS and MISS today with a walk run combo, 1 minute walk, 2 minutes run. 6 rounds of that. Next up, and I mean right up, was 3 rounds of 2 minutes shadow boxing, 1 minute between rounds. 

Nothing fancy but got the heart rate up.

----------


## Cylon357

Back day today!

Not deadlift, back day.

Started with pulldowns 6x12. 2 sets wide grip, 2 sets medium parallel grip, 2 sets narrow grip.

Went to landmine rows, 6x10 to 12. I really started feeling it when I dropped the weight and focused on _squeezing_ the lats back. Dropped weight and did one set each side of one arm rows.

Front squat, 3x6 to 10. I did one light 10 rep set, then 2 heavier 6 rep sets.

Barbell calf raises off the block, 30, 25, 25. Fire!

Setup the low cable deal and did standing rows from the low pulley, 3x10, with the medium parallel grip bar. Not sure I like those, but let me get back to you tomorrow.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, same to cool down! Had a turkey burger (goddang, those things are tasty), not chilling.

BTW, still waiting on the rest of my blood work to come in. I _think_ that little bit of mast I was running doinked my liver numbers a bit, but I retest with the doc in about 6 weeks. Taking some oral glutathione and tudca to see if I can get those back in line. Anyhow, for the first time since starting H/TRT, my SHBG was mid range (30). I will post that up too... I am betting that my testosterone numbers come in high, but we will see.

Life is good!

----------


## Cylon357

Overhead press day, peeps! "Peeps" as in people, not peeps as in those marshmallow candy things. But you know what, don't let me tell you how to identify. If you feel like a small, yellow, squishy sugar based candy, you be you!

Barbell overhead press to start things. You know, I KNOW this lesson, but sometimes I need to be reminded: if you want to lift heavy, don't dick around with too many warm up sets. I got my warmups in, then instead of doing ANOTHER semi work set, jumped straight to my target weight for the day. 

In other words, quit flirting with the weights and get to work!

Anyhow, I got 2x6 with the weight that I had been getting 4 and 5 reps with. First set of 6 was good, solid reps, doable but definitely challenging. Second set of 6 was a bit more challenging and not _quite_ as tight a form. Still much better than what we see a lot of times, but I like to keep form nice and clean.

Dropped down to a lighter weight for a couple of sets of 10 to get some reps in.

Moved to dips, but man was not feeling it today. I actually faltered on one of the sets and nearly fell forward. On to other things...

Shrugs, loaded up the kettle bells with as much as they would take (60lbs each) and did sets of 20, 18, 18, 15. The first and last set were conventional reps, normal speed up and down. The 2 sets of 18 were 6 normal speed, 6 fast but clean, then 6 slow with a 2 second hold at the top. That was toasty.

Did skull crushers, super setted with dumbbell curls. 3x12 of skull crushers, 3x12 dumbbell curls. 

45 minutes, short, sweet and intense at times.

HIIT was
2 minutes hammer swings on the tire
1 minute rest
2 minutes hammer swings on the tire
1 minute rest
2 minutes jog
1 minute rest

3 "super rounds(?)" of that, so total of 12 minutes with the hammer, 6 minutes with the jogging. Still, that hammer thing... Dang, huffin' and puffin'. 

1/2 mile walk to warm up, same to cool down.

Went to some friends house for Thanksgiving. Ate too much, but not too too much. Also, did not drink. My AST was slightly elevated on my recent blood work (almost certainly due to Masteron use) so I don't want to stress the liver unnecessarily right now. And ugh, let me tell you about this oral glutathione liquid that I am using right now.... smells like.... damn, man, I don't even know how to describe it. Kind of rotten eggs meet kombucha. It does not TASTE that bad, surprisingly, but that may be because the smell preps you for worse. Also, I took the full dose (4ml) yesterday.... about 4 hours later when I pooped, it smelled exactly like the glutathione. Like damn, that was fast.

TMI? Sure why not?  :Smilie: 

Please enjoy the rest of turkey genocide day aka Thanksgiving!

----------


## Cylon357

Saturday Saturday Saturday Saturday Saturday Night's all right!

For a good squat workout that is!

Barbell squats started the day. Eh, let me just save the drama for yo' mama. I got 15 reps on my previous 14 rep weight. Jimminy Christmas poop on a poodle, I said this before, but it bears repeating. I think the issue is cardio vascular, not leg strength related. I felt like there might be another rep or two in the muscle, but man man man, I was huffing and puffing and heaving and weaving. Actually, I wasn't weaving until I finished the set, but I needed something to rhyme with heaving. Anyhow, I broke the set up into sort of subsets of 5 reps each. Do 5 reps, take an extra couple of breaths, do 5 more. The first 5 like that went fine. The second 5... well, I got to 3 reps of that before I was taking that extra couple of breaths... After about 11 total reps, it was pretty much extra breaths on every rep. But I did it. 

Because I'm sometimes dumber than a box of minerally deficient dirt, I went for another set of 10, got 8. I'll take that, too. BTW, the rest time between the 15 repper and the 8 repper was the length of AC/DCs "Who Made Who?" plus about 30 seconds. Just rando things I noticed...

I moved to barbell calf raises off the block, 3x25. Dropped some weight (and the barbell) and did barbell rows, 3x10 with a real focus on pulling back the arms and shoulder blades. I hope to feel that, say on Monday. 

Leg extensions and leg curls, 3x12 on extensions, 4x10 on the curls.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, about 1.5 miles to cool down. Grilled some burgers (ground round), had some fries (cheat night!!!) and also trying to get my iron levels up fast so I don't have to drive to the donation center and turn around and drive right back...

All in all though, I have nothing to complain about!

----------


## Cylon357

Bench day, beaches! 

Yes, you! You are all a bunch of sexy beaches!

Anyhoo...

Started with barbell bench, eventually got to my current "challenge" / work weight. Wasn't sure what I wanted to do... I had been going for 8 to 9 reps, but I was a little iffy about these EFFING STAB WOUNDS ON MY ARMS!!!!!! so, I kept the weight the same but did 3 sets of 6. Felt good, probably had a rep or two more in that first set, about 6 on the second one, and had to push for the last rep on the third set. It would be nice to have a spotter, but eh, it is what it is. Good feeling in the pecs, so I will take it.

Dropped weight and did two sets of narrow grip, focusing on keeping the elbows in closer to target the triceps more. Seemed to work but felt a little awkward.

On to dips, 3x8. I really wasn't feeling it tonight, but soldiered through.

Though not by much, I must admit.

3x12 pushdowns super setted with 3x10 dumbbell curls and that was pretty much it. No LISS or HIIT today, though I will get in a brisk walk in the morning. Well, I did do my warm up walk of about 3/4 mile, so I will count it.

All good in the hood, G!

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## Cylon357

Back day tonight, but I am hustling and bustling trying to get stuff done, so I kept it short.

Pull ups, 4x6.

Light deadlifts, 2x6.

Landmine rows, 4x8 to 10.

Front squats, light, 2x8.

Calf raises, 2x20.

That was it, other than a 3/4 mile warm up walk. I travel tomorrow, then will be doing overhead press day from somewhere in West Tennessee! I will tell you all about it!

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## wango

> Back day tonight, but I am hustling and bustling trying to get stuff done, so I kept it short.
> 
> Pull ups, 4x6.
> 
> Light deadlifts, 2x6.
> 
> Landmine rows, 4x8 to 10.
> 
> Front squats, light, 2x8.
> ...


Travel well & travel safely Cy - and of course, crush those overhead presses!

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## Cylon357

> Travel well & travel safely Cy - and of course, crush those overhead presses!


Gonna do my best on both accounts!

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## Cylon357

Over head press day.

Really wasn't exceptional as I was tired from travel and sleeping in a strange place.

Still I did get something done, and something is better than nothing.

Standard op workout for me, nothing really to report.

EXCEPT 

This was my first time in a commercial gym in 3 years. It was nice having access to all the machines. 

Oh, and apparently, short shorts are back in style with young (but legal) ladies. Like damn, I have underwear that is less revealing. That said, I'm not complaining...

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## wango

> Over head press day.
> 
> Really wasn't exceptional as I was tired from travel and sleeping in a strange place.
> 
> Still I did get something done, and something is better than nothing.
> 
> Standard op workout for me, nothing really to report.
> 
> EXCEPT 
> ...


Any butt-cheeks visible?

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## Cylon357

> Any butt-cheeks visible?


Not _quite_, butt (see what I did there?), man, it was close!

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## Cylon357

Squat day today, on the road in Northern Mississippi, woo!

Went to a local YMCA. Nice setup and not busy. Did my 15 rep weight for 2 sets of 10, les than 90 seconds between sets. I forgot my knee sleeves and haven't slept well, but I got those two good work sets, then a couple of sets of front squats. 

Did 3x5 pull-ups. Man, I have been sleeping like kah kah..

Finally did some leg presses, 3x10, lightish and varied foot placement. Did a couple of sets of calf raises on the leg press, that was noice!

Did some machine extensions, 3x12, followed by 3x10 leg curls. Did some abductors and adductors, 2x10 each super light. 

Wrapped with standing smith machine calf raises, 3x15. The fire, man!

Hit the treadmill for about a half mile to warm-up, nothing flowing to cool down, though I got some LISS in this morning on an easy "walk the dogs" walk.

All good in this hood!

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## Cylon357

First full day back in Central Florida and bench day was good!

Barbell bench, 2x8, 1x6 work sets with my 3x6 weight from a week ago. Man, at the beginning of the year, this was a 3 rep weight, so I am quite pleased. 

Note, however, that these weights are DISMAL, compared to my 20th century (that is, when I was a young man) weights. Eh, it is what it is!

Dropped weight, then did 2x8 wide grip. Used the same weight for 2x8 narrow grip bench, super setted with ez-curl bar curls, 2x10. Moved to skull crushers, 2x15, super setted with 2x12 dumbbell curls.

Did 2x15 dumbbell flyes, super setted with lateral raises, 2x10. 

3/4 mile walk to warm up, 2 miles for LISS at the end. 

Fun times!

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## Cylon357

Well, I guess the deload week starts early. Doc said "Bronchitis" take some antibiotics, prednisone, and cough syrup. Actually waiting on those.

Pisses me off because A) I'm sick and being all "cough cough hack oh look at that green blob" and B) I just got some new figure 8 lifting straps. They came in yesterday, and yesterday was _supposed_ to be back day. So perfect timing on B, shitty timing on A. Whenever I do my next back work (probably 10 days out or so, depending) I will test those out. They seem cool so far, and look like they will get set quick.

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## wango

> Well, I guess the deload week starts early. Doc said "Bronchitis" take some antibiotics, prednisone, and cough syrup. Actually waiting on those.
> 
> Pisses me off because A) I'm sick and being all "cough cough hack oh look at that green blob" and B) I just got some new figure 8 lifting straps. They came in yesterday, and yesterday was _supposed_ to be back day. So perfect timing on B, shitty timing on A. Whenever I do my next back work (probably 10 days out or so, depending) I will test those out. They seem cool so far, and look like they will get set quick.


Speedy recovery buddy. This flu season is going to continue to be butt-nasty. With luck youre 100% for the holidays and can start 2023 with a vengeance.

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## Cylon357

> Speedy recovery buddy. This flu season is going to continue to be butt-nasty. With luck you’re 100% for the holidays and can start 2023 with a vengeance.


That's the plan!

I'm slowly on the upward trend at the moment. The doc screwed up sending my prescription in, so it may be Monday morning before I get it, BUT I happened to have some prednisone and doxycycline in my stash. It worked out OK for now, but the doc will MOST DEFINITELY be getting an earful on Monday.

Planning on going to see Lewis Black in concert tonight... Wait, is "concert" the right term for a comedy show? IDK, but whatever it is, as long as I feel well enough, I will be there! Masked up, I guess, but planning on being there all the same.

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## Cylon357

Just an easy 1.5 mile walk tonight. Still have a little hacky cough, not too bad and getting better each day. I will probably lift weights super light tomorrow and see how things go from there.

T-t-t-t-hat's all, folks!

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## Cylon357

Ok uck-fay uts-nay, Big Daddy Cylon is back!

Well, not quite, but I did get a workout in today. Light and easy. Squats, chin ups, calf work, leg curls, bicep curls. That was it weight wise. 37 minutes and kept it nicely light. It is deload week anyhow, I GUESS (the bronchitis was like "aww mf'er, it's deload week for sure!"). But I am improving and hope that by next week I can get back at it properly.

I did do 3/4 mile warm up walk, with about 1.5 miles for LISS at the end. Somehow, I'm sitting at almost 11k steps, so I guess I am improving.

Just had some chicken, mixed veg and rice, and about to chill with The Wife for the rest of the night.

All-ay is-ay ood-gay!  :Smilie:

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## Cylon357

Alright alright alright, here we go again!

Second workout of the week since getting sick with the bronc'. Feeling better, but not yet 100%.

Did a Chest / shoulder workout, but really kept it simple. Barbell bench press, light dumbbell over head press, super setted with shrugs, then wrapping with skull crushers. I'm almost sure there was something else... 4 sets for everything, so 16 total and a relatively short 35 minute workout.

I DID feel pretty good, strength wise, though I know that if I really exerted myself, I would start breathing heavy and thus coughing to hack up a lung. Getting better though.

I also used the figure 8 loops on shrugs. It is a bit early to tell, but I _think_ that I am going to like them. I kept the shrugs lite'ish, the straps will really get put through their paces when I do rows, deads or maybe chin ups for the first time after getting over this bronchitis.

Everything is cool otherwise, ladies and gents!

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## Cylon357

Squat day! 

Still not _quite_ 100%, but doing much better. So, I took it a little easy, but more challenging than the off week. Instead of week 1 of a 3 week cycle, maybe it is like week 0 of a 4 week cycle. That is, this will be more than a deload, but less than a full week, and instead of doing 3 weeks, I will do 4, counting this one.

The fuck am I on about? Damn, Cylon, STFU!

Anyhow....

Squat, back to my 15 rep weight, but only did 2 sets of 10. The breathing was getting a little challenging with the last of the bronchitis lingering a bit, and ironically the low back seemed weak. But, I got 'em done and book it, Jack!

Calf raises, 2x25, 1x20. Chinups, 9, 6, 5.

Leg extensions 3x10-12, leg curls 3x8-15

2x15 kettlebell swings wrapped the weights.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, none to cool down, but I will get LISS in tomorrow.

All is good!

----------


## Cylon357

_In Joey Tribiani voice:_ "Bench day, baby!"

Started with barbell bench. Did my 8 rep weight for 2x6 and 1x5. It sucks not having a spotter, but my strength is coming back fine, and I am _almost_ 100% over the bronchitis. I will still take it easy'ish for the rest of this week, then make a decision on next week when it arrives (Tuesday, I think).

I ordered some of Titan's dumbell spotter rack components, they were interesting. I did 3 sets of light dumbbell incline presses. I think they will take some getting used to, but should be cool. Maybe more for flat bench, but lets see how it goes.

After that, it was a hodge podge. I did dumbbell curls, 3x12, but I did the first 5 with heavier weight, then dropped to lighter dbells and did 7 more. That was an interesting variation, I guess.

Did some dumbbell overhead presses, 3x8. Finished the weights with 3x10 skull crushers, super setted with pushups, 3x15.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, nothing to cool down. Heading into Christmas weekend just about ready to chill, though work did try to harsh my juju today. It's OK, we got this!

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## Cylon357

Also, I'm going tomorrow to try to donate blood again. Back to the same location, BUT I will ask for a different phlebotomist if I get the same one as last time. Lets see how it goes...

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## Cylon357

I got a good donation yesterday, yay! Oh and the phlebotomist was this early 20s Puerto Rican lady that was S M O K I N G hot. I'm normally a boob guy, but she had those hips, thighs and eyes...

----------


## Cylon357

Back workout today, woo!

Deadlifts, the first time in maybe a month? Kept it light 4x6 to 8. 

SORT of super setted barbell rows with chinups, 3x10 rows, 3x5 to 6 chinups.

Did some light hip thrusters off the heavy bag, 3x10.

Finished with 3x25 barbell calf raises.

Did about a 3/4 mile walk to warm up, nothing to cool down. This is the easy'ish week after the bronchitis, which is practically gone now, but not 100%.

And of course, Spotify served up a Christmas appropriate playlist:

----------


## wango

Pretty decent play list there; props for adding Slipknot and Anthrax. Whenever I see or hear Last in Line by Dio, I immediately think of a hilarious South Park episode.

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## Cylon357

> Pretty decent play list there; props for adding Slipknot and Anthrax. Whenever I see or hear Last in Line by Dio, I immediately think of a hilarious South Park episode.


With the Last in Line, take a listen to the Tenacious D version, which is pretty good. 

Also, when I hear Dio, I think Why The F do we still have Putin but had to give up RJD??

Hope you and yours are having a good Christmas! Shoulder workout on my agenda shortly, then heading to the Indian restaurant!

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## Cylon357

Got me a quick shoulder workout in today.

Barbell over head press, 3x8 work sets.

Dips, no weight, 3x8

Shrugs, 3x15, super setted with close grip pushups, 3x15.

Dumbbell curls, super setted with french presses, 3x12 each.

That's it! Well, I did do about a half mile walk to warm up.... It is in the 40s here, which is nearly fatally cold to Florida People!

----------


## Cylon357

Squat day yesterday! Boogie boogie!

I got 12 on my previous 15 rep weight... CV is still the issue here. My blood pressure has been running a bit high (135 - 142 over 70's), which I believe is impacting me some. I need to clean up my diet (it has gone to shit over the past 6 weeks), shed some weight and MAYBE take a look at my dose. I pulled blood work on 125mg Test C per week, but I had only adjusted up like 4 weeks before that, so MAYBE I didn't get good numbers. I did get a good donation in about a week ago, and that feels like it did help. At any rate, I have bloodwork with the doc coming up in a couple of weeks, lets see what it looks like.

I did go for a second set with that weight, but The Wife came in asking questions during the middle of the set. I'm like "damn, normals don't get it. Don't do that stuff". I got 10 out of that set, probably had another 12 at least but that got into my head.

Calf work was next, 4x20 just off the floor, that is no block. Seemed to really get the inner calves for some reason.

Land mine rows were next, Jill! I did like 5 sets of 8-10, just because I always have a hard time finding the right path and foot placement on the first couple of sets. Then I get it dialed in and can REALLY feel it.

Leg extensions, 3x10-15, alternated with leg curls, 4x8-12 wrapped the formal weights.

For LISSy / MISSy stuff after the workout, I did:

2 minutes treadmill run
6 pull ups
1 minute rest
2 minutes climber (with intervals)
15 kettle bell swings
1 minute rest

3 rounds of that, so like 21 work minutes total.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, then about 1/2 mile to cool down. I'm off this week, so I got to workout during daylight hours and the temp is coming back up... It was mid 60s during my walk. Very nice.

We went to Seasons 52 for The Wife's birthday after that. I had a "Kona Crusted Lamb Loin" that was fantastic. No leftovers!  :Smilie:

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## Cylon357

Bench day, huzzah!

Audibled at the time of barbell benching to go a _little_ heavier than I have been on my top sets, so did 2x2, then dropped down to my current working weight and did 1x9. Did I have triples in me on those 2x2? IDK, maybe. It's a bear to workout solo sometimes.... I could just get pinned and be done for. 

Anyhow, dropped weight a little more and did 2x10 close grip for the triceps, then 1x15, 1x10 skull crushers. Noice tricep pump!

Did ezcurl bar curls, 2x8 with the same skull crusher weight, genuinely super setted with light dumbbell curls, 2x8. Jeenkees!

Did some dumbbell laterals, 2x10, then wrapped with some dumbbell flyes, 2x10.

1/2 mile walk to warm up, 1 mile to cool down and for a lil' bit o' the LISS.

That's all I got today!

----------


## Cylon357

Deadlifts AGAIN today. That is two weeks in a row... are they back in the rotation?

Nah, but I do like working them into the routine on occasion.

Did deads, 3 warm up sets, only two work sets, but they were fairly intense as I hadn't gone quite this heavy in a bit. I did get to use the figure 8 lifting straps... They were interesting. Not sure I like them a LOT but they do set up nice and quick.

Barbell rows followed, 3x9. Love the dead lift / row combo.

3x6 chin ups, varied grips.

3x6 light front squats, 3x30 light calf raises.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, 1.5 to cool down. Showered, then enjoyed some "Hoppin' John" The Wife made. 

Happy New Year, brothers and sisters!

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## Cylon357

Took my first shot of PC Test C that I have NOT filtered today. That is, I drew a shot straight out of their vial, rather than filtering all of their product into a sterile vial and drawing from there. I was probably being overly cautious anyhow, but my previous experience with another UGL made me paranoid as hell. 24 hours should tell the tale...

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## Cylon357

Overhead press day today.

Did barbell over head presses, just didn't dilly dally getting to the work weight. 1x6, 1x4 heavy work sets, 2x8 lighter weight for the pump.

Dips followed, 3x8, no weight but tried some different hand placement.

Barbell shrugs, light'ish weight, 1x10, then added some weight and did 2x8. I don't normally do barbell shrugs because my donger gets in the way, but eh, I'm at home so I can work around it  :Smilie: 

Set up the pulley rig thing and did pushdowns super setted with barbell curls, 3x12 on the pushdowns, 3x8 on the curls.

Left the pulley rig in place and did sort of a tri-set of cable flyes, dumbell laterals and reverse cable flyes (_almost_ like a face pull). 2 rounds, various reps, though all were at least 10 each.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, 3/4 mile to cool down and now all is chill.

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## Cylon357

Oh and no reaction from the Test C, no bruise, sign of infection or lump. I guess I really was just being paranoid, but better safe than sorry, once bitten, twice shy etc.

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## Cylon357

Squat day AGAIN! This feels kind of like a shower: I do one every 8 days, whether I need it or not.

Anyhow...

Was looking to at least get back to 15, but man, I felt it not. I got to 6 on my first set and was like bleah, this must be week 3 (it is).

So, I audibled. 

Instead of doing 1x15, I said 'hmm, gotta be creative' and decided to do 8x3, every minute on the minute do a set of 3. What is left over is rest time, on the minute the, next set starts. I actually ended up doing *10x3* like that. First 6 were normal stance, 7 and 8 were narrow, and 9 and 10 were wider stance. I was huffing and puffing, not like the 1x15 has done me before, but still had a nice sweat and heart rate going. 

Did some barbell calf raises next, 3x20.

Pullups, 3x6. Ironically, given how my first heavy squat set went, I felt pretty strong on this and was easily putting my chin well over the bar. Go figure.

Leg extensions and leg curls, 4 sets of each. 10-15 on extensions, 8-12 on the curls. I did the last few reps of the last set with a S L O W lowering of the weight and felt the bern. Err, felt the b*u*rn, not the Bern. Politics aside, I have no interest in feeling Bernie. I might watch "Weekend at Bernie's" but THAT is a whole different thing.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, 1.5 to cool down and feeling good!

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## Cylon357

Simple bench workout today as I was strapped for time.

Barbell bench, 3x6 work sets.

3x8 close grip bench

3x12 ez-curl bar curls to wrap.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, nothing for cool down.

Went to a free concert at the local amphitheater. An AC/DC cover band.... eh it was OK, but it was free and literally 5 minutes (or less) from the house, so I'll take it!

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## Cylon357

Nice little back workout tonight.

Did barbell rows, sort of pyarmided the weight 10, 10, 6, 6, 8

Pull ups were next 5x5, various grips.

Did some narrow, parallel grip landmine rows, 4x10. I used the short barbell (4 footer) and it was not ideal. I will stick to the 6 footer from now on, the proper 7 foot olympic barbell doesn't get used for this. Plus, I don't really have the space to use the 7 footer on the land mine.

Light front squats, 3x6-8.

Barbell calf raises, 2x30, super setted with calf raises off the block with the farmers walk handles, 2x15.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, then for MISS / LISS at the end I did 3 2minute run (ok, JOG) intervals with 1 minute walking between them, then walked another mile or so.


I left the farmers walk handles setup for something HIIT'y I am percolating for Friday at lunch... details (and potential light headedness) to follow!

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## Cylon357

Wooooo week 3 kicking my ass!

Overhead press workout of sorts, but just a few things got done.

Barbell overhead press, normalish weights.

Shrugs with the farmers walks handles.

Ez curl bar curls wrapped it.

That was it. Still have a HIIT thing planned for Friday, though it may get scaled back, depending on how I feel. The end of week 3 is always tough, but let's see!

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## Cylon357

"Hammer time!"

Actually, did a circuit style workout today, that basically looked like this:

2 minutes on tread mill (10 minute mile pace)
2 minutes swinging various hammers and hammer like things at the big tire
2 minutes putting the gloves on and working the heavy bag

1 minute rest between exercises, and 3 "super rounds", so 18 work minutes total.

I moved the tire into the big bay of the garage because it was a little chilly outside today. That means I couldn't swing the big hammer, but brought that 12 lb slam ball out in its place. Basically, 8 swings with the slam ball, each hand. Alternating swings in each hand with the 4lb short handle sledges, and then 8 slams with the 40 pounds lam ball. If there was any time left in the 2 minutes, I started over again with the slam ball.

3/4 mile walk to warm up, 1.25 or so to cool down.

NOICE!

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